All characters belong to Disney (besides random bg characters). Places also belong to Disney.
(Sorry about a somewhat boring beginning. This is more of an introductory and leading up to chapter.)
Prologue
"Ah, the Shoes of Milouwen... Yes..."
The shopkeeper was a middle-aged woman with a rough voice and a missing front tooth. Her clothing was simple, and she wore a purse with an image of a scorpion. The shop was dusty and little visited. Rolls of fabric rested in the corners and any other space available; however, her specialty was rare and magical items.
Pulling a box from the cabinet, she blew off a layer of dust before handing it to the man who had asked about it.
The young man opened the box to reveal two red jewels secured within, each about an inch and a half long and cut to resemble shoes. He picked one up, and had a barely noticeable smile on his face as held it to the light. Each face of the multi-faceted jewel shown as it caught the light, no scratch marring the surfaces. "I thought they would be bigger," he commented without looking away.
The shopkeeper shook a finger at him. "The size is not important! They are very powerful. - And very expensive!" She plucked the jewel from his fingers and took the box back, hugging it protectively against her chest.
"Oh, I'm sure they are," he said, smirking at the hunched shopkeeper. A pouch of money was pulled from an inner pocket of his cape and tossed to her.
She caught it with one hand and tested the weight with her palm. Despite the size of the bag, she said, "This is not enough. The Shoes are worth much more than this."
The young man frowned, eyeing the woman for a moment before offering her a second bag of money.
"This is enough for the box and one Shoe. I keep the other one."
The man's face contorted in anger. He let out a growl of frustration and shot a bluish flame of magic from his gloved hand. It singed the wall over the surprised shopkeeper's shoulder. "Enough of this! You will give me the Shoes of Milouwen!"
Iago created a rectangle shape with his wings. Closing one eye, he looked through the rectangle and toward a certain marketplace stand.
Behind him, Abu chattered loudly, shaking his fists at the parrot.
"What? It's a delicate operation," Iago said. "You had your chance, monkey, and you blew it!"
Abu crossed his arms and pouted. After a moment, he picked up one of the bananas he had opted to steal instead.
The two sat on a rooftop opposite the small jewelry stand Iago was spying on. The sounds of the marketplace could be heard from below: merchants advertising their goods, the murmur of conversation, the jingle of coins being exchanged. Somewhere in the distance, an angry salesperson could be heard yelling, "You will be sorry you didn't pay full price!"
Iago saw someone approach the jewelry stand, and, knowing this was his opportunity, took flight.
"It's for my wife," the customer said, pointing to one of the bracelets lying on the counter.
The vender smiled and nodded, making up some story about the item. He had his back to some of the more costly jewels.
Slowly, Iago reached a foot out to grab an expensive-looking gold necklace, being careful not to make any sound. It was at that moment the tall, blue-clad figure rushed past. Iago let out a yell as he was knocked to the ground. When he looked up, he saw the man vanish with a motion of his hand.
Abu jumped down to where Iago was still laying. Thankfully, the vender didn't notice the attempted theft.
"Tell me I'm not going crazy. You saw Mozenrath running through the marketplace carrying a spooky-looking box, didn't you?" Iago asked.
Abu nodded and pointed toward the direction the young man was running, saying, "Uh-huh, uh-huh."
Iago paced in front of Abu. "What are we gonna do? Whatever's in that box is sure to be trouble."
"Aladdin," Abu said with a nod and started to run off.
"Hold it, Monkey," Iago said and grabbed Abu's tail. "If we tell Al, we'll get dragged into going to that creepy citadel again." He leaned in close, putting a wing over Abu's shoulder. "But, if we don't say anything, we can stay here with the jewels."
Abu glared at Iago, and chattered at him.
"Okay, okay. You're right. If Mozenrath's latest plan actually works and he takes over Agrabah, there might not be any jewels to steal. - But I don't see what banana parfaits have to do with anything."
Despite the walls within the Land of the Black Sand's citadel being light blue, inadequate lighting and few windows created a dim atmosphere. Even during a sunny day such as this, Mozenrath needed to rely on lit torches on the walls of the room for light.
The young sorcerer held up an unrolled scroll with one hand. There was an illustration of the jeweled shoes of Milouwen painted on the scroll, along with some writing. Mozenrath had one of the small shoes in his other hand. "This is it!" Mozenrath exclaimed. "That old hag had the real thing."
"Shoes work?" Xerxes asked, floating closer to get a look at the jewel in Mozenrath's hand.
"We'll find out tomorrow, Xerxes," Mozenrath said and stroked the eel. His smirk darkened as he added, "And so will our victims."
Beside him, the eel repeated, "Victims find out," and laughed.
"It won't be long now... The Seven deserts will be mi-" A loud banging came from beyond the locked door and Mozenrath grimaced at the noise. The muffled voices of the undead could be heard from the other side. "What is with their incessant moaning?! Can't they tell I'm busy?!" he demanded. "Xerxes! Find out what they want!"
As Mozenrath resumed his planning, Xerxes flew over to the door. With a struggle, he pushed the crossbar to the side, and then flew over to pull the door open with his tail. He looked out into the hallway. "Mamluks loud. Mozenrath busy! What want?" Xerxes glared at them, waiting.
The mamluks went silent. After a few seconds, one of them pointed up.
Above the group of mamluks was Aladdin and his friends on Carpet.
"Aladdin!" Xerxes said.
Mozenrath's eyes widened and he swung around to look. Aladdin was swooping into the room even as Xerxes and the mamluks tried to re-close the door. "You fools! You led him right to me!" Some of the mamluks started sneaking away, while others covered their heads with their arms and made pleading noises. When Mozenrath blasted at them, they cleared the doorway.
"Okay..." Mozenrath said, taking a deep breath. Putting on a smile, he looked at Aladdin. "No problem. I was going to surprise you tomorrow morning, Aladdin, but since you're here now, I'll just push up my plans."
"What did you take from the marketplace, Mozenrath?" Aladdin demanded and glared at him.
Mozenrath widened his eyes in fake surprise. "Oh, you mean these?" he asked and opened his right hand to reveal the Shoes. "It was only a little shoe shopping." The false pleasantness left his voice as he added, "You really should try it sometime."
Iago leaned over Carpet for a better look. "I see jewels."
Abu moved to look over Aladdin's shoulder, making a sound of awe.
"Ruby slippers?!" Genie asked.
"Genie, wait-" Genie disappeared in a puff of smoke.
He reappeared next to Mozenrath. "Remember, you have to put them on to be able to use them," he said and, with a zap from his finger, poofed Mozenrath into a dress and a wig of braided pigtails. "You'll be back in Kansas with three clicks of your heels," he said cheerfully.
Mozenrath ripped off the disguise. "Bad move, genie," he said and wagged a finger at him.
"Bad move," Xerxes repeated with a dark smile, flying around Mozenrath to land on his shoulder.
The sorcerer powered up his gauntlet, letting his magic envelope the jewels in that hand. They started glowing bright red, and before Genie could get away, a red beam shot out from the jewels and surrounded him.
"Genie!" Aladdin yelled, jumping off Carpet and running toward his friend. Just as he reached him, the red light retreated and re-entered the Shoes. However, the Shoes kept an inner glow instead of returning to normal. Aladdin looked at Genie in confusion. "Nothing happened?"
Genie looked himself over and didn't see anything unusual. "I'm okay!" he announced with a thumbs up. He turned around, pushing up his arms as though rolling up sleeves. "Now, to take care of you, Evil Wizard Boy!" Holding his hands out in front of him, Genie got ready to zap Mozenrath.
Mozenrath started to back up. However, only a little spark came from the genie's fingers, then nothing. Mozenrath smirked.
"Huh? Why isn't it working?" Genie whined, looking at his fingers.
"It's the power of the Shoes of Milouwen," Mozenrath said.
"...Uh-oh." Genie backed away. "Al, run!" he picked up Aladdin and turned, running toward the exit.
"Genie, what is it?" Aladdin asked. Carpet followed, Iago and Abu still riding on him.
Red magic surrounded the door in front of them, causing it to shut and the lock to slide back into place.
"Nowhere to run, Aladdin," Mozenrath said, and shot toward him.
Aladdin and Genie dove behind a large chest, but the shot knocked Abu off carpet. The magic transformed into a metal shackle, locking him in place where he'd hit the wall.
"Abu!" Aladdin said. He was instantly at Abu's side trying to pry the cuff off, but it wouldn't budge. Genie pulled Aladdin away before a blast could hit him. "Genie, do something!"
"I can't!" Genie moaned in distress. "It's those jewels, Al. They took my magic!" He pointed toward the jewels in Mozenrath's hand. "With those, he can change powers like pairs of shoes."
"Oh, I'm so glad you explained why they're shaped like shoes. That was going to bug me the whole time we're running for our lives," Iago said.
Aladdin gave Genie a worried expression.
"You're just the start! I will render my magical foes powerless, and then use their own powers against them!" the sorcerer said and laughed.
"This is bad," Iago said. "This is very bad." Iago jumped up and grabbed the collar of Aladdin's vest, yelling, "He's going to kill us!"
Aladdin watched as Mozenrath shot toward the chest they were hiding behind, surrounding it in red light and lifting it into the air. "It's the Shoes!" Aladdin said as they ran for more cover.
"What gave you that idea, genius?" Iago said with a roll of his eyes.
"Without them, he can't use Genie's magic!" They hid behind a table. "Iago, do you think you can get them away from him?"
"Are you crazy?!" he squawked.
"So you don't want those nice rubies?" Genie said with a smug grin. "Those ones probably worth lots of money?"
Iago opened his beak. He glanced toward Mozenrath, then Genie, then at the jeweled shoes, then back at Genie. He pulled at the feathers covering his head, knowing he would regret this. "Okay fine. But you owe me, Blue Boy."
Mozenrath shot toward them again, the beam turning into a large jackal.
Globes and books scattered across the floor as the animal overturned their makeshift barricade. Aladdin jumped on Carpet, but the jackal cornered Genie before he could get away. "Don't worry, Genie!" Aladdin called.
"I'll try not to," Genie said nervously, staring into the eyes of the growling jackal.
Mozenrath fired toward Aladdin and Carpet, the red beam of light turning into a serpent-like dragon. His laughter echoed throughout the room as the dragon gave chase.
Iago snuck out from behind one of the globes that had been knocked from the table, and started flying toward the sorcerer now that he was distracted. "The things I do for material wealth," he said to himself.
Trying to outrun the dragon, Carpet circled higher as Mozenrath watched from below. With a quick turn, Carpet managed to get the dragon to tie himself in a knot.
"Hold still!" Mozenrath said in frustration, firing a continuous stream of light toward them now that his dragon was out of commission.
Xerxes glared up at Aladdin from Mozenrath's shoulder, but then saw something out of the corner of his eye. "Master tricked!"
Mozenrath lost concentration on the beam and Iago snatched the jewels from his hand before he knew what was happening.
Carpet was finally able to stop evading attacks and moved a tassel as though wiping sweat from his brow.
Iago hovered in the air above Mozenrath. "I get to keep these, right?" Iago asked Aladdin. Mozenrath's gauntlet lit up with its usual bluish glow. "Never mind! Take them!" Iago yelled and tossed the Shoes toward Carpet.
Standing on top of Carpet, Aladdin caught them easily. A glance toward Genie told him his friend was still running from the jackal. "Genie, I got them! Now what?"
Mozenrath shot a blue flame at Aladdin, knocking him off Carpet, and inadvertently making him let go of the Shoes. Ignoring the Shoes, Carpet dived after Aladdin, catching him before he could hit the floor.
"The jewels!" Iago yelled.
"My Shoes!" Mozenrath knocked Iago out of the way during the race for the falling Shoes. Before he could reach them, they hit the floor and shattered. "No!" he yelled.
The jackal vanished with a spark, as well as the dragon, and the cuff restraining Abu. Genie cheered about getting his magic back, and transformed into several things to celebrate.
Mozenrath fell to his knees, pushing his hands into the jewel dust around him, but finding nothing to salvage.
"Heh. That was almost too easy, Mozenrath," Aladdin said with a smirk, his hands on his hips. "C'mon, guys, let's go." Aladdin crouched into a better position as carpet swooped around the room to gather up Abu and Iago.
"You will pay for this, Aladdin!" Mozenrath shouted as the group made their exit. "You will pay!"
Xerxes flew up to the high window Aladdin had just flown through. "Hero will pay!" Xerxes yelled after him.
Mozenrath lifted a handful of the red dust, staring at it in his opened palm. He watched as it began to fall between his fingers. "It's not fair," he said sadly. He ground his teeth. His fist closed tightly around the dust in his hand, and he flung it away in anger. "It's not fair! Aladdin always has things so easy! It should be me!"
Mozenrath's expression changed suddenly, as though he had just noticed something. His voice suddenly quiet, he said, "Xerxes... I..." The room started to tilt.
Xerxes turned from the window in time to see Mozenrath collapse onto the floor. Xerxes sped to his side, but he seemed to be unconscious. "Master?!" Xerxes flew around to butt against his arm. "Master okay?!" Xerxes continued to flit back and forth, not sure what to do.
/Author's Note/
Figured I'd try getting this good enough to put up by Christmas. For those who celebrate (or celebrate other holidays), did you have a good holiday?
The rest of the fic will probably have a bit of a different feel to it. Hopefully the beginning here isn't boring enough to turn away potential readers (or, on the other hand, get hopes up for a story which won't have this much physical action in every chapter). I was hoping to come up with a better title than 'Shoes' but haven't yet. Maybe I'll think of something more fitting later.
Anyone have any ideas about what might happen next (what's happened to Mozenrath)? Any thoughts would be welcome - I'd like to know what possibilities people can come up with, even vague, undefined ones.