Peter Parker

We got Tarantula. We achieved our main objective. With that done, my focus was on one thing and one thing only – putting an end to Kraven. So, as Tarantula, Shadowcat, and I walked out, I was thinking of different ways on how to do just that. I had to remind myself that Shadowcat was in charge, though, and that I couldn't run in on Kraven at the first sight of him, as much as I wanted to.

Eventually, we found our way to the front. The three of us came to a stop. I heard the sounds of rifles of being cocked. I looked around to see men dressed in tactical gear, armed with assault rifles. Said rifles were trained on us. The men were flanking three people. One of them was Kraven, who was still dressed in his version of my black quick-change suit. The other one was Calypso, who was dressed in that lion pelt outfit of hers. And the person was…

"Hammer," I muttered out.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Shadowcat grunted out.

Tarantula didn't say anything, but he growled. I glanced over at him just in time to see him stretch out his spider limbs out as he bared his teeth. My attention was taken off of him when I heard footsteps. I looked over my shoulder when I heard the sound of something breaking. The very wall that Shadowcat phased up through crumbled, leaving a hole. Three people walked out of it. Two of them were Frictor and Frenzy. The third person was someone I never saw before. He was a large muscular man that stood taller than even Frenzy. He had short brown hair and a full on beard, mustache and all. He had these ice blue eyes with a certain look to them – I just knew he's seen and been through some stuff.

"Hey guys," I greeted. I nodded towards the large man. "Who's he?"

"The name's Mikhail Uriokovitch Ursus," he spoke up in a heavy Russian accent. "You may simply call me Ursa Major."

As I nodded slowly, Shadowcat spoke up. "We'll catch up on introductions later," she said. "We have a situation on our hands."

"It's a situation that can be easily avoided," Justin Hammer spoke up. He then looked straight at me and smiled. "Spider-Man… it's been a while. How are things?"

"Hammer, we are not friends," I grunted. "Say what you need to say and walk away." I turned my attention towards Kraven and Calypso. "They're the only ones I care about at this point!"

I heard him scoff. "Oh really? Do you not care about your own people? You're outnumbered and outgunned. Perhaps this is the time for you all to listen to reason rather than try to fight your way out."

"Where have I heard that before?" Frictor muttered underneath his breath. Because of my hearing, he might as well have been talking normally.

"You have nothing to offer us!" Shadowcat spat out.

Hammer smirked. "Oh contraire, little kitten." I didn't even have to look at Shadowcat to know she didn't appreciate that remark. I brought my arm out in front of her as she stepped into my peripheral. "I'm offering you a way out that'll benefit all of us." Hammer stepped forward before he started to slowly pace back and forth. "See, as… irritated… as I am about what you've done to me and my company rather recently, I had to remind myself that one shouldn't let emotions get in the way of the greater good." He stopped and looked at us. "Look at you all – a group of young, talented, skilled people who, despite their… misdeeds… obviously have a heart for helping people. No matter how I feel about said misdeeds, I have to respect that trait about you guys."

"Please get to the point!" Kaine grunted.

"The point is simple, Tarantula. I'm willing to make a deal. You guys register with the United States Government. Every crime you committed – including the ones committed tonight – will be forgotten. It would be like none of those transgressions has ever happened. The benefits you guys would receive would be oh so good. I'm talking government benefits, insurance, the pay, the bonuses… even the vacation and PTO days are more plentiful than what I offer at my company. And best of all, you guys would be able to live your lives freely, helping people with your actions backed by the law."

"Where have I heard that before?" Ursa muttered.

"Free until when?" Frictor asked. "What is stopping the U.S. Government from calling us up and ordering us to do stuff we don't want to do, like working at a black site like this or working with guys like him?" I didn't know it at the time, but he was pointing at Kraven. I figured that was who he was talking about, though.

"My husband only wants to do what it is right," Calypso spoke up. I looked at her just in time to see the look of disgust on her face. "Who are you all to judge him for wanting to right a wrong, especially after all you've done? You don't have any room to –"

"Hey, Calypso is it?" Frenzy interjected. I looked towards Frenzy as she continued to speak. "Frenzy here, pleased to meet you and all… well, actually, it's not. But, either way, I don't think the person who kidnapped Spider-Man, stripped away his powers, and allowed their spouse to take his identity should be saying anything right now."

"Watch how you talk about my wife!" Kraven snarled.

"Or what?!" I replied as I snapped my head towards him.

"Guys, let's not too testy," Hammer said as he chuckled. "But, to answer Frictor's concerns, I'm pretty sure we can come up with an arrangement to keep you all from participating in such… endeavors."

"And I'm guessing such an arrangement includes us looking the other way when the U.S. Government performs these so-called endeavors, huh?" Shadowcat said with disgust. "Let me make it clear to you – fuck the Accords, fuck the U.S. Government, fuck Kraven, fuck Calypso, fuck all these people you have with you, fuck the next degenerate the U.S. Government wants push forward as a 'hero', fuck The Jackal – who I know you have on your pay roll, and most importantly, fuck you!"

I looked at Hammer. He closed his eyes and took in a breath. I almost wanted to ask if Shadowcat struck a nerve, just to be a dick. Unfortunately, I was more concerned about the fact that we were surrounded. Hammer let loose his breath and shook his head.

"Well, I tried. I would say I'd try again at a later date, but I doubt you're surviving this time." He looked towards Kraven. "Consider that 'no kill' rule a suggestion." With that said, he walked back towards one of the SUVs. He entered it with some of his men before the vehicle drove off. I watched the SUV for a bit before I turned my attention back to Kraven.

"I really wish things could have been different," Calypso said. Her saying that irritated me – I really didn't want to hear anything from her. The fact she sounded sincere just made it worse. I would have ignored her completely if I didn't feel that ever so familiar tingle up my spine. "Don't take this personally." She suddenly stepped towards me. Everything seemed to have moved in slow motion. I then started to notice she had a substance in her hands. Was it the same white powder she used against me? I started to wonder if that protection spell Jericho performed on me would hold up if I wasn't able to counter her.

I never got a chance to find out.

I started to hear it – the sound of something sailing through the air at a very high speed. Then came the scream from out of Calypso's mouth. I saw a mixture of cloth, blood, and flesh explode from her shoulder. I didn't know what happened before I saw the bullet hit the ground. A split second later, Calypso fell to the ground face first.

"She's not touching you again," Scorpion coldly said over the comm.

I should have been appalled. I should have told Scorpion she was wrong for that and she might have killed Calypso. That didn't happen. Much to my dismay, I didn't care. If Calypso bled out that day, I don't think I would have felt even one bit of compassion or pity for her or Kraven as the latter ran up to her and kneeled over her.

"X-Men, attack!" Shadowcat yelled out.

It was because of that order that I didn't dwell on my feelings over Calypso getting shot… or rather, my lack thereof. It was probably that lack of feelings that propelled me to run forward towards Kraven. He barely had time to turn his head towards me before I punted him in the head, sending flying several feet. As I ran after him, I watched as he landed on the ground and rolled. I kept on pursuing him, ignoring the hail of bullets that hit my suit. Kraven quickly scrambled to his feet and stood up. I quickly closed the distance and sent a right hook to his jaw, staggering him.

"You asked for this!" I growled out. He tried to respond with a right hook. I ducked it and sent a flurry of punches into his midsection. As my senses went off, I backed away, dodging the knee that was rising quickly towards my face. "You wanted to hunt me!" I quickly dropped down and brought my right leg around, sweeping the one leg he was still standing on as he tried to lower the leg he tried to knee me with. After he fell on his left side, I quickly dove onto him. We scrambled for a bit. "You wanted to continue this senseless feud with a man who's no longer alive!" Eventually, I forced him onto his back. I then started to rain down punches. I managed to get two punches in before he brought his arms up to guard his face. "You wanted to target my family and take my name!" I kept on punching, not even caring about holding back. Or rather, I didn't notice I wasn't. I wish I did. I was so caught up in the moment that I didn't realize that he was blocking the punches with his forearms with little effort… not at first. By the time I realized that, he parried one of my punches, grabbed my head with both hands, and suddenly sat up as he sent his forehead into my face with a head butt.

Until this point, I never fought Kraven face to face since that night Frictor and I ran into him. I never got a chance to know firsthand what his strength was like after he got enhanced. Maybe I would have been a bit prepared. Instead, I couldn't help but be shocked by both the sound of metal breaking and the pain of both the impact of the blow and the pieces of metal cutting into his my face. I fell backwards from the blow until my back hit the ground. I groaned as I propped myself up on my left elbow and wiped my right hand across my mouth. I looked down on it to see blood and pieces of burgundy metal. My eyes went wide as I realized be broke through my suit.

"Did you honestly think you can outmuscle me?" Kraven taunted. I looked over at him as I stood up, seeing that he was already on his feet. "Just give up, Spider-Man – your fate's already been sealed. I quickly charged at him. Just as quickly, he used his left fist to send a body blow into the right side of my rib cage. Once again, I heard the sound of metal breaking. But I also felt the impact to my liver. I staggered backward and did my best to keep standing as I felt every toxin that was forced back into my system. "I'm Kraven The Hunter!" He ran forward and sent a kick to front of my shin, forcing me to kneel. He walked around. "I'm the greatest hunter to have ever lived!" Before I knew it, my faced was violently forced into the ground with quickness. I felt my nose break from the impact. "More importantly, I'm a better Spider-Man than you can ever dream to be!"

Ignoring the pain, I quickly turned onto my back. I lifted up my arms, ready to try and web him up. Unfortunately, he was quicker. He grabbed my wrists. With a smug laugh, he squeezed his hands and crushed the web shooters!

"Suit has taken critical damage," Edith said, worry in her tone. "Web shooting function has been shut down."

"…Edith… go to Frictor," I muttered.

"But Spider-Man –"

"Do as I say!"

"…Retreating now."

That was the last I heard from her before I was suddenly picked up. Before I knew it, I was dropped on my head. It was that point my vision blurred. I moved on the ground slowly, trying to get my bearing. Was I concussed? Maybe I was. I didn't hear anything except for this continuous high pitched sound. Once my vision was in focus, I was surprised by how far away Kraven and I were away from the rest of the action. As I looked on, I saw my fellow X-Men under duress. Shadowcat looked like she was tiring out as she continued to phase through gunfire. I saw Frictor with his back against an SUV as he used his powers to prevent himself from getting killed by gunfire. Unfortunately, that SUV blew up behind him, sending him flying. I saw Tarantula lose one of his spider limbs. Every now and again, I saw explosions. I guess Scorpion was trying to lend support from afar. I saw Frenzy standing back to back with a large grizzly bear fighting off the gunmen. It took me a moment to realize that it was Ursa Major. I guess that explained the name. I tried to stand up, but everything hurt.

iSounds like you got yourself into quite the predicament,/i a voice in my said. It wasn't my voice. I didn't recognize that voice at all.

i…Who the heck are you?/i

I heard a laugh. iOh, Peter… do you not remember me?/i

As I thought about it, her voice did sound familiar. iMaybe. I… I was dropped on my head./i

iPerhaps I should jog your memory. Remember what I told you. "…You know my name. Just call for it when the time is right"./i I blinked. I then remembered her – the servant to a higher power. iYou remember, don't you? Well, now is as good of time as ever. All I need you to do is say my name./i

"…E… E…" I tried to move my jaw, but it hurt like hell. It must have been broken. Still, I pushed through the pain. I couldn't afford to lose here. "Eros!"

i…My power is yours./i

That's when I felt it. I felt my body change. The pain from my injuries disappeared. Suddenly, my suit felt tight before it broke open. My vision became a lot clearer. I started to touch my face with hands. I felt the fangs on my mouth and the extra eyes on my face – two below my normal eyes, two above, and one on each of my temples. My skin felt different. It felt… hard. I felt something move on my back. I looked over shoulder to see the spider limb in my peripheral. I looked around to see that I actually had four of them on my back.

What did Eros turned me into?

There was no time to dwell on that. I heard the sound of footsteps. Slowly I turned around. I realized how much taller I've gotten as I looked down at Kraven, who's eyes were wide as saucers. He looked taken aback.

"…What… what are you?!" he uttered. I smelled it – I literally smelled the fear radiating from it. Almost automatically, I flexed my wrists. From each of them, a stinger extended out of them.

"I'm more than you ever bargained for," I responded, my voice practically a roar.

Kraven's eyes went wide. He then growled as he charged forward. He leaped forward in the air. I don't know what he was trying to do. I didn't care. I jumped forward and met him in the air. I shot my two upper spider limbs forward and grabbed him by the shoulders with the limbs' pincers before I descended, slamming him down to the ground.

"I will not be defeated!" Kraven spat as he struggled.

"You talk too much," I replied. I withdrew the stinger in my right wrist before I balled up my right hand and punched him in the jaw, breaking. With my left stinger still drawn, I stabbed it into the right side of his ribcage. I stabbed straight into his liver before I pulled it out. As he screamed out, I stood up from atop of him. "As much as I want to kill you, I won't. It's not something I do and for you, that'd be more than you deserve." I then lifted up my foot and slammed the sole of it on his knee. I didn't even bat any of my eight eyes when I heard the sound of bones breaking and ligaments tearing. Even as he yelled out through his broken jaw, I continued to talk. "But I'll give you a taste of how I felt…" I lifted up my foot once more and slammed it down on his other knee, destroying it as well. "…how I felt when I was powerless…" I stepped forward before I bent down and grabbed both his shirt and jacket. "… and how I felt when my identity was desecrated." I ripped them of him, leaving his upper body bare. As he looked at me with despair, I tossed the clothes aside before I placed my hand against his chest. "Consider this a memento!" I pulled my hand away, taking a bunch of his skin with it. As he cried out, I looked down at the hand-shaped wound on his chest.

"Between you and me?" I said. "Tony would have killed you easily." With the salt rubbed into the wounds, I webbed him down to the ground with organic web shooters I didn't know I had. Once I was done, he was encased in a cocoon of sorts.

I took in a breath and let it loose. It was over… at least with Kraven. I turned towards the fight with the gunmen, still seeing that the other X-Men were still fighting. I then ran forward, intent on joining the rest of the fray.