100 Ways to Kill a Doctor Halloween Challenge

(my response to Dsnynutz's prompt)

RULES:

1. Sheldon/Penny - They can be platonic, romantic, smutty, Super Heroes/Villains, etc.

2. Leonard/Amy's death MAY occur anytime from the Pilot thru Season 9.

3. The death must be completed in a single chapter, although you are welcome to contribute as many different forms of death as you like as long as they are a chapter each.

4. The story must be no more than 1,500 words long.

5. Deadline is October 31, 2015.

I originally had planned to turn this into a full story, but it worked well for this challenge. I could always come back to it and rewrite it as a longer story if I wanted, but I doubt that will ever happen.

Penny crossed her arms and sulked. "You told me you had something romantic planned."

Leonard was bent over a display panel, deep in conversation with Sheldon. Straightening, he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with one finger and turned reluctantly to his unhappy girlfriend. He thought it was the pinnacle of his existence when he and Penny had finally started dating, but he had never considered anything beyond that vague fantasy. Truthfully, they had little in common, and he was finding it difficult to balance dating Penny with all his other hobbies. He'd given up a lot for her, and there were times (like now) when he wasn't sure it was worth it.

"I said we would spend a night under the stars," he said. Waving a hand at the 40-inch refracting telescope, he asked, "What more could you want?"

"How 'bout for you not to have brought your friend along on this so-called date? No offense, Sheldon."

"None taken," Sheldon said absently, without looking up from the monitor.

With a sigh, Leonard walked over to the lumpy bundle he had brought. It turned out to be a picnic basket wrapped in a blanket. He spread the blanket out on the floor and then opened the hamper, which contained nothing but two bottles of champagne. He pulled one out and handed it to Penny. "Here's something for you to do while you're waiting."

She glared furiously at him, then grabbed the bottle out of his hand.

"The target is almost within range," Sheldon called excitedly.

Leonard rushed back to the bank of computers, frantically rechecking their calculations. "If this works and we're the first people to collect samples of dark energy, we'll win the Nobel for sure," he enthused.

"Focus, Leonard," Sheldon snapped. "We're dealing with a type of energy about which very little is known. The least miscalculation could spell disaster."

Penny watched them rush around for a while longer, hovering over a donut-shaped device that Leonard had told her would contain the dark energy if they were able to capture it.

"Nope, still bored," she muttered under her breath and started to work at the cork of the champagne bottle. The cork came flying out just as Leonard shouted, "Now!" There was a loud metallic ping as the projectile hit the torus-shaped containment unit. An oppressive pressure filled the air as the lights flickered and went out. It was the last thing any of them remembered.

Sheldon was the first to regain consciousness. He winced in pain as he pushed himself into a sitting position from where he had been lying on the floor. Feeling an odd tickle on his upper lip, he ran the back of his hand over it and found he was bleeding from his nose and also his ears. That was alarming, but not as much as the sight of the entire bank of computers giving off smoke, or the sight of Leonard and Penny lying limp on the floor. He stumbled over to Leonard and shook his shoulder. Although his roommate was also bleeding from cranial orifices, he moaned and stirred. Sheldon instantly felt a flash of disappointment and annoyance. If Leonard had died, he would have had the Nobel all to himself without having to share any of the glory. He paused, halfway to checking on Penny, to wonder where that thought had come from. He decided that he needed to schedule an MRI and CAT scan as soon as possible to ensure he hadn't suffered brain damage.

Penny was lying on her side. The champagne bottle lay in shards around her, and her thin shirt was soaked through, clearly outlining her black bra underneath. Entranced, Sheldon reached out and traced the edge of the lacy undergarment, then snatched his hand away. Swallowing hard, he swore to himself that he would go to the ER tonight for a complete physical examination. Penny sat up, wiping at the blood on her face much as he had done. Seeing the stain on her hand, she swore and pulled her shirt off, using the damp cloth to clean herself. Sheldon gaped at her, unable to look away.

"What?" she asked carelessly.

Leonard made his way toward her, leaning on the fried-out chairs and lab components as he did so. "Oh, come on. Isn't it bad enough that all your clothes are low-cut or micro-miniskirts? Now you're doing a strip tease in front of Sheldon."

"Like he cares," Penny scoffed, but when she turned back to him, she noticed his staring. She didn't seem to mind. In fact, if the sly look that crossed her face was any indication, she enjoyed it.

"You shouldn't be acting like this. You're my girlfriend. Do you have any idea how I feel…" Leonard's voice rose higher and higher in pitch, and suddenly, Sheldon and Penny both winced and clapped their hands over their ears.

"I don't believe this! Now you're ignoring me?" Leonard went on.

Sheldon screamed and fell to his knees, clutching his head with both hands.

"Leonard… stop," Penny managed before she fainted once again.

"Holy crap on a cracker, what happened?" Penny moaned as she came to.

A dark head lifted from her chest. Sheldon had apparently been listening to her heartbeat. "She has regained consciousness," he announced unnecessarily.

Penny felt a prickle of embarrassment, followed by a surge of desire. The side of his face had been touching her breasts. She watched in fascination as Sheldon flushed red under her curious stare. His gaze wandered down to her lace-clad chest again, and he reached for her. Penny experienced a moment of shock before his mouth descended on hers and his hands cupped her lush curves as if they were already lovers.

"What is going on here?" Leonard cried, and as before, there was an intense shooting pain in her head. Penny pushed a similarly incapacitated Sheldon off of her and sat up.

"Holy crap on a cracker, it must have been that dumb experiment of yours. What did you do?"

"What did I do?" Leonard shrieked, causing another blinding wave of agony.

"Will you stop whining? Every time you do, it feels like you're stabbing my head with an ice pick."

Leonard froze, looking startled and then thoughtful. "Really? You mean like a superpower?"

"No, not like a superpower," Penny growled. "If you had a superpower, you would use it for good, not to give your friends one hell of a headache."

"Hey, don't blame me! You're the one who messed up our equipment because you started in on the champagne without me!" he yelled.

Penny looked away. "Oh, I forgot about that," she said. "I didn't mean to mess up your experiment."

"I'm sorry too," Leonard said. He held out his arms and walked toward her to give her a hug.

"Hold on just a minute," Sheldon interrupted. "Have you noticed how your emotional state seems to be mirroring Penny's? That could explain my atypical behavior earlier."

"Yeah, I think you're right!" Penny exclaimed. "Does that mean I have a superpower too?"

"Hardly," Sheldon sulked. "If that were the case, don't you think I would be exhibiting some signs of having one as well?"

"Maybe we're just special," Leonard said, preening.

"Quit being a jerk," Penny scowled at her boyfriend.

"Quit drinking so much," he retorted.

"Stop fighting!" Sheldon yelled. Frustrated past all endurance, he placed two fingers on each temple on either side of his head and glared at Leonard, whose face turned red and then he fell to the floor.

Penny gasped and ran over to check for a pulse. She stood, shaking her head. "He's dead." Then a wicked smile spread over her face. "That was freaking awesome."

Sheldon looked smug. "I have superpowers and I'm a genius. That officially makes me a superhero."

Penny shook her head as she sashayed over to him. "Honey, you're not Superman; you're Lex Luthor. They always said you were one lab accident away from a super villain."

"Hmm.. I have actually no problem with that whatsoever. In fact, it seems to me that whatever moral compunctions I used to possess have been completely erased, and the same appears to be true for you as well," Sheldon pointed out as she looped her arms around her neck. His hands crept up along her bare midriff. "It would be a very evil thing for us to have coitus next to Leonard's body before it even has a chance to cool, wouldn't it?"

"No," she said mock-innocently. "A super villain would do it several times."

"Yes," he agreed fervently as his nimble fingers unhooked her bra. Then he said with a malicious smile, "After that, I think we need to pay a visit to Leslie Winkle."

"And do it all over again? I like the way you think, Dr. Cooper," Penny purred as she pulled him down on top of her.