The Hero Trilogy Imagines

The Replacements - Part 5

[Poorly drawn pictures]

"Matthew!" Cry called, hammering on his door. "I know you're in there."
"...no", came the reply. "Nobody's here."
Cry frowned, hearing a higher pitched voice cough a little. "Wait is there... is there someone else in there? You took a girl to your room?!!"
The door was flung open and Cry was suddenly stood toe to toe with a furious MatPat.
"Don't ever", Matthew hissed. "Think that I would cheat on her. Got it?"
Cry nodded, shrinking away a little. Usually Matthew looked so happy but this... this was terrifying.

"So if it's not a randomer in your room then who-" He stopped short, seeing Stephanie sitting on the bed over Matthew's shoulder. He blinked. "What the fuck?" he said bluntly.
"Take a guess", Matthew sighed as Cry pushed past him.
"You- you used Peepachu? After I told you not to?" Cry yelled, wheeling around to face him again.

"Correction; you told me not to pressure him, you never told me not to ask him", Matthew said.
Cry grumbled but couldn't argue with his logic. "What did you have to do?" he asked. "Peepachu's power comes with a cost. What did you do?"
Matthew stayed silent so Stephanie spoke up, her voice a little raspy.
"Felix. He had to kill Felix", she said.

Cry froze. "You did what?" he said finally.
"I'm not repeating myself Masked Boy", Stephanie sighed.
"Shut it Zombie Girl."
"At least I don't have to hide my face behind a mask."
"At least I didn't get hit by a car."
"At least my dad doesn't kidnap kids and torture them."

Cry stumbled back against the wall.
"At least I remember my dad", he said quietly.
"At least my dad isn't dying of cancer."
"He could be. You wouldn't know, you haven't seen him since you came here."
"And guess who's fault that is? Your dad's. Case closed."

"Both of you quit it!" Matthew yelled.
The two fell silent. "What's done is done, it can't be changed okay?" They stared at him in silence for a moment. He sighed. "Look, moving on, Steph had an idea to- to get Dan back, but-"
"Cry listen", Stephanie interrupted. "Before we tell you, just keep an open mind ok?"
Cry nodded, frowning.
"You want to say it or will I?" Matthew asked.
"I will. We want to sacrifice the Boss."

Cry blinked. "What?" he said.
"You heard."
"I- yeah, I agree but-"
"We're not forcing you, Cry", Matthew said gently.
"I know. I- I want to do it. We have to."
"We don't-"
"Matthew. We. Do. End of story."

—

Jack hadn't seen Mark in weeks. What with both the heroes and villains bringing in new recruits and being shot in the stomach, neither of them had actually had the time.

He raced to the Curatrix, not giving a damn about the other heroes being there. The electric hero, Andrew, was sitting on the steps, playing with a ball of electricity. He saw Jack and nodded, but didn't try and stop him.

Jack cautiously walked into the building, seeing Phil out of the corner of his eye staring at some kind of photograph. He waved at him, then continued his search for Mark.

He found the red-haired hero talking with Matthias. Matthias glanced at him before walking off.
Mark stared after him for a moment before fixing a smile onto his face and kissing Jack.
"I missed this", he mumbled.
Jack hummed in agreement, pressing his lips to the hero's once more.

They pulled away, eyes shining.
"Go for a walk?" Mark asked.
Jack nodded, grabbing his hand.
On their way out, they passed a drained-looking Knave talking to- Satbani? Jack stopped in his tracks.
"Bonnie?" he asked.
She turned to him.
"Oh hey Jack", she said.
Knave just kind of nodded in recognition.

"What're you doing here?" he asked.
"Uh... I was kidnapped?" she tried.
"No, really."
"I uh... made friends with a hero..."
"And I'm dating one. I'll keep your secret as long as you keep mine- actually it's not a secret. I won't tell."
"Thanks."

"Jack", Knave called as he turned to leave.
"Yeah?" he responded, turning back.
"Have you seen Andrew?"
"Out front. On the steps."
"Tell him to come here for a second. Please."
"Jesus", Mark breathed. "Knave Guileful just said please. Now I've seen everything."
"I don't have the strength or patience to glare", Knave muttered. "Just get Andrew."

Jack nodded, worried. He led Mark out of the Curatrix, passing the message on to Andrew.
"She- oh. Oh no. Yeah, thanks Jack", the boy said, rushing inside.
"What was that all about?" Jack asked.
Mark pressed a quick kiss to his temple. "I don't know. Don't worry about it ok? We're here to relax."
Jack nodded, some of the tension leaving him as he and Mark walked onwards to the park.

—

"Oh this is weird", Stephanie mumbled, staring down at her own grave. She grabbed Matthew's hand, almost subconsciously, in an effort to reassure herself that she wasn't getting back in that tiny box anytime soon.
"We need to cover it. And find a way to hide you", Cry mused.
"I would say you could leave the Institute but the security cameras at the entrance..." Matthew said.

"Could I not just camp out in your, our, room?" Steph asked, turning her gaze away from the empty coffin.
"You could. They don't check there."

A/N: So I'm cutting this chapter off prematurely because my back is killing me from being hunched over awkwardly while I try to write, my eyes are itching from it being the really early hours of the morning and I have to ice skate... today. Oops.

I'm really grumpy if you couldn't tell.