A secret hideout in New York City where there was a lab set up along with several masked criminals acting as guards; at the table working on fixing up Gargan's backpack was Phineas Mason the former 'tinkerer' of the criminal operation led by Adrian Toomes that consisted of the employees of the out of business Bestman Salvage. Along with him were Gutes Guterman, Janice Lincoln, Victoria Snow & William Ginter Riva who were former Stark Industries employees that ended up forming the Mysterio operation led by the late Quentin Beck.
Right now the former Stark employees were overseeing a rehearsal of a new scheme that they had come up with; several illusion drones were emitting a large hologram of a massive orange skinned monster. Before them was Mysterio himself using green smoke to fly down and present himself in a dramatic heroic pose as his fishbowl like helmet disappeared to reveal the face of Quentin Beck.
"Behold... You are not dreaming; it is I Mysterio having returned from the dead after Spider-Man murdered me... I thought that it was it for me and I was in the afterlife of my Earth to be greeted by my fallen comrades and my late wife... However it turned out that the destruction of my world was leading to Gog; a demon banished away long ago from escaping it's prison inside the afterlife... The gods decided that I was still needed and granted me the power to return more powerful than ever..." Beck said and then started sighing shaking his head. "Guterman... Was that the best that you could come up with? There are half and half of Mysterio believers and this story is supposed to convince more of them that Beck is alive again?" Beck ended up asking.
"Come on Danny; they will believe anything and besides after everything that has happened; nothing is too unbelievable anymore... Half the population came back; Nick Fury was thought to have died before HYDRA and Hank Pym's wife was said to have died decades ago and we heard that the Vision was brought back to life during that mess in Westview..." Guterman replied going up to Beck to pat him on the shoulder.
"Plus this mask... Making me look and sound like a dead man being brought to life... Kind of creepy..." Beck said taking off a high tech mask over his face to reveal that 'Beck' was just an illusion and the man looked different; only using Beck's Mysterio costume.
"Worry about ethics later Danny as being the new Mysterio is your new star making role! They will regret turning you down as Hawkeye in Rogers the Musical!" smiled Guterman as then slamming the doors open entering was Gargan as he marched up to Mason at the table.
"How is my suit Mason? Plus can you tell me why it wasn't good enough to kill Spider-Man?" Gargan demanded taking Mason by the collar off his jumpsuit making him afraid.
"Sorry but there are lot of damaged wires and ruptured cells; plus the power source will have to be charged up again... Plus I am sorry but I did say that the suit could only do so much against Spider-Man and if you were physicall unable to do it yourself..." Mason said as it got Gargan real furious.
"I have slit the throats of people for less and don't you dare insult me; not my fault if you are losing your touch since Toomes was able to use his suit for years before Spider-Man came to him and I asked you to make me a suit just like his and this was what I was given..." Gargan demanded as the Mysterio crew then looked towards him.
"Put him down Gargan; we need him as he has worked with the Chitauri tech the longest. He's the best to use that junk we got from the Avengers Compound and I think he did a decent job. Not his fault that you couldn't make work a suit that wasn't made in a cave with a box of scraps!" Riva said in a bit of a taunting voice as Gargan then threw down Mason and went up to Riva to stare him down.
"Remember who is in charge here; I brought us all together, while you were at the unemployment line when I found you all! Beck was drinking his sorrows bemoaning about his work being branded as BARF when I found him at a bar and gave him the idea to use the idea of the Avengers to his advantage! All these men in masks; they answer to me... I am the ringleader here!" Gargan warned him as he pointed to 'Danny'. "So remember that while you rehearse your comeback special with that idiot actor there!" Gargan snapped.
"Daniel Berkhart is no idiot actor! I have done Shakespeare to great applause!" 'Danny' then retorted angrily.
"Danny wasn't the one that failed to kill Spider-Man in a suit that had a bit of Thanos' sword at the end of the tail!" Victoria mocked as Gargan faced her.
"You lost to Spider-Man and some cat burglar; all that tech there was supposed to help us improve! We would be out of luck if we didn't have the stuff from the Compound or that copy of the EDITH drones' blueprints and the program that we had made!" Janice then mocked as this set Gargan off.
"On my word; you all can be gunned down..." Gargan warned as the drones were then put into 'armed mode' and began aiming at Gargan who was taken aback. "What is this..." Gargan demanded as the Mysterio team were smirking at him as he looked back at the guards who had their weapons up.
"Remember who knows how to deal with this cool stuff and you really want to side with some psycho who is only good for killing and making threats? I think we have entertained him thinking himself the leader for long enough and we could always get a new criminal contact." Guterman told them as they put their weapons down making Gargan furious. "What do you say Gargan; play ball or we will we have to recast the Scorpion as well in this group of sinister Avengers that you came up with?" Guterman asked as Gargan was set off.
Suddenly from his back came out several spiked tendrils which went through all of the drones crushing them; "That is new... Wait... What are these voices in my head..." Gargan said in awe and then yelled as he caught his head was it was everyone else's turn to be taken aback by this.
"Wait... You hate Spider-Man as well... Off course I want power..." Gargan was saying to himself freaking out everyone there and they started to try and make a break for it. However Gargan started growing bulkier and taller as he was surrounded by black goo and then as his face was covered there were white holes for his eyes with an open mouth with sharp teeth and a long tongue.
Gargan then lunched himself at the screaming Berkhart as he then started savagely attacking him. The Mysterio team then went to the weapons tail and picked up blasters but Gargan then sent out tendrils that caught by all by their legs and then they were screaming begging for mercy as they were dragged towards Gargan; not 5 minutes ago they felt smug and in control.
Riva had his eyes closed as he heard the horrified screams off his co-workers as well as the sounds of chomping. Riva was whimpering into a corner as he opened his eyes and was met with Gargan who had the ooze crawl back to where it was before leaving Gargan as he was.
"Riva... Everyone else... Are we in agreement? Am I in charge?" Gargan asked looking around seeing the terrified masked guards who nodded along with Riva and Mason coming out form his hiding spot underneath the table. "Okay... Mason forget about the backpack and focus on building more weapons and Riva... I want you to gather all that you know about Peter Parker." Gargan ordered Riva who nodded but looked confused.
"Okay... Sir, but can I ask... Who is Peter Parker?" Riva asked as Gargan looked inquisitive.
"My new friend here... Said that it's on a hive mind with it's counterparts around the Multiverse... Remembers bonding and being rejected by Peter Parker... Everyone hear knows him better as Spider-Man." Gargan then answered as Riva and everyone else just looked confused. "And can someone please clean all this up please; it's a huge mess..." Gargan said pointing to the remains of team Mysterio and their blood.
Later classes were out at Empire State University; Peter got out to the steps and went past the crowds of students as he walked to where the parking lot was as he spotted Felicia being met with a chauffeur who showed to a fancy car where she entered the passenger's seat.
"There you are Ms Hardy..." Peter muttered to himself as he turned around and almost walked into Jason Iontello who was also in his class. "Oh sorry Jason..." Peter muttered out apologetically.
"It's fine but surprised that you know my name... You're Parker; aren't you?" Jason answered as Peter shook his head trying to find the right words to go through this conversation.
"Yeah... We... I was in your class once but I had to drop out..." Peter put out knowing how stupid he looked trying to BS his way out of this conversation as Jason gave him a look.
"Okay Parker but I must warn you; don't embarrass yourself as Hardy is way out of your league." Jason said walking away as Peter shook his head as he spotted the fancy car heading out. He ran out of the entrance managed to spot the car as he then began running through the streets trying to catch up.
Going by some annoyed passerbys on the street; he decided to run into an alleyway. Changing out of his clothes; he put them into his backpack and then stuck it up the wall with a web as he climbed up.
He looked down and managed to just find the car and began web slinging around the streets with some onlookers spotting him and either cheering or booing his way; something that he had to get used to. His reputation was as mixed as it was after his lawyer Matt Murdock got the charges against him settled; only now people didn't know who he was.
The car got to the parking lot of a fancy hotel building called the Hardy Hotel; he got to the top and began to think to himself; "So do I go through the vents and try to find her or just wait for a clue to where she is here..." Peter wondered as he stood on top of the building in wonder. However perched at the edge; he noticed a balcony attached to a suite and looked down to notice Felicia coming out in a bathrobe and looked down at the barrier.
Thinking he could sneak in now or take her by surprise; he crawled down to the door but felt his Spider-Sense go off as he had to dodge as Felicia went ran his way for a flying kick. Felicia smirked at him as she quickly tied her hair up and removed her bathrobe to reveal that she was wearing her Black Cat suit underneath.
"So are you always ready to throw down in your downtime Ms Hardy or should I say Black Cat?" Peter asked sending webs at her that she beagn dodging with cart wheels and jumping about.
"Silent cameras hidden all around my suite all connected to a secret app on my phone; you can't do what I do without taking precautions." Felicia explained with a smirk going for some kicks close to Peter which he kept dodging. "Definitely living up to the hype Spider..." smirked Felicia as she was sent back by a kick and caught onto a web.
"Now let's see if I can find your loot and use it as evidence to make a citizen's arrest..." Peter pondered going inside and seeing several framed photos on the walls which showed Felicia young with a smiling couple that he guessed was her parents; earliest one showed them in front of the Eifel Tower with Felicia as an infant and there were quite a few of them with Felicia and her father. Peter managed to find a bedroom where there were all sorts of Spider-Man newspaper articles framed up on the wall.
"I don't know whether to be flattered or unnerved..." Peter muttered but then found the mask of his old Integrated suit framed on the wall only without the eye lenses.
"Removed the lenses for my own mask; what can I say as I am a big fan." Felicia said from behind as Peter had to react to his Spider-Sense to dodge a kick from the back by Felicia as he jumped out of the room as there was Felicia having gotten free of the web and put on her mask. "Your web was strong but this kitty has got claws!" Felicia smirked showing off the claws on her gloves as Peter then began trying to shoot webs at her again but they missed.
They were soon back on the balcony as Peter said "I must say that I don't really often fight fans but you rob people and are a thief..."
"Only rob those who can afford it and I do it for the thrill; I will say that I found you cool ever since you first appeared in your rummage sale suit. You dressed badly but I was amazed by the speed, the strength and the thrill of what you did and it only grew as you got big. You do it all with action as your reward." Felicia told him and Peter shook his head.
"I guess you don't truly understand me..." Peter muttered but then they heard the sound of sirens and they looked down and saw police cars racing through the streets. "This looks like this will be a priority..." Peter groaned looking down from the barrier as Felicia put a hand on his shoulders.
"Let me come with you; consider this a team up!" Felicia said as Peter looked at him and shook his head.
"No way... You're a known thief and I don't really work with bad guys or gals..." Peter shook his head as he then jumped down and began web slinging.
"Try and stop me Peter..." Felicia whispered as she jumped down and took out her whip to start swinging from lamp posts to follow Peter.
OST: Psycho Killer by Talking Heads
Gargan smirked as he walked out of an apartment building as there were screaming inside and for people to call the police; Gargan walked by the onlookers with a dance and did a little dance on the spot as the people on the street rolled their eyes at him. "Look at Mr Bitterman's corpse; you'd think that he was gonna cry." Gargan said with a laugh.
"Was that necessary; tracking him down for that? His brain was delectable but the way you played with the food..." said a dark voice in his head.
"Mr Bitterman made my elementary school life a living hell and I never forget those that have crossed me and I always swore that I would get even with them all. A name crossed out and Spider-Man will join that name..." Gargan said as police cars piled the streets and out came armed officers.
"We got the call of a horrific murder and the suspect described leaving the scene? Matched your description and I must say that as an escaped felon; I didn't think that you were stupid enough to murder someone violently and just walk the streets afterwards as if nothing had happened!" one of the officers snapped as another began calling out his rights and Gargan laughed as he put his arms up and then down as if mockingly.
The people on the streets had ran away when the police cars arrived and Gargan looked nonplussed as the officers came forward; "We're going to put some dirt in your eyes!" Gargan smirked out loud as the ooze began covering him increasing his mass and size again with the horrific monster head with onlookers began running away screaming in terror.
"What are you..." asked one of the officers as they began open firing at him and the monstrous form just took the bullets.
In a dark deep voice the form said "We are... Venom!"
Yes the remainders of teams Vulture and Mysterio were brought together and Team Mysterio were the friends on the outside that Gargan mentioned in the Homecoming mid-credits scene.