Scorpion's Journey To Redemption

The birth of Neo-Ark

                                                                 Six years ago

In an abandoned warehouse in the United States, a mysterious figure was working on a new project that would net him a ton of cash from the government. The figure was rushing around his makeshift lab, typing on several computers to start his new AI program. Several of the computers beeped as one of the screens flashed, saying, 'Project Neo 50% complete.' There was also a mysterious device nearby that seemed like it was just collecting dust since it was a scrapped idea that the government didn't want to fund. The figure stared at the screen as they yawned, walking towards a dark room to get something for the project's final steps. Unbeknownst to the figure, the screen glitched with an error message as an extremely loud beeping started to sound, with the figure rushing in, trying to fix the system. The computer began to overload and eventually exploded, sending the figure flying out a window. They lay on the ground for a bit before sitting up, showing robotic parts underneath their skin. "I hate this job sometimes, but it does help to be a Humagear" The figure walked away disappointed as the computer was still beeping in the wreckage with a message saying, 'Project Neo-Ark 100% complete.'

                                                                    Present Day

Neo-Ark sat in a ruined and destroyed building, thinking about its creation, when a vampire-like creature walked over to him, bowing, "My lord. We just received intel about the location of the device you have been seeking, and it seems to be with the traitor, Keith Kingston." Neo-Ark stood up, looking at the Vampire with an intense look on its face. "Are you sure that he has the Driver General Vamp?" General Vamp nodded, beginning to walk out. "Yes, I am sure, my lord. One other thing, my lord. It seems that the human companion of the traitor has finally tapped into the power of the Legendary Riders, which could be an issue down the line." Ark scoffed, kicking some rubble that was nearby. "Damn. If they keep doing this, they'll discover that we have been stealing Rider data to take over the world." Vamp nodded, bowing before taking their leave from his sight. "I understand, my lord. What should I do about the traitor's companion and the president?" Ark walked towards a broken computer, looking at it. "Don't do anything right now, Vamp. I want to deliver a message to those two personally." Vamp nodded, leaving as Ark turned the computer screen on to show a message saying, 'Neo-Ark downloaded 100%.'

Meanwhile, at the Electronic shop, Keith set up a screen for Yaiba and Aruto so they could see his information on Neo-Ark and its army of corrupted Humagears. Keith turned on a projector as several images started to appear on the screen ranging from the size of the military to several unknown high-class Raiders, one of which looked like a vampire. "Here's what we know so far, Chief and President. This Neo-Ark thing wants to destroy humanity just like its namesake attempted. The size of its army is still unknown. Still, we know that several of these tougher raiders are called Raider Generals and might also be able to transform into Legendary Riders, but that's still not confirmed. Mr. President and Chief of AIMS, I ask for your help taking down this threat before humanity goes extinct."

Aruto nodded, smiling. "Of course, I'll help you in any way I can, Keith." Yaiba was silent for a while before nodding her head. "Alright, Kingston, I'll help you and Aruto deal with this new threat to humanity." Keith smiled a bit before Hologram Fuwa appeared, holding digital blueprints of a colossal mecha like Breaking Mammoth. "Is this a new project you and Tari have been working on, Keith?" Keith nodded a bit. "Yes, it is. It's currently in the experimental stages of development, uncle Fuwa. Once it's fully operational and ready for combat, I'll let you test it out." Fuwa nodded and then vanished from sight as he continued to look at the design. "He's truly a genius when it comes to designing stuff for defense purposes." Tari eventually returned from dropping off Mari and went into his lab to start work on something unique that would keep Mari safe in an emergency. Izu watched, intrigued, as Tari created three Progrise Keys that would only activate with Mari's DNA sequence. Tari stood up, looking at Izu with confusion."Is something wrong, miss Izu?" Izu bowed before starting to head back to Aruto and the others. "Everything is alright, Tari. I was curious about why you crafted these three keys for your daughter."

Tari smiled a bit before answering Izu. "I created them so she could defend herself whenever Keith and I can't be here because of our missions, Izu." Izu nodded, recording her interaction with Tari and storing it in a Human Family Value file. "I think I am starting to understand humans more, thanks to you, Tari." Tari nodded, heading towards Keith, hugging him tightly as he held a unique key with three designs. "Here's the prototype Progrise key for the new mecha you wanted, Keith." Keith smiled, taking the key so he could examine it thoroughly. "Thanks for the effort, babe." Tari was about to say something when an alarm went off, notifying them that there was an intruder on the property. Everybody ran outside with their drivers ready in case the intruder attacked. A robotic figure was waiting outside for them chuckling maniacally. "I can see that I'm a very popular Humagear, Mister President, and Kingston." Keith scowled a bit before attempting to activate one of his keys. Neo-Ark raised its hand in protest. "I'm only here to negotiate a possible deal Kingston." Keith was a bit skeptical at first but eventually decided to hear out Neo-Ark on its deal. "Fine. I suppose that I can hear you out, Neo-Ark. What is the deal that you are proposing, you evil robot?"

Neo-Ark was offended to be called a robot. "For one, that was very rude, you bastard. My deal is that you let me wipe out humanity, and I will spare your husband and child. Does that sound fair to you, creator?" Keith was a bit confused by the last statement. "What do you mean by creator, Neo-Ark? I never met you until you first appeared five years ago. What makes you think that I'm your creator?" Neo-Ark laughed a bit. "It's because of the Metsubouraijin mark on your arm Kingston. I know that you're the one who made me." Keith showed every part of his arm, not having said mark on them. "I think you have mistaken me for someone else, Ark is, 'cause I never had a mark on me even though I worked undercover in Metsubouraijin for a few years." Neo-Ark was so confused by the realization that Keith wasn't his creator that he started to have a mental breakdown causing quakes. "If he's not my creator, then who created me? Was it Jin? Horobi? Naki? Who made me" Neo-Ark eventually vanished with more questions than answers. Tari was shaking in fear after Ark left. "I hope that he doesn't go after our daughter."

Keith sighed, taking Tari inside as he began to think about what Ark had said about his creator having a Metsubouraijin mark on their arm. "I doubt Metsubouraijin would try and revive Ark to wipe out humanity again after the last time that they attempted it. Could they be getting framed for something they didn't do?" Yaiba thinks for a bit. "It's quite possible, seeing as how they tried to destroy ZAIA a few years ago, and the public still doesn't trust them." Aruto was deep in thought, running into a wall near the doorway. "Ouch, that hurt a lot. Wait a minute. Why does this feel the same way as Breaking Mammoth? is this building the prototype mech that Fuwa was talking about earlier?" Bun nodded softly. "Yeah, we figured it'd be easier to disguise it as the shop so we could continue to make repairs on it when we're open for business." Aruto nodded, still rubbing his nose as they all went inside. 

Unbeknownst to our heroes, General Vamp watched them almost like a lion stalking its prey. What was the General thinking?