The Ring


By: Ivory

Disclaimer: I don't own them.

Author's Notes: I own no one.  They are all the property of Joss Whedon.  Aside from that, I suppose this story and the ones that will follow it require some explanation.  As of the latest episode, “Expecting,” I have decided it might be fun to write down journal entries the way I imagine Cordelia would write them.  There will be at least one to mark each episode of the series thus far, and will end whenever the Angel Series Finale airs.  Hope you enjoy the look into Cordelia’s mind as much as I will enjoy writing about it.

On a side note, each entry will be subtitled with a quote from the episode of which it’s about.  Enjoy:

“You'd Think People Would Get Enough Gratuitous Violence Watching Jerry Springer.”

February 27, 2000

As always, Angel is the ultimate good guy, a vampire with a human soul.  But some people don’t see it that way; to them, he’s just one more demon who will get killed in some form or other.  But, of those people, the ones who cross the line are the ones who try to play God with the fates.  As a result of that, Angel took quite a beating during our latest adventure, not just physically but also to his pride.

Again, I wasn’t around for most of the action Angel experienced, but I made him give me details in full later..  This case started out normally enough.  We had a guy walk into the office (badly beaten) with the story that his younger brother (Jack) had been kidnapped last night, by some demons hired by some bookies he had owed money to.  Big brother (Darin) had tried to stop it, but failed--thus he came to us to find and rescue Jack for him.

Finding Jack was no big challenge; the real trouble started when my vampire boss had tracked him down... or so I’m told.  Angel went first through the bookies, and that led him to two Howler demons in the sewers, which led to a sport’s arena of sorts on the fringes of town.  Imagine Angel’s surprise though when he finds Jack alive and kicking, not to mention Darin looking remarkably healthy for someone who was beaten.  In short, it was both a setup and a trap to lure Angel into their clutches; they were able to subdue him in moments.

When he awoke, Angel found himself in a serious mess.  Not only was he being held prisoner by these brothers, but so were a group of other assorted demons.  All of which were expected to fight for their freedom, in gladiator-like matches of which twenty-one kills were required... A condition to which Angel is very much opposed; he’s very much against killing humans at this juncture, not to mention innocent (or not-so-innocent) demons.

While this was going on, I was growing a little bit frantic over Angel’s disappearance and the fact that we couldn‘t reach Darin.  This eventually prodded Wesley to go to this bookie to see if he could find out where our boss was; our search, too, led straight to this arena.  Once there, Wes and I used a rather convincing cover story to obtain tickets from two other hapless spectators.  And not only did we find Darin, but we also caught Angel in the middle of a fight.

I noticed right off that Angel and his opponent were both fitted with some kind of bracelets, which Wesley explained were designed to keep them here.  Should they try to cross the boundaries of their prison while wearing one, they’d immediately disintegrate.  I didn’t have much time to process that statement, because the fight ended rather quickly.

I can’t get over how defeated Angel looked when he made that kill, even if his instincts were only attuned to surviving.  As he would tell me later, to pay that kind of price for freedom... in his eyes, not even that is worth spilling the blood of twenty-one innocents (or the immoral, if that be the case).  In any event, it had me grabbing one of those bracelets when Darin carelessly set it down, while neither he nor Wesley was looking.

So it was, returning to the office, that Wes and I tried to come up with a key.  Such a feat didn’t prove easy, and we had to test quite a few different things before I suggested using horse hair.  Which I provided, of course; a little souvenir of my rich lifestyle before the IRS took it away...  Imagine my elation and Wesley’s when it actually worked!  All we had to do was get this key to Angel and we’d be home free.

I should mention that while Wesley and I were working at this task, Angel was doing his darndest to work his cellmates into an act of rebellion.  However, it seemed he was failing at every turn, most notably when he took Jack hostage in an attempt to escape.  The real kicker is that Darin actually SHOT and killed his brother, a more preferable choice for him!

Wesley and I again got into the arena using the same method we had that first night, and the two of us were quick to sneak down to the holding cells.  I distracted the guard just long enough for Wesley to run in and out of there, only when I got up to the arena, I was horrified to find Angel engaged in his second fight, against the ring’s favorite champion, Trepkos.  Wesley had even more disheartening news to share when we regrouped; one of the other inmates had grabbed the key primarily for itself.  So, it called for the two of us to come up with a new immediate plan, to literally go gunning for Darin himself.

Before we could, though, our attention was caught when we saw Angel had Trepkos down for the count, prepared to deliver the killing blow, but stopped short of doing so.  But what’s even MORE surprising is that Trepkos responded in kind, which I’m sure came as a great disappointment to all those raving fans (GOOD!).

This little spectacle must have had an impact on whichever demon took that key, for next thing we knew, the whole lot of them were on the loose, fighting their way out of that place.  At the same time, Wesley and I knocked Darin into the pit, where one demon cuffed him with the same bracelet...  And no, Darin won’t have the luxury of starving to death down there.  This demon, Trepkos, saw to that; I’m told he did make twenty-one kills, but none was more justified than that last one.

Of course, Angel could barely walk after that thrashing that Trepkos gave him, so Wesley and I were courteous enough to help him out.  And as the three of us watched the other captives disappearing into the night, I couldn’t help but note out loud that these WERE demons!  We didn’t even know which were good and which were evil, so it was back to the office to research them all based on what Angel remembered.

In closing, I’ll just state that I know we’ll encounter some of them again.  Where we go from there depends solely on what we learned.  But one thing’s for sure: captivity and the fight for freedom makes all demons equal, and boy, am I GLAD for that!

THE END

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