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TRANSCRIPT:
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Act I

Open with a meeting of several organized crime leaders.  There are all kinds here, and one of them is familiar:  Tommy Gallo.  At least one of those gathered is not too happy with their purpose in being there.

Man with Russian accent (angry):  I have done business all over this whole damn world.  I don't need you, your boss, or his stinking enterprise.

Gallo:  Just ... calm down, Mr. Sokolsky.

Sokolsky:  Nobody ... not you, not your Mr. Mystery Boss, nobody tells me what to do.

Gallo:  Look, his enterprise puts us under one banner.  It'll give us strength in numbers.  It gives us focus.  It gives us synergy.  It is not a bad business model.

Asian man:  I don't like the situation any better, but I want to live to make a profit.

Sokolsky expels a huge wad of spit onto one of the Asian man's shoes.

Sokolsky says something in Russian, probably derogatory.

The Asian man draws a gun and points it at Sokolsky.  Everyone else pulls a piece, too, and picks a target.  They all remain still until the offended Asian man fires on Sokolsky.  The room fills with flying bullets as they all open fire.  Well, not quite all - Tommy Gallo and his minion run from the room.

Gallo (voice rising):  Let's go!  Let's go!  Let's go! 

They run from the building and jump in their Lincoln Town Car and peel away as sirens sound in the distance.

{Pause for opening sequence.}

Return to the scene of the shoot-out some time later.  The floor is littered with bodies.  Jake, Danny, and Sara, along with many others, are on the scene.  Jake kneels by one body, Danny standing behind him.  Sara stands nearby.

Jake:  Who's this guy?

Danny:  Aleksy Sokolsky - Russian Mafia.  This is ... was his place.

Sara looks at each of the bodies and names them off according to their "profession."

Sara:  Loan shark ... arms dealer ... murder for hire.  Oh, and the importation of exotic species.

Jake:  Nice.

Sara:  What's wrong with this picture, fellas?Danny takes a quick look around.

Danny:  Too much diversity, if you ask me.

Sara:  Yeah, a regular U.N. General Assembly.

Danny (sigh):  Asians, Latino maybe, African-Americans, Anglo, Russians ... doesn't add up.

Sara:  Mmm.

Jake:  War between crime families, you think?

Danny:  Just as likely as a peace summit gone bad ... real bad.

Jake:  That depends on your definition of bad.  These guys weren't exactly proponents of the greater social good.

Sara gives a short laugh.

Sara:  Something's off, though.

Sara gets a quick flash of a man's eyes.  They are either without a pupil, or covered in a thick white film.  There are short blood trails under the eyes.

When she comes back to herself, Danny looks a little concerned, but doesn't say anything.     {Maybe he's learning to just not ask anymore.  :-) }

Sara:  Uh ... one, one thing that bothers me.  We got the whole world here ... all except for Gallo.

Danny:  His side of the mob wasn't involved?

Sara:  Or he managed to walk out ... alive.

Cut to Sara arriving at Tommy Gallo's place.  She shoves one guard through the doorway into a second man.  They both go down.  One gets back up and comes at her.  Sara kicks him in the head with her right foot and he goes down again.

A short distance away, Gallo is still calmly drinking his coffee on a stool at a tall table.

Gallo:  Come in.

He gestures to another stool at the table.

Gallo:   Make yourself at home.

Sara starts to walk slowly over to Gallo.

Sara:  Was it an ambush?  Something you set up?

Gallo:  And you are talking about what?

Sara:  The Russians make a grab for your market share?  You for theirs?

Gallo:  Well, I have my game, they have theirs.  At least, they did.

Sara:  They did until what?  Until you got them in the room with the Colombians?  The Triads?  What's your problem with them, Gallo?

Gallo:  Just the usual.

Both guards walk up near Sara.

Gallo:  She's not going to hurt me, guys, and even if she was, what would you do about it?  Leave us alone.

Sara sits on another of the stools.

Gallo:  Can you keep me out of this?

Sara says nothing.

Gallo (soft):  OK ...

Gallo looks around the room to make sure he is not overheard before continuing.

Gallo:  There is a new boss in town, and he is forcing everyone to consolidate.  He is creating one vertically integrated business, and he won't say for what.

Sara:  Who's got that much muscle, Gallo?

Gallo:  He's just called "V".

Sara:  "V", like the letter?

Gallo:  Yeah, and it seems that he can move through shadows, through walls.  It seems that there is nothing that can stop this guy, and believe me, I've tried.  Pezzini, this guy sent me my nephew in a garbage bag.  An innocent, teenaged kid, and I had to break it to my sister.  Now, this guy, it's like he's Kaiser friggin' Soze, OK?  It's like he's the Devil's best friend.  Il Diavolo - you know what I'm talking about?

Gallo opens the cash box on the table and pulls out something.

Gallo:  Attached to the garbage bag ... was this.

He holds out a black card with a large red "V" on it.  Sara takes the card and turns it over.  The other side shows a tarot illustration.

Sara:  What's this "V" look like?

Gallo (shakes head):  I've never seen his face.  And frankly, I don't want to.

Sara looks at the card again and it seems the card bursts into flame.  Eyes wide, Sara gets a Witchblade vision:  herself as a little girl being held by her father outside their home;  her father turns and we see blood trails coming from his eyes;  he opens his eyes and they are totally white.  The fire dies from the card, leaving it unmarred.

Cut to Sara driving her Buell.  Some sort of visual distortion follows her home.

Cut to the interior of Sara's apartment.  She is sitting up in bed with a corkboard in front of her propped up against the headboard.  On the board are pictures and names of several men, along with short descriptions like "Trafficking, murder" and "Murder, racketeer."  Since Gallo made it to her board, these are probably likely suspects, not victims.

The visual distortion now seems to be looking in on Sara through the screen set up in front of her bedroom window.

The teakettle on the stove whistles, startling Sara out of her contemplation of mobsters.  Sara gets the kettle and fixes her tea while trying to loosen tight neck muscles.  The distortion field follows her.  Sara takes the cup of tea back to the bedroom area and is shocked to see a photo of herself and her father now on her corkboard.

Sara hears someone at the front door and turns just in time to glimpse someone exiting her apartment.  All we know for sure is that this person wore a dark cap, dark thigh-length coat, and no glove on the left hand that pulled the door closed.     {I thought I saw white hair, but I couldn't swear to it.}

Sara grabs her gun and heads for the door.  She looks through the peephole and opens the door.  She looks down the hallway in both directions and sees no one.  She returns to her apartment and locks the door.  When she turns around she can see an old photo album with its pages askew.  Sara sees herself as a little girl flying through the air with arms outstretched.

Cut to Sara's desk at the precinct.  On her desk is a bunch of photos of the deceased gangsters.  She holds in her hand the photo of herself and her father she found on her corkboard.  Through the office window, everyone seems to be going in fast motion until the phone rings.  Sara picks up the phone.

Sara (into phone):  Yeah, Pezzini.

Gabriel's voice (over phone):  What up, kid?

Sara (into phone):  You're calling me "kid"?

Cut to Gabriel's.  It looks like he's playing a game of chess with himself.

Gabriel (into phone):  Well, let me rephrase that.  What up, kiddo?

Sara (over phone):  I'm just sitting here pondering the meaning of life.

Back to the station.

Sara (into phone):  What's going on?

Back to Gabriel.

Gabriel (into phone):  You know that guy that emails me about you and the Witchblade?

Sara (over phone):  Yeah, Cyberfaust?

Gabriel (into phone): Yeah, him.

Back to Sara.

Sara (into phone):  What's he got to say now?

Back to Gabriel.

Gabriel (into phone):  Um ... I'm not sure yet.

Gabriel gets up and walks over to his computer.

Gabriel (into phone):  He sent me a whop of an email with jpegs ...

Gabriel pushes a couple keys.

Gabriel (into phone):  ... but I haven't been able to open it.

A quick peek at Sara to see she has picked up the photo of her father again.

Gabriel (into phone):  So I thought I'd let you know.

Sara just keeps looking at the photo.  Gabriel laughs.

Gabriel (into phone):  So, I'll call.

Back to Sara.

Sara (into phone):  Uh, yeah, yeah, please do.  Thanks.

Sara hangs up.

Cut to the office of a local businessman.  He apparently is in the record business, as there are framed gold records on the wall.  He's going through some paperwork.      {This guy was never named, so I'm going to call him "Jones" to simplify things.}

Jones:  Hey, boys, coffee break is over.

He gets no response and rises from his desk.  He walks a few feet closer to his office door.

Jones (under his breath):  What do I pay you guys for?

Jones (shout):  Jesse!  Hakim!

Still no answer.  He turns back to his desk to find that there is now someone occupying his chair, which is turned away from us.  This is the mysterious "V".

"V":  You ignored my call to unify.

Jones:  I told you, your enterprise has nothing to do with me.  Now, where are my boys?

"V" gestures to the couch across from the desk.  There are two large garbage bags there.

"V":  Resting comfortably.  I'm going to ask you one last time.

Jones flicks open a butterfly knife.   

"V" walks over to him.  We can see now that he is Caucasian, about 40 years old with brown hair under the baseball cap that he wears and that shades his face.

Jones:  You killed my boys?  That's the last mistake you're ever gonna make.

He slashes toward "V" with the knife.  "V" puts his left hand out and is cut across the palm.  Jones tries a backhand slice, but "V" catches his wrist in his left hand.  "V" starts squeezing and Jones drops the knife.  "V" keeps applying pressure until we hear crunching sounds and Jones drops to his knees.  "V" then lands a hard right to his opponent's head.

"V":  The time has come to finalize your decision.  Are you in or are you out?

"V"'s face is reflected in a broken mirror atop Jones' desk.

Jones (cough):  I-I'm in.

"V" tosses another of his black cards on Jones' desk.

Cut to the precinct.  Danny and Jake are with Jones in an interrogation room.  Jake stands behind the seated Jones and Danny sits across from him.  Jones has a soft wrap, not a cast, on his right arm from the hand to the elbow.

Jones:  I came here for protection.  I'm a taxpayer.

Danny:  I doubt that.

Jones:  Don't put me down.  I risked my life coming here, man, to do my civic duty.  I want protection!  What this guy is doing is against the law. I mean, just look at me.

Jake:  Yeah.  So's pimping, prostitution, and selling narcotics.

Jones:  I'm not talking about them laws.  I'm talking about the laws against coercing a businessman.  This guy, this guy is just turning the whole city upside down.

Danny (to Jake):  Sounds like it's getting tough to make a dishonest living.

Jake:  So, OK, this guy ... what do you call him?  "V"?

Jones:  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  "V", "V".

Jake:  You want us to take him down, but you can't tell us how we can find him, where he works, nothing.  Not even a description.

Jones:  He's, uh ... He's always ...

Jake makes hand gestures like "Yeah, come on.  Spit it out."

Jones:  Look, I don't know.  I, I don't know.  All right?  There's just something ... evil about this dude.

Jake:  Ahh ...

Danny:  So, we're looking for someone who's evil now, huh?

Danny (to Jake):  Write that one down.

Jake (mocking):  Where do we start?  Tall?  Thin?  Yellow?

Jones:  White ... white.

Jake gets out his notepad.

Jones:  About six feet.  He seemed taller.  His eyes, man.  He had these cold eyes, I can tell you that.  It's like they were lit up or something.  This dude was strong ... very strong.   I mean ... it's out of control.  None of us can do anything anymore.  You guys got to handle it.

Fade.

End Act I.

Act II

Open back at Jones' office.  Danny and Jake are there and spot the black card that "V" left.

Jake:  This "V"'s calling card or something? 

Danny:  Some blood here.  Hey, take a look in the bags.

Jake goes to one of the garbage bags left on Jones' couch and pulls open the top.

Jake:  Augh!

Jake covers his mouth and nose with his hand.

Cut to Vicky Po's lab.  She is examining some body parts.  She holds up something small with forceps.

Vicky:  You know, boys, they get 16 grand for one of these in Peru.  They're even cheaper in India.

Danny:  Now I know where to do my Christmas shopping.

Danny brings out an evidence bag with "V"'s card.

Danny:  Hey, Po, can you check this out?

Vicky:  Pez already gave me one of those.  I ran it off to the lab for prints.

Jake:  Yeah, I know.  This is another.

Vicky:  So, what, you want a normal workup?

Danny looks at Vicky working with the body part.

Danny:  Yeah.  Run a blood comp against the DNA bank.  Any, uh, prints you can lift would be good.

Vicky:  What am I looking for?

Jake:  Clues.

Vicky gives Jake a "No, duh" kind of look.

Jake:  Hey, did you guys hear about that guy in Vegas?  Meets this great looking girl.  Goes to her room.  Some wine, some sex.  Next thing, wakes up in a bathtub filled with ice.  Girl's gone ... so's one kidney.

Danny:  Urban legend.

Jake:  It could happen.

Vicky:  Hey, poodle in the microwave.  That I know for a fact is true.

Danny rises from his seat carrying a file folder.

Danny:  Yeah, so's alligators in the sewer.  Oh, by the way, Vick, you'll be getting what's left of some guys in garbage bags.

Danny walks out.

Vicky:  I'll keep my eye out for that one.

Jake follows after Danny.

Jake:  What about spontaneous combustion?  Now that could happen.

Cut to Sara in the precinct gym.  She is still, but covered in sweat.  She sees herself as a little girl flying through the air again.  She begins (or resumes) punching the heavy bag.  Gabriel walks through the door leading to the precinct proper.      {They let just anyone down there?}

Gabriel:  So, what happened?

Sara, breathing hard, stops punching and looks up at Gabriel, plainly confused.

Gabriel:  At 6:00?

Gabriel comes down the stairs.

Gabriel:  You were supposed to meet me.

Sara:  Oh, what time is it now?

Gabriel:  Way after.

Sara:  I'm, I'm sorry.  I got a lot on my mind.

Sara resumes punching the heavy bag.

Gabriel:  You taking it out on the bag?

Sara:  Yeah, the harder I hit, the clearer I think.

Sara stops hitting the bag.

Sara:  So, what have you got?

Gabriel:  Those jpegs that Cyberfaust sent me are pretty interesting.  They're, uh ...

Gabriel reaches inside his coat.

Gabriel:  ... they're scans of a tarot card ...

Gabriel holds up a tarot card to Sara.

Gabriel:  ... the fifth card of a major arcana - the Hierophant.

Sara:  What is this Hierophant?

Gabriel:  He's like this mystical priest figure in the tarot deck.

Gabriel props the card up between some free weights and takes two boxing hand pads lying nearby.

Gabriel:  The jpegs that came with these card scans have some sort of embedded data.

Sara:  Can you please translate?

Gabriel:  Well, it's not just this picture.  There's some sort of encrypted information buried beneath the surface.

Sara starts boxing into Gabriel's pads.

Sara:  Yeah?  Like what?  More pictures?

Gabriel:  Yeah, and text maybe.  Listen, it's going to take me a while.  The encryption's pretty sophisticated.

Sara stops punching.

Sara:  How's this Cyberfaust so dialed in?  We found that symbol at a couple homicide scenes.

Gabriel:  Um, I don't know.  What I can tell you is there's a fortune teller on Mott Street who's an expert on tarot cards - Madame Sesostris.

Sara:  Madame Prepostris.

Gabriel seems hurt by Sara's reaction.

Gabriel:  Sesostris.

Gabriel removes the pads and hands them to Sara.

Gabriel:  Have I ever steered you wrong before?

Sara (soft):  No.

Gabriel:  Besides, it takes all kinds to make the world, Sara, even one-of-a-kind kinds.

Sara:  That means what, exactly?

Gabriel (smile):  You'll know when you meet her.    (nods)

Gabriel walks up the stairs.

Sara:  Well,, I guess if she's any good, she'll know I'm coming.

Gabriel:  Yeah.

Sara goes back to hitting the heavy bag.

Cut to Sara walking through red curtains into Madame Sesostris' place of business.  No one is in there.

Sara:  Hello?  Hello?

A strong wind blows through the room.   A wooden door opens and Madame Sesostris walks into the room.

Sesostris:  You've arrived.

Sara takes an open-mouthed look at Madame Sesostris.  She is wearing a long green dress with veils hanging from her headdress.  She wears dangling gold jewelry.  And "she" is quite obviously a man in drag.  S/He speaks with a false high pitch.

Sara:  Yes.  Hi, I'm ...

Sara holds out her right hand to shake.

Sesostris (interrupts):  I know who you are, Miss McCormick.

Madame Sesostris doesn't shake her hand, so Sara lowers it.

Sara:  Uh, Pezzini ... NYPD.

Sesostris:  Pezzini, of course.  I knew you were coming. 

Sara has the largest  fake smile plastered on her lips.

Sara:  Right.  I understand that you know everything there is about tarot.

Sesostris:  No one knows everything.  It's an intuitive art.

Sara pulls the Hierophant card that Gabriel brought her from her right jacket pocket.  She holds out the card and Sesostris holds onto the edge of the card while her right hand comes under Sara's.  Sara lets go of the card and pulls her hand back before contact is made.  Sara looks up at Sesostris.

Sesostris:  Hierophant.  From an old deck.

Madame Sesostris closes her eyes and draws a deep breath in through her nostrils.  Sara rolls her eyes a bit.

Sesostris:  Passed through many hands.

Sara:  What can you tell me about it?  Its meaning?

Sesostris begins lighting candles.

Sesostris:  Some say the Hierophant ... is the interpreter of occult knowledge.  Others believe the Hierophant is the patriarch.  He occupies the seat of authority in matters of worldly knowledge.  For example, the Pope, who stands astride both worlds.  The esoteric and the exoteric.  He's your father.

Sara:  Excuse me?

Sesostris:  A father figure.  Tell me, the relationship with your father, is it ... complicated?

Sara:  Uh, he's been dead for a long time.

Sesostris:  Death is not the end of our existence.  We pass to higher vibrational planes.

Sara presses her lips together in a straight line and nods.  You can just imagine her thinking, "I'm gonna kill Gabriel for this."

Sesostris:  But you know that already.

Sara:  I do?   (frown)

Sesostris:  It's obvious to me that you walk in other dimensions.

Sesostris (enthusiastic):  You have a remarkable aura about you.

Sara does the lips pressed together thing again and raises her brows.

Sesostris:  Let's do a reading.

Madame Sesostris begins turning over cards and placing them on the table.

Sesostris:  This card is the significator.  It represents you.  Ahh ... the High Priestess.  In many ways, the holiest card in the major arcana.

Sara is unimpressed and turns her head aside.

Sesostris:  This ... covers her.

Sesostris holds up the next card - the Hierophant.

Sesostris:  The father ... again.  This is the context through which all other currents flow.

Madame Sesostris places this card atop the first card.  She draws the next card.  Sara seems to be paying attention now.

Sesostris:  This crosses her.    (Holds up the Devil card.)   The Devil opposes you.

She places The Devil atop the other two, only crossways.  She draws the next card.  It is Death.  She keeps drawing cards and placing them, only now without the explanation to Sara.  After Death, we see Ace of Swords, The Moon, and others.

Sara:  Um ... I don't know much about tarot, but this doesn't look particularly good.

Madame Sesostris continues placing cards.

Sesostris:  So much deception and destruction.  Either total victory or total annihilation.

Madame Sesostris looks up at Sara with wide open honest eyes.

Sesostris:  I've never seen a grouping so powerful.

Sara:  Oh, I bet you tell everybody that.

Sesostris:  No, I don't.  You have ... an unusual power.  Both a gift and a curse.  There are forces out to destroy you.

Sara:  What kind of forces?

Sesostris:  They are not of this ... they are of this world.  Tell me ... was your father ... was he murdered?

Sara:  Yes.  Yes, he was.  What's that got to do with anything?

Madame Sesostris looks at the card spread.

Sesostris:  Something is not quite right.

A strong wind blows the cards off the table.  Madame Sesostris kneels to pick up the cards as Sara stands.

Sara:  That wind trick is getting old.

Madame Sesostris is wide-eyed with fright.

Sesostris (gruff male voice):  Look, lady, I got a few tricks set up in this room, but wind ain't one of 'em.  Just who the hell are you?

Sara:  You're really scared.

Sesostris (gruff male voice):  Detective, will you get out of here?  You give me the creeps.

Sara:  Sure.  I ... Sorry, I ... I can't explain what's going on, either.  Sorry.

Sara leaves.  After she does, we get a close-up of Sesostris' face.  The eyes glow red as the mouth opens wide into a low roar.

Cut to Sara's apartment.  She is just walking through her front door.  She drops off her keys then continues to the couch.  She takes out her phone and lays it next to the stack of photo albums on the coffee table.  She takes the photo of herself and her father she found on her corkboard and puts it back where it belongs in the album.  Her cell phone rings and she answers it.

Sara (into phone):  Yeah, Pezzini.

Vicky is on the other end.

Vicky:  Hey, it's Vicky.         {CC spells it 'Vickie'  -  oops!    I'll just keep mine 'Vicky'.}

Sara:  Hey, Vick.

Vicky:  Listen, um ... I've got some pretty shocking news.  I think you should get down here.

Sara:  Well, can't you just tell me?

Vicky:  Ah ... the FBI made, uh, three matches on the prints from the card Gallo gave you.

Sara:  Yeah?

Vicky:  So, there's ... there's you and Gallo and ... there's one other.

Sara:  Well, who, Vick?

Vicky:  James Pezzini, your father.

Sara:  Uh ... my father's been dead almost 20 years.

Vicky:  Yeah, well ...

Sara:  Y-yeah, I'll come down.

She disconnects.

Fade.

End Act II

Act III

Open with Sara having gone to Vicky's lab.  On Vicky's computer screen are enlargements of a couple of fingerprints.

Sara:  Come on, Vick.  Those can't be my father's fingerprints.  It's, it's impossible.

Vicky:  Weird?  Yeah, very.  But, impossible?  Not at all.  Though, you know, the "how" and the "why" are interesting opportunities for speculation.  But ... a backup lab confirmed it.  They're your dad's prints.

Sara:  Uh ... if they are my dad's prints, they'd have to be at least 20 years old.  And, and how'd they get on a card that Gallo had?

Vicky:  I don't know.  Seems like someone's really trying to mess with your head, though.

Vicky turns to look at her computer monitor.  Sara looks at the card in her hand and sees blood welling up from the card.

Witchblade vision:  Sara as a girl jumping off her porch into her father's arms;  being held there;  the white-eyed man with blood trails from the eyes;  pull back a little to see that this seems to be her father, only the face is blank and expressionless.

The blood goes back into the card, leaving it unmarred, as the fire did earlier.

Sara:  Uh, yeah.  Yeah, they're doing a hell of a job.

Cut to Kenneth Irons' mansion.  Ian Nottingham sits facing sideways on a long table set in front of "the chair."  In the foreground, set on a small table, is Irons' hand in the vase.  Ian turns his head to look at the hand then gets up from the table.  He walks around the table to sit in the chair.

Ian:  I understand, Father ... I understand.    {I'm glad one of us does.}

Cut to the rear of a warehouse.  Men are loading silver barrels into a truck.  Gallo and another man walk out of the warehouse.

Gallo:  So, come down to the club tomorrow night ...

Shift to see Gallo is being listened in on by Danny and Jake with electronic gear from their car.

Gallo:  ... Johnny'll take care of ya, huh?  All this beer makes me thirsty.

Jake:  Yeah.  Me, too, Tommy.

Danny:  You know, that beer's stolen.

Jake:  Come on.  An upstanding citizen like Gallo?  Naw.

Gallo's cell phone rings.  He sees the number on the caller ID and is not pleased.  We only get to hear his side of the conversation.

Gallo:  Yeah.  No, ah, ah ... tonight's not so good.  Yeah.  Yeah, all right.  Everybody.  I got it, I got it.

Gallo snaps his fingers at one of the guys near him for paper and pen.

Gallo:  Ah, ah ... where and when?  11466 Trident Avenue.

Shift to see Jake writing this down, too.

Gallo:  On the yacht at 6:00.  I'll be there.

Gallo hangs up.

Jake (soft):  Gotcha.

Gallo blows out his breath.

Gallo:  I work my way up from soldier to capo and now I'm taking orders from a guy that's like, uh, Mussolini on meth.  What a nightmare.

Gallo gets in his car and is driven off.  As the car passes Jake and Danny, they duck down in their seats.

Jake:  What a piece of work that guy is.  What about this thing with Sara's dad?  His fingerprints on the tarot card?  How can that be?

Danny:  It was real old, right?

Jake:  Yeah?

Danny:  An old card.  Maybe he had it in his possession a long time ago, something he was investigating.

Jake:  And now it just so happens that case falls in his daughter's lap?

Danny:  Listen, Pez gets some weird cases.

Jake:  You can say that again.

Cut to the docks.  There is a major surveillance operation underway.  Jake sits at a table reading a newspaper, Danny is working at a lemonade stand  {?}  and Sara stands at the side of a small building.  They each wear a small communication device.  There's no telling how many of the others walking around and working are actually police.

Jake:  Got a blue Porsche coming your way.  Silver Jag behind that.

We see the cars pass Danny's and Sara's posts and park near the water.  Men wearing guns openly depart from the cars. 

At Sara's post, she is half-hidden in a doorway at the side of the building.  Behind her, we see a gloved hand curve around the back edge of the building.  Ian leans around the corner and strokes Sara's hair with a smile.  Sara gasps and glances back at him then faces forward again.

Ian:  The answer you seek is hidden ... in the Enochian Tablets.

Sara waves him back.

Sara (low):  Whatever.  Get out.

Ian goes back around to the rear of the building.

Jake:  Black Mercedes rolling in.

Sara:  The Colombian delegates have arrived.

The Colombians park with the others.

Jake:  White Lexus.  Everybody on their game.  Town Car behind that.

Danny:  A regular monster's ball.

Jake (drawled out):  Oh, yeah.

We see some of the gangsters greet each other on the yacht. 

A limousine approaches next.

Jake:  Heads up.  Limo coming your way.  Sara, "V"'s the only one still to show.

Sara:  That's him.  That's "V".

The passenger's window in the limo descends.  The passenger turns his head to look at Sara.

Sara:  Oh, my God.

Danny:  What's that, Sara?  I didn't hear you.

Sara walks out from her hiding place to keep the limo in view.

Danny (soft):  Sara, get back inside.

Sara:  Daddy?

Jake:  What the hell is she doing?

Sara smiles broadly as she watches the limo drive by.  Her smile fades as the limo continues past her.  After the car has gone by, Sara looks back over her shoulder away from the limo to where she, and Ian, stood moments ago.

Jake:  Sara, do you copy?  "V"'s leaving.  "V" is leaving!  What happened?

Fade.

End Act III

Act IV

Open in a restaurant at night.  Danny and Jake are talking to Sara about what she thinks she saw earlier.  Danny and Sara sit on one side of a table, Jake on the other.  Sara stirs creamer into her coffee.  Outside, it is raining and we can see Lazar looking in the front window.      {Probably freaking out the other diners.}

Sara:  Something about his eyes.  They were cold, but ... they were on fire.  It was him.  I'm sure of it.

Jake looks across the restaurant for someone or something.

Danny:  The windows were tinted, and you were 25 feet away.

Sara:  I know what I saw, Danny.

Danny:  Look ...

A waitress walks up with Jake's order.

Waitress:  Here you go.

Jake:  Thanks.

Danny:  You've had this on your mind ever since that fingerprint came up.

Jake:  Maybe you just filled in the blanks, saw what you expected.

Sara:  What, you think I expected to see my father?  He's been dead 20 years, Jake.

Jake:  No, it ...

Danny laughs softly.

Danny:  And dead is dead.  And when you are dead, you don't come back to life.

Sara turns her head to look at Danny.  She sees Gallo shoot him on the stage of the Rialto and then herself at Danny's funeral.  Her mind is obviously elsewhere and Danny's brow creases;  even Jake notices.

Jake:  Hey, you OK?

Sara (startled):  Huh?

Sara (recovering):  Yeah ... yes.  It's just that it's so weird.

Danny (gently persuasive):  Even if your father was somehow still alive, he'd be over 60 years old, right?  Right?   I mean, you said this guy was like 40.

Sara:  Yeah, yeah, my father was 40 when he was murdered.

Danny and Jake both look away for a moment.

Jake:  It just doesn't make any sense, no matter how you cut it.  Your dad was a cop, not some maniac killer.

Sara:  A million words aren't going to wash away what I know, what I saw.

Danny:  Yeah, maybe your dad had a twin and you didn't know about him.

Sara:  I guess that's possible.  But ... No, it's like you said.  My dad would be in his 60's now.  So would his twin brother.

Danny:  What about a clone?

Sara (dismissively):  That's science fiction.

Jake:  Not any more.

Sara:  Look, unless he was cloned 40 years ago, he wouldn't have had time to grow up.

Sara's cell phone on the table rings.  Sara picks it up and walks off to a lunch counter area and sits on a stool.

Sara (into phone):  Yeah, Pezzini.

It is Vicky Po calling.

Vicky:  OK.  Are you ready for something really weird, something even I can't explain?

Sara:  No, not particularly, but go ahead anyway.

Vicky:  The prints on the second tarot card, they match James Pezzini's.  And they're fresh.

Sara (soft, stunned):  Ah, thanks.

She disconnects and sits there for a second.  Quick shot to see Lazar leaving the window.

Jake and Danny back at the table are discussing dining habits.

Jake:  Grilled cheese.  You want some?

Danny:  That is nasty.

Jake:  It's good for you.

Sara walks back to the table for her coat.

Sara:  I'm going to go dig up my father's grave.  I'm going to go see if he's in it.

Jake's jaw drops and Danny can't believe what he's hearing, either.

Danny:  Are you kidding?

Sara doesn't say anything, just continues putting her coat on with a serious (definitely not kidding) look on her face.

Danny:  I guess not.

Jake:  All right, all right, fine.

Jake looks around the restaurant.

Jake (soft):  But we need a court order.

Sara:  It's my father, Jake.  I don't need Jack.

Cut to Jake, Danny and Sara walking through a cemetery with flashlights and tools in their hands.  The rain has nearly stopped and the full moon can be seen through wispy clouds.  They stop at James Pezzini's headstone.  Sara hands Jake her flashlight and crowbar in return for a shovel.  Evidently, they brought 3 shovels, for they all start digging.   {Gloves, people!  You're all going to have blisters in a little while.}   At some point, Sara sheds her coat.

Sara finally hits a solid object and pokes at it with her shovel.

Danny:  You got something?

Sara:  Yeah.

Danny takes out his pocket flashlight and shines it down in the hole.  Sara starts moving loose dirt with her hands.  She uncovers deep grooves along the edge of the coffin.

Sara:  Well, look at this.

Danny jumps down in the hole.

Sara:  It's been jimmied open.

Danny:  We got this.

Sara:  No, if it's empty, there's nothing to see.  If it isn't ...  Well, let's do it.

Danny puts the crowbar under the edge of the coffin and starts prying it open.  Danny succeeds in getting the edge up and he and Jake prepare to open the lid.

Danny:  Ready?

The lid comes up and the coffin is not empty.  Judging by Danny's reaction, the smell leaves something to be desired.

Looking at the corpse, Sara has a flash of her father showing her the "disappearing finger" trick.

Sara:  Something's wrong here.

Jake:  I'm gonna be real upset if this is the wrong grave.

Sara:  His right hand.  It's missing.  My father wasn't missing his right hand.

Danny:  Someone switched bodies?

Sara:  Worse.  You know what the Westies do?

Sara (to Jake):  The Irish mob.

Sara:  They keep frozen, chopped off hands so they can use the prints at their crime scenes.  Throw the cops off their trail.

Jake:  That means somebody chopped off his hand a long time ago.

Danny:  And kept it on ice.

Sara:  I told you guys this was weird.

Cut to Sara riding her Buell through late night, nearly deserted streets.  She sees what looks to be her father on a sidewalk.  She stares at him and nearly runs into a parked van.  She stops, but when she looks back, he's gone.

Cut to Gabriel opening his door to find Sara standing there.

Gabriel:  It's after 4:00.

Sara:  I know ... sorry.

Sara walks in, her feet dragging she's so tired.

Gabriel:  No, you're not.

Sara:  Okay, it couldn't wait.  Anything on that card?

Gabriel:  Uh, yeah, I was actually gonna call you tomorrow.  I started decrypting the embedded data.

Sara nods and sits in a chair.

Gabriel:  And I see you're covered in dirt.

Sara:  Yeah, I was - I was, uh, digging up a grave.

Gabriel:  Mmm, right.

Gabriel sits across from Sara, at his computer.

Sara:  I ...

Sara closes her eyes and shakes her head, deciding to not go into details.

Sara:  So, what did you decrypt?

Gabriel gestures at his monitor.

Gabriel:  That's as far as I've gotten.  It's written in this obscure ancient language called Enochian.

Sara remembers Ian coming to her during the surveillance at the docks.

Ian (memory):  The answer you seek is hidden in the Enochian Tablets.

Back to the here and now.

Sara:  Enochian?

Gabriel:  Mm-hmm.  It's some sort of incantation for invoking spirits, resurrecting the dead.

Sara sees herself as a little girl jumping into her father's arms; her father white-eyed with blood trails coming from his eyes; a close-up of those eyes.

Sara:  Uh ...

Gabriel:  Hmm?

Sara (shakes her head):  Go on ... sorry.

Gabriel:  I checked with a Professor Faulkner at N.Y.U, and he said that the Enochian lexicon is the language of wizards, of prophets, of, uh ... of hierophants.  Oh, and the, ah ... the original Enochian Tablets ... are part of the Vorschlag art collection.

Sara:  I bet they are.

Gabriel:  Now, I tried to trace the emails back to their source, but they're from an anonymous server somewhere offshore.

Sara grabs her coat and stands.  She heads for the door.

Gabriel:  You know, this guy, Cyberfaust, is pretty sly, Sara.

Cut to Ian standing in Irons' den in front of the fire.  Sara walks up the passageway behind him.  Ian drops his head a bit and shakes it as if disappointed.

Ian:  I knew you'd come.

Sara:  What have you done?

Ian:  Me?

Ian turns around to face Sara.

Ian:  You wear the Witchblade, Sara.  You know there are powers beyond this world.  You've experienced them.

Sara:  I'm talking about good, old-fashioned mind banging.  You sent those emails to Gabriel.

Ian:  I did not!

Sara:  You know who chopped off my father's hand.

Ian laughs and starts walking to his left.

Ian:  I find it ironic that you should complain to me ...

Ian stops walking.  He has reached a small table.

Ian:  ... about mutilation.

Ian pulls the cover off of Irons' hand.

Ian:  This is my father's hand.

Sara remembers cutting off that hand during her battle with Irons and the Spear.  She looks at Ian and then back at the hand.

Sara:  Who is Cyberfaust?

Ian:  A newer version of a timeless tale.

We see a large portrait of Irons set up on an easel.   

Sara:  A chump who made a deal with the Devil?

We hear "the Devil" echo as Madame Sesostris, now in a man's suit, steps to the front of the library level.  His eyes glow red then flash yellow.

Ian:  Let's just say ... they are friends.

Flash to Sesostris again.

Sara:  Is Irons behind all of this?  Is that who's walking around in my father's body?

Sara gets an answer, but not from Ian.

"V":  I am your father.    {I refuse to name this creature "James Pezzini" - I'll just continue with "V"}

Sara turns to see what looks like her father standing across the room behind her.  She smiles.  Her smile fades and she looks to Ian.  His eyes shift from "V" to Sara, but he says nothing.

Sara:  No, my father is dead.

"V" holds his arms out wide and smiles.

"V":  That's all you've got to say to me after 20 years?

Sara sees herself walking to this man and hugging him.

Sara:  Stay there.

"V":  I've missed you so much.

Sara:  My father was not a man like "V" ... a cold murderer.

"V":  I've killed, yes.  But they were all evil men.  Doesn't that make me good?     {What about Gallo's nephew?}

Sara:  What?

"V":  Sara, I've organized an army of ruthless men to do your bidding.

We get the auditory cue for the Witchblade and the camera shifts to show Sara's hand hovering near her gun.  The stone in the Witchblade seems to be glowing.

"V":  Sara, honey ... I've watched you.  I've seen you suffer.  You must decide.  Will you wield it with power?  Or will you stay trapped in the weakness of common morality?  You are not an ordinary human.  The rules don't apply to you.

Sara (voice breaking):  Who are you?  What are you?

"V":  This new body was produced out of my own DNA, fabricated out of the wisdom of the ages and reunited with my soul.

There are tear tracks on Sara's right cheek.

Sara (voice breaking):  You may walk around in my father's body ... you're not my father.

"V":  Sara ...

Sara glances to Ian.

Sara (voice breaking):  Nottingham, can you help me out here?

Ian:  This is your battle, Sara.  I cannot ... help you.

Ian lowers his head and then sits on the arm of the sofa he had been standing near.  He puts his hands on his knees.

"V":  Sara, you have a choice.  Either you choose the path of power, or you make way for someone who will.

Sara draws her gun and points it at "V".

Sara:  There is a third choice.

Quick cut to see Ian's eyes shift between them.

"V":  Sara, aren't you going to find it difficult to kill your own father?

Sara:  You thought I'd be blind to what you really are.  You're not my father.  I can see it in your eyes.

"V" starts walking slowly toward Sara.

"V":  Sara ...

Sara (voice breaking):  You take one more step, and I'll fire.

He continues walking.

Sara shoots him once in each leg.  When he doesn't go down, she puts a third bullet in his lower chest.  He staggers, puts his hand to his chest and bends over.

Ian looks down.  He knows what is to unfold next.

Sara lowers her weapon.

Sara:  Dad ...

She walks over to the man she named father.  He pushes her arm up and takes the gun from her hand, tossing it aside.  And then it is not her father grappling with her, it is Kenneth Irons.  She tries to punch him with her free left hand, but he ducks back and  uses her own momentum to twist her in front of him, her back to him.

Irons:  I see you've made your choice.

He throws her from him toward the long table.  He once more becomes "V" and begins to throttle Sara as she is pinned back across the table.  Sara looks up and sees Sesostris looking down from the library with a smile on his lips.   {Though obviously not "just" Sesostris, I'll continue using this name.}  Sara hears a guttural voice from  the other timeline and sees this same face grossly distorted as it forms the words.

DelToro (his name then):  Do you really think that you're a match for me, Sara Pezzini?

Sesostris brings forth a thick deck of tarot cards in his right hand and starts propelling them into the air.

Sara raises her right hand and the Witchblade transforms into the bladeless, open version.  She punches "V" twice with it and then kicks him spinning through the air to land in the middle of Irons' portrait.  The portrait is destroyed and the easel collapses.

Shift to see Ian with a ghost of a smile still sitting with his hands on his knees.   {Trying to control the urge to move, is my guess.}

On the floor, "V" stirs.  We sometimes see a helm or mask of some sort with spikes sticking out of it on "V".  Just the helm, though.  The rest of his clothes remain the same.

Sesostris looks on, still with that smug smile.  Cards continue to float through the air, though there are none left in Sesostris' hand.

"V" rises to his feet and Sara approaches.  Ian watches her and moves restlessly on his perch.  He really wants to be moving.

Sara swings her right hand at "V", but he ducks.  She misses so badly, she just about presents her back to "V".  He grabs her and tosses her across the room, smashing a small table.  Ian rocks in agitation and follows her flight to her ignominious landing.  Sesostris seems pleased.

Halfway up the wall, above Sara's landing place, "V" suddenly replaces the suit of armor that normally occupies a niche in the wall.  Sesostris looks surprised.  We again see the spiked helm.  Sara scrambles a bit out from the wall to lie flat on her back.  "V" changes to Irons again.  He looks down and smiles lop-sidedly at Sara.  Spike helm again and then "V" smiles.  He has a front tooth missing.  Cards are still flying through the room.

Ian still rocks back and forth, hands locked in place.

"V" loses his smile and leaps from the niche.  As soon as he leaps, the Witchblade transforms to the heavy gauntlet with blade.  Sara braces her elbow on the floor.  Gravity does its thing and "V" is impaled on the Witchblade.  He struggles briefly then collapses.  Sesostris looks kind of shocked, and not too pleased, at the outcome.

Ian finally relaxes.  He leans back against the couch and his hands come together in his lap.  

"V"'s body disappears from the Witchblade and leaves behind something burning along the blade.

Sesostris, now quite sober, turns from the library railing and walks out of sight.

Sara stares up at the sword part of the Witchblade and sees a black residue on the blade.  Our friend, the visual distortion, is back.  It goes from Sara, across the room to Ian, then to the fire burning on the hearth.  It heads for the fire and the fire dies down to mere flickers.

Ian picks up Sara's gun and walks over to where she is now standing in front of the dying fire.

Ian:  Don't be so sure you won.

Ian offers Sara her gun, barrel first.

Ian:  He may have let you win ... to begin.

Sara takes her gun by the barrel.

Ian:  Every question has many answers, Sara.

Ian covers up Irons' hand again.

Cut to the outside of Irons' mansion.  Sara exits into the early morning light.  She wearily climbs aboard her bike.

She once again remembers jumping from her porch as a little girl and flying into her father's arms.

Sara rides off on her Buell.

Fade.

End Act IV

END OF EPISODE

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