Episode 96: Cornered by Kraven!
After Steve freed Capmer from Wintersol's knives, he ordered everyone to continue on the dirt path but remain quiet in case Ar-I, White Wolf, or any other Team HYDRA members decided to ambush them again. They eventually got to the top of a plateau in the woods by the time the sun started to set and so Steve decided to make camp there. He insisted on having everyone take turns guarding the camp with their Marémon at different times. With him taking the first watch, everyone began pitching their individual tents within a clearing on the plateau. But when Peter tried to pitch his tent, he was overcome by an intense headache.
"What's wrong, Peter?" MJ asked, noticing Peter's pained expression.
"I don't know," Peter said. "For some reason, I have this sinking feeling that something bad is going to happen tonight."
"Like what happened in the Xander City Hospital, when you said you could sense the nurse before she saw you?"
"Yeah, and those other times when we were in Westview." Peter shook his head.
Peter then scratched the back of his neck. MJ walked over to Peter and looked at where he was scratching out of curiosity. Her eyes widened when she saw a spider-shaped mark on the back of his neck. Unlike Eddie Brock's mark, though, this one was blue-and-red.
"Take a look at this," MJ said, snapping a picture of the mark with her smartphone.
Next, MJ showed the picture to Peter, who made a sideways glance.
"I did see that mark when I was getting dressed at the hospital, but I wasn't sure how to tell you about it," Peter admitted. "But in Westview, the things I was experiencing like crawling on walls and this sensory thing were accumulating from when I noticed the mark the first time. So I thought maybe the mark came from when Veneo poisoned me. And if that's true…I might become like Brock."
Suddenly Peter started crying, causing MJ to immediately hug him. Nearby, Quill glanced over his shoulder and saw the two standing close together.
"Geez, get a room," Quill teased.
"Who needs a room?" Gwen poked her head out from the tent and upon seeing Peter and MJ she snidely said, "And you said he wasn't your boyfriend."
"Shut up, you two!" MJ snapped.
"Keep your voices down!" Steve ordered. He was standing on a makeshift chair while Capmer was circling the parameter of the camp. "Any Team HYDRA members out there could possibly hear us."
"Well, they heard us now thanks to you," Quill said sarcastically.
This made Steve frown. "I don't think you understand the seriousness of the situation we're in."
"Oh I do," Quill said. "I'm just choosing not to get worked up about it."
"So I rest my case."
"Whatever, Grandpa!"
Insulted, Steve was about to summon Capmer to his side when Capmer's gurgling cries caught his attention. Everyone looked to the edge of the clearing as Steve shined his flashlight there. Suspended above the air was Capmer, who was being wrapped in a pair of tentacles that came from a green-and-orange octopus-like creature that was standing upright. Behind this creature stood a tall dark-haired man with a spear in his hand that had three PDBs embedded along the top part of the spear's shaft.
"Are you the ones who gave a boy and talking computer trouble earlier?" Asked the tall man.
"That depends on who you're talking about," Steve said, trying to sound calm despite his clear agitation. "But I'm going to ask you to drop my Capmer before we talk."
"Oh, is this Marémon yours?" The dark-haired man looked at Capmer. "I don't see a collar on it that says it belongs to you."
"Well, it does," Steve said, holding up his PDB. "Return, Capmer!"
A beam of light came out of Steve's PDB, causing Capmer to turn into light and be absorbed into the PDB. The octopus-like creature looked at his arms where Capmer should have been and made a low guttural growl.
"Now look what you've done," the dark-haired man said, giving the octopus-like creature a pitied glance. "Doctus only wanted to play with your Capmer."
"Maybe my Capmer wasn't in the mood to play, and I'm not either," Steve said sternly. "Just tell us who you are and what you're doing here."
"Gladly," replied the dark-haired man, stamping the spear on the ground. "My name is Kraven, and I'm here to take your rare Marémon to add to my collection."
"Kraven? As in Kraven the Hunter?" Peter felt his knees shaking nervously.
"That's right, little boy," Kraven confirmed. "I was a member of the dreaded Sinister Six criminal organization until we were imprisoned at Ryker's Island. Fortunately, some friends on the outside gave me the chance to escape."
"You?" MJ exclaimed. "What about Doctor Octopus and Mysterio?"
"They escaped with me, but they were too much of a burden," replied Kraven. "So I killed them and took their Marémon for myself."
Kraven then pressed a button the spear's shaft, causing two of the attached PDBs to light up. From them emerged a blue chameleon-like creature with a white head, and the other was a humanoid figure with a goldfish bowl head and a purple cloak over its thin green body.
"This Doctus used to be Doctor Octopus', and this Mystri was Mysterio's," Kraven stated, waving his spear from the octopus-like creature to the one with the goldfish bowl head before pointing it at the chameleon-shaped creature. "And this Kamelio—"
"Is yours," Steve interjected. "SHIELD figures it was your Kamelio that impersonated Nick Fury at the Xandar City Hospital, since you're one of the few living Wielders who still has a Kamelio."
"Right you are, Boy Scout!" Kraven said gleefully. "And it was so easy too."
"Then you really are working for HYDRA…," Peter said, remembering Natasha's speculations.
"Only under contract," replied Kraven. "I don't believe in their philosophies, nor care what their ultimate plan is, as long as I get to hunt rare Marémon."
To be continued…
