Before the Apocalypse incident, Hawking had planned to keep his Shadow Clone ability hidden, using it in the future to handle secret matters unknown to others.
But now, he had changed his mind.
On one hand, Apocalypse was simply too powerful. He possessed thousands of abilities and had only displayed a few so far. If Hawking did not kill him quickly, he might end up being killed by some underhanded ability later.
On the other hand, Hawking believed that after this incident, Heroes Alliance Company's status across the globe would skyrocket. When it came time to do things later, there would be no need to hide so much.
Rather than that, he might as well use this global livestream to make an example of them, display enough power for everyone to see just how strong he was and how strong the Heroes Alliance was.
That was the best possible publicity.
So now, he would do whatever looked the coolest and most badass, preferably turning most of humanity into his rabid fans.
"W-What is this?"
Both sides locked in a melee below stopped fighting and froze as they stared at the countless Hawking figures overhead.
Cloning abilities were not unheard of among mutants. There was someone in the Brotherhood who could create several hundred clones, and after being enhanced by Apocalypse, he could now create over a thousand.
However, aside from cloning, that mutant had no other abilities. His clones were merely ordinary people.
But Hawking was different. With Hawking's strength, if he suddenly created five thousand clones, how were they supposed to fight?
At that moment, even Mystique began to waver inwardly.
If there really were five thousand Hawkings, then their plan could not possibly succeed. No matter how powerful Apocalypse was, he could not defeat five thousand Hawkings.
What