The Scarman Enigma

[|Scarecrow|]

Starwood Hotel, Landing Platform Terminal, Floor 75

As Marcus darted around the prow of the landing platform ferry, the large vehicle began to hum and whine with electrical energy. He caught a brief glimpse through the cockpit glass and saw that Sayne had dropped into the pilot’s seat. Marcus stood tall and aimed the rail pistol at the front of the ferry.
“Power it down Sayne!” He shouted over the howling wind.
Sayne locked eyes on him but didn’t stop his launch preparations. Marcus’ finger tightened on the trigger, but then he saw Heather Scarman, cowering in the back. She looked terrified and was in clear view. Whatever he did, she’d witness it in full. Her eyes were locked onto him with a mixture of fear and confusion, no doubt buoyed by the sight of her father but uncertain at the strange differences. What she didn’t know was that her true father, Marcus’ alternate self, the one native to this dimension, had been killed several hours earlier. Whatever happened as a result of this fight would change her life forever. Marcus hesitated and then lowered his weapon. He had to find another way to subdue Sayne.

The electronic whine of the ferry’s engines suddenly rose to a crescendo. Sayne had throttled up the anti-gravity motors. Marcus leaped forward and landed on the nose of the small transport as it began to reverse out of the small dock. He grabbed desperately for any useful surface, but the ferry’s hull was frustratingly smooth. Sayne instinctively brought up his blaster and fired two shots, shattering the windscreen glass and scoring deep marks in the metal hull of the bow section. Both shots were intentionally wide, but they were enough to dislodge Scarecrow and send him sprawling. He slipped off the nose of the ferry just as it left the tower. Marcus hit the ground and rolled, coming to a stop just before the open edge of the building. The wind buffeted his face as he gripped onto the heavy metal girder that served as the bottom edge of the ferry dock doors. He briefly caught Jadyn’s eyes as the transport left the relative safety of the tower before rapidly falling away.

Sayne allowed the ferry to tumble backwards before he kicked the levelling pedal and swung the control wheel hard to the right. The transport swiftly righted itself and began to bank sharply to starboard, its nose veering away from the hotel’s glittering surface. On the ledge, Scarecrow raised his pistol at the underside of the craft and fired once. With a violent snap, the powerful gun kicked in his hand. Almost instantaneously, one of the anti-gravity discs on the underside of the ferry shattered and exploded in a small shower of sparks and debris. The vehicle instantly dropped a couple of meters and began listing to one side. A thick trail of black smoke belched out from underneath the wounded vehicle as a fire instantly caught. It left a slick, black fog that hung in the air and followed the ferry as it limped away from the tower. Marcus’ vision was quickly obscured, and he lost his target.

Marcus jumped to his feet, careful not to get caught out by the battering wind. He glanced up and down the curve of the tower’s outer edge. To his right, Merlow had taken cover and was peering out at the advancing squad of native LACPD SWATs. To his left, much further along the inside of the seventy-fifth floor, a gunfight was taking place between two unseen factions. Likely some remaining Black Flag and another LACPD task force. Before them, much closer to him, sat another of the luxury transport ferries. Marcus holstered the rail pistol and broke into a sprint, heading for the next of the terminals.
He had just one objective remaining. Nothing else mattered.
Save the girl.

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| S C A R E C R O W |

"See you space cowboy..."