"Get lost!"
Captain Marvel, who had been pummeled by Hawking's Saiyan Great Ape form and driven deep into the ground, finally erupted in fury.
She unleashed all the energy within her, breaking through Hawking's suppression and, despite the energy beam, punched Hawking away.
"Roar!"
Under attack, Hawking grew even more enraged, with even his remaining sliver of sanity being overshadowed by instinct.
Energy waves from his mouth shot towards Captain Marvel without restraint, and his body leaped up again to attack her.
The two went back and forth, fighting with Earth-shattering intensity.
However, overall, Captain Marvel had the upper hand because she could fly and her body was small, making it easy for her to dodge Hawking's attacks and not get hit easily.
Hawking's body, after transforming into a Saiyan Great Ape, was too large, making his movements inevitably slower, with many openings in his attacks.
But Hawking's destructive power was terrifying; in his Saiyan Great Ape form, he seemed to have no energy limits, firing energy cannons from his mouth one after another without effort.
Crucially, he himself was thick-skinned and tough; while Captain Marvel's attacks hurt him badly, they couldn't be fatal.
Of course, it's also possible that Captain Marvel knew he was still a child and couldn't bring herself to kill him, as she wasn't as devious as Nick Fury.
The most important point was that Captain Marvel also had to consider the safety of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the others over there.
Although their current battle location was now quite a distance from the initial snowy area, Hawking's energy cannons would occasionally accidentally shoot towards them.
If she didn't block them, one shot could directly GG all S.H.I.E.L.D. members except for Captain Carter.
To be honest, if Hawking hadn't almost completely lost his mind at this moment, just aiming energy cannons at Nick Fury and his team would have been enough to keep Captain Marvel busy.
"Oh, damn it, Hawking, I'll never call you Xiao Houzi again!"
Seeing the brutal Hawking in his Saiyan Great Ape form, Wolverine, along with Professor X and others, quickly retreated towards where the X-Jet was parked.
Before they set off, he had heard Storm mention Hawking's ability for a secondary burst of power; if it reached an uncontrollable point, Nightcrawler was to teleport him to cut off Hawking's tail.
At the time, he actually didn't take it seriously, thinking Hawking might be making a mountain out of a molehill.
Now he understood it wasn't an exaggeration at all; this Hawking in Saiyan Great Ape form could cause the Earth to crack with a casual slap, and the energy cannons fired from his mouth were terrifyingly powerful.
Ever since Hawking transformed into a Saiyan Great Ape and started fighting Captain Marvel, they could no longer continue their own battle.
The ground was shaking and crumbling, and the energy cannons Hawking occasionally fired near them created massive craters, with even the shockwaves making it impossible for them to stand steadily.
If one were to hit the dam, and the dam burst, everyone standing there would be swept away.
It could only be said that it was fortunate Stryker's Base was very far from the city, built on uninhabited mountains and lakes; otherwise, it would be a major disaster now.
Nick Fury on the other side clearly realized this as well, no longer bothering with Professor X and the others, cursing all the while as he led all the Agents to their vehicle's parking spot.
Originally, according to his plan, he could have taken down Magneto and Professor X with little cost.
But he never expected that among Professor X's students, there was such a disaster-level Mutant as Hawking, who could transform into a Saiyan Great Ape and hold back Captain Marvel.
If this destruction continued, even if they won in the end, he would face a lot of trouble afterward.
The X-Jet and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Quinjet took off almost simultaneously, but they didn't leave; instead, they hovered above Captain Marvel and Hawking, observing the battle below.
If Captain Marvel won, given her speed, if the X-Jet didn't escape now, it probably wouldn't be able to later.
If Hawking won, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s capture operation would only be half successful, and the X-Men could retreat smoothly.
However, in the current situation, Captain Marvel clearly had the upper hand.
"Professor, what do we do now?"
Inside the X-Jet, Storm piloted the jet, looking at Professor X.
Hawking was now a Saiyan Great Ape who had lost his mind, and it was unknown how long he could maintain that form; whether they should wait or flee, whether to cut off Hawking's tail to restore him to normal, or launch an attack to assist Hawking in battle—all these decisions rested with Professor X.
"See if you can connect to their signal. I need to talk to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Director."
Professor X pondered for a moment before replying to Storm.
Cutting off Hawking's tail now was definitely not an option; abandoning Hawking and fleeing was something he couldn't do; and assisting in the attack was even less advisable, because S.H.I.E.L.D. would certainly do the same.
So he wanted to try if they could reach an agreement through negotiation; the situation now was different from before, at least it was a stalemate.
Under Storm's control, a signal was quickly established with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Quinjet opposite them.
"Director Fury, continuing this fight will only lead to mutual destruction. Do you really want a full-scale war between Mutants and humans?
Moreover, if the battle continues like this, it's hard to guarantee they won't reach the city. The outcome then, I believe neither of us wishes to see."
The other side didn't know about the time limit of Hawking's power burst, nor his weakness; this was their advantage in negotiation.
On the other side, Nick Fury replied after a moment of silence:
"I am not trying to start a war with Mutants; I just want to understand the truth of the matter. It's your lack of cooperation that led to this."
At this point, he was also in a difficult position.
As the battle between Hawking and Captain Marvel escalated, several small hilltops in the Loki Mountains had been flattened, and the forests on the ground were filled with huge craters. If the fight continued, he truly didn't know how disastrous the consequences would be.
But to stop now, he was unwilling.
"How about this, Director Fury, upon returning to New York, I will bring Colonel Stryker and all the evidence to your S.H.I.E.L.D. for investigation. For now, please spare my students."
Professor X offered a way out, and Nick Fury also intended to take it.
His goal was to control the threat of Mutants and turn them into his own strength to deal with powerful alien civilizations outside Earth in the future.
He didn't genuinely want to fight the Mutants to the death.
Although the current outcome wasn't entirely satisfactory, it was acceptable; at least Magneto, who was anti-human, had been captured, and they could slowly continue talks with Professor X, a Mutant who was friendly to humans, later on.
However, just as he was about to agree to Professor X's proposal, the battlefield changed.
Hawking, in his Saiyan Great Ape form, suddenly shuddered, then began to rapidly shrink, returning to his child-like appearance.
"Professor Charles, I think it would be better if you all came with me to S.H.I.E.L.D. for investigation now!"
The change on the battlefield completely shifted the situation in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s favor, and Nick Fury naturally would no longer agree to Professor X's proposal.