Finally, the Pac-Gang made it to the second to last floor - Sir Cular's throne room. As they went through the doorway, they were greeted with the back of the ghost lord's throne. It turned around, revealing Sir Cular himself. "Ah, Pacster Mannington Jr." he began, clapping as he walked toward the four. "I commend your efforts. I haven't seen ghost-fighting like that in years - not just any kind, but the way your parents did it too!" Pac's eyes widened in surprise. "You knew them?!" "Of course I knew them, they were in the war!" "So, then, does that mean that - that you-" "Destroyed them? I wish! Whoever got to them first was quicker than I could ever be!"
Pac's surprise turned to anger. "Well, parent-pulverizer or not, you're still going down!" he said, cracking his knuckles. "I wouldn't bet on that." Cular said in response, pointing to the yellow hero's arm - which itself had a spiky growth, a patch of pale skin surrounding it. Pac gasped in response. Similar growths started appearing on the other three as well.
"No problem," Pac said just then, pulling out his pellet dispenser. "Wrong!" Sir Cular snapped. "There is a problem!" He used his powers to telekinetically snatch the dispenser out of Pac's hand and grab it. "I think I'll try one of these for myself." He popped a Power Pellet into his mouth. Immediately disgusted by its taste, he spit it right out. "Ack! How do you even eat this stuff without throwing up?!" He crushed the dispenser - and the remaining pellets inside - with his bare hand. "Agh, no matter - now you perish!"
The ghost lord hovered up in the air and threw a fireball in Pac's direction, which the yellow one swiftly dodged. He continued with several more fireballs - which were also quickly avoided. "Seriously?" joked Pac. "Is that all you've got?" Sir Cular scoffed. "Absolutely not! You dare say that in front of me?!"
Cular flew over Pacster, streams of flames emitting from his hands. Pac ducked and rolled for cover. "We've got to help Pacster!" Spiral exclaimed. He, Cylindria, and Skeebo ran forward to help their friend, but were stopped by a wall of fire. "Nuh uh uh!" Sir Cular said, wagging his finger. "This is a one-on-one fight!"
Pac used this moment as an opportunity to catch Cular off-guard - by leaping onto his back. "Ow!" the ghost lord yelled. "Get off of me, you lemonheaded infestation!" Pac smirked. "You're not a ghost, so I can't eat you," he began, "but I can still give a mean bite!" And bite he did - pulling on Cular's hair with his chompers. "You yellow nuisance!" He managed to throw Pac down to the ground. "Do you know how long it took me to get that growing out the way I wanted it to?!"
Just then, the growths and paleness of the Pac-Gang accelerated. They winced and coughed in pain. Sir Cular laughed once more, pleased at this sight. "Looks like I don't have to waste anymore time with you insects - I'll just let nature take its course!" He took note of Pac clawing toward him in particular. "N-no, I must-" he began. "On second thought," the ghost lord said, "I oughta take you for a little ride!" He used his powers to throw Pac in the air and grab him, his palm covering the yellow one's face.
"As for you three," Cular said to Spiral, Cylindria, and Skeebo, "I've got someone for you to play with." He pulled out a large and worn dog bone. "Boochie!" he called out to a dark corner of his throne room. "I brought new toys for you!" a large and rather docile three-headed poodle ran out from the corner. "Good girl!" Sir Cular said, petting the cerberus dog. "Now, fetch!" He threw the dog bone in front of the three. Boochie obliged, her eyes gleaming. Spiral tried to drag the bone out of sight as the center head grabbed it with its mouth. After a few seconds of tugging, the whole poodle's appearance shifted - its white fur turning to a deep purple, its jaws baring sharp fangs, and its eyes turning a menacing red. "Uh oh." Spiral said in response.
"Have fun down there, girl!" Sir Cular told his wicked pet while he flew up and burst through the ceiling of the throne room - still holding Pac with an iron grip.
...
The two emerged from the throne room to the peak of the castle - where the Tree of Life was held. Sir Cular threw Pac to the ground. "Ugggghhh-" Pac-Man groaned, trying to get up from the small crater he landed in. Cular landed in front of him. "I may not have exterminated your parents," he began, "but I sure as slime came close to doing it! And now, I'm gonna do to you what I should've done to them all those years ago!" He raised a claw and prepared to slash, before Pac grabbed his wrist - using his still-dwindling strength. "Not... on... my... watch!" He belted out as Sir Cular gasped in surprise.
...
On the floor below, Spiral, Cylindria, and Skeebo were still trying to fend off the ravenous Boochie. "Ew!" Cyli said, getting a mouthful of saliva from the left head. "You need a breath mint - and a dentist!" Skeebo attempted to give the right head the Maze University special - although his punches were essentially light taps due to his Netherworldly ailments. "Where's Pacster when we need him?!" Spiral shouted.
...
"Where's Pac-Man when we need him?!" shouted a frightened Pacopolis citizen. In addition to the Pac-Quakes, meteor showers had begun in the following hours after the Tree of Life's capture. Everyone was beginning to lose faith and prepared for the worst - and that loss of faith was starting to extend to even President Spheros and Sir Cumference.
The green inventor stared at the clock in the bunker. He knew there wasn't much time left for Pac-World.
...
Pac-Man and Sir Cular continued to wrestle on the castle peak. Even though he was getting weaker from his ghastly illness, the yellow hero fought back as hard as he could. "Well," Sir Cular grunted, "you're tougher than I thought!" He clawed at Pac's face, hoping to leave a nasty mark - but ended up breaking off one of his growths instead.
Pacster used this as a chance to jump away. In response, the ghost lord simply lunged at him - the two landing inches away from the Tree of Life. Cular breaking off one of the growths just seconds ago gave Pac an idea. Using what little strength he had left to break off a growth himself, he threw it upward. The growth managed to slice off a Power Pellet from a vine hanging above - with said pellet landing square in Pac's mouth.
An image flashed in Pac's mind - a memory from earlier. It was Sir Cumference talking to him in the bunker.
"You, Pacster Mannington Jr., are the Pac-Man!"
Sir Cular gasped in horror as Pacster's growths disappeared and his skin turned back to its usual bright shade of yellow. "No! It - it can't be!" he shouted. Pac smirked heroically. "Can."
That quaint song - the one he loved listening to for motivation - played in the yellow hero's head.
It's a natural kind of taste
Nothin' else comes near
It's the one that cools your thirst
With that one the difference is clear
Pac jumped up high, landing behind Sir Cular - whom, in retaliation, frantically began throwing fireballs as fast as he could. As such, Pac dodged and avoided them like spitballs from Skeebo (back before they became friends).
It does what only it can do
Nothin' else comes near
It's a clean, refreshing taste
With that one the difference is clear
He finished his dodging with another high jump - this one ending with a shoulder tackle to the ghost lord's face. The impact had enough force to create another hole to Sir Cular's throne room - and cause a few more Power Pellets to fall from the Tree of Life.
...
"Pacster!" Spiral said, still struggling against Boochie as were the others. Pac-Man took advantage of Sir Cular's brief moment of being stunned from the fall to grab the dropped Power Pellets and toss them to his friends.
As these were different from the standard yellow and purple ones - being multicolored - they gave their eaters fantastic powers, alongside curing their ailments. Spiral, having popped a gray one, turned just that color and gained a headdress resembling a tornado. Cylindria, having swallowed a green one, also turned that pigment and got a helmet resembling the average Pac-Chameleon. And Skeebo, having gulped a metallic one, acquired that kind of exterior with matching red and blue gloves and boots. Pacster, meanwhile, ate another blue pellet and got his ice form again.
At that moment, Sir Cular managed to get himself together again, his vision unblurring at the sight of the Pac-Gang - fully powered and ready to rumble.
The one that cools you
The one that soothes you
With that one the difference is clear
The ghost lord began crawling backward, scared to the surface and back. "BOOCHIE!" he called out. "Where are you, girl?!" He heard whimpering to his left and saw his beloved cerberus poodle - frightened by the past few minutes and back in her normal form. "What are you doing?! Sic 'em!" She hesitatingly obliged, turning back to her monstrous form and leaping toward the Pac-Gang again - only to be met with a flurry of wind from Spiral. Whimpering and back in her normal form again, she ran out the doorway and down the stairs.
Sir Cular got up and tried clawing at Pac-Man again - only for the yellow (well, blue at the moment) one to grab his wrist like before. Smirking, Pacster spit a breath of ice in Cular's face, temporarily blinding him. "Aghhhh!" the ghost lord screamed, clawing at the sheet of ice that covered his eyes. Then, Pac pulled back his fist and punched him right in the face, shattering the ice as well as bruising his cheek. Dazed, Cular walked backward - only to be caught in the arms of Cylindria, who had used her chameleon powers to turn invisible. The goth girl delivered a punch just like Pac's, sending the ghost lord waltzing in front of Skeebo. The jock slapped Cular upside the head, leaving a more prominent mark on his other cheek. After that, Spiral grabbed him and punched him in the kisser, just like his friends did. By that point, the Pac-Gang members were each taking turns punching and kicking the ghost lord and sending him to each other - to the point that he essentially started rebounding off of them like a pinball.
Eventually Spiral grabbed Sir Cular one last time, turned around and blew the strongest gust of wind he could - making him fly straight through the wall ahead and across the Netherworld's landscape.
The Pac-Gang watched as the ghost lord became a tiny dot in the distance, screaming as loudly as he could along the way. "That's hopefully the last we'll ever see of him!" Pac announced, wiping his hands together. He and the others jumped through the holes in the ceiling up to the roof.
...
After they reached the roof, the Pac-Gang's pellet powers wore off - prompting them to grab some more that fell from the Tree of Life and pop them in. Using their combined (albeit amplified by the Power Pellets) strength, they managed to pick up the giant palm tree and carry it as they flew across the red skies.
"Alright!" Spiral said. "Mission accomplished!" Cylindria added. "I don't think so!" Skeebo said, pointing behind him. Another swarm of ghosts had arrived - determined to avenge their leader. "Spiral! Cyli!" Pac commanded. "You two carry the tree! Skeebo and I will hold off these slimy specters!"
As Pac-Man flew in closer toward the ghosts, Skeebo plucked a red Power Pellet from one of the tree's branches. This one turned his legs into a spinning top - increasing his speed. He plowed through a line of ghosts with a clenched fist - immediately destroying their coverings and leaving their eyes behind. Pac, meanwhile, chomped away as usual. To increase the number of ghosts pulverized, Skeebo pulled out his PSC and put it to good use.
The gang heard that distinct cackle from below. "You!" Pac exclaimed, pointing at the returning - albeit injured - Sir Cular, riding a dragon - that same one from earlier, with the same bite marks on its tail. "You're not getting away this time!" the ghost lord announced. Pac chuckled. "Wanna bet?" He flew ahead of his friends and the Tree of Life, heading for narrow structures and canyons in an attempt to evade Cular and the dragon. However, the ghost lord was crafty at dragon-riding and, as such, squeezed through the canyons. "You can try all you want, lemonhead," he began, "but nothing will truly save you from my wrath!"
Seeing that her friend was in trouble, Cyli flew up the Tree of Life and grabbed an orange Power Pellet. "Pacster! Heads up!" she threw it in Pac's direction.
Pac flew the other way, confusing Sir Cular and the dragon. "What?!" He flew right to where the pellet was heading and gulped it up. The pellet turned his skin a vibrant orange and gave him a head of fiery hair. "It's time to fight fire with fire!" he proclaimed, following it with the biggest breath of flame he could muster - enveloping and singeing the entire dragon and its rider.
"Oh, drat." Sir Cular said moments before he and the blackened dragon sunk to the ground. Pac took a second to chuckle again. "How's that for a barbecue?"
The ghost swarm was unfazed by their leader being defeated and continued to chase the Pac-Gang. "Up high, guys!" Pac said as he pointed to the sky. Eventually, the four reached the gateway to the surface. Skeebo bashed into the doors with his shoulder, slamming them wide open.
On the other side of the gateway - and therefore, Pac-World's surface, the Pac-Gang emerged. However, the Tree of Life got stuck. The four pulled it out with all their might. "We're not done yet!" Cyli pointed out, noting the still-flying ghost horde. The Pac-Gang used their combined strength to shut the gateway doors. On the other side, all the ghosts turned into slime on impact, leaving yet again their bare eyeballs.
The Pac-Gang sighed in relief. Their mission was finally complete.
...
All across Pacopolis, construction teams were hard at work repairing all the damage caused by the disasters. The Pac-Gang flew above the city, carrying the Tree of Life and waving at the cheering civilians below.
At the empty grotto, the gang carefully placed the tree in its rightful resting place. Sir Cumference was there, smiling the whole time. "I knew you could do it, son." He told Pacster as the gang landed on the ground. Pac confidently nodded, before feeling a strange, albeit familiar sensation. Once again, he burped out a stream of ghost eyeballs. The eyes flew all the way back to Maze 256.
Later, outside of the Round House, the gang were being congratulated by President Spheros for their efforts, in front of cameras and the press. "The Tree of Life is safe again." he began. "We can breathe easy for a while, rebuild, and start planning for the future." He turned to face the Pac-Gang. "And it's all thanks to you three, the heroes of our planet." One of his aides was holding a pillow with four gold medals resting on it. He handed the medals to each of the gang. "Spiral, Cylindria, Skeebo," As he gave the last one to Pac, Spiral finished, "and Pacster!" Stratos chuckled. "Of course, while you'll always be Pacster to your friends," he said, "to the rest of Pac-World, you'll be Pac-Man."
As the surrounding crowd cheered, Sir Cumference pulled Pac aside. "While you have dealt a severe blow to Sir Cular and his forces, we know that the Ghost Wars have only just begun."
Back in the Netherworld, Sir Cular laid in his bedroom, still recovering from all the injuries he had sustained and watching the news broadcast. The Ghost Gang and Ecto were there with him. "This isn't the end, Pac-Man! I'll be back! I'LL BE BACK!" His declaration echoed through his bedroom, through the castle, and throughout all of the Netherworld.