Getting to know Mania
| Getting to know Mania | |
|---|---|
| Date of Cutscene: | 25 May 2020 |
| Location: | Happy Harbor |
| Synopsis: | Andi and Mania begin to figure out what their bond might mean for each other. |
| Cast of Characters: | Andi Benton |
The last month or so in Andi Benton's life had been full of turmoil. It all started when the gang tried to have their way with her in the alley and Spider-Man showed up in the nick of time. Then, he visited the music shop she worked in, chatting with her in the midst of selling a vinyl record to the store. That was when she learned where most of the gang members were.
School was school. There were some strange students there she was sure had something different about them, but she was on the path to graduating. Even if college wasn't in her plans, it was important to her father and she didn't want to let him down. She was all he had, and he was all she had.
Then, Doctor Octopus entered the picture. She'd seen the news about the meteor shower. A story about them had even come on the TV when Spider-Man was at the shop, but she missed the ones afterward and didn't think much of it until she was passing by the abandoned warehouse and felt that strange presence in her mind. Desperate, primal, even afraid. She should have just hurried along, but she had to try to see what was going on.
Doc Ock spotted her, and while he didn't get to her before she fled, he tracked down where she lived. He went there for her and she wasn't there, but her father was an acceptable consolation prize. It got her to go back to the warehouse, but what Ock hadn't counted on was her having Spider-Man on her side. During the fight, the symbiote escaped. It reached her, and in both their moments of need, the bond was created.
Suddenly, Andi felt power she'd never had before. She also felt that presence more strongly, whispering to her, urging her to act on her emotions, promising this and that. Her father was saved, though injured and shaken up. She met with Spider-Man and they talked. She informed concerned faculty members at Happy Harbor about what happened, even if it was done with reluctance. It was the right thing to do.
She also went to the place most of the gang members were being held and, overcome with a desire for revenge, nearly killed two of them. Only Spider-Man and Mary Jane, who had some sort of warrior entity or different voice of her own to contend with, talked her down from going through with it before she took off. By the end of that encounter, she'd given herself a name: Mania.
Did it mean anything beyond being part of the name of the last company to use that warehouse? It just might. Only time would tell.
There was a need for knowledge and understanding about what was going on, what had changed. One night, Andi found a quiet rooftop in Happy Harbor and just spent some time alone with herself and the symbiote.
"Why did you pick me, anyway?" she asked.
It flowed away from her head, taking the form of a face with the wide bug-like eyes and the mouth, branching off of a shoulder to look at her. <We needed you. You needed us.>
"But that doesn't explain why it was me and not someone else."
<Pain. Too much pain. Felt your pain too. Strong feelings. Like a...>
"...a beacon?"
<Beacon? What is 'beacon?'>
"It's like a guiding light or a warning to help people find their way."
<Yes. Andi the beacon. Our guide.>
"Yeah, whatever. I thought my dad was gonna die, and maybe Spider-Man wouldn't be able to save him in time, and I didn't want to be alone..."
<Not alone now. Never alone again. We have Andi. Andi has us. Protect Andi. Keep Andi safe. Keep us safe.>
"But I almost killed those guys. I wanted to. It felt right."
<Should have. They deserved it. Would have hurt Andi. Saw in Andi's memories. Felt Andi's fear.>
"Maybe, but I...I don't think I could kill someone like that."
<Why not? Very easy. Many ways to kill. To make others pay for hurting Andi. For hurting us.>
"But it's...not right. Spider-Man wouldn't kill like that, even if someone deserved it. He tries to be better than that. I didn't really get it until he and, I guess, his girlfriend or whatever, found me there. I mean, found us there."
<Not right? Not right to make others pay for hurting us? For experimenting on us? For torturing us?>
"It's complicated, but we have police and courts and judges and juries and jail and prison for people who do stuff like that. There's this whole process we have for it with evidence and proof and everything. We could stop people who are doing bad things, though."
<Yes. And make them pay for hurting others. Make sure they do not do it again.>
"...something like that. I don't know. I don't think Spider-Man would like that, and he helped me before. He's trying to set a good example."
<Then we will watch the spider man more. Maybe be more like him if we want.>
"Yeah. Maybe we will. Look, I'm kinda hungry. I could go for some chocolate or something."
<YES! WE WANT THE CHOCOLATE! GO GET IT!> The symbiote excitedly flowed back into place, leaving Andi fully in her new 'armor,' her new 'skin' again.
"Jeez! Fine! I know it tastes good, but keep it together!"
Mania leapt down from the rooftop, en route to the place she was staying in temporarily, set up by one of the school's faculty. "We need to do this again soon. We have a lot to learn about each other."
