(Again, I don't own anything. This is where things start getting weird. Read at your own risk!)

Chapter Two

Something Strong

Billy frowned as he walked into the Coin Laundry. It was Saturday, right? Where was Penny? He sighed. He still had laundry to do, if Penny was there or not.

Billy walked over to his usual laundry machine, dumping in his white lab coat. Lucky for him, nothing else had gotten dirty.

Billy didn't even notice that he was going through the usual motions of washing his laundry, he just did it subconsciously. His mind was elsewhere, in a different place. Billy thought about Penny and about Hammer. He wondered how long Penny would stay Hammer's girlfriend. Penny had to realize how much of a fake that Hammer was. Soon. Or else, Billy might just loose her forever…if he hadn't already.

Billy's thoughts were interrupted by a wonderful voice coming from behind him. "Billy!" Billy's face lit up. It was Penny. He turned around, wincing slightly as he did so.

"H-hey Penny." He said. Suddenly, his happiness disappeared.

"Hey there, Doct--Billy. The laundry buddy." Hammer. Good GOD. Hammer was here. Penny smiled at both Billy, then Hammer, taking her laundry and walking over to the empty laundry machine next to Billy.

"O-Oh. Hey there, Captain Hammer." Billy said, faking a smile. He lifted himself up onto his laundry machine as Penny sorted out her clothes. Hammer stood next to Penny, his arms crossed.

"Billy--I wasn't expecting to see you here today. You haven't been here recently." Penny's voice seemed to ease Billy. But Hammer's stare…that just make his stomach flip even more.

"I've been…busy." Billy replied, frowning slightly. He glanced at Hammer, who narrowed his eyes. Penny looked over at him, and her eyes fell upon a big bruise he had on his cheek.

"Billy? What happened?" Penny asked, looking worried. Billy glanced at Hammer, who snickered at him. It was Hammer's gigantic fist that had made that bruise.

"Ooh-nothing much. I just fell out of bed and got hit." Billy said, clearing his throat slightly. Penny frowned, going back to her laundry.

"You should be more careful. That bruise looks really nasty." Penny muttered. Hammer snickered again, then coughed, as if trying to cover up his snicker.

It seemed as if time decided to suddenly stand still. And not in the good way--you know, with the Freeze Ray and everything. It was terrible--Billy's lab coat seemed to take an hour to get washed and then dried in the silly Coin Laundry. The whole time, Penny and Hammer were talking away. Penny was falling even deeper into Hammer's trap, and there was nothing Billy could do. When he finally was able to get out of the Coin Laundry, Billy quickly ran (as well as he could run)back to his apartment.

Billy turned the knob, noticing that he had forgotten to lock the door. Then he remembered that he had also left Moist all alone. He sighed, shaking his head. What kind of friend was he?

Billy walked inside, closing and locking the door behind him. He laid his lab coat down on the back of his couch, sighing and sitting down.

"Did you see Penny?" Moist frowned, standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Billy looked up with him, a blank look on his face.

"Oh. You're still here? I thought that you would've left already." Billy sighed, shaking his head. "Oh, I saw Penny alright. She brought along a friend, too." He rolled his eyes as Moist walked over and sat down by him.

"Hammer? She had Hammer with her?" Moist asked in disbelief. Billy nodded slightly. "Are you okay? Did Hammer attack you?"

"Actually, no. Well, physically, he didn't attack me. But he was…touching Penny the whole time. Hugging her or kissing her cheek or something. It was quite disgusting." Billy said, making a face. Moist frowned, looking down at the ground.

"Well…at least he didn't hurt you. That's a plus…right?" Moist said, a hopeful tone in his voice. Billy frowned. Being around Moist just made him feel all icky and wet. But, Moist was his buddy, and he was prepared to stay around him for a while longer. It was nice to have someone to talk to. Refreshing, even. "Hey." Moist put a dampened hand on Billy's arm, smiling up at him. "Don't worry. Next time you see Penny, try to get in a few words. Make her see how much better than Hammer you are. It isn't hard, you're so much cooler than about 90% of the men out there." Moist said, smiling sweetly at Billy.

Billy blushed, looking away from Moist. Why? He wasn't sure. It was just how cute Moist's smile was…and the words that had just come out of his buddy's mouth. "90%, huh? Does Hammer count as the other 10%?" He mumbled. Moist was shocked.

"Of course not! You're a million times better than he is." Moist said quickly.

Billy chuckled slightly at his friend. "Thanks."

Moist smiled, standing up. "So, did you get your--" His smile dropped when he noticed Billy's lab coat. "Oh, Doc. It's ruined!" He exclaimed, picking up the lab coat. Billy frowned, glancing over at it. "It's all…orange." Moist said with a sigh, running his hand over the now-orange lab coat.

"Oh, that's okay. I have a--" Billy didn't get to finish his sentence.

"I'm gonna go buy you a new one. I'll be right back." Moist said quickly, swiftly walking over to the door. Billy frowned, quickly standing up and grabbing Moist by his wet wrist.

Billy groaned in pain. His bruises weren't happy when it came to him using his limbs. "Moist, you're NOT going to go and buy me a new one. I don't need it." Billy said through gritted teeth. Moist frowned, looking over his shoulder at Billy.

"You're almost as stubborn as Hammer is…when it comes to things like this." Moist said, a serious frown on his face. Billy was taken aback by the accusation, and Moist was able to slip out of his grip. "I'll be back soon!!" Moist exclaimed, quickly walking out the front door.

It took Moist a while. In the time that Moist was gone, Billy had made a sandwich and he was in his lab, working on his next plan to kill Hammer. The sandwich? It was good. Moist must've gone out and took it upon himself to buy some turkey and some bread because Billy KNEW that he didn't have any of that there before.

When Billy heard his front door open, he sighed, standing up and making his way out of his lab. Moist was smiling at him, holding up a new lab coat.

"I was finally able to find one!" He exclaimed, walking to Billy and handing the slightly wet garment to him. Billy shook his head lightly, turning around.

"Follow me." He muttered, limping towards his room. A curious Moist followed him. "Thank you, Moist. But, if you would've listened to me before running off, you would've known…" Billy stumbled over to his closet, pulling out another lab coat, holding both of them in his hands. "I had an extra."

Moist laughed nervously. "O-oh. You did? Well…now you have another extra, in case you get something spilt on that one!" Moist smiled. Billy chuckled, placing his older coat back in his closet, and finding a hanger to hang the newer one up on. Moist looked around Billy's room, frowning slightly. "So. How are you feeling?" He asked.

Billy shrugged. "I got some food into my stomach. My bruises aren't as sensitive any more, either. I mean, they still hurt… but not as bad." Billy said, smiling slightly.

"Good." Moist said. Billy looked slightly confused. "Well, it's so nice outside right now. The sun's setting and it's getting a bit cooler. I think you should go and take a little walk or something. It might be good for you." Moist said, laughing. "You never get out unless you're stalking Penny." Billy turned red.

"I--I…." He frowned, knowing that Moist was right. He DID stalk Penny. "Okay. I'll…go for a walk."

Billy limped outside, looking around. It was the perfect temperature for what he was wearing, his jeans and his favorite hoodie. Moist had left to go back to his own home, leaving Billy alone for the rest of the night.

The sun was setting, creating an orange/pink streak across the slightly cloudy sky. It was beautiful. Billy wished that he could share the moment with Penny…but he knew that she would rather share this moment with Hammer.

Billy sighed, walking down the street with his hands stuffed in his hoodie's pockets. He was about to turn a corner, when a loud voice rung out from the other side. "Hah! Yeah, I know she's really not my usual."

Billy stopped in his tracks, his eyes growing wide. It was Hammer. Damn, why did Hammer always show up when he was trying to just be normal? Billy could've just turned around and quickly walked back home. But he didn't. He had a feeling that Hammer was talking about Penny…and he was curious.

"She sure as hell isn't. She looks like the kind of girl who would never let you touch her." Another voice said, snickering slightly. Who was that? Was that the Mayor?

Hammer scoffed. "Oh, she let me touch her, alright. She was all over me, believe it or not." Hammer laughed. "Somehow, she was able to get me to sleep with her. She just couldn't get enough of the hammer." Hammer sounded as if he was gloating. Wait. What did Hammer just say? He slept with Penny?

"Oh, hell no…" Billy hissed. He quickly turned around, jogging back down the street before Hammer noticed him and beat him up again. He was in pure shock and disbelief. "No. He didn't do that to Penny…she wouldn't allow it…" He muttered to himself, not believing a word of what he was saying. "She wouldn't sleep with someone like him. She doesn't love him. She couldn't. There's no possible way!"

But she does love him. She has no interest in a villain, anyway. She loves the heroes. Billy shook his head slightly, stopping in his tracks. He looked around. What he needed right now was something to drink. Not just anything, though…

He needed some alcohol.

Billy spotted an open bar across the street, hurriedly running to it without getting ran over. He walked in, pulling the hood down off of his head and pulling his hands out of his hoodie pockets. He took a seat right in front of the bartender. The whole bar was pretty much empty.

"What'll it be?" The bartender asked. Billy looked up at him, hurt obviously showing on his face. The bartender was pretty scrawny looking. He even looked like a nice person--someone who you wouldn't see at a bar. Billy sighed, shaking his head.

"Something strong." He muttered.

~.~Later that night~.~

Moist was fast asleep in his tiny bed in his tiny apartment. He was slowly brought out of his nice, peaceful sleep by the ringing of his cell phone. He drowsily sat up, yawning and grabbing his phone. "H-Hello?" He muttered sleepily into the phone.

"I need you to come pick something up." An annoyed voice hissed into the phone. "There's a man here. I saw you as his most recent call on his Cell Phone."

"Excuse me?" Moist hissed angrily, not understanding what was going on.

"There's a man here--hey! What's your name? …Billy. At least, that's what he says. He's at the bar on Dooley Road. Please, he's been here all night." The voice said, sounding fed up of the drunken Billy. "Billy?" Moist muttered with a sigh. Billy wasn't the kind to just go to a bar and drink himself silly. "I'll be right there." Moist hung up, standing up and grabbing a hoodie and sliding it on over his wet chest. He had fallen asleep in his jeans, so he wasn't about to change out of those now.

In no time, Moist was outside in the chill night air, running as fast as he could to the bar that Billy was at. He knew what bar the voice meant--he had been there himself a few times. He sighed as he opened the door to the bar.

The only two people who were inside were the bartender and a very drunken-looking Billy. Moist frowned, walking up behind Billy, placing his hands on his shoulders. Billy looked up at him.

"Hey, Moist! Wh-what are you doin' here?" Billy asked smiling dumbly up at Moist. Moist glanced up at the bartender.

"I'll take care of him. Thank you." Moist muttered. The bartender nodded, handing Moist Billy's phone. Moist smiled down at Billy. "C'mon, buddy. Let's get you home." Moist said, helping Billy stand up. Billy wobbled unsteadily, almost falling over. Moist groaned, catching Billy. "Good GOD, man. How much did you--did you drink?" Moist said, putting Billy's arm around his shoulders to help him walk.

"I dunno. I drank as much as I could to help me forget." Billy said with a slight shrug.

"Forget what? Your name?" Moist hissed, walking Billy out the door.

"Hmm. I don't remember." Billy said. Moist rolled his eyes, making sure to keep a good grip on Billy.

When they finally were able to get home and up the stairs to Billy's apartment, Moist led Billy into his room and plopped him down on the bed. Billy smiled at Moist dumbly when he sat down beside him.

"Thanks for bringing me home, Moisty." Billy said, looking over at his friend. Moist groaned at the smell of Billy's breath. "Seriously, what caused you to want to drink so much?" Moist asked, stretching his arm a bit. "Was it something that happened on your walk?" Billy's dumb smile disappeared and was replaced with a frown.

"…I…I remember now. I heard Hammer talking…he was gloating about having slept with Penny." Billy looked ready to cry. "Which means that…that I'll never be able to get Penny. She loves him too much." Billy shook his head, trying to keep the tears back.

Moist looked upon his friend in agony. He hated to see Billy so worked up over Penny. "Doc…I don't…I don't know what to say…" Moist muttered, leaning toward Billy and giving him a soft hug. Billy looked surprised, at Moist, but then put his arms around him and tightly hugged him.

Moist blushed deeply, happy that Billy couldn't see it. It felt so nice to be able to hug Billy…and to have him return the hug. Billy didn't even seem to care that Moist was getting him all dampened. The silence was awkward, so Moist thought of something to say to try to cheer Billy up. "Penny…she doesn't understand. If she knew how much of a complete ass Hammer is…she wouldn't have slept with him. Hammer's just very good at hiding that from her." Moist whispered. Billy exhaled.

"I think…I'm just going to give up on Penny. It's so obvious that she's hypnotized by Hammer. I think it's even beyond fixing, now." Billy said quietly, loosening his grip on Moist. Moist slowly pulled away from the hug, still staying slightly close to Billy. Billy smiled lightly at Moist.

"Doc--don't say that. You'll be able to win her--"

"Moist, you're such a sweet guy. But you know as well as I do that Penny will never love me." Billy said sadly. Moist looked up at Billy. He was so close. All he had to do was lightly move forward, and he would be able to kiss him. Moist closed his eyes, forcing the ideas out of his head.

"Doc--don't give up so easily. If you try hard enough, you can achieve anything." Moist muttered, his eyes still closed. Billy frowned, leaning forward and lightly pressing his lips against Moist's wet ones.

Moist suddenly opened his eyes, shocked at Billy's actions. He quickly pulled away, almost falling off the bed in the process. Moist stared at Billy, his face blood red. Billy looked surprisingly calm.

"Wh-what the hell are you doing?" Moist exclaimed, looking confused. Billy shrugged lightly, looking away from Moist.

"I don't know. You looked like you wanted to kiss me….and I thought maybe you were too scared to do it." Billy said, glancing back over at Moist, who scooted back away from the edge of he bed. "…wh-why would you think that?" Moist asked, frowning. His blushed betrayed him, though, and Billy laughed.

"You liked it." Billy said, smirking at Moist. Moist looked taken aback. He turned his head away from Billy.

"I…I don't like you when you're drunk." Moist muttered. Billy chuckled lightly, leaning towards Moist. He put a cold hand up to Moist's face, moving it back and forcing Moist to look him in the eye.

"You don't…?" Billy asked, leaning forward and kissing Moist again. Moist felt his face burst out in a red colour.

Moist's heart was pounding. What should he do? Clearly, Billy was completely drunk. But on the other hand…this was what he had always wanted, right? He should just go along with it, no questions asked.

And that's exactly what he did.

Moist kissed back, throwing his arms around Billy's neck. Everything was so perfect. It was as if Moist was dreaming. Billy pulled Moist's body closer to him, hugging him tightly. Moist felt slightly guilty, because he knew that Billy was totally drunk and he wasn't in the right frame of mind. But the fact that Billy was kissing back so passionately made Moist forget that guilty feeling.

Billy pulled away from Moist slightly, long enough to be able to pull Moist's hoodie up over his head, throwing it onto the floor. Billy examined Moist's chest, running his hands over him. "I…I never knew…you're pretty toned, Moist." Billy said, breathing heavily. Moist blushed, leaning closer to Billy.

"That's why you don't judge a book by it's…cover." Moist said, leaning into Billy's lips again. Billy's hands ran over Moist's bare and dampened back as he did so.

It wasn't long before Moist ended up on Billy, who had lied back. Moist slowly opened his eyes, pulling away from Billy's lips. He kept his body close to Billy, though. "Y-You're drunk." Moist muttered. Billy looked slightly confused. "I sure as hell am. What's your point?" Billy asked, leaning up to meet his lips with Moist's. Moist pulled away, frowning.

"You don't know what you're doing. This is just one of those dumb things that drunk people do. You don't want this…what you really want is Penny." Moist said, his cold breath touching Billy's face.

"Moist…don't. Don't do this to me. Not now. You can't leave me now. I need you." Billy said, pulling Moist's body closer and almost kissing him. Moist pulled away again, however, and stood up. Moist grabbed his hoodie off the ground, walking towards Billy's bedroom door. He slipped his hoodie on, glancing back at a very unhappy Billy. "I'm sorry, Billy. I don't want you doing something that you'll regret later." Moist turned away. "If you remember this tomorrow, call me when you wake up." Moist said, walking out of Billy's bed room and out the front door, locking it behind him.

As he walked down the stairs and onto the street, an oversized arm grabbed him, hitting him in the back of the head with a huge fist.

"A friend of Horrible's? Heh. I wonder how he'll react when he notices that you're gone." A voice laughed as Moist lost consciousness.