Diamondback quotes from Luke Cage

Diamondback

Ah. Nothing like an aged Scotch. You know there was a time you'd cross a Scotsman and he wouldn't think twice about cutting your head off with a sword. I like a drink that encourages such decisiveness.

I see Carl's taste in women hasn't changed. He likes frizzy hair and a tight frame.

Misty

Carl? Who's Carl? You mean Luke?

Diamondback

No, I mean Carl, Misty. "Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." First Peter, chapter five, verse eight. See, my daddy was a preacher. Oh, come on. Aren't you gonna beg? Not even a little bit?

Misty

If you're going to shoot me, then do it.

Luke

Stryker? Stryker!

Diamondback

You left me to rot, Carl.

Luke

We can work this out.

Diamondback

Work what out? My life? [loads bullets into his gun] My mother destroying herself? Being away for so long? Nah, there's nothing left to work out. "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Ain't that what the great Reverend James Lucas used to scream at us? Preached peace and prosperity, every Sunday on the pulpit, but come Friday night on the sideline? Nothing but fire and brimstone. Guess he saved the sin for Saturday night like everybody else. And everybody else caught hell but you. All the world's a stage for the preacher's son, and I was a quarterback. And no matter how many passes I threw, he was all about running the ball. Because he wanted the game in your hands. [Luke steps out into the orchestra section, right below Diamondback, up in the balcony] Hello, Carl.

Luke

Willis.

Diamondback

I prefer "Diamondback".

Luke

Because you're a snake. Just like Cottonmouth.

Diamondback

I am a snake! I shed my skin for something better. Stronger. You left me to rot, Carl, in a gutter. But I changed that sewer into a garden.

Luke

I wasn't a good friend. I should've stood tall, but I didn't. And you paid the price.

Diamondback

I've been watching you. Harlem doesn't realize they're worshiping a false idol.

Luke

False idol?

Diamondback

You, Carl! You! You're the golden calf! But I've got commandments for your ass. I'm gonna bring the pain. Reva's death?

Luke

Keep her name out of your mouth!

Diamondback

The crimes you went to jail for? The torture you endured once you were inside? All me! I'm afraid. Well, not Reva's death. I just like saying her name just to watch you squirm.

Luke

You ruined my life!

Diamondback

I gave you wings! [voice breaking] I sent you to hell, and you come back with superpowers! [inhales deeply] Ain't that a bitch?

Diamondback

They call this bullet the Judas. You barely survived the first blast. You won't survive the second. Any last words?

Luke

Willis, I'm sorry. You don't have to do this. I loved you like a brother.

Diamondback

Nigga, I am your brother. [shoots Luke in the shoulder]

Shades

You don't have any friends.

Diamondback

"A man of too many friends comes to ruin, but there is a friend who comes closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24. Cornell Stokes was that friend for me. And I could trust him like I could my own...brother.

Diamondback

You wouldn't believe how expensive these things are. Untraceable, alien metal, explosive.

Mariah

You hit Luke Cage with one of these. He's still alive. If it didn't work, what's the big deal?

Diamondback

Well, you don't need to kill God with one shot to sell a weapon. You just need to make Him bleed.

Mariah

YOU KILLED A COP! I know you did it! Now kids are getting jacked up by the police! WHAT are you doing to my city?

Diamondback

It's not yours, never was.

Mariah

Harlem is my birthright. It's mine! City council or not.

Diamondback

"When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous, but terror to evil doers."

Mariah

[disgusted] You quote the Bible like you actually believe in God.

Diamondback

And you speak to me as if you're not actually in the presence of death. Your way was taking too long. I killed two birds with one stone by sticking a body on Luke Cage. He's hiding somewhere in the blessed aquarium, so I turned the heat up. [gets up from his chair] Old Carl. He's either going to stand up and defend his name, or he's gonna run and hide like a bitch. Either way, it doesn't matter. I've got the gun to take him out.

Mariah

You're completely out of control.

Diamondback

And you're not a real politician because, if you were, you'd flip this.

Shades

Forget Cage. The cops are gonna flood this place in a minute.

Diamondback

No. We're staying. Nobody leaves. Not until we have them.

Shades

What you talkin' about, Willis?

Diamondback

You got jokes?

Diamondback

Take Diet Obama upstairs, Ty! Keep a gun on him till I get up there.

Take your hands off me! You can't do this!

Diamondback

Yes, we can!

Diamondback

I wish you could have met Dana, my mother.

She's beautiful.

Diamondback

Yes. She was a secretary for a big-time preacher. A bold, charismatic man who loved to talk loud and dress fancy.

Like you.

Diamondback

Exactly. They worked long, stressful hours and... Well, they had a lot of laughter in that back office. Something was bound to happen and it did. I was born. But he was married. And everything was good until the preacher's wife, two years later, had a baby boy. A miracle child. And everything changed. The great Reverend Lucas wasn't man enough to give his first son his last name. You see, I was still Willis Stryker. But his real son was Carl Lucas. But here's the crazy thing. Nobody said nothing. And Carl and I we grew up best friends, but there was all this tension. You could just feel it like a draft coming in from under a door. I just wanted him to see me. I was a good boy. I did well in school. But he always loved Carl more.

Diamondback

Pressure brings the best out of certain people. So where was I? Together we were bold. We stole a red Corvette, just like the song. Just for a joyride. You see, I was a Prince fan, and Carl was all about Michael. We were so busy arguing, we didn't even see the cop. But Carl was a Lucas. I was a Stryker. It was over before it even began. When it came time for sentencing, the preacher convinced the judge to let his golden boy join the Marines. Me? Juvie. Got jumped two days in. Boy drew a shank and I killed him in self-defense. So I got sent away to hard time. And sweet Dana? Oh, her cancer ate her alive and she died alone in a shelter without a friend in the world. You see, the good Reverend Lucas…well, he stopped caring for her after I was gone. He was free of her and I was powerless. But she, oh…oh, she still loved him and well, she wanted me to have something of my father's. God had me at hello with Genesis. The story of Cain and Abel. When God asked Cain where Abel was after he killed him Cain asked, "Am I my brother's keeper?" See I thought that was some cool shit Wesley Snipes made up in New Jack City. Turns out it's real. So after I kill Luke Cage I'm gonna stand over him and say, "Yes, I am."

Why are you telling me all this?

Diamondback

Because you're about to meet my mother, Damon. Tell her I love her. [punches Boone in the chest with his powered glove, killing him instantly]

Mariah

[Answering her phone] What do you want?

Diamondback

That's no way to speak to a business partner.

Mariah

After what you did to my club, do you really think I'm gonna shuck and jive with you?

Diamondback

You might want to check your attitude. If you're not any use to me, then you're not any use to anyone. Shades would tell you, if he was still alive.

Mariah

What the hell are you talking about?

Diamondback

I had to let him go. So now, I'm giving you the chance to tell me where you stand. I've taken Shades and Damon Boone off the table so you can grow. I'd hate for us to part, too.

Mariah

I wasn't particularly fond of Shades. And the death of Damon Boone, although unnecessary, was appreciated. [stands up] But you need to know this: I'm out of the political game. I'm focusing on Harlem's Paradise; using it for, uh, a power base for community relations. [Diamondback enters the room from behind Mariah]

Diamondback

That's a smart move. But you've made some dumb ones, also. You should never talk about murder on an open line.

Bobby

What kind of Jean-Paul Gaultier shit is this? What are you, a pimp storm trooper?

Diamondback

No, I'm the angel of death.