by Ian Doescher
ENTER NATASHA ROMANOFF AND CLINT BARTON.
BARTON
Methinks we are far flown from Budapest!
Behold th’amazing Vormir, just below—
Were circumstances diff’rent than they are,
’Twould be a sight most epic, by mine eyes.
[They land, disembark, and begin climbing Vormir’s peak.
ROMANOFF
I’ll wager that the raccoon never climb’d 5
A mountain dark and perilous as this.
BARTON
He technic’ly is no raccoon, Natasha.
He is a bird of diff’rent feather wholly.
ROMANOFF
The creature eateth garbage and doth skulk
Amid the sunless world. ’Tis close enow. 10
ENTER THE STONEKEEPER.
STONE.
I bid ye welcome, pilgrims two, to Vormir.
Natasha, daughter unto Ivan bold.
Clint, son of Edith.
ROMANOFF
—Who art thou, thou shade?
STONE.
Consider me a guide unto this place—
For ye and all who come to seek the Soul Stone. 15
ROMANOFF
’Tis well, show thou to us the somber place
Where it is hid, and we’ll hence presently.
STONE.
Mein Liebchen, if it only were so easy.
[The Stonekeeper leads Romanoff and Barton to the precipice of the mountain.
What thou dost seek doth lie in front of thee,
As does the very thing that thou dost fear. 20
ROMANOFF
Mayhap the Stone’s beneath us, buried in
The dark and dreary chasm here below.
STONE.
For one of you, but for the other no.
To take the Stone, lose ye what you do love.
’Twill be a trade: a soul giv’n for a soul. 25
BARTON
Perchance the man but flaps his beak at us,
Creating mystery where there is none.
ROMANOFF
Nay, I think not. The portent is too bleak.
BARTON
Yet wherefore? He doth know thy father’s name,
But ’tis no evidence he’s wise as owls. 30
ROMANOFF
I did not know his name until he spake.
Grim Thanos left here with the Stone, but sans
His daughter—it is no coincidence.
Whate’er it taketh, such our mission is.
BARTON
Whate’er it taketh, yea, or fly our chances. 35
ROMANOFF
If we do not succeed, the Stone obtain,
Then billions shall remain in black death’s hand.
BARTON
Indeed. And we both know who must take wing,
The one who’ll shuffle off this mortal coil.
ROMANOFF
We do. In this dim world, thou wert a friend. 40
BARTON
Methinks our warbles do not sing in tune—
We each speak of a diff’rent person, Nat.
ROMANOFF
The last five years, I’ve wanted but one thing:
This moment, when we have a chance to break
The darkness that hath been encircling us 45
And search for light and truth in our tomorrows.
To bring the vanish’d back—my fondest hope.
BARTON
I hope thou hast not decent turnèd, chick.
ROMANOFF
Think’st thou I do desire this gloomy end?
I do but seek to save thee, silly man. 50
BARTON
Yet I desire it not. Thou knowest what
I’ve done, the blood with which I’ve lin’d my nest.
Thou know’st, Natasha, what I have become.
ROMANOFF
Ne’er do I judge on people’s worst mistakes.
BARTON
Perhaps thou shouldst look on mistakes with th’eyes 55
Of eagles, carefully observing each.
ROMANOFF
Thou didst not so when thou look’dst on my life,
But saw in me the sunrise, not the dusk.
BARTON
Thou art a pain in my tail feathers, Nat.
[They embrace.
’Tis well. Thou winnest. I shall let thee go. 60
[He knocks her down.
Tell thou my family I love them dearly!
[They fight. Romanoff knocks him down.
ROMANOFF
Tell them thyself, thou dismal-dreaming man.
[She runs toward the precipice, but Barton shoots an arrow that blasts near her, knocking her aside. He runs toward the precipice and jumps off. She jumps just behind him, grabbing him and shooting a cable toward the clifftop, suspending them both in midair. Barton is connected to the cable but holds Romanoff by a single hand.
BARTON
Damn thee, thou art too clever. O, Natasha—
Why must thou play the peacock?
ROMANOFF
—Let me go,
That we this cloudy fate may overcome. 65
BARTON
Nay, please. Thy friendship eggs me on to good,
And sans thee I am lost.
ROMANOFF
—It shall be well.
O thou eternal Mover of the heavens,
Look with a gentle eye upon this wretch
And from his bosom purge this black despair! 70
[Romanoff kicks off the wall, falls, and dies. Exit the Stonekeeper. Barton loses consciousness, and when he awakes the Soul Stone is in his hand.
BARTON
Natasha, nay! My right hand and my friend,
Whom I believ’d in, rescued from a life
Of crime, deceit, and murder most extreme.
She grew past me, the hatchling now full grown,
Her skill and acumen did pass mine own, 75
Though ne’er would I admit as much to her.
As equals we behav’d and truly were,
First partners, colleagues, then the deepest friends.
Yea, once the snap heard round the world was done
And I turn’d to a questionable life— 80
A vigilante in the cause of justice
Who murder’d hateful men with conscience none,
To satisfy a most insatiable
Desire for blood, a hunger for more death—
She look’d not on me as one would a fiend, 85
But op’d her arms and brought me back as friend.
Now she is gone, her final sacrifice
A testament unto her spirit brave.
The weight of this sad time I must obey;
Speak what I feel, not what I ought to say. 90
[Exit.
SCENE 2
New Jersey. The past.
ENTER PAST MAN AND PAST WOMAN, DRIVING BY IN A CAR.
P. MAN
’Tis nineteen-seventy, with joys galore—
Thus say I to you all: make love, not war!
[Exeunt Past Man and Past Woman, driving away.
ENTER TONY STARK AND STEVE ROGERS ASIDE, ON AN ARMY BASE.
STARK
It is not possible thou wert born here,
Not literally, yea?
ROGERS
—Nay, but the first
Idea of me was born upon this base. 5
STARK
Imagine thou art S.H.I.E.L.D., and thou dost run
A quasifascistic intelligence
Organization—where wouldst thou hide it?
ROG
ERS
In plain sight. Look at yonder bunker, Tony.
STARK
Improbable it is, but thou art right— 10
Mine X-ray glasses show that underneath
The bunker is a vast facility.
ROGERS
Let us hie thither and pursue the Stone.
THEY ENTER THE BUNKER AND WALK INTO ITS ELEVATOR. ENTER PAST S.H.I.E.L.D. AGENT 2 IN ELEVATOR WITH THEM. THE ELEVATOR STOPS AT A LOWER FLOOR.
STARK
Immense good fortune on thy mission, Captain.
ROGERS
All fortune smile upon thy project, Doctor. 15
[Exit Tony Stark, stepping out of the elevator.
P. AGENT 2
Are you new here? Your face is unfamiliar.
ROGERS
Nay, not precisely, but somewhat. Er…yes.
[The agent stares at him. The elevator stops and they walk out. Exit Past Agent 2. Rogers hides in a supply room.
ENTER PAST HANK PYM IN HIS OFFICE. ROGERS CALLS PAST PYM ON THE PHONE.
P. PYM
[into phone:] Holla?
ROGERS
[into phone:] —May I speak unto Doctor Pym?
P. PYM
[into phone:] Such is the number that you call’d. ’Tis he.
ROGERS
[into phone:] I’m Captain Stevens, shipping subdivision. 20
We have a bundle waiting for thee here.
P. PYM
[into phone:] Bring it, then, hither.
ROGERS
[into phone:] —But we cannot, sir.
P. PYM
[into phone:] ’Tis most confusing—is this not your job?
ROGERS
[into phone:] The parcel gloweth most upsettingly,
And some of our employees feel unwell. 25
P. PYM
[into phone:] They have not open’d it, I hope.
ROGERS
[into phone:] —Ah, surely
They did, which is why I would have thee come.
[Exit Past Pym in haste, running from his office. Rogers sneaks into the office and finds the particles.
A-ha! The very particles we sought—
And multiple, a boon unto our mission.
ENTER PAST S.H.I.E.L.D. AGENT 2 WITH TWO PAST GUARDS.
P. GUARD 1
Thou never saw’st these people heretofore? 30
P. AGENT 2
Nay, neither. Mine eyes ever keenly look’d,
And both of them had fishy visages.
ROGERS
[aside:] Tush! ’Tis the woman from the elevator.
She hath our scent and hither leads her dogs.
[He hides in a nearby office.
P. GUARD 2
Canst thou describe them?
P. AGENT 2
—One was festoon’d with 35
A hippie beard, which I would gladly pluck.
P. GUARD 1
More like the Bee Gees or like Mungo Jerry?
P. AGENT 2
Most definitely Mungo Jerry, sirrah.
P. GUARD 2
[into radio:] ’Tis Chesler—I need ev’ry free MP
To join me in sublevel number six. 40
We have a breach potential in the works.
[Exeunt Past Agent 2 and past guards, searching.
ROGERS
[aside:] By turn of fate, behold what place this is—
I’ve stumbl’d into Peggy Carter’s office,
The lovely lady whom I treasur’d e’er!
My picture she displayeth on her desk, 45
From when I was an undernourish’d lad.
Now I observe the name upon the door—
’Tis Marg’ret Carter, she my Peggy true.
ENTER PEGGY CARTER ASIDE, VISIBLE THROUGH THE WINDOW OF THE OFFICE.
O! As I speak her name, she surfaceth!
Was e’er a woman beautiful as she? 50
I fain would stare upon her all the day
Whilst she doth go about her mundane tasks.
To see her living’s like unto a dream
From which I would by no means rouse myself.
[Exit Peggy Carter.
Tut, Rogers, for she vanisheth again, 55
So quickly in thy life, so quickly absent.
To other tasks must my attention turn.
[Exit Steve Rogers.
ENTER TONY STARK.
STARK
I’ll find it yet—where hath the Stone been plac’d?
[He uses his glasses to look inside containers and sees the Tesseract in one.
A-ha! I’ll have it ere the day is done.
[Using a glove from his Iron Man suit, Stark breaks the locks on the container. The container opens to reveal the Tesseract.
The game’s afoot, and th’Avengers yet may win! 60
[He pulls the Tesseract out and puts it in a case.
ENTER PAST HOWARD STARK, SEARCHING FOR HIS COLLEAGUE.
HOWARD
O, Arnim, art thou here?
STARK
[aside:] —It is my father!
Be he a spir’t of health or goblin damn’d,
Bring with him airs from heav’n or blasts from hell,
Be his intents wicked or charitable,
He cometh in such questionable shape 65
That I will speak to him: I’ll call him Howard.
HOWARD
The door is yonder, friend, not thitherward.
STARK
Indeed.
HOWARD
—I search for Doctor Zola. Have
You seen him?
STARK
—Interesting, Doctor Zola.
Nay, I have seen no Zola—er, no soul. 70
HOWARD
Do I know you? Your aspect is familiar.
STARK
Indubitably not, sir. I but visit
From MIT.
HOWARD
—Ah, MIT. Well met.
Have you a name, or is’t just “visitor”?
STARK
It’s Howard. [Aside:] Wherefore did I choose his name? 75
My mind’s unsettl’d by his sudden presence.
HOWARD
It shall be easy to remember, Howard.
STARK
Indeed, ’tis Howard Potts.
HOWARD
—I’m Howard Stark.
[Stark tries to shake Howard’s hand, but accidentally grabs his finger.
STARK
I—er—
HOWARD
—Pray shake, but do not pull it, friend.
Your face hath turn’d a sickly shade of green 80
That I have seen in swamplands hereabout—
Green in the gills, or else mine eyes deceive.
STARK
It’s naught but too long hours that plague me, sir,
Which catch up to my aging body quickly.
HOWARD
Shall we two venture to the open air, 85
Where you may breathe more eas’ly and relax?
[Stark does not respond.
Ho, Potts? Can you hear me?
STARK
—In sooth, let’s thither.
[Stark begins to walk away without his case.
HOWARD
Do you require your briefcase?
STARK
[aside:] —Imbecile—
I am so fluster’d that I near forgot!
HOWARD
You are no beatnik poet, are you, Potts? 90
[They walk outdoors together.
STARK
I see thou c
arri’st flow’rs and sauerkraut—
Hast thou a date tonight with one thou lov’st?
HOWARD
’Tis true. My wife expecteth our first child,
Yet I am e’er too often in the office
And not enow at home, where I should be. 95
STARK
Immense congratulations to you both.
HOWARD
My thanks. Pray hold these flowers for me, Howard.
STARK
[aside:] In normal situations, how I hate
When things are handed to me, but from him—
My father, he—how could I e’er refuse? 100
[Stark takes the flowers.
[To Howard:] How far along is thy wife’s pregnancy?
HOWARD
In truth, I do not know, mayhap this far?
[Howard holds his hand out in front of him to indicate the size of his wife’s belly.
However many months, it is the point
When she no longer bears my chewing sounds.
Methinks I shall eat in the pantry ’gain. 105
STARK
I have a little girl, a princess she.
HOWARD
A girl would be a gift—less chance she will
Grow up to be exactly like myself,
Make every mistake I ever made,
Bear all the bitter fruit that I have borne. 110
STARK
Indeed? Would that be so calamitous?
HOWARD
The greater good hath hardly e’er outweigh’d
Mine own self-interest, to put it plainly.
STARK
In all your planning, what names would you choose?
HOWARD
If ’tis a boy, my wife Elmonzo likes. 115
STARK
It’s most unique—perchance think on it more,
For ’tis a name most unanticipated.
HOWARD
Your patience begging, let me ask a question:
Did you feel nervous when your child was born?
STARK
Intensely so.
HOWARD
—Did you feel qualified 120
To take such great responsibility?
Had you a notion how to operate
So complicated a machine as would
Become your duty once the babe was born?
STARK
I literally piec’d together all 125
As I proceeded, like it were a puzzle
And I the one to join it bit to bit.
Methought of what my father ere me did.
ENTER STEVE ROGERS, MOTIONING TO STARK. ENTER JARVIS, HOWARD’S SERVANT, ASIDE, WAITING.
HOWARD
My father never met a problem he
Could not find answer to withal a belt, 130
Whose straps across my backside frequent were.
STARK
I thought my father was too harsh with me,