Chapter 1: Celebration After the Adventure
The final battle of Donkey Kong Country, the one in which Donkey Kong along with his nephew, Diddy Kong, faced the evil king of the Kremlings named K. Rool, who had stolen the precious reserve of bananas, that source of potassium and feeding for the inhabitants of DK Island.
… Those who have played Donkey Kong Country will already know that story.
This time, we will see another… story.
DK Island, a peaceful island for now, where some species of animals lived, especially several primates also known as kongs. At the same time, within this species, there was a particular family... This family was very united; not all of them were blood family, but their friendship showed as if they were:
Cranky, a grumpy old kong; Wrinkly, Cranky's wife; Funky, an energetic gorilla surfer and pilot; Candy, a sweet female gorilla; Lanky, a charismatic orangutan; Swanky, a gorilla full of luxuries; and we can't forget the famous Donkey Kong, the great hero and future ruler of the island; and, last but not least, Diddy Kong, a little spider monkey, Donkey's nephew and adventure partner.
Days after that aforementioned battle, some of the members of this Kong family were reunited in front of Donkey Kong's house. Everyone thanked Donkey and his nephew Diddy for having rescued that banana reserve from the reptilian clutches of King K. Rool.
"How nice it's to have our precious banana reserve back," Cranky said as he finished closing the cave where that reserve was stored.
"You two are heroes, we already have our reserve back, thanks to you!" Funky exclaimed excitedly to Donkey and Diddy. "You are the best!"
"Thank you, Funky," Donkey replied, smiling at them. "You know that we always want the good for everyone."
"And as a gesture of gratitude, we'll celebrate a party!" Funky added, jumping with excitement.
This Kong family always liked to celebrate for any reason, no matter how small or big.
"Oh, no, no, no!" Cranky exclaimed, looking contradictory. "No one will have any other party! Not after what happened in the last one!"
Well, unlike the older kong with a white beard and a cane, who was Donkey's grandfather, and who just needed reassurance and liked to compare his old times with the current ones. But even so, he had to tolerate the parties, because most kongs were much younger and more relaxed than him.
"Relax, Grandpa!" Donkey told him with a little laugh. "You got mad that time just because Diddy took your banana dessert by mistake while we were playing dessert war. If you don't want another party, don't go and that's all."
"Now it turns out that you want to exclude me!" Cranky grumbled, raising his cane, about to hit Donkey with his cane.
"But if you just said you don't want a party, then you're just not going," Donkey replied. "Why can't you stop being such an idiot and curmudgeon?"
"Did you call me an idiot?" said Cranky, casting a menacing look at Donkey, before raising his voice in fury. "DID YOU CALL ME AN IDIOT?!"
"Oh, no, no, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that to you, Cranky!" Donkey exclaimed, looking somewhat regretful. "WAIT, WAIT!… NOOOOO!" He shouted before fleeing, seeing that Cranky was chasing him to give him a couple of blows with his cane... and that's how it was. In fact, this type of situation used to be frequent between Cranky and his beloved grandson Donkey.
The day of the party that Funky had planned had arrived and, at dusk, Donkey and Diddy were at his house getting ready to attend. Both kongs lived in a treehouse, where beneath it was the cave that contained the entire reserve of bananas. Donkey had taken care of Diddy for most of his life as if he were a son, since his parents had been victims of a war when he was a very little child. He seemed to be a father to his nephew, although their relationship was more like brothers. Diddy greatly admired Donkey and one day hoped to be a hero like him.
Donkey usually wore only a red tie with his initials; while Diddy was wearing a red sleeveless t-shirt and a cap of the same color, although after his last adventure, he had changed his basic red t-shirt for one of the same model with yellow stars printed on it.
"That Cranky complains about everything, gets angry about everything, everything bothers him and everything seems bad to him," Donkey complained while fixing his hairstyle.
"Just ignore him and let him get angry on his own, that's what I do when he contradicts me," Diddy responded with a shrug as he got ready in front of the mirror. "Oh, and don't answer him in a bad way because you know, you'll earn yourself a good beating."
"Even if I tell him he's the best grandfather in the world, he'll still hit me with his cane," Donkey replied, rolling his eyes. "Hey, buddy, which tie should I go with?" he asked after a while he was looking through his closet.
"But all your ties are the same, Donkey," Diddy replied, placing his hands at his sides and giving a little laugh.
"No, because for this occasion it must be a formal tie," Donkey responded as he took out a different style tie. "This tie doesn't look bad," he added, smiling. "Well, are you ready, little buddy?"
"More than ready!" Diddy responded excitedly.
After finishing getting ready, they both left the house and headed towards the place in the jungle where the party would be celebrated. They both had to look presentable, since they were the stars of the party. This time, their clothing had an elegant style and, as expected, they were excited about the celebration.
When they arrived at the party, they met the other Kongs, who were waiting for them. The place was clear and quite spacious: in the center, there were chairs and tables for the guests, and in front there was a high stage full of lights. The entire atmosphere had a pleasant appearance, and there were already quite a few guests present there.
"Hi! It's about time you arrived, brothers," said Funky, welcoming Donkey and Diddy, shaking each of their hands.
"Hi, Funky, how are you!" Donkey and Diddy responded in the same way.
"This will be awesome!" Funky pointed towards the party. "We have so many guests."
"Oh, really?!" Donkey asked, observing the entire environment from afar. "It all sounds great."
"And it's going to be," Funky added excitedly. "We'll have games and lots of food too, of course."
"Hey, this remains to be seen, it sounds amazing," Donkey responded in the same way. "And who were invited, by the way?"
"Well, all the kongs we know. Obviously to our family and our closest friends, from there also to some good acquaintances of each of us. Oh, yes, we also include your classmates and your little friends from school, Diddy."
"W-what?!" Diddy exclaimed... changing his excited face suddenly. "Uh, I mean... all my classmates?"
"Exactly!" Funky responded, nodding. But suddenly, he changed his face when he noticed a certain strange expression on Diddy. "Why? Couldn't they be invited? I mean, Wrinkly said we should invite them too, and she passed the invitation on to every child in her class."
"Uhhh, well... Yes... yes, of course, there's no problem with them being invited," Diddy responded, showing an apparent forced smile and scratching his head.
"Is something wrong, little buddy?" Donkey asked, frowning when he noticed such an expression on his nephew.
"Uh, no... It's nothing," Diddy replied, keeping his forced smile. "It's just... Uh, I was just surprised that they were invited, that's all."
"And look! Your friends are there," Donkey pointed in the distance to a group of Kong children. "Why don't you go greet them?"
"Well... it could be right now... Or I'd better go see what Lanky is doing," Diddy responded and, without thinking further, he left the conversation as if nothing had happened.
"Okay, little buddy," Donkey said, with a certain strange look at Diddy for his unexpected reaction.
"Hey, it's Donkey Kong!"
Suddenly, more kongs appeared to greet and admire Donkey as the great hero of DK Island. That was to be expected.
"Donkey Kong!"
"Donkey! Do you want to give me your autograph?"
"Oh, okay, okay," Donkey told them, smiling and calming the group of apes. "One by one, okay?"
Donkey began to greet and attend to the requests of each of the kongs that had come to see him, for which he had to be somewhat patient, although it was not complicated for him.
Seconds later, a gorilla girl appeared: Candy Kong, Donkey's beautiful girlfriend, who had blonde hair and was wearing a pink party dress for the occasion.
"Donkey! You've arrived," she told him, greeting him with joy.
"Candy!" Donkey ran to hug her lovingly.
"Oh, Donkey, I was already waiting for you," she added, looking excited. "You have to tell me well how your adventure was."
"Well, there's a lot to tell, my dear Candy," Donkey responded, smiling at her... But suddenly, his smile was fading when he saw Diddy from the distance: he was walking... a little scared and looking at everything around him; nothing compared to how he looked when they had just arrived at the party.
"Is something wrong, darling?" Candy asked him when she saw his changed expression.
"No... Well, it's just... Diddy," Donkey said, showing concern. "I see something strange about him."
"Strange? Maybe it's just the adventure that has left him very exhausted, honey."
"No, I don't think so. It's just that right now he got like that..." he added, but then tried to remain calm. "Oh, well, maybe he's tired. Okay, Candy... let's go to the party," he finished with a smile at her.
Later, the party started and everyone looked happy and excited. The entire Kong family and other apes were present, ready to receive the duo of heroes who had rescued the banana reserve. That night was expected to be the most fun.
But on another context, Diddy was walking alone in a corner... In fact, he looked a little worried, and even as if he were afraid. As Funky had mentioned, his classmates were also there as guests. It was supposed Diddy would be excited about that, but unfortunately... it was the opposite. Diddy's spirit was fading due to the presence of those classmates, rather... due to a group of four Kong children in particular, whom he did not want to see at all.
On the other hand, Lanky, Donkey's distant cousin orangutan, with a red nose and light blue overalls, was preparing everything to serve the food to the guests from table to table. At that time, Diddy arrived by surprise to talk to him.
"Hi, Lanky!" Diddy greeted him.
"Oh, how are you, Diddy?" the orangutan responded, smiling at him.
"Can I help you with something?" Diddy asked him kindly.
"Sure, why not, little boy?" Lanky answered cheerfully. "Here, help me by serving the drinks," he added, handing him a tray with the drinks, which Diddy took without problems, before heading towards the guest area.
Diddy went to the tables where the guests were. He began to distribute the entrance drinks to everyone, while they greeted him with joy as the second hero of the island, and he returned the same gesture. Diddy was always flattered when he was recognized as such.
Suddenly, as Diddy was walking to one of the tables, and without him realizing it... someone threw a ball at him, which he tripped over and fell along with the drinks, spilling some on the guests who were nearby. Everyone turned to look at him immediately, and he was quite embarrassed by such a sudden event that took him by surprise.
"Oh, no! Very sorry!" Diddy apologized to the guests whose drinks he spilled on them, receiving somewhat uncomfortable looks from them.
Suddenly, Diddy heard some mocking laughter and, later, he managed to see out of the corner of his eye who were the ones who had thrown that ball at him... They were none other than those classmates of his, who were laughing among themselves at him while they remained hidden, behind some bushes.
"Oh, no, it's those stupid kids," Diddy said in his mind, very annoyed.
"Oh, no, Diddy, but what did you do?!" Lanky exclaimed, arriving shocked at the event.
"It was an accident, I'm sorry!" Diddy hastened to exclaim.
"Oh, no," Lanky interrupted, looking somewhat scandalized. "If you're going to do something, you have to do it very carefully, Diddy."
"But…
"No, don't worry, I'll do it," he interrupted, picking up the tray with the fallen glasses.
Diddy just rolled his eyes and sighed reluctantly, because now he would have to watch out in case his four schoolmates came to bother him more. He even passed by the bush where they were hiding while he gave them a withering look, and they returned mocking gestures. It was a group of four children of his same age, who lived on another island near DK Island. The group was made up of a mandrill, an orangutan, a red-shanked douc langur and a capuchin monkey. They were Diddy's "friends"… "friends" in quotes because they didn't really get along with him at all. In fact, they used to be his friends, but due to certain conflicts and differences they stopped being friends. Nowadays, those kids only liked to make Diddy's life miserable at school. And their teacher? Well, she was nothing more and nothing less than Wrinkly Kong, but Diddy never dared to report those ape children, since they threatened him if he accused them... Therefore, they were not Diddy's friends as some believed.
Getting things back on track a little, Funky arrived to tell Diddy that it was his turn to give the welcome speech.
"Hey, brother, I was looking for you," Funky told him. "Let's start with the program."
"And do I have to talk, too?" Diddy asked, confused.
"Of course, you were also in the adventure. Come, let's go!"
Minutes later, Swanky Kong, that gorilla who always wore gold rings and elegant clothes, and who was always the presenter at the events, took the stage to proceed to welcome.
"Good evening, dear guests present tonight," Swanky said into the microphone, capturing the audience's attention. "As you already know, this is a celebration of gratitude to our distinguished Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, since they fought against that evil King K. Rool in order to recover our sacred banana reserve. And well, below we present our beloved heroes. Applause, please!"
Donkey and Diddy took the stage to give a few words, while the audience applauded and shouted words of admiration at them. Swanky then gave the microphone to both of them, with Donkey being the first to take it.
"Good evening, friends from DK Island," Donkey began to speak into the microphone, smiling at the crowd. "It's an honor that you have attended this celebration tonight. That lizard K. Rool tried to take over our banana supply... But he couldn't! And do you know why? Because for us Kongs, nothing is impossible, so with the help of my little buddy, we went to the rescue and gave that silly reptile the beating it deserved. Well, here we are without any further worries. Enjoy tonight!"
After that, Diddy took the microphone and addressed the audience to give other words as well.
"Welcome everyone to this celebration," Diddy began to speak. "It's a great honor…"
Suddenly, the microphone went off and the electricity went out, returning in a few seconds.
"Oh, excuse me," Diddy said, laughing a little when the microphone came back on. "And as I was telling you...
At that time, Diddy's voice began to sound very high-pitched through the microphone, and it was changed as if they were putting special effects on it... and behind the stage, his four "friends" had infiltrated and had begun to manipulate the devices where the microphone was connected. The entire audience began to laugh and murmur, except for Donkey and Swanky who tried to remain serious. Diddy was embarrassed and didn't want to talk anymore, so he just handed the microphone back to Swanky.
"Uh, it looks like we had a technical failure," Swanky excused, taking the microphone again, before offering it to Diddy again. "Do you want to talk again, Diddy?"
Diddy, without saying anything, just shook his head, very embarrassed and, at the same time, suspicious of who this tasteless trap had come from.
"Oh, well," Swanky continued, regaining his posture. "So… next, our heroes will put on a show with their fun stunts!"
After that, Donkey and Diddy began to put on a show with their most outstanding stunts that they knew how to do. Both of them were well in sync as they had rehearsed a lot. Donkey lifted heavy objects, walked on his hands and rolled on barrels, while Diddy swung on vines, performed impressive jumps and juggled coconuts. The audience was amazed by the show.
But as Diddy was juggling, several marbles appeared rolling near him on the stage floor, causing him to trip and accidentally throw the coconuts into one of the high lights.
"Oh, no!" Diddy exclaimed when, due to the impact, the lights began to fall and caused the stage to wobble.
Suddenly, due to the short circuits that were being generated, the stage began to catch fire, and the audience began to become alarmed and run in desperation. Seconds later, the stage was collapsing little by little until it fell completely to the ground. Fortunately, the kongs that were on it had managed to get down in time.
"Keep calm everyone!" Funky shouted to everyone present, while he ran for some water.
Fortunately, Funky, Donkey and other Kongs managed to grab barrels full of water and were able to control the fire, throwing them on the flames.
"Everyone calm down, it's over!" Swanky exclaimed, trying to calm the others.
Diddy was near the stage, all scared... until he could see his classmates laughing at what had happened in the distance, and he noticed that they were carrying several marbles in their hands... which were the same he had seen on the stage!
Diddy, angry and ashamed of what happened, grumbled secretly and ran away from the place shortly after.
"Wait, little buddy!" Donkey exclaimed, but Diddy was already too far away.
"Hey! Diddy, don't go! It was just an accident!" Funky shouted. "Come back here!"
"Gosh, but what happened?" Cranky asked with his hands at his sides. "Why this disaster?"
"It must have been an accident," Donkey replied seriously. "Diddy had to have made a bad move... But normally he would apologize, why would he run away?"
"Hey, Donkey, don't you think there's something wrong with Diddy?" Lanky speculated with concern.
"It's true, he's not like that," Swanky added in the same way. "Not even in your own celebration."
"I don't know, the truth is I've also seen it very strange lately. Maybe he got nervous," Donkey answered, crossing his arms. "I've seen him like this… ever since he returned to school, in fact."
"Well, I haven't seen him doing badly at school," commented Wrinkly, the old Kong, who was his teacher. "He has good grades, is very intelligent and gets along well with his friends... Well, only now does he forget his homework on certain days."
"Wait!" Funky interrupted, looking serious. "Now that you say that… I just remembered that Diddy made a strange face when I told him… that his school friends were also here."
"Hey, that's true," Donkey responded in the same way. "I thought I was the only one who had noticed... It's not for nothing, but... sometimes I have a certain bad feeling," he stated, frowning. "Wrinkly, does Diddy get along with his school friends?"
"He's always gotten along with them, they're his group of friends," Wrinkly responded with crossed arms. "In fact, almost every time I arrive, I find them so happy playing."
"Donkey, or why don't you talk to Diddy?" Candy proposed, also showing concern. "Maybe he had a fight with his friends or something, or the adventure must have affected him in some way."
Donkey just sighed as he thought about what to do about what happened.
Donkey immediately ran home to go see Diddy so he could settle the matter. Diddy usually apologized for some accident like the one that had just happened, but this time, he had just walked away.
"Diddy!" Donkey shouted as he arrived at the house.
Donkey climbed the stairs and entered the house. He continued calling him, but Diddy didn't answer.
"Diddy, can we talk?"
At that time, he went to Diddy's room, but the door was locked.
"Oh, come on, Diddy, it was just an accident, it wasn't your fault," but Donkey didn't receive any response, so he decided to enter through Diddy's room window. "Diddy, get out wherever you are!"
Donkey began to inspect the room from all sides. It took him a minute until he finally found his nephew under the bed.
"Aha! Here you are."
Diddy, with his legs drawn up and wrapped with his arms, just looked at Donkey, and then looked down again.
"Oh, come on, buddy. You don't have to be like this."
Diddy continued without saying anything, as if he hadn't heard Donkey. At that moment, Donkey grabbed his arm and forcibly pulled him out of the bed.
"Hey!" Diddy exclaimed before being dragged out by Donkey.
"What happened to you, Diddy?!" Donkey asked, still not receiving a response from Diddy. "Oh, it's okay, little buddy, it was an accident," he added, patting him on the shoulder.
"I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to ruin the party," Diddy responded, looking down and rubbing his arm.
"Don't worry, the stage is set and the party's still going to continue, why don't we go back?"
Diddy, without saying anything else, just nodded his head. Then, he followed Donkey to the door of the house.
"Uhhh, no... I'd better stay," Diddy said, stopping, and with a fearful tone.
"What? Come on, it's okay," Donkey encouraged. "Everything will continue as normal."
"No, Donkey! I don't want to be there," Diddy replied with a look as if he were begging for mercy.
"What are you saying, Diddy? If that party was made for us."
"I know, but... No, I don't want to go, that's all!" he exclaimed, turning around.
Donkey made a strange look at Diddy's attitude. He had a feeling that something was not right with his nephew, since he used to get quite excited about the holidays, and it seemed very strange to him that this time he acted that way, much more so if it was the party celebrating them as heroes.
"What are you saying, Diddy?!" Donkey exclaimed in shock. "What do you mean you don't want to be at our celebration?"
"I just don't want to!" Diddy replied, starting to walk towards his room, before Donkey took him by the arm.
"Hey, but it's our celebration!" Donkey replied.
"I don't want to go, that's all!" Diddy exclaimed, letting go in one fell swoop.
"What happens with you?" Donkey asked, looking at him strangely and holding his arm again. "I have noticed you very strange."
"Why do you say that? There's nothing wrong with me, Donkey."
Even so, Diddy didn't want to give much of an explanation as to why he was giving up on returning to the party.
"Sure?" Donkey asked with some doubt.
"Surely," he responded with some concern and moving his arm away.
"That face doesn't convince me," Donkey said with his hands at his sides. "I know something is wrong and you don't want to tell me."
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, I see you very strange, you seem scared and wanting to escape from everything... You didn't even want to hang out with your friends at the party. In fact…" he looked up, "when Funky said that they had been invited too, your face totally changed.
"Oh, yeah, I just didn't know they were invited," Diddy said almost instantly. "And I preferred to go help Lanky, that's all."
"I know you so well, Diddy," Donkey told him, beginning to lose patience. "Why don't you tell me what's happening?"
"What are you talking about?! Leave me alone," Diddy replied as he headed to his room. "And good night, tomorrow I have to go to… school," he finished, rolling his eyes surreptitiously.
"To school, huh?" Donkey said, looking at him suspiciously. "And can I ask, how have you been doing so far at school?... And how about your new friends?"
"But I have already told you about them, they are good friends."
"You say they are good friends when you didn't even go to greet them?"
"Uh, well, actually… now we have had some little problems…"
Donkey, starting to get impatient and wanting to be more direct, took Diddy's arm more firmly.
"How do you get along with them? By any chance, they don't… treat you badly or something?" Donkey said, fixing his gaze.
"W-What? No!" Diddy responded, looking very nervous. "Of course not! Why would they do it?"
"Tell me the truth!"
"I told you no. Let me go!" Diddy replied, turning away in disgust to go to his room. "And where did you get that idea?"
"Because when you go to school, I notice you are very nervous, and besides, when Funky told you that your friends were also there, you made a scared face, and besides, those kids... give me a very bad feeling, I don't know about you. And by the way, why are you having little problems?"
"It's nothing serious, don't take it care."
"Of course I care! Just tell me why you're like this!"
"Well, the truth is that nothing happens, and that's it! See you tomorrow!" Diddy yelled as he entered his room, before slamming the door shut.
"HEY! I WON'T TOLERATE THAT ATTITUDE, DIDDY!" Donkey shouted, getting furious at that.
"SEE YOU TOMORROW, I SAID!" Diddy shouted from his room.
Donkey gave the door a small kick. Now he also didn't understand why Diddy had answered him that way. But still, he was worried about his nephew. His instinct as his uncle told him that something was not right. Although it was no wonder... Diddy had fallen out with his classmates at school, and even that seemed to make him afraid, but for some reason, he didn't want to tell Donkey the truth.
Donkey, after insisting so much to Diddy and not receiving an affirmative response, left his house and let out a frustrated sigh. He decided to return to the party venue, since after all, he couldn't leave it. Although the celebration continued normally, it no longer had the same essence without Diddy.
A/N: That's it for the first chapter.
Why is Diddy behaving like that and not wanting to tell anything? Maybe he will explain it later...