We didn't have long. All those upgrades, and you might think we had a chance to defeat them. No.
We were Team Macgyver, not Team Rambo. They had two competent killers on their side, and we had one, plus a sex worker who had some history hitting people, and me, and a vet, and a techie kid, and a very good dod. More than that, Amanda was smart and unfair. She'd turned up with a shotgun when she thought I was threatening Jigsaw. I bet she'd have some surprises for an emergency. It's what I'd do. Why have a fair fight when you can have an unfair fight?
We needed time, which meant I needed a second dose of the cure. My poison resistance exp was ticking up only 30 a minute, which wouldn't be enough for a save.
I scanned our new resources. It was a child's storage room. There was a pram with a doll in it, a chair, a doll and a doll head, a box of toys, a radiator, a rolling toy, a light, a stool, a rocking horse, some metal wire used to trap us, the bed that had covered the needle pit, and a lot of needles. We had our stocks from the basement and downstairs. I was pretty sure Amanda was still upstairs- I could hear her a little way away. Maybe a bit beyond the stairs. The door was in the opposite direction. There was the steel safe room that held the antidotes. Maybe super strength could shove that, but I wasn't hopeful it could do it quickly based on my time in Resident Evil.
I had a plan. Ambush them at the door, deplete some resources, and smash through the wall next to the safe. Upstairs, there were two n shapes sets of rooms. There was the right n, with the stairs in the top left corner, the hand trap next to the stairs, and three locked rooms on the right and in the middle of the n, the needle room, with the needle room door facing to the right and the safe to the left. There was a similar set up on the left side of upstairs. The antidote was on the left, in the middle of the n.
"Daniel, Jonas- smash those dolls, put them at the entrance. Smash that light as well, we can hold the torch. Grab some of the toys, lego if you can find it, cover the entrance."
"This is impossible..." Said Daniel, staring at the tablet he had found on himself.
"Leave it kid. Think later, guard the door now." Said Jonas. Daniel looked at me despairingly, like I had broken him, and slowly went to start booby trapping the door.
"Addison, stay by the safe, listen for them. If you hear them, message us."
"I'll do it. But I want to hurt them as well." I took a pipe from the supply cache, and tossed it to her. She took it. "New weapon for you." She caught it easily, twisting the steel pipe in her hand, and went to listening.
"Xav, take the bed. Be by the door, use it or your club to block the door or hit people as needed."
"You got a plan to get us out of this? Not just orders?"
"Yes. We hit them hard when they come in, and then you smash through that wall if it goes bad. Use the party chat for privacy. Think something, and you can send it"
First! From Xavier
Hello world ahh this is happening! From Daniel.
Boys. Sent Addison.
I gestured at the wall near the safe. "We rush the antidote, through the wall.
Xavier grinned. "It's just drywall. I can rip through it."
He could. Even before this, he was a jacked up steroid user. As most people with anger issues knew, it was easy to stick your fist through a wall. These walls were too thin to be reinforced like the outside ones, we could have just smashed our way through. If he pushed himself, he could probably smash through a wall before he got buffed. Now, the walls were fucked.
Cure, my new name for our doggy friend, got his stealthy orders.
Everyone got to prepping. I ripped out the seat of the baby walker. The door was mined, the lights cut, and Xavier waited to smash.
Then we heard noise.
"Gun, flash grenade, get down" Sent Addison
Everyone went down to the ground. Even Daniel did it, if slower.
A ripple of gunfire smashed through the walls, at head height. The walls did nothing to protect us, the bullets smashing through above us. Wasn't she trying to save Daniel?
Rush the corner! I ordered. We got up, and rushed the corner next to the door, at the bottom of the n curve.
Wisdom check failed. 20/25
That wasn't good.
"Move!" Came Amanda's voice from down the corridor, at the top of the n. At the corner, around the junction. She could quickly move to shoot us, whichever side we came out. And where was Obi?
Gus burst in, holding a flash grenade. He stepped on a fragment of baby doll which sliced into his shoe, screamed, and then stepped on a baby trolly and slid into the needle pit, flash bang and all.
We had all gone to the corner next to the door. We needed an escape.
"Smash" I gestured to Xavier.
He rammed into the wall, smashing through kool aid man style. The wall, poorly used to someone of his size, ripped apart, dust flying everywhere, beams deflecting, and his perk letting him survive it all. Behind us, the flashbang went off.
Amanda raised her rifle at me, with a grin. She was burnt, her red hair ripped off, bleeding from several puncture wounds, and now wearing stab proof armor, night vision goggles, and carrying a rifle and several guns.
"End of the line, Macgyver."
Cure spat caustic acid at her gun. It started to melt in her hands, and she quickly tossed it. We ran on, past the bottom of the right side of the room.
Out of sight of Amanda, I gestured at the wall, leading into one of the locked rooms.
Xavier smashed through, and we all stepped after him. This was just a toilet room. We smashed through into the next room, and I quickly applied to myself the deathly calling perk.
I saw Addison being pierced by a bullet, as soon as I did it. I grabbed her and moved her aside, as bullets flew past us. I quickly gave Xavier the perk.
It was a storage room. There were several chunks of glass, steel beams, steel sheets, razor blades, bits of wood. This was a storage room Jigsaw had used to help build the place!
"Grab a steel sheet!" I ordered Xavier. He picked up one of the sheets and we five huddled behind it, as bullets smashed into it.
"Quick, into the next room!" We smashed around the corner, heading left now, into the next room. It was a small room, used for storing cleaning supplies. I grabbed some window cleaner and some toilet cleaner.
We could go into the hand razor room, that Addison had died in in the movie. But that room had a camera, and was easy access. If we came out and the steel barrier didn't cover us perfectly Amanda could just mow us down with her guns, or shoot through them if she had something higher bigger.
Addison, knife, and did you hear where Amanda went?
She ran past us, to the left.
She gestured, and tossed me the knife.
I made my choice.
Smash into the next room. Ignore my verbal command.
"Smash left" I fake ordered. I stabbed the bottom of the ammonia and bleach chemicals I'd taken, ripped the tops off, as we smashed through the thin drywall into the hand razor room. I could see Amanda aiming at the wrong spot and oh crap Obi was here.
Xavier reacted, grabbing Obi as he emerged, machete in hand, the death perk no doubt having warned him, and tossed him at Amanda. She dodged away, and raised a big looking pistol at us. Desert Eagle? I didn't know guns. The steel clattered down, and I tossed the baby chemical bomb at Amanda, caustic yellow fumes emerging from the deadly mix. Xavier picked up the steel wall.
"Through the wall again!" I said, as we five rushed forward, smashing into the stair way, behind the heavily abused steel wall section again. I heard a shot ring out behind me, and Amanda coming at the hand razor room behind us. "Once more into the breach!" I said, and we smashed through into the next room.
Xavier had to shove aside server equipment. We were in some sort of closet and-
Oh, this locked room was the the server room. I could see a bunch of screens on a laptop. I ripped the laptop away from the cables.
"Make a barricade here. Bar the closet off. I doubt they're gonna want to come through chlorine gas fumes."
We all shoved as many server racks and chairs and desks as we could into the way, and Xavier dug his steel barrier into the wall, making a hopefully solid barrier to opening the door.
Level up! You have defeated a group of killers again. 10 perk points and 1 stat point.
"Smash the door open." I gestured.
With a solid shoulder shove, he smacked his shoulder into it. The wood cracked, his arm went through, and the door did not open. "My arm. Shit that hurts." He said.
I shook my head."You kick it- look." Super strength was no substitute for knowledge. I yanked him out, his arm scratched and cut, and then kicked the door near the lock (but not on it) several times. The wood cracked under my kicks, the lock fracturing out. Doors were generally made out of fairly soft wood and were hollow. This door was no different.
I heard someone coming from inside the server room. They were here. Shit.
"Let's go!" I said. We all ran out- ugh. That was toxic. Chlorine smell was in here. We ran around the corner. Two corner doors were now unlocked. There had been a weapons rack- now empty, except for a taser. And a few suits of body armor, now on our evil friends, and empty. There was a helmet. I darted in, grabbed the helmet and the taser, and we went back into my challenge room.
We wedged the door shut, and checked out the trap room again. A t shape, which you crawled through, with trap barriers that you had to solve puzzles on inside and out, with rotating steel letters. A second glass ring above it filled with marbles. Pistons above and to the side, to crush and make it awkward. We needed to get this fast. The cure syringe was in a glass and steel box. Time to solve it.
53 seconds in. 67 till my next poison hit. Gamer's mind was still keeping me from being dumb, but it wouldn't last forever. I could feel the poison eating away at my mind.
I was pretty sure we had at least a few minutes. Our barrier was solid, and the chlorine was toxic as hell. There'd been a lot of liquid there. If Amanda did come through it, she'd be fucked up.
She could get through the other way from the lower floor near the kitchen if she had a key (which she probably did) but that would take a minute or two. I could do this.
I crawled into the glass pipe. First divider. I think this trap was meant to be done on a paranoid group who wasn't unified. Like, in the film, 50 50 they just let Amanda die.
I tossed Jonas the death perk, so he could warn me if things were gonna get fucked up, and started.
You had so much potential. You wasted it on petty theft. You are trash.
Said the message. Mean Jigsaw.
Trash symbol. I sent.
They rotated the symbols outside, I lifted up the barrier when they got the right one, and I crawled another meter to the next barrier.
You deprived others of essential medicines. You are devilish.
Devilish symbol, I sent, they did their stuff, and crawled through.
And I was under the cure, no smashing pistons coming down to crush me. Well done me. One more barrier. I read the message. There was another barrier, with a lock next to it.
Who makes it, has no need of it.
Who buys it, has no use for it.
Who uses it can neither see nor feel it.
What is it? It is what you are in, unless you are patient.
Riddle me this, riddle me that. Who can't see and feel. Inanimate objects. Who doesn't need it? Something bad. Who buys it? Something you use for others. Something bad, for others, which is inanimate. Oh. A corpse? Oh yeah, a coffin.
Coffin symbol. I sent.
Addison was about to press it, when Jonas grabbed her hand.
"Wait!" I heard his muffled voice. "He gets crushed if you press that. I saw a vision.
Oooh. Yeah. I guess this was like the safe room? You had to wait for ages.
I summoned up my shade of Laura, the thief, and asked her if she could crack the lock, since Amanda was coming to kill me.
Yes- the trap on the keyhole looked to be electronic. I could fry it with the taser, so long as I didn't touch any steel connected to it. And this thing was ringed with steel.
I did an awkward Yoga pose that kept me just away from any steel, warned everyone to step back, took out the taser, and stunned the lock.
I didn't get crushed!
I took out the lock pick, and started fiddling with the lock.
And then the end of the pipe, my escape route, collapsed, as the pistons slammed down, crushing it. Another set of pistons, horizontal ones, pushed glass marbles to crush over my head, making the route to my syringe be filled with shards of glass. I could go to the end of the Ts, but that would mean I couldn't get the syringe.
Laura, I urged as I tried to pick the lock. Get it done quickly. For your sister.
I got the lock. I moved as some glass shards dropped down, and tugged my shirt off. I wrapped my hand in my shirt, so I could grab the antidote, and I heard an unwelcome voice.
"You're cheating, Macgyver. Just like you cheated before. I know what you are. I have control of this. I'm going to crush you." Said Amanda's voice, from a hidden intercom.
Ah. Her. The second set of pistons slammed down. I felt very claustrophobic right now. I did not like this. I felt trapped, like I had before. I'd let down the gamer's mind a bit, so I could get Laura's skill, and my head was going a bit fuzzy.
I reached up, and grabbed the antidote, yanking it out as my shirt was shredded.
Xavier, rip the top off. He did so, triggering a bunch of things that would have no doubt been bad, like a tag dropping the syringe, if I hadn't already got it.
The third piston came down. It was going to crush me! No. Xavier was holding it, with brutal, inhuman strength. I felt the one from below knock the pipe up, not going far enough to crush me. Cracking my bones and twisting my limbs, with the inhuman dexterity granted to me by my foot cutting off perk, I pulled myself out of the very small hole, taking a few scratches to my chest
10 seconds till my next hit of poison debuffs. I rammed the syringe into my shoulder, and injected it.
You have partially cured a serious disease! Poison resistance levels up! Poison resistance levels up! Poison resistance levels up! Timer reset to every eight minutes. Poison maniac reconstituting in five minutes. 1 dex gained for cunning use of your hands (suspended).
That would do well. I might even survive it, with gamer's body and poison maniac giving me time to flush it.
I heard the sound of a lock opening. They were coming up from the kitchen!
Xavier was rubbing his sore arm muscles, but I had one more task. I knew how to escape this place.
I took our supply cache, and tossed him back his spiked club.
"Smash through the floor."
Xavier said the walls were drywall. They never really tried just smashing the walls. They really should. I mean, it's not that hard. If you've ever done demolition on a house, you can test it and see it's pretty easy. The super strength helps him not need a sledge hammer, and is a very very expensive replacement for a bit of time and effort, but really, they totally should have smashed more of the walls.
Unlike them, I am bound by more than simply thin walls. I am bound by the plague that spreads through the land, corona chan spreading her influence and infecting all she touches, so, I should be back to my regular daily update schedule.
It's definitely something worth thinking about if you have a house- how easily could someone just smash their way past your barriers? Windows can be popped off, doors broken down, and open windows climbed into. Just because you can't see through it, doesn't mean a strong dude can't just kick his way past in five seconds.
Dragonbornthesam
Omake.
He was Joker. He was locked in the body of a disabled man, flying a star ship to ancient ships of terror and death that sought to destroy the galaxy. His fate was in the hand of an angry soldier and a bunch of strays he had found along the way.
He rubbed his hands. He was going to enjoy this.
*several months later*
Jigsaw was ready for a lot of things. He had prepared for this strange new man, with technical skills. He was prepared for the police coming after him. So long as you could read people well, you could escape anything.
As a stream of molten metal flung it's way through the sky at him from the Normandy's Thanix cannon, crushing and melting him along with a large part of the surrounding area, he was not ready.
Giving him a planet wrecking weapon for free is a bit against the hopelessness and survival with scarce resources theme of this story.
Arkyong. It does. Team Amanda vs Team Macgyver. This story was always about that. Saw 2 was about a group fracturing under pressure and slowly dying off. His way is to keep it together.
Thorison1080. He could get perks to spawn more people in, but he would need to advance leadership a lot. As is, there is a plan for spawning Cure in every time. If a party member dies as is, they die forever, although perks could change that. He does plan to build more transformers, once he has more computer skill and resources. Megatron may have died, but he will be rebuilt, better strong faster!
DG2. His gamer abilities have been around for a while, he used the party system in RE7 as well, and gave Cure a perk. Plus, Saw 2 is all about parties, so. And he didn't figure everything out. He missed several key things, or he could have got the drop on them anyway.
Guest. That will definitely be the plan. Better robots needed!
Dikkr1229. Mia got the party system unlocked forcibly by Ev before. Ev hacked her brain with spores and turned it on early. She could have given her perks then, but she didn't really want to. Been unlocked since chapter 9. And I am glad you are enjoying the ride.
Zackman2k12. Edgelord mckilldog is a great name regardless. But the votes are in.
Gatling2745. Things are heating up. Next chapter will see how and if he survives the gun wielding but poisoned and chlorine gased and burnt and stabbed and bit Amanda and her trusty side kick Obi.
Nickarn22. Bye bye.
Watermelonninja. I haven't played that. Is Alien Isolation fun? Would it be a good place for him to go?
Soda-fiedPsycho. Yay for makeshit guns, or in this case, makeshift grenades. Combining household chemicals is so much fun! I love trying out new mixes. And so many are toxic and deadly, or explode.
Tune in next time to see which team will win.