A/N: This chapter will be very long.
Chapter 26: Wild Escape
It had been a long night for all animals as they planned their escape attempt. Some could not sleep, either because of anxiety and fear that something would not go well, or also because of the excitement of being able to leave that terrible place after several years.
The next day seemed normal, but on the other hand, there were Diddy and Dixie thinking about their escape plan with the whole herd. It was really a very risky thing, but even so, they wouldn't pass up that opportunity to save them all from that prison.
That day there was going to be another performance in the circus, therefore, it was another day of long and martyring rehearsals for the animals. Although to tell the truth, they already didn't care, because they were almost certain that this was going to be their last rehearsal. Diddy had to return to his cage and be present at rehearsals to avoid raising suspicion about the plan. Also, moments before training, he hung around with Dixie preparing some things so they could have a "safer" escape.
After a long day, the employees got the animals ready again at night and took them to the dressing rooms. Apparently, the exact moment to begin the escape was approaching as planned.
"Did you get the pictures, Dixie?" Diddy asked her when she got to the dressing room.
"Yes, I even left them changed for the performance," she replied with a small laugh. "And did you get the weapons of the tamers?"
"Not exactly, they are very heavy, but I took out their magazines from all of them, so they won't shoot," he replied, showing her several magazines of firearms.
"Wow, how do you know that?"
"The four fools from school taught it to me," Diddy said.
Then, Diddy put all the gun magazines in the backpack that Dixie was carrying.
All the animals were in their cages, prepared for the signal to get out of there. There were no people present in the area.
"Well, I think it's time, I'm going to open your cages," Dixie announced to the animals with excitement.
Dixie began to open each of the cages with the keys, while Diddy stayed to watch through the curtain that no one arrived. Apparently, the plan wasn't going to be that difficult after all.
"Now it's time," Dixie said when she finished opening all the cages and all the animals were out. "And remember: Diddy will go to the front to guide you, while I go last. We will all head towards the beach that is-"
"Oh, no! Here come people!" Diddy interrupted, turning to the animals. "Go back to your cages!"
"Oh, geez!" Dixie exclaimed in frustration.
Immediately, all the animals had to return to their cages, including Diddy. This time, they left their doors semi-closed. Dixie, on the other hand, had to hide under the cages.
Soon, several of the circus employees and performers began to enter the dressing rooms; they had interrupted the escape attempt. The plan was to leave before they arrived to avoid uproar among the people, but to bad luck, the people had arrived ahead of the expected time.
"And now what do we do?" Diddy asked quietly from his cage.
Dixie kept hiding under Diddy's rolling cage, now thinking about what they could do to flee, as things weren't going as planned. They stayed like that for a long time.
"Hey, don't worry, we'll sure get out of here," Dixie whispered with a forced smile, not so sure what she was saying.
"Wait a minute!" one of the human employees suddenly exclaimed. "Why are the cages open?!"
Unfortunately for all the animals, the people present there noticed that the cages were semi-closed and began to close them again immediately one by one.
The performance was about to begin and it could already hear the crowd of people, eager to see the show. Of course, the three tamers also began to be heard on the microphone welcoming everyone. After that, all the circus performers went on stage to make their initial presentation, leaving the animals alone again; they could escape at that time, but the problem was that it was now full of people outside. Dixie, very stealthily, got out again to peek through the curtain.
"And now how will we get out of here?" asked one of the animals.
"Let's get out right now, we have no choice!" suggested an elephant.
"No!" Dixie replied, turning to look at them. "We're going to scare people; it's going to be crazy."
"That doesn't matter!" a lion replied. "I don't think anyone will want to approach us; you have said it yourself."
"Look, they're going to project the images!" Dixie said with an evil smile as she peeked through the curtain. "At least I will be able to see this humiliation."
After the presentation of the show, the projection of pictures of the circus animals began doing various tricks and with the best costumes, which encouraged the public... But this time, the excitement of the entire audience was changing when they realized that this time was different: they could see photos of the rehearsals! And yes... of how they really were. People were giving little screams and murmurs when they saw photos, and even videos, of several animals receiving lashes from the tamers, as well as photos of the true appearance of the animals without suits or makeup that they put on them to hide their wounds.
"But what... heck?!" exclaimed one of the tamers in a disguised way, while they watched the projection.
Instantly, the three tamers changed to faces of embarrassment, trying to smile at the audience; they had always been led to believe that animals were in good hands, but now they were being exposed with a different image.
"Who took those pictures?! And how did they get there?!" grumbled the one-eyed tamer throwing murderous glances towards the technical employees.
"We do not know, Mr. Owens, this roll of photos is the same as the one you gave us," the technicians told them.
Dixie, on the other hand, gave little laughs behind the curtain to see how she had managed to expose them.
"Have the photos passed yet?" Diddy asked curiously.
"Yes, you have to see their faces!" Dixie replied with a victorious smile.
During the afternoon of that same day, Dixie had stolen the camera and the roll of photos of the tamers, and changed it for a new one; with that, she took several photos secretly during the training of that afternoon in order to: expose to the public how the life of that circus was really like. The plan was for it to be shown after the escape, but it had already been brought forward.
"Let's get out right now!" an elephant insisted after a while. "It doesn't matter that people get scared; they won't be able to deal with all of us."
Diddy and Dixie thought about it for a moment; at first, they wanted to release them before the show started so as not to scare people away, but now chaos could be created if they left at that very moment... But they also knew it had to be now or never, because they didn't know when else they would have a chance to free them all.
"Okay," Dixie said, finally determined. "Although it will be much riskier to go outside like this in the crowd."
"Okay, then, what are we waiting for?" said a rhino with all the attitude of getting out.
On the other hand, there were the tamers trying to recover the public's spirits. From one moment to another, people were heckling them after seeing those photos where the hidden face of the circus that used to animate them so much was exposed.
"Uh... Well, dear audience present…" said the tamers into the microphone with all the discomfort. "I think it's time for tonight's numbers to start and... hope you enjoy-"
Suddenly, people began to murmur loudly against the three tamers and, as often happens when an audience is not comfortable, they began to throw objects on stage as a sign of opposition.
"I think this will turn out better than I expected!" said Diddy with a laugh as he heard the opposition murmurs from the audience. Then, he spoke to the animals. "Well, I think we can get out now. You already know: go through areas where there are not many people and don't cause disasters in the city. Those who know the way will come to the front and we will reach the beach."
"And for your safety, don't hurt anyone, not even tamers," Dixie continued. "If someone interrupts your way, you just push it and that's it. Oh, and don't forget to help the zoo animals out too. And try to stay together."
The first number that night was going to be Diddy's, so some employees entered the dressing room to take him out to the stage.
"When I'll give you the signal, everyone comes out!" Diddy told the animals as he was being moved by the employees, who only heard him emit monkey murmurs for their language.
Dixie began to reopen all the cages with the keys. Meanwhile, Diddy was coming out in front of the audience, although to tell the truth, no one showed any interest in the performance. All the emotion of the public had been extinguished from one moment to another after that photographic exhibition that had left them all shocked.
"Monstrous!" "Abusers!" "Wretches!" shouted the audience against the tamers, who tried to ignore and continue with the show.
"Blast! Who took those pictures?" grumbled the one-eyed tamer with the other two men, holding back in anger.
Diddy was in the middle of the stage. The people no longer greeted him this time with loud applause, but instead looked at him with compassion as if he were a helpless creature. Diddy should be ready to start his number, but instead, he started taking off all his circus props that had been put on him.
"NOW! EVERYONE COMES OUT!" Diddy shouted forcefully as a signal to the animals.
"It's time! Let's get out, let's get out!" said one of the animals getting out of his cage.
As soon as they heard Diddy's signal, all the animals began to emerge from their cages and, with a little pause behind the curtain, peered out. Until finally, they plucked up the courage and began to run towards the stage, being in view of the public.
"But what the heck is everyone doing out?!"exclaimed the shocked tamers when they suddenly saw all their circus animals together.
The public at first seemed to believe that it would be a colossal group performance of all the animals... But instantly, they began to scream in terror when the animals began to roar and growl wildly towards everyone, especially their tamers.
"What the heck?!" exclaimed the one-eyed tamer.
"STAY STILL! STAY STILL ALL OF YOU!" The tamers ordered them, drawing out their whips and trying to whip them.
But with an entire herd of wild animals, even the tamers were intimidated when they intimidated them as if they wanted to kill them, so they only ran in terror as well.
Successively and at the same time hurriedly, the people began to get down from the stands all terrified, and ran out of the circus, screaming with all the panic like if fleeing from some monster or a catastrophe.
"Take the weapons!"the one-eyed tamer ordered the employees, although they too were running to the outside in alarm. "Argh!Something has to be done!"
The animals were scaring away the whole crowd and, when there were fewer people, they began to get out of the circus, even though the front door was somewhat narrow for everyone. Diddy went to the front with them to guide them; they were heading first to the zoo to release the animals there as well. Meanwhile, the people who were still present inside the zoo field, ran in terror to see a huge herd of loose animals heading outside.
The three tamers drew their guns and pointed at the animals that were still inside the place, but unfortunately for them, and for the fortune of the animals, the weapons didn't fire at all… since previously, Diddy had removed the magazines from all the guns. The tamers were completely irritated at all the things that were going on.
"What's wrong with these stupidguns?!" complained the tamers, smashing their weapons on the ground.
"The real question is: Who left the stupid cages open?!"
On the other hand, Dixie was still in the dressing room finishing releasing a few animals that had been locked inside their cages. After that, she noticed that none were missing, and immediately came out to stage to continue with the escape.
There were almost no people anymore, since they had gone outside fleeing from there. From one moment to the next, the circus performance had become a terror for people and a massive escape for animals.
Dixie was running towards the exit in a hurry... When suddenly, someone grabbed her by the sides of her torso abruptly and lifted her up.
"Wait a minute!... I know you!"
When she turned around, it was the one-eyed tamer who was holding her. Dixie could have acted defensive instantly, if not for the fact that instead... she was all paralyzed when she looked more closely at the tamer's face... Now he seemed so... so well known to her.
"It can't be, is it the chimpanzee?" exclaimed the one-eyed tamer.
"Look, this little monkey carries the keys!" exclaimed the one-armed tamer. "She set them free!"
"And look at her eyes of that shade of green," added the prosthetic leg tamer, smiling at the sight of Dixie's eyes. "Just what we need!"
"Don't you recognize her?!" replied the one-eyed tamer. "This is the same one we tried to capture a few years ago with the other little blonde chimpanzee and a baby gorilla!"
Dixie clearly felt her pulse and circulation at her feet quicken upon hearing that revelation that would confirm what she had been thinking since she saw the tamers the first day she arrived. She began to tremble and panic, as those disturbing memories came to mind.
"I can't believe it! We have one of the little chimpanzees we've needed for years!" exclaimed the one-armed tamer excitedly.
"Wow, the chimpanzee with blond hair that flies and cute emerald green eyes," added the one with the prosthetic leg, staring at her. "By the way, that time I lost my leg and Bill and Bert died!"
"I can't believe it, I can't believe it!" exclaimed the one-eyed man in amazement. "And we thought we'd never see her agai-"
Dixie, regaining her senses, slapped the tamer in the face.
"Oh, no! Watch out for that attitude, little ape!"the tamer shouted, holding Dixie's hands tightly, before she resisted them. "Hold her!"
Dixie tried to kick him, but another tamer grabbed her feet while the other grabbed her hair hard to keep her from moving. Dixie struggled to get out of the three tamers... until the one-eyed tamer received what appeared to be a whiplash from a third one.
"The monkey!"exclaimed the three men.
Suddenly, Diddy appeared behind with two whips in hand and in a fighting position.
"Catch him too!"ordered the one-eyed tamer.
While holding Dixie, one of the tamers rushed to catch Diddy, but he instantly dodged it, jumped towards the three men and began attacking them until they released Dixie. The tamers tried to stop him, but he was very agile, defending himself with whips and trampling their faces with his feet. In their attempt to catch Diddy, the tamers released Dixie; she was also going to fight them, but Diddy took her arm and picked up her backpack which was lying on the ground.
"Come, let's get out of here!" Diddy said to Dixie desperately.
"NO! DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!" shouted the one-eyed tamer. "Catch that pair!"
Diddy and Dixie sped away from the circus, with the three tamers running after them. Outside it could see some of the circus animals running, and others breaking down the barriers in the corners of the zoo animals so they could get out too; apparently, it wasn't complicated, since the animals were strong enough to knock down a glass or bars, just as the zoo animals left their spaces without hesitation. There were employees of the zoo who tried to stop all the animals, but the latter joined forces to avoid them and get them out of their way, trying not to harm them further. Many of the animals that were bigger, helped others that were small, carrying them on their backs. The exit from the zoo to the city was very congested at first, but then, among all the animals, they broke through and knocked down much of the main entrance.
Meanwhile, Diddy and Dixie continued to be pursued by the trio of tamers, as they had found out that the two little kongs had been the authors of the massive escape of their animals.
"Over here, quick!" Diddy pointed to Dixie when he located a good hiding place to divert the tamers.
Both entered through one of the spaces of the zoo until they reached a small corner between some plants. Due to the small size of the two of them, the tamers failed to reach them and lost sight.
The two were exhausted, trying to recover energy so that they could continue together with the rest of the animals.
"Did you manage to free everyone, Dixie?" Diddy asked.
"Y-yes…" Dixie replied, trembling and looking almost lost, which made Diddy notice her unusual expression.
"Is something going on?"
"It's that... those tamers…" she replied slowly. "They are the ones who... they tried to kidnap Tiny, Kiddy and me a few years ago... It's them!"
"W-what?!"Diddy exclaimed, shocked at what she was saying. "What are you talking about?! Are you sure?"
"Yes, even they said it when they caught me! In fact, since I arrived here, they seemed to be known to me but I wasn't so sure."
"So, they are those hunters?!... Say what? What does it mean that they are them, Dixie?!"
Dixie was invaded again by those bitter memories where, some years ago, she was about to be captured along with her sister and cousin, and where her parents tried to rescue them, but unfortunately, those hunters, now circus tamers, ended up with them. Dixie, although with the arrival on DK Island had managed to stabilize a little, at that moment began to be filled again with that deep hatred and resentment towards those tamers and tears in her eyes at the same time.
"Oh, no, no, Dixie!" Diddy said, trying to calm her down, since he didn't like her feeling that way when they touched that topic either.
"I…" Dixie said before giving a heavy sigh. "I withdraw what I said! I'm going to finish them off now!" she added, coming out of hiding, walking firmly and with all the desire to fight.
"What?! No, no, Dixie!" Diddy exclaimed, trying to stop her. "You won't go and face those three right now, will you?! They are dangerous!"
"I don't care! They're going to pay me for what they did to us!" she cried out through tears. "They will regret existing those monstrous ones!"
"But you'll get hurt or worse!"
Dixie started running in the opposite direction, looking again for the three tamers. She had enough anger and all the desire in the world to face them until she couldn't, no matter how little physical strength she had compared to those three ones. She never imagined that she would be so close again to those hunters, who had taken an important part of her life from her and her sister.
Diddy ran after her with utmost concern, as he knew that facing three human persons was a difficult thing for someone small; even he was afraid. Later, he managed to catch up with Dixie in time and grabbed her arm.
"Hey!"
"No, Dixie! It's very dangerous!" Diddy exclaimed desperately. "How about if they carry some other hidden weapon?!"
"But you don't understand!" Dixie replied, letting go.
"I do understand, I would do the same in your place, but not now!" he exclaimed, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Just look, you were almost completely caught recently, even I was afraid to face them to let go. They are evil humans... very evil!"
Dixie was silent for a few seconds before she let go of her tears again and broke down like a little girl. Diddy was also sad to see her like this; he didn't like it when she remembered any of her tragic events in that way.
"Oh, Dixie…" he said, hugging her with compassion as she continued to cry and sob continuously. Then, he placed his hands on her shoulders to speak to. "Look, we freed their animals and made them look bad in front of the public, we got them into trouble... It's not better to see them suffer live?" he added, trying to cheer her up, but even so, it didn't seem to work out, since Diddy didn't know exactly how to do it either, so he only did what he could. "Well, we have to get out of here with the others. And it's okay, you can let off steam if you want-"
"There are the monkeys!"
They both turned and saw the trio of tamers running after them again and getting closer and closer.
"Oh, no! Let's run, let's run!" Diddy exclaimed, holding Dixie's hand, before running away again.
"Don't move!"exclaimed the three men.
As they ran, the one-eyed tamer suddenly pulled out a weapon and pointed it at them. Diddy and Dixie were hoping it wouldn't fire, but unfortunately, several rounds of ammunition started firing near them... Luckily, they were just from tranquilizer darts.
"Argh!" Dixie exclaimed when, suddenly, she was hit in the foot by one of the darts and tripped.
Instantly, and out of survival instinct, Diddy removed the dart from Dixie immediately.
"Dixie! Are you ok?" he asked her, helping her up.
"We already have you, little monkeys!"
The trio of tamers caught them both. But this time, both didn't sit still and began to attack them defensively, especially Dixie, who now had the opportunity to have them close; she didn't show mercy to them and attacked at the point of slaps, scratches and trampled on their faces to block their view, even attacked them with her hair; she felt that she was finally able to vent all her pain and anger against them.
But several seconds later, Dixie began to feel like she was losing strength and was getting dizzy, at the same time her eyes were closing, until she fell to the ground completely.
"Dixie!" Diddy exclaimed and panicked as he continued to fight the three.
"Look, it already worked on the chimpanzee!" one of the men said as he tried to free himself from Diddy.
The three of them grabbed Diddy's limbs and mercilessly threw him a few meters away as if he were an object. Then, they headed towards Dixie and picked her up from the ground. Diddy immediately got up and ran back to them, got behind the tamer of the prosthetic leg and, with all his strength, pulled that leg and tore it off, causing him to lose his balance and fall.
"Hey, little insolent monkey!" the man yelled at Diddy.
Diddy, with a little difficulty lifting the prosthetic leg, began to attack the other two by hitting them with it, while the fallen tamer could no longer get up well. Diddy kept them that way until, with the same prosthetic leg, he hit hard the only full arm that the one-armed tamer had, and then hit the patched eye of the other tamer; with that, both tamers complained of pain and could not continue. Meanwhile, Diddy went to Dixie, who was lying on the ground with her eyes half-open.
"Dixie, Dixie, are you okay?! We have to get out of here!" he said, desperately pushing her to react. "Tell me something!"
"What... happened?" Dixie asked weakly as she tried to regain her senses.
"Come, get on my shoulders."
Diddy helped Dixie up so that she climbed onto his shoulders, and they also picked up her backpack again. Then, Diddy ran out of there with Dixie on his back, leaving behind the three tamers, who at a long distance still wanted to catch them.
When they managed to leave the zoo, they saw that everything was deteriorated and the entrance of the zoo was collapsed. There were no animals inside anymore, let alone people, except for the tamers.
Diddy along with Dixie ran to another hiding place, this time outside, in the city. Both stopped in some rubble at the entrance of the zoo. Dixie sat down to take a break while she recovered better; apparently, the tranquilizer that the tamers had shot at her had taken effect, but fortunately, Diddy had managed to remove the dart in time before it took full effect and she fell asleep.
"Are you feeling well?" Diddy asked her, worried about.
"Yes... I just feel a little tired," Dixie replied with hectic breathing. "Do... you gave their comeuppance to... those monstrous ones?"
"Well, I can tell you that I took out that fake leg from one of them and attacked them with it," Diddy replied with a smile. "Oh, yes, and I hit one in the arm and the other in the eye. I don't think we'll have to worry about them anymore."
"You're amazing," Dixie said, smiling back and regaining some strength. "Well... Let's see how the other animals go."
"Surely they must already be halfway there," Diddy surmised as he looked out over town. "Can you get up?"
Dixie managed to recover after a couple of minutes and got up. Afterwards, both got out to the city to see where the other animals were, since they had lost sight of them.
But when they arrived... all they could see was a city full of chaos, with people screaming and running all terrified, cars roiled and piled up, broken glass, objects thrown and, of course, animals running around, while people tried to get them away. Diddy and Dixie were left paralyzed watching their plan had turned into a mess, something they didn't want to happen.
"Uhh... This was to be expected... wasn't it?" said Diddy with a forced smile.
"I suppose," Dixie added with the same expression.
"Diddy! Dixie! Good thing I found you!" an elephant exclaimed, arriving in despair. "W-well, everything was going well, until we got out into city and, and, and nobody knows the way and... no one wants to listen and-"
"Wait, wait, wait, and those who went in front didn't say they knew how to get to the beach?!" Diddy said, trying to stay calm.
"Yes, but no one paid attention to them!" the elephant replied desperately. "And not to mention those at the zoo; they are crazy and think this is a game. And now look at the city!"
"Ugh, they were right to say that this would cause a disaster!" Dixie said frustrated.
"No, don't worry, we'll figure it out," Diddy said before thinking about it for a few seconds. "I got it! What if we climb a building and see where the way is?"
"Good idea!" Dixie replied thoughtfully.
Suddenly, gunshots began to be heard throughout the place; they came from uniformed and well-equipped men who carried guns pointed at the animals, but apparently, they were tranquilizer darts.
"Oh, no, let's go fast!" Dixie exclaimed.
"Tell the other animals to snatch the weapons from those men while we go to find the way," Diddy said quickly to the elephant before leaving with Dixie. Then, he pointed in one direction. "That building looks fine!"
Immediately, Diddy and Dixie sped towards the first tall building they spotted. They had to cross several obstacles such as: people throwing objects or running, big animals, crossing the streets where a couple of times they avoided being hit by vehicles, as well as police officers shooting tranquilizer darts everywhere.
"Is it easy to go up?" Diddy asked, looking at the tall building.
"It's almost like climbing a tree or climbing a mountain."
The pair of kongs began to climb the entire building just like Dixie did upon arriving in the city. It didn't take so many minutes, as they were both agile. Upon arrival, they began to observe in detail and quickly at the same time, towards the whole city to find the way to the beach where they could escape.
"Wow, I hadn't seen all this from so high!" Diddy said, smiling in admiration of seeing the city. "I wish I could explore everything no matter the people."
"You're right, and it looks prettier at night," Dixie added in the same tone. Then, they were able to locate the area where everyone could escape. "Look, there's the beach! They have to go there and then walk left to those trees."
"It looks like a good place for everyone to leave. Let's tell them!"
Diddy and Dixie had found the right way and prepared to get off the building... But suddenly, they were interrupted by a thunderous sound that was getting louder and louder. Just as they looked up, they realized that it was a helicopter flying over the building and, instantly, a large sack fell on them and made it difficult for them to move. Human voices were heard approaching and then wrapped them in the sack.
"We have the monkeys!" clearly, it was the voice of one of the tamers, who apparently began to lift them and move them into the sack.
Diddy and Dixie struggled to get out of the sack, but it was very resistant. Then, they felt that they had been left on the ground, but suddenly, they began to feel as if they were getting up with that same ground, at the same time that the voices of the men were heard more closely.
Meanwhile, the city remained in chaos. A massive number of animals ran everywhere: those from the circus tried to stay calm, but those from the zoo had no idea what to do. Some animals had been sedated by the security agents, but were helped by the other animals, as well as trying to snatch the weapons from those agents.
On the other hand, Diddy and Dixie were still trying to get out of the narrow sack they had been put in. With a little time and effort, they were getting it, until they finally succeeded. When they looked outside, they realized they were inside the helicopter. There were only two of the tamers: the one-eyed and the one-armed. Looking out the windows of the helicopter, they could see that they were flying over the city and seemed to be heading back towards the zoo.
"How will we get out of here?" Dixie whispered desperately.
"I don't know…" Diddy replied in the same tone.
"The monkeys!"
Unfortunately, they had been captured by the two tamers, who took some weapons they were carrying, to point at them both.
Diddy and Dixie acted on instinct instantly and pounced straight at the tamers, then began attacking them like the wild animals they should be in a situation like that. They held the weapons of the men with strength so that they wouldn't shoot and, in an attempt to snatch it, Dixie accidentally pressed a button on the helicopter, which opened the doors of it. A strong wind raced and staggered the helicopter to tilt it a little. The one-armed tamer had lost his balance and slipped, hanging from the floor of the helicopter with his only hand he had. Diddy, Dixie and the one-eyed tamer held on to the seats so as not to fall.
"These insolent monkeys!" shouted the one-eyed tamer, before speaking to the other man. "Brett, hold on!"
"I can't! Heck!" replied the other man, making an effort to hold on. "Help me, Brand!"
Dixie, acting faster, took one of the guns that had become stuck on the floor, and threw it at the tamer who was hanging from the edge of the helicopter; with that, the man screamed from the impact and was letting go until he fell completely towards nothingness.
"BRETT!" yelled the one-eyed tamer after seeing what had happened. Then, he looked very furious at Diddy and Dixie. "THESE STUPID MONKEYS!"
The helicopter straightened up, and the one-eyed tamer immediately got up to take both kongs. Anyway, Diddy and Dixie rushed to continue attacking him defensively: they grabbed him by his head and smashed him into the helicopter's control machine. Then, they both stood on his back and took his arms pulling them back.
"This trick was taught to me by those four fools from school!" Diddy said as he took back both of the man's arms and tried to bend them to crush.
"ARGHHH, LOUSY MONKEYS!"
Dixie, on the other hand, held the tamer by the feet and bent his legs upwards as much as she could until he felt cramps.
The tamer screamed in pain while both kongs held him as if in a game of struggles, but then, he also took strength and untied himself from the two of them, then pushed and lunged at them. But at the same time, Diddy and Dixie pounced on him again. Dixie wrapped her hair around his neck, and he was repeatedly slammed into the helicopter machine by both kongs, but this time, the helicopter tilted again. A strong wind ran again, and everyone lost their balance. Dixie, who was holding the one-eyed tamer with her hair, caused him to slip and fall into the void, but instinctively, he grabbed Dixie's hair, causing her to go down as well.
"DIXIE!"
Luckily, Diddy managed to hold her foot. Now the tamer was hanging in the air and holding on to Dixie's hair, as she screamed from pain due to tension. At the same time, Diddy was holding her by the foot, while he was holding on to a helicopter handrail. They stayed like this for a few minutes until they were running out of strength, especially Diddy, who was resisting less and less and letting go of the handrail.
"RESIST!"
Diddy couldn't take it anymore and ended up letting go completely. They almost all fell down, but he managed to hold on to the landing skate with his tail on time. The helicopter had tilted more due to the weight of the three, hanging on the side. The one-eyed tamer screamed in despair as he waved his legs in the air.
"YOU'RE GOING TO PAY ME, LITTLE BRAT MONKEYS! YOU'LL PAY ME!"
Dixie couldn't stand the severe tension in her hair, and in turn cursed the tamer with all the hatred she had for him, even if he didn't understand her language. Then, she took her backpack, which was also hanging in the air, and took out the magazines of the guns that Diddy had extracted, and began to throw them at the tamer with all her strength so that he would lose concentration; with that, he was gradually letting go of Dixie's hair, until seconds later... he fell into the nothingness, followed by screams that were heard lower as he fell.
For Diddy and Dixie, who were still hanging from the helicopter, it was an enormous physical and visual relief to see that cruel hunter-tamer fall from the great height. Both smiled victoriously and celebrated from the position in which they were.
"We did it!" Dixie exclaimed with emotion, waving her arms in the air and upside down.
"We defeated those monsters!" Diddy added in the same tone. But then he realized the position they were in. "Now what?!"
"Oh, I don't know!" Dixie replied when she saw that they were hanging without being able to return on top of the helicopter, since it was still flying at speed.
"Oh, no! Look over there!"Diddy pointed in panic to the front.
Dixie looked where Diddy pointed and saw that they were close to crashing into a very tall building. She didn't have much time to think about it, but she came up with something very risky.
"Let go, Diddy!"
"What are you talking about?! Are you crazy?!"
"We'll land well! Trust me!"
Dixie didn't even give him time to think about it, and soared all the way to Diddy's arm, beginning to pull him down hard, while tickling him.
"No, Dixie! What do you do- AAAHHH!"
Both ended up falling into the void as well. Diddy screamed in terror as he clung to Dixie; he thought it would be the end of their lives when they hit the ground. Dixie was panicking too, but she wanted to think that they would manage to have a safe landing. They fell for several seconds until, with a few meters to the ground, Dixie began to spin her hair, and both floated on the short distance to dry land.
Diddy had his heartbeat racing to a thousand, at the same time his face turned to a very pale tone. Dixie looked at him and smiled a little.
"Don't do that again!" Diddy said, trying to regain his calm.
"I told you nothing would happen," Dixie replied with a few small laughs.
"Oh, no, look!" Diddy pointed in one direction suddenly.
Although they had descended, the helicopter was still flying on its own in descent; due to the confrontation with the tamers, they had left it accelerated. This was heading towards a not so tall and illuminated building where it could even see people inside.
"But look at that!" Dixie pointed down the building.
A huge number of animals had piled up under the pointed building, with lions and tigers from the circus on the sides that, seeing the helicopter coming closer, and with the help of elephants, made a great jump into the helicopter to try to slow it down. In turn, the group of elephants had lined up, standing on two legs and, just before the helicopter crashed, they caught it with their legs and trunks, to stop it completely.
"Great!" exclaimed Diddy and Dixie jumping in victory and admiring the act.
The two little kongs ran towards where the animals were gathered. Apparently, things were a little calmer. Upon arriving there, they encountered the entire circus herd.
"We learned this in the circus," commented a lion with a firm attitude.
"Diddy! Dixie! Where were you?" an elephant asked them when he saw them both arrive.
"We were in that helicopter with these monstrous tamers," Diddy replied exhaustedly. "Long explanation."
"And where are those monstrous ones? We want to beat them up, we don't care!"
"Well, they already had it; we made them fall from the helicopter!" Dixie told them with the same exhausted but firm expression. "Or well... only two of them."
"Really? I would have liked to see that!" exclaimed one of the tigers.
"Brat monkeys, you're going to pay me!" said a different voice that didn't come from any of the animals.
Everyone turned and, to bitter surprise, it was... the one-eyed tamer? He was all drenched in water as if he had fallen into a lake, apart from having bruises and wounds from the beatings given to him by Diddy and Dixie. He was also with a face of severe anger and thirst for revenge.
"What?!"exclaimed Diddy and Dixie in shock when they saw that the tamer was still standing after the beating they gave him and the fall to such a considerable height.
"B-b-but...!" Diddy stuttered.
"Don't worry, we'll take over it," said a very angry lion.
The herd of animals joined together and began to intimidate the tamer as if they had an exquisite prey in front of them. The man changed his face completely and now looked terrified and begging for mercy.
"Uhh... You are cute little animals, you know?" said the one-eyed man with a forced smile. "You won't go to kill your beloved tamer who has always taken care of you all, will you?"
"Oh, wow, 'take care of us,' he says," one tiger said sarcastically. "Monstrous human beast!"he exclaimed savagely that, in the ears of the man, they were heard like roars that frightened him.
The animals were on the verge of attacking him, when suddenly, a car with red and blue lights, plus a cell in the back, arrived on the scene. Then, four uniformed and armed men got out. Instantly, the one-eyed tamer headed towards them.
"Ahh, sirs officers, how good that you arrived! You have to help us control these animals and-"
"What animals or anything!" the officer exclaimed, pulling out some handcuffs and placing them on the man's wrists. "We came for you, Mr. Brand Owens!"
"What?!"the tamer exclaimed, trying to resist, but the officers stopped him anyway. "Hey, but why?!"
Then, everyone looked towards the car: two people peeked into the cells of the same, they were nothing more and nothing less than the other two tamers of the circus, who had an expression of defeat and as if their fortune had vanished from one moment to another. The one who was one-armed was also all soaked as if he had fallen into some water fountain; after all, from the helicopter they had fallen into one of the lagoons of the zoo. The one-eyed tamer was shocked and began begging the officers for mercy.
"Wait, wait, wait! You can't take us to-"
"Messrs. Owens!"the officers exclaimed to the three tamers, calling them by their real surname. "You are arrested to preventive detention for infringing the Rules of Care and Welfare of the Wild Animal, as well as for failing to comply with the General Safety Standards of the Zoo, putting the lives of the population at risk. And we have proof!"
"Hey, s-s-sir officer, I can explain, those videos and photos that were seen in today's performance are fake and-"
"Yes, of course, get a lawyer or tell the judge that if you are prosecuted!" interrupted the agent as he took him to the cell along with the other two tamers.
Those agents had arrested the three tamers of the Zoo "Zoovlaki", which produced an enormous visual satisfaction to the animals that were witnessing the moment. Everyone looked at each other with an air of victory as if they couldn't believe the turn that the situation was taking, while the car of the agents began to start.
"They were arrested!" exclaimed a zebra with a look of astonishment along with the other animals. "They were taken away!"
"Those beast ones will be locked up!" added one of the elephants in the same way.
"So… won't we see them anymore?!" added one of the bears. "Are they going to be locked up now?!"
"That's right!" exclaimed the same elephant beginning to show excitement. "Then we won't see them anymore!"
The entire herd, including Diddy and Dixie, gave shouts of excitement and hugged each other as if they were celebrating an important event. Even Dixie felt an enormous satisfaction to see how they had managed to defeat those three tamers who once also hurt her.
"Yeah! We did it!" exclaimed one of the animals among the herd.
"Well, I think people aren't going to stop us anymore," Diddy said with a smile, finishing celebrating. "Now we can leave with peace of mind!"
"Now tell Animal Control to keep stopping all these animals!" the police officers were heard saying as they drove away.
The herd of animals, along with Diddy and Dixie, stopped their celebration the instant they heard that, as it didn't seem to be favorable to them.
"Hurry up! The beach is to the north!" Diddy said, hurriedly pointing to an address. "There we have to meet. Spread the word to the rest of the animals!"
Immediately, the escape mission continued, and everyone started running again, trying to retake their positions that had been agreed in the beginning. This time, the animals tried not to create disasters, even though people were again frightened by their presence. The circus animals reported the way to those from the zoo, who were still lost and wandering the streets aimlessly.
Now they were doing things as they had planned. All the animals tried to go in one group; although it was difficult to achieve, they didn't give up. Some animals had to pick up others who were still asleep because of the dose of tranquilizer they had received. Diddy and Dixie went to the front directing them all, sometimes climbing into buildings so as not to lose sight of the right way. People ran in terror or hid in their homes. The Animal Control agents reappeared with sedatives in hand and shot in the direction of the animals, so they had to hide and even disperse to corners of the city while they continued to flee.
They ran for several more minutes, until they began to enter clear places in the city such as highways or esplanades; it was easier to move in those areas and, at that point, all the animals were already gathered. What they had to be careful about was not to collide with vehicles speeding through those areas.
After so much journey of several minutes, and already exhausted... they had arrived at the beach. They ran a few more meters along the sand until everything looked clear enough and with no human presence in sight.
"It seems that we're ready!" Dixie exclaimed to the herd as they slowed their steps. Now we have to see how we'll go-"
Suddenly, thunderous sounds began to be heard in the sky. Looking up... they noticed several helicopters flying nearby above them.
"Oh, no! Watch out!" exclaimed Diddy in despair. "Everybody, hide among the trees!"
Then, all the animals proceeded to run in the direction of the wooded area near the beach. Suddenly... other sounds were beginning to emerge continuously. When they looked quickly upwards, they realized that it was some shots that the helicopters were emitting in their direction. Everyone was immediately alarmed, but continued to try to hide among the trees.
"Hide well! Hide!" shouted Dixie in despair. "Be careful!"
The herd of animals continued to run to hide from the sight of those helicopters, which seemed to be dropping a type of smoke bomb. None of them knew or wanted to know what it would be, so they just ran away and hid.
They were arriving in an area with few trees and where they were approaching the sea, so they began to stop when they were running out of routes. By that point, the helicopters seemed to have slowed down their firing attempts, which gave the herd some time to stop and think about what they would proceed to do next. Everyone was tense and looked everywhere continuously.
"Let's go to the sea!" one of the elephants exclaimed. "What could happen?!"
"Are you crazy?!" one of the lions replied, alarmed. "How are we going to go by sea?!"
"It's the only alternative!" replied the elephant. "If we continue here in this city, we'll be dead. We have to go to the sea; there we'll find some other solid land!"
"I agree!" a hippopotamus replied. "The truth is that there is no way out here! If you want, the bigger ones will carry the smaller ones on our backs!"
"We'll take the two monkeys too," said a gorilla, referring to Diddy and Dixie.
"Oh, we thank you," Dixie replied hurriedly. "B-But we have to return to our island."
"Yes, I'm sure the ones there are waiting for us and they must be very worried," Diddy added.
Suddenly, the helicopters rang closer again, immediately alarming the entire herd. Bomb fire reappeared, forcing everyone to move around without being able to think about it any longer.
"There is no time! Let's go to sea!" exclaimed one of the animals. "Run!"
Without discussing anything else, the herd of animals simply took that last alternative and continued on their way to escape. This time, they tried to deviate between the trees so that they could mislead the helicopters a little. In the middle of the escape, Diddy and Dixie paused for a while to think about what the two of them would do; both could not continue to accompany the animals, as they could not lose their way to DK Island.
"What's wrong with you?!" one of the elephants asked Diddy and Dixie, stopping with them and a few other animals. "Why don't you come?!"
"I-it's that... we have to go in a different direction," Diddy replied with concern. "We can't go with you."
"Oh, right, you have a fixed destination island," said the elephant, before looking at the rest of the runaway herd, and then looking at them both again. "Or you just go, go back to your island!"
"B-but... what about you all?!" Dixie exclaimed, not knowing what to do. "Where will you go?!"
"Don't worry! We'll be fine!" the elephant exclaimed in an agitated tone. "Or well, I hope... B-but don't worry either; if you want, go your way!... You've already done a lot for us, after all," he finished, smiling a little.
"Yeah, at least those monstrous tamers won't have us anymore," added one of the lions in the same way. "We thank you, seriously."
Diddy and Dixie looked at each other quite worryingly, while looking at the animals. Although they had already managed to free them, it still caused them some uncertainty of not knowing what fate they would all have.
Suddenly, other helicopter booms resounded, preventing them from thinking and giving them no choice but to act quickly.
"Come on, let's get out of here!" exclaimed one of the elephants, pushing everyone to move forward, except for Diddy and Dixie. "Monkeys, you guys just run, don't worry!"
"Or I'll accompany you if you want!" added another of the elephants heading towards Diddy and Dixie. "Come on!"
"Me too!" added one of the lions. "We have to take care of the little monkeys, anyway!"
Diddy and Dixie, unable to do anything else at that moment, deviated from the herd and ran in the opposite direction, where they would be going to the point on the beach where Dixie was when she arrived in that city. A small group of animals joined to accompany them, which consisted of an elephant, a gorilla, a lion and the two small bears, whom they were also protecting.
The helicopters were being heard less and less, and even Diddy and Dixie along with the group of animals were no longer being chased by them. The small group remained hidden under some leafy trees for a while. Meanwhile, Diddy and Dixie gave a last look at the rest of the animals that had chosen to go to the sea, which filled them with concern, but at the same time, they wanted to get the idea that they wouldn't have a bad fate.
"It looks like it's all over," said the elephant stealthily looking up, while they held Diddy and Dixie as if they were protecting defenseless creatures.
"Let's get out of here," the lion added in the same way.
Diddy and Dixie, in the company of the few animals that were with them, walked to a clearer area... Finally, the chase seemed to be over, or at least in that area it could see that. In that area, for some reason, there were remains of wood that appeared to be from old abandoned boats, both large and small.
"What madness," exclaimed one of the bears, showing amazement. "I never thought I'd see this."
"Are we... free?!" added the gorilla in the same way.
"It seems so," replied the elephant with a small smile. But then, he showed concern again. "Uh, now what do we do? L-let's go to the beach or what?"
"Why don't you all go with the others too?" Dixie suggested. "So that you go in the herd and don't get lost."
"We want that, but the truth is... we're also afraid to go into the sea like that," replied the elephant in a fearful tone.
"Or let's take one of these boats," added the gorilla as he rummaged through the rubble. "We can improve them. We can even prepare one for the monkeys."
"It's not a bad idea for now," replied the lion in the same way along with the others. "So, we'll do that, one for ourselves and one for the monkeys."
"Hey, no, don't worry," Diddy said, smiling a little. "We can do it. You just keep on your way; you know that we have another course."
"It'll be quick," said the elephant. "It'll only be a small boat for you. After all... we have no other way to pay you both," he added, ending with a smile at them.
Diddy and Dixie still had doubts about the idea, but they didn't turn it down anyway.
"Well... Okay," they both replied with shrugs and smiling later.
Suddenly, those rumblings coming from the helicopters were heard again, although this time they didn't seem to be close. However, everyone was alert in case they saw something that represented a danger.
"Come on, don't let your guard down," said the elephant, stealthily looking up.
Then, Diddy and Dixie took refuge with the animals that were accompanying them to avoid being spotted by the agents. They went to another point in the area with remains of boats where they stayed a few more minutes, waiting for there to be no danger.
Meanwhile, the big herd of animals that had fled by sea, seemed to have succeeded; none of them could be seen or heard anymore, not even to the helicopters so active in the search.
On the other hand, Diddy and Dixie had stayed with the small group of animals by making some small and quick boats. It didn't take them so long, because they were rather recycled boats, to have something where they could move by sea. The group of animals had told Diddy and Dixie not to worry about helping them, but they both did anyway.
A good while later, the small group of circus animals handed a boat with a pair of oars to Diddy and Dixie; it was enough for both to return. Likewise, they had made some for themselves.
"Take it, little ones," said the gorilla, handing them the boat. "Take it as a thank you gift."
"Thank you!" said the two in unison, smiling at them.
"And well, I guess... you're leaving, right?" the elephant asked them.
The circus animals looked with a little melancholy at the pair of kongs; even though they had shared only three days with them, they seemed to have earned a share of their appreciation. But now, it was time to watch them leave.
"Indeed," Dixie replied.
"Even so... we thank you!" the elephant told them, smiling kindly. "Seriously, this was all thanks to the two of you."
"Yes, if it weren't for you, we'd still be behind those horrible bars," the lion added in the same way. "Your arrival has been the best thing that has happened to us in these last days."
"You're amazing! We'll be forever grateful," said one of the little bears, smiling at them too. "It seems that now... we could be a little calmer. Seriously, we thank you."
"It's nothing," Diddy and Dixie replied, smiling back.
Diddy and Dixie were happy to see them so happy to be free. A few days ago, they didn't imagine that they would manage to free and save a big number of animals from a bad life. It was an unexpected rescue mission, but at the same time very satisfying. After all, something good would have to come out from a bad situation.
"And right, what's going to become of you?" Dixie asked them with some concern.
"We're going to follow the others, they must not be so far away," replied the elephant. "We can go in another of the boats we made. So don't worry."
"Okay, if you guys say so," Diddy added.
"Well... so, I think it's time to leave," Dixie concluded along with Diddy.
"We're going to miss you," said the elephant, looking at them tenderly. "Come here."
Each of the circus animals made some gesture of gratitude to them, and the pair of kongs reciprocated. And, after all the farewell, both left for home. The animals accompanied them to the shore of the beach, right where Dixie had arrived at first, since she had written down the way back on paper.
"Goodbye, little monkeys, take good care of yourselves. We hope to see you again one day."
"Goodbye to you all," Dixie replied, smiling. "I hope things will be well for you from now on."
"And thank you again for the boat," Diddy said likewise. "And I hope you find a good home."
That said, Diddy and Dixie got on the boat and began to enter the sea, giving a last farewell gesture to some of the animals with whom they lived three days in that circus, but at the same time, they were very happy to have saved them from that dreadful place.
"Now... to home," Diddy told Dixie with a smile when they were already sailing. "You know how to get there, right?"
"Yeah," Dixie replied, pulling the paper she had marked the entire route out of her backpack, showing it to Diddy. "The way is almost all straight, it's not difficult. Only the trip will be very long."
The pair of little kongs went much further into the sea; after all the hustle and bustle, they were back home. Diddy had spent five days and Dixie three away from DK Island; they just hoped that the others there weren't thinking that something terrible happened to them or that someone would have taken them away as they thought and, of course, they hoped in the same way that everyone on DK Island was okay...