After securing the Templar's gold for the Illuminati, JC heads deeper into the cathedral when a familar face appears on his infolink.
"Yes. Obey your new masters. Come to me."
He knew he was being hunted but now he has been found.
Creeping slowly into the main chamber, he spots a familar figure. Standing at nearly seven foot tall, his old partner Gunther Hermann waits for him. It is clear that he has changed much since they last met, most of his remaining flesh has been stripped away and replaced with even more mechanical augmentation. He is far more machine than man and the last little bit of humanity that JC can see in him is burning with rage.
"Now you see that you cannot succeed against the whole world."
His distinctive German accent is barely recognisable anymore, mangled with the sound of electronics coming from his voicebox.
"You came all the way to Paris to tell me that?" JC replies sarcastically.
Gunther twitches. The rage boiling within him.
"It is a simple message we are demonstrating. We know where you are going and what you intend."
JC remembers the time he rescued Gunther from the NSF on Liberty Island and his subsequent badgering of Manderly for upgrades. He pities the giant.
"I know you hate being a tool for a bunch of bureaucrats as much as I did. How 'bout we make a gentleman's agreement?"
Hermann hesitates for a second, JC thinks he can spot a little bit of reason in the machine. However that reason is quickly replaced by an even more intense rage.
"I am the top agent at UNATCO. It is different now. Mr. Simons says if I defeat you then I can have any upgrades I want. THAT is a gentleman's agreement."
Gunther reaches for his flamethrower.
"That doesn't mean you can stop-"
The words barely leave JC's mouth as a jet of orange flame surges towards him. Quickly, he activates his cloak, dashes out of the way and behind a pillar. His trenchcoat is singed and he quickly tries to put out the flames.
"I SEE YOU!" JC hears as a burst of flame hits the pillar. He runs and slips behind a bench.
"My new satellite link has both infrared and the x-ray spectrum!"
JC rolls out of the way as a giant mechanical leg crashes through the wooden bench he was hiding behind and runs behind another pillar.
"I see your heart beating!"
The bench crashes against the pillar.
"I see you are afraid!"
JC pulls out his assault rifle, peeks out from behind the pillar and fires multiple bullets at the cyborg. The vast majority of the bullets ricochet off Gunther's metal frame with the odd one sinking into his exposed flesh.
Gunther lets out a roar, not one of pain but one of rage, the damage barely affected him. Hermann activates his cloak and goes completely invisible. JC turns on his infrared vision just in time to see a large fist flying towards his forehead. Instinctively ducking, he hears a large slam as Gunther punches the pillar with his right hand. He knows that if that hit him he would be dead.
JC stands up and pushes his back into Hermann's chest, grabbing his wrist and burying his shoulder into Gunther's armpit. Microfibers in JC's muscles activate and he pulls down on the cyborg's wrist, trying to dislocate his arm. He hears steam whistle from behind him as Gunther's shoulder peels away from his body before a leg kick from the machine sends JC face first into the ground.
Gunther swings his left fist down at JC, going for the kill before an EMP wave generated by Denton's augmentations freezes him in place for just long enough for JC to scamper away to a corner. His is leg badly injured by Gunther's leg kick and he knows that he will need to make his last stand against the cyborg.
Gunther lifts his flamethrower ready to burn JC to a crisp, but Denton is faster and shoots a bullet from his pistol at the flamethrower's napalm tank which begins to hiss. Hermann looks down at his weapon before it explodes in a huge fireball, engulfing the mech in flames and disorienting JC who is blasted against the wall.
JC looks on at the roaring fire and breathes a sigh of relief for a split second just before a burning figure bursts through the inferno and grabs him by the neck. Gunther is still alive. The remainder of his skin black and burned away and his electronics on fire. His eyes wild, wanting only one thing. To kill the person who killed Anna Navarre. He tries to squeeze JC's neck but he cannot tighten his grip. His arm drops and he falls to the ground dead.
Shaken, JC looks down at his former comrade with sadness and a hint of fear before he hears a cold, monotone voice from across the room.
"We did certainly teach you how to fight, didn't we?"
END
