A Beware the Batman fanfic – Bring on the Badguys!
Written by WDCain Man

Disclaimer: Batman was created by Bob Kane and owned by DC Comics, which is owned by Warner-Brothers. No money is being made with this story. No profit is being made from this fanfic.

It's January and still no BtB. That makes me sad. Fortunately the comic version is a lot of fun (the way Gordon nailed Tobias Whale in #3) and the first 13 episodes come to DVD next month on the 18th so that will sate my appetite. I'm picking that boxset up and I hope more people do as well. It might convince the execs to put the show back on the air.

I'm hoping that the show comes back to CN soon and returns for a second season. Who knows, maybe a writer will notice this fanfic and get a few ideas from these stories. Enjoy!

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Bring on the Badguys!

Part Four:

Cornelius Stirk/Fright

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The sun would soon rise, bringing warmth, light, and death. Death to the one chained between two pillars on each side. He was curiously dressed in a light grey wool hooded bodysuit. Only his hands and face were exposed and they were stranger still. They were a darker grey than his drab costume while the upper face above the jaw line was bone white. Despite being short and stocky, there was an air of menace to him.

This was why hundreds of chains were used to keep the captive hoisted and immobile between the two pillars. So wrapped in chains was he that he looked more like a fly wrapped in a spider's web. It was not possible for him to move at all.

"Tell Judge Nocturna I'm disappointed in her. All this effort to execute harmless me? It's quite whelming." joked the man in regards to his numerous bonds. "All I did was kill a few dozen. Is that so bad?"

Two human initiates of the Brotherhood on the side gave him ugly looks. "Get ready to burn, Cornelius."

"And don't even think of using your fear powers on us, Stirk!" the second spat. "We know you're too weak to use them."

"Oh don't be so angry, my boys." Cornelius Stirk chuckled. "I know you both are scared you're botch this and never be made into full vampires. Cool down. All it means is you've wasted your entire lives serving the Brotherhood and you'll die like the chickens you are, meat for us eaters."

"SHUT UP!" both screamed, faltering and realizing that they gave the maniac glee. So one decided to shove the knife in deeper.

"Sunrise in one minute, Stirk. Any last requests?" He asked jollily, wanting to rub salt in wound.

"I only have one demand: To exist!" he proclaimed without any mirth. "They made me to need norepinephrine instead of blood. Those deaths, while fun, kept me alive."

"Those deaths got you here, Cornelius. So get ready to burn." The second countered. "It's the least you deserve, freak. You murdered forty and that's why-" he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. "What is it you-?" He blinked over what he saw and couldn't speak.

"A mime? What?" the second guard blinked. "What are you, I mean, lady why are you-?"

Pierrot Lunaire fixed him a fiendish smile before pulling out nunchucks and bashing in his face. The second reached for his weapon but the French assassin nimbly vaulted over him and cracked each side of his head with her wooden weapon.

Cornelius looked at her slim form even as the sun rose. Her beauty numbed him as his skin started to burn. Overhead the roar of an airplane broke the sound barrier. It was a cargo plane painted white.

Pierrot pulled out a wakizashi blade and spun around Cornelius. The hundreds of chains binding him were sliced apart instantly. He hit the ground and the bump rattled his senses. The vampire screamed as the light touched his exposed skin. He didn't even notice his savior hooking a steel cord to him, herself, and the two initiates. This cord was fed into a grapple gun which the girl took aim and fired at the open cargo bay.

They went flying along with the cargo plane. Pierrot Lunaire pressed a button on the grapple gun, pulling all of them into the cargo hold which shut once they entered. Back in the shadows, Cornelius breathed a sigh of relief at being out of the horrid sunlight. He looked around in the dark cargo hold. All the windows were covered, the two guards were there but his rescuer was gone. The only other thing in the empty hold was a large television built into a wall.

The TV turned on and the vampire saw the clown girl sitting coyly in a pilot's chair. Next to her was an exaggerate man dressed entirely in white. He took a bow and spoke elegantly.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Anarky; and you are Cornelius Stirk, the Fear Vampire: A nightwalker unlike any other vampire. You pay no heed to any authority like a true artist. And what did they do? Send you out into the sun. Tsk tsk. Why don't you pay the Brotherhood back by doing what you do best to these cogs in the machine my partner brought with you?"

The vampire smiled. He looked at the two guards with a deep stare. They immediately started shaking. Their eyes were wide in horror as they started screaming and sobbing.

"THE ANTS! THEY'RE ALL OVER ME! ALLOVERME!"

"…don't leave me, darling… don't leave me alone… not alone… I don't wanna be alone…" the second murmured in quiet terror.

Cornelius gave a hearty laugh and held up his grey hands. Each palm had a thick scar down the middle. "Oh what will become of them? Why, DINNER!"

The scars opened up, revealing a mouth with razor-sharp teeth in each palm. The Fear Vampire laughed manically, grabbing both by their foreheads and lifted them up high. Their screams slowly faded as Stirk fed. His sun burns faded and his grey and white face healed. He dropped the two unceremoniously and fixed Anarky an insidious smile. Then the vamp burped and looked childishly embarrassed.

The master criminal clapped. "Bravo, Cornelius! Bravo! The stories I've heard of the Fear Vampire are true! You are truly a man of amazing gifts! Stupendous! I ask, nay, IMPLORE you to make Gotham City your new home! You will love living there among all the colorful characters that my rival has attracted!"

Cornelius tapped his grey chin. "Gotham City, sir? Don't I need a nickname to live there? I'm quite certain it's a requirement."

Anarky couldn't stop smiling. "It would give the mind controlled Gothamites a fright if you had one."

"Fright, huh? I like that. This will be my role: Cornelius Stirk acting under the pseudonym Fright, the Fear Vampire."

Anarky applauded. "Then welcome to Gotham City, Fright!"

Fright smiled sinisterly. "I think I'll feel right at home."

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End Part Four…
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I am so proud of my skills as a writer by putting a vampire-spin on psycho cannibal Cornelius Stirk. Just like Prof. Pyg, Cornelius would have to be completely overhauled to make it into the show. In the comic, he's delusional and thinks he needs to eat human organs from people terrified to death to survive. It's easy for him since he has illusion powers to make people see their greatest fear.

My design for Cornelius is based off the Clown from the Star Trek Voyager episode 'The Thaw' played by the great Michael McKean. That episode is one of Voyager's best and it's all due to how sinisterly creepy and quirky McKean plays the Clown. He's funny and scary at the same time. That is why Cornelius sports his look. Heck, I even spotted bits of the Clown's dialogue with Cornelius'.

Truthfully, McKean could voice Heath Ledger's Joker if they made a cartoon with him in it. McKean did voice the campy version of Joker in TAS 'Legends of the Dark Knight' but I know he could coice the Joker from 'Death of the Family' if DC made it into an animated feature. The man is such a great actor and his performance as the Clown really helped me create BTB's version of Cornelius Stirk.

The mouth hands were influenced by the Corinthian from Neil Gaiman's Sandman. Dream made the Corinthian as the nightmare embodiment of fear that I added Corinthian's motif to Cornelius. I also gave him the nickname Fright as Cornelius Stirk is a mouthful to say every time and Fright is a catchy nickname for BTB's master of fear. Fright is a real character in the Batverse. She's the Scarecrow's assistant and Black Mask's lover. I just took her name and gave it to Corny. Simple as that.

I'm quite proud how these short stories have been turning out. I've managed to take old characters and make them into new versions of Bat's classic rogues. Pierrot Lunaire as a different Harley Quinn. Nocturna being Batman's perfect woman instead of Tala al Ghul. Now, I have Cornelius Stirk/Fright being the master of fear instead of Scarecrow. Everything old is different now. And I could not be happier.

Read and review, my loyal readers!