Only Good Jedi is a Dead Jedi (maul)

Great fortune came with a good number of enemies and a nice price over his head. Maul wasn't complaining about any of that. He needed antagonising factors in his life, like he needed water. It was the Dathomirian blood that boiled in his veins. They always preferred their life challenging or it was never worth.

As the Shadow Syndicate started to grow more powerful, naturally Maul was drawing more Jedi attention. Even when he took on personal visits to smaller planets like this, he had a tail behind him; following him wherever he went. This time it was a male human Jedi and a female apprentice. While they were cloaking themselves from the Force, Maul had already noticed their intentions without giving them a direct look. He didn't try to shake them off his trail with doing the same. Instead he wandered through the streets of the city with his black cloak on, hood falling over his face and hiding his demonic face. With every step, the large black cloak billowed behind him. Two Jedi kept a certain distance in between them, following after him. Of course, they wouldn't make a direct attack in such crowd. They were all so noble, not wanting to put civilians in danger.

While Maul's blood was burning as he itched for a fight, he had a few small things to arrange in the city. He could deal with them later on.

He entered to a shady looking tavern and approached toward the counter. The place was crowded and many shady characters were inside, some watching the new figure with interested eyes. His hood remained up and shadowing his tattooed face. As he spoke with the bartender in a low tone, Maul could feel his Jedi followers walking in as well. They sat down in the farthest table to keep up with a low profile. But Maul wasn't stupid. Drumming his leather gloved fingers down on the counter once, he kept with his talk. The bartender gave a nod and placed a metal cup of drink before him. Then he was heading the back room, as if he was to go and get something.

Maul didn't need to look at the newcomer to guess what she was. He could feel it the moment, the Sith Lady stepped inside the dingy tavern. She was radiating her alignment so openly, just like Maul. But of course, this woman being a Sith didn't automatically make them allies. Though, that could change, now Maul could sense two more Jedi entering the place. There was no doubt they both shared a similar fate here, drawing the Jedi attention.

When the Sith Lady stood next to him by the bar counter and leaned against it, Maul turned his shadowed face at the woman only slightly. His hood covered most of the face, yet he could see her just fine. His lips were visible, though. They were in a serious neutral line, yet showing his red skin and a portion of the many tattoos all over the man. He spoke no words and reached for the mug before him, then took a slow sip.

The bartender showed up once again, coming out of the backroom with a small pouch in his hand. He placed it before Maul and then turned at the woman in black, asking for her order. In the meanwhile, Maul placed his mug back down and grabbed the pouch, weighting in his leather gloved hand before disappearing it inside his black robes. He didn't move afterward, still remaining against the bar counter and continuing with his drink.

"I see you brought friends." He spoke without turning at the Twi'lek, tone smooth and calm. He was never the most talkative person to begin with. But this was certainly a start for a conversation.

Maul kept his eyes on his mug of whatever bitter drink he was having. Even if it had a bad taste, he wasn't the one to complain. With his elbows resting against the bar counter, he remained silent for a bit more. The bartender was refilling the Twi'lek's drink in the meanwhile.

A few men were throwing interested glances at the red skinned woman. Some were directly staring. But no one seemed to notice the growing tension in between Jedi and Sith. Naturally, they were too drunk to understand a fight was about to flame up here. So no one moved from where they sat.

Maul didn't seem to get uncomfortable from all the Jedi attention. He knew they weren't going to attack him in this place. So it was up to both Sith to start it as they wished. Yet there was no rush.

He didn't smile at the joke of the woman, having absolute no sense of humour. But the idea of killing more Jedi was tempting, indeed. That meant he was going to side with this woman. The Jedi saw it as a noble cause to hunt down any Sith they could find. It was a foolish cause and a death of wish. If they were thirsty for their own blood, Maul would be happy to give them that.

After taking another sip from his drink, Maul put the mug down onto the bar counter. Then his leather gloved hands were reaching up to his hood, pushing it backward. His head was revealed, showing red skin and black tattoos. As seen in most of his race, he had no hair. No eyebrows. No facial hair either. But a set of horns were surrounding top of his head, short and sharp tipped. His yellow eyes were circled with orange colour.

They were an interesting match, sharing certain things in common in looks; along with the side of the Force they chose. Of course, none of this made them allies again. But they were about to see that.

Easily, Maul took his black robes off; tossing them aside. He was wearing a black tunic inside, along with black baggy trousers. A thick belt was wrapped around his waist, showing a set of lightsabers clipped in. His metalic looking boots which reached up to his knees were not actually any footwear. He didn't need to make any stretching to get ready for a fight. He simply turned his body toward the rest of the tavern. It was enough of a sign to make all four Jedi get up from their seats with worried expressions in their faces. Naturally, they didn't want to start a fight here. But Maul had every intention not to give them any other choice.

His hand reached for both of his sabers, as he unclipped them and rose them up at his face level; as he crossed his arms. Then both sabers were flicked on in the same time and his face showed the most threatening expression.

Maul could notice the Sith Lady beside him was also disrobing herself and revealing her lack of clothing. Her tattoos were crawling around her skin, something he was familiar with himself. Even if any other males would be distracted by her showing too much skin, Maul seemed unphased about that. At this very moment his whole attention was on the Jedi.

All four of them were now reaching for their lightsabers to start a fight. But one of them was going for the door to help with people running out. Maul didn't care for the civilians. He didn't need to use them against the Jedi. He was strong enough to handle anything and he was confident in himself to draw all the attention. Though, now there was a Sith Lady by his side. So he was no longer the source of all the attention.

He didn't feel offended by that.

As the chairs started to fly in the air, Maul made a perfect back flip in order to land on the bar counter and gain the upper position. His mismatched sabers were at each side of him, spread wide dangerously. Two Jedi were already making a run for him, one master and one padawan. They were trying to toss themselves at him personally, so the scared people in the tavern wouldn't be harmed and could get away. It showed how little they knew of Darth Maul. The Dathomirian didn't care about civilians getting involved in this. He was too skilled for using such baits in a simple battle.

Both the master and padawan stood before him, their sabers were drawn in a defensive position. "Turn yourself in, Maul." The older Jedi spoke, face brave. Or he was acting brave. It mattered not. "Then I'll promise no harm will come to you, until you are judged in the court."

The Jedi really believed in that. But Maul was rather annoyed by the words he heard. "You waste my time, Jedi." He hissed at the master and swung his dual sabers in a complicated and dangerous fashion to show off. "I'm going to make you pay for that." He hissed and jumped at both Jedi, using Force to leap over them; so he landed right after them. Not stopping for a second, he was powerfully kicking the younger one in between shoulder blades; making her lose balance and fall over. Then he started with serial lightsaber attacks against the master.

This shady tavern wasn't the most spacey place to keep up with a battle. There were too many chairs and tables, with the addition of people who insisted to remain inside. Some were even too drunk to be scared. Having courage from the alcohol in their systems, they started to fight each other; throwing badly aimed punches around. It was idiotic. But Maul couldn't say no to further chaos.

He exchanged powerful lightsaber swings with the Jedi before him, kicking at chair at times to make himself space. Soon he was jumping backward to get on a table, then aiming a hard kick at the Jedi's chest. It sent him flying across the tavern. But before Maul could jump after him to make the final blow, someone was at his back, wrapping arms and legs around his torso in a human cuff. Growling with fury, Maul turned around. Yet it was no avail. He used a powerful Force push like an explosion to toss the drunk man off his back. Then his attention was turned on him instead of the Jedi. Kicking a table away, Maul was now standing before the drunk human, then reared his one steel leg up in order to give a very powerful kick at his throat; crushing it.

Now he could go back to the Jedi.

His golden eyes were turned at the other Sith, who was holding her fight against the second Jedi master. She was moving fast and furious. She was good. So Maul didn't interfere. But there was another misguided drunk who was attempting to make a move at Talon. Though, the drunk human didn't seem like wanting to hit her. He looked like he was more interested in pressing his hands against the Sith Lady's hips. But before his hands could come to any contact, Maul was grabbing the man in the collar and yanking him backward. Easily, he tossed him across the tavern; aiming for some other drunk men who were fighting.

Maul wasn't expecting a 'thank you' in return. That wasn't the reason he helped the Twi'lek about it. Quickly shifting his attention back to another drunk man who ran toward him with a pathetic war cry, Maul seemed unphased about it and simply elbowed the running man in the face. Then he was drawing his dual sabers once again and turned his way to the Jedi was was fighting moments ago. The man was finally pushing him off from his landing spot.

The Dathomirian ran toward a chair and quickly climbed over it to make a jump at the Jedi, both sabers raised in his hands in an attacking pose. His attack was blocked in the last moment. A few serial saber swings were made, as both men kept their fight in a quick pace. While the Jedi was working on a strong footing, Maul was always moving on his feet; making turns and flips as if he was dancing in the battle ground. It was a dangerous move how he kept turning his back, but he was extremely good with his speed and blocks. After another turn, he flipped around himself and pressed his steel boot against the Jedi's chest in a hard kick. He could feel the ribs cracking under his attack. The Jedi gasped with pain and fell backward. But Maul was relentless. He didn't stop and went for the finishing blow. His darksaber was cutting down the Jedi from the neck and then he was dead. His padawan gave out a loud scream, which made Maul turn back at her. He had a cocky smirk in his face. But he didn't stride toward her yet. The young padawan was scared and terrified.

"Run, little Jedi. And find me when you are old enough." The girl was underaged and tears were running down her eyes. While Maul didn't have any sense of morality, he liked to play games. Defeating a helpless girl was no fun for him. It was better to feed her with a sense of revenge for years. Then she would be a nice challenge, if she chose to go after him. A slow process, but it was always worth the wait.

Then the girl ran away, exiting the tavern in tears.

The fight didn't last longer after that. The female Twi'lek was quickly finishing up with the rest of the Jedi. But Maul still had time to watch them. Though, he had to catch some drunk man's fist without even looking at him, then crushing his knuckles in his grip. The man screamed in pain and Maul let him go. He didn't need a warning for running away. The drunk man simply flew out of the door.

Maul wasn't a man who was easily impressed. But the Sith Lady was one with skills. He gave her that. He certainly recognised talent, when he saw it. When the woman deactivated her lightsaber and turned at the Dathomirian, Maul could tell this impression was two sided. She was offering him her name. He never cared for manners, but the Sith Lord wasn't stupid to turn down a possible powerful ally. They didn't exactly help each other much in this bar fight, but it was not bad to fight side by side.

"Maul." He spoke in return, giving out his name. He didn't shake hands or make other friendly gestures. This was him already being friendly. At least, as friendly as he could get. "You fight well." He said, clipping his both sabers to his utility belt without looking. Then he started to approach at the woman, stepping over the stuff and dead bodies laying on the floor.