The Carbonneau Manor was aflush with light. The great, three-storey mansion was styled like a Gothic cathedral. It stood in the middle of an opulent garden, which in turn was surrounded by a tall brick wall that shielded the property from the prying eyes of the public. A wrought iron gate formed an entrance to the grounds, currently wide open and flanked by a pair of private security guards. A servant stood with them, checking invites as guests made their way through.

The family made their way through the gates, dressed in formal attire and looking around the courtyard. The triplets each wore identical black suits, differentiated only by their headfeathers and the colours of their ties, which were red, blue and green respectively. Scrooge donned a black dinner jacket over a red and white suit and bowtie, while Bentina wore a dark violet dress, a pearl necklace, and a pair of glasses that were more rounded than her normal spectacles.

"…So… this is where this Carbonneau guy lives." Dewey said slowly as they made their way in. He looked around the garden and the manor that sat in the middle of it, commenting, "Not gonna lie, this place looks pretty neat."

"Bah! All of these pretentious palaces are the same!" Scrooge sneered, looking around the grounds with distaste. He gestured towards the centrepiece of the courtyard, a large stone sculpture of a male duck in the attire of a Napoleonic general. "The gaudiness on display here… Whoever the architect behind this house should've been taught a thing or two about humility!"

"The fountain in front of your house is literally filled with gold." Bentina told him pointedly.

"Ah… well… it's not real gold…" Scrooge chuckled with a guilty smile. He looked around the courtyard, asking her, "You said the lasses would meet us here?"

"Supposedly." Bentina replied, frowning as she scanned the courtyard in front of her. "I didn't see them out the front, however… it's possible that they haven't arrived yet."

"…Hey."

The family turned around, almost as one unit. Standing near one of the hedges were the girls, looking back at them with varying degrees of apprehension. Webby and the twins were each wearing identical, sleeveless dresses that flowed into a knee-length skirt from the waist down. Like the boys, their outfits differed only by their respective colours. Lena had adopted her magical, blue and white sorceress costume, sans the cape, and was simply leaning against the hedge, giving Scrooge and Bentina a challenging glare.

Scrooge narrowed his eyes at the girls as they approached, though his voice betrayed his lack of surprise. "Ah, hello May, June. I seem to recall tellin' you two to stay put at the hotel?"

June flinched at his tone before straightening up and looking back at him with resolution. "…We're not going to be excluded anymore." She told him.

"Got a problem with it?" May asked impudently, her arms folded across her chest.

"Well, I'm certainly not lookin' forward to explainin' this to your mother." Scrooge muttered, rubbing his temples. "…But, I cannae very well force you to leave."

Bentina stepped forward, her glare one of flat disapproval. "If you two are insisting on interfering with the mission, then you'll be stationed on lookout duty out here with Webby and Lena. It'll look too suspicious if all of us go inside."

Webby had been standing next to Lena, apprehensively looking up at her grandmother. After Bentina spoke, however, she stepped forward with an intense look on her face, even as May opened her beak in outrage.

"They're not interfering." Webby retorted angrily. "They want to help. Let them!"

"If this was any other mission, I would, but the stakes are too high to take unnecessary risks!" Bentina told her in a low voice. Looking over the four girls, she frowned and asked, "How did you even get in? You don't have the invites."

"Oh, we just charmed our way past the guard." Lena drawled. "As in, I literally, magically charmed them for, like, an hour. So hopefully that talisman shows up before the spell wears off."

"Before…?" Bentina pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed in frustration. "This is exactly what I'm talking about. What the four of you are doing is jeopardising the plan by adding purposeless complications!"

"A plan that is going to go wrong anyway, like all of our plans do!" Webby protested. "I can't think of a single one of our plans that we didn't have to abandon halfway through because the bad guy did something we didn't expect-!"

"You don't know that it'll-!"

"Bentina, Webby, that's enough." Scrooge told them gently, interrupting both of them. "Standin' out here, bickerin' all night, that will jeopardise the plan." He turned to May and June, telling them, "You can come into the auction, provided that you stay with the lads and don't cause a scene. Understand?"

"Yes!" June said quickly, excitement flashing in her eyes. "Yes, thank you!"

"…Sure." May shrugged, rolling her eyes. "I guess it's better than nothing."

Scrooge turned back to the boys, who were quietly watching the argument. "You boys good with that?" He asked them, though it was more a command than a question. They each quickly uttered their affirmations, and Scrooge nodded, satisfied. He turned back around to the girls, and said, "Alright… let's get movin' then! Webby, Lena, remember – if you see anythin', let us know immediately."

Lena gave him a mock salute, some of her tenseness leaving her. "You got it, capn'."

"…Yeah." Webby mumbled, still glaring up at Bentina. She looked away first, saying, "…Thanks, dad."

"Don't mention it, lass."

Bentina frowned at May and June as they approached, but she didn't say anything further. She followed the rest of the family into the mansion, stepping through the light-filled doorway and leaving Webby and Lena behind to keep watch.

The mansion was as opulent on the inside as it was on the outside. Persian rugs were laid out across a fine wooden floor, the walls painted an immaculate white, and various pieces of antique furniture sat along the walls. A staircase spiralled upwards to an overlooking balcony, and a chandelier provided ample illumination for the room. Artifacts of all shapes and sizes decorated the walls and stood on the desks, from ancient papyrus artworks to Mayan statues crafted from stone. Whoever Carbonneau was, it seemed he was bit of a collector.

At a glance, there were twelve or fourteen guests in the room, along with three servants dressed in red tuxedo vests. One of the servants, a thin, regal-looking dalmatian, noticed the family enter, and immediately stepped forward to greet them.

"Evenin'." Scrooge tipped his top hat towards the servant as he approached. "Scrooge McDuck, arrivin' here with my 'plus-ones'."

"Ah, Monsieur McDuck." The servant bowed respectfully as he spoke. "The master wishes to greet each of his guests before the auction starts, but he was waylaid by another guest. I hope you won't mind waiting until…?"

"Not at all! I'm curious to meet him myself." He turned to the kids and told them, "You lot can 'mill around' for now. This'll only take a moment."

The servant narrowed his eyes at the teenagers. "Will your grandchildren be joining the auction, monsieur?"

"…No. My nephews will just watch, is all. Wanted to show them how these things work, you see. I hope that's fine?"

The servant nodded. "I see no problem, so long as they do not disturb the auction. Excuse me – I must inform the master of your arrival."

With that, the servant bowed out and left them in the foyer. Scrooge leant over to the closest of his nephews and said quietly, "The auction room won't open until the auction actually starts. Until then, try to remain inconspicuous."

The kids nodded, each saying something in agreement. Louie took it upon himself to step forward, spreading his arms out to the mansion with a smirk. "Alright, guys." He said to his fellow teenagers. "Let me show you how to mingle with high society."

"Pfft." Dewey snorted as they followed him. "Yeah, you have such a great track record with that…"

Scrooge watched the kids make their way into the crowd, waiting until they were out of the room before looking up at Bentina. She stood ramrod stiff, her hands clasped behind her back and a statuesque expression upon her face. With a sigh, Scrooge took off his glasses and brought a handkerchief out of his pocket to clean them.

"…Far be it from me to critique your parentin' style, Mrs. Beakley," Scrooge remarked quietly as he polished the spectacles. "But I feel as if you were bein' a tad harsh on poor Webby."

"Yes!" Bentina hissed angrily, glaring down at him. "I am being harsh, because I am the only person here who seems to understand what's at stake here!"

"Everything that these kids have been through, you think they don't understand?" Scrooge probed her, putting his glasses back on and fixing her with a judging stare. "If they weren't takin' this seriously-!"

"The fact that May and June are even here is proof of that!" Bentina snapped. "Missions like this rely on discipline, and you are encouraging a complete lack thereof!"

"I'm treating them like kids, Beakley. You're treating them like soldiers."

Bentina glared hotly at him for a moment, then turned away.

Scrooge's expression softened. "I know that you're worried. I'm just as scared that we'll fail as you are. But fighting with the kids won't help that. All it'll do is make them resent us. So, May and June are disobeyin' the rules. We work around that, not against it."

Scrooge looked up to see someone emerging from one of the upper rooms, being led out by the servant they'd spoken to before. He returned his gaze to an even level, and added quietly, "I know better than anyone how easy it is to push your family away. I don't want to see it happen to either of us again."

"…This isn't the time to discuss this." Bentina said bluntly. "The same way this isn't the time to talk about what you said at the hotel. When this is over, we can discuss our parenting methods as much as you want." She said firmly, cutting across his attempted interruption. "For now, we focus. On. The mission."

Reluctantly, Scrooge backed down. He turned his attention toward the person who was now stepping down the stairs towards them and walked over to greet him. Bentina followed him after taking a moment to re-compose herself.

The man was a white duck with dark headfeathers swept back and a pencil dark moustache on the tip of his beak. He wore a tan-coloured tweed jacket, contrasted by a gold-yellow tie that was tucked tightly into his vest. He wore a polite, trained smile, and his posture betrayed a pride that Scrooge associated with French aristocracy. Already deciding that he didn't like the gentleman, Scrooge adopted his own mask of politeness as the two of them drew nearer.

"Ah, bonjour, Scrooge McDuck." The man said to him, his voice deep and rich. "I am Victor Carbonneau, chairman of the Paris Archaeological Society. It is an honour to finally meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well." Scrooge replied, extending his hand out.

Carbonneau turned toward Bentina with the same smile and asked, "And who might you be, madame?"

"Bentina Beakley, Mr. McDuck's assistant." Bentina replied with ease, a façade of friendliness on her face.

"Ah, one of the 'plus ones' you mentioned in your reply?" Carbonneau asked, looking around the room. "And where might be the nephews that you mentioned?"

"Oh, they're somewhere around here. Took off as soon as we arrived." Scrooge replied dismissively. "Don't worry, they won't break anythin'." He looked around at the various relics that had been put on display around the room. "I must say, this is an impressive little collection you have here. That papyrus you have up there, cannae be any younger than two-thousand years!"

"Ah, thank you. I have, ah… somewhat of a hobby, collecting antiquities." Carbonneau replied. "I've always had an interest in the ancient world, and these relics give us an insight into the past in ways that mere texts cannot." He smirked in amusement. "Though, I am sure my collection pales in comparison to yours."

"Ah, well… that's not a fair comparison." Scrooge replied, waving his hand. Curious and wary, he asked, "The prizes you're selling in this auction… they're from your own collection?"

"Oh, no, monsieur." Carbonneau chuckled, shaking his head. "No, the items in tonight's catalogue were recovered from a very recent excavation that we conducted in Turkey. All found in a stone tomb, hidden in the mountains, that contained nothing but artifacts collected from the world over."

Bentina raised an eyebrow at him. "I wasn't aware that an archaeological body in Paris had operations in Turkey."

"Eh…" Carbonneau shrugged. "This was… 'off the books', as the saying goes. Not even the museums know about them yet."

"That's certainly an interesting tale…" Scrooge murmured, frowning in thought as he remembered the items on the catalogue, each from a different time period. "How did all of those relics end up in the mountains of Turkey?"

"A fascinating mystery, is it not?" Carbonneau said with a twinkle in his eye. "Sadly, we may never know the answer. All we can do is speculate at the possibilities."

There was one possibility that seemed to spring to Scrooge's mind. He'd always suspected that the Talisman of the Tarrasque was lost to time to prevent anyone from ever finding it. This tomb, this ancient vault, was likely the original place where the Talisman had been hidden – and it wasn't unlikely that the other items that had been locked away with it were of a similarly dangerous nature.

"…How exactly did you stumble across this tomb?" Scrooge asked curiously.

"Ah… that would not have been possible without the aid of a friend of yours…" Carbonneau replied. "He helped me find the tomb's location, assisted with the excavation, even suggested the idea of putting the items up for auction… he insisted that I invite you to this event, as a matter of fact."

"…Did he, now?" Scrooge replied slowly, his eyes narrowed. "Who-?"

Before he could finish the question, the front door was thrown open with a violent bang, causing all the guests to jump in alarm as a deep, boisterous voice roared, "FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD!"

Scrooge and Bentina spun around in shock, staring at who had just exploded through the door. Standing at the entrance, sporting a manic grin and a generally dishevelled appearance, was…

"…Eh, yes." Carbonneau said with a wince, gesturing towards the new guest. "Monsieur Glomgold."

Scrooge stared in disbelief as Glomgold waddled over towards him, a look of triumph upon his face. This was the most haggard Scrooge had ever seen his old rival. The suit he was wearing was ragged and torn at the seams, and the false beard he wore was frayed and all over the place. There were bags under his eyes, his feathers were a mess, but despite all of this, he still bore his trademarked victorious, prideful gait.

Whoever's behind this wanted us to see them succeed…

Like… did someone orchestrate this?

Who'd be crazy enough to end the world?

"Surprised to see me, Scrooge?" Glomgold gloated, glaring up at him with a mocking expression. "Me, your greatest rival, here to steal the one relic that you were never able to find? That's right, Scrooge… I know exactly what you're here for…" He whispered, a dark glint to his eye. "And once I steal it out from yer grasp, I will use its power to finally defeat you, and become the richest duck in the world!"

And then, Glomgold laughed a booming, villainous laugh, unaware or uncaring about the many pairs of eyes that were now staring at him.

"…I have to go." Carbonneau muttered quickly. "I have other guests to speak with."

With that, the wealthy duck turned and left, the three old enemies left standing in the foyer with everyone's attention focused directly on them. After a moment, the other guests returned to their conversations, though quite a few eyes remained on them.

"Oh, I bet it's eatin' you up, Scrooge…" Glomgold said with an evil grin. "How exactly did 'little old Glomgold' manage to find the Talisman of the Tarrasque?"

"…Flinty…" Scrooge murmured aghast, taking a step away.

"Well, let me tell you!" Glomgold declared. "I found it in a manual for a board game or somethin'. And it only cost me sixty dollars! Ha!" He stepped forward to get his face all up in Scrooge's. "I contracted Carbonneau to dig it out for me. I was the one who told him to auction it, and I was the one who told him to invite you! It wasn't enough for me to hold the Talisman in me hands, to feel the raw power flowin' through it. I wanted you to see me hold it. I wanted you to see, once and for all, that I had bested you!"

"…So you decided to hold it for auction? Where anyone could buy it?" Bentina asked.

"Aye!" Glomgold replied. "Genius, innit?"

"Not the word I would use…" Bentina replied evenly.

"I cannae believe you, Flinty…" Scrooge said, looking at his rival a distaste as if he'd noticed him for the first time. "I wanted to believe that even you weren't mad enough to want this… this is…"

"Mad? You think I'm mad, Scrooge?" Glomgold growled. "This innae madness, Scrooge. This is the ultimate payback!"

"You're seriously willin' to end the world?" Scrooge snarled. "All because I cheated you out of a dollar?"

"End the world?" Glomgold blinked, then chuckled. "Oh, no, Scrooge. I'm going to use the tarrasque to rule the world! Whoever owns the Talisman owns the beast… and with the beast, I'm-"

"Owns the-? The Talisman doesn't control the tarrasque, you barmy buffoon!" Scrooge almost shouted at him. "It's a key to a lock, not a-!"

"Don't try to get into my head, Scrooge!" Glomgold roared. "I'm not fallin' for it! No… this is a night of victory! My victory! After tonight, I'm going to show you… I'll show you, and Owlson, and Harrison, and everyone else who dared to call Flintheart Glomgold a fool!"

He grinned a madcap grin at Scrooge. "I hope you've brought plenty of cash, McDuck… you're going to need it."

With that, he laughed once more and walked away, making his way for the auction room. Scrooge watched him leave, staring at him with disbelief.

"…So… still think I'm being too strict?" Bentina asked snidely.

"He has no idea…" Scrooge said faintly. "He doesn't even realise what he's tryin' to do!"

"Nor will he listen to reason." Bentina added. She took a deep breath, then exhaled as discipline took over. "Alright. We know for a fact that he can't outbid us, so he'll try to steal it once the auction is over. Stay on point."

"…Right… yes, the mission…" Scrooge muttered, still looking in the direction his rival had sauntered off in. He had beaten Glomgold a dozen times over, he reminded himself. This was no different. Whatever cockamamie plan Glomgold had cooked up, he and the family would thwart it like they'd done so many times before.

Despite this, he couldn't help but feel a sense of dread building up within him. And with that dread came a sharp headache in his temple.

"Hey."

Webby blinked and looked up at Lena. "Hm?"

"You doin' alright?" Lena asked.

"…Yeah." Webby replied quietly. The two of them were slowly walking through the manor grounds, passing by neatly trimmed hedges as they made their way towards the window of the auction room. "Just… worried about May and June, that's all."

"And that got you riled up with Mrs B?" Lena replied sceptically. "I don't wanna pry, but I don't think I've seen you shout at her before. Like, ever."

"Ugh." Webby groaned. "It's nothing, just… there's no discussion with her when she's like this! Like, I get it, she used to be a spy… but when she's on the mission, it's like that's the only thing that matters to her! She doesn't think about anything else, or listen to anyone else… like, how can she not see how May and June want to help? How can she say that they're gonna interfere with the mission? They're just as skilled as I am, why…?"

Webby closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "…I just can't talk to her when she's like this." She muttered. "She'll be fine once this is all over, but until then…"

"…So apart from that, everything generally good between you two?" Lena asked.

Webby frowned at that question, turning to look at Lena. "Yeah. Why?"

"Just checkin'." Lena replied with a shrug. "So, what are we looking out for? Just generally weird stuff?"

The two girls drew closer to the window, an enormous twelve-foot tall glass portal from which bright light poured out of and muffled conversation filtered through. The grounds were abandoned, not a guard in sight, although a pair of security cameras kept watch from above the window.

"…Uh… I guess." Webby replied uncertainly. "I'll keep a look out down here, you look out up above."

"Eh… you really wanna risk getting spotted by those?" Lena asked, pointing at the cameras.

"What? We're not doing anything wrong."

"What, patrolling outside a house you don't live in? That's classic suspicious behaviour. No… I think it would be better if we both had an aerial view."

Webby gasped as she felt a magical force suddenly lift her off of the ground, enveloped by an aura of arcane blue. Gently, she rose, and Lena rose with her, ascending above the maze-like hedges and up to the grey slate roof upon the top of the house.

That's when she saw it. The golden cityscape of Paris at night, streets of light connecting with one another like a brilliantly radiant web. The light-covered arches of the Eiffel Tower towered over the city like an enormous golden lighthouse, drawing attention to it in a way that no other building could. It was truly a spellbinding sight, so awe-inspiring that all Webby could do was whisper, "Wow…"

"Yeah…" Lena murmured in reply, similarly enraptured. "I didn't remember it being this beautiful."

The two of them hovered in the air for a moment, simply taking in the view. Slowly, Lena levitated the two of them backwards, onto the roof itself. They sat beside each other, staring out over the network of light underneath the stars.

Webby turned to look at Lena. She looked positively spellbinding, illuminated only by the faint magical glow that shone from her outfit. She was gazing out to the city, holding one of her legs to her chest, her azure-blue eyes casually scanning the grounds below. Webby felt an unconscious smile rise to her beak as the two of them shared this moment together. It was the perfect moment, even.

A perfect moment to confess.

But…

Webby's smile faded as she remembered what they were supposed to be doing. She turned away and tried to focus on scanning for intruders, but to no avail. She had distracted herself now, and a feeling of despondency had taken root in her heart.

"…Alright. Spill it." Lena sighed, turning back to her. "What's up?"

Webby blinked, then shook her head. "It's… it's nothing."

"Uh, huh. Is that why you're not spouting theories about who's behind this, what the tarrasque can do, or whatever?"

"Well… you know what it is. You were in my T&T game, remember?"

"Uh, uh. You can't deflect by reminding me how you trashed us in that game." Lena smirked at her. Her expression changed to one of concern. "Come on, Pink. Something's obviously bothering you. You can trust me to keep it between us, whatever it is."

"It's… I…" Webby hesitated, then sighed. "…There was something I wanted to talk to you about. Like, while we were on this adventure. But now that we're actually doing this… I don't think I can." She admitted. Pulling up one knee, she murmured sadly, "…It'll just distract us."

"…Something you wanted to talk about?"

"Something I wanted to tell you."

"…Right…" Lena looked at her in a strange, quizzical way. "And you can't tell me because…?"

There was no way to answer that question without giving it away. Shaking her head, Webby replied evasively, "…It's just not the right time." She gave Lena a small, reassuring smile as she told her, "…Maybe I'll tell you tonight, when all of this is over."

"…Yeah." Lena replied slowly. "Maybe that's a good idea."

They returned to their vigil in quiet. Below them, they could hear the sounds of people entering the auction room, accompanied by muffled conversation. The wind breezed through Webby's headfeathers as she watched the garden below, watching for any sign of activity. Seeing nothing, she looked out toward the streets beyond the estate walls, where she could see a group of three or four figures standing nearby a parked car. Other than that, the street was deserted.

Below, she could hear the auction going underway. The exact words were inaudible, but there was no mistaking the distinct sound of a gavel hammer against a wooden plaque. Even so, there was no sign of activity.

"See anything?" Webby asked.

"Nah, just those guys over there." Lena replied, pointing over to the small group Webby had noticed before. "I mean, they could be who we're looking out for, but they're not doing anything yet."

"Maybe the guy behind this isn't trying to take the Talisman at the auction." Webby suggested. "Maybe they're planning to ambush and steal it from whoever buys it."

"Could be." Lena shrugged. "Anything's possible at this poi-"

A loud sound interrupted her. The sound of over a dozen people gasping in shock and muttering amongst themselves. The two girls blinked in confusion, then looked down toward the auction room, where the sounds were coming from.

"…Something's happening." Webby said urgently, quickly standing up.

"Oh my god, finally." Lena sighed in mock relief. "Thought we'd be sitting here all night."

Webby looked over the edge, unable to get a good view of the situation from here. Turning to Lena, she asked with a smile, "Wanna get a closer look?"

Lena grinned back. "Yup."

She stood up and took Webby's hand. Her eyes glowed blue as she cast a spell of invisibility, both of their forms vanishing from sight as they leapt off of the roof.