The darkness didn't stop Joon from finding his target.

His right fist made fast, hard contact with Hoseok's cheek, then his left drove up into his gut.

Shae felt a body wedge itself between her and Hoseok. She felt the vice grip on her throat fall away, and she heaved heavy breaths and stumbled backwards, her hands clasping at her bare throat where Hoseok's hand had just been. She couldn't see what was happening in that pitch black ballroom, but she recognized the sound of Joon's voice.

"That's enough, Hobi."

"You're not the boss of me anymore!"

Hoseok recovered himself. He sensed Joon's voice, his proximity. He took a breath.

Then Noon Mool's former combat specialist rocketed forward. He dug an elbow into the side of Joon's neck in the blackness, and with his free arm latched onto Joon's forearm--flipping and twisting and digging his legs into the back of Joon's knees--until Joon was face-down on the floor with Hoseok on top of him, pinning him into place.

"Still need to work on those moves, eh," Hoseok said with a sadistic laugh.

Joon groaned and twitched, but Hoseok had him successfully pinned down. Joon noted that the room was a roar of screams, shouts and rushing bodies now. If they weren't careful, they were going to get trampled in the dark.

"Hoseok, listen to me."

"I've spent my whole life listening to you. Look what that got me."

"LISTEN TO ME!"

Joon rocked and flipped himself over, and Hoseok lost his leverage. Joon burst up, shoved, and hooked an arm around Hoseok's neck and locked him into a firm choke hold from behind.

Hoseok body slammed backwards and drove Joon into the floor again, his elbow digging deep into Joon's gut as he fell on top of the leader of Noon Mool with a heavy thud. But this time Joon was on his back instead of his face and he held his choke hold on that red headed combat specialist, firmly.

Hoseok squirmed and kicked and punched himself silly, losing his wits as he steadily lost oxygen.

Joon growled into Hoseok's ear, "I did what I had to do to survive! If you'd been there, you'd have done the same thing as me! If you would just...LISTEN!"

Shae could hear their bodies smacking into each other and into the hard floor. People were rushing past her, into her, through her, and she decided it might be a good idea to try and find a nearby wall to brace herself against--or else risk getting trampled in the dark.

Hoseok had no air to sass back with now. He was losing the edges of his consciousness.

Joon tightened the leverage of his arm into the chords of Hoseok's neck, making the combat specialist slap and struggle for air. "Yeah, I killed them. Dai Yu and Kiara. But you never stopped to ask," Joon's voice broke, "why. Why would I do such a monstrous thing? Because I don't give a shit?!"

Hobi flinched and squirmed even harder at the sound of Dai Yu's name. He arched his back, pinning his weight into Joon's chest. If he wasn't gonna breathe, he wasn't gonna make Joon any more comfortable, either.

"I did it because they were traitors, don't you get it! They were gonna turn over our security codes, our combat manuals, our playbook, our blueprints... they were gonna put thousands of Noon Mool lives at risk!"

Hoseok rammed an elbow hard into Joon's gut, making him groan. Joon's grip loosened just enough for Hoseok to squirm and roll away, out of his grasp. The feisty red head panted into the floor on hands and knees. "Liar."

Joon rolled onto his feet, his voice breaking as he went on, "You never considered...why...did you? It sucks when you find out that the people you love aren't who you thought they were. I get it. But Hobi, this doesn't have to end like this."

Wall. There was the wall. Shae leaned into that cool marble-like material, then turned back towards the sound of Joon's voice.

It was there that she saw a flash of brilliant green light erupt out of circular runes in Jung Hoseok's hands, splintering through the darkness.

"So many...pretty lies." Hoseok's lips were a twisted grin in a sickening green silhouette now, but Shae could see that there were tears streaking his face and a lick of blood trailing down the side of his mouth. Hoseok was on his feet now, his legs braced against the floor as if against a great wind. Both of his palms were open and pushing forward slowly through the air--and out of them blazed a furious green light, like ethereal flames.

Gasps and screams erupted anew at the sight of a sudden burst of combat light in that diplomat's safe harbor. People tumbled away from the light.

Joon shouted over the screams, "What are you doing?! You can't do that here, ARE YOU MAD?!!"

"Yes. I am."

Hoseok turned. He was still looking at Joon, but his open hands encased in green flames were now pointed towards Shae.

"Go ahead," Joon growled. "You'll only be signing your own death warrant. You know this is a no-combat zone, you idiot."

"Oh? So heartless towards your pretty little date? Why am I not surprised." The glowing green flames around Hoseok's hands only grew brighter. He pulled his arms into himself, then took a step forward, and Shae watched in horror as the rush of green energy burst from Hoseok's open palms and straight for her.

Shae couldn't look away.

"GHA!"

Someone stepped between her and the blast to intercept the blow: Kim Namjoon.

A white rune light burst from his forearms as he braced against, then parted the blast with a downward sweep of his arms. The flames split and dissipated, but Joon's forearms continued to glow with white armored veins in the darkness, flickering up from beneath his suit. Green flames still licked Hoseok's hands--though the flames were smaller now.

"Damn hypocrite," Joon growled.

"Takes one to know one."

Joon stepped towards Hoseok. "Do you want to end up an outlaw? On everyone's hit list in the galaxy? Is that it?"

Hoseok laughed darkly. "I'll do whatever it takes to bring you to your knees, Kim Namjoon. I'll even kill your new plaything."

Joon took a step forward. He raked his forearms together as if sharpening knives, the white rune light sparking and flashing from out of his suit sleeves.

"Oh ho ho, is Joonie...nervous?" A sadistic grin played across Hobi's bloodied lips.

Joon scowled. "You wish." He ran forward, his forearms blazing with a smooth encasing of translucent white light--like they'd been cupped around magic-solid gloves.

He lunged. Hoseok dodged. Then Hoseok countered with a fiery chop to Joon's left shoulder, but Joon's magicked arm deflected it like a fly.

Hoseok sent a flickering ball of green flame straight at Joon's face, then doge-rolled around the Noon Mool leader as Joon was braced to receive the impact of the blow. Hoseok ran towards the the wall for Shae, where the willowy young woman stood in awe and trembling at the supernatural display before her.

His eyes were set.

His hand wound back as he ran, palms bubbling up in flame.

He--

Hoseok dropped to the floor like he'd been steam rolled by a train.

Joon was panting. His forearms were barely flickering with light, his body almost lost to the darkness again. He'd just thrown a white hot blast of energy at Hoseok's back and sent the young man hurtling to the floor.

The redhead groaned and rolled over onto his sore back. His own arms were dim green embers of light now. Hoseok was quick to his feet once again, his scowl deep and menacing in the almost-darkness. "Cheap shot."

Hoseok began to circle around where Joon stood, once again poised and ready to spar.

____

In the midst of the flickering rune lights and deep shadows, no one had noticed that a figure had been stalking their way towards Shae along the wall's edge.

As Joon and Hoseok made angry eyes at each other, the shadowy figure latched out and grabbed Shae by the arm. This random person wore a black hooded cloak with a black mask over their mouth. Nothing showed but their striking brown eyes.

They held a finger up to where their lips would be under their black mouth-mask, then said in a feminine voice, "Come with me if you want to see your friend alive."

"W-what?"

"Ava. Come with me, or she's toast."

The woman was small, but her words carried the force of a semi truck. Shae let herself be led by the arm to who knows where by this strange faceless figure, while the fighting between Hoseok and Joon raged on.