AN:

Some Answers:

frankieu chapter 14 . Mar 6

Thank you! I appreciate your input. Yup lol, if you were in a mysterious magical tournament where anything can happen I see no reason to think that the last bit isn't part of the tournament. Plausible deniability.

Xedornox chapter 14 . Mar 6

Lol, the lack of cliché moments are mostly because I'm not a good writer.

Kulha chapter 14 . Mar 7

Darrow wanted to challenge himself and to show everyone he's top dog while causing mass confusion. He was being and edgelord basically.

Gon Freaks chapter 14 . Mar 7

Oh yea, Darrow using all the drama skills he learned in highschool drama class.

Blaze1992 chapter 14 . Mar 8

Don't know how solid cop vests are but anything solid, study and non-porous will stop spells including the killing curse. There are of course the esoteric spells like the Patronus which can travel through things but most spells are stopped by a solid shield.

HellsMaji chapter 5 . Mar 9

Some people like liver. So it's a flavor.

Shelleykids chapter 14 . Mar 10

Yup he is slowly moving to SG1. It's slow, I know.

Kennji chapter 14 . Mar 29

The big boys in DC and Marvel are definitely too much for Darrow now. There will be some ties ins with both universes eventually.

I'm not familiar with Warcraft so I'll have to look into that one.

stargate and anime for me chapter 14 . Apr 6

He's going to pop into different universes to recruit and gather things as needed.

Thank you all for you input it is appreciated and please don't be surprised if I 'steal' some of your suggestions.

Story inspired heavily by 'Cruel To be Kind', '12 Steps To Omnipotence', 'Rise of an Empire' and a million and one other fanfics. If you see stuff and think that it's similar to another fanfic. it's probably because we read the same story and I liked that plot line or idea.

BEWARE this is a 'Gary Stu, wish fulfillment, power fantasy type story.

Thank you for reading!

Enjoy

Chapter 15

The following are headlines found in the various magical newspapers and publications following the conclusion of the TRI-WIZARD tournament:

'THE DARK LORD RETURNS OR THE SAD COPYCAT?' by Clarke Parker.

'TRI-WIZARD CHAMPION: RAVENCLAW'S DARROW MIERCURI!' by Andrew Flemish.

'THE BOY-WHO-LIVED OR THE RAVENCLAW-WHO-SOARED: TRUTH OR LIES?' by Rita Skeeter.

'VOLDEMORT FANATICS BEATEN BY FORTH YEAR STUDENTS!' by Andrew Flemish.

'PETER PETTIGREW ALIVE! SIRIUS BLACK CASE RE-OPENED!' by Nigel Holdsten.

'SIRIUS BLACK REVEALS HIMSELF: "I WILL GET JUSTICE! HEADS WILL ROLL!"' by Clarke Parker.

'BLACK AND DUMBLEDORE THE NEW POWER FACTION!' by Rita Skeeter.

'TRI-WIZARD TOURNAMENT & MINISTRY FAILURES!' by Andrew Flemish

'DARK LORD SUPPORTERS HOLD HIGH POSITIONS IN THE MINISTRY!' by Nigel Holdsten.

'FUDGE: "THERE IS NO VOLDEMORT! THE PRETENDER AND FANATICS WILL BE APPREHENDED!"' by Andrew Flemish

'HOUSE MALFOY UNDER INVESTIGATION! LUCIUS MALFOY: "WE ARE BEING FRAMED!"' by Rita Skeeter.

The following is an excerpt from 'THE BOY-WHO-LIVED OR THE RAVENCLAW-WHO-SOARED: TRUTH OR LIES?' By Rita Skeeter.

RS: "And unlike your classmate Harry Potter you do not believe at all that it was the Dark Lord who returned?"

DM: "That is correct. As I have said before their skill level was abysmal for the ones who supposedly terrorized this country over 15 years ago."

RS: "And who do you think they were?"

DM: "Well I can only speculate from what the Ministry has uncovered and what I experienced that night and I think I agree with Minister Fudge. Lowlifes, Terrorists, fanatics who wanted revenge on Harry. And I want to say I do understand why Harry freaked out. They were really aiming for him and honestly anyone who had their family killed and life altered by that mad man would be in shock about it. They did put on an over the Top-Show."

RS: "What did you find the most unbelievable?"

DM: "Aside from the Unforgivables being used a tournament you mean? …That was dangerous by the way but really it wasn't that … we are supposed to expect danger in the tournament …no it wasn't that it was the weird theatrics."

RS: "Could you describe them please? What sort of things?"

DM: "As I've told the Aurors it was like a drama class. Which is partially why I thought it was still part of the tournament…that and Mr. Malfoy being there but we can get to that later…you know I thought the over the top acting was for us. I mean there was like a baby doll that was dropped into a fiery Cauldron a silly ritual poem and 'Pop' the supposed Voldemort burst out…you know like muggles do out of those giant birth day cakes…now that I think about it. It was all so ridiculous like it was made for muggle children."

RS: "So the Voldemort copycat 'Popped' out of a cauldron like a muggle would out of a birthday cake?"

DM: "Yes and he was naked you know. It was all very weird. Like he had a weird nose as if someone squished it on his face….and...and now that I think about it there were some parts missing."

RS: "Some part missing? What do you mean by that?"

DM: "Well like you know…I wasn't specifically looking but he was right in front of me , in my sight and it's like when you're in the locker room you don't plan on looking but people change in front of you so it see it except in this case I didn't see it because it wasn't there."

RS: "I'm sorry I'm not quite following you here, what wasn't there?"

DM: "IT wasn't there…down THERE I mean! There was nothing. And I don't mean like a girl I mean there was just you know …blank… where things were supposed to be…like I said I wasn't specifically looking but he was just there naked and IT wasn't there."

RS: "OH!...Are you.. are you saying the Dark Lord pretender didn't have his manhood?"

DM: "All I'm saying is I didn't see it…so like where was it? You know what I don't care to know."

Scene Break

Ashley looked around in the office of the muggle professor at Oxford University and found it surprisingly tidy. From movies she'd seen the muggle academics were always presented as being a bit off their rocker with their offices being crammed floor to ceiling with papers and their actual physical appearance being more scattered and silly looking than even the older wizard generation.

Instead Mr. Williams' office was tidy with not one piece of paper seemingly being out of place.

"Thank you for waiting Ms. Alistair." Said the old professor as he rolled in a cart full of books and folders from the back room.

"It was quite a time consuming process to go through however me and my colleagues managed to translate all the books and schematics in all three languages: old Latin, old Norse and ancient Greek. Within reason of course there were many things that could not be translated directly so had to be explained in a roundabout way. Still the content is all there." He said as he stopped the cart in front of her.

"Duplicate copies as requested and we each kept one copy for ourselves. It's not every day that we get to work on such a project." He said. "We are all wondering is this just a whim or is this patron of yours thinking on opening up an exhibit or a collection? I mean what is the purpose of describing what a seed drill does and how it works in ancient Norse? Or basic mathematical concepts?"

"I wish I could tell you." She replied earnestly. "I wasn't told anything beyond him wanting all this information translated." She said and shrugged her shoulders. She immediately knew from Williams's expression that she had just been relegated to minion status. Just another young person barely in their twenties performing a job they didn't care about.

'A nice little errand girl.' What grated her a bit was that he was right.

She didn't particularly care about the job. At first she wanted to join the security force of Mr. Miercuri but her mother who was working in one of the magical plant farms had been vehemently against it. So when Irma her mother's friend and 'Supplier Manager' for the business had mentioned they are looking for someone to lead a special project she immediately applied for it.

The project turned out to be a lot more special than she thought. If special meant boring than yes it was very special.

'Why the hell anyone wanted basic science books translated, math, physics, chemistry? It's all so Muggle!' she remembered her thoughts from the night she scoured through the information she was given.

Processes describing ancient ways of making steel, farming method, building ships or medical treatments, the list went on.

Still, Irma gave her the job so she did her best in finding the right muggles to contract this out.

"I can help you carry them to your car. They are quite heavy." Mr. Williams said.

"Thank you, I didn't drive. I will be taking a taxi, would you be able to call me one." She responded.

She wanted to get this done with so she can move on to something more exciting.

Scene Break

I watched the three little and unequal creatures as they stood at attention waiting for my orders. Well the two of them were standing at attention chest out and rigged in their little majordomo uniforms complete with a towel hanging neatly on arms while Binny was relaxed wearing a light blue dress adorned with sunflowers.

Binny had shed another decade or so and had grown a few inches while her head became smaller and her features softened. We had discussed at length what was happening with her and all we could come determine is that it must be because of my divinity that is affecting her.

Overall she is in good spirits and gets along with both Cato and Nick, Cato who came to the same conclusion as us and Nick who decided it was better he didn't question it.

The other two were my newly acquired elves Volky who was bought of a German family and Ropkey from a Polish family.

While I was happy I managed to get two more elves I was annoyed I was only able to get two more elves after all this time.

'The purchasing agents are living high off my dime.' The searching bills kept coming but so far only two elves.

I sighed and made up my mind. 'I will have to take more extreme measures…gonna have to strong arm some people.'

When I bonded with the two I didn't have the same lightshow as with Binny, 'no pinky promise this time' but they still shed a few years and seemed to get more robust. It has only been a few days so I need to wait and see if they will undergo the same changes as Binny.

Binny was in charge of the households and these two were going to be her minions.

"Alright, let's get started. Binny since you're in charge why don't you start and tell me what you all have decided on who is responsible for what."

Binny stepped forward and started to tell me about what areas of responsibilities and schedule was.

'Household staff have to get updates once in a while.' I thought as I listened to her.

Scene Break

Year 6, Day 311: Resource Universe 5, June 1986

"As you can see inventory levels in our major categories have been maintained and thus we have been able to absorb any shock to the supply chain while quickly responding to customer needs. Even though we can see levels increase 20% from the start of the year this is due to expected ramp up on the following building sites and in anticipations of the soon to be awarded contracts…"

The senior exec droned on as everyone in the conference room pretended this was the most riveting information they could get their hands on.

'Everyone putting a show for the big boss.' I thought to myself while leaning back in my chair.

Still, outside the usual 'suck up to the boss' atmosphere I could sense there was something a bit off. It was in the way Haley and two others were carrying themselves throughout our busy day.

Our scheduled 'check-ins' were basically filled with meetings all around the organization and various business updates.

Umbra Corp. overall was doing well. In the last year they have managed to slow down 'bleed' on operations partially due to a streamline of operations but mostly due to the onslaught of new contracts we were getting.

The name was getting out there, our history and reliability were starting to work for us luring in clients without us contacting them first.

Now most of the re-capitalization I was doing was being used to buy and refurbish suppliers where available and needed. We were deep into quarries, cement, various metal and wood products used in construction. I had pretty much given her carte blanch on base material sourcing and finally we were making overtures into steel.

So overall things were going as well as they could be so why was Haley a bit on the edge? It was only my curiosity to see if she would tell me by the end of the day that stopped me from trying to read her mind.

So I waited and went through the motions.

The meeting finished 45 minutes later and while everyone was leaving Haley signaled for me to stay.

"Phillip, just a moment there's something else we want to talk to you about." She said pointing at the two men who remained at the long conference table.

Jacob Jetter the CFO and Raj Ramna head of legal. 'This should be interesting.'

I nod to her and sit back down. "Sure, what's on your mind?"

She took back her seat her shapely dark brown hair swaying lightly as she quickly stole a look from her colleagues and then focused on me.

"Well, not sure how to say this but to put it bluntly some members of our business and companies that we bought have been threatened by organized crime groups asking for 'bribes and kickbacks'."

It took me a second to process since this was not what I expected. I thought maybe they were leaving or they had concerns about where the money was coming from.

Instead I get low level crime and corruption, not that organized crime isn't serious business it's just not a huge worry when you're an immortal god then again they were mere mortals so they were right to worry.

"I see" I said changing the tone to be serious. "Tell me what happened."

"One of the quarries we've bought last year, the manager one Douglas Pietro says he's been approached by an underling of the Milano brothers." She said pensively. "Said that there could be union trouble if and I quote here: 'They don't learn how work with people' not only there but the concrete and steel foundries we purchased."

I looked at her a bit expectantly. "The Milano brothers?" I asked. She looked at me a moment and realized I wanted her to elaborate on them.

"Uh, right. Milano brothers. Mafia, organized crime connected to the families on the east coast. They are mostly rumored to deal with the teamsters and construction work specifically but recently they've been in the news for drug smuggling."

"I see. And have there been any specific threats made to our employees?"

"Not specifically but bribes have been asked to stop possible 'work stoppages' so more threats against the companies. Though…" here she stopped for a moment. "We have received some reports from some of the plant managers that 'suspicious' people have been hanging around some of the factory sites, talking with people as they go home….we think it's stooges of the Milano's trying to put the pressure on the union rank and file."

I let the information absorb in silence. "Well I am glad no incidents have happened yet." I finally say. "Has this been reported to the police yet?" At my question Haley looked at the other two and I could see there had been disagreement between them at this decision.

"No. Not yet." She finally said.

"Considering the lack of hard evidence on this matter as head legal counsel for the company I advised against reporting." He said. "At least until we ran things through with you."

I looked at him and met his sharp eyes, for brief moment I held 'contact' and extended my will towards him. I wasn't as good as Cato, nowhere near close but I was able to extract what I was looking for.

I almost smiled. "Lack of evidence? Is that all? Shouldn't the police be involved either way, to keep a record, a pattern of behavior?" I pushed forward with my questioning.

Raj looked at Haley uncomfortable so she decided to step in.

"Well…" she started. "considering that you have specified multiple times the need for privacy and how…"she hesitated for a moment "our business is funded we thought it might be prudent that we get your go ahead on it or …maybe look at other options to resolve the situation. Raj has advised that a potential investigation could lead to us having to open the books on our financing." She said in a fast reticent breath.

I only looked at her unmoving and unblinking. I was actually stopping myself from smiling. Haley was honestly blowing away all my expectations.

'And she looks hella fine for a single mother.' …wait what? Definitely have to bottle that one in.

I can see they are all getting uncomfortable with the silence.

"I am glad." I say. "You all did the right thing."

"Of course I consider the safety of our employees, of you, of all of us a lot more important than money. That is why I want it to be a standing policy of our organization that in the case of any life threatening situations all bribes or monetary requests to be fulfilled and reported once out of said situation…within reason of course." I said with cold smile.

"And of course all should be reported to the proper authorities though I do hope as the stewards of our company you will take all the precautions necessary to safeguard our 'secrets'." I said letting nothing ambiguous between the lines.

I was really impressed with Haley and her crew. At some point they must have realized something was off about the way I was bringing in money into the organization yet they decided to roll with it.

Greed, ambition a strong will to make something of themselves. They had gotten a shot, a golden goose if you will, and didn't want to give it up.

I understood their feelings.

"Now, I will take care of this matter personally so let's talk specifics who was contacted and at which sites."

Now that shocked them I could see it clearly. Outside of grand strategy the occasional 'tips' and bringing money in I was not involved in any operations at all.

"Personally? We did say this was the Milano brothers?" Jacob stumbled out looking for support from the other two.

Before they could all interject and give their deep concerns I spoke.

"Yes." I said firmly. "My youth may seem to make me naïve however I hope you can see from my ability to 'fundraise' I can be a very convincing. So details please."

They looked skeptical but complied either way.

Scene Break

I popped into my estate's living room immediately going for the bar and pouring myself a quarter glass of scotch.

"You're back?" The voice actually startled me and made me miss a bit of my pour.

"Cato!" I turn and look at the tall wizard who had a coffee cup in his hand. "I didn't see you there."

He put the cup down and set his paper aside. "No, you did not." He said as he stood to approach me.

"You're back already. What happened? Did you manage to-" I didn't let him finish.

"Yes I did." I said cutting him off and taking a big sip of my drink. It's burning sensation sending a quick shock signal to the base of my brain distracting my thoughts.

The ever aware mind master picked up on my unease and without a word beckoned me to continue.

"It was…easier than I thought. Too easy…" I said.

"Surprised?" he asked. "We have prepared for this. You should know your capabilities by now." He said firmly.

I took another sip of the scotch.

"Yes, I know. Mentally I know. But actually doing it…was different. I know…I guess I just needed a drink to internalize it."

I saw the old man sigh.

"For most folks it's not an easy thing to do taking a life. Truthfully I would be more concerned if you were completely fine going around snuffing lives." He said as he put his right hand on my shoulder. I looked at him and for a moment instead of the stoic tall wizard I saw the loving and grandfatherly wizard filled with concern for his pupil.

A moment that went as fast as it came.

"Of course you are not most folks." He said firmly. "Considering your future plans you need to overcome this unsettledness and …quickly too." He continued coldly.

I swallowed the sip indulging once again in the burning sensation.

"Now show me what happened."

Before I could respond our eyes met and suddenly in a swirl of colorful images as if moving at super speed through them, places and people being stretched out and snapped back together as soon as I looked back at them.

In a prolonged instant we were in 'my office' at the estate.

"AHHH!" I let out a scream from the sharp pain I was feeling between my eyes. "What the SHIT! I told you I fucking hate it when you do that!"

Cato paid no mind to my outburst and merely knocked twice on the solid wooden desk while looking around.

Thump, Thump.

"Very good." He said. "You're reaction time was excellent, you were able to protect and deflect at the same time. I wasn't able to glimpse anything even while 'travelling' here." He said turning to me. "Excellent work."

"Yes, well can you give me a heads up before you do that?" I said annoyed to which he only rolled his yes.

"I'm sure all your opponents will let you know in advance." He said sarcastically. "Now the memory." He said firmly.

I stopped myself from swearing at him again and with a wave of my hand the scenery around us changed.

Flashback:

"Please, don't kill me. Please *sob* please don't kill me." The man said between salty tears looking at his two companions laid flat on the floor with blood coming out of every orifice in their heads.

I may have gone a little too strong in their minds still at least one I saw the chest move so it wasn't for sure they were dead.

This one on the other hand wasn't going to be so lucky. He was a captain in their little crime organization he'd killed two other people, not innocents, other gangsters, low life's really.

I was going to kill him, directly. Not accidentally fry his brain or curse him death, none of that nonsense. This was going to be primal with my own hands. The multiverse out there is big scary and cruel, I want to be able to make the right decisions when the moment comes, to not hesitate.

Now did this Luigi guy actually deserve to die? Honestly probably not but Haley's little problem was the best and most direct opportunity for me. Considering I wasn't the type to go seek this out after discussing with Cato I had decided that this was it.

Truthfully it sucks for him it's just how life is sometimes. Sometimes you are walking your dog and then you are attacked by a magical alien transport system or other times a deity decides to 'pop their cherry' on you.

My left hand guides my telekinesis and holds him into place. His voice now barely a whisper his eyes red, sputters of saliva on the corners of his mouth as he gently shakes his head in denial.

I raise my right hand in a punching motion with my hand forming as if it was the tip of a spear with my fingers spread out.

I took a breath and steadied myself, my will washing over my body, my arm, my fingers 'Unbreakable'. I could feel the tips of my fingers change slightly becoming hard sharper more claw like.

My hand, faster than the normal eye could see, plunges into the chest of my captive.

Sharp fingers break the skin to feel the wet fleshy covering of the bones. Tearing, crunching, snapping, and breaking the ribcage along with all the skin, muscle and cartilage, barely putting up a resistance stronger than floppy wet cardboard.

Blood splurts everywhere, the mass of bone, skin, flesh and muscle hits the palm of my hand and I feel its warm wetness covering it, then my wrist and forearm as I don't stop but push through him.

Silence

I look at my victim, his wide brown eyes have only one flicker of life left in them, not truly understanding what happened yet feeling it all the same.

A lone cough shoots out splatters of blood on my face and I fell all of him go limp. The light gone.

Silence and blood.

So much blood. Everywhere. I looked on the floor and walls of this living room.

I feel my heart start beating faster and a knot grows at the top of my stomach.

Suddenly I feel the weight of the body on my arm and the cooling warmth of the blood. That and the gross fleshy mixture of bone, muscle, lung and cartilage that I'm holding in my palm on the other side of this lifeless husk perched on my arm.

I suddenly register the smell: iron and more.

Instantly my stomach revolts, tightens and wants to spill out the coffee and Egg- McMuffin breakfast I had this morning. Only practiced reflex all through my drinking days in my 20s stops me from projectile vomiting.

I swing my arm hard in an attempt to get the grotesque caricature of what once was a living being off of my arm.

I immediately regret that decision. In my disgust and haste I swung too hard.

My soaked suit sleeve rips but more importantly I launch the body into the living room wall separating the kitchen. The flimsy wall caves and envelops the smattering of a body in a convoluted ball of blood, gore and drywall.

The mixture hits my sense of smell and I my stomach wins. I projectile vomit while dropping to my knees.

It takes a whole thirty seconds before I regain composure, stand and will myself clean in a cascading blue light.

End Flashback

With a mere thought the scene around us changed and we were back in 'my office'.

Just re-living it made me want to puck, which was extra gross because we were in my mind and I didn't to 'metaphysically' puke here.

Plus Cato will never let me hear the end of it.

I looked at the mind master to gauge his reaction but he was as stoic as ever.

"As the muggles would say you have certainly ripped the band aid off." He finally said.

I let out a deep sigh. "I may have been too eager." I responded.

"Yes, a bit over the top." He said. "Now…" and with a wave of his hand I felt a strong pull and we were once more back my real living room. "First thing is…" he went and poured himself a quarter glass of scotch as well. "We will have another drink to make sure you're nerves are calm. Then we will go back and clean up that awful mess." I nodded at him.

"Then lastly…" he said and took a big gulp of his glass "we will go through that scenario over and over again until you have internalized and mastered all of your…'failings'."

I immediately felt my stomach tighten

"…fuck…!"

Scene Break

Year 6, Day 320: Resource Universe 5, June 1986

As she put on the last touches on her make-up Haley hungrily observed her figure in the wall sized mirror in her bathroom and couldn't help but feel a bit proud. In her mid-thirties and after a child she managed to keep the same figure as she had in her mid-twenties.

'Not bad.' She thought. Though she couldn't help but notice the strands of white that had started show themselves among the light brown hair.

No time to dwell on that now. She was late, late, late.

Ever since Umbra Corp. started expanding all she's done is work, work, work and spend time with her son whenever she could, all to the detriment of the relationship with her friends.

Which is why said friends had put their foot down and insisted on brunch on this lovely Sunday.

Coming down the stair and into her oversized kitchen she could hear Ethan happily chatting away with their housekeeper and babysitter Rosa against the background of TV before she could see them.

"Mommy!" he said excitedly putting his food down and running to her.

"Sweetie, we talked about this. You have to stay and eat your food before you can play." She said knowing exactly what he was going to say next. "Rosa worked very hard to prepare this for you. Now back on that stool!"

The boy was sultry but followed her instructions and went back to eating his pancake.

"Thanks again Rosa, for coming on such short notice. I completely forgot I had this thing today." She said.

"Is no problem Miss. Haley. Ethan such a sweet boy." She said, her thick Mexican accent accentuating the grandmotherly visage.

"Still, you saved me. And if he gives you any trouble…" she said turning to the smiling six year old "No TV and definitely no Nintendo console for the next month. Got that mister!" she said sternly to which the boy only nodded with big wide eyes.

"Good! Now where did I leave my purse-" her train of thought was interrupted as the TV in the background caught her attention.

"Is that the news? Could you please turn that up?" She said to Rosa.

"…police confirm that at least 3 of the 5 homicide cases in the past week are related to the organized crime gang allegedly run by the Milano brothers. An organized group with ties to the east coast mafia organizations…."

"…crime experts suggest that the string of public suicides that have happened in the last week are also related to organized crime however police so far has refused to comment on the situation."

For a moment her head was spinning and it felt as if her stomach dropped as someone removed the floor from under her.

The outside world seemed like a faded dream as her mind unwillingly connected the string of mysterious happenings with her actions.

"…Miss Haley!" Rosa said louder.

The sudden sound of her name snapped her back to reality.

"..Sorry, Rosa, uhm…what?"

"I said your cab is here. You said earlier to call the cab?" she asked a bit of concern.

"Right, yes thank you." She said shaking herself out her stiffness.

"Ok, Mommy is off Ethan and remember no Nintendo if you don't listen to Rosa!" She said as she walked out the door.

As she walked over to the taxi she couldn't help but think of the news.

'It's just a coincidence…."

Scene Break

I was in god mode watching as Ruth shifted uncomfortably in her chair facing the desk at which Marty was busy writing something down. I had decided to check in on my Ozark's crew and when I tracked Marty down, thank you 'point me spell', in the Osage Beach office building he rented. Office building was a bit of an exaggeration it was more like a two story house that was converted, Ruth was already here with him.

I decided to stay invisible for a bit to observe their interaction.

I could see from her expression that she was getting impatient and about to blow over. I rolled my eyes as she spoke in her predictable tone.

"So are you going to fucking say something or did you just bring me here to wait like I'm in the principal's office!"

Marty's only reaction was to put up a finger indicating that he needed one more minute to finish writing at witch Ruth scowled.

Marty calmly put the paper away then looked at Ruth.

"Care to tell me why the manager of our biggest grocery store was fired?" he asked

Ruth's expression only soured in annoyance.

"Cause he's a fucking pervert Marty! He was harassing some of the girls on cash. Real fucking creep type. I talked with them and caught the fucker in action too." Ruth said her tone giving no doubt on how disgusted she was with him.

Marty only looked at her in his neutral expression and slowly tilted his head side to side as if acknowledging the situation.

"Ok, but did you have to break his arm and nose in the process? Was that really necessary?" he asked and I could tell there was a bit of a tone of exaggeration.

"Oh I don't know Marty? I only caught him trying to pressure a 17 year old girl and according to the stories I've been told it wasn't the first time. So you fucking tell me if it was necessary!" Ruth basically blew up on him.

Marty let out a deep sigh and leaned back in his chair.

"You put me in charge Marty! You said I could run things how I want them and I don't want no fucking pervert creeping on high school girls in my fucking stores." Ruth said resolutely.

"No, you right." Marty said calmly which seemed to placate Ruth. "Can't have someone like that working for us…still a heads up would have been nice. He's suing us…he'll probably sue you as well." Marty responded.

"That FUCKING PRICK! I'll find him and rip it his dick and use it as fish feed!" before she could continue her rant Marty interrupted.

"That won't be necessary Ruth!" he said and motioned for her to sit back down which she did. "Let's not cause any more noise than we need to. We can either pay him off to drop the suit or we threaten him with getting some of the girls to talk. As a matter of fact we do both."

"That is an excellent idea." I said making sure they are able to hear me.

It was at this point that I decided to show myself. The blue light gliding over my body from the middle of my stomach caught their attention and scared them.

"AHH WHAT THE SHIT!" Ruth yelled while Marty only stood and backed away from his desk.

"Keep your knickers on Ruth it's just me." I said cheekily with a big smile.

"Darrow!" Marty said recovering. "Uh, hello, to what do we owe your visit today? I wasn't expecting you."

Not that he had a way of expecting me. We did set up some touch points and I wasn't due for a visit for another week or so but other than that I didn't have a way of communicating through different realities outside of me popping into them.

"Well, schedule changed, a few items came up so I thought I would do my visit earlier and check up on things." It had been over half a year since we last saw each other. "You're not busy right now are you? Should I come back later?" I asked them both.

They knew this was mostly rhetorical. They weren't dumb to actually say they were busy. Ruth only looked at Marty to follow his lead and he answered for both of them.

"No of course. Please sit." He said and sat down. I looked at his chairs and with a wave of my hand transformed all of them into nicer plushier leather bound arm chairs.

Ruth was a bit disconcerted as the chair shifted under her but then relaxed as she realized nothing bad was happening.

"I hope you don't mind. You're chairs did not look comfy." I said.

"See I told you these chairs were trash!" Ruth said with a satisfied tone.

Before they could get into it I raised my hand to preventively stop it.

"Enough about the chairs. How are we doing on our little operation?" I asked wanting to get to the point here.

Marty looked at me for a moment then at Ruth.

"Good. Everything is good. Right Ruth?" he said. The girl nodded in affirmation. "Good. All going smoothly." She said.

I raised an eyebrow at them. "Care to elaborate?" as I said I could see it in his eyes the information was being compiled and arranged in an easy to understand format which he could explain to me.

"Well…" he started. "We are slowly making inroads into grocery stores and gas stations. We have purchased as much as we can and are planning on building our own in areas where they don't want to sell. Groceries, gas stations and any big box store really."

I nodded. "Right, all those are businesses with high cash turnover on a daily basis, ideal for mixing everything in but the geography here makes everything spread out. You can't possibly be on site to take hold of the cash; you would spend all of your day doing just that. So how is that being handled?" I asked.

"Ah, the geography actually works in our favor this time. We are centralizing the process. We created a security company that collects all the cash and is responsible for depositing it. They go around pick up the cash bring it to 'home base'. There the additional cash and receipts are mixed in and sent out for deposit."

I thought about it for a moment. "I see, and you are using multiple banks for the businesses too?" he nodded. "That would work but it is risky keeping the cash in one location is it not?" I asked.

"We currently only have a few trucks along with a few ex-cops working for us, paid very well, as we expand I was thinking of doing a cellular style organization, different trucks go to different locations to store and then pick up the cash and take it to be deposited."

I nodded in understanding. "That way none of the trucks know how much cash is located where outside of what they are carrying. And the insurance premiums for such a firm?"

Marty let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair. "High, very high. But you did say you won't care about 'spoilage' as long as it's fewer than 30% and it will be worth it if anyone gets handsy with the money the insurance company will make us whole, we'll have all the receipts to back it up as long as we have history."

I let the information for a bit and I can see that Ruth wasn't fully aware of all the implications as her eyebrows scrunch trying to process everything.

"Still…" I finally say. "All of this will take a while to set up and dealing in only cash will take even longer accomplish our targets." I say.

Marty leaned forward again.

"That's only Part 1 to get us established. Part 2 & 3 I was hoping you could help out a bit and after that the rest of the parts we should be able to handle it." He said including Ruth.

That got my curiosity so I motioned for him to continue.

"Part 2 is that once we are big enough with our stores we introduce rebate programs for sales from our suppliers." He said and paused for a moment. "Suppliers I was hoping we could use your…" here he hesitated a bit looking for the right word. "Jedi mind tricks to capitalize them in friendly jurisdictions. I already started the process in setting up the groundwork."

Ok, I understood that. We get the money in the system in friendly jurisdictions where they don't ask a lot of questions. With my powers we can do it quickly just like we did it the first time but on a much larger scale.

"Go on I say."

"Well even with that it won't be enough so to accelerate things we thought we would start up the casino businesses again." He said and I leaned back in my chair.

"I see, so you need my help shortening the process." I respond to which he raises his eyebrows and nodded.

"They aren't supposed to be approved in Missouri until the early 90s, they are a matter of public concern it will bring a lot of attention…lots of strong opinions on them from all sides." I continue saying in reluctance. "The mind charms works best when the person is willing but unsure or at least uncaring about what they are being forced to do. Even if I force the issue on some unless they are eliminated they can always change their mind later."

"Wendy's been 'warming' up the local politicians and senators to the idea. Plus once the cat is out of the bag history tells us they won't reverse it…not after the boat load of good paying fulltime jobs it will create. It won't be only casino's we are buying land for development as well." He said confidently.

I tap the plush arm rest of my conjured chair trying to weight the benefits and cons of the idea. It would bring quite a bit of attention to this little operation but it would speed up things considerably…and Marty has already proven he can deal with public situations quite well.

I didn't hide my thoughtful expression and even then he could infer from the silence that I was weighing the idea carefully, even Ruth made the wise choice to be quiet.

"Whatever the casino cap may be I think between us the Langmores and maybe your electronics store guy Tresler we can get half the cap. In a few years we outspend all the competitors and bring them into the fold. We'll own all of Missouri gambling and we'll be able to fund whatever project you want." He said with almost a hint of passion.

Truthfully I'm a bit surprised. Marty is usually a slow and steady kind of guy unless he's facing imminent death then he takes the most wildly calculated risks he can come up with and boy does he come up with them.

I looked at him and concentrated as Cato taught me. I expanded my consciousness and reached with my magical awareness trying to touch the aura and feel the reverberations that was Marty Byrde.

There was no ill will, no threat on his life just a feeling of passion to 'control'…no 'to take back control' …of his life…to do what he was good at to prove he can do better.

I see now, I understood. His thoughts were in line with his feelings, power, control, the adrenaline he'd had a taste of the 'big time' and couldn't go back. He didn't overtly want the 'attention' but he wanted the 'respect'.

For a brief moment of time his name had meant something, he'd been a mover and a shaker and once you get that taste it changes a man….either that or Wendy was rubbing of on him. Either way this wasn't that bad for me since the man had experience so 'let's roll the dice'.

"Very well…" I said finally. "Get Wendy to set up the meetings over the next few days."

Once again to his credit Marty stayed mostly neutral but I could see a bit of brightening in his eyes as Ruth seemed to cheer up.

"Now this actually ties quite well into what I came to discuss today." I said cutting the positive vibes with sharp knife.

"In another reality I have assets they unfortunately had to deal with some bumps into their expansion. It seems organized crime has a way of weaseling its way into certain types of businesses. Have you had any issues?" I asked.

"Uh, no not yet. Ruth?" the girl fidgeted for a moment.

"Uh, no unless you count creeps and perverts trying to cop a feel on high school girls?" She asked in her sarcastic way.

I only gave her a small smile. "No."

"Well that's good, it was quite unpleasant to deal with them in the other reality. But considering all the areas we are expanding into I'm sure you will soon enough encounter resistance. I trust that with your prior experience you will be able to handle it." I state. "Pay off whoever you need to pay off and make a list, mental of course, of who will need to be eliminated." I pause for a moment.

"It will be some time before I can post permanent people to help you in those matters in this reality." They don't need to know that I don't technically have those people just yet.

"And you're lives are more important than just money."

That seemed to have the desired effect as it seemed they brightened up at their own 'importance'

'Bring them up!'

"Beside" I pause for a second bringing their attention back to me. "Plucking another two of you from a different reality would be so annoying" I state flatly.

"I hate having the same conversation twice."

'Then tear them down!'

Scene Break

Year 6, Day 330: Harry Potter Universe, July 1995

"And are you sure these artifacts are needed?" Cato asked. "You will be at your most vulnerable there."

"Right now? No. Eventually yes." I responded. "But regardless I'm running out of time to get them. The main character's adventures are about to start and things will soon be in chaos. So it's either now or I open up another version of that reality."

"Very well let's just hope your 'knowledge' will be well received. The young lady did a fine job gathering the information for you and the muggles knew what they were doing." He said in acknowledgement.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Have to try. Can't exactly go empty handed and yes she did though you are the expert on old Norse and Latin." I said while checking my S&W 59.

"Everything ready?" Cato asked.

"Yes."

"Trunks all there?"

"Yes."

"Moleskin pouch?"

"As you can see right here." I point to it.

"Back-pack?"

"Fully packed."

"Guns?"

"Locked and loaded."

"I guess you are ready then." He said.

"I guess I am." I responded confidently. "Now if I don't return in two months as discussed the solicitors will contact you and Nick. Show them the letter I gave you and everything should be handled smoothly otherwise you'll be stuck in legalese for at least half a year."

The old man only nodded.

I took a deep breath and said out loud once again.

"ARTY jump to set reality destination 'Xena – Warrior Princess'!

AN:

Thank you for reading.