(W) Marc Silvestri William Tucci Brian Haberlin David Wohl (A) Marc Silvestri
Cyberdata executive James Layter briefs Japanese crime lord Arashi on Shi, the woman who has decimated his foot soldiers.  In exchange for a stake in his corporation, Layter and Cyberdata agree to capture her.  In New York, Cyblade visits her friend Ana Ishikawa’s art gallery in Soho.  She barely has time to greet Ana before a squad of S.H.O.C.s attack.  She and Ana fight back, but the cyborgs take Ana and knock Cyblade out.  Later, she wakes up to NYPD Detective Sara Pezzini squatting next to her.  Cyblade deflects Pezzini’s questions and leaves.  At a warehouse, Layter introduces Ana Ishikawa a.k.a. Shi, now reprogrammed as a Cyberdata assassin, to Arashi and offers to sell her.  Calling herself Witchblade after the gauntlet she wears, Pezzini visits Cyblade’s apartment and reveals that the S.H.O.C.s were after Ana.  Together, she and Cyblade stake out the Cyberdata warehouse from a nearby rooftop, but a squad of S.H.O.C.s led by Shi soon attacks them.  While Pezzini struggles with the sentient Witchblade, Cyblade tries to talk Shi down by citing their friendship.  Shi responds by firing an energy blast through Cyblade’s chest. The Witchblade offers to heal Cyblade for a price, and Pezzini accepts.  As Cyblade wakes up, Pezzini disappears and tells her she must save Ana on her own.  Then, the building explodes.