"That's fine with me then... at least we can quickly ask Doc if he can get us a GPS locator or something just in case.", Susan said.
"If that's the case, then we better be fairly quick; I don't know how long the island will stay within range of the coastlines.", Mo replied.
Susan nodded, "Let's go then.", moving her legs off Mo's lap, and Mo got up first, helping Susan up with a grunt, and headed to Lacey and Doc's bunkhouse home after they got out of the hanger house.
With a quick explanation, Doc agreed to build the GPS locator while Susan and Mo packed some essentials, just some clothes and all, knowing that Mo's island home is plentiful of food and such, along with their cell phones and efficient solar chargers for their cell phones.
Within under 35 minutes, the GPS locator was successfully tested out thanks to Lacey's help, and so was given to Susan, and with hugs and kisses to some of the other residents including Steve, Peggy, and Henry, the couple set out, with Mo shifting to his gorilla form, growing up to 50 ft tall, with Susan holding tightly to his fur on his shoulder.
Mo then went to swim, following his core pulse of his Quantonium to the island's Quantonium, and under 20 minutes, Skull Island was in sight, and Mo climbed up into the cliffsides, and got through a minor gap to him, and stood on a platform of the insides of the cliffsides, revealing Skull Island before him and Susan.
Mo took a deep breath and glanced at Susan who was gently lowered down to the platform floor, and then gave out a loud, ear-piercing, echoing roar, thumping his chest, startling birds, animals, and near and far tribes, recognizing a true alpha from the sound of it.
He huffed and grunted, satisfied, and shifted back to human, shrinking down to join Susan, "I waited so long to do that...", a deep sigh escaping him.
"I know.", Susan smiled as she patted his back and sighed. "I have to say... I certainly had my ideas of this place... almost what I thought it would be.", she admitted.
"You mean, you imagined how it looked and it pretty much matched?", Mo raised an eyebrow. "You're a very vivid storyteller, great with details.", She chuckled.
Indeed, Skull Island wasn't a scary place, but rather a beautiful place of waterfalls, rivers, lakes, ponds, so many kinds of terrain like meadows, plains, forests, jungles, swamps, rolling hills, and many kinds of mountains like short, stocky ones, tall and spiny ones, wide and thick ones, and even smooth, thin ones.
Mo smiled, "Why, thank you...Let's see here, we're on the northwest side of the island...My tribe is on the other side of the island, on the southeast...About a week of travel if 10 ft tall, and about a day of travel if 50 ft tall... Do you want to explore, have an adventure?".
"I really want to explore, see everything, Mo. I may be pregnant, but I ain't helpless.", Susan nodded firmly, and Mo chuckled softly, "Of course. Here's the trail down.", gesturing to the worn trail down from the platform.
And so, they started their adventure, with Mo remembering things as he pointed them out, explaining here and there.
"So... I must know though, Mo...", Susan said as the two of them walked. "The monsters... this place is teaming with them, am I right?". Susan knew the stories that Mo told, but she wondered if it was either what she thought she knew from certain films or if maybe Mo was withholding some of that information when talking about his home.
Mo shook his head, "It was at first, actually. The Quantonium has multiplied the monsters, and when my ancestors were just starting out to get used to our powers and shapeshifting, the monsters gave all the tribes so much trouble, so we actually banded together to kill the monsters, and the troublesome ones became extinct while we kept a few of docile monsters for food and transportation when needed. Think of the docile monsters as a mix of donkeys mixed with cows. After all, some people are bound to get sick of coconut milk after a while, and some people are too old or too tired to walk around.".
"I see... so, there wasn't much in terms of... things that could really kill us now?", Susan wondered as Mo shrugged, "It's been some time... the tribes were fairly confident by the elimination of the most dangerous predators, but... there might still be some animals that can cause headaches.".
"But not like a prehistoric dinosaur that could be as big as our largest selves...", Susan replied softly.
Mo shook his head, "Oh, no. When we eliminated the predator dinosaurs, we saw that we damaged the ecosystem for a bit when the herbivores became too populous, so we had to deal with that by using them for food and shelter. The biggest headaches around here in this section of the island are the non-venomous snakes and the monkeys.".
Susan blinked, "But they don't hurt anybody?", and Mo shook his head, "Being of Quantonium and being 10 ft to 50 ft tall, we can scare the monkeys off from any house and all, especially when some of the tribes are related to monkeys and apes including my tribe, so it helps there. As for the snakes, they get annoyed when we disturb them and defensive when we get close to their nests, otherwise they leave us alone.".
Susan exhaled in relief, "That's good to hear.", and Mo smiled, "Yep. Of course, there are other headaches in the other sections of the island. Like for example, there's bears and wolves in the forest sections, but they learn that 10ft tall can easily beat any of them, and so they leave us alone, and we leave them alone. You see, for some reason, the Quantonium works on us humans, and any animal who's related to us humans like apes, monkeys, mice, canines, and birds, but the animals doesn't size-shift like us humans, but they still are stronger, long-lived, and smarter than normal animals on the mainland.".
"I swear... that Quantonium...", Susan chuckled. "I wonder... Mo, have any of your people actually gotten close to where the Quantonium was or has it more sort of... infected and spread amongst the island while your tribes are able to merge with it?".
Mo blinked, "I actually never thought of that before...The stories by my ancestors said that the huge green-blue glowing stone flew through the stars, down into the island, and there was a booming sound like thunder but louder than it, mixing with the sound of ice cracking, and the stories said that the stone shattered into pieces, and sank into the dirt, spreading everywhere, all over the island. The pieces were unable to get removed, even with digging and all, so my ancestors, and other ancestors had built temples over every piece of Quantonium, with windows to the sunlight.".
"So, your tribe has a temple then?", Susan asked, and Mo nodded, "Yep, and not to brag, but it's one of the biggest and oldest temples, thanks to my tribe being related to gorillas. Hence my name and title; Mo of the Gorilla Tribe.".
Susan looked a bit curious, "How did it happen? I mean, with the gorilla part?", and Mo chuckled, "My ancestors were learning to live with a troop of regular gorillas, and when the Quantonium hit and flowed through the island of the earth, I guess, upon having second-hand transfer of fur on their skin or something, my ancestors then became gorilla shifters.".
"Ah, so not like say, rapid evolution that made gorillas into men?", Susan said as Mo shook his head. "You've been hanging out with Doc too much. He suggested the same thing.", Mo chuckled as the two of them made their way across a ridgeline. "Easy, easy, this area's a bit perilous... ".
Susan nodded, "Okay, easy steps, right?", and Mo nodded, "Yeah. Luckily, we strapped on our toughest sneakers. I'll hold into you, Susan. Slow and steady.".
"I know, I know... I'm not some delicate flower...", Susan assured him as he shook his head. "Right now, you are... so get used to it.", Mo told her as he hung onto her tight.
"What's down there, Mo?", Susan asked. "Not really sure, dark pits where most of the nocturnal creatures tend to go; I think.", Mo shrugged.
Susan gave a hum, and for some minutes, they went slow and steady until the ridgeline ended, smoothing into a wide trail again, and Mo breathed easily again, "I think this is the only mountain I can manage today. Thank God that we're getting close to the ground.".
Susan nodded, "I cannot blame you there as I'm carrying precious cargo.", rubbing her baby bump, feeling kicks in response, "They're enjoying the exercise at least.".
Mo smiled, "That's a relief. We do have a few hours of sunlight left for today.", and Susan blinked, "Dinner?".
"Don't worry, I know where there's some choice mangoes and mulberries, and don't worry about the water. It's pure, untouched by human pollution. Apparently, the Quantonium makes sure of that.", Mo replied.
"That's good to know, wouldn't want to get dysentery.", Susan chuckled, remembering how she and her classmates in the early 90s at least played the Oregon Trail game that came on all the computers in the school computer lab.
"That certainly wouldn't be good; especially with wanting to meet my tribe.", Mo kissed her cheek as they kept moving slow.
Susan smiled warmly, "Do you think they'd like me?", and Mo smiled, "Like you? Susan, they'll love you. You are clearly an alpha female, and you're mated to me, an alpha male, and of course, carrying our children, that means a good thing in their eyes.".
"That's nice to know.", Susan nodded with a chuckle, kissing his cheek in return as they kept on, and eventually, they touched down to base, and she then sighed heavily, "I need to sit down and rest a bit. Your kids are getting heavy again.".
"Oh, now it's my kids?", Mo teased with a chuckle, and Susan smirked, "We're on your island now, and you are the one who got us here, so yes, they're your kids today.".
"Touche.", Mo nodded, accepting that as he helped Susan down to sit on a fallen palm tree, and they rested for a bit, listening to the jungle sounds.
"I think they might be worried... your island is fairly unknown to me and that might carry over to them as well, worrying them. I mean, we were fairly really safe back in California.", Susan said as Mo chuckled.
"Sure, safe, but fairly boring too, you must admit.", Mo smiled as Susan rolled her eyes. "Sorry, I forgot, I'm mated with a crazy man that lives for danger.", she giggled.
"Tell you what, let's call them.", Mo nodded as he looked into his backpack, and pulled out his cell phone, "Ah, good bars.", before punching a few buttons as it then rang.
The phone then picked up, the voice of Bucky speaking, "Bucky Barnes. Mo, is that you?", and Mo chuckled, "Yeah, Bucky. We're both here, and the twins are just doing fine too.".
Bucky sounds relieved, "Thank goodness. Let me put this on speakerphone.", and the voice of Peggy then sounded out, "Are you alright, sweetheart?".
"Yeah, just fine... place is pretty calm.", Susan chuckled as Peggy gave one of her own. "So, I guess it's not as bad as I was worried about...", Peggy said.
"Yeah, nothing in terms of any real monsters, thankfully enough.", Susan responded with a hum.
Steve then replied, "So, it's really like Mo said?", and Susan gave a laugh, "Daddy, it's more than I had daydreamed about it when he described about Skull Island. It's incredible...We are taking our time to explore, and Mo's tribe is a week away of travel, on 10ft tall, that is.".
Tara said, "That's good. Doc's tracker on your GPS shows that Skull Island is moving away from California, heading south. I guess you're right about the short window of opportunity, Mo.".
"At least we'll have an idea where we are... if we get close to any other sort of landmasses, we'll probably get out there and you can pick us up.", Mo said.
"Just be advised... I can't be fully sure this tracker will work if you end up at Oceanic pole of inaccessibility like Point Nemo.", Doc warned.
Mo replied, "Neither way, we will make sure we keep our phones charged and all, thanks to the solar chargers.", and Doc responded, "That's more than fair. Let us know every afternoon or whenever you have time to talk to us. We're less worried now, but just be careful all the same, okay?".
Susan grinned, chuckling, "We'll do that, and besides, Doc, we're not helpless ourselves. We'll be fine.", and Doc gave a chuckle, "I know, Susan.".
Lacey then asked, "Is there plenty of food and water?", and Mo replied, "More than plenty. This island is not just a jungle, but a whole ecosystem of different food terrains and such. And as I know what I ate here, Susan will be fine.".
"I trust Mo, and since our children are half Mo's, they will be fine too. After all, maybe they would be excited to have some favorites here.", Susan giggled as she rubbed her baby bump, and kicks responded in reply, "And the twins agree with me.".
"Just be safe, alright?", Peggy said as Susan gave a nod. "Don't worry, Mum, we'll be safe, we can handle ourselves and we'll keep in touch for a while.", Susan assured her.
Steve replied, "Good, and I trust I don't have to tell you, Mo.", and Mo responded, "I'll protect Susan with my life, Steve. Her and our children.".
"Alright then. We all love you, Susan and Mo and the twins.", Steve said, and Susan smiled, "We love you all too. We will talk to you tomorrow.". They traded goodbyes, and Mo clicked his cell phone off, turning it off to save the battery.
Mo glanced at Susan with a smile, "Feel better now?", and Susan smiled, kissing him on the lips, "Much better. Now I rested enough. Let's keep going and explore a bit more before the sun goes down.".
"Try to keep up, Susan.", Mo teased as he led the way with Susan following close behind as they continued their journey on the island.
Susan rolled her eyes, "You forget that I'm pregnant, Mo. I may be five months technically, but two are heavier than one.", and kicks responded hard, with Susan rubbing her baby bump, "No offense, darlings, but it's true.".
Mo smiled, "Smart sneaks they are.", with a chuckle as he squeezed Susan's hand, and so, they explored steadily for the next two hours before Mo decided to stop for the night, plucking off mangoes and mulberries as Susan filled their cups with pure, fresh water from one of the ponds.
"Wow, this is so fresh and delicious!", Susan moaned happily as she munched on her first mango, and Mo grinned, "The twins like it?".
"They love it. They want more.", Susan giggled as she kept munching on the mango, and Mo chuckled, "Looks like they got a favorite on our first day then.", as he kept eating. After he finished, he kissed Susan's cheek, "Take your time, love. I'll be back down soon.", with a smile before shifting into his gorilla form, and went into the trees, hoping that his mother's lessons in making hammock nests would work spectacularly.
"Daddy will be back soon, you two.", Susan assured the babies. "Just keep enjoying the fruit... man, this is really good. Never knew Quantonium was such a great spice.", she chuckled to herself, wondering if in fact that was true or if that was more something she was just guessing.
As she kept eating for three including herself, Mo searched for the perfect tree, and grinned to himself as he found a banyan tree, which is strong, thick, and big, and went to work within the roof of the trunk, grabbing leaves and such from nearby trees.
This took 20 minutes, and after double checking, Mo returned to Susan, landing and shifting to human form to see Susan finishing her drink of water, "I'm back. Are you all full and good now?", and Susan smiled, "Yep. Are you done with whatever you're doing?".
Mo nodded, "Yep. Ready to have a look for yourself?", and Susan got up, nodding, "I am sure curious.", and Mo grinned, shifting back to gorilla form and growing some more, taking Susan in his arm, and headed to the banyan tree, climbing and making it over.
Susan gasped in amazement to see a hammock nest only three feet high from the roof-ground of the trunk, looking so soft, lush, and so strong and thick as Mo shifted down to human, "What do you think?", with a smile.
Susan gave a smile as she got close to the hammock before she started to try it out and got on it. After a few moments of waiting to see if it would hold up, Susan looked over to Mo and chuckled. "Well, this is pretty great workmanship, how did you pull it off so easily?", she asked as Mo shook his head.
"Plenty of practice... that's all you need to know.", he teased. "Keeping secrets from your mate? That's not good for a healthy relationship, Mo.", Susan smirked before feeling a kick, "The twins are upset with you too now.".