Finn ran.
Not because he had a plan. Not because he knew where he was going. Just because five armed security guards in tactical gear were pointing weapons at him and his body decided running was better than whatever came next.
The main hall dissolved into chaos behind him. The ceremony stopped mid-sentence. The crowd's confused murmurs turned to alarmed shouts. Finn didn't look back. He hit the corridor at full speed, sneakers squeaking on polished floors.
"Stop! Security!"
Well, that wasn't happening.
The corridor branched ahead. Left led deeper into the venue. Right toward what looked like service areas. Finn went right, shouldering through a door marked 'Staff Only' and finding himself in a narrower hallway with exposed pipes running along the ceiling.
Footsteps thundered behind him. Multiple sets. They were fast and they weren't stopping.
Finn's mind raced. He had the system now. Had abilities he'd barely tested. Phase Step could teleport him short distances. Spatial Blade could cut through things. But he'd never used them in actual combat.
'Guess now's the time to learn.'
He rounded a corner and immediately hit a dead end. A loading bay with metal shutters pulled down and locked. No exit.
"Shit."
The footsteps were getting closer. Maybe ten seconds before they caught up.
Finn spun around, looking for anything useful. Crates stacked against one wall. A maintenance ladder leading up to an access hatch in the ceiling. The locked shutters behind him.
The security guards burst around the corner with their weapons raised.
"Hands up! Now!"
Finn looked at them. Five guards all wearing combat gear with Spark-tech enhancements visible on their weapons and armor. They were trained professionals. Not the kind of people you fought your way through.
But maybe the kind you didn't have to fight at all.
"I said hands up!"
Finn raised his hands slowly. Letting them think he was complying. He let them relax just a fraction.
Then he dropped into a crouch and lunged forward.
[PHASE STEP ACTIVATED]
[SPARK CAPACITY: 14/14 → 9/14]
The world blurred. For half a second Finn felt like he was falling through empty space, weightless and incorporeal. Then reality snapped back and he was ten feet forward, past the first two guards and between the others.
The guards shouted in surprise. One tried to grab him but his hand passed through empty air where Finn had been a moment before.
Finn kept moving. Didn't stop to process what had just happened. He just ran for the corner they'd come from, using the confusion to gain distance.
One guard recovered faster than the others. Raised his weapon which was a spark-rifle that hummed with charging energy.
"Stop or I'll shoot!"
Finn didn't stop. He hit the corner and Phase Stepped again.
[PHASE STEP ACTIVATED]
[SPARK CAPACITY: 9/14 → 4/14]
Another ten feet forward. The corridor stretched ahead with multiple branching paths. He picked the leftmost one at random and kept running.
Behind him, the guards were coordinating. He could hear their voices over comm devices, calling for backup, describing his position, setting up a perimeter.
'I need to get to Peter,' Finn thought. 'Need to find him before they lock down the entire venue.'
But he had no idea where Peter was. Could be anywhere in this massive building. Could already be caught.
Finn's lungs burned. His legs ached. This body was in better shape than his original one but he wasn't a trained athlete. He couldn't keep this pace forever.
Another corridor, another turn. He was moving deeper into the service areas now, away from the polished public spaces and into the guts of the building now where there were concrete floors and exposed wiring.
Then he heard it.
Shouting.
Not from behind him. But from ahead and to the right.
Finn slowed, trying to catch his breath and listen.
"On the ground! Now!"
"I didn't do anything!"
Peter's voice. That was definitely Peter.
Finn followed the sound, moving carefully now. He came to a T-junction and peered around the corner.
Two security guards had Peter pinned against a wall. One held him by the collar while the other was pulling his arms behind his back for restraints. The bag Peter had been carrying lay on the ground, its contents spilled out. A Spark amplifier. Exactly what he'd gone to steal.
'So he actually did it,' Finn thought. 'The idiot actually stole it.'
Peter was struggling but not effectively. He wasn't a fighter. Just a skinny kid with technical skills and bad judgment.
Finn pulled back around the corner and pressed against the wall.
This was the moment. The decision point.
He could leave. Just walk away. Peter had made his choice and now he was facing the consequences.
Getting involved meant risking capture. Meant fighting trained security guards. Meant potentially getting thrown in detention or losing his housing or worse.
The smart play was to save himself.
But...
Finn moved before he fully processed why. Just knew that leaving Peter here felt wrong in a way he couldn't articulate.
He looked down at his hands. He'd used Phase Step twice already. The ability had a three-second cooldown and cost five Spark Capacity per use. He could manage maybe one more before running completely empty.
Spatial Blade though. That was new. Untested in actual combat.
'Only one way to find out if it works.'
Finn took a breath and activated the skill.
[SPATIAL BLADE ACTIVATED]
[SPARK CAPACITY: 4/14 → 0/14]
[DURATION: 10 SECONDS]
His right hand suddenly felt different. Not painful but strange, like the air around his fingers had become impossibly dense. He looked down and saw it. The space around his hand had compressed into something sharp, extending maybe six inches from his fingertips in a blade-like edge. It didn't glow or shine. Just existed as a faint shimmer, like heat waves but focused and controlled.
Ten seconds. That's all he had.
Finn stepped around the corner.
The guards saw him immediately. The one holding Peter shouted.
"Another one! Stop right there!"
Finn didn't stop. He ran straight at them.
The guard reaching for his weapon hesitated, probably not expecting someone to charge security head-on. That hesitation cost him.
Finn swung his right hand in a wide arc, aiming for the guard's weapon.
The Spatial Blade connected. There was no resistance. No feeling of impact. The weapon just separated cleanly in two pieces, the top half clattering to the ground while the bottom remained in the guard's hand. The cut was so clean it looked like the weapon had been manufactured in two pieces. No sparks. No sound except a faint whisper of displaced air.
The guard stared at his ruined weapon in shock.
Finn didn't give him time to recover. He pivoted and swung at the other guard, the one holding Peter.
This guard was faster. He shoved Peter aside and raised his arm to block.
Bad move.
The Spatial Blade cut through the reinforced sleeve of his tactical gear like it wasn't there. Drew a line across his forearm, not deep but clean, blood welling up immediately. The guard shouted and pulled back, grabbing his arm.
"What the hell is that?"
[SPATIAL BLADE DURATION ENDED]
The strange sensation around Finn's hand faded. The compressed space dispersed back to normal.
Finn grabbed Peter by the collar and pulled.
"Move! Now!"
Peter stumbled but followed. They ran back the way Finn had come, leaving the two guards behind.
One of the guards shouted into his comm. "Suspect is Awakened! I repeat, suspect is Awakened with cutting ability! Requesting backup!"
'Great,' Finn thought. 'Now they think I'm Awakened.'
Which was true but also complicated. Unregistered Awakened were illegal. You were supposed to report to the Hero Registry within seventy-two hours of manifesting abilities. Failure to do so carried serious penalties.
But that was a problem for later. Right now he just needed to get out.
They ran through corridors that all looked the same. Peter was gasping for air, struggling to keep up. Finn's Spark Capacity sat at zero, completely drained.
Behind them, more footsteps. More voices. The entire security force was mobilizing.
"Where are we going?" Peter gasped.
"Exit. Any exit."
"I don't know where we are!"
Neither did Finn. But he had to pick a direction and commit.
They hit another junction. Finn chose left and immediately regretted it. The corridor opened into a large room filled with security personnel gearing up. At least a dozen of them. All turning to look at the two idiots who'd just run into their staging area.
"Oh no," Peter breathed.
Finn's Spark Capacity was at zero. He couldn't Phase Step them out. Couldn't activate any abilities. They were trapped.
'Think. Think!'
The guards were already moving, reaching for weapons, spreading out to surround them.