Thief's Theme: A Love Story
Chapter Five

The next morning Sharia wakes up and she can already tell something is wrong. She takes a look at her phone and…yep, twelve messages, definitely another heist from Ji. She sighs and turns on the television to see exactly how far he’s gone this time. The answer makes her jaw drop and her eyes bulge. “Las Vegas Gone!” Reads the headlines as the same experts from before discuss their false logistics and far-fetched theories on who did this and how Merc did it. Come to think of it, how is Merc doing this? One doesn’t just steal an entire city. It’s not possible. And yet…here they are, scrambling to make sense out of that exact situation. Sharia rubs her temples to relieve the building stress. ‘Why couldn’t he be a simple thief?’ She wonders as she knows what she must do. She must find Ji and bring him to justice. Again.

Ji runs through the streets of New York, donned in a red jacket with a black shirt underneath, black jeans, and black and red construction boots, having the time of his life as the police chase him, trying futilely to bring him in for questioning about Las Vegas’ disappearance.

“Stop!” Screams one of the chasing officers as he reaches for his gun. The officer looks down when he feels nothing there and realizes that his gun is gone.

“What’s the matter? Cat got your gun?” Asks Ji as he grins and continues his escape, taunting the officer. Other officers try to help, having just got into the picture, but find that their guns are gone as well.

“Hehehehe!” Cackles Ji sinisterly as he revels in their confusion. Just then a police car rides up, gaining speed with its siren going. WHOOP.WHOOP. Comes the familiar sound as Ji looks back and sees his old friend, the police car, behind him. This time he manages to keep his distance on the car, as impossible as it seems, and soon has an entire squadron of cars chasing him. With a quick juke, Ji turns into traffic, making it more difficult for the cars to follow his much smaller figure. Ji makes several acrobatic maneuvers in a row, first jumping up and on top of the roof of a speeding car, then flipping off of it onto the road, then no-hands cartwheeling over a truck and running up the front of an eighteen-wheeler going the opposite direction, lying back on the roof and catching a ride. The police cars try to no avail to keep up, but once he performs his superhuman feats of agility and lands on the eighteen-wheeler, they know they’re beat. At least for now.

Ji rides the eighteen-wheeler for another few streets before rolling off of the roof and landing on his feet, opting to take a stroll through New York at a leisure pace and take in the sights. ’Hey, ain’t I near J.R.’s house?’ He thinks to himself as he looks around at the street names. ‘I am. Let’s hang with him for a sec.’ He says as he turns left and travels to his newest destination, his friend J.R.’s house.

It only takes Ji about ten minutes to reach J.R.’s house even at such a leisure pace, but by the time he gets there, he still manages to be bored out of his mind. KNOCK.KNOCK. KNOCK. He raps on the door, hoping his friend J.R. is actually home today. He hears some commotion inside the house and then after a few seconds, the door opens, revealing who else, but J.R. himself, a stocky black man with somewhat blown out hair, a mustache, and nothing on but a undershirt tank top and some shorts.

“Ji? Is that you?” Asks J.R. in a deep voice. Ji just grins and holds his arms out to his sides.

“Who else would it be fam?” He replies.

“Oh snap, that is you! Damn, son how’ve you been?” Asks J.R. genuinely surprised to see his friend.

“I’ve been good. You know, me, stay thieving on my ‘Merc’ game.” Answers Ji, a joyful smile still on his face. He steps forward and the two do a special handshake, one they developed as kids as Ji steps into his house.

“Ah, so that’s you then? Stealing them artifacts and what? Las Vegas now?” Questions J.R. as they sit down on a worn couch that sits in front of a decent sized TV with a game system in front of it.

“You know it. They don’t call me the “World’s Greatest Thief” for nothing.” Brags Ji.

“Damn, that’s tight. You always been on that Aladdin stuff. But you ain’t bring no heat here right?” J.R. asks, looking around to make sure no cops are around. Ji waves him off.

“Nah man, I wouldn’t do that to you. It’s why you haven’t seen me in a while, been too busy stealing. The heat on me’s ridiculous when they can catch me, but I’m clear right now. Plus they know better than to involve my friends or family.” Ji responds as he picks up a game controller. “And Aladdin don’t got nothing on me B’. He don’t get down how I get down, nah mean.” J.R. nods as he turns on the game.

“Yeah I get you. Can’t believe you got Five-O scared of you like that though. That kind of coverage extend to the feds too?” J.R. questions without taking his eye off the television as the game turns on. Ji shrugs.

“Not sure yet, but I’m sure somebody’s told ’em by now. And if they don’t know, they will soon.” He says as he too watches the screen intently, both preparing themselves for the game. “I’m international now baby, and deadlier than ever.” He states as he reaches over and fist bumps J.R.

“Preach.” Is all J.R. says as the two engage in a riveting battle of video games.

Ji stays for a good three hours playing video games before he says goodbye to his friend J.R. and heads back out. When he does, he notices men in black suits following behind him but keeping their distance. He also spots some all black cars and vans tailing from even further back, trying to be stealthy about it. Speaking of the feds, here they were, and it looks like he’d have to lose them too. He just hopes that they know the rules.

Ji continues walking aimlessly, not having a real destination in mind, and wanting to test how far these special agents following him will go. He walks for hours, covering the entire city, and manages to lose the men and half of the cars, but the vans were still going. He also notices a helicopter flying above that passes by every so often, about once an hour, and knows that that too belongs to them. So they were persistent to say the least, but they didn’t seem to be interested in stopping him or taking him in, only in watching them. With a grin on his face, Ji knows what he has to do: show them that you can’t watch ‘Merc’ if he doesn’t want you to. Suddenly Ji disappears from their sight, causing a minor panic as their cameras, radars, and scanners can’t find any trace of him.

“Find him dammit!” Ji can hear over the ear pieces as he stands behind the helicopter pilot, unseen. “No man just disappears out of thin air like that!” Leaning against the interior of the helicopter with a smile, Ji waits for a good ten minutes as pandemonium occurs. The helicopters try flying through the city several times, as agents and vehicles cover the ground, while snipers cover the in-between. Of course none of them find him, which simply amuses Ji to no end. With a quick sleight of hand, Ji then takes their camera footage they have of him and all the files, all the information they got on him, even in their databases. In their stead he leaves a simple message: “Merc was here.”

Ji descends from the helicopter and starts his trek back home for some rest, as it’d been a long and eventful day. WHOOP. WHOOP. Comes the sound of the police brigade, their vigor renewed after some down time in their search for him. Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Ji merely steals their cars from out under them and continues on his way home, shaking his head.

“First you take their guns, then you take their cars, and then…their women.” He says to himself, in a theatrical voice. He walks a few more blocks, getting closer to home when some…special looking men come up to him, dressed in strange black robes come up to him. Keepers.

“Thief!” Begins the first of the two men, both speaking in distorted voices.

“Mercury as they call you. You have messed with the natural balance, and continue to every day that you live!” Adds on the second of the two men.

“Breaking limits you shouldn’t!” States the first man.

“Stealing the impossible!” Exclaims the second man.

“You are to cease and desist!” Says both men in unison as they throw strange looking chains at Ji’s person. The chains are pitch black with white outlines, as if energy is radiating off of them and wrap around Ji’s body in less than a second, before he can think, constricting him and not allowing movement. Not one to let himself be trapped, Ji quickly disappears along with said chains, leaving the men empty handed.

“Track him!” Yells the first man. The second man looks at the back of his left hand and then at the palm before throwing his hand down in frustration.

“I can’t. Nothing is picking up a signal, it’s like he’s disappeared from this realm!” Conveys the second man.

“Or he’s stolen his ability to be perceived, to be tracked.” Theorizes the first man in robes.

Ji stops to chill at where else but his and Sharia’s special place at the park. He takes in the view, staring into the distance at the peaceful setting.

“Looks like it’s starting to get real.” He looks around and sees Sharia wearing her hair in braids with a dark blue jacket on over a black shirt and dark blue shorts. “And now she’s here. Great.” He mutters to himself as he turns to face her.

“Ji, I got a lot of questions for you and you’re going to answer them. At the prison. I’m taking you in.” Ji smiles at her confidence and her words but is almost forced to shake his head no.

“I’ll let you take me in later.” He starts as he looks around. “But right now, some heavy stuff is going down.” He explains as her expression changes from one of determination to one of confusion.

“Ji what are you—“ She begins to question, but he cuts her off.

“I need you to lay low Shar, because some powerful men, strange men are after me.”

“Who?” She asks, wondering if it’s perhaps the CIA, FBI, or some other government agency.

“The Keepers.” He says. “They think I’ve broken too many rules, gone too far with my stealing.” He informs her. “So give me a minute or so. After I’m done with them, you can take me in.” Sharia is still confused and voices her confusion.

“How do you—?” She tries to ask, but he cuts her off again to her annoyance.

“Stole the information.” Ji responds, tapping his head.

“That doesn’t make any sense!” She exclaims. One can’t just steal information after all. Especially not directly into their heads. Life didn’t work like that.

The two Keepers are still in the same area Ji left them in, unable to track Ji and his whereabouts. The two do converse about the information they have on him however.

“So this thief, was he born with special abilities or powers?” Asks the first Keeper.

“No sir. He just has the innate skill to steal anything. Technically nothing he does is supernatural, it just seems so.” Explains the second Keeper. The first Keeper looks distraught at this news.

“Damn, that makes this much harder. If it were supernatural…any leads?” He asks, trailing off from his previous thoughts.

“Her.” Says the second Keeper, bringing up a picture of Sharia on the back of his palm. “Sharia Ihuwaki, a childhood friend who always manages to capture him. He does escape however whenever she leaves. Should we procure her and use her as bait?”

“No.” Says the first Keeper, waving his hand. “If anything we should actually use her for what she’s worth, recruit her to our side, and let her catch him for us. Angering a thief of this caliber would be foolish and deadly.” He explains.

“Right sir.” Says the second Keeper with a nod. “Tracking her location now.”

Meanwhile, Ji and Sharia stand across from each other at the park, Ji waiting patiently for what he knows is to come and Sharia simply confused about it all.

“OK Ji, you said to give you a minute, but how long are we going to just wait here for something to—“ She’s cut off from her scolding as fifty men with strange black robes appear from nowhere, surrounding Ji and cutting off her line of sight to him. Ji immediately holds his hands up.

“I don’t fight, I steal. So please leave me alone.” He states. “I’ll return Vegas…eventually.” He ends with a grin. Sharia almost facepalms at Ji’s still playful attitude in a situation that seems so serious. The Keepers, to their credit don’t react much to the joke.

“Not acceptable, Ohiji Olezuo, you’re coming with us.” States one of the Keepers, the first man from before. Ji shrugs.

“I beg to differ but OK.” He says as in a moment every Keeper drops to the floor. Sharia’s eyes widen in alarm.

“What did you do?” She asks, worried.

“Steal their consciousness.” He answers with a shrug, putting his hands down. This only makes things worse.

“What? This isn’t making any sense Ohiji.” Sharia exclaims.

“Don’t worry, you’ll understand in due time.” Says Ji in a sagely tone. “Now you were going to arrest me?” Sharia looks unsure, her eyes somewhat gravitating towards the weird robed men on the ground.

“Are you sure it’s OK? She ponders. “Those men aren’t after you?” He gives her a confident smile.

“I’m sure.” Is all he says as he allows Sharia to slap on the handcuffs and take him to prison.

The two arrive at the prison but are immediately stopped by a black van sitting in front of the prison that cuts Sharia’s car off. Men in black suits swiftly exit the van and open the doors to Sharia’s car as they explain the situation to her.

“Officer Ihuwaki, we’re CIA. We’re taking ‘Merc’ here to a special government prison to get this thing sorted out. You’re welcome to join him, if you wish.” Speaks one of the men. With all that’s happened today, Sharia has no words and simply nods, riding in the back of the van with Ji as both are blindfolded for secrecy reasons. Well, she’s blindfolded. Ji has a bag put over his head.

It’s another hour before they reach the facility, and when they do, both are hurried out of the van, grabbed by their arms, and led into a special room: the interrogation room. They sit Ji down in the room and lead Sharia to a separate spot of the prison.

“If we need you, we’ll call for you Miss Ihuwaki. For now, let us handle this.” ‘You won’t get anything out of him!’ She wants to yell, but she doesn’t have the energy. She knows they’ll be back once Ji doesn’t cooperate, but for now she finally has some time to think over just what the hell is happening with Ji and those strange men and him stealing…things that can’t be stolen. It all threw her for a loop.

As Sharia ponders previous situations, Ji is going through a current one. The agents in the room are prepared to perform a full scale torture session to get him to return Vegas to its rightful place. The first agent to try, a man with wide shoulders and no facial hair, walks into the room with a cold aura about himself.

“Mercury, the world’s greatest thief, the one who stole the Seven Wonders of the World. And now, you’ve stolen Las Vegas. Unlike the police, we don’t care how you did it, we don’t care when you did it, or where you’re holding it. We simply want Las Vegas back where it belongs. Give us that, and we don’t have to start pulling finger nails.” He informs Ji in a serious tone. Ji merely shrugs and utters four words.

“Not going to happen.” Oh how he loves antagonizing people, especially authority figures who try to ‘interrogate him’. Unlike the policemen from before, the agent doesn’t lose his cool. He simply stares Ji down and says two words of his own.

“I see.” As he leaves the room. He returns not a minute later with what Ji knows (after stealing the information from his mind) to be a finger-nail pulling torture device. “Remember Merc, you chose this.” Laments the agent as if he actually cares. He moves closer, ready to place the device on Ji’s right pointer finger when suddenly the cuffs on Ji fly off and onto his hands instead, making him drop the device. The agent looks down at his cuffed hands in surprise and then back up at the now-uncuffed Ji. He realizes the danger and backs out of the room. Ji just grins and taunts the man.

“Welp, that was easy. Who’s next?”

Dozens of agents try to get Ji to crack, each attempting different methods. One tries waterboarding, but Ji simply disappears right before the water hits and then reappears right next to the agent commenting as he shrugs.

“I don’t like getting wet.”

Another agent ties him up to a chair with chains, cuffs, and ropes, and swings a hammer at his kneecaps, stopping a centimeter too early to try to scare him. Finally, after five swings and Ji unwavering from his position, he swings seriously, only to find himself in the chair somehow and Ji free, holding the hammer, twirling it in the air. Other agents try to hit Ji, but he simply disappears before they can connect. Others try more classified forms of torture, but each time he simply leaves or puts them in his place before anything can happen. Finally, after an hour, the agents know they’re beat and retrieve Sharia from her room. By now Sharia has come to terms with what happened earlier and is no longer silent or flustered. She walks into the room with a purpose and immediately gets settled and starts the interrogation.

“Look, I’m not sure exactly what’s happening with those men and somehow Vegas going missing but…you’ve had your fun right? Return Vegas and do your thing already Ji.” She commands him in a serious tone, whispering his name so others don’t hear it. He nods in understanding.

“Now how could I resist such a pretty face?” He says softly as he leans forward to whisper in her ear. “It’s done.” This causes Sharia to blush, but she hold it in and nods, looking back at the CIA agents.

“Go check agents, you’ll see that Vegas is back in its rightful place.” She states, now confident that Ji won’t lie to her in a situation like this. The agents scramble to find proof, some getting on the phone, others looking up pictures on a satellite, and some checking other surveillance equipment. It takes a minute or so, but they all come to the same conclusion: Vegas is back.

“OK now—“ She turns to speak, but notices that Ji is gone. She shakes her head and gets up, leaving the interrogation room. As soon as she does, the agent in charge walks up to her and offers her a handshake (which she takes) and thanks her.

“Thank you for your services Officer Ihuwaki. We couldn’t have done it with you.” He praises her truthfully. Sharia gives him a small smile, knowing his words to be true, but not wanting to say much in fear of sounding prideful or arrogant. Instead she nods and continues walking, only to be stopped by another agent. Sharia is stopped by what seems like a thousand agents, all thanking her for helping them return Las Vegas, before she finally reaches her destination: Ji’s assigned cell.

She stops at the cell, seeing the expected sight of Ji chilling inside with everything he needs to be comfortable, and walks up to the bars.

“Bye Ji.” She says softly, causing him to look her way and walk up to the bars as well, touching his fingers to her through the openings.

“Hope to see you soon.” He says with a smile. She smiles as well before turning to leave the facility. Sharia panics for a second as she realizes that she doesn’t know where she is, but the feeling is quelled by the sight of a black van and an agent waiting for her, to escort her back to her car. This time the ride is made sans the blindfold out of respect for her efforts.

Ji waits an hour after she leaves to escape, disappearing in plain sight, though Sharia has a different experience at the same time. Having had a long day, Sharia is glad to be home and steps out of her car and opens the door to her house, ready to jump into bed. As she steps in, she sees two of those strange men with the black robes, Keepers, as Ji called them, waiting for her. These men are different though as their robes are more…decorative than before with more symbols on them. Before she can figure out what to do, one of the two men speaks, greeting her with his distorted voice.

“Hello Miss Ihuwaki, have a seat.”

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