Blackness suddenly overtakes the arena, and a tape being rewound can be heard through the speakers. The sound of a person pressing play on a cassette player is heard. The voice of Joseph Diamond is heard, although slightly distorted.
Joseph Diamond (Vice): I needed to get away. I couldn't stay and watch as everything I had built up was destroyed. I needed to run. I couldn't tell them where I was going. I didn't want to. I just wanted to be alone. My daughters, my wife, they don't know where I went. Alexander doesn't know where I went. Most importantly, Chris doesn't know where I went. I know as long as he knows where I am he'd come and drag me back to Vancouver. I don't want to go back to Vancouver. I just wanted to stay here forever. Christmas in Miami. In the day I walk along the beach, I actually learned how to surf in a couple of days, it's really all just a matter of not falling off. Which is fitting, considering one particularly rude guy yelled "HEY JOEY D YOU FELL OFF, HUH?", which is weird to me, since I was never "on" to begin with. I almost was. I was so close, and then Chris had to stick hi-
When the sun goes down, I walk around the streets, but I don't look ahead. I look straight up at the sky. Something about the stars and the palm trees, it just makes me feel at home. If I never had to leave, I never would. I got a bunch of texts in the week I was in Miami. Some of them from my family, but most of them were from people who I'd met around town, asking me what I was up to. Those were the only texts I responded to. I respond to any of the Diamonds, I get sucked back in.
On Saturday Night, I got beyond messed up. I got very messed up. I hadn't partied like that since my early 20s and I'd never felt more alive.
And then I checked my voicemail. I had three messages. One from Chris, which was mostly just him yelling at me, one from Alexander asking me if I was coming back, told me about the worries he had about his match. Had I picked up, I would've told him "You've got this. More than I could ever have it you've got this," maybe if I had've I could've made a difference.
I had one last message. It was from Kristen. She had texted me saying I needed to come back immediately, but I just thought she was missing me. I'd miss me too.
Have...you ever had your worst fear come true? Has your "worst case scenario" ever come to fruition. She left an entire message but there were only five words I heard. The rest was white noise.
"Jack Rogue....crushed his windpipe"
I flew back that night. Once I checked out of the hotel I didn't look up once. Straight ahead. Unblinking. I feared the worst. When I got there he was in critical condition. Chris tried to yell at me for leaving so I sucker punched him. Not in front of my wife. Not in front of my kids. Absolutely not, Chris. They dragged me out of the hospital, I lost my senses. I broke a window on my way out, it made my knuckles bleed pretty badly, but it wasn't like I could get it bandaged up in the hospital. I was breaking down. I yelled at the sky, but i was really yelling at myself. "WHY DID YOU LET THIS HAPPEN", I sat down on the curb, elbows on knees and head in hands, my sunglasses had been chucked across the parking lot because they didn't matter anymore. My hand was still bleeding, and I was starting to lose my senses because of the cold.
Just as I thought to myself "none of this would've happened if you hadn't left", Kristen sat down beside me, she had a coat on and one for me. She had the thought to bring me mine since I didn't bring it to Miami (why would I?), which meant only my legs were going to get frost bite. She put her arm around me and I just broke down. She asked me where I went. I told her Miami. She asked if I went to Disney, I said that was in Orlando which is halfway across the state. She asked why I went to Miami of all places. I told her it was because I love the idea of the city. The name, the palm trees, the beaches, I didn't know a ton about it going in but it felt like paradise. It was paradise. It was my escape. She said it sounds beautiful. I told her it was. Then she told me I didn't want to know. They don't know if Alexander is going to make it. They still don't, it's 50/50. Alexander's life could literally come down to the flip of a coin. What a load of crap.
I asked her why she told me that, she said it was because she needs me motivated. I asked her why she needed me motivated, she said it was because I'm going back to Precision. She said I'm going back to Precision to end Jack Rogues career.
The tape ends. A silence falls over the entire arena. That was some pretty heavy stuff, not gonna lie.
