Moist remembers the first time he met Dr. Horrible. He thought Billy was Dr. Horrible, but he was terribly mistaken. He'd been living with Billy for a year now, going with him on heists and such. He wasn't very good at it, kept dropping the rayguns and the money bags and the heaven knew what. But he tried. And when they came home either with arms full of treasure or defeated bruises, Billy would always clap him warmly on the shoulder and tell him good job. Never with sarcasm, never with hate. There was always something genuine about Billy. And he never seemed to care that Most was… well… wet.
Moist would get his mail, Billy would touch his shoulder, Moist would be fighting with a jar but Billy'd wait until he asked before opening it for him… the man never shied away from his henchman friend. In costume, out of costume, there was never a reason to suspect that Dr. Horrible and Billy were two different people. Not until Moist lost his job.
It was stupid really. His supervisor knew better than to give him fragile stuff. He'd been at the candle shop for almost six months, everyone knew not to give him the jar candles unless they had a funky shape he could hold. But this guy, the new supervisor, just didn't seem to get it. Or he didn't like Moist, take your pick. Moist likes to think it's the last one, because the guy was a real douche bag. Everyone got how Moist worked, the dude was told how to treat him, what he could and could not do. And the guy gave Moist everything he could not do.
It wasn't like how Billy did it either. Billy would let Moist work it out, would let him do things others wouldn't let him do, would prompt him to try new things. This guy just told Moist to do stuff and expected magic. Billy was the magical one, the brain, the guy that could make the impossible happen. Not Moist. Moist didn't want to be, but he couldn't help but draw that analogy between what his higher-up expected and what Moist couldn't do.
After enough broken jar candles, Moist was fired. But not all was bad. He found a girl friend down at the White Flag. He was aiming for Bait, but wound up with DayGlow. He wasn't sure why, but the twins Bait and Switch always found a way to slip through his fingers.
No pun intended.
But DayGlow was a nice gal. She was bright, and warm, and he liked jogging with her in the early mornings when the fog was still thick. He could follow her easily. But she had high tastes. And spent his unemployment checks like mad. Because she didn't know he didn't have a job. She couldn't know, or she'd drop him like a rock. And that was the only thing Moist was able to hold onto.
Billy didn't have a job either. He was a full-time mad scientist evil genius kind of guy. And he was shy as all get out. He had told Moist one time that he had done a stint as a grocery store cashier. He quit after one day because of the kids that screamed for sweets and the mothers that had coupon after expired coupon and the noise and the mob of people sent him into a panic attack.
Moist could see that happening. Moist wouldn't mind seeing that happen, as it kind of made a funny image in his head. The great Dr. Horrible, goggles over his eyes and gum in his hair being shouted at by the mother of the child that put the gum there, telling him to hurry up she was late, before he dropped a can of tomato paste on his white booted toe and curling up in a ball freaking out. Moist was sure that it was an image Captain Hammer would like to see too, so he quickly wiped it from his mind.
Their heists hadn't been the greatest. And that's where Billy's money came from. He rode the bus, he used a coin laundry, he lived almost solely off of frozen yogurt because he couldn't cook for beans… he had tried to cook beans once, Moist unhooked the stove from the gas after that fiasco. Funny, how a chemist with a PhD in biomedical engineering and a PhD in mechanical engineering couldn't figure out that he had to open the can before sticking on the stove. Huh, who knew.
But there was no money to be had. Billy tried his best, getting what he could into his pockets before Hammer came in and smacked him around, putting the money bags back where they belonged. Moist was rather happy that he was only a henchman at times; his union made it so that even Capt. Hammer was afraid to hit him. But poor Billy, taking all the heat from the human train. No, there was very little money to be had in the Horrible apartment.
So when Moist missed his half of the rent one month, he almost freaked. The day had come and gone, and he would never have known it if it wasn't on the calendar; Billy never said a word about it. Moist apologize, said he's pay the rent next month, that it totally skipped his mind. Billy sat at the kitchen table, munching on his bran flakes, a smile and shrug of "it's fine, don't freak."
But the next month came. Moist noticed that the fridge was empty; he'd been eating out with DG almost every night, leaving Billy to his own devices. There was no food in the house. No soy milk which Billy coveted, no normal milk that Moist drank, no bran flakes, nothing. Moist opened the kitchen one morning to find everything barren. Where had it all gone? Billy opened the door with a grocery bag, catching a glimpse of Moist and instantly keeping his eyes on the floor.
"Hey Moist! You're up early."
"Yeah, yeah guess I am. Hey Billy?"
"Y-Yeah?"
"Where is all the food?"
"Right here!"
In one canvas shopping bag. Billy was a green-friendly evil scientist apparently. Billy pulled out half a dozen eggs, a small uncut loaf of wheat bread, a single serving of soy milk, and a tub of fake margarine. Not even the real margarine. Wow. Moist hooked the gas back up and made breakfast, giving Billy toast and himself the eggs. There was no food in the house, Billy was taking care of it one day at a time. The second month's rent came and went, and Billy didn't say a thing.
Moist came home one night, broken hearted though he wasn't sure why. He didn't like DayGlow all that much. True, it was the first girl that he had spent more than just a few hours with, three months to be exact, but it wasn't like he liked her or anything. So why did her breaking up with him hurt so much? Was he that desperate? There was always Bait, he had to find a way to get with Bait. Opening the door, the internal monologue raging on in his skull, Moist found the apartment dark as normal. But there was something different; it was cold. It was June, why was it cold? True, he was always cold; he was always wet. But this was different. Glancing around he found a silhouette by the window. Standing, waiting for him, was Billy in full Doctor attire.
"Hey Doc, what's-"
"Three months." That was a new voice. It wasn't the quivering nervous friendly voice of Billy. This was sure, this was intimidating, this was something with confidence. This was Dr. Horrible. Moist instantly knew there was something wrong. The figure move towards him, white leather covered fingers grabbing his damp chin.
"Three months rent. You don't have a job, but you blow your money on a chick. Three months. You know that Billy's paid all three months? You're useless Moist. You're about as helpful as a puddle. You can't even hold a money bag right. Now you owe us three months rent."
His face was let go of, and Moist collapsed into a… well… puddle. There is no other way to explain it. Quaking on the floor by the door he watched as the shape of Dr. Horrible turned without another thought to him and entered the dark lab. Dr. Horrible was not a villain to be afraid of, he had no strength to him, he couldn't even leave a bruise if he punched you. But in those five seconds that he was confronted by Dr Horrible, Moist was afraid. He was horrified.
Dr. Horrible was not a villain to mess around with. There was a threat in that voice, a huge threat. One that scared Moist poop-less. Dr. Horrible was not Billy.
The next day Moist avoided Billy, much to the man's confusion and concern. Moist went job hunting, and was determined not to come home until he got one. It worked. He was going to be a bagger for the grocery store. He had to wear gloves, but that was fine, he could do it. It was money. For the next month, Moist kept a low profile, trying his hardest not to come into contact with Billy or Doc until he had something to show for it. It almost didn't work. He had to time it just right, and laundry days were the best for him to slip in and out of the apartment un-noticed.
Finally rent-day came, big and red-lettered on the calendar. And Moist beat Billy to the punch. Billy went down to the office to pay his rent, arms full of coins and half-shredded dollar bills. The landlady looked up, told him rent was taken care of for the next three months, and dismissed him without even a good bye.
Moist surprised Billy that night with a gift. A kind of peace offering. It was a blue lightning disk thing. That's when he told Billy about his Dr. Horrible encounter. That had to have been the most confusing conversation of his life.
Moist will never forget his first time meeting Dr. Horrible. He hoped never to meet him again.