December 20th 2020  – 9:02PM – Not Recording
The Carnage Arena – Baltimore, Maryland

“Oh shit, the box-“

Maggie says, her eyes lighting up as she slides from the ring. I was wondering what in the world she brought a small box to the ring for when we were here to fight an exhibition match.. But it wasn’t really my place to ask. She grabs it, and turns back to me – Giving it to me.

Guess I don’t have to ask.

“I was supposed to give this to you… CJ wanted me to give this to you.”

I look down at it, and back at Mags – Completely and utterly confused. What would CJ need to give me?

“..Why? What is it?”

“Open it. All I know is that it’s for you.”

Well, that makes me feel better. I look down at the box again, wondering what it could possibly be – You know, instead of just opening the damn thing. Sighing, I begin pulling the tape back as my stomach turns in knots.

When I get it open, I hardly expect to see an old-style black wedding band sitting on top of a handwritten note addressed to me. It looks familiar, but it does nothing to explain why it’s in my possession right now.

What kind of game is CJ playing now?

I let out an exasperated sigh.

“I knew it. Damn it I just knew it-“

I shake my head, almost feeling disappointed because I honestly thought this match with Maggie wasn’t just another game choreographed by CJ and Maggie.

“I should have known the challenge was just another one of his little games. I’m sorry Maggie, but this had his fingerprints all over it!”

But when I look up, I see something I never imagined I’d see.. Maggie, with tears in her eyes. But why? Why is she crying?

But then it clicks. Then it clicks and it feels like the world stops turning beneath my feet.

     The note…

I rush my eyes down to the note, opening it and…

“No no no no no…“

I say quietly, scanning the page in a race with my eyes – Trying to read it before my vision is too flooded to see the words scrawled so eloquently on the page. Just like CJ would…

I look back up at Maggie as tears fall from my eyes.

“CJ’s dead?”

But Maggie just stands there, still as a statue. I can hear my heart beating in my chest, the only noise filling this empty arena.

“I’m so sorry Luce-“

She finally replies, my stomach sinking even further – As if that were even possible.

“I thought they told you.”

And in that moment of confirmation, I hit the ground, and the only thing I can hear once more – My heart. Broken. Shattered.

He’s gone.

“No…”

 

January 23rd 2021  – 11:18PM – Recording
The Lee/Wylde Residence – New York City, New York

“So, Carlson – How’s tricks?”

Lucy sits, cross-legged on the ground in her living room – Her hair a frazzled mess, her eyes smeared with eye-liner and mascara as if she’d been crying. Her voice cracks as she begins speaking once more.

“It’s kinda funny, starting the year facing off against two members of the Outlast team that Alex put together last year, don’t you think? Fond memories…”

She shrugs.

“If you’re into that sort of thing. I remember us talking backstage after I found myself eliminated from the finals, it was nice to see someone so full of hope and optimism. I told you you’d get ‘there’ someday. And maybe you will. I don’t really know anymore because that Lucy you teamed with? She’s gone.”

“She died what feels like a long time ago…”

Her eyes begin welling up as she blinks the tears away. She shakes her head.

“Changes come, darling. Changes… Come.”

She says that last word at nearly a whisper, a coolness to her voice – a lack of feeling and empathy that Lucy’s typically been known for.  Her voice drips with malice.  It drips with a subtle sadness, encapsulated by anger – Anger that she’s not sure she can control any longer. 

“And after a loss to someone who’s name I’d rather not repeat – I don’t know if changes are gonna come for you, Carlson. At least they’re not going to this week. You’re a good guy, a good competitor – But it’s like I told Konrad a few weeks ago in not so few words – Good is overrated. It’s overrated and it’s not going to get you anywhere but on your back, regretting whatever it is that people like you regret.”

She narrows her eyes at the camera.

“Lack of ability? Lack of luck? Who the fuck knows… The point is, being good isn’t going to cut it. Ask me how I know. I’ve been ‘good’ for a long fucking time, Carlson – Yet here I sit, feeling like I’ve fallen into a hole deeper than the depths of Vain Wallace’s ego.”

She sighs.

“So here’s what’s gonna happen in a few days, I’m gonna come to Synergy. I’m going to take care of business… And I’m gonna leave. I’ve got far too much on my mind right now to even entertain the thought of playing nice with you, and much more important things to do – than fuck around and give you a chance in hell of coming out of Synergy with anything that even resembles a win.”

She glances down, clenching her fists.

“I’m fighting for more than just me, Carlson.. I’m fighting for myself, sure.. But I’m also fighting for my family, my friends, my pride… But most importantly, I’m fighting for the Wylde Legacy… And I can’t let them down.”

A few tears can barely be seen dripping down onto her hands as she focuses on her fists, unable to bring her eyes back up to the camera.

“…Not again.”

OOC: Word Count: 994 – Checked with Wordcounter.net.