Marvel: Randomly Load a Protagonist Template - Chapter 103
Before the grand event of Apocalypse’s arrival, Hawking had planned to keep his Shadow Clone technique a secret, using it for covert operations in the future.
However, he changed his mind now.
One reason was that Apocalypse’s power was overwhelming. Apocalypse possessed thousands of abilities and had only displayed a few so far. If Hawking didn’t kill him quickly, he could be caught off guard by one of Apocalypse’s many powers.
Another reason was that Hawking believed this event would propel Hero League International to unprecedented global prominence, so there would be no need to hide his abilities as much in the future.
Instead, he decided to use the global broadcast to showcase his power, demonstrating the strength of Hero League International.
This way, he could achieve the best promotional effect.
So now, he intended to show off, to be as impressive as possible, aiming to turn a large part of humanity into his ardent fans.
“What’s happening?”
Both sides in the battle below stopped fighting, staring in shock at the countless Hawking clones in the sky.
The ability to create clones wasn’t unheard of among mutants. The Brotherhood had a mutant who could create hundreds of clones, and after being enhanced by Apocalypse, he could produce thousands.
However, this mutant had no other abilities; his clones were just ordinary people.
But Hawking was different. Given his strength, creating five thousand clones made the situation look impossible to win.
At this moment, even Mystique felt shaken.
If there really were five thousand Hawking clones, their plan was doomed. No matter how powerful Apocalypse was, he couldn’t defeat five thousand Hawking clones.
In that case, they wouldn’t be facing a weakened Hawking after battling Apocalypse but several thousand fully-powered Hawkings. Even Magneto and the entire Brotherhood wouldn’t stand a chance.
“Maybe they’re just illusions, not real!”
Mystique thought to herself.
Meanwhile, Magneto, who was floating in the air and manipulating the Earth’s magnetic field, also felt a chill seeing the myriad Hawking clones in the sky. His thoughts were similar to Mystique’s.
As for the viewers watching the live broadcast, reactions varied. Ordinary people saw hope for victory and survival in Hawking. But those with plans against Hero League International were worried.
“Avada Kedavra!”
Five thousand green lights simultaneously shot towards the Apocalypse.
A closer look would reveal one particularly vibrant green among the others, which were just pale green.
Over the years, Hawking had continuously studied and practiced magic, including attempting wandless casting.
Now, he could barely manage it, but spells cast without a wand were far less powerful than those cast with one, which served as both a stabilizer and an amplifier.
His clones didn’t have wands, so their Killing Curses were much weaker than the one he cast with the Elder Wand and the Adamantium staff.
Still, even weakened, five thousand spells hitting at once would surely kill Apocalypse.
Seeing the barrage of green light aimed at him, the always-arrogant Apocalypse narrowed his eyes.
His strong mental instincts told him that being hit by so many soul-damaging spells would mean instant death.
But with so many attacks surrounding him, even his super reflexes couldn’t help him evade them all.
Fortunately, he had many abilities and quickly thought of a counter.
A spatial wormhole appeared behind him, and he stepped back, disappearing and causing all the Killing Curses to miss.
“I almost forgot he can open wormholes. This complicates things!”
Seeing Apocalypse vanish, Hawking’s expression changed.
Spatial abilities were a headache because if the opponent wanted to escape, he currently had no way to stop them.
He hadn’t yet learned Goku’s Instant Transmission, which would allow him to lock onto and follow an opponent’s energy.
Nor could he create the anti-apparition wards like those at Hogwarts. Perhaps Voldemort’s Horcrux held that knowledge, but he hadn’t dealt with that yet.
“How dare you hurt me? I will kill you!”
Reappearing at the top of the pyramid, Apocalypse roared in anger, his eyes turning white as he unleashed his full sand control power.
Instantly, millions of tons of the pyramid disintegrated into the sand, forming a massive storm that swept towards the five thousand Hawking clones.
“Is this Gaara’s Sand Burial?”
Seeing the vast sandstorm, Hawking immediately thought of Gaara’s jutsu.
But Apocalypse’s scale was tens of times larger.
The weakness of Shadow Clones was their lack of defense. This sandstorm could make them all disappear instantly.
While the Killing Curse could bypass most energy defenses, it could be blocked physically, making it useless against the sandstorm.
“We’re retreating!”
Seeing the battle escalate beyond their level, Mystique led the Brotherhood mutants to retreat towards Magneto.
They had stayed to avoid suspicion from Apocalypse, but now it was time to withdraw to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
Storm and the others saw Mystique retreat and gathered, intending to use their abilities to help Hawking.
“Don’t worry about me. Go after Mystique and disrupt Magneto’s actions. We can’t let him fully control Earth’s magnetic field. I can handle Apocalypse!”
Seeing the situation below, Hawking quickly instructed Storm and the others.
He suspected that Magneto, not Apocalypse, was the mastermind behind this incident.
So, the priority was to stop Magneto from controlling the magnetic field. Otherwise, Earth’s civilization would be destroyed before he could defeat the Apocalypse.
Hearing Hawking’s instructions, Storm and the others gritted their teeth and quickly pursued Mystique.
“A bit of flying sand? Let me handle that!”
Five thousand clones simultaneously took the Kamehameha stance:
“Kamehameha!”
Five thousand energy waves lit up Cairo, breaking through the sandstorm and converging on Apocalypse.
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