Maryland, The Future
"It's over," John said, easing himself into a sitting position, equipment still sparking. Damn leg acting up again, causing him to limp on the worst days, dull ache most days. "They sent one, we sent one. It's all up to fate now," he said, waving away the other soldiers of the Resistance, clustered around the heap of machinery that took up the majority of the building.
"Fate plays dirty, I play dirty," he muttered.
"Sir?" asked one of the departing soldiers.
"Nothing, Sully. Go find Kate, let her know it's over," he said. He tossed the useless hand radio aside, the electronics fried from the pulse. Closing his eyes, he put his hands over his face, feeling the week-old stubble and scars. His fingers twinged from the aftershocks.
He tried to ignore the chatter coming from the other room.
"No way he did that himself."
"I saw it!"
"Yeah, saw him fire a plasma rifle at it."
"But--"
"That's bullshit from those chopsocky flicks or the old arcade games. No one can hadouken, jackass."
"He can! I saw it before!"
A faint noise distracted John from the discussion in the other room. He reached for his sidearm reflexively, then remembered he had given it to Kate just before--was it only an hour ago? Seemed like ages. Crouching, he walked over to the source of the noise.
"Now, what are you doing here?" he asked the small pocket-watch-sized dingbot (for it was built out of a pocketwatch, with a single eye set in the cover and wee-tiny arms and legs) as it climbed over some of the debris, pulling something behind it. "Stay here for a moment. I'll be back." He was so focused on the little 'bot that he failed to notice the other visitor, who was much larger and even more metallic, hidden under flesh.
What he did notice was the swift movement as the T-800 came into view, walking as if it had every right to be here, bringing a handgun up to fire.
John hesitated as he recognized a face he first saw as a teenager, and the first bullet pierced his chest. He felt the second and third, pain and deadness moving up in a line as the damn thing kept walking and firing like the goddamn Energizer bunny. Acting on reflex, John used the last of his energy, summoning a ball of chi, his own internal energy, and used it to attack the T-800. It stopped mid-stride, frozen, standing motionless with arm stretched out, still holding the pistol.
John fell back on the floor, his head landing near Sparky, his first dingbot, and saw his Fandom cell phone from years before, back when a werechicken taught him to use his chi, a dinosaur attacked him, aliens ruined graduation, and other high school events helped prepare him for his future. He nodded at Sparky, and closed his eyes.
"John!" Kate ran over, dropped to her knees and cradled John's head; he opened his eyes and recognized his wife. He tried to speak, but no words came before the light went out of his eyes.
The others present from the Resistance quietly gathered, standing around, not wanting to be the first to break the silence. Kate looked up after a long moment of cradling John, wiping tears from her eyes, and saw the cell phone, still held by Sparky.
She nodded and took the phone from the dingbot. Wonder of wonders, it actually had a signal--first time in fifteen years--and she found the message John coded in years before. She pressed send and watched the animation on the screen as it went through the phone book, sending the message out.
This is John Connor, Fandom High, Resistance. If you receive this message, I am dead, and we have won. The future is not set. There is no fate but what me make.
[John Connor has caught up to a possible canon. If you think you received the message, you did.]