Chapter 23: Welcome to the Circus
While she had nowhere to go, Dixie was walking around that orange building, trying to find some alternative entrance to it, and making sure that no one saw her.
Later, she climbed up to some high windows to search above, until she heard a distant voice that sounded just like Diddy's.
"Hey, but why are you leaving me locked up here?... Wait! Don't leave!" Diddy could be heard exclaiming in despair.
Dixie peeked out of a high window and, indeed, Diddy was there. What she could see inside was a huge room with a bunch of fairly tidy rolling cages, where Diddy was locked in one of them. He was struggling with the cage, trying to open it without success. Dixie was beginning to stop seeing the pleasant atmosphere she witnessed when she arrived at the zoo. She opened the small window and entered the room through it, and immediately went to where Diddy was.
"Diddy!" she called him as she headed towards him.
"Dixie? Are you a secret agent or what?" Diddy joked, surprised to see how Dixie could find him wherever he was taken. "Hey, I don't understand, those men told me they had a surprise for me, but I didn't know I should stay locked up here," he complained.
"Wait, I'll get you out of here," Dixie said, trying to open Diddy's cage, but when she realized, it was really locked and a key would be needed to open it. "Oh, no... This doesn't open."
"Oh, or don't worry about it now," Diddy said, showing fear behind bars. "First explain to me well how it's that those four fools had guns again!"
"Oh, yes, those four psychopaths were carrying guns again!" Dixie explained in the same way. "And the last time when I was going to go with you to the waterfalls, shortly before you arrived, Jemky appeared and threatened me, told me to tell you all that and to give him your pyramid with the emerald, and not to tell anything or they would attack everyone," Dixie summed up desperately before calming down. "That's what happened!"
Diddy was only completely shocked by what she said and now had no doubt if he had heard it right.
"Oh, no!" Diddy started to worry a lot more. He thought that those four evil children wouldn't bother like that anymore, but after hearing that from Dixie, he was afraid of them again as he did quite some time ago. "Oh, no…"
"And yes, Diddy... I took your pyramid; Jemky and those fools threatened me. Really, I'm sorry," Dixie added with a lowered gaze, which surprised Diddy.
"W-what?... Oh, I should have guessed," Diddy said, slapping his face lightly. "Oh... we'll fix it. We have to return to DK Island! But are the other kongs all okay?" he asked her desperately.
"Yes... As far as I knew, yes. By the way, I thought that those fools would have done something to you and that is why you had disappeared," she added in a tone of utmost concern.
"No, I haven't seen them. The night I left, I had gone out because-" upon remembering it, Diddy was a little embarrassed to admit to Dixie that he felt bad for her.
"Because... you were very affected by what I told you, and besides you were failed in school, right?" Dixie continued as if reading his expression.
Diddy just looked away before continuing to tell how he got there.
"Well... Yes, that. And as I told you before, there was a torrential wind and I was swept out to sea, and suddenly three human men appeared, I felt that something was shot at me and suddenly I woke up here in a corner with other apes, although I didn't see that it was such a bad place, at least at first. Then, those gentlemen knew about my acrobatics and told me that I would serve to give shows and that in a few days they would return me to DK Island. But... I don't understand why I should also be behind bars," Diddy explained, confused and shaking the cage door. "Now tell me how you managed to find me."
Dixie told him the whole journey, from when he disappeared, when Enguarde informed him of his last appearance, to when she arrived in the city and had to cross several buildings and ensure that no one found her. Diddy's thoughts regarding the terms he was on with Dixie were also changing.
"Wow... you went through all that yourself," Diddy said in amazement, before waving the bars again, "Ugh, and those four fools again! So, they are the ones who have been behind this."
"Yeah, and I don't know what they're planning right now," Dixie replied worriedly.
"And by the way, Dixie... the first day we were going to go to the waterfalls, was that where Jemky started threatening you?"
"Yes, that's where it all started," Dixie replied before pausing. "Well, you'll see... It started that day after school, in fact; he tried to trade that emerald again in exchange for more jewels for us, but I told him again that I wouldn't accept. And then, when we were going to the waterfalls, he appeared before you arrived and then he forced me to tell you that we would go on a date at that time to make you leave, and after that he told me that he wanted the emerald."
"What?! And what happened next at that time? What did you do?"
"Obviously I wasn't going to hand it over to him, and then... I made him a fake emerald with any stone in a while that he let me go, and I even gave it to him in a box before I left; he wanted it for that very day. But the second time I was going to go with you to the waterfalls, he reappeared because he realized that the emerald I gave him was fake, and that's why he then forced me along with the other three fools to steal your entire pyramid."
"What?! So, it all started with... that emerald?" Diddy exclaimed in shock. "And what did those idiots want it for?... And why didn't you tell me anything the next day we met with the others outside your house?"
"Oh, well... I was afraid to tell you, Diddy," Dixie said, fearful. "They told me not to tell anyone and that no one will face them, or else they would hurt you as soon as they saw you... Now I see how you didn't have the courage to report those fools when they threaten you like this either; it's really horrible."
"And you didn't tell anyone about those four idiots, did you?" Diddy asked worriedly.
Dixie was silent when Diddy asked her that; she remembered that she had already told everyone about his history with the quartet of bully boys. Dixie had promised Diddy all along that she would keep that secret, but... now it wasn't secret anymore. She felt bad that she hadn't kept Diddy's secret, but she couldn't do anything else at the time; it was an emerging situation.
"Uhh... no, I didn't tell anyone that," Dixie replied lying and with a forced smile, but deep down she only felt worse.
"Oh, good thing," Diddy said with relief. "If they find out, I don't want to imagine all the conflict that could be created. The truth is that these four fools are insane, and I wouldn't like to know if they would be able to do something if they are ratted out or faced."
"Uh, hey, right, I don't know about you, but... now I feel bad vibes in this place," Dixie speculated, frowning and trying to change the topic.
"You're right... Starting with the fact that I must be inside a cage and out there no animal can get out," added Diddy, who was also beginning to suspect something wrong in that place.
"You two are right," suddenly said a voice that belonged neither to Diddy nor to Dixie.
Both kongs were scared and began to look everywhere where that voice, which sounded somewhat deep, had come from.
"Down here!"
As they looked at the other cages in the room, they realized they were not alone... There were several more animals of different species, also locked in each of the cages. Diddy and Dixie were surprised to see that Diddy wasn't the only one locked up there, as there were a lot of animals in the same situation. That was already very worrying... not to mention the mood in which the animals were; they didn't seem to have a drop of joy... Rather, they all looked depressed, some even looking like they had returned from the dead.
"Are you new here?" an elephant in a serious voice asked the two of them. This one had a rather injured ear and a weak look.
Diddy and Dixie were shocked to see the animal in that state, and that increased their concern much more.
"Uhh... yes, I suppose," Diddy replied in confusion. "Well, just me, she's visiting, so to speak," he added, pointing to Dixie.
"Oh, little monkeys!" a rhino said in a tone of resignation. "If you have fallen on this place, there is no turning back. Everything here is agony" suddenly, he revealed his wounded back. Diddy and Dixie made a gesture of horror upon seeing that.
"Welcome to your last days of life," added a little bear who, when he peeked through the bars, showed his eye greatly injured.
"In a few days I'll surely die," said a lion without looking up. He was discouraged, lying on the ground and with his back severely injured.
The other animals began to comment on similar things. Diddy and Dixie became increasingly horrified as they saw each animal in agony and in absent spirits. When they had entered the zoo, they perceived a pleasant atmosphere... But in that section where they were now, it was like another world, very contrary to how they thought it. There was a couple dozen animals, including elephants, tigers, lions, zebras, apes, rhinos and a few small bears.
"But... What happened to all of you?" Diddy asked them, all confused.
All the other animals looked up at Diddy, it was a look of total agony and as if they had no desire to live.
"Nothing," replied a zebra coldly. "That's how we live."
"What? What do you mean that this is how you live?" Dixie asked them, still not understanding.
"Don't ask."
Diddy and Dixie were much more confused; Those animals had no intention of even answering their questions.
"Well, but-"
Suddenly, the door of the huge room began to sound as if keys were inserted. When it opened, a human figure was appearing on the scene. Dixie looked for where to hide immediately.
A man dressed in a suit bearing the zoo's logo had entered, and brought behind him a wagon containing piles of what appeared to be animal food. All the caged animals began to raise their heads seeing that their lunch break had arrived, in fact, they looked very desperate to eat.
The man, with the help of a huge pallet, picked up each piece of food and began to throw them into each of the cages, including Diddy. A gorilla that was near the food cart tried to reach more of it by extending his hand completely, but suddenly, the man took out a whip with which he whipped the gorilla's cage, immediately scaring him away.
After that, the man walked out the door and then closed and secured it. Meanwhile, all the animals began to taste their lunch, although to tell the truth, they didn't seem to enjoy it; it was as if they only ate out of necessity.
"Oh, no, this food is disgusting!" Diddy exclaimed with disgust as he tasted the food. Dixie got out of hiding and returned to where Diddy was, who showed her the food. "Do you want to try a little? It's very bad."
Dixie agreed and tasted that food... Instantly, she also felt an unpleasant taste when she tasted it; All in all, it was a lousy quality meal.
"Do you eat this?" Dixie asked the other animals with a gesture of revulsion.
"It's what we have to eat," the animals replied as if nothing had happened.
The taste of that food was so unpleasant that Diddy couldn't stand it anymore and preferred to remain hungry.
"The food we were fed outside at the zoo was better," Diddy commented with disgust.
"Wait!" Dixie said before rummaging through her backpack, from which she extracted some bananas from DK Island. "Take it, I brought a few just in case."
"Great!" Diddy exclaimed, smiling and excited to see some bananas. "Good thing you brought them, Dixie. Thank you!"
Both began to taste the delicious bananas of the island reserve. Suddenly, seeing the poor condition of the other animals present, Dixie decided to give them a few bananas, too.
"Hey, do you want some?" she told them, going down to the ground and offering them the bananas.
"We don't eat bananas," replied a rhino.
"But try them, they're better than that food."
Immediately, Dixie began distributing bananas to each of the animals through their cages. Many animals hesitated to eat them, but the instant they tasted them, their faces immediately changed; for a moment, everyone could show a smile on themselves.
"This... is of good quality," commented one of the gorillas as he ate. Afterwards, everyone began to say similar comments.
"This is food."
"They are exquisite!"
"I told you so," Dixie added, smiling at them.
"Hey, monkey girl or chimpanzee or whatever... and why aren't you in a cage?" an elephant asked, apparently regaining some energy to speak.
"I had only come to rescue him," Dixie replied, pointing to Diddy.
"Well, 'rescuing him' would be the right term, did you know?" added a gorilla in the same way. "If he's new here, he should know he'll be on his way... of dying."
"What?!" Diddy exclaimed, instantly shocking himself along with Dixie upon hearing that. "But what do you mean?"
The animals, with just a little more mood, seemed to speak more forcefully to the two of them.
"Well, little monkeys, this place is not great at all as many think. We are the circus animals, and some days we give shows in front of a lot of people. Yes, it's something that may sound fun but... it's quite the opposite."
"Wait, wait, wait!" interrupted Diddy after hearing what they were saying. "Did you say… circus?"
"Yes, that's right," replied one of the animals.
Diddy was paralyzed when he heard that, because the word "circus" only got on him the nerves of a thousand, since he knew well that it would not mean anything good. The animals only continued to speak normally:
"Some of us here, we were just from the zoo out there, but then we were passed here. Every so often happen that: new animals arrive... Others leave."
"Or we have also been bought from other circuses and zoos in other cities. I was from another circus, but they treated us much better there."
"The animals out there get very bored and want to be in the circus because they think it's fun, but they don't know anything about what it's really like, they don't know the training."
"Our tamers treat us like slaves, literally. They want us to do all the stunts they say perfectly, or else they whip us!"
"They don't feed us well."
"As punishment, they beat us or sometimes leave us without food!"
"They don't let us go outside, we just spend inside cages, and we only get out to training and functions."
"Oh, and woe to the one who stands against or attacks them because... they'll exterminate him!"
"And if you're not good enough to be in the circus either, they also exterminate you!"
"And when you stop being useful to do tricks in the circus, they also exterminate you!"
"Even, if the zoo animals don't turn out to be good at becoming part of the circus, they also exterminate them!"
"In fact, a few days ago they just killed one of us. Last week too, and who knows if in the coming days it'll be repeated."
"Some of us would even prefer never to have existed."
"By the way, today is that Annual Circus Festival and blah blah. It's terrible!"
"And another thing: do you know why this zoo is called 'Zoovlaki'? It's because the owners of this place like to eat a dish named so, they eat it almost every day. And it's not known if it'll be true, but... out there we have heard rumors that they prepare it with the animals they exterminate every time, and that they even sell them!"
Diddy and Dixie were paralyzed by everything the animals said. The atmosphere of the place had become completely dark; both were present in what might be called a prison. That stage where they were, brought back memories to Dixie; for a moment, she remembered when she and her family had been enslaved by the group of mandrills and orangutans and, likewise, she remembered when she lived in the circus during her first years of life, although she didn't remember that life in the circus was as those animals described it. On the other hand, Diddy remembered an old story Cranky had told him about his younger days.
"Uh, Dixie, do you remember that Cranky's story, the circus story?"
"The one when he stole the girlfriend of the mustachioed plumber in revenge?"
"The same. Cranky said that in the circus he was in, the tamers were super bad," Diddy added, beginning to fear for his life. "They were almost the same as how these animals describe them in terms of whipping and being locked up. Although... the gentlemen who brought me here told me that in a few days they'll return me to DK Island."
"Uhh, by the way, monkey boy," an elephant interrupted Diddy. "That's what theytell us all, that in a few days they'll release us, and just look how we are."
Diddy and Dixie looked at each other much more horrified to hear that.
"Oh, no!" exclaimed the two little kongs at the same time.
"We have to get out of here!"
Diddy began to shake the bars of the cage in desperation, but neither knew how to open it. That mentioned Cranky's story, was in the times of youth of the old kong, when he was a circus animal where he was mistreated and chained and, in revenge, he kidnapped the girlfriend of the plumber who trained him, who after that, locked him up and then he was rescued by his son, Donkey Kong Junior.
"But we don't have a key," Dixie complained as she tried to force open the cage as well.
Suddenly, the door of the room where they were, sounded again, so Dixie ran again to hide. Then, a group of several people began to enter, all wearing clothes of the same model: a white and green T-shirt with a large logo that said "Zoovlaki". Each of them went to the cages and tied levers to them, with which they pulled them to make them roll.
"It's rehearsal time, monkey," an elephant said to Diddy as if it were a routine. "Do what you're told or you'll be whipped, you already know."
"What?!" Diddy exclaimed just as one of the people grabbed him from his cage and began to move him as well.
People began to move the rolling cages in the direction of another door of the room, this one was much taller, so that big animals, such as elephants or giraffes, could pass.
Dixie, who was hiding, also came out behind the whole group of people and animals. She had to be too stealthy to move, as it was very risky to go like this.
When the walk ended, they arrived at another room that was more like an esplanade. This one was much larger than the previous room, and the floor was dirt. Inside there were plenty of objects suitable for a circus performance such as hoops, balls, trapezoids, ropes and bicycles. The group of people placed in one area all the cages with the animals inside, each one well ordered.
Dixie headed near where Diddy's cage was, but at the same time, she was trying to keep a low profile in front of people. Suddenly, Diddy looked at the front of the esplanade and saw three figures coming towards them.
"Hey, Dixie!" he whispered before pointing to those ones. "Those who come there are the ones who captured me and brought me to this place."
Three tall, thin, apparently middle-aged men entered the site. All three wore a set of short light brown clothes that also had a logo that read "Zoovlaki". They came bringing in their hands some dishes with food, which they were finishing tasting on the way. Even so, these three had a face of very few friends who, as soon as they entered the scene, began to frighten the entire herd of animals.
"Oh, no! Here we go again!" exclaimed one of the little bears, showing themselves terrified.
"Ugh, I hate those three idiots!" added a lion furiously.
"What?" Dixie exclaimed, confused by what they were saying.
"They are the tamers, little monkeys," replied a rhino.
The rest of the animals began to complain and be frightened, while Diddy and Dixie didn't know what to do and, at the same time, they were afraid to remember what they had been told about the circus, especially Diddy, since he was inside a cage like the rest of the animals.
"Hey... but those tamers... why do they look like this?" asked Dixie, shocked at certain particular characteristics brought by that trio of humans.
These three men didn't have a completely normal appearance; to begin with: one appeared to be one-eyed, as he wore an eye patch; another was one-armed and had one less forearm; while the last only had one full leg and the other was replaced in half by an orthopedic. But anyway, that didn't seem to be an obstacle for them, as they moved and moved like anyone else.
"Well, we'll give you a summary," said one of the caged gorillas, to Dixie's doubts. "According to what we have heard when they complain about their appearances: one of them, while they were at a function, a tiger attacked him and destroyed his eye... In fact, that wasn't long ago: the poor tiger just wanted to get free from this place, but in the end those three monsters ended up killing him. The other tamer, when they were going to capture a group of little bears, the family of those children tore off part of his arm."
"They managed to bring us here anyways," added one of the little bears, referring to themselves, along with two other bears present.
"And with the other tamer, when they tried to capture some little apes, they had an accident in their car and his leg was shattered. I guess that was longer ago, since at least us, we've always seen his leg like that."
"But on the one hand... they deserve it!" a lion added furiously. "What's more, they deserve to be more crippled than they already are!"
The group of three men walked to the cages and inspected them all, at the same time they finished chewing the food they had in their hands. Dixie immediately ran to hide behind some boxes that were nearby, and she didn't know why, but… suddenly she started remembering something... as if she had ever seen those three tamers in her life.
"Well, it looks like they all are," said the man with his eye patched up toward the people who had brought the animals. That group of people seemed to be assistants and employees of the zoo, who had to watch over all the animals.
"Will the new monkey also participate tonight?" asked the man with the prosthetic leg, pointing to Diddy.
"Yes, out there he proved to be very good; he shouldn't be hard to train," replied the one with the eye patch, before heading towards the other people. "Can you take these dishes with you, please?" he said, handing them the empty dishes they brought.
"Well, we'll start with the lions and tigers," added the man who had one less forearm as he pulled a bunch of keys from his pockets.
Then the crippled man on the arm went to the lion and the tiger cages and opened them with the keys. Meanwhile, the other two tamers prepared hoops, steps and balls for their tricks, each carrying a whip in their hands.
"Come, kittens, kittens," said one of the tamers in a playful tone to the felines, but with a touch of malice as he shook the whip.
There were three lions and two tigers that, showing their frightened faces and their ears back, walked in the direction of the tamers, as if they had no will of their own to try to escape.
"Today is the dress rehearsal and you better do it well," said the tamer with the eye patch, taking each of the felines by the ears. "Now move!" he ordered before whipping the whip against the ground and, with that signal, the felines immediately ran to their positions on the track.
The lions climbed onto platforms while the tigers were placed in the center and on the sides of hoops. One of the tamers again whipped the whip to the ground and, with that signal, the lions began to walk one after the other on the platforms and then jump through the hoops and on the tigers. Everything was fine at first... until the last lion had tripped over the hoop and fell to the ground.
"Get up!" ordered the tamer, heading towards the lion.
With just a little energy, the lion slowly headed back towards the platform... before receiving a strong lash from the tamer to hasten to continue with the act.
"Get moving!" the tamer shouted after whipping him.
After that, another of the tamers gave a signal to the tigers. They climbed into giant balls and had to keep their balance and then start rolling. Unfortunately, one of those felines fell and barely had time to climb back up... before the tamer whipped him hard as if he were an object.
"Come on, get up, little cats! Up!" ordered the tamer with authority and whip in hand.
The next trick was to have all the felines lined up on the platforms. Then, the three tamers pointed the whip at them, and they all stood on two legs instantly. Successively, the tamers gave them signals for the felines to stand, sit, jump or roll on the ground. Although it was the simplest trick, it was the one that felines feared the most, since due to stress and fatigue, they couldn't do everything quickly, which is why... they all earned a few lashes without any mercy that made them scream heartbreakingly... and so it happened again and again.
"That's what we meant, little monkeys," one of the caged animals said to Diddy and Dixie.
After so many lashes during the rehearsal, a lion was about to collapse and roared aggressively towards the three tamers, accompanied by some attempts of scratches that even scared the other animals away. Instantly, the tamers whipped him violently to calm him down.
"No roaring, little cat!" said the one-eyed tamer firmly, taking the animal roughly by the ear.
"What's wrong with these useless animals?!" complained the tamer of the prosthetic leg. "Today the functions begin and they all are lazy."
"Calm, just a few more lashes to wake them up and they'll do everything right. Or else, we leave them without eating!" replied the one-eyed man with an arrogant attitude.
"Well, I think it's time to change them, they're no longer working," added the less-than-forearm tamer. "There is a long list of zoo animals that can be used for the circus. Those here are already reaching the end of their useful cycle."
For the next trick, the other people who were present lowered some floating cages. The tamers gave the order with the whip to the felines, and all walked to the cages, none wanted to climb but the tamers gave lashes to each one, so they had no choice. The floating cages began to rise and turn in a round. The height at which they were was not fun for the felines, who showed a clear expression of terror and kept their ears back.
"Well, this one isn't going so badly," said the one-eyed tamer as they watched the floating cages with the animals inside them.
On the other hand, the rest of the animals only waited for their training turn, which kept them tense and thinking about the lashes they would get if they didn't do things right. Meanwhile, Diddy was beginning to feel chills; at first, he thought participating like this would be fun, but remembering what the animals there told them, along with Cranky's story, and added to the trainings he was watching now, he was only thinking about returning home; he was guiltily regretting going for a ride in the sea three nights ago.
It was long hours of training, where then it was the turn of the bears. The scenes were very similar in the field of training: the tamers gave almost all the orders with the whips and had no mercy for those who didn't do things well, they didn't even care that those bears were just little ones. These were put to roll in balls and ride bicycles, they were also ordered to stand on their hands, while others had to hold on to ropes and swing.
"Accelerate faster!" one of the tamers ordered one of the bears after whipping him while he was riding his bicycle by force. "Faster!"
Successively, among zebras, rhinos, primates and giraffes, they made them train by force, since the only faces that those animals showed were of terror, anguish and fatigue. To tell the truth, the tricks were not so complicated, but enough to make them all suffer because of the blows they received from those three tamers, which made them scream in pain and cause them more injuries in addition to what they already had. The last to be trained were elephants; they were made to walk in circles throughout the area while being beaten with the whip to speed up the pace, followed by several stunts that included rolling on a giant ball, having to be very careful not to fall.
"Don't be lazy! Run!" the tamers forced the elephants in the midst of the lashes. "Speed up, accelerate!"
At the end of each training, the tamers gave each one a portion of food as a prize, although in truth, it was the same low-quality food they used to give them at lunch.
Dixie kept hidden behind the boxes all the time, watching in horror those grotesque scenes of training; she never imagined they would be that way. Not even when she lived in a circus, she remembered that animals were treated so badly; the atmosphere was very different from how she thought.
"They're all already," said the one-eyed tamer as he closed one of the animal cages as he finished training them. "But we still lack... the new little monkey."
Diddy immediately looked up with a whole face of horror as the tamer turned and walked towards him. He had a feeling that neither with the appearance of his evil classmates from school nor with the hard look of Mr. Pinky had he felt. He just wanted to disappear from there and return to DK Island.
"Come, little monkey, you're going to be a star," said the tamer in a malicious tone as he inserted the key to open his cage.
When the cage was fully open, Diddy acted on instinct and tried to run out of there to escape. But to bad luck, the tamer stepped on his tail hard and made him scream in pain, then took his arm while the other two tamers took him by the limbs and led him to the track.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing, little monkey?!" the one-eyed tamer exclaimed, holding him tightly and staring at him sternly.
On the other hand, Dixie was also scared to see how Diddy would be the next victim; she wanted to rescue him right then and there, but the three men looked bigger and stronger that even she was afraid of.
"First of all, we need a picture with the monkey," said the tamer, placing Diddy on a platform. "Gentlemen, the camera!"
Then, one of the circus employees carried a camera in hand and stood in front of them, while the three tamers positioned themselves around Diddy.
"Now, high-five, little monkey. And smile at the camera," whispered the one-eyed tamer, joining his hand with Diddy's and then being photographed by the person with the camera. Diddy only agreed to the gesture and forced a smile at the moment.
After that, training with Diddy was to begin. The three tamers held him while tying ropes in his hands.
"Hey, wait!" said one of the employees suddenly running towards them. "It's just... I don't think it's necessary to train the monkey that way; he already knows how to do tricks by nature."
"What? No, no, we need to teach them some tricks," replied the tamer with the patched eye.
"But don't hit him, he's a little monkey."
"And how else are we going to train him?" added the one with the prosthetic leg.
"At least let him show his skills on his own!" added another employee who was nearby.
The tamers looked at Diddy, not yet sure about skipping his training. Diddy's breathing was too fast; his survival instinct acted on him again and, without letting another second pass, he untied himself from the ropes and ran again to escape... Not before being whipped with a couple of lashes from the tamer, with which he shouted loudly and stopped.
"Where do you think you're going, naughty little monkey?!" the one-eyed tamer growled as he forcibly brought him back and treated him roughly.
Dixie, seeing how things were going, was also outraged and decided to act on it: she grabbed one of the stones that was on the ground and, immediately, threw it at the tamers, falling right into the patched eye of one of them.
"Ahhh, my cursed eye!... that I don't even have it anymore," the man shouted as he held his patch.
"Hey! Who threw that stone?!" asked the one with the prosthetic leg while looking at each of the employees, to which everyone there denied having done so. Everyone began to look everywhere to see who had thrown the stone.
"We didn't do it, Brand!" said the one-armed tamer to the one-eyed man, apparently calling him by name.
"Wait a minute!" said one of the employees, turning to look at a pile of boxes, the same ones where Dixie was hidden, and went there immediately.
Dixie, as soon as she noticed the person approaching, crawled across the floor to under the rolling cages, just before the employee moved the boxes.
"Oh, forget it, let's continue with the monkey," exclaimed the tamer of the patch, rubbing his one-eyed eye. "But whoever it was is going to pay me. Now, little monkey, show us what you can do," he ordered Diddy with a stern look.
The three tamers let go of Diddy and let him prove his tricks on his own. Diddy would have done them normally, but panic had taken hold of him, so all he did was head towards the track, do a few little tricks as an introduction... and then trick the tamers to end up straying and escaping again.
"Urgh, you stupid monkey, I thought you were useful!" exclaimed the tamer as the three began to run again after Diddy. "Don't let him escape!"
Employees locked all entrance doors, while Diddy tried to locate an exit. Diddy was running in a hurry, but he had no escape route and, unfortunately, the tamers managed to catch up with him later and gave him another couple of lashes that left him paralyzed and in pain. Then, they forcibly took him to the track again.
"Pass me the shotgun!" exclaimed the tamer of the patch while keeping Diddy imprisoned.
Suddenly, one of the employees proceeded to hand the tamers a shotgun. Such an object immediately made Diddy's hair stand on end, and also Dixie, who didn't want to think the worst.
"Now," said the tamer, blurting out Diddy and pointing the shotgun at him. He spoke to him in a threatening tone as he was held by the other two tamers. "If you try to escape again, you won't see this world again, naughty little monkey."
Instantly, Diddy remembered when his classmates threatened him in the same way, although to tell the truth, this time he felt a greater terror. He only showed an expression of deep fear and felt even his teeth trembling.
"Now move!" ordered the tamer of the prosthetic leg throwing him towards the track. "The whole track is yours, show us what you can do!"
Diddy, frightened and with his nerves activated, went to the center of the track and began to do his stunts on the platforms. With a few small balls, he juggled as many positions as he could. He also used the hoops with which he threw the balls, and then caught them again. Likewise, he rolled on the giant balls using even his hands. To continue, he climbed the stairs to where the tightrope was where he walked without problems; he did it juggling and even head-on. The tamers were impressed, because it seemed that they had never put an animal using the tightrope. And, finally, Diddy used the trapezoids, with which he swayed to great heights as if they were vines of the jungle. In the end, he made a landing on a trampoline and then on the ground.
The three tamers were dumbfounded; apparently, they had never made an animal do all those tricks. They approached Diddy, this time showing him an amazed smile.
"It's... unbelievable," said the prosthetic leg tamer enthusiastically. "This monkey will please the public!"
"It's impressive!" exclaimed the one with the forearm less.
"You're a star, little monkey!" added the one with the patched eye, patting Diddy on the head. "You can shine for tonight!"
Diddy was flattered, but at the same time, he didn't stop feeling terror towards the tamers; he no longer saw them like when he met them, so he only smiled at them in a forced way while trembling and seeing that they carried their shotgun at their sides.
"Hey, it's already five o'clock!" commented the one-armed tamer, looking at a watch he was carrying. "We have to get the animals ready for function."
"Well, let's put the monkey away," said the one-eyed tamer before heading to Diddy. "We must hasten to get them all ready."
Then, they took Diddy back and led him to lock him in his cage again. He felt regret that he had not planned a better escape in the times he tried, even if now he was all frightened to find himself locked up again and unable to do anything else. In the same way was Dixie, who was sneaked under the cages and without any alternative at that time...