Chapter Eight:

The Palace of Champions

She opened her eyes, seeing the light of the sun shining down on her. Then she felt the grass on her back, warm and prickly grass. Meggy sat up, looking down at herself. She looked... different, very different.

Wait, those arms, those hands and sleeves...

Meggy reached up to touch her face, then she noticed tentacles dangling down her shoulders, it wasn't long before she realized that she'd taken a familiar form. She was her Inkling self again!

She stood up, instantly morphing into her squid form. She was a squid again! Meggy felt a tear roll down her cheek, she'd missed this so much, never did she think she would ever take the form of a shape-shifting humanoid squid again after coming out of that chameleon's machine on that island.

But a part of her remained an Inkling, even after turning human, and so, as she awakened into a new realm, she was an Inkling once more.

Meggy reverted back to her humanoid form in an instant and stared at the grassy field around her, gazing up at the bright cloudy sky and hearing the birds tweeting. If this was the afterlife, then that meant…

"Welcome, Meggy."

She stood in front of her, sporting the same sweater and shorts that she wore when she died, her tentacles colored pink and her eyes gleaming gold.

"Desti?" Meggy said, eyes widening.

"Who else could it be, Meggy?" The Octoling asked.

"D-Desti..." Meggy's eyes welled with tears, this wasn't a dream, it was so much better than a dream. "DESTI!" She made her move, throwing her arms around the Octoling in a massive hug, crying tears of joy. Even Desti seemed to be crying too, purple tears rolled out of her golden eyes, as she hugged Meggy back.

"I think you're crying all over my sweater." Desti then said.

Meggy let go and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Sorry..." She said, "I'm just so happy to see you."

"And I'm happy to see you, champ. C'mon, we can't keep everyone waiting."

Desti gestured for Meggy to follow her and the girls embarked across the grassy field towards the large castle that loomed in the distance, the great celestial castle. Meggy could see winged Inklings fluttering around, a few Octolings and Octarians as well and a few humans.

The afterlife looked so... lively. Time didn't even matter here, so many people long gone, so much time in this realm.

Meggy caught sight of a squat little red-headed guy with a hat and a slim green body wandering around at one point, whomever that guy was, he looked really cute. Perhaps they could get to know each other later, everyone had all eternity, especially with those who arrived here all the time.

Thank the Lord this wasn't Hell, Meggy did not want anything to do with that ugly red demon that Mario was apparently friends with. Heaven was so beautiful.

Ahead of Meggy and Desti, the gates to the palace opened, paving the way for the girls to approach the front door, walking up the steps and into the enchanting fairy tale-like castle standing tall.

Once they were inside, Meggy was greeted by the most majestic sight she never thought she would ever get to see in all of her existence.

Horns blared, blown by Inklings, as many squids surrounded the former resident of Inkopolis, clamoring excitedly and welcoming her. Meggy looked up, seeing a large statue in the middle of the chamber, designed in her likeness, and she could see many more statues.

Someone had constructed a shrine, all for her, and at the foot of the statue lay a golden squid bust on a podium.

"Welcome, Splatfest Champion Meggy Spletzer!" Desti announced.

"Holy carp..." Meggy breathed, "Desti, this is... so beautiful. And how long did it take to make all of this."

"Does it matter?" A man in robes asked, "This is all for you, Meggy. We've been watching you for years and seeing you make it to that final round was so magnificent, we got to work on this. You have to admit that's quite a shrine."

"It really is!" Meggy squealed, "THANK YOU ALL! A-A-And God bless us everyone!"

Everyone all chattered in agreement and a pair of Inklings lifted Meggy over her shoulder with Desti being hoisted up as well, the horns blared and the palace erupted in a chorus of happy songs as Meggy shared another hug with Desti.

It truly was beautiful, Meggy's dreams had come true, a beautiful ending to the story of an upcoming star...

The End

Embra watched from a distance, a smile on her face, she felt very happy for Meggy. That shrine was very special and the deceased Splatfest player would be happy for all eternity, no matter what potential sorrows awaited in the afterlife.

She turned around to glide away, only to come face-to-face with a dark-cloaked figure baring red eyes. No, this couldn't be, nobody like him was usually welcome in Heaven, unless this was a special occasion...

"What do you think you are doing?" Karsum angrily demanded, "It is not our job to help them in this way. What is the meaning of this foolishness?"

"You wouldn't know the first thing about helping." Embra told him firmly, "You don't create, all you do and have ever done, is destroy. You weren't the man I once knew... brother."

Karsum's eyes were wide with surprise, the way she called him out, what she just said. No, it couldn't be. But before anything else could be said, Embra vanished into the shadows, leaving Karsum alone in the chamber before he too vanished to other realms to attend to other matters...

"Hey, SMG4... Are you ok?"

SMG4 opened his eyes, his head laying upon his desk near his computer. He sat up with a yawn, noticing she'd wrapped a blanket around him. It was a surprise to see her at this hour, especially after that weird dream.

Seeing Meggy alive, especially after watching her die in a dream, made SMG4 feel better, knowing it was only a dream.

"I'm ok, Meggy." He said, "I just had a really… weird dream."

"What was it about?"

SMG4 thought about how to put it lightly. "It was during the final Splatfest, you were up against Killer Ink and their leader knocked you off a platform into a shipping container at the Walleye Warehouse and... and you broke your neck. We held a funeral for you, then your ghost came to talk with us one last time and Tari got the Splatfest trophy while the Killer Ink leader went to jail."

Meggy pat SMG4 on the shoulder, "It was just a dream, SMG4. You know that never happened."

"Unless it was in another universe..."

"SMG4?"

SMG4 stood up, saved his current meme project on his computer and put his desktop into hibernation mode. "You're right." He said, "It was only a dream, one that isn't relevant. My gosh, I need to get something to eat."

He walked out of the room, heading to the castle kitchen, with the Splatfest Champion following him. Meggy smiled, dreams were weird to have sometimes, but as long as they didn't affect the dreamer's life in any other way...

She sat in her dark cell, fidgeting with a ball that she got from one of the prisoners. Vin didn't think much of anything else, but what else mattered at this point?

Besides, no ghosts were coming to hound her, and she didn't have to worry about humans.

Just then, a buzzer sounded and the door opened, paving the way for a squat being in a police uniform and an Octarian helmet to enter with a gun holster at his side. Vin stood as the door closed, wondering what was going on now.

"What do you want?" She asked.

The mysterious newcomer grabbed his gun and removed his helmet, Vin gasped. No way, it was...

"It's-a me, Mario!"

"Not you." Vin groaned.

"And it's-a time for you to die!"

BLAM-BLAM-BLAM! Mario pulled the trigger rapidly, the gun barrel exploding. Vin gasped as the bullets pierced her, then, she dropped to the floor and moved no more. Mario put his helmet back on and raised the gun to pull the trigger one more time. The final bullet pierced the Inkling's skull, and that was that.

Mario headed for the door and left the cell, neither of the guards moved a muscle, neither of them detained the disguised plumber. As far as they knew, their visitor was an officer under orders to execute a prisoner, and nobody bothered to look inside the cell until later.

Either way, the case was closed...