The weight of his past still lingered in Nolan Grayson’s mind. The blood on his hands, the screams of the innocent—memories of Earth haunted him like ghosts in the void. He once thought he was above humanity, a conqueror, a force of nature destined to shape weak civilizations under the Viltrumite empire. But Mark changed that. That boy, his own son, had shown him something he had long buried: doubt.

So, he left.

Nolan drifted through space for what felt like an eternity, searching for purpose, for atonement—or perhaps, just an escape. Then, he found it. A planet untouched by Viltrumite influence, one that reminded him of Earth but without the complications of his past. Here, he would build something new. Not just another Viltrumite stronghold, but something balanced—a fusion of his heritage and the humanity he once underestimated.

But then, he learned the impossible.

A message, intercepted through the vast channels of space—Debbie had given birth to another child. At first, he scoffed at the notion. It couldn’t be his. She wouldn’t have waited. She wouldn’t have wanted to. Yet, all reports confirmed the same truth: she had remained alone. If that child existed, it was his.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he left everything for the meantime. His empire, his people, his soldiers. None of it mattered. He had to see for himself.

Now, standing in the backyard of the home he once shared with Debbie, the tension was suffocating. His feet felt heavy against the soil, an unfamiliar weight pressing on his chest. He saw the woman he left behind, fury burning in her eyes, and Mark—taller, stronger, yet still looking at him with that same mix of defiance and sorrow.

A child peeked from behind Debbie’s legs—young, vulnerable, yet with eyes that burned like his own.

"Ah," Nolan breathed, his expression unreadable. "Here's my little one."