Hostage situation

I have this hostage situation, but it's not very simple to resolve. Two powerful mayor characters are being mind-controlled by the villain in turn, who is threatening to make them kill each other unless the MacGuffin Girl surrenders the item inside her, which of course means she dies. She has some powers, but they are too flashy to help her for now. There's other three characters avaibable: One of them is recovering from the effects of a deadly poison and it's too weak to fight, and it's having an internal conflict because he's developed a crush on the brainwashed girl and the MacGuffin girl. The other is actually the girlfriend of the other brainwashed hostage, and there's a third character who is not aware of the situation yet, but it's near of the place it's happening in.

So, this is where it goes tricky: How do all of them come out alive from that?! I seriously don't know how to make them survive in a realistic way.

You used that starlight to guide me… I´ll use this starlight to guide you back! Matrix Evolution!

Well, why are this girl's powers too flashy? What do they do, nuke cities or something? What do the other people do? What skills/powers do they have?

edited 26th Apr '11 1:18:45 AM by melloncollie

Always remember that you have the ultimate power, the final say. If you paint yourself into a corner, move the walls. In this case, if it looks like the villain is going to kill everybody, something has to happen to him. He gets distracted, say, by the arrival of the police or someone looking for the heroes. He steps on a nail. A loose beam falls from the ceiling and hits him in the head. Anything to give the heroes their one chance to escape.

Under World. It rocks!

And then you get booed off the stage by a furious audience.

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What if someone figures out the villain's weakness and breaks the Mind Control?

Or maybe someone floods the area with the two MindControlled people with sleeping gas, rendering them incapable of attacking each other?

Or someone figures out how to talk the villain down, using knowledge of his psychology?

Also, does everyone have to escape alive? It could be an interesting turn of events if the MacGuffin Girl sacrifices herself, or if the two MindControlled people attack each other and one or both of them dies. I really like when authors aren't afraid to follow through on a Sadistic Choice.

edited 26th Apr '11 10:07:38 AM by Ettina

If I'm asking for advice on a story idea, don't tell me it can't be done.

Could this third character affect the outcome if they find out about the situation? At the very least, could he/she distract the villain long enough to allow the good guys to win?

Well, her powers consist on summoning elemental creatures with her flutes and waves of purifying light, both too flashy to not call the attention of the villain >_< And all of them are in an open field, so I think (Not sure) that the sleeping gas is outta the question. The other girl fighting has standard fire powers. The villain, on the other hand, can corrode anything she touches, but of course, it has to be near of her. The guy who is not aware of the situation can blow up a large area, but since this is taking place in a populated area, it is not very useful (Although he's Only In It For The Money, so there may not be a problem with that), and he is a skillful swordsman.

So yeah... I think I have an idea, but I'm not really sure lol

You used that starlight to guide me… I´ll use this starlight to guide you back! Matrix Evolution!

@Chubert: I'd be one of them. I really don't like the "plot prevails over logic" mentality - it's much more interesting (for me) when I wind up altering my planned plot due to the way things have developed. But then, I'm a heavy believer in Writing by the Seat of Your Pants anyway.