I could see the future. My wounds and injuries would accumulate, worsening with each death. Gordon would have little issue killing an invalid, and Amanda might even mercy kill me. I would be stuck in an endless loop of agony. Maybe I would retain enough awareness to activate the perk menu and choose final death. Maybe not.

I might get mental degradation in time. I'd be nothing but a fleshy ball of agony, cycling through this life endlessly. Maybe in a few trillion years whatever powered this loop would run out and I would finally end.

I intended to win. So, I needed to be smart. Ignoring my tired muscles, I got the hacksaw and made quick work of my pipe.

I didn't collect up broken urinal bits. I was too refined for that. I smashed the mirrors nearby, and managed to get three special shards from there.

Two of them were sharpness ones like before. They could degrade armor. One was a bit different.

Thick shard of glass. This piece didn't shatter fully, unlike the others, and still retains it's original toughness. +1 damage, 5/5 durability.

That was the common property at work. Lucky me. Would be a bit tougher.

It would work. I got one of the pipes, sadly quite mundane, and wrapped it in one of Jigsaw's shirts and attached the spike to the end. I got a surprise then.

Crafting success! You have created an extremely crude spear.

Crude glass spear. Perhaps worse even than those crafted by your apelike ancestors, this spear will deal at least one hard hit regardless. +2 damage, 10/10 durability.

You gain 1 crafting level! 1% chance of giving a crafted item a common property.

That would be useful for the future. For now though, this would work well.

I glanced at my status screen.

Name: Adam Stanheight

Job.:Photographer

Level: 1

Level: 1 (0/100)

Title. None

HP: 6

Stamina: 6

Strength: 7/10 (2 suspended)

Constitution: 6/9 (2 suspended)

Dexterity: 13 (2 suspended)

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 8

Luck: 1

Skills. Scavenging Level 10. 42/100 exp.

Photography. Advanced apprentice level 5 21/100 exp.

There were a bunch of other skills. Driving, cooking, art, history of art,a baseball skill from wielding the baseball bat at the start. Nothing like physical endurance to reduce all damage. No magic missile. Nothing else really relevant to me here.

I'd realized something vital before. I wasn't strong enough. Adam tried his best, but his previous life hadn't equipped him with powerful enough stats.

Gordon, from skill, level ups, from whatever, was more powerful. When he did things the universe didn't screw him up. This was even more true now, with my debuffs.

I wasn't the main character of this. This was his movie. His origin. If I went against him I'd lose. If I went on my own, I'd lose.

I wasn't the surplus. But I could be the sidekick.

You have gained +1 intelligence for a shrewd observation!

I got the tape recorder, the electrical button, and the revolver and leaned close into Gordon, whispering this time and not shouting so that Amanda wouldn't hear.

"My name is Adam. I'm with the police. There's someone outside. I can hear them creeping around."

Gordon started to look backwards and I quickly shook my head. "Don't. They might be watching. I'm scared man. What is this place? There's a body? And blood!"

"From the looks of thing, they didn't intend us to go much further." He tugged his chain.

I needed to push.

"We're trapped!"

"Calm down." He said, annoyed.

I instantly, and submissively simmered down my emotions. "You're right man, sorry." He seemed pleased at me calming down on command. I got to work on his pipe with some glass and toilet scrap. I could see some weak points I had missed before with my Pipeslayer perk, and was able to get to work on slicing through. "I'm glad I'm in here with you. Why do you think we're here?"

Gordon stood up, leaning against the pipe, a pillar of calm coldness. "Well Adam, what we need to do is start thinking about why we're here. Whoever brought us here could've killed us by now. But they didn't. They must want something from us." He looked up and around the room. "The question is… what." He looked at the clock, brand new because Jigsaw brought it in.

"I'm confused. Why does that matter?" I asked, in my best wondrous and confused tone. "It's a clock. They tick."

"It's brand new."

"So, a brand new ticking clock?"

He sighed. It was so simple. "So someone wants us to know the time." I clicked my fingers.

"I get it. We must be in a time based challenge of some sort. Two hours till they release the laser sharks."

He looked at me strangely. "Laser sharks aren't real."

"That's what they want you to think." I said, in my best zany sidekick impression, patting my chest.

"Oh, what's this?" I said, pulling out the tape. "Wait, do you have anything like this?"

He took out his tape and held out his hand. "That's fine. We'll work our way through it. Tape?"

I handed it to him, along with my tape. "Yes sir." He played each of our tapes, and started rewinding over the section about the heart.

Ohh. The toilet. I had just… yeah, taken the lid to smash my way out. It had a heart on it. I hadn't actually realized. It was ages since I had seen Saw.

"The toilet!" I said. "I was next to it, and it had a heart!"

You have gained +1 wisdom for an astute observation.

Useful for later.

"Yeah, I already looted that. And your pole is solid steel. I'm not getting through it without some serious work." I gestured at my once nemesis, under the rusty pipe.

"They don't want me to cut through my pipe. He wants me to cut through my foot. I think I know who did this. You probably do, if you're with the police."

"Likes traps, cryptic puzzles, sadistic- wait, let's say it together on one two three- Riddler!"

He frowned at me. "Really?"

I shook my head. "Sorry. I joke when I'm nervous. I'll try to rein it in sir. Jigsaw."

I spent a while listening to his backstory. Jigsaw had left a pen at a crime scene to frame him, Tapp had been after his ass since. He had a mysterious meeting with a patient. That was a thread I would not be tugging at!

"I get it. A lot of patients need individual care."

Gordon nodded, smiling for the first time.

"They do. Tapp though..." He shook his head.

"I knew Tapp. A real asshole. Sorry about that. You know, we had a break on the case." I leaned in really close, and whispered to him. "He had an apprentice. I think that might be who is outside. A lady, Amanda. Some druggie bitch."

Gordon glanced at the mirror and the camera, the pipe. "Every possible angle has been thought out by him." He looked deep in thought. "It's a brilliant design."

I nodded. "Yeah. Know your enemies, right?"

He looked appreciative.

"To overcome something you have to understand what a perfect engine it is. That's how you fight disease. Now, the tape told us to find an X. That X has to be somewhere in this room. Help me find it."

"Yes sir. I am so glad you're here. I'd be a wreck if here on my own, worrying about my family. Your family is very lucky to have you."

He paused, and looked at me.

"Are you coming onto me? Because don't."

I looked over his pale, pasty, malnourished, dehydrated body, and wondered how anyone saw this as romantic. Two men locked in a room I guess?

I shook my head. "No, no, you just seem like the best chance to get out of here. You're smart. I don't play for that team." Did Adam? I had no clue. But why risk offending him.

"So, tell me about your family."

He then went on a long rant about his family and his daughter till he reached one where his wife and daughter were bound and gagged.

"That's my favorite one because-" I waved it in front of him and he got a look of shock. "He took the picture!" I saw an X. X marks the spot. Sometimes you see more with your eyes closed.

Oh, the blindness puzzle. You turn off the lights and the hidden chest is revealed. I'd forgotten that. I'd just found it by trial and error last time.

"Wait, there's a puzzle on this." I handed it to him. "I don't get this." I closed my eyes. "I don't get it."

"You have to turn the light off, I bet." Said Gordon. He switched the light off, and tada, we got the chest, and another wisdom point. The main quest line was loaded.

"How come I didn't see it before?" Asked Gordon.

Finally a time for my art skill to shine! "It's glow in the dark paint. It only shows up when you're in the darkness."

We divided the spoils of the loot, the cigarettes and the lighter and the phone, which I promptly did a factory reset on and I had a serious talk with him, quietly, right up close.

"I think I know a way to get us out of here. Amanda- she's obsessed with Jigsaw and…

How did I say that he was there?

Wisdom check (10/10) succeeded. The gun.

I held the revolver to him.

"Revolvers leave caps. This one doesn't have one. That man over there, don't you recognize him- the police knew him. The brain cancer patient. They suspected he was the one. If we threaten him, Amanda will come running. And we have a gun. I am just not sure how best to do it."

"We can just shoot her."

I shook my head. "These are people who have foot cutting off traps. Crazy pain resistance. A single bullet, unless it's to the head or the spine, isn't gonna put someone down. We need to set up a trap. When she comes in we have to take her down. But I don't get how."

He looked thoughtful. "I have a few ideas..."

I had totally had a plan. Flood the room, convince Amanda that Jigsaw would drown, and we had no idea she was there. Gordon had a different plan, and he was the protagonist. I was the sidekick. And now, the bait.

Jigsaw hadn't reacted when I had stripped him naked. He was apparently very committed to this game. I could use that.

I stood over him, pressing the hacksaw to his throat. "Amandaaaa. Amandaaaa. Come out to play. We have your master. Jigsaw. I'll slice his pretty little throat if you don't come to play."

Then I waited.

"Amanda. You're just like me. Like Jigsaw. Look. We're all the same colour on the inside."

I pressed the hacksaw just a teensy bit into Jigsaw's throat. It was tempting to go for the 1000 perk points, but I was sure he'd show a sudden burst of agility and stop me.

I tried a different angle.

"People don't change. You were a sad druggie, and you'll always be a sad druggie. One day you'll give into that urge and kill yourself again. You should kill yourself now and save the world the trouble. You will never be Jigsaw, you'll never amount to anything."

And the door slid open. I quickly did what Gordon was very quick to explain was my very important role in this operation. He'd explained it slowly, several times. Stage one. Shock and awe.

When she entered the room, I was to push the big red button. I shouldn't eat it. I shouldn't play with it. I should push it.

I had explained that police weren't that dumb, and I'd passed the police entrance IQ test with an amazing score of 80 which was much better than I'd done when I flunked out of high school, and he'd explained several more times what to do. I was a good minion!

I pressed the red button. As Amanda slid the door open, a network of electrical cables we had ripped out of the floor and connected to Gordan's chain sparked with electricity. He was standing on a fragment of a toilet, insulated from the charge.

She jerked and spasmed, and I got another good look at her.

Amanda. 166 HP. Shocked debuff. 33%.

Gordon raised the gun and fired.

100 damage done! Halved due to body armor. Cracked ribs debuff. 10%. Amanda. 66HP.

Lesser desire for life perk activated.

Amanda. 110 HP.

I was pretty sure the perk was clearing some of her conditions. Maybe 30%. We had more coming. People exaggerated in movies how much you could just shrug off bullets in body armor. She had removed most of the electrical debuff, but she was still wheezing at the powerful hit. Stage two time. Her debuff was drained. Blind and annihilate.

And the lights went off.

I was a cripple. I didn't get to carry the weapons. Gordon did. He, also got to debuff Amanda. Using his insulated hand, he had flicked off the switch. We needed another advantage, so we'd covered up the camera, taken some of the pictures and Jigsaw's clothes, and set up a small fire near the entrance, along with lining the floor with shards of glass so she couldn't dodge around. We were mostly invisible, and she was suddenly in darkness with only a tiny light, just enough to see her outline.

Darkness debuff! 55 HP left!

She oriented herself quickly, swinging the shotgun up in my direction.

Using the pipe, I hit a ball of glass and toilet shards at her hand.

Baseball levels up!

I couldn't stab people. I couldn't wrestle people. But my dexterity was still good, and I could hit a target five feet away.

The shards of glass smashed into her gloves, slicing up her hand and arm. Not much, given the result, but she dropped the gun.

52

Meanwhile, Gordon roared, and charged at her with the spear.

30 damage done! Power strike.

22

The glass blade thrust cleanly through her, piercing her chest. She choked out a bloody breath.

Killing instinct Perk activated.

She moved in a sudden burst of speed, pulling out a knife, managing to grab Gordan, just at the edge of his chains, and held the knife to his neck.

She was wounded, winded, and weakened, but with that perk she danced over our traps like they weren't there. She was just barely in the circle of light now, breathing fast, heart racing.

"Move away from Jigsaw or your friend gets it." She ordered. Her hand was wavering, and she drew a thin line of blood across his neck. She wasn't quite sure where I was, the outside light not quite penetrating enough through the thin gap, the fire weak.

Part 3. Cripple.

Gordon drew out a hidden glass shard, and rammed it into her leg. She screamed, and fell to the floor. He shoved her back.

Power attack. 20 damage done.

2 HP left.

I picked up a urinal cake, tossed it up in my hand, and whacked it at her head with a hard hit of the bat.

"Lights out, bitch." It hit her in the head, knocking her down to 0 HP.

Level up! 10 perk points granted, +1 stat.

"Is she down for the count?" I said, internally cheering. My first level up! And points, wooo!

"You should check." Said Gordon. That sounded like minion work to me. Go check her pulse, then surprise she stabs you because if you can get one second wind perk why not two?

I went to pick up the shotgun she had dropped, carefully avoiding her.

Remington Model 1100. A powerful combat ready shotgun. 8/8 rounds, 500 damage per hit. 20/20 durability, 20 armor, +10 damage.

After that I went to the trailing wires that led to the door and tossed them over her body.

Her eyes opened.

And closed again as she spasmed from powerful bolts of electricity.

I kept it going for a while.

No level up? Exp hadn't even advanced. Pity. I could just keep slapping her awake and sending her under if it did.

I stopped. We were free.

We found a lot of useful stuff on her. Keys, batteries, and a nearby room containing more, including an antidote to the poison that… cop? Maybe. Cop didn't feel right. Whoever had abducted Gordon's wife and daughter. After the phone reset and we were able to connect to a mobile tower not rigged up by Jigsaw, I called Tapp, the obsessed ex detective who had paid me to stalk Gordon and told him what was about to happen, and then called the guy holding Gordon's wife and kids hostages and told him to come get the antidote.

Hopefully Tapp would kill him.

We did something else, and I went back to my apartment, showered, changed, and went to my comfy bed and flopped down on it. It was memory foam, and felt like a marshmellow snuggling all around you. Uncaring of the future, I drank several litres of mountain dew and an entire rotisserie chicken while watching trashy reality tvs from the 2004s or whatever year this was. Then I collapsed and went to sleep.

I was stronger. Faster. I would be getting those stat points. I was more skilled. I was going onwards with fresh power, and this time I would be more ready. Ultimate power, here I come.

Deep underground in an abandoned toilet, Amanda woke up.

She was handcuffed to a pipe, with Jigsaw's naked body lying in front of her.

She quickly checked his pulse, seeing he was alive, and sighed in relief. She tugged and tried to escape and get away, but found no escape route. Though she did find a chest, buried under some rubble, with a tape recorder in it.

She played it.

"Do I have to do this?" Said Gordon's voice.

"Yes. I will literally only free you if you say what is on this card."

A long sigh emerged

"Wakey wakey, Amanda. All your life you've sought meaning in things. Drugs, love, and now brown nosing a psychopathic serial killer who likes playing with kid's puppets. Right now there is a slow acting poison in Jigsaw's veins. Zep's poison, for the record. You can free him, but you're gonna have to reach deep inside. Seize the guts of the matter. Brown arm your way to victory. Let the games begin. By the way, I mean the keys to your cuffs are up Jigsaw's ass."

"Thank you." The click of a key is heard.

Gordon spoke, his voice angry. "Why you..." the tape cut off.

Amanda was conflicted. She didn't want to do this… but she wanted to live more. And Jigsaw would respect that.

She reached deep, ignoring the foul stench, the blood, the heat. She grasped around, deep inside his guts, and found a key.

She pulled it out, cleaned it off, and used it on her cuffs.

Nothing happened.

Far far away, in a distant apartment, Adam slept happily, the real key to her cuffs cuddled up in his hands, never more comfortable.

In case you haven't seen Saw films, Amanda did unfair traps with no way to escape.

So, the first film has ended. Soon he shall go to a low effort side world for an adventure, and then after that we'll pick back up in Saw. So you can make any contributions for the perk and world choice chapter which I'll put out soon- the worlds he goes to have to be ones where he's in an unfair and cruel situation, and the perks are utility or advancement generally. Utility perks cost three points, and grant a single narrow area of competency or some useful item, like power attack or lockpick, while advancement perks cost 25 perk points like photography, though that costs fifty since it's advanced apprentice grade and also grants automatic success in all observation rolls up to advanced apprentice level,, and grant a broad area of competence to advance a skill along with some benefits. He could get field medic as an advancement say, meaning he would automatically succeed at all low level field medic tasks for 25 points.

Also, the first chapter is now edited, and baseball is now a skill there, hence why it turned up here. I also added a map of the room, so you can better picture fights.

Dragonbornthesame Halo sounds fun. Maybe he could be near some flood and get to enjoy fighting zombies.

Thorison1080. He'll go with all the skills he learnt and the stat buffs, and have those added onto the body of whoever he is dropped on. So, he'll be better than whoever he is dropped into.

Unoriginalnick. I do try to do something different each time. Thanks for the advice.

Gatling 2745. All your perks have been added, and your world ideas are appreciated. I haven't played outlast, but it does look fun. Little Nightmares I have played, and is a strange game. Resident evil could be fun. Also, your knee stab idea and your trap them ideas were used. Amanda did not like her trap very much.

Dr. Cookie deleter. Saw and Joker do mix well.

DG2. One of Jigsaw's many unfair advantages, and the reason why he has repeatedly beaten the police.

Anyway, any world or perks for the next one should come in reviews. Halo, Outlast, Resident Evil, Little Nightmares, Michigan, Until Dawn, Deadly premonitions, Don't Escape, Half Life have been suggested. I'll have a brief summary scene, and then the chapter after move onto the next world.