As Sukuna in Invincible

The GDA facility hummed with activity as teams of scientists and agents worked frantically to monitor the dimensional anomalies spreading across the planet.

Amidst this controlled chaos, original Mark stood by a reinforced window, staring out at the rippling green sky with a troubled expression.

"Hey," altered Mark said, approaching his counterpart cautiously. "How are you holding up?"

Original Mark shrugged, not turning from the window. "Oh, you know, just another day. Psychotic version of us shows up, wants to kidnap your best friend, and oh yeah – the universe is collapsing." His attempt at humor fell flat, even to his own ears.

Altered Mark stood beside him, joining him in watching the unnatural sky. For a moment, they stood in silence, two versions of the same person contemplating very different lives.

"Can we talk?" original Mark asked suddenly. "Somewhere private?"

Altered Mark looked surprised but nodded. "Sure. There's a balcony on the east side. Should be quiet."

They made their way through the facility, nodding to agents who did double-takes at seeing two identical Invincibles walking side by side.

The balcony was indeed deserted, offering a panoramic view of the city below – a strange hybrid of two merged realities, landmarks from both their worlds existing in impossible proximity.

"So," altered Mark began awkwardly, "what did you want to-"

"I'm sorry," original Mark interrupted, the words coming out in a rush. "For being a dick. For the attitude, the comments, all of it."

Altered Mark blinked in surprise. "You don't have to-"

"No, I do," original Mark insisted, finally turning to face his counterpart directly. "I've been treating you like you did something wrong, just because..." He trailed off, struggling to articulate his feelings.

"Because I got the life you should have had?" altered Mark finished for him.

Original Mark nodded, his expression pained. "Your dad never betrayed you. Never killed the Guardians. Never tried to kill you. You still have a family – both parents, intact. And it's not your fault, but I've been acting like it is."

He ran a hand through his hair, a gesture both versions shared when stressed. "It's just hard, you know? Seeing what could have been. What should have been."

Altered Mark leaned against the railing, considering his words carefully. "I get it. If our situations were reversed, I'd probably feel the same way." He sighed. "Sometimes I still can't believe how close I came to living your life."

"What do you mean?"

"If Megumi hadn't intervened when he did... if he hadn't confronted my dad in the Flaxan dimension..." He shook his head.

"Everything would have played out exactly like it did for you. Dad would have killed the Guardians. Would have tried to make me join him in conquering Earth."

Original Mark's expression darkened at the memory. "The worst part wasn't the beating. It was the betrayal. Finding out everything was a lie."

"I can't imagine," altered Mark said quietly. "Well, I can, but I don't want to. And that's why I don't blame you for resenting me."

"I don't resent you," original Mark clarified. "Not really. I resent the situation. And I took it out on you because... you're an easy target, I guess."

He extended his hand. "So I'm sorry. You didn't ask for any of this any more than I did."

Altered Mark took his hand, shaking it firmly. "Apology accepted. And for what it's worth, I think you've handled everything pretty well, all things considered. I don't know if I would have been as strong."

Original Mark snorted. "Trust me, you don't get a choice. When the world goes to hell, you either get stronger or you break."

"I guess we're both pretty good at not breaking," altered Mark observed with a small smile.

They turned back to the view, standing shoulder to shoulder as they watched the dimensional energy continue to pulse across the sky.

"So," original Mark said after a moment, "Megumi. He's really that important to you?"

Altered Mark nodded without hesitation. "He saved my family. He saved my future. Everything I have, I owe to him in some way."

"And that's why Unmasked Mark is so obsessed with him? Because in his world, Megumi did the same for him but then died?"

"I think so," altered Mark agreed. "I mean, I can understand it, in a way. If I lost Megumi, especially if it was my dad who killed him..." He shuddered at the thought. "I might go off the deep end too."

Original Mark studied his counterpart's expression. "You really care about him, don't you?"

"He's my best friend," altered Mark said simply. "My brother, in all the ways that matter. He sees me – not Invincible, not the son of Omni-Man, just me. And he's always been there when I needed him most."

Original Mark nodded, understanding dawning. "I had that with William, before... well, before everything got complicated. Having someone who just gets you, who you don't have to explain yourself to."

"Exactly," altered Mark agreed. "So when I see Unmasked Mark, as crazy as he is, I get it. I really do. He lost the one person who understood him completely."

"Doesn't excuse trying to kidnap your friend, though," original Mark pointed out.

"No," altered Mark conceded. "It doesn't. And we're going to stop him. Together."

Original Mark smiled – a genuine smile, the first he'd directed at his counterpart since they'd met. "Together," he agreed. "So, what's our play here? How do we take down a version of ourselves who's apparently powerful enough to kill Thragg?"

"I've been thinking about that," altered Mark said, his expression turning serious. "We need to use his obsession against him. He's so focused on getting Megumi back that he's not thinking clearly. That gives us an advantage."

"A small one," original Mark cautioned. "He's still ridiculously powerful."

"True, but we have something he doesn't."

"What's that?"

Altered Mark grinned. "Two of us. Plus our dad – who, arms or no arms, is still Omni-Man. Plus the Guardians, the Teen Team, and most importantly, the actual Megumi that Emperor Mark wants so badly."

"You think Megumi – Sukuna – would help us fight him?" original Mark asked.

"I know he would," altered Mark replied with absolute certainty. "He's not about to let some alternate version of me drag him off to rule the galaxy, no matter how much that version thinks they're 'brothers.'"

Original Mark nodded, feeling something he hadn't felt in a long time – hope. "Alright then. Let's go make a plan to take down the Emperor of the Universe."

"Now you're talking," altered Mark said, clapping his counterpart on the shoulder.

As they turned to head back inside, original Mark paused. "Hey, for what it's worth... I'm glad at least one version of us got to have a normal life. Well, as normal as it gets when you're half-Viltrumite."

Altered Mark's expression softened. "And for what it's worth, I think you might be the stronger version of us. You've been through hell and you're still standing. That counts for something."

"Thanks," original Mark said, genuinely touched. "Now let's go save the multiverse."

Together, the two Marks walked back into the facility, no longer divided by resentment and jealousy, but united in purpose.

They had a common enemy now – a version of themselves twisted by loss and obsession – and they would face him together.

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Meanwhile, in the ruins of the Grayson family home, Emperor Mark – the Unmasked Mark – sat amid the devastation, his expression calm despite the destruction surrounding him.

The rage that had nearly consumed him earlier had cooled into something more controlled, more focused, but no less dangerous.

He held a small photograph in his hands, salvaged from the wreckage – a family portrait of this world's Graysons. Mark, Nolan, and Debbie, smiling for the camera, unaware of the tragedy that would eventually tear them apart.

"So different," he murmured, studying the image. "Yet so familiar."

He carefully tucked the photograph into his pocket, a souvenir of this doomed timeline. His counterparts had not yet returned with news of Megumi's location, but he was patient.

The GDA facilities were the obvious places to look, and when the time came, he would tear it apart stone by stone if necessary.

A shadow fell across him, and Emperor Mark looked up, immediately alert. A figure stood at the edge of the ruined living room – a young Japanese man with haunted eyes and an aura of power that even Emperor Mark could sense.

"You're not him," Emperor Mark said, rising to his feet with fluid grace. "But you're close. Very close."

The newcomer studied him with cold calculation. "And you're not the Mark Grayson I sensed earlier. Your power signature is... different. Stronger."

"I'm the version that matters," Emperor Mark replied simply. "The one who will survive when the merger completes."

The young man tilted his head slightly, assessing. "I am Sukuna," he introduced himself, though his appearance was nothing like the four-armed being Emperor Mark had encountered earlier.

Emperor Mark's eyes narrowed as understanding dawned. "You're another version of him. Of Megumi." A smile spread across his face – not warm, but triumphant. "Another incarnation. But not the one I knew."

"No," Yukuna agreed, his voice carrying an ancient quality that belied his youthful appearance. "I am what came before. What he once was, in another life, another world."

Emperor Mark circled him slowly, studying every detail. "I can see it now. The same soul, but... darker. Wilder." His expression hardened. "Unrefined."

Yukuna's lips curved in a cold smile. "I came to test myself against the strongest being I've sensed since arriving in this dimension. To see if the Emperor of the Viltrumites lives up to his... reputation."

"You came seeking combat," Emperor Mark translated, his own smile turning predatory. "How fortunate. I find myself in need of... distraction while I wait for my associates to return with news of your counterpart."

"My counterpart," Yukuna repeated, his eyes gleaming with interest. "The one who bears four arms and calls himself the King of Curses? I sensed him as well. A curious evolution of what I once was."

"He is the perfected version," Emperor Mark stated with absolute conviction. "The one who guided me, taught me, made me what I am today."

Yukuna laughed – a sound like breaking glass. "Perfected? No. Diluted, perhaps. Compromised by humanity."

He flexed his fingers, cursed energy beginning to swirl around them. "I am the true King of Curses. The original. The pure essence of what he pretends to be."

Emperor Mark's expression darkened. "You know nothing of him. Of what he is capable of. Of what we built together."

"I know enough," Yukuna countered, his posture shifting subtly as he prepared for combat. "I know that I am here to test my power against yours. To determine which of us is truly superior."

"A test?" Emperor Mark's voice took on a dangerous edge. "You think to test me? I, who conquered the Viltrumite Empire? Who killed Thragg with my bare hands? Who rules seventeen galaxies?"

The air around him began to shimmer with power, the ground beneath his feet cracking from the pressure of his barely contained strength.

"You are but a shadow of the Megumi I knew," Emperor Mark continued, his voice dropping to a near whisper. "A crude predecessor to his greatness. But if combat is what you seek..."

He moved into a fighting stance, his eyes locked on Yukuna's. "Then I will oblige. Perhaps it will help pass the time until I recover what is rightfully mine."

Yukuna's smile widened, revealing teeth that seemed too sharp for a human mouth. "Good," he said simply, cursed energy now visibly manifesting around him in patterns that spoke of ancient, terrible power.

"Let us see if the Emperor deserves his crown."

The two stood facing each other amid the ruins, two beings of immense power from different worlds, different realities, each convinced of their own superiority.

The dimensional energy in the sky pulsed more intensely above them, as if the multiverse itself was holding its breath in anticipation of their clash.

And as sunset approached, the battle between the Emperor and the King was about to begin.

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(Author note: Hello everyone! Hope you're excited for the next chapter!

Yukuna vs Emperor Mark!

Also, for how Yukuna knows so much - he has so many cursed techniques, one of them being able to read memories, after he killed one of the 18 invincibles.

Also, Emperor Mark is no slouch when it comes to the spiritual.

So yeah, I hope to see you all later,

Bye!)