Post by Maxwell Mason Stone on Feb 12, 2024 19:32:26 GMT -5
SNAKES & MONSTERS
“Welcome listeners to the only show out there that will give you the 100% unscrambled truth.”
An instantly recognizable voice introduces listeners around the globe to this broadcast.
“I’m coming to you from a secret location unbound by the borders of the continental United States. By the time you’re hearing my voice, I will be gone from this location and far from the reaches of the oppressors that want to take men like me down. We’re living in a dark time, folks. A time where fine upstanding American citizens like you and I are treated like criminals simply because we have questions. I have no doubt they will be looking for me when I speak here about what’s really pissing me off right now. It’s an absolute disgrace what our government did to those poor people up there at Paradox Pines simply because they didn’t agree with the lives they lived.”
The scene slowly fades into a small, cluttered shack with some equipment that’s presumably being used for this broadcast.. We see a man with long, flowing gray hair cascading down to his shoulders, his scalp gleaming bald under the light. He rocks back and forth, faster and faster as he gets more fired up.
“I walked among the people there. Extraordinarily nice people who had to go so far up that mountain because our government doesn’t like people who believe in things that are outside of the norm. It was a heinous act of violence that was carried out because some fat cat needed to justify his role in bleeding the American taxpayers dry so he decided “hey, let’s go pick on that weird cult!””
The camera starts to rotate around the man, slowly moving around him and revealing his face.
“And now people are unjustifiably dead. They can never be brought back. Their families mourn their losses and it all could have been prevented. But what’s the word from the agencies that carried out this horror? Complete gobbledygook and people are taking them at face value. So once again, it’s up to Jesse to ask the tough questions.
We now see the front of his face and even under the stunning aviators we could tell that this is none other then Jesse “The Body” Ventura. Former navy seal, governor of Minnesota, host of “Conspiracy Theory,” and most important of all: an 80’s pro wrestler. He grabs the microphone and pulls it close to his face.
“Welcome listeners to the only show out there that will give you the 100% unscrambled truth.”
An instantly recognizable voice introduces listeners around the globe to this broadcast.
“I’m coming to you from a secret location unbound by the borders of the continental United States. By the time you’re hearing my voice, I will be gone from this location and far from the reaches of the oppressors that want to take men like me down. We’re living in a dark time, folks. A time where fine upstanding American citizens like you and I are treated like criminals simply because we have questions. I have no doubt they will be looking for me when I speak here about what’s really pissing me off right now. It’s an absolute disgrace what our government did to those poor people up there at Paradox Pines simply because they didn’t agree with the lives they lived.”
The scene slowly fades into a small, cluttered shack with some equipment that’s presumably being used for this broadcast.. We see a man with long, flowing gray hair cascading down to his shoulders, his scalp gleaming bald under the light. He rocks back and forth, faster and faster as he gets more fired up.
“I walked among the people there. Extraordinarily nice people who had to go so far up that mountain because our government doesn’t like people who believe in things that are outside of the norm. It was a heinous act of violence that was carried out because some fat cat needed to justify his role in bleeding the American taxpayers dry so he decided “hey, let’s go pick on that weird cult!””
The camera starts to rotate around the man, slowly moving around him and revealing his face.
“And now people are unjustifiably dead. They can never be brought back. Their families mourn their losses and it all could have been prevented. But what’s the word from the agencies that carried out this horror? Complete gobbledygook and people are taking them at face value. So once again, it’s up to Jesse to ask the tough questions.
We now see the front of his face and even under the stunning aviators we could tell that this is none other then Jesse “The Body” Ventura. Former navy seal, governor of Minnesota, host of “Conspiracy Theory,” and most important of all: an 80’s pro wrestler. He grabs the microphone and pulls it close to his face.
“So why don’t YOU tell ME what happened at Paradox Pines?”
It was the beginning of February of 2024 and if I had only known the horrors that were to come I would have perhaps done things differently.
Oh, who am I lying to? He showed me what was to happen and I wasn't ready to accept the truth that was being presented to me. It had been four months since I met my father for the first time at 44 years old and found myself captivated by his cause that led so many to follow him up to Paradox Pines. For so many it was their chance to press the rewind button and hope to fix where things had gone wrong. For me, it was the first time in my life I hadn't felt alone. Every day up in that beautiful mountain commune was a gift and filled me with a new sense of purpose that I had long strived for. But all good things must come to an end and come to an end, they sure did.
I suppose enough time has passed where I can admit that I never believed 100% in the things my father said he could do. I'm a bit of a natural skeptic and without me ever saying it, he knew. I was gearing up for three upcoming massive wrestling matches that had the potential to define my career but I was feeling a bit down on myself heading into them and that was when I decided that I wanted to use the tools we had available to us to have a peek into the immediate future.
What I saw shook me to my core.
“It will happen how it was always supposed to happen.”
I received the same vague responses from my father every time I brought up what I saw when I looked through the telescope in his office. He clearly didn't want to discuss what was about to happen with me so I figured I'd drop it there. We stood towards the entrance to our Paradox Pines village awaiting the arrival of a longtime friend of my father's.
“I think you will be pleasantly surprised when you see him pull up.”
My interest was piqued. We stood there in a rather uncomfortable silence. He knew that I wanted to talk about what I saw. He also knew that we were standing in the same spot where everything is set to go down and I had to think it was deliberate. I could hear the sound of a distant car making its way up the mountain and figured that must be our guest of honor. I opened my mouth to try to make some kind of small talk and that's when I heard the shaking of the leaves on the side of the road. “Maybe just a mouse,” I thought to myself but something about it was sinister and I couldn’t figure out why nor did I have time at that moment because here he was in all his glory. He stepped out of his car and took a deep inhalation of the fresh mountain air.
“Greetings, hermanos.”
“I call you my hermanos because I spend half the year down in the Baja. Off the grid completely. I live an hour from pavement and the nearest place where I can buy trash bags. It looks like you guys have yourselves quite the isolated set up here yourselves.”
“I call you my hermanos because I spend half the year down in the Baja. Off the grid completely. I live an hour from pavement and the nearest place where I can buy trash bags. It looks like you guys have yourselves quite the isolated set up here yourselves.”
And this was the beginning of my acquaintance with Jesse “The Body” Ventura. In the span of two minutes we learned that the Seals were always first to land, despite the Marines laying that claim. We heard about how he’s never had a cell phone and never will and wants that fact etched into his gravestone.
“Down in the Baja I have guard dogs everywhere. Hundreds of them just in case I get any unwanted visitors and I highly recommend you do the same here. ”
My father was the first to be able to say something long enough to get him to quiet down and that’s when he introduced me as Maxwell Stone, informing him that I too was a pro wrestler.
“Stone, your name is? Let me tell you about the time I was a bodyguard for the Stones… the greatest rock band of all time. Back in nineteen seventy… ”
We sat in my father’s office and just nodded our heads while he talked for hours. We were approaching minute 49 of his thoughts on the failures of the two party system when we realized it was already time for dinner.
We grabbed our evening meals and sat down to eat. I looked around the hall and the vibe was different than usual. I could see the worry on our people's faces. They weren't dumb. They could sense that something was looming.
“You know when I was in the Seals our base won best chow hall. We had some good meals there. Join the Seals and you're at least guaranteed three hots and a cot… So did I hear correctly that you wrestle, Stone?”
He stared at me with his intense eyes and it was then I wondered why anyone would want to hang out with wrestlers from decades prior let alone be accompanied to ringside by one.
“Yes, for quite some time. I've got a big one coming up against a guy that calls himself “iconic” but I've never seen him do anything to gain such a status.”
He nodded at me and shaked his head.
“You know in 1608 a man named Hans Lippershey filed a patent for the telescope and was inexplicably denied? But then here comes Galileo soon after and everyone thinks he's a hero for inventing a way to look closer at the stars!”
I excused myself from the table and made my way across the dining hall. I walked past a man named Darrell who had joined us with his son named Coop. Coop was a good kid, always busting my chops about things. I brought my food over and sat with them and we exchanged pleasantries. Coop had papers with him and I inquired as to what their contents were. Coop wasn't his normal self; he looked scared of something.
“It's coming for us all.”
He showed me a drawing of a gargantuan snake with blood dripping from its sharp fangs.
“Are you ready to face it, Mr. Stone?”
Night had fallen and I found myself worried about the drawing that Coop had shown me. This wasn't just a child afraid of a monster. He knew there was a certain kind of darkness out there coming for us. I sat in my bedroom dwelling on things I would soon have to deal with. Snakes. Monsters. Darkness. Evil.
I slammed my fists down on the top of my desk as the thoughts kept racing and then smiled when I realized that Del Dubois was so unbelievably unlucky that he had to step into the ring with me at this point in my life. Beating him from pillar to post was exactly what I needed to get my mind off of things. I had heard that he had done some truly awful things to people with rumors circulating that he may have even killed. I laid down on the bed and drifted off to sleep to the imaginary cadence of my fists flying into the face of Del Dubois.
Zzz…
“In 1968 the decline of the American news media began when 60 Minutes started airing on CBS.”
“Jesse, what the hell man? It's 3:30 AM. What are you doing in my room?”
“News never made any money but all the sudden 60 Minutes came along and they decided that the news now had to be entertaining! It was all about ratings now!”
I let out a huge sigh and grabbed my coat along with a few belongings and left the mad man to himself.
“And speaking of CBS, you know I've been banned from “The Price Is Right.”
The feeling of impending doom was really getting to me and I needed to get away for just a few moments and collect myself in the silence. Everything was getting to be a lot to bear and I was starting to feel myself slip and the LAST thing I needed at this time was to slip. If the event my father showed me was real then I needed to keep myself together and handle whatever the hell it was we were about to endure here. But it was impossible to clear my head when I just kept thinking of those poor children who were dealing with the same kinds of fear that I was. I strolled down my favorite forest path with my eyes closed as I took in the cold and refreshing night air attempting to quiet down my racing mind but every time I would settle down I would just hear some kind of crap about jet fuel and steel beams or flying killer drones in the voice of that 80s wrestler. But then it happened. It was a quiet rustle but a rustle nonetheless through the underbrush. I heard it in front of me, behind me, to the left, to the right. This must have been the serpent that Coop warned me about, following me, tracking my every move and looking to strike.
“This won’t go the way you’re expecting it to.”
Everything went so silent I could almost hear the moonlight from above.
“I know you're out there. The slithering predator with every intent to stick me with your venomous fangs. But you will not strike me now, will you?”
I slowly began to walk again, swiveling my neck around intently, looking in each direction with every progressing step.
“You don't want to be here. You want to be on your rooftops drinking pretty pink cocktails and mingling. Singing your little heart out and taking selfies so you can be a walking talking picture perfect advertisement for generation Z. But instead here you are under the belief that I am your prey.”
Then the tree branches above me started to move. I couldn't get a clear visual but I knew it was up there looking down and perhaps waiting to drop down and take a bite.
“But that couldn't be further from the truth, could it, Del? I am far too strong to fall victim to your poison. I've got eyes in the back of my head focused on you because I pegged you for a snake from the first moment I'd ever heard of you. But after all, you only make victims of the caring and unsuspecting and when it comes to you, I sure as hell ain't either of those.”
I noticed my golden Paradox watch was loudly ticking. I attempted to muffle it with my jacket but the thing has always had a mind of its own so I held it in front of me.
“The Paradox offers help to anyone who wants it. We have our methods of helping those who want to be helped and I’ve decided that I will help you, Del Dubois. Like many of those who seek our help, you have a troubled past and long for an opportunity to go back and fix your wrongs. I could extend my helping hand and invite you in with open arms but you’re going to require a different kind of help, Del.”
I continued to scan my surroundings in hopes of catching a glimpse of the monster I was engaged in mental gamesmanship with.
“I’m going to have to fight darkness with darkness. Evil with sheer violence. I am not just your opponent but I am your exorcist, Del. We’re going to engage in combat and once we are through, that dark, evil little man inside that brain of yours will be gone and the only person left is the Del Dubois that gets to continue walking this Earth, carrying around the heinous and horrible things he’s done. “
I saw my shadow self reflecting off the face of my watch in the moonlight.
“There’s nothing like the plausible deniability that men like you and I wield to excuse the bad that we do when we aren’t in control of ourselves. I’ve walked a similar path, Del. For most of my life I was ceding control to the darker parts of myself. The things those guys did… I would tell myself it was never my fault but as long as there was a Maxwell still alive and kickin’ in this warped mind, it would always be Maxwell that was responsible for the actions of a “Maniac.””
I came across a log off the side of the path and decided to get off my feet for a moment.
“But then again, all I ever did was break some bones, set some fires and alienate everyone who ever managed to get close to me. Surely no sin I’ve committed can be compared to the vile, heinous acts you have under your belt, Del Dubois. You have debts that must be paid and it’s time for the collection to begin. You’re lost in the woods and you’ve come to me in your moment of need for I am the one who can put an end to any further suffering your passenger brings upon you.”
There it was. Right above me.
You’re synonymous with poison, Del. It’s tied up in your history of pain and destruction and I will add a new chapter to your story because once that bell rings, I will show MY fangs and strike. The first step of processing the toxicity will be fear. Fear when you realize you’re younger and quicker on any other day but not today. Then the painful nausea when you’re looking up at the ceiling. Next the unbearable pain sets in after I’ve unleashed a series of moves each with the force of a car crash. And as the creeping terror paralyzes you, you will get last look at the sky before I flip you around to watch your rapid decline to the floor below with my Momenta Axis.
*POW*
*POW*
The evil creature didn’t account for me bringing my handy pistol to this encounter and much like Dubois would be in a matter of days, it was out for the count. The massive creature laid lifeless at my feet but I was stricken with the feeling that I still wasn't alone. I looked over my shoulder and saw a shadowy presence creeping towards me through the moonlit fog. I raised my firearm and pointed but then he spoke…
“In 1977, a young scientist named Stewart Crestfield presented his astonishing findings on the possibility of time travel to the United States government and was laughed out of the room.”
Freaking Jesse. Scared me half to death. I had more or less heard from my father that the government folks labeled him a whacko, a resentment he still carries to this day.
“But what Crestfield didn't know was that he was spot on and they took his work and elaborated upon it with an endless flow of funding and resources and secretly developed a machine that allowed manipulation of the space-time continuum. They even managed to successfully send someone through.
Jesse stood there with his signature head wobble and creepy smile except this time, his presence actually made some sense.
“You?”
“Your tag team partner.”
“Devlin?”
“Events have been set in motion. Good luck, pal…”
“Your tag team partner.”
“Devlin?”
“Events have been set in motion. Good luck, pal…”
