Well damn, we're about to enter a new year and a new decade. This feels like a good time to reveal how much of AoW is left...and I'm happy to say that as of this chapter, we are exactly three quarters of the way through. I finally got every chapter written earlier this month, and as of right now, I am all set to conclude this story in February. Thanks to everyone who has been reading and enjoying this fic!

Lois Lane: Investigation into the incident at a charity event hosted by multibillionaire and LexCorp CEO Lex Luthor is still underway, as there has yet to be a motive found for why John Corben and Sinthea Krieger attacked the guests at the event. Mr. Luthor has gone on record stating that he is just as baffled by the attack as everyone else –

As Lois Lane could be seen, reporting the news, Kings Orin and T'Challa sat at the Vanguard roundtable, with T'Challa wearing black and golden robbing while Orin donned his usual green and orange attire. T'Challa had in front of him a green mug full of coffee, and as Lois continued to report on the recent attack by Hydra, T'Challa took a sip out of his coffee – and reluctantly swallowed.

"This…? This is the beverage that the West goes crazy over?"

Orin, who stood there a few feet away from T'Challa with his arms crossed, chuckled. "Agreed. I've never been one for coffee myself."

"It's bizarre how fanatical so many people are for this drink."

"Agreed. Say you don't like pop or tea, no one bats an eye. Say you don't like coffee and everyone loses their minds."

T'Challa stood up and stretched his arms, before saying, "King Orin, would you walk with me?"

Orin nodded.

Then a picture of King T'Challa popped up on the screen. T'Challa remembered taking that photo years ago, when he was officially crowned as the King of Wakanda. In the photo, he could be seen wearing the same black and gold robbing that he donned now, and he bore a smile on his face; the only difference was that he did not bare any of his facial hair in the photo.

'The presence of King T'Challa, in his mantle of Black Panther, has gained particular interest from the public' Lois said on the TV; while she was not able to be seen, her voice was playing over the picture, and continued as it cut to footage of Lex Luthor's mansion. 'This is one of the few times either King T'Challa or King Orin have directly participated in any missions with the Vanguard, and their membership remains as controversial as ever –'

Orin rolled his eyes. "Okay, we don't need to hear about our controversial presences again. I'll change the channel."

"Good call, good call," T'Challa stated.

As Orin changed the channel to a documentary about the Liberty Brigade and their years during World War II and shortly after the war, T'Challa thought of some of the comments he had heard about his and Orin's membership to the Vanguard of Justice since its founding. 'T'Challa and Orin being in the Vanguard of Justice is one of the most baffling and illogical things I have ever seen'. 'Why on Earth are not one, but two members of royalty fighting alongside the likes of Superman and Iron Man as superheroes?' 'Two kings on this team? What does this say about America's relations to Atlantis and Wakanda versus how the two kingdoms react to the rest of the world'. Comments like the third one only began popping up after Attuma was overthrown and Orin became King of Atlantis, but they were no less annoying to the African king.

T'Challa looked up at the screen; it was a picture of Namor, Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, and the other Liberty Brigadiers, at the funeral of Captain America in 1945. He then turned his attention from the screen to Orin. "Orin, don't you ever find it a bit interesting that few people raised their voices when your father pledged himself to fight alongside the Liberty Brigade?"

"I have pondered that. I think it comes down to the fact that they were fighting in a war, which neither you nor I have done with Vanguard, barring the invasion of Atlantis."

"Right, that makes sense," T'Challa responded. "But fighting alongside Superman, Wonder Woman, and Captain America brings me a great sense of pride that being an ordinary ruler would not be able to top – even if my Elders don't approve of it. Oh, but man, every time I come home to Wakanda, Shuri will be there to greet me and ask me all kinds of questions about the Vanguard Tower."

Orin chuckled. "Shuri….question, have you told her about any of the others' secret identities?"

T'Challa stretched his arms. "No, out of respect for all of their privacies," he said, before clasping his hands. "Though she has Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark on her list of candidates for Batman and Iron Man. She has around a dozen and a half candidates for Batman, and two dozen for Iron Man, as there are not many people in the world who could afford their gadgets."

"I imagine Bruce and Stark would be upset if she was able to figure it out."

T'Challa had a smile on his face, one that faded away as he came to a realization: His sister had always called him at least three times a day up to this point, at 2:45 p.m. Eastern Time, to bug and tease him about one thing or another…but he hadn't heard from her once today. He abruptly got out of his seat, which made Orin raise an eyebrow.

"Everything okay, T'Challa?"

"I'm about to find out."

T'Challa grabbed out a circular device, which appeared to be the Wakandan equivalent of a smart phone, and began pressing some buttons in an attempt to call his sister. But to no avail. Part of him tried to assure the other part that it wasn't really that big a deal…..but it seemed that no matter how busy Shuri would get before, she would always find time to bug T'Challa, be it about life with the Vanguard or something going on in Wakanda.

T'Challa knew that Orin would just keep asking questions, so he turned to him and told him straight-up what was happening. "I haven't heard from Shuri at all today….I just wanted to be sure that nothing was happening."

"You're a good brother."

Before T'Challa could think of a response to that, the teleporter could be heard activating, and both of the kings walked up out of the conference room and looked down at the lowest level of the Vanguard Tower, to see Thor and Wonder Woman.

Despite the long distance between the floors, Thor spoke so loud that his voice could heard by both T'Challa and Orin. "We need to get the entire Vanguard on this!" Thor shouted as he and Wonder Woman flew up. "Not even Heimdall can see what's become of Sif or Valkyrie! The Vanguard is the only team that can find either of them."

T'Challa blanked on the name 'Valkyrie'. He could recall 'Sif' from what he had learned about Norse mythology in the past, but couldn't think of a person named 'Valkyrie'; he knew of 'the Valkyries' from Norse legend, that the term was used to describe a group of female figures. Specifically, they were the choosers of the slain who ferried the souls of the honored dead to the afterlife. But he had never heard the term be used as an actual name before.

It was then that T'Challa noticed the newspaper in Wonder Woman's hand. "Do not worry, Thor. The rest of the Vanguard will likely have no problem helping to find Sif and Valkyrie," she assured the Norse god.

T'Challa saw a brief glimpse of the newspaper that Wonder Woman held in her hand, and recognized a picture; it was partially obscured by Wonder Woman's hand, but he had seen it earlier in the day: It was of a boy named Billy Batson, who had disappeared two nights a go without a trace, along with a mysterious man named James Howlett; on only one day, T'Challa had seen an Internet theory about a man who was believed to be immortal, and that man bore the face of James Howlett. He had thought little of it at the time, but perhaps the truth would be uncovered soon.

Then Wonder Woman turned her attention to Orin and T'Challa. "Your highnesses, would either of you find the time to help Thor search for his lost comrades?"

"I'm afraid I cannot, not right now at least," T'Challa responded, shaking his heads and moving his hands up into the air. "Well…maybe…I first need to find out if my sister is alright. If she is alright, I would be honored to aid in the search of Sif and this 'Valkyrie' woman."

Wonder Woman then focused her attention exclusively on Orin, who let out a 'hmm' and looked down at the ground. "I hope I can, but if T'Challa needs any help finding his sister…"

"Do not worry about me, King Orin. I appreciate your concern, but if anything has happened to Shuri, I feel I should look into it myself; help Thor and Diana."

But then, static appeared on the monitor, causing everyone to go quiet for a few moments.

Orin went to try and turn the monitor off, but nothing was happening. The static appeared. Thor began to swing his hammer, but Diana placed her hands on his arm to stop him.

"Are you out of your damn mind, Thor?! We can't just destroy the monitor! Stark and Wayne will lose their minds!"

"Diana, you know very well that neither of them could take me on in a fight."

"But do you really want to hear them rant for an hour about how nothing in the Tower is cheap?"

Thor was about to say something, but then looked down at the ground, and nodded in agreement.

Then, the static stopped, and T'Challa's mouth went agape when he saw who was on the screen.

Gorilla Grodd.

'Hello there, ,King T'Challa' Grodd said, with an enormous smirk on his face.

Thor, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman all raised their eyebrows.

"Is that a talking monkey?" Thor asked.

"Technically, gorillas are apes," Aquaman responded. "But it does seem to be a talking ape."

'I know you've been wondering what happened to your sister, T'Challa,' Grodd said on the TV monitor, causing T'Challa to grit his teeth and almost charge towards the monitor.

"Gorilla City is supposed to be at peace with Wakanda, Grodd!"

Grodd chuckled. "It was at peace, under King Solovar. But I have deposed Solovar and taken control of Gorilla City. And we have launched a major assault on Wakanda. We have already killed thousands of your people. Shuri is locked up in Gorilla City; she is still alive…because I want you to see my kill her myself.'

"But you supposed to be executed this morning! Your powers were blocked! How on Earth did you escape prison?!"

"Patience is key, King T'Challa. Sometimes, a person must plan for the long term if they are to fulfill their goals. But rest assured, Wakanda will fall. And when the most advanced country in the world falls, it won't be long before every other nation follows suit. You are welcome to bring your super friends with you. I could use a good challenge."

Grodd let out another, louder chuckle, before he vanished from the screen.

"T'Challa…" Diana asked. "Who exactly is that Grodd? What is Gorilla City?"

T'Challa sighed and closed his eyes. "We need the entire Vanguard here."

T'Challa was all dressed up as Black Panther now, and he stood before the Vanguard roundtable with Superman; Aquaman, Thor, and Wonder Woman were all seated, as were Iron Man, Batman, Captain America, Green Lantern, Captain Marvel, Flash, Wasp, Ant-Man, and Zatanna. The Martian Manhunter was absent, for he still lied in the medical room, recovering from the disastrous incident with the Hulk.

Black Panther used a Wakandan device to bring up three images: One of Gorilla Grodd, one of a white gorilla, and another of what appeared to be a highly advanced city – Gorilla City; it looked like pictures that had been publicly released of Wakanda, except in this city, the building were colored gold and there was noticeably more forest and jungle visible by the buildings than would be see in Wakanda. T'Challa took a moment to breathe heavily before he began.

"While Wakanda may have revealed itself years ago, there is another location in Africa that remains hidden from the modern world: Gorilla City," T'Challa began, while Superman crossed his eyes and looked at the images intently. "Gorilla City technically lies within the borders of Wakanda, which should help explain why you've never even heard of them given my own nation's history of secrecy. But I can assure you, they are very much their own thing, and Wakanda has had peace with Gorilla City for centuries…until now.""

There was a few seconds of silence before Wasp broke it. "I'm…not even shocked at the idea of talking monkeys –"

"Apes", Hank interjected.

"…Right. Talking apes before, but how did they achieve sentience?"

"They were exposed to alien technology thousands of years ago, when a spacecraft crash landed into the jungles of central Africa. I believe the ship belonged to the 'Kree' that some of you encountered a while ago. But in any case, whatever was on that ship granted the nearby gorillas sentience – and telepathic abilities."

"Well, wait a minute," Hal piped in, raising his hand. "How come none of the other animals in these jungles were affected like that?"

"I have wondered about that question myself for a long time. Unfortunately, the answer has long since been lost to history. But now, onto the two gorillas you see before you."

The hologram showing Gorilla City was removed, and the pictures of Grodd and the other gorilla were enlarged. "The albino gorilla is King Solovar, who until recently was the King of Gorilla City. King Solovar has always been a wise and peaceful ruler, but was very adamant about the outside world sans Wakanda not knowing about Gorilla City. Grodd, on the other hand, is a vicious and murderous monster of a gorilla. He is one of the worst criminals the city has ever seen, to the point that he was set to be the first gorilla to be publicly executed in decades. And Grodd has always wanted to expose Gorilla City to the human world…right before he would kill every person on the planet. He views mankind as a disease that the world must be cured of. And now he is up to something…and the whole world is at major risk."

"So," Superman said, cupping his chin as he continued to look at the images of Grodd and Solovar. "You want us to go to Wakanda and aid you in deposing Grodd before he brings mankind to its knees?"

"Correct. The Elders of Wakanda will not be happy that I am bringing in outsiders…but they're not here, so they don't get to make the shots."

Superman smiled. "Right. I will gladly go to Wakanda with you, T'Challa."

"As will all of us," Cap then said.

But T'Challa wondered…would everyone really be on board? He wondered about Thor and Wonder Woman, given what they were conversing right before Grodd sent his transmission to the Vanguard Tower. He turned his attention directly to the two.

"Do not worry, T'Challa," Thor said to Black Panther, as if he could read the latter's mind. "I shall assist you in saving your country. I hope to find Valkyrie and Sif as soon as possible, but I will help save your world if the entire Earth is at stake. Besides…the two were actually last heard from in Africa. I have no idea what they were doing there, but that's the last place Heimdall saw them."

"Africa is a very big place, Thor. It may look as big as South America on the maps, but in reality it is almost twice the size of that other continent."

"Well, I think Heimdall mentioned that they were somewhere in the jungle regions of Africa, but even if they aren't there…it's a start, at least.'

Black Panther nodded. Then the holographic pictures of Grodd and Solovar disappeared, replaced by a picture of the Wakandan capital. "We shall leave in a few minutes, then. I don't know how far into his plan Grodd is, which means we must go as soon as possible."

While Superman began preparing for the others to move out, Black Panther looked at the image of Wakanda. It had sleek and slender designs to its buildings that were still considered 'futuristic' by the rest of the world. In that specific picture, the sun shone brightly on the massive buildings, making it look even more beautiful to Black Panther. A lush green jungle surrounded the city, and T'Challa had so many memories of going into that jungle. He started intensely at the picture for a few more moments, before he deactivated the device and moved out with the other Vanguardians.

And he hoped that his sister was alive, and that Wakanda could still be saved.