[POV: 3rd person (much shock. Jade is using 3rd person?!)]
Season 8
^-^
The table was new.
You saw a lot of crazy things on Hermitcraft, especially now that everyone had taken that carved pumpkin modification class. Map art from previous seasons, custom badges and trophies, and even tree costumes, came out of the chaos.
Grian quite enjoyed it. The number of times he'd pranked someone using a disguised carved pumpkin was beyond count. But the table was new. Grian moved closer, examining the blue surface. A net cut it in half the short way, while a white line ran perpendicular to it.
The room itself was similar to the rest of the builds. Leaves hung from the wooden ceiling and a large glass window occupied one of the walls. The other three were stone, not yet decorated, and a doorway lead to the balcony on the other side of the window.
Etho walked into the room, carrying two wooden paddles. Grian froze, hiding the water bucket in his inventory. He'd been planning to rig a couple of the doors to dump water on unsuspecting victims. Etho and Iskall were his first targets, after Boatem.
"Oh, hey, Grian," the ninja commented, drawing a white ball from his pocket. He bounced it on the table a few times with his paddle before hitting it across the net.
"Hey Etho," Grian replied. "What's this?"
"Ping pong. You wanna play?"
"Uhm, sure."
Etho tossed him a paddle. The wide part was coated with some sort of bouncy substance, like slime, but a bit denser. One side was painted black, and the other red. Etho waved the white ball, asking if Grian was ready. The red-sweatered hermit nodded nervously and Etho bounced the ball over the net.
Grian somehow managed to hit the ball back, the tiny sphere bouncing in the far corner of the table. Etho sent it back, and they rallied for several minutes. Grian hit the ball off the wall and Etho caught it, returning it with some topspin. The ball bounced off in an unprecedented direction, rolling to a stop in the corner of the room.
"That was pretty good," Grian said. Etho nodded, pulling his mask farther up his nose.
<MumboJumbo> GRIAN
<Grian> yeah?
<MumboJumbo> wHAT IS WITH THE WATER?!
<Grian> idk what you're talking about
<MumboJumbo> where are you right now?
<Grian> Etho's base
<ImpulseSV> Im coming too
<Grian> Yay! Party time!
Grian closed his communicator, smiling at the ninja across the table from him. Etho smiled back, the corners of his eyes creasing.
"Wanna go again?" he asked.
"You bet," Grian answered. Etho served the ping pong ball again and the two players became intensely concentrated on the game in front of them. The ball whizzed back and forth, sometimes hitting the ground. They didn't mind, swooping it up before it bounced twice and continuing the game.
A player crashing into the walls outside alerted them to newcomers. Grian missed the ball and scooped it up in his hand. Mumbo and Impulse came in, their hair and clothes damp from the water Grian had set up.
"Grian, I'd like an- what are you guys doing?" Mumbo asked.
"We're playing ping pong," Etho supplied, readying his paddle. Grian tossed the ball and hit it across the net. Etho speedily returned it, starting yet another rally.
"Etho, how did you get this table in here?" Impulse asked.
"Well, I got a couple of pumpkins, several hours of free time, and a crazy idea. What other explanation do you need?" Etho missed the ball while he was talking. He grabbed it off the ground and started again.
Impulse shook his head. "None, I guess."
"D'you wanna play?" Grian asked, smashing the ping pong ball onto the table. Etho barely managed to send it back, and Grian smashed it again. The ball zipped past, barely missing the table.
"That's out!" Etho called. He held out his paddle to Impulse and Grian did the same to Mumbo. The redstoners picked up the paddles and Impulse hit the ball. Mumbo swiped at it and missed, the ball hitting the wall behind him. Grian laughed, handing the little projectile to his clumsy friend.
"I'll be right back," Etho announced, leaving the room. He came back a few minutes later with two more paddles and several pumpkins.
"Could we play doubles?" Grian wondered, accepting the new paddle from Etho. Mumbo moved to make room for him and hit the ball across. It hit the net and bounced back.
"Here, you do it." Mumbo offered the ball to Grian, who hit it across without a second thought. Etho and Impulse traded who was standing at the table every hit as Grian and Mumbo tried to cover one-half each of their side. The ball only crossed the net twice before Mumbo tripped on Grian's foot and missed the ball.
"Let's try whatever they're doing, Gri," Mumbo stated, his brain already thinking of ways to create some sort of redstone contraption. Grian nodded in return, hitting the ball across and allowing Mumbo to take his place.
The new strategy worked until Mumbo tripped on his own feet. Impulse laughed. "Try keeping both of those feet firmly on the ground, Mumbo!" he teased.
"Sure, yeah," Mumbo grumbled back good-naturedly. Etho shot him a mixed look, somewhere between sympathetic and amused. A spark twinkled in his eye as he picked up the ball that had rolled near his foot.
"I've got a new variation we can play," the ninja volunteered. "It's called 'Around the World'. Anybody interested?"
Impulse shrugged. "Sure. How do we play?"
Etho explained. Before you hit the ball, it had to bounce once on the floor. It could hit the table as many times as it needed to, but it had to bounce off the floor. They could bounce it off the walls or ceiling to get it back on the table but it was only allowed to hit the floor once. They'd rotate who was getting the ball, and the first to miss it was out. Then, it would continue until only one person was left.
"Ready?" the white-haired ninja asked. Impulse nodded, ready to receive the ball. It bounced on the floor and Impulse hit it gently. The tiny sphere bounced daintily across the table and rolled off on the side opposite Grian, who was supposed to be next.
The red-sweatered hermit barely managed to get it up, bouncing it off the wall and back on the table. Calmly, Mumbo returned the ball, and it was Etho's turn again. They continued like this for several more minutes. On occasion, the ball would nearly roll to a stop on the blue surface. Grian would blow the ball, knock it off, and let the next person get it, often by hitting it off a wall.
Impulse bounced the ball off the wall and ceiling simultaneously. It barely missed the table, bouncing crazily around the room before coming to rest in the corner. "Dang it!" he exclaimed. "That was a great round, guys. Do we want to play again?"
They were about to answer when Iskall landed outside, having used his trident to riptide over. He frowned at the platform, digging some of it out and replacing it with slabs. He filled the little hole with water to protect players from fall damage.
"Hey guys," he called, stepping into the house. "What's going on here?"
"Ping pong," Impulse answered. "Wanna join?"
"Sure." The Swede quickly picked up the basics of the game and used it to his advantage, hitting the ball into hard-to-reach places, often on the opposite side of the table. Grian lagged, trying to pick one up. He hit the wall and it bounced off, the ball rolling near his foot.
Xisuma landed outside at that precise moment. "Hey guys, the lag coming from this part of the server is really bad. What are yo-"
Grian hit the ball at him and it bounced off his chest. X caught the ball with lightning-fast reflexes. "I see," he muttered. "Care if I join you?"
Etho handed him a racket and the game resumed.
^-^
Ping pong is addicting. I totally haven't been playing it every single day this past week.
Also, I'll be gone this week lol. Enjoy this oneshot, and I'll see you next week with several new things and a lot of catching up to do.
Also also, if you want more of my stuff but have already read all the oneshots... I have three other works for you to check out... *shameless self-promotion*
Ciao for now!