The Watchtower's main conference chamber was rarely this quiet. The orbiting hall, ringed with screens and the hush of machinery, had the feel of a cathedral when everyone in the League was seated.
Batman was at the far end of the table, chair angled in the precise way that allowed him to see the whole room. Superman sat opposite, posture stiff, his arms folded but his eyes betraying thought. Diana was beside him, hands folded on the table, every inch the Amazon diplomat even as her frustration clung to her like a storm. Dinah Lance leaned back in her chair, one leg crossed over the other, gaze steady, jaw tight.
The subject of discussion was a single man.
Attano.
The silence cracked when Superman finally spoke.
"He's asking us to sanction murder. That is the bottom line." His voice was even, but the weight of command ran through it. "We can't call ourselves protectors of life and then carve out an exception because someone claims they can do it cleanly."
"He gave us options," Diana reminded, though her tone was heavy with conflict. "Option one, that we allow him to continue under League oversight — albeit in the shadows. Option two, that he resigns, retreats into civilian life, and accepts whatever consequences follow. Neither choice is ideal, but he was clear."
"Clear?" Green Lantern scoffed, leaning forward, ring hand tapping against the table. "He practically blackmailed us. Do you want a killer with his abilities going freelance? Because that's what option two really means. He walks away, claims he's going civilian, and then next week we find corpses vanishing without trace in alleyways. That's not retirement, that's deniability."
Dinah's lips twitched, but her tone was calm. "You're assuming the worst, Hal. What I heard was a man trying to give us boundaries. He's not pretending he can fit the cape-and-smile model, and honestly, he's right. He's not Clark. He's not you, Diana. He doesn't see the world in absolutes."
"Dinah," Superman began, but she cut in, sharp as a blade.
"He's lived with his hands dirty. That doesn't excuse him killing Ivo, but it explains why he thought it was the only solution. And let's not ignore the fact that his reasoning wasn't empty. AMAZO with his powers?" She shook her head. "That's a nightmare scenario none of us were ready for."
Barry, who had been drumming his fingers against the table in restless silence, finally broke in. "Okay, timeout. What exactly are we talking about here? I mean—what was the full range of Attano's abilities? What makes him so dangerous that killing Ivo and smashing AMAZO into pieces was his only play?"
Every gaze slid toward Batman. He didn't flinch at the weight of attention. His voice was flat, clipped.
"Documented abilities include [Blink], short-range teleportation; [Devouring Swarm], the summoning of rats and insects as living weapons; [Shadow Kill], an execution technique that leaves no body behind; and [Windblast], concussive force generation. He has demonstrated superhuman strength and speed, advanced combat skill, and psychological manipulation. He understands not just the League's strengths but the weaknesses of every member — and the protégés."
Batman's gaze flicked toward Diana. "I believe he has more abilities he hasn't revealed. That is likely why Attano killed Ivo without hesitation."
The table shifted with unease.
Flash leaned back, eyebrows shooting up. "So… teleporting, insect swarms, invisible murder, air cannons, and possibly more tricks hidden up his sleeve. Not to mention he's already got Batman's 'how-to-beat-everybody' playbook memorized? Yeah, okay, I'm starting to see why AMAZO with that set would be a universal nightmare."
"Nightmare?" Hal muttered. "That's putting it lightly. Imagine AMAZO teleporting across a battlefield, summoning swarms to distract us, blasting us off our feet, and every time it kills one of us — no body left to recover. How do you even fight that?"
"You don't," Batman answered, cold as the void outside the Watchtower windows. "You lose."
Aquaman folded his arms, expression grim. "Then perhaps Attano's choice was not so reckless after all. Eliminating Ivo, destroying AMAZO's remains — if his assessment was accurate, he may have prevented a greater disaster."
"That's not the point," Clark countered, voice sharp. "We cannot endorse the idea that murder is an acceptable tool simply because the enemy is dangerous. If we do, we stop being what the League is meant to be."
Diana's eyes softened, but her words were hard. "Clark, you speak truth, but Dante operates in a different world than ours. For him, the line between survival and principle is not philosophical. It is immediate. He does not kill to revel in violence. He kills because his instincts tell him that hesitation costs lives."
"Instincts honed in blood," Dinah added. "He's not one of your bright-eyed sidekicks. He's a weapon who learned how to stay alive in the ugliest way possible. And weapons don't pretend they're shields."
Hal scoffed. "Great. So we let him keep running around because he's got good instincts? What happens the day his instincts tell him one of us is a liability?"
Diana's eyes flashed. "He may be brutal, but he is not indiscriminate. There is a difference."
Barry leaned forward again, curious despite himself. "This [Shadow Kill] thing — you're saying it leaves no body? No trace at all?"
"Yes," Batman said. "No DNA. No evidence. No trail. If he killed a man in this room, the seat would be empty, and you would never know who had been there."
A hush fell. Even the veterans shifted uneasily at the thought.
"That," Hal said darkly, "is exactly why he's dangerous."
Dinah broke the silence, her voice steady but weighted. "And exactly why ignoring him is even more dangerous. He's offering us boundaries. That's more than most people with his power set would bother to do."
Martian Manhunter, who had been silent until now, finally spoke, his voice calm but resonant. "Attano's powers are born from an alien paradigm of thought. They are not just tools — they are philosophies. Blink is not mere teleportation; it is the mindset of evasion, of striking between moments. Devouring Swarm is domination through fear and chaos. Shadow Kill is erasure — of evidence, of existence itself. His gifts shape how he sees the world. To him, survival is certainty. Anything less is death."
The words hung in the air like a verdict.
Diana inclined her head toward J'onn. "Which is why he must be guided, not discarded. His choices may clash with our ideals, but he is not beyond reason. He listens — even when he disagrees. That is more than can be said for many."
Clark sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I don't disagree that he can be reasoned with. But reason doesn't erase the fact that he's dangerous — to enemies, to civilians, to us. We are discussing whether to trust a man whose power set is designed for assassination and subterfuge. That is not what the Justice League stands for."
Batman's voice cut through the tension, final and absolute. "But it is what keeps the world alive when ideals aren't enough."
The chamber fell silent once more, the League caught between their moral compass and the reality of the weapon they had taken in.
Attano's powers, his philosophy, his choices — all of it was a puzzle with no clean solution. And tomorrow, they would have to present him with one.
A/N
[PowerStone]