In a sado-masochistic strip joint, Sara pulls a guy away from Debbie Buck, tells him to leave. Debbie gets mad, she already told Sara everything, and Sara shuts her up, she’s there because of her father. Debbie denies she has a father, and Sara rebukes her, yes she does have a father – but Sara does not. She says society may demand children blame their parents for everything in their lives, but that’s a lie; it’s time for Debbie to go home, her father is lonely and he loves her. Debbie says she can’t be forgiven, but Sara is positive Debbie should let her father decide. Sara tells her she knows nothing about her life, and Debbie says she doesn’t know what to say. Sara encourages Debbie to go home: it’s not necessary to say anything, just knock on his door. She leaves a thoughtful Debbie.
At his mansion, Irons’ is cold, why didn’t Ian get the blade back? Ian replies Sara refused, and Irons is short, Ian should have cut it off her arm. Ian reminds him he was trained from childhood to protect the blade-wielder; he declares he was unable to harm her. Irons grates, “I have trained you to do my bidding!” as he raises a fist to backhand a flinching Ian, but instead of striking Ian, Irons gently strokes his cheek with the back of his hand, then strokes his servant’s hair; he patronizes Ian, he has also taught him to be impeccable in his speech, and he thinks Ian is a lying, infatuated child. Irons leads Ian to a chair and guides him to sit. He continues to denigrate a stony-faced Ian, Sara has no idea what she wears, but the longer she has the blade, the harder it will be take it from her. Ian protests Sara *is* a destined wielder, but Irons is condescending, *he* is a Wielder of Destiny, while Sara is mired in “pedestrian concepts” of right and wrong, she’s unable to transcend good and evil, unable to do what is necessary – just as Ian appears unable to do what he is supposed to do. Kneeling down before a petulant child, Irons persists, he is dismayed Ian disobeyed, but he is unsurprised. Ian turns a surprised gaze on his master, and Irons says Ian fell under Sara’s spell. Ian looks at the floor, confused. Irons continues, he was prepared for this eventuality, and calls Christina into the room. Christina saunters in, leaning provocatively on the balcony before gliding down the stairs. Irons declares she will get the blade back, and for a reward, he will let her wear the blade. Ian says she is not the chosen wielder, and Irons is destined to fail. Irons closes his eyes, he tells Ian he had a dream Sara wore the blade and in his dream, she killed Ian (the evil clone), defied him, and irrevocably pierced the veil of time. Ian’s smile is resolute, he had the same dream, and Irons corrects him: the same Omen. Glancing at his scar, Irons stands, perhaps now the blade is again fluid, he can control the direction it will move. His look is troubled – Sara Pezzini must die, preferably in shame and fear. Ian replies with distaste, "This woman is not the destined wielder, she is not of the bloodline, the blade chose Sara Pezzini. She is a peasant." Christina smiles as Irons goes on with his lecture, occasionally the blade benefits from someone outside the bloodline wearing the blade, just as royalty benefits; and, he says, she *will* have been chosen – he grasps Ian’s chin, turning him toward Christina, but Ian closes his eyes refusing to look at her – by him. Ian yanks his chin away. Ian says, “Your arrogance is astounding.” And Irons thanks him. He tells Ian Christina has had experiences that make her hunger for what the blade can offer her. She is angry, on her wrist the blade will be sublime. Wrapping a stroking hand around her throat, Irons says he has had his eye on her for some time. He orders Ian to help Christina with her plan to humiliate and destroy Sara: he expects this to happen by the following day.
The full moon hangs over the city and Gallo relaxes in a steam room with a henchman, saying he knows what to do about Sara, but his man says to stay away from her, she’s trouble. Sara interrupts, that’s right, she is, and knocks the guy out. Gallo smiles at her, he didn’t have anything to do with Maria’s death. Sara is disbelieving, and Gallo says she was destined to die young. Sara responds, “And you were destined to die naked, middle-aged, and covered in your own piss,” and holds her gun in his face, her finger itchy on the trigger. After a moment, Gallo offers her something: Jeffrey Gordo’s partner -Christina- was the one put the contract on him. He leans back lazily, a smug smile on his face as he closes his eyes, and when he opens them again, Sara is gone, one guy on the floor, the guard also out cold just outside the door.
Danny walks home with a pizza, and hears a woman screaming for help as she is mugged. He runs down the alley where she’s calling and Ian knocks him out. Christina eats a piece of the pizza with a cold smile.
Debbie knocks on the door of her father’s house. He opens the door, and they both cry as he folds her into his embrace.
Ian shovels dirt into a grave and Christina watches, asking if he and Irons really believes all “that crap” about the blade, do they really believe it’s that powerful? And Ian replies, “It’s that powerful because we believe it is.” He continues to shovel dirt.
Irons sits at his table, he tells Christina did her task well, and she says yes. “Bad Girl,” he chides in a silky voice, and she thanks him with a sleek smile. He asks, “What do you want more than anything?” Christina says she wants revenge. “On what?” he asks with a sick smile. “The World,” she responds. “What else?” She tells him she wants everything, all at once, and she begins to slowly crawl across the table toward him. Irons tells her to elaborate, and she says she wants power, fame, experience – well, she already has that – and she straddles him. She wants to be immortal. Irons smiles at her and asks, “Care to join me in my folly?” Christina asks if the blade really has all these things? Irons affirms, and she asks nastily, “Then why don’t you wear it?” Abruptly he throws her back on the table, and spits angrily only a woman can wear the blade; and she replies, “and only *you* can wield the woman.” Irons gets up, taking off his belt, and tells Christina if she agrees to be faithful and obedient, he will allow her to be his slave. She raises her clasped hands for him to tie his belt around them. Dragging her by her bound hands back across the table she will experience everything, beyond everything, if he so desires. Livid bruises on her cheek are visible as he leans over her. She raises a stilettoed heel to him, and he can’t take it anymore, he wrenches her off the table and violently takes her from behind. He whispers in her ear, “Are you ready to finish the job? To put another body in the box?”
Sara tosses and turns, dreaming of walking a fire-lit hallway in full armor, a painting of Joan of Arc, hair in her face, a strange golden helmeted man [much like the golden helmet worn by Mordred in “Excalibur”], a lemur screaming, a woman’s back in black panties, Ian removing his helmet. Ian spilling dirt into a grave, Danny’s funeral in the snow, a rose dropping atop the pile on his grave, the cherub’s eye opening, Sara standing alone in the graveyard looking at Danny’s coffin, Christina’s face with a small smile. Sara wakens in a cold sweat to see the blade glowing.
Entering the office, Jake teases her it’s nice of her to show up. Sara says she slept heavy, and asks, “Where’s that long-haired Asian guy?”
Danny gets his lighter, and finds himself in a box, buried alive.
Sara takes off the blade, and calls Wired Orb. The receptionist says Christina is scouting for a new warehouse at 1111 Faust Street. She gets up to leave, telling Jake to find Danny, sometimes he gets hung up at home or at the gym. Turning back, she picks up the bracelet. She rides through town on her motorcycle In a room full of mannequins, Sara finds Christina, who greets her with a triumphant smile. Sara says she heard Christina put the hit on Jeffrey, and Christina offers to confess. Not just because of the money, or because she hated him – actually, she says, he was pretty cool. She also killed the hit man herself, put a bullet between the eyes – Sara loosens her gun – she says he whimpered like a pathetic little girl right before she killed him, “THAT was fun.” Sara is aghast. Christina goes on, “When I was a child I was put in a box.” Sara says she’s under arrest. Christina asks, “Don’t you want to hear the rest, Pretty Girl?” Sara declines, and Christina says, “I just thought you might want to know the situation with your – beloved – partner.” Sara shoots the mannequin behind Christina and demands Danny. Christina says, “I suppose you could say I killed him. Although he’s probably not dead – yet. Funny thing about time, sequences of events, sometimes things happen in a different order than you’d expect, but the result is the same. Your partner was buried before he was dead. His death will be slow, terrifying, painful – an agony I wish I could witness. And the best thing about it is, you can’t do anything about it, because you are not leaving this room alive.” She walks away with a smile as Ian whips Sara’s gun out of her hand.
Ian apologizes to Sara, he was ordered to do this by Kenneth Irons. After a feint, the blade morphs into the gauntlet. Staring at it unmoving, Ian attacks, striking the glove, and grabs Sara by the throat – he says Irons wants Sara to die so the blade will take on a new wielder. Sara says he can have it, all she cares about is Danny. Ian releases her, and they stare at the glove – it morphs into a spear form. She attacks Ian, he defends himself but does not make any aggressive moves against her. Ian tells her the blade is not hers to give away. Sara continues to attack, and Ian continues to defend. Sara demands Ian tell her where Danny is, and Ian says, “Where he is destined to be.” Christina watches with a bright smile. Launching her attack anew, Sara finally manages to disarm Ian, and holds the blade point at his throat. Ian says, “Please! It would be a favor I’d love never to return. If you don’t kill me now Sara, I will only try to kill you again. You have the knowledge you need, believe in the Witchblade, it will help you, you are a true wielder, you have been chosen.” Sara closes her eyes, sees Danny’s funeral again, the roses dropping on his grave, the cherub’s eye, Sara stands alone in the graveyard, and Christina’s face smiling. Behind her, Christina picks up Ian’s sword, Ian sees Christina, his eyes flicker in her direction as she means to attack Sara, Sara opens her eyes, follows Ian’s gaze, and slashes back, killing the girl.
Continued on next page
David Chokachi as Jake McCartey
Anthony Cistaro as Kenneth Irons
Will Yun Lee as Danny Woo
Eric 'Kaos' Etebari as Ian Nottingham
Conrad Dunn as Tommy Gallo
Kathryn Winslow as Vicki Po
Joe Butler [yes, Yancy's dad} as Arnold Buck
Kenneth Walsh as Joe Siri