Well That's Not a Good Sound

The late summer sun shone as hot as a spot light in the endless stretch of blue sky. Not a breath of wind rippled the water, making the lake as smooth and glossy as a mirror. A large crowd had gather around a recently built stage, fanning themselves with pamphlets a couple protesters were handing out and talking amongst themselves excitedly.

By now, everyone had heard the rumors. It was impossible to miss, every gossip magazine blasted the same headline, every news cast mentioned it, and it was the main conversation amongst water coolers and high school locker rooms alike.

After a two year hiatus, Captain Hammer was returning.

On the other side of the lake, a lone figure in a lab coat was slowly pushing something large covered with a black cloth into the bushes. Only the swans took any notice of him though, this other half of the park was completely deserted. All the better, he told himself.

It had also become impossible to get away from mentions of her. Her picture was plastered everywhere he looked, her name on everyone's lips; the tragic story of the hero's true love murdered by the heartless Dr. Horrible.

A fire burned in the man's eyes. How many people had witnessed the events of that day? How many had watched their precious hero fire the Death Ray himself? How many of them actually cared?

Not that it mattered; she was just some girl after all. It was the murder that had gotten him into the Evil League of Evil. What was more evil than killing Captain Hammer's girlfriend, an activist for the homeless no less?

A smirk stretched across Dr. Horrible's face as he whipped the cover off his latest invention, a shiny new Disintegrator he had been itching to use. It had been a long two years, but he was finally going to have his revenge. It would be his last act of love before he tore out his heart forever. Today, Hammer was going to die.

A cheer rose up from the crowd as a man stood up at the podium but it was quickly silenced when they realized it was just the mayor. His voice barely carried beyond the crowd, but the villain had no doubt what he was saying.

"Return of a great hero…Blah blah blah…Needs no introduction…Introducing Captain Tool." He muttered to himself, busy setting up the device.

Finally, there was a deafening roar as the mayor stepped down. People clapped and screamed, some holding up signs.

"Sheeple," Dr. Horrible muttered venomously as he looked through his binoculars at the scene. The four or five protesters who had been handing out pamphlets before now held up signs he couldn't read. He squinted and managed to make out one, 'Down With Heroes!' it said in bright red letters, with the HHHH (Heroic Heroes Helping Humans) symbol crossed out.

Maybe they weren't all sheeple, he thought, and truly smiled for the first time in a while.

Captain Hammer stepped up to the podium with a big smile stretched across his ugly face. He looked older now, thinner, and his eyes had certain darkness to them but he was the same old prick that Dr. Horrible had sworn to kill. There was whir and a whine as the Disintegrator warmed up, and the Doctor got into place behind it.

Hammer stood for a while with his arms outstretched, welcoming the applause. Dr. Horrible rolled his eyes and pressed some buttons to warm up the Death Ray. Always the attention whore, nothing could change that.

When he finally did speak, his voice was strong and could be heard on the other side of the lake, "Good afternoon citizens! Yes, the rumors are true, I am back in action—" the crowd momentarily drowned out his words, "Settle down, settle down," he said with a good natured chuckle, "Yes, I have returned to put an end to Dr. Horrible's even reign!"

"Not likely," Dr. Horrible muttered as he looked down the Disintegrator's scope and lined up the shot. No theatrics this time, just one clean shot and it would all be over.

"I'll admit, I was devastated by the death of my dear Penny," Dr. Horrible's grip on the Disintegrator, "But I will honor her memory by doing what she always loved me for," he flashed a smile, "Being incredible; and helping people and stuff."

Dr. Horrible shook his head in disgust, "No mercy," he hissed and pulled the trig—

Out of nowhere, something small but heavy struck the side of his head and he fired the Disintegrator into a playground, turning a slide into a pile of yellow dust.

With a collective gasp, the crowd began to look around wildly for the source of the destruction. Finally, someone pointed up and shouted, "It's the Grey Gale and Justice Girl!"

Floating just above Dr. Horrible's head was a tall woman with shimmering white hair riding on a cloud. Beside her flew a teen girl wearing a mask and cape. The girl laughed as she caught the boomerang that was responsible for his splitting headache. With a couple gratuitous swears he tried to fire off another ray before they could stop him.

But it was too late, and the woman landed hard on the Disintegrator, damaging it beyond repair. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Dr. Horrible. I should have known you'd show your ugly head," The crowd screamed on cue like a studio audience.

Before he could come up with a witty retort, the Grey Gale gripped him by the front of the lab coat and lifted him high over the lake. "So the great Captain Hammer needs bodyguards now?" he hissed, kicking at her. If he could only get his hands free, he could pull out his Laser…

Suddenly she threw him away from her, and blew a gust of wind into his face, sending him cart wheeling through the air.

At his whistle, a large silver disk came flying out from behind a tree and caught him a foot off the ground. He landed on it hard, arms and legs sticking out at random angles like a squashed bug.

The prototype hover-disk wobbled uncertainly under him as he got to his feet, leaving him at the mercy of the wind, and in this case, the Grey Gale. She smirked at him, and tried to blow him towards a bunch of trees. Dr. Horrible ducked closer to the ground, making a smaller target and lowering the disk.

"Steering time," he muttered, leaning towards the people who hadn't run off the screaming. But he used too much pressure and it spun in a tight circle, ramming him into a tree. There was a slight whine as one of the anti-gravity deflectors broke down, "No, no, no…Gah!"

The disk bucked under him, but he held his ground and slightly pressed his left foot down. This time, it turned without too much fuss, taking him out of the trees and slowly towards the stage.

The Grey Gale and Justice Girl had landed beside Captain Hammer and were looking at him smugly, "It's no use, Dr. Horrible, you are outnumbered."

"That's what you think," he hissed as his disk skipped across the sidewalk creating bright sparks.

Captain Hammer made a lunge for him, than ducked to avoid the laser beams fire at his head. The people who had remained to watch the fight scattered like roaches. Dr. Horrible's evil laugh rang through the park, but was cut short by another boomerang shot to the back of his head. A huge gust of wind knocked him off his feet and he barely missed the tree that had been swung at him by Captain Hammer. He spun around wildly, trying to shoot at enemies from all sides but only leaving patches of scorched earth.

The park was a disaster area. A large portion of the trees had either been ripped up or blown down, and a car's alarm was going off in the parking lot, a boomerang embedded in its windshield.

"You're surrounded," Justice Girl shouted, her voice was high and girly, "Surrender while you still have a chance."

Desperation sinking in, his eyes began to dart around for a hostage. Very few people remained, but just a few feet away one of the protesters from before was snapping pictures with her phone.

Before the heroes could tell what he was doing, he made a dash for her, throwing her to the ground. She screamed, and tried to struggle out of his grip. But both she and the heroes stopped dead when they saw the laser pointed at her head.

They awkwardly struggled to their feet, his arm wrapped around her chest holding her tightly to him. "Make another move and she's a goner!" he bellowed as he stumbled a few steps back. He tried not to look at her face, it'd be hard enough to do it, if he had to…

Suddenly, a plan began to formulate and awkwardly tried to reach into his pocket without releasing his hostage. Finally, he pulled out his keys and jingled them in the air.

"I have put enough explosive under that stage to take out the whole park," he exclaimed with a nervous chuckle, "And they're set to go off at the press of this button!"

"You're bluffing," Captain Hammer shouted, "Those are nothing more than car keys," a hint of uncertainty colored his voice.

"Are you sure you want to take that chance? You let me walk away now, or we all die today." He took another step back, and when no one stopped him, another. Finally, he grabbed on the girl's wrist and made a run for it, dragging her along behind him. Why hadn't he thought about explosives in the first place? It would have been a great plan.

He led them back towards the destroyed Disintegrator, whistling at the hover-disk as they passed, which rose and the air and began to follow meekly.

The girl began to object loudly to being dragged along like a rag doll, but Dr. Horrible paid her no mind. Once the heroes thought his remote was out of range, they'd be after him again. He needed to get away.

They tore through some bushes and into a mall parking lot. "Find the van, find the van, find the van," he muttered obsessively, punching the unlock button on his car remote and listening for the sound.

"Those are just car keys," the girl cried indigently and Dr. Horrible shrugged his shoulders.

"Worked, didn't it?"

The nondescript van was parked on the very edge of the lot, and the door slide open at his command. He skidded to a halt just in time to reach up and grab the disk before it soared off into oblivion. He also got his first look at his hostage.

She was about a head shorter than him and had a boyish look to her, with a round face and oversized glasses. Strands of black hair fell into her eyes and she pushed them behind her ears irritably, "Can I go now?" she asked.

Dr. Horrible raised an eyebrow. She was wary of the laser gun, but didn't seem frightened at all. "Um, sure…" He said uncertainly; hostages were new territory to him. "Just…Stay here until I'm out of sight, okay?" he asked as he climbed into the van. She nodded and sat herself on the curb, taking out her iPod. I should probably kill her, he thought.

With a shake of his head, Dr. Horrible drove off. Murder was messy, and wouldn't prove anything. There was only one life he planned on taking, but it would have to wait for another day.

Thanks Iyrsiiea and Coranai for your comments on the original draft and encouraging me to keep going. Stay tuned for Chapter 2 when we discover what Dr. Horrible has been up these past few years.