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: Just as requested, you wanted a SSJ3 Vegeta, you'll get a SSJ3 Vegeta. But not this chapter, not yet...

Oh yea, damn f f . n e t anyway for screwing my whole formatting! If anyone figures it out, let me know.

Chapter 35: Operation Vegeta

Last time...

Finally their new house was equipped, and the Z-Gang voted to test out the new kitchen respective the garden for a spontaneous (but not unexpected) barbeque. Thus Goku teleported with Chi-Chi into the next mall and made some shopping, and half an hour later they returned laden with food and beverage.

Thus the barbecue could start in all earnest, and as usual it was quite playful and entertaining, as always, when the Z-Gang met. The new house was ready, and the baby could come.

Now the continuation...

Glad, that Videl would be spending the afternoon with Chi-Chi, Bulma and Erasa, as it was their weekly day of meeting, Gohan was prepared to take off. Destination: his parents' house. But beforehand he would assure t at he was untraceable, thus making sure to avoid being sensed by a certain individual who should not know he was already off to his parents.

"Necklace, activate mode 1 and 3." he said, and the necklace did just that, hiding his KI completely. Additionally the new mode 3, the stealth mode, turned him virtually invisible. It had been quite hard to use the principles he had used to equip the GR with a cloaking device in something as small as the necklace, but finally, a week ago he had succeeded. Then he transformed into a SSJ3, assuring that he was fast enough, and took off.

Training would not begin for an hour or so, and that would be enough time to talk to his dad about something he had observed. Not regarding Videls pregnancy, however, concerning that everything was just going fine. Well, apart from the strange cravings his wife was showing.

The mood-swings had become a bit more intense, but that was not surprising considering that the pregnancy was progressing. Videl would also complain more often about her aching back and feet, but until now he had been able to give her some relief through massages.

He shuddered however to remember one of the supposedly most embarrassing experiences of his life. Yes, even more embarrassing than his mother calling out 'That's my boy' for all to hear. Pregnancy gymnastics should be simply forbidden!

This supposed course to help the future parents served in Gohans opinion only one purpose: to humiliate and embarrass the participating males. If it had not been for his mate, his honour as a warrior would have demanded immediate tactical retreat in order to prevent lasting damage.

Should he ever be lucky to become a father again, he would go to any length to prevent his participation in something so utterly embarrassing. With a shudder he shook those memories off and continued his flight, increasing his speed.

Five minutes later Gohan landed in front of his parents' home, well knowing due to a KI-scan that his mother had already left to meet Videl at their home. Good, this way he could evade being embraced in one of her bone-crushing hugs she liked to give so much. For such a small woman her strength was truly remarkable.

Gohan opened the door, entered and was instantly greeted by a familiar sight. His father and brother were sitting at the table, devoted to one of their most favourite activities: eating. Obviously his mother had baked a huge cake before departing. Due to the necklace neither Goten nor his dad had noticed him, and as he had been very silent upon entering this was a perfect opportunity to prank them.

Smirking to himself he jumped around the corner and yelled "Boo!"
This effectively caused Goten and his dad to jump three feet into the air, and the fact that they were looking around wildly for the source of the disturbance did nothing to diminish his hilarity. Deciding to let them off the hook he turned the necklace off.

"Necklace, deactivate." he said, turning off the cloak and smirking broadly. "Seen a ghost, you two?" he then asked innocently.

"Gohan! You were that. Don't do that again, it cost me ten years of my life!" Goku said, mock-clutching his chest and barely hiding a smirk. Obviously his dad had found his little prank quite funny.

His brother bolted up from his chair like the excited 8 year old he was.
"That was so cool, big brother! You were completely hidden! How did you do it?" he asked with gleaming eyes.

Goku too looked at his son with interest.
"Yeah, son, that I'd like to know too. To hide your KI with the necklace is one thing, but to turn yourself invisible a completely other."

Gohan grinned.
"Last week I perfected something I had been working on ever since I had perfected the cloak for the GR. Can you guess what?"

Goku and Goten looked at each other and nodded.
"You applied the technology used in the cloak to the necklace!" his father said, "Ingenious, son!"

Gohan smiled at the praise.
"Thanks, dad. It is only a prototype, but it is working just fine. I have decided to name mode 3 ´invisibility booster´. Quite apt, eh?"

"You betcha!" Goten exclaimed. "I volunteer to test it, big bro."

This caused Gohan to look at his brother sternly, and Goten realised that he perhaps had put his foot in his mouth.
"Squirt, you are still on probation for what you did to me last month. In two words: no way!" he said, and Goten looked down disappointed. He had estimated that Gohan would say no. Too bad...

Goku ruffled his youngest son's hair.
"Gohan is right, you know. After that prank you pulled I would not give something like that into your hands either, son." he said with a smile. "Now," he said, looking at Gohan, "want to join us in a cake-eating contest?"

Gohan mirrored his fathers smirk.
"You betcha, dad. Videl's cooking is really good, but she has yet to perfect the citrus cake. Mum's unbeatable." he said and sat down.

The three Sons helped themselves to some cake and started munching away in silence. Five minutes later all of the huge cake had disappeared, and the three Saiyans were sated, at least for the moment. Rubbing his stomach Gohan uttered a contented sigh.

"Mum's cake is really the best. I guess I should really get the recipe from her..."

That caused Goku to laugh.
"I wish you good luck, son. You know how she's guarding her recipes."

Gohan smiled.
"Oooh yeah. But maybe I can convince her to do so for her own son's good. After all, she could do Videl some good with giving out the recipe too. After all, Videl has to eat properly. Yup, I think that is a good approach."

Goku grinned.
"As said, good luck. Son, not that I mind, but why are you here so early? Training's not due to begin for over an hour. So, what is it?"

Gohan scratched the back of his head.
"You got me there, dad. Actually, I do have something on my mind that I wanted to discuss. And it concerns Vegeta."

"Vegeta?" Goku asked, "What about him?"

"I take you noticed that Vegeta is as near to ascending into the third level as one can get." Gohan began, and both Goku and Goten (who was munching some more desert) nodded. "Well, the problem is that he won't be able to ascend through training alone. I guess you see the problem there, don't you, dad?"

Goku thought for a moment, and then nodded.
"Of course. I just remembered something I said to you while we were training in the hyperbolic timechamber: 'the power comes in response to a need, not a desire'. That's also why Vegeta was not able to reach Super Saiyan until he was in mortal danger. Yeah, I see the problem. As there is no actual need for Vegeta to ascend into the third level he won't be able to do so. And that will undoubtedly cause him... displeasure. So, what have you thought of?"

Gohan smirked.
"First of all let me tell you how I ascended into the third level." he began, and both Goku and Goten nodded eagerly. Gohan's ascension was until now his secret, and both father and youngest son were eager to know. "As you well know we all trained under enormous gravity with weights. That's all well and nice, but without the proper state of mind no ascension into the third level. Thus I had to create this state of mind. I found a promising approach within hypnosis, and I read everything I could get into my fingers. To cut a long story short, I became quite apt at hypnotising myself. When I was sure I could pull it off, I flew into the desert. I had long ago perfected the necklace, and was sure that I could hide even the KI of a SSJ3, which I would hopefully become."

His father nodded.
"An ingenious, even if dangerous plan. What if you had not been able to slip out of the self-induced hypnosis?"

Gohan smiled.
"I thought of that too. That's why I trained myself to react to certain noises which would bring me out of my trance. Especially the alarm of my watch. When I began, I had my watch programmed to go off after one hour. I figured that would be enough time to pull it off. And it was. Well, I hypnotized myself into seeing Videl getting killed by the likes of Cell, Majin Buu and the other villains we have met. Seeing this created the strongest urge to get revenge, and thus the need for more power. Needless to say I reached the third level without any problems. To calm down again was the harder part, but I managed."

Goku looked at his son with pride, while Goten was filled with awe.
"I'm proud of you, my son. Not only did you think of not to endanger others, but you chose a very ingenious way to ascend." he said smiling. "And you will be surprised to hear that I reached Level 3 on a similar way. Actually, King Kai is quite apt at hypnosis, and he hypnotized me into believing your mother as well as you were being killed by all those creatures we have fought. It worked like a charm, but King Kai had a lot of trouble to reach me. Actually, I was within a hairsbreadth of roasting him." he concluded, smiling self-ironically.

"What, dad? You nearly roasted King Kai?" Gohan sputtered, laughing. He could clearly imagine the face of the catfish God, panicking while trying to reach an out of control SSJ3. The mental image was hilarious!

When Gohan and Goten had stopped snickering Goten came to a conclusion.
"Wow, big bro, that is awesome! And you plan to do something similar to Vegeta, right?" he asked with enthusiasm.

Gohan made a grimace.
"Not exactly similar, squirt. I highly doubt that Vegeta would ever agree to let me hypnotise him. He's far too proud to ever admit that he would need help to reach SSJ3. No, I thought about something that is more... subtle." he said with a smirk.

That ensured the unwavering attention of his relatives.
"And what did you have in mind, Gohan?" his father asked.

The demi-Saiyan smirked.
"Bulma and I have been experimenting with holographic technology, and the results we have produced are quite remarkable. Some weeks ago I had some new ideas how to improve it, and to my delight, they work. If what I gathered through my test models is correct, I can create a holographic reality that is not indistinguishable from the normal reality. I plan to install all this in my GR, and when it's done we will hold a trainings session at my house. Before Vegeta and you arrive I will prepare everything, and the operation 'SSJ3 Vegeta' is a go. To create the simulation that will be needed is easy, as I can count on Bulmas' help. It should all be ready within one, maximum two weeks."

Goku nodded.
"I see you have thought of everything, my son. Well done, we'll make it so. I take it your plan involves a simulation in which Vegeta's family apparently is in grave danger, right?"

Gohan nodded too.
"As all of that will be a holographic reality Vegeta will never notice that he did not even leave the GR. If everything goes according to plan, that is."

"I see." Goku said, "Have you already decided who or what this 'danger' should be?"

"Yeah, I have. I thought about having Capsule Corp., naturally the one of the holographic reality, being attacked by an even stronger Cell, maybe even in team with Frieza. We have more than enough knowledge about Cell, and it will be easy to simulate his KI so that even Vegeta won't notice the difference. The only thing is to keep it quiet from Vegeta. And we have to inform Trunks without making Vegeta suspicious. I will work on the project in the nights while Videl is asleep. At days she deserves a caring and attentive me. But be assured, we'll be ready within at least two weeks." Gohan stated.

Goku and Goten nodded impressed. Gohan's plan was another stroke of genius. Privately, Goku only hoped that Vegeta would not hate Gohan for doing something that could be interpreted as an act of 'betrayal'...

TBC...

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Next time: 'Operation Vegeta' is a go, as a certain Saiyan Prince is convinced that his mate is in mortal peril! What will and can he do? And will Gohan's plan succeed? Stay tuned!

As always very special thanks to my beta Rose Vaughn, who is doing a great job! Thx, Ash!

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cosmictwilight: Well, sometimes rules are just boring. But I'd like to see you in action as a driver. Gauging from your description that must be quiet a sight. Heh, just teasing. :)
Videl is now in her seventh month, but I suppose you did not see that one coming that I've planned for Vegeta, eh? Gotcha! :)
And have phun at your graduation!

Fwee: Thank you! Yeah, the house sounds really cool. Wish I had something like that too...

Rejhan: Yup, me too. As you see, I have planned more for Vegeta. Let's see if he'll like it or if he's gonna roast me...
Will try to do so! Thanks!

Princess of the Saiyans: Now, I can't torture them always, can I? :)
Glad that you liked it, and will try to do so!

Saiyan-of-the-Seas: Thank you! Glad that you liked it! And yeah, those two make a happy couple, don't they?
Hope your wrist is better now! And glad to hear that the sequel is nearly due!

Tsume-Hiei luver: Yeah, I noticed. New mail, new acc. Or did you just rename yourself? Anyways, glad that you liked it. Yeah, Vegeta helping out is quite a surprise, but he's changed...

goldfighter: Thanks! Glad that you liked it, and no prob with not reviewing earlier. As said countless times before, there are things that are more important than reviewing this story...

Saiya-jin Queen: Hmm, due to the fact that Saiyans are always hungry I'd say a lot! Yeah, I too would love to attend one of those BBQ's. Now that would be a dream come true. And right you're training with them would be even better...
See, didn't let you down!

Electra Black: Thank you! Glad that you loved it, and yeah, Vegeta has a sense of humour.
Good to hear that. At least you're safe then...

Joou Himeko Dah: Yeah, that they are. And thanks!

zfighter1989: Right you are. I had to furnish my home with my wife some months ago, cause we moved to a new home. That's where some of the inspiration comes from. Yeah, I'm very glad that she does not like to shop either. We only do that if we must. Otherwise shopping for cool stuff, and that's definitely in order! :)

zara m: Heh, thanks! As you noticed (or not), I'm back at GU. Yay!
Glad that you liked the switch of focus. It's sometimes really nice to write Vegeta. Yeah, what with the naming stuff, no prob, we all forget some things some times. Bet that was DGs influence that made you forget it. :)

Laurenke1: Thanks! Will try my best to do so.

SSJ3MysticGohan: Hmm, losing interest? Hope the next two chapters will make up for this. But plot development is necessary...

Rose Vaughn: Yup, right you are. That house is cool. Me want too!
Heh, yeah, I suppose Videl would beat you senseless if you tried anything... if you're lucky, that is...

felinoel: Heh, glad to see that you had enough time to read it! Thanks!

Cappucine: Thank you! I'm glad that you liked it. Yeah, plot development is necessary, and I like to think that I managed it well. Yeah, Videl has energy drops too. Actually, a good friend of my wife was pregnant not long ago, and she suffered from those. And when I read it in your story too I figured it must be a common thing. So poor Videl is blessed with those too. Rotten luck, eh? But I'm sure Gohan will take care of her.

animeprincess1452: Thanks! Glad that you liked it, and I will do my best to keep it up!

Pikachu90000: Thank you!

Candy the Duck: Heh, glad that you liked that line. Thought it would figure...

nick-lover1991: Thanks! And no, my story is not going to be taken off, I only meant that I might have to take the last chapter of if ff net had changed the formatting. And they had. But there's nothing I can do about that. And thanks for thinking I'm smart. Nice compliment! :)

Mei fa-chan: Thank you! And here's the next!

korrd: Thanks! Gohan is not always aggressive, he only acts more Saiyan now and protects his interest. That does however not mean that he runs around killing ppl. He only does not act nerdish any more. And here's the update.

Son Oliver: Thank you! And as you saw, your request has been granted. 'Operation Vegeta' is underway, and soon you will see its accomplishments. As for the other pointers, well, you shall see in the sequel. But one things is for sure: the Pan that I write won't be a spoiled brat like the GT Pan, so much is for sure...
Will do my best to keep it up!

Marshmellow13Dragon: Nope, no lawyers around. :)
Mmmh yeah, me too. Makes my mouth water. Yum! And thanks! Glad that you liked it!
As for the review, you're most welcome. And yeah, I did know that, and your test worked!

Till next Wednesday. Ja ne!