Note: This is the final scene of Act III folks. I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I have typing it. Once again, I'll be taking a short break from my fic for a week or two. Then it's on to Act IV, which may or may not be my last Act. But I'm pretty confident I'll be in for Act V. Anyways, enjoy, and don't forget the Saw theme music. I mean it this time. Go to youtube or itunes, I don't care what it takes. Find it and listen! Also, there's a new Saw VI poster up. Two more months, guys. Anyways…enjoy.

Scene ix

"Aaaah!" Geoff screamed once again as the hot blood stung his skin. He continued to rub his arms against his pants, (no easy feat, considering Geoff's hands were bound together by handcuffs) and after about a minute of doing so, there were only small patches of died blood on Geoff's arms.

The agent gave a small sigh of relief as he looked over his arms. They still ached from the boiling blood. Luckily it was nothing too serious.

Geoff's eyes moved to the ground, the number '2' was painted in white and there was an arrow in front of it pointing forward. He moved in its direction, looking at the large glass box in the corner.

He stopped in front of the box and noticed a fire at the bottom as the sound of static rang through the room again.

"Hello Geoff, and welcome to your next challenge," said the recording of Jigsaw from the speaker. "If you look directly in front of you, you will notice a golden locket hanging from a wire."

Looking up, Geoff saw the locket, it was in the shape of heart and it was opened. There was a picture of his wife inside.

"Your wife has been dead for a year. And this object you have slept with every night since her death. It was a gift from her not too long before that fatal car accident. You look at this locket as the beautiful memory of your wife. But I see it as symbol of your injustice, the reason why you can't move on with your life. How would she feel if she knew of your obsession for justice? All the people you've jailed for little or none other reason then you were upset. That's a misuse of your authority, Geoff. She would want you to let go, for your sake."

"How would you know what my wife would want you bastard?" Geoff muttered as he moved his eyes from the locket to an oval-shaped hole in the glass box, spikes protruding from it.

"I'll give you a chance to save your wife, Geoff. It's quite simple. All you need to do is put your hands through the hole and pull away the locket before time runs out. If you do not, the locket will fall into the fire and it will burn…just as your wife did in the flames of the car crash. You have twenty seconds Geoff, make your choice."

Red numbers suddenly appeared on a timer at the top of the glass box and began to count down from twenty.

"Jesus," Geoff said as slowly inched his hands to the oval-shaped hole on the glass box. "Ow," he muttered as one of the spikes pricked his hand.

The agent stopped his hands and looked to the locket. Jigsaw's words rang through his head.

"You'll go through a complete transformation if you succeed, Geoff. But you must learn the lessons of pain, letting go, and trust. If you can learn these lessons you will learn true justice."

Pulling his hands away from the hole Geoff stared at the locket as the timer drew closer to zero. "He wants me to let go," he said as he watched the locket with tears in his eyes. "Damn it!" Geoff screamed as he slammed his hands against the box. But not even a crack was made in the glass box.

A buzzer suddenly sounded from the timer as it hit zero. The wire fell from the top of the glass box and landed in the fire below, along with the locket.

Geoff gave a heavy sigh as his eyes moved up to the second puzzle piece, which emerged from a triangular-shaped hole in the glass box and fell to the ground. It landed with a loud 'thud', thanks to its thickness and metal body.

Suddenly, a single light flickered on from the top of the inside of the vault. Kevin looked up at the dimly lit bulb and then down to the metal crates surrounding him.

"Grace!" Kevin shouted as he turned his head back to vault door. It was locked shut. "You let me out of here, now!"

The detective's eyes stopped on a recorder sitting on top of a crate. "Shit," he muttered as he quickly picked up the recorder and clicked play.

"Hello Kevin, are you listening? Be sure that you are, for this cassette will only play once. The recorder you are holding is eating away at the cassette tape's film inside," came Jigsaw's voice as Kevin sat himself down on a crate, gripping the recorder tight.

"If you are listening to this, detective, then that means you've failed—again. I gave you a chance to redeem yourself, to overcome your obsession with justice. Have you learned nothing from Jade's death, Kevin?"

"Help me!" Jade screamed again.

"I'm sorry," Kevin said as he opened the now unlocked door before him. Jade continued to scream toward him, but the detective ignored her as he ran down the fluorescent-lighted hallway, pulling the pistol from his back pocket as he continued to hear, and ignore, Jade's cries.

"You let her die because you thought it was for the greater good. To capture the man you call 'Jigsaw'. And now you've done the same to Paula. You let her die because you thought it would put me in jail. I guess you've learned nothing."

"Has Jade taught you a valuable lesson about obsession, Kevin? Has her death showed you the error of your ways? Or do you still want justice? Do you still want to see me rot in prison? Tonight, we shall find out."

"Fuck you," Kevin said as he bit his lip. His head shook slowly as Jigsaw continued to speak.

"You're not a very good listener, Kevin. You didn't understand the rules of your first tape here in this building. When you were strapped to the table. For you see, Kevin. I always keep to my part of the rules. I promised you that I would not harm you…"

"I can assure you Kevin, that if you kill Paula I will give you no sort of punishment whatsoever. There is no right or wrong choice. I am no longer a part of this game from here on out."

"…for you see Kevin. There's something that I have not told you yet," said Jigsaw with a chuckle as Kevin glanced down at the recorder in his hand.

"Here it is," said one of the officers as Shaan Primo walked to the front door of the building.

"It's completely sealed off," Shaan said as he looked back to the officer. "What about those messages on the walls…from that girl whose imitating Jigsaw?"

Shaan looked back to the officer and to the chopped tongue on the ground. He looked back to Kenneth's corpse and the barbed wire that remained stuck inside his flesh.

The man's eyes wandered to the walls. Phrases were written in blood on the wall. They read, 'See No Evil', 'Hear No Evil', and 'Speak No Evil'.

"The steel plating over the windows prevents those inside from seeing the outside world, hearing the outside world, and they cannot 'speak'. Anyone yelling inside wouldn't be heard from anyone directly next to the building," said Shaan as he moved to the door that led to the entrance of the large building. The door had a device with a keyhole attached to it, but Shaan merely touched the door and it slowly slid open.

"Someone's already come out of here," Shaan said as one of the officers called his name.

"Look," said an officer as he shined his flashlight on the ground. Fresh skid marks were clearly visible. "Someone just left here."

"John!" shouted Alison as she came through the curtains of the room. "A car just parked outside of the building."

John sat in a chair, hands folded across his chest as he looked up to Alison. "Then things went as I thought. That's Grace outside; she knows we're here. I left a car for her if she was to complete the game," John said with a smile as Alison gave a scoff.

"What…do you think she's changed or something? Why would you let her back into—"

Alison stopped talking as John beckoned to her, "come." She came over to John as he began to whisper into her ear.

As she listened, Alison's eyes went wide and she backed away from John. "Are you crazy? I'm not doing that, John. Never," she said.

"Wait…" John said, moving his hand as if he was reaching for Alison. But she already exited the room, leaving the curtains swinging softly. "…Alison." John gave a sigh as he leaned back in his chair, his eyes shut tight.

Alison left the room and began to walk swiftly to the other end of the large room. Suddenly, the door at the end of the room swung open. Grace stepped inside, her gun pointed at Alison.

"Grace!" Alison yelped, stepping back, surprised that she had a gun.

"Wait—Alison?" Grace snorted. "You're kidding right? Miss Goodie is John's new apprentice?"

A frown suddenly came over Alison's face. "Yeah, well 'Miss Goodie' didn't have much problem knocking you out cold in front of that police station."

"That was you?" Grace asked with her hand clutching the gun tight.

"It was killing two birds with one stone, actually," Alison said, watching the gun in Grace's hand. "You see, before waiting outside for you, I was busy inside the police station gathering information."

Kevin grabbed a chair near the table as Alison simply looked down at the floor. "God damn it!" he screamed. The officer grabbed the chair and threw it across the room. He placed his hands on the table and hunched over to look Alison in the face, "you tell me where the bastard is!"

Violent sobbing exploded from Alison; her hands moved to cover her face.

"Alison…" Kevin whispered, "where…is…Jigsaw?" His tone was calm and comfortable—afraid that another shouting session would cause her to break down.

"32 C-County Street," Alison said; her voice subdued by sobs.

"Thank you," Kevin said. The officer left Alison and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Kevin soon left the room and Paula moved in to comfort Alison, whose crying was completely faked.

"I'm…alright," Alison said after a few minutes, wiping tears from her eyes as Paula helped her to the hallway.

"You sure?" Paula asked as Alison nodded.

Paula left to her office as Alison walked toward the door leading out of the police station. But rather then leaving, she quickly moved to a door with a pin in her hand she picked the lock, leading to a large filing cabinet in the room.

Alison slipped on a plastic glove, picked the lock on one of the drawers, and pulled out a piece of paper with information on the building on Tobin Street.

"It was important that I stole that sheet of information on the building that you and the others played your game in," explained Alison.

Curiosity overcame the agent as he followed the voice of the detective into a lit room. The detective stood in front of a series of filing cabinets; one of the drawers was wide open.

"All the drawers were locked except that one," the detective said as Shaan walked into the room. "And this file…" he held up a thin folder with only a dozen or so papers inside, "…is missing a paper." He walked up to Agent Primo and handed him the folder as he quickly looked through it. The missing page was obvious.

"Alright. Whatever," Grace said with a shrug and a grin. "I'm out, that's all that matters. But tell me, unless you want me to shoot you, what's John's next step?"

"Don't you know?" Alison chuckled, "John's perfect game is finally coming to fruition."

Grace's face went emotionless. "His perfect game. He's talked to me about that but he's never explained. Tell me, Alison…what's his perfect game? Where's it being held?"

"Uh…" Alison muttered, "…he's never told me. I've asked before but all he's said is that 'the time will come'."

Anger filled Grace's eyes. She was curious to know about John's game, and if Alison didn't know, there was no possible way that John would tell Grace what it was before she attempted to kill him.

"Oh well," Grace said. "I guess you'll die with your hollow secret."

Bang!

A bullet erupted from the gun and pierced Alison's skull. She suddenly fell to the ground, lifeless. A triumphant Grace stepped over Alison's corpse and to the curtains that led to John's room.

"John," Grace sang, "it seems your expiration date is a bit earlier then Doctor Gordon expected."

"Here's your second piece," Geoff muttered as he placed the second puzzle piece into the board on the table in the center of the room. His eyes moved to the last station. There seemed to be another tube rising from the floor.

As Geoff stopped at the station, his eyes moved to a pistol sticking out from the wall and then to the tube, which held a small pool of water and a puzzle piece. Another tube was high up and horizontal. It also had a puzzle piece at the end of it.

"Welcome to your last challenge, Geoff," came the voice of Jigsaw from the speaker. "You've succeeded in letting go, and you're now one step closer to your transformation."

Geoff pulled on the gun in the wall, in an attempt to remove it. "There are two puzzle pieces here, but you only need one. By pulling on a puzzle piece a gun before you will fire off. If you choose to grab the piece on the higher tube the bullet will hit you…"

The agent looked to the gun, if it was to fire off, the bullet would only hit his shoulder.

"…but if you duck down and pull up the piece from the water, the bullet will miss you. However, this water is electrified. If you place your hands in it for too long, you'll be paralyzed. If you don't think carefully, Geoff, this will be the last step you'll ever make. Make your choice. And trust me, water is good for treating wounds. Wash away your sins, officer."

The recording shut off as he looked down to the tube before him. "Does he want me to…?" Geoff mumbled as he looked up to the tube extending from the wall. "No, but this way I'll only get shot in the shoulder. I already have enough damage on my arms."

Geoff took a step forward to reach the tube.

"If you don't think carefully, Geoff, this will be the last step you'll ever make."

The agent looked down to his foot. He had to make a step to reach the tube. "No, that's just mere coincidence…" Geoff chuckled as he looked down to the gun. "…I'm not gonna trust a psycho."

Geoff stopped moving; his head turned to look at the tube with the electrified water at the bottom and sighed.

"I trust this man," Geoff said, sighing.

He had never felt so…at ease…about his wife's death. For the first time in a long time Geoff felt whole again.

He could let go of the pain. He could trust again.

Geoff walked in front of the tube and plunged his hands into the water. But rather than feeling a surge of electricity, only a small tingling feeling came from the water. The amount of electricity flowing through the water was little to none.

A chuckle came from Geoff as he pulled on the puzzle piece, a string tugged as he did so. The piece was removed from the string as a gunshot went off. The agent stood up slowly to look at the gun on the wall. This gun wasn't smoking; rather, there was smoke coming from an area directly in front of Geoff. For there was a gun tucked away into the wall that would've shot Geoff right in the heart if he had taken the puzzle piece of the tube extending from the wall.

Geoff backed away from the tube and moved to the table in the center of the room. He placed the puzzle piece on the board and suddenly a clicking sound came from the door behind Geoff, signifying the bomb's deactivation. But then the board opened up and a saw blade, which began to spin, was revealed along with a recorder directly beside it.

The agent looked to the spinning blade and slowly placed the chain on his handcuffs onto the blade. Within moments the chain snapped and Geoff was free to move his arms again. His first movement was to the recorder beside the saw. He picked it up and pressed play.

"Hello Geoff," came Jigsaw's voice. "And congratulations. You've passed your final test. You've learned the lessons I had to teach you: pain, letting go, and trust. You've learned to trust in me, Geoff. You've learned true justice. Now listen closely. I have information to enclose to you, and if you've learned anything from this game, you will use this information correctly."

Geoff placed the recorder to his ear as Jigsaw began to speak, his curiosity booming.

John looked from the ground to his former apprentice who held the gun firmly in her hand, the curtains swaying behind her.

"Hello John," Grace with a smile. "I want to play a game," she moved a few steps closer to John with the gun pointed toward his chest. "You tell me what you're planning for your perfect game, and I won't kill you."

John gave a small chuckle as he kept his arms folded across his chest. "That depends…did you put the note on the vault door? When you locked Kevin inside?"

"You were expecting that, weren't you?" Grace asked.

"That was my guess on how things would turn out. No one ever seems to take the chances I give them to live," John gave a sigh as he looked back down to the ground.

"Yeah. I put the note up and took all the recorders and cassettes I could find before leaving. It was a damn good plan…despite the consequences I'm going to get. But it's the only way they would've ever believed it," explained Grace as she waved the gun around. "Now take my chance for you to live, and tell me what you're planning."

"No," John said as he struggled to get up from the chair. He placed one hand on the top of it to keep himself standing. "Things went exactly as I hoped. Except for Alison…she should have listened to me. I can't have an apprentice who won't listen."

Alison remained silent as Kaden smiled. He knew he hit a nerve of some sort. "You're still upset over little Roy's death, huh? And Steven's too. He told you to move on, and you haven't. I don't think Jigsaw wants someone who doesn't obey his orders."

"If Alison had listened to me then she would've left me and she would still be alive. And with Kevin, from the note you placed on the door…I'm sure you realize that he…" John looked away from Grace and to the wall and gave a small chuckle.

"That something I haven't told you Kevin…" Jigsaw said from the recording, Kevin's eyes were glued to the recorder, "…is that you are Jigsaw."

"What?" Kevin shouted in confusion and anger and 'Jigsaw' continued to speak from the recorder.

"You, and the rest of the officers, see me as a man called Jigsaw. A serial killer. Someone who kills innocent people for his own purposes."

"This is disgusting," Special Agent Shaan Primo said as he crouched down to look at the wound in her stomach. "Jigsaw's a sicko. There's nothing I hate more than a murderer."

"Don't lie to me, Kevin. I haven't killed any innocent people. But you've killed quite a few. Mary…"

"Come back!" Mary yelled. "Come back and get me out of here! I don't deserve this!"

"…Jade…"

Jade screamed and moved her feet in an attempt to get them out of the slots. "Help me!" she screamed again.

"…Carl…"

The room was completely silent as the walls inside the chamber were back to normal. Carl continued to stare at Paula as his lips finally moved,"I lov—"

"…And Paula."

"Paula," Kevin said as she quickly looked up at him. "I'm sorry."

Kevin aimed the gun for her heart and fired.

"They all died for your own 'benefits'. So you could try to lock Jigsaw away. So now I will give you your long-wanted wish. There is a note attached to the vault door. Shall I read its contents to you, Kevin? It reads, 'Dear Special Agent Shaan Primo—behind this door is detective Kevin Harthe. He is Jigsaw…responsible for the deaths of many innocent people. Look around, you will find that there are very valid clues that will point to this. Signed, Jigsaw's Apprentice, Grace Sruley'."

Kevin remained dead quiet, his eyes no longer on the recorder, but at the wall.

"…he has been framed for being Jigsaw," John said as his eyes moved back to Grace.

"Ingenious, John. Really. Just tell me what the plan for your perfect game is, and I'll let you live," Grace threatened. "That's all I want."

"No. You'll kill me anyways," John shook his head slowly as he stared Grace in the eyes. "My perfect game is coming along. And in due time, whether I'm alive or not, you will see it. So go ahead," John said, anger in his voice, "relieve me of my suffering. For there is only one cure for the painful effects of cancer, Grace."

A pause.

"Death."

Grace gave a huff and pointed the gun to John's abdomen. "Suffering huh? Not a bad idea. Personally, from the hell you just put me through, I think you deserve to suffer a little more."

She pulled the trigger on the gun, causing the bullet to fire straight into John's stomach.

The man immediately gripped his stomach as he fell to his knees; John groaned in agony as Grace simply watched with a smile.

Shaan held a gun tight in his hands as he walked into the building, officers behind him. "The vault," Shaan said, his eyes squinted as he saw the note taped to the door. "There's a note on it."

They stopped at the door as Shaan pulled the note away, his eyes scanned it and they widened. "Someone help me get this door open," Shaan said as he turned around, handing the note to an officer. "I think we found our Jigsaw."

"They won't believe you," Kevin said, shaking his head, unable to hear the voices outside of the vault.

"Your fellow officers will realize you killed Paula. They'll believe that you were the one took the paper from the folder in your office with information regarding this building, which holds a large amount of weapons for the government. Something 'Jigsaw' could use in the making of his traps. They'll think that your obsession for catching Jigsaw and your sudden disappearance was nothing more than a cover up. And the writing in blood…on the wall…"

Grace immediately moved down the hallway and stopped as soon as it came into view. The words 'Live Your Life' were written large in blood on the wall. It looked as if someone had written the words with the paintbrush that was almost out of liquid. The letters weren't fully developed and some spacing and patches were missing.

"…believe it or not, Kevin, that was written in your blood. My apprentice didn't bandage up your hands from the goodness of her heart," said John in the recording with a chuckle as Kevin gave a scream, his head banged against the wall behind him.

Kevin looked over to his hands. The room he was in was fairly dark. He wasn't able to see far, but he could tell that the cuts on his hands from the elevator trap had been fixed. There was the soft feel of wrapped cloth around his hands.

"And I stayed true to my word, Kevin. I said I wouldn't be part of this game any longer. I promised you I wouldn't give you any punishment. But what the authorities want to do when they get here…" Kevin's eyes grew wide and hands clutched the recorder tight, "…is completely up to them. But I'm guessing you'll rot in jail. Just like how you wanted me to. Goodbye, 'Jigsaw'," the recording ended as the vault door began to open, officers with guns pointed at Kevin sat inside, Shaan yelling at him to put his hands behind his back.

"Kevin…would you make the same sacrifices to make sure Paula lives?" Kevin's eyes moved up to Paula who stared right back down at him. "The answer to this question just might be your freedom."

"…goodbye and good luck, Geoff. I hope to see you soon," said John on the recording as it ended.

The door began to move and Geoff quickly shoved the recorder into his pocket.

"Agent Geoff?" said an officer as he put the gun down to his side. He walked inside and looked around, a surprised Geoff simply gave a smile. "Are you alright?"

"Never better," Geoff replied.

"Shaan Primo's downstairs. Along with Jigsaw."

"You mean Kevin?" Geoff asked. The recorder Geoff had listened to revealed a large amount of information to him. Including several possible outcomes of the game.

And as far as Geoff was concerned, Kevin was Jigsaw. John Kramer was a different man. Not suited for such a cruel title.

"You know?" the officer asked, shocked.

"Yeah, I know. He locked me in here. I would've died of starvation if you guys hadn't came," lied Geoff as he walked out from the room, looking back at the officer.

"And Paula," the officer said. "We think Kevin killed her."

Geoff sighed, "yeah. I figured she might be dead."

"Let's get back to Shaan. He'll be delighted to know you can back up this whole screwed up mess that Kevin's Jigsaw. With you as a witness, we can lock him away for good," said the officer as he walked toward the set of stairs, Geoff close behind.

"Urgh…" John groaned, struggling to not keel over. He used a shaking hand to pull a recorder from his pocket, his eyes looking up one last time at Grace before falling flat on the ground.

Grace let the empty pistol fall to the floor as she used her foot to drag the recorder from John's hand and to her. Picking it up, she hit 'play'.

"Hello Grace, if you're listening to this then I am dead and you have failed. You failed the second you put the thought into your head that I was the one responsible for Steven's death. He made his own choices, and so did you. I can only hope that you've learned your lesson and you stay away from your corrupt obsession for justice. Justice over Steven's death, killing those who you believe are responsible for Steven's depression and his self mutilation," as the tape continued, Grace flipped over John's body, blood still running from his stomach as her fingers moved to his neck to check his pulse. She kept them on there for a few moments.

No pulse. John was really dead.

"The authorities know you've helped me in my games, Grace. So now, you have no choice but to take my place and continue the games. Give people the justice they deserve. This is your last chance Grace; I can hope that you understand what true justice is. If you stray away from justice, I can assure you there will be dire consequences. Goodbye, Grace."

The recorder shut off as Grace stood up from John's corpse. Her eyes moved to John's doll, which sat on a desk in the corner of the room.

Grace chuckled as she grabbed John's doll by the hair and walked out of the room, moving the curtains to the side. "I think it's time for a makeover," she said with a smile, looking down at the doll and it's eerie face.

Geoff walked out of the building to see Shaan Primo, whose head quickly turned to him. "Geoff, do you—"

"I know," Geoff replied, interrupting Shaan. "I know about Kevin."

"Then you know it's not totally over. We need to find this Grace girl before she starts anymore games," Shaan said as Geoff nodded, looking to a SWAT truck over on the side. "Kevin's in there."

"I want to take a look at his sorry face," Geoff said with a chuckle, walking away from the officers as he opened the back door of the truck. Kevin sat there, handcuffed to the wall.

"Geoff!" Kevin cried out, "thank God! They think I'm Jigsaw. You know that I'm not, you heard him and his recordings. You know it's just part of his game, right?"

A smile came over Geoff's lips. "Well, Kevin," he began; a confused look came over Kevin's face. "As Jigsaw would say…"

Detective Kevin moved his arm forward, in an attempt to reach Geoff. "You know, don't you?" Kevin screamed, rage in his eyes. "You're in on this, aren't you! You bastard! You fucking bastard!"

Geoff gripped the door tight as Kevin continued to scream. "Don't you close the door on me, Geoff! Don't you dare!"

"…game over!" Geoff said as forcefully threw the door shut.

"You mother fucker! Geoff, you're a traitor! Open this door, Geoff!"

Slam!

The door shut and Geoff walked away. Leaving Kevin to scream in darkness…to suffer in his own pool of obsession and injustice.

End Act III…