Summary
A routine missing person investigation leads Angel to an underground arena which uses captive demons for sport. When Angel is captured and forced to fight in the arena can he survive long enough to find a way to free himself and the other captives?
Plot
Cordelia and Wesley are arguing again... for a change. Angel steps in to play Dad but is interrupted as a battered man stumbles in the door looking to hire Angel. Darren tells them that his brother Jack was kidnapped the night before and he received a finger in his mailbox that morning. Jack had a gambling problem and was deep in debt to a bookie named Ernie. When went to see his brother, Darren saw these non-human creatures dragging Jack away.
Angel goes to visit Ernie the Bookie looking for Jack. He slips him some money and Ernie reveals where they've taken Jack. Cordelia and Wesley research what kind of demons that Darren saw kidnapping his brother. Thanks to a fancy net database Cordy is using it only takes moments to discover that they are Howler Demons. Angel goes to the location Ernie gave him and is ambushed by two Howler Demons. He overtakes one of the demons and is given an address of the person Jack was sold to. Angel winds up at an exclusive club in the warehouse district. He knocks out some window bars and sneaks inside to discover a crowd of well dressed humans watching as two demons battle to the death in the ring. Angel spies Jack in the crowd, follows him backstage, and walks into a trap set by Jack and Darren.
Angel regains consciousness to discover that he's been taken captive and locked in a cage with another demon. He's also been fitted with a special wristband. If he or any of the other demons cross the red line on the ground they will be vaporized automatically. The only way out is to win 21 matches against other demons. Angel tells Jack he refuses to kill anyone. Cordelia and Wesley are concerned when morning arrives and they haven't heard from Angel. Their suspicions increase by the sudden disappearance of their client, Darren. Jack comes in and announces the match ups for the evening. One of the demons scheduled to fight that night tries to make a run for it, and before Angel can stop him he crosses the mark on the floor and is vaporized. They decide that Angel should take his place in the fight. Wesley goes to visit Ernie the Bookie to see what he can find out. In a surprising show of force, Wes shoots Ernie with a crossbow bolt, steals his gun and turns it on Ernie's henchmen. He demands to know what happened to Angel.
Meanwhile, at the club Angel, steps into the ring to face his first opponent. He refuses to fight, instead ducking punches and using only defensive maneuvers. Wesley and Cordelia arrive at the club and fool a couple into handing over their pricey tickets. They go inside looking for clues to Angel's whereabouts and discover him engaged in a death match before them. The crowd is unhappy with the lack of bloodsport and Darren decides to up the ante by having his henchman toss a knife to Angel's opponent. Angel is injured and his demon surfaces, killing his opponent quickly.
Angel returns to the backstage area where he tells the demons that if they band together no one has to die. They ignore him and continue business as usual. Angel manages to take Jack captive but the other demons refuse to help him. Darren arrives on the scene and refuses to negotiate. Instead, he shoots his own brother and has the guards subdue Angel. Cordelia swipes a wristband from the club and Wesley begins work on creating a special key to open it. Angel comes to in the office of Lila Morgan. She's an attorney at Wolfram & Hart. Angel recognizes her from being a fan at the fight. She offers Angel a deal. His freedom for his silence. He refuses and is returned to the club. He is pitted for his next battle against a demon who needs Angel for his 21st kill and freedom.
Thanks to a strand of horsehair that Cordelia provides, Wesley creates the key needed to open the wristband. They sneak into the backstage area of the club and one of the demon captives snatches the key from Wesley. He unlocks his cuff and watches as Angel gains the upper hand in the ring but refuses to kill his opponent. Angel's opponent battles back but is also unable to go in for the kill. Darren orders them both executed. However, the now released demons storm the ring as the human audience flees in terror. Cordelia shoves Darren into the ring where the demons slap a cuff on his wrist and throw him across the boundary. His body is vaporized.
Cordy and Wes help Angel out of the club. They're getting along better and feeling good about their accomplishment...until they realize that they just set a bunch of demons free.
Dialogue
Demons, Demons, Demons. Wow. They put a lot of thought into that title.
It's a demon database. What would you call it?
I don't know. How 'bout...Demon Database?
Ah. A name rife with single entendre.
Why isn't Wolfram & Hart in here?
Because they're lawyers, not demons?
Fine line, you ask me.
Someone oughta create a Intra-Demon Dating Base. You know, like ArchFiend.org -- Where the lonely and the slimy connect.
I was just joking Mr. Grouchy Pants. When was the last time you had a dating base?
For your information, I live a rich and varied social life.
Oh, I know. Every night it's Jeopardy followed by Wheel of Fortune and a cup of hot cocoa. Look out girls, this one can't be tamed.
I'll admit it may not be as intoxicating as a life erected on high-fashion pumps and a push-up bra.
Do you two need to see a counselor?
No, I'm way too single entendre to benefit from therapy.
I don't know why you take everything so personally.
Me? Oh, this is rich coming from Mr. Don't Talk to Me Before I've Had my Flagon of Oatbran in the Morning.
Children, we have company.
Jack doesn't have any friends. Just people he doesn't owe.
Okay, I'm in. What did Darren write down about the demons that took his brother?
Bald. Ultra-white skin. Slime.
There's always slime. This is why I don't gamble. You make a small wager one day and a bigger one the next, and before you know it... Beetlejuicey Albino comes a-knockin'!
Claws or hands?
He wrote 'claw-like hands.'
Could be a mixed-breed. Smell?
Sulfuric.
Add a Porsche and hair plugs, and I've dated this guy. A lot.
Okay, first I say yuck, and then I hit search.
You set me up.
It was a group effort.
We'll have so much to talk about during the long winter nights.
He's only been gone one night.
One long night in which he was supposed to check in with us and didn't. And…he's not someone who tans well.
Trepkos, you're the main event. You'll go against Malish.
That's not a match-up; that's an execution.
We'll have to find a replacement for his bout.
How 'bout Captain America, here?
Where is he?
Your boss? He gave me $200 to answer his questions. I'm a businessman. Make an offer.
You should understand that the man I work for means a great deal to me, and I will not give you a single red cent. What I will do, sir, is beat it out of you, if I have to.
Something's going down tonight! Something with The Man!
You almost blew it!
I saved us.
Something's going down with The Man? You idiot.
Idiot. Thinks he can get out of this by pulling a Ghandi.
These Octavian matches date back to the Roman Empire I'd heard rumors of a revival.
Well, couldn't they have just done West Side Story?
One lucky kill don't make you an expert.
That wasn't the first life I've taken -- or the twenty-first.
We've got to get Angel out of there.
I know. But to do that, we have to get him out of those wrist cuffs. No mean feat, they were forged by ancient sorcerers.
So get an ancient key.
I may be able to make one myself -- if I could get my hands on one of those cuffs, which isn't going to be easy…unless you happened to procure one while I wasn't looking.
Someone needs to put you in your place. You…and your brother.
Someone may. Someday. But not you. And not today.
Why put off 'til tomorrow what you can do today?
Let him go.
Soon as you let us go.
Who do you think you are, Moses?
He's your brother.
Now he's my dead brother.
How do you feel?
Like I was hit by lightning after the truck ran me over.
There's not one reason why we can't work together.
You're right…there are about a thousand.
You'd think people would get enough gratuitous violence watching Jerry Springer.
I need to see Angel. Tall fellow. Prominent brow.
Yeah, he's dead.
Dead?
About 20 seconds, he will be. He's fighting Trepkos and who the hell are you?
It was a good fight.
I coulda taken ya.
Angel, you don't look so…well it's a good thing you heal fast.
It's also a good thing you guys found me in time.
We weren't going to let anything happen to you. Well, I mean beyond the slavery and the severe beatings and stuff.
Wesley came up with the key!
But Cordelia came up with the key to the key in a clinch moment.
You both did great. And I think we did a good thing here.
Yes. We set the captives free.
Well, actually, didn't we set a bunch of demons free?
Ah well, technically...yes.