ACT I SCENE II
SCENE - IRON MAN LOOKS INSIDE THE NOW OPEN CRAFT.
"I don't believe this. Patriot you had better get down here. We have ah visitors." Iron sends across the comms systems.
SCENE - THE REST OF THE TEAM MOVES FORWARD AT A LIGHT TROT FOCUS RETURNS TO IRON MAN. BROADCASTING VIA SPEAKERS HE SAYS.
"Hello ah people. Is ah everybody okay?" he asks with clear hesitation.
A tall man in red, white, and blue speaks up.
"Tony is that you? It's me. Cap."
"No sir. That would be my father." says Iron.
SCENE - IRON MAN WALKS INTO THE OPEN SIDE OF THE SHIP. HE IS BATHED IN THE SLIGHTLY ODD LIGHT AS HE DOES SO. THE REST OF THE GROUP IS SEEN OUTSIDE TALKING TO MARVEL WHO HOVERS.
NONE OF THEM HAVE INTACT COSTUMES. SOME HAVE NONE AT ALL AND ARE IN SLIGHTLY ODD LOOKING ONE PIECE GARMENTS. IDENTIFIED ON SCREEN AS
Captain America (Steve Rogers)
Spiderman (Peter Parker)
Hawkeye (Clint Barton)
Thor (God of Thunder)
Cyclops (Scott Summers)
Wolverine (Logan)
Emma Frost (psychic bitch)
Susan Richards (FF)
Spiderwoman (Jessica Drew)
"So what hap... arrrrr." Iron starts to ask chokes in pain before he can finish. His armor is showing him SECURITY BREECH in flashing red and lots of other red displays. He staggers. He convulses. He hits the deck with a solid THUMP.
Marvel is next to Iron in mere seconds. The rest of the group pull in tighter.
"What did you do to him." Marvel asks before she really looks at the people.
"Holy shit!" is what she says when she does.
SCENE - ONE ORBITING SATELLITE SHORTS ITSELF OUT.
"I assure you we did nothing. His father and I are old friends. Aren't you Carol Danvers? I know you." says Captain America.
"Yes I know you too sir. But last time I saw you it was on a ranch in Texas." she replies.
SCENE - 3 SATELLITES SHORT OUT.
"Is he alright?" asks Cap.
"If I can just get this open he will be. He should have popped it himself by now so he must be out." she says as she works on the fallen Avenger.
"Got it." she says calmly.
"He is alive but out. We should get him back to the Qjet." she says after a quick check.
SCENE - EVERY SATELLITE IN ORBIT AROUND THE EARTH SHORTS OUT. GPS AND MANY FORMS OF MODERN COMMUNICATION ARE NOW DOWN.
"My comms just went dead." says Spider-Girl.
The rest of the Avengers indicate they too are offline.
"Ok. You guys have a story. Lets hear it." barks Ms. Marvel. She is standing up roughly between the two groups.
"How much do you want? We were all grabbed at different times over the course of a few years. When ole Hawkeye over there arrived they gave him a chance to get free. That was about 10 years ago. Since then we have traveled and fought our way home." explains Captain America.
Spider eyes Spider-Man. Both are wearing masks.
"So who are you supposed to be?" she asks.
He pulls off his mask. Peter Parker smiles at everybody.
"I know your voice. It has been a long time and you sound so grown up. May it's me." he says with emotion.
May pulls off her mask.
"Spider!" barks Marvel.
"Bite me Marvel." May says as she walks forward.
The two close to within 3 feet and stop. He moves a bit closer but she compensates and he stops.
"Just outside of my reach. Looks like you have learned well May. You don't know how much I have missed you. Is your mom, well is she ok?" Peter asks.
"Mom is fine. My father is fine and with her. Has been for these last 10 years. Who are you?" she asks.
"I am your father. Your senses must tell you that." he replies.
"My senses are blown to hell by all this. If you are my father then who is with my mother right now? Who taught me to wear this uniform?" she asks.
"I am sorry May. He's a Skrull." he says.
"A Skrull? Come on. We can detect them. Been doing it for decades." she retorts.
"Not these they are special." Peter says.
"Are you telling us that all of you were replaced by Skrulls?" asks Patriot.
"Fraid so. You I don't know but we seem to have something in common." says Cap.
They both have identical shields.
"Yeah well maybe you remember my grandfather. The first supersoldier." says Patriot.
Cap looks embarrassed.
"I do son. He should have been treated better." he finally says.
"You recognized that a few years ago. Took you long enough." says Patriot.
"You mean the Cap here on Earth recognized that right Patriot? The guy we are supposed to accept as a Skrull agent. I am not buying this guys." says Stature. She has not shrunk down but is crouched a bit to see inside the open ship.
"Look lets move Iron Man outside. I want to breath some clear air. Where are we exactly?" says Captain America.
"Bolivia. Amazon rain forest. Nobody for miles which is good cause you burned a big path landing." explains Marvel.
SCENE - THE GROUP CARRY IRONMAN OUT AND SPREAD ALONG THE SIDE OF THE SHIP A LITTLE BIT.
DIFFERENT CLUSTERS OF PEOPLE BEGIN TO TALK. MARVEL, A HUMAN-SIZED STATURE AND PATRIOT ARE STANDING NEXT TO THE PRONE IRONMAN.
"Carol you need to get him to the ship and out of that armor. Steve left the space tracking display running make sure nobody followed them down." orders Patriot is a somewhat subdued tone.
Mavel nods and after picking up the downed hero she takes to the sky.
"I need to hear more of what happened to you." Patriot says to Captain America.
"There is a lot to tell. They grabbed all of us within about a week of each other. After that it got a bit rough. Not all of us survived their tests and experiments. They messed with our minds and put us though hell." Cap explains.
"They did not think much of me so they were careless. I got the chance to break-out and I took it. But it had been months and none of us were in good shape. If it was not for Thor I don't think we would have made it. They took his strength belt but once he got his hammer back things went our way. Never appreciated the big lug as much as I do now." adds in Hawkeye.
"When exactly where you taken?" May asks. She has walked away from Spider-Man feeling confused.
"October 9th, 2000 for me." says Hawkeye.
SCENE - MARVEL ARRIVES AT THE QJET AND GOES INSIDE. SHE OPENS THE FRONT OF THE IRONMAN ARMOR AND LIFTS THE STILL UNCONSCIOUS STEVE STARK OUT OF IT. AS SHE DOES SO THE WHOLE INTERIOR OF THE JET GOES BLACK. THE ONLY LIGHT COMES THROUGH THE WINDOWS.
"Oh damn." Marvel says.
"Yes. This is not looking good." says Steve weakly.
"Welcome back. How do you feel?" asks Marvel.
"Like something fried my armor with me inside. I will be alright. Looks like the jet is down too. That is one hell of a virus." says Steve sounding better already.
"Well as soon as you can see if you can figure out what is wrong. We have a lot of people who are going to need a ride home." Marvel explains with a bit of a sigh.
"A lot of people. Oh yeah. Them. Gotcha. I will be on it in about 10 minutes." replies Stark.
"Good I am heading back to the others." says Marvel. She exits and flys off.
SCENE - BACK WITH THE ORIGINAL GROUP. MAY IS AGAIN TALKING TO PETER. THEY ARE FAR DOWN NEAR THE TAIL OF THE SHIP. WOLVERINE, CYCLOPS AND STATURE ARE NEAR THE CENTER. REST OF THE GROUP IS CLOSE TO THE NOSE OF THE CRASHED SHIP. WOLVERINE GIVES CYCLOPS A FRIENDLY SHOVE ON THE SHOULDER. HE GETS A GRIN IN RETURN.
"This is freaking me out a little seeing you two guys getting along. You have, I mean the doubles have always hated each other. What changed." Stature asks.
"10 years of trying to stay alive had something to do with it girly." growls Logan.
"We also had to worry about her." says Scott pointing to where Emma Frost is standing.
"Yeah. Ah. About that. I guess I should tell you a couple of things. I'm sorry but Jean is dead. She has been for about 8 years now. And you, the other you I mean, well you and Emma are rather close." says Stature with a lot of hesitation.
Scott looks stunned. Wolverine just as bad.
"Scott man..." Logan starts to say.
"Don't say anything my friend. The X-Men are in danger." says Cyclops. This is followed by, "Her? How the [frick] did that happen?" but this is more to himself and the other two do not respond.
Emma Frost, with her back to her fellow mutants, smiles.
SCENE - MS. MARVEL ARRIVES BACK AT THE GROUP. SHE TALKS TO PATRIOT FOR A MOMENT. HE FROWNS AT HER NEWS.
"Great. Just great. Our Qjet is down folks. Same thing that took out Ironman got it. On the plus side Steve is ok and will be getting to work on fixing it. We might be here for a little while so I think we had better do something about those fires." Patriot says in a loud voice.
SCENE - MAY AND PETER TALKING.
"I just cannot believe what you are saying ok? You are telling me the man I have loved for these last 10 years is not even human let alone my father. I don't want to believe it." exclaims May.
"May calm down. I know this is bad but we will get to your mom. I promise."
"Calm down are you kidding me? I am seriously freaked out here. My head feels like it is going to explode. [frick]!" exclaims May.
"May!" responds Peter.
"What? I am not a little girl anymore I am a full fledged Avenger now. Don't even start on me with about my language. You can just never let something go can you..." she trails off. She looks around. Indecision is written all over her face.
"You are barely an Avenger. It has only been what a couple of months now? And being an Avenger you should know something about being a role-model for other young people." lectures Peter.
May's eyes widen just a touch.
"You know how long I have been an Avenger? Who told you that?" she questions.
"May I know when your birthday is. You can only be a few months past it. Did you think I would forget that. You and your mother are the reason I am still alive! Getting back to the two of you kept me going when I just wanted to lay down and die. We fought May. Never in my life had I ever fought like that. It was endless. I did it for you May. For my daughter and my wife." explains Peter with harsh passion.
"Who told you the date?" asks May with obvious suspicion.
"Somebody said it, right after we.. damn. Can't believe it was you." responds Peter with a smirk.
SCENE - TWO THINGS HAPPEN AT TOGETHER. SPIDERMAN GRABS MAY UNDER BOTH ARMS AND PULLS HER TOWARDS HIM. HE PIVOTS AND HER BODY GOES PARALELL TO THE GROUND. JUST A SINGLE FOOT BEFORE SHE IMPACTS WITH THE WALL HE LETS GO. AT THE SAME TIME HE SHOUTS.
"WE ARE DISCOVERED!"
SCENE - MAY BRINGS BOTH HANDS AND FEET TOWARDS THE HULL. LIGHT SHIMMERS PULSE FROM ALL 4 PLACES. HER SPEED DROPS AND ONLY THOSE 4 TOUCH THE HULL. HER BOTTOM DOES NOT QUITE TOUCH.
"Nice move bozo. Might have worked on my dad but we girl spiders are made of trickier stuff." snarls May.
SCENE - PETER AND OTHERS CHANGE THEIR APPEARANCE AND ARE REVEALED AS SKRULLS. THESE INCLUDE CAPTAIN AMERICA, HAWKEYE AND THOR.
SCENE - A HUGE HAND SWOOPS INTO FRAME AND SMACKS THE FAKE SPIDERMAN OUT INTO THE JUNGLE. STATURE LEANS HER FACE INTO FRAME.
"May! Are you ok?" she asks with obvious concern.
"Just fine sweetie. Now I am going to go and kick his butt myself." responds May. She leaps upward and the thwipp of webbing is heard.
SCENE - SCOTT, LOGAN AND EMMA ARE THE FARTHEST FROM THE GROUP. THEY HEAR THE YELL BUT IT IS NOT ENTIRELY CLEAR TO THEM.
"What is going on?" asks Scott as he turns to look.
"Life just got ugly again bub." growls Wolverine. His claws pop with a Snikt sound.
"What do you mean Logan?" asks Cyclops without turning.
"He means prepare to die human." replies Emma in a silky smooth voice.
SCENE - SCOTT TURNS JUST IN TIME TO DODGE THE SWIPE FROM WOLVERINES CLAWS. IN DOING SO HE THROWS HIMSELF BACKWARD. THE RUBY RED OF HIS OPTIC BEAMS BLAST LOGAN.
"Those won't help you against me love." smiles Emma.
Scott throws his head back to scream as her psi blast hits him.
SCENE - PATRIOT SQUARES OFF AGAINST THE SKRULL CAPTAIN AMERICA.
"I knew something was wrong here. You make a bad Cap buddy." taunts Patriot.
"You were almost kissing my boots young one. You knew nothing." replies the fake Cap.
SCENE - THE TWO EXCHANGE BLOWS AND SHIELD BASHES. BOTH ARE GOOD BUT PATRIOT DOES SEEM TO HAVE A SLIGHT EDGE.
"Inside this shield, the real shield, are the names of all the men who carried it. My grandfather is one of those great men. I am honored to carry it. You are nothing but a fake and you don't deserve even that cheap copy." says Patriot with fire.
"YOU" BASH
"ARE" PUNCH
"NOT" BASH
"HIM!" KICK
SCENE - THE FAKE CAP LOSES THE SHIELD BUT PATRIOT IS DRIVEN BACK BY ARROW FROM HAWKEYE.
SCENE - THOR GRABS THE NOW HUGE STATURE BY ONE LEG AND HEAVES. SHE GOES SPRAWLING AND PRODUCES A RUMBLE THAT SHAKES THE WHOLE AREA. THOR TRIES TO FOLLOW UP WITH A HAMMER BLOW BUT SHE SLAPS HER HAND DOWN ON TOP OF HIS HEAD. STATURE ROLLS AWAY FROM HIM AND THE OTHERS CRUSHING TREES IN A BIG SWATH. SHE GETS TO HER HAN DS AND KNEES BEFORE SPEAKING.
"You are strong you blonde little lizard. And I bet that damn hammer would hurt. If I let it." she mocks.
SCENE - WITH ONE BIG SWEEP OF HER ARM SHE KNOCKS THE FAKE THOR A VERY LONG DISTANCE.
SCENE - MS. MARVEL IS EVERYWHERE. SHE KNOCKS OUT EMMA SO SCOTT CAN GO AFTER WOLVERINE. SHE BOWLS CAPTAIN AMERICA OVER TO SLOW HIM DOWN. MARVEL ROCKETS TOWARDS SUSAN AND JESSICA. THEY ARE BOTH STILL LOOKING HUMAN BUT HAVE TAKEN NO ACTIONS.
"So come on drop the act. The game is up Skrulls!" Marvel challenges.
"We are not Skrulls. We thought everyone was human." replies Susan.
"We didn't know. That's the truth." adds in Spiderwoman.
Marvel eyes them both for a long moment.
"Fine. Then stay out of the way. If you do anything at all I will consider you a threat. We can sort this out when the fight is over." she finally says.
Marvel flys off.
SCENE - INSIDE THE FOREST. SPIDER IS CHASING THE FAKE SPIDER-MAN. THEY ARE BOTH SWINING AND FLIPPING WITH AMAZING AGILITY. MAY DOES OVERTAKE HER TARGET EVENTUALLY.
"HEY LIZARD FACE!" she yells.
He turns in time to get a gob of webbing in the face. The Skrull tumbles downward hitting more than a few branches on the way. Spider swings down 20' away as he tries to get up.
"My dad would never have fallen for that trick sparky." taunts Spider.
Spiderman gets to his feet with a small leap.
"Your father will die along with the rest of you. This planet is already ours stupid child." he almost hisses.
SCENE - A FIGHT BEGINS BUT IT IS ODD. BOTH ARE FAST AND HARD TO HIT. IT IS ALMOST BALLET-LIKE IN THE COMPLEXITY OF THE MOVES. THEY BREAK APART.
"Not bad girl. You are almost a real warrior." the Skrull taunts.
"Almost? ALMOST!" May screams back.
SCENE - MAY LEAPS WITH A SOMERSAULT AT THE VERY END. IT IS A CLASSIC KICK MANEUVER BUT AT THE LAST SECOND SHE LASHES OUT WITH A HAND. HER OPPONENT DODGES THE KICK BUT TAKE A SHOT TO THE HEAD ANYWAY.
"I grew up in the shadow of one of the greatest Heros this poor planet has ever produced. Being a normal girl would have been just fine with me. But no I got these powers. And with great power comes great responsibility and a whole bunch of dirty stinking fear. I trained, I worked, I fought. I earned my place on the Avengers. Me. Not because of my father but because of ME!" May rants.
"I am Spider the daughter of the one true Spiderman. You are alien pond scum." she finishes.
SCENE - THE FIGHT RESUMES BUT THIS TIME SPIDER CLEARLY HAS THE ADVANTAGE. IN THE END SHE BEATS HIM DOWN.
SCENE - WOLVERINE IS TRYING TO AVOID CYCLOPS' BLASTS. HE SLASHES A SMALL TREE INTO A BIG LOG AND HEAVES IT. SCOTT BLASTS IT DOWN BUT IT GIVES LOGAN A CHANCE TO CLOSE THE DISTANCE. HE GETS ALMOST WITHIN REACH WHEN AN OPTIC BLAST HITS THE GROUND AT HIS FEET. THEY ARE BARELY 6 FEET APART.
"I always knew you were an asshole. Can't believe I called you friend." says Scott.
"You fell for the whole act bub admit it. Just like the rest of your race. Stupid." taunts Logan.
"Even when I hated your guts I admired your raw power. Once you get your hands on somebody it is all but over. You do have one fatal flaw though. Range." says Scott tight-lipped.
SCENE - CLOSE-UP OF THE VISOR. WE ACTUALLY SEE THE RUBY QUARTZ TILT AND THE POWERFUL ENERGY RIP OUT. WE PULL BACK TO SCOTT'S WHOLE HEAD FOR ANOTHER BLAST. BACK TO HIS TORSO FOR ANOTHER. THE FINAL BLAST WE SEE HIS WHOLE BODY AS THE BEAM ZAPS OUT ONE LAST TIME.
"Know thine enemy, and know thyself, and you will always be victorious." murmurs Scott.
SCENE - MS. MARVEL AND THOR FIGHT HAND TO HAND IN A TITANIC BATTLE.
SCENE - PATRIOT TRYS TO DEAL WITH CAPTAIN AMERICA WHILE BLOCKING/DODGING ARROWS FROM HAWKEYE.
"Some help would be good about now." he says to nobody in particular.
"Was hoping you would say that boss. Sorry to be late." says Steve Stark.
Stark has some combat belts strapped on and is carrying a big rifle. He tilts it upwards and blows the fake Hawkeye off the branch he was standing on.
SCENE - PATRIOT TAKES ADVANAGE OF THE OPENING AND ATTACKS CAPTAIN AMERICA. THE FIGHT GOES ON FOR A SHORT BIT BUT IN THE END IT IS PATRIOT WHO IS STANDING. MARVEL PUTS DOWN THE FAKE THOR AS WELL.
SCENE - THE STILL LIVING SKRULLS ARE TIED UP IN FRONT OF THE QJET. SUSAN STORM AND SPIDERWOMAN ARE OFF TO ONE SIDE GETTING WORRIED LOOKS FROM THE AVENGERS.
"Just tell me how long please. I don't need the details." Patriot barks at Stark.
"Oh a day or three. Look all the electronics are fried. There is not a single byte of information stored anywhere in that jet. Same thing with my armor. With the jet I can jury-rig the basic flight controls but it will be like flying a rocket with wings. Best I can do." Stark explains.
SCENE - THE GROUP GETS TO WORK. SPIDER WALK OVER TO TALK TO STATURE AWAY FROM THE OTHERS.
"Thanks for the save today sweetie. I was okay but it is nice to know you care." say May pleasantly.
"May. You know I do but..." Stature trails off.
"Yeah Yeah. I know. You are ancient and I am a toddler. I remember. Can't blame a girl for hoping. We'd better get to work before Eli blows a gasket or something."
The two walk back towards the jet.