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 at night in Tempo Chinese Restaurant.  This is well after closing time.  Two men are in the restaurant.  One looks out the drapes onto the street.  {I'll call him Al and the other one Bill.}

Bill:  We're clear?

Al turns from the window.

            Al:  Um hmm.

Bill hands Al a metal container.  They begin pouring liquid around the restaurant.

Shift view to see that there is an Asian couple bound and gagged in the living area above the restaurant.  They are struggling but making no headway.  Downstairs, Al and Bill have made it to the kitchen.  They finish dumping their accelerant and Bill gives a thumbs up signal.

Bill:  Good.

Al takes a cigarette from behind his right ear and lights it.

Suddenly, Al and Bill both are shot by a figure with two guns wearing a deeply hooded red sweatshirt.  After they fall, they are shot again.  As the figure leaves through the back door, we can see it is a woman or girl in a skirt.

{Pause for opening sequence.}

When we return, it is daytime outside the restaurant.  The curious are held back by yellow tape and a uniformed officer stands at the door.  A familiar blue sedan pulls up curbside.  A hand reaches through the open back window to open the rear car door from the outside.  Gabriel steps from the back seat.  In his hand is a video camera.  Actually, two cameras.  He points one at himself and the other at Danny, who is just exiting the front passenger seat.  On the screen, we see both pictures, Gabriel on the left and Danny on the right.  Gabriel starts backing toward the restaurant entrance.

Gabriel:  So, uh ... so, what are you thinking right now, Danny?

Danny:  I'm thinking, "Why did Pez ever agree to let you do this?"

Jake exits the driver's side of the car and they enter the restaurant.

Gabriel:  Because documentary film is the last vestige of visual truth, the last bastion of societal objectivism.  And I guess she's just that kind of a girl, right?

They walk through the dining area of the restaurant, Gabriel still walking backwards, filming both himself and Jake and Danny.  Jake pulls a pair of gloves out of his jacket.

Jake:  Probably wants out of the relic business.

Gabriel:  Oh, hey, you're crossing the line.

Jake (offended?):  Crossing what?

Gabriel:  Um, the imaginary axis that separates screen left/screen right orientation.  You're crossing it.

By this time they have reached the kitchen doorway.  Gabriel stops there.  As he passes Gabriel, Jake puts his hand over the camera lens.

Jake:  Mellow out, Fellini.

Jake and Danny continue deeper into the kitchen.

Gabriel:  Yeah, well ... we've arrived at the crime scene.

Gabriel wrinkles his nose and then follows the two detectives.

Vicky Po is already with the bodies of the two attempted arsonists when Danny and Jake walk through the doorway into the back part of the kitchen.

Vicky:  Hey, Danny.

Jake:  Hey, Vick.  What up?

Vicky:  Someone air-holed a couple of guys, but averted a felony arson.

Gabriel stops at the doorway.

Danny:  You mean murdered them.

Vicky:  I'd say it's more like a public service.  These guys were here to burn the place down, but the shooter stopped them.

Danny spots an Asian man sitting over by the refrigeration units.

Danny:  That the owner there?  Or the shooter?

Vicky:  No.  No, no, no ... Mr. Chin, his wife and daughter, they were all bound and gagged upstairs.

Gabriel has his cameras out again.

Danny squats by Al's body.

Vicky:  Whoever did this, they were definitely trained.    (Vicky gestures to the bodies.)   They've both got two shots to the body and one to the head. 

Danny:  Upward trajectory.  Was the killer reclining?  Taking a load off?  Or just shooting from the hip?

Vicky pokes a slim metal rod into a bullet hole in the wall above Al's body.  She holds the rod at a downward angle.

Vicky:  Could be.

Gabriel:  Hunh.  Could have been a dwarf.

Danny looks sharply at the smiling Gabriel, brow raised.

Gabriel:  Dwarf assassins.  They've been used.  Effective, too.  Um ...

Vicky gives Danny a "Who is this guy?" kind of look.

Gabriel:  ... there's a pygmy tribe up the coast of Manila, used poison darts.

Danny:  Ahem, Gabriel ...

Gabriel looks up from his cameras with the quintessential "What did I do?" look.

Vicky (to Danny):  He OK?

Danny:  Yeah, he's with us.

Vicky:  Yeah, unfortunately.

Gabriel is looking down on the top of Al's back where his shirt has slipped aside.

Gabriel:  What's up with the tat?

Al has a stylized wolf's head tattooed in red on his upper back/lower neck area.

Danny squats down by Bill and pushes his jacket and shirt collars back with a pen.  Bill has the same red tattoo.

Danny:  What's it signify?

Vicky:  I don't know.  Both guys got 'em.  Same marking, same place.

Danny:  Probably a gang emblem.

Gabriel:  Nah, it looks eastern European.  Like it's a Gypsy symbol, maybe.

Danny:  You're killing me.

Gabriel shrugs like "I was just trying to help."   {He mumbles something I didn't catch.}

Jake and Danny move over to Mr. Chin.  Mr. Chin rises.

Jake:  Mr. Chin, I'm Detective McCartey.  This is Detective Woo.

Danny and Chin shake hands.   {Jake still has his gloves on.}

Jake:  Is there anything you can tell us about the shooter, anything at all?

Gabriel has both cameras directed toward Jake and Danny.

Chin:  Nothing.  I didn't see him.  And I wouldn't give him up if I saw his face.  He did us all a favor.  Those guys were Aryan Posse members. 

The screen is now split - Jake and Chin on the left side and Danny on the right.

Danny:  They target anyone with less than a round eye or a skin shade darker than an eggshell.

We see the Jake and Chin video continuing on a TV.

Chin (pointing):  Well, that one I recognize, 'cause he's given me problems before.

Cut to Sara and Danny's office in the precinct.  Gabriel, Jake, Danny and Sara have gathered there watching Gabriel's tape.

Danny's voice (from tape):  What kind?

Chin (from tape):  Broken windows, graffiti, death threats.

Gabriel is taping Sara watching his tape.

Jake (from tape):  Ever report any of it?

Chin (from tape):  Detective, you know as well as I do, there's different levels of equal protection depending on your race.

Back at the crime scene, Vicky looks over for a second.  Gabriel is still taping both Jake with Chin and Danny.  Danny hands Chin a card.

Danny:  Mr. Chin, here's my card.  If you can think of anything else, give us a call.

Jake looks uncomfortable in front of the camera.  Jake and Danny walk slowly away from Chin.

Danny (to Jake):  Aryan Posse's not the symbol on their necks.  Oliver Stone here ...  (points finger at the camera)

Back to the station.  The feed from Danny's camera is now on the TV.

Danny (from tape):  ... thinks our height-challenged killer is a gypsy.

On the tape, Jake now walks behind Danny.

Jake (from tape):  A gypsy circus pygmy.

Sara looks through photos of the dead arsonists, noting the red tattoo.

Sara:  Hmmm ...

Using a remote, she stops the video playback.

Sara:  Well, it wasn't a suicide, passion, or accidental.  Maybe it was a contract hit.

Gabriel:  Do you guys recognize the work?  Like, the style of the hit?  The M.O.?

Jake looks at Danny.

Danny:  You've been watching too much Law and Order.

Gabriel:  Well, look, all I'm saying is, if you've got a leak, you call a plumber, right?

Danny glances at Jake and drops his head.

Sara:  Uh, Gabriel, that's a good point ...  (voice dropping)  ... bad analogy.

Jake rubs his face as Danny throws a paper wad at Gabriel.

Sara:  I think I will go to Rykers, though.

Cut to an interview room inside Rykers Prison.   Sara sits at a table opposite one of the inmates.

Sara drops a stack of photos on the table, the top one showing the red wolf's head tattoo on the back of Bill's neck.  The inmate reaches out with his cuffed hands and pulls the photos to him.  As the inmate flips through the photos, Sara experiences a brief WB vision.

WB vision:  A wolf howling at night; a man in a green uniform with a machine gun firing from the corner of a building; three men on a street in fatigues carrying gear duck down;  a battered city with smoke and dust rising from it; a pile of human skulls;  a metallic wolf's head.

Back to Sara and the inmate.  He looks through the photos and then brings them up to his face and sniffs deeply, bringing his face up the photo.  When he gets to the top, we see he has also been licking the picture.  He has his eyes closed.  He lets out a sigh, opens his eyes, and drops the pictures to the table.  He brings an unlit cigarette to his mouth and pretends to draw from it.   {OK - weird much?}

Inmate:  Ever kill out of anger, Detective?

We see Sara shooting Fiona from Maelstrom.  It seems she remembers this, too.   {Ooh, consciously remembering the alternate timeline?  Wonder what else she remembers?}

Sara:  Once.

Inmate:  Enjoy it?

Sara:  More than a little, yeah.

The inmate smiles briefly then gestures to the pictures.

Inmate:  This bad boy you're looking for ... he kills with intent, with purpose.  There's no joy, no exuberance, in these killings.  They're too economical.

Sara:  Recognize the work?    {Isn't this what Gabriel said and was laughed at for?}

Inmate:  Just the mindset.  This guy is on a mission.  He's definitely not enjoying himself.  Not yet.

Sara:  Recognize the tattoo?

Inmate:  No.

He brings his cigarette to his mouth for another fake puff and looks out the window.

Inmate:  How is it out there?   Is the world a safer place now that I am behind bars?

He turns back to Sara.

Sara:  Probably not.

Inmate:  I hated you for putting me away.  Still do.  And I thank you for that.

Sara:  Why?

Inmate:  Because hate feels so good.

Sara smiles and gives a short laugh before gathering the photos.  As she leaves, we see the same tattoo on the back of the inmate's neck.

{There is an effect that will be used periodically this episode of a camera low to the ground with the sound of a low growling.  There is no indication that there is anything physically there, though.  I'll just call this "wolf view" for simplicity.}

Cut to the visitor's parking area of the prison.  Wolf view of Sara walking across the lot.  Sara looks around her, turning around as she continues walking.  When she turns back, she is met by a black and tan dog barking and jumping at her from the end of a leash.

Sara:  Oh!

The other end of the leash is clipped to a ring on Ian Nottingham's belt.  After surprising Sara, the dog sits quietly at Ian's feet.

Ian:  Hello, Sara.

Sara (looking at the dog):  Damn it, Nottingham!

Ian:  How goes the battle against the bad guys?  Good versus evil, love versus hate.  It breaks my heart, the ugliness you see.

Wolf view of Sara's response.

Sara:  My glass is half full.

Ian:  Evil is never benign.

Sara:  I guess that's why they call it evil.

Ian:  In some, evil is innate - they're born bad.

Sara:  All right, what can you tell me ...

Ian (overriding):  In others ...

Sara licks her lips and looks away.

Ian:  ... evil is planted, cultivated and reaped.     {Way to go, Ian.}

Sara looks back.

Ian:  Sara, seek out the purveyors of hatred, for they bear the foulest fruit.

Cut to an elevated walkway late at night.  Two men standing there notice two other men walking toward them.  The newcomers are walking hand-in-hand.   {We'll find out later that the walkers are named Howard Something and Something Gerleit.}

Basher 1:  Look at these two lovebirds.  It makes me sick.

As the walkers pass the stationary men, the one closest to the bashers, Howard, is grabbed and pulled over to the railing.  His companion, Gerleit, rushes to his defense.  The attackers split up, one staying near the railing with Howard and the other beating on Gerleit several feet away.  Howard is thrown screaming over the railing.  Now both attackers try wrestling Gerleit to the railing.  Both assailants are shot by the vigilante in the red hood.  Gerleit scrambles over to the railing and looks up at his rescuer.  He collapses as she walks away.

Fade.

End Act I.

Act II

Cut to the precinct the next day.  Jake is asleep with his feet crossed on his desk and his head propped up on his left hand.  Sara sweeps Jake's feet from the desk as Danny smirks behind her.  Danny carries a styrofoam tray with drinks.

Sara:  Top o', McCartey.  How'd it go last night?

Jake rubs his eyes.

Jake:  Augh ... wasn't pretty.

Danny hands him a bottle of orange juice.

Jake (to Danny):  Thanks.

Sara sips from her large coffee.

Jake:  The two dead guys were on a gay-bashing mission.  They put one man in a coma.  The other victim was D.O.A. from massive head contusions.  Seems like our vigilante, whoever he is, put an end to the festivities just a little too late.

Danny:  Hmm, no other witnesses?

Jake:  Nada.

Sara:  So, one homicide was perpetrated by our dead gay-bashers, then they were killed by ...

Jake:  The M.O. is the same as the killings at the Chinese restaurant.

Jake passes the case file with photos of the previous night's crime scene to Sara.

Jake:  What's more interesting, is that both of the attackers have the same tattoo as the firestarters from the other night.

Sara:  Danny, are you still tight with Husman in Hate Crimes?

Danny:  Yeah ... I'm on it.

Danny takes the file and leaves.

Jake:  See you.

Jake gets up, groaning.  Sara picks up her coffee from the desk, evidently scalding herself, as she shakes her head as if in pain.

Jake:  Hey, Pez ...

Sara:  Mmm ...

Jake:  Why's your friend Gabriel videotaping us all the time?

Sara:  'Cause he asked if he could ... and what he really wants to do is direct.

Jake:  Uh huh.  You know that could be used against us?

Sara:  You know you're being paranoid, McCartey.

Jake:  Look who I work with.

Sara:  Would you get out of here?  Go get some shuteye.

Jake:  Twist my arm.

Cut to a large room with a stone floor.  Set in the floor is a round symbol with the wolf's head in the center in solid red.  Off to the right, eight men in suits sit four to a side at a rectangular wooden table.  They all have their chairs turned away from the center of the room.  A man walks up from that side, but no one turns to look at him.  We'll find out shortly that this man is called Lupo.

Lupo:  Brothers ... there's a force at work that threatens to undermine our siege upon this world.  We must unify our clans.  We must strengthen our resolve and we must be merciless in our persecution of those who would object to our goal of a new world order.

The man closest to Lupo on the left speaks.

Man:  Lupo ... this killer somehow knows exactly when and where to appear in order to prevent us from carrying out our missions.  I think that someone here betrays us.

A man shaved bald looks over at him.

Baldy:  Who are you to start pointing fingers?  You should take a hard look at your own group.

He rises from his chair as the first man does.

First Man (yelling):  My group!  Don't you talk to me ...

The others around the table rise and join in the shouting match that ensues.  Lupo watches and smiles.  He lets it go on for a little while and then interrupts.

Lupo:  My brothers ... let's not descend into small-minded tribalism.  That would only ensure our enemy's victory.

The men seat themselves again, still not looking at Lupo.

Lupo:  I had a vision of a seer who pierces the prism of the physical world.  A woman ... who could reveal the cur who dares to challenge us.  A woman ... who could be of value to the cause.  This woman is a police officer.  Her name is Sara Pezzini.

Baldy:  What will this police officer find?

Lupo:  She will find ... Bola.  The lovely one who sheds light upon the darkness.

Cut back to the station.  Danny walks through the door of the office he shares with Sara.  He has a case file in one hand and drinks from the coffee cup in the other.  Sara is at her desk.

Danny:  Scored with the Hate Crimes Task Force.

Sara (soft):  Oh.

Danny puts his cup down and goes over to their bulletin board.

Danny:  Tattoo on the dead guys is an Eastern European symbol meaning lupo, or wolf.

Danny pins several things to the board, including the symbol and a photo of the tattoo on one of the dead guys.

Danny:  But, it's also the name of the person who's behind all this.

Danny is talking a little fast.

Sara:  Is behind all what, exactly?

Danny takes a seat at his desk and picks up his cup.

Danny:  Organizing the hate groups, uniting them.

Danny pops up from his chair again.  Sara shakes her head.  Danny goes back to one of the pages pinned to the board.

Danny:  According to their records, this guy's also being tracked by Interpol for past efforts in Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Berlin.  They say he's been around a long time.

Sara gets up and approaches the bulletin board.

Danny:  Tattoos started showing up on collars in Detroit about two years ago, in Miami about a year after that, and now here in the last four or five months.

Sara reaches for Danny's coffee cup, which he had set on the table in front of the bulletin board, but he picks it up first.

Sara:  Huh.  And here, there has been a spike in hate crimes the last four or five months.

Danny heads back to his desk.  At his desk, his movements are quick and sudden.

Danny:  Yeah.  More of 'em, more violent, too.  Same thing in the other cities.  Another thing that happened in those cities ... some vigilante showed up, started taking out guys, stopping crimes in progress.

Sara looks like she might say something, but Danny  {on a killer caffeine rush}  keeps steamrollering along.

Danny:  We've got no idea what Lupo looks like and nobody's ever cracked his clan's code of silence to get any info.  The clan supposedly has a pyramid structure so probably only two or three people know who he really is.  They say none of his followers are allowed to make eye contact with him.

Sara:  What about the shooter?  They know about him?

Danny (shakes head):  Nah, nothing.  But we did get some information from a wiretap that might help us out.  There's going to be a big rally tonight.  All your typical hate scum should be there.

Sara slowly walks toward Danny's desk.

Sara:  Are they going to infiltrate it?

Sara just manages to pick up Danny's coffee cup before he can grab it.

Danny (glaring):  I asked.  They said it was too risky.

Sara walks back to her desk with the captured cup.

Danny:  And that the security was almost supernaturally tight.  They can't risk letting Lupo know that they're onto him ... we can.

Sara takes a drink of Danny's coffee and her eyes widen.

Danny:  We might be able to get some more info on Lupo as well as the shooter.  We should get there around 9:00.

Sara:  Danny ... Danny Woo at a hate rally?

Sara just looks at him.  It doesn't take him long to figure what she's getting at.

Danny (soft):  Yeah ...

Sara's phone rings.

Sara (into phone):  Yeah, Pezzini.

Danny works at the bulletin board.

Sara (into phone):  Oh, good.  No, no, we're on it, Cappy.  Thanks.

Sara hangs up.

Sara:  Well, victim just got out of the coma.  We should go talk to him.

Danny:  Let's do it.

Cut to a hospital room.  Mr. Gerleit is propped up in bed, his head swathed in bandages.  Sara stands at his bedside and Danny is across the room.

Gerleit:  They would have killed us both if it wasn't for the girl.

Sara:  Uh, how do you mean, sir?

Gerleit:  The person who saved me was a girl ... with two big guns.

Sara raises her brows and looks over at Danny.

Gerleit:  She had a red hooded sweatshirt.  She's not in trouble is she?

Sara:  Well, uh, we'll have to bring her in if we can find her, Mr. Gerleit.  She is a suspect in at least three murders.

Gerleit:  She's a hero.  She stopped two killers.  Those men killed Howard.  And I'd be dead, too, if it wasn't for her.  She should be found and rewarded.

Sara:  I understand how you feel, sir, but it's still our job to find her.  Would you mind talking with a sketch artist if we sent one in?

Gerleit:  Sure.

Sara:  OK.  Thank you.

Cut back to the precinct some time later.  Sara is seated at her desk holding the sketch of the vigilante girl and Danny is standing nearby.

Sara:  What do you think?

Danny:  I think he came up with the little red riding hood thing 'cause he's trying to protect the shooter.

Sara:  And you don't blame him?

Danny:  How can you?  His boyfriend is dead.  Our vigilante is killing killers.

Sara:  Yeah, but that doesn't mean that we should turn a blind eye.

Danny sits on Sara's desk as she stands.

Danny:  Have you ever got the crap kicked out of you because you were white or heterosexual?

Sara:  No.

Danny:  Then try to wrap your head around why certain people might not want to ID this vigilante.

Sara nods reluctantly and Danny gets up and walks away.

Cut to Vicky Po's cold storage room.  One of Lupo's dead followers is lying face-down on a table.  Sara sits on a stool with her back to the table with her shirt pushed down past her shoulders.  A man is comparing the dead guy's tattoo to the symbol he is painting on Sara's upper back.  Vicky is on the far side of the table and Danny leans against the doorjamb.

Sara:  How permanent is this?

Vicky:  If you go for drinks after work, just don't spill your beer on it.

Danny:  Pez.

Danny holds out her holstered gun.

Sara:  Uh, they'll make me if I take hardware.

Danny:  They got a better chance of killing you if you don't.

Sara:  I'll do what I always do.  I'll compensate with attitude.

Sara winks at him.

Sara (to artist):  I'm late.  I gotta get going.  Are you almost done?

Vicky:  OK.  Yep.  That's good.

Sara:  Yeah?  OK.

Sara (to artist):  Thank you.

Sara pulls her shirt back up.  She rises from the stool, shakes Danny's hand and hurries to the door.

Danny:  Be safe.

Sara glances at her watch.

Sara:  Will do.

Cut to outside the rally that night.  Sara walks beside the building and we can hear the crowd shouting.   {I'm not going to cover any of Lupo's rhetoric nor the crowd's responses.}

Sara approaches the first checkpoint where two men with German shepherds shine a flashlight in Sara's face to ascertain her eligibility to attend the gathering.  Being the correct racial type, she is permitted to advance to the next checkpoint.  Here a man wearing communication gear in his ear checks her tattoo.  He shines a UV light on her back and "1111" shows up above the tattoo.   {Since no one has mentioned the UV code before, I wonder if the WB provided the number.}

The guard passes her along, but watches her as she walks toward the entrance to the rally.  It seems he still harbors some doubts.

Guard (into comm):  Check eleven-eleven.

Voice (over comm):  It's a bogus number.  Repeat, it's a bogus number.

Guard (shout):  You!  Stop!

He draws a gun from inside his jacket and approaches Sara.  Sara turns around with an innocent look on her face.

Guard:  Who are you?

Sara:  One of the clan.

Guard:  Which family you with?

Sara:  The Angels of No Mercy.  Toronto Chapter.

Guard:  I never saw you before.   And besides ...

He raises the pistol in his right hand to point it at Sara.

Guard:  ...  you've got a bad number.

Sara puts her hands up out to the side.

Sara:  Whoa, whoa.  Let me just talk to Lupo.  He knows who I am.

Guard:  That's gonna be kinda hard, since Lupo isn't here.  That's a tape recording you're hearing, Sherlock.

Quick view of a reel-to-reel tape machine running.  And we get to hear some of Lupo's pep talk to the masses.

Guard:  No one even knows who Lupo really is.  You want to tell us who you really are?

Sara says nothing.  The guard starts to squeeze the trigger and the WB transforms into the gauntlet.  The shot ricochets off the WB and the guard charges Sara.  She drops to her back and uses her feet to propel him several feet down the corridor.  She gets back to her feet and is surrounded by four security guys with submachine guns pointed at her.  She still has the gauntlet on her forearm.   {Can't really tell which is speaking, so ...}

Security A:  Freeze!  Don't move!

Security B:  What just happened?

Security C:  Did you see that?

Security A:  Just shoot her.  Shoot her in the head right now.

Before any can go ahead with that, the vigilante shows up and shoots the security men's guns.  Their guns go flying.  Sara kicks and punches her way through the four men, then turns to face her rescuer, who is indeed a teenage girl.

Sara:  Who are you?

The girl merely smiles before running off towards nearby train tracks.  There is a chain link fence in front of the tracks.

Sara:  Little girl, wait!  Wait!

Sara runs after the girl.  The girl climbs up the fence, but loses her backpack as she is going over the top.  A thick book falls out of the bag onto the ground.  Sara reaches the fence and stops.  There is a train going by and the girl is no longer in sight.  Sara picks up the book and looks at a couple pages until she hears a dog barking back at the rally.  She gathers the boom and backpack and leaves.

Fade.

End Act II

Act III

Open at the precinct, where Sara is examining the book left behind by the vigilante.  Jake is there, along with Gabriel and his cameras.  One camera is trained over Sara's shoulder, focused on the book, the other pointed at Sara from in front of her on her desk.  The book is leather-bound, the leather intricately worked, and obviously very old.  On the cover, "Bola" is written in a Cyrillic-type script.  Sara opens the cover and we see the same writing on the first page as well as the Western-style "Bola" written under that.

Sara:  Looks like some kind of a journal. 

Jake:  Bola? That her name?

Jake (attempting pronunciation):  Dimitr ...

Gabriel:  Uh, no, Dimitztragora.

Jake and Sara look at Gabriel.

Gabriel:  Uh, it doesn't exist anymore.  It's been wiped out.

Sara turns back to the journal and is assailed by a quick vision.

WB vision:  A house in flames;  Bola screaming;  the metallic wolf's head that she saw before.

Sara:  Yeah.

Brief split screen view of Sara's face on one side and Gabriel moving the other camera around as he walks behind her on the other.

Gabriel:  Um, so you let her get away.

Sara:  Wha ... I didn't let her do anything.

Gabriel:  Hmm.

The camera in Gabriel's hand is now near Jake's shoulder.  Jake shifts so that now he is between the camera and Bola's diary.  Gabriel stares at Jake for a second as his camera now records Jake's back.

Sara now sees a drawing in Bola's journal that has a caption under it.

Sara:  Gabriel, can you read this?

Gabriel:  Yeah, it says St. Martin's.

Jake:  How do you know Bulgarian?

Gabriel:  Well, I guess it's just one of the prerequisites for being a ferocious autodidact.   {Wonder how many takes they had to do to get that line down?!}

Jake:  Oh ... right.

Sara puts the journal into a large plastic bag and holds it up.

Sara:  Here.

Gabriel takes the bag.

Gabriel:  Thanks.

Jake:  Uh, excuse me?

Sara:  Well, excuse me.  Do you know how to translate ancient Bulgarian?

Jake:  No, but what's he gonna do ...

Sara (interrupt):  We'll book it into evidence later, Jake.

Sara turns from Jake, argument won as far as she's concerned.

Sara:  Come on, let's go.

Jake:  Where?

Sara:  To St. Martin's.

Jake:  Of course.

Gabriel has both cameras in hand again and they both follow Sara as she heads for the door.

Cut to a fenced-in play area.  Jake drives up with Sara in the passenger seat and Gabriel in the back.  A group of younger kids is playing basketball and an ice cream truck is parked across the street.

Sara:  Wait in the car.

Jake:  Come on, Pez.

Sara (whiny voice):  I'll be right back.

Jake:  Are you ...

Sara leaves and Jake sighs.  Gabriel has one of his cameras focused on Jake and the other on Sara.

Sara walks near an abandoned car with graffiti scrawled on it but pays it no attention.  We can see Bola peeking through the dirty painted window of the car.

Jake:  Man, sometimes I just don't get her.  I really don't.

Jake looks back to Gabriel.

Jake:  Why don't you ever look through the viewfinder?

Gabriel:  I don't like to frame reality.   {Huh?}

Jake (nods):  Ah ... right.

Sara walks onto the court just as the ball gets loose from the group playing.  She catches the ball, dribbles once, and shoots.  The ball goes through the net, impressing the kids.

Curly-haired boy:  Whoa, cool.

Sara approaches him.

Sara:  Hey.

Curly:  Hey.

Across the street, a car pulls up, occupants unknown.  Bola notices the car.

Back to Jake and Gabriel.

Jake:  What are you going to do with this footage anyway, man?

Gabriel:  Well, Jake, I intend to show your genius to the world.

Back to Sara on the court.   She has a few of the kids gathered around her.  She is holding the wanted poster for Bola.

Sara:  Any of you guys seen this girl around?

Wolf view of Sara on the basketball court.

Curly:  Nope.

Sara looks around at the others near her;  no one says anything.

Sara:  Oh, OK.  Well, thank you very much.  I appreciate it.  Enjoy your day.

Curly:  You're welcome.

Sara walks off with a snappy salute.

Back to Jake and Gabriel as Sara walks toward them.  Jake turns to Gabriel again.

Jake:  Why don't you ... I don't know ... go get us a couple coffees or something while we're sitting here.

As Sara approaches the car, she looks over to the ice cream truck.  Lazar is the ice cream man.

Bola takes one more look at the car parked across the street and ducks down in her hiding place.

Cut to Sara's apartment that night.  Sara is in her kitchen when she hears a knock at her front door.

Sara:  Yeah, who is it?

No one answers, but there is a "thump" sound.  Sara heads towards the door.

Sara:  Gabriel?

Still no answer, just more knocking.

Sara cautiously approaches the door from the side then takes a peek through the peephole.  She evidently can't see anyone.

Sara:  Who is it?

Girl's voice:  You have my book.

Sara unlocks and opens the door.  She has a surprised look on her face.

Girl (off camera):  I want it back.

Switch view to see Bola standing in the hall outside Sara's door.

Bola:  You led him to me.  Now I have nowhere to go.

Bola starts to put her hands in her jacket pockets.

Sara:  Keep your hands where I can see them!

Bola smiles.

Bola:  I saved your life.  You don't trust me?

Bola walks into Sara's apartment.  Sara looks dumbfounded for a moment then takes a look down her hall before closing the door.  Sara locks the door and turns to Bola.

Sara:  That book is ... is evidence.

Bola:  Not in the way you think it is.

Sara walks to stand in front of Bola.

Sara:  Who are you, Bola?

For an answer, Bola grabs Sara's right wrist, encompassing the WB.

WB vision:  The would-be arsonists being shot;  Bola shooting the gay-bashers;  a wolf;  two children with weapons;  little boys with rifles in formation;  the metallic wolf's head;  a wolf;  men imprisoned behind wire mesh;  someone's hands chained;  prisoners behind berbed wire;  metallic wolf's head;  Asian children;  a pile of skulls;  metallic wolf's head;  a little girl;  a painting of a man swinging a baby through the air by its leg;  wolves;  starving children;  metallic wolf's head;  Bola cradling a man's body on the ground in front of a burning house.

Sara comes back to herself with a little shake.  She reaches both hands inside Bola's jacket and pulls out her two pistols.  She carries them over to her desk and locks them in a drawer.

Bola:  What did you do that for?

Sara:  Unilateral disarmament.

Bola:  That's not fair.  Why should you have the preponderance of firepower?

Sara:  'Cause I-I'm bigger than you are.  Just go, go sit down.

Bola:  Yes, sir.

Bola walks toward the kitchen.

Sara:  Um ...

Bola:  I'm hungry.

Bola boosts herself up onto the kitchen counter.  Sara walks into the kitchen, still a bit shocked, either from the vision or Bola showing up on her doorstep.  She slides open her "refrigerator" and takes out a half-gallon of milk.  She takes a glass from the dish drainer on the countertop, pours milk into it, and places the glass near Bola.

Bola:  What's this?

Sara:  Uh, milk.

Bola:  I hate milk.  Got any vodka?

Sara (little laugh):  Don't you think you're a little young?  What are you?  What?  15?

Bola shakes her head.

Sara:  18?

Bola shakes her head again.

Sara:  Older?

Bola nods.

Bola:  A lot.  I'm not as young as I look.

Sara crosses the kitchen to half sit on a side table of some sort.

Sara:  Bola is your name, right?

Bola nods.

Sara:  Got a last name?

Bola shakes her head.

Sara:  Tell me about the book.  Is it your journal?

Bola:  It's not about me.  It's about him.

Sara:  Him?  Him - you mean Lupo?

Bola nods.

Sara:  What can you tell me about him?  Have you ever seen him?

Bola:  I know what he looks like.  I also know what he does.  He makes people kill ... out of hate.

Sara:  And why do you kill, Bola?

Bola:  To save lives.  You should know that.

Sara:  Don't you also hate the people that you kill?

Bola hops down from the countertop and walks over to have a seat at one end of the sofa.

Bola:  Lupo killed my parents.

Sara walks over and sits down on the other end of the couch.

Sara:  I'm sorry.  And, believe me, Bola, I understand.  My father was murdered, as well.  But that doesn't mean that you get to kill.

Lola:  I witnessed it.  And, unless I stop him, Lupo's going to keep killing.  Moving to new places.  Starting all over again.

Sara:  Where'd you learn how to handle a gun so well?

Bola:  I practiced.

We see Bola firing different weapons:  a flintlock pistol, a pair of Old West six-shooters, and a pair of Luger-type guns.   {Sorry - guns not my strong suit.}

Sara:  There's going to be no more killing, Bola.  Help me find Lupo, then I can get you on the witness stand and you can testify about what happened to your parents.

Bola:  The only thing that makes Lupo suffer is failure.  That's what I provide.

Sara:  Honey, don't you see that you're feeding into it?  Feeding him.  If Lupo loves hate, then he loves yours, too.

There's a knock on the door.

Sara (yell):  Who is it?

Gabriel (through the door):  It's Gabriel.  I've got some answers on the book.

Bola:  My book?

Sara (low voice, rising from couch):  Shh ... just go ... go in the back and hide in the bathroom.

Bola:  Why hide?

Sara (low):  Because you're supposed to be under arrest for suspicion of murder.  Now go.

Shift to see Gabriel standing at Sara's door.

Gabriel:  Sara.

Back inside the apartment.

Sara:  I'm coming.

Bola moves to the bathroom as Sara trades her casual shorts for a pair of jeans.  Sara buttons the jeans as she hurries to the door.

Sara:  Coming.

Gabriel knocks again.    {Impatient tonight, or what?}

Gabriel:  Sara.

Sara unlocks and opens the door.

Gabriel:  Hey.  So ... this book you gave me is priceless.

Sara's breathing a little hard from her dash across the apartment.  She shuts the door after Gabriel enters.

Sara:  Um ...

Bola peeks out from the bathroom.

Gabriel:  Uh, I was right about the language.  It's a Bulgarian dialect.  It's out of date - at least 100 years.  Um ...

Gabriel sets his satchel down and starts to pull the book out.  Sara sees Bola's head peeking around the corner and waves her back.

Gabriel:  It is a journal, only it's not about the person who wrote it.  It's about someone else.  Guess who?

Sara (quickly):  Lupo.

Gabriel:  Yeah ...

Bola sneaks from the bathroom to crouch behind a dresser.

Gabriel:  ... that's very good, Detective. 

Sara smiles and gives him a mock salute.

Gabriel:  Yeah, this, uh, this chronicles his movements from the 1600's all the way up until now.  According to this, he was present for some of the most horrific cases of genocide in history.  There's mentions of the Lupo symbol in Nazi literature, allusions to wolf clans during the Spanish Inquisition, and even the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand.

Sara glances over her shoulder and once more waves off Bola, who is now peeking above the dresser top.  Sara turns the wave into fiddling with her hair before Gabriel notices.

Gabriel:  Umm ... Sara, the ... the way Bola describes this, it's eerie.

Bola moves closer to Sara and Gabriel, keeping close to the floor.

Gabriel:  It's, uh, it's not like she learned about it.  It's like it's firsthand.  You know, like she was there.

Sara:  What about her village?  She mention that?

Gabriel:  Yeah, Dimitztragora.  Uh, circa 1695.  Like I said, the city was destroyed.  Two opposing clans fought, wiping each other off the map.  And get this ... one of the factions, and there's confirmation for this ...

Bola works her way ever closer to Sara and Gabriel.

Gabriel:  ... one of the factions was the clan of Lupo.  In fact, it was the Lupo clan that incited the whole conflagration.

Bola runs up and snatches the book from Gabriel.

Bola:  It's my book.

She retreats to the couch as Gabriel watches.

Sara:  Bola ... it's OK.

Gabriel:  What's she doing here?

Sara:  I'm keeping her safe.

Gabriel:  Hmm.    (Looks at Bola.)     Is she armed?

Bola:  No.

Gabriel (low to Sara):  Don't we need that?

Sara (low):  She's not going anywhere.

Bola (speaking Bulgarian):  How did you learn my language?

Gabriel:  Well ...

Gabriel (speaking Bulgarian):  ... the question is, how did you learn?

Bola smiles.

Bola (speaking Bulgarian):  Your accent is terrible.

Gabriel:  Yeah.  You're right.  It is.

Gabriel moves over to the satchel he had placed in the chair near the couch.

Gabriel:  Um ... Would you mind if I taped you?

Gabriel removes one of his cameras from the bag.

Gabriel:  Um ... Do you, uh ...  All right, I mean ...  You know what this is, right?  You know how it works?

Bola:  You always this condescending?

Sara sits on the arm of the couch with a laugh.

Gabriel (soft with a huge smile):  Yeah ...

Gabriel places the camera on the coffee table and aims it toward Bola.

Gabriel:  So, tell me about the journal.

Bola:  What about it?

Gabriel:  Well, like how you made those entries as if you were there.

Gabriel gets his second camera out the bag.

Bola (shakes head):  I don't like this.

Gabriel:  Uh, no, no, no.  Hey.  Um, it's OK.  We can talk about something else.  OK?  Tell me, what do you think about Sara?

Gabriel holds the second camera in his left hand pointed at Sara.  The screen splits to show Bola on the left and Sara on the right.

Sara:  Gabriel, come on.

Gabriel:  What?

Bola:  She makes me drink milk.  Locks up my guns.  But, all in all, I like her.  Sara's like me - special.  Sometimes it's lonely being special, isn't it, Sara?

Sara:  Uh, cut ... cut.

Screen returns to normal as Sara rises.

Sara:  I'm ... I'm going to go get some stuff for breakfast.  Do you want anything special?

Sara clips her holster back onto the top of her jeans.

Bola:  Lucky Charms ... and some smokes.

Sara just looks at Bola.  Bola smiles a little.  Sara heads for the door and grabs her jacket.

After Sara has gone, Bola looks at one of Gabriel's cameras as Gabriel looks at her.

Shift to Sara at a grocery store.  Wolf view of Sara going down the aisles.  Sara picks up the cereal and then heads down another aisle that has a display of small stuffed animals.  She picks up a monkey and puts it in her basket.

Shift to Sara coming through her front door with the groceries.  Gabriel is sprawled in a chair seemingly alone.

Gabriel:  Hey.   (He gestures with his thumb over his shoulder.)   She fell asleep.

Gabriel stands and picks up his satchel as Sara lays the bags of groceries on the kitchen table.

Gabriel:  But only after she asked me to bust open your drawer and giver her back her guns.

They both turn to look at Bola sleeping on Sara's bed.

Gabriel:  Yeah.  Well, anyway, have a good night, OK?

Sara:  OK.  You, too.  Thank you.

Gabriel:  Sure.  Oh, yeah.  No problem.

Gabriel lets himself out and Sara walks over to sit sideways on the edge of the bed.  She strokes Bola's hair and Bola stirs, wrapping herself around Sara.  But it seems she isn't really sleeping.  Bola stealthily pulls Sara's jacket away from her holstered pistol.  Sara gradually pulls herself away from Bola and turns to sit on the edge of the bed with her back to Bola.  Bola rises to her knees behind Sara and points Sara's pistol at her.

Sara:  Bola, put the gun down.

Sara stands and turns to face Bola.

As lightning flashes through the window from the thunderstorm raging outside, Sara sees Bola's appearance shift several times between the teenager in front of her to an elderly woman.

Bola:  You can't hold me here.  I have work to do.  Give me your bracelet.

Sara:  What?

Bola:  I know what it is, and I know what it can do.  Sorry to betray you, Sara.  That bracelet will help me kill Lupo.  I saw what it can do.

Sara:  Bola, I can't give this to you.  This is a lethal weapon.

Bola:  So's this.

Sara:  Why haven't you attacked him before?

Bola:  I have - many times and in many places.  He's not like other men.  He's hard to kill.  I need that bracelet.

Sara:  Well, no can do.

Bola:  I don't want to shoot you, Sara.

Sara:  Don't worry, you won't.

They hold each other's eyes for a few seconds until Bola lowers the pistol.

Bola:  You're right.

Bola moves forward to wrap her arms around Sara's middle.  Sara rests her right hand atop Bola's head and kisses her hair.

Bola:  Will you help me get him?

Sara:  Yeah, yeah.  Of course.

They hold each other as Bola remembers being tucked in by her mother and father.

The act comes to a close with Bola and Sara sleeping on top of Sara's bed.  We see it normally and then in wolf view.

Fade.

End Act III

Act IV

Open at Gabriel's.  He is going through scans he had made of Bola's journal.  He pauses on one screen and refers to his Bulgarian dictionary.

Gabriel (puzzled expression):  Octogenarian Benevolent Society.

His face clears and he picks up his phone and dials.

Cut to Sara still asleep in bed.  Her phone rings.  Eyes still closed, she reaches over for the handset.

Sara:  Yeah?

It is, of course, Gabriel.

Gabriel:  Uh, Sara, so, uh, so the wolf is at Grandma's.

Sara:  Huh?

Gabriel:  I translated a portion of Bola's journal.  It says that Lupo can be found at the Octogenarian Benevolent Society.

Sara notices Bola is not in the bed.

Gabriel:  I know that place, Sara.  It's at 1122 Hegel Street.

Alarmed, Sara sits up and looks around the apartment.

Gabriel:  It's gotta be a front.

Sara:  Uh ...

Sara notices her front door unlocked.  And Gabriel notices Sara's distraction.

Gabriel:  Sara, what's going on?

Sara:  I-I gotta call you back.  Bye.

Sara hangs up.  She sighs and grabs her jacket from the bed.  She rides her Buell through the rain-slicked streets to the Octogenarian Benevolent Society.  Evidently, she is expected, for there are two suited thug-types waiting for her as she steps through the door into Lupo's meeting room.  Sara sees Lupo standing farther into the room and Bola kneeling on the symbol in the middle of the floor as one thug removes her pistol from her holster.  The other thug grabs her arm and pulls her over to where Lupo is standing.  She stops walking and jerks her arm free.  Both thugs bracket her as she faces Lupo.

Lupo applauds.

Lupo:  Good to see you.

Sara:  What exactly do you want, Lupo?

Lupo:  Quit your day job.

Sara:  So I can prowl the streets looking for innocent people to terrorize?

Lupo:  You know it's not that simple, Sara.  Hate is good for the human race.  People were made for it.  It's what drives them.  Fanning the flame of ill will is truly a philanthropic undertaking.

Sara (smile):  Do people actually buy into that pitch?

Lupo:  In droves - for as long as I can remember.  Use your special gift to help the cause.

Sara looks to Bola, hands bound and kneeling on the floor.

Sara:  You let her go, right now, with me, you got yourself a deal.

Lupo:  Sara, you're lying.  How about this instead?

Lupo walks closer to Bola.

Lupo:  I kill her, before your eyes.  Maybe then you, too, will taste the sweet venom of hatred just as young Bola did so long ago.

Lupo bends over near Bola.

Lupo (to Bola):  The agonizing screams of your father remains one of my fondest memories.  And I'm sure one of your most ... vivid.

Bola:  Bastard.

Lupo straightens back up.

Lupo:  Yes, Bola, tell me.

Lupo smiles and looks over toward Sara.

Lupo:  Kinda hate me right now, don't you?  I have done things far worse than this, believe me.  I've fed Christians to the lions in Rome.  Burned a church full of people in Istanbul.  Killed infants in front of their mothers in Germany.  Armed African children with machetes that they may wipe out their own kind.

Lupo makes slicing motions while providing his own sounds effects.

Lupo:  Interesting how that works, isn't it?  Young Bola's hatred brought you to me ... wielder.  I knew it would.  Do you have any idea how powerful a wielder brimming with hate can be?  There's only one way to deal with your kind.  You must be caged ...

Sara looks to the WB but it seems to be dead.

Lupo:  ... and trained like a wild beast.  Thrown scraps of food and beaten.  Then, in time, you will learn to harness your hate, to direct it.  How to exploit it.  Then ... I will own you.

Lupo (to thugs):  Take her away and lock her up.

They each grab an arm and march her away.  They start hauling her down a flight of stairs.  Sara struggles all the way.  The WB still hasn't decided to make an appearance.

Back in the meeting room, Lupo grabs the front of Bola's red jacket and tosses her across the floor.  She rolls as she lands and then runs out a side door.  Lupo stalks after her.  Bola runs, at one point slipping on the tiled floor.  She regains her feet and resumes running.

As Sara and the two men reach the cell she is to occupy, she blocks the closing cell door with the WB bracelet on her wrist.  She swings the metal door into one thug and punches the other.  She then kicks the first man.  She knees the second and runs back up the stairs.

Cut to Bola running into the area Sara has just left.  She grabs the guns from both downed men and turns back around.  Lupo briefly shows himself around a corner.  Bola points both pistols at Lupo and fires at him as he moves very fast across the end of the hallway.  As she fires, we see the elderly woman again.  Lupo runs back across the end of the hall, sometimes seen as a wolf.  Again, Bola fires and her appearance shifts.  Bola runs after him.  She stops at the bottom of a flight of steps.  We hear growling, but nothing is in view.  A shadow moves and Bola fires.  Lupo moves very fast across the top of the stairs and Bola fires once again.  She jogs up the stairs and pauses.  A shadow approaches - it is Sara.  They look at each other.  Sara says nothing, but she does move her eyes up and to her right.  Bola follows the direction with her own gaze.  Sara then looks down to her right.  Bola nods slightly.  Sara nods slowly.  Bola raises both pistols toward Sara.

Lupo arrives at the landing of the stairs above where Sara is standing.

We hear the sound of the WB activating.

Lupo:  Sara.

Bola fires both guns at Sara.  Sara uses the WB to deflect both bullets toward Lupo.  Lupo is struck in each side of his chest and starts back the way he had come.  Sara looks down toward Bola and Bola drops her guns to the side.  Bola runs up the stairs to Sara.  Sara uses the WB to cut Bola's bindings.

Sara:  You stay here.

Lupo makes it back to the meeting room and Sara walks up the stairs after him.  And, naturally, Bola follows.  Sara reaches the meeting room and places herself in front of Lupo.  Lupo starts laughing.  Bola is in the background.

Lupo:  Ooh ... you're more powerful than I thought.

Sara:  You ain't seen nothin' yet.  You're under arrest.

Lupo:  Not today.

We get a flash of the metallic wolf's head.  Lupo turns and takes a giant leap across the room.  Sara throws the WB bracelet to Bola.  It forms itself around Bola's outthrust right wrist and then transforms into the gauntlet with blade.  We see a flash of Bola's house being burned as she screams.  Lupo lands and Bola lunges forward and runs the blade through him.  Lupo grabs her head with both hands and pulls her to him.  He falls back to the floor and pulls Bola with him.  We hear the sound of the WB transforming as Sara runs across the room.

Sara pulls Bola to her.

Sara:  Bola, Bola ... come here.  Come here.

Bola puts the WB bracelet back on Sara's wrist.

Sara:  OK ...

Bola:  It's OK, Sara.  Don't hate.  You were right.  If you hate, his kind wins.  I'm finished now.  Thank you.

Sara (soft):  You're welcome.  Bola ...

Bola's face transforms to the elderly woman we've seen before.  As Sara holds the elderly Bola, we see Bola from her own time outside her burning family home draped over her dead father.

Fade.

End Act IV

END OF EPISODE

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