’Tis nightmarish beyond imagination.
STARK
I have a cluster made of shrapnel deep
Within my chest, attempting, ev’ry second, 385
To crawl its way inside my very heart.
[He taps his chest.
This small contraption ever stoppeth it,
A circle made of light that, like the sun,
My life dependeth on. ’Tis part of me—
’Tis more than armor, ’tis my very self. 390
A priv’lege terrible we live withal.
BANNER
Thou canst control the thing that powers thee.
STARK
Indeed, thus I have learn’d o’er many years.
BANNER
’Tis grossly different.
STARK
—Is it, in faith?
I read the story of thine accident— 395
A tale told by the media, and full
Of sound and fury, signifying all.
Such gamma radiation should have kill’d thee.
BANNER
Thou dost imply the Hulk—the other guy—
Hath sav’d my life? ’Tis sweet, this sentiment. 400
And yet, for what?
STARK
—It may be we’ll find out.
BANNER
Thou may extremely disappointed be
At what thou findest. Thou shalt not enjoy’t.
STARK
I think, however, that thou might.
[Exeunt Tony Stark and Bruce Banner.
ROGERS
—This cause
May yet prove either right or wrong, ’tis true, 405
And somehow I must make determination.
As Doctor Banner said, I have my doubts,
For something of the situation feels
Suspicious, as if we were not told all.
My purpose, though, is to safeguard the good— 410
’Tis why I was entrusted with such pow’rs,
And I shall not neglect my duties now.
Most cautiously I shall detective play,
To satisfy my curiosity
And gain intelligence about our mission. 415
I’ll quickly search the cargo decks, wherein
The secrets S.H.I.E.L.D. doth shield may yet be found.
Run, Rogers, to thy work and search the ship,
Grasp thou the truth secure within thy grip.
[Exit.
SCENE 1
The S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier.
ENTER ERIK SELVIG ABOVE, ON BALCONY, WITH SOME OF LOKI’S MINIONS.
SELVIG
Iridium, the precious silver metal,
Is delicate and passing fragile also.
However, when its power we have harness’d,
Unstoppable shall be our mighty forces!
[Exeunt.
ENTER PHIL COULSON AND THOR.
COULSON
As soon as Loki captur’d Doctor Selvig, 5
We mov’d Jane Foster to a safer place.
There is an excellent observatory
In Tromsø, where but yesterday she was
Invited suddenly for consultation.
Paid well, she journeys on a private plane 10
And travels unto whereabouts remote.
She shall be safe.
THOR
—Good Agent Coulson, thanks.
That Loki captur’d Selvig is, methinks,
No accident of chance or circumstance.
I dread his plans for Selvig once he’s done. 15
A good man Erik is, and always was.
COULSON
He speaketh of you oft. You chang’d his life.
Indeed, you chang’d our world completely, sir.
THOR
’Twas better as it was, before I came.
On Asgard, we pretend we’re more advanc’d 20
But we come skirmishing as bilgesnipe do.
COULSON
What?
THOR
—Bilgesnipe—hornèd creatures, large and fierce.
Thou must have them on earth—dost thou not know
The bilgesnipe holiday traditions, eh? 25
How once there was a man who spotted eight
Strong bilgesnipe who convey’d, upon a sleigh,
The mighty Freya, on a Yuletide night?
Pray, say thou art familiar with the tale!
COULSON
’Tis unfamiliar. Mine apologies. 30
THOR
The beasts are utterly repulsive and
Tread over ev’rything they come upon.
When first I came to earth, ’twas Loki’s rage
That follow’d swiftly on, like bilgesnipe ire,
And sadly did thy people pay the price. 35
Once more it happens. As a youth, did I
Court war, though now I wish for times of peace.
ENTER NICK FURY.
FURY
War hath not started yet—we may still quell’t.
Could you, perforce, make Loki tell us where
The Tesseract is kept?
THOR
—I do not know, 40
For Loki’s mind doth wander far afield.
’Tis not mere pow’r he craveth—vengeance, too,
On me. No pain would satisfy that need.
FURY
Yea, many think the same ’til pain begins.
THOR
What, sirrah, art thou asking me to do? 45
FURY
Nay, ask I what are you prepar’d to do?
THOR
He’s pow’rless—Loki is a prisoner.
FURY
I prithee, tell me this: why doth it seem
He is the only person ’board this ship
Who wisheth to be here? Is not that strange? 50
[Exeunt, in discussion.
ENTER LOKI ASIDE, IN HIS CELL. ENTER NATASHA ROMANOFF QUIETLY, OUTSIDE.
LOKI
Thy skill with silence is a splendid thing—
Not many can sneak up on me sans notice.
ROMANOFF
In thy dark mind, though, knewest thou I’d come.
LOKI
Methought ’twould after be, and not before—
Yea, after Fury doth concoct some torture, 55
And practice it upon my helpless body,
’Twas then I did imagine thou wouldst come
As balm and friend, so I’d cooperate.
ROMANOFF
What horrid deeds hast done to Agent Barton?
LOKI
His mind hath open’d been—no longer clos’d. 60
ROMANOFF
Once thou hast won, the king upon the mount,
What happens to his open’d, broken mind?
LOKI
Is’t love that moves thee, Agent Romanoff?
’Tis wherefore thou dost look on me with hate.
ROMANOFF
Love is for children. I owe him a debt 65
In payment for his deeds in bleaker times.
LOKI
Pray, tell the story. Hide it not from me.
ROMANOFF
Ere I did work for S.H.I.E.L.D., I made a name
As one with a partic’lar set of skills,
Acquirèd o’er a very long career. 70
I car’d not for or on whom they were us’d.
S.H.I.E.L.D. learn’d of me, my darken’d reputation,
And sent forth Agent Barton to destroy me.
Yet he decided diff’rently and spar’d
My life that I mi
ght join the cause with him. 75
LOKI
What wouldst thou grant me, an I spare him, too?
His death is not requir’d.
ROMANOFF
—Not let thee out,
For Barton is worth more than faithless barters.
LOKI
Yet this is marvelous—this game I’ll play!
Thy world hangs in the balance and thou wouldst 80
Make bargains for a sole, unbalanc’d man.
ROMANOFF
Regimes fall ev’ry day and I weep not.
My folk have witness’d harsher, darker days,
And seen the change of one pow’r to the next.
I am of Russia—or, at least, I was. 85
LOKI
Thou wert then, yea, but tell: what art thou now?
ROMANOFF
The matter is not foggy in the least—
My ledger runneth red; I’d turn it black.
LOKI
Can so much writ in red erasèd be?
Thou, Dreykov’s daughter, of São Paulo fame, 90
The fire inside the hospital, ’tis true?
Yea, Barton told me ev’rything he knoweth.
Your ledger drippeth—gusheth—red with blood,
Yet thou think’st saving one man who, in sooth,
Is no more virtuous than thine own self, 95
Will change a tittle of the scarlet hue?
This sentiment is base, thou art a child
Who whispers orisons and doth imagine
That some god, far off, hears and shall respond.
Pathetic woman—thou dost lie and kill 100
In service of the liars and the killers.
Thou thinkest thou are separate, withal
A code thou keepest only to thyself,
Aught that shall keep away the frightful horrors,
Yet they are part of thee, and e’er shall be. 105
[He strikes the wall of his cell. Romanoff seems to be full of fear and grief.
I’ll not touch Barton ’til he killeth thee!
’Twill be my order—slowly, intimately,
In ev’ry way he knoweth of thy fear.
Then shall he wake just long enow to see—
In terror and dismay—the work he’s done, 110
And when he screams, I’ll split his skull in twain.
Such is my bargain for thee, mewling quim.
ROMANOFF
Thou art a monster, sent from blackest hell.
LOKI
Nay, ye did bring the monster. Yea, ’tis true.
[Romanoff immediately stops acting scared.
ROMANOFF
A-ha! Bruce Banner, then, is thy dim move. 115
LOKI
What dost thou play at, eh? Did this not work?
ROMANOFF
[into radio:] ’Tis Loki’s plan the glooming Hulk to free.
Keep Banner in the lab—I thither go.
Send Thor as well; we may have need of him.
[To Loki:] My thanks for thy most swift cooperation. 120
[Exeunt from cell area.
ENTER TONY STARK AND BRUCE BANNER IN LABORATORY. LOKI’S SCEPTER SITS NEARBY. ENTER NICK FURY SEVERALLY.
FURY
What ruses are you plying, Master Stark?
Our screens do flash with warnings of a virus
That swiftly overtakes our systems strong.
STARK
I’ve wonder’d the selfsame of thine intentions—
What base deceptions are you plying, Fury? 125
FURY
Your task is plain: to find the Tesseract.
BANNER
We do, indeed. The model hath been lock’d,
And sweepeth for the signature e’en now.
Our massive search shall, sometime, get a hit—
Within a half mile we shall know the place. 130
STARK
Indeed, we’ll find the Cube and thou shalt have
It back sans muss or fuss. [Looking at a screen:] What is
phase two?
ENTER STEVE ROGERS, SETTING A WEAPON DOWN ON A TABLE.
ROGERS
Phase two I found below—its hardware, too—
For S.H.I.E.L.D. would use the Cube to fashion weapons.
Apologies—computers were too slow. 135
FURY
Hear, Rogers: we have gather’d ev’rything
Related to the Tesseract we could.
Although you found this weapon, ’tis no proof—
STARK
I’m sorry I must interrupt thee, Nick—
[Stark shows him the screen, which displays a weapon.
What wert thou lying?
ENTER NATASHA ROMANOFF AND THOR.
ROGERS
—Thou hast play’d us false. 140
Wrong were my words, Director Fury, yea:
Our base world hath not changèd one iota.
BANNER
[to Romanoff:] Didst thou know of this grand deceit
before?
ROMANOFF
I prithee, Doctor Banner, think about
Departing from this shady scene anon. 145
BANNER
I was at large in yon Calcutta—my
Departure could not have been better made.
ROMANOFF
Yet Loki is manipulating thee—
’Tis his dark plan.
BANNER
—Art thou not acting same?
It seems thy lies are just as great as his. 150
ROMANOFF
Thou didst not hither come because I bat
My black eyelashes in thy face. Nay, Doctor—
BANNER
And I’ll not leave because thy senses grow
More twitchy than they ought. [To Fury:] I fain would
know
Why S.H.I.E.L.D. employs the Tesseract to make 155
These weapons built for mass destruction, sir.
[Fury points to Thor.
FURY
Because of him and all his power.
THOR
—Me?
FURY
Another planet come to call on us.
His grudge match did a small town whole destroy, 160
More devastating than the sack of Troy.
We learn’d two things: first, we are not alone,
And second, we are hopelessly outgunn’d—
To such extent ’twould be hilarious
If ’twere not passing dangerous for all. 165
THOR
My people yearn for peace, and nothing more,
Withal the planet earth. ’Twas ever so.
FURY
Yet ye are not the only people yonder,
Amidst the twinkling canopy of stars.
Forsooth, ye are not our sole threat therefrom. 170
The world grows full with people—species—who
Cannot be match’d by any other pow’r,
Or be controll’d.
ROGERS
—As ye controll’d the Cube?
THOR
S.H.I.E.L.D.’s errant research of the Tesseract
Drew Loki and his allies back to earth. 175
’Tis but a signal to the other realms
That earth is prim’d for higher forms of war.
ROGERS
What higher form mean’st thou?
FURY
—You forc’d our hand.
We were but bound to think of some response,
Or ’twould be as if we st
ood like a man at 180
A mark, with a whole army shooting at us.
STARK
Insisted ye on nuclear deterrents,
For hist’ry shows us ’tis a calming force.
FURY
Remind me, Stark: how was your fortune made?
ROGERS
If he still fashion’d weapons, Stark would surely— 185
STARK
I beg thy pardon, Captain, how hath our
Discussion turn’d its spotlight onto me?
ROGERS
Is not the spotlight fix’d upon thee, Stark?
THOR
Methought ye folk were more evolv’d than this.
FURY
Are you in jest? Did we come to your planet, 190
And there begin destroying things at random?
THOR
Ye treat your champions with such mistrust.
ROMANOFF
Are both of you so frightfully naïve?
S.H.I.E.L.D. wisely monitors potential threats.
BANNER
Now Cap’n America is on threat watch? 195
I hop’d he might have greater things to do.
[They all continue arguing, as Loki’s scepter among them begins to glow.
ENTER CLINT BARTON, PILOT 1, AND VARIOUS OF LOKI’S MINIONS, ON BALCONY, IN A SHIP APPROACHING THE HELICARRIER. ENTER A S.H.I.E.L.D. SOLDIER ASIDE, BELOW.
SOLDIER 1
Approaching vessel—transport six-six-bravo—
Relay confirm codes presently, I pray.
Ye are on the computer, not the day log.
What is your haul?
PILOT 1
—’Tis arms and ammunition. 200
[Exit Soldier 1.
THOR
[to Fury:] Thou speakest of control, yet chaos seek’st.
BANNER
’Tis ever his vast modus operandi.
Are we a team? Nay, we are none—ne’er were.
We are a mixture form’d of chemicals
Creating chaos through adverse reactions. 205
We are a bomb prim’d, nearly bound to burst.
FURY
You need to step down, Banner—calm your nerves.
STARK
If he would, like an engine, blow his steam,
Why should he not?
ROGERS
—Thou knowest why. Back down!
STARK
Increaseth now my wish that thou wouldst make me— 210
Or even try.
ROGERS
—Big man in suit of armor!
If thou removest it, what art thou then?
STARK
Intelligent—a genius—billionaire,
Philanthropist and playboy wrapp’d in one.
ROMANOFF
[aside:] He hath a point—his prospects are not murky. 215
ROGERS
But those who have not thine advantages