by Ian Doescher
Get off the bridge, O people! Surge ahead! 55
[Barton destroys many bots while Wanda shields many people from the bots’ shots.
ENTER VISION, DESCENDING FROM THE SKY. ULTRON RISES TO MEET HIM.
VISION
Ho, Ultron! How I scorn thy worthless threats!
ULTRON
My Vision—truly they took all from me.
VISION
Thou once didst set the terms, and thou canst change
them.
What’s done cannot be undone, but repair’d.
ULTRON
If ’tis your line, then here is my response. 60
[Ultron grabs Vision by the neck. Vision grabs Ultron’s face and enters his mind, overcoming him. Others continue fighting.
ENTER THOR, BELOW ON THE GROUND.
THOR
So many brutes, like ants unto dessert—
With Mjölnir by my side, I’ll best them all.
PIETRO
My speed shall thwart a dozen bots at once,
Like they were bowling pins and I the ball.
STARK
I prithee, Friday, how doth Vision fare? 65
FRIDAY
It worketh, sir—he burneth Ultron from
The net, so Ultron can’t escape thereby.
[Vision releases Ultron.
VISION
Our revels now are ended—I have done.
ULTRON
You shut me out! Yet do you think I care?
[Ultron slams Vision to the ground.
You take my world, and I shall, then, take yours. 70
[Ultron activates the vibranium core. The ground throughout Sokovia begins to crumble, and one portion levitates slowly into the sky.
THOR
Here, neath the earth, disintegration comes!
I must protect myself or flatten’d be.
BARTON
What is this crackling? Would the city fly?
ROGERS
What’s this? Stuck on a rising tide I stand!
STARK
Impossible! Say Friday, what befalls? 75
Mine eyes behold, yet mind believeth not.
FRIDAY
Sokovia is headed for a ride.
ULTRON
Can you appreciate the beauty here—
The justice and inev’tability
Of what I do? You only rise to fall. 80
You base Avengers are my meteor,
For I have loos’d the fateful lightning of
My terrible, swift sword. The earth shall crack
Beneath the weight of all your wretched failures.
Purge me from your computers, and turn my 85
Own flesh against me—this is meaningless.
The dust shall settle, and the only thing
That liveth in this world will metal be.
[Banner and Romanoff pause near a precipice as they run away from the crumbling city.
BANNER
A tragedy most vast! We must move quickly.
ROMANOFF
Thou shalt not turn a darker shade of green? 90
BANNER
I have a most compelling, massive reason
To keep my cool.
ROMANOFF
—Grim man, I thee adore,
[She kisses him, then pushes him off the precipice. Exit Bruce Banner.
Yet now I need the other even more.
ENTER HULK, GIVING ROMANOFF A SMALL GRIN.
HULK
Rawr!
ROMANOFF
—Let us finish this most gloomy task.
[Romanoff climbs on his back, and Hulk leaps out of the crumbling area to safety. As he does so, he knocks Romanoff from his back.
I hope this fall doth even up our sums— 95
One knock for th’other. Go! Be thou a hero!
[They depart in separate directions.
FRIDAY
[to Stark:] The great vibranium core hath a strong
Magnetic field, which keeps the giant rock
Together as a unit.
STARK
—If it drops?
FRIDAY
At present, should it drop ’twill thousands kill. 100
Yet should it higher rise—extinction global.
Behold the building just before thee now—
There still are people trapp’d within, tenth floor.
[Stark flies into the building and sees a family of three within.
STARK
In peace I greet ye, friends! Holla, well met!
Climb ye inside the bathtub in a trice. 105
[They do as he says, and Stark carries them out just as the building collapses.
FRIDAY
An airborne enemy approacheth, sir—
It to the bridge descendeth suddenly!
[A bot hits Rogers and knocks him over.
STARK
[into radio:] It seemeth, Cap, thou hast incoming foes!
ROGERS
[into radio:] Thou sot—incoming hath already come.
Stark, let thy trouble be Sokovia— 110
How shall we pause the town from its ascent?
The rest of us share one assignment only:
To rend these bots asunder speedily!
[Barton shoots many bots with his arrows and sees Wanda in trouble. He runs to her just as bots approach and helps her dive aside into a house.
WANDA
Alas, how could I let this happen here,
That Ultron should upon my country tread? 115
BARTON
Tell me, art well? Thy feathers ruffl’d seem.
WANDA
This siege, which burneth to a fever pitch,
Our fault is, verily!
BARTON
—Look thou at me:
’Tis thy fault, ’tis the fault of all—who cares?
The only question is: hast thou the will 120
To carry on the mission we’ve set forth?
I need to know, for now the city flies—
The city flieth, we an army of
Robotic monsters fight, and I have here
One bow and arrow wherewith I may shoot. 125
Naught of this situation maketh sense,
Yet I shall venture out because it is
My job, which I cannot fulfill should I
Be call’d upon to babysit as well.
What thou once didst or what thou wert is naught. 130
Thou must a firm decision make at once:
Go out and fight, and fight to kill, I pray—
Or stay, ’tis well, I’ll send thy brother soon.
Yet if thou stepp’st outside the door, thou art,
Upon the instant, an Avenger true. 135
’Twas good to chat with thee; now must I go.
Yea, yea, the city flieth—what a world!
[He leaves the house and keeps fighting. Two cars fall off the levitating portion of the city.
ROGERS
One falls, but Thor below doth catch her up—
Toss her to me, and she shall rescued be!
THOR
’Tis teamwork as the world has never seen. 140
[Thor tosses the driver of one of the cars to Rogers, who lifts her to safety.
BOT 1
Ye cannot save them all. You never shall—
[Rogers throws his shield at the bot, destroying it, then knocks it off the precipice.
ROGERS
We never shall—what was it thou wert saying?
Thou finish’d not, alas, but finish’d are.
[Thor crashes back onto the levita
ting road with the other car in hand.
What wert thou, napping? ’Twas near thirty seconds.
TOGETHER, ROGERS AND THOR SLAY MANY BOTS. ROMANOFF JOINS THEM. ENTER SOLDIERS, HELPING THEM.
ULTRON
Thor, you do bother me incessantly. 145
[Ultron flies by, grabbing Thor and bearing him away.
BARTON
Alack, too many bots surround me now,
My place within the pecking order soon
They’ll show me, and methinks I’ll not be high.
[Wanda walks out of the house, destroying all bots nearby with her magic.
WANDA
[aside:] Then I shall fight—th’Avengers are my team—
Mine actions by their purpose shall be led. 150
BARTON
[into radio:] Our part of th’nest is clear.
ROGERS
[into radio:] —Ours not, in
faith!
BARTON
[into radio:] Then we shall unto ye, with falcon’s speed.
[Pietro runs at great speed and lifts Wanda, taking her to where Rogers is.
PIETRO
[to Barton:] Keep up—yea, come thou hastily, old man!
[Barton starts running after Wanda and Pietro.
BARTON
[aside:] Were I to catch the rascal with an arrow,
Nobody would the wiser be, forsooth! 155
“The last I saw Pietro, Ultron was
Perch’d on him—O, he shall be truly miss’d,
The rapid bastard. Even now I mourn!”
[Ultron throws Thor into the chapel with the vibranium core. They fight. Elsewhere, Wanda and Pietro run to aid Rogers.
SOLDIER 1
Hold ye your fire, for these our allies are!
[One bullet grazes Pietro in the arm.
PIETRO
O clumsy fellows, quicker be to heed! 160
FRIDAY
[to Stark:] The thrusters antigravity are rigg’d
To flip and send the floating city down.
If we but touch them, they’ll reverse themselves.
The city shall not slowly fall, I fear.
STARK
Indeed, and yet the spire’s vibranium. 165
What if bold Thor could strike it—
FRIDAY
—It shall crack.
’Tis not enow. The impact still shall be
Most devastating on the land below.
STARK
Is’t possible to cap the other end,
Keep the atomic action doubling back? 170
FRIDAY
Thou might, thereby, the city vaporize,
And ev’ryone who thereupon resides.
ROGERS
[into radio:] One minute or the next shall the next wave
Of robots hit us—what canst tell us, Stark?
STARK
[into radio:] Ill news and little else. Perhaps we may 175
The city detonate, which shall keep it
From its impact upon the surface if
Ye can get clear.
ROGERS
[into radio:] —Solutions would I hear,
Not exodus, nay!
STARK
[into radio:] —Impact radius
Is growing larger ev’ry passing second. 180
Our group is bound to make a taxing choice.
ROMANOFF
These people, Captain, never shall escape.
Should Stark discover how to blow the rock,
’Twill be a dark day for Sokovia.
ROGERS
Nay, not until the populace is safe. 185
ROMANOFF
The people here, upon the floating rock,
Against the people there, who wait below?
What murky mathematics would compute?
There is no sum that makes th’equation equal.
ROGERS
I shall not leave this floating rock until 190
No citizens remain upon its face.
ROMANOFF
Ne’er did I say that we should leave the rock—
’Tis dreary, yet there are worse ways to die.
Where else shall I obtain a view as such,
A’drifting o’er the clouds above the earth? 195
FURY
[offstage:] How glad am I that you enjoy the view,
Good Romanoff, for soon ’twill better be.
ENTER NICK FURY, MARIA HILL, AND SEVERAL SOLDIERS IN THE HELICARRIER. CITIZENS OF SOKOVIA LOOK ON IN WONDER AND HOPE.
PIETRO
[aside:] This is amazing—O, humanity!
How suddenly my prejudices change.
FURY
[into radio:] ’Tis good to see the vessel, is it not? 200
I pull’d her from her former mothball’d state
With help from friends—she’s dusty but shall do.
ROGERS
[into radio:] Thou whoreson, Fury—what a marvel, ha!
FURY
[into radio:] Would you your mother kiss with that foul
mouth?
Methought I heard you did not like such talk. 205
HILL
Our altitude is eighteen thousand, climbing.
SOLDIER 1
The lifeboats are secure and may deploy—
They disengage in three, then two, then one…
[Escape vessels emerge from the helicarrier and fly to the floating part of the city.
PIETRO
How rapidly they fly! Is this, then, S.H.I.E.L.D.?
ROGERS
Thou witnessest S.H.I.E.L.D. at its very best. 210
PIETRO
I rush’d to judgment once; ’tis not so bad.
ROGERS
Let’s load them up anon. We’ll save them yet.
[Bots fly toward the escape vessels.
HILL
Sir, bogies multiple converge upon
Our starboard flank.
FURY
—Pray, show them all our might.
HILL
[into radio:] ’Tis your time, Colonel Rhodes.
ENTER JAMES RHODES IN HIS WAR MACHINE SUIT, DESTROYING MANY BOTS.
RHODES
—A-ha, lay on! 215
This shall become a story worth the hearing.
[Stark flies alongside him.
STARK
If thou liv’st long enow to tell it, yea.
RHODES
Do you believe I cannot hold mine own?
STARK
I’ll hold thine own if we get through this fight.
RHODES
You had to make it wondrous weird.
STARK
—In sooth! 220
[Rogers, Romanoff, and Barton help citizens board the escape vessels.
ROGERS
[to Soldier 2:] Some fifty or one hundred more shall come—
Pray bear them on thy transport quickly hence!
SOLDIER 1
[to Fury:] The vessel number six is topp’d and lock’d—
Or stock’d, er, topp’d…’tis full of people, sir.
HILL
Incoming! Let us seize the roguish bot! 225
[A bot flies quickly toward the helicarrier, preparing to crash into it. Hill shoots it and Fury smashes it. Meanwhile, Ultron and Thor continue to fight.
ULTRON
Do you believe you shall save anyone?
If I should turn my key and drop the rock
A moment early, billions still shall die.
E’en you cannot stop such a fitting end.
>
THOR
My name is Thor, the son of Odin, rogue, 230
And whilst there yet is breath within these lungs—
I have run out of speeches…art prepar’d?
[Vision appears, smashing Ultron with Mjölnir.
VISION
Arousèd vengeance set us new awork,
And never did the Cyclops’ hammers fall
On Mars’ armor, forg’d for proof eternal, 235
With less remorse than thine on Ultron fell.
’Tis terribly well-balanc’d, by my troth.
THOR
If there is too much weight upon one side,
Thou wouldst lose power on the mighty swing.
STARK
[into radio:] I think I have the answer, worthy friends! 240
[To Friday:] A seal of massive heat I could create,
And supercharge the spire from underneath.
FRIDAY
The numbers I shall run, to test thy theory.
[Stark flies to help a falling escape vessel into the helicarrier.
With pow’r enow, a seal of heat may work.
STARK
[into radio:] I have a plan, Thor.
THOR
[into radio:] —We are out of time. 245
They come for the vibranium core, Stark.
STARK
[into radio:] I bid thee, Rhodey, get the people who
Remain upon the carrier at once.
RHODES
From your lips to mine ears—it shall be done!
STARK
[into radio:] Inure yourselves, Avengers, ’tis the time 250
To earn our recompense. Pray, gather round!
[Stark, Rogers, Barton, Wanda, and Pietro all join Thor and Vision in the chapel, guarding the vibranium core from many bots.
PIETRO
Pray, Wanda, art thou well? O, tell me quickly.
WANDA
Indeed, kind brother, holding by a thread.
[They embrace.
STARK
[in radio:] Illicit Romanoff, where art thou gone?
Dost thou and Banner play a ribald game 255
Of “hiding the zucchini”?
ROMANOFF
[in radio:] —Calm thyself,
Dim man. Not all of us can fly like thee.
[She drives a truck toward the chapel, knocking over bots as she goes. She joins the other Avengers inside.
What is the drill?
STARK
[pointing to the core:] —Indeed, this is the drill.
If Ultron should the core attain, we lose—
The earth doth lose, the galaxy doth lose. 260
[Hulk joins them as Ultron descends outside the chapel.
HULK
Rawr!
THOR
[to Ultron:] —All these bots—is this thy very best?
