In the library, Willow was sitting close to Ms. Calendar, the two watching footage of feeding hyenas on Ms. Calendar's laptop. They looked up when they heard the door open and Ms. Calendar stopped the playback. They saw Buffy dragging Xander into the library. She came over to them.
"Hurry up. We gotta get him locked up somehow before he comes to."
"Oh, my God, Xander! What happened?" Willow asked.
"I hit him."
"With what?" Ms. Calendar asked.
"A desk."
Willow got up and opened the cage door. Buffy dragged him in.
"He tried his hand at felony sexual assault," Buffy informed.
"Oh, Buffy, the hyena in him didn't..."
"No."
Buffy and Willow arranged him on the floor in the cage.
"No, but it's safe to say that in his animal state his idea of wooing doesn't involve a Yanni CD and a bottle of Chianti." Buffy locked the cage. "There, that oughtta hold him. Where's Giles?"
"He got called to some teacher's meeting," Willow answered.
"And Ms. Calendar's playing hooky? High five!" Buffy went over to her, hand raised.
Ms. Calendar shrugged. "Eh, why not?" She hit her hand. "And he asked me to, I'm guessing, for something like this to come along."
"What are we gonna do?" Willow asked. "I mean... how do we get Xander back?"
Giles came into the library.
"Right now I'm a little more worried about what the rest of the pack are up to," Buffy said.
"The rest of the pack were spotted outside Herbert the mascot's cage. They were sent to the principal's office," Giles informed.
"Good!" Willow replied. "That'll show 'em."
Giles was silent.
"Uh-oh..." Ms. Calendar knew that wouldn't go well.
Willow looked to Ms. Calendar and back to Giles. "Did it show 'em?"
Giles sighed and remained silent, searching for what to say.
"They didn't hurt him, did they?" Buffy asked.
"They, uh... ate him."
Willow had to sit down. She, Buffy, and Ms. Calendar couldn't believe what they just heard.
Ms. Calendar gagged. "I did not hear that, I did not hear that, I did not hear that."
"They ate Principal Flutie?" Buffy asked.
"Ate him up?" Willow added.
"The, uh, official theory is that wild dogs got into his office somehow. There was no one at the scene."
"But Xander didn't," Willow stated. "He, he was with you," she said to Buffy.
Giles saw Xander in the cage. "Oh! Uh, well, that's a small mercy."
"Giles, how do we stop this? How do you trans-possess someone?" Buffy asked.
"I-I'm afraid I still don't have all the pieces. Um, the accounts of the Primals and their methods are a bit thin on the ground. There is some talk of a-a-a predatory act, but the exact ritual is, is, um..." He thought, picking up a book. "The Malleus Maleficarum deals in particulars of demonic possession, which... may apply..." He looked through a few paged. "Yes, one, one should be able to transfer the spirits to another human."
"Oh, that's great. Any volunteers?" Buffy asked sarcastically.
"Oh. Good point."
"What we need to do is put the hyena back in the hyena," Ms. Calendar stated.
"B-but until we know more, uh..."
"Betcha that zookeeper could tell us. Maybe he didn't quarantine those hyenas because they were sick," Buffy stated.
"We should talk to him," Ms. Calendar said.
"Okay." Buffy started to go but stopped. "Oh, wait, somebody's gotta watch Xander."
Willow got up. "I will."
"Will, are you sure?" Buffy asked. "If he wakes up..."
Willow held out her hand for the keys. "I'll be alright. Go."
After a moment's hesitation, Buffy gave Willow the keys to the cage and grabbed her coat. "C'mon." She said to Giles and Ms. Calendar.
Willow watched them leave, then looked over at Xander in the cage. She slipped the keys into her pocket.
Outside, during the night, a young woman with her baby in a backpack walked through some bushes and saw the pack lying on the ground, sleeping after their meal. The pack woke and saw the woman. She became panicky and slowly backed up, almost stepping on Tor. She turned suddenly when she heard him growl. He drooled heavily. The members of the pack slowly crawled toward her. The woman finally turned and ran, and the pack laid back down to rest some more.
In the library, Xander woke up. "Willow."
Willow was watching the hyena video again, since Ms. Calendar had left her laptop. She stopped it and turned to look at him. "How are you feeling?"
"Like somebody hit me with a desk." He looked around. "What am I doin' here?"
Willow got up and went towards the cage. "You're... resting?"
"You guys got me locked up now." He stood up.
"'Cause you're sick. Buffy said..."
Xander interrupted, "Oh, yeah. Buffy and her all-purpose solution: punch 'em out 'n' knock 'em down. I'd love to see what she'd do to somebody who was really sick."
"That's not fair. Buffy saved both of our lives."
"Before she came here our lives didn't need that much saving, did they? Weren't things a lot simpler when it was just you and me?"
Willow moved closer. "Maybe..."
"When we were alone together... Willow, I know there's something wrong with me. I think it's gettin' worse. But I can't just stand around waitin' for Buffy to decide it's time to punch me out again." He sighed. "Look, I want you to help me. I want you."
"I am helping you."
Xander exhaled, frustrated. "You're doing what you're told."
"Buffy's trying to help you, too. You know that. Or Xander does."
"Yeah... Buffy's so selfless. Always thinking of us. Well, if I'm so dangerous, how come she left you alone with me?"
"I told her to."
"Why?"
"'Cause I know you better than she does... and I wanted to be here to see if... you were still you."
"You know I am. Look at me." There was a long pause. "Looook."
Willow moved even closer. She whispered, "Xander..."
He made a grab for her through the book return slot in the cage, but she jerked back in time.
"Now I know."
Xander banged on the cage. "LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!"
Buffy, Giles, and Ms. Calendar were talking to the zookeeper in his office.
"The students have been possessed by the hyenas?" The zookeeper asked.
"Yes," Ms. Calendar answered.
"Are you sure?"
"We're really, really sure," Buffy answered.
"Y-you don't seem enormously surprised by this," Giles observed.
"The zoo imported those hyenas from Africa. There was something strange about them from day one. I did some homework... That particular breed is very rare. Totally vicious. Historically they were worshipped by these guys..."
"Primals."
"Yeah! Creepy guys! Now, they had rituals for taking the hyena spirits, but I-I don't see how that coulda happened to your kids."
"Uh, we don't know exactly how the ritual works. We know that it involves a, um, um... predatory act and some kind of symbol."
"Predatory act? Of course. That makes sense. Where did you read that?"
"Do you have Sherman Jeffries' work on, on cults and on..."
"Boys?" Buffy asked impatiently.
"Sorry," Giles apologized.
"Look," The zookeeper said.
Giles raised his hand slightly. "Sorry," he repeated.
"Look. I think we may have enough information so that together we could pull off a reverse trans-possession."
"What do we do?" Ms. Calendar asked.
"We've gotta get those possessed students over to the hyena cage right away. I'll meet you there. We can begin the rituals."
"W-well, we can guarantee one of them, but there are four more, and we have no idea where they are," Buffy replied.
"No, I wouldn't worry about that. After hyenas feed and rest they will track the missing member of their pack until they find him. They should come right to you."
Buffy became worried. "Willow!"
In the library, Willow was watching the hyena video again.
Xander paced in the cage. "Willow..."
"I'm not listening," Willow replied.
At the small arched windows high up on the wall, Kyle and Heidi appeared.
"Wiiillooow..." Kyle said.
