It was a hard life for a police officer. Alexander Nikos was described as the perfect cop; a perfect record, always willing to work, every case that he was involved with ended with in the perp behind bars or helping them bust bigger fish. There was only one blemish in his perfect record, and even though he didn't care about the record, he cared about the criminal that was still free. Spanning the decades Nikos spent on the force, he could never crack that one mystery: The Phantom Thief.

A man that made a mockery of the Vale Police Force everytime he announced his next heist. His modus operandi was always the same, he would send a signed letter with the name of a jewel he would steal and even the exact time of said theft. He always kept his word, everytime he would appear in his bright white tuxedo, pants, shoes and even a white top hat. If he didn't know any better, one could compare the suit to that of a magician.

After the first few times, this thief kept the same style of crime, like he was giving them every chance to see him coming, from his mannerisms to all the stunts he would partake in needlessly.

All of it seemed to scream 'NOTICE ME!" Even with so much time to prepare for their guest, the VPD would always be lacking in one department or another.

Somehow that thief would slip through his iron grip and flash his cocky smile while he escaped. Even in his older age, he could still remember the time he thought he could close that last file.

Rushing through the Emerald Building's top floors, Alexander Nikos could see the smile on the thief's face. No expense was spared this time, no matter what happened, the Phantom Thief had finally met his match. Nikos had clipped his wings with helicopters, shutting down any air escape and with their spotlights, removed any chances of him slipping into the roof's shadows. Each one of the entrances had personally assigned officers to guard the doors, even ensuring that those officers were in plain view of the camera in case one of them was picked off. All of the officers had secret passwords that ensured the thief couldn't just switch places with one of them. Even the outside of the building had other snipers ready to fire tranquilizer darts on sight. Last but not least, his target the "Champion's Heart" was safely guarded by both laser systems and his own men.

The gold circlet had a special addition that would trigger any metal detectors in case anyone tried to sneak it out. A separate addition would trigger a silent alarm if anyone dared move it from the case which housed it. Apart from the additions, the circlet was encrusted with what seemed like emerald diamonds. Each diamond came from the Earth itself, and when placed under the gaze of the sun, they would shine green. All of them double checked and ensured so even the priceless diamonds couldn't be smuggled. All he had to do was catch up to the trapped animal.

Even with all the tables turned on him, the thief still tried to cause a slip up, "All this for me Nikos?! You really shouldn't have! I much prefer keeping our dates discrete!" Nikos laughed at his comments, "If your idea of discrete is shouting from the rooftops where you're going to be then you shouldn't ask for privacy! Although I can be persuaded to make your next room as private as you want! Only in death can you escape the long arm of justice!"

His eyes kept on the running thief, his white cape flapping behind him as he ran. Each step would bring him closer to where he could almost reach the cape. It was only a sudden turn into the staircase that kept him out of reach. Before Nikos could react, his opponent jumped into the open space the rectangular staircase had, allowing him a freefall. Nikos could only smile as his drop was stopped by one of the nets his men had placed every three floors to prevent this kind of escape.

The police captain jumped still chasing his prey with a predatory grin, 'That's right Crescent, I managed to take all our history and make this a fool-proof prison for you. No one gets out of here without my knowledge. Today is the day I'll slap those cuffs on you!'

Crescent, the thief, could only fumble around as he noticed the steel locking gates that covered the outside of the glass. Even crashing his entire body into the glass would only have him bounce back onto the floor as the iron cradle would easily prevent any jump. As the ideas started to form, each precaution seemed to be taken. HIs normal flight would be stopped by the helicopters and his ability to "shapeshift" was hurt as each one of the police was always with someone else, leaving no stragglers behind. His movements were restricted by the level of police presence on every floor and smoke bombs could only work if he could use the shadows, which the kind officers thought to leave none behind. He was running out of options quickly and even if he managed to escape Nikos, his men were everywhere.

Panting as his stamina was slowly declining, he still needed to find a way to escape with the target. The only way he could leave here was with a distraction big enough to overwhelm all the senses and maybe even disturb the police force itself. If only a dead man could escape him, then so be it.

Nikos followed him to the best of his abilities, knowing Crescent had no other way out. Other officers would call out when one of them saw the criminal. Following their call out, he started to make his way through the Emerald Building Museum. It wasn't very long before he came face to face with him once more.

He decided to stay in the ballroom of the upper floors, the area was essentially a giant box, he had no idea what was running through his head, but he didn't care. This was his time, 10 out of his 15 years in the force, dedicated to him, and finally his efforts would blossom.

He could be surrounded by blue, but that damned smirk on his lips wouldn't die. He wore it proudly, casually twirling the circlet in his hands. His feet together, his back as straight as he could, but somewhat making it seem casual.

With his smirk still plastered across his face, he spoke "Officer Nikos! Glad to see you can still keep up! While I am glad we can have these chats, I must admit I grow bored. Not of you! Never of you of course, but this cat and mouse game we play must come to close someday. Maybe one day we can pick this game up another time in the future?"

Nikos scoffed at his words, "There won't be a future for you! I'll put you behind bars tonight!" Crescent could only laugh "I'll leave the Champions Heart here for you, but I will come back for it. What good are cops when there is no crime? All you need to do is come and get it."

Nikos raised his taser gun up to the thief who seemed to put the circlet down and back away from it. While he reached out for the artifact, he moved his eyes away from the thief for a single moment in order to properly grab the Heart.

No attacks or no movement was detected, everything seemed like everything was going well until his radio practically shouted at him, "Crescent is on the move! I see him heading to the roof using the stairs!"

HIs eyes shot upward, finding the thief smile as he now held a police radio in his hands. He didn't notice that his fingers were touching the cold floor. It took a moment of realization before he connected the pieces together and lunged at him, attempting to knock him down, to bring him into his grasp hoping that he was wrong in his thoughts. For all the effort that his tackle used, he was rewarded by passing through Crescent as his holographic smirk came once more. "I never said where here was. You know what they say though right? Pride comes before the fall."

With energy that he didn't know he even had anymore he pushed himself up the stairs. His destination was the roof of the building, as his feet carried him upwards, he noticed some of the younger officers waiting for the elevators. He didn't tell anyone in fear that Crescent would somehow know, but the elevators were all locked on the first floor to make sure that no one was able to use them. Some of his men followed him into the stairs and as they stormed the roof they could hear the helicopters getting closer to the building, their lights no longer illuminating the rooftop, only one man.

His nerves seemed to settle themselves as he witnessed the thief's shocked expression. His usual escape plan of jumping off the building was shot. It only took a few seconds before his deployed cape/paraglider dragged him towards the end of the roof as the helicopters winds made an aerial escape impossible.

He quickly disengaged his paraglider, reverting it back to a cape. "Sir! The helicopters are preventing the snipers from taking their shot! There's too much wind!"

Nikos shook his head, "He's trapped and cornered, it's over for him." With a large squad of 10 men by his side, all of them pointed their guns at him. Crescent's reckoning was finally at hand, and Nikos could only smile as a newscopter flew past them, recording his triumph.

Crescent looked away, his face going from his cocky smile into one of realizations and slowly falling. He knew he was done, his idea of the roof escape was his most obvious to Nikos, which meant he would use it, probably thinking that no one would expect an aerial escape due to how often it was used. Crescent tossed the Champion's Heart back to him and raised his hands, revealing them empty.

"Looks like the game is over huh? It's such a shame, isn't it Officer Nikos?"

Before anyone could move, a single gunshot was heard as clear as day. As the sound rang in their ears, Crescent's eyes widened as he looked down, his white as snow suit was slowly being ruined by red. He covered his suit stain with his hand seemingly in a trance.

Without waiting for a response from the officers, all of them still in shock, he fell back. Gravity taking a hold of him, dragging from from the roof of the 20-story building. The helicopters kept all their lights on Crescent's white, tracing his descent. It was only the concrete of the city that stopped the descent. The police quickly scattered from the roof trying to reach the floor. The snipers packed and left their stations, seeing how their job was done and Officer Nikos and his team made their way down.

'Crescent is dead?'

It was the only thought that seemed to plague his mind, the shock of the event so strong that only the shaking of his Sergeant Summer Rose snapped him out of it. "You need to see this sir."

Already surrounded by police tape and several officers were starting to move people away from the "crash site", Nikos could see the white that his rival always wore, the suit part of it was more red than white by this point.

Nikos noticed his chest start to fall in, taking the last breath he would ever take. Nikos took this time to take off his hat only to notice that his chest kept falling in, more than should be possible. His chest wasn't falling, it was deflating!

Without a word, he tried to swat away the hat from his head, only to find it stuck on his head, and much heavier than anyone should have expected. When he did uncover Crescent's face, the only face he saw staring back was one made with a marker and its' tongue sticking out at him.

The night was soon filled with the roar of Nikos, "CREEEEESCENT!"

The man was brought back to his own time as he sighed heavily. He may not have been able to stop him, but he knew he had the best of the best alongside him now. His eyes stopped at his favorite photograph.

Three women were smiling back at him, all of them in police uniforms, each one of them half hugging each other, sporting peace signs with their hands. The first was a tall, blonde woman whose hair could be described as a waterfall of gold and her smile infectious to the squad. The second, his own daughter, with her hair as vibrant red as his, her long hair tied into a ponytail, and the girl in the middle of the picture was a new addition. Her short black hair ended with red tips and her smile was the biggest he had ever seen. She reminded him of her mother, now Captain Rose. The read the captions they had handwritten on the bottom.

"OFFICER ROSE JOINS OUR RANKS!"