The streets of New York weren't as busy as Helen had first thought. Sure there were more people than she had ever seen in her life but the sidewalks were wide enough that this didn't matter.
She had bought an ice cream from one of the shops and was quite happily eating it while she entered Times Square; she half wished that she had a camera. It was, if possible even busier here and the electric advertisements were bright even in the daylight. By some miracle, she found a bench and sat herself upon it, quite happy to watch time go by.
She had managed to leave the underground base with no one stopping her, mind no one probably would have anyway. They were all so wrapped up in what they wanted to do for Loki that she didn't exist to them.
Helen was used to not talking to people for long periods of time but that was because she wanted to and not because other people were just ignorant of her existence. Soon, Helen's gaze was drawn to the flashing advertisements and a thought occurred to her. How much energy was this using?
If she could harness the amount of energy concentrated in this one area, she could probably exert more striking power and then she could show Lo-
Wait.
Why did she have to prove anything to Loki? He didn't really care about her interests. He just wanted power for himself and she was an amusing toy. Yes that was it, she, Helen was just a toy to Loki and for some reason it hurt to think like that.
"Stupid." She muttered to herself with a small pained grin, "You're such an idiot Helen."
Someone sat beside her and put a bag on their lap.
Maybe she should run away. Go back to England and hide but then that would mean she was leaving herself open to attack by Loki and S.H.I.E.L.D. She wished someone would tell her what to do.
Something glinted in the corner of her eye; she shifted and held in a sharp gasp. It was a needle, a very small needle and it was aiming for her.
She looked up and was met by her reflection in a pair of black glasses.
"Bastard!" She shouted and in a second they both moved. The needlepoint jabbed towards her and Helen smacked her hand out and struck him in the chest. There was a snap of electricity and the man jerked violently to the floor, twitching as electric currents burst across his body.
Helen jumped to her feet, ignoring the stares and sprinted north, cursing herself repeatedly in her head.
Whose bright idea was it to leave the base anyway?
Someone ran at her and she twisted away but he grabbed her arm and wrenched her to the floor. The man screamed as she shocked him and his gun clattered onto the floor. Helen snatched it up and scrambled to her feet, she was running out of juice already. Throwing herself through the crowd that screamed and ran away, she headed for the lamppost.
Bang!
The bullet dented the post but also cracked the hatch.
Bang!
It pinged off and Helen skidded to the floor, grabbed the hatch and wrenched it aside. Her hands ripped at the cables and electricity exploded into her hand. She turned, clutching onto the wires, dropped the gun and with a bang, white electricity shot out of her palm and struck the oncoming Agent. He was thrown through the crowd and slammed onto the floor.
Electricity sparked and rolled off of Helen's body as she drank it in, feeling it flow from the tips of her fingers to the tips of her toes. Her heart hummed in her chest and she began to glow.
The air sparked and Times Square began to shut down. The huge advertisements stuttered then died out, the electric noises died to nothing and everything stopped.
Agents all in black surrounded her, guns aimed and ready.
She just had to do what Loki had showed her, she had to use the electricity as a striking force but not too much otherwise she would lose all of her energy. With a wrench, she pulled away from the post and rose upwards.
Her eyes had turned bright white from the electricity streaming through her body and she looked upon the Agents with a mad grin as her muscles twitched violently.
"Stand down Miss Hurst."
"Why? So you can lock me up again?" Sparks flashed from the tip of her tongue and danced onto the tarmac where they faded away.
She had never absorbed such a huge amount of energy before and it was invigorating.
She had every urge to just run and run for miles on end.
"Stand down!"
"No!" lightning exploded from her hands and struck two of the Agents, they soared through the air but Helen had already struck 3 more by the time they landed. She ran right with incredibly increased speed and jumped over a bench by metres and landed on the road.
A taxi screeched to a halt and honked its horn. She turned to it and the driver inside gasped, drawing back against the seat.
Bang!
Helen flinched and looked round to see an Agent point his gun straight at her.
"I won't miss the second time. Stand down Miss Hurst." He said in a clear cut voice.
She stared at him then stepped back and pressed up against the taxi, her hands slowly placed down onto the warm bonnet and with a honk that turned to a squeal, she drew the energy from the battery.
Her heart jerked painfully in her chest, a fair warning that this was too much power in one body. Her eyes glanced up at the adverts that had flashed back onto the huge screens and the Agent took a step forward.
"This is not a warning anymore." He said.
Helen didn't particularly want to get shot but she didn't want to be captured again. What should she do? She glanced at her hands which sparked rapidly and then at the Agent.
"I'd suggest ducking."
He frowned.
Some gut instinct told Helen what to do over the next few milliseconds.
The electrical power rushed up from her feet, dragged into her hands and with a wide sweep, she smacked her gloved hands together.
BOOM!
A shockwave of electricity blasted from her hands. It burst across Times Square in a dome and when it hit all electrical outputs, they exploded. Glass, metal and plastic burst into the sky and showered to the ground. Electricity rolled across the floor, burning great scars across it. People screamed and when the Agent looked up, Helen was gone.
She sprinted through the hissing and smoking cars, jumped over the bonnet of one and turned down a street, pushing past the screaming and crying crowds.
Her energy was zapped. It was a struggle to breathe and only stubbornness kept her legs running. The world went in and out of darkness, she couldn't concentrate. She felt sick. Stumbling onto a street out of reach of the smoking Times Square, Helen turned but jolted to a stop and swayed dangerously.
Director Nick Fury opposed her, grasping a gun that was aimed straight for her.
"Oh fu-"
The dart hit her shoulder with the sting of a hornet. She cried out and stumbled backwards, instantly falling into darkness.
