Or wasn't coming.
How was he supposed to vent his superheroic angst in a cathartic beating on his nemesis if his nemesis wouldn't even show up? How was he supposed to punish the villain for making him into an icy freak of nature?
"Mister, are you cold or something?"
"No, I'm fine." Actually, if Johnny wanted to not be cold, he could just take the stupid parka off, since his body temperature was so far below the air around them. The parka was to keep everyone else from being cold. After the incident with his girlfriend which kind of appallingly recreated that scene from A Christmas Story he was careful to avoid touching people with exposed skin. If they hadn't had a glass of warm water on hand...
"Then how come you're wearing that coat?"
"It's not a coat, sweetie. It's a superhero uniform."
"Oh," the little girl looked skeptical in the way only a six-year old can. Where was this girl's mother? Oh. There.
"Missy, don't talk to strange men!"
Half an hour.
Sometimes he had an awful sinking suspicion Dr Horrible didn't even remember making him into an icy freak of nature. What if the whole explosion at the superconductor was such routine villainy that he didn't even remember the security guard he left static clung to the coolant system? What sort of supervillain gives someone a super-origin and doesn't even notice?
It was like going to his ten year high school reunion and having to explain to people that yes, he had been in class with them. Johnny, remember? Yes, all four years and I wrote three of your papers in senior English including the final paper that was half of our grade and it was on Great Expectations and you got an A-. And then they say they remember you but they're really just agreeing so the conversation can be over and they can go talk to someone else now.
"Mom's talking to her boring friends and I wanna go on the swing. Can I have a push?"
"I thought you weren't supposed to talk to strangers."
"I'm allowed to talk to police officers. And superheroes are like the police. And nobody wants to give me a push on the swings."
"Um, I don't think that would be a good idea."
If he were standing next to the girl when Dr. Horrible finally came around, she could be in danger. It would be like Dr. Horrible to target an innocent... well, to be fair, Dr. Horrible was pretty good about deliberate collateral damage. It was just that he caused so much accidental collateral damage. Like turning a guy who was just putting himself through grad school as a security guard into an icy freak of nature. For which he needed to be beaten up. If he'd only show up already.
"Hmph. Some superhero you are."
Actually, Johnny thought he'd finally gotten a handle on the superhero thing. He'd stopped a couple of muggings and once pulled a family out of a burning building, keeping the fire away with his cold powers. Not to mention his first famous escapade when he turned the water from a lawn sprinkler system into snow so a bunch of kids could go sledding. That had been cool.
So it's not like he was pathetic or anything, sitting on a plastic park bench next to a playground waiting for a nemesis who might or might not actually show up. While a little girl's mom walked up to him with suspicion in her eyes.
"Is there any particular reason you've been sitting here alone watching the playground all afternoon?"
"Forty-five minutes."
"What?"
"I've been here for forty-five minutes. I was... meeting someone."
"Has it occurred to you that she's not coming?"
"Him, actually, but I guess..."
"Yes?"
"I'll just go now."