(LOCATION: A slave holding pen. Dark, damp, the air thick with the smell of fear.)

(The episode opens with the loud clang of a rusted iron cage door being slammed shut. Inside, we see QASSEM (12), leaning against the bars. His eyes are calm and hard, observing everything silently. Beside him sits his friend, SALIM, who looks more fragile. Faint blue lines on his cheeks glow softly with every trembling breath he takes.)

SALIM: (Whispering fearfully) "Are you okay, Qassem?"

(Qassem looks at his friend, his expression softening for a moment. He puts a reassuring hand on Salim’s shoulder.)

QASSEM: (In a quiet, confident voice) "I'm fine. I've seen worse cages than this."

(Qassem looks around at the other captives in the pen, their faces hopeless and empty. We hear his inner thoughts.)

QASSEM (V.O.):

"Numbers… faces without names… Is that all we are here? Just merchandise waiting for its turn?"

[SCENE 2]

(A large, brutish guard enters, roughly tying crude metal tags around the necks of the new arrivals. He gets to Qassem and shoves one around his neck.)

(A close-up shot of the tag hanging on Qassem’s chest. There is no name, only a crudely stamped date.)

(Qassem holds the cold metal tag with his fingertips, his eyes reading the date.)

QASSEM (V.O.):

"That date… Is it the day I was brought into this hell? Or the day I’ll be erased from this world?"

[SCENE 3]

(LOCATION: The edge of the square, amidst the roaring crowd.)

(The camera cuts quickly between the other heroes.)

(A shot of TAHER. His face is pale as he watches the betting and the casual cruelty of the arena.)

TAHER (V.O.):

"They're treating them like objects… like they're not even human."

(A shot of MERENJI. His eyes are gleaming with excitement as he analyzes the fight.)

MERENJI (V.O.):

"Strong, but stupid. He should've used that chain to his advantage… I would have."

(A shot of MADDAH, perched high above. He isn't watching the fighters, but the Ringmaster collecting the betting money, the guards at their posts. He's studying the system, not the spectacle.)

[SCENE 4]

(BILAL, the small smiling boy, appears beside Taher, seemingly out of nowhere. He looks at the arena with a bored expression.)

BILAL: "First time at the market?"

(Taher turns, startled.)

TAHER: "This is insane! How does anyone allow this? Is there no authority?"

(Bilal lets out a short, cynical laugh.)

BILAL: "Authority? You're a nice one. Here, my friend, everything is for sale. Life is cheap, and names don't matter. Only strength rules."

(Taher looks from Bilal back to the arena, the words echoing in his mind. He is beginning to understand the true nature of this world.)

[SCENE 5]

(The fight in the arena ends brutally. The crowd roars. The massive Ringmaster smiles, then points a thick finger directly at Qassem and Salim's cage.)

RINGMASTER: "Next! Bring out the two new ones! Let's see if they were worth the price!"

(Two guards unlock the cage. Qassem immediately stands protectively in front of Salim. But the guards are stronger, grabbing them easily and dragging them out.)

(The action slows down. We see the scene from Qassem’s perspective as he’s being dragged. The bloodthirsty faces of the crowd blur past him. He sees the look of horror on Taher’s face, the cold analysis in Maddah’s, and the morbid excitement in Merenji’s.)

(They are thrown into the center of the arena. They fall onto the dirt, stained with dry blood. A guard tosses two wooden swords in front of them, the sound thudding dully.)

(FINAL SHOT: The camera angle is low, looking up at the two small boys as the giant shadow of the Ringmaster falls over them. We hear his booming voice.)

RINGMASTER (V.O.): "Let the next auction… begin!"

(The screen cuts to black on the heavy, final beat of a drum.)

(END OF EPISODE)