tampered | Log (ongoing)

Log (ongoing)

When; February 3, afternoonish
Rating; PG-13 for various "don't do this at home" exploits
Characters; Dr. Horrible (

horrible_phd ) and Carl (

somekindofsin ), with Karrin and the illustrious Captain Hammer later on.
Summary; The elevator in the City's laboratory is unwilling to take orders. Attempts to fix it lead, naturally, to mayhem and plans to destroy the carousel for the good of humanity. Or whatever.
Log;

Carl shuffled about the laboratory's lobby, waiting for his associate (well, they weren't really associates, as they worked independently and on different levels of the laboratory, but Carl was in the habit of thinking about all other scientifically-minded individuals in his general vicinity as associates), Dr. Horrible. The friar didn't usually collaborate with anyone with "horrible" in their name, but the City hardly allowed one to be picky. Anyway, Carl suspected Dr. Horrible was more of a Dr. Morally-Ambiguous.

From what Carl had learned from personal experience, the elevator that they were going to attempt to fix refused to allow any one City citizen access to more than one floor of the laboratory. There was undoubtedly a reason for it, but the arrangement made it rather difficult to visit associates on other floors. Carl was almost certain that whatever odd 'magic' infested the City controlled the elevator's movements, making the contraption rigged rather than broken. This didn't faze him. Neither did the fact that he had virtually no experience with lifts of any kind. Carl had no doubt that scientific ingenuity could overcome virtually everything, supernatural forces and general ignorance included.

Of course, Carl also had every intention of trying to destroy the City's carousel at a later date, which, he surmised, threw a fair amount of doubt on his convictions and sanity.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I suppose that evens things out."

Carl knew he should have offered to go first, but frankly, Billy looked more durable. "Good luck, then."

Much to his surprise, there were no unfortunate incidents or unplanned explosions. Dr. Horrible's great success encouraged Carl greatly, and he took his turn descending. While he was considerably slower than Billy, he made it to the ground without breaking anything (either in his body or in his robes). He retracted the small grappling hook. "I would call that a success. To the carousel, then?"

"To the Carousel! Wahahahaha."

It just sort of slipped out. He couldn't really help it, but it was appropriate to the occasion, so hey, he indulged in a little more diabolical "Ha"'s.

"Just keep a lookout for a big guy with a hammer logo on his shirt. He might get the wrong idea and try to stop us." Actually, the problem was that he might get the right idea considering they were about to attempt to blow up a public landmark.

"Erm. Right." Far be it from Carl to judge a man over a few evil laughs. He frowned at the very idea of someone trying to stop them. "Why on earth would he do that? We could very well be taking the single most important action ever taken! This could--and I'm not saying it will, because it hasn't been tried and tested--this could send us all home. At the very least, damaging the clock underneath the carousel might disrupt the curses."

"He...wouldn't see it like that. He'd basically see me doing something with a weapon and jump right in to be all 'heroic.' Punch first, ask questions later, that sort of thing."

Billy did his best to conceal said weapon, and started walking

"At least it's starting to get dark-ish. And since it's cold out, hopefully there won't actually be anyone at the Carousel."

"Ah. He sounds like every other heavy-browed, prehistoric caveman I've ever encountered. Heaven forbid they use their brains first." Carl shuffled after.

"It hardly matters if there's anyone there. I'm sure they'd move if they knew what we were doing."

"And he even has groupies. I just don't understand how people can admire him." As usual, whenever Billy thought about Captain Hammer he got very frustrated, and he began walking faster than he really meant to. They were almost to the library now.

"In fact, I think they'd move pretty quickly."

"Groupies?" Interesting new word. "Ah... is there a reason you're in such a hurry? I suspect the carousel isn't going anywhere in the immediate future."

"Oh, sorry. Probably not. Well, not anywhere but around." He forced himself to slow down. "Groupies are fans. They follow him around and ask him for autographs and wear t-shirts with his face on them."

Carl appreciated the more moderate pace. He didn't, however, see the appeal of groupies. "That sounds bothersome, having a crowd after you. You wouldn't get any work done at all."

"Well, some people prefer being famous to actually getting things accomplished." To be perfectly honest, he really wouldn't mind having groupies and he very much did want to be famous--that was partly what becoming Dr. Horrible had been about. But he did also want to actually accomplish other things. "Not that there's anything wrong with people knowing about you, you know, to get your message out."

"True enough. I suppose that applies to the vast majority of the higher clergy. Mm? Do you have a message, then?"

"I advocate social change. I post a lot on my world's version of the Network." He also spent a lot of time talking about Penny and complaining about Captain Hammer, but that wasn't really his message. Though, maybe his message did have a tendency to get lost under all that.

"Hey, look, we're nearly there."

[ooc: explodey bits soon? Captain Hammer is prepared to show up.]

"Really? It must be convenient, having such a far-reaching means of communication. You undoubtedly reach far more people than you would otherwise."

Ah, the Carousel. Carl felt almost like he was doing something illicit, sneaking about like this. At least the area appeared to be vacated. "Well! Would you like to go first, or shall I? Of course, we could take opposite sides... I suppose that would be the most destructive."

[ooc: Ooh, lovely. Explosions away, then!]

"Let's try opposite sides. That does sound more destructive, and we can make sure everyone's gotten clear. And we'll do it on the count of three."

Billy, feeling very much Dr. Horrible at the moment, walked around to the other side of the Carousel. It was actually very bright and imaginatively carved, and it almost seemed a same to damage it. Almost.

"Attention everyone!" He shouted. "This is Dr. Horrible. Please clear the area immediately around the Carousel. Important scientific testing is being undertaken."

"Right. Be sure to stay back--neither of us needs to be incinerated tonight." Carl fumbled for his nitroglycerin (and very nearly dropped the vial, which would have been horrific). The Carousel was rather appealing visually, but... well. All things must come to an end.

Carl looked around to see if anyone had decided to listen to Billy. Fortunately, the two people in the vicinity were already wandering away, perhaps not with the speed the situation necessitated. "It's clear enough, I think," he called to his associate. "On three, was it?"

"On three," he yelled back. "One! Two! Mwahaha THREE!"

Dr. Horrible whipped out his Explosion Gun and pulled the trigger. The pellet hit the Carousel and exploded with a sputtering of flame. It wasn't nearly as big an explosion as he'd been hoping for. And instead of the Carousel catching fire, a wind seemed to come out of nowhere to sweep the fire away. And the Carousel wasn't damaged. It wasn't even the tiniest bit singed.

"Well, that was strange. And anti-climactic," he said.

[ooc: And there you have the mod-determined result. Thread now open to

horrible_protag and

chicagosbest. Posting order is Carl, Captain Hammer, Murphy, and then back to Dr. Horrible, if no one objects.]

Carl was a bit behind Dr. Horrible (the insertion of evil laughter threw him off slightly), but he was quick to lob his nitroglycerin at the Carousel--only to meet with the same results as Billy. Nothing happened. There wasn't an explosion, a fire, a puff of smoke...

"That's impossible! There was--that should have... I've inadvertently destroyed whole buildings with that!"

[ooc: PARTY WHOO. Sorry for being slow, and that sounds excellent.]

The second he'd heard Doctor Horrible's 'announcement', he was all up in arms.
Figurative arms, of course; he already had two, and that was all that he needed to defeat the Doctor.

It hadn't taken him that long to get to the Carousel, really, just a matter of seconds; three seconds (give or take a few of evil laughter) in fact. But before he had a chance to make his impressive entrance, he saw Horrible shooting at the carousel, albeit failing, and someone else in robes tossing something at it. Villainous curs!

Actually, that was pretty good. "Villainous curs! Cease your terrorizing of this place at once!"

[OoC: Party of getting your asses kicked. >D!]

Karrin wasn't big on vigilantes -- she believed in respect for authority, the rule of law and letting police officers do their jobs.

But in the City, it was kind of hard not to go vigilante. She had spent her entire life living with cops and being a cop; those habits were hard to break.

So when she heard the villainous laughter, small explosions, and the cry of "Villainous curs!" she ran straight towards the sounds.

"What the hell is going on here?!" she shouted.

It was a voice that Billy would have known anywhere. It was a voice that usually meant he would shortly be in a lot of pain. This was adding injury to insult. Billy had managed to avoid him for so long, but it had been inevitable they'd face off eventually.

"Captain Hammer. I'd think twice before coming any closer," he said with false bravado, stepping away from the Carousel and aiming at his nemesis. He didn't think the threat would be particularly effective, but he was holding a weapon and mostly he wanted to buy some time for Carl to run or hide or go for more nitroglycerin. Preferably not the last one. This was his fight..

And then there was another shouting voice, a woman's voice. Something seemed familiar about that too. Oh, right, he'd heard it on his voicemail. Karrin Murphy. This was...not as bad as Captain Hammer, but not exactly good.

Villainous cur was a new one, and Carl had never been accused of any kind of terrorizing--at least not the sort of terrorizing that one does on purpose. Before he could inform the speaker that he most certainly wasn't a cur of any kind, a rather capable-looking woman arrived on the scene.

Clearly, neither newcomer appreciated their attempts on the carousel's life.

While the situation unraveling became much clearer once the first speaker's identity was revealed, a course of action did not. Carl was opposed to violence himself (particularly any violence directed at him), but running off and leaving Dr. Horrible to fend for himself didn't seem like the most morally-righteous thing to do. As such, the friar remained immobilized by indecision.

As usual, his mouth escaped paralysis. "I take it you all know each other, then?"

Oh-ho? Where did she come from? He'd better inform her of what was going on. "These two were attempting to vandalize and destroy the City." But perhaps more of talking to her later.

Doctor Horrible and that strange man in robes were there, and he needed to deal with them first. Scarcely paying the friar proper eye contact when talking to him, he responded, "The Doctor and I are formally acquainted, yes." And now turning to his renowned enemy, he spared him a brief chuckle.

"Think twice, Doctor Horrible?" He takes a few steps closer as he's talking, just to make him squirm. "In case you've forgotten, every time that we face off against each other, you've lost. And just because you gave your little freeze ray an upgrade," he pushes on it a little bit for emphasis, "doesn't mean that this will turn out any differently."

Dr. Horrible? Well this was a little embarrassing. She still couldn't think of what her seventeen year old self said to him without wanting to punch herself.

"Now just hold up!" Karrin snapped, stepping between Dr. Horrible and Captain Hammer. She didn't like the tension she was sensing between the two men. "If you don't mind...sir," she realized she didn't know Captain Hammer's name, "I'd like to hear the explanation from the men themselves."

She turned a dark look to Dr. Horrible and the friar. Their explanation had better be GOOD.

"Freeze ray? It isn't a--" Billy forced himself to shut up because Murphy was standing in his way and he was now unintentionally pointing it right at her. Not that it was actually loaded anymore, but she couldn't know that and there was no good reason to act threatening towards her even if he did want to.

"We were trying to see if we could do something about the clock. Sure, people have tried, but it was about time someone made an attempt with new approach. People here get complacent really quickly. And, okay, if it had worked it would have involved the destruction of the carousel, but it's not like any of us put it there in the first place, and besides, as you can see, it isn't damaged at all, so really it's like there wasn't anything going on here whatsoever at all." That was logical, right? Billy took a much needed deep breath.

In all honesty, Carl was more intimidated by the woman than by Captain Whichever-Tool-It-Was. The latter seemed content to ignore him in favor of confronting Dr. Horrible; the former looked like she would readily punish them both if their explanation wasn't convincing.

Billy's logic was sound, but, perhaps, not terribly helpful. Carl was quick to supplement his explanation with his own.

"This was my idea, actually, and I assure you that this course of action is entirely justifiable." He paused nervously, hoping that what seemed entirely justifiable in his head was to their company, as well. "I've been researching the workings of the City since my arrival, you see, and I've come to the conclusion that the clock beneath the carousel is integral to its functioning. Whether it controls the deities, or the deities control it--it really doesn't matter, but the City places a good deal of symbolic importance on the concept of time, and it only seems natural to suppose that this is due to the clock's role in... erm. That is to say, it's very likely that the clock plays some part in our presence here, and moderates the curses in some way. At the very least, the clock's excessive underground protection implies a desire on the part of the deities to keep it whole, which likely means that the destruction of the clock would be beneficial to everyone trapped in the City.

"That's my theory, anyway, and the carousel has some sort of... potentially meaningful connection to the clock, which is directly under it. While there have been attempts to stop the clock, I don't believe anyone has bothered approaching the mechanism via the carousel--or, rather, via the carousel's destruction..." Oh God, he was rambling. Worse still, he didn't know if he was even rambling coherently.

[ooc: Karrin-mun? Did your headache ever decide to leave you alone?]

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