ginger_firebird

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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