Taking the Initiative

Dennis Carradine awoke in excruciating pain.

His head felt as if it had been split open with an axe. Rope bit painfully into his wrists, his feet dangled in midair, and his body swayed nonstop like a ship tossed by waves.

"Where am I?"

He tried to open his eyes. Dim light reached his corneas, but his vision was blurry and doubled, leaving him unable to see anything clearly.

When he spoke, his voice was nothing but a pained groan.

He did not know where he was, but he could at least be certain that he was not at sea. The air did not carry the damp, salty smell of the ocean. Instead, it reeked of dust and rust, with a faint hint of gunpowder—just like every abandoned factory in Hell's Kitchen.

He had been kidnapped.

He quickly came to that conclusion. Things like this were hardly uncommon in New York.

What he could not understand was why anyone would go through the trouble of kidnapping a small-time nobody like him.

His eyes still could not see a thing, but that did nothing to stop his fear and regret.

Damn it!

If he had known this would happen, he should have robbed someone for some cash, stolen a car, and gotten the hell out of New York sooner!

"Dennis Carradine."

A strange voice sounded by his ear. It was somewhat shrill, with a double echo to it. The voice reverberated through the space as though countless people were speaking to him at once. Layer upon layer of sound pressed against his chest, making it hard for him to breathe.

Fear appeared on Dennis Carradine's face as he begged, "Sir..."

"Dennis Carradine," the voice said again. "Do you know why I brought you here?"

Dennis Carradine's vision gradually cleared. He found himself hanging from the ceiling of an abandoned factory. Not far away were fences and walkways made of corrugated metal, while beneath him was nothing at all.

His heart leaped into his throat. His body trembled uncontrollably, swaying more violently than before.

"I don't know, sir..." Dennis Carradine's voice shook, thick with tears. "Y-you can have whatever you want. I'll tell you anything you want to know. Please..."

A lowlife like him, someone who could not even make it in Hell's Kitchen, did not have much courage to begin with. He was completely terrified now. Still, he thought that since he had not been killed immediately, he had to be useful for something, right?

He only hoped that once this person got what he wanted, he would spare his life.

But the next words from the other party drove him into complete despair.

"I only want your life!"

"No, sir, please..." Tears streamed down his face as he stared at the ground in terror. He was at least fifty feet above it. If he fell from here, his brains would definitely splatter everywhere.

So he desperately searched for the person who had kidnapped him, trying to see who it was. He wanted to know exactly how he had offended that person. No matter what it was, he was willing to kneel and apologize, as long as the other party spared his worthless life.

Soon, he spotted a strange, somewhat lean silhouette standing in the darkness—

"Sir..." Dennis Carradine seemed to have found a savior. Crying, he said, "Don't kill me, sir, please... I can do anything for you, anything..." He could not continue. The words caught in his throat like a fishbone. His eyes widened, while his pupils shrank several times over.

Because that strange figure stepped out of the darkness and revealed itself before Dennis's eyes. It was practically a monster!

It looked like a Velociraptor. Most of its body was covered in black, while its arms and feet were blue. Its long tail was also ringed with blue stripes—XLR8!

Naturally, this kidnapper was Ben.

Originally, Ben had planned to keep a close watch on Uncle Ben during the period after Peter was bitten by the spider, preventing Uncle Ben from encountering any danger. But after transforming into Grey Matter yesterday, he had changed his way of thinking—why did he have to wait for a tragedy to happen before trying to stop it?

Evil should be strangled in the cradle!

So he immediately began searching for clues.

He did not know who the criminal that killed Uncle Ben would be in this world, but he had watched two versions of the Spider-Man movies, leaving him with two clues—

In the Toby Version movies, Uncle Ben's killer was Sandman, William Baker. In The Amazing Spider-Man film series, the murderer had a star marking on his wrist. The world Ben was in was somewhat like a fusion of the three generations of Spider-Man worlds.

"I hacked into the New York Police Department system and found your file, Dennis Carradine."

Ben sounded somewhat impatient as he paced across the platform made of corrugated metal. His rollerblade-like feet clattered loudly against the ground.

"Among all the criminals in New York with records, there aren't many who have star tattoos on their wrists. You're the only one!"

Of course, Ben had also investigated Sandman, William Baker, but he found no such person.

"If I offended you before, I'm willing to apologize..." Dennis pleaded humbly.

He had clearly realized that Ben had kidnapped him for a specific purpose. This was not some mad monster's indiscriminate attack. But he also knew that he had no value to offer, and no one would pay for his worthless life.

So the only possibility was that he had accidentally offended someone—or, he secretly glanced at Ben's appearance, perhaps he had accidentally stepped on some lizard in a sewer?

"After I kill you, I'll apologize to you too."

Ben sneered and walked over to Dennis. All he needed to do now was extend those black, scissor-like hands and cut the rope suspending Dennis.

He knew this was by no means a righteous act.

Perhaps someone like him did not deserve Spider-Man's powers, nor did he deserve the Omnitrix.

But that did not matter. He was not a hero, nor did he intend to become one.

What mattered was that he could use this power to protect the people he cherished!

"No! No! No!"

Dennis screamed as he watched the rope slowly being sliced apart beneath Ben's sharp claws. The fear of death nearly made him wet himself. He had no time to think about what kind of creature this thing before him was. He only wanted to live!

"I don't know, sir, I don't know how I offended you," he cried, speaking rapidly. "But please, spare me, please..."

"You don't know? That's fine. I can tell you," Ben said. "Because you're going to kill a kind, good man. You deserve this!"

"I didn't," Dennis whimpered, shaking his head desperately. "I haven't killed anyone."

"Not yet," Ben said. "But a few days from now will be different."

A few days from now?

Dennis thought this monster had to be insane!

Dennis regretted it terribly now. He should have left that hellhole called Hell's Kitchen much earlier!

Those gangsters fought all day long, and joining a gang was just another way to get himself killed.

He should have gone to Brooklyn, Queens, or anywhere else, robbed someone for some money, then stolen a car and left New York!

Anywhere would do—San Francisco, Washington...

As long as this monster could not find him.

But it was too late to say any of that now.

What could he do?

He could only try to reason with a monster, only beg a madman for mercy.

"I won't! I promise!"

But Ben had no intention of continuing the conversation.

After transforming into XLR8, his personality had become a little more impatient as well. The fact that he had said this much to Dennis already counted as patience.

Now, his claws severed the rope. Dennis instantly lost his final support and fell screaming. Ben did not look down. He knew Dennis's head would smash against the hard concrete floor and burst like a watermelon.

Boom!

A tremendous crash rang out!

But it was not the sound of Dennis hitting the ground. It was the sound of a flaming figure blasting through the ceiling of the abandoned factory.

That figure flashed past Ben's eyes at high speed, and a scorching wave of heat slammed into Ben's face!

He swooped down and caught Dennis just before he struck the ground. Then he released him, setting Dennis safely on the floor. Flames streamed from his hands as he slowly rose until he was level with Ben's eyes.

"Tony Stark!"

Ben's voice was filled with rage.

Note 1: Dennis Carradine was actually the false culprit Toby caught in the first Toby Version Spider-Man movie. Since the name of the person who killed Uncle Ben in The Amazing Spider-Man could not be found, this name was borrowed.

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