Episode Title:
The Forecast Manufacturer
Episode Description:
New York is hit by an enormous blizzard, revealed to have been generated by a weather machine stolen from the Guild of Calamitous Intent. Rusty is contacted by the OSI and tasked with disabling the device, reluctantly taking an enthusiastic Billy with him when no one else at VenTech is willing to help. Meanwhile, the Monarch and Gary are tasked by Dr. Z and Dr. Mrs The Monarch with assassinating the leader of a splinter faction within the Peril Partnership who they believe to be responsible for the snowstorm as well as the general unrest between the two organisations. Back at VenTech, an increasingly erratic Hank decides to go out into the blizzard in search of Sirena after repeated attempts to contact her over the phone, despite warnings from Hatred that he might be smothering her. While outside, Hank jumps head-first into a mound of snow, that unbeknownst to him is hiding a fire hydrant, knocking himself out. The Monarch and Gary reach the shore where they encounter the leader of the rogue faction: a former OSI operative expelled for getting several boy scouts killed during a mission, now an insane collector of superhero and supervillain memorabilia (including The Monarch's butter glider) who invites them to play "the most dangerous game", revealed to be lawn darts which the three must throw directly into the air and dodge as they fall back down. As the Collector throws the final dart, the trio are distracted by Rusty, dressed in a tuxedo and a lifering from the Titanic, and Billy, sporting a huge beard and dressed as a Confederate soldier, emerging from a time machine amongst the Collector's possessions. This Rusty refers to The Monarch as "Malcom" as the lawn dart falls and impales the Collector through the top of the skull, causing Rusty and Billy to return to the time machine in an attempt to fix the mistake. The present Rusty and Billy reach the weather machine, which they eventually disable with the help of a heat-regulating suppository given to Billy by Rusty at the beginning of the episode. The two men then discover Stranger S-464 piloting the weather machine as a way to get his OSI girlfriend Kimberly to notice him. A concussed Hank is rescued by Scare Bear (seen auditioning for a position with The Revenge Society in Episode 52, as well as in background cameos) and taken to Dean's dormitory, where he discovers Dean and Sirena in bed together, naked. Bleeding heavily from the forehead, Hank briefly expresses disbelief at the situation, noting that he is glad Dean and Sirena can also see the bear, before collapsing. S-464 winds up in the custody of the Guild, apparently through a prisoner exchange with OSI. Back at the Guild's New York base of operations, Kimberly discovers that S-464's memory has been erased and his behaviour has been altered in order to ensure that he will conform within the Guild.
