The giant of light sighed at Blorb's inevitable overreaction. It was always like that, it seemed - first he offered a few wimpy slaps of meat, and then a massive wave of ingredients to either shield himself, launch at his foes, or as in this case both. Almost sad to consider, honestly. Admittedly, he imagined those meat tendrils and meat blasts might be somewhat more intimidating if he weren't clad in a suit of psychic energy, but when the Wet Towel could dodge them adroitly, it seemed like there was perhaps a mismatch in play.

Nonetheless, the answer to this issue was obvious. Rather than falling, Arete's wings expanded outward again, and he propelled himself skyward, scooping the Wet Towel up in one hand as he took them both up and over the wall of ingredients with a triumphant cry of 'The only one falling today is you, villain!' This in turn was followed with a swoop back down toward the fatty freak, an effort to get in range so they could strike him again with his free hand. Because honestly, why wouldn't he do that? If WT had any ideas of her own, he'd of course help her with her plans too, but against this ignoramus, there was hardly any thought needed.

S-Punk rubbed his chin and mumbled to himself for a moment. "Well, I don't see why not. I only had this planned for today." S-Punk then took a moment to look around and make sure there weren't any unexpected listeners. "Alright. We meet at twelve PM. The abandoned observatory in Creese. In uniform." S-Punk said in a rather assertive voice. The kid definitely had an attitude that was for sure.

"I will see you then, S-Punk" The drone said before flying away, taking some copper wire as it left. Had to keep up appearances after all. Jake then set the drone on a spot to look at S-Punk's movement from a good distance away. He let the kid finish his quest in the junkyard, while getting himself ready for the meeting.

Jake decided that a basic gear up would do for now. The default green armor with a red G painted on the chest, with some room for equipment here and there. Grappling hook was probably good for now, and perhaps some suckers to the gloves and soles. However, although he didn't consider the boy to be a threat at the moment, he couldn't be too careful. He added the Trap-Escape Gauntlet with a small saw for cutting rope and similar restraints, and an electric surge to deactivate mechanical locks. Granted, it was likely that whoever trapped him would remove it, but from time to time someone forgot to.

And as pièce de résistance, the Thunderpants. During his career Jake had noted that folks preferred to threathen with a gun from behind, so he created a defense mechanism for it. Thunderpants looked like any normal powered armor briefs, but at the bottom there was a surprise: a small valve that would release invisible knockout gas at whoever was behind Jake at the command word.

Jake took his helmet and spoke the command.

"I can't hold it anymore!"

A fart sound was heard from the Thunderpants. It was a useful sound for masking what really was released. Useful and comical, perfect for a supervillain like Mr. Gimmick.

"Check."

Jake, satisfied with the armor, then went to make some final checks to his car. At least the camouflage seemed to work. There was nonetheless much to prepare for before the meeting.

"... tempting offer." Eve calmly said as the van pulled to a stop, her climbing out of it and watching it as the van sped off into the city, vanishing without a trace. What an... interesting meeting with the Union, indeed.

She stared down at the registration papers and contract in her hands. Jeez, that was a lot of stuff to take in, especially all at once. Hell, Eve was still trying to figure out how they managed to get her mail for her. Wasn't that illegal? Bah, whatever, it saved her a little walking in any case. She couldn't really walk far with how her feet were shaped and built, not that she complained since flying was definitely a far better form of transportation, wind through her feather and what-not.

"Meteor... poster girl of Ruststone?" That certainly did have a nice ring to it, though.

Regardless, there was someone she wanted to consult first before this went anywhere. Unfortunately, he was currently at work, so she was on her own in thinking this over. Meh, she should probably head back home to mull this over. So much for trying to find a boyfriend.

On her way to the nearby tram, she pulled out her phone and started texting her dad. <something big came up that i gotta discuss with ya>

The Wet Towel expressed a chirp of surprise upon being lifted by Arete but, hey, a free ride is always a help. With a shout she makes her own strikes against Blorb, with two nasty rat tails to do it with.

@olcharlieboi

All the boys would be seated down in Noelle's office waiting for the woman to start barking at them, though this time she seemed uncharacteristically calm. As if she already knew what she was going to do. "You boys just never seem to learn, do you? I know that it was probably you who started it." Noelle said pointing at Charles, "But I know that you were asking for it." She said pointing at the football star and his lackeys. "I've had to deal with you all enough times to know that my previous punishments were obviously not enough. So I'll just have to step up my game."

The jocks looked a little worried by this, their spots on the school team could be in jeopardy. One of the starts mooks quickly spoke up "I-I'm sorry miss I'll not do it aga--" Noelle raised a hand and silenced the boy. "Enough!... As of right now, you're all suspended. you'll have four weeks to reflect on your transgressions. Now get out of my office..." The woman's words were cold and her glare unflinching.

---

@BCTheEntity @FluffyKnife

Blob's eyes went wide as Arete sored over his wall of meat before crashing down in front of him knocking the obese man off balance. Before the villain could regain his footing a pair of towels whipped him in the face and shoulder and with it, his conjured meat started to slip from his control starting to fan out all over the ground. Then Arete's free hand clocked Blorb in the jaw knocking the villain out cold.

Their victory did get some cheers from the onlookers. Maybe this time Blorb would finally be captured for good.

---

"And done" Jake sighed, having finished the modifications for his car, "And now for a little test drive."

The drone noted that S-Punk had left, so the coast was clear. Jake called the drone back and opened the garage door before jumping into the car. The vehicle sped off, while the door closed behind.

Jake took for his direction the Ruststone Highway, a perfect place to test the car. There was some drivers in the highway, but it wasn't too crowded as of yet. The car performed fine, just like Jake had planned.

"Maybe a little more speed..." Jake thought as he prepared to switch the gear, when something whizzed right past him. A motorcycle, no, two of them, driving side by side. They were black and yellow in color, and the drivers had yellox X:es painted on the backs of their motocross gear.

"X-tremes..." Jake sighed in frustration. There were all kinds of weird gangs plaguing Ruststone, and one of the most reckless were the X-tremes. Bored teenagers desperately looking for excitement in life, you could see them doing all kinds of dangerous, and illegal, stunts, whether BASE jumping from a building or parkour through a factory in operation. This time they were apparently street racing in the highway. The regular drivers were trying to get away from the two motorcyclists, and their friends in the... modified Cadillac?

"Oh, come on!" Jake grunted "Valhalla too?"

The old man wearing a greaser outfit driving the Cadillac confirmed Jake's suspicion. Valhalla, an outlaw motorcycle club of old men who had escaped from nursing homes their families had abandoned them in. Not wanting to spend their days waiting for death, the retirees had decided to go out with a bang. In a way, Jake could understand what they were going through. The members of Valhalla were often underestimated, proving themselves from time to time at being strong and fast fighters. Explanations ranged from steroids to cybernetics, but Jake, being an old man himself, knew that elderly could be surprisingly powerful.

Yet here they were, X-tremes and Valhalla, two of the fastest gangs in Ruststone, having a street race in the highway. Jake counted at least a dozen vehicles, cars and bikes, from each gang. In a way it was surreal, this parade of old and new. X-tremes drove modified sports vehicles, sleek, shiny, all painted in black and yellow, While Valhalla had brought choppers and cars from past eras, also modified to be able to compete with their modern counterparts. Two generations of rebels speeding through the fast lanes.

Jake wasn't sure if this was a gang war or a simple combined street race. X-tremes and Valhalla tended to respect each other, mostly for the combined love for danger, but things could escalate. He might also have seen a crowbar or two, though they could have also been for protection against heroes.

But even if they didn't attack each other and merely competed, things could turn dangerous. X-tremes were constantly risking their lives and Valhalla cared little for their own, but the commuters were in real danger. Jake pondered, how to act in this situation.

Well, bright ideas or no, her towels sure could pack a punch. And so did he, for that matter, clocking the overweight dastard in a way that KOed him without inflicting excessive damage. Who knew the corner of the jawline was such an effective pressure point? Him, actually, having formed his fist in a way that specifically put pressure on the point in question. He'd get up sooner or later, anyway.

'Grand show, Wet Towel,' he congratulated his temporary partner, offering a thumbs-up to the younger woman, moments before the buzzing of his phone in his pocket indicated a text received. Shoot, and he couldn't answer that right now without lowering his exoskeleton's defenses...

'I'll leave handing this villain over to you, then,' he prompted, his armour's wings extending out to lift him upward once again. 'I trust you'll make sure he receives a cell that'll properly contain him this time!' With that uttered, he moved off, sighing under his breath as he exited the scene. God, dealing with Blorb was a chore... and it'd cut into his ability to actually educate people, since the chances were his biology class would absolutely get skipped by his students. But, if he wasn't able to attend his own courses, what sort of teacher was he?

...he considered that as he soared well above the buildings of the city, his exoskeleton vanishing once he was sure nobody would see his figure. He could teach his students all about the body. He could teach them about the strange way the universe worked. He couldn't teach most of them what exactly the right way to live was, though, and there were hardly any courses encouraging them in that regard either. Hell, many would probably never reach a position where they could make a meaningful change to begin with, at least not as individuals. It was cynical, sure, pessimistic even - but he honestly couldn't see evidence to change his mind, not when even the most active of activists failed. Maybe if he'd minored in psychology...

Bah. He'd figure something out. Still flying, he drew out his phone, tapping it until the text he'd received came up - <something big came up that i gotta discuss with ya>, sent by Eve. Something big... a lot of people might interpret that message as the equivalent of "we need to talk", and that would lead certain people down catastrophic trains of thought. Of course, "big" could just as easily be good as bad- oh, maybe she'd received one of the jobs she'd wanted! Tapping <Phone-big, or in-person-big?> into his phone and sending it, he tucked it back into his pocket, keeping an eye open for the same alleyway he'd surged out of to begin with... ah, there it was. Not long now before he could return to his civilian cover.

Charles would simply be smiling the whole time, chuckling a bit when one of the jocks tried to get out of it. When he heard her state about they was suspended he grinned bit bigger. "thanks for the vacation" he would simply say before leaving the room and heading for the exit. Whistling to himself, he didn't care about school, if he did he would probably have higher grades. This was just a handed on a platter to him, the perfect time to train.

Charles would make his way to the closest store to buy some needed items, before heading home. He still needed to add some finish touches to his outfit and still create some kind of hideout where he can keep his magical stuff safe. As he was going to be making a lot of stuff.

Once Charles got home he dumped off his stuff and headed to his room sitting onto his bed, he'd pull out one of his papers, or talismans as they was essentially. He'd activate the magic circle on them and Shadows would suddenly be drawn from ever corner of the room as he held out his hand, as it condensed onto his hand until he was holding a black, see-through sphere no bigger than a baseball. He'd sigh looking at it as the magic circle on the paper glowed. He'd cancel it causing the sphere to disperse into nothing, and the paper would stop glowing but then start to crumble away into dust. He'd shake his head before grabbing more paper and recreating the talisman.

He'd Then pull out the very thick tome out from under his bed and begun studying trying to learn more about his magic, especially how to create a safe place, or as the book called it, a sanctum.

"Alright, on it," the Wet Towel promises before Arete flies off to do whatever else he does. Now she turns to a collapsed Blorb, summoning a string of wet towels and tying them together into a makeshift rope, and using that to bind the villain's arms and legs together. Whipping out her phone, she calls 911 and waits for an operator to pick up. In the meantime, she lifts (more drags) Blorb onto a nearby bench, and sits next to him until authorities arrive. Luckily, she has time to wait, unlike the last time where she nearly missed her midterm.

"Well, I hope you get a decent jail cell for once," she muses. Who is he?

<its something that needs to be discussed in person. nothing bad but its kinda big. comin' to your work> Eve typed away at her phone, pulling her hand away to shake it off. Claws were a little hard to type with, but she managed despite the odds. That was besides the point, however. What was more of a problem was how she was going to bring this up to her father. This wasn't your standard "Hey dad, I got a job being a superhero, might be dying with how I fight crime." Truth was, she was fairly sure her dad hated how she fought crime, which she understood. She did everything incredibly recklessly, and when your main method of beating up baddies was slamming into them at high velocity, it sometimes left you shook up and bruised.

On the other hand, she needed a better job than being a coder for somebody on the Internet. His website was trash anyhow, and it wasn't because of Eve's coding. His merch was absolutely gross, but somehow they got a lot of traction on the website, and that netted Eve her cash. Actually... while on the topic of jobs...

... nope, didn't get any of them this time around either. Damn, you'd think being a harpy wouldn't cause people to immediately reject your application, but apparently linoleum floors are expensive and scratching them isn't the best thing. That, and molting feathers is a concern, which was bullshit. Eve hardly molted, and when it was she would've made sure to stay at home that day.

@FluffyKnife

It didn't take the cops long to arrive on the scene. They came with a massive reinforced truck, obviously they were getting just as tired of Blorb getting away as Wet Towel was. A pair of officers got out of the back of the truck, and came over to pick up the rather chunky Blorb but all the meat on the ground was making things a little slippery.

One of the officers couldn't help but look at Wet Towel and her costume, the younger cop was quickly given a light smack upside the head from his senior officer. "Eyes on the criminal Perkins..." the senior let out a sigh as the junior quickly started hauling Blorb off looking rather embarrassed "Don't mind him, he's new. Anyway, thanks again for stopping Blorb. I just hope this time we find some way to keep the guy locked up." the senior extended her hand out to Wet Towel inviting her to a handshake.

<Understood. See you there, sweetie; I'll either be in the courtyard out front or in my usual room for Bio.> Maceroy's phone returned to its pocket, and he stepped out of the still-unoccupied alleyway, once again covered up by his shirt, with seemingly nobody the wiser. Of course, if he'd seen somebody snooping around, he'd simply have dropped in in full exoskeleton, nabbed the shirt, and scarpered to a less occupied alleyway, perhaps closer to the school.

Speaking of which, it took him a few minutes more and a slight detour to make it seem like he'd taken the scenic route, but he eventually approached the school's entrance, whistling as though he had not a care in the world, and only glancing quizzically toward whatever police presence had made itself known. By now, his classroom was probably devoid of students, but it was worth taking the time to double-check, just in case. If they were there, he could begin teaching now; if they weren't, he could nonetheless wait out front for Evelyn. And he was curious to know what her big news was, anyway.

"I hope so too," the Wet Towel replies in turn as she shakes the officer's hand. Hopefully Blorb actually stays locked up this time, or at least reforms. She cannot imagine how the people who have to fix his messes do it, and they probably wouldn't mind not having to deal with it. Well, here's to well-wishing.

Now another thing to deal with. While she can imagine she has a lot of admirers like Officer Perkins ogling her figure, she also can imagine it could get out of hand if she keeps running around in a bath towel. Besides, an actual costume would provide much more protection. How would she get her hands on one, she needs to find out.

Or at least shoes. The Wet Towel muses the very limited selection of footwear that does not clash with her getup. Yeah, she needs something proper soon.

"Hey Janice! How's the family?!" Eve's voice chirped as she stepped into the school, resting her elbow on the visitor's window as she signed in on the visitor's sheet. As always, she made her name on the sheet swirly and girly. It was how she signed everything, ranging from checks to silly drawings.

"Hello, Evelyn. Here for your father, I assume?" Janice spoke coldly, uninterested in the going-ons of this ramshackle teenager's family and such. Though, it wasn't often that someone asked about her family, though she just chalked that up on Eve being polite.

"Yes ma'am. I've been applying to jobs around the entire city, and one that I'd never thought I'd get offered me a position. I wanna go check in with my dad before I finalize everything." The harpy took her freshly-printed visitor tag off and plastered it on her hoodie's chest area, walking away from the front counter with a smile. She'd check in with Janice on her way back out of here.

She stepped into the courtyard of the school Maceroy worked at, noticing the distinct lack of students. Huh, seemed like the place was deserted for the most part. Must've been a teacher workday. Maybe a supervillain attacked, though, if that was the case, who would've been that stupid to attack the school where Arete regularly prowls? Probably Blorb.

Ah well, right now she was just waiting for her dad to show up.

And then the Wet Towel watches, along with everyone else, the two officers leave the scene with the transport. She decides to linger on the scene a bit as everyone moves on, talking to the few who want to talk to her. Mostly the usual: her powers, what they think of her, what the university might think of her. And with that, she can now safely retreat to her hiding spot, where she puts on her bag of clothes and becomes Natalie Benson once more.

As she ties her hair back up, she pulls out her phone and checks the time. Well, shit, her next class just started. Natalie bolts to Biology, hoping to not miss too much.