And thus...it's about time that a certain someone spills the beans.

Further ahead of Krazy Kremland sat a large Zinger's nest, reminiscent to the one back on Donkey Kong Island. Between having Dixie on his back and having to step through honey, Diddy could tell that getting through here wasn't going to be easy.

Neither Kong had spoken to each other since the argument, as they didn't want to make the situation worse. For one thing, there were plenty of Zingers flying above them. The younger Zingers were sitting inside their cells, watching as the Kongs walk by. The other thing that the Kongs were worried about is whether or not they'd run into their leader. Spikes aside, Zingers were usually pretty docile. However, there was a good chance that their leader was as deranged as K. Rool himself.

"You know, my cousin used to collect as much honey as he possibly could from these Zinger nests," Squawks said.

"Really?" Diddy asked with a curious expression.

"Yep, he used to bring all that honey back for us parrots," Squawks said. "Though nowadays, he can't get through without getting stung."

"So Zingers are THAT strict, huh?" Diddy asked with a shrug. Then again, he already knew what it was like to have food stolen from him. It wasn't fun.

The group moved further into the nest. At this point, the Zingers were becoming more and more agitated. It was as if they were expecting danger to pop up as well. Many of them began hiding in their cells. Diddy looked at Squawks with a frightened look, "Say...what's the queen here like?"

"There is no queen," Squawks replied.

"And...how would you know that?" Diddy asked. "Does Queen B own this hive too?"

Squawks shook his head. "This hive actually belongs to her ex-husband, King Zing."

"But I thought the queen was s'posed to be the one in charge."

"Well...if we're lucky, then maybe King Zing hasn't grown since then."

There was a low buzzing sound, Dixie looked around to see where the noise was coming from. And yet, she couldn't see anything. Perhaps she just imagined it?

As the group moved on, they came across a ledge that lead to a lower part of the nest. Although hesitant, Diddy jumped off the ledge while allowing Dixie to use her ponytail to slow down the fall. The buzzing noise got louder, Dixie started tapping Diddy on the head. "Hey, I can't be the only one hearing this!"

Diddy sighed. He wanted to run, but it was hard enough walking through the hive as it is. The last thing he needed right now was to be confronted by King Zing. Of course, as fate would have it, a large Zinger was flying above the Kongs. He was twice K. Rool's side, at least that's what Diddy figured.

"Halt!" said the Zinger, "Who said that you could enter my nest?"

"We're not here to cause any trouble," Diddy said sternly. "We just wanna get to Gloomy Gulch, that's all."

"Heh...that's a lot of nerve coming from someone like you!" King Zing said bitterly. "But no matter, I could just take your corpses and feed them to the Neckies!"

"But we're not hurtin' anyone!" Diddy argued.

"Too bad," King Zing replied. "You shouldn't have come here to begin with!"

Without a second thought, King Zing attempted to stab Diddy with his stinger. However, Squawks tackled the Zinger before he caused any major harm.

"QUICK, GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN!" Squawks yelled. Diddy nodded as he continued to run forward, despite being slower then usual. King Zing shoved Squawks out of the way, he tried going after Diddy again.

Thinking fast, Squawks dived onto King Zing's back before he had a chance to attack. He knew that he wouldn't stand a chance in defeating King Zing, but he needed to buy the Kongs some extra time if he wanted them to escape.

Diddy was slowing down, his run had already turned into an agonizing walk. Dixie tapped on his head, she had a worried expression on her face. "Maybe you should stop?"

"But if I stop, King Zing'll catch up to us!"

"I'm pretty sure we've lost him already!" Dixie argued. "Now stop walking!"

Diddy rolled his eyes, he headed inside of a nearby cell before collapsing. At least while Squawks was fighting, they wouldn't have to worry about getting spotted.

Dixie jumped off of Diddy's back and rested against the wall. Diddy remained collapsed on the floor. As much as he wanted to move forward, he couldn't bring himself to stand.

"...Say, Diddy?"

"Yeah?"

"What was it that you wanted to tell me before?"

"What?" Diddy asked, though not paying much attention. Dixie furrowed her eyebrows. "You've been tryin' to tell me somethin' since we got through Krem Quay, haven't you?"

"Yeah, but...Are you sure you'd wanna hear it right now?" Diddy asked.

Dixie gave him a deadpan look. "Think of it this way...If you can't tell me now, then what'll happen if one of us dies? You wouldn't be able to say anything then, would you?"

For someone like Dixie to say that, it sounded incredibly morbid. And yet, he'd never actually thought about it that way. He liked to believe that they'd both make it out alive. But if the inevitable DID happen...well, he'd rather not think about it.

"You see...I...I really like you, Dixie," Diddy admitted. Dixie tilted her head giving him a confused look.

"Uh...wha-what I'm tryin' to say is, uh...I've...I've never really felt this way about anyone." Diddy said, trying his best to explain. "I mean...I have friends, b-but I just...feel different around you, y'know?"

Dixie continued to stare at him. For a moment, Diddy expected her to yell at him, but his fears had turned into confusion as Dixie started to laugh.

"You mean to tell me that you got on that roller coaster because of a CRUSH!?"

"Wait...you're not mad?"

"Why would I be? This is one of the funniest things I've ever heard." Dixie crossed her arms, she gave Diddy a patient smile. "I'll tell you what. When we're done with all this, I MIGHT consider becoming your girlfriend"

"O-oh, gees..." Diddy was blushing, he started covering his face. "A-are you sure about this?"

Dixie nodded, she gave him a patient smile. "I've known you for a while now, Diddy. You've been a great friend since we've first met, so I don't mind giving it a try."

Diddy could already feel a weight lifting from his shoulders. He wasn't entirely sure about the difference between a friend and a girlfriend, but even then he was just happy that he could tell Dixie about his feelings...even if it resulted in getting laughed at, he could tell Dixie was being genuine.

The Kongs stayed inside the cell for a while. Occasionally, they would take some of the honey off the walls before eating it. They sat up as they heard what sounded like a parrot squawking. As expected, Squawks flew into the cell.

"There you are!" Squawks yelled, "I've been looking all over for you!"

"So what happened to King Zing?" Diddy asked. Squawks smiled proudly as he puffed out his chest. "As it turns out, his stinger was his weak spot. So all I had to do was keep hitting it until he stopped chasing me."

The Kongs gave each other puzzled looks. They weren't sure if Squawks' story was true, but they probably shouldn't question it.

"So now that we're all together again, we should head on over to Gloomy Gulch."

With that said, the Kongs decided to continue on. Not only were they ready to go, their bond had also grown stronger as well.

Just a couple more areas...and yet somehow, I'm not even done.