Powerhouse: Legend of the Archwave

Chapter 17 (Act II): The Alien's In Our Sights......Again

We last read Chapter 16, in which Monarch McIntosh, the leader of the Spraywatch vandal gang, plays UNO with vandal subordinates Valentina Valdez and Tyrone Hoover in the indoor portion of the Spraywatch Hub.....with the heroic duo James Markovsky a.k.a. Powerhouse and Isabela Acosta a.k.a. Archwave also in attendance. After playing two rounds—with Valentina and Archwave as the first and second winners, respectively—McIntosh tells Powerhouse and Archwave about the origins of the Spraywatch gang and its formation, going into detail about how he loved painting as a young man but had bigger visions and ambitions than most. Combined with both a misunderstanding on how murals worked and motivation from a close friend—who died after a police-related incident in front of an unfinished mural—McIntosh was eventually driven to recruit a few other like-minded people to form the first iteration of the Spraywatch gang back when he was still in his prime.

However, he laments that as the years have gone by, major changes have hit the gang. Some have been incarcerated, killed, or worse.....all in the name of striving for acceptance between the Spraywatch gang and Seattle's government. He also reveals that he found Valentina and Tyrone struggling to survive in one of Seattle's many alleyways a few years ago and took them in, and even enlightens Powerhouse and Archwave as to the origin of the Spraywatch Hub itself; that is, it was built out of the remains of an old auto garage whose business was shut down after its owner was charged and arrested for a crime he did not commit. McIntosh, though, ultimately wraps his spiel on an optimistic hope, expressing his faith that Powerhouse will be able to put in a good word with the mayor of Seattle regarding the Spraywatch gang and start putting Valentina's proposed peace plan into practice.

The chapter then ended with McIntosh, Valentina, and Tyrone bidding Powerhouse and Archwave farewell as the latter two head for their convertible and leave the Spraywatch Hub to return to the Markovsky Residence.....only to be abruptly intercepted and chased by the FBI for the second time, who insist that Powerhouse turn Archwave into their custody for deportation. After eventually choosing to keep his loyalty to his companion and forgo loyalty to his government—albeit very heavily—Powerhouse floors it and bolts away from the FBI vehicles, now consisting of three SUVs and two helicopters, seeking to protect Archwave at all costs.

This time, Archwave strikes back at her pursuers with more determination than ever before, and an unlikely faction comes to her and Powerhouse's rescue.....

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"Damn it!" James Markovsky a.k.a. Powerhouse exclaimed in frustration as he used an oncoming ramp on the righthand side of the street to merge onto a relatively empty freeway; if anything, he was grateful that the freeway was mostly barren, since it meant that no innocents would be harmed while the chase was going on. "This is the last thing we need right now! Archwave! Do you think you can take care of them?"

He activated the tricked-out convertible's glowing blue force field—just like he had done during the first chase—and Isabela Acosta a.k.a. Archwave tilted down the rearview mirror slightly.....to see that all three SUVs and both attack helicopters were still undeniably on their trail. Additionally, all five pursuing vehicles were attempting to pepper the convertible with excessive firepower; several agents inside the SUVs used MP5s, and both attack helicopters used miniguns mounted below their cockpits.

Upon landing her eyes in the middle SUV, she recognized the driver inside it; this driver was the one responsible for injuring her right arm using an MP5, cursing her with a wound that had taken quite some time to heal completely.

And now, he had come to try and finish her off for good.

But unlike the first chase.....Archwave was prepared this time.