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Chapter 3: You Were Different

Betrayus was mad.

Scratch that, he was probably furious… if the large crowd of frightened ghosts at the castle's entrance was of any indication.

Unease settled in their stomachs as Inky and Blinky approached the gathering. If practically the entire Netherworld was here at the castle, then big ol' Lord B was either announcing a new plan to them… or he was chewing them out for another failed mission.

Judging by the many ghosts that cowered and shook in fear, Inky assumed it was the latter.

Quietly – to not be noticed for their late arrival – the blue and red ghost duo made their way through the masses, swerving around ghosts until they were near the forefront of the crowd. There, they spotted a familiar, bulbous, and orange spook with a tuft of curly hair on his ectoplasmic head, and next to him was the only female companion in their group of four – a pink ghost with hair in a short bob.

Blinky and Inky flew over, stopping to float behind Clyde and Pinky.

Clyde looked no better than the rest of the crowd, cowering and staring ahead pensively, while Pinky was looking around with an air of boredom about her. She noticed Blinky and Inky's arrival almost immediately and whirled around to frown at them.

"There you are!" she chastised, grabbing them by the arms and pulling them forward, "You two didn't think you could skip out on getting yelled at by Lord B, did you? While the rest of us have to?"

"Yeesh, calm it, Pinky!" Inky groaned, shaking her grip off him as he and Blinky were forced to float right alongside them. Clearly the pink ghost wanted to make sure they didn't get off easily from impending punishment.

"We're here now, aren't we?" Blinky added, just as irritated as he eyed their surroundings. They were inside now, outside of Betrayus's throne room. The doors that lead to said room were halfway closed, one door slightly ajar. For some reason, nobody dared to approach and enter.

"So what's Lord Hot-Head got in store for us this time?" Inky asked, dejectedly.

There were a few reasons as to why Betrayus would summon half his army to his castle, and Inky knew well that none of those reasons were good ones. No matter what, it always ended in them all getting the short end of the stick.

Or rather, the short end of Betrayus's temper.

All the ghosts around them were scared, whispering amongst themselves and staring nervously at the door to the throne room. And yet, from what Inky could make out of the whispers and gossip in the crowd, he couldn't figure out why everyone was so on edge.

This was Betrayus, right? The fire ghost losing his temper and taking his fury out on his subjects wasn't exactly a new thing. They were used to it at this point. So why the fuss?

"That's the thing," Clyde gave a feeble answer, nervously holding his nubby hands together, "we don't know."

"Doesn't sound that alarming to me," Blinky eyed Clyde condescendingly over how worked up the bigger ghost was getting over something he didn't even know.

Pinky joined in and came to his defence, "What Clyde means to say, is that Betrayus is acting weird."

"That's not new, either."

She groaned at Blinky's bluntness, "Listen, wise guy, the point is that something is up with Betrayus and nobody knows why."

"The horn for a meeting sounded about half an hour ago," Clyde explained, "but ever since we arrived, Betrayus hasn't come out of his room to tell us why he summoned us. Butt-ler and Dr Buttocks are in there too, but…"

"But they were arguing with Betrayus when we arrived," Pinky continued, her voice softening. She expressed a look of wariness for the first time since Blinky and Inky joined them.

"You should've heard it; things were being thrown around in the room and Betrayus was yelling like a madman. It lasted for a few minutes, and then… silence! Not a peep since then. Well, maybe except for the occasional mumbling from the butt-twins as they're trying to talk to Lord B."

Inky shared a tense look with Blinky. Pinky's observation of what went down in the throne room earlier was a little unsettling.

"Talk to him about what, exactly?" Blinky asked, carefully.

"Nobody could hear them properly… but it sounded like they were trying to reason with Betrayus," Clyde said, lowly.

"Tsk! They should know by now that reasoning with Betrayus is as hard as pulling a camel through the eye of a needle," the voice of Ogle came from their left, having overheard their conversation. The ghost gang peered up at the looming cyclops. Privacy, much? Inky thought in irritation, not appreciating the eavesdropping.

He didn't get to think much further on the matter when suddenly, the doors of the throne room burst open.

Collective gasps echoed in the hallway as the entire crowd jumped back.

Head bowed and claws on fire, Betrayus hovered stiffly in the doorway.

A dangerous silence came upon the hall, the crackling of flames at his fingertips being the only sound that broke the tense atmosphere.

It was as if every ghost, minion, and monster in the room had swallowed their tongues. Nobody dared to move, nor utter a word. They just cowered as far back against the wall as possible, staring fearfully and perplexedly at the king of the Nether Realm.

Blinky, Inky, Pinky and Clyde were no better – they huddled close to each other as they waited for something that they didn't know the outcome for. Was Betrayus upset? Was he going to send them on another attack on the Pacworlders? Was he going to punish them? Use them as his own personal dummies for target practice?

Endless possibilities went through Inky's head, trying to pluck at any possible explanation as to why Betrayus was not addressing them.

The fire ghost was just floating there. Head bowed, eyes closed, and brow creased into a deep frown. The fire on his hands never stopped burning. He looked like he was thinking very deeply, but the way his body hung in a near-predatory manner was anything but comforting. The air of fury that surrounded him was thick and blistering.

Fleetingly, Inky glanced left and right to his companions, sharing a look of intense apprehension.

Instinctively, Inky shifted to hide behind Blinky. It may not be much of a defence, but he reasoned that if Betrayus was about to fry them, then at least he's got a former Pac-Fu Master to stand between him and the line of fire, right?

Blinky must've guessed his intentions, as he turned around to glare indignantly at the blue ghost. But before he could voice his irritation, the suffocating atmosphere was finally broken by a low whisper from their leader.

"Three years..."

Every ghost held their breath, exchanging looks of confusion mingled with fear. But not a moment too soon, Betrayus spoke again.

"Three years, we've been at this," he said, louder than the first time as his eyes opened and he cast an arched, fuming gaze on his subjects.

The fire on his claws seemed to glow brighter, adding more weight to the already-tense atmosphere. Some ghosts at the back of the crowd whispered frantically to each other about the prospect of fleeing.

"For three years, I've been trying to conquer Pacworld," Betrayus seethed. He fisted his claws and his body trembled as the flames grew with his anger.

"It's been three years since the portal between the living and the dead was opened, and ever since, I've tried time and time again to take over Pacopolis.

"For three years I sent monsters, spies, vampires, entire armies of ghosts to the surface to take back what is rightfully mine…" Smoke billowed out of Betrayus' nostrils, his voice rose to a raging yell, and his eyes caught fire.

"And yet, every time we come even remotely close to succeeding, one measly little Yellow boy gets in the way… Every. Single. TIME!"

The hallway lit up brightly as fire roared from Betrayus' hands, sending plumes of flame up into the air and singing the ceiling.

Cries of fear and surprise reverberated through the crowd, many ghosts jumping back with a yelp to escape the flames. Some weren't so lucky and got torched anyway, leaving a couple pairs of scorched eyeballs bobbing in place.

Inky yelped and was swept up against Clyde when Blinky and Pinky backpedalled and knocked against him to avoid the flames. Out of reflex, he grabbed onto both Blinky and Pinky for some form of protection – and to drag them away from the fire, holding them tightly while Clyde held onto them all.

The hallway was now blisteringly hot even as the flames died down. Betrayus flew higher into the air to glare down at the crowd with all the anger and wickedness in the Netherworld.

"Do you know what I've accomplished in three years during my time as commander and chief in the war!?" he hollered.

"I've conquered eleven territories, invented revolutionary weaponry, wiped out hundreds of Freedom Fighter troops, and pushed nearly the entire Yellow One population to extinction! All so that my ghost armies would have a better chance at winning the war without thousands of meddlesome Yellow belchers getting in the way of my conquest!"

In between the fearful whimpering and shaking, the ghost gang and several other ghosts perked up at that last bit.

"H-Huh?"Inky stammered, dumbfoundedly. They all knew that Betrayus had pushed to wipe out the Yellow Ones during the war, but the extent of the genocide was never known to anyone but Betrayus himself. Inky knew that the disappearance of Yellow Ones had suddenly spiked during the war – and that Betrayus was responsible for it – until someone far more dangerous had hired the Pacinator to exterminate the rest of them. That someone was Apex, as they all eventually found out.

But they never knew that Betrayus had been so involved that he was responsible for wiping out nearly all of the Yellow population in just three years.

"All of this I have done and more, and all within three years! But what progress have we made in three years of us ghosts having access to the surface of Pacworld? NOTHING! No progress whatsoever!" Betrayus roared, his claws catching fire again.

Frightened cries of protest came from the crowd as the smaller ghosts tried to hide behind one another, tumbling and knocking each other around in their haste. Some were hiding behind rocks and stalagmites, while some had already fled. Only the bigger minions – cyclops, gargoyles, and tentacle ghosts – managed to hold their ground, albeit with just as much fear as the rest.

The ghost gang themselves were now cowering behind Ogle, trembling and peeking out at the sides to stare fearfully up at the crazy fire ghost. We're in for it now, Inky thought, dreadfully.

Betrayus growled vehemently, clenching his fiery claws so tightly that it tore through the leather of his gloves, prickling the ectoplasm underneath.

Frustration and anger laced his every word, "What do I have to do to finally claim victory?! As a full army of just ghosts and monsters, you are supposed to be stronger than my armies were during the war, tenfold! We should've taken over Pacopolis by now! But every single spook, monster, minion and evil scientist has failed me in one gargantuan way or another! All for what?! All just because you can't beat ONE tiny yellow belcher?!"

Well, Pac isn't exactly 'tiny' anymore, Inky would've retorted if he had the guts to do so.

Sure, Pac was just one Yellow Orb, but he's grown a lot since he accidentally opened the portal to the Netherworld. He's grown both physically and mentally – and coupled with the help of his friends and Sir Cumference's science, it became harder and harder for the ghosts to get the upper hand on him. Even with Dr Buttocks' help.

Obviously, Betrayus didn't see it that way.

Like an agitated eel, the fire ghost zipped through the air and flew up close and personal with the crowd – or what was left of it.

"There's no difference in size, no difference in goal, there's only a difference in power. You have more power now than ever before! And yet, YOU FAIL!" Betrayus barked in their faces, before hovering back up into high air. His eyes blazed accusingly down at his subjects.

"So, what's the difference?!"

A murmuring silence met him, but not exactly with an air of innocence. This silence was dense and on fire – the kind that did hold an answer to Betrayus's demand, but none were brave enough to say it, daring someone else in the crowd to do it.

Inky knew this feeling all too well – every ghost and monster in the Netherworld knew it all too well. Deep down, they knew the answer. They knew the reason behind Betrayus's failures at conquering Pacworld, and they knew why he was not having any success compared to how it was during the war.

But telling him the truth meant that they'd have to face the worst of Betrayus' wrath. Maybe even the ultimate form of punishment.

Inky desperately hoped that everyone will keep their mouths shut and just wait for Betrayus to finish his rant so that they could avoid telling him the truth and just head off – with as little damage as possible.

Sadly, this was not their lucky day.

Just when it seemed like Betrayus was about to dismiss them in a rage, one single ghost had the gall to open his mouth and offer an explanation.

"There…might be one, small difference," a ghost from the crowd mumbled sarcastically, and it was none other than Seymour, one of the two squid-like ghosts who called themselves the Creepies.

If looks could kill, then Seymour would've shrivelled up and turned to ash under the agitated glares that were thrown his way from the crowd – and from their enraged leader.

Before anyone could reprimand the tentacle ghost, Betrayus whipped around and yelled at Seymour, "And? What is it?!"

Realizing his mistake, Seymour froze. Clearly, he didn't think this through, and now he had no choice but to spill it. Regretfully, he averted his eyes and faltered with his words. "Well, your lordship… the difference between now and the war is that, well…"

Don't say it, don't say it! Inky practically screamed in his mind. If Seymour was going to tell the truth, then they ALL could very well kiss their afterlives goodbye.

Betrayus flew right up to the tentacle ghost's face, "What?! What is the difference?!"

Seymour shrivelled away defensively, holding his tentacles in front of him as he tried to explain, "Well, the uh, the difference is… it's–"

"It's you."

A pin dropped somewhere in the room, the only prickle of sound amidst the sudden, deadly silence. But it wasn't Seymour who uttered those last two words…

All eyes swung to Ogle.

The blue cyclops was tense, but the look in his eyes was firm as he levelled a calm and hard gaze against Betrayus.

The fire ghost and the cyclops were locked in a staring contest. At first, there was shock and disbelief in Betrayus's eyes, but as the seconds ticked by, the shock was slowly replaced by white-hot fury.

"…What did you say?"

Snapping out from their own shock, Inky and his three companions gaped and stared wide-eyed up at Ogle, before retreating from the cyclops' side and getting out of Betrayus's line of sight. They huddled together against a stalagmite, some six feet away from Ogle.

The cyclops in question didn't even flinch at the threat in Betrayus' voice. Steeling himself, Ogle sighed through his nose and merely reaffirmed his statement.

"You were different during the war."

Betrayus' face was unreadable, other than the lingering rage in his eyes, as he tried to discern whether Ogle was insinuating an insult, or just stating the obvious. But judging from the silence from the rest of the crowd, it seemed all the more clear that the cyclops's revelation was anything but individually motivated.

"Different how?!" Betrayus snapped, throwing his heated glare over to the rest of the crowd. Because of their silence, everyone was now a suspect for interrogation. And punishment.

Grinding his teeth, Betrayus spat out, "Are you insinuating that I am less of a commander just because I am made of ectoplasm, and I possess fire at my very fingertips?!" He pointed a sharp, accusing claw down at the crowd. "I may not have my corporeal body anymore, but I'll have you know that the only difference between now and then is the fact that I am now stronger as a ghost!"

"That's not really the point, my lord," Ogle said, fighting a wince as Betrayus bore down on him again.

"What is he doing?!" Pinky whispered from Inky's left, scared and agitated like the rest of them as they gaped at Ogle's forwardness.

Inky could only gulp. This was not good. Their chances of getting off the hook unscathed had diminished long ago, yet here the cyclops was, adding fuel to the fire. Maybe Ogle was well aware of the trouble he was about to get them all in, but he didn't back down and seemed adamant about getting his point across.

The truth was like a brewing storm; terrible but unavoidable. It had to be said.

"You were different as a person," Ogle slowly drawled out, "and it's not just about the whole corporeal body thing. You were a dictator. Behind every plan, you had malicious intent. Behind every move, you had a strategy. And behind every troop, every soldier, you had loyalty.

"You were smooth-tongued, convincing your armies that conquest was the only way towards ultimate power. But now…" Ogle paused, letting his words sink into the deafening silence.

Ogle knew that he wasn't the only one who was aware of Betrayus's fall from power and sanity. He wasn't the only one who believed Betrayus to have been a better commander back in the war.

He wasn't the only ghost who was fed up with getting eaten and belched by Pac-Man every day, all because of poor strategy on the fire ghost's part.

And so, he didn't budge as he looked Betrayus dead in the eye.

There was remorse in his voice as he forced his last words out, "Now, you are a shell of your former self. Cowardly, reckless, childish… we've failed every time because you've failed to keep your best qualities as a leader."

We're doomed, Inky thought. He and the remaining ghosts in the hall were frozen on the spot, dreadfully waiting for the inevitable outburst.

Betrayus was rigid as he hung in the air. Aside from the lingering fury in his eyes, his face was unreadable as he glared at Ogle. He was barely breathing.

Then, as if preparing for a roar, he sucked in a breath and opened his mouth to shout something at the blue cyclops.

But nothing came out.

Instead, he just hung there in the air, gaping like a fish out of water as he visibly struggled for words. Fire sparked in his eyes, yet he barely moved.

Under normal circumstances, Betrayus being speechless would've been quite the sight, but these circumstances were anything but normal. For a moment in time, there was a spark of vulnerability in Betrayus's eyes, only visible to those who were close enough to see it. But that sliver of vulnerability was gone as quickly as it came, and was replaced by a dark, sinister veil.

Something snapped inside of him.

Anyone who had a front-row view of the confrontation could see it from where they hovered at the front of the crowd. They saw how Betrayus's mouth went shut as he bared his fangs, saw how his face contorted into fury and how his fists tightened at his sides.

The fire ghost shook as a low growl vibrated from his throat, barely keeping the anger contained.

Inky flinched along with the rest of the ghost gang. They all scrunched their eyes closed, and Inky felt himself and his companions tense up, bracing themselves for imminent wrath. This was it, this was where they would meet their doom. Or so they thought.

"Out."

The heads of several ghosts snapped up in surprise, blinking at their leader as they processed that one simple command.

That was it? No punishment? No interrogations? No furious verbal abuse? Inky couldn't believe his ears. He was pretty sure that everyone else couldn't believe their ears either.

But they got their confirmation when Betrayus set a threatening gaze over them and repeated himself. His voice was laced with poison.

"Get out. All of you."

They didn't need to be told twice. Snapping out of their stupor, the crowd suddenly came alive with frightened voices and scampering bodies as minion after minion made a beeline for the exit.

The ghost gang were still frozen in shock when a stampede of ghosts nearly ran them over as they flew past. Barely able to stay upright, they whirled around and followed suit, dodging other ghosts as they shot towards the exit.

Inky was still in a daze when he passed Ogle – so much so that he nearly missed how Ogle, the instigator of this heated confrontation, had not moved a muscle since Betrayus's command. It made Inky falter, and he paused to turn around and stare in bewilderment at the cyclops.

Betrayus and Ogle were still in a stare-off, not paying heed to the retreating ghosts around them. For a moment, it seemed like they were caught in their own world, in their own sphere of time, even if it was on fire with defiance and unhinged anger. Unspoken words sparked between the two.

After what felt like an eternity, Ogle's shoulders slumped, and he sighed. Unfazed by Betrayus' hateful gaze, the cyclops softly spoke some last words, barely audible among the scuttling of fleeing ghosts.

"It had to be said, old friend."

With that, Ogle finally turned around and joined the rest in taking their leave from the castle.

Old friend? Inky barely registered before he too had to make haste and get a move on before he ended up being left behind. He briefly wondered if there was history between Ogle and Betrayus, but that would have to be a conversation for another time. Right now, Inky made sure to catch up with the fleeing crowd – the last thing he wanted to do right now was be the last spook to leave the hallway, lest Betrayus decide he'd scorch their backsides in revenge.

The Netherworld air was smouldering as they left the castle. The crowd dispersed and flew in different directions, each going towards their hideout or place of residence.

As Inky flew up and above the lava fields, he frantically scanned the crowd to spot his three companions. It didn't take long for him to spot a trio of orange, pink and red ghosts making their way towards the canyons. Inky made a mad dash to catch up with them.

Gray and black walls of stone zipped past his vision as he flew through the winding caverns. As vast as the Netherworld may be, these canyons had come to feel like a second home to them. He knew the layout of the canyons like the back of his hand, and so didn't take too long for him to track down the rest of the gang.

He found them in a clearing between the canyons, rock walls surrounding them in a narrow circle.

Clyde was visibly whimpering and Pinky and Blinky were sharing looks of shock and apprehension. Inky didn't blame them – he too was still reeling from what went down in the throne room just now. He thought for sure that they were all going to be zapped when Ogle confronted Betrayus. Nobody ever stood up to their leader like that – at least, nobody from the Netherworld.

As Inky joined the circle, a tense silence fell upon them, too shocked and confused to say anything. They were all thinking the same thing and asking the same questions, all still in a daze.

After some minutes, Inky looked up to meet their eyes. With nothing else to say, he was the first to break the silence and voice what they were all thinking.

"Uhh… what just happened?"

Author's Note: Thank you all so much for the faves and follows! A big thanks to Chaoslord678 for the review on the last chapter :)

I'm not used to writing the ghosts very well, especially from their perspective. Perhaps someone with experience in this field could give feedback on how I did in this chapter?

That being said, there's a lot of things that were hinted at in the show of what happened in Pacworld's history and the war, but then the retconning increased and there's still a few loose ends to the canon lore. For this reason, I am going to try and stick to the canon timeline as closely as I can, but I am going to take some liberties and either add, remove or change a few things for this story. Think of it as my own re-imagining/headcanon of Pacworld's history, how the war went, how the Yellow Ones disappeared, who was involved, etc.

I'm very excited to get to the good bits of this story. Be sure to subscribe/follow so you don't miss the next update!