by Ian Doescher
THOR
’Tis far beyond thine orbit, metal man,
For Loki must face courts Asgardian. 135
STARK
If he surrendereth the Cube, ’tis well—
He shall be thine. Until that moment, though,
Hence to thy planet, thou galactic tourist.
[Thor throws his hammer at Stark, knocking him down.
A hit, a very palpable hit. Fie!
LOKI
[aside:] ’Tis droll when they who should be friends turn
foes. 140
[Stark strikes Thor.
THOR
I call upon the lightning of the clouds
To strike at thee and see, then, how thou far’st.
[Thor raises his hammer high, calls forth lightning, and strikes Stark with it.
JARVIS
[offstage:] Thy power is increas’d—percent: four hundred.
STARK
Impressive! Such a goodly side effect.
[Stark attacks Thor and they stumble, knocking trees and rocks.
THOR
My power hath transferr’d to thee, I see. 145
STARK
I’ll knock thee on thy pate—feel thou this bump!
THOR
A wickèd trick—I’ll give it back to thee.
THEY FIGHT MORE. ENTER STEVE ROGERS, THROWING HIS SHIELD. IT RICOCHETS OFF THOR AND STARK AND RETURNS TO ROGERS.
ROGERS
Enough, ye senseless men—I bid ye cease!
[To Thor:] I know not what thou hopest to achieve.
THOR
To put an end to Loki’s fiendish schemes. 150
ROGERS
Prove, then, thy words and put the hammer down.
STARK
Imprudent, Captain, for he loveth it—
[Thor knocks Stark aside with his hammer.
THOR
Wouldst thou have me put down the hammer, yea?
[Thor dives at Rogers, striking his hammer against Rogers’s shield. The whole earth shakes and many trees fall.
STARK
[aside:] Immense, this pow’r, such as I’d not believe—
The shield and all its worth have stopp’d the hammer! 155
ROGERS
[to Thor:] Are we, then, done? Our labors lay to rest?
SILENTLY, THE THREE RETURN TO LOKI AND CONVEY HIM BACK TO THE HELICARRIER, WHERE HE IS LOCKED IN A CELL. ENTER NICK FURY. ENTER BRUCE BANNER AND NATASHA ROMANOFF, ASIDE, JOINED BY ROGERS AND THOR. EXIT TONY STARK, CHANGING OUT OF HIS SUIT. ENTER VARIOUS SOLDIERS, WORKING.
BANNER
[aside:] Who is this man with evil-seeming mien?
He smiles as though he held a secret vast,
And viewing him, my mind is sorely vex’d.
I like not this—such portents work me woe. 160
FURY
[to Loki:] In case ’tis somewhat still unclear to you,
Should you attempt escape, e’en scratch the glass,
You shall be dropp’d some thirty thousand feet
Within an iron cage unto your death.
Pray, do you understand now? Ant, meet boot. 165
LOKI
A cage impressive, though not built for me,
I who am unimpressive by compar’son.
FURY
Built for one stronger, mightier than you.
LOKI
His fame hath reach’d mine ears, though he did wish
To dwell forever in obscurity— 170
A mindless beast in costume as a man.
How desperate your cause, that you beseech
Such creatures lost to be your sure defense?
FURY
How desperate? I gladly shall reveal:
You threaten all the living world with war, 175
You took a force you’re pow’rless to control,
You speak of peace yet slaughter for amusement,
You’ve made me passing desperate, forsooth—
You may live to regret it, verily.
LOKI
A cool man who doth burn to come so close: 180
To have the Tesseract and all its pow’r—
Unlimited, mayhap—and yet for what?
A warm light for all humankind to share.
Yet then, thou didst see what real power is.
FURY
I prithee, tell me if real pow’r desires 185
A magazine to pass the boring time.
[Exit Loki, encaged.
BANNER
The man grows on one, doesn’t he? A fellow
Of massive jest and endless merriment.
ROGERS
Should we allow it, Loki shall prolong
This matter. Thor, know’st thou his strategy? 190
THOR
He hath a force—Chitauri they are call’d—
Not Asgard-sent, nor any worlds we know.
He means to lead the army ’gainst the earth,
Which they shall win for him, that he may rule,
In turn, suspect I, for the Tesseract. 195
ROGERS
A vicious army come from outer space.
BANNER
He plans to build another giant portal,
Which, then, is why he needeth Erik Selvig.
THOR
Selvig?
BANNER
—Great astrophysicist.
THOR
—Great friend.
ROMANOFF
Yet Loki hath him cloak’d beneath some spell— 200
Our Agent Barton also is therewith.
ROGERS
I know not wherefore Loki let us take him,
For he shall rule no army from this ship.
BANNER
Methinks that Loki should not be our focus,
Whose brain is but a gunnysack of cats. 205
Vast heaps of lunacy waft off the man.
THOR
Take thou some care with reckless words, I pray—
Yea, Loki hath turn’d senseless, that may be,
Yet still is born of Asgard and my kin.
ROMANOFF
He slaughter’d eighty people in two nights. 210
THOR
He was adopted, of that be thou sure.
BANNER
In faith, the larger issue is mechanics—
Iridium: what is their purpose for’t?
ENTER TONY STARK, PHIL COULSON, AND MARIA HILL.
STARK
Iridium’s a stabilizing agent.
[Aside, to Coulson:] Pick thou a weekend, and I’ll fly thee
hence, 215
To Portland—such a weird and wondrous city—
Keep love alive, thy cellist misseth thee!
[To all:] The portal shall collapse upon itself
But for iridium. ’Tis what transpir’d
Just recently at S.H.I.E.L.D. [To Thor:] No lasting
grudge, 220
Point Break, methinks thou hast a slugger’s swing.
ROGERS
[aside:] Stark’s humor puts the others out of humor.
STARK
[to all:] It also means the portal shall ope wide,
However long as Loki doth desire.
Iridium’s the thing wherein he’ll catch 225
The capture of the earth, ’tis plain to see.
[To soldiers:] Raise mizzenmast, jib topsails, too. Ahoy!
[To all:] Behold that soldier, playing Galaga!
He thought we’d notice not, yet I have spotted.
These screens—with one eye, how doth Fury see? 230
HILL
STARK
—Incredibly exhausting, surely.
The raw materials shall Barton find
Sans too much effort. All he needeth is
A source of power dense with energy
Withal to set the mighty Cube to work. 235
HILL
When, Master Stark, did you turn specialist
In astrophysics thermonuclear?
STARK
In dark of night, whilst thou wert sleeping, Hill.
The packet—Selvig’s notes therein withal
The theory of extraction documents— 240
Am I the only one who did the reading?
Were I professor, I would fail the lot.
ROGERS
Doth Loki need a special power source,
Compilèd in some form particular?
BANNER
The Cube would need t’achieve enormous heat— 245
One hundred twenty million Kelvin—merely
To break the Coulomb barrier.
STARK
—Indeed,
Unless this Selvig hath discover’d means—
Howe’er ’tis done—by which to stabilize
The quantum tunneling effect.
BANNER
—A feat! 250
An he did so, methinks he could achieve
The needed heavy ion fusion at
Near any such reactor on the planet.
STARK
I’ve found, at last, a man who speaketh English,
Who’s worthy, mayhap, of the gifted Stark! 255
ROGERS
If that were English, I must study more.
[Stark shakes Banner’s hand.
STARK
It is a joy to meet thee, Doctor Banner.
Thy careful studies of antielectron
Collisions are unparallel’d, good sir.
I am inspir’d by how thou losest all 260
Control and logic when thou dost transform
To an enormous green rage-monster, too.
BANNER
Great thanks.
FURY
—Yet Doctor Banner hither came
To track the Tesseract, and nothing more.
I hop’d you would assist him, Master Stark. 265
ROGERS
Methinks ye first should study Loki’s staff—
It may be magical, or some such thing,
But doth resemble Hydra’s weaponry.
FURY
I know not, yet ’tis power’d by the Cube.
I fain would know how Loki useth it 270
To turn two of the sharpest men I know
Into his loyal troop of flying monkeys.
THOR
They turn’d to monkeys? Verily, ’twas so?
ROGERS
I follow—ha! For once, I laugh not last.
The reference I proudly understand! 275
STARK
It’s time to play, then, Doctor Banner.
BANNER
—Grand!
[Exeunt all but Stark and Banner, who proceed to the laboratory.
As thou shalt see, the gamma readings are
In line with Selvig’s Tesseract report.
This shall, I fear, take weeks to process still.
STARK
If we but circumvent this mainframe and 280
Direct route to the Homer cluster, mayhap
We may clock this in teraflops six hundred.
BANNER
All I brought hither was a toothbrush—ha!
Is’t not enormously absurd?
STARK
—Indeed.
I bid thee join us at Stark Tower sometime. 285
The top ten floors are naught but R and D.
’Twould be a land of pure delights for thee,
An ’twere a house of gingerbread and candies.
BANNER
My thanks, yet when I last was in New York,
A massive mess I made of Harlem. Yea, 290
There are not breadcrumbs numerous enow
To bring me back therefrom.
STARK
—I promise a
Stress-free environment where thou mayst work—
No witches or hot ovens shall disturb thee—
No tensions or surprises, verily. 295
HE SHOCKS BANNER WITH A SMALL ELECTRODE. ENTER STEVE ROGERS.
BANNER
Ouch! Fie, lout!
STARK
—Indiscernible effects.
Shalt thou refuse me e’en a touch of green?
ROGERS
Cease thou, Stark! Art thou gone completely mad?
STARK
In truth, the jury’s hung upon the matter.
[To Banner:] Thou managest control, subduing it. 300
What is thy secret: hearing mellow jazz
Or bongo drums, large bags of weed, what say’st?
ROGERS
Is ev’rything naught but a jest with thee?
STARK
If I do see a worthy jest therein.
ROGERS
Thou wouldst the safety of the ship entire 305
And ev’ryone aboard it threaten thus.
’Tis not a jest—’tis more like suicide.
[To Banner:] I mean no insult, Doctor Banner, sir.
BANNER
None shall be ta’en. I’d not have come aboard
Should pointy things alone do me vast harm. 310
STARK
I prithee stop tiptoeing—start to strut!
ROGERS
Pray, focus on the problem, Master Stark.
STARK
Imagin’st thou I do but little else?
Say, wherefore hath thy Fury call’d us in?
Why now and not before? What doth he hide? 315
Th’equation shall elude me evermore
An I know not the set of variables.
ROGERS
Believest thou that Fury hideth aught?
STARK
Is he a spy? Nay, e’en the leading spy.
His secrets have their secrets, have their secrets— 320
’Tis turtles all the way down, by my troth.
The matter bothers Banner, too—’tis true?
BANNER
Thy most substantial words fly o’er my head—
I would but finish all this work and leave.
ROGERS
Good doctor, please: we need thy candor blunt. 325
BANNER
“A warm light for all humankind to share.”
This was the jab that Loki made to Fury,
As he discuss’d the mighty Cube.
ROGERS
—Thus heard I.
BANNER
[to Stark:] He meant those soaring words to land on thee.
If Barton told not Loki of the tow’r, 330
’Twas still the largest story in the news.
ROGERS
Stark Tow’r? The ugly building in New York?
[Stark gives Rogers an annoyed look.
BANNER
’Tis power’d by enormous arc reactor—
A self-sustaining source of energy.
The building may support itself for what, 335
Some year or more?
STARK
—It’s but a prototype.
Clean energy knows no name now but Stark,
Is what the doctor sayeth.
BANNER
—Wherefore, then,
Did S.H.I.E.L.D. not contact Master Stark about
The mig
hty Tesseract? What business is’t 340
Of theirs t’experiment with energy?
STARK
I should, belike, look to these matters once
My program of decryption breaketh past
The S.H.I.E.L.D. defenses, to their shelter’d files.
ROGERS
One moment—didst thou say—
STARK
—It hath been run 345
By JARVIS since I first approach’d the bridge.
In some few hours, I’ll know the dirty secrets
That S.H.I.E.L.D. endeavoreth to hide from us.
Wouldst thou care, Captain, for a blueberry?
ROGERS
Still thou dost wonder wherefore they hath not 350
Requested thine assistance in the matter?
STARK
Intelligence organization that
Doth fear intelligence? ’Tis past all reason.
Historic’ly, those pathways end not well.
ROGERS
It seemeth Loki would assault our minds 355
And set mistrust twixt those who should be allies.
He’s but a man who means—and hath the means—
To start a war. If we lose focus, surely
He shall succeed. We have our orders, men,
And we should follow them.
STARK
—I never have 360
Been one to follow, Cap’n. ’Tis not my style.
ROGERS
Thou art a man of style, ’tis true?
STARK
—If thou
Observe the people three within the room,
Who—A—doth wear a most star-spangly outfit
And—B—is not of any use herein? 365
BANNER
Steve, tell me truly naught hath touch’d thy nose
With stench of something fetid in the height?
ROGERS
Discover ye the Cube. ’Tis all I ask.
[Rogers leaves the lab, walking to a different part of the ship.
STARK
Is’t he of whom my father was so proud?
Methinks he, mayhap, should have stay’d on ice. 370
BANNER
And yet his view of Loki is not wrong—
The man doth have a large head start o’er us.
STARK
Inconsequential Acme dynamite
Hath he in hand. ’Twill blast in his own face,
The sight of which, that day, I’ll gladly watch. 375
BANNER
Whilst I shall read about it in the papers,
For I shall widely keep myself therefrom.
STARK
If art not suited up withal the rest.
BANNER
Thou comprehendest not: I bear no armor,
No helmet strong or mighty breastplate broad. 380
Instead, I am exposèd like a nerve,
Completely raw with all five senses fraught.