At the lobby of Jubilee House, there weren’t many people, but Scar couldn’t place most of the faces. He was already caught between the discomfort of his formal dress, and as if that wasn’t bad enough, Loki couldn’t stop introducing himself to everyone in sight, leaving Scar with no choice but to follow.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

It was a masquerade event, and while many of the tycoons recognized each other through their masks, none of them were willing to show their faces to the rest of the room.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

It tilted to Scar’s advantage, but it had its downsides too. There were people here he’d want to avoid, Lotus Morales being one of them, but behind a mask, he might end up walking right past the bastard.

After wrapping up a cheerful conversation with someone Loki had claimed was the CEO of an agriculture company, Loki leaned in toward Scar and spoke.

"So my mission is just to buy the Mona Lisa? Really? Are you sure that’s necessary? Feels like a waste... the Rangers couldn’t care less about paintings like that."

Loki had a point. But there was no other way. This was what they had planned, and as long as they stuck with it, things would go fine.

"Don’t concern yourself with that. Everything will be fine. Just buy it, whatever it takes."

Loki smirked and whispered.

"Don’t forget to get what you came for. Amber can win against Ray... just don’t expect her to come out unscathed."

He’d been thinking the same thing. The Mona Lisa was the first piece up for auction, and they were only thirty minutes away from it starting.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Somewhere in the room was a group planning to steal the Mona Lisa portrait, which meant they actually had to steal it first. That’s why Loki had to secure the painting no matter what it cost.

"Amber must confront Ray. If she refuses, Ray will be in serious trouble with the Romans for conspiring against them. Victory isn’t the goal, her mission is to make sure the fight happens."

Loki narrowed his eyes.

"That’s unbecoming of you, Morningstar. Shouldn’t you feel some unease around your own guardian? Ray may not have Amber’s skills, but she’s a seasoned fighter, the very one who trained Amber. One solid punch from her can shake a mountain."

Scar sneered. He still had no idea what Loki was truly after, but there was no other way around it. Technically, Ray couldn’t go against Scar, she was bound to obey every Rover’s orders, but the Romans already knew she was here, and if she failed to prevent the heist, she’d face punishment for it.

The Romans had no idea about Amber’s presence. She was in disguise, tasked with keeping Ray occupied.

Despite being a nun herself, bound by the same obedience to the Romans, this was a path she had chosen. Ray was the only one there on her level, and all she had to do was give Ray an alibi to keep her out of trouble.

"Oh, there..."

Loki hurriedly motioned toward someone in the distance.

"There’s the chairman of the Anomaly Groups. We should acknowledge him. You don’t want anyone thinking we’re suspicious, do you?"

Tiring as it was, Scar had no choice but to comply. Being a highly ranked noble came with its perks and its frustrations, and Loki seemed right at home with it. His father was the first head of the family, after all.

The moments that followed were one greeting to the next, and Loki, being Arthur’s successor, was pulling more attention than even he wanted at that point.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Through it all, Scar’s eyes scanned the room. Herd, Crook, and Bend had already moved to the second hall, disguises and all. Those three were supposed to pave the path for Scar to reach the vault when the time came.

Purple called it a feint tactic, just slightly more detailed than that. Scar had less than twenty minutes from when the auction started to get his hands on the Chosen One tablet, and everything hinged on the first group of the diversion, the party of three.

Soon, ten minutes stood between them and the start of the auction. Following the instructions of the guards: Akumas, nuns, and Royal Knights alike, they made their way to the second hall of the Jubilee House.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

On the podium was the Mona Lisa painting, sealed in an impenetrable translucent glass, which was already enough to suggest it was a fake. Beside it stood the auctioneer, flanked by three guards.

The moment Scar laid eyes on the auctioneer, his expression shifted into something sharp. The big stomach, the way he carried himself like he owned the entire world, it was Lotus Morales.

That only meant one thing. Dain had stepped in to make sure things wouldn’t go smoothly for them.

Loki leaned in slightly and spoke:

"Scar, watch out. He’s staring at you. See that creepy smile? He already knew where you’d sit."

"He’s not going to make it easy for you to get the painting."

Loki nodded positively.

"Relax. I know exactly what needs to be done."

Scar steeled himself and waited. The first diversion hinged on Loki getting his hands on the Mona Lisa painting, but the trick was that he wasn’t going to pay for it, the party of three had to steal it.

If things went otherwise, Loki wouldn’t be able to stall for Scar, there’d be no commotion to make about a possession being stolen right before his eyes.

’Great, it’s starting...’

Lotus kicked off the auction with an awfully long speech, throwing out vague reasons for why the Mona Lisa should be sold first and why the painting couldn’t be seen clearly outside its translucent casing. But everyone in that room knew the real reason. It was a stolen item.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The aristocrats around them were enjoying every bit of the boring speech, and even Loki was getting into it, that alone made Scar’s blood boil with impatience.

But as if things couldn’t get more irritating, the moment the auction began, someone opened with ten gold. That alone was enough to make even the richest men among them leap out of their seats.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"Loki... they’re clearly trying to stop us from buying it. Do something!"

For the most part, Loki was silent, listening as the price climbed to seventy gold. It seemed like that was as far as it would go, and even Scar was panicking. This was a facade, but if it didn’t hold and they had to pay seventy gold, the Rangers wouldn’t take it lightly.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Loki smiled.

"All you need to do is make sure this works out."

Scar was dazed, but before he could even speak, Loki announced his price.

"150 gold."

That was outrageous. An amount like that would leave the Rovers in a dire situation, bankruptcy wasn’t even off the table.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

For the first time through all of this, Scar panicked. But Loki only smiled, watching as Lotus, who looked terrified on Loki’s behalf, sealed the deal.

"It’s secured. Now all that remains is to stir up a commotion... that is, if they’re clever enough to target the real painting."

Scar gulped bile.

Loki rose to his feet and requested his assets, and he headed toward a room for the real Mona Lisa.

Scar had no idea who the other party was or whether they were even capable of stealing a painting at an event this tightly controlled. The thought alone made him uneasy.

’A scream, some curses, anything... just show me this was a success. I’m begging you.’

While his heart hammered and his legs wouldn’t stay still, a loud outburst rang out, and a burst of flames tore through the room down the corridor to the left.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Scar shot to his feet in excitement as Loki came bursting out of the room, furious, his hands engulfed in flames.

"How dare you mess with a Rover! No pride at all? Or did you really think I couldn’t afford it? Where’s my property?!"

Loki was restrained almost instantly, but the commotion had already spread panic through the crowd, and Scar was on the verge of screaming in excitement.

But time was the thief here, and he had twelve minutes at most to retrieve the Chosen One tablet.

Through the commotion to his left, he caught sight of his men down the corridor, dressed in waiter attire. That was his signal to move.