Powerhouse: Legend of the Archwave

Chapter 38 (Act IV): Vivacious Valentina

We last read Chapter 37, in which the Mayor of Seattle holds the Seattle-Spraywatch peace talks at the town hall, accompanied by the Paragon James Markovsky a.k.a. Powerhouse, the Spraywatch gang leader Monarch McIntosh, and Spraywatch vandals Valentina Valdez and Tyrone Hoover, the latter of which is Valentina's best friend. A seat to the mayor's left is left empty, with a single arrow and three feathers on the counterspace in front of it; one red and two dark blue, to represent the late Isabela Acosta a.k.a. Archwave, who played a massive part in enabling the peace talks but didn't live to see the outcome due to her murder at Special Agent Warren Schaefer's hands during the King Street Station mission.

The mayor brings in a new individual named Advisor Brighton to stand in for her, but even though the chats go relatively well, Brighton's behavior proves to be very problematic, and the mayor eventually summons three guards to haul him away. After the Spraywatch gang provide the mayor's side with their view of things, James and Valentina outline the plan to the mayor themselves; the abandoned districts of Seattle would be opened up on a restricted basis to just the Spraywatch gang members for the time being, to let them get settled in and paint the area with various tags. Then—as James continues—after the gang has had time to settle in, the abandoned districts could then be turned into tourist attractions to boost commerce, complete with walking tours, guided tours, and souvenir shops. This way, not only will the Spraywatch gang be able to continue their hobbies and interests without disrupting the peace or being afflicted with the fear of being arrested, but it would mean that no one would be forced to look at the art anymore—in order to see it, one would need to pay the admission price—and that visitors to the city of Seattle would likely increase drastically. The mayor expresses his concern that the initial investment would be risky, but James encourages him to follow through on it anyway, stating that one doesn't really get far in life without taking risks. The mayor eventually accepts, and everyone in the room celebrates triumphantly.

In particular, Valentina rushes over to James's side of the table and eagerly hugs him, with James momentarily looking down at Isabela's empty seat and internally telling her to rest well since he's taken care of everything. After Valentina, Tyrone, and McIntosh all voice their gratitude to the prosthetic-armed Paragon for finally solving their situation, the Mayor of Seattle offers to treat all four of them to coffee at Starbucks to celebrate their victory, to which all of them accept.....with Valentina even stating that she has a gift card. The chapter then ended with all five of them—the Mayor of Seattle, James, McIntosh, Valentina, and Tyrone—piling into the mayor's vehicle and driving off the town hall lot to Starbucks, ready to embrace the future and what it would bring for their lives.

This time, three days after the Seattle-Spraywatch peace talks at the town hall, the Spraywatch vandal Valentina Valdez embarks on her well-deserved journey of self-discovery, with her best friend and fellow vandal Tyrone Hoover at her side.....

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-Three Days Later-

-Spraywatch Hub, Seattle, Washington-

"I can't believe you actually remembered my rant about my threads!" the Spraywatch vandal Valentina Valdez exclaimed with delight as she and her best friend—and fellow vandal—Tyrone Hoover advanced down the hall of the Spraywatch Hub building's interior, making their way towards the "expansive wardrobe" that Tyrone had mentioned to her back then. "I figured that you'd forgotten about it, with everything else that's happened!"

"You kidding me, Val?" Tyrone replied. "I'd never forget anything you confide in me about. You can also thank Monarch McIntosh later for giving us a day off; everyone else is busy packing. They're getting ready to leave the Spraywatch Hub altogether and move to our new 'neighborhood'. It's bound to be so much more spacious than this pad! Whenever we get done here, we should go pack, too!"