Getting Answers for a Years Worth of Trouble (SMG4 Oneshot)

Getting Answers for a Years Worth of Trouble

The metal chill of Tari's robotic hand was calming as Meggy stood on Inkwell Road again. She never thought she would ever be back here, not after what coming here last time led too.

But things were different now. It had been a whole year since she had come here before with Tari in search of One-Shot Wren. And while Wren might be gone now, Meggy had learned over the past year that while you don't need to forgive those who have wronged you, you can still feel sympathy for what they've been through.

She didn't forgive him for all he did. But Meggy was absolutely positive that there was still a piece of her former hero inside his home somewhere. And she wanted to find it, if not only for the sake of her own closure.

"You know you don't need to go in there, right?" Tari said, the two standing on the street outside of the burnt down house that marked Wren's former residence. "I know that Wren did a lot to you... We can always ask someone else to look inside."

Meggy nervously chuckled, squeezing Tari's hand more. It was true- her stomach had turned into a rock long before they even turned onto this road, and it was currently plummeting deeper and deeper into her body the longer they stood outside Wren's house. "I know." She responded, staring up at the faded police tape over holes in the siding. "But I want to do this."

Tari nodded. "Then let's do this." 

The two stepped forward, hopping over the police tape and walking up the unkept sidewalk to the permanently thrown open doorway.

The house gave a different feel when you weren't barging through it, desperately looking for life. The abandoned, destroyed property gave off an eerie feel, not helping by the wind that shook parts of the house whenever it felt like passing through. The two girls stepped into the front room, looking around at the devastation. "So, um... This is a bit late to ask, but..." Tari anxiously spoke first to break the house's silence. "What exactly are you trying to find?"

"Anything, really." Meggy turned and led Tari down the hallway leading to where the TV was before that they found. "I just want proof that he wasn't that monster that we met in the simulation. Proof that at some point... he really cared about competing, about inspiring others."

"And if we can't find it?" Tari hesitantly raised the question.

Meggy stopped walking and let out a sigh. "Then I have to come to grips with the fact that my hero was always a monster." She turned back to look at Tari, forcing a small smile onto her face. "B-But let's hope we DO find something, yeah?"

The house initially had two floors, but due to the destruction of the house, only one could be accessed, and that was the floor they were on right now. 

The first floor had one main central room that was filled with rubble- most of it from the second floor- and one hallway leading out towards the garage with 4 rooms connecting to it. Meggy faintly remembered throwing open to doors to all of these rooms to try and find any sign of Wren, but only finding broken items and further breaking her heart.

Meggy opened the first room to her left. Inside this one were pieces of debris, thrown around weapons, and tossed aside trophies. She pulled Tari by the hand inside. "This must've been where he kept all his equipment." Meggy said, grabbing the Splattershot Jr that was close to her feet. "He preferred using Chargers, but I'm not surprised he went through a couple weapons before deciding on what he wanted to stick with."

Tari released Meggy's hand and picked up the Splat Charger she located. "Chargers... are these long ranged shooty ones, right?" She asked, showing Meggy the weapon.

"Yeah! They're pretty tricky to figure out how to use, but if you can master a Charger you can master just about anything!" Meggy explained, before setting down the Splattershot Jr. Her gaze went to the golden trophies that reflected the sunlight onto the ceiling. She gently picked one of them up. "Awarded for highest clout earned in Art versus Science Splatfest." Meggy read off. "It's still readable, somehow."