Chapter 3: A King in Imprisonment

The various animals stared at the vast number of humans that flooded around their steel cells. There was a great wave of anticipation in the air, the weight of which was escaped by no living thing. The animals didn't understand what all the excitement was about. It was just another animal. Why was this one so special to their strange captors?

The crowd was almost silent for nearly fifteen minutes, all staring waitingly at a large cage, covered with a curtain. Finally, A sharply-dressed man in sunglasses pushed his way towards the cage, a wireless microphone in hand. A few people clapped as they realized that the show was about to get underway, but most were still silent, still waiting for the curtain to be removed.

The announcer took advantage of this silent anticipation, and took a few long minutes to survey the crowd. Finally, he rose the microphone to his mouth.

"Ladies and gentlemen, for hundreds of years now, scientists have searched for the elusive 'missing link,' the missing piece in the biological puzzle that links us to the apes. I say, whole-heartedl,y that the beast waiting below this sheet may just be what they've been looking for. According to tests conducted, this creature has an IQ of 82, just 18-that's right, 18-points below an average human IQ. This is no trick. This is no gimmick. This is only the one, the only... Donkey Kong!"

As the announcer completed his speech, he dramatically pulled the tarp off of the cage, eliciting a massive applause from the audience. Within the cage, which was decorated with ropes and tires, sat a large gorilla-like ape, a ragged red tie around it's neck, which had a "D" and a "K" situated around a star printed on it in yellow. Despite the massive excitement produced by the human audience, the atmosphere on the other side of the bars was quite different. Donkey Kong's stern expression loudly telegraphed his severe lack of desire to be there.

"8', 3" tall," the announcer continued. "487 pounds of raw muscle. Say, DK," the announcer suddenly addressed the ape, who gave a small snort of recogniton.

"Whaddya say we show these folks just what you can do? Why don't you bend that metal bar in your cage there?" Donkey Kong turned and looked scornfully at the thick steel bar that the announcer had referenced to. The announcer turned back to the audience, assuming the ape would play his part in the show.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, not only is Donkey Kong intellegent enough to understand my command, he is also powerful enough to carry the task out... Eh, er, DK?" The announcer had turned back to the gorrilla, who hadn't moved an inch.

"Come on, you stupid monkey!" the announcer growled quietly through his teeth. Donkey Kong just glared at him. The announcer turned back to the audience.

"Well, er, uh, looks like he's being a little stubborn folks." The announcer grinned stupidly, ashamed at his inability to deliver to the crowd. "Well, uh, we don't call him Donkey Kong for nothing!" The announcer suddenly stumbled forward from the force of a large glob of transparent slime that had just impacted the back of his head; Donkey Kong, to put it bluntly, hawked a lugy at him. Immediately, the crowd burst into roarous laughter, which irritated the apes ears incredibly.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!" He screamed in his native language as he beat the steel bar against the bars of his cage violently, though the crowd heard nothing but monkey sounds.

"Hey there, buddy, calm down!" The announcer said smugly. This only infuriated the beast further, and he screamed nonsensical noises at the announcer, much to the delight of the crowd.

Over the course of the day, Donkey Kong had to suffer through four shows, all of which had happened in a similar fashion. And yet not even in between the shows was he granted peace. After the first show, the tarp had been left off so that passers-by could look at the beast, and he constantly suffered from people throwing peanuts at him, young boys poking him with sticks, people taunting him with banannas, and people constantly trying to coax the ape into doing some ridiculous act for them. He refused to ever comply with any of them. He was too stubborn; too proud.

He was completely worn down from his first day as a zoo exhibit by about seven o'clock. And here he had thought his previous turmoils had been bad; being assaulted by men with nets and tranquilizer guns in the jungle, and then forced to hole up in a crate barely large enough to hold him for a two week trek across the ocean to New York. Just when he had thought about trying to hide away in a dark corner of his cage, his ears perked up to the sound of a small scurrying. He turned quickly, and grinned for the first time in many weeks. Hanging by its tail from one of the bars of the cell was a round-bellied chimp, a red T-shirt stretched tightly over his torso, and a red baseball cap snugly wrapped around its cranium.

"Diddy! It's great to see you again!" Donkey Kong said excitedly. Diddy nodded with a smile.

"You too. We didn't think we'd ever find you again. What's goin' on, anyway?"

"I don't really know. The humans call this place a 'zoo.' The way I understand, the sadists like to lock animals up in here and torture them for their own enjoyment."

"Wow, sounds rough."

"You don't know the half of it. Anyway, how are things at home?"

"Not good. Candy and DK Jr. are so depressed without you around. K. Rool's forces are planning an attack. And then..." he trailed off suddenly.

"And then what?" Donkey Kong asked, worried about what else could possibly go wrong.

"It's... it's Cranky, DK." The imprisoned ape gasped in shock. "He's sick. Real sick. To be honest, I don't know how much longer he'll be... well... you know..." Donkey Kong buried his head in his hands.

"Cranky... Dad..." He looked up at Diddy, who sported an empathetic frown.

"Listen. I need outta here. I don't know how much longer I can take it, and you guys need me back home. Help me." Diddy scratched his chin thoughtfully for a few moments.

"Have you tried just breaking through the bars?"

"I can't. They're pretty strong, and if anyone notices me trying, humans with those sleeping darts show up."

"Hmm... Lemme see if I can find anything on the outside that might help." With that, the small chimp scampered off. Donkey Kong was distracted from watching his friend when he heard more human voices.

"Oh, darn, looks like we missed the show."

"Ah well, we can at least check the monkey out."

Mario and Pauline looked at the beast for a few moments, Diddy masterfully remaining out of sight, while still searching the cage. Suddenly, something caught his eye.

"Hello, what's this?" It was a thick, metal half-circle, connected to a ring that went around two of the cell's bars. A strangely shaped hole was in the middle of it. Curiously, Diddy began to tinker with it.

"Hey, I betcha I can peg the monkey with this rock from way back here."

"Dude, you're on!" the two kids were terribly indiscrete about their plans, as both Mario and Pauline overheard them, and immediately headed towards them, reaching them just as one of them launched a stone at the gorilla's cage. Sternly, Mario swiped the handful of rocks away from the kids.

"Didn't your parents teach you any better than that? How would you like it if some one was throwing rocks at you like that?" The two shrugged Mario off with a "pfft" and a "whatever," and walked off nonchalantly. Mario shook his head.

"Kids.'

"They can be absolutely dreadful some times," Pauline said in agreeance.

Donkey Kong, who still had his back turned to the humans, suddenly felt a terribly sharp pain on the back of his head. Turning, he found a large rock lying in his cage. He peered out and saw a short, overweight man with a handful of similar stones. Logic and tranquility vanished instantly, probably in fear of the beast's terrible temper. Picking up the metal bar from before, he beat more violently than ever at the cell, screaming the whole time. Mario looked at him, shaking his head.

"Look at him. Those kids really got him riled up."

"Almost there," Diddy muttered as he continued to tinker with the padlock.

"I know. Just look at him! It's frightening, isn't it?"

"Just a little more..."

"A little. But just remember, we've got those steel bars between us. We're perfectlly safe."

"I think I've..."

"Yep, there's absolutely no way at all that the big lug can get at us. No way at-"

"GOT IT!" Mario stopped short as he heard a metallic creaking, and both he and Pauline looked in horror as the front of the cell swung open. The beast spared no time in charging out of the cell, pounding his gigantic fists against the concrete ground as he sprinted fowards. Both of them turned to run, but the ape jumped into the air suddenly and landing with a terrifying crash, right on top of Mario. Pauline screamed, and immediately drew the creature's attention. He picked her up with his massive hands and slung her over his shoulder, as she screamed and pounded at his back. He turned back to the barely conscious Mario.

"You humans!" Donkey Kong yelled, though it went without understanding on Mario's part. "You have taken away from me everything that I love! And now, I will do the same! And I start with this girl!" He then turned and ran off. Mario reached out an arm toward his beloved Pauline and her kidnapper. Fighting off the desire to slip into unconsciousness, he struggled to his feet, and persued the two as quickly as his aching body would allow.