InsaneJournal

Who: Dani Storm (PERFECT STORM) and Rick Routh (REX RUTHLESS)
What: A chance encounter and a new allegiance.
When: Forward-dated to Tuesday, April 14th, approximately 2 pm.
Where: PG-13, for the h8rade. XXX in our imaginations.
Status: Completed log



Dani hummed along to the music on her ipod as she walked back towards the Capes' dorms from the cafeteria. She had a few hours before her last class of the day, and after her second helping of cherry cream-cheese pie all she had planned was to go back to her room and watch an episode of Psych if Annie was around. Her stomach protested lightly as she covered the grassy ground between the two buildings, and she grinned to herself. The second slice had been totally worth it.

Noticing the flapping of string against her leg with every step, Dani paused at an empty bench to re-tie her shoelaces. Really, she shook her head in time to the music, falling on my face on the way to dorms is exactly what I need right now.

There were a handful of people of note at the Neopolis Academy to Rick Routh. Most of them were of course Evil League of Evil supporters, but not all of them were people that Rick wanted to make alliances with. That wasn't the case for Dani Storm, in fact Rick had his eye on her for the past few months--not in the same way as Jackie Frost, but still important. She'd had some problems with Johnny Justice in the past. In fact, they two had been archnemeses for a long time. Maybe Dani had some insight into Johnny that he hadn't noticed so far. If anything, she could help him when the time came for get rid of him.

Serendipitous then that he should happen across her while she was alone. "Beautiful day today." If Rick knew anything, he knew not to head into battle with guns a-blazing. He's not one of those Band idiots.

Dani turned at the sound of the voice. "Huh," she paused, pulling the white earbuds out of her ears, "yes, it is." If she was surprised Rick Routh was talking to her, she hid it well. She had noticed him on campus over the past few months (but really, who hadn't?), and taken note of the fact that he didn't seem interested in the social goings-on around the dorms. Dani had pegged Rick Routh early on as one of those important men who wished for thirty hour days and had thought nothing more of it; her father had been surrounded by men of the sort all her life, and they had rarely paid attention to the troublemaking teenager.

But it seemed that she might have been wrong about Rick Routh, if he was making time for pleasantries in the middle of the day. Keeping the possibility in mind, she smiled lightly at the man. "It certainly is. California is always beautiful this time of year."

Rick smiled at Dani as she stood to her full height. It was true that he'd stayed out of the Neopolis Academy's social scene for the better part of his first term here. The majority of the time was spent getting to know the people from the outside. He was getting ready to start getting down in the trenches now that he had a lot of information. It was hard trying to do student things while balancing running a company, but if anyone could do it, Rick Routh could.

"Indeed it is. I must say that I've enjoyed the weather out here compared to the East Coast. Despite the occasional blight in the sky." Rick looked up to see if there were any caped avengers flying about. He was not a fan of those. "I don't believe we've had the pleasure of talking before, Miss Storm."

"Please, call me Dani." She instinctively looked up with him to see if any of Johnny's goons were floating around. "Although I must say, I've been up there a few times myself."

"Dani then," Rick grinned. "Yes, as have I. Though not under my own power." At least not yet. Rick had a secret weapon that he was working on outside of schoolwork. A suit of armor that would put him on level playing ground with some of his enemies. It'd been a pet project of his for months now. "I'd been meaning to talk to you for some time. I believe we have some similar interests."

"Similar interests?" Dani tipped her head to get a better look at Rick Routh's expression, one hand shielding her eyes from the sun's glare. She had no idea what he could be talking about. All she knew about the man was that he was the genius behind facespace, and that in 5 years his popularity and wealth had shot skyward at a dizzying rate. What interests could he possibly share with her? "In what way?"

Rick thought about how to word this correctly. He didn't often make his intentions known quite so apparently. But as the saying goes, an enemy of an enemy is a friend. "A shared rival." Dani would obviously know who Rick was talking about. "Your battles are the thing of legend around here."

"Ahh," her eyes widened, as comprehension dawned. "I see. Well, what can I say? Old habits die hard." Rick Routh apparently had a rivalry with Johnny Justice, but he was obviously keeping it low key, or else she would have heard about it. The Storm versus Justice feud was age old and Dani felt completely justified in carrying it on, especially after the way Johnny had treated her when they were young. Rick Routh, as far as she knew, had no such excuse. Why, then was Johnny his rival?

Rick nodded solemnly as he let Dani digest what he'd said. "Indeed." It's a shame that adversaries didn't die just as hard. But then again they wouldn't be here together like this. "Justice and his ilk have caused a shift that I'm not particularly comfortable with. Something needs to be done about it, when the time is right."

"I personally think Justice is too dim-witted to be responsible, but I agree," she nodded, shifting her weight onto her left leg. "Justice shouldn't be where he is. He has never deserved any of what he has."

"I am glad that we agree on this. His status is akin to those hacks that Disney tries to package as having talent." Justice even had the Mickey Mouse attitude going on. People didn't seem to care that he didn't seem particularly intelligent, they just liked the smile and the happy attitude. That needed to change. "I wanted you to know that you do have an ally in Rick Routh. If you're ever in need of anything, feel free to ask."

"The people are deluded. They're so desperate to believe in the happy-fluffy-sunshine drivel Justice and his kind peddle that they don't see past the smoke screen." Taking a deep breath to calm herself before she unleashed a tirade on the unsuspecting Rick Routh, Dani paused for a moment, her eyes locked directly on the other man's. "Thank you for the offer, Mr. Routh. Any time you want to expose Johnny Justice's hypocrisy, you can count me in."

Good, good. This little chat turned out very well. He tipped his hand in a more overt way to Dani Storm and came out of it with a potential ally, one that had more clout in the Neopolis Academy ELE-elite than some of the others he'd been working hard to get on his side. "Excellent. I'll be in touch," he said with a smirk on his face. "Enjoy the rest of the day. It looks like it's a good one."

"I look forward to it," Dani smiled, this time more bemusedly than before. With Jackie's split allegiance facade, it would be nice to have someone unapolegtically on the same side as her around. "You do that too. I have a feeling it's going to be a terrific day."