As soon as Shiller walked out of the conference room, he saw Batman leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, seemingly waiting for someone. He stopped in his tracks. Batman walked over and walked alongside him.
"It's not Loki." He spoke with a definitive tone, "We all know that."
"Yes." Shiller nodded, "It's not him."
"This matter cannot be settled in such a way." Batman said, "It's completely self-deception."
"The Rebirth Alliance needs a decent explanation." Shiller said, "In front of so many Multiverse guests, if they can't solve this quickly and give a perfect answer, it's bound to be embarrassing."
"Do you think the real culprit will let it end like this?"
"He won't. But that's a good thing." They turned a corner, and Shiller continued, "The Rebirth Alliance isn't stupid enough to think they can hush it up this way. Everyone gathered here today to put on this act, to make the true culprit think that the matter is settled and they won't investigate further. Only then will he lower his guard."
"But if he acts again, and with Loki having done all this and already being killed by Thor, that explanation won't hold. The Rebirth Alliance's reputation will suffer an even greater blow."
Shiller stopped walking. He stood in the middle of the hallway and looked at Batman, asking, "What kind of person do you think the culprit is?"
"You know I'm not a detective." Batman said.
Thomas Wayne isn't exactly the traditional Batman. He's not very good at investigation, or rather, he doesn't have the patience for it. Wayne Enterprises still has a lot of things waiting for him.
"He's someone with a strong desire to perform." Shiller's voice remained calm, "A stage, an unexpected incident, a lot of people's astonishment, and a group of clueless people feeling powerless. He enjoys such scenes. Otherwise, he wouldn't have orchestrated the seafood incident."
"Sounds a bit like Joker." Batman said.
"It's not quite the same, Joker's audience is only Batman. But this person wants as many spectators as possible; he must present his carefully prepared drama to the audience and have enough people watching to be satisfied."
"How can you tell?"
"A plan to host guests from the Multiverse, with a day-long tour ending with everyone boarding a luxury yacht, chatting, and fishing, just when they're relaxing..."
"And then..." Shiller made a gesture, "A fish as ferocious as a monster rushes into the crowd, screams, curses, gunfire, and shouts ring out simultaneously; this is very typical theatrical behavior."
"You're suggesting that the culprit won't strike again easily because he needs to wait for a chance to publicly expose the Rebirth Alliance..." Batman paused and then said, "A press conference?"
Shiller nodded, "Such a thing doesn't even need a press conference, let alone having Asgardians, mutants, and Earth's superheroes all appear just to explain why the fish dishes in Forward York City recently are particularly chewy."
"There hasn't been such a press conference since the end of the Civil War." Batman said, "We'll explain to the public, but not in such a way; it's too... ostentatious, just as you said, theatrical."
"They're creating a stage, it's a good opportunity to catch the real culprit making a mistake."
"Let's talk about the wedding." Batman said, "I'm afraid only we know how a real Catholic wedding should be."
"Sorry, I'm not a nocturnal creature." Shiller said, "I'll have the Rebirth Alliance send me the preliminary ideas for the wedding. We can talk more about it tomorrow morning."
Shiller went back to rest. There was nothing scheduled for the next day. Shiller planned to sleep in, but in the early morning, there was a knock on his door. Shiller sat by the bed with his eyes closed for a while, then got up to open the door.
"Oh, Professor, hope I didn't disturb you." Wanda stood at the door, carrying many items. Shiller stepped aside to let her in. Jarvis followed closely behind.
"I was worried you didn't have vacation clothes, so I had Jarvis pick out a few outfits for you, along with sunglasses and sunscreen." Wanda placed the bags on the sofa in the living room, "You'll need these."
"That's very considerate, ma'am." Shiller exclaimed, "Although I brought vacation clothes and they gave me a pair of sunglasses, I did forget the sunscreen."
"That's not good." Wanda said, "This place isn't like your dark Barbie house. I feel like the sun here is harsher than New York's. Not wearing a hat or sunscreen is like jumping straight into an oven."
Hearing Wanda describe Gotham as a dark Barbie house left Shiller speechless for a moment. But thinking it over, to the Scarlet Witch, Gotham might as well be no different from a Barbie dollhouse.
"I heard there was some trouble, and Jarvis is usually more composed." Wanda said, "Has the Loki issue been resolved?"
"You're just in time." Shiller said, "The Rebirth Alliance suspects an internal leak. Besides the recent information leak, someone took photos. We might need your tech support."
"I'd be happy to help." Jarvis said, "But I really don't want to run into Vision. He's not around, is he?"
"Why?" Shiller asked.
"That would trigger my uncanny valley effect." Jarvis admitted honestly, "He looks like me but isn't me; it's quite disturbing."
"See, having a body can lead to such issues." Brainiac's voice came from Shiller's phone, "If you don't have a fixed form, you won't have these problems."
"Did Zero Ultron contact you?" Jarvis asked.
"We are both electronic life forms, so there's no need for verbal communication."
So the two of them didn't know what they were murmuring with electrical signals. Wanda, however, was completely unconcerned. She sat down on the sofa, sighed, and said, "I haven't seen Little Shark for a long time. Has she come?"
"Yes, she should be living downstairs," Shiller said, "If you go now, you can probably catch her."
"Then I'll head over now," Wanda said, "I wonder if she's grown up a bit. I'm off then, Professor."
After sending off Maximoff, Shiller heard some commotion outside the door again. He opened it and found a little girl standing at the staircase.
"Doctor," she called out, "have you seen a shark with legs? We're playing hide and seek, and he ran off."
Shiller was searching his mind for information about the little girl, and then he tentatively called out, "Anya?"
The girl nodded and said, "Good morning, Doctor."
This was Magneto's eldest daughter, Anya. Shiller thought for a moment and said, "Jeff likes to go to the pool to scare people. If you're looking for him, you should check downstairs."
"What? He told me he doesn't like water at all. So he lied to me," Anya shook her head, "I'll go find him."
Shiller remembered that Anya's ability was Mastery of Beast Language, so she could probably communicate with Shark Dog Jeff. He was just surprised that Magneto's family actually brought her along.
Previously, Anya didn't have a physical body and was residing in Erik's Psychic_Battlefield. But after some kind of transaction, she now had a physical form. She looked about the same age as Aisha, but was a bit introverted and timid in her speech. Fortunately, her body seemed healthy, suggesting she had overcome her heart condition.
Shiller walked back to the room and looked down through the window. Sure enough, he saw Shark Dog playing with a ball in the pool, and Anya standing beside the pool calling him. But when he looked to the other side, he saw Magneto standing dazed at the hotel entrance.
The silver-haired figure looked as if he was bewitched, walking towards that side. Luckily, halfway there, he regained his senses and waved his hand for the Brotherhood to stand down. He walked over to Anya by himself.
Magneto crouched down and said something to Anya, and Anya replied. After a few exchanges, Anya left with Shark Dog in her arms. Magneto stood in place, watching her leave.
Meanwhile, Wanda, who was about to find Aisha, had just reached this floor of the hotel when she saw Selina standing in the smoking room. Beside her was a figure dressed in a green robe, who looked like Loki.
Wanda didn't think much of it. She wasn't paying attention to what was happening in this universe, so she knocked on the door, walked in with a smile, and said, "Selina, you're here. I was just looking for you."
The two seemed startled, preparing to flash away. But when they turned around and saw it was the Scarlet Witch, they were finally relieved. Escaping from her would probably be more difficult than escaping Thor.
Selina gave Loki a "calm down" look, warmly walked over to give Wanda a hug, and then said, "You have no idea how many days Aisha's been talking about you since you left. Thank goodness you're finally here."
"I missed her too, and of course, you guys," Wanda said, holding Selina's arm, "Where is she now? Can I take her out to play?"
"You're here at just the right time. Bruce and I were just worried. We're going to visit Wayne Enterprises later, and you know, she doesn't like those kinds of occasions. If you can take her to the amusement park, that would be wonderful."
"Alright then, I won't bother you. I'll go pick her up."
After Wanda left, Selina couldn't help but roll her eyes at Loki. She said, "With so many Multiverse visitors, who knows who you are. As long as you don't slip up, no one will know you're the Loki of this universe. Worst case, pretend to be from the Central Universe."
"Pretending to be him is the hardest," Loki said, "He's like a docile doll, and I just don't know how he can endure so much."
"You're wrong about that, pretending to be him is the easiest," Selina said, crossing her arms and glancing around, "What you don't know is, he often takes on a female form in Battleworld. As long as you also become a female, the probability of getting caught greatly decreases."
"I've turned into a woman before, but Thor always sees through it," Loki shook his head.
"I didn't mean transform into some other woman," Selina said, "I meant turn into female Loki, so people would think you're a Loki from another universe. It's a blind spot in their thinking, understand?"
Loki's eyes darted, "Are there many female Lokis?"
"Not too few," Selina said, "I've seen several in Battleworld, and they don't all look the same, so you don't have to worry about not resembling them. Plus, there's an advantage: if Thor corners you, just run into the ladies' bathroom..."
Loki couldn't help but cover his forehead. He was about to say that was a childish tactic, but upon further thought, Thor was indeed the kind of person who might not chase him if he went into the ladies' room. This could very well work.
Loki waved his Magic Wand and instantly turned into the female version of himself. He spun around to show Selina and asked, "How is it? Can I pull it off?"
Selina looked him up and down, then nodded and said, "Not bad."
"Alright, let's not stay here too long," Selina said, looking around, "In any case, the plan for the Rebirth Alliance is set, just make sure to stay hidden until things are resolved."
"Don't worry, Reed set up a shielding area in Jotunheim that even Thor can't get into. I'm very safe there," Loki said, "Though I still want to meet the Loki from the Central Universe. I want to know if he's discovered anything at the World Tree's root system."
"Be careful," Selina said, "Don't give the game away, and if you do get caught, just deny it to the grave."