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crossover_chickIt's about time I posted the sequel to one of my 30 Dances, isn't it? Well then, prepare yourself for a bit more Victor Horrible. First, a refresher course -- Victor Horrible (the Corpse Bride/Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog/American McGee's Alice crossover) first appeared in Everything You'd Ever. His second appearance is here, in:
14. Tuxedo – So They’ll Say
Victor stared at himself in the mirror. His own pale face stared back at him, looking whiter than usual because of the black tux. He tugged a few times at the jacket, then straightened the bow tie. “I look like I walked straight out of a photograph like this,” he mumbled.
“Ready to go?”
Alice appeared behind him, looking resplendent in a brilliant green ball gown. Victor took a moment to admire her before answering. “I suppose,” he finally said, one hand temporarily and futilely grasping at the space where his normal tie usually was.
“You suppose,” Alice repeated, adjusting a hairpin. “What is it, then?”
“Uh – well – it’s just – what if they don’t want me there?” Victor turned to face her, unable to keep the fear out of his eyes. “This is the Annual Superheroes Ball, and – w-well, there’s n-no way a-around it – I w-was a supervillain!”
“The worst one in history,” Alice pointed out, approaching him. “Even during your tenure in the Evil League of Evil, you never killed, you donated almost all of your robbery gains to charity, you never tried to hold the city hostage – from what I understand, you even tried to keep your so-called colleagues from wreaking too much havoc.”
Victor shook his head. “That hardly excuses things. I was Doctor Horrible. The entire city was afraid of me!”
“For something you didn’t even do,” Alice replied, putting a hand on his back. “And don’t start with me about how you built the gun. Barkis was the one who pulled the trigger. And, personally, I think you balanced things out quite a bit when you saved me and the rest of the city from his evil plans.”
Victor managed a brief smile, then sighed, looking at his feet. “I suppose, but – I still worry. What if someone wants to beat me up? Deliver some long-deserved justice?”
“Then they’ll have to go through me,” Alice said, folding her arms. Then she sighed too. “Victor, if you really don’t want to go, you don’t have to. I’m required because of my job, I’m afraid.” She looked up at him. “But I was hoping we – we could share a real, proper dance this time.”
Victor looked at her, then back at his reflection. For a moment, he remembered sweet dreams of moonlit nights, and an interrupted waltz on the rooftops. Then, slowly, he smiled. “A man’s gotta do/What a man’s gotta do/You can plan the plan/And I’ll follow through--”
Alice grinned back, sliding her arm around him. “No matter what doom’s looming/Or how might they disapprove--”
“Our destiny is clear – it’s me and you,” they ended in chorus. Victor pulled her close, feeling much better. No matter what, he had her – and that was all he really needed. “Let’s go.”
See, I told you this one was more cheerful.
-TTV: So after all that, you let me have what approaches a happy end.-
Yup. :) After Victor and Alice start to fall in love in their civilian identities, Victor starts seriously considering leaving his life of crime. At the same time, Barkis has emerged from the wreckage of his humiliation at the homeless shelter as a new villain, one who isn't afraid to hurt people and wants revenge upon Dr. Horrible. He enacts a dastardly plan to blow up the whole city, and takes Alice hostage to boot. Victor goes to fight him, retakes his song ("A man's gotta do") and manages to disarm him. He and Alice share a brief duet and dance before Barkis tries again to kill them -- he's taken down, but he manages to set off a bomb on the building they're on as it happens. Victor, not wanting what happened to his former lady loves to happen to Alice, shields her with his body and takes the shrapnel in the back. He's put into a coma for a little while, where Victoria and Emily visit him and tell him to stop beating himself up and go live life again. Victor eventually comes to, with some nasty scarring but luckily not much else. The government, seeing as his "reign of terror" didn't amount to much and his last act was to save the city and the life of a superhero, grants him amnesty, and he and Alice start this "relationship" thing.
The story itself came on rather suddenly -- I knew I had to do some sort of formal event for "tuxedo," but I wasn't sure what. Making it a Dr. Victor Horrible fic just popped into my head one day. I guess my brain decided I needed a more pleasant fic to balance out the angstier "Everything You'd Ever." It came together pretty quickly after that, although I agonized over the bit where they sing. I'm not good at writing people singing or original songs (hence why you'll probably never see Marty do more than sing the first or final line of a song in my BTTF work), and even tweaking "A Man's Gotta Do" (or whatever it's called) gave me a bit of trouble. I think it works, but I still consider this a slightly weaker story.
-TTV: I noticed you kept this version of me a rather whitewashed villain.-
I know -- perhaps an overly-safe choice, but I didn't feel comfortable writing a truly nasty Victor. I imagined he'd have problems with his newly evil lifestyle, considering it killed the two women he loved. One of these days I might write out the scene where he has Alice at his mercy and instead nearly freaks out at the thought of shooting her. Might clear things up a bit.
Oh, and you may notice I put Alice in green -- I noticed by this point the overload of blue and decided to mix things up. :D
The Title: Again, it's an altered version of an actual Dr. Horrible song title. "So They Say" becomes "So They'll Say," referring to the gossip that will and has been spreading ever since Dr. Victor Horrible's turn from evil. I originally was gonna go with a longer version -- "There Are Some Happy Endings, So They'll Say" -- but that didn't feel quite right. Plus it stretched out the box something awful.
And now, bed. Just one more day til a three day weekend, yay.
14. Tuxedo – So They’ll Say
Victor stared at himself in the mirror. His own pale face stared back at him, looking whiter than usual because of the black tux. He tugged a few times at the jacket, then straightened the bow tie. “I look like I walked straight out of a photograph like this,” he mumbled.
“Ready to go?”
Alice appeared behind him, looking resplendent in a brilliant green ball gown. Victor took a moment to admire her before answering. “I suppose,” he finally said, one hand temporarily and futilely grasping at the space where his normal tie usually was.
“You suppose,” Alice repeated, adjusting a hairpin. “What is it, then?”
“Uh – well – it’s just – what if they don’t want me there?” Victor turned to face her, unable to keep the fear out of his eyes. “This is the Annual Superheroes Ball, and – w-well, there’s n-no way a-around it – I w-was a supervillain!”
“The worst one in history,” Alice pointed out, approaching him. “Even during your tenure in the Evil League of Evil, you never killed, you donated almost all of your robbery gains to charity, you never tried to hold the city hostage – from what I understand, you even tried to keep your so-called colleagues from wreaking too much havoc.”
Victor shook his head. “That hardly excuses things. I was Doctor Horrible. The entire city was afraid of me!”
“For something you didn’t even do,” Alice replied, putting a hand on his back. “And don’t start with me about how you built the gun. Barkis was the one who pulled the trigger. And, personally, I think you balanced things out quite a bit when you saved me and the rest of the city from his evil plans.”
Victor managed a brief smile, then sighed, looking at his feet. “I suppose, but – I still worry. What if someone wants to beat me up? Deliver some long-deserved justice?”
“Then they’ll have to go through me,” Alice said, folding her arms. Then she sighed too. “Victor, if you really don’t want to go, you don’t have to. I’m required because of my job, I’m afraid.” She looked up at him. “But I was hoping we – we could share a real, proper dance this time.”
Victor looked at her, then back at his reflection. For a moment, he remembered sweet dreams of moonlit nights, and an interrupted waltz on the rooftops. Then, slowly, he smiled. “A man’s gotta do/What a man’s gotta do/You can plan the plan/And I’ll follow through--”
Alice grinned back, sliding her arm around him. “No matter what doom’s looming/Or how might they disapprove--”
“Our destiny is clear – it’s me and you,” they ended in chorus. Victor pulled her close, feeling much better. No matter what, he had her – and that was all he really needed. “Let’s go.”
See, I told you this one was more cheerful.
-TTV: So after all that, you let me have what approaches a happy end.-
Yup. :) After Victor and Alice start to fall in love in their civilian identities, Victor starts seriously considering leaving his life of crime. At the same time, Barkis has emerged from the wreckage of his humiliation at the homeless shelter as a new villain, one who isn't afraid to hurt people and wants revenge upon Dr. Horrible. He enacts a dastardly plan to blow up the whole city, and takes Alice hostage to boot. Victor goes to fight him, retakes his song ("A man's gotta do") and manages to disarm him. He and Alice share a brief duet and dance before Barkis tries again to kill them -- he's taken down, but he manages to set off a bomb on the building they're on as it happens. Victor, not wanting what happened to his former lady loves to happen to Alice, shields her with his body and takes the shrapnel in the back. He's put into a coma for a little while, where Victoria and Emily visit him and tell him to stop beating himself up and go live life again. Victor eventually comes to, with some nasty scarring but luckily not much else. The government, seeing as his "reign of terror" didn't amount to much and his last act was to save the city and the life of a superhero, grants him amnesty, and he and Alice start this "relationship" thing.
The story itself came on rather suddenly -- I knew I had to do some sort of formal event for "tuxedo," but I wasn't sure what. Making it a Dr. Victor Horrible fic just popped into my head one day. I guess my brain decided I needed a more pleasant fic to balance out the angstier "Everything You'd Ever." It came together pretty quickly after that, although I agonized over the bit where they sing. I'm not good at writing people singing or original songs (hence why you'll probably never see Marty do more than sing the first or final line of a song in my BTTF work), and even tweaking "A Man's Gotta Do" (or whatever it's called) gave me a bit of trouble. I think it works, but I still consider this a slightly weaker story.
-TTV: I noticed you kept this version of me a rather whitewashed villain.-
I know -- perhaps an overly-safe choice, but I didn't feel comfortable writing a truly nasty Victor. I imagined he'd have problems with his newly evil lifestyle, considering it killed the two women he loved. One of these days I might write out the scene where he has Alice at his mercy and instead nearly freaks out at the thought of shooting her. Might clear things up a bit.
Oh, and you may notice I put Alice in green -- I noticed by this point the overload of blue and decided to mix things up. :D
The Title: Again, it's an altered version of an actual Dr. Horrible song title. "So They Say" becomes "So They'll Say," referring to the gossip that will and has been spreading ever since Dr. Victor Horrible's turn from evil. I originally was gonna go with a longer version -- "There Are Some Happy Endings, So They'll Say" -- but that didn't feel quite right. Plus it stretched out the box something awful.
And now, bed. Just one more day til a three day weekend, yay.
