That night, you moved through the city like a shadow. Energy pulsed softly beneath your skin — your body already adjusting to the stress. The cold air? You barely noticed. The rising adrenaline? Just more fuel to refine your instincts.
Atop a rooftop, you stared down at a black armoured vehicle turning into a warehouse in Brooklyn. You recognised the symbol.
HYDRA.
You did not quarrel with them — yet.
But the fact that they were in the city so soon after Echo's collapse was more than a coincidence.
You dropped down silently, using a burst of borrowed kinetic force from a prior encounter. Your landing was quiet.
Inside the warehouse, HYDRA agents moved like a hive, prepping something. A massive stasis pod sat in the middle of the room.
You blinked.
A figure was inside it.
Male. Muscular. Wearing some kind of inhibitor collar.
Another experiment?
You felt your body tense. Your cells stirred, tuning themselves instinctively to the atmosphere.
Without thinking, you stepped from the shadows.
The first agent raised his weapon.
You were faster.
A blink. A dodge. A single strike — he went down.
The rest followed. Gunfire echoed through the warehouse, but none of it touched you. You didn't block or deflect. You moved, weaving between them like water through stone.
By the time the last soldier dropped, you were standing in front of the pod.
The figure inside opened one eye.
A dull green glow stared back at you.
Then he smiled.
"You're not with them," he said, voice muffled through the glass. "Good."
You exhaled.
Another variable just entered the board.
And nothing was slowing down.
Much more than this later on