Blank Slate | ONC2023

Chapter Ten: Prove Yourself

The heroes find me before noon. I glance towards the alley mouth where a woman dressed in all-black sleek, comfortable-looking clothes and surrounded by holograms rounds the corner. Citizen, David, Aben, and Galah follow behind her.

A dullness settles over my shoulders and I look away. Found. Already. I should feel something more than a mild sense of frustration, but I can't bring myself to care. Of course they'd find me—that's just my luck in this rotten world.

"Denizen?" Footsteps trace closer to me. David stands in front of me, glancing around at the alley for danger. "Are you okay?"

A bitter laugh tugs sours my voice, worsening the throb of my cuts and bruises. "You should know the answer by now."

David's eyes sadden and he offers a gloved hand. "Come on, let's get you out of here."

I let my gaze fall on his hand, indecision handing heavy in my chest. His fingers are tipped in electric blue, just like his hair, standing out against black of his glove. I could refuse. But what would that do? They would make me go with them anyway. I don't have a choice. Did I ever have a choice?

With a heavy sigh, I stand up, leaving his hand hanging. I don't wait for him as I walk towards the others, keeping my hands stuffed in my pockets.

Citizen's face is hard as he steps aside to let me pass, eyes darting around the dilapidated building. Late morning light slants into the alley, illuminating him from behind and a little to the side, causing the edges of his dark chestnut curls to seem to glow like golden bread in an oven. "Is Blank Slate nearby?"

Yes. "I don't know. I just ran for it and ended up here."

He frowns and tips his head at Aben and Galah. "Be on alert. Titular, do your scanners see anyone nearby?"

The woman in black swipes at one of her holograms and peers at it. "Negative. This place is truly abandoned." Flicking it away, she turns her gaze on me, eying me from head to toe, a slight frown on her face. Unlike the other heroes, she wears no mask that I can see.

Shifting uncomfortably, I reach up and run a hand through my curls, tugging at knots carelessly. Pain sends sharp barbs into my scalp as I pull, briefly breaking through the dullness pinning me down. "Can we leave already? I don't want to see him again."

Citizen nods and begins walking out of the alley. "This way."

It is a quiet walk to the hovercars, and remains so during the whole ride. David attempts to engage me in conversation a couple of times, but I shut him down. I don't talk with heroes. Not anymore. They've already gotten to my head and I don't intend on letting them get any further. Or are they getting through Deception's mind control to your real mind? a part of me mutters under the buzz of static.

Irritation growls under my skin and I push the part away. I've already made my choice to be the villain everyone says I am and I am not backing down from it. I am someone. I am Blank Slate. I am a villain.

And villains don't talk to heroes. Villains don't be nice to heroes, let alone be friends. I close my eyes and let the numbness and static consume me.

As soon as we arrive in the Temporary HQ, Citizen turns on me. "Are you in league with Blank Slate?"

A jolt of ice shoots down my arms. What? "Of course not!"

Citizen shakes back his hair, expression hard. "Is there a tracker on you? In your holowatch, perhaps?" He looks at me, scanning my face. "What happened should not be possible. He could not have found us that quickly, unless he knew where we would take you."