Chapter 161: The Gorilla on the stage. 2010 CE

Fury was sitting in front of a clear glass as the podium for King Grodd’s speech was being made in the distance. In front of him was a laptop, he was opening a window that had a couple of folders in it.

There are nine folders inside the folder.

1 Subject: 420//69_Immortal_GOD

2 Subject: 420//69_Immortal_GOW

3 Subject: 420//69_Immortal_TFW

4 Subject: 420//69_Immortal_CTS

5 Subject: 420//69_Immortal_TCA

6 Subject: 420//69_Immortal_COG

7 Subject: 420//69_Ringbearer_AOD

8 Subject: 420//69_Ringbearer_TIS

9 Subject: 420//69_Ringbearer_QOE

Fury stared at the files for a little while, before adding another folder inside the folder.

10 Subject: 420//69_Ringbearer_KOA

Fury touched his non-existent beard and went into deep thought. He clicked the button, and the folders expanded, displaying the content of those folders. When expanded, it just showed numbers, year to be exact.

1 Subject: 420//69_Immortal_GOD

-> MYTHS

->1193 BCE

->480 BCE

->340 BCE - Unconfirmed

->48 BCE

->400 CE - Unconfirmed

->460 CE

->965 CE

->1090 CE

->1431 CE

->1519 CE

->1612 CE

-> 1700 - 1820 CE

-> 1900 - 1999 CE

-> 2000 CE - Present

2 Subject: 420//69_Immortal_GOW

->MYTHS

->1193 BCE

->525 BCE

->400 CE - Unconfirmed

->460 CE

->965 CE

->1090 CE

->1431 CE - Unconfirmed

->1519 CE

->1612 CE - Unconfirmed

-> 1700 - 1820 CE

-> 1900 - 1999 CE

-> 2000 CE - Present

3 Subject: 420//69_Immortal_TFW

->MYTHS

->1193 BCE

-> 525 BCE

-> 400 CE - Unconfirmed

-> 965 CE

-> 1519 CE

->1915 CE

-> Present

4 Subject: 420//69_Immortal_CTS

->MYTHS

->1193 BCE

-> 525 BCE

-> 400 CE

-> 965 CE

-> 1519 CE

-> 1850 CE

5 Subject: 420//69_Immortal_TCA

->MYTHS

->1193 BCE

-> 525 BCE

-> 400 CE - Unconfirmed

-> 965 CE

-> 1519 CE

-> 1908 CE

-> 1945 CE

-> Present

6 Subject: 420//69_Immortal_COG

-> Present

7 Subject: 420//69_Ringbearer_AOD

-> 1431 CE

->1890 CE

8 Subject: 420//69_Ringbearer_TIS

->1612 CE

-> 1950 CE

9 Subject: 420//69_Ringbearer_QOE

-> 48 BCE

-> Present

10 Subject: 420//69_Ringbearer_KOA

-> [Empty]

Fury cleared his throat. “Enter Log Entry, Subject: 420//69_Ringbearer_KOA. It appears that King Grodd is also a ring bearer. I saw it myself. The glowing blue ring around his finger, but what’s the meaning of the colours? Do they give different powers? Is it knowledge? I am inclined to choose the latter, the Zimeran Society has advanced too fast in terms of human standard, based on what I saw today, I am not surprised that they are capable of interstellar travel, proceed with caution.”

As the log was processed, Fury massaged his wide forehead and sighed. When the log was stored, he closed the laptop, before watching the podium be built again, thinking about the folders he just saw.

—

When the time came, people were eagerly waiting just in front of the podium to see a ‘spectacle’ of the decade. People rarely see talking Gorillas, only a select few people got to interact with them, but now, they could see them in person.

A woman then walked towards the podium with a warm smile.

“So, from faraway lands across the ocean, we are honoured that the distinguished fellow that will be giving a speech after this has accepted our invitation to the Stark Expo this year. I can only say that this is a momentous occasion for not only Stark Industries, not only the people of the United States of America, but for the world. Representing the Zimeran Kingdom and the Simian kind of the world, please, give him a warm welcome, King Grodd of Zimera!”

Loud cheers and applause instantly exploded as the woman exited the podium. It was deafening to say the least, people were excited to see real life King Kong. Suddenly, loud footsteps could be heard from backstage, the anticipation was through the roof, and then, he appeared.

King Grodd, with his crown, walked to the stage. He was wearing a white lab coat that perfectly fit him and glasses.

The audience froze as he saw Grodd. He was huge, way bigger than normal humans, he could probably crush an adult man in an instant with just his grip.

King Grodd walked proudly to the middle of the stage, and stood in front of the audience.

It was quiet now, nobody moved at all.

“Good evening.” he said calmly, everyone could hear him talking, which made everyone gulped in surprise, even though they knew he could talk. “You probably know me already from the woman that introduced me earlier. But, let’s forget all of those titles for an hour. I am not here as king of Zimera, I am not here representing my kind to your people. No. I am here, as an ape of Science, I am here as a denizen of earth, sharing what I know to the world.”

Grodd looked at the audience, and saw someone familiar. It was Pluto, Thena, and Helios sitting together in front seats. He smiled at them, and continued as he fixed his glasses.

“I remember when I was young,” he said. “All I ever think of… was how do I save my kind from the surrounding humans? We are just mere apes, capable of limited thinking unlike you all…”

Grodd walked around the podium with his hands on his back. “But then, a miracle happened. An event so astoundingly impactful to my kind, that we probably won’t be here if not for that… but that is a story for another day, the point is, my kind survived, and here we are.”

Grodd then sat on the edge of the podium so casually, not befitting for a king at all. “Those days of thinking how will my kind survive is no more, instead, it was replaced by ‘how do I make my kind thrive?’, It was this kind of thinking that catapulted my kind to the state that it is now. Me, and my kind worked together, to better ourselves instead of squabbling for territory and petty arguments among the leaders, we helped each other, that’s it.”

Grodd then threw a ball towards the middle of the podium, which scared people a bit, and that made Grodd smile.

The ball then expanded, and a hologram suddenly appeared in the middle of the stage, making a lot of people gasp in surprise.

“This is my home.” he said, the hologram showed Zimera, with all its technological advances. Metal-like homes were clinging into trees, there weren't any cars, instead, floating boxes were hovering around the place, all controlled by some kind of system. Below them were the wetlands, where people travelled by hovering boats. 

“This is my kind.” he continued. The hologram changed to that of Simians, talking blissfully inside a house. A female ape was caring for her newborn, and it was a happy family.

Grodd stood silently besides the hologram, and smiled as he saw the reaction of disbelief and awe. He turned off the hologram, and changed it to his face.

“I know that our relationship between our kind and you isn’t friendly at all.” said Grodd calmly. “I know that you are envious about our technology, about our resources… A lot of world leaders have criticised me for it.”

Grodd walked to the centre of the stage again, and turned the ball towards the other direction. “Trust. It’s the most basic thing that a relationship should have. And I will be honest with you all, Vibranium? We have many of those in our home and we are ready to trade them to the world, but the thing is, can you be trusted?”

The scene of the hologram changed to that of war videos, which made a lot of parents close their children's eyes.

“This is in the 1900s” said Grodd, pointing at a video of a man with a missing hand. “Taken near our border, where Belgium used to occupy. Do you think we could trust people who have done this?”

“But we’ve changed!” a man shouted from the audience.

Grodd smiled. “Have you?”

The scene on the hologram changed to that of Hiroshima, it shows the mushroom cloud in the middle of the city. “What about this? Hiroshima, 1945. Your scientist found a way to harness the energy of nuclear reaction, but instead of researching it for sustainable energy, or researching it for medical breakthroughs, you used the knowledge to make bombs… now that doesn’t seem trustworthy to me…”

Grodd chuckled as the audience were quiet. He turned off the hologram, and walked to the front of the stage. “Now again, I am here now, not as the representative of Zimera, or the Simians, no, I am here, as a man of science, and a denizen of earth. If you want to see our kind’s invention, you can look at our area on the south part of the expo. You'll meet my scientist there, and they’ll explain it to you. But now, I just want to remind you about something.”

Grodd walked towards the edge of the stage as he looked at Pluto, who was smiling at him.

“I just wanted to say… that you are not alone on this earth,” said Grodd calmly. “This is not just your home, this is mine, this is ours. If we want to work together, we have to trust each other, we have to believe in each other. Now, we are at peace. Tomorrow? I do not know, and that worries me. For the leaders out there, I think it’s time to forget all your individual agendas, and start worrying about the future generations… your children, your grandchildren, your great-grandchildren, all of them.”

Grodd sighed as he looked around the audience, and smiled. “This is not the voice of a cowardly king… this is a voice of an old ape that is well past his time… I’m sure this speech is useless, but at least I have spoken my piece, I have reminded you, and it is up to you to take my words or not, because you are the one who will regret it, not me.”

Grodd looked at Pluto, and nodded, his eyes moved to Helios, who was watching him rather closely.

Grodd then spoke, while still looking at Helios. “Think of your children. That is all.”