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

Chapter 15: A New Name

In that time, they had also practiced with his new mind control power. They hadn't decided what they should call the ability yet, not even sure if they should give it a name or not. It was, by all means, part of his power. But it just felt so different from the usual urges and instincts he got from his magpie half. But at the same time, it was achingly familiar. A connection to a past long distant. Back when he was still young enough to barely understand that heroes and villains were real things. 

He remembered his great grandfather's songs with more clarity when he used the new power. 

He had also discovered that the ability drew out another side of him. Something smug and petty that enjoyed ensnaring people in his voice. He liked being in control, he realized. It felt nice. 

Quackity sympathized, apparently. Said that it always feels good being the one to call the shots when you couldn't before. 

He had learned a lot about the shrike avian. Including that the other tended to lack a self preservation instinct in some situations. 

The thing with having a mind control power, was that you needed minds to control in order to practice with it. Not many people were all that keen on letting him practice using their bodies as marionettes, if you couldn't imagine. 

Foolish and Quackity were a few exceptions, he didn't seem scared of this newfound ability of his and helped him learn more about it. 

He had been reluctant to put the shrike avian under, but the other had been insistent. Foolish was genuinely interested in how the power worked and was keen on finding out. He was curious and willing to be under the effects of the power so they could learn more about it. 

Through multiple experiments, they had discovered different things about how Wilbur's power worked. 

For example, it wasn't necessarily mind control as it was forcing his will on another person. Foolish described it as being able to feel what Wilbur wanted, and being  overwhelmed with the urge to listen to him when he gave an order. Once an order was made, it was out of their hands entirely and fully into the magpie avian's talons. 

Quackity described a bit differently, but same principle. He said that it felt like being surrounded by fog, vaguely being able to sense Wilbur's wants but it only becoming clear once he makes an order. Like a beam of light through the fog. He was compelled to obey due to the clarity of it. 

They never really elaborated on the whole 'sensing his feelings' part. If they practiced on a day where Wilbur wasn't exactly feeling the best they would be able to tell and typically asked how he was doing after training that day. Quackity especially seemed to become more doting during days like that. 

Another thing they learned was that he can put multiple people under at the same time, but it was easier to focus on one person versus dividing his attention between multiple people. They were working on it, but it was a process. He still had a long way to go. 

They also discovered that he cannot have people perform higher mental functions or speak when under his power. They will go completely still while under his power and can't do anything else until an order is given. They can't speak, and anything that would require thought is impossible. They also can't write anything down from memory. They can write something that he tells them, but neither of them are capable of writing down what their names are, or who the person next to them is. 

Most orders that don't require higher mental functions were fair game. He could order Foolish to stand still and not move from his position until he let him go or the power wore off. If he told Quackity to fly around the training room and attack one of the training bags, he would do it. But anything that they previously couldn't do was out of his range.