"Gabriel..." The words that were supposed to follow died before they could exit my mouth. I stared at Gabriel, trying to think of something that I could say to make things better.

How do I save him from as much heartbreak as possible? I wanted to wait until he was older and could better handle it, even if it ended up in him hating me.

Do I lie? Say that I truly did fake my death? Then how was I supposed to explain knowing Aurelia, aka Mother Wasp? Tell my brother that I fell into the wrong crowd?

No. That would be disrespecting Miracle.

Which leaves one option left.

Ripping the bandaid off.

"Your eyes..." Gabriel muttered. "...red."

"I'm..." I sighed. "...I'm not the man you think I am, Gabriel."

Gabriel stared at me, waiting for me to continue.

"Do you know what a clone is?" I asked.

"Like in Starboy?" Asked Gabriel. "When he was fighting Mr. Multiplication?"

"Exactly." I responded with a light chuckle. "Issue number one hundred and seven. I'm..." My voice hesitated, before I took a deep breath. "...not the Jason you know. I'm not actually your brother."

"A...clone?" Gabriel asked.

"Right, you little smartie." I tried to crack a smile. "I'm a clone of your real brother. That's why unlike his...my eyes are red."

"That's so cool!" Gabriel gasped, before phasing. "But...where is Jason?"

"He's..." My voice wavered. "...he's gone, Gabriel."

"...what?" Gabriel looked at me with widened eyes. And then what I truly meant sunk in. "H-he's..."

He sniffled, tears forming into the corner of his eyes. And then he started crying, shoulders heaving as he wailed on the bed.

It didn't want to watch. I didn't want to hear. Because every second my heart was getting torn furthermore.

"Can I hug you?" I asked.

Through his sobs I saw the faintest of nods. I got close, wrapping my arms around his frail body and holding him close to my chest. His tears flooded into my shirt, soaking it as his feeble hands clung onto me.

I lightly stroked his back with my hand, letting him cry it all out. In fact, I could feel the tears threatening to come out of me as well.

But not this time. I have to be strong for him.

I'm sorry, Gabriel.

I wish that you could have woken up to your actual brother. I wish that you didn't have to have me supporting you right now.

Once he lets go of me I should give Siren a call. I feel like she'd be a lot better than I am at making him feel better. Especially since she had to go through the same thing.

Thinking that he had returned, only to discover the worst outcome. He's dead, and replaced by a fraud. An experience quite different from mine.

I, at the very least, didn't have to experience false hope. I didn't have to wonder what had truly happened to him. I witnessed his death, right before my eyes.

And so, with little idea of what to do, I simply let Gabriel continue to cry in my arms as he realized his brother was truly gone.

And all that remained was a fake.

We stayed in that position for a long while. Even after Gabriel's sobbing had finally ceased, we continued to stay huddled together. I was going to keep holding him until he pushed me away.

"Can you..." Gabriel's muffled voice reverberated through my shirt. "...tell me about him? As a hero?"

"Of course." I replied. "What actually started him on the hero path was the incident that happened to you. He didn't want that to happen to anyone else. And then they found out he had an S-Genome."

I chuckled to myself. "Not just any one either, but a double one. Just like your favorite hero, Stellar."

"What powers...?" Gabriel asked, his face still stuffed into my shirt.

"Luck and Boost." I answered. "He could make others stronger. And his luck was simply unmatched. Under Siren's tutelage, he became the next Rallying Hero."

"That's why they called him Miracle." I explained. "Because of his incredible luck, and his ability to make any situation feel better. He was incredible at calming people down and easing their worries."

"Your brother..." I took a deep breath, stabilizing my voice. "...was the greatest man I ever knew. He was a hero that uplifted people's spirits and gave them the drive to keep fighting."

"He was so well-liked, both from fans and other heroes." I continued. "He worked with your favorite hero Stellar a lot."

"He also used this super awesome flag as a weapon." I added. "I'll show it to you soon. I think...you'd really like it."

My grip slightly tightened around Gabriel.

"Your brother was-" I shook my head. "-no, IS my favorite hero. And he always will be."

I blinked the tears out from the corner of my eyes.

"You should be so proud of him, Gabriel." I whispered. "And I'm sure that he's even prouder of you."

"Why?" Gabriel's voice cracked.

"Because after four long years of struggle and fighting..." I stated. "...you came back. You are just as strong as your brother."

His grip tightened against me as I felt my shirt become damp once more. Small sniffles came from Gabriel as he tried to hold it in.

"It's okay." I coaxed, rubbing his back. "It's okay to let it all out."

And for a second time, he cried within my arms. A singular tear ran down my cheek, which I quickly wiped away.

For Miracle, I must be strong.

And for you, Gabriel, I must be even stronger.

I let Gabriel cry his heart out until he started to calm down again, his breathing slowly becoming steady as his sobs ceased. He slowly pulled himself away from my face, looking up at me.

"...what's your name?" He hesitantly asked.

"It's...Jason." I lightly chuckled. "I was named by your brother, and he said he wasn't good with names."

"He isn't." Gabriel agreed with a solemn look.

One that doesn't belong on someone so old. Especially after the terrible incident he has finally started to recover from-

An explosion sounded from outside, the room shaking in response. I froze, Gabriel in my arms, as a very bad feeling started to go down my spine.

Whatever that explosion was...

It's too close.

"W-what was that...?" Gabriel questioned.

"I don't know." I admitted.

I quickly racked my brain to figure out what I needed to do. Was it a one-off thing? Is a supervillain currently on a rampage?

I would've thought it was the girls hitting another one of our targets, another hidden Stromford base or lab, but none of them are that close to this hospital Gabriel is hiding within.

If that explosion was from them, then it wouldn't have shaken this hospital.

"Stay right here." I told him, pulling myself anyway and approaching the window. I opened the window, pulling myself partially out of the room. It was difficult to see with the neighboring buildings, but smoke was rising not too far away.

And then there was another explosion in another direction. And then a third. And amidst the spiraling smoke into the sky, for the first time since my creation, the sirens of Champion City started to wail.

As you know (and hopefully remember, but here's a recap, dear readers!) there are multiple different threat levels by the Hero Administration to loosely rank supervillains.

Spanning from levels one to six, each one corresponds to how big of an area a supervillain can take over and/or destroy. Threat level one is your basic street level villains. Threat level six, which no supervillain has reached, is our whole country.

I'm currently ranked at Threat Level 3. City.

And these sirens? They're made to activate whenever there is an immediate threat that can result in the city being taken over or destroyed.

They don't activate often because not every villain's plan is to take over or destroy the city. And supervillains are usually taken care of by the heroes.

But these sirens?

It's a call to all heroes in Champion City.

It doesn't matter if you're not on duty. It doesn't matter if you're not currently patrolling. There is a threat that needs to be dealt with, or else there is a high chance that our city will be lost.

These sirens aren't activated lightly.

"J-Jason..." Gabriel whimpered, holding his phone in his hands.

I rushed to his side, seeing that bastard Killian Stromford's face on the screen of the phone. A live broadcast.

"Our city is currently under attack." Killian spoke. "Everyone is advised to evacuate if they can, or find a safe place to barricade themselves within."

"The criminal Checkmate has made his final assault." He stated.

...what?

"With the help of his group he has hacked into our AVMF and taken them over." Stromford boldly lied, but everyone was going to believe him.

They don't know they aren't robots.

They don't know they're clones.

"He has taken to bombing more and more of our city." Stromford continued. "Everyone, get somewhere safe. And our heroes, please, come and apprehend the criminal behind this."

And with that, the live broadcast went out.

That bastard! He's framing me!

I looked out the window once more, where the smoke continued to billow into the air. Another explosion sounded in the distance.

All of this...just to frame me?

You're right, Stromford.

This is the final assault. You are going down today. And I know exactly where you made that live broadcast from. After all, you stole my idea.

But the first priority...

I looked back at Gabriel, scared and confused.

If they're bombing random buildings, then we aren't safe here. It's not like being out there is safer either, but if I want to possibly get Gabriel somewhere safe that's what we're going to have to do.

The plan? Get Gabriel with Siren and get the both of them out of the city.

I quickly called Siren, and she immediately picked up.

"Jason?!" She exclaimed. "Are you alright?!"

"Both Gabriel and I are fine." I answered. "Where are you?"

Siren let out a breath of relief. "Thank goodness. I'm still at my house."

"Stay there." I ordered. "I'm bringing Gabriel to you. Where are the others?"

"Aurelia is here." She answered. "Sophie was here but immediately left after the broadcast. The others weren't here when this started. We're currently trying to call them."

I bit my lip, praying that they're alright.

No, they definitely are. Don't underestimate them, Jason.

As for Sophie, she must be heading to where the broadcast is coming from.

I looked back at Gabriel, who was looking at me with worried eyes and a shaking body.

"We'll be there shortly." I stated. "See you soon."

"Stay safe, Jason!" Siren quickly exclaimed before I hung the call up.

I kneeled down in front of Gabriel, looking into his eyes. "Gabriel. I know I haven't been the most trustworthy. I lied to you about who I really was, and I'm sorry about that. But I promise to you I didn't lie about wanting to keep you safe."

"I'm going to protect you." I stated. "As long as you allow me to. Will you?"

I extended a hand towards him, praying that he would accept.

"Will we..." Gabriel whispered. "...still do all those things...you said?"

"The birthday party? The ice cream? The bikes? All of that?" I asked, receiving a nod in response. A smile grew across my face. "Of course we will, buddy. I promise."

Gabriel looked inbetween me and my hand, before slowly moving his forwards and grasping it. I stood up, getting close to him and delicately scooping him into my arms.

"Hang on tight to me." I told him. He wrapped his arms around my neck and his legs around my back, holding on with as much strength as he could. I placed one hand on his back, acting as a support.

Moving across a city in chaos while carrying a younger brother with just a knife hidden in the pocket?

Oh yeah, this'll go swimmingly for sure.