Giannis felt himself lying on grass.
There had been no grass on that other world. That could only mean…
He was back home.
“Giannis? Giannis?” called Ersan Ilyasova’s distinctive voice. “Giannis!?!? Where you are?”
“Where did he go? Should we call the police?” came Jabari Parker’s voice from around the corner of the arena. “I can’t see anything in the dark. I’m really worried, guys. We haven’t seen him for hours.” There was the sound of vomiting as Jabari, in his nervousness, threw up the cold brats that he had eaten as part of Bradley Center Bratwurst Barbarity, thus ending his participation in the contest.
Hearing this made Giannis acutely aware that all of his bodily aches and pains were back in full force. The uncooked bratwursts he had eaten were just beginning to be digested.
“Wait, I think see something over there,” shouted Ersan, jogging over to the spot where Giannis lay. “Giannis! We look everywhere for you, man. Where you go?”
Soon, the organizers of, and participants in, the team-building contest were all gathered around Giannis’ prone form. He didn’t answer right away, still getting used to an Earth that seemed more foreign than the other-dimensional world he had just visited. His teammates deserved an answer, though, so he looked deep inside himself, searching for the wisdom of the God-being himself, Scottie Pippen. Eventually, he found it.
“I took a little side trip, but I’m back now,” Giannis finally said. He pushed himself off the ground with his long arms, wincing at his sore legs.
“What do you mean, ‘side trip’?” asked Jabari, still wearing only his underwear. “Like, you went to the bar or something?”
“Yeah, something like that,” Giannis said with a lopsided smile. “I met some cool people.”
Jabari shook his head, looking like a worried mother. “You should have said something, man. And what was up with the screaming? Right before you disappeared, I swear I heard you screaming.” Several of his other teammates nodded their heads at this, waiting for an explanation.
“Scream? I didn’t scream,” Giannis answered innocently. He pushed his way out of the circle of teammates that surrounded him. “Now, if you excuse me, I’ve got a contest to finish.”
And, just as the first sliver of the sun began to rise in the east, bathing the world in its familiar orange glow, Giannis again began to run. He smiled as he felt his heart pound, a heart now flowing not with the blood of one soul, but with the blood of two souls, forever connected in interdimensional harmony.