Altered Tundra

Minutes to Manhattan

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^{The Cross Hotel, Manhattan, New York City
Collab with @Inkarnate}

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At this point of the night where it was getting pretty close to the midnight hour, Alexandros was once again roaming around the room as he had engaged in some casual conversations with some passing partygoers. Some of them were people his father had done business with and some were of his interest at the time. After he got bored with them, however, he simply moved on. He did backtrack a few times just to see if those he already interacted with were doing anything. He did observe the balcony and saw that Huntsberg girl still out there talking to some dark-haired chick. It was hard for Alexandros to tell who she was, though. He didn’t dare to show his face to her after the way they left things. That wouldn’t be in character for him, anyway.

After he had checked up with his parents briefly just so they knew he hadn’t completely forgotten about them, he decided to make one last round throughout the party floor before departing. All interest that he might’ve had in the party was dwindling after his interesting conversation with Audrey. And it’s not like Ava wasn’t without social engagements. She was having an interesting time with Audrey’s friends. Alexandros could’ve went over there and embarrassed her, but given how much shit he gave her before even arriving here and then at the bar he figured he’d let her have a break from his bothersome company. That is, because, he’s such a good brother and all.

“Thank you,” Alexandros took a drink from a waiter who just offered it to him.

He took one sip and then out of nowhere, the Mossos teen heard a voice that was a blast from the past, two years to be exact. “The world doesn’t change much for you, does it? I mean, outside of losing the stupid haircut you used to have.”

Fighting off his initial thought, he turned around to greet his old partner-in-crime. Though, to his surprise, Richard Davis didn’t look the same that he remembered. Two years ago, he too had a different look. While Alexandros had a longer, less-groomed style, he recalled Richard had a Justin Bieber hairstyle. For whatever reason, he thought that was a stylish due. Maybe for the time, perhaps, but the times have changed in just these past two years - just like it had for Alexandros Mossos and Richard Davis.

“It warms my beating heart that you no longer look like a Justin Bieber fanboy, Richard. At least you have better fashion sense than you did back in Aspen.” He sized up Richard one last time before greeting the male with his usual smile.

The older teenager scoffed as he held up his hands defensively in an almost mocking fashion. “I assure you that look had absolutely nothing to do with Justin Bieber. That was all me. Do I have to remind you it was my impeccable fashion sense that got us close to those sisters from Bloomfield Hills or the twins from Beverly Hills?”

Those two examples were just a couple of the many times these hot-shot heirs received an overwhelming amount of attention. His memory of how they had tested each other to do things that often pushed the boundaries of what some would call psychopathic. While that might’ve been true for normal people, Alexandros Mossos and Richard Davis weren’t cut from a common cloth. If one had to place it, they came from a special factory that only made twisted, psychologically-impaired clothes from which these two were created from. That alone made it no surprise they thought of creative ways to cure their massive boredom. This included once hooking up with a pair of sisters on multiple occasions.

“So, what you’re saying is if you didn’t have that hairstyle back then, we wouldn’t have gotten so lucky? Or maybe you’re trying to excuse yourself for making such a poor choice in hairstyles.” Once again Alexandros put Richard on the spot as he took a casual sip of his drink.

“That or you are simply too arrogant to accept that I make the best business practices and get the best results.” He smirked, “And you can’t argue with results.”

“Hah!” Alexandros couldn’t help but let out a single chuckle. “The fact that you, Richard Davis, have the stones to call me arrogant is almost as funny as thinking that you have the perfect fashion sense.”

Despite all of the years apart, Richard Davis was more or less the same person he had met in the stuffy ski lodge in Aspen. A man who thought his one-liners were witty, when in reality they were just corny and often fell flat compared to Alexandros’ obviously more humorous quips . But what mattered was that he thought they were good. It simply made the victory Alexandros got when he outdid Richard.

“But enough about me and my brilliant marketing skills. So strange to see you here in New York—at this party of all things. How did you get tied up in this… extravagant gathering? I take it the lady of the hour and your parents are acquainted? Seems to me that’s the only way you ‘earn’ an invitation to this kind of thing.”

You think you’re clever, huh?

“The same could be said about you, Richie. A party hosted by some magazine editor isn’t exactly the kind of gathering you normally attend. Unless you’ve somehow lowered your expectations since our last meet.” He mused a curious tune. “But maybe you’re nowhere as conceited as you once were.” Alexandros gave a simple shrug.

Rich raised a brow at the remark, but otherwise seemed unfazed by it. It was hard to forget that out of all of the people Alexandros had met in his life that Rich in particular was rarely taken back by the unabashedly blunt way Alexandros spoke. In a way it was refreshing, but it was also a reminder of who Rich was and how he himself acted.

“It’s certainly a different type of party, isn’t it? A bunch of important people who dust off their children like certified trophies as they schmooze and play social politics. It’s something a lot of our generation has had to experience our whole life—with some uneven results. I wouldn’t say there is absolutely no enjoyment to be had with it, though. After all, there’s so much that can happen just by saying the right thing at the wrong time.”

“If they won’t give us any fun, then we have to make our own.” Alexandros snickered, taking a look around him, observing the same kinds of people that Rich just described. Some of them he knew but there were also some that were completely foreign to him. Despite this, Alexandros had this sudden urge to cause havoc for some of them. But who? With such a variety of people to choose from, which one would be it? “What do you think about having ourselves some fun for nostalgia’s sake?” He proposed to Rich.

His brown-haired compatriot chuckled, pleased with the suggestion. “Let’s.”

Naruto: Revival

In hindsight, Jaakuna might've made things worse for him rip.

Music Appreciation Thread

@KaijuBaragon - a fun song that one, I enjoyed it immensely. Loved the whole science theme throughout. Each member did rather well with what they contributed. I don't think there was a single aspect of the track that I didn't enjoy. The song structure was great and lyrics simple enough that you don't have to think about them too much to enjoy them. The sort of breakdown around the 3:00 mark was interesting. I think the drummer was probably the strongest one, though. He had a solid rhythm throughout which I think it essential for a good drummer.

Naruto: Revival

^{Konohagakure | Chunin | NinTai-nin}

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^{TIME: Present Day - Morning | LOCATION: Konohagakure - Exam Stage, Earth Challenge Room | INTERACTION: Cloudy Eyes with a Chance of Sweet Lavender@Ladyinink Leading Stick Man@Reflection Slice-and-Dice Windseeker@Syn}

Jaakuna had forgotten how freeing it felt to feel the wind on his face. Though it had only lasted for a brief moment, he would savor that moment as he felt the rush of that moment bring him to life. The way his body freely flowed in the air and how wind picked up, it gave him such relief. He wasn’t a futon user, so this was as close as he came to experience the wind on his own accord. But just as with all things, the good times came to a speeding halt as the Sundance Kid saw the familiar sight of a blue beam from the golem. The only difference from the last time he saw it was that it wasn’t aimed at all of his teammates. No, instead it was aimed specifically at him.

Though Jaakuna realized that he was probably going to get killed, in that moment, he noticed the palm was open, which unlike before, it wasn’t sealed. Perhaps this would be his one and only shot to potentially damage them with something—anything—that he had in his arsenal. But just as he had the idea and he started to weave handsigns, he felt something grab at his waist, ceasing his previous action. It was thick and hard. Jaakuna knew right away it was Kurin’s wood and it jerked him away from the direct path of the beam, though due to how hectic it was, Jaakuna caught some of the blasted his right shoulder as it tore straight through his jacket, burning his flesh minorly. Wincing, Jaakuna was thankful it was only a minor burn and not something more severe. Though, his plan of attacking the palm in that moment might’ve been an idiotic one because, had he gone through with it, he might’ve died and that would do nobody any good.

As he was whipped back even further, the golem’s eyes flashed so brightly that it made Jaakuna blink repeatedly within the span of a few seconds. And the next thing he would notice were some projectiles coming his way. He thought they were a mirage, but as time would reveal, they weren’t necessarily that. Actually, they weren't even close to that. These projectiles were of something close to metal and they were coming at him. Additionally, it took him this long to notice something was off about him. He couldn’t place it, but it had to do something with those drills coming straight for him. A magnetic field? But how--oh, right. “Fuck me.”

Shit.

Jaakuna reached his head back and saw Kurin seemed to be aware. And there seemed to be something of a smirk coming from Kurin, though Jaakuna couldn’t sure about that. All he knew was that, as Kurin would call out the word ‘whiplash’ and then suddenly with little warning, Kurin had spun around with Jaakuna still firmly held by his wooden arm, and Jaakuna found himself whipping to that same motion (still in midair mind you) as he would come back around, the missiles from before following him. It took him only a moment after passing Kurin--and Kurin’s glance at Jaakuna--what the plan was. And you know what Jaakuna thought of that? Pure genius. And it was simple enough that Jaakuna wouldn’t need to think too much about it.

When he came back around and was like a little, red and yellow missile himself, Jaakuna was shot straight for the moon(the Golem’s legs). It took him a short moment to adjust his limbs to where his legs were straight and arms were at his side, though his right shoulder continued to become a bother due to the burn on it, but Jaakuna would ignore it as he would use his hiden as fire chakra would come from his hands and feet, though he noticed additional discomforts from it, which seemed odd, he just assumed it was from the burn he got from the beam earlier. Anyway, with his hiden propelling him at a faster speed, Jaakuna looked back and noticed the drills were still chasing him.

With a shift of his body, at the right moment when Jaakuna neared one of the legs and was closer to Kiku and Shizuka, but he wouldn’t stay close to them for long because, as Jaakuna’s body would tumble just slightly from the simultaneous actions of two things: First, Jaakuna didn’t have the best landing as he had ceased his hiden, so he had tumbled slightly from it and number two, as the missiles that were following him had come for him, he had dropped in front of the massive right leg of the golem, which hindered his sight from the projectiles, causing them to clash with the leg and causing a rather sizable explosion of metal and dust.

"Well, that went better than expected," Jaakuna commented into the transponder, giving Kurin a chuckling grin, panting just slightly. As he would notice where he was, however, he might've goofed. More to the point, as the dust settled and the golem came into his periphery, it appeared that he wasn't behind the golem as he first thought but rather he was in front of it and just about five or so paces away from Kiku and Shizuka, which now had Jaakuna in an even worse position than he was before. "Yeah, scratch my previous statement. I might've made a booboo." Jaakuna said to Kurin through the transponder, nervously laughing as the realization had sunk in.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

“No? Or are you simply embarrassed by my comment?” Jaakuna was aiming to ride this wave until it was redundant. However, something she would say about his personality did catch his eye - well, more like ear. The same principle applied, however. “So how does it work then? You said she saw me with Belias, so does that mean she knew what I looked like?” Jaakuna mused, slipping into a thoughtful mode as he pondered what people two hundred years ago thought giving Shion a bit of a smirk, though it was followed by a chuckle.

As he pondered on that, he seriously was thinking if she liked what she saw. Not that Jaakuna was the type to revel in what other woman thought of him, but it surely was an amusing thought to indulge, especially considering the reaction he got from Shion, if not quickly recovered. She thought she was being clever, but Jaakuna saw it. He knew that she had some sort of embarrassment. If not that, then it was in that neighborhood. Jaakuna wanted to get more genuine reactions from Shion. It was nice seeing her act like everyone else for a change.

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Wesley had always found the conversations between Nadeline and Lorenzo an amusing sight to see. The two of them, no matter how different in their base mannerisms, were both father and daughter, so regardless of their differences, it was hard to ignore how alike they were. Both unwilling to let go of their stances and both enjoying egging the other on. Although it was obvious they each had different approaches to that. Nadeline liked to resort to ruining Lorenzo’s image of his innocent daughter and Lorenzo appeared to enjoy embarrassing it even if he didn’t realize it or not.

He closed his eyes briefly as he would clap a few times. “I do think that’s enough, children,” Wesley chuckled, lovingly smiling towards both of them, though he looked towards Lorenzo as he put his arm around his fiance’s waist. “Lorenzo, I assure you that whatever I have done to Nadeline, I did so as...gentle as physically possible.” He told his future father-in-law with an assuring smile.

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As Savayna walked on the left side of Keiran and Grant on the right, she couldn’t help but feel curious why Grant couldn’t talk. She had her doubts it was legit and that he was just using it as an excuse to not talk to anyone. Occuria knew that, if it could be helped, he would stay silent forever. Whether that was the part of him that connected to Zeromus or not remained to be seen, but it plagued her mind almost as much as the fit she had earlier. This morning itself had been a shit one.

And, like with all things, Keiran wasn’t making it any better with his constant ramblings. So, Savayna would do something to shut him up. Casually, Savayna manipulated her mist into the ground under Keiran’s feet. When he would take his next step, he would find himself slipping and Savayna would give him an assertive, gentle push with just enough force to send him face first into the iced floor. When she would hear a noticable thud-like sound, she let out a chuckle. She then looked at Grant, who simply gave her what seemed like a nod of approval. No doubt he was thankful to have some sort of peace and quiet for a few moments.

No doubt that Keiran would be slow to get up especially with Savayna constantly re-icing the floor with the aid of Mateus who had slipped out of his own dimension and into the the walls and had been manipulating his mist into the floor each time Keiran would get up. It was only so Grant and Savayna could slip away.

Speaking of…

“Come on,” Savayna grabbed Grant’s hand and pulled him as she would take to a run, going to the first left that she found and kept running until they had unexpectedly ended up at the garden.

The rush of adrenaline going through her was so much that Savayna had completely forgotten about the funny thing called stamina, which she completely exhausted. As a result, she passed out on a nearby bench. Panting heavily, she let out a series of laughs through them. She looked at Grant and smiled while still laughing.

“Haven’t done something like that in a while,” she said panting.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

There had been a few thoughts that ran through Jaakuna’s mind as he heard Shion speak about Kyli and how she was a powerful sorceress and could see into the future and how she could see the exact moment that Jaakuna was chosen by Belias. The thoughts in his mind were of awe and absolute shock at how, even decades before the birth of his grandfather, before the birth of his father, before the birth of his brothers — he was the Chosen One. As Shion had put it, he was the Transcendent, though Jaakuna couldn’t fathom what that meant exactly. The whisperings of Belias simply told the blonde that he knew. If he searched deep down, he knew what that meant.

And then, as if breaking from the serious streak she was, Shion would once again throw in a subtle, mocking quip at Jaakuna’s expense. He then scowled rather obviously, crossing his arms as he huffed at her. He didn’t appreciate that. He wanted to retort something back at her but one of them had to be the adult here. It sure as hell wasn’t going to be Shion, now was it? “Did Kyli actually see me? Maybe she’s seeing me right now? If so, I should say hello, should I not?” Jaakuna looked up and waved. “Hello Kyli, I’m the Transcendent. You know, the one who is supposed to save the world? Yeah, well just so you know, Shion found me. And guess what? She’s just as hot as she was back then!”

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“As much as it does pain me, my darling, I believe your father has a point.” Wesley stated rather surprisingly, earning glances from just about everyone. Most notably, he caught Lorenzo’s look of shock, though it was one that WEsley knew would have him regretting even agreeing with him. He turned towards Nadeline with an apologetic look. “Please don’t be too mad at me, but if you are indeed pregnant with our first child, I would never be able to live with myself if something happened to not only you but our child.” Wesley admitted, furthering his reason to be more sane and reasonable than Lorenzo’s overprotective father logic.

Naruto: Revival

^{Konohagakure | Chunin | NinTai-nin}

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^{TIME: Present Day - Morning | LOCATION: Konohagakure - Exam Stage, Earth Challenge Room | INTERACTION: Cloudy Eyes with a Chance of Sweet Lavender@Ladyinink Leading Stick Man@Reflection Slice-and-Dice Windseeker@Syn}

Moments like these were the kinds that made or broke a team. First off, there was team morale to consider. Jaakuna complimented Kiku. She responded with a smile. That was good for Jaakuna's morale and what was good for Jaakuna's morale improved his attitude towards his other teammates. Like the sun, when it's bright, it shines upon all of those and brings great cheer to them. A sun that breathes life into those within its reach. That's probably something out of a motivational manuscript, but it's also something that's the absolute truth about Jaakuna. He's a smiling, loving idiot who also happens to be one of those guys that act rashly and often without thinking. Still, at least he can make his teammates feel like nothing could go wrong, especially when there's a giant laser coming straight at them.

And dodge!

When Kiku and Shizuka had darted one way, Kurin and Jaakuna did so in the opposite direction, effectively evading death for the time being. However, that didn't solve the case that there was a giant monster wrecking their shit and they were split up. Ideal for attacking and making the big, bad golem confused on who to focus its attacks on but it did nothing for actually coming up with a solid plan. Jaakuna, being the one with the best hand-to-hand combat prowess of the four of them only needed to be told what to do and he could definitely handle it. Whether any of them wanted to admit it or not, it appeared as though Jaakuna was the one with the least amount of fatigue from the mechanisms in the other room and that meant, when it coming to using chakra for jutsu, he would be the one who could deal some major damage when the time came.

While separated from the rest, Jaakuna lost his concentrated lightning chakra when he and Kurin dodged to the left - at least where Jaakuna's perspective was, while the other two were on the right, but it was still a tad weird considering the shape of the room. Or at least, from where Jaakuna could see. It was far too dark to get an exact measurement of the actual shape and height/width. What he knew was that they were on one side and the other two were opposite of them. Thank the lords for the transponders that Kurin had given them. It was exactly what they needed. And it seemed Kiku made use of them too because she would tell Kurin and Jaak to try and damage the palms. Apparently, that's where the laser came from. Or maybe they figured out something that Jaakuna somehow missed. Regardless, that was a good plan. Though, Jaakuna couldn't help but feel off about the electromagnetic field he sensed coming from the golem. He couldn't sense where it was coming from exact but he had a good hunch it was around the back of the huge beast. Call it a gut feeling.

"Roger that," Jaakuna briefly said as he had turned to face Kurin. "Well, you heard her. We just need a solid attack plan. I can flame up, but I might need a push. You think you can whip up something like that?" Jaakuna asked Kurin. When/if that would happen, Jaakuna had it in his mind to use his hiden at the right time. Assuming he would get the right kind of push off of the ground, he would be able to send a wave of fire chakra from his hands/legs to do just as Kiku had suggested that the two of them do.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

After the vision had ended, Jaakuna honestly was at a lost for words. It wasn’t a common occurence but it was becoming one as of late. This was, of course, because of what has been taking place around him. From Emiri being under Venat’s control to setting up a worldwide treaty between the Three Great Nations of Ivalice, Jaakuna’s world and involvement in politics has been shifting towards a more active role. To think just a short few months ago, Jaakuna was a shame to his country, wanting for murder and treason. Now he was the sole person who could save the world not just from the threat of a lingering Occuria, Venat but from his own race and those who inhabit this world.

Talk about pressure.

Jaakuna was feeling overwhelmed and most of it had to do with the fact that he was a tad taken aback by the revelation that was centric to him about the Gigas, which obviously was Belias. Apparently, for reasons unknown to him, that specific Esper was the only one who could defeat Venat. Jaakuna’s big take away from it, however, was that he was being talked about several decades before he was even an afterthought. Hell, around the time Aloa was young(yeah Jaakuna’s still trying to process her as young), that was when Archadia committed the worst war crime in their long history. So it was obviously a lot to take in. Hopefully, Shion could give Jaakuna a few more moments to adjust to all of it.

And of course, just as he would hope that, there she would go and speak. “I mean, she couldn’t have known that Jackson Darcone was ‘the Chosen One’.” Jaakuna quipped with a snarky chuckle.

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Despite all of the information that was compacted in such a short amount of time, Wesley was pleased to see that it didn’t really change his friends. For that matter, it didn’t seem to change him that much. What started out as Wesley wanting to confide in Emiri about what he suspected, he ended up forgetting his real reason for going there. He wanted to inspect whatever was going on with Emiri for himself, but things got away from him. By the time they were talking one on one, he had completely forgotten about it, and ended up divulging something he never thought he would. And then that’s when everything got so warped and out of their control.

This was why Wesley had been relieved to see an aura of familiarity return to the group. Although looking at Lorenzo, there wasn’t exactly a positive expression his face. There was also Nadeline erupting towards Keiran, apparently having enough of his antics. “She is right. You’ve done enough damage, Mitron.” Wesley echoed Nadeline’s sentiments, showing a rare expression of tired patience towards Keiran.

“Mitron? You mean the Scion of Light?” Savayna said, feeling out of the loop.

“It’s a very long story. I’ll be sure to fill you in later on, but now, Keiran was just leaving.” Wesley stated rather coldly, his eyes piercing through any and all verbal defenses Keiran might’ve had.

Crooked Young - An Altered Lies Production

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“Right..”

Truth be told, Alexandros had no idea what to say about the kitchen. Yes, it was nice. Yes, they had the best of everything: best cabinet, best refrigerator-freezer combo, best countertops, best table and chairs, and they even had the best lights money could buy. But, you take all of the expensive stuff in it, there wasn’t anything really special about it. It was just as useful as any other Beverly Hills kitchen. So that left Alexandros wondering, of all things, that was what she chose to say. Not a comment about how touchy-feely his out-little brother was or some kind of angry retort about how he left her upstairs while he came down for food.

But sure, it’s a very nice kitchen.

He just let out a sigh, watching how starstruck Georgie was and how annoyed Ava was with both of her brothers. She was annoyed at Georgie because he was practically drooling as his idol couldn’t help but gaze upon her like a fan and she was apparently annoyed at Alex. The reason why was solely dependent on the day. One day, she showed anger towards him because he cut her off for the bathroom. Another day it was because he purposely did something to tick her off. So, you see, it was a mystery to him as to why she was annoyed at him at this very moment, but Alexandros didn’t have the interest to indulge in her moods, so he simply ignored her.

“So, Audrey,” Ava decided to break the five-minute silence after everyone had gotten their fair share of the food. “Tell me, what possessed you to actually want to crawl into bed with him? Was it the money? It’s no secret that our family is wealthy. You wouldn’t believe how many skanks he’s had in his bed that were after a good payday.” She spoke, seemingly glaring at Audrey.

She didn’t know her that well—only by reputation. She was a hardass and strict with her dance team. She was even more so in her personal relations, yet somehow kept it all together under the persona that wasn’t subtle to anyone who happened to know even a little about her. Luckily for Ava, Georgie knew everything there was to know about Audrey Huntsberg. If it has to do with her, no matter what it was, he was on top of it. He follows her on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram. He’s the president of her unofficial fanclub. And if that’s not bad enough, he attends every single one of her dance recitals. He’s cheering for his idol each time she performs at any event, be ti pep rallies, games, or whatever. It’s a bit weird and bizarre, but Ava was at least thankful that she knew about Audrey without actually having to speak to her, which made her assumption of her questionable.

“Or perhaps he drugged you.”

“Ava, come on. Give me a bit of credit.”

“So, you didn’t drug her.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“What then? I’m curious exactly why one of the most dignified, if not just slightly bitchy—no offense—girls at our school decided to get with you.” Ava truly was puzzled by this. She couldn’t, for the life of her, understand Audrey’s reasoning.

Dance With The Angels - A GFX Shop by Altered Tundra

ANNOUNCEMENT

I've recently been feeling the inspiration as of late, so I will be opening up my shop but with a newly-added rule: Instead of taking 5 at a time, I will only be accepting 3 requests at once. This is just to keep my own sanity.

In either case, if you want a request, drop a line below~