After bidding farewell to their nine-headed friend(s), Ryan and Bradley went back outside--still hiding the fact that they were separate beings--determined to meet more of their friends in this universe. They passed several people along the way to their next destination, and each of them had at least two heads; when they got close to the house, something caught their eyes--someone with just ONE head.
A closer look made them realize that this was Ty, one of their friends from back home--and from another story. Wondering why he did not have a conjoined sibling here, Ryan and Bradley went up to the door. They were invited in by Dustin and Justin--Ty's foster brothers--and met their family. Three pairs of cousins, a pair of aunts, a pair of grandpas, a pair of uncles, a pair of dads, and a pair of moms. Dustin and Justin told Ryan and Bradley that Ty had gone upstairs to his room, but they didn't seem too happy when they were asked where Ty was.
As they went up the stairs, Ryan and Bradley quietly discussed this amongst themselves.
"That sounded a little odd, didn't it?" Ryan asked.
"Definitely," Bradley replied. "It's like they don't even like Ty here."
"Well, that's to be expected," Ryan said. "Remember, in NormVerse Dustin is just himself, and his family isn't exactly friendly towards Ty."
"Oh, yeah," Bradley said. "I remember the last time we saw those two, when we were coming home on the bus yesterday."
"I remember," Ryan sighed. He had always felt sorry for Ty, and so did Bradley. The memory they were focusing on as they walked down the hall was Dustin shoving Ty into the bus with "Have a nice trip" following. The two boys had known Ty for the past four years, since he moved in with his foster family. They had known about everything: Dustin's teasing, his dad Mark's yelling, his mother's indifference, and so on.
When they got to ConjoinVerse Ty's room...