Chapter 46: Ape's Concert

Chapter 46:

Ape's Concert

"What is this place?" Coby asked, his gaze passing over the wrecked ships around them with a mixture of worry and awe. Luffy and Usopp were in similar states, the captain leaning more toward awe and the sniper more toward worry. Robin eyes their surroundings impassively, neither her face or her body giving any hint of her emotions.

"Have you ever heard the name 'Ape's Concert'?" Henzo answered, the name causing the archeologist to spin around and show some emotion.

"Ape's Concert?! But that's-"

"Nothing's impossible on the Grand Line," Coby interrupted. "Aren't you the one who told us that, Robin?"

"This place is awesome!" Luffy called. "Look! A Marine ship! And that looks like a pirate ship! And that looks like a spaceship! Come on, Usopp! Let's go exploring!"

"Wait, Luffy!" Usopp tried. "I have Don'tGetOnTheCreepyAbandonedShips Disea- ahhh!"

"There they go," Robin giggled, getting over her shock quickly. "What shall we do while the Captain and Long-Nose are exploring?"

"I'm going to try to contact the others," Coby answered. "I have a feeling that they'll want to know what's happening." Lifting up his wrist, Coby opened the shell over his own baby den-den. The tiny invertebrate let out its dial tone while the pirates and Henzo waited for an answer. CA-LICK

"Hello?!" Usopp's voice answered. "Is there a problem?! Are we under attack?! I told you we shouldn't have left, Luffy! Luffy?! Luffy, get out of that!"

"Sorry, Usopp!" Coby shouted over the sniper's yelling. "False alarm! I'm trying to contact the others. Don't pick up next time."

"Alright. Sorry about that." Usopp hung up. Coby closed the shell before reopening it, the baby den-den ringing once more. Nearly a minute passed and yet there was no answer.

"Come on, Nami," Coby whispered to himself. "Sanji? Gin? Chopper? Grace? Amy?" Another 30 seconds passed, but, just as Coby was about to hang up, someone answered.

"Hello?" Sanji asked. His voice was waver-y; kind of like he was talking through water. The snail's appearance mirrored this, one eye closed and its body sagging as if it was half asleep. "-ello? Any- there?"

"Sanji!" Coby yelled as if that would help. "Thank Goda someone picked up! Listen, we're kind of stuck in another dimension."

"... What?" That was Chopper's voice. That was good; they were still in a group.

"It wasn't Captain Luffy's fault this time," Coby insisted. "We met this scientist and then there was this old boat and he tried to take the Merry-"

"-ow down, slow do-!" Sanji told him. The young swordsman took a breath before starting at a slower pace.

"Alright," Sanji breathed. "Im…tant question. …Robin-chan unhurt?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Tha- …ll that matters."

"We have bigger problems, asshole!" Coby shouted.

"Hey!" Luffy called, him and Usopp returning carrying a chest between them. "Look what we found!"

"Is that treasure?" Robin questioned.

"Treasure?!" Nami yelled through the den-den, but the connection was fading. "Luffy! Bring... -at treas... ith you!... I'll-" CA-LICK

"Was that Nami?" Luffy asked, him and Usopp lowering the chest to the deck.

"Yes," Coby answered. "I got in contact with them. What's with the chest?"

"What? Oh! Usopp and I found it while exploring this old pirate ship." Luffy pulled back on the lid, revealing that the chest contained gold and silver in the form of coins, a couple of swords, and even a crown. "It's got shiny stuff, so I figured Nami would like it."

"What?!" Henzo questioned. "The legends about the treasure of Ape's Concert were real?!"

"Back away from the gold and silver!" a male voice ordered, echoing off of the ships around them. "Leave this place or face the wrath of the spirits that roam these ships for eternity!" To coincide with the end of the threat, an arrow came out of nowhere and stuck into the wood just inches over a still-sleeping Zoro's head. He didn't so much as flinch.

"Ahhhh!" Usopp screamed, ducking to hide behind Coby who instinctively transformed.

"Do not disturb the sleep of the dead or WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"

"I don't think these are ghosts, Captain," Robin commented.

"The arrow came from that direction," Coby muttered, his hand pointing left. Robin nodded before crossing her arms.

"Seis Fleur: Manos!" Six arms sprouted on the window, two of them grabbing the crossbow and the other four taking hold of its owner and throwing them onto the Merry. It was a girl, if the screams were of any indication, and her weapon landed in Robin's hand. The girl had light-pink hair that fell to her shoulders and big, brown eyes. She wore a blue jacket over a teal dress that turned white below the waist.

"Isoka!" a boy's voice yelled. The owner of this new voice swung down on a rope, intending to barrel into one of the trespassers and knock them into the water. Rather than mowing Robin over like the boy had intended, the triceratops hybrid jumped in the way, planting his feet and catching the assailant's momentum. "Let me go, you monster!" The new boy, who was shorter than Grace, had dirty blond hair, a blue muscle shirt with a smiley face, blue pants, and a big nose.

"You know," Coby said, shocking the kid, "usually, calling someone a monster doesn't make them want to do what you say. I mean, our crew is way out of the norm, but calling us monsters is a Nakama-only privilege."

"Rongo! No!" the girl, Isoka, called. She reached for her friend, but more arms bloomed to hold her still against the Merry's deck.

"Let them go!" yet another voice called. This one came from an olive-skinned boy with short, black hair and beady eyes. His green jacket was zipped up to hide his shirt and brown pants hid his legs. The boy swung down on another rope and crashed into Usopp, the two rolling head-over-heels over each other until Usopp's face met the railing and the boy was thrown into the ocean.

"Akibi!" Isoka cried before another one of Robin's arms sprouted to cover her mouth.

"Stop it!" the first voice yelled. The kid, who was standing on a beached pirate ship beside the Merry, looked older than the others by about a year and had blond hair that contrasted with his darker skin. His brown leopard-print shirt was partially hidden by a dust-colored vest and blue pants covered his legs. In his hand he was holding a small metal ball. "Let my friends go or I swear I'll blow us all up!" The boy jumped down to the Merry's deck.

"Blow us up?!" Usopp cried as Luffy asked, "Who're you?"

"Rapanui!" Henzo cried out with tears in his eyes. "Is it really you?!"

"Let. My. Friends. Go!" Nobody moved except Henzo who slowly shuffled forward. "I swear I'll do it!"

"But you'd kill your friends, too!" Usopp panicked.

"Even in death, the Pumpkin Pirates will stay together!" Henzo did not stop his approach, even when the boy ordered him to. "Hey! Are you deaf? I said stop! What are you doing?" the leader questioned.

"That's not a bomb," the scientist stated, reaching forward. Rapanui tried to pull away, but he was too late as the older man's finger pushed a button. There was a blinding flash, but no explosion.

"The Kaboom Mark 3," Henzo continued, tears falling freely. "I built it for you all those years ago." With eyes filled with anger and confusion, the blond threw the remains of the "bomb" on the deck, the Kaboom Mark 3 exploding into a smokescreen. The sudden loss of vision broke Robin's concentration, her extra arms vanishing and releasing the girl before the crossbow was ripped from her hand. While visibility was zero, a weight slammed into Coby, forcing him to release his hold on Rongo.

When the smoke cleared seconds later, there was no sign of the kids except the two halves of the Kaboom Mark 3 with a tiny pirate flag inside and the arrow over the still-napping but slowy-waking swordsman.

"Ahh," Zoro yawned, getting up and stretching. "That was a good nap. What's going on? Who's the old guy?"

"Zoro-sensei,' Coby sighed over Robin's amused giggles, "you're hopeless."

"Treasure?!" Nami yelled at the baby den-den on Sanji's wrist. "Bring that treasure back with you! I'll-" CA-LICK "buy you meat..."

"So Luffy and the others are stuck in another dimension filled with broken ships and gold," Gin muttered. "Why am I not that surprised?"

"Alright, everyone!" Nami ordered. "We're gonna steal a ship and go get all that treasure!"

"Do we have to?" Grace whined. That sounded like a lot of work. Although compared to Amy's idea of "sister time"...

"Luffy and Zoro aren't here, that means I'm in charge-"

"Aren't you basically in charge anyway?" Chopper whispered. Nami ignored him.

"-and I say we're raiding that other dimension for all the gold it's worth!"

"That may just be one of the weirdest sentences I've ever heard," Amy commented, "and I used to word for a guy made of sand and with a bomb man for a partner."

"I'd follow you to Hell and back, Nami-swan!"

"What the Hell? It's better than shopping."

"With Sanji and Gin, we'll be perfectly safe," Chopper reasoned.

"I guess we're all going in," Amy sighed, her little sister nodding.

"Alright!" Nami cried. "To the harbor!"

"And that's what happened," Henzo finished. He'd been explaining how it was his friends had ended up in the Rainbow Mist and why he'd put up with working under the former pirate, Whetton.

"But that was 50 years ago," Usopp observed. "Why do they still look like kids?"

"Time isn't the same in Ape's Concert," Robin answered. "The legends claim that its inhabitants can go for an eternity without aging or needing food."

"Please," Henzo begged. "Please help me save my friends."

"Okay," Luffy smiled.

"Wh-what?" the professor stuttered. "Just like that?"

"Well, yeah. We're here anyway."

"Thank you. Thank you!"

"Now," Robin spoke up, "why don't we ask that boy over there where the others are?"

"What boy?" Coby asked. In response, Robin crossed her arms and closed her eyes. There was a muffled "oopf" and a large kid with brown hair in a yellow shirt under denim overalls was pushed into view. "Oh. That boy."

"Hey, kid!" Robin called. "Would you be so kind as to take us to your leader?"

End of Chapter 46

Omake:

High Seas Hijinks:

Dinosauric Disasters 2

(Takes place after the events of Alabasta)

*Please note, all scientific Devil Fruit BS is my own headcanon and does not really play any roll in the overall story.

The ship floated along over the waves lazily, rocking gently to and fro. It was a beautiful day. The sky was blue, the waves were also blue, and everything else was its appropriate color. Still, this was no consolation for a certain rosette of a certain pirate crew. He and his crew's doctor were seated across from each other on the deck of their ship, talking.

"The Rumble Ball," Chopper said, his eyes locked with those of the only other Zoan on the crew and said drug in his hand, "is a drug that I designed myself with some help from Doctorine shortly after she took me in. The Rumble Ball acts as a form of temporary power growth, allowing me to use seven different forms for three minutes after eating. Theoretically, it should work for any Zoan Devil Fruit."

"And you want to test this on me, why?" Coby questioned, glancing down at the spherical yellow drug in his hand. He was getting an uneasy feeling in his stomach and it wasn't from the rocking of the ship.

"You're the only other Zoan!" Chopper exclaimed. "There's no one else to try it on!"

"But do we have to? I think I'd be better if I just stuck to my swords..."

"*cough* Wimp. *cough*" Amy coughed from a dozen feet away through a dessert Sanji had brought her. Coby felt his eye twitch. Still, after weeks of being on the same crew, Amy would still not let up on him. And he didn't know why, either.

"Grr, fine," Coby grumbled, raising the drug to his lips. "Let's rumble." He crunched down on the ball, feeling the shattered drug slide down his throat. A ticklish sensation spread from his stomach, enveloping the rest of his body in a matter of seconds. "Alright, Chopper. Now what?"

"Well," the doctor shrugged. "We'll see what happens. Try to transform."

"Whatever you say, Chopper." Reaching down into himself, Coby let the tingling of his powers well up inside of him, altering his form. It felt the same as it usually did, but there seemed to be a higher amount around his forehead than usual. In fact, it just kept getting stronger.

"Chopper," Coby muttered uneasily. "Something doesn't feel right. Can I stop?"

"No!" Chopper denied. "It's perfectly safe! ...Theoretically."

"That doesn't make me feel better," the rosette respond. The feeling in his head still hadn't stopped and he was beginning to feel top heavy. The sun in his eyes was starting to get shaded by his horns. "Chopper, I'm stopping!"

But he didn't stop. He couldn't. With a groan, and despite his best efforts, gravity pulled Coby down into the deck with a thump. He was in what appeared to be his Dino Mode, but his body was much skinnier than normal and his horns were almost three times as long, making each one about half the length of the rest of his body.

"Fascinating," Chopper awed, circling around the fallen Zoan. "It seems you've found your own Horn Point."

"Yeah," Coby growled, "but I can't get up or change back."

"What, really?" Chopper gasped. "But, my theories..."

"Kyahahaha!"

"Not to rain on your parade, Mr. Doctor," Robin spoke up, walking down from the upper deck where she had been watching, "but did you take into account the species and mass differences?"

"The mass isn't an issue!" Chopper responded immediately. "Every equation with the Rumble Ball cancels out the mass of the Zoan! And the species is..." He trailed off, his eyes widening. "Of course! I'm a human-reindeer, but Coby is a triceratops-human! The Rumble Balls were made for my DNA which is still mostly reindeer, but Coby's, which would be 40% similar if he were still fully human, would now only have a 24% similarity to mine!"

"Hey, hey!" Coby shouted, trying to pick himself up and falling due to the size of his horns. "English, please!"

"Oh," the doctor blinked. "Well, Docorine and I managed to calculate that when a person or animal eats a Zoan Devil Fruit, then the Fruit only alters about 40% of their DNA, so I'm technically only 40% human. The Rumble Balls were designed with my DNA in mind and the ratio of human-to-animal therein."

"Meaning?"

"The Rumble Balls are designed for creatures with 60% deer DNA and 40% human, of which I am the only one. You, however, would need a drug designed for someone who is 60% human and 40% triceratops."

"So what you're saying," Coby summarized with a growl, "is that you just made me use a drug that would only ever work for you or any other deer that ate your Fruit."

"Ah, yes? But!" Chopper shouted. "It wouldn't be too hard to make a Rumble Ball for you! It'd just take about three test tubes of your blood, a little bit of flesh from your Dino Mode, and about a... week..." Chopper's voice slowed to a stop, his eyes meeting with Coby's enraged orbs.

"...Chopper. You have until I get free to run and hide. I suggest you take it."

The reindeer didn't need to be told twice. With a scream of something akin to terror, the furred animal took off at top speed, his cry attracting the attentions of the rest of the crew.

"Coby?" Sanji questioned, voicing the thoughts of everyone else as he stepped out of the kitchen. "What happened to you?"

"Shishishi! You look ridiculous!"

"Chopper's experiment happened," the angered Zoan spat out over Amy's laughing and Robin's chuckles. "I suggest you get a large pot ready, Sanji, because we're having venison stew tonight as soON AS I GET MY HANDS ON OUR EMERGENCY FOOD SUPPLY!"

"I'm sorry!" Chopper's voice wailed from somewhere below deck.

"PRAY TO WHATEVER GODS YOU HAVE, CHOPPER!" Coby roared, starting to lift himself using strength made of pure anger. "I'M COMING FOR- erk." The rosette crumbled, unconscious. Zoro stood over his student, Wado Ichimonji in his hand from where he had used its pommel to knock the boy out.

"What the Hell, Zoro?!" Nami yelled.

"What?" the swordsman shrugged. "It's not like I could have let him attack Chopper. I mean, yeah, both of them would have been fine, but..."

"Of course," Robin agreed. "It wouldn't do for Mr. Doctor to be eaten on the angered whim of our Little Swordsman. Else we'd all contract some horrible disease while out at sea, unable to do anything as our flesh rotted and fell off of our bones while we were still alive to feel every moment."

There was silence as a shudder passed through not only the crew, but also the ship itself. Even Coby, though he was unconscious, shivered.

"Robin-chwan is beautiful when she's imagining our gruesome deaths," Sanji sighed.

"Damn, Robin," Gin cursed. "Did you have to go into detail?"

"Well, no," the woman answered. "But I felt like it." With a smile that was much too warm for the scenario that that had just come out of her mouth, Robin turned and began to enter the bowels of the ship. "Mr. Doctor!" she called as the door shut behind her. "It's safe to come out!"

"Not for another few days!" Chopper's voice blubbered. "Help me, Robin!"

"So, we're not going to speak of this again, right?" Nami asked slowly to which she received nods of assent. "Good. Dismissed."

Fin.

-SwordOfTheGods