Namjoon was flying to Shadow's location in seconds.
He was flying so fast, he almost crashed into a few buildings. But he didn't care if he got hurt, not this time, because Shadow had taken one of his teammates, one of his friends, and whether he knew it or not, it had just become personal.
He landed in a rundown train station. He suspected Shadow didn't have a lair here; it was too out in the open for a villain's liking.
"Shadow!" he yelled. "Where the hell are you?"
Shadow emerged from behind a train, Seokjin by his side in a choke hold. Seokjin was struggling to get out of the situation, but his attempts were futile.
"Let him go!" Persona yelled. "What do you want with him?"
Shadow's distorted voice spoke, "I needed to test my new creation, until you came along and ruined the process."
Persona noted that Seokjin was cradling his left arm, his face contorted with pain. Persona clenched his fists at his sides.
"This is between you and me," said Persona. "Let the boy go."
Shadow chuckled. "Oh, you heroes on your high horses. This was never about you. This is about getting glory. This is about getting revenge!"
Shadow seemed to forget about Seokjin and flew towards Persona. Persona met him in the air, tackling him and sending them tumbling into a train cart. Seokjin was smart enough to run.
Shadow, even without his reflective swords in battle, was able to dodge Persona's lasers. He threw punches with immense force, and Persona was sure he felt his nose break. Blood running into his mouth, he caught Shadow's next fist and kneed him in the groin. Shadow seemed unaffected, grabbing Persona by the collar and pulling him higher into the air, punching him a few more times for good measure.
Persona felt his eyesight become blurry. Being knocked in the head by a villain with super strength certainly wasn't good for your health.
Shadow pulled Persona close and whispered in his ear, "How does it feel, Persona? To be weaker than your shadow?"
He hurled Persona to the ground. Persona hit the cement with a yell of pain, certain he had broken some bones. Shadow flew down and walked slowly towards him, laughing under his mask.
"I really thought that you'd put up more of a fight. Now," he crouched down, reaching for Persona's face. "Let's see who our favorite hero is."
Persona grabbed hold onto his hand and attempted to weakly shove it away, but Shadow slapped his hand away and ripped off his shades. He also ripped out Persona's ear piece; Jungkook's panicked voice coming from the comms sounded like it was miles away. Persona couldn't hear him over the sound of his ears ringing.
Finally, Shadow pulled down Persona's mask, revealing his face. He was silent for a moment, then his shoulders shook with laughter.
"A mere high schooler? Seoul's idolized hero?" He laughed. "Pathetic. I expected much better than this. But I suppose heroes do nothing but disappoint, do they?"
He stood up and pulled out a sword, angling the tip near Namjoon's neck.
"Now, say goodbye, hero."
But then he paused. He completely froze, and Persona wasn't sure he was seeing things right through his black eye. He heard Shadow mutter something under his breath, as if repeating orders.
The words 'mind control' briefly re-entered Persona's mind, only to be washed away by a wave of pain.
Shadow sheathed his sword, and, without another word, flew off, leaving Persona lying on the ground, bloodied and bruised.
Jungkook's voice from the comms lying near his ear called his name desperately. "Namjoon? Answer me! PLEASE!"
He'd never felt so powerless as Persona. He felt like a kid wearing a superhero costume.
That was all he was, wasn't it?
Closing his eyes, Namjoon let himself fade into darkness.
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this makes me feel like shadow stole persona's lunch money and then shoved him in a locker afterward
