Disclaimer: Of course I don't own any of these characters. Everything belongs to the brilliant Joss Whedon.
Everything He Ever
"No sign of Penny, good, I would give anything not to have her see.
It's gonna be bloody, head up Billy Buddy, there's no time for mercy. Here goes no mercy…"
Billy (no, he was Dr. Horrible now) held up the death ray and leveled it with Captain Hammers chest. His previous bravado was gone, replaced with doubt. He had been sure he could follow through, but now that it came down to it, he couldn't bring himself to kill the frozen hero.
Billy always thought that killing people was too…cliché. All the villains in movies did it, but he was Dr. Horrible, a genius, he ought to be able to come up with an easier, less violent solution. He just wanted to bring about change for the better.
But the League had told him that it was his life or someone else's, and Captain Hammer had been the thorn in his side for too long. With him out of the way, Billy's path to the ELE (and Penny too) was unobstructed. That was all he really wanted, wasn't it? To join the ranks of Bad Horse, Dead Bowie, Fury Leika ad the rest. Once he was part of the League, he would finally have the power to bring about the change he so desired.
He steadied his hand and strengthened his resolve. He could do it, he had to. But then…
"That's, not a good sound…" In fact, it sounded suspiciously like the freeze ray malfunctioning.
He glanced behind him, and turned back just in time to see a fist flying towards his face. The impact threw Billy across the room. He was surprised his head was still attached to the rest of him.
His head was swimming, but through the haze, he could just make out Captain Hammer stepping off the stage and stooping to pick up something. The hero stepped on his chest and Billy could see the malfunctioning death ray in his hand.
"WAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!" Hammer sang. Billy realized he was finishing the song he had been singing earlier. "A death ray?" Hammer said sarcastically. "Looks like Dr. Horrible's moving up. Lets see if this one works any better than your others." Hammer lowered the death ray and pointed it at Billy.
Unlike Billy, Hammer didn't appear to have any doubts about pulling the trigger.
"Don't!" Billy cried. He had no idea what could happen if Hammer attempted to use the gun, all he knew was, you did not bounce wonderflonium. It said so right on the container. Any number of things could happen, and Billy was willing to bet that none of them would be pleasant.
"I don't have time for your warnings!" Captain Hammer said, ignoring the doctor's plea. "You give my regards to St. Peter. Or whoever has his job, but in hell." He pulled the trigger.
Billy braced himself, for death, for extreme pain, for the universe to be blipped out of existence. For anything but what did happen.
Nothing.
Well, not nothing exactly. There was the small matter of the death ray exploding. But nothing happened to him, Billy. He sat up slowly, checking for broken bones, copious amounts of bleeding, anything to indicate he had been injured, but to his amazement (and immense relief), he was unharmed.
Captain Hammer was another story though. The force of the exploding death ray had flung him to the opposite side of the room, where he was currently writhing on the floor, apparently experiencing pain for the first time, and calling for his mother. He staggered up and callously pushed a civilian on his way to the door, obviously forgetting that he was supposed to be the hero.
Billy surveyed the room, making sure no one else had been hurt in the blast. He was an evil genius, true, but that didn't mean he wanted anyone getting killed (with the possible exception of Captain Hammer).
It was then that Billy remembered Bad Horse's threat, and it occurred to him that if none of the innocent bystanders were dead, he may as well be. But he couldn't bring himself to wish for an innocent person's demise, and decided he'd deal with that if it came to it.
As Billy looked around the room, he noticed that it had almost emptied of people. Captain Hammer's groupies were gone, along with the mayor. Most likely they had left right after Hammer had smacked Billy across the room, and in the confusion ensuing after the death ray had exploded. He saw the few who remained (including the reporter lady, who was still writing diligently on her pad) cowering behind chairs and he wasn't sure how that made him feel. Should he feel powerful and feared, or just ashamed? Regardless of all that though, no one appeared to be harmed. Except…
No. She wasn't even supposed to be here, she had left before this whole thing had started! Why was she here!
He ran to her side and knelt down, trying to convince himself that it was all a bad dream, but it was in vain.
"Penny, Penny?" He gasped. He tried to think of all the first aid he knew; he didn't know much, just the basics, but neither a tourniquet nor mouth to mouth would help her in this instance.
"Billy? Is that you?" She whispered weakly.
"Penny, hold on. Oh no, oh no no no no." He glanced around, not sure what he was looking for. An ambulance perhaps, anything to help her.
"Billy, are you alright?" She asked. He wondered vaguely how she could be asking such a question. Was he alright? He was fine, it was herself she should be worried about!
He wanted to tell her everything would be okay, that she would be fine, but he knew he would be lying. She was dying and there wasn't a thing he could do about it.
"Hold on," he said. He opened his mouth to say something else, but she interrupted.
"Billy, it's okay. It's okay." She said, and smiled. "Captain Hammer will save us." Her smile faded slowly, and head fell forward slightly as her eyes dimmed.
"Penny," he whispered, as if saying her name could bring her back. He even believed it, somewhere deep down inside himself. She couldn't be dead, not her. She was too bright, too optimistic, too full of life to die.
A light flashed, someone said his name. All at once he was pulled back to reality. Penny was indeed dead. The news reporters had surrounded him, and he wondered where they had come from so fast. They kept asking why he had killed her. They kept calling him Dr. Horrible.
"No!" he wanted to shout. "I didn't kill her!" But he kept quiet. This was his fault and he knew it.
"Here lies everything,
the world I wanted at my feet
my victory's complete
so hail to the king."
He realized that if everyone believed he had killed her, he would be permitted into the Evil League of Evil. The thought gave him no pleasure. He realized, too late, that everything he had ever wanted was now beyond his reach.
"Arise and see.
So your world's benign
so you think justice has a voice, and we all have a choice,
well now your world is mine."
Billy ignored the flashing cameras, the shouted questions. He leaned down and pulled her limp form into his arms. He carried her over and laid her gently on the stretcher, even though he knew it was too late for her.
Billy watched as they wheeled her away.
"And I am fine."
Dr. Horrible buttoned up his new red lab coat with practiced ease and pulled on the shiny black gloves. Everything had to be perfect for his first day as an official member of the Evil League of Evil. He wanted to make a good impression on the other members, Bad Horse especially.
His dream was finally being realized. What he had been striving for for so long was within his grasp. With Captain Hammer completely useless, the local law enforcement powerless against him, and the public terrified of him, there was no longer anything standing in his way. He (no longer) had any emotional attachments to anyone (so he told himself), and therefore no weaknesses to be exploited.
He smiled privately to himself as he applied the last part of his evil attire: the goggles. He had never actually worn them before. Up until now they had been purely symbolic, although he wasn't sure exactly what it was they symbolised. They felt alien over his eyes like that, as if they didn't belong there, and they made the world appear dark and convoluted. He realized with grim amusement that they showed the world for what it really was. They peeled off the apparently seamless mask, and exposed the filth and lies underneath.
"Now the nightmare's real
"Now Dr. Horrible is here
To make you quake with fear, to make the whole world kneel.
And I won't feel…"
He turned and strode confidently into the ELE boardroom.
"A thing."
AN: My third completed story. Just my thoughts about what's going through Billy's head during "Everything You Ever", my favorite song from the movie. Reviews are much appreciated :)