The Amazing Spider-Man 4

Chapter 22

Kraven slowly stirred awake, his eyes greeted by what seemed like the brightest light he'd ever seen. After a moment, they adjusted, and he remembered where he was: on a prisoner transport vehicle that was on the way to drop him off, where he guessed he would be locked up as if he was the animal. He'd spent the better part of the last couple of days in a similar situation to where he found himself now, only he'd been at a medical facility for most of it, his injuries from his fight with Spider-Man being treated.

That same fight had not left his mind since the moment it ended. Kraven thought for sure he had found the solution to convincing Spider-Man to fight him until only one of them remained among the living. Even after his opponent had removed the detonator from his person, he had assumed that his threats towards Spider-Man's loved ones would be enough to motivate him to finish him off, to give him the death he'd wanted. Kraven had not gone into the fight intending to lose, but if he couldn't win, death at the hands of a hunter better than him was the next best thing. It was the only way he knew: the way of nature.

Only it hadn't happened. His opponent had come close; despite the mask that covered his face, Kraven knew that Spider-Man had been close. He'd raised the blade with clear intent, but something held him back. Perhaps he didn't believe his threats? No, the rest of the fight had proven how seriously Spider-Man had taken him. He'd laid into Kraven far worse than he had in their previous encounters, at times refusing to even let him get up. Still, something held him back from finishing him off. What was it?

These thoughts churned around in Kraven's mind. Like hot coal to a fire, they served to fuel an anger inside of him that made his blood boil. The fact that he'd been denied a glorious death at the hands of a superior opponent began to eat at him. He just couldn't understand it, and he refused to let go of what he craved so badly: a proper fight to the death. He struggled against his restraints, alerting the guards with him to his awakened state.

"He's awake!" He heard one of them shout. "Quick, get him under again!"

Letting his rage drive him, Kraven summoned all his strength, managing to break his left arm free of its restraint. He grabbed the guard going for the sedative and threw him as hard as he could against the other one, slamming them both against the wall. He then used his free hand to undo the other restraints as the vehicle came to a stop. He got up against the side of the wall near the back door, waiting patiently. The doors flung open, but still he waited. As soon as one of the guards who'd come from the front stepped in, he quickly disarmed the man and took him out along with the second one.

Deserting the vehicle, Kraven took off into the woods nearby. As he ran, he could feel that he was still not fully healed. His midsection was still hurting, and his wrist still bothered him, but he didn't care. He'd trust that all the special herbs he'd consumed over the year would do their job well enough to allow him to do what needed to be done. Right now, he was being driven by only one thought: find Spider-Man and end this properly.

---

Peter leaned against the wall of the shop, waiting patiently for his girlfriend's departure from within. It had been a longer wait than normal; she'd texted him earlier to say that it looked like she'd be working a bit later than normal tonight, explaining that they'd been busier later in their open hours than normal. He glanced down at the bag of food in his hand, his rumbling stomach reminding him of his hunger as he did so. It had been very tempting for a while now to cave in and eat his portion of the food now, but he didn't want to make it weird by having M.J. be the only one of the two of them eating when she finally came out.

Okay, it probably wouldn't be that big a deal; Peter knew that his lady wasn't one to let things like that bother her too much. Still, it would be weird to him, and besides, he didn't want to end up greeting her with his face stuffed with food and sauce on his lips. Knowing his luck, regardless of how much he would try and clean himself up, that was exactly how such a scenario was likely to play out.