"I'm starving" said Alex as he heard his stomach growl for about the 5th time that morning. "I need to go to the market and get some food before I pass out".

While this is being said, there is a growl coming from a giant black lump in the middle of the cave. "Oh and to get you food too" said Alex to his best friend, who happens to be a 3000 pound dragon with black, sleek scales and powerful wings meant for great speed and stamina.

The dragon, in turn, jumps up and tackles' his friend to the ground, licking every bit of visible skin.

"Ah! C'mon Midnight stop it". Yelled a laugh-filled Alex. Midnight obeyed his friend and got off of him.

Alex then got up, wiping dragon saliva off his face.

"I guess I should go to the meat stand today, there shouldn't be any guards on duty by that stand today and it's always the easiest place to steal from." Said Alex, earning a happy noise from Midnight.

Alex then proceeded to grab his dark, flowing robe which concealed him for the most part, along with a bandana that was made from an old and burnt fire nation flag in order to hide his face. He then proceeded to grab his twin Dao swords and put them on his holster.

"I'll be back later Midnight." Said Alex to the lazy dragon lying on the cave floor. And with that, Alex made his way to the great city of Ba Sing Se.

(Line Break)

"Guys come check this out" Yelled Sokka.

"What is it?" Katara asked while running with Suki and Aang.

"ALL THIS MEAT FOR 3 GOLD PEICES! It's heaven" Sokka said with a big, lifeless sigh.

"Sokka you know Aang's a vegetarian and can't eat any of this right?" Suki questioned Sokkas' meat hungry rage.

"I know but we still got a few more gold pieces left from the king to spend on some other unsavory things" Sokka said with a grin.

"Alright but just let me hold onto the rest of the money Sokka otherwise I might not be eating for the next few days." Aang said in a serious yet goofy tone.

"Fine." Replied Sokka in a sarcastic voice.

"HEY THAT KID JUST STOLE SOME OF MY FOOD!" Yelled the meat merchant.

"Shit, now I gotta make a clean get away". Alex said in a whisper as he started running along the rooftops.

Jumping from building to building to try and escape the guards, he failed to notice that instead of the guards chasing him, it was team Avatar.

"Aang, I need you to fly above him to get a birds' eye view on him, Toph I want you to try and box him while Zuko, Katara, and I try to direct him into Tophs' trap. Suki I need you to chase after him, he seems dangerous so be careful not to get to close. When we got him cornered, we need Mai to throw knives at him to trap him. If this all goes to plan then I can get my precious, very precious, meat" Sokka said sternly while his mouth started to water.

"All I need to do now is make it back to the cave and I'm home free" Said Alex in a heavy breath.

"Please stop, we just want to talk" Yelled Aang from above.

Alex then looked up to see a kid flying through the air above him. At that moment, he realized that he wasn't out running a few guards, but he was outrunning the Avatar.

"TOPH START MAKING OBSTICALS TO SLOW HIM DOWN!" Yelled Sokka.

In a moments' notice, walls of earth started shooting up in front of Alex in an attempt to slow him down.

"Ah shit, a master earth bender too, this day just keeps getting better and better" Alex said sarcastically while running for what might be his free life.

Just as Alex was about to jump to another building, a blast of fire raged in front of him making him stop in his tracks.

"Hah we got you now" Zuko yelled to Alex.

"Katara, try and freeze him in place" Aang yelled from above.

"Alright, will do" Katara said.

"Ok, so not only am I running from the avatar, but from his entire gang, this is going to end badly unless I-" Alex was cut out by a whip of water freezing his legs in place.

"Good job Katara." Suki said just as she reached the opposite end of the building Alex was trapped on.

"Alright, gotta break this ice and fast." Alex said panicking "I got it!"

Alex then grabbed his swords from his back and started hitting weak points of the ice. Alex was about to be trapped from the bending masters when he broke free of the ice and dodged the knives that were about to pin him down.

"AANG GET DOWN THERE AND DO SOME OF YOUR AVATAR STUFF TO STOP HIM FROM GETTING AWAY WITH MY MEAT" Sokka said in his most annoyed voice.

"Alright, alright, you don't need to be so pissy Sokka" Aang said annoyed.

Aang then jumped from the sky, landing on Alex and trapping him in the building he was on top of.

"Alright you got me, just let me out of this building, it sorta really hurts." Alex said with a little humour in his voice.

The rest of the gang got to them only seconds after.

"Give me my meat back you monster" Sokka yelled in an angry tone.

"Calm down Sokka, you don't have to be so harsh on the kid even if he stole something." Katara scolded her brother.

"Why did you steal the meat anyways?" asked Katara.

"Does it matter?" Alex said meanly.

"Yes it does, you don't just go around stealing anything you please, its wrong." Zuko said trying not to go onto a rant on obeying the laws set in place by him and the rest of the nation's government's.

"Who are you anyway?" Suki asked in a sweet voice.

"I am no one; why else do you think I have a hood on with a mask." Alex said dryly.

"Take the mask off if you guys really want to know who he is." Mai said annoyed.

"It will be my pleasure." Sokka said with a slightly sadistic smile that covered his whole face.

Sokka went to remove the hood and mask while Alex struggled. It was useless since he was still partly bended into the earth.

"It's, just a boy." said Zuko shocked.

"He doesn't look that young, maybe around my age." Katara said.

"Both way, what he did was wrong and he needs to be punished for this." Aang said

"You can just let me go with a warning." Alex said with a happy tone and a small grin.
"Hey, I recognize you now, your that thief that everyone's talking about" Suki said.

"What are you talking about, I'm not that skilled at stealing, and I did get caught easily didn't I?" Alex said trying to cover his past heists.

"He's lying." Toph said.

"And how would you be able to know." Alex said dryly.

"I see with earth bending, there's a physical change when someone lies." Toph replied.

"Well this is just great, first I get caught at the easiest place to steal from, and now I'm found out to be the famous thief around this city." Alex said in a disappointed tone.

"So you admit it?" Zuko asked.

"Yes, I admit it, just take me to the police or something and throw me in jail." Alex replied. "At least I won't starve." He said in a whisper.

"What did you just say?" Katara questioned with a sense of worry.

"It's nothing, just take me away."

The gang then took Alex down to the jail to see what his punishment was. Along the journey Alex was asked a few questions but he just ignored them all and took in the sights of people he stole from, he hated stealing but it's the only way he and Midnight could survive.

"We're here." Aang said sadly.

"How come you sound so sad Aang?" asked Katara.

"I dent know, I just feel as if we shouldn't be doing this. I don't think he does it on purpose." Aang said with his head down.

"If you're gonna talk about a guy, make sure he's not right in front of you" Alex said in an annoyed tone.

"Just shut up and talk to the jail person already" Sokka said.

Sokka and Zuko brought Alex up to the counter where the head of the jail sat.

"And what can I do for ya." Said the jailer.

"We got the famous thief that's been going around Ba Sing Se." Said Sokka.

"Is this true young man?" Asked the jail person.

"Yea" Alex said disappointed.

"Well, due to your extensive record of stealing, at least from what we have heard of you from the citizens, you are going to be in here for a long time." Said the jailer disappointedly.

"Why do you sound so disappointed?" Asked Zuko confused.

"He doesn't seem like a bad kid, just one who went down the wrong road, but my judgment doesn't matter, it's the courts judgment that does." Said the jailer.

"When am I going to see them anyways?" Asked Alex.

"In five minutes, there hasn't been any trouble today so their free to take you in." Said the jailer with a small smile.

"Alright, now can you tell these guys to let me go already, I'm not going to try and escape anymore, I may be a thief but I'm not a liar" said Alex who was clearly annoyed.

"Alright, let's just go back to the house and make some dinner." Said Zuko.

With that, the gang left the jail and made their way home, but not without feeling a little sad for what might happen to the boy they just met, they didn't even get his name.

Line Break

"You are being accused of over 300 thefts today." Said judge 1. "Do you confess to these claims?"

"Yes I do." Said Alex, who was clearly not paying much attention.

The court room was very bland. It was a big room with only two tables, a large one on an elevated surface where the 3 judges sat and a smaller on the lowered ground where Alex was seated, being evaluated.

"Well I think that you're a good kid but that doesn't excuse you from these crimes." Scolded judge 2.

"I know, can you just tell me how long I'm going to be in for." Said Alex in an extremely bored voice.

The 3 judges then started talking quietly for about 10 minutes when the first one spoke up.

"We have decided on 30 years in prison with no chance of parole."

"WHAT!" Exclaimed Alex. "That long? But why?"

"We all agreed that you stole more than over 1000 gold pieces worth of items in the past 3 weeks." said judge 3.

"How about we make a little compromise that won't put me in jail" Said Alex with a devilish smile.

"Alright, we're listening." said judge 2, intrigued.

Line Break

"Zuko, it looks like there's a messenger hawk here for you." Said Katara who started petting the hawk.

"Ugh, it's probably some fan asking for something" Zuko teased.

Zuko grabbed the letter from the hawk and started reading.

"I...I can't believe it." Said Zuko obviously shocked.

"What's it say?" Asked Aang.

"It's a challenge from the kid we just caught." Zuko said shocked.

"What kind of challenge?" Asked Katara.

"Agni Kai"