The Carcajou

Chapter Four: Death of a Legacy Character

Shouldering his backpack, Luke entered Tara's room, causing her to smile up at him.

"Hi," she said sweetly.

"Hey," Luke said as he took his backpack off and sat next to her in the nearest chair. "How are you feeling?"

"Doing better," Tara answered. "How are you?"

Luke hesitated. He didn't want to tell Tara that her friends basically accused him of being one of the killers in the Ghostface masks even though he tried to put his killer instincts behind him when Paradox dropped him off in this universe.

"Doing pretty good," he finally lied. "You up for a game?"

After setting up one of the hospital's chess sets, Luke and Tara began to play. But Tara noticed her opponent seemed distracted.

"Luke?" Tara asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Luke said as he moved a pawn. "It's just... I haven't done something like this in so long. Not since... Dani."

"Dani?" Tara asked. "Who's Dani?" She moved one of her pawns to take Luke's out.

"She, um... She was my girlfriend," Luke finally answered as he moved his rook.

"'Was?'" Tara echoed as she took out one of Luke's pieces with her knight. "What happened?"

Luke began choking up. Tara knew she brought up something painful. "I'm sorry. You don't have to talk about it if you don't..."

"It's okay," Luke finally said. "I... haven't talked about it to anyone since I came here. But it's time I told you.

"I wasn't alone when we escaped the hospital. My friends, they were... all like me. We were like a family. Roberto could catch fire like a sunspot. Illyana could... basically create magic. Rahne could transform into a werewolf we liked to call Wolfsbane. Sam could fly up to 200 like some kind of cannonball, and finally, Dani could create mirages of a person's greatest fear.

"We hid out in a junkyard," Luke continued as he moved his bishop to take down her knight. "It wasn't long after that Dani and I had our fight. I... hope it was something important. I was angry and left. My friends all called after me, but I kept walking. I went to a bar and drank until it closed. My healing keeps me from getting drunk."

"My queen takes your bishop, putting you in check," Tara said as she made her move. "Sorry, continue."

"When I walked home," Luke said, tears burning his eyes as he tried to make his next move, "I smelled smoke and blood. When I got there, I saw my friends. Or what was left of them? They were... killed by a group of mutants known as the Hellfire Club. They were also killed, but they did their job.

"I just... keep thinking... if I hadn't fought with Dani or left, I could've been there to save them. They might have stayed alive."

Luke closed his eyes, allowing the tears to drop as he dropped his king in surrender. Moving the board aside, Tara leaned up and wrapped her arms around a silently sobbing Luke.

"You're gonna be fine," she said, recalling the words he had said to her when he saved her from Ghostface. "You're gonna be okay. Just breathe. You're okay. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Luke lightly laughed. "Aren't those the words I said when you were stabbed?" This caused Tara to laugh as well.

———

"This movie sucks," Luke admitted as he and Tara sat in her room, watching "Stab" that night.

"I know," Tara said. "I mean, can you believe that some weirdos are putting on the mask for this crap?"