AISLE RENDEZVOUS 

It's almost evening, and the moonlight glows brightly in the darkening sky. Nieko and Mika have finally made it to Tepid Town after 4 hours of travel. It’s s a small and quiet little town with its primary source of income being the Elevn11 food production factory keeping this little town on the map and the citizens employed. Their grocery stores are always stocked with the highest quality goodies & supplies. 

Nieko finally found parking a few blocks from an Eleven11 grocery store on the main highway. 

"Okay, Mika, you stay here while I go inside to get some snacks, refreshments, and medicine for those headaches you keep experiencing.”

"Okay, I'll stay in the car. I feel too comfortable from the calming music and exhausted from this headache to come with you."

Mika mumbled, on the verge of passing out.

"Just relax and keep the doors locked. I'll be back soon. Call me if you have any questions or anything, alright?”

"Alright, don't worry, I'll be fine, Nieko. Go and do what you have to do while I take a nap." 

"I'll leave the keys in the car and the A/C on low, and here’s a blanket to keep you from getting too cold,"

"Your adorable when your acting all motherly, Nieko," Mika giggled as she made herself more comfortable in her seat.

"Hush and go to sleep," chuckled Nieko.

Nieko closed the door and started her walk down the sidewalk towards the store. 

"She should be fine.” 

“I won't be in the store long."

She passed an alley next to the store where a shadow silhouette peeked in her direction. A grin can be seen on their face as they pulled a phone out of their pocket and spoke.

“The cat’s out of the bag.”

The Eleven11 is pretty quiet. Only a handful of people are present. The sound of items scanning at the counters and bells tolling for every soul entering and exiting the store. Slow jazz played as customers dabbled in the aisles. A caution sign rested down the milk aisle. An unsuspecting employee slipped on a puddle, sending the box of chips they carried flying to the ground as they tumbled.

"Owww," he grumbled, rubbing his head," I could’ve sworn Jerry was supposed to clean up this mess before I came down this aisle!" 

While gathering the scattered items back into the box, he suddenly came across a pair of sneakers. He followed them up and experienced pure bliss. She had legs for days, an exposed belly button, and a bright orange half-top sweater leading up to a turquoise-eyed blonde beauty with a smirk on her face.

"It's like the Gods have blessed me with an apology for my unfortunate karma. Presented with a true beauty only seen in movies and magazines."

"Hey there, Ummm…,"

Nieko searched for his name tag.

"Jeffery! Can you tell me what aisle you guys keep the Sun-Tee? I’m having difficulty finding my way around this gigantic maze."

Jeffery hurried to collect himself off the ground as he fixed his appearance to look presentable in front of Nieko.

"Oh, ahem, yes, I can help! It's located at the back of Aisle 3 against the wall. Some drinks are warm, and the cold ones are next to the shelf in the fridge. If you want to, I can–" 

Jeffery looked up to see that Nieko was already where she needed to be. She yelled from afar.

"Found it! Thanks for the help, Jeffery! I'll call for you if I need you again!"

Nieko started studying the shelves.

"Just being in her presence made me feel all warm inside. Well, maybe a little too excited."

Jeffery's famous last words as he fell once again from spilled milk.

“Ugh…I forgot about this milky mess.”

A pair of silhouette feet approached Jeffrey as he looked up from the floor. 

"Can I help you, Sir?"

Nieko placed her basket next to her feet while studying the shelf full of Sun-Tee teas. She's showcased with a 4 tiered stand consisting of only Santee branded items in aluminum cans and cases.

"Now, which one of these flavors is Mika's favorite again? I probably should have asked her before I came in here. Maybe I could message her quickly."

Nieko reached into her back pocket for her phone. Meanwhile, a silhouette emerged at the front of the same aisle and headed toward Nieko's direction.

"I need to hurry up and pick one. I need to get out of here and get back on the road," Nieko thought aloud. 

The silhouette continued towards Nieko, suddenly pulling out a blunt weapon. Meanwhile, Nieko is making an attempt to call Mika.

"Hmm, no answer. Mika must be very exhausted not to hear her phone going off unless she placed it on vibrate. Oh well, guess she will get whatever I grab."

 Nieko chose a tea at random with her eyes closed.

“Hmm, fruit & honey flavored? Yeah, This feels like the perfect one."

As she grabbed another can, Nieko stopped for a second—the silhouette behind her stopped.

"Hmmm,"

"I wonder if I should get a case? There’s no telling how long it will take us to get to our destination."

The shadow silhouette is only a few feet behind Nieko. They feel confident as they ready their weapon, a metal bat. Nieko has finally made up her mind and grabbed more drinks.

The silhouette suddenly lunged towards Nieko, jumping in the air, aiming for her skull. Nieko dropped her last drink into the basket, threw another can directly at her attacker's forehead, and kicked the basket to Jeffery. She ended her turn with a roundhouse kick-to-gut attack. Her enemy flew into the perfectly stacked tuna.

"Hey, Jeffery! Can you handle those groceries for me, please? I'm about to be preoccupied for a moment."

"Sure thing!” 

“I'll do anything for you, goddess," Jeffery said under her breath as he grabbed the basket. 

Nieko started her way down Aisle 3 while carefully scanning for another possible ambush. She surveyed the damage as she walked toward the fool lying in the ruined tuna display. 

The fool regained his bearings as he sat up, holding his head. He is suddenly stopped by a towering silhouette of a bittersweet situation, ready to put him out of his misery. Nieko glared with a sense of scorn and unease as she leaned over him.

"Hey, fool! I noticed you tried to get jump on me while I was shopping. Now I know you're not an idiot, and you're probably just doing your job, but if you don't answer these questions, I am about to ask, I will have to get very rude."

He looked at her with defeated eyes, contemplating whether he wanted to die at the hands of his boss or the fists of a blonde beauty. Nieko got closer to his face.

"Oh well, I've been patient enough."

"You wait here." Nieko grabbed the metal bat and aimed it toward the attacker on the ground. 

The fool doesn't move as if she placed a fear spell on him. Dragging it closer to the idiot trembling in place. The sound of the metal raises the ten.

Right before Nieko was able to "knock his block off," the fool suddenly shouted out loud:

RED HOT ALERT!!

Nieko's aim altered as the metal bat swung into the condiment section next to the fool's face. He looked terrified as the massacred ketchup bottles and mustard drenched his face and body. 

Nieko's face, in shadow, frozen in attack mode. She looked up with one eye gleaming a scary glow. The fool trembled uncontrollably as she gazed at him once more.

"What...did…you…just…say?" she growled.

Nieko's words created an intimidating chill up the fool's spine. She snatched his collar shirt with a sense of urgency and frustration.

"Now, I’m gonna ask you one more time. If you try to bullshit me with some stupid ass information, I will make you wish you never brought your mother great pain!" 

Nieko's eyes burned into the fool's soul as she delivered her promising threat.

The fool seemed speechless, unwilling to utter another word out of his mouth due to fear. Nieko's patience becomes very short, very fast.

"So you refuse to repeat it, huh?”

 “Oh well, it's your funeral!"

Nieko raised the bat above her head, readying to make her next homerun. 

Her pose mimicked a famous baseball player, anxious to win their last game of the season and finally go home after 6 months.

The fool looked as if he was about to breathe his last breath as he cowered in fear. Nieko's eyes were hidden underneath a shade as she swung her bat with great speed. The fool screamed at the top of his lungs!

HE SAID RED HOT!

A voice was heard on the store's loudspeaker, echoing throughout the store. Nieko stopped her swing the moment she heard it. The terrified fool took this opportunity to run away while Nieko was distracted. She slowly raised up. Nieko surveyed the area, making sure her surroundings were still the same. Everything was quiet.

"Whoever said those words with such confidence on the loudspeaker, better meet me out here before I start to get really annoyed!"

 Nieko’s voice echoed across the store. She listened carefully for a response as she surveyed the area.

Footsteps are heard, slowly approaching her from behind, towards the front of the aisle. She listened closely as they got closer and closer behind her.

"You must have a big ego approaching me after a death threat warning," Nieko said, turning around to reveal the culprit of the loudspeaker incident.

She was met with a short framed figure followed by two others near each shoulder.

"Who are you three supposed to be, and why should I even care?" Nieko said disappointedly.

The shortest one smirked as if he had the upper hand in the situation. He stepped forward towards Nieko.

"We're here to collect a debt owed to our boss. Now you can either come quietly, or we can take you down by force."

The boys smirked at Nieko, awaiting her response.

"Wow, such an enticing and frightening threat, Nieko mocked, unamused.

“Too bad I have better things to do than play with children," Nieko turned her back and walked away from the group, heading towards the other end of the aisle.

She was stopped by a colossal figure blocking her.

"Great, there are more of you lingering about. No wonder it’s so quiet.” Nieko faced the boys again.

"Come on, boys, what could you possibly want from little ol' me? I'm just a regular girl in a grocery store running errands and picking up groceries."

The short leader chuckled as he slowly walked closer to Nieko as he spoke.

"From what I've heard about you, you're anything but normal. In fact, you're the most notorious soul running around the whole Sovanna."

The henchmen started to emerge over the shelves, surrounding her and trapping her in the aisle.

"I'm telling you, you got the wrong girl!”

“Our sources told me otherwise,”  The tallest of the bunch spoke with confidence.

"Well, your sources must be mistaken. Maybe your boss was incorrect with their findings. Maybe you should go home to your mommy and play with your toys before picking fights with adults," Nieko smirked.

The little leader is about to bust a vein from the insults Nieko is spewing out.

"Calm down, Jae," said the tall one standing next to him.

"Yeah, bossman told us to keep things nice and neat, and we don't want to upset him," said the curly head one on Jae's other side.

Jae lost his composure from anger.

"Our bossman, Takkle, ordered us to find, apprehend and take you to him! Now shut your mouth and come with us quietly, or we will have to take drastic measures!" Jae said all in one breath while grinding his teeth in frustration.

"Did you just say Takkle?" Nieko said calmly with a face of disbelief.

"What!? Is that the only thing you heard from my statement! Bossman did say you would be difficult to handle," Jae said, crossing his arms with a smug.

"You lie! Your bossman's name is not Takkle. You're just using names you don't understand to get my attention. Your nothing but wanna-be gangstas ganging up on an innocent girl in a grocery store," Nieko flipped her hair, brushing off their accusations.

"How dare you insult Bossman! He's been trying his hardest to find you after so long, and now his hard work is paying off! So you better respect his name, or I will have to get crazy!" Jae screamed while tall and curly held him back from charging toward Nieko.

"Who are you guys anyway, not that it matters?

Well, since she asked us, boys roll call.”

"My name is Jae. I am the leader of this crew. I am the smartest, strongest, and eldest brother of the J-Trio."

"My name is Jey. I am the tallest and second eldest of this trio. I do my best to keep the peace in the group. My brothers are a handful."

"And my name is Jay. I'm the youngest brother in the group. I just enjoy hanging out with my brothers. Together we are the Trio-Js! You should check out our music sometime!"

"You idiot, this is not a promotional speech. This is serious business, not a meet-and-greet!". Jae said, reprimanding his little brother with Jey holding him back.

"Ummm-hmm.”

“Anyways, how can I be certain that you're working for Takkle, whom you call Bossman? Saying his name out loud like that is not something to take lightly. You don't know the dangerous game you boys are playing here," 

"If we were playing games, who would we have known that your trigger word was RED HOT? We may not know who you truly are, but Takkle definitely does. He said that you two used to be close until you decided to be a traitor!" Jae roared with anger in his voice.

"Now you're just starting to piss me off! I don't have time for these games!"

"Enough talking; grab her so we can go," Jae said to the giant henchmen standing behind Nieko.

The henchman placed his hand on Nieko's shoulder from behind. She looked at the hand, twisted his arm, jumped up behind the giant, and kicked him, sending the man flying into the Trio-Js. They all tumbled like a strike in bowling. Nieko smiled as she walked toward the pile.

"Now that you got a taste of whom you're dealing with, I hope you'll reconsider your actions and run home to your daddy."

"Oh yeah?" Jae said.

"Well, good thing we came with back-up!”

The rest of the henchmen started to creep up behind Nieko. She looked around as her safe zone became filled with henchmen.

"This is your last time to give up, RED HOT. Your refusal will only end in your demise." 

Jae and his brothers studied Nieko anxiously, waiting for her answer.

"Well, I guess it can't be helped," Nieko chuckled.

She reached down to her shoes, pulling out a bright orange scrunchie. She collected the perfect handful of hair to create a ponytail, leaving a bang flowing in the front of her face. She looked up at the boys and readied her fighting stance.

"I'm so sorry that you boys will have to witness such an ass-whooping first hand, but insisted, so I will deliver that for you!"

“I'm just grateful Mika doesn't have to witness this side of me,” Nieko whispered to herself.

Jay looked with great curiosity at Nieko.

"Huh? Who is this Mika person she mentioned?"