45. EXT. DRAUGR FORBIDDEN CITY - EVENING
AERIAL SHOT of LOKI, sprawled across the wet, black cobblestones of the draugr Forbidden City. As the shot pulls out, we see that he is lying at the steps of a ruined palace that is overgrown with mold and rot. Bolts of LIGHTNING tear across the sky, momentarily bathing the dark square in cold, white light. A heavy rain drives down from cloud-covered skies. And standing on the steps, just above Loki, is HELA.
She KICKS Loki's prone body.
HELA
Get up.
Loki rolls to the side - slowly and painfully. There is black jotunn blood EVERYWHERE. Hela kicks Loki again, and he groans audibly. Rainwater rolls off his head and shoulders as he doubles over in pain.
LOKI
(barely audible)
Just... kill me.
HELA
No. Not yet.
She crouches down so that she is sitting on her heels, about a foot from Loki.
HELA
(continuing)
I want you here. I want you to see what happens next.
Loki presses his eyes shut, and for an instant it seems that they will never open again.
LOKI
(slowly)
You must truly hate me.
Hela leans back a little. Her expression is strangely sincere.
HELA
With all my soul.
Loki laughs, and it becomes a ragged cough.
LOKI
(drily)
You have a soul?
Hela stares up at the lightning-streaked sky. Rain rolls off of her forehead and down the line of her nose.
HELA
(softly)
You are not the hero of this story, Loki Laufeyson.
She looks back down.
HELA
(continuing)
You are a liar and a killer. In every reality that has ever been.
(beat)
You murdered your own wife, your brothers, their families, and the All-Father. And broke the heart of the only mother you ever knew.
(beat)
You drove the Aesir and Vanir to massacre one another. You broke families apart with malice and lies.
(beat)
And then you brought on Ragnarök - and with it, the end of all life. Again and again.
Hela extends one hand out toward Loki. Her fingers tremble as she clenches it into a fist.
HELA
(accusingly)
I watched the same deaths so many times.
(beat)
All of it was your doing.
LOKI
(with effort)
I am not that Loki.
She laughs bitterly. Her voice quavers with emotion and rage:
HELA
Of course you are. There is a darkness in you, and it drives everything you have ever done. There is a pattern, Loki. And I know - even if you do not - that you will do it all again, if given half a chance.
(beat)
Do you think anything you have done in this - this one reality can change that?
LOKI
I cannot defend the past.
(beat)
But right now, only one of us is trying to destroy the universe.
Hela scoffs.
HELA
Is it the universe you want to save? Or one creature in it?
LOKI
What do you expect me to say?
Hela slowly stands, and the rain rolls off her shoulders. She stares down at Loki, her hands in tight fists at her sides.
HELA
(emphasizing every word)
I expect you to beg.
CLOSE ON Loki's face - exhausted and deathly pale. Slowly, he lifts his head to face Hela. His expression is both determined and desperate:
LOKI
Spare Earth.
(with emphasis)
I beg you.
Hela laughs abruptly, almost giddily - then she claps one hand over her mouth.
HELA
Earth?
(beat)
Coming from you, that is rich.
LOKI
I will do whatever you wish. But let them live.
Hela's expression changes. She looks at Loki pityingly.
HELA
Oh, Loki. What do you think is left there to save?
As Hela continues speaking, CUT TO -
46. INT. A SECRET SHIELD BASE - NIGHT
- a small control room, grim and sickly under flickering yellow lights. There are dozens of monitors arrayed against the back wall, all of them showing only STATIC. Long desks full of computers and control panels stretch across the room - and behind them, a handful of terrified looking lab technicians are holding handguns and shotguns. SLOW ZOOM toward the center of the room, where MELINDA MAY in standing perfectly still. Her jaw is tense; she is holding a pistol in each hand.
HELA
(continuing, V.O.)
The humans have already lost.
CLOSE ON Melinda's face as she takes a silent, shuddering breath. She brings both guns up, pointing straight ahead, level with her shoulders.
HELA
(continuing, V.O.)
They cannot even control their own monsters.
PAN AWAY from Melinda to the reinforced metal door that she is facing. There is a deafening BOOM as something MASSIVE hits the door - then another, and another - each one louder than the last.
Then, as the shot comes fully into focus -
- we can see the clear imprint of a giant FIST in the thick steel.
47. EXT. AN UNIDENTIFIED AIRFIELD - AFTERNOON
SUDDEN CUT TO a wide airfield in the middle of a field of grass, gold and green. Dozens of abandoned quinjets are strewn across the tarmac. And between the jets are dozens of small, indistinct, dark THINGS.
HELA
(continuing, V.O.)
So when they face the ones I created -
As the shot SLOWLY ZOOMS in, we see that the dark spots are bodies - human bodies. Hundreds of people - some of them in SHIELD gear, others in civilian clothing - all of them torn apart, as if by wild animals. The carnage is HORRIFIC.
HELA
(continuing, V.O.)
- what hope do they possibly have?
The shot slowly moves among the bodies -
HELA
(continuing, V.O.)
Humans are clever. Resourceful. Survival-oriented.
CLOSE ON the dead body of PHIL COULSON, sprawled across the ink-black asphalt.
HELA
(continuing, V.O.)
But they cannot cheat death forever.
48. EXT. THE FORBIDDEN CITY - EARLY MORNING
HELA
(continuing, V.O.)
Earth had its chance.
CUT TO a close shot of NATASHA ROMANOFF's face - in profile against the rising sun. She is riding shotgun in a NJ2045 Chinese military truck - the first in a long, quick-moving convoy - and she is staring ahead at the Beijing city skyline. Beside her, a young Chinese man in sharp black special forces gear is driving, staring straight ahead down the road.
As the city grows larger on the horizon, Natasha's expression slowly changes from one of impatience -
- to one of HORROR.
HELA
(continuing, V.O.)
But it all ends...
The shot slowly PANS AROUND to show the road ahead. Human bodies, freshly dead, LITTER the roadside. And up ahead, the entire city of Beijing -
HELA
(continuing, V.O.)
Today.
- is on FIRE.
49. EXT. DRAUGR BEIJING - EVENING
LOKI
Do not do this, Hela.
(beat)
We can still make things right - so long as you have the stone.
Hela smiles ruefully.
HELA
Oh, I have it.
She reaches up to the black lace draped around her shoulders and peels it up to reveal the soft skin at the base of her neck. There, embedded in her red, angry flesh, is the STONE.
HELA
But it would be pointless to use it.
(beat)
While you wandered the wilderness, I seeded the past with draugr. I created an inevitability. The end of Earth is not only imminent - it has now been going on for a thousand years. You would never be able to undo it all.
Loki's expression is haunted.
LOKI
That stone is a curse.
HELA
(fervently)
It is a gift. It gives power beyond measure.
Hela stoops down next to Loki, and seizes him by the jaw.
HELA
The kind of power to peel your skin from your bones -
Her face is only an inch from his. Her face is happy, eager, even manic.
HELA
(continuing)
- but keep you alive the entire time.
Tendrils of red-orange light begin to flicker around Hela's fingers and Loki's face. Loki presses his eyes closed and BELLOWS in anguish. Then -
FEMALE VOICE
(O.S.)
Let him go.
Hela's head jerks up; Loki drops to the ground, unconscious. CUT TO JANE FOSTER, standing in the rain, some twenty feet behind Hela.
Hela doesn't hesitate, she SPRINTS toward Jane. She moves blindingly fast; in an instant, she is at Jane's side, and her right leg FLIES UP toward Jane's head in a powerful kick. Jane turns, and raises one arm to block her. Hela draws her leg back and KICKS again; this time Jane drops low, and Hela's foot flies over Jane's head in a wide arc. Jane rises up, just in time for Hela's THIRD kick to hit her right in the face; Jane staggers backward, spitting blood.
Hela HURTLES toward Jane to close the distance, but is stopped short when Jane slams a solid PUNCH into Hela's jaw. Hela strikes back with her left hand, but Jane catches Hela by the wrist - Jane punches Hela twice more, directly in the face. When she tries for a fourth, though, Hela drops low and SWEEPS her leg out, causing Jane to DROP to the ground. Hela then LEAPS on top of Jane and wraps both hands around Jane's throat, SUFFOCATING her. Jane gasps for air and claws at Hela, trying to free herself - but to no avail.
After several moments, Jane's body suddenly goes slack beneath Hela's hands. Hela grins with satisfaction, and releases Jane's head; it DROPS to the ground.
HELA
(in a whisper)
Be satisfied in death, little one.
CLOSE ON Jane's face - suddenly, her eyes shoot open. She takes a GASPING BREATH and SEIZES Hela's black lace collar with both hands:
JANE
(hissing)
Satisfaction's not in my nature.
BOTH Jane and Hela are ENGULFED in a ball of blinding white FIRE. Hela SCREAMS in agony as her flesh burns. With tremendous effort, Hela rolls away from Jane, away from the flames. Her skin is charred, and the black lace of her collar and dress has, in some places, MELTED into her skin. She slowly lifts her head - and catches sight of the metal cuff around Jane's wrist.
HELA
(in shock)
Tussmørke sverd.
Her expression changes to one of pure HATE.
HELA
Du tyv.
(beat)
Du tispe.
Hela makes a small gesture with one hand, and her own body is suddenly AGLOW with red and orange light. She again HURLS herself forward at Jane - and this time, as she passes through the sphere of white light, she is UNHARMED and unburnt. Jane staggers backward, but doesn't get out of Hela's way in time. Hela PINS Jane to the ground and grabs Jane's right wrist with her left hand:
HELA
You shouldn't take things that aren't yours.
Hela flicks her right hand open, and the gray metal around Jane's wrist shifts and liquefies. The viscous gray fluid drips into Hela's palm, and in an instant re-forms into a CURVED BLADE. Hela doesn't hesitate - she turns IN toward Jane, pulling the smaller woman close with her free hand. She then presses the newly formed knife against Jane's body. Hela doesn't look away from Jane, but she addresses Loki:
HELA
You said it yourself. This day, the next, a hundred years -
(beat)
- it's nothing.
CUT TO Loki, just beginning to come to.
LOKI
Hela, no! D-
But there's no time. Hela DRIVES the knife between Jane's ribs.
HELA
(hissing)
It's a heartbeat. You'll never be ready. The only woman whose love you prized -
She twists the blade, and there is a dull cracking sound. Jane cries out in pain.
HELA
(continuing)
- will be snatched from you.
Hela tugs the knife back out, and Jane drops to the ground. Jane's breathing is shallow and wet - but she is still breathing. Hela looks over her shoulder at Loki.
HELA
Your words -
(beat)
- not mine.
Loki SNAPS. With what little energy is left, he shoves himself to his feet and leaps at Hela, bright arcs of green and white light flying out around his hands. Hela raises her arms in a protective gesture, and the gray metal knife CLATTERS to the ground. Red FIRE leaps up around her arms, and there is a loud SIZZLING sound as the red and green flames collide. They WRESTLE to the ground. Loki PUMMELS Hela repeatedly in the stomach; in response, she claws a cobblestone out of the ground and SLAMS it into the side of Loki's head. He reels sideways, off-balance. Hela casts the stone aside and advances on Loki.
BAM! Hela suddenly flies sideways, and tumbles across the square. CUT TO THOR, standing at the mouth of the rift; the hammer Mjölnir flies back into his outstretched hand. He is covered in bruises and wounds, and looks exhausted.
Loki stumbles to his feet, shaking off the rain.
LOKI
I did not think you would come.
Thor smiles.
THOR
You are my brother. Then - and now.
CLOSE ON Hela's face.
HELA
(coldly)
How touching.
She smacks her open right hand down onto the cobblestones in a burst of red-orange light. There is a low rumble, then a DEAFENING CRACK as the cobblestone steps EXPLODE around Thor. Thor SLAMS into the palace wall. Heavy stones tumble down around him.
Not far from Thor, Jane gives a low, anguished moan. She is trying to get up. Loki catches her eye, but she makes a small gesture with one hand:
JANE
Don't worry about me.
(beat)
Just kill that bitch.
Across the square, Hela comes to her feet and makes a run for Thor. Seeing her, Loki runs, too, and COLLIDES with Hela. He and Hela skid across the wet stones, coming to a stop at one corner of the square. Hela lashes out at Loki with FLARES of red-orange fire - one after another after another. Loki throws his arms up in a protective position, and a thin sphere of green light leaps up around him. The sphere quickly begins to flicker and fade, though, as Hela's attacks continue.
Just as the shield is about to give way completely, Hela is SUDDENLY YANKED backwards. Thor has her by the neck, and is forcibly DRAGGING Hela back across the square, toward the rift. Still in his grip, Hela nimbly ROLLS under Thor's arm and CLIMBS up on his back; she then wraps her arms around Thor's neck and begins to CHOKE the life out of him. Loki, meanwhile, scrambles to his feet and leaps at Hela, tearing her from Thor's back and throwing her to the ground. Loki quickly draws one of his two twin blades and JAMS it into Hela's thigh; she yells in pain, and rolls away from Loki, coming to her hands and knees. Before Loki can reach her, she SLAPS the ground again, and again the ground EXPLODES, this time knocking Loki flat on his back. Loki's head hits the ground with a sickening CRACK.
Hela tries to get to her feet again, but she doesn't move fast enough; as she attempts to get up, Thor SHOVES her back down. Pinning her there with his left hand, he raises the hammer Mjölnir, and channels a BRILLIANT BOLT of lightning down through the hammer. He then POUNDS the hammer down, directly on to Hela's sternum and ribs. Thor is relentless; he RAINS BLOWS down on Hela with the hammer; she SCREAMS in agony and thrashes wildly. There is blood EVERYWHERE.
After what seems like an eternity, Thor relents. He is desperately out of breath.
THOR
If you make things right -
(gasping)
- I will let you live.
At her sides - where Thor cannot see - Hela clenches her hands into tight fists. Angry red light glows from between her fingers - and then the light solidifies, forming two long BLADES.
HELA
(almost inaudibly)
I -
(beat)
I have already made things right.
And without warning, she SHOVES the red blades into the soft space between Thor's chest and upper arms, on both sides of his metal chestplate. The blades dig deep into his flesh, puncturing his lungs and heart. Thor drops the hammer with a CLATTER and falls backward, away from Hela, clutching at his armor as blood POURS out of him.
LOKI
(anguished)
No!
Thor's head drops back. Loki seizes Thor by the pauldrons of his armor, and shakes him -
LOKI
(desperately)
Brother, no -
- but it is no use.
Thor is dead.
Loki hangs his head, and his shoulders rock with silent weeping. He doesn't make a sound, but he bends down low, as if to Thor's broken body with his own. His mouth is moving, almost as if he is whispering something to Thor - but there is no sound. Loki takes a shuddering breath.
Then - after a moment - Loki lifts his head and looks again at Hela. She is COVERED in her own blood, and her ribcage has been crushed and mutilated where the hammer struck. She is breathing -
- but not for long.
Hela drags in a short, insufficient breath. The shattered fragments of her ribs grind with the effort.
HELA
There is nothing -
(wheezing)
- you can do.
Loki looks at Thor - then at Jane, who is barely clinging to consciousness.
LOKI
I can destroy it.
Without warning, Loki DRIVES his hand into the soft space just below Hela's collarbone, and digs his fingers into her bloody, pulpy flesh. She HOWLS in pain as he begins to PRY the orange stone OUT OF HER SKIN.
HELA
(frantic)
Wait!
Loki pauses, his expression grim. Wheezing, Hela continues:
HELA
(continuing)
If you destroy it - everything will change.
(beat)
Everything you've done will be undone.
LOKI
And everything you have done?
Hela says nothing, but her expression is panicked and desperate.
LOKI
(continuing)
I am willing to take that chance.
He PRIES the stone fully out of Hela's flesh, and holds it in one hand.
HELA
(in great pain)
Yes. But is she?
She nods toward Jane.
HELA
(quickly, desperately)
If you destroy the stone, nothing is certain. You could create a timeline where you never knew each other. Where you are just as evil and hateful as you ever were.
(beat)
Where she was never even born.
(beat)
Or where you're the one who kills her.
Loki, too, turns to look at Jane. She looks directly at Hela as she speaks to Loki:
JANE
Don't hesitate.
(beat)
Just do it.
Then, with what seems like the last of her strength, she turns to face Loki.
JANE
(continuing)
I'll find you.
Loki's expression is haunted and bereft.
LOKI
I love you.
Jane gives a faint smile.
JANE
I know.
With the last of her strength, Jane drags her broken body toward Loki, and closes her hand over his -
- and Loki destroys the stone.
FADE TO WHITE.
50. EXT. NEW MEXICO DESERT - NIGHT
SUDDEN CUT TO a large SUV, TEARING across the New Mexico desert in the middle of a blinding dust storm. Racks of bright lights attached to its roof and doors are barely visible through the thick, nearly opaque wall of dust. Howling winds whip sand and dirt across the field of view - but still the SUV races ahead at breakneck speed. And above the SUV, a GLOWING FUNNEL CLOUD is beginning to form. Then -
KRAKABOOM!
A huge BOLT OF LIGHTNING strikes down through the center of the funnel cloud. The SUV is ROCKED by the concussion. Then, a moment later, the SUV swerves hard in one direction. Then it swerves back in the opposite direction. The vehicle is still surging ahead when its headlights fall on -
A MAN. Directly in the vehicle's path, stumbling through the blinding winds.
The SUV starts to brake - then swerve - but it's too late. The side of the SUV slams into the man with a THUD, sending him flying. The SUV skids to a stop.
After a stunned moment, both the driver and passenger doors to the SUV open. Out of the driver's side door steps a shell-shocked young woman. Her dark hair is tucked up under a slouchy plaid hat, and a huge messenger bag is hanging from one shoulder.
Out of the passenger's side door leaps another woman - smaller, with lighter hair and a pair of sunglasses atop her head. She is wearing dark blue jeans and a brown bomber jacket, with the sleeves pushed up to her elbows. And around one wrist is a strange-looking BAND made from a lustrous gray metal.
Ahead of them, the man is lying on the ground - motionless, and out of focus.
DARCY
(accusingly)
I think that was legally your fault.
Jane gives her a look.
JANE
Get the first aid kit.
Darcy heads back inside the SUV as Jane, concerned, kneels next to the man - out of frame. CLOSE ON Jane's face.
JANE
(emphatically)
Do me a favor and don't be dead.
The man GROANS, and she's startled.
CUT TO the man's face -
- and it's LOKI.
CUT TO BLACK.
