Donkey Kong Country 2 - Diddy's Kong Quest
Chapter 1 - A new friend for a new hero
It was a hot summerday, usual for DK-Island. Donkey and Diddy were still relaxing from their last adventure they had one week ago. Donkey was wearing his red necktie along with dark sunglasses, lying in a hammock with a wide grin on his face. After all, this was what he enjoyed most. Diddy was lying in an another hammock next to him. He was wearing a red shirt and his trademark cap was slanted down, covering his face. They were not talking much and enjoyed their refreshing banana-milkshakes filled in halfed coconuts with a little umbrella in it. To retrieve the banana hoard, which was stolen by K. Rool, was certainly not an easy task. While travelling through the island to get the scattered pieces of the hoard back, they had to fight Rool's minions, who were guarding them. In the end, the two monkeys encountered him on his ship, the Gangplank Galleon, and fought him. It was an exhausting battle, but in the end they managed to defeat him. To be more precise, Donkey was the one to defeat him. Diddy was not much of a help. He almost got Donkey killed, as he way trying to dodge a cannonball, and his insecurity and fear prolonged the journey. However, he did save Donkey at one point, indicating that he could be a reliable fellow during the adventure at times. As they had returned, everyone on the island joined together to hear the "Tales of the Banana Hoard". Donkey soon became the most popular Kong on the island. Even Funky, who was well-known for his charisma and charme, could not help but to admire him. Being forced not to leave any detail out while telling the story, the big ape failed to see, that all the attention and praise he received went up to his head. As he got carried away in his speech, no one would pay even a glance to Diddy. Instead of receiving praise, he received ignorance as everyone was fully immersed in listening to his friend. He was alone, thrown away like an old, brown banana.
The birds sang their songs while a fresh ocean breeze rushed by.
"Ah, just the thing I need.", Donkey exclaimed, "Finally, this whole hurly-burly is over. I've had enough."
Diddy on the other hand was not happy at all about the current situation. He wanted to straighten things out. Although the little chimp may not have been too helpful, Donkey would not have been able to fulfill their task without him, though that seemed to be of no interest. And when Diddy tried to state his opinion, no one seemed to pay much attention to him or said things like: "I know that already, and then Donkey bend it straight again."
Deep down inside Diddy resented his friend for this a little. "Hey Donkey", he said to his almost sleeping buddy, "May I ask you something?".
"Mhm... what is it?", Donkey muttered, displeased by the fact that Diddy began talking as he had almost fallen asleep.
"How come everyone starts to admire you all of a sudden? What about me, didn't I help?", he said visibly agitated.
Donkey wondered about this question and raised his eyebrow. He responded: "Do you really care about THAT? Don't tell me this is what makes you crazy all day."
"Yes, I do care! It just feels unfair!", Diddy replied with an angry voice.
Donkey sighed and remained silent for a few seconds. Then he said: "Stop making such a fuss about it. What's the big deal? Calm down and let me get some rest already!", he yelled at Diddy and turned his back towards him, achieving a position comfortable enough for him to sleep.
Diddy was appalled. Mad as he became after hearing those cold words, he stood up, took his milkshake, which he had not even drunken halfway up, threw it near Donkey and ran away to the forest. A few moments later the ape looked back in the direction Diddy rushed and thought: "No need to be worried. He will calm down and come back eventually." With that, he finally fell asleep under the nice smell of banana-flavoured milk arising from the ground.
"And he calls himself a friend",Diddy thought while running, "This lazy good-for-nothing always thinks about sleeping and finding the most comfortable way of avoiding work. He defeated Rool? If I hadn't been there to fire the cannonball at that old crocodile, Donkey would've been done for!"
Still angered about his "friend", the chimp jumped on a branch of a tree, and from there he continued to other trees through the whole forest at his maximum speed. He always did so, when he had to let off steam. After half an hour, he was exhausted and jumped on a rock to rest a bit. The little monkey folded his arms and tried to order his thoughts.
Suddenly his thinking was interrupted by a clear voice saying: "Hey, you there."
Diddy looked around but was not able to see anyone. All of a sudden the leaves above him rustled and out of the branches jumped a monkey right in front of him. It was a female one, around his age. She wore a pink beret, followed up by a long, blonde ponytail. Matching the beret, she wore a pink shirt, which was knotted at the bottom end. Lastly, a finely ground, black stone, tied around her neck, attracted his attention. Her eyes resembled twinkling green emeralds - at least they did to Diddy. He was fascinated.
"That jumping and dashing of yours was very impressive! You are pretty fast." She said.
Diddy, having trouble with bringing out a clear sentence, stuttered: "U-umm... well, thanks."
"You looked very thoughtful sitting there on the rock. Did something happen?", the girl asked with a worried expression on her face.
Diddy had to think inevitably of Donkey again. "Nothing really", he responded silently while turning his face away from her.
The ponytailed monkey was not satisfied with that kind of answer and asked once again: "C'mon, tell me! When a person has a look like this, he sure is depressed."
"Alright, you got a point. Doesn't look like your going to let off, huh?", Diddy sighed, slowly regaining his poise.
The girl smiled triumphantly and Diddy told her what happened. She listened attentively, giving him a comfortable feeling. The longer he talked, the less trouble he had looking directly into her face without starting to stutter again. It felt nice to share his problems with another person.
"That truly is unfair, I feel sorry for you!", she pouted, trying to cheer him up.
"Well, it's alright. Thanks for your sympathies.", Diddy responded, chuckling a little about her face.
A raindrop landed on his forehead as he finished that sentence.
"That's just great, now it's starting to rain", he lamented.
"Yeah", affirmed the pink dressed monkey with an irritated voice, "It's already gotten dark and clouds are appearing. It would be better, if we took shelter somewhere. I know, why don't you come with me to my hut? If we walk along the coast, we can get there in a few minutes. How about it?", she asked with a smile.
Diddy could not deny such an offer, even if he wanted to. He found himself being unable to resist that smile of hers and started to blush. "Y-y-eah, why not?", he stuttered again.
So the monkeys made their way to the hut. They moaned about the weather as they started to freeze, making them hurry up unwittingly. After a while, the girl's hut appeared on top of a few trees near the coast, leaning against a rock wall.
"Here it is", the girl said, "Thanks for tagging along." She smiled at him.
"No problem", replied the chimp, who started blushing once again.
As they climbed up the trees and entered the hut, Diddy was curious as to what he would see in a place inhabitated by a girl. He once entered Candy Kong's hut, which had a completely different interior design than the one he and Donkey lived in. Everything was clean and tidied up, while his home was poorly arranged at the very least. Since then he followed Candy's example and tried to keep their hut as much in order as possible, even though Donkey posed quite a threat to that.
Diddy looked around. It was much smaller compared to his hut, but it seemed to suffice for one person. He saw a bookshelf holding three books, a round table, on which a tumbler containing a few watery pearls was placed, and a chair, which was turned away from the table. The chimp could not make out, what those books were about, but their covers seemed interesting. A dark-green hammock hung a few inches over the floor next to the bookshelf. As he looked out of the only window there was, he could still see the rain pouring down.
"I hope the rain stops soon!", the girl lamented, "Anyway, this is where I live. Not very interesting, is it?", she said with a chuckle.
"Well, I think it's a cozy little place. May I ask when you got here? Can't be too long from now, I'm strolling around this area of the island quite a lot.", Diddy inquired.
"That's true, I've been here only for a few days and wanted to open up to the people living here. I was lucky to run into you, you seem quite alright.", the girl answered with a grin.
"I could say the same about you, too.", he replied with the same grin, "Where do you come from?"
Suddenly the girl's face, which had always radiated energy so far, turned sad and thoughtful. With a concerned voice she said: "Um... you see... I came here from a smaller island with a few friends, who helped transporting everything with a boat and building this hut and all. You probably want to know, why I left my island in the first place. It's because,... well..."
"If you don't wanna talk about it, that's fine by me. I'm sure you have your reasons.", Diddy interrupted. He did not intend to sadden her.
It seemed like this was a relief for the ponytailed monkey. She regained her content face and replied: "Okay, thanks." As she looked out of the window, she noted: "Look, the rain's stopped!"
"Finally!", Diddy approved, "Well, I guess I gotta go now, it's getting late.", he said with a sigh, implying a bit of sadness.
"Oh, well... I think you're right", the girl responded, sharing his sadness. Then her eyes glimmed hopefully and she continued: "Hey! How about meeting up again? Maybe you could tell me something about your adventure then?"
"Really? Are you serious?", Diddy nearly shouted out of surprise. He could not believe how lucky he was. Finally, someone wanted to hear the story from his point of view.
"Is that a yes?", The girl threw him out of his thinking.
"Huh, what? Oh, yeah of course!", he responded enthusiastically.
"Fine then.", she grinned.
It always made her laugh, when Diddy was embarassed or confused. That may have been the reason why she liked him so much and wanted to be with him in the first place. Diddy on the other hand was always happy when he could see her smile. He did not know why, but it grew on him.
"Bye-bye.", the girl accompanied him to the door and saw him off.
"Bye!", Diddy replied.
As he turned around and intended to go, the girl poked him on his right shoulder. The chimp looked over said shoulder and asked with a wondering face: "What's wrong?"
The girl hesitated for a second and then asked with a shy voice: "Well... actually... What is your name?"
Silence.
The two monkeys looked at each other for a few seconds. Suddenly both of them broke out in a long laughter. After they calmed down, Diddy told her his name.
"Diddy?", she smirked, "That's a funny name. It matches you perfectly. Mine is Dixie."
Diddy was not offended at all since he knew that she was just joking. He responded calmly: "Dixie is a funny name as well."
"Fine with me. Well then, see ya tomorrow!", Dixie saw him off happily.
Diddy waved at her and got going. A few steps later he maundered: "Dixie, huh?" It made him smile involuntariliy. He was happy. Happy, because he found someone, who he could call a friend. So he ran home to grant himself some rest. A long march later, he came across Donkey, still lying in his hammock and sleeping tightly. "Who would have thought that?", Diddy moaned, not surprised by the fact, that Donkey did not notice the rain and kept on snoring. The day was exhausting enough for him, so he decided to go to bed right away, resting for the upcoming day.
Diddy had a peculiar dream. He dreamt, he would go on an adventure. He did not know where he was, he just could see himself standing on a ship. There was a lot of fog around and it was dark. But he was not scared, because Dixie stood next to him. She looked up a gigantic mast with a nest on the top and a giant bird flying in circles around it.
The girl said with a intimidated voice: "We have to climb up there."
Diddy wondered: "Why do we? Where are we, anyway?"
Dixie looked startled. "Why? You know why! Because we have to save ..."
Suddenly everything started to blur. Diddy asked hastily: "Who do we have to save? What's going on!"
Then he opened his eyes and awoke with a start. Diddy looked around. He was in his room. "Just a dream...", he said to himself. The chimp got up and gave himself a wash. After that, he went down the ladder to have breakfast. Three bananas and a coconut-half of banana-flavoured milk. Sitting down on a chair and starting to eat, the boy noticed Donkey in front of him, who looked at him with regretting eyes. Diddy tried not to pay too much attention to him, however, the big ape watched his little buddy for a while, like he was trying to find the right words.
Then he said: "Hey Diddy... 'bout yesterday...", he stopped.
Diddy hesitated a second, before he took the next bite.
"Well, to make this whole thing short... I'm sorry about what I said. I know I was being stupid and everything. How about we have some fun together today, like in old times?"
Diddy was suprised about this apology. He did not expect that to happen, but he gave in to Donkey's afflicted look.
"Apology accepted old friend! But...", the chimp hesitated again. Diddy would have gone out with Donkey with pleasure, but a friend waited for him.
"But?", Donkey asked.
"Well... I'm already meeting someone else today.", was his response.
"Who is it?", Donkey inquired further.
"Someone I became friends with. I'm sorry Donkey, maybe another day?", Diddy tried to comfort his friend.
The ape had a sad look, but he did not want to anger his friend again. So he said: "Nah, It's okay! Then tomorrow or something."
"Ya, okay!", Diddy approved, "But tell me... how did you manage to avoid catching a cold while sleeping in the rain like that?", he asked while putting his banana-peels into the trash can and preparing himself to leave.
Donkey thought about this question with closed eyes. "I don't know", he answered, "I've actually never caught a cold before. Cranky says it's because dumb persons rarely get sick, but I'm sure it's just that I've developed a natural resistance! I mean, look at me! I'm strength in form of an ape!", he exclaimed with a big grin.
"Yeah, I'm sure that must be it...", Diddy concurred with an ironic undertone.
He took some banana coin leftovers out of his drawer, because he wanted to treat Dixie for a milkshake. Just as a way of making this new friendship official.
"Well, I'm out for a while. See ya.", he saw off Donkey.
"See ya, Diddy.", his friend replied.
Diddy was glad that his friend apologized to him. But for now he could not get his mind off meeting up with Dixie. He mulled over his dream with her. Wrinkly Kong once told him, that every dream has a reason for being dreamt. He did not really believe in that, but now a strange feeling overcame him. While the chimp was deep inside his thoughts, he did not realize, that he had already reached the meeting point. After looking around for Dixie futilely, he sat down on the rock again, where he rested last time.
Then from above he heard a voice saying: "Hey, Diddy! Watch this!".
Diddy looked in the direction where the voice came from and spotted Dixie. She jumped from a branch and hovered slowly down to the ground by spinning her ponytail with incredible speed. As she landed on the ground, the dust and sand were blown into the air. The chimp was astounded.
"Did you see that? I can do something cool too, hehe!", she said with a grin.
"True. That sure is pretty cool", Diddy approved, "So this ponytail is cute AND useful.", he said without noticing, that he just spoke his thoughts.
Upon hearing that, Dixie had to blush herself for once. Seeing that, Diddy stuttered: "Err... I mean..."
"Thank you.", she interrupted him while shuffling her feet.
"So, umm... would you like to have a drink?", Diddy asked, trying to switch the subject, "I know a pretty good place, where you ought to try a banana-milkshake! It's great!"
"Banana-milkshake? Sounds great, I'm in!", the girl answered excitedly.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that. I will treat you if you like.", he offered.
"Really? You mean it?", Dixie replied anxiously.
"Yeah, come! Let's go to Funky's. I'll get you acquainted with him and the others here", the chimp grinned.
Funky Kong had a second occupation since his workshop was not very active, as no one had anything to repair. His creation, the "One and Only Banana-Milkshake With Extra Coolness, Dude!", made him known as the best shake-maker on DK-Island, thus his bar flourished. Flavouring coconut-milk with bananas concluded in a new, tasty drink, which was loved by every Kong.
They walked about ten minutes, while Diddy gave his new friend a pretaste of his story. Dixie listened to him carefully and thought, that this adventure seemed quite exciting.
As they approached the shop, Funky greeted them. "Yo, monkey dudes 'n dudettes! Come over 'ere and have a drink! Oh! Who might this cutie over here be?", he asked, while lifiting his shades to get a better look.
"Hey there, Funky! Let me introduce Dixie to you. She's arrived not too long ago and she wants to try your specialty. I hope you'll get along. We take two banana-milkshakes." Diddy ordered.
"Hah, once you've tried it, you'll keep coming back for more, lemme assure you! Two banana-milkshakes, are on the way!" Funky responded with his usual, relaxed voice.
He left for the room, where the coconut-milk was being held. The monkeys sat down on the chairs, waiting for their drinks and listening to the radio playing a catchy song.
"Looks like a strange guy to me.", Dixie uttered nonchalantly.
"Yeah, he is strange alright. But once you get to know him, he's actually quite okay.", Diddy replied.
Dixie wondered: "Diddy, you said you wanted me to get acquainted with everyone here, which I appreciate. But didn't you also say, you're rather upset about how everyone treated you?"
"So what?", Diddy answered flat out, "It's true, I'm still upset. But I'll find a way to prove them all wrong. Besides, I can't go on living here in seclusion and there has to be someone, who'll introduce you to them. As I said, this is a very nice place - for the most part. Crazy things happen here all the time, like a few months ago, when Funky tried out this other invention of his! Let me put it like this: A few of us still hold a grudge against him for that."
Dixie had to laugh about that. "Yeah, he seems like that kind of person. But you are rather confident. I find that quite impressive."
"Well, I do what I can.", Diddy replied with a wink. Then he continued with his story:
"Right, where did I stop? Oh yeah. So there was that giant Gnawty and he jumped right in our direction! I have no idea how it got so big, it must have had something to do with those experiments in the KremKroc Industries. Anyway, I cartwheeled forward while it was in the air, using the gap to dodge the attack, while Donkey jumped back to gain distance. Now the creature was encircled by me, at the rear, and Donkey, facing him. Donkey dashed forward, gathering all his strength into one punch and landing it right into the face of the critter. The beaver-thingie didn't expect that and took the full hit. Due to the impact, it was thrown back, whereas I jumped on a ledge. I took a rock, embraced it and jumped off, right down to the monster. Still knocked out from Donkey's hit, it couldn't move, so I managed to ram the rock right into its stomach. It sounded like the earth was quaking as I hit it. It was a thrilling atmosphere, full of tension. It released a painful screech and with that, it fell unconscious. Donkey and me retrieved a part of the banana hoard and took it back to its place. As you can see, Dixie, it was not easy to get the bananas back. The travelling was exhausting and the fights were debilitating."
The girl was impressed again, her jaw dropped due to the anticipation. She had never expected that Diddy was able to do such a thing. After hearing this story, a feeling, which had been sleeping inside of her, suddenly awoke to its fullest. The spirit of adventure. It was always there, Dixie kenw that. However, it seemed now that the boundaries were finally broken down. She could barely sit still on her chair.
"Wow! That is so... I can't even find a proper word to describe this! I really envy you.", Dixie admitted.
"You envy me? Why is that?", Diddy asked doubtingly.
"Well... you are going on adventures and everything... having fun, experiencing thrills like that... but me...", the girl turned her eyes towards the ground, futiley trying to hide the sadness in her eyes and her voice.
"Alrite, 'ere you go!", Funky interrupted, appearing out of nowhere, "That makes two coins then."
Diddy looked at him with a grumpy face, expressing to him that he ruined the whole atmosphere.
"What?", he wondered, "C'mon, What have I done wrong this time!"
"Forget it... here, your money.", Diddy grumbled.
Funky took it and shook his head. "Youngsters...", the ape grunted while going back into the storage room.
"Go ahead, enjoy your drink." Diddy gave one coconut-half to Dixie and began to drink his own.
"Thanks again.", she replied, trying to reward him with another smile and beginning to drink as well.
Diddy tried to get back to what Dixie was saying: "Go on, Funky interrupted you."
"It's alright. I don't want to bother you with it.", the girl said with a kind of depressed voice.
Diddy hated that. He hated to see her in a mood like this, so he wanted to cheer her up. "You won't, Dixie. I talked the whole time and you listened to me, so I will do the same thing for you now. Tell me about your life."
Dixie was actually happy that Diddy picked up the topic again. After all, she had something she wanted to get her mind off as well. She took in a deep breath and began to tell him about her life before she came onto DK-Island: "My life has never been very interesting. I never went on an exciting adventure or something like that. I never went to any dangerous places. Maybe because my parents prevented me from it. Well, who could blame them? That's what I think now, but back then I couldn't stand it. I've never had the courage to do something against their will. It's funny, isn't it? They dedicated their lives to exploring unknown places and discovering ancient artifacts, bringing themselves into more danger than I could possibly ever have. Since they spent so much time going on their journeys, I was more or less raised by my auntie. She was very nice to me, though. While my parents brought me a nice thing from their excavations every now and then, I still felt lonely. But it's not like they didn't try to spend time with me, either. Everytime they left, they did so with a sad look on their face. I never got a chance to ask them, why they won't settle down. I've always wanted to make the time we did have together worthwhile. Well, a few years ago, when they embarked on another journey, they..." Dixie suddenly stopped and looked down towards the ground again. It seemed as though she was troubled by what came to her mind.
Diddy was worried. Did he make her remember something unpleasant? Was it his fault, that the girl sitting in front of him verged on tears? Again he had to deal with this insecurity he hated so much. He tried to calm himself down and said with a soft voice: "Dixie, I'm sorry. If you don't want to tell me, that's fine."
The girl raised her head again. She looked right into Diddy's eyes, and she did so with a heart rending expression. With a weeping voice she tried to piece her last sentences together: "They... They never... They just never came back! It's like they vanished into thin air! Usually they were out for a few days, a week at most. Friends of our family decided to start looking for them, but it was all to no avail. I had no idea what I should think at this point. Perhaps they just died an unnecessary death. Perhaps they left me there, because they were unable to live with the fact, that they had a daughter constantly waiting for them in their home village. To this very day, I still don't know, why they kept on journeying. Is that what an adventure is about? Leaving the ones you love behind? Or maybe, in reality, they didn't love me at all. So many thoughts rushed into my head, I felt like it would explode! I was so confused... and to tell you the truth, I still am.", Dixie stopped there, holding on to her necklace. Her eyes were still focused on the chimp's face, which, as the narration progressed, turned more and more horrified. Diddy did not know what to say. This story exceeded his expectations by far. For a second, he wished he could take his "Go on, Funky interrupted you." back. But then he realized, that his new friend, sitting in front of him, was in trouble, and that he had to find a way, to help her out.
Diddy sighed, trying to relieve himself of the stress. Then he placed his hands on Dixie's shoulders and said the following with a serious mien: "Relax, Dixie. Didn't you just say, you always wanted to go on an adventure? Why do you suddenly think to negatively about it? I, for one, can't believe your parents "abandonded" you, or died "unnecessarily"... and I'm sure neither do you. If I had to guess, I'd say this necklace of yours was a gift from them, am I right?", he asked. Dixie's face had a surprised look on her face, indicating that Diddy's deduction was correct. "Seeing that you're still carrying it around", he went forth, "I suppose you want to have something, that reminds you of them. I know you want to believe, your parents loved you and their sudden disappearance had a purpose. That's exactly the point. Unless anyone can prove this otherwise, you have to believe, that your parents are out there somewhere, waiting for you."
The ponytailed monkey sobbed. Salty, watery drops were running down her cheeks. It was a truly depressing sight for Diddy, seeing the girl he found himself grown so attached to - despite the fact, that they had known each other for barely a day - in tears like that. Without any further thinking, he took Dixie into his arms and consoled her. The girl was surprised at first, but did not offer any resistance. They remained like this for a while with closed eyes, leaving time for the chimp to process what was happening: "What's going on? Here I'm holding a girl I hardly know... She must have lived on carrying all these terrible memories inside of her, without telling anybody about it. What I've been through is nothing compared to this. I don't know why, but I feel like I just can't leave her like that! From now on, I will help her make fond memories. If there's only been darkness in your past, it's time to make a stand and bring light into your future. Even if it should just be the two of us... Heh, what am I dreaming about again? As if I'd be able to do that. I'm such a fool... For now, all I can do is try to comfort Dixie as best as I can."
The girl calmed down and the monkeys let go of one another.
"You alright?", Diddy asked with a worried tone.
"Yes.", Dixie wiped away the last tear from her cheek, "I don't know what to say. It just overwhelmed me all of a sudden. I'm sorry.", she apologized.
"Hey, there's nothing to be sorry for. After all, we're friends, right?", the chimp winked.
"Right! Thank you!", the ponytailed monkey exclaimed, regaining her smile, which was so precious to Diddy. "So, how about you show me your home, then?", she suggested.
The chimp ignored the fact, that Dixie had cut off midway in her story and agreed to a change of subject. "My home? Well, I see nothing that would speak against it, so why not? But I have to warn you: the guy I'm living with is a bit... um, you'll see.", he replied with a chuckle.
"Sounds interesting enough already. I'm right behind you!", Dixie said eagerly.
So the two left Funky's bar and made their way to Donkey's and Diddy's hut. While they were walking, they talked, made jokes, did things to make time pass. Dixie's mood improved gradually over the course of time. As they reached the hut, Diddy looked out for his buddy, who - to his surprise - seemed to have gone out. "Hmm.. He is probably at the beach or something... I'm afraid you won't be able to see him. Maybe that's for the better, anyway.", he grinned, "But he sure did leave quite a mess in here. Well, this is the hut of Donkey and me. It's not that great, but you can live here."
"I see". Dixie replied, while having a look around. It was less messy than she expected. A few banana-peels here and there, things from breakfast were still on the table, but nothing too out of the ordinary. A ladder was leading up to a second floor where the hammocks were.
"When will he ever tend to his cleaning-duties, I wonder.", Diddy sighed. "I really have to talk about that with him."
"So this is where you live. It's a bit more spacious than my hut, I'll give you that!", the girl admitted jokingly.
"If you live with someone like Donkey, it's kind of required, yes.", the chimp chuckled, "So how about visiting the others?", he asked.
"You wanna leave already?", Dixie wondered, "Well, okay then."
Next up was Cranky Kong, who had his hut in on the treetops near the center of the island. His senile character and constantly nagging demeanor surprised Dixie a little, but she could see, that he was just not giving in to his age. After all, when it came to dire situations, he was some kind of leader for the kongs, as he always had an appropiate solution at hand. Then again, his nagging and self-praising were ignored by the others for the most part and he often ended up telling all the great deeds he had accomplished to himself, rather than to the others. But still, Dixie found him to be a nice, caring character.
Wrinkly Kong welcomed the ponytailed monkey wholeheartedly to DK-Island. Not only was she wise and had some advice for anyone who had to cope with a problem, she also owned a huge library about ancient folklore and the like. While she often got carried away when talking about history, Wrinkly always offered a helping hand and had a warm presence. Dixie grew quite fond of her, since she reminded her of her aunt.
Candy Kong, the girlfriend of Donkey, never minced matters, when it came to talks about her boyfriend. Whether he was around or not, Candy always found something that annoyed her about him. How she and Donkey could still be together remained a mystery to Dixie, and to every other Kong for that matter. However, she was very kind to Dixie and offered her advice in the cases of boys and everything related.
Swanky Kong was always ready for a game - a game of luck, that is. He offered ten different kinds of gamble to Dixie and guaranteed, that none of them were rigged. While she wanted to try her luck, Diddy highly recommended not to give in to temptation. Despite that, Dixie won a few coins to the surprise of both Diddy and Swanky. With that, she was the only one to have ever won a game over at his place.
Lastly, Diddy showed her the cave in which the banana hoard was stashed away. The girl was quite surprised by the amount of bananas she saw in front of her. All of them seemed to glow mysteriously and she wondered, if they were edible by any chance. However, the chimp warned her of Cranky's wrath, should she even think about it.
Now that Dixie knew her way around and befriended almost all of the Kongs over the course of the day, she parted ways with Diddy.
"Whew, what a day. Thanks a lot for showing me around, Diddy!", she said with a content face.
"No problem, it was a lot of fun.", the chimp replied.
The ponytailed monkey yawned. "Oh boy, am I tired. I think I'll head home for now.", she mumbled.
Diddy concurred: "Yeah, me too. We've spent the whole day wandering around the island."
"Do you have time again tomorrow?", Dixie inquired, "At our usual place?"
"Sure, I'd love to...", as Diddy wanted to finish his sentence, the conversation he had with Donkey popped into his mind. "Oh right, I promised him.", he thought with a sad look on his face. "I'm sorry, I don't have time tomorrow. Perhaps some other day?", Diddy went on with a disappointed look in his eyes. It hurt him to say that, since he really enjoyed hanging around with Dixie.
"Oh, I see. Yeah, that's fine with me!". the girl responded with a smile, trying to conceal her disappointment.
"Okay then, see ya around!", Diddy waved at her.
"See ya!", replied the ponytailed monkey.
For some reason it did not occur to Diddy, that it might work to spend a day together with both Donkey and Dixie. When he was with her, he wanted to be with her alone. As he had reached his hut, the chimp hoped to find Donkey, but there was still no sign of him. Since he was exhausted from all the walking, he climbed up the ladder leading to his hammock and decided to get some sleep first. If Donkey should not have returned by then, he would go out and search for him.
To his displeasure, Diddy did not dream again. The reason for that may have been the fact, that worry was written all over his face. After getting up, he went down immadiately and almost slipped down the ladder. No sign of his friend. It was nighttime, but Diddy still prepared himself for going out, as he cared neither about time nor weather, when it came to his friends. The first location he chose to look for Donkey was the beach. The chimp walked along the coast, hoping to find any clues to the whereabouts of his friend.
"I really chose a good time to look for him.", he said to himself ironically, "You can't see the hand in front of your eyes!" As he walked along the coast, the only thing he could hear was the constant brawl of the ocean against the beach in a perpetual rhythm. However, after a few more steps another noise interfered and Diddy tried to make out the direction it came from. He approached the source of the noise on silent toes and as he shoved some leaves of a bush by, someone familiar appeared in front of his eyes: Funky Kong. It seemed like he was working on something.
"Hey Funky, you up already?", Diddy greeted him.
Funky winced and almost hurt his hand with a saw. "What the... Diddy! What are you doing here?", he asked in surprise.
"Well, I'm looking for Donkey. He hasn't come home since yesterday and I am starting to get worried. Have you seen him?", Diddy answered with a concerned voice.
"Nope, can't help ya mate. Haven't seen him since either, man. I'm also wondering where the heck he disappeared off to, since he still owes me money. Sounds serious, d'ya mind if I stick around with you and help searching?", Funky suggested.
"No, I don't mind. I actually appreciate it.", the chimp replied, visibly relieved about a helping hand.
"Alright, lemme just hide my board there real quick.", the ape insisted.
"What were you doing here, anyway?", Diddy wondered.
"As you can see, I worked on ma surfboard. It had taken breakages here and there from my last ride on the waves, man, so I repaired it.", Funky answered in a manner, it would have made you think, it was the most natural thing in the world.
"During the night!", the boy exclaimed, not being convinced in the least.
"Umm... yes?", was the blatant response he got.
"Whatever.", Diddy shook his head, "Okay then, let's go."
They continued walking along the coast while inspecting treetops and caves, since Donkey tended to fall asleep quite fast and did not bother with the place, where he got his rest. As they nearly had circled around the complete coast of the island, the sun appeared on the horizon and began with its duty to vanquish the dark night. Funky concluded: "I guess we're wrong here, Diddy-dude. He could be anywhere... where do you suggest we look next?"
"Umm... I'm not sure.", The monkey sighed, but soon after that he yelled: "We must not give up! Donkey is my friend, and therefore I will turn the whole island upside down if I have to!"
"Relax, dude.", Funky tried to calm him down, "Donkey is my pal as well and ..."
"Look! Over there!", Diddy interrupted him and pointed at the ocean. Since the sun had arisen, he was able to make out a bottle floating in the water. Inside of it was a piece of paper. Before Funky was able to realize, what was going on, Diddy had already jumped into the water in order to grab the bottle. As he returned, filled with anticipation, he opened it and pulled out the paper which appeared to be some kind of letter. "Come on! Read it already.", Funky urged the chimp. Diddy cleared his throat and began to read:
Foolish Kongs!
I, Captain K. Rool, have captured this fat gorilla of yours as well as his stupid little fellow. I will not harm them, unless you oppose my demands! Hand me over the treasure and I will let them go... perhaps. The exchange will be performed on my island. And don't even think of coming up with one of your lousy tricks!
"Hey! Who is a stupid little fellow!", Diddy shouted angrily and frowned.
"Calm down, Diddy-dude, don't ya think something's strange?, Funky noticed.
"What do you mean?" Diddy wondered, as he went over the letter again. "Ah, I got it! Well, yeah, you are right. It says he captured Donkey and umm... me... but I'm here... or not?", Diddy asked, visibly confused.
"Pretty sure you are, mate.", Funky answered.
"Okay... wait, WHAT! Donkey has been abducted? Oh for the love of bananas! No surprise we can't find him. We've got to tell the others!", the chimp exclaimed.
"Good call. Let's push the panic button!", the ape agreed.
As soon as Funky had finished his sentence, both monkeys rushed to the place, where the giant bell was held. This bell served as a device to inform all the inhabitants of DK-Island, that there was an emergency. Upon reaching it, Funky pulled the vine, which was connected to the bell. A loud, clangorous sound echoed through the whole island, waking up every single living person and animal. Only one minute had passed until Cranky had arrived. "What's going on? Why did you ring the bell?", he asked with a startled voice.
"I will explain everything once the others are here, Cranky.", Diddy responded.
"They'd better hurry up then", Cranky nagged.
Soon Wrinkly, Swanky, and Candy arrived as well. Everyone was upset and curious as to what was going on.
Diddy cleared his throat and spoke with a loud voice: "Okay everyone, listen up! This is very important. Our friend, Donkey Kong, has been abducted by , whom we thought we had defeated. He suggests a trade. It says here in the letter, which Funky and I found during our search for Donkey, he wants some kind of treasure in order to release him. But something seems odd about it, since it also states, that I've been captured as well. As you can see, I am standing right here, though. Anyway, we got to save Donkey at all costs! Can anyone come up with an idea?"
Everyone was startled and began to talk, which concluded in a big, disordered bunch of words.
"Silence!", Cranky shouted all of a sudden, obtaining the attention of the other Kongs, "First we need to know why exactly wants that treasure so badly. I'm assuming, he is talking about the banana hoard. It's quite obvious, that Donkey poses a threat to 's plans, hence he was abducted. I don't know, how that happened, and I also don't have any clue whatsoever, what the meaning of that supposed second abduction is. However, what I do know is, that we have to rescue Donkey and find out what Rool is up to."
"I agree with you, Cranky.", Diddy threw in, "And I just might have an idea, where we can get that informaton. Perhaps we can find something on the Gangplank Galleon."
"Mhm, for now, it seems that this is our only possibility." Cranky responded, "Good, then we need...", as Cranky intended to finish his sentence he got interrupted by Diddy, "I will go!"
"You? Alone?", Cranky asked doubtingly.
Suddenly a voice particularily familiar to Diddy sounded out of nowhere: "He won't be alone, I will go with him!"
Everyone was wondering, what that was all about and looked in the direction the voice came from. Suddenly Dixie jumped from a huge palm leaf right in front of Diddy. "Hey there, I heard this really loud noise and came here to check it out. So, your friend has been abducted, huh?", the girl inquired, "Let me help you out!"
Diddy was surprised. After a moment of hesitation, he wanted to make sure, that she knew what she was doing: "Dixie, you know that this is going to be dangerous? Think about what you said yesterday." he said.
"I don't mind. I want to find out, if what you told me is true. This could become quite the adventure, after all.", she responded calmly, "Besides, we're friends, and friends are supposed to help each other when necessary, right?", she said with a grin.
Cranky grumbled. "Adventure? I have a feeling, this will become very dangerous and you talk as if everything is just a game and will work out for certain."
Dixie looked afflicted after she heard that, but it was reason enough for Diddy to yell at him: "You don't have the slightest idea of what she has gone through. She knows well enough, that an adventure is not a game..."
"Stop, Diddy, it's alright.", Dixie begged him. The chimp sighed and folded his arms, trying to calm himself down.
"Fine then," Cranky grunted, a little surprised, that Diddy suddenly went up against him.
In the end everyone agreed to the plan. Since Funky had his flying machine, things worked out pretty well. As the three prepared for the flight, Dixie turned to Diddy and thanked him: "Thanks for defending me there."
Diddy wondered about that and replied: "Huh? Well, I just can't stand it, when someone claims to know everything and tries to me Mr. Smarty-Pants without knowing the actual details.", but the chimp was still surprised, that he had the guts to do that. Normally, he would have just shrinked down and received the harsh words. Since he was meeting up with Dixie, he began to change. That much he realized.
"Well, thanks anyway.", the girl grinned.
As everyone entered his flying machine, Funky shouted: "Okay, lil' monkeys! Next Destination: Gangplank Galleon!"