Twilight (TPB)

For the titular villain, see Twilight

"Twilight" is the seventh story arc that spreads from the thirty-second to the thirty-fifth of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight series of comic books, a continuation from the television series of the same name.

Twilight, Part 1 (Issue #32)


CHAPTER ONE: BUFFY HAS F#©$ING SUPERPOWERS

In a dense forest in Tibet, Xander is putting Buffy through a battery of tests to determine what array of powers she now possesses. They discover that she is indeed faster than a speeding bullet, can leap tall buildings in a single bound (which she does while holding Xander in her arms) and can even hold a train over her head with one hand. Xander and Buffy are both in amazement over her powers, while Dawn appears worried.

Inside a hut, Willow is magically levitating books and candles while absent mindedly listening to Dawn rant about Buffy’s new powers. Dawn goes on to talk about how nobody seems worried about Buffy’s new abilities, where they came from or what the consequences are for having them. She uses her recent stint under a thricewise curse as an example to show that one does not get something without something having to be given in return, (i.e. Dawn’s transformations being the result of a curse laid on her by a demon) and says that even Andrew would be more wary about Buffy’s abilities then everyone else has been, which leads Willow to ponder his whereabouts, as she had always been under the impression he was with Buffy and Xander. Aside, Dawn wonders with all of these newfound powers, what they have unleashed in return.

Back in the jungle, Buffy and Xander are testing to see if Buffy has acquired any mental powers such as heat vision or x-ray vision, and after attempting to trigger both, she has learned these are not among her newfound powers.

Back in the hut, Willow talks to Satsu via a satellite phone and asks if she has had any luck finding Andrew, Faith or Giles. She notes that she has not and gives a bizarre story about what she had assumed Andrew had been doing but will keep looking for the three missing Scoobies. Dawn mentions that there is a real problem with Buffy’s powers, which Willow chalks up to Dawn missing her own abilities. This statement angers Dawn and she reminds Willow that she herself had just told her that her transformations were not really abilities and that Xander doesn’t have abilities either. Willow responds that while Xander doesn’t have powers, he still has Buffy, which Willow hints could be Dawn’s real reason for reacting the way she is about Buffy’s powers, since Xander is spending more time with Buffy.

Meanwhile, in the jungle, Xander continues to use his superhero knowledge to quiz Buffy on various superpowers including telepathy, Buffy jokingly reads Xander’s mind and is in shock of how much masturbation vibes she is reading, which Xander quickly realizes is Buffy not being serious. Cut back to Willow and Dawn, while Dawn tries to reassure Willow (and herself) that Xander and Buffy are just friends and have made peace with that fact, referring back to their conversation in the last issue. Willow is pleased to hear this, and tries to drill it into Dawn that even though they fought goddesses for 48 hours straight, not everything that happens to them is bad or is going to lead to the apocalypse. Dawn refers to the idea taken from “The Monkey’s Paw” that you cannot get the good without the bad.

In the jungle, Xander continues his quizzing of Buffy’s abilities, to which Buffy shows little interest in trying out any longer, until he asks “Can you phase?” Back at Willow’s hut, now surrounded by lit candles, Willow is again talking to Satsu, who has seen no signs of Giles or Faith, and off to the side, continues her debate with Dawn over Buffy, claiming that Buffy has always had powers, and Dawn stands her ground and after repeating “faster than a speeding-“ she realizes that Xander is living his superhero fantasies out through Buffy. Willow tells Dawn that these powers may be the universes way of thanking Buffy for defeating the Goddesses. Back in the jungle, Xander excitedly lectures Buffy on the fundamentals of phasing, but Buffy seems to show no interest, seeing no point in this particular power.

Back at Willow's hut, now levitating above a pentagram encircled by candles, Willow tries to cast a caller spell to locate Faith, Giles, and Andrew all while Dawn continues to try and convince her that Buffy’s power, the stronger it gets, the worse the evil will become and the bigger the monsters will be to fight. 7.2 miles away, at the Northern Cliffside, a pair of binoculars spies on Buffy and Xander. We soon see that the binoculars are being held by a general from Twilight’s army, along with Amy and Warren, who have been observing Buffy’s new powers and are wary that she will find them. Warren exhibits the same geeky nature that Xander does, while the general and Amy keep an eye out on Buffy. The general asks if Willow will find them, which Amy responds that she wouldn’t because Willow doesn’t know “it” happened yet. Back in the hut, Willow is still concentrating and casting her spell, and while Dawn continues to try and get her attention, Willow suddenly comes out of her spellcasting and warns Dawn that they need to leave.

As Xander and Buffy continue their training, Willow and Dawn come running up to them, citing that they have bad news, she has suddenly realized that Giles, Faith and Andrew are missing. Dawn interjects and says this is the consequences coming into play, Willow and Buffy loudly dismiss her theories, and she sadly walks over to Xander, claiming that nobody ever pays attention to her or listens to anything she says, while Xander himself is absent mindedly trying to figure out how to turn a wrist watch into a signal watch. Buffy and Willow discuss that the three were possibly teleported out of their perimeter which is why nobody sensed the magic that took them or noticed they were missing. Buffy orders Willow to cast an unhiding spell before she runs off in a blur. Back in the trees, Amy, Warren and the General are watching the Scoobies, and Amy realizes that Willow has figured out what has happened and how they got in. Back in Willow’s hut, she is casting a locator-type spell, which, despite being in another language, Buffy can understand that the spell is going to take her to the Slayer who needs her most, which means she is looking for Faith. Back in the jungle, Amy can sense that Willow has teleported away and the general orders them to be ready, because with Willow gone, their plan might work.

Willow has teleported to an unnumbered apartment building in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The apartment building hallway is disheveled and there is blood splattered everywhere, and she feels nauseous from the teleporting. She opens the door she was teleported in front of and hopes to find Faith, but is shockd to instead find a dead girl inside chained to a wall.

Back in Tibet, Xander and Dawn search for Buffy, who, in a speeding blur, rushes up next to them and tells them she checked all of Giles’ safe houses, including the ones in Budapest, England and Brussels. Dawn muses how she got there so fast, Xander guesses that she ran, but Buffy instead states that she flew. Buffy tries again to trigger a vision power, and hopes that she can rely on Willow bringing them news very soon.

Port of Miami, Florida. Willow is transported to a metal container on the docks. She notices the same disheveled look in the container that she noticed in the apartment building. She casts a light spell and reveals anti-Slayer graffiti on the walls and comes upon a wooden crate with something inside, hoping that it is Andrew playing a joke on her for youtube. She gets closer only to see yet another dead girl inside the crate.

Back at Twilight’s HQ, Andrew, Faith and Giles come out of their confusion and Andrew lays eyes upon something large in front of him-something he recognizes. Faith becomes irritated with Andrew speaking nerd that she warns him to stop or she will hit him hard. He doesn’t and she does. Andrew continues to babble out an explanation while recovering from the punch that Faith landed on his nose. He goes on to explain how the mechanism in front of him is a death trap for heroes straight out of the comic books, and explains further that he and Warren had talked about building one to kill Buffy and her friends (which he apologizes for). Faith questions their whereabouts and Andrew deducts they are in Twilight’s headquarters and not some prison, which Andrew realizes when he sees the death trap control room that Warren built for Twilight’s use, sending Andrew into a geeky jealousy fit. While Andrew drools over Twilight’s control room, Giles questions that if the three of them are in Twilight HQ, then where is everyone else.

Willow is now teleported to an unnamed marsh in the Atchafalaya Basin of Morgan City, Louisiana. As she makes her way through, she notes that like before she is in a strange place and smells a strange deathly odor lingering in the air. She realizes that there is a living person nearby, and soon a weak voice begs for help from the ground below. Willow runs to the aid of a seriously injured girl lying by the swamp. Willow senses that this girl is a Slayer, and quickly offers a healing spell. The girl, named Cori, tells her it would not be any use to waste her magic and begins to explain how “they” were training in Atlanta when a mob found them and attacked “them”. Willow questions exactly who the “they” are, and to her horror, she looks out into the swamp to see dozens of dead Slayers floating in the water. As she continues to weaken, Cori begs Willow not to tell Buffy they failed in their mission.

Back in Tibet, Buffy realizes she has telescopic vision and catches an eyeful of an elderly couple from Mykonos being intimate. Dawn redirects Buffy’s vision towards the cliffsides, and Buffy manages to spy something, Xander questions if it is the missing girls or Giles, Faith and Andrew, but Buffy says that they are not there, but somebody definitely is. The general is still on lookout for Buffy in the trees, Warren feels that Buffy has found them and they talk about how they are going to get away quick enough. Suddenly, the trio of villains looks in the sky and sees Buffy hovering over them. Buffy and the trio of villains are joined by Xander and Dawn, who are shocked to see that they surrendered so easily. The trio then go on to explain how Twilight used them to further his own agenda and then discarded them, which has made them angry enough to approach Buffy with an offer: if she helps them, they will help her destroy Twilight. Suddenly, Willow teleports nearby and Buffy uses her superspeed to join her. Willow tries to explain to Buffy that Dawn was right, that her powers are not all good and that she can feel that something bad is about to happen, and also goes on to explain that in her attempts to search for Giles, Faith and Andrew, she was led on another path instead. Willow breaks the news to Buffy that her powers are not gifts for defeating the goddesses, leaving Buffy confused. To further explain her point, Willow conjures magical holograms of the dead Slayers she encountered and shows them to Buffy, and continues to explain that while they were fighting the goddesses in Tibet for 48 hours straight, so many Slayers were killed, but what Willow discovered is that there were multiple and simultaneous attacks on the Slayers all over the world. Buffy becomes scared by what Willow is telling her, and Willow agrees that Buffy should be scared, and reveals that she is getting her powers from the girls-their girls—she has been sucking power from every Slayer who dies. Buffy looks horrified.

Back at Twilight HQ, Andrew and Giles discover the reason why they are the only three at the compound; because they were teleported in through Amy’s magic, which allowed Amy, Warren and the general to be teleported in and take the place of the three that were teleported out of Willows magical safety boundaries. As Andrew hacks the security codes to the control room, Faith and Giles recall that Riley told them there were four bad guys—Amy, Warren, the General and—before the thought can be finished Twilight comes out of the control room and faces Faith, Giles, and Andrew, and asks them if they would like to hear a really cool master plan.

Twilight, Part 2 (Issue #33)


CHAPTER TWO: THE MASTER PLAN

Buffy hovers above a lake feeling pangs of guilt after finding out that the source of her new abilities is from the power of dead Slayers. Xander attempts to use food and humor to try and raise Buffy’s spirits, but to no avail. Buffy now likens herself to be no better than a vampire because of the fact that she has sucked the power from the over two hundred Slayers that have died since the organization began. He tries to convince her that she isn’t killing them and taking the power but merely absorbing their power when they die, Buffy does not see the difference in the two scenarios and begins to cry.

Meanwhile at Twilight HQ, Standing before Faith, Giles and Andrew, Twilight contemplates who amongst the three will be the first to die. Giles begins to recognize Twilight’s voice, and Twilight is not surprised by this and reveals the masking of his voice was a spell cast by Amy to conceal his real identity, and without her magic to conceal it any longer, Giles can, if able, figure out the truth about who he is.

Back at the lake, Xander tries once more to cheer Buffy up and tells her that he knows what she can do, because he has seen it all, and even though she is gaining all of these abilities from deceased Slayers, there has got to be a reason why the universe is allowing her to have it. He reminds her that she was chosen for a reason and that she is meant to be where she is now. This seems to make Buffy feel better and Xander admits he stole the speech from Pa Kent in Superman I, and figured it would work on Buffy since the superpower scenarios are similar. Willow appears as a giant floating head to Xander and Buffy, urging Xander to hurry with Buffy and pondering the progress he has made with her. Buffy now appears ready for action and asks Xander what they need to do next, and Xander reveals they are going to find Twilight.

At Twilight HQ, Faith lunges for Twilight in the hopes of taking him on. He grabs her by the throat in mid-air and tries to make her realize that battling her would not be a fair fight. She reminds him she isn’t playing fair and kicks him in the groin. Unmoved by this in any way, he reminds Faith that he is invulnerable and throws her to the ground hard.

In Willow's hut, Willow and Amy are encircled by candles and surrounded by Slayers, including Buffy and Satsu as well as Dawn and Xander and the General and Warren. Willow and Amy trade insults while attempting to undo the magic that has been hiding Twilight’s HQ, which, Amy reveals, has been hidden three seconds in the future which makes it even harder to detect. Buffy can feel Faith’s pain as Twilight attacks her, and states that it is not just Faith she can feel, but other Slayers as well; Satsu finds this bizarre but they continue to monitor their screens for any signs of Twilight’s HQ. Warren and the General talk amongst themselves and Warren is angry that Twilight stole the headquarters after Warren used so much time and intelligence working on it. The general merely tells him to keep calm and that they will be back on track soon enough. Dawn and Xander overhear this, and Dawn becomes skeptical about trusting the trio who has done nothing but try to kill them in the past. Xander agrees but reminds her that before they can deal with Warren, Amy and the General, they must deal with Twilight first.

Cut to villain HQ, Faith is badly hurt on the ground at Twilight’s feet. He reminds her that he knows how strong she really is, but when she doesn’t get up right away, he seems generally concerned about her. Back at Willow’s hut, Amy and Willow continue their spell while Satsu monitors for any sign of the HQ showing up on the grid. Back at Twilight HQ, Giles begins to piece together Twilight’s abilities and begins to suspect that his powers are similar to Buffy’s new abilities. Soon, Satsu begins to see an outline of villain HQ and tells Buffy to be ready for take off very soon.

As Twilight stands over Giles, who is still cowering on the floor, Twilight begins to talk about Watchers and Slayers, and how throughout history, each Watcher has hoped that their Slayer would be THE girl, and Faith, still rebounding from her injuries, asks Giles what Twilight means. Twilight seems surprised that with all of the travelling Giles has done, that he would have told Buffy or at least Faith what he was truly looking for, and states that now that Giles hasn’t told Buffy the truth, it is too late for her to know what she has become. As he continues to speak about how Buffy cannot fight what she has come up against, Andrew, all decked out in various superhero garb, hits Twilight in the back of the head with a Frisbee. Meanwhile, the final three second countdown to the HQ reveal has begun and as soon as the location is revealed, Buffy takes flight. As Andrew and Twilight banter back and forth, Buffy flies into the side of Twilight’s citadel, and with superhuman strength, forces her way through and takes Twilight into her hands and brings him back into the air with her. As she talks about the lame choosing of his villainous name (comparing it to the book series of the same name), he pulls off his mask and his true identity shocks Buffy. Twilight isAngel.

Angel smiles at Buffy, who merely kicks him through the air and into the forest. Back at Twilight HQ, Andrew, Giles and Faith recover from their ordeal. Giles announces to the other two that Twilight is Angel and Andrew seems confident that Buffy will win against him. Giles tells him that she will not prevail and that no matter what she does now, there is no winning. Back in the forest, Angel and Buffy are playing a game of cat and mouse. Angel tries to find Buffy, who is convinced that he is really Angelus again. He hears this, and promises he is not Angelus, and deep down, Buffy knows that, she feels it. Angry and not caring, Buffy pulls a tree from the ground, whittles the end down with her teeth and hands to make a very large stake. Aiming for Angel, she throws the tree stake at him, but the minute it comes in contact with his body, it is reduced to nothing but wood chips. Willow, Xander and Satsu listen from below, and hear a sonic boom, Willow believes that the noise came from the pair fighting each other.

Buffy lashes out at Angel for causing the death of her Slayers, and as she tries in vain to hit him, he explains that he did not kill any Slayers and stating that the deaths were already happening, which Buffy blames on him and his anti-Slayer movement. Angel says that regardless, governments and powerful world individuals as well as demons were lining up to eliminate the Slayers, dubbed terrorists, which Buffy created. Angel says that if it weren’t for him, the amount of Slayer casualties would have been higher had he not donned the costume and united all the threats to her army under him with talks of a master plan. He sees Buffy’s attempts to hit him are getting nowhere, and when he tells her that hitting will not make her feel better, she knocks him through a bunch of trees. He recovers quickly and continues to talk to Buffy about how this time the power that she has isn’t coming from Slayers, and that it is like his power, and it is a power they have both been waiting for, what they have earned and what they need. Buffy, now glowing, tackles him through a few more trees, cursing him for lying to her about the power and asks why, if his intentions were so noble, he hid for all this time. Angel tells her he hasn’t been hiding, and tries to tell her that something happened to him in LA, something for the better but she doesn’t care about any of it, she just cares why he put her and her friends through what he did for the last year. He explains that when she shifted the balance of power by creating the Slayers, and that everything he had done was to distract the bad guys and focus her to what she has become. He tells her that what she feels inside right now isn’t rage, guilt or confusion, but rather the connection between them. She knows he is right but doesn’t say it and continues to fight him. He points out to her that every time she gets close to him, she begins to glow and that what they are doing isn’t just another fight, it is history in the making. Meanwhile, after the silence in the air, Willow, Xander and Satsu deduct that the pair are now talking.

Back in the forest, Buffy tries to play off her glowing body, which has expanded from her arm to her whole body and Angel tells her to just let go and give into the feeling and let her body do the talking. She does, and he tells her that her body is not talking, and Angel tells her it was not going to, but rather sing to her and that what she is feeling is joy. Reminding her of their painful pasts with a lack of joyful memories, and tells her that this power and this feeling are their future. Buffy tells him that he doesn’t know her anymore, and he agrees, but tells her there is a divine reason why he fell in love with her the moment he saw her and why they are where they are now and being blessed with an unholy power and also why they can never be happy with anyone but each other. He also tells her that there is a reason why her body is glowing and why even though he is so powerful right now, he feels weak because of the fear that she will leave not knowing the full truth of the glow and her power. He asks her, as she tears up, if she wants to be happy. They both begin to glow and Buffy hovers above the ground for a moment, staring into Angel’s eyes then pulls him into a deep, passionate kiss. Hearing another sonic boom, Xander and Satsu determine the pair are fighting again, but Willow thinks the sonic boom is the result of them having sex.

Twilight, Part 3 (Issue #34)


CHAPTER THREE: THEM F#©$ING (PLUS THE TRUE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE)

This issue picks up at Twilight HQ, as reinforcements (in the form of Willow, Dawn, Xander, Satsu, Amy, the General, and Warren) arrive. Faith is seriously injured and bleeding badly, but alive, Giles tends to her while the rest of the group takes in the realization of what just happened (while off to the side Warren argues with Andrew over his shield, each claiming ownership). Giles fills them in on Twilight’s true identity, while Willow pieces together that the forces at work in Buffy and Angel are the same forces that were at work in both of them when the originally met—passion and love, and Willow explains that these two powers are more potent forms of magicks then any of them realize. Xander tells Willow to do a spell to locate them, but she tries to explain that it would not be a good idea to find them at this moment in time, claiming that what they’re doing after being apart for so long is not something any of them need to see.

Cut to the jungle, Angel and Buffy are now semi-nude amidst the ruins of an old Tibetan temple. They begin to have sex, with such passion flowing through them, what should be very gentle actions are causing destruction to the temple.

Back at Twilight HQ, Faith recovers and quickly realizes that she has her powers back and that her wounds have healed. Satsu has picked up surface wave radar that can be used to track Angel and Buffy. Faith turns to Giles and begins to angrily ask him about what him and Angel were discussing. Giles remains silent for a moment, and suddenly, with the whole room waiting for him to speak, he finally does. He goes on to talk about how the Watchers Council, back in the 1680’s, thought something (referred to as “this” by Giles) was going to happen, so thirty of its members took their lives in fear. Willow begs him to tell them what is going on, he tries to convince them that what is happening was just a Watchers fairy tale, but Xander is quick to remind him of all they have seen and encountered and urges him to continue. We flash to another sequence of Buffy and Angel having sex, they are still at the temple, but Buffy, in throes of passion, begins to take flight, hovering a little of the ground as Angel tenderly kisses down her body before reaching the point of performing oral sex on Buffy.

Back at HQ, Satsu reads her scanner, and notes that Buffy and Angel aren’t moving, but they’re speeding up in another way. She quickly realizes what they are doing and hands off her scanner to Dawn and leaves upset. Faith continues to revel in the return of her powers while Giles continues to explain about how the Universe is answering. Xander has had enough of his vague references and angrily urges him to tell them how what is going on now is connected to the Universe. He explains that the Universe does not create anything it doesn’t need for its ecosystem and that in order to keep balance, the predators cannot overtake the prey in population or the prey will die out too quickly leading to the extinction of the predators. He then takes this analogy and refers it to Slayers. He talks of when the vampires first appeared on Earth, and that shortly after they appeared, so did the Slayer. We see flashbacks of past Slayers (the First Slayer staking a vampire and Claudine as she fights her last battle) as he explains that throughout history, wherever vampires were found so was the Slayer, generation after generation fighting and ultimately losing, and losing again, but even though Slayers constantly died, the balance was kept through the awakening of a new Slayer (we get flashbacks of the death of an 18th-19th century African American Slayer being killed by a vampire and a newly activated Slayer being called in the 1920’s). But Xander and Willow are confused and Xander asks how the balance is kept when it is one Slayer versus thousands of vampires. He simply states that the greatest battles are never fair. Dawn alerts the group that the Earth’s temperature rose 0.9 degrees and Andrew points out the waves in the oceans are churning 4% faster than normal. We are then shown another flashback to another past Slayer, this time a Slayer from India, fighting and losing to a vampire, and we are also shown a series of strange events happening in the world. We see a volcanic eruption in Luzon, Philippines and fish acting strangely in the Indian Ocean and Willow’s return to power three days previous after being hit with the ball of magical energy. Over these series of events, Giles is asked that if that even though Buffy and Angel miss and love each other, is it possible that she is being pulled by something far more ancient, powerful and destructive then anyone has ever experienced before, and that if the universe can create Slayers and Vampires to balance each other out, is it possible that the universe has something bigger planned for Buffy and Angel.

We cut to another scene of Buffy and Angel having sex, which causes an immense glow that can be seen miles from the mountains where they are hiding. As Buffy and Angel get closer to reaching orgasm, there is a series of strange events that occur in the world (the fish in the Indian Ocean acting strangely, a cyclone destroying a house, stones cracking and a Jaguar acting strangely.) As they reach climax, the pair burst through the side of the mountain and take to the skies in one powerful move.

Back at HQ, Andrew is reporting seaquakes being reported in the entire Arctic Ocean and Dawn informs the group that Buffy and Angel are moving at a super fast pace and are also using their super speed for personal purposes. Xander and Giles continue to discuss what is happening, and while Xander thinks that Buffy was given these powers by the universe to consummate her relationship with Angel, Giles again explains that these powers are the universes way of evolving her, as a way of protecting her from what is coming, which the Watcher’s Council referred to as “the next step up the metaphysical ladder.” Willow is worried about what is happening, and Giles warns that she should be, because Buffy’s powers are not just a reaction to a change in the universe, but it is the universe’s way of giving birth to a new reality. During this time, Buffy and Angel continue to have sex as they use superspeed to fly through the sky, they fly over the ocean and pass right through the side of another mountain, and come out unharmed on the other side.

Giles continues his tale to the group, (and we flashback to a more recent Slayer of ethnic origin, possibly Asian or Hispanic, hunting a vampire and being drained by him and left bleeding on the street) that for centuries, the universe watched and waited for the arrival of a Slayer who measured up to its test, but was disappointed with the failure of each passing generation, until the arrival of Buffy Summers, who did the one thing that no Slayer before her had done—She shared the mystical power of the Slayer, and not just that, but with the aid of Willow and the Scythe, created the power, and thus, created a new breed-a new evolution. Dawn then says the Earth’s temperature is up 1.2 degrees and that there is a mass of hurricanes happening in the world. Amy’s magic detects quaking and rumbling, she then words that “it’s” coming. (During this conversation Buffy and Angel continue to have sex, this time rising high above the earth.)

Giles continues to tell that because of Buffy creating the Slayer army, the universe rewarded her with the powers, as a way to step up to the next phase of evolution, with the power to survive the “Twilight.” Warren interjects that he hasn’t the faintest idea what the evolution of Buffy has to do with Angel. Willow explains to him that Angel is the part of the equation to balance Buffy, and explains that while Buffy was the first Slayer to share her power, in the grand scheme of her place in Slayer history, she was also the first to love a vampire. Dawn can no longer detect the whereabouts of Buffy and Angel, and Willow assumes it is because they are no longer on this plane of existence. As Buffy and Angel plummet towards Earth, the oceans churn as they pick up speed. During their plummet back to Earth, Willow ponders that maybe the pair is travelling through time. We are presented with a series of timeslips, the first showing Buffy and Spike, ready to fight a large demon (this occurrence will happen soon) the second shows Willow being hit with the mystical energy (this occurrence happened three days previous) and the third shows Willow, in the current moment, coming to the realization that whatever Buffy and Angel are under the influence of, will not allow Buffy to stake Angel, and that the universe is urging on their actions. Another timeslip shows us the 23rd century, with Melaka Fray in possession of the Scythe. Willow continues to explain her theory, that two of Buffy’s greatest loves, Spike and Angel, were vampires, humans infected by demons, just like Slayers, and it is that connection that Buffy is destined to make. Giles agrees and comes to the conclusion once this happens, the regular humans that populate the Earth will cease to exist, and that the Old Ones, the ancient magicks and demons will come pouring back into our dimension. Amy’s magic picks up an inter-dimensional rift and an army of demons come pouring out. As the army of demons descend on Twilight HQ, Faith confronts Giles about what Angel said he was searching for in England and Germany. He explains that there was said to be a totem in existence, and as horrible as it sounds, he was going to use the totem to kill Buffy as it was rumored to be the only thing in existence to destroy the Slayer who had reached the status of a god, but states that it is too late now, because Twilight has arrived. Twilight HQ crumbles around the group, and Buffy and Angel come around, dressed in god and goddess garb and realize that they have pierced the final wall and they are now in the dimension known as Twilight.

Twilight, Part 4 (Issue #35)


THE FINAL CHAPTER: THE POWER OF LOVE

The issue begins with 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, who agrees to go with her. 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.

Canonical issues

 * See also: canon

This series has been described as 'canon' by both Whedon and various commentators. As the creator of Buffy, Joss Whedon's association with Buffyverse story is often linked to how canonical the various stories are. Since Whedon is writing this story, it will be seen as a continuation of the official continuity established by Buffy and Angel.

This may mean it contradicts information given in the previously released Expanded Universe Queen of the Slayers, and Dark Congress.

Timing
Intended to be set a year and a half after Buffy ' s seventh season and also after Angel ' s fifth and Angel: After the Fall. More specifically this arc occurs after Buffy Season eight issues #26-30, Retreat.

Trivia

 * This arc will feature the storyline to finally reveal both Twilight's identity and true plans.
 * Buffy's clothing in #32 is modeled after that of the Doctor Who character Jenny, the cloned daughter of that series eponymous protagonist (more specifically his tenth incarnation), as she appeared in her debut episode. The reason for this is because Georges Jeanty felt that Jenny was clearly influenced by Buffy and decided to return the favor.
 * This marks the first time that Angel and Dawn have truly met in person: though Angel and Dawn know one another, they have never technically met, as Dawn was once the Key and Angel had long since left Sunnydale by the time Dawn appeared.
 * This is the first time that Giles and Xander have seen Angel in person since the events of "Pangs".