Hunt II

X and Kraven: Jungle Steel!

X walked up to Kraven. The hunter and android had been walking together ever since leaving the caves and finding their way back to the river and had now come upon something Kraven had wished to investigate.

A trail, this one headed in the same direction as them. X watched Kraven as he sniffed the air, pressed his palm to the tracks, and generally wasted an infuriating amount of time.

"We need to move on," X said firmly.

Kraven looked up at X, then away. "Not yet. I'm trying to get a sense for the animals that made these tracks. To understand them."

"I do not care. We need to find Dial."

The hunter stood up and turned to scowl at X. "And that is what I am doing. I know you believe that a search requires smashing the jungle beneath your feet with all the subtlety of a drill to a watermelon, but I have some experience with this sort of thing."

That was true. X didn't have the full files, but Kraven was well-reputed for the times he had helped with rescues in the wilderness whenever a tourist, child, or fool got lost.

"How may I help?" X finally said.

"Ahhhh," Kraven sighed. "That is the question I wanted from you! Now, while Kraven does have excellent senses-"

"You just referred to yourself in the third person," X said dryly.

"Please, Kraven is speaking. Now, even with my senses being as acute as they are, they are useless without context. Without understanding. So, I must study my prey's movements first. For example, here," Kraven walked about twenty feet away and kneeled down, pressing his palm against the dirt. "The animals walked in a pack, following something similar to the patterns of wolves. They were larger animals, as tall as a man. Predators, based on the fact that they never stopped to devour the foliage. And their feet are interesting. Similar to that of birds of prey, but with a single long talon on each foot, made to slice and into prey."

"A descendant of raptors," X said.

"Possibly," Kraven stood. "But the talon is a boon to us. Here, the talon is lowered to the ground, relaxed, not ready for use. Further down," Kraven walked forty feet up along the river. "The pack hesitates. The talons raise. And they begin to move with purpose. They sensed prey. We should confirm if our part-time alien was the target. This way."

Kraven began to run, leaving X to follow.

X was glad. If Kraven had stood there talking for a moment longer, he would have lost his temper.

When they got to the site, they found they weren't the first to arrive.

In a bamboo forest, they found a makeshift shelter formed out of bamboo, a fire that had gone out long ago, makeshift spears, and the dead bodies of three animals.

And blood. Blood spilled in spots where the raptors hadn't fallen.

X walked forward slowly.

"Kraven. Explain the sequence of events as you see them," X said softly, his southern accent faded to something more robotic.

The Russian hunter didn't respond. He simply strode forward and began to roam the camp. He stared at the corpses, the fire, the shelter, took a sniff of the air, examined the blood on one of the spears, then stared off into the bamboo forest.

"...Your boy bedded down for the night. He was walking along the river and stopped here because of the bamboo, using it for tools and water, obviously. I can smell something similar to scorpion meat, so he must have found a couple of them if the scent is this strong."

"Prehistoric scorpions could be several feet in length," X interrupted.

Kraven blinked. A savage smile of excitement grew on his face for a moment before he shook his head. "Well. He was attacked by these big boys. But when he managed to fight and kill three of them, the others ran off. Big boys like this eat on the spot after all, so his corpse would have been laid here, and there would be signs of feeding even if he'd been dragged off later by scavengers.

Then…"

Kraven strode around the fire, his gait low. X had noticed that about him. He didn't walk the way a human usually did. Not even like the various spies and martial artists X had interacted with. He walked like… well, like some combination of man and big cat.

"Here," Kraven leaned down and reached down. When his hand came up, a single dart was held in his hand. Kraven smirked. "They caught your boy at his weakest. Bleeding," Kraven pointed at a spot of red on the floor. "Exhausted. They hit him with this," Kraven sniffed the needle. "I've used similar toxins. But it's hard. They need to be the exact dosage. Too much and you get an overdose death. Too little and you just get a pissed off target. Whoever shot this knew what they were doing. They wanted him alive."

Kraven pocketed the dart and stood. "Their footsteps come up to him. When they leave, they're deeper. Dial is alive. And we have an actual trail to him now. No more river following, my dear X. Just the hunt."

The last word was said with intense relish.

X nodded. "Good."

"Strange," Kraven looked around. "I wonder-" Kraven stopped, eyes narrowing. X heard the same sound in the same instant.

It rushed out of the jungle about forty feet from them, shaking the ground with it's footsteps. It was utterly silent beside that. This was an ambush after all. Kraven and X spun to face the beast. In the split-second they had, Kraven took in the sight of the animal. His eyes came alight with an eager flame.

X recognized the Tyrannosaurus Rex on sight. Despite being heavy with muscle, its back covered in black and red fur-like feathers with a bare, scaly face, and moving faster than had been predicted, there were too many indicators to ignore the fact. X hypothesized it to be about 8 metric tons. It was incredibly huge, powerful, and fast.

With the incredible reaction speeds afforded to AI, X was able to assess the moment, to truly look at the T-Rex. The sun shone off its feathers in an array of patterns. Bamboo and wood shattered under its bulk. Its eyes were a deep honey gold, gaze ferocious as it stared at Kraven. X stepped forward to attempt to protect Krav-

"YES!" Kraven roared, running forward while ripping his two daggers out of their sheaths.

X felt the closest he could feel to shock.

Kraven, in a complete reverse of what any rational human being would do, ripped a spear out of the ground and rushed towards the dinosaur. "Don't do anything! Let me handle it!"

X reached for the rifle on his back, not knowing what to do now. He projected his voice. "The smartest thing to do is to have me shoot the-"

"Let me have this!"

Then it was too late. Kraven and the T-Rex met in the center of the forest, both loud roars. Kraven, just before the T-Rex could get to him stabbed the bamboo spear into the ground, using it as a pole vault to jump high above the T-Rex as the dinosaur tried to bite him half. Kraven landed on the dinosaurs back with the grace of a cat.

"GRUCH!" came the sound of surprise and anger. The T-Rex spun around, trying to throw Kraven off.

"I traveled thousands of miles for this," Kraven said happily. He rode the back of the dinosaur, struggling to stay standing while tens of thousands of pounds of pissed off animal bucked underneath him. Kraven took his two daggers and stabbed deep into the dinosaurs back. The T-Rex roared as blood sprayed into the air. The T-Rex, further enraged, dropped to the ground and rolled. Kraven leapt off it's back as it twisted to the ground, getting swatted by the larger hunters' body, only for Kraven to take the blow and roll backward, snapping back to his feet and jumping back onto the T-Rex. This time, he landed on the dinosaur's neck, straddling it like a prehistoric cowboy. Then he raised his daggers high.

Bone and steel slashed down into the eyes of the T-Rex. She screamed in pain. Kraven laughed, raising his daggers again and slashing into it with vicious cruelty. She fell to the ground, blinded, trying to get him off her back. Kraven stayed atop her and slashed her throat. Blood spilled across the earth, steam rolling off of it. The dinosaur twitched and shook on the ground as Kraven panted atop it, eyes gleaming with mirth.

X watched the scene as Kraven finished killing the dinosaur. "That was unnecessary."

Kraven, his chest, face, and arms soaked scarlet, gave X a smile. "No. It was. She wanted to hunt me and I wanted to hunt her. I won."

"She was-"

Kraven scoffed. "Don't. I'm quite sure an AI would have no concept of what the thrill of a good clean kill is like. Believe me. She would have been just as ready to eat us. This is the way of the

jungle, X."

Kraven reached down and patted the dinosaur's head. "She was strong. Powerful," he took hold of one of the T-Rex's teeth and ripped it out of the jaw. "It is only a shame that we have work to do. Even with scavengers on the way, quite a bit of meat will go to waste. We should have scientists come out to collect it for research, yes?"

"... They'll be on their way. Let's go," X said, keeping his displeasure to himself.

What a waste of time. Kraven may have enjoyed himself, but all X had was an acute understanding that every moment wasted was a moment Mahmoud could have died.

"Well, tell them to leave the skin for me if possible. And don't worry yourself," Kraven walked away, pocketing the fang he'd ripped out of the T-Rex's head. "We'll find him. The trail is clear," he pointed at the ground. "This way."

X followed with some trepidation. It was becoming very clear that while they shared the same mission, their differing methods and goals were going to cause some issues…