Chapter 7: Escaping the City

Goku saw the pitch black object in the hands of the weird looking purple-skinned man and knew in an instant it was a bomb. Immediately and before his opponent could launch the object, he grabbed hold of Lazuli and Sixteen in his hands, his feet immediately moving toward the broken window where No.14 had came crashing in. By the time the explosive had connected with the ground, he was already outside of the room with his two companions in hand.

The explosion would prove to be much more ferocious than the Saiyan had predicted as intense flame and heat quickly caught up to him. Had the Saiyan warrior made the escape alone, this wouldn't have been a problem for him but with him dragging his two friends with him, his speed was greatly diminished. He watched with horror as the blast was about to engulf them and could tell Lazuli and Sixteen knew they were in deep trouble too from their terrified facial expressions.

Then something completely unexpected happened. A warm and intense energy came pouring out of his body seemingly from out of nowhere, surrounding not only the Saiyan but also his two friends, covering them in a white glow. For reasons unknown, the pure white energy was able to protect them from the explosion as it kept the raging flame at bay and insolated them from the heat.

Instead of killing the trio, the blast launched them high up into the sky far away from the motel. They stayed airborne for almost a minute, flying past countless city blocks before finally crashing hard onto the street below. Goku gritted his teeth as his feet made contact with the ground below. Normally this kind of rough landing would have injured him a great deal, Saiyan or not, but instead the white energy softened the impact and the alien semi-glided across the thankfully deserted street until he came to a stop still carrying his friends on his shoulder.

"Wha...what just happened?" wondered the blond scientist with the look of amazement on her face. The usually stoic Sixteen was also completely taken aback by what he saw; the orange-haired man looked at the spikey-haired Saiyan in disbelief, Kami knew he had witnessed enough bombs going off to know they should be dead.

After getting past the initial shock that they are indeed still alive, the surprised pair began checking themselves for any signs of injury and couldn't find a wound on them whatsoever. If anything, the white energy, which remains on their body long after Goku had released their hands, seemed to be gradually healing the two of injuries sustained from going up against No. 14 and 15.

"Th...thank you Goku! I never knew you had this in you!" said Lazuli getting onto her feet looking at the alien warrior with a new level of respect. She could feel the pain coming from her injured stomach slowly disappeared as her body absorbed the white glowing energy surrounding her, making her felt protected for the first time since breaking out of the lab.

The Saiyan warrior remained dumbfounded; however, as he studied the energy pouring out of his body in disbelief. He had been through too many life or death situations to count and yet this had never happened during any of his previous fight, something was definitely happening to him and what he couldn't tell.

"We need to get going you two, there's no telling when those three will catch up to us!" warned Sixteen gesturing Lazuli and Goku to follow him, he had lost all of his weapons in the explosion and wasn't too keen on sticking around for their pursuers to catch up to them.

By now, huge crowds have gathered on the streets to witness the raging infernal, giving them the perfect cover to sneak away.

The three pushed their way through the crowd with No.16 leading the way; the orange-haired giant seemed to have a plan in mind as he darted from street to street, only stopping by a nearby dumpster to pick up three discarded hats before moving again. Lazuli accepted the dirty hat disgruntledly while both Sixteen and Goku put on the headwear without complaint. It didn't took them too long till trio stopped by an underground subway entrance.

"Are you sure about this Sixteen? What if passengers on the train spotted us? After all, our photos have already been broadcasted on TV!" whispered Lazuli looking at the entrance unsure of her companion's choice.

"Don't worry Lazuli, with an explosion that big, no one will think twice about identifying us. The last thing we want to do now is to sprint in the opposite direction of where everyone is going and getting caught." Assured Sixteen leading them down towards the platform.

Just as what the gentle giant had predicted, there were hardly anyone waiting for trains with everyone observing the spectacle above ground. The three boarded the train that would take them furthest away from the now demolished motel, seating themselves inside an empty passenger car with the Lazuli in between Goku and Sixteen.

Stop by stop the train moved forward towards their destination. The trio trained their eyes at the doors and observed each passenger coming into their car, fully expecting to see the murdering cyborgs standing on the platform each time they came to a stop. Lazuli was finding it harder and harder to keep her eyes opened, she had been through too much in a single day and was feeling too physically and mentally exhausted to keep going. Suddenly, she felt an arm wrapping around her shoulder and jerked up in surprise only to Goku's tired and yet reassuring eyes looking at her.

"Sleep Lazuli...I...I wake you when arrive." Said the Saiyan warrior giving her shoulder a gentle pat. This was the first time she had ever heard him say anything and while he obviously was having trouble forming a sentence, no doubt not given much chance to talk when he was being experimented on, his deep voice calmed her nerves and soon she was in a deep sleep.

"Lazuli's been through a lot you know, she was busy creating medicine for you this whole time." Commented Sixteen giving Goku a tired smile and the Saiyan smiled back at him, glad to be with who he could call friends at last.

The scenery outside gradually changed from skyscrapers to small buildings and greenery, a sign they are finally leaving the cityscape behind. Even No. 16 was starting to get drowsy from the lack of action as he began to doze off.

The Saiyan stayed awake and kept watch during the long ride; for years, the only thing he did when awake was engaged in constant combat and was unaccustomed to the silent train ride that for once didn't require him fighting for his life. He held the blonde's shoulder tighter as he found himself getting jumpy from the lack of action, his body still full of excessive adrenaline that he couldn't get rid of.

Feeling someone squeezing her tighter made Lazuli cling onto Goku more. For months, she had lived in an underground lab performing experiments on her test subject regardless of whether it's day or night. During that time, the only human interactions she had gotten were abuses from Dr. Gero. For once, she was experimenting something other than verbal or physical abuse, something she recognized instantly even in her sleep so she leaned in closer to the warmth that was the Saiyan's body, desperate to get more of him. Unbeknownst to the sleeping woman, the sensation of her body close to his own seemed to ease the Saiyan's anxiety as well, so the duo held onto one another on the train seat, slowly falling into their own little world.

"Tickets please!" suddenly came a voice and the Saiyan warrior leapt up from his seat, making Lazuli to fall onto the now empty seat next to her and she grumbled in protest but remained asleep.

"Ti-tickets?" questioned Goku looking at the train staff with a puzzled look. Throughout the years, he had gradually picked up phrases such as guns, objectives, and oppositions, but never had he heard of the word tickets. Was it some sort of weapons? The more he thought about it, the more he began to convince himself tickets and targets must be related due to their similar pronunciation. "So this guy is from the Red Ribbon Army here to tell me who my next target is!" thought the Saiyan warrior angrily clenching his hands into tight fists.

The conductor was making his way through the passenger cars, checking everyone's ticket at his leisurely pace when a tall hulking figure suddenly burst up from his seat. Unable to help himself, he took a step backward as the imposing stranger's equally large shadow covered him in darkness. The poor man felt cold sweats dripping down his face looking at the rage-filled eyes, knowing he could be killed anytime and there's nothing he could do about it.

"It's okay Goku, he's just here checking on our tickets," suddenly came a voice from behind the conductor and upon turning his head, he could see an equally imposing figure sporting a bright orange Mohawk stood behind him.

"Oh great, now I'm surrounded by two lunatics." Thought the poor man starting to say his prayers when the orange-haired giant reached inside his pocket and pulled out three tickets.

"There's the ticket mister," said the man apologetically handing the tickets to the conductor's shaking hands, "please excuse my friend for his behavior, he's, well, he had never ridden a train before and is feeling a bit agitated that's all."

Mustering up his courage, the staff quickly scanned the tickets with his scanner before hurriedly making his leave, muttering something along the lines of "crazy youngsters!" as he disappeared into the next car.

No.16 sighed in relief making his way towards Goku, who was still standing in the middle of the train dumbfounded as to what had just happened. "It's okay Goku, not everyone you meet is an enemy, you can relax now." Said Sixteen holding his hands up in front of him in open palms trying to calm the Saiyan down.

"Re...relax? Not enemy?" asked the Saiyan warrior still unsure how to act.

"Yes Goku, relax, I'll tell you when your next battle comes but now isn't the time." Replied the gentle giant leading Goku back to his seat besides Lazuli.

"Relax? Not an enemy? Tickets? What do all these mean?" thought the Saiyan holding onto his head in deep thought. Looking at the sleeping blonde leaning against his shoulder, he could see she wore a peaceful expression and wondered how could anyone look so...not ready for battle? Scanning around the scene, he could also tell the other passengers in other cars all looked like they weren't about to fight it out and his confusion grew by the minute. He had to admit, he kinda liked this peaceful atmosphere as much as it troubled him.

While the Saiyan was still pondering over the strange phenomenon of everyone not killing each other, the door leading to their car opened once again and from the corner of his eyes, Goku could tell the person was wearing the same uniform as the train staff. Preferring not to make a fuss, he kept his head down and tried ignoring the person, but instead whoever that was stopped near him and let out a cough.

"Ahem!" he didn't recognize the voice, but it had a commanding tone to it and instantly reminds him of the Red Ribbon Army. Unable to help it anymore, Goku lifted his head and instantly his eyes locked on with a pair of cold emotionless silver ones that screamed murder, prompting the Saiyan to get onto his feet at once.

"5 seconds Goku, it took you 5 seconds to realize I have already entered your attack range. You know what that means don't you? It meant I could have slaughtered all of you a hundred times before you even realized what had happened." Chuckled the owner of the cold silver eyes coldly looking at the trio with a predatory glare.

"No. 13! What are you doing here?" shouted No.16 standing up straight too. For some ungodly reason, one of their pursuers have managed to catch up to them almost a hundred miles from the motel explosion. Thirteen now wore the same uniform as the train conductor who had just checked their tickets earlier, except the clothing hardly fit him at all and it looked as if his muscles underneath were about to tear the cloth apart. Looking closely, he could also see small traces of blood on it and a sickening feeling downed upon him realizing another innocent man had died because of them.

"What am I doing here Sixteen? What a stupid question, I'm here to claim your heads and would most certainly have done so already had I not alerted you lots of my presence!" snickered Thirteen taking up a stance, "I just couldn't help but to be a good sport and beat you all in a fair fight that's all."

No. 16 meanwhile was scanning the train for more opponents; the purple-skinned and pale-skinned cyborg hadn't shown themselves yet and there was no telling when will those two show their ugly faces. He could tell Goku and Thirteen should be about evenly matched but he and a sleeping Lazuli were no match against the other two, especially now that he was practically weaponless.

"Oh, don't worry about those two Sixteen, I managed to track you three down myself without them. Don't want anyone to spoil my fun you see!" these were the last words from Thirteen before he suddenly threw a fierce right hook at the Saiyan warrior, barely missing the his face but still leaving a cut on his cheeks nevertheless. "Nice dodge monkey boy, but can you do it again?" shouted Thirteen in excitement.

The passenger car began shaking violently as the two combatants started trading blows, neither giving an inch as they stood their ground and let their fists flew all over the place. As they were going at it, No. 16 quickly snatched his sleeping friend from the seats and held her at a safe distance least a stray strike accidentally hit her which ended up almost happening as a kick from Thirteen lifted the entire passenger seat up and sent it smashing through the train window.

"What...what's happening?" asked Lazuli slowly waking up.

"It's No. 13, the guy has managed to track us here, now Goku is fighting him." Replied Sixteen looking at two warriors battling it out. He could tell they were leagues above him and he couldn't possibly tilt the fight in their favor.

The blond scientist could also tell an extraordinary fight was taking place in front of their very eyes. She may not be a warrior, but even she had seen enough of Red Ribbon Army's bio-weapon demonstration to tell the Saiyan warrior was putting in much more effort than the sum of all his previous fights. Slowly, the Saiyan's body began to glow a white glow as the white energy that had saved them from explosion began emerging from Goku's body yet again. The energy seemed to be increasing the Saiyan's attack power too and she could see Thirteen slowly getting pressured into defensive position more until suddenly a kick from Goku connected with the silver-haired man's muscular chest, sending him flying backwards a short distance.

"Yes Goku, go get him!" Lazuli couldn't help herself but to cheer for the Saiyan. Perhaps they could really escape this mess.

The ace of Dr. Gero wasn't to be underestimated though, as he quickly got back up and glared at his opponent, a look of anger but also excitement clearly visible on his face. The cyborg brought his hand to his mouth and wiped out a small trace of blood on his mouth, his face grew more distorted looking at his own blood.

"It's been ages since anyone has managed to touch me, let alone hurt me Goku! Let's turn this up a notch now shall we?" asked No. 13 extending one of his hands outstretched towards the Saiyan warrior, red glowing energy beginning to form on his palm. "Now have a taste of my energy attack!" he screamed releasing a bolt of electric red energy.

The instant No. 13 pointed his glowing hand at him; Goku had already began to calculate the trajectory of the attack. Sure he had never seem such an attack, but his Saiyan instinct told him to be prepared for anything and true to his prediction, his foe did indeed launched a projectile attack. The Saiyan's face glowed with excitement ready to dodge it but at the last second, he suddenly realized Lazuli was also in the line of fire. A fear like no other swept through him and his protective instinct flared up. So the Saiyan instead stood his ground and took the blast squarely in his chest.

A blinding red explosion covered Lazuli's sight and she screamed in fear worried for the Saiyan's safety. Sure, the energy around him should shield him from harm to a certain degree, but still his body was of flesh and blood. Thankfully, when the smoke had cleared, Goku was still standing there but his white aura has now dimmed a bit.

Another fierce battle soon broke out, except this time it was waged across several feet with red energy blasts flying across the passenger car into Goku's waiting hands who accurately caught and deflected them, sending the red orbs flying all over the place. The car they were at now looked like a disheveled dump without even a roof as the blasts punctured hole after hole all over the steel frame.

Goku was holding his ground against the barrage of energy bullets bravely when suddenly a sharp pain shot across his head. The pain was not unlike the ones he used to experience back at Dr. Gero's lab when he felt the disgusting old man's drugs being pumped into his body. For some reason, ever since his escape, he hadn't been feeling them but now the pain came back at him at the worst time possible. Losing his concentration, the white aura around his hands disappeared for a brief second and the energy blast exploded against his naked skin, causing him to yell out in pain.

Thirteen's killer face was now grinning wildly as he could smell the delicious aroma of burning flesh. The cyborg may not know what those pesky white energies surrounding the Saiyan were since the good doctor had never bothered briefing them of in detail, but he sure could tell that Goku's movements were starting to get sloppy and his aura was dimming with every movement.

It didn't took long at all before the first blast landed on his target once again followed by many others. Sensing victory was at hand, the silver-haired warrior threw another blast and then darted across the walkway at his opponent. Just when Goku had deflected the last bolt of energy, the killer cyborg swung his feet against the Saiyan's chest, a satisfied smile crept over his face as he heard the sound of a couple of ribs cracking under the impact. Not giving the Saiyan any chance of retaliating, No. 13 wrapped his arms against Goku's neck and began choking him out just as the Saiyan doubled over in pain while continuing to knee him in the chest.

The white aura around the spikey-haired Saiyan had now completely disappeared but still he struggled on against his opponent, landing a few punches against No. 13's abs and causing his attacker to wince in pain. Just as he was about to lose consciousness, he suddenly felt the pressure around his neck loosened and turned around to find that Sixteen and Lazuli had jumped on top of No. 13 mauling him.

"No, don't kill...please don't kill!" the Saiyan had never begged in his entire life, not even under life threatening situations, but seeing the two people mattering to him the most in harm's way forced those words out of him knowing they were no match against this monstrosity that was Thirteen.

He was quickly proven correct when No. 13 easily shook loose of No. 16 with just one arm despite of the later trying to hold him with with all his strength. Casually and almost mockingly, Thirteen held his palm in front of Sixteen before letting loose his energy blast once more, barely missing the gentle giant's face who dodged at the last second but still got his skin charred slightly. The former bodyguard wasn't able to evade the next few attack; however, as the now serious Thirteen easily dropped his opponent with a lightning fast chop to the neck.

"You should have accepted the good doctor's offer and became a cyborg just like the rest of us Sixteen, at least that way you would've lasted longer," snickered the cyborg before turning his attention to Lazuli just in time to dodge one of her poorly thrown punches, "and you, my lovely Eighteen, need to be taught how to fight properly! Here, let sensei Thirteen teach you!" said the cyborg thrusting his fist right at her chest, fully intending on digging out her heart. What he struck instead was Goku's waist who had got up in time to push the blond woman out of Thirteen's attack.

The killer cyborg now looked at his three targets with pity in his eyes, he had expected a good fight, and while Goku had provided him more of a challenge compared to his previous targets, he was nowhere near the fighter Thirteen expected him to be. The blonde known as No. 18 was now tugging on the fallen warrior trying to fight back her tears, a sight that disgusted the ace of Red Ribbon Army to no ends.

Deciding that he has had enough of this nonsense, No. 13 began gathering red energies from both of his palms, a giant orb of electric energy began forming from his extended hands ready to end the pointless battle once and for all.

"Goku, get a hold of yourself soldier, you have to get up now!" shouted Lazuli staring at her potential doom. Their rebellion had lasted just a few pathetic days and now it was all about to end. Thinking back to her rebellious brother, she couldn't help but to imagine him reading the news of his older twin sister dying in a train wreck, no, it wouldn't even read that, as she and Sixteen were now branded as murderers.

"Lazuli...Lazuli...my head, it...it hurts so bad..." groaned Goku weakly holding against his aching head. Immediately, Lazuli knew what was happening; Gero's poison must have taken effect at the worst possible time.

Not wasting any time, she dug inside her pocket and to her surprise was able to produce an injection device containing her self-made cocktail. Pressing the needle against the alien warrior's neck, Lazuli injected all of her medicine into his bloodstream and began praying that her hastily made chemical would work.

The Saiyan was hurting all over his body, his muscular frame battered and bruised when suddenly all the pain evaporated like smoke. What replaced the pain was strength, the same kind he first felt when the blond scientist fed him one of her drugs that erased Dr. Gero's vile control over him. Bright white aura began pouring out of his veins stronger than ever allowing him to get back onto his feet.

Staring at the shocked facial expression of his opponent, Goku regained his stance and began studying his opponent's attack, his battle instinct tells him he should also try gathering his energy for a ranged attack. After all, if a human could do it, why couldn't a Saiyan pull one off as well? So the Saiyan warrior held his palms in front of him as well, focusing his mind on his hands and to his surprise, his life energy began converging on a single spot and an orb of pure white appeared.

Thirteen was questioning whether his vision had gone haywires when his previously defeated opponent not only got onto his feet, but also began channeling energy like what he was doing. "No way he could fire that thing off though, it's not like the ape has any energy devices attached to his hands." Thought him trying to reassure himself of his impending victory. Soon his attack was fully charged and the cyborg fired the energy bomb at the trio, his eyes glistened with pride as the bomb ripped through the passenger car towards his targets.

Goku felt sharp pains on his skin staring at the fiery energy orb came bearing down on him and Lazuli. Knowing it was now do or die, he thrusted his palms forward and imagined his life energy blasting forward like a missile and that was exactly what happened as a pure white energy beam shot out from his hands taking all of his life energies with it. Exhausted, the Saiyan fell back onto the arms of the beautiful blonde and watched as the beam collided with the red energy orb.

Blinding lights lit up the surrounding landscape while strong wind blew down trees for miles as the two energy attacks competed for dominance. Slowly but surely, the Saiyan warrior's life energy began overpowering his opponent's mechanical energy, propelling the red orb back at its source. No. 13 let out a deafening cry before he was blasted right out of the train carried by a combination of white and red energy; the pure white and sinister crimson orb travelled all the way to the end of horizon until it completely disappeared from sight.

"You did it Goku! I can't believe you've actually done it!" cried Lazuli with tears of joy raining down her face as she hugged the Saiyan warrior. Her and Sixteen's life were both saved by him two times that day already and she didn't quite know how to thank him.

"I...I wouldn't be celebrating just yet Lazuli, the...the battle has completely turned the train into a flaming wreck and we are about to collide into nearby towns any minute now!" said Sixteen with difficulties still rubbing his sore throat. True to his description, the entire train was now on fire and rocking back and forth ready to fall apart any minute.

"What should we do then?" she asked her injured friend while holding up the exhausted Goku in her arms.

"We've got to jump for it Lazuli, we are now surrounded by farm lands and should be fine. There's a small turn right ahead and it should slow down the train's speed, giving us an opportunity to get out of here." Said the big guy making his way over to her and helped her support the Saiyan.

The three only survivors of that train watched as the curve fastly approached them. Soon they felt the burning wreckage swaying to the right and knew it was time to disembark. No. 16 and Lazuli held Goku in their arms and all three leapt off the train into the unknown darkness, the last thing they saw was the ground nearing them before they lost conscious from the impact.

Lazuli regained conscious to find her lying on a bed and covered with a blanket. She tried to move but her whole body was sore and could only manage to rotate her head slightly. Looking at her surrounding, she found out that her companions were also sleeping inside the same room, with Goku snoring loudly on a sofa while Sixteen occupied a bed close by, his long limbs dangling off the bed frame.

"Where...just where am I?" she wondered weakly trying to concentrate when suddenly a voice called out to her somewhere inside the dim room.

"Don't worry sis, you're alright." Said a man's voice that sounded oddly familiar to her but for some reason the young woman was unable to recall any concrete image with her head still spinning like crazy. It wasn't until the figure had moved closer did she screamed out in relief.

"Lapis! Is that you?"

Author's Note: And there we have it. To be honest, I was planning on letting Seventeen show up much later but decided that him showing would be a good turning point of the story. Also for people who don't know, Lazuli was Eighteen's official human name while Lapis was Seventeen's. Also this may come as a spoiler to some but Thirteen isn't quite dead yet. I plan on having him as a recurring foe.

As always feel free to suggest to me how this story should go. A special thanks to zmacit73 and Dizzystrogg for the continued support. Also thanks to all other reviewers who have suggested me ways to continue this story.