This was it.

After months of training. many tears shed. Many hugs shared, many sleepless nights. Many times spent staring at the videos on her phone. It was Splatfest finals. And Meggy Spletzer was ready. The last year or so had been a blur of epic proportions. Living in Inkopolis, meeting Mario, meeting Axol, becoming human, losing her old rival to an evil gecko who wanted his own island full of disgusting filth...she'd gone over it so many times before. If anything she was sort of bored of it by now. She just wanted to put an end to the hurting. Do what she always wanted to do; win the Splatfest. Take that coveted trophy home.

It was the very final round. Meggy and co had fought hard to get here. Her friends; the dim-witted Mario, the cowardly Luigi, and the gamer girl Tari. It took a great deal of training and fighting, but they were soon moulded into a force to be reckoned with. Plus a little help from an old professor with a board to traverse the ink, and all. No-one could stand in their way. Except, perhaps...for the final opponents. Team Killer Ink. Oppressive, snooty, hated humans and would stop at nothing to get that trophy. All throughout the fight they had played dirty; knocking her teammates aside, refusing to count splats, she was even certain they were using illegally tuned weapons. If only she knew how desperate they could be.

Jumping and weaving through the streams of ink, Meggy closed in on one of the Killer Inks. The...well they were ALL blue, cyan in colour specifically, but this one was wearing the 18k Aviators and camo jacket. Meggy ducked a blast from their weapon and fired orange ink from her own Splattershot. It slapped into the guy and he exploded, his angry soul floating back to the respawn point. She took the chance while she had it, inking the mid-point of the map with speed and gusto. Before long it was all coated in a wonderful citris-y orange. But would it be enough.

Up above came the cries of the two presenters overlooking the battleground; Callie and Marie, of the Squid Sisters. Callie was the first to pipe up in her overly cheery tone; "Alright, folks! This match has been RED HOT! We're entering the final minute of the final match!"

"Indeed," Marie responded, her tone calmer and noticably more dry, "This has been a close match between the Splatsquad and Team Killer Ink. It's come down to this!"

Callie led, "Looking at the turf map OOOOOOH it's neck-a-neck! Splatsquad trailing slightly behind with the ink coverage. Both bases are super-turfed, but TKI has the lead on their base and mid-point! The Splatsquad will have to push forward if they wanna take this!"

Meggy stopped. She was right. It was down to a do-or-die scenario by now. She had two options. Did she stay here and slowly push toward...or an all-or-nothing attack on their base. She began to sweat as she thought hard about her plan, heart pounding in her chest. The clock was ticking, the seconds were running out...

"You heard her, Meggy..." Meggy snapped out of her panicked trance by a voice to her side. She turned to see Tari, a look born of worry, "What do we do?"

"Yeah, do we stay..." Luigi asked, his voice wavering, "Or go?"

Mario, his face twisted into the same rictus grin it tended to be, gave a thumbs up, "Mario will-a support you no matter what-a!"

"I know, Red..." Meggy smiled warmly, "Hmm..." she placed a hand to her chin in quick thought, "OKAY! Tari, hang back at mid-point and make sure no-one tries to take back our turf. Turn 'em back or turn 'em to paint!" Tari saluted and began to circle the area, scanning the scenery with her Blaster. She turned to the green plumber, "Luigi, I need you on the less-travelled paths. Make sure every last corner of turf is orange, no gaps! Build up your special and hammer 'em where it hurts!" Luigi nodded and set off for the back routes. Finally, Meggy turned to Mario, "And Red?" he looked up in wonder, "...Smash."

"Oh boy!" Mario's grin grew wider, before he rushed off, "Mario gonna kill a kid!"

"Alright! Let's GO!" Meggy screamed, rearing up on her ink board and zooming into the fray. The seconds ticked down further and further as she skidded across the ink. She had to admit, she had an...unfair advantage, being able to travel across enemy ink. But it was the last minute. No time to argue rules. She zoomed across the ink, training her Splattershot on targets and terrain alike. Orange ink zoomed out of the barrel, slathering the ground in more of her colour. She even managed to splat one of the Killer Inks on the way! The other two fell to a blast from Luigi's special, another was torn asunder by Mario. She was so close to the base...

"Get the hell off my turf!"

BLAM! Meggy's ink board exploded under her feet! She screamed and tumbled head over heels and collapsing in a heap before the enemy spawn. "Aagh! What the..." she grumbled, looking up at the cause for her tumble. She scowled at the white jacket and red boots of the cyan Inkling hoved into view, "Leader."

"Ape-brained Ape," Leader growled back, twirling her .52 Gal in her hands. She leaned over and smirked, "Ready to lose, kiddo? 'Cause I ain't letting some smelly chimp walk away with MY trophy."

Meggy got to her feet. After all of the abuse, all of the sneering, all of the hatred and racism from these people. She was ready to knock them down a peg. She assumed a combat stance, "Bring it, Stinkling!" and opened fire with her Splattershot. Leader ducked and weaved under and around the stream, before getting into close quarters and taking a deft swing at the human with the stock of her Gal. Meggy dodged, following with a swift strike from the bent iron feeding tube of her own Splatter. She conked Leader in the nose, who jumped back a few feet. She dabbed at the small stream of cyan ink now running out of her nose and growled like a wild animal. Throwing her weapon aside, she outright tanked the shots Meggy threw her way before, with strength unheard of in an Inkling, she batted Meggy's Splattershot aside and delivered the mother of all kicks to her chest. Meggy stumbled backwards from the immense blow, clutching her chest, taking step after step backwards before, "W-Woah!" she ran out of room! With a deft yelp, she tumbled off of the platform.

Right onto the edge of the shipping container below her.

[CRACK!]

The sound resonated throughout the entire arena. Many winced, some screamed, and Tari's heart jumped into her throat. From the mid-point, she had seen Meggy slam into the container's edge...neck first. After that, she tumbled to the floor and lay still. Eerily still.

"Wow, this is certainly an interesting match!" Callie cheered, "Some red ink's gotten into the fray!"

"Wait. What the...OH GOD!" Marie screamed from the rafters, pressing a button on her intercom. "Stop the match, stop the match RIGHT NOW!"

The timer stopped. At what time, no-one bothered to look. All eyes were now on the crumpled human, huddled at the bottom the Killer Inks' spawn. Before long, medical experts (some of the weird jelly octopus-types) were upon Meggy, and inspecting her closely and gently. Tari rushed over to look at her. Her body was limp. and her head was...her head was...no human could have their head THAT far back...right?

"MEGGY!" she screamed, getting as close as she could to her. One of the jellyfish stood up and blocked her path. Tari, evidently, could go no further. Tari's heart hammered in her chest, her fear at the possibility was overwhelming. She asked so quietly as if not to disturb the air around her, "Is she...?"

The jellyfish looked over to his colleagues, one of which looked up and shook his head. The jellyfish turned back to her, "I'm sorry, she's..."

Time froze for Tari. She felt things...she'd never, ever felt before. She collapsed to her knees, staring at the floor, a look of pure anguish on her face. Before long the other members of each team realised what had happened, and stopped playing. The Killer Inks, having already respawned during the altercation, stood by Leader. Mario and Luigi would come barreling down the stage until they too caught up to Tari. Mario, even with his limited mental state, knew something was wrong. He pushed past the jellyfish and knelt down to the body. No...no, this wasn't happening.

"M-Meggy...?"

Meanwhile, the Killer Inks overlooked the scene from above. A pool of red liquid was now forming around the human's head and neck, her eyes wide open and also reddened. Her body was completely lifeless, bar the odd spasm of a limb here and there. One of the Killer Inks, the one wearing the gask mask, turned to Leader with a look of horror on his face, "Holy squid boss, I think you killed her!"

"...I-I did..." Leader stared dumbfounded at her hands. For a while, all was silent as the scene set in for everyone. Leader continued to look at the body, before... "HhhhhhhhhhhhhHAAAAA! HA HA HA!" she popped off, laughing nastily and dancing around the body and the distraught Splatsource, "Wow, they don't make those humans like us, do they? Done in by a small fall! What a freakin' lo-OOF!"

With speed, Mario had spasmed his way over to Leader and tackled her to the ground. He began beating her senseless, punches and headbutts flying everywhere as he attacked the Inkling girl.

"YOU SONS OF-A BITCHES!" he screamed, tears in his eyes as he continued his assault, "YOU KILLED MY-A FRIEND! YOU KILLED HER!"

"Bro, it's not worth it!" Luigi wept, trying desperately to pull him off of Leader, "Get off! Mario!"

Tari wasn't looking. She wasn't listening. The world had gone grey and dark. She didn't see the paramedics leave to get a stretcher. She didn't hear the Squid Sisters, also horribly shocked, announce the finals were cancelled. And she didn't see an Agent, clad in yellow and black, subdue and handcuff Leader before dragging her and the rest of the team to parts elsewhere. All she focused on...was Meggy. Dead. As the world erupted into chaos around her, she crawled over to the body, embraced it tightly.

And sobbed like the world wasn't watching.

===

"Arise, my friend...Embra, commands it..."

Meggy awoke with a start. A gasping, sudden breath, desperate for air. Her eyes shot open as her body heaved violently. Something felt wrong. No...something felt VERY wrong. She was lying on her back in some sort of container, but she could barely feel anything below her. It was dark, so dark she couldn't even see her hands in front of her face. It was hollow, howling, cold...so...cold...

"Wh-Where am I?!" she screamed, trying in vain to bang on the top, to no real avail. She began to hyperventilate, not helped by her body already being so bereft of air, and her banging continued. She continued to yell, "'HELP! HELP ME!"

"Sssshhh...it is okay, my child..."

"Wha..." Meggy stopped, her chest still heaving and her breath still staggered, "Wh-Who's there?!"

"It is all okay...just rise, from this space. You will pass through, unharmed. Well...as unharmed as you can be..."

"What do you mean?" Meggy cried out again, only for silence to reach her ears in response. She took a second to calm herself, before looking up at the box. She thumped on it a few moer times...but, it made no sound. She could barely feel it. She had been so distraight she wasn't even registering if she could. She swallowed her fear and responded again, "R-Rise? Okay..." and, with eyes closed, she rose. She felt nothing but air as she slowly ascended from this dark prison, a chill wafting through her body as the dark and noise of the box slowly vanished. She opened her eyes, looking around her new location, "What the..."

"I'm so sorry..."

It was a graveyard. A dark and stormy graveyard, littered with stones and trees stripped of their leaves. It was night, and raining, though Meggy could feel the droplets pass through her. Around her was a bunch of people; some Inkling, some human, and a lot she recognised. SMG4 at the front, followed by Saiko, and Tari, and Luigi...and Mario. All decked in dark, funeral clothing and holding bunches of flowers. Sad. Distraught. Oh no.

SMG4 cleared his throat, beginning a speech, "We are gathered here, today, to say goodbye to our good friend, Meggy. She was..."

"What the Hell?!" Meggy screamed, her panic drowning out the talk. She rushed over to the others and frantically waved in front of their faces, depserately trying to get their attention, "Guys! Guys I'm right here! I'm okay! G-Guys? GUYS!" No response. No-one looked, no-one even blinked. Meggy's fear rose at the meaning of all this. She looked down at her hands. They were transparent. Pale. Almost...ghostly. "Oh God...a-am I...?"

"I am afraid, so..."

Meggy turned to the voice. Standing before her, ignored by the patrons and enveloped in thick fog, was a being. A tall being, Female, though Meggy could only tell because of her soft, sultry voice. Anything identifiable was simply hidden by a massive cream-white cloak, pattered with angelic yellow markings and symbols. Her feet ended in simple black boots, her hands covered in gloves, her head obscured by a hood drowning all features in shadows. Except, that is, for two white eyes and some locks of bright blond hair, spilling forth from the darkness.

Meggy's panic rose to overdrive levels; "What the HELL is-"

"Ssssh..." the figure silenced Meggy with a gloved finger to her lips. Meggy felt compelled to obey, and became silent. The figure sat herself down upon the ground, almost casually, patting the ground next to her, "Come. Sit a while and calm yourself. Watch the proceedings with me..."

Meggy did, and watched the funeral with worried interest. First, Tari stood up to the microphone to talk. Her face was an absolute mess; hair was frizzy, tears leaking from her eyes, clothes filthy and skin pale. She drummed up the courage to speak, "Thank you, f-for turning up to our little s-sendoff to...M-Me..." she began to falter, sobbing pitifully into the microphone, "I can't do this..."

[It'll be okay, kid. We've got this...] Saiko came up next, patting Tari on the back and taking the microphone. She tried to continue, but she didn't much further before the tears came, [So...M-Meggy was a friend of ours...of course...]

"Ah jeez, let me try," SMG4 sighed, taking the microphone from Saiko and letting the two embrace and cry for a bit. He cleared his throat, "For about a year now, we have been behind her as she tackled all of her greatest challenges. From meeting us, to dealing with her rival, to pulling through on the trauma of Anime Island..." Meggy flashed back to those events on cue. All that suffering...to die like this? No...this had to be a dream. It HAD to be! SMG4 plucked his hat off of his head and held it respectfully, "We've been so proud of her for coming this far. I just...wish it didn't end like this. I never planned this. No-one could have...should have. It's horrible freak luck, I am aware. But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. May she rest in peace..."

"Well said, SMG4..." Luigi said through a broken smile. He turned to grab the microphone and turn to Mario. Mario...was not his usual self. He had been completely silent, completely still the entire time. No messing around. No yahoos. Nothing. Luigi gave the statue a nudge, "Bro? You wanna say some words?"

Mario took three steps towards the grave. It had to be hers. It even had a neat plaque upon it. "Meggy Spletzer, 2001-2017. May she enjoy Splatfest in Heaven". Mario stared at the gravestone. He brought the microphone to his quivering mouth. Seconds that felt like days passed. And then...he dropped the microphone. He dropped to his knees. And he sobbed.

"Red! NO!" Meggy cried out in agony, tears streaming from her eyes. She rocketed up from her seat and rushed towards Red, depserately trying to embrace him. But her ghostly arms went right through. She continued, pleading, begging, "RED PLEASE! I'M RIGHT HERE. LOOK AT ME! PLEASE!"

Meggy felt someone grab her torso and pull her back. It was the angel, who it seemed was the one creature she could interact with. The angel dragged her backwards, while Meggy roared and kicked like a spoilt child, "Miss Spletzer, please calm yourself. There is nothing to gain from freaking out at this moment."

"PUT ME BACK!" Meggy roared in anguish, "DO WHATEVER WITCHCRAFT YOU'VE DONE, PUT ME BACK IN MY BODY! I can't be dead..." Meggy felt the last of her strength ebb away. Embra let go of her, and she dropped to her knees. She looked up at Mario, still crying at the grave as Tari and Saiko bawled into each others arms, and she began to cry too, "I...I CAN'T!"

"Sssssshh..." the figure cooed, slowly picking up the crying Meggy and holding her in her arms. She stroked the ghost girl's beanie-laden head, slowly and softly, "It is okay. This is just...how ways will go. I can help you. Comfort you. Just please, remain calm and allow me to help."

Meggy looked up at her guardian angel, her face a mess, "B-But..."

"Sssh. No more tears. We can fix this. Together."

"...O-Okay..." Meggy nodded solemnly. The entity once again let her go, but this time she managed to stand up on her own two feet. She looked up at her new friend, "Who...who are you?"

"Call me Embra," she placed her hand upon her chest as a greeting, before stretching it out to Meggy, "Lady of the Lost. Now, come with me, child. We have so much to discuss. Come. Talk a walk with me..."

Meggy took one final look at the proceedings. They were calming now. Some were trying to disperse. But the main group still stared at the grave, crying and snivling. Meggy sighed, took Embra's hand, and walked away towards the darkened city streets.