Liam stared at the straps around his wrists — thick, cracked leather held by steel buckles.
He took a slow breath, feeling the strange power moving through his veins. The sensation of his Hardening Quirk answered his will immediately. His muscles tensed, skin tightened, and a subtle texture appeared across his body — dense and unbreakable.
'Let's see how strong this really is,' he thought.
He twisted his wrists outward. The straps creaked, then snapped with a sharp crack that echoed in the silent room. Bits of leather and metal hit the floor as he tore off the rest.
The chair groaned as he stood. His body felt light, strong — alive. He rolled his shoulders, stretching until his back popped.
"God," he whispered, flexing his fingers. "This feels unreal."
The room reeked of blood and rust, but Liam barely noticed. He was finally free. And now, with his mind clear, he could finally dig into the foreign flood of memories of the man whose body he had now occupied.
The guy's name was Karl Steiner. A 24 year old HYDRA field agent stationed in Sokovia.
Images flashed behind Liam's eyes — war-torn streets, broken buildings, cold bunkers buried beneath rubble. Sokovia had been one of HYDRA's most active bases before Ultron and the Avengers' interference. Karl had worked under a handler named Kruger, part of a division experimenting with enhancement serums. Their test subjects were civilians, prisoners, anyone unlucky enough to be nearby.
But something went wrong.
The memories blurred and jumped like a broken film reel — blue light, screams, collapsing walls, chaos — then nothing.
Liam pressed a hand to his temple. 'Damn it. Why can't I see it clearly?'
Whatever happened in Sokovia had broken HYDRA's control over Karl. The brainwashing shattered, leaving him free but mentally scarred. That missing memory was probably the key, but it hadn't transferred into Liam's mind. Maybe Karl had already lost those memories before his death….
'Fine,' Liam stopped that line of thought. 'I'll figure it out later.' Afterall he couldn't do shit if be can't remember about it in the first place.
He once again went through the memories. After Sokovia, Karl and six other agents had been sent back to New York, carrying research data and serum samples for one of HYDRA's bases hidden under the East River docks.
Karl had wanted to disappear then but knew HYDRA too well. They always found people. So he pretended to be loyal, waiting for the right opportunity.
When that chance finally came, he planned everything carefully — routes, fake identities, safe houses, even ways to erase his own trail. He made every preparation a man in his position possibly could. But even he, a trained HYDRA operative, had underestimated the organization's power and reach. His escape lasted only a few days before they found him.
And when they did, he was brought back here — to this very room.
That was where Karl Steiner's story ended.
He leaned against the cold wall, letting Karl's memories settle. The picture in his head was clear now — and it wasn't pretty.
'Great,' he thought dryly. 'Out of all the lives I could've landed in — a civilian, a genius, maybe even a billionaire with too much time — I end up in the body of a to be tortured HYDRA agent.'
He exhaled sharply through his nose. 'Figures. The universe really does have a twisted sense of humor.'
'Still,' he thought, glancing down at his hands, 'it's not all bad.'
He flexed his fingers, feeling the raw power under his skin. Karl's body remembered how to move, how to fight. The muscle memory was still there — sharp, precise, dangerous. Liam could feel it working through him like instinct.
'This guy was good,' Liam realized. 'Disciplined. Deadly. Definitely not a rookie.'
Images flickered in his mind — Karl striking in silence, killing without hesitation, moving with soldier-like rhythm. He had killed many — soldiers, rebels and whoever he was asked to terminate.
Liam didn't like that part, but he couldn't deny it would help him survive.
'Guess I'm lucky, in a messed-up way,' he thought.
Still, Karl's past came with problems — a long list of enemies, a record of betrayal, and HYDRA's full attention. Escaping once had gotten him caught and ready to be tortured; doing it again, surviving and standing against them would be even harder.
He straightened and caught his reflection in a cracked metal panel. The face staring back wasn't his, but he could see traces of both men — Karl's hardened look mixed with his own calm focus.
'This is me now,' he thought softly. 'Like it or not.'
Just then Liam's eyes shifted to the door as the sound of heavy boots echoed down the corridor — fast and organized, heading straight for him.
He exhaled slowly, jaw tightening.
"They're finally here," he muttered, looking at the blinking red CCTV light in the corner.
He didn't know why HYDRA had waited so long to interrogate him — maybe they wanted him weak, maybe broken — but that didn't matter anymore. They were coming, and he wasn't going to let himself be chained again.
Liam straightened and activated his power. The hardening spread through his body like a pulse, his muscles tightening, his skin turning dense and tough.
By the time the door unlocked, he was ready.
The door burst open, and three soldiers entered, rifles raised. They didn't fire.
The one in front lowered his weapon slightly. "On your knees, Steiner," he ordered.
Liam stayed silent, face calm.
"Last warning," the soldier barked. "On your knees, hands where I can see—"
Liam moved first.
He charged before they could react, his hardened fist slamming into the first soldier's chest. The man crashed into the doorway with a dull crack and fell limp. The second raised his rifle, fired once — the bullet flattened against Liam's shoulder. Liam grabbed the barrel, twisted hard, and bent the gun. He drove a knee into the man's stomach, then finished him with a punch that sent him down cold.
The third soldier froze, eyes wide as even when he fired the bullets did no damage to the monster in front of him. "What the hell are you?"
Liam didn't answer. He grabbed the man by his vest and slammed him into the wall. The soldier's head struck metal, and he dropped instantly.
Silence filled the room again, broken only by Liam's steady breathing.
He looked at the bodies — three men, motionless. His heart thudded, but not from being tried or anything.
'They're dead,' he realized. 'I killed them.'
The realization settled heavily in his mind. His first kills in this world — his first, real kills, not fiction or fantasy. The weight of it hit him all at once.
For a few seconds, he just stood there, staring down at his hands. They were steady — too steady.
He expected panic, guilt, nausea. Something. But nothing came. His breathing stayed even, his body calm.
'Why am I not shaking?' he wondered. Then he understood.
Karl's instincts. His memories. This body had done this before — too many times. The reflexes didn't hesitate. The nerves didn't flinch. Killing was something this body remembered well.
The sirens started to wail, red lights flashing along the corridor. Reinforcements were coming. He needed to move.
Liam crouched and searched the soldiers' belts. He found a pistol and two spare magazines. The weapon was light and balanced. He checked the chamber — loaded.
"Good enough," he muttered, slipping it into his belt.
He stepped into the hallway. The hardening faded slightly, allowing his movements to stay quick. The corridor stretched in two directions — one filled with shouts, the other quieter and lined with pipes.
He chose the quiet.
As he moved, his thoughts circled back to the fight. Three men dead. He'd expected guilt, but all he felt was a sharp clarity.
'Maybe it's this body,' he thought. 'Or maybe it's survival. Doesn't matter now.'
He didn't know what bothered him more — that Karl had been used to killing, or that he was starting to get used to it too.
But he knew one thing: hesitation would get him killed.
Liam pressed his back to the wall near the corner and listened. Two more voices echoed nearby.
"…Steiner's loose! Do not engage lethally unless—"
He stepped out before they could finish.
Two quick shots — one to the chest, one to the head. Both men dropped instantly.
He lowered the pistol, eyes calm. His aim was perfect.
'Damn,' he thought, almost impressed. 'You really were one hell of a soldier, Karl.'
He moved on, stepping over the bodies. The base was fully awake now — alarms blaring, red lights flashing, orders shouted over the intercom.
They would keep coming. He knew it.
But the fear he'd felt when he had arrived was completely gone. The confusion and hesitation had burned away, leaving cold resolve in their place.
He wasn't here to prove anything. He wasn't here for revenge. This was about survival — plain and simple.
He'd been thrown into a nightmare, trapped in someone else's body with powers that defied reason. But he wasn't going to die here.
Not like Karl did.
'You wanted to escape, Karl,' Liam thought as he ran down the hall. 'Now it's my turn to finish what you started.'
He didn't pity the guards behind him. He didn't regret the ones he'd killed. Maybe later, when he was safe, the guilt would come — but not now.
Right now, he was alive. And anyone who stood between him and freedom… wouldn't be for long.