Chapter 2: Pirate Panic
Diddy and Dixie hid behind the rocks, watching the Kremlings disembark from the ship into the cavern. Some carried swords, while others carried muskets and other fearsome weapons.
Dixie slumped down in exhaustion. "I can't believe they're back," she sighed.
"I know," her companion murmured. "You'd think they would have learned by now." He turned to face her. "Well, we'd better go and warn the others."
"Are you kidding?" she challenged. "We need to find out what they're up to! What happens if we let them run amuck on the island? We're here now, and we can do something to stop them."
"Dix, have you seen how many there are? What happens if we're caught?"
"We've been in situations more dangerous than this before," she retorted. "We went to Crocodile Isle, remember? We were on enemy territory the entire time."
Diddy sat in a thoughtful silence.
"We'll follow them," Dixie continued. "We make sure we stay out of sight, and we find out what they're up to. Then we can warn the others, and we'll all be prepared."
After a few more moments, Diddy stood up and turned to survey the pirate ship again.
"It seems that most of the Kremlings have moved off toward a mine on the other side of the cave. There aren't too many sentries left on the ship, so if we stay out of sight, we might be able to sneak on board."
Dixie risked a smile. "I knew you'd come around."
As the last of the Kremling landing party left the ship, two monkeys were stealthily swimming to the stern. They nimbly climbed up the back, looking in through windows.
"The captain's cabin should be back here somewhere," Diddy whispered to Dixie, who nodded in agreement. "If we're going to find any information, that's the place to look."
The two spent quite a while clambering around the back of the ship, peering into windows until, at last, they were looking into a luxurious room with a huge desk of dark wood in the centre.
"That's got to be it," Dixie whispered. "Try the window."
Diddy tugged on the window, but it did not budge. "Damn, it's stuck," he hissed.
"We're going to have to try and find a way to the door."
"Dix, no, it's too dangerous – " Diddy began, but she was already climbing up to the deck of the ship. He cursed and followed her.
She clambered over the railing, landed stealthily on the deck of the ship and looked around. There were no Kremlings in sight. Diddy joined her, and then they were running across the deck, and disappearing into a doorway.
"Okay, we need to find a key to get into the captain's cabin," she said quietly.
"This is a huge ship, Dixie!" Diddy hissed. "We're never going to find the key. We need to get off this boat, now!"
Her eyes narrowed. "Diddy, how many times have you argued with my ideas? I thought you'd trust me by now."
"I do, but – "
"Shh!" She clamped her hand over Diddy's mouth and threw them around a corner as a Kremling walked past. After he disappeared down the hallway and around another corner, she shot a disapproving glance at him. "How did you not hear him coming? He has a peg-leg!"
He ignored her, and started following the Kremling.
"What are you doing?" Dixie said as loudly as she dared.
"If you're so obsessed with getting into that damn cabin, then I know how we can find the key."
The two monkeys followed the Kremling through the ship's cabins. Luckily, they did not run into any more Kremlings. After a few minutes, the pirate reached its destination: the galley. The reptile's eyes gleamed hungrily as they swept over the room, looking for something to eat.
Diddy rolled his eyes and snuck into the kitchen, creeping up on the Kremling. However, just as the mnokey was about to reach him, he turned and saw the intruder. His eyes widened in surprise.
"Kongs!" He yelled. "Kongs on the ship!"
Diddy leapt into action, jumping onto the pirate, but was thrown off into a corner. The Kremling's hand went down to his belt to draw his sword – only to discover that it was not there. He turned and saw that Dixie had swiped it from its scabbard during his struggle with Diddy, and was now pointing it at him.
"Not another sound," she whispered dangerously.
The Kremling put his hands up, whimpering pathetically. "P-please d-don't kill me..."
"Thanks Dixie," Diddy panted.
She smiled mischievously. "Now, what's this plan of yours?"
"Give me the sword and I'll take care of it. This guy called pretty loudly. Watch the door and make sure that none of his buddies are coming."
She pursed her lips and, after a moment, reluctantly threw the sword to Diddy and walked toward the doorway. He stared after her in confusion for a moment, but then turned his attention back to the job at hand, turning to address the Kremling.
"Why are you here?"
"I was hungry, so I thought that I'd get something to eat. The Kap'n never gives us enough food, you see, so I figured – "
"Not why are you here in the galley!" Diddy said in frustration. "Why are you here on DK Island?"
The Kremling looked around nervously.
Diddy pressed the tip of the sword to his throat. "Answer the question."
"I don't know! All the Kap'n told us was that we're sailing here to smash some monkeys! And somethin' about nabbin' and kidnapping and looting..."
"The captain... Do you mean Kaptain K. Rool?"
The Kremling shook his head frantically. "Nay! Kaptain Kraft!"
"Kaptain Kraft?" Diddy said in confusion. "I've never heard of this guy before."
"Hey!" Dixie hissed from the doorway. "Can you two wrap up your little chat already? I think I can hear someone coming!"
Diddy pressed the sword-tip harder against the Kremling's throat. "Where is the key to the captain's cabin?"
"It's hanging on a hook in the barracks. It's just down the hall from the Kaptain's room."
"Thank you, you've been a great help." Diddy lifted the sword, reversed it, and brought the hilt down onto the pirate's head, knocking him out. "Come on, Dix," he said, dropping the sword. "We've gotta get out of here."
"We can't leave him there," she exclaimed, motioning to the Kremling's unconscious body. "Whoever's coming will sound the alarm!"
"Well, what can we do?"
She thought frantically for a moment, and then snapped her fingers. "Cover me. I've got an idea." With that, she leapt onto a counter and started pulling open cupboards. She began to pull bottles of rum out of one.
"What on earth, Dix? Do you really think now is an appropriate time?"
She ignored him, popped the cork off a bottle, and emptied its contents on the floor and all over the Kremling. She then scattered the bottles on the floor around him.
"Oh, good thinking," Diddy said, impressed.
Dixie grabbed him, pulled him into a cupboard and shut the doors, leaving a crack for them to peek out into the room. Moments later, two more Kremlings entered the galley, one of them much larger and musclier than the other.
"Oh, for Pete's sake," the smaller pirate said, seeing his comrade lying unconscious on the floor. "Just leave him. Tsk tsk, drinkin' on sentry duty. The Kap'n will deal with him later."
"But I thought I heard him shout that there were Kongs on-board," the other Kremling interjected.
"He's drunk, Kruncha! He prob'ly also saw a kangaroo as well."
"D'you we'll see a kangaroo someday?"
"Kangaroos are a myth!" The smaller Kremling turned and walked out of the galley.
"No they're not!" Kruncha said, offended. "I swear, I've seen one before..."
The two monkeys waited in the cupboard for a few minutes after the pirates had left before venturing out.
Diddy grabbed Dixie's hand and pulled her along. "Come on. At least we know where this key is now."
The monkeys snuck through the ship, fortunately not encountering any more Kremlings. They were able to find the barracks, the key and the captain's room without much trouble. Diddy unlocked the door, and then they stepped into the luxurious cabin, closing the door quietly behind them. A plush white rug was laid out in the centre of the room, and Diddy's feet sunk a little into the soft carpet.
He marched straight over to the desk and started opening drawers, while Dixie poked around the bookshelves in the corner of the room. Every drawer in the desk was empty, and Diddy sighed in frustration. Had they gone through this entire ordeal for nothing?
"Hey Diddy, listen to this," came Dixie's voice from the corner. "According to this book, the Legend of Kangaroos, they can be found on a strange island called Australia. But no one knows where this island is. Hm… what Kruncha wouldn't give for the captain to let him read this book, huh?"
Diddy chuckled, and then resumed his search. "Don't forget why we're here, Dix."
It was then that he saw it. The floor of the bottom drawer was coloured differently from the rest of drawer interior. He reached in and found that he could lift the board up, revealing a secret compartment that contained a very old-looking scroll.
"Dixie, come here. I've found something."
"What is it?"
Diddy studied the piece of parchment. "It's some sort of diagram. It's hard to make sense of... It depicts two islands side-by-side, balancing on a see-saw. And in the ocean below the right-most island are four circles... They look like weird capsules of some sort… Hm, this is strange..."
"What?" Dixie whispered.
"In the middle capsule, it says 'Sacrifice'."
Having left the scroll in the drawer and replacing the cover to make it look as though no one had been there, they left the cabin, snuck through the hallways and made their way off the ship and back down into the water. Their thoughts were troubled by that mysterious drawing, and were baffled as to what it meant.
"Well, that was a waste of time," Diddy said presently. "All of that trouble, and for what? Some cryptic picture that makes no sense at all!"
"Well, at least I came up with an idea," Dixie snapped. "You wanted to run back to the others with your tail between your legs and leave us completely clueless as to what the Kremlings are up to."
"Not quite," he said, looking across the cavern to the mine that the Kremling landing party had entered.
His compatriot followed his gaze, and instantly knew what he was thinking. "Let's go," she said, swimming toward the mine.
The pair crept up to the mine-shaft entrance, and then slowly ventured in. They found themselves amidst preparations for battle. Dozens of Kremling pirates rushed back and forth, sharpening swords and cleaning muskets. Staying out of sight, Diddy and Dixie crept around, scouting out the situation. They stopped when they saw a large, muscle-bound Kremling who seemed to be in charge. The leader was in the process of unpacking what appeared to be a large radio pack. They watched in wonder, and several minutes later, the radio was set up.
"Quiet, you maggots!" the large Kremling yelled. "I'm about to talk to the Kaptain!"
Silence fell as the other pirates looked at the radio with fear.
The Captain, Diddy thought. Kaptain Kraft?
A strange, distorted voice issued from the speaker. "Report."
The large Kremling took hold of a microphone and spoke into it. "The activation of the Chamber was exactly as you had predicted. The seismic activity caused by it rising from the depths triggered the eruption of a subterranean volcano on the western end of DK Island. The cave was flooded with lava. We have made our base of operations here, and I can report with great confidence that your predictions on the locations of the subterranean volcanoes are correct."
"Then this means that the activation of the Second Chamber will indeed cause the eruption of a subterranean volcano below Vine Valley?" the distorted voice asked.
"Yes, Kaptain," the leader said into the radio.
"...Excellent."
Diddy and Dixie looked at each other in horror.
"They're going to destroy Vine Valley?" she said in shock. "Cranky lives there! And DK is there too, visiting him!"
The large Kremling leader continued to talk into the radio below. "My scouts tell me that the lumbering fool DK is in Vine Valley at the moment, visiting his washed-up old grandfather. How do you wish to proceed?"
The distorted voice was silent for a moment, before it spoke again. "We must keep the plan moving. Begin Phase 2 immediately. As for Donkey Kong, see to it that he never leaves that wretched valley."
"Yes, master..."