Author's Note: Ok so moving on. I own nothing!

13. Taking Advantage

Piper flipped, Ava still in her arms, as Kraven lunged at them. He was laughing, but Piper couldn't help but think it sounded more like a purr than anything human. His canine teeth had lengthened to sharp points that sat on his bottom lip as she smiled and growled.

"Foolish child, you truly believed you deserve this power!" He took another swipe at them and Piper webbed them away, out of the Central Park Zoo and into the trees that surrounded it. She panted and swiped at her chin. It seemed to be scabbing over already so it hadn't been a deep cut. They landed in the trees and Piper ducked letting go of Ava, dodging three darts thrown her way by a smirking, snarling Kraven. Despite having lost her powers Ava didn't see to have much trouble leaping through the trees so Piper ignored her for a moment as Kraven slashed at her. She flipped over the hunter, his fingernails had lengthened into actual claws. He roared and laughed.

"This is power! This is nature unleashed! It would be a shame not to use this power on a hunt! Even on such meager prey!" Piper flashed him a snarl of her own as the pincers slipped into place in front of her teeth.

"I think you'll find there's a reason people are scared of spiders." She slid under him and knocked his feet out from under him with a well placed web. She kicked him backwards into the trunk of the tree, webbing both of his arms to the tree. She was about to snatch back Ava's amulet when a blast of power from the amulet sent her flying into another tree. She shook herself as Ava landed next to her. Kraven laughed.

"Your family could have ruled for generations! If only you…" But he got no further as the light from the amulet grew brighter and he began to scream. Piper shaded her eyes and glanced at Ava as a loud growl shook Central Park. Ava was staring at the now thrashing Kraven. Piper thought for a split second before snagging her friend around the waist and pulling her away from the roaring man. His skin was shifting, the color draining as hair began to spring up and he shredded his vest. Piper pulled Ava back towards the zoo.

"Look Ava I know you're messed up right now but I never studied Mystical Tiger Mojo. I need your help." Ava huffed and pulled up her mask. Her face was covered in tears, and more were welling in her eyes.

"I can't help against that! He's gone full animal, the man is gone, he's just the Tiger now. And I'm nothing without the amulet!" Piper shook her head grabbing Ava by the shoulder as she tried to curl up on herself.

"Hey! I realize now that I don't know you as well as I probably should but I know that you're not nothing. It took strength and courage to take up the amulet, to carry on your dads legacy, to keep the tiger in check all those years. Honestly that probably makes you one of the strongest people I've ever met, and think about that for a minute." Ava glanced up at her. "Amulet or not you're still you. And you always have a plan, but it really needs to be a good one this time." Ava nodded swiping at her eyes.

"Guess you know me better than I thought you did." Piper smiled her pincers on full display, due to her shredded mask. Ava got a look in her eyes, then she pulled her mask back down and glanced around them spotting the small tiger enclosure.

"You got an idea?" Ava nodded.

"Yeah but you're not gonna like it. We need to take advantage of your… new skill." Piper placed a hand over her mouth for a second then she nodded. Ava glanced down at the small open topped enclosure again and smiled slightly as a roar sounded behind them. Kraven landed on a branch near them. He had gone full animal alright, an upright leaping white tiger with bright green eyes and mostly shredded clothing roared at them again. Piper grabbed her around the waist and they swung out over the enclosure.

"Roll before you hit the ground!" Piper called out, and that was all the warning Ava got before she was tossed into a souvenir stand just outside the enclosure. Kraven leapt at Spidergirl wrapping her in both of his arms. She took advantage of this though and sunk her teeth into his bicep. She tasted fur and blood as the minor pressure on the roof of her mouth released and Kraven howled dropping her. He landed in a small pool in the enclosure. Piper landed across the enclosure and immediately spit hard trying to rid her mouth of fur and blood. The taste made her gag but she had other things to worry about right now as Kraven made to leap out of the enclosure after Ava. She sent a web at his back, successfully catching his attention.

"Hey the playpen is for party animals like us Kraven." The man tiger roared at her and lunged but he was moving slower than he had been as he swiped at her. She'd had no idea how her venom would affect an enhanced like this. Then again she didn't know if Ava had a healing factor at all. She wondered at that as she ducked under Kraven's arm and delivered a punishing blow to his side. He stumbled back and she heard a growl but it didn't come from Kraven who was shaking his head and stumbling slightly. The fingers on his right hand, the arm she'd bitten, weren't moving at all.

"Tiger ventriloquism, nifty!" She whirled and spotted two white Bengal Tigers bearing down on her from the rock above her. She swore under her breath. She was trapped between three very hungry tigers with no way out that she could see. A rock flew past her ear and struck Kraven between the eyes.

"You don't wanna eat Spiders Kraven, they give you cavities." Kraven roared and leapt over Piper and the two natural tigers towards Ava. Piper flipped after him, landing on his back, slapping a cartridge of web fluid to him.

"Are you calling me sweet?" She winked at Ava as she leapt off and pressed a button on her watch remotely activating the cartridge on Kraven's back. It exploded wrapping the man tiger in webs. He howled as his knees locked, the venom spreading through his system.

"This one's all you Tiger." Piper said landing on the logs across the enclosure, trying to stay out of the way of the actual tigers who seemed to have taken an interest in this new, bloodstained thing that was leaping around their enclosure. Out of the corner of her eyes she spotted Ava swipe the amulet back from Kraven who roared, but this time it shrunk into a scream as he dropped to the ground. Piper breathed a sigh of relief and turned her attention to the animals in front of her that were still stalking closer. She really didn't want to hurt them, they were rare and beautiful, just acting on instinct. But a whistle across the enclosure had them turning and trotting over to Ava like trained kittens. Piper let herself relax slightly as Kraven stirred slightly.

"So much power… How..?" Ava finished his thought for him as she stepped forwards, towering over the downed man.

"Do I control it? My father taught me, as his father taught him. But they also taught me how to cut loose." She growled as she stepped forwards and Piper felt all her excitement at winning the fight drain away.