Post by Maxwell Mason Stone on Nov 8, 2023 18:27:53 GMT -5
OOC: Continued from PARADOX PINES
Maury Povich (Voiceover): A serene lakeside village in the picturesque mountains of Oregon.
B-roll footage of people doing things like farming, riding horses, and fishing is shown. Happy people living in harmony.
Maury: Hidden away from society and tucked far far away. They claim they're working towards a peaceful humanity… but most people have labeled them as a CULT controlled by one man.
A still black and white photo taken with a long range lens shows a younger version of Stewart Crestfield. He wears a pocket watch around his neck and he appears to be angrily yelling at someone.
Maury: He’s abrasive, defensive and mysterious. Tonight we enter the strange commune of Paradox Pines to get to the bottom of this potentially sinister refuge.
Maury: Good evening, everyone. I’m Maury Povich. Welcome to A Current Affair. You may have seen them around the Los Angeles area. You may have seen them at college campuses, airports and other public gathering places. I'm talking about those people who wear the little golden pocket watches around their necks and want to "have a chat" about achieving unity and peace. They call themselves the "Paradox" and tonight we're taking you inside their secluded community where you can decide for yourself if they're a group of humanitarians… or if there’s something… darker under the surface.
Footage of Crestfield being interviewed plays with no audio. He looks defensive and angry.
Maury (VO): Meet Stewart Crestfield. The head of this movement that he calls the "Paradox." As we learned while interviewing him, he does not take kindly to any criticisms.
Crestfield: Our mission is simple. We know what we must do in order to get every single human on this planet to achieve the inner peace they've so long desired.
Maury (VO): Crestfield believes that he has found the secrets to manipulating the past through a vast and complicated method involving astronomy and cosmic energy. Whether it actually works remains to be seen.
Crestfield: We can go back to pivotal moments in our lives where we may have made the wrong decision. Decisions that changed who we were for the worse. If we can help everyone become at full and total peace with themselves, just think of the conflicts that could be ended. A regret free life. Tell me, if you can go back and have the ability to zig where you zagged, wouldn't you take it?
More B-roll footage of Paradox Pines is shown where the people look happy and living off the land. Children roam freely. Dogs run around and herd sheep. A friendly looking woman prepares a fresh meal with vegetables grown on their farm.
Maury (VO): But many are skeptical of what Cresfield and his followers are offering.
Interview footage of Crestfield from much later on shows up on the screen where he is far more agitated.
Crestfield: We've done absolutely nothing wrong. Everyone is here voluntarily and you all just want to demonize us because we don't conform to your standards of what a member of society should be! If someone chooses to walk with us and contribute to our mission, why should they be scrutinized? Is free will considered “uncool” these days?!
Maury (VO): He took issue with A Current Affair producers requesting to interview other members of the commune, stating that "they were too busy working on the mission."
Crestfield: I invite you to our home and for what? For you to mock us? For you to try to tell the world we're a group of weirdos to be laughed at? Why do you think we've come all the way up here to this beautiful sanctuary? We have a lot of work to do and this is the only place we can accomplish our goals without people like YOU getting in the way.
The audio is becoming distorted and VHS tracking lines fill the screen. This continues until we're seeing nothing but a garbled dissonant mess that cuts to black when Maxwell Mason Stone presses eject on the VCR and removes a tape labeled "A Current Affair 4/22/87."
We now find ourselves in Maxwell Mason Stone’s recently purchased Corvette as he cruises through the streets of one of the more glamorous parts of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The famously slow L.A. traffic gives Maxwell quite a bit of time to people watch and look around at his surroundings. He sighs loudly as he notices a tall skyscraper with an advertisement for the new season of American Horror Story draped over the side that features a 50 foot tall Kim Kardashian.
MMS: Stupid…
He comes to a stop at a red light and looks over to his left and notices a huge crowd of people gathered outside a juice shop. Stone grabs the attention of a young adult standing near the street.
MMS: Hey, I’ve had the juice here and it aint that good. What’s the deal?
Girl: TAYLOR SWIFT CAME HERE!!!!
MMS: She’s in there right now?
Girl: No, she was here three days ago!!!
MMS: Okay…
LATER
Host (on screen): And for a bit of business news. Move over, Apple! There’s a new sheriff in town with Royal Flush Industries claiming the position of most valuable company! Now you may be asking yourself, how did a port a potty company over take all the largest titans of industry?
Host: That's right! We ALL saw this adorable photo of NFL Superstar hunky hunk Travis Kelce standing guard while his amazing, beautiful, massively talented girlfriend Taylor Swift used the port a potty! And now the company that manufacturers those port a potties is scooping gold from the streets!
MMS: Kill me.
Stone notices a loud ticking coming from his car. He pokes his head in and notices that his golden pocket watch hanging from his rear view mirror is emanating a loud tick.
Familiar voice: Maxwell Mason Stone is approaching the end of his rope. He finds himself exhausted with the over saturation of reality stars, pop idols and perceived top wrestlers.. Maxwell wants to put a stop to it. Will this decorated pro wrestler do it calmly? Or….. by FORCE?
Stone steps away from his car and looks towards the gas pump. The screen is filled with VHS tracking lines and static. He approaches it closer and notices that an image is starting to form from the chaos and it is that of MAURY POVICH.
Maxwell stares at the image for an extended moment trying to make sense of what is real or what isn’t. All he knows is that the ticking of his pocket watch is completely taking over his senses. Maury laughs at him.
Maury: Your father may not have been interested in speaking with us… but I have a feeling you will.
The ticking clock has become unbearable. Maxwell gets into his car and grabs the watch but as soon as he touches it, he blacks out.
MMS (Voiceover): You see his face everywhere you go.
Stock footage of Matt Knox smiling for a camera is shown on screen.
MMS (Voiceover): No matter how far you go or how closed you keep your eyes and ears. There is no escaping the presence of one, Matt Knox!
Footage from TPW’s Night of the Living Dead plays where Matt Knox is being held down as a torch is about to be taken to his face. The frame freezes.
MMS (Voiceover): But is Matt Knox really “that guy?” Or is he just… an ILLUSION?
MMS: Good evening and welcome to A Current Affair. I’m Maxwell Mason Stone and tonight we set out to answer a simple question: Matt Knox… is he real or is he Memorex?
Archival footage of Matt Knox winning the OCW World Championship appears on the screen.
MMS (Voiceover): Matt Knox. He’s everywhere. You’ve seen him in OCW.
Cut to footage of Knox competing from one of The Triad’s illustrious events in the Caribbean.
MMS: The Triad.
Knox holds up the Co-Op title belt. Footage courtesy of UGWC.
MMS: UGWC.
Another shot of a tag team championship win. Courtesy of FCW.
MMS: FCW.
You’re starting to get this now. Footage courtesy of Pro Wrestling Valor.
MMS: Pro Wrestling Valor… and many many more. We’d be led to believe that the Matt Knox business is boomin’ right now. He has pay-per-view main events and championship wins. You can even catch him this December in the main event of Thunder Pro Wrestling’s Winter Wrestleland where he will compete for the highest honor offered by the company. But some may argue that the over saturation of Matt Knox is about to lead to his downfall.
The segment cuts over to a man in a brown suit and glasses. The way he’s dressed and the way he carries himself just screams “field expert.”
Field Expert: Matt Knox's ubiquitous presence in the wrestling world is a prime example of how perceived value isn’t always guaranteed to translate to actual value. If you’ve paid attention you’d see how the Marshall’s Maniacs lost control of Thunder Pro Wrestling when Matt Knox was held down and nearly burned alive. Perhaps Knox wouldn’t have been in that position if his body and mind were 100% focused on the match instead of his hundreds of other ventures.
We’re taken once again to footage of the last TPW pay-per-view main event where the Cabal held Matt Knox down while Peter Vaughn brought a flaming torch near his face.
MMS (voiceover): Many have stated that Terry Marshall may still have control of Thunder Pro Wrestling had he not removed Maxwell Mason Stone from the match. But that argument is neither here…. nor there. What is certain though is that Maxwell Mason Stone has a chance to make things right.
Footage from the September 29th, 2023 main event of TPW Friday Night Fury hits the screen where Matt Knox hits Larry Tact with the “Into the Void” and make the three count while Maxwell Mason Stone fails to break it up.
MMS (Voiceover): With the assist of a distraction by the Cabal, Matt Knox was able to sneak in and pin Larry Tact for his International Title opportunity but this upcoming Friday, Stone has a chance to enact a little revenge on the man who should be in Knox’s spot heading into the winter festivities.
The scene cuts back to Maxwell Mason Stone behind the anchor desk and smiling.
MMS: Well that should be a fantastic match. Two men who are closer to the ends of their careers than they are the beginnings duking it out to try to prove who the superior talent truly is. Will it be the man who puts his body on the line in a different ring every single night or will it be the methodical man who is slowly taking this industry by storm? Will the victor be the man who has the undying and constant need to have all eyes on him or will it be the man who attracts the eyeballs because the world can’t help to realize true quality? So many questions to ask but I suppose the one that’s mattering most to me at this moment is… what happens when someone impedes progress?
MMS reaches below the news desk and pulls out a pocket watch. It’s ticking loudly.
MMS: What happens when someone sneaks their way into stopping the natural flow of things? We'll find out when Matt Knox pays the debt bestowed upon him for interfering with my mission. No third wheel. No distractions to sneak in on. All eyes are on us, Knox… just the way you like it. Let’s let ‘em all get a good look at the man who is inching closer to become the foundation of this company each and every day. Goodnight, Matt Knox. And Goodnight, America. Until next time…
