[GIGGLING]
Such a hungry little kitty.
[MEOWS]
You've been a starved one, haven't you, my sweet Willy?
WILLIAM: Got you to feast on now, pet.
- Is this your home? - Their home.
Ambassador to something and his plump, lovely wife.
Till their spirits flew away on fairy wings.
When Angelus took them for dinner.
Angelus?
Who the bloody hell is Angel...?
Look what I made. It's called Willy.
William.
Where's Darla? I want Darla to see William.
Darla and I had a little spat.
Her precious master sent for her.
You know Darla. Master's pet.
- Mmm, poor Angelus. - Don't fret, Dru. We'll make up.
Always do.
After a little tit for tat.
Shouldn't let that spoil our fun here.
So...
...instead of just feeding off of this William...
...you went and turned him into one of us.
Another rooster in the hen house.
- You're not cross with me, are you? - Cross?
Know what it's like having only women as travel companions?
Night in and night out.
- Touch me again... - No, I do love the ladies.
It's just lately I've been wondering...
...what it'd be like...
...to share the slaughter of innocents...
...with another man.
Don't think that makes me some kind of a deviant...
...do you?
[LAUGHING]
I like this one.
You and me, we're gonna be the best of friends.
[LAUGHING]
- Get the hell away from me. - Would that I could, you big ape.
Why not make us both happy and give me what I want?
- You're not getting an office. - You selfish sod.
The rest of you get to go home to the cozies.
Me, I gotta nest in somebody else's roost.
It's not bleeding right.
You don't work here. You haunt this place and annoy me.
- That's all. - Job well done.
At least give me Wesley's office, since he's gone.
ANGEL: He's on a leave of absence.
SPIKE: Yeah, right.
Thought he killed his bloody father.
Try staking your mother when she's coming on to you!
Well, that explains a lot.
Spike.
Look, that was a long time ago. She wasn't herself.
You got mail.
- What? - It's addressed to you, care of here.
- Who the hell'd be sending post to a... - Ghost?
Doesn't say. Kind of heavy. Here.
- Oh. You want me to...? - lf you don't mind.
Well, that was a slap and a tickle.
There's nothing...
[PHONE RINGS]
Morning, Wolfram and...
[SCREECHING ON PHONE]
Any more fireworks for me, I'll be here...
...telling your boss what a miserable bastard...
Bugger. That hurt!
Hold on.
Destiny
[PHONES RINGING]
Hey, I can feel.
Stop touching me.
I can...
[MOANING]
Oh, God. It's bloody ambrosia.
Is this otter?
- Hey, what's going...? SPIKE: I'm back, Charlie boy!
- That's what's going. GUNN: He's corporeal.
When did this...? I mean, how?
- I don't know. He... - I got it.
Must've been that box of flashy I got.
- Got? From who? - Don't know, don't care.
- lf you find out, give them a kiss for me. - Harmony!
- What is going on with the phones? - Nobody knows. And all there is, is...
[SCREECHES]
...on the other end. Plus, now my computer's freaking.
Harm.
- Get off! - That's the idea.
Need to borrow your gal Friday for a bit.
- Permission denied. - Wasn't asking.
Oh, my God! Oh, my God.
What? You think just because you're all...
...solid now, that I'm gonna go...
That's a very pretty skirt you're wearing.
Taking a long lunch, boss.
[LAUGHING]
And then, when you leapt up right in the middle of the ceremony...
...grabbed the priest's head and squeezed it...
...till it popped, like... - Rotted melon?
Eyeballs dangling from their sockets, and you shouting:
"Frankly, Father, thine eyes offend me."
[CHORTLING]
Bloody priceless.
And beating the groom to death with his own arm?
- You're a bloody killing marvel. - Yeah. Have a drink.
- Nah. That's your spoils, mate. - I've had my fill. Go on, take her.
I think I might go find Drusilla, she's prowling for street urchins in East End.
Make her happy if I joined her for a bit.
- She's special, isn't she, our Drusilla? - More than that.
She brought me into this world, where I was meant to be.
It's like she's my destiny.
Yeah, she is a sweet plum.
I mean, a bit dotty and brain-addled, but...
She's not... She's just...
- She's still got a bit of a child in her. - Perhaps two or three by now.
Driver, stop the coach.
DRIVER: Whoa. Whoa...
Happy hunting.
Go on. Just be home before sunrise.
You. We need your office. Get out.
What? I don't take orders from a gho...
- Hey! You can't... SPIKE: Come on, man.
REESE: Get your hands off!
SPIKE: Piss off!
You won't believe this. I just got thrown out of my own office.
That ghost pal of Mr. Goodfang, I guess he...
- Toner. - Jerry!
Nobody replaces the toner!
Kill them, all of them. Phones and computers, shut them down.
Find out if we've got some kind of bug in the system and who put it there.
- Think we're under attack? - I don't know what to think.
FRED: Angel. - Let's see, lab computers on the fritz?
Just the tip of the fritz-berg. The atmospheric gauge needles...
...started spiking into red, totally blew out the instruments.
Like an electrical surge, like what's affecting our phones...
That's what I thought at first, but I think it might be something else.
ANGEL: Never simple, is it?
He drank all my blood. Harmony!
She's off having a nooner with Blondie Bear, remember?
- She's what? - You know, nooner.
- Having sex in the middle of the... - I know what a nooner is.
You said she's with Spike?
- Yeah, he's corporeal again. - Corporeal?
Got something in the mail. Flash...
...he's a solid citizen again. - Why didn't you call me?
I'm sorry. We've had our hands full dealing with the office-system glitch...
...which just so happens to coincide with Spike being back.
And I can't believe I'm just getting that.
Think whatever changed Spike is affecting the building?
They must be connected. Maybe when Spike's matter was reintegrated...
...into physical form, it had some sort of ripple effect on the environment.
If the gauge readings are correct, it could be the start of something bigger, like...
The entire universe thrown into catastrophic turmoil?
Because that's what's happening, kids.
- You know what's going on? - Only what I'm told, counselor.
Corporate seers alerted me to the situation.
- Which is? - It's a harbinger.
- Harbinger? - We've got trouble with a capital T.
That rhymes with P, which stands for prophecy. Shanshu.
- Maybe you've heard of it? - God, that again. Yeah, I'm familiar. So?
So it talks about a champion. A vampire with a soul...
...who'll play a pivotal role in the apocalypse, for good or evil.
Anybody's guess. That part's hazy.
I thought Shanshu had to do with Angel being human again after...
That's just the epilogue, princess.
For the record, the prophecy doesn't call Angel by name.
Hold on. Because Spike's back, you think he's...?
I don't think anything.
All I can tell you is his very existence is disrupting the order of things.
No argument here.
There were already two souled vampires before Spike fried. Why now?
Key word here is "champion." Spike gave his life to save the world.
That gives him the cred.
But when he died and became a ghost, case closed.
Now that he's back, all bets are off, kids.
- Where are you going? GUNN: To check on something.
You knew this would happen.
I was working on recorporealizing Spike, you never mentioned...
Hey, I would've said something if I'd known. My universe too, you know.
How'd you pull it off, by the way, bringing Spike back?
You guys did do it, right?
Something came in the mail for him.
The mail? Like the amulet.
Yeah. Never did find out who sent it.
The senior partners maybe?
Watch the accusatory stares, kids. I only know...
What you're told.
Right.
So the seers told you the phones and all were a harbinger.
Of what?
Something worse, and seriously dangerous.
What do you mean, "dangerous"?
[HARMONY GROANING]
Spike!
SPIKE: Don't talk.
Let's not spoil the moment.
[SCREAMING]
SPIKE: Harmony! What the bloody hell has gotten into...?
- Your eyes. - I'm not...
Not yours!
Yeah, right. Not mine.
Using me, making me think...
...feel like yours! - Let's just...
You! You don't want me.
You want your slayer whore! I'll kill you!
Self-centered jerks!
[LAUGHING]
Little thing called being considerate.
Replace...
Goddamn...
Then I see Mr. Considerate here covered in blood...
...making mashed potatoes out of this fella...
...and before I could get to "What's wrong with this picture"...
...he clocks me right in the coconut.
Sir, we have two more attacks. One fatality.
Seal off the building till we know what we got here.
- A spell, virus, mass hysteria. GUARD: Yes, sir.
All channels, we have a code black. Affirmative, we're closing Pandora's Box.
Say, fearless leader, if you don't mind, what do you say...
...I nurse this bump with an ice pack while I barricade myself in my office?
Your call. Hey, Lorne.
Stop by the lab, tell Fred I need to know right away what's causing this.
- Yeah, gotcha. - Come on, Angel.
- You know what's causing all this. - No, Eve, I don't.
This is just the beginning. The fabric of reality is unraveling.
- It all comes down to you and... - Spike.
I don't know what you put in the water here...
...but your secretary was crying blood and tried to rip me a few new ones.
- Harmony? - Had to put her porch lights out.
For the best. Sure you understand.
- Yeah, you're a real hero. - And that's our problem in a nutshell.
- Our problem? - Eve's got this theory.
Fact, Jack.
There's only supposed to be one vampire-with-a-soul hero in the big show.
Two of you, and the wheel of destiny spins off its axis.
That's why everything, everyone's gone mad.
Hold on a tick. You're blaming this on us?
No, she's blaming it on you.
This town may not be big enough for the both of you.
Well, screw this town then. Screw this devil's funhouse, Angel...
...and screw you too.
Think I'll take the new flesh and bones back to Europe.
Spike, by "town," I mean this entire plane of existence.
You won't solve this disequilibrium by leaving. Might even make it worse.
Let's not make it worse. We don't want worse.
I just went to the white room to see the big cat.
- And? - Cat's gone.
- Gone? - The white room too.
Elevator just opened up into a howling abyss.
You ever heard a howling abyss? Terrible sound.
Cat's gone, conduit's gone. Means we're alone in this.
No contact with the senior partners.
Just us and a big, gaping tear in the balance of the universe.
Spike...
...stay.
Please.
Europe will still be there after we work this out.
- Maybe. - Probably.
How exactly are you gonna work this out, boss man?
We're making a tear in the galaxy. You're just gonna sew that back up?
If there's a way to tell which of you the prophecy's really about...
I just read the Shanshu prophecy, and there was nothing in it...
Hold on. You read the prophecy? The one you don't believe in.
"A load of rubbish," you said.
- Isn't that bloody interesting? - Spike.
No offense. We need an expert on the Shanshu scriptures.
- Fine, but Wesley's not here. - His department is.
- Maybe somebody there can... - Do what?
I'm telling you, I read the prophecy.
SIRK: You didn't read the prophecy.
- I didn't? - You read a translation of it.
It's like comparing the King James Bible with the original Aramaic or Hebrew.
Much of the flavor, the subtlety of usage...
...the context has been stripped away.
"Read the prophecy."
May as well have read a 12-year-old's book report on it.
I miss Wesley.
Okay, Sirk, point made.
Is there anything in the Shanshu to help us with this?
Yeah. What's it say about me?
There is a newly translated group of verses which may prove relevant.
"The root of the tree will split in two...
...and each then will seek nourishment from the buried river."
- Sounds like a gardening tip. - It's metaphor.
Tell me I don't have to explain metaphor to you people.
Sirk, the text.
Ah. Here we are. "Storm unleashed...
...the balance will falter...
...until the vampire with the soul drinks from the cup of perpetual torment."
- More metaphor. - No, that's real.
- So there's a cup. - "Perpetual torment"?
Just know that's not gonna taste very good.
"The weight of worlds upon him, binding his limbs...
...grinding his bones to meal until he saves creation...
...or destroys it."
Uh... Right. So, what's in it for me?
The vampire will have his past washed clean.
And live again in mortal form. That part I know.
- I'll bet you do. GUNN: So Angel drinks from this cup...
...computers go back online, phones stop ringing, people quit turning homicidal?
Who says it's Angel supposed to take the swig?
Who says it's about him?
- Spike, you really think it's about you? - Why the hell not?
- Just because... - Boys, let's focus on the problem at hand.
We don't wanna be wrong about this.
The drinking of the cup is predestined, that can't be changed.
Whoever drinks it was meant to.
When one is confirmed as the central figure of the prophecy...
...the universe should realign itself.
So this cup thing, where is it? Does it say?
SIRK: It does offer some details, yes.
Housed in the hidden city of Petra...
...disappears during the Crusades, surfaces again in the Vatican...
...and vanishes in the third year of the Inquisition.
Then...
Yes, interesting.
- What? - It's in Nevada.
- Nevada? - Death Valley, to be exact.
"The earth will thrash and mark the appearance of the cup...
...at the Columns."
Columns? That sounds vaguely...
"The desert will swallow cup and house whole...
...and..."
Well, this can only be loosely translated.
"And the fat lady will sing no more."
- Opera. - Opera?
The Columns was an opera house in Death Valley.
It was buried in an earthquake in '38. Made headlines in L.A.
It's only a few hours away. I can get there and back by morning...
We've got a seriously major crisis here.
May not be the best time to go after some mystical cup.
Don't have a choice. If it's there, I have to accept...
...the prophecy's real, and hope that it stops this madness.
You're in charge. Keep this place quarantined till I get...
Where's Spike?
[MUSIC PLAYING ON RADIO]
[CELL PHONE RINGING]
[MUSIC STOPS]
- Yello. ANGEL: You took my Viper.
My Viper now, mate. Possession's nine-tenths.
Ought to know that, running a law firm.
You think this is a game? People are dying.
And one of us is going to stop it. Hey, what do you know? I vote for me.
There's no voting. It's a prophecy. And the Shanshu's not about you, Spike.
Still can't accept it, can you? Sad, really. Years of believing...
...you're the signified monkey, only to find you're a hunk of nobody cares.
- I wish you'd stayed a ghost. - But I didn't, did I.
Burned up saving the world, and now I'm back for real. Wonder why?
Oh, wait. Because I'm the one, you git!
- I don't have time to... - What's that? I'm losing you.
You're... what do they call it? Right, breaking up. You're breaking up.
- Spike, don't... - Ponce.
Idiot.
GUNN: Yeah, I know she's a vampire.
Shoot her up with some elephant tranqs and put her in some kind of restraints.
[MAN MUMBLING OVER RADIO]
Yeah, whatever. That's okay. Just, look, get it done.
Over and, you know, out.
EVE: Always something with this place, huh?
I mean, ghost fights, id monsters...
...killer cyborgs.
It's a wonder with all the high jinks, you get any work done.
Funny, you always seem to be around for the high jinks.
- Lucky, I guess. - Yeah?
And what else are you, Eve, besides lucky?
- Am I supposed to...? - Playing like you're a fresh young thing...
...from Santa Cruz who somehow winds up connected to Evil, Incorporated.
Never said I was from Santa Cruz. Just went to school there.
And talking about being connected, you're the guy that talks to the cat.
That makes you a lot more connected to this place than I'll ever be.
As far as the senior partners are concerned, I'm just a messenger.
Right, and I'm just a mild-mannered attorney.
GUARD: Ooof!
Don't be fingering the robots.
SPIKE: Here we are, then.
Two vampire heroes, competing to wet our whistles...
...with a drink of light, refreshing torment.
Is that what you think you are? A hero?
- Saved the world, didn't I? - Once.
Talk to me after you do it a few more times.
Done talking, mate. Got a prophecy needs fulfilling.
- Ta. ANGEL: Spike.
Damn it.
[MAN AND WOMAN MOANING]
WILLIAM: Well...
...Iooks like you haven't had your fill of her after...
The little children didn't come out to play.
Did you miss me, pretty William?
I'm sure he did, Dru. After all, you are his destiny.
DRUSILLA: Oh.
That's so sweet.
[LAUGHING]
Thought it'd be a little less goldeny, what with the torment and all.
So...
...what do we do now?
What do you think?
Come on.
- How much soul have you got in there? - We don't have time for this.
Keep your knickers dry, Sally. You're not gonna last long.
Fine.
We'll do it your way.
[SCREAMING]
[SIZZLING]
[LAUGHING]
Yeah. Look at you.
Thinking you're the big savior.
Fighting for truth, justice, and soccer moms...
...but you still can't lay flesh on a cross without smelling like bacon, can you?
- Like you're any different. - Well, that's just it.
I am, and you know it.
You had a soul forced on you as a curse.
Make you suffer for all the horrible things you've done.
But me...
...I fought for my soul.
Went through the demon trials.
Almost did me in a dozen times over, but I kept fighting...
...because I knew it was the right thing to do.
It's my destiny.
Really? Heard it was just to get into a girl's pants.
[SCREAMING]
GUNN: Six more cases.
That's a 30-percent increase in the last hour?
Thirty-two point four, but who's counting?
Any idea what the specific trigger is?
None. There's no common thread.
Gender, age, position, psych profile...
...blood type, med history.
There doesn't seem to be any pattern to this thing.
It could affect any of us.
Is there anything we can...?
GUNN: Why are you answering her questions?
We don't trust this bitch.
- She'll kill us all. - Gunn.
- What are you? - Gunn, no!
GUNN: Who's really in there? Huh? Huh?
Well, guess you gotta breathe. Good to know.
Liar! Think we don't know you're behind this, that you've been playing us?
What are you? Show me. What are you, a monster? Show me!
Used to hit a lot harder.
Your head's just gotten thicker.
You're not gonna win this time.
Vampire with a soul.
Nobody knows what side he's gonna fight on...
...when the big show comes down.
Except we already know what side you're on, don't we?
Already made your choice.
Traded in your cape and tights for a chair in Wolfram & bloody Hart.
A little more complicated than that.
You always were a bit simple, Willy.
WILLIAM: Don 't touch her! - Little late for that, Willy...
...and I really don't like it when you raise your voice to me.
William, don't play such a sad tune.
Give us a kiss, then.
Why did you...? You knew.
You knew she was mine.
Did I?
You knew bloody well!
[WILLIAM GRUNTING]
You just don't get it now, do you?
Well, you're new and a little dim.
So let me explain to you how things are now.
There's no belonging or deserving anymore.
You can take what you want, have what you want, but nothing is yours.
Not even her.
You're wrong. We're forever, Drusilla and me.
Are we?
Still the poet, now, aren't we, Willy?
- William. - Right. William.
You really should find a new name for yourself.
It just doesn't strike the right note of terror.
Tell you what, William.
If you want her, come and take her.
Come on, hero. Tell me more.
Teach me what it means.
And I'll tell you why you can't stand the bloody sight of me.
Tell it to your therapist.
Because every time you look at me...
...you see all the dirty little things I've done...
...all the lives I've taken because of you!
Drusilla sired me...
...but you...
...you made me a monster.
ANGEL: I didn't make you, Spike.
I just opened up the door and let the real you out.
You never knew the real me.
[SIZZLING]
Too busy trying to see your own reflection.
Praying there was someone as disgusting as you in the world...
...so you could stand to live with yourself.
Take a long look, hero.
I'm nothing like you.
No, you're less.
That's why Buffy never really loved you...
...because you weren't me.
Guess that means she was thinking about you...
...all those times I was putting it to her.
Ah!
All right. Let's finish this.
[YELLING]
FRED: Take small sips.
It's gonna hurt to swallow for a while.
- You're gonna be okay, just... - You don't have to pretend to care.
- What? - Come on, Fred.
I know what you think of me.
What you all...
Look, what Charles said about us thinking you're behind...
...you know, everything.
He was under the effects...
Eve.
I'm not the bad guy.
How's it feel?
- Ah! - You tell me.
I probably should've dusted you...
...but honestly, I don't wanna hear her bitch about it.
ANGEL: Spike, wait, wait.
That's not a prize you're holding.
It's not a trophy.
It's a burden.
It's a cross.
One you're gonna have to bear till it burns you to ashes.
Believe me. I know.
So ask yourself...
...is this really the destiny that was meant for you?
Do you even really want it?
Or is it that you just wanna take something away from me?
Bit of both.
Spike!
It's...
...Mountain Dew.
Angel. God, what happened?
I fell down some stairs.
Big stairs. Gunn.
We've tried everything. Medical, mystical. Nothing stops it.
- Still going on? - And getting worse.
What about the cup? Did you...?
- A fake. Somebody set us up. - What? Who?
I don't know. Sirk sent us there.
- Maybe he's... SPIKE: Gone.
Cleaned out his office and pulled a puff of smoke.
Stairs, huh?
Sirk's gone, the cup is a fake, but the madness is real.
What are we gonna do about it?
- I say we start by untying the brother. - Charles...
Am I in trouble?
GUNN: Hey.
What the hell happened?
Senior partners stepped in.
They were working on the problem since it started.
They managed to temporarily stabilize the universal equilibrium.
Temporarily.
For how long?
What about Sirk and this fantasy he fed us about the cup?
Partners don't know about it. They're as angry as you.
I really doubt that.
Don't worry, Angel. Sirk can't hide for long.
We'll bring him in, find out who put him up to it.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go home and ice my neck.
Eve.
Listen.
- I'm really... - Don't sweat it, counselor.
You'll have other things to worry about.
The whole Shanshu thing's still unresolved.
Still two vampires with souls.
Guess that's a question for another day.
Any more days like today, and there won't be another day.
Yeah, well...
Meantime...
...this souled ex-ghost vampire's got corporeal drinking to catch up on.
What do you say, Charlie? Feel like getting pissed?
GUNN: No, my head feels like it'll split open...
...and toss my toys and candy all over the floor.
You're way ahead of me. Fair enough.
Maybe you should have Fred check you out.
No, she'll just want to strap me down again.
You okay?
I don't know.
He beat me, Gunn.
Who, Spike? Looks like he got as good as he...
No. He beat me to the cup.
You mean the fake cup? The make-believe, fairy tale cup?
- So what? - No, you don't...
He won the fight, Gunn.
For the first time.
Doesn't matter if the cup was real or not.
In the end, he...
Spike was stronger.
He wanted it more.
Angel, it doesn't mean anything.
What if it does?
What if it means...
...I'm not the one?
EVE: You know, funny thing about throwing the universe out of whack?
Not as fun as it sounds.
On the plus side, they totally fell for the "cup of torment" thing...
...just like you thought they would.
Now Mr. Sirk pulled off his vanishing act without a hitch...
...right under the senior partners' noses.
And you might be happy to know, Team Angel is on red alert.
Could be they think the partners just fired a warning shot across their bow.
Oh. And by the way...
...Spike didn't kill Angel, but they did beat each other to bloody pulps.
Well...
...it's a start.
Subtitles by SDI Media Group
[ENGLISH SDH]