"Diddy Kong," a ghostly voice whispered through the air.
Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong had slept in a large mango tree during the night, with much to eat before bedtime, and Diddy Kong was the first to wake up in response to the mysterious voice. He looked to his left and right, sensing something dubious about the environment. The dawn sky had an eerie orange color, and there was a voice calling his name. Being the curious young monkey that he was, Diddy wanted to investigate and find out where the voice was coming from. However, he felt that it would endanger both him and Donkey Kong, so he laid back down and closed his eyes.
"Diddy Kong," the voice called again.
The second calling aroused greater curiosity within Diddy Kong's mind. He was about to wake up Donkey Kong and tell him about it, but his big buddy was still asleep. Diddy wanted to give DK more time to rest after their exhausting yesterday of looking for elephants and battling undead lions from past Pridelands generations.
"Diddy Kong!" the voice hissed.
Diddy Kong finally gave into his curiosity and slid down the tree, causing several mangos to fall to the ground. He darted off into the grassy plains, following after the voice. Moments later, Donkey Kong awoke from his sleep and noticed that Diddy Kong nowhere to be found in the tree. DK looked out into the savanna and saw Diddy, from a great distance, running off after an echoing voice that was calling his name. Sensing danger, Donkey Kong leapt down from the tree and hastily followed after Diddy Kong.
Diddy Kong kept on following the voice, which echoed faster and fainter every second until he reached a flowing river where four bleeding animal corpses lay; a giraffe, a rhinoceros, a zebra, and a wildebeest. Diddy Kong was vexed at the scene. He knew that Ghastly King was ultimately responsible for the death of those animals, having read the letter about him kidnapping DK's father in the Pridelands, but he did not understand why the evil ape would want to kill other animals so gruesomely. Diddy never thought any of the enemies that he and DK faced on their home island, not even King K. Rool, to be that ruthless. Having seen enough, Diddy Kong turned and began his way back to the mango tree, when suddenly…
"ROAR!" Another resurrected evil lion pounced out of nowhere and pinned a mortified and screaming Diddy Kong to the ground. This lion was slender with brownish orange fur, a black mane, green eyes, and a pink scar over his left eye.
"Oh, sorry to startle you, young primate," the lion taunted in his raspy British voice. Diddy Kong instantly recognized the lion's voice, which was the same voice that had been echoing his name earlier. "I am Scar. I was once king of the Pridelands, until that brutish hairball Simba took it from me, and left me to die at the jaws of hyenas, but Ghastly King has brought me back to life for good purposes. And I'll prove my worthiness to him by killing you first."
"NO!" Diddy Kong cried, holding up his hands as a plea for mercy. Scar lifted his head and open his jaws, about to clamp down on Diddy Kong's throat, but then…
POW! Donkey Kong violently rammed his arm and shoulder into Scar's side, knocking him off of his little buddy.
"UHROOOOOOOAAAAAACHAAR!" Donkey Kong furiously roared, beating his chest. "Scar leave Diddy alone! DK and Diddy had enough of lions!"
"You would be stupid enough to tell me that, Donkey Kong?" Scar rhetorically asked in a suave tone. Then he got into his pouncing position, saying, "When I'm sure you know my purpose and what I intend to do."
With a sharp roar, Scar pounced at Donkey Kong and they tumbled on the ground, wrestling. Once broken apart, Scar attempted to claw at DK's face, but the big ape shielded himself with his bulky forearms. Diddy Kong made a flipping lunge at Scar and tackled him to the ground. Scar recovered quickly, using his jaws to grab Diddy Kong by the scruff and tossing him aside. Enraged, Donkey Kong attempted to smash Scar with his fists, but the evil lion swiftly dodged the attack. Scar charged and attempted to make a pounce for DK's throat, only to be blocked again by a muscular forearm. With great force, DK pushed Scar away from his throat and sent him rolling on the ground. Once Scar got back on his feet, Diddy leapt from behind, bouncing off of his head and landing in front of him. Scar swiped at the young monkey, but he ducked and dealt him an uppercut. Donkey Kong charged and rammed into Scar again, knocking him on his back to the ground. DK lunged in the air, arms ready to smash Scar, only for the evil lion to catch him with his feet and roll to the side, pinning him down. Scar mercilessly clawed at the ape's chest and shoulders, until his little buddy leapt to his defense and knocked the evil lion off with a jumping sideways kick. Then Diddy Kong made another flipping lunge at Scar, only for the evil lion to catch him in his jaws by the shirt, roll over and pin him down. Scar pawed at the little monkey's face and almost bit his throat until Donkey Kong grabbed his black mane and threw him off. Scar recovered quickly and charged at DK, as the strong ape charged him too. Once close up, Scar stood on his hind legs, attempting to bite at DK's throat, but got cut off with both of his forearms. Scar quickly stepped down and hastily clamped onto Donkey Kong's left ankle. While briefly stunning DK, Scar jumped upward and butted his head into the ape's chin, knocking him over. Scar pounced for the fallen Donkey Kong, only for Diddy Kong to intercept the attack with a brave pounce of his own which sent both himself and Scar violently falling backward. Scar flipped Diddy off with his hind legs, and then charged at the young monkey. Thinking fast, Diddy Kong grabbed a nearby stick that lay on the ground and swung it multiple times to hit Scar's biting jaws.
"Take that you big bully!" Diddy Kong snapped while hitting Scar with the stick.
Scar eventually grabbed hold of the stick in his sharp teeth and tossed it aside. Donkey Kong attempted to smash Scar from behind, but the evil lion sensed his enemy's presence and knocked him backward with a donkey kick. Scar made a pounce for Diddy Kong, who quickly slid underneath him to dodge the pounce. Scar whirled around and pounced again, only for Diddy to slide under him a second time to evade the attack. DK tackled Scar, who forcefully slipped out of the ape's grasp and struck him down with a powerful blow from his right paw. Diddy lunged at Scar from the side, only to be backhanded several yards away with the same paw that struck his big buddy.
Diddy Kong ended up near the four dead animals, and Scar let out a fierce roar that caused spontaneous lightning bolts to strike each one of them. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Scar continued fighting Donkey Kong as all four dead animals; giraffe, rhinoceros, zebra, and wildebeest; rose up from the dead. Possessed by Scar, all four animals surrounded Diddy Kong, glaring with glowing red eyes and gnashing their newly sharp teeth at him. Diddy Kong was frightened that the undead mutated ungulates, who were all much bigger than him, were about to attack, but he had no choice but to fight.
From a distance, Donkey Kong had his back turned to the scene as he smashed Scar into the ground with his fists. He turned around to see the four undead animals threatening his little buddy, and was about to intervene, but a quickly recovered Scar pounced on him from behind and tackled him to the ground. Scar rolled forward off of DK and then whirled around to attack him from the front so that he could not get to Diddy.
As DK and Scar fought, the giraffe was the first to attack Diddy. The giraffe shot his long neck downward and attempted to bite Diddy, who cartwheeled out of the way just in time. He jumped and bounced off the giraffe's head, which caused the tall beast to fall to the ground. The rhino charged at Diddy Kong from the front, but the young monkey dodged with a high air flip as the monster ran under him. The wildebeest immediately charged Diddy from the side and attempted to bite him. Diddy Kong ducked as the wildebeest chomped over his head, and then dealt the mutated ungulate a sharp uppercut that sent him falling backward. The zebra charged at Diddy from behind and reared up on his hind legs to strike him down with his front hooves. Diddy Kong turned around just in time to fend off the zebra with a jumping high kick to his chest.
Diddy Kong did well to dodge the first attack from each possessed animal, but the giraffe bit onto his back shirt collar. The beast tossed Diddy into the air, mouth open to swallow the young monkey as he fell back down. Fortunately, Diddy was able to land both of his little feet on each one of the giraffe's jaws. Like a crocodile, the giraffe snapped his piercing jaws together multiple times as Diddy Kong struggled to keep his balance and avoid falling into his enemy's mouth. Diddy Kong knew that he would die someday, but the last way he wanted to die was by being eaten. He shuddered at the thought of getting even his baby toe caught in the giraffe's sharp teeth. It would surely cause him a world of pain. Eventually, Diddy Kong's body jerked forward, and he seized upon that opportunity to forcefully dive off of the giraffe's snapping jaws. Before Diddy could land on the ground, the wildebeest leapt in the air to ram him with his horned head. Luckily, no part of the monkey's body met the sharp edges of the horns, but the headbutt still hurt and caused him to violently tumble to the side.
Diddy Kong quickly recovered onto all fours as the giraffe tried to stomp him multiple times with his hoofs. Diddy stopped the attacks by spinning and smacking a fist into the giraffe's twiggy left hind leg. The giraffe sank to his knee as Diddy somersaulted out from underneath him. However, Diddy Kong did not get up fast enough to avoid a hind kick from the zebra. The kick sent him flying back into the giraffe's hip, causing him to topple over on his side. Luckily, Diddy Kong's small body ricocheted off the giraffe's side, which made him less likely to be eaten. The zebra charged at Diddy Kong again, mouth open to bite him. The monkey rolled to the side as the zebra accidentally bit into the grass instead and flipped over onto his back.
Diddy Kong was right next to the zebra as he rolled back onto his feet while rhino charged again. The young monkey dodged yet again with a high air flip. The rhino accidentally slashed the zebra's side with his horn, which sparked an idea in Diddy's mind. Diddy leapt onto the rhino's shoulders and straddled his neck like a mahout riding an Asian Elephant. Diddy Kong pulled on the beast's ears, intending to ride and ram him into the other animals. However, that decision backfired as the rhino jerked his head forward and caused Diddy to fall onto his snout. Diddy Kong clung to the rhino's horn as he swung his head around, trying to shake him off. Eventually, Diddy Kong lost grip of the horn and was sent flying to the right. As Diddy Kong shuffled back onto his feet, he hastily cartwheeled to the left to avoid being devoured by the giraffe's downward snapping jaws. Then the wildebeest attempted to gore Diddy into the ground with his horns, but the young monkey did a backward somersault just in time to preserve his own life. The zebra attempted to stomp in Diddy's head, but he swiftly rolled over to the side to survive the attack and keep his skull intact.
From left to right, the rhino, zebra, wildebeest, and giraffe all slowly approached Diddy Kong, cornering him to the flowing river behind him. Suddenly, the river roared as its water rose higher and higher, and the current ran faster and faster. Diddy Kong nervously stepped backward, unsure of what to do next. He stepped back further and further until his left foot slipped off a grassy ledge and his entire body fell into the raging river behind him.
"AAAAHH-OOOOOOOO!" Diddy Kong screamed as the river current rapidly swept him away.
Donkey Kong was too engaged in his fight with Scar to hear his friend's cry. DK flipped the evil lion in the air with an uppercut, but then the rhino charged and rammed him from the side. DK quickly recovered to face the brute. That monster charged again, only for Donkey Kong to catch and hold him at bay with his huge, strong hands. DK gradually worked his hands up to the rhino's horn and forcefully twisted him over onto his side. He swung his enemy by that horn to hit the darting mouth of the giraffe and the charging zebra and wildebeest, sending all three of them falling over. The wildebeest was the first to recover, and charged at Donkey Kong. The mighty gorilla lifted the rhino over his head, like he was about to chop a wooden stump with an axe, and smashed his body onto the wildebeest. POW! Both of the possessed animals bodies disappeared in a large puff of smoke with a shallow crater in place of where they got smashed. The zebra charged through the smoke and lunged at Donkey Kong with menacing open jaws. With swift reflexes, DK caught his enemy by the jaws and flipped him to the ground. With his big hands, the ape stretched both jaws apart until… POW! The zebra's sharp jaws broke and his body disappeared in smoke just like the rhino and wildebeest. Looking up through the smoke, DK saw a silhouette of the giraffe glaring down at him with his glowing red eyes. Like a man-eating dragon, the giraffe shot his long neck down with jaws open to bite Donkey Kong. Before the giraffe could clamp his sharp teeth into DK's flesh, his mouth was abruptly shut with a stinging uppercut from the ape's fist. The giraffe kicked Donkey Kong in the gut with a front hoof and sent him flying backward several yards. While Donkey Kong was down, the giraffe slowly approached and shot his head down for another bite. DK recovered and rolled out of the way just in time as the monster bit into the grass. With haste, Donkey Kong barreled under the giraffe's neck while his head was down and braced his muscular arms around the neck. With a strong heave, Donkey Kong flipped the giraffe over his shoulder, twisted the head, punched the neck and POW! The giraffe was defeated and gone through thick smoke along with his three fellow attackers. Donkey Kong stood hunched over, breathing heavily until the smoke subsided.
"RHAAAAAAAAAAHUROARAHR!" Donkey Kong beat his chest and let out a loud victory roar that sounded like a deep-voiced monkey scream.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" Scar's evil voice laughed through the air with an echoing tone.
Donkey Kong looked around, but Scar was nowhere to be seen. DK growled through his teeth and clenched his bulky fists, ready for Scar to pounce out of nowhere and attack him. Then DK got a reaction from Scar that he did not expect.
"The strongest animals seem to like pummeling enemies so much that they take no time to consider the safety of their friends," Scar's voice mocked.
"What?!" Donkey Kong inquired, confused.
"Look around you, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong is gone and it's all your fault," Scar coldly accused him. "You should have known better than to bring a young monkey on a dangerous quest, just to find an insignificant father that you never knew. I once knew a cub whose negligence killed his own father, and you are JUST like him."
Donkey Kong looked around and was mortified to see that Diddy Kong was not there. He was totally unaware of what happened to his little buddy during the fight. Scar would not tell him. DK was so distraught that he did not even WANT to ask Scar. Did Diddy Kong run off out of fear? Was he killed by Scar or any of the possessed animals? DK deeply loved Diddy like his own nephew and would never forgive himself if he lost him on the quest.
"No, Diddy, DIDDY!" Donkey Kong panicked. He fell to his knees and let out a distressed howl, "OOOO-OOOOOOOO!"
"Writhe in your misery all you want, it will not bring your friend back, dumb ape!" Scar's voice taunted him. "Just think about what happened to him!"
"Diddy can't be dead, DK has to find him!" Donkey Kong screamed, springing up onto all fours. He ran off, frantically calling out, "DIDDY! DIDDY KONG!"
Scar's echoing voice maniacally laughed, ringing in Donkey Kong's ears as he sprinted through the savanna in search of his friend. "AH, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA! HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!"
***Additional Notes***
1. Donkey Kong's first attack on Scar, in which he rammed his arm and shoulder into him, was derived from an attack in Super Mario Strikers (a Mario-based soccer game for the Nintendo GameCube) called the "big hit." In Super Mario Strikers, big hits are used to knock down and stun opponents carrying the ball. Donkey Kong is a playable captain in Super Mario Strikers, and his big hit looks exactly the way I described in the text.
2. I have derived two of Donkey Kong's roars from outside sources and translated them as best as I could in dialogue. His first roar, "UHROOOOOOOAAAAAACHAAR," was derived from one of the opening cutscenes in Mario vs. Donkey Kong for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance. In that cutscene, Donkey Kong broke into the Mini Mario Toy Factory, out of fury that the Mini Mario Toys were sold out in stores, prepared to steal every toy he could find. Donkey Kong's second roar, "RHAAAAAAAAAAHUROARAHR," is actually one of King Kong's roars in two of Toho's movies, King Kong vs. Godzilla and King Kong Escapes. That roar is a roar that sounds more like a deep-voiced monkey scream, and Kong frequently uses it throughout the films.
3. The part where Diddy Kong hits Scar with a stick and says, "Take that you big bully," was derived from a fight scene in Disney's The Jungle Book (the animated film released in 1967) in which Mowgli the "mancub" does that very thing to Shere Khan the tiger.