Cyrus Pinkney's Journal - Batman: Arkham Origins (2013)

Entry One:

Cyrus Pinkney: January 13, 1855: The moment of my death approaches and there is naught I might to do to stop it. I dared dream of greatness, but in the process, I forgot that such ambition oft demands a heavy price. Still I pay it gladly, for knowing that Gotham has become a city whose magnificence will echo across the ages. But its origins must not be forgotten. And so I have scattered my journal across the city, placing pages where I believe they shall endure. Find them. Read them. Then share what lies within. For though the truth may not be so beautiful as the legend - it is necessary all the same.


Entry Two: 

Cyrus Pinkney: April 22, 1846: Our recent financial troubles have forced us into business with one Henry Cobblepot, a print magnate of questionable repute. The man cares little for me and my 'base station', as he put it. And so the negotiations are left to Solomon. But I fear his idealism shall lead us down a treacherous road. For Cobblepot is a sneak - and surely his sweet words mask a nefarious intent.

Entry Three: 

Cyrus Pinkney: August 11, 1851: I fear I've angered Henry Cobblepot. But he sought to build over the last remaining vestige of the original Gotham, and I could not allow it. Solomon and I went before the Mayor and bade him support us. Henry was opposed - insisting his work was necessary for Gotham's financial security. I think it's more to do with his own. Solomon Wayne's hotel put Cobblepot's out of business. I do wonder if Mr. Wayne erred in opening that place. But what's done is done.


Entry Four: 

Cyrus Pinkney: February 7, 1852: I have met the most extraordinary young man by the name of Amadeus Arkham. Though still just a student, he exhibits an intelligence unmatched by even Gotham's most learned. He is possessed with a kind heart as well - and seeks to help those who all others have abandoned. Rehabilitation instead of incarceration. It is the most progressive notion and one that few of his peers support. But I believe. And so I shall provide him with plans for the greatest asylum the world has ever known...


Entry Five: 

Cyrus Pinkney: April 3, 1853: I'm sorry Solomon... to have gone behind your back. To have bargained with the devil. But the accounts have run dry - and our work is but half begun! I had no choice but to approach Henry Cobblepot. The others would contribute no more. He consented to my request, though I fear it will come at a great cost. For now he says I owe him nothing. But how long until I do?


Entry Six: 

Cyrus Pinkney: December 22, 1854: I fear I'm not long for the world. Henry Cobblepot finally came to collect - and I refused. He wishes to open a munitions factory inside the city. This is not part of the plan and it works against everything we've accomplished. To say nothing of the danger to Gotham's citizens. I went to the mayor and begged him to introduce a bill banning the endeavour. Thankfully, he agreed. But I'm sure to be punished for my betrayal. It's only a matter of how and when...


Entry Seven:

Cyrus Pinkney: January 11, 1855: I've accepted the invitation, knowing that it means my death. Henry Cobblepot claims its merely party to celebrate my fortieth birthday. He insists that he's forgiven my past transgressions. Turned over a new leaf, as it were. But I know better. With me gone, he will use his wily charms to see the law changed and his factory built. Already there are rumours that his son, Theodore, intends to run for mayor. Victory is all but assured. I will hide this journal of mine, in the hopes that some day it might be found. To go public now - before my work is done - would put it all at risk. It must wait. But I hope in time, my words are brought to light...


Entry Eight: 

Cyrus Pinkney: January 14, 1855: My god, it worked. Amadeus truly is a genius. You've come this far, dear reader - allow me to explain: I learned Cobblepot intended to poison me. And so we endeavoured to replace his tainted wine with one of our own creation. As expected, I choked. I sputtered. And then I passed. But it was not poisoned I consumed. Rather something made by Amadeus. His concoction enabled me to enter a soporific state so profound that, to even the keenest of physicians, I appeared a corpse. Yet here I am - resurrected. And now I will have my revenge: Henry Cobblepot will pay for what he's done.

The Joker Missed Calls - Batman: Arkham City (2011)

Message One: 

I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier. A hotline straight to my bestest friend in all the world. Just think, I can call you up whenever I get bored. I think our relationship is really maturing here. The next thing you know is we'll be exchanging emails or meeting up for romantic dinners.


Message Two:

You have one missed call.

Ring, ring. I was just remembering when it first occurred to me. It was about 6 months you left mw on that rooftop back at the asylum. As the bones knitted back together, I had plenty of time to think; so how do you keep a secret from the World's Greatest Detective? Well, do you know?

It's easy. You stick it right in front of him. Right under his long pointy nose and wait.


Message Three:  

I hope your doing your best here, Bats, because I've just had a horrible thought. We could both actually die here tonight. Fortunately the odds are weighted in my favour, but just imagine how you'll feel if I'm gone? It's not like you're not lonely enough, right? All that brooding. It's not good for you, you know?

Do you have someone to go home to each morning, and I don't mean that kid you drag across the rooftops, I mean someone real, someone you can talk to? I don't think you do. It's sad, isn't it? You do all this for Gotham and the only person you can rely on is ... me.


Message Four: 

You have one missed call.

Hey. Been missing you. Get back to me. Laters.

You have one missed call.

Hello. I'm not sure that you got my call earlier. I'm just dying to speak to you. Call me, Bats.

You have one missed call.

Bats. Seriously. You're making me paranoid. Why aren't you answering my calls? You haven't gone and died on me have you?

You have one missed call.

Look, I know you're dead. I'm missing a group of my guys down under the tower. Guess that means you know about my guns already. Ok, I admit it. They're mine. Strange gives them to me. Ok. Can we be B.F.F's again?

You have one missed call.

Maybe it wasn't you that took out my guys. Alright then. The message I left before, you know, the one I left about the guns. You can ignore it. Just delete it.

You have one missed call.

Right. This is getting ridiculous. I've been leaving messages all night and still you haven't got back to me. Who do I need to kill to make you pick up?

You have one missed call.

At last. Hey, Bats. Where you been? I was just calling to find out how you're feeling? Are you getting the hallucinations yet? I know. It's hard to tell these days. You just never can tell if it's Scarecrow again, that little guy with the hat, my blood running through your veins or if after all this time you really are going crazy.


Message Five: 

You have one missed call.

Hey, Bats. Are you ok? I'm sorry I had Harley steal your cure. You were so busy with Freeze that she didn't have time to ask. But don't worry - as soon as that little minx is back here and I've had my share, I'll save some for you.

You'll have to work for it but it will be right here waiting for you.

You probably won't believe this, but I really don't think I can sit back and watch you die. It's selfish really, but we need each other. Life would be so boring without you. Who would I talk to? Who would really understand me?

Victor Zsasz Phone Messages - Batman: Arkham City (2011)

Call One: 

Did I ever tell you about my first kill, Batman? No? As I am sure you are aware, my parents were dead and I was rich. So rich I could have anything I wanted, but of course, all I wanted was them back. 

I now know that was impossible, of course, that their deaths served a higher purpose. But back then, I had yet to experience the joy of cold steel cutting through warm flesh.

I had no idea how I could save these people from the relentless misery of their existence.

...

Really? Then I'll stop now. Find another telephone, Batman. Goodbye. 


Call Two: 

You made it. I think I will continue my story. I feel the need to talk, to confess maybe. I was rich and alone. But not for long, of course. I took to gambling, or maybe it took to me. If only I had been good at it, I may not be where I am today.

As my life spiralled out of control, I desperately formed a plan. A plan to win back my parents' money and be happy again. If I didn't work, of course. Plans like that never do, but as I stood outside the Iceberg Lounge on that hot summer night. I remember feeling something. Hope maybe.


Call Three: 

The Iceberg Lounge was crawling with the disgusting flesh of humanity. You could find anything there, if you had the money, of course. At the beginning I seemed to be winning. The cards all went my way and I found myself at the owner's table. For some reason I thought I would win, that he would play fair. I looked around the table. I saw the people I was against. Card sharks, thugs, princes and the disgusting midget who ran the place. 

One by one they all lost or folded. The chips were piling up, and it was just him and me.


Call Four: 

They called him the Penguin, even back then. He had both eyes of course, that little accident hadn't happened yet. And both of them were looking at me when i put down my cards. The six of clubs. The six of diamonds. He looked sacred. He learned forward and I could smell the cigar stench on his breath. The six of spades and finally the six of hearts. I felt good.

And then he started laughing. He belched out smoke as he put his cards down on the table. Card by card, my heart sank.  A three, a four, a five, a six; a damn seven. His straight flush ended me there. I was lost and thrown out into the city to die, penniless.


Call Five: 

Can you imagine what it was like, Batman? I was numb, I'd lost everything and I was alone. Crying like a baby staggering through the streets of this city until I found the answer that I had been looking for.

I stood there on the Sprang Bridge looking out to see. I felt the warm breeze on m skin, and it felt right. I looked down and imagined myself falling into the blissful arms of my mother, and then he appeared. He held out the knife and demanded my money. My money! Can you believe it? I looked into his cold, desperate eyes and I saw something familiar, something inevitable. I saw oblivion. I saw that we were all the same, stuck on a miserable loop that demands salvation. So I gave it to him.


Call Six:

Can you imagine the vagrant's surprise when I grabbed his knife from his hands? It was instinctive, it was beautiful. In one movement I sliced out his throat and gave him the gift of salvation. It happened so fast but I felt every joyous sensation.

The blood sprayed over my face and I saw what little life was left in his eyes leave. But then it was over. I felt lost. Like it had been meaningless, that no one could acknowledged my sacrifice and then it happened.

Without realising what I was doing. I plunged the knife into my forearm and cut deep. It was incredible. I felt my body elevate to a higher place. It had become a temple to my work.

The Joker Audio Tapes - Batman: Arkham City (2011)

Tape One: 

Joker: Hello! Anyone in there? No sense of humour. Oh, the strong and silent type, eh? Think you're safe behind that mask? Give me 20 minutes and a can opener and I'll have you whimpering like a schoolgirl. You might like it.

Hugo Strange: That's enough, patient. Guard, leave us.

TYGER Guard: Yes, sir.

Hugo Strange: Good afternoon. My name is Professor Hugo Strange. And you are?

Joker: Two-Face. Catwoman. Batman.

Hugo Strange: We can play these games as long as you like.

Joker: Great. I love games.

Hugo Strange: Not in my facility you won't. I am offering you this opportunity to make a deal. I am fully aware of your... condition. The last thing you have is time. But I can make your final days more comfortable.

Joker: And in return I'd be giving you...?

Hugo Strange: I wish to study you. I need to know why you are the way you are.

Joker: I don't have long, doc. You're going to need more than some psycho mumbo jumbo to get to the bottom of what's wrong with me.

Hugo Strange: Oh, I have more than that. Much more. So, do we have a deal?


Tape Two:

Hugo Strange: How are you feeling today?

Joker: You promised me another doctor, Strange.

Hugo Strange: Maybe you shouldn't have killed the one I sent last week. What made you do it?

Joker: Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly. Besides, it was worth it to see the look on her face. Hey, you know what, I think I've got a piece of it here in my pocket.

Hugo Strange: You are trying my patience. That was the third doctor you've killed.

Joker: Keep on sendin' 'em, doc. I'm trying to break my record.

Hugo Strange: I think it is time for you to do something for me.

Joker: Name it, doc.

Hugo Strange: Tell me how you came to be. Explain what made you what you are today, how you come to be sitting across the table from me, dying.

Joker: Is that all? I guess you can say I once had a very bad day.

Hugo Strange: Really? Go on.

Joker: It was a Thursday night. Things had been getting worse. I was 3 days from the bank foreclosing on my home. The chemical plant I worked at was about to lay off half the workforce, and I was sitting in the hospital, holding the hand of my pregnant wife, wishing to God that she wasn't dead.

Hugo Strange: That must have been upsetting for you.

Joker: Probably was. Back then, though, all I knew was that if I didn't let old man Falcone's men into the plant that night, they'd a killed me too. So here's the thing. I had to decide: Could I live without her? Was there any point going on? I've got to admit it, I was scared. Not of being dead, you understand.

Hugo Strange: No one would blame you if you were. It is perfectly common.

Joker: Do I look common? No, I was scared of the part just before you die. When you don't know what is about to happen. When you desperately clutching at life and trying to hold on with slippery, blood-covered hands. So I need a decision right there.

Hugo Strange: And what was that?

Joker: That, well, that is a story for another day, Strange. I think I may need to see a doctor. Get me one.

Tape Three:

Hugo Strange: You were telling me about the night your wife died.

Joker: No, Hugo. As I recall, I was waiting for you to send me another doctor.

Hugo Strange: We both know I have sent you three more doctors.

Joker: Did you?

Hugo Strange: Yes. One was left dismembered outside the elevator to my office. The other two have not been seen since they were sent to you.

Joker: How careless. Listen, doc-

Hugo Strange: Professor.

Joker: OK, Pro-fess-or, I'll give you a little more. I hope you're taking notes. It's the day after and I'm standing in the freezing rain, just staring at the chemical plant; feeling numb. Jeannie was dead. It didn't seem real. I could remember the day I first met her. Her infectious smile as I told her bad joke after bad joke. How, even after living with the pathetic wretch I was, she still wanted my child. And then they arrived. Reality's way of yanking me another wedgie. Falcone's man told me to cheer up. He said, "Things could be worse". I asked him how? He grabbed me by the collar, pulled me close - he'd been eating garlic and each word stank as he threatened to perform oral surgery on me with a nail and a brick. Creative guy. They hand me a box. I remember thinking it was heavy. Was it a bomb? A gun? I'd never used a gun before, were they that heavy?

Hugo Strange: And what was in the box?

Joker: How's that doctor coming along?

Hugo Strange: I'll get you one.

Joker: And when you do, I'll tell you the rest.


Tape Four:

Hugo Strange: You are looking a little better, yes?

Joker: I have good and bad days, but I do try to start each one with a smile.

Hugo Strange: Are you ready to continue your story?

Joker: Why not. So where was I?

Hugo Strange: The box.

Joker: Ah, yes, the box. So there I was, tearing open this box, expecting the worst, and all it had in it was a crazy red dome and a cloak. I thought they were having a joke with me, but oh, no. They made me put it on. They said it was a disguise, it would keep me safe. It smelt like garlic. And that was it really. I was dressed up like a spaceman, barely able to see, trying to break into the one place in this town that had given me a job. Have you ever tried to walk with an enormous fish bowl on your head? Don't answer that. It's hard. I couldn't see where I was going. I must have tripped one of the alarms. I heard muffled gunfire. I panicked and tried to run. And then I saw him.

Hugo Strange: Who?

Joker: Batman.

Hugo Strange: Really?

Joker: Yes, really. Batman tried to hit me, I moved out the way but, well, what you need to understand is, I had this giant bowl on my head, and I lost my balance. It's like life really. One minute everything's bad, the next, your wife's dead and your hanging on for dear life, suspended over a tank of experimental chemicals. I'm sure he'd say he tried to save me, but we all know he didn't. I fell. For a second, just as I hit the surface, I thought I may just get away with this.

Hugo Strange: I assume that wasn't the case.

Joker: Do I look like I got away with it?


Tape Five:

Joker: I was drowning. The chemicals were burning my skin. My entire body felt like it was on fire and it was all his fault.

Hugo Strange: Who's fault? Batman's?

Joker: Who else?

Hugo Strange: Yours.

Joker: Come again?

Hugo Strange: Let me tell you what I believe. I believe that you have fabricated a series of events that you use to conceal the truth about your condition. I have read 12 different accounts of your past. All different, except for one detail: Batman.

Joker: What can I say? I like to keep things interesting. A wise man once told me that if you have to have an origin story, you're better off making it multiple choice.

Hugo Strange: And never facing up to the truth of what happened. What you did. How you got here.

Joker: Oh, I know exactly how I got here. A big truck brought me here from Arkham. You remember the asylum, don't you?

Hugo Strange: Of course.

Joker: Good, because I'd hate to think that I'd fabricated seeing you watching me in my cell all those times.

Hugo Strange: Excuse me?

Joker: Hugo, you merry maniac. You were obsessed with me. (coughing) You all were. Trying to get in here. Next thing, you'll tell me it wasn't you who sent old Sharpie over the edge. Nice work by the way.

Hugo Strange: Thank you.

Joker: So here's the thing. If you want to make sure that no one else finds out about your past, you should stop poking your nose into mine. Oh, and send me another Doc, doc. I think I need a second opinion.

Quincy Sharp Interview Tapes - Batman: Arkham City (2011)

Tape One:

Vicki Vale: This is Vicki Vale coming to you live from the Mayor's Office in downtown Gotham. Today is your first chance to put questions directly to the Mayor. As you know, Mayor Sharp's Criminal Quarantine program was the main platform that won him the election. Now the facility is fully operational, does Gotham still feel the same way about it? Are the rumours of prison brutalisation true? Are you happy with your tax dollars funding a program like this? More on tonight's show.


Tape Two: 

Vicki Vale: Welcome, Gotham to the Vicki Vale Show.  And welcome to Gotham's new Mayor, Quincy Sharp.

Mayor Quincy Sharp: Good evening, Miss Vale.

Vicki Vale: So, Mr Mayor, the question I put to you Arkham City -- success or potential powder keg?

Mayor Quincy Sharp: What a question, Vicki. You don't mind if I call you Vicki, do you?

Vicki Vale: Of course not, Quincy.

Mayor Quincy Sharp: Well, Vicki, I can only describe the last six months as having been a great success. The people spoke. They said they were sick of crime in Gotham. They said they didn't want to place their safety, their children's safety in the hands of vigilantes like Batman, Nightwing, and, oh, there's at least one more.

Vicki Vale: The Huntress? The Creeper?

Mayor Quincy Sharp: Whoever. Listen, Vicki, the people wanted a sane solution and I have provided one. My administration has taken steps to guarantee the personal safety of each and every member of Gotham, from the rich to the poor. By separating the disgusting criminal element that eats at our fine city like a cancer. From the good people who went only to live their lives in peace. I have struck a blow that will change this great city forever.

Vicki Vale: And what do you say to those who campaign against the plan? To those who call it inhuman? I believe the campaign against the zone has its fair share of celebrity members. Take Bruce Wayne for example.

Mayor Quincy Sharp: Mr. Wayne will soon come over to our side. I have great faith. In fact I have a meeting scheduled with his people for tomorrow. We must never forget that it was filthy degenerates like the prisoners of Arkham City who were responsible for murdering Mr Wayne's family.

Vicki Vale: Even, so, Bruce Wayne doesn't seem to be a huge fan of your plans.

Mayor Quincy Sharp: Time will tell, Vicki. Now, if you will excuse me.

Vicki Vale: Of course. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. That was what Quincy Sharp, Mayor of Gotham City had to say last week. I wonder how he feels now that Bruce Wayne has been sent into Arkham City.

The Journal of Dr. Thomas Elliot - Batman: Arkham City (2011)

Whilst working in his backstreet operating theatre, Thomas Elliot recorded the process of his experiments, as well as the driving force behind his revenge.

Investigating the scene, Batman listened to the confession of his former friend, before he came face to face with “The Identity Thief.”


“This is the journal of Doctor Thomas Elliot. My work is complete. The pain though still present has been worth it. He will suffer for what he did to me. He will suffer, the way I have suffered.

As I look in the mirror, I understand how Leonardo felt when he finished the Mona Lisa. How Michelangelo felt when David was complete. My work has taken too long.

But now it's time for my masterpiece to be unveiled. My new face is ready.”