When he was sure that his younger brothers would not topple over, Max went over to the box of rings. He quickly decided on a ring from the fifth column as well. The ring that caught his eyes appeared to be made of gold. He pinched it between two fingers. Initially, it was more difficult, then he had anticipated, pulling it from the box, as if there was more resistance. As the ring came lose, the reason for the surprising difficulty was evident. It was a two-finger ring. It was two bands, a gold and a silver, joined by their rectangular top. Two gems, black and white, were embedded into the top at opposite sides.
With the ring in right hand, Max looked expectantly at his brother, who was still standing near Luke. "Um... didn't you want to try a ring with me?"
"Oh, right." Mark rubbed the back of his neck. "I had almost forgotten."
"What do you mean? How can he try a ring with you?" Luke asked.
"Easily with this..." Mark held up the two-in-one ring that he had held onto since taking it from their younger brothers. He handed one half to Max, who put it on his left finger immediately. Mark held off on slipping on the other half for the moment. "We were curious how exactly these might work together with another ring. While Zack was wearing the multi-limb ring, Jack could also duplicate his arms and legs. And when Jack wore the Ghost ring, they both became a ghost."
"We want to find out if the same would be true for us." Max said matter of factly, as if this was a typical science experiment. “And we already established that Mark will still get his turn, since he is just helping me.” Max spoke with a smug smile.
Luke shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever.”
Zack and Jack smirked at each other, before interlace their arms in front of their chest. The action took them a little longer than a normal person to coordinate. “You guys just wanted to be like us.” Jack state.
“Yeah, part of the two-headed kids club.” Zack also commented.
“Totally. Who wouldn’t want to have their twin permanently attached to them? We would get to do everything together, all the time, and not have a moment apart from one another.” Max playfully fired back. The sarcasm was clear.
“Enough.” Mark gave his twin a look, which could only mean to not antagonize their younger siblings. “Honestly, this can help us better understand your guys’ situation, and help us narrow down rings the will get you guys truly separated.”
“Fair enough.” The younger twins said together.
“Can I take my turn now.” Max said before looking at everyone. His eyes rested on his twin, who finally put on his half of the two-in-one ring on his right finger. Just like before, the twins were pulled shoulder to shoulder like magnets. The familiar burning sensation stared as their bodies blended together. Within a few moments, the process stopped. There were not two sets of conjoined twins in the room.
Luke could not help but gawk as he looked back and forth between each set of brothers. “Wow, this is really eerie to look at.” He brushed his left shoulder, as if he were brushing away is own second head.
“Well stop staring. Its not like you haven’t seen this or experienced this yourself.” Mark waved his only hand, their right.
“Oh shoot. Where did the ring I picked go?” Max suddenly said, realizing that it was missing. It was in my right hand, which… is not here anymore.
“You lost it?” Mark questioned. Each turned their head in different directions, searching for the ring. Mark then tried stepping closer to the bed, while Max tried stepping closer to the box of rings. They fell backwards onto their single butt, nearly knocking the wind out of their lungs.
Zack and Jack burst out laughing. “Not so easy is it?” Zack teased.
“We never said it was.” Max grumbled. “Wait, is that it.” He reached under his bottom, which made Mark jump in reaction.
“What are you doing?” He glared at his twin.
“The ring I dropped. I think I’m… we’re sitting on it.” Max stated. He then forcefully leaned toward the right, leaving Mark no choice but to support their weight his hand pressed into the carpet. Max then pulled out the ring. “Perfect. Found it. Can you help me put it on now?”
Mark shook his head but did as his brother asked. He held the ring in his right hand, while Max slipped two of his fingers into the two bands. “Feel anything?”
“No” Max shook his head. “I don’t feel any different.” He then looked up at his younger brothers and Luke. “Do you guys see anything?”
“No, you guys look normal.” Luke stated. “Well… as normal as two-headed dudes go.”
Max rolled his eyes, but did not respond. He stared intently at the bands on his fingers, expecting something to happen. “This can’t be a dud… But, what does it do?” The ring itself did not give any clues as to its abilities. After about a minute passed, “Sorry guys. I do not know what is going on. It obviously isn’t one of the transformation ones, but it is not doing anything else.”
“Maybe you have to think of someone.” Mark offered. “Or, maybe it is not working because we’re attached.” Max noticed that his twin seemed to sound disappointed at the last part, if it were true.
“Okay, someone…” He looked up at Luke and pictured his face in his mind, but nothing occurred. He then pictured a girl at school, someone out of his league but who he still crushed on. Still nothing happened. His mind then wandered to locations he would like to take her out on a date. ‘The beach’ he thought. ‘that would be a fun place, but maybe not on the first date.’ He imagined them walking hand in hand by the shore, with the sea breeze blowing a few loose strands of hair across her face. He breathed in deeply, thinking that he could almost smell the ocean.
“Max?” Mark said from beside him, almost in a panicked tone.
Max looked around, confused. It took him longer than he wanted to admit to realize that he was actually at the beach. He and Mark, as they were still firmly joined together, were at the beach. Max shivered. It was still in the dead of winter. The air felt damp and cold, and the sun was nearly set. “How did…” He lost the words as he looked around.
“Your ring!” Mark said, as he grabbed Max’s hand. “It teleported us.”
Max looked around, still dazed. The waves crashed against the sand ahead of them. He realized that he and Mark were seated in the sand a few yards away from the water, and he was thankful that they did not appear right where the waves broke. The water was probably freezing. “Wow, I can’t believe it. So this ring teleports the wearer to… where they were thinking.”
“Why the beach?” Mark questioned.
Max’s checks started to burn, and he turned away slightly, hoping Mark did not see. “No reason… I just was wishing it was summer. That is all.”
“Right…” Mark smiled, even though Max could not see.
“My ass… err, our ass is starting to freeze. Can we stand up.” Max quickly stated, and his twin agreed. Though standing turned about to be a difficult task to accomplish. Slowly, they did manage to get back on their two feet. “At least no one is around.”
“Yeah, could you imagine if you popped us into the middle of the mall.” Mark smiled as he looked around. He then turned back towards his brother. “Okay, let me see if I can teleport us back. Did you just imagine the beach?”
“Yeah… I was just thinking about what I was going to do next summer. And… I was remembering the smell and the waves and all of the things about the beach.”
“Right…” Mark smiled again, but he did not press his twin. “So, I just have to imagine Luke’s room in my mind.” He pictured his friend’s room inside his mind’s eye. The beach disappeared, and suddenly, they were standing in Luke’s bedroom.
“Aw!” Zack and Jack both yelped and promptly fell backwards.
“Mark, Max?” Luke turned around. “What happened?”
“The ring, it teleports the wearer. Or in our case, the wearers.” Max filled the others in. “And, I guess… Mark can use the ring even though I am wearing it. I didn’t teleport us back.”
“So, I guess that means that one of effects of the two-in-one ring is that both people can use any of the rings the other is wearing. Kind of useful.” Mark commented. He and Max helped the other take off their half of the two-in-one ring, and they promptly returned to their own bodies. “Aw man, my pants are still sandy.” Mark complained.
“Half of your pants.” Max noted. “Technically, we were sharing a single pair.” He then placed both the two-in-one ring and the teleport ring on the bed. He also gave the new one its own card describing its effect.