**Chapter 1: The Puzzle Begins**
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*Gotham City. The city of shadows and grit. The city where heroes rise and fall, where villains crawl through the streets in search of power, control, and chaos. And on this night, the city's darkness grew darker, for there was a new player in town—a new mind that was determined to put its twisted mark on Gotham's grim landscape.*
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John Kramer had never been a man to be overlooked. As Jigsaw, he was a mastermind—a man who saw the world in a way few others did. Where most saw victims, he saw potential. Where others saw criminals and outcasts, he saw people who needed to be tested, to be forced to confront the very essence of their humanity. And if they failed, then they were given the choice to die—or to survive, to prove they deserved life.
But Gotham... Gotham was different.
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It had been months since John Kramer had been brought to this world—a place where dark, caped figures patrolled the streets, and super-powered beings clashed in the skies. He didn't belong here, and yet, he felt drawn to it, as if Gotham's darkness matched his own. He had seen it from afar, researched the city's most notorious figures—Batman, the Joker, the Riddler, Two-Face, and the rest of Gotham's rogues gallery. Each one seemed to embody chaos, but none of them truly understood what it meant to make people face their inner demons.
None of them had a true *purpose* like he did.
The *heroes* of Gotham—Batman, in particular—had done nothing but prevent him from executing his vision. They swooped in, stopped his traps, and saved his victims without ever understanding the lessons behind them. They had no appreciation for the intricate, the calculated. They fought criminals, sure, but they didn't fight *themselves*. They were blind to the need for real consequences, for real tests. Gotham needed more than capes and fists—it needed someone who could truly show the city its flaws, someone who could make it see its own twisted reflection.
And so, John Kramer, aka **Jigsaw**, had arrived in Gotham, determined to teach the city's residents a lesson they would never forget.
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### **The First Game**
John had prepared for this moment. He had studied Gotham, its criminals, its inhabitants. The city was a ticking time bomb, and all it took was a little pressure to make it explode.
His first victim was *Rocco D'Angelo*, a mid-tier thug working for one of Gotham's many crime families. Rocco had been involved in countless crimes—robberies, extortion, even murder. But there was one thing that had always set him apart from others: he had never been caught. Never been tested. He lived outside the reach of justice, thinking he was untouchable. A criminal, sure, but one who operated in the shadows, slipping through Gotham's cracks.
That would change.
John had been tracking Rocco for weeks. He knew his patterns, his habits, his very weaknesses. He knew where to strike, how to strike. And now, Rocco was in a place far from escape—a place that was as cold and sterile as the death traps John had designed.
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Rocco woke up in a cold, dimly lit room. His hands were bound to a chair, his body aching as if he'd been drugged. His head throbbed, and his heart raced with panic. He tried to move, but his arms were locked in place. The room was silent, save for a faint, mechanical clicking sound that echoed in the corners of the room.
"Where am I?" Rocco whispered to himself, his voice shaky.
Then, a voice, calm and measured, filled the room. It was a voice he didn't recognize, but somehow, it seemed... familiar.
"Hello, Rocco. I've been watching you. You've spent your life taking from others without consequence. You've hurt people, crushed their hopes, and lived without empathy. But now, it's time for you to face your own choices."
The voice belonged to **Jigsaw**, but Rocco didn't know that yet. He could only hear the cold, disembodied voice echoing in his ears.
"You see," the voice continued, "life is a game. You were given a chance to live without consequence. But now, you must play by different rules. You will be tested."
Rocco's heart skipped a beat. The sound of the clicking grew louder. He tried to wriggle out of the chair, but it was no use. His movements were limited, his strength drained by the drug that had been slipped into his system.
Before he could speak again, the mechanical clicking ceased, replaced by a soft whirring sound. Slowly, a large screen on the wall flickered to life, showing a distorted figure—John Kramer, the man behind the trap, though Rocco had no idea who he was yet.
"Rocco," the voice began, "in front of you is a choice. A simple one. Behind you, you'll find a small device—a bomb. It's rigged to detonate in... five minutes. However, there is a way out. You'll see a keypad. The code to disarm the bomb is a simple one, but it's hidden. You'll need to solve it by answering one question: how many people have you hurt in your life, and do they deserve to die for your actions?"
Rocco's breath caught in his throat. A bomb? A code? He frantically twisted his head around, desperately searching for the keypad.
"You see," the voice continued, "every action has a consequence. Every decision you make leads you to this moment. The answer you give will determine whether you survive this game. Choose wisely."
Rocco's hands trembled as he scanned the room. There was a small keypad built into the armrest of his chair, just out of his reach. He needed to find a way to reach it before time ran out—but the more he looked, the more he realized that time was slipping away, and his heart beat faster with every passing second.
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### **Meanwhile...**
Batman was already aware of the new threat that had emerged in Gotham. His extensive network of informants had brought reports of a new villain—someone who was setting traps across the city, leaving behind grisly, macabre puzzles for Gotham's criminal underworld.
For Batman, the idea of someone orchestrating these games—*this type of game*—was a terrifying thought. He had seen enough twisted minds in Gotham, but Jigsaw's brand of cruelty was different. It wasn't chaos for the sake of chaos. It was calculated, planned, and, worst of all, it was patient.
Batman's first instinct was to track down whoever this Jigsaw was, to stop him before any lives were lost. He had to stop the games from spreading. Gotham's criminals might be ruthless, but they were still human. And humans didn't deserve to be reduced to pieces in someone else's sick game.
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### **The Puzzle Begins**
As Rocco struggled to free himself from his bonds, the seconds ticked by—one minute, two minutes. The screen in front of him flashed a countdown timer, each second reminding him of his inevitable doom. Sweat poured down his face, his eyes darting between the bomb and the keypad.
*Was there a way out?*
Then, as if to answer his thoughts, the voice came again, this time softer, almost comforting. "You have two choices, Rocco. You can try to escape, or you can confront the truth about yourself. If you survive, you will be given the opportunity to change. But if you fail, you'll understand the true meaning of consequence."
As Rocco fumbled for the code, he realized one horrifying truth: **This was just the beginning.** The game had started, and in Gotham, the stakes were higher than ever.
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**To Be Continued...**