11
"Hi, Billy" Penny chirped as she walked into the Laundromat.
"Oh, um, hi Penny"
She smiled and started putting her clothes in the washer. "How was your weekend?"
"It was good. I've just been working on some…plans that I think are going to work out pretty well. How about you? How's what's-his-name doing?"
"Captain Hammer? I'm actually not sure. We broke up day before yesterday." She studied his face and enjoyed watching his disdainful expression turn to one of gleeful surprise.
"Oh my god, that terrif—terrible. I'm sorry things didn't work out for you guys." Penny could barely contain a laugh as he tried to hide his smile. "I mean, I always thought there was something a little, I don't know, obnoxious about him, but I'm…sorry. Will he still be opening the homeless shelter?"
"Yeah, it's a little late for him to back out of that without looking like a, uh, tool, as people call him."
"Right" he nodded, a look of puzzlement on his face for a split second. "So, how did it happen, if you don't mind my asking."
"Not at all. It was my decision, really. On Sunday night, I realized I didn't know much about him. I knew the name, of course, and I knew he was basically a hero, but that was about it. So, I looked him up online and just found all kinds of videos of him beating up supervillains and I think that's being part of the problem, not part of the solution, you know?"
Billy nodded, still clearly struggling to keep his face from breaking out into a grin.
"Especially" Penny continued, averting her head to hide her smile "since I started liking one of the supervillains."
"Really! I mean, really? What's his name?"
"He goes by Dr. Horrible and he actually has a blog, which I looked up."
"Did you? Heh, that must have been interesting." Billy started to look nervous again, as though he was prepared to bolt from the building at any second.
"It was. It was kind of sad, though."
"How so?"
"Well, he's a cute, sweet, smart guy, but he's too shy to talk to this girl he likes."
"How interesting."
"Yeah, apparently he sees her every Wednesday and Saturday. He's never really talked to her, but he has given her frozen yogurt a few times. Then the other day, she started going out with his nemesis, who just so happens to be Captain Hammer."
"Um, how interesting" he repeated with a nervous laugh. "You know, I should probably head out, I have some things I need to…"
"Billy" she put her hand on his arm. "It's okay. I don't mind that you have a crush on me. I don't mind that you kept your identity a secret. I don't even mind that you wanted to kill Captain Hammer."
"You don't?"
"I mean, I don't think you should, but I can understand the temptation." She gazed into his blue eyes "so, doctor, would you like to ask me to dinner and a movie?"
"What-yes, yes of course."
"How about Friday at The Grove 6:00 by the fountain? We can eat at The Cheesecake Factory, look around a bit, then see a 7:30 showing of the new Disney movie. Does that sound good to you?"
"Yes, that sounds perfect."
"Okay, thanks for asking me." She laughed and leaned against the washing machine.
"I'm sorry. I would've—I really wanted to talk to you, but I just get…"
"I understand. I was shy too when I was growing up."
"Really? How did you get over it?"
She sighed. "You just have to realize that there's no point in being shy. People do it so that they won't get hurt, but it'll probably end up hurting them a lot more if they don't reach out to other people. It's still not easy, but it's worth the risk, you know?"
"But what if you're afraid of other people getting hurt?"
"Well, I think that's a choice they need to make." She smiled again. "If they think it's worth it to be hurt by you, then there's no point in keeping your distance."
"You really think so?"
"Yes, of course. Hey, I think your laundry's done."
"Oh, thanks" He loaded everything into his laundry basket. "So, um, Friday, 6:00, The Grove?"
"Yup. I'm really excited."
"Me too."
"Oh, would you like my number?"
"Yes, yes please." He handed her his phone and she added herself as a contact and texted herself to get his number.
"Great, thanks!" He grinned and started heading towards the door.
"Okay, I'll see you then!"
He waved, nearly tipping his basket over.
She laughed and watched him leave. He waved again through the window before he got in the car and drove off.
He was cute. Not her usual type, tall, muscular, and protective, but cute. She'd enjoyed those times eating frozen yogurt with him, and even though he certainly seemed troubled, there was an innate sweetness in him that she loved. It even came through in his videos when he tried to act properly evil. Penny did wonder what would happen with the, what was it called? Evil Organization? Evil, Inc.? Evil League of Evil. Billy didn't exactly seem like the ideal candidate, but she hoped he could get in without having to kill anyone, or change himself dramatically.
They met up at The Grove as planned, and went on their date. They were both nervous; Penny hadn't asked a boy out in years, and Billy had never been on a date period-well, aside from the time his mother forced him into a play date with Delilah Homer in fourth grade and they played wedding together. Penny and Billy found common ground in that they had both lived in Los Angeles their whole lives, they both loved Superman The Movie (for very different reasons), and they both wanted to change the world.
"The world is a mess." Billy told Penny over a massive slice of chocolate blackout cake. "See, it's like…it's like a dead fish in the moonlight. It may look nice, but it stinks."
"What, the whole world?"
"Well, not the whole world, but, you know, global warming, capitalism, racism, homophobia, sexism, homelessness. Those kinds of things."
"That's true, but how are you going to change all that within your lifetime."
He shrugged "Random acts of anarchy are what I'm most capable of doing at the moment. Then when I get into the" he lowered his voice and glanced furtively around the restaurant "Evil League of Evil, I'll have connections and be able to actually do something big and possibly take down the existing powers that be."
"That…certainly sounds exciting!"
"And what about you, what are your goals?"
"Well, nothing quite so drastic. I obviously do think it's important to fix things from the top down, so to speak, but that can take time, and the most important thing is to make sure that as many people as possible are off the streets. I know that homeless shelters are a temporary solution, but when they're all that's keeping someone out of the cold or away from abusive families" she shrugged "they're unimaginably important"
"How did you um…get interested in helping the homeless?"
She exhaled loudly and leaned back in the booth. "Long story short, I had to spend a bit of time living on the street."
"Oh my god, I'm so-"
"It was a long time ago; I know I'll never have to go through that again, but a lot of people aren't that lucky. I'll tell you more about it sometime." She added, immediately putting a stop to all the questions he wanted to ask. "We should probably head over to the movie anyway."
They parted ways in the parking lot after the movie. Penny leaned in for a kiss while Billy moved in for a hug. They both laughed and settled on a hug and giving each other a kiss on the cheek.
"Well, I'll see you on Sunday." She waved.
"Yeah" he sighed, clearly not quite recovered from the chaste kiss. "I mean, yeah totally. We should, um, do this again soon."
"Well, I'm free next weekend"
"Me too, let's do something together."
"Great! We can figure out details at the Laundromat."
"Awesome!" He gave a little wave. She waved back as she walked towards the elevator to her floor. Impulsively, she blew him a kiss, which he returned.
They went on three more dates before they slept together. That night, they kissed outside her apartment. Though she doubted he had kissed anyone before her, he had been a quick learner and she was hesitant to leave the lip lock, no matter how hard it was to fumble around her purse for her keys.
"You know" she murmured, "You can come in if you want. I have to get up at five to help with the shelter, but we could hang out before I go to bed."
"Yeah, I'd-I'd love that." Billy smiled and Penny gave in to the urge to ruffle his hair. She unlocked the door and, because of the shoddy elevator, they walked up the five flights of stairs to her apartment.
"That was quite the work-out" Billy gasped as they reached her door. "And you're not even winded; are you sure you're not a superhero?"
"Oh, you know it!" Penny giggled as she opened the door. Her apartment was small and sparsely furnished, but it felt like her, with the flowers on the windowsill, art posters on the wall and the stuffed animals on the bed, which he could see from the doorway. He swept her into another kiss, making her giggle again.
"Hey, I still have some brownies in the freezer from the opening of the shelter, do you want one?"
"Yeah, I'd love one"
"I also have some Diet Coke, sound good?"
"Brownies and Diet Coke, dinner of champions"
She grinned. "Exactly. Nine out of ten doctors recommend it. Do you want to go to my bedroom? That's where the TV is, and we can find something good to watch."
"That sounds perfect!"
"Okay. I'll get changed and you pick the movie"
He agreed and selected Holiday from her shelf of DVDs.
"I can't believe you have this," he told her as she emerged from the bathroom in sweatpants and a baggy T-shirt. "It's one of my favorites!"
"Me too! I never got why it isn't as famous as It Happened One Night or Philadelphia Story"
"Me either"
They sat next to each other on the bed, their tiny feast spread out on paper napkins in front of them. The food was quickly demolished and when they were finished, she pressed her body against his and let her head rest on his shoulder. He put his arm around her and soon they were kissing again…
They both groaned at the sound of her alarm clock the next morning. Penny got out of bed and turned it off, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"D' we have to get up so early" Billy mumbled. "I think you should stay here."
"Sorry, Billy." She kissed his cheek. "I have to go. You should come, though, unless you have some evil plan to work on."
"Nah, I shouldn't. My application for the E.V.E. is bad enough already. The last thing I need is for them to think I'm some do-gooder."
"Well, I think it would be a good move. I know if I were in the Evil League of Evil and I saw one of the applicants working in a homeless shelter that had been opened by Captain Hammer, I would assume that he was up to something very sinister indeed. Besides, if you're going to be a super villain, you need a mild-mannered persona. That would make you much scarier."
"You think so?" He sat up slightly, the sweatpants she had loaned him slipping down over his hips.
She nodded. "You'll have to hurry, though. No one wants a lazy super villain in the league," she teased. He got out of bed and lightly swatted at her behind.
"Okay, I'll go."
"Oh, good!" She kissed him on the cheek.
She watched him with the people at the shelter and couldn't keep from smiling. In spite of his initial complaints, seemed genuinely eager to help, individually greeting everyone who came up to him for soup, and chatting with some of the little old ladies who were trying to flirt with him. When a favorite song of his came on the radio, he lip-synched to it and did an accompanying dance. He caught Penny's eye and gave her a little wink, which she returned, along with a little hip wiggle.
"You know, I'd like to do that again" he told her as they walked back to her apartment.
"I knew you'd enjoy it! Hey!" she grabbed his arm "you should show me what you do sometime!"
"Penny, I am not going to take you on a robbery!"
"Well no, not that, but I was thinking you could show me your lab and everything. I've seen it in your videos, but I'd really love to see all your cool supervillain equipment."
"Really? I'd love that! You can come by tomorrow if you want. Or, um, are you doing anything later today?"
She shook her head with a grin. "If you want to go to the grocery store and make dinner, you can tag along with me, then we can both go to your place tomorrow."
He agreed that was the best course of action, and they went to his secret laboratory the next day.
"This is incredible!" she gasped. "And you made all this?"
"Well, most of it. I got a lot of help from my sidekick Moist."
"Oh, the famous freeze ray" she touched it lightly. "So is it a freeze ray now, or did you officially convert it into a death ray?"
"I'm still trying to make it a death ray, but I'm nowhere near that point yet. At this point, it basically just pushes things backwards. Very, very lightly. Do you want to see it in action?"
"Is that safe?"
"Oh, sure. Just put those goggles on."
She complied and smiled as the gun warmed up.
The explosion happened so quickly, neither of them heard it.
From that day on, Dr. Horrible terrorized the city. With Moist's continuing help, the weapons in the lab became so advanced that there was no conceivable way that banks or national monuments could be protected. While some of the money went to the soup kitchen Penny had worked for, most of it went to new weapons and other technologies. It wasn't just banks that got hit; politicians would find themselves blackmailed over incriminating videos, only to pay and still find the videos all over the Internet the next day. With the myriad resignations, forced or otherwise, that resulted, Dr. Horrible's dream was being realized; the system was being dismantled, slowly but surely.
Of course it was only a matter of time until a note from the Evil League of Evil arrived. It was obvious from the fawning tone that they'd become desperate to have Dr. Horrible amongst their ranks. The day Dr. Horrible arrived at the Evil Lair of Evil, everyone seated at the polished table fell silent. The blood red coat, the thick goggles, the tall boots, and the malicious grin were all even more terrifying in real life than they were on the television and computer screens.
"Welcome, Dr. Horrible"
"That's okay." Dr. Horrible smiled as she removed her thick goggles and shook out her hair. "You can call me Penny."