Angel opens his eyes and sits up. His shirt is gone. He grabs the back of his head, which is still sore. Angel looks around and realizes that he is inside a circular arena 150 feet across, with a thirty foot-high stone wall around the outside. The wall consists of six steep steps, each one five feet high and one foot wide. He looks upward. The sky is very unfamiliar. It's dark, but a sun is shining down, illuminating the everything around Angel. It reminds him of the lighting at a night baseball or football game. At the opposite end of the arena, a man stands atop the wall. Before Angel can see him, he fires a wooden arrow, which pierces Angel's heart and pins him to the ground. The man leaps down into the arena.
MAL: Don't worry. You can not die inside these walls.
His accent was very strange. Angel couldn't quite place it. He grunts and pulls the arrow out of himself, then slowly rises to his feet. The man walking towards him wears loose-fitting white pants, but no shoes or shirt. His skin is jet black, his air about an inch high, thick but not quite nappy. He isn't as bulky as Angel, but his musculature is almost comically well-defined. The man stops three feet in front of Angel and looks up into his eyes. He is an inch-and-a-half shorter than Angel.
MAL: What was it the Greeks said about my people? Tallest. Handsomest. Longest lived. Two out of three is nothing to be ashamed of. [Mal smiles and circles around Angel] I noticed you have the Mark of Aurelius. Or, as I prefer to call it, the Mark of Mediocrity. Not a very distinguished lineage. But neither was mine. [he's circled round and is now standing ten feet in front of Angel] I remember Hein as a young vampire. I believe he was the one you would have called Master. Hein had such immense raw talent. Such superb instincts. But he let it go to his head. He became a recluse. Shunned the world. Bleached his skin. Mutilated his face. Developed an obsession with eight year-old boys. (Mal was making the Master sound an awful lot like Michael Jackson. That was a comparison which had certainly never occurred to Angel) The last time I crossed paths with Hein was about three-and-one-half centuries ago. There was a woman he had sired. She was probably well before your time. Very zealous. Insatiable blood lust - and other kinds, which could be satiated. She loved it when I ripped a baby's head off and poured its blood on my [chuckles] lower parts. She ate it right up. [more chuckles from Mal] Don't you just love it when a former prostitute says you make her feel like she's doing it for the first time? That was a question. If you don't want to be friendly, your loss. So this vampire — I can't recall her name — we spent a month ravaging Central Europe. Actually, she was the European I spent most of my time ravaging. [more chuckles] The only reason I mention this was because of what she did to get me to stay. I don't go for the yellow-haired. But she was ever-so-needy. I don't like that either. Which doesn't mean I couldn't have fun with it. I made her crawl across a floor covered with broken glass, all the while begging me to stay. Of course I still left right then and there. But what an honor to receive such a show of affection! Hein was upset that I had turned his sire away from him, and he made a pathetic attempt to defend his honor. That vampire bruised very easily. Probably because he was so pale. And by then Hein was so slow that he could not hit anything quicker than a ground sloth. If I had cared to, I believe I could have made him cry. Hein was not worth effort. But you are.
ANGEL: Save the pep talk and the war stories for your drinking buddies, old man.
MAL: I lend you a compliment, and you pay me back with an insult. Don't you have any questions for me? Who am I? Why are you here?
ANGEL: I have a feeling you're about to tell me. You seem to be obvious and predictable like that.
MAL: You really have no idea who you're dealing with. I like that.
ANGEL: I could say the same about you.
MAL: You're not used to being beaten.
ANGEL: By other vampires? Never.
MAL: Good. Because I want this to be exciting. And drawn out. I don't know much about you. Nothing but hearsay. But I know that you have some very powerful friends. Important people care about you. They have a lot of faith in your power, your courage, your luck. I'm always looking for a good fight. An opponent who's like nothing else in the universe. A vampire with a soul. That's rare. But hardly unheard of. But a vampire with a child. That has never happened in my lifetime. How could I pass up such an opportunity?
ANGEL: Does this mean you're afraid to take us both on at once?
MAL: Patience. You will have you answer soon enough. As you know, I could have killed you by now. But where is the fun in that? You seem, the other thing I have heard about you was that you have an amazing capacity for pain and suffering. This is important. People are fragile. Even Slayers are all-too-breakable. Have you ever killed one when you were just getting warmed-up? Smashed their bones before you were finished having your fun? How anti-climactic. But vampires — we can take a lot more punishment. And, just to be sure, I have created this safe haven for you.
ANGEL: Safely away from earth. How convenient - for you.
MAL: You're in a nodal dimension. It connects to eleven other dimensions, including our home dimension. If you try to escape, and you leave these walls, you can be killed. And if you aren't, you could easily find you way into the wrong dimension, and never be able to return home ever again.
ANGEL: You've gone to a lot of trouble to keep me away from my son.
MAL: You want to go home and see him? [Mal picks up his bow] Pull this string back to your ear.
He holds his right arm straight out and with his left hand does as instructed. Then he hands the bow to Angel. He notices that the six foot-high bow is made of thick, heavy wood. It appears to be reinforced on the inside with thin strips of steel. The string itself is one centimeter thick, and made of tightly wound sinews. It's more of a rope than a string. Angel holds his left arm out and tries to pull the string with his right index and middle fingers. Nothing. He wraps his whole right hand around the string and pulls harder. It goes back maybe an inch. He tries again, pulling it back three inches. Frustrated, he gives it his all on his fourth attempt. Pulling and straining for more than ten seconds, he manages to pull the string back a mere six inches. Angel looks at the device. It must have a draw of at least one thousand pounds. It was less a bow than a catapult. Mal smiles and rips it away from Angel, who regrets giving his enemy a psychological victory. Mal takes the bow in his left hand and pulls the string three-and-a-half feet back with his right hand, just to show he can do it with both arms. Then he hurls the bow up in the air and over the arena wall.
ANGEL: I can't die in here.
MAL: Correct.
ANGEL: Can you?
MAL: Yes. But then how will you find your way home?
Mal looks up at the sky and begins humming what sounds like a trance chant while rhythmically clapping his hands behind his back. Angel, who's already split off the end of the four foot-long arrow to use as a stake, lunges at Mal and goes for a quick kill. He knows it won't work, but he wants to test this guy. Without looking, Mal grabs Angel's right arm and throws him on his back. He turns around and goes bumpy. As does Angel. Mal has glowing red eyes and three-inch long fangs. And as Spike would say, he is definitely the one with the biggest wrinklies.
ANGEL: Those must be a bitch to clean. You floss?
MAL: I know. I'm more than a little long in the tooth. From your appearance, I would guess you are about two centuries on. Show me some of that youthful passion.
Mal grins, bends his knees and prepares to fight. Both vampires wait for the other one to make the first move. Mal leaps at Angel. Angel grabs him and tries to toss Mal over his shoulder, but Mal hangs on too tight for Angel to do this. When Mal's feet return to the ground, he does a suplex, lifting Angel over his head and slamming his back into the sand. The two of them get up. Mal sticks his chin out. Angel throws a quick left hook. Mal pulls his head back out of the way. Mal throws a right hook, which Angel ducks under. He responds with a right cross, which Mal pulls his head back away from. Mal starts dancing around, circling to Angel's left. Mal throws a right hook kick, trying to sweep Angel's legs out. Angel hops up out of the way. Mal sends a left kick for Angel's stomach. Angel grabs it. Mal does a right backflip kick, hitting Angel in the chin and freeing himself from Angel's grasp.
MAL: I can wait all day. Can your friends?
Angel carefully but aggressively charges in, blocking Mal's left jab, landing two of his own, then clocking Mal with a right hook. Mal smiles and throws a right hook, hitting Angel and knocking him to his knees. Mal steps back and waits for Angel to get up.
MAL: Are you usually felled by a single blow?
Angel stands up. Mal darts in and out, getting within two feet of Angel before hopping six feet back. Angel knew Mal was flaunting his superior quickness and strength. Trying in vain to attack him would only play into Mal's game plan. Angel was going to be patient and make Mal hit him. Mal hops forward, then leaps upward, doing a flip and landing two feet behind Angel. Angel and Mal turn to face each other at point blank range. Mal tries a right backhand punch as he spins. Angel ducks under it and sends the broken arrow shaft in his left hand for Mal's heart. Mal reaches his left hand across his body and grabs Angel's left wrist when the point is two inches from his skin. Angel expected this, and throws a right cross, which Mal is now unable to block. Mal quickly arches his spine and pulls his neck back. Angel's right arm is fully extended, and his knuckles are less than and inch from Mal's nose. With his left hand, Mal twists and badly sprains Angel's left wrist. At the same time, he bites through Angel's right forearm with his fangs and hits Angel's mouth with three quick right crosses. As he lets go of Angel's wrist and takes his fangs out of his arm, Mal knocks Angel on his back with a head butt to the nose. The combination of moves took less than two seconds to execute. Before Angel can get up, Mal hits his right cheek with a right spin kick. Mal then does a backflip and allows Angel to rise. Angel's left wrist aches and his right forearm leaks blood. But worst of all, he has a toothache. Mal's middle knuckle had made three direct hits on the lower half of Angel's right fang, causing the tooth's root to shoot outwards, irritating the inside of Angel's gums and triggering a prominent nerve ending. No one had ever done this to him before. Angel really, really, really hated this vampire. He stands up, looking more determined than ever.
MAL: There's that fire in the belly I was waiting for. Show me how a champion fights.
Angel carefully closes with Mal. He throws a left jab, which Mal pulls his head back from. Then he tries a right hook, which Mal evades in the same way. Mal hurls a left cross, which Angel avoids before landing a right hook to Mal's left eye. Angel follows this up with a left uppercut to his chin. He tries a straight right kick, but Mal moves his head a few inches leftward and turns his cheek, casually avoiding the blow.
MAL: Or, I could show you.
Mal bends his knees and puts his right foot and fist forward. Angel puts his left foot and fist forward, not sure why Mal is all of a sudden deciding to fight southpaw. Mal quickly kicks Angel's left knee with his right heel, bruising Angel's right kneecap before he even knew he was under attack. Without bringing his right foot down, Mal quickly nails Angel in the chin, then spins around on his left foot and knocks Angel down with a right roundhouse kick. Angel vaults to his feet. He blocks Mal's left hook kick. Mal spins around, as if to throw a left roundhouse kick, then pulls his foot back at the last instant. He pops Angel in the mouth with two quick right jabs. Angel lands a right hook to Mal's chin. Mal counters with a right jab-right hook combination, the jab hitting Angel's left cheek and the hook hitting his left ear. Mal takes Angel's right cross to his nose, then clobbers Angel with a left hook. It was even more powerful than his right hook. This guy really was a southpaw. Those couple minutes he fought right-handed were Mal's idea of going easy on his opponent. Angel's knees buckle, especially his injured left knee, but he refuses to go down. Angel throws a left jab, which Mal blocks. But he lands a right uppercut to Mal's stomach. Mal grabs Angel with both hands and hurls him backwards. Angel slams into the wall a full twenty feet off the ground. Mal flies towards Angel, laying his shoulder into Angel when he's ten feet off the ground, squeezing Angel's ribs between himself and the wall. Mal pushes off Angel and falls to the ground. He reaches his arms up and catches Angel in midair. Mal throws Angel thirty feet towards the center of the ring. A weary and woozy Angel rises to his feet yet again. Mal stands directly in front of him. A frustrated and furious Angel throws a right hook. The blow hits nothing but air. Mal disappeared. Actually, he snuck behind Angel in less time than it took Angel to throw the punch. Mal grabs Angel's chin and twists his head 180 degrees, both snapping Angel's neck and allowing him to see Mal right behind him.
MAL: Over here, slow man.
Mal hits Angel's face with a left hook, causing it to twist around and face forward just in time for Angel to fall on it. Mal puts his right foot on the back of Angel's head, driving his face several inches down into the sand.
MAL: I would kill you yet again, but I am anxious to meet that son of yours.
Mal walks towards the wall. Angel pulls his head out of the sand, snaps his spine back into place, stands up, and runs after Mal while he effortlessly hops up the steps and out of the arena. But before Angel can reach the wall, he hears growling behind him. Angel turns around and sees three giant dog-like demons walking towards him, drooling falling from their jaws, which are big enough to snatch up the top half of Angel's body in a single bite. He knew Mal would make it difficult for him to leave. He had yet to discover how difficult.
By nine in the morning, the people living at the Hyperion realized something was wrong.
CORDY: He's not in his room.
FRED: And no one's seen him?
CONNOR: No. I swear. I really mean it this time.
LORNE: Let me get this straight. Angel left here last night. Without telling a soul. And now the sun's out, but so still is Angel.
CONNOR: He could be in the sewers, tracking something.
CORDY: Why wouldn't he take you along?
FRED: Tracking. Connor, you can track him.
CONNOR: Let's go.
FRED: Call Charles and Wesley.
Cordy and Fred follow Connor outside. Lorne phones the others. A few blocks down the street, Connor stops.
CORDY: What is it?
CONNOR: Someone joined him here.
The two women follow Connor two miles south. Then he stops again.
CONNOR: End of the line.
FRED: You lost his scent?
CONNOR: It ends. Both end. Right here, in the middle of the street.
CORDY: No manhole covers. No ash. He's not dead. But where could he go?
CONNOR: How could he just disappear?
FRED: He didn't. Someone took Angel to another dimension.
CORDY: If there was a portal here, then we can reopen it.
FRED: If we knew which dimension it opened.
CONNOR: Let me guess: go home, open books, do research?
CORDY: You're learning the drill.
Connor begins to walk home. Fred and Cordy stand on the sidewalk. He turns around.
CONNOR: Aren't you coming?
CORDY: My feet hurt.
FRED: We'll take a cab back.
CONNOR: Okay. [walks away]
FRED: Are we sure he had nothing to do with this?
CORDY: How can you even think that!?
FRED: Don't tell me it didn't cross your mind.
CORDY: I won't deny it. But this time there's no motive.
FRED: Do you think he'd kill Angel for that Dawny girl?
CORDY: Oh yeah. If Angel and Buffy tried to keep them apart, he'd take out both of them.
FRED: Don't you find that scary?
CORDY: A little. But that's not what's happening. Killing or kidnapping Angel does not bring Connor any closer to Dawn. Wouldn't it be easier for him to run away to Sunnydale again?
FRED: You're right. Connor doesn't have a reason to harm Angel.
CORDY: And he's nice now.
FRED: I suppose.
CORDY: Then why did you immediately think it was him?
FRED: Old habits die hard.
Early Sunday evening at the Summers house.
WILLOW: He's back.
BUFFY: Where?
WILLOW: In Sunnydale. All over Sunnydale. Either he's driving around, or just running really fast.
BUFFY: He doesn't want us to find him. He wants to find us. We'll give him the chance.
GILES: If you and Faith go alone, the Reapers will overpower you. If we all go, our enemy will get a chance to kill the Potentials. Which lesser of these two evils have you chosen?
BUFFY: Just the three of us. If he has to use the Reapers, it will be a sign of weakness. He knows this.
GILES: Whether he beats you up, or he lets his Reapers do the job for him, it's the same result for you. There's no point fighting a battle you don't think you can win.
BUFFY: We need to learn how to win. We have to test him, probe for weaknesses. If we get in over our heads, well, we're all fast enough to make a clean getaway.
GILES: You can't just go pell-mell into battle. You need a plan.
BUFFY: I have one.
GILES: Let's hear it.
Meanwhile, back at the Hyperion after sunset. Everyone's downstairs, waiting for Lorne to return. When he walks in, he looks upset.
FRED: Bad news?
LORNE: I would have been back sooner, but I felt like getting a second opinion.
WES: And what did your experts agree on?
LORNE: They're not sure where he is. Let's just say it's not on the map. But they are sure we can't get there.
CONNOR: Can he come back?
LORNE: If by he you mean Angel, the answer's no. Not alone. The portal's sealed on both sides. It's a proprietary dimension. The only thing that can open it is whatever took Angel away.
GUNN: The whole dimension's the demon's private property? Like his crib?
LORNE: More or less.
CONNOR: What do we do?
CORDY: If Angel's still alive, he's being held for some sort of ransom. That means this thing will be back here to make contact with us.
FRED: How can you be so sure?
CORDY: I was an evil mastermind not too long ago.
GUNN: What happens if we kill this thing?
WES: Presumably, either the portal shuts forever, or it opens to all.
LORNE: Number two. It's like how a vampire can enter a house when the owner's deceased.
WES: How can you be so sure that analogy's appropriate?
LORNE: I asked my experts. They both said once the owner croaks, his domain goes public and the portal opens.
CONNOR: Then we go to the portal and wait.
CORDY: For how long?
CONNOR: Better than sitting here.
WES: If we stand outside all night, by the time it arrives we'll be exhausted and in no shape to fight.
CONNOR: Fine. Everyone goes with me. If there's nothing, you can go home. I'll stay and call if something happens.
CORDY: You should come home with us, Connor. You don't want to have to fight it alone. We have no idea how powerful this thing is.
CONNOR: Or isn't.
CORDY: Then we play it safe.
CONNOR: Fine. Everyone plays it safe. But I stay there. It's sneaky. If it were really strong, like Beast, it would stand and fight.
WES: At this point, we shouldn't assume anything.
GUNN: Let's quit arguing and load up our weapons.
Gunn drives everyone to the portal location in his truck. Connor jumps out of the flatbed. He turns left and walks for twenty feet before turning around and running back to the truck.
CONNOR: They're back. Both of them.
NEXT: Connor and the gang square off against Mal. Buffy tries to do better in her second encounter with Seth. Mal starts to drink Los Angeles dry as Wesley begins to figure out who Mal really is. But this information only makes everyone more terrified.