"Unintelligent rodent," Riddler thought. "he must've cheated, it's the only way he could win, but how? How did he cheat my genu,-"His device started beeping. Riddler picked up the pace and walked around the room. This was far from over. If Batman thought he could leave Edward Nigma like this the Bat was sadly mistaken. Perhaps he grew overconfident now that he finally took down Hugo Strange. Confidence is weakness. He stared at his moving feet. His device, his own intellectual device was being used against him. The machine beeped again and Riddler looked in front of him. The sensor inside the device had seen the human who was observing him in the corner of the room. "Get out of my way or I'll explode!" Riddler shouted.
"And that would truly be a shame, now wouldn't it?" The man asked. Edward couldn't quite make out who was observing him as the darkness prevented him from seeing a face. "Who-who are you?" Edward asked nervously. "An old friend." The eerie voice spoke. "Well, if my friend would be so kind as to free me?" Riddler suggested. He had gotten sick of this. He walked past the hooded figure. "No, not yet. I need to know a few things first." "Great friend you are." He complained. "What do you want to know?" "I'm creating a plan, a plan to hold Gotham by its throat and get rid of the caped crusader guarding her." Riddler laughed. "Get in line, like that hasn't been done before." The hooded figure stepped out of the shadow and moved towards the device. "Do you want to be freed, Nigma? I'd strongly recommend you start to cooperate with me. I've thought of a plan like no other, to bring the worst of the worst together and end this all. My plan however, requires brains, a think-tank of sorts if you will. Right now I am your only hope of survival so pick your words carefully." Riddler shook his head. "I'm going to take down the Bat myself, I don't need he,-"The man stood in front of the sensor and Riddler's device began beeping. "I'll do it! I'll do it! Just don't do that again!" "A smart move, I wouldn't have expected anything else from the self-proclaimed smartest man alive."
The man grabbed Riddler by his arm and dragged him out his hideout. The sun shone upon them and the man removed his hood. Now Riddler could see the true terror that was dragging him along. "You look,-"There was a slight pause. "Terrifying." "I'm going to take that as a compliment." Jonathan Crane spoke.
Outside his hideout multiple villains were waiting. Riddler recognized Harley Quinn, who was now by far one of Gotham's most famous widows. Poison Ivy was standing beside her. Her skin was a lighter shade of green then Riddler remembered it to be, and he remembered everything. Arkham City had torn the both of them down. Two-Face and Penguin were standing on the other side. The two gang leaders had been at war ever since the Arkham City project started but had seemed to embrace their differences and actually looked like friends. In the middle was a man Riddler had never seen before, the suit he wore resembled that of the Bat. This suit however was grey with slight hints of red in the pants and chest plate.
"Great, ya got Eddie out. Now could you tell us more about this bozo over here?" Harley complained. "All in due time, Miss Quinzel." Scarecrow spoke. "You do need to know any more about him than this. He is here to help us and he can be trusted. That is all I am willing to tell you about him."
Ivy looked skeptical. "Aren't we going to get more people out? I recall Bane being locked up in the toy factory." "Bane is a brute, Pamela, and I'd say that with this army, I'd say we've got quite the advantage already."
Uptown Gotham, Founders Island, in front of Elliot Memorial Hospital
"Can't say I'm surprised to see you here." The blonde spoke, she was slightly irritated. "You kidding me? This is going to be the big, Vale, you and I both know it." The man with glasses spoke. "John, how's our camera holding up?" 'John' who was carrying the camera gave a thumbs up and the man began to report. "This is Jack Ryder live in front of Elliot Memorial Hospital where Bruce Wayne just announced a major press event. According to a spokesperson, Bruce is about to unveil one of his largest secrets that could change our everyday live. What will it be? Did Bruce Wayne kill his own parents? Did he get one of his one-night stands pregnant? In 15 minutes, we will know! Stay tuned, Gotham! Back to the studio!" Vicky rolled her eyes. "Really, killed his own parents? Kid was, what, Eight?" "You never know in this town Vicky." Jack stated, keeping his eyes focused on the small stage in front of them. A huge crowd has assembled already. Vicky spotted news vans all the way from Metropolis and Central City.
A small woman stepped in front of the microphone located on the stage and began a small speech. Vicky barely listened. It had to do with saving the environment and all that. Wayne Enterprises was really interested in that for some reason.
"Also, we regret to inform you that Mr. Wayne will not be here in person today, but will instead give his speech on this screen."
There was a small uproar from the crowd until a screen appeared on the stage. It turned on and Bruce Wayne appeared. Now there was an even bigger uproar from the crowd. Jack and Vicky both instinctively turned to their camera's and began to report. "Wayne will not be here in person." One reporter began shouting. "Scars on his face. Did Wayne get plastic surgery?" Another one asked. Bruce Wayne looked like a hot mess. Someone who had just survived one of Gotham's biggest bar fights.
"Good evening, Gotham. My name is Bruce Wayne, as you are no doubt aware. I have a confession to make. Long I have been benefiting from the money my parents left me. I was undeserving, spoiled, selfish. I still am." Vicky felt like something was off. She had just spoken to Bruce a few days ago, he didn't have the scars, and he had too big an ego to be talking about himself like this.
"Initially, I promised to only reveal one of my many secrets, but today, ladies and gentleman of Gotham, I will reveal two of them. I gunned down my parents."
A large gasp from the crowd followed, and then there was silence.
"There was no burglar, no threats. I saw a gun lying down on the floor. I don't know what came over me, but I, - I couldn't live like that anymore. My parents were rich and rubbed it in everyone's faces. Including mine, I didn't get to spend one single penny. I had to it Gotham. Then, the guilt started. I made up a small story and everyone believed me, but they were lies. I needed to clear my conscious. I needed to be someone else. What I'm trying to say, Gotham, is that I am The Batman."
A/N : Sorry for the small hiatus, but let me give you a quick status update. Having finished the actual game I needed to figure out where this story needed to go. As you might've seen it's going in a different direction, which is something I enjoy doing. This includes the identity of the Arkham Knight. In short, my Arkham Knight isn't the person who is the Arkham Knight in the game. While I'm not going to spoil who it is in both my story and in that of the game, I can tell you that whoever's behind that mask in my story is NOT a custom character.