Hurricane Island (Diddy x Dixie)

by LucyM22

Threatened by a quartet of bully children, Diddy is afraid to tell his situation. One day, he meets Dixie and family in the middle of their fugitive situation. They both establish a special friendship, where feelings for each other later arise. Their frustrated attempts to take a first step will lead them to live an unexpected and dangerous journey away from DK Island.

73. Latent Panic

Chapter 71: Latent Panic

Diddy and Dixie had their minds blank, while their pulsations were so fast that they couldn't think well at the moment. Both were trapped in those mechanical chairs, as were the rest of the kidnapped kong children, while they were with the evil ape group present.

"Oh, what a pity, monkeys," Mandrew said mockingly along with the other three kids. "But you didn't win."

Diddy and Dixie wanted to yell at them with all their might, but the presence of the adult ape group prevented them. Both, though knowing it was in vain, waved their feet in the air and tried to get their hands out of the shackles, earning only more burlesque laughter from Jemky's quartet.

"Oh, but what fools!" Melenky said, looking at them mockingly. "You can't get out of there!"

"Boys!" the apes exclaimed to the quartet, stopping their laughter instantly. "Come here! We're going to start with these kids."

The quartet went to the apes, while Diddy and Dixie became increasingly tense and waved their feet continuously at what they said.

The red-lapel mandrill was making adjustments to the device they called the electric star scalpel, to which he was attaching a new blade. Meanwhile, the black-lapel orangutan was preparing a few mixtures in containers, using the new quartz they had brought.

Diddy and Dixie, seeing that, only started shaking a lot more; both already knew for sure what those apes were about to do with those objects, since they remembered the instructions they had read in that book and how they would use them on all those kong children... And they could include the two of them too.

"How long does it take to mechanize a kid?" Melenky asked the apes.

"The entire procedure takes about two days," a mandrill replied as he cleaned other tools. "Mostly because they must be refrigerated for twenty-four hours. The other twenty-four hours before is where they'll be intervened. The hardest part is when we put the motion sensors in them; we have to make sure the kid doesn't move as much, otherwise something could go wrong."

"So… do you do that to them when they're still alive?"

"That's right; as dead they won't work anymore," the lead orangutan replied. "And when they stop moving, the rest of the mechanism is placed in them, and these mixtures are placed through their veins," he added, showing them a jar with one of the mixtures he was making. "It must be done quickly, before they're no longer useful. Finally, they'll be cured and will be like new, and then they'll go to refrigeration."

"Sounds easy," Mandrew said, looking pensively at the herd of kong children.

"Not so easy," the lead orangutan said. "At least with those four little brats that we already mechanized it was not, but we may now do it more easily. Every kid should be sedated first with the hypnotizing mixture, so they'll stay still during the procedure and won't feel any pain, or rather: they'll no longer feel or notice anything."

"Wow, then it's a complex thing," Jemky said with his arms crossed. "And will you let us make one, right?"

"We'll teach you gradually," the lead orangutan replied. "We'll let the last children be done by you. But only if you do it right and don't come out with some antics!" he added, raising his voice in a warning tone and frightening them four a little. "And we'll let you do that just because we need them ready as soon as possible."

Diddy and Dixie only shuddered to hear the apes themselves all the steps they would make to the herd of kong children, and worse, that both would also be victims if they didn't leave that place soon... from which they could no longer get out, being both trapped in those shackled chairs too. Both were beginning to think that, even if it had been cruel and negligent, they would already be on Hurricane Island again if from the beginning only the two of them had escaped, leaving the rest of the kong children behind. Or worse, they were regretting not having accepted the help that the circus animals had recently offered them in terms of escape.

Suddenly, the group of apes headed to each child one by one and gave them small pushes or soft slaps as if they were examining them. Each of the kong children stood still and made no expression before the apes; they just looked at them without showing resistance or fear.

"They are all still in good condition," the blue-lapel mandrill said as he examined each child.

Finally, they did the same with Diddy and Dixie, who were afraid of the approach of the apes, and would be trembling much more if not for the shackles that held them.

"Only these two worry me," the mandrill said, looking at Diddy and Dixie. "They're not sedated and are conscious. We'll have to hold them well during the procedure, otherwise they'll be very difficult to intervene."

"Yeah, because some little ones wasted the hypnotizing mixture!" the brown-lapel mandrill exclaimed, looking sideways at Jemky and company.

"That was Melenky!" Mandrew replied, pointing at him.

"Hey!" Melenky exclaimed.

"Oh, and by the way," the lead orangutan said to the quartet. "Only about three or four children we don't have to mechanize yet; we'll leave them alive for some tests in the place where we'll send them."

"What tests?" Melenky asked them curiously.

"We can't explain that to you now," the other black-lapel orangutan replied. "But yes, about three of them still have to be left alive."

"Hey, and wait a minute, by the way!" the lead orangutan exclaimed, interrupting them all and heading towards Diddy and Dixie. Suddenly, he was re-adopting an expression of suspicion. "We weren't going to mechanize the pink-clothed chimpanzee yet. And now that I remember: she was in the cells! By the way... HOW DID THESE MONKEYS MANAGE TO ESCAPE?!" he added by yelling at the quartet, making them tense immediately.

"And why are you looking at us?!" Jemky asked his father, looking at him strangely. "We did nothing there."

"I think I know what happened!" Rocky exclaimed, staring at Diddy and Dixie, before pointing at them. "Do you know what those two did?! They did something to the Jennies! I don't know what they did, but those mechanical kids now move on their own; they were behaving like their accomplices; those four kids must have helped them in some way!"

"W-WHAT?!" the lead orangutan exclaimed, beginning to be very furious. "WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!"

"Hey!" Diddy exclaimed to the quartet. "Don't lie, we didn't do anything!"

"Ah, no, rather, YOU don't lie now!" Rocky replied. "Recently, we all were with the four of them too!"

"Hey, wait, wait a minute!" the lead orangutan interrupted. "Could you explain what this is all about?!"

"Well, that!" Mandrew replied. "These two monkeys have done something to make the Jennies move on their own! That's what they were doing recently!"

"You are lying to us now!" the blue-lapel mandrill replied. "Making those four kids move on their own is another procedure! A couple of little dumb monkeys couldn't do it right!"

"We're telling you it's true!" Rocky replied. "What's more, if you want, we're going to look for those four kids right now; they mustn't have to be far from here!"

"But wait a minute!" the lead orangutan interrupted before pausing. "First of all... Who took the chimpanzee girl out of the cell?!"

Melenky, Mandrew and Rocky started looking sideways at Jemky again, but Jemky tried to disguise not knowing anything.

"Ah, it was you, Jemky," the lead orangutan muttered before raising his voice. "IT WAS YOU, IT IS OBVIOUS THAT IT WAS YOU!"

"No, no, I didn't!" Jemky replied, shielding himself. "I DIDN'T TAKE-"

"How much obsession do you have with that girl?!" the orangutan exclaimed, taking and pushing him against the wall abruptly.

"I SAID IT WASN'T ME!" Jemky yelled at him, trying to defend himself. "And we're telling you that those two monkeys did something to the Jennies! Those four kids must have set them free!"

"Even if that were true, those four ones wouldn't know how to free them, or how to unlock those chairs, or how to open those CELLS!" the orangutan replied, holding Jemky.

"BUT I DIDN'T DO IT!"

"WHO FREED YOU FROM THE CELL, GIRL?!" the lead orangutan asked Dixie, turning to look at her.

"Jemky!" Dixie replied instantly.

"HEY! Don't lie!" Jemky replied.

"WELL, YES! It was you!" Dixie said, reviving her thirst for revenge on him. "And this time it is true! You took me out of there because you wanted me to give you a chance!"

"Hey, I DIDN'T TELL YOU THAT!" Jemky shouted. "STOP BEING A LIE-"

"THIS IS MORE THAN CLEAR!" the lead orangutan interrupted, giving Jemky a couple of strong slaps, before grabbing his arm and starting to drag him. "As always: JEMKY!"

"NO, NO, WAIT, DAD, WAIT!" Jemky shouted, resisting him. "LET ME EXPLAIN-"

"And take the chimpanzee girl back to the cells!" the lead orangutan ordered the other apes.

The lead orangutan was dragging Jemky back to the same countertop as the previous time, while the rest of the apes headed towards Dixie and began to unlock her chair to take her.

"NO, NO, WAIT!" Dixie exclaimed, screaming in despair. "DON'T TAKE ME BACK!"

"NO, LEAVE HER, PLEASE!" Diddy exclaimed, waving his feet, even if he knew he couldn't do anything at the moment. "LET HER GO, EVIL APES-"

"SILENCE, PAIR OF BRATS!" the brown-lapel mandrill shouted, slapping each of both.

Dixie began to scream much more and even tried to resist the apes, but they held her tighter limbs and hair.

On the other hand, the lead orangutan abruptly got Jemky up on the countertop, took one of the whips and began to prepare it for whipping him.

"Wait, wait, wait, Dad, STOP! WAIT A MOMEN-" Jemky pleaded, covering his arms, when his father was already whipping him continuously and making him scream with each blow. "OKAY, YES, IT WAS ME, IT WAS ME! I FREED DIXIE!"

Jemky took the whip to stop him, while the lead orangutan kept staring at him furiously.

"Yeah, okay, I released Dixie!" Jemky admitted. "And I'm going to be honest! I took her out of the cell, told her to give me a chance, and even told her I would help her escape from here if she agreed to go on a date with me! And I was really going to help her escape!"

The lead orangutan looked at him strangely. Even the rest of the apes, while carrying Dixie, stopped to look at him in the same way upon hearing too much sincerity.

"And that's it! That's the truth!" Jemky said with a shrug. "And you know what else is true? I have something else to say about Dix-"

"Well, anyway, it was you who freed her!" the lead orangutan interrupted, repreparing the whip, before continuing to whip him mercilessly. "SO, BRACE YOURSELF FOR THE CONSEQ-"

"DIXIE WAS THE ONE WHO SHOT ME ON DK ISLAND!" Jemky exclaimed, leaving the apes more confused, while he was overwhelmed by the lashes received.

"WHAT?!" the apes exclaimed.

"YES, IT WAS HER! SHE-"

"SHUT UP!" Dixie added immediately, earning shocked glances from the apes. "Uhh, no, no... THAT'S NOT TRUE! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT NOW, JEMKY?!" she added, trying to fix the matter.

"YEAH, IT WAS YOU, DIXIE!" Jemky replied, pointing to her, before speaking to his father. "She was the one who shot me, Dad! She almost killed me and bled me dry!"

The lead orangutan lowered the whip and kept looking at him strangely, but then, he also looked at Dixie suspiciously before heading towards her, with a whole firm attitude and looking at her threateningly.

"Is that true, girl?!" the lead orangutan asked him with a threatening tone. "Did you try to kill Jemky?!"

"NO, NO, NO! T-that's not true!" Dixie replied, trying to sound honest. "I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO HIM!"

"Oh, no, no, you can't lie now!" Jemky stressed. "You shot me at the edge of that cliff and made me fall into the river! You just rat yourself out!"

"I WITHDRAW WHAT I SAID!" the lead orangutan interrupted before pausing. "BRING THE CHIMPANZEE BACK! We'll mechanize her right now too! We'll look for her little siblings on our own! Anyway... we know they're on DK Island."

"W-what?! NO, NO, NO!" Dixie shouted. "I WON'T LET YOU DO IT!" she added even if she knew she couldn't do anything.

Dixie shuddered and felt her whole pulse rise to her chest and low to her feet abruptly, that she didn't know what was worse: if she was taken to the cells, she would never see Diddy again and she would have to hand her family over; or if they left her in the lab and she saw how they did that atrocious mechanization to everyone, including Diddy and herself... and then those apes would go to DK Island to look for the kongs there.

The apes put Dixie back in the chair and reactivated her shackles, including one in her hair. Then the lead orangutan grabbed her by the neck with his hands and spoke to her in a warning tone.

"Stupid brat! I don't kill you just because you will also serve us for the herd of mechanized children! Because otherwise, I WOULD MAKE YOU MONKEY PUREE MYSELF FOR TRYING TO KILL JEMKY!" he replied before releasing her.

Dixie, breathing heavily like never before, wanted to respond defensively, but she knew that would be of no use and it would even be a little less bad if they left her in that chair, instead of being taken to the cells... even if the apes would be about to finish them all off.

"Okay! Let's start fast then with all these brats!" the lead orangutan exclaimed. "Enough of the dramas!"

"Are you… not going to continue beating me?" Jemky asked his father with a forced smile.

"We're going to waste any more time if I do it now," the orangutan replied, looking at him seriously, before grabbing him and twisting his ear. "Anyway, don't think it'll stay that way either! You'll owe me one more beating, you devil boy!"

The apes headed towards the countertops where they had left the objects they would use, and the quartet followed them.

On the other hand, Diddy and Dixie were still trembling and breathing heavily. Dixie even began to fill her eyes with tears and make small sobs, to which Diddy stretched out his hand as little as he could and took hers, even if he barely reached her fingers. Both looked at each other with anguish without knowing or having anything to do; even if they could get out of there at that time, it would be difficult for them to get the herd of kong children out now. Each of the two remembered DK Island: Diddy thought only of Donkey, while Dixie thought only of Tiny, Kiddy and Chunky; both wondered when they would see them again... or even wondered if they would see them again.

"Now pay attention!" the lead orangutan exclaimed to the quartet, as he turned on the scalpel apparatus. "We'll first take blood and skin samples from these kids with this scalpel and put them in these containers," he added, showing them a small test tube.

"Everyone's blood and skin in that little thing?" Melenky asked strangely.

"No, it's every sample in each of these containers. This is just to first see what blood type and components they have, and thus apply the right quartz to them."

The lead orangutan took the scalpel, which was connected to the device by an extensive cable, and walked with it to one of the kidnapped kong children. Meanwhile, the other orangutan in that group carried a box with all the test tubes, and stood next to the lead orangutan. Then, the brown-lapel mandrill pressed a button behind the chair, causing the shackle holding the kong boy's hand to unlock.

"Now take a good look at how it's done," the lead orangutan said, holding the kong boy's hand with one hand, and holding the scalpel with the other. "You're going to make a circular and superficial cut, as perfect as you can, on their thumb. Terry, light the scalpel, please!"

The red-lapel mandrill turned on the device. Then, the lead orangutan pressed the blade of the scalpel against the thumb of the kong boy and a small spark and noise began to emit as it made contact with him. The orangutan made an almost perfect circular cut on the skin surface of the finger of the kong child, and the interesting fact about that is that that child still didn't put up resistance... He only made slight gestures of annoyance, but without objecting.

"Alright," the lead orangutan said, looking up as he took the small sample and placed it in one of the test tubes.

"That looks easy," Rocky said with a shrug.

"Not so much; you have to be careful with precision," the brown-lapel mandrill replied.

"Well, now with the next kid," the lead orangutan said.

Then, the apes began to do the same with the following kong children, who, like the first child, didn't resist the apes and only emitted light squeals and gestures of annoyance, as if they were only giving them a pinch.

Diddy and Dixie, from their positions, were horrified by the actions of the apes, and that would be only the beginning of all the aberrant procedure that they would do to everyone. As the apes collected samples from each of the children, they both felt enormous internal tension and waved their feet in the air harder, even if they knew they couldn't get free from those chairs.

"Now you guys try," the lead orangutan told the quartet. "One by one!"

The lead orangutan gave the scalpel to the four of them, with Mandrew being the first to take it. Then, he took the hand of one of the children and pressed the scalpel on his finger, wobbling a little at first but slowly maintaining the posture.

"Carefully, Mandrew," the blue-lapel mandrill said.

Seconds later, Mandrew had managed to extract the small sample from the finger of the kong boy, and placed it in one of the test tubes held by the black-lapel orangutan.

"Now I want to!" Melenky said hurriedly.

"No, no, I want to!" Jemky replied, intruding along with Rocky.

"One by one!" the lead orangutan exclaimed, raising his voice. "Rocky is next."

Each of the kids in the quartet was now attempting to do the same, with the help of the ape group.

They intervened in a few kong children, until later... it was Diddy and Dixie's turn. Both looked frightened towards the group of apes and the quartet, while their palpitations burst strongly inside.

"These two have to be held tightly," the brown-lapel mandrill said. "They're not sedated."

Diddy and Dixie kept waving their feet in the air and trying to get out of those chairs, while having all the apes in front of them.

"Hey!" Dixie called them before stuttering, but took courage to ask them. "W-why... d-do you w-want to do all this? W-what will you do with all these kids once they become mechanicals?!"

The group of apes looked at her seriously as if they saw a helpless creature, and then looked away.

"It's none of your business, little girl," the lead orangutan replied.

"Hey, yeah, what are you going to do with these kids after all?" Melenky asked them curiously.

"It's none of your business either," the red-lapel mandrill replied. "We only… have to take them somewhere else."

The brown-lapel mandrill unlocked the shackle that held one of Diddy's hands, to which he tried to make a maneuver with it, but the red-lapel mandrill stopped it instantly.

"It's my turn!" Jemky exclaimed, looking sideways and evil at Diddy.

Jemky was the one who took the scalpel this time and tried to take Diddy's hand.

"No... no, NO!" Diddy exclaimed in extreme desperation, trying to push his hand away. "Please no! PLEASE NO! NOOO-"

"Stay still, monkey!" the blue-lapel mandrill shouted, slapping him in the face.

"Stay still, you dumb monkey!" Jemky ordered him, holding his hand tighter as he prepared the scalpel. "Now I'll really settle scores with you," he added, whispering in a malicious tone.

Diddy had palpitations faster than ever as he tried to resist them and began to scream, so the apes began to hold him by the limbs more tightly and closed his snout with one hand, while the quartet held his free arm. Dixie, on the other hand, could only watch the scene with extreme horror, unable to do anything about it for Diddy.

Then, with all the apes holding Diddy, Jemky gave him an evil smile and began pressing the scalpel against his finger, which made him shudder and scream in pain, even if the apes kept his snout closed.

Suddenly, Jemky stopped when sounds were heard that seemed to come from the door... The whole group of adult apes and the quartet turned to look at it when they heard and saw clearly that someone was manipulating the knob.

"What the?!" the lead orangutan exclaimed, watching strangely along with the rest ones, who were confused too by what they saw.

"W-who's there?!" one of the mandrills exclaimed.

Suddenly, Diddy and Dixie had an idea about who might be outside... Although they didn't know if that would mean something good or worse for the situation. Diddy, for his part, still felt the pain in his finger, although at least the cut didn't reach to be complete or deep.

Then, the lead orangutan went to open the door, turned the knob and... instantly, about four more kong children rushed in as if nothing... Indeed, it was Jenny's quartet, who headed straight for Diddy and Dixie as if they were greeting them.

"B-but what the heck?!" the apes exclaimed, all shocked at what they saw.

"The Jennies!" Jemky exclaimed with the other three kids. "L-look! Did you see them?! They move by themselves! Those two monkeys did something to them!" he added, pointing to Diddy and Dixie.

Diddy and Dixie panicked at the presence of that quartet, as they knew things could end worse now that they were in sight of the apes.

"No, no, no! Get out of here!" Diddy whispered to them hurriedly and tried to pretend to be surprised at their presence.

"BUT HOW?!" the lead orangutan exclaimed. "WHAT THE HECK?! WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE?!"

The kids from Jenny's quartet began to rummage the laboratory and even began to climb the countertops and shelves like little preschool children, which began to scandalize the group of apes.

"NO, NO, DARN IT, WHAT IS ALL THIS?!" one of the mandrills exclaimed in despair.

"GRAB THOSE BRATS!" the lead orangutan ordered.

The apes immediately went to try to catch up with Jenny's quartet, but they ran away while laughing as if they were playing.

"COME HERE, LITTLE BRATS!" the apes exclaimed as they ran. "WHAT THE HECK HAVE THEY DONE TO THEM?!"

Suddenly, Jenny's quartet, while running, also climbed and swayed through the doors of the shelves and even dropped certain devices and other objects from the laboratory, making the apes much angrier. The kids from Jemky's quartet also joined the chase, who by their agility, sometimes managed to catch the Jenny's, but they returned some defensive attacks.

Meanwhile, Diddy and Dixie didn't know what to do, and were just tense and without knowing what might happen next. The only thing missing was for Mr. Pinky to appear, of whom they knew nothing about his whereabouts, by the way.

"Ahh, I understand, I UNDERSTAND!" the lead orangutan exclaimed, pausing for a few seconds and then continuing the chase. "Someone did the procedure of reviving them, WHO WAS IT?!"

"THAT WAS THOSE TWO DUMB MONKEYS!" Jemky exclaimed as he ran too.

The chase continued while Jenny's quartet, in addition to running, were also destroying the laboratory. Between times, the apes managed to catch some of them, but they put up enough resistance and even attacked them savagely and managed to untie themselves from the apes, as if there were no consequences.

"URGH, THESE DARN BRATS!" the apes exclaimed, extremely furious.

Suddenly, as they continued to run and climb the shelves, Jenny's quartet found the apes' weapons and, without taking any precautions, Ricky took one and began to look at it curiously.

"NO, NO, DROP THAT, KID!" one of the mandrills ordered, heading towards Ricky. "DON'T PLAY WITH IT!"

Ricky, before the mandrill caught him, began to flee with the gun in hand and, as he ran, he continued to watch it until he slid the slide and began to press the trigger in a curious way, releasing a shot that scared him at first but then seemed to encourage him to release a couple more shots.

"NO, DARN, STAY STILL, KID! STAY STILL!" the apes ordered him, crouching down and stopping instantly.

Suddenly, Ricky started firing more shots into the air while smiling as if he were playing. And, as if that were not enough, Jenny, Mandy and Melvyn took a gun each too and tried to make the same movements as Ricky, although the shots didn't come out. Then, the apes came out to try to stop them, but Ricky scared them away with a gunshot.

"STAY STILL, YOU BRAT BOY!" the black-lapeled orangutan ordered as he headed straight toward him. "STAY STILL! PUT DOWN THE GU-"

Suddenly, Ricky fired a direct shot at the orangutan and knocked it to the ground, which immediately alarmed everyone present.

"NOOO, DARN IT, KID!" the leader orangutan shouted, terrified and trying to head towards Ricky. "DROP THE GUN! DROP-"

Ricky fired a shot toward the lead orangutan too, but he managed to duck in time. Then, Jenny, Mandy and Melvyn started dropping random shots with their guns too, putting everyone on alert.

"OH, SHOT!" the lead orangutan exclaimed, crouching down. "TO THE GROUND! EVERYONE TO THE GROUND! BOYS, TO THE GROUND TOO!" he ordered Jemky's quartet and the other apes.

"NO! HEY, STOP!" Diddy exclaimed along with Dixie to Jenny's quartet, although they didn't listen to them.

Jenny's quartet started a shootout inside the laboratory and seemed to take it as a game, even shooting each other, where they lay on the ground with the impacts, but immediately got back up. Meanwhile, the evil apes and the other quartet all remained on the floor, crawling behind or next to the countertops to take refuge. The only one who was not taking refuge was the black-lapel orangutan, who was badly wounded on the ground after being shot by Ricky. And finally, Diddy and Dixie were more frightened than ever as they watched the projectiles cross the air, and feared being hit by them or hitting the other kong children.

"STOP, PLEASE!" Dixie ordered the mechanical children, shouting in terror.

"DROP THOSE GUNS!" added Diddy in the same way. "JENNY! MANDY! RICKY! MELVYN! STOP!"

"STOP SHOOTING!"

Seconds later, Jenny's quartet began to "play" in front of where Diddy and Dixie were; between the four of them they shot continuously and seemed to be having fun about it.

"STOP AT ONCE, PLEASE!" Diddy ordered.

Suddenly, Jenny pointed her gun at Diddy and Dixie in a game way, but scaring them both away instantly.

"NO, NO, JENNY, NOOO! STOP, STOP!" Diddy shouted in extreme desperation.

"PUT THE GUN AWAY, PUT THE GUN AWAY!" Dixie added in the same way before seeing that the other three kids began to point at them too. "NO, NO, NO! SHOOT UPWARDS! SHOOT UPWARDS!"

Jenny and company changed into confused expressions, but little by little they began to change direction to the guns and released a few shots upwards, and then continued the shooting, but this time vertically.

"WAIT A MOMENT!" the lead orangutan exclaimed from the floor. "HOW COME THEY LISTEN TO THOSE TWO MONKEYS?!"

"Well, because they must have trained them as they pleased!" Rocky replied on the floor as well.

"NO, DARN IT!" one of the mandrills exclaimed. "AND THEY DIDN'T EVEN REVIVE THEM WELL, BECAUSE THEY DON'T SPEAK!"

Jenny's quartet continued to shoot upwards while still showing themselves as if they were having fun... Suddenly, Diddy thought of an alternative, which he didn't know if it would be risky, but it was the only thing he could do.

"Jenny! Come here!" Diddy called her, looking sideways at the apes and the other quartet as well. "Come, Jenny! Uhh... don't you want to give me a hug?!" he added, smiling forcefully.

In the middle of the shooting, Jenny stopped the shooting instantly, and ran straight to Diddy to throw herself to hug him with excitement.

"Uhh... Yeah, yeah, okay, I love you too," he said, keeping his smile forced and trying to dodge her, before whispering to her. "Now get me out of here, please, if you really love me, press the buttons behind this chair, press them!"

Jenny looked at him strangely for a few seconds, but then acceded to Diddy's command and went to deactivate the shackles on his chair, whereupon he was able to stand up immediately and did the same with Dixie's chair to free her.

"WHAT THE HECK!" the lead orangutan exclaimed as he realized it. "NO, THE MONKEYS! THEY RUN AWAY! THAT BRAT GIRL SET THEM FREE!"

"LET'S NOT LET THEM GO! CATCH THEM!" one of the mandrills added, trying to stand up.

Diddy and Dixie thought about what actions to take now, and headed to stop Jenny's quartet, trying to take away their guns... When suddenly, they heard other shots different from those of the quartet and, when they turned to look, they saw the apes with weapons in hand standing up again and pointing at them. Both immediately ducked when those apes started shooting, and tried to move to some "safe point".

"Let's get out of here, Dixie!" Diddy whispered desperately.

"NOW WE WILL KILL YOU BOTH!" the apes shouted, heading towards them.

Diddy and Dixie headed as fast as they could towards the laboratory door and got out of there, managing to dodge a few projectiles from the group of apes. The latter went out to chase them both, except for the leader orangutan, who stayed to help the other orangutan who had been wounded by Ricky.

"Will! Will! Are you still alive?!" the lead orangutan asked the other orangutan, shaking him desperately.

"Uh... I-I think... I am... but... not by much," stammered the wounded orangutan on the floor.

"I'll give you the healing mixture, keep calm," the lead orangutan said, before staring sternly at the door. "But that pair of brat monkeys... we have to finish them right now, we have no choice," he added firmly and clenching his fist. Then, he headed Jemky's quartet, who were standing up. "Boys!... I think a little help from you wouldn't hurt this time."

The lead orangutan went to one of the shelves, from where he took out a large jar with a greenish liquid, which he showed to Jemky and company.

"You all drink this!" the lead orangutan ordered the four children.

"And what is this?" Jemky asked with a look of surprise.

"Just drink it!" the lead orangutan replied. "It'll help you to fight with that pair of brats!"

Meanwhile, in the middle of the corridors, Diddy and Dixie were running again, this time with greater speed and with the survival instinct through the roof. But they no longer knew what to do now; they only cared about being able to save themselves at that moment, while they had the three mandrill apes looking for them and chasing them at gunpoint.

After a while, Diddy and Dixie managed to get lost from the sight of the apes, and began to head towards the main staircase room to climb as fast as they could and be able to hide better. Both stopped in the corridor on the top floor while thinking quickly about what to do and breathing heavily.

"D-Dixie…" Diddy said in a trembling voice. "I-I think there is no other way... We n-need those g-guns again... Is t-the only alternative if we want to get out of here."

Dixie, with thousands of bad memories but holding strong at the same time, nodded, being very determined at what Diddy said.

"E-even… to those four bully kids t-too," Dixie stammered as she continued to breathe heavily.

They both headed towards the stairs again, but had to hide instantly because they spotted the three mandrills in the corridor on the second floor looking up. Then, the mandrills started climbing the stairs at speed, making them both panic... Until Diddy remembered what action they could take in that case.

"Dixie... Let's jump down from here," he said hurriedly. "Use your hair!"

Dixie nodded again and went with Diddy to a corner of the stair balcony and, making sure the apes didn't have them in sight, they climbed up to the edge of the railings. Dixie grabbed Diddy, and then the two dove down until they reached the second floor, where Dixie landed with her hair.

Then, both immediately fled from there, and headed towards the laboratory, hoping to have no complications along the way.

"Watch out!" Diddy whispered, stopping Dixie when, at the end of the corridor, there was Jemky's quartet and the two adult orangutans running in a perpendicular direction... Surprisingly, the orangutan that had been shot was also running alongside that group as if nothing had happened to him.

Diddy and Dixie waited a few more seconds, before continuing on their way. Later, they arrived at the laboratory and immediately went to search the shelves where Jenny's quartet had recently taken out their guns; both hoped to find a pair that would serve them for the situation. Fortunately, there were a few weapons stored on those shelves, which didn't hesitate to take them and check them quickly so that they were loaded.

"Well, I think they're loaded enough that we can use them," Diddy said, closing the slide. "We should just try not to waste them... Oh, I really wouldn't want to do this, but…"

"I know... neither did I…" Dixie added in the same way. "But I think there is no other way…"

They both stood up with guns in hand again and immediately left the laboratory. Of course, the herd of kong children was still in there, all tied up in those shackled chairs and unable to get out, but Diddy and Dixie knew that it would be too risky to take them adrift now, much more so if that group of evil apes were already getting fed up with the two of them. And on the other hand, Jenny's quartet were not present there, but Diddy and Dixie could not care about them at that time... Or at least they hoped the apes hadn't locked them up or something to stop them. Now, both Diddy and Dixie, had to go out to face the situation they were in, even with all the fear they would have...