“I don’t know what you want me to say.”

Lucy says, staring out into the vastness of the dark woods that lay behind the home in Western Maryland, watching the rain pour down on this chilly autumn evening. The wind whipped her long, blonde hair around – much as it did the colorful leaves that had begun falling from the trees in the last few weeks. Lucy simply pulled her hair down and tucked it behind her ears.

“Honestly, Magdalena…”

Finally, she turns her head – those piercing blue eyes finally coming into view. Usually those eyes are filled with hope or determination.. But tonight Lucy’s icy gaze is filled with resentment and anger.

“Quite frankly, you’ve said enough over the last month or so to fill up my air time for the next few weeks. Because apparently you know just about every god-damned thing about what’s best for Lucy Motherfucking Wylde.”

The tone of her voice is flat as she enunciates each and every word.

“I’m not going to bother explaining myself to you, Magdalena. What’s the point? But I will say this. When you said that: ‘there’s no bigger threat to me than myself’… You were right.”

Lucy shrugs her shoulders, as if that statement means nothing to her as she continues.

“What can I say? I have a track record as being a self-destructive bitch. I, for one, have never called that fact into question. As you’re so fond of pointing out, I am the very same bitch who let her own sister, her own flesh and blood drop a steel cage on my throat. Fun fact though, Magdalena – I bet you didn’t know this one. I’m also the very same woman who swallowed a bottle full of sleeping pills and downed an entire bottle of whiskey in order to end my pathetic fucking existence merely a year and a half… two years ago? I’m not sure anymore. Time sure gets away from me sometimes, when I’m out here trying to destroy myself.”

Her eyes narrow.

“The keyword being MYself. I haven’t made the best choices. Not even close. And maybe this is a bit narrow minded of me to say, but God damnit, I’m going to say it, since we’re being honest with one another now, and all. But I don’t have to ask permission to anyone to fuck up my own life. But you see, here’s the thing.”

She pauses and takes a breath as she glances out at the rain in front of her.

“You’re operating on the assumption that the Lucy Wylde that let Kyra nearly kill me, or the Lucy that nearly offed herself… Or hell, the Lucy that most recently handed herself over to her long-lost brother and had herself locked up in a human-trafficking ring for a few days… Oh, you didn’t know that one either, did you?”

She cracks a small, humorless smile as she brings her eyes back to the camera.

“…You’re assuming that the Lucy of old is the same Lucy you’re gearing up to fight in a few days time. But I’m not. One would think that you of all people would understand the difficulty of trying to find oneself. I mean look at you, Magdalena. You’re a shell of who you once were. But me? I’m still trying to figure myself out, but one thing is for damn sure… I can take care of myself. I don’t need you, Magdalena. To be completely honest, I never fucking did. But here you are anyway… Sticking your nose into my business for what? The thousandth fucking time… And as your friend, I tried to be nice about it.”

She sighs.

“Forgive me for trying to give a fuck about you and your feelings, when it’s so obvious that you’d rather I didn’t. So let me make this real clear for you, one more time, you dollar store Jenova ripoff.”

She tilts her head, cracking her neck.

“You can take your opinions about the things I’ve done, about who I associate with, and you can shove them up your ass. You can take that fucking mask off your face and stop trying to BE ME because you will NEVER fill the shoes that the TRUE JENOVA wore. You think I gave Sebastian and EVERYONE else the roadmap on how to end my fucking career? You think I just did that because Lucy can’t help but to destroy herself?”

Lucy lets out a laugh, but her eyes never close and that steely gaze never leaves the camera lens.

“Fuck no, you stupid bitch. If you would have bothered to use the brain that they sewed back into your skull to THINK instead of whatever fucked up shit CJ implanted in there… You would have understood. It’s all a part of the plan. What better way is there to find out what kind of person someone is? Hmmm?”

Her face relaxes into a calm smile, her head tilting to the side once more.

“Give them the keys to the car and see if they actually steal it even though they know it’s yours. I gave Sebastian an easy out. I told him that if he wanted to get rid of me, all he had to do was hit me right… here.”

She points at the scar on her neck.

“I wasn’t ever going to let the little prick do it. But if he tried it, then I’d know everything I needed to know about Sebastian Everett-Bryce… The third. And if anyone else decides to try their luck at ending my career? Then I’ll know who to trust, and who to put down.”

Her voice lowers as she finishes that last sentence, her eyes once again narrowing as she shoots daggers at the camera.

“And much to my surprise, it was you who decided to try her luck first. All in the name of getting me to ‘defend myself’. All in the name of making sure Lucy Wylde doesn’t die out there in the ring because she can’t stay out of her own way. You made your point, loud and clear, Magdalena… and now I get to make mine. You wanna bring the real Jenova out to play? You want me to show you what I’m capable of?”

Lucy shakes her head.

“Well you’re not getting your wish because unlike you, I don’t need Jenova in order to kick your ass.”