Ruby, Yang, and Pyrrha were closest to one location, while Blake, Weiss, and the police were closer to another. Thankfully, neither of these locations were where Roman would show up, for his help of the crime lord would be a lot more difficult with the company. Things weren't all perfect, since Ren and Nora would soon provide backup, but he had some time.

Jaune had to use a map to initially find his destination, but the distinct sound of gunshots led his way as he came closer. When he finally arrived, he noticed that most people- instead of running away from the scene- were merely watching from the sidelines.

"Now load up on all the dust, minions! We need to scram before the authorities show up." A distinct charismatic voice ordered from beyond the crowd. As the hunter pushed his way through, his idea of who was speaking was confirmed.

"Roman!" Jaune called once he made his way to the center of the crowd where the dust shop robbing was in full view. "Uhh… I mean… Stop, foul criminal! In the name of justice!" He added when he received confused and suspicious looks from the spectators. To emphasize his- fake- lack of cooperation with criminals, Jaune equipped his sword and shield.

"You'll never stop me, hunter!" Roman Torchwick added his own theatrics, quickly engaging him in their 'pretend' fighting like at town all. "Keep getting the dust, boys!" The red haired criminal relayed to his subordinates, who were White Fang, not surprisingly. "I'll handle this one."

With that out of the way, the two of them could finally get down to business.

"Looking stylish, Jaune. I see you were inspired by our last encounter. As I always say, presentation is everything." Torchwick started the conversation as they clashed weapons so neither the crowd nor the grunts could hear him. Due to his extra training, Jaune was able to keep up with Roman's pretend fighting far better than he could previously, allowing the hunter to actually respond.

"You leave an impression." He allowed the criminal to make his own assumptions before they jumped away from yet another clash.

"I must say, you really have a knack for getting in the way of my plans. How is it that you're at the exact right place, at the exact right time, every time?" Roman swung his cane to knock out his kneecaps, but was blocked by Jaune's shield arm.

"Neo." Jaune grunted simply, just barely dodging a follow up blow to the head.

"So she enacted her plan afterall." The gentleman criminal allowed Jaune to finally attack, easily sidestepping each swipe as they came along. "So what's the deal?"

"I'm thinking- oof!" The novice hunter's concentration slipped for a moment, enabling Roman to make a blow to the stomach, which the man took without hesitation. "-that I'll keep you busy until my friends arrive. Then you'll see the situation is lost and I'll take a dive, allowing you to get away at the expense of your crew and the dust."

"She's not gonna be happy about that one." Roman mutter, most likely referring to the same 'SHE' as Neo. "So it's perfect." He said with a grin. "And it's not even my fault."

Thankfully, the fight didn't need to continue for much longer. Nora and Ren soon came in as backup, allowing his secret, criminal, plan to take action.

"Don't worry Jauney, I'll save you!" Nora cried as she charged in with her giant hammer.

"No!" Jaune ordered, ignoring his own tactically nature. "You two have to stop the White Fang first, I've got Torchwick." When he saw that Nora and Ren had complied, he gave Roman a nod. The gentleman responded in kind.

"Oh, it won't be that easy!" The criminal retorted in an over-the-top manner. Jaune was expecting that. What Jaune wasn't expecting was the sudden flurry of blows that came from the man, nearly breaking his aura and sending his flying backwards into the crowd. It all happened so fast, that by the time the leader of Team JWLR was able to reorient himself, Roman Torchwick had already given his final one liner and fled the scene.

Quest Complete:
Stop the Fang (Part 1)

Objective One Complete: Find a lead on the White Fang's next plans
Objective Two Complete: Prevent Roman Torchwick's Capture

Reward: +1000 Lien, +500 EXP, +3 Bond with all members of Team PBNYJWLR

Failure Avoided: Death

[OK]

All in a day's work. And thanks to Gamer's Body, Jaune didn't even need to think that sarcastically.

The police came around to Jaune's location last after dealing with and processing all the captured White Fang members from the other two locations. Assuming the accuracy of the scroll messages he was sent, and including Jaune's own prisoners, Team PBNYJWLR was responsible for the capture of twenty seven White Fang grunts, and even two officers. The whole process took a while since only so many arrestees could be driven to jail at once, and Beacon's administration had to be notified of their students' involvement. It was already noon when the first cop car pulled up to the dust shop that Jaune, Nora, and Ren sat at, but things went smoothly from there.

For the most part.

"You let Torchwick get away." Nora accused him as they watched the grunts get pushed into the police vehicles, though her tone was neutral as it always was when they talked privately.

"He was stronger than I thought." Jaune offered an excuse. Not quite a lie, but not quite the truth either.

You successfully Lied
[OK]

Despite the reassurance of the notification, Jaune couldn't help but get the feeling that Nora knew when he looked her in the eye. If this assumption was true, Nora didn't say anything about it.

"Right… Sometimes people make bad calls. It happens. We just need to learn from our mistakes and not have it happen again." Her tone never shifted while she offered this advice, but the leader of Team JWLR still felt something ominous in the meaning of her words. Did she not like him? Jaune had to check his bonds to be sure.

-Bonds-

[Yang Xiao-Long] Bond LV: 21/200- Considers you a good friend

[Ruby Rose] Bond LV: 14/200- Considers you a friend

[Nora Valkyrie] Bond LV: 8/200- Considers you a friend

[Weiss Schnee] Bond LV: 15/200- Considers a good friend

[Pyrrha Nikos] Bond LV: 20/200- Sees potential in you

[Lie Ren] Bond LV: 3/200- Will not hesitate to kill you

[Blake Belladonna] Bond LV: 20/200- Considers you a friend

[Glynda Goodwitch] Bond LV: 6/200- You are a very interesting student

[Velvet Scarlatina] Bond LV: 1/200- Sees you as a fellow member of the cause

[Coco Adel] Bond LV: 2/200- Eh. Whatever

[Cardin Winchester] Bond LV: 50/200- The greatest friend ever

[Penny Polendina] Bond LV: 2/200- Sees you as a fellow member of the agency

[Roman Torchwick] Bond LV: 7/200- Sees you as the son he- probably- never had, kinda, not really

[Neo Politan] Bond LV: 6/200- Sees you as a trustworthy asset

[?] Bond LV: 200/200- Completely obsessed with you

Apparently she did, though it never really seemed that way. By the time he went to respond, the orange haired girl had walked away. Jaune cleared his thoughts of the ever mysterious Nora as a familiar face approached him.

"You did good work today, Jaune Arc. Your friends have told me that the information about the robberies came from you." Sun Wukong congratulated the hunter in training.

You've gained a Bond with:
Sun Wukong
Bond LV: 1/200

[OK]

"Yeah, that's right." Jaune preened slightly under the praise.

"I would like to know, however, how you came into contact with this juicy information, hm?" The detective's tone took a sudden turn for the worst, and Jaune suddenly wished he was dealing with Nora instead.

"I… Just happened upon it. Really lucky coincidence. Haha…" The criminal conspirator lied like a champ.

Your Lie Failed
[OK]

-1 Bond with:
Sun Wukong
Bond LV: 0/200

[OK]

And fell flat doing so.

"You know, it's a serious crime to lie to a member of law enforcement in this city, don't you?" At this, Jaune caved.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I have an informant who's close to the White Fang, but I can't tell you who it is because then you might try to arrest them and then they wouldn't trust me and then I wouldn't get anymore information and then-" The leader's ramblings were stopped when Sun put a hand on his shoulder.

"I know what it means to have an informant, Jaune. There's no need to worry. Just be sure that the police are called in the next time you get information, okay?"

"Got it."

+2 Bond with:
Sun Wukong
Bond LV: 2/200

[OK]

They exchanged scroll numbers and Sun walked away. Now he just had to explain things to his team, and everything would be all sorted out.

Probably.

I know these chapters are exceedingly short, which is why I won't miss an update any Wednesday or Sunday. I have to ask, though, do you all enjoy the new chapters? I feel that Volume One's chapters contained a large amount of fluff. Obviously, more is better, but it always took a while to get to the meat of the story. Now, we're right into things. So I have to ask, are you okay with mostly just plot? I won't be changing my style for these chapters regardless of your answer, but I am curious.

Until next time,

-RMV