Yes, in the comic setting, mutants have always existed, but because there was no genetic science terminology before, and modern science was not advanced enough, people would regard those powerful out-of-control individuals as being possessed by devils, or punished by God, leaning towards religious explanations.
It was also during the era when Professor X and Magneto rose to prominence that humanity's modern science made great strides. Many scientists researched these frequently occurring out-of-control incidents worldwide and eventually really found a common factor among these people—the X Gene.
That caused an uproar. Initially thought to be a punishment from God for humanity, you now tell me these people aren't human at all but monsters mixed among us. Since you couldn't hit God, you didn't blame Him, but now you have something tangible to attack, why not go crazy on it?
Racism was rampant during this era; Magneto had just emerged as a force in the terrorist world, and Professor X's terrifying power had just been exposed, igniting public outrage to the extreme. Then, during an incident, it completely exploded.
On the day after the New York Police Department's phones were bombarded, a horrific massacre occurred at a kindergarten. An extreme anti-mutant activist, believing that the kindergarten harbored two mutants, ran in with a gun and shot indiscriminately, killing over a dozen children instantly, with dozens of students and teachers injured.
Unfortunately, during the subsequent autopsy, it was discovered that one of the dead children was indeed a mutant. The public opinion immediately shifted. People did not blame the killer for committing such a cruel act; instead, they blamed the child's parents for sending the little monster to kindergarten. If he hadn't attended kindergarten, wouldn't this have been avoided?
More absurdly, the captured killer defended himself vigorously in court, claiming vehemently that those victims were not killed by him, but by the mutant child's abilities erupting, stating everyone was harmed by the mutant.
And coincidentally, this guy's background was not simple. The forces behind him bribed the jury, and the final verdict was to attribute the incident to mutant ability outburst, holding the mutant's parents accountable while the real killer was left scot-free, not to mention prison, nor even needing to go to the psychiatric hospital.
After watching the news report, Shiller knew things were taking a turn for the worse. Sure enough, after the trial ended, this man somehow pulled out a gun and killed the entire jury and the judge.
Everyone knew who did this, and this action by Charles also thoroughly enraged the upper society. They used a specially modified soldier, whose memory had been hypnotically altered by several psychologists, to infiltrate Charles' side and successfully captured him.
Don't ask where Shiller and Arkham Batman were. The young Charles was truly ruthless. Shiller once disguised himself as a police officer to get close to Charles; he even managed to deceive him with high-level lying skills. But as he was about to persuade him, the counterpart, as if experiencing a trauma response, directly gave Shiller's brain a mental punch, causing his head to buzz instantly.
Arkham Batman also tried to withstand the attack to approach Charles, but it proved this isn't just about having the willpower; even without using Cerebro, if Charles fully attacks a person's brain, no one can withstand it.
And after these two instances, Charles memorized the brainwaves of Shiller and Arkham Batman; whenever those two dared to appear within his ten kilometers radius, they'd directly face a psyshock.
Constantine, meeting with them, also attempted to trap him with magic, but he didn't have the ability to cast magic from miles away, nor could he get close. Trying to perform distant casting required a medium; it was impossible to get near, let alone acquiring items crucial to him.
Jack, using high-level fabricating skills, eluded series after series of brainwave tests, approaching Charles similarly to that special modified soldier. But, to their dismay, Jack couldn't defeat the cyborg, even when Shiller shot the enemy from afar with a sniper, but still couldn't take him down, and Jack ended up stabbed himself.
Shiller flipped the fallen Jack over after climbing in through the window, checked his wounds which there wasn't much to check since in these few short minutes, they were almost healed.
The adversary used a military dagger aiming to cause pain and bloodshed; however, Joker feared neither of those factors, and since the weapon didn't cause extensive injury, it catered to Jack's recovery.
Shiller helped Jack off the ground, and Constantine walked over from the door saying, "What's the plan now?"
"Erik and others will definitely go for the rescue," Shiller contemplated and said, "I think the key now is for us to find the original Erik within the nightmare, he's merely wounded, not dead. If we rescue him and let him save Charles, it sure would win more of Charles' favor than Erik, saving Charles alone."
"We should indeed do that," Arkham Batman said, "But the problem now is if Doctor Strange moves quickly, they might manage to rescue the person soon, Charles might not wait for us."
"Then don't let them succeed so easily," Shiller said.
Arkham Batman shook his head and said: "The older version of Magneto and full-powered Doctor Strange, during such a premature era, most superheroes from your side haven't debuted yet, it might not be easily handled."
"Precisely since it's an early era, it's easier to deal with them. The Supreme Magician on Earth now is The Ancient One; she wouldn't allow anyone to misuse magic. You and Constantine head to the New York Temple, keep watch outside; if anyone rushes out hastily, it should be Doctor Strange actively undertaking an action. I will head to S.H.I.E.L.D and try to persuade Nick to act against Magneto."
The team split into two groups, Arkham Batman and Constantine went to the New York Temple, while Shiller and Jack went to S.H.I.E.L.D. However, during this period S.H.I.E.L.D.'s station wasn't located at its later site, they took a detour but ultimately found it.
Shiller still approached under the guise of a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent; maybe due to his overly special-agent-like aura, or perhaps due to Nick already operating in a three-party empty payroll system back in this era, nobody checked Shiller's identification, allowing him to enter smoothly, soon meeting with Nick.
This unscrupulous egghead hadn't changed much, just sat there in the chair observing Shiller, his eyes gleaming with shrewdness.
"Charles Xavier has been captured by the military."
"What?!" He almost jumped out of his chair.
"You're really out of the loop. The person's probably already at the military base, yet you still have time to linger around here. Guess who they'll kill first once they control Xavier's powers?"
Nick immediately called someone, and after hearing the exact same report from the other end of the phone, his face turned terrifyingly dark.
Seeing his reaction, Shiller knew he had guessed correctly. S.H.I.E.L.D. in this era was in a period of ascension, and conflicts with the military were inevitable. Nick was someone who never suffered losses. A little trick would disgust those officers to the point of madness, and he probably offended quite a few people. If those officers got their hands on Xavier, his good days would be over.
"There's even worse news," Shiller said lightly, "Someone has gone to rescue Xavier, but it's definitely not your men, nor my men. Guess who?"
Nick stared at him intensely. Shiller said, "If I'm not mistaken, you were involved in the previous operation to rescue Magneto. You should know where that guy is now and his current status. But I can clearly tell you that among those rescuing Xavier now is Magneto. What do you make of this?"
Actually, Shiller didn't know what was going on either, but Nick would inevitably speculate by himself. Basically, whoever was his strongest opponent at the moment, he would blame that person for the current trouble.
"Hydra..." Nick said through clenched teeth.
Shiller paused for a moment, suddenly remembering that the war had just ended, and Hydra was currently rampant. Hydra now was not a comedic entity at all; quite the opposite, even the two behemoths, the US and Soviet Union, sometimes had to pay attention to them.
"If it falls into the hands of the military, at most it's just you dying; if it falls into the hands of Hydra, it's all of us dying together. I'm done beating around the bush with you. Those two people are not ones we can handle. If you have any means, try them out; otherwise, choose a good tombstone soon."
After Shiller finished speaking, he turned and left. Nick hesitated for a moment, then called out to him, "Who else is there?"
"There's a mage," Shiller turned his head to say, "Looks like they're from Kamar-Taj, but it's hard to say. I don't understand magic."
Having said that, he left for good. After Shiller left, Nick pondered for a while before picking up the phone and saying to the other side, "Connect to SWORD."
Shortly after Shiller's departure, Charles and Doctor Strange were on their way to the military base when they encountered the Ancient One and the mages he led. Upon seeing Doctor Strange, the Ancient One squinted.
The teacher of Dream Power Doctor Strange was the Ancient One who was the white-bearded old man version, and upon seeing the person in front of him, he paused for a moment. As he reacted, he was about to greet them.
"Strange, you shouldn't travel through time to come here," the Ancient One immediately said, "I have repeatedly warned you that time travel is extremely dangerous, and attempting to modify history is even more dangerous. Return to where you belong!"
Doctor Strange immediately realized that the Ancient One probably misunderstood. The Supreme Magician could see destiny lines to a certain extent, so even in this era, he already knew who his successor was, thus deducing that Doctor Strange might have come through time to meddle with history. This assumption was utterly mistaken.
Just as Doctor Strange was about to explain, the Ancient One interrupted him again: "No matter what crisis your timeline is facing, returning to the past won't change anything. Now, leave!"
The Ancient One's hands swept in a circle, a bright halo manifesting between his hands, and he actually chose to act directly. Doctor Strange was rather helpless, but he could only take on the attack, cursing inwardly, wondering how the Ancient One arrived so swiftly when he hadn't exposed any magic energy.
However, in reality, it's because Shiller had went to Nick and placed the blame on Hydra. Nick, realizing the severity of the situation, directly contacted SWORD, and SWORD informed Kamar-Taj of the circumstance. Hearing that a mage might be involved and possibly originating from Kamar-Taj, the Ancient One couldn't sit still and arrived immediately to prevent it.
Dream Power Doctor Strange could have defeated the Ancient One, but the rules of the game were against intense combat, so he could only fight and retreat at the same time. Magneto assisted him, which at most allowed him to retreat less embarrassingly, without being able to shake off the Ancient One.
While they were stalled here, Shiller and Arkham Batman were making considerable progress on their side.