Saiyan Great Ape VS Captain Marvel

"Get the hell away from me!"

Captain Marvel, who had been driven deep underground by Hawking's relentless assault in Great Ape form, finally exploded in fury.

She unleashed every ounce of energy within her, broke through Hawking's suppression in one stroke, then punched him away while pushing through the energy beam.

"Roar!"

Having been attacked, Hawking grew even more enraged, the last scraps of his reason nearly swallowed by instinct.

Energy blasts poured from his mouth toward Captain Marvel as if they cost nothing, while his massive body leaped up once again to attack her.

The two traded blows, shaking heaven and earth.

Overall, however, Captain Marvel held the upper hand. She could fly and had a much smaller body, making it easy for her to evade Hawking's attacks and difficult for him to hit her.

Hawking's body in Great Ape form was simply too large, so his movements were inevitably slower and filled with openings.

Yet Hawking's destructive power was terrifying. In Great Ape form, he seemed free of all energy restrictions. The energy cannons fired from his mouth came one after another without the slightest effort.

More importantly, he himself was incredibly tough. Although Captain Marvel's attacks hurt him badly, they could not deal a fatal blow.

Of course, it was also possible that Captain Marvel knew he was still a child and could not bring herself to strike to kill. After all, she was not as black-hearted as Nick Fury.

Most importantly, Captain Marvel also had to consider the safety of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents over there.

Although the battlefield had already moved quite far from the snowy field where they had started, Hawking's energy cannons still occasionally went astray in that direction.

If she did not intercept them, a single blast could wipe out every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent except Captain Carter.

Honestly, if Hawking had not lost almost all reason by now and simply kept firing energy cannons at Nick Fury's group, Captain Marvel would have been run ragged trying to deal with them.

"Oh, damn it, Hawking. I'll never call you Little Monkey again!"

Watching Hawking's savage Great Ape form, Wolverine led Professor X and the others in a rapid retreat toward where the X-Jet was parked.

Before setting out, Storm had told him that Hawking's abilities could erupt a second time. If things became uncontrollable, Nightcrawler was to take him over with Shunpo and cut off Hawking's tail.

At the time, he had not taken it seriously, thinking Hawking might have been making too much of it.

Only now did he understand that Hawking had not been exaggerating at all. In Great Ape form, a casual slap from him split the earth apart, while the energy cannons from his mouth were terrifyingly powerful.

Ever since Hawking transformed into a Great Ape and began fighting Captain Marvel, they had been unable to continue fighting.

The ground trembled and broke apart, and the energy cannons Hawking occasionally fired near them left enormous craters. Even the shockwaves made it hard for them to stand steadily.

If one hit the dam, it would burst, and everyone standing here would be swept away.

They could only be thankful that Stryker's base was far from the city, built among uninhabited mountains and lakes. Otherwise, this would already have become a massive disaster.

Nick Fury's group had clearly realized the same thing. No longer bothering with Professor X and the others, he cursed nonstop as he led all the agents toward where their vehicles were parked.

According to his original plan, he should have been able to take down Magneto and Professor X without paying much of a price.

He had never expected Professor X's students to include a disaster-level mutant like Hawking, someone who could transform into a Great Ape and hold Captain Marvel back.

If this destruction continued, even if he won in the end, the aftermath would be a huge headache.

The X-Jet and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Quinjet took off almost simultaneously. Neither side left, however. Instead, they circled above Captain Marvel and Hawking, observing the battle below.

If Captain Marvel won, then with her speed, the X-Jet likely would not be able to escape later if it did not flee now.

If Hawking won, then S.H.I.E.L.D.'s capture operation could only be considered half a success, and the X-Men would be able to retreat safely.

But given the current situation, Captain Marvel clearly had the advantage.

"Professor, what do we do now?"

Inside the X-Jet, Storm piloted the aircraft and looked toward Professor X.

Hawking had transformed into a Great Ape and lost his reason, and no one knew how long he could maintain that form. Whether they should wait or flee, whether they should cut off Hawking's tail to restore him to normal, or launch attacks to assist him—all of it required Professor X's decision.

"See if we can connect to their signal. I want to speak with that S.H.I.E.L.D. director."

After considering it briefly, Professor X replied to Storm.

Cutting off Hawking's tail was definitely not an option now, and he could not abandon Hawking and flee. Assisting Hawking with attacks was even less advisable, because S.H.I.E.L.D. would undoubtedly do the same.

So he wanted to see whether they could reach an agreement through negotiations. The situation was different now from before; at the very least, the two sides were evenly matched.

Under Storm's control, they quickly established a connection with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Quinjet.

"Director Fury, if this continues, both sides will only suffer. Do you truly want mutants and humans to go to war completely?

"And if this battle continues, there is no guarantee they will not reach the city. I do not think either of us wants to see the result of that."

The other side did not know that Hawking's power surge had a time limit, nor did they know Hawking's weakness. That was their advantage in negotiations.

After a moment of silence, Nick Fury replied:

"I am not trying to wage war against mutants. I only want to uncover the truth. You were the ones who refused to cooperate and let things turn out this way."

At this point, he was in a difficult position as well.

As Hawking and Captain Marvel's battle escalated, several hills in the Rocky Mountains had been blasted flat, while enormous craters covered the forests below. If they kept fighting, there was no telling how terrible the consequences would be.

But he was unwilling to simply let this go.

"How about this, Director Fury? Once we return to New York, I will bring Colonel Stryker and all the evidence to S.H.I.E.L.D. for investigation. For now, please let my students go."

Professor X offered him a way out, and Nick Fury intended to take it.

His goal was to keep the mutant threat under his own control and turn it into a force that could be used against the powerful extraterrestrial civilizations beyond Earth in the future.

He did not actually want to fight mutants to the death.

Although the current outcome was not entirely satisfactory, it was still acceptable. At the very least, they had captured Magneto, an anti-human criminal. Later, he could continue negotiating with Professor X, a mutant who was friendly toward humans.

However, just as he was about to agree to Professor X's proposal, the battlefield changed.

Hawking's body in Great Ape form suddenly shook. Then, it rapidly shrank, returning to the form of a child.

"Professor Charles, I think you should come with me to S.H.I.E.L.D. for questioning right now!"

The change on the battlefield completely tipped the situation in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s favor, and Nick Fury naturally would no longer agree to Professor X's proposal.