On to the next chapter!

Diddy woke up with a throbbing pain in his head, his vision was slightly blurry. It took the little monkey a couple of seconds to realize what was going on. For one thing, he was unable to move his limbs. And another thing, he was tied up...inside a barrel. The third thing he noticed was that the sun was gone. Night animals, such as owls and crickets, were beginning to take over Vine Valley.

"Well, I hope you had a pleasant dream," Said a familiar voice. Diddy looked over to his left and spotted Manky, looking much more smug then he did, before.

"W-what's going on?" Diddy asked, nervously, "What's the meaning of this!?"

"Don't you remember? We're waiting for your dear uncle to find you," Manky said, "Of course...I have a question to ask. Can you breathe underwater?"

"But boss? What if he sinks?" An Orangutan asked, stupidly. Manky grumbled, "Of course he'll sink, you idiot! That barrel's got rocks on the bottom!"

Diddy looked around nervously, Donkey had to be here, somewhere. There was no way Manky would drown a little monkey, right? He wasn't that heartless, right?

Diddy began to laugh nervously, "You got me there, Manky. Making me think I'll drown? I know you'd never do that...right?"

"Denial can be such a bitch, sometimes," Manky said, bluntly, "You don't seem to know me as well as any of the other Kongs...no wonder everyone on the island thinks you're an idiot!"

Diddy was growing more and more anxious, by the minute. He felt like he was driven crazy, he needed a way out of here.

"Please let me go," The monkey begged, "I'll do anything, please!"

"Anything, you say?" Manky said, smiling, "Will you let me take over as Kongo Bongo's king?"

Diddy became silent, not sure of what to say, next. Besides, only Donkey and Cranky were able to do such a thing.

"That's what I thought," Manky said, "Now if you would shut up, we'd make this go a lot quicker."

All Diddy could do was shudder, not sure of what to do, now. You idiot! You can't even break free from a stupid barrel. This is all your fault, all because you couldn't guard that Banana Hoard! DK's probably forgotten you, by now!

"All right, gentlemen, off to the lake" Manky command three other Orangutans. One of the Orangutans was carrying the barrel Diddy was in. Diddy has never felt so useless, he just wanted to disappear from everyone. If only Donkey really were here, he'd probably teach Manky a lesson.

Donkey and Expresso have been searching for Manky for a while, now. There really was no telling what that psychotic orangutan was up to, these days. Expresso continued running, but stopped in his tracks when he saw several Klaptraps patrolling the area.

"How are we s'posed to get rid of 'em?" Donkey asked. Expresso replied with a hearty laugh, "You silly primate, I can just run passed them and they wouldn't play a claw on me."

"Now's not the time to be narcissistic!"

"But it's true, watch this!"

Expresso began to run at full speed, passed the Klaptraps. The small crocodiles tried to bite at Expresso, but the ostrich ran passed them without any sign of slowing down. Donkey only looked back at the Kremlings. "I guess narcissism paid off, this time."

Expresso ignored Donkey and continued running through the jungle. He ran through a crumbled temple, which was reduced to rubble. The ostrich jumped over pieces of stone and brick, obviously not slowing down in the slightest. Soon, Expresso could see a lake. "Hey, isn't that your nephew?"

Donkey looked over at the lake, he could see several Orangutans, including Manky. He also saw Diddy, tied inside a barrel. The Orangutans looked like they were going to drown the little monkey.

"Looks like I gotta go," Donkey told Expresso. The ostrich listened and stopped running, allowing Donkey to get off. Expresso waved his wing as Donkey began to run after the Orangutan Gang. "Good luck!"

The Orangutans stopped walking, Manky looked at Diddy with a deranged look. "So...any last words?"

"Could you maybe not drown me?" Diddy grumbled. Manky shook his head as a reply. "What fun would that be? I did ask if you breathed underwater."

Rustling was heard in the trees. The Orangutans looked to their left, noticing a furious Donkey was headed their way. Needless to say, Diddy was slightly relieved.

"Well, well, Long time, no see," Manky said, crossing his long arms, only for Donkey to grab the Orangutan by the chest, "You've got some nerve kidnapping Diddy. Let 'im go or I'll feed ya to the sharks!"

"Well, aren't we in a bad mood?" Manky teased. Diddy began to struggle in the barrel. "Careful, DK. He might throw in a dirty trick or something!"

"You want dirty? How about I throw you underwater, now!"

"You wouldn't." Donkey snapped.

"Oh yes I would, unless you make me the King of Kongo Bongo, then I'll give you your nephew back," Manky said, boldly. Donkey raised a fist, threatening to punch the daylights out of Manky. "You must be crazy if you think I'd let you be this island's ruler."

"Suit yourself, " Manky said snapping his fingers. Diddy began to struggle even harder as the Orangutans got ready to throw him into the water. Donkey threw Manky off to the side, knocking the wind out of him. The gorilla tried to rescue Diddy, but it was too late, he was sinking into the water. Donkey had no choice but to swim after him.

The Orangutans looked over at Manky, one of them looking rather pleased. "Did we do good, boss?"

"Yeah," Manky said as he weakly stood up, "They shouldn't be able to reunite, now."

"You OK, boss?" One of the orangutans asked. Manky grunted in annoyance. "A gorilla just threw me, of course I'm not all right!"

Donkey was swimming underwater, looking for Diddy. There were clams and schools of fish, swimming by as the ape tried to get through. Looking around the lake's bottom, he could see Diddy, obviously stuck inside the barrel. Donkey picked up the barrel, which nearly weighed a ton. Donkey began to slowly make his way up to the surface. Diddy's face looked like it was turning blue. The big ape had to try and make his way out of the water before his nephew drowned.

A kroctopus began to swim downward, tangling Donkey in its tentacles. The ape shook it off as he tried to make it to the surface. Irritated, the kroctopus began to chase Donkey, waving its tentacles madly like whips. Donkey struggled to go faster, but the kroctopus gave him a gash on his shoulder.

The ape continued swimming until he reached the surface, gasping for air. Diddy, on the other hand, was coughing and hacking from lack of air. Donkey came out of the water, in front of a large beehive, which was slightly bigger then a temple.

Donkey broke the barrel open, untying Diddy from the rope. The little monkey kept coughing, Donkey patted him on the back. "You OK?"

Diddy replied with a nod. "I-I'm fine. Thanks for getting me outta there."

"Eh...it was nothing," Donkey said, smiling. Diddy looked up at the big ape, looking apologetic. "Looks like ya got hurt in the process of saving me."

"hm?" Donkey looked at his gash, "It's not that bad, I've been through worse."

"Well, I'm sorry for being so useless...again..."

"Hey, I thought I said to stop thinking that way," Donkey scolded, earning a puzzled look from Diddy.

"Listen, kid. If you keep thinking this way, then you won't get anywhere. Like I've said, there's more to strength then just muscle."

Diddy nodded, quietly, not saying another word. Donkey patted the little monkey on the head. "You wanna call it a night? We don't have to keep going, right now."

"Actually, I think we can go a little farther," Diddy said, "After all, I'm not tired, yet."

"Now that's what I wanna here," Donkey said, petting Diddy's head. "We'll go a little farther., But after that, we'll need to rest a little. Sound good?"

Diddy nodded. He and Donkey began to make their way into the beehive. No matter what, they had to keep going.

Not that great of a chapter. But it's not a bad chapter, nonetheless.