Issue 9
Story by Joss Whedon
Written by Brian Lynch
Pencilled by Nick Runge
Colours by Art Lyon
“You don’t control what happens. You don’t tell me what will be. You can’t fail at being by my side once and then force yourself in front of me only to walk away again.”
Illyria
In seconds, Fred Burkle is right in front of Team Angel, surrounded by the demon champions of LA. Wesley moves to the front and tells the demon lords to back away or he’ll kill them, non-corporeal or not. The demons snigger – as Angel thanks Wes for the distraction and he and Spike strike. Unfortunately for Angel, he breaks his hand in the process. Luckily, Spike doesn’t notice. Groo, full of his usual exuberance, also jumps into the fray.
No, Spike hasn’t noticed anything besides Fred. He launches to her side and explains: since he found her, she’s been reverting back and forth between Fred and Illyria – as if the Old One can’t fight her previous host’s memories imposing on her form. Angel doesn’t care right now: he needs a miracle, even though he doubts this actually is one.
Gunn observes from his vantage point. The vamps around him think the team is going to die, but Charles is adamant that they’re not. They will survive. He’s surprised they have reassembled, but no, they’re not going to die. Angel, in particular, makes it through this. He stakes his underling in anger.
One of the demon lords flies forward. He is adamant: if Angel can change the rules mid-fight, then so can they. The champions are commanded to kill all the humans. Gunn looks alarmed. He didn’t expect that.
Angel gestures to the Lords. He calls them scared to face him. They can’t do what they want so they resort to killing the ‘cattle’. Spike and Gunn both think he’s pushing his luck. Spike wants to make a quick exit, but Gunn has a new plan: kill Angel before Angel can be killed.
Then the demon lords produce the Hagun Shafts. Gunn levels his crossbow – that’s what he wanted from Wolfram & Hart. How would Angel know… and then he smiles. Ah. Of course.
Spike fills Angel in on the Hagun Shafts. He already knows they’ll turn him inside out. Connor gets in his way. He questions his father, more than ever before: “I remember everything.”
Angel stops. “Everything?” he asks.
Connor nods. “It showed me stuff I want to get out of my head for so many reasons. But it also showed me what you did. And not just for your friends, but for anyone that needed help. Well, look around, plenty of people need your help.”
He then dovetails. His voice goes higher and he breathes in. The words tumble out in one go, with no pause: “Like, okay, like me, for instance. I’m seeing an electric girl who I can’t really touch and I know you’ve been through that whole “can’t be with who you love” thing and I kinda brought it up to Spike but his advice was more of the weird uncle variety, so I wanted to talk to you about it, because, you know… you’re my damn father.”
Angel stares at him. New plan. He points his finger at the lords and, suddenly, from nowhere, they’re all turned inside out. Angel knew they’d go for the Hagun shafts. He found them ages ago. As the crowd cheer and chant “Angel the Vampire Slayer” in jubilation, he explains to Connor – only the person wielding the shaft could be affected by them.
The battle isn’t over. Hell itself seems to react to the death of the demon lords as tentacles emerge from the concrete below them, attacking friend and foe alike. Spike turns around – Spider and the girls are behind them, despite insisting they wouldn’t help Angel. But Spike – he’s their lord – they’d do anything for him.
The vampires look down on Team Angel – reunited and together. One of the vamps questions whether they can be stopped together, but Gunn snarls at him: they may be together, but it’s only because he needed them together to do what he has to do.
As Lorne gathers the humans together and explains who he is, he tells them that everything is okay. Now that Angel is back, they’re going to be making some serious strides to sorting this whole mess out.
Angel, Spike, Connor and Gwen are downtown LA. The Hyperion Hotel, all boarded up, is in front of them. Spike kicks down the door. He doesn’t think much of the place but, for Angel and Connor, it’s simply home.
Wesley and Illyria are gathered in a small room, underground. In front of them is Wesley’s body, in an open coffin. Wesley thought it might help her to see the corpse. He tells her that he thought he needed to preserve the body to break his contract with Wolfram & Hart but he doesn’t have the power to do anything at all. He tells her he tried to contact The Powers That Be in secret. After hours of searching Hell for any sign of hope, eventually a small, but noticeable breeze told him that they were there: their representative had acknowledged her presence, but couldn’t come completely through. But she was there, if only fleetingly, and that is enough to give him hope.
Illyria tells Wesley that although there should be nothing left of her, she still feels Fred inside her. Illyria knows this is not possible, but yet, these are the facts. It gets worse when she’s around people Fred knew. Wesley suggests leaving her side to save her from being vulnerable, but Illyria reacts violently.
“NO!” she screams. “You will not leave me alone.” She picks up Wesley’s corpse and cradles it in her arms, as she did the night he died. She whispers to it… “You’re staying with me…”
CONTINUITY
Angel thinks that Spike and he make a good team, despite their dislike of each other. We saw this in action when they attempted to enter the Deeper Well in A Hole in the World. They even held hands.
Connor references not being able to touch his girlfriend. Gwen’s device that controlled her electricity was destroyed during First Night (Part 3).
The crowd chants ‘Angel the Vampire Slayer’ – an obvious reference to the original parent show.
Teeth, or Bro’os as Lorne calls him, is the only demon lord to survive besides Spike, Lorne and Illyria.
One of the creatures in the crowd is a Moloid from Marvel’s Fantastic Four.
Lorne makes a reference to Angel’s dislike of being in front of a crowd, as seen in Chapter V.
The ‘she’ Wesley is referring to when he tells Illyria about the breeze will be revealed to be Cordelia.
As Illyria and Wesley talk, her time shifting makes them appear as they did during season five.
COVER GALLERY
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
ISSUE
After the Fall: Chapter VIII / After the Fall: Chapter X
STORY ORDER
Drusilla: After the Fall / After the Fall: Chapter X
The Watcher's Guide 