The newest gun was basically an upgrade from the Death Ray that was brutally destroyed and the blueprints were done- Now, it was only means were building it. Days and nights past as Dr. Horrible was working nonstop on it- Unless there was an E.L.E meeting- and when Penny would enter his mind, she would immediately be replaced by the task before him. He was Dr. Horrible. He didn't need a woman to pine over or think about. He had work to do! Important work that was on the road to ruling the world. A week had past since talking to Penny and everything was going better than he thought… Kind of. There were still mental pulling of taunts about how she hates and fears him like everyone else, but it came with the territory. He had to let her go, so he would continue to work.

Until there was knock on the front door.

Blinking his eyes, the doctor raised his head from his arms, finding himself at his desk with the lamp still on. Rubbing his face, he removed the goggles from his forehead, blinking to wake up.

The knocking continued.

He turned off the light, then sat up, wincing in pain from a stiff back from being hunched over all night… Again. At least it wasn't a second night in a row. He stood up, left the lab, closed the secret entrance to the lab, then walked over to the door. "Who is it?" He called.

"Moist."

He opened the door to his soggy friend, who was holding a small pile of mail with a concerned smirk.

"Got your mail."

Horrible took the mail. "Thanks. Sorry, but I have to work."

Just as he was about to close the door, his friend asked, "You fell asleep at your desk again, didn't you?"

He heavily sighed, narrowing his eyes in annoyance. "Yes." He did not have time to chat. There was work!

"Doc, you should go to bed at night. It's better than waking up with a bad back." He gave a small smirk, then the concern returned. "You've been working a lot more lately."

"Well," he gestured to the lab with a lazy arm, "I have a lot of work to do."

"Yeah, but the ray doesn't have a deadline for two months," Moist pointed out.

"I want to get it over with," he hissed.

"No, you want to forget about Penny."

Billy groaned as he started to walk in the living room with his friend following, closing the door. "So what if I am? Is that a bad thing?" He whipped back to him with a hard gaze. "I'm Dr. Horrible! I don't need to think about anyone." Did anyone not realize this beside him? He needed to forget about her.

"You're not wearing your goggles," his friend dryly pointed out.

Glancing at the goggles in his black, gloved hand, he threw them on his forehead. "Better?" He sarcastically asked, not really caring at the moment.

"I guess…" He murmured.

"Look," he began, dropping the mail off on the counter of the kitchen as he headed to the lab. "I have work to do and-"

"Man, you've been locked up for a week and-"

"What was the difference after I joined?" He challenged, turning around, locking gazes with his friend. He understood that Moist was concerned, but he will get over Penny. It was only a matter of time. Didn't he understand that?

Moist took a deep breath, dark eyes slowly drifting away, then looked back at him. "I just don't want the loss of Penny or the League to change you. You're a smart guy, Doc. Things'll smooth out." He began to walk to the door. "See ya later." He opened it, then left, closing it behind him.

Billy took a deep breath, lightly shaking his head. Sliding the goggles over his eyes, he open the secret door to the lab, and just as he was about to walk in, he remembered that he didn't check his mail. Briskly returning the kitchen counter, he flipped through the advertisements, and sure enough, there was an envelope with a silver wax seal of a horseshoe. He quickly tore the envelope, pulled out the folded letter, and thoroughly read it.

The words in the letter made his heart skip a beat.

Los Angeles…

The Evil League of Evil… Was going to take over Los Angeles as soon as he finished the new Death Ray.

Funny.

He was planning on ruling the world, not alone, but not with an organization, either.

Releasing a sigh, he set the letter aside, mentally agreeing to it. If this was the path to world domination, then so be it. The world was going to burn and he was going to make sure that it was going to happen. If only Penny was there to rule it with him…

Shaking the thought from his head, he made his way to the lab. With or without her, he was going to rule the world and right now, in the direction things were heading in, she was going to burn with it.


Moist would notice that his friend's mail would start to climb. Sighing, he picked the mailbox lock, removed the mail, and when he flipped through the dates, his eyes grew wide. Closing and locking his friend's box, he walked to the elevator, pressed the button to the second floor, walked down the hall, knocked on the fourth door on the right, and waited.

Then knocked again.

And again.

He raised his hand to knock on it again, until the door opened to a gaunt Billy with tried, dull eyes, dressed in casual clothes. His face was tried and looked unhealthy. "My God," Moist murmured, eyes growing wide in horror. "What happened to you?"

Billy silently snatched the large pile of mail and was about to close the door, but Moist caught it.

"Doc," he said, looking his friend in the eyes. "This is serious. What is going-"

"I'm working on something," he hissed, trying to sound threatening, but the choking in his voice was almost like a silent beg for help.

He slowly shook his head. "No. What you need is sleep and food. You have been eating and sleeping, haven't you?"

"I was sleeping when you knocked," he quietly said as if speaking was a chore.

Moist looked at the clock on the left wall, reading one in the afternoon, then looked back at his friend. "Really?"

Billy rolled his eyes, about to close the door again.

"Man, what is going on?" Worry started to leak through. "Your mail has been sitting there for the past five days. Wha-" Then it clicked. "You got a letter from Bad Horse, didn't you?" He quietly asked.

"He's going to take over Los Angeles when I finish a weapon." He lightly shook his head, eyes starting to try to stay awake. "Can we talk about this later? I can't-"

Moist nodded. "You get sleep and I will come back to check on you." He looked his friend in the eye and said, "You take care of yourself, Doc, and if you need anything, let me know."

Billy gave a weak nod, then closed the door.

The League was going to take over Los Angeles as soon as the Doc finishes something? That was not good. That was definitely not good. He understood that was his friend's dreams, but not in this condition. Something was wrong with his friend and he had to save him. As if knowing exactly what to do, Moist hurried to the elevator, pressed the first floor, trying to think of a plan.