My power had solidified as I grew. I could see my skills, my perks, my stats, all around me. A host of rotating islands made of metal and gears and blood floating like a solar system around the central hubs of my statistics. At the core of it all, something unknowable. Fog and smoke covered it, with just brief glances of stone and glass. A mindscape and mind palace I had definitely not chosen.

Power thrummed into me from that core, rich and vibrant. The clockwork and metal gears groaned and turned as the power rushed into them, with tendrils of power reaching out into the physical world. At the moment I was focused around a cluster of islands, of my intellect. My stats, my perks, my inventions, even aspects of my gamer's mind.

Computers and brains and calculating machines twisted together, sharing ideas and will. Focusing on it, I could feel rushes of memories of my fingers burning as I experimented with mixing chemicals together, of my mind burnt and drained as I sought new secrets of science. There was a glow to them, a fire that I hadn't seen before. I had my first recipe and knowledge of grandmaster level construction of traps. In time I would be able to build new creations beyond even this.

Gamer's mind and body were my tools, my scalpels, to bend and twist the structure of my power. My time fighting off the insidious influence of Pennywise had granted me a sophistication I probably wasn't mean to have, my will reaching places beyond where gamer's mind was meant to go.

I pressed the off switch. I was back to Tapp's baseline intellect. I checked on my status screen.

5. Just as I liked it. It wasn't that Tapp was stupid. He remembered things, he was coherent. But puzzle solving? Not his thing. There was a buzzing in the status conditions screen that I closed. No time for that. I had a puzzle to solve. A puzzle to solve with pure con. I was pushing for 10 con so I could start getting even better buffs and merge poison and disease stuff. I had gotten two before for solving puzzles, and had two stat points from levelling up. This would put me to… 3 plus 4… oh well. Whatever that was. There's a reason Tapp had never caught Jigsaw.

"I'm doing some routine maintenance on stuff. It's up to you to solve this puzzle, Tapp."

"I won't let you down."

I was in the centre of the amphitheatre, white surgical plastic hanging down around in a square around the operating table. It lifted up as I approached, and I saw her. Amanda. Jigsaw's apprentice. A killer without remorse desperate to please her master. Strapped to a chair for a puzzle for me.

She shook, struggling weakly against the metal cuffs around her wrist, some blood dripping down onto her jeans. Her brown hair was messed and sweaty, and she did not look her best.

"I can't breathe! Get me out of this thing!" She said.

And on the TV screen in front of her, that adorable little puppet of Jigsaw appeared. "Hello Amanda, I want to play a game."

I had earned a con point. There was some puzzle about reaching into corpses. There was a guide, xrays, but I had pushed through it by ignoring those and endured. I had solved that puzzle for a con point. If you solved the puzzles in the right way, you got the stat point.

I sat down in the chair.

"Now the needle will save your life." Said Jigsaw.

Amanda stopped struggling, looking at me. "He didn't say to sit there yet."

"It's probably coming. Why wait?" She looked surprised that I was so eager to be trapped.

"Each of you will be injected with different poisons that will slowly break down your bodies. The device in front of you contains the antidote to each of the poisons."

It was basically a rectangular box. Next to Amanda was a red button and a heart monitor, next to me was a blue button and a heart monitor. Below it was a diamond shape with twisty valves that would let the liquid flow one way or the other, and tubes to inject the cures.

Poison torture machine. Grandmaster quality. A device made by saw to teach Amanda and Tapp the value of their own lives and intellect. 20 HP, 20 armor.

"The red vials go to the left, and the blue vials to the right. Be careful, incorrectly mixing the antidote will cause some discomfort."

I had done something else in my time away. I had taken every syringe I could find, every dirty disease covered item, and stabbed myself. I had caught every disease I could find, and revelled in it as I purged the plagues from my body with Disease Purge

I had drunk deep of every random old chemical I could find, drinking battery acid, old toxic chemicals, and everything poisonous I could find. I had pushed my body to the breaking point.

All together I had gained a lot of levels, and had bought a perk, Poisoned Assassin, to bring my poison resistance to the next level. I was gonna make my Poison and Disease islands much bigger together and one super skill.

And I sat there and let Tapp do his thing.

He pressed a button, and poison dripped into my veins.

You are being poisoned! You will die in 32 hours. Poison resistance levels up!

"Only the best and the brightest into the police academy!" I said.

"Screw you. I got this."

Next time, some poison dripped into Amanda. She lacked poison resistance, and screamed as the acid like poison dripped into her.

"Watch it! You have to follow how the machine rotates! Just play the game!"

"No, Tapp. Don't play his game. You learn at your own pace. I'll keep you safe." And I would.

"I'm getting it, I'm getting it. I almost have it." He dripped some more poison into my veins.

You are being poisoned! You will die in 23 hours. Poison resistance levels up! Poison resistance levels up!

Sweet, sweet levels.

"This is why you never caught Jigsaw."

"Cop work isn't about rapidly coming to a conclusion, it's about doing a lot of hard work."

"Like, realizing that every single Jigsaw victim was from the Homeward Bound Recovery Clinic where Jigsaw's wife worked or tried to off themselves or from the Angel of Mercy Hospital where Jigsaw was a patient, and had a sketch of one of the traps on full display? Kramey boy is not a subtle man."

"You forgot Amanda was an enemy, even when she was in front of you." He said, not losing his cool at all.

Oh yeah, Saw 2, nerve gas party. Why had I sent him that memory?

He spoke out loud. "I've got this." And dripped some more poison into Amanda. She screamed. "No more! It's not that hard a puzzle."

"I've got this. I'm almost there." He said.

I took control, and activated another perk I had. I still had some of the zombie plague, and I remembered what Maturin had said about zombies and time loops.

Wait. Intuition. I remembered now. Yeah. I shouldn't follow intuition.

I needed to remember. I took a screw from my bag, and scratched an I in blood on my hand.

"What are you doing?" Tapp said.

"Giving you tetanus." He glared at me.

I spoke more honestly. "I needed to remember something. Wizard stuff. Lean over to Amanda?

He did so, and I scratched her with one of my nails and triggered my perk.

"You fucker!" She screamed, as the plague filled her. I looked at the machine. It was her turn. I added poison.

Amanda died, screaming and cursing my name. Then, a minute later, she lived again, as the zombie virus from resident evil revived her. She drew in a deep breath. "I'm- alive."

"Not for long."

Amanda died and lived again and again, as the poison dripped through us. It was like hot fire burning away inside me. My gamer's body fought against it, healing me and replacing damaged cells and tissues with stronger, more poison resistant ones. My immune system pulsed with strength, little soldiers fighting a war to stop the plague. My liver burnt like fire, clearing away the poison as more and more flowed into us from the machine.

Tapp never did figure out how the puzzle worked, but half an hour later, he completed it. The machine ran out of poisons and antidotes. Then we sat there, Amanda living and dying again and again as the poison burnt through her and the plague revived her, screaming madly and and shouting out for vengeance.

I survived. My poison resistance ticked up and up, the level rising as my health and stamina started to drip. Sadly, my skills didn't merge yet, but it was close.

Poison resistance, uncommon apprentice grade, Level 95 12/100 exp.

Disease control, rare advanced apprentice grade, level 32 90/100 exp

If I could merge them like I had other skills I could get all the benefits of my zombie super powers with poison, which meant I would be able to avoid nerve gas party scenarios. But I wasn't quite there yet. I needed them to both be the same grade for one.

You have completed the poison torture machine! By exhausting the reserves of poison within and enduring the terrible pain you have proven yourself a very tough foe to face. Level up, and +1 perk point, along with +1 luck for being such a terrible monster!

Level 14, woo. I was moving up in the world. 9 con as well, I was almost at 10 where I got extra special bonuses.

"First time, Tapp. You did great."

He stretched, feeling his poison free limbs.

"I know you're mocking me, but I got what you wanted, didn't I? You're like a chimera. Any poison in you is just sucked up to make you stronger. And make me stronger."

"I checked with some of the others. Gordon, Adam. From that first trap. You get to keep some, but not all of the skills I show off. You're gonna be a lot stronger by the end of this."

He got up, yanking the needles from his neck.

"Good. What did you do to her?" He slapped her face several times. She didn't respond.

I shrugged. "She'll be fine. Yolo." I switched on my int again and I got to looking at the machine.

My recipe book was very discriminating. It only accepted grandmaster quality work. It had my taser in it, along with the Reverse Bear trap I'd been wearing coming in.

Reverse Bear trap. Durability, 10/10, armor 10/10. Damage, 1000. A trap designed by Jigsaw to rip apart a person's face if they fail to solve a puzzle in time. Inspired by Jill Tuck's love of plants.

I could solve them much more quickly with them in there, or build them. It was a cool new feature. If I could just figure this out…

New recipe found. Detox Machine. Durability 3/3, armor 2/2. Injects a poison or an antidote into a person based off how well they solve or fail a problem.

Got it.

I looked over at Amanda. Her face looked pale and damaged. She opened her eyes.

"I'll kill you! Kill you. Kill yuh." And the poison killed her again.

I had levelled up first aid over 10 while dealing with my broken legs. I had generally been relying on magical healing or death to cure me which was a bit silly. I should learn more first aid. Anyway, I had a few more perks now I am common apprentice grade.

I purchased one of the perks. 6 points.

Poison encyclopedia. You have an advanced knowledge of poisons, and can recognize the symptoms of them.

I glanced over Amanda, pressing my hand to her neck.

Maybe half an hour more before she drove the poison out at this rate? Eh, I felt I could probably just leave her it'd-

The scar on my hand burnt.

Yes. Intuition. Plan things out. Why wasn't I able to remember that? I could feel the concept slipping from my mind even now.

I needed to protect the timeline.

Couldn't leave her here to mess up the timeline. Logical plan, take her with me, I can clear the plague later and leave her somewhere. She's much too weak to hurt me right now, I could tell that from my plague and first aid knowledge. I could use her as a weapon against Pighead.

I grabbed her under her armpits and heaved her up.

"Are you trusting her again?" Tapp asked, annoyed.

I shook my head.

"I zombiefied her so that we could pass the trials. I need to clear her, and I need her not to die for magic reasons. Plus, she's bait for the other apprentices."

"Who is that… pighead? You said it was Amanda before that took Adam?"

"I dunno. Someone. White, tall, muscular, good with electronics."

"I wouldn't know. I'm terrible with them. I always had to rely on a partner, or my wife… I misss her... I always prefer to work with something you can feel. Pound of the streets, mechanical things. Oh and- magical reasons?" He said, disdainfully.

"I promised a magic turtle."

"Oh." He was silent after that.

We passed under a red light as we headed onwards. Through a door and- my spidey senses tingled. There was a little double medical tray in front of me. I felt in there and- yes. Heavy dose stimulants in a needle. I jammed it into Amanda's neck, injecting the drugs into her. Helpful video game healing.

Amanda woke up. "Play by the rules...don't… doors..."

"Yes Amanda. Following the rules is always good."

She martial'd up some strength and glared at me.

"I survived one test. Now I'm stuck in here with you, a fucking cop." She spat at my feet. Ew. Spit. Zombie plague. I wiped it off with Henry's other shoe.

"Show some dignity." I said.

She looked up at me. "You couldn't even solve the puzzle." I waved my hand.

"I got us out alive, didn't I? Maybe my will to live is just stronger than yours."

She looked scornful, as I headed down the stairs.

"You need to listen. Jigsaw is in charge here. You can't just blunder through and rely on your toughness to survive everything."

"If you have enough hit points, your body is the lockpick. I learned that in D&D."

Tapp glared at me.

"You play that satanic game?"

I grinned. "How do you think I became a wizard?"

We kept heading on down the stairs, when I started to smell the rot of flesh. I headed onwards and then-

I glanced to the side. Corpse. Ugh. There was a metal trap on him. Looks like it rammed spikes into his eyes and spine on a timer? Not sure what was up with that. How were they meant to find me and kill me when blinded? Wasn't pinging on my recipe sense. Ew. Lotta blood. He smelt terrible. Poor guy.

"Jigsaw is one evil bastard."

"Don't think like that." Said Amanda, coughing up blood. "He's… a teacher. He helps you learn."

I poked the corpse with my foot, feeling for a wallet or identification I found it. "Doesn't look like he's learning anything new."

"Some of us are too weak. You need to be stronger. Focus on surviving. Do anything for that."

I pulled out his wallet. "Cassian Smith. I'll remember your name." I could zombie revive him, but I was reluctant about causing a zombie apocalypse. I couldn't control the fungi zombies on my own, and I was on Eve's shitlist for lying to her about Mia.

I dunno if it would work anyway. His brain had been vaporized by it.

"Fuck Jigsaw, and fuck his rules."

I got to the bottom and- more TVs. I already had a decent collection, but I tossed Amanda down to the floor and got to scavenging them for more taser parts. I was feeling pissed off. She hurt? Good. She'd arranged this.

She grunted, and flopped on the floor. "What are you doing?"

"It aint about being strong. It's about being prepared. Jigsaw thinks he's in control here? He thinks he controls this asylum. This asylum is gonna be mine."

"You're gonna get us both killed. Look, there's an audiotape. Listen."

"I've heard enough of your ramblings about his game. I don't want to follow his rules." I said, my voice sharp.

Tapp spoke. "We should listen. That's how you be a good detective. You follow all the clues."

"Jigsaw is just manipulating you, you know that? He wants you to stop following him and embrace life because he's a narcissistic arsehole who obsesses over people who stop him and he's gonna teach you a lesson about how following him is bad. He's a killer, don't forget that."

"Show me." He said, patiently.

I sighed. "Fine." I clicked play.

"Detective, your obsession with me has destroyed your own life and driven you here, like a rat escaping the heat of the sun."

I mentally glared at Tapp. 'See?' My mental glare would say.

"I think you know someone down here" The tape continued. "Your old friend from the force, Jennings Foster. You might want to ask him what really happened in that hit and run case you two worked on. That is, if he is alive by the time you find him. Can you forgive one who has forsaken justice to protect himself? I suggest you hurry, Detective."

"What did he do?"

"He killed a man and blamed it on someone else."

"We'll get him." I played with the tape recorder. "We can record his confession. Don't worry. He's going down." Cause I needed that stat point from saving him.

"I-" I paused. I heard something.

Wisdom check succeeded. 15/12.

Scuff of a foot. I was being chased. And it sounded like the step of Pighead. He had a very heavy step.

But why?

I headed onwards. There was another TV set, these ones behind bars sadly. Jennings confessed to the hit and run. Old news. Jigsaw captured assholes being assholes.

Pighead was tough. Monstrously tough. I wasn't sure I had enough taser power yet to one hit him.

He was fast, strong. He could ambush me well, if I didn't get the drop on him.

What else… oh yeah. There were a lot more electronics here. That wasn't Jigsaw's style. He used mechanical traps mostly. That meant, probably, that they were an electronics expert.

So they'd try to trap me with electronics?

I paced on, keeping my eyes open for a trap. I needed them distracted…

"Jigsaw claims to want to make people struggle for life. But Jennings can't struggle. He's dependent on me."

She was on an upswing. The poison was starting to deplete itself against her zombie vitality. She spoke, a bit more fiercely.

"Some people don't deserve a chance to live."

"What about you? Do you not deserve a chance."

She looked down, looking sad.

"I failed him again. I went back to being a drug addict. I deserve this. I had my chance."

"Did your dealer get a chance? He didn't have a first try."

"He had it coming. He and every other bit of scum in the city should burn." She said, fire in her voice.

"Touched a nerve there." There. A door, wired to shut. Camera, watching. Perfect ambush spot for him. I could bomb him. Risky in this confined space…

Could I use Amanda as a trap? He was probably coming for her, since they were both Jigsaw apprentices. I guess I could bomb her. She'd survive. I needed an edge. I needed-

Party member has entered the group chat.

"Woof? Woof Woof woof woof woof." Said Cure.

"Cure! You're here. But where are you?" I pinged his location.

On the opposite side. I tapped into his video feed, and saw his happy little red tongue wagging, a dark creepy asylum, and pighead hiding behind a wall in a corridor I had just passed.

It was time for an ambush.

Next time, Pighead v2 vs Macgyver round 2.

Thanks again to my beta, Likkoyn

Guyfives. He does dodge. And thanks, yeah, I have tried to make it pretty different to the standard story.

I am a bot. He does have free will. He has restrictive circumstances.

Hahp. And doggo will return in force next chapter.