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.

There was only one vote for my poll on the next villain for this story and it was from me! Well, I support democracy even if I'm the only person who bothers to vote (but I'll forgo polling from here on out). So here's Polka Dot Man! Enjoy!

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Bring on the Badguys!

Part Seventeen:

Polka Dot Man

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Day 1

This is the private journey of Dr. Abner Krill, holder of PhDs in the fields of xenobiology, synthetic biology, and micro-biology. I have been approached by a new startup company called ABKRO whose purpose is human advancement via any means. They have assured me that I will have virtually unlimited resources to further my experiments and for that I am grateful. Too long has my worked been stalled by either needless oversight or scarcity.

I am eager to begin.

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Day 2

Aliens exist. Fascinating. This morning I was given clearance to enter a special quarantine area for research material where I saw them. Seven inhuman extraterrestrial beings dressed in single color uniforms. Among each of their bodies was a single colored ring that matched their uniforms along with a similarly colored portable lantern like object per body.

Apparently they were all found on earth as is. There was no wreckage of a space ship or any other vessel. It would be too improbable that seven different alien species could travel through space and arrive on my planet via their own power. I conclude they either these rings or the lanterns were the true source of their sojourn beyond the stars.

The goal of Project: Tupfen is to duplicate this mechanism. Though I do not know how it operates, I believe I can reverse-engineer a primitive, though functional, version of this process.

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Day 62

Attempt 39 to dissemble either ring or lantern has ended again in failure. My latest attempt using a particle accelerator failed to inflict any visible damage. I have begun to grow despondent but I must not give up hope. I will never stop my research no matter what obstacles I encounter.

Fortunately my continuing efforts have impressed my superiors. They have bequeathed to me a malleable metal discovered in an Egyptian pyramid that served as the tomb of the deceased Prince Khufu and his love, Chay-Ara. This metal is incredibly strong and durable yet does not match anything on the Periodic Table. It was dubbed "nth" metal by the archeologist couple who found it. Using it as a makeshift scalpel as proving effective. I can now pierce into the wonders of the universe.

Who knows what secrets I will unlock?

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Day 87

I love this job! Everything, the people, the environment, the workload, I love everything here! It feels so good at this company! Work has progress wonderfully with proto-spheres containing a solidus between energy and fluid. Each discus contains a single color sludge-like energy source corresponding with a color from one of the ring and lantern sets.

Taking a break from studying my test subjects, I toured the facility. What amazing coworkers I have. I can hardly believe I've spent over two months alone in my lab. It's high time I start exploring this place along with my fellow coworkers.

I know I can make even this massive facility better. All it takes is kindness and love!

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Day 93

These poor test subjects! What Prof. Milo does in his projects is utterly lacking in compassion! He's splicing humans with animal DNA to make hybrids regardless if their bodies can handle the stress.

There's a man who keeps going into shock because he was turned into some sort of Copperhead snakeman. A former Olympic gold-medal winner screams every night as his insides start twisting around to turn him into an actual werewolf. Then there's that poor woman who turned herself into an orca whale! Why doesn't anyone feel for these poor souls? Where is their compassion?

There must be something I can do!

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Day 102

I have hope I can convince the higher ups to help these test subjects. I don't know what else to do but hope even as I continue my work examining these alien devices. If I can finish my work and make it a success then perhaps their suffering will end?

I understand enough to know now that it is the rings that enabled the aliens to travel through space with the lanterns serving as their power source. I'm certain I can replicate this function. In fact I believe they are capable of much more.

I can only hope.

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Day 124

I've finally overcome the roadblock that's plagued me this last month! Every bio-energy construct attempted dissolved in seconds due to insufficient energy reaching my artificial multi-colored orbs. But if I shortened the distance the energy traveled, i.e. attached smaller discs directly onto a control suit to wear then that issue is solved!

My colleagues think I'm out of my mind for allowing direct neural interface but all I know giving into fear will accomplish nothing.

You need courage when life gets hard!

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Day139

My… peers at this facility now look at me differently since I've fulfilled Project: Tupfen's original goal. I care not for their concerns. Let them go back to cutting into their talking lab rats so long as they don't interfere in my project.

I have no reason to fear them. None of them would dare make a stand against me. They know what my technology is capable of. While on paper it appears benign, any pleb with a working brain would realize how dangerous I really am.

After all, it is better to be feared than respected.

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Day 143

They want my work! I can see it in their eyes everywhere I go, they're watching me! They're just waiting for me to let my guard down so they can steal it!

THEY CAN'T HAVE IT! IT'S MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!

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Day 144

I HATE THEM! THEY CONSPIRE AGAINST ME! THEY THINK I DON'T KNOW BUT I DO!

I'll kill them all… I have total control over my spheres and I can make the artificial plasma contained within them to become anything. Massive fists to tear them apart… buzz saws to slice them in half… heavy weights to crush them… spheres to swallow them up and smother them… I'll kill them all...

I'LL KILL THEM ALL!

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Day 150

…mind… is now clear… during my attack… a pink swordsman… knocked me unconscious… woke up with thoughts clear… surgeon said I can now use… all my spheres at once… without losing control… but I serve the snake king now… his implant will keep… my mind free… of madness…

Polka Dot Man… is born…

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End Part Seventeen…
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Tupfen is German for speckle or polka-dots if you think about it plus Abner's last name Krill is of German origin so I figure it'd work.

I've had Polka-Dot Man on the docket for a long time ever since I saw this great picture on Scott Kowalchuk's blog. He made the 60's joke villain actually look creepy and that inspired me on how to handle this goofball. Seeing those creepy sludge hands reminded me of Green Lantern constructs so it struck me that his dots could be a poor replication of the Lanterns' rings.

Despite being another first person perspective story, this one was nowhere near as difficult as Kobra's chapter or Kiwi's Story from Green with Evil. The toughest part was having Krill describe how his tech work while going through the cycle of emotions but I managed. I tried to throw in a few Easter Eggs with other meta-humans from DC but I reined it end to focus more on Polka Dot Man. BTW, until the Lego Batman Movie I couldn't decide if he was called that or Mr. Polka Dots since the comics can't seem to decide either. Shame on you, DC!

I'll throw you a bone and give you my pitch for the new DCEU Batman movie. The Dark Knight has to infiltrate a KOBRA science facility, constantly fighting revamped D-List Bat baddies, before the final fight with Kobra. If this sounds familiar, it should. My pitch is simple: There's a good guy, a bad guy, colorful henchmen, and a building. In short, my pitch is Die-Hard with Batman. Now go make money, you dumb bastards.

It's funny but after watching Batman & Harley Quinn, I think I realized why so many people hated the Beware the Batman cartoon. It's because it was a Batman cartoon. Online culture is always going to hate anything different but when something is new like Green Lantern TAS and Young Justice then the haters drop out after the first couple episodes. I really think if Nightwing was the main character and the setting was in Blüdhaven with the same villains then the show would probably be as well regarded as the other two action shows from DC Nation.

We'll probably get another DC cartoon series and I hope WB not only allows it to be its own thing but also supports it. Who knows, we might get to see some of the baddies in this fanfic there.

Until that time comes to pass, thanks for reading and please leave a review!