The Miserables [Prompt #6]
Title: The Miserables [Prompt #6]
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Abduction of and hinted attraction toward a youthful, but adult robot, violence
Series: Transformers Animated AU with toyline and Mirror Verse influence
Characters/Pairing: Devcon, Blazing Lockdown, (sorta) Original Character and supporting cast of other bounty hunters.
Disclaimer: Transformers belongs to Hasbro et al, not to me. "Starsong" who has blue eyes and a magenta and violet deco and is "a talented singer and dancer who shows off her skills best when she's on stage. Sometimes a bit shy off stage..." is also property of Hasbro by merit of being a My Little Pony; I've just written a very alternative version of her. "Music is Magic" is a Jem and the Holograms song, also not mine.
Word Count: 1200
Summary: Loosely inspired by Les Misérables; Devcon has been after Lockdown for Stellar Cycles, for brining shame to the Corps, and lately come upon a desperate scheme to use the youthful bot who had been the other bounty hunter's companion as bait in a trap.
Devcon had been tracking Lockdown for innumerable stellar cycles. He had vowed to bring him in for those actions that had brought shame to the Corps. Though it meant leaving their homeworld, he had tracked Lockdown across the galaxy, from star system to star system and spaceport to spaceport. He was long determined to confront the outcast Cyber-ninja and bring him to justice.
Always, Lockdown managed to evade him. his reliance on modifications had come to a dishonorable extreme by Devcon's calculation, but it was thus far effective. The other so-called bounty hunter eluded him still, and when it had in the past seemed he may be captured, he always escaped in short order.
Yet Devcon was resolute in his conviction to see Lockdown safely in a cell back on Cybertron and that he should be the one to bring him in.
Now, with information he had acquired over the last several stellar cycles, Devcon believed he had found a way to lure Lockdown into surrendering himself. The accounts Devcon had gathered did not agree on the cause - there had variously been a transwarp experiment, repainting, backalley C.N.A. manipulation, a run-in with Blackarachnia and/or Sunstorm, or travel to another universe - but the sources agreed on the result: Lockdown was changed in appearance, abilities, methods, and the company he kept.
It was the company, kept by the now black and gold hunter, that interested Devcon. A Seeker. A femme Seeker just into her upgrades, from the most recent accounts, with the curious distinction of having blue optics and bearing a red-colored Decepticon sigil. Devcon had not learned her name and doubted his informants knew it, either. They variously referred to her as Lockdown's Bird, the Nightingale, or the Dancer.
What she was doing traveling with Lockdown, especially since his jobs had begun to be more about terror and personal vengeances than financial gain, no one dared to guess. In Devcon's processor, there had to be some manner of dishonorable relations between them, and so he was convinced that if he took her, it would be a form of rescue. And, it was his plan to take her.
---
Starsong was performing in the casino lounge on Monacus. Lockdown, her caretaker, was the only friend she knew, and she had trouble communicating with others when not on stage. But, as soon as she synched herself to the audio-video equipment and went into her routine, she felt confident and powerful. She had been more or less content these last stellar cycles to sing for her guardian; it calmed his fiery temper and his energy field now permeated with exotic particles. Her songs allowed him peace and saved their furniture and allowed them both to have some small comfort in an other's touch.
She had grown restless and wished for more, and her guardian had indulged her. It was easy enough to get work in whatever spaceport they passed through. Always in the classy joints, as Lockdown said. She was performing the final verses of her 'Music is Magic' number, when the blue Autobot entered from the direction of the gambling tables.
(Music is Magic!)
Music sets you free
(Music is Magic!)
It lets you see the
world the way it
oughtta be
(Music is Magic!)
Music makes you fly
(Music is Magic!)
It finds you when you're low
And lifts you to the sky
(Music is Magic!)
(Music is Magic!)
When the performance was ended, Starsong sauntered from the stage to the bar and waved to the Chromite bartender. She soon found a tall glass container of coolant slid along the bartop in her direction, and caught it in her talons. Nearby a gray and violet Mini-Con beeped at her; Mini-cons were also rare in the universe in which she had been created, but she had seen this one in other spaceports and had a general idea what he said. "Thanks, Starcatcher," she said shyly. She scanned the lounge nervously. Many others she recognized. Lockdown had said he thought her safe enough in such establishments, because the allegiances of those who frequented the places were overall neutral, whatever symbols they wore. Still, she was wary of meeting new bots, because apart from being naturally shy, she was informed that the Autobot and Decepticon factions here were not the same she remembered from her earliest time online.
She didn't remember much from those early lunar cycles: mostly that there had been war; and the face of one she thought she had been close to; that those around her followed an Air Commander; older bots speaking in hushed voices about something terrible a bad Autobot named Ratchet had done to one who had been their field medic; images of battalions of shining, black Autotroopers; and then the older Seekers bringing in the Lockdown she now knew, blazing with radiation that melted the tools they tried to use to help him.
The blue Autobot took the barstool beside her. He grinned at her. He made Starsong nervous; he was much smaller than she, but she had a vague recollection of many small things overwhelming fewer large things and that it had been a painful experience.
"You're a beautiful dancer," he said, still grinning.
---
Lockdown had been in a good mood when he entered the lounge. The Death's Head was in good repair, he had won some credits in the casino, and he had a line on a bounty head in particular need of capture, who happened to have some intriguing glider modifications. He recognized the usual scum: Astrotrain and his little buddy, CyberShark, Axer, Scavenger, Crosswise, Bosche, Slizardo and a couple Skuxxoids. Both the stage and that stool at the end of the bar were empty.
"Where's the Bird?" he looked over the crowd, his blazing field flaring out, just slightly. He looked at Axer, then at the others one by one. "If you gentlemech know what is good for you, one of you will tell me where my Bird is."
Lockdown understood the codes they lived by, some of them weren't much different from his own. Business was business, after all. Except, when someone went and made things personal. Lockdown moved toward the bar, the chainsaw on the end of his right hand spinning.
Starsong was his responsibility and his salvation. He had vowed to that Air Commander he would take care of her, and he understood what the Commander had done in trusting the younger Seeker to him. She had seen in him the reflection of one she lost to the war, and he had seen the reflection of one who had evaded him. Somehow that was enough to trust him with a child. Together, in this 'verse, Starsong and he both had a future. There, he would have ended up choosing sides.
Finally Astrotrain groaned out, "Starcatcher says it was Devcon."
At this, the Chromite bartender extended his arm and offered a data key in trembling digits. Lockdown scowled, trying to get his field under control. "What's it say?"
Astrotrain snatched the key and gave it to Starcatcher. The Mini-con beeped and Astrotrain translated. "Stellar cartography coordinates for a location in the Solar System: Main Belt Asteroid 24601 Valjean - We're not doing it for you; my little friend just likes her singing."
---
(I do not think there is a Devcon character tag, so if we all deem that necessary and helpful, I would appreciate any assistance in creating that.)
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Abduction of and hinted attraction toward a youthful, but adult robot, violence
Series: Transformers Animated AU with toyline and Mirror Verse influence
Characters/Pairing: Devcon, Blazing Lockdown, (sorta) Original Character and supporting cast of other bounty hunters.
Disclaimer: Transformers belongs to Hasbro et al, not to me. "Starsong" who has blue eyes and a magenta and violet deco and is "a talented singer and dancer who shows off her skills best when she's on stage. Sometimes a bit shy off stage..." is also property of Hasbro by merit of being a My Little Pony; I've just written a very alternative version of her. "Music is Magic" is a Jem and the Holograms song, also not mine.
Word Count: 1200
Summary: Loosely inspired by Les Misérables; Devcon has been after Lockdown for Stellar Cycles, for brining shame to the Corps, and lately come upon a desperate scheme to use the youthful bot who had been the other bounty hunter's companion as bait in a trap.
Devcon had been tracking Lockdown for innumerable stellar cycles. He had vowed to bring him in for those actions that had brought shame to the Corps. Though it meant leaving their homeworld, he had tracked Lockdown across the galaxy, from star system to star system and spaceport to spaceport. He was long determined to confront the outcast Cyber-ninja and bring him to justice.
Always, Lockdown managed to evade him. his reliance on modifications had come to a dishonorable extreme by Devcon's calculation, but it was thus far effective. The other so-called bounty hunter eluded him still, and when it had in the past seemed he may be captured, he always escaped in short order.
Yet Devcon was resolute in his conviction to see Lockdown safely in a cell back on Cybertron and that he should be the one to bring him in.
Now, with information he had acquired over the last several stellar cycles, Devcon believed he had found a way to lure Lockdown into surrendering himself. The accounts Devcon had gathered did not agree on the cause - there had variously been a transwarp experiment, repainting, backalley C.N.A. manipulation, a run-in with Blackarachnia and/or Sunstorm, or travel to another universe - but the sources agreed on the result: Lockdown was changed in appearance, abilities, methods, and the company he kept.
It was the company, kept by the now black and gold hunter, that interested Devcon. A Seeker. A femme Seeker just into her upgrades, from the most recent accounts, with the curious distinction of having blue optics and bearing a red-colored Decepticon sigil. Devcon had not learned her name and doubted his informants knew it, either. They variously referred to her as Lockdown's Bird, the Nightingale, or the Dancer.
What she was doing traveling with Lockdown, especially since his jobs had begun to be more about terror and personal vengeances than financial gain, no one dared to guess. In Devcon's processor, there had to be some manner of dishonorable relations between them, and so he was convinced that if he took her, it would be a form of rescue. And, it was his plan to take her.
---
Starsong was performing in the casino lounge on Monacus. Lockdown, her caretaker, was the only friend she knew, and she had trouble communicating with others when not on stage. But, as soon as she synched herself to the audio-video equipment and went into her routine, she felt confident and powerful. She had been more or less content these last stellar cycles to sing for her guardian; it calmed his fiery temper and his energy field now permeated with exotic particles. Her songs allowed him peace and saved their furniture and allowed them both to have some small comfort in an other's touch.
She had grown restless and wished for more, and her guardian had indulged her. It was easy enough to get work in whatever spaceport they passed through. Always in the classy joints, as Lockdown said. She was performing the final verses of her 'Music is Magic' number, when the blue Autobot entered from the direction of the gambling tables.
(Music is Magic!)
Music sets you free
(Music is Magic!)
It lets you see the
world the way it
oughtta be
(Music is Magic!)
Music makes you fly
(Music is Magic!)
It finds you when you're low
And lifts you to the sky
(Music is Magic!)
(Music is Magic!)
When the performance was ended, Starsong sauntered from the stage to the bar and waved to the Chromite bartender. She soon found a tall glass container of coolant slid along the bartop in her direction, and caught it in her talons. Nearby a gray and violet Mini-Con beeped at her; Mini-cons were also rare in the universe in which she had been created, but she had seen this one in other spaceports and had a general idea what he said. "Thanks, Starcatcher," she said shyly. She scanned the lounge nervously. Many others she recognized. Lockdown had said he thought her safe enough in such establishments, because the allegiances of those who frequented the places were overall neutral, whatever symbols they wore. Still, she was wary of meeting new bots, because apart from being naturally shy, she was informed that the Autobot and Decepticon factions here were not the same she remembered from her earliest time online.
She didn't remember much from those early lunar cycles: mostly that there had been war; and the face of one she thought she had been close to; that those around her followed an Air Commander; older bots speaking in hushed voices about something terrible a bad Autobot named Ratchet had done to one who had been their field medic; images of battalions of shining, black Autotroopers; and then the older Seekers bringing in the Lockdown she now knew, blazing with radiation that melted the tools they tried to use to help him.
The blue Autobot took the barstool beside her. He grinned at her. He made Starsong nervous; he was much smaller than she, but she had a vague recollection of many small things overwhelming fewer large things and that it had been a painful experience.
"You're a beautiful dancer," he said, still grinning.
---
Lockdown had been in a good mood when he entered the lounge. The Death's Head was in good repair, he had won some credits in the casino, and he had a line on a bounty head in particular need of capture, who happened to have some intriguing glider modifications. He recognized the usual scum: Astrotrain and his little buddy, CyberShark, Axer, Scavenger, Crosswise, Bosche, Slizardo and a couple Skuxxoids. Both the stage and that stool at the end of the bar were empty.
"Where's the Bird?" he looked over the crowd, his blazing field flaring out, just slightly. He looked at Axer, then at the others one by one. "If you gentlemech know what is good for you, one of you will tell me where my Bird is."
Lockdown understood the codes they lived by, some of them weren't much different from his own. Business was business, after all. Except, when someone went and made things personal. Lockdown moved toward the bar, the chainsaw on the end of his right hand spinning.
Starsong was his responsibility and his salvation. He had vowed to that Air Commander he would take care of her, and he understood what the Commander had done in trusting the younger Seeker to him. She had seen in him the reflection of one she lost to the war, and he had seen the reflection of one who had evaded him. Somehow that was enough to trust him with a child. Together, in this 'verse, Starsong and he both had a future. There, he would have ended up choosing sides.
Finally Astrotrain groaned out, "Starcatcher says it was Devcon."
At this, the Chromite bartender extended his arm and offered a data key in trembling digits. Lockdown scowled, trying to get his field under control. "What's it say?"
Astrotrain snatched the key and gave it to Starcatcher. The Mini-con beeped and Astrotrain translated. "Stellar cartography coordinates for a location in the Solar System: Main Belt Asteroid 24601 Valjean - We're not doing it for you; my little friend just likes her singing."
---
(I do not think there is a Devcon character tag, so if we all deem that necessary and helpful, I would appreciate any assistance in creating that.)