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Chapter 6: Slime and Water

The campsite was just outside of the city – but that meant it was half an hour's flight away, even with the Pac-a-chini going at its top speed.

When the team finally arrived, ghosts had already upturned several tents and all of the cabins were slimed in. The campers were either hiding under vehicles or in the woods, trapped inside the cabins, or running around in a panic, screaming while trying to dodge the ghosts' slimy attacks.

There was a river running through the area, with the campsite on the inner side and the woods on the outer end. Some campers took shelter behind some rocks and trees at the river's edge, including children.

Thankfully, the number of ghosts at the camp was less than usual, if not perhaps less than half of the amount they'd face in a typical invasion. With luck, they could defeat the small swarm promptly and get the campers to safety.

Pac took action the moment the Pac-a-chini touched down in the middle of the camp.

"Defend the campers! I'll take the centre crowd!"

Berry dispenser in hand, Pac flew out of the pilot's seat and soared into the air, his team following his lead and shooting off to cover every corner of the invasion.

Centre crowd was their codeword for the ghosts that made up the bulk of the invasion, often concentrated in the centre of a swarm. It's where the majority of the horde flew around, and if quick enough, Pac can take out a great chunk of their numbers when they're concentrated in one spot.

The Yellow One did exactly that, and after eating a Chameleon Berry, he got to work flying through the swarm and gobbling up any ghosts that got in his way. His long, sticky tongue acted as an aid to swing him from tree to tree, gaining momentum and speed as he picked the ghosts off, one by one.

Hearing an angry hiss from above, Chameleon Pac stalled and looked up to see a tentacle ghost dive down for him, fangs bared and tentacles outstretched.

Pac waited. As the squid-like ghost flew closer, he prepared himself and kept hovering in the air, waiting…

When the ghost was mere seconds away from reaching him, Pac smirked.

His dark green skin rippled, shimmered, and a mirror-like texture washed over Pac as he took on the colours of his environment, blending in. Now completely invisible, he veered left at the last second before the ghost could tackle him.

Feeling nothing but thin air in his tentacles, the spectre twisted around to face his target, only to freeze when the Yellow One seemed to have vanished into the blue.

"Over here, squidbrain!"

Even though the tentacled ghost whirled around as fast as he could, he was still not prepared for the speed of Pac's sneak attack.

One moment he saw an orange tongue shooting towards him, and the next thing he knew, he was snagged and sucked into the dark depths of Pac-Man's mouth.

The air shimmered where the squid disappeared, and in its place, Chameleon Pac materialised out of thin air, swallowing the spectre. Now visible again, Pac burped out the spook's eyeballs and watched as they floated away in defeat.

"Nice move, bro!"

Pac looked over and saw Spiral zapping a bunch of ghosts into his Plasma Sucking Canon, giving Pac a thumbs up afterwards. Sparing a few seconds to get an overview of their progress, Pac quickly scanned over the campsite to see how his teammates were doing.

Spiral flew back down to fend off more ghosts from the cabins. Now and then, he'd fly back into the air to ward off any more ghosts from attacking the trapped campers. Cylindria fought off the ghosts swarming around the ruined tents, and Elliptica took care of releasing any trapped campers from their slimy confinements, ushering them away to safety. They were all making progress.

Movement caught the corner of Pac's eye. Acting on instinct, he dropped out of the air and dove sharply, narrowly dodging a barrage of slimeballs thrown at him. Regaining his altitude, Pac barrel-rolled and shot out his tongue, sweeping up the five ghosts that had fired at him and gobbling them all up in one go.

Surely they should know by now that that move never works? Pac thought to himself, momentarily.

So far, this attack has been easy to deal with. The ghosts were already crippled in numbers as they slowly got taken out by him and his teammates. When they arrived, there was an estimate of sixty ghosts at the site, now they were all down to around twenty. It almost felt too easy…

As he flew past the cabins and chased after some stray ghosts, Pac faltered in his flight when he heard a yell from Spiral, down below.

"Pick on someone your own size, you one-eyed scumbag!"

Glancing down, Pac saw Spiral intercepting a cyclops, the red Pacworlder blocking the giant's way from chasing after frightened children. Said children were running for cover behind some rocks, right at the river's edge.

The cyclops was the only big ghost in the swarm, but he managed to remain nimble and dodge most of the ghost fighters' attacks. Up until now, that is. The giant glared down at the Pacworlder, face-to-face with Spiral and his PSC.

"Ah' pick on whoever ah' want! What'cha gonna do about it?" The cyclops sneered in a thick accent, sporting a crooked smirk.

"This!"

A bang echoed in the air as Spiral's PSC blasted out a stream of galvanic energy, hurtling towards the cyclops to catch it in its electric tendrils.

But they seemed to have underestimated the giant's agility.

The cyclops veered to the left, narrowly dodging the blast, before coming in with a side-sweep at Spiral. Seeing the incoming attack in the nick of time, the 18-year old dove out of the way and the cyclops nearly grazed his arm. Spiral didn't anticipate the giant's speed, and even though he turned on his heel as quickly as he could, he didn't react fast enough before a thick, ectoplasmic hand swooped in and seized the red Pacworlder's leg, plucking him out of the air.

Spiral's PSC dropped and clattered to the ground as he hung upside down by the leg, struggling angrily against the cyclops' hold.

"Hey! Don't sweep the leg! That's foul play!" Spiral yelled indignantly, trying and failing to throw a few punches at the giant despite his precarious position.

Pac froze mid-air upon seeing his buddy held captive, and both Cylindria and Elliptica stopped what they were doing when they heard Spiral's angry fits.

"Let him go!" Pac and Cylindria yelled, simultaneously. The dark-haired girl flew closer and fired up her PSC to shoot a beam of electric energy at the cyclops.

Despite her aim, the cyclops merely flew higher and dodged her attack. With an angry Spiral still in his grasp, the ghost cackled and sneered down at the pink teen.

"Ha! Ye have to do better than that, shortie!"

All four Pacworlders faltered and froze at what the cyclops had just said.

Uh-oh, Pac thought as he saw his pigtailed friend freeze in mid-air, levelling a sharp glare at the ghost with a murderous glint in her eyes.

"What did you just call me?"

Spiral snapped out of his shock and stared wide-eyed at his captor, "Ohhh, you said the forbidden word!"

The cyclops eyed the red teen dubiously, until a low thrum of whirring electricity reached his ears, along with a gravely threatening voice.

"What did you just call me?!"

Faltering in his confidence, the cyclops fought against the urge to gulp at the white-hot fury seething in the pigtailed girl's eyes. She looked like she was about to tear him apart, slime by slime.

He held up his free hand in nervous defence, vaguely aware of her PSC charging up to prepare for a full-powered blast.

"Ch-Chill, shortie, it was only a jest—"

He didn't get to finish his sentence before a loud ZAP exploded through the air.

The cyclops had been so distracted with Cylindria's steely glare that he failed to notice her PSC, now fully charged, blasting out a stream of light at him. Before he could react, he was caught in a ball of electrical energy, crying out in shock and dropping Spiral. Now free, the red Pacworlder fell for a few feet before he twisted and rightened himself in mid-air, thanks to the Flying Berry, and flew off to fetch his PSC.

With the ghost trapped in the beam's static tendrils, Cylindria abruptly pulled her weapon back, causing the electrical stream to swing a wide arch through the air, pulling the screaming cyclops along with it like a lasso.

"I'm NOT short! I'm average height!"

With a grunt, she swung her PSC forward again, akin to swinging a fishing rod, and the electrical stream pulled the ghost with it and catapulted him into the air, straight towards Pac.

Catching on to her plan, Chameleon Pac got into position the moment the cyclops was released from the electric beam, sending the ghost hurtling uncontrollably towards the Yellow One. A cyclops was too big for a PSC's slime storage if the cannon also had to take up capacity from other, smaller ghosts. But that was never a problem for Pac.

With the hurtling cyclops in range, Pac's tongue shot out and coiled itself around the giant. Taking a deep breath, Pac pulled his tongue back in and sucked the cyclops out of the air, compressing and morphing into nothing but a big blob of slime from the vacuum-like force. Within seconds, the ghost disappeared into Pac's mouth.

He swallowed hard, feeling his stomach adjust to the overload of slime, before his maw opened and he belched out a single eyeball.

Pac breathed a small sigh of relief as he watched the eyeball bop away.

At that moment he remembered Spiral's fall amidst the skirmish, and he looked down to make sure his best friend was alright. He saw the red teen flying back up in the air, holding his PSC and looking ready to fight again. Spiral gave him a smile and a thumbs-up. He was okay.

Grinning, Pac turned to face the heroine who had lent them a hand. "Thanks, Cyli!"

But Cylindria was already back to rounding up more ghosts, all while grumbling under her breath over the cyclops' remarks on her height. Pac spared a tiny chuckle at her expense before a pair of ghosts zipped past his vision and he snapped back into focusing for the invasion at hand.

The next few minutes were a cacophony of zaps, munches, PSC blasts and frightened ghost moans as the team made further progress in rounding up all of the spectres. All that was left were a few of the smaller ghosts and some tentacled ones. They were nearly finished.

"Squids at 5 o'clock!" Came a yell of warning from Elliptica, down below.

Pac, still in his Chameleon form, dove sharply and angled himself towards a pair of tentacle ghosts. The squids were hovering agitatedly at the river's edge, seemingly unsure of what their next move should be now that the Yellow One was making a beeline for them.

The river's currents were strong and wild, but despite the thrum of the rapids, Pac could still hear the ghosts' angry voices when they yelled at each other. As he drew closer, he heard one of them say to the other, "We can't all be defeated now! We need more time! Or else Betrayus won't—"

The squid's words died on the wind when a tongue lashed out and plucked it out of the air, straight into Chameleon Pac's mouth. After swallowing, Pac crossed his arms and smirked down at the remaining squid. "Or else Betrayus won't what? Won't regenerate your ectoplasm? Won't give you a raise?"

The remaining squid growled up at the berry-powered Pacworlder.

Backing up towards the river, the ghost reached into itself and pulled out stacks of slimeballs, hardening them before throwing them at Pac. Before the barrage could reach him, Pac turned invisible again and dodged the incoming slimeballs.

After the first wave of slime attacks was over, he reappeared again and caught the last few slimeballs in his mouth, swallowing them.

But as Pac got ready for the second wave, he felt his powers suddenly dim and weaken. He glanced down at himself and watched his skin go from a deep green to a bright yellow as his powers wore off.

His Chameleon berry was done and spent.

No problem, Pac thought, getting into a battle-ready stance. Even if his main berry had worn off, he could still fly as the remnants of his powers were still going strong. He had learned a few years ago that even if his main power-up had worn off, his berry still had enough juice to keep him agile and airborne for a few more minutes.

And so, he dodged and ate most of the slimeballs that were thrown his way. The second wave was quicker and more persistent than the first wave, and despite his agility, a single slimeball struck the side of Pac's face. He grunted in annoyance before shaking the excess slime off of him.

"That all you got?" He jested.

But he quickly realised that he was mocking nothing but thin air. The squid had taken advantage of the time gained from the distracted Yellow One and flew away, straight towards some large, high-stacked rocks on the river's edge.

It took a second for Pac to realise that those rocks weren't the only ones sitting on that riverbank.

With a drop in his stomach, Pac spotted some campers cowering and hiding behind those rocks. It was the children.

And the ghost was flying straight towards them.

With no time to lose, Pac shot through the air and flew after the ghost.

The squid reached the rocks and flared out its tentacles, trying to snatch any one of the scampering children. Some children managed to escape from the scene and ran back to camp, while others shrieked and frantically searched for a place to hide somewhere in between the rocks.

One little girl tripped and stumbled, falling onto the flat surface of a high rock, dangerously close to the edge where it hung above the river. She turned around, about to stand back up and make a run for it, only to cry out in fear upon coming face-to-face with a snarling, monstrous ghost.

Just as the squid reached out to take the young child captive, a blur of yellow came and body-slammed into the spectre, sending it barrelling to the side.

"You won't lay a single tentacle on these kids!"

The squid caught itself in the air and whirled around to face the Yellow One with a frustrated, guttural roar.

Pac glared back fiercely, anger shining intensely in his blue eyes. Attacking innocent civilians was one thing, but willingly capturing and endangering children was a line that should never be crossed – and anger burned viciously through his system because of it.

With renewed vigour, Pac effortlessly dodged a string of slimeballs thrown at him. He flew into a tight turn around the barrage of attacks before shooting straight for the squid. All he needed was to get close enough to chomp the ghost. But as he opened his maw and lurched forward to gobble his opponent, the spectre dove downwards, narrowly dodging Pac's bite.

The Yellow One faltered to a halt, regained his balance, and shot down after the squid.

As he flew down, he saw the ghost fly towards the rocks again.

And at the last second, the ghost twisted in the air and flung out a single slimeball.

But it wasn't aimed at Pac.

The slimeball shot through the air, straight for the little girl who tumbled onto the rocks earlier. She had gotten to her feet and was looking for a way down, completely oblivious to the incoming attack.

"Look out!" Pac yelled, changing course to try and reach the girl before the slimeball could. He hoped with all of his heart that the child heard his yell of warning.

It was futile. The girl heard him, but even when she looked up in time to see the slimeball hurtling towards her, she didn't get away quick enough.

The slimeball came and splattered onto the surface of the rock, right in front of her feet. The child yelped and jumped back from the impact. She stumbled backwards, trying to catch her balance, only to feel nothing but air underneath her feet. She screamed as she slipped right off the edge of the rock, falling into the river.

"No!" Pac cried out as the girl disappeared into the water with a loud splash, taken away by the current.

From what he could make out in his peripheral vision, the squid took advantage of the situation and flew away to escape. But Pac didn't go after the ghost.

Wind whipping against his ears, he flew as fast as he could down to the river.

It was wide and deep, and the currents were moving extremely fast. Panic gripped his heart when he couldn't see the child anywhere… until he saw the little girl resurfacing and spluttering against the pull of the strong current, flailing before her head disappeared under the water again.

"Take out the rest of the ghosts!" Pac shouted into the air, knowing that his team was capable of finishing off the remaining ghosts in his absence. He just hoped that they heard his command in time, right before he made a steep dive to where he last saw the girl go under.

SPLASH!

The world went muffled and quiet as Pac plunged into the river.

It was difficult to see through the dark and murky water, and the current took him away as soon as he was submerged. Squinting, he could just make out the dark shape of a small figure a few feet in front of him, flailing and rolling. Trying to swim through the water was nearly impossible. Pac struggled to maintain his balance.

With effort, he kicked against the current and reached out towards the little girl.

She flailed and disappeared out of his sight the first time he tried to grab her, a mass of bubbles and murky water blocking his vision. After Pac managed to get closer, she slipped through his fingers in his second attempt, until finally he caught her arm and held on firmly. He kicked and swam up towards the surface.

Breaking through the water, Pac gasped and spluttered, wrapping an arm around the child to keep her from washing away.

The girl was hysteric. She coughed and struggled in her own attempt to stay afloat, whimpering as she cried and clung onto Pac.

The Yellow One had to kick with all of his strength to keep them at the surface when a wave of water gushed over them. They nearly submerged again as the current kept dragging them away. With the child holding onto him with a vice-like grip, Pac struggled to keep their heads above the water.

"It's okay! I've got you, you're gonna be okay!" He tried to assure the frightened child.

Pac knew better than to make promises he didn't know he could keep, but the child was struggling and clinging onto him for dear life. He had to calm her down as quickly as possible – otherwise, both of them could drown.

The river grew narrower the further downstream they went, and with it, the current grew stronger.

Up ahead, Pac saw more rapids were fast approaching, but with it came a silver lining – there was a giant willow tree sitting right on the river's edge, on a steep and eroded bank. Its bare roots were hanging over the rapids, just barely touching the surface of the water, creating an opportunity for them to grab onto something.

Focussing the last of his energy into his limbs, Pac kicked and swam towards the edge, all while holding tightly onto the child.

The water dragged them under a couple of times, and as the tree came closer, so did the rocks from the rapids and Pac navigated precariously through the current to dodge them.

When the first overhanging root came within reach, Pac grabbed it and held onto it with all his might.

From under the water, his legs kicked out aimlessly, until one foot found a rock jutting out from the soil of the bank. Pac kept his foot against it, stabilising them. Water rushed and propelled into them from behind, nearly causing the girl to slip from Pac's grasp.

"Grab on!" Pac instructed, trying to pull the child up so she could grab onto the root.

The child whimpered, on the verge of tears again as her arms remained locked around Pac. "I-I can't!"

"You can do it! I'm right here, I'll catch you if you fall!" Pac tried to assure her, amidst trying not to swallow water as another small wave crashed into them. His strength was starting to wane, and his grip on the root wasn't going to hold on for too much longer. He had to get the girl to safety.

Sniffling, the child took several deep, frightened breaths before mustering up the courage to have one arm let go of Pac, reaching up for the root.

She faltered, barely catching the root before she instinctively pulled back when she almost slipped, only for Pac to hoist her back up so she could have better reach. This time, the child managed to reach up and clamp her tiny fingers around the root.

"That's it!" Pac encouraged, one arm still holding onto her in case she fell. "Now pull yourself up!"

The girl's little arms trembled as she tried hoisting herself up, clinging onto the root with both hands now. Pac helped her by holding his now-free hand against her back, giving her leverage by pushing her up.

Her feet slipped against the wet soil of the steeply eroded bank, but miraculously, she held onto the root. Pac willed all of his energy into holding on and preventing them from being taken by the current, all while keeping a steady hand on the child's back as she slowly climbed up the bank. When she got within reach of more roots, she bravely grabbed onto them and steadily pulled herself up.

After what felt like hours, the girl finally reached the top of the riverbank, hoisting herself up and over onto firm, dry land.

Despite still being buffeted by the raging torrent, Pac breathed a great sigh of relief. She was finally safe.

But the same couldn't be said for the Yellow One.

He didn't see the chunk of driftwood coming at him from behind, the gnarly branch jetting towards him through the stream.

Pac tightened his hold on the root, but just as he got ready to hoist himself up—

THUNK!

Stars splattered across his vision as the driftwood came and careened right into Pac, slamming him on the head.

It made him lose his balance and his hands lost their white-knuckled hold on the only means of escape he had. Before he could regain his grip, the root slipped through his fingers and the unforgiving current took him away.

Pac's head was underwater before he even knew what was happening.

Water filled his mouth and his limbs flailed haphazardly, but they did nothing to save him from the pull of the current.

Fighting against it felt like resisting the descent of a roller-coaster, with the forces of nature rolling and pulling him in all directions. He couldn't even figure out which way was up or down. The water was too dark and too chaotic as it spun him around and about, so much so that he couldn't find enough strength to reach for his berry dispenser.

Panic set in when his back slammed against a rock, and despite kicking out to try and steady himself, his left wrist knocked painfully against another rock.

With a sickening churn in Pac's stomach, he remembered the dangerous-looking rocks that jutted out from the river near the willow tree… and he realised that he was heading straight for the heart of the rapids.

Involuntary mumbles of panic escaped his throat, but they all came out as silent bubbles, disappearing into the surf and joining masses of white water.

Through flailing arms and squinting eyes, he saw the looming shadows of more, bigger rocks rapidly approaching. Kicking and swimming did little to slow down his collision course with the rapids.

Every stroke and kick against the turbulent current felt like wrestling against an invisible monster that was ten times his size.

His arms and legs felt numb and stiff from exhaustion. His lungs were burning and begging for air. His heart pounded against his ears.

He was completely at the mercy of the river.

As Pac got tossed and rolled around like a ragdoll underwater, his chest ached from lack of oxygen and the world grew darker. A rim of black encircled his vision…

Fear nipped at his heart at the sudden familiarity.

The suffocation, the silence, the darkness, the feeling of something pulling him down towards his death…

It was just like in his nightmare.

No, no, no— A desperate mantra rang in his head as his strength slowly ebbed away from his body and he went limp. The darkness drew closer. Fear squeezed his heart. No!

And then, something else joined the desperate voice in his head.

A sound all too dreadfully familiar.

A low, drone-like thrum.

It echoed in his mind, and as the thrum grew louder, so did the distant screaming that came with it.

The wails from his nightmare.

It hummed and rang in his mind, and underneath it was the familiar echo of cruel laughter.

Despair clouded his thoughts. His throat constricted, painfully, and against his will, his mouth opened in a desperate plea for air. But only water came in.

It choked him, the same way he was choked in his nightmare.

As the darkness closed in and his body grew numb, Pac could've sworn he saw the torrents of water morph into the very same tendrils of darkness in his dream, reaching for his throat as they dragged him towards the rocks.

That was when, amidst his hazy mind and slipping consciousness, he heard a sudden, muffled splash from somewhere above.

A blast of bubbles invaded his vision from the splash, until a pair of strong hands reached out of the surf and grabbed onto his arms.

Barely conscious, Pac nearly didn't recognise the person who jumped into the water to grab him – until he saw a flash of red, blue and white.

Spiral.

Vaguely, Pac felt himself get yanked harshly up towards the surface, the rush of water distorting and filtering out any sounds in its wake, including the echoes of his nightmare.

Breaking through the water's surface was the only thing that snapped him out of his near-comatose state.

All at once, he was blinded by bright daylight and clear sound returned to his ears. Feeling finally returned to his senses as his saviour hauled him out of the water and into the air, flying them towards the edge of the river.

The moment they touched down onto dry land, Pac fell to his knees and coughed up water.

His lungs burned, but his body didn't give him a chance to take a breath as he coughed and hacked out all of the water that was trapped in his airways.

Pac was barely aware of his best friend kneeling next to him, holding him steady by the shoulder and assisting by repeatedly clapping a hand on his back.

"Come on, Pac! Breathe, buddy!"

When his involuntary gag reflex finally decided that all water was out of his system, Pac gasped and gulped down mouthfuls of air. He inhaled fast and hard, wheezing in between as he regained precious oxygen.

It felt like forever before his breathing calmed down, when it only took a few minutes. He felt cold and dizzy, but the pain in his chest finally went away with each deep breath he took.

A small, fearful part of him expected to see dark tendrils still reaching for him, or hear the nightmarish echo of screams and cackles.

But all he heard was his own intake of breath, the frantic beat of his heart, and the roar of the rapids behind them. All he saw were blades of grass as he hung his head, hands braced against the ground. Water trickled down his face and dripped onto the grass.

After it was evident that his breathing was under control, he slowly looked up to his right.

Spiral was still kneeling right beside him, supporting his shoulders and looking at him with worried and questioning eyes.

Hesitantly, Pac found his voice.

"I'm—I'm okay."

A frown creased Spiral's brow. "Like hell you are. You almost drowned, dude!"

In a different situation, Pac probably would've chuckled at the blunt honesty in Spiral's words. But he was right.

Pac might have insisted that he was okay, but he could still feel faint shivers running along his body, more out of shock than from the cold. He'd be lying if he said he was alright after that near-death experience.

He blamed the adrenaline rush for his dazed and unconvincing reaction.

"Just take it easy. No sudden movements," Spiral insisted before he could protest, helping Pac ease into a sitting position.

As Pac sat down, he took a few more slow, deep breaths. Partly to catch his breath after his ordeal, and partly to calm down his still-racing heart.

As the weight of the situation sunk in, memories came rushing back. With a jolt, Pac remembered why he jumped into the river in the first place.

"The girl," he gasped, looking around frantically. "Is she okay?"

On cue, he heard the faintest sound of whimpers and sobs nearby.

Pac turned to his left and saw that there, not too far from them and close to the cover of the willow tree, stood two figures. One was the little girl, crying and sniffing from shock as she clung to the older figure. The older person, holding onto the crying child and whispering words of comfort, was Elliptica.

"She's a bit shaken up, but she'll be alright. Elli's calming her down," Spiral assures from Pac's right.

Pac looked back at his best friend. "And the ghosts—"

"Taken care of. It was a tiny horde anyway, we finished them off as soon as you jumped into the river."

For the first time since they were called out to handle the ghost attack, immense relief washed over Pac. The horde of ghosts themselves wasn't that much of an issue, since they were less in numbers than what the team was used to handling. It was the stress of keeping the campers safe, both from aggressive slime attacks and from the unfriendly natural environment, that had kept them on their toes.

On top of it all, children were involved. Had Pac not been there to witness the little girl falling into the wild river, then the outcome of this mission would've ended in tragedy.

Pac craned his neck to look behind him, towards the rapids.

He stared at the rushing torrents of water as though he couldn't believe he'd been in there just a few minutes ago, fighting for his life. It had felt like he was trapped in a relentless vortex, struggling in vain against whatever force was pulling him towards certain doom. The memory of muffled water and distorted sounds still rang in his ears.

He tried his best not to remember the other things he also heard underwater.

As the remnants of his shock slowly ebbed away, Pac pulled his gaze back to the ground in front of him. He took a deep breath, relishing the fact that he was still alive. Thanks to Spiral.

He raised his head and gave a shaky but grateful smile up to the friend who saved his life. "Thanks, pal."

Spiral responded with a nod and a proud, supportive smile. "Anytime, bro."

The red Pacworlder helped the Yellow One back up onto his feet. Pac's legs still felt a little numb, but they were slowly regaining their strength. He'll have to take a power berry later to get some energy back.

Just as the two boys stood and dusted themselves off, Pac immediately took notice of the little girl running towards them, with Elliptica not too far behind.

The child came running along the bank, tears still fresh in her eyes, and practically tackled Pac as she came and threw her arms around him, stifling a sob. He stumbled but quickly regained his footing, looking down in surprise at the little girl.

"Th-That was scary!" she cried, hiding her face in Pac's side.

Immediately, Pac returned her embrace and rested a hand on her head in comfort.

"I know," he said, softly and reassuringly. "But you were so brave. It's okay now. You're okay."

The child said nothing. Only a few more sniffles came out, refusing to let go of Pac. But he didn't mind the hug. He gave her as much comfort as possible since she's been through quite a scare. They both were still recovering from their impromptu trip through the river, both soaked to the bone.

But they were alive. That's all that mattered.

"Pac! Are you alright?!"

Pac looked up just as Elliptica reached them, panting and looking every bit as dishevelled as the rest of them were. Tiny drops of slime clung to her gloves and dirt covered her shoes, but her eyes were wide with worry as she looked them all over in concern.

"We're okay," Pac assured her, glancing over at Spiral to check if he was alright, too.

The red teen merely gave her a thumbs up, but his smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "I'm as good as can be, but we had a close call with the river. I'm surprised Pac didn't take on any damage from the rapids—those rocks looked gnarly."

Now that you mention it- Pac thought as he remembered the moment he slipped underwater after losing his grip on the tree root.

That was when he had, indeed, run into trouble with some rocks, even if he knocked against them only twice. He wished he didn't remember, because he suddenly became aware of a dull ache in his back and left wrist. Not the kind that would hurt, but he's definitely going to be sore tomorrow.

"It's alright, the good news is that we're all still in one piece, right?" Pac said, trying to ease their worries. It worked when tension and worry visibly disappeared from his friends' shoulders.

Pac looked them over and realised that they were missing a team member.

"Where's Cyli?"

"She's back at the campsite. She stayed behind to help the campers recover from the attack," Elliptica explained before a grimace tugged at her face. "There's… a lot of slime to clean up."

A light groan came from Spiral. The Yellow One himself also gave a small sigh of dejection. Clean-up was never their favourite part of an attack - even if Pac did most of the work by slurping it all up.

Movement within his arms reminded him of the little girl still clinging onto him, and he looked when she gave one last, dry sniffle. She looked up at him with sad, tearful eyes.

"I want my mom," she whimpered, bottom lip quivering.

His heart broke at the sight of her tear-stained face. The poor child has been through enough for one day.

Pac gently tussled her hair. "Come on, let's get you back to your mother."

With that, the trio of ghost-fighters and the young child slowly started making their way back to the camp. As they did, Pac tried his best not to let his thoughts wander too far into what happened at the river.

Or more specifically, what happened when he was underwater.

Even though he had assured his friends that he was alright, a deeper part of his mind was unsettled and nowhere near being okay.

Somehow, his nightmare had followed him into that river.

Somehow, in broad daylight, the horrors of his dreams came to life. They had reached for him when he was vulnerable, when he was so close to drowning.

He felt troubled. He doubted that what he saw was real, but it still felt so vivid. It felt real. Too real.

Was it real, or was it just a memory? Had he just imagined things? A trick of his mind because of a near-death experience? A flashback to a bad memory, before he'd meet his doom?

He didn't know.

He didn't want to know.

"My baby!"

"Mommy!"

The little girl broke into a run and raced for her mother.

Arms outstretched, her mother swept her off the ground the moment they reached each other and swaddled her child close to her chest, crying from relief. As soon as she set her child back down on the ground, the mother frantically checked her daughter all over for any injuries, asking questions and peppering her with relieved kisses.

Pac took in the scene with a wistful smile.

The sight of the girl reuniting with her mother made him happy – truly, it warmed his heart and he also swelled with relief over the child safely returned to her family. He was happy that everything turned out okay for them.

But deep down, the sight also made him miss his parents.

It's an old feeling. A useless longing, he'd tell himself, since it's been years since he was given hope that they're still alive, and yet he's still no closer to finding them than the day they disappeared. Even so, seeing the child happily being embraced by her mother made him yearn deeply for something he never had.

In his heart of hearts, he had long hoped that one day he'd have a reunion with his mother like that, too.

He was snapped out of his languishing thoughts when Spiral appeared at his side. The red teen whistled as he marvelled at the camp. "Dang, the ghosts didn't hold back on the slime this time."

Indeed, the entire campsite was smothered in green ectoplasm. It was barely even a camp anymore—if anything, it looked like a playground straight out of the Netherworld.

"Guess we better start cleaning up, then." Came Elliptica's less-than-eager sigh.

Pac was about to take a berry out of his dispenser to help with cleaning, when he was interrupted by the little girl's mother heading straight for him. Before he could stop her, the woman came and enveloped Pac in a tight embrace.

"Thank you, Pac-Man. Thank you!"

Pac froze, at a loss for words.

He wasn't expecting her to show such deep gratitude, despite seeing how relieved she had been to have her daughter back. He hesitantly returned the hug, "Um, it—it was nothing, ma'am."

The woman pulled back, but she kept her hands on Pac's shoulders as she beamed at him. "Nothing? You saved my daughter's life! If it weren't for you, I would've lost my child today. I am forever in your debt!"

Despite his surprise – and the knot of emotion welling up in his chest – Pac mustered up a kind smile. "It was the least I could do."

They exchanged a few more words, mostly praise and heartfelt gratitude from the woman, before she bid him goodbye and went back to her daughter, taking her away to get cleaned and checked up for any injuries. The little girl waved goodbye at Pac before she went with her mother. The Yellow One gave her a small wave in return.

Pac took a moment to collect himself. He didn't quite know how to describe what he felt, only that the warm embrace and immeasurable gratitude she had shown him was something that caught him off-guard. It stirred something in him, deepening the yearning he felt every time he wished his parents were with him. It woke up memories of when he was little, wishing for his own mother's embrace whenever he missed her. It was bittersweet, in a way. And melancholic.

He was roused out of his thoughts when he felt a hand settle on his shoulder.

When he looked up to see who it was, Spiral was staring back at him with a slightly raised brow, but there was a knowing look in his eyes.

"You okay, dude?"

Pac merely gave a single, small nod.

His smile didn't quite reach his eyes, but it was enough to show his friend that he'd be okay, even if he admittedly felt a little sad at that moment. Now just wasn't the right time. They had a job to do.

"We better start cleaning," Elliptica reminded them, softly.

Pac and Spiral nodded at her words. A bit of Pac's spirit came back to him again. "Right! Let's start with the cabins. They have the most slime in them, and then we—"

Nobody would know what Pac's next order of instructions would be. For as they talked and planned in moderate calm, the air was suddenly interrupted by a panic-stricken call.

"Guys!"

Pac swung around at the familiar voice.

At first, he thought that she was just calling for their attention. But as Pac saw his pigtailed friend sprint towards them with panic in her eyes, he immediately knew that something was wrong.

Cylindria was running to them faster than an athlete in a sprint marathon. Her wristcom was lit up and crackled faintly with static from an earlier voice transmission.

Spiral and Elliptica stopped whatever they were doing and stood alert, confused and worried at Cylindria's rapid approach. Pac's legs moved of their own accord and he stepped towards her, uncertain but ready to jump into action for whatever was going on.

"Cyli? What's wro—"

"Sir C just called, we have a big problem!" She skidded to a halt in front of them, panting before she spoke.

"This attack was just a distraction—a giant army of ghosts is attacking the city! Right now!"

A/N:

...Okay hear me out, this chapter WOULDN'T have ended on another cliffhanger, but while writing this I decided to split this chapter in half for the sake of pacing - I don't want a chapter to feel repetitive because of two major fight scenes. I'm gonna take a break from continuing on te other half, which will be the next chapter. The next chapter will be all about the team fighting the threat back in the city.

If any of you are interested, I've also started a new PMATGA fanfic called 'Call Me Cyli' and it's basically an in-depth take on the first two episdoes of the show, but in Cylindria's point fo view (basically how she met Pac and Spiral). You can find it on my profile if you'd like to give it a read :)

To my wonderful reviewer, Hope, thank you SO much for your fantastic and detailed feedback on the previous chapter! I always look forward to your reviews, and the last one really made me happy over how many details you've picked up! Your continuous support means the world, thanks for sticking with this story!