Aladdin
With commentary by Bakura and Marik
Once upon a time there lived a widow who had a son named Ryou. They were very poor and lived from hand to mouth, though Ryou did what he could to earn some pennies, by picking bananas in faraway places. One day, as he was looking for wild figs in a grove some way from the town, Ryou met a mysterious stranger. This man had long silver hair, and was smartly dressed. He asked Ryou an unusual question:
"Come here, boy," he ordered. "How would you like to earn a silver penny?"
"A silver penny!" exclaimed Ryou. "Sir, I'd do nearly anything for that kind of payment."
"I'm not going to ask you to do much. Just go down through that hole. I'm much too big to squeeze through myself. If you do as I ask, you'll have your reward." Slim and agile as he was, the boy easily went down. His feet touched stone and he carefully made his way down some steps . . . and found himself in a large chamber. It seemed to sparkle, though dimly lit by the flickering light of an old oil lamp. When Ryou's eyes became used to the gloom, he saw a wonderful sight: trees dripping with glittering jewels, pots of gold and caskets full of priceless gems. Thousands of precious objects lay scattered about, including a golden eyeball, a golden set of scales, a golden key, a golden rod, a golden pyramid, a golden necklace and a large golden ring, all of which were covered in layers of dust.
"Well, that was subtle. Any guess as to who I'm going to be?" Bakura muttered.
"What? I don't get it." Marik complained.
It was a treasure trove! Unable to believe his eyes, Ryou was standing dazed when he heard a shout behind him. "The golden eye! Bring me the eye!" Surprised and suspicious, for why should the stranger, out of all such a treasure want only the smallest item, Ryou wondered. Perhaps he was a wizard. He decided to be on his guard. Picking up the eyeball, he retraced his steps up to the entrance.
"Give me the eye," urged the wizard impatiently. "Hand it over," he began to shout, thrusting out his arm to grab it, but Ryou cautiously drew back. "Let me out first . . ." "Too bad for you," snapped the stranger, walking off. A terrified Ryou was left in pitch darkness, wondering what the wizard would do next. In front of him, he noticed a strange golden light. It was the seven golden items, lying on the ground. The brightest of all was the large golden ring, which shone through the dirt encrusted on it. Picking it up, Ryou noticed there was a cord looped around the top. He placed it around his neck.
Suddenly the room was flooded with a bright light and a spirit with bright silver hair appeared in front of the boy.
"At your command, sire," said the spirit.
"Oh, like I would ever say that to him!" Bakura complained.
"Hah! You, at Ryou's command! That isn't something you see every day!" Marik laughed.
"I don't know what you're getting so high and mighty about, Mr lovesick mermaid!" Bakura snapped back at him.
Now astounded, Ryou could only stammer:
"I want to go home!" In a flash he was back in his own home, though the door was tightly shut.
"How did you get in?" called his mother from the kitchen stove, the minute she set eyes on him. Excitedly, her son told her of his adventures.
"Where's the silver coin?" his mother asked. Ryou clapped a hand to his brow. For all he had brought home was the dirty golden ring.
"Oh, mother! I'm so sorry. This is all I've got."
"Well, let's see if we can clean it. It's so dirty . . ." and the widow began to rub the ring. Suddenly out shot the spirit, in a cloud of smoke.
"You've set me free, after centuries! I was a prisoner in the ring, waiting to be freed by someone rubbing it. Now, I'm your obedient servant. Tell me your wishes." And the spirit bowed respectfully, awaiting Ryou's orders.
"Hah! I am enjoying this story greatly!" Marik laughed loudly.
"Shut up or I'll shut you up, idiot!" Bakura growled, reaching for something to throw at Marik.
The boy and his mother gaped wordlessly at this incredible apparition, then the spirit said with a hint of impatience in his voice,
"I'm here at your command. Tell me what you want. Anything you like!" Ryou gulped, then said: "Bring us . . . bring . . ." His mother not having yet begun to cook the dinner, went on to say: ". . . a lovely big meal." From that day on, the widow and her son had everything they could wish for: food, clothes and a fine home, for the spirit of the ring granted them everything they asked him. Ryou grew into a tall handsome young man and his mother felt that he ought to find himself a wife, sooner or later.
One day, as he left the market, Ryou happened to see the Sultan's daughter Marik in her sedan chair being carried through the streets.
"What! I am NOT a girl! This story is wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, WRONG!" Marik ranted angrily.
"Finally, something we can agree on." Bakura muttered.
He only caught a fleeting glimpse of the princess, but it was enough for him to want to marry her. Ryou told his mother and she quickly said: "I'll ask the Sultan for his daughter's hand. He'll never be able to refuse. Wait and see!" And indeed, the Sultan was easily persuaded by a casket full of big diamonds to admit the widow to the palace. However, when he learned why she had come, he told the widow that her son must bring proof of his power and riches. This was mostly the Chamberlain Seto Kaiba's idea, for he himself was eager to marry the beautiful violet-eyed Sultan's daughter.
"AARGH! WORSE! That's worse! So very, very worse!" Marik screamed, while Bakura laughed.
"If Ryou wants to marry Marik,' said the Sultan, "he must send me forty slaves tomorrow. Every slave must bring a box of precious stones. And forty Arab warriors must escort the treasure." Ryou's mother went sadly home. The spirit of the magic ring had already worked wonders, but nothing like this. Ryou however, when he heard the news, was not at all dismayed. He picked up the ring, rubbed it harder than ever and told the spirit what he required. The spirit simply clapped his hands three times. Forty slaves magically appeared, carrying the gemstones, together with their escort of forty Arab warriors.
When he saw all this the next day, the Sultan was taken aback. He never imagined such wealth could exist. Just as he was about to accept Ryou as his daughter's bridegroom, the envious Chamberlain broke in with a question.
"Where will they live?" he asked. The Sultan pondered for a moment, then allowing greed to get the better of him, he told Ryou to build a great, splendid palace for Marik. Ryou went straight home and, in what was once a wilderness, the spirit built him a palace. The last obstacle had been overcome. The wedding took place with great celebrations and the Sultan was especially happy at finding such a rich and powerful son-in-law. News of Ryou's sudden fortune and wealth spread like wildfire, until one day, a strange merchant stopped beneath the palace window.
"Old rings for new," he called to the princess, standing on the balcony. Now, Ryou had always kept his secret to himself. Only his mother knew it and she had never told a soul. Marik, alas, had been kept in the dark. And so, now, wanting to give Ryou a surprise as well as make a good bargain, she fetched the old ring she had seen Ryou tuck away, and gave it to the merchant in exchange for a new one. The merchant quickly began to rub it . . . and the spirit was now at the service of the wizard who had got his magic ring back. In a second he whisked away all Ryou's possessions and magically sent the palace and the princess to an unknown land. Ryou and the Sultan were at their wits' end. Nobody knew what had happened. Only Ryou knew it had something to do with the magic ring. But as he wept over the lost spirit of the ring, he remembered something the spirit had once said. He had given Ryou a smaller ring to wear on his finger, explaining that it contained a lesser spirit. All Ryou had to do to summon it was to twist the ring three times on his finger.
Ryou grabbed the ring, and twisted it round and round.
"Take me to the place where the wizard has hidden my wife," he ordered the spirit, who had tall, pointy hair, and wore a long, dark cloak. In a flash, he found himself inside his own palace, and peeping from behind a curtain, he saw the wizard and the princess, now his servant.
"Psst! Psst!" hissed Ryou.
"Ryou! It's you . . .!"
"Ssh. Don't let him hear you. Take this powder and put it into his tea. Trust me." The powder quickly took effect and the wizard fell into a deep sleep. Ryou hunted for the ring high and low, but it was nowhere to be seen. But it had to be there. How, otherwise, had the wizard moved the palace? As Ryou gazed at his sleeping enemy, he thought of peering underneath the pillow.
"The ring! At last," sighed Ryou, hastily rubbing it. "Welcome back, Master!" exclaimed the spirit. "Why did you leave me at another's service for so long?"
"Welcome," replied Ryou. "I'm glad to see you again. I've certainly missed you! It's just as well I have you by me again."
"At your command," smiled the spirit. "First, put this wicked wizard in chains and take him far away where he'll never be found again." The spirit grinned with pleasure, nodded his head, and the wizard vanished. Marik clutched Ryou in fear:
"Wuss." Bakura commented. Marik aimed a punch at his arm, but Bakura caught his hand before the punch could land.
"What's going on? Who is that spirit?" She asked.
"Don't worry, everything is all right," Ryou reassured her, as he told his wife the whole story of how he had met the wizard and found the magic ring that had enabled him to marry her. Everything went back to normal and the happy pair hugged each other tenderly.
"Can we return to our own kingdom?" the princess asked timidly, thinking of her father, so far away. Ryou glanced at her with a smile.
"The magic that brought you here will take you back, but with me at your side, forever." The Sultan was almost ill with worry. His daughter had disappeared along with the palace, and then his son- in-law had vanished too. Nobody knew where they were, not even the wise men hastily called to the palace to divine what had happened. The jealous Chamberlain kept on repeating:
"I told you Ryou's fortune couldn't last." Everyone had lost all hope of ever seeing the missing pair again, when far away, Ryou rubbed the magic ring and said to the spirit,
"Take my wife, myself and the palace back to our own land, as fast as you can."
"In a flash, Sire," replied the spirit. At the snap of a finger, the palace rose into the air and sped over the Sultan's kingdom, above the heads of his astonished subjects. It gently floated down to earth and landed on its old site. Ryou and Marik rushed to embrace the Sultan. To this very day, in that distant country, you can still admire the traces of an ancient palace which folk call the palace that came from the skies.
"I wish I really had that much power." Bakura sighed miserably.
"All in good time, Fluffy." Marik reassured him.
"Stop calling me that!" Bakura yelled in response.