Worldheart (A Justice League fanfic)

1 - A new day

Jaz yawned and wiped the sleep from her eyes. Her face was moist from the morning dew that always settled over everything, dampening her sleeping back and settling a chill deep in her bones. Her breath puffed little clouds in front of her sleepy face. Fall was sinking its claws into this new world around her. Soon the simple set up of a sleeping bag and gas stove under an overpass bridge wouldn't be enough to keep her sustained. She'd need actual shelter... Maybe a tent?

While lost to her thoughts she hadn't noted the border collie approach. She jumped and yelped, startling it as well. As she caught her breath she called out. "Hey boy. You lost too?" The dog took a couple steps forward again, cocking its head in question. "You seem friendly enough though." She glanced around, straining her ears to listen for the yelling of an owner calling back their dog. The morning was silent.

Turning back to the puppy she reached out her hand offering it to the dog. "Here boy." She cooed at it until she felt its wet nose graze the back of her fingers. Gently and slowly, she patted the dog watching as its tail raised from between its legs to a wag in a few moments. "There there... Where's your owner boy? Did you get separated?" She unzipped herself out of her sleeping bag to better reach the dogs neck. "No collar, eh? But you look so well fed. Ain't no way you're not someone's pet." She ruffled his fur, "You've got too much meat on you!" She laughed, especially with the dirty look it seemed to give her. "Don't worry though. We'll find your parents, yeah. Lemme pack up my things and we'll take you to the pound or something. Must be someone looking for you out there."

Her things were few and easily packed in minutes. She rolled up her sleeping bag tight as she could, stuffing it to the bottom of her backpack. On top of it she put her only set of spare clothes she owned, all slightly damp after hanging to dry all night. The last thing she packed was the small camping stove and the half full butane tank it used. Glancing back at where she'd set up camp, the only evidence that she'd ever been there was a cleaner spot in the dust where she'd laid out her sleeping bag and cooked her food last night. She'd even packed up the empty can and plastic cutlery in a plastic bag.

She had no collar, nor any leash to control the dog but it followed her when she called it. "What's your name anyways?" She picked her way through the brush until she'd emerged back onto the sidewalk. No one stopped to question why she'd just emerged from seemingly nowhere under a bridge. When you looked like you might be homeless, you gained your own superpower. Invisibility. People gave her and her dog a good berth. The dog just cocked its head up at her again. "Right. No collar, no name, eh? Hmm." She thought for a moment letting her feet carry her along the unfamiliar streets. "Then why not... Nah that is way to generic... You know, naming a dog is really hard. You don't want to pick something too common 'cus then its like, everyone knows you're just lazy, but also you can pick something way to extra, ya know?" The dog sneezed, as if agreeing. "Yeah..."

Jaz was brought out of her thoughts as she approached a news stand. In her world, stands selling newspapers were relics that you wouldn't find anymore, except in mention in the movies maybe. Here though, the pop-up cart was manned by an overweight man in a ball cap smoking and watching the news on his tiny TV he had set up in the corner of the stand. She flipped two dollars through the air, marveling at how he caught it without breaking his attention from the TV. She grabbed a paper and paused for a moment to catch up on what was going on in this world.

"Super man missed the opening ceremony of the new library donated to metro city... The spokesperson for the justice league says there is no concern that Super man is missing but offered no explanation for his absence at the ceremony..." The TV news caster was really trying to sensationalize the fact that he'd ghosted the opening ceremony; it was this month's big narrative. Superman... Missing! Jaz shook her head.

"You really think he's actually missing, or you think he just snubbed the library funded by Lex Luther?" She always tried to make friendly conversation with anyone she could meet. The dog's ears perked at her mention of Lex Luther. They always fell into one of three camps though. The super fans, the super ignorers...