Chapter Text
“And I win!” Wilbur exclaimed, cheering for himself. Tommy sighed, gathering his cards into a neat pile, making sure they were all facing the same way. “Oh, that was a good one, Toms! A bit more practice and you may beat me!” Wilbur wrapped an around him, ruffling his hair.
Tommy forced a smile, but he couldn’t be as joyous as his brother. It has been a year since he died and he couldn’t find the same optimism. What made the whole situation worse was that Schlatt was there, constantly still drinking even in death. He supposes it doesn’t really matter anymore since he’s dead.
Noticing the lack of energy from the younger, Wilbur sighed. “C’mon, Tommy. It’s been a year already and you’re still not over your death?” Wilbur removed his arm around him. “Get over it, Tommy! We’re dead!” Tommy flinched and cowered from his brother’s yelling. It was a painful reminder of Pogtopia, and he was still not over all of that.
“T-There has to be a way for us to go back!” He stuttered. He still naively held out hope for a revival. He has so much more he wants to do. There’s so much more he has to do.
“I’ve tried, Toms, I’ve tried! We all tried!” Wilbur replied, his voice still loud.
“Shut the fuck up!” Schlatt yelled from a distance, but it seemed Wilbur didn’t care.
“You need to get over yourself! You’re not special, Tommy. You aren’t going to magically be revived. There’s no such thing as a ‘Revive book’ or something like it! We are dead! That’s all we'll ever be now!” Tommy was frozen, staring at his brother. His face became wet, tears lightly going down his face.
In a singular moment, Wilbur enveloped his brother in a hug, apologizing. “Oh, I’m so sorry. You know I don’t mean to yell at you, Tommy. You know I love you.”
Tommy just sighed, trying to hold back his tears. This proved to be incredibly difficult as Wilbur’s reassurances kept calling him to let it all out. This is how they interacted for the past year. Wilbur would get upset at Tommy, he would get upset, and then the other would comfort his brother and offer to play competitive solitaire once again. It was a painful routine that he was sick of.
His wings bristled as Wilbur let go. “I’ll leave you be for now. I’ll play against Schlatt, alright?” Wilbur offered, and Tommy nodded with acceptance. There was nothing else he could do and he really didn’t want to be around the elder.
Like that, Wilbur left Tommy alone with his thoughts. No one else was around, of course, cause no one else has foolishly lost their last lives besides those 3. He sighed, sitting on the floor(?). For a moment, he closed his eyes and let himself rest.
--------
Getting used to ‘living’ in the void is rough, and he knows. He still can’t get behind not being able to tell which direction is where or not being able to talk to all of his friends. But what was more unsettling was the lack of anyone else besides Schlatt and Wilbur. That was before he woke up.
In front of him stood the figure he saw so long ago. The same mysterious creature that was both everything and nothing at the same time. Tommy wasn’t expecting to see him here, but anything is possible in the void.
“Are you bored?” The figure asked, his voice distorting at every possible sound.
Tommy swallowed his nerves and asked in reply, “Aren’t you the same bitch from when I died in the final control room?” He shuddered slightly, remembering that event. Part of him still held a grudge against the king, even though they offered help during the era of Pogtopia. Before Wilbur…
“You didn’t answer me, war-causer,” the other replied, cutting off his thoughts.
Tommy scoffed, “Of course I’m bored! There’s nothing here to do and all Wilbur wants to do is play competitive solitaire and annoy me!”
“Hmm…” the figure muttered. While he could, Tommy looked closer at them. They had no face and a mask with ‘XD’ was carved into it. He had no body, as far as Tommy could tell, and two glowing rings circled its head.
“Remember what I told you last time?”, it asked.
“Yeah, some cryptic shit like ‘It’s not your time to die!’, you know Dream told me the same thing is exile! Creepy shit, I tell you!” He replied.
“It still wasn’t your time to die, Tommy. It seems my disciple ignored what I said at every turn. I’m sorry, young one,” it spoke, cupping his floating hand around his cheek. Despite the oddness of it all, he felt comforted. Like a long-lost friend finally made their way home.
“Can I go back?” Tommy asked, a hopeful tone underlying his words. If, who he has now decided will be called XD, has not deemed it his time to die, then maybe he can go back! He has so much he has to do, and he needs all the time he can get.
“Of course not. Even though it was not your time, it became your time. I may be a god, but tampering with timelines and life-death is even something I wouldn’t dare to do,” XD replied, slipping his hand from Tommy’s face. Even though he’s dead, there was a remnant of warmth left on his face.
“Then why get my hopes up?” He whined.
“I can’t bring you back to your world, to the life you had before. But I can let you to another time and change the outcome. You can fix what you need and accomplish what you want. Is this offer enticing you?”
Tommy couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He can go back and fix everything . He can save his family and his friends and himself .
“Yes! Please! I want to go back!” He begged, falling to his knees. He couldn’t contain the tears that started to spill. This is the best news he had heard in a long time and nothing could top it.
“Very well. Make the most of it, Tommy,” XD said. Before Tommy could question why it used his name for once, he saw nothing.
--------
“Tommy! It’s time to get up!” Some voice yelled. Tommy groaned, not wanting to get out of the soft surface he found himself in.
“Fuck off, Wilbur! I’m sleeping!” He yelled back, slamming his head into the pillow he was laying on. After laying there for a few moments, he shot up. He looked around and found himself back in a room that he hadn’t seen in a long time. The Camarvan .
When he realized right where he was, he smiled, his eyes starting to burn because I’m back ! He rubbed his eyes aggressively and got up, trying to appear normal enough. He put on his revolutionary attire that I haven’t seen in ages .
He walked out of the small room he was in and found Wilbur, hunching over some brewing stands and muttering to himself. Suddenly, he jumped on the other, laughing loudly as they both fell over. Eventually, the two found themselves giggling amongst themselves.
‘This is how it should’ve always been’ , he thought as he saw the peaceful smile on Wilbur’s face. His face was clean, free from the stress of a presidency and free from the horrors from that ravine.
“Tommy! I was working, gremlin,” Wilbur said, ruffling the hair of the child. Tommy huffed, crossing his arms in fake annoyance.
“Whatever, Wilbur.”
“Anyways,” Wilbur began, dusting off his clothes. “I have something I want to talk to you about.”
Tommy tried to remember what happened on this day. He looked around for clues and ended up catching a glimpse of the outside. For a brief moment, he recognized the lack of walls around their van. The lack of destruction and suffering.
Quickly, he snapped himself back into reality saying, “Yeah, what is it big man?”
Wilbur sighed, a pained smile on his face. “Dream doesn’t want us to have independence. He doesn’t recognize us as a separate entity from the SMP, even though we are! We have a fully working economy with our ‘drugs’, so I just don’t understand.”
Tommy felt panic rise in his chest. He knew Wilbur would suggest building the walls to solidify their solidarity from the greater SMP. He had to stop it. He can’t relive everything.
He went to interject, but something stopped him. A singular thought. What if they had their revolution and he prevented everything that came after the revolution. L’manburg was never the problem, it was the corrupt positions of power, right?
‘“Governments are there for the power, not the people. The only way we will have peace is if we destroy it once and for all,” Techno said, a tone of finality laced in his words.’
“We need to build walls around our country, Tommy. It is the only way for us to secure autonomy from the SMP,” Wilbur spoke.
“No!” Tommy screamed before he even knew he had the thought. He cleared his throat and composed himself, continuing, “Wilbur, we don’t really need to be completely independent from the SMP, yeah? We should be like a province or some shit. Cause Dream won’t let us go, right? This may be the best way to preserve peace!” He would prove Techno wrong. L’manburg didn’t corrupt power at first, and he would prove it.
Wilbur relaxed and smiled softly, ruffling his hair, causing him to laugh slightly. “When did you get so mature for a 16 year old?” Tommy froze slightly, forgetting he was back in time. He was no longer the 17, almost 18, year old he was used to being. He would have to fit into the role.
He slapped Wilbur’s hand away, “It’s not being mature, bitch. It’s just having common sense.” Wilbur just laughed and walked back to the work Tommy had interrupted. When his back was turned, Tommy let out a sigh of relief. His hands were shaking slightly, adrenaline from the conversation still coursing through his veins.
“You should send more letters to dad, Wil,” He said before leaving the van, leaving a stunned brunet behind.