Ryan and Bradley walked back to Ryan's house, and inside they ran into their NormVerse brothers: Ryan's older brother Derek, and Bradley's older brother Thatcher. To think that just one hour ago, Ryan and Bradley had seen their brothers' ConjoinVerse counterparts: Derek with identical twin Eli, and Thatcher with fraternal triplets Terry and Dylan.
"Where have you been, bro?" Thatcher asked Bradley. Nobody in either family had known about the boys' journey to another universe, let alone that they had met the pair's ConjoinVerse counterparts.
"Just... hanging out with my cousin," Bradley answered.
"Where's that shirt you guys were wearing?" Derek asked Ryan. "Thatcher and I have been wondering where you got it."
"Oh, um...," Ryan said thinking fast.
"Well?" Thatcher asked his cousin.
"We must have left it at the doc's," Ryan blurted out.
"Oh, right," Derek responded. "Your guys' friend."
"Well, can you get it back for us?" Thatcher asked. "We'd like to wear something like that together."
"Yeah," Derek added. "A shirt with two holes for heads, and it looks exactly like one of our own shirts!"
"By the way, you never answered," Thatcher persisted. "Where did you two get it?"
Both Ryan and Bradley wanted to say they got it from Doctor Parker, but they figured that neither Derek nor Thatcher would believe it. Besides, that shirt was still being worn by ConjoinVerse Ryan and Bradley, who were back home in ConjoinVerse.
"Come on, tell us," Derek asked again.