This is the origin of June and how she became a villain no one could stop.
June was born to a two-parent household and remained an only child, as her parents decided that one child was enough. The only child life proved to be a tough challenge for her, as for much of her childhood, she only had herself as a friend. That is, until she met August in the first grade. From then on, August and June became thick as thieves. If one was feeling sad, the other would come running right away to cheer them up. More often than not, it was June soothing August’s heartbreak from another failed relationship. This did not seem to be a problem until June met January, the new student in their class.
The first thing June noticed about January was their round eyes captivating her in a trance, one a deep chocolate the other a soft jade. Next their hair, a short pitch black curly bob with the cutest messy bangs. Their skin a rich sepia with a faint red undertone. And she stood eye-level to June so she felt the need to go introduce herself. Luckily for June, January came strutting over to her and waved introducing themselves, “Hi, I’m January Whitlock, I just moved here.” From then on June was drawn to January like a chionophile awaiting the smell of fresh snow; everywhere January went, June followed. Eventually, January took notice and started to ask June to hang out after school, but June, unsure of herself, didn’t know how to answer, so it ultimately came down to a distressing ‘no.’
“Hi, I’m January Whitlock, I just moved here.” From then on June was drawn to January like a chionophile awaiting the smell of fresh snow; everywhere January went, June followed.
It was not until June got the guts up to tell August about her crush on January that everything came crashing down. August sat there and listened to his crush go on and on about the new person who just took his place in her heart. August felt the memory of the two of them dancing arm in arm at middle school prom fading into a lens of carmine. June had never revealed to August that she liked him, just that he was her best friend. And to August he hoped that meant one day they would be able to express their feelings towards each other. Today, June made it abundantly clear that she would never think of him that way, so he did what any sane jealous person would do and told her, “I heard them say that they don’t like you because you always say no.”
Piece by piece, the dreams cracked in June’s head as she heard those words, so from then on she decided to feel nothing and put on the best face she could. She would become June, the girl who could never say no.
Unfortunately, it was too late for January to finally hear that ‘yes’. They had moved on to someone other than June, someone who could say yes the first time. As time went on, January slowly became a distant memory for her. June made sure to forget that denial and move into a space of acceptance. She worked hard to forget that pain, to only live in the present, to stop worrying about the future. She had a routine: wake up, get ready for the day, say “I love you” to her parents, and try to be as nice as possible. It worked long enough. However, June’s routine backfired one day: the worst day of her life. She had shouted a quick “Love you!” and was on her way out the door when she received a text message from August asking if she would meet him at their hideout. “I’m in a sticky predicament,” he added in another text. So, quickly, she sent a message to her boss letting them know that she had an emergency and would be late.
She had a routine: wake up, get ready for the day, say “I love you” to her parents, and try to be as nice as possible. It worked long enough. However, June’s routine backfired one day: the worst day of her life.
Upon arriving at the small treehouse which was built during the summer before meeting they-who-should-not-be-named, June noticed August frantically pacing back and forth. He looked up at her worried face and finally blurted out the truth.
“I lied to you about January. They never said they didn’t like you. Cyrus told me he saw them moving back into town today and I wanted to get to you first before you saw them. I hid the truth because I was trying to save you for me. I wanted to tell you that I loved you, and I wanted to ask you out on a date. But you told me about January before I could admit my feelings, so I lied to make you forget about yours.” Silence, blood rushing through her body was the only thing she could focus on as she stood there blankly staring past August. June could not believe what she just heard, her best friend of fifteen years told her that he had lied to her all those years ago.
How was she supposed to react, like the sweet caring June she worked so hard to become? No, of course not. She finally uttered that word again, no. It came out like a flood, “No, no, no this can’t be happening. Why would you lie to me?” Her vision started to blur as tears came falling out and she had to just get away from August. The person who she thought would be there for her just as she had been for him had torn her heart apart. All those years in high school and college saying ‘yes’ to join whatever club or job when she really wanted to say no. She had to be the perfect candidate always, never showing any fault. Having her classmates vote her Most Likely to Succeed in high school. Which led to her college years with August being a miserable existence as she wore herself thin to be the top of her class while holding a leadership position in four clubs. The rejection from January made her feel empty, and when she needed August there to lean on he was there, but he was never them.
All those years in high school and college saying ‘yes’ to join whatever club or job when she really wanted to say no.
June could not wrap her head around August being jealous of a crush she had on someone who was not him. How could someone be so evil, so manipulative? She wondered how long this lie would have held up. Only bringing up the lie now because it was possible for her to find out from January. Unbelievable. Every wall she built up came tumbling down as she no longer felt the need to be the put-together June. The “yes” June. The June that August made. For that June was dead, terminated, and replaced with a name that everyone feared. There was no way she could go to work now, not after she had discovered that half of her life had been a lie. There was only one person she could talk to now … January.
In a frenzy, she drove into the town square hoping to find January at the diner. Once she stepped in Rooster’s, the breath left her body as she saw those eyes. The same deep chocolate and soft green, and they met her grey eyes. Mechanically she walked over and sat in front of January and just stared at them. It was obvious that it was them, but their pitch-black hair was now a snowy white. She forgot words, as she was staring at them, January Whitlock, the person who altered her whole life without her knowing, or so she thought.
Before she could speak, once again January started first in saying, “I’m so happy to see you, it’s been, what, ten years. I can’t believe you look like the same June from freshman year of high school. How have you been?” June heard all of the words but could not get her brain to snap her to the present. Just as she had been thinking of her past with August she started wondering what if.
Absentmindedly, she heard January talk about how they ran away from home after their partner told them that the Brucmites had found them and they had to go. So they packed their bags, moved to the Pacific Northwest, and lived there up until four days ago, when January woke up to find a goodbye note from their partner, Mara, saying they had to leave them because they couldn’t keep their identity a secret any longer. Mara was half Brucmite and had been trying to suppress that side of themself by being with January, but they couldn’t lie anymore.
So after one very long road trip, January was sitting in their favorite booth - third from the bathroom - talking to June. It dawned on June that she had yet to speak she finally opened her mouth and asked, “Who are the Brucmites and why are they chasing you?”
That answer was cut short as everyone turned to listen to a loud crash outside of the diner. Without hesitation, January opened up their wallet, paid for the meal, and went to their car. Hot on their tail June hopped in the passenger seat. January tried to get her out of the car, but June knew she couldn’t leave January anymore, not when everything she knew had been a lie.
No more time could be wasted as they heard another explosion, this time right behind the car. January began driving as fast as possible to escape the beams aiming right for them. Unfortunately, they could only outdrive the beams for so long, for when they attempted to turn on a side street the beam hit them, changing their bodies forever. The aquamarine blast created a dense fog around them, as June and January lay in the car unconscious.
Slowly they began to transform into Bhamines, an ancient warrior species which was wiped out by the Brucmites.
The aquamarine blast created a dense fog around them, as June and January lay in the car unconscious.
Quiet, blank, scared. This is all June could feel around her, slowly as she opened her eyes, her senses started coming back to her. What she did not realize is that her senses had enhanced with the blast and she had the ability to take away people’s senses as well. January started to come to as well and they both looked at each other puzzled. Their powers would not be revealed to each other until tomorrow. For now they used the time to gain consciousness and come up with a plan to get revenge together.
Together they’d become the most vindictive villains the world had seen in a millennium.
