The next day after work, Ted was at his apartment sketching his next architectural project when Marshall came barging in.
"You'll never guess who I just saw!" Marshall exclaimed. "I just saw Captain Hammer!"
"How?" Ted asked, putting his pencil behind his ear.
"It was amazing!" Marshall said. "A woman got her purse stolen but Captain Hammer totally whooped his ass! I got to witness it!"
"Did you get his autograph?" asked Robin, who was on the couch, drinking a bottle of beer.
"No," Marshall replied disappointedly, plopping on the couch next to her. "My cab was at a stop light when this happened and it drove off right when he stopped the crook."
"What up!" Barney declared, walking into the apartment. "Hey, what did I miss?"
"I got to see Captain Hammer!" Marshall said with his excitement rising again like a child's. "Stopped a crook!"
This made Barney boil on the inside. Why is he in New York? he thought to himself. I thought he went into hiding. I disgraced the man!
"Cool," Barney said, pretending not to care. "So anyway-"
"-shut up, Barney, Captain Hammer's on TV!" Robin shushed, turning up the TV.
"Sitting next to me here is recently out of hiding superhero, Captain Hammer!" said a blonde woman wearing a pantsuit, turning to a muscular man with brown hair, wearing a t-shirt with a lightning bolt on it and gloves. "So, Mister Hammer, how do you like New York?"
"It's great," answered Captain Hammer in his superhero-y voice. "The lights, the sights, the crime...keeps me busy!"
The newswoman laughed. "That's wonderful!" she said, leafing through her notes. "So tell me, where do you think Doctor Horrible is right now? He disappeared from the world that he once wanted at his feet, but he has been gone for several years."
"May I add that he's just a chicken?" Captain Hammer said. "Can I say chicken on TV?"
"Of course," answered the newswoman.
"Great," said Captain Hammer. "I'd like to say to Doctor Horrible, wherever you are, I'm back. The world will no longer be yours for I will take it from you once again and give it back to the innocent people of the world!"
"The hell you're not!" Barney yelled at the TV.
Ted, Marshall, and Robin all stared at Barney with their eyes wide open.
"Umm..." Barney said nervously, shaking. "I...got to go now..."
With that, he slowly walked out of the apartment.
"Did anyone notice how strange that was?" Robin asked.
Ted and Marshall, however, shook their heads.
Barney went back to his apartment and went into one of his spare rooms, where he kept a large amount of equipment and boxes which contained more equipment which had never been unpacked since Barney came to New York. This had been the reason why Barney never allowed anyone to come to his apartment. He didn't want his friends to find out who he really was or what he did.
Before Barney came to New York, Barney hardly had any friends until Penny came along...Penny...
Barney's blue eyes watered with tears. He had not thought about Penny for a long time. How could he forget about Penny?
That was when he remembered why. He left Bad Horse because he was overcome by grief for Penny. So what did he do? He packed up his things, said goodbye to Moist, and caught the next plane to New York City. He started life anew, changed his name from Billy to Barney, got a job at GNB, and met Ted Mosby and slowly became friends with Ted's college friends Marshall and Lily and then Robin came along. Then there was the womanizing...Billy used to be a loser back home with the sweatshirt, but here in New York, he was Barney, the man in a suit who was able to get a woman in bed with him with a snappy and clever first impression and then run off the next morning.
Barney opened the closet and saw his red coat hanging next to his white coat. He sighed and stared at the two coats. Then there was Dr. Horrible. He once had the world at his feet but he couldn't do it because of Penny. Every time he tried to do something evil, he thought of Penny, dying in his arms. He couldn't stand it. So he did what he had to do, which was leave. Ever since, Bad Horse has been trying to find him.
Barney pulled the red coat off the hanger. He began to pull of his suit jacket and pull off his tie. Within minutes, he was buttoning up the jacket, pulling on his gloves, and sliding his goggles over his eyes. He smiled to himself.
"Daddy's home," he said, laughing evilly.