How can I get a multi ball power-up to spread when fired off the paddle in my Arkanoid-like game?

I am working on my final power-up in an Arkanoid type game, the multi ball power-up. I Instantiate three balls at the same transform position as three separate GameObjects:

 multiOne = Instantiate(multiBall, new Vector3 (paddle.paddlePos.x, .902f), transform.rotation) as GameObject;
 multiTwo = Instantiate(multiBall2, new Vector3 (paddle.paddlePos.x, .902f), transform.rotation) as GameObject;
 multiThree = Instantiate(multiBall3, new Vector3 (paddle.paddlePos.x, .902f), transform.rotation) as GameObject;

I then set the boolean "multiActive" to true and run the start function again so that the game waits for a mouse press to fire the balls.

 if (Input.GetMouseButtonDown(0)){
         hasStarted = true;
                     
         if(gameObject.tag == "Faster"){
             this.rigidbody2D.velocity = new Vector2(2f, 15f);
         }else if(multiShoot == true){
             multiOne.rigidbody2D.velocity = new Vector2(-5f, 10f);
             multiTwo.rigidbody2D.velocity = new Vector2(0f, 10f);
             multiThree.rigidbody2D.velocity = new Vector2(5f, 10f);
         }else {
             this.rigidbody2D.velocity = new Vector2(2f, 10f);
         }
 }

The first if statement fires the faster ball at the proper velocity so that it moves quicker than the regular ball but the statement that should make the multi balls go in different directions doesn't seem to activate until the first collision. The balls actually seem to go the velocity of the regular ball (2f, 10f) and when they hit something they all disperse the way I want them to on the mouse press.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I apologize if this question is posted incorrectly, this is the first time I have posted a question here as I am quite new to Unity.

Here is more of my code as requested. I cut out the methods for the other power ups that I don't think are involved with the issue, just let me know if you want any more code posted.

   void Start () {
          hasStarted = false;
          paddleToBallVector = this.transform.position - paddle.transform.position;
      }
      
      void Update () {
          if (!hasStarted){
              // Lock the ball relative to the paddle
              this.transform.position = paddle.transform.position + paddleToBallVector;
  
              //Wait for mouse press to launch
              if (Input.GetMouseButtonDown(0)){
                  hasStarted = true;
                  
                  if(gameObject.tag == "Faster"){
                      this.rigidbody2D.velocity = new Vector2(2f, 15f);
                  }else if(multiShoot == true){
                      multiOne.rigidbody2D.velocity = new Vector2(-5f, 10f);
                      multiTwo.rigidbody2D.velocity = new Vector2(0f, 10f);
                      multiThree.rigidbody2D.velocity = new Vector2(5f, 10f);
                  }else{
                      this.rigidbody2D.velocity = new Vector2(2f, 10f);
                  }
              }
          }else {
              ballPosX = this.transform.position.x;
              posX3 = posX2;
              posX2 = posX1;
              posX1 = ballPosX;
                  
              if (posX1 == posX2 && posX2 == posX3){
                  StuckBall();
                  Debug.Log("Ball got stuck");
              }
          }
      }
      
      void OnCollisionEnter2D (Collision2D col) {
          Vector2 tweak = new Vector2(Random.Range(0f, 0.2f), Random.Range(0f, 0.2f));
          
          if (hasStarted){
              audio.Play();
              rigidbody2D.velocity += tweak;
          }
      }
      
      void StuckBall(){
              Vector2 unstick = new Vector2(1f, 0f);
              rigidbody2D.velocity += unstick;
      }
  
      public void MultiBall(){
              multiOne = Instantiate(multiBall, new Vector3 (paddle.paddlePos.x, .902f), transform.rotation) as GameObject;
              multiTwo = Instantiate(multiBall2, new Vector3 (paddle.paddlePos.x, .902f), transform.rotation) as GameObject;
              multiThree = Instantiate(multiBall3, new Vector3 (paddle.paddlePos.x, .902f), transform.rotation) as GameObject;
          
          if(powers.randomDown == 2){
              Destroy(faster);
          }else if(powers.randomDown == 3){
              Destroy(ghost);
          }else if(powers.randomDown == 4){
              Destroy(tiny);
          }else if(secondOne == false){
              ball.gameObject.SetActive(false);
          }
          
          secondOne = true;
          multiShoot = true;
          multiActive = 3;
          Start();
          Debug.Log("Multi Ball Active");
      }
      
      public void FasterBall(){
          faster = Instantiate(fasterBall, new Vector3 (paddle.paddlePos.x, .902f), transform.rotation) as GameObject;
          
          if(powers.randomUp == 2){
              Destroy(doubleHit);
          }else if(powers.randomUp == 3){
              Destroy(super);
          }else if(powers.randomUp == 4){
              //Destroy just one of the multi balls, not all three
          }else if(secondOne == false){
              ball.gameObject.SetActive(false);
          }
          
          secondOne = true;
          Start();
      }

Here is the code that calls the MultiBall method you requested.

 public void CaughtPowerUp(){
             AudioSource.PlayClipAtPoint(up, transform.position, 0.8f);
             randomUp = Random.Range(1, 6);
             if(randomUp == 1){
                 paddle.BigPaddle();
             }else if(randomUp == 2){
                 ball.DoubleHit();
             }else if(randomUp == 3){
                 ball.SuperBall();
             }else if(randomUp == 4){
                 ball.MultiBall();
             }else if(randomUp == 5){
                 gem.Barrier();
             }
     }