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Chapter Text

The portal opened up, and his new friend Agent Spider used his web to propel him through it and he was suddenly back home. He had to stop himself from crashing in the wall but he was home and ripping off the spider web on his back and turning to face Angstrom. 

When he did  he could see Angstrom, his mother, and Oliver. 

“Don’t! One wrong move and they fall.” Said Angstrom as a green ring formed around his terrified mother and brother. 

“I’ve got a dimension all picked out, where ground is eight stories lower than it is here.”  

There was a malicious glint in his eyes and tone as if he was praying Mark would give him the excuse. 

Mark felt his anger course through him, but one look at his family was enough to stop him in his tracks. 

He couldn’t risk it. He needed a different approach with this guy. 

Mark floated to the ground and put up his hands. 

“You’re not gonna hurt them and you’re not gonna hurt me. I don’t know what game you’re playing but... you’re not a killer. I’m sorry I didn’t remember you, but I remember that night. You were tryna save me. Maybe the accident changed you, but... you were a good person trying to do a good thing.” Said Mark in a calm and placating voice. 

Maybe if he remembered that he was trying to do good, he could get him to let his family go and then they could talk. 

“Trying to save you? After all the pain and suffering you caused. The Lives you’ve taken?” Stuttered Angstrom in pure disbelief before spat venomously “NEVER!”  

He felt the floor give away as he started to drop into a portal, but he used his flight to propel himself upwards, but Angstrom had already formed the second portal above his head and Mark flew straight through it. 

He loosened his entire body as he hit the ceiling to avoid ripping a hole through it. The action didn’t stop a large dent from appearing in it as he smacked back into the ground floor. 

Mark looked up just in time to see the whisp of the portal close. 

He sighed and rolled onto his back for a moment. 

This guy was crazy, and he wasn’t gonna stop until he was dead. Mark didn’t really care that he wanted to kill him. Mark could tell that the guy’s head was messed up in more ways than one. He was just worried about what he was willing to do to his family. 

He needed to get his mom and Oliver to safety first then deal with Angstrom, but this was already the third portal he had sent him through.  

He was surprisingly quick for a non Viltrumite though Mark knew he was holding back too. He was still human after all and if he moved to fast without care he could kill him or even his mom and Oliver.  

He wouldn’t risk that. 

So, what did he do? 

He needed help, but how did he get it? Angstrom blocked out any signal to contact Cecil. 

He was sure there was no Agent Spider in his world or any of the other heroes he had met in the other dimension. Then again, he knew the guy's real name. Maybe he had yet to become a hero in his world. 

Still, that didn’t help Mark.  

Could he somehow contact Eve or the Guardians? 

He didn’t know how to do that with his signal blocked to his phone too and currently he was in a different dimension. 

Mark pulled his phone from his suit. 

He was lucky it hadn’t smashed considering he had almost been eaten by talking Dinosaurs and thrown around by an old man with mechanical arms. 

He looked at his phone again. 

The screensaver was him and Amber.  

He felt his heart burn.  

He couldn’t even grieve the end of his relationship properly without some bullshit going down. 

Why was everything so fucked up for him?  

He sat up. Now was not the time to be emotionally distressed. He had to focus and think. 

Maybe when a portal opened back up he could hit angstrom with a weapon and knock him out. 

Yeah, surprise attack him, get mom and Oliver out of the house and then deal with him and get him to Cecil.  

It wasn’t a great plan, but it was the only one he had. 

Now he just needed a weapon. One that he could control the swing ratio so that it wouldn’t kill Angstrom upon impact. 

He looked around and jolted. 

Mark came to the realization that he was in his house. Of course, in a different dimension but his house all the same. 

The last two dimensions he had landed outside but this was the first time he was in his house. 

His house, which looked incredibly abandoned. 

Dust coated nearly every surface he could see. His mom would have a fit if she saw the state of this place.  

It sounded empty and smelt almost stale.  

It was clear as he sat in the darkness, that this house had not been lived in for some time now. He didn’t even want to garner a guess as to why. He didn’t really care either. 

He got to his feet and looked around. No green portal yet. What was Angstrom waiting for? 

It didn’t matter, he needed a minute to find a weapon anyway. What kind of weapon though? What weapons did they have in the house? 

What weapons did you need when you had lived with Omni Man most of your life? 

He was not using a knife. That was too dangerous.  

Well, anything in his hands was too dangerous he supposed but a Knife would kill Angstrom for sure.  

So nothing sharp. What options did that leave him with? 

Something blunt. Maybe.... like a baseball bat! 

Yeah. He had one in his room.  

The question was, did the Mark Grayson of this world have one?  

Actually, did a Mark in this world even exist? 

Mark had no clue. 

Mark looked at the walls.  

He looked around again.  

They were covered in dust, but they were there. Pictures! Less of them than in his world he noted. 

He sped over, curiosity getting the better of him. He saw pictures that were familiar and unfamiliar to him. Pictures of alternative Grayson's. Himself, mom and dad. Though he noted no Oliver like Angstrom had suggested. 

He didn’t know how to feel about that. 

He studied the pictures with intensity. 

His mom had slightly longer hair here but otherwise, looked exactly the same. As for himself and his dad, they could be twins with how identical they looked to these counterparts. 

They looked happy in these photos. Yet the house filled Mark with dread. 

What had happened for this once happy home to be abandoned now? 

A second after that thought Mark’s ears pricked up as he heard a familiar sound. Though it wasn’t a green portal. No, it was a sound he was far more familiar with. 

Someone had just flown by the house, and they were approaching from outside. 

Chapter Text

Mark backed up from the front of the house. He didn’t know who was outside, but he wasn’t sure how they were gonna take his presence in this dimension. 

Of course, he would just explain the situation with Angstrom but with two vastly different experiences underneath his belt in dimension travel so far, he thought it was important to be cautious. 

He heard the figure touch down and approach the front door. 

Mark braced himself. 

He had no idea who was approaching but surely it was someone who had a connection to the Grayson house? Who else would need to come here? 

That thought startled him a little because if it was someone with a connection to the Grayson household and they could fly then there was a huge possibility that he was either meeting his dad or...  

The door opened and he felt his eyes widen at the sight of the other him who was frozen in the doorway, staring back at Mark. 

There was silence as the two Invincible's just stared at each other for a moment. 

His hair was several inches longer than his, not like in the photos on the wall. His suit was the same as his except for two glaring differences. 

Patches of blood stained the bright blue and yellow of his suit though Mark noticed that the suit wasn’t torn. Matter of fact there wasn’t a single scratch on him, meaning the blood most likely wasn’t his. 

Mark felt an involuntary shiver run through his body. 

The second glaring difference was the obvious large and black Viltrumite logo that sat on the middle of his chest plate... just like hers. 

Mark felt his breath hitch. 

He understood his dad was conditioned for thousands of years and even though it took far too long, at the very least he had a change of heart.  

The other Viltrumites were just heartless products of their environment but this.... this was another him.  

Standing for what they believed in. 

No, no, no. This wasn’t right.  

Maybe... maybe it was a mistake. It had to be a mistake. There was no way he would stand with the Viltrumites willingly. 

It had to be something else.  

Maybe he was an inside man? That’s some shit that Cecil would do. Get a man on the inside and bring down operation from within or maybe his Omni Man was forcing him to where that... but if his Omni Man was forcing him then that would mean... 

“Wow man, that’s a good cosplay.” Said the other Mark with a small chuckle. 

Mark startled at his voice. It was exactly like his own, but it was... darker, more arrogant, so unlike his own. 

“But that’s the old suit man. You need an upgrade. I like the dedication though. It almost looks like the real thing.” He added with a smile that made his blood run cold. 

He just stared at his variant in disbelief. 

“You do have the look down to the tee though. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were me. Seriously man, good job. That being said, you’ve got thirty seconds to explain why you’re in my old house and cosplaying me and if I don’t like the answer, at max, you lose your life, at minimum, you lose a limb. Go!”  

Mark felt his stomach drop.  

His variant had just threatened him so casually without a care in the world. 

He wasn’t like this. He didn’t threaten people. He didn’t kill people. 

He didn’t understand why this was happening.  He didn’t understand how another him could be like this. 

Even with his father revealing his true colors, he hadn’t raised him terribly, and his mother certainly hadn’t, so what had gone wrong here? 

It didn’t make sense. 

“Times up!” Shouted the other him with a loud clap that startled Mark. 

The next thing Mark knew his Variant was racing at him full speed. He only had time to put his arms to block the punch that sent him flying through the patio doors and slamming into the garden hard. 

Mark grunted in pain on the grass and a second later he heard the crunching of glass. He looked up to see the other version of him standing above him, his head titled as he looked down at him. 

“Interesting! That punch would usually kill someone? So, what, you like the Immortal or something?” He asked with curiosity. 

Mark got to his knees and looked up at the other him, putting his hands up in a peace gesture. He didn’t want to fight him when Angstrom could open another portal any minute. 

“Look, please just listen to me. I’m not here to fight you. I’m not even supposed to be here. I’m you from another dimension.”  

“You’re me from another dimension?” The other him asked skeptically. 

“Yes.” Replied Mark. 

He watched his mouth turn upwards into a smile. 

“Twin! You should’ve just said man.” He said excitedly and grabbed Mark by the arm hoisting him to his feet. 

Mark was startled by the action, but at least they weren’t going to fight. 

“Wow. Never met another me from dimension. This is so cool but how did you get here?” Said the other him. 

Mark took a slight step from as the smell of blood rolled off from him but answered his question and told him about Angstrom. 

“I see, that’s crazy bro. Why didn’t you just kill him?” Asked the other him. 

“I don’t kill!” Mark said tightly. 

“Seriously?” Asked the other him. 

Mark just stared at him. 

He scoffed. 

“Wow ok, well that’s wild man but hey it’s your life. Though I might be able to help you out.” He said suddenly. 

Mark perked up. 

“Really! How?” Cried Mark. 

He smiled and then sped off. Mark fought for a second he needed to chase after him but he came back, not empty handed and Mark felt stomach drop again as he realized who was with him. 

“AMBER!”