Chapter 400: Certain Affairs I

With all the back and forths and traveling that he's been on, a trip to Mexico is not that advisable.

However, given the streak that he was already in... why not do it anyways?

Besides, Alexander kind of really needed to go.

To go cross the border, that is.

After that brief stint he just did, he had to get away from the country for a while.

Although he may have nipped some annoyances in the bud, they were still nuisances and annoying people nonetheless.

He had poked that whole Anti-Creed Alliance.

An alliance so unnecessarily hostile towards him and his company, so there's no telling what they'll do after the provocation he just did.

Some possibilities are minutely harmless but it's better safe than sorry.

Of course, that was all in jest.

He really wasn't scared or on the run... but he sort of is.

As it turns out, certain authorities have been alarmed by certain inclinations of his.

Pertaining to dating minors. Even though he was technically a minor himself.

Which was why, before the FBI comes knocking... he had to go cross the border.

As a taunt and out of spite, he actually had the girls coming along with him.

Then again, that was all in jest once again.

He wasn't going to Mexico because of his questionable relationships... but... then again, he sort of is.

Alexander still had an earlier arrangement to keep with Milla, after all.

A Mexico excursion and he may as well make it happen.

It's what a boyfriend does.

But it's not exactly a boyfriend thing to bring the other girlfriend to a promise he made with the other one, is it?

Hence... despite the exotic view of the Mexican roadside... Milla can't help but air complaints.

"Ugh... you just had to ruin the mood, Shrew!" How better this would have been if there wasn't a second girl involved?

"Hehe!" Drew just snickeringly asked "What did I do again?"

"You already went to New York with Alex to yourself. Can't you give us a trip just between the two of us?"

"It's not my fault that you're busy with your final countdown thing that you can't join the last time."

Clearly, Drew did not give a care. Rather, she doesn't want to play fair. That's usually how mistresses act anyways and she really wanted to play the role for the fun of it.

Milla, the slighted girlfriend, was very familiar with such antics, which she pointed out. "It's so you... butting in on everything I want."

"How am I really butting in... when prince charming's hand is already enjoying my butt?" Drew can't help but point out something as well.

"What?!" Milla had to lean in to look and sure enough, she noticed it too. "His hand is also in mine, apparently."

"So, why are you blaming me? Shouldn't both of us be blaming this certain somebody?" Drew made sense but she also wondered. "Whose butt do you think he likes most though?"

"Well..." Alexander, finally brought in on the equation, knew that answering that would just be troublesome.

So, he raised his hands as a sign of innocence... but yeah... he smoothly settled right back to where it's been.

Rather justifiably, trouble is what he's in for.

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Granted, it was just a little hiccup.

It's not like this hadn't happened before...

When the bickering happens as they usually do, there's always Alexander in the middle, with his not-so-princely hands... brazenly taking advantage of things.

Milla didn't mind. It's Alex.

Drew didn't mind. It's her prince charming.

Mr. Driver, on the other hand, had to keep it in mind. He had to report since this was a breakthrough...

The little boss was probably going to get what he deserved...

But, like always, the boy maneuvered himself out of the situation.

Given that it's still a long while to Mismaloya... there were plenty of time and distractions for him to weasel out of it.

Like enjoying the sights that Mexico had to offer. That gifted video recorder, packed camera, and this foreign country's foreignness were handy this way.

Throughout it, they had fun. Barring that they didn't encounter any of the cartels and those generalizations that paint Mexico negatively.

The Grand Pix and Día de los Muertos could have been a balancer but it's already late November.

Dashing quite a good excuse for Cars and Coco.

Maybe at a later time and opportunity.

At the very least, he was excused from his handsy antics... and got a free pass.

Placating the girls and getting a touring vacation out of it.

Anyways, aside from experiencing his confoundingly open affair, there are still certain affairs to get into.

After all, there's still the other other reason why Alexander needed to get to Mexico.

Mismaloya, Mexico to be exact.

Double the Ms... but really... even Alexander can admit that he's overusing that at this point.

It's better to ditch it before it takes over his line of thinking.

With that said and with the arrival at the destination, it was finally time to cover what was mainly here for.

The production of Predator.

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A Creed Pictures movie... and as the screenwriter and the source material creator... Alexander kind of had to get a necessary gist to all of it.

And he did just that.

For an obvious start, there's the filming location.

With enough trees and jungles to stimulate a Guatemalan rainforest.

It's not the most on-location film location that Alexander's ever been but it works with enough movie magic.

With enough camera work and an effective crew, it should suffice.

However, everything was not that easy.

With where they were, health concerns took the top spot in complications. Janky water purification in the hotels led to Traveler's diarrhea.

Goes to show that most of them really were just "travelers" in this place.

In addition, the very cold temperatures in the Mexican jungle required heat lamps to be on all of the time.

The uneven landscape that they had going on.

And just the general stuntwork that was needed to make the movie work.

The script, comic book source, and volume book really didn't pull their punches on this one.

There was even a slight complication with Schwarzenneger, the main star playing "Dutch", just tying the knot.

The man took it like a champ though by just honeymooning for a few days.

Probably why the man's inspirational snippets gained quite the traction on YouTube in the future.

He's even laid the groundwork for his future as well. His wife, Maria Shriver, was key to his soiree into politics.

Clearly, the brawny man was on a grind.

Alexander really had to commend the guy and yeah... give him a heads-up on that comic book story and a belated one with that video game.

Of course, like usual, a quick profiling of the other cast and crew had to be done as well.

And it's interesting as can be.

Like the main antagonist, the Predator. But more on the man under the suit... Kevin Peter Hall.

The man sure was tall. 7 foot 2 was quite the menacing height and truly a fitting choice than Van Damme, the epic splitter.

Of course, that wasn't the only name-drop in this larger-than-life man-of-action line-up.

But before that, there was the odd-one-out female in the form of Elpidia Carillo. A local talent that fits the bill to play "Anna".

From what he heard, Cocky Cox actually applied for this role. In all seriousness though... she may have pulled off Charlie but a third-world guerilla girl was stretching it too far.

Moving on from that... there was actually a guy from Old Sullivan's porn roots, Sonny Landham. Portraying the sixth-sensed tracker, "Billy Sole".

As a balance, there's also one from his other grandfather's military roots... Jesse Ventura as that tough tyrannosaurus "Blain Cooper".

Then it's just a list from there with the actors playing notable roles like Hawkins, Mac, Poncho, and whatnot.

Oh yeah... there's actually a considerable third Creed in that mix. Even though he just played Apollo Creed... it's interesting for Carl Weathers to be part of a Creed-run production.

That detail aside, it's as fate would have it, their actors are pretty much the same as the original.

Even the director was not replaced this time around. With John McTiernan taking the helm.

Initially, the name didn't ring much bells in Alexander's mind but with something like Die Hard involved, it was no brainer that the man's next directorial slot had to be secured.

And that should pretty much be it... the notable stuff in this action-monster flick... with just about enough hints of adrenaline and horror with thrills in between.

Resulting in a sci-fi and action classic that movie fans would come to love and adore.

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However, Alexander's trip to Mexico wasn't just about that.

There's still his grandfather, after all.

Well... grandfathers, actually.

As it would seem that there were two of them waiting to get explanations out of him.

His hopefully-solid-enough explanations... about certain affairs.