Title: A sweet surprise
Author name: Trugeta
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Akira Toriyama and Funimation. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this chapter.
This story focuses on Gohan and Videl, and is set after the Majin Buu Saga. It's and AU, and Reviews are welcome and appreciated.
Author's Note: the idea for the 'trip' to the mall comes from DBZ Episode 110 – Goku's Ordeal. If you have the chance, watch it! You wouldn't believe what a menace to traffic Goku can be...
Chapter
33: The shopping trip from hell
Last
time...
Gohan
smiled.
"I know. Your dad told me, and as we planned and had it
built we had to keep you away from the construction site at all
costs. You would have known what we were planning if you had seen
just how large the foundation for the house was. But I suppose
the wait was worth it, wasn't it?" he asked with a glint in his
eyes.
Videl
smiled like the cat that ate the canary.
"It sure was, my
Gohan..." she said and leaned forward to kiss him. Their house was
perfect. Her husband was perfect. Everything was just perfect...
Now
the continuation...
Now
that they knew which gender the baby would have and now that the
house had been completed they could actually put one's money where
one's mouth is and buy everything they would need for Pan. Something
especially a certain future Grandmother had been looking forward to.
Videl
and Gohan had told Erasa, Sharpener, Barry and Alex that they were
expecting a girl, and their friends had been beside themselves with
joy for the young future parents. They had thrown an impromptu party,
which had, considering Videl's state not lasted too long, but had
been very funny.
The
four (or rather the girls) had offered their help in buying all the
clothes and stuff Gohan and Videl would need for the house and their
baby, and the couple had taken them up on their offer all too gladly.
This
had, however, given Goku and Vegeta the perfect opportunity to weasel
out of the whole thing. The two mighty Saiyans had never been much of
shoppers, okay, they hated shopping in fact as much as they hated the
draq-queen Frieza, and both had argued that they now had enough help
and could manage without them, leaving them time to continue their
'important training'.
Gohan,
now being the only Saiyan forced to go onto the shopping trip had
sworn that he would get back at Vegeta and Goku for this act of
treachery, and he had given them the advice to watch their backs
during training. Considering the look with which Gohan had said that
it was better to follow said advice.
Thus
it was decided and they had only needed means of transportation, for
now Goku's IT was not available any more. Silently Gohan cursed his
father for his slyness and swore to himself that he would learn IT
someday, if only to pay his dad back for this. Oh, his revenge would
be dreadful.
Without
proper means of transportation in the shape of IT they had had to
resort to normal means of transportation.
As
Gohan had asked into the round who could provide them with a good,
big air-car Sharpie had instantly agreed to offer his help. A short
while ago he had made his drivers license and bought himself one of
those new mega-vans, of which he was quite proud. Bad thing that they
had no idea what for a lousy driver Sharpie was...
Thus
it was decided. The young people would drive with Sharpie, while
Chi-Chi and Bulma, who would take the one and a half year old Bra
with her, would use Bulma's air-car.
And
this was how the disaster began.
Now
Normally,
car chases weren't something that happened in West City. Not too
often, for that matter, for it was known that the Gold Fighter was
watching over the city, which would make any scheme in these regards
completely idiotic. And considering the fact that the Gold Fighter
seemed to have become a whole lot stronger such an enterprise would
have been downright suicidal.
No,
car chases as you're likely to encounter in action movies with
stars like Jackie Chan are only supposed to happen in fictional
cities like Los Angeles and New York, maybe even in Satan City in the
real life, if some stupid jerk had once again tried to rob the bank.
Which was altogether suicidal too, regarding the fact that the World
Champ, Mr. Buu and the Gold Fighter (occasionally anyways, if
eye-witnesses were to be believed) were watching over this
town.
To
be honest, it really wasn't much of a car chase after all, especially
since only one air-car was involved. But considering the way
said car was being driven you could easily be forgiven for thinking
that it was not only involved in a car chase, but a high speed
car chase at that.
It
was a very modern car, yes sir, one of the latest models to boot,
with all the technical knickknack one needed (or not), but the driver
in control seemed to have won his driving license in the lottery.
Doubtless
the drivers of other cars would also think the driver was using
something that they would very much like to try for themselves, but
not while at the steering wheel, no sir.
Deducing
from the screams of pure terror from the passengers in the car, not
to mention the way the vehicle was being handled, it was also a very
likely possibility that said passengers would have liked to have
taken something of that stuff too, even if only to escape that
dreadful situation into blissful temporary unconsciousness.
"NO,
NO! TURN RIGHT, SHARPIE! NO! LEFT! AAAAAAAIIIIIHHHHHHHH!!!"
Erasa screamed, regretting to have taken the front seat, no,
regretting to have ever climbed into the same car as her boyfriend.
Obviously she had ruled out too well what for a near-death experience
driving with Sharpie was.
The
first thing she would do if she should survive this was to kill her
boyfriend and then to ask Gohan if he could teach her how to fly.
Never again would she set a foot into a car driven by her boyfriend.
Never!
The
air-car sped down the road that lay beneath, swerving in and out
through the traffic at absurd speeds. Somehow trough some odd miracle
(or trough Kami's help, more likely) it managed to navigate between
the other cars with only inches without collision.
"WOULD
YOU IT! NOOOO! LOOK OUT FOR THOSE PEOPLE!! WOULD YOU WATCH THE
TRAFFIC, DAMN!!!" Gohan screamed from the back seat, while Videl
dug her fingernails deep into his flesh from sheer fear for her (and
her daughter's) life.
With
a canny and altogether cool looking twist of the steering wheel the
air-car slipped through a gap between two other air-cars, while
pedestrians threw themselves out of the car's (and certain doom)
way.
"I'mtooyoungtodie...
I'mtooyoungtodie... I'mtooyoungtodie..." became the personal
mantra of the passengers, while Sharpener was handling the air-car
with all the calm in the world, even if with suicidal consequences
for the nerves of his passengers, which would, by the end of the trip
surely have ceased to exist (the nerves).
With
a roar of the air-car's motor it rounded a corner at a speed that
would have been regarded insane by most people, while the passengers
screamed in pure terror once more. Videl had clawed herself into
Gohan's arm even harder, and the demi silently feared that her
contractions might start early.
A
quick check on the KIs of Videl and Pan eliminated his worries, but
one thing was for sure: should he survive this horror trip, he would
never set a foot into this car or any other car driven by Sharpener
ever again. That was suicide! Rather he would learn IT and travel as
a stream of light than that!
"STAY
ON THE ROAD! STAY ON THE DAMN ROAD! THE FRICKIN ROAD!!" Alex
screamed, in fear for her life. She, too, had clawed herself to her
boyfriend, who had, like most of the passengers, a look of undiluted
terror plastered on his face.
People
scattered left and right to relative safety, as the crazy car raced
past a Pedestrian walkway, leaving a trail of greatly traumatised
pedestrians in its wake.
"ARE
YOU COMPLETELY INSANE?! YOU'RE GOING TO GET US ALL KILLED!!"
Erasa screamed at her boyfriend, who even took one hand of the
controls and waved it off, coolness incarnate.
Back
on the road again, the car swerved unsteady before returning to the
correct side of the road, but only after forcing at least ten other
air-cars out of its way.
"I'mgoingtodie...I'mgoingtodie...I'mgoingtodie..."
all passengers beside Sharpener mumbled, while Sharpie ignored all
this. Gohan had even switched into Super Saiyan to offer himself and
Videl some protection in case Sharpie got them into an accident,
which was, all things considered, a likely possibility.
Swerving
across two lanes of traffic the air-car of hell was rapidly
approaching its destination, a car park nearby the shopping mall
Bulma had once helped to construct.
"NO!
TURN RIGHT! NO! RIGHT! NO, NO, NO, RIGHT! RIGHT!!" Erasa
screeched, hoping that those poor shoppers would survive the
encounter with her obviously possessed or heavily drugged boyfriend.
Suddenly
the air-car twisted without warning, shooting straight towards an
(luckily) empty parking spot, forcing another group of people to dive
out of its way in the process, where it finally came to a halt.
Sharpie
looked at them relaxed, with a smug smile.
"There we are. Wasn't
too bad after all, now, was it?"
"I'm
not dead?" Erasa was the first to ask this question after she
and the others had convinced themselves that they were still in one
piece and breathing. Rather fast and unsteady, but breathing.
Gohan,
who had recovered his wits enough, asked
"Did you see a very
big guy with red skin and horns, wearing a suit and sitting behind a
huge desk?"
Erasa
seemed puzzled for a moment, then shook her head
"No, Gohan.
Why?"
Gohan
smirked
"Then you're most surely still alive." he said and
hugged his wife close as if to show her that he was there for her.
Videl gave him a smile and the pair shared a deep kiss.
What
Gohan had said puzzled Erasa even more, but before she could ask
Gohan what he had meant Sharpener had leant over to his girl-friend,
wearing a huge grin
"Well, of course you didn't die, silly.
What with me around." he said, brushing back his blond hair as
he looked over his shoulder at the others that were sitting on the
backseat. He grinned impishly at his friends. "Has there ever
been any doubt that I'd get you here safe and sound?"
"Sharpie,
you are a good athlete, an amazing guy and all round the love of my
life," said Erasa in a decidedly shaky voice, "but I'm
never getting into a car with you again. Ever."
"Come
on, luv," Sharpie protested pouting, "it couldn't have been
that bad."
"No,"
Alex piped up from the backseat, looking decidedly green, "it
was even worse. Worse than worse. If you're ever going to be my
brother-in-law I will have Gohan teach me how to fly. Or better: I
gather the dragonballs and wish to be a Saiyan for lifetime. This way
you can't kill me off too easily."
Erasa,
still sitting white-faced in the passenger seat next to Sharpie,
looked back at her sister,
"What are you complaining
about, sis? I'm the one who had a front row seat. I am the one
who had to see the panic-stricken faces of the poor pedestrians that
nearly got killed!" she screamed and looked at her boyfriend
with a look that could kill. To his credit, Sharpie managed a very
convincing gulp.
After
that outburst they hastily left the car to take in some very much
needed fresh air and then paid the parking fee. After that Erasa gave
her boyfriend a real piece of her mind for driving the way he had.
Now
that she had properly recovered from the horror trip she started
strangling and berating her boyfriend for pulling such an act, with a
pregnant friend of theirs on board to boot. No, none of them wanted
to change places with Sharpie right now.
Once
she was finished Sharpie was about the size of a post-stamp, and it
was the unanimous decision that Erasa would drive them back. They
would not take the risk to have Sharpie drive them before the stuff
he had taken hadn't worn off.
Soon
Bulma and Chi-Chi arrived in Bulma's air-car, and Chi-Chi too
started berating Sharpener for the way he had driven with a pregnant
woman, her pregnant daughter-in-law to boot, on board. What if
something had happened to the baby? Well, let's say after Chi-Chi
was trough with poor Sharpie he could have easily been mistaken for a
wall, for all the colour had left his face.
Now
that everything had been settled the shopping trip started in all
earnest, and the women began to happily attack each and every shop
that sold baby accessories. Videl instantly found some cute rompers
for Pan, and while the women were busy buying baby clothes the men
could not do much more than to stand there in pure boredom and watch
the pile of baby-clothes grow and grow.
Even
Alex and Erasa, who were not planning to get pregnant in a long time
as far as they were concerned, joined in happily. Once more that
mysterious streak women seem to have for shopping showed itself. Only
good thing that Gohan had a lot of money now...
Occasionally
they would ask Gohan if he approved of their choice, but who was
Gohan to actually question a woman's choice regarding clothes?
Cause if he did, wouldn't this whole mess take even longer? Fat
chance that he'd provoke something like that.
Finally,
after a seemingly endless amount of time Bulma, Chi-Chi, Videl and
her friends had selected enough stuff, much to the relief of the
males. If something could be said about shopping trips, then that
they seemed to stretch into eternity, as far as the participating
males were concerned.
And
it was not over yet, more like far from it, as there were enough
shops left that could be 'attacked'. And considering the fact
that Gohan was by now (even if secretly) one of the richest persons
of Earth, money was irrelevant. Thus more choice. Oh joys!
But
finally Gohan had had enough. Even his patience, a patience he had
worked very hard to gain, had worn thin after endless pilgrimages to
the next shop. And the one after that. And so on. And the loud
rumbling coming from his stomach betrayed that another part of him
had obviously had had enough too and demanded immediate attention.
Videl,
Bulma and Chi-Chi smiled as they heard the loud rumbling noise, while
the other customers wondered just how on Earth a tempest could be
hitting today, when the weather report had predicted perfect weather
conditions.
Thus
Videl suggested, smiling all the while, that he should better go and
take in some food before his stomach would damage the building. That
was an advice Gohan followed all too gladly.
Luckily
the mall was well equipped with stores as well as food-sources, and
Gohan was set on raiding the local McDonalds he had once before, when
they had been shopping with the whole Z-Gang.
"Okay, I'll go
and find some food. I'm sure you will manage, won't you?" he
asked slyly and gave Videl a peck on the lips, smirking after he had
pulled back.
Videl
knew this look all too well. Her Gohan was more than glad to escape
this whole shopping-thing for a short while, and she understood him
perfectly. Had it not been a necessity she would have quit too. Long
ago. But she did not want to show any weakness towards her fellow
'hens', and thus she put up a strong facade.
Sharpie
and Barry looked at their respective girl-friends and said
"We
are with him!" in unison, and before the women had a chance to
reply they were off.
Once
outside...
"I
am glad to have escaped THAT! Those blasted shopping malls manage to
put me over the edge each time!" Gohan stated, while the others
nodded. Shopping trips were pure hell. Too bad that the
opposite sex seemed to like them so much.
"Okay,
Gohan," Barry said, "which direction to the meat?" he asked,
grinning.
Gohan
grinned back,
"Follow me."
Once
they entered the McDonalds Gohan noticed that the personal obviously
recognised him from the last time. And they prepared themselves
obviously for the worst.
Knowing
what was to follow Sharpie and Barry were clever enough to order
before Gohan, thus having the chance to get actually started.
And
really, Gohan's order took up most of the restaurants capacity as
he had ordered everything McDonalds menu had to offer ten times. Ever
since his ascension to higher powers his appetite had grown
accordingly.
The
quite astounded attendance stammered
"Do you wish anything...
else, sirs?" and got a "No, that was everything." in reply.
"Okay."
The attendance said calmly. "It will be brought to your tables as
soon as it is prepared. Do you wish to pay now or later?" she
asked.
Gohan
answered for them with a smirk. It felt good to be able to pay for
all of them,
"We wish to pay now."he said and pulled a golden
credit card out of his pocket.
Barry
and Sharpie looked astonished,
"Whoa, Gohan! Where'd you get
this one from?" he asked.
Gohan
looked at him with a sly smirk,
"That's one of the advantages
being one of the world's richest men."
The
eyes of the attendance widened at hearing this, but she was a pro and
took the card. She returned it to him with a
"Thank you, sir.
Enjoy your meal!" and handed it back.
Gohan
smiled and uttered a
"Thanks."
Then
they sat down at the tables. Barry and Sharpie looked expectantly at
Gohan,
"What did you mean by 'one of the worlds richest men'?"
Gohan's
smirk broadened, and then he briefed them on what had happened
lately. The eyes of Barry and Sharpie grew larger and larger, and
they were once more astounded at how clever Gohan was. Needless to
say that his friends were more than impressed.
"And this is how
I became one of Earth richest men alive." The demi finished.
"Way
cool!" Barry and Sharpie exclaimed in unison, "Can you actually
show us this 'Tardis' of yours?" Barry asked, still the
intellectual he had always been, "That would be intriguing." he
said.
Gohan
nodded,
"Sure. Name a day, and I will show you at my house.
After all, my new home is equipped with a GR of the new generation
too, so I'd be more than proud to show you my invention." he said
with some pride.
Barry
and Sharpie grinned. That was really something else, but one should
always expect the unexpected from Gohan Son.
Then
the first few meals arrived, and the three friends started digging
in. It always did good to beef yourself up after a stressing shopping
session.
It
turned out that Gohan's order pre-occupied the whole restaurant
once more, but as before it showed that it was able to cope with it.
The meals were served one after the other, and Gohan ate them Saiyan
style.
The
eyes of the eye-witnesses nearly jumped out of their orbits, but the
Saiyan curtly ignored those stares. He was more than used to those by
now, and if the people had a problem, well, their problem.
Half
an hour later the last meal was served, and after Gohan had stuffed
that last one in his face he leant back, satisfied and fed up, for
now, while Sharpie and Barry exchanged an amused look. Seeing a
Saiyan eat was always something else...
They
were however as recently as finished with cleaning themselves when
the women entered the restaurant.
"Here you are! We should have
known. Trust men to go for the meat!" Erasa exclaimed, whereupon
the aforementioned men grumbled.
Videl,
however, looked at Gohan and approached him with gleaming
eyes,
"Gohan, I have found so many cute baby-clothes for our
little girl! A cute pink romper, cute socks, and so nice blankets.
And I bought her a cute teddy-bear, and a sleep sack! And I already
bought a baby carriage, the Quinny Freestyler 3XL. You would not
believe how many cute things one can buy for a baby! It is
unbelievable!" she uttered, so totally absorbed in the whole
shopping for the baby that she had obviously forgotten that she
usually hated shopping. After she had taken in some breath she
continued,
"And then I have bought a Bed Set, Carrier, Carry Cart, Cradle, Handy 6-Piece Feeding Kit, 7-Piece Total Feeding Kit with a Cool 'N' Chic 'Mummy Bag, 4-Layer Milk Powder Storage & Carry Bottle,
4-Layer Milk Powder Storage & Carry Bottle, All Fun Bath-Play Kit, Mother Kit and a Warmer Bag. I think that should be suffice for a first. And the best is, it will all be delivered to our new home. Isn't that cool?"
Gohan
smiled,
"That's wonderful, luv. But if you don't slow down a
bit your tongue will catch fire."he joked, whereupon Videl
blushed.
"Will
not!" she said.
"Will
too!" he teased.
"Will
not!" she shot back.
"Will
too!" he countered again. Heh, he had reduced her to bickering.
Man, he was good!
As
funny as it was to see two grown-ups act like five year olds, this
had to come to an end, for neither of them would give in, as stubborn
as they were. Thus, before this friendly debate could be sent into
endless circles, Chi-Chi intervened,
"Enough already, you two."
she said with a gentle smile, "We have still to furnish your house,
so we better get going."
Gohan
nodded. He could see the logic behind this. The sooner they had
bought everything, the sooner they would get out of this trap.
And
for now something interesting (for the males) was pending, namely to
select the furniture for Gohan's and Videl's house. Sure, the
women had a lot to say in those regards too, but that task was a lot
more interesting than selecting baby-clothes and accessories.
Thus
Gohan and the others got down to business, and some hours later they
had finally selected and bought everything they would need for their
house. It was really a pain in the ass to equip a complete house, but
they had managed to pull trough. The new furniture would be delivered
to their house next week, and this was barely enough time to
regenerate from this shopping trip of hell
TBC...
The house is finally completely built and soon Gohan and Videl can
move in. This means: furnishing the house is the next task. So stay
tuned!
As
always very special thanks to my beta Rose Vaughn, who is doing a
great job! Thx, Ash!
GOGI:
Yea, to have a space of their own is certainly something cool. As for
the cravings, wait and see. And I'd say Videl won't get too big,
considering that it is her first.
goldfighter:
Glad that you liked it. And here's more!
Daffodil8728:
Thank you! Hope the story met with your approval. Yea, I agree, Gohan
was never meant to be a weak scholar, that's where Funimation
screwed up totally. Too bad that we can't have our own version of
DBZ and GT...
nick-lover1991:
I'm glad that you like the house, I put a lot of thought into it.
:)
And right you're, both don't really like to shop, but as
you saw, they survived it...
Electra
Black: Thanks, and I'm sure they would if you asked nicely!
:)
Glad that you liked the chapter!
Tootsy:
Me too! And right you are, one can do a lot of things in a swimming
pool... #grins#
Yup, in another life where I own DBZ and GT...
Candy
the Duck: I agree with you on that part that it did not have much
action, but hey, plot development is necessary. Hope you enjoyed this
chapter a tad bit more.
And I agree, we poor guys should not be
dragged along shopping. But alas, that seems to be our fate...
Marshmellow13Dragon:
Wow, cool how your boarding school is equipped! Wish my school had
had something like that too...
Niece wasn't nice? Hmm, hope you
have better weather when you visit next time!
And yeah, the clone
thing in HO was a surprise...
Saiya-jin
Queen: Right you are. But the happily ever after part will
hopefully take a long time. I have more in store for the Z-Gang, and
especially Gohan and Videl. Thus, I will keep on writing!
Rejhan:
Thanks! Glad that you like the house, and I agree, it would not have
been good for Gohan and Videl to live right next door to Chi-Chi and
Goku. This is better for the independence. I did not like that part
in the series either. No wonder I like my version better... :)
Saiyan-of-the-Seas:
Me too! And no problem, planning takes some time...
Joou
Himeko Dah: Yeah, that she is. The only thing I did not like in
GT was that Pan was such a... loud-mouth and spoiled brat. They could
have done much better. And thanks!
Cappucine:
Thank you! Glad that you like the descriptions of the house, I put
quite some thought into it.
And yeah, they did enjoy their
shopping trip, didn't they? #note the sarcasm#
Pikachu90000:
Thanks! I'm glad that you liked it!
Mei
fa-chan: Thank you! And here's the update!
Goku's-baby-sis:
Thanks! I'm glad that you like it, and thank you for the
congrats.
As for Vegeta, I tried to write him as much in char as
possible, and I like to think that I succeeded. And I will by all
means keep it coming, rest assured!
SSJ3MysticGohan:
Glad that you liked it! And yea, sometimes cliffhangers are a must...
Laurenke1:
Thank you! Will do my best to do so!
PanBraSaiyin:
Thanks! As for Oozaro Pan... well, that's quite unlikely
considering the fact that the moon is destroyed. But I have my plans
for the sequel...
And your idea ain't that crazy after all. Glad
that you like it!
Trunkslover22:
Thank you very much! I appreciate the compliments, and I have no fear
that this fry guy will show his face again. And even if he does, that
won't stop me from writing. Plus I think that he won't
show his face again in face of the impending punishment from you and
the others. Btw, the attack sounds cool and is bound to hurt very
much...
Flames aren't bad per se, for if they contain
constructive critics it is okay. But flames like that of the fry guy
are just... urg!
Hope you have a good time on the cross country
team!
Rose
Vaughn: No problem, Ash. We all have more important things on our
minds (like RL!) :)
Yeah, me too...
animeprincess1452:
Thank you! I'd love to have a place like that too. And nope, he did
not go crazy, it only annoyed him greatly...
Princess
of the Saiyans 16: Me too. If I were the doc, I would retire
after Videl has given birth to Pan. Better not risk having to coach
more Son women trough pregnancies...
zfighter1989:
Thanks! And yeah, that's a handy ability I happen to share. I love
house descriptions too, and that helped big time last chapter. Glad
that you liked it!
zara
m: Thank you! Yup, Gohan can be really sweet towards Videl if he
wants...
cosmictwilight:
Generally? What's that? Never heard of that! Lol. Normal is what
one perceives as normal. Thus it is perfectly normal to be up at 5
a.m. That happens to me too.
And yea, Hercule was useful one time
in his life. Yay!
Regarding the shopping trip, as you saw it was a
full-out 'hen-shopping-trip'. No insult to ladies reading this
story intended.
Yup, same time as always!
Till
next Wednesday! Ja ne!