It turns out that when people are at a loss for words, they really do laugh.
Victor had just walked in when he saw Shiller sitting alone on the sofa, laughing to himself, which instantly gave Victor the creeps. He even started seriously considering whether he should call the police.
Although nothing seemed to have happened yet, something probably would happen soon. Calling the police now might save them from getting stuck in the morning traffic jam.
He leaned in and asked, "What's going on, Shiller?"
"Nothing," Shiller snapped out of it, shook his head, and said, "Just realizing my luck is as bad as ever."
Victor showed a puzzled expression. Shiller, however, said no more.
After careful thought, Shiller concluded that Batman would only believe Bruce Wayne could save himself in one scenario: he had already succeeded in doing so.
In other words, the Batman he encountered now might be one of the exceedingly rare instances, across the infinite Multiverse, of a Batman who genuinely overcame his past traumas and transformed into a normal person.
It could only be said that his luck had never been good. Nearly every Batman he'd run into was a rare specimen, and this one was practically a golden legend.
So, what tactics would Shiller use to deal with this kind of Batman?
The fact was, he didn't have much to rely on. A psychologist's tricks are only effective on people with psychological issues. For those without, physical measures were the only alternative.
However, physically dealing with Batman was about as difficult as dealing with Superman. At least Superman had a known weakness—Kryptonite. Batman, on the other hand, was essentially invulnerable.
The Batman he had met now and the Prime Universe Batman were polar opposites: one was completely cured, the other entirely beyond help. Different directions, but equally overwhelming.
A person firmly convinced the world is insane and one firmly convinced it isn't are equally tough to deal with.
To Shiller, the latter was much harder to handle. Even with the Prime Universe Batman, he could engage in a few rounds of academic verbal sparring.
With the latter type, all he could do was look on in awe, marveling at the toughness of human will and the boundlessness of the psychic_battlefield.
Shiller's plan to deflect disaster seemed unable to fully materialize now, though it had already muddled the future judgment of Battleworld concerning him. The potential dangers lurking in Gotham had likely been misled—mission likely accomplished.
Sure enough, on his way to breakfast with Victor, Shiller received a call from Gordon.
"...Really? He's disappeared? Are you sure he didn't escape on his own? Alright, got it."
"Honestly, I have no thoughts on this. But it's certainly not any ordinary person. Did you check the surveillance footage? Hmm... it seems this is more troublesome than I'd imagined."
Shiller hung up. Victor looked at him. While putting away his phone, Shiller said, "Jonathan disappeared from the police station."
"Not surprising," Victor said. "The guy should have made his escape long ago. No evidence against him anyway; the police couldn't have done a thing."
"No," Shiller replied. "He didn't leave on his own. It's more likely he was taken."
"Why?"
"If he didn't want to get caught, he wouldn't have let the police arrest him in the first place. Since there's no incriminating evidence, they'd have to release him within ten hours. Him running now only adds charges of jailbreak, resisting arrest, and obstruction of justice. Why bother?"
"Good point," Victor nodded, though still puzzled. "But who would go out of their way to break him out? He can't seriously have some criminal buddies, can he?"
"He's more likely been kidnapped," Shiller said.
Victor froze mid-motion, then turned to Shiller with wide eyes. "This wasn't your plan all along, was it?!"
"I had other objectives too, but those seem unlikely to be achieved now. So yes, this was part of the plan," Shiller sighed.
"You knew someone would come to kidnap you, and you used Jonathan as bait to draw the fire. I was wondering why you were suddenly so generous—approving Xi Wana's application. Turns out you were just setting the stage."
After some thought, Victor added, "But even if you didn't do this, who would be able to kidnap you, anyway? So was this all just to make life miserable for Jonathan?"
"It's not that simple," Shiller said. "This time we're not dealing with madmen. It's aliens."
"Figures. Only you would think aliens are scarier than madmen," Victor retorted. "Especially Gotham's madmen."
"Don't forget you're one of them, Mr. Freeze," Shiller rolled his eyes slightly. "This is no time for jokes. I mean it. If it were Superman's kin, it wouldn't be as big of a deal. But it doesn't seem to stop there."
"Not Kryptonians?" Victor raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. "What other aliens could it be?"
"There were no signs of struggle at the scene of Jonathan's disappearance. That leaves two possibilities: either he willingly followed, or the other party didn't need force to subdue him."
"Subduing Jonathan doesn't seem that hard. Knocking him out shouldn't leave too much evidence," Victor countered. "The fear gas probably wouldn't work on aliens. Maybe he tried to fight back but couldn't stand even a single attack, so there's no trace of a struggle."
"Don't underestimate Jonathan," Shiller shook his head lightly. "It's easy to subdue him, but to leave him without any trace behind? Not even Batman could pull that off."
"Do you really think he's that formidable?"
"His real specialty isn't chemistry," Shiller said. "Even without chemical methods, he could use psychological tactics to stall the opposition, giving himself enough time to call for help or leave traces."
"If there's nothing at the scene, it proves either he intentionally avoided doing so or had no chance to."
"Which do you think it is?"
"I lean toward the former," Shiller said, clearly having thought it through. "Jonathan willingly went with them."
"But you just said it wouldn't benefit him to leave now. Not only did he sit in jail for nothing, but now he risks facing a string of charges."
"That means the benefits of going with them must outweigh the costs."
"Could it be that they promised him something big?"
Shiller shook his head. "I don't think so. Think about it. Why would aliens come to Earth?"
"To invade, of course. But Earth doesn't seem to have any particularly rare resources, so it's probably to colonize or govern it."
"Then what could they promise Jonathan? That once they conquer Earth, he'd be made Governor? Do you think Jonathan would care?"
"Probably not," Victor shook his head. "Not to overestimate him, but he's clearly not someone who craves fame or power. He'd hate the idea of ruling over others—he's more like the Joker in that regard, chasing his own form of art."
"Exactly. Such promises wouldn't interest Jonathan. In another universe, he might ally with them to take down Batman, but in our universe, there's no Batman..."
"Wait a minute," Victor suddenly interrupted, "What if he's teaming up with the aliens to take you down?"
"Take me down? Why?"
"Why wouldn't he? You threw one hell of a false accusation on him. You think he won't strike back?"
"But it was him who poisoned the banquet guests, not me. I didn't force his hand. If he hadn't pulled his prank, I'd have had no chance to act."
"He doesn't care about logic," Victor said, shaking his head. "This totally seems like something he'd do."
"Alright, suppose that's the case. Then why would Jonathan think aliens could deal with me?"
"Well, it was you who said aliens are harder to deal with than madmen."
"Harder doesn't mean they'll succeed. If they were just Kryptonians, they might not have much of a way to handle me. Jonathan wouldn't bet on something unless he understood their full capabilities."
"I get it now. You're saying the alien must've demonstrated some unique ability, giving Jonathan the confidence to use them against you, so he chose to leave with them."
Shiller nodded and then said, "Now, what role do you think Jonathan assumed when he left with them?"
"What role?" Victor pondered briefly before catching on. "Oh, you mean the false identity you pinned on him. Do you think he admitted to being the Professor?"
"What do you think?"
Victor stroked his chin, thought carefully, and finally said, "If it were me, I'd admit to it. Because the Professor's value is clearly greater than my own. Holding on to that identity would give me much more leverage in negotiations."
"Exactly. Jonathan's smart, so he'd absolutely own up to it."
"Wouldn't the alien realize he's lying?"
"As I said, Jonathan may be a renowned chemist, but his expertise in psychology isn't any less impressive. As long as he doesn't want you to, almost no one can tell he's lying."
Victor considered this thoughtfully, then nodded. "You're right. The guy's camouflage is excellent, even enough to fool Batman."
"But what worries me is what ability the alien showcased that made Jonathan believe they could deal with me."
"That's exactly what I wanted to get to," Shiller said. "Batman left Superman at the station to keep an eye on Jonathan. But when the intruder took Jonathan away, there weren't any signs of a fight. What do you make of that?"
Victor was clearly stumped at first, but soon locked on to an answer, though he found it implausible. Hesitantly, he said, "They're a mind power user?"
"Ruling out all other possibilities means what remains must be the truth, no matter how absurd," Shiller said.
"That's absurd enough. Who could outperform Superman in mind control? Not even you, right?"
"Once again, I'm not a superpower user," Shiller stressed, "I'm a psychologist, not a mind power user."
"Sure, sure," Victor waved dismissively, clearly not in the mood to argue further. "If the alien is a very powerful mind power user, then this makes sense."
"No," Shiller contradicted, "The alien is indeed a mind power user, but they might not be that strong."
"What do you mean?"
"We've both encountered truly powerful mind power users."
"You don't mean..."
"If it were Professor X, we'd simply conclude that Jonathan had never been in custody to begin with."