The original chapter got lost in the chapter shuffle, and so this is my revised replacement. In the original one they just survived badly in the woods.

I was gonna kill that clown, I thought, as I collapsed at the outside of the cave complex.

He had shattered me. I could feel the cogs of my power, tap into just a bit of it, enough healing to keep me alive. Gamer's body was slowly mending my hosts's cracked ribs and soothing their injuries, but it was the only skill I could call up- more than one made my head hurt. I just needed to survive long enough to fight back.

Georgie spoke up. "He beat us pretty good." Georgie picked up his hand, and one of the fingers flopped at a bad angle.

I buried our head in the mud covered grass of the forest, hiding away from my all knowing host.

"You were able to hurt him with iron. We just need to regroup." I said, pulling myself up.

"Ow. He shrugged off everything we threw at him. He's like predator. He'll stalk us, go invisible, and eat us."

"He's a fairy clown, not a god. Don't mythologize him." I staggered deeper into the forest. I was taking on most of the pain, because my host didn't deserve it, and was getting moody. But, I could move on.

Flopping on a tree, I disabled gamer's body and enabled survival. The skill was advanced apprentice grade now, which meant I automatically succeeded at any common perception checks. I drank in the forest. The rich smell of the pollen floating through it, the smell of deer and bears and rabbits and all, the cold burn of the night on my damaged skin.

"You're not a dog, why are you smelling everyone. We need to get away."

I really didn't like not being in control. I forced my annoyance down, and spoke.

"Humans are naturally endurance hunters. We have excellent senses of smell, as good as dogs or better in some ways. We just need to learn to use it. Modern humans don't, because they're dumb. And shut up, I'm trying to find us a safe spot."

Dung, dung, dead animal… I went through the scents of the night. Then I got it. Just a slight wiff, one of an old fire. Almost there.

"We should go home."

"I lost it. We'll lead him straight there. We shouldn't lead the evil clown to your house. Plus, check out that notification."

I gestured at a blurry, flashing out notification.

Upper buzz. You have limitless energy and confidence. Duration. 10 minutes, 11 seconds. 10 seconds. 9 seconds.

"I just wanna go home. But-"

I breathed deep in the night air, calmed myself, and called on my knowledge of movies.

"Remember in Karate Kid 2, when Miyagi got a letter saying he needed to go back to Japan to beat people up?"

"Yeah." Georgie had watched it, good.

"It's like that. We're on an adventure away from home, you a master of anti clown kung fu, me an old man who likes beating up foreigners. Just like in Karate Kid."

"I guess that's ok. But we will go home?"

"Yeah."

I managed to find the fire just in time. Someone's wooden cabin, in a clearing in the woods. I was very glad for this, because I had zero knowledge of herbology and woods and animals. I staggered to the door, hoping for a place to rest for just a little bit.

"Wait!" Called out georgie, yanking back on our leg muscles.

I looked down. My foot was about to step into a bear trap, the metal blades about to snap my leg off. I slowly lifted my foot, away from the bear trap.

"That's really unsafe. Thanks Georgie." I looked around, holding myself up on my cracked leg as I triggered survival again. There were several more traps around the entrance to the wood cabin. I carefully stepped around them and peered at the door, lightly touching the handle. A bit of resistance. I stepped around the cabin, finding a barred window. I picked up a rock, looking at it for a moment.

A rock a rock a rock-

The system notification crapped out. I shrugged. I didn't need to know the stats of the rock to use it. I smashed the window with the rock, and jerked the curtain away.

I could just see it in the moonlight. The glint of a string attached to a shotgun pointing at the entrance. Whoever owned this place was a paranoid ass. Any kid wondering through the forest from an evil clown could get shot.

"Breaking and entering is wrong."

"So is setting traps for people. There's nothing more evil than trapping people. So this is ok."

I aimed the rock at the rope that would trigger the shotgun, and tossed it, ignoring the pain in my hand.

Baseball 9 add 9% Close range 60% broken hand -30%

The notification crackled out as the stone missed.

Maths. So there was a base chance of success for a task, and a flat addition from your skill, and debuffs. Interesting.

It took four more tosses to trigger the trap. It boomed. One more try made a second boom. Two more and the trigger no longer summoned death.

I stagged in through the front entrance, found the wooden rocking chair, pulled the sword out of it, and sat down.

I closed my eyes, and we quickly drifted off.

Snap!

I heard it outside. I glanced down at the sword. Japanese make, wooden handle.

Type 98 gunto. 2 damage, 2/3 durability. Cheaply made and mass produced. This ceremonial sword was given to Shishido Tomoko for his quality work in the navy. It was seized by Hen-

Something big was outside. I indistinctly called on my powers, and felt a jarring in my brain as my broken powers failed to respond.

I shook my head. Just two now maybe. I wasn't fighting well. I looked around the cabin for anything to help. There was a picture of a man and his brothers, another of him and his son, some clothes, some beef jerky- and there, a pack of shotgun shells.

I pulled myself up, bones creaking, and went to grab the box. I heard another crack outside.

Using the sword, I tried to cut down the shotgun from the ceiling. I was too short.

"Why are you so short Georgie!" I asked him, as I dragged the chair into place.

"I'm staying back so you can handle danger. Don't be mean!" He replied.

I got the chair in place, hopped on it, and cut down the shotgun. With unsteady hands, dropping the sword, I loaded the shotgun with a pair of shells.

Should I stay in here or go outside? If I stay inside I can use the cabin to protect me. But if I go outside I can shoot them?

Offence is always the best defence. I pushed the door open to see what was happening.

A massive black bear was advancing towards the cabin They looked at me, and grinned, teeth bared, and roared.

What were you supposed to do with black bears? I remembered they were aggressive ones. You couldn't play dead because they'd torture you.

I lifted the shotgun muzzle up, and aimed at their face.

They lunged to the side, and the powerful gun just tore a bloody chunk out of their shoulder. That was… smart.

"Beep beep Georgie! You'll float with me!" Came the voice of a clown.

Fuck.

I quickly scanned the traps. I needed to escape. The bear lashed their paw out, disabling another trap without triggering it, and stepped closer.

I couldn't outrun a bear. I needed to lure him in. I needed to lure Pennywise, or a Pennywise enraged bear in. I spoke mentally.

"Georgie, Pennywise is gonna kill and eat your brother. This bear is gonna eat you, and then he's gonna eat your family. There's no escape. You'll never be together again. He doesn't love you enough to save you."

"What the hell! No I-"

The bear charged, a sinister and weird looking grin on it's face, like a clown's. I jumped over a trap, aimed the shotgun, and fired just before it reached me.

The shot staggered it, and it stepped into the bear trap. I tossed down the massive shotgun, needing speed more than an empty gun, and I started to run away, limping on my bad legs as I went to escape.

I heard the laughter of a clown behind me, and the painful cries of a bear.

I needed a bigger gun.