Girlfriend meets Red Death outside of an Italian restaurant. They go inside and meet with Phantom Limb, who is surprised that they showed up out of undercover, and goes to the restroom to change out of his costume.
Rusty is at a nearby table meeting a private eye, Night Dick, who gives him a files on Teresa Didae. Teresa killed all of her husbands, treats them as gods, and then once they're married they end up dead. Rusty is eager to hear what "the works" are that she gave them. He's happy that the detective has found him the perfect black widow and asks for her web address. Night Dick hopes that Rusty can stop her, and Rusty says that he's going to ask Teresa out.
Red Death and Girlfriend drink wine, and Blind Rage comes in and demands to see the bad guys. He explains about his heightened senses and asks about the Council. Blind Rage says that Peril Partnership had a deal with Wide Wale, but he hasn't been giving them any kickbacks. He says that they pay the Partners to pretend to be scared of them and they won't move in on the guild. Girlfriend says that she'll pass the offer onto the Guild and dismisses Blind Rage. Blind Rage leaves as Phantom Limb comes in wearing a cook's outfit because he had nothing to change into.
Later on the Guild satellite, Girlfriend presents the offer to the Guild. They vote and everyone else agrees to pay the Partners. Next, Girlfriend points out that since they can't find 13 members for the Council of 13, she checked the original charter. It says that 13 was the Sovereign's flourish, and none of them can be active villains. They get final arches, and Girlfriend tells them to get it out of their blood because at their last meeting they have to retire as villains or leave the Council.
At the compound, Rusty tells Hank to friend Teresa. Hank advises his father to wait until Teresa responds. Brock comes in and tells Rusty to find a real woman that won't kill him and take his money. Rusty figures that Teresa is amazing in bed and wants a woman who clearly wants to please him.
At the mansion, Girlfriend tells Monarch that she's retiring. He's curious that she's leaving him and walks off. 21 tries to comfort her without success, and Girlfriends explains that she'll be arching her old archrival.
When Girlfriend was Lady Au Pair, she tried to steal the Faith Diamond with her Moppets. Novia takes the Diamond from Lady Au Pair and throws her an exploding bouquet.
Phantom Limb calls his old archrival and says that he's been assigned to arch him one last time. They agree to meet at midnight on the Central Park Bow Bridge.
Wide Wale discovers that he's going up against his first archrival, Curtis Sliwa of the Guardian angels. They made peace with him a long time ago, and Wide Wale tells Rocco to slap him around and then take him for some chops.
Z discovers that he will be arching Action Johnny. The villain remembers the old times.
Johnny and his sidekick confront Z, and Johnny's dog Buddy runs in. Z's henchmen shoot at the dog, and an ancient mask of Anubis falls on him. The henchmen figure that it's the spirit of Anubis and run away.
Right Wing and Radical Left read their announcement and discover that they'll be vanquishing each other.
Dragoon and Red Mantle finally bring themselves to read their announcement. They decide to read it after dinner and an episode of Downton Abbey.
Red Death confronts Blind Rage in an alleyway and knocks him out with one punch.
Right Wing and Radical Left play Clue, and Radical Left wins. His opponent wants to play three out of five.
Dean pretends to be Teresa and they rehearse how he should go on a date with her without getting killed. He leads her to the couch, and Hank goes over how he'll come in and stage a conversation with Rusty about all the money he has. Dean gives him a drink and points out that it was poisoned, and they run it again.
Phantom Limb and Hunter Gathers meet on the bridge and reach for their guns, and Gathers asks if they're really going to go through with it. They pull out measure and discuss how they're going to measure their genitals.
Blind Rage wakes up tied to a train track. The villain says that he's going to review the tradition, and explains that the "Gentleman Villain" used to tie people to tracks because it's simple and deadly, but gives the victim hope. He also has a time bomb. The train comes down the tracks and Red Death laughs evilly and tells Blind rage that if he survives, he should tell the Partners that the Guild isn't scared of punks and flies off as the train goes by.
Z goes to a rehab center and says that his business is professional menace. Since his archenemy is dead, Johnny is all that they have. The receptionist says that it's not visiting hours, and Z writes a note saying that he'll get Johnny. She says that she'll talk to the counsellors and see if she can get Z in for a meeting.
Red Mantle and Dragoon lay in bed, watch Downton Abbey, and decide to watch one more episode before opening the announcement.
Girlfriend and 21, wearing a Moppet costume, follow the coordinates provided and find themselves at the Venture tower. 21 says that he needs to embrace change and asks Girlfriend to cut off his ponytail. Novia is waiting outside and looks great. Girlfriend doesn't want to confront her, but 21 goes over and Novia mistakes 21 for a real Moppet. Girlfriend comes over and calls Novia by her real name--Terry--and explains that she was supposed to arch her but she's beautiful and Girlfriend is wearing her old Au Pair costume. She breaks into tears and Novia comforts her.
Z makes small talk with a strung-out Johnny and says that he loves him... in a platonic sense. Johnny figures that they shouldn't rush into it and suggests Z loan him a couple of bucks. Z has given Johnny the old Anubis mask and they relive old times. He finally asks Johnny to go and hide one more time.
Red Mantle and Dragoon finally read the announcement, which says that all of their archenemies are dead. They're happy that they've outlived all their old enemies.
Rusty meets with Novia, hopped up on all of the anti-venom that Brock gave him. Novia is impressed with his fearlessness, and Brock is in the nearby bushes training a rifle on Novia. Rusty asks if he has a chance, and Novia says that whatever he's heard isn't true. She starts to explain about running into an old friend, and Rusty passes out. Novia yells to Brock that she didn't do it.
Girlfriend and 21 drive home, and Girlfriend points out that she cried and her arch nemesis hugged her. She worries that her partnership with Monarch might be over, and cuts off 21's ponytail. Girlfriend lifted Novia's wallet and boasts that she arched Novia after all.
Later on the satellite, Girlfriend confirms that everyone has resigned. They're all do, except Wide Wale, who has a lot of unresolved grudges. However, he says that he's not going anywhere. Phantom Limb says that he was mightier than his archrival by an inch. They finally ask Girlfriend what her decision is, and she hesitates.
Written by Gadfly on Sep 24, 2018