This can't be Alex.
Morgan watched as the lookalike stepped closer to them, summoning a ring of light around them that began to crackle, morphing into lightning before he thrust it out into a wave to blast back the charging heroes.
Alex is dead.
Morgan watched a few heroes get past the lightning, blocking it or absorbing it or phasing through it, barely halted in their charge.
He's been dead for a year.
Morgan clocked all of them easily enough, they had fought all of these heroes before. A mix of powers, but nothing to stop their natural power. Nothing to stop a sword.
The "heroes" made sure of that.
Chad was going to be the first one to reach them. Stupid self-righteous deluded Chad.
They have no right to do this.
Morgan clicked their fingers, smiling as Chad's leg buckled with a screech of pain, and a bloody patella clattered next to them. Someone else slid in the way, powering an attack that sailed over Morgan's head and left him wide open for Morgan to swing in with the sword, spilling his guts onto the rooftop in their wake. Someone screamed and Morgan turned to see the lookalike throw another hero off the roof, one that couldn't fly. There was a movement behind Morgan, a shadow fell over them, and Morgan raised their hand and snapped their fingers, stepping away as the body behind them dropped in time with a floating brain stem. Chad was crying, clutching his leg, and Morgan paused for a moment. He can wait a little longer .
The lookalike was diving into the others, dropping most of them with a single punch or kick, and more heroes were coming back to join the fray. Morgan gritted their teeth and swung at another hero, blocking a few strikes before burying their sword to the hilt in their chest and spinning away. The lookalike definitely looked like Alex. Moved like Alex. Sounded like Alex. Someone must have put a lot of effort into making him. Of course, it's obvious now.
'Cloning technology.' Morgan said.
'What?' Morgan missed the look of confusion from the clone as they planted their sword in another hero's neck.
'Cloning technology. Made you, trained you to copy him, and then released you on the day of...' Morgan paused then, swallowed past the growing lump in their throat, 'today. For dramatic emphasis.'
The clone scoffed, blocking a laser strike as some new heroes closed in. 'You would know all about dramatic emphasis. But the Fairness Association doesn't have cloning technology.'
'Roofer does,' Morgan replied, stealing a single vertebrae from a flying hero charging at them. 'And he should know better.'
'He's not been able to speed his cloning up that much has he?' The clone shot back. 'At best I'd be, what, ten?' Morgan scowled, distracted from replying by another hero diving in that they quickly sliced open. He was right, unless Rex had been working on that in secret. But over the course of a year? But then again, look at what Morgan had done in a year, it wasn't impossible for-
The clone shattered a hero's jaw before speaking up again, 'Besides, does Roofer know where I was buried?'
Morgan froze, and they span back to the lookalike as they looked past Morgan, sending off three laser blasts into heroes Morgan didn't see coming. There's no way there's no way there's no way. 'There's no way you can know that.'
He jumped closer to Morgan, lining up back to back and looking around for the next target. 'That deserted island off Cancún.' Morgan stiffened, their chest turning into a vice around their lung, but the clone(?) carried on, 'The little grove we found on the cliffs. Black marble was a perfect choice by the way-'
'Shut. Up.' Morgan knew their voice was shaking, knew that their heart was racing and their face was heating up that meant that they would be crying soon, but not now because they weren't done yet. They they had to buy their people more time. Another hero came in and Morgan snapped their fingers on instinct, another heart landing at their feet. They had to keep the heroes here, had to keep the attention on them, had to be louder than this pretend Alex who was really good at pretending to be Alex but Morgan couldn't consider the alternative yet because-
A flash of fire appeared and Morgan jumped, backing up into the lookalike as they watched the fire building into a wall stretching around the two of them into a perfect circle, higher and hotter than most of the heroes would want to try for. A forcefield appeared next, dampening the heat on this side but close enough to the fire that anyone who tried to get through would be trapped between the walls. I can't do this right now, Morgan thought, and they moved away as if they were somehow going to try and get out of the double walls without their gauntlets back online. But suddenly the lookalike was there, standing in front of him, and Morgan had to look away. Couldn't face this confrontation, not now not yet not-
'Morgan, please look at me.' Morgan closed their eyes, trying to find the will to ignore the voice that they hadn't heard properly in a year, but it was a losing battle. They glanced up, chest squeezing at the overflowing emotion in the man's face. He was angry, and worried, and Morgan swore they could see his heart break in real time as he reached out to take off Morgan's mask. This isn't a clone , Morgan admitted as the mask peeled away and the villain rubbed away tears from their cheeks that Morgan hadn't even realised had started falling.
'Morgan, please, talk to me.'
Morgan sniffed, touching his hand ( don't say his name yet you don't know you don't know) before pulling it away from their cheek. 'I...I can't...'
'Why not?'
Morgan swallowed and looked out to the fire around them, 'If I stop, or slow down, for even a second, I'll...' their voice cracked and they shook their head focus, focus, focus , 'I need to focus on this job. I have people counting on me.'
'Your heist?' Morgan turned back to him with a frown and got a shrug in response, 'I went to my parents when I couldn't find you. Janice called you, spoke to someone called Monday, she said you were trying to heist their HQ.'
That meant this man had met Monday. And Monday and Mrs Harris wanted to tell them something urgent, and focus! 'Yeah, and if the heroes think you're real and the biggest threat they'll go straight for their vault and if my people are in there...'
'Can you find out?'
'No! My network is down!'
Static squealed in Morgan's pocket and the two villains jumped. Morgan recovered first, pulling out their earpiece and holding it close to their ear, 'Monday?'
'Not quite,' Joey said. 'Whatever you did to scan the Alex lookalike took her offline. The other team were fine on their comms but all of your systems are supported by her mainframe.'
The man looked at Morgan confused, 'Offline?'
Morgan blinked and looked up at the man that looked a lot like Alex, 'You broke my AI.'
'Monday's an AI?'
Joey crackled through, 'Is that Alex?'
'Hey Joe,' the man called through, and Joey swore, 'Heard you got a promotion. Congrats.'
'Uh...yeah. Thanks Boss.'
Joey called him Boss. Maybe Joey spoke to Monday before she went down, and perhaps to Mrs Harris at any time since apparently the rest of the network is fine. Did Joey hear something to make him think that Alex might be...that this might be...
The maybe Alex spoke up again, 'Quick question, are Morgan's other team back from their job?'
Joey hummed on the other line, 'What the password?'
He rolled his eyes, 'Call Tony and ask for 2 large pepperoni and a hawaiian with extra anchovies.'
Alex's order, has to be, who else orders a hawaiian with anchovies? Joey apparently agreed, 'Still don't know how you can stand that. But yeah they got back just before your fire ring went up.'
Morgan sighed with relief at that. Their people were okay, when this guy wasn't here Morgan could get a debrief on the heist but for now that was enough.
'Good to know,' the man said, and turned to Morgan. 'Will you listen now?'
Morgan looked out to the ring of fire, seeing the forcefield flash as it looked like bullets tried to rain through. They swallowed past the lump in their throat and forced themselves to look at A-the man. 'Do you want to deal with them first?'
'That depends. Are you going to keep accusing me of being a fake?' Morgan flinched, but he continued, 'Because I would love to smash their skulls in for...so many things.' There it was, the rage and fury and bloodlust shining through his catlike eyes, fading only when he looked back at Morgan, 'But you're more important. I'll take us anywhere you want to go. Just say the word.'
'I...' Morgan paused, looking up at the top of the forcefield. Could anyone see them from here? 'I don't know what to do. I don't...'
'Ahem,' Joey piped up from the earpiece, 'Maybe I can help.'