Chapter Text
when tommy finished his story, wilbur laughed.
tommy recognized that laugh, that laugh from the months of hiding in the ravine, the harsh grating sound he would make whenever tommy tripped over the makeshift walkways, the laugh whenever techno would talk about killing all their friends, a laugh that made his eyes go cold and his hands clench tighter. that laugh made him take a step back from wilbur, one foot out the door and ready to run, his heart pounding in his chest and he can hear the echoes of when wilbur started to count all those months ago ringing in his mind.
"you thought a story of the ways we have failed, the things we have lost, you thought that a story would save manburg, tommy?" wilbur paused, steps forward, and when he leans in tommy can see just how empty his eyes are.
"tommy, what you don't realize, is that l'manburg is the worst thing to ever happen to us, and when we lost it? that was the best."
and tommy feels his heart drop to the soles of his feet, every last sliver of hope go up in smoke in soot but he cannot lose it all. he cannot. so here is the last resort, the last option, a final stand when all else fails.
tommyinnit looks up at the man he once considered his brother, and tommyinnit runs. tommyinnit runs back out of the bunker that holds the demise, and tommyinnit runs to where he knows wilbur placed the tnt and he sits down and waits. the festival is not far from here, and he can hear the laughs and music of the festival in the distance, the sounds of playful fighting. when he closes his eyes he can almost believe the story of l'manburg was never written, that if he were to walk over he would see all his friends free of scars and free of dictators.
when tommy opens his eyes and sees wilbur standing over him, he lets himself have one last moment of hope, one last belief.
"if you want to blow up our home, you'll have to take me with it."
and with that, the boy blocks himself in with a swipe of his hand, and as he does so he catches wilburs back as he turns. he lets himself hope, one last time. he listens to the sound of laughter in the wind, to the voices of his friends that carry over the space, and he leans his head on the cold stone that surrounds him and remembers happier days, and he lets himself hope that his brother won't betray him.
(boom.)
tommy tells a story, a story about all the ways wilbur failed, all the ways l'manburg was a disaster, and wilbur sees him try to sugar coat it, and it makes him laugh.
wilbur recognized that look on tommys face, all the fear and the hurt. that look appeared whenever dream accepted his duel, in the nights after the war when he would wake up from nightmares wilbur knows he frequented, when wilbur would tell him of his plans, when techno would snap at him, a look that makes his eyes go wide and his loyalty waver. that look means tommy is a lost cause, and wilbur steps forward to seal that fate, for what is another betrayal, hes begun to collect them like badges.
"you thought a story of the ways we have failed, the things we have lost, you thought that a story would save manburg, tommy?" wilbur finds himself snorting again, as he sees the way tommy flinches when he leans forward.
"tommy, what you don't realize, is that l'manburg is the worst thing to ever happen to us, and when we lost it? that was the best."
wilbur watches as tommy struggles, his eyes flitting over wilburs face, and he finds himself feeling a dead kind of amusement as he watches tommys face harden in something that resembles determination.
tommyinnit runs and wilbur soot follows, and wilbur soot feels nothing when he sees the boy he once considered his brother sitting on top of tnt that could send him straight to the afterlife. wilbur soot watches tommy close his eyes and let a tear slip out and wilbur soot knows what the boy will say whenever he opens his eyes again. the festival is not far from here, and he can hear the cries of the people who have betrayed him, the sounds of temporary happiness. when he closes his eyes he knows he must erase the story of l'manburg, free them from fear of what could be taken.
when wilbur sees tommy look up at him from his place on the ground, wilbur allows himself a moment of weakness, a moment to care as he watches tommy tighten his jaw and utter his final words.
"if you want to blow up our home, you'll have to take me with it."
the moment has passed now, and wilbur turns his back on the boy - for he is only a boy - as he closes himself into his coffin. he walks slowly back to the bunker, his shoulders straight and his heart missing as a tune rings out through the festival, the wavering voice of an old friend, and wilbur forgets about when he used to be happy as his hand falls onto a button.
(boom.)