Earth, New York, Rikers Island
MacDonald "Mac" Gargan always prided himself on getting through obstacles in his path. In his case, those obstacles tended to be human, and they tended to end up in the ground. Naturally, this resulted in a life in and out of prison, not that Gargan cared too much. He'd gotten better at covering his tracks from the last few "incidents" anyway. There were still a couple of bodies he didn't think the cops had even managed to find.
However, this time, Gargan wasn't in jail for murder, robbery, or anything else. Now, he was just hanging out in a cell while the FBI tried to prove he'd been one of the potential buyers for the arms deal on the Staten Island Ferry. Considering that the sale was for sophisticated weapons developed from technology salvaged from Avengers incidents, if they could nail him, it would be a big deal. They wouldn't be able to do it, of course, but they had probable cause to keep looking, and that would be enough to hold him for the rest of the day.
That bit of good news, unfortunately, couldn't bring out his good mood, due to the massive amounts of pain he was in, after getting knocked off the the Staten Island Ferry during that little deal. Gargan's arm was bound into a cast, and had multiple pins inside it to help it heal properly, not to mention the numerous stitches across his body that stung constantly. One of his eyes was still bloodshot. It was only temporary, of course, but Gargan was still in a state of chronic pain.
The light in his world right now was the thought of revenge. The thought of finding that little spider kid and bending his fingers until they snapped, poking out both of his eyes, and generally making sure he experienced every bit of agony Gargan felt ten times over. It was the most pleasant prospect he'd had in so long, and he clung to it like a lifeline. Once he got out, and once he'd healed, he'd gather up as many people as he could pay, and they'd hunt down Spider-Man. The thought of revenge was sweeter than any other. Shame Toomes had no interest in helping, but it would go just fine without him.
Gargan looked across the hall, where Herman Schultz, one of Toomes' men, was sitting quietly. After Toomes himself had been a bust, Gargan had moved on to Schultz, knowing that the man was a hard worker, and reliable. Schultz had been ordered to kill the spider kid some time back, but he'd apparently failed, and the entire gang had been caught, except for Mason. God only knew where he was. As it turned out, Schultz hated the kid too, and was perfectly willing to take another chance to pound his face in. Once Gargan was free, he'd gather up some guys and bust Schultz out too. They'd grab his electric gauntlet too, realizing how useful it would be for their work. Spider-Man wouldn't know what-
Gargan's train of thought came to a screeching halt as he felt some sort of wave wash over him. It was like an invisible tide of water, though it didn't carry the physical force to push him over. A chill went down his spine, and he knew immediately that this was unnatural.
As the wave passed, time seemed to...halt. Outside of Gargan's cell, guards stopped in mid-walk, and the two participants of a fistfight froze where they stood. The ever present clock ceased ticking. The only one who seemed as unaffected as Gargan was Herman Schultz. The two men stared at each other, unsure of how to react to this.
But before a word could be spoken, a swirl of sparks appeared in the air in Gargan's cell. The sparks spiraled outward, eventually forming a rather large, circular pattern. To Gargan's surprise, as he looked into the circle head on, he didn't see the other side of his cell, but rather a completely different location. He didn't manage to take in many details, however, before a woman stepped through the portal.
She had the physique of an amazon, to say the least, with a tall, imposing figure, and thick muscles. Her long blond hair hung down her back, unencumbered by any decorations. She wore slim, form-fitting green armor, covering everything below her neck, while her head was adorned with some sort of green, crown-like piece. Her face was beautiful, though from her expression, Gargan was sure she knew this fact, and took perhaps a little too much pride in it. Her fingers glowed with green energy, and with a wave of her hand, the portal behind her sealed shut.
"MacDonald Gargan," said the woman. "Herman Schultz. I am Amora the Enchantress. I come bearing you an offer."
"What is this? What are you doing and why?" Gargan asked, bewildered. This kind of unnerving super-powered crap always managed to unnerve him. He got to his feet, putting up his one remaining fist. Across the hall, he could see that Schultz was just as apprehensive as he.
Amora smiled maliciously. "My employer has a proposition for you two. He knows you both want to eliminate Spider-Man. How would you like the chance to do that..." she leaned forward, "along with the entire team of Avengers?" She held up her hand, clutching Schultz's electric gauntlet in her grip.
Gargan actually gasped. The criminal underworld, naturally, despised the Avengers. Even if they spent a lot of their time focusing on big, planet-ruining, potential apocalypses, they still found the time to bust arms dealers and the like. Wiping them off the map would be a massive boon to any criminal's business. And this woman had frozen time around them, and she was working for somebody who was probably even more powerful. Really, Gargan couldn't see any way he could say no. He turned to look at Schultz, a sadistic smile finding its way onto his face. Schultz nodded in agreement, having gone along the same train of thought.
"Hell yeah, we're in," Schultz chimed in, grinning. "When do we start?"
Amora gave another unnerving smile, as she snapped her fingers. Two more portals emerged, one in Schultz's cell and one in Gargan's. Both men eagerly approached their paths to freedom.
"They won't even realize you've gone for a time" Amora informed them, as she passed through the shimmering portal.
Earth, Latveria
Gargan and Schultz found themselves in a large, wide-open room, where the walls were formed of neatly arranged bricks. It was like something out of some medieval castle at first glance, but a look at the rest of the room revealed that as inaccurate. A series of massive computers, along with various other machines they couldn't identify, lined the room. At the largest computer sat a man with four large, metallic tentacles emerging from the back of his trench coat.
"Ah, Amora, you finally return," said Otto Octavius, his mechanical arms typing away at a keyboard, apparently of their own accord. "And you've brought us more hands, at last."
"Don't give me your attitude, Octavius," Amora snapped, her eyes pulsing green. "We both know that I am more valuable to our employer than you."
"Wait, if you're not the one in charge, who is?" asked Schultz. "I kinda like to know exactly who I'm working for."
"And you shall," came a deep, booming voice from across the hall.
All eyes turned across the room, discovering the figure that had just arrived. A tall man stood by the door, wearing a suit of shining, silvery armor, covering his entire body. A dark green cloak, complete with a hood, covered his shoulders and head. The face didn't resemble a helmet, so much as a cold death mask, with sharp, angular features. The one thing that could be see were the eyes, dark brown, almost black. Schultz and Gargan instinctively shrank back, not only because this figure was so intimidating, but because they'd seen this figure before. Everyone had seen him on the news at some point. The Latverian dictator was known all over the world.
"Dr. Doom?!" Gargan exclaimed, unable to comprehend this new situation. "You want to hire us?!"
"My lord," said Amora, with a bow. Octavius did one as well, before resuming his work on the computers.
Victor Von Doom stomped down the steps towards the others, his armor clinking with every step.
"My current objective threatens to put me in conflict with the Avengers," Doom explained. "They cannot comprehend real progress in the world, and the sacrifices that have to be made in order to fix things. So, I find myself in need of...employees that are willing to take care of them." He looked at Gargan and Schultz. "I'm told you two have a desire for revenge on Spider-Man in particular?"
"Oh you have no idea," said Gargan with a chuckle. "I almost wish that kid actually had eight limbs, so I could take the time to pull them all off one at a time."
"Excellent," said Doom. "Then you will obey only my orders. Disobey, and you die. Fail me, and punishment will be severe. If you succeed, you will be properly rewarded. Understand?"
"Y-yes," said Schultz, unnerved. While he was perfectly willing to kill the spider kid, this was on a level he'd never expected. Dr. Doom was the ultimate feared figure in the underworld, and Schultz knew enough about the guy to know that he wasn't bluffing. "But how are we gonna take them out? We're just ordinary guys."
"I've already planned for those factors," Doom replied, smugly. He held out a hand, and Amora levitated the electric gauntlet over to his waiting hand. Doom examined the weapon in his hands. "An interesting piece of technology, but not much on its own. I'll fabricate a second for you, Schultz along with a suit and upgrades. Octavius?"
Octavius obeyed, typing a few commands on a single keyboard, bringing up an image. "We thought of a way to enhance the gauntlet, creating a weapon that fires vibrating electrical pulses, strong enough to shake apart most structures. The only problem was the feedback, which would obliterate an ordinary human." A three-dimensional image of a full-body battle suit appeared on the screen. The suit had the shock gauntlets on both hands, armored limbs and head, and foam padding. "The heavy padding will absorb the aftershocks, keeping the body intact."
"As long as I don't have to call myself the Shocker," said Schultz, groaning internally at Bryce's moniker.
"What about me?" asked Gargan, eager to see his own upgrades. Who wouldn't be?
"Mac Gargan. You will live up to your street name, the Scorpion," said Octavius with a grin. He pressed a few more buttons, bringing up a picture of another battle suit. This one was covered entirely in armor plating, but the hands were replaced with massive, pincer claws, and a gigantic tail emerged just below the spine, arcing over the body. "Specially designed by our combined intellect to counter Spider-Man's powers. With that, you should be more than a match for him, and any other Avengers that get in your way."
"In addition," Doom continued, pulling a vial of green liquid out of his cloak, "I can make you his biological equal, giving you the powers of a scorpion. As scorpions prey on spiders, so shall you prey on Spider-Man. However, I must caution you. The process for equipping your battle suit is based partly on how Dr. Octavius here uses his mechanical arms, and is rather...unorthodox. The tail will be physically fused to your spine, giving you total control, but the process is irreversible. You are certain you wish to go through with this?"
"I'll ask again: Are you kidding?" laughed Gargan. "I get to kill Spider-Man and walk around with a six-foot tail that can waste normal people? Sign me up!"
Behind his cold metal mask, Dr. Doom smiled a wicked smile. This had been easier than expected.