"Huh?" Remarked Jean in surprise as she calmed down and skeptically looked at Pharaoh, not genuinely believing his words.
"You heard me, Jean; I know exactly what it's like to have thousands of voices in my head. You're not the only one who can hear things, you know." Replied Pharaoh with a smirk as he grabbed Jean's hand and led her to a bench in the distance.
Sitting down, I patted the area right next to me, and after some hesitation, Jean sat down beside me while intently looking at me, confused at my earlier statement.
"Y-You're not lying, Pharaoh? Y-You can also hear the voices?" Asked Jean with widened eyes as she leaned closer to Pharaoh, who nodded, causing her to sigh in relief.
"So, I'm not the only one then." Muttered Jean softly while looking at the ground as Pharaoh wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"I wouldn't quite say that Jean; I think what we can hear is a little different; you can only hear voices, right?" Asked Pharaoh as he looked at Jean while rubbing her shoulder, comforting her amidst the pain.
"Y-Yes; I-It's like thousands of other people are inside my mind, and each one is trying to talk to me." Replied Jean with a frown as she grabbed her head, gritting her teeth in pain.
"I see; while our uniqueness is somewhat similar, it's also slightly different. You see, Jean, you can only hear voices while I can hear everything, all the way from our conversation to a bird flapping its wings in Manhattan; I can hear it all, not just voices." Stated Pharaoh lightly while looking at Jean, who was looking back at him with eyes full of astonishment.
"R-Really!? That's awesome! W-When did you get the ability to do that!?" Exclaimed Jean in childish glee as she looked up at Pharaoh with a slight smile, momentarily forgetting about the voices.
"Remember on the last day of school, during the prep rally? How I suddenly collapsed while grabbing my head in pain?" Questioned Pharaoh with a wry smile while Jean nodded.
"That was the day when I awakened the ability to hear everything." Added Pharaoh lightly, causing Jean to nod, only for her to look at him in confusion once more.
"If that's the case, why aren't I lying on the ground in pain?" Asked Jean curiously while Pharaoh shook his head and lightly hit the back of her head.
"Ouch." Muttered Jean with a frown while rubbing the back of her head.
"Were you paying any attention to what I just said earlier, Jean? When I gained the ability to hear everything, I didn't just hear a few thousand voices or sounds; I heard everything happening in New York. That's why I said you are lucky to only hear a few thousand voices; I was forced to experience millions of voices and tens of millions of sounds." Stated Pharaoh with a slight frown as he eyed Jean before standing up and spreading his arms, his words greatly astonishing her.
"You're already in pain from just a few thousand voices, Jean; could you imagine that being multiplied by thousands of times? Even with my powerful mind, the pain was so intense for me that for several hours, it felt like my mind was being ripped apart; I couldn't even think. Every one of my actions was subconscious; it's a miracle I actually didn't end up accidentally killing anyone." Added Pharaoh with a frown while shaking his head before looking at Jean, who seemed to be in utter disbelief as she stared at him.
Seeing her just stare at me while trying to process how painful that could be, I slightly chuckled to myself before approaching her, kneeling right in front of her and grabbing her hands.
"Enough about me, though, Jean; I've already learned to control my abilities, and now, if I so wish, I can even hear what's going on in the neighboring states. What we need to focus on is you; you've only got a few thousand voices, so I'm sure controlling it should be easy; you don't want to hear them all the time, do you?" Asked Pharaoh with a shake of his head as he shifted the topic back to Jean, who rapidly shook her, causing him to smile.
"B-But, how do I control these voices?" Said Jean, her face scrunching up in pain as she grabbed her head.
"First things first, calm down, Jean; I know the pain you're in, but you're not going to get very far with an aggravated mind." Said Pharaoh lightly while placing his hand on Jean's head, helping to soothe her as she closed her eyes and calmed her mind.
"N-Now what?" Asked Jean as she opened her eyes and looked at Pharaoh with a much calmer mind, causing him to smile.
"Focus on one person's voice, and while doing that, try to ignore all the others; if you do that, all the voices except for the one you were focusing on should disappear. At least, I think so." Stated Pharaoh softly while Jean nodded and closed her eyes, focusing entirely on a singular voice.
Several minutes passed by with me doing my best to assist Jean, but I really couldn't do much; I've only experienced this once myself, and not to mention hers seems slightly different; she can only hear voices.
"It's not working, Pharaoh! I-I can't focus; these voices keep interrupting me!" Yelled Jean in sadness and anger, causing a psychic wave to erupt from her, pushing everything back and damaging the nearby surrounding park, though Pharaoh was completely fine.
'So, she can't only hear things, noted.' Thought Pharaoh as he looked around, spotting trees ripped out of the ground lying on their side while the swing set was lying crumpled in the middle of the street.
"Calm down, Jean; it's only been a few minutes; it took me about a full day to control my hearing, so don't expect instantaneous results." Said Pharaoh softly, his voice calming Jean down as she once again closed her eyes.
This time, nearly thirty minutes had passed since her little outburst of power, which, surprisingly, had stirred no one in the neighborhood to come and check what had happened. I mean, we are a little distance away from the nearest house, but still.
'Well, I'm not complaining, but the basketball court. How am I supposed to play basketball anymore?' Thought Pharaoh with a pained look as he eyed the basketball hoops, which had been bent sideways at an almost ninety-degree angle.
While I was lamenting the destruction of the basketball court, I suddenly felt Jean move for the first time in a while, and looking back at her, I saw her smiling in relief.
"I-I did it. P-Pharaoh, I did it! I-I can't hea-" Said Jean in excitement as she stood up and jumped in joy, only to grab her head in pain once more while Pharaoh laughed in amusement.
"Congratulations, Jean, but you'll need to stay focused if you wish to constantly block out the voices, at least until you get better at it. Also, you apparently have-" Remarked Pharaoh with a grin as he reached down and picked her up, though before he could finish speaking, he suddenly snapped his head to the left while frowning.
'Is that a plane? I should not be able to hear a plane this close to the ground; don't tell me it's another 9/11.' Thought Pharaoh with a deep frown as he walked forward, leaving Jean, who was busy trying to control her telepathy again, alone.
As the plane continued to get closer, I started to hear the people inside the plane talking, and what I learned didn't really excite me, except for learning it wasn't another 9/11 attempt.
'Mutant? Omega? X-men? Professor X?' Thought Pharaoh with a deep frown while glancing behind him at Jean sitting on the bench.
"So Jean is a powerful mutant with telepathic abilities? That would make sense as to why she could only hear voices; she was subconsciously reading everyone's mind. Wonder if she read mine?" Muttered Pharaoh with a thoughtful expression as he approached Jean, sitting right beside her, waiting for the plane to arrive.
I wasn't really excited for these X-men, as they call themselves, to try and come and take Jean away, even though they all sounded like they wanted nothing but the best for her. But still, I wasn't like Jean or this Professor X; I couldn't read people's minds, and I damn sure wasn't about to easily trust someone who could read people's minds. However, since it sounded like they were rather stubborn, I figured this would be the best place to meet them; if they tried to forcefully take Jean or something along those lines, I'm confident I could easily take them out.
"The only person I'm slightly worried about is that Professor X dude; actually, never mind. Even if he can read my mind, it's useless; I'll just expand my hearing; good luck trying to read my thoughts while sorting through millions of other voices." Remarked Pharaoh lightly while closing his eyes with a slight smirk.
The plane was moving pretty fast, and in a matter of a minute, It was now hovering right above the park as it slowly lowered itself into an empty space; however, no one except me would ever notice the plan. It was invisible, and the engines were incredibly quiet.
Though shortly after they arrived, far off into the distance, I heard the arrival of another group, and surprise, surprise, it was that old man who lifted the freaking golden gate bridge earlier in the year.
"Fuck me, Jean's really a hot commodity, isn't she?" Said Pharaoh quietly while eyeing the large black bird plane.
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The X-men have finally arrived; what do y'all think is going to happen!?