(LOCATION: The center of the slave market arena. The episode begins exactly where the last one ended.)

(The camera is focused on QASSEM's face. He is kneeling beside SALIM's body. His face is tearless, but filled with a shock so deep it's beyond comprehension.)

QASSEM (V.O., full of pain):

"Why…? Why do the ones I love always… disappear?"

(The air around him begins to tremble. His eyes glow with a deep black light, and cracks of dark energy appear on his skin around them, mirroring the blue lines that faded from Salim's face, but now in a stark, abyssal black.)

(In an instant, all sound ceases. The roar of the crowd, the crackling of torches, everything vanishes. It is replaced by an absolute, dreadful silence, broken only by the low, deep beat of a single heart.)

[SCENE 2]

(The scene is now eerily silent and monochrome, with only a faint, dark blue light emanating from Qassem. Everything is frozen.)

(The camera glides slowly through the frozen arena. The crowd is a collection of statues with their mouths agape. The Ringmaster is frozen with a cruel smirk on his face. Dust particles and droplets of blood hang suspended in the air like stars.)

(Qassem stands up in the middle of this silent world. He looks at his trembling hands.)

QASSEM: (Whispering into the silence, his voice the only thing that moves) "Is this… time? Did it stop?"

(A single tear finally falls from his eye, but it moves in extreme slow motion, like a pearl falling through honey, freezing in the air before it can touch the ground.)

NARRATOR (V.O.):

"In that silence, the Black Flame pulsed within him for the first time… not with purpose… not to attack… but as if it were weeping with him."

[SCENE 3]

(Qassem walks through the frozen world. He stops in front of the frozen figures of TAHER, MERENJI, and MADDAH in the crowd. He sees the pure horror on Taher's face, the power-hungry excitement on Merenji's, and the analytical disbelief on Maddah's.)

(He returns to Salim's side. The grief, rage, and despair finally reach their peak. He lets out a true, raw scream of a child who has lost everything.)

(His scream shatters the silence. The frozen, glass-like reality around him begins to crack with black lines of energy.)

[SCENE 4]

(In a single, violent moment, everything shatters. Time resumes with an explosive jolt. An invisible shockwave of force erupts from Qassem, throwing the Ringmaster and the guards backward. The crowd screams in genuine panic now, trampling each other. The arena descends into absolute chaos.)

(The camera cuts to MADDAH, high above the chaos. His mind is racing.)

MADDAH (V.O., fast and analytical):

"One of Qadiro's men was killed... They'll lock down the sector. They'll kill every witness... I am a witness. I am a target. But... that power... it's not in any record. An impossible Flame. That boy... he's not just a witness. He is... he's the truth I've been searching for."

(Maddah’s eyes dart to Taher and Merenji, who are now moving amidst the chaos.)

MADDAH (V.O., cold and strategic):

"I can't get to him alone. But they… they are the brute force I need. They are my path to my prize… and our path out of this trap."

[SCENE 5]

(Maddah stands on his high perch. He no longer looks like a mere observer, but a player who has just seen the winning move.)

MADDAH (Shouting, his voice sharp and directive, cutting through the chaos): "Hey! You two! The boy in the center! He's our only chance to get out of here alive! Move!"

(His direct command breaks through Taher's horror and Merenji's battle-lust. They look at each other, then at Qassem, and understand. The chaos is their cover, and the mysterious boy is their key.)

[SCENE 6]

(Taher and Merenji charge toward the center of the arena. Taher uses his agility to weave through the panicking crowd, while Merenji uses his strength to shove a path open.)

(Maddah leaps down from his perch, landing gracefully, and joins them, directing their path.)

MADDAH (while running): "This way! The guards are blocking the main exits! There's a service tunnel behind the Ringmaster's platform!"

(They reach Qassem, who is still kneeling, catatonic with grief. Taher grabs his arm, pulling him hard.)

TAHER: "Get up! We have to go! Now!"

(The four of them, now a single, desperate unit, run together through the chaos, led by Maddah's tactical commands.)

[SCENE 7]

(FINAL SHOT: The four boys burst out of a side exit into a dark, wet alleyway. They collapse against a grimy wall, panting, covered in dust and dirt.)

(They catch their breath. Slowly, they look at each other. No one speaks.)

(The camera circles their faces: Taher, with a new weight of responsibility in his eyes. Merenji, his eyes gleaming with a dangerous excitement. Maddah, his expression calm and calculating. And Qassem, his eyes completely empty, holding the sorrow of an entire world.)

(From the distance, we hear the sharp, shrill sound of security whistles growing closer.)

NARRATOR (V.O.):

"In a single moment, time was broken, and the first meeting between the four began without a word. But in the Bottom, escaping together… is only the beginning of the chase."

(The screen cuts to black.)

(END OF EPISODE)