The Jakes continued to fight, rolling this way and that. Their wrestling made them roll away from the slow flowing river a short ways. Neither was winning this fight, and they both knew it. But neither was was going to give up either. The original Jake was stubborn like that, and it was also an obvious trait that the two new Jakes had inherited.
Their fighting only came to a sluggish end when the two of them were too exhausted to continue it. At its end, both were breathing heavily and painfully aware of the injuries that they had sustained. Sweat dripped from their skin and into the open cuts and scrapes that spotted their body, making them sting. Their shared clothes had tears and holes, and they were now covered in dirt and mud from their internal struggle.
Both boys refused to acknowledge each other or their odd situation. So for several minutes they laid there, staring at the clouds as they moved across the sky. After awhile, the Jakes turned their heads slightly inward, toward each other's. It was the first time they actually, really looked at each other. Looking past the mud, bloodied noses, cuts, and ruffled hair, it was obvious that their two heads were completely identical. Down to every freckle on their cheeks and the very oval shaped birthmark on the center of their foreheads.
A wordless truce passed between them. It was blatantly obvious that they were stuck together, at least for now, with someone just like them. Still staring at each other, both used their own arm to lift themselves off the ground so they could sit and better see themselves. The left Jake was the first to hesitantly touch the other Jake's face. Both were shocked at the touch, and the left Jake quickly retracted his hand.
Up to this point, the Jakes had believed the whole transformation to be some amazing dream turned nightmare. But now they knew for sure this was happening for real. "What did that water due to me-uh-I mean us?" The left Jake asked.