A Good Place To Begin
| A Good Place To Begin | |
|---|---|
| Date of Cutscene: | 17 September 2019 |
| Location: | Gymnasium, Sims Building, Manhattan |
| Synopsis: | Ezekiel Sims and Cindy Moon take a break from training. |
| Cast of Characters: | Ezekiel Sims, Cindy Moon |
Adapted from Amazing Spider-Man Volume 2, #48. All rights belong to their respective owners. Love you, Mickey.
Gymnasium; 24th floor of the Sims Building, lower Manhattan - afternoon
"Take a break. It's lunchtime." Ezekiel Sims drops to the floor, landing with a soft thud on a blue training mat. With a towel, he wipes a bead of perspiration from his forehead. "And you haven't even broken a sweat. Great."
A dark-haired girl rolls her eyes at him. "You're the only one who can train me! No one else can keep up."
"You're fast, Cindy. But I want you to focus more on your strength." Ezekiel crosses the room to a five-gallon sports drink dispenser and gulps down an entire cupful in one go. "Did you read the books?"
Cindy Moon crosses her arms. "I'm almost done. It's so boring."
"We've discussed this. Just get the information into your brain. Not everyone has..." Cindy interrupts him. "I know. Second Boer War, court martial of Morant. Those with the ability to act have the /responsibility/ to act."
Ezekiel beams. "Good." A secure door opens, and an attractive woman with a dark complexion enters the training room, carrying a wrinkled white bag. "Special delivery," she announces, before noticing Cindy's expression. "Is this man bothering you, young lady?"
Cindy Moon throws her head back and groans dramatically. "You have no idea!"
The woman winks at Ezekiel, who glances sidelong at the two of them, but says nothing. He retrieves the bag and removes a small paper package from it. "Fish tacos," he confirms. "Thank you, Nina." Nina nods, smiles at Cindy, and withdraws.
Ezekiel sits down and slides the paper bag toward Cindy. "Have a seat and try not to spill on the mat. I have a story to tell you." Cindy Moon joins Ezekiel on the training mat and snatches up the bag. "You never let me eat in here," she complains.
"I know," he acknowledges, "but it's my building. I'm allowed to break the rules. You're not. They're no good cold," he says, gesturing at the tacos.
Cindy Moon glowers, but starts picking through the contents of the bag. Ezekiel begins, heedless of the crinkling. "This is important. Hundreds of years ago, there was an old, wise man. They say he travelled across Africa, learning the stories and customs of the people he met along the way, and helping them as best he could."
"But one day, the old man had travelled far and wide, across the land, and up to the tops of the very tallest peaks. He realized he had seen all there was to see, learned all of the stories there were to know, and still, he wanted more. So he weaved a ladder for himself to climb to heaven and ask the sky-god himself."
"He weaved a ladder?" Cindy challenges through a mouthful of taco, covering her mouth with a hand.
Ezekiel is the picture of doubt. "Oh, does that overwhelm your suspension of disbelief? Ms. Moon?" He waggles his fingers at her.
"I guess not," she demures.
Ezekiel smiles and places his taco, still wrapped, on the mat in front of him. "Then I'll continue. The wise man weaved a ladder into the sky, and for days, he climbed. He climbed so high that he left the world. He found himself in the realm of Nyame, the sky-god. Nyame was the keeper of all stories, past, present, and future. A knower of all things." Cindy nods, listening as she opens another taco.
"Nyame looked upon the old man and said, 'who is this little spider who has spun a web into my domain?' And the old man said, 'I am Kwaku Anansi, and I have come to hear your stories and know your wisdom.'"
"I hope he brought popcorn," Cindy interjects.
"Sadly, no," Ezekiel concedes. "Nyame said to the old man, Anansi, 'my stories and my wisdom come at great cost, little spider,' and Anansi said, 'there is no price I will not pay.'
Nyame said to him, 'will you serve me forever?'
Anansi said, 'I will.'
'And will you ensnare with your web whosoever I should ask?'
'I will,' he said.
And Nyame asked him, 'will you look only to me and forsake all others?'
Anansi faltered, and he said, 'I will not forsake those whom I love or revere, or those in need.'
And Nyame smiled, and said, 'the bargain is sealed. Hear my stories, little spider, and know my wisdom.'"
Ezekiel leans forward and snaps his fingers. "Just like that, the old man vanished. But his experiences... the stories he had heard throughout his life, from the people he had met and from Nyame... all were passed to his children. The spiders, Cindy. The spiders are Anansi's children, who spin the stories into webs of their own. Stories of what we know and what we don't know, stories of the past and the future, stories of life and death."
Cindy stares. Ezekiel goes on.
"Their stories are all around us, if you know where to look. They say that wherever Anansi's children walk, he walks, and sees the world through their eyes. So there is little he does not see."
"A cosmic voyeur," Cindy summarizes. She pushes the remains of her lunch to one side and draws her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. "Is that all he does?"
"He spins the Web of Life, Cindy," Ezekiel explains. "He's the source of our abilities."
"I got my powers from a spider bite. What does that have to do with stories?"
Ezekiel smiles, his blue eyes sparkling. "It's about possibilities. The Web of Life and Destiny connects everything." He gestures broadly. "Everything. From its center, the Great Weaver can see every possibility, in all of existence. Cindy, you are one of those possibilities. An avatar of his power. Am I being clear enough?"
"I guess," she replies. "I don't know."
"There are many different names. Many totems." Ezekiel hesitates. "We believe your totem is one called, 'the Bride.'"
Cindy balks. "The /Bride/? Of who?"
Ezekiel squirms, his eyes searching. "It's just a title. Suffice it to say, you are a totem of the Great Weaver. We both are. That means we have a responsibility to fulfull."
"What responsibility?" Cindy insists, skeptical.
"We know it when we see it. Like the day we met. Remember?" Ezekiel gives a significant look.
Cindy sits up. "The day of the attack."
"That's right." Ezekiel smiles, retrieving his fish taco and opening the wrapper. "A premature effort, to be sure. But I would like to reassure you that had you chosen your fight more carefully, you may well have won. You're a natural."
Cindy returns the smile. "Thanks, Ezekiel."
"You are most welcome. Do you have any other questions?"
"I don't know. Not right now. None of the totem stuff really makes sense to me."
"Yes," Ezekiel admits. "You'll get used to it." He takes a bite of his taco and blanches.
"Cold?" Cindy Moon inquires, smirking. Ezekiel glares at her. "Nevermind," he replies, standing up and cracking his knuckles. "Let's get back to it."
