Within by Sindie

Index

Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Chapter 2: Chapter 2
Chapter 3: Chapter 3
Chapter 4: Chapter 4
Chapter 5: Chapter 5
Chapter 6: Chapter 6
Chapter 7: Chapter 7
Chapter 8: Chapter 8

Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Email me at sindie11@yahoo.com with your comments.

Chapter One

The hollowing winds batted fiercely at the black sand, picking it up and slashing it violently around in fits. What had errupted a few hours earlier was a sandstorm, one which would surely blind anyone who dared to travel the deserts during those long, terrifying hours. Night had already cast its shadows across the sky and over the city streets below, and the overcast sky nearly blocked the crescent, waning moon. Shutters banged against the walls outside of the abandoned buildings, and besides the clanging of them, the only other sound heard was the moaning of the wind.

All this was of little importance to him, however. There he sat, the young, determined man who had been scarred from a very early age. The sands from the hourglass fell as the candles flickered around him. By this late hour, the wicks had burned quite low, but he relentlessly poured himself into his work, and he pondered and pondered a way...a way to be rid of his worst enemy of all. Just as his eyes grew heavy, one of the shutters on a nearby window came loose, and the wind suddenly burst into the room, immediately extinguishing the candles and blowing the pages of the opened book in front of him. Startled, he stood up in the bleak darkness, but his attitude changed shortly thereafter.

"Xerxes!" he bellowed, an obvious anger coating his tone.

The deformed eel quickly made his way around the corner and into the room. "Master call?" he timidly asked.

"Yes, I called!" spoke his master, his voice growing ever more impatient. "What did I tell you about keeping these windows shut?"

"Master said to make sure they never open."

"Very good," the man retorted sarcastically. "Now, I demand you find a way to fix it! How am I supposed to come up with a plan to be rid of that street rat once and for all when I can't ever read the spellbooks?"

"Um, Master can't," replied Xerxes dumbly.

"That's right!" he barked. "I am Mozenrath, Lord of the Land of the Black Sands, and I'll have no one, and I mean no one, stop me from getting what I want, especially a pathetic familiar like you!"

Xerxes turned to leave, but out of his long-gone patience, Mozenrath sent a bolt of blue and black magic directly at the eel, which in turn caused Xerxes to scamper out of there all the more rapidly.

Mozenrath moved to an adjoining room and lit more candles, seating himself in front of the book again. His silent thoughts found their way to his mouth, and he muttered, "I've tried everything...and nothing works. Any outside force I've ever tried on Aladdin has failed, so maybe the answer to the street rat's destruction doesn't lie on the outside...maybe it lies on the inside."

That last thought gave Mozenrath an idea, and he laughed wickly to himself. He knew just the book he needed, and grabbing a candle off the table, he proceeded to his library.

The next day in Agrabah, the atmosphere outside was a complete contrast to what it had been the night before in the Land of the Black Sands. The sun was shining brightly, and the winds were all gone. People went about their business in the marketplace, filling the streets with the usual thrills of the bustling city.

Back in the palace, however, a different mood had settled in one individual in particular: Aladdin. Aladdin stood right in front of Jasmine, who was trying to convince him not to worry, but the young man wasn't having much luck at it.

"I gotta admit, Jasmine," Aladdin started nervously, "I just don't know about this whole thing..."

"Relax, Aladdin," smiled Jasmine, looking into his eyes. "You have nothing to worry about. Genie has already made sure the decorations are up, and he's doing some last minute checks just as we speak. It'll be fun. After all, it's not every day that there's a party here."

"I guess you're right, Jasmine. I never had a birthday party before, though. What if I do something really stupid and wind up embarrassing myself?"

Jasmine giggled. "What could you possibly do that would cause that to happen? Now seriously, Aladdin, let's get you ready. We've only got a couple more hours."

Jasmine reached for his hand, and as they left Jasmine's chambers, they nearly tripped over Abu and Iago in the hallway. They were in the middle of an argument, which was nothing new. Aladdin and Jasmine stopped for a second to observe what they were fighting about.

"It's mine!" Iago yelled at Abu, tugging on something. "You had it last time!"

Abu squeaked something in his defense at the parrot and then stuck out his tongue. The raspberry noise Abu made caused a little bit of saliva to fly from his tongue and hit Iago right in the eye.

Iago immediately let go of whatever they were yanking on and rubbed his eyes, "Ew, gross! You just spit in my eyes, you miserable primate! When I get my wings on you, you'll be tiger food!"

Abu ran over to Aladdin and up his body until reaching Aladdin's shoulder. Abu felt a safe haven there, and he hid his trophy under his vest. Aladdin looked puzzled and asked, "What were you two fighting over?"

Iago was now done freaking out over Abu's spit in his eyes, and he claimed rather loudly, "It's called chocolate! Genie said we could split it, but last time Abu got it all. I'm tellin' you the truth, so this time it's mine!"

Jasmine shook her head. "You're hopeless, you know that? Why don't you just share?"

Aladdin nodded in agreement and held his hand out to Abu, expecting the monkey to comply. Abu refused and shook his head no. "Come on, Abu," prodded Aladdin. "We don't have time for this. The party starts a couple of hours, and I need to get ready."

"Oh, okay..." muttered Abu, handing the chocolate candy bar over to Aladdin. Aladdin broke it in half and gave a equal-sized piece to both Iago and Abu.

"Come on," Jasmine motioned to Aladdin.

As they left the two animals in the hallway, Aladdin could already hear Iago's voice complaining, "Hey, my piece is smaller than yours, Monkey! Fork it over!"

They walked down the hallway until coming to a room where the servants were waiting for Aladdin. Jasmine couldn't help but to let out a small giggle as she opened the door. Aladdin gulped and felt a lump growing in his throat as the door opened to reveal a room full of people, all of them ready to wait on him, hand and foot. He wasn't used to other people dressing him or cleaning him up, and this certainly wouldn't be the last time in his life that he would be subjected to such treatment.

"He's here," Jasmine announced to the servants. "And he's all yours."

Aladdin gave her the evil eye at that last remark, and she smiled sheepishly in return. "You'll be fine," she whispered in his ear. "Love you." With that, the princess left the room, leaving poor Aladdin surrounded.

I've fought monsters of all kinds, thought Aladdin, and yet, this scares me more than any of that.

"Come here, young man," said one of the servants, a young lady. "Your bath is ready for you."

Aladdin could feel his stomach churning as he approached the tub full of hot water and soap suds. There were three servants standing around the tub, watching his every move.

"Uh, if you don't mind," began Aladdin, stuttering nervously, "could you leave the room while I take a bath?"

"But, sir," replied one of the servants, sounding shocked, "don't you want our help?"

"Uh...right... No, that's okay. I'm perfectly capable of taking a bath myself, thank you."

The servants looked at each other in utter confusion. The awkward moment seemed to drag out for an eternity. They had never been told to leave the room like this. It was their job to wait on the royal family and their friends, especially on special occasions. They finally nodded slowly and turned to exit the room.

That's much better, thought Aladdin, smiling to himself as he removed his clothes and stepped into the bubbling tub.

"It's nearly ready!" proclaimed Mozenrath with a newfound happiness echoing in his voice.

"Almost done? Gooood," cooed Xerxes, practically drooling over his words as he looked into the cauldron of smoking liquid on the table. He smiled wickedly, the very same expression written across his master's face.

"A little bit of toad liver," mumbled Mozenrath, "and there we go! The potion is complete. Now all we need to do is get Aladdin to drink just a small amount of it, and then his life will start to come undone."

"How Master gonna get hero to drink?" Xerxes asked dumbly.

"Oh, I've got a plan," smiled Mozenrath. "Yes, Xerxes. I've got it all figured out. By tomorrow morning, our hero won't know what hit him. By the end of the week, his life will be completely shattered. See, Xerxes, I've got the inside scoop on what's going on at the palace tonight. It just so happens that Aladdin is having a special party for his birthday...How sweet," he spat sarcastically.

By this point in the explanation of his plan, Xerxes understood exactly what Mozenrath was up to. As Mozenrath uttered his last words, he blew out the last burning candle on the table, saying, "Come, Xerxes. Let's get dressed. We have a party to attend."

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Chapter 2: Chapter 2

"Come on out, Aladdin," prodded Jasmine. "I'm sure it can't be that bad."

Jasmine was standing outside the doors that led to the room where Aladdin had been getting ready for the party. The doors remained shut for another minute before Aladdin's muffled voice muttered, "Do I have to?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Jasmine, growing a little impatient. "I've been waiting out here for ten minutes. You can't keep the guests waiting, Aladdin. The party will be starting in only fifteen minutes."

From behind the door, Jasmine could hear Aladdin sigh heavily. After a few footsteps to the door, the knob clicked, revealing only Aladdin's head as he stuck it out between a small crack. He looked humiliated, and Jasmine didn't know whether she wanted to giggle or kiss him or both. The expression on his face was somehow adorable to her, so reaching for his cheeks, she pulled his face forward toward hers and into a romantic kiss.

After the kiss ended several seconds later, Aladdin sighed contentedly and smiled at his princess. "Do we really have to go down there? Can't you and I just stay here, alone?"

"Very tempting, Aladdin," said Jasmine, half-teasingly, "but everyone is waiting for you. It's your big day. Trust me, you have no reason to be worried."

Aladdin and Jasmine walked to the ball room, where many guests were waiting anxiously. The decorations looked fabulous and were on every wall. Aladdin noticed his closest friends were all seated at the head table, where he was headed at that very moment. Once he was seated, Genie was the first to approach him.

"Hey, Al! Lookin' good!" he yelled in a really hyper voice.

Aladdin smiled slightly, not really wanting attention drawn to himself. "Thanks, Genie," was all he managed to reply.

"Lookin' good?" asked Iago, trying not to laugh. "He looks about as comfortable as a cat in a dogyard!"

The parrot rolled on the table with laughter and was soon joined by Abu. Jasmine shook her head at their behavior and stated, "I think Aladdin is nervous enough without you guys making him feel worse."

"Aw, I didn't mean anything by it, Al," said Genie apologetically.

"I didn't mean you, Genie," replied Jasmine. "I meant them," she finished, motioning toward Iago and Abu, who were still trying to contain their laughter.

"Thank you, Jasmine," Aladdin said sincerely. "You always know just what to say."

Right as Aladdin finished his sentence, the sultan walked into the room. The whole room quieted down to hear what he had to say. "Good evening, fellow citizens!" he began. "As you all know, we are here to celebrate Aladdin's birthday. Thank you for all being here tonight..."

As the sultan made his announcement, a dark figure slid into the corner. Unnoticed by all the happy and excited people, he smiled evily to himself, saying, "Let's give Aladdin a party like he's never had."

The commotion had died down enough for Sultan to be heard by everyone in the large room, and once he had finished with, "So, let's all wish Aladdin a happy birthday," applause filled the room. Jasmine nudged Aladdin to stand up, but he wasn't thrilled with this amount of attention. He quickly stood up and looked around in amazement and shock at how many people filled the room. Once the clapping had died down, there was an awkward silence.

Aladdin turned and glanced at Jasmine, an expression of worry written all over his face. "What should I do?" he whispered.

"Say something," she prodded, whispering back.

Aladdin turned back to the crowd, "Uh, thanks for coming, everyone... Well, uh... Let's get started... I think the food is ready."

Smiles spread instantly across the faces in the crowd at the very mention of food. The banquet table had been set up right next to where Aladdin and his friends were seated. Aladdin led a line of people up to it, and while no one was paying any attention, Mozenrath, hidden in the crowd, reached for Aladdin's goblet on the table. He pulled a small sachal out of his clothes and poured its contents, a sparkly blue powder, into the cup. He immediately replaced the cup and shrunk back into the long line of people. Amidst the crowd, he managed to disappear into the shadows of the corner again and out into the night.

"We've done what we've come to do," he muttered to Xerxes. "Let's see how Aladdin likes his birthday present."

He lifted his cape over his head and brought it around his body, disappearing into thin air.

Back inside the ballroom, the party was advancing well. Aladdin and his friends had returned to their table by then. They enjoyed the delicious food that had been specially prepared for the occasion. After Aladdin actually had some food in his stomach, he began to feel more relaxed and more comfortable. He was, however, thirsty from the meal, so he reached for his goblet and took a sip. The liquid tasted quite sweet, sweeter than guava juice normally tasted.

"Hey, Genie, did you do something to my drink?" he asked curiously.

"Uh, nope, Al," replied Genie, somewhat confused. "Remember? Genies are allergic to guava juice. Ya won't catch me near that stuff."

"Oh, right," chuckled Aladdin. "We all remember what happened last time."

Aladdin returned to his meal, and after everyone had finished eating, the background magic started to become louder. "Let's dance, Aladdin," suggested Jasmine, reaching for his arm.

When Aladdin looked at her, though, his face was pale, and he looked ill. "I-I don't know if that's such a good idea, Jas," he replied. "You know I'd love to, but something isn't right. It must have been something I ate..."

"We all had the same thing. How come only you would be sick?"

"Yeah, are you okay, Al?" added Genie.

Aladdin's head was spinning. Questions, so many questions, Aladdin thought. He felt annoyed by their concern, but he stook his head, trying to clear his mind. No, that was silly. They were only asking because they cared.

"Just...give me five minutes," Aladdin finally replied.

"Okay," Jasmine tried to smile. "I really hope you'll be okay, Aladdin. This is your big night, and I would hate for you to miss it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Aladdin questioned, almost feeling insulted.

"I just meant that...well, I hope you feel better."

"Yeah, better," Aladdin mumbled.

"Oh, Princess!" complained Iago, getting up in her face. "The kid will be fine. Would ya quit worryin' about him?"

"Easy for you to say!" Aladdin suddenly yelled at Iago. "Like you ever worry about anyone!"

There was clearly an accusational tone in Aladdin's voice, and Aladdin's friends were all somewhat taken aback. Iago didn't hesitate for long, however. "Oh, and what's that supposed to mean?" he shock back defensively.

Jasmine stepped in quickly, knowing that there was more to this than Aladdin not feeling well from the food. "Iago, don't start. Aladdin, what's wrong with you? Why are you acting this way?" There was definite concern in her voice, and when Aladdin heard the pleading tone in her words, the harsh expression on his face lessened.

"Jasmine?" he asked weakly. "What's happening to me?"

"I don't know," she replied, feeling helpless. "I'm going to tell Father to stop the celebration. You're in no condition to be at a party."

Aladdin didn't argue with her, but he sunk down into his chair, his head falling on the table like he hadn't slept in days. Jasmine rushed over to the sultan, and from a distance, the rest of Aladdin's friends could see Sultan as he nodded in understanding and prepared to make an announcement.

"It is with regret that I must tell you this," he began. "Aladdin is unwell, and unfortunately, the party must end now. We are all incredibly sorry for this."

Some of the people were disappointed, and others were worried, but whatever their feelings, Aladdin didn't care. The room slowly emptied, and Jasmine placed her arm around her love's body. "Let's get you to bed," she told him.

Aladdin just nodded weakly, but there was something very wrong about his face. Not only did he look sick, but he didn't even look like himself. Jasmine had seen him sick on a few occasions, but this was far worse that anything she had even seen. As they left the room, the last of the candles were blown out, leaving the place in darkness.

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Chapter 3: Chapter 3

Concern was clearly written all across Jasmine's young face as she escorted Aladdin to the bed in his room at the palace. He stayed in this room whenever he spent an occasional night at the palace, which wasn't very often. As he sat down on the bed, he moaned in pain, bringing his heads to his temples and rubbing them, wincing in agony.

"Do you have a headache?" Jasmine asked, not knowing what else to say but the obvious.

"Yeah, I think so," Aladdin replied, barely audible. He groaned and flopped back on the bed, his head hitting the pillows in relief. "It feels better to lie down."

"Here," Genie began, turning himself into a doctor, "I recommend you take two of these and get yourself a good night's sleep." In his blue hands, Genie held out two pink tablets.

Aladdin stared at his blue friend's large hands, examining the pills with suspicion. "And what are these supposed to do?" he spat. "Put me out of my misery?"

"No, Al," Genie said, not really offended by Aladdin's outburst. "They will help with your headache. You make it sound like they're gonna kill you."

"Well, I don't need them!" Aladdin retorted, suddenly sitting up in bed. "I feel fine!"

"But, Aladdin," Jasmine pleaded, "you nearly fainted in the ball room, and just a minute ago, you were saying your head hurt..."

"I don't need your pity," Aladdin muttered. Jasmine tried to place her hand on his back, but he pulled away. "You know, Princess, it's really pathetic how you try to mother me. I had a mother a long time ago, and just because she's dead doesn't mean I need to be mothered. She did a much better job than you could ever do!"

Jasmine was completely taken aback by his words. She couldn't believe what her own two ears were hearing. Was this the same Aladdin who never once said a mean or rude thing to her? She bit her lower lip in hurt and stepped away from him, moving toward Genie and the others.

"Aladdin, what's happening to you?" her voice cracked. "You-you never treat me like this...or your friends." Before she could stop them from coming, tears spouted from her large eyes and spilled down her cheeks. "I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning, and I hope you come to your senses by then."

Aladdin just grimaced and folded his arms ignorantly across his chest. He turned his head away from her, and the poor princess knew there was nothing more she could do for now. "Keep your eyes on him," she whispered to Genie as she exited the room.

"I will, Jas," replied Genie sincerely. "I promise."

Once Jasmine had left, Genie returned to Aladdin. "You know, Al," he said in a serious tone. "I don't think hurting your fiancee is the best idea in the world."

"Hmph, how typical of you, Genie, to make a joke out of the situation. See, that's what I can't stand about you. You are never serious, even when the stuff going on around you is completely serious."

"But I'm not joking, Aladdin," Genie stated firmly. He had used Aladdin's full name, something he did very rarely, only if he were being serious. "If you couldn't tell by the tone of my voice, then believe it by the tears that are now streaming down your love's precious face."

With that, Genie disappeared into the lamp, leaving only Iago and Abu there. They had remained near the door the entire time, afraid to approach Aladdin. Aladdin heard Iago whispering something to Abu, which aggravated him.

"What are you two talking about?" he questioned demandingly.

"Uh, nothing of your concern," Iago lied, trying not to look at Aladdin in the eyes.

"You liar!" Aladdin yelled, standing up and charging toward them. Abu scampered out of the way and hid behind a vase. Iago tried to fly away, but just as he was eye-level with Aladdin, Aladdin grabbed the parrot fiercely around his entire body, pulling him closer to his face.

"Hey," Iago gasped, "what's the big idea? Al, I can't breathe with you holding me so tightly."

"You sound like you're breathing well enough to keep spouting words from that big beak of yours. You think this is tight? Well, that's nothing compared to this!"

Aladdin squeezed the poor bird's body even tighter, and Iago could feel the lack of air in his little lungs. His face turned scared, scared to the point he would have been had it been Jafar holding him.

"Al-" he gasped for air. "Please- stop... You're-"

Before Iago nearly passed out, Abu came out from behind the vase and bit Aladdin's ankle. It was the only thing he could do to save Iago from Aladdin, and even Abu knew something wasn't right with his friend. Aladdin howled in pain, grabbing his ankle, which freed Iago.

"Why, you little flea-bitten pest!" Aladdin yelled at Abu.

Abu began to run away from Aladdin, but he was close on Abu's tail, literally. Iago quickly regained his composure and noticed that it was Abu who needed saving this time. He risked it all and flew down toward the frightened monkey, grabbing hold of his vest and raising him up into the air. They were too high for Aladdin to reach them, and as Aladdin continued to yell menacing threats at them, Iago flew out the window and landed on the roof.

Aladdin muttered to himself incoherently and lay back down on the bed. He felt dizzy and tired away that fiasco. Closing his eyes, he found himself drifting into a foreboding sleep.

On the roof, however, Iago and Abu were confused beyond measure.

"He-he almost..." Iago couldn't finish the sentence. He didn't want to believe his friend would ever do anything to hurt him like that.

"I know," Abu whimpered. He wanted to cry, but he just couldn't find the tears.

"I don't know if I wanna go back in there," Iago stated. "Did you see how he lashed out against the princess and the genie? And then at us? I'm tellin' you, Abu, something's not right in that boy's head."

Abu held his arms up in a gesture that said, "I don't know."

"We need to find Jasmine and talk to her," Iago thought aloud. "That's the only thing I can say for now. "We can't get to Genie with the lamp being in the same room, so I guess that's all we can do."

In the back of his mind, Iago was deeply hurt by Aladdin's words and actions. It wasn't just fear; no, it was something more. He was sure the others felt it, too. He didn't want to admit it, but he himself wanted to cry. Someone had to do something, though, and for once, he took the more practical action, even though his fear told him to do otherwise.

They waited a little while on the roof top, trying to sort out their thoughts. It was late, but not too late that night to pay the princess a visit. The two animals wondered if she would even be asleep yet, since it couldn't have been more than an hour since she had left Aladdin. Iago picked Abu up by the vest and flew toward the balcony that lead to Jasmine's bed chamber. There wasn't a single light coming from the room, so they assumed she might indeed be asleep.

Once they entered the bedroom, there was just enough light from the stars penetrating the room to see where they were going. Abu and Iago slowly crept over to the princess's bed, and they could hear hard, fast breathing coming from her body. It was obvious that she wasn't sleeping well. She suddenly groaned and flipped over on to her other side, momentarily startling the parrot and the monkey.

"I'll see if I can wake her up," Iago whispered to Abu, who just nodded in agreement.

Iago landed on her bed, right next to her face. He felt very awkward in this position and prayed she wouldn't be mad at him for coming into her room like this and waking her up.

"Uh, Jasmine?" he asked, being as soft as he could. He tapped on her cheek with his wing.

She stirred, but didn't awaken. "Jasmine?" he repeated, only a little louder this time. "Come on, Jasmine..."

Jasmine opened her eyes in a jolt, and she gasped when she saw a shadowy figure standing in front of her. She had just awoken from a nightmare, so her mind hadn't yet adjusted to reality. She pulled the covers up against her body and moved away from the figure, but that was all very short-lived. When her eyes had adjusted enough to realize that it was only Iago standing there, she felt a bit embarrassed for being so afraid.

"Oh, Iago," she sighed in relief, "it's just you. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I don't know how else to tell you this, Princess, but I'm not sure the monkey or I wanna sleep in the same room as your deranged beau. He's not exactly at his best right now."

"Yes, I know," she sighed sadly, recalling what had happened in his bedroom just a little while ago. "Did he say something to you, too?"

"'Say something' is putting it rather mildly, Princess. Try more like 'do something.'"

"What do you mean?" she asked, concern in her voice. "Is Genie with you? Where's Abu?"

"The genie's in his lamp, and Abu's right here, but it's me I'm talkin' about here," Iago's voice started to rise. "He's not just spouting off rude things, ya know."

"No, I didn't know, Iago," Jasmine confessed. "I'm sorry, but what did he do?"

"Finally," Iago muttered, "we're getting somewhere. He tried to squeeze the living daylight outta me, that's what. Does that sound like your dear Aladdin to you?"

Jasmine paused for a moment, wondering if Iago was really telling her the truth. Based on his past methods of twisting situations around to somehow please only him, she wondered if maybe, just maybe, Iago was actually desperate enough to take advantage of Aladdin's strange behavior and use it against him. Jasmine and Iago didn't have the best understanding of each other in the world, but Aladdin had been acting rather strange.

"Are you telling me the truth?" she plainly asked the parrot.

At the remark, Iago was completely taken aback. Because it was the truth this time and his life had been threatened, he was in no mood to argue over what he had said. This was proving more difficult than he had thought.

"What do ya think?" he asked, his temper beginning to flare. "Why would I make something like this up? Are you callin' me a liar, just like Aladdin did?"

"Oh, so you were lying to him?" Jasmine inquired, feeling annoying. "Well, that explains why he might have been mad at you."

"Abu," Iago addressed to monkey behind him, "you're my witness. Am I telling the truth?"

Abu nodded and squeaked something that sounded like, "Yeah, uh-huh."

"See," Iago spoke in a harsh tone toward her. "And you're accusing me? I don't think so!"

Jasmine sighed and figured it was pointless to argue with the parrot. It never did any good anyway. She had been hurt by Aladdin herself, and she was tired and confused by this time at night. Her head was whirling.

"Okay, okay," she gave in. "I believe you, but maybe you're over-reacting a bit. Aladdin would never do anything to physically hurt you, Iago, or any of us for that matter. He's just not feeling well. You two can sleep here tonight if you like, and hopefully, if all goes well, Aladdin will be feeling better tomorrow morning."

Jasmine had some doubts, though. In the back of her mind, she feared the worst, that maybe Aladdin wouldn't be better. Maybe he would be...worse.

"It's about time," was all Iago could say. He was exhausted and tired of arguing as well.

Yawning, both Iago and Abu lay down on some pillows and finally fell asleep.

In a dark land, the dark sorcerer gazed through a portal. Mozenrath sneered at the good guys, knowing their doom wasn't too far away. Xerxes joined Mozenrath by his side and laughed evilly.

"That's right, Xerxes," Mozenrath cooed, stroking the eel. "Their demise awaits. In a couple of days, they will be wishing they were dead, and well, Aladdin might just grant them their wish."

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Chapter 4: Chapter 4

The city was still beneath the rising morning sun over the eastern horizon. Slowly, people arose from their beds and prepared for the day. The streets gradually filled with people as they began shopping for goods, and before long, merchant cries were heard everywhere throughout the marketplace. Agrabah had come alive yet again, but looming in behind the palace walls was a darkness, one which loomed in the city's greatest hero.

Aladdin opened his eyes, feeling groggy and in a daze. He recalled the events from the party the night before, but all he could remember was not feeling well. He still didn't feel right.

Bringing his arms above his head, he stretched and yawned, trying to shake off the overwhelming tiredness he felt in his muscles. His mind was feeling like it had suffered a severe blow to the head, and his thoughts were cluttered and incoherent. His stomach growled fiercely, and his most basic instincts told him one thing: He was hungry, starving, in fact.

Not bothering to change into his day clothes, he stood up from the disarrayed bed and walked toward the door, his footsteps heavy. Once he entered the corridor, he lazily left the door to his room wide open and continued mindlessly down the hall, heading straight toward the dining hall. The aroma of breakfast filled the air and grew stronger as he neared the dining hall. He heard voices coming from the room, which more or less annoyed him, for he wanted to eat and not be bothered by the company of others.

He plopped down on a seat away from the others. They all turned their eyes toward him, and Aladdin asked gruffly, "What is it? Why are you looking at me that way?"

Iago and Abu hid behind Carpet, afraid of confronting Aladdin. Genie's face turned concerned, but it was Jasmine who spoke. "How are you feeling, Aladdin?"

"Fine, I guess...just hungry. Why? What concern is it of yours?"

"Am I not supposed to worry about you?" Jasmine inquired, trying to force Aladdin to tell her what was really on his mind.

"Hmph," Aladdin grumbled. "It's not worth it, Princess. If there were something really wrong, wouldn't I tell you? So, please, stop asking me silly questions."

"If you say so..."

"I do!" he snapped.

At his last remark, the animals behind Carpet jumped. Genie's facial expression turned sour, and he glared at his friend. "What's your problem, buddy?" he asked. Aladdin just ignored him and kept eating. "No, I'm serious. No joking. Why won't you tell us what's wrong?"

Aladdin's face turned evilly twisted, and he sneered at the genie, "I won't tell you anything, any of you, especially a big, blue dope like yourself. Funny, isn't it? Funny how I thought you guys were my friends, but then you all insist on annoying me to no end, and for what reason? To get your jollies? Well, I'll have no part of this game. I'm done here. I'm going to my room, and don't disturb me!"

With that, Aladdin stood up from the table and marched straight out of the room, leaving his friends at a loss for words.

Meanwhile, Mozenrath grew more and more content as he watched the latest scenes unfold. His plan was working perfectly, and he knew that as the day wore on, Aladdin's condition would worsen horribly. Not only would Aladdin spout off nasty remarks at his friends; he would do worse, much worse.

"It's only a matter of time, street rat," Mozenrath told the image of Aladdin in the portal in front of him. "You should be acquiring your new powers, shall we say, within the next couple of hours. I'd so love to see any of your pathetic friends try to stop you then."

"Master smart," cooed Xerxes, coming to Mozenrath's side and watching Aladdin as he lay back down on his bed.

"Yes, Xerxes, very good." Mozenrath was enjoying himself far too much to care to look in on the good guys.

They were defenseless fools as far as he was concerned.

Defenseless? Maybe. Fools? Definitely not. After breakfast had ended, Jasmine tried to explain to her father the details involving Aladdin. The older man listened with understanding and told his daughter to let him know if there was anything he could do. He left the dining hall and went to the throne room to start taking care of his royal duties. Meanwhile, the others were in Jasmine's room, discussing Aladdin's condition.

"I'm tellin' ya," Iago insisted, "there's definitely something wrong with his head. Maybe Blue Boy over here outta turn himself into one of those, what do you call 'em, psychiatrists?

"I think it's going to take more than that," Jasmine explained. "Genie, do you know of anything that can help Aladdin?"

Genie pulled a large book out of his "hidden" pockets. Opening it up, dust flew off it and into the air, which caused Iago to sneeze. "Let's see here," he mumbled, thumbing through the pages. "Chapter two thousand five hundred and seventy-eight states, 'If your best buddy is acting like a jerk, slap him three times upside the head and tell him to shut up.'"

Jasmine rolled her eyes. "I don't think that's going to do us any good. I'm serious, Genie. What do you know?"

"Not much, Jas," the genie admitted. "Only that if he doesn't improve his attitude soon, he's gonna be wishin' he had."

"But it's not just his attitude," the princess persisted, feeling like they weren't getting anywhere with this discussion. "It's also his physical condition. I mean, look at him! He looks like he hasn't slept in days, and he's all feverish."

Abu squeaked something incoherently, which Iago translated: "The monkey's right. The kid looks like he got run over by an elephant and lost his brain in the accident."

Jasmine sighed, frustrated at the lack of any good ideas. She knew everyone had been affected in his own way by Aladdin, but if anyone was going to try to talk some sense into the young man, it would have to be her, or so she reasoned. She loved him, and even though he wasn't showing it, she knew that he loved her. She had to get through to him.

"Stay here, guys," Jasmine simply stated. "I'm going to see if I can talk to him."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Genie.

"Yeah, Princess," Iago began, "not to sound too concerned or anything, but the kid's dangerous."

Abu chattered at her, a worried expression on his face, but she had made up her mind. "Thanks for your concern, guys, but really, it'll be okay. I'll call you if I need anything."

Jasmine tried to smile, but her optimism wasn't completely genuine. She walked down the hallway until she came to Aladdin's room. Rapping softly on the door, Jasmine asked, "Aladdin?"

Nothing.

"Aladdin?" she repeated, a little louder.

Jasmine reached for the doorknob and began to turn it slowly. As it clicked, the door opened slowly, and she placed a foot inside the room. Before she realized what was happening, though, two arms reached roughly around her, one placing a gag in her mouth and the other grabbing her firmly and tightly around the waist.

"Think you're going somewhere, dear princess?" Aladdin roughly asked, glaring at her straight in the eyes.

Jasmine's eyes met his, and total and utter fear grew inside her heart. She tried to struggle and scream, but to no avail. His eyes didn't even look human anymore. They were completely black, and she knew he was no longer the Aladdin she loved.

Aladdin pulled her inside his room, tied her to one of the bed posts, and locked the door behind him. As he approached her, a fear unlike anything Jasmine had ever felt overtook her...and then, silence.

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Chapter 5: Chapter 5

Jasmine had fainted. Aladdin was pleased with how quickly she had fallen to him, and he thought of what to do next. The princess was now his hostage, and he knew that as long as he held her captive, anyone else in Agrabah would have to obey his wishes. They would never want anything bad to happen to their beloved princess.

Aladdin placed her body on the bed. The covers and pillows were a complete mess below her, but she looked like a jewel among the horrid mess. Lying there with her eyes closed, she appeared so vulnerable. Aladdin brought his face close to hers and stared at her beautiful features...her large eyes, her button nose, her pouty lips.

"If only you weren't so defiant," he whispered to the unconscious princess. "You are beautiful, no doubt. You would make a lovely partner if you weren't so bent on opposing me."

Aladdin's thoughts stopped when he realized that if there was ever a time to kiss her, this was it. She would never let him willingly close to her otherwise, or so he couldn't remember. His thoughts of anything before the previous night had blurred and become unrecognizable. He didn't know how much he really loved her before, but all that was in the past now...forgotten to him.

Bringing his lips to hers, he pressed them into a somewhat harsh kiss. She stirred but didn't open her eyes. Despite any return on her end, Aladdin felt a warmth run from his lips to his heart. He stopped.

That kiss. He could have sworn he had kissed her like that before, but that was nonsense, wasn't it? He didn't remember ever kissing her. As far as he was concerned, this young woman would have never willingly allowed such a thing. Still, he couldn't help but wonder.

Back in Jasmine's chambers, the minutes were ticking away, and the guys were becoming more and more worried by the second. How long would it take for Jasmine to talk to Aladdin? Was there that much to say?

Iago grew impatient and began his usual ranting when he was tired of waiting. "How long does it take to tell Al he's being a jerk?" he raved. "It's not like it's hard or something!"

"Well, Iago," mused Genie, "why don't you go tell him that? I'm sure that will really help the situation."

Iago grumbled and glared at the genie. "Well, do you have any better idea, Blue Boy? You're the one with the semi-phenomenal, nearly-cosmic powers here!"

"Magic won't solve anything," Genie simply stated. "He's gotta come to his senses on his own terms."

Iago turned away from the genie and looked out the window at the sun, which was nearly at the top of the sky. It was going on noon. He had seen people possessed by magic in his life and how it could completely change who they were. If he didn't know any better, he would swear Aladdin's actions and attitude were somehow being controlled by magic.

"Genie?" Iago suddenly asked, not looking at him.

"Yeah?"

"This may sound like a crazy idea, but what if Al is under some kind of a spell?"

"You mean, a magical spell?" asked Genie.

"No, a love spell," Iago remarked sarcastically. "Of course I mean a magical spell!"

"Okay, okay, I get the point. You don't have to yell at me. Well, what about it?"

Iago's temper was growing shorter with each stupid question genie asked. For a genie, he wasn't the swiftest at times. "Well, what I mean is do you think he's under a magical spell?!" the parrot nearly shouted.

"It's possible," Genie replied, shrugging his shoulders. "But how would he just suddenly get put under a spell without any of us seeing who did it?"

"I dunno, but the more I think about it, it's the only plausible thing I can think of."

Abu nodded in agreement and chattered urgently. The genie and the parrot realized that they had been so busy talking that they hadn't noticed that Jasmine hadn't yet returned.

"You're right, Monkey Man!" exclaimed Genie. "It's been way too long! We're going after Jas to make sure she's okay."

"Maybe you're going after her," began Iago, "but I'm stayin' right here. There's no tellin' what Al will do to me."

"Oh, would you quite worrying your pretty, little feathers off?" replied Genie. "You're not the only one Al is acting so mean towards. Come on, don't be a chicken."

"I'm not a chicken," Iago stated indignantly. "I'm a parrot, thank you very much. Parrots are much smarter than chickens any day of the week."

Abu chattered angrily at the parrot and the genie. "Abu's right," Genie began. "Let's just stop arguing and go make sure Jas is okay. Are ya with me, Bird Man?"

Iago sighed and grumbled, "There's no point arguing with you anyway; it never does any good. Okay, fine. I'll come."

They left the princess's chambers and proceeded down the corridor until coming to Aladdin's room. The doors were completely shut, so Genie placed his large, pointed ear against it and listened. Nothing. Not a sound.

"That's strange," whispered Genie. "I didn't think they would leave."

To be sure, Genie pushed the door open and found the room empty. The bed was still a mess, and there were pillows thrown on the floor as well. Aladdin's day time clothes were still laying on the floor from the previous day, untouched.

"The kid could sure use a lesson in house-keeping," muttered Iago.

"They're gone," was all Genie could say.

"Well, duh," replied Iago, his voice dripping of sarcasm. "Let's just state the obvious."

Genie ignored Iago and turned himself into a detective. Walking around the room with a magnifying glass, he eyed the floor and walls carefully for any kind of clue. When he came near the entrance, he noticed a small, gold earring laying on the floor. It belonged to Jasmine, no doubt.

"Evidence number one," Genie stated in a serious, stern voice. "The princess's earring."

"It could have just fallen out," Iago replied. "It doesn't tell us anything."

"Maybe not," Genie remarked, "but this will!"

Suddenly, the whole room and everything in it (including Abu and Iago) were covered in white powder.

Not happy to be turned white, Iago yelled, "What ARE you doing?!"

"Checking for fingerprints," Genie calmly replied.

He examined the room and found what he was looking for. "Jas was definitely here," he stated, "and there a definite sign of a struggle."

They felt their stomachs drop inside themselves.

"Al would never hurt Jasmine, would he?" Iago asked, concern in his voice for someone else for once.

"Who knows based on how strange he's been acting," Genie replied. "One thing's for sure. We gotta find them."

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Chapter 6: Chapter 6

"This is interesting, Xerxes," mused Mozenrath as he watched Aladdin through the portal. "Where do you suppose he's taking the princess now? He's already been in that late sorceror Jafar's lab. Let's see and find out."

Aladdin was in the menagerie, holding Jasmine in his arms. He placed her on the ground behind a thick patch of bushes and brushed some stray hairs out of her face. Pulling a vial out of his vest from an unseen pocket, he poured its contents into her mouth. She swallowed in reflex, and a wicked smile crept across Aladdin's face.

"You will continue to sleep well, dear princess," he mumbled.

He picked her up again, forgetting about the empty vial he had left there and snuck toward the back doors of the palace. Making sure no guards would see him, he darted across the lawn and through the doors, barely making a sound. There was a storage room on his right, so he opened the door and went inside, hiding as two guards walked past.

"Well, that was interesting," Mozenrath said with amusement in his tone. "The street rat would make an interesting alley if his tactics develop well enough. Still a little sloppy in his actions, but with any luck on our side, which we do have, he'll be completely evil by night fall."

Meanwhile, Genie racked his brain for any idea or hint as to where Aladdin and Jasmine could be. His head was starting to hurt from thinking too much, and he groaned in agony as the pain caused him a splitting headache.

"Ow!" he whined like a little kid.

"Oh, how typical," muttered Iago, his wings folded across his chest. "Head hurting from thinking too much?"

"Very funny," retorted Genie. "No, it's just that, uh, I'm worried, so yeah, that's causing my head to hurt."

"Listen," Iago began, "didn't you in on of your crazy antics install something called a 'video monitor' in the palace to keep track of things that happened when no one was looking?"

Genie had completely forgotten about that. "Oh, yeah!" he nearly laughed. "That's right! Yeah, I knew all about that. That was the next step of my plan."

"What do you mean your plan?" asked Iago. "I was the one who thought of it, not you!"

"Whatever," muttered the genie. "That's not important. What's important is finding Al and Jas. Now, if I recall, the main controls should be in the dungeon."

With a snap of his fingers, they disappeared from the room they were in and reappeared in the dingy, dreary dungeon beneath the palace. In front of them were many monitors, each one displaying a different room. Genie found the one that viewed Aladdin's room and pulled out a video tape, which Iago and Abu thought was just a rectangular box. They had no idea what this stuff was, but to them, it was just part of Genie's magic. Genie examined the tape and decided it was the right one. He placed in back into a larger black box, one with buttons, and pressed one of them. He waited a few seconds and then pressed another button. An image of Aladdin lying on his bed appeared on the screen. He stood up from the bed and headed toward the doors. Suddenly, watching the movement by the entrance, Jasmine's foot came into the room. Once she entered the room, Aladdin grabbed her, and she fainted. They continued to watch as he placed her on the bed, spoke to her, kissed her ravagely, and then picked her up and left the room through the back door.

"Well, that really tells us a lot," Iago remarked. "We already knew he left with her. But where did they go after that?"

"That's what these other tapes are for," Genie smirked, feeling smarter than Iago, since the parrot didn't know what this strange kind of technology was.

Iago rolled his eyes and muttered something to Abu, but Genie wasn't paying any attention to them. He repeated the same actions with another tape, and they saw Aladdin walking down the hallway, headed toward the room that lead to Jafar's lab.

"Okay, okay, stop that thing now," Iago suddenly interrupted. "It's obvious he's in Jafar's lab. I mean, why else would he have gone that way?"

"How can you be so sure?" Genie asked. "I think we should watch the next tape to double check."

"What makes you think you're right?" Iago blurted out. "I know I'm right!"

Abu chattered at them, noticing that this arguing was becoming a trend. Genie and Iago didn't normally like working together on anything, especially without Aladdin around to keep things in balance. Abu finished chattering incoherent monkey language and said sadly, "Awaddin..."

Genie felt guilty for arguing over who was right and who was wrong. He sighed, looking at Abu and then at Iago. "You know, guys, this bickering we've been doing is pointless. Al and Jas are missing, and Jas could really need our help right now, but here we are, wasting time."

Iago hated to admit it, but he knew Abu was right. "Okay," he gave in. "Put the next tape in, Genie."

Without gloating and smirking at Iago, Genie started the next tape. Sure enough, it showed Aladdin walking straight across the room and toward the secret door that led to Jafar's lab. There were no cameras in Jafar's lab, so Genie's monitoring system was at a loss there. Wasting no time, they took off for Jafar's lab. Once they arrived, however, they found it empty.

"I would have thought maybe they would have stayed here," mumbled Genie. "Where would they go after being here?"

"I dunno," began Iago, alarm in his voice, "but look here." He pointed at an open book on the table. "Looks like Al's been playin' with magical potions. This page has the ingredients for a sleeping potion."

"But Al would never mess with dark magic!" Genie blurted out, defending his friend.

"Al's not exactly himself anymore," Iago insisted. "Remember, he's under a magical spell."

"Well, we don't know that for sure," Genie refuted. "He's innocent until proven guilty."

"What more proof do you need?!" Iago yelled, getting right up into the genie's stunned face. "You've used your wacky magic tricks to lead us this far, what with the fingerprints and those silly tapes, and now you're tellin' me that he's innocent?! You saw it for yourself on those tapes of yours! The kid practically wrestled her down and then left with her to who knows where! I don't care what you say, but I say that he's guilty, guilty, GUILTY!!"

"Will you hush?" Genie barked. "Someone's bound to hear you."

"So, what if they do?"

"Look, birdie, is there another way outta here? A back door, perhaps? You're more familiar with this spooky lab than any of us."

Iago sighed, rolled his eyes, and finally spoke, "Yeah, there's a door that leads to the menagerie. Follow me."

Mozenrath realized that Aladdin was beginning to bore him. Aladdin had been hiding in that storage closet for an hour now, just lying there, practically asleep.

"Stupid street rat," muttered Mozenrath. "You'd better start doing something soon before you're caught." He stopped and thought for a moment, realizing that it had been a while since he had spied on the good guys. "Let's see what the goodie-goodies are up to, shall we, Xerxes?"

"Yesss, let'sss," hissed the eel, drooling his disgusting, slimy saliva.

Mozenrath waved his right arm in front of the portal, changing the view so it was on Genie, Iago, and Abu. They were out in the menagerie, looking around for any sign of Aladdin or Jasmine. Mozenrath hadn't been paying attention to them at all as they had come to this point in their search, so he didn't know they knew about Jasmine's kidnapping.

No doubt, though, Mozenrath knew they were searching, searching for their dear Aladdin. He watched with intent as they looked through some bushes.

"They're not gonna be hiding in some scratchy bushes," Iago complained. "If you ask me, this is a complete waste of time."

"Well, they couldn't get too far," Genie reasoned. "If Al tried to leave the palace grounds, he would surely be spotted by someone, the palace guards or a citizen."

Iago had to admit to himself that Genie wasn't as dense as he seemed at times. He was actually making sense now. Abu scampered off behind a bunch of thick bushes in the corner of the gardens. Meanwhile, Iago and Genie were flying around, searching the trees. They suddenly heard loud squeaking coming from the bushes where Abu was. The two of them flew immediately over to the alarmed monkey.

"What did you find, Abu?" asked Genie intently.

Abu held up an empty glass vial. Upon closer examination, Genie noticed it wasn't completely empty. There was a tiny bit of blue liquid at the bottom, just a couple of droplets.

"Iago," he began, "what color was that sleeping potion in the book?"

"Blue, I think."

"This has gotta be it," Genie continued, eyeing the vial under a magnifying glass. "We'll place this with the rest of the evidence." Turning into a police man, Genie put the vial in a plastic bag and sealed it shut, labelling it "vial Al used to poison Jas with sleeping potion."

Mozenrath was outraged when he saw this. "You blasted genie!" he yelled, bringing his arm up and smacking Xerxes out of anger. "You've come further than I would have wagered! No matter," he mused, calming down, "it will be most entertaining to see what happens when you confront Aladdin."

After failing to find them in the menagerie, Genie suggested they return to the palace. "But not through the front doors," he said. "Al wouldn't have made it through them without being caught. Let's take the back route."

With no disagreeing, Abu and Iago followed. Once they had entered the palace again, they stood there, wondering where they should look next. All of a sudden, a noise came from the room to their right. They went over to the closed doors and listened. Somone was breathing heavily, as if he were asleep. The door creaked as Genie turned the knob, and as the light from the hallway swept into the room, it poured itself right onto the sleeping Aladdin and Jasmine.

"They're here," Genie whispered to the animals.

"No kidding," remarked Iago sarcastically.

Genie tip-toed up to Aladdin and glanced at his face. It was twisted into an uneasy expression, as if he were in some kind of pain as he slept. Aladdin had his arms firmly wrapped around Jasmine, so Genie decided he would try to lift one of Aladdin's arms carefully. Very delicately, Genie grabbed Aladdin's lower arm and began lifting it slowly. Suddenly, the motionless arm sprung to life and grabbed Genie's hand with a strength Genie didn't think Aladdin had. Aladdin opened his eyes and glared with pure and utter contempt at the genie, those black, empty eyes piercing right through him.

"Al, little buddy," Genie peeped, "how nice to see you're awake."

"Going somewhere?" Aladdin questioned harshly, squeezing Genie's hand tighter.

Iago and Abu tried to run away, but Aladdin lifted his free hand up and something very strange happened: Red beams of light were emitted from his fingertips, and they seized the parrot and the monkey in electrical shackles. Aladdin immediately did the same to Genie, who tried to escape the strange trap, but he failed.

"Anti-magic," Aladdin coolly said. "Now, on to the next step."

He smiled that same wicked smile, and from the portal, Mozenrath laughed, cheering Aladdin on. "That's it, Aladdin! That's what I'm talking about!"

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Chapter 7: Chapter 7

Little did either Mozenrath or Aladdin know, but "someone" else was watching the whole scene, too. Carpet, feeling he needed to keep an "eye" on his friends, had been following them from a safe distance. Once he had seen Genie, Iago, and Abu become captured, he flew away to find help. The sultan was in his study, looking over a stack of papers with a bored expression on his face. Carpet darted into the room in panic and whirled around the old man in a frenzy.

Sultan didn't know what Carpet was trying to tell him, so Carpet literally picked Sultan up and tossed him on top and took off toward the storage room where Aladdin was hiding out. On the way there, however, as they were passing through the throne room, Sultan hollered, "Stop!"

To his amazement and confusion, Aladdin was sitting on the throne. His arms were crossed across his chest, and as Sultan neared the young man, he noticed that Aladdin's eyes were completely black.

"My boy," began the sultan in alarm, "are you all right?"

Aladdin remained silent, sitting there with a vacant expression on his face, staring straight ahead. Sultan was now standing right in front of Aladdin, but Aladdin wasn't looking at Sultan; he was looking through him and past him. Chills went down the old man's spine, and he shuttered.

"Carpet," he whispered, leaning toward the rug, "is this what you were trying to tell me?"

Carpet nodded "yes" and tried to pull Sultan away from Aladdin, but Sultan was too transfixed on Aladdin's eyes to comply. He leaned forward, walking a few steps closer to Aladdin.

"Dear boy, where are your friends? Where is my daughter?"

Nothing.

"Aladdin," he said more firmly, "tell me. Where is Jasmine?"

Suddenly, Aladdin lashed out and released a stream of red light from his hand. The sultan let out a cry of panic, but it was of little use. "You wanna see your precious daughter alive?" Aladdin barked. "Then you will do everything I tell you to!"

Aladdin was too busy paying attention to the sultan to notice Carpet fly away.

Meanwhile, locked away in the dungeon beneath the palace, Genie, Iago, and Abu were chained up in a combination of real chains and magical chains. Jasmine was lying on the floor with her arms cuffed behind her back. Everyone was too frightened to dare utter a word, and they looked with desperation at the helpless princess as she lay sprawled across the cold, damp stone floor.

A weak groan suddenly came from her mouth, and a few seconds later, her eyes opened. Her eyesight was blurry, and it took a couple of minutes before she was able to see where she was. The first thing she saw was her friends, all of them bound like she was, only they had a strange red glow coming off them.

"Guys?" she asked weakly. "What's going on?"

"We're trapped in the dungeon, Jas," replied Genie.

"But who put us here?" she asked.

"Aladdin," Genie said sadly. "Don't you remember anything, Jas?"

Her mind was spinning, and her head hurt. She could feel a rush of warmth coming over her, and she sighed. "No, I don't remember anything..."

As she trailed off, a jingle of keys was heard outside the cell's door. They heard the turning of the key in the door, and expressions of fear flooded their faces. Was Aladdin back for them?

But it wasn't Aladdin who stood at the stairs in the entrance way. It was--

"Carpet!" they all exclaimed in a delighted surprise.

"Oh, Rugman! You're awesome!" Genie exclaimed.

Carpet went directly over to Jasmine and removed the cuffs from her hands. Once Jasmine's hands were free, she headed toward Genie and tried to remove the chains from him. The moment she touched him, though, a powerful bolt of energy sent her flying across the room. Carpet caught her right before she hit the stone wall.

"It looks like I can't release you," she stated. "Who put these magical shackles on you?"

"Al did," Genie replied.

"Aladdin has magic?!" Jasmine exclaimed. "But how is that possible?"

"Yeah, you're really up on the latest, aren't you?" Iago remarked sarcastically. "Princess, your Aladdin has been spouting off magical antics like he's Mozy or somethin.'"

"Mozenrath!" Jasmine exclaimed. "That's it! He's got to be the one behind this..."

Everyone else looked at each other and then back at her. There were no objections. "Who else would it be?" she continued.

"I think you're right, Jas," Genie said. "See, the bird and I were discussing this earlier. We think Al was infected with a magical spell somehow."

Jasmine thought for a minute. Everything came rushing back to her then: the night of the party, Aladdin's nasty remarks, how she was abducted earlier that day...

"The party last night, that was when with all started," she muttered. "Remember how he started to not feel well? And before I asked him to dance with me, we were eating, and if I recall correctly, I think Aladdin said something about his drink tasting strange."

"The drink!" the others exclaimed.

"Mozenrath must has put something in Aladdin's drink," Jasmine reasoned. "I've got to face Mozenrath myself and make him stop this at once."

"But, Jas," Genie pleaded, "you can't face Wizard Boy alone!"

"I'll have Carpet," she tried to convince him. "Besides, there's no other option. We can't face Aladdin. We need to go to the source of this whole thing, and that means going to Mozenrath."

"No, Jasmine!" Genie replied. "You're not going alone!"

"Then what am I supposed to do?" she begged. "Stay here and just let Aladdin win? Let Mozenrath win?"

"Uh, if I can interrupt for a sec here," Iago cut in.

"What?" Jasmine and Genie both asked.

"Jasmine, if you go to Jafar's lab, there's a bottle with orange liquid in it sitting on the far left end of the potions table. It'll release us from the magical shackles."

Jasmine looked at Iago questioningly but nodded. She left them in the dungeon and headed for Jafar's lab. Luckily, it wasn't a far trip for her to take. As she rode on Carpet through the secret passage to the lab, she saw the bottle that Iago had told her about. Even though she hated going in this place and hated it even more that Iago had once worked for Jafar, she had to admit that the parrot's knowledge of magic was useful at times. Wasting no time, she grabbed the bottle and headed back for the dungeon.

"That was fast," Iago remarked.

"It was right where you said it would be," Jasmine couldn't help but to smile.

She opened the bottle and poured a little bit of its contents on to each of her friends. The red glow instantly faded, leaving only the real chains. With a few quick turns of a key, they were free. As they left the palace, a horrible thought crossed Jasmine's mind.

"Father!" she gasped. "Carpet, we have to head back and get Father!"

Carpet turned around and flew into the palace. They cautiously looked in his study and chambers, but he wasn't in there. As they neared the end of the hallway that led into the throne room, Jasmine tried not to gasp as she saw Aladdin and her father together. The old man was bound in the same red magical shackles as the others had been, and Aladdin was threatening the poor sultan for the life of his daughter if he continued to refuse Aladdin's demands. Out of the corner of his eye, Sultan glanced over and saw Jasmine peeking around the corner. Seeing her alive and unharmed brought a glimmer of hope to him, and knowing Aladdin couldn't hurt her now, he held out.

"We can't go in there," Genie said. "Aladdin will surely see us."

"You're right," replied Jasmine. "Father saw me, so I feel a little better...but what if Aladdin hurts him while we're chasing after Mozenrath?"

"Not a problem!" yelled a voice from behind them.

Standing not more than twenty feet behind them was Mozenrath.

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Chapter 8: Chapter 8

"Mozenrath!" they all gasped, completely taken by surprise.

"What are you doing here?" Jasmine inquired, giving him a look of pure hatred.

"Oh, I just had to be here in person to see Agrabah's greatest hero make his biggest conquest of all time: taking over the city and doing away with all you fools," Mozenrath coolly said, walking casually toward them.

"You'll never win!" Jasmine yelled, standing firm on her ground.

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong, Princess," Mozenrath sneered. "That's where you're wrong."

Meanwhile, Aladdin could hear voices in the hallway off the throne room, and he thought they sounded awfully familiar. Grabbing the sultan by the collar, he gruffly pulled the old man with him toward the area where the voices were coming from. To his complete surprise, he saw all his former friends standing there with Mozenrath.

"I don't know how you got out," he began, his voice coming out between clenched teeth, "but now I know all along who you were siding with! Mozenrath of all people! How could you defy me like this? How dare you betray me by joining sides with Mozenrath!!"

Aladdin practically threw the sultan to the ground as he released him and charged toward Mozenrath. Aladdin held out his right arm, releasing red rays of light from his fingers, aiming right for Mozenrath's face.

"I'll get you once and for all!" Aladdin yelled at the top of his lungs at Mozenrath.

Mozenrath didn't expect Aladdin to attack him, so he was caught off-guard this whole time. "Aladdin," Mozenrath began, "they never were working for me, you foolish boy! You are the one working for me now! I cast the spell on you; I have the power over you now, so I must insist that you relent...or else."

"What are you babbling about?!" Aladdin cried in Mozenrath's ear, practically deafening him. "I work for NO ONE but myself! You always were a pathetic liar, Mozenrath, and now I will destroy you and all of these others fools who betrayed me to join forces with you!"

Mozenrath, in an act of pure self-defense, shot rays of his blue-black magic from his gauntlet at Aladdin, but Aladdin, being as nimble and quick as he was, ducked out of the way and raised both his arms over his head. In one fast motion, he brought both of them down at the same time and sent a huge blast of red magic toward Mozenrath. It was too late for the sorcorer to react. The blast hit him right in the chest, pushing him into the wall and knocking him out cold.

Aladdin walked over to Mozenrath to examine his handy work, but as he looked at the now helpless form of Mozenrath before him, the expression on his face softened for the first time in a while. Aladdin closed his eyes and kept them that way for a long time, as all his friends watched him, wondering what would happen next. When he finally opened them, to their amazement, instead of the black that had once filled his entire eyes, there were his soft brown irises and dark pupils gazing back at them.

Aladdin felt like he hadn't slept in days; he felt like all the energy had somehow escaped from his body. Falling over on to the floor, he caught himself before his head hit the surface. Sitting there, he shook his head and finally found his voice. "Guys?" he asked weakly.

"Aladdin?" Jasmine asked, hope filling her tone. "Are you okay?"

Taking a slow and somewhat uneasy step forward, the princess moved closer to him.

"Well, to be honest," he began, "no, I'm not okay..."

Those words didn't sound good to her. Was he still under the spell?

"But," he continued, "are you all okay?"

Breathing a sigh of relief, Jasmine smiled, "Yes, Aladdin, we're okay now...now that you're back."

Aladdin remembered everything he had done while under the spell and didn't know what to say. "I'm so sorry," was all he finally managed to utter.

"Aw, don't worry about it, Al," Genie replied. "You were under that wacko-wizard's influence. How could you have known any better?"

At the mention of Mozenrath, Aladdin turned and faced the young sorceror. "I don't understand..." he mumbled. "If that spell was supposed to turn me against all my friends, why did it turn me against Mozenrath? He was never my friend, and besides, Mozenrath claimed he was in control of me, and yet, I still managed to stop him. How?"

"There are some things," Genie said in a very sincere tone, "that magic cannot change. Yes, Mozenrath used that terrible spell to control you by cursing you, but somehow, deep within yourself, you have your own power, a power that's not magic. It's a power called love, and no matter how much Mozenrath's magical spell could make you hate us, you would always hate your enemies more than your friends. He could never see that, though."

Jasmine smiled and hugged Aladdin. "If there's one thing I know about you, Aladdin," she spoke, looking directly into his eyes, "it's that you have more love in you than probably anyone else I've ever met."

"Not to interrupt this mushy moment, but what are we gonna do with Wizard Boy over here?" asked Iago, perching himself on Aladdin's shoulder.

"I've got the perfect place for him," Genie said. With a snap of his fingers, Mozenrath disappeared.

"Where did you put him?" Aladdin couldn't help but to ask.

"Oh, he's just cooling off on a lovely over-sized island called Antartica," smirked Genie. "Now, it's time was your welcome-back group hug, Al!" he exclaimed in an over-excited tone.

Genie scooped everyone up with his big arms and squeezed them tightly. After a few rather long seconds, Iago finally yelled, "Okay, ya big, blue lug! Let go!"

Everyone laughed at Iago's remark as he returned to Aladdin shoulder. "You're not gonna squeeze me, too, are ya?" Iago whispered to Aladdin, referring to the events from the night before.

"No, Iago," Aladdin replied. "Hey, no hard feelings, right?"

For Iago, showing how happy he really was to have Aladdin back was hard. "Well, I guess so... It's, um, good to have ya back, Al."

"It's good to be back," Aladdin remarked.

"You're all back from wherever you were within," Jasmine smiled, bringing her face close to his. "And within me, here's what I have to say about that."

With that, she kissed him, as Iago turned away in disgust.

"Yep, things are back to normal," Genie told Carpet and Abu. "Well, as normal as they can get around here."

The rest of the day passed in peace, and as Genie had said, things were about as normal as they could be when one is in Agrabah and friends with a zany Genie. Aladdin wouldn't have it any other way.

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