Marvel: The Psychologist Who Stole Wanda and Gwen's Hearts!

The energy Galacta needs isn’t the same as what ordinary beings understand as energy. She and Galactus both require the same kind—yet it’s also the very same energy the Celestials demand for their own creation.

The energy of living beings.

Think about it: if all they needed was raw power, then why wouldn’t Galactus, Galacta, or the Celestials simply consume stars?

A solar system has one sun. But a galaxy has over 400 billion of them. If ordinary energy was enough, wouldn’t that already satisfy them?

That’s why what they seek is always life energy.

It’s the same reason the Celestials sent the Eternals to guide humanity’s development. First nurture them. Then harvest them.

And the worlds Galactus devours must also hold life energy to be worth consuming.

This energy has to come from within living beings—whether given willingly or taken by force, it must pass through a body first.

That’s why Galacta is always hungry.

If her father were here, he would have already consumed the planet. But Galacta restrains her hunger. She disguises herself as human and lives quietly on Earth, occasionally feeding on alien bioweapons or dangerous viruses.

Even so, as time passes, she becomes more and more like her father. Her hunger grows insatiable.

Before, a little could last her for a while. But now her "meals" have to be larger and larger. If she doesn’t eat her fill, nothing can satisfy her.

There’s simply no avoiding it.

...

Meanwhile.

After another day of slacking off, Lorien was happily clocking out. But just as he stepped out, his phone rang. Natasha was calling.

"Hello."

"Lorien, off work already?"

"You timed this call, didn’t you?"

"Mm... the timing just worked out."

"Then get to the point."

"Alright. Banner seems to be having some kind of mental problem. We need you to take a look."

Banner’s back? Oh right, he came with Thor.

Lorien nodded, then snapped his fingers with Aria.

Snap—

The next instant, the three of them appeared right behind Natasha. She was still holding her phone.

"Lorien?"

"Right here."

He patted her shoulder.

Natasha jumped in surprise, clutching her phone. She looked at Lorien, then at Aria behind him.

"What... is this?"

Aria’s appearance unsettled her. She had no face, like a machine, yet somehow seemed human. Her body looked metallic, yet also like skin. It was impossible to tell if she was made of metal—or if someone was inside a suit.

"This is my..." Lorien paused to think. "Call them whatever you like. They’re secretaries, butlers, and maids all at once. The one without vests is Aria. The one with vests is Bella."

After the introduction, Natasha looked at Aria.

Aria nodded politely.

"Hello, Miss Natasha."

Natasha nodded back.

"You two... Bella, Aria."

Then she glanced helplessly at Lorien.

"So I have no hope of finding a job after retiring from the Avengers, huh?"

Uh...

Lorien thought for a moment.

"If they’re capable secretaries, I’ll take as many as I can."

Natasha rolled her eyes.

Tap, tap—

Someone was approaching. Natasha instantly straightened her expression, regaining her cool composure.

"Banner’s in a strange state. I need you to check him."

Lorien nodded.

"Lead the way."

Natasha turned and walked ahead. As they rounded a corner, they ran into Falcon.

He froze for a moment when he saw Lorien—then froze again when he noticed Aria.

Natasha only gave him a short reply.

"Go see Banner."

Then she moved on without pause.

Once past Falcon, Lorien smiled at Natasha as he walked beside her.

"Always keeping a poker face around the base?"

Natasha shot him a look. The answer was clear.

...

Before long, Lorien, Natasha, and Aria reached Banner’s resting place.

He wasn’t inside his room. Instead, he sat outside in a corner, silent, basking in the sunlight without saying a word.

Lorien glanced at Natasha.

She explained,

"He returned with Thor in Hulk form, but he was... terrified. Curled up into a ball. When Hawkeye and I called out to him, Hulk roared suddenly, then transformed back into an unconscious Banner."

"When he woke up, he became like this. Almost... withdrawn."

"We ran a check while he was out. Physically he’s fine. It seems to be something mental."

Mental issues, huh. That was Lorien’s specialty as a "normal" man. Though, being abnormal was one of his strengths too.

He nodded and stepped forward.

Natasha quickly caught his arm.

"Careful. He’s quicker to anger now than before, and he loses control without warning."

"I got it."

Lorien gently pushed her hand away and approached Banner.

Before even reaching him, he called out from a distance.

"Banner."

To be honest, Natasha hadn’t expected any response. They had tried calling him before, and he hadn’t reacted at all.

But the moment Lorien’s voice sounded, Banner froze, then suddenly whipped his head around!

In that instant, his expression shifted into Hulk’s, a green light flickering in his pupils.

From a distance, Natasha tensed.

Aria noticed her unease and spoke calmly.

"Lorien, be careful."

"Don’t worry, Miss Natasha, trust our master."

Natasha nodded at first—then paused as the word sank in.

Master?

Playing it that way, huh?

...

On the other side, Lorien had already walked up to Banner. He looked at Banner’s restless state and snapped his fingers in front of his eyes.

Snap—

Banner suddenly began to gasp for breath.

"Huff... huff..."

Lorien pulled up a chair, leaned back, crossed his legs, and waited for Banner to settle down.

What he had done was simple.

Step one: a mental scan. Banner’s and Hulk’s wills were entangled, confusing each other—mainly because Banner was at a loss, while Hulk was fearful and disoriented.

Step two: forcibly and precisely separate their two wills, letting each calm down.

Step three: suppress both sides with his overwhelming mental force. Quick, efficient, no words needed.

Seriously, what era is this?

Still using talk therapy for the mind?

It’s about time to use magic instead.

...

Not long after, Banner steadied himself. He looked at Lorien with gratitude.

"Thanks. Long time no see."

"It has been a while."

Seeing his old client, Lorien gave a helpless smile. Banner was someone he had met not long after first arriving in the Marvel Universe. To be exact, Banner was the very first superhero he had personally trained.

"Phew..."

Banner let out a long breath and began explaining.

"I don’t know what’s wrong with Hulk. Lately he’s been overwhelming me."

"It’s like there are two people living in my head."

"It’s not that I didn’t want to talk to Natasha or Hawkeye just now—it’s just that whenever I tried, Hulk would rage in my mind."

"Now it finally feels better. But what’s going on? Will it happen again, Lorien?"

Lorien nodded.

"Yes, it will."

"Oh no..."

Banner groaned, clutching his hair.

"This is unbearable. I thought I had already solved this problem."

Lorien shook his head.

"No, you didn’t solve it. What you dealt with was Hulk’s immature will. But now his will has grown, especially during the time you were away from Earth."

"It must have been Hulk who dominated your actions then. During that time, he developed a complete self-awareness. He’s no longer just your second personality."

"Now Hulk is Hulk, and you are you."

The words hit Banner hard. He didn’t quite understand.

"You’re saying... I’ve actually got two people living in my head? One’s me, and one’s Hulk?"

Lorien nodded.

"Yes."

"This... Then what am I supposed to do?" Banner was stunned.

He had always thought it was some sort of split personality. Like Moon Knight. But the reality was that two separate people really lived in his mind.

"What else can you do?"

Lorien shrugged.

"Just treat your brain like a two-bedroom apartment. The more in sync you become, the more likely you’ll merge again—since your soul’s essence is the same."

"How long that takes depends on you."

Banner rubbed his face with both hands, speechless. But there was no way around it. Both wills came from the same soul. It wasn’t possible to separate them.

So they had to live together.

Like a married couple who couldn’t divorce but still had to share the same home.

If they could get along, they would.

If they couldn’t, they still had to.

In short, coexistence was the only option.

The best solution was for both sides to compromise. Living together as best they could.

"I..."

Banner now understood. There was no other choice. But knowing a way forward was better than being lost.

"Alright. Okay. No problem. I’ll try."

He took a deep breath.

"I’ll try to get along with Hulk."

The moment Banner said this, Hulk’s will inside him stirred, signaling his agreement.

That settled it.

Clap, clap—

Lorien clapped his hands and stood.

"After-sales service complete. Time to go home."

Ahem. To be fair, Wanda had probably played a role in how Banner and Hulk ended up like this. Lorien just treated it as cleaning up after her mess while doing some maintenance work. Best to settle it all together.

...

After finishing with Banner, Lorien walked back to Natasha’s side.

Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs ɴoᴠel Fɪre.nᴇt

Natasha glanced at the now-calm Banner, astonished.

"So fast?"

"Uh..." Lorien gave a hesitant smile. "When I need to be fast, I’m fast. When I shouldn’t be, I’m very slow."

Natasha turned, smiling at him.

"So, you’ve got your yacht now?"

"I do," Lorien nodded. "But... it’s bigger than your average yacht."

Natasha blinked, looked at him, then at the others approaching. She spoke quickly.

"Then, when I have the time—and if fate allows—let’s take it out. Just you and me."

Lorien lifted a hand, making an OK gesture.

...

By then, the rest of the Avengers had arrived after hearing Lorien had treated Banner. Falcon, Hawkeye, Thor, Loki, Vision, and several others.

As they turned a corner on their way over, Loki’s pupils shrank. He quickly tapped Thor’s arm.

Thor was still spacing out, but after being tapped a few times, he turned toward Loki in confusion.

Loki gestured frantically with his eyes—toward the elegant Aria standing behind Lorien.

Thor turned his head, and his eyes went wide.

But Loki immediately whispered to him.

"No. Stay quiet. Just pretend you don’t know anything. Nothing happened. We’ll deal with it later."

Thor thought it over and nodded. Thankfully, they were walking in the back.

A moment later, both groups came together.

Thor and Loki acted like they hadn’t noticed anything. But Thor’s acting wasn’t great—he instinctively rubbed his nose.

Hawkeye first looked at Banner. Then, noticing something, he asked—

"Is Banner okay?"

Natasha nodded.

"Yes."

After hearing the news, Hawkeye immediately stepped forward and offered his hand to Lorien.

"Thank you, Dr. Su. Thank you for your help."

"You’re welcome." Lorien shook his hand. "Strictly speaking, this counts as after-sales service."

"After-sales service?" Hawkeye was taken aback.

Natasha stepped in to explain.

"Actually, Banner has been Lorien’s client for a year or two already."

"Really? What a coincidence." Hawkeye chuckled.

And by coincidence, he meant fate.

As a first-generation Avenger, Thor also felt he should thank Lorien for helping his teammate. But earlier he’d been told not to act too forward, so now his social instincts left him at a loss.

What should he do?

From the side, Loki tilted his head and gave him a look, signaling for him to just go.

Thor caught it, immediately stepped up, and extended his hand.

"Me too. Thank you for helping Banner."

Lorien shook his hand as well.

"You’re welcome."

...

After greeting the ones he knew, Lorien turned to Natasha.

"I’ll head back first. You all stay with Banner, talk with him, and cheer him up."

Natasha nodded, then added,

"I’ll walk you to the door."

The two of them, along with Aria, left first while the others went to check on Banner.

When they reached the entrance, Lorien flexed his fingers lightly.

"Alright, no need to see me off. I’m going."

Natasha nodded. Then she raised her hand to her ear and made a gesture—the sign for a phone call. In context, it meant: wait for my call... or let’s stay in touch.

Lorien gave a small nod, then snapped his fingers.

Snap—

And he vanished on the spot.

Natasha’s eyes widened before she gradually composed herself again. She had only just learned that Lorien could teleport—and all it took was a snap of his fingers.

Silently, she returned to the group.

...

The others were still chatting with Banner.

Banner waved his hands.

"I’m fine now, really. Don’t worry. Why don’t we all go grab dinner instead?"

Everyone agreed, and soon they were heading toward the restaurant.

Thor sidled up quietly to Natasha and whispered,

"Uh... aren’t you curious about the blonde... doll behind Dr. Su? Yeah, what exactly is that doll?"

Natasha glanced at him.

Thor quickly made up an excuse.

"We used to have similar dolls in Asgard. They had iron shells, so I was just curious."

Natasha nodded and answered directly.

"I’m not sure. To be honest, today was the first time I’ve seen them. Lorien is a psychologist, that’s why I asked him to treat Banner. Those two dolls are probably just his assistants."

Hearing this, Thor looked at Loki.

Loki instantly covered his head with a weak groan, pretending to be dizzy.

Thor’s eyes lit up. He pulled Loki closer and said softly,

"My brother’s brain was damaged in battle. He needs a psychologist. Do you have a number, or an address—anything?"

At that, Loki rolled his eyes upward and kept looking away, as if utterly done with it all.