Long Live L'Manberg

Chapter 47: Unmasked

Tommy paced around the depths of Pogtopia, biting his nails in an anxious fit. Every chance he could get he locked his sights on Tubbo, intently watching him as a way to ease his anxiety. A part of him was simply making sure he was alright, but his more cynical half desperately needed to know if his best friend was still alive. "Are you doing alright?" Tommy fret as he inspected Tubbo's wounds for nearly the hundredth time in this hour alone. Tubbo weakly nodded his head as an act of reassurance, but it didn't seem to do any good in terms of easing Tommy's frayed nerves. "Yeah, I'm fine!"

"Are you sure?" the blonde pressed, causing Tubbo to rethink his answer. He placed a palm on his face and hissed in pain, the wounds still clearly fresh. "Not really..." he muttered.

The sound of the front door slamming followed by a series of footsteps caught the attention of the two boys as they peeked their heads up, pleading internally that no one was there to harm them. To their surprise, Wilbur, who was followed by Niki, hurriedly made their way down the stairs to the base of Pogtopia. Tommy's eyes lit up, relieved that his brother was alright. What surprised him more was the fact that Manberg was still in mint condition, barely retaining a single scratch despite Schlatt's gruesome firework display.

"Wilbur!" The boy lunged his body forward, not hesitating to embrace his older brother after the thought of losing him plagued his mind for so long. To his surprise, Wilbur brushed him off, totally rejecting his attempt at affection. 

"Don't touch me," he spat, storming off to the back of the ravine. Humiliation churned in Tommy's gut as he watched his brother arrogantly walk past him. "Wha- pardon?" Tommy cracked, his face flushing red as he followed behind his brother. If there was one feeling he couldn't stand, it was cruel, unforgiving embarrassment- especially in the presence of others. As they spoke, Wilbur didn't even bother to face him.

"I won't repeat myself."

Tommy's brows snapped together, his breath growing short and sharp as his whole body tensed. "What did I do?!"

Wilbur then whipped around, gnashing his teeth as he laid his pent-up anger upon his brother. "Oh, you know exactly what you did," he hissed, causing Tommy to take a wary step back.

"No, I don't!" Tommy barked, lifting his hands in surrender. He absolutely hated when Wilbur played these cryptic games of verbal ping-pong. His lack of context made him all the more frustrated, feeling unfairly disadvantaged.

"Tommy, did you or did you not destroy the button?!" Wilbur exploded with a demanding undertone leaving Tommy trapped in a verbal corner. Despite his better judgment, he fought back, raising his voice in retaliation. "Seriously, what are you talking about?!"

"You're a fucking liar!" Wilbur snapped. "Making me think that you were on board with my plan was all some sick ploy to go behind my back and ruin everything." It disturbed Tommy that his brother was so quick to play the blame game nowadays. The Wilbur he knew was rational and wise, a man who never lost his patience with anyone. He quickly realized that version of his brother was long gone, stolen by the consequences of the war. "Wilbur, I don't understand!"

He took a few steps backward as Wilbur walked toward him with his hand raised, about to strike the boy. "Don't you play coy with me, Tommy."

"Stop it!" Niki grabbed Wilbur's wrist and yanked it downward, the pain in her voice creating a feeling of guilt that shot down Wilbur's gut. She knew in her heart that the worst thing for everyone to do was fight. They needed to work together as a unit, or else things would crumble at a faster rate than they already were.

"Will..." Tommy cautioned, heartbroken that this was the behavior his older brother, his lifelong example, chose to show the world. "I meant every word I said. I swear to you- I did not break the button."