The Cave's lights dimmed as Batman's voice cut through the air like a blade.
"Batman to the cave"
"Five hours ago, a menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary. The attacker was capable of studying then duplicating the powers and abilities of its opponents."
Every set of eyes turned to the holo-screen as it flickered to life. A figure — no, a machine — hurled Superman across the street as if he weighed nothing. It was efficient, brutal, and hungry. Every second it moved, it learned.
My gut went cold.
"Arrow called reinforcements, which nearly proved disastrous as our foe gained more and more power with each new combatant." He continued.
I felt the Mark burn faintly under my skin. [Bend Time]. My most dangerous ace. If this tin soldier stole that trick, the League wouldn't just be in trouble — the world would. You can fight Superman, sure. But how do you fight Superman when he can stop time and think while you're frozen mid-breath?
Batman's briefing rolled on. Wally muttered something about "one guy with the powers of the entire League," his voice caught between disbelief and boyish awe. The rest of the kids were pale with shock.
"An android? Who built it? T.O. Morrow?" Robin piped up. Always the detective's son.
"Good guess. Red Tornado disagrees," Batman answered.
Manhunter added, "The technology bears the signature of Professor Ivo."
Aqualad's brow furrowed. "But Ivo is dead."
"So we thought," Dinah said.
I tuned out the chatter. I was already calculating how quickly I could track Ivo down and cut his throat before he so much as looked at me.
Then came the part that made my blood thrum in fury.
"You will split up into undercover teams to safeguard the two real trucks."
The map flickered across the holo-display. Boston. New York. Decoys everywhere. The plan was cautious, thorough, exactly what you'd expect from Batman.
And then his eyes flicked, sharp and cold, toward me.
"Except Attano."
The air froze.
I sat up straighter. "Excuse me?"
"You're still on probation after Santa Prisca," Batman said flatly. "You will not be part of this mission. You will remain here."
A silence spread through the Cave. Wally's eyebrows shot up. Dinah crossed her arms, already bracing for the explosion.
I leaned back, lips twitching into something sharp. "So let me get this straight. You're sending children to escort chunks of an android that just mopped the floor with the Justice League. But the one person here who could end this before it starts — me — you bench?"
"You are not going," Batman repeated, tone carved from stone. And then, without waiting for my reply, he cut the transmission.
The holo-display vanished, leaving me staring at my own faint reflection in the glass table.
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The team began to break into hushed chatter, shuffling toward their gear. I stayed sitting, still as a statue. But inside, the rage was coiling, tightening like a wire around my throat.
Ivo. AMAZO. [Bend Time]. The thoughts looped endlessly. I couldn't let them touch each other. Batman didn't understand. Or worse — he understood, and he was gambling I'd obey.
Heh. Bad bet.
Aqualad, ever the dutiful soldier, noticed my stillness. He approached cautiously, arms clasped behind his back. "Attano. You heard Batman's orders. You will remain here."
I tilted my head, watching him like a predator watching a slow fish. "And if I don't?"
Kaldur's jaw tightened. "You will. Because if you disobey, you jeopardize not only your probation but your standing with this team. Batman entrusted me with command. I will not allow you to compromise that trust."
I rose slowly, letting the scrape of my chair echo through the Cave. The others glanced back nervously. Wally whispered something that sounded like, "Oh man, here we go."
I stepped close enough to see the flicker of uncertainty in Kaldur's eyes. He was brave — I'd give him that. Brave enough to stand between me and what needed to be done. Brave, but not suicidal.
Then I smiled. A lazy, careless thing. "Alright. I resign."
Silence.
"…What?" Kaldur blinked, caught completely off guard. He'd been ready for a fight, ready for me to spit in Batman's face and storm out. But resignation? That threw him off balance.
"Yeah," I said casually, rolling my shoulders. "I'll talk to Batman later about my resignation. Maybe draft a little letter. Nice, professional tone. Then I'll drop by Wonder Woman too — can't have her worried if I just vanish. She'll probably try to talk me out of it, which will be adorable."
I let the words sink in. The implication wasn't subtle: I wasn't just walking away. I was walking away on my own terms. Not benched. Not leashed. Gone.
Before Kaldur could respond, I let the Mark hum through my veins, shadows curling around me.
"See you around, fish boy."
[BLINK]
I vanished in a ripple of black smoke and silence, reappearing at the zeta-tube in the blink of an eye.
[Recognized: Attano - B07]
The Cave's system announced my departure in that flat monotone, sealing the moment like a judge's gavel.
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On the other side of the zeta-tube, I inhaled crisp night air, the world stretching before me like a board waiting for the first chess piece to fall. My grin returned, sharp and humorless.
Probation. Orders. Resignation. None of it mattered. The only thing that mattered was Ivo — and cutting his work to pieces before it learned too much.
My lips curled into something close to a grin but without warmth. Ivo needs to die. Quickly. Messily, if possible. Preferably by my hands.
I flexed my fingers, the Mark glowing faintly on my skin, whispering like a phantom voice only I could hear. The others could play babysitter with trucks and decoys. Me? I was going hunting.
◈⟡◈ ◈⟡◈ ◈⟡◈ ◈⟡◈ ◈⟡◈ ◈⟡◈
Back in the Cave, silence lingered long after the zeta-tube light faded.
"…Did he just quit?" Wally finally blurted.
M'gann wrung her hands. "He didn't mean it. Right?"
Robin gave a short, incredulous laugh, though it came out tighter than usual. "Great. Just great. Batman's gonna have our heads mounted on the Batcave wall for this one."
Kaldur closed his eyes briefly, exhaling the weight of command. "Either way… he is gone."
And in the shadows beyond their reach, He was already moving toward his real mission.
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It took me one hell of a time to track the old bastard down. But now I had him.
IVO.
And right now, he was bent over, repairing the half-ruined body of AMAZO.
So the Team failed to protect the pieces. Figures. Didn't matter. I was here now.
Robot monkeys patrolled the perimeter, clunky and chittering with synthetic menace. Too many to walk in loud. I'd slipped in by [Possessing] a rat before entering the facility.
And then. I made my moved.
[Bend Time]
The world snapped achromatic, motion grinding to a halt. I slipped free of the rat, my body materializing in silence. Desert Eagle raised, I emptied the chamber into the monkeys — each one sparking and collapsing mid-motion before they could even register.
I moved. Fluid. Certain. And when Ivo froze mid-weld over AMAZO's chest plate, I was already standing before him.
I coiled my fist.
Time resumed.
My punch landed square in his chest — bone and flesh crunching as his ribs collapsed inward. Ivo's eyes bulged, mouth opening in a raw scream.
"AAARRHHHH—!"
I shoved him down hard, straddling his frame. My right fist coiled again, then dropped like a hammer. His skull folded beneath the blow, face imploding in a grotesque collapse of bone and blood.
Dead. Instantly.
But I wasn't finished.
[Blink] — I reappeared behind AMAZO's half-repaired form, seizing its head. With a vicious wrench and a guttural roar, I ripped it free from the android's body. Circuits tore, sparks rained, metal screamed.
A moment later, silence.
All the robot monkeys — gone.
IVO — dead.
AMAZO — headless in my grasp.