“Wh-whuh?”

June pulled an earbud out and gave the councilwoman a confused, dazed stare. She had a box in her hands and electric club music blaring in her mind. It offered no distractions, no thoughts other than its own strangely hypnotic beats. Perfect for when she needed to strap in and get shit done.

Unfortunately, this was the one-of-a-million times it was detrimental to her daily life. She looked to the other seven people nearby, all of which stared at her with scared, equally dazed faces. Fuck. It was her, wasn’t it?

“Um… who are–”

Click. Oh, right! This was that one crazy dragon lady, from the Giant Chasm! Freja, or whatever her name was. Freya? Freya. “Uh, sure, sure, I’ve got like, ten minutes before I have to drop this off.”

She didn’t even remember who it was for, but it was heavier than normal. Annoyingly so. Matchstick complained the entire way. June followed like an obedient dog, confused yet excited for what was to come. “So… what’s the deal this time? Another crazy as hell dragon? I did see some kids down the boardwalk earlier, and they all had shit-eating grins...”

It felt rather important she didn't mention that she pointed them in the perfect direction to do... whatever it was they had planned. Freya seemed pissed.

---

freya morningstar

“H-how was I supposed to know they were setting Electrodes!”

This made much more sense, and pissed her off so much more. This was the type of shit she did in high school: rile one up, set ‘em in the ground, and wait for the earth to explode. They were never stupid enough to do it where people went, though. That could kill a person if you got unlucky enough.

Kids didn’t get the memo. “I wasn’t around when they did it, I just saw them head towards the beach.”

Damn. This was actually a little bad. June let Knight out of his ball and took a closer look at the crime scene. Then, she groaned.

“Fucking hell,” she kicked the wooden side-rail. “they really hate you. Us. You? Pretty sure they’re close enough to cause a chain reaction. They're roughly the distance away I did when I was a kid.”

She pointed to the closest one, and Knight acted. He flapped his heavy wings and descended to the first Electrode. His claws deftly burrowed into the sand and excrated the first red-and-white ball. It was pissed, and started to glow that signature electric yellow.

That’s when Knight rose like no tomorrow, faster than she’d ever seen. Moments before detonation, he tossed the ball as far as he could.

Then, it exploded. June giggled, “Man, forgot how pretty that explosion could be…”

---

freya morningstar

“Can’t say the same,” June replied. She could’ve been on her next delivery by now– but nope, had to wipe the League’s ass because they didn’t wanna get off their high horse. If it weren’t for the fun Electrode explosions, she would’ve ran off a minute ago.

Another one lit up the sky as Knight successfully flung the pissed-off ball into the open air. Same color as the last one. Yellow and White and Black, with fainted Electrodes falling into the sea. Poor guys. Maybe someone would fish them out.

“Oh, hardcore drugs.” June crossed her arms and turned around, her back flush against the railing. She tried to look as deadpan as she possibly could, “I run a delivery business– Sleigh Fast Delivery. Crack, blow, meth, weed, LSD– you name it, I ship it.”

The secret to hiding illegal activities was to hide in plain sight. Better to appear like a clown than a criminal.

“If it were opposite day, anyway. I just deliver what the people ask wherever they ask. Do that pretty much… every single day of the week. Plus whatever other odd jobs I can pick up. Jack of all trades sort of vibe.”

“Oh, and an Auto-Mechanics degree, or whatever it’s called,” she explained, but her last answer gave way to a pause as she bit the skin inside her cheek. “It would be the main thing, anyway. Got forced onto the backburner. For reasons.”

Not even annalise henderson knew why. Only Grigori Sokolov got to know that, and even then it wasn’t her call. “What do you do again? Military shit? You probably don’t want me. Can’t, rather.”

A bitterness entered her voice, and the sky exploded once again. Knight cawed loud enough to trump the echoes of disaster, upset at his near-failed-near-fatal delivery. 

"Complicated."

---

freya morningstar

Tough crowd.

“Name's familiar,” June said. It was a ‘single phone call or e-mail with advice for a problem because she was known in the circle’ type of familiar. It meant little, but Freya’s resting bitch face told her she was better off keeping it there, instead of another joke.

But the opportunity presented itself too well. “Amnesty program? Cool. You should meet my friend. annalise henderson . The two of you would hate each other– if you haven’t met already.”

“But seriously. One of the few good things you League higher-ups have done. So… congrats on that,” she said. “Not too many people care about the little guys. All too happy to throw them in prison and let them rot for bullshit reasons.”

Terrorists weren’t good, but not all of them had a choice. She’s seen them, talked to them. They were real, and they just wanted to live their lives and keep their heads down. A strange thought juxtaposed with a double explosion in the summer sky– but important.

---

freya morningstar

By the end of their little game, June was ready to run away and never get Freya's attention again. How long had this taken? Too long. Her foot tapped against the rail and she wanted to strangle the Electrodes, the kids, and then Freya. How they had gotten so many and planted them all without any questions was beyond her.

But by Arceus, it was pathetic. Sad.

When Freya started to pet her Dragapult, June recalled Knight just as he was ready to throw one last Electrode into the open sky. Its explosion was much closer than comfortable, but who cared? Not her. “Long as you don’t make me do this again, sure.”

“I gotta go, though,” she bent down and retrieved the heavy package off the deck, “or I gotta make this delivery free. And no way in hell I–”

“Whoaaa!” June tripped immediately. The box flew, then did a few summersaults before it slammed into the leg of a bench. Punctured by the corner. The delivery girl’s eyes widened to Electrode size, and she rushed over with a stream of ‘no’s left in her wake. She tipped over the box and peered through the new break to see.

Rocks. Dozens and dozens of garden stones, which ranged from pebbles to baseball-sized. Freya would find this out too, as she flipped the box and watched the stream fall from the package. Whatever didn’t fall out went with the box as she slammed it on the ground.

“Fucking motherfucking kids and their stupid damn jokes, I’m gonna kill them, gonna gut them like–”

June rivaled the red-and-white payloads they spent the better part of half an hour in explosiveness and looked equally as red as she stormed off. Forget the boardwalk, and forget the Electrodes. Those kids would be lucky to walk if she ever caught them.

---

freya morningstar