Chapter 47 - The Mad Emperor
Sukuna studied the newcomer carefully, his body still tense from battle despite his exhaustion.
The being before him wore Mark Grayson's face but carried himself with an authority that neither version of Mark he knew possessed.
There was something imperial in his bearing, something dangerous in the casual way he had dismembered Conquest without hesitation.
"Your Mark?" Sukuna repeated, his voice neutral despite his wariness. "I think you're confused."
Unmasked Mark's smile didn't falter, though something flickered in his eyes – disappointment, perhaps, or impatience.
"I understand," he said, his tone gentle but insistent. "The dimensional merger is disorienting. You might not recognize me immediately."
He took another step forward, and Sukuna noticed how the ground seemed to tremble slightly beneath his feet – not from unsteadiness, but from barely contained power.
"But it's me, Megumi. Your Mark. Your brother in all but blood." His voice softened further, taking on a quality of reverence.
"Do you remember when we were kids? When you found me behind the school, getting beaten up by those seniors? You were just the new transfer student, but you stepped in without hesitation."
Sukuna remained silent, his expression revealing nothing as Unmasked Mark continued, his eyes taking on a distant quality as he recalled memories that weren't shared by the being before him.
"You taught me how to stand up for myself. How to think strategically. How to see the world as it truly is, not as I wished it to be." Unmasked Mark's smile turned wistful.
"Remember our pact? Under that old oak tree in your backyard? 'A better world,' you said. 'Not through brute force, but through vision.'"
He gestured expansively, as if showcasing an invisible empire. "I've built it, Megumi. Everything we talked about. Everything you envisioned.
The Viltrumite Empire reborn under my leadership, guided by your principles. Strength with purpose. Power with vision."
"I am not the Megumi you knew," Sukuna stated flatly. "I may wear his face, but I am someone else entirely."
Unmasked Mark's smile dimmed, tinged with something like pity. "You always did that – tried to distance yourself when emotions became too intense. It was your way of protecting yourself."
He shook his head fondly. "But you never needed to protect yourself from me. Not from your brother."
"You're not listening," Sukuna said, his patience wearing thin. "I am not your friend. I am not your brother. I am Sukuna."
"Sukuna," Unmasked Mark repeated, testing the name. "Your hero identity in this timeline? Interesting choice." He nodded as if approving. "Strong. Distinctive. I like it."
He moved closer, his eyes never leaving Sukuna's face. "Eve misses you terribly, you know. In my world, she's never been the same since you... since my father took you from us."
This caught Sukuna's attention. "Eve?"
"Yes," Unmasked Mark confirmed, something softening in his expression. "You two were inseparable.
Not just romantically – though you were that too – but intellectually. Two brilliant minds that found each other in a world of mediocrity."
He sighed, a sound heavy with remembered grief. "She's never moved on. Never even looked at anyone else. 'How could I?' she told me once. 'He was the only one who ever truly saw me.'"
Unmasked Mark's expression darkened. "She was there when my father killed you. Tried to stop him, nearly died herself.
The way she screamed your name..." He shuddered at the memory. "I still hear it in my nightmares."
"Your father killed your Megumi," Sukuna noted, probing for information while assessing his options. "Why?"
A shadow passed over Unmasked Mark's face, his expression hardening into something cold and vengeful. "To prove a point. To show me that humans were beneath us.
That no human should have influence over a Viltrumite." His fists clenched at the memory. "He called it a 'necessary lesson in detachment.'"
"And how did you respond to this... lesson?" Sukuna asked, though he suspected he already knew the answer.
"I killed him," Unmasked Mark stated simply, without emotion. "Then I killed Thragg. Then I took control of the Empire and remade it according to the principles you – he – had taught me."
The casual way he described the murder of his father and the Viltrumite Grand Regent – beings of immense power – spoke volumes about his own capabilities. This was not someone to be underestimated.
"Do you remember our last conversation?" Unmasked Mark asked suddenly, his voice taking on an almost childlike quality. "The night before... before it happened? We were on your rooftop, looking at the stars."
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His eyes grew distant again, lost in memory. "You pointed at the sky and told me that someday, I would rule those stars.
Not as a tyrant, but as a shepherd. 'The universe needs order,' you said. 'But order without purpose is just tyranny.'"
Unmasked Mark's focus returned to Sukuna, his expression intense. "I've fulfilled that prophecy, brother. I've created the order you envisioned.
And now, by some miracle of the multiverse, I've found you again. We can complete what we started together."
"And if I decline?" Sukuna asked, his tone deliberately neutral.
Something dark flashed across Unmasked Mark's face – a glimpse of the violence that lurked beneath his controlled exterior.
For a moment, he looked capable of the same casual brutality he had displayed with Conquest.
Then the moment passed, his expression smoothing back into earnest persuasion.
"This dimension is collapsing," he pointed out reasonably. "The merger is accelerating. Soon, there will be only one reality – one version of each of us." He extended his hand.
"Come with me willingly, and I'll ensure it's us who survive the merger. You and me, as it should be. As it was meant to be."
Before Sukuna could respond, a familiar voice called out from above.
"Megumi!"
Both turned to see altered Eve descending from the sky, her body glowing with pink energy. Her expression shifted from relief at finding Sukuna to confusion at the sight of yet another Mark.
"Eve," Sukuna acknowledged, his tone carrying a warning she immediately recognized.
She landed a cautious distance away, her eyes darting between Sukuna and Unmasked Mark. "Are you okay?" she asked, taking in Sukuna's battered appearance and the remains of Conquest scattered nearby.
"I'm fine," Sukuna replied, though the statement was obviously untrue. "This is... another Mark. From a different timeline."
Unmasked Mark studied Eve with intense interest, his expression softening in recognition. "Eve," he said, his voice gentle. "You look so much like her. My Eve. Though she wears her grief more visibly than you."
Eve's eyes narrowed at his tone. "And who exactly are you?"
"I'm Mark Grayson," he replied simply. "Emperor of the Viltrumite Empire, ruler of seventeen galaxies, and Megumi's brother in all but blood."
Eve's gaze snapped to Sukuna, a question in her eyes. Emperor?
"He's from a timeline where Megumi existed but was killed by Nolan," Sukuna explained briefly. "He believes I'm the same person."
"Because you are," Unmasked Mark insisted gently. "Different experiences, perhaps, but the same soul."
Eve moved closer to Sukuna, her protective instinct evident in her posture. "Well, sorry to disappoint you, Your Majesty, but Megumi – or Sukuna, as we know him – is staying right here. With us. With me."
Unmasked Mark's expression shifted as he reassessed Eve. "Ah," he said, understanding dawning. "You and he are together in this timeline too."
The way he said it carried a strange mixture of approval and possessiveness, as if he were evaluating a familiar pattern rather than discovering something new.
"Yes," Eve confirmed, her own voice taking on a protective edge. "We are."
"In my world, you never stopped loving him," Unmasked Mark said, his voice softening. "Even after he was gone, you remained faithful to his memory. To his vision."
A sad smile touched his lips. "She'll be overjoyed to know I've found him. Found you. That we can be together again – the three of us, as we were always meant to be."
"This isn't your timeline," Eve pointed out, pink energy beginning to swirl around her hands. "And Sukuna isn't your Megumi."
Unmasked Mark's expression hardened. "The dimensional merger will resolve such... discrepancies. Only one version of each of us can survive when the barriers fully collapse."
"Is that a threat?" Eve demanded, the energy around her hands intensifying.
"Simply a statement of fact," Unmasked Mark replied with a shrug. "The multiverse abhors redundancy. It will correct itself, one way or another."
His eyes fixed on Sukuna. "The only question is which versions will remain when the dust settles."
The tension in the air was palpable, Eve's protective rage meeting Unmasked Mark's cold determination with Sukuna caught between them. Before the situation could escalate further, another voice joined the conversation.
"There you are!" Astronaut Mark called, descending from the sky with Dark Mark close behind him. "We've been searching everywhere for you."
The tension in the air was palpable, Eve's protective rage meeting Unmasked Mark's cold determination with Sukuna caught between them. Before the situation could escalate further, another voice joined the conversation.
"There you are!" Astronaut Mark called, descending from the sky with Dark Mark close behind him. "We've been searching everywhere for you."
Unmasked Mark turned to regard his counterparts with mild irritation. "I told you to wait at the rendezvous point."
"Yeah, well, when dimensional barriers are collapsing and reality itself is on the verge of imploding, waiting isn't really an option," Astronaut Mark replied dryly.
He glanced at Sukuna, then at Eve, assessing the situation quickly. "I see you found him."
"Yes," Unmasked Mark confirmed, his voice softening as he looked back at Sukuna. "Just as I said I would."
Dark Mark landed silently, his hooded costume casting his face in shadow. He kept his distance from everyone, observing rather than participating.
"And I see you've already eliminated the competition," Astronaut Mark noted, gesturing toward Conquest's remains with professional detachment. "Efficient as always."
"He was hurting Megumi," Unmasked Mark replied, as if that explained and justified everything – which, to him, it clearly did.
Eve stepped closer to Sukuna, her hand finding his in a gesture that was both supportive and possessive. "What's going on here?" she asked, her voice low. "Who are all these Marks?"
"Variants," Sukuna replied simply. "From different timelines. Different experiences, different choices."
As Unmasked Mark opened his mouth to speak again, a sudden blue light enveloped both Sukuna and Eve, growing in intensity until it was almost blinding.
"What-" Unmasked Mark began, his eyes widening in alarm.
Before anyone could react, Sukuna and Eve vanished in a flash of blue energy, teleported away without warning.
For a moment, Unmasked Mark stood frozen, staring at the empty space where they had been.
Then his expression contorted with rage, a primal fury that transformed his features into something barely recognizable.
"NO!" he roared, the sound carrying such force that it shattered windows for miles around. "BRING HIM BACK!"
The ground beneath his feet cracked, fissures spreading outward as his power surged uncontrolled.
The sky darkened as clouds were drawn toward the epicenter of his rage, swirling in an unnatural vortex above them.
"Mark!" Astronaut Mark shouted, moving to restrain his counterpart. "Control yourself!"
"THEY TOOK HIM!" Unmasked Mark raged, his voice carrying for miles, echoing across the devastated landscape. "THEY TOOK HIM FROM ME AGAIN!"
His power continued to build, the air around him becoming superheated, rippling with the force of his fury. Trees uprooted, debris lifted into the air, drawn into the vortex of his unleashed power.
"If you destroy this planet, you'll lose him forever!" Astronaut Mark shouted, grabbing Unmasked Mark's shoulders and forcing him to make eye contact.
"Think, Mark! This is Cecil's doing. The GDA. They've teleported him to their facility. Destroying the planet won't bring him back – it will only ensure you never see him again!"
Slowly, painfully, reason began to penetrate Unmasked Mark's blind rage. His breathing slowed, the vortex of power gradually subsiding. But the cold fury in his eyes remained, focused now rather than chaotic.
"Cecil," he said, the name a curse on his lips. "Always interfering. Always manipulating."
"We'll find him," Astronaut Mark assured him, cautiously releasing his grip. "We'll track him down. But destroying everything won't help."
Unmasked Mark nodded, his jaw clenched so tightly that the muscles visibly strained beneath his skin. "Find him," he ordered, his voice deadly calm now. "Find him before sunset. Or I'll tear this planet apart piece by piece until he's returned to me."
Dark Mark, who had remained silent throughout the exchange, finally spoke. "What about the woman? The Eve from this timeline?"
Unmasked Mark's expression hardened further. "She was taken with him. Another manipulation by Cecil, no doubt – trying to use her to influence him."
"Or perhaps they're genuinely connected," Dark Mark suggested quietly. "As you said your Megumi was with your Eve."
"It doesn't matter," Unmasked Mark dismissed. "When the merger completes, only one version of each person will remain. My Eve is the strongest – she's endured decades without him, kept his memory alive, dedicated herself to our shared vision."
His eyes narrowed as he stared in the direction of the GDA headquarters, visible as a distant structure on the horizon. "She deserves to be reunited with him. And I intend to ensure that happens."
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The blue light faded, and Sukuna found himself standing in the middle of a reinforced monitoring center with Eve at his side, her hand still clasped in his.
The transition had been jarring, unexpected – a teleportation technology he hadn't encountered before.
"What the hell?" Eve gasped, momentarily disoriented by the sudden displacement.
"Sorry for the abrupt extraction," Cecil Stedman's voice came from behind them. "But the situation was escalating beyond acceptable parameters."
They turned to see not one but two Cecils standing side by side, their identical expressions of calculated concern almost comical in their symmetry.
Behind them, a wall of monitors displayed various angles of the devastation where they had just been, with Unmasked Mark at the center of a growing vortex of power.
"That was unwise," Sukuna stated flatly, watching as Unmasked Mark's rage manifested in destructive waves that rippled outward from his position. "He will not react well to our sudden disappearance."
"We're counting on it," one of the Cecils – the original timeline's version, Sukuna noted – replied. "His reaction will tell us exactly what we're dealing with."
"While putting countless lives at risk," Eve countered, her tone sharp with anger. "You can't just teleport people without warning!"
"A calculated risk," altered Cecil acknowledged. "But one that provides valuable intelligence."
On the monitors, they could see Astronaut Mark restraining Unmasked Mark, clearly trying to talk him down from his fury. The audio feed crackled with static, but Unmasked Mark's voice came through clearly enough: "THEY TOOK HIM FROM ME AGAIN!"
"Fascinating," original Cecil murmured, studying the readings on a nearby console. "The power output is off the charts. He's potentially stronger than any Viltrumite we've encountered, including Nolan."
"He's unstable," altered Cecil observed. "Emotionally compromised. That makes him both more dangerous and more vulnerable."
Eve stepped closer to the monitors, her expression a complex mixture of curiosity and possessive concern as she watched Unmasked Mark's rage gradually subside under Astronaut Mark's intervention.
"He truly believes you're his Megumi," she said to Sukuna, her voice low. "The intensity of his reaction... it's not just an act."
"Obsession rarely is," Sukuna replied, his eyes never leaving the screens. "He's built his entire identity around a relationship that no longer exists. Around a person who is gone."
Eve's grip on his hand tightened almost imperceptibly. "I can understand that," she admitted, so quietly that only Sukuna could hear. "The fear of losing you... of having you taken away..."
Sukuna glanced at her, noting the intensity in her eyes that mirrored, in its own way, the possessiveness they had witnessed in Unmasked Mark.
The parallel wasn't lost on him – the seeds of the same obsession existed within Eve, carefully controlled but undeniably present.
"We should check on the others," altered Cecil interrupted, either oblivious to or deliberately ignoring the moment between them. "They've been waiting for news of your condition."
"The others?" Sukuna questioned.
"Both Marks, both Debbies, and Nolan," original Cecil explained. "They're in the medical wing. Nolan's injuries are... extensive."
"Lead the way," Sukuna instructed, though his attention remained on the monitors for a moment longer, watching as Unmasked Mark stared in the direction of the GDA facility with cold determination. The emperor's parting words were clear even through the static:
"Find him before sunset. Or I'll tear this planet apart piece by piece until he's returned to me."
The Cecils led them through reinforced corridors to a larger medical chamber. Inside, they found both versions of Mark, both Debbies gathered around a medical bed where Nolan lay, his shoulders ending in bandaged stumps where his arms had been.
"Megumi!" altered Mark exclaimed, relief evident in his voice. "Eve! You're alive!"
"No thanks to that psycho version of you," original Mark added, his expression darkening, both having heard the more loud sayings with their enhanced hearing. "Who the hell was that guy?"
"Another variant," Sukuna replied simply. "One from a timeline where Megumi Fushiguro was killed by Nolan Grayson."
Both Debbies gasped, their hands moving to cover their mouths in identical gestures of horror. Nolan, despite his grievous injuries, managed to look both pained and guilty at the revelation.
"He seemed... obsessed with you," altered Mark noted, his gaze moving between Sukuna and Eve with concern.
"He believes I am his lost friend reborn," Sukuna confirmed. "His 'brother,' as he put it. The architect of his empire."
"Empire?" original Mark questioned, his brow furrowing.
"He rules the Viltrumite Empire in his reality," Eve explained, still visibly shaken by the confrontation. "Seventeen galaxies, by his account. After killing his father and Thragg in revenge for Megumi's death."
"He killed Thragg?" Nolan's voice was hoarse with pain and disbelief. "That's... almost inconceivable."
"And now he wants you to join him," altered Mark concluded. "To rule with him."
"Yes," Sukuna confirmed. "And he's willing to eliminate anyone he perceives as an obstacle to that goal."
"Including us," original Mark realized. "All of us. Anyone who might keep you here instead of going with him."
"We need to prepare," Eve said, her grip on Sukuna's hand tightening. "He'll come for you. It's only a matter of time."
"He's already given me until sunset to consider his offer," Sukuna replied. "But your teleportation stunt may have accelerated his timeline."
"We're monitoring the situation," original Cecil assured them. "The moment he makes a move, we'll know."
"And then what?" original Debbie demanded, fear and frustration evident in her voice. "He tore Conquest apart like he was nothing. He's clearly more powerful than either version of my son. What exactly is your plan for stopping him?"
The Cecils exchanged glances, a wordless communication passing between them.
"We're working on several contingencies," altered Cecil said carefully. "Including dimensional containment technology that might allow us to isolate him from our merged reality."
"In the meantime," original Cecil continued, "we need to understand exactly what we're facing with this dimensional merger. The readings are... concerning."
"The barriers are collapsing at an accelerating rate," altered Cecil elaborated. "According to our calculations, we have less than twenty-four hours before the process reaches critical mass."
"And then?" altered Mark prompted.
"And then the multiverse resolves the redundancies," original Cecil stated grimly. "Only one version of each person can exist when the dust settles."
"Which means most of us in this room won't survive," altered Debbie concluded.
"Unless we find a way to control the process," altered Cecil countered. "To determine which versions remain."
"He mentioned his Eve," Altered Eve said suddenly, her voice taking on an edge that Sukuna recognized all too well. "He said she remained faithful to Megumi's memory even after death."
"He seems to think his Eve is the 'true' version who should survive the merger," altered Cecil noted. "Just as he believes he's the 'true' Mark."
"He's planning something," Sukuna stated. "The merger may be a natural phenomenon, but he intends to control the outcome."
"Nolan needs medical attention that we can't provide here," altered Debbie interjected, her hand resting gently on her husband's forehead. "The regeneration process has started, but it's slow. Too slow."
"Viltrumite healing is remarkable," Nolan managed through gritted teeth, "but even we have limits. Regrowing limbs... takes time."
"Time we don't have," original Mark pointed out. "Not with Crazy Mark out there looking for Megumi and the dimensional merger accelerating."
Sukuna studied the injured Viltrumite, his mind calculating possibilities, strategies, contingencies. "There may be a way to accelerate your healing," he said finally.
"But it would require me to regain full access to my cursed energy. The poison Conquest injected is still disrupting my abilities."
"I can help with that," Altered Eve volunteered immediately. "I've been studying your molecular structure since we met. If you let me examine the poison's effects, I can neutralize it with the right molecular restructuring."
The eagerness in her voice, the intensity of her focus on him, only underscored what Sukuna had observed earlier.
In another timeline, under different circumstances, this Eve could very easily have become like Unmasked Mark's Eve – defined entirely by her connection to him, her identity subsumed by her devotion.
"Do it," Sukuna instructed. "And while you work on that, we need to prepare for Unmasked Mark's return. He won't wait until sunset. Not now."
"I'll put all GDA resources on any possible preperations immediately," altered Cecil decided.
As the group dispersed to their various tasks, Eve remained at Sukuna's side, her expression troubled.
"He said his Eve never stopped loving Megumi," she said quietly. "That she remained faithful even after death."
"So he claimed," Sukuna replied noncommittally.
"It's strange," she continued, her voice thoughtful. "Across different realities, different timelines... we still find each other. You and I."
Sukuna studied her face, noting the complex emotions playing across her features. "Perhaps some connections transcend dimensional boundaries," he acknowledged.
"Or perhaps I'm just drawn to power," she suggested, a hint of rare self-awareness showing through. "In every reality. Obsessed with understanding the strongest being I've encountered."
There was a moment of vulnerability in her admission, a recognition of her own nature that she rarely displayed. But it passed quickly, replaced by the familiar intensity that characterized her feelings toward him.
"His Eve devoted decades to Megumi's memory," she said, her voice taking on a harder edge. "Built her entire life around preserving what they had, what they believed in."
"And you find that concerning?" Sukuna asked, though he already knew the answer.
Eve's eyes met his, unflinching in their honesty. "I find it understandable," she corrected. "If I lost you... if someone took you from me the way Nolan took Megumi from her..."
She didn't finish the thought, but she didn't need to. The implication was clear – she would become like Unmasked Mark's Eve.
She would devote herself to his memory, to his vision. She would wait decades for a chance to have him back, just as she would fight to keep him now.
"You won't lose me," Sukuna stated, the words more promise than reassurance.
Eve's smile was small but genuine. "No," she agreed. "I won't."
Outside the reinforced walls of the GDA facility, the sky continued to ripple with emerald energy, the dimensional barriers growing thinner with each passing moment.
And somewhere out there, an emperor prepared for war, determined to reclaim what he saw as rightfully his – the brother he had lost, the architect of his empire, the friend without whom his vast conquests meant nothing.
The clock was ticking toward sunset, but no one believed they had even that long before the storm broke.
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(Author note: Hello everyone! Hope you all liked the Chapter!
Do tell me how you found it.
So, a bit more of an understanding of Emperor Mark's mental state.
Well, I hope to see you all later,
Bye!)