The MCU

The Broker surveyed his wares and was incredibly satisfied with the fruits of his labors. He'd spend all of time amassing objects of power and slowly corrupting them. They would retain all of their phenomenal abilities, but they would slowly addict the user and remove their morality. He was fairly certain that he had collected each of the most powerful artifacts in the known world and imbued each of them with his corrupting magic.

He was surprised to see two customers approach his sale at almost the exact same time. One was a slim, fit man who looked to be in his early twenties at the most. He was perusing a table of books. The Broker hoped he picked the right one.

The other man was shorter, chubbier and much less well kempt. His hair was a shaggy mess and his beard looked like it had at least one potato chip lost in it. He was eagerly sorting through a box of flash drives and CD-ROM's.

Phineas Mason had been down on his luck ever since The Vulture's operation had gotten shut down. He was one of the most gifted mechanical engineers on the planet, but he couldn't find honest work because of a criminal record from his youth. So he had to make weapons for super villains. But with Tony Stark gone and most villains resorting to more physical powers, there just wasn't as much of a demand for tech. So The Tinkerer was here, rummaging through outdated software, at a garage sale, wondering if he had $10 to pay for the item that caught his eye.

It was a plain, black thumb drive with a key ring attached. The side was adorned with a small piece of masking tape that simply read "Bimbo.com." Mason had heard stories of computer programs that could corrupt women that interfaced with it and turn them into brainless bimbo whores. He doubted it was real, but he also lived in a world with monsters, wizards, aliens and super soldiers; so anything was possible. The Tinkerer fished through his pockets until he was able to combine his crumpled bills and pocket change to make $10. He left the sale, eager to get his new website up and running.

Peter Parker on the other hand had developed an interest in magic. He wanted to find a way to restore MJ and Ned's memories of him and science had very few answers for the mystic arts. He decided to do a little bit more research into the subject, but without his former contacts, he was having a hard time getting a hold of arcane books. So he came to the garage sale to take his mind off of things. He was looking for a good book to distract him for a while, but there was one tome that just kept pulling his gaze.

It was a very old looking book, worn and faded. There were no words on the cover, only a sigil made of a series of circles. He knew that he recognized the symbol and the book from somewhere, but he couldn't really remember where. He had seen a lot of magical symbols while working with Dr Strange. He reached down and opened the cover. Peter didn't notice the small spark of red energy that entered his finger when he first touched the book. The unknown travelled into Peter's body and quickly spread to his brain. Without even consciously being aware of his actions, the young photographer and superhero handed The Broker a $5 bill and walked away, browsing the Darkhold as he went.

The Broker smiled when he found himself alone again. With two powerful items in the wild, his corrupting chaos would spread twice as fast.