“This Guy Again?!”

Chelsea’s search for her first PWE win of the new year would have to wait for another day as she lost to Lachlan Kaine but she had a chance to get said win at the next Victory and against someone she had faced elsewhere in wrestling, namely Stephan Stratford! The newcomer had previously wrestled Chelsea in the Level Up promotion which had been on hiatus for some time and she had lost the encounter, can Chelsea get the win?

Studio 11, Chicago, Illinois
Thursday the 16th of February 2023, 18:00pm

It never stops.

Wrestling, my burgeoning music career, my porn side hustle, I have been asked by my fellow wrestlers, musicians and porn stars (family as well) when I find time to sleep and, well, I do! It’s just that I’m a notorious night owl to the point that Sarah usually has to come down to remind me that it’s getting late at around 3:00am!

Hey, my doggo Valkyrie doesn’t complain at least!

I kicked off the year writing a double album for my comedy death/thrash act Sadistick Ragecution and after that went on pre-order you’d think I’d take time off to relax and get some shows booked for that band but nope! I was putting together the main story for the next Krawling Khaos album Castle of the Graveless Bride, a bit of a departure from the other albums to be honest, how you ask?

Kingdom of the Scourged and Church of the Red Harvest were inspired in equal parts by HP Lovecraft and the SCP Foundation, the second album is named after a group of interest in the SCP Foundation for fuck’s sake! Of Gods and Machines: The Mechanical Pantheon is the odd album out because we decided to do a Sci-Fi horror themed album with prominent industrial elements! Yeah, we don’t play material from that album live all the often! It’s not a bad album by any means but it’s the weakest of the five.

As for the last album Monarch Divinus? It was our most ambitious album to date with the music taking a more technical slant and aesthetic closing with a twenty minute closer that switched between Florida style Death Metal and Swedish Style Death Metal at the halfway point! In hindsight it would’ve been easier to split that track into two parts but we got it done!

That brings us to Castle of the Graveless Bride, which is taking a more gothic horror inspired approach and whilst none of the planned tracks will breach the ten minute mark, it’s still got some lengthy tracks.

As for how I find the energy to do all this? I guess I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie!

”Okay, so intro track and “From Undeath till us Part” are both squared away.” I commented as I checked off the two tracks from the to do list and the rest of the band started tuning up. ”Shame we couldn’t get that voice actress on board to narrate some scenes in between the songs.”

“To be fair, her asking price was too much even with the money you make from EWC.” Julian pointed out as he checked his bass guitar’s tuning and I did likewise with the evil guitar. “Luckily Britt from Crimson Rage and Sadistick Ragecution does community theatre work in her spare time and was willing to do it.”

”Probably could’ve afforded the professional actress if I had won a title in EWC by now but I digress.” I grumbled under my breath before I moved onto the guitar’s G-string. ”This damn G-string has been giving me trouble since we recorded From Undeath till us Part.”

“Yeah, I’m not even touching that comment!” Taylor responded with a laugh at which point I realized what I had just said and shook my head with a chuckle, can’t even say that Sarah’s the only one who’s ever seen me in nothing but a G-string because of the whole porn thing! “Also I’ve been meaning to ask, you’re writing an album about an undead bride right before your getting married to Sarah?”

”How I didn’t catch on to THAT when I working on Sadistick Ragecution’s double album I have no idea!” I admitted as I shook my head whilst I continued to try to tune the guitar. ”To make a long story short, I had these ideas in my head long before Sarah proposed to me, they just didn’t fit in with the songs we were writing for Monarch Divinus.” I added before grunting in frustration. ”UGH! This fucking G-string is going to be riding my ass for the whole session at this rate!”

“Well, I definitely chose an interesting time to come in.” We glanced up and saw our manager Nadia entering the recording studio with a bemused look on her face. “Let me guess, Chelsea’s trying to tune by ear again?”

“You know it.” Taylor responded with a sigh before she tossed me one of her spare tuners. “The other strings sounded perfect Chelsea but I don’t think you want our fifth album being released with a wonky sounding G-string!”

”Can’t argue with that logic OR innuendo.” I grumbled under my breath before attaching the tuner to my guitar’s headstock and turning it on, once I played the G-string the problem became obvious. ”How the hell did this thing drop tune all the way to drop c?!”

”I’d blame the dog but we don’t let Valkyrie into the home studio for that reason.” Sarah responded as she shook her head before the reason for it. ”The double album used drop c tuning didn’t it?”

”Drop c and enough distortion to make white noise jealous! But yeah, I used this guitar exclusively for that album but I guess I forgot to retune it afterwards.” I commented as I shook my head before finally getting the correct tuning. ”The other strings didn’t give me as much trouble so I guess that was just a brainfart on my part.”

”Careful babe! We might use that rhyme in the album!” Sarah joked and I responded by sticking up my free middle finger at her. ”So what’s up Nadia? You don’t normally drop by like this.”

“Well, I do come bearing good news.” Nadia responded before she showed us the e-mail her phone and my eyes lit up. “That’s right, I’ve got you on the opening slot for a national us tour playing some big venues!”

”That’s the best news I’ve heard all week!” I responded with a grin and with that piece of motivation behind us, we knocked out two songs that day, Unholy Matrimony and Altar of Impurity, which also happened to be the two darkest songs on the album.

At least I could focus on that before my match against Stephan!

Chelsea’s promo dungeon, Chicago, Illinois
Friday the 17th of February 2023, 11:00am

*promo time*

Here we go again.

”Once upon a time, in a magical land called Level Up Wrestling I faced a man called Stephan Stratford and lost!” I stated from the outset with a frown on my face. ”Seems to be the story of the first three years of my wrestling career, doesn’t it? You know, when I’m not winning titles in practically every fed but PWE and EWC!” I added as I held up the CEW Overdrive Championship and the Havoc Wrestling World Title. ”Look, the long and short of it is this: Level Up’s been on hiatus for the past several month and I don’t know when they are coming back, if ever! But now Stephan has shown up in my home promotion and wouldn’t you fucking know it? His debut is a rematch against me!”

Funny that!

”I’m not kidding, my first thought when I saw this match was “This Guy Again?!” and whilst I’m not saying that I’d rather face Ollie in a “Loser Gets Spayed/Neutered” match, don’t even think about booking me against that waste of a roster spot again, I was fucking kidding, I can’t say that I was hoping to face him again!” I added as I shook my head. ”Stephan you were full of shit when we faced off in Level Up but I couldn’t deny your talent, but this time? Well you’re going to find yourself in a familiar position, on your back with a girl on top after lasting three seconds!”

Sorry, not sorry!

”And considering your one achievement as a wrestler according to Level Up’s Website is retiring some dude I’ve never heard off, that seems rather apt if you ask me!” I added with a slight laugh before leaning back in my chair and putting my titles down. ”And yeah, I was surprised to see the Level Up site still up and running, kinda had no choice but to access it since there’s no bio of you on PWE’s site but hey, maybe I missed it somehow! But here’s one thing I haven’t missed, your wrestling style Stephan! Which I remember as being “cold, calculated and deliberate” in other words you were putting the fans in the front row to sleep!”

Boring!

”And as per usual, it fell to me to wake the crowd up with a style that’s actually evolved since the 1940s!” I added before folding my arms. ”Do the math Stephan, I’m twelve years younger than you yet I’ve accomplished a lot more in the three years I’ve been part of this business than you have at your advanced age! And no, retiring some guy who was probably just as ancient as you doesn’t count!”

It's that simple.

”Here’s how the history books will remember us Stephan, you’ll be a footnote in the wrestling business whilst I’ll be remembered as the rookie sensation who left the wrestling business in a better place than she found it! They’ll probably be some footnotes about my porn and death metal side projects but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves Stephan!” I added as I flipped some hair over my shoulder. ”Because I’m out to get my first win in 2023 for my home fed and no new guy is going to stop me! Especially not one who is as boring as you are!”

And with that I decided to wrap things up!

”Here we go again Stephan but unlike that Whitesnake song, I sure as hell know where I’m going!” I stated as I folded my arms. ”And that’s straight into a win! I’m not the same girl you beat in Level Up Stephan and at Victory you’ll find that out the hard way as “The Nightmare Angel” Chelsea Skye wrestles circles around you and whilst your watching the Skyes above, I’ll show you why the Skyes the Limit! See you in the ring Stephan, don’t go crying to Demi when I kick your ass!”

I left the recording studio as the scene fades.