When Starling finally found her elusive lover, he was staring at the night's sky, watching a meteor shower pass above. His eyes were blank, seemingly empty as he stared into the heavens above. She scooted in next to him, gently clutching his upper arm and nuzzling her head against his shoulder. He slowly looked down at her, frowning sadly.

"St-Starling, I-I'm... I'm so so-sorry..." He spoke very softly, his voice almost a whisper. The young woman smiled softly and kissed his cheek.

"It's okay, Max... I'm sorry, too..."

"What are you sorry for?"

"For whatever I said that upset you so much... thinking back, I must have asked you a question that was too personal-"

"Starling, you ha-have to understand... not all Onyxians are like me... most aren't... th-they..." He turned to look away, tears slowly sliding down his pale cheeks.

"Max, would... would you be willing to tell me what happened?" He nodded slowly, and began his story...

Flashback: 6 Years Ago...

"So, this is what the inside of an Onyxian looks like... how disappointing..." Master Cyclonis looked into the open chest of a dead Onyxian warrior. An assistant handed her a towel, which she used to wipe her blood-soaked hands.

"I'm sorry my fellow warriors couldn't help you, you heartless bitch..." Max stated angrily, starting at her from his place on the wall.

"Oh, don't worry... now that I have a live Onyxian to experiment on, I won't need to keep doing these pointless autopsies..."

"What?"

"You see, Max, this isn't just about our little war... what I'm doing here reaches much farther into the future of Cyclonia..."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Once I find a weakness in Onyxian physiology, I can exploit it and decimate the Chancellor's Army, giving me free reign to expand into your territory... of course, it'll also give me access to Onyxian state secrets, like how you manage to keep coming up with enough crystals to fight me!" The black-haired woman spun around, briskly walked over to the chained-up hybrid, and jabbed a needle into his left thigh.

"A little shot of this..." She pushed in the plunger on the syringe, filling her helpless victim with a red, glowing substance. "... and you'll stay nice and docile for me while I work." She smiled playfully, running one finger under his chin, caressing him tenderly.

"Pity, though... having to destroy such a handsome species..."

"Don't think for one minute that we'll ever let this happen..."

"My dear boy, you already have..." The sorceress cackled loudly, watching with a demonic smile as the tall warrior's limbs went limp, his body submitting to the paralyzing agent.

26 Hours Later...

"Mmm... it seems Compound 426-A has no outstanding effect, either... on to 882-B!" Cyclonis walked back over to the whimpering Onyxian chained to the laboratory wall. Another needle poke, another plunger pushed, and Max once again screamed in agony as his body was wracked with pain. Tears streaming down his face, he slowly managed to lift his head. His captor saw this, lifting his chin to stare into his eyes.

"Y'know, Max... I can make the pain go away... I can end your suffering..." His eyes pleaded for mercy, but his lips remained still.

"C'mon... tell me what I want to know, and I promise I will let you go..." Again, only silence.

"Max, I know this hurts or you wouldn't be screaming so much... tell me what I want to know..." Her voice became more stern as she grew impatient.

"N-ne... never..." The hybrid responded between ragged breaths. Slowly, Cyclonis drew closer, brandished a scalpel, and began cutting into the flesh of his torso.

"Such... tough skin you have, Max... that's... good to know sooner rather than... later..." She grunted out between straining groans as she struggled to cut him open. Suddenly, the blade of the scalpel snapped off with a metallic "twang", flying across the room and lodging itself into the work table a few yards away. As she eyed the broken instrument, her mouth agape with shock, she felt a small smile come over her face.

"Well, now that I know for sure what I'm dealing with..." She smiled bigger, walking over to the table and retrieving a much stronger blade. "...I can continue without that happening again." She went back to work, slowly sliding the thicker scalpel into his skin.

"P-please, stop! I c-can't take anymore!" The young warrior's eyes filled with tears again as he pleaded with the demonic woman.

"Max, I can't make this stop; I don't have that power. You are the only one who can end this misery." She smiled sadistically as he panted. "Tell me how much you want me to stop, Max; beg me to end this, make me believe it, and I'll let you leave right now." Her evil smile grew bigger. Drawing up all the energy he could find, he regained his breath and put on his most supplicant voice.

"Please, master. Please end my torturous life here. I can't live this way anymore, master. I need to be free of this pain. I beg my master to show me mercy and let me go; I promise, master, if you let me leave this place, I will serve you forever." She scowled in disgust; she realized he was mocking her, his large grey eyes still filled with contempt and defiance.

"You liar!" She struck him across the face with the scalpel, making him cry out as she began digging her finger into the new cut on his cheek.

"You still defy me, Max! Even after everything I've done to you, you still defy me! I will break you, Max, even if it's the last thing I ever do!" The woman screamed in anger, digging her nails into the tortured flesh as he writhed in agony.

"I… will… make… you… suffer for this, Max! No one defies me! No one! You don't know pain yet, boy! I have yet to inflict pain on you! I will show you a hell unlike anything you can imagine; I will torture you until you beg me to kill you, only for me to rend your flesh even more! When I finish with you, you will tell me everything I wish to know, and then some! I will have your secrets yet, boy! There's no one alive who can resist me forever!" His eyes filled with hate and fury, he spat in her face, his saliva mixing with his black blood as he growled contemptuously.

"Do… your… worst! I will never break, Cyclonis! Never!" Locked in a battle of wills with her, Max fought as hard as he could. Continuing her nightmarish experiments, she threw her full knowledge of torture into breaking him, trying to learn something, anything she could use against his species.

Today…

"It took her almost two more days before she finally gave up on trying to get to me. I was the first person she'd ever found that she couldn't force into submission." His eyes filled with tears at the extremely painful memories, he gingerly traced along his uniform, running his fingers over the spots where she knew the scars were on his chest.

"Max…"

"I swore the day I broke free that I'd use my last breath to kill her. When I heard that she'd fallen, I was devastated; my quest for vengeance was rendered moot. All I'd wanted was to wrap my hands around her throat and crush her windpipe between my fingers, slowly enough that she could feel the life draining from her body. But before I killed her, I… I planned to do something that I'm no longer proud to say."

"What?"

"After… after I was done torturing this demon, I would've… I would have raped her. I would have violated her as one last act of defiance. I would have used her body to my advantage, ripped the beating heart from her chest, and then left her to the scavengers." His eyes flared in disgust and rage, his powerful hands slowly curling into fists as he thought back on his plan for revenge; he clearly hated this woman with every fiber of his being. Taken aback, Starling's eyes were wide with shock and terror; just who was this man? More importantly, did she still feel safe to be around him, knowing him so well now? Against her better judgment, she told herself he would never do such a thing to her; she would simply never enrage him to such a point.

"Max, I'm so sorry about what happened to you; I would never wish such things on my worst enemies." She snuggled close to him, softly kissing his cheek as he sniffled sadly.

"But if you're still willing, I'd like to be there for you. I want you to know that I care about you very much, Max, and I want to get to know all about you. I want you to feel safe with me; I want you to feel like you can tell me anything. More to the point, I want you to know that there are still people who care about you, even if it doesn't always seem obvious to you. Let me stay here, Max, by your side. I promise, you won't regret it." She tenderly kissed his forehead, pulling him closer as he gasped a bit.

"I… I think I'd like that, Starling. You… you make me feel calm. You help take the edge off, help soothe my nerves just by being near me. My anger and bloodlust, it… it threatened to consume me once. I feel different when you're around. I-I… I'm better with you." He kissed her on the lips, a soft, tender kiss that made her moan in surprise.

"Perhaps, in time, I'll tell you more of my past, Starling. But for now, I simply want you to be my… to be my…"

"I'll be just about anything you want, Max…" She smiled happily, then realizing her words, quickly corrected herself. "within reason. Always within reason." She giggled as he smiled to her, happiness filling both of them as they'd finally found someone they could keep close. They left there together, both wanting the other's pleasure as they held each other close, sharing a kiss as they thought of all the things they wanted their new partner to be; lover, voice of reason, and, most of all, friend.