"Come on, Jess. Finish eating your dinner." Connor called out to his sister's cat.

His efforts to refuse had been coldly stonewalled by her when Annie asked him to look after the kitten while she was on honeymoon. However, despite their initial misgivings for each other him and Jess got along just fine. Better than she did with Hank by a significant margin.

" Damn it girl you're wasting my food." Several minutes had passed as the cat continued to forgo her meal in favor of running near straight up the wall to jump onto the bookcase's top.

"I'll have to call your mom and tell her if you don't eat. You wouldn't want that, would you? I sure wouldn't want my mom to know about when I didn't eat. Not that you'd know much about humans and their judgmental mothers after all you're a cat. If only I was as good of a conversationalist when around human girls instead of just around female cats. Oh well. One can dream." His voice growing louder as his initial muttered complaint turned into a bit of tirade. A knocking at the door cut him off before he could get going.

" Shit, that's my dinner. Come on, let's go watch through the peephole until the delivery person leaves. " Connor said while leading the kitten to the door. " Don't look at me like that! I paid online and left a ten in the mail slot as a tip. Plus, I now get delicious sushi rolls and a sashimi platter without leaving my house OR having awkward human interactions with delivery drivers. A solid bonus all around I'd say. Alright, she's gone let's snag the food, shall we? Hmm. Probably should've answered the door, could've asked her out. She was cute. Hey Hey, I see you. Don't look at me like that. I would've asked her out. Maybe. Possibly. OK probably not but if I don't search for even the occasional chance I won't get anywhere will I?"

Connor and Jess moved over to his ottoman. The lack of sunlight in the room had made Jess near invisible. Her dark fur blending into the patterned ottoman and the ever-darkening twilight managed to draw his attention. Connor couldn't help but muse on the cat and her ancestors. " You know where you come from don't you little Jess. Cats are and always have been some of nature's most terrifying predators. Everyone knows about the Smilodon or rather the Sabretooth tiger but I have a slightly more obscure favorite. An incredibly long time ago there was a race of cats called Xenosmilus. They were about the size of modern-day male lions and weighing in at roughly 200 kilograms give or take 30 kilos. They had short powerful legs as well as strong jaws and a strong neck. But the most interesting part is their teeth. Unlike their highly popularized cousins, their teeth were shorter and thicker. But they were serrated and tough almost like a shark or Tyrannosaurus. These teeth made them have a unique killing method compared to other big cats of the time and modern-day. They would not strangle their prey in a powerful, vice grip but instead take great big bites of their prey while it was still alive and continue until it bled to death. A vicious and majestic creature it was. Gods above what I wouldn't give just to see it in action one time. To see all the greats. Dinosaurs, Smilodons, Xenosmilus, Andrewsarchus, etc. Those were the times for nature's great predators. Heck, even the Giant Fossa would be more than worth a look. You would want to look wouldn't you Jess? Seeing all the grandest wonders the world has ever had to offer. You would probably just sleep the whole time. Lazy little kitten. Well, would you look at the time? I've got to be getting to bed. And you know what? We're going to go visit your other Uncle tomorrow. I will have to call him and drive about 6 hours but what's the weekend for if not for rest and conversation.. OK, lemme just go feed Oswald and we can go to bed."

As Connor was feeding his pet scorpion and getting ready to sleep something was coming towards his whole universe. A literal wave of mana was coming to awaken his world to the system of the greater Multiverse. At the same moment as the mana was crossing into the boundaries of Connor's universe something inside shivered. Not fear but excitement. Connor may have been asleep but the beast within is merely waiting for its chance to join the world. The Chimera will not be denied. Soon. Soon it will fully awaken to its rightful heritage.