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TRANSCRIPT:
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Opening credits.

 

Act I

A man is running inside what looks like an abandoned factory. He continues running until he's on an exterior steel walkway. He leaps off the end of the walkway, about a 4-storey drop. He lands on his feet, crouches a moment with his fingertips to the ground, then runs off at speed. He pauses at the edge of another building on the grounds and looks back. There is another man wearing a long dark coat making the same leap he has just completed. When the second man lands, we see he has on dark clothing, high combat boots, leather gloves and a chunky silver ring on his right index finger outside his glove. Shift to reveal that it is Ian Nottingham.

 

 

Cut to Sara Pezzini, in dress uniform, cap tucked under her left arm walking into a room.

Sara in voiceover: It all started three weeks ago.

Flash to the Witchblade opening its eye in the museum.

Sara in voiceover: That's when I first encountered the Witchblade. It saved my life.

Flash to the Witchblade flying to Sara in the museum.

 

 

Cut back to Sara walking through the police station.

Sara in voiceover: Since then, I've learned a little more about the Witchblade ...

Flash to Kenneth Irons sitting at his chessboard.

Sara in voiceover: ... from one of the city's most powerful men.

Flash to Irons.

Irons (memory) : You can use the Witchblade to pierce the veil of the senses.

Flash to Danny Woo's funeral.

Sara in voiceover: Lost my partner ...

Flash to Gallo in an alley with Sara's father years ago.

Sara in voiceover: ... found out who killed my father ...

Flash to Ian standing in the cemetery in his fur-trimmed coat.

Sara in voiceover: ... and met some very strange people.

Back to Sara walking in the police station. The Witchblade is a simple bracelet peeking beyond the cuff of her uniform.

Sara in voiceover: Today's gonna be a tough one.

Cut to Sara standing in front of a long table with three men sitting behind it. Another man is standing behind the table. {Since I know his name, Dante, I'll use it.}

Dante: Your explanation of what happened at the Rialto leaves much too much to the imagination. I don't like to have to use my imagination, Detective.

Sara nods once.

Dante: Five men were killed and partially dismembered.Cut to a close up of the Witchblade. It's glowing. Sara turns the stone to the inside of her wrist and then puts her hand behind her back.

Dante: Traces of an unidentifiable metal were found in their bodies.

Cut to side view of Sara. Beyond her we can see Jake, also in dress uniform, sitting in a chair.

Dante: And your new partner, Jake McCartey, can't give us any information except that a man dressed in black knocked him out.

Sara: Captain, they killed my partner right before my eyes.

Flash to Gallo shooting Danny at the Rialto.

Sara: I honestly don't know exactly what happened after that.

Joe Siri, one of the men seated at the table, rises and turns to Dante.

Siri: Captain Dante, in Detective Pezzini's defense, we took fourteen weapons off Gallo's men.

Flash to the Rialto. Men seen as shadows are firing guns. A gun flies through the air. Sara uses the Witchblade gauntlet to deflect a bullet.

Siri: It was a ballistic free-for-all.

Dante: Ballistics don't explain the wounds that came from some kind of blade.

 

Close up to the Witchblade behind Sara's back. The stone is glowing. The bracelet changes shape to a more ornate bracelet. Sara frowns slightly.

Flash to the Witchblade changing to a gauntlet on Sara's arm. The Witchblade deflecting a bullet. Sara's fight in the Rialto using the blade.

Dante: All right. What about this man in black that hit McCartey? Did you happen to see him?

Flash to Ian kicking a downed Jake unconscious. Flash to a close up of Ian's eyes. Flash to Ian sitting on some kind of scaffolding. Flash to close up of Ian's eyes.

Sara looks over at Jake.

Dante (voice rising): Answer the question please, Detective!

Sara: I don't know who knocked Jake out, sir.

Dante: Pezzini, you're hiding something. I don't know what it is, but I'm gonna find out.

 

Cut to Jake shifting his eyes back and forth between Dante and Sara.

 

 

Dante: You know, for someone who just lost a partner, you seem remarkably uncommunicative about what happened. You're a lot like your father ... a loner ... a rogue ...

 

Cut to Sara. She's pissed. She loses her "at attention" stance and takes a couple steps toward the table.

Sara: You have absolutely no right to talk about my father like that. Who the hell do you think you are?

Dante: Your new boss.

Sara: Excuse me?

Dante: Captain Siri's retiring. I'll be heading up Homicide as well as Special Investigations.

Sara looks to Siri and he nods.

Dante: Your future with this department is riding on the decision of this board. We'll try to be quick, Miss Pezzini.

Sara: Thank you ...

Sara drops her shield on the table.

Sara: ... Mister Dante.

Sara turns and walks briskly out. The others get up, leaving the room, too.

Sara pauses a moment in the hall to take a deep breath and tuck the Witchblade, which is glowing, into her cuff. She continues on her way and Jake comes out of the room right behind her, tugging at his collar.

Jake: Hey, Pez! What do you say I buy you some lunch after we get changed?

 

 

Cut back to the room. Dante and Siri are still there.

Siri: Let her walk on this. Let the feud die.

Dante: I can't do that, Joe.

Siri: Look ... You do this for me, and I owe you ... big.

Dante pauses to think. He finally nods.

Dante: I do this for you, I'll collect big.

Dante walks off.

 

 

Cut to Jake and Sara in his car. Jake's driving. Police radio chatter can be heard in the background.

Sara is looking at the Witchblade, now dark. Flash to Danny Woo.

Danny (memory): You're wearing the Witchblade. That's the reason you can see me. Keep it on.

Sara looks out the car window and sees Danny standing next to a dumpster as they pass. Sara turns her head to try to keep him in sight. Turning back, she looks like she's {ahem} seen a ghost.

Jake: You OK?

Sara: I've never been OK.

They both give a little laugh.

Sara: I can't believe Joe's retiring and I cannot believe I had to find out like that.

Jake: Yeah. It pretty much sucks.

Sara: Sure does. Thanks for the lunch offer, Jake.

Jake: Well, hey. It's the least I could do. You are my partner.

Sara: "Ex-partner" from the looks of it.

Jake: Ah ... I'm sure they'll reinstate you before we even get to the fortune cookies.

Sara: You know what? Whatever. I could use a break.

Sara looks at the Witchblade.

Irons in voiceover: Embrace your destiny, Sara.

Cut to Ian, on the roof of another building on the grounds of that abandoned factory. He stands at one end of a little valley formed by low peaks in the roof to either side. At the other end, the man he was chasing peeks out from behind one of the roof peaks. Ian raises his right hand with his right index finger bent. The other man {all right, his name is Moby} darts between the "hills," firing a gun at Ian. They keep running across the rooftop, Moby shooting and Ian on his side dodging.

 

 

Cut back to Jake and Sara.

Voice over the radio: Shots fired. Shots fired at the corner of Bleeker and George. All units please respond.

Jake looks at Sara. Sara raises her eyebrows. Jake whips the car into a rather messy u-turn. Lights on and sirens going, they head for the scene.

 

 

Cut to Moby grabbing a motorcycle helmet and running into a tunnel. Ian walks into the tunnel a short distance then stops. Two motorcycles come slowly toward him from the tunnel then cease moving. Ian tilts his head a bit. A third motorcycle joins the first two.

Close up on Ian's face. You know he's got to be thinking, "Trap," but he almost smiles.

The motorcyclists, Moby in the middle, rev their engines and start toward Ian.

Ian turns sideways, putting his right side to them. Behind Ian, there is a woman walking her dog beyond the tunnel. All three cyclists fire pistols at Ian. Ian twists, his coat flaring out wide. Behind him, the woman goes down.

Ian starts running toward the bikers and then leaps and somersaults over them.

 

 

Cut to exterior shot of the tunnel entrance. Sounds of shots, collisions and men yelling.

 

 

Cut to Jake's car arriving. Jake and Sara get out. One motorcycle exits slowly, the rider barely staying on his bike. He rides a few feet more, then falls over, thrown well clear of the bike. His helmet falls off.

Another biker exits, much more in control.

Jake (drawing his weapon): Police! Stop!

Sara reaches down to her hip for her own gun, but it's not there. {Her being suspended pending review and all.}

The motorcyclist still on his bike fires at Jake several times. Jake ducks. Sara jumps over and pushes him down. Jake is holding his shoulder. Sara takes Jake's gun and returns fire. The cyclist races off. Sara and Jake are both on the ground. Jake's still holding his shoulder.

Sara: You OK?

Jake: Yeah. Go, go, go!

Sara gets up, runs to the downed cyclist's bike, grabs his helmet, and gives chase. {You leave your injured partner, alone, weaponless at a scene with an unknown number of armed antagonists?!}

Close ups show that the escaping biker is Moby. He keeps shooting at Sara, but misses.

They eventually make it to an open field with two very large mounds of earth. Moby jumps up and over one to the other and down out of sight on the other side. When Moby started up the first mound, Sara had stopped. {Why, I don't know} Now she looks at the Witchblade and it's glowing. She revs and goes up the first mound. As she gets airborne, Moby comes back over the top of the other mound. While in mid-air, Sara leaves her bike, hanging onto the handlebars, and puts her body parallel to the ground. A bullet passes between her and the bike. Sara and Moby both land and Moby escapes.

 

 

Cut back to the factory area. Sara arrives on the cycle. Other police are now on the scene. There is a corpse on an ambulance gurney nearby.

Sara (to Jake): How's your arm?

Jake: Ah ... it's just a flesh wound.

Jake walks up to Sara. She's looking at her hands.

Jake: You all right?

Sara: Yeah. Lost him, he was good. Sure you're OK?

Jake: Never been OK.

Camera shift. In another spot is a second gurney, this guy alive. There are three men around him, fire department and police.

Sara: I hear that. Fill me in.

They are walking toward the ambulance gurney nearby.

Jake (pointing to the other gurney): He's alive.

Jake (pointing to the gurney they're walking to): He was dead by the time I got there. Broken neck. He never made it out of the tunnel.

Jake (points to the side of the yard): Witness said there were four people involved. Said it looked like some kind of ambush.

The sheet covering the dead biker is pulled back. On the side of his neck is a tattoo of a Chinese-style dragon.

Jake: Three bikers against a guy dressed in black. Said the guy in black caught the bullets in his hands.

They both turn to look at the witness, a long-haired man in his late forties.

Sara: Doesn't look like the most reliable witness in the world.

Jake: Yeah. No kidding. A young woman was caught in the crossfire. She's dead, too.

They walk over to the live biker as he's being taken to the ambulance.

Biker (eyes closed): Waiting to confirm casualty count, sir.

Sara, confused expression on her face, turns to Jake and back.

In the background, Ian walks to the edge of a roof overlooking the scene.

Biker: Shadows of the valley ... to fear evil ... black dragon ... fearless ...

He opens his eyes and sees Ian behind and above Sara. Sara notes the look in his eyes and turns. She's just in time to see the back of Ian's coat disappearing.

The biker sits up, grabs the gun out of a nearby officer's holster and points it at the disappearing Ian. Of course everyone thinks he's pointing it at Sara. Sara pulls Jake's gun from her coat pocket and shoots the biker in the forehead.

Biker: Come not between the dragon and his wrath.

Cut to Moby alone in an empty long closed-in room.

Moby (mantra to himself): All that can be annihilated, must be annihilated. The negation must be destroyed to redeem the contraries. All that can be annihilated, must be annihilated. The negation must be destroyed to redeem the contraries. ...

Cut to a close up of a photo of Sara and her father when she was about 8. Pull back to see Sara sitting at her kitchen table with the photo. A knock sounds.

Sara (yelling): Yeah, it's open.

Joe Siri walks up her stairs. Sara gets up to meet him.

Siri: Had to say, "Good bye."

Sara nods.

Siri: Look, I wanted to tell you myself, but Dante beat me to the punch.

Sara: Yeah, he's good like that.

Siri: I'm not dying, Pez, I'm retiring. I have a phone, you know.

Sara: Sure. We'll talk at Christmas and then see each other at cops' funerals.

Siri: Sara!

Sara: I've seen your mug every day for six years, Joe. I'm just ... uh ... I'm gonna miss it, that's all.

Siri nods.

Sara: Especially if I do get reinstated. (Big smile)

Siri: You will, believe me. Come here.

They hug and Sara kisses him on the cheek. Siri pulls out a small (about 4x8x3 inch) wooden lidded box.

Sara: Twenty years in service and that's all you're taking home with ya?

Siri: No, I'm leaving this here with you - as per instructions from James Pezzini. I believe there's some information in here about your birth parents.

Sara: Pass, Joe. Jim Pezzini was my father. I could care less about some stranger who left me on a doorstep.

Siri: C'mon, Sara ...

Sara: No. Don't push it, Joe. I've had a hard day.

Sara gives him a big smile again.

Siri: I'll call you next week. We'll have lunch.

Sara (softly): OK.

Sara sits back down at her table. Siri turns to go. Sara is faced away from him.

Siri: So long, Pez.

Siri walks back down the stairs.

Sara (softly after he's gone): 'Bye, Captain.

Sara turns and sees where Siri has left the wooden box on her stair railing.

Sara: Joe ...

Fade.

 

End Act I

 

Act II

Camera shows the ambush scene being broadcast on television.

News reporter on the TV: A bizarre sequence of events on Manhattan's lower east side has left two men and one woman dead.

Pull back to see the TV is a flat screen mounted on Kenneth Irons' office walls. He is listening.

TV reporter: At approximately 11:00 am shots were fired in this alley behind ...

Irons (to TV): Mute.

The reporter's commentary is silenced but the picture remains.

The camera pans around. There are several other screens mounted around the room showing the same thing. Off to one side, Ian stands.

The video continues until Moby appears on screen as part of the crowd of on-lookers.

Irons (to TV): Freeze. (The screen shows a close up of Moby's face.)

Irons glances over to Ian disgustedly. Irons is not well-pleased. Ian is looking down.

Irons: It's not true what they say ...

Ian raises his eyes.

Irons: ... a picture's worth a million words.

Cut to Sara. She is lying on her bed, crossed feet resting on the headboard, head toward the foot of the bed.

Sara (thinking to herself): How could things possibly get worse?

Danny (off camera): Want a list?

Sara looks over and sees him sitting on her stairs leading up. Sara raises herself on her elbows.

Sara: If I didn't know that you were a hallucination, I might actually be glad to see you. However, under the circumstances, I am starting to believe that I really am insane.

Sara lies back down.

Danny: There's a fine line between clarity and insanity, Pez.

Sara: Huh ... and I've obviously crossed it.

Danny: No ... you just need to work on your confusion tolerance a bit.

Sara sits up and swings her legs off the side of the bed.

Sara: My what?

Danny: Confusion tolerance. The ability to endure ... (searches for a word) ... confusion.

Danny nods towards her phone. The phone rings. Sara looks towards Danny while reaching for the phone. She looks away momentarily to pick it up.

Sara: Hello?

Jake's voice: Hey. How are ya?

Sara looks up and sees Danny has gone.

Sara: Confused. (She nods)

Jake's voice: I've got good news, partner.

Sara: "Partner"?

 

Cut to Jake in their office in the police department. His left arm is in a sling.

Jake: Partner. Captain Dante wanted me to be the one to tell you. You're back on.

Sara just sits holding her phone.

Jake: You there?

Sara: Yeah. Thanks, Jake.

Sara hangs up. She looks at the Witchblade.

 

 

Cut to Moby sitting on the worn wooden floor of a large empty room. On one side is a wall with lots of windows. Looks like another abandoned factory. He is staring at a very large (10x15 feet at least) painting. Evidently, it means something to Moby. He grabs his head with both hands interlocked while staring at it and yells wordlessly.

 

 

Cut to Jake and Sara in their office. Jake is seated at his desk and Sara is walking with a file folder in her hand.

Jake: It's strange, but it comes from a good source. Seems that the two dead guys were in a special experimental warfare program where troops were used as guinea pigs. They were given psychotropic drugs and made to watch films designed to induce obedience and aggression.

Sara: What? Like South Park reruns?

Jake: I'm serious. It was an internationally recruited unit. They often went through extremely realistic and dangerous war games. The name of the unit was the Black Dragons.

Sara: "Black Dragons"? The guy I shot was mumbling something about dragons. Plus that other guy had a dragon tattoo on his neck.

Jake: Exactly. There were eleven men in the Black Dragon unit. The program was disbanded three years ago. As of today, only two of the eleven are still alive. The others have all died under mysterious circumstances in the past year. The two Black Dragons left alive are a guy named Hector Mobius, a.k.a. Moby, and a guy named Nottingham.

Sara looks up at that.

Jake: My guess is that one of them is responsible for the dead girl and the lead that went through my shoulder yesterday.

Sara: You got some federal connections you're not telling me about?

Jake: Sh ... I wish.

Sara grabs her helmet, staring at Jake and continues staring at him through the office window as she leaves.

Shift to a view over Jake's shoulder to his computer screen. There is a document labeled "Confidential" there. When he closes that, we see that Jake is on a C.I.A. page that clearly states "Authorized Users Only." {Makes you wanna go, "Hmmm..."}

 

 

Cut to close ups of photos of Irons and Ian, then a close up of Moby's eyes. Also pinned up on the board with the photos are building plans. Moby finishes sending an email. Camera pulls back to reveal Moby sitting in a small enclosed space with a laptop, several small monitor screens and other electronic stuff.

Quick exterior shot of a van. Must be Moby's small space.

Moby takes binoculars and looks out to the exterior front of Vorschlag Industries, Irons' company.

 

 

Cut to Sara arriving at a small reception desk.

Receptionist: Good morning, Officer. Mr. Irons is expecting you.

Sara: Somehow that doesn't surprise me.

 

Cut to Irons sitting in his chair. He holds a pocket watch dangling in his left hand. As Sara walks behind and to the side of him to his desk, he speaks without turning to her.

Irons: Do you like the visions or are they making you nervous?

Sara: I came here to talk about Ian Nottingham.

Sara is now facing Irons across his desk.

Irons: The visions make some of the wielders paranoid, but you should trust them. They are showing you things that are real. As real as what you would normally see, if not more so.

Sara: Yeah, that makes sense.

Irons: Common sense has never been a reliable guide to understanding the universe.

Irons lays the watch on his desk, pulling the watch chain to a straight line.

Sara: I'm not trying to understand the universe, Mr. Irons, I'm trying to solve a crime.

Irons: You see things that other people don't, Sara. You see the periphery, the fringes, the faces in the shadows. Mightn't this ability help you solve your crimes?

Sara: Mightn't you tell me where I can find your boyfriend, Ian Nottingham?

Irons: Ian is his own man. He is in my employ, although not in that capacity. As you have probably observed, he's got an independent streak. I try not to micromanage him.

Sara: Do you happen to know anything about Nottingham's military background?

Intercom beeps.

Female voice: Sir. Mr. Gradenady on the line.

Irons: Oh. Perhaps you'd like to come by my home this evening? I could tell you more then.

Irons give Sara a big fake-looking smile.

Sara: Why don't you just have Nottingham call me?

Sara takes her helmet and walks out.

 

 

Cut to exterior of Vorschlag. Sara is walking along the front of the building to her motorcycle. She takes her phone out and calls someone.

 

 

Cut to Jake in their office.

Jake: Homicide. McCartey.

Sara: Yeah. Got any info?

Jake: I couldn't find anything on Nottingham, but check this. Just got an anonymous email in response to an online search about the Black Dragons. Said to check out a space {Tribecka ?}, 111 George Street.

Sara: That's right by the crime scene.

Jake: Exactly.

Sara: I'll meet you there.

Sara hangs up and gets on her bike.

 

 

Cut to Jake in the office. He takes off the sling, tosses it on his desk, grabs his jacket and leaves.

 

 

Cut back to Sara. She sees a street performer breathing fire. She puts on her helmet. Shift to Moby watching her. Sara drives off. Moby comes out from where he was watching her. Then we see Ian, who was watching Moby. Then Danny, who was watching all. Firebreather. Danny. Firebreather takes a bow.

 

 

Cut to the painting that Moby had been staring at earlier. On it now is a crosshairs type mark on the central figure, which seems to be a man/dragon hybrid, and the words "Fight Fire With Fire."

Sara and Jake are walking through the empty room toward the painting, and both have their hands on their weapons ready to draw.

Jake: Weird.

Sara: Yeah, no kidding.

They stop at some small electronic gear lying on the floor.

Sara: Why did he leave these?

Jake: I don't know.

Jake walks closer to the painting. Behind him, Sara picks up the gear. There's a visor of some sort with headphones attached. She puts it on and pushes the ON button.

Female voice: In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun.

The following flashes by very rapidly for Sara: Monkey in a cage screeching. A painting similar to the one on Moby's wall. Moby. Booster rockets firing. Professional boxers. Car engine exploding. DNA strand. Moby's arm flexing {nice definition, by the way}. An explosion. Moby's arm. Bullets sitting on end on a flat surface. Streaks of light. A woman faced away with a large tattoo on her back waving a red blanket {?}. A missile in flight exploding. A painting of a woman lying in the street with a spear through her. A massive car wreck. Moby curling a weight. A woman with her hands covering the region her thighs join. Another rocket taking off. Same woman's barely covered rump. Painting of a man using a compass. Anime character screaming. Surreal painting of bodies or souls. "Warning, Genetic Error." Anime character. Painting of people held upside down in snake coils. Moby curling. Sumo wrestlers. Painting of God during Creation. Anime character seen through another character's mouth. Another painting {didn't recognize who}. Again the painting like Moby's. A drawn eye. A real eye. A pistol being fired. Painting of a man miserable looking and naked crawling. Upside down image of Moby as he's clutching his head and yelling. Moby. Female anime character in underwear with arms crossed over her bare chest. Painting of God with hand on a man with snake coils around him. Moby curling. A man's hand with a huge gleaming knife raised. Anime character vomiting something black. Moby's painting. Anime character. "Creature of the Black Lagoon" like mask. Painting of a man with his arms wrapped around his head. Anime critter. A sheet of fire. A slavering anime character in bondage gear. Another painting {of I don't know what}. A woman lying down. Sheet of fire. Female anime. Fire. Dark drawing of a demonic beast. An airplane on the ground, or landing, exploding. Sheet of fire. Ice sheet, or glass, fracturing. Building being destroyed in an atomic blast shockwave. Negative image of Moby's face.

Image of Moby: The dragons of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction.

The image pulls in from the sides, top and bottom and disappears in a dot in the middle. {Everything from the first image Sara sees till the dot disappears takes just 15 seconds!}

Sara: Wow. It's like some overamped home made motivational film. It makes you want to hit something.

Jake: Let me see.

Jake puts on the visor and turns it on.

Jake: Whoa!

Sara's phone rings.

Sara: Hello.

Moby's voice: The roaring of lions, the howling of wolves, and the destructive sword are portions of eternity too great for the Iron Man.

Sara: Who is this?

Moby's voice: A dead body avenges not injuries.

He hangs up. Sara puts her phone away and turns to Jake.

Sara: Hey, Jake.

Jake can't hear. She turns to remove the visor.

Sara: Jake. Let's get out of here.

Jake (eyes wide): Whoo!

 

Cut to them exiting the building. They start walking toward their vehicles.

Jake: I want to see the rest of that.

Sara: That place was creeping me out. While you were watching ...

Flash of Ian watching them.

Sara: ... I got this weird phone call. I think it was from Mobius.

Jake (electronic distortion): Really? What's up with the dragon imagery?

Sara: (electronic distortion): Not sure. He's on a mission. The question is what mission?

Sara and Jake arrive at where they've parked.

Jake (electronic distortion): Wish I had a clue about the other guy, Nottingham.

In the foreground a directional mike is pointed at them from across the busy street.

Jake: Can't seem to find out anything about him.

Sara doesn't say anything.

Jake: Wonder if he's working with Moby?

Sara: Yeah, me too.

Jake: Catch you back at the office.

Sara nods. Jake puts on his sunglasses, gets in his car and drives off. As he's leaving, Sara's phone rings. Sara turns the phone on and puts it to her ear, but doesn't get a chance to speak.

Ian (electronic distortion): You're in danger.

Sara (electronic distortion): From?

Ian (electronic distortion): Mobius. You killed his comrade. Don't get on your motorcycle. Walk away.

Sara (electronic distortion): What?!

Ian (electronic distortion): Walk away now.

Sara starts walking, looking everywhere.

Sara: Why should I trust you?

Ian (electronic distortion): Sara. Start running.

Sara puts her phone away and starts running, looking everywhere. Moby takes off in his van.

 

 

Cut to Sara running down an alley, looking up, behind ... every direction. She pauses near the middle of the alley, looks up to the side, all around. Ian runs full out behind her. Sara has a look on her face that says, "Set up," and pulls her gun, but doesn't have time to aim before he's on her. He takes her arm and points it to the end of the alley, where Moby's van has just pulled up. Moby is firing a gun through his open window. Ian has his gloved hand over Sara's, including his finger inside the trigger guard of her gun. He, she, or they fire at Moby several times. Ian drags Sara to the ground. Moby drives off. Sara rolls off of Ian. He gets up and starts running full out after the departing Moby.

Sara kneels in the alley, breathing heavily.

Sara: "Confusion tolerance," my ass!

Fade.

 

 

End Act II

 

Act III

It is now night. Cut to the interior of Moby's van. He's looking at printed building plans and some on computer. On another computer, he has just sent an email to JakeMcCartey@nypd.com. Moby puts on one of the visor things and lies down. Flashes of light come from the visor and Moby's eyes twitch a bit.

 

 

Cut to Jake and Sara at the office.

Jake: You're gonna love this. Just got another anonymous email.

Sara: I bet it's from Moby. He set us up at George Street.

Jake: What do you mean?

Sara: Just an instinct. What else you got?

Jake thinks for a moment then decides not to ask.

Jake: Guess who had a contract with the Defense Department till three years ago according to this email? Vorschlag Industries.

Sara: Vorschlag? As in Kenneth Irons.

Jake: The same. Battle simulation software. They also provided the drugs for the Black Dragons program. Supposedly Irons was deeply involved in the research and the training.

 

 

Cut to Irons' large den at home. A fire in the fireplace is roaring.

Irons (off camera): Yes, my company was involved with the military. And, yes, we did develop aggression-enhancing substances ...

Irons turns from looking into the fire.

Irons: ... but they were also intelligence-enhancing. The Pentagon specifically requested our services and we provided them. But ... to my deep regret ... there were occasionally unfortunate side effects. Delusions of grandeur, excessive aggression, paranoia ... . Warfare is a messy business, not unlike policework.

Sara: Is there anything that you can tell me about Hector Mobius?

Irons: He is extremely intelligent, highly skilled as an operator, and ... uh ... totally insane. Ian Nottingham, on the other hand, was an example of the training working perfectly. He is both lethal and loyal.

Sara: So, the other members weren't loyal?

Irons: Oh, yes, they were - to each other. Which is part of the training. Unfortunately, most of them became exceedingly dangerous and delusional.

Irons walks to a small table where a carafe of wine sits with two poured goblets. He hesitates over picking them up.

Irons: Have you ever eaten monkey's brains?

Sara: What?!

Irons: They're considered a delicacy in Burma.

Sara: What does that have to do with anything?

Irons (now holding both goblets): You think you want direct answers to direct questions.

Sara: I know I do. Where is Ian Nottingham now?

Irons: Come with me, Sara. Leave your pedestrian war zone behind. Let's travel the world together. Learn together. Prepare for greatness together.

Irons is trying really hard to be pleasant and persuasive here. He offers Sara one of the goblets. He gives her the glass with his right hand, the hand with the joined circles scar.

Sara (taking the goblet): That's ... that's quite a generous offer, Mr. Irons. Just you and me?

Irons nods, smiling.

Sara: ... and the Witchblade.

The smile vanishes from Irons' face. He takes back Sara's wine.

Irons (coldly): Don't think I'm the only one after it.

He takes both glasses back to the table.

Irons: You should let me take you under my wing, protect you.

Irons walks back across the room and sits down.

Sara: Actually, I think that you need protection, Mr. Irons. I think that you were deeply involved in the Black Dragons program. I think that the last standing member other than Nottingham has you in his crosshairs and I think Nottingham has systematically eliminated the rest of the unit. Now, I don't know what kind of private war you have going on here and I don't really care. I got two homicides and a wounded partner and if I were you, I'd be looking over my shoulder ... a lot.

Irons: As long as Ian Nottingham is on the job, I have nothing to fear.

Cut to Moby. He's still lying in his van getting juiced from his little "motivational film."

 

 

Cut to Sara asleep on her bed. The Witchblade is glowing.

" Witchblade vision": Reptilian eye. Sheet of fire. Some kind of reptilian face morphing into Ian's face. Sheet of fire. Painting of a knight holding a line to the nose ring of a dragon. Irons saying, "Have you ever eaten monkey's brains?" Sheet of fire. Monkey in a cage.

Back to Sara. The glow in the Witchblade decreases. Sara wakes.

Irons in voiceover, fading: Have you ever eaten monkey's brains?

Sara sits up and picks up the phone. She punches a programmed number.

 

 

Cut to the Medical Examiner. She picks up her ringing phone.

Vicky: Yeah. Morgue. Vicky Po.

Sara: Yeah, Vick. It's Pez. I need you to check the brains of the two guys we brought in the other morning.

Vicky (confused): Their brains? Why?

Sara: 'Cause I asked you to.

Vicky: OK. Well, it'll probably be just one brain, since there's not much left of number two.

They both hang up.

 

 

Cut to Moby driving his van. A couple cars behind him, Ian is following. Moby looks in his rearview mirror.

 

 

Cut to Sara arriving at Vicky's "shop."

Sara: Hey.

Vicky: So ... uh ... how'd you know?

Sara: Know what?

Vicky: The brain examination.

Vicky gestures to a human brain lying in a scale's pan.

Vicky: Your ... uh ... dead guy's brain was tweaked. You wanna go see it?

Sara: Uh ... no, no thanks. I'll take your word for it.

Vicky: OK. Look. His r-brain, or his reptilian brain, was much larger than usual.

Sara: His reptilian brain?

Vicky: Yeah. It's this part of the brain left over from when we crawled from the ooze. But it's the source of all fear and aggression.

Sara: So ...

 

 

Cut to Moby's van pulling up to a curb.

Vicky in voiceover: So, this guy was probably really smart. Also really dangerous.

Back to Vicky.

Vicky: He had an inordinate amount of gleal cells, which are neural connectors.

Cut back to Moby exiting his van and descending a short flight of steps at street level.

Vicky in voiceover: Basically, his whole sub-brain was turbo-charged.

Back to Vicky.

Vicky: A brain like this would be very sensitive to certain frequencies of sound as well as strobing lights.

Cut to Ian approaching Moby's parked van. Moby peeks cautiously above the first step of the flight he had just descended to see Ian use a thin metal rod to open the can door.

 

 

Back to Vicky.

Vicky: In Tokyo, just three years ago, 685 children went into simultaneous seizures …

Cut back to Ian in Moby's van, passing through a curtain behind the driver's seat into the rear compartment.

Vicky in voiceover: … while watching light strobing from a cartoon.

Moby points a small device toward his van and triggers an infrared beam. Banks of lights begin flashing in the rear of the van. Ian, still standing at the curtain, begins having small seizures.

 

 

Back to Sara and Vicky.

Sara: So a guy like my victim could be either energized or disabled depending on the sights around him?

Cut back to exterior view of Moby's van. Flashes of light erupt through the windows.

 

 

Cut to Ian, still paralyzed by the light.

 

 

Back to Sara and Vicky.

Vicky: There's a school of thought that postulates that our fear of the reptiles is really just a fear of ourselves … the reptilian part of ourselves.

Cut to the van. Moby comes up behind and pushes him into the passenger seat of the van. Ian is still twitching. Moby takes a needle and injects something into the back of his neck.

 

 

Back to Sara and Vicky.

Sara: So … you mean like why people get freaked by snakes and lizards.

Vicky: Yeah, yeah. Exactly.

Quick cut to the van. The lights are still flashing in the rear compartment. Ian looks like he's sleeping in the passenger seat. Back to the police station.

Vicky: The history of evolution is synonymous with the development of the brain.

Cut to the van. Moby is driving off. Ian falls to the floor of the rear compartment, unconscious.

 

 

Back to Sara and Vicky.

Vicky: What this corpse shows is that someone's been playing God, trying to rewind and fast forward evolution all at the same time.

Cut to Sara walking down a hallway in the police station. She takes a deep breath and lets it out in a sigh.

Sara: Whew …

Danny walks out of an alcove or doorway, stopping Sara in her tracks.

Danny: Confusion tolerance, Pez.

Sara: Hey, it's just another boring day. Enlarged reptilian brains, ghosts (nods at Danny), nightmares, hallucinations, the Witchblade … Nothing confusing there. So enlighten me, wise Asian master.

Danny: So foul a sky, clears not without a storm.

Shift to a side view of Sara. She is the only one visible.

Sara (evidently to empty air): What does that even mean?

Captain Dante passes by the end of the hallway, hears Sara and backs up. He looks at Sara for a moment and Sara smiles and nods at him.

Sara: How you doin'?

Dante continues on his way. Back to a view of Sara and Danny. Sara looks at Danny and he just moves his eyes to indicate Sara should go. Sara walks on down the hall.

 

Fade.

 

End Act III

 

Act IV

Interior of Moby's van. There's no one here and the sliding door has just been shut. Close up on paper and then electronic building plans.

 

 

Cut to Moby holding an unconscious Ian's eye open up to a sensor in a wall near a doorway. A moving bar of green light passes over the exposed eye. The door slides open to the side. Pull back to a wider view to show Moby has strapped Ian to a hand truck. He wheels Ian through the door.

 

 

Cut to Sara and Jake in their office. Sara is walking and eating an apple. Jake is sitting at his desk.

Sara: Why do you think Moby is after Kenneth Irons?

Jake: Maybe he holds him responsible for the side effects of the Black Dragon training. Maybe the side effects have made him …

Sara: Insane.

Jake gestures in agreement with Sara.

Sara: That writing on the wall … It said, "Fight Fire With Fire." Moby thinks he is both the dragon and the dragon slayer.

Cut to Kenneth Irons in his den. He is sitting at a small wooden table that has been set up with a chess board. There are some pieces to the side, indicating a game in progress. Moby enters, wheeling the still-unconscious Ian. Irons turns his head at their entrance.

Irons (calmly): Hello, boys.

Moby leaves Ian in the entryway then walks toward Irons.

Moby: On the hungry craving wind my specter follows thee behind.

Irons: Nice to see that you have remained true to your warrior poet training.

Irons looks like he's actually enjoying himself, instead of trapped in a room facing a deadly killer.

Irons: If the fool would persist in his folly, he would become wise.

Moby: The weak in courage is strong in cunning.

Moby takes a seat opposite Irons at the table.

Irons: If the lion were advised by the fox …

Irons moves a knight on the board.

Irons: … he would be cunning.

Moby: The fox condemns the trap, not himself. Active evil is better than passive good.

Moby moves a rook to take another piece, then rises.

Moby: Gardez.

Cut back to Sara and Jake.

Jake (off camera): So if Irons is the big nasty dragon, you think he needs protection from this lunatic?

Sara: He's got the best protection money can buy.

Jake: That Moby guy was after me? I'd want an army.

Jake gets up and stretches a bit.

Jake: Gotta see the doc again. Back in a couple hours. Stay safe.

He gets his jacket and heads out the door.

Sara: Later.

Cut to Irons' den.

Irons has been tied to a chair with his back to the fireplace. Moby kneels by him, working on the bindings. Just behind him, also with his back to the fireplace, is Ian, still strapped to the hand truck. He looks to still be out.

Moby: The iron hand crushed the tyrant's head and became the tyrant in his stead.

Irons (still calm): No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.

Moby (a little angry): You took my wings.

Irons: I gave you your wings.

Moby gets up and walks away about 20 feet. There is a large pack on his back. As he turns, we can see the nozzle of a flame thrower in his right hand.

Irons: What is it that you want?

Moby: Repentance. And revenge.

Shift to Ian. He's awake and has gotten his phone out behind his back and speed dials Sara's cell. {Why didn't a highly trained operative empty his enemy's pockets?}

Moby in voiceover: It is easier to forgive an enemy than a friend.

Cut to Sara picking up her ringing phone.

Moby's voice: Without his flame, the dragon is nothing.

Irons' voice: I'm afraid you're mixing your metaphors, "Son."

Sara's phone emits static. Close up of the Witchblade glowing and swirly and then a low solid glow.

" Witchblade vision" : {Something} in front of a sheet of fire. Medieval painted dragon head. A negative image of a live lizard with a "ruffle collar" {don't know the species}. Irons sitting in his carved wooden chair, almost a throne, in front of a sheet of fire. A woman in medieval dress holding the leash on a dragon, which is also held by a nose ring and line leading to a knight on a white charger. A negative image of that lizard. Close up of Ian's face, hair loose, tongue hanging out and wagging, a mad look in his eyes. Moby's painting of the man/dragon. Close up of Moby using his visor. Moby sitting on the floor in his long narrow room. Close up of leashed dragon's head. Moby's man/dragon. Moby gripping his head. Leashed dragon. Close up of medieval woman holding the dragon's leash. Moby's face, looking up.

Back to Sara. The Witchblade swirls again, then goes dull. Sara puts her half-eaten apple on her desk, grabs her coat and runs out the door.

 

 

Back to Irons' place.

Moby: It all makes sense. You are the dragon …

Shift briefly to Ian. {Purely personal note: I love Ian with longer hair. OK, back to the episode.}

Moby: … he is your flame …

Back to Irons.

Moby: … and Sara Pezzini is the maiden. Only you have corrupted her somehow. So now she too will die.

Brief view of Sara on her motorcycle before returning.

 

Moby: Now I am the dragon and you shall be licked by my flame.

Moby shoots a stream of flame between Irons and Ian. Ian's hair billows in the flames' passage, otherwise he doesn't move. Irons leans back and to the side away from the fire as much as his bonds allow.

Moby: Now you perhaps know the fear my comrades felt as you hunted them down.

Shift view to see Ian staring at Irons. {I would love to know what's going through his mind.}

 

 

Back to Moby.

Moby: Was it because you were afraid they would fly too high?

Cut to Sara arriving at Irons' front door. There's no visible door knob or handle, so she tries pushing the door aside with no luck.

 

 

Back to Moby.

Moby: Was it because you thought we were crazy? Dangerous?

Cut to Irons' face. He's sweating now.

Moby's voice: Was it because you couldn't control us?

Irons gives a little shake of his head.

 

 

Cut to Sara. She notices the sensor beside the door.

 

 

Cut back to Moby.

Moby: Or is it because you are a leach on a lesion?

Back to Irons' face.

Moby's voice: Full of lusts, greed and morbid curiosity.

Cut to Sara. She places the Witchblade gem against the sensor and the door slides open.

 

 

Back to Moby.

Moby: Does it surprise you …

Moby picks up a mask and puts it on. It's kind of like a gas mask, but flatter.

Moby: … that I choose this as your final memory?

Cut to Irons' face. He's beginning to look a little worried now. Ian raises his head just a fraction.

Moby fires another stream of flame between the two bound men. Irons yells this time.

Just then, Sara appears on the library balcony above Ian and Irons. Sara comes to the edge of the balcony, raises her pistol and points it at Moby.

Sara: Freeze!

Moby jerks his head up. He then lifts the nozzle of the flame thrower. Sara, perceiving the threat, fires into his chest, sending down flying from his vest. She fires a second time with another hit to the heart area. Either he's wearing a bullet-proof vest in there somewhere, or he's Superman, because he doesn't go down. In fact, he sends a stream of flame in Sara's direction. She rolls and then jumps over the balcony railing, landing and stumbling near a short hallway. As she stumbles against the wall, she loses her gun.

Sara hurriedly twirls down the hall and then drops flat to the floor as Moby sends more flame her way. As the flame passes, the Witchblade turns into a gauntlet. Sara stands with the Witchblade across her chest. The image of Sara standing there interchanges with the image of a woman in full armor with a sword several times.

Moby triggers the flame thrower for an extended blast that completely engulfs the hallway for several seconds. Anything organic in there should have been toast. Sara is still standing. The images shift twice more between Sara and the Sara-in-armor. Then Sara starts striding out of the hallway with the Witchblade's blade extended. The images shift a couple more times.

As Sara nears the doorway to the den, Moby uses the flame thrower again. Sara just keeps walking, neither Sara-plain nor Sara-in-armor taking any notice of the fire or heat. Sara walks out, wreathed in flame, but unharmed.

Ian turns his head from Sara. Irons looks like he can't wait to see what happens next.

Moby pulls his mask off. He looks a little scared, maybe, but is still determined. Sara keeps walking.

Sara raises the Witchblade and there's fire flickering along its length. She lifts her chin and gives Moby a challenging look.

Moby realizes by now there's nothing he can do about her, so he spins to Ian and Irons and starts to turn them into crispy critters.

Sara draws back the Witchblade and plunges the blade into Moby. He screams, but then grabs her wrist and pulls, yanking the Witchblade into him up to the hilt.

As Sara stares in shock, he tells her something, possibly something very important.

Moby: You have got the wrong dragon.

Sara pulls the Witchblade out of Moby sharply.

Shift to Moby slowly collapsing with Sara-in-armor behind him.

 

 

Cut to Irons' face. He is thrilled beyond telling.

Irons (softly, but immensely pleased): Yes!

Cut to Sara-in-armor staring at Moby's body.

 

 

Cut to Moby's body lying on the floor. Sound of metal scraping. {IS there actual armor? I thought it was just symbolic of her being protected. Sounded like more than just the gauntlet returning to a bracelet.}

 

 

Cut back to normal Sara in approximately the same position.

 

 

Cut to Irons.

Irons (pleased): Well done, Detective.

Cut to Ian. He frees himself easily from his bindings.

Sara turns around to look at the two men.

Irons (still bound): Have you had any time to think about my offer?

Sara: Excuse me?!

Ian moves rapidly to free his boss, head down. Irons takes no notice of him.

Irons: Would you like to come under my wing, see the world?

Sara: You protecting me? The answer is no.

Ian finishes with Irons and drops to one knee beside his master's chair. His forearms are crossed over his raised knee and his head is bowed. Irons looks over at Ian.

Ian: Thank you, Sara.

Sara: Do not thank me for your wretched life!

Ian: I'm not. I'm thanking you for finishing my job for me.

Sara: I did nothing for you.

Irons: Of course you did, Sara.

Irons rises from his chair and walks over to Sara.

Irons: A dead body revenges not injuries.

Irons leaves. Sara looks a little stunned.

Ian gathers the hand truck and wheels it away. Sara is left looking at Moby.

Moby in voiceover: You have got the wrong dragon.

Cut to Sara sitting at her kitchen table. She is holding a picture frame. On the table are several lit candles, a phone, and the small wooden chest Siri left her.

Camera starts panning.

Sara puts the photo on the table. It's the one of her and her father when she was 8. In the background Danny Woo is standing. Sara doesn’t see him. Sara stares at and fingers the Witchblade.

 

Fade.

 

End Act IV

END OF EPISODE

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