Here it is! A MULTI-CHAP! I know, I know. But here it goes!
Disclaimer: Author does not own Fantastic Four.
Scorp 13
Chapter 1
Blood. So much blood.
Blackness.
…
She wakes up in an interrogation room. An old-school one, complete with the whole mirror-glass window thingy. She stares contemplatively at the mirror, and then flips off whoever is standing behind it.
One-Mississippi.
Two-Mississippi.
A man walks into the room, his face covered by a hood. He sits down in the chair in front of her. "So this is the famous Scorpion."
"Scorp."
"Excuse me?"
"Scorp 13."
"Ah. I forgot you Arachnids have an unfortunate habit of numbering your members. So you are the 13th one to carry the name of Scorpion, hmm?"
"That is so."
"And if you don't mind me asking, isn't 13 an unlucky number?"
"I make it work."
"I must congratulate you on surviving this long." It was true. The Arachnids went through members surprisingly fast. Between duels and "projects," she was currently the longest surviving member of the Arachnids.
She had joined when she was 13. But that wasn't the point.
"I must ask you sir… why the hell am I here?" The man smirked, as if he had been waiting for this moment.
"My men found you in an… unfortunate gang fight with the Pit Bulls. You almost bled to death."
"BS. Those weren't the Pit Bulls. I could beat a whole gang of Pit Bulls with one arm tied behind my back. You sent that gang." The man removed his hood.
"True enough, Alice. I must say, you are surprisingly intuitive for someone of your… standing, Ms. Langley." So he was going to pull the Victorian snob on her, huh? Well, it was time to pull out all the stops.
"You're surprisingly arrogant for a man who was just frozen in ice, Victor. Or should I say, Doctor Doom?" Silence. She laughed. "It's called the newspaper, sir. Rule number 4 of interrogation: Don't let the victim outsmart you." Doom coughed.
"I heard you were looking for a way out of the Arachnids, and I have just the plan."
"What, you gonna kill me? Like your stupid thugs almost did?"
"I want you to work for me." It was her turn to be silent.
"What?" He took this as an invitation to plow on.
"You owe me, for saving your life. Had you just been left there, you would have bled out." She snorted.
"Hey, you're forgetting who sent the thugs here."
"It would just be a three year contract. When it's up, you could leave. Start fresh. Get a real job. Study science like you always wanted to." How the hell did he know all this? She laughed it off.
"I'd be working for three years with a known criminal, and you think I could start anew."
"They wouldn't know it was you. You'd wear a mask, like the one you wore as the Scorpion." Okay, this deal was getting a little too good to be true.
"And what would you get?"
"You would work for me." Simple, and to the point.
"What would happen if I refused?" He looked at her meaningfully.
"I think you know." She wouldn't make it out alive. "So do we have a deal?"
"It's not like I have a choice." Von Doom laughed and opened the bottle of champagne that she had not noticed was sitting on the edge of the table. He poured two glasses and handed her one.
"To us." And Alice knew that perhaps, she had made a mistake.