Batman VS Joker's Thirteen Ghosts

This story is a continuation of Batman VS Michael Myers: Michael's Final Kill written by Guano Droppings. Please check it out. Before I begin this new chapter, here is a quick summary of Batman VS Micheal Myers: Michael's Final Kill;

Michael Myers is controlled by an evil entity called, the Shape. The Shape has only been able to affect the Myers' bloodline due to a witch's curse. Michael thought that killing the last of his bloodline would finally allow him to rest in peace. But, he didn't realize that Laurie Strode had put a child of hers up for adoption nearly twenty-four years ago. After killing Laurie, Michael found out that his last living relative was named Angie Stevenson. She had been adopted by a couple that resided in Gotham. Michael traveled to Gotham. There, he met resistance from Batman. Although Batman was a worthy opponent, Michael still managed to kill Angie. Finally, Michael thought he could die, and therefore end the Shape's existence forever. But, he found out that Angie had a baby named Michael Maddox that was only one years old. Instead of trying to kill the child, he chose to go dormant for five years. As his body was deteriorating, he rose up again. He knew that the Shape was preparing young Michael Maddox's body to be his new host. Michael found out that Bruce Wayne had adopted young Michael Maddox. Michael was unsuccessful at getting to Maddox. Bruce Wayne had found a way to defeat him by using fragments of the sacred bluestones found at Stonehenge. Bruce then trapped Michael Myers and the Shape in a tomb surrounded by the bluestones. And there, deep in the farthest reaches of the Batcave, Michael still remains trapped. As long as the Shape stays in captivity, he can not get to young Michael Maddox. Plus, Bruce had a feeling that there might be some other evil entities like the Shape still lurking about the Earth because of a dream he had involving Cochran the Warlock and Merlin the Magician.

It was a beautiful November morning as several people gathered into the Lakewood Church where Joel Osteen had planned a great sermon that would discuss the meaning of God and the reason for Thanksgiving. It was a packed house of nearly seventeen thousand faithful followers. Joel excused himself from his work staff, and then went to the makeup room to freshen up one last time before going on stage. He wanted to look his best because his television ratings were calling for more than two-hundred thousand viewers to be watching this broadcast. On average, he usually had about fifty thousand viewers on any given Sunday. Joel entered the dressing room, and then shut the door. He sat down at the makeup table. At first he started looking for the perfect toner for his cheeks. But, as he looked into the mirror to apply it, he was suddenly startled. A man was standing behind him. This man was wearing the exact same outfit as Joel. The only difference in the outfit was that the strange man was wearing a top-hat. The mystery man's makeup and facial features were cosmetically made up to look just like Joels.

Joel tried to speak to him as cautiously as possible because he didn't know what the look-alike was there for. "Hi pal. I like that suit you are wearing. Did you want an autograph?"

A menacing grin grew on the strange man's face. "Ha haha HA Hoo hoo hoo! You are quite a character Joel. Did you want my autograph Hoo hoo hoo ha ha ah ah…" he laughed as he mocked Joel.

Joel put his hands up to calm the stranger down. "Look buddy, I am here for you. God is here for you. What brings you to the greatest church on Earth?"

The man grabbed Joel by his collar, and then bent down closer to his face. "I'm here because this is the last place God would ever have expected me to be." he said as he reached down to point to his flowered posy on his black suit. Then, just as Joel looked down to see what the strange man was pointing at, the stranger squirted an acidic fluid from the flowered posy onto Joel's face. Joel fell back while putting his hands over his face, but it was too late. The acid was already causing Joel's face to melt. Joel began screaming in pain.

"Ha haha haha hoo hoo hoo hee hee ah!" The madman laughed uncontrollably. "Not a bad look on you Joelsy! I've got one for you that's even better than the acid! The makeup you applied today had a special compound." He said as he pulled Joel's arms away from his face. "Go ahead! Look in the mirror!"

Joel turned to look in the mirror. His skin tone was starting to turn white. His facial muscles began causing his mouth to grin as wide as a grin could stretch. "Ha ha... Ha haha… Hahahahahahahahaha!" Joel laughed uncontrollably until the chemical finally took his life.

The madman straightened up Joel's bow-tie because it was slanted and crooked. "Joel Osteen! I guess they don't call you the smiling preacher for nothing! Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!" The madman looked down at the black suit he had on which was imitating Joel's black suit. "You know what? Black isn't a bad color, Joelsy. But, it's not my style. I prefer purple." He declared as he ripped the black suit off revealing that he had a purple suit on underneath. "Ahhh… that's better!" He said as he tilted his top-hat down to cover half of his face. "Now, let's go out there and put on a HELL of a killer show!"

The madman walked out of the dressing room. One of the producers walked up to him. "Hey! I didn't know we were changing outfits! I guess there isn't anything we can do about it now since you are about to go on stage in less than a minute. But, the next time, I expect to be told about any changes." The producer proclaimed. He looked at Joel a little closer. "Are you okay Joel? You don't seem to be yourself today. There are going to be two-hundred thousand people watching the show today. We are going to need you to give your best performance, that is, if we want the donations to start rolling in." Then he chuckled as he said, "Besides, God knows you need a new sports car."

Joel's look-alike thought that joke was hilarious. "Hahahaha O O hmm!"

The producer piped up. "Well, I'm glad one of us thought that was funny! Now, go out there and knock them dead!"

The large curtain opened up. The crowd stood up and started cheering as the man that they thought was Joel Osteen came dancing out onto the stage. He twirled about as he made his way to the center of the stage. The crowd continued cheering as he put one hand over his heart, and then pointed his other hand towards the heavens. "Praise Jesus!" Finally, he took a bow.

"Please! Thank you! Please have a seat!" he instructed the crowd.

"We love you Joel!" a crowd member yelled out.

"And God loves you!" The madman shouted back.

Finally, the crowd settled down, and then took their seats.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have a special treat for you tonight!. And, for those of you watching at home, God has an even bigger plan for you!" He proclaimed as he pointed his finger at the cameras. "Oh heavenly father, will you please open up your pearly gates for us tonight!"

Just as he said that, a cloud of green smoke began blowing out of the vents from the ceiling above. The crowd was in awe as the foggy green display filled up above them in the arena.

The camera zoomed in on the Osteen look-alike. "If you folks at home want to see heaven, be sure to watch these commercials, and join us after the break!"

As the commercials started, they weren't like any other commercial. There was a hypnotizing element to it. Everyone watching from home began to sleep as they fell into a trance. Back at the church, the Osteen look-alike walked over to the bird bath which held the holy water. He put his hands down in it, and then started splashing his face. At first his back was turned away from the crowd. But then he turned to reveal himself. The makeup was running badly off of his face revealing a pasty white skin tone. His lips became ruby red. He pulled off his top-hat revealing a head full of toxic green hair.

"Joker here! I'll be your GOD for this evening! WELCOME TO THE HEALING POWER OF LAUGHTER! Now,… please,... GO TO HELL!"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Some of the people in the higher seats started to cough, but the cough quickly morphed into an uncontrollable laugh. The church goers that hadn't felt the effects yet began screaming as they tried making their way to the exit door. Some of the elderly church goers had fallen or had been pushed over. The rest of the crowd trampled over them as they tried to get away. But, the doors were locked.

"Well… That wasn't very God-like, was it?" Joker said with a serious face. Then his grin came back. "But I like it!"

The television viewing had come back on after the commercial. Joker walked in front of the camera. For those of you that are sleeping at home, when I snap my fingers, you will wake up. And when you wake up, if you want to go to heaven, you will try to kill as many people as you can!"

SNAP!

One of the many television viewers grabbed a baseball bat, and then walked up the stairs to his teenage son's room. He began pulverizing the boy until there was nothing left of his face. The same thing was happening to any other family that tuned in. Households that had several viewers in one place started slaughtering each other. Once they were done in their homes, they ventured out to the neighbors. It was madness. Back at the church, the camera panned around to the audience. Everyone was dead. All seventeen thousand of them. Their faces were pasty white, and they had huge frozen grins. Some of them were still twitching.

"IF YOU GOTTA GO MEET YOUR MAKER, GO WITH A SMILE!" Joker declared as he repeated one of his favorite sayings.

He turned to walk off of the stage. Just before he went behind the curtain, he turned around to give one last bow. He quickly made his way out of the building. Outside he could see several people fighting in the street. They were using any and every weapon they could find to kill someone. Joker basked in his glory as he walked amongst the madness. He went untouched as he walked through the crowds. Nobody would touch him because they all thought he was God. The Joker could hear police sirens off in the distance.

"Well, that was fast!" He spouted. "It looks like it's time for me to make like a God, and disappear!"

When the police cars showed up, the crowd of crazed viewers began attacking them. They smashed out the windows, and then tried to kill the cops. As the Joker made it out of sight, he laughed uncontrollably when he heard the echoes of gunfire and screaming from off in the distance. He had managed to turn some of the most faithful worshippers into stark-raving mad killers.

…Roughly, an hour later, Joker was sitting comfortably in his hideout location, and watching the news.

"This is a national emergency! Chaos is breaking out all over the country tonight! Several people seem to have lost their minds as they attack each other. Please keep your doors locked." The media personality pleaded.

"Yes! Lock your doors! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

Suddenly, Joker was startled as a voice spoke out from behind him. "Jack. You are certainly one of a kind."

Joker turned his chair around to see that there was a very old man standing there. "First of all! Jack is dead, my friend! The name is, JOKER! Now, who the HELL are you?" He demanded to know. The old man said nothing at first. "Oh well, I don't need to know!" The Joker said as he lifted up his cane.

BLAST! A bullet fired out of it. The bullet stopped in mid air before it could pierce the strange man's skin.

"Sorry! Joker! I should have properly introduced myself. My name is Conal Cochran. I am about to give you the chance of a lifetime."

The Joker could only sit there in awe because he was amazed and wondering about how the elderly man managed to stop the bullet. "That was quite a neat parlor trick there, Mr. Cockroach. But, I've seen better." Joker said as he tried shooting acid out of his flowered posy.

Conal stuck his hand up, and then used his magic powers to send the acid back in the Joker's direction. It sizzled as it splashed onto the Joker's face. He was unfazed.

"I bathe in this shit!" Joker declared. " Now. What else have you got, old man?"

"Please settle down, Joker." Conal pleaded. "I need your help. And… after that stunt you just pulled off at the Church of Osteen, you are the perfect candidate for the job."

The Joker picked up two fake elephant ears, and put them up to the side of his head. "I'm all ears, Pal!"

"Good! How would you like to become the most powerful person on this planet?" Cochran asked.

The Joker thought about it for a moment. "Hmm, only the planet? Isn't that setting the bar a little low?" he playfully replied.

Cochran became pissed. He forcefully lifted the Joker out of his chair, and then, SLAM! He threw his skinny frame of a body up against the wall.

The Joker laid on the floor feeling dazed. "Okay,... I guess I could settle for the planet."

"Good! Now that I have your undivided attention. I am going to need you to help me free twelve of my family and friends." Cochran insisted.

Joker piped up. "Free twelve of your family and friends? You have powers. Why can't you just free them by yourself?" he asked.

"It's not that simple." Cochran explained. "Merlin has placed an incantation spell upon their souls, and I cannot break it's barrier." Cochrane proclaimed.

"Incantation upon their souls? Old man, are we talking about dead people here?" Joker felt the need to ask.

"Yes, they are dead at the moment, and their spirits are being trapped. But, I need you to go to their locations and set them free. Once we have set them free, we will be able to combine all of their incredible souls into your body, creating the most powerful entity to ever walk the Earth!" Cochran declared.

"And how am I supposed to set them free? Wouldn't this Merlin guy that you speak of try to stop me?"

"Not anymore." Cochran laughed. "Merlin the Magician is dead! I killed him!" He spouted out. "But, there is one more thing you must do before you can set them free. You will need to find thirteen people to sacrifice, and then spill their blood upon the spirit's grave. I already have one person in mind."

"Awe!" The Joker said with a frown. "Only thirteen people. I could do that in my sleep! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha ah ah!"