A Hunter in the Shadows #43

I paced back and forth in the empty room, the air heavy with the acrid scent of cigarette smoke. Each inhale and exhale was a futile attempt to calm the storm raging in my mind. The glowing ember at the end of my cigarette flared with every puff, casting brief, flickering light across the room's bare walls.

Vito materialized beside me, his usual smirk in place. "Again with the cigarettes?"

I winced, irritation prickling at the edge of my thoughts. "All this thinking is stressing me out. Piss off and let me be, will you?"

Vito shrugged nonchalantly. "We both know I can't just come and go as I please. For some reason, your brain decided that now would be a good time for me to appear, and so here I am."

I sighed, my mind drifting back to my recent conversation with Professor X. He had warned me about the mental projections, how stress basically meant more screen time in my brain for Vito for the lack of a better expression. "Yeah, well, I guess I'll just have to ignore you."

Vito disappeared and then reappeared near the wall, leaning against it with a casual air. "I don't know why you're hesitating so much."

I tried to focus on my thoughts, to drown out his persistent presence. But Vito, as always, was undeterred. "If you don't like Big C that much, you can just take what he has to offer about Manfredi and the Silvermane's operations. Once the job is done, you can feed Big C to the fishes and find someone else to run the day-to-day operations."

I blew out a cloud of smoke, the nicotine doing little to soothe my frayed nerves. "Oh yeah? And I suppose there are criminal consultants for hire at every street corner?"

Vito chuckled, the sound grating against my ears. "There's Carlo. His property scheme was brilliant. If that isn't business acumen, then I don't know what is."

I paused mid-pace, the idea gnawing at the edges of my mind. "Carlo," I muttered, more to myself than to Vito.

Carlo was smart, resourceful, and in my debt for saving him and his wife. He was a veteran of this sort of business, and I had no doubt he'd know a thing or two about running a mob. The question is, would he be loyal?

Sure, I did save his life, but Carlo has already proved that he's perfectly capable and willing to put himself first and foremost, as evidenced by our first encounter. I don't blame him for what he did back then; the whole situation was Vito's fault, then again, I'm not sure I can entrust him with something like this either.

"Yes, Carlo," Vito echoed, pushing off the wall and stepping closer. "He's already in your corner. He knows the business, knows the people, and he's got your back. Why not give him a shot?"

I stubbed out the cigarette on the floor, grinding the glowing ember into the concrete. "Because trusting someone with that much power isn't easy. And if Carlo turns out to be as slippery as Big C..."

Vito shrugged, interrupting, "Then you deal with him like you would anyone who crosses you."

Instantly, the figure of Carlo's wife flashed in my mind, and I couldn't help but grimace. I couldn't even remember if I ever got her name, but the very thought of killing her husband over some mob business made me feel awful.

At this point, I didn't care much for killing gangsters if that's what I had to do to protect myself, but killing someone after meeting their family, regardless of the circumstances, felt wrong—unnatural, even.

I firmly shook my head, saying, "I won't involve Carlo and his wife in this nasty bit of business. I don't want to end up killing the old bastard, and the best way to ensure that doesn't happen is not to put him in a position where he could hurt me."

Vito laughed, a sound that echoed eerily in the empty room. "That's very thoughtful. Not that I disapprove. Even mobsters should have their own codes of honor and lines they wouldn't cross." He trailed off at the end of his sentence, grinning broadly. "That only leaves Big C, though."

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "That just means I'm back to square one. Which means I've wasted my time for nothing." I waved him off dismissively. "Just piss off already."

Vito rolled his eyes, leaning casually against the wall. "What's with all the hesitation? This is exactly what we both wanted."

I glared at him, feeling my irritation rising. "No. This is what you want, but not me. Your biggest ambition in life might be to become some mob boss, but I wouldn't even entertain the thought if I had any other choice."

Vito chuckled, shaking his head. "Tomato, tomato. In the end, we both want to make something out of ourselves. Remember your dream in your past life? To become an actor?"

I scoffed, the bitterness evident in my voice. "Yeah, well, unlike you, I never had much going for me. I could only hope for a lucky break that never came."

The more I looked at Vito, the angrier I got. Not because of all the shitty advice he kept giving me, all the trouble he got me in, but simply because of the fact that he was a god-damned waste. "You've got a fucking super brain. You could have been anything you ever wanted, but what did you do with that brain of yours? Tried to be a fucking mob boss!"

Vito's grin faded, replaced by a more serious expression. "Different lives, different upbringings... you lived a regular life and had regular dreams..." He said, trailing off at the end of his sentence. He let out a sigh and continued. "I could stand here and tell you all about what fucked up my life was, but this is how I grew up. I don't know how to live any other way..."

I gave him a dismissive look, my patience wearing thin. "You're gonna play the 'I didn't have a choice' card now? Grow the fuck up."

Vito raised an eyebrow, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Of course I had a choice. I always had, and I made mine. You have a choice too. Keep relying on SHIELD until they make you their bitch, or stand on your own two feet. There's always a choice, but not all of them are equal."

Hearing this, I rubbed the bridge of my nose, feeling a headache coming on. I sat on the ground, lighting up another cigarette, the smoke curling around me like a comforting shroud. "Just... just please piss off, Vito. I'm not in the mood."

Vito rolled his eyes. "I've said my piece. In the end, the choice is up to you, but between being a bitch and a mob boss, I know what I'd pick." With that, he disappeared, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I sighed, exhaling a cloud of smoke. The truth was, I had been inclined to accept Big C's offer until Vito voiced his approval. It was childish, and I knew it, but after all the trouble I had gotten into following Vito's advice, I instinctively recoiled from the very notion of doing something he endorsed.

...

Kraven sat in a dimly lit room, the only illumination coming from the flickering screens in front of him. Multiple monitors displayed footage of strange creatures, each unique in its own way.

Some were engaged in fierce battles with armed men, who appeared to be mobsters, while others lounged in the sun, their outlandish forms oddly peaceful in repose.

One screen in particular drew Kraven's attention. It showed a bear-like creature with a stocky build and long, razor-sharp claws. Electricity crackled around its body as it broke into a bar, smashing the door and a significant portion of the wall with it. The raw power and ferocity of the beast made Kraven's pulse quicken.

A voice echoed from his laptop, snapping him out of his reverie. "What do you think?"

Kraven turned to the laptop screen, his eyes narrowing. The figure of a man veiled in shadow filled the screen. "Are you telling me there's an entire island teeming with these strange beasts? somewhere"

"Yes," the man replied, his voice calm and composed. "And I'm willing to share their location with you. But first, a simple test to prove that you are capable of hunting these creatures."

Kraven's eyes gleamed with interest. "A test?"

"The man commanding these creatures is of interest to us," the shadowed figure continued. "I can give you a time and location. Prove your capabilities by capturing him, and I will share the island's location with you."

A grin spread across Kraven's face. He knew whoever this man was, he was trying to use him. To what, end? He didn't know or care. The thrill of the hunt was all that mattered, and there was nothing more thrilling than being the first to hunt down an unidentified beast.