Mia squinted up to take a look of how much more they needed to cover to in order to get to the summit as they trudged up the mountain. " When are we getting theeere?"

Annie looked at the map. " Uh.... there's a shortcut somewhere here."

Emma giggled as she sketched. " This is AMAZING!!"

Mia sighed as she stretched her arms. " Maybe for you, but you're an artist! You literally LOVE to sketch."

" And paint."

Mia gave her a look. " You know what I mean!"

Annie turned, exasperated. " We just had lunch! Don't tell me you're already starting to act like toddlers again!"

Emma froze.

" What. Did. You. Just. Say.?" Emma asked as she slowly turned her head.

Mia shrugged it off. " Never mind. Let's go."

Blackie, who was in Mia's bag, yawned. " Let's just get to the summit."

" This..... This doesn't look right." Emma said nervously as she gripped Annie's arm.

Annie looked at the map. " Uh..... Emma can you read the map?"

" Okay.*

Emma took the map from Mia's bag and cleared her throat.

" Yamaha view.... Regal point.... Maggieish summi-"

" Not like that!" Annie said exasperated.

Mia sighed and took the map. "How about I lead?"

"Fine by me." Emma shrugged.

Annie nodded. "I'll take it."

Mia shook her head and muttered something about kids and bickering as she walked, Emma and Annie following.

" Are the trees supposed to get darker and darker the higher we go?" Emma asked.

" And is it just me or is it getting hot?" Annie added.

Blackie popped his head out of the bag. " It's not just you."

Mia stopped in front of a large hole in the ground. " We're going in."

Annie cocked her head. " Do you think it's a good idea to jump into a suspicious large hole in the ground?"

" Does it look like we have a choice?" Mia shot back

Annie looked around.

" No."

The cat meowed. " See?" He said, licking his tongue. " The cat's always right."

Mia glared at her black cat. " Blackie you didn't say anything."

" I beg to differ."

Emma groaned. " Let's just... Go."

Mia grinned. " See you down there!"

The three girls jumped—or rather, fell—into the yawning hole. The rush of air and the sudden sense of weightlessness caught them off guard.

“AHHHHH!” Annie screamed.

“I KNEW THIS WAS A BAD IDEA!” Emma yelled, clutching her sketchbook tightly.

Mia, somehow managing to sound both thrilled and terrified, shouted, “This is AWESOME!”

Even Blackie let out a startled, “MEOOOOW!” as his fur puffed up like a spiky ball.

The fall felt like forever, and then suddenly, they landed on a sloping, ashy surface that slid them further down into the cavern. Lava flowed in bright orange streams, the air thick with heat and the faint scent of sulfur.

“Oh no,” Annie whispered as they finally came to a stop. She glanced around, her face pale. “Is that—lava?”

Emma’s hands trembled as she sketched the surreal scene. “It’s beautiful... and horrifying.”

Blackie poked his head out of the bag, his ears flat. “This is definitely a volcano. Told you something didn’t feel right.”

“You did NOT say that!” Mia snapped, brushing ash off her pants.

Annie pointed to a jagged, upward slope. “Okay, we need to climb out. NOW.”

Emma looked up at the towering walls of the volcano. “It’s too high! How are we supposed to—”

“LAVA!” Blackie yowled, pointing his paw at a bubbling fissure. Lava was oozing closer.

“Move, MOVE!” Mia shouted, grabbing Annie and Emma’s arms as they scrambled up the rocky incline. The heat was oppressive, sweat dripping down their faces.

Annie spotted something glinting in the distance. “Wait—what’s that? A ladder?”

Sure enough, there was an old, rusty metal ladder bolted to the side of the volcanic wall.

“Let’s hope it holds,” Mia muttered as they raced toward it.

Emma hesitated. “What if it breaks?”

“Would you rather stay here?” Mia shot back, already starting to climb.

The others followed quickly, Blackie clinging tightly to Mia’s bag. The ladder creaked ominously, but it held as they ascended, the heat from the lava below intensifying with every second.

Suddenly, a deep rumble echoed through the cavern, and the ground shook violently. Annie glanced down. “The volcano’s about to erupt!”

“FASTER!” Mia screamed.

The girls climbed with everything they had, the sound of boiling lava roaring below them.

As they scrambled up the ladder, it groaned under their combined weight. Suddenly, with a loud CRACK, the metal snapped in two.

“NOOO!” Annie yelled as they plummeted downward, landing hard on a flat rock ledge that jutted out from the wall of the volcano. Dust and ash filled the air as they groaned and tried to regain their senses.

Mia sat up first, rubbing her shoulder. “Ah, well,” she said with forced optimism. “Looks like we’ll just be spending our two-week vacation here.”

Annie shot her a look of pure disbelief. “Here? In a volcano? How is this even a mountain?”

Emma sat up, pulling the now-crumpled map out of her bag. She unfolded it, eyes scanning over the marked trails. Her face fell instantly.

“Uh... guys?” Emma said in a small voice, looking guilty.

Mia raised an eyebrow. “What now?”

Emma gulped. “I might have... uh... grabbed the wrong map.”

Mia blinked, the words sinking in slowly. “You’re telling me we’re not even on the right mountain?”

Emma nodded sheepishly. “Yeah. This is... well, definitely not the ‘Maggieish Summit’ trail. This map is for the old volcanic caverns. Whoops.”

Annie threw up her hands. “Whoops? Whoops?! Emma, we’re trapped in a volcano because of ‘whoops’?”

Blackie, peering over Mia’s shoulder, snorted. “I knew this smelled like disaster. Classic Emma move.”

Mia sighed and lay back on the rock. “Great. Just great. Volcanic vacation it is.”

Emma looked around, trying to muster a bit of optimism. “I mean, on the bright side... the view is kind of amazing?”

Mia closed her eyes, exasperated. “Remind me to never trust your shortcuts again.”

“Deal,” Emma said quietly, already regretting her navigation mistake.

Annie looked down at the lava slowly flowing below them. “We need a real plan, like, now.”

Mia opened her eyes and glanced around. “Fine. Let's try to find a safer path out. But if Emma says anything about shortcuts, we're ignoring her."

Emma raised her hands in surrender. “Fair enough.”

The heat intensified, but the trio began to strategize, hoping this misadventure would lead to an exit—and not more lava.

Mia gritted her teeth, her arms glowing faintly as she channeled her wind powers. The gusts swirling from her hands slowed the lava's approach, cooling the molten rock into hardened crusts. Her breaths came quick and sharp, the heat around them almost unbearable.

"Faster, Mia! Faster!" Annie yelled, glancing nervously at the glowing fissures creeping closer.

"Hey!" Mia protested, wiping sweat from her brow. "It takes time to stop lava, you know!"

Annie sighed, realizing her tone. "Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.”

Mia shot her a quick glare but nodded. “Apology accepted. Now shut up and let me focus.”

Emma crouched next to her, gripping her sketchbook tightly. “You’ve got this, Mia! Just a little more!” Then she added with a grin, “Now maybe use your water powers to help? You do have those, right?”

Mia snorted, her concentration breaking momentarily. “Yeah, because water powers totally come with wind powers.”

" Remember, she can control it. It's just that.... Well.... Water and Lightning and fire aren't really with their original owners... Remember?*

" The overlord attack." Emma muttered darkly.

" Sorry, Emma."

“Well, it was worth a shot,” Emma muttered.

As Mia poured more energy into her wind, the lava slowed further, hardening into a dark, cracked crust. Blackie, clinging to Annie’s shoulder, meowed loudly.

“Uh, guys?” Blackie said, his ears twitching. “Hate to interrupt, but I think the volcano has other plans.”

The ground beneath them rumbled violently, cracks spreading across the ledge. A fresh surge of lava bubbled from below.

“Great,” Annie muttered. “Any other brilliant ideas, Emma?”

Emma bit her lip, scanning their surroundings. “What about... climbing higher? There’s another ledge over there!”

Annie looked doubtful. “And how do we get there without dying?”

Mia stood, her legs shaky but determined. “We jump. And I’ll use my wind powers to boost us. You just have to trust me.”

“Trust you? After we’ve fallen, like, twice already?” Annie groaned.

Emma shrugged. “Do you have a better idea?”

“No,” Annie admitted.

Mia positioned herself, focusing her powers. “Hold on tight, and try not to scream.”

With a powerful gust of wind, the trio—and a very annoyed Blackie—launched themselves toward the higher ledge, hoping their luck would finally turn around.

With a final surge of effort, Mia concentrated, combining her wind powers with a flicker of something new—water. A cool mist swirled around them as droplets gathered in the air, cooling the volcanic heat. Lightning sparked faintly around her hands, and flames danced at her fingertips, merging into a swirling vortex of elemental energy.

“Whoa,” Emma said, wide-eyed. “Since when could you do all of that again?”

“No time to explain!” Mia barked, her voice strained. “Just hold on!”

She unleashed the combined powers, propelling them upward. The force was stronger than expected, and they soared toward the higher ledge… only to overshoot it slightly and come crashing down face-first.

THUD.

“Ugh,” Annie groaned, lifting her head and spitting out ash. “Did we really just—?”

“Yes,” Emma muttered, her face still pressed against the rock. “We landed on our faces.”

Blackie, somehow landing gracefully on all fours, snorted. “Impressive powers. Not-so-impressive landings.”

Mia groaned as she pushed herself up, brushing soot off her clothes. “Hey, we made it, didn’t we? That’s what matters.”

Annie sat up, glaring at her. “Barely! My nose might never be the same!”

Emma stretched out on the ledge, exhausted but unable to suppress a grin. “ you did it, Mia!"

" I guess I did!" She laughed. " Kai and Jay and Nya must be able to control again."

Suddenly, the ground rumbled again, a reminder that their problems were far from over.

“Fine,” Annie said, standing and dusting herself off. “But next time? Maybe aim for our feet instead of our faces.”

“Noted,” Mia said dryly, already scanning for their next move.

Emma groaned as she got up. “Can’t wait to tell everyone we face-planted our way through an active volcano.”

Blackie flicked his tail. “If we get out of here, that is.”

Mia smirked, her hands sparking faintly with lightning. “Oh, we’ll get out. Let’s just hope the volcano doesn’t have any more surprises.”

"AAGHHHHHHHHH! RUUUUUUUUN!"

Emma's scream echoed through the cavern as she sprinted ahead, her sketchbook clutched tightly to her chest. Her wide eyes glanced back at the massive boulder tumbling toward them, knocking aside smaller rocks like they were paper.

"HURRY!" Emma shouted again, her voice trembling.

"I'M TRYING!" Mia yelled back, her arms glowing faintly as she conjured gusts of wind to slow the boulder. "BUT IT'S NOT EASY TRYING TO STOP A ROLLING BOULDER!"

"Try harder!" Annie screeched, running beside Emma, her breaths coming in frantic gasps.

Mia groaned, the heat from the volcano mixing with the stress of using her powers. "Oh sure, let me just magically develop super strength while I’m at it!"

Blackie, clinging tightly to Mia’s bag, yowled. "Maybe stop arguing and focus on the giant rock of doom!"

Mia gritted her teeth, pivoting sharply and thrusting her hands forward. A powerful burst of wind erupted, slowing the boulder ever so slightly. She followed it up with a sharp twist of her fingers, summoning flames to crack and weaken the boulder’s surface. Sparks flew, but it kept rolling.

“It’s not working!” Emma screamed, her voice shrill.

“Then run faster!” Mia snapped, sweat dripping down her face.

The trio darted down the narrow pathway, the ground shaking with each bounce of the boulder. The path forked ahead, splitting into two uneven trails.

"Left or right?" Annie shouted.

"Right!" Mia barked without hesitation.

Emma veered right, dragging Annie along with her. Mia followed, glancing back at the boulder, which was now dangerously close.

With a sudden burst of determination, Mia clenched her fists, her powers flaring to life. Lightning crackled around her hands as she thrust them toward the boulder. A deafening CRACK echoed through the cavern as the lightning struck, splintering the boulder into chunks.

The fragments skidded to a stop mere inches from where they stood, breathing hard and wide-eyed.

Emma collapsed to her knees, clutching her chest. "Never... doing... this... again."

Annie nodded, panting. "Agreed."

Mia wiped her brow, a tired grin spreading across her face. "Told you I could stop it."

Blackie poked his head out of the bag, his fur frazzled. "Great job, hero. Now, what about the next disaster waiting for us?"

The ground rumbled ominously again, and the trio collectively groaned.

"Why does it feel like this volcano hates us?" Annie muttered.

" Because it does." Emma mumbled.

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