Hollow Victory by WikedFae

Summary: A soulless transformation set during "Everything You Ever…" An innocent woman was not the only casualty that fateful day. Warning: Semi-character death.
Disclaimer: I need all the brain cells I have just to get through university…not much would even be left over for the creation of a mad scientist with a Ph. D. in Horribleness.

It was strange to think that so little blood would spell a cold and unforgiving death. But somewhere in the depths of his heart, Billy knew her demise was imminent. Her eyes grew glassy as they fixed on a point, somewhere beyond his goggles, and her last breaths hitched as her last words fell on disbelieving ears.

"Don't worry…Captain Hammer will save us…" And just like that, she was gone.

You see, Billy. Captain Hammer will save us—not you! Captain Hammer will save her, will save the world…this broken world…and she was still convinced that it was worth fixing, despite the refuse polluting its veins! A malicious voice echoed through his mind. Poor Billy, poor, poor Billy. I told you, you should have listened to me. But no…you and your pitiful heart had to stay involved. Didn't I warn you? Feelings will become your cancer, eating you away until all that's left is a rotting, useless corpse. You're too consumed with grief, even now, to realize your victory is lying at your feet. Now what am I to do with you, I wonder? I certainly can't have your sentimentality rearing its repugnant head again.

Billy felt his insides turn to ice at this, and painfully sensed as it cracked. With detached fascination, he saw himself crumbling into the Penny-shaped void in his heart when something snapped. His vision blurred as a wicked laugh resonated in his ears. I knew it would always come to this, Billy. You were just too weak…it was only a matter of time before you realized just how much you needed me.

"Then 'hail to the king'." The words slipped from Billy's lips before he'd known what was happening. And he fell, twisting and turning, into the darkness. All he could see in the light at the end of blackened tunnel was Penny, so pale and beautiful in her deathly glory, cradled in his arms…except those weren't his hands gripping her body in such irreverence. Those hands belonged to Horrible.

Her vibrant red hair gently waved in the breeze as the paramedics wheeled her away and her ashen skin shimmered in the dimming sunlight spilling in through the windows. It was the most stunning sight to behold, thought Billy as his tears broke free. He sat there, chained and shackled in the hidden fortress constructed by his other monstrous half and dimly noted that the victory was, indeed, complete. His other half had no need of him now—if he ever had before, it would remain a mystery. Billy thought back and found it odd that he could not remember who came first, or if they had both been born simultaneously into this bleak and unfair existence. At least part of him got what he wanted, even if it was at the expense of the other.

When Billy looked up again, he was greeted with the sight of flashing crimson. Penny? Or something else? He couldn't be sure until the flash of black followed. Ah, his gloves. His real gloves, if he were ever properly inducted. It had to have been his red lab coat then, and not Penny. Sighing, his miserably watched as the nightmare played on, like some sick, flickering video he couldn't look away from. He could faintly hear as his rubber boots squeaked on the polished floors of the ELE headquarters and observed as he was admitted into that prestigious, elite chamber behind a formerly barred door. He only got a brief look at his former idols before darkness consumed the pinprick of light, his last glimpse at the world, as his tinted goggles were brought down to fit tightly over those startlingly blue orbs.

He could feel the cold seeping into his bones, crystals of ice forming around his heart. "I'm so sorry, Penny," he whispered to the darkness. And he closed his eyes in resignation and saw no more.

-O-O- -O-O- -O-O-

Dr. Horrible staggered into his apartment, a feral yet empty smile coating his features. "Well, Billy Buddy, what a success if I do say so myself! Quite the reception by the ELE, and Bad Horse was even impressed we'd had the gall to murder."

Silence was the only sound to greet him.

"Billy?"

After more moments of stillness, Dr. Horrible grew anxious. It wasn't like Billy to never say anything back. They were two connected halves, seamlessly conversing with one another. Perhaps he'd insulted his gentler side too harshly this time around. Regardless, something didn't feel right. Stripping out of his uniform, he set about drawing up the latest schematics for the next batch of mischief ordered up by Bad Horse. He stopped though, when he realized Billy's ingenuity was missing. Odd, considering inventing always coaxed his other half out…it was like playtime for them both. Forcefully dispelling the notion that something awful had happened, he sat down before the computer, deciding his followers would benefit from seeing him in the nefarious magnificence of achievement. He was a proud and pompous presence, gloating about the defeat of his arch-nemesis and vowing that any Hero who dared step next in line would succumb to the same fate, if not worse. When he came to recollecting the glorious experience of meeting his Villains, and Billy still had not uttered a peep, though, Dr. Horrible's attention was diverted. For Billy not to interject in his giddiness at finally having achieved his dream was not normal.

He was just about to push it aside for the second time that evening when a sadistic thought came to his mind. What had he reassured the elite ELE of not over five hours before? No mercy, no compassion, only ambition and villainy would drive him as he carried out dastardly deed after sinister scheme. But certainly that wouldn't mean…? Bile rose in his throat as he searched the chasms and dark recesses of his mind. Everything seemed to be in order, yet something was missing. Turning his searching inwards, he found the void he'd hoped never to approach…and empty shackles that lay at the bottom. The only things that remained were the stark walls, a torched white lab coat, and a cracked pair of goggles.

"No! We don't feel those things! I don't feel that! I won't feel…" Dr. Horrible gasped for breath as the chilling reality crashed down upon him. His eyes gazed bleakly at the camera as he felt the hollowness inside threatening to overwhelm his diminished frame.

"I won't feel…a thing…"

Fin

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