The blue orb continued to glare at Pac, who glared back. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN OVERGROWN LEMON, YOU BLUEBERRY?! YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH YELLOW?!"

He stomped over to the one called Skeebo, who immediately went from angry to terrified. Pac was almost there when Cyli grabbed him by the arm. "Pac no!"

"He said-"

"I know. He's always like this. Trust me. It's not worth it."

Pac looked back and forth from Skeebo to Cyli a few times.

"Pac, please…"

"Ugh fine", he hissed as he pulled his arm away from her.

"Ya done", Radia mused. "If ya don't mind, we have a meeting to start. Everyone come along. You too, Pac."

Everyone took their respective seats, except for Pac. He didn't have a chair, so he just awkwardly stood next to Cyli.

Radia cleared her throat. "Everyone, there is someone I need to introduce- Diamitri, if you'd please."

Mr C stood, and went over to stand by his sister. "Please, you all can just call me Mr C. I'm here to help take down that egg and his minions. All of ya are gonna have to pitch in. Me an' Radia have been discussing how we're gonna do this. For starters, we're gonna need tools. Lots of em. So this is your assignment- find as much scrap metal and spare parts as ya can and bring em here. I'll tinker with them and see what I can whip up. Understood?"

The room was silent.

"I said… UNDERSTOOD?!" Everyone was taken aback by him suddenly raising his voice. But, it was enough to get his point across. Everyone stood and began to leave the building- including Pac. He felt someone grab him- "Nope", came Radia's voice.

"Lemme go!"

"Can't. Too dangerous. Heard it on the radio that your dad's going nuts trying to find you. If he does find you let alone finds out you're working with us… I'd rather not think about that."

"But-"

"I said no. It's for your own good, kid."

Pac scowled deeply. He HATED being told what to do.

"Pac", came Cyli's voice. "Radia's right. You need to stay here so you don't get hurt."

"Yeah Pacster", said Spiral.

"What… what did you just call me?"

"Uh… Pacster? It's ok if I call you that right? I just think it suits you."

"Um… sure?"

"Cool."

"I ain't asking kid. You need to stay put or we'll all be in trouble." Radia said rather sternly.

"Fiiine."

The other Freedom Fighters left the warehouse, and Pac begrudgingly stayed put. "Kid…" Radia said tenderly, "I get it. You're going through a lot-"

"You don't get anything. Betrayus didn't murder your parents."

"Perhaps not, but he did kill my friends, two of them being your parents."

"..."

"Did ol Betty tell you anything about me?"

"A little. He said you were a dirty traitor and refused to say anything more."

"Hmph. Sounds just like him."

"He really hates you."

"Mm-hm."

Several silent, awkward moments passed. "Kid."

"What?"

"Maybe the plan will succeed. Maybe it won't. In either case, promise me this: don't be like your dad. Be you."

All Pac could think to do was nod, then go sit down. He was filled with so many thoughts, not just the one about the fate of his parents. He was thinking about what Radia said about him being like his dad. In many ways, he was.

He would scream and cry whenever he didn't get his way, such as when he was denied something he wanted or when a toy broke. He always treated others around him horribly, and as a result he was loathed by the entirety of the populace minus his dad. As years passed by he became more and more aware of that fact, and he hated that. The only ones who could stand to be around him were those assigned to be, including Cyli. He sighed as he remembered his genuine attempts to be nice to her, such as showing her around the building. But nope. His bad reputation was so prominent that it made forming a bond impossible. It was his fault she was kidnapped too.

He looked down at his hands and clenched his fists. He recalled all the times he had caused trouble for his quartet of babysitters, all the times he had pestered or even stole from Ogle. He clenched his fists even tighter. "I can't grow up to be like him", said a thought.

Skeebo stomped down the sidewalk, not even bothering to look for the needed materials. This was it. They were all doomed. True he had joined the Freedom Fighters, but it wasn't like he ever expected anything to actually come of it. It was them vs an entire army! And Betrayus too!

He looked over in the distance, past the circular buildings and tubes that twisted and turned in the sky. He was looking at the Round House. Could he…? No. That was an even worse idea than fighting back against Betrayus' tyranny. So he kept going on his way, muttering to himself all the while…