Weiss was the first person to sober up from the revelation and called the police soon after. Blake took the initiative to investigate the scene of the crime, but her findings yielded little. Everyone else- aside from Nora, apparently- finally felt the weight of their mission. The perpetrator of the death wasn't clear, but they were all positive the murderer was related to the White Fang.
"When we fought them in City Hall, they were barely even a threat…" Yang rationalized, the normal bombasticity of her voice lost.
"Those were just the grunts. Torchwick, the man Blake and I fought on the docks, they are killers. The grunts aren't even on the same level." Jaune reported with a grimm realization of their situation. No matter how far he came, no matter how hard he trained, the game's quests would always be death defying. This weekend outing was no exception.
"You think this was Torchwick's doing?" Ruby asked. The leader of Team JWLR shook his head.
"That was just an example. Who knows how many killers the White Fang actually has at their disposal. But more than that, this type of assassination- lowkey- just isn't Torchwick's style. He likes to be at the center of attention." Ren stared at him, curious. "According to the police reports I read on him." Jaune added to cover his bases.
"Whoever did this, they need to be brought to justice." Pyrrha vowed. The rest of the team agreed.
Quest Available:
Stop the Fang (Part 1)
Objective One: Find a lead on the White Fang's next plans
Objective Two: [?]
Reward: +1000 Lien, +500 EXP, +3 Bond with all members of Team PBNYJWLR
Failure: Death
Failure to accept Quest: -15 Bond with all members of Team PBNYJWLR
[Accept Quest]
[Decline Quest]
Jaune, as any hero should, accepted the quest without hesitation. His friends were in this together, and so was he. Plus, that lien and EXP reward was the largest he had ever seen.
"Does anybody think they have any leads?" Pyrrha continued to rouse the troops.
"The police will be here any minute." Weiss informed. "I'll stay here and meet with them." Seeing Blake's strained look she added, "And I'll help you scout the place out in the meantime." The cat faunus nodded her thanks.
"I know Junior's Bar always has seedy customers spilling information while they spill their guts. Maybe Hei will be willing to give that information out to his second best customer." Yang offered.
"I'll come with you." Ruby instantly added, clearly not trusting Yang to behave herself in the bar.
"So will I." Pyrrha also volunteered, her face twisting in slight displeasure. Yang scowled, but there was no hostility beyond that.
"Me and Renny know a few people to talk to. Not sure how helpful they'll be, though." Nora said. And as always, Ren just nodded along to whatever she said.
"I got somewhere I can check out, though I wouldn't be surprised if nothing came from it." Jaune kept his lead vague, but no one questioned him.
"Alright. Call immediately if you find out something. If not, we'll all meet at the airship around two o'clock." Blake ordered.
Everyone went off in their allotted directions, leaving Jaune alone for a moment in front of the shop. He took this opportunity to read over his lead; one he had forgotten all about until he had to move all his items from his old clothes into his new ones.
"Meet me at 7 Verde Lane, in the Valean Industrial District once the cops stop looking. It's important.
-Neo"
Going alone into the scummiest part of the city to meet with a known criminal probably wasn't the smartest choice Jaune had ever made, but the novice hunter did not fear for his life. If Neo wanted him dead, she'd had both the opportunity and the skill to make that happen- multiple times. No. Whatever the petite criminal wanted with him, she wanted him alive… And Jaune wasn't sure if that should make him more worried.
He arrived at the destination without any issue. Like just about every other building in the industrial district, the address was home to an abandoned factory/warehouse. Finally building up the courage to enter, Jaune couldn't help but feel a little stupid. It was an abandoned factory. There was no one here, and certainly no multicolored madwoman either. Neo gave him that note weeks ago, and he knew criminals were always on the move when it came to their hideout. The chances of him finding her here were slim to none.
Still, the whole venture would be an even greater waste of time if he didn't at least try to contact her.
"Uhh… Neo?" He spoke loudly into the empty air. The acoustics of the warehouse caught his voice, causing it to echo all around him. He was given no response. "Huff… Of course." Jaune turned around to leave the abandoned place only to jump back in fright.
Gamer's Mind has nullified the status effect:
Panic
[OK]
"Geez… There was no reason to sneak up on me like that, Neo." The team leader sighed in relief at the lack of danger. The pint sized killer shrugged and handed him another paper.
"Give me your scroll number."
"Umm… Sure." Jaune gave over his contact information, unsure about the strange method of communication. "So you really can't speak?" His reply came in the form of a text.
"No, I'm just fucking with you. Of course I can't speak!" This was accompanied by a helpful eyebrow raise from Neo, driving home just what emotion she was texting in.
"Sorry."
"Enough with the stupid questions, we need to get down to business." Jaune nodded.
"Right. Why exactly did you want to meet me here?" Though she couldn't speak, the multicolored woman took an audible deep breath before texting her response.
"We need your help." This was not what the hunter had been expecting.
"My help? With what?"
"Getting away from the White Fang." And this was even less expected.
"You want me to help you stop being criminals?" He guessed, utterly confused. Neo shook her head.
"No. You need to understand: what the White Fang is planning to do, what SHE is planning to do, that's not the type of crime Roman and I are about. We're thieves, and we occasionally settle a gang war, but we're not terrorists. SHE's planning something big, though. Far bigger than either of us are truly comfortable dealing with."
"Who's 'SHE?'"
"Cinder Fall. She's the mastermind behind every little crime that's taken place in the city over the last few months. She's unstoppable. If I was seen to be going against her, she would end both Roman and I with a flick of her finger. That's where you come in."
"I hate to break it to you, Neo. But if Roman can't face her, I sure as hell can't either." Jaune warned, but the reforming terrorist shook her head again.
"I know. But you can hinder her plans. You already have been without even knowing it. The Town Hall, the Dock Incident. Sure, things weren't completely stopped, but you definitely held things up. That's what I need you to do, but more. Stall her for as long as possible until I can come up with a more 'permanent' solution." This was all a lot to take in, yet the Team Leader saw her logic. Him and his friends were already on a collision course with this woman if she indeed controlled the White Fang as Neo claimed, but some things just didn't make sense.
"But why do you even care? You're a criminal. What's with the sudden moral compass?" At this, the criminal finally smirked.
"If everyone's dead, there's nobody to steal from." Ah, there it was: the morally corrupt motive to make a villain do the right thing.
"Right, that makes sense. But one more thing. Why me?" Jaune had to know. Was it just because of his Gamer abilities that he was put into these unique opportunities, or was there something more?
"Most hunters, given the chance to meet with Roman or I, would instantly try to imprison us for our numerous crimes. You can't. Roman forged your transcripts. If you want to continue your dream life, you'll have to comply. Mess with us, and your whole world will be pulled out from under you." How was it he continually forgot about his transcripts? Really, they were such an integral detail to his position in Beacon, yet he rarely thought about them these days.
"Well… There's no need for the blackmail, because I'd be happy to help you and Roman anyway." He responded to the threat as diplomatically as he could. Not to mention- as bad as it sounded- he really did feel that way. Jaune totally knew what Neo was getting at when she said that most other hunters would try to imprison them- Pyrrha wouldn't have even given them time to open their mouths- but the leader of Team JWLR was different. He'd dealt with numerous challenges during his time at Beacon, and one thing he'd learned especially was that sometimes you had to take a little pain to make some gains. Both in the figurative sense and the literal sense. In this situation, the pain was helping two low profile criminals for a gain of destroying an entire terrorist organization. That was a tradeoff Jaune was more than willing to make.
Neo seemed to hear the truthfulness in his words because she gave him an actual smile in response.
You've gained a Bond with:
Neo Politan
Bond LV: 1/200
[OK]
Quest Complete:
Mystery Woman
Objective One Complete: Find out more about this Mystery Woman. Name, Story, etc.
Failure Avoided: None
Reward: +5 Bond with Neo Politan, +5 Bond with Roman Torchwick, Future access to [UNKNOWN] Quest Chain
[OK]
"Now that we have that all sorted out," Jaune popped away the screens. "Is there anything going on today? One of my friends has informants from the White Fang and we found one murdered in his shop. Do you know anything about that?"
"I don't know anything about a murder. But there is an attack planned today. Three dust shops, all at the same time. As always, Roman's being forced to take point. I'll send you the addresses, just make sure you let Roman get away." Neo sent him the information, and he smiled. Now, he just needed to get everyone in position.
Objective Complete: Find a lead on the White Fang's next plans
[OK]
"Guys," He called the team on his scroll. "I've got some information."
Well, I asked, and you all certainly told me. More regular chapters it is.
Because of how short the chapters are, though, I'll be posting one every Sunday and Wednesday. So be on the lookout.
Until next time,
-RMV