Angel glanced at Anya in the rear view mirror before taking a corner a little too fast.He had to assume she was a Vengeance demon again, that D'Hoffryn had brought her back from the dead.Her powers could come in handy, assuming she didn�t muck up the works.Vengeance demons have a job to do, quotas to keep.They weren�t necessarily available for freelance opportunities.
But he�d attempt to answer her question, �Well, Anya, its complicated.But I�ll start from the beginning.�That�s always a good place to start when complicated topics are at issue.�Willow has been dabbling in dark magicks again.She disappeared, so some of us came over from Los Angeles to help find her and maybe rein her in.We brought her sister Kat, among others, thinking family might be of use.�He brought the rented BMW to a stop at a construction zone.A Bobby on the beat, in his blue uniform and helmet, was directing traffic.�But Willow has reappeared and explained what she�s doing, which is to radically change the world, and remarkably everyone back at Buffy�s place seems ok with it and willing to help her.�He wasn�t ruling out that Willow had put them under some sort of spell.
�Then Conner showed up from Quor�toth with a hitchhiker, some sort of duplicating demon.A gypsy from Wolfram and Hart by the name of Esmeralda Shofranka closed the rift between dimensions, and Queen Cornberry, I mean Elizabeth Cornberry, the London Office CEO, said she�d take care of the demon.But let me back up a step. We were just slicing and dicing of few of the duplicating demon�s victims back at the Victoria Memorial when Dawn vanished without a trace.I mean without any trace.�The Copper let Angel maneuver around the construction crew, most of whom were gazing into a gaping black hole in the street, smoking cigarettes under their hard hats and looking like they wished they were at the pub.�I couldn�t smell her in the car. It was like she had never been here.And then the cops showed up and we beat feet out of there, but we were pursued so we hid in that alley back there. That�s when you showed up.�Angel glanced at Anya in the rear view mirror again.�And that�s pretty much it in a nutshell.�
They seemed to have escaped the local cops for now.But who knows what that duplicating demon was up to.It could create a helluva lot of chaos before someone took it out.At least the gypsy from Wolfram and Hart was able to close the rift.And then there was Dawn�s disappearance.Snatched while they were fighting duplicates.But why couldn�t Angel detect even a trace of her in the car?Then there was the crisis with Willow.Everything was spinning way, way out of control.
Everyone was back inside the car now.Angel glanced over his shoulder at Conner and then Anya.The vengeance demon shouldn�t be here.She died in the final battle at the Hellmouth in Sunnydale.�Anya or Anyanka, whoever you are, you�ve got some explaining to do.�
Angel tossed the boxed Angel DVD set up onto the dashboard of the rented BMW, then borrowed Buffy�s cellphone.He called the CEO of W&H�s London Office, one Elizabeth Cornberry.Angel knew that her senior staff called her the Queen behind her back.Angel explained about the creature that had slid through the dimensional rift from the Quor�toth, that it was currently rampaging through portions of London, probably near the Victoria Memorial, creating duplicates that were akin to fast zombies.If something wasn�t done, London would quickly devolve into a disastrous duplicate demon delicatessen.Angel shook his head.Did he really just say that?Anyhow, the Queen, in a dismissive and haughty tone of voice, said they were already taking care of the matter.Then she hung up.
Angel handed the phone back to Buffy, then fumbled with the cord for his own phone, and got it plugged into the cigarette lighter.�Ok, so Wolfram and Hart will take care of the demon duplicator.Let�s get to Buffy�s place and find out what�s up with Willow and this spell of hers.�He piloted the car back onto the narrow city street.
The cop cars went screaming past the entrance to the alley. One threat abated. But then Buffy was speaking, saying that Kat and Anna had agreed to let Willow carry out the spell.�What?A world without evil?�He sat back in his seat to comprehend such a thing.�But how do you separate the good from the bad?In fact, how do you judge whats good or bad?Who makes those decisions?Isn�t that like playing god?And doesn�t just about everyone have at least a little evil in them?Take that away and what do you have?Its not the same person.Might be completely different.�He thought of his own situation. He was half evil, a vampire.What would eliminating evil from this world mean for him?Would he cease to exist?Would he still be a vampire?Would he be just a man?And what about Buffy?Would she still be a slayer?Slayer powers are rooted in evil.
But then maybe he and Buffy could have a real relationship.Normal man and woman.But they wouldn�t really be the same people anymore. Would it work?What would they do if they didn�t fight evil?
His thoughts turned to darker subjects. �Something else to consider.If all evil is supposedly removed from this world, it seems to me that it would leave this world vulnerable.The champions might be gone, or they�d forget why they were champions in the first place.You can�t keep evil down forever.Something will break through eventually.And then there will be no one to stop it. And hell to pay for Willow�s spell.�
He heard a voice in back of them.A familiar voice.He stepped out of the vehicle.It was Anya Jenkins.Dead Anya Jenkins.Or formerly dead Anya Jenkins.Some explanation was in order.But she was saying they needed to get to where Willow was.Angel had to agree with that.�Conner.Get in the vehicle.Anya, you can ride with us.Let�s make tracks.�
Conner was riding on top of the car, kind of like when he rode atop that bus after coming back from Qour�toth the first time.He�d asked where Angelus would go if he wanted to turn as many people as possible.It had been a while since he�d spent any time in London, but he guessed Trafalgar Square might be the most crowded place in the city.Would that be where the demon would go to make duplicates? Did the demon even know anything about London?Maybe it would just wander wherever its feet, or tentacles or whatever took it. Besides, they were headed in the opposite direction from the square right now.But then what about Dawn?What happened to her?Angel didn�t have a clue.Plus there was the whole find-Willow-and-stop-her-from-destroying-the-world mission that seemed to have gotten lost in the current chaos.
Angel made a hard right across traffic, coming within inches of causing a major accident, then quickly made a hard left into a narrow, cobblestone alley.He hoped that the cop car behind him would be delayed by the oncoming traffic in the intersection and then would assume he went straight ahead, not into the alley.Unfortunately the alley dead-ended.He pulled the car in behind a large dumpster.�Hey Conner, let me know if the cops turn into the alley.�Turning to Buffy, he asked, �Can you try Dawn�s cell phone?I don�t know where to begin to look for her.And then we still need to find Willow.�He wondered briefly if he should bring the London Office of Wolfram and Hart into all of this.They were right there to close the rift.There were too many balls in the air.They�d drop all of them unless they could corral some help.
Angel glanced at Buffy and saw the deep concern etched into her face.And she was depending upon him; he could see it in her eyes.�Ok, come on, we�ll find her.�The police car sirens were bearing down on them.It wouldn�t be long before the place was swarming with blue uniforms and they�d be asked a lot of awkward questions.Angel ran to the BMW and began searching it for clues.Most of all, he was hoping to pick up on Dawn�s scent and maybe whomever took her.He should be able to at least divine a direction that she went.
But there was nothing.He failed to detect her scent at all.His own scent and that of Buffy was in the car, but not Dawn�s, and Angel couldn�t pick up any scent of anyone else, either.The car itself was devoid of clues.And the surrounding pavement provided no footprints, dropped matchbooks, signs of a struggle, or anything else that would help them find Dawn.
�I�ve got nothing.Its like she wasn�t here in the first place.�The first of the cop cars rounded the corner a block east of the Victoria Memorial.It was quickly followed by two more, all of which had red lights spinning and sirens wailing.�We need to get out of here. Now!�If they left the rented BMW here, the cops would track it to them.But if they got in and drove away, they�d be tailed for sure.Damned if you do and damned if you don�t.Angel raced to the back of the car, quickly ripped the license plate off, then instructed Buffy and Conner to get in.He cranked the engine to life and bounced over the curb as he pulled away.Two of the cop cars were pulling to a stop in front of the Memorial, but the third was following the BMW.
�Hang on!�Angel clobbered the accelerator, pushing it all the way to the floor.
Angel plunged his sword into the gut of one of the duplicates, twisted the hilt and yanked upwards, splitting the creature from navel to chin.It slid wetly off his blade.But something � a box � came sailing through the air at him.He almost swatted at it with his sword, but it had come from Conner and he was talking about a Sarah something and a David Bananas.He plucked the box from mid-air, then puzzled over the image on the front, which showed himself with a goofy smirk, behind which stood a particularly sultry and really hot Cordelia.Angel knew they talked about him in the Chatty Rooms, but he had no idea of anything like this. He turned it over.On the back was a lineup of the entire A.I. crew, all looking grim, like somebody�s pet puppy had just died. Just what the hell was this all about?
Almost absently, Angel swung the sword and lopped off another head.He opened the box and withdrew one of the DVDs.He wanted to pop it into a DVD player, see what all the fuss was about, but instead, he threw it Frisbee style at an oncoming duplicate.It spun with wicked accuracy, slicing through the neck.The thing stopped dead in its tracks as a look of bemusement transformed its otherwise intent expression. The head slowly tilted backwards and tumbled to the steps.The headless body took one halting step forward, then crumpled.Not wanting to waste yet another DVD, and relishing the opportunity to watch the episodes contained within, Angel slipped the box and the rest of the DVD collection into the inside pocket of his leather duster.
After cutting and slicing for a few more minutes, they had dispatched all of the duplicates.Body parts, entrails, and gore splattered the steps and columns of the Victoria Memorial.The cyclic wailing of police sirens rose and fell from two different directions.Someone had called the constabulary.Above them a massive green dragon soared.It looked down upon them, winked at Angel, and then sped away, pumping mighty leathered wings into the gloom of the London night sky.
Meanwhile, the spangled gypsy woman had set up shop on the sidewalk.She was standing within a newly spray-painted pentagram and was waving her hands.Suddenly bluish sparkles arose from her finger tips, ascended and intersected a crackling in the sky.That crackling expanded for a moment, then disappeared with a noisy �pop�.The gypsy blandly announced �Done� and then headed back to her black sedan.
Conner asked if Dawn was ok.Angel glanced at the rented BMW.The passenger door on the right side was open.Dawn was nowhere to be seen.�No, Conner, I don�t she is ok.�
Angel knew that Dawn could fight, but he hadn�t really seen her in a fight for years.She didn�t possess super strength or speed like himself or Buffy or Conner, and these duplicates looked to be formidable adversaries.Angel reached into the back seat for his broadsword, �Dawn!Stay in the car, you�ll be safe!�Buffy had already dispatched one of the six duplicates.As soon as Angel had his blade free from the back seat, he was besieged by one of the creatures.It was fast and canny.It dodged the arc of his broadsword twice, then a third time.It glanced into the back seat of the car, eyeing Dawn.It screeched in an eerie high-pitched wail as it saw the girl.Angel wondered what that was all about, just before slicing the thing�s head off.The body slumped to the ground, suddenly limp as the scarecrow after being released from that pole in a Wizard of Oz corn field.But the head rolled into the gutter, eyes blinking as it continued to screech.
Angel couldn�t be bothered by it though, screeching notwithstanding, he�d torn the stuffing out of it � the creature was no longer a threat.Meanwhile, Buffy had taken out another of the creatures.Angel and Buffy pounded up the steps of the Memorial, Angel�s broadsword gleaming in the light of the street lamps and floodlamps that illuminated the white sculpture dedicated to Queen Victoria.The three of them stood as a team against the onslaught, battling what seemed to be multiplying numbers of duplicates.Meanwhile, a black sedan had pulled up beside the rented BMW.A woman with long, dark locks tied up with colored bangles emerged from the sedan.She had haunted eyes darker than the night.Apparently, the W&H gypsy had arrived.
�Leprechauns.� Angel was grasping at straws, although this was Buffy, he didn�t need to explain his aberrant musical tastes to her.But he played along anyway, �Yep, that must be it.Little green men, raveling their way out of my Irish heritage.�
He borrowed Buffy�s phone to call Wolfram and Hart as he maneuvered the BMW onto the street.He always had to remind himself to drive on the left hand side of the road here - those wacky English. It didn�t take long to get through to the Office of Interdimensional Affairs at W&H, and soon Angel had arranged with an interdimensional practitioner, named Esmeralda Shofranka, to go quick like a bunny to Buckingham Palace to close this rift between dimensions. Shofranka - that�s a gypsy name for sure.Gypsies � Angel had a bad feeling about this.
Conner had said this thing creates duplicates of people�s dark sides.That also didn�t set well.Obviously Angel has a dark side that he, at times, struggles to keep under lock and key. �Buffy.� Angel took his eyes of the road for a moment to meet Buffy�s gaze. �This thing that came through the rift, it apparently can create a mirror image of someone, bring out their dark side. In my case, that would be a really bad thing.I might have to depend on you to kill it.� He didn�t think Buffy had a really bad side.Yes, her powers as a Slayer were rooted in darkness, but Buffy herself was 100% good.�
The BMW came around a corner to confront the magnificence and opulence of Buckingham Palace.To the left stood the Victoria Memorial.And on the steps of said Memorial was Conner, who was battling six creatures � they appeared to be human � no maimed or decayed look.�Those are duplicates.The creature is someplace else.�Angel accelerated over the curb, ran over a carefully groomed shrub, and barreled towards two of the duplicates.They bounced off the hood and over the cab as Angel brought the BMW to a screeching stop.
As they headed out the door, Angel responded to Buffy, �When things come through tears in reality, or even portals for that matter, sometimes other things bleed through.In fact, sometimes it�s a side effect of moving among dimensions.I don�t understand it completely.Wes could explain it.�The night was cool and foggy, the streets dark but for the yellowish street lamps that marched away into the fog like tired soldiers.�As for Wolfram and Hart,� Angel smiled, �I haven�t quite cut my ties with them completely.� After that year as CEO, Angel had moved back to the Hyperion to battle evil in more traditional ways.But he still had contacts and friends at the law firm, and he�d appropriated some items of value that had proved to be very useful.
The black, M Series BMW rental was in the parking lot next to the Club.Angel pushed the remote that unlocked the doors, then he opened the passenger side front and back doors for Buffy and Dawn before circling around to get in the driver�s seat.As he started up the quiet but powerful English-made engine, he called his contact at Wolfram and Hart and told them he needed a favor, that a tear in reality needed mending.Then they were out of the parking lot and on the road to the Victoria Memorial. Almost embarrassingly, the CD player came on playing Manilow�s greatest hits.Barry was half way through Copacabana.Angel quickly switched it off.