Lynn's Table and a certain area of the restaurant was decorated with balloons and a banner and Lincoln and his 6 friends were gathered together at a table celebrating with a special cake baked by Lynn Sr and the banner read 'HAPPY SWEET 16TH BIRTHDAY ZEE!' The birthday girl herself was sitting with a special tiara on her head. Zatara was there doing some special magic tricks for his daughter's birthday and Zee was now opening gifts.
A special locket from her father, a rock album CD from Kara, a book on magical stories from Karen, a sword from Diana, an environmentally friendly jacket from Jessica and a Batmite plush doll from Barbara (saying that it was a magical imp from another dimension who liked Batman as well).
Lincoln looked nervous as Zee was opening her present from him and she stared a college of photos taken off them together ever since they had first become friends; all circling around a detailed portrait that Lincoln had drawn of Zee. Zee's eyes widened and she pretty much enveloped Lincoln's neck with her arms saying "Thank you Lincoln! I love it! I can't believe that I am so lucky to have you as a friend..." Zee then started kissing his face but ended up accidentally kissing his lips and she quickly let go with their faces red with most of their friends snickering.
"Wow; this is something... Good thing that I got these for you all to share..." Lynn Sr said smiling with his camera phone being asked to take photos of the small birthday party for them. Zee and Lincoln looked embarrassed and Lincoln started lunging at his father.
"Give me those pictures!" Lincoln said all rational tray of thought disappearing as he went to grab at his father's phone and Lynn Jr screamed as he jumped out of the way and Lincoln then ran out of the door even more embarrassed.
"Are you sure that you two are not dating yet Zee?" Zatara asked good naturedly and Zee looked away from her dad.
"We are just friends daddy..." Zee retorted as Zatara went to check on Lynn Sr as Diana then started looking to Zee.
"Wait; you two are not dating? But the time you two spend together and the looks you give eachother..." Diana questioned looking confused as Zee shook her head as Jessica then grinned.
"I don't blame you for being confused Diana as it's pretty easy to get confused. When we started high school and I saw them together; I legit thought that they were together and it took 2 weeks for me to find out that they were just friends." Jessica then explained as Zee then gave an exasperated sigh.
"Okay... I like Lincoln that way okay..." Zee whispered as they stared blankly at her and Kara then gave a smirk.
"No... Really? What a shocking revelation... This is my shocked face..." Kara whispered sarcastically as she then pointed to her face as Zee gave her a look.
"It's nothing to be ashamed about Zee; Lincoln is a nice guy and a good friend. You should tell him how you feel..." Jessica then said good naturedly as Zee then gave a frown and thought about it for a second.
"Would he really feel that way to me..." Zee asked and there was scoffing from Kara.
"Considering that he gives the sickly sweet hints that you do that verges on 'oh my Rao; would you two please just get a room before I just shove you both into a closet'!" Kara then remarked as Zee then gave her a look that was just screaming 'really'.
"Plus you are pretty much the most popular girl in school; I have classmates asking what it's like to be your friend." commented Karen with a smile.
"Plus you are like super stylish and super pretty." Barbara complimented as Zee smirked smugly at Barbara's statement.
"You should just tell him when you feel the confidence to do so." Diana said encouragingly as Zee thought it over.
"You know what; I will when I have the time. Principal Chapin asked me to be a guide to a new foreign exchange student to the school. Royalty from out of the country and I have to make sure that she gets the best impression of our city and school. When I have a break from that then I will tell him..." Zee then said as they smiled happy for her as they saw Lincoln coming over. "Hold on a second... Rao?" Zee then questioned realising something staring at Kara.
"Krypton's Sun and our main god... It's a whole thing that would take too long to explain..." Kara replied as Lincoln joined them again.
"Sorry about that; happy birthday again Zee..." Lincoln told Zee putting on a smile on his face and Zee smiled back at him.
"Thank you Lincoln for being Zee's friend all this time and helping to make her birthdays special." Zatara said smiling at the teens at the table and Lynn Sr stood with him as well as he put on the same smile.
"You raised a wonderful girl yourself Mr Zatara; if only her Mum could see her and got to meet Lincoln. My wife and I are quite proud of him..." Lynn Sr then told him but then Zatara frowned at what Lynn Sr said. "Sorry; did I say something wrong?" Lynn Sr asked as Zatara then sighed.
"Don't worry about it... Zee doesn't like to discuss it and I was surprised to find out when she decided to tell Lincoln the story... Her mother left on her 8th birthday... We found the latter on the end of the day..." Zatara explained with a sad whisper and Lynn Sr could only cover his mouth with his hand as he looked apologetic.
The next day Lincoln was driving to school with Lynn Jr after having dropped the younger siblings off at their schools and he was grateful that his dad didn't hold his panicked reaction against him and agreed not to tell the family about the photos or show them. He refused to think about if the sisters ever saw them...
However he noticed a line of crowds on the pavement and then there was the crowd blocking the entrance to the student parking lot at Metropolis High. "Huh? What gives?" Lincoln asked wide eyed which turned into a glare as he started honking his horn. "Move it jerks; some of us have school to get to..." Lincoln yelled out after rolling down the window of the van.
He managed to force his way through and rolled the van window up and got a parking spot; "Is there a visiting celebrity or politician or something..." Lincoln muttered as he and Lynn got out and Lincoln locked the car. They then noticed a limo where there were people in suits that looked like bodyguards escorting a blonde haired teenage girl in a blue dress into the main area outside the front of the school.
"Is that who everyone wants to look at; maybe we can show her the Metropolis welcome..." Lynn Jr grinned readying a football that she always had ready out of her bag but one of the bodyguards noticed and gave her a death glare as if daring her to try. Lynn Jr backed down and Lincoln rolled his eyes and he joined the others in his friends group as Zee excitedly waved goodbye to her dad at the limo and took his arm.
"You can see the attention that the new exchange student has brought and I get the honour of showing her around school and Metropolis! Flown from a private plane last night and is staying at the fanciest hotel here and... She is an actual queen! Someone my style and I am sure we will be good friends... I will introduce the good friends that I do have now to her..." Zee then said showing them to the girl and Zee then bowed before the girl with the others quickly doing so. "Greetings your majesty; I am Zee Zatara your guide and these are my friends Lincoln, Babs, Jess, Diana, Kara and Karen!" Zee introduced them as the girl smiled at them.
Lincoln couldn't help but feel a tinge of familiarity with the girl that he couldn't place but shrugged it off; "Thank you Zee but please just call me Perdita. I want to experience the normal girl life here in Metropolis as I didnt' get to stay long when I was last here years ago. Feel free to ask me if you have questions of Vlatava and I hope you can help with me questions of America that I may have myself." the girl introduced herself and Lincoln thought that the voice and European accent sounded familiar as well but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"...1 more meatball to go and Lincoln has won the Meatbasketball Championship Cup of Champions!" Barbara was excitedly saying with a spoon to her mouth as if it was a microphone as they were seated at the dinner table as Lincoln had his mouth wide open as he was throwing the meatballs from her spahgetti into his mouth and then it was caught with the girls cheering him on.
"I know the cafeteria workers will not be as good or defined as the chefs that work for you in your palace but I think that you will find..." Zee was telling Perdita with her bodyguards behind her as they had their trees. Zee stopped talking when she saw what the others were doing and then as Perdita giggled, Zee then said "you are really doing the meatbasketball thing? Today when we have the VI of all VIPs with us?"
"You knew that Lincoln was trying for my record... And he broke it..." Kara retorted and sighed as Lincoln then dunked another one down his mouth as Zee sighed as she could tell that Perdita's bodyguards were staring judgementally at them.
"Your friend is funny and cute." Perdita told Zee as she gave a sigh that turned into a smile.
"Yeah... He is..." Zee then admitted in a whisper.
"...That's how I defeated the Beard Hunter; one of the most notorious supervillains ever! It was after seeing me kick butt single handily that Blue Beetle, Question and Nightshade asked me to join their Sentinels of Justice team but I don't do teams... I do team ups as I have worked with a guy so unoriginal he just went by Vigilante and I did love teaming up with Midnighter and Apollo... They are Batman and Superman if they are willing to just put threats down and not let the bad guys live to break out of prison and cause trouble again... Plus I think that they are both a thing together but I didn't pry... But on the topic of me turning down their team; besides I was planning on moving to Metropolis which was in need of my way of peace more than Charlton City ended up at that point..." Chris was telling Lincoln in the staff area of Action Comics later and Lincoln rolled his eyes as he listened to the story.
"It gets better every time you tell it Chris..." Lincoln told him and it was true as each time Chris retold one of his superhero stories; he would always add more details or change things to make him sound more impressive, cool and badass and make the story more exciting. Embellish the story more than it probably already was.
Then the front door opened and Lincoln noticed Zee bringing in Perdita and her bodyguards; "This is where Lincoln works: Action Comics! Not as exciting for us like the mall or the clothing stores or even Sweet Justice but Lincoln could tell you a lot about what they sell here and this is not a bad place to hang out at all..." Zee then said as Chris snickered as he patted Lincoln on the back.
"Heard the news about the Vlatavan Queen being here in Metropolis; takes us back... Doesn't it?" Chris asked Lincoln as he just looked confused. "Come on; don't you remember? I took you to observe me as I took out her assassins and you kept watch over her? After I took you to observe?" Chris asked and Lincoln thought it over and his eyes widened in realisation...
Perdita then surprised him by kissing him on the cheek and then handed him his ski mask. Lincoln was taken aback but was motioned to move but Perdita then threw him Zyte's cane. "A trophy for my victorious hero..." She told him and Lincoln put his mask back on...
"I thought something was familiar..." Lincoln muttered as he spotted Zee motioning him over as Perdita looked at the comics. He then got up and then went over and put on a 'staff to customer' look on his face. "Anything you ladies are interested in?" Lincoln decided to ask as Zee rolled her eyes with a smirk on his face.
"Well I like superheroes myself; there was two who actually saved me when I was last here... The day after my father died; my uncle sent assassins after me... The Peacemaker went after the assassins and I was protected by his student... I am certain that the student is the new Peacemaker that is with the Super Friends now..." Perdita then told them and Zee's eyes widened and glanced at Lincoln who was sneaking away to the staff area with Zee following.
Activating the Quantum Unfolding Storage Area; Lincoln went through and Zee followed. "Yeah... It was me... Chris and I saw the news here and he pretty much dragged me there and gave me the shield, a Peacemaker jumper and a ski mask... I think that the ski mask would inspire me when designing my own outfit but... Her evil uncle could be the first bad guy that the 2nd Peacemaker beat..." Lincoln quickly explained and Zee took this in.
"Well this is a small world..." Zee muttered as they heard footsteps and they eyes widened as there was Perdita following in.
"I got suspicious and my bodyguards ended up being distracted at the newspaper comic collection books; my lead bodyguard is a big fan of Garfield... I thought that I would follow and this explains it... Can I imagine that Zee is Zatanna?" Perdita asked as they were now panicking. "Don't worry; consider this a secret and it's no nice to meet my knight in shining armor again." Perdita then assured them and then looked to the trophy case. "I can recognise my uncle's cane." Perdita then told Lincoln and he smiled proudly as he went in.
"Yeah; most of this are the first Peacemaker's trophies... A story to every 1 but most you embellishes That is the stone that was used to possess a human with the spirit of this demon wizard with god like power called Eclipso..." Lincoln said pointing to a dark purple rock and then pointed to an empty rock holder. "That was where we kept the Dreamstone... Dr Destiny used it as the source of his powers before my mentor took care off him... A year after we last met; the first holder came to get it back... Said that he was freed from a decades old prison and the stone was stolen from him; really ugly and pale and said that he was Dream of the Endless and warned never ending nightmares if we didn't return it to you..." Lincoln then explained as Zee then watched Lincoln explain it with jealousy on her face...
"Hold on... You met Dream of the Endless? Morpheus himself?" Zee asked astonished and Lincoln blinked.
"Sorry Zee; I was so sure that I told this story before or maybe I blocked it from my mind..." Lincoln then replied and Zee was exasperated that he was acting this way to forgetting about bringing up that he had meant the personification of stories and dream and lord of the Dreaming himself.
days later Lincoln was invited to dinner at the Zatara family along with Perdita and Zatara had made spaghetti and meatballs it turned out so Lincoln decided to show his Meatbasketball skills and Perdita looked in amusement. Zee sighed and looked jealous when her phone went off and then walked away to answer it.
"Any luck in confessing to Lincoln?" Jessica asked as Zee frowned as she had forgotten about that and she looked and saw Perdita laughing at Lincoln's antics (which she found funny herself) and how Lincoln it turned out was Perdita's knight in shining armor the ways back.
"I don't think that I can... I see him and Perdita interacting and... I should let this go... Not jeopardise my friendship with Lincoln by thinking of sabotaging anything forming between them... I mean how can I compete with a queen? Maybe I am better off being happy for them and helping them along..." Zee sighed and hung up before Jessica could launch into a rant that she was preparing at the moment about how silly she was being.
Perdita was being driven back to the hotel by her chauffeur and with her bodyguards thinking about enjoying herself with her new friend Zee and their friends; including Lincoln and fate decided to reunite her with her old superhero knight in shining armor. Cute, funny adorable and she had seen the videos showing him to be a skilled and brave superhero. She found him amusing and thought that any girl would be lucky to capture his heart.
She was certain that Zee was the girl to have done so and she heard from other students that the two had been practically attached to the hip at the school for years; Zee was most welcoming to her and popular and was skilled with her magic. She really liked Lincoln but how could she compete with someone who had been his best friend for years and she could tell how much they enjoy each other's company?
Maybe she could help them along...
Yes Perdita re-enters the picture and we get an unusual love triangle with the two rivals deciding to put their feelings aside and help the other get with the guy. Plus the 2nd time that I brought up the Eclipso rock; wonder if that will end up important down the line...