Death Valley blipvert. Angel and Gwen clamber down some fake rocks. Angel reaches the ground, and then Gwen slips and falls into his arms. "I did that on purpose!" she insists. Angel observes, "That's pretty pathetic." Heh. She asks, "If it's a lie or if it's the truth?" Before Angel can think that through, there's a noise, and they go to investigate.

Angel holds a sword at the ready as they poke around in a cave. Gwen asks if they're trying to protect Semkhet. Angel says, "We are. Unless it's evil. So if it is, we prevent the Beast from killing it by killing it ourselves." Okay, I guess. They're spared that problem, though, as they discover when they find a dismembered body in the cave. It doesn't look all that much like a skinless saber-toothed tiger. It looks more like half a guy in a cat-mask. Given that it's already sliced up and they don't have to make the body move, couldn't they have made it non-human? Just asking. Angel says, "The Beast is systematically executing these totems. Just don't know why." Someone says, "I do!" A middle-aged man in a Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts peers around a corner and explains, "He's gonna turn out the sun!"

After some ads, Angel asks the guy what he's doing in the cave. The guy says, "Standing in the remains of my fallen brethren, trying not to have an anxiety attack." It's not really "brethren" if there's only one of them. Introductions are exchanged, and the guy says he's "Manjet, sacred guardian of the Shen, keeper of the Orb of Ma'at, and devotee of light. Off-hours I like 'Manny.'" Angel and Gwen are startled, to say the least, and Gwen asks why Manny isn't in Belize. Manny explains, "I heard Mesektet got whacked. Never liked that chick -- evil, right down to her Mary Janes. But family. What're you gonna do?" Angel is curious about this "turning out the sun" idea, and asks if it's a metaphor. Manny says, "I don't speak College-Boy; I said what I meant." Heh. He insists that the Beast is killing the totems in order to "blot out the sun." But he'll have to do a few other things as well: "There's props, and a ritual, and a chant, and a thing..." Manny says he wasn't ever worried about this happening before since the totems are pretty powerful, but now that he's the only one left alive, he's feeling mighty doomed. Gwen asks what happens when the sun goes dark. Manny sets the mood by describing how all the demons in Los Angeles will be able to rock and roll all night and party every day. He says, "It'll become a --" "Demon playground," Angel finishes, bringing to mind pictures of cute little demons on swings. Or is that just me? Manny goes on to say that the darkness will spread: "California. North America. Eventually, hello global blackout. The world is the devil's oyster." With that, Manny wishes them luck and starts to leave, explaining that he wants to spend his remaining hours "with [his] oldest, dearest friends down at the Pink Pony lounge." He offers to buy Gwen a lapdance. Angel insists that they can protect him. Manny says, "Superhunk and Spandexia? This thing takes out Mesektet, and you two are gonna protect me?" That's not really fair. Gwen isn't wearing spandex. Angel points out that Manny has a better chance with them than on his own, and Manny leans over to ask Angel if Gwen will give him a lapdance. Angel stares off in the distance wondering if that was supposed to be funny.