Hello, everyone...blah blah blah...new chapter...blah blah blah...TC needs to shut up!
"Owowowowowow!"
Diddy woke up, startled, a flying Cloak (or Kloak, in this case) threw a small crate on Diddy's head. He was laughing at the young monkey.
Diddy scowled at the Kloak, he began to chase after it, "Come back here, you bastard!"
The Kloak laughed harder, it was flying over a tree. Diddy raced onto the tree and prepared to pounce on it. "I seriously don't want to deal with yo- WHAA!"
The tree branch broke, causing Diddy to fall on his head. He was laying upside-down, feeling dazed. The Kloak continued to laugh as he flew away before he could cause any more trouble to the little monkey.
Dixie slowly stretched as she woke up. Looking around, she saw Diddy laying upside-down against a tree. "Heh...I always thought it was uncomfortable laying down like that.
"Shut up!" Diddy said, bitterly. He flipped himself over, making himself stand on two legs, again. Looking up, the sky had a bright green hue, K. Rool's Keep stood proudly in the middle of Gloomy Gulch.
"Hey, Diddy?" Dixie came up to the little monkey, "Now that we're so close to K. Rool's Keep, do you know what we're gonna do?"
Diddy started to wander into the forest, "We beat King K. Rool and then we rescue DK, simple!"
Dixie pouted, she began to follow Diddy, "But what if it in't as easy as you think?"
"Don't worry, Dixie...we'll be just fine!" He said, stubbornly.
The forest was very lively, spirits wandered, Kloaks flew by, and porcupines roamed freely. However, the deeper the Kongs went into the forest, the more unsettling it became. Some of the trees appeared to have faces, the plants were starting to whither, skeletons were seen lying around on the ground.
Dixie tugged lightly on Diddy's tail, "I don't like the looks of this place"
"D-don't worry...we'll be fine," Diddy said, trying to sound strong, "A-at least I think we'll be..."
"CAAW!"
The Kongs looked upwards, a Necky was sitting down on a tree, looking down at them with wide, hungry eyes.
"I-I guess Neckies are pretty common here, too," Diddy said.
The Kongs kept walking, ignoring the Necky above them. The Necky stared at them, shortly before vanishing, like a shadow.
"OK, I'm seriously getting creeped out," Dixie admitted, Diddy nodded in agreement, "What's gotten into this place, anyway?"
Something quickly caught Diddy's eye. Ahead of them was a large figure, it looked big and hairy, almost like another Kong.
"DK, it that you!?" Diddy yelled, trying to get the ape's attention. Dixie looked into the same direction as Diddy, "I don't see anyone..."
"Whaddaya mean? It's gotta be him!" Diddy said as he ran over to the big ape, "DK, over here!"
Donkey wouldn't acknowledge Diddy, the little monkey waved his arms, trying to get the big ape's attention, "DK,. it's us! We're here to-"
Diddy stopped dead in his tracks, Donkey wasn't even around, his mind was playing illusions on him.
"Well? Did you find him?" Dixie asked, placing her hands on her hips.
"Damn it all," Diddy mutter, sitting down on the floor, "Something's wrong with this place..."
"Hehehe, ssso you thought you would meet your buddy in a placcce like thisss?" Rattly sang as he slithered from one of the trees, " Then again, this placcce isss pretty haunted."
The Kongs stared at Rattly, startled. "Wh-what do you mean haunted?" Dixie asked.
"It'sss sssimple, Gloomy Gulch isss home to ressstlesss spirits," Rattly said in a serious tone, "In other wordsss, you'll have to watch out for ghossstsss, they could get you into a lot of trouble."
"All right," Diddy said, nodding, "But what about the Neckies?"
Rattly looked unsure, "Neckiesss?"
"You know," Diddy stood up, "Big scary vultures, they spit nuts at people, they're very territorial."
Rattly shook his head, "That'sss funny, I haven't ssseen any Neckiesss, they usssually don't live here."
"Then what did we just see back there?" Dixie asked, now feeling slightly creeped out.
"I hope it was only a trick, then," Diddy said, trembling, "I really don't wanna pick a fight with Neckies, anytime soon."
Rattly began to smile, "Well, I hope you two will keep going, you're only a little while away from K. Rool's Keep."
"Er...OK, then," Diddy said, "Good luck, out there."
Rattly slithered away. Diddy and Dixie gave each other a strange look before going further into the forest.
K. Rool's Keep was a living hell for Donkey Kong, after the news that Diddy and Dixie were traveling the island, he was treated even worse then some of the prisoners. Sometimes, to pass the time, the Kremlings would beat him, and the chains Donkey had on his wrists hardly did anything to help defend himself. They even stopped giving him food, altogether (not that the food was any good to Donkey, anyway).
The big ape was sitting there in his cell, covered in bruises and dry blood, he could've swarn one of his ribs was broken. He grew very impatient, wanting to get out as soon as possible. C'mon, Diddy...hurry up!
K. Rool came into the dungeon with a few other Kremlings. One of the bigger Kremlings was holding a rope. They came over to Donkey's cell.
"Well, how are we doing today?" K. Rool asked, only to recieve a furious look from Donkey.
"...Fuck off!" Donkey yelled, K. Rool shook his head in disapproval, "My, what foul language...I thought you should know that your nephew's almost here to rescue you."
"So? What are you getting at?" Donkey growled.
"Oh, it would be a shame if something were to happen to him and that little girl," K. Rool teased. Donkey growled, he tried to attack K. Rool, but again, his chains held him back.
"Damn you, if you think about killing those kids, then I'm gonna-"
"No, no, I never said I was going to kill them," K. Rool teased, he snapped his claws, the Krelings began to tie Donkey into ropes.
"Whoa, what the hell?" Donkey asked, he was no longer chained, but now he was tied up by some thick ropes, he couldn't move his arms, at all.
"Don't worry, Donkey Kong," K. Rool said, getting ready to leave the dungeon, "I'm a nice Crocodile, so I can at least let you see your nephew one last time..."
"What do you mean 'one more time'?"
"Oh, nothing," K. Rool said, waving a hand, "Just forget I said anything...
The farther the Kongs traveled into Gloomy Gulch, the creepier it was. So far, Rattly was right. Many spirits seemed to wander the forest, occasionally playing tricks on the Kongs. There were some spirits that were helpful, of course. Some of them did lead Diddy and Dixie into the right direction...but still, just the thought of walking through a ghost-infested forest was scary enough for the Kongs.
"So, are we getting any farther?" Dixie asked, Diddy nodded, "I think so."
The Kongs began to hear cackling in the distance, Diddy felt a shiver go down his spine. This forest was driving him crazy, he pulled his dagger out from his backpack, "Better to be safe then sorry, right?"
Dixie frowned, "I gotta ask, what's it like carrying that knife around?"
"It's not bad," Diddy said, "But I think I'd be better with a gun or two."
"Why two of 'em?" Dixie asked, "On second thought...I'll save it for later."
"TURN BACK NOW!"
The Kongs yelped, where had that voice come from? It must've been another ghost messing with their heads.
"TURN BACK!"
"OK," Diddy yelled as he tried to turn back, Dixie grabbed him by the tail, "How about we don't listen to the creepy ghost?"
"But what if he kills us?"
Not a moment too soon, a Ghost Kremling appeared from the forest, chasing the Kongs as the two primates screamed in terror. The Ghost Kremling cackled, madly. It swatted at Diddy, the monkey did a front flip, avoiding the Kremling's hand.
"You can't run, forever!" The Kremling yelled, Dixie looked back, nervously, the ghost swatted at her, she jumped over the hand before she was struck by him.
"How long until we lose him!?" Diddy yelled.
"I dunno!" Dixie yelled, "I thought you would come up with something!"
Diddy bumped into Squitter, landing on his butt. Dixie stopped running, waving her arms at the two boys, "C'mon, we gotta go before he gets us!"
Squitter tilted his head, confused. Diddy looked back, the ghost was no longer there. "How do we keep falling for these illusions?"
"Well, we're almost there," Dixie stated, she helped Diddy up, "So, come on, let's-"
Squitter panicked, blocking the way forward. Diddy tried to push him aside, "C'mon, move!"
Squitter shook his head, he began to act more like a bird, he was trying to tell them there was danger, ahead. If only he could talk like his friend, Rattly.
"Squitter," Dixie sounded a little more stern, "We know you're scared, but we gotta go."
Squitter shook his head, there was no way he was letting them go any further.
A blue parrot flew in front of Squitter, startling the spider as he fell backwards. The spider backed away from the parrot with frightened eyes. The Kong children only stared at him, confused.
"A parrot? Is that what you're afraid of?" Diddy asked. A couple more parrots surrounded Squitter, the helpless Spider whined, he was begging for them to get away from him.
"I guess he's not a fan of bird," Dixie said, unamused. She began to move forward with Diddy following her. Squitter waved his legs, trying to get the Kongs' attention, but it was too late, they were already gone.
"Well, that was strange," Dixie mumbled.
"I know," Diddy said, "I don't even know what's going on, anymore..."
Four blue parrots flew in front of the Kongs, they appeared to be harmless, almost like the parrots in Kongo Bongo.
"Hello, there," One of the parrots said, happily.
"We couldn't help but notice you needed help," Another parrot squawked.
The Kongs seemed a little weirded out, just where were these parrots coming from? Sure, they seemed harmless, but were they just another illusion?
"Well, we don't mind the help, but we're better off on our own," Diddy said. His instincts were telling him something was wrong, that these parrots weren't exactly parrots, nor were they nice parrots, for that matter.
"Oh, nonsense, you're coming with us," a parrot said, Diddy swatted at them, "I said no!"
"Too bad, you killed our master, so you must come with us!"
The parrots' feathers have turned black, their necks became long, the parrots weren't parrots...instead, they were Neckies, and more of them kept appearing.
"H-Hey, what are you doing!?" Dixie yelled, three Neckies have grabbed her by her arm, leg, and her ponytail. She began to struggle, "Let go of me you stupid vultures."
Diddy tried to strike one of them with his dagger, but it divided into two more neckies. "What the hell's going on!?"
"Fooling boy..." the necky said, he grabbed Diddy by the tail while two more Neckies grabbed him by the arms, "You can't kill us with that thing, it only works on Master!"
The Neckies flew through different trees, they were getting closer and closer to a forest clearing, where crates were stacked. There, the Neckies dropped Diddy and Dixie onto the crates. Dixie landed safely, of course, but Diddy face planted, next to her.
Dixie shook him, lightly, "Are you OK?"
"Urgh..." Diddy raised his head, feeling somewhat dizzy, "I'm fine."
"Well, now, it's about time we get to meet, again," said a familiar voice. Diddy looked up, his skin turned pale. In front of the Kongs was a Ghost Necky with blue skin, green, moldy feathers, and a pirate's outfit. The feathers looked like they were falling off, the outfit the Necky was wearing was ripped and tattered, and it appeared the Necky was missing an eye.
"N-No way," Dixie said in shock, "I thought you were dead..."
"You are right," The Necky said, "And it seems you brats are alive and well."
Diddy only stared at the Necky, remembering how he received the wounds on his back, remembering how the Necky tried to kill him and Dixie.
This Necky...it was Krow...
YAAAAARGH! Pirate Ghost Neckies, ahoy!
...So I'll admit I was suprised to see Krow in Gloomy Gulch...I honestly didn't think I/Diddy/Dixie really killed him...I guess even any Nintendo game can be dark, if done right (just look at Super Paper Mario...or Majora's Mask...or Twilight Princess...Hell, even some of the Pokemon games are pretty dark, at times)
But enough rambling. Bye Bye.