For Round 6, we shall delve more into Carol's military training as opposed to her superhuman abilities. Hopefully, this chapter captures that nicely. And now, we enter the ring once more, readers. Next up, Kraven the Hunter! Enjoy!

PS: *insert Disclaimer here

Chapter 6: Kraven the Hunter, 1st Encounter

I am a hunter, one of the best-no, the best on the face of the planet. I have travelled the globe, from my home of Mother Russia, to the South America Amazon, to the Antarctic Savage Land, to the planes of the sub-Sahara, searching for worthy prey to face. Lion, tiger, raptor, buffalo, shark…I, Sergei Kravenoff, have hunted and bested them all.

This has greatly reduced the number of suitable opponents that Mother Nature can offer me. She has given so much life, produced such marvelous specimen through her lifespan of countless millennia; few specimens today can offer me the challenge I so seek, that I so desperately desire in the wilderness that I have come to call a second home.

For that reason, I find myself once more in the urban jungles of New York City; tonight, I once again hunt he who is said to be untouchable & un-killable by his enemies. He who rules the streets with the crown of an arachnid, he who has eluded capture for all the years he has walked this city.

He, who is called…the Spider-Man.

He is indeed a worthy opponent; no other specimen I have ever come across has sensed me before I reveal myself, for my jungle potions mask my scent. It is as if he has an uncanny sense of danger. But it matters not, for no prey can elude Sergei Kravenoff. But I must say, this Spider-Man offers me an exhilarating challenge. He avoids my strikes and proves to be quite agile, but I am just as agile & quick and I can avoid his strikes as well. I chase my prey across the rooftops of the city, and no matter how much he attempts to elude me, I always find him; yet no matter how hard I try, I cannot catch him. His agility, clearly that of a superhuman, matches my own, granted by my potions.

I seek to know just how elusive this prey is.

So, I prepare a paralysis dart as I throw my spear. The Spider-Man dodges it easily, as I plan for him to do-I attack him when he sidesteps my spear and as we crash into another rooftop, I thrust the dart into his shoulder, effectively incapacitating my prey. I have heard rumors that his blood is tainted in a way that prevents many toxins from lasting long; whether there is truth to that or not, I will not take any chances. But as I make to end the hunt, I feel…disappointed that I felled the Spider-Man so easily. I draw my knives out, marveling at out the hunt was challenging and exhilarating in itself, yet my victory is bittersweet. Nonetheless, I prepare to give him an honorable death-

But no, I am attacked, ambushed-rushed from the left; I am carried across the street below to another rooftop and I am flung. My agility and reflexes, however, enhanced by my jungle potions, save me as I land in a defensive stance, knives at the ready. I face my attacker, the one who would dare interrupt my kill.

And it is a woman, She is a beautiful creature, her hair flowing in the night breeze and eyes as blue as the summer skies above Russia. She wears a military style uniform: red & blue with golden stripes and a golden multi-pointed star on her chest, her waistline adorned with a red sash, and red gloves & boots. The fury in her eyes is unmistakable; is she perhaps one of his allies, or a guardian?

I care not as I throw a knife at her-but she blocks it with her gloved hand, and it does nothing to harm her before it falls harmlessly at her feet. Taking out another of my blades, I prepare for what I am sure will be a powerful attack-she is clearly a superhuman, so I make to prepare a defense.

But she slams her foot onto the hilt of the blade at her feet, sending it flying up into her gloved hand. She grabs it and stares at me. To my surprise, she easily, gracefully and skillfully twirls the blade in her fingers and throws it up in the sky a few inches, grabbing it expertly with her other hand. She smiles wickedly as she takes up a fighting stance, blade in hand, motioning for me to make the first move.

I realize two this at that moment: she is clearly a military veteran, and she has challenged me to a knife fight.

With a leap towards her, I eagerly accept the challenge. I attack her with all my skill, thrusting my blades at her, relentlessly pressing my assault. I slash, thrust, parry and hack with every skill at my disposal, my blades moving like flowing liquid in perfect execution. Yet, at every attack, I am blocked by her blade. She is clearly not letting herself use her fully power, but she is evidently highly skilled enough in the art of bladed combat to block my strikes with such precision and finesse. Despite her disadvantage of wielding one blade against my two, her technique makes it clear that she is more than capable of fighting against such odds.

Then, with a parry, she blocks yet another of my thrusts; her smile turns even more wicked.

Immediately, as I can barely register in sufficient time, she goes on the offensive, thrusting and slashing and hacking at me, and it is all I can do to block her strikes. I have no chance to retake the offense; I am forced to focus on defending myself from her blade. How did this happen? I find myself barely keeping up with her, and that is when I notice her agility and speed is slowly starting to pick up. I realize she is slowly allowing her powers to increase and give her a better edge. Immediately I see that this will not end for me if I allow it to continue. I have greatly underestimated this woman-if I am not careful, she will surely harm me. Seeing the fury still in her eyes, I feel certain that may be her intent.

So I fire a sweep kick, forcing her to fall down; from here, I plan to pounce at her and-no, she no sooner touches the ground with her hand than flips back upwards, kicking the knife out of my left hand. With a twirl of a martial artist, she lands a kick onto my side, forcing me to fall down. Of course, my agility and heightened senses allow me to maneuver myself to land again in a defensive stance, but no sooner to I turn back to my opponent to attack her than I must instantly dodge. She has flung the knife from my hand at me, and she barely misses, though I fear that was her intent. She toys with me, proving with her actions that though she may chose not to, she CAN hurt me.

I seek to end this, and return to my purpose-hunt the Spider-Man, who I feel certain has recovered and escaped the scene by now. With a roar, I tackle my opponent, only for her to grab my shoulders and flip me into midair. As I land on my back, she makes to bring her blade onto my face, and I barely have enough time to bring my own to block it. Only then do I see that to be a ruse; her other hand quickly rips my knife from my fingers. Instinctively, I flip myself up and slam her in the face with a snap kick-which does nothing at all. The woman throws her own blade aside and proceeds to engage me in unarmed combat. Though she does not utilize her superior strength, her speed comes into play instantly. She is well trained, as well as I am, but I cannot match her superior speed. At every instant, she throws punches, fists, kicks and even back hands. I cannot block all her strikes while every one of my own, she can easily avoid. My jungle potions may have increased my speed and agility, but it proves no match against her natural speed.

With one well-placed kick, she sends me-Sergei Kravenoff-flying off the ledge, down into the streets below. Just as I think I am to meet my death, I am saved by a net of webbing, something I instantly recognize to be as that of Spider-Man. I am encased, trapped as a fish in a fisherman's net, and I am helpless, swinging in my trap from a lamp post.

My opponent slowly floats down to where I am trapped, a devious smirk on her lips. Spider-Man soon appears, recovered from my paralysis dart, landing on her and clinging onto her shoulder.

"Thanks for all your help back there, Webs," she says in a sarcastic tone.

"You seemed to be doing pretty fine on your own; plus, seeing you fight like that…was kind of hot," the Spider-Man replies.

"Oh, shut up," she replies as she places a kiss on his masked cheek. "So, this is the famous Kraven, huh? Bit of advice, pal; it's not a smart move to hunt Spider-Man in a city full of his…"

Her words fade into the distance as I contemplate what had happened.

I, Sergei Kravenoff, have been bested by this woman.

Only because she utilized her powers.

Spider-Man instantly disappears from my mind; this ally of his has now claimed my full attention. She is truly a worthy challenge, one I will be certain to win the next time I face her.

And next time, it will not be only her with the advantage of superpowers.

XXXXXXXXXX-A/N-XXXXXXXXXX

As the title & the last line implies, Kraven's coming back soon ;)

As to whether Carol actually knows the art of knife fighting, well, I have no idea, but the military trains their soldiers in a number of defense/offense techniques, maybe knife fighting is one of them (I've never been in the armed forces so don't hold me to that).

Well, you all know what to do-review, feedback, liked & didn't like and the works. And as always, I thank you all for the support you give for the series, it is greatly appreciated :)

Next chapter coming soon, and the next chapter of "Love & War" will definitely launch tomorrow.

As always, until next time readers :)