Diddy Kong Adventures:

Just The Beginning

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING OWNED BY NINTENDO OR RAREWARE! I DO NOT OWN DIDDY KONG, DIXIE KONG, NECKYS, ZINGERS, KONGO JUNGLE, OR ANYTHING CHARACTERS OR LOCALS MENTIONED BY ANY CHARACTER. However, I do own this storyline.

Kongo Jungle was peaceful, at least in the less dense parts of it. The sun was high and the sky was a cloudless cerulean blue. The grass grew with a lush green tint here. The soil was a yellow green where the grass was not growing and several parrots were screeching in the distance. It was a perfect day.

Diddy Kong sighed as he leaned against the base of a thick, banana tree. His black eyes staring at a discarded banana peel mere feet from himself. It was a wonder that he didn't burn straight through the peel's material.

The chimp sighed deeply as he allowed himself to slide down the tree trunk onto his bottom. Although he had been through a trying experience last week that almost cost him everything that was important to him, he would have given anything to live that week over forever. He was somebody then. This week however, I'm just like that banana peel…Everything that had happened this week made the previous seven days seem like heaven.

Although technically he had gained the title "hero," nobody seemed to really care. Everybody on DK Isles still treated him like a child. Anytime anybody came for help the first thing out of their mouth was, "is Donkey around?" Whenever he would answer "no" they would just shrug and turn to leave without even asking for Diddy's help. He even offered his help to a few of them but they would say something to the effect of, "oh don't worry about it little guy. I'll just come back and ask for Donkey later."

Little guy that just burned the chimp up. Did no one remember that Diddy saved Donkey's life from that scaly psycho, K. Rool? Nobody seemed to care that he was just as much of a hero as Donkey Kong. That hurt most of all.

Just then, a huge pack of bananas fell right next to the peel. The shadow of the banana bunch completely covered the peel in darkness. Yep…just like that peel, completely over-

Just then a female's voice cut through his depressed thoughts, "Hey Diddy, what's up?" Diddy sighed in response.

"Still moping over the whole 'hero situation' huh?" The voice was soft spoken but familiar.

Diddy raised his eyes to her but the sun obscured her features for a moment. His eyes finally adjusted to the light and a pink shirt and beret came into view. Next came the blond bangs and huge ponytail. Finally the brown fur revealed a young chimp like himself, Dixie Kong, his girlfriend and second closest friend. She made a goofy face at him but he simply sighed which caused her face to fall flat.

Usually her offbeat sense of humor and nutty attitude was enough to make Diddy bust up laughing or, at the very least, shake his head in confusion. Today, however, she might as well have talking to herself.

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry I ate your, lucky red banana supply," she paused to see her boyfriend's reaction, nothing. "I also had to pawn your guitar to pay Cranky back for shattering his crystal coconut." She glanced at him again, not even a nose twitch. "I'm breaking up with you," she said flatly. His head snapped up to her.

"What," his black eyes wide.

Dixie now had a serious expression on her face, "you heard me." She couldn't stifle her hint of a laugh on the third word.

Diddy released a breath he was unaware he held, "…Not funny Dixie!"

A warm breeze picked up as she immediately burst out laughing. "No, what isn't funny is this whole 'Mopy Diddy' thing. I want 'Crazy Adventurer-Diddy' back!" She said in a mock wail, "waaah, waaah, waaaaaaaaah."

Diddy had to cover his ears to because her wailing was gradually getting louder. "Alright, alright, ALRIGHT," he had to shout to be heard over Dixie's fake temper-tantrum.

Dixie smiled hugely, "Alright…now what…?"

Diddy raised an eyebrow, "I dunno, you're the one who wanted adventure. You know what time it is." Now It was Dixie's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Oh, pop culture references you can manage, but simple mischief is too much for you these days?" She tapped her chin with her index finger, locked in thought. "I know what'll make you feel better, pranking Cranky Kong!"

Diddy shrugged but followed his girlfriend down the path away from the tree and into the denser parts of the jungle. "So did you really pawn my guitar?" The boy asked causally. Dixie just turned to him with a glimmer in her green eye and an evil smirk on her face.

Diddy's eyes widened as she took off at full speed into the thick grove of trees. He shook off his shock and pursued her. "DIXIE," he shouted after her.

She laughed and said, "catch me and I'll tell you exactly what I did with your guitar!"

Diddy just growled angrily, it was all he could do to keep from shouting again. That guitar was way too special for her to just sell without asking him…

He bounded from branch to branch trying desperately to keep up with his friend. She was tricky, however, she would fling herself to the left after bounding steadily to the right. She reminded him of barrel cannons that shot him all over DK Isles. She was moving so fast it was as though she had been launched from a barrel herself. She bounced all through the trees and then she was out of sight. The chimp looked all around but as he passed through the trees he forgot to reach out to catch the next branch. He slammed into the tree trunk and fell back to the ground painfully.

Stars danced in front of his vision as he sat up. He tried to shallow the huge lump in his throat but the more he tired to, the more he choked. He had to stop to allow a breath of fresh air to flow into his mouth. "Whoo…I-I'm winded…man…" Diddy rasped.

The chimp looked around and realized he was deep in the jungle. There were huge lush green plumes of leaves atop thick cocoa brown tree trunks. The soil had changed from the strange yellow-green to a dark brown shade. The trees were tightly packed together in this area and sunlight barely broke through the limited openings. There were long strands of light reaching into the darkened clearing like skinny glowing fingers.

He recognized this place, it was the forest where the Neckys and the Zingers loved to hang out. One of the most dangerous places on DK Isles: Vine Valley. Why did she love to come here, and why did she love to force him to follow her into this Godforsaken valley? He sighed and plopped down, closed his eyes, and listened.

At first he could only hear wind rushes and bodies of water running below the valley. Suddenly his ears caught the vibrations of wings beating the air. The sound of one pair became the sound of three and it was a dozen in a matter of seconds: Neckys. Diddy would have opened his eyes if he hadn't heard the light hum of smaller wings, moving much faster. He couldn't tell how many were coming just from the sound but he did know what was stalking him. Neckys were gigantic vultures that could rip him apart in seconds, huge, vicious and ravenous they would tear at live prey until they were dead, then they would feast…sometimes prey did not have to be dead, incapacitated worked just fine.

The second enemy posed a much bigger threat, Zingers. Enormous hornets with stingers all over their bodies. Even more ferocious and territorial than the vultures, these enormous insects attacked anything they viewed as a threat and they attacked in packs, organized and extremely efficient in battle their "Diamond Needle Formation." They surrounded opponents and stung them relentlessly. Even if someone could manage to lift themselves over the diamond formation of stingers there was always three or four stragglers hovering just above the original pack of predators waiting to sting the living daylights out of anybody who tried to make an aerial escape.

The chimp eased his eyes open slowly. Sure enough, he was staring down the gigantic eyes of an oversized hornet. "Awww…crap," Diddy muttered irritably.

Author's note: Thank you for your time.