Standing behind Professor X, Jean and I watched him pressing several buttons, turning dials, and flipping a few switches before he grabbed the helmet that had numerous wires jutting out from it and wore it on his head.
"So, um, should we be quiet or what? Don't want my voice to cause you to make a mistake, and now you accidentally destroyed someone's mind." Asked Pharaoh quietly as he looked at Professor X, who had his eyes closed as he adjusted to Cerebo's power.
Professor X didn't immediately respond, so I just gave Jean a look, curious to see if she'd know any better, as she was the only other telepath I knew, but she simply shrugged her arms and gestured for me to be quiet, which I did. After a few moments of stillness and only the sound of Cerebo's humming, Professor X finally reacted as he raised his hand slightly.
"You're fine, Pharaoh; I've used Cerebo plenty of times before; I just needed to adjust to the power." Replied Professor X quietly as he expanded his mind to cover all of the world slowly, looking for mutants in need of the X-Men.
"If you say so, just know if you happen to destroy someone's mind, it's on you." Said Pharaoh lightly with a nod, causing Professor X to chuckle quietly in amusement while Jean slapped on the shoulder and gave him a stare.
"You said Cerebo enhances your powers and allows you to find mutants, so how powerful exactly does this make you, Professor?" Asked Jean softly as she looked at Professor X's concentrated expression, which constantly morphed between various others.
"I'm betting he can read the mind of everything that's happening in the United States; go big or go home, that's my motto." Said Pharaoh lightly with a confident smile, though Jean ignored him.
"You're close, Pharaoh; I can, in fact, connect to the mind of everyone on this planet. There are only a select few I'm avoiding, and those people include both you and Jean." Replied Professor X with a nod while speaking with a pair of mutant twins, astonishing both Jean and Pharaoh.
"The entire world!? There are, like, 7,000,0000,000 alive, and you're telling me you're capable of connecting to every single one of their minds and sorting through the billions upon billions of chaotic thoughts?" Exclaimed Pharaoh in absolute shock as he looked at Professor X, who suddenly frowned and sighed before leaving the twins alone.
"Yes, when Beast and I constructed it, even the two of us were astonished by its capabilities as we had only expected for me to connect to the mind of everyone in the United States, but we had greatly underestimated its power; now, despite using my telepathic abilities covering the entire globe, there is still some room to spare." Remarked Professor X with a nod as he continued searching for mutants, a tedious but necessary process.
"That's incredible, Professor! I can't even properly use my powers, yet you can find mutants in need across the entire globe!" Said Jean happily despite her astonishment as she glanced at Professor, who chuckled at her words.
"Do not fret, Jean; I'm an old man who awakened his telepath abilities around the same age as you; I've had decades to hone and master my powers. However, unlike me, who's long since reached a plateau, you have infinite potential; that's what it means to be an Omega-level mutant, not just the raw power at your disposal but the seemingly limitless potential that comes with it." Declared Professor X confidently with a smile, once again slightly surprising both Jean and Pharaoh.
"Eh, even if that's true, Professor, it'll still take me a long time to reach your level, let alone surpass it." Replied Jean lightly, in a slightly depressed mood as he hung her head to the ground.
"You're so wrong, Jean; when I was mastering and honing my abilities, I had no one there to help me or guide me; everything I learned was through my many hours of practice that, 90% of the time, resulted in failure. I can confidently say, with my guidance, you'll have long since surpassed me before you turn 30; I wouldn't even put it past you to have surpassed me even when enhanced by Cerebo." Stated Professor X with a slight shake of his head, improving Jean's mood, though not by much, since to her, eighteen years was still a long time to go.
"Professor, with regards to an Omega-level mutant, they must have a cap to their powers, right? Having infinite potential just seems far too good to be true, even if you take into account how rare they are." Asked Pharaoh curiously as he glanced at Jean before looking at Professor X.
"I can't answer that question, Pharaoh; I only know of a few Omega-level mutants, Magneto, Storm, and Bobby being three of them, and to this day, despite being old, Magento's power still grows. So maybe there is a limit to their power, but the ceiling must be so unbelievably high that no Omega mutant will ever reach it or even begin to see it." Replied Professor X calmly as he carefully took off the helmet before setting it on the control panel, followed by him shutting Cerebo off.
"Was your search fruitful?" Asked Pharaoh with a raised eyebrow as he and Jean stood near the edge of the long walkway, allowing Professor X to pass them.
"Not as good as I would've hoped for, but I suppose that in itself is good." Said Professor X with a slight shake of his head as he exited Cerebo, followed by Jean Pharaoh.
Leaving Cerebo, we continued heading straight, walking through the initial hallway we used to get down here before taking the hallway on its right. At the end of the hallway, there was the same silver circular door, which, unlike the door to Cerebo, opened immediately once we got close, and inside, we came across a few people I'd never seen before standing at a large control desk while looking out through various windows.
"Damn, she's really going at it, huh?" Remarked Pharaoh with a whistle as he looked downward to his left, looking through the walls and watching Storm or Ms. Munroe fighting against holographic opponents in a large room.
"Welcome to the Danger Room, Pharaoh and Jean; this highly advanced technology we actually managed to acquire from an alien friend of ours." Said Professor X with a slight smile as he approached one of the windows and oversaw Munroe's training.
"Eh, aliens? Aliens actually exist!?" Exclaimed Jean loudly in surprise as she looked at Professor X, causing the people from before to give her weird glances before shrugging their shoulders.
"Yes, our Alien friend is a part of the Shi'ar Galactic Empire; I would give you more information, but I really don't know more than that. Anyways, the Danger room is the place where all the X-Men train to hone their abilities by simulating almost real-life combat without the need to put oneself in harm's way. For more details, ask some of the X-Men, as they use the Danger room much more than I do; I'm no fighter, after all." Replied Professor X with a nod as he looked between Pharaoh and Jean before gesturing to the few people standing to their left.
Looking out the window, we watched as Ms. Munroe fought against a variety of opponents ranging from animals, such as bears' alligators, elephants, and even dinosaurs, all the way to robots; however, compared to what you'd normally imagine, everything looked several times more terrifying, not to mention many times stronger. While watching Ms. Munroe obliterate hordes of monstrous animals and murderous robots, I honestly was incredibly impressed by the power she was demonstrating, as it was far more than I anticipated.
'I mean, I still believe I'd win in a fight against her, but my goodness, she's no joke; I'm willing to bet she probably could've dealt with Brotherhood of Mutants, minus Magneto and White Queen by herself. That's if she disregarded the extensive damages she would've done to my neighborhood.' Thought Pharaoh with a raised eyebrow as he observed Munroe for several more minutes before she eventually succumbed to the seemingly endless horde that continued to get stronger with each passing second.
"43 minutes and 12 seconds, you've beaten your record again, Ororo; if you keep this up, no one will ever manage to come close to your record, let alone beat it." Said one of the people through the intercom, causing the exhausted Ororo to nod with a smile.
"Record?" Remarked Pharaoh with a raised eyebrow as he looked at the people to his left, who glanced at him before pointing to the back of the room.
"Yes, there is a record board for the horde-style combat training, and currently, Ororo has the highest record by far." Said a man wearing normal glasses as he pointed to a vertical screen.
Nodding at the man, I approached the screen, and after a quick look, I was again surprised by how massive the gap was between Ms. Munroe and second place.
'Second place is more than 15 minutes behind!' Mused Pharaoh as he observed the screen, which displayed the top ten highest records, before he suddenly smirked.
Chuckling to myself, I looked at the control panel while approaching Professor X.
"So, Professor, want to let me have a go in the Danger room?" Asked Pharaoh with a slight smile as he gave Professor X a massage on his shoulders.
"That feels rather nice, and, no, I don't mind, Pharaoh." Said Professor X with a satisfied expression before nodding, causing Pharaoh to freeze slightly in surprise.
'Eh, that easy?' Thought Pharaoh as he looked down at Professor X.
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It looks like Pharaoh is about to experience the power of the Danger Room; will he finally be given a challenge, or will his strength precede to still be too much? (Ps. I've been running low on stones, and you know how I get when I don't have my stones! I-I need them!)