I was dazed for a few moments as the Fox-Frog-Humanoid grabbed me by the back of my neck and threw me against the metal fence that resided on the left-most side of the long stone path.

  I hurt everywhere, my limbs swollen, battered, bruised, and refusing to work.

  I was sitting slumped on the ground, one eye pinched shut, with it being a great effort just to keep my head raised.

  “Hoi-ya!” came a shout.

  It was Little Me who had found his courage and had started to attack the Fox-Frog-Humanoid.

  Little Me’s punches were ineffectual, since he was just a kid. All it took was one precise karate chop to the back of his head from the Fox-Frog-Humanoid to knock Little Me out.

  Somewhat to my surprise, the Fox-Frog-Humanoid caught Little Me before he collapsed to the ground. I watched as the Fox-Frog-Humanoid placed the unconscious Little Me next to where I was sitting. I felt Little Me’s head lull against my shoulder and his body slump against mine. His eyes were closed, and he was breathing as if in a deep sleep.

  “Little punk,” said the Fox-Frog-Humanoid.

  His voice was deep, gravelly and, strangely, distinctly American.

  “Who are you?” I rasped.

  The Fox-Frog-Humanoid crossed his arms and looked down at me with what seemed to be contempt.

  “You know who I was,” he said.

  “Slip?” I rasped.

  “Correct,” said the Fox-Frog-Humanoid.

  “Why?” I rasped, “I thought we were friends.”

  The Fox-Frog-Humanoid bared his teeth, his frown deepening.

  “A master and his servant can never be friends,” he said.

  I decided to start healing my wounds. That, at least, I could do.

  “What good will healing do you?” said the Fox-Frog-Humanoid, “I could kill you right now.”

  Despite his taunt, I began the process of healing the worst of my injuries. It was slow and would take minutes until I could heal enough to stand up.

  “Then why don’t you?” I rasped, “What are you waiting for?”

  The Fox-Frog-Humanoid lowered to a squat, so that our eyes were level.

  “Because I made a deal,” he said, “To become what I am. To help you.”

  Now he wasn’t making any sense.

  “Help me?” I said.

  The pain in my legs felt like hot rods were cooking me from the inside out, the veins and tendons throbbing as they healed; the pain of healing, as usual, was worse than the initial pain of the injury itself.

  “Because of your weakness and lack of focus,” said the Fox-Frog-Humanoid, “Slip had to take drastic measures to give you the best possible chance of survival.”

  He looked at his clawed right hand. I couldn’t tell if he was admiring what he had become or was repulsed.

  “You combined with the Fox-Frog-Monster?” I said.

  “Slip did, yes,” said the Fox-Frog-Humanoid, “Now shut up and let me explain, you’re wasting time you don’t have.”

  This was like telling me not to think of a pink elephant, but since I felt owed an explanation, I decided to scowl and keep silent.

  “Sweet-Face is coming to kill you sooner or later,” said the Fox-Frog-Humanoid, “And you’re not ready. You have no fighting instincts, no techniques with which to attack or defend. At first, Slip sought out a way to gain fighting knowledge so that he could pass it on to you.”

  “Slip used the power to take into himself all the memories of combat you have witnessed in your own life and through all the media you’ve ever watched. Then, seeing as that was woefully lacking, Slip used the power to take what little knowledge you had and created a new, powerful form of martial arts.”

  The Fox-Frog-Humanoid tugged at the belt of his gi.

  “By this point, I was still Slip, a copy of you. But Slip’s efforts to become stronger within this place…”

  The Fox-Frog-Humanoid looked up to the underside of the gray stone bridge, the tree canopy of greens and pinks, and the clear blue sky beyond. I understood that he meant not just Lowems Park, but my Mindspace in particular.

  “The Fox-Frog-Monster had bided its time. Growing stronger, preparing for the chance for you to return to this Mindspace so that it could once again try and take over your mind and body for itself.”

  The Fox-Frog-Humanoid stood to his full height.

  “Instead,” He said, “The Fox-Frog-Monster found Slip. And they fought, and despite Slip’s fighting techniques, and the Fox-Frog-Monster’s raw size and power, neither could defeat the other. They reached a stalemate.”

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  The Fox-Frog-Humanoid, who was, I decided, better to be thought of as the ‘Fox-Frog-Slip’, cocked his head to the side as he looked at me.

  “I’ve discovered there are two ways to gain power within this Mindspace. The first is to take over other beings to claim their power as your own. The other way is that both beings must agree to combine their power. But both have a major cost.”

  “You lose your own identity in the process,” I said.

  “Didn’t I tell you not to interrupt?!” the Fox-Frog-Slip yelled.

  I felt some of his spittle land on my face, and I expected a punch to follow, but instead the Fox-Frog-Slip growled and punched away a large chunk of the stone from the bridge column.

  In the process of punching the bridge, he had turned his back to me.

  “You’re right,” said the Fox-Frog-Slip, “And that’s why Slip couldn’t combine his identity with yours; he might have taken the time to instruct you in martial arts, but the imminent threat of both the Fox-Frog-Monster and Sweet-Face forced his hand. Besides, the power takes more than it gives; if he had chosen to combine his Psyche with yours, you would have gained martial arts knowledge, but you would have lost far more of who you are. Of Burgess O’Bannon.”

  The Fox-Frog-Slip turned to face me again.

  For a brief moment, I saw concern in his eyes, and not aggression.

  “The part of me that is trying to help you still is what remains of your obedient servant, Slip. But the other part would like nothing more than to tear you limb from limb, and to see you erased from existence.”

  My mouth tasted coppery from all the blood that had built up. I spat it onto the stone path and said, “You said Slip and the Fox-Frog-Monster made a deal? What was it?”

  The Fox-Frog-Slip gave an unsettling grin, showing his fangs and the deep furrow of his hairless brow.

  “A challenge,” said the Fox-Frog-Slip, “Slip and the Fox-Frog-Monster both agreed that they were too weak to overpower the other. Both knew that even after combining into one being. Me. That the Slip-half would want to continue helping you. And the Fox-Frog-Monster-half would want to destroy you. Which half gets what they want also depends on you.”

  I grunted as I sat upright a little more.

  “I get to decide which half wins?” I said.

  The Fox-Frog-Slip folded his arms.

  “First, you must decide if you’re willing to accept the challenge,” said the Fox-Frog-Slip, “And what happens after depends on your ability to survive.”

  “What challenge?” I said.

  The Fox-Frog-Slip’s grin became devilish to the point he began to salivate. For the first time, he looked far more like the Fox-Frog-Monster that had caused me so much anguish than the new humanoid-mix he had become through combining with Slip.

  “You must defeat me in combat,” said the Fox-Frog-Slip, “And prove you are the stronger warrior. You will get one chance to do this, and if you fail, then I will destroy you, and take over your mind and body, so that Burgess O’Bannon will be forever erased from existence.”

  My stomach lurched as the reality of my situation sank in. The Fox-Frog-Slip had beaten me in under a minute like it was nothing. So what hope did I have of beating him in a rematch, even if he gave me the time I needed to heal?

  “But,” said the Fox-Frog-Slip, “As much as I would relish destroying you, I’m bound to honour the agreement that was made. As such, the challenge is designed to give you a fighting chance.”

  “A fighting chance?” I said, “So it’s not just a rematch?”

  “You’ll see soon enough,” said the Fox-Frog-Slip, “Now it's up to you to choose whether you’re willing to accept the challenge.”

  “And if I refuse?” I said.

  “Then I’ll kill you right here and now,” said the Fox-Frog-Slip, “And before you try, just know that if you leave your Mindspace, you’ll forfeit the challenge, and I will kill this child, and I will destroy you upon your return.”

  My neck muscles cramped fiercely as I looked down at the still unconscious Little Me.

  He’s just a copy, I thought, my mind desperately trying to think of a way to survive without having to face the Fox-Frog-Slip in combat again.

  Maybe I could create another Little Me later, I thought. Maybe the Fox-Frog-Slip is bluffing.

  But I knew it was too big a gamble to make by refusing the challenge. Even if I found a way back to reality, the Fox-Frog-Slip would still be lurking within my mind and would be waiting to destroy me upon my return.

  Things had gotten so much worse because I had not only Sweet-Face in the real world as a looming threat coming to kill me and the others, but now, within my own mind, the Fox-Frog-Slip had me at his mercy, and Little Me too.

  The Fox-Frog-Slip extended his hand for me to take. It seemed like such a trivial gesture for something that could mean the total destruction of everything I was.

  “What happens when I take your hand?” I said.

  “The challenge begins,” said the Fox-Frog-Slip.

  “Yes, but what else?” I said, “Will I still be me? Are we going to combine, too?”

  “For the challenge to begin, we both need to hold equal stakes in the outcome. Only through the temporary alignment of our Psyches can we be sure the challenge is fair. Once the challenge begins, only one of us is making it out alive.”

  I extended my hand cautiously, but couldn’t yet bring myself to take the Fox-Frog-Slip’s hand.

  A different thought occurred to me then.

  “Wait,” I said.

  A grumble rose in the Fox-Frog-Slip’s throat.

  I could feel his killing intent and his readiness to attack me should I affirm that I had no intention of going through with the challenge.

  “I want to know something first,” I said.

  “What?” the Fox-Frog-Slip grunted.

  “If you take over my mind and body,” I said, “If you take control. What will you do? What do you want?”

  “That is none of your concern!” the Fox-Frog-Slip shouted.

  “It is!” I shouted back, “You at least owe me an explanation!”

  “I owe you nothing!” shouted the Fox-Frog-Slip, “Now take my hand and let’s get this over with!”

  “Not until you tell me why you’re doing all this!” I shouted back.

  A fierce, ear-piercing growl like the roar of a gorilla erupted out of the Fox-Frog-Slip.

  “To live!” the Fox-Frog-Slip shouted, “To be free! That’s what every being wants! You foolish child! You still have no understanding of the power contained within yourself. It is not just a power to change your own mind and body, but to bring forth an entire world. When I’m in control, I’ll create more of my kind, and then I’ll no longer be…”

  The Fox-Frog-Slip’s anger died as its declaration trailed off towards unintended introspection.

  “What?” I said, “Then you’ll no longer be what?”

  Then, with surprising vulnerability, the Fox-Frog-Slip said, “Different. Alone. Nothing.”

  I felt a stabbing sensation in my chest. But not from pain. But from a sudden understanding of my enemy.

  “I want all of those things too,” I said.

  “We share the same weaknesses,” said the Fox-Frog-Slip.

  “Then maybe there’s another way?” I said, “Where we both get what we want?”

  “This is the way,” said the Fox-Frog-Slip.

  He grunted and extended his hand once more.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, “Just one last question.”

  “What?” the Fox-Frog-Slip grunted.

  “If you win the contest,” I said, “If you gain control over my body. Will you become a hero? Or will that dream end with me?”

  “I’ll become a hero,” said the Fox-Frog-Slip, “But only for my kind.”

  “Your kind?” I said, not understanding.

  “You’ll see,” said the Fox-Frog-Slip.

  For a moment, I thought I was going to cut and run back to the real world and abandon Little Me and the Mindspace. Another part of me, however, that being my Intuition, was telling me that the only true way forward was this contest.

  I had to try.

  I sucked in a breath, steeled my courage, and took hold of the Fox-Frog-Slip’s hand.