Twilight, Part Four

"Twilight, Part Four" was the thirty-fifth story from Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight.

Summary
Buffy and Angel still on the Twilight plane. Buffy is now aware of her surroundings and in control of herself and is thinking with a clear head. She is convinced that the Twilight realm is a trap and she is ready to fight, keeping her eyes peeled to the landscape, ready for the enemy to come rushing over the hills and attack like they always seem to. Angel, also poised and ready to fight, keeps trying to convince Buffy that the Twilight realm is not a trap and tries to shift the conversation back to their sexual escapades from the previous issue but she doesn’t want to go there quite yet. As they look out over the landscape and see no demons rushing to attack them, Buffy is finally convinced they are not coming and doesn’t understand why, because it is what the demons do, they attack. Angel tells her that the demons will always attack, until they don’t have to anymore, but Buffy remains unconvinced that there are no demons to worry about here and starts talking about conspiracy theories. Suddenly, Buffy and Angel’s clothing are magically changed from the Greek antiquity outfits they were wearing into outfits from India and the pair is also magically whisked away to a tropical island at sunset.

Back at Twilight HQ, the Scoobies are preparing for the demons to attack while trying to understand what has happened to Buffy and Angel. Willow questions Giles, who tries to tell her that the story of Twilight was always thought to be a Watcher’s myth drummed up to explain the beginning of the universe, but Willow doesn’t understand how Giles could have known about this since before he met Buffy and not say anything, while Xander wants to know why the power of this place turned Angel into a killer. Though as soon as he tries to explain that the power didn’t exactly turn Angel into the bad guy everyone thinks, Xander cuts him off and angrily asks if them being attacked by hordes of demons is still part of the universe’s plan to balance the scales, but as Giles puts it, there is no balance in the universe anymore and the demons attacking from different dimensions is the result of Buffy and Angel’s ascension into the Twilight realm, and that now they exist in the Twilight realm, the old dimensions are bleeding into the mortal realm because it is now an expendable seat of power up for the taking. Suddenly, Dawn yells that there are currently five tears in the dimensional wall—six including a new one in Burma as found by Satsu. Amy is looking through a magical sphere and noting that the demons are close to invading their perimeters, while Xander orders Kennedy to put a global alert out to all Slayer cells in the world, he wants them to be in a holding pattern at whichever entry point they’re closest to. Meanwhile, off to the side, Andrew and Warren are still fighting over the shield, as each still claims ownership. Suddenly, a large demon attacks the pair, and Andrew shields Warren but the demon breaks through the shield and knocks Andrew down, causing him to bleed badly. Warren calls for help and manages to conjure a deflective shield to protect him and Andrew from the demon. Amy witnesses this and asks the General if Warren remembers their plan to kill all of the Scoobies when the demon threat is over, and the General simply replies with that they need to take care of the demons first before the other problem, and questions as to whether Angel realizes the consequences of his actions with Buffy.

Back on the tropical island, Buffy and Angel discuss their recent sexual escapades and Buffy questions whether it really happened or if she is stuck in some dreamscape somewhere. Angel is disappointed with how much Buffy doubts what has happened to them, and reassures her that they have ascended and are finally free. Buffy can detect the doubt in his words and calls him Twilight asking if he knows much more than she does. Angel tells her to look around at where they are, what has happened to them, and then tells her the only way they got to this realm of pleasure is with each other. She appears to tear up, and then tells Angel that his speech was about the cheesiest she has heard and tells him that if he is saying they are in heaven or some imitation of it, she will hit him. As she walks away from him, Angel notes that she used a joke the same reason as Xander always does, to mask her true feelings and tells her she can joke as much as she wants but that will not change where they are. Suddenly, their outfits change and Buffy is no longer wearing a sari but is instead wearing a long black dress, while Angel’s achkan is now a black doublet and gold buttons with pants and black boots. Angel continues to tell Buffy about the realm of Twilight and how it “reacts” to them, and as he speaks these words, the tropical island suddenly becomes the Bronze. Buffy questions how come the realm is putting her in what she thinks is a graduation gown, as she looks down at it in distaste. As Angel’s doublet disappears and is replaced by a chemise, he explains that what she is wearing is a Spanish mourning dress worn by a Slayer from the late 1590’s and he is wearing the garments of a vampire this particular Slayer fought, he further explains that the Indian outfits they wore earlier were from an Indian Slayer and vampire from the 17th century. He pushes her to feel the power of the realm as he does, and to think of it as a higher plane for them, but Buffy still refuses to believe it and walks out the door. She enters a whitespace wearing Nikki Wood’s outfit from her battle with Spike, and Angel is dressed as a man from the 1970’s, complete with bell-bottoms and a disco shirt. Angel and Buffy continue to argue as Angel tells Buffy that this realm is their paradise, and that it changes when they want to, into what they want, as is the true meaning of paradise—whatever you make it. Buffy now wants to find where her friends are and Angel tells her they are where they always are---exactly where she wants them to be. She orders that they be right there and she manages to rip a hole in the dimensional wall and see the battle going on. She asks Angel if the demons attacking is their fault, and he doesn’t quite give her a definite answer but tells her they can fix it, and that after all the centuries of fighting, the universe they are going to make is not going to be just a place where they can be together, but where they can be happy. Buffy smiles and starts to cry.

Back amidst the battle, Faith carries an injured Andrew from the fray as Warren uses his deflective shield to hold the demons back. Xander comes to help Faith, who says that these demons are unlike anything they have ever encountered before, and grimly states that even with their powers back, the Slayers are outmatched and certainly going to be slaughtered. Meanwhile, Amy and Willow are working the magicks as best they can, but their containment spells are failing and they ponder teleportation spells and using them on either them or the demons. Amy is gravely injured by a demon and knocked unconscious, and as Willow tends to her, she blasts magic at the demon and manages to sever both of his arms.

Back in the Twilight realm, Angel and Buffy continue to watch the battle from the tear in the dimensional wall. Angel tries to close the tear and assure Buffy that her friends will be fine without her, as they were when she died. Buffy remains unconvinced of this, and tells Angel he doesn’t care and can live with the knowledge that they won’t survive this battle. Angel reminds her that he doesn’t know the outcome, and that the only certainty that lies on the earthly realm is that the world will end. Buffy, now dressed as a Slayer from the 1980’s, and Angel dressed like a character from “Miami Vice”, reminds Angel that she needs to fight for her friends and family, not for happiness or humanity, but for them and them alone. Angel tells her that she has done her fighting for them, that where they are is the end of the earthly dimension and the beginning of a new era, and says that to start this new era, all she has to do is leave behind the earthly plane, including her friends and family. Buffy cannot do this and as she hears Xander cry out for her to help them, becomes more certain in her decision to go back, despite being meant to ascend to Twilight, noting that she never does what she is meant to do. Angel tries to get her to stay and ascend with him, and asks her if she seriously is going to halt everything the universe spent millions of years putting into motion; with a quick “yup”, Buffy starts to exit through the tear. She looks back at Angel with a sad look. Angel closes his eyes for a moment and says "okay, let's go." Buffy is moved to tears and she tells Angel that she missed him, to which Angel replies "I missed you too." As Buffy changes into her Slayer armor and Angel into his trademark black coat and white shirt, they exit through the tear together.

In a flash, the pair takes on the demons with ease, leaving Xander, Giles, and Dawn in amazement. Angel comes up to Willow, who says that she preferred his Angelus alter ego to his Twilight alter, and tells him that what he has coming to him for all he has done he had better hope doesn’t come to pass. Buffy, now floating, juggles numerous demons above her head with one hand, as she fights another with her other hand, questions how many demons there are, and Willow states they are near innumerable and there seems to be an infinity of demons attacking. Buffy tries to apologize to Willow, but Willow quickly forgives her and they continue to fight. Dawn notes that according to her scanner, there is another attack coming; only this time, the attacker has a weapon. Willow uses magic to see the attacker coming, and realizes that what is coming is not a weapon but a transportation device. Suddenly, a large submarine type machine comes crashing in and manages to squash some of the demons. As the group looks at the new arrival, a door opens and someone comes walking out. The operator of the device says that if they want to end all of this demon and Twilight nonsense, that he can help them. The mysterious operator turns out to be Spike.

Individuals

 * Buffy Summers
 * Angel
 * Rupert Giles
 * Willow Rosenberg
 * Dawn Summers
 * Xander Harris
 * Kennedy
 * Satsu
 * The General
 * Amy Madison
 * Faith Lehane
 * Andrew Wells
 * Warren Mears
 * Spike

Species

 * Witch
 * Vampire
 * Unspecefied Demon

Weapons and Objects

 * Stake
 * Sword
 * Hammer

Deaths

 * Several Unspecefied Demons

Collections

 * Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 7: Twilight

Quotes
"Yes, we had the sex part. Mother of mercy, we had the sex part."

- Angel

"Don’t you know me by now, Angel? I never do what I’m meant for."

- Buffy Summers

"What you got coming you better hope never comes. Go slay."

- Willow Rosenberg (to Angel)