//------------------------------// // 10. Filler - Meeting Iron Man // Story: The Strongest Man in the World // by Vesperia //------------------------------// We were drifting through the sea, Twilight was reading a book and sitting on the deck, and Spike was trying to fish using the net that came with the boat. I was simply relaxing, wondering is something interesting might happen today. “It’s pretty dull today so far.” I said to no one in particular, resting my head on my hands. “Uh huh.” Said Twilight disinterestedly. “I suppose.” Said Spike, he seemed more focused on fishing than talking. I sighed, clearly they were a bit too occupied to indulge me. I closed my eyes for a brief moment and suddenly something smack me in the nose. I cried out in surprise, “What the hell?!” I looked down at the offending object that dared to smack me in the face. I rubbed my nose and saw that it was a red gear with what looked like an arc reactor. Like, straight from Iron Man and all that jazz. It looked really cool so I picked it up, forgetting entirely about the fact it hit me in the face. A voice rung in my head, "My name is Jacob, but you may know me better as Iron Man.  I am a prankster, a warrior, an inventor, as well as a pal. If your intentions are good and you hold love in your hearts,  I will be there to help you.  If you need a shoulder to cry on, a partner in a mission, someone to talk to, or an ally in battle, just clutch this gear and call for my aid!" “Is something up?” Asked Twilight. She was curious now, after my little outburst broke whatever spell that book had on her. “This thing just played some sort of message in my head after I picked it up. Strange thing though is that it appears to be… Iron Man?” I said, confused as hell. “Iron Man? Who's that?” Asked Spike, turning around to look at me. “Just something from where I’m from. Thing is… he wasn’t real, just a comic book hero.” I said. “You know, you never said where you’re from.” Commented Spike. “Yeah, I agree. You don’t even seem to know a whole lot about the most common facts about the world.” Said Twilight. I rubbed the back of my head, “Well… you probably wouldn’t believe me.” Twilight rolled her eyes, “Try us. I got deaged back to a foal, I’m sure you can’t top that.” “I’m from, what I expect is, a different Universe.” I said, completely serious. “There is no such thing as magic, and no ponies that look like you.” Spike and Twilight’s eyes widened in disbelief. I nodded, continuing, “And that’s not all. I didn’t used to look like this. Don’t know why I do though… still haven’t gotten that part down.” I mumbled that last part to myself. Twilight rubbed her head, “That… is a lot to take in.” “I know, but figured you should know about it. Don’t know why I didn’t tell you before.” Spike shrugged, “It’s cool.” “Well anyway, what are you going to do with that thing?” Twilight asked. I rubbed my chin then nodded. “I think I’ll summon the dude. Might be interesting.” Twilight looked very skeptical, “Look, that might not be a good idea. You don’t know if this ‘Iron Man’ is friendly. What if this guy is hostile?! I don’t recommend this course of action Luke!” “Don’t worry about it Twilight! The message I heard sounded something a hero, or at least someone with a good disposition would say!” I said cheerfully. I did as the mysterious message said and clutched the gear, I had a flash of… something go through my mind and as fast as I could I pointed the gear out to sea. Twilight groaned in exasperation and Spike all but abandoning his fishing to watch what was going on. A huge portal opened up in front of the gear, along with a huge ship that came barrelling out of the portal. It sailed over into the sea and started simply floating there, it didn’t look too friendly but I was too amazed by its appearance to worry about it a whole lot. “Damn, that’s a pretty big ship.” I commented, shading my eyes from the sun as I looked over at it. “I want it so bad…” Twilight and Spike had a different opinion about the huge monstrosity floating in the water near us. Twilight was nervous, but Spike had a polar expression, he glared at it and said, “It’s big yeah, but I don’t trust someone who comes out with a fully decked out battleship.” “I have to agree with Spike Luke.” Twilight said. I ignored them, looked up over the water, cupped my hands over my mouth and yelled, “Hey! You guys enemies?!” Some sort of life boat started floating towards us, a few individuals were on the little boat. One was on a piano… and trumpets? Another on the drums, and a third on the cello. They started playing Bink’s Sake of all thing! As a fan of One Piece I knew this guy couldn’t be bad if he played that song over anything he could’ve done. I blinked, then laughed in enjoyment, “Gurarara! I love that song!” I looked over at my two new companions, “This guy aint bad! Stop worrying about it now!” My crewmates didn’t seem to share my enjoyment over the song being played. “Um, Luke?” Said Spike. “They just played a song, wasn’t even a good one. Why are you so quick to trust them?” My eye twitched and I lightly karate chopped the top of Spike’s head, “Never say that about Bink’s Sake! Plus, no one who’s an asshole would play that over anything else they could’ve potentially done.” One of the people onboard the lifeboat said, “Well then, now that it seems that we gained your favor, would you like to climb aboard?  We’d do the same, but I doubt that we would fit.” I looked over at his crewmates and grinned, “Come on now. It’ll be fun! Trust me!” My two crewmates seemed to mull it over, eventually Twilight relented. “Ugh, fine. But if this is some kind of trap I am so haunting you!” I looked over at his first mate, still grinning. Spike sighed, “Only because Twilight is going.” I fist pumped, “Alright! We’ll be right over!” I yelled and jumped over to the lifeboat. Twilight and Spike simply teleported across the sea. Twilight looked a bit drained from that and nearly fell over, but managed to catch herself in time. “So, guessing we’re going up to that fancy thing you got?” I asked one of the people. One of the new people laughed, “You got it, but watch your step in here.  The materials to make these weren’t cheap,and don’t get me started on the process of making these things from scratch.” I nodded, “Noted, don’t mess with shiny objects.” The lifeboat we were on started rising up into the air by a pulley system. It stopped near the main deck, there was enough space up here for me to be able to jog around in. The guy that previously talked asked, “So, what did you summon me for? Sea monster? Spy problem? Crew mutiny? The Marine fleet about twenty clicks from here? Angry mothers? Trust me, the last one is the worst one in this list.” I laughed, “Nah, I just saw something shiny and interesting that talked in my head. Figured I do something with it, seemed like excitement.” “Wait, what was that about the Marines?” Twilight asked. I continued on, “Didn’t expect a ship to pop out of nowhere though!” The guy shrugged, “What can I say? I like to make an entrance.” I nodded and smiled, “Good man. Theatrics are important. So how did you get here anyway?” He gave a shrug.  “It’s a little long, so I’ll give you the condensed version.  Judging by the fact that you are human and in an equine based world, I would guess that you have been displaced by a demon called the merchant or some other displacer?” I scratched my chin, “Hmm, well I bought my amazing mustache off Amazon. Creepy UPS guy gave me the package, suppose he could be the guy you’re talking about. Gave me longevity though, can’t be all that bad. My name’s Luke by the way, what’s yours?” He then proceeded to bow, “My name is Sir. Dr. Jacob Hyde D. Finch, lord of the robots, mad scientist, father, business man, dimensional traveller, the Crimson Knight, and the guardian of time, PHD.  Or Jacob for short.” “Let’s go with Jacob,” My crew and I said at the same time. I chuckled and shook my head, “Anyway, what’s the deal with being… what did you call it? Displaced?” “Displaced, otherwise known as dimensionally misplaced.  We are beings that were once normal people, but were sent from our world by some asshole and dropped in a version of Equus.  We tend to wake up with the skills and abilities of who we dressed up as.  I was at comic con when I was displaced.  I’ll give you three guesses as to what I was dressed up as.” Jacob said. “Hmm,” I said, looking down at Jacob. “Princess Peach?” “Ha ha ha!” deadpanned Jacob, “Nope.” “The Hulk?” “No, that would be my little brother.” I snapped, “So close.” I rolled my eyes, the gig up. “Iron Man right?” “Yep.” Jacob said. He snapped his fingers and his body flashed for a moment before it dimmed to reveal he was wearing a variant of the Iron Man armor. “You got it.” I grinned and said, “Awesome. I love Iron Man.” My crewmates, particularly Twilight, looked impressed at his armor. He grinned back, “I also picked up some tricks in my many years.” “What kind of tricks?” I asked. Jacob vanished and appeared in a puff of confetti next to Spike.  “Thanks to some rather tough training from Surprise here.”  Said mare waved. “I am able to distort the laws of physics a bit.  Most of these types of tricks are harmless, but useful.  There is one part of this however, is very dangerous.” “What’s that?” I asked, curious now. “Ever heard of SMile HD?” Jacob asked. “Uh, no? Should I?” I asked, really confused now. “No, not really. It is basically a form where I can use most of my ki attacks. Wait, have you watched Dragon Ball Z?” “Of course! Who hasn’t?” I asked, almost insulted. “Think of super buu in terms of power.” Jacob replied. I whistled, impressed, “Wow, that’s some power.” Spike spoke up, “Uh, am I the only one confused here?” Twilight nodded along with him. “Jarvis, take them to the anime room!” Shouted Jacob. I looked over and saw one of the other guys that came along with Jacob. “The anime room?” Replied the butler looking guy. “Yes, the anime room, but don’t show them one piece.  Don’t want to confuse them.  Start them off with Black Butler season one, then go to Dragon ball.  Be sure to bring snacks and to activate the time stop button in the room.” “Of course sir.”  Jarvis then picked up the two crewmates with minimal effort and carried them to the anime room. I looked at Jacob, “You got an anime room? Nice.” “Need it for sanity purposes.” He then clapped his hands, “Now, where was I?” “Talking about this Smile HD thing and Super Buu power levels.” I replied. “Thanks.  While it’s true that I have this power and abilities, I can only do a few outside that mode.  Kamehameha, spirit bomb, special beam cannon, kaio ken, flight exceleration and big bang attack.” “Well, you’re still shooting lasers out of your hands so that’s something.” I said. “I also am a master swordsman.”  Jacob snapped his fingers, causing his armor to disappear and for three swords to appear. “Copying Zoro eh?” I chuckled. “Three swords style does look cool.” It really does, Zoro was always one of my favorite Strawhats in the show. “I only use the third one to honor my old master, Jack.” Jacob mumbled through the sword that was being gripped in his mouth. “That’s a good reason. So, is there anything else interesting about being displaced or interesting thing you have to show me that I should know about?” I asked. “Other than what I said, that is about it.  As for the other trick, I want you to swing your bisento at me.” He said. I rose an eyebrow, unsure, “Uh… alright?” I gripped the large spear in my hands, raised it into the air, and swung it down at Jacob.  The man then jumped through the blade, turned around, picked up the blade with one hand, and flew me and the blade two feet in the air. I turned around mid flight and landed back on my feet. “Whoa! That’s a neat trick! How’d you do it?” Jacob took a deep breath and made a ball of ice in his hand. “I met a guy a while back, Jason.  He was displaced as Ben Ten. He spliced my DNA with that of Big Chill’s.” I rose an eyebrow and asked, “I’m afraid I’m not familiar with Ben Ten. Who’s that?” “Big chill is a blue alien with wings that has the unique ability to fly, breath ice, and phase through objects.” Said Jacob, seemingly in lecture mode. “Interesting.” I said, “Sounds like an awesome creature thing.” “Hell yeah it is.” Agreed Jacob. “Would you like a tour of the ship?” I shrugged, “Sure, let’s see what ya got.” We left to explore the interior of the ship. We first came across a dimly lit room with posters of different animes all over the walls. In the front wall of the room, a movie screen was playing the end credits to the last episode of cowboy bebop.  Both Twilight and Spike were crying their eyes out in individual bean bags. “This is the anime room, you might want to give them some time.” Said Jacob. “Yeah…” I agreed. I silently laughed when Jacob put in Hellsing Ultimate, that will stop those tears I was sure. We continued to the next room, a kitchen. “This is a fully stocked kitchen with the best chef that I know in the kitchen. Jarvis was fetching a large white clay container that looked to have some decent sake in it. Five bowls to got with it as well. We were lead to a large table, I think it was oak, that had a large seat that replaced the chairs. Jacob sat down and said, “Well then, you want some?” Jacob grabbed a bowl and raised it into the air.  I grinned and said, “Heh, oh hell yeah.” I sat down on the large seat and took a bowl. “To friendship, to our futures, to our hopes, and to our dreams.” said Jacob. “Here, here!” I said, lifting my bowl into the air. “Kampai!” Shouted Surprise. “I’ll drink to that.” Said Bubbles. “I only dream of electric sheep.” Said Jarvis. All the cups made a clink as we all took a drink from our bowls. “Ah! This is good stuff!” I said after a long drink from mine. “I could give you the recipe.” Said Jarvis while holding a slip of paper. “The fermentation takes a while though.” “I’d like that. Perhaps when I finally get a cook and a huge ship he can make a ton of that stuff.” I said. The butler gave me the paper and I stuffed it into my pocket. “Would you like anything to eat with that?” The butler asked me. I politely shook his head, “No thanks, I killed a sea monster a bit before I summoned you guys. I’m still kinda full.” “Ah, I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.” Jarvis quickly took the bowls from the table and rushed off to the kitchen. “On to the next room, Captain.” said Jacob. “Onwards!” I shouted in agreement. We the party arrived in a medical room. Very clean, sterilized, and had a ton of tools used in the medicine trade. One of them, for some reason, being the medigun. “This is the Doctor’s office. My darling daughter Bubbles tends to work here.” “Looks nice, very neat like how a medical room should be.” I said to Jacob. Jacob chuckled a bit, “This reminded me of Surprise’s ability. For morbid reasons. You see, due to eating a flare flare fruit that I found due to the luck I got from Shenron, long story, she obtained the ability to be part fire. This doctor however, could most likely heal a smoldering hole through the chest.” I snorted in morbid amusement, “Hah! Well here’s to hoping no smoldering holes appear in anyone’s chest then.” Surprise then walked up, her hand ablaze, “Let’s test that. Fire fist!” I jumped out of the way, raising an eyebrow at Surprise. “Is this really necessary?” “No, just want to see what the medigun can heal.” Replied Surprise with an innocent smile. “Well test it out on someone else. I’m not too interested in being burned. Besides, it was the magma fist that made the hole.” I grunted out, only a tad annoyed. The flame died out as well as the sound. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Twilight and Spike came back. “Luke, you won’t believe the shit that we saw!” I looked at my first mate, “Oh, I think I can imagine. Hellsing Ultimate was a favorite of mine before I came to this world. Have fun I take it?” Twilight shuddered, “I could’ve done without seeing a lot of that. But… it was entertaining I suppose.” Spike just grinned at me. “Whitebeard?” asked Jacob. “Do you mind if I give your crewmates a particular gift once we get to the library?” I shrugged, “I suppose. Don’t see why not.”   We walked into one of the largest libraries that I have ever seen, trumping any library I ever knew of.  “Welcome to paradise dear Twilight. I just recommend that you read any book that does not have your name as a title.” Said Jacob. Twilight gaped at all of the books, stars in her eyes, and mumbled, “Paradise indeed…” She immediately started reaching for books with her hands and magic alike. Spike snorted, “Well, this’ll take a while. You’ll be hard pressed to get her out of here now.” “I have my ways.” smirked Jacob, “Oh Twilight, I’m afraid that if you stay here, you won’t get to see the lab.  As well as a scientist’s unpublished, handwritten, notes on new scientific discoveries.” She stopped what she was doing, completely still. Her head slowly turned to look at Jacob, making some odd creaking sound. “What. Did. You. Say?” A crazed grin on her face. “A laboratory full of a genius’ inventions as well as all of the notes that you can read.” Jacob’s smirk turned into a grin. “Checkmate.” She turned around and rushed Jacob, grabbing him by the cheeks and pulling him to her level. To me, it was odd to see a fourteen year old anthro pony do that to a grown man. “Take me to it!” She growled. “Alright, Luke, Surprise, Spike, follow me.  Twilight, follow the smell of book dust, machine grease, ink, and old paper.” Said Jacob. Twilight sniffed the air and immediately took off down the hallway.We kept close behind as Twilight led us to our next destination. We found ourselves in front of a large metal door that was double barricaded. “For emergency purposes.” Jacob said. Jacob then scanned his eye to it and it responded with a beep. The large metal door opened to reveal a room Twilight would likely fall in love with. There were gadgets neatly laid out. A metal forge in one corner. A large amount of desks filled with folders and notes. Detailed schematics littered the walls of the room. There was even a toy train that traveled through portals in a loop. “I recommend that you put some gloves and goggles on, don’t want any contamination.” Jacob said. Pairs were passed out and I got enlarged gloves for myself. “Hey Luke, wanna see one of my favorite gadgets of all time?” “Sure, sounds fun.” I replied. “I am going to need a testing dummy.” Jacob picked up a pink and blue ray gun and fired it at Twilight.  The anthro pony stood up and turned around, much to the surprise of everyone else here, even me. “What, what are you looking at?  And why do I feel weird?” said a deep voiced Twilight. Whitebeard laughed, Spike joined in but was desperately trying to hide it. “Hah! It’s Twiguy!” Whitebeard guffawed. Twilight looked down at her body and yelled, “Ah! What happened to me?! Why am I a stallion?!” Jacob chuckled and held up the gun. “I can explain. I rapidly changed your genetic structure to that of a stallion thanks to my patented gender gun. Don’t worry this is reversible, maybe.” “What?! What do you mean ‘maybe’?!” She yelled, “Change me back this instant!” “Fine, so long Dusk Shine.” With a few chuckles, Jacob fired the gun and regirled Twilight. A mad Twilight took the gun and fired it at Jacob. After the gun was fired, Jacob stood up in the form of a woman. He had long, brown hair, green eyes, and a more feminine bone structure for his face. The change however, also destroyed the jacket that he wore. The white shirt that he was wearing was having trouble containing a few… certain assets. This was probably due to the lack of a bra. The pants area didn’t change that much other than looking a bit looser. A couch pulled up right when Jacob laid down. “Oh Twilight, draw me like one of your french mares.” “Wha?! You’re not even mad?! And what is with those proportions?!” She loudly grumbled. “Oh please, I have been hit with so many of those ray guns that this hardly affects me. On a side note, you should have seen your face!” Jacob then started laughing at her expense. “Oh you know what?! Just forget it!” Twilight chucked the ray gun back to Jacob. She turned around and stormed back to what she was doing before, “If you need me I’m doing some alone studying!” Jacob then turned to face me. “You think that I should go apologize or leave her be?” “You should ask Spike, he’s the one who’s known her for over thirty years.” I shrugged and thumbed at Spike. “Spike?” asked the Iron… Woman. He looked over, “Yeah?” “Any advice for how to deal with an upset Twilight?” He shrugged, “Just let her simmer down, all those interesting things you’ve got will let her forgive you. She’s not really the type to stay mad at anyone.” “Alright. Let’s go to the next room.” I nodded, “Ok, you want to leave Twilight here?” “Yeah, as Spike said, she needs to simmer down.”  He picked up the gender gun and fired.  “Now!” said a newly male Jacob, “Let’s get to the next room!” “I’ll stay here with Twilight,” Spike said. I gave him a thumbs up and turned to Jacob, “Alright. Lead the way Jacob.” The next room was a dark room with games all over the place, arcade and console. “This is the game room, nuff said.” Said Jacob. “Very nice. My ship has a brazier.” I said. “Still find it odd that was on my ship though.” “Interesting.” Said Jacob. We walked to an elevator. It brought us to a room that had a large, bright blue pillar in the center. “This, is the main power core. Shielded through many layers of defence and an infinitely running arc reactor. This is what powers the entire vessel.” “Very fancy. I like the glow.” I said. We entered what was probably the final room. It looked to be a command center full of holographic screens, one of which seemed to show some Marine Battleships firing at Jacob’s ship. “This is the control room,  from here, the captain can control the ship and all of it’s weapons and secrets.” Jacob said. “The holograms are a nice touch. Brings the room a more futuristic look.” I said. “Also, there looks to be people firing on you.” Jacob smiled and took out his swords. “Want to play a little game called pest control?” He threw a couple of jet packs to me. “You’re gonna need these.” Jacob opened up the nearest window and jumped. Surprise followed afterwards. I shrugged off my captain’s coat and strapped the jetpacks on. I then jumped out of the window and pushed a switch I saw, activating the jetpack and making me fly off to join Jacob and the others. I came to a stop in the air next to Jacob. “This is kinda fun!” I shouted. “Hey Whitebeard! If you can commandeer one of these, I’ll supe it up as well as replace that flag!” Jacob shouted back. I shook his head, “Nah man! I want to do it the old fashioned way! Everything with my own power and my crew!” “I can respect that.” Jacob then sliced a cannon ball in two before it interrupted them. “Alright there is three of us and six battleships. That leaves each of us with two battleships a person.” “I could probably destroy them all right now,” I said, casually smacking a cannonball away with my bisento. “But that probably wouldn’t be any fun for you.” “Aw.” said Jacob before slicing a ship in two. “How thoughtful.” “What can I say? I’m a considerate person.” I said and reared back a fist, it glowed with power and I punched the air in the direction of a battleship. The shockwave blasted forward until the ship was crushed in half under the power. “Will you two ladies start fighting for real?” said Surprise while she was burning a ship with a move that looks like a burning arrow, or rather millions of arrows made out of fire and being flung at the ships at high speeds. “Oh fine.” I said. “Suck all the fun out of it why don’t you.” I gathered power in my fist once again and sent another shockwave to the second ship, breaking its front this time. “Put the fun in camps why don’t you.” Said Jacob as he froze the last of his ships. This left Surprise pouting on the last burning battleship. There were hundreds of marines now leaving in life rafts. “Now what?” I asked to Jacob. This was when I realized I was way too overpowered for simple things like this. “Nothing left now.” “No idea,” He replied. I shrugged and flew the jetpack back down to the deck of Jacob’s ship. We made it back to the lab, after making sure to grab my captain’s jacket, where we ended up all huddled up by the door, Jacob probably hoping that Twilight would not be too mad. Jacob hesitantly opened the door and took a peek in. The lab was much more organized this time, much to his dismay. “Nooooo!  I had a system.” He seemed distressed. “I don’t know what system you were working off of, but this one makes much more sense!” Twilight proudly said, “You’ll find everything within easily understood placements!” “Where’s the fun with making sense?!” Jacob shouted.  He searched around until he found some sort of small vial full of white powder. It looked like cocaine. “Thank goodness. It’s still here.” He said. “Huh? What’s that?” Twilight asked curiously while she eyed the vial Jacob was holding. “To an uneducated man, this looks like crack or something of that variety. But it is actually a new element, discovered by and named after me. It is Jaconium!” My eye twitched unnoticeably at the unknown jab. “Pfft.” Spike was trying to hold in his laughter. “What a weird name for an element!” “Spike!” Admonished Twilight. She looked at Jacob and said, “Sorry about that. It’s interesting, so what is it used for?” Jacob pulled out a random block of steel. I had no idea where he was keeping it. “As you can see Twilight, this is a normal block of steel, correct?” “Yup!” She chirped happily. “Good, now watch as I add the element to it.”  Jacob lightly sprinkled one grain of the crack-cocaine wannabe onto the surface. Energy seemed to flow across the metal as it began to change.The metal looked lighter and was probably many times stronger if this was science. “This, my dear Twilight, is now a block of vibranium, a metal that can absorb all of the shock that is being put on it, as well as be a great armor against energy and physical based attacks.” Oh, cool. Marvel stuff. Makes sense since he is Iron Man and all. “Ooh, I can see the uses of that kind of metal.” Twilight said, as she carefully examined the vibranium in Jacob’s hand. “The problem with this element is that it is random.” Jacob went off and pulled in a cart with six different blocks of metal. He picked up the first one. “This is adamantium. It is a metal that can cut through anything except vibranium with great precision. It is also very hard to break. One makes a good shield, the other makes a good sword.” He picked up the next metal. This one obviously had some weight to it. “This is Nth metal. It scrambles magical frequencies.” He quickly put that away from Twilight. The next metal was dark and had a large amount of weight. “This is Mandalorian Iron, the only metal that can block a lightsaber. It is also five hundred times heavier than titanium.  He then pulled out a metal that was reddish and shiny. “This is gundanium. It is nearly immune to temperature or the effects of space. It is also a great conductor. The fifth metal was shining brightly and seem majestic. “This is blessed metal. It is the only metal holy enough to kill the undead for good.” The final metal that he tried to pull out seemed to spark a bit. “This is Uru. This metal gives you control over storms, but will only go to those that are worthy of it. Those that are not are unable to pick it up. A suit of this will instantly crush the unworthy.” Jacob then turned to Twilight who now had a notepad out. “Fascinating, I never knew there were so many different types of metal! And so diverse as well!” She furiously scribbled away on the notepad, nearly causing the poor thing to burst into flames. Jacob calmly said, “When you create, you have to know what you are working with, how it reacts to other metals and substances, and how to avoid the mistake. Also I would not be much of an Iron Man if I did not know anything about the metals I use.” Twilight nodded, “Oh I agree, you should always know what you’re working with.” She then mumbled quietly off to the side, “Sometimes who is a different story though.” “Agreed” said Jacob, seeming to have keen ears as well. “You try doing lab work with your Ursa Minor daughter while she was a toddler.” Jacob shuddered. “I still smell the fire.” Twilight giggled, “Sounds like quite the experience. Reminds me of Spike when he was young.” The said dragon blushed. I smirked at him, he glared back and huffed. Jacob smiled, “Now that you are in a better mood, I would like to show you one of my more secret parts of the ship, along with one of my greatest inventions.” “It’s not a sex dungeon is it?” I asked, cautiously but also slightly kidding. Jacob gave me a glare that even Garp would piss himself at. “What kinda perv do you take me for? Besides, the only three girls here are my sister, my daughter, and Twilight, and she has the body of a preteen!” I held up a hand, “Relax dude, just a joke. Though I do question your lack of questions concerning Twilight’s deagedness. You don’t seem surprised and know about her.” Jacob gave a smile as he started to gain an orange aura that only I apparently could see, no one else reacted to it. “Simple, do you remember the last thing in my long title?” “PHD?” I asked, it really was the last thing. But I figured what came just before it was what he meant. “No, Guardian of Time. I literally guard the time stone, a personification of all time. As such, I can also see time’s effects on people. Time just ignores you and it is trying to catch up with Twilight.” “Ah, I think I get it.” I nodded. I continued, “Off to your secret room then?” “Yes!” The glow around him vanished. “Let’s go to the library.” Our trek through the halls of the ship was boring, until get got to the library. We walked over to a bookcase with an oddly shaped book labeled, ‘Switches, keys, and hidden passages.’ Jacob turned to me, he passed me, Spike, and Twilight, a pair of sunglasses. “You’ll need this.” Jacob pulled the book and some stairs formed in place of the bookshelf. It was an honest to God secret passage behind a bookcase. “Well, come along then.” “A secret room hidden behind a bookcase in a library seems kinda cliche don’t ya think?” I asked him as I and the rest of the group followed him. Jacob turned back to look at me. “I have a respect for the classics.” We then reached another door. “Put the shades on.” Jacob instructed us. We put the sunglasses on and waited for Jacob to do his thing. Jacob turned a knob to reveal a room that looked like a kaleidoscope of sand. Each of the grains fused together to make a glass panel that showed whomever was looking at it to see a random memory. “This, is my invention. I call it, The sands of time.” “It’s pretty awesome, but you better watch out… Ubisoft might sue ya.” I said, only have serious. I asked, “So what does it do exactly?” “Originally, this was to help those with alzheimer's, but it was known to induce headaches, thus the shades were used.” Jacob explained, “Personally, I like it because it helps me remember the past.” One of the panels formed to show a much younger and more energetic Jacob teaching in a lecture hall. He walked on desks, hopped around, and tried to be as enthusiastic as possible. “This was my old job, long, long ago.” He said. “Must’ve been at this for a while then. I’ve barely been in this world a week or two.” I replied. Jacob chuckled, “Try one thousand and twelve years.” “Wow, you’re older than the real Whitebeard. Makes me wonder why I look like an old fart and not you.” I said, surprised by  his apparent age. “One thousand years of being petrified as a statue, being forced to watch time fly by without you being able to do or say anything might help. Then again, it wouldn’t have been so bad if a certain Phoenix didn’t crap all over you after a completely rigged trial that mocked your sister’s and your good names to protect the citizen’s sense of security.” Jacob then took a deep breath. “It’s okay Jacob, you can roast that phoenix later, or run some experiments on it.” I whistled, “Wow, you were petrified? I can’t imagine how much that must have sucked. But I gotta admit that from what I’ve heard about this Princess, from both our worlds so far, doesn’t lead me to like her.” Jacob grinned at me. “Don’t worry, I took the issue to court and exposed the truth.  I made sure that they would pay me, and they did.” I grinned back, “Well, it's good you got your vengeance then.” Twilight bit her lip, joining the conversation now, “So… Princess Celestia isn’t that good in your world either?” Jacob rubbed his chin, “I wouldn’t say that she was evil. I’d just say that she is inconsiderate to those of her subjects that are not ponies. Civic racism if you will.” “Eh, that’s basically what goes on in this world.” Deadpanned Spike. I really need to learn what goes on in this world, can’t keep half assing this. “Hey Whitebeard?” said Jacob. “Hmm?” I looked at Jacob with a eyebrow raised. “When you amass a large enough crew, do me a favor and give a nice hard punch to Celestia’s smug muzzle, would ya?” I rubbed my chin as i thought about it before saying, “Well, if she really pisses me off then yeah, you got it. Just going around and causing a big fight like that would be irresponsible though. But a good deck in the schnoz would do her wonders I bet.” Jacob laughed heartily “Good man!  Now for why I came here.” We walked through a tunnel of sand. At the end of the tunnel of sand, there was a safe. Jacob imputed a code and took out a fruit that had a large amount of spirals on it. It was something any One Piece fan would find familiar. “Here, you guys should have it.” I raised an eyebrow, “A devil fruit eh? Which is it?” “No idea!” said Jacob. “But it would be fun to test out.” “Well I obviously can’t do it…” I said before looking at Twilight and Spike. “You two want to eat it? Remember you can’t swim afterwards.” Spike and Twilight looked at each other. Spike seemed to shake his head and said, “I kinda want to be able to swim, you can have it if you want Twi.” I could respect that, I kinda want to be able to swim as well. Twilight looked at the fruit before saying, “Well… chances are sometimes a good thing. I better not get anything weird from this Mr.” She glared at Jacob and took the fruit. She fumbled around with it in her hands before tentatively taking a large bite from it’s side. She gagged and nearly puked, “Ugh! This tastes like shit!” I nearly choked in laughter, Twilight looked adorable and see that adorable girl curse like that was really funny. She forced herself to finish the rest of the fruit, nearly puking with each bite. Too bad she didn’t actually have to eat the whole thing. Jacob raised a hand, “Now to test it. I have an idea on what the fruit is though. Cross your arms and say, “Dos Fleur.” Oh sweet, Nico Robin’s abilities. Twilight looked at him oddly, “Well… alright then.” She crossed her arms and said, “Dos Fleur!” An arm sprouted from Jacob’s shoulders, Twilight gaped at it for a moment then narrowed her eyes. “I said, no weird fruit powers!” The hand smacked Jacob in the face, it was hilarious. “Ow that hurt.” said Jacob. He then whispered to me, “Let’s hope that she doesn’t learn Armament Haki.” “Agreed.” I whispered back, eyeing Twilight carefully. She looked over at them and glared, “What are you two whispering about over there?” “We were talking about you getting these arms off me.” said Jacob. One arm grabbed him by the nose and pulled, “I don’t know. This is growing on me.” She smirked at Jacob. “Ow ow ow!  You’re worse than my Grandma!” A random panel appeared behind them showing a little old woman pulling a nine year old Jacob by the ear for ten miles. The arm let go and his head snapped back a bit, Twilight concentrated on her arms and they disappeared. “Hmm… I can think of a few practical uses for this power. Lab work would be much easier now.” She looked down at her arms. At least she looked like she was enjoying the powers now. “Try not to go too crazy there.” Jacob reached further into the safe and showed me a broken compass. “Tell me Whitebeard, what is it that you want most in this world?” “Easy! To be King of the Pirates!” Really now, too easy of a question. “Happy hunting!” he tossed me the compass. “This will lead you to what you seek. But be warned, it can lead to trouble.” I grinned when I looked down at it, finally realizing what it was, “Heh, Jack Sparrow’s compass? Nice, and it fits with the pirate theme!” I looked back at Jacob, “And I wouldn’t worry about trouble, it’ll find me anyway. With or without this compass.” “When you travel the multiverse, you tend to pick up some weird stuff.” Jacob haphazardly replied. “I also have a gift for Spike and Twilight in the library.” Curious, we walked back to the library and Jacob smiled, “Twilight, Spike. A trip at sea can be boring at times, so I would appreciate it if you both pick out one book series to take with you.” Generous of him, hell it would keep us all busy. Spike and Twilight looked around the library for something that catches their interest. Spike picked up one of the books and showed it to the rest of the group. “How about this one? I don’t know what a ‘man’ is, but ‘One Punch Man’ looks great.” I gave him a thumbs up, “Yeah dude. It’s really great, you’ll love it.” It really was a great manga. That seemed to settle it for him and he walked back to the group. Twilight seemed lost over in her corner. “Jaaacob,” She turned around, two books in hand. “Why do I get the feeling that I am being manipulated for a stupid reason?” Replied Jacob. Twilight sniffed, “But it’s not a stupid reason.” She looked him in the eye, full throttle puppy eyes directed at him and held out the two books in her hands. “How can I choose between ‘The Manga guide to Calculus’ and these ‘Twilight’ ones? They have my name in them!” “The answer is simple Twilight, tear up the books with your names in them, and set them on fire. Afterwards, go pick out a different series.” Good man, he knows what to do with evil grimoires like those. She looked shocked he would suggest something like that about a book, “I would never harm a book like that! You monster! Fine! I’ll go get a different series.” She grumbled. “How about this, read through the first chapter of the book with your name on it.” Jacob suggested. He then mumbled something about being too drunk to think when writing that. Twilight opened the book and started to read it, I bent over and mumbled to Jacob, “Dude, you trying to punish her or something? This is cruel.” “I just need her to see my point.” said Jacob, “Not all books are good.” We heard a shriek and a book flew past our faces. Jacob and I looked over and saw Twilight was breathing hard. Her arm still outstretched from that book throwing. “I think that she took it well.” said Jacob. “Yeah, me too.” We watched as she gradually calmed down and straightened herself back up before starting to walk around the library once more. She scanned each book cover and after a few minutes she finally stopped at one. “I’ll take this one, ‘One Piece’, it’s not as bad as the... other book I take it?” She said, she’s got good taste. “Trust me, I was completely sober when making these.” said Jacob. “Uh… alright?” Twilight looked confused, Spike and I were curious too. “You made all these?” “Time control, remember?” Reminded Jacob. “I just stopped time and got to work. I had to age myself back a few times to stop me from being an old man.” “Oh. Well thanks for the books!” She smiled at Jacob. “You only picked up the first ‘One Piece’ Manga. Jacob then dragged a large crate over. “Here is the rest.” I snorted quietly at Twilight’s expression. She gaped at the crate, “All… of those are a part of this one series?” “Yep, did not know when to quit. I think it was book 1,111.” He said. “I have so much catching up to do…” She mumbled, staring off into space at the crate of One Piece manga. Jacob leaned into Luke. “Don’t tell her this, but I made up novels 718 through 1,111. Each book follows an episode.” I gave Jacob a thumbs up, “Gotcha. No telling Twilight. Might even read it myself.” Jacob laughed, “If you could pry them from her, be my guest.” I laughed too, “Well, she does have over seven hundred to wade through. I think I have time.” We walked back out of the ship and we moved to the edge of the lifeboat we used to get on. “Oh yes, I almost forgot about tokens.” Jacob said, catching my interest. “Tokens? What are those?” I asked. “The thing that you used to bring me here.” Jacob answered. “Oh, so what about them?” “You can make your own.” said Jacob. I imagined I looked interested as I looked at Jacob, “And how do I do that?” “Take something that symbolises you, and what you stand for, then pump your own energy or willpower into it.” I scratched my chin, “I see.” I started to think a few things over in my head until I snapped and said, “I got it! Hey Twilight, you got a spell or something that can copy my mustache?” She looked at me oddly, “I suppose...” She narrowed her eyes at me, “Oh, I see. You really want to do that?” I grinned and laughed, “Yup!” Twilight sighed and gathered magic in her horn, grunting in strain and when the spell reached its peak it shot out and struck my glorious mustache. The mustache glowed and an exact duplicate appeared in the air next to me. Twilight looked a bit drained but held on. I quickly grabbed it out of the air and looked at Jacob. “So I also need some sort of speech right? Like how I heard yours?” “Correct, you might want to also give instructions on what to do to summon you and your crew to avoid accidental summons.” I nodded and looked down at the mustache, “Heh, this brings back a week or two old memory.” I shook his head and said to the mustache, “I am Whitebeard! If you want to summon me then hold the mustache over your lips and laugh a good Gurarararara! If you want me and some of my crew just say ‘Whitebeard and Crew’ before you laugh! Guararara!” The mustache disappeared into some sort of void only for a copy of it to fall into Jacob’s hands. “I will treasure this, Captain.” He said. “Good! That mustache looks good on anyone… within reason. So, guess this is goodbye then?” “Not necessarily,” Jacob gave me a stack of gears. “For each crewmember you get.” he smiled. “It’s just gonna be goodbye till next time.” “Heh, yeah. You’re right. Till next time then Jacob.” I gave him a two finger salute before grabbing the crate of books and jumped back onto my little ship. Spike jumped with me, and Twilight decided to try out her new powers and made herself a small ladder to climb back down with. I looked back up and waved back at Jacob. His ship then disappeared with the familiar grinding noise of the Tardis. I looked over at my crew, “Well you see? That was fun and educational don’t you agree?” Spike snorted, “Yeah yeah. I can admit I had a fun time, Twilight probably had a blast.” An arm sprouted from the back of his head and pulled one of his fins, “Ouch!” He said while giving a good natured glare over at his lifelong friend. Twilight simply giggled and went to work getting things reorganized. I handed the gears over to her for storage and tied the new compass I got around my sash. “Well, you guys ready for another adventure?!” I yelled. “Yeah!” They shouted with me, laughing, grinning, and having a generally good time.