Thief's Theme: A Love Story
Chapter Eleven

Ji stands on…well it’s not clear exactly what he’s standing on, but he’s outside of his ship, staring at the sight before him: the Crystal Planet. His body is still as he lets the cold of space wash over him, likely immune due to self-thievery, unmoving as he stares ahead. He is bombarded by all sorts of radiation, deprived of any kind of oxygen or breathable air, exposed to deadly elements, and yet…he doesn’t care. For what’s before him is a beauty unknown to many, something he can’t resist due to just how gorgeous, how appealing it is. It is the third most beautiful thing he remembers seeing in his entire life time. And so Ji stands and stares, continuing to do so for some time before he makes his decision. He doesn’t just want the treasure of the Crystal Planet, or a piece of it. No, he wants all of it. Just as he took the Seven Wonders of the World, just as he took China and Antarctica, all back on Earth, he is going to take this planet for himself.

‘Well the mild peace was nice while it lasted.’ He thinks to himself. ‘So was fooling around with those space cops.’ He then smirks. ‘Time to get a little serious, and do my thing. I can see the intergalactic news now: “Planet gone, Merc, strikes again”.’ And strike he does.

“What do you mean the Crystal Planet is missing?” Exclaims the head of the space police to his communication device built into his helmet, in awe of the news he’s hearing. The head of the space police looked much like his men (light armor, a helmet with glass in front to cover the face, lightly armored gauntlets and boots, with an array of guns on a high-tech-looking belt), except where they had white (their armor and gun), he had black. Also his shoulders had extra armor and he had a black cape to go with his ensemble. “What? The Alcohol Planet and the Gold Planet too? Are you kidding me?” He asks, incredulous. “How? What can…? What’s happening?” He continues, speaking more to himself than whoever he’s communicating with. The head of the police sighs as he responds. “Yeah, I’ll see what I can do. Thanks for the information. Over.” He says, ending the line of communication. He then sits back and folds his hands, looking down, seemingly in deep thought. Several minutes pass as he murmurs to himself.

“What to do?” He mutters, trying to think. “What can we do?” He says out loud as he mentally goes through his options on dealing with what is apparently a thief on an epic scale: planet level to be exact. He shakes his head in frustration. “Nothing really. We can do nothing.” He concludes as he takes a deep breath. He then continues thinking aloud. “This…stealing planets? Whole? Without anyone noticing?” He pauses for a moment. “Yeah this is above us. We need to call the Keepers.” He concludes with finality.

Two mysterious Keepers with more fancy robes than normal meet together at the Keeper base as they look at Sharia, observing her every move. The two are discussing important matters as they keep an eye on her. A third Keeper, one of the men who recruited Sharia earlier comes up to the two men and speaks.

“She’s good.” He says quietly. The other two nod in affirmation.

“She’s not ready.” Says one of the higher-level Keepers.

“She’s the only one that can catch him.” Counters the Keeper that recruited her.

“Still, we can’t just promote her because of that, can we?” Asks the second higher level Keeper. The Keeper that recruited Sharia hesitates before answering, looking reluctant to speak.

“You’re right, I guess not. And she can’t survive otherwise. It’s best…it’s best not to tell her then.” He concludes.

“My thoughts exactly.” Speaks the second higher level Keeper. “But get her fast-tracked on her training. We’ll definitely need her in the future and it’s not like she doesn’t do good work regardless.” He commands. The Keeper that recruited Sharia nods in understanding.

“Yes sir, we’ll start on that immediately.” The second of the higher-level Keepers nods back in response.

“Good. See to it. You are dismissed.” He commands as the Keeper that recruited Sharia bows slightly and walks away, leaving the two higher level Keepers to themselves. Once he’s gone, the first of the two higher level Keepers talks, addressing the other.

“You say it’s best not to tell her about the thief. Why is that? Do you fear that her connection with him will hurt us?” He inquires. The second of the higher-level Keepers shakes his head.

“No, it is not for our well-being that I fear, but for hers. There’s a small possibility that she’ll actually improve if we tell her, taking it as a challenge or even wanting to see him sooner than later.” He begins.

“But…” Beckons the other higher-level Keeper, fishing for answers.

“But it’s far more likely for her to shut down even more or start to waver in her work as she’ll start to worry for him and his well-being. While I’d love the first situation to occur, we can’t afford the realization of second scenario in any capacity. If that happens, we lose not only a good agent and a future Keeper Elite, but we lose our only surefire way to catch this…Merc.” He explains. The other higher level Keeper nods.

“I see…it all makes sense then. But for now, we go on with the Keeper Elite, correct?” He questions.

“Correct.”

Ji is now in a new location, one not survivable by nearly anything in the universe, so hostile that it can crush a planet just by being in close proximity. With gravity so great and so condensed that it causes time to dilate, as well as immense pressure and heat. Ji is in the middle of a Neutron Star.

“Without all the extreme gravity, pressure, and temperature, this thing’s not half bad.” Ji says out loud to himself, referring to him stealing the effects of the gravity and pressure from his being so that he could survive being where he is. He looks around with an appreciative grin. “Definitely getting me one. Maybe this one.” He adds as an afterthought. Suddenly a sleek black space ship arrives right next to Ji and his possible-neutron-star. The ship is about as large as a city block and has strange symbols on it, carved in black that aren’t visible to the naked eye, but are visible to Ji. Thanks to information he stole long ago, Ji knows exactly what, and who this is.

“Huh, Keeper Elites are here.” He notices. “Is she…?” Ji wonders out loud, thinking about his childhood friend whom he missed dearly. For a moment his heart jumped and he had a feeling of excitement. But then he uses his unique thieving abilities to peer onto the ship and see who is present. He’s a bit disappointed when he doesn’t see her, but hope still fills his heart. He then uses the same ability to look for her in particular, and sees that she’s in fact on Earth still and not just backup or somewhere in space in pursuit for him. “Nope. Damn.” He says to himself, under his breath. Now he is hit with a feeling of immense disappointment, but ultimately shrugs it off. ‘Oh well, time to bounce.’ He thinks as he waves to the Keeper Elites, still in their ship.

“Nice to see you guys out here!” He yells as he instantaneously disappears, the neutron star going with him. The Keeper Elite in the ship all do a double take at the sight they just beheld. So this was what they were called here for it seemed. One of the Keeper Elite even speaks out loud, voicing the thoughts of everyone.

“What in the…how does he do that?” Asks said Keeper Elite in a distorted voice. Nobody knows outside of Ji himself.

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