chapter ii. // the emperor.

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January 1st, 2022
12:00 AM
Ellie Quinn's Apartment, Chicago, Illinois

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     "Happy fucking New Year!"

     Andi Wylde, Jodi Turner and Ellie Quinn all sat on the couch watching the ball drop, their alcoholic beverage of choice each gripped in their hands. Ellie had a glass of Jack Daniels, Jodi had an IPA and Andi had a glass of champagne. As the ball dropped and the clock struck midnight, Andi jumped up from the couch, chugging the remainder of her champagne. Jodi simply smirked at her stablemate's response to the new year, taking a swig from her beer as Ellie sat up and placed her glass on the table, clasping both hands together and resting her chin on them, an empty stare towards the television as she thought about her 2021.

     Her return to wrestling after six months on the shelf. Her first ever championship. How untouchable she felt as a member of Killjoy Club while she reigned as Atlantic Champion. Her six months of dominance. KINGDOM Pro's demise. The demise of her championship reign. Her post-KINGDOM Pro slump. A seemingly failed run in Project: Honor. Taking a hiatus from Project: Honor. Her debut in PWE. Forming Culture Shock with the two women sat on either side of her. And of course, the whole...'incident' with her now-former confidante that left her financial advisor stabbed to death in the floor of the very living room they were currently seated in. She tried hard not to remember where the blood stain had been.

    It had been a long goddamn year. And if 2021 was any hint as to how 2022 would go? 2022 may wind up being even longer. 

     
     And she definitely wasn't looking forward to it. Noticing their leader's apprehension, Andi and Jodi both looked towards Ellie, Andi being the first to ask the question.

     "You good, El'?"

     Ellie didn't register the question at first. Taking a moment before looking up, her eyes the only part of her body moving.

     "Fucking fantastic, babygirl. Let's fucking party."

     Grabbing her glass, Ellie pours herself more whiskey, taking a long swig from the glass as she used a remote to turn up the music blasting from her Spotify playlist, Limp Bizkit's newest single "Out of Style" starting to play.

"We cannot change the past...

But we can start today to make a better tomorrow..."

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January 16th, 2022
1:30 AM
Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado

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     A lightning effect with Culture Shock's logo blasts onto the screen before the feed cuts to a shot of Ellie Quinn currently seated in the dimly-lit ring in the middle of Ball Arena, filming herself on her cellphone as behind her, Jodi Turner and Andi Wylde are having a sparring session the night before Ellie's showdown with Lachlan Kane.

     "I told you last month in Chicago that Ellie Quinn was going to bulldoze through every name in front of her...and in my debut? That's exactly what fucking happened. I ran through four complete fucking nobodies and now I get my shot at the biggest nobody of them all: Lachlan Kane. Mr. 'Irish Scrapper' himself. You can call yourself a 'scrapper' all you want, but I don't need some cutesy little term to tell the world I can beat someone's ass. I'll just call myself a fighter...an asskicker. And that's exactly what I'm going to do in this very ring.

     "I'm going to climb between these ropes tomorrow, I'm going to fight you Lachlan Kane, and I'm going to kick your scrawny twig ass in the middle of this goddamn ring. All the eight-pack abs and the fact that you might look like you haven't had a carb since grade school ain't gonna do shit for you. I thrive on chaos and I thrive on ripping fucking heads off, and that's exactly what I'm going to do to you in the middle of this ring. I'm going to beat your ass, drop you on your head and then punt it clean off your fucking shoulders. Try as you might to stop the asskicking coming your way, just like Thanos: I am inevitable."

     "So while you're laying in bed getting your beauty sleep, Jodi, Andi and I are in the middle of this ring working to better ourselves. Working to make sure we're at the top of our game. So if I were you, Lachlan? I'd skip the beauty sleep and sleep with one eye open, because I'm coming for you and that Victory Championship. All that heart you claim to have won't mean shit when I rip it out of your chest. Because when you step into this ring with me tomorrow? I'm going to turn 'The Scrapper' into scraps that I'm going to feed Jodi's fucking dog on the silver platter this company has handed you. Sleep tight before I force you to hail to the new King of PWE. Alright girls, let's get back to work!"

     Ellie stands up from the ring, leaning against the turnbuckles before winking towards the camera, ending the recording as the Culture Shock logo is the last thing seen before the video ends.

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ii.