Shiller looked out the window and noticed movement in the bushes behind the tulip flowerbed, as if something was stirring inside. He transformed into gray mist and floated outside, landing softly before planning to move closer for a better look. Suddenly, with a loud "Achoo!", a round blue figure barreled straight into his arms.
The blue projectile struck Shiller's chest, knocking him to the ground. When he regained his senses, he was staring into two round black eyes and a mouth full of neat, white fangs.
The little projectile had light blue skin on its back and belly, was about the size of a medium-sized dog, had an upright shark fin on its back, a fish tail, and a head that resembled a shark. However, it had four legs under its body.
"Jeff???"
"Woof! Woof woof!" The four-legged little shark nuzzled Shiller's chin with its head. Shiller stood up and picked him up.
He examined Jeff's paws and found that they matched the footprints on the kitchen floor. It seemed Jeff was indeed the culprit behind the kitchen chaos.
Shiller was about to scold him but then reconsidered. Although shark-dog Jeff was a land shark, he still had a shark head. Sharks have sensitive noses, and no shark would be foolish enough to headbutt a window, as that would really hurt. Furthermore, such a small dog didn't look like it could break such a large window.
"Can you tell me if it was your owner who broke the glass?" Shiller patted Jeff's head and said, "If yes, bark once; if no, bark twice."
Jeff rolled his eyes: "Woof! Woof!"
"So it was you?" Shiller held Jeff and walked to the outdoor stove, pretending to toss him into the pot. Jeff struggled in terror, but being too small, he couldn't get free, so he screamed, "Woof!!!"
"That's more like it." Shiller continued, "Did Miles chase you two until you were starving, which is why you ran here to steal food?"
Jeff nodded, then shook his head. He wagged his four legs. Shiller placed him on the countertop. He leaned against the wall and started gesturing with his front paws.
First, he mimicked shooting webs, then running, then made a sudden brake gesture before pointing to Shiller's kitchen, pointing to his nose, and mimicking wiping his mouth.
"Oh, I get it. You were chased by Miles to this area, smelled the aroma coming from my kitchen, and broke in to steal half of my roast duck?"
Jeff vehemently shook his head, made a money-counting gesture, pointed to his eyes, and then to the door.
"You say your owner will come to compensate? But she just ran off without a word..."
As he finished speaking, a shadow flipped down from the rooftop and landed steadily behind Shiller, crossing her arms. "Finally shook off that annoying guy! Alright. Doctor, was it? Let's talk about compensation."
"You messed up my kitchen just because you smelled the aroma of roast duck!" Shiller lamented, "And I just had it remodeled..."
"Half a million, how about that?"
"Please, come in."
Soon, a girl in a pink jumpsuit and little shark-dog Jeff sat side by side at the island platform, each devouring a freshly roasted duck. Shiller watched his phone account balance with satisfaction as he added ice cubes to their sour plum soup.
"You're a strange person, but your cooking is really good," the girl said after a belch. "My name is Gwen, erm hiccup, a member of the West Coast Avengers. The star portal opened by our team malfunctioned and dumped me in New York. I was just trying to find my way home when that damned spider caught onto me. It's like he doesn't even remember me! This world is insane!"
Shiller distilled some facts from her words and figured out two things: First, the girl before him wasn't from this universe; second, she was probably screwed over by a portal opened by America, a member of the West Coast Avengers.
"Alright, Miss Gwen, I can call you that, right? If I'm not mistaken, you've arrived in another universe. It's like another comic book. While people here resemble those in your universe, they're merely counterparts from different universes. Since you're not in this comic, naturally, they wouldn't recognize you."
Gwen Stacy widened her round eyes, incredulously staring at Shiller. "You know it's a comic?! You you you you you..."
"Calm down," Shiller chuckled, "You're not the only transmigrator in this universe. Besides me, there should at least have been two more. Dimensional travel here isn't anything uncommon, no need to make a fuss."
Shiller recalled Gwen Stacy's life. Actually, this Gwen wasn't related to Spider-Man's girlfriend, it's just a namesake. Gwen Stacy's real name is Gwen Pool, an ordinary American girl from the "Real Universe."
This so-called Real Universe is essentially the universe where the writers reside. In this universe, all superheroes are comic characters, and their stories are all different comics. Gwen Stacy is like Harley Quinn next door; she knows the universe she is in is a comic.
However, Harley is a native with the ability to break the fourth wall, while Gwen Stacy is from behind the wall, just traveling into the Cartoon World.
Her real name is Gwen Pool, and she traveled to the brand new Prime Universe after Marvel's reboot. Due to the similarity in pronunciation between Pool and Deadpool, the person who custom-tailored her suit misunderstood, and made her a pink costume nearly identical to Deadpool's, as per her request. Thus, she became Gwen Stacy.
Gwen Stacy is nearly invincible in the comics. She can freely modify her settings, not only changing her abilities and stats, but also altering her origin story at will—one moment she's an ordinary person, the next a Mutant, practically OAA's favored daughter. OAA even personally intervened in her comics to boost her popularity.
But like other comedic characters, various bizarre accidents constantly occur in her life; she frequently crosses paths with popular characters by sheer coincidence. For example, this time, their team's Teleportation Portal malfunctions and throws her into another universe. Upon arrival, she runs into Spider-Man Miles, chased for two days and nights, starving and dizzy, and just then crashes into Shiller's kitchen where he's cooking aromatic roast duck. This can't just be a coincidence; if OAA wasn't behind this, Shiller would write his name backward.
And her pet, Shark Dog Jeff, is a member of the Pet Avengers, originally a Land Shark created by Modok. But because of its small and cute body, Gwen Stacy found it appealing and made him her pet. This guy doesn't really have any special ability, unless you count the ability to surface a shark fin in any water body and scare people.
The duo feasts heartily. Gwen Stacy devours an entire roast duck by herself, along with Shiller's breakfast sandwiches. Jeff doesn't even spare the bones, crunching away at all leftover duck bits, and downs half a jar of plum sauce, shuddering from the sourness.
"I know Miles' attitude might not be great, but he's telling the truth; all superpower users active in New York must register. If you really don't want to go, I can have Coulson come over."
"No need," Gwen Stacy replies, "We didn't plan to stay in New York; if that guy weren't chasing us, we might have already rented a car to head to Los Angeles. I want to go there to find the West Coast Avengers, have them send me home..."
"Sorry, but I'm afraid our universe doesn't have the West Coast Avengers, only The Avengers' youth preparatory team. If you're in a hurry to get home, I can use the Arena Portal to send you there. But I'd advise against rushing off; there's a reason you're here."
"What do you mean?" Gwen Stacy looked puzzled.
"Since you know we're in a comic, you should also know comic characters only live if they're popular. Suddenly being sent here could mean your original universe lacked popularity, someone wants you to build some here."
"I do know that," Gwen Stacy says, leaning against the bed with her arms crossed, "but I just resolved Modok in my original universe, I should be quite popular now. Missing the celebration party would lose me a lot of popularity, wouldn't it?"
"That I don't know, but I don't think it's a coincidence," Shiller shrugged, "If you're insistent on leaving, I'll send you back. If you want to stay, I'll have someone register you. Do as you wish."
Gwen Stacy thought for a moment, saying, "If in your universe, superheroes are also comic characters, then perhaps we're compatriots. It'd be quite rude to leave after finally meeting a fellow, wouldn't it..."
"Sorry, but I might not be your compatriot. What's known as the real world isn't singular; I don't have the ability to alter settings, nor do I have superpowers—just a regular psychiatrist. However, there's another transmigrator in this universe who knows many Eastern spells; you two might have a lot to talk about."
Gwen Stacy's eyes widened, and he asked, "Really? How popular is he? Do you think we could, I mean, could we become a couple?"
"Uh, you don't have a boyfriend?"
"I did have one, but that guy... nevermind, let's not talk about it. I hope I don't see him in this universe, otherwise, I'll give him a piece of my mind!" Gwen Stacy pouted, "I think you're right, maybe this universe could significantly boost my popularity. Can you tell me which superhero is the most popular in this universe? I'll go hang out with him; surely I'll get plenty of screen time, and fans will like me better!"
"Well... Captain America is having his 100th birthday in this universe, and all superheroes will attend his birthday party; he's the absolute focal point and star. If you want to make a splash, why not prepare a good gift and make a dish he likes, ensuring fans who like him will like you too."
"That's sensible." Gwen Stacy nodded, "No time to waste, I'll start picking a gift for him. Oh, please look after Jeff for me, I'll be right back!"
With that, she truly turned her legs like a comic character and dashed away in a puff of smoke. Shiller shook his head, sighed, and continued tidying the kitchen.
"Hey, Doctor, I'm here to check on how your cooking is going. My Provence stew... oh gosh! What happened?!"