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Chapter Text

"However we should also remember those that prevented tragedy. Thankfully there were two teens, two heroes, who decided to be brave and save their country. Upon discovering the nefarious plot, they informed the current president, and he prepared evacuations plans, as well as contacting the anarchist working with Wilbur Soot, the infamous Technoblade. Together they found all the bombs and destroyed all the redstone connecting the tnt. We should never forget the names of the four festival heroes: Tommy, Tubbo, Schlatt and Technoblade."

Wilbur smiles as he watches everyone take their seats. L'Manberg feels pretty empty now, even with all the new buildings. Oh, where are the times when the white house was just a simple van in the middle of a forest. Actually those days were gone the day they decided to declare   their independence, he thinks bitterly. After all, the first act of war was burning down the forest. Ironic, how years ago the humans that raided Wilbur's blood relatives did the same thing. Although, he supposes the humans are right about fire, it's effective, scary and powerful.

He reaches into his pocket to check if the flint and steel are still there. He grins. Is this how it feels to be a human, the conqueror, the bad guy? Does it feel like everyone else is beneath you, because you are stronger and more ruthless than they are, because you don't bother with things like mercy? Because this, this feels amazing. He can see why Dream enjoyed the war so much. Wilbur glances at Tommy and his brother signals that he's ready. He steps out of the shadow just as Tubbo begins his speech. "Did you miss me?"

He ignores the shouts of his name as he walks right to the stage. On the podium, Schlatt gets up from his seat, his horns looking more intimidating in the shadows. He stands up to greet his ex-friend "Wilbur, what do we owe the pleasure?"

"You know why I'm here."

"I do, but I was still hoping you would see reason."

"I'm only here to take back what's mine."

He pulled out a stick of tnt. As they talked, the president's  bodyguards slowly retreated to start evacuating the crowd to a safe distance. 
Wilbur saw it happen in the corner of his eye, but decided to ignore it, as his target was still exactly where he wanted him to be. "Let me help you Schlatt, let me set you free." Wilbur grins as he throws the tnt behind him. He smiles, as he watches the citizens trying to get away as far as possible.

He doesn't move away, even when Schlatt starts running. The bomb explodes and he is thrown into the air and slammed on the ground, hard. Yet when he looks up, he's confused. The shockwave from the explosion only shook the podium and otherwise left it intact. Wilbur silently praises his luck, otherwise it would have collapsed right on top of him. Yet, that was exactly the plan, so what went wrong?

Before he can get up properly, he feels a sword pointed at his back. "You're under arrest." George's calm voice announces. Wilbur turns his head, trying to figure out what's wrong and that's when he sees all the citizens coming closer. Some of them in disbelief like Fundy and Eret, some confused, like Hbomb and Karl, some crying, like Niki and Tubbo and some were just furious or disappointed. Schlatt brushes off the dirt from his suit, as if what happened was only a mild inconvenience and not a near death experience.

"I suppose you are probably wondering why your plan failed. Well, it's simple, really." He reaches for someone in the crowd and Wilbur pauses, as Tommy hypnotizes the ground, not meeting his eyes. "Tommy here was worried about his brother and his mental state, so he shared his doubts with Tubbo, who then used common sense and told me. And I ordered my trusted men to dig, until they find the bombs. Feel free to thank the boys, as they had just saved everyone."

And Wilbur is torn, on one hand, Schlatt is right about them being the heroes, but on the other, they are just dirty traitors, exactly the same as the rest. So Wilbur stays silent, as Schlatt addresses the crowd "That reminds me I have something to announce. As you all might know, as my first decree I've banished dear Tommy here and I feel like I've been too harsh on the kid. So in my next decree, I say that TommyInnit is no longer banished and I return him his citizenship. He is free to choose where he wants to live and no one can stop him. And now is the part where you clap."

The crowd starts clapping, confused, but as Niki and Eret start cheering, the sound gets louder and eventually they are all celebrating. Tommy looks up at Schlatt, stunned by his words. "Wait, does this mean I can return and see Tubbo whenever I want? For real?"

"Yes, for real. Welcome home Tommy." He releases the boy who dashes towards his best friend, until they crash into a hug and end up sprawled on the floor as a pile of giggling mess and happy buzzing.

Wilbur watches the boys and actually growls in displeasure "Stop trying to steal my family!"

Schlatt's face hardens "Come on Wilbur, do you really think that's my intention? Let's talk about some facts. You are clearly not doing fine mentally, so why exactly should I let you take care of the child? Besides, do you really think you will be able to leave and go back to Pogtopia after today? Of course not. Your brothers are worried about you and your son would be too, if he knew."

"Don't. Don't you bring him into this."

"Wilbur, he's your son. He'll be told eventually. I know that you probably see it differently now, but he still thinks of you as a father. I'm just a guy who had the ideas he was searching for."

They stare at each other. The years of friendship and separation connecting in a silent tension. They don't speak, as they weight their next words. Part of the crowd had went home already, but all of their friends stayed to see how it ends. Niki is the first to come forward "What's going to happen now? And what are you planning to do to Wilbur?" The crows silences, as all the eyes turn towards their president, who is just tired.

"For now, I see there are two ways we can deal with is. Either Wilbur claims he is mentally fine and goes to jail, where he'll wait for his trial, or he pleads insanity and we'll get him a qualified therapist, who is going to help him."

Niki nods in agreement "That's reasonable."

They turn their heads towards Wilbur, who laughs, but not a normal laugh, a pained one, filled with hurt. "Come on, I'm fine, see?"

Niki voice is quiet, as a frown forms on her face and she whispers "Will, you just tried to kill yourself."

And Wilbur stops, because surely, that's a lie, right? He would never think of such thing, right? He only stood there to watch it all go down, right? He didn't used enderpearls or long detonations to make a point, nothing else, right?. He only burned all his bridges by accident, not because it wouldn't have mattered anymore, right? That was all there was to it, no? Fuck, the more he thought about it, the more he realized they were right, because he did hoped to die. He did attempted to kill himself. Shit. His throat feels too dry "I- Well...yeah, but- How do I know that I can trust you now?"

"Because we are your friends Wilbur and we want to help you, to see you get better. If you want, it can be only me, Tommy and Techno, or just them. Just, please, come back to us Will." Niki pleads.

Wilbur looks into the crowd again. Tommy and Tubbo were standing next to each other, looking scared and lost. Eret was standing next to them, his cape over their shoulders, so the boys don't get cold. His sun glasses were cracked and bright light was shining through it. Hbomb and Jack stood next to the king, confused by the events they witnessed. Bad and Skeppy were ready to heal any wounds, as their arms were full with healing potions. Sapnap was fuming, as Karl held his hand for comfort. Techno stood on the side with his neutral expression. Quackity was next to his president, his eyes darting between each sides. And Fundy, Fundy reminded Wilbur of himself. Someone who watched their world slowly fall apart, until they fell into despair.

The current president broke the silence first "You know what I would like to know? I would like to know what happened to us Wilbur, that's what I would love to know."

The rebel scoffs "I think that's kind of a pointless question, don't you think?"

He raises an eyebrow "Is it? If you are referring to our current situation, then yes, it would be. But I'm asking about the start, about the reason you wrote that letter, you know which one."

Wilbur hesitated "That's... not something we should discuss in public."

The ram hybrid smiled "Oh? But I think it's exactly the thing public should be concerned with." He turned to address the crowd "Do you want to know the real reason, why I banished Wilbur and Tommy? It's very simple, really, I did it, because if I didn't, they were about to banish me to the SMP, where there would be an escort of guards ready to take me to jail."

Tommy stepped forward, confused "Wait, what? No, that's not true. Why would we even do that? The only letter I wrote to them was to let you come here for the election."

"No, no, no, Tommy, of course we wouldn't do such a thing, he's only making stuff up. Why would we get rid of Schlatt?"

And that made Schlatt laugh "Wait, wait, wait. You're telling me you did all this behind everyone's back? Oh Wilbur, you haven't changed at all. But fine, I can show you my proof, I will read you the letter I found in Wilbur's office." He reaches into his front pocket and pulls out a crumpled piece of paper. He unfolds it and starts reading:

"As the leader of a neighbouring nation, it is my duty to inform you about a dangerous individual residing in my country, you probably know him under the name Jschlatt. I can provide you with his exact location and even deliver him to you, if you hold your part of the deal. Signed: 

The boy looks lost, looking at his brother for help "But- But I've never saw this document? Why would I personally invite Schlatt and attended all negotiations, if I would banish him later, that doesn't even make any sense."

"I think I can explain this one."

"Fundy?"

The fox hybrid steps forward. "Tommy is not lying when he said that he never signed it, because I did."

"Interesting strategy." Schlatt notes "Using his own son for forgery, yet condemning him for it in public."

~~~~~

"Wait. Wilbur did you really do that? Why? I thought you two were good friends" Tommy asks, confused.

Wilbur can't answer, the words get stuck in his throat and Schlatt lets out a pained laugh.

"Was I dangerous when I tried to save your life? Was it when I tried to help you? Was it after I was banished for trying to help you? Or was it always because of who I am? Because of what YOU are as well Wilbur. A hybrid."

~~~~~

"Just look at the damage you've done, you've injured your own son as well."

Wilbur follows the hoove and freezes, as Fundy falls on the ground, not being able to stand properly. The young fox yelps and Wilbur's parental instincts kick in and he jumps towards his son, ignoring the blade on his throath, that cut him, because of the movement. The beast hears it's child cry and fights. He growls at anyone who attemps to get near, as he checks over the injuries.

Someone hands him a healing potion and he takes it, applying it to the wounds. Fundy looks up at his father and silently asks "Dad?"

"Yes. I'm here now and I'm not leaving." He cups his son's face "And I need you to know that I'm sorry, so sorry that I wasn't there for you when you needed me. I just wanted to keep you safe and happy and I couldn't even done that."

~~~~~

The president crouched next to his old friend and whispered "So what's the real reason?"

"You're one of the few who know."

"Know what."

And if Wilbur wasn't terrified, he would smile, because they used to joke around like that, pretending to not understand the obvious. But they're adults now, taking care of others, of countries, and they are not anymore friends, because now they are enemies. He looks away "Know what I am."

Schlatt seems to pause, he can see the gears turning in his head, before his red eyes shine "And how many people also know this beside me?" They are still whispering, but he can hear the silent anger in the tone.

"Only one." The rebel's gaze wanders over his son, who has almost a longing look, as he watches his father

The president follows it and his shoulders slump down a bit in relief "Thank fuck, I was worried you were a complete moron for a second there."

~~~~~

"And the results are in. By the public vote of the citizens of L'Manberg, it had been decided that Wilbur Soot is no longer exiled from this country and furthermore he will be able to attend therapy, in order to return to his usual self we all know and love." He starts to unlock the cuffs "But first, I think there's something else that needs to be addressed, the reason we are currently here."

Wilbur can feel the grip on his wrist tighten and his mind starts frantically going through the options. They already discussed the tnt, the trapping, the manipulation and the tricks he used in election, so what was left? His eyes widened in realization. He can't mean- His voice wavered with hidden terror "Schlatt, I don't think that is relevant to today's event."

"Isn't it? I think your family deserves to know why you lived in fear your entire life, why you never trusted anyone and pushed people away, why you did the things you did to keep the illusion, the lie, that it's all perfect, exactly as it should be, because why would it be? Don't you think they should know?"

The crowd keeps glancing at the two men, as they feel that there is something big happening soon. Tommy pushes through the crowd to be seen again "What are you saying Schlatt?

"I'm saying that know the reason behind Wilbur's action and that I think it's time to reveal it. Just like ripping a band-aid, we can either make it quick or slow, so, what do you choose?"

"Let me go." He growls only so loud that no one else would heard it.

"Well, if you want to transform here on the stage, then feel free, I won't stop you."

Wilbur stops, because he's a human, always a human and there is no way he would be anything else than a human. If he becomes a hybrid, an animal, then he loses it all "Schlatt, please, don't do this." He begs "It will kill me."

"No, no it won't. What will kill you is your paranoia. And I won't let that happen."

Instead of answering, Wilbur punches the president in the gut ans attempts to run away. Unfortunately he is still surrounded and they grab his arms way to quickly. Shit.

Schlatt calmly brushes  his suit as he gets up and before anyone else has a chance to react, he grabs Wilbur by his collar and lifts him up. "What the fuck is wrong with you?! Is this what you wanted Soot?" The president growled, his horns illuminated in the small fire after explosion made him even more terrifying. "Are you finally satisfied? Do you feel proud of yourself? Are you finally satisfied being the bad guy? Because if you want to be the villain, then I'll gladly let you be one." Wilbur looks away, not being able to look his old friend in the eyes. And they both knew why.

"You just can't let it go, can you? Can't accept that people are happy without you guiding them, that they don't want to keep hiding forever. That they finally want to feel like they belong, that they are free." Schlatt looked into Wilbur's eyes "But you wouldn't know that, would you? Constantly living in fear, lying, hiding... You know what Wilbur? I pity you, I pity you, because you decided to trap yourself in misery. But you know what, as a sign of our friendship I'll help you move on. I'll set you free." And with almost manic glint in his eyes and one swift pull, he took off Wilbur's beanie.