After Jean left, Polaris walked in awkwardly. Seeing Shiller, she rolled her eyes first, then slapped the medical report onto the table, sat down, and said, "They insist I have mental health issues, causing my heart arrhythmia. What's wrong with my mental state? I'm perfectly fine!"
"Don't rush, fill out the form first." Shiller handed her another form.
By dusk, a thick stack of reports had piled up on the other side of the table. Shiller looked at the medical records in his hand and said to the gray mist in his mind, "It's been tough on you lately."
"No problem, it's a piece of cake," Gray Mist's voice was as lively as ever. He said, "But Professor X's move is really harsh. If Nick were as unscrupulous as him, you wouldn't have to keep urging those Avengers superheroes to submit their psychological evaluation reports."
"Different monkeys, different tricks," Shiller said, "These mutants have incredibly strong constitutions, even if you mess up their heart rhythms, they're still bouncing around. If this were ordinary people, they'd be lying on hospital beds by now."
"True. But it's also good that those who avoid doctors are finally willing to see a doctor and take medicine. What do you plan next? Treat all the mutants from the multiverse?"
"That's not necessary," Shiller said, "As long as the mess isn't caused by people from the Central Universe, it's not a big problem. Besides, the heart arrhythmia was intentionally caused by us, but the evaluations and diagnoses are done seriously by me. If I were to treat all those people, I'd be exhausted to death."
Shiller sighed. Actually, just these few have already worn him out enough. If it weren't for Charles repeatedly asking him, he wouldn't deal with such unscrupulous matters.
There aren't many things in this world that make Shiller feel unscrupulous, and this plan is one of them. It was probably a few days before the war, when everyone's roles were being determined, that Charles suddenly came to him.
"What's up, Professor?" Shiller asked without turning his head as he was packing his things in the nursing home.
In a camel turtleneck sweater paired with a casual autumn suit, Charles leaned against the door frame, looking every bit the English aristocratic young master. With one hand in his pocket, he smiled and said, "I have a favor to ask you."
When Shiller turned his head, he saw Charles's eyes, which appeared bluer in his brown and orange outfit, like the sky behind a September maple forest.
"You're really turning back the clock," Shiller couldn't help but remark, "What? Planning to watch the Wimbledon finals?"
"I probably won't make it this year," Charles smiled again, "But next year, I plan to go with David to make up for the regrets in his childhood."
"Alright, what do you want from me?"
"I don't want any mutants from the Central Universe to have problems in this war, so I hope you can give them a psychological evaluation, and if there are any issues, detect and treat them promptly."
"You know, Charles, I'm happy to help, but the primary issue is how to get them into my clinic. I can't very well kidnap them, can I?"
"Kidnapping is certainly not an option, it's too rude. Let's use a more gentle and polite method—I want you to induce some psychosomatic symptoms in them using the Gray Mist, they'll come looking for you eventually."
"What?" Shiller was a bit shocked, he said, "You mean, you want me to make your students and colleagues sick, then have them come to me for treatment? Charles Xavier, do you remember you're a doctor and a teacher?"
"Of course," Charles said indifferently, "But I'm also the leader of the mutants. This war is crucial, I cannot allow any mutant from our universe to become a weak point."
After hesitating for a moment, Shiller said, "How do you plan to proceed?"
"There are many somatic manifestations of depression and anxiety. Whichever you think is safe, go with that. After all, they are not ordinary people, they won't really get sick because of this. Just manifest some symptoms, and they'll come to you for prescriptions eventually."
"How about short-term heart arrhythmia?" Shiller asked. "It's easy for the Gray Mist, very controllable, completely within the tolerance range of the heart muscle, and won't have any aftereffects."
"You handle it, just make sure to focus on those who usually act out. Oh, by the way, you haven't met Emma yet, have you? Her psychological issues are among the more severe ones for mutants, but her psychic abilities are too strong for me to do much. You'll have to find a side way to get through to her."
"Emma? Emma Frost? The White Queen?" Shiller recalled, he said, "The Hellfire Club members have always been vying for congressional seats, haven't they? What about her?"
"Her background and experiences are quite tragic. Even though she thinks everything is behind her and she's become strong, her mental state is still unstable, and she's had a history of serious anxiety disorders. I'm worried about a relapse; it's best if you have a look at her."
"Okay, Charles. But let's agree first, I'll diagnose them professionally. If there are problems, I'll treat them; if not, they'll leave. I won't arbitrarily prescribe medication just to quiet them down. Alright?"
"Of course, Doctor. I trust your medical ethics." Before Charles turned to leave, he leaned back and said, "But give Emma a bit more medication; mind power users have a higher drug tolerance, you know."
"Did you give Emma more medication?" In the office in the Andromeda Galaxy, Charles asked.
"The psychiatric drugs were prescribed according to standard guidelines, but I also gave her some magical medications for regulating energy and endocrine levels in the body, which many patients have found quite effective."
"Oh, those mushrooms, right? I've heard a lot of supplements have been launched with them."
"Yes, you can buy some anti-hair loss ones." Shiller said as he organized the psychological evaluation reports, "How's Erik doing? I think he's the one most in need of psychological therapy; those four little terrors are about to drive him insane."
"No worries, we publicly said he was injured, so we brought in Magnetos from two other universes to help him with the kids."
"From other universes? Then you'd better take it easy, they haven't eaten the Golden Apple. If they really get too exhausted, we'll be facing non-combat casualties."
"No, there are many equivalents in the multiverse, and when they're about to give out, we just swap them; they definitely won't work themselves to death."
"Are the Supermen okay?" Shiller asked, "Steven has already taken the mages over to bring the Supermen back. Batman won't kill them, so they'll be able to return alive with the intel, telling us who that guy from the other side really is."
"I was just about to tell you," Charles said, "They're trapped by Dream Power Doctor Strange in the Kingdom of Dreams, but their mental fortitude is strong, and their minds are very active. We must continuously create illusions to obstruct them, or they'll easily break through."
"Tell Dream Power Doctor Strange to strengthen the defenses, and don't let them escape. I heard that the Superman from the Prime Universe is in there too?"
"Yes, he's the most indomitable one, giving us a lot of trouble. I even thought about sending him back to the Battleworld."
"Don't you dare. You think he's Batman's weakness, but he's actually Batman's limiter. If Primary Universe Batman really gets his message from the Battleworld, he'll enter overload mode."
"Alright, I won't touch them for now, but I'm afraid we won't be able to hold them for long. Let's hope Batman arrives soon... Hold on, it seems there's news. I've received a brainwave communication from Martian Manhunter."
"You go negotiate with them; I've got work to do." After Shiller hung up the communication, he began reviewing today's therapy, making calls to repeat prescriptions one by one, and then backing up the prescriptions, staying busy until late at night.
When he finally finished, Shiller was about to head to bed when he heard knocking at the door. When he opened it, it turned out to be Tony Stark.
"What's up, Tony?"
"Uh, nothing much, the lab's not busy, so I came to check on you," Stark said, glancing around.
"Why are you checking on me?" Before Shiller could finish his words, Stark squeezed through the door into the office, frowning deeply at the thick stack of psychological evaluation reports on the desk.
"Don't be like this, Shiller. If you're really having a hard time, we can go to a bar for a drink."
"What?" Shiller looked at him, puzzled.
"I know you heard about Steven sacrificing himself and you're feeling down, so you're burying yourself in work. But that's not good."
"Wait, Steven sacrificed himself?"
"Uh, you didn't know?"
"I know now." Shiller almost couldn't hold back a laugh. He was about to explain but then asked, "How do you know he sacrificed himself?"
"The energy signals from the mages disappeared, and the command center just reported that they were likely eliminated by the big shot on the other side," Stark said, pursing his lips. "Even though their performance wasn't great, it's still a sacrifice worth mourning."
"If he really sacrificed himself, why didn't he send a Battleworld message?"
"You know, Steven's a prideful man. Already, Doctor Strange's poor performance made him feel embarrassed, and now he's been taken down in one blow. He might be hiding in the OR crying; no way he'd send us a message."
Shiller looked at him helplessly, with an expression as if to say, "Are you talking about yourself?"
Then Stark walked over, put his arm around Shiller's shoulders, and said, "Alright, stop brooding here all alone. Steve is already waiting for us, and Natasha is there too. She's been crazy busy lately and finally has a chance to relax a bit. Don't spoil our dear lady's mood, let's go."
"Hold on," Shiller said, "I'll go change my clothes. If I just wear my lab coat, you'll be filling out evaluation reports in front of the bar."
Ten minutes later, they arrived at the base's bar. It was quite packed, with young superheroes dancing energetically on the dance floor and some sitting around the bar chatting and drinking.
The most lively dancer had to be the party Thor from the hypothetical universe, swinging his hammer while shouting, occasionally picking up a bottle to spray randomly. Stark and Shiller bypassed the dance floor and reached the booth beside it. Sure enough, Steve, Bucky, Natasha, and other members of The Avengers were already waiting there; Nick and Coulson too.
"...I was thinking of reaching out to Mr. President, but he hasn't been answering calls recently," Natasha was saying there.
"What, you two planning to sneak in a quickie on the battlefield?" Nick rolled his eyes. "It's wartime now, going on a date with the opposition counts as consorting with the enemy! Be careful... oh, Doctor, you're here. We were just talking about you. Steven left us a bit earlier, but don't be too upset."
Shiller rolled his eyes, already too lazy to explain. Anyway, the mages would be swapped back soon. Facts speak louder than words.
"What do you think President Batman's up to?" Bucky brought up the topic with obvious ill intent, glancing at Natasha before saying, "It's been quiet for so long, he might be up to something."
"I think so too," Coulson agreed. "That guy's Batmobile is awesome, great for charging in, and now he knows magic, you better not get caught by him solo..."
"Primary Universe Batman must've given him a crucial task. I think maybe..."
Stark hadn't finished when Nick's communicator went off. They all knew it was a special time, so they fell silent, waiting for Nick to answer the call.
After taking the call, Nick jumped to his feet, his roar echoing in the bar: "What?! The Cerebro was destroyed?!!!"