Hawking, in his Goku template state, really wanted to fight Magneto, but saving people was more important than fighting, even for Goku's personality.
So, he didn't directly start a fight with Magneto to determine a winner. Instead, he used the Triple Afterimage Fist to trick Magneto, prioritizing killing Mastermind.
Once Mastermind was dead, no one could control Professor X, and all Mutants and humans would be safe.
As for Mastermind, his background was quite pitiful; he accidentally killed his mother because he couldn't control his powers and was then cruelly turned into a test subject by his father.
But it had nothing to do with him anyway; he could only say he was sorry.
He couldn't risk the lives of all humanity, including his own, Wanda's, Oleg's, and Elina's, by gambling on whether he could defeat Magneto.
"Good, very good, you are very good!"
An enraged Magneto slowly floated up, and the entire Cerebro chamber began to tremble.
If it weren't for Hawking, he could have killed all humans on Earth at once, making Mutants the Masters of this World and fulfilling his greatest wish in life.
"Eric, are you here to save me?"
Just then, Professor X's weak voice sounded.
With Mastermind dead, Professor X naturally broke free from control and regained his consciousness. He took off the Cerebro helmet, laboriously turned his wheelchair, and looked at the already floating Magneto.
Seeing this, Magneto took a deep breath and finally came back down.
"Charles, what did you see in the illusory World? Are you still fighting for justice?
Unfortunately, they didn't follow your rules and still wanted to kill all Mutants!"
Before Mastermind died, Hawking and the Mutant School people who stopped him from eliminating humanity were enemies, but now that Mastermind was dead, they were no longer enemies; at least, they shouldn't be enemies now.
It was like his relationship with Charles; both were fighting for the interests of Mutants, but their philosophies and methods were different, so they went their separate ways.
But unless it was a decisive moment, like before on Liberty Island when all government officials were transformed into Mutants, and just now when he wanted to kill all humans, they needed each other's existence before that.
So at this moment, Hawking, in his heart, became one of the important forces of Mutants again and should no longer be killed; instead, he needed to be drawn to his side as much as possible.
"Eric, people sometimes stumble and lose their way, but that doesn't mean they'll be lost forever; sometimes, they just need someone to lend a hand.
As long as we work together, we can guide humanity in a better direction!"
Facing Magneto's sarcasm, Professor X wasn't angry but still adhered to his philosophy.
"You're still so naive, Charles. Humans will only destroy us. There has never been coexistence between us, only life and death."
Magneto let out a cold snort.
Just as the two were about to enter a debate, Hawking spoke:
"How about we go find a safe place to talk?"
This Base was not safe; if the dam failed, everyone would be finished.
As for the philosophical debate between the two, Hawking wasn't interested. He wasn't a Mutant, and such matters inherently had no real right or wrong.
It completely depended on what identity you prioritized.
If you think being a Mutant is most important, even more important than your family and friends, then kill all humans.
If you think family and friends are more important, then regardless of whether someone is a Mutant, if someone wants to kill your friends and family, would you not resist just because they are Mutants?
In a World like Marvel, debating these things is actually unnecessary.
Countries and countries, races and races, skin colors and skin colors, Mutants and humans, humans and Inhumans, Earthlings and aliens—if you really want to divide them strictly, there are too many categories.
Furthermore, Earth and the Sun were both created by the Celestials, and Mutants are nothing more than products of the Celestials' genetic modification of humans; there is no such thing as noble or lowly.
"Click!"
Just then, the door to the Cerebro chamber opened, and Storm, Wolverine, Cyclops, and others rushed in.
It turned out that Colossus and Wolverine had jointly subdued Death Woman, escorted Stryker, and used a password to open the Cerebro chamber door.
And Cyclops and Death Woman, due to Mastermind's death, had their brain fluid control effects Failure and returned to normal.
"Forget it, let's go!"
Seeing this, Magneto no longer lingered, leaving a sentence and turning to leave the Cerebro chamber with Mystique. Since the plan had failed, it was time to go their separate ways.
"No, let them go."
Seeing Cyclops and Storm about to make a move, Professor X, having recovered a bit of his spirit, quickly transmitted a message to stop them.
This place was not like Liberty Island last time. If they really started fighting here, with Magneto's abilities, the entire dam would explode. Magneto could fly away, but they would be in trouble.
Moreover, learning from this lesson, his ideas were not entirely unchanged. Perhaps having Magneto outside wasn't without its benefits.
After Magneto and Mystique left, Professor X turned to Hawking:
"I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to encounter something like this as soon as you arrived, and thank you for your help."
After Storm came in, he read their memories and understood the whole story, knowing all of Hawking's contributions to protecting the School and saving Mutants and humans.
He didn't want Hawking to join the fight so early; he just wanted him to study hard and join the X-Men after graduation.
He didn't expect such an incident to happen right after enrollment, and fortunately, with Hawking's help. Otherwise, if Magneto had completed his plan, that wouldn't have been the outcome he wanted to see.
"I said I wouldn't let you regret that day's decision."
Hawking smiled.
However, Professor X's next sentence made him stop smiling.
"But I also need to say, you are not allowed to smoke or drink in School, at least not until you are an adult."
After speaking, he looked at Wolverine again:
"And you, if you give him another cigarette next time, I will definitely turn your mind into that of a six-year-old girl, and then have Jean braid your hair into pretty pigtails."
Hearing Professor X's warning, the others immediately burst into laughter.
Finally, after a somewhat guilty glance at the deceased Mastermind, Professor X led everyone out of the Cerebro chamber.
Mastermind was once his student, but even he couldn't make every student perfectly control their abilities.
Meanwhile, outside the Base.
As Magneto and Mystique stepped out of the spillway, an arrow flew towards his head.
"Who?"
He used his ability to stop the arrow, but before he could observe, the arrow's head suddenly exploded, shaking his entire body back several steps. He only regained his footing with the quick-reacting Mystique supporting him.