The logistics of getting the four possessed teens back to the High School took some time to work out and they sat in a sullen silence next to Alex's car waiting for Charles Chase to arrive and help get them back. As long as Tor wasn't trying to fight the others weren't inclined to either, they'd back him, but wouldn't try anything themselves. And none of them seemed capable of speech any longer. Once the four had been tied up and placed in the cars, they drove back to the High School and set them down in the classroom/meeting room where Rupert Giles was doing his research. Ms. Cooper, the Magic user and Charles Chase's long time friend had arrived and even as annoyed as he was by her presence, Giles had to admit she was knowledgeable and experienced.
"We found some kind of weird symbol of an animal head painted on the floor in front of the Hyena's enclosure." Willow reported. "I drew a picture of it." She set it on the table in front of her and everyone leaned in to see it.
"And I ran into the zookeeper who's responsible for taking care of the hyenas outside while Willow and Buffy snuck inside." Johnathan told them. "I asked him why the Hyena House was closed and he told me the hyenas are a recent import. A throwback and extremely vicious species of hyena from a remote part of Africa. They'd been isolated for hundreds of years at least. Then he told me a story about the Masai tribe and how they believe that hyenas are capable of speech, at least enough to learn a person's name. At night they call out to the person who's name they learn and separate them from the other humans. Then they kill and eat them."
"That's not normal hyena behavior." Willow told them, she'd moved to the computer on the teacher's desk and found a website on hyenas. "They're mostly scavengers, they can smell something dead from miles away. They do hunt, but it's small game. They're not afraid to challenge even a lion for a kill. There are four existing species of hyenas, the spotted that are the most well known. Mostly female dominated, although in rare cases males can be the Alpha. The striped and the brown, both of which tend to have mostly males as the Alpha, with the brown's being like wolves, with mated pairs and the aardwolf. Not related to the wolf despite the name and almost entirely insectivores. Despite the fact that hyenas don't have a great reputation, they rarely go after humans. A child caught out alone, maybe, but to actively hunt humans, no."
"Tor and them were giggling when I used Ansion to find out what killed the piglet." Alex said. "Does that mean we're dealing with spotted hyena spirits?"
"Probably." Giles agreed. "But given that males are rarely Alphas with them, I'm at a loss to explain how Principal Flutie ended up the Alpha."
"I know how." Ms. Cooper. "It was the story about the Masai that reminded me. Primal Mages are a sect of animal worshipers who believe the animal state is pure and the human soul is a corruption. They use trans-possession to draw out an animal spirit. The ritual requires a act of violence to be committed. Principal Flutie followed these kids into the Hyena House. Violence doesn't have to be physical, it can be verbal. He yells at them for something they've done and it's enough to trigger the ritual. He gets possessed by the Alpha's spirit and gets her strength, her power and he is the Alpha. The thing is, the ritual is only meant to be done on one person at a time. The others got possessed because they were all in the ritual circle and there were enough animals to trans-possess them all. We can reverse it, put the animal's spirit back in the animals, but we need to do it soon. They've already lost human speech and Flutie ate a human. The animals are in control and the human soul will be overwhelmed completely before long. At which point it'll be too late, they might as well be dead, no different than a vampire, only instead of a demon running the body, it'll be the animal spirit, with animal intelligence and level of understanding."
"And the one responsible for this mess? What do we do with him?" Alex asked.
"We have no idea who's responsible." Giles frowned at him. "Which means there's nothing we can do."
"Yuh, I kinda thought it was obvious." Johnathan said. "Someone at the zoo had to have painted that symbol in front of the hyena's enclosure and there's a zookeeper specifically assigned to taking care of them, the one I was talking to. If someone else painted that symbol he'd have reported it as vandalism to his bosses, wouldn't he? And they're supposed to report that to the police, which means Mayor Chase would have been informed. The zookeeper is the most likely suspect. Which suggests he either took advantage of an opportunity or he spearheaded those hyena being imported. We should be able to find evidence. Talk to his bosses and see if he was involved in bringing them here. Evidence in his personal belongs that he's one of these Primal Mages because who else but a Primal Mage is going to want to do that ritual? Once you have proof of his involvement, then he can be dealt with. If it's not him, an investigation should find something that points to who is responsible."
"Very well reasoned, Johnathan." Charles praised him. "Well that ritual circle is what we need to reverse the trans-possession. Let's get these people to the zoo and then we can help them and figure out who's responsible and deal with them."
"I'm going to leave that up to you." Buffy decided. "I'll say it again, I'm not built to deal with people, I'm a Vampire Slayer!"
And on that note they hauled the possessed victims to the zoo to reverse the possession and begin trying to help them deal with their actions while possessed.