It was obvious that Alfred was a hero.
As a child, Alfred was obsessed with hero comics, where the hero saved the day from the evil domination of villains. Alfred had a strong sense of justice, and it was obvious from the comics that he read that Alfred was definitely most likely a hero. He just didn't know what super powers he had.
Of course, Alfred didn't know what his super hero costume would look like, since he never had to transform into a hero before. Of course, Alfred didn't know who his eternal arch nemesis would be. Of course he didn't have a Damsel in Distress (DID). Of course he didn't have a sidekick nor could he fly.
But he knew he was a hero; he had to be.
He knew he would grow up to be a hero, and he'd learn how to fly. He just didn't know how and where he'd learn how to fly, but he knew he had the power and ability to.
In Alfred's blissful childhood, his world consisted of heroes and Captain America, and his family.
Alfred's family consisted of his older brother and caretaker, Arthur Kirkland. Alfred was keeping Arthur in mind in his Possible DID List. Then, there was a nuisance that always annoyed his older brother named Francis Bonne-something. Last names didn't matter. All that mattered to Alfred at that time was the fact that Francis was in his Possible Arch Nemesis List. Then there was his other "twin" brother; his name was Matthew W. He always had a cute polar bear with him, was definitely not a hero, nor his enemy. Therefore, Alfred put Matthew in his Possible Sidekick List.
One day, during this time of his childhood, he asked Matthew to play Heroes with him.
"I'm going to be the hero! Captain…AMERIFRED!" Alfred shouted with a triumphant smile.
"Then I'll be Captain Canuck!" Matthew said excitedly.
Alfred frowned and his tiny brows wrinkled. Something was wrong this picture.
"Mattie, there can't be two heroes, there can only be one, and that's me!" Alfred said with a bold voice.
"That's not fair Alfie! You were the hero last time! This time I want to be the hero!" Matthew cried out.
"I called hero first. Maybe next time you'll be fast enough to call to be hero," Alfred said.
"You're not being fair! I'm not playing with you!"
"Then how can I play hero by myself if there's no one to defeat?"
"Use your imagination. We have plenty of other toys to play with! I'm going to play by myself with Kumajirou!"
With that, Matthew stomped off with his bear friend.
"You could've been the sidekick at least. And at least you have your white fluff ball to play with," Alfred mumbled.
It was true that their house had a whole room filled with toys. But when playing hero, there just wasn't the perfect one. Alfred grew out of the dinosaurs and the cowboys. He had a toy set that Arthur made for him, but that wasn't any fun anymore. On one side of the room, there were board games, but board games were no fun playing alone. Besides, imagination was for chumps; Alfred outgrew imagination because he wanted reality.
Alfred gave up on the toy room and began wandering down the hallways of the house. There were many halls but the structure of the house was not complicated, so he found his way well. With a Captain America figurine in his hand, Alfie started to go down the hallway, towards the kitchen, where Arthur was probably cooking.
Alfred peeked into the lighted kitchen, where Arthur was humming a song, and was mysteriously talking to himself. He sometimes made weird gestures, like patting the air, and laughed in that direction, or said, "Heehee! That tickles~!" Alfred thought it was weird, but it was funny at the same time. There were times when Alfred silently watched Arthur talk to invisible beings and amused himself with it.
Alfred giggled, and Arthur noticed it. Arthur turned from his "cooking" to turn around to Alfie.
"Alfie, why are you alone? Weren't you playing with your twin brother?" Arthur knelt down to Alfie's height and asked.
"I was, but he was being unreasonable so I left him," Alfie said, crossing his arms and raising his chin slightly. He "humph"-ed and peeked out of one eye, hoping that Arthur would be impressed by his manliness.
Arthur just laughed, "Is that so? I'm sure he'll come back to play with you."
"But he said that I couldn't be hero! So he went off to play with his stuffed bear."
"Don't you make up every time? This isn't the first time this happened."
"Of course. He gets lonely every time. It should make him think twice before leaving me alone to play…serves him right!"
"What nonsense are you spouting…" Arthur laughed, a bit amused, by Alfred's thought processes.
"What's so funny?" Alfie asked, a bit annoyed. Arthur was supposed to be amazed by how amazing Alfred was, not laugh at him.
"Nothing, nothing. Now go along Alfie, say sorry to Mattie," Arthur chuckled.
"Say sorry to Mattie? Why? I didn't do anything?" Alfred tried to talk sense into Arthur, while resisting to be pushed out.
Arthur blinked. He wondered if he had to explain this to Alfred as well.
He knelt beside the child again, and looked into his eyes. It was clear that Alfred was confused and didn't know why he had to apologize. Arthur let out a sigh.
"Well, you see….how do I explain this…Alfred, it's not always right to take the spotlight. You are the most important in your opinion, but Mattie is the most important in Mattie's opinion. Mattie wants to play hero as much as you do. Also, there are things that you have to give up even though you don't want to."
"Why do you have to give up on things even if you don't want to? Doesn't it make you sad?"
"Of course it does. But it might bring happiness to others. In a way, I think that's more heroic. Don't you think so too?" Arthur ended with a smile.
Alfred thought for a moment. Then, he smiled a very wide grin.
"Oh! I see! I got it!" Alfie said, then ran off to find his play mate. Arthur watched from the kitchen doorway and let out a sigh of relief.
"Now, back to my cooking…"
Meanwhile, Matthew was playing house with Kumajirou. He was actually having a fun time, when Alfred had to interrupt him during tea time.
"Mattie! I have something to tell you!" Alfred barged in with a bold and serious face.
"What do you want Alfi—hey! You're ruining the cupcakes!" Mattie yelled as Alfred carelessly wrecked the meticulously arranged table.
"I'm sorry!" Alfred blurted out.
Matthew looked at Alfred. Alfred tried to keep his bold face on, but couldn't help but blush in embarrassment. It was the first time Alfred was saying sorry to Matthew directly after all. Matthew thought something was suspicious, but accepted the apology.
"Fine. You should be sorry. I was having a tea party with Kumajirou."
"Not about that—well that too. But I'm sorry I said you couldn't be the hero when we played hero."
"That's okay, I forgive you."
There was a moment of silence as Mattie rearranged the plastic cupcakes.
"Uhmmm….what I'm saying is…you can be the hero next time we play Hero," Alfie said a bit quietly, breaking the silence.
Matthew's eyes widen and his mouth fell open. This was some day!
"Are you being serious about this?" he asked a bit disbelieving.
"Of course! I'll be the monster and you'll have to save the day from me destroying the whole city! Oh…I'm getting so excited just by thinking about it!" Alfred chattered excitedly, grin growing by the second.
By the time Alfred stopped talking about their plans both boys' grins exceeded their face widths.
"Then, he jumped up and hugged me! I really felt like a hero then!"
Arthur simply nodded at the little boy who couldn't bear to lie still in bed.
"We're going to play Hero all day tomorrow! And I'll be the hero this time! You better not criticise me on how to be hero Alfie! Otherwise, I really won't play with you!" the other boy with passive excitement said to the hyper boy.
"Of course! And don't use big words! I don't know what cristasis means!"
"It's "criticise"! "Criticise"!"
"Cridisize!"
"Criticise!"
"Settle down you two," Arthur said, laughing weakly, "You should sleep now, it's getting late."
The two boys instantly calmed down, settle in their twin sized bed. The lamp light was on, and it shone brightly in Alfred's eyes, who was closer to the light than Mattie was.
"Artie, can you close the lights? I can't sleep like this," Alfred complained.
"It's "Arthur", Alfred. And learn how to use "please"," Arthur said, yet turned off the lights for the two to sleep.
"Good night Alfred, Matthew," Arthur said as stood at the doorway, waiting to close the door.
"Good night Arthur!" the two boys said in unison.
"Sweet dreams!" Arthur said, and closed the door.
Under the moonlight, two small boys named Alfred and Matthew snuggled closely together, falling into a deep peaceful sleep.
A/N: Awwww...how cute. They seem so innocent. Heh. This kind of thing won't be happening in the next chapter anytime soon. Reviews are appreciated!
