The following is not a novelization or an actual script but a dry transcript of the aired episode that includes accurate word-to-word dialogues, settings descriptions, action scenes and/or camera movements where the transcriber felt they were necessary. This transcript is posted on "TWIZ TV.COM - FREE TV SCRIPTS DATABASE" by courtesy of SCI_FI ANGEL.

"WITCHBLADE" and other related entities are owned, (TM) and © by WARNER BROS. TELEVISION in associaion with TOP COW PRODUCTIONS and HALSTED PICTURES. This transcript is posted here without their permission, approval, authorization or endorsement. Any reproduction, duplication, distribution or display of this material in any form or by any means is expressly prohibited. It is absolutely forbidden to use it for commercial gain. For entertainment and educational purposes only. No infringement intended.
==========================
TRANSCRIPT:
==========================

Act I

Open with a black screen with white writing: "The Night Before . . . . ."

Shift scene to close-ups of a boxer preparing for a bout - shoes being tied, powder and wrap applied to hands, glove being fitted - intercut with a pan of a banner that says, "11th Precinct's Annual Charity Match." Close-up to the boxer's face through the headgear to see that it's Sara Pezzini.

Shift to the boxing ring with the match in progress. Sara's opponent is a black male, also with protective headgear. Screaming fight fans surround the ring. Jake and Danny are in a section of seats several feet up off the floor. Vicky Po is ringside in sweats with a towel over her shoulder.

Jake: Left, left! Upper cut, upper cut!

Neither Sara nor her opponent is holding anything back. Though Sara is quite fit, the guy she's fighting outweighs her by at least 50 pounds. Sara gets a little too close and pays for it with a ribs-face combination that has her clutching her opponent until the referee separates them. When action resumes, Sara dances out of the way of the other boxer's next few punches.

Danny (approvingly): There you go, there you go.

Eventually, Sara gets clocked big time. She's weaving on her feet a little.

Referee (to Sara): Are you OK? You want to keep going?

Sara nods her head.

Jake (to Danny): Looks like you cost me a lot of money, bro.

Danny: Keep watching.

Referee (to Sara): Are you sure? (Sara nods again) Let's go.

Sara comes back more determined than ever. She lands a quick series of hard blows until her opponent is just standing in front of her. Sara gently taps his forehead with hers and he falls back to the canvas.

fade

Black screen with white writing: "The Day of . . . . ."

Cut to Danny exiting the precinct with a newspaper in one hand and a coffee in the other.

Danny: Hey, Pezzini.

He joins Sara and hands her the coffee. They walk to their car.

Danny: You know what today is? November 11th - Eleven eleven. Horoscope says today's a special day.

Sara: Every day above ground is a special day.

Danny: You got a point there.

Sara: Too bad Maria ran out of special days.

They reach their unmarked car.

Danny: I know she was your friend. I know how pissed off you are.

Sara: We knew each other a long time. Gallo killed Maria. We just gotta prove it somehow.

They get in the car.

Cut to the Midtown Museum. On display are various pieces of arms and armor, including several complete suits of armor on dummies.

Announcer (over the P.A.): The Midtown Museum will be closing in 15 minutes. Please begin to make your way to the exits and thank you for coming.

Shift to a bench outside the museum. There's a dark-haired young man looking at one of the brochures from the museum. The brochure is about the Joan of Arc exhibit. Though never introduced to us, this is Gabriel Bowman.

Cut to one glass-encased display case containing a sword, a couple cups, and a metal gauntlet in the center. There is a man standing at the case wearing a long black coat with a wide fur collar and a black watch cap. He's staring at the gauntlet. {Meet Ian Nottingham, everyone.}

Cut to Danny and Sara sitting in their car parked at a curb. An older man with longish curly blond hair {Hello, Lazar} walks by with a large clock in his hands.

Danny: I heard Jackson wants another rematch.

Sara: Hmph. He's gonna have to wait another year.

Danny: 25 G's to autistic kids. That's pretty good, Pez.

Sara: And how much did you win, Fats?

Danny: I didn't bet.

Sara (disbelieving): Really?

Danny: Yeah.

Sara (noticing Danny's hair): Isn't it about time you hit Super Cuts?

Danny: Huh?

Sara: Eight bucks'll be able to eliminate that Chia Pet problem you're having.

Danny (looking in rearview mirror): You think my hair's too long?

Sara: Let's just say it could be a tactical disadvantage.

Danny: What about yours?

Sara: Hey, I'm a chick. I'm supposed to be cute.

Danny: Oh, yeah.

They spot Tommy Gallo and an associate coming out of the building they've been watching. Gallo is wearing a tan wool overcoat. The other man is in a dark suit and overcoat and carrying a silver metal briefcase. Danny and Sara get out of their car and walk to where Gallo and friend are standing on the sidewalk.

Gallo: Buon giorno, Bella.

Sara: Hey, Killer.

Danny (to Gallo's friend): Hey. How ya doin'?

Gallo: Some people might say that this borders on harassment, Detectives.

Danny: We got three witnesses that put you next to Maria Buzanis only three hours before she was murdered.

Gallo (looking right at Sara): Well, who wasn't?

Danny looks at Gallo's companion {Vespuchi, OK} again.

Danny: Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?

Vespuchi hits Danny with the briefcase. Danny falls to the sidewalk. Vespuchi then pulls a gun out of the waist of his pants with his other hand and aims it at Danny. Sara kicks the gun out of his hand and pushes him back against the wall of the building. He pushes back using the briefcase before dropping it, then takes off running down the sidewalk. Sara gives chase. They both pass in front of Gabriel sitting on his bench. Danny gets up, gun aimed at Gallo, who merely raises his hands.

As Vespuchi enters the Midtown Museum, Sara is far enough behind that she has lost track of exactly where she went. She's looking around, gun out, when she runs across the Joan of Arc exhibit.

Sara takes a brief look around the room she's just entered and is immediately drawn to the case holding the metal gauntlet. She squats down before it, putting the glove at eye level. The protuberance at the top of the glove opens, revealing a deep red stone. It begins to glow. Sara is transfixed, apparently forgetting everything around her {including an armed man she was chasing!}. The glow disappears from the stone. The "eye" closes.

Reflected in the glass top of the case is Ian. Sara stands and sees his reflection. She whirls, pointing her gun at him. He doesn't even react.

Ian: Magnificent, isn't it?

Ian shifts his body out of Sara's line of sight and she sees Gallo's friend in the next room. Sara walks swiftly after him, gun pointed at the floor.

Sara: Drop it!

He stands beside a statue and fires his gun at Sara. She fires back. For the next few seconds, they shoot back and forth, destroying glass cases, shooting centuries-old armor and statuary. He finally hits Sara's gun, sending it flying from her hand. Sara pulls her backup piece from her ankle holster while he advances on her.

Vespuchi's gunfire breaks the case with the Witchblade in it. Sara dives out of the way of more gunfire. The Witchblade gauntlet flies to Sara's hand. Sara lands and rolls. She kneels on the floor and brings the Witchblade up to cover her head as Vespuchi advances. He fires, but the Witchblade deflects the bullet. Sara follows the path of the ricochet and sees one of the suits of knight's armor in the exhibit seems to be animated. She turns back to Vespuchi, who fires again. We see the bullet strike the Witchblade gauntlet and ricochet again. The Witchblade "eye" is open. The knight moves his head to see the bullet flying toward an old gas pipe in the corner.

As the fireball erupts, we see a quick series of images, courtesy of the Witchblade: Danny's funeral, a clock's hands running backwards, Sara standing on the stage of the Rialto with bodies all around.

Cut to evening outside the Midtown Museum. A stunned Sara is sitting at the back of an ambulance. Police and others are milling around in the background. With Sara are Danny and Joe Siri and Jake McCartey. Gallo is being led to a police car.

Gallo: Hey, Pezzini.

Sara gets off the ambulance and walks toward him.

Gallo: Get your man?

Sara: Not yet, Gallo.

Gallo: Well, you got one of mine. But I got more.

Gallo chuckles and Sara starts after him. Danny intercepts her. Gallo is put into the police car.

Danny: Don't do it, Pez.

Camera shifts so that Sara and company are in the background. In the foreground is Ian. he's talking on a cell phone.

Cut to Kenneth Irons in his tower office answering a cell phone.

Ian (over phone): Mr. Irons ...

Cut to Ian.

Ian: ... you won't be disappointed.

Cut to Irons.

Irons: I hope not.

Camera pans to an open book across the room.

Ian (over phone): She's everything you said she'd be.

The camera focuses on the date "11-11-00" in the book. The page is written in what appears to be Latin. Irons closes his cell phone and we see the intertwined circles scar on his right hand.

fade

Shift to Sara being driven by Jake McCartey.

Jake: I know a guy who's in with Gallo. Maybe I can help you and Danny with that situation.

Sara: Thanks, Jake. Let's talk about it tomorrow, OK?

Jake: How you feeling?

Sara: My head hurts.

Jake scoffs and shakes his head a bit.

Jake: That guy you took out - Vespuchi. He's a mythic hitman on both coasts.

Sara: Really?

Jake: Mmmm.

Sara: Ran like a bitch who got his lunch money taken away. So much for the myth.

Jake: Ah ... well, you're alive and all they can find of the other guy are his molars.

Sara: Hey, you win some, you lose some.

Jake: I guess so.

Sara looks at the pretty bracelet in her hands. She seems quite puzzled.

Jake: You don't remember anything?

Sara turns to him momentarily but doesn't say anything. She turns back to the bracelet.

We get a quick Witchblade vision : The "eye" opening in the case "looking at" Sara.

Sara: No. Not, not really. Vespuchi and I were into it pretty thick, and then ... blam - it was all sort of ... uh ... hallucinogenic.

fade

Black screen with white writing: "The Day After . . . ."

Shift to Danny and Sara sitting in their car outside the Rialto Theater.

Danny: Hey, why are we here?

Sara: To keep an eye on Gallo. I want to know this guy's every move.

Danny: How do you know Gallo's gonna be here?

Sara: Because Jake McCartey has a contact that says so.

Danny: Jake McCartey.

Sara: Jake's a good kid, Danny.

Danny: Why would anybody leave San Diego to come here - it's not like he's even got family here.

Sara: Danny, Jake just gave me some information, man, that's all.

Danny: I understand. "Forewarned ... forearmed, Grasshoppa."

Looking out her side window, Sara sees her knight from the Midtown Museum, complete from helm to gauntlet to sword, looking at her from around the edge of a building.

Quick Witchblade vision: Gallo shooting Danny; Danny's funeral; Sara slaughtering Gallo's men in the Rialto; a clock running backward.

Back to Sara in the car. When someone passes between her and the knight, he vanishes.

Sara sits shocked, mouth agape. Danny notices her expression.

Danny: You OK?

Sara (still shocked): I don't know.

Sara digs the bracelet out of her pocket, not recognizing it.

Sara: What the ...

Cut to Kenneth Irons in a swimming pool. He is wearing goggles and a swim cap.

Ian in voiceover: Mr. Irons ... she's got it ... you won't be disappointed. She's everything you said she'd be.

Cut to Sara and Danny.

Sara: I wonder if this is from the museum. (She puts the bracelet on.) Hey, Danny. Ever have one of those moments where you feel something really big just happened?

Danny: Only you don't know what it was? Never - you must be nuts.

Sara grins and gives him a little punch on the arm. Sara looks thoughtful after doing so.

A quick cut to Irons in his pool. He is propelling himself rapidly through the water with a powerful breaststroke. {I think it's the breaststroke}

Back to Sara and Danny.

Gallo and his crew pull up in front of the Rialto in several vehicles.

Danny: Gallo and his posse. Let's do it.

Sara: Let's not.

Quick cut to Irons' hands hitting the edge of the pool.

Back to Sara. She reaches over to the keys dangling in the ignition and starts the car.

Danny: What're you doin'?

Sara: Something feels off, Danny. Let's get out of here. We've got time on our side.

Sara lets out a sigh.

Cut to Irons rising from his pool, water streaming from him. He lets out a groan of pain {I think} and holds his right wrist with his left hand.

Cut back to see Danny and Sara driving off. We see Lazar street sweeping. And Jake down the street at a public phone. And Sara's knight peeking around a corner.

Back to Irons. He seems quite stunned.

Cut to Sara and Danny driving in their car. Danny's a little stunned himself.

Danny: For days you hound me about Gallo. You know he killed Maria Buzanis. You were like a Jack Russell tracking a sewer rat.

Sara: What are you saying, Danny?

Danny: It's not like you, that's all I'm saying.

Sara: Look, we will get Gallo ... just not now.

Sara turns on the radio and a most appropriate tune is playing.

Cut to a close-up of a pocket watch. The time on it is 11:12. Pull back to see Gabriel Bowman {who was never introduced to us, may I point out} is working on the watch. Pull back further to see he is at one desk in a large room. another young man is at another desk working at a computer. Gabriel is listening to the same station Sara turned the car radio to.

Gabriel's friend: Dude?

Gabriel: What?

Friend: You gotta expand your sonic repertoire, man. You know, retro's all right once in a while, but I'm ready to get ...

Gabriel: What're you talkin' about, man? I like this music. It gets my head in a good way and helps me conjure up verbal sales tools for the relics I hawk.

Friend: All right. Well, what are you conjuring up for that thing there?

Gabriel: Uh ... I'm not sure yet. All I know is that it used to belong to Winston Churchill.

Friend: That's cool.

Gabriel: Yeah, cool. But not as cool as Joan of Arc's gauntlet.

Friend: Oh, yeah? Well, who's Joan of Arc and what's the deal with her gauntlet?

Gabriel (little laugh): She was this famous female warrior in the 1400s, and she had this metal gauntlet - I saw it the other day at the museum. This gauntlet's supposed to be one of the most powerful talismans of power on the planet.

Friend: Oh, that's a good spin.

Gabriel: Yeah, well, it's no spin, man. This thing's reputed to have enabled Joan to win all of her battles. Legend has it that whoever wields it has incredible ... uh ... mental and physical powers.

Friend: What do you mean ... "whoever wields it"? I thought this was Joan of Arc's?

Gabriel: Well, yeah, it was ...

Friend: Next thing you'll be telling me, like, this is like, you know, Arnold Schwarzenegger's old computer or something, man.

Gabriel and his friend laugh.

Cut to Kenneth Irons and Ian Nottingham walking briskly down a busy street.

Ian: You wanted the Witchblade to choose a wielder.

Irons: But I was hoping that the Witchblade would bond with Sara in a more violent way. By now, she and the Witchblade should have left a trail of carnage, but they haven't. She is not sufficiently pliable.

Ian (Quoting a mantra): Control the Witchblade, control the world.

Ian (with some impatience): At least, can I arrange a meeting, since you haven't even seen her yet?

Ian steps from Irons' side to stand facing Irons. Irons stops walking.

Irons: What makes you so sure of that?

Irons resumes walking. Ian trails after him. Irons sees a business sign across the street: Wired Orb Productions.

Irons: I have a new plan for the Witchblade. Sara Pezzini is a homicide detective. Perhaps one homicide will lead to another ... and another wielder will emerge.

A last shot of Ian looking at the back of Irons' head. {And looking good, too! OK, back to the story.}

Cut back to Gabriel's place. Gabriel rubs the watch chain across his lips.

Gabriel: Just think about it, man. If it wasn't for Winston, we wouldn't be sitting here right now.

Friend: Why not?

Gabriel: Because he kept England unconquered during World War II. Have you got the vaguest references to what I'm saying?

Friend: No.

Gabriel rubs his face and holds up the watch.

Gabriel: Because this used to be Winston's, it is somehow connected to the fact that we are sitting here right now. You should be reading something besides binary software instructions.

Friend: Dude, check out this website - "Wired Orb."

He clicks to enter the site. It is a live video site with "dancers." He clicks on "Debbie's Desires" and is informed that a call is going to cost him $2.95 a minute.

Friend: You know, I can make a phone call right now and Debbie here, she would do anything that my black little heart desires.

Gabriel: Better be careful, or you're gonna go blind keeping both hands on the mouse ...

Gabriel throws a kewpie doll at his friend.

Friend: Hey!

Gabriel: ... if you know what I mean.

Friend: Hey, man, look who's talking.

Cut to Irons and Ian. Irons removes the glove from his right hand to touch a rose at a street vendor's.

Irons: A man cannot touch the petal of the nearest flower without influencing the course of the furthest star. Everything is connected. Every action has many effects. I want you to get the Witchblade back ... immediately.

Ian walks away.

Cut to Sara staring at the Witchblade bracelet while sitting at her desk. She evidently decides on a course of action, because we immediately see her at Vicky Po's.

Vicky: Hey. Hey, how are you doing today?

Sara: Uh, my head hurts.

Vicky: Yeah, well - shootouts, explosions - I figure you're lucky your head hurts. Let me see. (She rises from her chair.) Your pupils aren't dilated. You feel nauseous, or ... are you hearing any strange voices?

Sara (smiling): Every day.

Sara fiddles with the Witchblade, drawing Vicky's attention.

Vicky: That's a nice bracelet.

Sara: Thanks. Would you mind doing a carbon test on it for me? See how old it is? (Sara removes the Witchblade) I'm thinking it's from the Midtown Museum but ... uh ... I have no idea how I ended up with it. (She hands the Witchblade to Vicky.)

Vicky: Really? You serious?

Sara: Almost always. (nods)

Cut to Gabriel's friend on the phone with Debbie, watching her on his computer.

Debbie (over phone): Like that?

Friend: Yeah, like that, like that.

Gabriel is in the background with pieces of a drum kit.

Debbie: What about this?

Friend: Very nice.

They continue in this vein until we see a man pushed into Debbie's room on the computer. He falls and Debbie screams.

Debbie: No! No!

Another man enters Debbie's room and shoots the first man three times at very close range in the head. Gabriel's friend sees it all. He drops the phone.

fade

End Act I.

Act II

Open with detectives and others at Debbie's space at Wired Orb. Sara is absently rubbing her right wrist in front of her jacket cuff.

Detective at the scene: Three shots to the head ... close range ... no pity. There was a professional in the house.

Sara gets up from viewing the body and turns to a uniformed policewoman.

Sara: Any witnesses other than the, uh ... clients?

Officer: Yeah, there was one dancer in the room at the time.

She turns and points at Debbie, who is being comforted by another woman.

Officer: That's her over there. The other woman - she was in the back office with the victim moments before it happened.

Sara glances at Danny and nods her head toward Debbie and the other woman.

Sara: Excuse me. Hi, I'm Detective Pezzini. This is my partner Detective Woo.

Sara offers her right hand to shake hands. The other woman glances down but doesn't shake hands.

Woman: Christina Wayles ... (glances left) ... and this is Debbie.

Sara closes her hand and withdraws it.

Sara (to Debbie): Saving up to buy a last name?

Debbie: It's Buck - Debbie Buck.

Danny: You mind telling us what you saw, Miss Buck?

Debbie: I was taking a call. Some big bastard came and threw Jeffrey into the room. He had a gun, so I ran out. About a second later, the man walks out. When I looked back into the room, Jeffrey was dead.

The entire time Debbie is talking to Sara and Danny, Christina Wayles is staring at Sara.

Danny: How many gunshots did you hear?

Debbie: I wasn't counting.

Sara: What can you tell us about the man?

Debbie: Big enough to be his own area code. And he was wearing a stocking over his face - that's it. First, I thought it was some kind of a joke. Can I leave now?

Danny: Uh ... sure. If you think of anything else, give us a call. (He hands her a card from inside his coat.)

Sara: But we'll be calling you, just in case, all, right?

Debbie (to Christina): Bye.

Christina: There's not much more than that I can tell you. I was in the main office with Jeffrey when this man burst in and grabbed him. By the time I got out here, it was all over.

Sara: Uh, what was your relation to Mr. Gorta?

Christina: We were partners. I used to be a dancer for Jeffrey when he first started his company. We got along and he promoted me. Taught me about the internet, made me a partner in the interactive streaming operation.

Danny: Can you think of anyone who might want to kill him?

Christina: The Christian Right ... Anyone from Utah. There was a man a few years back. He beat Jeffrey into a three night stay at Lennox Hill. And he was a cop, too.

Christina (to Sara): You have very pretty eyes, Detective.

Christina: If you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to work.

Cut to Vicky Po. She's examining a tooth.

Vicky: The molar shows extensive discoloration. Reddish brown ...

There's a knock on the door. Sara walks in.

Sara: Vicky.

Vicky: Hey ... heard I got a new subject coming in.

Sara: Yeah, a young guy. It was a hit.

Vicky: Jeffrey Gorta, right?

Sara: You've heard of him?

Vicky: Yeah, I just read about him. The guy was worth something like $10 million.

Sara raises her brows at that. Vicky reaches to her desk behind her.

Vicky: This, on the other hand ... (holds up the Witchblade) ... is a conundrum. I've done extensive scientific research on it, and I can tell you, categorically, it's not from the display at the Midtown Museum.

Sara: Really?

Vicky: Yep. (She picks up a brochure from her desk.) I got a brochure which lists every item that was on display there. And that bracelet wasn't a part of it. I even called the curator to be sure.

Sara (looking through the brochure): It's really the weirdest thing. I have no idea how I got this.

Vicky: Mmm ... it's kind of nice, though. I'll take it if you don't want it. (smiles)

Sara: Thanks, Vick, that's awfully big of you, but I think I'll hold onto it. Finders, keepers.

Vicky: All right.

Shift scene to the deserted hallway outside Vicky's office moments later. Sara puts on the Witchblade. The lights in the hall go out. Sara's face is lit a soft red from the Witchblade and she hears female voice(s) calling her name. The lights come back up and Sara continues on her way.

Cut to Jake McCartey typing at a computer as Sara enters their office.

Jake: What's up?

Sara: Same pile, different day. What are you doing?

Sara sits at the desk opposite Jake.

Jake: The ex-cop you want to interview as a potential suspect is named Arnold Buck. I ran a check ... turns out he wallpapered a Soho tavern two years ago with our dead {porn-slag}. {This makes no sense to me}

Sara: Huh ... the girl at Wired Orb is named Debbie Buck. I wonder if there's a connection. Thanks, Jake.

Jake: No problem.

Sara gets up and leaves.

Shift scene to Sara getting out of her car in front of Buck's place. We get some quick cuts of some of our other players: Gallo walking down a street with two other men; Ian driving; Gabriel putting on a magnifying glass; Jake, scene unknown; Irons sitting in front of his fire; Danny picking up a little Asian girl with other little girls around, all in numbered sport uniforms; Debbie in her dance clothes.

Cut to the interior of Buck's place. He picks up a tumbler with at least 2 fingers of whiskey in it and drains it.

Cut to Sara knocking on his door.

Buck (through the door): Come on in. It's unlocked.

Sara opens the door.

Sara: Arnold Buck? Hi, I'm Detective Pezzini. (She shows him her badge.) I'm with New York Homicide.

Buck: What do you want?

Sara: Just to ask you a few questions.

Buck: About what?

Sara: A man named Jeffrey Gorta was murdered today.

Buck: That's a friggin' pity.

Sara: You knew him?

Buck: You know I did, or else you wouldn't be here, would you?

Sara: Can you tell me where you were at about 1:00 today?

Buck: Yeah, I was right here watching The Bold and the Beautiful.

Sara: Was anybody with you?

Buck: Jack.

He nods towards the whiskey bottle on the table beside his chair. Behind the bottle is a picture of a younger, softer Debbie Buck.

Sara: What precinct were you with?

Buck: 33rd. For 25 years. I was involuntarily discharged one month before I would have become eligible for my pension increase and my promotion.

Sara: Gorta?

Buck: I beat the living hell out of him. I'm not a slacker, lady. I really did try to kill him. But he had this banshee girlfriend that hit me on the head with a pipe. I still get migraines. I figured you guys would show up soon. {So why try to act like you didn't know why she was there?}

Sara: Why'd you attack him, sir?

Buck: He systematically got my daughter all messed up, booze and drugs, and started using her to dirty dance on his websites.

Sara: I'm sorry.

Buck (swallows hard): Yeah, me too.

Sara: So, where's your daughter now?

Buck: I don't know. The last thing she said to me was how much she hated me. (sigh) Ah, she was a sweet kid there for a while. I like to think that she still is. I would give anything just to be able to talk to her. To get to know her again. Whatever it is that she's doing now, I just hope it's not the same thing.

Sara says nothing, just turns her head away.

Buck: You're kind of young to be working homicide, ain't ya?

Sara: You're kind of old to have a 19-year-old daughter, sir. (smiles)

Buck: Yeah ... I'm a late bloomer. It's too bad my little girl is the opposite.

Sara: My father was a cop, too. He was killed when I was just a kid. Well, uh, try to take it easy on the Jack, will ya?

Buck: Yeah, it's him that's gotta take it easy on me.

Sara leaves. Shift to the exterior. Sara closes Buck's front door and walks down the steps to her car. She stops and stands for a moment at her car door. She then draws her gun and turns to the back of her car, pointing the pistol at Ian, who is leaning against the rear panel.

Sara: Who are you?

Ian: My name is Ian ... Nottingham. I work for Kenneth Irons.

Sara: The Kenneth Irons who owns the half of the city that Trump doesn't want?

Ian: Yes.

Sara: Really? Why are you following me?

Ian: Because you're wearing the Witchblade.

Sara: What?!

Ian (points): That bracelet. It belongs to Mr. Irons. Would you like to come with me to see him? I think he would really like it if you returned it to him personally.

Sara: Returned it? I never took it.

Ian: It was in the display case at the Midtown Museum.

Sara: Listen, bright eyes, I don't know who you are, and I don't believe that this, this thing came from that display, OK? All I saw was some kind of ... metal gauntlet that supposedly belonged to Joan of Arc.

Ian: The Witchblade's capable of changing forms. {"Uh huh, tell me another one, buddy."}

Sara: I don't know what the hell you're talking about, and I'm sure that Mr. Irons has much more important matters to tend to, so you can tell him I'm keeping my little Cracker Jack prize, OK?

Ian: I will relay the message to Mr. Irons.

Sara: Excellent. You do that and stay the hell away from me.

Ian bows his head.

fade

End Act II

Act III

Open in what I can only describe as an S&M bar. There's a stage with people chained up and others in dominatrix roles. Sara walks to the bar through the patrons. She grabs one man in a business suit.

Sara (to man): Go home. Now.

She turns to the woman that the suit was talking to. It's Debbie Buck.

Debbie: I told you everything I knew the last time I saw you. What the hell do you want?

Sara: For you to listen.

Debbie: I don't bat lefty, Detective. So save your strength.

Sara: Shut up. I'm here because of your father.

Debbie (defiant): I don't have a father.

Sara: Yes, you do. ... I don't. As much as the current fashion demands that we blame our parents for every little damn thing that goes wrong in our lives, I'm here to tell you, Debbie, that it's a damn lie ... and a deadly one.

Debbie (softer): How is he?

Sara: He's lonely, and he loves you very much.

Debbie: There's no forgiving some of the things that I've done.

Sara: Oh, honey. Why don't you let your father make that call?

Sara gets off the bar stool and chucks Debbie under the chin. She starts towards the door but turns back again.

Sara: Look, Debbie, I know nothing about your life, and I'm not good at blowing smoke, but I do know that things are going to get a lot worse if you don't make it right with your father. (Glances at the stage.)

Debbie: I wouldn't even know what to say.

Sara: You don't have to say anything ... just knock on his door. Please.

Sara walks out of the bar, leaving a thoughtful Debbie Buck behind.

Shift to Kenneth Irons' home. He and Ian are both standing in his den. Ian stands at parade rest with his head down in front of Irons. {Sound familiar?}

Irons: What do you mean, you couldn't get it back?

Ian: She refused.

Irons: You should have cut it off her arm.

Ian: You have trained me since my childhood to protect the next Witchblade wielder. (He lifts his head and looks at Irons.) I was not capable of harming her.

Irons (angry): I have trained you ... (He raises his left hand as if to backhand Ian. Ian turns his head away.) ... to do my bidding.

Instead of striking Ian, Irons strokes Ian's cheek with the back of his fingers. Irons drops his left hand, but raises his right to Ian's head and trails it to his shoulder.

Irons (as if to a child): Ian, I have also taught you to be rigorously impeccable in your speech. And I think you are a lying, infatuated child.

Irons has been leading Ian toward one of the leather couches. They sit down next to each other on it, Irons with his left arm draped across Ian's shoulders. Ian is looking straight ahead, not at Irons.

Irons: Sara Pezzini has no idea of the power she now possesses, and she would have no reason not to hand over the Witchblade immediately. The longer she is with it, the more difficult it will be to retrieve.

Ian: She is a destined wielder.

Irons: And I am a wielder of destiny. Sara Pezzini is mired in pedestrian concepts of right and wrong, unable to transcend good and evil, unable to do what is necessary. Just as you seem to be unable to do what is necessary.

Irons moves to squat in front of Ian.

Irons: Although I am dismayed by your lack of moral fortitude and your myopic judgment, I am not surprised.

Ian turns his head to look at Irons

.Irons: You have fallen under Sara Pezzini's spell, yeah? Mmm-hmm. But I have been prepared for such a possibility.

Ian turns away from Irons again. Irons turns his head toward the library level.

Irons (voice raised): Christina!

Christina Wayles walks to the front railing of the library level. Irons turns back to Ian.

Irons: Christina is going to help you get the Witchblade back. And in return I may grant her the opportunity to wear it.

Christina begins making her way down the stairs.

Ian: This would be a mistake. The Witchblade chooses its wielder. You have also taught me that since I was a child. You're destined to fail.

Irons closes his eyes, brow furrowed, as if slightly pained, and puts his right hand to his temple.

Irons: I had a recent dream in which Sara Pezzini did continue to wield the Witchblade, and in my dream, my vision, Ian, she killed you ...

Witchblade vision of Ian2 dying by Sara's hand in Transcendence, Season 1.

Irons: ... defied me ...

Witchblade vision of Sara holding the tip of the blade of the Witchblade to an aging Kenneth Irons' throat - also Transcendence.

Irons: ... and irrevocably pierced the veil of time, of causality.

Witchblade vision of Sara during Transcendence doing just that.

Ian (nodding slightly): I had the same dream.

Irons: The same omen.

Irons looks to the scar on his hand, then to Ian, then around the room. He stands.

Irons: Perhaps now that the Witchblade is once again in play, once again fluid, I can control the direction in which it flows. Sara Pezzini must die. Preferably in shame and fear.

Ian (still looking straight ahead): But this ... woman (Irons looks to Christina standing by the stairs) ... is certainly not from the wielders' bloodline. She has not been chosen. The Witchblade chose Sara Pezzini. She ... (points at Christina) ... is a peasant.

Christina smiles.

Irons: Once in a great while, the Witchblade benefits from a bond outside one of the chosen bloodlines, just as most royalty often does. So, if I do decide to let Christina wear the Witchblade, she will have been chosen ...

Irons cups Ian's chin in his left hand and pulls his head up. Ian closes his eyes.

Irons: ... by me.

Ian opens his eyes and pulls his head out of Irons' grasp. Irons continues looking at Christina.

Ian: Your arrogance is astounding. {Oh, this is most definitely not the Ian we knew last season!}

Irons: Thank you.

Irons starts walking toward Christina. When he gets to her, he starts circling her while continuing his discussion with Ian.

Irons: Christina has had certain experiences that make her hunger for what the Witchblade has to offer. She is angry. Upon her wrist ... the Witchblade will be sublime.

Irons steps behind Christina and brings his right hand up to caress her throat.

Irons: I have had my eye on Christina for a long time. Ian, please help her with her plan to make Sara Pezzini a faux pas. A small misstep in the glorious history of the Witchblade. By tomorrow, Sara Pezzini will be a disgraced, humiliated and inert ex-wielder.

Ian fights the snarl attempting to curl his lip.

Cut to a steam room. Gallo and an associate are laid back on the rising benches, their middles draped with towels. Gallo has his eyes closed.

Gallo (sigh): I'm tellin' ya, I know what to do about the Pezzini situation.

Other man: Stay away from that one. She's trouble.

Sara's voice: That's right.

He attempts to rise and Sara knocks him on the side of the head with her gun. Gallo opens his eyes and looks at Sara, but doesn't move otherwise. Sara steps up the benches {kind of like stadium seating} and points her gun at Gallo.

Gallo: Pezzini.

Sara: Gallo.

Gallo (calmly): I had nothing to do with Maria Buzanis.

Sara: See, I don't believe you.

Gallo: No kiddin'. Look, I know she was a friend of yours, but that girl was destined to die young.

Sara: Yeah? And you ... you were destined to die naked, middle-aged and covered in your own piss.

They stare at each other a moment and Sara moves her finger on the trigger.

Gallo: All right, all right. I can tell you something.

Sara: Have at it, Tommy.

Gallo: That big hit that went down today, that internet guy ... (Sara slowly lowers her gun) ... it's his partner. The girl, she's the one that put the paper out on him.

Gallo raises and lowers his brows then turns away, lays his head back and closes his eyes.

Gallo: That's all I know. (chuckles)

Shift camera to see Sara's gone, having left the guard outside the door unconscious, too.

Cut to Danny walking down a street with a pizza in his left hand. Passing near an alley, he hears a loud woman's voice.

Woman: Please, don't do it! Somebody help me!

Danny turns down the alley and sees a woman hitting a large man with her purse. The man is holding her other arm. The woman continues her pleas for help.

Danny: Hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey, pal, hey. Calm down. Hey, what's going on?

Danny drops his pizza and approaches the man from the back.

Danny: Take it easy, fella. Calm down, all right.

Camera shifts so we only the shadows cast by Danny and the woman's assailant on a nearby brick wall. The man knocks Danny unconscious. Camera pans to reveal Danny's attacker is Ian. Standing next to him is his "victim," Christina Wayles. Ian glances at her and she takes a large bite of a slice of Danny's pizza.

Cut to a hand knocking on an exterior door. Pull back to see that it is Debbie Buck knocking on her father's door. He opens it. Both are near tears as they embrace. He pats her on the back and kisses the top of her head.

Cut to Ian and Christina standing on the edge of a hole in the ground. Ian is shoveling dirt into the hole.

Christina: Do you and Irons really believe all that crap you were spewing? Do you really believe the thing is that powerful?

Ian: It's that powerful because we believe it is.

Cut to Irons' place a short time later. He and Christina are at opposite ends of a long wooden table. {And I'm going to climb on my soapbox for a minute and say that I cannot believe that this next scene was shown on basic cable! Talk about blushing! OK, back to the story.}

Irons: You did your task well.

Christina: Yes.

Irons: Bad ... girl.

Christina: Thank you.

Irons: What do you want more than anything?

Christina: Revenge.

Irons: On who?

Christina: The world.

Irons: What else?

Christina: Everything else.

Christina rises from her chair and starts crawling seductively down the table towards Irons.

Christina: Everything else, all at once.

Irons: Elaborate.

Christina: Power, fame, experience, wealth ...

Christina reaches Irons and straddles his legs.

Christina: ... immortality.

Irons: Care to join me in my folly?

Christina: The Witchblade has all these powers?

Irons: Mmm-hmm.

Christina: The Witchblade can give me all that?

Irons: Yes.

Christina: Then why don't you wear it?

Irons rises up from his chair, laying Christina on her back on the table, her legs hanging off the edge. He leans over her, pinning her to the table.

Irons (a bit angry at it all): Because only a woman can wield the Witchblade.

Christina: And only you can wield the woman.

Irons stands up between Christina's legs, running his hand down her body.

Irons: If you agree to serve me, and only me, to be obedient ... (Irons begins removing his belt) ... faithful ... I will allow you to become my slave.

Irons loops his belt around Christina's raised clasped hands.

Irons: I will allow you to become the Witchblade's mistress. To experience things beyond the realm of the senses ...

Irons drags Christina up the table with the belt.

Irons: ... beyond the realm of the rational, beyond the realm of the mortal. You will experience everything.

They've reached the end of the table. Irons puts his face over Christina's, looking at her upside down.

Irons: If I so desire.

Christina brings her high-heel clad foot up to nudge Irons' chin. He quickly turns her to her hands and knees and moves forcefully behind her.

Irons: Are you ready to finish to job, hmm? To put another body in the box?

Cut to Sara asleep in bed. She's tossing and the Witchblade is glowing.

Witchblade vision dream : Joan going down the torch-lined gauntlet. Sara's knight at the end of the gauntlet raising his visor, revealing Ian's face. Ian and Christina standing at the edge of the hole, shoveling dirt. Danny's funeral from the other timeline. A stone angel opening its eye. Sara standing alone at Danny's gravesite. Christina smiling.

Sara sits up, wide awake, sweating and breathing hard. She looks at the Witchblade in time to see the glow fading from the stone.

Cut to Sara walking into her office. Jake is already there.

Jake: Nice of you to show.

Sara: I went down hard last night. So, where's that long-haired Asian guy?

Cut to a close-up of a lighter being lit in a totally black space. Pull back to see it in Danny's hand. He's in a long narrow wooden box. Think coffin without the nice trimmings.

fade

End Act III

Act IV

Open back at Sara's office at the precinct. She removes the Witchblade bracelet from her wrist and sets it on her desk. She picks up a phone and dials as Jake looks on.

Cut to a receptionist wearing a phone headset.

Receptionist: Wired Orb.

Cut to Sara. Cut between each as they speak.

Sara: Yes, hi, this is Detective Pezzini. May I please speak to Miss Wayles?

Receptionist: She's out scouting for a new warehouse.

Sara: She is. Do you happen to know where?

Receptionist: Uh, 1111 Faust Street.

Sara: OK, thank you.

Sara hangs up. She turns to Jake.

Sara: Hey, Jake. Go look for Danny, would you? Sometimes he takes a nap in the gym. If you find him or hear from him, call me immediately. All right?

Jake: Sure.

Sara gets ready to leave. She turns back to pick up the Witchblade bracelet.

Cut to the interior of a warehouse containing mannequins and mannequin parts standing on the floor and hung from the ceiling. Sara walks in.

Sara: Hello? Hello, Miss Wayles?

Sara walks until she sees Christina.

Christina (smile): Hello, Detective.

Sara: Word on the street has it that you were the one that put the hit out on Gorta. Based on your partnership, it seems you certainly had motive.

Christina (walking slowly toward Sara): I'd like to confess. I did put the hit on Jeffrey Gorta, but I didn't just do it for the money, or even because I hated him. Actually, he was pretty cool, but it was a favor for a friend. I then also killed the hitman ... personally. Put a bullet right between his eyes.

Sara gets out her gun.

Christina: He whimpered like a pathetic little girl right before I pulled the trigger. That was fun.

Sara looks at her disbelievingly.

Christina: When I was child, I was kept in a box.

Sara raises her gun and points it at Christina.

Sara: Put your hands up, Miss Wayles. You're under arrest.

Christina: Don't you want to hear the rest, pretty girl?

Sara: You can tell me down at the station.

Christina: I just thought you might want to know the situation with your beloved partner.

Sara's lips peel back from her teeth. She shifts her aim from Christina to a mannequin to the side and fires a bullet into its ceramic forehead. Christina smiles widely. Sara returns her aim to Christina.

Sara: Where is he?

Christina: You could say that I killed him. Although he's probably not dead ... yet. Funny thing about time, sequences of events, sometimes things happen in a different order than you'd expect, but the result is the same.

Sara: What the hell are you talking about?

Christina: Your partner was buried before he was dead. His death will be slow ... terrifying ... painful. An agony I wish I could witness.

Sara: If anything happens to my partner, you die.

Christina: And the best thing is, you can't do anything about it because you are not leaving this room alive.

Sara spins around, just in time to have Ian snatch her gun out of her hands. Christina walks off smiling. Ian tosses Sara's gun across the room.

Ian: I'm sorry, Sara.

Sara watches Christina walk off behind her then turns back to Ian.

Sara: Why are you doing this?

Ian: I've been ordered to.

Sara: By who?

Ian: My master, Kenneth Irons.

Sara takes a couple swings at Ian {which show none of the finesse that she displayed during her charity boxing match}. He blocks them easily then pushes her away from him. She falls over some mannequin parts and to the floor several feet away. Ian draws a sword from a scabbard on his back. Sara looks to her wrist and the Witchblade transforms to the gauntlet. Ian advances on a kneeling Sara. Sara blocks an overhand strike with the Witchblade. Ian grabs Sara's throat with his left hand, going to his knees in front of her. Sara also grabs Ian's throat with her left hand.

Ian: He says you must die in order for the Witchblade to take on a new wielder.

Sara: He can have it. All I care about is my partner.

Sara springs to her feet and Ian rises also. They circle each other slowly. The Witchblade transforms into a form with a blade. Sara launches an attack that Ian easily parries or dodges. Sara's blade becomes momentarily stuck in a mannequin after Ian avoids one of her blows. Ian lays the edge of his sword at her neck.

Ian (chiding): The Witchblade is not yours to give away.

Sara knocks his blade aside. She attacks again and again Ian negligently blocks or evades. {You get the feeling this could have been over in seconds, Witchblade willing, if he really put forth even a minimal effort.} They separate again.

Sara: Where's Danny?

Ian: Where's he's destined to be.

We see Christina is still (or again) behind Sara, still smiling hugely.

Sara attacks again, with much the same results until she succeeds in disarming Ian. His sword skitters across the concrete floor and Ian falls to his knees. Sara puts the tip of the Witchblade at the hollow of Ian's throat.

Ian: Please, it would be a favor I'd love never to return. If you don't kill me now, Sara, I will only return and try to kill you again. You have the knowledge you need. Believe in the Witchblade. It will help you. You are a true wielder. You have been chosen.

Sara closes her eyes. Witchblade vision of Danny's funeral, the stone angel with the opening eye, and Christina smiling.

Behind her Christina is picking up Ian's fallen sword. Ian can see Christina approaching Sara with his broadsword raised. Sara opens her eyes and spins into a lateral cut with the Witchblade. In silhouette we see Christina's head flying. Her body falls among the mannequin parts littering the floor.

Cut to Irons in his den. He's gasping and raises both hands to his neck as if to loosen something constricting it. {Which makes no sense to me at all - he had no connection to this woman (beyond the carnal) that we know of. Now if it had been Sara that had lost her head, I could understand his reaction.}

Cut back to Sara. She whirls back around but the Witchblade transforms back to the bracelet. Ian is gone.

End Act IV

END OF EPISODE

==========================
PROVIDED BY TWIZ TV.COM - FREE TV SCRIPTS DATABASE
==========================