This urban pirate was a c-list bad guy at best for years. He would continually rob banks and attempt to flee in his stolen ant-grav “ship” only to be repeatedly foiled by various heroes. Most people on the street didn’t even know who Corsair was until he rose to prominence in the public eye when a channel 6 news team captured him apparently killing Mercury in cold blood on camera. He had grown tired of the constant meddling of so-called heroes and decided to go down a far more brutal route with the latest one.
Mercury only appeared to die and was rescued from the brink of death by Trauma (who almost died himself in the process) while a rage filled Apollo battled Corsair. Apollo would probably have killed Corsair if Mercury hadn’t shown up in time to stop him.
Mercury’s apparent resurrection lent a lot of credence to the claims of the Mortal Gods that they were in fact the ancient gods of Greek and Roman myth. The truth about Trauma’s involvement was kept from the public. More-so at Trauma’s request than anyone else’s but Juno was quick to jump on the the Mercury story to boost the public image of the gods.
A lot of people truly began believing in the Mortal Gods after this incident and their “worshippers” grew significantly with a large number of those worshippers very vocally voicing their hatred of Corsair for his attempted killing of a god.
Corsair’s reputation tanked even further and he faded into the shadows, only occasionally being heard from for a number of years.
Meanwhile, the Mortal Gods continued on with their mission to aid the people of the world. Some, like Aphrodite and Mercury, took full advantage of their celebrity godhood while others like Apollo and Eros attempted to stay out of the spotlight. Regardless of their own opinion on the matter though, all of the gods ended up being worshipped to various degrees by the general public and they built a lot of good will.
During the second Terminus invasion when the extra-dimensional despot Omega attempted to conquer the Earth, the Mortal Gods leader Jupiter sacrificed himself to destroy the tyrant’s flagship. It was a tragic blow to both the Mortal Gods and the world as a whole but Athena and Apollo rallied the reeling gods to continue the mission. Jupiter’s death was kept from the public and it was claimed he was simply taking a backseat in the activities of the Mortal Gods.
Several months after the invasion was repelled though, Corsair reappeared. Transmitting on a pirate TV broadcast, he claimed that the supposed gods had been misleading everyone for years. He told the world that Jupiter was dead and the gods claims that they could return after death were lies. If they weren’t, where was Jupiter? He demanded that the elder god show himself or the Mortal Gods would be branded liars in front of everyone who trusted them. This was impossible of course as Jupiter had died.
Corsair had put Athena, the gods operational leader and Jupiter’s daughter, in an unwinnable situation. She couldn’t show the world Jupiter as they knew him. That Jupiter was gone. But the Mortal Gods leader had been reborn. He was just an infant, barely a couple of months old. Athena decided it was finally time to be honest with the people and informed everyone that Jupiter had been reborn but as he was still an infant rather than an adult, she refused to allow him to be exposed to a media circus and dangers like Corsair.
Unfortunately, years of bending the truth and a refusal to show any kind of proof resulted in a loss of faith from many of the Mortal Gods followers and the general public opinion of the group plummeted.
Corsair had struck a blow against the gods and he knew it. He had no intention of stopping there though. He intended to destroy the gods completely and knew exactly where to start. If Athena’s claims of Jupiter’s rebirth were true, he would find that boy and use him to crush the rest of those obnoxious gods.
The Mortal Gods now must protect the infant god from the machinations of a madman.
