Torment: Part 4

His mind reeling still reeling from the strange poison running through his system, Spider-Man tries to make sense of how Kraven the Hunter can be standing right before him, even with part of his head missing.[1] At Kraven's feet is the Lizard, somehow under his control. The shock of seeing Kraven floods the wall-crawler's mind with memories of the time that Kraven had buried him alive.[2] As he relives the moment, Spider-Man struggles to pick himself out of the trash. As Spider-Man blacks out again, "Kraven the Hunter" suddenly changes into her true form. It is an exotic woman wearing a similar outfit, the woman who has been controlling the Lizard. She is delighted that everything is going according to plan and orders the Lizard to pick up the battered hero and take him with them. How long will the Lizard remain under this woman's control? Not even she knows for sure.

Meanwhile, Mary Jane enters her Soho apartment only to discover that her husband hasn't come home from web-slinging yet.[3] Since it is still early in the evening, Mary Jane decides to go back out to do some more dancing. Later, Spider-Man wakes up in a mansion before the woman who has been orchestrating these events. When he asks where Kraven is, she tells him that Kraven is still very much dead, because he was weak. Spider-Man whispers at the Lizard, in the vain hopes that he can get through to the mind of Curt Connors inside the Lizard's mind. However, this attempt fails and the Lizard snaps at the web-slinger's face. The woman manages to pull the beast back. She then begins preparing a new spell to complete her revenge plan. As Mary Jane dances on into the night, Spider-Man asks the strange woman who she is, and why he is attacking him. She thinks back to her past, growing up on an island in the Carribean where magic was the rule of the land. As a young woman, she met and fell in love with Kraven the Hunter. However, when he eventually left the island, she lusted after him. She then became focused on mastering the art of voodoo. The first victim she ever sacrificed was her own sister. As she completes her ritual, she intends to take another soul, that of Spider-Man.

As she rants about Karven and his weakness, Spider-Man decides he has heard enough and breaks free from his bonds. The Lizard then leaps at the wall-crawler, and as the two struggle, they knock over one of the woman's candles. She tells them to stop fighting, but it is too late as a gas line is broken. Just moments before the gas is ignited, Spider-Man tries to call out the name of his wife just as the entire mansion explodes into flame.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Calypso, Lizard, Kraven the Hunter (flashback)

Continuity Notes

1. At the time of this story, Kraven was dead, after committing suicide in Amazing Spider-Man #294.

2. Spider-Man was buried alive by Kraven in Web of Spider-Man #31. He broke free of his tomb in the following issue.

3. Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage is erased from existence by the demon Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such they should be considered a common-law couple here.