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a man is standing in front of wilbur. there is a man there and wilbur is going insane.
the man is wearing a pale blue sweater, a red heart stitched over the breast, sleeves pushed up to his elbows. he has mutton chops and ruffled brown hair. none of those are what wilbur sees, though- he sees the curving keratin and flat-pupil golden eyes. he sees folded brown ram's ears and he sees hooved, sloping legs.
"...techno?!" he calls, fearful, "techno, help!"
the man continues to stand in front of him, studying him with simultaneous rapt curiosity and feigned nonchalance. those terrifying pupils flick back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, studying every detail it can find on wilbur. the comparison thought of strange men studying an underage kid has him calling techno's name once again, louder this time.
"fuck's sake," the man mutters, shaking his head and turning away ever so slightly, "'course he gets reincarnated. 'course he does. meanwhile, i'm still stuck here in this... ugh." the man's words are angry, echoing over the ruins of the city far above the crater, but there isn't much emotion in his voice, like he's had this tirade many times before and can't find the energy for it.
"wilbur soot," the man starts suddenly, turning back to wilbur. wilbur, shaking, replies, "my- my name is wilbur, yeah, but not- not wilbur soot, you've got the wrong guy, uh-"
"wilbur!" techno calls over the hill. he's standing inside the ruins of a tall, two-story home, made of rotting spruce, untended rose bushes tangling around the planks through any crack they could find. "wilbur, where are you!"
"techno!" wilbur calls, waiting for the moment where the strange man shushes him and tries to tackle him to the ground to get him out of sight, "down here!"
it takes a moment for his brother to see him, but when he does, he begins to scramble his way down the sheer drop of the cliffside, rocks clattering down with him. "i'm coming, wilbur!"
"technoblade too, huh? whatever happened to 'technoblade never dies'?" the man asks. it doesn't feel like it's directed towards wilbur, but he responds anyways, granted a surge of confidence when he knows his brother is coming to help him.
"how do you know our names, you weirdo?" he snaps, pointing an accusatory finger to the man's chest. the man laughs and shakes his head. his ears flop with the movement. it does nothing to lessen the fear wilbur feels bubbling in his chest.
"because i know you, wilbur! i know you, and i know technoblade, and i know tommy, and i know philza, and i know niki, and i know fundy, and i know whoever the fuck else managed to escape this eternal void and make it back to life with you!" the man spreads his arms wide. wilbur sees that his sleeves aren't moving with the breeze. "i'm dead, wilbur soot, and you were too, once!"
and with that, he disappears, leaving wilbur standing in the ruins of damned town with nothing to show for it. techno joins his side not a moment later, demanding to know what was so important he had to run all the way across the ruins to get to him. wilbur can't find it in himself to answer. he just stands and stares and wonders if he was really seeing any of that at all.