Powerhouse: Legend of the Archwave

Chapter 36 (Act IV): Fly High

We last read Chapter 35, in which the Paragon James Markovsky a.k.a. Powerhouse confides in the Spraywatch vandal Valentina Valdez about the death of his companion Isabela Acosta a.k.a. Archwave, and how he feels that he has failed his old friend and former Paragon, Dr. Duncan Drevis, as a result. Valentina then recalls how Duncan came from a dark past, but made himself strong despite that and became determined to do good instead.....just like Archwave, with Powerhouse lamenting that both of them are now dead. Powerhouse then frustratingly rants about how Special Agent Warren Schaefer—who is currently passed out from his injuries but still alive—could be so hateful and ungrateful as to fatally shoot Archwave when she was only trying to help him get free from the cart.....when she was demonstrating that true heroes help anyone, no matter who they are. Valentina then adds to his thoughts by lamenting on how the world would be a lot brighter if everyone was 100% trustworthy.....even though such a scenario is nothing but a fantasy. She then encourages Powerhouse to not stop here and complete the mission of brokering peace between the Spraywatch gang and the government of Seattle.....especially since Archwave was the one to alert Powerhouse to the existence of the gang in the first place.

After both of them hug, Valentina's best friend Tyrone Hoover wakes up from a nap at the front of the train and guns down the final Schaefer loyalist with an MP5 before exiting into the sixth rail car and alerting both Powerhouse and Valentina to the train's imminent return to the station; Powerhouse then responds by alerting both Tyrone and Valentina that they need to escape the train and return to their hideout—the Spraywatch Hub—by a different way to avoid suspicion. They do, with Valentina insisting that Powerhouse take as much time as he needs to process everything before continuing the peace negotiations; the chapter then ended with Powerhouse grimly exiting the runaway train upon its return to explain all of the events that happened onboard to the waiting investigators.

This time, about ten days after the attack on King Street Station, James holds a private funeral for his brave and valiant partner.....

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-Ten Days Later-

-Markovsky Residence, Seattle, Washington-

It had been ten days since the attack on the King Street Station train that resulted in the rescue of multiple innocent civilians, the incapacitation of several Schaefer loyalists, and the death of James Markovsky a.k.a. Powerhouse's beloved companion, Isabela Acosta a.k.a. Archwave.

In that time, Special Agent Warren Schaefer himself ended up succumbing to his injuries at a hospital, and the brutal methods of his men in their search to apprehend Isabela were ultimately exposed. His unit was disbanded, with all of its members being fired and charged with several accounts of attempted murder, proving that no one—no matter how high in authority—was above the law.....and had Schaefer survived, he would've actually been charged with first-degree murder, since he actually succeeded.

As for Isabela's body, James had received word that it had been safely recovered from the King Street Station train and successfully traced back to a family in the Dominican Republic that apparently disguised itself as just that; a random family with nothing particular of note besides a rebellious daughter who was fond of archery and crossed into a country she shouldn't have.

But James knew the truth. That Isabela's family were the collective leaders of a notorious drug cartel based out of that country, and that they weren't the type of people to take too kindly to her defection, even if she was part of their family.

Since Isabela had no family in America, her body had been returned to the other members of the Acosta line.....but James mourned inwardly for not only Isabela's fate, but for the fate which her body would likely suffer upon its return. After all, there were undoubtedly individuals out there who were so deep into the criminal lifestyle that they had built up experience with concealing their true selves. Her father—whose name was Angelo, according to Isabela herself—was likely to project himself publicly as a grieving father weeping over the loss of his daughter and pledging to give her proper rites.....when in reality, he and his associates would likely be abusing the body and using it for their own selfish purposes in gross "retaliation" for Isabela's defection from the cartel, which was known as the Celestial Syndicate.