i'm also getting a bit of The Boys vibe, if you've ever seen that show, with the revenge angle. i wonder if mike could be on the sidelines of the actual death itself, maybe he only witnessed it instead of do anything directly causing it, but he's still trying to assuage his guilt so he took this kid on in the main timeline.. but over the years might have thought he's seeing doubles when he sees the kid goes in and out of time?