The Invincible Spider-Man
Chapter 66: Apex Predator
Smythe paced back and forth on the roof of a building, worried about his father in the hospital, as well as the person who had asked him to meet here.
"Can I even trust him? The man walks around like Tarzan, talks like some sort of deluded patient who ran from an asylum. And he asks me to meet on a random building. This is crazy, Alistair," he told himself, squeezing his eyes with his two fingers.
"I can assure you, you are not crazy," said a voice from above Alistair. Startled, he looked up and saw a large, muscular man on another rooftop of a taller building. He couldn't make out any features, but the moonlight glistened across his eyes, making them come off as bright white, contrasting with the dark night sky.
The man jumped from the roof and landed in front of Alistair. He was approximately 6'3, with a large black beard, and a fur coat that seemed to be made from a tiger's fur, covering only the extreme right and left side of his chest. On either side of his fur coat, on his chest were two green eyes, which looked like the eyes of a lion.
On his chest was a tattoo of a dragon, and he was holding a machete in his right hand, along with two swords carried on his back.
"I'm assuming you're Mr Kravinoff?" asked Alistair, a little hesitant.
"Kraven," he replied, putting the machete back into its holster.
"I apologize if I came off as intimidating. I have no quarrel against you or anyone else," reassured Kraven, outstretching a handshake.
"Except with Spider-Man, I presume?" asked Alistair.
"You presume correct," said Kraven. Alistair then reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, but Kraven stopped him.
"You need not do anything of the sort," said Kraven.
"I thought you'd expect to get paid for your services?" asked Alistair, a little confused.
"Spider-Man has been pretending to be the ultimate hunter for years now, even putting away Dimitri for life. True hunters conserve their prey, not take away their habitat and condemn them for life! Taking his head and proving he is nothing will be compensation enough for me," explained Kraven.
"Understood," said Alistair, still a little baffled by Kraven's reasoning.
"I see you are confused about my methods. Fear not, however, I will need resources from you," said Kraven.
"I'm guessing you will need to know Spider-Man's patterns? I can use the Oscorp surveillance tech to figure how and where he moves regularly-"
"You need not do that either. I observe my prey for days, collecting every piece of information I can. I know enough already about Spider-Man, I have had my eye on him distantly for years now," replied Kraven.
"What do you know about him?"
"He started out hunting for a specific person. People matching that description. Which means someone wronged him, and that's why he does what he does. He is also a mere child, he seems to not have any proper training," said Kraven.
"Oooookay…" said Alistair. "Anything you need from Oscorp?" he asked.
"I will need a place to rest. A hunter must always remain well rested," said Kraven.
"Okay! We can arrange all of that, get you the best suite-"
"Nothing of that sort! I would like to be near nature itself. Wherever I stay, I do not want it to be touched by mankind's need for luxury," replied Kraven, in a very self-absorbed manner.
"Okay, we can get you a loft at a small building near Central Park. Super minimalistic," said Smythe, extremely baffled by this eccentric man.
"Wonderful. Now, let the hunt begin," said Kraven, as he took a couple steps back and jumped off of the building.
"WOAH!" screamed Smythe, as he rushed to the edge of the building and looked below, but Kraven had disappeared.
Peter woke up from his slumber, absolutely exhausted. His head felt like a thousand suns, and his legs felt like anchors. He tried opening his eyes a little wider, but they seemed to have a mind of their own, refusing to do so.
His ears were suddenly assaulted with a loud knocking at his door.
"Peter Parker, it's about time you get up!" yelled a voice. Peter chuckled a little.
"C-Come…in," he said, with a raspy voice.
The door opened, revealing a very angry Mary Jane.
"I don't know what happened to your circadian rhythm, but-"
She stopped mid-sentence when she saw Peter, and how sick he looked.
"What the Hell happened?" she asked, rushing to his side.
"I think I ate some bad Chinese yesterday…" said Peter, his voice barely a whisper. "Acetic acid… plus the hydrochloric acid in the stomach…equals-"
"Zip it," said MJ, putting a finger to his lips. She then rushed out of the room and headed towards the common room.
Almost 2 minutes later, she returned with an ice pack, as she placed it on Peter's forehead.
"My God you're hot. Uh, I meant in terms of temperature," said MJ, chuckling to herself a bit.
The ice pack seemed to cool down Peter, as he took a deep breath. Just then, he felt a sharp pain on his forehead.
"Need anything else?" asked MJ.
"Aceta…Acetaminophen…" replied Peter, his voice a little louder, but still raspy.
"Speak English," replied MJ.
"Tylenol," said Peter, rolling his eyes in sarcasm. "Third drawer," he added.
MJ walked up to his desk, towards the third drawer. However, just as she was about to open it, she saw a framed picture of Gwen and Peter. Mary Jane lifted it up, and stared at Gwen's face, smiling ever so happily.
She let a tear fall, realizing she never even came to terms with Gwen's loss. She looked back at Peter, who was staring at the wall.
MJ put the frame back down, as she got the Tylenol and a glass of water, walking back to Peter.
"There you go," she said, as Peter gulped down one tablet with the water.
"Peter, I think we need to talk," she said, holding back her voice a bit, in hesitation.
"Sure, what is it about?" asked Peter, his voice returning, as the headache seemed to subside.
"About…Gwen," she said, her voice faltering a bit as the words left her mouth.
Peter hesitated a little bit, but then took another deep breath. "Okay," he said.
"So…there's this thing I do, whenever someone passes away, or leaves my life. I try to forget about them, focus on something else. Like when my mom left my father and I, I just tried everything I could to forget her. Then…when my bumbling drunk of a dad left me with Anna, I tried to forget him too, like not think about them at all. And I did, for the most part," said MJ, her voice faltering again.
"Gwen was my best friend…and I can't believe I tried the same thing with her, for so many months!" let out MJ, bursting into tears. "All this time I told myself it's all for the best and moved on with my life, trying not to think about her," she continued.
Peter wiped away her tears with his sleeve, as she buried her face in his right arm.
"We all grieve in different ways, MJ. I for one, couldn't let it go, and to be honest, I don't think I ever will. You don't need to beat yourself up over this," reassured Peter.
"She deserved better. So much better. I just wish I had more time…" said MJ, still sobbing. "And all this time I was trying to help you, not knowing that I was going through the same thing," she continued.
"I'm so grateful for that, you have no idea. Gwen would honestly be proud," replied Peter, as he started to cry too.
"That diseased maniac, why did he always go after her? What was he trying to prove?" asked MJ in anger, referencing the Green Goblin.
Peter flashed back to that night, as he tightly closed his eyes, letting more tears fall.
"It's just…I didn't do right by her by trying to move on, and not grieving for her," said MJ, as the sobbing stopped. She looked back at Peter, both their eyes red with tears.
"I think you should see a therapist called Joan Jameson, she really helped me," said Peter.
"Would she be related to Jonah Jameson?" asked MJ, chuckling a little.
"Yeah, but trust me, she's helped me so much," said Peter.
"Normally I'd say I don't need a shrink, but in this case I think it's for the best," she said, as Peter got up.
"Hey, where are you going?" asked MJ.
"I need to go make some amends," replied Peter, putting on a hoodie over his shirt.
"Weren't you sick like three seconds ago?" asked MJ.
"I was. You're one hell of a nurse, Miss Watson," chuckled Peter, as he walked out of the room. MJ blushed a little.
Kraven stood on a roof that overlooked the Daily Bugle, which is where Spider-Man was last seen by witnesses. He jumped and landed on the roof of the Bugle, without making a single sound.
As he smelled the air, he was met with a rather peculiar scent.
"One human…and the other…." Thought Kraven, a little perplexed. He decided to follow the human scent, and found himself jumping off of the Bugle and down into an alleyway.
The scent seemed to be much more present there, but Kraven lost it once he walked out onto the street.
"Too many people here, easier to lose the scent," he told himself, as he pulled out a map.
On the map were multiple lines stretched across the city. Spider-Man's movements.
"Looks like my prey moves between Greenwich to Midtown a lot. Even Times Square," thought Kraven.
"Sometimes, to lure prey, you must give them a watering hole," he continued thinking, as he had an idea, looking back at the Daily Bugle. He circled around the street and got to front door of the Bugle, a lot of eyes staring at him.
"Looks like the Bugle's interviewing contestants from The Island," said a pedestrian. Kraven's increased senses picked that up, as he walked up to the security guards, who were no doubt suspicious of him.
"And who might you be?" they asked.
"I'm a contestant from The Island, here to be interviewed by the Bugle," replied Kraven. The two guards looked at each other, then back at Kraven. They shrugged and let him past.
"Elevator's ahead of you," said the guard, as Kraven walked to the stairs.
"Mister, it's 12 floors. I recommend taking the elevator," said the 2nd guard.
Kraven simply chuckled as he started sprinting up the stairs at a speed that would rival Usain Bolt himself, much to the guards' surprise.
"They teach that stuff on The Island?" asked one guard, surprised.
"Man a lot of shit happens to people on islands. There was that one show of a billionaire who was on an island and came back as freakin' Hawkeye," commented the 2nd guard, as he walked back to his post.
Kraven hadn't even broken a sweat, as he walked up to the Bugle's office. Weirdly enough, Spider-Man's scent got even stronger.
"Woah buddy, where'd you come from?" asked Ned, stifling a laugh at Kraven's getup.
"I'm here to speak to the leader of this place," replied Kraven, with an unexpressive face.
"That would be me," said Jameson, as he walked out of the office.
"Good to meet you. My name is Sergei Kravinoff, but you can call me: Kraven, the hunter," said Kraven, outstretching his hand.
"How can I be sure those hands haven't touched raw deer carcasses?" asked Jameson, as he removed his cigar from his mouth.
Kraven chuckled.
"I can assure you, though I may look primitive, I am far from a Neanderthal. In fact, I am here to help you," said Kraven.
"And what's that? I don't need help starting a fire to keep warm during Christmas, out here we have electric heaters," said Jameson, laughing by himself, while everyone around him laughed weakly.
"This generation cannot understand good jokes," muttered Jameson.
"I can help catch Spider-Man," said Kraven. Jameson's chuckling stopped.
"You've got my attention," said Jonah.
"I am one of the most skilled hunters alive, barring my son. I have come here to prove to New York that Spider-Man is but a poser," said Kraven. "The people here listen to you, if you can get your face on the big billboard at Times Square, I can lure him out," he explained.
"Sorry to break it to you, but those billboards are owned by Oscorp," replied Jameson, scoffing.
Kraven asked for Betty's phone, who reluctantly gave it to him. He then dialed a number.
"Hello, Mr Smythe?" asked Kraven, as Jonah's eyes went wide.
"Yes, it's Mr Kravinoff here. I need you to give access to the biggest Times Square billboard to the Daily Bugle. Yes, it is for my work," said Kraven. After a few seconds, he cut the call.
"Oscorp wil email you the details to "broadcast" me on the billboard," said Kraven, as he handed the phone to Betty, while Jonah's jaw dropped.
"Wow, this coffee is seriously good," said Carlie, as she walked with Peter at Times Square, holding a piping cup of cappuccino.
"Yeah, it definitely was my favorite place to come with Uncle Ben," said Peter, as he held his own cup of hot chocolate
"By the way, just to put it out there, I'm glad we can still hang out as friends. I know I was a little cold before, but I'm grateful there's no animosity between us," said Carlie.
"You were literally the first friend I made it at ESU. There's no way I'm ruining that," said Peter. "I'm sorry if I was a dick earlier, I have no clue what overcame me," said Peter.
"I forgave you a long time back, but I don't think I'm the one you should apologize too," said Carlie, as they sat down on a bench.
"Right. How's Eddie doing?" asked Peter, a surge of guilt overcoming him.
"He hasn't been answering any of my calls. Normally he'd pick up in 5 seconds, but I haven't seen or heard from him in about two days," explained Carlie.
"I still can't believe I did that. God, what was I doing?" asked Peter.
"You weren't thinking straight, Pete. It happens," said Carlie, reassuring him. Peter nodded, knowing full well what caused him to do what he did.
"I just wish I had done something sooner. I just dug myself into a deeper hole," lamented Peter.
"You can't keep blaming yourself that way," said Carlie.
Just then, there was a loud sound from one of the billboards, advertising Oscorp products.
"Spider-Man!" said Kraven, standing next to J Jonah Jameson.
"Jonah?! And who's that guy?" asked Carlie, as Peter's eyes were fixated on the screen.
"On behalf of the Daily Bugle, I challenge you to a duel. Come to Times Square, where I shall prove you are nothing but a deer pretending to be a lion," said Kraven, a smug look on his face.
"What he said!" continued Jameson. "This will be filmed by the Daily Bugle. Come to Times Square in the next 10 minutes," said Jameson.
"Wow, that's a new low for Jameson. Teaming up with discount Bear Grylls," said Peter, as the broadcast ended.
"Yeah. Should we get out of here, in case things get out of hand?" asked Carlie.
Peter thought for a second.
"Yeah. If Spider-Man does show up, we don't want to be caught in the crossfire. Let's just head to Central Park," said Peter.
What Peter didn't know was that the broadcast wasn't live, but pre-recorded. And Kraven was already at Times Square, picking up Spider-Man's scent.
Peter and Carlie walked up to the John Lennon memorial in Central Park.
"Is it weird that I never heard his music?" asked Carlie.
"I grew up with his music, it was Uncle Ben's favorite," smiled Peter. "I remember running around with a pillow pretending to be Captain America while The Beatles played in the background," chuckled Peter, thinking of that memory.
"Spider-Man!" shouted a voice, and Peter instantly froze.
The crowd turned around, only to see Kraven the Hunter standing in the park.
"What the Hell is he doing here?" asked Carlie, civilians began to run.
"Carlie, get out of here! I'm gonna go get help," said Peter, as he rushed away, and hid behind some bushes.
Peter tensed his muscles, but nothing happened. That's when he remembered he didn't have the Black Suit, and he wasn't wearing his makeshift suit either.
"Time for some DIY," thought Peter.
Meanwhile, Kraven was trying to get Spider-Man's scent, but it was masked by everyone else's.
"Hey, you do know Central Park's Christmas Scavenger Hunt isn't an actual h9unt, right?" asked a voice. Kraven turned around and saw a man in a hoodie and trousers, but his face was covered with a mask made from webbing, with two eyeholes in them.
"Spider-Man, I presume?" asked Kraven, unsheathing his machete.
"You presume correct. And you're…Bear Grylls' lackluster replacement?" asked Peter.
Kraven smirked smugly, as he started wielding his machete.
"Oftentimes, a hunter's prey thinks that they can take on the hunter, like a tiger skulking through the forest. But in the end, it is not the hunter's skin which is used as a rug!" said Kraven, as he threw the machete.
"Not unless you're an 80s horror villain, and you seriously give off those vibes!" said Peter, as he just barely dodged the machete with a side-flip.
Almost as soon as his feet landed on the ground, Kraven tackled him down.
"You fight like a child, admirable. And yet, misguided," said Kraven, as he pinned Peter's arms to the ground and pulled out a knife.
"I shall enjoy this after what you did to my family," he continued. However, Peter shot a web at Kraven's face, and managed to wriggle out of his grasp.
"Ever heard of personal space?" asked Peter, as he kicked Kraven. But Kraven barely moved.
"You think I need my eyes to see?" he asked, laughing with the webbing still on his face, as he picked up a pebble. He threw the pebble towards another rock on the ground.
The pebble bounced off of the rock and hit Peter straight in the side of his head.
"AGH!" shouted Peter, as he put his palm on the right temple. Kraven lunged forward, grabbed Peter's leg and pulled him onto the ground, before throwing him into a tree.
"AAAAAH!" shouted Peter, as a sharp branch stabbed his side. He managed to get to his feet, and instantly unleased a flurry of punches towards Kraven, who dodged each and every one of them.
Peter threw another punch, but Kraven grabbed both his fists, and headbutted Peter.
Peter staggered back, and tried to extend a tendril from his back, just then realizing there was nothing.
"Time to rely on my one and only," he thought, as he flipped over Kraven and shot a web towards Kraven's back, ready to pull him down as soon as Peter landed.
However, Kraven grabbed the web before it hit his back, and pulled Peter towards him, punching him straight in his chest.
"AAAAGHH!" grunted Peter, as he was sent flying a couple meters away. He tumbled onto the snow, but managed to regain his footing.
"I can't beat him. Not without the Black Suit," thought Peter.
"No, I can do this," he told himself, readying his shoulders as he rushed at Kraven, shooting two webs at his feet and pulling him down.
Surprisingly, that worked and Kraven fell on his back. Before Peter could even do anything, however, he sprung back up to his feet and kicked Peter away with both of his legs.
Before Peter could get back on his feet, Kraven slammed his face into the snow.
"All the enemies you have fought are mere animals fighting for a larger place in the ecosystem," said Kraven, to a dazed Peter, as he lifted Peter up and slammed him down onto the ground.
"But I…" said Kraven, as he kicked Peter, flipping him onto his back.
"Am the apex predator," he continued, as he pressed his boot on Peter's chest. As Peter struggled to breathe, Kraven pushed the back of his head into the snow, as he got ready to pull the web-mask off of his face.
All of a sudden, there was a loud, almost screeching sound. It felt like a 1000 decibels of white noise.
"AAAAAGHHH!" yelled Kraven, as he stepped off of Peter and stumbled back.
That's when a blue portal suddenly opened up in the middle of the park.
"What the…" said Peter, as he got to his feet.
"Do you see it?" asked Kraven, bewildered.
"Oh yeah, I see it…" said Peter, just as confused.
All of a sudden, the portal made a loud sound, as both Peter and Kraven were sucked into it.
It felt like he was being spaghettified, as Peter screamed out loud and closed his eyes. From what it sounded like, Kraven was going through the same thing. After wat felt like forever, Peter passed out.
Peter opened his eyes, and found himself on grass. The grass seemed way darker though. And it seemed to have rained, judging by how damp the ground was.
Peter stood up, and immediately fell back on his knees. The sky above him was dark and grey, with ominous clouds looming over every building. He was still in Central Park, in New York. But something seemed, different, aside from the weather.
The park was completely empty, and that's when Peter noticed a massive electronic billboard in the park. His eyes went wide and his jaw dropped in disbelief.
"Where the Hell am I?" he asked himself, as he read what the billboard said.
"Spider-Man Found Dead. Citywide Hero Revealed to Be 23 Year Old Photographer,"
"Peter Parker."
Well, I guess you can all guess whose dimension Peter (and Kraven?) have landed in! Stay tuned for a three-parter with none other than Miles Morales!
So things have been looking up for me a lot! I've gotten a great handle on things, and I daresay this is the happiest I've been since October 2019, which was a whole 2 years ago, so I'm really grateful I made it through those 2 years! School finally reopened, and it was really good to go back to the place that's essentially defined me for so many years. I'll also be shifting to our old penthouse (been staying at my Grandma's bungalow for the past 3 years due to renovation) in about a week, so I'm quite excited about that. Little bittersweet though, since this place really grew on me! I also saw Squid Game, it was brilliant! In addition, i bought a new laptop! I was gonna buy a PS5 instead, but it was out of stock ffs.
redbirds12: Thanks! I hope I did the Black Suit saga well!
Fate-Be Changed: Definitely lol
Geek4Life: Thanks! And don't worry, I still (sorta) have ideas for a bald Peter Parker. You'll see in Season 6 lmao
SpideyXBC: I have no clue how that got past me, I'll fix it as soon as I can!
Teller-Story: Definitely, I have plans for that later in the season!
I am the Voice: Hmmm maybe, you never know
Guest: I made him lose the "extra-enhanced" physique so as to show how much of an effect Venom had on him, and how powerless he feels without it. It's a classic case of withdrawal symptoms, and I'm definitely building up on that! And yep, lightning can cause combustion!
Yours truly,
Shadow Strike.