Chapter two of Mission to Skull Island.
Story[]
In the Skull Island village Kit and his friends told the story of the Avro-York plane being attacked near the island and had crashed here, and that the Jungle-Aces came to rescue any survivors. The natives eat up every word: they would allow the teens to go off and find that plane, but it won't be easy as the location the plane crashed was well-known for having a high density of predators (if there were survivors, they may not last long). Also the leader Megaprimatus has requested the boys to take off their shirts and jackets for a ritual that was being conducted. Currently they were standing at attention as the gorilla picks up a handful of giant insect-larva before facing the gang and speaking in his language, which Kit translated "he says this might not be pleasant", then the gorilla flings them onto the boys where by command the larva began to paint them in a dark-blue goo, "hey hahaha that tickles" Felix giggled from the treatment, "is this really necessary?" Sam complains feeling very uncomfortable, "it's part of their tradition: their island their rules" Kit advised: and yes it was a custom among the islanders for males to be body-painted for a rite of passage (though the rite of passage was usually a sacrifice), that and the island's tropical climate made top-wear to be unnecessary, and sometimes a burden, the boys were painted pictures all over: small crescents dotted their left-cheeks each, plus fake claw-marks on the right-half of their foreheads, their lower-arms were decorated with stripes, but the most notable feature was the drawings of skulls on their chests, complete with the eye-sockets encircling their nipples (or where nipples would be in Bert's case), and it may look scary, but the natives see it as a sign of hope and good-luck, and once the larva were done they drop off and slither away, while the boys were given a large reflective crystal to admire themselves, "well hello good looking" Ernie said looking at his reflection, "wow, they look like tattoos" Bert comments, "too bad I'm gonna have to get rid of them when we're done so my mom doesn't freak, I kinda like it" Oscar remarks, "alright boys, you had your fun, now lets get this over with" Rey orders and they head outside. Amid the wall that protects the village from the wilderness, complete with some Dragonskins (a monitor-lizard) crawling about, torches were lit and the bridge used for sacrifices was dropped. Luckily for the Jungle-Aces, they won't be offered up to some kind of monster like Ant Darrow (the Talespin analogue of Ann Darrow) and wild Megaprimatus are largely extinct, so the islanders were doing a different kind of ceremony where it is meant be an S.O.S kind of signal rather than a sacrifice to appease. "What kind of creature are they trying to summon" Ernie whispers to the others as they were let through the gate to the bridge: even after the paint had dried, they were forbidden to put their shirts back on (not that they would be of much help in this hothouse anyway, though they could keep their flight-caps on), but they were allowed to bring their weapons, and were given some Skull Island-spears as an extra precaution should they come across a killer animal (each carried at least one big gun slung behind them as well as pistols and melee weapons). Rey was instructed to leave her jacket behind so as to not overheat in the climate and she couldn't argue with that. Once they cross the bridge they could hear something approaching, something big, and eventually it reveals itself: an Atercurisaurus; a relic species of stegosaur who like Megaprimatus is also in danger of extinction, mostly because they're the island's pickiest eaters; they eat only a handful of fern-species that are difficult to find and often have to share it with other herbivores, this one was a male as it was common for the male of this species to be loners, he was also quite fit-looking, and because of their decline in numbers they replaced the Megaprimatus as a revered species. It walks over to the teenagers and they stare at each other in curiosity and fascination, "it really does look like a Stegosaurus, only spikier" Sam remarks as the dinosaur bellows and lowers itself to beckon a ride, though they weren't exactly sure how to get on, "uh okay, let's see..." Rey began and climbs up on its back, trying to sit herself in-between the plates, and surprisingly the stegosaur widens the spaces in-between to allow accommodation, and one-by-one they climb aboard (Kit sitting on the base of its neck, in front of Rey, while Ernie sat behind her, Oscar behind Ernie, Bert behind Oscar, Sam behind Bert and finally Felix behind Sam). The Islanders gave them a farewell cheer before they set off. The inland jungle sure looked spooky in the dark, and it was already dusk. A few Aerosaurus (a bizarre-looking flying-lizard) occasionally darted to and fro around them, along with Skull Island White Bats (actually a flying-rodent that mimics bats), and an Ornate Carrion Beetle (a beetle similar to the burying-beetle) scuttles across the ground to avoid being stepped on. While these creatures were fascinating, there's no telling what they will encounter in their quest.
Back on the beach near the village, the young Venatosaurus from earlier walks to the PBY-Catalina-flying-boat still stuck between the rocks. The dead Nefundusaurus was still there, but he got over losing it to Ernie, and now was more curious about the plane: he walks over to the Catalina, tapping it's hull which resulted in a metal-clang echoing over the beach. Then he walks to its door and with slight difficulty opens it and enters, he explores the interior with awe before finishing in the cockpit. Out of curiosity he flips a switch and the plane comes to life: lights turn on, engines hum, the raptor was startled for a second, but also amazed and fiddles with more switches, causing one heck of a ruckus until he heard someone yell at him, making him stop and turn around, but relaxes when he sees it was his two friends: a Megapede and a Terapusmordax, both female. They scold him for messing with the foreign object, but he argues he's gotten to know how it works and shows it, and the bug and winged-rodent had to admit they were impressed, so they joined in the fun for awhile before deciding it was enough and switch everything off, then leave so they wouldn't get in trouble, but the raptor thought about fallowing the newcomers, much to the girl's shock: the centipede objecting that it was suicide to go inland anywhere, but the raptor counters that they have managed to colonize every corner of the island beyond the wall, and they had gone a few times when they were younger, despite their parents' disprovable. The raptor remarks the Jungle-Aces will need a local guide that's sentient rather than some animal incase they came across another village, which the flying-rodent remarked was a possibility, and even the Megapede agrees, but still didn't think it was a good idea since none of them had slain a local predator to prove their worth, but the Venatosaurus argues that they survived trekking out before (again when they were younger), so they surely can do it now and better, and the Megapede relents. So when they got back to their homes they gathered up some tools to use and sneak out to the gate, but since the bridge was raised up as usual, they had to climb down the chasm beneath the bridge, which would be dangerous, since the chasm is home to flesh-eating bugs and lava, but they've faced scarier.
As for the Jungle-Aces and their little mount, they continue to trek, going down a hill where they come to a clearing in front of an abyssal-chasm, with grazing Ferrucutus (another ceratopsian) about. "Wow" Bert whistles as they decide to stop and rest for a moment to watch: most Ferrucutus were eating, though two males were duking it out with each other near the chasm, the noise also attracting some Arachno-Claws (a giant bug resembling a pseudoscorpion, but is in the insect family) from the chasm hoping for an accident, and eventually one of the fighting Ferrucutus gets injured and bleeding, quickly the bugs leap out and attack the wounded dinosaur, causing the heard to panic, only for another predator to arrive: a Bidensaurus (a relic gorgonopsian), which had also been attracted by the commotion and tries to steal a bite, only to be driven off by the Arachno-claws who have the number advantage, undaunted the synapsid looks around the ceratopsians hoping for one in poor state it could tackle, until it sets its sights on the Jungle-Aces, who noticed, "uh oh" Felix mutters not liking the way the Bidensaurus was looking at them, suddenly the Bidensaurus darts into the undergrowth to sneak up to them, "where'd it go where'd it go?" Bert panics drawing his barrowed spear up, "calm down" Kit orders while readying himself when suddenly their Atercurisaurus guide thrusts its tail in a random direction, exposing the gorgonopsian who tries again to attack, but the stegosaur will have none of it and swings his tail repeatedly to ward the predator off, and the Bidensaurus finally gives up and leaves, "ok, that was close" Oscar remarks, "we should keep moving" Kit suggested and they walk off with the stegosaur leading the way.
Stay tuned for Mission to Skull Island, Chapter three