The more Joe had punished it, the more its actions seemed unrealistic, unstoppable. Moving like lightning, it grasped onto the long links of chain that marked the fence framing the sidewalk from the street around the memorial, and with a fierce tug the long metal snake dislodged from the fence, and the shadow wielded it like a devastating whip. It lashed it at Joe, and he felt the chain links wrap around him as the sound of clashing, strained metal filled the air. The long metal whip constricted him, crushing his torso, rendering him helpless. The shadow smiled and then pulled and lashed again at the whip as Joe flew high into the sky, as high as an eagle flies, and he saw the checkerboard land from up above. The shadow, a tiny dot from that height, pulled down again as Joe rocketed back to the ground with an awful force.

The impact caused a crater in the pavement near the reflecting pool. The monster was a good fifty yards away, but still Joe saw the sick smile on its face. Joe felt like every bone in his body was broken as he tried to pull himself free from the awful trap. The sound of chinking metal again filled the air, but Joe slipped out of it just before the shadow pulled the metal snake back again and it withdrew in a clanging ruckus across the grounds. From the steps on the memorial, it whooped and laughed and then lashed the great whip again. Joe rolled to avoid it, and where it struck it left a long and devastating crack in the pavement once more.

The shadow, in its broken but unstoppable form, staggered closer, ready to lash the devastating whip at him again.

Joe finally realized that he couldn’t win after all. He could never win, not against it. All he could do was try to escape.

He dragged his body mostly with his arms, as the rest of his body felt shattered and broken. He slithered across the grass that was nothing more than little black ink strokes. Off to one side he noticed the reflecting pool was a skewed dark frame and the water inside of it had strange ripples drawn on it that didn’t seem to obey any kind of physics.

“That’s right. Run off and hide, Joe. You can’t ever come back. Your world is my world now. I’m you.” The shadow staggered closer yet as Joe inched along pathetically.

Then, in the shadows of the sketched trees nearby, he saw a radiant ring of light form out of nothingness. It was an explosion of color on the black and white slate, a shimmering blue, and it appeared identical to the doorway that brought him there. The sapphire hue of the newly formed door stood out in stark contrast to the strange, colorless backdrop. It had actual depth and dimension atop the 2D scene.

Staring blankly at it, Joe saw a face appear within the portal, as though someone just wanted to have a cautious peek inside, without going in all the way. It was a woman, and Joe was stunned to see that he actually recognized her. Her name was Sarah Helton, and he’d had a whirlwind relationship with her years ago, during the haze of his early-twenties, when his circle of friends had briefly overlapped with hers in the midst of the D.C. party scene. He’d barely seen her since then, and she was just about the last person he’d expected to see poke her face through the door. Nevertheless—she was a welcome sight.

As they locked eyes, he saw first the recognition come to her face, but then any expression she had was instantly replaced by the shock of seeing him bloodied and hurt as he was.

“Joe!” she yelled. “Get in here!”

Joe crawled toward the shining doorway on all fours, while behind him he heard the madman cackling, and the chain links screeching on the pavement, ready to strike again. He made it to the door before the attack came, and woozily he reached within. On the other side he felt Sarah’s hands grasping his, and she helped pull him through.

And so Joe fell into the next world.