The noise was soothing to Bickslow, it always had been. Far before he met Laxus it had soothed him the rare times he had experienced it from his home in the desert. The thunder bought rain, and the rain bought life. Now, in his half awake state, thunder bought salvation.
He'd transferred Evergreen's magic without any further argument. The first time he argued Evergreen had been tortured, and that was just because he had Freed to solve the problems he'd caused. With Freed unconscious he wouldn't be so lucky. At least they were both already knocked out, he didn't think he would ever be able to bear the screams they'd let loose upon the cellar. Freed still hung across from him, soul strongly pulsing in the light and letting Bickslow know he was still alive. He hadn't been asked to transfer his soul. Evergreen was nowhere to be seen.
Lightning filled the room like a strobe light, and Bickslow knew he would be saved.
He knew, somewhere in the back of his mind, that he had to stay calm. He was excited, he'd been waiting for this moment since the bastard had taken his people, and the Dragon was impatient. The beast had come to the fore as soon as they'd been ripped away from Cana, Laxus loosening his restraints a little once he wasn't concerned with avoiding damage to his guild. He knew how transportation magic felt, Freed had done it enough times, but this was different. The pain just pissed off the Dragon more, tearing a growl from his throat even though he wasn't really tangible at the moment. It grew to an almost blinding point, and as the Dragon Slayer felt himself reforming wherever it was that he was being stolen to, he let it all go. He channelled all of that pain into his magic, lightning arcing around his body before it had even fully formed. An inhuman roar erupted from his throat, and before his eyes could even process what he was swinging at, Laxus was lunging forward on pure instinct. The Dragon knew where their enemy was. He knew what he wanted, to sink his teeth and claws into the man and shred him. Muscles bulged on his arms, his magic exploding across Laxus' body as he reached for Lin.
The attack caught Lin by surprise. He'd been pulling people across great distances to him for years, and to this point not a single one had made the trip fully conscious. The lightning danced across his skin, burning clothes and flesh alike as he was thrown back across the room. He grunted in pain as he hit the wall, coughing blood up from his lungs as he shuddered to his feet. This wasn't right. At least the lightning had shot him out of range of the man's more physical attack for the moment. But it wasn't going to stop him for long, he had to get moving. Laxus was already moving towards him, and he had no idea how quickly he could change forms yet. Fuck, maybe he should have gotten more practice in before he took on a Dragon Slayer.
He shook his head as he teleported across the living room of the house, rematerialising behind a column as he caught his breath. He had to think. Even with his added power it was nothing compared to an angry Dragon. First thing was first, he let the magic flow through his body as it took on a Satan Soul. Extra speed, defense and attack power wasn't something he could ever turn down. He allowed a ball of darkness to grow in his hand, twisting around the column to loose it at the Dragon Slayer to test his strength while already sprinting away. He would have to think on the move. Somehow the Dragon didn't sense or notice the energy in time and it hit him square in the chest, knocking Laxus across the room. Lin intended to keep moving, but then he caught sight of his own reflection in a mirror hung on the wall.
He couldn't stop himself, he had to look. The first thing he'd noticed was his hair and eyes. They were actually what had snagged his attention in the first place. He'd thought he saw fire and panicked for a moment that somehow the other Dragon Slayer had found him. But it was just his hair. It had shortened a good foot or two, coming loose of its braid and standing on end. It sort of floated, as if he was underwater, almost with a mind of its own. And like his eyes, his hair had lightened. Normally they were a dark red, like blood that had started to dry, but now it was a vibrant color reminiscent of flame. That wasn't what kept his attention so fully though. His clothing had disappeared completely, revealing his muscular torso, scars and tattoos exposed. They'd been added to as well, inky black cracks forming across his forearms and stomach. They didn't hurt, he'd not even known they were there until he saw them. Lifting his right arm to allow him to follow one of the cracks as it wrapped around his waist, Lin caught sight of something that almost made him squeal. How had he not noticed that he had a tail? A five foot long, obsidian, scaled tail was protruding from his back, right between his hips. Hips which were covered by a strange tight fitting material that seemed to be his only clothing. Not what he would have chosen, but it seemed to fit the look, this fabric clinging to his body and down to his knees where it tattered into nothing, leaving his calves exposed right up to the new scales that climbed up from his feet. Lin was just starting to examine the claws that now existed where his toes had been when his brain caught up with how stupid he was. Whipping his head up to search for his opponent, he was just fast enough to throw his arms across, absently noting that they were clawed as well, scales armoring his forearms up to his elbows. Good thing, too, or the force behind Laxus' punch would have just shattered his bones.
He didn't stay there for long, using the momentum the punch gave him to jump back and out of the way. Laxus was bigger than him, and in an all out brawl of strength he didn't stand a chance. But he knew that Laxus wasn't a tactician at the best of times, and especially not riled up like he was right now. Add to that the advantage Lin gained from being on home soil, and the Dragon Slayer didn't stand a chance. He teleported again, ignoring the drag it put on his magic energy as he raised his hands, growing a bigger sphere of darkness this time and unleashing it directly into Laxus' back.
Instinct took over again and Laxus lurched to the side, narrowly avoiding being hit by the sphere. He whipped his left arm backward, his torso following the movement as his threw lightning in the direction the orb had come from. Lin, of course, had expected immediate retaliation and moved already, but he was still almost caught by the next bolt. As Laxus spun in the air, his right arm had continued the movement, loosing a second attack. Rather than landing on his back as the motion should have caused, the blonde man suddenly burst into living electricity, shooting around the room. Where he moved too close, scorch marks appeared on the walls, a sofa bursting into flame when he collided with it.
Something clicked in Lin's head as he watched Laxus' body change, and he almost got hit as he tried to dart out of the way, lightning dancing across his skin and sending a burn through his flesh. He needed out, and he needed out fast. Teleporting again he vanished out into the hall, sprinting at full speed towards the gym. He could hear lightning crash behind him, but he had a head start. And he had an idea.
Laxus couldn't help the roar that burst from his throat as his prey fled out of sight. Even in lightning form, his nose flared as his Dragon hunted for the scent. There, faintly, so very faint, was the scent of his Raijinshuu and that only angered him more. He couldn't tell where it was coming from. It could have just been their scents clinging to the man who held them, who had hurt them. This thought almost drove his ability to think completely out of his head, but the man still managed to yank control back just enough to sift through the scents. THERE! Without another wasted second, he launched himself through the wall into the hallway Lin had just run down.
Lin could feel the startings of a roar behind him like a sixth sense, and this time his teleport was within plenty of time to avoid the magic. He stumbled as he appeared in the gym, falling momentarily onto his hands and knees. He shoved himself back to his feet and began to lock the door. He had spent so much time in here hiding from his brothers, the locks were better than most houses. It wouldn't hold him forever, but it would be enough. He transformed back into his own form, shrugging off his clothes and hoping that it held enough scent for him to be out of the room to collect what he needed without the blonde knowing.
Laxus' Dragon was enraged when he came to the door where the scent trail ended. He kept throwing his shoulder against it, some part in the back of his mind registering the entire wall shaking from the force of the collision. The wood groaned, lightning arcing between the handle and the hinges, leaving scorches along the surface.
Lin stumbled into another room, his body starting to scream at the quick succession of teleports so soon after he had pulled Laxus to him. Still not enough power, never enough power. He shot up, ripping the silver curtain rod from the wall. Bless his mother and her ridiculously expensive tastes. Taking a second to suck in a breath he remembered how little time he had, and teleported again.
His breath heaved as he set up the pole, wedging it between two machines so it pointed towards the door. If he had more time it would be much more elegant, but he could already hear slamming against the wooden frame and he knew his time was nearly up. He closed his eyes as he changed, body bulking up as the beast soul he had stolen overtook him. A feral grin spread across his face as he spun, picking up all the weights he could and, without a second thought, teleporting away from the room.
Laxus clamped down on his rage for a moment, back away from the door, breathing heavily. "Lightning Dragon's Raging Bolt!" He forced the anger into power, finally blasting the door open with a painful screech, hanging from the top hinge. He only had to take one step into the gym to see that their quarry wasn't there. The back of his mind registered the strange set up of free lifting equipment, but most of his attention was given to the Dragon and his instincts, searching for any sign of where Lin had gone to.
Lin let out a shaky breath, collecting himself as he transformed into something bigger, stronger. He closed his eyes as he felt his body expand, the soul of a beast overtaking him. He would need this strength if his plan was to come through. He heard the man break into the gym and knew he didn't have long left, he needed to move now. Two teleports in such quick succession would hurt, and take a lot of his energy, but he could worry about that later. He'd have a lot of time to recuperate after this, if everything went to plan. All he had to do was wait for the scream.
It took a while for Laxus to smell where he had gone, what with Lin's scent as ingrained into this house as it was. Up. He was straight up. Which meant the easiest way to get to him was… He roared as his body changed, electricity surrounding him and he had just started to rise to burn through the ceiling when it happened. He roared in anger, body being pulled against his will towards the ridiculous contraption he had seen when he first entered the room. He realised too late that the pole was silver, conductive and wicked sharp and he screamed as it pulled him towards him, pointed end slipping easily into where his chest would be. The anger turned to pure survival instinct, pain tearing through his body as it became flesh and blood again, forming around the pole and sticking straight out from his back.
He didn't have time to look up when Lin appeared, three feet above him in the air. He didn't stay there for long, the weight of Lizardman alone enough to send him tumbling towards the ground, without the extra he was holding in his hands. He heard the crunch as he landed, silver pole snapping off inside of Laxus' body, the crack of bones providing a perfect sympathy as Lin rolled off to the side, allowing himself a moment to revel in his victory.
