AN: This idea just came to me after I bought a new pack of cards. And well, I gave Xander my favorite cards. I only made up a few for this, but two of them are story based and the other isn't their explainations are after the story.

He looked at the box and the cards with a grim sadness.

They had been Jessie's before he'd been turned, and his friends parents had given them to him.

He flipped through the cards, it was a game he and Willow had played as well, but they had fallen out of the game. Jassie was still goingwith it, and had gone to a few bigger games.

Xander glanced at the golden box and opened it to reveal the puzzle his friend had bought at a garage sale when they were little, something he'd always said he'd put togather, but never suceeded.

Absentmindedly he began to fiddle with the puzzle, the golden pieces interlocking as he flipped through the cards. He found the card that both he and his friends had, each of them had gotten one of them, and all three had gone to Jessie, and now to him, each also had one of their upgraded forms.

The last piece, one shaped like an egyptian eye was all that was left to put togather as his attention turned to the puzzle.

"Jessie," he whispered, "I think I managed to finish it for you."

Then as he slipped it into place, a bright golden light shone forth, consuming the room.

Xander walked with an almost dazed expression the next morning as he boarded the bus to the zoo. He absentmindedly shuffled the deck he carried once again at his waist.

The morning was spent looking through the pens and cages while he managed to keep a distance from the bullies.

Then he got shoved.

"Hey watch it," he yelled as he spun to the laughing group of thugs.

They just laughed at him while heading into one of the buildings after another Lance, but they missed the glowing eye that appeared on the dark haired boys forehead.

"And so the games begin," he hissed as he followed them into the hyena pen and under the caution tape.

He walked calmly through the exhibit behind the boys when he felt a strange enrgy surge.

He was standing in a cooridor with a row of stone carvings on either side of him and a very large hyena charging at him.

"Don't worry, I'll handle this," he heard a voice whisper, "Arise my wolf, Silverfang Cme forth!"

From the floor one of the stone tablets rose, revealing one of the cards in his deck as a strange entity stood before him.

The being looked like him with longer, and spikier hair. He wore egyptian style clothing, something that seemed to be from a far older time.

Then the tablet shifted, transforming into a large white and silver furred wolf.

"Attack!"

And his eyes snapped open as he went through his cards, the five others in the room had started circling and he knew he was in trouble.

Suddenly there was a flash and a new card appeared in his hand.

-Trust me,- he heard the voice call out to him, -Trust in your cards, use them, they will defend you!-

"Alright," he said as he pulled out the card he and his friends had all possessed, "Here goes nothing!"

"Arise Red Eyes Black Dragon!"

The possessed students staggered backwards as the black leviathan rose from the ground with a roar of rage.

"Attack!"

Buffy and Willow just stared as the massive monster rose from one of the buildings as people ran by screaming in all directions.

"Didn't Xander..." Buffy asked the redhead.

"Come on!" the other yelled as she dragged the slayer towards the monster.

-Alexander, I have a plan, it involves two cards in your deck,- he heard the voice say, -Let me take over for the time being, I know how to do this!-

"Who are you?" he whispered.

-I don't know, my memory is barely there, it has to many holes, but we must act quickly, these people have been possessed by animal spirits, I managed to seal away the one that tried to take you over in a card, but the others are going to try to get us.-

"How can I trust you?"

-I was in the puzzle you put togather, and I am a part of you, togather we can stop this madness!-

"Let's do this then," Xander said as he felt the power flood through him.

Brown eyes turned a vibrant crimson as the eye reappeared on his head, burning brightly.

"It's time to duel!"

He shuffled the deck and drew his hand as the dragon fired a blast to keep the hyena possessed students back.

"Perfect, these two should do the trick," he said calmly as he held two cards out.

"I play De-Fusion and Spell Matrix!" he yelled as energy flooded out, "To free your minds and ensnare the monsters!"

Blinding white light errupted around the building and spread outwards in a wave.

Ghostly images of the hyena's appeared besides the humans they had possessed.

"And now, that you are free, I call you forth and into my deck," he continued as the forms seemed to dissolve and burst into flashes of light that consolidated into a card in his free hand.

The five other teens in the room collapsed like puppets with their strings cut.

"How dare you!" he heard a yell from behind.

The teen spun to see one of the zookeepers.

"How dare I what?"

"I was almost ready to transfer the power of those animals into me, when you disrupted my spell!" the enraged man roared.

"You intended harm to myself and these kids," he hissed with anger, "Then it is time for us to play a little game!"

Darkness shrouded the room as the boy began to look far more threatening.

"Let the games begin," he said as a strange field appeared between them.

A stylized hunter appeared before the man and four forms strange spheres appeared on Xander's side.

"Now then, one of these spheres is the hyenas I just took, another is the Alpha, and the last two hold traps," the boy responded in a sinister tone, "Choose one, if it is a hyena, you may have it, if it's a trap, you suffer the consequences."

"Sounds fair," the man said.

"But I warn you, if you cheat, you will suffer the consequences."

He thought for a moment and pointed to one, "I pick that one."

The sphere dissolved into the image of hyenas.

"Ha, I got it!" the zookeeper crowed and then stopped as he heard the boy laugh.

"Sorry, but the Hyena's were also a trap," he laughed, "Good-bye."

And with that the man snapped back into reality and tumbled head first into the hyena cage with a blood curdling shriek.

"Game over," Xander said calmly as he reverted to his normal self and put the deck away, and walked out of the building, carefully avoiding the debris, and only pausing long enough to make sure the other teens were still alive.

"Thanks," he whispered to the voice.

-Don't mention it,- the voice responded.

"Xander!" he heard Buffy yell a few minutes later, when he was well clear of the damage.

"Yeah, I'm here," he responded.

"What happened?" Willow managed to ask between gasps for air.

"Seems that the Zoo had gotten a balloon put in the wrong place and accidentally inflated it, one of the Zoo Keepers said some kids were in the Hyena house and went running," he explained as convincingly as he could.

"But you're okay?" the redhead asked him with a suspicious look.

"Yeah, now come on, I think it's time to get back on the bus," he headed off with a grin.

Spell Matrix

Spell Card

When this card is played, take the effects of one spell card and apply its effects to any card that it can effect.

Alpha Hyena (0/0)

Beast/Effect

For every Hyena or Hunter Hyena card either on the field or in the graveyard, increase Alpha Hyena's attack and defense by 1100 (Including this one)

Hunter Hyena(1000/1000)

Beast

A savage pack animal that served its alpha.