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Jaz yawned and wiped the sleep from her eyes. Her face was moist from the morning dew settling over everything. She could see her breath puffing up in little clouds. Fall was already sinking its claws into Metropolis, pretty soon her simple set up of a sleeping bag underneath a bridge or ledge wouldn’t be enough. Her gas stove worked great to cook cans of beans, but it guzzled through fuel and didn’t give off enough heat to matter. The summer had been great, she’d travelled from city-to-city busking and using the money to fuel her travels but now she’d soon need actual shelter… Maybe a tent?While Jaz worried over the future, she hadn’t noticed the border collie approaching her until it was in the middle of her little camp. She yelped, startling it as well. Realizing it was just a dog, she called to it before it left, “Hey boy. You lost?” The dog stopped, cocking its head in question. “You seem friendly enough.” She glanced back at the trail she’d used to get down under the bridge straining to hear any signs of its owner calling for it. The morning was silent.Turning back to the pup she reached out her hand offering it to the dog. “Here boy.” She cooed. It hesitated, gingerly approaching her, grazing its wet nose against the back of her hand. Gently, she patted the dog. It’s tail raised from between its legs and began to wag, “There there…” She smiled, “Where’s your owner boy? Did you get separated?” It barked its response. “Right, guess its kind of pointless to ask.” Jaz searched around its fluffy neck fur trying to find any tags on it, “No collar, Eh? You don’t look like a stray though, too well fed.” She ruffled his fur, “You’ve got too much meat on you!” She laughed seeing the dirty look the dog gave 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 camp packed down in less than ten 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 her sleeping bag was. She’d even packed up the empty can and plastic cutlery she’d used.The dog had no collar or any leash to control it, but it came to her when she called it and it sat right away when she commanded it. She took a deep breath; This didn’t seem to be so hard. “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. 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… Not like I need to name you anyways. We won’t be together long.”Jaz was brought out of her thoughts as she approached a news stand. In her world, stands selling newspapers were relics of the past that you wouldn’t find anymore, except maybe in the movies. Here though, the pop-up cart was manned by an overweight man in a ball cap smoking and watching the news on the tiny TV he had set up in the corner. She flipped two dollars through the air, marvelling 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.‘Superman missed the opening ceremony of the new library donated to metro city… The spokesperson for the justice league says there is no concern that Superman 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 do you think he just snubbed the library because it’s 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 and it seemed oddly engrossed in the TV. Talking about supers was always a hit or miss for conversation though. They always fell into one of three camps. The super fans, the super ignorants…“In my opinion, I don’t care what Superman does.” And the super haters. “Or any of them for that matter.” He shook his head, flicking his attention from the tv screen to Jaz for the first time. “What’s your story anyways. The dogs new.”“Meh, just passing through. You know where the pound is around here? Think he’s lost.”He nodded his head. “Yeah, let me just write you down the instructions.” Jaz nodded and waited. Stands like this didn’t have free Wi-Fi, and her blessed phone had died last night anyways.“Say, you got a charge I could snag for a bit?” He shook his head without looking up. “Ah. Fair.” He tossed her the note.“Keep your head low, you got it? Don’t know why I’m telling you this, but you look like you gotta hear it. Keep your nose clean. You don’t want to get caught up with the likes of Superman.” She nodded and turned to leave… But on a whim, she found the question slipping out of her mouth.“Why?” The man levelled a hard stare back at her again. “I mean… Why do you hate them? The supers I mean.” She almost regretted asking, seeing the sheer rage build in his eyes.“Because they’re loved. They’re heroes,” He practically spat the word, “For destroying our cities, tearing up our homes. You know what the media doesn’t report on? While they’re all focused on, ‘oh Superman isn’t at the library today,’ they ignore how many dead were pulled from the buildings destroyed next to Gotham's docks last weekend. No one should have that much power, child. No one.” Jaz just nodded and walked away.When Jaz had first come to this world, she’d been ecstatic to see the universe she’d only read about in comics or seen glimpses of in cartoons. She’d always imagined that if she did travel another universe they supported, that she’d be counted among the super powerful; instead, she was weaker than a regular human here. Since her coming here was an accident she’d never taken the drugs or gone through the procedures they took to prepare her for the trip. That meant her body still worked on the rules and laws of the physics from her world, not this one. Any normal human on the street could technically be slammed into a wall and, while bloody and bruised, they’d still be living. Their bones were denser and their muscles stronger. You slam a regular person into a cement wall hard enough to crack it or be smashed through it and that person is dead. Broken back, internal haemorrhaging, no pulse; dead. She could almost relate to the wariness that man held for the supers.“I think this is the place bud…” She glanced down at the border collie. It looked almost sad and took a step back when she opened the door. “Oh come on. Don’t worry, these people will help you find your way home.” The dog made a motion that eerily resembled someone shaking its head no. “Come on. You’ve been so good this far, just come in.” Hesitantly, the dog stepped through the door. She let it close behind them, walking towards the unmanned desk. “See? No biggie.” She rang the bell, but no one came. She listened for the sound of anyone calling for them to wait a moment, but it was eerily silent.“Huh.” Jaz dinged the bell again, straining her ears. A loud crash made her jump. The collie dashed behind the counter, slamming into the door. The wood frame cracked loudly, splintering as the door slammed to the ground. The collie disappeared down the hall chasing after the noise. “Wow… Even dogs can just break through doors like that here.” She quickly followed after it, hoping whoever was the cause of that noise wasn’t hurt.Beyond the door she passed through a vet office, through another door and down some stairs to the second floor. Her pace quickened down the stairs when she heard another crash followed by some voices below. Whatever it was, it sounded violent. She made to call out when her mouth instinctively clamped shut. There was some angry shouting, though she couldn’t make out what they were saying over the sound of dozens of barking dogs. Down the hall from the stairs, Jaz spotted the border collie, oddly hunkering against the wall as if it was knowingly hiding from the commotion. It almost looked like it was eavesdropping. Jaz dashed towards it, slowing down as it noticed her approach. The dog almost… Motioned for her to join it, hiding against the wall? We’re dogs more intelligent in this world too? She shook her head, dispelling the thought as she pressed her back against the wall and listened in.“Are these all the dogs.” A metallic voice growled.“Yes!” The shrill voice of a terrified woman answered, “Don’t hurt me, please.”“These are ALL the dogs?” The… Villain? Sounded frustrated.“Yes! I swear, these are all the dogs we rounded up last night!” For a moment there was no answer.“Sir, none of these matches the description.” A different voice spoke.“Damn! You stay behind, deal with this loose end. He can’t get far in his condition… And shut them up!” They were both yelling over the dogs barking. Even the dogs in other rooms were barking, sensing violence coming from these men. The hairs on the back of Jaz’s neck stood on edge and her heart was racing as she racked her brain over what to do. She just wanted to take the dog to the pound, do a good deed. Why was there some sort of robbery at the pound?“I can’t! They’re just dogs, they’re just freaked out right now. Don’t hurt them! NOOOO.” Gunshots rang out, causing Jaz to grip her hands to her ears. The border collie sprang into action, leaping into the room. Jaz nearly fell trying to stop it. She peaked around the corner in time to see it leap through the air and attack the weird looking metal dinosaur man. The dog bit into his shoulder latching on while the Dino twisted and thrashed trying to reach him and pull him off. It was covered in metal armor and plating, but its joints where the dog had bit were unprotected. The Dino man slammed the dog into one of the many cages lining the room, but still he didn’t let go. On the floor was pound worker, her uniform was splattered in blood. She was bravely crawling towards one of the dogs that was slumped on the floor in a growing pool of blood.Jaz glanced around the room looking for anything she could use. The metal dino was a formidable opponent with a massive prehensile tail behind it. The way it could bend and twist the metal cages around it from simply slamming or punching into one told Jaz she’d die if she tried to take it head on. A comically large red wrench was laying against one of the cages near the door, she took her chance and dashed towards it, gripping it hard as she reared up and swung it against the Dino man's head. It made a loud clang and the metal handle vibrate fiercely causing Jaz to fumble the makeshift weapon.
It clattered too the floor as the Dino man, having caught purchase of one of the dog’s hind legs, ripped it from his shoulder throwing it into Jaz’s chest. She was sent flying across the room slamming into the wall with the border collie in her arms. Her head cracked hard against the cement.Dimly she could feel the dog leap off her chest springing right back against the metal Dino, but this time he was ready. It had picked up the wrench Jaz had used and he began swinging wildly each time the dog tried to attack. The dog dodged out of the way of its strikes, but only barely, and it kept rushing within range to try and bite again. Through blurred vision Jaz watched the scene. The woman was screaming, scrambling all the way down to the other end of the hall with the dogs pressed behind her. Some bravely barking, but most whimpering in corners of the room. A metal pipe above the Dino’s head broke after one of its swings caught it. The Dino was covered in water but its circuits were undamaged and it continued to fight the dog in a growing pool of water.More things were broken or knocked loose. A cage crumpled under the force of him slamming the poor dog into it. Jaz was sure it would be dead after that, but it limply got back up, standing fiercely between the woman at the end of the hall and the Dino. The metallic voice taunted the dog, odd. Why taunt it, its not like it could understand you… But Jaz was too far gone to make out what was being said. Something about finally finding you… If this was the poor dog’s owner, she could understand why it was so hesitant to come here…Jaz was shifting in and out of consciousness. Something red caught her eye. Two dangling wires snapped n the middle by the force of the Dino’s swing were touching the growing pool of water. Jaz’s eyes followed them to the large breaker in the wall above her head with a large red switch on it. She wondered what would happen if she flipped it, weakly raising her hand above her head. She managed to fumble the circuit closed. The lights in the room all went out as the sound of electricity and sparks arced through the pool of water electrocuting the Dino man. The only light in the room was cast by the sight of electricity burning its way through its metal body. When the Dino made no more noises, she flipped the switch back open shutting off the electricity. The room went black as Jaz’s hand hit her lap.
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The first thing that Jaz became aware of was her hands. They tingled. She tried to ball them into fists, but they barely responded too her… Then, vaguely, she became aware of pain. It seeped in every joint and pore on her body, emanating from the back of her head. When she dared to open her eyes the light bore into her skull. She groaned. The sound of a whimper, the feel of a furry snout nuzzling her hands. The heavy weight of a paw as something crawled into her bed. Bed? She closed her fingers around scratchy sheets. The sound of beeping. Hospital beeping. It was like a hammer, steadily drilling into her skull. Beep. Beep. Beep.She groaned again. Whimper. She grunted back in response. “Dog?” Her voice was hoarse. Something wet and warm licked her cheek. It was the dog. “Can…” She grimaced, the sound of her own voice was a new torture in her slowly expanding world of consciousness. “The beeping… Stop.” She grit her teeth, focusing on her breathing. Beep. Beep.The weight of the dog resting against her side lifted. Her arm twitched, but that was all it was willing to do for her. She couldn’t even lift it to feel for where the dog had gone… She was slowly slipping into sleep again when the bed shifted and a comforting weight returned to her side. The spike of pain that had been building up was finally relaxing now that the strike of the hammer wasn’t pounding in her skull. She drifted back unconscious.Jaz sat up in an unfamiliar hospital room. She was dressed only in a hospital gown and her forehead was wrapped in gauze, with a thick patch making a matt of her hair in the back of her head. A bowl of untouched dog food and water sat by the door, and the border collie was laying on top of her legs, watching her. “I passed out?” It seemed to nod. She rubbed her face, “Don’t recon you can tell me how long I was out for eh?” Blessedly, the dog didn’t respond. She felt relieved. She was beginning to think she was crazy, talking to a dog that seemed to almost understand her.Jaz’s face grew serious when the door opened and a doctor entered her room, followed by two… Detectives? They wore leather jackets and blue jeans. Classic detective uniforms in this world she assumed. The doctor was a short stout woman, with frizzy red hair and comically large framed glasses. “Ahh. I’m glad to see you’re finally awake. I’m doctor Vesser,” The doctor motioned to the two men beside him, “And this is detective Coleson and Detective Gabes.” Detective Coleson was a tall thin man, his leather jacket looked newer and still stiff. He had light brown hair that was just beginning to show signs of thinning at the top and he stood maybe six feet tall. Beside him, Detective Gabes was a larger build black man with thick curly hair, perfectly trimmed short. His leather jacket looked soft and older, but very well maintained and he wore a kind smile.“Hello.” Jaz replied to the three. She still felt sluggish, her brain was barely keeping up with what was going on around her.“I’m glad to see you’re finally awake. You’ve caused quite a stir here with what happened a couple days ago.” Detective Coleson was the first to speak.“I’ve been out for days?” Jaz asked somewhat astounded.“Yes, I was hoping you could enlighten us with your name.” Detective Coleson spoke in a polite manner, though his kindness seemed skin deep.“It’s Jaz. Jaz Heller.” It was easy enough to give, though she dreaded a moment like this happening. If they looked into her name, they’d find no record of her ever existing in this world, because she shouldn’t.“Jaz…” Detective Gabes spoke, but after a moment it became apparent he wasn’t going to finish his thought.“Right, Jaz, do you remember what happened that lead you to wind up in this place?” Detective Coleson asked.Jaz blinked for a moment at him while she tried to summon the memory of the night before… “Perhaps its best if we let our patient rest and eat. She’s only just woken up.” The doctor smiled kindly at Jaz. “You two wanted her name, and you have it.”“We need to get a statement,” Detective Coleson stammered, but the short female doctor insisted.A thought dawned on Jaz though, finally. If she didn’t clear up any misunderstandings or suspicion or whatever they had towards her, they were more likely to research her name. “No, wait.” She winced. She’d instinctively reached out as if to stop them and the movement caused her pain. “Some food. Pizza… Bring me some coffee and pizza and we can have a discussion over what happened.” The two detectives exchanged glances before agreeing.Half an hour later, Jaz was dressed in her spare clothes. She was still stinging from finding out they’d cut off her clothes, leaving her with just this set left. In front of her sat three pizza boxes. Apparently the detectives, having realizing they hadn’t asked her what she’d preferred had bought a pepperoni pizza, cheese one and a vegetarian one. No dip though, tragically. She grabbed a slice from each pizza box before noticing the collie, eying the food too. She tossed him a slice of pepperoni. Aside from exchanging another look, the detectives didn’t say anything. “I’ve never known hospitals to let animals in.” She tried to start the conversation. She hated being the only person to eat. “Help yourself by the way.”“Yes well, apparently the dog you have there was adamant it stay by your side. Kept breaking in and showing up in the room enough times that the nurses gave up. Poor thing wouldn’t even eat…” It was eating now. The whole slice it snapped down in two bites, and a second one after it. Detective Coleson made no move to grab a pizza slice, but Detective Gabes did, and even handed his colleague on too.“What’s your dogs name?” Detective Gabes interjected.“Hero… I guess.” Seeing them eat with her, Jaz relaxed a bit.“You guess? Is this your dog?” Detective Coleson was quick on the draw.“Nah. I was actually at the pound that day because I’d found him in a park. I’d brought him there cus I figured he was lost, they’d find him his family no? But…”“Go on.”“Well. No one was at the front desk.” She shrugged, “We heard a crash-““We? Who’s we?” Detective Coleson asked a lot of questions.“Me and the dog.” He nodded. “Anyways, we heard a crash and… Hero,” Jaz said, glancing at the dog, “Slammed through the door behind the desk.”“Are you saying the dog did that to the door?”“Huh?”“The door, it was knocked completely off its hinges.” Detective Coleson sounded incredulous.“Oh. Yeah. That was the dog, yeah. Anyways, I followed him downstairs where we found that mecha Dino guy. He, uhh. He had asked the pound… worker? The person to bring him all the dogs, I think she said it was all the ones they’d impounded from the night before. Sounded like they were looking for a specific dog, but they didn’t find it there.”“The suspect and the pound worker?”“No, there was someone else there with the pound worker. Or at least, I thought I heard someone else there with them. I didn’t see them when we entered the room, though they said something about continuing the search so they might’ve left. When we heard gunshots, Hero rushed into the room and attacked the Mecha guy.”“So Hero was the one that fought the suspect?”“Yeah. Hero attacked the Dino dude. In the fight I got slammed against the wall and hit the breaker which I think shocked the Dino…” Her memory was hazy from there. She’d heard the Dino man taunting, but she couldn’t recall anything he’d said anymore. “That’s all I remember.” For a moment the two men nodded.“That’s an interesting story you’ve told us Jaz.” Detective Coleson hedged.“Yeah, I’d say so myself.” Jaz could tell they weren’t convinced. Of what, she was waiting for them to reveal. She needed to ease their suspicion of her so they wouldn’t go digging into her name.“Did you know we had visited the kennel of that pound?” Detective Coleson started.“Well, I’d assume so since you’re investigating this case, yeah.” She shrugged and smiled between mouthfuls of pizza. She was trying not to wolf it down as enthusiastically as Hero did, but it really was the first pizza she’d had in this world since coming here. The cheese was still fresh, and she could tell it was a pan baked pizza by how crispy the crust was. The detective fished out some photos from between the pages in his notebook. He really took the time to print those out.“Somethings not quite adding up from your story and the condition that the scene was left in.” The photos were of the kennels and hallway. Another of the ceiling and the sheer damage to the pipes and wires up there. Cages were buckled in on themselves, metal bent and twisted. Groves in the cement of the ceiling where the wrench had scraped along it during the fight. He placed the last photo, pushing it in front of Jaz. It was a close up of the condition the Dino was left in. The metal was blackened, and the odd green uniform the Dino was wearing was charred. The Dino had been covered in pieces of metal armour that was now bent and torn through in places. “Does this look like the kind of damage a dog would do?”Jaz nodded her head while inspecting the photos. “So is the Dino dead or something?”“Not dead, no. You can’t kill something that was never alive to begin with.” Detective Gabes finally threw his two cents into the conversation. “The Justice League has taken his body into custody though, before we could really learn anything about the attacks last night.”“That is why we were hoping you could help us piece together what is going on.” Detective Coleson added.“I see.” Jaz felt uncomfortable under both of their stares. They seemed to be waiting for something, but she’d already said all she had to say. “Well. As much as I’d like to help you there, I’ve already told you all that I know. The Dino guy wanted to find a dog, what dog? I don’t know, but he’d lost some dog.”“You mean like the dog you’ve so happened to find right there?” Detective Gabes nodded to Hero.“Perhaps,” Jaz shrugged. “It’s no.” She answered the question he was about to ask. “I’m not interested in giving up the dog to live in some police kennel while you guys try and figure out what was going on with that whole situation. What I am willing to do though, is give you guys my email in case you need to contact me. I’ll be with the dog. I’ll even update you with the real family of the dog when I find them.”“Why don’t you include your phone number, with that email and we’ll call it even?” Detective Gabes smiled, pushing a notepad towards her. He’d cut off Detective Coleson who looked like he was about to object.“No can do. Not that I wouldn’t if I could, just that I don’t actually have a cellphone number. Just a phone… Speaking of which.”“Your things are held in storage. They’ll give it back to you at the front desk. At the very least, we need you to write your home address for our records of course.” Jaz nodded, writing down the address of the PO Box she’d opened in her own name. One of the things she’d learned when googling homelessness tips was that some companies PO Boxes mimicked addresses. That way if you were trying to find a job, or giving your address to the police, they wouldn’t question it.“Is that all then?”“For now. Thank you for your time Jaz. You and your dog-““Hero.”Detective Gabes smiled again, “You and Hero have a good night.” She watched their forms disappear through the door before tossing a third slice to her dog.On the bright side, this world seemed to have free health care. Or at the very least, she was able to exit the hospital without anyone harassing her for payment. Like they had said, her things were waiting for her inside her backpack at the front desk, though now with only one set of clothes left, her pack was feeling uncomfortably light. She glanced at the dog who was watching her. “Something tells me it was actually you they were looking for.” Hero tilted his head in question, “I swear I heard that Dino say he found you when you’d gone to attack him… Question is, what’s so special about you?” Jaz asked him, kneeling down to pet her fuzzy friend. The dog answered back with a little bark, “I’ll figure out your secrets… And find your family, aight?” She smiled and headed off towards downtown metro city.Meanwhile, Detective Gabes and Detective Coleson were sharing a smoke in the front seat of their cruiser, watching the forms of Jaz and her dog exit the hospital and pick their way through the parking lot.“What are you thinking, Dan?” Detective Coleson took a long drag of his cigarette.“I’m thinking you should really quit that habit of yours, John.” Dan Gabes leaned back in his passenger seat, never taking his eyes off the girl.“It’s not like you to so easily let one go like that. Especially that one. Her story doesn’t add up, and of the five pounds hit last night across the city she’s the closest we’ve got to getting any answers.” John Coleson took another frustrated drag of his cigarette which was doing nothing to quell the tiny spark of anxiety the events of last night had left him with.“No. It doesn’t. You think she’s a Sup?” Dan’s question caught John off guard. The thought hadn’t occurred to him, but now that it was planted in his mind, it seemed to fit the situation well.“You know what, she just might be. All things were pointing to a drawn out fight in there, and there’s no way that small dog could’ve walked away from that unscathed… But she didn’t. Her entire backside was covered in bruises, contusions to the head…”“If she is, then she’s not with the league. They would’ve insisted on moving her to their private hospital up top if she was. Then theres the matter of her homelessness.” John watched Detective Dan speak his mind with the respect he’d place in few other people. Dan was one of the best detectives in the force, why he hadn’t gone federal yet still eluded him.“You think she gave us a fake address? Why didn’t you say anything?”“The address was real, it was a PO Box though. Common trick the homeless will do, open a PO box with Federal Xpress. Looks like a real enough address on paper, but it ain’t. Then theres the fact that she has a phone but no number, kids her age don’t just walk around without a cellphone. Not unless-““Unless they’ve been kicked out.”“Or run away.” Dan turned to John, “Why don’t you swing us by their office. I have some questions about our new friend.”John smiled, “Let’s go.”
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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 theres 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?’‘Yo, space to Jaz, message me when you get this, im worried about you’‘Jaz its been like a whole day. You promised that you’d keep in touch every day. If you don’t reply back soon im going to tell them that you’re on the planet and have someone look for you.’‘I’m worried’It went on for a bit like that. She quickly thumbed back a reply.‘Yo. I’m good guys. Phone died and I didn’t get to a charge for it for a bit. My bad.’ Behind her Hero made a noise.“I’m not gonna tell them I was just in the hospital. Look, they already threatened to tell on me, you think they’d just let me have my fun if they knew I’m hurt?” The noise Hero made sounded chiding. “Good thing you don’t have thumbs, eh? It’s fine. I’m fine, no harm done in the end.” She shrugged. Why was she arguing with a dog again?Her phone dinged again.‘If you ever dip for three days, three WHOLE days again, I’m going to tell Batman that you’re down there.’ Jaz stared at the message for a moment longer. She almost put the phone in her pocket without responding but thought better of it.‘I get it. I’m sorry. New library its pretty sick anyways so I shouldn’t have problems with my battery anymore. Tell Izzy I say hi!’She logged out of the computer and tried to make her way to the exit, but Hero kept blocking her and giving her a head tilted glance as if he had a question. “What?… What? What do you want?” Frustrated, she brushed past into the elevator. “I don’t know what it is you want. You’re acting weird. Anyways, we’re going to the vet now, I’m gonna see if they can find a chip in your neck or something. Finally get you home. How does that sound.” He looked annoyed. If a dog could even look annoyed.The closest vet clinic was only a few blocks away from the new library, set on the second floor of one of the new skyrise towers recently built downtown. She had to follow the signs to find the office inside. The floors were white marble with well maintained indoor plants accenting the lobby and halls. Jaz paused a moment before entering the actual vet office, a sinking feeling filling her gut. The unimpressed look she was afforded by the receptionist seemed to confirm her fears. “Hey. Names Jaz, what’s yours?” She smiled and tried to schmooze the receptionist using the best retail sales tone she could muster.“Are you a current member of our practice? We’re not accepting new clients at this time.” The lady had a cold ‘friendly’ tone she’d obviously perfected after years and immediately went back to typing whatever it was she was working on.“Well, I was actually wondering if you could check the chip on my buddy here. I found him and judging from his coat and breed, I think he might be owned by one of your own lovely clients.” Jaz gave no indication that she’d noticed the lady’s dismissiveness, or the flash of annoyance that crossed her face the moment Jaz hadn’t immediately left.The receptionist clicked her tongue but at least stood up to peer at Hero. She moved to immediately sit down after only a second, before her eyes shot back open and she took another closer look at Hero. She even side stepped around the counter. “Well. If that is the case, you can leave him here. We’ll see too it that he finds his way home.” The lady moved to grab Hero by the collar and a flicker of frustration crossed her face as she realized he didn’t have one.“Leave him here? Gosh no,” Jaz cut off the receptionist before she could insist, “I have a vested interest in making sure I personally see Hero returned to his family, so if you don’t mind, he’ll be staying with me.” Something about this lady, the way she seemed to be trying to hide her sudden interest in Hero felt off to Jaz.“What, so you can ask for some sort of reward?” Seems she’s going full mask off, Jaz thought.“Yep.” She shrugged. She felt no need to try to explain her actual intentions to this Karen. Especially to someone who had already decided not to respect her. “So, I’d appreciate if you’d check the chip now.”“It would break our code of ethics to let someone extort money out of our clients. Who’s to say you didn’t steal the dog yourself?” She tried to step in between Hero and Jaz but he swiftly sidestepped her, keeping close to Jaz’s side.“If I’d stolen him myself, I wouldn’t be asking you for help finding their home again now, would I?” Anger was boiling in Jaz’s chest now.“I wouldn’t know how criminals work. Leave the dog now, or I’ll call security and have you forcibly removed.” The way the woman spoke with such a toxically sweet tone made Jaz grind her teeth.At this point she couldn’t contain the glare she levelled at the woman. Her hands balled into fists and her heart was beating hard. It felt like her body was wound tight and ready to fight. She hated the feeling conflict had over her body, “Right.” Her words were clipped, “Then we shall leave.” She turned towards the door calling to Hero to follow. A sharp bark warned Jaz a moment before the lady grabbed her arm with a bruising grip. The receptionist started yelling for security while pulling Jaz away from the door. Try as she might, Jaz was no match for the strength of a regular human in this world. The tension in her body coiled and she found her free hand balled and flying through the air. Before it connected, though, Hero snapped his jaws feigning a bite near the lady’s arm. She reflexively released Jaz who stumbled and slammed herself through the door, Hero close at her heels.Security only caught up to them as they crossed the lobby of the building and by then Jaz had regained her balance. She easily dodged the front desk security guards attempt to detain her, slamming her hands into the glass front doors and reeling down the block with Hero at her side. Pedestrians clutching their purses and pockets side stepped out of Jaz’s way. The guards kept up the chase, leaving Jaz with no choice but to rush out into oncoming traffic, snaking her way through at breakneck speed. After a couple blocks she cut through one alley, and down another till she realized she’d lost them.Jaz doubled over panting. Hero sniffed the quickly blackening bruise on Jaz’s wrist. “Don’t worry about it,” she gasped. She could feel her heartbeat pounding in her ears and temples, like her whole head was an overinflated balloon that kept expanding and contracting with each beat. “The whole, from another world thing.” She stood straight again, pulling her sleeve down to cover the bruise, “Means I’m physically weaker than even a normal human here.” As if to punctuate that fact, a wave of dizziness caused her to stumble and lean on a wall for balance. Her face felt numb, and her knees were weak. “And I really don’t think I should be running with a head injury again.” She joked, sliding against the wall to sit on the cold cement.Hero nudged her good arm and cuddled against her side lending her warmth while she rested. Jaz found herself rambling, “That lady gave me weird vibes. The way she looked at you, its like she recognized you or something. I don’t know, maybe I’m imagining things. I got a head injury after all…” She peeked at Hero who seemed to be listening attentively, “I’m also talking to a dog. I swear I don’t talk this much… Well, that’s a lie, I talk a lot. But not to dogs… Ok that’s another lie.” She sighed running her fingers through her hair. The tender spot at the back of her head caused her to wince when she touched it.Thirty minutes later the pounding in her head subsided to a dull throbbing and the bright sunlight no longer stung her eyes. She fished out the phone from her pocket and opened the map she’d downloaded while at the library. It still had all the vets nearby loaded. Scrolling through the options in the map, she noticed one in the ‘shittier’ part of town several miles away. Other transients had warned her not to stay there overnight, in fact to avoid the place all together given that she was a woman, but the vet there might be more forgiving of a vagrant asking for help to return a lost dog to its owner. At the very least, perhaps they’d be more welcoming? After plotting a course that would take them past several more clinics she carefully stood. Her balance seemed to be back, so she removed her hand from the wall.They zig zagged across the city though after the third vet on their way Jaz was feeling uncomfortable. Each one they’d passed was closed with obvious signs of a break in. One was covered in police tape with boards over the entrance, another with a broken front window. The final was closed with a sign saying they would remain closed until the recent crime spree subsided. “The hell is happening in this world anyways?” Jaz turned to Hero who looked just as confused as her. “You think its related to that attack we experienced at the pound?” She blinked in surprise, before deciding she imagined the dog nodding at her. “Well, anyways. Last stop.” She headed off in the direction of Southside. Or as the locals had called it: Suicide Slums.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
There was a noticeable shift in Jaz’s surroundings that tipped her off that she was now entering Suicide Slums. The streets were lined with three to four story condos, each dedicating their first level to business fronts. The facades shifted from large window displays and neatly kept exteriors to metal bars protecting the door and windows. Old spay paint was left to weather on buildings and windows. The buildings were older in this part of the city, with crumbling brick and cracked stone veneers, mold and dirt caked to their exteriors. The foot traffic in the area changed too. People wore older clothes, huddled and rushed about trying to avoid bringing attention to themselves. Jaz realized she was being watched from window fronts of businesses, and by other pedestrians smoking outside. She pulled her hood up and picked up the pace.They were burning daylight at this point and if she was going to be out of the area before nightfall, she’d need to find this vet clinic fast. She’d heard there was a church in Midtown right next to Suicide Slums that let transients like her sleep in the pews; she hoped she’d be able to make it there before ten pm when they closed their doors.The vet was difficult to find, she ended up walking circles around it before finally realizing she had to enter the alley way between the two buildings. A left turn in the middle of the alley was all she’d missed. It opened into a cement courtyard with a building wrapped around it. To one side several parking stalls lined it and on the other were beat down trash bins. She would’ve completely missed it if it weren’t for google. Who chose to rent a business space in a place like this? One look at the door told her it had been busted in nights prior and hastily repaired. Hanging on it was a dirty looking ‘Open’ sign in red lettering. She looked to Hero, “Well. This is the place.” Uncertainty coloured her voice, but she didn’t let herself hesitate. The doorknob turned but she had to kick the door to unstick it from the jam. “Hello?”The interior looked clean and well lit, as if walking into any normal vet office that was operating anywhere else in Metropolis. It didn’t feel like it matched the exterior at all. The door didn’t close behind her and she had to kick it again before it clicked. “We’re closed. Didn’t you see the sign?” The sudden male voice behind her caused Jaz to yelp and spin.Standing in the door behind the reception desk was a tall man with long dar brown hair down to his shoulders. He filled the entire frame with the physic of a body builder, his eyes were yellow and the way they were leveled at Jaz made the hairs on the back of her neck raise, as if meeting with a wild animal. His white lab coat was open at the front and the sleeves stretched against the strain of him crossing his large arms. He was wearing a collared blue shirt underneath it and brown pants. Despite his attire something about him felt… Feral? It was like seeing a beast dressed in a doctor’s outfit.“Uhh. Oh well, the sign out front says you’re open.” Jaz quickly regained her composure taking several steps towards the front desk.She watched him eye up her dog before quickly returning his attention to her, “Your dog looks fine, come back tomorrow when we’re open again. Flip the sign on your way out.” He turned to leave the room-“Wait!” He paused, turning back to her with an expressionless face. At least he wasn’t outright hostile, “I came all this way on foot ‘cus the dog is lost. I just need you to check his chip and contact his family.” When he didn’t speak she added, “Please. Everywhere else is closed.”He sighed after a moment, running his hand through his hair. “I can’t help you today. Come back tomorrow and we can check his chip for you.” Jaz waivered for a moment, reluctant to have to make the trip into this neighborhood again. “Let me walk you to your car though, its getting late.”“Oh, that’s fine. I can walk myself out. I’ll see you tomorrow, what time do you open?” She’d prefer not to reveal to him that she didn’t own a car.“Ten.” He slipped back through the office allowing Jaz a momentary peek inside. She caught a glimpse of another man before the door closed.The door was stuck fast again and the force of her kick flipped the ‘Open’ sign to ‘Closed’. Sighing, she distractedly scrolled through her phone trying to parse out a route to get to the church she’d heard about. A warning growl from Hero brought her attention back to her surroundings. He’d stepped in front of her between her and the figure who had turned the corner from the alley way. The figure was impossibly tall for a human, its features were obscured behind a comically large trench coat and wide brimmed hat.And then it lunged. The hat of the stranger flew off him revealing its metal reptilian features. Hero leapt through the air intercepting the lizards path knocking it off balance, but not enough to stop it from reaching her. Jaz’s movements felt sluggish compared to the dog or the Dino but she managed to roll her way to the side dodging its first attempts at grabbing her. Instead it slammed its heavy hand into the back of Hero trying to get a grip on him. A scream ripped from Jaz’s mouth, and she dashed to help Hero. The metal tail of the Dino slammed into her side throwing her through the air. Her crash was softer than she’d been expecting, when she realized she’d been caught and plopped back on her two feet.“Get inside.” The vet set her down behind him. Jaz’s side stung and it hurt to suck in air into her left lung. Stars were beginning to flash in her vision.“He’s got Hero!” She yelled. The Dino was trying to drag Hero away while the dog bravely tore into its metal carapace. Her dash was blocked by his arm. His yellow eyes were now glowing in the dim light outside and his pupils had turned into slits. Fangs protruded over his lip and the tips of his ears had elongated with little furry tufts topping them.“You’re a werewolf.” She breathed. He flinched clearly bothered by the description before lunging towards the Dino. Jaz stumbled backwards feeling the shock of each step reverberate through her head.- - -Claws erupted from the tips of Brin’s fingers and he leapt with unnatural speed through the air landing behind the Dino. He slashed into its back. It spun around whipping its tail at him but he bounced backwards just in time for it to slash harmlessly through the air. A growl ripped out of him as he surveyed the situation. The girl looked dazed but she hadn’t stepped back. Her hands were balled into fists as if she intended to fight. He’d have to keep an eye on her. The Dino had a tight grip on the dogs torso, though it didn’t appear injured yet judging by how much it struggled.He took a step forward, it took a step back. Another surge of power rippled through his body as anger welled up inside him. These things had been attacking across the city and had attacked this place three nights in a row now. He should’ve insisted on walking her to her damn car, maybe then-The Dino lunged at Brin with its free arm. He side stepped it and grabbed its arm instead digging his claws satisfyingly between the metal armour it wore. It’s tail slammed into his shoulder but he’d braced in time that it didn’t send him flying. He punched his free hand under its arm where there was a weak spot in its armoured plates shooting his nails like bullets into the metal torso. The Dino began convulsing and the dog wiggled free, dropping out of its arms.“Hero!” The girl ran towards them.“STAY BACK!” Brin roared but the Dino had seized that moment to lunge towards her a second time. Somehow the human seemed to read its intent and dropped herself into a slide grabbing onto her dog as the Dino leapt above her. Brin slammed into the back of the Dino. The force of its leap coupled with the force of Brin’s tackle sent it tumbling to the ground and Brin stabbed his hand into the armpit of the machine claws first grabbing a fist full of electronics before ripping the arm of it clean off. The creature let out a metallic screech as if in pain while its tail flailed wildly. The shriek sent a thrill through him. He stood on top of the creature, stomping his foot against its hip while he pulled on its tail. The metal strained and struggled but ultimately his strength won out and the tail was ripped from its body. He made quick work of its remaining limbs before remembering the girl. She wasn’t in the courtyard.
- - -Jaz carried Hero through the alley way stumbling as she went. Her vision was blurring at the edges and any light she saw was burning into her skull. Still she had to get them to safety. The scene she saw was savage, a wolf like creature ripping into that Dino; and that scream. That scream put to rest any doubt she had that it wasn’t alive. That was pain, pure and simple. Hero was panting in her arms letting her carry him but he leapt out of them when she screamed. A heavy hand had grabbed her shoulder, spinning her on the spot while the werewolf called, “girl.” Instinctively Jaz punched him with her fist, wincing when his face didn’t even budge and her hand came away bleeding. “I will not harm you, I swear.” He lifted his hand from her shoulder hovering them both in front of him as if to show he meant no harm. That façade quickly crumbled when he caught her fist the moment she jerked away to run. Hero was at her side hackles up growling. “Please. Just let us treat you, you can barely walk, its clear you’re injured.” The force of his grip made her wince again.“I’ll be fine,” She started but he cut her off.“You’re clearly not.” He blew air out of his nose frustrated. “Look, you’re in no condition to drive and I can’t in good conscience let you go stumbling around like this. Not here. Just take some time to rest at the clinic first, I can drive you home after.” As much as she feared what she’d just seen, he was beginning to make some sense… And… She stumbled, leaning to the left. If it weren’t for him holding her fist she’d have fallen. Hero whimpered and looking down he’d lowered his hackles and seemed to indicate that they should follow.“Alright. Just- Just for a little bit.” He nodded. He wrapped her arm over his far too tall shoulder and she expected he was going to support her as she hobbled towards the clinic only for the ground to be ripped away from her. “Put me down!”“Ow, that was right in my ear.” He grimaced. The fangs on his face were smaller now, and the furry tufts on his ears were disappearing.“I can walk just fine, put me down!”“You walk slow.”“You didn’t even give me the chance to.” She winced resting her head against his shoulder for a moment. Lights had just grown blindingly bright.“You ran slow, now stop yelling and just wait until we get to the clinic.” He shot back annoyed. It was no more than a minute before they’d reached the clinic on his long legs. He didn’t set her down at the door though and instead carried her in princess style to the gasp of his colleague.“Brin, is that the girl from earlier? Are you ok miss?” An older dark-skinned vet with greying white hair and a bushy salt and pepper walrus moustache followed them into the veterinarians office. “Here,” The sound of metal scraping against metal filled the room forcing Jaz to screw her eyes shut against the pain. She felt herself be set on a cool metal surface. “There we go. No, no, no, just relax,” He gently stopped her from sitting up. “This is my office. Not as comfortable as ones made for humans, but you’re in good hands here, I wasn’t always just a vet you know.” His smile was warm and kind. “Now just relax. I’m going to give you a check over, make sure nothings broken inside. Brin, where are you going?”“Going to check on our friend outside. Left that one still alive.” She heard the click of the door but kept her eyes closed.“Is the light bothering you?” She could hear the noises of the veterinarian searching through drawers and the light clattering noises as he placed things onto his metal tray.“Yeah. Bright lights, noises. My head hurts.” She could tell the lights dimmed through her eyelids. “Thanks.”“No problem. Did you hit your head out there? Where did those metal bastards hit you?” The sound of little nails against the ground eased Jaz’s worry that Hero wasn’t with her.“Yes and no,” She made eye contact with the doctor, “It hit me here.” She indicated to her side, “And I hit my head three days ago, was just discharged from the hospital.”“Ok, I’m going to touch you now, just to check on your body. Tell me when it hurts.” The man really did seem to have clinic experience, he was acting just like her family doctor back home. “Oh, gosh me. My names Jason by the way. Jason Niles. I’m the owner of this veterinary clinic.” He spoke while he poked and prodded her sides, testing her ribs, listening to her breath. Checking her head.“Name’s Jaz. Jaz Heller.”“Now tell me Jaz. Why, after waking up in the hospital, did you decide to come all the way here?”“To get Hero’s chip checked.”“In your condition you should’ve gone straight home and rested. The hospital did recommend bed rest, right?” He even had the same chiding tone typical of a doctor’s bedside manner.“Figured I’d do that first before going home.”“Right.” He chuckled in face of her stubbornness, “Well, nothing is broken or bleeding, save for your hand. I’ve bandaged that for you so why don’t you come upstairs and rest for a bit on the couch. When you’re feeling better, we’ll take you home, ok?” She simply nodded, allowing him to help her up and relying on him to help her navigate up the stairs.“So is Brin…” She didn’t know how to finish the sentence.“Brin has been my assistant for many months now. He’s a decent fellow, got a temper on him, but he’s good at heart. He’s been protecting this side of Metropolis since he’s arrived.” He set Jaz down on a large well worn leather couch. The kind that you sunk into and could curl right up on. “You have no reason to fear him.”She just nodded in response before resting her eyes for just a moment.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Jaz groaned peeling her face from the small puddle of drool she’d left on her pillow. Her entire body was sore. The bruises were tender and protested every time she poked them. The room was unfamiliar to her, but a quick peek out the window reminded her of the happenings yesterday. The window opened up to a view of the courtyard she’d entered yesterday though aside from a few metal shavings glinting on the ground, all evidence of the fight last night was gone. Sitting on the bed, watching over her, was Hero. He perked up the moment he saw her move. Jaz noticed there was an added caution to his movements as he approached her.“You ok bud?” He carefully nuzzled her bandaged hand while whimpering, “Oh! Are you worried about my injuries?” She pulled him into a hug, “You’re such a strange dog.” Her eyes travelled to the door. From the view out the window, she knew she was on the third floor above the clinic.The door opened with Jason behind it, “Oh, you’re awake finally! Was just coming to check on you since its already so late in the day.”Instinctively Jaz held Hero closer to her chest. She felt uncomfortable just waking up in the bedroom of some strangers, “What time is it anyways?” What she really wanted to ask is why she was still there, and who moved her to this room.“It’s one pm already.” Jason seemed to read through her suspicions, “We didn’t want to wake you given how quickly you passed out and the condition you were in already. Figured you needed the rest more than you thought.” When Jaz didn’t respond he scratched the back of his head, “Sorry, we should’ve given you the choice…”“Its. It’s fine I get it, admittedly I am really sore.” She said wincing from her stretch.“Right, well. The clinic is closed downstairs. Why don’t you take a shower, there’s some Advil in the medicine cabinet behind the sink. I’ll get your dogs chip checked and we can talk about last night.” Jaz nodded and he disappeared down the hall after pointing out where the bathroom was and where the towels were.Jaz didn’t even hesitate at the thought of showering in a stranger’s home. She’d spent so many months living off the streets that she jumped at any chance to shower. The safest ways to shower were gyms and community showers. Homeless shelters had schedules and no way to ensure her things were safe while she showered and there was never a guarantee they’d have a bed for her anyways. Still, she didn’t regret choosing to explore this world as a vagrant. Though, there was something to be said about good shampoo and a shower with a strong water flow.Once she’d finished, she found a pair of grey sweats and a white t-shirt neatly folded on top of the towel she’d pulled down for herself. One sniff of her old clothes confirmed why they’d decided to leave her something fresh. She stuffed her old things into her backpack, popped an Advil with a handful of water and descended the stairs to the second floor.Now that she was properly conscious, Jaz checked out the living room she’d been set down to rest in the night before. The place was spacious with two walls dedicated to giant windows overlooking the main street below. Across the way were giant illuminated billboards and the noise from the afternoon traffic jam below could be faintly heard. The floors were made of scratched up wood, with leather sofa’s and an older plasma tv sitting in the corner surrounded by windows. In the opposite corner, right of the stairs she’d just descended was a corner kitchen with an island separating it from the rest of the living room. That is where she found Jason, topping four sandwiches with the upper halves of baguettes.“Why did you decide to set up your practice out here?” The words slipped out without much thought.“Here, take this.” He slid two plates to her, one with two large sandwiches on it and the other with one. She followed him down the stairs, “I grew up here all my life if you believe it. Saw the side Southside many people have forgotten since. This place wasn’t always called Suicide Slums you know.” He sighed, “Well, a lot of people have given up on this community. Heck. Even Superman doesn’t grace us with his presence… But so long as I’m living, this vet will stay open. Even the small family members of the downtrodden deserve medical care.”“You’re a good man, Jason.” Jaz admired. This world was full of people like him, people who would offer a bed to sleep and food to fill her belly without any expectation of return. Simply because they felt it was the thing to do. It was also filled with villains though; she thought as she laid eyes on all the Dino men piled into the vet office. Brin was hunched over a large laptop he’d set up on the operating table with various cables connected to the Dino torso and brain. Looking at him now, there was no signs of his beast like self from the night before. Still, Jaz instinctively gave him a wide berth, taking a step back after placing the plate of sandwiches beside him.“Any luck?” Jason said taking a seat at his own desk.“Since last night it hasn’t been responding. Doesn’t look like its damaged inside, I think its just shut itself off.” Brin sounded frustrated. Jaz took another good look at the now human Brin again. When she’d heard his name first it had rung a bell, though she couldn’t quite place him back then. Admittedly, he looked different than what she’d read in the comics.“Have you been working on this all night?” Jaz had noticed the bags under his eyes.“As a matter of fact, yes. More came last night.” Jaz gave a worried glance back at the pile of Dino men littering the floor. “Don’t worry though. Nothing more than I could handle… Your dog was a good help too.” Brin nodded towards Hero.“He was?”“Jaz, could you bring him here?” Jason had logged into his desk and was holding some sort of scanner in his hands. As if understanding, Hero walked to Jason unprompted. “Oh. Well then. Sit.” He sat immediately, waiting patiently while Jason pressed the scanner to the back of his neck, fishing around in what seemed to be the common places one would put a chip. “Unfortunately, it appears he isn’t chipped.”“I checked yesterday for missing ads, do you have some sort of system or something that people report lost pets to?” Jaz walked up to Jason, watching him load up a Metropolis animal welfare site and log in.“How long have you had him?” He asked, narrowing the search field as she spoke.“I found him near the bridge to Hampstead on the business district side. ‘Bout… Four days ago now?” Speaking of the time, she remembered she had to call Clara and Teresse tonight. “Its Friday today, right?”“Yes.” Jason glanced back, “Your family know where you are right now?” His search was turning up no results for border collies in Hampstead or the Business district, so he removed the location restriction.“Oh. Yeah, they’re fine. Already texted them… Is there really nothing out there? You’d think someone would be looking for a dog like him.” Jason had scrolled through the short list already with no pictures that looked remotely like Hero.“Well, while I’d assume someone would have posted an ad the day you found him or earlier, perhaps they were a couple days late.” He’d been searching for ads posted four days ago and older with some twenty results total. After deleting the date restriction, the list filled with over four hundred hits for Metropolis alone.“I think someone is looking for him.” Brin called over. “Come check this out.” Both Jaz and Jason left the worrisome list to peer at the screen Brin had pulled up.“What is that?” Jaz asked. There was a map pulled up with a green blinking light.“That is this clinic, this thing is putting out a homing signal.” Brin was grabbing another metal Dino from the floor at the base of the operating table.“Shouldn’t you throw them out then?” Her brows knit together. She wasn’t seeing what he meant by saying he knew who was looking for Hero. Brin began pulling up pieces of metal, grabbing wires and delicately connecting them to a little switch board he had while they watched him. After a minute he plugged in his makeshift… Thing to the computer. Nothing happened. “I don’t think it worked.”“It worked.”“Did it though?”Brin gave a incredulous look at Jaz, “This is the creature I recovered four nights ago when they first attacked. When I took it out it shut down and never began sending out a beacon, and nothing has come looking for it since. Same with the second one that attacked the night before you came.” Jaz nodded, not following what he was getting at, “This one. The one that saw you is the only one releasing a beacon.”Jaz looked back at the now limbless Dino laying seemingly dead on the table. She hugged herself trying not to remember the screaming from last night, “Right, so… Maybe it recognized me from a couple nights ago?” She thought hard, “But that wouldn’t make sense anyways, the Dino that saw me that night was electrocuted to death and taken by the justice league.”“The league has one too?” Brin asked.“At least, that’s what the detectives complained about when they questioned me.” Jaz took a bite of her sandwich, suddenly realizing just how hungry she was. “Have you fed Hero by the way?”“Yes, he’s been fed. He refused any kibble we had and knocked over a plate of eggs and hash this morning.” Jason chuckled.“Yeah, he’s been like that the entire time. Only eating people food.” Jaz said between bites.“So, this isn’t your first encounter with them, then?” Brin crossed his arms, leaning against the wall while giving Jaz a scrutinous look. She just nodded with a mouth full of sandwich. “What happened?”Jaz plopped herself into one of the consultation chairs near Jason’s desk. He was still sorting through all the missing dog reports trying to find anything matching Hero with a look of deep concern on his face. “So, four days ago-”“The night of the first attacks.” Brin interrupted.“Yeah, on the night of the first attacks I suppose, I’d gone to the pound in the business district area. The one on Night street.” Brin nodded, “Was looking to leave Hero with the right people but when we got there we heard this noise down in the basement of the place where they keep the dogs. Anyways, Hero smashed down the door and ran off after whatever made the noise right, so I had to follow him.”“He smashed down the door?” Brin asked, glancing at Hero with an odd expression.“Yep. Right off its hinges. Anyways, down in the basement they had the pound worker lady hostage. There was two of ‘em, though I didn’t see the second one, just heard it. They’d had the lady bring out a bunch of the dogs to show ‘em and they were talking amongst themselves that none of them ‘matched the description’ of whatever they were looking for.” Jaz shrugged, “The second one left though. How? I don’t know, didn’t see another exit in that room at the time. The other one started shooting dogs and that’s when Hero decided to earn his name. He rushed the guy biting him and all that. I ran in too. He ended up making a mess of the place and got himself electrocuted.” She took another massive bite.“So they were looking for a dog?” Brin appeared to lose himself in thought for a while giving Jaz ample time to finish her sandwich and watch over Jason’s shoulder as he began clicking into different missing reports. “When you two came into the room, did it say anything?”Jaz thought hard trying to remember specifically what had happened that night. So much had happened the past few nights it all felt like a blur, like she was simultaneously remembering just last week and a year ago at the same time. “Yeah… Yeah actually there was something I forgot to mention to the detectives even…” Her brows furrowed, “The Dino was talking to Hero. Its, its hard to remember ‘cus I had been slammed into a wall at the time, but it was definitely taunting Hero.” Her eyes fell to Hero who was looking at her with an expectant look. He was too expressive for a dog. Like he could understand what they were saying, “The Dino man had said he’d finally found you… Hero.” Hero barked.“Yes, we'd suspected it was some sort of pet they were looking for, they’ve only been targeting pounds and vets this entire time.” Brin rushed back to the computer and began furiously typing into his program. "At the very lest, we may have found you two first."“Not just pounds anymore. Since four days ago pets have been stolen out of back yards and homes, rounded up at abandoned warehouses by thugs across the city. Whoever’s behind this, they’re also payrolling people to do their dirty work as well.” Jason twisted his computer screen to give Jaz and Brin a better look. A daily planet article depicting a warehouse near the water with several men in hand cuffs, police and what looked like cages of recovered dogs being carried.“Do you think Hero is an escapee or something?” Jaz wondered aloud, “It doesn’t make sense that he’s someone’s pet in Metropolis, not with some organization of metal Dino’s violently searching for him and funding gangs to steal pets and all that…”“All I can say at this time is that they’re looking for him, and by association, you.” Brin said matter-of-factly. He’d begun disabling the metal Dino from the computer.“Me? Nah, the dog I can believe but I’m just some nobody.” Jaz said confidently.“Some nobody who’s been travelling with the dog. It won’t be safe for you to wander around right now. The Dino’s only come out at night for some reason, but that doesn’t mean the gangs operating out here won’t recognize you.”“Recognize what?” Jaz began to protest, realizing what he was intending.“These things are sending back images of what they can see.” He looked conflicted for a moment before twisting his laptop to show her, “Do you recognize this image?” Jaz’s mouth hung open for a moment. It was her, holding the red wrench mid swing over her head. It was unmistakably her, taken moments before she’d hit the first Dino over the head days before.“Oh.” Her shoulders slumped and Jason found himself patting her.“Its ok, with that head injury of yours, I can pull some strings and get you a doctors note excusing you from work for a little while. At least until Brin gets to the bottom of this… Right? Brin?” He asked giving Brin a prompted stare.“Yes, right. We’ll keep you safe here until I get to the bottom of this.” Jaz just nodded feeling a bit shocked. “First, I need to get this thing out of here.” He shouldered the Dino torso, ducking under the door jam. At the same moment, Jaz’s phone started ringing.“Mind if I use the room upstairs again?”“Its all yours for the time being,” Jason gave her a smile that poorly hid his pity.“Thanks.” By the time she’d made it upstairs she’d missed the call from Teresse, but they answered before the first ring ended.“Damn girl, you’ve been playing hard to get.” The sound of her friends voice immediately brought a smile to Jaz’s face and she launched herself on to the bed, bouncing to a stop beside Hero.“Have you heard anything about what’s been happening down on Earth, space girl?” She flipped onto her back.“No, Why?” Jaz paused, staring at her phone trying to come up with the best version of the story to tell her friends that wouldn’t worry them enough to report her presence in this world to the supers. She began to recount the recent happenings across Metropolis, carefully leaving out her involvement four days ago. She bit her lip, battling with the idea of admitting she was even in danger last night, before finally settling on an embellished version of the story.“So. Hero, the dog I mentioned before? I took him to this vet yesterday. I was safe and fine inside, but as dusk was falling one of the Dinomen attacked the clinic.”“Oh my gosh! Are you ok?!” Clara yelled into the phone.“Oh yeah, I was fine. They didn’t even see me.” Beside her Hero made a grunt that was half way chiding, half way questioning why she was lying, “Turns out a super works at this clinic anyways. I think his call name is Timber Wolf or something like that if I’m remembering what I read correctly.”“Haven’t heard of him.” Teresse immediately replied. “We really should’ve listened to you more when they called you in to teach us about this world though.”“I never mentioned him, he’s not supposed to be from this timeline. Anyways, that’s beside the point.” She shook her head before realizing her friends couldn’t see her, “He think’s they’re after a specific dog. Also, I heard the Justice league brought up one of those Dino’s and have been on the case themselves.”“Uhh, We haven’t heard anything but I mean, its not like we’re really asking.”“We can!” Clara chimed in happily, “This sounds really exciting! They’ve just been keeping us cooped up here, and we’re not allowed to explain to anyone why we’re here except the people who already know.” Clara’s voice sounded disappointed and bored.“Ugh, Jaz, she’s been bitching about not coming with you for the past few months.” The annoyance in Teresses tone made Jaz laugh. “And don’t you dare try to convince us that its fun or great or even safe. They have us Worldhearts on lock down and there you are playing witness to an entire Dino dog mystery.” Teresse sounded angry, but Jaz had begun to understand she was only like that because of worry.“Hey, hey. I’m not even a ‘real’ Worldheart to begin with, you two are the ones that are supposed to be here, I’m just enjoying the ride.” She said trying to reassure them. They talked for another hour or two with Hero very interestedly listening to the entire conversation.They promised to text Jaz with anything they found out about the mystery only if Jaz promised not to get involved in any way, a promise she easily made. In face of Hero’s accusatory look, she defended herself, “Hey, I promised I wouldn’t go looking to get involved. Never mentioned anything about already being involved.” She gave him a cheeky smile.
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Brin had returned sometime during her conversation over the phone. When she’d re-emerged from the bedrooom he had placed the ground rules that neither her, and especially Hero, could leave the house. Even the balcony was off limits. In the back of her mind she worried that despite the beacon now being moved, they’d still come to this place since this is where it had originally fallen. To quell her worries she thumbed through TV channels until she’d found WGBS with a ‘breaking update ‘on the missing Superman. Jaz wasn’t really interested in the story herself, but the sudden reaction Hero had to hearing the story made her pause. His head had shot up, his ears were firmly forward and his eyes were glued to the screen as the anchor spoke.
‘The Justice league has yet to address the public’s fears that Superman is missing. It has been over a month,’ The screen cut to a shaky camera displaying images of Super man walking out of what looked like the rubble of a building with a child in his arms reuniting her with her family, ‘Since Superman has last appeared to the public. Concerns over Superman’s absence at the libraries opening have grown exponentially as request for comment is continually ignored by the Justice league Media coordinator and spokesperson Abigail Point. As weeks pass with no sign of Superman, the public fears what this could mean for emboldened villains the world over. Superman is scheduled to appear at the children’s hospital next month…’
Jaz glanced back at Hero. He was completely absorbed by the story at this point. She’d never seen a dog act like this. The story had shifted to street interviews with ‘concerned citizens’ who voiced their well wishes and spouted some interesting theories on where Superman was. It ranged anywhere from him being on vacation to him having given up on the world. One that piqued Jaz’s interest was an interview given outside one of the many closed down animal shelters in Metropolis’s suburbs.
“I know for a fact that Superman is genuinely missing, know how I know? Because this is happening.” He gestured to the boarded up windows and police tape across his business’s front door, “Here, in Metropolis city we have strange metal reptiles stealing pets off porches and destroying hard working American businesses and where is Superman! Where is the Justice League? People are getting hurt!”
The image cut back to the anchor as she continued the story but Jaz wasn’t paying attention to it. Hero had whined hearing the mans pleas and he genuinely looked… Concerned. He was too expressive for a dog. Jaz’s thoughts were cut off as Brin climbed up the staircase. “Anything good on tonight?” He was wearing what she could only describe as his costume.
“Who are you supposed to be?” She asked jokingly.
“Ha ha, very funny.” Brin sat down in the lounge chair of the couch. Jaz hadn’t seen a super up close yet, at least not one in the full getup. The orange and black spandex moved and hugged his form perfectly and the giant wolfs head emblazoned on the front of it… It looked genuinely good in person. Nothing like the cheap spandex or materials used in cosplay’s she’d seen at Comic-Con’s. It looked well made with small delicate details, little metal emblems and leather accents that elevated the suit from cheesy to cool. “I’m from the future…” She nodded, pretending she didn’t already know that, “But you already knew that…” The blood drained from Jaz’s face. Her heart instinctively began to race.
“What are you talking about?” To her credit, she kept a calm demeanor and tone of voice.
“You do that really well.”
“Do what?”
“Lie. If I didn’t have this super hearing,” He said, pointing a clawed finger to his ear, “I may have fallen for it.” Jaz grit her teeth. Right, Timber Wolf had enhanced senses on top of his super strength and ability to shoot things with his claws.
She crossed her arms over her chest, “If you already overheard, why are you asking me all of a sudden?”
“I’d like there to be some honesty between us, Jaz.” There was an edge that entered his voice that put her hairs on end. “No more lies, no more deflections. Who are you, who are you really?”
Jaz struggled to come up with some way to get herself out of this, but as she racked her brain a low growl began to rumble in’s Brin’s throat warning her. “Alright.” She threw her hands up, running her fingers through her hair, “You’re from the future yeah?” He nodded, “Well. How bout try another world.”
“I’m not from Earth either, I’m from-“
“I know, and no that’s not what I meant.” She shook her head, regretting even correcting him… But she couldn’t keep up a lie as big as pretending she’s from some other planet in this galaxy. Timber Wolf was part of the legion of Super Heroes, he knew far more than she would about all the other planets and worlds here. “I’m… I’m from an alternate reality. Sort of. It’s… Its really hard to explain.”
Timber Wolf smiled, “Try me, I may seem like a dumb brute but I have the futures knowledge and understanding of the universe.” He shrugged, “Sort of.”
“It’s not so much you as it is me. I don’t honestly know as much as I probably should anyways. I- I wasn’t really supposed to ever come here, or really even supposed to know much about the program that sends people here.” She sighed again, biting her lower lip. Could she trust him? He was a Super and she’d seen some of the shows his character appeared in. He was a good person, albeit very hot tempered and prone to losing his sanity… “Me being here was a mistake. I’m just sort of floating around and making the best of it until the gate reopens and I can return home.”
He nodded, deep in thought. “Is that why you’re homeless?”
“Eh?”
“While you were passed out I searched your bag,” When she looked like she was about to protest he held his hands up in defense, “I couldn’t just let some random stranger off the street stay under the roof without knowing the least bit about you. Not with all the targeted attacks going on recently.”
Jaz glared at him, “Well, no. If I really wanted to, I could probably get a job and a place to stay. It’s just… Why waste my opportunity to explore a new world and experience all these new things as a nine to fiver, ya know?”
“So you decided to be a vagrant that bums her way through this world?” Brin raised a brow.
“I decided to be free. And I don’t bum my way through the world, we call it busking and I’m pretty good at card tricks. I earn my money.” She replied indignantly. Jaz watched Timber Wolfs smiling face warp into a snarl as he sprung to his feet faster than her eyes could follow.
“Stick close,” He barked before rushing down the stairs. Jaz had to scramble, nearly falling over her feet to try to follow him with Hero keeping close behind.
“They’re here?” She whispered, several paces behind him but he heard her anyways, nodding his response without casting a backwards glance. Jason met them at the bottom of the stairs, his laptop clutched to his chest. The sound of the door being busted inwards made Jaz and Jason jump, while Timber Wolf snarled.
“Go to the basement, stick together and call me if they find you. I’ll hear,” And with that Timber Wolf launched himself at the three metal forms that had already piled through the doorframe. Jaz followed after Jason, holding onto the hem of his shirt while he reached behind himself to hold onto her arm. Hero at her side looked torn between joining Brin or protecting them. The sound of Timber Wolf Grunting and the sight of him being grappled by three of the Dino’s decided it for Hero. He rushed into the fray, leaving Jaz to call after him as she was lead downstairs to safety.- - -
Hero leapt through the air using the full weight of his tackle knock the Dino with its arm locked around Timber Wolf’s neck off balance. Using that opportunity Timber Wolf reached behind himself shooting his claws between the jaw plates on the underside of the Dino. He’d grown so used to the pain that caused him that he didn’t even wince. It’s eyes flashed on and off before it slumped to the floor. The other two Dino’s tried to subdue Timber, but he punched one off balance while Hero slammed himself behind its knee toppling it to the floor. The tail of the second one swept underneath Brins legs sending him to the ground as well, with it falling on top of him. They struggled against each other, hand to hand grappling with each other as Timber Wolf’s claws sunk into its metal gauntlets.
The other Dino was trying to stand back up but Hero kept attacking its tail or its feet, distracting it just enough that it didn’t join the other on top of Timber Wolf. The second Dino came crashing into the first with Hero barely dodging out of the way. Brin landed on top of them, stabbing his clawed hands between the metal plates in the chest of the final prone Dino. He watched its eyes flicker and shut down. He stood up surveying the wreckage. The two arms of the second Dino had been ripped off its body before he’d destroyed its internal circuits, the third’s head was smoking and the final one had a gaping hole in its side.
His smile froze though when he heard Jaz scream.- - -Teresse followed Clara through the halls of the Watchtower. Back in their world Jaz had described it as a massive satellite base that the Justice League used to monitor their world. The place sounded impossible. It was equipped with artificial gravity, a jungle to filter air and a lake under it to provide environments for every league member to hang out in comfortably. Its hull was made of Prometheum, a metal that didn’t even exist on earth, and it was filled with strange technologies from Martians, Kryptonians, and other races that Terese had already gone and forgotten.
Cyborg was their most frequent babysitter and he was currently walking them towards the research lab. It hadn’t taken much convincing to get him to talk to them about the metal lizard case the league was working on. He spoke as they walked telling them about how the lizard men had only just started popping up in and around Metropolis. They were working closely with the detectives to get to the bottom of it. Just last night they lead a bust on a warehouse suspected of being a base of operations. It led to dozens of arrests and the safe return of over a hundred dogs to their owners.
As they were walking, a sanitation worker dressed in blue overalls with a blue cap pulled down over his eyes accidentally bumped into Clara nearly sending her to the ground. He caught her with a slap against her back, muttering apologies as he rushed off. “Ow.” Clara winced.
“The hell was that?” Terese shot a glare back after the quickly disappearing form of the man.
“Are you ok?” Cyborg’s stopped to check on them. Clara nodded, “We’re almost there.” He frowned as he watched the janitor disappear around a corner.
“Any idea why they’re going after pets?” Terese asked.
“They’re not just going after pets.” Cyborg explained as he keyed in the code that granted him access to the research lab. Inside was a giant circular table with numerous buttons, dials and screens all flashing and displaying different feeds of information. The rest of the room was split into subsections with open halls into other offshoot rooms surrounding the circular main one. There were lab assistants with the Justice League symbol stitched into their lab coats rushing about and attending the numerous machines and whatever experiments and tests they were running. “Last night they all began transmitting the same image, they’ve even gone so far as to distribute it among every petty criminal and thug throughout the city.” Cyborg pressed a button on the giant round ‘war table’ that was at the center of the room. Terese and Clara gasped in unison as a giant image of their friends’ fierce face holding a comically large wrench over her head mid swing appeared as a hologram in the centre of the room. Beside it was the image of the same dog Jaz had sent them a picture of when they’d been talking earlier in the day.
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Timber Wolf stood in the middle of the empty basement searching for any sign of the entry or exit used to capture Jaz. Jason sat against the wall, having just woken up after being knocked out. Timber’s eyes allowed him to see perfectly in the darkness, but they could not spot any signs that the room had been disturbed. He could smell the tang of oil and metal the Dino’s released but the door was still locked when he’d arrived and there were no holes in the wall or floors they could’ve crawled through. He snarled, taking a swipe out of the door frame. Distantly, he recalled that Jason would make him fix the damage later, but it didn’t quell his anger now. Timber placed his hand on Jason’s slumped shoulders, “Lock the door behind me. Hide until I come back, call nine-one-one. Wait until the police arrive. I’m going for Jaz.” Jason’s eyes were blank, but he nodded after a moment.Timber could hear the footfalls of enemies upstairs. He thundered up the steps, but Hero slipped past him blocking the exit to the office. He bared his fangs at the dog who seemed unfazed by the sight. Beyond the rage clouding his vision, he noticed the Dino men were retreating. “You want us to follow them.” He kept his voice low and didn’t think twice when the dog nodded at him.He followed the Dinos down the alleyway, sticking to the shadows. They pulled up hoods and placed hats to attempt to hide their form as they piled into a large military style SUV that barely fit their forms in the back seats. Swearing under his breath he looked around for what to do. If he took his bike, his suit would attract the attention of passersby, possibly even the Justice League, but if he lost them it could mean… He shook his head to clear the thought. Using his super strength he launched himself off the ground. He dug his claws into the wall before propelling himself higher using the momentum to reach the top of the four story building. From up here he had an excellent vantage.Down below he spotted Hero giving into the chase. The dog was smart though. It purposefully hung back, and it hid every time the car stopped at a red light. Up top, Timber Wolf didn’t have to be as careful. He ran full speed to the edge of the building leaping over it. He bent his knees to quieten the impact of his landing and used his weight to push his momentum forward into another sprint and leap all the while never letting the SUV leave his sight. He used fire escapes where he could and his claws when he had to to scale taller buildings in his path. They followed the car to the west edge of Suicide slums where it crossed the bridge out of Metropolis. Here they both took the risk of letting the vehicle get just barely out of sight before they sprinted after it. Some cars honked having noticed his uniform but he paid no one else attention.The vehicle didn’t stop till it reached a gate topped with barbed wire. While Hero tried to find a way under the gate, Timber Wolf grabbed onto the wire and tore a hole through the side of it. The thick forest provided excellent cover for them and the soft ground made it near impossible to hear him sprint. The SUV stopped in front of a large cement building built like a featureless rectangle in the middle of nowhere. The building was too new to pass as abandoned but from the outside there were no signs of activity. At least, to any human watching. With Timber Wolf’s super hearing he could hear machinery whirling away inside and the voices of multiple men behind its thick concrete walls.He took vantage behind a large tree trunk up the hill. He watched the Dinos exit the vehicle along side two human drivers. There were no guards posted outside the building but Timber spotted several cameras attached to the sides of the buildings in areas where they were intended not to be spotted. He knew in the back of his mind that he should wait. He could hear his ex’s chiding voice Lightning Lass’ telling him to wait and watch, to scope out the place and attack once he had a plan. He was never patient though and she wasn’t here to stop him this time.Carefully, Timber Wolf and Hero circled the compound looking for an easy way in. The place looked like it had originally been built on the old foundations of a mill. There were outer storage houses, some empty and others still full of old logs. Numerous old dirt roads now overgrown and unusable spanned out into the woods and signs of old stumps from past clear cuts dotted the newly grown forest surrounding it. The new building was a cement block with no features defining its surface. Just the two doors where the Dinos had entered previously. His nose picked up on something else though. Deeper into the woods out of sight of the main building he found an large cement block inset into the earth with a large metal grate covering the top of it. The familiar scent of oil and metal was blowing out of it.“A vent.” He breathed. It dropped many feet, further than his eyes could piece through the dark. “Wait for us out here, howl if you see anymore arrive.” The dog seemed to want to disagree, but Timber didn’t give it any other options. He slashed through the metal grates, peeling it from the cement like opening a can. He wasted no time jumping down the hole digging his claws into the sides of the vent to slow his fall. He crashed through another ceiling grate into an empty corridor. The lights nearest him turned on. He waited for enemies to appear, long enough that the lights turned off automatically. Waving his hand turned them back on. “Shit. Motion sensors.” He had no doubt they knew he was here. He tensed hearing something swiftly approaching but he couldn’t discern where it was coming from until it was on top of him.Hero crashed onto Timber wolf’s head and was sent sliding across the white floors. Just as quickly has he’d fallen he stood back up and shook his coat off appearing completely fine. Timber rubbed his head, “I thought I told you to stay.” Hero barked back indignantly. “Gahh, fine.” He cursed under his breath, “No use arguing with you now.” As he spoke a dozen Dinos and human guards turned the corner ahead of them.He and Hero dived for the nearest alcove. A hail of gunfire erupted where they just stood and followed in their wake. The door in the alcove was bolted forcing Timber to face them head on. He waited for a pause in the gun fire before reaching his clawed hands around the corner firing back on the men. He could hear them yelling to duck and hide and the smell of blood reached his nose from claws that had struck their targets. Both he and Hero seized that moment to move closer, ducking behind cover the moment gun barrels began to peak around the corner again. Timber Wolf’s fangs elongated as fur began to blanket his body.The gunfire ceased to let the Dino’s move forward. Timber advanced as well, leaping three quarters the length of the hall meeting them off guard. He’d grown familiar with fighting them, his swipes and blows landing perfectly between the gaps in their armour plating downing them one by one. By the time Hero had caught up to him he’d downed four foes and was throwing a fifth into a group of humans trying to take aim at him. Stray bullets bounced off of walls as they opened fire on him and the Dinos. Timber Wolf grabbed one of the fallen Dinos using its armoured body as a make-shift shield while also fending off the Dino’s who kept trying to surround him. Hero on the other hand zig-zagged through the chaos dodging into alcoves and behind oncoming metal Dinos until he was in close range. He leapt into the still standing group of humans wrestling guns from their hands and dodging between their legs before they could get a good shot at him.It was enough distraction to allow Timber to dispatch the rest of the Dinos in the hall. The beast within him had nearly covered his entire body in fur, his face had contorted into a half man, half wolf monstrosity and the raw animalistic roar he unleashed sent the remaining human gunmen fleeing.He rushed forward, barely registering the sounds of footfalls quickly approaching from the left-hand side. He took a swing blindly, narrowly missing Jaz who dropped to her knees sliding harmlessly underneath his massive swipe. She crashed into the corner of the wall where Hero excitedly jumped on her. “Holy shit!”The shock of nearly taking her head off reversed his changes. The fangs began to retract, and the fur pulled back into his skin. “Jaz?”“Damn dude! Next time check before you swing, you coulda killed me!” Jaz yelled up at him as she tried to wrestle Hero off herself.“Sorry, I-“ Timber Wolf had no words for what had just happened.“Look, first things first. You know the way out?” Jaz cut him off. She’d stood back up and was trying to decide which direction to run. “Well? Do you?”“No. We can’t go back the way we came in.” Timber Wolf shook his head trying to clear it, “This way.” He began running the same direction Jaz was going down the hall.“How do you know its this way?” Jaz struggled to keep the slow pace he set and she was panting heavily.“I don’t.” When Jaz didn’t respond he glanced behind him. She was scowling. He wanted to know how it was she seemed so calm given the situation. Instead, he asked, “How did you get out?”“I can barely breath dude.” She was panting between words, “Talk. Later.” He tried to hide his laughter, but she didn’t miss it, shooting him a glare in response.The Hall swiftly ended in a large circular door. Just from the look of it, Timber Wolf could tell it was heavily reinforced. It wouldn’t be something he could tear through even with his claws and super strength.“Welcome.” The arrogant and nasally voice startled them. Timber Wolf narrowed his eyes following the glint of a tiny camera lens hidden between the seams of the door. Beside him Jaz craned her neck trying to find the source of the voice. “I’ve been expecting you two.”“Have you?” He asked incredulously.Beside him Jaz mocked, “You Literally kidnapped me here, what do you mean ‘you’ve been expecting us’.” Timber Wolf’s eyebrows raised.“Hah! I’ll ignore your comment as I highly doubt your minds can comprehend how bad your situation is. Allow me to show you.” The door opened like an iris shutter revealing several other layers of doors, one sliding up, another left, one down.Jaz chuckled, elbowing Brin like she was sharing a joke, “One insult and he compensates by letting us into his lair. Check out the doors, too.” She just smiled at him when he gave her a suspicious look. He didn’t understand how she could be laughing in this situation; was she just a normal human?The final door was another circular one. They walked through ten feet of doors, Jaz taking up the rear with Hero at Jaz’s side and Timber in the front. Around them was a massive underground dome lined with smooth concrete and a large central column with a glass ball affixed to the top of it. Inside was a tiny man in a lab coat. He had a hunched back and white hair in a ring around his bald pointed dome. His large glasses magnified his eyes so you couldn’t see the end of them, just the eyeballs, tying the look together. The dome was several football fields across and filled to the brim with metal dinosaurs. They were all lined up in rows of five with a single one at their head, larger than the rest and the only one holding a machine gun facing their direction. Timber Wolf fought the urge to curse under his breath not wanting to give Jaz or the old man any doubt that he could get them out of this mess.“Now do you understand the predicament you’re in?” The nasally voice boomed around the dome echoing around them like a taunt. Instinctively Timber jumped in front of Jaz trying to shield her but there were on all sides. “Its no use! Every one of my squadrons are equipped with machine guns trained at the human girl you’re protecting! If you value her life, you’ll surrender.”Timber Wolf cursed under his breath but didn’t move. The balding man chuckled, “The arrogance of you heroes. Look at you down there, pretending like you’re a match for my army Raptor Soldiers!” He made a show of laughing maniacally, “Your kind are the reason I decided to begin this research. I, Maxmellius Gorgonzolas will put an end to the hero menace.” He laughed.“What research!” Jaz called out.He ignored her, “Now, kneel with your hands on the ground otherwise I’ll order them to kill you both.” Jaz took a step closer to Timber. Try as he might, he couldn’t see a way out of this that wouldn’t result in her immediately dying. He had no back up, and no plan. He had arrogantly walked them straight into a trap and he didn’t have the power to protect her. Her hand gently touched the back of his arm.“Brin.” He ignored her, unable to face her.“At least let her go, she’s just a human!” There was a pang of desperation in his voice he hoped she didn’t hear.“No.” Maxmellius laughed, “Why would I afford you any request when I hold all the power here?” The bug eyed man looked at Jaz, “Besides. She’s far more than ‘just a human’ as you say, and I intend to find out exactly what you are. Now, you have three seconds to kneel or my Raptors will open fire.”Timber Wolf kneeled down as he man spoke three. He squeezed his eyes shut and balled his fists angry at himself. This was all his fault.
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Jaz kneeled alongside Brin pulling Hero into an embrace. She left a kiss on his snout.“I’ll get us out of this. Just wait for me.” Brin whispered. His voice sounded gravelly and low, more like a growl than speech. The Raptor soldiers quickly seized him, roughly pulling him to his feet. They shackled him using a giant block like cuff that attached magnetically to itself before dragging him away. Their tails slam into his legs tripping him up, but she never heard him make so much as a grunt of pain before she lost sight of him.At the same time, two Raptors grabbed Jaz by her upper arms while another tried to get a hold of Hero. He slipped out of its arms, easily dodging behind it. Jaz felt a metal tail snake around her neck. It squeezed cutting off her air. She struggled to grab it, to rip it off her neck, but her arms were clamped against her sides in a bruising grip by both Raptors. Seeing this, Hero stopped struggling and allowed himself to be grabbed. Jaz gasped for air, tears blurring her vision as the tail finally released her. By the time she’d recovered Hero had already disappeared and she was being dragged away in the opposite direction of Timber Wolf.This time she was conscious for them marching her through the halls. She didn’t attempt to resist. There was no point anyways, being weaker than a normal human. Jaz focused on trying to memorize the exact path they were taking, recounting each twist and turn as well as every door number they passed. She looked for any markings she could use, but every hall was the same; smooth cement with no distinguishable features. In her mind she repeated each twist in turn like a mantra, adding to it as they went.They stopped in front of a door labelled seventy three. The door slid the wall revealing a large laboratory with rows upon rows of operating tables and machines. At the center of the room was a large glass dome with green liquid suspended in it, but aside from bubbles it was empty. Jaz managed to catch a glimpse of the code they keyed into the door to open it and she burned it into her memory. They pushed her through the lab snaking between various large machines and equipment designed to scan and monitor. On the other end of the room was another door locked with a keypad. This time the Raptor noticed her watching and hit her hard on the back of her head scattering stars in her vision. She focused hard on remembering the two codes, completely ignoring her surroundings even as she was being shoved into a small metal cube of a room. A blue force field stuttered to life sealing her in. She glared at their retreating forms until the door had hissed shut.“Hey. Are you ok?” A male voice called out at her from the cell directly in front of hers. Jaz blurted out the two codes she was trying to memorize. “What was that?”“The codes to the doors, remember them.” She continued to focus on the mantra.“Six numbers and five. You’re missing a digit.” A female voice caught Jaz’s eyes and she focused on the woman approaching the forcefield on the far end of the room. She had ice blue eyes and golden hair she let flow freely over her shoulders. She had the face of a supermodel and her bright red lipstick really stuck out to Jaz. She was dressed in black spandex with a blackish blue leather jacket on, floral patterned black spandex leggings and heeled ankle boots. Jaz took another look at the man who’d asked if she was ok before. He wore a black mask that concealed just his eyes, his blond hair was topped by a feathered green hat and he wore a green spandex and leather body suit.“Oh! It’s you two!” Jaz smiled, “The Black Canary and the Green Arrow! I’m a big fan.” Despite herself, she smiled at the sight of them in the flesh. If only she was meeting them at a fundraiser or some other innocuous event, rather than trapped in a creepy old mans laboratory dungeon.“We get that a lot,” The Green Arrow winked, flipping Jaz a finger gun.The Black Canary rolled her eyes at him, “The door codes. What doors do they go to?”“The complete one is the door to the lab, incomplete one is the door to this room.” Jaz replied.“Great…” The Green Arrow paused, “You don’t happen to have a plan to get us out of the cages, do you?”Jaz leaned against the wall, letting herself slide down the wall till she was sitting. “None whatsoever.”The Black Canary swore under her breath turning away frustrated. “Don’t mind her,” Arrow tried to reassure Jaz. “So. You know who we are, but we don’t know you. Or, err. Recognize you at least.”Jaz could tell by the way he was speaking that he was trying to help take her mind off things, “Uh, it’s probably best if I don’t say.” She smiled sheepishly trying to come up with some excuse.“Oh! You’re not in uniform, are you?” Arrow came to the wrong conclusion, but Jaz quickly nodded happy to be saved the work of lying. In truth she just didn’t want it to get back to Terese and Clara that she’d been captured in this crazy man’s basement. He laughed embarrassed, “And here I thought you were a civilian.”“She’s to calm to be a civ, Arrow.” Canary spoke behind her shoulder.“So, how did they capture you two? I don’t think I’ve heard anything about you missing yet.” Jaz tried to change the subject fast.“We don’t know how long we’ve been down here. We were tasked with protecting the streets of Metropolis while the rest of the league took on their main base of operations… Or at least, where we thought it was.” He scratched the back of his head. He was sitting on the metal cot that jutted out of the corner of his cell. “The rest is kind of blurry.”“Ah, no wonder. That happened last night so you haven’t been here long at least.” Jaz gazed at the metal cot in her own cell calculating whether or not it would be comfortable enough to warrant moving.“It hasn’t even been a day?” Arrow nodded, “Felt like its been forever since we’ve been trapped here together.” He shot Canary’s back a coy smile, “Well I’m sure they’re already looking for us as we speak.”“I remember us checking in at the end of the mission,” Canary turned to face them, “They won’t come looking until someone notices us missing; and that could take days.”Arrow stood and stretched, “Then we’ll just have to save ourselves.” He gave Jaz a confident smile before stretching out on his cot. Canary just shook her head before punching the force field for good measure. Her fist bounced back as if slammed with an equal amount of force and Jaz watched her rub her gloved hand as a wisp of smoke rose up.The room fell quiet which was just as well to Jaz. The smack across her head had re-awoken that concussion of hers and her body felt heavy as it hit the metal cot.
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Hero slammed into the glass wall of his chamber at the center of a circular room. The door they’d thrown him through sealed so tight the seam disappeared. He slammed himself against it, bouncing off the glass harmlessly.“It’s no use,” The nasally voice of Maxmellius chimed in. Hero searched the room outside until he spotted the hunched figure walking along the upper balcony high above his chamber. The glass extended another story up with a lower walkway surrounding it and a balcony looking down on it. “The glass is infused with the same kind of red Kryptonite that I inserted in your body a week ago.”
His smile turned mocking, “How does it feel, being reduced to a mere dog before your fellow supers, Superman?” He spat the name.Superman bared his teeth, releasing a menacing growl but the man simply laughed. “Oh that’s right, you’re a dog.” He sneered, “I can’t understand you, what was that again?” Superman took a running leap attempting to smash through the glass in front of Maxmellius. The glass hummed from the blow, but Superman's already weakened body couldn’t hold up in the face of the kryptonite infused glass. He bounced off harmlessly.“Oh, don’t think you’ll be escaping again super dog. I want to make sure you watch as each one of your friends become mere pet’s just like you. Soon the world will see the downfall of the Justice League, and it all started because of you.”Maxmellius paused for a moment, his face twisted in rage as a memory flashed in his mind. He smiled again when his eyes fell on Hero. “Now that I have you again, I’m going to shock the world with how its greatest hero has stooped so low as to eating dog food off the floor.” He slammed his fist into a button and a stream of kibble fell from a small hole in the ceiling high above. Superman ignored it as it rained down around him. “Oh? Not hungry? Don’t worry.” The man pointed to several cameras all pointed on the cage, “The camera’s are always running, Superman. No matter how long it takes, every animal has to eat.” The man’s laughter echoed long after he’d left.
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Jaz startled awake to the sound of the forcefield shutting down. She blinked trying to get her bearings as two thug-like looking men dressed in torn jeans, ripped black shirts and spiked vests walked into the room pulling her to her feet. Canary was awake and standing at the front of her cell. “Where are you taking us?” She demanded.“Us? Don’t remember inviting you,” One of the men responded. They didn’t wait to hear her response. They led Jaz to one of the numerous operating chairs in the lab, pushing her roughly into it. It had large leather straps to restrain her arms and legs which they wasted no time fastening despite her barely being in the seat. By the time they were done, and she’d squirmed her way into the seat properly, she realized they were loose enough for her to slip out of. Her heart began racing as she tried to figure out what to do.“Head back.” The second man pulled her head against the pad, strapping it in place. He glanced at a notepad before positioning some of the machines, pointy ends towards her. As they worked around her they were complaining to each other.“I can’t believe they have us doing this menial bullshit. What the fuck is this for anyways?” The grunt who’d strapped her down spoke.“Oh shut up, will you?” The second one cursed as he sat himself behind a computer, “The gig’s gonna pay real good, who cares if we have to strap some dumbass’s down and press buttons.” He was following some instructions written down on a paper pad, typing it into the computer in front of him. As he did some of the machines responded, calibrating or adjusting themselves. The computer was facing her making it impossible for her to see what he was doing.“That’s assuming we even get paid. Don’t you forget he was supposed to pay us a week ago, then it became once that damn dog was captured. Now, we got half our people behind bars and still no cash.”“And It’s only been a day since we got the damned mutt in the glass cage. Besides, the guys running the dog collection got themselves caught, leading those damn detectives right too em. Just play it smart and we’ll get our money.” Silence fell between them while Jaz looked for an opening. She couldn’t help but notice the guns holstered on their belts. While they were ‘grunts’ to say the least, they were huge compared to her and she had no weapon she could use to knock them out.“You guys honestly think he’s got the cash to pay you?” She chimed in, hoping to instigate something. They didn’t strike her as the type who were particularly loyal, at least not to anything but cash.“Don’t talk to her.” The one behind the computer warned his friend. The other one just clicked his tongue, jabbing a needle into her arm far too aggressively. Jaz winced but otherwise made no noise.“God damn it, why isn’t the vial filling.” He moved the needle in her arm forcing her to bite her cheek to stop herself crying out.“Go for the vein dude, the fucking vein.”It was a painful few moments as he kept jabbing and missing it. Finally, the vial began to fill. “Bet you don’t know what he’s gonna do with the blood eh?” Jaz kept prodding.“I don’t give a shit what he’s going to do to you-“ His friend cut him off warning him not to speak to her. They yelled at each other for a moment longer before he returned to swap vials, filling multiple in a row.“Don’t care, or don’t need to know?” Jaz tried again.He chuckled, “Look, hero girl. I’m just in it for the money. Cold. Hard. Cash. I don’t give a shit about needing to know anything, so long as I get paid.”“Then you should at least know whether or not this guy’s good for his word, eh?” She noticed his eyebrow twitch. It was all the indication she needed to know a seed of doubt was planted, “Think about it. Some nobody scientist experimenting on dogs, illegal operation in a shitty bunker of a laboratory down here. Hell, the guy can’t even afford real lab assistants, so he’s got you two down here using post it notes for his research. Does that sound like a guy who’s got money?”“She’s just-“ He yelled at his colleague to shut it.“And why do you care?”“Honestly? I don’t. But I can say, if it turns out the guy’s been playing you, you’ve got a room full of problems to get back at him with.” She shrugged, hoping any of her bullshit had some truth to it. The rest of the procedure wrapped up in silence. Nothing else stood out to her that she could use. They escorted her back to the cell, taking care to conceal the pin from her.“Damn.” Arrow was the first to speak. “I was hoping you could take those two.”Jaz simply shook her head, laying back onto her cot wordlessly.
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Jaz woke up to the sound of a body slamming into the forcefield of her cell. Since Jaz’s scan they’d led Arrow away to. He’d even managed to overcome them in the lab before the Raptors beat him back down and dragged him back. That was hours ago and now it was Canary’s turn. This time the thugs working the lab had Raptor bodyguards to escort them but that hadn’t stopped her from sending both men flying.The two Raptors surged into the cell. She dodged and danced around them landing strikes with a knife she’d stolen from one of the thugs. She was fast and nimble twisting out of the way of their strikes before using their momentum to knock them off balance. Canary kicked off the wall leaping over the head of one of the Raptors onto the shoulder of the other sinking the knife between the chinks in its armor. Before it hit the ground, she was in the air again slamming the head of final Raptor into the wall it behind it. She ducked as its tail swung harmlessly above her head before lunging forward to sink the knife into a weak spot on its face from where its armor had been damaged. While the fight was happening one of the thugs had called for backup on his radio and by the time the two Raptors had fallen four more were pouring through the door. One had a taser at the end of its tail that it used to try to stab at Canary. She backflipped out of the way landing in front of the the back wall of her cell. She was cornered but no doubt crossed her face.“I’m waiting boys,” She goaded them. The cell was only large enough for two of them to surge in while the other two crowded the door cutting off Jaz’s view of the fight. They stabbed and slashed into the cell with their tails, especially the one with the taser. Jaz could hear when it managed to finally land a hit. Canary cried out but a moment later Jaz’s hope was rekindled that she could win this fight when one of the Raptors in the cell slammed into the two at the door. Canary vaulted over the three of them but the taster tail grabbed onto her leg mid leap shocking her in the air. She landed in a heap as electricity surged through her body and she grit her teeth trying to get back up.By now both Jaz and Arrow were at the front of their cells yelling for them to stop. Canary tried to stand back up multiple times, collapsing into a heap on each attempt until she couldn’t lift herself off the floor. Only then did it stop electrocuting her. Two Raptors lifted her by the arms. Jaz watched in horror as they dragged the Black Canary away, her head rolling limply side to side.Arrow slammed both his fists into the shield so hard it created a massive explosion of kinetic energy that slammed him into back of his cell. The two thugs laughed as they left the room leaving Jaz and him alone together again. Jaz leaned against the wall at the front of her cage burying her head into her elbow. She was to wound up to sit down and she felt sick and weak with hunger. At the very least they were being given water, but she’d had nothing else in her stomach since arriving here.“Hey.” Jaz remained still, but Arrow kept repeating ‘hey’ until she glanced his way. He was crouching on the floor watching her, “You ok?” Jaz was about to say she was fine and to not worry when tears stung her eyes. “Woah, woah, woah. It’s ok. Hey, look at me.” He kept calling her until she met his gaze again, “We’ll be fine, ok? Canary will be fine, she’s a strong girl.”“They just dragged her away-““I’ve seen her take worse beatings and still land a nasty punch afterwards.” Arrow sounded so confident in Black Canary’s capabilities.“Why didn’t she use her siren song?” Jaz knew she’d had the perfect moment when the four Raptors and the two thugs were all lined up in the tiny hall in front of her cage.“Because she didn’t want to hurt us. She told me her song could kill a human at close range and no matter what she did, we would’ve been hit by it.” Jaz slumped her head. She knew the answer, but hearing that she was the reason someone had lost their chance to escape… It didn’t sit right in her gut.Don’t you worry about Canary. She’s a hero, one of the best. And besides, we’ve already been down here for a while now. I’m sure they’re looking for us as we speak up top. We just need the right opportunity and we’re out of here. Trust me, I’ve got this figured out.”“You do?” Jaz wiped the tears off her face feeling embarrassed she’d cracked like that.“I do. Just trust me and be ready for when the time comes.” She searched his face but couldn’t find an ounce of doubt in it. He looked calm and collected despite the bruises and cuts covering his body.“When we get out we gotta find Timber Wolf, they have him someplace else in this compound.” Jaz sat back down taking deep breaths to quell the panic boiling in her chest. “And Hero. He’s the dog they were searching for.”“Timber Wolf? Haven’t heard that name, is he your partner?”“Yeah. You could say that.” Something she’d said made Arrow laugh.“It’s like that, I see.” He was smiling but his face grew somber as he asked about Hero.“We hadn’t figured out why they wanted him before they’d attacked the clinic again the next night.” Arrow just nodded thinking to himself. “You like Canary, don’t you.” Jaz’s words caught him off guard. He swiftly stood, shaking his hands out in front of him as if to dispel the idea from hanging around too long.“Oh! No, no, no. Canary? Nah, she’s a friend- Er. Partner. Yeah, we’re just colleagues. Hardly even know each other.” He kept babbling until Jaz started to laugh.“Partners, eh?” She smiled. In the real world she knew that they’d become more than just partners in the future. “Well, you two seem to make great partners then. You keep her spirits up and she keeps you grounded.” It wasn’t her place to interfere. This wasn’t her world after all.“You think so?” He acted flustered, laughing as if he already knew that’s what she meant, “Right, we do make great partners.”“I’m going to try and rest. The hungers taking it out of me and I’ll need whatever I’ve got left for that plan of yours I bet.”“Right. Yes. The plan… Get some rest then.” Despite saying that Jaz struggled to sleep on the hard cot. Instead, she stared at the ceiling of her cell dwelling over all the things she’d experienced in this world and whether she’d miss it when the time came to go. She didn’t know how long it had been since they’d dragged Canary away when the door slid open startling Jaz awake from her half-dazed snooze.Canary was still dazed and stumbling over her feet when they unceremoniously threw her into the back of her cell. She hit the wall and collapsed onto floor not moving. Jaz and Arrow didn’t speak, instead glancing at each other while they waited for the two men to leave. Arrow leaned forward as far as his cell would allow calling to Canary. She didn’t respond. Long arduous moments passed. No matter what Arrow said, she didn’t react.“Do you think she’s…” Jaz couldn’t finish the sentence.“No. I think she just needs some rest. They’d already taken her to get… Scanned or whatever they were doing to you and me. This was the second time they’d taken her out of this room. Whatever it is they’ve done, they’ll be able to fix it on the Watch Tower.” He sounded so sure that just hearing that seemed to ease Jaz’s worries.“We should wait until she’s recovered a bit before we enact your plan.”“My plan… Right. I’ll… Watch over her. You should go back to sleeping. You were snoring quite loudly.” Jaz’s face contorted in horror while Arrow laughed. “I’m joking.”Jaz was only just beginning to fall asleep when the two thugs who’d originally scanned her entered the room. This time they were accompanied by two Raptors who quickly seized Jaz’s arms the moment the force field shut down. As they escorted her out Arrow called, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”They led her out of the lab, down some of the same halls they’d taken the second time she’d been captured. This time they passed the hall she’d originally found Hero and Timber Wolf in except this time they walked down the hall they’d come from. At the end of it was an elevator. Jaz was careful to memorize the route to the elevator. Especially since she could tell it would take them out of the facility. They exited only a few floors higher, despite the facility being nearly twenty floors underground.She found herself in the hall leading towards the glass dome they’d first encounter Maxmellius in overlooking the large room they’d been captured in. The first time she’d entered she was so distracted from the armies of Raptors that she hadn’t noticed the large mechanical equipment lining the walls. Huge mechanical arms were assembling more Raptor men using light and lasers to fabricate them as a spool of metal was fed into the machines.They reached the midway point of the hall where it forked, on her left was the glass dome and ahead it continued on. This is where her entourage stopped. Jaz felt herself get pushed forward, forced to walked down the hall towards the dome alone. The floor was suspended metal grating with large glass panels encircling it. Inside Maxmellius’s office the floor extended to a circular platform surrounding his desk and large chair that was currently facing away from her.The leather chair swivelled to face Jaz. Up until that moment her heart had been pounding in her chest but the sight of the middle aged Maxmellius sitting in a chair that was comically oversized for him struck her with how corny the entire scene felt, and she was reminded that she was in the world of a comic book. “Jaz Heller, I’ve been ex-““You know, the chair is killing the vibe.” She said dryly.The man’s eyebrows knit together, caught off guard after she’d so rudely interrupted his monologue, “What are you talking about?”“The chair. You look so tiny in it so the whole,” She gestured towards his entire dome, “Impact you were going for was killed ‘cus all I could think was how much the chair makes you look small.”The man’s mouth gaped a few times, stunned. She could see colour fill his face, “What do you mean I look small. I’m five eight, I’m above average height for a man!”“Wait, are you? Can you stand up?” Jaz folded her arms as the man hopped out of the chair standing at his full height. He was indeed slightly taller than her. “Yeah. It’s the chair then. Lose the puffy leather and the tall back. Something metal will give you that womp you’re going for.” Despite her calm demeanor Jaz’s heart was beating hard. Her palms were sweaty so she’d folded her arms to hide the fact that she felt like shaking. Maxmellius didn’t seem to be doing any better though. His face had flushed, and he sputtered.“I’ll have you know I was not going for,” He shook his head trying to find the words, “For some sort of dramatized introduction.”“Ok, but introductions are still really important dude.”“Exactly.” He glared back at his chair realizing he’d just agreed, his eyes narrowing. “Come with me.” Jaz stepped aside as he brushed past. Up close he didn’t look like such an old man. Maybe in his forties or fifties. He had a combover his bald spot and a noticeable limp to accompany his hunch. Jaz glanced around but it wasn’t like she had any choice. She could maybe overcome him by surprise, but the Raptors were just down the hall putting an end to that thought.They walked down the hall, past the four guards, this time headed in the direction opposite the one she’d originally came from. The hall lead to another circular room with a glass cylinder in the middle of it that extended down far below two stories. There was no way down from up here. “Look.” Maxmellius pointed to the center of the glass. Hunched on the floor was a furry ball.“HERO!” Jaz called out, slamming into the railing as she did. Max instinctively reached out grabbing her by the arm in case she’d toppled over before he recovered and let go again, hoping she hadn’t noticed. Hero did though, her heart broke seeing him weakly lift his head and look at her. Instead of springing too his feet like he normally would he stood up on wobbly legs and slammed weakly into the glass. “What did you do to him?” Jaz demanded, turning on Maxmellius.“Nothing he didn’t do to himself.” Maxmellius’s demeanor shifted. “For all the pain he’s caused, he deserves this fate.”“He’s a dog, what are you talking about?” Jaz couldn’t keep the anger out of her voice, nor could she stop herself yelling at him.“A dog?” The mans face contorted in laughter, “Do you here that Hero. She think’s you’re just a dog!”Jaz’s eyes narrowed, glancing back at Hero who was now staring up at them. “Why are you doing this? You have Green Arrow and Black Canary locked in cages, hundreds of pets stolen across the city and the Justice League is out in force looking for you. Why?” Her voice dropped an octave as she forced herself to control her anger.“Why? No one has ever asked me why.”Jaz’s hands balled into fists, “I’m asking. Why are you doing this?”Maxmellius glared at Hero for a while before speaking, “I’ve spent my entire life living in the shadow of these heroes. Scientific discovery pales in comparison to the eye-catching headlines that fill the newspapers, its all everyone cares about.”“So, this is about recognition?” Jaz asked incredulously.“No! See this is why I’m doing this. No one ever understands!”Realizing she was losing him she spoke, “Then help me understand.”He ran his hand through what was left of his hair carefully picking his words, “When I was young it didn’t matter what everyone was talking about… But it did matter to my wife. She wanted to make a name for herself, she was onto something!” Shadows spread across his face, “But in order to pursue it she would have to conduct some… creative experiments. The potential of it all! It far outweighed the minor sacrifices she had to make in the name of progress.” He’d become animated, shaking his fist as he said progress. “But when the Justice League got involved, when Superman… Killed my wife. Well, It was all they spoke about. Nothing about the achievements she made, nothing about her discoveries! Do you know that the world still uses her research to this day? The fabricators that make my army of Raptors were brought about in part because of her. They just won’t acknowledge whose corpse the technology upgrading their damned watch tower came from.”Jaz struggled to find what to say. “So… Why the dog then?”“Hah. The dog is a lesson. I’ll teach each and every one of them to know their places. Their minds are like animals, and just like animals they are meant to bark and sit at our command.” The cruel smile finally made Jaz clue in.“Hero is a super… He isn’t just a dog, is he?” The way the mans smile contorted made Jaz want to punch him even more, “Who is he? Turn him back! None of this will undue your wife’s death-““Don’t bring her into this!” He cut her off.“She’s dead Max, and none of this is going to bring her back!” He slapped her. The hit sent Jaz’s weak body slamming into the wall out of sight of Hero.“Oh yes. I almost forgot,” He stood over Jaz watching her touch her stinging cheek and split lip, “At first I thought you were one of them from the odd scans sent to me by my Raptors.” He kneeled in front of her, “But you’re not. You’re weaker than even a human like me. Your bones are brittle. A good twist of the arm,” He grabbed Jaz’s jaw, “Or the flick of a wrist will snap your neck. I brought you here to ask just what are you, you don’t match the regular variables one would see in a human, yet your DNA says you’re nothing but-““Sir.” One of the thugs had approached them, a Raptor at his side. “We’ve got a problem.” After a moment Maxmellius released Jaz. She stood listening to the men speak. Two detectives had raided their final warehouse halting their operations drug production. Jaz watched them argue. The thugs were arguing that their gig was up now, without the drugs they had no hope to overcome the Justice League. Maxmellius wouldn’t listen, going so far as to order his Raptor to slam the man into the wall until he shut up. They were ordered to return Jaz to her cell while he organized a party to recover the missing stock of drugs.She walked in silence with the two thugs she’d tried to manipulate however many days ago until they reached her cell. Jaz could tell from the look on their faces they weren’t happy, but she didn’t press her luck by saying anything. She waited until she heard the doors to the outer lab close. “Canary awake?”Arrow shook her head. Jaz explained the situation going on outside, finishing with, “I have a feeling the two thugs you saw, they’re going to betray him.”
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Jaz’s feeling proved right hours later when all three forcefields shut down automatically. The lights in the room were still on and the lock on the door was still powered meaning it must have been deliberate. They wasted no time rushing to Black Canary’s side. Arrow gingerly rolled her onto her side, his eyes widening in shock. Canary had a very obviously sutured incision spanning across her neck. Her eyes flickered open for a moment. They were clouded by pain and delirium from whatever drugs they pumped into her body before the surgery. She moved as if to speak but a raspy croak whistled out of her mouth instead.“Shh, don’t speak. Just rest, I got you.” He turned to Jaz, “Think you can figure out the door?” She nodded leaving their side. With countless hours trapped with nothing to do she’d been thinking of how to figure out the final missing digit. She knew that keypad locks like these would often have the code worn into the buttons with the paint wearing off, or obvious signs of constant touch appearing on the metal around the button. She wasn’t wrong, she could see obvious marks on which keys were used frequently. The issue was that those marks were only on four of the buttons meaning her final button was a double and could be any one of the other four.One – Nine – Eight – Four – One – BlankShe searched the panel to see if the ones that were doubled up were any more significantly worn down but aside from the one key the others looked too similar to tell for sure. She tried nine at the end. It blinked red twice giving a ‘failed’ tone. She cursed. She tried one next. It was the same. “Uhh, Hey Arrow. How many tries do you get before it locks you out. Five?”“Less, it’s usually three and then it sets off an alarm.” He called back. “How many have you tried?”“Two.” She racked her brain at what to do. It was either eight or four. A fifty-fifty chance of success.“Trust in your gut kid.” Jaz turned to look at him. He had carefully collected Canary’s body into his arms taking care to rest her head against his shoulder so it didn’t flop. Jaz nodded at him, her hands trembling slightly. She didn’t want to fail them. She stared for a moment at the keypad until a thought crossed her mind. When she made her own passcodes, she tried to make them ‘memorable’. One-One at the end was a classic. Repeating the first two digits at the end was another… So, repeating the first and last digit at the end. That must be it. She keyed in four. The button flashed green sliding the door open.Jaz let out a long breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. She peeked into the Lab. The lights were out so the room was only lit by the din of the multiple screens lining the walls as well as the massive glass tank of green fluid lit from within. “The coast is clear.” She whispered.“I see that.” Jaz yelped at the sound of Green Arrows voice standing beside her. He flashed her a grin before entering the lab, picking one of the operating tables to gently place Black Canary down on. “How good are you with computers?”“I’m an average student, if that’s what you’re asking.” Jaz replied jokingly.“Well, if It’s good enough for school,” Arrow shrugged before pointing at a group of computers. “I want to see what they pumped her full of. If we’re going to have any chance of getting out, we’ll need her awake... And I’ll need my bow as well.”Jaz nodded, speaking under her breath that she could do this. The computers also had passcode locks when she booted them. The passcode to the cell and the main door didn’t work… Remembering the notepads she saw them using she searched the desk for one. She found it and the passcode scribbled on one of the leaflets. She called out to Arrow letting him know before diving into the files trying to sort through huge documents filled with experiments and projects the lab had been working on. It all spanned back years. “For an average student you’ve just hacked into the secret lab of a super villain, and your teachers gave you a C?”“I was a B average-”“Oh. One of those students. Humble. I like it.” Jaz found herself rolling her eyes. Still, she appreciated his sense of humor now. The anxiety making her shake was slowly fading.A file caught her attention labelled ‘Project Obedience’. Clicking into it caused a wave of photos to open all at once as well as the text files accompanying them. Flashes of test subjects, unfamiliar heroes strapped into the same chair they’d scanned her in, and finally the form of a dog and a man floating in the green tank of liquid at the center of the room. “Arrow!”“What did you find?” Arrow asked running to join her at the desk.“I think it’s the experiments they were conducting. Max had said something about how he wanted all heroes to bark and sit at his command. Project Obedience sounds a lot like that. Also, this.” She clicked on a gruesome image of Black Canary. A flap of skin had been peeled open on her neck and the image had circles depicting spots they had altered. When Arrow didn’t respond she chanced a glance at him. His usual calm and joking demeanor had been replaced by a mask of anger. He quickly hid it when he realized Jaz was facing him.“Anything about what they used to put her under?” His tone was flatter. She could tell he was struggling to control it for her sake.“Yeah. Some sort of drug they developed.” She nodded towards the cupboards. Arrow ran across the room, vaulting over a table in his path before pulling open the drawers. “From what I’m reading here, uhh...” She quickly sifted through documents and files changing tabs as she tried to find the image. “Here, you’re looking for some small glass vials. Green is bad, red is good. Try to find both... I think the red one will reverse the effects of the green. I’m not quite sure yet; lemme read this.” She could hear arrow muttering under his breath repeating green is bad, red is good over and over as he tore through the cabinets along the wall. The files were dense, using academic language she was unfamiliar with while constantly referring to an ‘X Factor’ they’d been researching. There was even mention of red kryptonite, leaving Jaz with a sickening feeling. She didn’t want to imagine what would have happened if they managed to capture Superman.“I found it! Ha!” Arrow held up two glass boxes full of five vials each, one set of green another of the red. He rushed over to Black Canary with it, prying the glass top off. Jaz joined him finding an unused syringe left out on one of the side tables. She took two of the red vials clicking one into place behind the needle and pocketing the other. Arrow raised a brow but didn’t ask when she simply shrugged as reply. He could only focus on helping Black Canary. “Are you sure it’s the red one?”“Mostly. There were a lot of documents and I only skimmed through them. They used language I didn’t understand but…” He took the syringe out of Jaz’s hand. Seeing the expression of concern he had for Black Canary Jaz finally affirmed, “It’s the red one. You need to get it into one of her veins.” Jaz began removing the leather jacket Black Canary was wearing to reveal her inside of her elbow.“Where?” Green arrow gently extended Canary’s arm.“Looks like hers aren’t as visible as mine…” Jaz pulled up her sleeve showing the thin blueish green line in the crease of her elbow. She watched him angle the needle above Black Canary’s arm in roughly the same area of Jaz’s visible vein before he pushed it in.“Use the whole amount. I think they’re pre-dosed.” They watched the vial slowly drain into Black Canary’s arm, then they both stared at Canary’s face. Minutes passed and nothing happened. “I’m going to check over those documents, see if I missed anything…” Arrow didn’t respond, “And I’ll see if I can find a map or something of the base. Maybe figure out where your bow is.”
She returned to the computer. She tried using the search function to find anything, but she couldn’t focus on it.Jaz’s attention snapped back to the table. Green Arrow was calling Canary’s name. Black Canary was trying to sit upright while Green Arrow tried to push her back down, voicing that she was pushing herself to fast with her injuries. Canary’s voice was hoarse when she finally spoke, “Arrow, let go of me or I’ll make sure you end up on your own table.”“Just. Take it easy, ok? You’ve been out for hours.” He backed off giving Canary the space to sit up. She touched her throat wincing in pain.“What happened?” Jaz sat silent while Green Arrow recounted the past twenty-four hours to Canary. Her face was calm even when Arrow was attempting to dance around the operating incision on her neck. She finally forced it out of him and sat there tracing the line of the incision across her neck. Jaz froze up when Black Canary got up and started walking towards her. “Can you show me the picture hun?” Even hoarse, her voice was sultry.Jaz decided against trying to talk Canary out of it. She couldn’t imagine what she’d be feeling having just woken up to find out she’d been operated on against her will… Jaz’s mouse hesitated hovering over the image file. Black Canary leaned over her shoulder placing her own hand over Jaz’s gently, clicking the button for her. While they both stared at the photo and surgical notes Jaz repeated what Green Arrow had said earlier, “The Watchtower will undo whatever they tried to do to you.”Black Canary was impressively calm as she spoke, “It’s as I figured. They disabled my siren song, we’ll have to be careful not to draw too much attention. Do we have a map?” Jaz shook her head trying to hide the blush colouring her cheeks. “Allow me.” They switched spots. “Try to find me a USB or something we can use to take evidence. This looks like it’s bigger than just a dog stealing ring.” Canary was sifting through information faster than Jaz could, highlighting and picking apart info with an experts hand. “What were they trying to do?” She muttered. Jaz left her to it and began sifting through desk drawers trying to find any loose USBs.“Canary?” Arrow stood nearby, his arms folded across his chest. “We should find a way out of the facility, call in back up.”“And lose the chance to catch the mastermind before he can run?” She cut Arrow off as he was about to protest, “Robin, I’m not so fragile that I can’t fight without my siren song. Besides, I won’t go down like that again.”“I uhh…” He scratched the back of his neck, “I don’t have my bow.”“Stand behind me, I’ll protect you.” Canary smiled and winked at him. He scowled back.Jaz placed down the USB beside Black Canary. “Were you able to make heads or tails of it?”Canary spoke as she plugged in the USB starting the transfer, “It looks like they’ve been running experiments starting a couple months ago. This might be what Superman was working on.” Canary pulled up several photos as Jaz and Arrow gathered behind her. One showed a hero strapped into the operating table fighting against his binds, another of a Hero lifting up a massive bolder. A final one depicted the same hero. His arms looked visibly smaller, and he appeared to be struggling to lift a boulder half the size of the first.“Superman was working this case?” Arrow asked.“Last I spoke to him he was looking in on reports of some of the new recruits going missing.” She nodded at the hero on the screen, “Icon. Super strength and a talent for fighting. He was a promising new recruit, said he joined because his side kick nearly died under his watch. He stopped coming to practice with Wildcat who later reported him missing.” Icon was in scrubs in the photos making it impossible at first for Jaz to recognize him at first but now that Canary had put a name to the image Jaz could see first hand what he looked like in real life. He was dark skinned with short black hair, a strong jaw and a very serious face. In the first pick of him moving to throw a boulder it was clear he was in chains and fighting against his captors, lightning was arcing across his body but despite that he was fighting back. He looked huge too, with the physique of powerful hero, a massive barrelled chest and huge arms. In the second pic he looked half his size, though the determination in his eyes hadn’t lessened a bit. Jaz bit her tongue to stop herself trying to correct them on just how powerful he truly was. A proper match for Superman through and through.“And what about the rest?” Jaz asked.“Don’t know, Arrow?” Canary pulled up another photo, the one Jaz had seen with the dog and the shadowed figure suspended in the green liquid.“Not all heroes register or join the Justice League. They could be small time vigilante’s like yourself just working to do their part on the streets. Icon was like that too,” Arrow explained, “Where are they keeping them though…”“I think that’s Hero,” Jaz pointed at the screen, “My dog. The reason me and Timber Wolf got attacked and taken here in the first place.”“How did your dog end up here?” Arrow asked.“I met him after he escaped.” Jaz’s explanation got cut short by the sound of an explosion rumbling through the base. Glass vibrated and tinkled and red emergency lights illuminated the dark room. The faint sound of a horrible roar travelled through the vents above them. As Arrow and Canary argued what to do, rush towards the noise or use the distraction to escape this place Jaz’s mind raced. A sinking feeling entered her gut thinking about the past few days seeing Brin fight the Raptors, the way he struggled to reverse the transformation. “Guys. I think Timber Wolf’s gone into a rage.” She knew enough about him to know he was in a stage of instability with his powers. With the questioning looks they shot her she explained, “He’s my friend, but right now he’s not going to be safe to be around. If you spot a wolf like man, run. We need to move though. Every Raptor in the facility will probably be rushing off to stop him so now’s our chance.” Jaz keyed in the door code. It slid open to an empty corridor.
“Without a map we might run ourselves right into him.” Arrow warned.“I know how to get to Max, and I know how to get to Hero.”“Then we’ll save your dog, and we’ll get some answers out of Max.” Canary charged out the door, nodding for Jaz to lead the way. Jaz stepped out of the room, her heart racing as she headed them towards Hero and Maxmellius Gorgonzolas.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Timber Wolfs arms were bound over his head by large shackles. They were attached to the ceiling by thick chains that forced him to stand upright at all times with his arms above his head. He was exhausted. Maxmellius had taken special interest in personally visiting him every evening to taunt him and torture him starting after the first visit when Brin had managed to land a kick on him. The walls of his cell were bare metal with a large wall mirror on the wall facing him. Every time Maxmellius had entered the room he’d pointed out the mirror and forced Timber Wolf to look at himself and the sorry state he was in. Alone, he didn’t look up.The guards gave him precious sips of water but refused to speak to him. At Maxmellius’s command they’d inject him with green liquid that had no affect on Timber Wolf. They’d been taking his blood since then, and he watched them mix the green liquid in his water. He drank every last drop, glaring at Maxmellius the entire time.He knew Jaz couldn’t survive the conditions they were keeping Timber Wolf in. Maxmellius would tease information about her, but ultimately Timber Wolf had no idea whether he could believe him or not. The walls to gave no clues as to how much time had passed down here. Weeks? All he knew was that he was running out of time. The rage inside him was growing and his ability to resist and keep it in check was waning hour by hour. Because of him they were recaptured… No. It was his cockiness that got them in this mess. He believed he could take on anyone dumb enough to attack the clinic. He thought they didn’t have the numbers or the ability to get past him… He walked her into that killing room. The worst part wasn’t the physical torture, nor was it the mocking taunts or experiments. It was the shame he felt chained and alone with his thoughts.“Ahh, how has my mutt been.” The nasally voice of Maxmellius drew a growl out of Timber. He chuckled at the response before slamming Timber Wolf’s side with a bat. Timber grunted, “Ahh. It’s lovely to hear you finally make some music,” The man circled Timber keeping just out of range. “It’s only been a short couple of days and you’re already breaking under my boot.” The man moved to swing at Timber Wolf again but the bat was sent flying by a well placed kick. It smashed into one of the lights of the ceiling casting half of Maxmellius’s face in shadow. The mask of humanity the man wore cracked and for a moment Brin saw the sheer manic rage Maxmellius carried around with him. “Punish him.”A bolt of electricity travelled through the chains shocking Timber Wolf. He bit his tongue trying to stop himself crying out. Enraged, Maxmellius shouted to them to increase the frequency until one of the scientists monitoring his vitals warned it could kill him. “I don’t care! Kill him if you have to! He. Will. Submit.” Timber Wolf began to see white as the sound of screaming deafened his ears. He dropped limp the moment they shut it down. He could barely feel the bat hit him as darkness swallowed his consciousness.
- -
“Brin!” Light Lass’s voice snapped Brin out of his daze. He looked around realizing he was standing in the Legion clubhouse completely zoned out with her looking quite annoyed. “Earth to Brin, you in there?”“I’m here, I’m listening… Sorry.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose.“What were you thinking about just now, I had to practically yell your name to get your attention.” His heart twisted for a moment. It almost felt like old times between them, though the way her eyes refused to stare into his was a constant reminder that it was over.“I... I don’t remember. Sorry, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?” It was his fault it was over. The thought twisted in his chest.“About your mission. Are you sure about this? It could be a one way ticket back to the 2000’s… You might never come back.” Right, his mission. How could he forget?“If this mission fails it’ll mean the end of our entire universe as we know it, and every parallel one as well. Without the Worldhearts, our universe will end. We must stop any chance that their plan could succeed.”“I- I know. I’m not questioning the mission. I just.” Light Lass Looked away, hugging herself. “Its just, why does it have to be you?”“Why?” Brin repeated, “Who better than me? Ultra boy?”“No, that’s not what I mean-“He cut her off, “I have no family, and I have no one to miss me if I can’t make it back.” Light Lass flinched. Her mouth opened as if she had more to say. He wanted her to say something, to tell him he was wrong, but her hesitance spoke louder than the words she wanted to speak. Frustrated, Brin turned away and didn’t stop when she yelled his name.The door slammed harder than Brin expected. He blinked, turning around only to realize he was alone in the room with the Time Bubble. “Right. No one else is coming…” He remembered now. Brainiac 5 was wrong; the destabilization of their universe was already upon them. While earthquakes wreaked havoc on Earth and suns were dying the Clubhouse had been attacked by the mysterious cult they couldn’t track. The supposed weeks of planning they had to prepare was gone and the team they’d assembled was reduced to just him. He had no time to think about these things. Timber Wolf entered the Time Bubble engaging the coordinates Brainiac 5 had imputed already, just in case.The Bubble began to travel, the familiar multicoloured hues distorting around Brin. Something was wrong. The colours stretched and tore, as if time itself was bleeding. The Time Bubble shuddered as the path grew twisted and warped. The Bubble was strong, it had survived crashes and explosions but now a crack appeared in the glass. The controls began sparking. The time and destination started to shift by hundreds of years back and forth faster and faster. The Bubble began to spin and Brin had to anchor himself to the controls as he tried to stabilize the machine. Brin was no immortal, if he landed in the wrong place in time he’d be useless, too soon and he’d die before the events came about and too late and well. It would be too late.Another arc of electricity sent Brin flying into the glass cracking it further. The G forces pinned him to the glass, the last thing he saw was his arm struggling to reach the panel before he woke to the force of the Time Bubble suddenly stopping above the ocean. It fractured into seven pieces. As he fell from the clouds, he helplessly watched them streak across the sky. He hit the ocean hard, knocking him unconscious again. Had it not been for Aquaman that day, he would’ve died. He was a thousand years in the past, with no plan and no idea what had happened to cause the universe to collapse. All he knew was that the Worldhearts were at the centre of everything, and he needed to find them.
- -
Timber Wolf’s eyes opened. One was swollen shut and the taste iron and rust filled his mouth. He spat out blood on the floor just as Maxmellius entered his holding cell again. The man sneered, his feelings of superiority palpable in his expression. “Ah. How kind of you to join the waking world again. I see last night was too much for you.” The mans taunt stirred nothing in Brin. Maxmellius frowned, annoyed by Brins sudden apathy, “I see my training is beginning to work. You’re so obedient now, hardly barking.” He sneered, but Brin didn’t growl. He didn’t respond except watch him as he moved about the room just out of reach.Maxmellius didn’t like this. He’d enjoyed toying with the supposed Hero but the way Timber Wolf was looking at him now. It was like he didn’t even matter, as if the hero was thinking about something else. “Well, since you’re so well behaved I should reward you, shouldn’t I?” He forced himself not to scowl when Brin didn’t react, “I saw your girlfriend. Jaz, wasn’t it?”“Let her go!” Timber Wolf surged forward again straining against the chains, his fangs elongating past his lower lip. He could barely feel the pain in his arms now.Max smiled getting the reaction he’d hoped for, “Did you know, your girlfriend is quite special. I tested her blood-““You bastard! Leave her alone, she’s just a human, she has nothing for you!” Timber Wolf yelled. He surged towards Maxmellius, the chains drawing taught putting strain on his arms. He barely noticed the pain.“Oh, I’m not so sure you’re right about that.” His smile twisted when he noticed Timber Wolf Falter, “Her readings are entirely too different for her to be ‘worth nothing to me’. You’re correct, she is a human… But she’s entirely to weak compared to a normal human. Her bones are brittle, her flesh bruises far too easily. Even a child from could accidentally break her legs. Keeping her locked up here is honestly for her own good, she could die if she was allowed to just walk around outside. Besides, if I could understand what causes her weakness, manufacture it and weaponize it against the Justice League her body would prove all to important to my goals.” The shackles holding Timber Wolfs arms up groaned under the strain. His muscles were once again reshaping. Fur was erupting along his chest and forearms and his face was warping into a permanent snarl as Maxmellius spoke. “What I need is stem cells, and to get those I’ll need her bone marrow. Easy enough to crack into I suppose.” Timber Wolf roared incoherently.“What do you want from us? Why are you doing this!” Brin was pulling on his chains so hard that he felt his shoulders dislocate.“Why? To defeat the Justice League once and for all, of course… But, I’m feeling quite generous today. Let’s make a deal. I’ll spare Jaz that pain for one day longer if you become a willing test subject for me. I mean, I don’t actually have to ask you but-““I’ll do it.” Timber Wolf hung his head, gritting his teeth.“Oh? Just like that. You don’t even know what I’m going to do to you.” Brin didn’t respond, but Maxmellius didn’t care. He nodded to one of the few scientists he had working for him. They brought him a new blue vial, uncorking it and holding it to Brins lips. “Drink.” Timber Wolf downed the entire vial. It hit his gut like a hammer. He faltered and took several steps back as far as the chains would let him before he slumped to the floor being held up by his arms.
Timber Wolf writhed. The blue serum was entering his bloodstream wreaking havoc, weakening his ability to control his power. “You must be dying to know what it is I did to you. See, when the serum didn’t work the way it should have the first time, rendering you weak and incontinent, I searched through your blood for answers. Turns out your DNA is altered with a little something extra. The blue stuff should act around that now, weakening you properly. Can you feel it?” Max approached Brin again no longer taking care to keep out of range of any attacks he could land. As he spoke the rage inside Timber Wolf was unleashed. The serum did work on weakening his resolve. He could no longer hold the beast inside in check. Timber Wolfs muscled swelled, fur erupted over his body as his bones cracked and reshaped.
“Tomorrow I’ll drill into your friends femur and drain of it of the marrow. That should give me a good head start on researching her condition. Oh of course I won’t be using any pain killers. Don’t worry though, she’s to strong to struggle against the binds so she can’t hurt herself.” The sound of the shackles snapping startled Maxmellius but it gave him no time to prepare for Timber Wolf’s attack. Max was slammed into the mirrored wall shattering it and bending the bulkhead behind him. Timber Wolf was a ball of fur and claw. His jaws closed around the arm Maxmellius had raised to shield himself from the assault, snapping it and biting through it cleanly. He reared back to attack Maxmellius’s head when an eruption of bullets followed by the heavy metal body of one of Max’s beloved Rex tackled him.It was larger than the Raptors, equipped with gatling guns mounted over its shoulders and tasers on the tip of its tail. The taser shocked uselessly against the chest of Timber Wolf. He lunged and bit its head crushing through the metal and tearing it from the body before tossing it aside. He turned to the men shooting at him through the door. They faltered and ran. Timber Wolf slammed into the wall outside his cell. The metal buckled under his weight. His vision was blurred and tinged with red and he was barely able to form a coherent thought.He stumbled down the hall, ripping the metal door from the wall to enter the main laboratory. Brin tried to understand what it was he was looking at. There was a massive machine at the center of the room with various tubes and metal cords erupting from the walls and connecting to the machine. At its center was a giant blue plasma ball spinning in place with various other coloured plasma circling around it. Timber Wolf was trying to pull one of the metal arms out of the machine when bullets began pelting him and the machine around him. He ducked behind it and was about to run for the nearest exit when he heard the voice of Maxmellius ordering them not to damage the generator. Brin’s vision shook as rage coursed through his body, fighting with him for control.“Careful dog,” The man spat the word, “Any damage you do to my machines, I’ll be sure to take out on Jaz.” Maxmellius had expected the warning to make the hero reconsider escaping. He was going to torture the man and break his limbs for having dared destroy his arm. An ear-splitting roar reverberated through the room. The last coherent thought had was to find Jaz before the transformation fully completed. Timber Wolf leapt from behind the generator snapping through the metal conduits stabilizing the machine. A hail of bullets didn’t slow him down. He slammed through the wall of Rex’s protecting Maxmellius, lunging at him. The machine exploded sending the room into chaos. Timber Wolf was slammed out of the air into the nearest wall as ceiling and rock tumbled into the room. He pulled himself from the wreckage tossing aside slabs of concrete before turning to find his prey. Maxmellius was no where to be found. Timber Wolf roared his frustration. Must. Find. Jaz.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The halls were bathed in red light and the constant blare of the siren added to Jaz’s anxiety. Green Arrow and Black Canary followed her through the halls as she retraced the steps back to the elevators, thankful she was quick enough on her feet to make herself memorize the way. They’d encounter no Raptors most of the way, but that luck ran out when Jaz peeked down the hall leading to the elevators. There were four guards, two thugs, one Raptor, and another bigger Raptor with a gatling gun mounted on its shoulder. Canary moved to fight them, but Arrow held his arm up to stop her. He smiled and winked at them both before he began to fix his uniform, cleared his throat, and limber up by bouncing in place and mock stretching. Jaz glanced at Canary who just rolled her eyes.Green Arrow rushed out from behind the wall holding his hands up and yelling, “Don’t shoot!” The men looked startled. They aimed their guns at him but didn’t attack, instead looking to each other confused. “There’s a giant wolf man back there! He completely destroyed the laboratory!” He pointed in the opposite direction. “You have to do something!” Arrow turned around backing up towards them as if he were more scared of what he was just running from than them. It worked. The men nodded to each other before training their guns on the hallway opposite ours waiting for this mystery foe.
They stepped forward moving to pass Green Arrow when he twisted, landing a punch to ones throat and an elbow in the others gut before following it up with another punch to his face knocking him out. He was close enough to side step behind the smaller Raptor using it as a shield while the Gatling gun unloaded into it. It shot a torrent of bullets into the chest of the smaller Raptor quickly piercing through its chest armour and tearing through the electronics within. Quick on his feet, Arrow faced the wall running himself up it, vaulting over the heads of both Raptors. He grabbed hold of the shock tail before it could strike him stabbing it between the gatling gun and the big Raptors shoulder. Its entire body became electrified but it could still move. It slammed Arrow into the wall pinning him and transferring some of the shock to him in the process. Jaz moved to help but Canary held her back. “Let him handle this.” Arrow reached up ripping the gatling gun off its shoulder by using both of his feet to kick it away. The second his feet hit the ground Arrow dropped low, lunging forward underneath its tail as it tried to whip him to position the gun in the crook of its neck. The bullets easily pierced through the thin, scale-like armour there, destroying its core. Both machines fell to the floor in a smoking heap, the light in their eyes turning off before they’d hit the ground. “Impressive.” Black Canary said, stepping over the two unconscious men to join Green Arrow.“Spar me when we get back on the Watchtower and I can show you a thing or two,” Green Arrow joked, kicking the pile of metal Raptors aside just in time for the elevator to show up. Jaz hit the button to Maxmellius’s office, as well as the button to the floor just below it.She explained the layout of the walkway. “There’s no way down to Hero’s cage from Max’s office, so I’m going to stop one floor early and try to find it myself. I think I’d spotted the way from the walkway anyways. You two can meet me there once you find what you need in his office.”“We shouldn’t split up.” Green Arrow shook his head. “We’ll head to the office first, find out where the rest of the heroes are being kept, then we’ll get your friend.” He placed his hand on Jaz, she could tell he was trying to be reassuring again, but she had no intention of taking no for an answer this time. Another explosion ripped through the facility knocking Jaz off balance into Arrow’s chest. The elevators went pitch black and the emergency breaks sent everyone into the ceiling, before crashing back down.“Damn! The emergency power is out now.” Green Arrow spoke as he helped Jaz to her feet. He pried open the doors pulling them halfway open. The Elevator was between floors, the top half of the doors opened to the lower floor where Jaz wanted to go.“I think I can squeeze through. You two try and get to Max’s office while I help Hero out. I’m just going to slow you down if you ask me to climb an elevator shaft.” Jaz hopped up, grabbing onto the ledge. Using her foot against the wall as leverage she pulled herself over the ledge and out of the elevator. “Meet me at Hero’s cage, if you keep going straight from Max’s office you’ll be right there!”“Kid, wait!” Green Arrow couldn’t react in time before she dashed down the hall. He turned to Black Canary, “Why didn’t you stop her?”“I trust she knows what she’s doing,” Canary replied from the hatch she’d found on the roof. She was already out of it and on top of the elevator. By the time Arrow squeezed through the hatch she was already halfway up the wall.Arrow climbed up after Black Canary, sparing a final glance after the girl. “I just hope she isn’t some hot shot kid who’s in over her head.”Meanwhile, Jaz picked her way through the empty halls, peeking around every corner she came across just in case. She was no longer jogging confidently like she had when she had them with her, instead tip toeing around trying to make as little noise as possible. She knew she last saw Hero on the factory floor where they’d gotten captured and when she’d been up on the glass walkway she’d spotted another door on the other side of it that seemed to be in the right spot. She tried to remember the mantra she’d been repeating days prior, but the rumbling that kept rocking through the base and the fact that she was alone made it hard to concentrate. She stopped, pressing her back against a wall. “I can do this. I can do this. Jaz, just keep your head high, focus… What would Superman do in this situation.” A nervous laugh burst from her lips. “Superman wouldn’t be this scared trying to find his friends.” She took another deep breath, slowly letting it out before she started on her way again. Calmer now, she was able to pick her way through the halls until met with the same metal cylindrical doors that had opened for her previously. They were closed now, and it looked like they had no power to them anyways. She tried to pry one open, but aside from breaking a nail nothing happened.Frustrated, Jaz looked around for what to do. How would they solve this problem in the comics? They would solve it with their powers... Ok, what about Batman though. He had no powers. Jaz ran her fingers through her hair, looking up in exasperation. Right above her was a ceiling vent. “Oh yeah.”Jaz struggled longer than she’d wanted to trying to reach the vent. The code to the laboratory worked on the doors down the hall but she still had to push them open manually, which was a feat and a half on its own for her. Once inside she wheeled a chair to the vent and struggled to pull herself up through the tiny hole. The ordeal didn’t end once inside either. Her heart was pounding and it was hard to breath in the cramped space. It was so tight she was unable to turn around and that idea alone was sending her into a panic. Biting her lip, she pushed herself forward. The thought of Hero weakly staring up at her from that glass cage was enough to trump the fear she was feeling now. Every ten feet was another vent opening she could use to peer down and check her progress. The first one she came across she was already on the other side of ten fancy doors he’d had installed in the place.Why the villain never thought to secure the filtration systems always dumbfounded her. Jaz was well past the doors when the vent took a sharp turn upwards travelling perpendicular to the curved walls lining the factory floor. At the end of the line, she finally had to leave the safety of the vents and drop down on the factory floor. She winced as she hit the ground at an angle, flopping over. Sharp stabs of pain radiated up her legs. Black Canary and Arrow had made dropping ten feet look so easy to do gracefully but Jaz had nearly twisted her ankle just there.The factory floor was currently unmanned, and the recent power surge had stopped all the machines mid assembly. There were five conveyor belts feeding parts to the assembly bays with four giant machine arms sprouting from the floor for each one. Jaz crept through the room, dashing between machines and trying to use them as cover all while scanning the room between bursts for any signs enemies. She’d nearly made it to the other side where the small hallway was hidden when two thugs appeared in the door forcing Jaz to scramble behind cover again.One was cursing and jogging past while the other yelled after him, “Come on Gary, we’re supposed to guard the room!”Gary cursed back, “I’m not risking my life for some creepy old man with a dog fetish.”“Think of the money, Gary!” His friend spoke as if he wanted to stay, but he quickly glanced behind his shoulder as if he was expecting something to jump out at him before he rushed to join his friend.“What money? We ain’t getting paid, and now some fucking werewolf is coming right for us! I’m out, if you wanna die in this place suit yourself but I’m going back to Taboo. At least they’ll pay us on time.” They continued to argue all the way across the factory floor, completely oblivious to Jaz who hadn’t hidden herself well. They passed right by.The room they’d left was full of cells that used the same force field-like technology as she’d faced in her room. There was a total of eight, but only six were in use. There was a small office to one side where it looked like the guards rested and watched their charges, inside it had several chests and what appeared to be Green Arrow’s bow resting against the wall.At the back of the room was another hall leading further in where Jaz paused. Everything inside her wanted to move forward and find Hero, but she couldn’t just leave these men here. Especially after hearing that Brin could be headed this way. She let out a frustrated sigh, turning back towards the cells. Beside each one was a keypad just like her old cell and she knew by one look at each one they all used different codes. Some showed no signs of regular use except one.“Icon?” Jaz’s voice was barely a whisper but even so the man stirred. “Oh! You’re awake. Just sit tight I’m gonna try and figure out a way to get you out.” The man struggled to pull himself up before slumping down. Kneeling in front of the keypad she could see some greasy stains on three numbers, but she had no clue how long the code was or which order they’d be in.Her ears pricked. Glancing around she realized Icon was trying to say something. “What was that?”“Notepad.” She stared into his dull eyes for a moment before she realized.“Oh! They keep the passcodes on a notepad?” She didn’t wait to see him nod, springing back across the room towards the office. It was square, lined with desks and surrounded on all walls with thick glass; and it was locked. She cursed under her breath, this was the one door that didn’t need a passcode, it needed a key. She peered through the glass instead, spotting the notepad immediately. Pressing herself into the window, Jaz was able to make out the codes on the first page attached with which cell number they went to. The moment the shielding fell she rushed to his side. “Are you ok?”“I’ll be fine, child. Go see that the others are ok.” His voice was barely a whisper, and his lips were chapped, his dark skin sunken in. They’d at least allowed him to stay dressed in his uniform, though all his gadgets were taken from him. She helped him up, carrying him to the center of the room before she went to work on the other cells. The sheet she’d read from only had three of the six passcodes she’d need.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Black Canary and Green Arrow had emerged out of the elevator shaft to an unguarded corridor. They reached the unmistakable glass corridor the kid had described. Jutting out from the middle of it was Maxmellius’s office suspended in the air above the factory floor.“Wait.” Canary held out her hand to stop Arrow, “Where are the guards?”“You think it’s a trap?” Arrow scratched his head, “They must’ve rushed off to deal with the cause of all those explosions.” He shrugged, “Besides, anything comes, and I got your back.”“You mean I’ll save your hide while you stand back looking for your bow?” Canary countered. They approached the office, Canary on high alert for any signs of a silent alarm being triggered.“Hey!” Arrow chuckled, “I’m just as good with my fists as you.”“Right, and we’re ten-zero because you let me win, is it?” Arrow cleared his throat, changing the subject.“Judging from the oversized chair the guy must be compensating for something.” He smiled seeing Canary’s eyes roll. She sat down in the huge chair while Arrow stood watch, keeping an eye out down the corridor as well as the factory floor. He watched her work at a thread on her jacket, undoing the seam to reveal a small thin metal plate that she inserted into the computers USB. The screen went black before a bunch of red symbols appeared. A moment later, ‘ACCESS GRANTED’ appeared on the screen and Canary went to work.“That’s a nifty trick.” Green Arrow peeked over Canary’s shoulder.“I asked Cyborg to make it for me. In case it gets in the wrong hands he made it with only three uses, but it can hack anything in the world.” Canary explained.“So, we only have two uses left then, we can work with that.”“One. I used it on a mission before this.” While she worked, Green Arrow noticed the nameless sidekick drop down from a vent and begin scrambling across the factory floor.“Kids got spunk.” When he noticed how poor her hiding skills where he chuckled, “But she’s got a lot of training ahead of her.”“Ollie, look at this.” Arrow turned from the window back to the computer screen.“Wait, is that..?” On the screen was an image of Superman bound to an operating table with a red kryptonite crystal strapped above his chest. Tiny machine arms with saw blades, alligator forceps, lasers and the like were hovering over him. He looked like he was struggling under the red glow.“It gets worse. Looks like they captured him using Kryptonite, and they were experimenting on him with it too.” Canary began transferring the files onto the stick, “He’s here still, and I know where.”“Then let’s go find him.”“Let’s.” Canary agreed. They’d made it halfway down the hallway when a giant form crashed into it from below, smashing through the glass and damaging the scaffolding that supported the hall and office. The walkway underneath them tilted towards the beast as the entire hallway began to fall. Canary lost balance, falling forward towards the new foe. It snapped at her, but she twisted her body out of the way just in time landing wit her feet on its shoulder using it to launch her between the scaffolding to safety. She landed on her hands, carrying her momentum into a roll until she was on her feet facing the crashing hallway. Green Arrow had managed to grab onto a holdfast, leaping through the windows of the office just as the impact caused them all to explode in a rain of glass. He rolled to a stop beside Black Canary taking cover behind one of the larger machines. The beast that had attacked them didn’t get out in time as metal scaffolding and glass buried it.“Arrow! Canary!” Jaz had rushed out of a side room they hadn’t noticed before, “Over here!” Their attention returned to the heap of metal on the floor. Several machine arms had toppled over and the remaining hallway that the office was connected to began to fall to the floor, burying it even further. There was no sign of movement. “You guys ok? Did something attack you?”“Whatever it was, I don’t think it’s getting back up.” Green Arrow said as they followed Jaz into the cell room.She gave a worried glance outside the room, “Alright. Well, your bow’s here, inside that.” She pointed to a guard booth that overlooked the cell room. Black Canary had rushed to Icon’s side, checking his pulse and asking him questions. “The notepad inside has all the codes, I got a couple cells open but I need to get inside to see the other pages. Everyone seems fine, just really weak.”“Good job, kid.” Arrow slapped her on the back. He could tell she was scared and putting on a brave face.“Mind if I leave them to you guys? I still haven’t found Hero.” Arrow noticed she kept giving worried glances outside the door.“Don’t worry about what’s out there, we have things under control. Know where Hero might be?”“I have a feeling he’s just beyond that door. I’ll be right back,” Arrow nodded, watching her disappear down the back hall.Green Arrow turned his attention back to the guard cubicle. He punched it with all his might, but the glass just warped and vibrated from the hit. “It’s reinforced.” He was searching the room for something to throw at it when another voice spoke up.“Maybe I can help with that.” Out from one of the unlocked cells Huntress strode forward, though she stumbled and leaned against the cell wall.“Huntress! It’s been a while.” Black Canary stood, approaching her to offer a hand.“Wish it was under better circumstances.” She leaned on Canary, “The drugs they forced in us have left me too weak to be of any help, but I know they keep the key in that locker there.” She pointed to the third one in from the edge of the wall beside the cubicle.“These guys sure know security,” Green Arrow joked. The locker door bent in half under the force of his elbow, and he easily slipped the lanyard and key off its hook.“Well, you get what you pay for.” Huntress said, wincing. “Or don’t pay for. Guy was going to have a mutiny on his hands soon if you two hadn’t taken out the power when you did.”“That wasn’t us. More importantly though, are you hurt? How long have you been down here?” Canary helped Huntress limp towards Icon at the center of the room.“I don’t know, days at least. Weeks maybe. Hard to keep track of time down here.” While Huntress rested beside Icon, Canary unlocked the remaining cells using the notepad, helping carry several small-time heroes to the center of the room. Green Arrow began rifling through the chest, shouldering his own bow and quiver with a sigh before handing Huntress her crossbow and the rest of the equipment out. “But… If those explosions weren’t you then, who?”The sound of shifting metal caught everyone’s attention outside, joined by the echoing noise of a dozen metallic footsteps entering the factory floor. “They’ve found us! Anyone strong enough to fight, we need all the help we can get.”“Can’t you just use your Siren song?” Huntress chimed in struggling to stand.“Not this time, they got to me too.” Black Canary retorted.“Wait.” Arrow held out his hand, stopping them from engaging. The sound of gatling guns erupted just outside. “I’ll go check it out.” Sure enough, the metal lizards weren’t here for them. They had surrounded the scrap pile and were unloading bullets into it. Underneath the hellfire the metal framing was shifting until a massive beast burst forth unfazed by the bullets pelting its fur, it lunged at the nearest Raptor soldier, biting it in half before leaping at the next. “They won’t buy us much time. Let’s go see if theres a back way out, shall we?”Through the back hall they found Jaz sitting in the center of a glass cylinder holding a small furry form in her arms. There was a layer of dog kibble all over the floor that crunched under Black Canary’s feet. “He won’t wake up.” Jaz looked up; tears had welled in the corner of her eyes.Black Canary held her hand just in front of his nose and mouth, “He’s still breathing, but its faint.” Canary searched the floor, “I don’t see any water nearby, he might be severely dehydrated.” Arrow grabbed a water bottle left on one of the desks surrounding the cylinder tossing it to Canary. She cupped her hand underneath Hero’s muzzle pouring the fluid between his teeth. Jaz tried to tilt his head so it would pour down his throat. The dog began to cough, blinking its eyes. “Hero!” The dog tried to stand slipping on the kibble on the floor, “Shh, just drink. Focus on drinking, I got you.” Jaz took a shaky breath, smiling as she watched the dog begin to lap up the water.Meanwhile, Green Arrow began yanking on one of the unpowered sliding doors at the opposite end of the room. Another set of hands grabbed onto the other door, and with their combined force the doors finally slid half open. “Icon? You shouldn’t push yourself.”“I’ll be fine, this much I can still do.” Icon held his hand up stopping Arrow from helping him. “Worry about the others, they need it more than I.” He returned to help another Hero to their feet, shepherding them through the small opening they’d made.A roar erupted through the hall they’d just come through, followed by the broken torso of a Raptor that smashed into the glass hard enough to crack it. Black Canary cursed, making sure the rookie was able to scoop the dog into her arms. She shielded them, getting them both out of the cage as the form of the beast leapt into the room crashing into the glass shattering it. Huge shards rained down on the party, forcing Heroes to duck under tables or jump out of the way of a particularly large piece.“Get in! Everyone through the door!” Arrow yelled, helping shove the remaining Heroes through, practically throwing one through the crack before realizing Canary and the rookie had taken cover on the wrong side of the room. The beast reared up about to pounce on Canary who’d put herself between it and the kid when it was slammed into the wall by one of Green Arrows explosive shots. It turned its attention on him. He jumped out of the way as the beast smashed into the desk Arrow was standing on a second ago, splintering the wood and destroying the tech on it. “Canary! Rookie! Get through the door while I distract it!” Arrow yelled, raining three more explosive shots on the Beast. They each exploded against its side, forcing it to stumble back but leaving no damage otherwise.On the other side of the room Canary grabbed onto the rookie’s hand, pulling her towards the door. Seeing this, the beast turned its attention back to Canary. Arrow cursed, shooting another explosive shot at its head to distract it but the beast simply caught this one in its mouth, letting it explode through its teeth before it launched itself at her. She shoved the kid backwards, making her fall on her butt across the floor while Canary dodged forwards doing a barrel roll out of harms way. Half a second later and the beast had crashed into the spot she’d just been, sliding across the kibble lined floor into the wall. Canary jumped, landing a kick to the beast’s head smashing him further into the wall. She gave the Rookie time to get up and run, except she was running in the wrong direction to the exit.“Kid, this way! Focus on getting to the door, I’ll deal with the Beast!” Arrow commanded. He shot another arrow right at the beasts face as it reared up. It exploded in the air blanketing the creature in a thick net. As it struggled against the net the ball bearings underneath did their job wrapping around each other, tightening its grip. “Come on!” Arrow held out his hand, grabbing onto the Rookie’s arm, pulling her alongside him as they raced towards the door again. Canary was already waiting for them there. The Beast bit into the net, stomping on one side and tearing it enough that he could leap at them again. He landed in front of Arrow and the Rookie blocking their path to the exit. Arrow pushed the girl behind himself, shooting another arrow at the creature that burst into a spray of pepper mist. It shook its head, recovering immediately to slam a paw into Arrow’s chest knocking him away from the kid. It turned from her, lunging at Green arrow again.Green Arrow slid across the kibble coated platform, knocking an arrow a moment too slow. Just as the beast’s jaws were about to close around Arrow’s leg Black Canary landed another flying kick knocking it of course, instead biting uselessly at the kibble on the floor. It still slammed into both of them sending them sliding into the far wall. Just as Green Arrow hit, he loosed a rope arrow that pulled him up to the platform overlooking the room grabbing Black Canary on the way.With them out of the way, the beast turned its attention back to the girl who was once again making a break for the exit. It lunged in front of the exit, blocking her way. Green Arrow managed to disarm it again with his final net arrow before swinging in on a rope arrow to slam down on top of the creatures back with Canary. He quickly shot three more rope arrows that he pulled tight, pinning it to the ground on either side. “That outa hold.”Canary hopped off the beast, placing a hand on the rookies shoulders, “Let’s get out of here now.”The beasts eyes blazed golden as it unleashed another deafening roar. The ropes pulled taught against the strain of if trying to stand until one tore; slapping into Arrow knocking him off its back. Canary once again pushed the girl behind her before she kicked up off the wall to her right, grappling on the beasts neck. She’d grabbed the loose rope, wrapping it around his snout trying to use it to contain him. The other two broke a second later allowing the beast to rise up. It swung its head wildly trying to shake off Canary.
Arrow reached behind his back, hitting the beast with several normal arrows but they barely stuck beneath its fur. It managed to shift Canary off the back of its neck to its side, swiftly smashing her into the wall. Her grip finally released but it kept her pinned. Arrow taunted it, hitting it square in the eye with a boxing glove arrow. It lunged towards Arrow, releasing Canary to slide down the wall. Its teeth grazed his boot as he barely escaped using another rope arrow.Not willing to leave Canary unprotected, Arrow had shot the arrow behind the beast after luring it to the center of the room. He pulled her to her feet before training one of his last remaining arrows at the creature.“Guys! Go on ahead without me!” The girl called from the hallway. They were right beside the exit, but she was once again on the wrong side of the room, having run there to avoid the fighting.“What? No! That’s suicide!” Arrow protested.“Being a hero doesn’t always mean you need to lay your life down! You can still make it if you run behind it!” Black Canary pointed around behind the beast where there was a clear path towards them.“No! Guys, its ok. The beast is Timber Wolf, he’s not in control when he’s in his Furball form. Haven’t you noticed; he keeps attacking you guys when you try to help me escape with you.” It moved itself to block their view of the rookie, almost as if to protect her.“This is the hero you’re the sidekick for?” Arrow asked incredulously.“He’s in a rage right now, yeah. I swear he’s normally nice. Well. Sort of.” She shook her head, “Don’t worry about me. You get the others out, we’ll find another way.” Furball growled at Canary and Arrow, lunging again. Grabbing Canary’s hand Arrow pushed her through the half open door, escaping through not a moment too soon as the beast slammed into the metal denting it easily.Arrow swore, “I’m taking that as a promise! I better see you on the outside kid!”“See you!” Arrow watched through the opening as Furball turned to face its sidekick. He trained an Arrow at it, waiting for it to attack… But it didn’t. He watched the rookie begin backing up down the hallway, Furball following close behind. He waited until both figures had disappeared before he lowered his bow. “We’ll I’ll be. She was right.”“Arrow, look.” Black Canary sounded shocked. Turning to see what was up, Arrow took a step back himself. At the center of the room, suspended in red glowing liquid and with a red shard embedded in his chest was Superman. “We’ve found him.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Jaz walked backwards through the hall watching as Furball followed her. Now that he wasn’t trying to kill her friends she was able to get a good look at him. He was huge, his shoulder reached above her own head, almost six foot seven- maybe even seven feet tall by her estimate. His fur was long, wavy and silky, the same shade of brown he had on his head before. His eyes too were the same shade of yellow, though now they held a spark of insanity in them that kept her on edge. He was panting and his eyes followed her every movement, but he didn’t lunge or snarl. By the time she’d crossed the room full of empty cells, she switched to walking forward, glancing behind her to keep a careful eye on him.Nothing attacked them as they crossed the factory. The floor was littered with torn pieces of Raptor soldiers and broken machinery. It struck Jaz that there were enough destroyed Raptors littering the room for her to safely say Furball had taken out an army of them. Perhaps the entire army of them. She became more convinced of it when they met no resistance the entire way. She lead them back to the fork where she’d initially met with Brin and Hero days ago, this time turning down the hall Brin and Hero had appeared in. At its end was a giant service elevator pulled on chains. It had no siding preventing someone from falling off, and was large and flat enough to carry two large trucks down on it comfortably. What wasn’t comfortable was having to stand so close to Furball. Flashes of his fight with Green Arrow and Black Canary kept her tense, worried he’d turn on her.They were lifted into the middle of a large cement warehouse, surrounded by unmarked boxes stored on pallets, ready to be fed onto the elevator and sent down. A glance inside showed they were full of metal, computer chips and other raw materials. There were tire marks on the floor that looked fresh, and the large garage door on one side of the building was left open allowing the cool night air to wash into the room.Jaz rushed towards it, very aware of the wolf following closely behind her. Her legs didn’t stop until she reached the forest clutching Hero close into her chest as an onslaught of twigs scratched her face and arms. She stopped only when it hurt to breath, pressing her back against a tree. Behind her, Furball was carving out a massive path through the underbrush, mowing down everything in his way unceremoniously.“You should turn back now. Into your human form I mean.” She said letting herself slide to the forest floor. She laid Hero in her lap rubbing her sore arms. The adrenaline from their escape was finally wearing off and, in its wake, she was faced with how weak she felt. There was no way Jaz had the strength to carry a medium size dog like Hero all the way back into the city.“Brin?” Furball continued to stare at Jaz. It was like there was nothing going on behind those eyes. “Earth to Brin, calling your last braincell. We can’t go into the city with you like that… Brin!” He blinked when she yelled at him but didn’t respond in any other meaningful way. “Damn. Not home, eh?” She looked down at Hero. “Now I have two useless superhero dogs, huh.” Hero was catatonic throughout their entire escape so far. Every so often she’d lick her finger and hold it in front of his nose just to check he was still breathing. He was, but it felt even fainter now.Jaz slowly lowered Hero onto the ground, placing her hoodie under and around him, noticing an odd shape in her pocket while she did so. She pulled out a vial of red liquid remembering that she’d pocketed one. As the dots connected in Jaz’s mind, she finally realized what must have happened. “Did they give you the green stuff? Is that why you’re like this?” She decided they must have. They’d done it to Black Canary, why not Brin?“Brin. I don’t have a needle for this, and I doubt one would make it past your fur anyways.” She spoke as she walked towards him, “Just… Don’t take my arm off when I do this.” Jaz carefully popped the tiny stopper at the top of the vial, holding the liquid in with her thumb while she mentally readied herself for what she was about to do. Furball was still staring at her blankly when Jaz jumped him, trying to pry open his mouth. He growled, shaking her off with ease. He didn’t try to attack her, giving Jaz the final confirmation she needed. “You won’t hurt me.” He was now growling openly at her, his mouth slightly agape. She leapt back at him, shoving her arm past his teeth to pour the liquid down his throat. She winced as his canines scraped her skin, pulling her arm back out with scratches on either side but otherwise still intact. “See?”Furball only stopped growling when Jaz slumped to the ground, hanging her head between her knees as she tried to calm her nerves. “That was literally the scariest thing I’ve ever done dude.” She sat in silence for a while, glancing at Furball every so often.“It was certainly one of the craziest things someone’s ever done too.” Brin grunted through clenched teeth. Jaz looked up in time to watch him struggle through his painful transformation, wincing and covering her ears when one of his legs snapped back to the right position. “Jaz, I’m all right now.” He finally said, walking to her to offer her a hand up from where she was sitting.She opened her eyes to find his bare crotch at face level with her. “Dude! Seriously! Have some social awareness, you’re butt naked!” She yelled, jumping up and nearly tripping on top of Hero. She kept her eyes low, carefully scooping up Hero before kicking her hoodie to Brin. With that done, she dashed behind the tree, ignoring the profuse apologies Brin was stammering out.After a moment she heard Brin say, “You didn’t happen to see where my clothes went, did you?”“Just tell me the important bits are covered,” She replied. When she didn’t hear him answer back, she braved a peek behind the tree. Brin had tied the hoodie around his waist but given their size difference it couldn’t cover both sides. “Just cover the front bit, dude, and walk behind me.”“Don’t look!” She ducked behind the tree again, struggling to hide her laugh. “I can hear you!”She sputtered, “I’m not laughing!” Her glee quickly died when she glanced at Hero. “Anyways, are you ready yet? We need to go; we need to get Hero to Jason.”Brin rounded the tree, “You were running the wrong way from the compound. Follow me.”He turned to lead but Jaz stopped him, “Wait. You point, I’ll lead.” She swore she could see him blush. They walked through the forest until they stumbled upon a paved road, following it until a pair of lights swiftly shifting through the trees warned them of an oncoming car. They scrambled to the treeline but not before the headlights fully illuminated Jaz.She hid in the brush beside Brin, watching the car slow and pull over where they’d just been. Brin was holding up his claws as if they were a gun, ready to fight any Raptors that poured forth. Instead, a familiar face popped out. “Arrow!” Jaz shouted, jumping out to join him at the side of the road.“Kid! Glad to see you made it out safe!” Arrow captured her in a big hug while still being careful of Hero. “Oh. Is that… Your?” Arrow asked, raising his brow.“Yeah that’s-“ She turned to face Brin as he approached them, remembering that he was stark naked save for a hoodie covering the front, “Tarzan.”“Tarzan.” Arrow repeated, both his brows raised. “You keep strange friends, kid.”“Yeah. Well…” She really didn’t have any way to refute that, “You going into the city perchance? I need to get Hero to the vet; he’s not waking up.”“Yes!” Arrow opened the back door for her, “Get in, I was actually out looking for you. The League’s already taken charge at the compound. I wanted to make sure you got out safe.” Arrow glanced pointedly back to Brin.“Thanks.” She was slightly disappointed to see Canary wasn’t in the passenger seat. When Arrow asked for an address, Brin answered. Arrow's eyes narrowed, looking at Brin through the rear-view mirror, but he didn’t comment. At least not for a while.“So. Fought a real big wolf back there.” Brin was looking out the window and didn’t make any indication he’d heard, “That you?” The atmosphere was tense, but Jaz didn’t have the energy to try to break it.“It might have been.” Brin finally answered, shaking his head, “They shot me full of some strange fluid, after that I don’t really remember what happened.” Jaz glanced at Brin. He was rubbing the bridge of his nose.“You weren’t in your right mind, no. Green Arrow and Black Canary were escaping with me when you came to uhh… Also assist.” Jaz explained. “To properly introduce you two, this is Timber Wolf.”Arrow laughed, “That’s certainly a way to put it. Glad to see you with us again.” The rest of the drive went by quietly. They were all exhausted, especially Jaz. When the car rolled to a stop, she realized she’d been sleeping against the window.“Thanks Arrow, it was fun meeting you. Wish I could’ve been more help! Bye!” Jaz could hear Arrow call something after her, but she didn’t catch it, nor did she turn to ask. Her mind was only on getting Hero help now. She met Jason just inside, he was already quickly descending the stairs.“Jaz!” Jason put a reassuring hand on her shoulder ushering her the clinic room. He helped lower Hero onto the table, immediately going to work checking his vitals while instructing Jaz to grab certain tools to assist with an intravenous line. The only issue was the metal needle couldn’t pierce through the hide on Hero’s arm. When she tried, it blunted the tip, and after a second needle bent against his hide, Jason instructed her to find the ‘special needle’ he kept in the drawer nearby. “It’s made from promethium, I had to get it when Brin came to the clinic.” The needle worked and Brin attached a saline pouch to it. Jaz stayed by Hero’s side while Jason monitored his vitals. “Looks like our little friend will be fine. He’s weak, malnourished, and dehydrated; but stable. Just needs a lot of rest and fluids.”“Thank god.” Jaz released a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.“Thank you.” Brin was standing in the doorframe, fully clothed finally. “If it weren’t for you, I don’t know how long I would’ve been like that.”“I didn’t do anything in there. I was the epitome of useless, but you’re welcome.” Jaz chuckled rubbing her eyes.“Are you two hungry? Thirsty? You two look like you’ve been through hell and back.” Jason ushered them upstairs, flipping the open sign in the front to closed on his way. “As much as I’m dying to know what happened, let's get you two fixed up and in bed. You can thank me later.” He joked.After so long without food, Jaz struggled to hold anything solid in her stomach, but Jason knew just what to do, whipping up a bowl of boxed noodle soup for ‘just the occasion’ in his words. He left them to eat at the table, going back downstairs to attend to Hero.“You should stay here…” Brin suddenly broke the silence between them.“I’ve got someplace to go.” Lies always came easy.“No you don’t.” She’d forgotten he already knew, “It’s dangerous out there. Jason has an extra bedroom, I could cover your rent until you’re on your feet.”Jaz sighed. People never understood. “No. Really. I’m good. It might come as a surprise to you, but I like my lifestyle. Everything has a price, and I’m willing to pay for the freedom it affords me.”Brin only nodded and focused on his soup. Jaz forced herself to shower before she went to bed, turning the heat up as high as she could bear and forcing her mind to focus only on lathering. Everything was sore, and hurt, but the moment her head hit the pillow she was out.
- -
Green Arrow followed Cyborg through the destroyed halls of Maxmellius Gorgonzola’s laboratory. The fallen Raptors had been brushed aside, left for the police and detectives that were no doubt going to swarm the place. “It’s odd we haven’t let the authorities know about the place yet. Not really our MO to keep things on the down low now, is it?” He was already suspicious the moment they found Superman down here. The Justice League had adamantly stated on multiple occasions that Superman wasn’t missing when all the rumors were abound. Fact of the matter was, no one at the watch tower could confirm they’d seen him recently, and no one was talking openly about it. “We are letting the authorities know about this place, right?”“You ask a lot of questions I can’t answer.” Was the only response Cyborg would give.“Can’t? Or won’t.” They arrived at the room where Superman was, still suspended in the fluid.“Both.” Batman answered for Cyborg, emerging from the shadows.Arrow cursed, “It’s like you get some sick satisfaction from scaring people.”“I do.” Batman responded in a flat tone that gave no indication if he was joking or serious, “Cyborg, see what you can find about what happened to Superman here. How long he’s been here and what exactly they did to him. Find a way to get him out of there, safely.” Cyborg reached a hand to the central computer Canary had hacked into initially. She and Green Arrow couldn’t find any answers on how to safely remove Superman from the chamber last time they were here, especially with the red kryptonite fused in his chest.“If you brought me here to help him,” Arrow indicated to Cyborg with his thumb, “Then you got the wrong guy. Hacking’s not really my strong suit.”“What happened here and who you found here stays between us.” Batman turned to face Arrow.“So that’s what it is then. Brought me here to shut me up,” Arrow squared up in front of the Bats, getting in his face, “Well I’m not going to be intimidated, and staying silent on what’s been happening to a friend doesn’t sit right with me. Not one bit. Not without good reason.” Batman stared back through the glowing eyes of his suit, “So until you clue me in on what exactly is going on, and why the league has been lying to each other, and the world mind you. No. I won’t be staying quiet about this.”“This is beyond what you need to know, just trust us.”“Trust goes both ways.” Arrow didn’t back down.“The league’s been entrusted with a special mission. One that requires us to be strong, but also to appear strong. We can’t have it leak to the wrong people that Superman is missing.” Batman answered, turning back to Superman.Arrow finally backed off, “A special mission? I’m guessing another secret you’ve been hiding from the rest of us. When did we get in the habit of keeping secrets anyways.”“Only when they came.” Batman turned back to Green Arrow, “If you need to know, I can have you join this, but that will mean putting aside any other duties you might have.”Green Arrow eyed Batman suspiciously. He of course was intrigued. “I’m already here, aren’t I?”Batman nodded as if he expected the answer, “Then you and Cyborg will team up, get to the bottom of what happened to Superman and get him awake again.” It wasn’t the answers Green Arrow was expecting.“When will we be bringing him back up?”“We won’t. Not with him like this. Too hard to keep it a secret on the watchtower.”“So, you’re just going to leave him like this?” Arrow’s raised his voice, “It’s good to know you guys will just leave me floating in a red vat of liquid if it’s inconvenient for you… Besides, you guys had no problem keeping him under wraps for the months he’s been down here.”“Months?” Batman’s attention returned to Green Arrow.Arrow sighed, deliberating how much to trust them. “Black Canary said the last time she talked to Supes, he was looking into the recruits going missing and that was months ago. Now we know they’ve been here the entire time.”Cyborg interrupted them, displaying several files and images on the monitors in front of himself. “They began researching red kryptonite months ago, right before Superman went missing. Each red kryptonite crystal has its own unique crystalline structure, radiating with its own changing frequency. No two are the same. While they restrained Superman with green kryptonite, they were experimenting and testing how the red one will affect him.”“Doesn’t it just weaken him?” Arrow asked.“No. Due to each crystal’s unique properties, each one will affect a Kryptonian differently. The files they were keeping down here don’t include the experiment notes-“ A surge of electricity arced through the console, up Cyborg’s arms, shocking him. He cried out. Batman and Green Arrow leapt to pull him from the computer but were sent flying by the stray electricity that arced through Cyborg. “They’ve sent a kill switch remotely; I’m trying to stop it!” The room was pitched into darkness before red emergency lighting turned on. An automated voice told them they had five minutes to leave the facility before it self destructed, followed by a blaring alarm as it warned them on repeat. Cyborg grunted between his teeth, fighting against the pain. “I can’t save the research and prevent the self destruct!”“Change of plans! Arrow, find a way to pop the lid on Superman’s chamber.” Batman rushed to a second console, typing frantically.“Of course there’s a self destruct, there’s always a self destruct!” Arrow muttered as he leapt into action. He rushed towards the vat, quickly scanning it for a way to open it. “It’s never easy.” He shot a rope arrow into the ceiling, using it to rappel on top of the chamber containing Superman.“Cyborg, focus on the research. It’s our only lead. I’ll override the lockdown, buy us some time.” As Batman spoke, a large blast door slid shut behind them, sealing off the other half of the facility.“Do we know if taking him out of the liquid will kill him?” Arrow called, having pried open the lid the old-fashioned way by jamming an arrow in the side and pushing down on it as a lever.“Only one way to find out!” Batman replied.Green Arrow narrowed his eyes, before shaking his head clear. Using the rope arrow still hanging above him, he dove into the tank. The fluid was thick, making it hard to move. He pulled the instruments measuring Superman’s vitals off one by one before wrapping his arm around Superman’s chest. The gelatinous fluid made it hard to get a grip on him, and even harder to swim through it with the added weight. Wrapping the rope around his free arm, Arrow relied on it to pull them both out taking a deep breath the moment his face emerged. He pulled himself up and over the ledge before yanking Superman free of the fluid. “Guys! He’s not breathing.”“Just get him to safety, there’s no time!” Batman called out. He was no longer at the other console and had returned to Cyborg’s side, pulling him from the smoking wreck that once was the main terminal. “Go!”Arrow draped Superman’s arm over his shoulder, carrying him with his feet dragging behind. They were headed towards the same exit they’d used to escape last night when a final blast door slammed shut in front of them. Arrow cursed, looking to Batman. “Got any more orders, corporal?”“He doesn’t, but I do.” Cyborg lifted his head. Most of his weight was being supported by Batman, moving just one arm towards the door was a struggle for him. “Shut up.” A white laser beam melted a hole through the blast door, large enough for the men to step through. Arrow smirked, carrying Superman to safety as the automated voice counted down from sixty.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Jaz was sitting on the couch, holding Hero in her arms watching the news together. It had been several days since the incident. They’d fully briefed Jason on exactly what had happened, and Brin immediately returned to work afterwards, though what work he did not say. Hero had only just gotten up on his own, though Jaz was forbidden from walking him outside yet. Instead, they’d been watching the news coverage of the event when Jason joined them. “So. About the payment for Hero’s treatment.”“Yes?” Jason’s statement immediately snapped Jaz’s attention away from the TV.“Of course you wouldn’t expect me to house you two and provide emergency medical services for Hero without charge.” She hadn’t thought he’d charge her. “But I’ve been thinking about the matter of payment, given you’re,” He paused, struggling to say what he wanted to say it seemed.“Given that I’m homeless?” Jaz finished his sentence for him.“Yes.” He cleared his throat, clearly a bit flustered bringing it up, “About that.”“I’ll find a way to pay you back, if you’ll accept it in increments that is. I could… Leave my phone with you as collateral?” If she did, it would be difficult to contact Terese and Clara but it was her only prized possession. She flinched realizing she still hadn’t bothered to do that yet.“No, no. That won’t be necessary, and besides. I doubt you’d be able to pay the thousands you owe me for services rendered by doing odd jobs around the city.” He shook his head, not noticing the shocked stare Jaz was giving him now, “And I’d hate to know what those jobs could end up being… No. You’ll work off your debt.” Jason was giving Jaz a very determined look, like he wasn’t going to accept no. Not that she was really in any position to refuse whatever offer he had for her. “You can stay here with Hero, and work as my assistant in the clinic. I liked how you worked when you brought Hero a few nights back, and how you’ve assisted in the time since. I’ll give you a loan on your first payment to since you’re in need of new clothes and shoes.” Jason pulled a wad of cash from his pocket, pre-prepared Jaz could tell, handing it to her. “Since you’ll be working for me now, you’ll need to look the part.” He smiled.She took the money in a state of shock. Completely dumbstruck by what just happened. Looking satisfied, Jason stood up stretching. “You’ll start next week. In the meantime, I’ll ask Brin to take you shopping.”“That won’t be-” She began to protest.“No no, he has a license. I’d rather like to avoid you walking around these parts with cash in your pocket like that. Superman isn’t the only person with x-ray vision walking those streets.” With that, he hummed his way back down the stairs to reopen his practice.Jaz turned to Hero who wore an equally shocked expression for a dog. “Guess I got a job now, eh?” Was all she could manage after a moment. Jaz stared out the window for a while thinking about what she would do, avoiding looking at her phone. She’d found it on the bedside table, still powered on and ringing the day after they’d made it back home, but she’d justified ignoring the calls because she ‘still needed rest’ all this time.It buzzed again, breaking Jaz’s thoughts once more. Hero whined beside her, seemingly understanding what she was worried about. “It’s them. I promised I’d keep responding but then I kinda ghosted them for a week.” Jaz winced seeing a wall of angry texts from Terese and Clara. What made it worse was the fact that they realized the same day she’d gotten snatched that she was missing. They’d sent a photo of Jaz’s face depicted on a holographic screen, the same one Maxmellius was spreading to the thugs to find her. “Never mind. I need to come up with a better excuse if I’m going to apologize to them.” Hero whined beside her.“Apologize to who?” Brin was standing on the stairs. Jaz fumbled her phone, barely catching it before it hit the floor.“Can you like, make noise when you’re moving around. You startle me every time you do that.” Jaz stood up. “So…”“We were on our way to go shopping I heard.” Brin motioned down the stairs before descending them. Jaz followed.“Did you put him up to this?”“Up to this? No, of course not. Were you planning on just skipping out on the bill?”“No.” She sighed. Seemed her fate was sealed. Jason smiled at them as they passed through the waiting room. Since he’d opened the clinic, it was filled with a lineup of patients and the parking lot outside was full as well with more families waiting. “Is it busy because of all the dog kidnappings?”“Jason’s clinic is always busy. A lot of the poor in Suicide Slums has pets and he’s the only vet they can afford in this city.” Jaz nodded. Perhaps she wasn’t the first who had to pay off their debts to him by working there.Brin drove them to the mall in a small red truck. The thing was rusting through in the wheel wells and was old enough that it only had crank windows, but it started like it had a new engine. They’d left Hero at the clinic. At first Jaz was worried over the awkward silence between them, but when she glanced at Brin he didn’t indicate that it bothered him at all. He accompanied her through the entire shopping trip at the mall, carrying her bags as she bought necessities. At the end of the trip, he pulled over at a small steak restaurant. When Jaz cast him a questioning glance he shrugged, “I’m hungry.”Inside was dimly lit and sparsely seated. Brin walked them to a corner booth far away from anyone else who could overhear, nodding to the bartender as if they knew each other. A waitress slipped them menu’s, smiling at Brin in more than just a polite way before leaving. “Come here often?” Jaz joked.“You could say that.” Brin took a deep gulp of the coffee the waitress left behind with the menus. Jaz opened hers not surprised with the selection. American comfort food, steak and fries, hot wings and the like. She noted that Brin didn’t bother opening his before ordering ‘the usual’. Jaz settled for a salad and fries while she enjoyed watching Brin have to navigate the waitress’s thousand questions. She smiled stupidly when the waitress stared daggers in her direction. He waited until the waitress left before turning to Jaz, “I believe we have a conversation to finish.”“Do we now?” Jaz tried to think to what conversation they hadn’t finished the past week.“You were telling me about the world you’re from, until we were so rudely interrupted.” He lifted his coffee to his lips, his yellow eyes following her the entire time.Jaz couldn’t control herself from flinching. “Right. That, yeah.”“So. If I remember correctly, you’re here on accident?” She nodded, “And your friends, where are they?”Jaz paused mid sip of her water, “What friends?” That triggered a smile out of him.“You mentioned you weren’t meant to come here, so I’m assuming someone else was supposed to come instead.” Jaz studied Brin. She could tell he was reading her right back.“Right. Fine. Can’t get anything past you anyways,” She muttered. “I’m a Worldheart.” The shocked reaction Brin gave her puzzled her, but she didn’t think anymore of it. He probably hadn’t a clue what she was talking about. “The only reason I’m here today is because I went to go say goodbye to the two Worldhearts that were actually meant to come here.” She paused just as the waitress came to deliver their food. The poor girl hovered over Brin as if she had something more to say but he was to focused on Jaz to notice. “The waitress likes you, I think.” Jaz commented watching the waitress walk away dejected.Brin’s eyes finally looked towards her, “Think so?”“She was staring daggers at me dude. And she remembers how you take your coffee, she wanted to say something else to you to, but you didn’t look at her.”Brin shook his head, “She’s like that every time. I’m sure she’s just curious since you’re the first person I’ve ever brought here.”“Mhm.” Jaz grinned, “Anyways, I found out about the Worldheart program in my world on accident. I was just brought in initially by my friend Clara to help them prepare them for their travel to this world, since I know so much about it.” She shook her head with a smile remembering it, “Let’s just say Clara is not very good at keeping secrets.”“And where are your friends now? Why aren’t you with them?” Jaz took a bite from her salad which prompted Brin to remember he had a steak in front of him.“With the Justice League up top,” She pointed to the ceiling. “The league doesn’t know I’m here either, and I’d appreciate if you help me keep it that way. Figured if they did, they might not let me wander around like I wanted.”“Sounds to me like they have the right idea, worlds a dangerous place and you’ve already been kidnapped once.”“Twice, but yeah. I got a job now though, right? I’ll be fine.”“Twice?” Brin gave her a not-so-sure look for that.“Gotham isn’t a safe city.” She waved her hand in front of her face dismissively, “And anyways I talked my way out of that one, got enough money for a one-way ticket to Metropolis, the safest city around. Home of Superman and all that.”Her joking tone fell flat before Brin’s serious face, “Can you fight?”That question took Jaz by surprise. Her brows knit together, “No? Of course not. Why would I need to fight?”“You’ve never had to fight? Are there no threats from the world you’re from?”“The only threat in my world is global warming and late-stage capitalism dude. Drunk drivers… And cancer. To be fair that’s probably the most likely thing to kill me there.” She punctuated that statement with another bite of salad she’d covered in sauce. Brin was frowning as he watched her eat, “There’s no such thing as heroes or villains there, and I don’t intend to fight any of em here too. I’m weak.” She shrugged.Brin returned to eating his steak again, demolishing it in big bites. They finished their meal in silence, ordering a pot of coffee for the two of them. He finally spoke again watching Jaz fix her coffee.“You add that much sugar?”Jaz shot him a glare, “I eat salads so my coffee’s can fly.”He chuckled, “You could use more steak in your diet. You’re tiny. Train with me, I can show you how to get stronger.”“No.”“What would convince you to learn to fight?”“If it involved no exercise.”He stared at her perplexed. “You really are lazy.”“It takes work protecting my lifestyle.” She said proudly. He chuckled, though his expression told Jaz he hadn’t given up yet. “Remember when I was talking about how to apologize?”“To your friends I’m assuming?”She sighed, “What do I do? They saw the photo that Max was sharing when he was looking for me. I promised them I’d be safe, but I ghosted them for a whole week and… Well now it’s been several days more, and I don’t know how I’m going to explain this.”“Just tell them the truth.” Brin made it seem so simple.“Its just…” She stared at her coffee, “I don’t know. I worried them you know? They’re already so upset… And they’re right. I got nothing, I did get in danger. I can’t think of an excuse around that either.”“So tell them the truth. They’re your friends, Jaz. They’ll be mad for now, but they’ll appreciate you being honest with them.” The waitress came with the bill, he paid for them both and drove them home in comfortable silence. Jaz was lost in her head trying to imagine how the conversation would go until time had run out and she was back in her room, faced with her ultimate battle. Her friends. She took a deep breath holding her phone in front of her. “You able to protect me while I face them bud? Might get ugly.” Hero barked at her from the bed, his tail wagging.When she turned on the screen, she was faced with the holographic image of herself, mid swing with that red wrench. Given the fact that they’d sent it to her the same day she’d lied to them about being safe and bored… She took another deep breath, bracing herself. She thumbed the call button, flinching when it was answered immediately.“WHERE ARE YOU!” Terese was screaming into the phone loud enough that Jaz had to hold it away from her ear. Even Hero took a step back. In the background she could hear Clara yelling ‘ask her if she’s ok’. “YOU STOPPED ANSWERING YOUR PHONE, AND THERES A PHOTO OF YOU, THEY’RE LOOKING FOR YOU!”“I’m fine!” Jaz tried not to yell back, “Nothing-““NOTHING MY ASS! YOU HAVEN’T ANSWERED IN A WEEK! WHAT HAPPENED!”Jaz paused, biting back the lie that bubbled to the surface immediately. “They wanted Hero. I found out the night I’d last talked too you that they included me in that too. I’m sorry guys, I didn’t mean to lie to you. I just didn’t want you to worry about me and I thought I could handle it.” Ultimately Brin was right about being truthful in one sense. In the end she didn’t want to start making a habit of lying to her friends.The line was silent for a long painful minute. “We told Cyborg about you.” Terese sounded terse to Jaz.“You ended up telling him…” Jaz rubbed the back of her neck, “That’s fair I guess.”“We didn’t know if you were ever going to turn up alive or not again, Jaz. We had to. He promised to find you and help.”“I didn’t end up needing his help. I got out just fine with Timber Wolf.” As much as Jaz wanted to protest further, she bit her tongue. “For real though, I know you guys have been worrying about me for months and I’m sorry… I got a job though, and a place to stay.”“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Terese snapped back.“Where do you work now Jaz?” Clara’s voice sounded far away.“At a vet down in Metropolis.” She decided to leave out that she was in Suicide Slums, the most dangerous part of Metropolis. “Now that Maxmellius is in custody, Hero is safe. I don’t plan on getting into anything stupid, I promise.”The line went quiet for a while. She could hear Clara whisper to Terese. “You need to check in every day. And if you ever hear that you’re in danger, someone’s trying to find you, you tell us next time. Got it?” Terese’s angry voice cracked at the end.“Are you crying?”“Promise!”Jaz bit her lip. “I’m sorry guys, really; and I promise I’ll tell you if I’m ever in trouble again.”The rest of their conversation was awkward but relieving. Jaz finally opened up about what actually happened in the facility, that she’d met two heroes she’d looked up to, though she hadn’t given them her name. Then Clara insisted she make a ‘side kick name’ if they ever met next time. They joked around, spending the rest of the evening coming up with Jaz’s ultimate sidekick name.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Jaz was in the bedroom attempting to communicate with Hero, asking him who he was by showing him images of a different Heroes on her phone and asking him to paw at them if they were the one. Thus far she could rule out the Heroes she’d met at the lab, as well as Red Tornado, Wildcat, Flash, Green Lantern and Atom. Her attempts were cut short by a portal that opened up in her bedroom wall. It was a tiny blip, to small to stick more than a finger through but big enough that cell service leaked through from her world. A second later her phone was receiving an actual call.“Izzy?”“Jasmine! I believe Superman is in fact evil.” A smile crossed Jaz’s face hearing his alarmed tone.“Have you been reading more comics again?” She already knew the answer. “Let me guess, you heard about the Justice Lords?”“I’ve been peeking at news reports from your world. Teresa and Clara don’t seem to know, they just repeat what the Justice League say-“Jaz cut him off, “Superman isn’t evil, and I doubt he’s missing. If he was, the Justice League wouldn’t just lie about that too the world. They haven’t in the past.”“They haven’t been tasked with protecting Worldheart’s in the past, Jasmine.” His tone was whiney, “I need to know you’re safe.”“I’m fine dude. I got a job and a place to stay.”“Oh thank god. Jasmine. I just told the others, but you need to know. There’s a cult, one of those world ending… Wait! Hold on. They’re doing another sweep of portals, I got to go. Stay low, don’t get noticed!” The portal popped out of existence as quickly as it opened.
Since Jaz wasn’t supposed to be here, Izzy couldn’t officially contact her, nor Terese and Clara as officially there wasn’t supposed to be anything wrong here. In order to cover himself he could only contact when there were no audits of portals for improper use.Jaz dialed them. Clara picked up immediately, “Did you guys just talk to Izzy?”“Yep! Did he tell you too? About the cult and all?”“No. He got cut off by another audit. What cult?” Jaz could think of several cults that showed up throughout the issues, to many to narrow down on so little info.“I’m not really sure, but the League seems to know what he’s talking about. We told Cyborg about it, and he says they got it under control. Oh! I’m supposed to give you his number, so remind me later! Anyways, I gotta go, see ya soon!” Jaz heard a click before she could get out a goodbye.Smiling, she glanced at Hero. “Whoever you are, we should really take you to the Justice League, eh? I’m sure they could figure it out, the Green Martian can just read your mind or something, figure out how to fix you.” Hero barked at Jaz, assumingly in agreement. “Well, I’ll ask Brin later how to contact them at least. After my shift that is.”-
-
-Terese waited for Clara to hang up, leading them out the door when she did. Since the bust of the facility, Cyborg spent less and less time in the watch tower, instead working on an assignment with another hero, Green Arrow. They were finally allowed to wander the Watchtower unguarded and had decided to surprise Cyborg in the research wing. The doors were locked to regular Watchtower members when they arrived, but after announcing themselves through the intercom the door opened with Cyborg filling the frame.“Can we come in?” Terese asked. Cyborg glanced at the annoyed heroes surrounding the door.“Yeah, we have work to do. Who gave you the right to lock the rest of us out?” One hero spoke angrily.“Take your complaints to John then, Elongated Man.” Cyborg dismissed him, stepping aside to allow Terese and Clara inside before locking the rest out again.“What’s that all about?” Terese nodded towards the door.“Don’t worry about that. What brings you two here?” Cyborg was a man of few words, always jumping straight to the point.“You’ve been gone ever since the whole fiasco with Maxmellon or whatever his name was.”“Yeah, we’ve been really bored. We want to go down to Earth.” Clara complained. She spilled their goal before Terese could elbow her to shut up. It was then the two girls noticed the other Hero in the room. Clara waved at him, and he seemed to take that as a sign to introduce himself.“I didn’t know Cyborg had two beautiful friends on this boat with him.” Arrow raised his brows, stretching a hand out to shake theirs. “Green Arrow.”Terese took it first, introducing herself along with Clara.“You two can’t go to Earth. You know that.” Terese shot a pointed glare at Cyborg, but it was Arrow that spoke up first.“Hold on a second. Why can’t they? We get into the business of keeping prisoners as well as secrets?” His brows furrowed.“This doesn’t concern you-““Keeping people here against their will is very much my concern. Look, I joined up because I wanted to make a difference for the little guy. I’m already looped in enough mess what with Sup-““Enough!” Cyborg cut him off. Terese kept looking between them, trying to read what each man was thinking. There was obviously far more going on behind the scenes than Cyborg had first let on with the whole Maxmellius thing.“There was more going on in that facility than kidnapping dogs, wasn’t there.” The way Cyborgs expression immediately hardened was all Terese needed to know she was on the money there. “Honestly, I don’t care about that. I just want to spend time with my friends down there. I get that you guys are worried for our safety,” She raised her hands allowing blue electrical sparks to leap between her fingers. The electronics in the room began to flicker and the static she was building made everyone’s hair begin to friz. “But we’re not helpless damsels who can’t hold their own in a fight.”Cyborg blew air out of his nose. “That’s not-““I’m willing to prove it too you.”Clara, realizing Terese was threatening to fight chimed in, “We’ve let you guys coop us up here and keep us safe and like… We’re really grateful, don’t get us wrong.” She smiled, holding up her hands trying to diffuse the situation, “But we’re also people, and we can’t stay locked in a cage forever, right?”“Let me guess. ‘We’re doing this for your own good?’” Arrow did air quotes before pointedly looking at Cyborg. Cyborg stared hard at Arrow before finally sighing.“Fine, but you won’t go alone. Arrow was so kind enough to volunteer to escort you to Earth so you can meet your friend.” Arrow’s eyes opened wide in surprise, while Clara gave him a pleading look and Terese a hopeful one.“Uhh. Yeah,” He laughed, rubbing the back of his head. “Do you two know where you want to go?” Their faces lit up. A while later Arrow found himself in front of the clinic that he’d left Timber Wolf and his side kick in.
- -
Jaz had just finished tidying up the clinic for the day, entering notes into the final clients accounts and logging out of the front desk computers when a knock started banging at the door. She pointedly ignored it, but it didn’t relent. Finally, frustrated Jaz swung the door open scowling as she did. “Terese?” She grabbed her friend in a big hug making sure to pull Clara into it as well.Jaz’s eyes widened even more when she realized who was escorting the two. “Green… Green Arrow!” She invited them all in, leading them upstairs after introducing them to Jason who was on his way out. Timber Wolf was still out doing whatever job he worked so she had the entire living room to herself, with them all staring at her.“Soo…” Jaz’s heart was beating fast, she kept glancing at Arrow wondering what he’d said so far. “I didn’t think you meant soon as in, like here. At my… Home.”Terese folded her arms across her chest, “We’d wanted to pay you a visit this entire time, but it was hard to find you before.”“We haven’t seen you in months,” Clara’s voice sounded pleading.Jaz glanced again at Arrow, then back to Clara, “I’ve missed you too. I’ve just been here, working a lot. Like I said, I’ve been very safe. Pretty boring here, actually.” Arrow raised a brow, looking completely unconvinced but Clara right beside him breathed a sigh of relief. They talked for an hour, laughing about life up on the Watchtower, the food, and the people they met. Clara and Terese were enthralled by Hero, but Hero kept barking and staring at Arrow.
Jaz dodged every attempt they made to convince her to come back with them, especially while she was cooking. The Watchtower kitchens offered great menu’s and the girls knew Jaz’s weakness was food.It was several hours later, just after they’d finished food and Jaz was just placing Brin’s portion into the fridge that he returned. He had stalked up the stairs silently, startling all three girls when he suddenly appeared in the living room. “Guests?”“They’re my friends I told you about,” Jaz had nearly fumbled the Tupperware of food.
Brin took it out of her hands, pulling a fork out of the drying rack. “Clara and Terese, I presume?” He sat at the table, digging in. Jaz sighed, introducing all of them to each other, including Arrow to Brin. Both men gave her questioning glances but didn’t mention it. Brin also didn’t seem to get the hint from Jaz to be discrete, pulling out a large brown file from his jacket to show her. Arrow was lounging on the couch with his arms folded on his chest but even he recognized it was a case file, sitting up with a newfound interest in the conversation.Jaz however sat on the file, directly in front of Brin. “Instead of talking about work why don’t you try to get to know my friends?” She tried to hint, not to subtly for him to shut it about the case. Brin looked up from his food, reading her face before finally smiling at Terese and Clara, asking them about the recent weather. The conversation was awkward from there, especially once Jaz noticed the big grins and suggestive eyebrow raises they were giving each other, nodding towards Jaz and Brin. The conversation eventually turned to Brin’s motorcycle, and the girls squealed when he suggested they go see it.Before Jaz could join them down the stairs Arrow stopped her, holding up the open file Brin had left on the table. “Perfectly normal and safe prying you two are doing here.” Jaz tried to snatch it out of his hands, but he pulled away too fast walking with the folder open as he talked, “Reports of a mysterious new drug in production, but no signs of it on the streets.” His eyes narrowed. He held up a photo of a green vial, “Almost looks familiar.” He spun, dodging another attempt Jaz made to snatch the file out of his hands. “A start up drug company, private investment… The date registered is circled.” Arrow gave Jaz a pointed look. “Let me guess. You two think this is linked to Maxmellius’s facility?”“It is linked, now give it back.” This time Arrow let Jaz snatch the folder out of his hands.“How did you two make the connection?” Arrow crossed his arms in front of his chest after a lengthy silence, “You can tell me, or tell me and your two friends.” He shrugged, “Your choice.”Jaz sighed, “It was obvious that Maxmellius was working for someone else.” When Arrow gave her a confused look she added, “The guy was crazy. Ain’t no way he got the funding for that facility or the manpower to capture heroes out of thin air. Certainly not from his own pocket at least. I looked into him. We found some tenuous-at-best links to Lexcorp and it sort of went off from there. That pharmaceutical company in the file? It was created not even a week after photos of him meeting with Lex Luthor were taken.”Arrow glanced back at the file, “So you think Lex is the real one behind all this.”“Not think. We know, its just getting the hard evidence the law would need to actually do anything about it.”“So why all the secrecy?” Terese’s hands were at her hips, her eyebrows were knit together, and her glare was levelled right at Jaz.Jaz winced, glancing to Brin who’d just climbed the stairs behind them. He shrugged, offering no help. “Look, I’m not going out doing anything. I was being serious when I said I’m being safe and boring.”“So what, Brin’s the one dragging you into this?” Terese leveled her glare at him.“I’m doing all the dangerous work, don’t worry. She simply helps me with the research and piecing all the clues together.” Brin crossed the living room, taking the folder from Jaz. “I’m sure your friend was only trying to keep you two from worrying, contrary to the better choice of just being honest instead.” He said pointedly.“I thought you two would think I was taking unnecessary risks.” Terese gave Jaz a dirty glare, returning her attention to the folder Brin opened on the table in front of them.“The blue hue is a club that opened up in downtown Metropolis several years ago. It quickly became the main hub of high-class drug dealing, not just cocaine to the business execs and party drugs for the young girls. We’re talking military grade, mutagens, and weapons grade poisons.”“Wait. Hold on. How’s a place like that operating right smack in downtown without the league hearing about it?” Arrow chimed in.“The League has bigger fish to fry than some drug dealing gang. They’ve been leaving this one to the independents, and to the police which have so far been unable to get any dirt they can keep stuck to the little operation going down. Its run too well, not like a gang with an ego to protect. All they care about is their bottom line.” As Brin spoke everyone circled the table, looking at the individual papers and photographs he was pulling from the table. Some Jaz immediately recognized as articles and pieces of information she’d found herself. “Recently though, a photo surfaced on social media that your friend Jaz here recovered before it was permanently scrubbed off the internet.” He slid the final photo out of the folder, one depicting Maxmellius dressed down in what looks like the cheapest suit he could find. Beside him was Lex Luthor. The man was bald, dressed in a fine suite that even in the blurred cellphone photo looked extremely finely tailored and accented the man’s aura of power. The comics didn’t give the man justice in how attractive he was, with a grin on his face like he owned the world. There was a third man in the photo, but he was facing away from the camera.At this point even Hero had his paws up on the table, holding himself upright to stare at the files littering it. He seemed to pay special interest in the photo of Lex. Jaz looked to the four people surrounding the table with her. Terese and Clara were busy reading some of the files off the table, while Arrow was organizing things into a grid on the table, seemingly finding the links they were making as he scanned the files. A real veteran. “So… What now?”“What now?” Terese still had an edge of anger in her voice, “We’re going to help you crack this case now.”“Ah.” They sat themselves at the table, along with Brin and Arrow. Jaz was the only one left standing. “Welcome to the team I guess.”
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They worked late into the night sorting through the files Jaz had sent to Brin, supplemented with his own photo’s and tidbits of information he knew about the Blue Hue. It opened four years ago. It was known to be owned by a single man, but no one knew who he was or what he looked like. Terese proposed that Lex was the possible owner, but with no links and no evidence pointing to that it was purely conjecture based on his character. Ultimately, they focused on the facts they knew. Lex, Max, and a mysterious man was spotted drinking together in one of the private booths of the club on the upper floor. After that, Maxmellius began construction on his weird underground lab where they kidnapped heroes and conducted experiments. This mystery pharmaceutical company was also founded a week after that meeting, with no records of its original backers or investors. It was entirely private and had yet to come to market with any products. There were unconfirmed rumours running rampant of a new drug hitting the scene, but they didn’t have any information on what it was supposed to do or if the rumors were actually true. Lastly, Arrow added that some of the software and machinery used in the lab was confirmed to originate from Lexcorp, though that was not enough ‘proof’ for the police to pin anything on him since he could just claim it was purchased by a third party.Jaz asked for a second time, “So what now?” After an hour of deliberating over the facts.“We need to confirm the rumours next if we’re going to find the next lead.” Arrow answered and Brin nodded in silent agreement.“We’d want to try to get in with one of the regulars I’d imagine. Someone who has ties to the drug trades that go on in that club.” Terese proposed.Brin nodded silently, staring at the photos of the club’s interior for a while. “That’s a good idea Terese, but it’s getting late right now. If you find any additional information, send it to Jaz. I have an idea, but its to early to share it. Next Monday, we’ll discuss what to do.”Terese and Clara both looked to Arrow who simply nodded. “See you next Monday then.”They shared hugs before leaving. Jaz rubbed her face, exhausted suddenly after all that. Brin was standing at the bottom of the stairway to the bedrooms, his arms crossed. “What?”“You’re really bad at telling the truth, aren’t you.” His tone wasn’t accusatory. It was matter of fact, but the fact still stung.Jaz scowled, “I’m really not.” After a moment she realized it could be construed either way, “Bad at it, I mean.”“Your friends want to help you, and they want to know you trust them too.”“I do trust them.” Jaz snapped when she didn’t intend to.“Then show them that.” With that Brin turned up the stairs, leaving Jaz feeling frustrated at the bottom. She did trust them. She just didn’t want to worry them. It wasn’t the same thing.
- -
Coming up to the Monday, Brin had Jaz change the meeting place from their home to the warehouse Brin had been using to train. It was an active factory somewhere on the outskirts of Metropolis that was poorly locked up, making it the perfect place for them to meet after dark with no one to witness. It was a metal working factory. Outside was giant metal pipes large enough for Jaz to stand inside, piled to one side of the dirt parking lot. There was a rusted gate surrounding the place, with spindles of barbed wire atop it. The main gate to the parking lot was ‘locked’ with a chain that had a rusted shut lock on the end of it. Still, driving by you’d assumed it was locked.“So… Abandoned warehouse huh.” Terese stepped out of the SUV first, putting her hands on her hips as she surveyed the area.“Not abandoned, but there’s no security after seven.” Brin opened the side door, ushering them inside. The space was massive, at least two football fields wide with several large machines and conveyer belts on either side. All the smaller equipment had been shifted to the walls with chains locking them to the floor. The only windows in the place were three stories high and so dusty they barely let in light.“How did you even find this place anyways?” Jaz asked, grabbing a foldable chair she found leaning against the wall.“A friend of mine recommended it to me.” Brin’s tone sounded like he was reminiscing, but it didn’t make sense. Jaz knew he was from the future…“Bit of an odd place for a planning meeting.” Arrow remarked.Brin walked out to the center of the room with Terese and Clara following close behind. Jaz set up her chair nearish the wall, sitting down while Arrow shot her a questioning look. She simply shrugged, returning her attention to Brin.“I realized we need proper introductions.” Brin said, turning back to the group. “You know me as Brin, but I go by another name. Timber Wolf.” He leveled a stare at each of them, “If we’re to work together we will need to understand each other’s strengths.” As he spoke, he lifted his hand up flexing it until claws extended from his fingers. His eyes began to glow yellow as he did so, “And each others’ weaknesses. Several of you are new to this line of work, or so I’ve heard.” He glanced back at Jaz before continuing, “So now’s the time to show us what you’ve got. I have superstrength and speed, the ability to see in the dark and shoot my claws out like they're bullets. My temper is my weakness, I can lose control if I fight while angry.” Brin’s attention shifted to Arrow.Arrow responded to his cue, stepping to the ‘center stage’ while Brin stood off to the side. He looked a bit confused about the whole gig but pulled his bow from his shoulders, grabbing a normal looking arrow from the quiver. He let his skills with the bow speak for themselves, pointing at a safety sign posted on the outside wall of the foreman’s office high above the factory floor. He drew and released it in one fluid motion sending the arrow across two football fields distance, sinking smack in the center of the sign. “As the namesake goes, I’m a good shot with a bow. I have multiple trick arrows I use in a fight, but I have no actual powers.”“Wait, really?” Clara asked. Jaz had to stop herself from retorting, ‘I thought you were paying attention all this time.’“Not all heroes are naturally gifted.”“But still incredibly talented,” Jaz added. Arrow smiled and winked.“And for you two.” Brin nodded towards Clara and Terese. “Jaz shared with me your abilities, but I’d like to see them in person first.”Terese was the first to step up to center stage while Arrow joined Jaz off on the sidelines. As Terese raised her right-hand Brin warned her not to destroy the factory, since it was an active worksite. She made no indication that she’d heard him, a single arc of electricity erupting from her fist to the nearest machine chained to the wall. It leapt from one to the other, travelling along the chain that bound them to the floor before arcing to the metal railings speeding faster and faster until it connected to the machines on the opposite wall. All the while, the affected machines began to move with a blue hue encompassing them. They floated, straining against the chain until it seemingly opened, wiggling loose on its own accord. A line of metal machinery floated through the air, small bolts of electricity leaping from them to Terese’s fist as she spoke, “I have power over metal and lightning.”“More specifically I need to understand how you activate and use your powers. What makes the metal glow, and can you move it without first hitting it with your lightning?” Brin cut straight to the point, sounding unimpressed with Terese’s show of power. Her brow twitched. She waved her hand, unballing her fist. The floating machinery returned to their spots, the metal chains snaking through them as before. Once everything came to a rest the blue electricity that had erupted from Terese’s fist arced back towards her from all across the room, tiny bolts of light peppering her until the last thing had come to a stop.“Now hey, even in the League we don’t make a habit of telling each other our weaknesses.” Arrow began to interject, stopping Terese before she spoke.“And the league is famous for its teamwork?” In private Brin had always been critical of the Justice Leagues’ lack of teammanship, comparing it to the Legion of Superheroes quite often. “I’m not going to lead a bunch of rookies into a trap without knowing what they can and can’t do, and how to assist them.”“I don’t mind sharing my weaknesses, Arrow. If it means I can finally participate in the trouble Jaz gets herself into, then I’m all for it. Besides, I can handle myself.” Terese smiled. Jaz always admired how confident she was, “I can only manipulate anything my blue lighting has been absorbed in, and I only have so much lighting to use at a time. Materials like rubber put a damper on my abilities, but it won’t fully stop me as if I were using regular electricity. I can attack as well with my lightning,” Terese held up a clawed hand again, allowing the blue lightning to arc and leap between her fingers, “But I can run out of electrical power if I don’t make an effort to recollect it.”“Can your power become uncollectible for you?”She nodded, “One time, I was near a power station and wondered what would happen if it hit the generators.” She chuckled, “Thankfully over time and with enough food I can rebuild my energy but let’s just say that was a shocking experience in more ways than one.”Brin nodded, thoughtful. “And what combat experience do you have?”Terese adjusted her position, holding her right hand out towards Brin while pulling her left closer to her chest. She widened her legs stance, giving Brin a coy smile while asking, “Care to find out?” Brin regarded her with a calculative stare, before suddenly shifting to the side out of the path of an arc of lighting. Radiating from Terese’s left arm were ripples of plasmic blue energy that Brin’s claw bullets peppered into, stopping midair before falling to the ground. Terese aimed her left arm down, a force of blue energy slammed into the floor beneath her sending her flying high into the air, several pieces of discarded metal that had littered the floor began to float around her. She shot them at Brin but they embedded into the walls he was running along. He jumped out of the way, pulling himself up over the second story railing on a warpath towards her. He leapt from the wall crossing the distance between them in seconds. Terese hesitated, twisting her body to block his tackle with her left arms force field, before changing her mind to hit him with her lightning bolt. She didn’t have time to do either before he slammed into her. He grappled both her hands as they fell to the floor together. They landed roughly. Terese struggled to break Brins grip on her, shocking him through his grip on her right arm. He didn’t relent though, his super strength easily overpowering her attempts to break his grip as he dragged her left arm overtop her right, releasing his contact on her right while still pinning that arm under her left.The electricity arcing through his body stopped, and the room dimmed around them. “You have some grasp on how to use your powers, but no sense of a fighter’s instinct yet.”“Let me go.” Terese snapped. Brin got off her, standing to offer her an arm up. She ignored it as she pulled herself back to her feet, patting dirt and dust off her back, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. She gritted her teeth, avoiding eye contact with Brin. The fight was cool, but very short lived. Brin had caught her and pinned her in less than two minutes.“That was a good warm up Terese!” Jaz called out to encourage her. “You’ll get him in the next round, eh?”Terese shot Jaz a glare initially, before her expression softened. “Yeah... Yeah I will.” She returned another confident smile at Brin, “Now that I’ve seen just what you can do.” Brin readied himself again, waiting until Terese fired another shot at him before leaping at her. This time she went with her initial instinct, raising her left arm up repel him away.Brin landed on his feet twenty yards away, “You never mentioned anything about being able to create shields.”“You can’t give away all the tricks up your sleeve at the beginning.” She laughed. Arcs of electricity began to creep across the factory floor, picking up metal shavings and other small pieces. They spun around above her head, glowing red hot before forming into three spear like objects she made rotate around her. It reminded Jaz a moment of a sword dances she’d seen once before… Before Terese could launch her weapons at him, Brin lunged towards her, moving fast enough that it was hard for Jaz’s eyes to keep up. Terese managed to block his advance though, attacking him with her swords, forcing him to retreat and dodge out of the way. She managed to stop some of his bullet nails, but Brin speeding around her attacking her from all angles. Some slammed into her, not hard enough to embed into her flesh but hard enough to hurt.“Clara, what kind of powers do you have?” Arrow and Clara had joined Jaz, pulling up chairs they’d found along the walls to watch the fight happening before them.“Nothing as fancy as what Terese can do. She’s easily the strongest of us all.” Clara laughed nervously, waving her hand in front of her as if to dismiss the idea that she could be strong.“Clara’s powers aren’t meant for something like a combat situation. Where her strength is is her ability to get into places unnoticed, get people to agree with her and all that. She has the power of suggestion.”“Ahh, so like mind tricks. Those powers always creeped me out.” Arrow said absentmindedly, before suddenly realizing himself. “Not, not that I find you creepy!”Clara smiled, “It’s ok. My powers are kind of weak anyways. I want to help but I’m not sure how I can.” Clara sounded wistful. Of the three of them she was always the one most insecure about her place in everything. She had told Jaz back home, when Jaz was still helping her study to prepare for her coming here that she didn’t believe she was cut out for it. At one point she was convinced her being chosen was some mistake that would be backtracked. At the back of Jaz’s mind, she wondered if Clara still worried about it.“Well, you’ll be in for a surprise then. Brin’s plan hinges on you and your powers for any of this to work.” Jaz smiled seeing Clara’s expression shift into mock horror. “Don’t worry, you won’t be doing any of it alone.”“Not at all kid, I’ve taken down one or two gangs in my day. I’ve got your back.” Arrow slapped Clara’s back, just as Terese sent Brin flying across the factory floor. He twisted mid air, digging claws into the dirt floor to slow himself. He pulled his legs down, coming to a stop before zig zagging towards Terese all the while showering her with his bullet claws. In the beginning of the fight she was able to predict when he was going to shoot and respond with her shield beforehand, but now the claws were peppering into her leg, or her arm, her back before she could get the shield to block the rest of them. No matter where she twisted or ran, his aim followed her. She was using her force field, though now its width had noticeably shrunk and she was panting hard.“Terese! Don’t let it become a contest of endurance! He can outlast you, you need to beat him now!” Jaz yelled out, shouting, and clapping to encourage her friend.“Go Terese!” Clara yelled out. Even Arrow began cheering her on. Throughout Brin didn’t slow down, nor did he let up his assault. He ran around her, looking for a gap in her guard, testing her defenses and wearing her down.“Damnit,” Terese cursed, Brin was circling her, slowly closing in while her makeshift swords were responding slower and slower, no longer able to push him back as far and give her breathing room. Terese unleashed a huge rush of energy. A large field of lighting erupted from the floor around her leaping up to the ceiling, forcing Brin to retreat. Terese’s hair was floating above her, electrified as her body was enveloped in blue energy. She shot her swords forward, finally going on the offensive. Brin dodged them, his feet barely leaving the ground as he did. The final third one he slapped away casually before rushing Terese, meeting her in the center of the room. She tried to punch him with an electrified fist but he side stepped it, grabbing onto her outstretched arm, yanking her forward making her lose balance. She fell to the floor, twisting around to attack with another bolt, except it was far smaller now. It hit Brin square in the chest, but it didn’t send him flying. He grimaced, enduring the electricity that arced through him into the floor below.Brin raised his hands, “Let’s stop here.” Terese was panting on the floor, but she took Brin’s hand this time letting him pull her to her feet. “Have you been practicing up in the Watchtower?” She nodded, too winded it seemed to speak, “Good. The biggest danger we’ll face is their guns, and your instinct to block my attacks this time was perfect. I don’t think a single claw of mine got through.”“You can shoot them at the speed of a bullet?” Clara asked. The three onlookers had approached now that the fight was obviously over.“Yes. I wanted to make sure Terese could protect herself against a gun before I threw you to the wolves, so to speak.” Brin answered, “Terese. Do not hesitate. Trust your initial instincts. A bullet will not wait for you to make a decision.” She nodded. Turning to the rest of the team Brin spoke, “With that out of the way, we should go over my plan.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The plan was straight forward. Step one, Clara would get a job through the Bouncer there, working her way into the inner circle of servers. Management sold the information the servers eavesdropped, and the more trusted one was, the more ‘sensitive’ areas she could gain access to. There was a regular patron, some hot shot heir to a millionaire who partied once a month there always causing a scene with a different server every time. Clara would ensure that scene blew up even bigger this time, creating a diversion for Arrow and Terese to sneak upstairs and secure the files Blue Hue kept on patrons against their knowledge.“Hold on. If he’s known to harass the servers but he’s allowed back, they’re obviously in his pocket. How would we know they wouldn’t just turn on a simple waitress, especially a new one and throw her to the wolves. Or worse, they could give her too him. I know the type.” Arrow was the first to poke holes.“Because we’ll have the bouncer on our side, and with Clara’s power of influence, she’ll have had the time to collect other friends to back her up.” Brin sounded confident.“Umm.” Clara spoke up. Her face was pale, and she kept glancing at the plans, “How… How will I even get a job there? I know you said the bouncer… But what if he doesn’t like me?”Brin spoke matter-of-factly, “He’ll like you.” He turned to the rest of them, “Everyone. If you’d excuse me and Clara, I’d like to test her abilities quickly.”Terese moved off on her own, practicing with her lightning zigzagging across the factory as the sharpened swords she’d made chased after her. She left Jaz and Arrow alone for the first time that night to talk. “How’s your dog doing?”“Hero?” Jaz was worried about what Arrow could be thinking since their last encounter, and why she didn’t give him her name, so she was excited to talk about anything else. “He’s doing really good. Took him days to wake up after what happened at the lab, but he’s up and about and able to go for walks now.”Arrow nodded, deep in thought for a moment while he stroked the beard on his chin. “Before we leave, do you mind if I see him again?”“You know what?” Jaz glanced behind her to check where Terese was. She was on the other side of the factory, struggling to dodge the metal pieces she was flinging at herself. When Jaz’s attention returned to Arrow, she realized she had his full attention, and a look of curiosity on his face, “Hero ain’t like other dogs. He hasn’t been my dog for long actually. We met after Max had begun stealing dogs.” Arrow looked ahead of them, brows furrowed while he put two and two together. “I’m pretty sure Max did something to him… I kinda think he might be another hero. Like an actual one, though I don’t know who.” She shrugged.They walked for some time in silence while Jaz waited for Arrow to respond. When he did, he only told her he’d visit her sometime in the coming week to see. Their conversation was cut short by Clara and Brin exiting the foreman’s office, a blush on her face and a satisfied grin on his. “Terese. You and I will meet here every night to practice.”“Every night? Look bud, I’m all for practice but I don’t have the time to dedicate every night to playing babysitter.” Arrow held up his hands towards the girls, “No offence of course.”“Clara, you’re in charge of finding you two another babysitter.” Brin addressed her directly. She flinched, looking towards her feet. “That is your first assignment. Terese, be sure she tries.”“Oh, you don’t even have to ask. I will…” Terese bit her lip considering for a moment before adding, “Thank you.” When Brin gave her a confused glance she continued, “For showing me that I still have a lot more to learn.” The three of them drove off in their own van leaving Jaz alone with Brin. She waited by his car expecting him to unlock the door.“You don’t think you’re going to get off having done nothing, do you?” Brin finally turned towards her, arms crossed over his chest.“Huh?”“I need everyone on top of their game for this mission. Including you.”Jaz looked behind her, half expecting to find someone else there he was talking to. When she turned back around, he did not look amused. “You’re… You’re kidding right?” Brin’s expression didn’t change, and he made no move towards the car to leave. “Brin, if you haven’t forgotten, I don’t have powers. I have like… Negative powers, a twelve-year-old child is probably more dangerous to you than I am.”“There are ways to fight that do not require physical strength.” His tone was chiding.“And doctors don’t recommend people with brittle bones still do sports. It’s not weak to recognize there are some things you just cannot do. Besides, I assure you, I’ll be on the ground long before you even touch me. I’m not very coordinated. For real.”“All I hear is excuses.” Jaz opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off, “And you’re not going to let your friends fight this battle on their own, are you?” Her brows furrowed at that comment, “You’re a Worldheart, spare or accident doesn’t matter. You need to be prepared for anything in this world Jaz.” Jaz let out a long sigh searching Brin’s expression for any sign of doubt. The man was unwavering.“And what did you have in mind?” She breathed reluctantly.“We’ve been focusing a lot on cardio and strength training these past few weeks together; now its time to try something new.” Brin turned on his heel leading her along the outside of the factory to the backside of it where a mess of machinery, giant tires and concrete tubes littered the ground. At first it looked random, but as Jaz took in the scenery, she began to see a path through the chaos. Brin spoke, confirming her fears, “I set up an agility course for you. It’s nothing like what we had back home for new trainees, but I used the same formula Brainiac built to optimize your learning curve.” He turned back to Jaz looking almost proud, “We don’t have much time to get you up to speed after all.”Jaz flinched, turning back towards the course. They walked along side it while Brin explained each component and how she was meant to get past it. He stopped short of the very long end of it apparently only expecting her to struggle with the first quarter. A bubble of guilt prevented her from immediately refusing to even try, especially as she saw how much thought he put into it. She sighed, “I don’t understand why you’re so on about me having to learn to fight. Brin, you realize i’m not going to be here for much longer, right?” Brin began walking towards the start of it, forcing her to follow along. “Another three months and I’ll be back home with all of this behind me, and I certainly don’t need to fight once I’m back. Ideally, I shouldn’t even be fighting here. I thought I was taking on a more back lines role doing comms or something, right?”“Jaz. What will you do if everything goes sideways and you’re the only one left?” Brin suddenly stopped, levelling his gaze on her again. While there was a hint of annoyance in his voice, his face looked earnest and serious.“Like, if everyone got captured or something?” He nodded, “I’d go to the Justice League for help.”“And say they don’t take you seriously. They’re busy, or you can’t find a way to contact them?”Jaz clenched her jaw. “I don’t know. I’d go to the police for help then, let them know what we were doing.”“What we’re doing isn’t legal, Jaz. Not strictly so, and the Police can’t help you against the enemies we’re picking a fight against.” He waited while Jaz thought, but she was struggling to come up with anything. Fact was, if something did go awry to that level, they were all doomed. Jaz was useless when push came to shove. Her brows knit together while he pushed her again, “Jaz, time is of the essence. While you’re deliberating your friends are being tortured. By the time someone does something they could be dead.”“And what would you have me do?” She snapped. “I’m just a human. I don’t have magic or lightning powers like Terese or Super strength like you!”“And neither does Arrow, nor Batman-““Two incredibly rich guys with money and time to invest in crime fighting, and a cool backstory as to why.” She cut him off, bitter.“Two Humans who saw a need for a hero. For someone to act and decide to fill the role when nobody else would. What makes a hero isn’t their fancy powers or God-given rights. It’s the decision every day to be the person who helps, who saves. They don’t look to their side for the next guy they hope will do it for them.”Jaz sighed, looking at her feet. “I don’t think I can be that girl, Brin. I really don’t.”“You were for hero. You were for me.” Jaz grit her teeth. Since they’d gotten out of the lab, they’d had this argument over and over. Brin believed Jaz had what it took to be a hero always citing the things she did to escape the lab but none of that was anything special. She guessed a passcode and let everyone else fight and lead the way. She’d thought her joining him for jogs and exercises would be enough, but here they were again. “Just try the course Jaz. I’ll pick you up when you fall, and I made it so you shouldn’t get hurt. You can handle a scraped knee, I’m sure.”Jaz glanced back at the beginning of the course, surveying it. It wasn’t that long, and it didn’t seem to involve anything forcing her to climb. She hated climbing. “Fine. But! you owe me a late-night ice cream over at Joey’s. And we’re bringing Hero along too. Tonight.”Brin agreed with a wicked grin. The first part of the course was a tire run where Jaz had to step in the ring of each tire, left right and so on. Her toe caught the edge of the fourth tire sending her stumbling to her knees. His hand was beside her immediately, helping her to her feet while he gave her instructions on what she had to change so she didn’t trip. The moment she finally passed through all the tires he told her to turn around and try them again. His smile only grew bigger when she glared at him. On the second pass she managed almost all the way before her concentration slipped and her toe caught again. Jaz lay against the tires already out of breath from the exercise. “And here I thought I was getting better.”“You are. Before you would’ve been winded on the first round easily.” She grimaced at his answer, forcing herself back up. The next part of the course was vaulting jumps. True to her word Jaz had a scraped knee nearly immediately by catching it on the ledge. Brin tried to coach her on proper form, that she had to keep her knee back knee perpendicular to her side higher than she was holding it but at the moment of the jump all of that went out the window. On the last one she flew forward nearly planting straight on her face if it weren’t for him catching her with an arm to her chest.“OK! Ok! That is enough!” She yelled springing back to her feet. A sharp pain shot up her leg, “Ah great.” She cursed, “Now my ankle’s sprained to.”“You weren’t joking about being on the ground fast.” Brin remarked, that grin never having left his face.“Isn’t this the part where you’re supposed to give the whole pep talk. ‘Oh you’re improving Jaz, you did better than I did when I was green.” She tapped his shoulder accusingly.“No. No I don’t think I was as bad at this as you, not since I was probably seven… Maybe six.” She gave him a withering stare before turning on her heel and limping towards the car.“This is the last time I do this you know!” On account of her pride she ignored the shooting pain every step she took with that leg, and the arm he offered her to help. “I ain’t helping anyone like this, I mean how many times do you gotta vault in an emergency situation anyways? Absolutely not. I’ll leave the saving to the actual heroes.” In the car she crossed her arms, ignoring Brin. She felt like a fool for trying that course, and she had the bruises to prove it now.They found Hero wide awake waiting at the door looking impatient and very annoyed that they’d left him behind. He nearly tackled Jaz when he realized she was limping, sniffing at her leg and staring at it very intently before finally relaxing. On the car ride to Joey’s she complained loudly about Brin and the training she was forced to do to Hero, shooting daggers through the rear view mirror at Brin who could only roll his eyes.The car ride to Joey’s was short, only a couple blocks away though they always drove to it this late at night. A twenty-four seven diner like this always drew the wrong kind of crowd on the backstreets at night. Inside they took their seat at the front of the diner with Hero sitting directly beside Jaz. The waitress greeted him first before taking their order. This late at night they didn’t mind a dog being inside.Jaz was too busy to notice the two men who entered the diner wearing torn sleeved t-shirts with skulls emblazoned across their chests. She was enjoying holding the ice cream low for Hero to lick that he noticed the shift in atmosphere before she did, his hackles raising as he turned to observe. To Jaz’s right Brin was gripping his milkshake a little too strong squeezing some out of the lid at the top as he stared a warning glare at the two men. They sneered his way before sitting at a booth back of the diner far out of earshot of their group. Or at least, out of Jaz’s earshot. Judging from how Brin was looking she could tell he was focusing in on their conversation. Hero too had his ears perked their direction.“So?” Jaz nodded towards the men, “What are they talking about?”Brin shook his head, “I’ll tell you if its anything important.” He glanced at the ice cream in her hand, “It’s beginning to melt.” Sure enough, a large drip crossed touched her hand which she licked off. Brin grimaced, “Wasn’t your dog just licking that?”She shrugged, “Dog mouths are way cleaner than people’s.”“Dogs lick their balls,” Brin breathed. The entire time he was speaking he continued to watch the two men in the booth at the back of the Diner.“Do you have to be so openly suspicious of them?” Jaz asked accusingly. She glanced behind herself at the two men. “I mean sure, they look tough and dangerous, but most people just look like that as a front. All bark and no bite and all that.” Almost as if on queue one of the men hollered for the ‘wench’ to come. “A lot of bark…” The waitress walked up to them, trying to take their order. Jaz didn’t have to hear to know they were making passes at her and when she turned it leave she saw one lean over to slap her ass. That prompted a growl out of Hero. Brin gave Jaz a pointed look. “Yeah… Ok these assholes kinda deserve it, but not every fish in the sea is bad.” She shook her head stopping the waitress as she passed, “You ok?”“Oh I’m fine, thanks for asking.” She glanced over her shoulder, “We sometimes get the odd asshole here after last call. Mike always takes care of me though, so you just focus on your ice cream.” Jaz looked back at her hand noticing another big drip. She offered it back to Hero who tried to lick it while watching the men still. The waitress disappeared into the kitchen.“He’s injecting something into his arm.” Brin breathed. Hero seemed to notice it to, standing up and now completely ignoring the ice cream in Jaz’s hand. “Don’t turn around.” Brin whispered sharply when Jaz tried to take another peek.She glanced at the waitress talking to the chef through the serving window. He disappeared from view, exiting the kitchen a moment later to join her and exchange words. “We should try and leave it up to Mike, eh?” Brin finally removed his attention from the two men to watch the chef straighten himself up, walking with swagger towards the two men. He was built like a brick with a slight layer of fat covering his muscles and a beer belly in the front. Jaz twisted in her seat to watch him go, though he blocked their view of the men as he took up most of the aisle. He stopped in-front of their table speaking low. She watched them exchange words for a few moments, till it began to escalate, and the men raised their voice loud enough even Jaz could hear finally. From what she could gather this wasn’t their first time coming here to hit on the waitress, since the one who slapped her ass was actually her ex. Jaz’s heart was starting to race as she felt the nervous anticipation from everyone in the room.Brin stood up at the perfect moment; Mike was punched by one of the men sent flying backwards right into Brin. The two crashed into some tables on the far side of the room while the waitress screamed. It felt like the time slowed down in that moment for Jaz. The two men looked comically jacked with green glowing veins throbbing around their temples and cracks forming down their chest and arms, the same green glow shining underneath their skin. Hero sped across the room launching himself at the man’s face but was backhanded through the window. Jaz saw him skidding across the street, slamming into a mailbox creating a cloud of flying newspapers. They rushed towards the waitress, the bald headed man grabbing her wrist swearing he’d make her pay for being unfaithful. “It’s Mikey isn’t it? He’s the new man you’re cheating on me with!”“How can I be cheating on you if I dumped you!” She screamed back in his face. He twisted her arm making her cry out. Jaz waited until she saw Hero leap through the windows again, biting into the back of the man’s head to make her move. She ran, vaulting over the counter in one leap, catching the waitress’s other arm in her hand and yanking her out of his loosened grasp. Jaz slammed into the kitchen door, pulling the shocked girl towards the back exit. It was locked. Jaz fumbled the deadbolt, and it swung open making them stagger into the back alley. They ignored the man sitting beside the trash compactor calling out to them as Jaz tried to blindly lead the girl away, someplace safe.“Are they following?” The waitress was already panting as they reached the end of the alleyway.Jaz glanced behind them as they crossed the street frantically. She saw the bald man zoom out of the kitchen back door at an inhuman rate, slamming into the wall leaving cracks in the façade from his impact. His face was a mask of sheer rage compared to a few moments ago. Now the green glow had over taken his eyes. “Keep running!”Because Brin always insisted on driving, Jaz didn’t know the backstreets or the way back to the clinic, not that she’d want to lead them there now. Jaz grabbed onto a chain link fence to her left using it as leverage to swing them into another alley just as a metal garbage bin slammed into the street where they were just headed, buckling the pavement beneath it. Jaz winced as the waitress screamed again, wondering how she had the air in her lungs to do that. “This way!” They raced back onto the street dodging a falling streetlamp that nearly hit one of the homeless laying against a building in her sleeping bag. Jaz realized she needed to try to keep them off the main streets, away from people. She started heading in the general direction of the water, pulling them down a last-minute turn in that direction. “It’s a dead end.”
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Jaz tried to retreat out of the dead end she’d led them down, but the ex had already caught up. She hadn’t gotten a good look at him since the diner, he’d grown exponentially since then, now filling the alley with little room on either side to slip past. His black leather jacket was torn to shreds and his pants were ripped up the seams. His skin was split with a lightning pattern of green veins and the flesh on either side was blackened and peeling. His eyes, including the whites, were completely green and glowing and his face was drawn up in an animalistic snarl. “Get behind me, the guy’s obviously lost it.”Jaz pushed the girl behind her, scanning the alley for any escape. There was a door at the centre of the alley but it had no handle, only a metal plate where a handle should be. Across from it was a fire escape but it was well out of reach of either girl. Jaz could maybe kick off the wall and grab onto it, but she doubted she even had the upper body strength to pull herself up, let alone do it while protecting the waitress. Though, Jaz noticed it was right at shoulder height with the thug. He started walking down the alley but was quickly picking up speed. The Waitress tucked even further behind her. Glancing past him,
Jaz prayed to see Brin or Hero standing to save them but the alley was empty. She grit her teeth, ignoring the welling fear inside her while she racked her brain on what to do.Her eyes kept coming back to that fire escape until her mind was finally made. Balling her fists, she pushed the waitress off her shoulder, charging at the creature yelling, “You’re not laying a hand on her tonight!” The man roared back, bursting into a full run.Jaz’s heart was pounding and her body felt light and shaky. She was playing an extremely dangerous game of chicken, fighting every instinct in her body screaming to turn heel. Especially when she saw him raise his massive, fisted arm. She ignored the burning in her chest and the weakness in her legs, until the last moment when his fist arced to meet her. She dropped her weight into a slide across the rough cement. It bit into her thigh and forearm, but she managed to fit neatly beneath his arm as it swung right through the bottom rung of the emergency fire escape. In his rage he didn’t seem to notice it, careening around to face Jaz ripping the fire escape from the brick wall as he moved. It crashed onto him, the rusted metal bending and tangling around him as multiple stories came loose, tangling in a heap of bent and rusted metal around him. He frantically fought to free himself from it, slamming the mess into the wall before punching his fist through the metal, splintering the door in the centre of the alley. Jaz had taken several steps back, terrified he’d crash her way but now she readied herself to bolt. She waved at the Waitress, pointing to the door.The waitress had pressed herself into the brick wall, shaking her head at Jaz.. Jaz watched the monster thrash, leaping past him the moment he crashed crashed back into the wall leaving a small enough gap for her to pass by. In his attempt to lunge at Jaz passing by, he splintered what remained of the door leaving a perfect escape, if only Jaz could convince the waitress to run. Jaz grabbed onto the waitress’s arm, trying to pull her towards the moving bulk of metal and monster. She pulled back, vigorously shaking her head as tears wetted her cheeks. “Come on!” Jaz spotted the perfect opportunity for them to run. He’d lost balance and had toppled the opposite direction of them, leaving ample room for them to dash into the room but the waitress once again resisted. Jaz was no match to overpower her either. “Girl, I need you to trust me. I will protect you, ok? You’re not dying tonight, but I need you to run when I say. Got it?” Jaz stared hard into the waitresses eyes, seeing a spark of some sanity return in them. She nodded. “Ok good.” This time, the waitress didn’t resist, though Jaz noticed he was nearly free of the metal mess.They rushed through a darkened storeroom, crashing through an employee door into a clothing store’s display room. A resounding roar told Jaz he was already in the room behind them. She pulled on the wheeled clothing racks as they passed, sending them crashing behind them but it did little to slow him down. He tossed aside whole racks like they weighed nothing more than a toy to him, and his glowing eyes and snarled face was fixated on the two. Just before he reached to grab the waitress Jaz pushed her to the side, sending her crashing through a circular clothing rack disappearing out of sight. He roared, swiping and tearing through the clothes where he’d lost sight of the waitress. Jaz rushed into another aisle, grabbing some accessories from a rack beside her before tossing them at his back. He immediately forgot about the waitress, chasing after the provocation instead.Jaz crawled from space to space, trying to keep ahead of the path he carved through the store. For a brief moment Jaz felt bad she’d led him here, the poor store owners were losing their livelihoods while they cowered, but the feeling was fleeting; especially when a clothing rack crashed into the one she was hiding behind. She slammed her hand against her mouth, swallowing the yelp of pain she’d let out.The room grew silent and Jaz knew to leap out from where she was hiding seconds before he crashed into it. She could feel splinters of wood slap into her calves, and quicker than her, he’d launched himself at her retreating figure but a black form brushed past Jaz slamming mid air into the monster. It was Brin.They tumbled through the store exchanging blows. Jaz didn’t wait to see who would be the winner, her mind immediately returned to where she’d lost sight of the waitress. She hopped over some crumpled clothing racks, tearing through piles of clothes, nearly tripping on the poor girls arm when she finally found her. Jaz glanced behind her, seeing Brin deliver punch after punch into the massive bulk, before she proceeded to try and wake the Waitress. The girl wouldn’t wake up. Jaz checked her head, gently pressing her fingers along the girls scalp checking for any signs of trauma but she found none. Something caught her attention, looking behind herself just as Brin held the monster of a man over his head, tossing him down against the ground with a sickening crunch. Even from across the room Jaz could hear the rush of air escape the mans lungs. He struggled to push himself up, but Brin stepped on his chest slamming his back against the ground. He didn’t move again. Jaz’s gaze caught Brin. He called outside the store, prompting the Chef to peek in, catching sight of Jaz he dashed into the store nearly tripping over splintered wood and discarded clothing in his mad dash.“Where is she?” Jaz pulled more clothes from the Waitress’s body, stepping back to give them an room to stand by her side. “Oh, Martha, what did he do to you?” Martha’s eyes fluttered open at the sound of her name, and she looked up to smile at the Chef.“Oh! John!” She caught John in a tight hug, wrapping her arms around his neck, “I thought you might have died!” She pulled back to hold his cheek, “Are you ok?”“Martha, you were chased by a monster, and you’re worried about me? I don’t know what I’d do without such a sweet girl like you!” He pulled her into a kiss. Jaz quickly retreated from the increasingly sappy romantic scene playing out before her, hopping over clothes towards Brin. The man was huddled over the thug, rifling through the man's pockets. He found a black gun, thankfully forgotten, tucked in the man's belt as well as his phone cracked in his back pocket. It turned on but once Brin saw it was password locked, he dropped it on the man's chest disinterested.“Do you often loot the enemies you defeat?” Jaz joked, leaning in to see what Brin was looking at when he opened the man’s wallet.“Do you often joke after near death experiences?” The wallet opened to a stained photo of the thug and Martha, though it was clearly from when they were teenagers.“They look so young… And so…”“Hopeful?” Brin finished for her, “Most people don’t wake up one day and choose to become a common thug. It happens after you’ve given up.” He quickly flipped through the wallet. The man had a withdrawal receipt of one thousand cash, time stamped from earlier this day, though there was no money in his wallet now. Brin stared at the driver's license, telling Jaz to jot down the address. She quickly punched it into her phone while he searched the rest of the man’s pockets. He pulled out one of the syringes, dropping the man's wallet smack onto his chest. Brin held the syringe up against the light cast from the emergency lighting. Still clinging against the plunger was the telltale signs of the greenish fluid. “Recognize this?”Jaz nodded, “So what now?”“I’m going to pay him a house call. See if I can’t find anything that tells me where he got the drugs from.” Jaz glanced back at the man’s phone, pocketing it.“I’m coming with. Knowing people like him, he probably has his password written down somewhere at home. Our best bet is probably in that thing.”“Knowing people like him?” Brin sounded bemused.“Dumb people.” That got a chuckle out of him. “Wait!” Jaz called out when Brin turned to leave. “Give me a sec.” She rummaged through the tossed clothing, searching and searching until she found it. Ripping open the package, she ignored Brin’s comment that now wasn’t the time to go shopping. She unfurled her prize, pulling the stocking over her head. She faced Brin, grinning widely at his stunned look. “Now no one will recognize me.”Brin’s mouth opened and closed several times, before he rubbed his jaw and turned away, trudging out of the room without a word.Jaz turned to face the sappy couple, deciding against interrupting them to say goodbye. Once outside she could see the Diner they’d initially started at, only a block away. “Did I seriously run us in circles?” Jaz asked dumbfounded.“I thought you did it on purpose to give me a chance to catch you.” Brin answered, turning back towards the diner he let out a low whistle. Immediately, the small form of a dog leapt from the broken window racing towards them. At the sight of Jaz’s confused expression he explained, “I had Hero watch over that other thug, make sure he didn’t get a chance to run from his crimes before the police arrived.” Jaz looked up and down the street, straining to hear any signs of a siren.“I don’t hear any sirens,” Jaz smiled and bent down, accepting the bounding dog in a big hug. She ran her hands through his fur looking for any signs of blood, gently pressing and prodding his body while she checked that he wasn’t hurt. “You ok? Was that scary?” She cooed at him, giving him another big hug. His tail was spinning back and forth excitedly while Hero leaned into Jaz’s shoulder.“You’ll hear them soon, come on.” Brin urged them to move, “They’ll stop anyone left in the area, especially anyone who looks remotely suspicious right now.”“Who looks suspicious right now?” Jaz shot back. She couldn’t understand the look he gave her. He just turned away, shaking his head and quickening his pace. Brin was tall, so when he speed-walked his long legs moved him at the same pace Jaz jogged at. Lo and behold, the distant sounds of sirens echoed throughout the night coming from the opposite direction they were heading in.Several blocks from the ‘crime scene’, Jaz looked up at a familiar street name. “Oh! This is it!” She stopped in her tracks, rushing to pull her phone out of her pocket. They walked down the street, carefully trying to spot the fading building numbers. It was a particularly run down part of suicide slums, with grime stains running down the faces of the buildings. Many of the building numbers had been vandalized, with nothing but an outline in the brick of where the stolen digits once hung. Others hid behind overgrown hedges and where the buildings had their porch lights shot out, Jaz had to rely on the light from the street lamps to make out what was written. They finally came across the correct building. It was shorter than any other building on the street, maybe only three stories tall compared to the typical five storied buildings everywhere else. On either side it had windows facing the buildings it was squished between with no more than a foot between. Brin jiggled the door handle. It didn’t move, but whe he pushed on it it slid from the door jam with no resistance. The halls stunk of urine and the carpet felt sticky to walk on. Jaz turned to Hero telling him to wait outside, but he stubbornly slipped past her, walking ahead of Brin who was already searching the unit numbers.“I think its on floor three, three-oh-two, right?” Brin nodded his agreement, thumbing the elevator button. It looked like someone had taken a lighter to it at some point and tried to melt it, but the door still opened. The elevator was almost a full inch below the floor level when Jaz stepped on. She could feel it lurch upwards, and she felt herself lift slightly off the ground when it came to a sudden stop on the third floor. The door opened and it was a full foot below the floor line. Hero hopped out first, followed by Brin who offered his hand to Jaz, helping her climb out of it. “Let’s take the stairs next time, I don’t trust that thing.”“I don’t trust anything in this place,” Brin whispered back.“How do you plan to get inside?” Jaz whispered to, following his queue. Unit three zero one was the first door on the left of the elevator. Brin held the handle like he meant to open it, crushing it instead before dropping the crumpled piece to the floor. Jaz could hear the sound of the handle on the other side fall. It swung open easily. “Oh.” While Jaz struggled to close the door and give them some privacy, Brin immediately set to work. He held the syringe for Hero to sniff, setting him on the task of finding any more. Jaz, having ‘closed’ the door by propping both handles against it on the inside, set to the task of finding the password for his phone.They didn’t turn on the lights, and with the window facing the concrete wall of the building beside them, there was no light in the room to go by. She turned on her phone's flashlight, surveying the room. The bed sat on a broken frame, slightly off kilter, with mattress stains peaking from underneath the ratty blanket.
The floor was equally as disgusting as outside, littered in cigarette butts and reeking of burnt tobacco and rot. There wasn’t even a bathroom door, and the mirror inside had been punched at some point in the center. “They recently broke up, right?”“Careful in the kitchen, broken plates everywhere… Why?” She could hear them crunching underneath Brin’s boots.“Punched in mirror and broken plates, place is a mess. Looks like the guy really let himself go.” She sat at the desk Brin had already rifled through, taking her time to flip through papers and post it notes while she waited for his ancient block of a computer to power on.“A broken heart would do that to you.”“But it’s no excuse to nearly kill your ex, or her employer.” A familiar voice spoke from the door frame. Jaz yelped and Hero leapt from behind the bed where he’d been sniffing, putting himself between Jaz and the man who’d just entered.“It’s alright,” Brin stepped in front of Hero, “Detective Gabes is a friend of mine.” Jaz was struggling to recall why that name sounded so familiar when the man flicked on the lights. A largely built black man, with thick curly hair and a worn in but well-maintained leather jacket filled the door frame. Oh. That detective Gabes. The one from the hospital. Jaz turned back to the computer screen quickly, hoping he wouldn’t recognize her under the nylon mask she wore. She hadn’t checked her email at all since giving it to him and would only assume he’d think she’d ghosted the two detectives since then. Jaz’s eyes blinked a few times, just now realizing the computer she was sitting in front of didn’t require a password to sign into. She clicked the sign on button, pretending that she wasn’t paying very close attention to the sound of the detective stopping behind her desk. There was no way he could-“You’re that girl from the hospital… Jaz, was it?” Ice filled Jaz’s veins.“Hahaha, who’s Jaz. I’m not Jaz.” She glanced over her shoulder at the Detective when she heard him snicker. His hand was over his mouth, and a second too late she realized he was holding back a laugh.“From the hospital? You two met?” Brin didn’t even try to hide it.Understanding dawned on Jaz, “Hey! Brin! You should’ve told me the stocking wouldn’t work!” She tried to ignore the snickering she heard behind her as she shot from the chair, stomping up to Brin. Even at her full height she was far shorter than him, but she didn’t feel intimidated in the least. She wanted nothing more than to knock the grin off his face.“You were so eager to disguise yourself, I couldn’t shoot down your first try.”“You’re an asshole.” His smile only widened, and he rubbed his mouth clearly struggling to keep a straight face. She marched back to the desk, ripping the stocking from her head and tossing it as hard as she could at Brin. Because of the material, and the fact that she hadn’t balled it up, it slowed down mid flight, slumping down at his feet. The two men burst out laughing. Jaz drowned them out, clicking on the browser. She felt the phone in her pocket, pulling it out enough to peek at it. It was an android model, generic, and if it was anything like back home all she needed was access to the email address signed in on it to get around the password it had. Her anger quickly melted when she found his computer auto signed into his email. She quickly clicked on email settings, navigating through to location services.Detective Gabes, having recovered from his bout of laughter, was standing ignored behind Jaz watching her work. “You never answered any of our emails.”“I forgot.”“You forgot?” He didn’t sound mad. Just like at the hospital, the man seemed to have a knack for talking calmly.“Been a little busy as of late.”“Busy?” He made some noise as if doubting her, “Busy at Maxwell Brown’s laboratory, perhaps?”“Who?” Jaz paused, finally turning to face the detective again.“The man went by Maxmellius Gor…”“Gorgonzolas.” She flinched, realizing she’d at least confirmed she knew of the guy.“Yes! I heard through the grape vine that Timber Wolf had a new side kick, and that sidekick was instrumental to the escape of multiple missing heroes. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that?”“Absolutely not.” She turned back to the computer, pulling up the location map. “Brin, what time was that withdrawal at, the one in the guys wallet?”“Eleven Thirty Seven PM,” Brin stopped what he was doing to check the computer screen, “You’re really good at hacking.”“I’m really not, the guy didn’t even have a password.” She shook her head, “Anyways.” She hovered her mouse, circling an area in the central business district, “Eleven thirtyish he was hovering around here.”“Central Bank is right there,” Detective Gabes commented.“From there, he bee-lined it here, where he spent the next few hours in the same spot,” She traced the path on the map up towards Hamstead. Her brows knit together as she remembered, “Actually, this is abouts where I first found Hero. Right under this bridge… What is in Hamstead anyways?”“It’s part residential, but the part of town he went to has a lot of businesses there. Can you zoom in?” Jaz scrolled until the street names were visible, and the listed names for businesses appeared on the map. Incidentally, the building the man had been staying in was one of the few not listed online.“I know that place.” Detective Gabes stood straight again, “It’s been linked to some gang activity as of late, though the case is being handled by some colleagues of mine.” He turned to face Brin, “Do you think this man has any relation to that dog business a couple weeks ago?”Brin pulled the syringe out from inside his coat pocket. “I do. They were using this stuff on us back at the lab. They were pumping me full of it while he tried to torture me.”“What does it do?” Detective Gabes pulled out a blue glove, pulling it on before taking the Syringe from Brin. He shined a tiny flashlight through the vial as he inspected the small drop of green fluid still left inside.Brin looked to Jaz. She’d forgotten he probably didn’t have as much memory of the facility as she did, given he left it as a furry wolf. “We suspected it was what they were using against Heroes. Not sure how it works, but they were experimenting on Justice League members with it. Green is bad, red is good.”“And how did you come across that bit of info miss?” Jaz glanced to Brin for some reassurance. He nodded, encouraging her to continue.“When we were escaping the lab, I read through some documents while we were trying to save another hero. We suspected they were pumped full of the green stuff, ‘cus the experiment files on her kept referencing it and the red one worked. They woke up.”Detective Gabes pulled a baggie out of his jacket pocket, the kind that had lines on it to write the evidence that he’d collected. He slipped the syringe in with no objection from Brin. “I’m going to have the lab run some tests on it. Given how little we have, I doubt we’ll get a lot out of it. Allow me to handle Hamstead. The law can’t do its job with vigilante’s taking all the evidence and touching everything. Don’t you two have gloves? You’re ruining evidence.”While Brin and Detective Gabes argued about who was going to handle looking into this case, Jaz was busy taking pictures of emails and email addresses the man had been frequently contacting. Neither noticed as she set it to auto forward all incoming mail to herself before closing the browser. She stretched, breaking their conversation. “We should head home dude. Its been a long night, I’m sore, I stink, and I work tomorrow.”“Ahh, the joys of crime fighting.” Detective Gabes joked, “Leave out the back door. My backup arrives soon.”“Go ahead of me Jaz, I’ll be right there.” Not willing to wait even a moment longer in the stinking apartment, Jaz slipped out the door with Hero tailing her close behind. Now that the adrenaline from before had worked its way out of her system, it felt like a nail was being driven up her heel with ever step she took on her sprained ankle. Despite her stating she wouldn’t take the elevator again, she found herself hitting the button and stepping down the foot drop. Hero whined but hopped in before the door closed. There was only three buttons in the elevator so even though all the numbering had been melted off, Jaz knew which one to hit. She felt weight drop for a sec as it began descending and her legs almost buckled when it came to a sudden stop. She remembered Detective Gabe’s comments about ‘leaving out the back’ seconds before she rushed down the hall fleeing the blue and red lights of the detective’s backup.
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The back door of the apartment building opened up to a small derelict alleyway, cramped with dumpsters and torn open trash bags littering the street. Brin was already standing outside waiting. “How in the hell?”“Not now, we need to get out of sight. Can you climb?” Jaz searched the walls of the alley trying to find what he was referring to. Realizing he meant to climb the bare brick walls, she gave him an ‘are you kidding me’ glare which was answer enough. “Fine.” Brin bent over, digging two clawed fingers through a sewer grate lifting it with ease. “Get in.”“Oh no. No, no, nooooo.” Jaz backed up nearly tripping over Hero behind her. Even he pushed her towards the hole as he brushed past her leg. She watched him peer into the darkness for a moment expecting him to take a deep whiff and realize it was a mistake. Instead, he jumped in head first slowing his descent by bounding from one wall to the next until she lost sight of him. Flashlights began appearing on the walls and she could hear the sounds of police talking about searching the alley; thankfully the litter and dumpsters blocked their view from the street. “Sewer diving was never on my list of fun things I wanted to do as a hero.” She protested as she began descending the slippery ladder, her leg nearly slipping off the third rung. Her skin crawled when she had to grip the slick railings with her bare hands.“It’s never on anyone’s lists. Not exactly the bonus we like to mention when we’re selling the job, but it's just as a part of the reality of it as it is saving others.” Brin called down, pulling the grate back in place just as the police rounded the nearest dumpster. “Thankfully, it's never on their lists either. We should be fine to get home without anyone checking down here.” Brin began walking at a brisk pace, his eyes apparently immediately adjusted to the darkness down here.Jaz turned on her phone’s flashlight again, using it to light up the cobbles directly in front of her. “How is it you immediately know the way home? This place is like a maze. I’d be immediately lost down here.”“Like I said, an unfortunate reality of being a hero. You’ll learn the undercity just as well as up top. I know all the short cuts to get just about anywhere here.” Beside him, Hero barked his agreement.Jaz scrunched her nose, “Right. About that whole, being a hero gig, though. I don’t remember ever agreeing to any of it.”“Says the one who demanded they join me searching the apartment tonight. No one asked you to save that waitress either.”“Yeah, but that’s different. I mean, he threw a man into you! And he tried to kill me too! Obviously, I’d want to know what’s up with that.”“Speaking of the waitress, I don’t remember anyone coming down from the Justice League to save both of your asses.” Jaz rolled her eyes, expecting him to demand she thank him next. “No, instead, I see some weak little girl with no training jump up as if someone had personally asked her to help.” Jaz flinched. “And then she runs a beast that could punch her into a red mist around the city, protecting some waitress she didn’t even know the name of. What happened to leaving it to the professionals?”“I didn’t know what else to do ok? I can’t fight, not against that, that’s for sure!”“You can’t yet, but you still tried. You got yourselves out of that alley, somehow brought down a whole emergency escape on his head and managed to keep you both alive until I could catch up.” Jaz focused on picking her way through the grimy sewer, not knowing what to say. “Time and time again you keep standing up when the call comes. Say what you will about letting others do the work, I know what you’ll do when there’s no one else to help. All I want is to make sure you don’t get yourself killed doing it.”A lengthy silence stretched between them with only the sounds of their footsteps echoing off the sewer walls, and the trickling of water beside them. Jaz let out a long breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. She moved to run her hand through her hair before remembering the wet ladder, thinking better of it. “Alright, fine. I’ll practice with you.” Her face warped into a scowl when she noticed him grin, “but don’t think this means I intend on being your side kick or whatever. I’m on vacation and I still have a couple things to scratch off my bucket list for this world!” Hero’s tail began wagging, slapping into Jaz’s calf. “I do want to add that I did that vault.”“And wiped out immediately after. Yeah, I saw.” He chuckled beside her.Jaz rolled her eyes. “Aight, well let me at least heal before we start anything. And I really do not think I need combat training.”“You absolutely do. Prepared. That’s what you need to be, and there will be a time you can’t just run away.” Brin stopped, pointing to a sign, “This. Remember this. It’s the only building with a sign like this.” Beside it was a small indented alcove in the wall with a ladder leading up. It was exactly the same as any other opening to the streets above, except there was a clean looking sign beside it with the letters ‘182’ on it. Brin ascended the ladder lifting up the grate with one hand. Light cascaded down from above allowing Jaz enough light to climb without her phone on. Thankfully the rungs were dry and clean and well maintained, like it was used often. She peered out of the hole expecting them to be in the back alley street outside the clinic. They were in its basement.“Is this safe, having an easy to open entrance to the sewers right in our home?” Jaz turned to try and help Hero, but he once again bounded up the ladder without assistance.“Just make sure no one follows you.” Jaz stared at him blankly for a while when he finally asked, “Are you planning on getting up anytime soon?”“I have work today. I am exhausted, sore, and its sunrise in a couple hours.”He chuckled, reaching his hand down, “Welcome to the world of heroes.” With a lot of doubts still in her mind, Jaz took his hand.
- -
A week later Jaz tried removing the ankle brace she’d been wearing, testing her leg’s strength by gingerly putting weight on it until a stabbing pain shot up her shin. She frowned, wearing that expression all the way down the stairs with the brace back in its place. The living room was full today, with Arrow sitting on one of the kitchen stools and Clara and Terese standing in front of the TV.Brin, who was standing at the kitchen island with a laptop open in front of him was the first to look up. “Still no luck?” Brin cocked his head looking at Jaz’s leg.“You have unrealistic expectations of how fast humans can heal, dude.” Jaz shot back, throwing herself into the leather sofa in front of her friends.“What happened again?” Terese and Clara had managed to swing another visit in a short span of time and were clearly disappointed that Jaz wouldn’t be joining them for the evening.“Oh, you know. Hero things. You wouldn’t understand,” Jaz stated with mock arrogance.“She hurt her ankle doing vaults at the agility course I built at the factory. The very same one you two will be trying tonight.” Brin smiled at Jaz. Jaz smiled back, surprised. She’d begged him not to tell them about their little stunt the other night so they wouldn’t worry but he’d been very adamant that they deserved the truth.
“And she made it worse when she saved a waitress from being squashed by her ex lover.”Jaz scrunched her face at the story, “All I did was run though, nothing heroic in that.”“Honestly, as great as it is that you saved someone, I’d have preferred if you weren’t in danger in the first place.” Terese hedged, glancing to Brin who seemed not to notice her comment.“I take it this means you won’t be joining us training tonight?” Arrow was speaking to Jaz, but his eyes couldn’t leave Hero sitting at her side.“Nope! Today I’m going to be spending a thrilling day watching TV-““Learning how to work our new recording software.” Jaz’s face fell hearing Brin interject. He placed down his laptop in front of Jaz, “Arrow so graciously provided and installed the software on this laptop while you were gone.”“Did it come with a manual?”“No, but I’m sure a hacker like you can figure it out in no time.” Arrow smiled down at Jaz. He said the compliment so sincerely she felt bad enough not to retort back she wasn’t a hacker.Instead, she muttered, “It’s not my fault everyone’s so bad at internet security. It’s like, common sense one-o'-one; you don’t leave your password written beside the computer it's for. On a post-it note of all things!” She threw her hands up, pulling the laptop from the coffee table into her lap.“Then I guess we should get going, huh. The night is young,” Clara laughed awkwardly. Jaz could immediately tell from the way Clara was standing, feet cross inwards, constantly looking down with her hands clasped together in front of her that she was incredibly uncomfortable with today's agenda. The sight reminded Jaz of all the conversations they’d had about Clara’s powers, and how she hated using them.“Clara.” Jaz hadn’t intended to call out her name, but when their eyes met, she had to follow through, “I really do admire your powers, and your courage to use them.” Clara’s eyes widened in surprise, and a sad smile crossed her face. Jaz could see her words hadn’t gotten through, but they were cut off by Terese who was impatient to leave.“You three go on ahead without me. I’m going to spend some time helping Jaz get familiar with things. Make sure all the equipment’s in good working order.” Arrow took a step backwards. Brin nodded and descended the stairs without another word, but Terese shot back a look full of longing.“You sure you can’t join us? We haven’t seen you all week.” Jaz’s eyes shot up to analyze Terese’s expression. It wasn’t a look you’d give a colleague or a friend, it was one you gave someone you were hoping to spend the evening with.“Next time.” Arrow on the other hand was completely oblivious to it, sitting down beside Jaz before picking up one of the metal tins Brin had set on the coffee table earlier. Terese waved, a gesture he didn’t see, before descending after the other two. Jaz gazed at her laptop screen deliberating if she wanted to even intervene in this one. After all, Arrow was already madly in love with Black Canary. It was clear as day when they’d spent time together in the cells.“Something on your mind?” Arrow asked. He was busy opening the small metal tin. It was filled with a black packing foam with six tiny buttons inset inside. They were too small to be for clothes, black with a uniform surface. He plucked out the small USB beside them, plugging it into Jaz’s laptop. Jaz accepted the resulting pop up and the software program she was using auto paired with the six tiny cameras inside the box. Six separate active recordings of Arrow’s face appeared on her screen with the option to switch the center main camera between each feed. “Oh, that’s a bad angle.” He set the box on the table.“You didn’t stay behind to help me with the software did you.”“No.” Jaz followed Arrows gaze back to Hero. “Do you remember our conversation a week ago?”“Yeah.” Jaz’s mind went back to all the weird moments she had with Hero. Him easily understanding any question she asked him when it came to food time. Always refusing the dog food Jason set out for him, instead preferring to steal half of whatever Jaz was eating for the night or even indicating which can of food or place she was ordering from he wanted. She thought of all the moments where she’d be changing with him in her bedroom, and he’d turn to face the wall as if he were embarrassed. Then there was the night at the diner where he’d immediately jumped into action to protect the waitress. The way he joined in the search, listened to the conversation between Brin and the detective so intently. “There is no doubt in my mind that Hero is actually a real hero, transformed into a dog somehow.” Arrow raised a brow, “He’s too strong for a dog. Able to smash through locked doors on his own, he listens, like really listens to conversations and he’s always ready to jump in and save somebody. Only issue is, I’ve been trying to figure out who he is by holding up different pictures of all the heroes I can think of, but the answer is always no. I get no so much I sometimes question if he even understands what I’m asking, but I’ll ask other yes and no questions and he’ll answer correctly.”“Other yes or no questions? Like what?” Arrow stood up, walking over to Hero who was sitting beside the TV watching the two of them. It was clear that even Arrow noticed how intently Hero was listening.“Like, is this red T-shirt red, or is the sky blue, is the TV on. Stuff like that, things that only have a right and obvious answer and he gets it right every. Single. Time.” Jaz shook her head, “Maxmellius – er, Maxwell I should say- obviously did more than just experiment with drugs on other Heroes. I know it, but I don’t know how to fix it.” Jaz watched Arrow kneel beside Hero.They stared into each others’ eyes for a moment before Arrow asked Jaz, “How does he indicate yes or no?”“His right paw is yes, his left paw is no. He’ll stomp which one he means.” Jaz replied, “He was nodding and shaking his head before, but it seemed uncomfortable for him to do in dog form.”Arrow leaned back on the heels of his feet getting more comfortable, “Do you know who I am?” Hero lifted his right paw. Arrow nodded in thought, “Do you know how to reverse what was done to you?” Hero lifted his left paw next. Arrow kept nodding.“Do you still have access to all that research and stuff from Maxwell’s lab?” Jaz placed the laptop down on the table, picking up the tin full of tiny cameras. She gingerly fished one out inspecting the back side to understand how it attached.“I do, but before we get into that, I’m curious how you found out Maxmellius’s,” Arrow donned a mocking voice and waved his hands when saying the guy's name, “Real name was Maxwell.”“Spoke to the detective on the case. Either way, I’d rather know about Hero. Do you know who he is?”“Why did you meet with the detective?” Jaz was closely watching Arrow’s expression. She noticed him flinch when she asked, and her eyes narrowed when he deflected the question.“Brin was right about those drugs being sold on the black market, that ex we saved the waitress from? He was on the green stuff. More importantly, Arrow, do you know who Hero is?” She caught him flinch again, “I can tell you’re holding back on us.” Hero also grumbled, lifting his right paw in agreement.Sighing, Arrow admitted, “It’s just that I can’t tell you who he is, but yes. I know.” Arrow said this while looking into Hero’s eyes, “And we’re working on a way to reverse what’s been done. It’s just me and Cyborg who knows what’s going on, oh and Bats too.” Arrows expression changed. His brows furrowed together, and the corner of his lip curled for a moment before the expression was gone. He turned to Jaz, “They have a good reason for all the secrecy apparently; but it means I can’t tell you either.”Hero tilted his head, clearly also confused with Arrow’s answer. He gave Jaz a pleading expression, as if asking her to press Arrow for more info. “So, you can’t tell me who he is, can you tell me what their good reason for all the secrecy is?” Arrow shook his head. The way his shoulders slumped made it clear it didn’t sit right with him, “Ok. Then can you at least tell me how I can help? There must be something we can do to get Hero out of this mess. As much as I love sleeping with him in my bed, I’m sure he wants to get back to his life again.”“You sleep with…” Arrow shook his head, “Never mind. I’m going to bring… Hero, up to the tower for a while. Run some tests and see what we can do for the time being.”Jaz couldn’t keep her face from immediately falling, “Oh.” Remembering herself, she added, “If all else fails, he’s welcome back until you guys can crack the code…” She looked back down at the laptop, “Unless he prefers being with his real friends that is.” She looked up again when she heard Arrow laugh.“I think he’s saying he wants to come back.” Hero was lifting his left paw.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The next week marked the start of Jaz’s training, and a whole month passed while she suffered. Every evening Brin kept them to a gruelling regimen of cardio, strength training and balance training through some weird merger of Yoga and Tai-chi. On the weekend he’d lead her in the basement where they’d spar. She hated sparring the most. She was constantly being flipped on her back, sent flying or ‘lightly’ punched in his words. Jaz was suffering with sore limbs and new bruises after every match.Meanwhile, Clara already got her job at the Blue Hue with Brin’s blessing and recommendation. It was tough working out the logistics since the League was so reluctant to leave her ‘unprotected’ but ultimately Timber Wolf called in several favours from other league members who vouched that he was capable of protecting her. In return though, he had to finally join the Justice League and he had to be nearby every shift Clara worked.“Why was it you never joined before anyways? Seems like everyone already knows you, of you, and Arrow said you’d already rejected several offers to join. Why go it alone?” Jaz asked between rounds in the basement. They managed to convince Jason to let them fill the floor with blue mats that cushioned Jaz’s falls, and they had brought down chairs for the frequent drink breaks Jaz would call.“Beat me in the next match and I’ll tell you.”“You might as well be saying you’re not going to tell me, Timber Wolf.” For their fights Brin always donned his Timber Wolf suit, so Jaz changed how she referred to him when he was suited up.He smiled, “Then at the very least, actually try to land a proper hit on me.” He responded to her glare, “Don’t think I can’t tell you’re hearts not into it. You’re going through the motions but there’s no intention there. You need to want to actually win and improve if you hope to see any changes.”“That’s because I don’t want to fight. I’ve said so already.” She took another long draw from her water bottle, dreading when he’d call the break and force her back into the ‘ring’.“No hero wants to fight Jaz, but we must if we’re going to protect others.” He crossed his arms.“Stop saying ‘we’. There is no ‘we’. I’m not a Hero Wolf. I’m just Jaz. Now, can you please tell me why you haven’t joined the Justice League? Or for that matter, why you’re even in this timeline to begin with. You’re like, from wayy into the future, right?”“Hit me and I’ll tell you.” Brin walked to the center of their sparring ring. She grumbled as she joined him, taking up her ready stance. Feet apart, her left foot forward, arms raised with her hands relaxed, just as he’d shown her. A second later she dropped her shoulders and widened her stance before he had a chance to correct her.“How bout this, you tell me while we spar. Promise I’ll give it my all… Just not confident I can hit you yet.” Every time Timber Wolf readied himself against her, a spike of anxiety shot through her body. There was something terrifying and thrilling about facing a hero of his caliber, the power in which he moved and the way his eyes grew serious the moment the fight began.“No.” He spoke as he struck. Despite him purposefully slowing down his movements and weakening his strikes for Jaz, she still struggled to react in time. She initially moved to the left before realizing it would leave him to close to her right, changing course mid step to backpedal instead. His punch connected with the bottom of Jaz’s rib cage hard enough to make her flinch, but she managed to stay on her feet, backstepping out of the brunt of it. “Don’t fight your instinct. You went to sidestep then decided to back pedal instead. Trust your first instinct, it was right.” Timber Wolf closed the gap Jaz had created in a single stride making a second attack, this time from the right. Jaz moved to block it but decided to sidestep this time. The blow to her shoulder wasn’t any harder than the first, but she had lost her footing and toppled over. “Side stepping would’ve allowed you to strike back in the first attack. Backing up like that just gave me more room to take space and the opportunity to attack again. You could’ve blocked that second blow, but you side stepped instead, giving up your balance and allowing me to knock you down.” He offered his hand, pulling her too her feet.Massaging her shoulder Jaz complained, “I’m really not cut out for this.”“You’re over thinking it too much. You keep second guessing what you’re doing instead of letting your body move.” Timber Wolf returned to his place on the mat, waiting for Jaz to join him.Jaz pouted. No mater what she said, he did not waiver in his belief that she was capable of something more than she actually was. “How do you not think? I always see that in movies; the mentor says quiet your mind dear Luke!” Timber Wolf lunged towards her while Jaz was distracted talking. She dodged before twisting into a punch. She barely missed as Timber Wolf pulled his shoulder out of the way inches in front of her travelling fist. “Hey! That ain’t fair! You sped up!” Jaz pushed forward, swinging and missing in his wake. He exchanged a light jab that she deflected with the back of her right arm as she wound back her left. It travelled through the space he was a second prior. That third punch overextended Jaz’s balance causing her to trip and fall to the floor panting.“Apparently your mind stops thinking anytime you talk.” Brin chuckled seeing Jaz’s glare.“You sped up! how am I supposed to hit you when you keep moving the goalposts.”“I did no such thing,” He continued when Jaz still looked doubtful, “Forget trying to hit me for a second, Jaz. Look at what you just accomplished. You’ve pushed me back, you dodged and blocked and tried to strike me three times.”“And winded up back on the floor for it.” She took Timber Wolf’s extended hand.“Stop thinking about how you’re going to react and just let your body react, Jaz. You’ve been learning how to move when we practice, just now I didn’t give you a chance to overcomplicate it, and your body knew what to do. Trust it.”Jaz let out a slow breath. “Can we stop here for the day?”Timber Wolf grinned, “You can shower first.” With that, Jaz bounded up the stairs. She’d only just ripped through her bedroom door when she remembered she hadn’t tried to press him for his answer. She sighed, determined to pester him until he gave up, or she managed to get a hit. Before she could leave the room, a small portal opened up in her bedroom door.“Jasmine, wait! You’re in danger.” Izzy’s voice unmistakably talked through it.
- -
“Hey! Wait, hold the door!” Terese called out barreling through the large corridor towards the main elevator at the center of the watchtower. Just as the door was about to close she saw one of the maintenance workers stick his arm through. Twisting her body to the side she slipped in before the door had even fully opened. Pressing the button to her floor she turned and thanked the man who simply nodded and returned to looking down at the floor. It was just the two of them there and Terese was grossly aware of how alone she was with this person. She hugged her arms to her stomach, leaning against the opposite wall facing the man. Since both of their destinations were closer to the top of the tower they had several minutes alone, “Have I seen you before?” She watched how the man looked at her trying to pierce if there was any nervousness or fear in his eyes as he answered.“Uhm. No?” His poker face was good though. He just looked a bit confused at her question but otherwise relaxed.Terese narrowed her eyes, “Do you know who I am?”The maintenance worker glanced behind him before realizing they were both alone, “I’m sorry, I don’t… Are you a new hero?” He gave her a polite smile and looked uncomfortable, but she couldn’t tell if it was because he thought her some small fry hero with a god complex or if he genuinely was worried he was being found out.“Something like that…” She turned away from him, brows furrowed. They stood in uncomfortable silence for a minute more before he tried to make awkward conversation again.“So… You’re a new hero around here?” He shuffled uncomfortably when she shot him a glare. He didn’t try again.She exited the elevator without glancing back, but using her electric field ability to sense whether he followed her off. Alone in the hall she tried to act cool, power walking as fast as she could without breaking out into a run on her way to her rooms. She passed multiple pairs of workers wearing the telltale blue uniform didn’t even spare her a glance, so her nerves were beginning to calm when she noticed in the reflection of the window that one of them stopped and turned to watch her walk. He had a ballcap pulled down low concealing his features and she noticed he had pulled off his nametag from his side pocket.Terese grinded her teeth, just about ready to snap at him. The only thing holding her back was the fact that he had yet to actually do anything wrong, or at least nothing she could prove. She turned the corner recognizing a familiar room coming up. Cyborg had taught her the keycode for the research lab they had locked down for his purposes working the Maxmellius dog napper case which she hastily keyed into the pad before rushing into the room. The door closed behind her and she let out a gasp, leaning against it.“Terese! I didn’t expect you to come here.” Cyborg called her name. He and Green Arrow were in the room and looked like they were huddled over one of the computers talking seriously when she interrupted them.“Sorry, I…” She glanced back at the door, “Can you pull up the cameras? I swear somethings been up, and I feel like that worker out in the hall was following me.” She strode towards them, stopping when a furry sight caught her attention. “Is that Jaz’s dog?”“Uh, Yeah. Jaz asked us to check him out since he was at that facility. More importantly, what’s this about being watched?” Arrow was quick to the gun, stepping in front of the screen before Terese got a chance to see what they were looking at.“That worker out in the hall behind me, Cyborg are you able to see who I’m talking about?” Cyborg turned the screen of their computer off before nodding. A moment later a wall of screens behind him turned on. “Go back to when I got off the elevator, the one up here.” She pointed to the screen watching the elevator. The feed began swiftly rewinding before landing on the frame of her exiting. “Watch.” She followed her movements as she appeared on a different screen as she progressed down the hall. Watching her movements now, she realized it was clear she was more than a little freaked out.“Did something happen?” Arrow asked. She could tell he was looking at her now instead of the screens.“There, see that?” The screen depicted the moment she had passed by the worker who had his ballcap pulled down. The man had been walking straight, not even glancing her way before she passed him. After ten paces he stopped and turned, following her.“Do you recognize him?” Arrow asked Cyborg.“No. He doesn’t have his nametag on…” Cyborg’s red eye began to glow and his expression changed as if he was now seeing through the screens. “John Greene. He’s been working in hydraulic maintenance for over a year now. Clean record, nothing stands out.”“He’s following me.” Terese insisted. They got to the point where she entered the research lab. “Stay on him. Let’s see what he does.” They followed him for another ten minutes as he continued to walk past the door not even glancing in its direction. Cyborg cut the feed when he turned into the men’s bathroom.“Perhaps he realized at that moment that he needed to go to the bathroom.” Cyborg turned to Terese.She balled her fist, “Or he could have realized you might be in here and decided to play it cool in case I reported anything. You saw how I was walking, he probably figured out I was onto him.”“Yes, I see that you’re clearly upset about something. What caused you to suspect you’re being followed.” Cyborg always spoke in a monotone manner that made it impossible for Terese to tell if he believed her or not.“I know what I saw, Cyborg. I could see how he turned in the reflection of the glass and the expression he had, if you’re not going to believe me, I’ll handle it on my own.” She turned to storm out, but Arrow caught her by the arm.“No one said we didn’t believe you.” He glanced at Cyborg, “Right?” Terese could see the pointed glare he was giving Cyborg on her behalf. “We’ll keep an eye out for you. Right now is to early to act, we don’t know enough but when you discover more, whenever something else happens you’ll bring it to me, right?” The reassuring smile he gave her made her heart twist a little in her chest.“Right. I will.” He let go of her arm, patting her on the shoulder. “So, what sort of scans did Jaz ask you to do on him?” She nodded towards Hero. He was sitting oddly still, and the fact that he didn’t start to approach her for pets or do other dog like behaviours struck her as strange. “Is he sick?”Cyborg made to speak but Arrow cut him off, “He’s not sick, per se. The vet she lives with certainly doesn’t think so, but your friend was just worried and wanted to be sure. Lot of weird things going on in that lab.” He laughed a bit nervously.“Thank you for going out of your way for her, Arrow.” Terese smiled at him, leaving right. She fought with the burning sensation of embarrassment colouring her cheeks. She’d been so worked up in a frenzy that she’d acted like that in front of him!When she got to her room, her heart sank. The sliding door was open and several workers were stepping out of the room. “What is going on? Who told you you could enter?”“Sorry Ma’am, was a water leak all throughout this level. Had to enter all the units and assess the damage.” One of them answered automatically before the three of them moved to leave.“Hold on, how is it you can just enter someone’s private rooms without even notifying them or getting permission first hand?” The three men exchanged glances.The first one to speak answered, “Like I said, got it approved right from John to minimize damages. Don’t worry, we didn’t touch anything. In and out, just had to open your wall and fix the leak, your unit was one of the ones affected.” He shrugged and the turned to leave again. This time Terese didn’t complain. She entered her room, scanning to check if anything was amiss. At first glance it didn’t appear like anything had moved. Her papers were left in a mess on the coffee table making it impossible for her to tell if anyone had looked through them. The piece of her hair she’d left in her jewelry box that held her diary was still sitting in the crease unfallen. Nothing was different… Except, Terese clearly remembered Clara that morning reminding her to take out her trash and her saying she was going to empty it in the evening. The bin was empty.