Heretic: Resurrection [Art Trade]

Based on the story and characters created by General-sci

It was cold, that’s what I remember the most...about dying that is. I didn’t realize that’s what happened until after the fact, but Dr. Hayashi told me that, for a while, my heart actually stopped beating. It’s hard to describe dying. It wasn’t even all that unpleasant it was just...well, nothing. Actually at the time it even felt kind of...comforting. It wasn’t dark, though, that’s always hard to explain. There wasn’t any sort of “bright light” or whatever either. Maybe I wasn’t dead long enough for that. I make it sound good, but thinking back on it now I wouldn’t say I’d want to give it another go, but at the time there was nothing I wanted more than to just let myself go.

Lucky for me, the true armor had other plans.

The first thing to come back was the pain. It wasn’t a searing pain like when Haggard put his spear in my side. No, it was a dull, kind of a throbbing pain, almost like my muscles had been twisted in knots and left to atrophy. After that came the inflation, or at least what felt like inflation. I found out later that it was my cells regenerating. It felt worst in my arm, but that was because all the skin and nerves had apparently been scorched off. Those same nerves were now weaving and knitting a network all throughout my new arm. I wish I could say it felt the same as my old one, but even after all this time my new flesh still feels a bit alien to me...

Then I heard the voices.

“Hey Joe! Get a load of this chick. Tell the EMTs to bring a stretcher around!”

I didn’t recognize the voice. To me it sounded kind of far away, like it was from another room. Someone said something back to the guy, but I couldn’t make it out. The only words I could make out were “charcoal” and “easy on the eyes”.

“Are they talking about me?” I kept wondering to myself. Dr. Hayashi said some EMT’s had gotten close to me, but I couldn’t tell you if those were the voices or not.

My wondering didn’t last for very long though, because that was when it started. At first it was kind of warm feeling, like a pool of heated water pooling and sinking into my skin. I don’t know what it was, some kind of energy from the true armor was Hayashi’s best guess. In a sense it felt like I was having my life pumped back into me. Once the “energy” reached my heart I could feel it start to beat again. At first it was slow, painful, like something was trying to burst its way out of my chest. The rhythm settled a bit, and all of a sudden I could feel the blood start to flow through my veins again like fire surging through my arteries.

My sense of touch came next just as somebody placed their fingers against the side of my neck. I had the urge to swat their hand away, but I still couldn’t move my arm. Besides, in that moment the touch was the last thing on my mind.

The pieces of the true armor began to vibrate slowly against my body, like they were reacting to the energy build-up. It felt good...REALLY good. The electric shockwaves it sent through my body only seemed to accelerate whatever process was taking place. The vibrations soon became more intense, like the armor was going to crush me. All at once, I felt the energy erupt from my pores, like a volcano. From how it was described to me it looked like I was engulfed in a sphere of light made of golden particles. To me it felt like every part of me was rejuvenating, not just my body but my mind. The chill and the darkness seemed to melt away and retreat and all that was left in the universe was me and the true armor.

Then the armor melted, sending tendrils snaking along my body worming it’s alien metal into my skin. A different kind of shock shot through me as it caressed my breasts and womanhood, triggering an almost overwhelming sense of intimacy I’d never felt before. I wanted to scream. I shuddered and kept shuddering. It was love, a true love, like the boundaries between our physical bodies were evaporating and reforming into something new. I guess becoming one is the cliché phrase, but it truly did feel like that. When I rose from the ground and stood tall, it wasn’t the suit controlling me, and it wasn’t entirely me either. We were synced, one mind, one body. It told me that I needed to get up, that there was work to do and it couldn’t do alone.

When my eyes finally opened, one eye stared out through the remains of the visor, while my other eye was bare and open to the world. The armor was still re-asserting itself across my body. I looked down, and it wasn’t like it was before. The metal was glowing, filled with the energy that sprouted from within me. The diodes along my suit weren’t blue or red – they were gold.

Just as my armor was intertwining with my fingers, my sense of the world around me suddenly came rushing back. The flames which had engulfed part of my body were now larger and hotter than ever. I felt a sensation from my companion that everything was going to be fine. To assure me further it compressed slightly around my body, forming the plates that made up my outer shell. Material gathered around my mouth, and without even thinking I opened my mouth and allowed it to enter. It was more sensuous than any kiss, but I knew I couldn’t bask in it. My hearing was the next thing to return, and the lumbering sound of Haggard crashing in front of me almost immediately caught my attention.

That’s when he saw me, and I could see in his eyes that he was frightened not just of my resurrection but something else, something unspoken. For a moment he didn’t even move. He was fixated on me, one part fascinated, two parts terrified out of his fucking mind. I could feel in the air the panic and the distress as he fumbled for something, anything he could do to halt my advance, but I already knew he couldn’t stop me. With that knowledge I gave a vicious smile, ready to justify his terror.

Eyes set to the task, we stepped forward and brought out our blades. We weren’t going to let him hurt anyone else, not anymore. We took one step, then another. We expected our legs to feel heavy at this point but they weren’t. In fact, every step felt lighter than the last, until it almost felt like we were gliding. We could hear the gasps and frenzied exclamations of those nearby which only filled me with greater purpose. The remains of my visor mended itself, enhancing my vision tenfold. With our head fully encased and a thirst for justice flowing through every fiber of our being, we were finally one.