Episode - Season 3, Episode 4 (Production Code: 3-37)
First Aired - June 22, 2008
The Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend have officially moved into Phantom Limb's old home in the supervillain gated community of "Malice." As the henchmen unload their belongings from the Cocoon (parked out back,) the Monarch burns all of Phantom Limb's bed and belongings in the bedroom, much to Dr. Girlfriend' chagrin. Dr. Girlfriend reveals that they've been invited to a party in town being hosted by fellow supervillain, Sgt. Hatred.
As The Monarch wonders aloud about what Sgt. Hatred is celebrating with a party, the scene shifts to the Venture compound where a cloud of red haze is descending. A burning letter "H" is shot from a flamethrower on the ground in front of Hank and Dean while a hovertank comes out of the cloud. Sgt. Hatred announces over the tank's loudspeaker that he is Dr. Venture's new arch enemy. The tank lands as soldier surround Hank and Dean. Sgt. Hatred steps off the tank and asks if their dad is around.
After the credits, Sgt. Hatred meets with Dr. Venture inside the compound while dozens of Hatred's soldiers limp back onto the hovertank, broken and bleeding after Brock attacks. Hatred gives Venture a gift basket and announces that this isn't an official arching, merely a "meet and greet" to introduce himself.
Back at the Monarch's new house, he and the henchmen go about unpacking. 21 asks him to sign a "Get Well" card for 24, who was injured by the Moppets. 21 mentions scoping out a room for himself, leading the Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend to announce that the henchmen won't be staying in the house, upsetting them. The Monarch orders the henchmen back to the cocoon rather than discuss the situation further. Dr. Girlfriend then informs him that she was told by the Moppets that the other henchmen were picking on them.
At the compound, Sgt. Hatred goes through a Guild-required check list of allergies and conditions with Dr. Venture. Hatred then gives Venture a test about how much "menace" he feels on a scale of 1-10 from various stimuli, such as hand grenades and giant spiders.
After some convincing, The Monarch allows the Moppets to stay in the house away from the other henchmen. However, he draws a line when the Moppets try to bring their bed into the master bedroom, telling them to pick one of the other 20 rooms.
Sgt. Hatred says his goodbyes and, before leaving, shoots Venture in the stomach. He quickly explains to Brock, who jumps into attack position, that he was using rubber bullets. Nonetheless, Venture is crumpled on the ground bleeding profusely. Hatred radios to one of his henchmen that they'll be going "full blown Nerf" on Dr. Venture.
The Monarch pages through a book of scientists to pick out a new archenemy while Dr. Girlfriend readies herself for Sgt. Hatred's party. The Monarch's disinterest in going to the party changes quickly when the Venture family arrives at his door, mistaking his house for Sgt. Hatred's. Dr. Girlfriend directs the Ventures to the correct house while Monarch decides to go along with her.
At the party, Sgt. Hatred panics when the Venture family shows up. After some initial confusion (since he did invite them,) he reveals that he isn't allowed to be around Hank and Dean as he's a convicted sex offender. As the Ventures turn to leave, Dr. Girlfriend and The Monarch show up behind them; they offer their henchmen as babysitters for the night so Venture himself can stay. Hatred hands them all name tags to pin on their backs while Venture goes straight for the snack bar.
In the Cocoon, 21 tries to put Hank and Dean straight to bed, but they refuse since it's only 8 o'clock at night.
Sgt. Hatred announces a game where they all have to guess the famous person whose name is on the name tag on their backs. The Monarch uses it as an opportunity to insult Venture directly to his face, while Venture thinks it's just part of the game. Brock tires of this quickly and just pulls his name tag off to win. Dr. Girlfriend meanwhile is flummoxed, as she was Jacqueline Onassis and claims to have never heard of her.
21 meets 24 in the infirmary and leaves Dean with him, who is pretending to be a doctor.
Sgt. Hatred shows The Monarch around his armory, gauging his reaction to his various tech. The Monarch isn't impressed until Hatred shows him a new micro explosive set to a timer; he steals it while Hatred's back is turned.
The Moppets are in the Monarch's house watching TV and discussing their plans to kill someone unnamed. 21 and Hank look through the window behind them when the Moppets switch to a feed of the security cam, showing 21 and Hank outside. The Moppets recognize 21 and decide to go after him.
Venture tries to hit on Dr. Girlfriend while she is highly disinterested.
21 and Hank burst into the infirmary with 24 and Dean. The Moppets are outside searching for them.
Brock is watching TV in a different room of Hatred's house as Venture berates him for not being an active bodyguard. Brock explains that, thanks to the Guild codes, Venture is safer there as an invited guest than he would be at the compound.
21, 24, Hank, and Dean sneak past the Moppets; the latter have found a tracking device which will lead them straight to their quarry.
Venture plays charades (poorly) on a team with Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend. As Venture returns to his seat, The Monarch gets up for his turn and pats Rusty on the back, planting the micro explosive he stole earlier.
21 and company are now outside and have accidentally fled into a hedge maze by accident with the Moppets in hot pursuit. They realize that the Moppets have a tracking device after overhearing it.
The Monarch finds Dr. Girlfriend smoking, leading to an argument. To help relax, Sgt. Hatred invites him to join him in the hot tub. Once there, The Monarch questions the constant needling he has received from Hatred all night. Hatred explains that he has "less hatred" in his advancing age, but that he isn't stupid. He tells The Monarch that he knows his henchmen have been stealing parts from him for years and that he's planning a slow-burn revenge. Since he can't go after another villain directly due to Guild rules, he's going to make Venture's life "wonderful" as his new archenemy in order to infuriate his villainous rival. The Monarch then explains how he planted Hatred's micro explosive on Venture and that he'll have the last laugh when Venture dies as an invited guest in Hatred's home, a severe violation of Guild rules. Brock then forces Venture outside to "spent some time with his antagonists." He gets into the hot tub as Monarch and Hatred exchange fearful glances.
Meanwhile, the Moppets believe they have the henchmen cornered in the hedge maze but discover only the henchmen uniforms filled with straw.
The Monarch and Sgt. Hatred cringe away as the micro explosive goes off, but the explosion ends up being a few bubbles in the water, which Venture passes off as a fart. Behind them, 21 and 24 run past naked screaming for help.
In the Stinger, Hank and Dean console 21 and 24 on Hatred's porch. As they go to leave, Hatred petitions them to spend the night or at least take a shower, but the boys just walk away.
Tropes:
- Go-Karting with Bowser: As Hatred's new Guild sanctioned "arch", he invites Rusty to the party he's throwing attended mostly by other villains. Brock is unconcerned because the Guild has rules preventing the villains from doing anything to Rusty since he's an invited guest.
- Naked People Are Funny: Hank and Dean take their clothes off for no reason, after seeing 21 & 24 take theirs off, right in front of recovering pedophile Sergeant Hatred.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: The Monarch doesn't take Sergeant Hatred seriously due to him previously stealing his equipment and for his supposed archenemy he is nothing but kind to Dr Venture. Turns out he knows what The Monarch did, and his revenge is taking away his chance of arching Rusty.
- Seen It All: When Hatred is asking how much "menace" Rusty feels while listing off various weapons, Rusty is underwhelmed by it all for this reason.
- Shout-Out:
- Upon first seeing the Moppets, Hank is surprised that 21 is afraid of them, saying "You got me all worked up!"
- When Sgt. Hatred asks Hank and Dean their age, they reply: "Sixteen, going on seventeen."
- When 21 and Hank spy on the Moppets, the Moppets are watching Nell, where Jodie Foster gets naked. Hank then says he once saw Schindler's "dingus."
- The Monarch complains that he can't believe "he lives in a town called Malice."
- While playing the celebrity name-guessing game, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch's first guess after the clue "you're married to a powerful man" is "Mrs. Hulk Hogan?"
- The Monarch's celebrity in the game is Harry Dean Stanton. One of the other guests tries to clue him in by mentioning that he was in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.
- Take That!: It's possible that the Monarch really does hate Mariah Carey and was insulting her at the same time as with Dr. Venture.
- Villains Out Shopping / Go-Karting with Bowser: As usual for this show.
- Wretched Hive: Though called a "den of thieves" by Rusty, it's subverted with Sgt. Hatred's house during his party. It's full of supervillains, but due to Guild rules, Rusty is, per Brock, actually safer there than at the compound.
