Ben Carone

*For his Earth-2 counterpart, see Ben Carone (Earth-2)*.

## Zero

**Benjamin William "Ben" Carone** (born June 15, 1990) is the titular main character of *Zero*, the husband of Summer Dawson, and a good friend of Adam Hart, Cooper Woods, Maddie Parker, and Amanda O'Neil. After a horrible accident, he was given cybernetics to save his life by Dr. Charles Murphy.

Armed with a variety of powers, Ben began to aid detective Jet Willis and Theodore O'Connor, facing off against a wide variety of villains and vigilantes as **Zero**. However during a conflict involving a villain, Ben's identity as Zero was made public knowledge but was saved when Adam took the fall, who then discovered that everything was orchestrated by Xeno. In a desperate attempt to stop him, Ben's reputation of being a hero was tarnished when he generated a shock wave that killed Xeno, crossing the line between hero and murderous vigilante.

Retiring after these events, he left to live with Summer but was convinced to return to heroism to defend his city from Neo and his army of Earth-2 villains. In 2024, Ben engages in battle with Xeno in the most deadly war to hit the country.

## History

### Early life

Ben was born on June 15, 1990, to Harry Carone and Anna Carone as the younger brother of Brandon Carone and younger cousin of Patrick Carone, whom he would form a rivalry with.

When he was six, Ben begged his parents to take him to a science expo hosted by Frank Harper. There he met Sebastian Harper, who he would become friends with. When Ben was 10 years old, he met and befriended Shannon Lang however their friendship ended in middle school. Ben would hold a grudge against her for a long time after.

In the year 2010, he ran home after getting into a fight. Being saved by Arsenal, who was visiting South City, Ben later on saved him and became friends. After Colton's death, Ben became good friends with the new Arsenal, Hunter Bradley. Not much happened in Ben's life afterwards until 2014.

Ben would encounter a criminal known as Zeke McDonald, who was later finally caught in an elaborate plan created jointly by Ben and detective Jet Willis, becoming good friends.

### The accident

Ben encountered Charles Murphy and the two discussed physics and Frank Harper's new nuclear power generator, and how it could change the world. After he got off a train, he soon headed back home from South City University, ready for graduation. On the night of the Harper Corporation Expo, while playing video games, he was called by his friend Chloe Taylor and the two headed out.

Hanging out for a while, Chloe introduced him to a group of thugs and the gang went to an abandoned facility. When rejecting an offer for illegal drugs, Chloe and Ben were chased by the gang until they were saved by detective Jet Willis' new partner, Theodore O'Connor. While at the expo, Ben met up with Sebastian Harper and his good friend Marcus Allen. While waiting for Frank to announce the company's projects for the future, as well as the power generator, Chloe confessed her feelings for Ben.

However, everyone was ordered to evacuate after the power generator starts malfunctioning. Ben saves Chloe and tells her to leave, and goes to check for anyone else. He sees Dr. Murphy coughing and wheezing and goes to save him, pushing the scientist out of the way from the explosion. He was quickly rushed to hospital, where he was kept on life support whilst in a coma.