Worldheart (A Justice League fanfic)

3 - Where a dog goes

Jaz's trip downtown was hindered by frequent dizzy spells that were plaguing her. She found she kept having to sit or rest herself against a pole to catch her bearings again. Throughout their trip Hero stayed glued to her side and kept moving as if to catch her every time she stumbled. He was a strange dog, especially the way he listened. Jaz was no stranger to talking to animals, though normally they'd just sort of, perk an ear your way at best and only really react to a change in your tone. Other times they'd simply ignore you unless you started baby-talking them. Hero though, Hero made eye contact. He paid attention. It was strange.

"I'm thinking of going to the library. See if there's any missing dog posters online, but also, gotta charge my phone finally." She explained too him while leaning against a pole. "Also, we gotta see about getting some money. I'm down to one pair of clothes and no cans of food... That pizza will only last us a day or two tops, especially if I have to feed you too." Hero whimpered as if to say sorry, "Hey, do you know any tricks though? We could put on a show, do a little busk in front of the library for some cash maybe." He barked. Downtown Metro City was a beautiful place. The streets were immaculate, and everyone rushed about in suits and business casual attire. Even the ground underneath the trees was free of fallen leaf litter. A large, cathedral-like building mixed with modern architecture was the library Lex Luther had bestowed upon the city. Out front of it stood an odd-looking art piece, a polished giant bean that reflected the skyline and passersby in a warped mirror like finish. The entrance was behind three levels of stairs that spanned the entire front of the building, and large white pillars held up the parapet above. The entrance was two overly large double doors of solid thick glass and metal bars spanning their length, propped open. They looked like they could be really heavy, and Jaz wondered just how hard it was to open and close the library.

Inside, no one seemed to notice that Hero was following Jaz. She couldn't convince him to wait outside and eventually gave up, trying to evade attention as she entered the elevator to floor two where most of the computers were. Each computer sat in its own little cubby space that reminded her of the study spaces she was used to back in university. The small desk had an outlet that she happily plugged her phone into before launching the computer and logging into her own profile. She was a frequent visitor of the previous library until it finally had shuttered its doors last month in preparation for its official move into this building. "You know, Hero. As much as Lex Luther's likely up to something with the donation of this library... It is really nice; I've got to admit. Sucks that people like me have to rely on the charity of people like him, eh?" She shot Hero a smile before loading up the browser and beginning her search.

This world, like hers, had the same sort of social media sites she was used to, and she quickly found community boards for the city and for pet owners. She sorted through hundreds of posts of missing pets, enough that she'd begun coming across posts commenting on the increased volume of missing pet reports over the last week. "Weird. If you look at the time stamps on all these it went from a couple a day at best, but now its in the double digits a day." Jaz looked at Hero. "I mean, you're not alone in being a lost pet, I guess... I hope all those dogs are ok though." Her instincts were telling her it had something to do with dinosaurs... "This world is so weird." She muttered under her breath.

After scouring sites for an hour while Hero watched over her shoulder, she finally sat back and sighed, running her fingers through her greasy hair. "Nothing about you. It's like no one is looking for you... At least, no family is." Jaz glanced back at Hero who simply stared right back. "I wonder if you're chipped..." She pressed the power button on her phone and searched up the nearest vet office while she waited. Her phone began chiming the moment it connected to wifi, thirty missed messages from Clara and Teresse.

'What's up?'

'How are you? You ok?'

'Is your phone off?'