by Ian Doescher
Downloading all their secrets, thoughts, and deeds—
And copy all unto Maria Hill
Who, at headquarters, waits with bated breath.
ROMANOFF
[into radio:] We are lock’d down outside—bleak foes are
trounc’d.
ROGERS
[into radio:] Get thou to Banner for his lullaby. 120
[Exit Steve Rogers.
ROMANOFF
[aside:] The singer green knows but dark melodies.
STARK
I know thou, Strucker, hideth more than files.
Pray, JARVIS, fashion me an infrared
Inspection of the building.
JARVIS
—On thy left:
My scan shows th’wall is reinforc’d by steel. 125
There are, as well, air currents running through.
STARK
Int’resting. Be a secret door, I pray!
A secret door, ’twould be so fun for me,
A secret door, as found in children’s tales,
A secret door, to hidden rooms beyond, 130
A secret door doth lead to fun overt!
[He pushes on a wall, revealing and opening a secret door.
Hurrah!
[Stark proceeds inside, investigating. Exit Stark.
ROMANOFF
[to Hulk:] —Holla, thou large and frightful man.
The sun descendeth lower in the sky,
And dusk shall follow on. Come thou to me—
In our communion find thy calm again. 135
[Hulk walks to Romanoff. She gently caresses his hand. Exit Hulk.
ENTER BRUCE BANNER, FALLING.
BANNER
A comfort great thou art, who brings me back—
A worthy friend. Thou hast my gratitude.
[Exeunt Romanoff and Banner.
ENTER STEVE ROGERS ON BALCONY. ENTER BARON STRUCKER SEVERALLY.
ROGERS
Thou Baron Strucker, knave and villain both—
Of Hydra thou art still thug number one.
STRUCKER
Were you to language technic’ly employ, 140
I am a thug for S.H.I.E.L.D. and always was.
ROGERS
Then technic’ly, thou art now unemploy’d.
Where is the scepter Loki once acquir’d?
STRUCKER
Fear not—I know when I am beaten, Captain.
You shall, I hope, make mention of how I 145
Cooperated when ’twas needed, yes?
ROGERS
’Twill in my notes appear, right underneath
Illegal humanoid experiments.
How many of thy enhanced beasts are here?
ENTER WANDA MAXIMOFF, SHOOTING FLAMES AT ROGERS, WHO FALLS. SHE HIDES.
[Into radio:] Another soul, enhanc’d, hath just
appear’d— 150
A female. Colleagues, hear: do not engage.
STRUCKER
You must be faster if you’d overcome—
[Rogers kicks his shield up and hits Strucker with it, knocking him out.
ROGERS
Was’t fast enow? [Into radio:] I have ta’en Strucker down.
[Exeunt Steve Rogers and Baron Strucker.
STARK
[into radio:] I have found something even bigger still—
A vicious metal beast, leviathan, 155
Like those who in New York did work us woe.
[Wanda sneaks up behind Stark.
Thor, I have found the scepter we do seek.
[Wanda, unseen, plies magic on Stark’s mind.
Stark begins hallucinating.
[Aside:] Alas, I see the monstrous brute take flight!
Fetch me your help; and be ye here again
Ere the leviathan can swim a league. 160
What visions fall upon my fearful eyes?
My friends, all fallen, beaten—some deceas’d!
Avengers, will ye not rise up again?
How shall I, by myself, your souls avenge?
O misery, e’en mighty Hulk laid low. 165
The Captain’s shield destroy’d an ’twere thin wood.
Steve’s voice doth call to me: “Thou couldst have sav’d us!
Why didst thou not do more than thou hast done?”
Alack, now I am desolate, alone,
Whilst heaven opens, showing me the stars. 170
There, ranks on ranks of enemies rejoice,
For they have slain th’Avengers, overwhelm’d
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.
[His hallucination ends abruptly.
A flash, and lo—the vision doth depart!
ENTER PIETRO MAXIMOFF ON BALCONY, RUSHING TO WANDA’S SIDE.
PIETRO
[aside, to Wanda:] Shall we, then, let them swiftly take the
staff? 175
WANDA
This notion in thy head doth make me laugh.
[Exeunt.
SCENE 2
Within the Avengers’ airship, the Quinjet.
ENTER TONY STARK, STEVE ROGERS, THOR, BRUCE BANNER, NATASHA ROMANOFF, AND CLINT BARTON. BARTON LIES ON A GURNEY, RECOVERING. BANNER LISTENS TO MUSIC. THE VOICE OF JARVIS IS PRESENT. LOKI’S SCEPTER SITS ASIDE.
BANNER
[aside:] The strains of opera appease my soul,
And drive the recent trouble from my mind.
Some peace I’ve made withal the giant man,
Whose other half I am, and he is mine.
A glooming peace this moment with it brings— 5
His presence maketh me uncomfortable,
Yet some strange comfort’s mine when he is near.
I nearly have him under my control,
Yet still his rage doth pain and frighten me.
Would that these notes could sing a better song, 10
An aria that would my life repair—
O “Casta diva,” canst thou make it so?
ROMANOFF
[to Banner:] Our lullaby work’d better than before,
The darkness fled and thou return’dst to light.
BANNER
’Twas unforeseen, the grand code green that happ’d. 15
ROMANOFF
If thou hadst not been with us in the field,
Our fate would drearier have been; we would
Have counted nearly double casualties.
My best friend would be but a memory,
A treasure in the recesses of mind. 20
BANNER
At times, precisely what I wish to hear
Is largely, still, not what I wish to hear.
ROMANOFF
How long before thou givest me thy trust,
And see not shadows o’er my loyalty?
BANNER
’Tis not thee I trust not—it is the Hulk. 25
ROMANOFF
[to Thor:] Thor, give me thy report upon the Hulk—
What deeds did he to our bleak foes today?
THOR
The gates of Hel do echo with the screams
Of victims of the mighty, dreadful Hulk.
BANNER
[aside:] For pity, these vast proclamations sting! 30
THOR
Er, mayhap I spoke too impulsively—
’Twas not screams of the dead. Nay, no, not those,
Of course not. Wounded screams. ’Tis all, be sure.
’Twas whimpering, complaining, in the main—
Full many tales of deltoids sprain’d and gout. 35
STARK
I bid thee, Banner—Doctor Cho shall soon
&n
bsp; Arrive from Seoul. Is’t well with thee were she
To take up residence within thy lab?
She would set up equipment and array
The tools of her profession thereabouts. 40
BANNER
’Tis well—the woman’s skill is deep and vast,
And quite familiar is she with my lab.
STARK
Immense my gratitude. [Quietly to JARVIS:] Bid her
prepare
For ev’ry circumstance, for Barton needs
Whatever therapies she can provide. 45
JARVIS
Indeed, sir.
STARK
—Instantly, pray navigate.
[JARVIS takes over steering the ship.
JARVIS
I shall. Our vector of approach is lock’d.
STARK
[to Thor:] Is not the feeling satisfying, Thor?
Thou hast search’d for the staff since S.H.I.E.L.D.
collaps’d.
Of course, I have enjoy’d our merry raids— 50
THOR
This brings our efforts to a fitting end.
ROGERS
Once we discover what ’twas usèd for,
Then shall I know the closure I desire.
’Tis not just weapons, nay—since when is he,
This simple-minded Strucker, capable 55
Of the enhancement of the human form?
STARK
In time shall Doctor Banner and myself
Make our examination of the scepter
Ere it to Asgard maketh its return.
Is’t well with thee, Thor? Some few days until 60
The party when we bid good riddance to’t.
Thou, though, shalt stay?
THOR
—Of course, I would not flee
When merriment on the horizon comes—
A victory with revels should be crown’d.
STARK
Insane the person who loves revels not. 65
True, Captain?
ROGERS
—Hopefully this puts an end
Unto both Hydra and Chitauri, too.
Thus, yea—’tis time for revels, true enow.
[The airship lands at Stark Tower. Exit Thor.
ENTER MARIA HILL AND DOCTOR HELEN CHO, WITH MEDICAL ASSISTANTS. BARTON IS RUSHED INTO THE CARE OF CHO.
ROMANOFF
[aside:] Farewell then, Clint, until we meet again.
Pray heal thou quickly, thou the best of friends— 70
Dwell not in solemn shades of endless night.
HILL
[to Stark:] The lab for thee hath been preparèd, boss.
[Stark points to Rogers.
STARK
I am no boss, ’tis he. I merely pay
For ev’rything thou spiest roundabout
And fashion the designs for ev’rything— 75
Make ev’ryone look more attractive, too.
[All walk aside, relaxing after the battle, while Rogers and Hill speak.
ROGERS
Of Strucker, what report hath come of late?
HILL
He is deliver’d into NATO’s hands.
ROGERS
The two enhanc’d—aught of their genesis?
HILL
They’re Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. 80
Twins, orphan’d at the tender age of ten
When bombshells in a war zone causèd their
Apartment building to collapse in heaps.
Sokovia a troubl’d hist’ry hath—
’Tis nowhere special, yet doth lie upon 85
The route to ev’rywhere that special is.
ROGERS
What keen abilities possess the duo?
HILL
Pietro hath metabolism high—
Increas’d from normal humans mightily.
He also hath improv’d homeostasis 90
In fluctuating thermal zones, which means
He can exist in any temp’rature.
His sister, Wanda, hath the power of
Neuroelectric interfacing and
Telekinesis, mental influence. 95
ROGERS
Would that thou spakest in plain English, Hill.
HILL
The man is fast, with a weird sister, sir.
ROGERS
We shall meet them again, sans doubt.
HILL
—Agreed.
The file reports they both were volunteers
For Strucker’s bold, unsafe experiments. 100
’Tis most insane.
ROGERS
—From thy mouth to mine ears:
What kind of monstrous characters would let
A German scientist conduct his tests
Upon themselves, a country to protect?
HILL
[aside:] He catcheth me in mine own turn of phrase 105
As if I spoke of him, not these two fiends.
[To Rogers:] We’re not at war as once the globe was, Captain.
ROGERS
They are—for them, the war is present truth.
[Exit Maria Hill.
STARK
[aside:] Behold, below, my iron clones return—
A fleet of smart machines protecting us. 110
Ne’er did I think, when all was wealth and fests,
That this would be the path of Tony Stark.
BANNER
[to Stark:] How is our patient doing? He who hath
Endur’d an injury immense—e’en Barton.
STARK
Ill-fortune strikes him—he is still himself: 115
The stubborn, irritable man we love.
BANNER
They could not fix his personality?
A disappointment vast.
STARK
—Improving is
The man’s condition, steadily. He’s fine—
Is thirsty for a drink, which doth bode well. 120
[To JARVIS:] Now, JARVIS, it is playtime—look alive.
Two days or fewer with this joystick I
Have been entrusted—let us make the most
Thereof. Update me on the structural
And compositional analysis. 125
JARVIS
The scepter is unknown, is alien,
With elements I cannot quantify.
STARK
It follows there are elements thou canst?
JARVIS
The jewel is protective housing for
Another substance that resides within, 130
A substance pow’rful.
STARK
—Is it a reactor?
JARVIS
More like ’twere a computer. I believe
I hit upon and am deciph’ring code.
ROMANOFF
[to Cho:] Art sure the grimmest moments have elaps’d,
And Barton shall be in good health anon? 135
The pretense we have made of needing him—
And liking him, and treasuring him, too—
Hath brought the team together, verily.
CHO
No possibility remaineth of
Deterioration. On the nano level, 140
His functionality molecular
Is instantaneous—a cheering sign.
The cells know not they bond with simulacra.
BANNER
Great gifts! The woman is creating tissue.
CHO
If you had brought him to my pers’nal lab, 145
My cradle of regeneration could
Achieve
this simple task in twenty minutes.
STARK
It seems the man is flatlining—call time.
BARTON
Nay, I shall live fore’er—thou must forgive.
A phoenix rising from the ashes I, 150
Constructed out of plastic.
STARK
—I have brought
The beverage thou ask’d for.
CHO
[to Barton:] —You shall be
Constructed of yourself and nothing more,
I do assure you, Master Barton. E’en
Your girlfriend shall not know the difference. 155
BARTON
I have no girlfriend. I’ve not found the chick.
CHO
Alas, such remedies I proffer not.
To fix your singleness is past my ken.
[To Stark:] This is the future of technology—
Your clunky metal suits soon obsolete, 160
Left in the dust of my advancing skill.
STARK
Indeed, ’tis just the future I do seek.
I, Helen, do expect to see thee at
The merriments we hold on Saturday.
CHO
Nay, unlike you I have no extra time 165
For revels, parties, and your merriments.
Though, as I think on it: shall Thor attend?
[All smile. Exeunt Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, and Doctor Helen Cho as Stark and Banner walk aside.
BANNER
What is the giant rumpus JARVIS makes?
Thine eyes tell me he hath discover’d aught.
STARK
It is the scepter. We had cause to ponder 170
How Strucker so inventive had become.
I, therefore, analyz’d the gem within.
[Stark projects the structure of the gem.
Dost recognize the structure?
BANNER
—JARVIS ’tis,
Thy great and worthy artificial mind.
STARK
Initially, wise JARVIS started as 175
A nat’ral language user interface.
Now, though, the Iron Legion he commands.
More of the business doth he operate
Than anyone excepting Pepper. See?
He is top-of-the-line, a paradigm, 180
The ne plus ultra, highest of the high.
BANNER
Thy point is amply proven.
JARVIS
—I suspect
’Tis not for long I shall be so.
STARK
[to Banner:] —Inspect
The competition JARVIS faceth now.
[Stark projects another, far more complicated structure.
BANNER
’Tis huge, ’tis beautiful!
STARK
—If thou must guess, 185