A Diamond Rumble Saga - Part One
Apr 5, 2020 15:53:15 GMT -5
Mongo the Destroyer, Dave D-Flipz, and 2 more like this
Post by Jack Diamond on Apr 5, 2020 15:53:15 GMT -5
April 1st 2020
Diamond Lounge II - Minneapolis, MN
The scene opens outside of Jack Diamond's casino and hotel, in downtown Minneapolis. It is an odd evening in a usually busy area. Very few cars travel up and down the road, no crowds of people walk the sidewalks, and Jack's Casino, usually dancing its bright lights up and down the sidewalks in a way so that it bounces off of the XHF Headquarters across the way, an ultimate "F U" to Mongo, is quiet. Dark. Inside, as the cameraman makes his way through the empty space, the eeriness of it all really shows. This is the spot in Minneapolis, yet there is no laughter. No crowd. No drinking and partying. No fun. No... people.
A flip of a coin can be heard.
Echoing sounds, a clearness is the building not usually seen. The flipping coin is heard again as the camera gets ever closer. Again, the flipping coin. The vast emptiness of the main casino floor opens up to the viewers, and all alone on a bar stool sits Jack Diamond dressed in a white suit, flipping a coin. The look on his face is solemn as he flips the coin in the air and only moves his eyes to watch it as it falls back into his waiting, open palm. Paying the camera no attention, Jack continues flipping the coin as he sighs.
Jack Diamond: These are unprecedented times. Millions of people sit at their homes, waiting. Doing nothing. Trying to survive. Everyone is questioning whether they will come out of this whole ordeal stronger, better, more enlightened... or will the succumb. Will they find nothing but darkness.
The camera pans around in front of Jack. The glow of a nearby light casts shadows around him. His face carries the weight of the world. There is so much in his eyes that can't be explained, as he watches the coin turning over in the air. Behind Jack, a bottle of Scotch and an empty glass, with condensation slowly dripping down the side.
Jack Diamond: How could any of us prepare our minds for what would be happening at this time. Isolation. Distance. Fear. Survival of the fittest. Who could have ever imagined in 2020 we would have these things on our mind. There is a virus raging war all around us... Damn this virus...
The camera zooms in as the coin lands in Jack's hand and he closes his fist. Turns and slams it down on the bar. He picks up his bottle of Scotch and pours himself a refill. With his back to the camera now, Jack just shakes his head.
Jack Diamond: You may think I'm talking about COVID-19. The Caronavirus. No, there is a virus a lot worse than that in our midst.
Jack takes a sip and swivels back around on the stool, for the first time starting directly into the lens. His soul piercing the viewers at home.
Jack Diamond: I'm talking about Mongo. I'm talking about the XHF Network. The machine that keeps right on rolling no matter what is happening in this world. That is the true virus. That is the true low blow to society. That is the silent enemy that is claiming so many lives.
Jack stands from the bar stool, a slight curl to his lips, a deathly stare in his eyes as he raises his arms to his sides and spins, looking at the empty room.
Jack Diamond: Look around me. Nothingness. This place is usually booming, yet out of the abundance of caution we've closed our doors, the goal being public safety. We want everyone to come through this stronger. We want them all to grow as a people, be better for the trials and tribulations they are going through at this point in time. I've taken steps to make sure all of my patrons are safe, that all of my employees are taken care of. I've been absent from the AWF for a couple weeks preparing my personal assets and arranging things so that the COVID-19 issues will not overtake what I've built. You know what hasn't taken those same precautions?
Jack picks up his class and swirls it around before taking a sip. He toasts the camera.
Jack Diamond: The main virus... Mongo. Mongo does not give a shit about anyone but Mongo. He's made millions off the backs and well being of countless wrestlers and entertainers and while he continues to line his pockets, he wants more.. more.. more. Mongo, tell me this... when is enough, enough? I know this is a hard question to be asked, especially from a man who in all respects is very similar. It's no secret that if there is one man you fear of putting a dent in your legacy.. it is Jack Fucking Diamond. You may walk around and claim that I'm beneath you. No one can compare to the King, right? Tell me this though, why did you get so nervous when I opened the first Diamond Lounge? You made it your point to go out of the way to approach me, still relatively unknown at the time in XHF, and slide me your card for X-Treme Hotels. You wanted to flex your muscle on me, let me know that I was getting too close to the fire.
Jack laughs a bit to himself, remembering that night vividly. The look in Mongo's eyes as he tried to pretend to be genuine.
Jack Diamond: What I seen that night though, Mongo, was fear. Doubt. You were questioning whether or not you had what it takes to stay on top. You had seen what I was capable of in the ring, hell that is why you were licking your chops to get me on board here in the XHF. You knew it was money in the bank. That love for me turned when you realized I was more than just one of your pawns..didn't it?
Jack makes his way over behind the bar, a photo hanging on the wall from the night Jack won the X*Crown for his first reign. He looks up at the photo and smiles.
Jack Diamond: It was all fine and good when I was out there on the marquee, selling tickets to your shows. Hell, you loved the spectacle we made for Night of Champions when I captured the Crown for the second time. The circus shit, the buzz that created. It was straight cash for you. Through it all though, you held a resentment towards me as my casino was taking off. Then, it burnt you up inside when I broke ground directly across from your office. This lounge here... it has been a thorn in your side. I see the hatred in your eyes every time you enter your building and look over at the shadow I cast on your company. I watch the security footage daily and have a good laugh. You are a sad little man, Mongo. You couldn't just let things be could you? I could have made you more money than you ever wanted and do the same thing for me, but you just couldn't see that could you? You wanted it all. You, sir, are the true virus.
Jack looks at another photo, the night he retired after Diamonds Are Forever. He looks into the camera, ice in his eyes.
Jack Diamond: I tried to distance myself from you, from it all. This was my way out. I left my original Diamond Club to Maverick, I left my legacy to Bobby, and I exited. I could have rode off into the sunset and been perfectly fine running my empire but you couldn't allow that. Now I was gone, I was no longer lining your pockets but only mine and it ate you up. You made a deal with the only other fucker that is more scummy than you... Anthony Caffrey. You allowed me to use the conference room at headquarters and I should have known then and there that you were just being the snake that you are. I took you at your word though and what did it get me? Caffrey "broke into" the meeting and hurt me... yeah he hurt me bad. I was going to let that play out in the courts, I wasn't going to be lured back into your games but you took it a step further didn't you. You sided with that prick and when he talked Mav into a match for MY building, and won it, you swooped in and took it over. You couldn't wait. You kept the name as Diamond Lounge but couldn't wait to plaster your brand all over it. The amount of money it would have taken for me to prevent you from calling it the Diamond Lounge... it just wasn't worth it. There was another way to hit you where it hurts.
Jack smiles. He has a focus in his eyes that hasn't been there in a while. He places his hands on the bar and leans into the camera.
Jack Diamond: I know what speaks to you, Mongo. I know that you want your XHF to be the talk of the town. The only way you get that is with having people like Jack Diamond on the marquee. So here I am. I came back to show you what you were missing. The stuff with the Diamond Lounge... oh that is far from over, my friend. Believe me when I say that. I have other issues to fix first though. That is the Mongo-virus. You see, in a few short weeks, you are sending that monstrosity of a barge back out on international waters because you don't give a shit about the well being of anyone. You found a loophole to hold a show in the midst of this pandemic and you are doing it and all be damned if Mongo doesn't get his money. So I signed up. I'm entering your prized little rumble match, a match that I almost won the first and only time I was in it. A match that catapulted me into a superstar.
Jack looks back over his shoulder to yet another picture. This one of him hitting a Stacked Deck to Rob Arnold outside of the Rumble. A move that should have been his defining moment but one that ultimately cost him the match.
Jack Diamond: It's going to be different this time. For one, a lot of the faces have changed. I could stand here and name drop all of the entrants in this years Rumble, and I could come up with some witty way to put them down and explain to them why I am better and why I will win the match... but I'm not going to do that. There is only two names that matter in this match. Mongo and Jack. That is all. I've talked the last couple of months about how I'm not back to try and prove that I still have "it." No, I'm back for something more. I'm back to prove to Mongo that he doesn't speak for the masses. I'm back to prove that just because you align yourself with those in charge, it doesn't make you a champion. I am back because I ever every intention on walking into that ring on April 26th and reclaiming the X*Crown for a third time. If it makes you a little more money in the process, I'm fine with that. It's what it's going to cost you that I'm more excited for. It's going to cost you your self respect, Mongo. it is going to cost you the little bit of respect you receive from your peers and subordinates. It's going to cost you every fucking thing.
Jack walks back around the bar and takes another sip of his drink before placing it down and picking up the coin once again. He moves it between his fingers looking up at the camera as he does so.
Jack Diamond: This is what it all comes down to. There is a fifty-fifty chance of this working out in my favor, or your favor, Mongo. I could go into this match against forty-some other people and either make a fool of myself... or I could go in and eliminate everyone in my way and once again show that I am the measuring stick of this entire network. There is a fifty-fifty chance that I can come out of this match with everything...or leave with nothing. There is a fifty-fifty shot that you will remember this as the time that Jack Diamond made a fool of himself...or the night that Jack Diamond burnt down every fucking thing that you hold so near and dear to your black, black heart. It's fifty-fifty, Mongo. What's it going to be? Heads or tails?
With that, Jack stands and smiles at the camera one last time and flips the coin high in the air and walks away off camera. The camera follows the coin as it turns through the air and bounces and clangs around on the floor. As it spins and settles the camera focuses in on it. We see that the coin is not a regular quarter but a custom made coin. At the top, the words "In Diamond we Trust" then below it a middle finger with the words "Fuck Mongo" below it. The scene comes to an end.
