After Team Angel succeeded in murdering Marcus Hamilton and the members of the Circle of the Black Thorn, and doing battle with the army of the Senior Partners, the Partners punished them by sending the city of Los Angeles and everyone in it into a hell dimension, while also punishing Angel for his betrayal by transforming him into a human to deprive him of his strength and abilities when he needed them most. To make matters worse, Charles Gunn was transformed into a vampire with delusions of heroism.

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