Original subtitles

- Thanks for taking the time to break bread. - It's my pleasure.

- So how you been? SARA: I can't complain.

AND Y: Well, I can. I miss you.

- Get out of here. AND Y: I do.

Come on, Andy, a babe magnet like you. I find that hard to believe.

AND Y: Believe it, Pez.

Why haven't you been returning my calls?

I've just been a bit off my game lately. I haven't quite felt like myself.

You seeing someone?

Oh, yeah. A heavy bag in the precinct gym.

That's one way of alleviating the stress.

Yeah, it works.

FCHILD GRUNTING]

Don't ever believe you are protected.

No matter what you wear, no matter how you shield yourself.

Never forget, you are an impossibly fragile...

...soft, pale, hairless organism with no natural defenses.

Like something you'd find when you turn over a rock.

Hmm?

FCHUCKLES]

Always remember...

...the less emotional attachment you have...

...the less vulnerable you'll be.

Isolation is safety.

IRONS: Virginity is invulnerability.

FSILENCED GUNSHOT]

FSILENCED GUNSHOT]

FCELL PHONE RINGING]

Yeah?

Oh, I'm on my way.

I gotta go.

- What are you doing Saturday night? - Playing bingo.

I got a better idea.

- Well, uh, call me. - Yeah.

FCRYSTAL VASE HUMMING]

FGASPS]

"Pay to the bearer upon demand, $50,000 U.S."

One for you. One for me.

- One for... - Me.

TALON: Lan. Long time.

Don't worry, I wouldn't take your money. I was being facetious.

You're making a joke, that's a first. Are you finally getting some, lan?

NOTTINGHAM: I have, in fact, met the woman of my dreams.

But in answer to your question, not yet.

I have a proposal for you. More lucrative than your current enterprise.

Interested?

Is this a mission for you or your supposedly missing boss?

NOTTINGHAM: Perhaps both.

Where is Moby?

Uh, what's it to you?

FSIREN WAILING]

FDANNY SIGHS]

- How was lunch? - Short.

- Good news? - Oh.

We got it on video.

DANNY: Whoo.

That was pristine.

They were quick and clean.

They had good intel, they took bearer bonds, nothing else.

JAKE: And they used jacketed ordinance.

No one really does these days, except us and soldiers.

I'm thinking military.

- That's a good thought. - Thanks.

SARA: How'd you come up with it?

FLAUGHS]

SARA: Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa. What is that?

On his forearm?

A family reunion.

My first ever.

Mobius.

I have a mission which I cannot complete personally.

The subject is a police detective who is making my life...

...complicated.

Yeah, they tend to do that.

Two million in clean, used, non-sequential cash.

You three may work out your division of the bounty.

While you work some alibi, leave town, step out of the spotlight for a while?

My motives are none of your concern.

This detective does know me.

Although she is not currently hunting me.

She?

You want us to whack a woman?

Not a woman. The woman.

Primal. Original.

Warrior-goddess.

Do not underestimate her.

Her name...

Her name is Sara Pezzini.

We accept.

Divide the money in thirds.

There is a condition.

Gilgamesh and Enkidu.

Do you know the myth?

- Gilgamesh, the warrior king? - From Sumer.

He loved a wood nymph named Sehren whom he could never catch nor possess.

His unrequited passion was so great, he could no longer govern his kingdom.

Mobius, ever the poet.

So he summoned Enkidu...

...the master hunter and ordered him to kill Sehren...

...so Gilgamesh could be free of his all-consuming lust.

If your condition is that I have to listen to your babble, it may prove too harsh.

Gilgamesh repented his decision and tried to recall the hunter...

...but it was too late.

Your point?

Once we leave this place, Sara Pezzini is a dead woman.

No turning back.

No recalling the hunter.

That is my condition.

Then a dead woman she is.

Yeah?

Hey.

Check it out.

SARA: It's a dragon. Black dragon.

GABRIEL: If you buy the whole set, I'll cut you a deal.

Yeah, what kind of a deal?

Mmm...

Two million, all in. They'd cost you twice that much if you bought them singly.

Oh, fantastic. You take checks, right?

Ha, ha, right.

SARA: Oh, what is this? It's not Egyptian, it's not Mayan.

Uh, no. Sumerian.

That's the palace of Gilgamesh, 2700 B.C.

- That's where all this stuff came from. - Hmm.

This is the reason you dropped in.

Her name was Sehren. She was a woodland goddess.

She became Artemis to the Greeks, Diana to the Romans.

SARA: My God, that's... - Oh, yeah.

So the legend goes.

- A huntress. - Very good.

Goddess of the moon as well.

I'm right, aren't I? You felt drawn to come here today, huh?

Uh, actually, I was just doing shoe leather on a case.

Uh, what do you know about dragons?

Oh, um...

Well...

...the dragon is the greatest divine force on earth.

Uh, its breath bestows life.

It's called Sheng Chi.

- So they're actually a positive force? - Oh, yeah, yeah. Um...

...unless you're a black dragon.

Black dragons are serious trouble.

- What kind of trouble? - Cause drought, famine, pestilence.

The end of the world. Stuff like that. If you see a black dragon...

...do not piss him off. - Yeah, I got it.

Well, um, how much for the little lady?

Oh, sorry. She's already sold.

More than I make in a year, right?

Ten years.

I'm just the middleman.

JAKE: The Black Dragons. Elite special forces.

An entire unit of killers.

They were formed in the wake of the Gulf War...

...in an unusual collaboration with some private investors.

They do time in Afghanistan?

No, never got their chance. They were decommissioned pretty quickly.

How did you learn all this?

From an old girlfriend.

She does sensitive work inside the beltway.

Gee, you broke up with her?

FCLEARS THRO AT]

FLAUGHING]

- Very funny. - Sorry, you were saying?

Anyway, they were an experimental unit drawn from all the services.

SEALs, Rangers, Force Recon.

They underwent heavy psychological training...

...drug therapies.

Maybe even genetic engineering, though that's unconfirmed.

Our tax dollars at work.

Yeah, really. Well, who held the leash?

The program was run privately...

...by Vorschlag Industries.

FSPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

Hey, hey.

What?

Danny, uh, I know somebody on the Vorschlag payroll.

I just thought I'd ask around.

- Fine. Check it out. - Okay.

- Sara? - What?

Have you heard of a fugue?

Sure, music. Bach, right?

Right. Also psychology.

Freud.

- You're stressing, Pez. - Hey, Danny, I'm fine.

I'm fine.

Oh, but thanks for your concern, Sigmund.

FSARA SCOFFS]

Come on, man.

FFEMALE VOICE SPEAKING IN LATIN]

JAKE: They underwent heavy psychological training...

... drug therapies.

Maybe even genetic engineering.

GABRIEL: If you see a black dragon, do not piss him off.

NOTTINGHAM: You wanted to see me?

Show me your forearm.

Magnificent.

It's learning to use you.

You got it backwards, lan.

We're not enemies yet, Sara.

So the use of force...

...however intoxicating...

...is inappropriate yet.

You talk like your boss.

Your late boss.

NOTTINGHAM: Thank you for the compliment.

Hearing Mr. Irons speak was like experiencing...

...a Bach fugue.

May I please see your right forearm?

Black Dragon, rampant.

- You get that in the service? - Badge of honor.

Brothers in life, brothers in death.

Look, I want the names of all the Black Dragons.

You guys stay in touch?

Not in a way you would understand.

But when one of us has a need, the others all know about it.

The same way you know about me?

No bond compares to ours, Sehren.

What did you just call me?

Sara. That is your name, this time.

FSCOFFS]

FSCOFFS]

N...

fSCOFFS]

FDOG BARKING IN DISTANCE]

FBIRD CRIES]

Learning to use me, my ass.

FDOG BARKS]

Hey, don't knock. Nobody minds.

You got a medical dictionary?

You mean like a book, Jakey? How quaint.

Yeah, I gotta look something up.

Okay, what do you need? Come here.

Uh...

Under psychology, look up fugue state.

Okay. Uh, so by the way, how's Pez doing?

Her friend Andy called, said she seemed a little off or something.

Yeah. Pez is Pez.

VICKY: "Fugue state: A pathological response to trauma...

...characterized by dissociative amnesia."

Amnesia I know. What does dissociative mean?

It's the feeling of being detached from reality.

Great. Keep going.

"From the Latin verb fugire, as in fugitive or refugee.

Fugue symptoms can be further broken into depersonalization...

...the sense of not knowing who you are, or of questioning long-held beliefs.

And derealization...

...in which the victim perceives reality in a grossly distorted way."

No kidding.

"Irrational behavior can persist during the episode...

...which can last from a few moments to several months."

This is weird stuff, Jake. Who is it you're asking...

...about?

FGRUNTS]

SARA: That was beautiful. - Thanks.

To do a form properly...

...one must visualize a score of attackers coming at you from all sides.

FLAUGHS]

It's a piece of cake for me.

So I looked up fugue.

I'm kind of worried, Danny.

Sounds like a response of a healthy person.

- Probably means you're okay. - Yeah. Hey.

I'm not okay.

Uh, this Black Dragon thing has me kind of freaked.

I don't really know what to do.

SARA: Talon Green. Is he our shooter?

JAKE: We think so. SARA: Huh.

- Lennox McGill. JAKE: Both Navy SEALs.

We owe your girlfriend a big expensive dinner.

Yeah. Ex-girlfriend.

Whoa.

Hector Mobius.

Ha, there's a typo here.

It says his IQ is 200.

That is a typo, right?

No typo.

Check this out.

The M�bius strip, ordinary piece of paper.

Nothing wrong here, right?

But when it gets twisted and looped back on itself...

...it becomes endless and infinite.

Twisted and looped.

Psychological training and drug therapies.

Green and McGill are wanted for robbery and murder in three states.

- And Mobius? - No record.

If I had a 200 IQ, I won't have a record either.

FSARA CHUCKLES]

There is one more surviving Dragon.

FPHONE RINGS]

Homicide, McCartey.

Who is this?

Anonymous caller.

Said we could find the Black Dragons holed up at 19th and Marginal.

FBANGING IN DISTANCE]

FWHISPERS] Pincers wide. Retain visual contact.

Go.

FDOOR OPENING]

FWHISPERS] Sara, what are you doing?

FCLATTER IN DISTANCE]

FGUN COCKS]

Hey. What are you doing?

Their turf, their rules. Bad play.

- It was Mobius. - Are you sure?

Wonder how he missed.

FCORMAC CLEARY'S "PHOBIA" PLAYING LOUDLY ON TV]

Gabriel.

FSHOUTS] Gabriel!

FTURNS DOWN MUSIC]

If it's too loud, you're too old.

Tell me the Sumerian story. The one about the wood goddess.

Uh, okay, um...

The king, this hero, Gilgamesh, uh, fell in love with Sehren, the goddess.

Uh, but she kept running away from him, too fast to catch.

Eventually, his lust drove him nuts, so he went to his best friend...

...this hunter dude named Enkidu.

- And he put out a hit on her, right? - Basically, yeah.

So you kill the thing you love? What is that about?

Well, supposedly, he was temporarily possessed.

I thought myths were supposed to lift people up, educate them.

Well, yeah, but I think they're also supposed to help people...

...deal with unacceptable feelings.

Like incest?

Uh-huh.

Where's the statue?

Uh, gone. Shipped.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah. You know, uh, funny thing. The courier who picked it up?

Security guy from Vorschlag Industries.

That's Kenneth Irons' company, right? I mean, ex-company.

I mean, he's dead, right?

- Right. Thank you. - Yeah.

Sure.

Anytime.

FTURNS UP VOLUME]

Good day, Sehren.

Nottingham, what is going on?

For weeks, you show up at the weirdest times.

And you tell me that your mission in life is to protect me.

Then you sic the Black Dragons on me. What is up with you?

My father told me never to discuss criminal activities...

...with members of the police force.

Speaking of your father...

Who you, by the way, are showing a startling resemblance to.

- How's he doing, lan?

FPLAYING BAROQUE FUGUE]

Ha! Oh!

FMOCK GRUNT]

Knowing him, he'd find hell to his liking.

FENGINE STARTS]

FNOTTINGHAM GRUNTS]

MOBIUS: Once we leave this place, Sara Pezzini is a dead woman.

No turning back.

No recalling the hunter.

That is my condition.

Then a dead woman she is.

You made me do this.

The intelligence you provided was incomplete.

What is this weapon she bears?

Something the Krupps, Colts...

...and Kalashnikovs of the world could never produce.

You relish riddles.

I prefer answers.

Some riddles have no answer.

If the hunt is too difficult...

...and you wish to break it off, I will understand.

You love her.

- Yes. - Better to love the moon.

She's easier to touch. Warmer too.

Sara is the moon.

Sara is a tigress.

He who loves a tigress becomes a part of her...

...after she kills and consumes him.

We have a compact, lan.

Unbreakable.

You and I make our own rules.

Not and honor the myth.

FWHISPERS] Let us make a new myth.

The locales change, the heroes change, the very gods change...

...but the myth remains constant.

Let her live.

Please.

Can the hunter recall the arrow to the bow?

FSIGHS]

- So, what's your take on the ambush? - It just doesn't track.

I'll say.

FCELL PHONE RINGING, SARA GRO ANS]

- Hello. - Pez.

- Hey. - We still on for Saturday night?

Oh, yeah. I guess so.

Uh, listen, I'm in the middle of something. Can I call you back?

- You okay? - Yeah. I'll call you back, all right?

Yeah. Yeah, okay.

Bye.

So how come...?

FCELL PHONE RINGS]

FSCOFFS]

- Yep? - Sara, I need to see you.

- Uh, just a sec, guys, okay? - Yeah.

Nottingham, what is with you?

You know, I knew you were strange, but you're acting like...

Like Irons.

I made a terrible mistake.

I need to see you. I'm in the precinct parking lot.

Please come.

SARA: What? You wanna apologize for putting a hit out on me?

Have you ever felt true shame?

Ever done something for which there was no redemption?

I've killed a few people. I'm not happy about that.

Have you ever desired someone so intensely...

...that it became overwhelming, maddening...

...made you lose your mind, your reason, your self?

Are you trying to tell me you got a crush on me?

I'm trying to tell you, I'm being crushed by a savage longing.

And that I, who is supposed to be your protector, a sibling of sorts...

...have unleashed an arrow that could end your life.

But it wasn't me, Sara.

I was possessed, by a black energy so dark.

It wasn't me.

I have forsaken any possibility of forgiveness...

...but I will ask for your understanding.

Please. I don't understand any of this.

Yes, you do, Sara. Give me your hand.

Please.

Sara, the Witchblade enables you to look into the darkest recesses...

...and the sharpest schisms in the human heart.

Into the labyrinth of pain, passion, fear...

...and confusion within all of us.

Into the savagery which cannot be caged, tamed...

...or denied.

But the most terrifying thing...

...is to look into one's own heart.

Look into your heart, Sara.

Look into your heart and tell me you understand.

Look into your heart and tell me you understand.

Yes.

Yes.

Thank you.

Goodbye.

So...

...it comes to this, my brother.

I don't wanna fight you.

I just wanna call off your mission to kill Sara.

I told you from the beginning, that is not possible.

NOTTINGHAM: It is possible.

Hector, you are a myth.

You have your own condition, your own rules.

- You can reconsider. - I cannot.

You are different from me.

You did not receive the same programming.

There is no fail-safe.

NOTTINGHAM: I was deluded when I came to you.

I was following through on some order, some impulse that I don't even understand.

The only way for you to save your beloved Sara...

...is for you to kill me...

...or die trying.

Then so be it.

FGRUNTS]

Aah!

FMOTORC YCLE ENGINE IN DISTANCE]

FTIRES SCREECH]

FGRUNTS]

Lan.

FGRO ANS]

FGRUNTS]

FGRUNTS]

FGASPS]

FPHONE RINGING]

SARA fON ANSWERING MACHINE]: Pezzini. Go.

FMACHINE BEEPS]

AND Y fON PHONE]: Pez, it's Andy, it's Saturday night.

What happened to you?

Hope you get back to feeling like yourself.

And whoever it is that you've been feeling like...

... well, maybe she can return my call. Later.

FENGLISH SDH]