SUCKER PUNCH
CHAPTER THREE !

PIPER WOULD BE LYING if she said that the disaster from the night before hadn't severely unsettled her. She wasn't exactly walking around on autopilot, but that didn't mean it hadn't been permanently in the back of her head, random flashes of that woman, body twitching on the club floor, blood seeping from her neck like a waterfall, appearing in her head. It was a horrific sight, especially knowing your friend had unintentionally caused it and you, in an act of self preservation, left her there to die.

Her night had been made of restless tossing and turning that actually had managed to rouse a groggy, bleary-eyed Jordan from their bed, forcing them to slide into the bed beside her, under the warmth of the covers, and deliberately hold her close to their body, making it impossible for her to move and finally lulling her to sleep with the gentle beat of their heart.

           The only upside that had come of said restless sleep was waking up to find out that Marie, who they all had completely forgotten about in their bid to escape from the club, had actually used her powers to save the woman. This meant no actual death weighed upon Piper's chest.

Ever since her brother's passing, the topic of death was a hard pill to swallow. She tried her very best to avoid it as much as possible, even going as far as to change the channel if the news spoke of someone dying or leaving the room if someone happened to mention a family member who had died. It was just far too much for her to handle. She feared that one day a death would become too triggering and she'd be right back where she started; screeching her eyes out as her voice grew hoarse and chest become pained.

            She knew Luke dealt with Sam's death in his own way. She knew that, although he kept a cool facade in front of others, when it was just them, he allowed himself to be more vulnerable, to miss their brother who they both believed they had failed to help.

            But never would she have ever expected this.

            "Luke?" She heard herself ask, voice shaky as it left her lips. She felt incredibly thrown by what she was seeing. Her brows intensely furrowed as she continued. "Luke, what are you doing? Where the hell are your clothes?"

Nothing was making sense. As she slowly shuffled forward, shoes scuffing against the linoleum floors, she couldn't quite understand what she was walking into. She'd been on her way to meet Jordan for lunch, a regular activity for them that they tried to uphold at least three times a month if they class schedules didn't interfere, when she halted to a sudden stop. Her eyes widened in disgust initially at the sight of her brother stood naked as the day he was born, everything on display, before she finally took in everything else.

Luke looked to be on the offensive. Shoulders squared back, jaw tightened and what seemed to be rage building within his gaze. But on the other hand, Marie and Jordan, both appeared to be on the defence, as if they wished to protect themselves from Luke...which just didn't make sense. They almost appeared scared of him.

The sound of her voice sluggishly tore Luke's eyes away from Jordan, who seemed to become more on edge at her arrival, the rage in his gaze slipping away, sorrow taking its place as he laid eyes on his little sister. "Piper..." He quietly mumbled.

"What's going on?" She asked him, barely able to take a single step forward before Luke stumbled back, bringing her to a stop once again. Carefully, she held out a hand. "Luke, talk to me, please."

There was a fight inside his eyes. He so badly wanted to take her away and explain everything but he couldn't. That was a luxury he could no longer afford. He had been foolish and hasty and now he was paying that price. Though he longingly stared at her outstretched hand, aching to reach back and take everything he had done back, Luke knew there was no going back. Not anymore.

He shook his head, breaking his heart and Piper's in grand succession. In a bid to keep her at bay, to push her back and stop her from getting in his way, his face quickly lost all emotion "You've gotta move over. Just get out of my way, Piper." His voice was stoic, empty as he spoke.

"Not until you chill out." Jordan emphatically uttered for her, holding their ground.

This response from his friend seemed to immediately get Luke's back up once more. A crazed glint appeared in his eye as he pointed at Jordan, accusation written all over his face. "You're in on it too."

Piper looked completely freaked out by this point. Terror was practically seeping from her pores, evident in the furrow of her brows, the way in which her fingers kept clenching and releasing down by her sides, the icy chill that ran through her veins as she stared helplessly at her brother.

An exasperated sigh left Jordan's lips as they stared back at their friend, totally mind-boggled by the fucked up situation. "Luke, what the fuck is going on?"

            As if this question was the match that lit the fuse, a bright, fiery orange flared up in Luke's eyes before his very being became totally encompassed in flames. The red-hot, blinding warmth emitted from his fire covered skin, casting a scorching heat that threatened to blister. The trio barely had anytime to prepare themselves before the boy dashed forward and slammed with all his strength into Jordan, who had managed to successfully shift back into their male form and absorb much of the collision that otherwise would have sent them crashing down the hallway.

            "Go!" Jordan cried out at the two girls. They were pressed to take Luke on all on their own.

           Without an ounce of hesitation, Marie made a desperate run for safety down the hallway, the girl very muxh not wanting to get in the line of fire, especially since she had been Luke's initial target. Piper refused to budge, however. She wasn't willing to leave her brother. If her suspicions were correct, much like Sam, her older brother also suffered from mental issues and leaving him like she had allowed herself to leave Sam just wasn't an option. He'd need her when he came down from this manic episode.

            She continuously began to jut about the floors, dodging the brawling duo as Jordan tried to subdue Luke as best as they could, switching in and out between forms to best utilise their powers, all the while Piper's hands vibrated with nerves as they held out in front of her as she willed her powers to surface.

            Jordan suddenly flew through the air, flying straight past a wide-eyed Piper. Their body carried through the air until it collapsed against a column in the school's foyer. The foundation immediately started to shatter under the sheer force of the crash. Luke's footsteps boomed as he stalked with a ferocious that would  rival that of Homelander. Piper quickly rushed behind him, her footsteps but a whisper in the echo his left behind with each floor-cracking step.

            Swiftly, Luke leaned down and grabbed hold of Jordan, hoisting them up against the column by the throat, the fire that once covered his entire body now fading out. The cracks in the floor allowed for the roots that grew beneath the school to creep out, slithering across the ground by Piper's control. Long, thick roots slid up the backs of Luke's bare legs, heading straight for his arms. They wrapped around his arms as Piper willed for them to tug hard, forcing her brother's hands to part from Jordan's body which sent them crumbling to the floor in a curled up ball.

            In an instant, Luke's body became engulfed in flames once more. This caused the roots that wrapped around his limbs to catch fire, the embers embedding into the roots and travelling all the way back to the Piper who hissed through gritted teeth in pain as a burning sensation hit her palms.

            Jordan was quick to use Luke's distraction with his sister to their advantage. They grabbed hold of the Riordan boy's ankles and used all their strength to bring him to his knees before delivering a swift, bone-cracking punch upon his face. Luke just took this in stride and instead of showing that the motion had hurt, he chose to grab hold of Jordan and toss them for the last time. Jordan flew through the air once again, body slamming and crashing straight through a nearby wall, effectively being knocked unconscious.

           Luke paid his sister no mind. He carried on walking towards the exit, heading in the same direction that Marie had taken off in. He moved with no hesitation as if he were a machine that had been programmed to hunt her down. His skin was practically steaming as he moved, the burn so intense that it singed the doorframe as he burst through it.

Gasps for air, from shock and dismay trickled from Piper's mouth as she rubbed her hands along the soft fabric of her sweater in an attempt to quell the burn. For a moment she actually considered giving up, letting Luke go and wreak havoc if he so desired but she couldn't. She knew that if she were in his shoes, Luke would never have backed down, and so she gritted her teeth and raced after him.

Her shoulder slammed against the door as she pushed it open, her shoes immediately beginning to clip against the ground as she moved outside. "Luke, please, stop!" She shakily cried out when she spotted him up ahead.

There were people scattered about the courtyard, each of them glancing in Luke's direction, some in surprise, some in amusement at his naked state but one person instantly understood the severity. Piper's voice echoed in Andre's ears as he shuffled towards his best friend, her frantic plea for her brother to stop fuelling his intentions. Suddenly Marie's claims that Luke had killed Brink didn't seem too out of this realm.

"Take it easy." Andre calmly uttered, looking Luke directly in the eye. When he sensed that Luke was beginning to unravel at the sight of his peers around him, all of which had pulled out their phones to record, Andre quickly assured him. "Hey, no, fuck everyone else. It's just me and you."

Piper forced herself to slow down, her footsteps falling into a hesitant tiptoe as if she didn't want to scare Luke off, as though he was a baby deer ready to skitter off at the slightest noise or movement.

She had just barely stepped behind Andre, her eyes firmly latched onto her brother's quivering lip, as the Anderson boy exclaimed, "You know I love you."

The fire in his eyes had been snuffed out, replaced only by a well of tears ready to burst through the floodgates. "It wasn't supposed to happen like this." Luke's voice wavered as he spoke, his head shaking. He looked completely terrified.

There was a brief moment, a pregnant pause where no one spoke. It wasn't until Luke suddenly rushed forward that Marie bellowed, "No!" Her hand raised to stop him only for it to be totally pointless when she saw Luke embrace his best friend.

The two hugged, ignoring the building world of onlookers around them. Piper sniffled back her emotions that threatened to drip down her face as she finally felt a small sense of relief flow through her. To her, Luke seemed as though he was finally coming down from whatever he had been dealing with.

When Luke finally retracted from the embrace with Andre, his eyes flickered over to his sister stood not that far behind. She smiled hopefully back at him. "Luke, everything's gonna be okay. Just let me help you." She swiftly gestured between herself and Andre before correcting, "Let us help you."

            Andre nodded in agreement. "Luke, come on."

            There was a moment where everything seemed like it would be okay, that Luke would allow them to help him. He stared back at his best friend and little sister, a sadness they had never seen before swimming in his eyes. A lump formed in his throat causing his voice to come out strained as he uttered, "I'm so sorry."

Then before either of them could speak up to tell him they didn't need an apology, his powers suddenly flared back up, sending his entire body into an all consuming burst of scorching flames. Piper and Andre flinched back at the rush of heat that bit at their skin, their eyes closing in reaction to the burn and only opening back up in time to see Luke rising up into the air.

He lingered in the air for only a few seconds, staring down at the family he would be leaving behind, before his eyes closed for the last time and he allowed the full force of his powers to encompass him. His skin began to blister exponentially as he reached temperatures rivalling the sun.

Then came the after.

Screams of horror erupted across the campus as Luke's entire body exploded into a bloody, visceral mess that sputtered over the building crowd, painting those in the vicinity with the mashed up, boiling crimson liquid that once ran through his veins and now was nothing more than a spewing of viscera that would have to be cleaned up.

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A NUMBNESS HAD ENCAPSULATED her every sense, rendering Piper completely cold. She hadn't allowed herself to move from that very spot, her vision once firmly latched onto the ground where her brothers blood had pooled, now blurred by tears that would trickle down her face every now and again, mixing with the blood that stained her skin.

The sun had faded, the sky now dark. Flashing police lights flickered over the campus while a hazard team had arrived to quickly clean up the scene, both Luke's remains stuck to the pavement and Professor Brinkerhoff's ashes that littered his office floor. The clean-up crew barely paid her any attention, instead side stepping by her any time they found her stood in their way.

Jordan, who had been nearby, perched atop a wall as an EMT checked for any sign of a concussion or lasting damage left after the brawl with Luke, stared over at Piper, their gaze full of sympathy. Once the wound on their forehead had been stitched and they had been cleared, Jordan swiftly began to approach the girl.

"Piper, you can't stay here." They quietly muttered, their warm voice starkly contrasting the chill that ran through her veins.

She didn't argue. She continued to stand still as Jordan gently wrapped their arm over her shoulder, tucking her into their side and allowed herself to be tugged away, the girl having no strength to put up a fight. It wasn't until she found herself stood in their dorm, the familiar four walls surrounding her that she finally breathed out a haggard sounding sigh that reverberated off those walls.

            Jordan had quickly busied themself with digging into both their wardrobe but also Piper's, briefly glancing over their shoulder before carrying on with their goal of grabbing the softest, most comfortable clothes they each owned. Once they were tucked under their arm alongside some clean towels, Jordan grabbed hold of Piper and tugged her about one final time. All the way to the showers.

            The familiar squeak of the shower turning on filled Piper's ears as she watched Jordan shuffled about, her eyes vacant of the light that usually lived proudly there as they latched onto the figure before her. Jordan offered her a small, sad smile before slowly approaching her, their hands held out as if they were inching towards a skittish animal.

            When she showed no sign of running, Jordan took this as a sign to keep going. Soon layer by layer was pealed from both of their bodies. The hot spray of water washed over the pair, immediately beginning to loosen the caked up blood plastered across Piper's skin, trailing down her body until the crimson-stained liquid swirled in the drain until it finally ran clear.

             Her shoulders suddenly began to shake as her emotions slowly started to surface. The sadness, the agony that she had been holding back came rising to the top. Without a moment's hesitation, Jordan rushed forward and wrapped her up in their arms, welcoming the sobs that muffled into their neck, all the while fighting back tears of their own at their friend's demise. And though Piper's legs shook, knees buckling almost violently, she remained stood thanks only to Jordan holding her together.

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author's thoughts.
chapter three. not proofread.
so yeah Luke is gone and piper is obviously gonna take it hard losing what she believes to be her last remaining brother. a little display of her powers which will get an upgrade at some point when she becomes more in-tuned with them. shorter chapter as well. anyway hope you enjoyed and please don't be a ghost reader, I need interaction to live! also I like knowing peoples opinions lol