1. Where it all began

"Hahaha... you're telling me... haha... you're seriously telling me you went to this Kamar-tah place only to get rejected." Leo laughed holding his stomach, doubled over with amusement at Kai's misadventures, "God! They seriously rejected you... to be a monk of all things. I have never heard a wanna-be monk be rejected!! Hahaha"

"Shut up! You're being too loud..." Kai clicked his tongue, "And it's kamar-taj, not Kamar-tah and I didn't go there to be a monk, I just wanted to explore some possibilities."

"Brother, it's New York. Do you think any of these fuckers care?" Leo stretched his legs gesturing towards the other passengers as they all snorted at him turning away, "But I am glad it didn't work out, otherwise I might've never seen you again. Do monks get holidays or days off?"

"Let it go already..."

"Okay! Okay!" Leo held his laughter in as he proceeded to take out an envelope from his jacket handing it to him, "Stop fooling around with all this internship nonsense for these rich assholes and these weird monk ideals. Get your head straight and go to college."

"What's this?" Kai opened the envelope and saw a bundle of 100 dollar bills stacked inside, he hurriedly closed it and in a whispering tone making sure no one saw him asked, "Where'd you get this?"

"Don't act like that, I earned it," Leo said not making eye contact as he focused his gaze at the children who were running around.

"Yeah, when did hanging around some thugs become so profitable?" Kai quipped, raising an eyebrow at Leo, "Don't tell me you've gotten yourself in something shady."

"It's all legit money brother, don't be such a worrywart." Leo leaned back trying to change the topic, "Use this money to get into one of the good colleges, you have a really great GPA, and your SATs are top-notch as well, so I don't think they would mind a couple of gap years."

"And don't worry if it's not enough, I'll have a steady flow of cash from now on so just get your heads in the books and don't think about anything else. Let me handle it." Leo continued, "You've always been smarter than me, so do the right thing."

"Don't make it sentimental," Kai shook his head shoving the money back to him, "Besides, I'd rather take a student loan than have you go around doing some shady shit. Quit whatever you're doing. We can move away if that's what it takes. And don't worry about money anymore."

"Oh! Did you hit a lottery or something?" Leo chuckled, shaking his head, "And it's nothing shady, I just landed a decent job as a bodyguard, this guy I used to work with recommended me to this man. He recognized my potential, as you know, I have always been stronger and better at fighting, and asked me to help protect the new boss."

"The new boss?"

"Jesus, stop worrying so much, I promise you that I am not doing anything that'll get me locked up so chill!" Leo reassured Kai, his tone laced with amusement, "Instead, tell me if you haven't hit the lottery, did you land one of those internships and got a job?"

"Nope!" Kai took out his phone and opened the UTube website showing his brother a video,

"Wait! Is that you? That's our apartment, isn't it?" With a look of surprise, Leo snatched the phone from his hand watching the video, "So you just posted this video of you playing a game?"

He turned to Kai with an are you kidding me face, "Brother! I support your hobbies and all but losing your shit at a video game and posting it online for the world to see... are you going okay? You're just 19 so it can't be a mid-life crisis... take this money and go to one of those doctors that treat you know the loonies."

"Fuck off! Just look at the amount of views I have."

"View? One two- wait is that a million- you're telling me a million people watched you losing your head? Bro- no wonder you want to move away, at this point the whole world might know that you've lost it!"

"That's not the point you idiot!" Kai took his phone away, "Listen, people like watching my videos these people you see are my fans and they are in on the joke. They love watching me lose my shit over some shitty video game and that's how I am going to earn money. The more people that watch me the more money I get, you get it. I already earned 1000 bucks and I started posting just last month."

"Once the site gets more popular, and more people begin joining in, the site will be just as big as a TV show or even movies, and with it, I'll start earning big money in no time," Kai said, "And that's not all, once I earn enough capital I can finally start investing and creating more things like I have this idea for this app for your phone...."

Being a reincarnator, Kai was more than aware of the trends and future of the world, and with sites like UTube becoming popular like in his previous life, he was confident that as long as he followed the trends of his previous life earning decent money was not going to be difficult.

After all, despite the world being different, people were still going to be the same.

In fact, to capitalize on his knowledge, he was already in touch with a few programmer buddies to create the first social media site in this world, which still hadn't been invented yet.

Kai had realized in his journey back to New York from Kathmandu, that as long as he could put his knowledge of the future to use, he could live the best life imaginable. A life without superpowers, sure, but a luxurious and comfortable life that people in his old world would kill for.

Leo stared dumbfounded at his brother's confidence as he gave him a whole list of his ideas each one sounding more absurd than the other. He couldn't help but let out a little chuckle.

"What are you laughing at?"

"It's nothing, it's just I have never seen you this confident towards something besides the whole going to be a monk thing but even then you weren't this sure of yourself," Leo said.

"Because I am 100% sure of this... and for the last time I didn't go there a be a monk..." Kai sat back, "Anyway, you should quit your job. Let me take care of you like you have done with me."

"I can't just quit like that out of the blue when I just joined in," Leo shrugged, "But hey if you manage to earn a million bucks, I'll quit my job and just mooch off of you till I grow old."

"A million? Fine... Give me two- no one year, give me one year." Kai said confidently, "I'll earn so much money, you can swim in it like Scrooge Mc-fucking-Duck."

"Deal!" Leo said as he shoved the envelope back to Kai, "Here's your capital! And after a year if you fail to earn a million bucks I want you to go to college. Got it?"

"Fine with me..." Kai said taking the envelope full of money, regardless of the fact that he didn't like his brother being involved with shady activities, he knew he couldn't just ask him to jump head first into the unknown. These things took time, but once he earned enough, he knew his brother wouldn't back out of the deal.

Kai strengthened his resolve, he was going to do his best to earn enough money so that Leo wouldn't have to depend on such jobs to take care of them.

"Have I ever said this to you before?" Leo said suddenly as Kai turned to him, "What?"

"I am extremely happy to have you as my brother. I've been thinking about this a lot lately and without you, I don't think my life really would have a purpose... and I know I don't say it but I have and always will be proud of you. So do whatever that makes you happy and if it doesn't work out, you'll always have me to lean on."

"What are you saying all of a sudden?" Kai smiled cheekily as he raised his hands to a fist, Leo followed as they fist bumped,

"Together, For each other!" The brothers laughed, both excited about their future and what was to come.

"Ahhh!" A loud scream suddenly interrupted their thoughts as the train suddenly stopped on its track. The passengers on the train began frantically looking around in panic, due to abrupt halt. 

"What's going...on..." Kai looked out the train window as he saw a red costumed figure with his cape majestically floating in the sky, his attention somewhere else entirely, but his hands directed at them.

A single gesture from the man and the train itself began floating in the air as Kai lost his balance falling down but at the very last second, Leo who was grabbing onto the metal pole caught him from falling.

"Shit! What do I do?" Kai held onto his brother as tightly as possible. Over the raging screams of the passengers he looked at his brother who mouthed words, 'It'll be okay'

*BANG!*

A moment was all it took.

"Fuck!" Kai coughed as he looked around at the complete darkness that surrounded him. Sparks of electricity flickered from the severed lines, casting eerie shadows on the twisted wreckage. The acrid smell of smoke and metal filled his nostrils, "Did we have an accident?"

Leo's laughter echoed in Kai's mind as he struggled to make sense of the darkness enveloping him. His vision was blurry, his body ached all over, and the metallic taste of blood lingered in his mouth. He attempted to push through the haze, searching for any sign of his brother.

"Leo?" he called out, his voice barely a whisper amidst the chaos.

No response.

Kai tried to move but he couldn't, one of his legs was stuck underneath a twisted mass of metal. Panic surged within him as he realized the severity of their situation. He didn't know if it was because of the adrenaline coursing through him at the moment but he couldn't feel the pain in his leg.

"Leo, are you there?" he called out again, desperation seeping into his voice.

Still, there was no answer.

"Anyone! Hello!" He screamed, the train that was filled with passengers a minute ago, was now completely dead silent.

Straining against the wreckage, Kai struggled to free himself, his heart pounding with fear. With every movement, pain shot through his body, threatening to overwhelm him. But he refused to give up, driven by the need to find his brother and ensure his safety.

As he fought against the darkness, memories flashed through Kai's mind—memories of laughter, of shared dreams, of the unbreakable bond between him and Leo. They had faced countless challenges together, but nothing had prepared them for this. A sense of paranoia crept over him.

"Leo, please, say something," Kai pleaded, his voice raw with emotion.

"Fuck!!!" He yelled out in frustration when he suddenly heard some voices. With the last bit of effort he could muster, he yelled out over and over again, "HELP! I am stuck here!"

A piercing light flashed. He could see a laser-like beam cutting through the metal. Kai's heart raced with hope as he realized that help was on the way. 

The laser cut all the way around the metal, as a blue-colored hairy beast, lifted the cut-open metal as light shined in through the hole.

Kai gulped, recognizing the man as Beast from the X-men and the person behind him who likely cut open the metal as Cyclops.

Beast came over, asking him, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, for the most part... but my legs..." Kai said with a ragged voice as exhaustion was slowly taking over him. Beast nodded as he grabbed the metal block pressing against him and lifted it up as Cyclops took the chance to drag him out.

"My brother... he's still in there... please help him..." Kai said pointing back at the train as Cyclops dragged him out to safety, "I am sure he lost his consciousness, please help...him..."

Kai's words got stuck in the back of his throat as he noticed a figure lying inside the train, his clothes matched Leo's but the man's body had disfigured to the point where it was unrecognizable.

"No- it can't be..."