Chapter Seven:

One Final Farewell

The Mario Bros carried Tari through the streets of Inkopolis with SMG4 and the rest of the others, who'd gotten the word and came rushing over in a flurry of excitement.

After the sorrow brought about by Meggy's death and all the grief that came with such a development, this was what the gang needed, one big happy moment... even though the weight would carry with them for days.

However, neither of them knew the next thing coming, that the spirit of their friend had been watching then. Despite the daylight's limitations on ghostly activity, Meggy's spirit observed from afar with Embra, watching what went down in the Plaza.

Needless to say, Meggy was happy with the development that had taken place and was smiling down on her friends.

But now, it was time to speak with them one last time.

The Glitchy Gang headed to Meggy's apartment to party, to celebrate their victory, even though Professor E. Gadd was left wondering if he would ever be thanked for the Ink Boi, despite how abrupt certain events at the tournament were.

Mario, Luigi and Tari headed up to the roof to take in the view with Tari still clutching the Splatfest trophy, after a tumultuous night and the events from the past few days, it was time to finally rest well.

The trio gazed out at the horizon, thinking of past adventures leading up to this point in time, everything they'd been through together.

And now, with Splatfest behind them, who knew what other adventures awaited, but it was clear they wouldn't be sharing them with Meggy even though Mario and most of the others had pulled through various adventures long before they met her.

A simmering sound perked the group's ears and they turned, finally seeing the ethereal form of an old friend taking shape.

Meggy's spirit gleamed with a celestial aura around her transparent body, from her beanie all the way down to her boots, surrounded by blue spiritual sparks of light and retaining the form she had when she died but with her head and limbs all straight.

"Hi, guys..." The former Inkling said, "I see you won the Splatfest without me."

"Meggy!" Tari cried happily.

"Mama mia!" Mario exclaimed, "Mario's so happy to-a see you, Woomy."

"I saw the funeral you held last night..." Meggy said

"You did?" Luigi asked.

"I tried to interact with you guys, but I couldn't, since I was dead. But there's this nice woman, her name's Embra, she's helped me find peace with my death. And yeah, what you heard was true, I did spook those cyan-blue squid jerks and I beat the hell out of their leader."

"Whoa! You gave 'em an ass-whoopin'?!" Mario exclaimed, "And Mario missed it, man, I should have-a been there to a see that-a."

"Heck, yeah. You can do a lot of things as a ghost, but enough of that. Congrats, Tari, you deserve that trophy."

"Oh my gosh! M-Meggy, th-thank you!" The cyborg whimpered happily.

Meggy hugged Tari, her arms folding around the still-living half-robot in a warm embrace. With tears falling down her cheeks, Tari hugged the ghost of her friend back. Mario and Luigi then joined in, forming a group hug that nobody would forget.

"We don't have much time left." Meggy then said, "I've come to say my final farewell to you, guys."

"And that's-a why you're visiting." Luigi remarked.

Meggy giggled, "That's so right, you lovable green goof."

However, Mario found himself getting emotional. "Meggy, no!" He wailed, "You don't-a have to go yet, there's-a so much we can still-a do together. Who else am I going to-a share my spaghetti with, does that-a mean I can have-a your instant noodles, we could have more wacky adventure times together and..."

"I know, Red." Meggy told the sad Italian, "But not everything is meant to last, you still have your brother, Tari, Saiko, SMG4 and the others. Take good care of them for me and don't get in too much trouble down the road, keep having great adventures for me, ok?"

"W-We will." Tari sobbed.

"Bye-bye, Meggy." Luigi."

"It's not the end..." Meggy said, "We will meet again one day on that great cloud in the sky and we'll be together forever, having many more fun adventures and perhaps the SplatSquad can get into all the Turf Wars we want."

"See you next time." Mario waved.

Meggy nodded. And as the group waved goodbye, the spirit of their old friend vanished from sight, turning into a speck of light as it floated up into the sky, leaving the mortal world forever.