"We're so screwed" Ares said, pulling his arms backwards as he ran.

'You have no idea...' Came Kurama's voice.

'You could help us out,yunno!' Ares responded.

Aang took a sharp turn left,but soon came back, running in the opposite direction.

"Wrong way!"

"Seriously!" Ares complained as they all made an abrupt turn. A fire Sage soon came out of that same direction Aang avoided and called after them.

"Wait,come back!"

None of them were willing to take that chance. After making a turn,however,the kids ran into a dead end. Turning to face the Sage from before,they were surprised when the man surrendered.

"I'm not here to harm you" He said. "I'm a friend"

"Firebenders aren't our friends!" Sokka retorted.

"Hey!" Ares took offense at that.

"I know why you're here" The Sage said.

"You do?" Aang raised his eyebrow.

"And I can help you" the sage continued. He then pulled down an old lantern, revealing a secret passage in the wall. "This will lead you to Avatar Roku"

The footsteps of the other sages were heard.

"Hurry" He said. The gaang wasted no time in running into the tunnel,the Sage closing the door behind them. As they heard the footsteps get closer,Ares held his breath for what felt like hours before the footsteps finally started fading.

"Thanks" Ares whispered to the Sage who nodded in return. They then made their way through the secret passage.

The sage whose name was Shyu, explained how he didn't know Roku but his grandfather did,how the sages waited for the next Avatar after Roku died but joined the Fire Lord after many years of waiting. When asked how he knew they were coming,he explained how Roku's eyes had lit up a few days before.

After the brief recap of events, The group arrived at the top of the temple to a huge door that had two dragons designed on it. Shyu's eyes widened in disbelief.

"No!"

"What's wrong?" Aang asked.

"Can't you just unlock it like you did with the other door?" Ares asked.

"No," Shyu shook his head. "only a fully realized Avatar or five sages can open it"

Sokka stroked his chin and pondered this... Then an idea struck him.

"I think I can help you out"

Minutes passed as Sokka,Ares and two of his clones poured oil into bags and put them into the mouths of the statues on the door.

"This trick should work," Sokka said. "Ares and I will seal the animal skin casings, Shyu will light them up and tada! Fake firebending!"

"Wow, Sokka " Katara said. "This actually might work"

"But if it doesn't, we're all toast" Ares deadpanned.

The Pony tailed boy then smiled at his work before walking away so Shyu can light it. Katara held Momo in her hands and Ares stood beside her idly, watching for the results.

"Ready?" Sokka's asked Aang.

"Definitely" the bald boy replied.

"This blast will get the sages'attention," Shyu explained. "So once it opens,you must enter quickly"

The team nodded and backed away from the door. Shyu then lit a flame his index and middle fingers, igniting the ropes before running away himself. The Sokka - Approved explosives made contact and exploded, shaking the room and causing smoke to pile up. Aang then used some of his Airbending to get rid of the smoke,only to reveal that the door was still locked but had black soot marks all over it.

"Ugh!" Aang groaned. "I'm never gonna talk to Roku!"

"Dang it," Ares said. "All that and the door's still standing?"

'I could use my fire release...' Ares pondered the possibility.

'You only know one technique,Ares' Kurama stated. 'And you need a summoning toad's help for it'

'Dang it,I hate when you're right'

'Which I always am' Kurama bragged.

'Zip it,fur face!'

"I don't understand" Sokka shook his head. "that blast was as strong as any firebending I've seen"

"That's it!" Katara's eyes lit up. "Sokka, you're a genius!"

"Wait,what?" Ares asked.

"His plan didn't even work " Aang added.

"You're right" Katara said. "but it looks like it did"

"Where are you going with this?" Ares raised his eyebrow.

The other sages came in quickly to see Shyu waving his hands.

"Everyone,come quickly!" He cried. "the Avatar is inside!"

"But how?!" The Elder Sage asked in shock.

"I don't know,but look!" Shyu replied, pointing at the door which showed a shadow moving underneath it.

"We must not allow him speak to Roku" the Elder Sage said.

Shyu and the other Sages immediately shot fire at the door, finally opening it... only to reveal Momo as the one inside, eating a nut.

"It's the Avatar's lemur! We've been tricked!"

Immediately the words left his mouth, Momo jumped on the Elder Sage, blocking the man's view. As he struggled with the flying lemur,Sokka and Ares wasted no time and grabbed the rug the sages had been standing on, yanking it and causing it to fall.

"Aang,now!" Katara signalled the Avatar who had been hiding the entire time. There was no response from the Airbender for a few seconds,until suddenly Aang emerged,but he was restricted by the banished prince,Zuko.

"The Avatar's coming with me" Zuko growled.

"Oh,no he's not!" Ares replied,a familiar jutsu forming in his open palm.

"Rasengan!"

The Jinchuriki leapt forward at a high speed and immediately thrusted the blue ball into Zuko's back, causing him to let go of Aang and fall over. Aang takes the opportunity and leaps over the Fire Sages blocking his path, making it through the door,just before it closes.

"He's in!" Sokka cheers. Seconds later,He, Katara and Ares were caught and chained to one of the room's pillars.

"Oh, great... Just great" Ares rolled his eyes.

Zuko and the fire Sages attempted to open the door a second time using their combined firebending,but the door refused to budge.

"Why won't it open?" Zuko demanded.

"It's the light" The Elder Sage explained. "Roku doesn't want us inside"

"I can't blame him" Ares remarked, causing all eyes to temporarily fall on him. "You're trying to capture his successor"

"Why did you betray us brother?" The Elder Sage asked Shyu.

"Because it is the Fire Sages' duty" Shyu replied. "and it still is"

"I'm sure the Fire Lord will understand once we bring him a pair of traitors" A voice jumps in, revealed to belong to Zhao as he walked in. "What a moving and heartfelt performance"

"Commander Zhao" the Elder Sage said, bowing along with the other Sages.

"And Prince Zuko..." Zhao continued with a malicious smile. "A noble effort on your part,but I'm afraid it didn't last very long... Your little smokescreen didn't work"

As Zhao spoke,two soldiers took hold of Zuko.

"Two traitors with one stone," Zhao smirked. "The Firelord will be pleased"

"You're too late Zhao!" Zuko said. "The Avatar's already inside and you can't follow him in"

"Doesn't matter" Zhao said. "One time or another he has to come out"

Zhao then walked over to the chained group of kids,his eyes fixed on Ares who had a stoic expression on his face.

"I remember you from earlier" Zhao said. "You destroyed my catapults with that strange blue sphere and Airbending... Tell me child,what was that power?"

"Even if I told you, you're obviously way too dense to understand" Ares replied with a smile of his own.

"You have a sharp tongue,boy" Zhao hissed,fists clenched. "Watch what you say before you lose it"

"Oh, you'll hit me... Maybe even firebend at me?" Ares continued, looking into the commander's eyes. "You must be really tough if you can attack a kid who's chained up. If you have any real confidence,untie me and we'll go at it,right here and now"

Zhao chuckled at the boy, waving him off as he walked up to the soldiers he brought with him.

"Yeah,that's what I thought" Ares said. "Sissy"

"How's Aang gonna make it out of this?" Sokka asked.

"How're we gonna make it out of this?" Katara added. "Ares, can't you make one of your clones?"

"I can't move my arms" Ares said as he struggled to move his limbs.

"Well what are we going to do?" Katara asked.

'I have a solution' came Kurama's voice.

'I'm listening...' Ares replied.

'I'll lend you some of my Chakra' The Fox said. Ares was surprised.

'You're going to send me into a rampage?'

'Kind of... I can keep your negative emotions at bay while you use the initial Jinchuriki Abilities,but the longer you use it...'

'The more likely I am to lose control of myself and hurt everyone' Ares finished.

'Exactly' Kurama replied. Ares let out a breath... Seeing it as their only chance of survival right now.

'Let's do it'

Seconds later,Ares felt his body slowly getting enveloped in the warmth of Kurama's demonic chakra,till eventually it completely covered him.

"Ares...?" Katara had noticed their new friend's transformation and looked at him with fear and concern.

The Jinchuriki let out a scream that sounded like a roar due to the transformation affecting his voice as well. He now had claws in place of nails,his teeth had morphed into fangs,his hair spiked even more than before and his brown eyes were now red with slits for pupils. His entire body was outlined with Kurama's red chakra.

'Amazing...' Ares said, feeling the sensation all over him. 'this is almost too much power'

'I'd give you about five minutes before this wears off and you collapse'

'I only need four' Ares smiled.

Turning his eyes towards his current enemies,Ares noticed the shocked expressions on each of their faces... Zhao's smug demeanor had dissipated into fear and amazement roller into one,the sages were immobilized by fear and even Zuko flinched.

With a slight grunt,Ares pulled at the chains binding him and his water tribe companions, causing them to break almost immediately.

"This feeling..." Shyu whispered. "This is beyond human..."

With a loud creak,the door Aang previously passed through started to open, getting everyone's attention.

"Once the doors open,unleash all your firepower!" Zhao ordered the Sages and the soldiers who immediately took firebending stances.

Once the door fully opened,white eyes emerged from the darkness. Zhao and the others immediately unleashed their fiery assault. Katara and Sokka's eyes widened in horror.

"Aang!!" Katara cried.

'Damnit!!'

'Calm down kid, he's fine'

'How are you so sure?'

'I'm a spirit... and I know the Avatar spirit wouldn't just let the kid get killed'

As if to prove the fox right, the flames dispelled to reveal none other than Roku himself. Everyone in the temple was shocked to say the least... Zhao in particular was terrified.

"Avatar Roku" Shyu whispered.

Roku then waved his hands, blasting fire all through his former temple. Ares then picked up on what Roku planned to do and inhaled a deep breath before taking off,still covered in Kurama's chakra. His target; Zhao.

"We need to leave," Shyu cried. "Roku abd your friend are going to destroy the temple!"

"Not without Aang and Ares!" Katara argued.

The retreating commander was taken aback when the the Jinchuriki landed in front of him, slightly crouched and staring him down with intense rage.

"You wanted to know how my powers worked, right?" Ares asked. "Well you're gonna find out first hand"

Zhao growled at the boy and sent a blast of fire his way which Ares dodged. The Commander sent another blast of fire from his fist which suffered the same fate. Getting enraged, Zhao fired a third blast of fire,more powerful than the other two, only to have his fist caught by the Kurama-empowered Ares who wasted no time in firing a punch of his own towards Zhao,this time with the attack hitting it's target; Zhao's midsection.

The impact sent Zhao flying and hitting one of the pillars in the temple. Zhao had barely regained his bearings long enough to see the Jinchuriki about to land on him,a Rasengan – now purple due to Kurama's influence – already in his right hand. The Fire Nation commander rolled out of the way just in time, causing the Rasengan to leave a small crater in the floor where he'd just been moments ago. Zhao's eyes widened in shock.

This was definitely no ordinary boy. That sphere attack would've been enough to fatally wound him.

His attention then turned back to Ares who seemed to be preparing for another attack. Zhao readied himself as well,he would go all out if he had to. But before either one of them could attack the other again,the floor cracked open and spewed lava. Looking towards Roku,Ares realized he was the cause of the disruption. Zhao, however was terrified at the prospect of facing two highly empowered enemies at once. He chose this moment to retreat, using firebending to propel himself upwards... But Ares had other plans as he quickly ran through handsigns to send the commander a little parting gift.

"Wind release: Air Bullets!"

Bullets of wind found their way to Zhao as they shot the man out of the air mid flight. Zhao fell to the ground once more, groaning in annoyance and pain.

"This boy..." Zhao growled out, barely conscious.

'Ares, you're not going to last much longer in this form' Kurama warned.

'Why not...'

The 14 year old felt himself slip out of consciousness before he was even able to finish the thought.

"Aang!" Katara and Sokka cried as they ran to the Airbender. Aang was still slightly weak from his transformation but he could still stand.

"Where's Ares?" Aang asked. The team looked around for their new friend till they spotted him lying across the room.

"There he is!" Katara cried. "I'll go get him"

Sokka nodded in agreement and held Aang steady while Katara kept dodging falling debris and spewing lava to reach Ares.

"Ares,please wake up" Katara begged. "we've gotta go"

Unfortunately,the spiky haired boy wouldn't budge.

"Using that fiery aura must've drained him," Katara whispered. "But what even was that?"

The waterbender shook the thoughts aside for the time being and hoisted Ares' arm around her neck, carrying him over to the window where the other two boys were waiting.

"Where to?" Sokka asked.

"We'll take the secret entrance!" Katara said and both water tribe siblings carried their unconscious friends along with them through the secret tunnel they used to arrive. Getting to the bottom,they found both Appa and Momo waiting for them. They wasted no time in getting on the bison and Aang immediately grabs Appa's reins as Katara placed the unconscious Ares on Appa's saddle.

"Ready?" Aang asked, receiving nods from everyone. "Appa, Yip yip!"

The bison immediately takes off, leaving Roku's island to burn in a hot and fiery mess.

"What happened to Ares?" Aang asked.

"I don't know" Katara shook her head. "While we were chained up,he suddenly got surrounded in this red flame and then he went absolutely berserk".

"I've never seen anything like that", Sokka added. "The energy felt so dark... It was almost like he was possessed. Even his appearance changed. Whatever that power was, it saved us big time"

"Wow" Aang slowly took in the new information. There was no longer any question as to whether Ares had a place in the team; He had tapped into this unexplainable power to save them... Apparently at the risk of falling out of consciousness. So it was settled, Ares was here to stay.

Aang then went ahead to inform them of the comet and how he needed to defeat the Fire Lord before it's arrival.

"We'll continue to the North Pole to learn waterbending" Aang said.

"We'll do it together" Katara smiled at the bald boy.

"Sounds like a plan " Sokka grinned.

Eventually they landed on an island, spending the night sleeping together atop Appa's saddle,all huddled together with their new friend in the middle.