Animalistic

Purple Punky Kangaroos

     "So you mean to tell me I drove all the way out here, and you don't even know where we're going??"

     Max frowns, slightly confused. When Volio puts it like that, it makes him sound stupid. They're just looking for one person in a giant town with no idea where she might be. That..... is stupid. 

     "Max, where are we turning?"

    He looks up at the wolf whose speech interrupted his train of thought. Max points to left as an indication, wondering why they didn't just look up directions to begin with.

     A few minutes later, Volio's van pulls into the parking lot of "Jakey D's" the bar where Max knew Cas and her crew usually met. As Aaron, Max, and Volio exit the van and begin to walk towards the entrance, Max notices an amber alert on his phone. Volio and Aaron do too. It's some teenager who didn't come home that morning. 'Strange', Max thinks, choosing not to think much of it and focusing on the task at hand. 

     Inside, the bar is just as lively as it usually is, except the fact that there only seems to be one bartender.  The single bartender is stressing to get everything done, or at least Max thought, until Max saw him throw his towel down after getting mad at something a customer said because it "Wasn't his job". The group of three sit down at a booth by the window, where Volio starts talking about whether everyone should stay there or not. Max gets up, deciding to inspect the bartender further. A black panther, wearing one of those snazzy button-up shirts that bartenders usually wear, along with a bow tie. Weird, that wasn't the uniform here. Max sits on one of the stools and looks at him.

"Hey, uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...."

The panther just looks at Max expectingly, until he decides to not waste his time and look away.

"Have you seen a punk-ish looking purple kangaroo?" Max asks.

At this, the panther's facial expression changes almost completely. "Listen darling, I only just started working here, but if there's a punky purple kangaroo out here, I wanna meet them, got nothin' better to do anyway." 

'Wow,' Max thought. 'He talks fast. Sounds very gay.'

"They a he or a she?" The panther picks up, "Or maybe a they? Nevermind, it doesn't matter. Are they coming to meet you here?"

"Actually, we're looking for her. Goes by the name 'Cas'. We have some 'unfinished business' and we thought she might've come around here."

The panther looks at Maxwell with a skeptical look, before looking him dead in the eyes and saying, "Listen, Mr.Hybrid. We're both looking for the same person, aren't we? Except you want her money or whatever, and I just want her number. Either way, we should help each other. How bout that?" 

"Just fine." Max replied, smirking, surprised this was actually working out.

'Perhaps this guy can help,' Max thought, hoping that either Cas and her goons would stop by, or maybe even he and his friends can do that cool thing that Max sees on television, where they track down a person's address using their credit card history.

"Well, would you like a Purple Nurple?" Max's thoughts were interrupted by the black panther's question. "Name's Zandar, by the way. Spelt weird, though. And yours is?"

Max thought for a second, like he almost never does. Purple Nurple. One of the shots at Jakey D's. Knocked a guy out once. 

"Oh, I'm Max. And, how'd you know that's my favorite?"

"Max. Easy name. I got it. And," Zandar paused for a short time, scoffing at something going on across the room. "Hybrids always love them. I'll be right back at ya in a second."

Max turns away from the bar and struts to the table where Aaron and Volio are. "I didn't even know they sold those here...."

"She's not here." Aaron says, as soon as he sees his Jackalope friend take a seat in front of him. "Well, obviously." retorts Volio. They both turn to face Max, who is trying his hardest to keep a neutral face. "Any luck?", asks Volio.

"Actually," says Max, "I talked to that bartender and got him to help us out. His name is Zandar, he says he'll help us look for Cas. Also he bought me a drink.... I hope."

Volio sighs, and just as Max says that, Zandar walks over. He's carrying an exotic-looking purple glass, and sets it on the table right in front of Max. Max's eyes light up as he spots the exotic-looking drink. Volio gives him a strange and slightly concerned look.

Max brings it up to his lips quickly, and sets it back on the table empty as Volio watches them. Just as soon as he does that, they chime a quick "And so the fun begins". Max's eyes dilated, but it isn't too noticeable. They also start to look yellow, ever so slightly. Zandar notices and asks Volio, wide-eyed, "Does your buddy normally do that?" to which Volio replies, "Look what you just gave him."

Max stands up quickly, energized. "Zandar, what time do you get off work here?" he asks sharply, turning to the panther. 

Zandar looks up and meets Max's eyes. "In around fifty minutes. Why?" 

Max stares and him with a determined look on his face. He then looks at Aaron, then Volio, then down at his paws. "We'll be back by then to pick you up. Aaron, get heaters, but make sure none of them are loaded. Volio, get my Casey."

Volio grins in excitement, understanding perfectly everything that Max had just said. Aaron is simply wildly confused. Casey is what Max called his baseball bat, Max's favorite weapon of choice. At least, until he finally gets the chance to commission his plan for a 'gun-scythe'. Either way, once Max has his bat, something "fun" is bound to happen. (Fun for Max, at least.)