Post by Jack Diamond on Apr 24, 2018 19:36:06 GMT -5
Friday, July 28th – 12:03PM
Diamond: I kind of like this driving around thing. It’s amazing what you see when you aren’t always staring mindlessly at your cell phone in the backseat.
Dakota: Wait, so you never did ANY of your driving?
Diamond: No… It always just seemed easier to pay a driver, have a little down time in between destinations, and handle my various engagements. When you are a star lik-
Dakota: Oh hush, no need to cut a promo on me!
Jack Diamond glances to his right as he is driving the Land Rover he rented for the week. They both laugh, it still amazes him that she can so easily call him on his bullshit and bring him back down to earth. The fame that he has achieved being the ICW World Champion would have gone straight to his head in a previous life, but not now. Not with Dakota, she keeps him in check. Diamond turns off of Crestwood Boulevard onto Oporto Madrid Boulevard, the two of them out just enjoying the Steel City a couple days ahead of Monday Night Spectacle. They pass a shopping center to their left.
Dakota: Oh my god! A Party City! We have to stop!
Diamond: What the hell is a Party City?
Dakota: Oh come on! You never went to a Party City before? Back in Oregon it was all the rage, go there for any holiday and get party supplies, and it was THE spot to get your Halloween costume.
Diamond: Playing dress up was never my thing...
Dakota: Says the guy who wears robes and diamond shaped sunglasses to cover his cute little spandex underwear!
Again Diamond has to pause and look to her but as he makes eye contact he just loses it, almost laughing uncontrollably. Diamond of course meant that he never really took part in traditional Halloween customs of throwing on an outfit and going door to door to “trick or treat.” Halloween when he was growing up was about finding the closest bonfire field party and throwing down with his buddies. Again, though, she was quick to put him in his place as now every night seems like a costume party for The Ace of Spades.
Diamond: Fair enough. We will check out Party Town.
Dakota: Party CITY.
Diamond: Oooh, the big city. Fine, Party CITY.
Dakota: Smartass.
Diamond pulls into the shopping center, the parking lot huge. It’s your typical shopping center in America; a Wal-Mart Supercenter, Game Stop, Ross, Office Depot, definitely your one-stop shop to throw all your disposable income away, or what little the Alabamians have to spend. He turns down one aisle heading towards the Party City to find a parking spot.
Dakota: So have you talked to Rieter any this week? Is he still going on about you joining Fireborn Connection?
Diamond: No, he seems to have gone silent. I guess me stopping him from destroying Barratt really ticked him off.
Dakota: Why exactly did you stop them? Letting them take out that loud mouth surely would have been in your favor for next week going into the Hell in a Cell.
Diamond: I’ve told Lucas exactly what I told Shawn, I am here to fight, and I am here to make sure this company succeeds because it means more money for us all. I also refuse to take the easy way out like the Bobby Barratts of the world. If Duke ate Bobby, or made him feel the burn, and he showed up to Midsummer Night’s Massacre in Chaos Kid’s charred wheel chair, what would that have proven? Instead I want that walking piece of Laffy-Taffy to be one hundred percent, because rest assure, he won’t be after being in the cell with me.
Dakota: Ah, Laffy-Taffy! I see a Sugar Inc. down the road, we should go there next and get some candy.
Diamond just shakes his head as he pulls into a parking spot close to this Party City that Dakota speaks highly of. Through his whole rant, the one thing she pulled from it was a candy reference. He gets out of the car and walks around to the passenger side and opens her door.
Dakota: Well aren’t you just a true gentleman?!
Diamond: Always have been, ma’am.
Diamond tips an invisible hat and she giggles as he throws his arm around her and start walking towards the storefront.
Diamond: And a gentleman in the business. That’s why I wanted them to stop, and that’s why I’ve been relatively quiet the last few weeks. Getting involved in this drama just isn’t my game, my game is to go into my ring, be the best damn wrestler this world has ever seen, and leave at the end of the night with my world title in hand. Sometimes I wonder what the point is though, I do the right thing and still get laid out by ole “Get Bent” Armstrong.
Dakota: Yeah, but you have to stay true to yourself, you know? That kid was just trying to make a quick name for himself and taking down the alpha in ICW sure got him noticed.
Diamond opens and holds the door for Dakota as they enter Party City. It is definitely a unique site to Jack. Up front is a rack of clearance items from the recent Fourth of July holiday; cups and plates in red, white in blue, an Uncle Sam top hat with white wig attached, and boxes and boxes of TNT Pop-Its, and sparklers. Then down what seems to be an ever end amount of aisles are Halloween decorations and costumes, which baffles Diamond considering Halloween is almost three months away.
Diamond: Oh he definitely got noticed by me. If that is how he wants to make his entrance, as I’ve said, that is fine with me. It wasn’t long ago that was me and look where I am at now. However, he will pay the price for trying to jump to the top of the food chain. He thinks that just because he came back from an injury in “breakneck” speed that he deserves a shot at The Ace of Spades? Get the hell out of here.
Dakota: Please don’t take him lightly. The last thing you need going into your title defense at the pay-per-view is a slip up against an unproven newcomer. I’ll be right back, going to find the ladies room.
Dakota struts off towards the back of the store, Diamond kind of scoffs at her last statement. A slip up? Not going to happen. He definitely isn’t taking GB Armstrong lightly, but anyone who calls themselves the Killer Penguin doesn’t ever expect to be taken completely serious do they? In any event, he will do what he always does and that is go into the match expecting to win, prepared to win, and in the end, just win baby. Diamond comes to an abrupt stop halfway down one of the aisle with a quizzical but amused look on his face.
Dakota exits the ladies room and looks left and right for Jack, who is nowhere to be seen. She looks at a few items on a nearby endcap before walking along the aisle to find him.
Dakota: Where the hell did he go?
All of a sudden, a dark shadow engulfs the space where Dakota is walking and something reaches out and taps her shoulder. She is startled a bit as she whips around, and is at a total loss for words at the site before her. There is Jack, in a full Penguin costume, a neck brace around his neck and what appears to be Olympic medals hanging from the brace. In an almost robotic voice, Jack leans in…
Diamond: I am Killer Penguin! I am the most feared man in all of my head. My head that sits on this sorry stack of dimes I call a neck. A Broken Freakin’ Neck! These are the gold medals I should have won but my mommy told me I wasn’t well enough to compete so I just listened to her. Then she said I can be anything I wanted to be if I pretend hard enough, so now I just pretend to be a pro wrestler.
Dakota doesn’t know whether to laugh or admonish the man in front of her. She constantly reminds him to stay focused, and here he is making light of a legitimate competitor. At the same time, it’s hilarious and she stifles back a small chuckle.
Dakota: Are you done?
Diamond: Well, the doctors told me I am done and I told them I may be dumb but I ain’t done! I will go to the circle of squares and I will pick up the chairs, and find their world champ and lay him out. Then I will spout off random facts about Alabama so the ten or twenty Penguin fans will know I have a third grade education, I’ll even namedrop my great-uncle’s name because he was a good wrestler and maybe they will think it runs this far down the family tree. It’s okay though because when Jack Diamond re-breaks some of my vertebrae to the point where it will sound like my doctor is hosting Bingo night or something, I will just roll my sorry ass down to the ring and steal his belt because that is the only way I will EVER get my hands on gold.
Dakota looks on in awe. Sure she wants Diamond to be more serious, but she can’t deny that in this moment, this is his element. She can see the look in his eyes that even though he has jokes, he is as laser focused as anyone can be before a match. She just shakes her head.
Dakota: Okay, okay. I get it! Now, get that stuff off, you look ridiculous.
She playfully shoves him and he almost loses his balance in the bulky penguin suit. He busts out laughing as he removes the suit and neck brace. He looks down at the toy medals and picks them back up.
Diamond: I think I’m going to keep these. It is surprising how easy it is to get Olympic gold medals. That “Gone Bananas” Armstrong must really have been a poor wrestler if he couldn’t get these things. Oh, maybe that candy shop has those little chocolate medallions that are wrapped in gold foil. I can buy a couple of those to feed the delusional bird. It might help the pain after his broken neck meets my stacked deck.
Dakota laughs again. What is she going to do this this man? They head to the front of the store to pay for the little plastic “medals” so that she can go get her sugar rush on. As her and Diamond heads out of Party City, back into the Alabama heat, a thought pops into her head. Did Lucas Rieter give Diamond this match because he knew Diamond was pissed about the attack and decided to throw him a bone? Or did give this match to Diamond because he thinks the amateur wrestler can soften the champ up for Midsummer Night’s Massacre? She looks up to The Ace as they walk across the parking lot, him wearing the toy gold around his neck, not a care in the world, and she decides that there is no point in worrying about it. Her man will take on all challenges, always has. As Diamond leads her around to the passenger side of the Land Rover and opens the door, she reaches up and gives him a quick peck on the cheek.
Dakota: You are not worried are you?
Diamond: The only thing I’m worried about is if going to this candy shop with you will give me diabetes…
She playfully slaps at him as she gets in the vehicle and as Diamond goes to get in and they head down the block the scene comes to an end.
Diamond: I kind of like this driving around thing. It’s amazing what you see when you aren’t always staring mindlessly at your cell phone in the backseat.
Dakota: Wait, so you never did ANY of your driving?
Diamond: No… It always just seemed easier to pay a driver, have a little down time in between destinations, and handle my various engagements. When you are a star lik-
Dakota: Oh hush, no need to cut a promo on me!
Jack Diamond glances to his right as he is driving the Land Rover he rented for the week. They both laugh, it still amazes him that she can so easily call him on his bullshit and bring him back down to earth. The fame that he has achieved being the ICW World Champion would have gone straight to his head in a previous life, but not now. Not with Dakota, she keeps him in check. Diamond turns off of Crestwood Boulevard onto Oporto Madrid Boulevard, the two of them out just enjoying the Steel City a couple days ahead of Monday Night Spectacle. They pass a shopping center to their left.
Dakota: Oh my god! A Party City! We have to stop!
Diamond: What the hell is a Party City?
Dakota: Oh come on! You never went to a Party City before? Back in Oregon it was all the rage, go there for any holiday and get party supplies, and it was THE spot to get your Halloween costume.
Diamond: Playing dress up was never my thing...
Dakota: Says the guy who wears robes and diamond shaped sunglasses to cover his cute little spandex underwear!
Again Diamond has to pause and look to her but as he makes eye contact he just loses it, almost laughing uncontrollably. Diamond of course meant that he never really took part in traditional Halloween customs of throwing on an outfit and going door to door to “trick or treat.” Halloween when he was growing up was about finding the closest bonfire field party and throwing down with his buddies. Again, though, she was quick to put him in his place as now every night seems like a costume party for The Ace of Spades.
Diamond: Fair enough. We will check out Party Town.
Dakota: Party CITY.
Diamond: Oooh, the big city. Fine, Party CITY.
Dakota: Smartass.
Diamond pulls into the shopping center, the parking lot huge. It’s your typical shopping center in America; a Wal-Mart Supercenter, Game Stop, Ross, Office Depot, definitely your one-stop shop to throw all your disposable income away, or what little the Alabamians have to spend. He turns down one aisle heading towards the Party City to find a parking spot.
Dakota: So have you talked to Rieter any this week? Is he still going on about you joining Fireborn Connection?
Diamond: No, he seems to have gone silent. I guess me stopping him from destroying Barratt really ticked him off.
Dakota: Why exactly did you stop them? Letting them take out that loud mouth surely would have been in your favor for next week going into the Hell in a Cell.
Diamond: I’ve told Lucas exactly what I told Shawn, I am here to fight, and I am here to make sure this company succeeds because it means more money for us all. I also refuse to take the easy way out like the Bobby Barratts of the world. If Duke ate Bobby, or made him feel the burn, and he showed up to Midsummer Night’s Massacre in Chaos Kid’s charred wheel chair, what would that have proven? Instead I want that walking piece of Laffy-Taffy to be one hundred percent, because rest assure, he won’t be after being in the cell with me.
Dakota: Ah, Laffy-Taffy! I see a Sugar Inc. down the road, we should go there next and get some candy.
Diamond just shakes his head as he pulls into a parking spot close to this Party City that Dakota speaks highly of. Through his whole rant, the one thing she pulled from it was a candy reference. He gets out of the car and walks around to the passenger side and opens her door.
Dakota: Well aren’t you just a true gentleman?!
Diamond: Always have been, ma’am.
Diamond tips an invisible hat and she giggles as he throws his arm around her and start walking towards the storefront.
Diamond: And a gentleman in the business. That’s why I wanted them to stop, and that’s why I’ve been relatively quiet the last few weeks. Getting involved in this drama just isn’t my game, my game is to go into my ring, be the best damn wrestler this world has ever seen, and leave at the end of the night with my world title in hand. Sometimes I wonder what the point is though, I do the right thing and still get laid out by ole “Get Bent” Armstrong.
Dakota: Yeah, but you have to stay true to yourself, you know? That kid was just trying to make a quick name for himself and taking down the alpha in ICW sure got him noticed.
Diamond opens and holds the door for Dakota as they enter Party City. It is definitely a unique site to Jack. Up front is a rack of clearance items from the recent Fourth of July holiday; cups and plates in red, white in blue, an Uncle Sam top hat with white wig attached, and boxes and boxes of TNT Pop-Its, and sparklers. Then down what seems to be an ever end amount of aisles are Halloween decorations and costumes, which baffles Diamond considering Halloween is almost three months away.
Diamond: Oh he definitely got noticed by me. If that is how he wants to make his entrance, as I’ve said, that is fine with me. It wasn’t long ago that was me and look where I am at now. However, he will pay the price for trying to jump to the top of the food chain. He thinks that just because he came back from an injury in “breakneck” speed that he deserves a shot at The Ace of Spades? Get the hell out of here.
Dakota: Please don’t take him lightly. The last thing you need going into your title defense at the pay-per-view is a slip up against an unproven newcomer. I’ll be right back, going to find the ladies room.
Dakota struts off towards the back of the store, Diamond kind of scoffs at her last statement. A slip up? Not going to happen. He definitely isn’t taking GB Armstrong lightly, but anyone who calls themselves the Killer Penguin doesn’t ever expect to be taken completely serious do they? In any event, he will do what he always does and that is go into the match expecting to win, prepared to win, and in the end, just win baby. Diamond comes to an abrupt stop halfway down one of the aisle with a quizzical but amused look on his face.
Dakota exits the ladies room and looks left and right for Jack, who is nowhere to be seen. She looks at a few items on a nearby endcap before walking along the aisle to find him.
Dakota: Where the hell did he go?
All of a sudden, a dark shadow engulfs the space where Dakota is walking and something reaches out and taps her shoulder. She is startled a bit as she whips around, and is at a total loss for words at the site before her. There is Jack, in a full Penguin costume, a neck brace around his neck and what appears to be Olympic medals hanging from the brace. In an almost robotic voice, Jack leans in…
Diamond: I am Killer Penguin! I am the most feared man in all of my head. My head that sits on this sorry stack of dimes I call a neck. A Broken Freakin’ Neck! These are the gold medals I should have won but my mommy told me I wasn’t well enough to compete so I just listened to her. Then she said I can be anything I wanted to be if I pretend hard enough, so now I just pretend to be a pro wrestler.
Dakota doesn’t know whether to laugh or admonish the man in front of her. She constantly reminds him to stay focused, and here he is making light of a legitimate competitor. At the same time, it’s hilarious and she stifles back a small chuckle.
Dakota: Are you done?
Diamond: Well, the doctors told me I am done and I told them I may be dumb but I ain’t done! I will go to the circle of squares and I will pick up the chairs, and find their world champ and lay him out. Then I will spout off random facts about Alabama so the ten or twenty Penguin fans will know I have a third grade education, I’ll even namedrop my great-uncle’s name because he was a good wrestler and maybe they will think it runs this far down the family tree. It’s okay though because when Jack Diamond re-breaks some of my vertebrae to the point where it will sound like my doctor is hosting Bingo night or something, I will just roll my sorry ass down to the ring and steal his belt because that is the only way I will EVER get my hands on gold.
Dakota looks on in awe. Sure she wants Diamond to be more serious, but she can’t deny that in this moment, this is his element. She can see the look in his eyes that even though he has jokes, he is as laser focused as anyone can be before a match. She just shakes her head.
Dakota: Okay, okay. I get it! Now, get that stuff off, you look ridiculous.
She playfully shoves him and he almost loses his balance in the bulky penguin suit. He busts out laughing as he removes the suit and neck brace. He looks down at the toy medals and picks them back up.
Diamond: I think I’m going to keep these. It is surprising how easy it is to get Olympic gold medals. That “Gone Bananas” Armstrong must really have been a poor wrestler if he couldn’t get these things. Oh, maybe that candy shop has those little chocolate medallions that are wrapped in gold foil. I can buy a couple of those to feed the delusional bird. It might help the pain after his broken neck meets my stacked deck.
Dakota laughs again. What is she going to do this this man? They head to the front of the store to pay for the little plastic “medals” so that she can go get her sugar rush on. As her and Diamond heads out of Party City, back into the Alabama heat, a thought pops into her head. Did Lucas Rieter give Diamond this match because he knew Diamond was pissed about the attack and decided to throw him a bone? Or did give this match to Diamond because he thinks the amateur wrestler can soften the champ up for Midsummer Night’s Massacre? She looks up to The Ace as they walk across the parking lot, him wearing the toy gold around his neck, not a care in the world, and she decides that there is no point in worrying about it. Her man will take on all challenges, always has. As Diamond leads her around to the passenger side of the Land Rover and opens the door, she reaches up and gives him a quick peck on the cheek.
Dakota: You are not worried are you?
Diamond: The only thing I’m worried about is if going to this candy shop with you will give me diabetes…
She playfully slaps at him as she gets in the vehicle and as Diamond goes to get in and they head down the block the scene comes to an end.