Key Aidan is featured in an underground comic called A.D.

The Queen of Heaven

In the light of the illusions, Mozenrath could not see the Eyes but he could still hear its fractured voice coming from every corner of his mind. Mozenrath was certain that he was going mad, at least partially. However, it was so pleasant in this imagined world that he began to prefer it to the decaying remains of his citadel. It was beautiful here, and pure, except for the occasional intrusion of the Eyes. He began to see cities in the distance, grand, white buildings shining on the horizon and he could move about freely as he wished. None of the innocent villagers saw or heard him. They went about their daily business and he watched them living their simple lives, content with their lot.

It was here that Mozenrath began to contemplate the path he had chosen and the consequences of this path. 'Why DO I seek to rule the Seven Deserts?' He wondered to himself while wandering through an ocean of tall, prairie grass. Only the wind answered him, though, blowing through the grass and making it sound like troubled water. Mozenrath fell back onto the soft earth below him, staring up at the clear, blue sky. 'Is it because it is my destiny?' Mozenrath shook his head at such a preposterous thought, if it was destiny, he would have succeeded by now.

Mozenrath spoke aloud, towards the heavens where the pale curves of this world's triple moons hung, "I am evil. That's why I seek to rule the Seven Deserts. I want to see the world bend to my will alone." But why? "Evil has no explanation."

A voice he recognized from somewhere, from sometime long ago, barely audible above the wind, replied, "That's not true, you know." Mozenrath sat up and was returned into the darkness where the Eyes presided. He saw the insidious glow moving through the murky black.

"My lord, I have found a way to break the spell that vile demon placed on you."

* * * * *

Key tuned her lute and strummed a few hesitant chords. The book lay open at her feet and the worn pages curved in the desert wind. She heard the hum coming from deep within her, growing stronger the more she practiced and the more she acknowledged its presence. It tingled on the tips of her fingers, leaping from her body onto the vehicle of the lute and into reality. Sometimes it would overwhelm her and she would fall back into a sea of pure light, waking up hours later to the plaintive cries of her cat, Oberon. It also made her begin to question the real reason she was in Agrabah, it made her doubt her identity and filled her with a sense of impending doom. The very first story in the book whispered to her sometimes, while she slept, tempting her to read it. It frightened her even more now, the way it filled her with over-whelming curiosity that she had to run out of the room to keep herself from opening to that page.

Key sighed and closed the book, putting her lute back into its beat-up case. She sprang out of the room and down to the garden where Jasmine and her pet tiger, Rajah, were lounging in the shade of a large tree with a basket of exotic fruit. Jasmine greeted her with a wide smile and a wave of her hand, "Key! Come sit and have a pomegranate!" Key sat down beside the princess and picked at the delicious seeds of the fruit, popping them into her mouth. "So, have you learned anything new from your book?"

Key replied, hesitantly, "Well, I can do this..." She closed her eyes and whispered something under her breath. Clouds rolled over the sun, the air in the garden chilled and snow began to fell briefly.

Jasmine shivered, "Well, it is very impressive but could you bring the sun back? The frost will kill the plants." Key nodded and the cold was blown away and it was warm once more. "Anything else?"

"Well, healing magic and some more weather tricks. I can't seem to grasp the kind of black sorcery that Mozenrath does..."

"Good." Jasmine interrupted abruptly. "I don't think it would be helpful anyway to you or anyone else. Goodness knows we don't need another Mozenrath." Rajah growled in agreement or so it seemed.

Key nodded, "I suppose so but I think I do have the capability for it and that scares me." She looked down at her hands, at the energy emanating from them. "Like there's a part of me that I don't know about."

Jasmine shook her head, "Everyone has a dark side, Key, even Aladdin. Even me. You just have to learn how to control your dark side. Mozenrath is a perfect example of someone who let their dark side take over."

Key looked up, "So you think he could have been a good person?"

"No." Jasmine answered flatly, standing up. "Mozenrath
is an evil power-monger, pure and simple. His dark side just makes it worse." She walked off, followed by Rajah.

Key watched her vanish into the palace and looked down at her hands again, she folded them into fists. The power gathered there, waiting to be released. Hidden.

"Maybe I'm the same."

* * * * *

Genie and Aladdin strolled down the marketplace; the people flowing past him like water.

"So every now and then I get these weird visions. What do you think, Genie, am I going nuts?"

With a burst of smoke, Aladdin found himself on a strange couch of some sort and Genie, in one of his outlandish costumes, holding a pad of paper.

"Vell!" He began in an exotic accent. "Perhaps you haf suffered un bump on ze noggin." He began to examine Aladdin's head.

"Cut it out, Genie." Aladdin waved him away and for a split second, thought he saw a whip in his hand. "Whoa! There it was! I just saw something! A whip, in my hand!" He flexed his fingers.

"Sensors show nothing, Captain!" Genie replied, waving around some futuristic gadget.

"And they're getting more frequent. I hope it's nothing like that demon business Mozenrath pulled on us." Aladdin sighed. "I don't think I could handle being manipulated like that again."

Genie waved his big, blue hands, "Nope, Aladdin, don't you fear! Not with me and Key around!" He raised his fists in a mock-fighting stance. "We can take anything Mozenrath sends our way!" He shadow-boxed around Aladdin with the energy of a puppy dog.

"Stop fooling, Genie!" Aladdin laughed, brushing his dark hair from his eyes. "Now where is Baja's booth? He should be around here." Aladdin glanced around the street for one of the regular shopkeepers that he bought from. "That's strange, he's usually here. I mean, it is the busiest time of the market!" Genie didn't make any comment but Aladdin didn't notice.

He walked farther down the road, away from the hustle of the market into the labyrinth of sandstone walls. It seemed to extend forever, those walls into the distance where the burning desert sun reflected off the yellow brick. The stones seemed to gleam like gold, piercing saffron rays streaming past him like ribbons. Blinded by the light, the buildings bent down from above, shadows creeping towards him in languid pools until he was swallowed by darkness even before he realized it.

Aladdin heard in the back of his mind, the sound of wind chimes and a cool breeze murmuring over his body. He opened his eyes, groggily, to a beautiful woman pressing a water canteen to his lips. Her hair was tucked under a finely-woven kerchief but her eyes were familiar. He struggled to sit up.

"Do not strain yourself, stranger." Her voice was peaceful and soothing as she helped him upright.

Aladdin exclaimed, looking at his surroundings, "Where am I?! This isn't Agrabah!" He sat on a hill of tall, lush grass with white-capped mountains in the distance. He heard the plaintive bleat of sheep as they grazed serenely on the apex of the hill. Aladdin stood up too quickly and the world spun briefly, he fell back to the ground.

"Shh..." The woman replied, pressing a wet rag to his head.

"Is this... some kind of hallucination?" Aladdin glanced at her as she sat back on her heels.

The woman smiled coyly as she picked up her staff and stood up, "Isn't all reality just a hallucination?"

* * * * *

"Al!" Genie called out. "Hey Al!" He flew high above the city, trying to get a whole view but even with his powers, he could find no sign of his friend. What he did notice was that there seemed to be less movement, alot of people just seemed to be in one place. Just staring into the walls. It made Genie nervous, very, very nervous. He swung back to the city square and it was underneath the fountain, perhaps shielded from his view before, was Aladdin.

Genie raced up with a loud greeting, "AL! Old buddy!" Aladdin did not reply, he didn't even blink. "Al?" Genie waved his hand in front of the young man's eyes. "Al? You in there?" He snapped his fingers but there was no response only the almost inaudible sound of breathing. "Uh-oh. I better get you to Jasmine." Genie picked him up and headed to the palace.

However, when he got there, the first thing Genie noticed was that the guards were in the same zoned-out mode that Aladdin was in. So was the Sultan. He set Aladdin down on the steps of the throne, beside Jasmine's father before searching for Jasmine herself.

He found her and Key, in the garden. In the same condition as everyone else; as if they were so occupied by a thought that they ignored everything else.

"Oh great. Me and a city full of space cases." Genie sighed, sitting down. "What do I do now?"

* * * * *

A young man stood on the cliff over-looking the city of Agrabah. He spread his arms and opened his lips. Black mist spilled out of his mouth and seeped down to the city. Within the cloud were small, individual shapes that settled on Agrabah, they were almost insect-like. They
entered the comatose people and possessed their bodies, streaming towards the palace in a huge wave of humanity. The young man laughed, "Soon, this entire world will be a wasteland and there is no one powerful enough to stop me." He glanced down at the hands of the body whom he had possessed. At the single gauntlet that the previous owner had so prized. "Silly mortals, giving such weight to useless junk." He pulled off the glove, revealing the wasted skeletal remains of his right hand. He dropped the gauntlet onto the ground where the desert wind buried it beneath the sands. The rock beneath him rumbled and lifted him, carrying him towards Agrabah.

Very soon there would be no wall between this world and his.

* * * * *

Aladdin followed the woman as she chased her sheep towards the bottom of the hill. There, a modest cabin stood beside the sheltered pen she herded the animals into. He watched her as she washed her hands and her face and stoked the fire that warmed her cauldron. Something delicious bubbled inside the pot, aromatic scents filling the room that reminded Aladdin he was hungry.

"Would you like some vegetable stew?" The woman asked, fumbling through her cupboards.

"Yes, thanks." Aladdin glanced around the room. Dried flowers and herbs were everywhere, in baskets and jars. A wooden bed, softened by sweet-smelling hay and covered with wool sheets sat at the other side of the room beside a large book with an ancient cover.

She set two bowls on the table and invited Aladdin to sit. The stew was as good as it smelled. The woman gazed at him eating, her head tilted inqusitively.

"You asked before if this was a hallucination. I tell you it is not. Not really at least." The woman sighed. "When mortals look for their gods, they always look towards the heavens. Towards some mystical place that they must reach through redemption or something equally as vague."

Aladdin looked up from the food, "I don't understand."

"All good and all evil exist in the heart of mortality. True power is beyond these concepts but when mortals possess power, they give it these virtues. And vices." Aladdin replied with a blank gaze. The woman shook her head and was silent for a long time. "You wish to return to Agrabah, Aladdin?"

"You knew my name? How..."

The woman stood up and the cabin disappeared, "When you face the darkest of your enemies, you will find it is yourself." The entrance to a cavern appeared before Aladdin. "Beyond this cave is Agrabah, go there quickly or everything you know will be destroyed." With a gust of wind and the sound of chimes, the woman vanished. Aladdin gazed at the cavern with a sense of unease gnawing at the edges of his soul.

* * * * *

Genie was pacing the throne room floor when Aladdin and the Sultan suddenly stood up.

"Al! Am I glad you..." But they just walked past him towards the entrance of the palace. Genie followed them to see swarms of people gathered at the steps, all armed with anything they could find. "Whoa, is this weird!" Aladdin had picked up a sword and had tucked it into his belt. Jasmine joined them with a spear in her hands and they stood there under the glaring sun, motionless. Waiting. Waiting for what? Genie wasn't entirely sure he wanted to find out.

He scanned among those present. Key! Where was Key? He headed back towards the garden and saw a strange black thing that looked like a spider pacing around Key's body. It was translucent, like smoked glass and it tried to bite at Key every now and then. Genie called out to the thing, "Hey, creepy-looking spider thing! Take a load of this!" He whipped out an industrial-size can of Raid (tm) and started spraying. It was not the contents of the metal can that got rid of the monster but the force at which it blew the creature into the distance.

Genie knelt beside Key and snapped his fingers. What didn't work for the others shook her out of her state, perhaps because of her own magic. Key blinked slowly, "Momma?"

"Sorry, just me. Genie."

Key looked around, "What... what just happened? Why do I feel so strange? I just dreamt I was home and Momma... my mother... was cooking." Key stood up, grasping her book to her chest.

"Everyone in Agrabah went comatose and then, they all went zombie. We've got a congregation of zombies on the front lawn of the palace, including Jasmine and Aladdin."

"Zombies?"

"Or something. They're just all... spaced out!" Genie imitated the blank gaze. "And then, there was this big bug trying to bite you but I got rid of it."

"What did it look like?"

"A big, black spider." Genie stretched out his hands to demonstrate the size. "Come on." He took Key's hand and led her to the front of the palace where they observed the crowd from behind a pillar. "See what I mean? Zombies."

Key looked up, "There! Look!" A figure descended on a floating rock. Key's eyes widened. "It's Mozenrath!"

"I figured HE'D be behind this!"

Key narrowed her eyes, trying to get a better look,
"He looks... sort of different. Like, not all there..."

* * * * *

Mozenrath awoke to the sensation that he was on solid ground although he didn't remember ever reaching it. The last thing he remembered was agreeing to let the eyes use his body and then, he was falling into endless darkness. His hands slid along the smooth, cold floors as he sat up. Mozenrath looked around, he was surrounded by a forest of obsidian columns and black marble floors. The narrow strip of ceiling that followed the corridor to its inevitable end shone with the promise of the midnight sky. The pale reflection of a distant moon was the only light that dimly drew Mozenrath's gaze towards the end of the hall. He stood up, trying to decide what he should do, raising his right hand to brush errant strands of hair from his face. It was then that he noticed his hand was whole and he didn't wear his gauntlet. Mozenrath stretched the muscles, watching them move under the pallor of his skin. He felt... healthy, stronger than he had been as if merely having his hand back could help him conquer worlds. If that was what he really wanted, of course.

Mozenrath let his hands drop back to his side. What did he want? Now that he was here, in this strange place instead of his own rotting corpse and his own decaying castle. Surrounded eternally by death. A flicker of motion drew him from his thoughts and towards the places in between the pillars. A light stepping inbetween the shadows, growing brighter. Mozenrath shielded his eyes. It grew so bright that at its heart, a darkness shaped in the figure of a woman. Tall, imperious and beautiful, she gazed down at Mozenrath with eyes that burned coldfire. She wore the shadows like a cloak so black, light slid from it into pools at before her.

WHO ARE YOU?

Mozenrath stood up, "I am Mozenrath, lord of the..."

WRONG. THAT IS JUST A NAME AND A TITLE, BOTH OF WHICH CAN BE LOST. WHO ARE YOU?

"I am the son of..." The woman gave him a crippling gaze and he knew that, to her, the answer was wrong. Mozenrath threw up his hands, exasperated. "Who am I? Who are you?! What do you want with me?" The woman made no reply, her eyes focused on a place deep within him.

"If I am not Mozenrath then... I don't know. I don't know who I am. Is that the answer you were waiting to hear?"

The woman smiled.

* * * * *

"Okay, so Mozenrath zombified all of Agrabah. Can he do that?" Genie asked.

"How am I supposed to know? I'm just a kid!" Key replied. "Hey, he's not wearing that glove thing! Ew, his hand's all bony."

Genie followed her line of vision to the sorcerer's hand and released a shudder, "Yeah, I thought he was powerless without that gauntlet."

"Uh, Genie, are those the spider things you were talking about?" He turned to see a swarm of the icky things rise from the shadows of the floor and walls.

Genie turned to Key and said as they edged away from the monsters, "Running would be good." They turned and fled down the hall towards a safer place, if there was such a thing. Genie slammed the door behind them, randomly pulling out carpentry tools to seal the door shut.

Key leaned against a potted plant, breathing hard, "Now what?"

"We need a game plan?" Genie tapped his chin. "What would Aladdin do?"

* * * * *

Mozenrath sat on the black floors, gazing up at the woman and waiting for her next words. She said nothing, looking at him with detachment as a bitter wind played with the dark coils of her hair. Mozenrath pulled his cloak tightly around him.

"What do you want from me?" He muttered, miserably.

WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?

"You brought me here!" Mozenrath protested, standing up.

ARE YOU EVIL? Her words hung in the air like ice, a chill clinging to the hollows of his spine.

"Yes." Mozenrath replied evenly.

WHY?

"Evil has no explanations!"

THAT IS NOT TRUE. The woman paused, sweeping her hair back. YOU ARE POWER-HUNGRY. YOU ARE ARROGANT. YOU ARE CRUEL.

"Yes." He replied hesitantly, not sure of the meaning of her comments.

IS THE AMBITIOUS MAN EVIL?

"No."

IS THE PRIDEFUL MAN EVIL?

"No. Foolish, perhaps."

IS THE MAN WHO IS FIRST CONCERNED WITH HIS WELL-BEING EVIL?

"No..."Mozenrath shook his head. "But none of this applies to me!"

THE AMBITIOUS MAN CAN BE CHARITABLE. THE PRIDEFUL MAN CAN BE HUMBLE. THE SELFISH MAN CAN BE KIND. NOTHING EXISTS IN MAN ALONE. She took his hand in hers, she felt like stardust under his touch and he was afraid. IT IS EASIER TO ACCEPT ONE OR THE OTHER THAN BOTH. She brushed her fingers over his eyes, closing them and when Mozenrath opened them again, she was gone.

He stood in front of the mouth of a cavern. His gauntlet lay on the ground before him and he was reluctant to put it on again.

TO FIND MEANING, YOU GO TO FACE YOUR GREATEST ENEMY.

* * * * *

Aladdin walked through the caves, the walls glowed and shimmered dimly with purple and blue lights. Even though it was beautiful, Aladdin could not help but feel a sense of fore-
boding. He wandered in an uncertain direction and eventually all the corridors looked the same. The walls made music when he touched them, like sighing and glowed brighter as he trailed his hand across the uneven surfaces. The narrow walls opened into a huge room that was brightly lit by a bonfire and a forest that faded into the walls like pictures. There was a young woman standing there, tall and strong with long, wild hair the color of the twilight sky. She was dressed in furs and skins and carried a mighty sword slung on her back. She turned at Aladdin's approach and drew her sword from its scabbard, "A gift, from the Queen of Heaven to you, hero to battle the Greatest Enemy. Go in courage." As Aladdin took the sword, the forest and the young woman disappeared and he was again in the hallway. The sword was heavier and longer than the ones Aladdin usually used, there were intricate carvings of serpents on the surface. He swung it experimentally and it cut through the air like a song, heavier but still manageable. Leaning the blade against his shoulder, Aladdin walked farther down the hallway and he began to feel a sense of urgency as if he were being hunted. He glanced over his shoulder every now and then, seeing only shadows behind him. The corridor widened and Aladdin emerged into a cave filled with broken columns and relics of what must have been an ancient civilization.

Directly across from him, Aladdin saw Mozenrath. So this was his greatest enemy, Aladdin steadied his sword. Mozenrath saw him as well, a sudden determination crossing the black-hearted sorcerer's face. He threw a bolt of energy and Aladdin ducked behind a pile of rubble just as the magic hit the place he was just in. Aladdin looked carefully around his protection to see Mozenrath advancing on his hiding place.

* * * * *

"It must be Mozenrath!" Key mumbled. "We have to distract or attack him! He must be the source of all this!"She stood on the window sill and said something under her breath and then, she was in the air.

"Where are you going, Key?"

"To find Mozenrath's gauntlet. I'll have to use it against him!" Key replied.

"That's dangerous! And where's it going to be?"

Key closed her eyes, holding her book, "I don't know. I can feel it though. Magic calls to magic." She flew into the sky and Genie followed her. "It's worth a try!" They were about to pass over the city when Key gasped and stopped short. Genie felt it too, the strange pull of power calling for a master. Or someone to master.

They landed on a hill overlooking Agrabah. Some of the rock had been torn away as if by a giant hand. Key knelt down and pulled Mozenrath's gauntlet from the ground.

"Are you sure you can handle this, Key?"

Key slid the glove on, feeling her body jump alive with energy. She stretched her fingers, trying to fill all the empty spaces between the tips of her nails and the ends of the gauntlet. Key pointed her hand at a heavy stone and there was a burst of dark light and the stone exploded.

"I... I hope so." She jumped into the air and headed back towards the city. The sheer power of the glove filled Key with a sense of control. She felt like she could do anything. Key shook her head, no, she had to be careful or it would seduce her.

There Mozenrath was and his mouth was open and those black creatures were growing from him in clouds. They settled over everything, over all the people and it looked like they were feeding! Key threw an experiemental bolt at Mozenrath and he fell back. He lay on the ground as if dead.

"Did... did I kill him?" Mozenrath stood back up and his eyes were black and he stared at her. And Key began to scream as the black mist overwhelmed her.

* * * * *

Aladdin felt his shelter crumble as Mozenrath sent his magic through it. Aladdin leapt out to the next pile of cover but it was only shelter for so long. There was no where else to go and Mozenrath smiled trimphantly, beckoning with his gloved hand. Aladdin raised the sword.

* * * * *

Genie grabbed Key, pulling her out of the weird fog stuff. She was delirious, alternating between screaming and ranting about the Eyes and the shadows. He shook her, "Key! Key! Get a grip!" Her eyes opened suddenly and they were all glowy like. Genie let her go, backing away. Mozenrath came down from the sky and it was like one of those Western showdowns. The two stared at each other, a sudden silence settling through everything.

* * * * *

Mozenrath let another bolt of energy rip and Aladdin lifted the sword to meet it. Light burst everywhere but Aladdin and the sword remained unharmed.

He grinned, mentally thanking the Queen of Heaven, whoever she was, "Seems the tables have turned, Mozenrath!" Mozenrath growled and picked up an iron bar from the ground as Aladdin swung. The sound of metal on metal echoed through the caverns. Though Mozenrath had powerful magic, Aladdin was, by far, the better fighter of the two. Soon he had Mozenrath disarmed and at his
mercy, his greatest enemy that he was about to defeat, once and for all.

* * * * *

Mozenrath laughed but the sound was not his. It made Genie's skin crawl, that voice that rose from Mozenrath's lips was unfamiliar.

"The spirit dies and the body is mine. Either way I win."

"No." Key replied and there was a burst of light and the sound of windchimes. Genie closed his eyes, momentarily blinded by the brilliance.

* * * * *

Aladdin raised his sword for the killing blow and all at once, he saw his own face in Mozenrath's. His greatest enemy...

"No!" Aladdin took the weapon and pressed the point against his belly and fell forward. He felt no pain at all, just a sensation like stardust and he opened his eyes to the throne room of the palace. He saw Key crumpled on the ground and Genie rubbing his eyes. He saw Jasmine holding a spear but then dropping it as she shook her head as if coming out of a dream. He saw Mozenrath, without his gauntlet, standing frozen.

"Jasmine! Genie!"

"Al! Jas! You're all right!" Genie grasped the two into a tight hug.

"Key!" Aladdin knelt by the girl as she slowly stirred. The book lay on the face of its pages, her hand on one cover.

"Is everyone... back to normal?" She mumbled.

"Yes, everyone but Mozenrath." Key followed Aladdin's gaze to the Mozenrath who was still frozen in the motion of shielding himself.

She glanced back at the book.

"I have to release him."

"What?!" Aladdin exclaimed. "What about all the damage he caused this time?"

"It wasn't him. I swear." Aladdin looked at her with doubt in his face. "I have to release him, Aladdin. Just trust me."

"I sort of like him like this. He's not as much trouble." Genie commented.

"Just let us alone for awhile?"

"Fine, it's your call." Aladdin turned to Jasmine. "Let's go find your father."

When they were alone, Key turned to Mozenrath's body, gazing at him for a long time in silence. She brushed the edges of the pages of her book with a quivering hand.

"I know you can't hear me, Mozenrath but I have to tell you something. The first story in this book, the very first magic from where I come from, wherever that is, is the truth about evil. A story that can never be read." Key sighed. "In my dream, my mother told me. I'm afraid of this and I can't tell anyone else but you." She looked up at him. "I don't know why." She placed the gauntlet on his hand.

"Awake now."

* * * * *

Mozenrath's eyes finally focused through the darkness onto the white marble walls of the Sultan's Palace. The young girl, the one with the violet eyes, the one named Key, backed away from him as she clutched the book to her chest.

"Go, quickly." It was all she said. Mozenrath looked at her for a long time, feeling empty. Not angry or arrogant or anything. Just empty.

"You saved my life." Mozenrath said quietly to her as he opened a portal to his home with an irreverent wave of his hand. "I wish you hadn't."

Key protested, her ancient book heavy against her hip, "Why not?"

"Because I know I will return to threaten your friends and this city."

"Why?"

"Because I am evil and evil has no explanation." He moved to pass through the swirling magic. She held out her hand to stop him, speaking almost desperately, "That's not true, you know."

Mozenrath turned around, staring at her in shock and reluctant recognition. The words echoed in his mind from the past and the future, a strange sensation filling his body with unease. He sighed, almost sadly before turning away into the unending black shadows of his world, "I know."

To be continued...