Infinite Shadow Clones Mastery! Chapter 6: The Need For Strength.

Chapter 6: The Need For Strength.

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Ray sat on his couch, the TV playing *Amor en Llamas* in the background, but his mind was far from the dramatic twists of Rosalinda’s love life. His thoughts were a tangled mess, replaying the bank robbery and hostage situation over and over. The Chill Clone’s words echoed in his head: *“You need to learn how to fight. You can’t always rely on swarming the enemy.”*

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. The Chill Clone had been right. Without his clones, he would’ve been dead. Sure, he’d gotten lucky this time, but luck wasn’t a strategy. If he was going to survive in the Marvel universe—let alone thrive—he needed to get stronger. And not just stronger in the “throw more clones at the problem” kind of way. He needed real power.

“Alright,” he muttered, sitting up. “Time to get serious.”

He created seven clones, each one embodying a specific trait of his personality. There was the Lazy Clone (who immediately flopped onto the couch), the Overthinker Clone (who started pacing and muttering to himself), the Chill Clone (who grabbed a bag of chips and leaned against the wall), the Ambitious Clone (who stood with his hands on his hips, ready to take charge), the Sarcastic Clone (who rolled his eyes at everything), the Paranoid Clone (who kept checking the windows for threats), and the Creative Clone (who started doodling on a notepad).

“Welcome to the first meeting of the ‘How to Get Stronger Without Actually Doing Anything’ committee,” Ray announced. “Let’s brainstorm. Go.”

The room erupted into chaos.

---

The Lazy Clone was the first to speak. “Why don’t we just send a clone to steal Tony Stark’s suit? Boom. Instant power.”

The Overthinker Clone shook his head. “No, no, no. That’s too risky. Stark’s suits are probably booby-trapped. We need something safer. Like… radiation. Controlled radiation exposure could give us powers.”

The Sarcastic Clone snorted. “Oh, sure. Because getting cancer is such a great plan.”

The Ambitious Clone stepped forward. “Forget radiation. We need to think bigger. What about the Infinity Stones? If we can get even one of them, we’d be unstoppable.”

The Paranoid Clone gasped. “Are you insane? The Infinity Stones are guarded by the most dangerous beings in the universe. We’d be dead before we even got close.”

The Creative Clone, who had been quietly doodling, suddenly held up his notepad. “What if we build our own suit? Like, a clone-powered mech suit. We could call it the Ray-Bot.”

The Chill Clone took a chip from the bag. “Or we could just chill and let the clones handle everything. Why risk the real us?”

Ray groaned, rubbing his temples. “This is a disaster. Can we focus, please? I need actual, actionable ideas. Not… whatever this is.”

The Chill Clone raised a hand, interrupting the chaos. “Hold up. Before we get too carried away, there’s a big problem with most of these ideas.”

Everyone turned to look at him.

“What problem?” Ray asked.

The Chill Clone shrugged. “When clones dissolve, they only pass on their memories to you, not their physical traits. So even if a clone gets bitten by a radioactive spider or bathes in cosmic rays, you won’t get their powers. You’ll just remember what it felt like to have them.”

The room fell silent.

“Well, that’s a buzzkill,” the Sarcastic Clone muttered.

The Creative Clone snapped his fingers. “Wait a minute. What if we don’t dissolve the clones? What if we reabsorb them instead? Like, physically merge them back into you? If we can do that, maybe you’ll retain their physical traits.”

Ray frowned. “Is that even possible?”

“Only one way to find out,” the Creative Clone said, grabbing a pen from the table. He handed it to another clone. “Prick your finger.”

The clone hesitated, then jabbed the pen into its finger. A drop of blood welled up.

“Alright, Ray,” the Creative Clone said. “Reabsorb it.”

Ray took a deep breath and focused. Instead of dissolving the clone into smoke, he willed it to merge back into him. The clone stepped forward, its body glowing faintly as it dissolved into Ray’s own.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then Ray felt a sharp pain in his finger. He looked down to see a drop of blood forming where the clone had pricked itself.

“It worked,” he said, his voice filled with awe. “I got the injury. That means I can reabsorb physical traits too.”

The room erupted into cheers.

---

With this breakthrough, the committee revised their list of methods to get stronger. Ray read it aloud:

1. Cosmic Ray Exposure: Send a clone to join the Fantastic Four on their mission to space. The clone will bathe in the same cosmic cloud and gain powers. Then, reabsorb the clone to transfer the powers to the real Ray.

2. Spider Bite: Get a clone bitten by the same spider that gave Spider-Man his powers. Reabsorb the clone to gain spider-like abilities.

3. SHIELD Training: Send a clone to train with SHIELD to become a master spy. Reabsorb the clone to gain combat and espionage skills.

4. Vibranium Infusion: Infuse a clone with vibranium, the metal used in Captain America’s shield and Black Panther’s suit. Reabsorb the clone to gain vibranium-enhanced durability.

5. Magic Training: Send a clone to study under Doctor Strange or another sorcerer. Reabsorb the clone to gain magical knowledge and abilities.

6. Gamma Radiation: Expose a clone to gamma radiation to replicate the Hulk’s transformation. Reabsorb the clone to gain Hulk-like strength (without the anger issues, hopefully).

7. Mutant Gene Activation: Find a way to activate the X-Gene in a clone, turning them into a mutant. Reabsorb the clone to gain mutant powers.

8. Alien Symbiote: Acquire an alien symbiote like Venom and bond it to a clone. Reabsorb the clone to gain the symbiote’s abilities.

9. Asgardian Training: Send a clone to Asgard to train with Thor or other Asgardian warriors. Maybe some Loki magic? Reabsorb the clone to gain Asgardian strength and combat skills. Maybe become a God?

10. Martial Arts Mastery: Send a clone to Kunlun, the Hand, or other martial arts masters to learn advanced combat techniques. Reabsorb the clone to gain mastery of martial arts.

Ray stared at the list, his head spinning. Most of these methods were dangerous, and one—the gamma radiation plan—required his real body to undergo a mutating procedure. The thought made him groan.

“I’m a couch potato,” he muttered. “I don’t do ‘mutating procedures.’”

The Creative Clone raised his hand. “What if we build a couch that can double as a lab, armor, or even a throne? That way, you can stay comfortable while we handle the dangerous stuff.”

Ray blinked. “That’s… actually not a bad idea. Alright, new task: a hundred clones are assigned to learn dimensional physics and build the ultimate couch. The rest of you—” he pointed to the ten clones he’d just created, “—are in charge of executing the list. Use as many clones as you need. Just don’t get us killed.”

He handed out the money he’d taken from the bank robbers, dividing it among the clones for expenses. By the time he was done, he was almost broke again.

“Good luck,” he said as the clones left. “And remember: if you die, don’t come crying to me.”

---

With the clones gone, Ray finally turned his attention back to *Amor en Llamas*. Rosalinda was forgiving her fiancé for the 48th time, and Ray couldn’t help but scream at the TV.

“Why do you keep forgiving him?! He’s the worst!”

But deep down, he knew why he loved Rosalinda. It was that same foolish, forgiving heart. It reminded him that, no matter how chaotic the world got, there was always room for a little hope.

As he settled back into his couch, Ray couldn’t help but smile. The road ahead was dangerous, but with his clones on the case, he felt a glimmer of optimism.

“Alright, Rosalinda,” he said, grabbing a handful of chips. “Let’s see what happens next.”

And with that, Ray returned to his telenovela, content to let the world wait while he caught up on his favorite show.



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Aaand thats it...
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...Maybe?