In the endless azure skies of a distant land, where ancient winds whispered secrets of lost fortunes, Captain Ape gripped the controls of his battered seaplane, frustration burning in his chest. Descended from a legendary line of treasure hunters, he had come up empty for months, his cousins at the Yacht Club mocking him mercilessly: “Another wild goose chase, Cap? Or just chasing ghosts?” But this time, the instruments screamed truth, a colossal magic vortex tearing through the sky, defying every law of physics. “This is it,” he bellowed, engines roaring. “The score that changes everything!”

With calculations confirming a wormhole, Cap dove in alongside Quant, his loyal but ornery co-pilot, a small blue octopus with orange highlights glinting like hidden gems, sporting a tiny pilot helm. “Get ready for turbulence,” Cap shouted. “Volatile winds incoming.” Quant's tentacles snapped in mock salute. “Volatile? Aye, that's my middle name, Cap. Let's make this legendary.” They plunged through the vortex, reality twisting like a disjointed nightmare. Piercing through the chaos and emerging on the other side, they soared over an unknown expanse: the Discovery Ocean, a shimmering realm where waves of pure magic crashed over tidal fortunes. Towering columns of green magic surged upward, lifting the plane effortlessly on waves of hopeful energy. “Smooth skies!” Cap whooped, the wind whipping through the open canopy. “This world's bursting with power!”

But the calm didn't last long. Joy shattered as a massive Red Magic column erupted like destructive lightning, slamming down into the seaplane with chaotic fury. Alarms blared. Quant's tentacles flailed wildly, slapping levers in a frantic bid to stabilize the aircraft. “Storm!” Cap shouted. “Never seen one like this before. Outta nowhere!” He peered at the dense crimson clouds. “Quant, evasive maneuvers! “They spiraled down, ditching hard on the rugged Alt Coast, the plane skidding across sandy shores in a spray of sparks and debris.

Staggering from the wreckage, Cap and Quant scanned for help, only to be ambushed by a horde of snarling Fudrats, the scourge of this strange world. Minions swarmed like biting pests, Goons bullied forward with brute force, Soldiers fired bursts of red magic that scorched the air, and Officers warped green wisps into deceptive, illusory attacks. Leading the assault was Gob-Roke, the presiding elder Shaman, his eyes gleaming with malevolent cunning. “Sky intruders dare seek our treasures?” he roared, his voice like cracking thunder. “Capture them!” He then hissed with a judgmental tone to a nearby Officer, “How did they breach our realm? We must learn their secrets or more will follow!” Gazing back at the unfolding battle, Gob-Roke held his hands high and cast bolts of cursed magic to bolster his infantry. “Servants of Crashfallen, subsume those who stand in our way! No outsider shall loosen our grasp on the forest!”

A frenzy erupted. Cap drew his magic sabre, its blade humming with latent power, sweeping through foes in wide arcs, as he simultaneously hurled throwing knives that arced like comets. Quant lobbed precision bombs with every tentacle, waves of concussive blasts detonating clusters of Minions. But Gob-Roke's platoon pressed relentlessly, Red Magic lashing like whips of fear and doubt. Sensing Cap's formidable and unyielding spirit, the Shaman began reciting a powerful, corrupting curse over the entire shoreline. The malevolent spell gripped them, vision blurring, strength fading. Overwhelmed, Cap and Quant fought on desperately.

From the forest treeline, Ogi the Otter and Hodel the Hamster had been watching the battle unfold. As lifelong enemies of the Fudrats, they had seen too many innocents fall to their scourge. They witnessed how the brave ape and his strange octopus companion refused to yield even as the odds turned impossible. Ogi, ever the resolute sage, turned to Hodel. “These outsiders have courage. They deserve our help.” Hodel hesitated, his inventive mind calculating risks. “As per usual, ve are outnumbered.” Ogi's eyes hardened. “Failure is certain if we do nothing. Victory demands action.” Convinced by Ogi's unyielding wisdom and knowing in his heart he could not stand idle, Hodel nodded. They charged forth.

Ogi's spellbinding Kitana whirled like a green storm of hope to deflect red columns. Hodel hurled Grit Frost bombs, supernatural explosives that froze rats in quick succession. “Ja, time to chill! Fudrat scum!” Hodel shouted. The Fudrats faltered, distracted by the sudden reinforcements.

In that brief moment of reprieve, Cap grabbed the serum vials from his belt, boosters for super strength. He downed one and tossed the other to Quant. Power surged, but the Shaman curse had tainted them irrevocably, twisting the elixirs in ways they never imagined. Cap's fur dissolved in a sickening rush, bleaching to yellow-white as his body twisted into a distorted phantom skeleton. Bones cracked audibly, joints grinding like rusted gears. Quant's tentacles spasmed, color bleeding to deep purple and red. “Cap… I feel… wrong,” the octopus rasped, voice trembling for the first time. Shock ripped through them, but new powers flooded in. For Cap, welcome surges of Green Magic pulsed over his sabre, now glowing with emerald flames. Then, Red Magic ensconced his knives, shimmering crimson. Quant's arms moved like a blur, also absorbing Red Magic effortlessly and yeeting rats like pebbles. Nonetheless, the grotesque transformation was a nightmarish price for survival.

With their newfound powers, the underdogs turned the tide. Cap's sabre swept Officers, and his knives cleaved Soldiers. Quant's empowered tentacles thrashed Goons and Minions. Together with Ogi's precise strikes and Hodel's explosive ingenuity, they routed the Fudrats without mercy.

Ogi and Hodel had watched the transformation unfold in horror, a pale skeleton and darkened octopus emerging from the serum's betrayal. Yet they remained undaunted. It was not the first time they had witnessed a corrupting magic curse, and it would not be the last. Gob-Roke fled into the shadows, vowing, “Crashfallen will claim you!” Cap turned to the newcomers, his voice ragged but grateful. “Hey, lads! Nice of you to join this little party! But who are…” Exhaustion cut him short, his skeletal frame collapsing mid-sentence.

Ogi and Hodel, with Quant's reluctant help, carried him to Hodel's Workshop in Metawood Forest, a haven of whirring gears and Green Magic prototypes, safe from Fudrat infestations. There, Ogi brewed Hopium tea, a hope-restoring tonic infused with Green Magic, to revive them. As the steaming brew coursed through Cap's body, it magically absorbed into his bones. His bearing steadied, and he recounted his tale: the treasure hunt, the vortex, the crash. Ogi, in turn, explained the Frenzyverse's eternal struggle: Red Magic's fierce scourge versus Green's restoring aura. “That curse lingers,” Ogi warned, “but the Cave of Prophets may hold the cure.” Hodel, eyeing the wrecked seaplane, grinned. “Ja, first ve fix zis beauty. For my new frenz against ze Crashfallen!” he hollered, downing a shot of pure Hopium.

As Cap rose, his new skeletal form creaking like ancient timbers, he felt the raw power of the curse thrumming through his bones. The magic in his sabre hummed with a steady, hopeful rhythm, ready to carve paths through the unknown, while his knives pulsed with chaotic energy, eager to redirect the Fudrats' own malice back at them. But the transformation was more than power. It was a jarring reminder of what he had lost. “This… this isn't me,” Cap muttered, flexing bony fingers that gleamed with an unnatural pallor. His once-familiar fur was gone, replaced by this phantom shell, a constant ache that twisted his thoughts toward vengeance. Quant, now a swirling mass of purple and red, slithered across the workshop floor with newfound menace, tentacles lashing at shadows. “Feels… stronger,” the octopus grumbled, but even his precise nature seemed frayed, the curse stirring a volatile hunger that kept him on edge.

Ogi placed a reassuring paw on Cap's shoulder. “The curse twists, but it also reveals. You've harnessed both red and green enchantments. Use them to balance the scales, or the Fudrats win everything.” Hodel, tinkering with a glowing wrench infused with Grit Frost, chuckled in his thick accent. “Ja, and zis seaplane? Ve make her fly like never before.”

While they worked through the night, forging alliances amid sparks and spells, Cap shared tales of his distant realm, the mocking cousins, and the family waiting beyond the portal. In return, Ogi revealed the deeper scars of the Frenzyverse: General Crashfallen's endless campaigns to drown the forest in doubt, the True Believers' hidden strongholds, and the land's guarded secrets that could unravel even the strongest curses. Ogi leaned in, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper as he spoke of three legendary caves that held the keys to true power. First, Stacker Cavern in the treacherous Grifter Glades, where they had already uncovered the true secrets of Green Magic, a labyrinth of stacked emerald veins that amplified hope and restoration. But the Cave of Prophets, lay hidden deep in the volatile depths of Discovery Ocean. It guarded the secrets of Red Magic and its delicate balance with Green, a submerged sanctuary of ancient prophecies and swirling currents now finally accessible with Cap's repaired seaplane. And then, finally, the mythical Grit Grotto, said to have eluded all explorers, its path traced only in faint whispers of frost that allowed Hodel to craft his Grit Frost inventions, yet the cave itself remained undiscovered, promising unyielding resilience to those daring enough to find it. “The quest for the Cave of Prophets begins,” Ogi declared, his eyes alight with fierce resolve, “with the dream of uncovering Grit Grotto beyond.” Quant turned to Cap, his tentacles twitching with uncharacteristic excitement. “Wait a minute, Cap… this might be the real treasure we've been chasing all along.” Ogi met their gazes steadily. “Are you ready?” Cap and Quant nodded as one. “Let's go!”

By dawn, the seaplane gleamed anew. Hodel's inventions wove Green Magic into its frame for effortless lift, while Cap's red knives etched protective runes along the wings. Quant, perched on the dash, tested his empowered tentacles on a loose panel, slamming it shut with a satisfied squelch. “Ready for payback, Cap?” The captain nodded, his skeletal grin fierce. “Fam's calling, and these Fudrats just made it personal.”

A new alliance forged, they stepped out, ready to reclaim the skies and battle the villains of the Frenzyverse. But as the workshop door creaked shut, a distant red glow pulsed on the horizon like an ominous heartbeat. The Fudrats were far from defeated, and they were already planning their next move.

Captain Ape inspired by MAYC #5802, utilizing commercial rights granted to holders by Yuga Labs.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Yuga Labs.