[Scene: Along a hilltop]

[The MAN IN BLACK throws BUTTERCUP towards a rock, where she sits to catch her breath.]

Man in Black: Catch your breath.

Buttercup: If you'll release me, whatever you ask for ransom, you'll get it, I promise you.

Man in Black: [laughs bitterly] And what is that worth, the promise of a woman? You're very funny, Highness.

Buttercup: I was giving you a chance. It does not matter where you take me. There is no greater hunter than Prince Humperdinck. He can track a falcon on a cloudy day. He can find you.

Man in Black: You think your dearest love will save you?

Buttercup: [insulted] I never said he was my dearest love, and yes, he will save me... That I know.

Man in Black: [surprised] You admit to me that you do not love your fiancé?

Buttercup: He knows I do not love him.

Man in Black: [snapping at her] Are not capable of love is what you mean!

Buttercup: I have loved more deeply than a killer like yourself could ever dream!

[The MAN IN BLACK raises his hand as if to strike her.]

Man in Black: That was a warning, Highness. The next time my hand flies on its own, for where I come from, there are penalties when a woman lies.

[Scene: At the Table.]

[VIZZINI lies dead on the ground. HUMPERDINCK sniffs the vial.]

Humperdinck: Iocaine. I'd bet my life on it. And there are the princess's footprints. She's alive, or was an hour ago. If she is otherwise when I find her, I shall be very put out.

[Scene: Grassy Hilltop, alongside a gully.]

Man in Black: Rest, Highness.

Buttercup: I know who you are. Your cruelty reveals everything. You're the Dread Pirate Roberts, admit it!

Man in Black: [bows] With pride. What can I do for you?

Buttercup: You can die slowly, cut into a thousand pieces.

Man in Black: [shakes his head] Tsk-tsk-tsk. Hardly complimentary, your Highness. Why loose your venom on me?

Buttercup: You killed my love.

Man in Black: It's possible. I kill a lot of people. Who was this love of yours? Another prince like this one… ugly, rich, and scabby?

[The MAN IN BLACK sits.]

Buttercup: No. A farm boy. Poor. Poor and perfect. With eyes like the sea after a storm. [a pause as she remembers him] On the high seas, your ship attacked. And the Dread Pirate Roberts never takes prisoners.

Man in Black: I can't afford to make exceptions. I mean once word leaks out that a pirate has gone soft, people begin to disobey you and it's nothing but work, work, work all the time.

Buttercup: You mock my pain!

Man in Black: Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.

[BUTTERCUP looks away. The MAN IN BLACK rises and walks towards her. BUTTERCUP does not look at him as he speaks.]

Buttercup: Nothing you can say will upset me.

Man in Black: He died well. That should please you. No bribe attempts or blubbering. He simply said, "Please... please, I need to live." It was the 'please' that caught my memory. I asked him what was so important for him here. "True Love," he replied. And then he spoke of a girl of surpassing beauty and faithfulness… I can only assume he meant you. You should bless me for destroying him before he found out what you really are.

Buttercup: And what am I?

Man in Black: Faithfulness he talked of, madam, your enduring faithfulness! Now tell me truly, when you found out he was gone, did you get engaged to your prince that same hour, or did you wait a whole week out of respect for the dead?

Buttercup: You mocked me once. Never do it again! I died that day!

[There is a noise off in the distance, as HUMPERDINCK approaches. The MAN IN BLACK turns to look.]

[BUTTERCUP pushes the MAN IN BLACK over the hill.]

Man in Black: [tumbling] As... you... wish!!

Buttercup: [shocked] Oh! My sweet Westley! What have I done?

[BUTTERCUP hurls herself down the mountain, in chase of WESTLEY. They tumble with various groans, and then roll to a stop a few feet from each other. WESTLEY no longer wears the mask.]

[Scene: Hilltop.]

[HUMPERDINCK and the Soldiers are mounted.]

Humperdinck: He disappeared. He must have seen us closing in. It might account for his panicking into error. Unless I am wrong — and I am never wrong — they are headed straight into the fire swamp.

[Scene: Gully.]
[WESTLEY crawls over to BUTTERCUP.]

Westley: Can you move at all?

Buttercup: [joyous] Move? You're alive! If you want I could fly.

[They embrace. WESTLEY looks at BUTTERCUP.]

Westley: I told you I would always come for you. Why didn't you wait for me?

Buttercup: Well, you were dead.

Westley: Death cannot stop True Love. All it can do is delay it for a while.

Buttercup: I will never doubt again.

Westley: [quietly] There will never be a need.

[BUTTERCUP and WESTLEY kiss]

Grandson: [v.o., disgusted] Oh, no. No, please!

[Scene: Boy's bedroom]

Grandfather: What is it? What's the matter?

Grandson: They're kissing again. Do we have to hear the kissing part?

Grandfather: Someday, you may not mind so much.

Grandson: Skip on to the fire swamp. That sounded good!

Grandfather: Oh… You're sick, I'll humor you. So now... where were we? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. [finds the right page] Oh...okay… Westley and Buttercup raced along the ravine floor.

[Scene: Ravine floor.]
[Ahead looms the dark of the Fire Swamp. HUMPERDINCK and his men appear at the top of the canyon.]

Westley: Aha! Your pig fiancé is too late. A few more steps and we'll be safe in the Fire Swamp.

[They run towards the Swamp.]

Buttercup: [worried] We'll never survive.

Westley: [confident] Nonsense! You're only saying that because no one ever has.

[Scene: Inside the Fire Swamp. The Fire Swamp is dark, dank, dreary, and damp. There are gnarled trees and overhanging vines. The path is hardly visible. Menacing music plays and the sounds of many creepy creatures permeate the air with moans, squawks, bellows and scurrying.]
[WESTLEY and BUTTERCUP slowly navigate the bumpy terrain.]

Westley: It's not that bad.

[BUTTERCUP gives WESTLEY an incredulous look.]

[They continue through an eerie maze of trees. Suddenly, a series of popping sounds are heard. After the popping sounds, a flame explodes up from the ground and BUTTERCUP's dress catches on fire. She screams. WESTLEY smothers it.]

Westley: [calmly] Well now, that was an adventure. Singed a bit, were you?

Buttercup: [shaken, shakes her head 'no'] You?

[WESTLEY shakes his head 'no' and they continue through the Fire Swamp. Suddenly another series of popping noises are heard. WESTLEY calmly lifts BUTTERCUP out of the way of another fire spurt.]

Westley: Well, one thing I will say. The fire swamp certainly does keep you on your toes. [pause] This will all soon be but a happy memory. Roberts' ship Revenge is banked at the far end. And I, as you know, am Roberts.

Buttercup: But how is that possible, since he's been marauding twenty years, and you only left me five years ago?

Westley: I myself am often surprised at life's little quirks.

[There is popping and WESTLEY smoothly moves BUTTERCUP away from the spurt.]

[WESTLEY cuts through a mass of vines as they continue forward.]

Buttercup: What? Go on.

Westley: Well, Roberts had grown so rich, he wanted to retire. So he took me to his cabin, and told me his secret. "I am not the Dread Pirate Roberts," he said. "My name is Ryan. I inherited the ship from the previous Dread Pirate Roberts, just as you will inherit it from me. The man I inherited it from was not the real Dread Pirate Roberts either. His name was Cumberbund. The real Roberts has been retired fifteen years and living like a King in Patagonia."

[BUTTERCUP moves vines out of their way.]

Thank you. Then he explained that the name was the important thing for inspiring the necessary fear. You see, no one would surrender to the Dread Pirate Westley. So we sailed ashore, took on an entirely new crew, and he stayed aboard for a while as first mate, all the time calling me Roberts. And, once the crew believed, he left the ship, and I have been Roberts ever since. Except now that we're together, I shall retire and hand the name over to someone else. Is everything clear to you?

[BUTTERCUP is confused but nods her head anyway. She steps forward and vanishes into a patch of sand. The sand is Lightning Sand. Thinking quickly, WESTLEY cuts a vine, and dives in after her. While they are in the sand, a Rodent of Unusual Size waddles by.]

[After a few moments, they resurface, gasping for breath and coughing.]

[As BUTTERCUP clings to WESTLEY for comfort, he looks over her shoulder and sees a Rodent of Unusually Size. He says nothing about it.]

Buttercup: [hopelessly] We'll never succeed. We may as well die here.

Westley: [full of optimism] No, no. We have already succeeded. I mean, what are the three terrors of the fire swamp? One, the flame spurt. No problem. There's a popping sound preceding each, we can avoid that. Two, the lightning sand, but you were clever enough to discover what that looks like, so in the future we can avoid that too.

Buttercup: Westley, what about the R.O.U.S's?

Westley: Rodents of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist.

[As WESTLEY finished speaking, a large Rodent growls and pounces on him. WESTLEY bellows. They struggle and the R.O.U.S. bites WESTLEY on the arm. WESTLEY bellows more at the pain. The R.O.U.S. breaks free and begins to go after BUTTERCUP. She helplessly looks around for something to protect herself, but is too frightened to find anything useful.]

Buttercup: Westley!!

[The R.O.U.S. manages to grab hold of BUTTERCUP's dress. WESTLEY pounces it and BUTTERCUP feebly pokes at it with a large branch. WESTLEY is able to pull the R.O.U.S. away from BUTTERCUP. In the process, the R.O.U.S. bites WESTLEY in the shoulder and WESTLEY bellows. A popping sound is heard. WESTLEY rolls the Rodent over in its direction, flame spurts from the ground and covers the Rodent. It bellows and tries to crawl away. WESTLEY follows and runs it through, twice. The Rodent dies.]

Rodent: Brawr rawr rawr! Arouw!

[Scene: A Clearing outside the Fire Swamp, in a lightly wooded area]

Buttercup: We did it.

Westley: Now, was that so terrible?

[As WESTLEY and BUTTERCUP are about the kiss, HUMPERDINCK and his soldiers appear.]

Humperdinck: Surrender!

Westley: You mean you wish to surrender to me? Very well, I accept.

Humperdinck: I give you full marks for bravery. Don't make yourself a fool.

Westley: Ah, but how will you capture us? We know the secrets of the fire swamp. We can live there quite happily for some time, so whenever you feel like dying, feel free to visit.

[Unseen by WESTLEY, men with crossbows surround them. BUTTERCUP notices them but WESTLEY does not.]

Humperdinck: I tell you once again, surrender!

Westley: It will not happen.

[WESTLEY draws his sword.]

Humperdinck: [shouting] For the last time, surrender!

Westley: Death first!!

Buttercup: [interrupting] Will you promise not to hurt him?

Humperdinck: What was that?

Westley: What was that?

Buttercup: If we surrender and I return with you, will you promise not to hurt this man?

Humperdinck: May I live a thousand years and never hunt again!

Buttercup: He is a sailor on the pirate ship Revenge. Promise to return him to his ship.

Humperdinck: I swear it will be done. [quietly, to RUGEN] Once we're out of sight, take him back to Florin and throw him in the Pit of Despair.

Rugen: [quietly] I swear it will be done.

Buttercup: [to Westley] I thought you were dead once and it almost destroyed me. I could not bear it if you died again, not when I could save you.

[HUMPERDINCK grabs BUTTERCUP and lifts her onto his horse. They ride away.]

Rugen: [to Westley] Come, sir, we must get you to your ship.

Westley: We are men of action. Lies do not become us.

Rugen: Well spoken, sir.

[RUGEN motions for the guards to escort him away. As he does, WESTLEY notices his hand. It has six fingers.]

Westley: You have six fingers on your right hand. Someone was looking for you…

[RUGEN quickly knocks WESTLEY out with the hilt of his sword.]

[Scene: Pit of Despair.]