GUNN: Sorry, just got your message. Being close to Electric Gwen can really screw your equipment. What... (looks up from his pager at the gang) the hell happened to you?

FRED: Cordy's evil. Nice suit.

ANGEL: It's not Cordy.

WESLEY: We don't know that for certain.

GUNN: Whoa. Back it up for the new guy. You saying popping mama threw you a beating?

LORNE: Kid Vicious did the heavy lifting. Cordy just mwa-ha-ha'd at us.

GUNN: Why?

ANGEL: Beastmaster.

GUNN: You think she's working for him?

FRED: She is the Master.

GUNN: Guy steps out for a few hours, half the place goes super-villain.

ANGEL: Conner's not a part of this.

LORNE: Evidence upside my head to the contrary.

ANGEL: He's just... confused... again.

FRED: Now we know what she's been doing with him all this time. She was grooming him...

WESLEY: ...as her champion.

GUNN: She's the evil genius that's been two-stepping all over us. How? And when? (takes Lorne's drink from his hands) Give me a sip of that.

LORNE: Hey.

FRED: Has she been like this since she got back from that higher wherever?

GUNN: What about that amnesia thing? Was that a fake-out?

WESLEY: Or a side effect. Descending to a lower dimension was probably disorienting.

ANGEL: Or maybe this thing was curled deep inside for the trip on some kind of, you know, autopilot. Look, all we know for sure is that the real damage didn't start until after Lorne's spell.

FRED: Oh, my God. We woke it up.

LORNE: That's what I read. That's what Wolfram and Hart sucked out of my noodle. It wasn't Cordelia's future. It was the smacker-jack surprise.

GUNN: Damn thing's been playing us right from the start.

ANGEL: From the inside... where it could do the most damage. Everything the Beast couldn't have done, it was this thing. Spiked my blood at Gwen's. Snuck into the vault, killed Manny.

GUNN: Wait a minute. When Gwen and I came in, faux Cordy didn't have any blood on its clothes. How'd it abracadabra that?

WESLEY: Lizzie Borden. It wasn't wearing any.

ANGEL: Stripped down, then gave Manny forty whacks.

GUNN: Quick sponge down in the sink, and—

LORNE: Voila. Shower-fresh murder.

ANGEL: Taking out the Svear priestess was a lot easier. Slip out while the heroes are chasing their tails...and slaughter the only hope of banishing her pet Beast. While everyone was reeling from that failure, it was making sure my soul was off the market.

FRED: And the vision of the spell to re-ensoul you?

ANGEL: Misdirection. Getting everyone to look over here while the real action was happening over there.

LORNE: That explains why my mojo's been gunked up. Queen Bee-atch put the whammy on me.

ANGEL: And it let the monster out of the box. More misdirection, more blood, all designed to keep us off balance.

WESLEY: It was Cordelia. She murdered Lilah.

ANGEL: We don't know if it's really Cordy.

FRED: Or what she's got baking in her oven.

GUNN: Evil and pregnant? I'm guessing it ain't cookies.

• The Beast, the Beast's Master, Jasmine, etc

written by: Steven S. DeKnight; Original transcript by CariCranberry. Edited and formatted for this site by me.. Full transcript at:
http://www.buffyworld.com/angel/season4/transcripts/83_tran.php