13 Years Ago...
"Max, dear... time for school..." Kreela called into Max's room.
"Okay, Mom... I'll be out in a minute..." Max replied.
"Stork, I know you don't want to, but you have to go to school... Max'll be there, honey... you'll be fine..." She coaxed Stork out of bed.
"Alright, alright... but only for you, Mom..." He playfully retorted. Max stared lovingly into his mother's eyes, and-
"Max, time for school! Get up before your limbs cramp!" Alba called through the door. Max groaned as he awoke from his dream. Stork was already dressed and waiting patiently for him to get moving. He disgustedly sighed.
"Another fine day of Merb teaching awaits us, does it?" He looked at the face of his eager brother, one eye still clinging to his nocturnal paradise most call sleep.
"Yep... today, we have a de-lousing specialist coming to speak about the horrors of head lice..." Max rolled his eyes at the Merb.
"Yippee..." Max said dejectedly. He hated being on Terra Merb, but he wasn't yet old enough to leave on his own. And his foster parents, Alba and Shel, would never let him go without a modicum of proper Merb education. Stork raised an eyebrow at his grey-skinned roommate.
"Is it such a bad thing to learn? I remember when you used to like going to school..." He said, his yellow eyes narrowing a bit.
"And I remember a time when you hated it..." He retorted angrily. He dragged himself lazily out of bed, standing to his full 5 feet. Stork got nervous when his brother was too close, having recently learned about a terrible disease, or 5, that turned a Merb's skin grey. He had to remind himself Max's skin was always grey, and that he couldn't get Merb diseases.
"Since when do you go to bed wearing your school clothes?" Stork asked. The Onyxian shrugged.
"About the same time that I started to hate getting up this early in the morning... you know, I'm not just a night owl... I live for cooler climes... it will feel good to finally be out of this humidity..." He wiped off his brow, tinged with a thin layer of sweat built up during the night.
"That explains the profuse sweating... and the way that the girls stare at you..."
"The way that what girls stare at me?" Stork raised an eyebrow.
"Some of the girls in our class really like you... you mean you haven't noticed?"
"Nope... besides, I'm not interested..." He said dismissively. Stork shook his head.
"Many grown Merbs would kill to have your confidence with women..."
"What confidence!? I'm not interested in those germ-obsessed, paranoid neat freaks, damnit!"
"Max, watch you mouth! It's impolite." Alba said after knocking on the door.
"Piss off, Alba!" He said, and jumped out of the window, landing in the yard unscathed.
"Max, you can't just throw yourself-" Stork began after leaning out of the shattered window.
"You coming or what!?" Max yelled back from the street.
"Give me a minute, Fearless!"
Two Hours Later...
"Hey, Max..." A young, but comely, blue-skinned female Merb walked over to the sweating Onyxian. He grunted a bit through his nose, as he drank from the water fountain, to acknowledge her.
"I was w-wondering if you'd be willing to, uh... help me with my m-math homework..." The Merbette smiled nervously, flustered at the sight of the "Grey-Skinned Wonder".
"Maybe... I'll let you know..." He finally responded after finishing his drink. He slung his gym towel over his shoulder, and walked back into class, a few swooning females following his backside as he walked.
"Wow... he's so built... I'd want him protecting me from Gorge Sloths..." Another female made a similar comment as Max returned to his classwork; spotting Stork as he did push-ups.
"So, have any fun while I was waiting?" Stork said from his prone position on the floor. The taller boy shook his head.
"Breta asked for a private tutoring lesson... again..." Stork rolled his eyes.
"Max, why don't you just see what happens? You know it can't be as bad as-"
"Stork, listen to yourself... stop playing matchmaker... you suck at it..." A few Merbs nearby chuckled a bit, laughing at Stork's public near-humiliation.
"Alright, gentlemen... line up for final call..." The teacher barked loudly, after a long, screeching whistle. All present stood up and ran to form a single column of young men. All were panting and coughing a bit from their workouts; all except for Max. He calmly strode into line. The teacher let him have an earful.
"Max, when I tell you to line up-"
"'You line up. It's for your own safety and to ensure that no one is seriously injured during workout'. I know, Coach..." He rolled his eyes as the teacher fumed silently, grinding his long nails into the clipboard.
"You can thank Max for adding to your workload... you'll be de-sanitizing the gym floor like always, but this time, you'll have to use scrub brushes to get the stains out..." The others mumbled angrily. Max narrowed his eyes at the teacher, and tensed his shoulders, stepping forward out of line.
"No, I think you'll be doing that this time..." He wrapped one hand around the teacher's throat, easily picking the older man up off of his feet, and began to tighten his grip around the Merb's neck.
"Max, put him down!" Stork yelled. Max did as he was told, and the older Merb fell into a heap on the floor, the others rushing to his side.
"Max, have you lost your mind!? I feel like I don't know you anymore..." Max growled angrily, and Stork's eyes grew wide when he saw the anger in his eyes.
"Max..." Stork jumped aside as Max nearly rammed him out the way, and he watched the Onyxian slam his fists into the doors of the gym, breaking them open. A few frightened screams from the hallway told Stork all that he needed to know about what Max was doing, but one sound made him walk toward the hallway softly; the sound of pleasured moaning. Curious, Stork cautiously approached the doorway, and found Max locking lips with Breta, having pinned the defenseless Merbette to the wall. Her hands lovingly caressed his back as he picked her up, and carried her off... somewhere.
Later That Night...
"How did you manage to get expelled from school!?" Alba screamed furiously.
"Sexual conduct with another student..." Max replied, unmoved by her angry stares. She ground her teeth together, and then did something that no foster mother should ever do to their Onyxian foster child; she slapped him across the face. Needless to say, Max exploded.
"You...!" He picked the woman up, and slammed her back-first into the ground.
"How dare you strike me, you horrible bitch! I should kill you; be thankful that I won't! Don't think that means I respect you, or value your life!" He got off of her, and she backed into a corner, scared out of her mind. She huddled in fear that Max would attack her again, and as he walked away, back to his room with Stork, she nervously extended her trembling limbs. When Max entered his room, he saw Stork hiding under his sheets, shaking violently.
"H-h-hey, Max... h-h-how's it g-going?" He said as his yellow eyes peeked from under the covers. Max grunted and closed the bathroom door behind him. Stork nervously got up from his bed as Max turned on the water and began to hum a sad tune to himself in Onyxian.