-=- New York City in the summer is nothing short of brutal. The expansive jungle of concrete and asphalt retains heat more than Chandler during A M E R I C A N P R I D E. It's early afternoon in July, and a heat wave is proving this more than anyone cares to realize. Nomad is walking down a sidewalk, utterly oblivious to the heat. He's wearing black jean shorts, black 10-eye steel-toe stomping boots, and a black wifebeater. He has a pewter Celtic cross pendant hanging around his neck on a length of black cord. His dirty blonde mid-length hair is pulled back in a short ponytail, with a few loose tendrils clinging to the sweat on his face. His eyes are concealed behind a pair of carbon fiber Oakley X-Metal shades with custom graphite-colored ghost-reflective lenses. His hands in his pockets, his eyes pointed downward, Nomad keeps walking. Some find the heat and humidity too oppressive to deal with. Children play in water spewing from fire hydrants, old overweight women sit on porches fanning themselves with anything at hand. Nomad simply accepts the heat as a fact of life and a part of his reality. He glances up for a second before turning to the right and entering a door. The sign above the door reads:
PENNYWORTH'S JEWELERS
-=- Nomad pushes up his Oakleys and rests them atop his head, holding the loose tendrils of hair back out of his face. He steps up to the counter, and a clerk reluctantly approaches him. She's still young, perhaps in her late twenties. Average height, about 5'5", with a great but lean body. She's dressed in a classic black skirt, black blazer, and white v-neck t-shirt. The image of professionalism. But her eyes show the "real" her. She goes out to bars and clubs on the weekends, drives a Volkswagen Cabriolet convertible, sits around her apartment wearing her underwear and a comfy t-shirt. THIS is not her environment -=-
Clerk: Can I help you, sir?
NoMaD: Name?
Clerk: Excuse me, sir?
NoMaD: What's your name?
Clerk: Um, April.
NoMaD: Great. April, why do you work here?
April: Um, well...it's a great job. Good money, a relaxed pace, and I'm treated like I matter here. He he....it's a far cry from my last job at Circuit City.
NoMaD: You're a woman.
April: Your point?
NoMaD: I know why you work here.
April: ....Do tell.
NoMaD: Women are drawn to superficial things. It's not a negative trait, it's a form of survival instinct. Those who can provide you with things no one else can are obviously going to be able to get you through life. More importantly, they're going to be able to do the same for your children.
April: Sir, I think what you're saying is decidedly sexist, and I would appreciate it if we could just deal with your....well, I'm assuming you're here for jewelry.
NoMaD: Correct. But I also want to make a point. I'm not being sexist. It's the truth. It's nature. Men want as many women as they can, in order to spread their seed. Women want ONE man who can care for them and their offspring. That, April, is a scientific fact. Now then....my point.
April: Please get to it.
NoMaD: Diamonds are the most desireable gem, correct?
April: I suppose they are, yes.
NoMaD: Why is that?
April: Well....because they're gorgeous. They catch the light better than any other stone....
NoMaD: I think it's because they easily conceal shortcomings.
April: Sir, if you're here to purchase something, I'd be happy to help you. But this is Pennyworth's Jewelers, not your personal soapbox.
NoMaD: I'm sorry, am I holding up the other customers?
-=- Both Nomad and April look around the store, seeing no one else in the showroom -=-
April: No. No, but I don't think I like where you're going with this.
NoMaD: You have no idea, April. Allow me to continue. If a woman isn't secure about herself, she'll find ways to hide her insecurities. Fancy cars that she can't even operate properly. Overpriced outfits she only wears once. And diamonds. Diamonds catch the light better than any other stone, April. Did you know that?
April: Wow. That's absolutely amazing.
NoMaD: They're gorgeous. Everyone's eyes are drawn to them....and away from the shortcomings. They work quite nicely as a high-class smokescreen. If you have a cold sore, just wear a diamond necklace. No one will even notice. Bad hair day? A diamond ring will make sure no one pays attention to your hair. What do you think?
April: However insulting, I think you ARE right in some cases.
NoMaD: How refreshing, an open mind. What is your most expensive DIAMOND STUD earring?
April: That would be this one down here.
-=- April gestures at a pair of earrings in a glass case -=-
April: These are twelve thousand, four hundred and seventy-one dollars for the pair. Exquisite.
NoMaD: Yes, they are. I'll take them.
April: Um....um, okay! Uh, how will you be paying?
NoMaD: Charge.
-=- Nomad pulls out an American Express card, and slides it across the counter towards April. Nervous with anticipation over the fat commission she's about to get, she smiles despite herself as she rings it through -=-
NoMaD: They're very nice. If I wear these, no one will notice my shortcomings.
April: Um, yes, I'm sure you're right!
NoMaD: My unkempt hair, my shabby clothes, my scarred forehead....no one will see all that. Right?
April: Um, absolutely.
-=- The transaction goes through, and Nomad signs the receipt. April begins to package up the earrings, but Nomad takes them from her instead. They're resting elegantly inside a small black jewelry box -=-
NoMaD: If I sucked at life....like, if I REALLY sucked at life....I could wear these, and everyone would look up to me. If I was ugly, these would make me pretty. If I was poor, these would make me rich. If I was an asshole, these would make me a saint. Isn't that right?! If I was a second rate sorry-ass washed-up wrestler who could never, EVER cut it....associating myself with diamonds would hide it all, wouldn't it?!?!?!
April: Sir, what are you talking about....?
NoMaD: "THE DIAMOND STUD" NICK DIAMANTE!!! He has come and gone like a fart in the wind, never ONCE making anything of himself! He's been in the EWA since day one, on and off, and when has he been at the top? WHEN?!
April: Um, I don't know.
NoMaD: NEVER!!! He says I was a paper champ, says I was simply the best of a bad lot! I WASN'T THE RIGHT GUY!!! THEN WHY, NICK DIAMANTE, HASN'T "THE DIAMOND STUD" EVER HELD THE EWA HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE?! MAYBE I WASN'T THE RIGHT GUY TO BE AT THE TOP! BUT AT LEAST STONE THOUGHT, FOR JUST A MINUTE, THAT I WAS!!! HE HAS NEVER THOUGHT THAT OF YOU!!!!!!
April: What are you talking about?!
NoMaD: Tom Stone knows that you're all flash. You hide behind your words and your gangs of losers like any of it FUCKING MATTERS. Well guess what, Nicky? IT DOESN'T. What matters is that you not only lost to Clayton Chandler at "No Fear"....YOU GAVE UP. You admitted your weakness to him!!! You HANDED him the victory!!! Chandler took your reputation and used it to wipe his ass!!! After your reputation was dead, what was left?! NOTHING!!! Chandler HUMILIATED you, Diamante!!!
April: What's diamante?
NoMaD: In the first-ever "HELL on EARTH" match, who did I defeat?! Serial Thrylla and CLAYTON CHANDLER!!! Who did I PIN to win that match?! CLAYTON CHANDLER!!! If Chandler can whip your sorry ass like a red-headed stepchild, and I can BEAT Chandler, then guess what? Logic clearly states that I'm going to wipe the mat with your face.
-=- April has now shuffled a few feet back from the counter, and has her hand on the button that activates the silent alarm. Her index finger is hovering over the button, ready to push it -=-
NoMaD: You say there's a reason that I never got to the top again, Nick. You're right. You know what that reason is? It's because I was working to take a second-string title like the EWA International Championship, and make it more important than the World fucking Title!!! What have you ever done to raise the bar, Nick? You bent over to pick it up after you dropped it in the shower. You come into the EWA like you're our own personal Jesus Christ. Well I don't fucking care! If J.C. was around today, I would PAY his sorry ass five dollars an hour to mow my lawn, because that's about how threatened I am by power-trip S.O.B.'s like YOU!!! I've been to the top, Nick. I've beaten the best. You? You lay down more than a porn star for this company. And come this Tuesday, I'll SHOW you what it takes to get to the top. And it sure ain't flash and fancy.
-=- Nomad opens up the jewelry box, and pulls out the $12,471 earrings. He holds them up near his face -=-
NoMaD: They say diamonds are forever, Nick.
-=- Nomad drops the earrings on the jewelry store floor, and crushes them under the heel of his boot -=-
NoMaD: I guess they were wrong. Diamonds AREN'T forever. And neither are you. I know you just got back, but maybe you should pack your bags. Because FINALLY....after all these years....I'm putting your ass where it belongs. I'm taking you to your JOURNEY'S END!!!
-=- Nomad pulls his Oakleys down over his eyes and walks out of Pennyworth's Jeweler's -=-
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