Angel: After the Fall #4

Plot

A short flashback shows us what happened during the big battle:

In the pouring rain Angel fights the monster hordes. He hopes Connor is far enough away and wonders where Spike has got to. He notices that the dragon is on their side, and then that Gunn has disappeared.

The next moment Angel is teleported away and finds himself on a rooftop, while the battle rages on below and the sun and the moon stand in the sky at the same time.

Angel looks down and sees zombies going after people – he wants to deal with them quickly first. He knows he has to get back to the fight, so he simply jumps off the roof.

As he falls he wonders where Gunn might be, and his heart starts racing. But Gunn will be fine, he tries to convince himself, although he knows better. He hears people screaming. Then he realises what he just thought in passing… his heart racing? Angel’s eyes fly open, and the next moment he slams onto a car.

Angel lies injured in the street. He wonders what he might have broken.

He notices Wes, who comes towards him and kneels beside him. Angel wants to tell him that Gunn was dragged away during the fight and needs help. Wes interrupts Angel and tells him he is sorry. So is Angel…

In the present, in the Wolfram & Hart building:

Angel and Wes cast some spell meant to heal the wound. Angel even makes a little joke. The spell works and closes the wound.

Wes wants to ask how Angel is. Angel says, unconvincingly, fine.

That was easy, Wes thinks – now they only have to find out how a human can defeat hell’s mightiest champions. Angel replies quietly that they had agreed not to say it out loud… but since he has now said the H-word, they might as well talk about it.

Wes asks why he wants to do this. That is what Wes wanted; that is what they prepared. But that does not answer the question. Angel goes to the window and answers that he wants out of hell. And this fight is the right way to do that? Does he want to shake the heavens, tear down the barrier and so bring in the cavalry to get them out of here? That is not what Angel meant by hell. He looks at his reflection. Fire, brimstone, demons – that is just decoration. But he is alive. That is what he always wanted. But not because of the Shanshu, since he gave that up voluntarily. He was freed from the demon for only one reason: because they knew exactly that right now is when he needs it most. So there is only one way out of hell: to pretend everything is still the way it was.

Wesley understands – only, things have changed. They cannot go on forever using magic to pretend he is still a vampire. And the healing spells that heal his wounds every day are not meant for humans either. Wes reminds Angel that that is what he is now, and he, Wes, is now the supernatural being – so Angel should think it over again, only… he won’t, Wes knows that. So, to work.

Two figures materialise behind Wes. Angel tries to warn him and push him aside, but of course his hand goes right through Wes. That happens every time they argue, Wes sighs.

Two pretty women appear. When Wes turns round and sees them, he thinks they may have come to take him into the light. He protests that he cannot go now, because Angel needs him.

But the two of them are here for Angel and snuggle up to him. He should come with them – and they have already picked out a suitable car downstairs. The dragon does not seem to like this much, but it flies after them.

Up on the roof Gunn stands with his team. He seems to have watched everything and to have been waiting for just this. Because as soon as Angel and the others are gone, he gives his team a signal and they jump down.

Spike’s mansion:

He is standing with one of the women, Spider (remember?), in front of a steel door and has a visitor – one of the lords, or rather a hologram. He is informed about the negotiated fight. Spike should be a good bloodsucker and fetch his lord. Spike protests that he is a lord – well, a co-lord, he then concedes. Very funny, and now he should fetch his lord! She is busy with “lord business”. Behind the steel door something screams furiously. Spike just says “not now, pet”. When she is done screaming, Spike is to give her something. One of the lord’s minions holds out an open box to Spike containing a kind of rune sceptre. He looks at it and asks what it is.

Angel alone against half a dozen champions does not stand a chance anyway, but in case he does win, the lord begins… Spider is totally fascinated by the sceptre – she would love to have it right away and can barely restrain herself. She explains to Spike that it is a Hagun Shaft. There are only eight of them. Forged in the first fire. Created by and for an immortal who could use it to end his existence if he grew weary of the world – and in a gruesome way, since it more or less turns an immortal inside out. The Hagun Shafts were thought lost, Spider finishes her explanation.

All the lords have been given one – just as a precaution, in case Angel wins after all. Spike is to pass the sceptre on to Illyria, because she can handle it.

And he seemed so sweet, Spider pouts, and then asks who is supposed to face Angel.

It doesn’t make a bloody bit of difference, Spike thinks – even if Angel wins, he loses. He carelessly hands the sceptre to Spider. She tells him he can choose for Angel – and should. Thanks, says Spike, but now she should go.

Spike turns back to the steel door. It is being dented from the inside. Spider is still there. Spike should deal with Angel, then they will deal with the lords, and in the end they will no longer have to live in fear, she says.

Spider tells him that at first she and the other ladies wanted to make short work of Spike – he was cute, a bit skinny and mouthy, and his “companion” in the steel chamber behind him was a little unstable.

Once again there are little “time flashes” in which Spider and Spike find themselves in other times during their conversation. First it goes back into the past, to Spike’s time as a poet.

But she held the others back, because she felt something in her heart and lower down too. And she was right, because in the end they followed him. He is the best thing that could happen to this or any world. They do not have to sneak out quickly, rescue people and run back to their hideout – they are strong enough. Behind this steel door they have enough power to…

Next time jump, into the future (where Spider lies beheaded on the floor and Spike stands over her body with a battle-axe)… He answers that they will under no circumstances use this power, or her.

Back in the right time: Spider knows that something binds him and Angel, even if Spike does not want to hear it. But he is not responsible for him. He is going to die anyway, but if it is by the lords, the status quo is restored. If by him, they can try to start over and do good. She realises what “state” she was just in and tries to understand it… Spike points to the door and tells her to go, because he has to think.

Spike turns to the door behind which Illyria is still raging. His only comment is that he feels the same way.

The two women sit in the car with Angel and Wes. Ahead of them Angel sees only smoke. The women explain that the gods are moody – the demigods – the anti-gods – and the powers are rising, the two explain in turn.

Angel asks Wes whether he knows anything about it. But W&H have kept him in the dark. After all, Angel has taken off the kid gloves and beaten half a dozen of the mightiest warlords last night – so Wes assumes W&H are preparing their answer to that.

The women say they should not stress, because there is no reason to. They can leave all their problems behind – everything is A-okay. Even better. Because they are in Silverlake.

Silverlake:

Angel, Wes and the women have got out and look around. Everyone is super-friendly to them and it is, well, somehow idyllic: with well-dressed demons on the street, ice-cream vans, terraced houses, flying creatures and a demon mowing the lawn.

Angel is surprised that he wants to see them. Wes adds that he does not trust any of this. Angel does, because he feels strangely content.

Francis is responsible for that, says one of the women, looking up. A demoness with a bird’s body flies happily over them. Formerly a performance artist, the lord helped her find her inner contentment. Now she spreads a soothing song that has a positive influence on everyone here.

He did promise, says Lorne, coming towards them beaming – and once again his outfit is remarkable (it has a touch of Freddie Mercury, if you ask me, which fits with a demon in his “entourage” being dressed like Elvis). He greets and hugs Angel-(Cakes). Angel thinks Lorne looks good. To which Lorne only replies that that is nothing new. He is sorry he could not pick him up himself, but as soon as he leaves his little well-protected world here, everyone worries.

Then Lorne spots Wes. When he tries to hug him, Wes just says he had better think twice. Got it – and, hey, is he bound to that suit forever?

Lorne shows Angel and Wes a bit of his district.

Angel thought Lorne did not want to see him. Lorne first replies that it is typical of Angel to ask the hard questions right away. Then he explains that he really did like fighting for good with Angel. But all the fighting and killing and so on was never his thing. Now he has found a purpose – all these people and creatures here need him. Still, he is never far away and he always keeps an eye on his friends – Lorne shows Angel how: a small demon conjures an orb in which the events in L.A. can be seen –

at least the ones he can find. Because when Angel is in the W&H building, something blocks the spell.

Angel is dear to his heart, and if he ever needs him, he can always find him here, Lorne explains. Of course that might only be for a short while, because Lorne knows about the fight Angel intends to take on. He asks him whether he does not feel dead enough yet to get into something like that.

He was sent a message and a “care package” and told to send a champion. He told them where they could stick it… well, okay, he only said “no, thank you, sir”, Lorne admits, but definitely in a you-can-kiss-my-ass tone, Lorne makes clear.

Angel thanks him, but he shouldn’t, Lorne thinks. Even if Angel does not have to worry about him, still… Well, Timothy – the little demon with the far-seeing orb – should show Angel. Lorne snaps his fingers and Timothy shows them who Angel’s opponents will be, including a T. rex and a demoness of Skip’s species.

They go back outside. Lorne cannot believe Angel is taking it so lightly. He reminds Angel that he can do nothing to help him – officially. Unofficially, however, he does have a small glimmer of hope up his sleeve…

Angel and Wes look up in astonishment. The Groosalugg “lands” on a winged black horse. And he will gladly be the glimmer of hope, and what a bright one, he says. Wes comments that he did not see that coming.

Groo is glad to see them again: hell does not seem to be treating Angel badly at all, and that Wes is a ghost… hey, that confuses the enemy. The un-lord Lorne told him what Angel is planning, and so he wanted to see whether he could help.

While Groo talks to Angel, Lorne chats with Wesley. He tries small talk, but Wes knows Lorne is afraid of him. Lorne tries to talk his way out of it, but finally admits it is true. After all, nobody knows why W&H brought Wes back. And inviting him into his little oasis here is a bit like offering the enemy a box seat. Wes understands that. The reasons he was brought back are not very noble, says Wes, but his intentions… W&H brought them all here, but they have no control. They would like to and they are trying, but even for them this is too evil. There are powers at work that W&H have nothing to do with, and those are the ones they should really be worried about…

The W&H building:

Gunn and his team stand in front of the building. His two companions are looking forward to what is about to happen. They are a bit frustrated that they are taking nothing from the building except a photo Gunn is holding. A picture from happy days at the Hyperion. Gunn wanted it. He is confused, one of his companions thinks. Gunn knows that himself. And now they should be quiet and watch, or they will miss the show.

Explosive charges have been placed all over the building, and the last seconds are counting down.

The next moment the building blows up. Gunn holds back his companions, who want to run away, because everything is fine. That was almost worth it, he notes in vampire mode.

Silverlake:

Lorne and Wes are still talking. Wes begins to fade. Lorne does not understand what is happening. When Wes has completely vanished, he looks around searchingly and says he is quite sure he will be blamed for this again.

To be continued…