Chapter 30: Hoppy Hopscotch vs Bubba Bubbaphant: Redeemable
Hoppy was sitting alone as the next match was about to start, being her against Bubba.
"I can't believe this…" She said,
DogDay came in.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" He asked her,
"Bad." Hoppy replied, "I'm about to duel against someone that I have the least of my worries about when I used to be an ass to you guys."
"Hey, it's ok."
"No, it's not. I was an ass to you guys!"
DogDay was shocked when Hoppy raised her voice. She sighed.
"I'm sorry…" She said, "I shouldn't have raised my voice… You lost a match…"
"I did my best, ok?" DogDay said,
"I know."
"Just try to keep it cool."
"While I fight my past demons against someone that saw it all when I first started to become an ass to you guys ever since CraftyCorn sacrificed herself? I don't think I'm even redeemable from you guys, am I not?"
"...That's a lot to say."
"Yeah, no–"
An announcement went off.
"Hoppy Hopscotch and Bubba Bubbaphant. Will the next two duelists for the next match of the first round please report to the battlefield."
Hoppy sighed as she got up and got her Duel Disk and deck ready.
"I'm gonna take your advice anyways." She said, "If this actually goes well, then I'm not gonna kick you in the nuts."
"Please don't..." DogDay said,
Hoppy pats DogDay on the right shoulder and gave him a smile.
"A promise has been kept." She said as she left,
DogDay sighed in relief.
"Thank God for that…" He said,
Outside into the dueling field, RatedRat was ready to announce the third match of the first round.
"And now, it's time for the third match of Round 1!" She shouted through the microphone,
The audience cheered.
"This duel will be Hoppy HopScotch vs Bubba Bubbaphant!" She said, "Who's gonna win? I don't know! I hope Bubba wins…"
RatedRat cleared her throat.
"Anyways! Let's get this duel started!" She shouted, "Hoppy vs Bubba! Let's go!"
Hoppy and Bubba then got out into the dueling field as RatedRat left and headed back into the commentary booth. Hoppy gave her a death stare, scaring her a bit. Hoppy then looks at Bubba.
"Now, Hoppy, don't let this duel get into your head." Bubba said, "Or worse, the past…"
"Don't worry, I'll try my best." Hoppy said, "Considering that I used to be an ass to our friends, I want to redeem myself in this duel."
"We'll see about that, but for now, let's just keep calm and duel to see who can make it to the Semi-Finals and who can earn it the most."
"Got it."
The two critters got their Duel Disks ready to start the duel.
"Duel!" Hoppy and Bubba both shouted,
The Duel has started. Bubba went first as he looked at his hand.
"Ok, this will do." He said as he played a monster, "I'll start this turn by Normal Summoning Cyber Dragon Core in Attack Position."
Cyber Dragon Core was Normal Summoned in Attack Position with 400 ATK Points.
"Upon being Normal Summoned, I can add a Cyber Spell or Trap from my Deck to my Hand." Bubba said as he added Cyber Emergency from his Deck to his Hand, "And I'll go ahead and activate the Cyber Emergency I just added."
Cyber Emergency was activated.
"And you know where it goes. I added a Cyber Dragon monster from my Deck to my Hand." Bubba said as he does so by adding Cyber Dragon Drei, "But I'll save him for later."
Bubba then sets two cards and ends his turn.
"I'll set two and pass it to you, Hoppy." Bubba said, "Good luck."
"Thanks." Hoppy said as she draws to start her turn, "I draw!"
Turn 2.
Hoppy Hopscotch: 4000
Bubba Bubbaphant: 4000
Hoppy looks at her hand of six cards. She then looked at Bubba's two set cards.
"Even though his Cyber Dragon Core has 400 ATK Points, I'm afraid of those face downs of his…" She said to herself, "I'm gonna play it safe."
Hoppy then sets Armed Dragon, The Armored Dragon in face-down Defense Position.
"I set a monster." She said as she followed up with a set in the Spell Trap Card, "Alongside a card face-down, and end my turn."
"That's it?" Bubba wondered, "Ok then, I'm not gonna judge."
Bubba then draws a card to start Turn 3.
Hoppy Hopscotch: 4000
Bubba Bubbaphant: 4000
"I Normal Summon Cyber Dragon Drei in Attack Position!" Bubba said,
Bubba then Normal Summoned Cyber Dragon Drei in Attack Position with 1800 ATK Points.
"When Drei is Normal Summoned, I can make all of my Cyber Dragons Levels become 5." Bubba said,
The Levels of Cyber Dragon Drei and Cyber Dragon Core were now both at 5.
"Two Level 5's…" CatNap said in the locker room, "He's gonna Xyz Summon, isn't he?"
"Seems likely." Bobby said,
Bubba then straightened his glasses to put his arm up with his elbow pointing at the ground.
"Now, I overlay my two Cyber Dragons to build the Overlay Network!" He shouted,
The Overlay Network was formed as Cyber Dragons Drei and Core were used as Materials for an Xyz Summon.
"I Xyz Summon, Rank 5, Cyber Dragon Nova!" Bubba shouted,
Rank 5 Cyber Dragon Nova appeared out of the Overlay Network as it was Xyz Summoned in Attack Position with 2100 ATK Points.
"I have never seen this monster before." Hoppy said, "But I think I can find an opening."
Bubba smirked.
"I'm not done yet." He said,
Hoppy was surprised.
"What?" She said,
"I'm about to Xyz Summon again." Bubba said,
"How?!"
"Simple. I'm rebuilding the Overlay Network by using my Rank 5 Cyber Dragon Nova and its materials as new materials for a more powerful Xyz Monster! Ever heard of Rank-Up Xyz Evolution?"
"Not that I know of, no."
"Well you're about to see it, right now!"
Cyber Dragon Nova and its materials were being used as Xyz Materials for the next Xyz Summon as the Overlay Network was rebuilt by Bubba.
"With an infinite evolution comes infinite power! Go forth from your nova self, dragon of never-ending cybernetic energy!" Bubba chanted, "Rank-Up Xyz Evolution!"
Bubba then played a powerful Xyz Monster from his Extra Deck and moved the Xyz Materials of Cyber Dragons Nova, Core and Drei to it.
"Burst into the scene, Rank 6, Cyber Dragon Infinity!" Bubba shouted,
Cyber Dragon Infinity came out of the Overlay Network as it was now the new Xyz Monster on the field, Xyz Summoned in Attack Position with 2100 ATK Points, but gained an extra 600 ATK Points.
"Oh…" Hoppy said, "...crap."
CatNap, DogDay and Bobby were surprised in the locker rooms.
"He just Xyz Summoned and used an Xyz Monster to Xyz Summon again." CatNap said, "But a Rank higher."
"Hopefully Hoppy doesn't stress out over this." Bobby said, "Who knows what powerful effect that new monster of Bubba's has in store!"
Bubba then smiled.
"For starters, my Cyber Dragon Infinity gains 200 ATK Points for each Xyz Material it has." He said, "Having 3, it gains 600 ATK Points, making the total be 2700. This should be enough to take down your set monster."
The Battle Phase started as Bubba raised his arm out at the set monster.
"Starting now!" He shouted, "Cyber Dragon Infinity, attack that monster face-down!"
Cyber Dragon Infinity then charges up an attack.
"Infinite Energy Blast!" Bubba shouted,
Cyber Dragon Infinity then blasted out a beam of energy at Hoppy's set monster, being the Armed Dragon, The Armored Dragon she set during the last turn. Hoppy braced for cover by covering her face with her arms. She put her arms down as the aftermath of the blast faded away.
"Ok… I'm gonna have to find a way to take down that thing." Hoppy said,
"Good luck with that." Bubba said as he straightened his glasses, "I end my turn."
"Good!"
Hoppy draws a card to start Turn 4.
Hoppy Hopscotch: 4000
Bubba Bubbaphant: 4000
Hoppy sighed as she looked at Cyber Dragon Infinity.
"Yeah, I gotta find a way or two to beat this thing." She said to herself as she then looked at Bubba's two face-down cards, "But those Trap Cards… I gotta deal with those first, and I think I know how!"
Hoppy then puts her arm out to activate one of her own Trap Cards.
"I reveal the Continuous Trap Card, Royal Decree!" She shouted as Royal Decree was activated, "While this card remains face-up on the field, all other Trap Cards and their effects on the field are negated!"
"Not a bad move." Bubba said, "But I won't let that go into place as I activate Cyber Dragon Infinity's effect!"
"Uh-oh."
One of Cyber Dragon Infinity's Xyz Materials disappeared into the monster and drained its ATK Points down to 2500.
"By detaching an Xyz Material from my monster, I can negate the activation of your Royal Decree and destroy it!" Bubba explained,
Cyber Dragon Infinity then roared as Royal Decree was negated and destroyed.
"Great." Hoppy said, "There goes my only way of shutting down Traps from my Deck. However, I did manage to make his monster weaker… So… that's a plus."
Hoppy then looked at her hand and got serious.
"Alright, let's do this then." She said as she then played a Spell Card, "I activate Pot Of Greed, which lets me draw 2 additional cards from my Deck!"
Hoppy then draws 2 cards through Pot Of Greed's effect. She looked at her now hand of 6 and smiled.
"Good." She said as she showed Tempest, "I activate one of my effects of Tempest, Dragon Ruler of Storms from my hand!"
Hoppy then discarded Tempest and Armed Dragon Thunder LV3.
"By discarding himself and a WIND monster to the Graveyard, I can add 1 Dragon monster from my Deck to my Hand." She said as she added Blaster, "And I'll add Blaster, Dragon Ruler of Infernos!"
"Still on Dragon Rulers…" RatedRat said with a sigh,
"But that's not all, I activate Armed Dragon Thunder LV3's effect from my Graveyard! When he's sent to the Graveyard to activate a Dragon monster's effect, I can draw 1 card!"
Hoppy then draws another card. Bubba was impressed.
"I can't believe you're still on 6 cards through effects and drawing!" He said to her,
"I can't believe it either, but this is worth every minute of this duel!" Hoppy said as she showed Blaster again, "And now for Blaster's effect!"
Tempest and Armored Dragon were banished.
"By banishing two of my Dragon monsters from the Graveyard, I can Special Summon Blaster in Attack Position!" Hoppy shouted as she did so, "So blaze up your rage, Blaster, Dragon Ruler of Infernos!"
Blaster was Special Summoned in Attack Position with 2800 ATK Points. It roared. Bubba was nodding his head.
"Ok, nice Special Summon, but unfortunately, I'm gonna have to bring back my advantage." Bubba said, "I activate one of my Trap Cards, Bottomless Trap Hole!"
Bottomless Trap Hole was activated. DogDay gasped.
"Oh come on, he has Bottomless Trap Hole too?!" He shouted as he turned away with hands on his head, "What is it with this card?!"
Bobby sighed sadly.
"At least with Hoppy, she's got more cards in her hand." She said,
"Don't." CatNap said, "You're just gonna make him worse."
"You're right…"
Bubba then straightened his glasses once more.
"When you Summon a monster or two with 1500 or more Attack Points, I can destroy them and banish them from the field." He said, "And since you only have one, I'll just destroy and banish that only one."
Blaster was destroyed and banished, leaving Hoppy wide open.
"Damn it." She said as she sighed, "And now I'm stuck again."
Hoppy then sighed again as she placed a card face-down.
"Alright, I'll end my turn with a face-down." She said, "Go ahead."
"I wonder what that card could be…" Bubba wondered, "Maybe another Royal Decree…"
"Uhh, hello?"
"Oh! Sorry! Lost in my thoughts."
"Ok then…"
"Anyways, my turn!"
Bubba draws to start Turn 5.
Hoppy Hopscotch: 4000
Bubba: 4000
Bubba then sighed.
"Not another good Spell in sight." He said to himself, "My hand sucks today, but it doesn't matter, I have Cyber Dragon Infinity here."
Bubba then places one of his arms out.
"Time for battle!" He shouted as The Battle Phase started, "Cyber Dragon Infinity, attack Hoppy directly with your Infinite Energy Blast!"
Cyber Dragon Infinity then charges up an attack and fires it at Hoppy. Hoppy braced for impact as she took 2500 points of damage, leaving her with only 1500 Life Points left.
"Hoppy, are you ok?" Bubba said, concerned,
"Yeah… I'm fine." Hoppy replied as she smiled, "Haven't had a duel that got me fired up in forever."
"Oh! Guess you're back to your old self again!"
"What are you talking about?"
"I'll talk later. For now, I will end my turn."
Hoppy was then confused.
"Does this guy have a bad hand?" She wondered, "He still has another face-down… Doesn't matter, I'm gonna end this duel, right now!"
Hoppy then looks at her deck as she places her fingers on the top card.
"I need a miracle." She said to herself, "So believe me, my cards!"
Hoppy then draws to start Turn 6.
Hoppy Hopscotch: 1500
Bubba Bubbaphant: 4000
Hoppy looks at the card she drew and smiled.
"Perfect." She said as she revealed her face-down card, "Face-down, I reveal my Quick-Play Spell, Armed Dragon Flash!"
Armed Dragon Flash was activated.
"With this card, I can Special Summon a Level 3 or lower Armed Dragon monster from my Deck!" Hoppy explained,
"That won't happen, as I activate Cyber Dragon Infinity's effect, once again!" Bubba shouted as an Xyz Material was detach to activate Cyber Dragon Infinity's effect to negate and destroy Armed Dragon Flash,
"Gotcha!"
"Huh? What are you…"
"I activate Summon Storm!"
The Spell Card, Summon Storm was activated.
"By paying 800 of my Life Points, I can Special Summon a Level 6 or lower WIND monster from my hand!" Hoppy shouted, "So I'm bringing out my Armed Dragon Thunder LV5!"
Armed Dragon Thunder LV5 was Special Summoned from Hoppy's hand in Attack Position with 2400 ATK Points. Bubba was shocked.
"Oh crap." He said, "She's got it."
"And now for LV5's effect!" Hoppy shouted as she sends it to the graveyard alongside a monster from her hand, being Lightning, Dragon Ruler Of Drafts, "By sending him from the field alongside another monster from my hand, I can Special Summon Armed Dragon Thunder LV7"
Armed Dragon Thunder LV7 was Special Summoned in Attack Position with 2800 ATK Points.
"And when Armed Dragon Thunder LV5 was sent to the Graveyard to activate a Dragon monster's effect, I can add a Level 5 or higher WIND Monster from my deck to my hand." Hoppy said as she added the monster, Pile Armed Dragon, "And I'll go ahead and add Pile Armed Dragon!"
Hoppy then clenched her left fist.
"Now, it's time for me to activate Armed Dragon Thunder LV7's effect!" She shouted, "By sending him from my field and Pile Armed Dragon from my hand to the graveyard, I'm about to Special Summon one of my trump cards!"
Armed Dragon Thunder LV7 was then struck by green lightning to evolve.
"Unleash your rage and strike down your enemies with your flashing lightning!" Hoppy chanted, "Come forth, Armed Dragon Thunder LV10!"
Hoppy then places one of her trump cards on her duel disk to Special Summon Armed Dragon Thunder LV10 in Attack Position with 3000 ATK Points. The dragon roared. Bubba took a deep breath.
"If you're looking to try and destroy my Cyber Dragon Infinity, just know that your monster's effect can only apply during your opponent's turn, like me, for example." Bubba said,
"Yeah, I know that." Hoppy said, "But… There's something you should know about."
"Eh?"
Hoppy then reveals Armed Dragon Thunder LV7 from her Graveyard.
"First things first, I activate Armed Dragon Thunder LV7's effect." She said, "When he's send to the Graveyard to activate a Dragon monster's effect, I can add an Armed Dragon card from my Deck to my Hand."
Hoppy then returns Armed Dragon Thunder LV7 back to her Graveyard to add an Armed Dragon card from her Deck to her Hand.
"And that will be another Pile Armed Dragon!" Hoppy shouted,
"Oh crap!" Bubba shouted as he was shocked,
"That's right, by sending another WIND Dragon Monster from my Deck to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon him in Attack Position!" Hoppy shouted as she sends her 2nd Armed Dragon Thunder LV3 from her deck to the Graveyard, "And I'll just send my LV3 to the Graveyard to Special Summon him!"
Pile Armed Dragon was Special Summoned in Attack Position with 2800 ATK Points.
"And once again, when Armed Dragon Thunder LV3 was sent to the Graveyard to activate a Dragon monster's effect, I drew a card." Hoppy said as she did so and looked at it, "And I think this is the best card I could draw!"
"Uh-oh…" Bubba said,
Hoppy then played the card.
"I activate the Continuous Spell, Armed Dragon Lightning!" She shouted as it was activated,
"And I predicted it." Bubba said in defeat,
"And now for Armed Dragon Lightning's effect! I can either have a target Armed Dragon monster I control gain ATK Points equal to its Level, or add an Armed Dragon monster with an equal or lower level than the targeted monster from my Graveyard to my Hand! And I'm gonna boost my Armed Dragon Thunder LV10's ATK Points!"
Lightning struck the monster as Armed Dragon Thunder LV10's ATK Points were raised to 4000.
"She has enough to defeat Bubba!" Bobby said from the locker room,
"Alright, time for battle!" Hoppy shouted as the Battle Phase started, "Pile Armed Dragon will attack Cyber Dragon Infinity, with Pile Armed Slash!"
Pile Armed Dragon then slashes Cyber Dragon Infinity down to rubble, dealing 500 points of damage to Bubba.
"Alright, here we go!" Hoppy said, "This will show you that I'm at least redeemable!"
"Indeed you are…" Bubba said with a smile, "So go ahead and finish me off…"
"With pleasure! Armed Dragon Thunder LV10, attack Bubba directly and give me the win I need!"
Armed Dragon Thunder LV10 roared as it then stored up electricity from its claws.
"Armed Thunder Blast!" Hoppy shouted,
Armed Dragon Thunder LV10 then fired its lightning from its claws directly at Bubba, dealing 3500 of damage equal to his Life Points. Bubba was defeated.
Hoppy sighed in relief as the audience cheered.
"Wow…" She said, "I really just won that…"
RatedRat sighed in the commentary booth.
"Welp, Hoppy Hopscotch has won and will be advancing to the Semi-Finals." She said,
Hoppy then went over to Bubba to check on him.
"Hey, are you–" She asked as she saw Bubba's other face-down card from the duel sliding out of the Duel Disk, "What the?! Seven Tools Of The Bandit?!"
Hoppy then saw Bubba's hand of cards revealing.
"And you did not have any Fusion Spells?!" She shouted,
"I didn't…" Bubba replied as he chuckled, "I must have had some bad luck today…"
"Oh come on, I was hoping for this duel to get more exciting than ever!"
Bubba then laughed.
"Huh? Are you laughing?" Hoppy wondered, "What's so funny?"
"I'm actually happy that you're back to your normal self!" Bubba replied,
"W-What?"
"You finally redeemed yourself, Hoppy! You're back to your old self, I think…"
"O-Oh…"
Hoppy blushed embarrassingly.
"Y-Yeah… Save it for later." She said, "When all of this shit dies down."
"Ha ha, sorry…" Bubba said, "Come on, let's head back."
The two head back to their locker room.
KickinChicken meanwhile was watching from his locker room and groaned.
"If I end up facing her, then it's not a good look." He said,
KickinChicken then heard screaming for the locker room next to him.
"What the hell?!" He shouted as he got up, "Holden! Hang on, I'm coming!"