It was around te m. I was sitting in one of the study rooms, waiting for Professor Xavier to arrive. Despite his duties as headmaster and the ongois, he agreed to help me push my telepathy further boosted with the Phoenix Force.

  The Professor walked in, his strides steady and fident. His sharp blue eyes carried a glimmer of amusement as he noticed my raised brows.

  "You look surprised, Aron," he remarked, settling into a chair opposite me.

  "Well, you are doier than I expected," I replied, leaning ba my chair. "Speaking of which, I thought you'd be busy with the annou and all the paperwork."

  A small smile pyed on his lips. "Let's just say I have a capable team to ha. Besides, how could I refuse someone whht me bay feet?"

  If I were to guess, Hank and Blink are probably grumbling about being buried under his deskwht now. I smirked, but I kept that thought to myself.

  "Alright, Professor. Let's get started," I said, sitting up. "I've been w on expanding my telepathige and precision. With the Phoenix Forhang me, I feel like there's so mutapped potential, but I want to learn how to trol it better."

  Xavier houghtfully, his fingers steepled. "Telepathy, especially when augmented by something as votile as the Phoenix Force, is both a gift and a great responsibility. Recklessness could lead to catastrophisequences. Let's begin by testing the limits of your current abilities. We'll start simple. Let's start from the basics..."

  He gestured for me to focus. "Reach out to my mind, Aron. I will not resist. Search for a thought, but remember—precision is key."

  Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath a my sciousness expand. The world around me faded as I tuned into the rhythmic hum of the Professor's mind. His thoughts were like a vast library, eae ly cataloged and shielded, yet accessible. I sifted through them carefully, bypassing memories and mundane musings until I found a ret thought.

  "The team breakfast could use an upgrade. Perhaps Hank would be willing to attempt soufflés."

  My lips twitched in amusement. Opening my eyes, I met his gaze. "Soufflés? That's ambitious for Hank."

  Xavier chuckled softly. "Indeed. But you were precise—an encing start. Now, let's test ye. Extend your sciousness beyond this room. you find Logan? He's likely prowling the grounds."

  Expanding my mental field was easy. With the Phoenix Force as a crutch, my awareness spilled out of the room like a wave, washing over the mansion and its grounds. It was so different from the regur telepathy. I found Logahe garage, tinkering with his motorcycle. His mind was closed off, guarded as always, but his surface thoughts were loud enough.

  "Why the hell did Chuck dump his papers on Hank again? Guy deserves a break. Might take the bike for a spin ter—maybe grab a beer. Gotta keep a for Jubilee. Kid, keep bsting my bike too much. I might go broke at this rate. Sigh!"

  I smirked. "Logan's busy grumbling about Hank's workload and Jubilee. Ahinking about sneaking off for a beer."

  The Professor raised an eyebrow, clearly impressed. "Very good. Your telepathic reach is exceptional. But let's push further. Beyond the mansion. Focus oown nearby."

  I nodded, closing my eyes again. This time, I reached outward, imagining my mind as a ripple extending into the world. The nearby town buzzed with activity, its collective thoughts blending into a cacophony of voices. It was overwhelming at first, but I began to filter them, honing in on individual minds. A barista worried about their tte art. A jogger pushing themselves to finish their route. A child marveling at the dy aisle in a supermarket.

  "I hear them," I murmured, "but it's noisy. Hard to focus on just one." Fuck! Too muoise. It felt as if my head was about to burst open.

  Xavier's voice was calm and steady. "Filter the noise, Aron. Focus only on what you need. It's like tuning a radio—find the frequency you desire."

  I adjusted my mental focus, narrowing it until I tched onto a man at a coffee shop. He was staring at his phone, scrolling through news articles about the test hero-vilin skirmish in New York.

  "Anht iy. When will they stop wreg everything?"

  I reyed his thoughts to Xavier, who nodded approvingly. "Impressive. You're adapting quickly. But there's one final test. Extend your reach globally. Find a mind far from here, one you've never entered before. With the boost from the Phoenix Force, it should be possible."

  Globally? That was ambitious. I closed my eyes, my breathing steady as I poured more energy into expanding my sciousness. The Phoenix Force surged within me, amplifying my reach. I felt myself s past os, tis, into cities I'd never seen. The vastness of the world was dizzying, but I didn't let it deter me. It was like tless images flying past me at a blinding speed. I 't lose my foow.

  I zeroed in on a bustling marketp India. A vendor's thoughts caught my attention—he was haggling with a er over spices.

  "If she thinks I'll lower the priy further, she's mistaken. My cardamom is worth every rupee."

  I chuckled softly, opening my eyes. "Found someone in India. A spice vendor holding firm during a iation."

  Xavier's expression was one of aride. "Remarkable, Aron. How does it feel? Your telepathige is almost unfathomable."

  "It's hard to expin. I feel like I sense everything around me, but also nothing. Like I'm ected to everyoill alone," I replied as I tio s the p. I could tell the differeween a human and a mutant. Fuck! I'm a freaking walking cerebro. "Sorry. That probably doesn't make sense."

  "o apologize," he said gently. "I uand what you mean. It's the burden and wonder of our powers. Sometimes they're difficult to describe, even for those who wield them."

  I let out a breath, my mind still buzzing with the sheer scale of what I'd just done. Professor Xavier watched me with calm patience as I steadied myself. But my curiosity was already spiraling into something more. Could I go deeper? Could I look into pces that were supposed to be beyond reach?

  "Professor," I began, "I'd like to push further. There's something I want to try."

  His expression turned cautious, but he didn't disce me. "Be careful, Aron. The Phoenix Force may make you feel invincible, but overreach have sequences."

  I nodded, fog again. This time, my aim wasn't random. I wanted answers. Answers hidden from the world and the reason Fury decided to assemble the Avengers and X-Men together. My thoughts drifted toward S.H.I.E.L.D. and its elusive director, Nick Fury. Surely, if there were secrets worth unc, they'd be there.

  As I extended my sciousness, I felt the faint hum of power dampeners—a work of nullifiers meant to block telepaths like me. Ordinarily, it would've been impossible to breach, but with the Phoenix Force fuelihe resistance barely slowed me down. My mind slipped through the cracks, brushing against the presence of Fury himself.

  The chaos of his thoughts hit me like a storm—strategies, tingencies, as piled upos. I sifted carefully, searg for something crete. And then I found it.

  An alien signal...

  Fury's mind repyed the se like a vivid memory. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s monit systems had picked up a strange signal from deep space. It was unlike anything they'd entered before. For a brief moment, their sensors caught a glimpse of a spacecraft. The image was grainy, but unmistakable—a sleek, dark vessel with glowing ruched into its surface. And then, as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished.

  The implications of what I saw hit me like a freight train. Aliens? A spaceship? Fury's thoughts raced with possibilities: Was it hostile? Was it us? Or worse, was it preparing for something?

  But there was more. My focus shifted to a heated argumeween Fury and another presen the room—Bolivar Trask.

  Yup! Trask, that bastard...

  Fury's frustration burhrough his thoughts. He wanted coexistence, pushing for ways to proteutants and humans. But Trask was relentless, advog for the eradication of mutairely. His mind was filled with cold calcutions, his thoughts ced with hatred and fear. I caught glimpses of Sentinel prototypes, schematics desiget mutants with terrifying efficy.

  'Trask is a problem,' Fury's mind echoed. 'But cutting him loose isn't an option. Not yet. The cil's bag him. Sigh! General Ross is swaying the gover and now this.'

  That bastard. I should just kill Trask. I wao rip Trask's mind apart and show him what it felt like to be hunted. Wait! What about endless nightmares or should I turn him into a maniac? But before I could delve further, a sharp pain sliced through my head.

  "Ah—!" I gasped, clutg my temples.

  The e snapped violently, like a door smmed shut in my face. My vision blurred as a blinding headache ed me. And then, everythi bck.

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