PIXAL burst into the Monastery main room, startling the ninja. "The Paperboys are in trouble!"
Kai jumped up from the couch. "What?!"
Jay looked up from his book. "How?!"
"There's a fire somewhere. Most of the paperboys are safe. Unfortunately, there's one trapped in the fire."
She turned to Mia. "Nelson."
Mia's eyes widened.
And then she let out an ear piercing scream.
The shriek ripped through the room like a blade, raw and gut-deep.
Without another word, Mia bolted.
"Mia, wait!" Jay shouted, throwing down his book and running after her, lightning crackling at his fingertips.
Cole was already moving. "I'll grab the gear!"
"I'll get the vehicles ready!" Lloyd called, sprinting down the hall toward the garage.
PIXAL turned to Kai. "The fire's at the old warehouse near the edge of the city. The emergency systems flagged it five minutes ago—too fast, too intense for a normal blaze."
Kai's face hardened. "That means someone set it."
Zane stepped forward, his voice calm but firm. "Then this is not just a rescue. It's a trap."
But none of that mattered to Mia.
Her mind was a blur, her heart pounding louder than her footsteps. Nelson. Her Nelson. The one who always made her laugh. Who gave her a flower last week and said it reminded him of her—small, stubborn, and impossible to ignore.
If he was trapped—
She pushed harder.
Outside, the sky was choked with smoke in the distance. Sirens wailed. The others followed, but she was already gone.
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Mia flew across the city like a comet, propelled by howling winds and raw emotion. Her braid whipped behind her as the sky blurred past, the acrid scent of smoke growing thicker with every second. She didn't even notice the tears streaming down her face, lost in the wind.
Below her, fire roared through the remains of the old warehouse—walls collapsed, beams groaned, and the orange glow lit the sky like a second sun. Emergency workers were holding back the flames, but the blaze was too fast, too powerful.
Mia dropped from the sky like a stone.
She landed in a crouch, wind spiraling around her and sending smoke curling away in all directions. Ash and embers fluttered like dying stars.
"Where is he?!" she screamed, her voice sharp with panic as she approached the nearest firefighter.
The woman, startled by the sudden appearance of the young elemental, pointed frantically. "Back corner! Near the storage crates! He went in to help one of the smaller kids who got scared and ran—he didn't come out!"
Mia didn't wait. She took off in a burst of wind so sharp it knocked dust from the trees.
The warehouse groaned like a dying beast as she pushed through the broken doorway. Heat slammed into her, stifling and furious. Fire surged along the walls, licking at metal shelves and igniting crates. The smoke was thick, choking, but she forced herself forward.
She flung out a hand and the wind parted the smoke like a curtain.
"Nelson!" she shouted.
A sound—barely audible—answered her from deeper inside. A cough. A whimper.
Mia surged forward, a shell of wind keeping the worst of the heat at bay. Flames clawed toward her but were doused by the sudden burst of water she summoned from a burst pipe, dousing the inferno long enough for her to leap through.
There—huddled behind a fallen beam, shielding a tiny, unconscious boy with his own body—was Nelson.
His face was soot-smeared, his hair matted with sweat. He looked up, dazed, his brown eyes wide with disbelief.
"Mia?" he rasped.
A sob burst from her lips.
She dropped to her knees beside him, throwing a shield of wind around them. "I've got you. I've got you both."
She lifted the unconscious boy with one arm and tugged Nelson up with the other. He was shaking, coughing hard.
"The roof—" he started.
"I know," she said. "We're not going out that way."
A flaming beam collapsed behind them, sending sparks into the air. The heat was intensifying—this whole place could come down at any second.
Mia clenched her jaw and summoned everything she had.
Water from broken pipes surged through the walls, dousing flames in their path.
Wind howled around them, shielding them from embers and smoke.
Lightning sparked around her fingers as she boosted her strength and speed.
And then—
Fire.
Controlled, shaped by her hands, obeying her will instead of consuming it. She split a burning wall with a flaming slash of her arm, creating a narrow passage out.
With Nelson leaning on her and the little boy in her arms, Mia charged through the smoke-filled corridor. The world around her was a chaos of collapsing beams and shrieking fire, but she moved like a storm.
She exploded through the side door in a whirlwind of ash and light.
Paramedics swarmed in an instant.
Nelson was pulled from her arms, taken to a stretcher. The little boy too. But Mia didn't stop moving—she collapsed beside Nelson, grabbing his hand tightly before they could pull him away.
"You idiot," she whispered, trembling. "Why did you go in there?"
He gave her a tired, crooked smile. "Because... that's what heroes do, right?"
She broke. Her forehead dropped against his, and the sobs shook her.
"Never do that again." She whispered fiercely. "Not without me."
Nelson let out a playful scoff. "Never?"
Mia glared at him through tears. "Yes, Nelson. Never."
