The Man in the Iron Mask Page #21

PORTHOS:

D'Artagnan!

D'ARTAGNAN

The way is blocked above. The

Captain of the Bastille has turned

back from the mission I sent him on,

and is in the courtyard with a party

of men.

ATHOS:

He lies. He is here to trap us.

D'ARTAGNAN

I came to see you safely out. Check

for yourself.

Porthos climbs the stairs to check; D'Artagnan looks at

Phillippe, in the mask.

D'ARTAGNAN

All you have suffered, I would

gladly have borne myself, to keep it

from you.

Athos spits on the floor, in derision. But Porthos comes

barreling back down the stairway.

PORTHOS:

D'Artagnan is right, the courtyard

is filling with soldiers!

D'ARTAGNAN

This way.

He leads them quickly down a side corridor; the others have

no choice but to follow.

A SIDE CORRIDOR:

D'Artagnan leads them around another corner, into a long

corridor; at the end of it is a massive door. They reach it,

and d'Artagnan produces a set of keys marked with the royal

seal of the Musketeers; he begins unlocking the three

padlocks that secure the door.

D'ARTAGNAN

Once you are through, don't stop

until you reach the river.

ARAMIS:

They will know you helped us, if we

go this way.

D'ARTAGNAN

That doesn't matter now.

They open the door... and as they do they see Louis and his

platoon of young Musketeers arriving outside.

LOUIS:

There! Stop them!

ATHOS:

Betrayed!

The young Musketeers serving the King jump from their horses

and grab for the door; but d'Artagnan leaps forward, his

sword flashing. After a second of surprise, Athos, Aramis

and Porthos jump forward too, and there is a brief, bloody

skirmish at the door. But the young Musketeers have

overwhelming numbers, and firearms too; protecting Phillippe,

the old Musketeers draw back inside and succeed at pulling

the door shut and latching it quickly.

ARAMIS:

Back the way we came!

They race back up the corridor -- the four Musketeers, and

Phillippe, in the iron mask -- and turn the corner. They

reach another inner door, pass through it -- and see the

soldiers of the Bastille coming at them.

ARAMIS:

Back!

They retreat, and Porthos slams the second door. Like all

the inner doors of the Bastille, it's heavy wood, a foot

thick, and Porthos seals it with a huger iron bar. But

there's nowhere else to run.

ATHOS:

Trapped.

At the far end of the corridor, the King's young Musketeers

have the same keys to the outer door that d'Artagnan did, and

they are breaking through. Louis and two dozen of his

personal bodyguard pour through the door.

LOUIS:

Charge them!

The young Musketeers obediently charge down the corridor.

Stepping up shoulder to shoulder -- Aramis, d'Artagnan,

Athos, Porthos -- the four veteran Musketeers meet the

charge, first with pistols, then with swords, a wall between

Louis' men and Phillippe. The battle in the cramped confines

of the corridor is bloody and fierce; the young attackers can

only get a few men into the fight at any one time, and those

who step before the famous veterans are cut down.

Louis' young Musketeers retreat, to regroup.

AT LOUIS' END OF THE CORRIDOR

Louis is furious, jumping at Lieutenant Andre, who has

dragged a wounded comrade back from the fight.

LOUIS:

Cowards! Twenty run from four?!

LIEUTENANT:

The corridor nullifies our number...

And no one has stomach to fight the

Captain.

Louis is disgusted by this loyalty -- and he has a solution.

LOUIS:

D'Artagnan!

AT THE OTHER END OF THE CORRIDOR

Louis' voice echoes down to the veteran Musketeers and

Phillippe, in the Iron Mask.

LOUIS' VOICE

I am not angry with you. I knew you

would lead me to them, and so you

have! Lay down your sword, and I

will not punish you! I will let you

retire in peace -- to live out your

days in the countryside! And I will

give your friends a swift execution,

if you surrender now.

The words bounce down the long corridor; then silence.

D'Artagnan stands holding his sword, staring away from his

friends, toward the King and his gang of young Musketeers.

ARAMIS:

D'Artagnan. Perhaps you should

accept his offer, for we are dead

anyway.

PORTHOS:

He is right, d'Artagnan.

Athos says nothing; but when d'Artagnan looks at him, he

lowers his eyes in shame for ever having doubted d'Artagnan's

loyalty and friendship.

Phillippe speaks up, from behind the Iron Mask.

PHILLIPPE:

Wait. Bargain me to Louis, for all

your lives. You have done your

best. Let me go, and let all of you

find peace.

D'ARTAGNAN

No. Even if I could give up my

friends, I could never give up my

son.

This hits them like a bombshell -- and suddenly it all makes

sense; d'Artagnan's loyalty to Louis, his dogged hope that he

could somehow influence him toward goodness. We see their

stunned faces, each in turn: Athos, Aramis, Porthos, and

Phillippe.

D'ARTAGNAN

I never had any idea you existed...

until they found you. And in all

that time, I never had a moment's

pride as a father -- until now.

D'Artagnan and Phillippe embrace, lost father to lost son.

From the heavily barred door to their rear comes a powerful

pounding; the Bastille's soldiers are trying to break it

down. Time is running out.

Aramis looks back down the corridor toward the door to the

outside, barred now by Louis and his young guards, their long

muskets bristling like spikes; and yet that way is the only

possible hope for escape to the outside.

ARAMIS:

D'Artagnan... Those are young

Musketeers down there. They have

been weaned on our legends. They

revere us -- it is an advantage.

Why don't we charge them?

D'ARTAGNAN

I trained those men myself. They

will stand and fight. But if we are

to die, let it be this way.

He draws his sword and points it into the air. Aramis lifts

the tip of his sword to join that of d'Artagnan. Porthos

does too... and then Athos joins them.

ATHOS:

One for all. All for one.

PHILLIPPE:

If I could have a blade, then I

would be please to run with you.

D'Artagnan gives Phillippe a dagger. They look at each

other. Then d'Artagnan begins to scream. The others take up

the shout. Then they step around the corner, and charge.

THE LAST CHARGE OF THE MUSKETEERS

We film it in all its glory, a visual feast: the Last Charge

of the Musketeers. Their capes swirl about time, their hair

flies, their legs take on new life.

At first the young Musketeers at the end of the corridor are

frozen in surprise; their youthful Lieutenant is awed by the

dashing, beautiful bravery of the thing.

LIEUTENANT:

Magnificent valor...

LOUIS:

Shoot them! Shoot them!

Louis grabs a musket from one of the reluctant soldiers and

fires:
SSSBOOM! With the first explosion of gunfire the

others pull their triggers; the powder in their weapons

flashes and crashes...

The musket balls fly down the hallway, sparking off the stone

walls and floor, ricocheting, punching holes through the

capes and flesh... but still the Musketeers charge like the

young men they once were -- still are, in spirit.

In the confines of the Bastille's stone corridor the noise is

deafening, and the space in front of the guards is filled

with the dense gray smoke of the gunpowder. None of them can

see anything beyond it... and all is quiet.

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