A/N: for toadstoolcouch of LJ/MWaters of dA. 3

Disclaimer: Disney owns it, I'm just playing with it.


One

"Now, this is just pathetic," crooned a voice from somewhere above the mamluk, causing the undead creature to look. Stiff joints cracked and popped as he searched the sky for the intruding noise, but he could find no source of it, causing only confusion to surge through his simple mind.

"Destane," came the voice again, "am I right?"

The mamluk groaned in response, partially frustrated, but mostly surprised to be recognized. His brow furrowed as he watched two eyes appear in the sky, followed by a mouth that grinned wide and mischievously at him.

"Once the most powerful sorcerer of the Seven Deserts," said the mouth, "reduced to rotting flesh and brittle bones."

The mamluk groaned again, louder this time, as though actually trying to form words, despite his mouth being sewn shut. This was only cause for amusement for the entity hovering above him, and the laughter sounding from that disembodied mouth was only cause for more aggravation.

"Oh, don't take that tone with me," said the mouth as a face materialized behind it, followed by a body. Chaos was only amused further to see the dead eyes of the mamluk widen, as though with acknowledgment, understanding suddenly just whom this being before him was. Even in this state, he knew, and he feared.

"You know me!" Chaos mused, stretching in the air. "I'm flattered! But enough about me, I'm here for you."

Whatever sense Destane had left in him told him to at least try and get away, though before he could so much as move one dead muscle, Chaos was behind him, chin to his frail shoulder. The mamluk cast a cautious glance toward the feline, choosing to remain in place against his better judgment. If he actually tried to escape now, the things Chaos could, and likely would, do to him were far worse than anything Mozenrath could come up with, and that was saying something, all things considered.

"About your Kingdom," Chaos said, pulling away only so he could circle Destane, taking slow, calculated and lazy steps through the air. "Well, to be quite frank, it's boring. Always has been, really." He stopped in front of Destane after he'd completely one full circle, one corner of his mouth curling in a lopsided grin, one that made even Destane's bones quiver.

"I don't like boring, Destane," he went on, sitting in the air now, tail swaying behind him. "I don't like it at all."

Having a hard enough time processing all that was happening, Destane could only manage a feebly nod, letting Chaos know he at least understood what he was saying.

"Something has to be done about that," Chaos said, and his eyes began to glow. "What say we liven things up some, hm?"

Destane barely had time to register the question, nevermind the fact that the God's eyes were glowing, before he was enveloped in a sphere of magic. It surged through him, and when the stitches were removed from his lips, he screamed as he was changed. As his consciousness returned to him, he acknowledged that he was being remade into the man he had been prior to Mozenrath's takeover. He could feel it, the strengthening of muscle and bone and flesh, the rotten blood beginning to pump through his veins once more, the stale air being forced from aching lungs.

When the magic was finished him, he collapsed into a heap on the hot sand. It had become second nature to expect something to fall off, but when everything remained intact, he let out a bark of relieved laughter. Slowly, he looked up to Chaos, whom was now laying on his back in the air, obviously amused as he watched him upside down.

"Why?" asked Destane, voice cracked from not being properly used in so long. "Why would you do this for me?"

Chaos flipped over, then lowered himself to the ground, sitting in front of the sorcerer. "As the saying will eventually go, for shits and giggles," he chuckled.

The phrase was lost on Destane, but he didn't spend a particularly long amount of time dwelling on it. He was whole again – to an extent. Chaos had given him back his will, his magic, and his body, but his skin was still green, and everything inside was rancid. He could have asked why, but knew better than to; he knew this condition was another means of amusement, another wrinkle to be worked around.

"Don't disappoint me," Chaos warned, before disappearing in a cloud of blue smoke, leaving only his laughter behind.


Mozenrath all but growled as Aladdin dodged one of his attacks, rolling expertly to the side and then getting back on his feet in less time than the young sorcerer would have preferred.

"Why won't you just surrender?" he yelled, walking fast-paced toward the smug street rat. "It would make our lives so much easier!"

Aladdin laughed, shaking his head. "Maybe I don't want to make your life easy, Mozenrath," he taunted before launching himself toward the approaching and infuriated wizard. It was easy to knock him to the ground, though keeping him down and his right hand out of commission was another story all together. Mozenrath was, by no means, equal to Aladdin in strength, but he was known to have bursts of energy when provoked, making it difficult for Aladdin to actually keep a hold on him long enough to get to the gauntlet.

Unfortunately for Aladdin, he'd more than provoked the Lord of the Black Sands this day. It was bad enough he'd managed to get wind of Mozenrath's latest scheme, worse that he'd shown up in time to thwart said scheme and destroy his latest magical minion, but now the boy just wouldn't quit. He'd taken it a step further, deciding today would be the day he'd take the gauntlet as well, and this time he wouldn't bury it in the sand. No, Aladdin had every intention of taking it, and finding a way to destroy it.

Aladdin's hand was subsequently tangled with his own as they fought for physical domination, and it took less than a second for Mozenrath to send a wave of electrifying magic through his foe, causing Aladdin to recoil.

"And maybe I don't want to make yours easy, either, street rat," Mozenrath crooned as he hoisted himself to his knees and reached for Aladdin's vest, pulling him close. "In fact, I think I'd much rather inflict as much pain and suffering as I possibly can!"

Aladdin braced himself with a hand to Mozenrath's chest, eyes flickering between the gauntlet as it began to glow and the sorcerer's face. If he was about to get out of this, he'd have think fast; Genie was not an option, as he and and Carpet were dealing with an exceptionally large onslaught of mamluks not too far away, but far enough.

However, his rapid thought process was brought to a halt when he felt the ground begin to tremble. Thick stone walls shot out from the sand, effectively encasing the two.

"What's going on now?" Mozenrath ground out, sighing as he looked about their stone prison.

"You mean, you didn't do this?" Aladdin inquired, eyebrow cocked.

The sorcerer rolled his eyes, as though it should have been obvious. This, after all, wasn't his style. "No."

Aladdin waited for a moment, and when Genie didn't make some sort of grand entrance or another, he mumbled, "well, this isn't Genie's doing, either."

"Great. This is exactly what I need," Mozenrath sighed as he looked up, though never released his hold on Aladdin. "A third-party butting … in … and …"

What Aladdin identified first as confusion on Mozenrath's face steadily gave way to shock, and then nothing short of horror. He skewed his face, daring to ask, "what?"

"Destane," came the whispered respond, though it seemed to Aladdin as though Mozenrath was speaking more to himself than to him.

"What ?" Aladdin repeated the question, this time a little louder, hoping to snap Mozenrath out of whatever state of shock he'd been sent into.

It was only when he was literally shoved away did Aladdin finally look up to see the cause of the other man's distress. To say he was surprised and confused to see another man standing atop one of the stone walls was putting it lightly.

"Destane?" he questioned, but judging from the way Mozenrath was gaping at the newcomer, he didn't an answer.

"But, how? I thought you – "

"Would you just shut up?" Mozenrath snapped, and his voice cracked in a way Aladdin had never heard before. Once Aladdin was silenced, he felt compelled to ask the same question.

"H-how? There's no way – "

"Ah, my boy," Destane crooned, a wicked smile on his cracked lips, "there's always a way."

"No," Mozenrath said, and his voice steadily rose as he repeated the word. "No, no, no! I took everything from you – everything – "

"Yes, but someone was kind enough to give most of it back," Destane chuckled, fists glowing with dark magic. Whether it was to prove a point or make a threat, Mozenrath didn't know, nor did he care; he wouldn't give Destane the chance to do either.

Channeling a good portion of his magic through the gauntlet, he aimed for Destane. The blast traveled true, only to be met with an equally powerful blast from Destane, which nullified both spells in the process.

"Is that the best you can do, even with the gauntlet on, boy?" Destane laughed, shaking his head. "Or has it begun to get the better of you already?"

When Mozenrath said nothing, Destane grinned. "Oh, my. What a pity. I'd been hoping to do away with you while in your prime. An eye for an eye, you know? But, I suppose this will have to do."

He leapt to the ground, using magic to ease the fall and land steady on his feet. It was too easy to back Mozenrath into a corner and seize his right hand. Perhaps, had the boy not been so shocked, he would have been able to put up more of a fight, but circumstances being what they were, Destane was able to pry the cursed leather from his hand with little effort.

"Don't just stand there!"

Aladdin's voice caused both Destane and Mozenrath to look toward him.

"Aladdin?" Mozenrath asked, unsure of what to make of the situation now. Aladdin had helped him before, albeit it not entirely of his own free will, but things had never been like this. Not even with Khartoum.

"Aladdin?" Destane echoed, then brought his full attention to the other boy. The memory was vague, but he could remember this boy. Mozenrath had brought him home to collar the thirdak. He'd recognized potential in him than, and he could still see it now.

"Just let him go," Aladdin said boldly, motioning to Mozenrath. "You have your stupid gauntlet. He's powerless now! And killing him won't prove anything!"

"It would prove satisfactory," Destane mused.

"Then," Aladdin said, closing the distance between them as he placed himself in front of Mozenrath, "you'll have to go through me."

"Fool!" Mozenrath hissed into his ear.

"You would put your life on the line for one who has been your enemy and nothing more?" Destane inquired.

"I would," Aladdin said sternly.

"Then, my young hero, I've a proposition for you."

"Go on."

Destane held the gauntlet out to Aladdin. "Be my apprentice, and he lives."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then it's really rather simple," Destane said with a cruel chuckle. "You both die, here and now."

Had Genie not been preoccupied with Mozenrath's mamluks, perhaps there may have been some other way out of this, but that was hardly the case. Aladdin truly only had two options at this point, and the choice he made was by far one of the hardest he had ever made in his life.

He took the gauntlet.