Post by Jack Diamond on Apr 24, 2018 19:51:33 GMT -5
August 22nd- 12:18AM
Diamond: What was that man? That’s not the Fireborn way man.
Rieter: Shit, I know. Bobby had it coming though. Attacking Steele twice, attacking me! This isn’t the same song and dance. He doesn’t get to run roughshod all over my company! His ass had to go.
Diamond: Yeah, I get it man. I could have handled it in the ring though. You fired a man who just lost his best friend Lucas…
Rieter: I FIRED A MAN who just lost MY BEST FRIEND!
Diamond: Easy man, easy. Look all I’m saying is it’s a tense time. I lost my head tonight, I took things to a level that quite frankly scared the shit out of me. We need to get back to what we are all about. Making ICW a fair and profitable company.
Rieter: Maybe you are right. I lost my head tonight. I’m sorry. The attack on Steele though, in the ring. I couldn’t let that go. I understand his frustration in the attack out in the parking lot but messing with a match when Steele could barely go? Come on. If you had finished the job, I may have let it all slide. You didn’t and so I did what I had to do. I got rid of our problem.
Diamond: So you are putting this on me? It’s my fault?
Rieter: No, that’s not what I mean, mate. You had him. I blame Don White.
Diamond: Don White? What the hell does he have to do with this?
Rieter: White got in your head. I saw the look in your eyes when you had a chain. You were going to rid the ICW of its cancer. Don comes in with the Strange Kick and you lost your edge.
Diamond: I didn’t lose my edge. I just didn’t want to go to that dark place. Once you go there, you know, there is no coming back.
Rieter: Yeah, well in any event, Bobby is gone and now I must do something about Don.
Diamond: What do you mean?
Rieter: I have to send a message, that he isn’t to meddle in affairs that he has no business in. Look, go get you some rest man, you went through hell tonight. We all did. I will call you in the morning and let you know what’s going on.
Diamond: Yeah. Sure.
Diamond stares at Lucas. This whole situation is becoming murky at best. There is something about the conversation with Lucas that has Jack a little unhinged. This isn’t what he signed up for, or is it? Diamond turns and walks out of the office as the scene fades.
August 22nd- 6:18AM
The three hours of sleep Jack got was a blur. Diamond tried to rest but the in-and-out combination of both pain and adrenaline from Spectacle didn’t do much to allow him to relax. As Diamond stands in the glass elevator heading up to his room in the JW Marriott Grand Rapids, he looks out across the landscape. The early hint of sun kisses the dark purple sky as a new day begins, or, in Jack’s case, a continuation of the hell he went through yesterday reaches its halfway point. Diamond thinks to himself how he wished Dakota was here with him. He makes the lonely walk to his room and opens the door. Just as he tosses his gym bag on the bed, his phone rings. Excitedly, Jack pulls out the phone. Dakota must have known he was thinking of her. He looks down. It’s Lucas. Jack sighs.
Diamond: Yeah?
Rieter: How’s my champ doing?
Diamond: Sore. Tired. I couldn’t even workout this morning.
Rieter: Listen man, I thought more about the Don White situation after you left.
Diamond rolls his eyes. He just wants to sleep. His bones ache.
Diamond: And?
Rieter: Man of few words this morning I see. Anyways, we HAVE to teach Don White to mind his own business. So I am putting him in a match for the tag team championship Monday night!
Diamond: Yeah? That doesn’t really seem as harsh as I thought you were heading.
Rieter: No, wait. That’s not all. Naturally, Don White needs a partner if he is going to go for the tag belts. I found him the perfect one!
Diamond: Who’s that?
Rieter: The World Champion himself, Jack Fucking Diamond!
Diamond is speechless for a minute. Lucas Rieter is putting Jack Diamond and Don White together in a tag team title match against his Fireborn Connection allies, Duke Kosloff and Chaos Kid? It just doesn’t add up.
Diamond: Why the hell would you book a tag team title match with us? What’s the play man?
Rieter: Think Champ. You, Duke, Chaos… Don White. One of these things is not like the others.
Diamond: So you are booking a three on one handicap match?
Rieter: No, I would never stoop to such a lowly tactic. It’s a tag team title match. You have the chance to hold your third title here in ICW. You earned that by having such a great match last night.
Diamond: So you want me to team with Don and beat the hell out of our team?
Rieter: I didn’t say that either, mate. As I said, Don has to learn his place. You are the face of this company and some of that responsibility falls on you, to lead the locker room.
Diamond: I thought I made it very clear to you when I joined that I wouldn’t do your dirty work for you. You know what you told me? That there was no dirty work involved. We were just a stand up group of guys trying to right every wrong that Shawn and Bobby were doing. Those wrongs are gone now. Shawn is dead and Bobby is fired. Look, I’m not sure what you are trying to do here, or what games you are playing. I’m exhausted and I am going to lay down on this king size bed and clear my mind and we will talk about this Monday.
Diamond hangs up the phone and falls backwards on the bed, tossing the phone beside him. Rieter is putting him in a tag team title match? He is almost certain Rieter expects it to be a trap for Don. But more gold? He may have made allies in Fireborn, he may have won the hearts of the masses in the crowd, and he may even be in favor with with the new majority owner, Lucas Rieter, but Jack Diamond is and will forever be about Jack Diamond first. How does he go into Monday Night at the Kemper Arena and not give it his all. The Diamond Club wouldn’t stand for that. Jack Diamond wouldn’t stand for that. So then what? Does he do what he does best and win this match, claiming one half of the tag team championships? The Ace’s thoughts are all over the place as his eyes begin to flutter and a calm darkness overtakes him.
Dreams. Nightmares. At a certain point they are all the same. A hazy view, never quite seeing faces but knowing exactly who and what you are looking at. They overtake our sleeping champion. All of a sudden it is 1999. It is late Spring, almost a week before the unofficial start of summer. Jack remembers this day vividly. His father, who at this point worked for the Cherokee school system wanted to take young Jack on one more vacation before the rates went high after Memorial Day. In an effort to connect with his teenage son, Jack’s father decides to surprise him with tickets to the huge wrestling pay-per-view. The joy, the excitement, the love for his dad races in Jack’s sleeping mind and heart. He is there, in Missouri. The atmosphere inside the Kemper Arena is electric. Jack can almost smell the popcorn, beer, and body odor. Foam middle fingers wave but no faces can be seen. Darkness falls. There is something playing on the huge video screen, but in this dream Jack can’t make out a thing, just bright lights. Then to his left a shadow speeds towards the ground. A loud thud echos in his ears. The horrible screams and sobs of grown men, women and children alike, all faceless creatures taunting Jack in his lucid state. The lights stay dim but now Jack is somewhere else. On a hard surface, looking up at a referee. There is Reiter, Duke and Chaos all staring down at him. Pointing. Laughing. Jack is now able to look down at his own self. Lying in the ring. Dead.
Jack sits up quickly. His heart beating rapidly. What the hell? A chill runs down Diamond’s back as he gets up out of the bed and walks to the bathroom to wash his face. He looks at his cell phone’s clock, it is ten o’clock. His flight to Missouri is in two hours. Diamond just shakes his head and goes back into the room to calm down. As he packs his bag, he knows what he must do. Jack Diamond is a man of his word. That is one thing that matters most to him. If he tells someone he will do something, then that is exactly what he will do. He picks up his phone again and dials Rieter.
Rieter: Hello?
Diamond: I’m All In.
Before the boss can say another word, Diamond hangs up the phone, and searches through his contacts. He sees Dakota’s name and just smiles. Her voice would really cheer him up right now, but he knows she is busy handling her personal affairs. He scrolls just a bit further and there it is. Don White. His “tag team partner” for next Monday. Diamond pushes send, and the phone rings, rings, rings. A little perturbed that the newly returned White isn’t answering a call from the champ, Jack frowns as the beep of the voice mail sounds in his ear.
Diamond: Don, It’s Diamond. We need to talk about this match Monday night. Give me a call back so that we can meet this weekend. I’m heading into Kansas City today. Catch you soon, partner.
Diamond ends the call and just stares down at the screen. What is he going to do? He made a commitment to Lucas to always have Fireborn’s back. He made a commitment to the fans to always give one hundred percent and lead the ICW by example. He made a commitment to himself to do whatever the hell makes him happy on his way to being the best in the business. How does he keep his word on all these fronts? Jack gets up from the bed, grabs his bag and heads out of hotel the room, towards the elevator. The scene comes to an end.