by Ian Doescher
You speak of peace, but mean the other thing.
BARTON
[to Loki:] Director Fury stalleth, sir. This structure
Shall soon explode and bury us neath rubble.
His crow-like plan’s to bury us thereunder. 110
FURY
Forsooth, like pharaohs of the ancient times.
SELVIG
Upon itself the portal is collapsing.
Two minutes, mayhap, ere ’tis critical, sir.
LOKI
[to Barton:] Thou knowest what to do, unknowing soul.
[Barton draws his pistol and shoots Fury. Loki, Barton, Selvig, and Guard 1 begin to leave and proceed to the loading dock.
ENTER MARIA HILL TO THE LOADING DOCK.
BARTON
[to Hill:] I’ll need these transports, fleet as falcons’
flight. 115
HILL
Who is that with thee?
BARTON
—Nay, they told me nothing,
But kept me, like the dodo, unsuspecting.
FURY
[into radio:] Hill, dost thou copy? Barton hath been turn’d!
They have the Tesseract—halt their escape!
[Barton begins shooting at Hill, who dodges. Loki, Barton, Selvig, and Guard 1 depart in a vehicle. Hill pursues them, firing.
ENTER PHIL COULSON ABOVE, ON BALCONY, WITH SOLDIERS.
COULSON
The building bloweth soon—we must fly hence! 120
[Into radio:] Director Fury, all is clear’d above.
I bid you, leave.
FURY
—From thy mouth to my bones!
[Fury climbs into a helicopter. The S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters collapse. Hill’s vehicle is trapped in rubble. Fury shoots at Loki’s vehicle, but Loki returns fire and destroys Fury’s helicopter, which crashes. Fury is unscathed. Exeunt Loki, Barton, Selvig, and Guard 1.
COULSON
Director Fury, do you copy, sir?
FURY
The Tesseract is with a hostile force,
With many soldiers fallen. Hill, art well? 125
MARIA
[into radio:] A hundred folk or more are buried, sir.
The darkness does the face of earth entomb—
I know not whether some surviv’d the blast.
FURY
Proclaim the call—bid ev’ry soul arise,
And if they are not on the rescue team 130
They must search for the Tesseract.
MARIA
—Yea, sir.
FURY
Good Coulson, get thee back to base anon.
This is a level seven, by my troth.
This moment on, let slip the dogs of war—
A mighty foe hath come with pow’r supreme. 135
COULSON
What shall we do?
FURY
—Assemble we the team.
[Exeunt.
SCENE 2
Points abroad.
ENTER NATASHA ROMANOFF BOUND TO A CHAIR IN FRONT OF THE TRAPDOOR, GEORGI LUCHKOV, AND VARIOUS THUGS.
LUCHKOV
’Tis not how I did hope the night would end.
ROMANOFF
Methinks I know how thou didst hope ’twould end—
And this is better, e’en if dark and brutal.
LUCHKOV
In whose employ are you? Lermentov, yea?
Doth he believe we must, now, use his skills 5
To move our cargo whither we desire?
[Thug 1 leans Romanoff’s chair back, over the trapdoor, threatening to drop her.
ROMANOFF
Methought bleak Gen’ral Solohob had charge
Of all the export business.
LUCHKOV
—Solohob!
A front, a bagman, nothing but a knave.
Your dated information doth betray you, 10
Like one who doth believe the earth is flat.
You are the fam’d Black Widow, verily—
Yet nothing but a simple, pretty mien.
ROMANOFF
Graybeard, thou think’st me pretty?
LUCHKOV
—Tell Lermentov
We’ve no need of his skill to move our tanks. 15
Henceforth, he is outside our ranks and favor.
Although, once I fell you with agony,
You may be forc’d to write the message down.
[Thug 2’s phone rings.
THUG 2
[into phone:] Da? [To Luchkov:] ’Tis for her.
LUCHKOV
[into phone:]
—Take heed,
whoe’er this is—
ENTER PHIL COULSON ABOVE, ON BALCONY, TALKING IN PHONE.
COULSON
Thou art at one-fourteen Silensky Plaza— 20
The third floor. We have our F-22
A mere eight miles therefrom. Give thou the phone
Unto the woman now, or I’ll destroy
The block entire ere thou attain’st the lobby.
[Luchkov hands the phone to Romanoff.
[To Romanoff:] We need you to report.
ROMANOFF
—Art serious? 25
I’m working black ops.
COULSON
—This hath precedence.
ROMANOFF
Abandon this, my mission, whilst mir’d in
The murky waters of negotiation?
This ass doth give me ev’rything I ask.
LUCHKOV
[aside:] I have not given ev’rything. Have I? 30
ROMANOFF
Thou canst not pull me from the shadows yet.
COULSON
Natasha, Barton hath been compromis’d.
ROMANOFF
O news most dim! Pray, Coulson, hold the line.
[Romanoff signals Luchkov to take the phone back, then attacks.
[Aside:] Kick Luchkov and the others as they come,
Stop, drop, and roll, I use my chair to strike— 35
What once did bind me shall unbind me yet.
Next, trip another’s by the chair’s own legs—
One flip, then break the chair upon his back.
My bonds are loose—Black Window is releas’d!
Drop-kick a henchman, fall back on my hands, 40
Then thrust back up with speed and nimbleness.
Run to the last one standing, winch his head
Betwixt my legs, and drop him like a sack.
At last, ’tis back to Luchkov—this strong chain
Shall hold him like meat in a butcher’s shop 45
As I escape unto another task.
[She pushes Luchkov into the trapdoor. He hangs from a chain by his leg.
COULSON
[listening:] Ah, pleasant falls this music on ear—
The sound of Romanoff negotiating.
[The thugs lie unconscious. Romanoff picks up the phone.
ROMANOFF
To what grim place goes Barton?
COULSON
—We know not.
I shall brief you in full on your return. 50
First, we need your negotiating skills—
You must speak with the big guy.
ROMANOFF
—Coulson, thou
Dost know Stark trusts me dimly at the best.
COULSON
Nay, I have Stark. Your thoughts must greater grow:
Find, I beseech you, the e’en bigger guy. 55
[Exit Phil Coulson. Exeunt Georgi Luchkov and thugs.
ROMANOFF
A bleak and difficult request, in sooth,
For Banner’s reputation doth proceed him.
[She hides herself in a house.
ENTER BRUCE BANNER, AN OLD WOMAN, AND SICK CHILDREN ON A BED. ENTER A YOUNG GIRL SEVERALLY.
WOMAN
[to girl:] Nay, enter not, for there is illness here.
GIRL
A doctor, please! Is not thy guest a doctor?
My father will not wake. [To Banner:] O, wilt thou come? 60
BANNER
A sickness large, e’en as these children have?
GIRL
Indeed, please come to help. I beg thee, sir.
[Exeunt old woman and children as Banner leaves with the girl. He follows the girl into the house where Romanoff is concealed, where the girl quickly abandons him. Exit girl.
BANNER
[aside:] Thou shouldst have ask’d for payment sooner,
Banner—
Whate’er she plays at, I’m the bigger fool.
ROMANOFF
[emerging:] For one who should avoid dark moods and
stress, 65
Thou chosest quite a place to settle, Bruce.
BANNER
Avoiding mounting stress is not the secret.
ROMANOFF
What is thy secret, then? Nights rife with yoga?
BANNER
Thou hast brought me unto the city’s edge,
Which is immensely clever, I concede. 70
’Tis safe t’assume this house surrounded is?
ROMANOFF
Nay, nay, just thou and me, conceal’d by dusk.
BANNER
Thine actress friend, dissembler tiny she?
Is she a spy as well, just starting out,
Tonight a prelude to a great career? 75
ROMANOFF
I started young as she—and younger, too—
Back in the shadow days when I was small.
BANNER
Yet now thou bigger art. Still: who art thou?
ROMANOFF
Natasha Romanoff, known as Black Widow.
BANNER
Art here to kill me, then, Ms. Romanoff? 80
A plan so grand as that shall not end well—
For thee, for me, for anyone nearby.
ROMANOFF
Nay, calm thy dimming mood, for I am come
As representative of S.H.I.E.L.D. Dost see?
BANNER
The vast and pow’rful S.H.I.E.L.D. How found they me? 85
ROMANOFF
Although thou hiddest in the bleakest places,
We never lost thee, Doctor, yet maintain’d
A distance, thus to give thee space and peace.
In faith, we kept some other players hence,
Who would have mov’d your piece wheree’er they
wish’d. 90
BANNER
Why make this gesture grand, protecting me
Withal thy pawns as if I were the king?
ROMANOFF
Nick Fury, a grandmaster of the game,
Doth trust thee even in thy darker moments.
We need the king to move unto the front, 95
To stand aside the other knights and rooks.
BANNER
What if, despite these larger stratagems,
I answer nay?
ROMANOFF
—I am a queen persuasive,
And have ta’en kings of dimmer mien than thou.
BANNER
What if the bigger guy doth answer nay? 100
When he declines, the board entire upends.
ROMANOFF
A year—one fill’d with moves and schemes—hath pass’d,
Since last thou hadst a dismal incident.
Methinks thou wouldst not break this winning streak.
BANNER
Oft, though, this massive game doth not turn out 105
As I desire, regardless of my wishes.
ROMANOFF
Let me, then, tell it thee in black and white:
We face potential global devastation.
Think not of pieces—this could wreck the game.
BANNER
’Tis just the huge condition I’d avoid, 110
Methinks ’tis better to retreat therefrom.
[Romanoff shows Banner a picture.
ROMANOFF
This is the Tesseract, a player that
Will not be bound by squares of sixty-four.
The darkest threat that ever we have fac’d,
With power to destroy the planet whole. 115
BANNER
What is the plan immense in Fury’s mind?
Belike he’d have me swallow it, and place
It thus in check?
ROMANOFF
—Discover its location.
It hath been taken by a cunning bishop,
Who moves his way diag’nally through space. 120
The Tesseract emits a signature
Of gamma rays, too shrouded for a trace.
No one knows more of gamma radiation
Than thou dost—if another person did,
I would have made a diff’rent move, forsooth. 125
BANNER
Then Fury doth not seek the monstrous man?
ROMANOFF
Not that he hath told me e’en dimly, troth.
BANNER
Grand lass, thou play’st me false.
ROMANOFF
—No, Doctor Banner,
I would not so obscure thy fragile trust.
BANNER
Yes, for abundant kingdoms thou shouldst wrangle, 130
And I would call it fair play. Dost thou think
That Fury tells thee all?
ROMANOFF
—Pray, speak with him.
He needeth thee in this, our darkest match.
BANNER
His vast plan needs me hedg’d in, kept in check.
ROMANOFF
No one would keep thee in the dark—
BANNER
[shouting:] —Cease lying! 135
[Romanoff pulls out a pistol and points it at Banner.
Apologies, ’twas not my kindest play—
I wish’d to see but how the queen would move.
Let us proceed an ’twere a friendly game.
Use not that gun; call not the big guy forth.
Dost thou agree, Natasha?
ROMANOFF
[in radio:] —All stand down. 140
We need not black ops, all is well herein.
[Outside the house, soldiers in hiding back away.
BANNER
“Just thou and me”—thy great words now seem thin.
[Exeunt.
SCENE 3
New York.
ENTER NICK FURY, BELOW. ENTER MEMBERS OF THE WORLD SECURITY COUNCIL ABOVE, ON BALCONY.
MEMBER 1
You have o’erstepp’d your bounds, Director Fury.
These forces lay beyond e’en your control.
FURY
Have you e’er serv’d in wartime, Councilman?
Or been engag’d in fighting, fir’d upon?
Did you feel an abundance of control? 5
MEMBER 1
You say this Asgard is declaring war?
FURY
Not Asgard—Loki.
MEMBER 2
—Surely not alone.
What of the other one, his brother, eh?
FURY
Intelligence reports Thor is no hostile,
Yet he is worlds away and may not help— 10
Alas, ma’am, we cannot depend thereon.
’Tis up to us.
MEMBER 1
—’Tis, therefore, why you must
Keep all your focus fix’d upon phase two.
’Twas made exactly for this moment—
FURY
—Nay,
Phase two is not prepar’d—our foes, though, are. 15
We need a team to fashion a response.
MEMBER 1
Th’Initiative of the Avengers was
Shut down, as well you know.
FURY
—’Tis not about
Th’Avengers.
MEMBER 3
—Yet we all have seen your list.
MEMBER 1
You govern the globe’s largest covert network, 20
Yet would leave all our fates to these few freaks?
FURY
Nay, I would not leave aught to anyone.
A team is needed for our best response.
These people may be isolated, yea,
Unbalanc’d, even, in some instances, 25
Yet ’tis my firmest and profound belief
That with the right push they’ll be what we need.
MEMBER 2
’Tis your belief?
MEMBER 1
—Wars are not won by feeling.
FURY
Nay, they are won by soldiers, by my troth.
[Exeunt World Security Council members. Fury steps aside.
ENTER STEVE ROGERS ASIDE, STRIKING A PUNCHING BAG.
ROGERS
The mem’ries of my battles vex my soul, 30
As if they had ta’en place but yesterday.
This hapless punching bag must bear the brunt
Of ev’rything that plagues my spirit sore.
The scenes are still quite fresh in my mind’s eye:
How I was bound to crash th’ill-fated ship, 35
My Peggy lost amidst enduring freeze.
Fie! Wherefore must I so much pain endure?
[He strikes the punching bag so hard it splits open and flies across the room.
’Tis call’d an Everlast, but lasteth not
Against the hurt that ever is Steve Rogers’s.
’Tis well I’ve some half dozen left to thump, 40
For I would gladly strike them more and more,
And harder still—as if, through pugilism,
I could erase the past from mine own pate.
FURY
[emerging:] Some trouble sleeping, Captain?
ROGERS
—Nay, I slumber’d
For years three score and ten—now am I full. 45
I’ll warrant, sir, no soul since Rip Van Winkle
Was better rested than my slumb’ring self.
FURY
You should hence, see the world, and celebrate.
ROGERS
Whilst I did sleep, the world was stuck in war.