Chapter 28: Traumatized Jean

"Hehe, what did I say, Gwen; you weren't going to beat me." Said Pharaoh with a smirk as he stood over Gwen, who lay on the ring in exhaustion.

"Tch, shut up, will you? Your voice is getting annoying." Replied Gwen as she glared at Pharaoh, angered at losing, and Pharaoh's remarks only further annoyed her.

Chuckling, I reached down, and although Gwen was upset, she took my hand, or my glove, before I practically yanked her onto her feet, causing her to huff in annoyance. Gwen and I had fought for three rounds, five minutes each, and in the end, while there was no definite winner or judge to determine who won the spar, both Gwen and I knew I won, and that's what angered her. She wasn't necessarily angry with me, annoyed, probably, but given her competitiveness, she was more angry with herself than anything, which was both a good and bad thing.

If she were fighting against a girl, then it would be good since she would always have a chance to win in the future, but fighting against a boy, or more specifically me, was honestly a little unfair; even if she were a million times stronger, I doubt I'd even feel her punches. Not to mention, I was vastly superior in technique; I was actually a little sorry for her since she never stood a chance of winning against me.

"Since I won, I'll all buy us ice cream; how does that sound, Gwen?" Asked Pharaoh with a slight smile as he exited the ring alongside Gwen, who seemed too annoyed to respond, though she nodded.

"C'mon, Gwen, cheer up; it's only one loss; besides, you kept sticking me in the face, and they damn sure hurt." Added Pharaoh with an encouraging smile as he walked beside Gwen while the two headed toward the locker room in the back.

"Did they? Because to me, they seemed to hardly affect you." Replied Gwen with a frown as she looked at Pharaoh, who seemed completely fine, not even sweating, while she, on the other hand, was covered in sweat and bruises, though her face was spared of anything.

"Well, you know, I've always been sturdy; besides, for your information, I work out with my Dad, and you know how strong my Dad is." Said Pharaoh with a wry smile while rubbing his head, quickly shifting the topic to James lest she got skeptical of him.

"Haa, yeah; Mr. Kent is really strong." Said Gwen with a sigh, remembering watching James benching four plates like it was nothing while her father could barely do three plates.

(Note: Four plates is 405 pounds)

"Hehe, Dad's got that farmer strength." Remarked Pharaoh with a smirk as he patted Gwen back before the two separated and entered their own locker room.

Leaving Gwen, I entered the men's locker room and found Pete already switching over his clothes, though since his back was facing me, he didn't see me, which prompted me to sneak up behind him.

"Yo, Pete." Said Pharaoh with a smile as he appeared from behind Peter, freaking him and causing him to nearly scream in surprise.

"Haa, don't do that, Tut. You nearly made me scream." Said Peter as he breathed in relief while resting his hand on his pounding heart.

"Hehe, don't do what? I was just saying hi." Remarked Pharaoh with a grin, prompting Peter to stare blankly at him.

"Anyways, I see you've been taking these classes seriously, Pete; I've even started to see some definition in your muscles." Added Pharaoh as he grabbed Peter's arm and squeezed it, feeling more muscle than usual.

"Of course, Mrs. Kent is paying for me to be here; I can't just waste her hard-earned money." Replied Peter with a shake of his head as he used a rag to wipe the sweat that lined his body before putting on his previous clothes.

"I'm sure Mom will be glad to hear that; anyways, I'll be out in a minute; I still need to change." Said Pharaoh with a slight smile as he patted Peter's shoulder before heading to his locker.

Since I didn't sweat in my clothes, there was no need to wash them, at least not after every time I trained here; storing my gym clothes in the locker, I wore my other clothes and grabbed my backpack before leaving the locker room, seemingly just after Gwen had left.

"Slow." Remarked Gwen with a slight smirk as he turned and glanced at Pharaoh, who clicked his tongue and shook his head.

Ignoring her remark, Gwen, Peter, and I said farewell to Jimmy before leaving the building and waiting outside for one of our parents to come and pick us up, which happened to be my Dad; I could hear his loud ass car a few miles away.

"So, who won the fight? I wasn't really paying attention." Asked Peter curiously while looking at Gwen, who grunted in annoyance before glancing at the smirking Pharaoh.

"Never mind, that answers that question." Muttered Peter with a raised eyebrow before going silent as the three quietly waited for James to pick them up.

Thanks to the freaking traffic, it took Dad an extra ten minutes before he picked us up; though when he arrived, I noticed his expression was solemn, and I wasn't the only one who noticed it as I saw both Gwen and Pete look at me, while I shrugged my arms.

'I don't have a good feeling about this.' Mused Pharaoh as he sat in the passenger seat while Gwen and Peter sat in the back.

"Is something the matter, Mr. Kent?" Asked Gwen, sitting directly behind James as she leaned forward, her question causing his frown to deepen.

"Yeah, you seem rather bothered by something, Dad; did something happen?" Asked Pharaoh with furrowed brows, knowing James well enough that he was rarely ever bothered by something.

"Haa, an hour ago, Jean and her friend Lily were involved in an accident after leaving the mall." Stated James with an ugly expression while tightly gripping the steering wheel, his words causing all three to widen their eyes, while Pharaoh instantly expanded his hearing until it reached Queens.

"W-What the!? A-Are they okay!?" Asked Peter with a terrified expression as he looked intently at James, getting a bad feeling when he saw James's expression take on a scowl.

"Jeans, fine." Stated Pharaoh with a frown while clenching his fist, causing James to glance at him while Gwen and Peter gave him confused looks.

"Y-Yes, as Tut had guessed, Jean is fine, at least physically fine; Lily, on the other hand, was hit by a speeding car in the mall parking lot, and she died shortly after." Said James, his statement causing Peter, Gwen, and Pharaoh to be in disbelief for a few moments as they processed his words.

"W-What? L-Lily's dead?" Asked Gwen softly while looking at James, hoping he was lying, though seeing him wordlessly nod his head, tears started to stream down her face.

"H-How could she be dead? S-She was alive just a few hours ago." Said Peter, though no one bothered to answer his question, prompting him to silently look out the window while clenching his fist.

Just as Dad said, I couldn't find Lily's voice; no matter where I looked in Queens, I couldn't find her. I had even expanded my hearing further beyond New York, entering the other neighboring states, but despite the millions of new voices I heard, none belonged to Lily. I wasn't as close to Lily as Jean was, but I still considered her a friend, and the death of a friend impacted me just the same as anyone else; the only difference was that I knew how to process it better than either Gwen or Pete.

'Still, if I had kept hearing around the entirety of New York instead of just around me, I could've saved her. If I had accepted Jean's proposal, I again could've saved her.' Thought Pharaoh with a scowl, feeling self-loath at the fact that he could've prevented Lily's death.

Feeling Dad's hand atop my shoulder, I broke out from my thoughts and looked at him, only for him to gesture to the window where my hand was currently squeezing the door; sighing, I released my hand and looked back at Dad.

"What about Jean, Dad; how is she?" Asked Pharaoh in a low voice while looking out the window, hoping to distract his mind a little from the sudden information.

"As I said, she's completely fine; the only problem is, she was right there when everything happened; she saw everything. Ever since then, she's been locked in her room and has refused to speak to anyone." Replied James with a depressed frown while stopping at a red light, prompting several people to walk across the sidewalk.

Nodding to Dad, the rest of the car ride home was silent; after dropping Gwen and Pete off, we eventually returned home. Exiting the car, I glanced at Jean's house and looked right at Jean, only to find her head stuffed under a pillow as she motionlessly lay there; the only saving grace was the fact that I could hear her heartbeat.

"You should go and check up on her, even if she won't say anything." Said James with a sigh as he patted Pharaoh on the shoulder and also looked at Jean's house before entering his own.

"I will." Muttered Pharaoh with a nod as he followed behind James and entered the house.

'Haa, I'm going to take a shower; I need a second to think.' Thought Pharaoh as he wordlessly headed upstairs, not knowing he'd be meeting with two of the most influential mutant groups shortly.

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Noooo!! How could our precious Lily die!? I'm going to destroy the fucking world!!🧨🔥💥