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.

Beware the Batman isn't coming back for a second season. It breaks my heart. The fact that New Zealand is airing the remaining episodes before the US does slices and dices my heart into itty bitty bits. This leaves me feeling blue so I wrote this to help cheer me up.

Enjoy the story!

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Bring on the Badguys!

Part Seven:

White Knight

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"Mama, the phone's ringing!"

"Coming, Penny!" Alice Brown walked out of the kitchen with sauce on her apron and a steak knife in its pocket. She picked up the phone with her free hand. "Hello?"

"Alice, it's Sidney. Honey, I got bad news-"

She shooed her four-year old girl away and waited until she out of earshot. "Are you in trouble? Have you been arrested?"

"No, Alice. It's just… I mean… there's been a murder. Four of them. Ice Pick Joe's parents and brother were just found dead. Sling Blade Jane's husband was also found murdered. We think someone's going around killing all our families."

Alice looked towards her and Sidney's bedroom where they kept the guns. "Who was it? The Bat?"

"The Whale doesn't think so. Joe's family, they weren't beaten or shot, they were, God help us, they were all burned to death. Sat on fire."

"Fire? Wait. Is, is it Tobias' lawyer? Has he gone nuts?"

"No, Alice. Rex is still locked up after kidnapping Gordon's kid. This is someone new."

"Are you coming home or should we leave?"

"The boss is having the cops on his payroll look into this. So I'll be home soon. You get a gun and protect yourself and Penny."

"Get here quick. Right now."

"I'm on my way. I'll be there soon. I love you." He hung up.

Alice put the phone down and headed straight for the bedroom to get the guns.

"Mama!"

"Mommy's busy, Penny." She was nearly there.

"Mama!"

"Not now, Penny." She fought to keep her voice even.

"Mama, there's a stranger in my room."

Alice turned around slowly, a cold lump in her stomach, and saw him. The man was very intimidating. She couldn't see his face. A silver skull mask was hiding his identity with a white hood draped over him. Robotic gauntlets and boots hummed quietly with electricity, making him some sort of techno Grim Reaper in white. His clothes were white too. Everything was white. The heavily padded winter jacket and just as padded winter pants hung off his short and stocky frame like armor. He said nothing and stood still over her daughter, the white shadow of death itself.

Alice pulled out the steak knife in her apron and charged.

The white death raised a gauntlet, pointing a metal finger at her. Blue fire shot out and scorched Alice's weapon. She dropped the knife and fell to the ground, her hand covered in third degree burns.

"Mama!" Penny ran to her mother.

"Penny, run! Get out of here!"

Penny ran to the door but was stopped by the specter of death. He grabbed the toddler by the shoulder and hoisted her up to eye level. The poor child started screaming, crying out of terror.

"NO!" Alice scrambled over to his knees. "Please no! Just me! Kill just me! Don't kill her! She doesn't know! She doesn't know what her father does! She's innocent! We're both innocent! We're just Sydney's family! All this will do is hurt him!"

"That's the point." He spoke coolly, digital echo following in reverb. The last thing mother and daughter saw were flames.

It was a busy time in the hours that followed. Sydney would brake down and kill himself in guilt. The syndicate's highest men would have their families shipped overseas for protection. Crime lords would arm themselves heavily and a mob war was brewing over paranoia.

He cared for none for these things. The spirit of doom, the White Knight of death, returned home. He took off his thick silver metal boots and skull mask at the door, revealing a young Japanese man. The thick padded coat was removed, revealing a white harness with cords leading to his gauntlets. His home's furnishings were heavily influenced by Shinto-Imperialism.

Pausing, he touched things. A hundred year old katana his great grand father carried with him during the 1905 Russo-Japanese War. A parchment signed by the Emperor during the Tokugawa era. Samurai armor dating back from the Edo government. A bonsai tree that was cared for lovingly and diligently. Paintings of horrifying shimigami (Japanese Death Gods) taking the souls of the living. Family charts for hundreds of known mobsters telling where their families were living. A state of the art computer station by a work bench covered by strange machines and glowing white chemicals.

Along the walls were photos of the young man during his college graduation. His family were all smiling proudly as the dean gave him his doctorate. Next to the photos were newspapers clippings stating a tragedy. A family had been caught in a mob shoot out while having a picnic at Gotham Park. There was only one survivor.

The young man looked morosely at the picture of his dead family. He shed a tear and balled his fists. He marched over to the charts detailing the relatives of mobsters. Using his now burning pointing finger, he marked off Alice and Penny's names. Next to them were the relatives of another prolific Gotham mobster. They would be his next targets.

He knew what he was doing was ugly, but he did not care. This was not punishment. This was revenge.

"An eye for an eye, a family for a family."

He is shimigami, he is death. He is vengeance, he is the light. He is White Knight!

Let the innocent beware. He is coming for them.

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End Part Seven…
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For those who don't know, White Knight was the very last new villain Batman and Robin fought before the new52 reboot. In the comic, he's a religious fanatic who murders the family members of Gotham criminals to save their souls before they become evil like their wicked relatives. He writes the names of his victims on effigies of Gotham's criminals hanging from a giant tree. It's a wonderful 3 issue storyline with simply gorgeous coloring and art. I recommend it as a must read.

I decided to make my version of White Knight Japanese since white is the color of death/funerals in Shinto/Buddhist religions. I even adapted his giant tree by making it a bonsai tree. I also changed his motivation to the darkest kind of revenge as the twisted religious overtones of the comic's character could not be shown in a children's cartoon.

White Knight is visually very unique. It's a body outline willed with pure white with a slight glow. There is no detail or anything shown on his body. It's very impressive in its simplicity. His costume here is basically a white version of Anarky's from the video game Arkham Origins. Speaking of Anarky, I really had to work to keep White Knight visually distinctive from BtB's Anarky.

Since both wear white, I had White Knight act almost the opposite from Anarky. Anarky is athletic and fast, White Knight is stocky and patient. Anakry is expressive and loves to talk; White Knight is cold and silent, almost never speaking just like Halloween's Mike Myers. Anarky is a master fighter while White Knight relies entirely on his fire technology.

And speaking of fire powers, I had to cringe when I remembered that BtB already has Phosphorus Rex. So not only is White Knight using Anarky's color scheme, he's also using Rex's powers. I just hope White Knight using blue fire instead of red like Rex is enough to break the similarities. Still, I think I did well here and this version of White Knight could make it into the next Batman cartoon if there are no further plans for BtB.

Read and review, my loyal readers!