The demon swept majestically into his underground lair still carrying the unconscious girl. When he had first arrived in this dimension he had been surprised at the number of forgotten spaces there were. Huge caverns opened out underneath densely populated cities, vast acres of lands were available for anyone who wanted them and yet no one had claimed them. So they had become the domain of Tormanixon, a glamour cast over the entrances had kept people from finding them unless he wanted them to.

Now the caverns and abandoned sewer systems beneath Chicago were filled with cage after cage of beings of all kinds. Mammals seemed to be the easiest prey in this reality and as such he focused his talents on those. Each had their uses, and as he unceremoniously dumped the rabbit-girl he had recently transformed into a dank cage, he reflected that she may prove useful to lure the two remaining predators from his acolyte's botched experiment to him.

Not so long ago, the human who had summoned him to this reality had tried to outsmart the demon and become the most powerful manbeast in history without involving Tormanixon. He had tried to take into himself the spirit of the most vicious breed of hyena. He had failed. The loss of his human acolyte had been vexing; the man's position in the zoo industry had ensured that the demon lord had a ready supply of symbiote minds to transfer. The compromises he'd made had annoyed him initially, still there was something to be said for the sharp mind of the common rat. In addition, as a result of the man's failure, there was the rarest prey of all walking the earth. Beings with the instinct of the predator and the intelligence of the human - the latter being something that Tormanixon usually took great pains to eradicate from his subjects. He could hardly wait until these subjects were fully under his control.

Tormanixon could control the minds of all the creatures he transformed immediately; however these Hyena people eluded him. Not being present for the act of transference was blocking his efforts. He had managed to call the weakest pack member to him immediately after the event but the others were resisting. Never one to give up, the demon had continued in his efforts and had gradually won over the others to the stage where he could compel them to do things without actually controlling them. It was frustrating. But he knew he would win out in the end.

The alpha-male was proving near impossible to bend to his will, however. It was clear that he was feeling the impulse to come to his unknown master but had as yet to succumb to it. Tormanixon had sent the beta-male to spur things along and this seemed to have improved matters and it appeared that they may be on the way to him right now. The demon decided to check in on these two once more and, with a theatrical flourish, produced the crystal ball from a recess in his robe and placed it on an upwards-jutting piece of rock in the centre of the chamber. Almost immediately it glowed with an eldritch light. The caged creatures grew excited as two forms began to coalesce within the sphere. Tormanixon bent closer to hear what they were saying.




He had tried to fight the urge to head to Chicago but with Kyle around it was too strong, he couldn't resist anymore. It was strange but the two of them seemed to be communicating on a non-verbal level - another reminder of the pack days that he wasn't all that keen on reliving. Barely moving his head he nodded towards the beat up car his uncle was leasing him, the one he'd planned on taking around the country. Classic Chevy Bel Air convertible, it was the one cool thing he had, but looking at it now through different eyes he could see the rust patches glaring at him from underneath the polish. Kyle could apparently see the same thing. "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!"[1] Xander just glared at him and didn't answer. Gliding easily into the car he turned the ignition and kept his fingers crossed mentally that it wouldn't crap out on him. The car roared into life and Xander offered a quick prayer of thanks to the god of car mechanics. Kyle stood, seemingly unwilling to get into the death-trap and Xander snarled, gunning the engine; it never hurt to remind the other man who was in charge here. There was a glimmer of fear in Kyle's eyes as he meekly got into the car and the feral smile was back on Xander's face. He stepped on the accelerator and the ancient tires squealed as the car roared out of the parking lot. They were on their way.