Witchblade

Sought by the greed of men since the dawn of humankind,

but only bestowed upon the women whose fate it forever scars.

The Witchblade.

Is it the Righteous Sword of God,

or the Hand of the Devil himself?

Now a new Bearer has been chosen.

And she must discover the answers for herself.

As she stands on the brink of destiny,

she is forced to seek the balance

between ecstasy and ruin.

Wake up. You gotta wake up.

Come on! You hear me?

Wake up!

Mommy!

Come on, wake up already!

Just a few more minutes, 'kay?

Wake up, Masane!!!

Cut it out, Riko.

I was actually comfy there for a minute.

Yeah, sorry, but you were the one

who told me I should wake you up.

Huh? You mean, you saw it?

Over there.

It looks just like it did on TV.

Six years ago, that wasn't an island.

There was no water--

just buildings, streets and people.

Wonder if we can see any houses down there.

Mom, be careful.

Don't worry your little head.

Duckies?

Looks like one of 'em's on his own.

Just don't jump in after him.

Go on, little ducky! Back to your family!

Don't want to end up all alone in this scary world!

Go on!

Doggie!

What's going on out there?

Yeah, sorry. I slipped.

It was the, uh--

Pretty irresponsible behavior for a grown woman with a kid.

What does it matter

if one rubber ducky gets split from the rest?

I wouldn't call it an omen, 'cause that's weird.

But I've never liked being alone.

Being apart from the group or left out, I dunno.

Something about it just always felt wrong to me.

I mean, don't things like that bother you?

Nothing bothers me.

Except maybe when a parent lets a kid

wear the pants in the family.

Look at her.

She's even got the dog eating out of her hand.

Your kid's something else.

Yeah, she's all I got.

The one thing I can be proud of.

You should be proud.

We lost a lot of great children in that disaster.

Never seen that kinda horror in all my days.

Wasn't it in the wake of that

they established some group to help the kids?

Yeah, Child Welfare.

What a load of crap.

Mom!

I don't think you dried your hair enough.

You're gonna catch a cold, you know.

I'll be fine, Lady Rihoko.

Princess of Worrywort Island.

We're just about there.

So, is this a mother/daughter vacation?

Not, quite. We're moving here.

The two of us'll be official Tokyo residents.

Yay!

If you're going to make your home in Tokyo,

ya gotta be careful.

'Course we will!

A lot of strange stuff has been going down

over the past few weeks.

Watch your backs out there.

Thank you, Captain.

And this is for you.

Looks like you were missing a flag on the back.

Put this up in its place.

Thanks again.

Thanks?

Bye-bye, Mr. Boat Guy.

Bye-bye, doggie!

See ya 'round.

What a strange woman.

So different from how it used to be.

And so many people.

Careful, Mom. I don't want you to get lost.

Aren't I supposed to say that to you?

But you're right.

We need to find a meeting place in case we get split up.

Tokyo Tower!

That's perfect.

If we get separated for any reason,

we'll meet at the tower as soon as we can.

'Kay.

Now. First things first.

Job and a place to live.

Don't be scared.

Before we do anything else, we need to get some food.

And to celebrate our arrival, we eat anything we want!

Yeah!

Morning, boys.

You're late.

Give me a break, Detective.

I was up late drinking.

Looks like the same M.O.

Disgusting, is what it is.

We'll need a power sander

to get the calcium deposits out of the concrete.

What kinda sicko you got to be

to do this to another human being?

Tozawa, why'm I not surprised?!

Get down from there before I have you shot down!

I got what I need.

Hell, I got more than what I need.

And now...

Smells like cash.

Pulverizer Murder number four.

A National Science and Welfare Foundation badge

is found at each scene.

'Course, NSWF runs the Child Welfare Ministry.

Guess I'll pay 'em a visit.

Detective Nakata?

Detective Nakata!

What?

I'm busy.

We caught this creep a few blocks over.

Yeah, he actually says he's responsible for this mess.

No, not near enough to satisfy this thirst.

Quit bringing me every drunk off the street!

What are they teaching at that academy?

A'right, what do you want us to do with him?

I don't care! Figure it out!

Yes, sir. Right away.

You made us look stupid.

Shut up!

Very well.

Keep your eyes on him.

If the opportunity arises, we'll make our move.

Understood.

Pardon me, Captain. Can I ask you a question?

Yeah, what is it?

Have any of your recent ferry customers

been a woman with a six-year-old girl?

Yeah, you missed them by a couple hours.

It seems they came to Tokyo after all.

Did they happen to say where they were going?

Those ladies weren't criminals.

Who are you people? Why you looking for 'em?

No need to worry.

We're the good guys, Captain, I promise.

My name's Sakurai, with Child Welfare.

Wow, that hit the spot! Our compliments to the chef!

Thanks.

Though I gotta say, it was a little odd

that you made the broth with bonito.

Uh. Oh!

Thanks. We'll come back soon.

We've been looking for you, Masane Amaha.

Mom!

Hold on!

Young lady, you know that under the new laws,

if you continue to stay on the run with Rihoko,

you will be charged with kidnapping

and child endangerment.

You can't!

I cannot be any clearer about this.

If the proper environment does not exist,

the CWM is obligated to take the child into custody.

Look at yourself, Masane.

You have no home, no income.

You evicted us from our home!

The maximum stay at a domestic shelter

is six years.

Well, now we're out and we're gonna make it work!

Rihoko is only six years old!

But I'm busy helping my mom all the time!

She doesn't even cook,

so I have to be with her to help!

She'll be lost without me.

You can't take her away.

Please don't take my Mommy!

Rihoko...

I know you're worried,

but can I talk to your mommy alone for a sec?

I'm her mother.

Why that's a problem with you people is beyond me.

You've changed, Miss Amaha, more than I thought.

Six years ago,

when they started sifting through what was left,

somehow you and Rihoko were found alive,

at the Null Point--

the epicenter of the earthquake--

where the magnetic field achieves a state of zero.

When you woke, your memory was completely erased.