(Any bolded cards are my own creation. Any bolded + italic cards are created by others. Credit given to BatMed on DeviantArt. His link will be at the bottom of the story. Enjoy!)

Episode 2: The Banisher, Part 1 (High Charity Arises! Jackson vs. The Red Rider)

(Intro)

Ren had just gotten done with his Duel, and the crowd was still buzzing with excitement.

Jackson turned towards him. "That was sure exhilarating."

Ren smirked. "Thanks; I'm pretty sure poor Kazaga's gonna be shaken for a while."

Will was behind them both. "Definitely, since you COMPLETELY ROCKED THAT DU-"

He was stopped short by a hair grab from Jackson. "How many times do I have to tell you? Calm yourself!"

Will yanked away from Jackson's grasp. "Gee, sorry..."

"Your friend is right. That was quite well played." A voice echoed behind the group.

They turned around to see a man wearing a red and maroon motorcycle suit, including the helmet, where the visor was tinted black, shadowing the face.

Ren blinked. "And... you are?"

"I do not reveal my real name anymore." The man spoke, his voice again having a slight echo. "However, you may call me the Red Rider."

Ren didn't know how to keep the conversation going. "Uh... well, are you entered into the tournament?"

Red Rider nodded and held up his arm, in which a red Duel Disk was attached to it. "In fact, I have heard rumors that I am dueling next."

"Rumors?" Jackson asked. "How? The matchups are completely randomized..."

"That's what you think."

The holoscreen showing the tournament bracket updated with the newest Duel.

Second Duel: Red Rider vs. Jackson Ingram

Jackson, who was watching the screen, turned back to Red Rider. "Did you set this up?"

The rider shook his head. "No. But I will warn you. Watch yourselves. Be careful of what you say and do." He swiftly turned around and walked away.

Jackson only stared after him, wondering what he meant. He was shaken out of his trance by Will. "Bro, focus! You're gonna duel this guy!"

"I know." Jackson mumbled.

"Definitely be careful." The group turned their heads to see Valon walking up. "Whoever that bloke is, he's definitely not one of the normal type."

Ren nodded. "You sure about this, Jackson?"

Jackson hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah. I can beat him, and after I do, I'll make him talk."

Both Jackson and Red Rider took their places in the arena. Neither spoke as they stared at each other.

Will, who was up in the stands with Valon and Ren, blinked. "Uh... Are they gonna Duel?"

Finally, Jackson spoke. "Exactly who are you? I've never heard of any Red Rider in this city."

"I prefer to keep myself... low profile." Red Rider activated his Duel Disk. "Do you honestly believe the outcome of this Duel will be in your favor?" Jackson hesitated, which the rider noticed. "You're unsure, aren't you?"

After a long silence, Jackson spoke again. "No. I'll win, you'll lose, and then you'll explain to me what you meant."

Red Rider chuckled under his helmet. "Are you sure?"

"Positive." Jackson then activated his own Duel Disk, and a shot of both Duelists' face appeared on-screen.

"Duel!"

Jackson - 4000

Red Rider - 4000

"I shall start." Red Rider drew his card, then placed a card onto his Duel Disk. "First things first, I summon my Dark Blade in Attack Mode!" A humanoid monster materialized, wearing jet-black armor and holding two curved swords.

Dark Blade - ATK: 1800

"That is all."

Ren raised one eyebrow. "Kazaga's Air Eater had 2100 ATK, so it made sense to leave it on the field by itself. Something about leaving Dark Blade on the field is just confusing."

Valon nodded. "I agree. Unless he's planning to bring out Pitch-Dark Dragon next turn, the bloke's lost it."

Jackson hesitantly drew, then the Field Spell slot in his Duel Disk opened. "I activate the Field Spell, High Charity, the Falconeer City!"

Lightning crackled throughout the sky. Red Rider shielded his line of sight from the bright flashes. "What is this..."

When he lowered his arm, a giant floating city, shaped like a mushroom, was stationary in the sky.

Jackson took another card out of his hand. "Welcome to High Charity, Rider." He placed a monster on his Duel Disk. "And now I summon Ghost, the Falconeer Rapid Assault!" A mechanical lizard-like monster appeared, with a gray body and dull purple armor. The monster had two blasters attached to the top of it's armor. It roared and dashed foward a bit, due to two thrusters on each side of him, glowing bright blue.

Ghost, the Falconeer Rapid Assault - ATK: 1900 (2400 due to High Charity)

"Ghost, attack his Dark Blade!"

The monster boosted forward, firing off blue bolts of plasma from the blasters on it's armor. As it was firing, it gained 300 ATK from it's effect.

ATK: 2700

The bolts connected with Dark Blade, destroying it.

Red Rider - 3100

ATK: 2400

Jackson chuckled. "Did you really think that I had nothing to overcome that monster?"

His chuckle stopped short as Red Rider spoke. "Quite the opposite, actually."

Red Rider drew. "Many think that I would now revive my Dark Blade and summon it's respective Union monster, but that is not the case." Valon narrowed his eyes.

"When I control no monsters, I can Special Summon Dark Dai Blade from my hand!" A battle-worn version of Dark Blade appeared on the field, his sword having a dark aura surrounding it.

Dark Dai Blade - ATK: 1750

"When this monster is Summoned, I can add 1 Dragon-type Union monster from my Deck to my hand!" A card slid out from his Deck, which he took and held it up to Jackson: Kiryu.

"I now activate Yamimakai Fusion Art! This allows me to perform a Fusion Summon with Dark Dai Blade on my field, and Kiryu in my hand!" Kiryu, a red long-necked dragon, appeared on the field, then both monsters slid towards each other in the iconic swirl, soon turning into Dark Blade riding the back of Kiryu. "I summon Gallant Dragon Knight!" Kiryu roared and Dark Blade grunted, holding the dark sword out towards Jackson.

Gallant Dragon Knight - ATK: 2700

Red Rider threw his fist outward. "Destroy his monster! Dark Dragon Dynabolt!"

Kiryu shot out a bright white beam towards Jackson's monster, and Dark Blade's sword let loose a dark aura. Both Kiryu's blast and Dark Blade's aura swirled into a purple/white beam and hit Ghost, destroying it.

Jackson - 3850 (only takes half damage due to High Charity)

Ghost soon reappeared and materialized into blue sparks. Red Rider, even though his face was hidden, seemed confused. "What did you do?"

Jackson smirked. "When my Falconeer monsters are destroyed, they are automatically banished. And when my Ghost is banished, I can Special Summon another monster from my hand." A new gray monster, again with purple armor, appeared on Jackson's field. This particular one had wings with the same blue boosters that Ghost had on the ends of them.

Banshee, the Falconeer Support Aircraft - ATK: 1500 (2000 due to High Charity)

"And now, High Charity activates a few of it's effects." The large mushroom-shaped city began to glow blue. "First off, whenever a 'Falconeer' monster is destroyed, I can draw 1 card, and if it's another 'Falconeer' monster, I can summon it." He drew, and then slapped the newly-drawn card onto his Duel Disk. Another gray monster with purple armor appeared on the field.

Revenant, the Falconeer Light Assault - ATK: 1600 (2100 due to High Charity)

"When my Revenant is Summoned, I can Special Summon yet another 'Falconeer' monster from my hand!" He slapped a second card onto his Duel Disk, and a third monster appeared on his side of the field, this one slightly bigger than the others.

Spectre, the Falconeer Infantry Support - ATK: 2000 (2500 due to High Charity)

The city above them shone with another blue light, which was shot towards Jackson and absorbed.

Jackson - 6400

(Effect of High Charity: Whenever a "Falconeer" monster is Special Summoned, gain LP equal to half that monsters ATK.)

Red Rider chuckled. "You just assembled three monsters in the place of one, and increased your Life Points to far exceed mine. Quite a move, indeed."

Jackson smirked. "Why thank you. Now, are you done?"

Red Rider set a card. "Yes."

"Good." Jackson drew. "Now I'll activate the ability of High Charity!" A blue light shone around Jackson, increasing his Life Points.

Jackson - 7400

Will, up in the stands, raised his eyebrows. "Geez, that's kinda overpowered."

Valon and Ren just laughed and continued to watch.

Jackson held up a card. "Now... I banish my three monsters in order to summon the mighty Arbiter, the Falconeer Warrior!" All three mechanized-reptiles dissolved into blue shards and in their place rose a giant lizard creature, wearing bronze armor. It held a large crescent-shaped blade, which shone on the edge with blue light, crackling with energy.

Arbiter, the Falconeer Warrior - ATK: 3000 (3500 due to High Charity)

Red Rider crossed his arms, not saying anything. Jackson's Life Points increased again due to High Charity.

Jackson - 8900

"Arbiter, attack his Gallant Dragon Knight!" The bronze lizard jumped up into the sky and brought it's blade down onto Rider's dragon, destroying it with a large explosion.

Red Rider covered his face from the blast.

Red Rider - 2300

Jackson shone with a bronze light as his Life Points, once again, increased.

Jackson - 9200

"That's all for me. Your move." The crowd cheered after Jackson spoke.

Valon chuckled. "He's pretty confident."

Ren raised an eyebrow. "Should he not be?"

His reply was, "One thing I learned from the past: It's not over until it's over."

On cue, Red Rider started to laugh as he drew his card, seemingly having trouble with pulling it out from his Duel Disk.

Jackson looked extremely confused. "I'm missing the joke."

Red Rider paused laughing for a few seconds to reply. "Really now? Well it seems so obvious to me." He returned to his laughing.

"I activate Dragonic Dai Destiny. This is a Continuous Spell Card that allows me to add Polymerization to my hand when it's activated." The famous card slid out of his Deck, Rider soon grabbing it.

"I now activate it, and I send Warrior Dai Grepher and Tough Elder Ryu to the Graveyard from my hand. This summons Armored Ryu Guardian to the field!" A spiky green warrior appeared on his side of the field, holding a large club-like weapon, also covered with green spikes.

Armored Ryu Guardian - ATK: 2500

"Now I active the card, De-Fusion!" A hologram of the card appeared in front of him. "I shall now pay 800 Life Points to revive my Gallant Dragon Knight!" The dragon, with Dark Blade still riding it, appeared back onto the field.

Red Rider - 1500

Valon and Ren both narrowed his eyes. "What on Earth is he doing?", Ren asked. He then took a closer look at the two monsters and their statistics. "No way..."

Valon nodded. "Xyz."

Jackson, apparently knowing what came next, gritted his teeth. "Exactly what do you think you're doing?"

Under his mask, Rider smirked. "Giving the crowd a show."

He raised his hand up to the sky. "With two Level 6 monsters, I construct the Overlay Network!" Both Armored Ryu Guardian and Gallant Dragon Knight morphed into spheres of light (one green, and the other red), and shot up into the sky. A portal opened up in a circular motion, and the two orbs flew inside.

Soon after, the entire stadium filled with a blue light. Red Rider's voice echoed throughout the arena. "A warrior turned to darkness, and a lone deity of the sky. The world, risen from darkness, now falls to the dragon... and it's rider." The light filling up the stadium only got brighter with every word.

"I call... LEGENDARY DRAGON KNIGHT!"

The light, in a split-second, vanished, and out from behind High Charity sped a white armored dragon, with blue scales underneath, and many glowing blue details in it's armor. The dragon let out a roar similar to Blue-Eyes, and hovered over Red Rider's side of the field.

Legendary Dragon Knight - Rank 6 - ATK: 3000 DEF: 2500

Red Rider was nowhere to be seen. People in the crows started to search for the Duelist, to no avail.

"Uhh... g-guys?" Will's shaky voice was hardly heard by the others. "F-Found him..."

Ren, Valon, Jackson, and Arbiter looked up once again at the dragon. It lowered his head just enough for them to get a glimpse of what, no... WHO they were searching for.

Jackson, this time, was in pure shock. "He's riding the dragon!?"

Red Rider threw his hand, outstretched, towards Jackson and his monster. "I expected more..." The dragon roared, sending shockwaves towards Jackson.

To be continued...

Next episode: The Banisher, Part 2

BatMed:

Falconeer archetype: wiki/Falconeer