Synopsis of Judgment
Written by TK
A green demon with red horns in a white tuxedo on a stage sings the beginning of "I Will Survive" and talks about how awful and wonderful L.A. is.
Cordelia is in acting class, and is doing a fabulous job. She is about to retry a scene with a slightly different motivation when her beeper goes off. She looks at it and it says 911. She grabs her stuff, says duty calls, and takes off.
Wesley is in a bar, shooting an incredible game of darts and being hit on by a blonde. His beeper goes off. It's 911. He grabs his money and takes off.
Angel bursts through the front doors of a gym with Cordelia and Wesley in tow. A guy who works there tries to stop them as they stomp their way to the weight-lifting area with the big wall mirrors. Angel smashes a mirror and behind it is a bunch of demons with some humans held captive. The threesome kick the demons' butts, set the humans free, and leave, leaving the guy who works there dumfounded.
The gang is at Cordelia's apartment. Cordy and Wesley are going over their big white-board chart of demons they've defeated, and talking about what Wolfram & Hart might have raised in that big box. Meanwhile, Angel is talking about how, y'know, if he were human, it might not be so bad to join a gym. Cordelia sneezes and the guys immediately think it's a vision. Then she sneezes again and has a vision directly afterwards. She sees a really big ugly gray demon with big horns that looks really vicious.
At Wolfram & Hart, Lilah walks into Lindsey's office where he's struggling with a CD with his bad hand. He's putting on Brahms for Darla who sings along. Darla talks about how she can sense that Angel is nearby, and how Angel got a soul and killed her. Lindsey talks about how Angel has hurt him as well, and maybe they can help each other out. Darla says she would love to see Angel again.
Back at Cordy's, the gang is trying to figure out what Cordy's vision meant and what the demon was that she saw. Dennis the ghost helps out by giving a book to Wesley, and in it Cordy spots the demon from her vision. It turns out to be the very vicious Prio Motu. They have no idea where to find it, however. Wesley suggests they go to this demon haven that he knows about where his informant, Merle, hangs out.
Wesley's demon haven turns out to be a karaoke bar called Caritas. They watch a demon sing "I'm so excited," and then the green demon with red horns pulls the singer aside to tell him his fortune. They hunt down Merle, who is sitting gloomily at the bar, and between bribes and threats get him to tell them where they might be able to find the Prio Motu who is in town. He warns them that Prios are the most dangerous demons around, they're serious warriors. On their way out, the green demon with red horns tries to get Angel to sing karaoke. Wesley explains that this green demon can tell your fortune when you bare your soul by singing. Angel says there is no way that he will sing. They leave.
Angel goes hunting for the Prio Motu and encounters a pregnant woman is obviously scared and seems to be running from something. The huge scary-looking Prio Motu comes running after her, and he and Angel immediately start fighting. He puts up a good fight, but Angel ends up defeating him and snapping his neck. The woman, to Angel's surprise, cries and cradles the Prio's head her lap, yelling at Angel for killing her protector, her only friend in the world. Angel is incredibly confused. He thought the Prio was a cold blooded killer, but now this woman is saying that the Prio was supposed to be her protector for the tribunal. Angel doesn't understand anything, and he tries to explain to the woman that he was just trying to help, but she's not interested in listening and runs away.
Back at Cordy's apartment, Angel explains to his partners what happened. They can't understand it either: that a cold-blooded killer would suddenly turn into a protector of the innocent. Suddenly, they realize that what they just said describes Angel as well. Angel can't believe that he basically killed another being that was trying to do what he is trying to do: redeem himself for his evil doings in the past. Angel decides that the Prio's mission is now his. He just has to figure out what that is. Angel decides to go out and figure out where the Prio lived, while he tells Wesley and Cordy to research something called the tribunal.
Angel finds Merle again in a back alley and asks him why he lied about the Prio. Merle says that all the demons know that there is a price on the unborn child's head, and that since the Prio was protecting the pregnant woman, no one could get near it. Now that the Prio is gone, every demon in town is going to be hunting that poor woman. Apparently the woman's soon-to-be-born daughter is going to be a great seer or leader or something, and the forces of evil are trying to prevent her birth. Angel shakes Merle and gets him to tell him the neighborhood where the Prio lived, although Merle doesn't know exactly where.
A yuppy is about to get in his nice car and drive home when a gang of three tough looking guys walks up. He immediately tells them to take the car and starts running. The three guys run after him. Suddenly, his path is cut off by a vampire, and then he's surrounded by vampires. The three guys catch up to him and slay all the vampires. The leader of the three turns out to be Gunn. When the vampires are gone, Gunn turns to the stunned yuppy and tells him that he should probably be getting on home. The yuppy runs back to his car. Gunn yells after him that a "thank you" would be nice. Angel walks up and greets Gunn. He tells Gunn about the Prio Motu and asks for his help finding where the demon lived since no one knows the squatters quarters better than Gunn.
After hunting around a bit, Gunn and Angel find the Prio's home behind a fake vent in the basement of a building. Through looking through the demon's stuff, Angle finds out that his name was Kamal, and he also discovers and important looking carved metal disc. He gives the disc to Gunn and asks him to take it to Cordy and Wesley at Cordy's apartment and tell them it might have something to do with the tribunal. Gunn takes off. Angel continues to look through Kamal's stuff, and finds an altar of sorts where he lights a candle to sort of honor Kamal's death. The pregnant woman comes in through the fake vent door, and after Angel almost kills her with Kamal's sword before figuring out that it's her, they start talking. The woman admits that she doesn't really understand what's going on: all the medieval stuff and the importance tied to her baby doesn't make sense. She just wants to protect her daughter. Angel says that Kamal's mission is his now, and he wants to protect her. The woman is desperately searching for what Kamal called a coat of arms, because she's going to need to present it at the tribunal. Angel describes the disc he found and she says that's it, and he apologizes because he just sent it back to his partners. She can't believe that he's still making her life more difficult. He says he can take her to where the coat of arms is, and she says that he's already helped enough, thank you. She tries to leave, but as soon as she opens the door a huge demon attacks her. Angel fights it off, but makes sure to ask the woman before he kills it. He squishes the demon in the door and they make a run for it.
Gunn comes over to Cordy's apartment, and after an initial confusion over his name (they think there's someone at the door with a gun) they let him in. He messes with them a little but is basically friendly, and tells them how he watched over them in the hospital after their office blew up. He says he was hoping to do some demon fighting tonight, but instead he became a messenger. He hands over the disc.
Angel and the pregnant woman find themselves in a strange building where all the furniture is covered with sheets. The woman looks at Angel looking around and realizes that he's been here before. She says it's creepy and he agrees. She explains that a tribunal is a kind of otherworldly court, and Kamal was going to be her champion. Angel says he'll be her champion now. They hear noises of approaching demons, and Angel tells the woman to go to Cordy's apartment and he'll meet her there. Angel fights the two big demons that arrive as the woman makes a run for it.
Angel shows up at Cordy's, but the pregnant woman isn't there. He's upset. Cordelia tries to tell him that this isn't all his fault. Angel says that he saw the light at the end of the tunnel... he was thinking that someday he might be human again. He felt so close, but now he's screwed up. Cordelia assures him that no matter how long it takes, she'll stand by him until it happens. Wesley explains that the tribunal is an ancient court to settle grievances, but the judgment is really a fight to the death. The disc, the coat of arms, is presented at the tribunal. The tribunal can just sort of pop up anywhere in our realm when it wants. Angel realizes he really has to find the woman, because she needs a champion to fight for her. He can think of only one way to find her.
Angel sings "Mandy" at the karaoke bar, and he sings it horribly. The green demon with red horns sits down with him afterwards and explains that killing that Prio was an honest mistake, and that the tribunal will find the pregnant woman wherever she is, she can't escape it. The demon predicts that it will be on the corner of 4th and Spring, and it will be soon. The demon also asks Angel why he sang "Mandy." Angel says he knows the words... and he thinks it's pretty.
The pregnant woman is running down a street in L.A. Suddenly, a huge platform rises up out of the ground with three black-clad men sitting on it. She sees a knight on horseback wearing armor and carrying a long pole and a shield come trotting down the street towards her. The knight throws his coat of arms on the ground in front of the tribunal. One of the men on the platform asks the woman where her coat of arms and her champion are. She says her champion is dead and asks for asylum. The black-clad man says she has no coat of arms and no champion, so her life is forfeit. The demon knight draws his sword to kill the woman. Just then, Angel walks up and throws down her coat of arms with the knight's, saying that he is the woman's champion. She is greatly relieved to see him. She asks Angel if he knows what to do on horseback, and he says he'll be fine. He gets on horseback (I have no idea where the horse came from) and grabs the pole and sword that were attached to the saddle. The knight and Angel go galloping towards eachother, and Angel strikes the first blow. They gallop towards eachother again, and this time the knight knocks Angel off his horse. They fight turns into a sword fight on foot, and the knight manages to stab Angel. Angel falls and the knight turns to claim his prize, the woman. Just as the knight is about to kill the woman, Angel rises up and cuts off the knight's head. The tribunal says that the woman is now under their protection.
Angel is back at Cordy's apartment with his partners. He puts away the big whiteboard they've been using to keep track off all the demons they've killed. They all realize they shouldn't be keeping score, they should just do their job.
Angel is in a visiting room at the local jail. He's visiting with Faith. Faith tells him about how some girl jumped her with a knife today, and how she got the knife away from the girl and resisted killing her, but got beaten by the guards for her trouble. Angel explains how he had to sing Barry Manilow in front of people. They both agree that Angel had the worse day, and they're both working hard towards redemption.
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