Powerhouse: Legend of the Archwave

Chapter 12 (Act II): We're Having Guests

We last read Chapter 11, in which James Markovsky a.k.a. Powerhouse and his companion Isabela Acosta a.k.a. Archwave partake in a fulfilling dinner before the pair venture off to meet the Spraywatch gang at their Hub later that night. Over the Hormel Compleats bowls, James asks Isabela about how meals often went back where she came from, to which she rather miserably answers that they weren't really that involved and that they were more work-oriented than leisure-oriented. She inadvertently reveals more details about her past—but stops just barely short of mentioning the drug empire—and almost gets exposed when James offers to call the authorities regarding her father Angelo; she only barely manages to convince him to focus on the Spraywatch gang for the time being after reminding him that they're heroes.....and thus they should put the needs of others before their own. This successfully dissuades James from calling the authorities.....and shortly afterwards, he and Isabela finish their dinner, down their water bottles, and use the bathroom one more time before piling themselves into James's tricked-out convertible and officially driving to the Spraywatch Hub.

About an hour later, James's mother Susan Markovsky and close family friend Elise Fornwright arrive back at the Markovsky Residence; though Elise got out of her clothing store job late, it meant that she ended up getting out at roughly the same time as Susan, enabling them to grab both dinner and Starbucks coffee together. Over the cups, the two women briefly discuss their respective sons before Elise reveals that she met a guy at her job whom she got along with very well. Though she expresses doubts that she'd be "unfaithful" to her deceased husband Francois if she were to start going out with the guy from the clothing store, Susan encourages her to move on with her life and to focus on keeping herself happy, stating that both her late husband Francois and her late son Fritz would have wanted her to do so. Now reinvigorated thanks to Susan's advice, Elise closes out the chapter by attempting to mentally converse with Francois and Fritz, saying that although she'll miss them, it's time to resume living her life.

This time, Valentina Valdez and her best friend Tyrone Hoover—both of whom hail from the Spraywatch gang—prepare the Spraywatch Hub to accommodate a pair of soon-to-be guests.....

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-Spraywatch Hub, Seattle, Washington-

The Spraywatch Hub was the main base of operations for the collective outfit of vandals known as Spraywatch, and it consisted of three major parts.

The first part was a very wide, rectangle-shaped courtyard with somewhat sandy dirt covering the ground. Its front was fenced off from the outer sidewalk and asphalt roads by a dark iron fence, except that there were about two cement tiles' worth of posts missing in order to let people in and out. The courtyard had multiple "sections" to it; namely, a small target range at the back left where the vandals could practice shooting their paintball guns, a huge free mural on the right wall where the vandals could spray whatever they wished—they typically held contests on it to see who could finish a predetermined picture first—a "gym" taking up the space of the front left sector which contained several punching bags on chains, racks of dumbbells, and a "playground" in the front right quadrant which had special surfaces that could be spray-painted on. Speakers around the space blasted pulse-pounding music, and the area was perhaps the liveliest at nighttime, which was when the vandals met to party and hang out.

The second part could be accessed through an inconspicuous-looking white door at the back wall that had a golden knob on it....though the knob was now splashed with color due to so many vandals touching it with their paint-stained hands. The room past the door was a lot bigger than the door leading into it would lead people to believe; the floor, the ceiling, and all of the walls were splashed with colorful designs, letters, and symbols—to the point where none of the original wall was showing—multiple shelves of paint jugs in various colors and painting instruments were idling along portions of the walls, and just a few steps inside—from the perspective of someone entering the room—was a beanbag to the right which faced multiple target papers affixed to the wall with thumbtacks; this "target range" was exclusively reserved for the Monarch, however. Several feet directly across from the entrance door was a big vat of red paint, and a wooden two-flight staircase near the back right of the room led to an overlook where one could examine it from above.....though they would likely fall into the vat if they overstepped. This room also had a hangout area to the left of the entrance door, consisting of a long, rectangle-shaped, white-colored foldable table with orange chairs propped up around it.....and salvaged restaurant booths from various establishments; they didn't count as "stolen" since they had already been discarded beforehand. Lastly, the table had numerous different card games—UNO, typical Bicycle-brand playing cards, Cards Against Humanity, and the like—resting in the middle, though they were all going unused at the moment.