So far, everything was going well.

The guests looked like they were enjoying themselves. Some had even begun to dance, complimenting and laughing at each other while they were at it. Others were having a nice chat. At times, the guests would look up at the grand set of stairs, wondering when their host and his daughter would make their appearances.

Every maid was pivoting around the tables, holding out a plate of drinks and snacks for the hungry patrons. Some nodded in thanks while others didn't spare another look at them. They didn't mind though. They were used to it by now.

Most people would have thought that they were regular maids, trying to please their masters and the guests at the house. But the guests knew better. They simply didn't want to get on their bad side. The maids had a reputation of dealing with interferences very quickly. The guests had never seen how, but wondered if they would finally be able to get a glimpse.

Every person knew that Kaitou Joker would be arriving.

While some of the guests had brought their own bodyguard, they wanted to see these maids in action. They could hardly believe the rumours. One maid had broken a few pairs of glasses, while another had bumped into other guests a few times because of their unclean glasses. No matter how hard she wiped at them, they never seemed to get any cleaner. Not for more than five minutes, anyways.

Finally, the lights of the hall dimmed and the guests began to clap and cheer. The host and his daughter were finally here.

A man walked down the steps briskly with his daughter holding him by the arm. Both of them shared the same dark brown hair and bright green eyes, although the man's hair had a few streaks of grey in them.

The moment they got off the final step, the man lifted his free hand into the air and the crowd went silent.

"I'd like to thank all of you for being able to come here today," he started. "I know it's selfish of me to ask for your presence since you're all very busy people, but thank you for arriving to celebrate this special occasion with me. I appreciate your arrivals very much."

The crowd clapped even harder than before, some of the maids even began to join in before collecting themselves hurriedly, keeping to their task at hand.

The man lifted his hand again to silence the crowd and spoke once more. "I know some of you are wondering about the phantom thief threat. He has not been caught by any form of government in whichever country he chose to appear. Today, he has decided to infiltrate this party and steal this." With a slight nod of his head, the girl took out something from her purse and held it up high in the air. The crowd began murmuring among themselves.

The Mask of Moonlight was exposed to everyone in the area. Held only by the daughter of the host without any form of security.

"I know some of you are sceptical about this," the man said. "But rest assured, none of you will be harmed tonight. My maids are like the bodyguards if this mansion. They won't let anyone leave unpunished."

The crowd began looking at the maids among them, pointing fingers and shaking their heads. It seemed like a lie. They hardly looked capable of anything apart from serving, cleaning, and looking pretty. However, some astute guests managed to catch the cold glint in their eyes, waiting for the masked perpetrator to show himself.

"It's five minutes to midnight," the girl spoke, her voice loud and clear in the hall. "I'd like to see if Kaitou Joker will be able to steal a precious artefact from this mansion."

The crowd spoke again in excitement. They wanted to see the spectacle. They first agreed to come here on the behalf of the host's wishes, but were secretly happy that some form of entertainment would be happening not too long from now.

A massive clock hanging on the wall facing the stairs begun to chime. With every second, a small ding was heard. With every minute, the sound produced was a ring. The hour hand slowly made its way over to the twelfth marking, the guests shifting around uncomfortably in anticipation.

Finally, after what felt like the longest five minutes known to mankind, the clock began to ring, the hand directly above the twelfth marking.

At once, every light in the room cut out.

Some guests were screaming. Others were swearing their protests. Throughout the whole ordeal, there was a lot of shuffling heard.

A gasp was heard near the front and the lights went back on again. In the hand of the host's daughter, was what looked to be a quarter of a deck of playing cards instead of the mask.

The maids were nowhere to be seen.

"Hahaha!" A voice rung throughout the crowd, loud and clear. Heads shot up to the second floor's banister and saw a young man wearing a suit of red, a dark blue top hat on his head, and a purple cape on his back. His icy blue eyes gleamed with mischief. Beside him, a young boy in a light blue ninja outfit was trying his best not to fall over the banister.

"After that whole speech, I was actually expecting something interesting!" The intruder spoke. "But, instead, tonight might be a lot easier for me! I know I only sent the notice yesterday, but I hoped for something a little more challenging, you know?"

He held up his hand and a dark blue mask adorned with diamonds shone in the light. Gasps of understanding were heard throughout the crowd.

He had stolen the Mask of Midnight within the few seconds of darkness.

The host began to laugh while his daughter glared daggers at the red suited man, throwing the playing cards down to the floor and stamping on them with her heel.

"What's so funny?" The intruder asked, cocking his head to the side.

"You truly believe it would be that easy?" The man replied. "Like I said before, Kaitou Joker, my maids are like the bodyguards of this mansion. They won't let anyone leave unpunished."

At the last word, a single shot was heard throughout the whole hall. People started to scream again while Joker pushed himself off of the second floor's banister, pulling the little ninja down beside him in record time. Right where he had been sitting, a hole with a bullet was smoking in his place.

"I suggest that you stop moving, intruder," a voice devoid of any emotion spoke. Joker turned around and saw her. A maid with light greyish-blond hair, her yellow-topaz eyes glinting with undisguised disgust. "This would be a lot easier for you, me, and everyone else in this mansion."

A gun was held in her hand, still smoking. She began to run over to Joker, her other hand reloading the gun at the same time. As he turned around to dodge, another shot was heard, this time landing right next to Joker's right foot.

"Intruder," she said. "I suggest that you stop moving."

She began reloading her gun again.

"Joker-san-!"

"I know, Hachi, I know!"

The two phantom thieves immediately shot off into a corridor, the maid following closely behind them.

It was going to be an interesting night after all.