Powerhouse: Legend of the Archwave

Chapter 5 (Act I): The Morning After

We last read Chapter 4, in which James Markovsky a.k.a. Powerhouse drifts off to sleep following his blunt rejection to offer help to Isabela Acosta a.k.a. Archwave after the latter meets the former at the main door of his house following their initial meeting at the Lumen Field stadium. In James's dream, however, he finds himself in the guest room of an apartment which formerly belonged to his late friend and fellow Paragon, Dr. Duncan Drevis.....whom James eventually finds in a separate bedroom across the way from the guest room.

James enters the same bedroom where Duncan is in, and Duncan—after clarifying that true heroes put others' needs before their own and are ready to endure sacrifice—slyly gets James to confess about the current situation with Isabela Acosta a.k.a. Archwave despite initially playing dumb; Duncan eventually reveals that he's able to see everything going on in the mortal realm due to being a spirit, but can no longer interfere physically besides providing advice in dreams, like he's currently doing with James.

Duncan asks James to train Isabela, citing that the Paragons won't be around forever—using himself and his late sidekick The Crawler as examples—and it can't hurt to start training the new generation sooner rather than later. When James initially declines and states that it's too late—that Isabela has apparently already left the vicinity of his house—Duncan continues to insist, saying that he sees a steadfast and blossoming hero within Isabela and that she needs a partner, mentor, and protector to help her unlock her true potential. He also brings up to James that it's never too late to correct one's mistakes, a lesson that The Viper made all too clear to him during his lifetime. The dream sequence then ends with Duncan pleading once more for James to train Isabela, stating that it is his final wish. Then, James finally agrees and recites the Paragons' signature slogan—"For the Paragons, now and forever"—with Duncan repeating the last portion right alongside him before James is taken back to the real world.

James hastily grabs his iPhone off the nightstand and checks the front door security camera feed to see if Isabela is still absent.....and unfortunately, she is. Resolving to check the area in the morning, James begins using a pair of special headphones to pump green noise into his head in an effort to get some sleep despite his overwhelming concern. Meanwhile, Isabela Acosta a.k.a. Archwave is revealed to have never left the Markovsky Residence's premises at all; instead, she's nonchalantly leaning against the garage door and sleeping, remaining under the garage driveway camera so as to avoid detection. She, unlike James, is sleeping peacefully, having absolute faith that James will double back on his initial decision to reject her; the chapter ended with Isabela internally wishing James a good night and stating that she will see him in the morning.

This time, dawn breaks, and James takes his first steps towards setting right what went wrong.....

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James Markovsky a.k.a. Powerhouse woke up the following morning at exactly 7:00am PST; his iPhone's alarms were the one to ultimately get him out of bed.

He took off the special headphones and placed them back in the nightstand's drawer before closing it again, sitting upright, and stretching. Then, he got out of bed, walked to his closet, and traded his sleepwear for a collared, short-sleeved, navy blue-colored polo with the Ralph Lauren logo on it, light brown slacks, and similarly-colored business shoes. After stopping by the bathroom, doing his business, and combing and gelling his short blonde hair, he neatly folded his used sleepwear and headed downstairs with his iPhone in tow.

Once he got down to the kitchen, he saw that his mother, Susan Markovsky, was already present and that she was currently waiting on two pairs of waffles to finish cooking. Her sleepwear was still on, but a long apron was thrown over it for protection, and she wielded a pair of silver tongs in her left hand while using her right hand to hold up a currently empty plate.....which was where the finished waffles would go.