Powerhouse: Legend of the Archwave

Chapter 29 (Act IV): For One Of Our Own

We last read Chapter 28, in which James Markovsky a.k.a. Powerhouse successfully delivers the Mayor of Seattle back to the Seattle Town Hall following the battle on the Seattle Space Needle and the mayor's swift extraction from the area. Upon arrival, Powerhouse briefly checks to make sure that the mayor is all right before the topic switches to Isabela Acosta a.k.a. Archwave's unauthorized entry into the United States. The mayor—to Powerhouse's slight disappointment—still believes that she should be punished.....but luckily, even he acknowledges that what Special Agent Warren Schaefer and his regiment are doing is too excessive for someone like her. The mayor then details the upcoming plan to Powerhouse: they will all focus on bringing Schaefer and his corrupt crew down first, then Powerhouse will bring Archwave to the mayor for him to decide what to do with her after the fact. They also talk about the in-person meeting involving the Spraywatch gang, with Powerhouse insisting that the gang leader and two of his top vandals also be in attendance so as to give them a voice; though the mayor is reluctant, he accepts, and promises to give Powerhouse a list of available dates and times in the near future. With the mayor successfully rescued, Powerhouse then leaves the town hall lot and returns to the Spraywatch Hub.

At the Spraywatch Hub, however, Powerhouse learns from Monarch McIntosh, Valentina Valdez, and Tyrone Hoover that Archwave has been abducted by Schaefer and his loyalists, and that they don't know whether or not she's still alive. Despite the dire circumstances, the trio—also representing the rest of the gang—fully pledge their continued allegiance to Powerhouse due to the compassion and accommodation he treated them with in the past; after all, what goes around comes around. In particular, McIntosh states that if Powerhouse decides to take the lead on a mounted rescue, the Spraywatch gang would follow; to this, Powerhouse summarily orders him, Valentina, and Tyrone to round up the rest of the Spraywatch gang and meet him inside to discuss a plan.

Meanwhile, on an FBI attack helicopter enroute to the King Street Station, Schaefer taunts Archwave about his imminent victory against her and her partner Powerhouse. When Archwave questions why she's still alive, Schaefer sadistically replies that he wants Powerhouse to see him kill her.....in order to inflict great pain on the superhero in return for Powerhouse apparently "betraying" his country by offering aid and assistance to an illegal alien like Archwave. Archwave, trying to get through to Schaefer, asks why he hates non-Americans so much, and he replies that after seeing news story after news story about foreigners causing so much trouble in the United States, he now believes that they're all vermin who have to be exterminated. Archwave correctly brings up the prominent rush of misinformation that's overrun the system as of late—stating that it can corrupt and warp people—but Schaefer spits out that Archwave has no right to lecture him on the news he watches, especially since she's nothing but an "alien". He declares his intention to do anything—including giving his own life—if it means "protecting" America from non-Americans like Archwave, which Archwave condemns as fanaticism. After Schaefer details his full plan to Archwave—which entails him and his men effectively taking over an entire train and pushing her off a bridge if Powerhouse doesn't come for her in time—a random Schaefer loyalist then alerts Schaefer that the attack helicopter is nearing the station, to which Schaefer declares to Archwave that it's time to see how much her partner really cares for her.

This time, Powerhouse plans another rescue mission with help from the Spraywatch gang, and Schaefer and the Schaefer loyalists begin storming the King Street Station with Archwave as their hostage.....

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-Spraywatch Hub, Seattle, Washington-

Inside the indoor portion of the Spraywatch Hub, the Paragon James Markovsky a.k.a. Powerhouse had pulled out a wide whiteboard on wheels, and was using it—along with a set of dry-erase EXPO-brand markers—to draw out diagrams depicting his envisioned plan to rescue his companion, Isabela Acosta a.k.a. Archwave, from the clutches of Special Agent Warren Schaefer and his band of loyalists.