#marky grayson

mark grayson was a walking contradiction. tall, dark, and brooding—his mohawk standing sharp like a battle cry, always clad in ripped band tees and a jacket covered in pins from bands no one else at school had even heard of. he smelled like leather and cheap cologne, always showing up late, always looking like he’d rather be anywhere else.

and then there was you.

all pastel pinks and soft fabrics, a constant swirl of sweet strawberry pound cake perfume and glossed lips. your outfits always matched, down to the cute little pink bows in your hair. you left a trail of glitter wherever you went—literally. but somehow, against all logic, you and mark had ended up tangled together in something neither of you really understood.

“you don’t actually like this kinda music,” he muttered, arms crossed as he leaned against the brick wall outside the dingy loud venue.

you stood next to him, bouncing on the balls of your feet, entirely out of place in your pink mini dress and knee-high socks among the sea of ripped fishnets and combat boots. but you didn’t care. you were here for one reason.

“i like you,” you said simply, grinning. “and you like this music. so, by default, i like this music too.”

mark rolled his eyes, but the smirk tugging at his lips gave him away. “that’s not how it works, princess.”

you stepped closer, tilting your head up at him. “it is in my world.”

he huffed, looking away like you didn’t just make his chest tighten. “you’re too cute for this place.”

“and yet, i’m still here,” you teased, looping your arm through his. “guess you’ll have to keep me safe, big strong boy.”

mark scoffed, but he didn’t pull away. instead, his fingers curled ever so slightly around your hand, like he was holding onto something fragile. he knew he looked ridiculous next to you—like a smudge of black ink on a pink lace dress. but when you turned to him, eyes shining under the dim streetlight, he knew he wouldn’t want it any other way.

“you’re lucky i like you, princess,” he murmured, letting you tug him inside.

and yeah, maybe that was the real contradiction—because mark grayson was supposed to be untouchable, hard-edged and cold. but when it came to you? he was anything but that.

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He wouldn’t tell Eve, as I think he wouldn’t want to create chaos between them, fearing that Anissa might do something to her or to Terra (remember that when Eve attacked Anissa, she didn’t hesitate to threaten her). Nolan is obviously unaware that Eve knows what Mark went through (issue #118), even though she doesn’t know about Marky either.

Nolan and Debbie both know Mark very well, they know he would never cheat on anyone (I’ll assume the early-comic Mark doesn’t exist since in the series he never cheated on Amber). They also know he would never cheat on Eve, he loves her and wouldn’t do it, especially after having a daughter with her.

So the only thing left would be to confront Anissa directly.

I think initially Anissa would try not to tell the truth right away, knowing Nolan would be upset with her.

In the end, she would be forced to tell the truth and would probably say she did it only to repopulate the Viltrumites like everyone else was doing on Earth, hoping Nolan, as emperor, would understand her point of view and forgive her (even though, in general, Viltrumites would accept anything the Emperor chooses to do without complaining, so Anissa might also accept harsher punishments.)

Nolan, being more human and empathetic than Anissa after spending years on Earth, would not let her off easily, especially since it concerns Mark, his son, and he would understand the pain Mark must have felt knowing she forced herself on him.

(To put this shortly, he knows that what Anissa did was "the Viltrumite way" of doing that, but since he understands humans he knows that's wrong and that's SA)

Considering how Nolan has always worried about Mark whenever he was near Anissa after returning (and even before) from the Reboot arc, I think that in the end, he would kill Anissa for what she did to Mark (canonically, he almost killed her if Mark hadn’t intervened) and take Marky with him, raising him with Terra after calmly explaining the situation to Eve.

Another alternative ending, though less likely, would be that Nolan decides to spare Anissa (due to a lower number of Viltrumites left alive) by ordering her never to approach his family again. But he would still take Marky with him and have him live with his family anyway.

BONUS: I know Mark hates Marky for being his and Anissa’s son, as he reminds him of a trauma. I think he would still have difficulty spending time with him at first… but I also think that spending more time together, the two could develop a much better bond than what was shown in the last issue imo. Plus Marky seems to admire his grandpa a lot showing up to his grave (I guess) almost every night and talking about his day, it would be nice if he got to meet him before he died, I feel he would've been a nice grandpa to Marky too.