The Hero Trilogy Imagines

The Replacements - Part 4

[Wattpad's being an ass. Take your filthy blood update!]

-the coffin flew open and inside was a pale-looking Stephanie, eyes closed, still as still can be. Matthew's heart stopped. He grabbed Peepachu by the front of his hoodie, roughly shaking him to wake him up. "W-What?" Peepachu mumbled, eyes half-closed. "Why isn't she awake?" Matthew hissed. "Passed out from... lack of oxygen... she'll be fine in a... in a while..." Matthew let him drop, carrying Stephanie out of the coffin and to their room.

—

"Son of a- hello", Knave said, trying to casually walk into the Curatrix, pulling up her hood to hide the bruises on her neck. "Knave what the hell?" Phil said. "Where were you?" "Pony Island", she responded, moving further into the building, the water hero trailing after her. She finally found Andrew perched on the edge of a table, intensely staring at security feed of the streets outside.

"Whatcha doin'?" Knave asked as inconspicuously as she could. Andrew snapped his head around, grey eyes widening when he saw her. He rushed towards her, enveloping her in a tight hug. "Jesus on a boat mate, I'm fine!" Knave grumbled. "On a boat?" Phil questioned. "Don't start, water boy", Knave sighed as Andrew pulled away. "Why is your hood up?" he asked. "Uhh... the importance of circulation?" she tried, grinning sheepishly.

A/N: Oh wait I shot Jack didn't I? Oops.

—

Jack heard a voice. A loud voice. A way-too-loud-please-shut-up voice. He winced. His eyes were shut for some reason. Should probably open those first, he reasoned. He cracked open both his peepers, coming face to face with a white, red and black blob. He blinked and the blob cane into focus as Cry, his mask bloodstained.

The next thing to hit him was the pain in his stomach. He shot upright, gasping. "Jesus Christ almighty! Dafuq is this?" he yelled. "Jack, you're gonna break your stitches", Cry said, frowning. "What stitches? Why the hell is my stomach a ball of lava? What-" he stopped, remembering. "That son of a bish hero", he growled. "Makin' Wade shoot me..." "I mean, technically it wasn't her fault", a new voice said.

Jack whipped his head around to see Bonnie pacing back and forth in the corner. "Why do you and that damned hero keep defending each other?" "Because, dammit, we're both the only girls in a group of guys and history always repeats itself. Do you really want me to kill her and then be killed by another hero? Really? Because we're gonna come full circle. Do you want a repeat of Stephanie and Marzia? Do you?" Bonnie exploded.

Jack and Cry went silent, looked at each other, then back at the fuming girl. She stormed out of the room, leaving them alone.

—

"Seriously, Guileful. What did you do?" Andrew asked. "You know, that would be threatening to anyone else but for me- Hey!" Knave yelled as Andrew reached out and flipped the hood off her head. "What happened to your neck and why are you hiding it?" "Fell off the monkey bars." "A likely story."

"No, really. I was hanging upside-down and the earthquake knocked me off them. Where's Felix? Shouldn't he be kicking my ass right now?" "We don't know. He was taken by one of the villains, then you disappeared. We thought they got you too." "Naaahh. They wouldn't have been able to." "You got knocked on your ass in the middle of the fight, I'm pretty sure it would've been fine." "...shut up."

—

"How come your mask is bloody?" Jack asked. "It's your blood. You turned into a water fountain of Kool-Aid." "Wonderful." Finally bandaged, Jack stood on shaky legs. "Where's Matthew run off to? And Peepachu? I haven't seen them in a while", Cry muttered, glancing out at the hallway.

"How would I know? I was a paperweight the last few hours", Jack groaned, shaking out his legs to get the feeling back in them.

—

Matthew paced the room, occasionally glancing at the pale woman on the bed. Sometimes he worried that she wasn't breathing, and would anxiously rush over to check, but the subtle rise and fall of her chest always gave it away. Eventually, he went to check on Peepachu. The kid was nowhere to be found. He checked all the rooms, avoiding the ones that the other villains were in. He couldn't face them yet. Not while he was covered in dirt and blood. Speaking of which...

He ran back to take a quick shower. When he emerged, Stephanie was sitting upright. Clearly though, something was wrong. She was hugging her legs, knees tucked into her chest and staring blankly at the bedsheets. Her gaze turned to Matthew and her eyes widened. "What- you can't! Don't put me through this please! I'm a horrible person I know, please don't do this..." She was crying now.

Matthew ran to her, hesitantly putting an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him, relaxing slightly. "Hey", he said. "It's over. I'm here. You're back." Stephanie leaned away from him, suddenly fearful. "This is a sick trick", she muttered. "This is a twisted joke, isn't it? You just have to pretend that he's here, don't you? Isn't going to Hell bad enough? Aren't your stupid games bad enough?"

Matthew stared at her. "You- you went to Hell?" She looked back at him warily. "You know I did." "But why?" She laughed dryly. "Do you want me to spell it out for you? I was a V-I-L-L-A-I-N. I killed people." "You didn't have a choice." "That's not what you said when I died." "You're not dead", he said, and explained everything to her.

"So... only you can understand him?" Stephanie asked. Sometime while Matthew was speaking she had put her head on his shoulder. He had almost squealed. "Yeah it's weird", he said, trying to act casual. "Could he bring Dan back?" "Y-Yeah. Actually, he could. But we need a, uh, sacrifice." "Isn't it obvious?" "What?" She turned to him, surprised.

"We sacrifice the boss. Duh."

A/N: Steph is a savage even when suffering with PTSD. Peace.