The bright lights of New York were wonderful at night, or at least that's what the opinion of Harry was presently. To be honest, there was very little to complain about. It was good to get out, and have some fresh air. Kitty stood next to Harry, allowing herself to look around the city. The truth was that the night was still young and curfew was still a couple hours away.
"And we only ran into one pickpocket," Harry told Kitty. That little adventure had been short lived, but rather entertaining.
Kitty's amusement was obvious across her face. The brunette mutant crossed her arms, and smirked. "Yeah, and you turned his knife into a rose."
The two laughed for a few minutes, enjoying the memory.
"No one will believe it," Harry told Kitty, and Kitty stood in the streets. New York was a busy place at night. "I mean, before you knew all of this stuff, would you have believed that some random guy on the street would have transfigured someone's knife into a rose?"
Kitty shook her head. She stood on her tip-toes to get a closer look around, before she sank back down, and looked at Harry. "I wouldn't have believed it for a second. In fact, if you would have told me that even three months ago, I would have thought that you were insane. Just amazing how everything has happened a month away."
Kitty and Harry sat down on a bench that had been provided outside of a park. They were directly across from a billboard, promoting Stark Industries. The two of them paid little attention that, enjoying the time that they spent with each other over the past month or so, especially enjoying the time they spent with each other tonight.
Harry placed his arm around Kitty's waist, and the brunette scooted closer to him on the park bench. It was a great night to be out together, just hanging out. After some of the days they had, with the training and everything. Harry had the communicator at hand, half expecting it to go off after some emergency.
Thankfully, Harry's notoriously bad luck had left him alone. Kitty grabbed Harry's hand, and they walked the sights and the sounds of the city. The two of them sat together, and enjoyed each other's company. After today was over, they might be enjoying each other's company in a more intimate way, behind closed doors.
The two of them rested on the bench against each other, and there was a bit of silence.
"The last few weeks have been perfect Harry," Kitty replied, a warm expression in her eyes and she looked at her boyfriend. "And I'm glad you trusted me to take our relationship to the next level, when we did a couple days ago."
"I'm glad too," Harry replied, and he pulled her in. He wrapped his arms tightly around Kitty, and pulled his girlfriend into a kiss.
The kiss lingered a long time. Kitty ran her hands through Harry's hand. People making out in public was in fact most certainly an uninteresting sight in New York, so they only got a few courtesy glances and shrugs. There had been far weirder things to behold, with the large number of super powered criminals and villains coming down the pike. Harry pulled away from Kitty, and stroked the flesh on the small of her back. The two smiled, and looked in each other's eyes.
"Just think, Harry, this is only the beginning," Kitty told him. Harry leaned in closer, to see what she had in mind. "Someone like you, you're bound to have many girls who would like to be in a relationship with you."
"Kitty, we're together now, you and me," Harry replied, a bit perplexed at what Kitty was saying. Kitty just looked at Harry, with a slightly impatient expression crossing her face. Harry could not resist teasing her a little bit. "Don't tell me you're already bored of me?"
"No, I'm not, I can never be bored of you," Kitty replied, and she laughed at the very thought. She looked at Harry, mind going wild with a few possibilities "We just scratched the surface."
"I know teenage relationships are supposed to be fleeting, but shouldn't we at least pretend that it might last a long time?" Harry asked the girl, wondering what the game was.
Kitty smiled, Harry was powerful, handsome, but sometimes a bit slow on the uptake. Or maybe he just enjoyed acting that way; it was hard to tell sometimes. Kitty decided to how to best convey this to Harry. Sometimes it was a lot easier to have some plan in her head, then to actually spit it out.
"Harry, I didn't say that we would break up any time soon," Kitty told Harry. She looked in his face, stroking his hair, and smiling. "However, I'm open for experimentation if you're comfortable with that."
Harry wondered if Kitty was implying what he thought she was implying. He wrapped his arms around her, trying to get the slightest hint of what she had in mind. Granted, Harry had thought about it. He was a guy, there were things like that he thought about. To have his girlfriend come out, and say something like that, Harry wondered if he was indulging in some wishful thinking.
Something that was rare to him, and he had seldom thought about himself.
An explosion had startled Harry immediately, and had ruined any moment the two might have had. The mutant couple was greeted by a situation. In the skies, Harry spotted a blur swing past him. There was a middle aged man who gave chase, and was dressed in a leopard print vest and tight black pants. The man in question carried a spear, and was in a crazed single minded pursuit for the enemy above him.
'There's something you don't see every day,' Harry thought to himself.
"Even in New York, didn't that strike you a bit odd?" Harry asked, nudging Kitty at this point.
Kitty cupped a hand to her chin, and looked thoughtful, nodding slowly. Truth be told, that was something that looked on. Harry turned to her, and their eyes locked with each other. He decided to ask a question on a foolish impulse.
"So do you want to check it out?" Harry asked, struck by a sudden daring inspiration.
Kitty smiled, and nodded. Checking it out would be a good idea right about now, given the fact that it was weird. And she would not rest until she had determined what was going on. The two of them walked off. They had their mission uniforms in their bag, after all it was best to be prepared. Perhaps they would get to the bottom of this, and what was happening. The two had changed with each other in the same room, having nothing to be ashamed about.
"I think it went over that way," Harry replied, and Kitty nodded, seeing the scene above her.
Harry grabbed Kitty around, the waist, and on a sheer impulse, took up flying. It was like riding a broom, only without a broom. Kitty turned to Harry, in shock and awe, and her eyes widened. It took her a moment to catch her breath, and reconcile what she saw.
"Um, since when could you fly?"
"Since about fifteen seconds ago," Harry retorted, mischief flashing in his eyes.
'My boyfriend is like so totally awesome,' Kitty thought to herself, with a smile.
Kitty thought that was a fair enough response and the two prepared to see what the scene of the disturbance was. The two decided to take the plunge together, peering out from behind the wall. They were in the fact finding part of the mission, which was rather crucial. Only then could they jump into battle.
The unknown had awaited them.
A figure swung over the rooftops of New York. He was being chased, or so his hunter thought. In reality, he was luring his attacker into a false sense of security. The man dropped down, but he was no mere man. He was the Amazing, the Spectacular, the Sensational, Spider-Man, and he was being stalked by one of his most persistent enemies.
It was amazing how much of a difference eleven months had made. Eleven months ago, Peter Parker had been a normal high school student, and had been the punching bag of the local jock. A field trip to Oscorp changed that, when one of sixteen genetically altered spiders got loose, and bit Peter. It was no ordinary spider bite; it gave him amazing spider powers. The ability to be faster, jump higher, be stronger, and to climb walls, and just have heightened stamina, was at his fingertips.
At the age of sixteen years older, Peter Parker learned one lesson, and that was with great power there must also come great responsibility. He had allowed a thief to get away, when he was too busy grandstanding. That same thief had accidentally shot his Uncle Ben. The thief had been desperate, but Spider-Man had been outraged. He barely held himself back from pummeling the thief to a blood pulp, remembering that Uncle Ben would not approve.
It was from that day forward that Spider-Man dedicated himself from protecting the city. It was not easy, especially adding onto school, dealing with friends, and making sure he was home in time before Aunt May's curfew. Yet he managed everything just as well as he could be expected.
However, none of that matter, as right now Spider-Man was being stalked by one of his more persistent and annoying foes. The man's name was Sergei Kravinoff, or as he had been dubbed by the Daily Bugle, Kraven the Hunter. Kravinoff was a world renowned game hunter who had hunted some of the most deadly beasts in the world, including endangered species. He had traveled to New York to hunt the deadliest game of them all, that being Spider-Man.
"I can smell your fear," Kravinoff stated, dropping down and stalking Spider-Man. The sadistic glint appeared in the eyes on the hunter. A spear extended out, and a toothy grin appeared on Kraven's face.
"Are you sure that's what you smell?" Spider-Man asked, preparing to engage the enemy. There were times where the web head felt bad about engaging on unarmed opponent in a battle of wits, but that took the fun out of everything.
The web slinger tucked his head, and somersaulted out of the way. Kraven charged him, but Spider-Man avoided another attack. "Because I'm getting a distinct BO problem, and it's coming from you."
"Your bravado is almost amusing," Kraven declared, stalking his prey and he stood ready to pounce. The web slinger dodged out of the way.
For Kraven, there was only one law that applied, and that was the law of the jungle. When he was out there on the hunt, it was a game of survival of the fittest, and it was kill or be killed. That was the only thing that mattered. Kraven charged Spider-Man with his spear. The web slinger ducked around.
"You will be the greatest trophy I have ever mounted on my wall," Kraven summarized, teeth gritted, and spear clenched in his fist.
Spider-Man pulled a face underneath his mask, and regained his bearings. "You know, if you're someone who hunts people, you have a serious problem. And here's the newsflash, the name's Spider-Man. There's a heavy emphasis on the man in there."
Spider-Man dodged another attack, and web yanked the spear out of Kraven's hand. He knocked the mighty hunter back with a series of rabid fire punches.
"And there's also a hyphen in there," Spider-Man added as an afterthought. Kraven rushed Spider-Man, but the web slinger tripped up the mighty hunter. "Which a lot of people tend to forget, that's always annoying."
"Enough, you will be prize trophy," Kraven growled, and he pulled out a pair of daggers.
With a mighty roar, Kraven charged Spider-Man, but the web slinger dodged the attacks once again. He avoided the stabs by the dagger.
"Didn't your mother tell you not to run with knives?" Spider-Man taunted him. Kraven just growled, ripping the webbing off from around his eyes. Kraven once again attacked, and once again Spider-Man avoided those attacks. "You could hurt someone, likely me, with them."
Kraven knocked Spider-Man back, and he landed onto the ground with a thud. The web slinger was back on his feet, and Kraven swung a huge punch. Spider-Man was sent backwards. The web head popped back up, and shot a line of webbing at Kraven. Kraven dodged it. His speed and reflexes were second to none, and they had to be, given some of the dangerous wild animals he had to hunt. Kraven reached forward, when suddenly a mysterious force had blown him back.
The hunter gave a pained yell, when he was thrown off of the edge of the building, and crashed to the city streets below. Spider-Man took a moment to look around, and he was taken aback by what happened. A new arrival had caused the web head to be surprised, and he spun around.
The web head looked at a dark haired youth, who wore a black jacket with a green t-shirt. There was a red belt with a green "X" in the middle, and he wore black pants, along with boots. His companion was a brunette girl, wearing a black top, a black jacket, and tight black pants. Spider-Man was caught dumbstruck for a moment.
"Hi!" the girl yelled in an excited voice.
It took Spider-Man a moment to regain his composure, which had been rattled after playing tag with the mighty hunter all night. He blinked, and stared at them.
"So, wait, let me get this straight, you're the one who blasted Kraven off of the roof," Spider-Man managed, speaking slowly and clearly. He was not sure what he thought about that. The web head stared down to the alleyway below, and was taken aback. He could not even spot Kraven, mangled body or not, and he had no idea where to go from there.
"I didn't, he did," the girl responded, pointing to the young man with her.
Spider-Man had encountered more than a few heroes in this town. He had met up with the Human Torch. The web head also teamed up with Daredevil and Luke Cage to tackle street level crime. He also encountered some bad tempered guy with claws who called himself Wolverine. Among other heroes, but these two were new to him however.
"So, I'm sure you know who I am," Spider-Man said.
"Iron Man, right?" the boy asked.
"What..no?" Spider-Man asked, but both were laughing at the dumbfounded expression on his face.
The two looked rather amused, and Spider-Man realized that he just got punked.
"Relax, we know who you are, Spider-Man," the girl said, trying to be serious. "My name is Shadowcat, and this is Arcane."
Spider-Man took a good look at the young man, and he nodded.
'Mysterious and something that few people understand, that fits that guy to a tee for some reason,' the web slinger thought. 'Then again, some people could say that about your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.'
"You knocked Kraven off of the roof," Spider-Man said slowly. "You could have killed him."
"You mean, I didn't?" Arcane asked, and Spider-Man seemed to be flummoxed. "Relax, he was a guy who was going to stuff and mount you on a wall. What's the harm if we got a little rough with him?"
Spider-Man had no real way to answer that question, without looking like a glorified boy scout who had always followed the rules. That was the dilemma of a hero. It seemed like the press alternated between slamming him for being a threat and a menace, or had said that Spider-Man was too soft. There were no reasoning with some people.
"Um, thanks I guess, even if you were a bit extreme," Spider-Man remarked.
"No problem, happy to help," Arcane replied, with a nod, and he extended his hand. Spider-Man, sensing no trouble with his spider sense, shook it.
Spider-Man turned around, and bid his goodbyes. He would have liked to stick around for chat, but he was way late in meeting Gwen to hang out. It was not a date, both of them had agreed to that. It was just two friends, doing what two friends do, and that was hanging out. It was nothing more than that.
Harry turned to Kitty, and decided to address the elephant in the room.
"So any clue where the mighty hunter went?" Harry asked her, a questioning look in his eyes.
Kitty shrugged. "As hard as you blasted him, he could have been sent half way to Jersey for all I know."
Harry would have to agree. He did a few scanning spells, but Kraven did not seem to be in the intermediate area. A scan with his own eyes had not seen anything as well, as magic was wonderful, but not absolutely foolproof. Harry scooped up Kitty in his arms, and lowered them both to the ground.
"I think he was a little bit freaked out that you knocked that guy off of the roof," Kitty suggested.
Harry turned to her, before answering in a completely honest voice. "It was all in the name of saving lives."
Kitty smiled, and nodded in agreement. There was some times where certain brutality couldn't be avoided. It was a hard choice to make. Kitty preferred not to have to take that route, even if it was unavoidable. Yet in the heat of the battle, one seldom had a chance to worry about what was right. It was a choice of what got them out alive, and that could be the difference between life and death.
Harry thought similar thoughts, if people were going to try and attack him, and others around him, well they were honestly taking their chances. Regardless, the two of them tried to move off to enjoy the rest of the night, although they had a feeling that any chances of a normal date might have been moot with these two.
Kraven was not the only one who was hunting Spider-Man throughout the concrete jungle of New York City. Even though the hunt of this particular individual was a more subtle kind of hunt, there were still observations that were being made by one individual. Ever since Spider-Man came on the scene, and displayed the powers he did, this man had been interested. Given the fact that there was circumstantial evidence that the web slinger's powers came as a byproduct of one of his experiments, it only stood to reason that he would take an interest.
The man's name was Norman Osborn. He was the CEO of Oscorp. The Osborn family fortune had been squandered through many years of obsession and vices. Yet, Norman spent most of his adult life rebuilding his fortune, often at the expense of several other companies throughout New York. The sins of the Osborn name had caused it to be a tough road. It was a family name that was strongly connected with indulging in vices, and mental illness. Every single Osborn for the past several generations had succumbed to a mental illness prior to the age of forty.
The thirty seven year old owner of Oscorp turned his attention to the video wall. The latest exploits of Spider-Man was played for him to see. Whether or not Spider-Man was a hero or a menace, that fact did not concern Osborn. It was the furthest thing from his mind. The fact of the matter was that Spider-Man could be considered to be a valuable asset, and one that could bring Oscorp to a higher level possible.
Norman Osborn could smell the type of opportunity someone like Spider-Man presented from a mile away. All he needed to do was seize that opportunity, and it would be his. Osborn tapped his fingers, and turned to the head of his research division. This man was a portly man with dark eyes, and a bowl haircut who went by the name of Otto Octavius.
"Progress report, Otto?" Osborn asked in a brisk voice.
Octavius proceeded to respond in an oily and rather tentative voice. "Um yes sir, Mr. Osborn, I have collected a small sample of data regarding Spider-Man. I would require a more significant sample of his blood to ensure what his full capabilities are."
"Well, what are you doing just standing here?" Osborn demanded in a harsh voice. Otto took a step back, knowing when to pick his battles. He secretly longed for the day where he would be able to rise above, and take charge of Osborn, instead of the other way around. "Spider-Man could be the secret to Oscorp's success. It is unfortunate that the board of directions shut down the experimentation we have done."
"Yes, quite unfortunate," Octavius droned.
Osborn turned around. When someone shut a door, a window had re-opened. He would have some level of clarity, and progress past this point.
"Yet, despite all that, one spider got loose, and bit someone, the question is whom?" Osborn asked. "These extraordinary powers are not something that just popped up overnight. If we can offer this proof, then the government will be eating out of our hands, any government for that matter. We will have an army of super powered spider soldiers that will allow us to charge high dollar to anyone."
Osborn paused, and thought about the matter that had ate away at him for a number of months. The Board of Directors had been breathing down his neck, and a few of them had called for his resignation. Those fools had no idea that they would not be in the cushy position they were in, had it not been for his hard work, his blood, sweat, and tears. They were ungrateful and greedy.
"And for that to matter, I need results and not just guess work from you, Doctor Octavius," Osborn continued. His expression snapped fully on the oily scientist before him. "I want you to find out every single thing you can about Spider-Man, and I want greater samples. We will be able to replicate that, and create our army, to sell to the highest bidder. If the United States government won't pay, then we'll find someone who will."
Octavius offered a courtesy nod, and continued to punch up information to be displayed on the screen in front of them. He suddenly caught some images of Spider-Man's latest battle. Checking with the catalog he had placed together of the various enemies the web slinger had fought; Octavius recognized that particular foe as Kraven the Hunter. That was not the only interesting observation that Octavius picked up.
Rather the interesting flash across the screen was some blur that had knocked Kraven off of the roof. He rewound the few images that were presented. This person never touched Kraven, never even laid one finger on him. Yet, Kraven was knocked off the roof in one fluid motion, blasted away like he was nothing. The scientist was keen in observing what had transpired.
'Interesting,' Octavius thought to himself, and he scratched his chin, pondering certain possibilities.
"What are you staring at, Otto?" Osborn asked, suspicion lingering in his eyes.
"Nothing, Mr. Osborn, sir," Octavius said in a meek voice, and Osborn's eyes just snapped towards his head scientist.
"Are you certain it was nothing?" Osborn inquired, pressing on further.
Octavius responded with a swift nod, and did not say another word.
"I had assumed that I had picked up another clue regarding Spider-Man," the scientist said. "But I guess that it was a false alarm."
Osborn took a moment, and did not seem to completely buy that notion from Octavius. There was something up.
"If I find out you've been hiding information from me, Otto, after everything that I've done for you…"
"Just merely a camera glitch, sir," Octavius remarked dryly.
One day, he would be the master, and Osborn would be the slave. Otto Octavius dreamed of the day that he would rise up, and take control of everything that Osborn built.
Osborn on the other hand, his mind was firmly fixated on one goal. Spider-Man continued to intrigue him. At first, he seemed to be annoyance, and someone who stopped petty crime. Another do-gooder in a mask, but at each passing day, there was more and more about it.
Ocatvius pondered web slinger's mysterious savior. If he had taken out the hunter in one fell swoop, and then toppled the camera, there was some level of power beyond his wildest dreams. Octavius was curious to what science this person's powers was derived from. There was a feeling that it would be interesting.
Yet, a great deal of his time was eaten up by his boss's futile studies on Spider-Man. Otto Octavius tried to slow down and focus the security camera footage, but once again found nothing. At least nothing he could derive anything from.
'I'll just have to dig deeper,' the scientist thought to himself, and prepared for the next faze of his operation.
After that minor hiccup, Kitty and Harry walked across the sidewalks. Given that this was the first proper date for either of them, both were a bit tentative away.
"Maybe we can catch a movie?"
"That'd be a first for me."
"Oh, you've never seen a movie with someone?"
"No, watching a movie period, my relatives…well they were a bit movie phobic. They were very strict, didn't approve of imagination."
Kitty just looked at Harry, and accepted that answer for now. For some reason, Harry seemed to alternate between being too casual and not being casual enough as it regarded to talking about his relatives and the rest of his world. Kitty had wondered why. There were any number of theories that were floating around the brunette girl's head, and all of them had made her curious.
The only reason why she did not really pry was the fact that it really was not any of her business. Harry really only stated a few times that he missed his friends, but what was done was done. He did not really miss his relatives, or say anything to that extent. Then again, Kitty really could not blame Harry for his detachment. If he was not going back, he should not work himself up.
"I wouldn't know what good movies are showing right now," Kitty replied shaking her head. "Maybe we should have thought this entire date thing out."
"Hey, the night has been fun so far," Harry answered, putting his hand on hers. "We saved Spider-Man from getting mounted as a wall trophy of some crazed game hunter."
"Yeah, really romantic, wouldn't you say?" Kitty replied sarcastically, but she was smiling in spite that fact. She was deep in thought. They had hung out around the mansion, but this was the first time that Kitty had a date. Harry had briefly remarked that he had one date, but he would rather not talk about it. Kitty suspected that this was with the girl that cried when she kissed Harry, and the less said about that relationship the better.
"Harry, is that you?"
Kitty and Harry turned around, and saw Gwen Stacy sitting outside at a table. The blonde seemed anxious, and waiting for someone. Her foot tapped on the ground, and her arms were folded. Her expression brightened when she saw it was Harry.
"Hey, Gwen," Harry replied brightly. "You remember Kitty Pryde, my girlfriend."
"I seem to recall the last time we meant, something about some monarch trying to kill us with a bunch of robots," Gwen said. At those words, a bit of a grin crossed her face.
"So what are you doing here?" Kitty asked curiously.
Gwen offered a long sigh, and looked up. "I'm actually waiting for my friend Peter."
"Oh the one who was in the bathroom," Kitty answered brightly.
"Yeah that one," Gwen said, worry flooding her. Peter had told her that he was going for a patrol around the city before he met her. One quick patrol in the city seldom meant one quick patrol around the city for Peter. His luck was notoriously rotten, even before the spider bite. And it seemed to amplify tenfold since the bite. "He should be around here any time soon."
"Oh, are you two going on a date?" Harry asked.
Gwen brushed off that statement, a bit too quickly, shaking her head.
"No, we're just hanging out like two friends, studying, there's a big test coming up at school you see. We kind of want to keep our status as the two highest grades in the school."
Harry nodded, and offered Gwen a smile. "A lofty goal."
"Well you know me, shooting for the stars," Gwen answered, and her expression brightened up. "Peter! It's glad to see you can make it!"
Gwen offered Peter an expression that indicated that they would be talking later about what happened. Peter tried to disguise a limp. Kitty didn't even notice it, but Harry did. Harry frowned, and looked at Peter. Something was up, but he kept his eyes off Peter for the most part.
"Peter, this is Kitty Pryde and Harry Potter, I met them on the field trip a couple of weeks ago," Gwen announced to Peter.
Peter shifted with a minimal amount of guilt. There was something about these two that seemed a bit familiar, but he shrugged it off as nothing.
Harry had thought for a moment that Peter had deduced that he and Kitty were the two that saved him earlier today. The charms Harry had put on their mission uniforms had worked like, well a charm, and Peter Parker did not connect Shadowcat and Arcane with Kitty Pryde and Harry Potter.
"Gwen told me about what happened at the field trip," Peter said. He tried to keep the guilt away from his voice. "That was quite a mess you got into, wish I was kind of there to see it."
"It's no problem, given that you were indisposed," Harry told Peter.
Peter just nodded, he had been indisposed. Just not in the way everyone had thought. He was playing tag with Rhino and Shocker, who had teamed up on their latest crime spree. It was never a fun time when two of his criminals teamed up, especially those who were that dangerous.
'Limp, disappears at all times, I'm beginning to think that this isn't the first time we've met Peter Parker,' Harry thought to himself. He did not let either Kitty or Gwen know about this. That was Peter's secret to tell people, if he chose to. Although Harry did have a sense that Gwen knew, and was also hiding it from other people.
The problem with Harry was that he was able to pick up little details that most people would have missed, and had noticed pretty much anything. There were little hints in the body language of people. Harry had thought about what he wanted to do, but suddenly, he turned around and could have sworn that he heard something.
Harry stopped and looked around; then again the city of New York would have many people lurking around. So being paranoid about one sound would not do him any good. Kitty's expression moved towards Harry, questioning him. Harry decided to enlighten her a bit on what he was thinking.
"I think we better stick around for a little bit," Harry told Kitty, and Kitty once again looked at him with a quizzical look. "The mighty hunter might still be lurking around."
Kitty opened her mouth to protest, but Harry kissed her, both to silence her, and under the pretext of letting anyone watching get lured into a false sense of security. Not that this was a bad tactic, and Kitty enjoyed the kiss, as long as it lasted.
"We'll just stick around, and everything will be okay," Harry said. He looked at Gwen and Peter. "Do you mind if the two of us tag along with you for a little bit, while you're going that way?"
It was not a problem at all for either Gwen or Peter. Kitty had no reservations about it. Now that Harry had mentioned something, she kind of half sensed a presence. This was one of those times where it would be useful to have Logan around. Kitty shook her head at that, the last thing she wanted was him chaperoning her date.
Kitty and Harry walked, trying to act natural, and have some semblance of a good time. Both hoped that Harry was being over careful.
The only and greatest rule of the jungle was that survival of the fittest had occurred. A hunter learned more from a failed hunt, than from any perfect one, but the hunt was not truly over until one party was dead. Kraven the Hunter cracked his knuckles, and proceeded to pick up the trail of Spider-Man. He had doused the web slinger with a special powder during the battle that would allow him to track his greatest prey.
The fact he got blown off of the roof by this mysterious sorcerer was most annoying, but the true hunter adapted and learned from those mistakes. Kraven's keen senses had allowed him to brave most of the fall. The bumps and the bruises had been mild compared to his hunt against the wildest game of them all. Some of the species were among the deadliest in the land, yet Kraven had brought them to his knees.
"You grow closer, Spider-Man," Kraven remarked to himself. A toothy grin spread over his face, and the hunter was ready to jump into battle. Soon, the battle would commence, and Kraven would be able to land himself the biggest prize.
The only game Kraven played was to hunt big game. He heard a few traces of conversation. There were those who had misunderstood that there was nothing personal with his hunt with Spider-Man. At least not at the moment, it was merely a sport which he craved. In some ways, he did respect Spider-Man, and that respect was what drove him deeper and deeper into the hunt. The respect would make his ultimate triumph that much better.
Kraven could also sense the one who blasted him off of the roof was near. That was a potential annoyance, but Kraven braced himself. He mentally reprimanded himself for being caught off guard in such a careless manner. Had Kraven not had the ability to jump at that time, it would have been his demise. That one bit of carelessness was something that could shift the balance between life and death in the jungle.
"Yes, Spider, your scent, I can smell you, and those who will hope to shield you for your inevitable fate," Kraven remarked in a low growl. His teeth gritted.
He pulled out a pair of binoculars, and continued to scope out the scene. With each passing instance, the mighty hunter grew closer to his pretty. Thus, it would be closer to his triumph. Those around him were ignorant that they were being watched. Kraven picked his spots wisely, and prepared his tranquilizer darts. If he needed to take out an obstacle, a long range attack would be best.
Against Spider-Man, Kraven preferred the glory of hand to hand comeback. It got his heart pumping, blood racing, and allowed himself the full joy of the hunt.
Ever since his childhood, Kraven hunted. His father had put him outside to fend for himself and that was how he ate. In the village he lived in, if one did not hunt, one could not eat. And if one could not eat, than one would not survive.
Kraven had saved up an immense amount of money, and thus no longer needed to hunt to eat. He hunted for the thrill of the hunt, and the sport it offered. The deadlier the game, the better, and the more satisfying the actual capture had been. Kraven showed no mercy on who he hunted, for these beasts would show no mercy against him.
He envisioned taking out Spider-Man, and stuffing his body, before mounting it on his wall as a trophy. Once that was done, Kraven had no idea what other challenges he would have, for this was the ultimate hunt.
The hunter vowed not to get ahead of himself. Until the moment he captured Spider-Man, and the last breath left his body, the hunt was still on. Kraven sat, like a cat ready to pounce, and prepared for the final stages of the hunt.
The first step was to divide and conquer.
To Be Continued in Web Slinger Part Two.