Okay, people, some story stuff, then the next stage.

Chapter 7: Jungle Beat

Moonbase Hospital

Sector W stood by Harvey McKenzie as the sector leader lay peacefully in the hospital bed in the Moonbase infirmary. An operative dressed like a doctor, who had a tan, walked out of the room to Rachel and the others with a clipboard. "Is he going to be alright, doctor?"

"Uh, Hawaii, thank you for asking. Anyway, nothing appears to be physically wrong with him as of now. And his brain seems to be functioning normally."

"Phew… that's good."

"See, I told you there was nothing to worry about." Nigel said.

"At least he'll be okay." Sonya said, relieved as she walked out.

"I TOLD you guys we shoulda brought a dog named Labby." Angie said.

"Uh-huh." Abby said, non-agreeingly. "Now maybe Sonya could explain that whole laser business back on the mountain?"

Sonya put her arms behind her back, shifting on her heels as she glanced down shamefully. "Guys… I'm Chad's sister."

Everybody gasped, and Wally, who was drinking soda, spat it all over Kuki. "Hey!" she yelled.

"YOU'RE CHAD'S SISTER?!" Wally screamed.

"Huh. No wonder you never told us your last name." Lee said.

"I'm sorry, guys. I thought if you knew I was related to the biggest traitor in the KND… you wouldn't want me. It's also why I kept my powers a secret."

"You mean that thing you did with the laser?" Paddy asked.

"Yeah. See, me and April were born with this weird ability to control emotions. We can see peoples' emotions, and even make their minds hurt until they're dead."

"Whoa. Crazy." Lee said.

"April showed off her powers when she went to training and they had her kicked out because she might be dangerous. That's why I never showed them. I thought if people knew I was a freak, no one would wanna hang out with me." she looked down sadly.

Lee walked over to grab her hands, and she looked up at his smiling face. "You're not a freak, Sonya. You're still the same." Sonya smiled back.

"But wait, how come Chad doesn't have that power?" Rachel asked.

"I don't know. But he was always pretty grumpy about it. I wonder…"

Blue Typhoon

"Shadow and Rouge just called." Tails reported to his teammates aboard the Blue Typhoon. "They've found some new friends in Eggman's base, along with some information."

"Alright! Now we're gettin' somewhere!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"They said they'll be here soon. I wonder who these people are?"

"Chaos Control!" Suddenly, Shadow and Rouge appeared out of thin light, along with Cosmo, Nova, Zuri, Emily, and Annie.

"WHOA! Teleporting's awesome!" Emily exclaimed.

"More like dizzy." Annie said.

"Zuriii…" Zuri said, dizzily.

"So, this is your ship, huh?" Cosmo asked.

"Who are you guys?" Tails asked.

"They're Cosmo and Nova." Rouge explained. "They helped us break into Eggman's base. And these are their friends, Emily and Annie."

"Errr!"

"And Zuri."

"Zur."

"Cosmo?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah… something wrong?" Cosmo asked.

"Nothing, just… we had a friend named Cosmo once."

"Long story. Sad one, too…" Tails explained.

"Oh… sorry."

"It's okay. Come on, let's take a look at that disk you have, Rouge."

"Yeah!" Mario agreed, and they all headed up to the control room.

"I gotta say, now I wish I were an alien." Emily said.

"Technically, to them, we're the aliens." Annie replied.

"Yeah, but I wanna be the ones with the cool spaceships and stuff! It's awesome!"

"Eh, you can't always rely on technology." Cosmo said. "Especially when having to rebuild all this stuff. I say you humans are the lucky ones."

"Your planet seems much more peaceful, with all the undeveloped technology… no offense." Nova said.

"None taken." Emily said. "But I say we should trade places sometime."

Tails was currently installing the disk into his computer terminal, showing the info on the larger screen. "Okay, so according to the info on this disk… Eggman is associated with a being called 'Negatar Gnaa.'"

"Negatar Gnaa? What's that?" Amy asked.

"It sounds like another entity that Eggman's trying to awaken." Tails figured. "Like Iblis."

"Or Chaos." Sonic followed.

"He and Bowser are looking for eight powerful spirits called the Legendary Firstborn." Tails read.

"Legendary Firstborn?" Peach asked.

"It's said that collecting them will awaken the greatest power in the universe. They sound kinda like the Chaos Emeralds."

"AH HA HA HA! !" A laugh was suddenly heard, and they turned toward the doorway to find a petite, blonde girl with a white T-shirt, blue jean shorts, and a blue cap. Her eyes seemed an unrealistic blue. "That's the funniest thing I've heard all day! The Firstborn Spirits are like the Chaos Emeralds. HAAA!"

"Who are you?" Shadow asked, slightly threateningly.

She reached behind her and pulled out Tails' rose in the flower pot. "This seem familiar?"

"COSMO!" Tails shouted.

"OW! What?" Cosmo asked, rubbing his antenna.

"No, not you, it's-"

"Hate to interrupt, but this is a nice rose." the girl said. "I think I'll take it with me! Be seein' ya!" With that, she vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Hey, come back!" Tails yelled, running to try and grab her, but missed. They looked around and saw her reappear above the ship's windshield.

"I'm taking this little plant to the Forest of Light. Come meet me there if you want it back. Laters!" The strange girl giggled as she disappeared in another puff.

"She's gone!" Shadow yelled.

"Who was that girl?" Peach asked.

"I don't know. But she didn't seem entirely human." Blaze said.

"It doesn't matter. If she's going to the Forest of Light, we have to go after her!" Tails declared.

"Where is the Forest of Light?" Luigi asked.

"My phone says it's in Japan!" Emily spoke up.

"Well, then I guess we're headed for Japan, then." Knuckles figured.

"Time to rock and roll, team." Tails announced, getting in his control seat. "Let's go." And in a few minutes, the ship had liftoff.

Plank's Lair

"My fellow wooden soldiers…" Plank 2x4 paced back and forth along his stage as he spoke to the many legions of wooden followers. Johnny 2x4 still wore his Gourd outfit, and stood beside Plank on stage. "Thanks to the gallons of intelligent potion stolen from the Brotherhood Base, I was able to make you: my glorious army. However: I'm afraid we lack the proper strength to impose any real threat. Which is why I've proposed we expand our forces some more."

"But how?" a plank shouted. "There isn't anymore potion!"

"Ah, true… but I've discovered an even better power source. Behold: the Forest Spirit, Celebi!" Plank gestured to the screen and Johnny pressed a button, switching on the projector and showing a black and white image of a green, plantlike fairy creature. "One of the Eight Legendary Firstborn. This spirit has total control over plant and flora life. As beings who come from trees, we will have limitless power from this ancient being! Celebi will give us the mighty power of the forest we once had and help us take over the world!"

"YEEAAHH!"

"Ready the stolen KND aircrafts! Set a course for Japan! The spirit makes its home in the sacred Forest of Light. Once her ultimate power is in our possession… the power of woods will dominate all."

"YAAAAHHHH! !"

"Hee hee!" Johnny cackled. "Way to get 'em riled up, buddy!" he exclaimed, hugging Plank.

"Oof! Yes, yes, I am extraordinaire. ENOUGH, Johnny!" Johnny set Plank down gently. "Thank you. Now get our ship ready. Our rivals will likely be headed the same direction we are. If we don't get there first, it'll be all lost. Ooh, but I'll have my revenge on them, yet."

Tiki Island

A fleet of Kremling ships and aircrafts gathered around a small island with a tall volcano. The K. Rool Brothers' ship appeared out of hyperspace and slowly landed as Kremling troops marched into the island's jungle.

The Heart Star was currently passing by and a red light beeped on its radar. "The ship landed on that island." Ava pointed out.

"What are they all doing there?" Kami asked.

"Let's land and figure out. Activate cloaking." Kweeb ordered. Kami pushed a button, turning the ship invisible. After avoiding detection from the ships, the Heart Star landed in the jungle, became visible, and the trio stepped out and walked toward the progressing troops.

Ava, Kweeb, and Kami watched from behind the shrubs as Kremling troops marched through the jungle. "Where are they going?" Kami asked.

"They're headed for that tree house!" Kweeb exclaimed, pointing to a small house in a tree.

Inside that very house, a brown gorilla, wearing a red necktie that read "DK", was getting ready for some dancing exercises. He turned on a radio on a barrel, which began playing music. (Play the DK Rap Theme from Smash Bros. Melee!)

As the music played, the ape immediately began dancing, making silly movements. He spun and bounced his way over to the window, looking outside and gasping. "OOOH!" he screamed when he saw the squad of Kremlings outside. He thought for a moment and gave a determined expression. He backed up and charged out the door to the Kremlings.

"I wonder who's in there?" Kweeb said as the Kremlings marched closer while they watched.

They gasped when Donkey Kong landed square in front of the Kremlings. The Kremlings charged and tried to attack, but Donkey began beating them away as they came. He grabbed one by the neck and sent him flying and screaming over a nearby cliffside. He then drew out his Coconut Gun and began blasting away. He even shot one Kremling in the head, then blew the smoke out. He bashed two, ran forward, and rolled into another group, then back-flipped and gave a thumbs up as he danced.

"Wow. That ape's pretty tough." Ava observed.

Kweeb looked over at something, his eyes widened. "Heads up, guys! Here comes another."

At that instant, a little girl ape dashed toward the Kremlings, jumping and shrinking to Kweeb's size as she flew into the Kremlings' eyes, biting away. She jumped out and re-expanded and dodged more Kremlings, twirling and floating with her pigtails over to a tree, which she climbed and jumped down to beat some more. She then began beating more Kremlings with her pigtails, and sliding into some, smiling happily as she did so. She winked before beating some more.

"WHOA! She's awesome!" Kweeb exclaimed.

"Careful, Kweeb! Ava might get jealous!" Kami said.

"I am not." Ava said. They were silent for a moment as they watched. "…Oh! Here comes another."

The Kremlings chased the Kongs, but were stopped when Lanky got in their way, making mime movements, which made the Kremlings confused. He began hand-standing, which the Kremlings laughed at, but Lanky became angry and stretched his arms, grabbed one, spun in the air, and smashed him. The others charged, but Lanky puffed up like a balloon, releasing his air and zooming around as he knocked them out, landing and dancing while beating some more.

"That one's kinda funny!" Ava said.

"Eh… he's alright." Kweeb said.

Kami looked to the side again. "Uh-oh! Incoming!"

At that instant, a young chimp, Diddy Kong, dashed toward the Kremlings, bouncing high up on his tail and landing to beat them. Before the others could charge, Diddy switched on his jetpacks and began zooming around, shooting Kremlings with his pistols, then landing and unleashing a sonic wave with his guitar. He then pulled out an Orange Grenade and threw it to some Kremlings, blowing them up.

Ava, Kami, and Kweeb watched as the apes mercilessly and furiously beat up the Kremlings, but eventually became surrounded and outnumbered. "Uh-oh. That's the last of 'em. You think we should help them?" Kami asked.

Kweeb looked up and looked shocked in total shock. "Uh… that won't be necessary." With that, the girls looked up, and stared with utter awe.

The ground quaked as an enormous gorilla stomped toward the Kremlings, four times as high as the jungle trees. The Kremlings were terrified at the booming Chunky Kong, while the Kongs were happy and cheering. He stepped on some Kremlings and kicked some, while some Flying Krocks tried shooting at him, but he merely grabbed them, squished them, and sent them flying and exploding. He then stood still in thought, wondering what to do next. He lifted an enormous boulder his size with both arms, stomping toward the Kremlings. The soldiers hurriedly got on their ship while the Kongs danced in joy. Ava, Kami, and Kweeb gaped as Chunky got closer and closer. He stopped and chucked his boulder with great force, crushing the Kremling ship and making an enormous splash. (Stop the music.)

Chunky then shrunk down to normal size and stood by his Kongs as they all did victory poses.

"Well, don't mess with those apes." Ava said simply.

"You think they got things covered here?" Kami asked.

"YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!" Kweeb screamed.

The Kongs were surprised, immediately turning around to notice them. "OOO-OOO-AHH-AHH!" they all screamed and shook uncontrollably.

The girls angrily looked at Kweeb, who smiled nervously. "Uh… was that too loud?" Kami rose her right hand and- "AHH!" -flicked Kweeb off Ava's shoulder.

The family of apes looked up as more Flying Krocks dropped bombs and other soldiers onto the jungle. The Kongs looked back at the operatives with angry looks. "Oo-oo-oo. Oo-AH-oo-AH!" Donkey shouted.

"What's he saying?" Kami asked.

"I dunno." Kweeb recovered and said. "I don't speak ape."

"I can." Ava said, approaching Diddy. "Just give me a sec…" With that, she grabbed the chimpanzee and embraced him in a kiss.

"EUUUH!" Kami and Kweeb shut their eyes in disgust.

Ava let go and said, "Oooh-ooo-AHH! (Sorry about that.)"

"Ooo-ooo-oo! (I'd be careful if I were you.)" Tiny Kong said. "(That's my sister's boyfriend.)"

"OOH!" Donkey perked up.

Tiny gasped. "OOO! Oooo! (Oh no, that's right! Those Kremlings got Dixie!)"

"Haaa! Aaaa! Aaaa! (We have to save her!)" Diddy exclaimed.

"Ooo-ooo-oooo? (Huh? Who are these guys, anyway?)" Ava asked.

"Oook-ook. (Funny story, actually.)" Tiny said. "(These guys are…)"

Kami and Kweeb just stood dumbfounded, watching Ava speak to the apes. "Oo-ah-oo-ah-oo-ah-oo-ah." Donkey said.

"Oo-oo-oo-AH-AH." Ava replied.

The two operatives just looked at each other in disbelief. "Well, Kweeb: you're dating a monkey."

"E-yep."

"…Better hope she doesn't mistake you for a pea-size banana." She joked.

"Ha ha."

Ava finally finished talking to them and walked back to her friends. "Okay, so these guys are the Kong Family; that's Donkey, Diddy, Lanky, Tiny, and Chunky Kong..." The apes smiled and waved as she introduced them. "And these crocodile guys are the Kremling Krew. They're a band of pirates who constantly attack this DK Island, aiming to steal the Kongs' hoard of bananas. They were banished long ago, but now they've returned."

"What would a bunch of crocodiles want with bananas?" Kami asked.

"I dunno. But they've recently captured Tiny's sister, Dixie Kong. They think they're keeping her somewhere in the jungle still, and they wanna save her before they leave."

"I wonder. Is it part of a Kids Next Door's job to save apes?" Kami asked.

"Kid apes, Kami." Kweeb corrected.

Ava laughed. "Alright then. I guess we'll help them out for now. Something tells me these Kremlings are after more than just bananas…" (Play the "Jungle Hijinx" Theme from Donkey Kong Returns!)

Stage 5: Jungle Hijinx

Mission: Cut through the jungle and rescue Dixie Kong.

"OOO-OOOO!" the big brown ape hollered, charging to the oncoming Kremlings. He bashed and rolled into some Kritters while Diddy shot some Zingers with his Peanut Pistols.

"Guess we should help out, too." Ava figured. The operatives ran forward and helped the Kongs beat away some Krushas. Ava tried to slash them, but her swords had no effect on their strong abs, so they laughed. Kweeb jumped on one's face, so the other one tried to punch him, only to knock out his friend. When Kweeb jumped on his face, the Krusha ended up knocking himself out when he punched.

Another squad of Krushas were coming, but Chunky suddenly ran in, grew giant, and charged right through them. The operatives shrugged and followed, only to get ambushed by a pack of fat Kremlings called Klumps, who tossed Orange Grenades. Kami tried to punch the front one, but got bounced back by its fat belly. It threw a grenade, but Kami caught and threw it back, exploding and knocking him out. The rest of the Klumps tossed grenades, but Lanky jumped in, caught them all on his long arms, and swung them back, KOing the Klumps.

Kweeb shot his gun at an incoming Zinger swarm, but some of them dropped grenades that blew them away, knocking Kweeb off Ava's shoulder. The white alien then started slashing the huge bees with her swords. Kweeb had been blown into the large grass, where he was startled by a group of snarling Klaptraps. The front one was taken out by Tiny Kong, who had just fallen in, and the two tiny fighters started attacking them all. The Klaptraps sent their jaws out at them, but Kami and Ava arrived to stomp the jaws. Ava grabbed Kweeb and they continued on.

A line of enemy beavers and rats, called Gnawtys and Neeks, were coming along a bridge, but Donkey curled into a ball and rolled over them with Diddy on top, followed by the kids. The apes stopped beside a Barrel Cannon, gestured for the operatives to follow, hopped in the cannon, and fired off.

"Boy, that looks safe." Kami said, sarcastically. The three jumped into the cannon, aimed at a midair cannon over a canyon, and fired over to it. They watched from the next cannon as Donkey and Diddy shot out of a series of cannons throughout the canyon and decided to mimic them.

A couple of Zingers were trying to block their way past the next one, but they avoided the bees and launched past them. They were nearly blasted by Kannon and Bazuka Kremlings on the next one, but avoided them as well. Eventually, they reached the last cannon, which fired them onto a rhino named Rambi on a cliffside.

The three held on tight as Rambi charged down another road, running over several Kritters. They had to make the rhino jump over some spikes and pitfalls in the road, and also duck under incoming branches. When Rambi made a huge leap over a river, the operatives screamed and fell off, but were saved when the parrot, Squawks, flew by, and Ava and Kami grabbed onto his talons.

The surprisingly strong bird carried them partway down the river, but eventually grew weary and let go for them to land on the swordfish, Enguarde. They rode the blue swordfish down the river, dodging any hazardous obstacles and stabbing any enemy fish. "Uh-oh. We're going down." Kami said at the incoming falls.

"OOO-OOHHH!" Donkey shouted, suddenly rolling out of the bushes to the side, into a Barrel Cannon just below the drop, and firing away.

"No we're not. JUMP." At Ava's command, the three hopped off the swordfish over the falls, successfully landing in the Barrel Cannon and blasting after Donkey through another series of midair cannons.

The last Barrel Cannon aimed at a cliffside, while the cannon also moved side-to-side on its own. There was an open entrance on the cliffside, but it was guarded by a large, armored armadillo, called Army Dillo. The large animal cackled as it tried to shoot them using fire cannons built in his armor. Kami shot from the cannon, right past the left cannon, knocking it off as she went past him. Ava fired from the cannon next, taking out his right cannon and landing on the other side with Kami.

Kweeb gulped as the armadillo emerged an even bigger cannon from above his armor, and the Kateenian figured he was too small to launch the cannon on his own. "Ooo-OOOH!" came the call of Donkey Kong, who had just landed in with him. Kweeb smiled, and the Army Dillo gulped as the rest of the Kong Family piled in as well.

"Ready…" Kweeb began as their cannon took aim at the frightened Army Dillo. "FIRE!" And with that, all Kongs and Kweeb fired at the armadillo, the momentum speedily shoving him right through the cave. Ava and Kami watched as the family of apes came out of the other side and landed beside them. They saw Kweeb land right beside them and Ava picked him up, brushing him off.

"Ah-ah!" Diddy called to a monkey with a blonde ponytail, pink hat, and pink shirt in a wooden cage. Ava only smiled as she drew her swords, and cut the cage's bars.

"OOO-OOHHH! !" the Kongs roared after Dixie was set free.

"I take it that means… 'Mission accomplished'." Kami figured. She and Ava high-fived and cheered, "Yeah-ha!" (Stop the music.)

"Ahh… YAH-HA!" Diddy and Dixie cheered, embracing in a hug.

"Aw, how cute." Kami smiled.

The apes turned back to face the operatives. "(Dixie, this is Ava, Kami, and Kweeb. They helped us.)" Diddy introduced.

"(Nice to meet you guys!)" Dixie exclaimed. "(Now how 'bout we kick some reptile butt?)"

They suddenly noticed some minecarts rolling out of a cave with some bananas. "Ahh-ah!" Diddy pointed.

"They're taking the bananas!" Ava translated. They watched as the Kremlings loaded the bananas into several naval ships. The Kongs screamed as they chased after them on separate ships.

"We're not seriously going after them, are we?" Kami asked. "I mean, they're just bananas."

"Hey! If we would go after a band of pirates for a bunch of candy, who's to stop us from chasing a bunch of crocodiles for stealing bananas?" Kweeb shouted.

"Good point. And now that I think about it, this could be a repeat of that incident with Eggman a few weeks ago." Kami figured.

"Then it's decided: we're going after them. Let's shove off, mateys!" At Ava's command, the three operatives boarded a naval ship right before it closed and sailed away.

Team Chaotix were piling strange, wooden Tikis onto their croc ship. "Why do you think K. Rool is so interested in these Tikis?" Espio asked.

"I don't know, but I get a nasty feeling just by looking at them. Let's just play it cool until we find out."

"I wonder if I can have any of those bananas?" Charmy said.

"Stick with honey, you overgrown buzz kill." Vector snapped back.

"Aww! But I'm hungry!" As Charmy whined, the Kremlings gathered onto the Flying Krock and took off.

You know, I gotta say, I wasn't sure I could pull it off, but I think I'm doing rather decent at making these action stages. Next time, we might reach a boss. See you later.