You Were Never Meant to be a Hero (Quackbur Superhero AU)

Chapter 17: Shorts

Wilbur's Explanation for 'Siren' as His Villain Name (during the party after he debuted as a villain):

"I chose Siren because it felt like it fits," the magpie avian hummed, tilting his head at the drink Foolish handed him. "I know most people in this casino were expecting Persephone. You're all aware of the joke last time I checked."

His words earned a few nods from the others, so he continued.

"But if I know one thing about Greek Mythology, it's that underworld gods are fucking terrifying. And I am certainly not pretentious enough to name myself after a literal goddess. Persephone was the Goddess of The Underworld, Queen of The Dead. While most people like to characterize her as an innocent flower goddess, that version is actually not really supported by the original myth. Persephone was fucking terrifying, don't speak her name or you might catch her attention type of terrifying. I know you guys are going to still call me by that nickname, but it's a big name to live up to. Which is why I didn't want to use it as my villain name," Wilbur explained.

"Well, you're right about the nickname not dying anytime soon," Foolish laughed. "Quackity being a walking inciting incident is fucking hilarious."

"You still call Quackity 'Hades', though," Slime pointed out. "And, as an underworld god, wouldn't that also apply there? So why do you still call him that?"

"Well, it's not his actual villain name. It's why I'm fine with being referred to as Persephone as a nickname, but I'm definitely not claiming the name of a goddess as my villain name," the magpie avian chuckled. "Calling Q 'Hades' as a nickname is fine in my opinion. It's a joke. It's not like he's actually calling himself a god, you get what I'm saying?"

"That makes sense."

"Yeah, I can see the logic behind that one."

Foolish nodded, "Alright. Why not a Greek Hero then? I know some people here were betting on Icarus or a Titan like Prometheus."

The fallen hero wrinkled his nose, "Heroes. Ew. Gross."

The others laughed as he sipped the drink in his hand, mentally thanking the golden-skinned man for his choice in cup. It wasn't glass, so he wasn't awkwardly holding something he couldn't see.

The taste of alcohol was foreign to him, but he wasn't really fond of the overly bitter taste in this specific drink, so he set it down and continued talking.

"If I was going to pick any of the Greek Heroes, it'd probably have been Orpheus, the son of Apollo," he admitted. "But that's the thing with Greek Heroes. They all have tragic endings in some way. Nothing good ever happened to heroes in those old myths. Orpheus, for example, was a very talented musician. Being the son of Apollo, that made sense after all. But one day, his wife died due to a snake bite just a short while after they had gotten married. He traveled down to the underworld to try and bring her back."

Some people leaned in as he accidentally slipped into his storyteller voice, his secondary power humming just below the surface of his words.

"Orpheus played a song for Hades and Persephone, a song so filled with grief that it made Hades, God of The Underworld, cry. They granted him the right to bring his wife back to the surface, but on one condition. He had to walk straight there with her behind him, and he could not look back at her, otherwise she'd have to return to the underworld. This is where the story starts varying. Some people claim he made it to the surface and turned around, but his wife was still shadowed by the cave they exited from, meaning that she was not on the surface yet. She had to return. Others say that he got nervous because he couldn't hear her behind him, and was worried that he was being tricked. He turned around to check, and as said, she had to return."