New York, 6:25 PM
Kraven was back in New York. His next plan of action? Find more cryptids to hunt. He knew that he would have to go face-to-face against Spider-Man sooner or later, but this act would prove how much stronger he has gotten since the last time they faced off.
From what he and Calypso had learned, these cryptids are located in several parts of the world. Some being right there in New York. The first challenge would be finding them. He has no scent to go off, so he would have to go off of where they were last seen. The next hunt was already on. Unbeknownst to him, he was already being hunted. And the would-be hunters had already arrived over 30 minutes ago.
SSSSSSSSSSSSS
The Saturdays were already in New York, beating out Kraven, who was travelling by plane by over 30 minutes thanks to the speed of the airship. They were already searching for the hunter, but during their search, Doc had learned that several scientists from around the world were meeting here in New York two days from now. He noted that three members of the Secret Scientists would be present. Those three being Dr. Miranda Grey, Dr. David Bara, and Dr. Mizuki.
While it would be nice to catch up with them, it would have to wait after they finished what they came to New York for. If Kraven was known for these types of hunts, they inferred that he would be on another hunt again. It wasn't much to go off of like Drew said, but something is better than nothing. For now they banked off the belief that it was only a matter of time before they found him.
Aunt May's Home
Peter was hard at work, studying for an upcoming algebra test that was six days from now. As he was writing down a solution, he heard his phone buzzing. It was Gwen. He went to answer it.
"Hello?" He said.
"Hey Pete." Gwen said on the other end.
"Hey Gwen? Are you doing alright?" He asked.
"Yeah. And you?"
"Wonderful. Trying to study for this upcoming math exam."
"You've got the right idea. I probably should get on that. But that's not why I called." She said.
"What is it? Is something wrong with Harry?"
"No it's not that. It's Eddie." Gwen said. Peter didn't really know how to feel.
"There's a name I didn't expect to hear again." Peter thought.
"I heard that from MJ that he's just been mentally cleared from the hospital. He's getting ready to leave in a few. I know you two haven't exactly been on the best of terms as of late. But you guys were childhood friends, so I still thought I should let you know." She said. She knew it wasn't up to her whether or not he came to see him or not, or if their friendship would be mended, so she left it at that.
"That's good to hear! I'll tell Aunt May I'm going to go see him. Thanks for telling me Gwen." Peter said.
"That's great! I'll talk to you later Pete." She said.
"Bye Gwen." Both hung up.
Peter told his Aunt May the news about Eddie, and she responded saying how great it was to know that he's doing okay now. She offered that he take some food with him in case he was out long, also adding that food is a great way for people to get together and bond. He was sure he didn't need it, but he took some food that she packed for him and Eddie.
Peter was outside walking in a breezy part of the day. The sort of breeze that didn't feel cold, but inversely felt great. The type of breeze that would make you want to stay outside until it went away.
He chose to go see Eddie because of the Green Goblin. This time, he would try to listen and help. To give Eddie another chance. Eventually, he would make it to the hospital that Eddie was in.
He went to the reception desk and asked which room Eddie was in, saying that he was 'Peter Parker, a childhood friend of Eddie's. The receptionist responded by telling him that he should be about to leave the room in a few. She told him that he could wait here until he came.
Peter sat in one of the empty chairs, an empty chair down from him was an old woman, with gray hair and light-brown skin and a light red sweater holding an orange cat.
"And how are you today young man?" She asked.
"I'm great. And you?" Peter asked.
"I'm doing just fine." She said.
"I can tell you're very anxious. This must be a friend you haven't seen in a long time." She asked.
"Yeah. Our friendship hasn't exactly been in a good state recently." Peter said.
"Well, there at least seems to be some of it left if you chose to even see him in the first place." She responded. And as she did, there he was, in all his glory. Eddie Brock.
Peter took a deep breath. "Parker?" Eddie said, surprised to even see him here.
"In the flesh." He responded. "Listen Eddie, I-"
"No, I want you to listen. I'm sorry about how I acted before. I really am." Eddie said before they walked outside the hospital to continue their conversation.
"You don't know how good it feels to be free." Eddie said.
"I'll bet. I'm sure having to eat hospital food gets tiring." Peter said.
"No, no that's not what I meant. Even if you are right about the hospital food. I'm talking about the symbiote. The freedom. It's grip. It's control. The hatred. It's all gone." He explained.
"I'm glad Eddie. I really am." Peter said. "So, what are you going to do now?" He asked.
"Well for starters, find a job. Unfortunately, it won't be at ESU, with Dr. Connors moving out and all. Hope he's doing okay."
"You didn't hear? He's coming back to New York." Peter said.
"Really? When?"
"He'll probably be here tomorrow at the earliest. He and some of the biggest names in science are coming together here."
"Well that's good to hear. Seems like he's bounced back."
"Yeah." Peter said in a lowered voice. There wasn't much energy put into it at all.
"Listen, I know what you're thinking man. And I get it, you were just trying to help you Aunt. You can't fix the past. You can only move on to the fu-" Eddie was saying, before he realized Peter wasn't paying attention.
"Peter?" Eddie asked.
Peter had thought he heard something and zoned out. "Sorry, I- I thought I heard something. What was it you were saying?"
"All I was saying was that I get why you did what you did with the pictures. For your Aunt." Eddie said.
"Yeah. Guess everything worked out in the end." Peter concluded.
"Yep. Well, I'm beat. I'm gonna crash back at my place. I'll see you later bro." Eddie said.
"Yeah, later bro." Peter said. They gave each other a pound before they go their separate ways.
"Oh, uh Eddie!" Peter called out to him.
"What's up?" Eddie asked, turning his head back.
"I forgot, my Aunt packed some food. There's some for you too." He goes to hand the bag of food to Eddie out of his backpack.
"Tell your Aunt I said thanks." Eddie said.
"I will. Later bro. For real this time."
"Alright bro." Eddie said. He looked down at the food before looking up to continue walking back to his apartment, smiling.
"Well, seems like all's well ends well. Seems like Eddie's really changed for the better. I'm just hoping he still has a place to stay. It's been over a year." Peter thought.
During his walk back home he heard something again.
"There's that noise I heard earlier again." He thought. He kept moving slowly and looked around. He didn't see anything. More noise.
"Who's there!?"
Suddenly, something… he didn't know what it was ran out at him. He yelled, but he was able to get out of the way because of his spider-senses. He looked back it, ready to put up a fight. When he got a closer look at it however, the mandrill-like creature looked as if it was… afraid. It was hurt, he could tell.
He moved closer to it slowly. As he did, it moved back further.
"For something that seems strong to be afraid like it is, something really spooked it." He said out loud, until his spider-senses went off again. He got out of the way of a feline mutant.
"Or in this case, someone." Kraven.
Kraven went to tackle the beast. It attempted to push off and it was successful. It stood up but its left leg was shaking. It was doing its best to stand its ground, but for someone that was as relentless and as season as Kraven was, the minute he showed weakness after Kraven landed a fatal blow on the creature was the minute the hunt was already over. Kraven knows that it's no longer a matter of if, it's a matter of when.
Peter runs out of the way, feigning fear.
"Peter Parker may not be able to stop him, but Spider-Man can!" He thought. He goes into an alley, takes out his costume from his backpack and webs the backpack high up on the wall after he puts the costume on.
The cryptid lay defeated at Kraven's feet. He roared in victory. "I can feel it now. This… this was the hunt I was looking for! I am ready…"
"For a beatdown I'm assuming?" Zak said as he and the rest of the Saturday family stands before the hunter.
"You… how did you…" Kraven started.
"Don't think about it too much right now, save it for when you're behind bars." Drew said, drawing her Tibetan Fire Sword. It ignited to life. She was the first one to charge at the hunter. Kraven sidestepped her swipe downward. What nearly caught him off guard was the quick recovery and the second swipe but was able to dodge just in time.
Zak, Doc, Wadi, and Doyle joined in on the fight, attempting to use their strength in numbers to overwhelm the hunter.
Zak and Wadi attempt to wrap Kraven up with the Claw and yo-yo respectively, but he uses his strength to just pull Zak forward, sending him over head and knock Wadi down on the ground.
Doc throws a series of punches powered by his Battle Glove.
"Heads up!" Doyle said, suddenly shooting missiles at Kraven. He jumps back and dodges the missiles.
Drew lobs fireballs at her adversary. But like a cheetah, dodges the fireballs, one of them hitting a lamp post, now running at Drew. He pounces on her, forcing her to use her sword to protect her face.
Doyle locks on to Kraven now to make sure he hits his target.
"Got you now." He said before shooting the rocket. Kraven notices the rocket coming at him, gets the sword away from Drew and uses it to send the rocket back towards Doyle's way. He dodges it as it sails off into the night sky.
Zak goes up against the hunter, Claw vs Fire Sword. Just like his first battle with Argost. They match each other's blows. With Zak using his height as an advantage to duck or jump over attacks from the hunter.
"You fight well. But you are just a warm-up." Kraven said.
"Warm-up for what?" Zak asked.
"Probably for me." A voice said.
"Spider-Man."
"Kraven. Doing all this for me? I'm touched." The wall crawler said before shooting a web at the sword.
"Cats should not be playing with sharp objects." Spidey quipped as he took the sword.
"I believe this is for you." He said, giving the sword back to Drew. She took it.
"Thanks." Drew said.
"Fighting alongside with Spider-Man? Way awesome." Zak said.
"I will enjoy crushing you all at once." Kraven said.
The Saturdays and the web-slinger all converged on Kraven. Even though Kraven was outnumbered, this fight wasn't as easy as it seemed. Kraven used a combination of his speed and strength to deal with each of them. Spider-Man attempts a web swinging kick on his adversary, but Kraven catches both of his feet and slams him down on the ground. He then does it again, and was going to keep repeating the process as if he was a ragdoll had the Saturdays not interrupted him.
"You alright?" Doc asked him. He was slammed so hard, the concrete he was under cracked.
"Yeah, I've been through worse." Spider-Man said, before getting up to reenter the fight.
Doyle rains a storm of laser blasts at him before Kraven jumps up high enough to tackle him and bite off the wrist cannon, and his wrist rocket.
"Neither of those were cheap you know!" Doyle said. Kraven only responded with a roar, his mouth open about to finish off Doyle and eliminate the first of his prey. Or so he thought. Doyle quickly takes out the reflex disrupter and hits his left arm. Kraven yells from the pain of electricity surging through the joint that he was hit, allowing Doyle to back away.
Spider-Man makes a big with the help of some of the lampposts that were still intact.
"Need a minute?" Spider-Man asked Kraven.
"Do not mock me!" Kraven said before roaring. His arm re-gaining feeling.
"Looks like you really struck a nerve there." Doyle said.
"Here, kitty kitty." Spider-Man said. Kraven took the bait and charged at the teenage hero. He then webbed him in the face so that he couldn't see before flipping over him like a gymnast, running headfirst into the webs.
Spider-Man then goes over to where his adversary was caught.
"And for good measure." Spider-Man said, creating even more webs to make sure he couldn't get out.
Kraven wouldn't give up that easily though. He was not going to be denied the satisfaction of victory, and defeated by Spider-Man again. In a great show of strength, he breaks free from all of the webs, and goes ballistic. Spider-Man opens his eyes wide in surprise and tries to get out of the way, but to no avail. Kraven grabs him again, and throws him across the street. Through a building, and through a wall of the hospital. He regains his bearings, looks up and sees the old woman that he met earlier. The cat jumps down and licks him.
"I think he likes you. Which is strange. He only does this to someone he's seen before. If he likes them that is." The old woman said, obviously unaware that she and the cat had met him earlier.
"Guess I have a way with cats." Spider-Man said. A second later, Kraven pounces him.
"See, what'd I tell ya?" He said, grunts in between, trying to get him off. Thinking fast, he got one of his hands free and shoved a chair with all of the strength he could with one hand. It may have not been much, but it was enough for him to get some type of strength back and kick him off with both of his feet, sending him crashing through the glass entrance of the hospital.
"I'm sure this is gonna be in the Bugle tomorrow." Spider-Man commented.
The Saturdays were able to catch up to the two, with Zak charging in at the hunter first, believing that he was down and vulnerable.
Kraven responded with a slash at his chest, fortunately, the slash connected with his shirt only, slashing the bottom of it off.
"Hey, that was my favorite shirt." Zak said, looking down at it, even though it was the only shirt and for that matter, outfit he really wore when they were travelling. Zak kicked the hunter twice, the second one being a leaping roundhouse to his face, which hit harder than any of the Saturdays, including Zak for that matter expected it to hit, even if some of the extra force came from him being upset about his shirt. But it didn't take Kraven long for him to recover, turning his head back as if he was never hit at all, grabbed him and began to squeeze him. Zak struggled in pain to try and get out.
"For that, you will suffer first." Kraven said.
"Zak!" Doc, Drew, Wadi and Doyle said. They all charged at him, but Spider-Man was first. He used a web to remove the cap off a fire hydrant that was behind him and knocked the hunter back with the pressure of the water.
"You alright sweetie?" Drew asked him.
"Nothing's broken. I hope." Zak said, trying to stretch himself to get rid of the pain.
Abandoned Subway, Turtles Lair
The turtles heard the noise that was being made from up above.
"What the shell is going on up there?" Raphael asked, as they were all watching what seemed to be a classic Western Movie.
"Sounds like some action to me." Casey said, putting his fist into one hand, already itching for a fight.
More noise was made, Spider-Man was knocked into a car.
"Looks like that's our cue." Mikey said.
Leonardo nodded. "Right, let's go guys!"
Leonardo and his brothers grabbed their weapons. Casey put on his hockey mask and grabbed his golfbag of gear. He may not have had his battle gear with him, but it wasn't a necessity. There was a point where he didn't have any battle gear to begin with. It helped, but he felt he could still crack some skulls with or without it.
The turtles and Casey all made their way out of the subway. It was time for some action!
Back Above Ground
Spider-Man and Kraven had taken their fight into a park. Doyle attempted to get there quickly via his jetpack but it failed to start.
"Must have been damaged on that fall I had earlier when he jumped on me. Guess I'm joining you guys on foot." Doyle said.
"I will enjoy crushing you Spider-Man." Kraven said.
"How many times have I heard that line? Come up with some new material." Spider-Man quipped.
Spider-Man attempts to web him, but Kraven dodges hit attacks. Inversely, Spider-Man was just too quick for the hunter to hit.
Kraven picks up a nearby bench and swings it at him at couple of time before throwing it.
"I have gotten stronger since the last time we met. We are no longer equals." Kraven said.
Spider-Man notices five figures in the distance. "Oh yeah, and how's that?" He asked.
"When the sinister six was defeated, I decided to leave New York. I was not strong enough to defeat you then. So I hunted and hunted, vowing that I would get stronger, until I took my place at the top of the food chain once again, back from you, Spider-Man." He began.
"But it was the discovery of these mystical creatures called Cryptids, and the family that you encountered earlier that made declare that as the hunt I needed to conquer before I was strong enough to face you again. And here you are." Kraven said.
"I hate to break it to you, but this fight isn't going to go the way you think it is." Spider-Man said.
"Enough of this nonsen- AAAARGH!" Kraven yelled in pain after being shocked and surrounded by what seemed to be purple energy.
The five figures from before descended.
"The shell shocker. Laser gun that stuns anything on hit." Donatello said, proud of his invention. "It's still a work-in-progress so I'm not sure how long it'll keep him stunned." He warned.
"On it." He said, webbing up the villain.
"Spider-Man! You have-"
"Put a web in it." He said before webbing up his mouth.
The Saturdays, tracking the carnage found Spider-Man and Kraven. For good measure, Doc came and also used his battle glove to freeze all of his body except for his head.
"Friends of yours?" Doc asked, seeing the turtles.
Spider-Man nodded.
"Where are they?" Drew said.
"Do not worry. They are in good hands. Calypso is taking care of them." Kraven said.
"You're going to have to be more specific." Drew said, igniting the fire sword.
"I think I have an idea where they are." Spider-Man said.
American Museum of Natural History
As Spider-Man thought, he found them in an unfinished portion of the American Museum of Natural History. Calypso was there, but she didn't put up much of a fight, seeing that she was outnumbered and that Kraven was brought in by the authorities.
They exited the Museum.
"You guys okay?" Zak asked. The three gathered around the family, pretty much confirming this.
"Well, my job's done." Spider-Man said.
"Thanks a lot." Zak said.
"Don't mention it." He said. "I'll give you guys some space to introduce yourselves to each other. Later!" Spider-Man said, swinging off.
The turtles and the Saturdays greet each other accordingly.
"Dude. I've got so many questions right now." Mikey said, directed mostly towards the cryptids. Zak goes on to explain to them about cryptids.
Not long after this explanation, he also explains what they do as a family of cryptozoologists, traveling the world to protect cryptids and to keep their existence secret from the rest of humanity.
"I think April would love to meet you guys." Mikey commented.
"We'll be here for at least a couple of days so I we've got time." Drew said.
"Mom, Dad, can we head back to the airship? My shirt is kinda…" Zak said.
"It's about time we head back too. I'm sure Master Splinter is going to be worried soon." Leonardo said. "Until we meet again." Leonardo said, before they lept off into the night. Casey, while not as quick as the turtles would take his own path back to the lair.
"And while we're there we can also talk about you using untested equipment." Doc said to Zak, who responded with an innocent smile.
Purple Dragon Hideout(One of several)
Hun, leader of the Purple Dragons was staring at a monitor. "Everywhere I go, I have to look like this! Like those freaks!" He said.
"But no more. Soon, I'll be back to my normal self! And nothing, not even those freaks will stop me!" He said, looking at the screen once more of a news channel covering the story of scientists around the world meeting, focusing on Dr. Connors in particular.
A/N: The "Shell Shocker" that Donatello used against Kraven is inspired by the laser gun he uses in the TMNT 2 Battle Nexus game. Like in the game, it stuns it's target, surrounding them with electricity.