Hello, my name's Peter Parker. You don't know me. At least, I hope you don't. If you do, you probably just see me as an average Joe, just trying to fit it. But recently, something extraordinary happened.
I got bitten by an experimental spider, and the next thing I knew, I was developing these wicked spider powers. I can walk on walls, shoot webs, jump over rooftops, even sense the things in the world around me.
I got to thinking, my uncle Ben always tells me, "With great power, comes great responsibility." So, I figured it was time to take that advice. New York's a pretty dirty town. Maybe it could use a hero or two. That's why I'm gonna be that hero, and help the good people of this city. Who am I? I'm Spider-Man!
On the African savanna, a large lion hid within the tall, pale grass. A zebra herd was grazing on the grass, oblivious to the danger. As the lion creeped forward, the mighty predator was preparing to spring its trap.
And that was when the mighty predator jumped down from the tree he was hiding in, onto the lion. The zebras all looked over in shock, and overheard what sounded like a terrifying struggle, filled with screams and roars. Finally, out of the grass came a tall, bearded man wearing cheetah skin, carrying the recently deceased lion in his arms.
"That's right. No one escapes the mighty Sergei Kravinoff!" he declared in a deep voice and Russian accent.
Kravinoff sat within his living in his vacation home in Africa. The lion he just killed lay spread out before him, converted into a rug.
King of the Beasts, huh? Well, I'd be lyin' (uh, no pun intended) if I said I wanted it to be this easy.
Kravinoff sat back in his chair, sighing. At this point, he had traveled all over the world, killing all the most dangerous game. Elephants, bears, tigers, sharks, hippos, hyenas, cougars, wild boars, cheetahs, crocodiles, alligators, leopards, jaguars, cape buffalo, rhinos, wolves, and now, the king of the beasts himself. But after so long, he was reaching a wall. He had officially hunted everything, but the thing is, the hunter doesn't mind if the prey gets away every once in a while. That was why Kravinoff hunted: for the thrill of the hunt. But now, if not even the king of the beasts could stand against him, what else was there to hunt? What was left to give him a challenge?
Suddenly, he felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw that a headline from the Daily Bugle, some news distributor in New York, was spreading all over the Internet. But then, he found it said a most peculiar story.
"Authorities are doing everything to capture this lizard-creature, but they intend to catch him alive in order to learn more about what it is."
And then, Kravinoff saw a picture of this lizard-creature. It was taller than a man, coated in thick, green scales, and had a long muzzle of razor-sharp teeth. As he said this, he slowly grinned as he thought, "At long last, I've found my new quarry."
A group of cops investigated an alleyway, and could see that it was utterly trashed. Dumpsters ripped open, clothes shredded around the ground, even the bricks from the buildings broken in half.
"Man, this lizard-thing is something else, isn't it?" said one of the cops.
"Well, we can't just let him get away!" came a female cop. She had short, red hair, and a pair of glasses. "C'mon, let's see if we can find which way he went."
She and some of the other cops began investigating the grounds, but they could turn up nothing. There wasn't anything they could use to track him.
"Hey, Detective Cooper!" one cop called out to the female cop. "I think I found something!"
The female cop, apparently named Detective Cooper, walked over to find the other cops standing over a giant manhole. The cover seemed to be missing.
"You guys think the Lizard went down here?" said Cooper.
"It's the only way he could have escaped," said the other cop.
"Well, what're we waiting for?" said Cooper, getting ready to jump down into the manhole. "Just remember, we need to capture him alive."
"No worries, Detective," said the other cop as he and the others quickly slipped down the hole after Cooper.
Soon enough, they were all in the sewer, but it was pitch black. They all broke out their flashlights to look around, no that it illuminated much. They could hear the roaring sound of water and they all looked over to see brown-colored water moving next to them.
"Careful, guys. Easy to slip." said Cooper. "Parr, Loomis, you guys check for him down that way. Murphy, Stone, you're with me." With that Cooper led two officers down one direction, while the other two searched in another direction.
After a while, Cooper's group came to a dead end. "Ugh, great. Guess he didn't go this way."
"Now hold up," said one officer, Stone. "What about in the water? The stream still goes on."
Cooper looked to her right to see that the water was coming from past this wall in their way. "You think he went into the water?"
"I read somewhere there are a lot of lizards that can swim well. Even against a current," said Stone.
"I don't know. Going against that current?" said Cooper. "I don't know if he'd have the strength to do that."
"Yeah, well, he isn't an ordinary lizard after all."
"Auugh!" came a voice from the other end of the sewer.
"Huh? That's Loomis!" said Cooper before she tried running over to where the scream came from. Unfortunately, that was when she slipped and she fell into the water.
"Ack! Someone help me!" she cried out as she tried to keep her face above the water. As she bounced up and down through the rough waters though, she felt herself get knocked to the side by something huge. Something scaly. Before she could process, she hit the solid ground, and was grabbed by the other two officers who pulled her back up.
"Ugh, gross!" said Cooper spitting up water. "I'm gonna need to shower for the rest of my life."
"Hey, you guys okay?" came another voice, and Cooper looked over to see the other two officers walking her way.
"Sorry, I slipped into the water," said Cooper.
"Oh, well, don't feel bad," said one officer, Loomis. "I slipped too."
"So that was you screaming?" said Cooper.
"I saw the Lizard. But he was in the water. He was even swimming against the current. I wanted to stop him, but I slipped too. Luckily, Parr pulled me out."
"Yeah, we saw the Lizard," said Stone. "He just went past this dead end. We can't catch him now."
"Great," said Cooper. "So we're back to square one."
"It's weird though," said Stone. "I could have sworn that when he was moving past, he shoved Cooper towards us."
Yuri Watanabe was practically waiting by the doorway until finally, Detective Cooper walked through it, looking just a bit frustrated.
"Still didn't catch him, I see?" said Yuri.
"Oh, shut up," said Cooper. "We're doing our best, you know. It's just that this Lizard is difficult to track. If only we could get the jump on him somehow, he wouldn't stand a chance."
"Well, you can't be too careful," said Yuri. "That Lizard thing, it's something pretty dangerous. We still don't know what it's capable of."
"I can handle it," Carlie said. "I was taught by the best, though, right?"
Yuri was silent, but grinned a tiny grin at that. "Well, can't argue with that. But still, I wish I could help with the investigation. I wanna talk to the chief. Maybe he can let me help out with this case."
"No way, Watanabe," came a voice and the two girls turned to face Garrison coming their way. "In case you forgot, there's still a hit on you. I don't want to put you out there where another assassin could do you in."
"Oh, come on, chief, I can handle myself," said Yuri. "Look, you need me to get back out there. There are so many cases, and we're stretched thin."
"I'm sorry, Yuri, I just can't put you at risk like this," said Garrison.
"C'mon, there must be something I can do to help find the Lizard," said Yuri.
"Actually, I believe I know someone else who can help you," said a new voice. Everyone turned their heads to see Kravinoff suddenly walking inside.
"Huh?" said Garrison. "Who are you?"
"Well, if you had a taste for the craft of the hunt, you would know," said Kravinoff. "I am Sergei Kravinoff, but you can call me Kraven the Hunter."
"What do you want?" said Garrison.
"It's just, I couldn't help but hear about your little lizard situation. I understand that there is a large lizard creature stalking the streets of your city, net?"
"Um, yes," said Cooper. "But why do you care, Mr. Kravinoff?"
"My dear, please, call me Kraven. I actually came to offer my services. You see, I am an extraordinary hunter. I have claimed many of the greatest animal trophies known to man. And I believe that I have to ability to capture and defeat this Lizard creature for you."
"Huh? Wait a second," said Yuri, "we don't want to kill the Lizard, we just want to catch it!"
"Hmm?" said Kraven.
"It's a bit of a long story, but that Lizard is actually a man. He was mutated into what he is now, but we want to capture him alive so we can unmutate him somehow."
"Yes," said Garrison. "Thank you for your offer, Mr. Kraven, but our police force can handle this. We are perfectly capable of capturing the Lizard alive."
"Well, yeah, but," said Carlie, attracting everyone's attention, "the truth is we've had a lot of difficulty tracking him. Somehow, he never leaves a trail to where he went, and he's really good at slipping away."
As Kraven heard this, he thought, So this Lizard creature is actually human? And he thinks like a human? Able to think of ways to evade even the police?
"What are you getting at, Detective?" said Garrison.
"I think Mr. Kraven here can help us simply track him down," said Cooper. "Then we can finally capture the Lizard alive."
"Yes, yes, I agree," said Kraven. "I will help you all track down the creature."
"What's in it for you though?" said Garrison.
"All I seek is the thrill of the hunt! And this creature, it will be my most exciting hunt yet!"
Garrison was reluctant, but Carlie suddenly spoke up again. "C'mon, chief, we need to catch the Lizard as soon as possible! Kraven here is our best bet for doing that."
Garrison sighed, but finally, he said, "Alright, Mr. Kraven, you can lead Detective Cooper and her group to the Lizard, but you must promise that we will capture him alive."
"You have my word, sir!" said Kraven.
"Alright then, let's get ready, shall we?" said Garrison.
As he, Cooper, and Kraven walked away, Yuri remained behind, suspicious. This Kraven guy, something's not right about him. I wonder...
Suddenly, she had an idea as she pulled her radio out of her pocket and slipped away. Well, even if I can't join the investigation, I do have a friend who can.
Peter Parker had just finished school, and he was walking through the hallway towards the door. It had been a dull day, and they had a new story to read in his English class. The Most Dangerous Game. Peter didn't quite understand it. He just thought the premise was crazy. A man trapping people on his island so he can hunt them like they're animals. Like that would ever happen in real life.
Anyway, he was about to start his walk home when suddenly his radio started crackling. He pulled it out before hiding behind the school building and listening in to it.
"Where are you?" came Yuri's voice.
"On the web," said Peter.
"Good, I need a favor."
"You need a favor from me?" said Peter, confused.
"It's about this Lizard situation. We've been struggling to capture him for a while now, but somehow, he's too good at staying out of our sight. He's too difficult to track, but today, this guy called Sergei Kravinoff came in and says he can track him down. He says he's a professional big game hunter. But I don't think I trust him. I'm worried he's up to something."
"Huh? What do you think he's up to?" said Peter.
"Well, he seemed just a little too eager to take on this job," said Yuri. "Look, the chief won't let me join the investigation because he's worried I'll be targeted again, but I want you to follow the investigation yourself."
"Me?" said Peter.
"I'll give you a heads up on where you need to go. I just want you to make sure that they capture the Lizard alive and that there's no funny business, okay?"
"If you say so, Yuri," said Peter, as he then pulled out his phone to tell May and Ben he'd be coming home later, and then slinking away to put on his costume.
Peter swung through the city as Spider-Man, trying to find where Yuri told him to go. Eventually, though, he made it to a street corner where he saw Cooper and her fellow cops following Kraven. Landing on a nearby building, he attempted to carefully follow them. Getting close, he began to hear them talking to each other.
"Yes, the Lizard, it is close," said Kraven, kneeling close to the ground.
"How can you tell?" said Cooper.
"I train every day in the jungle. It is second nature to me," said Kraven, before he began leading everybody into an alleyway. Spider-Man quickly jumped onto the building closest to the alleyway and made his way inside of it.
Enetering the alleyway, he heard some metal slam. He looked down to see Kraven and the cops standing around an opened manhole.
"Yes, he went down here," said Kraven.
"So he really likes the sewer then, huh?" said Cooper. "Well, c'mon, let's hurry up and get down there."
One by one, the cops followed Kraven down into the sewer, before Spider-Man jumped down and carefully slipped his way through the opening, before angling himself to crawl along the ceiling. He saw the cops turning on flashlights and he carefully followed them from behind.
The sound of the murky water flowing by filled the air, but Spider-Man could still make out some of the cops' words.
"What if he jumped into the water again?' said one cop.
"Oh, I can find him even in the water," said Kraven. "I love a good hunt of crocodiles, anyway."
"Yeah, well, you probably don't want to jump in that water any time soon," said another cop.
Suddenly, everyone heard a low growl, and they turned to face the water. Sure enough, there was a shadowy silhouette of something swimming in there.
"He is here..." said Kraven.
Then, as if on cue, all the cops' flashlights ceased to work, sending everyone into pure darkness. Spider-Man was stunned, but then he heard a large splashing sound before everything went silent again. Spider-Man crawled along the ceiling, trying to focus his Spider Sense, and indeed, it could sense more vibrations coming from the end of the tunnel. They seemed pretty loud even. He was about to go after it, but then, some light came on. He looked down to see one of the cops using their phones to turn on a new flashlight.
"Whew, that could of been bad," he said. He decided to examine his normal flashlight that he had been using a minute ago, but quickly found something wrong. "Um, guys? My batteries? Something's wrong with them. It's like they're bleeding fluid."
"Hey, you're right!" said another cop, who pulled out his own flashlight. "Hey! My batteries are bleeding too!"
"It's like someone sabotaged them!" said another cop.
Upon hearing those words, Cooper suddenly got a worried face as she noticed someone was now missing from their party: Kraven. No, it can't be... what was Yuri saying?
Above, Spider-Man was thinking the exact same thing, and making sure the cops weren't looking his way, he quickly crawled off to where he had felt the vibrations.
Eventually, Spider-Man heard more splashing, and as he looked over to where the water was, he could just barely make out the silhouettes of Kraven wrestling with the Lizard like he was a crocodile. The Lizard rolled over several times to shake Kraven off, but it wasn't enough.
"Hah! No prey escapes from Kraven!" Kraven gloated. He pulled out a small knife and stabbed the Lizard in his arm, the same arm that Curt Connors had only recently regrow, in fact. At this, the Lizard bellowed in both pain and rage, as it bit ferociously down on Kraven's hand, the pain of which was enough to finally make Kraven let go. After this, he quickly swam onto solid ground and ran forward. Spider-Man looked after where he ran, trying to figure out what he was doing, until he heard metal clang and saw light pour into the sewers. He then saw the Lizard jumping up towards the source of light, and realized that the Lizard had just found a way out of the sewers. However, Kraven pulled himself into the light, and climbed up after the Lizard for round 2.
The Lizard did not get far before Kraven caught up to him. Kraven leapt onto his back, trying to choke him from behind. The Lizard ran Kraven into several walls, but Kraven held on. Thinking quickly, Kraven pulled out a small syringe and boldly jumped in front of the Lizard, saying, "Come and get me, beast!"
Angry, the Lizard charged at Kraven with his mouth wide open. But that was exactly what Kraven had wanted him to do, as he grabbed the Lizard by its jaws and quickly stabbed his tongue with the syringe.
The Lizard reeled back in pain, but suddenly, Kraven was knocked to the ground. He looked up to see Spider-Man standing above.
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size, ugly?" said Spider-Man.
"Huh?" said Kraven, standing up. "Who are you?"
"Name's Spider-Man, and I can't let you do anything to the Lizard over there. You know he's really human, right?"
"So? I'd say that makes him the perfect beast to hunt!" Kraven rushed at Spider-Man, but Spider-Man jumped back onto a wall, clinging to it with his hands and feet.
"What?" said Kraven.
"Those cops in the sewers, you sabotaged their flashlights so you could ditch them, didn't you?" said Spider-Man. He grabbed Kraven with a web and yanked it, pulled Kraven face-first into the wall.
"What? Just what are you?" said Kraven.
"I'm your worst nightmare, pal," said Spider-Man, jumping down to punch Kraven in the face. Hard. However, the squealing of the Lizard quickly got his attention. The Lizard looked like he was going to fall down. Spider-Man, against his better judgment, walked over to him.
"Dr. Connors? Hey, I'm here to help!"
However, the Lizard apparently didn't understand, and charged at Spider-Man, knocking him to the ground. Spider-Man's head hit the pavement, leaving him feeling a little dazed. The Lizard suddenly ran for it, but Kraven quickly made off after it.
After a moment, Spider-Man's head stopped spinning and he stood up, and was disappointed to see that both Kraven and the Lizard were gone. "Grr, don't worry, Dr. Connors. I'm gonna find you yet."
Somewhere else in the city, Kraven dropped the exhausted Lizard to the ground. Kraven's drug had succeeded in draining his energy, and Kraven could end it all right here. But Kraven couldn't help but feel disappointed. This hunt, it still wasn't as exciting as it should have been. The Lizard, it disappointed Kraven. It was as if his animalistic tendencies had cost him the victory in their fight.
Such a shame, Kraven thought. I guess in the end, an animal can only do so much in the heat of the hunt. If only they thought more clearly. Kraven drew his knife, and was about to finish the Lizard off, but suddenly, an idea struck him. Wait, but what if the true greatest hunt was in front of me the whole time? An quarry that can actually think for itself! And this Lizard, Kraven looked at the helpless Lizard on the ground, perhaps it can still be of use to me.
Spider-Man made his way over to the docks, trying to figure out where Kraven could have gotten off too. He saw some boats docked, but there didn't seem to be any people nearby. However, he heard a low growl. Looking over, he saw the Lizard sitting in a large cage, slashing at the bars, just trying to get out.
Quickly, Peter made his way over to the cage, but that was when he saw that the cage was on a boat. The Lizard saw him and roared, but Peter slowly walked onto the boat towards the cage, and said, "Dr. Connors? It's okay. I'm here to help you."
Suddenly, though, he could feel his Spider-Sense tingling, as suddenly. from beneath him erupted some gray gas. Peter caught a whiff of it, but he quickly realized it was bad news. He tried to back away off the boat, but more gas began to erupt, surrounding Peter. Despite his attempts to hold his breath, the gas quickly got to Peter as he slowly passed out.
Soon after, the gas stopped, and Kraven suddenly appeared and stood over Spider-Man. "At last. My true worthy opponent!"
"Ugh, my head, what's going on?" said Spider-Man, as he looked up. He was surrounded by jungle. Tall, green trees and giant rocks as far as the eye could see. He squinted against the glare of the setting sun.
Slowly, he stood up, though he struggled to do so. The gas had left his muscles sore and tired, but he forced himself to stand and stretch out his limbs as he tried to figure out just what was going on.
"Ah, at last, you are awake," said a voice. Spider-Man quickly realized it was the voice of none other than Sergei Kravinoff. "Don't strain yourself though. You will need to be in prime shape if you are to participate in the hunt."
"Hunt? What are you talking about?" said Peter. "Look, Kravinoff, all I want to do is take the Lizard home and leave."
"Oh, you needn't worry about the Lizard, moy mal'chik," said Kravinoff. "I will deal with him, all in good time."
"That Lizard is a person you know! You can't just do this to him!"
"Moy mal'chik, aren't all men but animals in the end? After all, we run, we fight, and we draw blood. We are at least as beastly as the lions of the Serengeti, or the jaguars of the Amazon, no? The only difference I can see is the fact that a man can think for himself. He is... creative. And I find creativity quite... impressive."
"What are you talking about, Kravinoff?"
"Moy mal'chik, please, my friends call me Kraven the Hunter. You should as well. The truth is, I've hunted every animal known to man. Why? It is simple. I love the challenge. A hunter minds not if the prey escapes every now and then, as at least then, the hunter has another nice long day of hunting to look forward to. But with all the animals I've hunted, I am sad to say none stood a chance. I was at a loss. I lived for the thrill of the hunt. But I could no longer find a worthy opponent. At least, until I met your lizard friend. It was a new type of animal. One that could think. One that could fight me not just with the tools nature provided him, but with his brain. And even though I still captured him, it still might just have been the most thrilling hunt I've had in a long time! Alas, it still wasn't enough, for in the end, the beast's animalistic instincts held him back. He wasn't the opponent I had been searching for for so long. But then, the most interesting thing happened. I met you."
"Me?"
"Da. I saw the way you fight. You had me on the ropes. You are a fighter unlike any I have seen before. And so, that is why I brought you here. You will participate with me in my greatest hunt yet!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, dude," said Peter. "I'm sorry, but I'm not a hunting guy. I mean, I actually kinda like animals. I wouldn't enjoy killing 'em for fun, I don't think. But I definitely can't kill the Lizard or anything. The Lizard needs help."
"Moy mal'chik, you misunderstand. I did not say you would be hunting with me."
Spider-Man was confused before he finally dawned with realization. "You-you don't mean..."
"You, Spider-Man, will be hunted by me."
"What?! Are you out of your mind!?"
"A human brain, inside the body of spider-like creature, it is the perfect hunt. Your brain and your powers, they will finally give me the hunt I have been craving all this time. You are the worthy opponent I've searched so long for."
"Um, say, uh, did you ever read this short story? The Most Dangerous Game? I read it myself, and-"
"Oh, yes! That is my favorite book! The main character, even he comes to realize the joys of a perfect hunt in the end, net?"
"Huh? Is that what happened?" said Peter.
"Well, it's one of the many interpretations of the ending."
"Really? I did not get that at all."
"Alright, no more talk. The hunt is about to begin. I will give you thirty minutes to flee into the jungle. After all, a hunt is only as good as the chase it gives! Do not think you can escape from the jungle though. This is my own private island. The sea has imprisoned you here."
"Mr. Kraven, this is crazy! You've got to-"
"Tick tock, Spider-Man. If you seek to survive, you will show me the hunt I've sought for so long."
Groaning to himself, Spider-Man looked over to the jungle. He had no choice now. If he was going to find a way off the island, or find the Lizard, he would have to play Kraven's game.
After a short while, Spider-Man was attempting to make his way through the trees, before he found a particularly tall one and decided to climb it. Making his way to the top, he had a perfect view of the island, and that was when spied a large building. It was tall, wooden brown, and was as big as a high school. Peter saw and figured that must be where Kraven lived on the island. It was right next to ridge, and below that ridge was the calm sea. That was when he formulated a plan: he'd get to that house, and there, he'd find the Lizard and a boat that could take him back to the city.
Suddenly, though, he heard the sound of something climbing the tree. He looked down to see Kraven, decked out in his hunters' best, slowly climbing the tree.
"At last, the hunt is on, Spider-Man!" he boldly declared.
As Kraven climbed up towards him, Spider-Man noticed something. "Um, dude? Aren't you missing something? Like, I don't know, weapons?"
"Weapons? WEAPONS? Pah! Where is the fun in shooting down your prey from a distance? No, the only weapons I next are my bare hands!"
"Really? Well you've made this entirely too easy," said Spider-Man as he shot a web at Kraven's face. However, Kraven simply held up an arm to block it.
"You'll have to try harder than that, my friend!"
Peter attempted to shoot more webs at him, but Kraven surprised him by jumping from one branch to another in order to dodge them all.
"Whoa!" said Peter. "When did you learn how to do that?"
"Ha! There is nothing you cannot learn from a crash course with Mother Nature herself!" Kraven ran all the way to the top of the tree, where he attacked Spider-Man. Spider-Man tried to punch him, but the hunter was too quick. Somehow, he kept himself out of the reach of Spider-Man's attacks.
"Did you think you could defeat me that easy, boy?" said Kraven, before he managed to kick Spider-Man's foot, making him lose his balance. Spider-Man fell off the tree, but fortunately, he shot a web to swing himself back upward, managing to kick Kraven down. Kraven fell off the tree as well, but grabbed a tree branch to swing himself up to climb back up the tree. He attacked Spider-Man again, and the two threw punches and kicks at one another. No matter what he did, Spider-Man couldn't seem to strike Kraven down. He was just too swift and too tough, he could bounce back from anything Spider-Man could do to him.
Eventually, Spider-Man stepped on a small branch, which broke and made him fall. Thinking quickly, he fired a web to another tree and swung away. He landed on the side of another tree, only to look over and see that Kraven was now jumping from tree to tree to make his way towards him.
"Oh, come on!" said Spider-Man as he jumped and began swinging through the trees. No matter how far he swung though, Kraven was always right behind him. Moving quickly, he made swung himself up high enough to see that there was a cliff nearby. Quickly, he decided to swing himself over that way, before, as he approached it, he jumped over the edge towards the bottom. Kraven landed himself right next to the cliff, but grinned to himself.
"Hmph, nice try, Spider-Man. But I know you can climb walls. You'll climb back up the first chance you get. But I know where to climb down to find you."
Spider-Man had landed on the ground below, but as he kept looking up, he could see Kraven standing on the cliffside. Spider-Man attempted to follow the cliffside to escape him so he could climb back up, but every time he was about to try, Kraven popped back up.
"Ugh, this isn't working," Peter said as he slunk back into the trees. "If only there was another way to get to the house."
Suddenly, he heard the sound of water. He made his way through the trees to see a long river. Seeing this, he suddenly remembered that he saw a river earlier that moved in the direction of the building. And then, he saw a tree that was broken at its base right next to the river, and had an idea. Running over to the tree, he pushed hard on it until it broke and fell into the water, and he jumped on it to ride it down the water.
Unfortunately, he did not go unnoticed. Kraven had made it down the cliffside, and he spied Spider-Man riding down the river just before he vanished from view. Grinning to himself, Kraven ran off after him.
As Spider-Man rode the log, however, he noticed it had an odd scent. As he lifted a hand, he saw a bunch of sticky tree sap on it. But the smell was messing with his head. In fact, it wasn't just smelly, it was making him feel woozy. As the scent got to him, he suddenly lost his balance on the log and slipped into the water, just before Kraven caught up to him.
"I've got you- huh?" Kraven said as he saw an empty log. "Where'd he go?"
Spider-Man had sunk underwater, but he regained control of himself before he looked up to see Kraven on the riverbank. Thinking quickly, he held his breath, and stuck himself to the floor of the river with his sticky fingers, before pulling himself along, trying to stay out of Kraven's sight.
Eventually, once Kraven was out of sight, Peter had to rise up to get some oxygen. He thought he was finally in the clear, but then, he felt something grab onto him from behind. He turned his head to see Kraven holding onto him.
"Nice try, but there is nowhere you can hide from me."
Spider-Man struggled to get Kraven off of him, but that was when the current of the river sped up. The water began tossing and turning the two of them, Peter attempting to stay out of Kraven's grasp. Eventually, though, they both heard a roaring sound, and turned to see a large waterfall. Soon enough, they went over it, and Peter felt himself briefly black out before waking up to see that he was sitting in a large body of water at the base of the waterfall.
"Always a waterfall, isn't it?" said Peter. As he then looked at his hands, though, he noticed something. He pulled up his sleeves, and saw that his web shooters were gone. "Aw, no, where'd my web shooters go?" Peter quickly tried looking around the water, only for Kraven to pop up out of the water.
"Not bad, Spider-Man, no bad at all!" he said. "I must admit, this is the most exciting hunt I have had in a long time!"
Kraven made his way towards Spider-Man, who quickly ran back towards the waterfall, and used his powers to quickly run back up, leaving Kraven behind.
Spider-Man ran through the trees until he suddenly saw something through the trees. It was the building. Now closer than ever. Quickly, he ran towards it.
Finally, Peter had made it to the building, and breaking open a window, he crawled inside. It was a big house alright, with a big living room with a hotly burning fireplace, right next to a throne-sized leopard print chair.
"Sheesh, dude, how do you afford this stuff? Is this hunting thing just a thing rich people do 'cause they're bored?" Peter crawled along the ceiling, trying to find out where the Lizard was being held. Eventually, he saw a certain, rusty door that looked like the kind that leads into your garage. Curious, Peter dropped to the floor and opened the door. Yep, it was a garage alright. No cars, though. But then, Peter heard clanging, and he looked over to see something covered in a sheet. He walked over to pull off the sheet, and underneath was the Lizard, still trapped in a cage.
"Dr. Connors! Don't worry, I'm gonna get you out of here." Suddenly, though, his Spider Sense went off and he jumped on top of the cage to avoid Kraven attempting to sneak up behind him.
"I knew you would come here!" said Kraven. "But you cannot take the Lizard. I captured him fair and square."
"Dude, the Lizard is not some kind of trophy you can hang on your wall!" said Peter. "He's a human being for crying out loud!"
"As long as the hunt is exciting, it makes no difference to me," said Kraven. "I only kept him alive because I thought he could be useful as bait, and now that you are here, it is time to finish this!"
Kraven jumped up to attack Spider-Man, but Spider-Man dodged and landed on the floor. Kraven jumped down and threw punches at him, but Spider-Man kept out of his reach until eventually, he kicked Kraven in the shin and knocked him to the floor.
If only I had my web shooters, I'd web him to the floor. Peter thought. But as Kraven got up, Peter shot a small piece of webbing from his wrist to cover Kraven's face.
Peter then heard the Lizard growling from within the cage, before he suddenly got an idea. He ran over to the cage, and using all his strength, he pried the cage bars apart enough for the Lizard to squeeze through.
The Lizard quickly slipped his way through the bars as Peter barely got out of the way. The Lizard then attacked Kraven, slashing and biting at him, but Kraven leapt onto the Lizard's back and began strangling him with his bare hands.
"No! Leave him alone!" said Spider-Man, who jumped over onto Kraven. As the Lizard struggled to throw them off, it tripped on a tire on the floor, causing both Kraven and Spider-Man to fall off.
Kraven landed on top of Peter, but before the web-slinger could do anything, Kraven suddenly grabbed him and stabbed his shoulder with a syringe. He then got off of Peter, who was about to stand up, only to feel his limbs turning to lead, unable to move.
"What? What... did you do to me?" Spider-Man said.
"My own personal recipe. This drug has rendered you completely immobile," said Kraven.
The Lizard suddenly roared and attempted to jump Kraven, but the hunter moved aside and tackled him. As the Lizard landed on the ground, Kraven suddenly pulled out a wooden stake and stabbed the Lizard in the side with it. The Lizard shrieked in pain, before he managed to knock Kraven off. He stood up in pain, before looking at Peter helpless on the ground. Kraven attempted to charge the Lizard, but the Lizard dodged before suddenly tearing through the door to run outside. Shortly after, a huge splashing sound was heard, as if the Lizard had jumped into the sea.
Kraven looked after him, but just shook his head before walking over to where Spider-Man was laying. "And so, it would seem my greatest hunt yet has come to an end. And what a hunt it was."
"Grrr..." Peter struggled to stand, but it was no use. "What are you going to do with me? Mount me on your wall?"
Kraven looked at Spider-Man for a long time, but then, he grinned. "No. You have given me the greatest hunt I have ever had. Which means you have earned your freedom."
"Huh?" said Spider-Man.
"You see, I have a code of honor. Should any prey give me a truly exciting hunt, then that prey has earned its right to go free. So I will instead set you free."
"You're seriously letting me go?" said Spider-Man.
"Indeed," said Kraven walking over to a nearby table. "I have an antidote for the drug right here. I should thank you. I have not had such an exciting hunt in ages. Not even with that Lizard."
"What, the Lizard didn't excite you?" said Peter.
"No, its animalistic instinct impaired its human reasoning. Such a disappointment. If it had thought more clearly, I would have probably let it run free."
Peter let those words sink in. So those who give an exciting hunt are deemed worthy by this guy to live, but the ones who don't are deemed unworthy?
Kraven carried Spider-Man out into the trees where he set him down. "You should be able to walk soon. Then, you may leave."
"What, I don't get a ride home?" said Peter.
"There is a boat by the beach you can use," said Kraven before he turned to leave. "Now go. My hunt is complete."
As Kraven disappeared, Spider-Man was able to finally stand up thanks to the antidote. As he looked back to where Kraven was, he thought about a few things. This guy's code of honor, was it really that honorable. Sure, he just let him go, but the Lizard, Kraven was going to skin him. Basically as some sort of punishment for not giving him a thrilling hunt. That wasn't right.
But what was worse was that Kraven knew the truth about the Lizard. That the Lizard was human. Someone who needed to be saved from his transformation. And yet, Kraven was going to kill him. And Spider-Man himself, was there any point in the hunt Kraven was going to kill him? How could he be sure that Spider-Man had "earned" his right to run free?
Suddenly, Peter scowled. This code of honor... about killing things... no, it's not right. Not for animals, and certainly not for humans! Peter looked over to see the body of water where he had lost his web shooters, and had an idea. I think it's time someone showed Kraven the flaw in his worldview.
Detective Cooper was looking around the area where Kraven was last seen, but she kept turning up nothing. No leads on where he went, where the Lizard was, nothing.
Upset, Cooper put her face in her hands. "Ugh, some detective I am."
"Hey, it's not so bad," she heard a voice say. She then turned around to see Yuri walking up to her. "He must still be around here somewhere."
"What are you doing here?" said Cooper.
"I just had a hunch something was up," said Yuri. Of course, she was here because she hadn't heard from Spider-Man in a long time, and she wanted to see what was up, but she wasn't going to tell that Carlie.
"Ugh, I never should have trusted that Kravinoff guy," said Cooper. "Now because of me, Dr. Connors is in a lot of trouble. Heck, Kravinoff has probably turned him into a chair by now."
"I don't know, that'd be one uncomfortable chair," said Yuri. "But hey, don't waste your time beating yourself up, okay? You made a mistake. Now what did I tell you back when I was mentoring you?"
Carlie looked over to her, and said, "You gotta keep going. No matter what."
"Exactly. Now don't worry, I'm gonna help you find them. I had to sneak here under the chief's nose, but I'm here to help."
Suddenly, they heard a loud roar. They looked over to see the Lizard suddenly drop down in front of them. Both women pulled out their guns, but the Lizard shrunk to the ground upon seeing them. The women were confused, as the Lizard looked at them cautiously, but doing nothing to attack him.
"I don't understand, what is he doing here?" said Yuri. "I thought Kraven made off with him."
"He must have escaped," said Cooper. "C'mon, I bet we can capture him right here!"
"I don't know, Carlie," said Yuri. "Look at him. Something is wrong with him."
The Lizard stared at them tentatively, but then, it drove a large claw into the ground, creating a small hole. Then, the Lizard carved eight lines from it, and Yuri could see that it looked like a spider.
Wait, is he- it can't be! Yuri thought.
The women were too confused to do anything. The Lizard looked at them, and he could tell they didn't understand. That was when he quietly growled and charged, knocking them down, and knocking the guns out of their hands.
As Yuri tried to stand up, she saw the Lizard eying her phone, which had fallen out of her pocket. Staring at it, the Lizard then grabbed the phone and took off.
"Hey, wait!" said Yuri, standing up.
"Wait, Yuri, I just had a thought!" said Carlie. "What if the Lizard wants us to follow him?"
"What?" said Yuri.
"The way he was looking at us, I think he was trying to tell us something! Your phone, does it have a tracking app on it?"
"Um, yeah, but-"
"Then come on! We'll track him with my phone."
Sometime later, the two women had made it to a dock, and they saw the silhouette of the Lizard jumping into the water. They ran over to see the Lizard swimming away.
"Aw, great, now what do we do?" said Yuri.
"Wait a second!" said Carlie. "Look! That island! I can see an island in the distance! The Lizard! It's swimming towards it!"
"It's headed to an island?" said Yuri. "C'mon, we should call for reinforcements."
"No time! We could lose him by then! C'mon, I know a guy from around here who can give us a boat!"
Kraven sat in his chair in his house, just thinking. So he had defeated Spider-Man. So, what would he do now? His greatest challenge ever, and it was over. It was disappointing. There was nothing else to hunt was there? Sighing to himself, he stood up to walk over to his trophy hall. He opened the door to make his way through all his stuffed trophies. A tiger, a rhino, a gorilla, etc. As he looked at them, the animals' blank expressions seemed to haunt him. It was like they were disappointed in him too.
Suddenly, he felt himself being struck down by something attacking him from behind. He looked up to see Spider-Man standing on top of him.
"What? What are you doing back here?" said Kraven.
"You didn't really think I was just gonna let you go after what you've done, did you?" said Spider-Man.
"I let you go, no? It was the honorable thing to do," said Kraven.
"Honorable? You kidnapped me and held me hostage here on this island and tried to kill me several times, and you expect me to be fine with all that just because you let me go for giving you a thrilling hunt? Yeah, I don't think so. You know funnily enough, this is kinda how The Most Dangerous Game actually ended, isn't it?"
Kraven forcibly tried to stand up, but that was when Spider-Man grabbed his hands, pulled them together and webbed them up. Spider-Man then got off of Kraven and said, "You know what I think? Honor is stupid. And it's not the same thing as morality. I say take your win when you have the chance."
"Grr... what do you know? You know what? You should have escaped when you had the chance!" Kraven angrily charged at him, but Spider-Man easily dodged. Kraven kicked him back onto the ground and attempted to step on his throat, but that was when Peter unleashed something from his shooters. It was an aroma, and when Kraven caught a whiff of it, he felt incredibly light-headed.
"Ugh, what is this?" he said groggily.
"Just some tree sap I found on the island," said Peter as he shoved Kraven off of him. "You were right. There's nothing you can't learn from a crash course from Mother Nature herself!" He then grabbed Kraven and quickly began wrapping him up in more webs. "I hope you know that if I had my web shooters before, things would have gone very differently."
"Grahh!" Kraven said before he suddenly tackled Spider-Man. As they rolled around, Spider-Man became a bit stuck in the webs as well. "Do you think any of this matters to me? I am Kraven the Hunter! I am the greatest hunter of all time!"
They were stuck to each other by their backs, but that didn't stop Peter from wrestling with Kraven to get free. Suddenly, though, they both heard a loud crash as they looked over to see the door to the hall burst open, and out of the doorway came the Lizard, who roared ferociously.
"Oh, no," said Peter. The Lizard charged them, and Peter was prepared to see the worst, but to his shock, he grabbed Kraven and forcibly ripped him away from Peter. He then angrily attacked the helpless Kraven, until he bit onto Kraven's hand, sinking his razor-sharp teeth in.
"Grahhhh!" Kraven cried out in pain. Peter managed to stand up and cried out. "Curt, no!"
Upon hearing Peter's voice, the Lizard stopped and looked over to him. He slowly walked over, breathing heavily, but Peter stood his ground. "Curt, c'mon, man, this isn't you! I know the real Curt Connors is in there somewhere! Snap out of it, doc!"
The Lizard looked him over, but then, suddenly, his eyes seemed to widen in understanding. He leaned over to sniff Peter over, and Peter, though creeped out, stood still, until the Lizard backed off, looking satisfied.
Suddenly, they heard new footsteps, and Peter looked over to see Yuri and Cooper walking through the doorway. "Spider-Man!?" said Yuri. "So you were here!"
"What? What're you guys doing here?" said Spider-Man.
"We followed the Lizard here," said Cooper. "He found us, and it seemed he wanted us to follow him. He stole the cellphone off of Yuri here, so we've been tracking him all night."
"Where is the Lizard anyway?" said Yuri.
"What? He's right here-" Spider-Man turned to point, but he was shocked to see that the Lizard had disappeared. He heard a splashing sound, and realized that the Lizard had jumped into the water yet again.
"Ugh, sorry, guys, I think he just escaped again."
"Oh, come on!" said Yuri.
Suddenly Kraven stood up, and seeing Spider-Man, he angrily tried to charge him again, but Peter saw this and kicked him down to the floor and webbed him to the ground. "I think that's enough out of you."
"Kraven?' said Cooper. "I knew it! He was behind this, wasn't he?"
"Yeah, he captured the Lizard and brought him here. But then he captured me so he could hunt me down on this island like I was some kind of animal."
"What? That's crazy!" said Yuri before she looked down at Kraven. "Buddy, I think you should come with us."
"Ugh, please, kill me!" said Kraven. "I deserve death. I have failed as a hunter. And I have failed to fight. I have lost."
"What are you talking about?" said Spider-Man.
"My honor, it says I must hunt or be hunted. You, my greatest prey, have defeated me. Now, you must finish me. It is the true natural way of things."
"Dude, I'm not gonna kill you," said Spider-Man. "I told you, doing what's right is more important than honor. You'll just go to jail." He looked up to Yuri and Cooper. "He's all yours, ladies. I got a Lizard to catch." He then ran off after where the Lizard had run.
Kraven sat in the back of Carlie's boat, still too webbed up to move.
Yuri was holding her phone, covered in gross lizard spit. "Ugh, I hope this washes off."
"Say, Yuri?" said Carlie quietly, getting Yuri's attention. "Do you think we should have chased that Spider-Man guy?"
"Carlie, please, he's really not a threat or anything. Besides, it's not like we could catch tonight anyway."
"Yeah, maybe you're right," said Cooper. "I heard he even saved your life a few times."
"Yeah, I hate to admit it, but he's a good guy at heart."
"He did try to save the Lizard. I guess he's not so bad."
"You see? You're not such a bad cop after all. At least, unlike others, you got your priorities straight."
"Well, I learned from the best, didn't I?" said Cooper.
"So, do you really think the Lizard led us to that island?" said Yuri.
"I'd say it makes perfect sense," said Cooper. "Spider-Man said that the Lizard helped him defeat Kravinoff."
"Yeah," said Yuri, thinking about it hard. "You don't think Curt Connors broke through to help Spider-Man do you?"
"Could be," said Carlie. "If it's true, then that means Curt can still be saved yet!"