Yeesh...I can't believe this thing hasn't been updated since last year (or more like 3 weeks, but you get the joke).

But yeah. 10 chapters and I'm not even done with this thing!

As the Kongs finally entered Krem Quay, they began to notice the smell of dead fish. The boardwalks standing in the water were covered in moss. As for the water itself, it was full of algae, broken ship parts, and lilypads.

"So...how do you think we should get through here?" Dixie asked.

"Uh..." Diddy was at a loss of words. To be fair, he wouldn't want to swim in the water, either. Just then, the Kongs could see a brown parrot flying by, they could've sworn that they had seen him somewhere before.

"Isn't that one of K. Rool's pets?" Dixie asked.

"I think so," Diddy replied. "And if he catches us, he'll call us out for sure."

"So what do you think we should do, then?"

Diddy thought for a moment, he was really as a loss for what to do now. He looked up at the bird again, it looked back at him before flying away. Diddy panicked, he jumped onto one of the lilypads. "WE'VE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE!"

"DIDDY, WAIT!" Dixie yelled as she chased after him. The Kongs hopped from lilypad to lilypad until they were close enough to the village. At that point, an anglerfish leapt out and pulled Diddy underwater. Dixie was about to jump after him when she started to hear Kremlings running along the boardwalks. She quietly made her way into the water and under one of the lilypads.

"Oi, someone out thar!?" yelled a familer voice. Dixie continued to hide under the under the lilypad, avoiding the light coming from the Kremling's flashlight. She looked up as soon as the light was gone. Kudgel was standing at the end of the boardwalk. He had a flashlight in one hand and a club in the other hand, he also had the brown parrot sitting on his shoulder.

"Are ye sure those Kongs are out here, Screech?"

"Yes I'm sure," Screech replied bitterly. "I saw them with my own two eyes."

"Well, then I guess we'll 'ave t' keep an eye out," Kudgel said as he walked back towards the village. Once the duo was gone, Dixie took the lilypad off her head. She nearly screamed when Diddy came out of the water, gasping for air.

"Are you OK?" Dixie asked while patting his back. Diddy nodded, he could see some lights moving around within the village, which wasn't a very good sign. He looked down into the water, the anglerfish was headed underneath the boardwalks. However, he stopped and looked up at the Kongs with pleading eyes.

"...Cranky said somethin' about Brambles, right?" Diddy asked, "If we get past the village, I'm sure we'll be able to find 'em."

"All right, but what if we get caught?" Dixie asked.

"Then...Actually, I'm not sure what'll happen-."

"Hey, is anyone out there!?"

Quickly, the Kongs dived underwater and started following the angler fish. Once they were under the boardwalk, they waited for the Kremlings to disappear.

"I don't see anything out here, do you?"

"...Nope, nothin'."

"That's a shame...but I'll bet we'll find the Kongs on the other side of the village!"

The Kongs stayed silent as the Kremlings took off, they quietly followed the anglerfish as best as they could. Along the boardwalks, the Kongs could hear the Kremlings speak to each other. They mostly heard some mundane things, such as one Kremling asking his friend if it was too late to eat dinner. They heard another Kremling wonder out loud if he could simply keep the Kongs as pets...which sounded pretty insulting. Eventually, the Kongs made their way out of the village. They started climbing along one of the boardwalks, again. However, neither of Kongs realized that they were being watched by Kudgel and Screech as they left the water.

"Say, aren't those th' Kongs K. Rool wanted us t' capture?"

"Gee, what do you think?" Screech asked bitterly.

"Don't get smart wit' me, bird!" Kudgel scolded. "Besides...if they be goin' t' sneak past us like that, then th' least I could do be surprise them."

"Well, would you look at that?" Screech teased, "I guess there's a brain in that head after all!"

"Oh, buzz off!" Kudgel yelled as he swatted at Screech. He dived into the water and started following the Kongs, he made sure not to alert them of his presence.

The Kongs had gotten pretty far from the village. Surprisingly, they couldn't help but notice how beautiful the swamp looked here. There were fireflies and dragonflies flying above the water, which had anglerfish swimming underneath. Diddy couldn't help but feel as if he were surrounded by the stars themselves, as he wouldn't have expected to see something like this coming from Crocodile Isle. In fact, anglerfish were rare over on Donkey Kong Island. He looked over at Dixie, who was as awestruck by the scenery as he was.

"I thought you would've seen something like this before," Diddy said.

"...Not really," Dixie replied. "We rarely traveled at night."

"Well I can't say I blame ya," Diddy said with a shrug. "After all, you never know what might pop out at you."

"Yeah...but I suppose even the most dangerous places on earth can have its beautiful moments," Dixie said. Diddy nodded in agreement. Part of him wished that DK was around to see this. But at the same time, he felt just as safe whenever Dixie was around. For a moment, he wondered if he really was in love with her, or maybe it was just Klubba messing around with him. Either way, as much as he wanted to keep his feelings to himself, perhaps he and Dixie could talk it out. He took a deep breath.

"Hey, Dixie?"

"Yeah?"

"There's...something I need to tell you."

But before either of the Kongs could speak, Kudgel managed to leap out of the water and land in front of them. "Did ye really think ye two could get away from me?"

The Kongs jumped back as Kudgel tried to whack them with his club. Dixie looked at Diddy, she had a clueless look on her face. "What do we do now?"

"I-I dunno," Diddy responded, terrified. Kudgel tried to hit them again, this time he barely grazed Dixie's arm. There had to be something they could do...maybe they could throw something at him? Or someone?

"Say, Dixie? How much can you carry?"

"Now's not the time for that, Dids!"

"But I think I know how to get past this guy?"

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Dixie asked in a sarcastic tone.

"You've gotta throw me!" Diddy said quietly. "When he raises his club, throw me as hard as you can."

Dixie wanted to question him, but she figured it was best to just go along with the plan. She grabbed Diddy's arm and waited for Kudgel to raise his club again. Once it was raised, she twirled Diddy around before throwing him at the Kudgel's chest. Once he was down, both Kongs ran along the boardwalk as fast as they could. Kudgel quickly stood up and started chasing them. The Kongs ran and ran until they finally came up to a broken flight of stairs, covered in brambles. Quickly, they made their way up the brambles and onto the stairs. Kudgel tried to continue the chase, but he was too big to fit through the brambles. Not only that, the club was no good at clearing them out of the way. He threw the club in anger, he started yelling at the Kongs.

"IF EITHER O' YE SHOW YER FACES HERE AGAIN, I'LL KILL YE BOTH!"

Once the Kongs were certain they were safe from harm, they stopped running and rested against the one of stairs. Once again, Dixie pulled the map out of Diddy's backpack. Unfortunately, the map was unreadable due to being exposed to the water. The ape huffed as she threw it in frustration.

"Everything all right?" Diddy asked as he sat down. Dixie couldn't help but sigh "So we don't have a map anymore...but I think we're closer to rescuing DK now that we're up here."

"So then we have two more places to get through until we reach K. Rool's place, right?"

"I think so," Dixie replied. "Besides, I think Swanky and Candy are supposed to be up ahead."

"Ah gees," Diddy said while facepalming. "I forgot those two were on the island."

"Well, they're working at a carnival, aren't they?" Dixie asked. "I'm sure they could find a way for us to sneak by without getting caught."

"Yeah...and hopefully K. Rool hasn't gone after them" Diddy said somberly as he started resting his head in his hands. Dixie gave him a patient smile and sat down next to him. "Oh, come on...I'm sure he wouldn't be that...K. Rool."

Diddy glared at her. Given the situation they were in, Dixie had to admit the joke was rather tasteless. The ape tried to think of something else to talk about.

"So...wasn't there something you wanted to tell me back there?"

"Hm?" Diddy lifted his head and gave her a confused look.

"Uh...there was something you wanted to tell me before we were attacked, right."

"Well..." Diddy looked as if he were trying to think, he ended up shaking his head. "Nevermind, I forgot what I was gonna say."

"Oh..." Dixie looked disappointed, but she smiled nonetheless. "Well, let me know if you remember."

Obviously, Diddy was lying. He wanted to tell Dixie how he felt about her, but from the looks of it, now wasn't the best time to say anything. The Kongs continued to make their way up the stairs, their journey wasn't over yet.

So uh...Friendly reminder that I'm aromantic and have no idea how romance is supposed to work. That aside, I'm glad I got this done.