Disclaimer - I do not own, nor will I ever own, Justice League/Justice League Unlimited.
AN: I don't know what day GL was born. His birthday being on April Fools was my idea, as it needed to be on April 1st for my story to work.
GL's Birthday a.k.a. April Fools
Summary: It's April Fool's Day, and Green Lantern's birthday!
Wally West was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. "Come on, come on!" he exclaimed.
His wife, Linda, glared angrily at him. "Calm down!" she ordered. "I won't be much longer. If you stay still and stop distracting me, I might actually finish even sooner!" Saying so, she bent over, focused completely on her task. Five minutes later, she looked up from her work. "There!" she said happily. "A beautiful and wicked masterpiece, isn't it Wally? Uh, Wally?" Looking around, she was surprised to see the red-head was nowhere to be seen. The pretty Asian woman shrugged. "He'll be back in a second," she said to herself,. She turned back and surveyed the object before her with a critical eye.
As predicted, Wally zipped up mere seconds later. "It's ready?" he beamed, his blue eyes gleaming with excitement.
Linda nodded. "Calm down, Wally," she repeated. "You're acting like an excited two-year-old."
"Linda," said Wally patiently. "It's April Fool's Day, it's GL's birthday, and we're on our way to a fantastic party. I have every right to act like an excited two-year-old! C'mon and get dressed, we're going to be late."
The giant room set in the Watchtower was appropriately decorated in green, with the occasional other color thrust in. Superheroes of all sorts were steadily streaming into the room. The place was practically exploding with noise. Green Lantern, who was one half of the reason this party was being thrown, was standing in the middle of the room, laughing uproariously at a prank Green Arrow had just played on Superman, who was now standing soaking wet, looking rather bewildered.
Shayera Stewart was talking to Diana when she spotted Linda entering the crowded room with what looked to be a cake. After excusing herself hurridly, she rushed over. "Oh, you brought a cake too?" she asked tiredly after greeting her friend. She mentally groaned. Nearly six people had brought cakes, and Shayera was berating herself for not organizing the party as well as she could have.
"Yep," the reporter said. She looked apologetically at Shayera. "I'm sure plenty of other people brought cakes too, but Wally insisted on having one. He wanted something special, and we could both only think of this." She jerked her head down in the direction of the box.
Shayera rolled her eyes. "I don't know how you stand living with him," she told Linda playfully. "He's one of those people you just can't help but give into all the time." Linda chuckled lightly, knowing that Shayera was one of the many people who couldn't resist the 'Wally Charm,' as it was so eloquently named. "Here, I'll take the cake. And don't worry, I'll be sure to bring this one out."
As the Thanagarian left for the kitchens, she missed the mischevious grin that flitted onto Linda's face as she gave Wally a thumbs up. The speedster returned it with a grin of his own, before he sought out his best friend to wish him a happy birthday.
Only a half hour later, the heroes were gathered around a large table with John standing at the end. They attempted to sing the happy birthday song, but it sounded more like a weird version of music from a horror movie.
Shayera stepped in from the kitchen with a beautiful cake in her arms. It was frosted elegantly and decorated extravagantly. The overall effect was a delicious looking cake and a lot of heroes that had watering mouths.
"You actually baked that cake, Linda?" asked Dinah Lance. "Baked it, not bought it?" She looked at Linda with an impressed, rather awe-struck look on her face. "I can't even make cookie dough, let alone put it in the oven and make delicious cookies!"
Linda shrugged in a nonchalant manner. "You get used to it, I suppose," she said, with a small smile on her lips." She didn't notice the side-long glance Black Canary threw her as the cake was set before Green Lantern.
"Alright, John, here you go." Shayera set the knife before her husband. Cheers erupted from around the table.
"Thanks! I thought I'd never get this thing in my hands. This cake looks beyond delicious!" John wasted no time in taking the knife and bringing it down viciously on the cake, before proceeding to cut it. Or rather, attempting to cut it. "What the�" John's voice trailed off woefully as he stared at the knife in his hands, and then at the cake. He frowned, and once again brought the knife down, while he tried to slice the cake. Groans were sounding out rather loudly, as well as some amused snickers. Giggles were starting to spread as well, before Wally stepped up, and slung his arm around GL's shoulders. "APRIL FOOLS!" he cried out to the room.
Green Lantern stared at his friend, stupefied, before glancing down at the cake. Recognition dawned on his face as he wiped some of the frosting away. "A cardboard cake?" The look on GL's face was absolutely priceless, as Supergirl would say later. She was the only one with enough common sense to take a picture.
The laughter came suddenly. Not one hero in the room was not laughing in one way or another. John looked sheepish as he set the knife down. "I bought a cake earlier Shayera," he informed the chuckling hero. "Just in case you forgot and no one else brought one."
Shayera nodded her head, and, while regaining some control over her emotions, left the room, and soon returned, this time carrying the real cake, which, though it did not look as yummy as Linda's fake one, still looked extremely good.
"Here you go, again!" Shayera repeated her earlier actions in handing her husband the knife.
GL however, looked very suspicious. "How do I know you didn't replace the cake, and that you're in with Wally on this joke?"
"John!" she snapped in a good-humored tone. John remained defiant however.
"I'm not cutting that," he declared. "I looked like a fool."
"You're a complete baby, John Stewart!" Shayera exclaimed in exasperation, before grasping the knife more firmly in her hand, and bringing the sharp end down to the cake, with a look of amusement.
Her face instantly changed as she started cutting the cake. Looking at John in surprise, she wiped away some frosting, and gasped. It was cardboard.
"April Fools!" sang Green Lantern.
If someone had been outside the room at that exact moment, they would've thought they were having an alien invasion. The entire room, for the second time that day, burst into uncontrollable laughter. Oliver Queen was actually wiping tears from his eyes.
Shayera looked completely furious at having been caught like that. She quickly turned to find GL, but John had already slipped into the crowd, praying Shayera wouldn't see him, and he wouldn't have to face her horrible wrath for a couple more hours. Still chuckling under his breath, he walked up to the Scarlet Speedster and gave him a slap on the back. "Well Hotshot, this proves it!" he said, grinning at his young friend. "Great minds really do think alike!"
Wally nodded cheerfully. "Yep! And it's a good thing too. The joke was even more funny with two cakes, and Shayera cutting the second one! A perfect prank for April Fools! I hope someone had a camera," he said suddenly. "The looks on everyones faces were hilarious."
John smiled slightly. "Well, I should give you double thanks, not only for making the joke more funny, but for helping out with mine. I couldn't figure out how to get someone other then me to cut the cake, especially Shayera, who I really wanted to have cut it. You gave me the perfect opportunity. But," he added in an afterthought, "you did make me look like a complete fool in front of the entire Justice League and their families." He trained an evil eye on the red head.
Wally's face changed the second he caught sight of the look on GL's face. "Uh, John?" he said hesitantly. "I, uh...Say, I believe that's Beatriz coming out with some great-looking cake. Real cake even. Looks yummy, right John? John?" Wally's voice wavered, then, glancing up at his friend and seeing that his face hadn't changed, stopped talking.
"You know I really feel like taking a strooooOOLLLLLL!" Yelling out the last part, Wally took off at full speed, with the enraged Green Lantern trailing after him and screaming all the different ways he could destroy Wally out loud, which made Flash run even faster.
The room was still full of laughter, and chatter, and everyone was now eating a piece of real cake, and pranks were still being put into action, as Shayera walked over to Linda West. "So," sighed Shayera, shaking her head in sympathy. "Wally dragged you into his vicious scheme of mischief. And you succumbed to no surprise."
Linda smiled as she took a bite of the cake that Beatriz had baked. Wally's screams and John's curses could still be heard in the background as she answered the winged warrior's statement. "Actually," she said, cocking her head, "it was my idea."
I know this story seems completely unlikely, but this is actually a family story. It really happened. I regret to say I didn't witness it as I wasn't born yet. My grandpa's birthday was on April Fools and my mother decided to get him a cardboard cake. After realizing the joke (and laughing about it) he said he had a cake as well. It was cardboard! My family had been tricked as well.
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