ginger_firebird

"Mantis. It's good to see you."

Ben is one of the first people to slither in, distinctive in all black. He's holding a half-drunk vodka, and takes a hearty gulp before talking to Mantis. He looks a sight, hair ragged, eyes wild, and visibly unsettled, and looks the worst he has since he came to the Nexus. Ziggy's grief rubbed off on him in the time he was at the Jones-Stardust house.

"So, you heard the news? Honerva's gone, that's the good news, she won't be bothering us again - unfortunately, she took Hiroki with her. Ziggy was in an awful state the last time I heard from him. He didn't take the loss well at all. The Antheans think she closed the gate intentionally to stop Hiroki's getting reinforcements from here."

Ben shakes his head, disgusted. Honerva, for all her universe-destroying power, was a coward. For all his faults, that wasn't one of them. Ben almost never ran from a threat if he could help it, even if running was a better idea.

"You were apparently one of the people she wanted for her experiments, and I suspect Rey and I, along with the other Force-users, were only safe because we were off her radar."

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None of that comes as a huge surprise to Mantis. He's used to getting and expecting the worst, but there's clearly been something profoundly bad happening to Ziggy. The man was a living thermite reaction who efforlessly spread his feelngs to others and Ben clearly got the brunt of some of it. He beckons Ben to come closer and Francour reaches out with his tiny paws to try and offer a hug.

"That bitch... Nothing is too much for how she operates." Mantis feeds a sense of sympathy for Ben. A pang of sorrow follows after it, having been drawn up from the associated memory of being present when Liquid died shortly after he ended up on the other side of life. "SHe can't very well get me now. It's a good thing, in a way. It means she's desperate."

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"For someone who claims she can destroy a universe, she's a gutless coward," Ben spits in disgust. "She was scared of us, I'll bet - that we could have taken her on working together. I was weaker than her, but I wouldn't have run away. I just feel sorry for Ziggy. This is the worst for him. I got involved because Ziggy and his family needed my help, and called in the angels because she was too powerful for us to handle alone."

He approaches, sighing heavily. "It would be like if Rey and I were separated forever. Not exactly the same, because my understanding is that Anthean bonds work differently, but Ziggy was clearly bonded with Hiroki and the breaking of that bond hurt him." Ben gently pats Francour on the head. His mental state is a mess right now. Not Kylo-bad, but not good either. "I hate her. It was either I knock back a few drinks or I break something in the workshop."

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"The grandest claims are blatant lies and bullshit nine times out of ten. She ran away because we would have found a way to slaughter her one way or another. The most important thing is to keep an eye on Ziggy and make sure he can get through this emotionally. No one in that family feels things by halves."

He reaches out with one hand to Ben. Maybe he'll need a hug or just someone to lean on, but Mantis is willing to endure a little physical contact when Ben is clearly out of sorts. "You're doing the right thing going to find people. The less time you spend alone with those kinds of thoughts, the better." Francour chirps sadly and grabs Ben's fingers in his paws. "Come sit with me."

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bloodysacrifice

It was Lucifer who heard and encouraged Moloch to come out. It had been like pulling teeth for the older seraphim to get Moloch to think about socializing. However, the opportunity to gloat freely about harassing someone into terror. That was enough. Lucifer even sent him with a wine skin of angel blood, the one thing he could drink and gave him a high like euphoria that might be in the realm of drunk.

He's lingering nearby in the shadows in all black, though the bladed flight feathers flash as he moves and the bar lights strike them. Convincing Moloch to go somewhere was the easy part, having him socialize when he got there was another matter. For the moment he is lingering at the nearby wall with a rocks glass full of his drink of choice.

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A tiny espurr waddles up to him, staring up with large eyes full of curiosity and wonder. Mantis trails up like a goth mother swan and watches as Francour looks between him and the angel.

"Come to join our socializing? We've got a little of everyone in this collective." Francour, encouraged by Mantis's calm tone, turns back to Moloch and waves up at the other man. "Don't mind him. He's not brave enough to spend a day with my catwing."

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bloodysacrifice

"I don't socialize." Moloch tells the tiny thing that has walked up to him. However, he is more pleasant with the espurr than the approaching human. Moloch has been taught he shouldn't want company by himself and others.

"I don't mind spirits." He says but then his red eyes narrow on Mantis. He doesn't want humans around. He doesn't like people. "I was sent here."

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Francour trills and walks up fully to Moloch, raising both little hands up. Moloch might hear an attempt at telepathic communication from the little pokemon. It's a simple message of greetings from the small mind: "Hello! Hello!"

I'm technically a spirit back home. I died there and remained as a ghost for ten years." He tilts his head slightly, Francour matching the motion. "You're one of the angels."

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bloodysacrifice

Moloch's mind is not shut to outsiders but the pokemon will feel a wall of sadness and pain as it reaches out, as well as a strange sense of insatiable hunger.

"All humans are ghosts eventually." He offers off hand though his eyes are still on the pokemon. "I am the Razorwing."

He accentuated the name by shifting his flight feathers so the sharpened metal edges rubbed together.

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Soundwave has come to the bar in his holo-avatar. He rarely goes out without Ravage, but getting Ravage to use an avatar has been a complete non-starter since Halloween, and anyhow, Glit asked her to stay home with him and Lotor.

"Soundwave: here for 'bitch fest'. Or 'witch fest'. This is an avatar, so I don't have to shrink myself."

He shrugs.

"Hello, Ben. Mantis. Moloch?" He's only ever seen Moloch as a bunny, but the mind is unique.

"Ravage is at home with her brother and Lotor. Who is still here."

Edited Date: 2020-12-15 05:09 am (UTC)

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"Here to celebrate, too, Soundwave? Honerva's gone. Her threat to the Nexus and the people here is over. I can't say it was a clean victory, but at the end of the day we're here and she's not."

Ben smiles a ragged smile when he hears Soundwave introduce himself, and nods in reply.

"Lotor's safe? That's good. Once I learned that it went from Hiroki to all our visitors from that universe, I was concerned that he'd vanished, too. I suppose that means he's free from his parents for good. It's a pity we lost contact with Hiroki and his people, but we take silver linings where we find them. I assume he's still in Glit's care?"

Ben knows how important Lotor was to Glit - he himself has tried to help poke the boy's moral compass in the right direction as best he can, but Glit was the one who took Lotor in.

Edited Date: 2020-12-15 06:54 am (UTC)

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"Glit and I are going to have a talk in the morning, because there are things Glit needs to take care of if he's going to be a parent. But Glit is going to adopt him. Legally." Soundwave smiles tiredly.

"Major Tom thinks Honerva may actually have destroyed her entire dimension, so it's a good thing that Lotor fought whatever tried to take him. Apparently she threatened to do that before. He did disappear--and Glit was absolutely out of his mind--but Rumble and Frenzy were up to absolutely no good in the Wilds today, and fortunately, they found him a little while later."

Edited Date: 2020-12-15 08:30 am (UTC)

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"I thought it was my fault. I was the one who called on the angels to help drive her away, and protect Ziggy's family, among others, from her." Ben's relived that Lotor's care will be in good hands.

"I was warned that her powers are that strong. It's why I didn't dare hunt her down and confront her on my own - though I would have liked to if our powers had been more equal. I hope for the sake of the people of that universe that the portal was merely closed permanently. What she did to Hiroki was just similar enough to what was done to me to upset me a lot."

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Soundwave pats Ben's shoulder a little awkwardly. "If it's anyone's fault, Ben...it was hers. She chose to do what she did. You told us about her, and I'm certain that if she had come here again, she would've been sent packing."

He frowns. "Especially now that I understand Megatron will be joining us here. He and I have had our differences, although we're working on sorting those out. But even when things were at their worst between the two of us, I would have been first to say he's one of the best to have on your side in a fight."

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"I'm just sorry she wasn't taken out before she could do more damage." Ben grumbles a little. "Ziggy's hurt. I wasn't as close to Hiro as some, but Rey and I offered to help him. Lotor's better off in the Nexus, and I'm glad she's gone, but the price was high."

"My history in my world isn't what I'd call good, but I'm useful in a fight. I like to think I'd have given her a run for her money or at least tried. But all of us working together would have had her for sure. That's probably why she ran back to her world and shut the door - she probably figured out that she'd be facing dangerous opposition here."

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"I know about Ziggy," Soundwave says quietly. "Poor kid. I don't know if they were as close as Ravi and I, but...the thought of separation is upsetting. I'm closer to his parents. Tom and I were talking about it by Pinpoint earlier. I was going to go over there when Glit was falling apart and see if they could help each other, but Tom said that from what he knew of my sensory issues, I wouldn't be able to help.

"Then... Rumble and Frenzy found Lotor out in the Wilds, where they had been up to no good, and brought him back. Lotor said he felt something trying to grab him and resisted it. So there was something or someone behind it."

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"I don't have sensory issues like you do, but Ziggy's intense and I'm sensitive to others' thoughts from somebody that strong. So I suspect some of his grief rubbed off on me while I was visiting the family. I'll be fine - I just need to get myself looking presentable after a few drinks. I look like a mess." Ben shakes his head. "They were bonded in some way. I'm not an expert on their species, but they bond with their chosen mates."

"Sounds like it could've been Honerva behind this, not just this place closing the portal on its own. She could've both wanted to block reinforcements and try to take Lotor back. I can only hope the universe wasn't destroyed outright, but there's no way to check."

Edited Date: 2020-12-17 02:19 pm (UTC)

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"I would just like to be sure that she is dead," Soundwave says. "Someone who would break the bond between a mated pair for the sake of experimentation. Like Ratbat. Deserves to be. Someone who treats their own children like that, also."

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"I...don't know, though that's not the answer we want." Ben shrugs glumly. "With the portal closed, unfortunately, there's a good chance we'll never know. But if it was her trying to take him back by force, Lotor chose to stay with Glit, and with you."

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Soundwave nods. "It's not his choice I'm doubting; it's whether or not she has other ways to go about her perfidy. I'm worried about them both. Lotor needs Glit, bit Glit needs Lotor, too."

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"I hope we've heard the last of her, given how many people she's hurt." Ben shudders a little. "But if she does come back, I'm still confident all of us together could send her off. She's scared of us. That's why she fled rather than fight us."

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"Good." Soundwave ex-vents. "Glit's filing papers in the morning. He'll formally be adopting Lotor, and Lotor will be a citizen of Destron. If it weren't for the number of duplicate individuals that appear to turn up now--how many Lokis do we have now? I'd be issuing a shoot on sight order for her to every Decepticon under our banner."

At that he smiles wryly. "Weird as the number of Lokis here is, it's probably weirder for Megatron."

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The avatar is interesting. Mantis stares at it with Francour before nodding. He's seen weirder things happen.

"I hope Ravi is having a good time." He gestures to the other gathered folks. "Libations have always been on the menu for me when it comes to how to celebrate someone's well-deserved demise."

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"I wouldn't say she's having a great time," Soundwave says quietly, "but she's all right. I'll give her your regards. She's helping Glit, who's her brother, with Lotor. They both had a bit of a fright. Lotor was the witch's biological child, but Glit took him in after he heard he was being beaten on a regular basis, and he disappeared right out of Glit's arms. Then, the twins found him out in the Wilds."

Soundwave looks a bit distressed. "I hate to be the one to ask this, but...are we sure the witch is actually dead? If she just can't come here again, that's good too, but...dead is more permanent. In these situations, I do like things to be permanent."

Edited Date: 2020-12-16 07:21 am (UTC)

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"Oh... I'm no expert on aliens, but I am unofficial one on psychology. If Lotor is giving you trouble, I can try to talk to him and see what can be done to let him know he's safer than he seems to think. If the Wilds look more appealing, there's clearly something going on that's bothering him enough that he feels the need to run away."

He's going to have another solid drink and starts sipping it slowly. "She's as dead as it's going to get. If I'm understanding all the efforts taken, even if there were a chance that she's still alive, she's not getting back here."

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"Lotor didn't run away."

Soundwave looks curiously at Mantis, then realises that Mantis thinks 'disappear' was some kind of metaphor.

"When I said he disappeared from Glit's arms, I meant that quite literally. Glit and he were cuddled up on the couch, I was talking to Ravage, Esmeral was in the kitchen, and then he dematerialised. The twins found him out in the Wilds, but that is where whatever tried to take him dropped him."

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"That's...new. Everything about her is a bit different."

He sighs and frowns behind the mask. It's not a good sign, but it also didn't work. "At best, that was a last ditch effort of her's to try and get him back before being blocked out for good. If he's still in the Nexus, it means he's probably safe for now. If that attempt had worked, he still wouldn't be here."

Edited Date: 2021-01-12 02:50 am (UTC)

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"It didn't work because he fought her." Soundwave's grinning behind his mask. "I'm very proud of him and I told him so. He didn't know who or what was grabbing him or what they intended to do, so he fought like a true Decepticon and got free."

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"He's a tough little thing. I'm glad to hear that someone can keep an eye on him. I'm not built for caring for the young, so I leave their care in the hands of those who know what they're doing." He laught a little at his self-depreciating humor, but also at the sheer pride radiating off of Soundwave.

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"Tough is good. Glit's adopted him, but we're all looking after him, and you should come over and visit sometime. I know Ravi would love that."

Soundwave stretches his neck out a little. "He's a good kid."

Edited Date: 2021-01-23 06:44 am (UTC)

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"Just as long as I'm not left caring for him directly. I aprreciate that children need protection from the dangers of the world, but I don't know a thing about raising them."

Mantis sighs. "I used to be the kid that really should have been protected. He's lucky to have you all."

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"We wouldn't invite you over to rope you into babysitting. I just think Ravage would like to see you more often, and we're busy, so we don't get out that way as often as we'd like."

Soundwave sighs.

"I don't think anyone I know was protected long enough when they were young."

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"I can come over for the company. Yaga and Francour need more socializing, too." He's not too ashamed to admit that he's in desperate need for talkijg to people as well, robot or otherwise.

Mantis goes quiet for a few seconds and nods. "There might be something I can do for him. I can make clothes. If I get his measurements, he can get all kinds of customized clothing for his preferences. Except for shoes, of course. Those are a different kind of specialization."

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