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The world of Astraea is supposed to be safe and peaceful–until it isn’t.
Donkey Kong Sr. rocks his five-month old grandson to sleep on the porch every night, the two of them swaying back and forth on the rocking chair until they’re both snoring and DK Jr. has to hustle to keep his son from slipping out of grandpa’s grasp.
It’s nice to see DK Sr. soften around his grandson. He’s still temperamental–cranky, even–and he still forces Junior to train, but…
Junior watches the two of them from the kitchen, deep in his thoughts–when a red-robed figure swoops down from the sky and snatches the baby.
A split second of shock before Junior roars and leaps through the window, his father jumping to his feet as soon as the weight on his stomach vanishes. DK Sr. watches his son leap into the air after a silhouette in the night sky, the sound of a baby crying getting further and further away.
“What happened?!” DK Sr. yells, gripping the railing, white-knuckled.
“Coward!” Junior screams, tossing a coconut at the diminishing silhouette, missing. “Come back here!”
Junior runs until he reaches the ocean waters, then collapses to his knees.
DK Sr. jumps down from the porch, wincing, and walks up to his son, brows furrowed. After a moment of silence, DK Sr. says, “You weren’t fast enough.”
“Not now , dad.”
DK Sr. pushes his glasses up and clears his throat. “...I wasn’t fast enough either.”
Junior slowly gets to his feet, shaking himself off. “...What now?”
“Well, he’s part of this family, so I have no doubt he’ll make his way back. In the meantime, we can’t just rest on our laurels.” DK Sr. thinks for a moment. “Did you get a good look at the perpetrator?”
“...Red robes and a propeller.”
“Ah, that’s bad news. Come on, then. Let’s inform the clan.” DK Sr. looks at his son, the most miserable expression on that boy’s face, and rests a hand on Junior’s shoulder. “Trouble runs in the family.”
“I know.”
“He’ll be fine.”
Junior looks away. DK Sr. slaps Junior’s shoulder and says, “Buck up!”
“Ow!”
“If you believe with all your might he’ll be fine, then it’ll come true!”
“That’s not–” He’s slapped again. “Hey!”
“He’ll be fine!”
“Y-yeah! Fine! He’ll be fine!”
“Harumph!” DK Sr. turns on his heels and starts walking back to the hut, his son close behind him.