Batman: The Six Deadly Demons

Batman: The Six Deadly Demons is a novella written by John Albano and first published in 1992.

Plot
On some barren wasteland far from Gotham City, a ghostly mansion suddenly appeared out of the ground. Minutes later, a convy of vehicles - several trucks and passenger cars led by a black limousine - arrived at the mansion. The limousine was contained Mr. Morte and his crippled servant, Nicholas; the passenger cars contained five of the world's best (but bent) surgeons and nurses; the trucks contained six alligators, six wolves and the bodies of recently executed criminals. Sitting at around a table inside the mansion, Morte, a formally-dressed man with a 'face that foretold evil', revealed that he needed the servants to create six part-wolf, part-alligator and part-human demons which would be used to do away with Batman once and for all. Morte had been sent from hell to do away with Batman permanently and if he failed he would be doomed to spend an eternity in hell.

Wishing to observe Batman's abilites, Morte helped a woman to fix a flat tyre on her van and, once the woman was on her way home, he used his psychic powers to send a black Trans Am to drive in front of her, causing her to swerve and hit a building. As the van burned, Batman soon showed up to rescue the woman. Batman became convinced that the accident was related to Morte's limousine which he had noticed was following him.

Later, nearer the morning, Batman heard gunfire and discovered that two rival gangs had collided outside a warehouse. Morte surveyed him as he brought the fight to an end.

Next, Morte released a huge, muscular madman into a busy shopping mall with a 10mm automatic and a 15mm automatic. Tommy Morrow, a new security guard, shot him with a .38 but to no avail. The insane gunman shot a young mother in the knee before Batman arrived, disarming him while the police came to take him away. Immediately after that incident, Sam and Paddy, two long-serving and well-respected policemen attempted to arrest Batman although they later told Commissioner Gordon that they had no recollection of that.

On another night, Morte decided to observe Catwoman. Catwoman was to b found stealing jewels from the wall safe of a luxurious mansion. A night watchman discovered Catwoman and was about to call the police, but Catwoman lashed her whip and made him drop his gun. As Catwoman was escaping Batman chased her, but the watchman had recovered and he shot Catwoman, causing him to be berated by Batman.

Catwoman reached her apartment and stumbled inside. As she undressed she discovered that Batman had followed her home and take her to the hospital where she would be reported to the police. Catwoman was fatally wounded and dying in hospital.

Mr. Morte arrived at the hospital and, knowing that Batman was present, he used his psychic abilities to set fire to an abandoned building down the road which housed vagrants. Using his 'good' face he asked to see Selina Kyle (Catwoman) but was refused entry. Infuriated, he made the nurse at the reception counter's face turn into just a skull. He made his way to Kyle's room and gained entry by bribing the guards. Once inside, he used his mystical powers to make her make a full recovery.

Morte took Catwoman away in his limousine and explained that he wanted her to help him kill Batman. On the way to his mansion, Morte stopped at the Institution for the Criminally Insane and used his mind to unlock all the cells and allow the occupants to run free so that Batman would be occupied. Once Batman was completely exhausted, he planned to finish him off.

Later that night, once the criminals were back in the asylum, Morte used his powers to speak to Batman from afar and told him to "Be in the alley on Crestwood Street tonight" Catwoman drove one of Morte's trucks to the alley and released the nauseating alligator/wolf/human demons. A fight ensued and the demons gradually overcame Batman, but the Caped Crusader summoned an army of bats to attack the demons and by the time he sent them away the demons could barely fight either. The demons still continued their assault, but Batman produced a couple of explosives from his utility belt and used them against the exhausted demons. Admitting defeat, Morte and Catwoman took the beasts back to the mansion.

Morte's voice revisited Batman on another night. He was instructed to be on the roof of the Walker Building. Nicholas had prepared a trap so that if Batman fell from the roof he would be impaled on a series of stakes that he had fixed into the ground. The demons climbed the building and and Catwoman jumped there from across the rooftops. Another melée began. Once he had used almost all of his energy, Batman reached into his utility belt and fired some needles at Catwoman and all of the demons. The needles contained a substance that caused hallucinations of hundreds of Batmen. Not knowing which was the real Batman, the demons ran around aimlessly until they all ran off the building and impaled themselves on the stakes. Catwoman attempted to run away, but she slipped and fell onto the stakes as well, however her fall was broken as she landed on two of the monsters.

Catwoman still managed to escape as she was driven to her apartment by Morte and his chauffeur, Nicholas. Having failed his task, Morte was doomed to an eternity in hell. He was, however, 'a pretty good talker' and he managed to secure himself a new life alongside Batman's friend, the priest Father Kelly.

Main characters in order of appearance

 * Mr. Morte
 * Nicholas
 * Batman
 * Catwoman

Minor characters in order of appearance

 * The elderly surgeon
 * Tommy Morrow, a security guard at the shopping mall
 * The mad gunman
 * Sam and Paddy, two policemen
 * Commissioner Gordon
 * The night watchman
 * Father Kelly