LOKI: Prince of Mischief A screenplay

By j3px

ACT II SCENE I

(ACT TWO, SCENE ONE)

MIDGARD CUT TO NEW YORK SKYLINE, late spring, about midnight,
as a couple watch a movie on the top floor.

WOMAN You wanna turn it up a little?
ANGLE on MAN reaching to get the control.

STILL as clouds violently fold back on themselves in background, emptying a bolus of emerald light and loud of screech.

HOLD as the two look on, quiet.

ZOOM ON COUNTRYSIDE as light strikes a barn, inset, destroying a third of it, but leaving its residents unscathed.

CUT TO a man in bed with his wife, rising to hear barn noise. Rising to reach for his shotgun.

MAN Get the kids to the basement outside.
I m gonna go have a look-see.

WOMAN (nervous)

MAN Mabel-
REVERSE ANGLE As the spindly lady hurries through the house.

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MOVING As man crosses house threshold walks firmly across yard reaching barn only feet away.

REVERSE ANGLE STILL MOVING on LOKI in barn. We see him covered in hay. And cow manure. Lying motionless. INSET We hear shotgun cocking.

MAN Back up mister.
SHIFT TO LOKI LOKI (mumbling)
What is that awful smell?
CLOSE SHOT of LOKI slowly coming to his senses.
Stands up.
LOKI Is it me?
(smells)

MAN (fire-ready)

LOKI Oh my. It is.
(Turns to gaping hole)
Not since the depths of that cursed tree have I caught a stench so-
(distracted)
Did I... did I fall from (looks up) I must have.
It can t be.

(to stars, pacing out)
FATHER, WHAT HAVE I DONE?
I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME UP THERE!

(frustrated)
You What realm is this? Is it Niflheim? What is it?

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MAN (cocking shotgun)
I said back up!

LOKI (sardonic)
You would order ME? I will have you know that I AM THE PRINCE

SHIFT TO MAN lifting butt of gun, fast

LOKI OF

A sudden WHACK! sends LOKI back into the manure knocking him unconscious.
PAN to see WOMAN standing at threshold.

WOMAN (startled)
Fred

MAN Call the police.

WOMAN Nods.
CUT TO POLICE PRECINCT, near Adirondacks.

Seated we see a BURLY MAN, looking like Volstagg but clean shaven, sitting with farmer. LOKI sits behind bars, droning away.
FOCUS On MAN MAN And a loud noise, an then I got up. Saw bout half m barn gone. Nothin else around. Think he d done it.

LOKI (background)
You will let me bathe, will you not?
I think it unjust for me to rot away

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BURLY COP (to LOKI, short)
Quiet, mister. We ll get to ya in a bit. Hold your horses.

LOKI (looks about, miffed)
I don t see any steeds nearby.
(under breath)
Albeit an ass afore me.

BURLY COP (annoyed, pointing)
That s the fourth time, goth boy, and my patience is thin with ya. One more and we ll keep ya in there wit no shower.

LOKI (taunts)
Ooh tough talk would that you would unchain me make it more fair?

BURLY COP Travis?

COP 2 Ray?

BURLY COP Take Roland back home.
Gonna find out how come this guy doesn t have ID.

COP 2 Roland?
EXT as COP 2 escorts man to police car, outside.

BURLY COP Gonna take you down to the precinct.
Find out why you ain t got an I.D.

REVERSE ANGLE of LOKI leaving cell, toward door, and car,
moving ahead, as is custom. Locking up.

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BURLY COP Don t try nothin mister. Believe it or not I m one a the good guys.
CUT TO INT. of CAR as COP turns ignition. DRIVING through misty fog.

LOKI Oh really? I like good guys.
Have a bit of fun with them, really.

BURLY COP (focusing on road)
You got no license no ID. No relatives.
Where d ja come from?

LOKI (grins)
Heh. You wouldn t believe me if I told you.

BURLY COP Try me.

LOKI I am LOKI, Norse God of Mischief.

BURLY COP (tongue-in-cheek)
Yeah? I am Officer Roman, North guard of the Adirondacks.

LOKI (dour)
I took it you would make sport.

BURLY COP Hey, don t look so down. So you got no folks around. Could be worse. You coulda been disowned like me.

LOKI (looks skyward, sighs)

MOVING SHOT OF CAR across the highway beyond mountains to the city below.

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CUT TO ASGARD, PALACE CHAMBER INT ZOOM on ODIN, reclining with Frigga.

MOVING on THOR Entering the chamber.
THOR Hello mother.

FRIGGA Thor.

THOR Father, if I might speak with you-

ODIN listens expectantly.
THOR First is the Frost Giants. I have spoken with them and they would have their casket returned to them.

ODIN I do not know that they will use it for good. Laufey is no longer king. The truce between us is all but null.
Tell them no.

THOR I gave them my word-

ODIN How can we trust them?

THOR We are diplomats, father. Our word is deed.

ODIN (sigh)
I will consider their request. What is next?

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THOR Concerning the genocide of their men, the Frost Giants would see justice for the one responsible.

ODIN Your brother. (labored breathing)
No. They would destroy the boy.

THOR Yes.

ODIN We are handling that matter, now,
aren t we? Tell them such.

THOR You have sent my brother to Earth- Midgard without power,
without magic. He will fall a bird of prey in that realm.
(deliberate)
He will die there, Father, just as I did. Is that a fitting punishment for my brother?

ODIN You seem to forget, Thor, your brother s cunning and adaptability. I could have- nearly did banish him to Niflheim.
No, my son, Midgard is a suitable place of discipline for Loki. It is my hope that he learn the value of humility perhaps other virtues as well.

THOR (chuckle)
Ha,ha ha. You would that Loki bow his head on his own? Why, mother would sooner bend the unyielding roots of Yggdrasil.

FRIGGA Why, Thor-

ODIN He must learn when to stand firm and when to bend Just as you did, son.

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THOR (not missing a beat)
True. Well I should at least be granted passage to Earth.

ODIN (folding arms)
What would you do? Tampering with his fate in any way will send him to Helheim.

THOR Yes, father, I know. (clear) There are also good friends who are dear to me. I would live there-

ODIN As a mortal.

THOR Unless I m needed otherwise. (pensive) While I m there, I ll work there, sleep there live as humans do. I ask you to permit me to do this. It s my duty and honor as Earth s guardian.

ODIN sits pensively, as if weighting cosmic matters. After some deliberation, he looks to FRIGGA, who nods in affirmation.

ODIN (relenting)
You do realize the delicate balance of justice in which you tread, son Do so cautiously.
FOCUS on THOR, considering the gravity of such a task.

THOR nods.

ODIN Then I cast my magic which will conceal your identity such that no one not even your brother will be able to recognize you. Take your hammer Mjolnir... wield it responsibly.

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ODIN It is at once a weapon of destruction and a tool

THOR to build.

ODIN (grin)
Go now, my son.
ZOOM IN on THOR, hugging his mother and father.
MOVING As THOR walks, Mjolnir in hand, to the Bifrost chamber.

EXT ON WAY TO BIFROST CHAMBER Appear SIF and the WARRIORS THREE.

THOR stops a moment.
THOR Good eve, Sif Hogun Fandral. Volstagg.

SIF Thor. Is all well?

THOR It is. I leave for Earth.

FANDRAL (surprise)
You re you re going back?

VOLSTAGG (rubs belly)
What for? Haven t you fought the good fight there already?

THOR I would keep an eye on my brother.

SIF (half-hearted)
He s a big boy. He can take care of himself.

THOR No this is different. My brother s magic s gone, his charm is gone as well.
I love my brother, but in truth he has no chance without these.

The GROUP stands in silence.

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(plainly)
Loki does not fight very well.

HOGUN (nodding in agreement)
Yes but he is still a good liar.

THOR Yes, Hogun... the best. But, sadly, lies catch up even to the most clever.

HOGUN Yes.

VOLSTAGG, jostling to and fro, twiddles his thumbs at the thought of an early goodbye.

FANDRAL Would we pay you a visit if we wish?

THOR (smile)
Of course, brothers. Sister.

THOR (to friends)
Well, friends take care of yourselves and of your own.
(pause) Farewell.

EXT THOR walking to the Bifrost chamber, approaching its passageway.

THOR Heimdall, I am ready for Midgard.

INT as HEIMDALL slides the key through the Bifrost panel.
Lights dazzle as the machine wheels turn loud of gears hum as the Bifrost needle points Midgard-ward, that brilliant azure tractor beam sending THOR out

EXT DARKNESS PAUSE LOUD of QUIET AS beam fleets through galaxies

(END ACT TWO, SCENE ONE)

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