Powerhouse: Legend of the Archwave

Chapter 3 (Act I): A Fated Encounter

We last read Chapter 2, in which James Markovsky a.k.a. Powerhouse joins a large team of SWAT soldiers in responding to a devastating terrorist attack at the Lumen Field stadium, with fellow Paragon Herman joining at the last minute before the official insertion. The group—consisting of Powerhouse, Herman, and the troop of SWAT soldiers—initially fights their way through two separate wings as they aim to reach the open-air portion of the stadium grounds, which is where the biggest chunk of the enemy forces are located. With Herman's marksmanship and Powerhouse's super strength and fighting capabilities, the team eventually reaches the stadium's main area and engages the terrorists in a significantly more intense shootout.....and in the chaos, Powerhouse almost gets his right carotid artery slit by a knife from one of the terrorists.

However, the prosthetic-armed boy is quickly saved after his would-be assailant instead takes a white arrow to the heart from behind, with the arrow in question having red and blue fletching. The terrorist falls dead on their back to reveal a mysterious female archer with a costume splashed in the Dominican Republic's main colors—and even having a "cape" resembling its flag—and wielding a complex compound bow alongside a quiver full of white arrows with red and blue fletching. With Powerhouse, Herman, and the SWAT regiment all watching in awe, the female archer flawlessly takes down the remaining terrorist opposition, leaving the others to simply focus on rescuing the remaining survivors and getting them to safety. Eventually, the only people remaining in the stadium's open-air area are Powerhouse, Herman, the SWAT soldiers, and the mysterious female archer.

Despite Powerhouse's repeated attempts to strike up a conversation with the woman, he fails, and she instead leaps over the exterior stadium wall, disappearing from sight.....much to Powerhouse's dismay. Herman, however, insists on assessing the survivors' conditions and completing the current case so he can finally go home to Mercury Heights, New York and leave Powerhouse to find out the truth behind the mysterious female archer. The chapter ended with Powerhouse ultimately relenting and following both Herman and the SWAT regiment out of the stadium altogether after another successful mission.

This time, the attack on Lumen Field appears to have had an ulterior motive, while Powerhouse returns home later that night and has yet another chance encounter with the mysterious female archer.....

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After Powerhouse, Herman, and the SWAT regiment left the Lumen Stadium's main grounds following the hectic shootout and takedown of the offending terrorists—and the appearance of the mysterious female archer—a random terrorist, who had only pretended to play dead and successfully survived the chaos, hopped to his feet and dialed in to a small comm device nestled within his right ear.

"Agent Warren Schaefer, sir.....I wasn't able to stop her, but I got a good look at her," the random terrorist reported through the device. "She seems skilled at archery.....and she certainly looks like she could be related to our other targets."

A laugh came from the other end of the line; it was clearly Warren Schaefer himself. "Perfect. I'll consider our trap to lure her into the open as a success, then. We'll pin all of the deaths on her and 'prove' that she's dangerous. For now, that's good enough. It's time to purge this country of her and other aliens like her."

"What should I do? I believe I'm the only one that survived....."

"You've done enough already," Schaefer responded. "We'll send out a few more of our people later to try and hunt her down. As for you, get out of there and return to the Seattle field office.....and make sure no one spots you."