...Welp, since I've managed to fix the other chapters, I may as well fix this, as well.
Vine Valley was quite big and dense. Instead of palm trees, there were pine trees. And as the name suggested, this area had many vines. Many of the inhabitants were, who else? Neckies. They were all flapping about, spitting nuts at some of the Kremlings, walking by. There were also many parrots and wasps, flying through the trees without any kind of worry in their heads. Through the trees, you could see the sun beginning to set in a golden hue.
Donkey and Diddy were walking through the trail, nothing too serious was out to endanger them. They did get a few dirty looks from the Neckies, but they weren't as aggressive as the ones in the caves.
"How much longer until we make it over to Treetop Town?" Diddy asked.
"I dunno, Little Buddy...it shouldn't be too far," Donkey replied. The Kongs would continue to walk, there didn't seem to be much going on, here. This went on until the Kongs reached Treetop Town. Unlike the village where Donkey and Diddy lived, where there were mostly gorillas, this village mostly consisted of Orangutans. It didn't seem very busy, though. In fact, there weren't too many Kongs out, to begin with.
"Donkey Kong!" a purple parrot flew down to the gorilla, "You wouldn't happen to know where Squawks is, would you?"
Donkey shook his head, "I haven't seen him. Why do you ask?"
"Well, it's been a long time since we've seen him. He hasn't even been in Cranky's Cabin, either."
While Donkey was busy talking to the purple parrot, Diddy was feeling rather bored. He saw a Zinger fly over his head. Due to his curious nature, he began to follow it. The Zinger didn't seem to notice the little monkey as he continued flying through Treetop Town, eventually leaving the forest. When the Zinger stopped on a flower, Diddy huffed in disappointment. That's it? I expected it to attack something!
The monkey turned around. He was nowhere near Donkey Kong...nor was he near Treetop Town. The monkey tried looking around for a way back to the village. However, the monkey got distracted when he saw some fruit sitting on the rock. It seemed a little suspicious, but when was the last time Diddy ate anything?
The monkey came closer to the fruit. However, once he was touching it, a net came out from the ground, trapping Diddy inside. The little monkey yelled, he tried to struggle free...which didn't seem to help at all.
"H-Hello!?" Diddy yelled, "DK!? Can you get me outta here!?"
In the distance, Diddy began to hear voices. Worried that it was a Kremling, the monkey became silent. He looked around nervously until he saw two Orangutans. Oddly, neither of them seemed to be wearing clothes. But at any rate, a primate was still a primate, so they had to be good guys.
"Aw...and to think we caught we actually caught some food!" the first orangutan complained, "Instead we end up with some bratty kid!"
"Well, do you think you could let me down?" Diddy asked, "I'm starting to lose feeling in my legs."
The Orangutan crossed his long arms, "Well if you weren't so stupid, then-"
"Wait a minute," The second Orangutan yelled, he looked up at Diddy. "You wouldn't happen to know Donkey Kong, would you?"
Diddy raised an eyebrow, feeling suspicious. "Yeah...doesn't everybody?"
"Would you happen to be his son, as well?" The Orangutan asked, sounding a bit more friendly.
"Nephew!" Diddy corrected, sounding slightly irritated.
"Right, his nephew," The Orangutan said, nodding. "Well, if you'd like, I can help you find Donkey Kong."
"But boss, what about lunch?" The other Orangutan asked.
"That can wait for a bit, we've found something even better," The Orangutan whispered.
"I'm still up here, ya know!" Diddy yelled.
"Right, sorry..." The Orangutan untied the rope, causing Diddy to fall onto his back. The small Kong groaned in pain as he slowly sat up from his spot. The Orangutan offered to help him stand, "You may call me Manky. I'm well-known in these parts."
"Name's Diddy," the little monkey said as he stood up. "So where's DK?"
"Come with us," Manky said, hunching over, "Here, I'll even let you ride on my back."
"Er...I think I'll pass," Diddy said, feeling slightly creeped out. Manky pouted like a small child, "Fine, be that way!"
Meanwhile, back in Treetop Town, Donkey was finishing his conversation with the purple parrot. They've talked for what seemed like minutes.
"So, you think Squawks might be captured by the Kremlings?" Donkey asked. The parrot replied with a nod, "And for all I know, they might've taken him along with the bananas."
"Well...When we do find something, I'll let you know."
"Oh...thanks, DK. You're a life saver." The parrot said, happily, "I promise, when you do find Squawks, we'll find a way to help you in return."
The purple parrot began to fly back into the forest. Donkey looked down to his side, "Sorry to keep you waiting..."
The ape stared at the empty space next to him, he was certain Diddy was right next to him. Donkey really didn't want to move on without Diddy, but the monkey shouldn't be too far from him...should he?
Donkey tried searching through the village. He tried calling out to Diddy, but there was no answer. He tried asking some of the residence in the village, but they haven't seen Diddy, either. At any rate, Diddy must still be somewhere in Vine Valley.
Donkey began leaving Treetop Town, searching for his missing nephew. He found a barrel, sitting next to three mushrooms. Donkey tried to get closer to it, but a Necky popped out of it, cawing. It nearly made Donkey jump out of his skin.
As Donkey continued to search for Diddy, he also noticed a group of small dog-like crocodiles, called Klaptraps, werein his way. Surely, there was no way Donkey was going through there...at least, not yet. The last thing the ape wanted was a missing toe.
Donkey began to worry. How far did he run off? I really hope he's OK.
As Donkey continued traveling through the forest, he spotted a couple Orangutans, carrying a helpless Tiki. Donkey couldn't help but shake his head. I really hope those guys aren't planning to eat that thing. I can guarantee, they're not gonna like it.
Donkey continued to move onward. However, what he saw didn't make him happy. There were four Kritters, chasing down an ostrich. One Kritter was green, one was red, one was blue, and one was brown.
"Haha...you honestly think you can catch me!?" The ostrich taunted, making the Kritters mad. Of course, it was obvious the ostrich was in trouble. Donkey began to chase after them. He was having a pretty hard time keeping up with them.
"Look out, guys! We've got a mangy ape on our tails!" the red Kritter yelled.
"Don't worry, I've got this! The green Kritter said as he stopped running. He turned to face Donkey, holding a dagger in his hand. "Come here, you overgrown furball!"
Donkey stopped dead in his tracks. The Kritter began charging at him, trying to stab the ape with the dagger. Donkey continued to dodge the attacks, up to the point where he grabbed the Kritter's arm, hitting the crocodile's stomach with his knee. As the crocodile sat down in pain, Donkey began chasing the Kremlings, again. It didn't take long until the Krelmings managed to catch up to the bird, tackling him to the ground.
"You leave Expresso alone!" Donkey yelled as he tackled the red Kritter to the ground. The other two Kritters barred their teeth, attacking the ape. The blue Kritter tried biting at the ape while the brown Kritter tried to save the red Kritter.
"Yeah...get 'em, DK!" Expresso cheered. Donkey looked over at the Ostrich, "You can help too, you know!"
"With my legs? They'd snap me like a twig," Expresso argued.
Donkey elbowed the blue Kritter in the chest while the brown Kritter tried to tackle him...which didn't seem to work. The red Kritter pulled out a small pistol, much to Donkey's suprise.
Donkey grabbed the heads of the blue and brown Kritter and bashed them together. Shortly after, the ape ran over to Expresso and climbed onto his back. "C'mon, let's go!"
"You're just gonna leave them!?" Expresso grumbled. A bullet went passed their heads, causing both the gorilla and the ostrich to duck. Donkey glared at the ostrich. "Does that answer your question!?"
"Good point."
The ostrich soon began running from the Kremlings. He felt weighed down...it didn't exactly help that he had an 800 lb gorilla on his back, either. Gunshots could be heard in the distance, which was frightening for both animals. A few minutes later, Donkey and Expresso came across a chasm in the middle of the forest.
"We're not gonna make it!" Donkey yelled in terror. Expresso only scoffed. "You obviously don't know what I've been up to, do you?"
Expresso began to open his wings, he began to glide over the chasm. How could an ostrich glide? It was because of Nintendo Logic.
Donkey let out a deep sigh. He patted Expresso's head. "Thanks, buddy...I owe ya one."
"Well, it's nice to know someone finds us ostriches useful," Expresso gloated.
"Yeah...try not to make your head too big," Donkey said in a playful tone. Expresso ignored him and began to move deeper through the forest. "So...what have you been doing here?"
"We were trying to get the Kremlings to leave the island, then we were going to get our bananas back," Donkey said. Expresso raised an eyebrow, looking at the ape, "What do you mean 'we'?"
"Well? I brought Diddy with me...but now I can't seem to find him," Donkey said, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"Well, you must be the best uncle ever to have your little buddy run off on his own." Expresso teased.
"Shut up!" Donkey growled Expresso's feathers became ruffled, "OK, OK, I was joking. The worse that could happen is if Manky found him."
Donkey blinked a couple times, "You're kidding, right?"
"Do you honestly think I would know what that psychopath's up to?" Expresso argued. This made Donkey even more uneasy. "W-well, it couldn't hurt to check...could it?"
"OK, fine. If it will give you any closure, then we'll go check on that 'big bad Manky'," Expresso teased. Donkey grunted in annoyance. Seriously...what's with you and that ego of yours? You'd be worried to if your best friend was kidnapped!"
Meanwhile, Diddy was following Manky for quite some time. The other Orangutan was keeping a close eye on the little monkey. They traveled far into Vine Valley until they came across a lake. There seemed to be more Orangutans in this area, though they didn't look very civilized.
"Well, here we are," Manky said in a nice town. Diddy frowned, "B-but, this isn't the village."
"Who said we were taking you to the village?"
"But where's DK?"
"We'll be here," Manky said. He tossed Diddy a rope, "In the mean time, why don't you play with this."
"A rope..." Diddy stared at it with a deadpan expression, "You expect me to play with a rope? Why don't you give me a piece of string, while you're at it?"
"Don't you worry, Diddy. a rat like you might actually be thankful for it."
"I'm not a rat! I'm sick of people calling me that!"
"Well, you'll be thankful, either way."
One of the Orangutans was behind Diddy. He whacked the monkey with a baseball bat, knocking Diddy out. Manky couldn't help but laugh, "Well, kid? What were you expecting, a parade?"
"What do we do now, boss?" an Orangutan asked.
"Just tie him up. After that, we'll wait for Donkey Kong to appear."
"But doesn't that seem risky?" Another Orangutan asked. This caused Manky to snap.
"YOU'LL DO AS I SAY, OR YOU'LL BE JOINING DIDDY!"
One of the Orangutans picked up by the scruff of his neck while the other Orangutans grabbed some rocks and some rope. Manky smiled to himself. I'll take down those dirty apes, if it's the last thing I do...even if it means getting rid of DK's kid in the process.
...So...quite a few changes to the Manky subplot...but it'll still be the same, regardless.
...at any rate, I like to imagine Manky as some sort of psychopath. I won't say anything else, though for those who are actually reading this fanfic for the first time (especially if you haven't played the first game)