The puck flew left, then hit right. Left, right, left, right. SCORE
"Ahhh! Damn it, how are you so good at air hockey?!" Twinkle whined, her tail thumping against the ground in a tantrum.
"Just get good kid" Zooble chuckled, twirling the paddle on their pink claw.
"Wonder what Caine has cooking for us today." Ragatha chirpped up, her eyes focused on the street racing game she was currently loosing.
"Come on Ragatha, that the best you got?" Pomni trash talked as she button mashed the controller.
"Well, I'm gonna go change out some parts before Caine starts an adventure." Zooble threw the paddle to Jax, who was waiting on standby.
"Alrighty, see ya soon" Twinkle waved them off; using it as a distraction to quickly shoot the puck to goal.
"Hey no fair!" Jax screamed.
Zooble's room was quiet. Weirdly decorated, but the toy had gotten used to that.
"Mmm..no, I definitely dont want that one. Maybe a peg leg? Nah, I might have to run." Zooble wiggled through their chest of parts.
"Huh? Whats...what's that?"
Pushing away some parts, exposed a light. Swishing sounds slowly rose up from the base.
"Is that?..a portal? Why is- AAGHHGGGG HOLY SH[beep]T!" The portal sucked Zooble inside the chest, having it close softly.
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"Alrighty~!" Caine floated around his office happily. Bubble slid into frame- from somewhere.
"It's time for my adventure! I bet they're gonna love-" Caine was stopped by a small beep.
"What is it?" Bubble floated closer, tilting his body.
"My Wacky Watch is saying an adventure is already in progress!" Caine's eyes went in opposite directions, his tongue sticking out with a cartoon spring sound.
"So whatcha gonna do boss? How do we do an adventure with another one going?"
"Well, I'm gonna get it play out~! This is the perfect time to work on a new adventure! Bigger, better, one everyone will enjoy~!" Caine started flying around. Twisting and spinning happily.
"Grrreat idea~!"
"Indeed it is. To the drawing board!" With a snap, the two dissappeared in an explosion of mini bubbles.
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The sun pushed through Zooble's plastic eyelids. Cartoon sound effects for a desert played somewhere, muffled in the background.
"Uggh..F[boink] man..where am I?" The toy say up, brushing sand off their triangle head. One their eyes adjusted to the sun, a blurry sign came into view.
It was tall, made of old wood and bleached by the sun paint.
"What the hell kind of name is Shrimp Town?" Zooble stood up, wiggling off the remaining sand. They looked around, expecting to see the others along with them.
"Wait a damn minute, where is everyone else? Caine? CAINE?!" Zooble looked around. After a few minutes, they sighed in defeat.
"Well, might as well." They shrugged, walking towards the town.
Half way past the sign, a small floating pouch appeared. It had a green circle under it, like an old task game.
"What is this, Zelda or somethin?" Zooble reahed forward. Once their claw touched the bag, it dissappeared with a 'Ping!'. The small pouch appeared on their hip.
"Huh, ok. Feels like maybe ten coins or so." They continued walking.
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Twinkle bounced happily, taunting Jax as he tried throwing the puck at her.
"You so cheated! Stand still!" Jax kept throwing, trying his best and failing at hiding his smile.
"Don't hate the girl Jaxy~! Just hate the game"
"Hey, has anyone seen Zooble come back?" Gangle looked up from her sketchbook book, her dark eyes slowly looking over the room.
"Huh, I guess not. Has it been that long since they've been gone?" Pomni looked up from the TV. Ragatha took the opportunity to pass her in the game, a silent smile creeping on her face at the sight of victory.
"Well, I-I guess not." Gangle fidgeted with her ribbons.
"Yea, relax cry baby. Im sure Zooby is just fi- OW!" A puck bounced off the rabbits head and into his goal.
"AHAHAHAHA!" Twinkle fell over laughing, clunching her stomach.
"Youre so dead for that!" Jax climed over and onto the table.
"Sh[boink]t!" Twinkle ran away on all fours, making the rabbit give chase.
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The town wasnt very impressive, it was an obvious reuse of the western adventure town. Although, no manikins walked around. To Zoobles confused horror, the towns people were replaced with big and small sprites of shrimp.
Little cocktail shrimps jumped around, playing with a ball. Larger red shrimp walked around, imitating tasks. In the middle of the town square, was an older red shrimp. A large, cartoony white mustache bounced on his face as he waited; another green circle glowed under his body.
"Uh- hello?" Zooble called out, he said nothing. The toy had to walk right up the the shrimp, and poke his nose before he sprang to life.
"Ah hello~! Welcome to Shrimp Town! A lovely little community. What's your name?"
"Um- Zooble?"
"Zooble! Welcome to Shrimp Town! A Lovely little community. Are you a boy, or a girl?"
Zooble stared blankly.
"Ok Professor Oak. Uh, Other?"
The NPC took a moment, freezing. As if waiting for instructions.
"Welcome to Shrimp Town Zooble!"
"Oh f[beep] me..."
"Would you mind taking this to the sheriff's office down the road? I need to get back to the office, and this would be a great way for you to meet everyone!" The mayor shrimp handed Zooble a small box, which appeared out of litterly no where.
"Sure I guess." Zooble just stated at the NPC. After a moment, he dissappeared with no sound.
"Great. Just a fetch quest game. Wonder how long till I finish." Zooble wondered down the repeating sand path, till a new building loaded in. It was just the sheriff building from same western adventure.
"Glad Caine didn't stretch the budget to much with this one." Zooble grumbled as they walked inside. Once again, the sheriff had a green circle under his body; not waking up till Zooble poked him.
"Ah! Hello, you must be Zooble i heard about. Word travels fast, us shrimp love gossip."
"Ahuh, well I got this for ya." Zooble slid the box on the desk.
"Wonderful~! Mayor S told me he'd get this to me. Thank you!" A small ding echoed in the office, three more coins seemed to appear in the little pouch from earlier.
"Yea, sure dude." They shrugged.
"I'm sure you'd wanna see where you'll be sleeping. Follow the path back out, and turn on Lobster Road. We have a little cabin for you all set up! Be sure to talk to the villagers."
A key pinged into their hand, and Zooble set off. Following the instructions, soon they walked up to an old cabin. The color seemed old, needed a power wash. Repeating sprites of sticks and stones littered the area. Bushes and trees crowed the ground, blocking out the sun in some spots.
"Great..now Caine has me playing Stardew Valley." Zooble creaked open the door. The inside was small. It had a TV, a bed, a lamp, and a small table with a shelf. A calendar hung up next to the door; one day out of thirty had been crossed out.
"Oh damn it. You gotta be kidding me." Zooble slapped their face, groaning at the realization. A chest appeared at the foot of the bed.
Creaking open the wooden lid, there was a few things. Three packs of seeds, an old copper watering can, a pickaxe, regular axe, and a sword. Picking up the tools, they would instantly hang on their back if the toy pulled it to their chest.
"Ok, kinda cool I guess. At least they dont weigh anything." Putting everything back in the chest, Zooble crawled into the bed. Setting the flat side of their head on the pillow, a small menu appeared.
"Would you like to sleep for the night?" Zooble read the text a loud, and hit yes.