Chapter 34: An Interesting Christmas Holiday, Day six, a Trip to Town part one
After a good night's sleep, everyone woke up to the aroma of bacon and eggs cooking in the kitchen. Having gotten cleaned up for the day everyone made it to the dining room for a hearty breakfast where the discussion was light in anticipation of going into town today. When all were finished eating, they headed out to the front door, being held by Franklin as he handed them their coats, and walked out to the limo where Jeeves was waiting. They all climbed in and got comfortable while Jeeves drove them through the gate which had opened as they approached. He turned left onto the highway and drove to the flashing light where he then turned right to enter Glendale proper. The road widened as they got closer and a sign on the side said "Welcome to Glendale, Pop 1200, Home of Potter Industries." Houses appeared on either side of the road as they drove past the sign and they could see the town square up ahead. There was a statue in the center of the square of a man standing tall with a book in one hand and what looked like a wand in the other. He was wearing early nineteen hundreds garb and had a dignified look on his face. The square was surrounded by businesses all around and the courthouse on the back side. The courthouse was a three story structure of sandstone and brick with a tall clock tower above the entrance. Jeeves pulled the limo up to the curb and got out to open the door for his passengers. They were starting to attract a crowd as people were hoping to get a glimpse of the founder's family. The group went up the stairs toward the entrance doors where they were met by the Mayor and the Sheriff. Everyone shook hands and went inside to the mayor's office.
When everyone was seated and comfortable the mayor asks," What can I do for you Mr. and Mrs. Potter?"
"We mainly came to introduce our selves and to let you know we will be around. We met agent Hernandez recently and he mentioned a New Year's celebration and were wondering what we could do to help. We want to show the townspeople that we are here for them and appreciate all of the dedication they have shown towards Potter Industries." Harry says.
"What did you have in mind?" The Sheriff asks," I'll need to provide security."
"I was thinking of a ball for the adults and maybe a fair of some kind for the children. Money is no concern as we will cover all expenses and security will be handled by us as well." Harry says looking between the mayor and sheriff.
"I was asking as we have had a problem with a group of people that are trying to strong arm themselves into the community and a large crowd would certainly attract their attention." He says concerned.
"I see," Harry says while looking at Hermione who nods at him," we want to help with this problem."
"What can you?" he pauses as Harry and Hermione stand up and morph into their Panteras personas."
"We are the Panteras," they say in unison," We are the Elders of the Universe."
The mayor stands up, bowing to the couple, and says," Welcome to Glendale, Elders."
They morph back into their normal form and Harry says," If you have any leads on where to find this group we will convince them to leave this area alone or they will find business turning for the worse. My goblin advisors are ruthless and can have them run out of business in a very short time."
The sheriff was baffled about what was going on as he was non magical while the mayor was a wizard.
"What's going on John?" he asks the mayor.
"I guess you haven't seen the news lately then," he says," These are the beings from the stars that were born here on Earth. They also happen to own this town through their grandfather, whose statue is out in the square."
"I knew they were the owners form the car they were riding in. I didn't know they were anything but another witch or wizard." He says to the mayor, then turns to the Potter's," I will be glad for the help and I traced their organization down to a single building in Topeka. The building says Anderson Enterprises on it. It is just a front though; I have observed a lot of illicit activity going on there. They seem to know when the law is around because the local police can't get anything on them. They may have some magicals with them as I can never seem to catch them either because they get away too fast."
"Just give us the address and alert the Topeka police department to be ready but out of sight. We will be dressed as business people and I will carry a briefcase. We will both have blond hair and I will stop to tie my shoe before going in the building as a signal to get ready." Harry says.
"Can you take me with you? I have been after them for a long time." The sheriff asks," and when can you go?"
"Yes we can leave you with the assault team." Hermione says," and right now if you wish."
"Right I will give them a call now to see if we can set it up." The sheriff says as he runs to his office to make the call. Finally he was going to get satisfaction on this case. He calls the Topeka police department and tells them what is going on and about the elders helping out and they agree to have a task force ready in half an hour.
He comes back into the office and says," They can have a task force ready in half an hour and would like to meet you beforehand."
"Okay. Get whatever gear you need and we will take you there our way," Harry says.
The sheriff returns to his office to get the warrants and his shoulder holster for his gun and returns to the mayor's office.
Meanwhile Harry turns to the mayor," can you arrange for Aunt Martha to be taken to the wand shop? She and our mum just recently got their magical cores activated from being separated at birth. Aunt Martha will also need a tutor you can trust to train her as well. We will take care of our mum when we get back to England."
"That can be easily arranged and I will take them there myself. Good luck on your mission," the mayor says and shakes their hands again.
The sheriff comes back in and says," I'm ready. What do I do?"
Harry and Hermione stand up and morph into the Panteras, complete with uniforms with the stylish P above the right breast pocket.
"Harry looks at the sheriff and says," Since you have been there, I would like you to look into my eyes and picture in your mind the building you are talking about and the area around it and second, picture the police station we need to be at."
The sheriff looks into Harry's eyes and pictures the places as instructed.
Harry says," Got 'em. Now hold onto my hand and we will phase there."
Mr. Granger says to the mayor with a smile," Watch this."
Harry grabs the sheriff's hand and looks at Hermione," Ready Huntress?"
"Ready Hunter." She replies and they phase out.
"That wasn't apparition," the mayor says.
"No, they call it phasing and no wards can stop them." Mr. Granger says," Let's take the ladies shopping. It will help keep their minds off what's going on. They can't be hurt, but we still worry."
The Topeka Kansas metropolitan Police department building is right downtown and a very busy place. The lobby is quite large and there is a security desk near the elevators to scan for weapons before allowing people to go up to the offices above. The Hunters and Sheriff Gibson phase in right in the middle of the lobby, causing quite a stir. People gasp when they recognize their uniforms and start to gather around them to get a view.
The trio walk over to the security desk and Sheriff Gibson says," We have an appointment to see Captain Williams."
The guard picks up the phone and speaks into it," Sheriff Gibson to see Captain Williams." and after a pause, while listening to the other end," Yes sir, right away sir."
"Go on up. Sixth floor on the right side as you get off the elevator." the guard says.
They enter the elevator and push the button for the sixth floor and find Captain Williams waiting for them. He shakes hands with everyone and leads them to his office.
"I understand you can help us finally shut down this operation." He says.
"Operation?" Harry asks, "Just how big is this?"
"We have been observing them for quite a while and they have been manufacturing and distributing drugs and weapons for a long time. Every time we get a warrant for a raid they seem to get wind of it and we can't find anything there." he says.
"You probably have a spy in your department," Huntress says," We may be able to detect him or her if she is thinking about their mission."
The couple morphs their clothes into a nice business suite with jacket and tie for Hunter and a nice conservative skirt and blouse for Huntress just before they walk out of the Captain's office for a tour of his department. As they walk along the aisles of desks he describes the various jobs and case types they work on. While the captain is talking, Hunter and Huntress are scanning for the spy. In the back corner of the room is a young man typing away at a computer screen looking for specific data and not paying attention to his surroundings. Huntress picks up his thoughts about warning his real boss about the raid planned for today. He was just reaching for his phone when a shimmering shield appears around him shutting his phone and computer down. This gets the attention of the other officer's in the room and they converge on his desk. The young man looks up when the computer dies and notices the shield around him and tries to apparate away.
"That won't work, I'm afraid," Hermione says," your spying days are over. You had better come quietly."
She discreetly puts a bind on his magic and snaps his wand in its holster before banishing it. She summons his gun and looks in his eyes and sends," You have been judged by the Elders of the Universe to be unworthy of having magic for using it in this manner. You have caused untold numbers of deaths and suffering. All for money. Be glad you are not in England. We would have you put in Azkaban for life for this. You will live as a mundane from now on, if you survive prison."
He raises his hands and the shield disappears so the officers can arrest him. After cuffing he is led off to a holding cell to be questioned.
"He was hacking into the network in the building and relaying information to his boss over the phone whenever a raid was scheduled," Huntress says," he should cooperate with you. He just lost something very important to him will need retraining if he survives his prison stay."
The captain turns around and addresses the officers standing around. They knew something was up because he never gives tours.
"This couple beside me is the Elders that were seen on the news. They are going to help us raid Anderson Enterprises and this time we will get them all. Everyone proceed to their assigned places and wait for the Hunters to give the all clear." He orders.
Hunter speaks up and says," Huntress and I got wind of this from Sheriff Gibson in Glendale, which we were visiting with relatives from nearby Smallville. We cannot be harmed by anything and it will be safer if you let us take care of the inside. You are there to catch anyone that tries to get away. Once we are done, you will be able to move in and confiscate any illegal items you find. We will give you a few minutes to set up and when you are in position we will walk down the street and enter the building. If you hear gunfire, do not be alarmed. We are immune and can heal wounds if anyone gets hit. Good luck everyone."
When he finished his speech the group watches as the Hunters phase out.
"Wow," someone says," I'm glad they are on our side.
"Me too," someone else agrees.
The Hunters phase into an alley near their destination and disillusion themselves while waiting for the team to get set up. When they sense the team is ready they re-illusion themselves and walk slowly along the building to the door. Hunter stops to tie his shoe and then goes into the building. As soon as they are inside Hunter waves his hand and an anti-apparition and port key ward goes up. The doors and windows seal themselves and all electronics shut down. This of course gets the attention of the workers inside. The room they were in consisted of office cubicles like most office buildings and everyone stood up to see what was going on when the computers and phones shut down.
"Attention everyone" Hunter calls out as he and Huntress morph back into their Panteras uniforms," This is a raid sanctioned by the Elders of the Universe and the Topeka Police department. If you are innocent of any wrong doing and think you are working for a legitimate company you have nothing to worry about except this will be the last day of your job here. We will make sure you get good recommendations for other work. If you are guilty of participating in the illicit work going on here you will be finding other accommodations waiting on you."
Huntress signals the officers to start screening the office workers while they disillusion themselves for the walk down the stairs to the lower levels. As they reach the next floor down, the workers there don't know what's going on above them. There are a few witches and wizards working that felt the wards go up and know something is going on and are trying to discreetly get away without alerting the ones with guns. They know if they can get outside the wards they can get away. Unfortunately for them all of the exits are blocked. Hunter and Huntress walks onto a meshed steel landing that looks into a large warehouse type room that is two stories deep and notice men on catwalks with machine guns walking along while watching the workers.
"Some of these people may be slaves Hunter," Huntress sends," They may be innocent."
"Yea, I noticed they all look like immigrants. They may have been brought here under false pretenses and are now caught under an umbrella of slavery and abuse. Even the gunmen look like they are from another country," Hunter sends back," Let's find the boss and give him a message for his boss."
"I see an office of sorts above the floor in the back corner," Huntress sends.
"Let's start there," Hunter sends.
The couple hovers quietly above the landing and fly over to the office entrance where they settle on the landing there. Looking back at the warehouse area Huntress sends a wide area stunner and summons all of the guns while Hunter pulls the locked door off its frame. The man inside looks up in surprise when he sees no one there and fires his pistol at the door hoping to scare off whoever opened the door. A moment later Hunter reappears holding a couple of bullets in his hand.
He summons the man's gun and says," You won't need that anymore."
The man shouts out," Guards!"
"They can't hear or respond to you as they are all stunned." Hunter says.
The boss looks out his window and sees the guards all lying unconscious on the catwalks and the workers were the same.
"Who are you?" he asks frightened.
"We are the Elders of the Universe and your operation came to our attention when you tried to strong arm people in our town. We are shutting this operation down and will do the same to your boss," Hunter says while looking in the man's eyes.
"You are no match for our family," the man sneers, putting on a brave face, "we have been in power for two centuries."
"Power? You know nothing about what real power is. We intend to show you," Hunter states back at him.
Hunter sends to Huntress," I've got the Cartel's location. I think we should start sending the worst ones off planet."
"Yes, I agree Hunter," she sends back," and I know the perfect planet."
Hunter looks back at the man and says," Let's go talk to your boss, shall we?"
Upstairs the police commander was awaiting word from the Hunters when he felt a pressure in his head," Captain Williams, this is Huntress speaking to you in your head. It is safe to come down the stairs. Everyone has been stunned and will wake up shortly. The men on the catwalks were carrying machine guns and overseeing the ones on the floor who looked like slaves. They are all immigrants, probably brought here against their will to work here. If this is the case please send them home. We are going to shut down the Cartel supplying this outfit. The boss is going with us. We should be back by the time you get this sorted out."
When she finished, the captain ordered," Alright men, it's cleanup time."
The police and Sheriff Gibson stormed into the room to find everyone out and the men on the catwalks tied up in ropes. When they entered the office they found all of the machine guns and weapons of the guards piled in a corner. The Hunters and the boss were gone.
Before the police arrive the Hunters stand on each side of the boss and grab an arm each. They phase out of the upstairs office and into a large opulent room with a map of Mexico showing the areas controlled by the Cartel. There is a large conference table with high backed chairs around it all facing a large chair at the end where the leader sits. The couple seats the boss in one of the chairs and freezes him in place while they go over and study the map. The map shows a good depiction of each territory controlled by the five families of the Cartel with the local one highlighted in orange. The highlighted area is right in the center with the others all around. The area mapped is all of northern Mexico and the five families control all of the drug traffic to the United States from Mexico and South American sources, along with the human trafficking that has been going on. Without the families it would be years before any type of system could be set up to take over as it had been this way for a couple of centuries. The suppliers in Central and South America didn't have the manpower, resources, or the contacts to do what the families did.
Hunter sends to Huntress," I wonder if the head is cut off if the others will fall?"
"Not likely," Huntress sends," they will probably just fight over who will take over."
"Then we need to be sure the other heads experience what we are going to do," Hunter sends back.
Hunter walks up to the map and uses his finger to draw a circle around each of the manors. When he does this, people at each of the manors look up and notice a blue shimmering effect encompass the grounds just beyond the main gate and fence. The effect extends up and over the whole manor and grounds. At one of the manors a gardener is near the wall when the shimmering dome goes up and walks up to it and touches it. Nothing happens. One of the guards yells at him to get back to work. Startled the man falls over ending up outside the dome and finds he can not get back in. The guard runs up to him to pull him back in but is stunned and knocked back unconscious the second his hand touches the shield. The other slave workers notice this and make a run for the wall to get away. Some of the guards try to shoot them with their guns but they now no longer work. This encourages the rest of the slaves and there is a mass exodus from the property. The only ones that can't get past the shield are Cartel family members and the criminal element they employ. This happens at each of the properties, allowing the innocent to get away.
While this is going on the Potters notice at the far end of the room is a door that looks like it might lead to the main office. Hunter unfreezes the boss in the chair and gestures for him to precede them to the door. The boss walks ahead trembling as he is finally beginning to understand how much trouble he is in. This is the head bosses manor and he knew he didn't like failures. He opens the door and finds the head boss looking out the window at the chaos outside as well as the blue shimmering field outside of his fence. He turns at the sound of the door opening and looks on in shock at Hunter and Huntress entering with one of his minor supervisors.
"Who are you and how did you get in here?" he demands, "are you responsible for the chaos outside?"
"We are the Elders of the Universe, and yes we are responsible," Hunter answers.
"What do you want?" he asks, realizing he is outclassed. He didn't get to be head by being stupid.
"We are shutting down the five families and sending you where you can do no harm to this planet any longer." Huntress answers.
"What do you mean by harming this planet?" He asks.
"We would have gotten to you eventually but your man here tried spreading out into the surrounding areas in Kansas and tried strong arming people near our family and we can't allow that to happen. When we discovered how bad it was at his facility and that you were trafficking in human slaves we decided you had to go." Huntress says.
"You are going to be sent to another planet about fifteen light years from here," Hunter says.
About the time he finishes he hears a loud humming from outside and looks out the window. A large silver sphere appears from nowhere and settles into the ground. One of these spheres appears at each of the manors.
"You will need that to survive." Hunter says," It is courtesy of the Intergalactic Community of Planets and contains a database on how to make your new environment work for you. You will not have electricity to start with; the data base will show you how to make use of its resources to power the manor. I hope you have a few college grads that will help you run a colony, because that is what you will be. Unlike you, we are not cruel and don't kill our enemies. We just make sure they can't harm anyone else."
Huntress looks over at the minor boss and says," Come outside and watch if you want to see true power."
With that the pair fly out the window and up above the shimmering field. The two men inside run out to the grounds to see what they are going to do. They spot the couple high in the air about two hundred feet above the grounds.
Hunter conjures twenty silver spheres two meters in diameter and sends four to each property, where they align themselves with each corner of the perimeter fence and hover there. Hunter and Huntress go to opposite corners and put their hands on a sphere.
"We are going to have to pull power from the surrounding area for this to work," Hunter sends.
"I know," Huntress sends back," I'm ready."
The families and henchmen inside the shield, along with the innocent outside the shield, watch as the air around the whole area starts to shimmer. Small streamers of white light seem to coalesce out of nowhere to converge on each of the Hunters. As they start to draw power, a white beam of light flows from each side of the spheres being held by the Hunters and connect to the other spheres creating a box. This is happening simultaneously at each of the manors. When the box is complete the area inside the box starts to haze up until a milky white opaque film fills it up. The wind starts to pick up and swirl with the streamers causing a crackling in the air as a large amount of energy builds up. Static starts to jump across the spheres in the form of lightning and the shields of the cloaked ship that delivered the large spheres is hit causing them to shimmer, revealing it temporarily to the crowd below.
The ship's captain, crew and the Elder adviser that came with him, look on in awe at the power shown by the Hunter's.
"Better back away captain," the Elder says.
"Yea," the captain agrees," I didn't know your kind could do that."
"We can't," he says," They are far more powerful than any normal Elder. They are the Elders of the Universe and our superiors, though they don't know that yet."
"What do you mean," the captain asks?
"They will be here until this planet is ready and then they will be sent by the Creator to another planet that needs help. They are above us in every way and that is why we brought the Spheres they requested. We are bound to help them in whatever capacity they need. All they have to do is think about what is needed and the appropriate mage or elder will pick it up and make sure it happens. They are true creations of the Creator of all Things and incapable of causing permanent harm to any sentient being. They will create situations, like they are doing now to solve problems like the people they are moving started. These people were very vicious criminals and the Hunters are moving them to a planet where there will be no one but themselves there. They will have no choice but to redirect their minds to survival instead of criminal activity. The spheres we brought will help them and hopefully help start a new colony that will eventually be able to join the wider community." The Elder responded.
"Good luck with that," the captain whispered.
"Agreed," the Elder said back.
Back on the ground the people looking up see the milky film start to darken and a picture forms inside. When the picture comes into focus, an open field of green grass with a river and mountains in the background can be seen. The air settles down somewhat and a hum can be heard like a power station with lots of transformers. The portals are now fully open over each manor as the Hunter's release their hold on the spheres and direct them down toward the manor where it flows through the manor and grounds stopping about ten feet under the ground. As the field hits the top of the highest tree it starts disappearing like going through a gate. When it is finished passing through everything, the portal rises back up where the people outside could see the manor now sitting on the green field. There is a loud sizzle in the air as the picture turns opaque and back to milky white before disappearing altogether. All that is left is a large ten foot deep hole in the ground where the manor and grounds stood that will eventually fill and become local watering holes for the wildlife and children to swim in. The crowd is cheering as they realize that they no longer have to worry about the Cartel bothering them ever again.
The Hunters float down and hover high enough to be seen by all and say in perfect Spanish," You can go home to your families now. Spread the word that The Elders of the Universe were here and this is what will happen to anyone who causes great harm."
They phase to each of the manors to explain what was done and to give the same message.
The atmospheric disturbance from the portals is picked up by an orbiting satellite which zooms into the area taking pictures of the activity. The satellite has been monitoring the family's activities in the hope of catching them at something that would stick in court. It streams the photos to its destination computers that processes the images and alerts the authorities about the activity. After viewing the photos, the authorities see they no longer have to worry about the Cartel of the Five Families, so they shift the satellite to another position of interest and go about their business. The authorities recognize the Hunters and are thankful they have allies like them.
Hunter and Huntress are satisfied with their work and phase back to the warehouse below the office to check on the Sheriff and Captain Williams. When they arrive everything is going smoothly so they walk over to the area where the magicals are congregated and scan them. Turns out they are slaves as well and Hunter assures them they will be okay as long as they keep to the Statute of Secrecy about magicals. The witches and wizards are relieved and join in with the others to be processed for release or transported back home.
The couple walks over to Captain Williams and Sheriff Gibson and says," The Cartel of five families will not be a problem anymore. We sent them to another planet where they will either survive or not. It is up to them. Either way they will not be able to do any type of criminal activity as they are the only ones there at this time."
"If you are ready to go Sheriff, I'm sure the ladies are more than ready for us to return." Hunter says.
The sheriff turns and shakes the captains hand and says," Thanks for allowing me to participate in the raid. I've been chasing them for months and can now close the case."
"Thank you, Sheriff Gibson, for bringing the Hunters here. This was a godsend and was sorely needed. Now my officers can get some well-earned rest until the next big case comes up," he responds," and thank you Elders, you are welcome to visit anytime."
"Just doing what we were sent here for Captain," Huntress says with a smile.
The Hunters each take an arm of the sheriff and phase back to the mayor's office in Glendale, where the ladies are waiting to be taken home for the evening.
When they appear the mayor immediately asks," How did it go? Did you get them?"
"The elders took care of everything," Sheriff Gibson says," They even sent all five of the cartel families to another planet."
Everyone looks at them not understanding what was said.
"What do you mean sent them to another planet," Mrs. Granger asks, looking at Harry and Hermione.
"We used five portals simultaneously to transport the families, compounds and all, to another planet where they will not be able to hurt anyone ever again," Hermione states seriously," They were doing human trafficking and had slaves at their compounds. Harry and I made sure all of the slaves escaped before sending the families away. We then told them they will never have to worry about being a slave again and to spread the word about what we did. Hopefully this will discourage others from trying to take the families place."
"I wish I could have seen that," Hermione's father says.
Harry turns to the wall across from everyone raising his right hand and a light shines from his palm like a movie projector. On the wall images start to show like watching a movie and the whole room watched as Hunter and Huntress sent the most notorious and dangerous crime families in Mexico to another planet fifteen light years away.
"You two amaze us more and more every day," Mr. Granger says," Your mum and I are so proud of you."
"Here here," everyone else says.
Harry and Hermione smile at each other and bask in the praise from their parents and the rest of the people in the office.
"Ready to go home," Mrs. Granger asks?
"You go ahead," Harry says," Hermione and I would like to walk around the town. We didn't get to see the sights and I would like to look at the statue of my grandfather. We will phase home when we are ready."
The rest of the group walks out the front doors and climbs into the limo for the ride home while Harry and Hermione walk hand in hand into the square to view the statue.