(Prologue)
John Connor let out a sigh as he looked upon the Time Displacement Equipment. It had all led up to this, he thought. All those years, preparing with his mother, fighting to unify the Resistance and at long last finishing Skynet. His soldiers had breached the defence grid and shut down the central core, causing all units linked to it to cease functions. The war was over, but not for him.
He had completed the grim task of sending his own father, loyal soldier and good friend Kyle Reese back to save his mother, Sarah, from the T-800, even though it would mean his death. He'd also sent a re-programmed T-800 back to protect his younger self from the prototype T-1000. Now, last of all he had to send one more T-800 back to only a few months ago, one that had carried vital data on Skynet's defence Grid. His troops could have managed without it, but that extra knowledge had saved thousands of lives.
After this, it would finally be time to look to the future and rebuild civilisation, instead of always looking to the past.
"No spoilers this time John", he chuckled to himself.
"Sir, we're ready"
"Yes, Lieutenant I'm coming" answered the hero of the resistance. He had never gotten used to that title. "Charge the TDE".
The Lieutenant complied with the order, but out of the corner of his eye, spotted that there were two Terminators standing where there should only have been one. Noticing it's disguise had failed, the machine began to advance on the two, only one thing in it's mechanical mind; TERMINATE JOHN CONNOR : PRIORITY : 1. The single TechCom in the room had the cyborg's unbreakable grip around his throat before he could fire a single shot.
The sound of choked screams and the crunch of bone echoed around the cavernous chamber. The terminator stopped to seize rifle from the dead soldier's hands before moving on.
However, a single scientist, undetected by the machine, crept behind the re-programmed T-800 and activated it.
BOOT SEQUENCE COMPLETE : CLASS T-800 INFILTRATOR UNIT / CYBERDYNE SYSTEMS MODEL 111 : NEW PROGRAM DETECTED : PRIMARY MISSION / ENSURE THE DESTRUCTION OF SKYNET : SECONDARY MISSION / ASSIST NON-AGRESSIVE CIVILIANS WHENEVER POSSIBLE : STATUS / FULLY OPERATIONAL / NEURAL NET CPU SETTING / LEARN
Its eyes snapped open, and instantly detected the other terminator as an immediate threat and marched towards it, covering the distance in moments. As the other machine began to turn, the rifle was struck out of its hand and crushed underfoot by them human-allied cyborg.
The two began to brawl, Model 111 gaining the upper hand, hurling the last remnant of Skynet, smashing it into one of the pillars of the TDE.
Seeing his only chance, John quickly turned to the Lieutenant.
"ACTIVATE THE TDE!"
"Sir the damage has corrupted the coordinates, I can't guarantee where they'll end up" informed the visibly shaken soldier.
"JUST DO IT! DO IT NOW!" barked the leader of humanity, turning to the terminator, "KEEP IT THERE".
The machine complied, and as the lieutenant finalised the procedure blue energy sparked like lightning in the chamber. The two terminators were surrounded by separate azure balls of energy.
Then, they disappeared in a blinding flash of the same light.
John turned to the fearful lieutenant.
"You did well", he spoke.
The young soldier replied with a shaky half smile. As his idol, John Connor, left the room, he couldn't help but be uneasy. He wasn't used to seeing things, but just for a split second, he could have sworn he had seen a pentagram on the monitor.
(Chapter 1)
It was a gloomy, stormy night in Hell, rain lashing down in torrents. In a secluded back alley on the outskirts of Pentagram city, a lone imp was counting his cut from a successful "business venture". He was pissed he had been short-changed but could hardly complain considering he still had a small fortune in his larcenous paws. Besides, complaining to Vox was an easy way to find yourself on the wrong end of an exterminator weapon.
"Jeez, why in the nine circles is it so windy?" he thought aloud, the air whipping around his head. The trash littering the ground was rolling down the alley.
Suddenly, streaks of lightning sparked across the dark back street, illuminating the deluge in the air, causing the imp to look up, startled. An azure orb of energy formed in the centre of the bolts.
"THE FUCK IS THAT?"
The orb vanished, revealing the bulky form of a naked man. The ground he stood on was glowing and scorched, the rain hissing as it landed on the molten asphalt. The figure slowly turned his head towards the imp before walking towards him.
SYSTEM STATUS : FULLY OPERATIONAL : LOCATION / ERROR: LOCATION UNKNOWN : NO RECOGNISABLE LANDMARKS : QUERY CIVILIAN / ERROR: CIVILIAN APPEARANCE UNKNOWN / QUERY
"What are you?" questioned the man in an emotionless and monotone, but intimidating voice.
Still in a shocked daze from the event he had just witnessed, the imp relied:
"Me? I'm a demon"
"What is this location?" the stranger continued.
"Look, I don't know how you got here or how a human is here at all, but you're in Hell"
"Impossible" replied what seemed to be a man. He studied the imp closely, before focusing on the money he still clutched in his hands.
"I require currency for clothing and weapons, give it to me" it demanded.
"The hell you do!" barked the imp, drawing a small pistol to bear.
The man's brow furrowed slightly, and he stepped fearlessly towards the aggressor. A single shot rang out, hitting him in the shoulder. The imp's caution turned to fear, and he froze in place, as the stranger didn't even flinch. In one movement the gun was torn from his grasp.
"Now, or you will be terminated" it ordered, racking the pistol as it did so, and this time the imp complied. "Your contribution has been noted" it responded, before turning and leaving the alley.
Half an hour later the machine had acquired suitable clothing: a black leather jacket and jeans, with dark brown boots, as well as an semi-automatic shotgun and submachine gun from a gun store.
It was time to begin the hunt for its target.
PRIMARY MISSION OBJECTIVE : LOCATE AND DESTROY T-800
As it scanned its environment, it noticed a poster for a hotel meant to redeem demons, run by what was described as the Princess of Hell. The cyborg, having analysed the surroundings calculated that the damaged TDE had sent it and its quarry to an alternate dimension. It also calculated there was chance that the Princess, or someone close to her, may know of some way back to its own reality. The terminator knew that if he had figured it out, his target would likely do so too, and he began to search for this 'Hazbin Hotel'.
Meanwhile:
Charlie was sitting at the bar in the hotel lobby, shuffling through some paperwork. It had been a few days since Alastor's arrival, and the hotel was in a much cleaner state thanks to Niffty, even the door had been repaired. They still hadn't had any guests, but she still hoped that some would want to change.
Right now, only her, Vaggie and Husk were there, Angel had left the night before and still wasn't back, Alastor said he had "business" to attend to and Niffty was buying more cleaning supplies. Husk was cleaning the bar and Vaggie was half asleep. She wasn't a morning person.
Abruptly, the front door swung open with force, slamming against the wall, causing all three to look in surprise.
Charlie was shocked, first by the fact the intruder was human, second by the shotgun barrel he levelled towards her, moving closer until it was less than in inch from her face.
Vaggie leapt to her feet, drew her spear and charged the attacker. In response it simply swung its fist, sending her crashing into the wall, unconscious. Husk ducked behind the bar and the invader once again turned its attention to Charlie.
"You are the Princess of this dimension, correct?" it interrogated, in a monotone voice.
"Ye- yes?" Charlie replied in panic.
"I calculate that you are aware of a way out of this place, you will show me, or you will be terminated" it demanded, griping the trigger.
"It- its not that simple, why do you need to leave"
"To complete my primary mission, to terminate John Connor and ensure the safety of Skynet"
Charlie was about to speak again, when she noticed someone else had entered the lobby. He was a similar build to her captor, and walked slowly towards the pair, drawing his own gun as he did so.
He spoke in a similarly emotionless voice, "You will be terminated", firing a slug at the one that threatened Charlie. The round hit its shotgun and ruptured the barrel, rendering the weapon useless.
It dropped the ruined firearm and began to charge. Slug after slug hit its chest, doing little to slow it down. It threw a punch, but Model 111 used its free hand to grab it by the arm and threw it across the room, slamming into the wall.
Charlie used the opportunity to grab Vaggie and dive behind the bar with Husk.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE THOSE TWO?" Husk bellowed over the sound of splintering wood.
"I don't know but I didn't think humans were that strong" she replied.
"That's cause they're not!", he exclaimed, grabbing a bottle of whisky and a rag, putting the rag in the bottle.
"What are you doing?"
"Something I learned in 'Nam"
Model 111 was struck several times by the other terminator, using its fists like clubs, but managed to get a grip on the it's clothing and tossed it across to the other wall.
Husk popped up from behind the wall and tossed the Molotov cocktail across the room, hitting his target that had just hit the wall, dead centre in the chest, engulfing it in flame. He was about to cheer, until, he realised that it wasn't phased by the fire at all.
The two killer machines continued to fight, one a blazing inferno, causing damage enough to each other to kill any normal person, human or demon.
Charlie peeked around the bar, shocked to see that the fire had burned out, down to its skeleton. It was metal. It wasn't human at all, it was some kind of machine, unlike anything she had ever seen. Its deep crimson, mechanical eyes sent shivers down her spine.
Model 111 had forced its enemy onto the floor and began to repeatedly stomp on its cranium, enough to dent it, and the body began to spark.
Charlie could only watch as the glow faded from its now lifeless eyes.
PRIMARY MISSION OBJECTIVE COMPLETE : SECONDARY MISSION / ASSIST CIVILIANS
Model 111 walked over to Charlie and lowered his hand, which she very cautiously took.
"What are you?" she asked in a soft, but fearful voice.
"I am a T-800 Terminator infiltration unit, Cyberdyne systems Model 111"
"So, you're the same as", she looked over the pile of scrap that had once been a terminator, "that?"
"Affirmative"
"Why didn't you attack us?"
"I was captured and re-programmed by the human resistance to combat other terminator units"
"Human resistance? What are you talking about?"
The machine briefly described the birth of Skynet, Judgement day, John Connor and how he had come to be there. Charlie's eyes widened at the description of the horrors, listening in stunned silence.
"My secondary mission is to assist civilians; I will remain so long as I am required"
Charlie introduced herself and everyone that was there, as well as describing those that were not. She was happy to have more help, but a killer cyborg wasn't the best role model for redemption.
Model 111 looked down at Vaggie and informed, "Your friend has suffered moderate head trauma. I have detailed files on human anatomy. I can approximate treatment to an accuracy of 90% due physiological differences between my files and demon anatomy". He gently picked up Vaggie and laid her down on the bar, using a segment of his shirt as a bandage. "My analysis concludes she will survive with no lasting damage"
It was at this point that Angel walked through the once again broken door: "What the fuck happened here? Who the fuck are you?". Then he pointed at the destroyed T-800, "The FUCK is THAT?".
Charlie quickly described what had happened, and who their new friend was.
Angel's only response was, "Well shit, guess I can't flirt with this one. What the hell is your name anyway?"
"Terminators do not have names, only a model number"
Charlie's eyes lit up, "We can give you a name! Any suggestions?"
Angel answered, "How about Martin?". Charlie looked surprised that Angel had actually given a sensible answer. "What? I don't always have to make jokes! Besides, it feels … familiar, for some reason"
"Marty, short for Martin, how about that?"
"It is acceptable"
Charlie could feel that things were about to change around here.
(Chapter 2)
Niffty was exited to meet Marty when she returned, zipping around his feet and cleaning the dust and splinters from his jacket, before turning to the debris and cleaning around the extensive damage.
A few hours later Vaggie began to come around from her injury. "Wha- what happened?" she said in a groggy voice, "my head fucking hurts".
Marty responded "You were struck in the head by the T-800. Due to your increased resilience you survived with limited damage".
Charlie set down beside her girlfriend, speaking in soothing tones, "Hey, are you ok?".
"Yeah, I- I'm fine", she looked suspiciously, at Marty, "who is this?"
Marty turned to her, "I am a Terminator, your friends have designated me 'Marty'. I was designed to infiltrate and terminate resistance strongholds, leave no survivors. Charlie can inform you of the details.", he turned to Charlie, "I must hide the wreckage of the T-800".
Charlie began to retell the story of John Connor and Skynet, and how Marty had saved her and Husk, as well as treated her head injury.
Vaggie turned to Marty, "I guess I should thank you, so … thanks".
"Not necessary, it is part of my programming to protect civilians". He was crouched over the head of the T-800, removing a small black chip.
"What's that?" Charlie inquired.
"It is a neural net CPU, a learning computer. Skynet does not set them to learn to prevent units gaining individuality. My CPU is however, increasing combat effectiveness by 20%. This CPU stores the backup sentience of Skynet, if this chip were ever to be installed in a sufficient storage unit, Skynet would be resurrected."
"Well, well, what events have occurred here!?". Charlie turned to see that Alastor had arrived. "I heard your conversation from the door! I am disappointed to have missed such an, entertaining development.", his ever-present smile growing wider. He turned to Marty, "So, I hear you're something of a dangerous character! Any of those over engineered folders of yours hold a … death toll?".
"My records show 237 confirmed terminations, including four terminators"
"And you feel no remorse?"
"I am not programmed to feel any emotion"
"How … intriguing. Well I must be off again! Places to be, people to see!", he said in a sly tone, vanishing in a shadow.
Marty returned to the CPU and crushed it to dust in his palm
The phone began to ring, and Husk answered it, before motioning for Charlie to answer it.
After a few seconds she put the phone down. "666 news wants us back; they want to speak to the 'human' in hell"
Marty was the first to speak. "I do not advise this; it may provide unwanted attention to the hotel".
"I agree, it could be dangerous", Vaggie chimed in.
"Yes, but it could also help convince people to come to the hotel! At least I hope it will"
"Very well, I will go with you" replied the cybernetic guardian.
"Well that didn't take much convincing" Charlie replied, surprised by his turnaround.
"My programming dictates that, as you are the highest ranking civilian, I must obey any of your commands"
"Oh … ok. Well I guess I have another bodyguard". She was concerned that the terminator would follow her without question; she'd never had that much control over something before.
"Well then I'm coming too", Vaggie added. With that, the trio left for the news building.
A short trip later, they were in the newsroom, preparing what they would say.
"We can't just tell everyone what he is! Someone might try to kill him, or worse use him as a weapon!", Vaggie argued.
"Yes, but I don't like lying to everyone and, besides they already know he shouldn't be here, someone is probably already thinking of doing something"
Vaggie sighed, she could tell she wasn't going to get through to her, "Fine, do what you think is best, just Do. Not. Sing."
Charlie and Marty turned to the desk, and Charlie spoke to the female demon.
"I'm sorry about fighting the other day, I hope we can get along!"
The news anchor gave the Princess an evil glare, "Look bitch, you're only here because your friend over there will give our ratings a boost, so you try anything I will kill you".
From somewhere in the studio, a demon started an on-air countdown.
Katie gave Charlie one more murderous look, before adopting a cheery persona and facing the camera, before her and her partner started the broadcast.
"Once again we have Princess Charlotte with us to discuss this human everyone is talking about", she turned to Charlie to receive her answer.
"Well … Marty here is my new bodyguard and security for the hotel, and he got here by accident beca- "
Charlie was interrupted by the entire studio erupting into laughter. "You have a human as security? I didn't think your ludicrous hotel could get anymore pathetic, but it just did!", Katie ridiculed through bursts of maniacal laughter.
Marty, seeing how distressed Charlie was, stood up, turned to Katie and demanded, "Cease immediately, or there will be consequences." The room fell deathly silent.
Charlie and Vaggie both had the same thought; "Oh shit".
"What did you just say to me?", Katie asked, though she knew the answer. Her eyes glowed a seething red, and tapered limbs grew from her midsection. She towered over the terminator and struck down stabbing one of the limbs into Marty's chest. He was unfazed and, seeing this Katie began to speak, a hint of fear in her eyes, "What the fu- ".
She was abruptly cut off when Marty crushed the limb with enough force to sever it. As Katie screamed in pain, Marty headbutted her and tossed her across the room, landing on some of the crowd. Some of the security staff began to advance on them, although some fell back when Marty punched into the rib cage of one, and pulled out his still beating heart, mashing it into a stain on his hand.
One of the staff took a panicked shot at Charlie. Marty blocked the shots with his armoured chassis, turning and obliterating the attacker's skull with a well-aimed shotgun slug. The few members of security that were not running were gunned down as he held the shotgun and smg, one in each hand, his incredible strength compensating for the recoil.
Charlie looked on in dismay, and as the final demons fled the room, turned to Marty. "You can't just kill people like that!"
"Why?"
"Why? Because you can't!"
"Why? They would have done the same to you, making them a target for termination. I must protect you both.", looking at Vaggie before returning to Charlie. "I recommend we leave."
Meanwhile:
Alastor had a plan. He always had a plan, but this one would be entertaining, he thought, looking down at the chip he had replaced with a copy. Very entertaining indeed.
(Chapter 3)
(A few hours after the end of chapter 2)
Vox was getting impatient. He had expected his 'visitor' over half an hour ago. He had never anticipated Alastor, off all demons, to come and see him, and was curious what was important enough for his biggest rival to speak to him personally.
"Ah, Vox my old bucket of bolts, it's terrible to see you!"
"What is it you want Alastor?"
"Why I bring a peace offering! A little something belonging to the most definitely non-human, that you may have seen on one of those picture shows you're so fond of!". Alastor produced the chip.
"What is it?", Vox questioned, his interest piqued. Vox knew technology when he saw it, and that "man" was anything but human.
"I believe it is some kind of advanced computing device!"
Vox was suspicious, he knew Alastor was a trickster, and would never give without gaining something in return, but his arrogance got the better of him, and he took the chip.
Alastor's smile grew a hundredfold. His plan was in motion.
(Two months later)
The hotel was finally beginning to take off. Though it was only two, a patron was a patron, Charlie thought, especially with the intimidating presences of Alastor and Marty. The group had even been teaching Marty on how to appear more human, like teaching him to smile, though it still needed a lot of work. However, she was not happy today. Especially today. It was her birthday, and everyone had given her presents, even Marty, who gave a perfect wood carved model of the hotel.
Except her father had never shown. Her mother was busy, she'd accepted that, and had sent a present via Razzle and Dazzle, but her dad hadn't bothered at all. She began to weep in her office.
It was then that Marty entered the room and, seeing her tears, sat down beside her. "Why do you cry?", he asked, his voice much softer than usual.
Charlie looked up, drying the tears and forcing a half smile, "Me? I'm fine, I'm sure dad just … forgot my birthday" she lied.
"I can tell when you are lying Charlie"
Charlie began to sob, talking about how her dad was always disappointed in her, other demons thought she was pathetic and how she questioned that the hotel could even work.
"Charlie, the work you are doing is ambitious. Upon my arrival I calculated the chances of your success as almost impossible. But knowing you as I do now, it is impossible that you will not succeed. You have a resilient will and unbreakable spirit. You are the closest to family that I can have and are never alone, Vaggie and I will always be at your side."
Charlie's tears of sadness turned to tears of joy as she embraced her friend. The terminator lowered his hand and gently stroked her hair.
"Since when did you become a therapist?". Angel was leaning on the doorframe.
"I have files on psychology, but the sentiment is my own"
At that moment an explosion rocked the hotel, plaster raining from the ceiling. The whole group quickly gathered in the lobby, apart from Alastor, who was nowhere to be found.
"Ok so what the FUCK is happening this time", Husk grumbled, as another explosion went off.
The group looked outside to see two squat machines on tracks, two miniguns on each side, which opened fire upon seeing them, forcing them to dive back into cover.
Marty looked around and picked up the refrigerator. "I have a plan; Vaggie, stay behind this, and wait for my signal". He hoisted the fridge like a shield and Vaggie stepped behind it.
They began to walk towards the machines, the makeshift barrier protecting Vaggie, but the exposed Marty took bursts of fire to head and chest, exposing his endoskeleton, but managed to draw their attention. When the two were close enough, Marty gave the signal and Vaggie drove her spear into what functioned like a neck. At the same time Marty grabbed the other machine and turned it towards the other. They shredded each other with rounds before both fell silent.
"Terminated"
"What were they?" Charlie asked, exiting the hotel with the rest of the group.
"T-1 terminators, the first machines Skynet built", he turned to face the group, "Skynet has returned".
"But how? I thought you destroyed that fuckin' chip thing", Angel added.
Vaggie had a bad feeling about this, "I think I know who is to blame. It must be Alastor, he's the only other person who knew about it! And with his powers he could have easily taken it without anyone noticing.
"Very astute observation, you know me too well!", Alastor appeared behind the group, making them swivel around. His grin was wider than Charlie had seen before.
Charlie's eyes turned red with rage, her voice becoming deeper, "What. Did. You. Do?". Vaggie had never seen her this angry before.
"Why I gave it to my old enemy Vox, of course! It was very entertaining to watch him be brought down by the thing he was most fond of! How ironic! However, I believe it has gone far enough now, I have no wish to replace him with a malicious A.I.!"
Marty interrupted before Charlie could get any angrier, "I recommend we arm up and leave for Vox's headquarters immediately, it is the most likely location for Skynet's central core." He turned to Husk and Niffty, removing one of the miniguns from the T-1, "Use this to defend the hotel if anymore arrive while we are gone". The two nodded and carried it back into the hotel, while Marty removed two more miniguns, carrying one in each hand, and gave the final one to Angel who could just about carry it. He then gave Vaggie his shotgun and Charlie his smg before moving out.
It was time to destroy Skynet, once and for all.
(Chapter 4 – Finale)
The group advanced on the central core, intercepted repeatedly by groups of machines, T-400s, a primitive humanoid terminator. They were gunned down by Marty and torn limb from limb. Vaggie stunned them with the shotgun before decapitating them with her spear. Angel shredded through the stragglers with the minigun and finished them off with the tommy gun in his retractable arms.
A pair of Hunter-Killer Aerials approached, quickly crushed to scrap by Alastor's tentacles.
Finally, they arrived at Vox's headquarters and were attacked by automated sentry guns. They were about to take them out when they exploded in a cloud of pink smoke.
"Angie? Is that you?" Angel and everyone else turned to see Cherri speaking, Sir Pentious behind her with a large rifle, "We've been smashing these tin cans 'cross half the city, why are you here?"
Marty replied, "The Skynet central core is within this building, if we destroy it, all the machines will shut down". Out of ammo, he dropped the miniguns, as did Angel. The party moved into the building.
Inside it was shadowy, dim red lamps the only lighting. Only Marty could see clearly. "Corpses at the end of the hall." He moved closer to investigate, "Wounds correspond to a phased plasma damage, I advise extreme caution".
Charlie almost vomited at the sight of a scorched hole, burned straight through the chest and out the back of the demon body.
As the team proceeded, they came under heavy fire from more T-1s, firing small missiles from their backs.
Sir Pentious just barely managed to pull Cherri out of the way as a wall exploded behind them, knocking them to the floor. Cherri looked stunned that he had saved her, "What? No one isssss going to kill my archnemesissss but me!". He was even more shocked when she kissed him, "I knew you cared, old man!".
Alastor stopped two missiles mid-air and returned them to sender, obliterating the machines.
The group turned the corner, into the core room. A three-story column dominated the chamber, blue light filling the centre. Pits of a metallic liquid rippled around the edges of the room. They walked right into an ambush.
A T-600 aimed a shot with a plasma rifle. Charlie could only watch, events playing in slow motion, as the violet bolt hit Vaggie in the centre of the chest, burning through her flesh, her scream echoing around the area. She collapsed to the floor.
Charlie saw red. Her eyes turned deep crimson as long blood coloured horns grew from her head. Teeth extended and sharpened into fangs, large feathered wings sprouted from her back and her hands and feet morphed into claws and talons. She shrieked like a banshee, throwing herself at the machines.
Her talons decapitated one, her claws tore through the reinforced metal like paper. She impaled one on her horns while ripping another in half with rage fuelled strength. It was such a violent reaction that, if just for a split second, even Alastor was unnerved.
As Charlie continued to decimate the terminators, Angel dragged Vaggie into cover, while Marty shielded her, taking several plasma bolts to the stomach.
Angel held Vaggie in his many arms, tears streaming down his face, "No, no, no, you can't die, who will I have to insult if you die, hey toots?". She was mumbling something in Spanish he couldn't understand.
Charlie's rage, having annihilated every last machine inside, had subsided and she rushed over to Vaggie and held her tight, sobbing. "I … I love y-you Ch-Charlie", she stroked Charlie's cheeks. Her hand fell away as the light faded from her eye.
"No … no, no, no, no, NOO!"
Marty stood above the scene, stomach sparking from the extensive damage. Suddenly, he had an idea. Quickly he scooped up her body and rushed over to the liquid metal. If he could just program it …
Face streaming with tears, Charlie asked what he was going to do. "I may be able to save her, but you must trust me, I do not have long left.", his voice corrupting from the spreading malfunctions.
"I trust you"
Marty stabbed a metal cable into Vaggie's skull and plugged it into a computer. After a few seconds of palpable tension, the gamble paid off.
Blobs of the memetic poly-alloy rose to the surface, coalescing and oozing onto the ground. Slowly a humanoid figure rose out of the puddle, gradually gaining form as it morphed into a familiar face:
Vaggie
"Vaggie?" Charlie said in disbelief.
Vaggie looked down at her new body, then down at her old, before looking into Charlie's eyes. The two hugged, "I thought I lost you!".
Marty looked at the couple. His family. He had to keep them safe. "All of you need to leave, NOW. I am going to use my damaged power cell to destroy the core, you must get to a safe distance immediately".
Charlie spoke out, "NO, I'm not leaving you"
"You have no choice, now GO", he turned towards the core, ripping out his power cell.
Vaggie urged her to follow and she reluctantly did, turning to look at him again before leaving. Half the skin on his face was gone, exposing his metal chassis. He gave a smile and a thumbs up. Charlie could see more good, more emotion in those machine eyes than in any demon.
Then everything exploded. Marty's body was thrown across the room, sinking into the liquid metal.
The group had just escaped the building as it collapsed into rubble. Vaggie embraced Charlie, her eyes red with tears.
The group were about to move on, when a metal panel flew into the air, causing them all to turn back. Out of the hole climbed:
"Marty! You're alive!"
"Better than alive, upgraded, hybridised", liquid metal retreated from his hand, revealing his endoskeleton underneath.
The new Vaggie spoke up, "So, I guess I'm a terminator too now, right?"
"Affirmative, a T-1000 to be precise"
"Huh, that's gonna take some getting used to"
The group began the walk back to the hotel.
The End … or is it?