"Sir, I'm afraid you've had your fill..." The middle-age barkeep stated bluntly to the grey-skinned Onyxian sitting across the counter from him. The young hybrid grunted in disapproval but said nothing. After dropping a small sack of gold coins on the counter, he downed the rest of the red liquid in his glass, setting it next to a half-dozen others, all empty. As he did, he noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that he was being watched. He slothfully turned and glared as pointedly as he could manage.
"You got a problem!?" The warrior shouted drunkenly. His voice softened when he saw who was staring back at him.
"Starling? What're you doin' here?"
"Bringing you back to the Condor, Max... what else would I be doing in a bar?" She answered slyly. His eyes glassy with alcohol, he looked down at her with one eyebrow raised curiously.
"Well, forget it! I'm, I'm... I'm not goin' back..." His legs nearly failed him as Max stood up from the bar. Starling rushed to his side, but he lazily pushed her away in defiance.
"I don't need yer help!" He stated proudly. Almost immediately after saying this, the tall hybrid fell face first onto the floor. The Interceptor sighed loudly as she helped the giant back to his feet.
"Okay, maybe I do need yer help..." He reasoned. She scoffed loudly as he turned to sit back down. She clung to his arm, somehow getting him back to his feet once more.
"No, Max... it's time to go home..." The Onyxian stared down at her in disbelief.
"Didn't ya just hear me!? I said 'I'm not goin' back!'"
"You are going back, if I have to drag you there kicking and screaming..."
"But I don't want to!" He whined loudly, alerting several bar patrons to his "plight." They began to circle around Starling.
"Listen here, missy; if he says he ain't goin', then he ain't goin'..." One particularly burly customer said dangerously as he drew the closest. Suddenly, Max cracked him over the head with an empty bottle, breaking it into a million pieces and knocking the unruly man unconscious.
"Hey! Nobody threatens my mate!" He shouted in a strangely clear-headed voice. Angered by the "unprovoked" act of violence, the rest of the patrons began ganging up on the hybrid. It was a big mistake.
"Ya wants a fight? We'll gives ya a fight!" Another shouted before trying to deck the tall warrior. In a blurred motion, Max gave the drunken brawler a bone-jarring uppercut, and began fighting with everything he had. The patrons tried again and again to take the Onyxian down, but even with nearly 50-to-1 odds against him, Max prevailed, defeating all of them with relative ease. The fighting finally over, Starling made her way out from under a half-broken table, having been knocked aside in the opening attacks. She softly rubbed her bumped head, trying to ease the pain. Seeing the devastation, her jaw dropped in awe. Sheets of broken glass and shards of splintered wood were everywhere.
"Max, that was absolutely amazing! How in the Atmos did you-" As she turned around, she stopped speaking mid-sentence. In the midst of the downed patrons, Max collapsed to the floor in a drunken stupor, stirring up a huge cloud of dust as he passed out. He was covered in cuts and scrapes caused by broken bottles and shattered barstools.
"Max! C'mon, love, stay with me!" She did her best to haul him over to the counter, where she quickly pulled a powder mix out of his belt and added its contents to a strangely untouched glass of water. She eyed the mysterious survivor skeptically, unwilling to belief it didn't get broken in the insanely furious fight. After mixing it up, she poured the greasy blue substance down the unconscious Onyxian's throat, and began counting out loud.
"10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2..." She suddenly delivered a swift jab to his ribs, making him shoot up at lighting speed.
"Who!? What!? Where!?" Max looked from side to side rapidly; apparently, he didn't remember the bar fight only moments ago. He started rubbing his temples and hissed in pain.
"Ahh! My head! It feels like I just used it for an anvil!" He shouted to no one in particular. He eyed Starling next to him, then looked around slowly.
"What the hell am I doing in a bar!?"
"Drinking, you wonderful idiot..." She answered teasingly. He shook his head.
"Yes, I can see that..." He chuckled a bit, which took her by surprise. She smiled slyly as he slowly stood up.
"Careful, hun... you only just woke up..." She grabbed his waist and helped him stand, watching in silent amazement as he slowly made his way toward the door.
"C'mon, Max... let's get back to the Condor... the Storm Hawks are worried about you..."
"Impossible... they don't even know me..."
"That doesn't really matter, love... trust me, it doesn't..." She smiled a bit as he looked down at her. His abrupt yawn told her he couldn't fly back, so she helped him onto Red Streak, and away they went. As she piloted her vehicle, somewhat clumsily because of the extra weight of her passenger, Max turned around and whistled back behind them.
"Max, who're you whistling to?"
"Coltemach... who else?"
"Your Skimmer? Why would you-" She suddenly caught sight of the heavy, black-painted aircraft barreling toward them. As it neared, it pulled into formation abreast of Red Streak, no pilot in sight.
"Max, how did you do that!?"
"Sound-activated autopilot... carefully tuned to seek out my voice, but accepts only that form of sound because of its programming..."
"Yes, that's all well and good, but how does it know where you are?"
"Sorry, love... I can't tell you that..." Starling sighed softly, calling it a day; who knew she'd signed up to be a grown man's babysitter when she mated with Max?
...
Meanwhile, aboard an unseen ship near the Condor...
"My lord, we're approaching the coordinates..." A white-skinned female warrior bowed respectfully to the white-haired, black-skinned Onyxian male sitting regally on the cast-silver throne. He shifted his ornate headband slightly as his intense eyes looked up from a scroll to greet her.
"Very well... begin searching for the Silver Ravens' ship..." He replied. Again, the female bowed reverently.
"Yes, Sire..."