It took them a little while, but now they're finally exploring Crocodile Isle.
Admittedly, I've always liked the mine levels here...I especially like the music in these levels.
After they left the cabin, Diddy and Dixie were on their way to Crocodile Cauldron. From the name alone, they could tell it wasn't going to be a pleasant place to get through. After walking along the beach, they eventually stumbled upon what looked like a giant crocodile's head. The inside of the crocodile's mouth was dark, and yet its eyes appeared to be glowing red. It was as if the volcano was actually alive.
"This is the place, right?" Diddy asked while Dixie looked over the map. The ape smiled as she put the map back into Diddy's backpack. "Yeah, I'd say we're in the right place."
"You know, Kongsss," Rattly said while peaking out of the backpack. "I think one of my friendsss might be able to help you get through the volcano."
"Dude, what's your friend doing in a volcano!?" Diddy exclaimed.
"That'sss jussst where he livesss," Rattly replied. "And if we can find him, it'll be easssier for us to get to Krem Quay."
"Well I think it's a good idea," Dixie said excitedly. "What do you think, Diddy?"
"W-well," Diddy stuttered. "I guess another ally wouldn't hurt."
"Great," Rattly said as he ducked back into the backpack. "I jussst hope you're not arachnophobic."
Diddy had a puzzled expression on his face, why would someone like him be arachnophobic? It's not like he hasn't touched a spider before, although the thought of eating a spider was enough to make him uncomfortable. He started heading into Crocodile Cauldron with Dixie before any other strange thoughts could enter his mind. As the duo kept going, they began to notice that they stumbled across a mine. The walls of the mine were lined with topaz, there were crates, pickaxes, and lanterns scattered about. Diddy wasn't used to being in such a place like this. While there were the Monkey Mines and the Chimp Caverns back at home, they weren't anything like the mines here.
"I've never seen so many gems at once," Dixie said in awe. "I don't understand why K. Rool would want your island when he could just take the gems out of here."
"Because it's K. Rool," Diddy replied. "He'd take over the world if he could.
The duo stopped in their tracks as they heard someone walking by, they jumped into a couple of nearby crates before they could be spotted. Walking along the path were a couple of Kremlings. One of them was fatter and wore a pirate hat, the other Kremling was smaller and wore a fur coat. He had two hooks where his claws should be.
"Do you really think those Kongs might be around here, somewhere?"
"Well...after getting off the Gangplank Galleon, they couldn't have wandered off too far."
"Yeah, I'm a little worried about what K. Rool might do to them. After all, they're just kids!"
"Kids or not, they shouldn't have come here in the first place!"
Once the Kremlings were gone, the Kongs finally peaked their heads out of the crate.
"Looks like it didn't take long for them to find out that we're on the island," Dixie said.
"Yep," Diddy replied as he crawled out of the crate, "So we've gotta be careful."
The Kongs went a little further ahead. As they kept moving, the mines began to feel hotter and hotter until the Kongs felt like they were being cooked alive. Temperatures like this would be perfect for a reptile, but definitely not a Kong. Eventually, the duo reached a wall that stretched across the room. There were wooden planks embedded in the wall, as well as the topazes seen throughout the mine. There was also a bright orange glow coming from behind the wall, which the Kongs figured contained magma. Nonetheless, they began making their way up the wall. Diddy would jump from plank-to-plank, with Dixie following not too far behind him. Most of the planks that Diddy landed on held up pretty well, though some of them looked as if they would fall apart as soon as he landed on them. Eventually, Diddy was at a point where reaching the next plank would be impossible. And as soon as he jumped, he fell several feet into another plank.
"Gyah!" Dixie jumped after Diddy while once again using her ponytail to glide, she managed to land right next to him. "Are you OK!?"
"Ugh..." Slowly, Diddy began to sit up. This wouldn't have been the first time he'd fallen onto his face, but it still hurt nonetheless. He noticed something odd sticking out of the wall, it looked like a bunch of lava had pooled out...except the lava had legs. The creature turned around, it revealed itself to be a spider the size of DK. Dixie kept her guard up while Diddy tried to back away.
"What 'sss with all the ruckusss?" Rattly asked as he peaked out from the backpack, only to notice the spider in front of them. "Iss that you, Sssquitter?"
The spider perked up upon hearing its name, it grabbed Rattly from inside the backpack and started twirling him around...Somehow with shoes on its feet.
"I know," Rattly said, "I've misssed you too!"
"THAT'S your friend?" Diddy asked in shock.
"What were you ex-sspecting?" Rattly asked. "I DID warn you if you were arachnophobic."
"I'm not arachnophobic," Diddy argued. "I just wasn't expecting a spider THIS BIG!"
"Well if you think about it, a bigger spider would be a lot more helpful then a tiny one," Dixie said as she started to pet Squitter's head.
"That'sss good," Rattly replied, "becaussse he can help usss get through the hard partsss of Crocodile Cauldron."
Squitter nodded as he allowed the Kongs to climb on his back. He began to run along the planks like the Kongs did before. However, to the Kongs' surprise, he started shooting webs out of his mouth. This made it easier for the group to get past gaps. Squitter climbed and climbed until he was finally over the wall. The Kongs looked at the scenery in awe, there was Magma as far as the eye could see, there were crocodile-like creatures swimming in the lava. In front of them, however, was a path which lead to the outside. If Diddy recalled, the path should lead them to Krem Quay. Carefully, Squitter began to make his way through the volcano.
"Have you ever been in a place like this?" Diddy asked Dixie, the ape shook her head. "Dad never would've let us near magma...let alone an actual volcano."
"Really?" Diddy teased, "And here I thought you were an adventurer."
"Hey, I'm more of an adventurer then you'll ever be!" Dixie retorted, trying her best to imitate Cranky. Still, joking aside, he had never seen so much magma at once. Sure, he's seen magma back on Gorilla Glacier, but it was just a small pool compared to this. He also recalled seeing lava before on Timber's Island, but he wasn't sure if that counted...not to mention the lava there looked more like cheese than anything.
As the group continued, they were surrounded by the magma-swimming crocodiles. They didn't appear to be malicious. Instead, they looked curious. For all Diddy knew, these things have probably never seen a Kong before. On the plus side, that meant he didn't have to worry about them coming out of the lava and attacking him. He looked on ahead as Squitter kept going. At this rate, they'll be able to reach Krem Quay in no time.
I apologize about these chapters being kind of short. But hey, I'm glad I got something done.