Rodriguez was leading a recon mission to investigate a hidden laboratory run by Leonard Bowen. Bowen was known throughout scientific circles for being brilliant but unsafe. The mission did not go well at first. Rodriguez and his men were spotted by a sentry. It quickly turned into a bloodbath. Details become sketchy at that point but it seems that when he finally got to the lab itself, Rodriguez discovered Bowen working on some kind of armored suit. He apparently tortured and then killed the scientist. Having ripped most of the secrets of the suit from Bowen, Rodriguez became Black Scorpion.