Young Seamus

I was having a good dream when I was suddenly woken up.

"Dan, time to eat breakfast and go." It was none other than Seamus who spoke these words

Through my drowsy eyes, I could see he was wearing a simple jacket and a cap. It looked like he had already prepared himself.

I struggled off the comfortable couch, that was one thing the future did right at least, and after letting out a small yawn, followed Seamus down the stairs. There was a small kitchen area which usually just served bread. The kitchen seemed rather redundant.

There, I was handed a piece of toast.

"Oh" I guess I was wrong. I bit into it and found out that these gangsters could make some mean toast.

Following that, we continued our preparations by which I of course meant others.

"Rise up, Current time is 7:00 AM. The...." By the time the morning announcements came on, everyone was ready to start the operation and was seated patiently in the lounge.

Some were playing pool and others were watching the tree growing show. It was quite fascinating. All of these actions stopped as I caught sight of a figure in my periphery.

"""Good morning Boss!""" All the members including me said after seeing Kaiser in the room. Well, I only mouthed it since I wasn't really sure what we were supposed to say at first.

Kaiser nodded before proceeding to speak.

"All of the residents should start to go about their business. Now is the perfect time to get mixed up in the crowd. Let's go!" Kaiser didn't beat around the bush as he then unhesitantly turned around to leave.

Some of the men playing pool left without finishing their match. They waved goodbye to those staying and we all simply left.

Seamus, as arguably my only friend and acquaintance, was standing next to me.

"This is exciting." He told me with bright eyes. Seamus is seven years older than me. He hasn't done away with a youth's lively attitude.

"Sure is" I replied as our group left the building.

We were all dressed in a non-eye catching manner and walked with some distance apart from one another. This was also to catch less attention. A couple of us were also wearing hats. I especially since I could still catch a couple of wanted posters as we walked.

"Have you ever fought somebody?" Seamus then asked me curiously. This question likely came about due to the fact that we would soon be facing mutants and any experience is welcome.

"Yeah" I replied.

There was a short period of silence before Seamus decided to probe further.

"Who? Why? Did you win?" He shot off three questions that covered all the bases.

I obviously didn't really have anything against answering these questions but the main issue was the fact that my experiences might not add up with my alternate self.

"I fought against my dad once. I obviously lost. After all, what's mightier, the pen, or the baseball bat?" The answer was evidently the baseball bat. It is much longer and while you could stab someone with a pen, the most damage you might be able to do is stab their eyeball. If you are a child however that maneuver is much harder to pull off.

"...really?" Seamus asked somewhat in disbelief. But as my expression clearly hadn't changed he had no choice but to believe it.

His disbelief wasn't unfounded as the story was indeed fabricated. I was the one wielding the baseball bat. As a child, I obviously needed the extra arm length even if it was a bit hard to carry.

"Well, I fought against Kaiser once. I was only barely even a teen at the time. It's quite the funny story, you wanna hear it?" Perhaps this was his attempt to change the odd atmosphere but I was quite curious so I bit the bullet.

"Sure" I answered.

"Hmmm…" Seamus' expression turned nostalgic as he began his tale.

***

Per usual, I was hanging out alone at home. This single bedroom apartment left much to be desired but for me, it was enough. But maybe that's because I didn't know better.

"Seamus, me and your mother are going out. Remember to stay safe, stay away from the slums" Those were the words my parents told me before leaving for work.

My mom and dad both worked in the nearby waste sector. They worked tirelessly for me and I was very appreciative of it but It just wasn't a lucrative job. It had no chance for promotions and it was dangerous.

Still, I didn't allow anyone to talk bad about them. They were my entire life since I wasn't allowed outside. This restriction was never lifted either but I still snuck out.

I hung out with some of the cool kids while my parents worked. By that I mean I snuck off to the slums to play. Being outside in the residential area was a large no for the officials. With the excuse of being disturbing the peace, they would strike down on fun.

On a fateful day, I was playing hide and seek deep into the slum area. I overheard an interesting conversation.

"Those waste workers are wasting their life working for the upper class. It's a pity. A human should have ambition yet…" Is what he was saying but I didn't let him finish.

"Hey!" I yelled with anger. How could they do that? They who lived in the slums without a shred of responsibility. They'd dare mock those who labored seriously?

The two grown men turned to look at me. My figure at the time was weak. That was expected. I was fed better than most since I had two parents working but it wasn't enough.

Seeing a scrawny kid walking angrily towards them, the two men couldn't help but inwardly snicker. Or that's what I thought would happen...

"Hey" One indifferently replied. You could probably guess who it was.

"What do you mean hey!? You can't insult hard workers like that!" I was still angry. His nonchalance was an insult in its own way.

"They really are hard workers." Surprisingly, he agreed.

"But that doesn't mean they aren't wasting their life away" The man continued causing my expression which would have been a smug one into confusion and then anger.

"You-!" My blood was boiling at the utter disregard of my efforts and words.

"How many people are there in Termina, do you know kid?" He surprisingly changed the topic.

"I don't care!" I yelled.

"You don't. That's because we don't receive an education. You are uneducated and uninformed." He told me amused. I didn't know what was so amusing.

"Stop that!" My blood was already boiling, needless to say I was hot-blooded. So I lunged towards him.

Smack!

I threw punch with my slightly malnourished body. I wasn't as reserved and friendly as I am now either. All of the pent up emotion from being stuck inside of my home since young, it oozed out.

But the man took it. He didn't doge the strike from the bumbling child.

"Kid, do you want to learn?" He crouched and asked me. My eye involuntarily twitched at his complete lack of response.

"No!" I swung out again effectively hitting his bearded face.

"You don't. That's because you don't know what you are missing out on. You are ignorant." He continued.

"Shut up!" I threw another fist. I was just a child, ignorant?!? That's to be expected!

"Your parents are also ignorant. The whole of Termina is ignorant. Willfully so. Because in their ignorant minds, there isn't an alternative. And you, you want to continue that cycle." He continued to speak.

"Sh-Shut up!" As I was barely a teen, I could somewhat comprehend his thought process.

Smack!

"The alternative is to revolt." He answered the question that I never asked and took his buddy to walk away. He left without giving me a chance to finish him.

"You are ignorant!" I yelled, it turned out I was ignorant. And I knew that because after that, whenever I snuck out, I would search for him.

The man was Kaiser. He had a secret stash of books that he inherited from his ancestors. He was a learned man and I was an ignorant child.

It was at this point that Dan interrupted my awesome and factual retelling.

"That wasn't a fight" He rudely declared.

"What do you mean! That was a great fight" I corrected him. He threw me a glance that indicated I was missing a screw or two before speeding up his steps.

I smiled. It wasn't a fight. To me, it was a great epic denoting a great hero.