"So, you're saying that after squatting there for a few days, the biggest issue you've discovered is... he might be stealing electricity?
Nick Fury stands in the S.H.I.E.L.D. office, holding a report and questioning Coulson.
Coulson knows too well that the report looks like something concocted in haste early in the morning after a hangover. The conclusions drawn are a bottle of whisky away from sheer nonsense.
Holding the report and taking a deep breath, Nick Fury's mouth hangs open, yet he pauses for a moment, clearly at a loss for words.
He goes on to say, "I have always had issues with the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent ratings, Coulson. I suppose you are my strongest argument against this standard, aren't you?"
"Uh..." Coulson awkwardly rubs his hands and says, "Actually, it's not like we haven't observed anything. We found that there might be tunnels underneath his clinic..."
"I really should have Nurse Jenny test you for drunk driving, Coulson. Your report states 'the target is often observed suddenly appearing about a hundred meters from the clinic,' and you conclude that there... might be tunnels?" Nick Fury says.
"Actually, I know he might have teleportation abilities," Coulson argues, crossing his arms and frowning, "but based on the cases we've encountered, teleportation always has a landing moment. We've set up hundreds of microcams around the area, but none have caught anything unusual."
Fury reacts with, "Then add a few hundred more. He's important to us right now, and he's that kind of adversary we don't want to underestimate..."
Meanwhile, in his bed at the Gotham University faculty apartment, Schiller wakes up to find himself holding something fluffy. He looks down and, to his astonishment, it's Pikachu!
"Oh, what's wrong? What time is it?" Pikachu can barely open its sleepy eyes. Rubbing his own eyes, Schiller wonders how this mouse ended up with him.
Looking around in a daze, Pikachu jumps in shock and suddenly becomes fully alert, exclaiming, "Where is this?! How did you bring me here? Are you actually a trafficker???"
While folding the blanket, Schiller replies, "You might want to explain first why you are on my bed?"
"How dare you ask me??" Pikachu yells, claiming, "You've only turned on the heating in your room! If I couldn't pick locks, I would have frozen to death by now!"
"Oh, is that so?" Schiller shows no remorse, stating, "Dried-up mice are not really a good idea."
"So why are you here? Where is this?"
"As you see, I can travel through time and space, so I woke up here," Schiller says. "This place is very dangerous. If you run around recklessly, you'll be stewed within three minutes."
Pikachu snorts disdainfully, "You travel through time and space? I can use Splash like a Magikarp."
Yet Schiller wasn't lying, and Pikachu knew it didn't matter since it's just a mouse. In the eyes of these superheroes, its credibility is even less than that of a parrot. If it went babbling in front of Batman, Batman would surely have it stewed right away. Batman may not kill people, but he'll take down a mouse.
Earth's heroes rarely trust non-human creatures. Although Pikachu can speak like humans and even has a strange Canadian accent, this obviously genetically-modified yellow rodent is hardly convincing to any sane person, hence Schiller isn't worried.
As Schiller is making his bed, Pikachu cheerfully sniffs around the room, grumbling with its tiny nostrils flaring about Schiller's supposed abilities, affirming that this indeed is no longer the same world.
In the morning, Schiller goes to class with Pikachu in his backpack. It's not that he wants to take Pikachu to class, but if he doesn't, it'll sneak out and end up stewed.
Pikachu peeks out of Schiller's bag and gets pushed back in multiple times. By the afternoon, when Schiller places the bag on the table in the counseling room, he presses Pikachu's forehead and orders, "Listen, even if I don't mind others seeing a strange yellow creature in my bag, you should have understood what I told you about superheroes. Every one of them takes 'meddling' as their life's creed, and no one would miss the chance to study you, this yellow mouse, especially..."
Schiller gets interrupted as the door to the counseling room suddenly opens, and Bruce says, "Professor, I..."
He enters and sees his professor pressing his hand on the head of a peculiar yellow creature.
Startled, Pikachu leaps into Schiller's arms. Schiller purses his lips, looks at Pikachu, then at Bruce, and holding Pikachu, he says, "What if I told you this is a new species of albino mole, would you believe me..."
"If I didn't, were you planning to come up with another excuse?" Bruce asks, arms folded.
Pikachu bares its teeth at him, but Schiller quickly covers its mouth. He inquires, "What can I do for you, Mr. Wayne?"
Approaching, Bruce explains, "As a matter of fact, I'm sorry... you see, I'd like to extend an invitation to you to visit Wayne Manor..."
An invitation to Wayne Manor?
What kind of ill-fated invitation is this?
It's obvious that Bruce is somewhat uncomfortable, especially considering Schiller knows his true identity, leaving him struggling with how much to behave as Bruce or as Batman. Moreover, the current Batman isn't as aloof as he will be later, even willingly collaborating with Gordon. Thus, Bruce finds himself in a dilemma.
Schiller, able to sense some of it through telepathic powers, taps the table and takes the initiative to say, "You seem troubled, Bruce, sit down."
Schiller continues, "The way you have been doing things was fine. Bruce isn't Batman; he's just an uneducated playboy, his favorite pastimes being partying and drinking, always surrounded by beautiful women. Batman, on the other hand, is quite the opposite..."
Bruce sits down, massaging his temples. "I don't see the point in doing this. It can't fools anyone."
Bruce isn't foolish either; he's the only one in Gotham with the resources to manufacture Batman's equipment. He doesn't believe criminals are so naive as to not recognize he's Bruce Wayne.
Even his physique provides obvious clues. As a playboy, Bruce isn't always bundled up. Details about his figure aren't hard to ascertain.
Moreover, Schiller has more than once seen Bruce frolicking at night, with different female companions each time. Just from the renowned Nightingale Cheer alone, half of them have shared moments with Bruce.
Schiller supposes that many intelligent villains in comics couldn't possibly be completely fooled. This deduction isn't challenging, yet they still pretend to wonder, "Who could Batman possibly be? I have no clue," surely for some reason.
Schiller reflects, "True, it might not be a secret, but if you wish it to be one, it can become a weapon when necessary."
"You show that you treasure a secret, and others will believe it's valuable to you. You go to lengths to conceal it, but if you reveal it at a critical moment, it naturally demonstrates your sincerity, even though it isn't significant."
Schiller is referring to Bruce's future tactics with the Justice League. To gain their trust, Batman unveils his mask—revealing a secret everyone already knows. Batman is Bruce Wayne.
Nonetheless, everyone's trust in Batman strengthens because he has always treated this secret as important, willing to reveal it for his companions. Although the mystery could be solved with a modicum of thought, that's irrelevant. What matters is the attitude!
Bruce, stroking his chin, agrees, "Like, for example, if a criminal uses this to threaten me, I could calmly set a trap..."
"Alright, Mr. Wayne," Schiller looks at his watch and then says, "Time for our counseling session is up. Regarding your invitation, I will give it careful consideration after receiving the invitation."
Bruce doesn't quite understand why Schiller needs to consider the invitation carefully. In AmElektra, a verbal invitation denotes a private visit, which is informal and usually just involves having a meal together privately.
But when Schiller mentions an invitation letter, Bruce feels that maybe Schiller considers such an invitation not formal enough, showing a lack of importance. Therefore, after leaving the counseling room, Bruce instructs his butler Alfred to prepare an invitation letter and organize a banquet.
In reality, what Bruce doesn't know is that being invited to Batman's home by the Batman himself is akin to saying to Schiller, "Are you interested in walking into a trap?"
Schiller knows he needs a lot of psychological preparation.
Although he is aware that the current Bruce is far from being the Batman of later times, and his two identities are not even fully separated yet. If it were the Batman from the comics, Bruce would simply bring along a bottle of alcohol and offer to introduce him to some beauties at a party.
Instead of appearing so severe and awkward.
But Schiller's stereotype of Batman is too firm. He even suspects that this is a trap specially set by Batman to get his DNA, certainly something Batman would be capable of doing.
Moreover, although Bruce doesn't mention it, it's clear that Pikachu, the yellow rodent, has caught his attention.
Schiller picks Pikachu up by the tail, saying, "Did you see the person who just came? That's Gotham's very own, and if you want to have a good life here, it's best not to offend him."
Pikachu flails its tiny arms in mid-air, desperately struggling, and says, "Put me down! That person just now was really terrifying!"
Schiller pulls Pikachu up to his face by its tail and asks, "How do you know that?"
"Detective's intuition!" Pikachu exclaims, suggesting, "You really should consider not staying here. This place gives me the chills. Why don't we go back to the place we were at yesterday? I can even stand you eating strawberry jam!"
Schiller looks Pikachu up and down, sensing it's not telling the whole truth.