The Carcajou

Epilogue

Later, Sam, Tara, and Luke, who wore his jacket over his bare chest, were escorted out of the shrine by policemen Danny had gone to get.

He also told them that he called the hospital, and said Gale was making a full recovery. Unfortunately, Mindy didn't make it. After a few moments of sorrow, the trio joined Kirby, who was being carried into an ambulance so her wounds could be treated. Sam's arm was bandaged and Tara had hers in a sling from when either Ethan or Quinn had stabbed her before working on Luke.

"If you ever need me, call," Kirby said. "We're all part of the same screwed-up family now. And legacy doesn't always have to be a bad thing."

"Sure thing, bub," Luke said with a reassuring nod and a rare smile. After Kirby had been taken to the hospital, Luke sat down on the curb with the last of his surviving friends.

"How?" Tara asked. "We thought you were dead."

"I think I was for a second," Luke answered honestly. "Apparently, there's this complicated thing where my healing shut down because I still blamed myself for what happened to my old friends. But... I just moved on. It wasn't easy, but when your girlfriend and older sister need you alive, that gives you a good enough reason to come back to life."

The sisters shared a laugh before all three fell into a comfortable silence.

"You know," Tara said, "I don't know if it's because we almost died or something, but I'm feeling a little hungry. Don't you guys feel peckish?"

"Yeah," Sam answered honestly.

"I could eat," Luke added.

"What do you guys think of shawarma?" Tara asked as she started walking, but Sam and Luke stayed behind.

In her hands, Sam held an evidence bag. With shaking fingers, she opened it. The eyes of her father's Ghostface mask looked up at her. Kirby did say legacy didn't have to be bad, but Sam didn't want to take that chance. She killed two members of the same screwed-up family in just one night. What if she turned out like Billy?

Luke also looked down at the mask in his hands. The blood-stained cowl of the Carcajou. It was a symbol of who he was, but also who he lost. He said he had moved on, and he did. That's how he was able to heal again. But the mask seemed heavier with the guilt that he did move on. How was he going to live with that?

"Sam, Luke," Tara's voice said, snapping them out of their trance. "You coming or what?"

Sam and Luke looked at each other before sharing a small smile.

"Right behind you, Princess," Luke said. He and Sam then dropped the two masks and followed Tara for a bite to eat.

———

While Luke, Tara, and Sam had left the crime scene to enjoy some shawarma, a strange orange portal opened and out of it stepped a man in a red and black suit that looked very familiar.

"So this is the Paramount Universe," Deadpool said as he inspected his surroundings. "It's a little bit behind the MCU, but if there's a Logan here, it'll do.

"Wait a second," he continued, turning away from the crime scene. "You're still reading? And there's no Logan, but it's his fan-made clone from BFerg122's 'The New Mutants', which happens in my universe?"

He groaned in annoyance before noticing Luke's cowl and the Ghostface mask at his feet. Screaming curses so loud that everyone nearby turned to watch, Deadpool began kicking the two masks.

"Looks like you got the censored version," Deadpool said after he finally calmed down. "I gotta go talk to Levy about taking this out of my Hugh Hunt montage. Carry on, dear reader."

Pulling out a strange little computer, he typed in a few buttons. The doorway of energy appeared behind him as he walked through before disappearing, never to enter this universe again.