On to Lapis vs Shihone, before we move any further with the plot.

Stuff:

cmcwiki: Yamcha could theoretically Instant Transmit to the twins, but he'd have to figure out how to filter them out from the rest of the smaller powers that are 'normal', non-fighter people. He hasn't got that level of mastery yet, when he never figured out what they 'felt' like in the first timeline. Does that make sense?

...

Lapis ducked under a punch that could have taken his head off, driving his foot into the skeleton's shin and knocking it out from under him. He cursed as the limb simply detached and hopped away, avoiding a knife-hand as he leapt back to his feet.

'Damn. He hits harder than I do, he can break into pieces whenever I manage to hit him, and he's using his damn arm like a spider to screw with me. What the hell am I supposed to do?' he thought angrily, skidding across the tile to try and get some distance from his opponent.

"Boy, you should just give up if you're not going to fight. No point in wasting time," Shihone half-shrugged, half, since he only had the one shoulder attached. "Baba wants a good fight, not a cat-and-mouse game."

"Hey, you haven't caught me yet!" the teen retorted heatedly, kicking the detached arm away with a grunt.

"True. You're not bad. Another few years and you could stand a good chance. But too bad, you haven't got years. Minutes, maybe." the skeleton chuckled, throwing his cloak back with a flourish. "Abararara!" he cried, detaching half a dozen ribs and tossing them like knives.

"Goddamnit!" Lapis burst out, ducking and weaving between the inexplicably sharp bones. A line of red appeared across his chest, confusing him for a second.

And then the pain hit.

OoOoO

"Lapis!" Lazuli cried, Krillin's grip on her shoulder being the only thing keeping her from jumping out onto the stage. "He's hurt!"

"We've been through this. You guys are tougher than you think," Krillin smiled. "Once he gets his focus back, Lapis can win-"

"Come on!" the blonde exploded, breaking free of her teacher's grasp. "We're not fighters! We're... thieves, we're pickpockets, the closest we get to fighting is when we're trying to mug people! What made you think we could fight these kind of monsters?"

"You managed to break my grip. Lapis has learned how to generate his ki. You've been training yourselves for speed and precision for years, even if you didn't know it. All you need is the force to go with it, and once we're done here, we'll work on that. But what matters is that Lapis already knows how to defeat this guy." Krillin smirked widely.

"He does?"

"I do?" Lapis asked, from his crouched position several feet away. Krillin nodded, floating lazily back towards Goku, who was looking bored now that the fight had stalled.

"Yep. A thief's skillset is perfect to beat this guy."

OoOoO

Lapis blinked dumbly. What the hell did that mean? He found his train of thought interrupted by a bony fist, narrowly missing his head.

"Keep your head in the fight, son," Shihone drawled, popping his ribs back into place with a grunt. "Or else you'll die."

'Okay, Krillin said that I can beat him using my thieving skills... How the hell do I do that?' Lapis hissed in pain and pressed a hand to the wound on his chest. 'If that had been a headshot, I'd be dead right now... Wait. Is-is that what he meant?'

Shihone nodded approvingly as Lapis rushed in for an attack. "Good. Go down swinging, anyway- huh?" he stared dumbly for a second as Lapis dropped into a slide, ducking under the skeleton's legs. He followed up with a kick to the back of the skull, leaping away beforeShihone could grab him.

"Damn. If I had a brain in here, I'd probably have a concussion right now. I have to give you credit for that much, I suppose," the skeleton murmured, one hand moving towards his neck. "What were you trying to do? I don't exactly have pressure points for you to hit, you know."

Lapis didn't respond, circling his opponent warily, drops of blood falling to the ground in front of him. He tensed, throwing a high kick that was easily slapped aside and coughing as a fist was slammed into his gut to send him sprawling. He gave a small grin as he rolled into a crouch. Shihone cocked a head warily when he saw it.

"What?" the skull asked. "What're you so happy about?"

"You gave me the last clue I needed to beat you." Lapis chuckled, stumbling as he stood up once again. He dashed forwards with his left hand cocked in a fist, his outline blurring slightly as Shihone clawed at the air, blood seemingly appearing on the ends of his sharpened fingertips. The onlookers blinked as one at the sight of the black-haired teenager stood behind the skeleton, his red-spattered hand under Shihone's jaw.

"...What now? Are you going to snap my neck? Oh, no, I'm so scared." the undead fighter deadpanned.

"I wasn't just screwing around with that kick earlier. I figured, if you're able to take yourself apart like that-"

"No." The bone man gasped, the lack of lungs seemingly irrelevant.

"Yup. I guessed that your joints have to be pretty loose to pop off like that," Lapis grinned, tightening his grip. "One good hit is all it took, and now I've got you beaten." he grunted, his hand moving up and away, tossing something white into the sandy dirt by Goku's feet.

"Weird..." The saiyan mused, holding up Shihone's blank skull with an appraising look. "Does this mean Lapis wins?"

"Ptuh! Damn, it's all caught in my teeth... fine, I surrender, just give me back to my body!" the skull snapped angrily, Goku dropping it in shock. "...ow."

A soft cough drew everyone's gaze to Baba's ghostly assistant, marking something on his clipboard. "Shihone has surrendered. Lapis has won!"

"Nicely done, Lapis," Krillin smiled. "I knew you could do it. Are you good to keep fighting or do you want to switch out?"

"After that? Hell no, I'm not quitting yet, I kicked ass!" the taller teen boasted.

Baba chuckled. "In that case, we'll move straight to the next fight as soon as your teacher leaves."

Blinking, Lapis nodded, an exhilarated grin on his face. He cracked his knuckles as Krillin leapt back down to the ground, arms folded. "Alright, as soon as your next so-called fighter gets here, so I can beat him as well- Upft!" he found himself caught off-guard as something slammed into his jaw with enough force to knock him clear off his feet.

"Foolish boy, I told you it was starting as soon as the bald brat left, didn't I? Your next opponent is See-Through the invisible man," Baba smirked. "That will teach you to get cocky. And by the way, these two are the weakest of my guardians. You have no idea of the true power my monsters can unleash."

OoOoO

"You're sure this information is correct?" the man behind the desk asked, looking over the blurred photographs in front of him. A handful of pages hid the pictures from view as the second man nodded grimly.

"You have no idea how much trouble it was to recover this stuff before it made the headlines. By now, people know that Piccolo's been killed, but they're thinking it was a military effort. We've been trying to support those rumours, but I guarantee that some people have figured out that it's not the whole truth," he sighed, brushing his brown hair away from his eyes. "And we have barely anything to go on regarding the ones who finished Piccolo off..."

"Yes, that's another set of problems entirely," the older man agreed. He held up a photo of an orange blur piercing Piccolo's torso. "Yamcha, Tien Shinhan and... Son Goku, correct?"

"That's right, sir. All three were finalists in the Tenkaichi Budokai. Yamcha and Son Goku were runners-up in the previous tournament."

"By God, you mean that tournament is real? Every single agent has reported that it's a smoke and mirrors setup, to put on a show." the seated man groaned. "Jonas, once we sort out this issue, remind me to fire every last one of them."

"Agreed, sir. We should look into some of the other fighters. Apparently, these three have ties to the former winner, one... Krillin, and another of the runners-up from this year, for whom we have a picture but no name." Jonas reported, showing pictures of two fighters -kids, barely even half his height- who both appeared to have their heads shaved.

"Backgrounds?"

"Mostly unknowns up until three years ago, bar a handful of reports about a bandit out in the Diablo Desert. Since the Red Ribbon Army attack on West City, however, there have been reports of individuals matching the profiles of Krillin, Yamcha and Son, observed around the headquarters of Capsule Corp." Jonas concluded, pointing out a section of text on his reports.

His commander hissed through his teeth. "If it wasn't for how much the King trusts that Dr. Briefs, I'd have you breaking down his front door right now. We're supposed to be the world's greatest intelligence agency, how could we miss this? Jonas, any one of these people could be a bigger threat than the Red Ribbon Army were. I'd put money on one or more of them being involved in that incident."

"What do you suggest, sir?"

Jonas blinked as a dark chuckle came from his superior officer. "What the hell do you think? We leave them the hell alone. God only knows how much damage they could do if it got into their heads, and I'm not sure if anything short of a nuclear strike would actually work on them. We are entirely at their mercy. And no matter how I try to kid myself, they damn well know that. So, frankly, I suggest we pray."

Jonas gulped, before steeling himself. "S-Sir? As you know, I brought these reports directly to King Furry himself and he..." the young man stalled under the sudden intrigued look that fell on him.

"He had a suggestion."

...

Done!

I know it was a shorter chapter this time around, but as you can see, the Z-fighters have inadvertently changed things a little bit further than intended. As for the Baba tournament, not every fight will be one-on-one, so that shouldn't drag too much.

Powers!

Lapis[power unlocked]: 24

Shihone: 43

See-Through: 56

Anyway, good to be back into this. Catch you guys next time!