LANG
Ah, Cassie, is it thou? [aside:] My daughter grown,
Though when I saw her last she was a child. 70
What force malevolent hath ta’en me hence
That I return to such a brave, new world?
[They embrace.
[to Cassie:] How thou hast grown, beyond all expectation!
[Exeunt inside the house.
ENTER NATASHA ROMANOFF IN NEW YORK, AT THE AVENGERS’ BASE. ENTER CAROL DANVERS, ROCKET, JAMES RHODES, OKOYE, AND NEBULA IN BEAMS, SPEAKING TO HER.
ROCKET
Yea, we did board the suspect warship Danvers hath
ping’d. 75
NEBULA
’Twas no more than infectious garbage scow.
ROCKET
Indeed. Thus, thanks to thee, Danvers, for such a
worthy suggestion.
DANVERS
You two were close enow to search for it.
The task was needed, and I bade you do’t. 80
ROCKET
Yea, truly, and the result is Nebula and I smell like
garbage, as if I were a rodent searching through a dumpster.
ROMANOFF
Did you have any reading on the sensors,
Or was it far too dim to analyze? 85
OKOYE
A mild subduction neath the Afric plate.
ROMANOFF
Have we some visuals thereof? How shall
We handle such a murky mystery?
OKOYE
Nat, prithee—’twas a quake beneath the sea.
We handle such things by not handling them. 90
ROMANOFF
Say Carol, shall we see thee here next month?
DANVERS
Unlikely, for in truth I’ve much to do.
ROCKET
What? Hast thou another haircut plann’d?
Wouldst see the stylist instead of us?
DANVERS
Take heed, thou thatch of fur: I’m watching o’er 95
Significant amounts of territory.
What doth occur on earth is happening
Throughout the universe, on untold planets.
ROCKET
’Tis true, ’tis true. Thou hast a point, in sooth.
DANVERS
It may be some time ere you see me, friends. 100
ROMANOFF
What must be must be. As you know, good friends,
This channel’s ever active, never dark.
Should anything go sideways, should some trouble
Arise from anyone or anywhere,
Pray tell me.
OKOYE
—It shall be.
NEBULA
—Agreed.
DANVERS
—Indeed, 105
Such news I’ll bear to thee with action swift.
ROCKET
’Tis well.
DANVERS
Good fortune, Colonel Rhodes, until we meet.
[Exeunt all from beams except Rhodes, who remains, looking at Romanoff.
ROMANOFF
In which bleak corner of the world art thou?
RHODES
In Mexico, whence I report with news: 110
The federales found a room of bodies—
Cartel men who ne’er had a chance to shoot.
ROMANOFF
’Twas probably some gloomy, rival gang.
RHODES
Nay, Nat, ’twas not. ’Tis Barton, certainly.
What he hath done—both here and these past years— 115
’Twas horrible. The scene he left was putrid.
A part of me hopes we shall find him ne’er.
ROMANOFF
Wilt thou discover whither he is bound?
Please, James. His deeds are dark; I need him found.
RHODES
It shall be done e’en as you say.
[Exit James Rhodes from beam. Romanoff sits at a table and fights off tears.
ROMANOFF
—O Clint! 120
O, wherefore hast thou chosen this grim path?
SHE IS BENT WITH SORROW. ENTER STEVE ROGERS.
ROGERS
Good even, Nat. I would thee proffer supper,
Yet thou seem’st mis’rable enow without
My ghastly cooking further ailing thee.
ROMANOFF
Art thou come hither for to clean thy laundry, 125
Which nearly black hath turn’d with sweat and dirt?
ROGERS
To see a friend as well, thus have I come.
ROMANOFF
Thy friend is fine, dim man, as thou canst see—
She ever crieth when she feeleth well.
ROGERS
I spied a pod of whales upon my journey. 130
ROMANOFF
Within the murky Hudson, even so?
ROGERS
Today, far fewer ships rush o’er its waters—
The watercourse is cleaner than it was.
ROMANOFF
If this is how thou tellest me to look
Not at the dark, but on the brighter side, 135
Expect a peanut butter sandwich to
Be quickly hurl’d toward thy foolish pate.
ROGERS
Apologies, ’tis but a force of habit.
[He sits at the table with her. Romanoff pushes her sandwich toward him.
’Tis e’er my wont to urge that people move
Along with life and grow—the past is naught. 140
Some do, Natasha, yea, yet never us.
ROMANOFF
If I move on, the future cloudy grows.
For who shall do this work when I depart?
ROGERS
Perhaps the work hath grown unnecessary.
ROMANOFF
Once I had nothing, Steve. Then had I this. 145
This task, this family, these missions bleak,
And I was better, being part of it.
Although they’re gone, I’m still endeavoring
To better be, for they would wish me so.
ROGERS
Methinks the both of us must get a life. 150
ROMANOFF
Go thou first lifeward, overagèd man.
ROMANOFF’S COMPUTER BEEPS. ENTER SCOTT LANG IN A BEAM.
LANG
Is anybody here? ’Tis I, Scott Lang.
We met some years ago, at th’aeroport,
In Germ’ny, where th’Avengers were in conflict.
I grew quite large, with mask upon my face, 155
Belike thou wouldst not recognize me now.
ROGERS
Is this some older tape upon the screen?
LANG
I’m Ant-Man! Is that recognizable?
ROMANOFF
’Tis our front gate, e’en now, as dusk doth fall.
[She presses a button to let Lang in. Exit Scott Lang from beam.
ENTER SCOTT LANG INTO THE ROOM.
ROGERS
Scott, art thou well?
LANG
—Indeed. Have either of 160
You ever studied quantum physics, eh?
The variable properties thereof?
ROMANOFF
Nay, only when I would in conversation
Seem to be something else than what I was.
LANG
Five years ago, ere Thanos did appear, 165
I was inhabiting a puzzling place
Known as the Quantum Realm. This realm is, simply,
A microscopic universe unto
Itself. To access gain therein, one must
Be small beyond belief. Hope, who is my— 170
Er, or, that is, who was my paramour—
’Twas her task to withdraw me from the realm,
Yet Thanos happen’d and I was held fast,
Unable to return unto our world.
ROMANOFF
That must have been a dreadf’ly long five years, 175
Stuck in a gloomy realm with no relief.
LANG
A-ha! Thou comest to the very point:
’Twas not so long for me. Incredibly,
It seem’d a mere five hours that I was there.
The Quantum Realm hath rules unlike our own— 180
’Tis unpredictable. Whose sandwich lies
Upon the table? Troth, I starving am.
[He walks to the table, picks up the sandwich, and takes a bite.
ROGERS
What dost thou mean? More matter, with less art.
LANG
Time worketh strangely in the Quantum Realm,
Yet we its navigation cannot master. 185
What if we could, though? How my head doth ring
With possibilities! What if we may
Control the chaos, navigate through time?
What if the Quantum Realm could enter’d be
Upon a certain time but exit at 190
Another point, e’en ere vile Thanos came?
ROGERS
Imaginest thou, then, a time machine?
LANG
’Tis rather like a—yea, a time machine.
Ye shall, belike, tell me ’tis foolishness, 195
And would not be mistaken, verily.
Still, though, the thought doth swell inside my head.
There must be somehow. Nay, ’tis craziness.
ROMANOFF
My email cometh from a raccoon, Scott;
Thus nothing soundeth crazy anymore. 200
I have seen flowers grow in darker climes.
LANG
With whom should we discuss the matter to
Pull this unlikelihood out of the dark?
ROGERS
We must away and visit Tony Stark.
[Exeunt.
SCENE 2
In upstate New York.
ENTER TONY STARK AT HIS HOME. ENTER MORGAN STARK ASIDE, HIDING IN A TENT.
STARK
[aside:] In mine attempts to heal my own grim past
Have I come hither, to this paradise.
A house beside a lake, surrounded by
The sounds of nature singing with pure voice.
The crisp, cool air, the sun upon the water, 5
The green and brown of trees, the breezy grass,
The wind that bloweth gently o’er the tide.
These pleasures simple are untainted joys,
To live here with my family is bliss.
Live in each season as it passes you; 10
Breathe in the air, drink drinks, and taste the fruit,
Resign yourself to th’influence of each.
[To Morgan:] Maguna! Morgan H. Stark, come thou forth.
’Tis time for lunch, if thou wilt eat with me.
[Morgan comes out of the tent, wearing a Rescue mask.
MORGAN
Define lunch or you’ll be disintegrated! 15
STARK
Imp silly! Thou shouldst not have on that mask,
Which is a gift for th’anniversary
Of thy two parents. I have fashion’d it
For Mother—thou must wait another day.
[He takes off her mask.
Shalt thou consider lunch? I’ve made for thee 20
Abundant tasty, crunchy crickets serv’d
On lettuce, just as thou dost like.
MORGAN
—O, foul!
STARK
It’s what thou wantest, nay? I prithee, tell:
Where didst thou find this mask?
MORGAN
—In our garage.
STARK
Indeed? Wert searching for it?
MORGAN
—Nay, yet found it. 25
STARK
Is’t fair to say thou likest the garage?
Thy father also does. ’Tis well, of course,
For Mother never wears aught I give her.
ENTER STEVE ROGERS, NATASHA ROMANOFF, AND SCOTT LANG. STARK PICKS UP MORGAN AND CARRIES HER TOWARD THE HOUSE, THEN SETS HER DOWN. EXIT MORGAN STARK.
ROGERS
Holla, good Tony. ’Tis, mayhap, surprising
To find thy former colleagues at thy home. 30
We’ve come to talk about a situation,
A possibility Scott brought to us,
Whereby we may through time a passage make
By accessing the unknown Quantum Realm.
[Stark pours them drinks.
LANG
We know th’idea must sound improbable. 35
ROGERS
But after all we’ve seen, is anything
Impossible? What, Tony, dost thou think?
STARK
I know that any quantum fluctuation
Disrupts the Planck scale, which, in turn, doth trigger
The Proposition Deutsch. Can you agree? 40
To put it plainly: we would not come back.
LANG
Yet I return’d, though inexplicably.
STARK
It seemeth thou surviv’dst by accident,
A cosmic fluke that none could hope repeat
Had they one billion efforts at the feat. 45
If thou dost search for some success with thy—
LANG
Time heist is mine imaginative name.
STARK
Imaginative and impossible—
A time heist. How could we not think thereof?
Of course, because ’tis laughable, a dream! 50
ROGERS
The Stones requir’d wait for us in the past—
If we could thither travel and secure them…
ROMANOFF
Our fingers we could snap, as did bleak Thanos,
STARK
It could be we would make what is bad worse. 55
ROGERS
Methinks we would not do so with this chance.
STARK
Infectious is thine optimism, truly,
And I have miss’d it so. Yet, no high hopes
Will help sans logical and tang’ble ways
For me to safely execute the time heist. 60
The outcome likely is our swift demise.
LANG
’Twill not be so if we observe the rules
Of traveling throughout the realms of time:
No conversation with our former selves,
No placing wagers on a public sport, 65
No trying to repair our parents’ love,
No overlooking pow’r for our return.
STARK
I’ll stop thy prattle with this observation:
Thy plan to save the universe entire
Is based upon Get Thee Back to the Future. 70
Is’t possible?
LANG
—Nay, obviously not.
STARK
It gladdens me to hear thee say so, Scott,
For such a notion would be horse manure,
And horse manure, in truth, hath little likeness
To quantum physics.
ROMANOFF
—Tony, we must make 75
A stand, or darkness wi
ns and all is lost.
STARK
Indeed, we stood, yet here we are—all lost.
LANG
’Tis clear thou hast so much that thou couldst lose—
A wife, a daughter too. Yet I, too, lost
Someone of great importance—many did. 80
Now is our opportunity to bring
Her back, to bring them all back, and thou wilt
Not even—
STARK
—It is true, Scott. I’ll not even.
I neither can nor shall—I’ve too much here.
ENTER MORGAN STARK, RUNNING TO TONY’S LAP.
MORGAN
Good Mother said I should come here and save you. 85
STARK
Impeccable, thy timing—I am sav’d.
[To Lang:] How I do wish thou hadst come here to ask
Me something else—near anything, I swear.
By heaven, I am glad to see you all.
The table’s set for six, if you would stay. 90
[Stark stands, holding Morgan in his arms.
ROGERS
’Tis understandable. I’m glad for thee,
By all that’s true. Yet we’ve this second chance.
STARK
I have my second chance here in mine arms,
And shall not roll the dice to wager it.
[To all:] If you shall not talk business, you are welcome. 95
[Exeunt Tony Stark and Morgan Stark.
ROMANOFF
The man is frighten’d by this murky plot.
ROGERS
He is not wrong; I too am nervous, Nat.
LANG
What shall we do? What machination’s next?
We need him—shall our efforts simply cease?
ROGERS
We must go on, yet I would play the hand 100
With wisdom, prudence, and a dose of wit.
Let us seek out a passing massive brain.
LANG
E’en bigger and superior to Stark’s?
ROGERS
If Stark shall not risk failure and assist,
There is another name upon my list. 105
[Exeunt.
SCENE 3
New York.
ENTER BRUCE BANNER, SITTING IN A RESTAURANT.
BANNER
My personalities have join’d as one:
Bruce Banner, doctor of th’academy,
Who hath intelligence, a skillful mind,
And Hulk, the monster who resides within,
Whose strength is passing human understanding. 5
We two, together, are a mighty force—
Both man and beast, the subtle and the strong,
Have found a home where they may both exist,
Cooperating for the greater good.
Long may it last, for I, at last, am whole. 10
ENTER STEVE ROGERS, NATASHA ROMANOFF, AND SCOTT LANG, SITTING WITH BANNER.