Powerhouse: Legend of the Archwave

Chapter 2 (Act I): Stadium Shootout

We last read Chapter 1, in which the Paragon James Markovsky a.k.a. Powerhouse, his mother Susan Markovsky, family friend Elise Fornwright, and the Paragon Herman all take a vacation to Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida sometime after the Decimation's reversal. Within the American Adventure attraction at the Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow—or EPCOT for short—James and Herman initially look at a painting depicting immigrants successfully making their way to the United States and gazing upon the Statue of Liberty for the first time, with Herman lamenting the anti-migrant hate that has laced society as of late; he even references the migrant superheroine Lightspeed in the process, and though James argues that America is accessible if one goes through the proper channels, Herman protests that not everyone comes from circumstances where they can do so.

They then move on to watching the vocal group known as the Voices of Liberty perform a heavenly rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner", the titular national anthem of the United States of America. During the performance, James and Herman trade comments on a variety of subjects such as the vocalists' voice quality, James's late father Elias Markovsky and his virtues, and the struggles that retired veterans face when it comes to being wrongfully neglected by the government. Once the song finishes, James and Herman disperse with the rest of the guests and regroup with Susan and Elise, and although the four of them overhear a robbery in progress, Herman instead chooses to go on a long-winded rant on how vacations are meant for people to enjoy and that people should not work during them......all while a trio of police officers successfully stop and incapacitate a painting robber right behind him. With the threat contained—with no effort from either of the Paragons—Susan and Elise briefly discuss the loss of roughly 85% of the world's police forces at the hands of the Cosmic Armada before Elise brings up the World Showcase to James and Herman, prompting Herman to call dibs on the sushi from Japan if he gets there first. The chapter ended with both of them playfully racing to the Showcase, with Susan and Elise right behind them.

This time, we catch up with James and Herman about three days after their vacation to the Walt Disney World Resort, as the tone drastically changes to a much more intense and high-stakes situation. But when they arrive on the scene, they soon catch sight of an entirely new ally altogether.....

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-Three Days Later-

-Lumen Field, Seattle, Washington, United States-

A procession of at least six SWAT vehicles sped along the streets of Seattle, Washington in response to a dire emergency call at Lumen Field, a multipurpose sports stadium and the home of numerous popular teams. Each individual SWAT vehicle contained at least ten SWAT soldiers—with an additional one at the wheel—and they were all intent on getting to the stadium as soon as possible.

After all, the longer they delayed, the more people died.

In the frontmost SWAT vehicle, a young muscled man with combed-over blonde hair and light skin held onto the ceiling with his sleek red- and silver-colored prosthetic right arm, with a set of knuckle dusters gracing his bare organic left fist.

He wore a fitted black top with barely any sleeves—that was visibly struggling to contain his muscled build—and two brown straps were wrapped around the front and back of his body in a perfect "X"-shaped formation; said straps were each laced with rows of silver canisters and had a steady and glowing red LED light right at the center of the "X"......on the side that was in front, at least. He wore a belt that had a gold buckle with a "P" on it, and it held up a pair of brown pants that were complemented by similarly-colored shoes. Lastly, he wore a black strap around his head that affixed goggles onto his eyes which decently washed out his surroundings with a reddish tint.