Batman Arkham Knight (35 page)

It was starting to rain and, as he continued to write his thoughts, he didn’t notice three figures—a father, mother, and son—duck into the alley trying to stay dry under its overhang.

The limo moved on as two other figures followed the family into the alley. One pulled out a handgun.

The father saw the two, stepped toward the gunman and tried to reason with him. The gunman slammed the pistol across his face, knocking him to the ground. The boy hugged his mother.

“Help me,” she cried. “Help us.”

The thug pushed her to the wall, grabbed her pearl necklace and pulled. The chain broke and the pearls fell to the ground, scattering in all directions.

“No one’s coming to help you, lady. Not in this city. Not anymore.” He turned to the other thug and gestured to the father, still sprawled on the ground. “Take his wallet.”

But then the gunman heard a shriek behind him. It was the woman. He turned and looked up and gasped. The other thug followed his gaze.

He
was standing on the roof. A dark silhouette.

“Hey, freak,” the gunman said, laughing, no longer afraid. “Maybe you missed the news, but the Batman’s dead. That costume, it don’t scare us no more.”

The figure on the roof said nothing. But his eyes glowed dark green, two burning fires in the night.

A swarm of bats exploded from his body, forming giant wings, spread wide as their shrieking grew louder and louder. The figure swooped down from the roof, its demonic face snarling with bared fangs and fiery eyes.

The gunman was wrong.

There was something to fear.

To DC Entertainment, and the many people who have made Batman who he is. You gave birth to a legend and in doing so enriched the lives of millions.

A special thanks to Ames Kirshen, Josh Anderson, Elizabeth Seminario, Matthew Mizutani, Craig Mitchell, Ernest Zamora and everyone at WBIE for their help, encouragement and guidance. This book could not have been possible without all of you.

Thanks to everyone at Rocksteady for creating such a powerful and emotional game, and especially to Sefton Hill, Martin Lancaster, Phil Huxley, and Craig Owens for their amazing game script.

Special thanks to my editor, Steve Saffel, and all the good folk at Titan Books including Nick Landau, Vivian Cheung, Laura Price, Paul Gill, and Alice Nightingale and Hayley Shepherd.

Marv Wolfman
January 30, 2015

MARV WOLFMAN has written the adventures of many of the most famous characters in comic books, including Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, and Fantastic Four. He was the co-creator of The New Teen Titans, Deathstroke the Terminator, and Nova, and wrote the universe-changing limited series
Crisis on Infinite Earths
. In the video-game world he contributed to
Green Lantern
, the DCU-Online massive multiplayer online game;
Superman Returns
;
Dark Knight Returns
;
Flash
, and more. His novels include
Crisis on Infinite Earths
,
Superman Returns
, and
The Oz Encounter
. His awards include the Will Eisner Hall of Fame Award, the National Jewish Council Book Award, and the Scribe Award for Speculative Fiction (for
Superman Returns
).

THE RIDDLER’S GAMBIT

THE OFFICIAL PREQUEL NOVEL TO BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT

The Joker’s death has left a void in the Gotham City underworld—one the Riddler seeks to fill in the deadliest way possible. Creating a maze of death and destruction, the criminal mastermind enlists the help of many of Batman’s most ruthless enemies.

With the clock ticking down the moments to disaster, Batman and Robin find themselves facing an unstoppable foe and a no-win scenario.

PREQUEL NOVEL WRITTEN BY ALEX IRVINE!

TITAN
BOOKS.COM