After the Fall: Chapter VI: First Night (Part 1)

Issue 6
Story by Joss Whedon
Written by Brian Lynch
Pencilled by Tim Kane, David Messina, Stephen Mooney & John Byrne
Colours by Jeremy Treeze, Ilaria Traversi, Lisa Jackson & Leonard O’Grady

“Admittedly, other people’s stories might be a little more interesting.”
Betta George

Betta George, the telepathic fish demon, waits in his cell in Gunn’s lair, wondering what’s happening at the battle site. He remembers how he got here: one minute he was in a theme park, entertaining the public and then Los Angeles suddenly went to Hell. The dead things floating in water with him may have been a sign.

He doesn’t think his particular story is interesting. He decides to tell his audience a story, whether they like it or not. Surely other people’s stories of where they were when the Fall hit could be much more entertaining…

SPIKE
One minute, he’s up to his elbows in demons and someone grabbed Gunn. Next all is calm, as Spike looks out at Los Angeles from a roof-top. He knows straight away that he’s in Hell – and he laughs loudly. He’s done it all, he reckons: saved the world more than once, come back from the dead, saved lives and fought for a soul – and he still ends up in Hell. Screw it, he thinks. I’m done. It’s not my problem.

He’s adamant. Not getting involved. Until he sees something in an alley below: a woman, encircled by a ring of fire. He races down to her. It’s Fred, or Illyria, or whatever. Spike picks her up, cradles her in his arms.

A scream from nearby gets his attention – civilians being attacked by a spider demon of sorts. He races forward, throws the spider to one side and tells the civilians that his saving them is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, you understand. He fails to notice the demon recovering.

As the people ask Spike what’s happened, he looks back at Fred. She transforms into Illyria and silently rips the spider apart. The people are impressed, as the Old One holds the demon’s severed head. She doesn’t need protection, they claim. Spike, agreeing to take them with him, says that they’re wrong: she really does.

CONNOR
Connor runs as fast as he can away from the Wolfram & Hart offices. Should he go back to help Angel against Hamilton? As he flees, he sees the sky go red, lightning flashing everywhere. He sees the dragon. Without hesitation he turns, determined to help his father. Before he arrives, the city goes to Hell.

With demons everywhere, Connor is momentarily confused and then throws up. His head is pounding – his memories, previously just glimpses of his past, are now crystal clear. He remembers being in the womb. He remembers being born. Quor’toth. He remembers Angel and Cordy. He remembers spending the night with her. That one’s not a nice memory.

As he recovers he looks up – an army of demons are almost upon him. They’ve gotten lost on their way to the battle in the alley way. Connor thinks about his options: does he flee? Does he try and take them all down? Before he can make his decision, not only does their leader grab a hold of Connor, but also openly declares him as Angel’s son! How? It seems everyone knows who he is. And they think killing him will make up for their tardiness…

LORNE

Betta George stops his pondering. His audience doesn’t want to hear it: the vampire guarding him is getting annoyed with the constant telepathic noise in his head. He questions why this vampire stayed behind? It doesn’t matter – the vamp is bored and hungry, and menacingly walks towards George…

CONTINUITY

Spike makes a reference to the dragon switching sides in the battle, which we learnt in Chapter I. He also notices that Charles has been grabbed by someone – we find out who in First Night (Part 3).

When Spike discovers he’s in Hell, he goes on a deviant rant to whoever’s listening. He’s been known to do this in the past (Wild at Heart). He says he’s survived two big bads (The First and the Senior Partners).

Spike mentions that this time he’s survived without catching fire, a reference to his burning up in Chosen. He makes reference to fighting for his soul (Grave) and yells “Screw you, Dawn!” referring to the time of day. He hopes it’s not taken out of context, referring to Buffy’s little sister.

Fred is wearing the same clothes she died in during A Hole in the World. These were the last clothes Spike saw her wearing.

The Spider demon seems to be the same species of spider that Anyanka summoned in Selfless.

Connor references his three dads: Holtz, Angel and Mr. Reilly. He also thinks it would be cool to slay the dragon – just like Angel in Not Fade Away.

We see scenes from Connor’s birth (Lullaby), Cordelia and Angel by his crib (Dad) and his losing his virginity to his step mom (Apocalypse, Nowish).

In the flashback, Lorne is wearing the clothes he killed Lindsey in. Lindsey’s corpse is also seen. Lorne killed him in Not Fade Away, ostensibly under Angel’s orders. There’s also a recap of the team aligning from Power Play.

COVER GALLERY