Aladdin stood by himself in a corner of one of the palace's hallways, sighing in frustration over the animosity which had suddenly erupted between him and Jasmine. He found himself wondering how he could have been so careless with the sensitivities of his fiancée. Thinking it over, Aladdin considered that many of his comments had been sloppy. He hadn't meant to be rude, and he wished that he could go back in time and stop himself from saying some of the things he had said.

The hall seemed much larger all of a sudden—larger and more lonely. As Aladdin leaned against a marble wall contemplating his predicament, he couldn't help feeling smaller and smaller in the room, wishing that he could just disappear into thin air. When he knew that something was missing, it felt all the more right to vanish into nothingness.


"And that's what I'll do!" Genie was loudly proclaiming in the throne room to Carpet, Abu and Iago. The four friends were gathered together in the middle of the floor and were engaged in concerted discussion. Genie was speaking dramatically to the rest of the group.

"A puppet show is just the thing to get those kids back together!" Genie was saying. "I'll give Al and Jas a puppet theater show all about two people in love! By the time the show's over, those kids will be inspired to fall head over heels in love all over again!"

To demonstrate, Genie magically conjured up a little puppet theater and two hand puppets, one male and one female. He manipulated the two puppets inside the little theater and made them look like they were embracing each other romantically.

"See how the two puppets love each other?" Genie chuckled as he continued to play with the hand puppets.

Abu stared at the puppet show and looked extremely confused. "Eek eek!" the little monkey squeaked in bewilderment. Carpet too looked puzzled, shrugging his shoulders in response to Genie's display.

"That is the stupidest idea ever!" Iago raged. "Are you out of your mind or something? You won't get them back together with that! You'll probably scare them away!"

Genie looked surprised. "Well, maybe I just need to add a few toadstools with smiley faces on them to give the show more atmosphere," he suggested.

Iago was getting madder than ever. Grinding his teeth in exasperation, the parrot seethed with fury as he breathed heavily through his beak.

"I've never heard of anything so tasteless in all my life!" he yelled. "Puppets! Toadstools! You make me sick! That load of garbage will kill a romantic date like a slimy slug ruining a rose garden!"

"Well, excuuuuuse me for trying to add a little wholesome entertainment to our lives," Genie sniffed disdainfully. "How do you want to get Al and Jas back together?"

"Easy," Iago said. "We've gotta tell them how they see each other. Give 'em the straight story. Al needs to understand what the princess was thinking when he said what he said, and the princess needs to know what Al was thinking when she reacted the way she did. We've gotta make 'em put themselves in each other's shoes, and make 'em stop talking past each other. I mean, it's so obvious! You don't need to be a relationship counselor to figure it out!"

Genie's face brightened. "Hey, you've got it!" he enthused. "We can put Al and Jas in each other's shoes! Good thinking, bird man!"

"Naturally," Iago said as he puffed himself up with pride. "It's a gift."

"You know, you really have a lot more empathy than everyone gives you credit for," Genie said with a grin.

"Hey, don't spread it around," Iago grumbled. "I don't want my reputation to be ruined!"

"Okay, boys!" Genie said to the whole group. "We know what we have to do now. We need to talk to both Al and Jas and get them to remember how much they really understand how the other thinks and feels."

"Yeah!" Abu chattered enthusiastically as Carpet nodded in agreement.

"Alright, let's have our assignments," Genie continued. "Abu and Carpet will join me in a chat with Al, and Iago will go talk to Jasmine."

Iago looked puzzled. "Huh?" he said. "How come I'm talking to Jasmine all by myself?"

"Because Jasmine was the one who got especially angry," Genie pointed out. "She probably won't want to talk to more than one person at a time right now. And you've spent enough time hanging out with Jas that it should be easy for you."

Iago shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, if you insist," he said. "I'll be sure to pour on some of the good ol' parrot charm."

"That's the spirit!" Genie declared. "We're gonna get those kids back together, and we're gonna do it before Mechanicles threatens Agrabah again!"

"Yeah, and if all else fails, we can just bribe them with some big money to get them back together," Iago chimed in. "Money always solves everything."

Genie, Abu and Carpet glared at Iago in annoyance, forcing the parrot to backtrack on his statement.

"Okay, okay, fine," Iago relented. "We'll stick with the pop-psychology plan."

"Great, now let's get started!" Genie said. "You go see Jasmine, and the rest of us will go find Al in the hallways."

Genie led Abu and Carpet down the hall while Iago headed for Jasmine's bedchamber.


Jasmine sat on the plush sofa in her bedroom with her head turned downward and her eyes barely open. Lost in thought, she shook her head irritably, and her absent expression betrayed a touch of sadness along with the anger. The more she dwelled upon it, the more her feelings clarified themselves. She wasn't angry at Aladdin anymore. No—she was angry at herself. She was angry that she had let this whole stupid situation escalate out of control.

And for what? For her own thoughtless pride. She knew Aladdin hadn't meant to insult her. He had made a simple mistake, a few verbal slip-ups. Anyone could have made the same mistake Aladdin had. And yet she had chosen to take it personally, to act as if it was an affront to her as a person. She had just been too proud to back down when she should have.

I was a fool, Jasmine thought to herself. I let my own hubris control me. Now I've endangered my relationship with the person I truly love.

She clenched her teeth in frustration and pain, mentally beating herself up for how she had acted. Jasmine wished so hard that she hadn't lost her temper, and wished that she hadn't lashed out at Aladdin over such a little thing. She wished she could go back and undo it all.

If anything happens to my relationship with Aladdin, I'll never forgive myself, she thought, her mind reeling at the notion of severing her bond with her precious fiancé.

The room no longer seemed altogether comfortable. Her own bedchamber felt more like a lonely deserted island, stranding her in a sea of darkness, leaving her deprived of her source of unfettered happiness. It was a distasteful and maddening isolation.

But the sense of aloneness was soon broken, for a familiar red-feathered form abruptly entered her quarters.

Iago flew into the room, the door having been partly open, and perched on a table near the sofa where Jasmine was sitting.

"Hey, princess," he squawked. "You don't look so good all by your lonesome. Why don't you come out and rejoin the gang? I'll bet there's a certain lover boy who'd appreciate it."

"Oh, Iago," Jasmine sighed. "I'm so embarrassed. I let my pride get the best of me. I had to go and lose my temper and ruin a perfectly good moment with Aladdin."

In a fit of disgruntlement, Jasmine dug her fingers into her hair and bowed her head down in exasperation. "I can't believe I was so stupid!" she blurted out, clawing her fingers through her hair.

Iago moved closer to her. "Jas, you ain't stupid," he said. "You got emotional because you care so much, that's all. Anyone can lose their temper. Just look at me! I get mad about twenty times a day or more! And it gets me in trouble all the time."

Iago flew into the air and perched on Jasmine's left shoulder. "And let's face it, Jas," he continued. "You get angry for reasons that are much better than mine. I get mad because I'm not rich enough, or because someone says something I don't like, or because I trip and fall, or any number of selfish things like that. At least your motives for getting mad are better. You get mad because of how much you care about people."

Jasmine managed a small smile for the parrot. "And I care about you, too, Iago," she said gently. "You're a much better friend than you think. The fact that you're trying to make me feel better makes me feel really good inside. Honest, it really does."

Looking somewhat bashful, Iago tilted his head to one side. "Well, you helped me a lot with that," he said. "When you helped me to get rid of my fear of Jafar, and helped me to let go of my past as his lackey, it made my life a whole lot better. Thanks, Jasmine."

The princess's smile grew wider as she affectionately ruffled Iago's feathers. "Oh there's no need to thank me," she said. "I was so happy when you overcame your fear and guilt. It solidified your place as one of my best friends."

Jasmine and Iago both exchanged genuinely happy smiles. Then, slowly, Jasmine's expression grew downcast again.

"I wish I could help myself the way I helped you, Iago," Jasmine said sullenly. "I got myself in this mess, and I still feel a little too embarrassed to face Aladdin."

"I'll bet it's the same with Al," Iago pointed out. "Just imagine what he's gotta be thinking! He made a whole bunch of gaffes after he made a big mistake, and now he must be mortified! Trust me, princess, you ain't alone."

Jasmine frowned and nodded in response. The more she thought about it, the less disconcerted she gradually felt. Maybe she should forget her frustration and address the matter head on.


Aladdin continued to feel regret over the way he had behaved with Jasmine. He knew he shouldn't have tried to hide his injury from her in the first place. That was his biggest error. And it had all gone downhill from there.

Just then, Genie, Carpet and Abu approached him in the hall. Aladdin gazed at his friends, still looking melancholy.

"Hey, guys," he said glumly. "Well, you got to watch me make a fool of myself. What should I do next to entertain you?"

"Al, stop being so hard on yourself," Genie urged. "So you made a mistake. Big deal. It's not serious. Jasmine won't be mad at you for long."

"I shouldn't have tried to hide the fact that I hurt myself in the battle!" Aladdin lamented with a hint of anger in his tone. "What in the world was I thinking?! And then I made one gaffe after another, all perfectly designed to offend Jasmine!"

Aladdin threw up his hands and growled in frustration. "I'm such an idiot!" he raged. "I should know better by now! I don't know how I'm going to face Jasmine now."

"Al," Genie said gently, "you might want to consider that Jasmine might feel bad about this whole thing, too. She probably feels bad about losing her temper with you."

"But it was my fault!" Aladdin protested. "I'm the one who started all this with my stupid decision. It's no wonder she got angry at me!"

"Anyone can make a mistake, buddy," Genie soothed. "Actually, I blame myself. I should have tried to warn you that hiding your injury from Jasmine might not be a good idea. Instead, I just didn't say anything."

"You're not to blame, Genie," Aladdin told his friend. "It's my responsibility, and I have to make it up to Jasmine. It's just that…I don't know how to break the ice."

"Just be the great guy you are," Genie advised. "She knows you; she'll accept your apology. Besides, we're your friends, and we'll be there to give you some moral support."

"Uh huh!" said Abu as he crawled up onto Aladdin's shoulders. Carpet twitched in the air and nodded.

Aladdin gave a slightly deep breath. "Maybe you're right," he assented. "Maybe I should just get it over with and start patching things up."

He looked at his friends and managed to muster a smile. "Thanks, guys," he said.


In his hideout deep in the desert, Mechanicles was studying a map of the surrounding area and was focused on the outline of Agrabah drawn out on the map.

"That insolent Aladdin won't stop me this time," he muttered to himself. "I'm going to change tactics in my next attack on Agrabah."

Mechanicles continued to study the map. "In order to defeat Aladdin, I need a way to avoid having to deal with that meddlesome genie of his," he mused. "With the genie out of the way, Aladdin's team will be much weaker, and then I will have the advantage in battle."

The mad Greek inventor wrote some notes on a scroll next to him. "And I know exactly what to do," he continued. "This time, I am going to divide my forces. When my ant robots attack the city, half of them will attack Agrabah from the north end, and the other half will attack from the south end. That way, Aladdin will be forced to divide his own team to fight both groups of robots on both ends of the city.

"And whichever side of the city the genie ends up on, I will go to the opposite side. While the genie is busy fighting my robots on one side of Agrabah, I will be leading the other group of robots on the opposite end of the city. Then I will have no trouble crushing all opposition in my path, including Aladdin and his fellow meddlers! By the time the genie is finished vanquishing the other group of robots on the other side of Agrabah, it will be too late for him to help his friends, because I will already have crushed them, along with most of the city!"

Mechanicles pinpointed the north and south ends of Agrabah on the map and then got up to prepare his ant robots for a new assault. "I will conquer Agrabah yet," he vowed. "And then nothing in the entire desert will be able to stand against me!"


Jasmine was beginning to pull herself together. She couldn't stand being at odds with her fiancé anymore, and she was determined to patch things up with Aladdin before their conflict festered any further.

"I think I'm ready to go back to Aladdin," she told Iago. "I don't want this rift between us to grow any worse. This is going to end now."

"Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" Iago said excitedly. "I knew you wouldn't want to go on like this, princess. It just isn't you."

"You're a great friend, Iago," Jasmine said as she gently stroked his feathers. "I feel whole lot better knowing that you're supporting me. It means a lot."

"Aw, it's nothing," Iago shrugged. "You'd do the same for me, no matter how obnoxious I am."

"And you can bet that I always will," Jasmine grinned. "Now let's go find Aladdin."

With Iago still perched on her shoulder, Jasmine strode out of her bedroom and headed down one of the palace corridors.

"I hope I can put on a bold face," Jasmine said warily as she walked down the hallway. "What really embarrasses me is the fact that Aladdin had said that I overreact to things…and then I went and proved him right! I completely overreacted to his mistake and made myself look foolish."

"Jas, Jas, don't think about that," Iago urged. "Focus on getting back together with the kid. I told you before, Al feels just as embarrassed about this as you do. He's gonna welcome you back like you wouldn't believe."

"Thank you, Iago," Jasmine replied softly. She continued marching steadily down the corridor.


Elsewhere in the palace, Aladdin was still gathered with Genie, Abu and Carpet. Aladdin felt a lot better after talking with his friends, and he now believed that he was ready to fix things. He prepared to leave the corridor where the four friends had convened.

"Okay, it's time to make things right," Aladdin told the others. "I'm not going to let this silly fight hurt my relationship with Jasmine. I'm going to apologize for what I did and said, and I'm never going to let it happen again."

"Good thinking, Al," Genie said. "I know you'll be glad you made this decision."

"Yeah, you're right," Aladdin nodded. "I need to think about protecting my future marriage to Jasmine. It's the most precious thing in the world to me and I— "

Then Aladdin suddenly stopped in mid-sentence. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed someone standing behind him. He turned around, and there was Jasmine standing in the corridor, with Iago perched on her shoulder.

Aladdin was startled for a moment, but then he relaxed when he saw the warm, inviting expression on Jasmine's face, and the kindly look in her pretty eyes. He rushed over to her and clasped his hands to hers.

"Jasmine, I'm so sorry," he said. "I don't know what I was thinking. I never should have tried to hide something from you, and I shouldn't have offended you like that. If there's anything I can do to make it up to you—"

Aladdin was interrupted by Jasmine placing her hand on his cheek and gently stroking it up and down. As she touched his cheek, there was nothing but love and kindness written on Jasmine's face.

"Please don't blame yourself, Aladdin," she said earnestly. "I wanted to apologize for the way I acted. I lost control of myself because of my stupid pride. The more I thought about it, the more I couldn't bear the thought of my mistakes creating a rift between us."

"Jasmine, I don't blame you for this at all," Aladdin told her softly. "I just want to put an end to this silly fight. I just…I…I just want you back."

Jasmine's bright face further illuminated with genuine pleasure, and she drew Aladdin close to her in a tight embrace before moving her head upward to touch her lips with his.

Nearby, their four friends were watching the scene with immense relief and satisfaction. Iago, who had flown off of Jasmine's shoulder and rejoined the others, was standing next to Genie while Abu and Carpet hung about close at hand.

"Hey, blue boy," whispered Iago. "Looks like we got those kids together again even faster than normal."

"You got that right, bird man," Genie replied with a grin. "It turns out all we needed to do was give them a little push. They hardly needed our help at all. They've always loved each other, and that's never gonna change. I can tell."

"Yeah, they were just dying to reunite with each other," Iago agreed with genuine amazement. "It's stunning how ready they were to do that. And so soon, too."

When Aladdin and Jasmine had released each other from their kiss, they were still holding each other lovingly. An ardent passion hung in the air all around them as they gazed into each other's faces.

"Jasmine, I just felt so foolish," Aladdin continued. "I was mad at myself for my actions, and I just couldn't let it ruin our relationship."

"You don't need to think about it anymore, Aladdin," Jasmine replied sweetly. "When I heard the things you said before you realized I was standing here in the corridor, I felt so warm and wonderful inside!"

"Whoa!" Aladdin said in surprise. "How much did you hear?"

"I heard enough," Jasmine said with a knowing smile. "When you spoke about how determined you were to save our future marriage, how you wouldn't give up, and how our love was so precious to you, it made me feel so good. It truly meant a lot to me. Thank you so much."

"I meant everything I said," Aladdin told her. "It felt so wrong and so ridiculous for us to be fighting like this that I had to do something. It's because I honestly would never want to live my life without you, Jasmine."

"I promise that you'll never have to," Jasmine said. She hugged him joyously and closed her eyes in a state of bliss.

It was clear by now that the bond between the two lovers was so powerful that no force known to humankind could sunder it.


A short while later, Aladdin and Jasmine had walked back to the throne room together with the rest of the gang following close behind. The two of them held hands as they entered the room and walked across the blue marble floor.

"Aladdin, it feels so good to be together again," Jasmine said. "And I feel much better about the kingdom, too. We really need to be working together to protect Agrabah while Father is away."

"I know," Aladdin agreed. "Mechanicles might stage another attack any time, and we've all got to be ready."

"Oh, don't remind me!" Iago groaned. "If we have to put up with that screwy weirdo's titanium killer bugs again, I am gonna be this close to losing my lunch!"

"Eek eek!" Abu screeched in agreement.

"Well, unfortunately we won't have a choice," Aladdin sighed. "I'm sure he'll try again soon. He needs to be defeated soundly again before he'll give up for a good long time."

"You want sound defeat?! You've got it!" Genie shouted. "Just lemme at that loony fella and I'll send him packing in no time!"

"We all need to cooperate," Aladdin asserted. "It's our city; we all have a responsibility to it."

"This whole 'responsibility' mania you've got is gonna get us killed someday," Iago grumbled.

"No, not if I have anything to say about it," Aladdin said determinedly. "I won't let anything happen to any of you guys."

At that moment, the sound of crashes and clatter came from outside, and all six friends gasped when they heard it. They looked out the window and saw signs of dozens of metal crafts plowing through the urban centers of Agrabah.

"I'm guessing that our party guest finally arrived," Genie noted dryly.

"Yeah, and it's a party he's gonna wish he never came to," Aladdin declared. "Come on, guys! Let's really give Mechanicles a welcome he'll remember!"

"I'm more than happy to oblige," Jasmine said with cool, restrained fervor in her voice.

"Hey Al, is your back okay for this?" Genie queried.

"I'm fine, Genie," Aladdin assured him. "I wasn't hurt badly. Now let's go!"

The whole gang hopped onto Carpet's back and quickly flew out of the palace and into the city.


Across the landscape of Agrabah, people were running in terror from the mechanical monsters that were assaulting their neighborhoods. Mechanicles' giant robotic ants were stomping through the urban corridors and thrashing any structure in their path. Stone shards from wrecked buildings were strewn throughout the streets.

Flying high above the city atop Carpet, Aladdin and the gang could clearly see the extent of the attack. The mechanical ants were assaulting a wider swath of territory than last time, with some of them coming from the north side of Agrabah, and some moving in from the south.

Aladdin knew he would have to split up his team; the robots were spread too far across the city to handle at one time. The gang needed to stop their rampage as quickly as possible before lots of people got hurt.

"Genie," he said, "you'd better go to one side of Agrabah and stop these machines before they do more damage. The rest of us will try to hold off the ones on the other side."

"No problem, Al!" Genie replied. "I'll head to the north end of town and stop these giant pests right in their tracks."

In a flash, Genie flew away to the north of Agrabah, leaving the rest of his friends hovering in the air. Then Carpet took flight again, taking Aladdin, Jasmine, Abu and Iago in the direction of the south end of town, where another fleet of machines was advancing.

"We'll have to do everything we can to hold off these bugs until we can figure out how to them disable them completely," Aladdin told the others as Carpet flew on. "We have to do what we can on our own until Genie can come help us."

"Let me get down there and help some of those civilians," Jasmine said. "I'm not letting anyone get hurt if I can help it."

Aladdin nodded and steered Carpet closer to the ground in the southern section of the city. They did their best to avoid being spotted by the giant mechanical ants. Finally Aladdin let Jasmine off Carpet in a part of the city where many peasants were fleeing.

"Be careful, Jasmine," Aladdin said as he touched her on the cheek.

"I promise," Jasmine returned while patting his hand. "I just want those people to be alright. You be careful with those dangerous machines."

"I will," Aladdin said. "Iago, you go with Jasmine, and Abu and I will stay on Carpet."

So Aladdin and Abu rode Carpet into the air toward a group of the giant metal ants. Jasmine went running in the direction of peasants, with Iago flying beside her.

"Destructo-bugs on a rampage," Iago moaned. "This just isn't my day!"

"We'll be okay, Iago," Jasmine told him. "Just trust me and stick close to me."

Jasmine signaled to the fleeing peasants until she got their attention. She then raised her voice to call out to them.

"This way! Into those narrow streets!" Jasmine shouted to the crowd. "Those narrow paths are the best places to take shelter from those machines!"

The crowd instantly obeyed and headed directly for the narrow passages and alleys that Jasmine had pointed out to them. Men, women and children poured into the alleys with Jasmine and Iago close behind them.


Aladdin and Abu rode Carpet through the air above the attacking ant robots. For his part, Aladdin was determined to draw the robots as far away from civilian housing as he possibly could.

"Careful, Abu!" he said. "Don't let them grab you! Carpet, circle the bugs and get their attention! Make them chase us away from the citizens' homes!"

Carpet zipped and zoomed through the air in all directions, darting from one side of the menacing robots to other. The robots quickly took notice and swiped at them with their metal legs, but Carpet deftly evaded each of their blows. The ant robots then began to chase Carpet, Aladdin and Abu away from the civilian areas to a more open and cleared area of the city.

"Good! Just what I wanted!" Aladdin smiled when he saw the robots following him away from the houses. "We can fight them better here. Hopefully Genie is handling the robots on the north side okay."

As the robots continued pursuing them, Aladdin, Abu and Carpet suddenly saw another ant robot heading toward them from the front. Abu screeched in fright and climbed onto Aladdin's back, taking refuge behind his friend's shoulders.

The new ant robot in front of them abruptly opened its front hatch, revealing Mechanicles himself sitting in the cockpit and operating the controls.

"Aha! There you are, Aladdin!" the mad inventor screeched. "I knew I'd find you here somewhere!"

"Alright, Mechanicles," Aladdin said, standing up tall atop Carpet and looking his foe in the face. "I'm going to give you one chance to give up and leave Agrabah in peace."

"Never!" Mechanicles shouted. "I've only just begun! It is my job to cleanse the world of all disorderly things—starting with this city!"

Mechanicles advanced his metallic craft forward, and the ant robots coming up from behind Aladdin were closing in. Aladdin steered Carpet upward and dodged the oncoming attacks. Aladdin smiled when he looked down and saw that Mechanicles had accidentally steered his own craft into one of the ant robots, and they both momentarily crashed into each other. Mechanicles growled in anger at the fender-bender.

"Hey Mechanicles! Better give up before you have another accident!" Aladdin shouted down to his foe. With Abu still clinging to his shoulders, Aladdin steered Carpet back to face the mechanical ants again.


In another part of Agrabah, Jasmine was still leading crowds of people to locations that were as safe as possible. As she herded another group of peasants into a narrow alley, a giant ant robot suddenly emerged from around a corner!

Jasmine gasped, and the people around her drew back in alarm. Iago let out a scream as the huge metallic ant walked toward them, bashing aside any objects in its path with sweeps from its pointy metal legs.

"Hurry! Everyone into the corridor!" Jasmine cried out. The peasants ran into the narrow alley between two large buildings.

Just then, a swipe from one of the robot ant's legs hit another nearby building, causing some of the masonry to give way and topple from above. To Jasmine's horror, a little girl was standing beneath where the rubble was falling!

"No!" she cried as she ran to the girl's rescue. With all the desperate strength she could muster, Jasmine ran beneath the falling rubble, grabbed the girl in her arms, and leaped off to one side before the rocks hit the ground behind her.

Jasmine panted heavily as she looked back to where the rubble had fallen, and she clutched the little girl tightly in her arms. She quickly became aware that the little girl she was holding was also breathing heavily, and she was trembling as well.

"I'm scared!" the girl blurted out. "I want to get out of here and be back with my mom!"

Jasmine winced as she held the girl close to her and eyed the giant ant robot ambling down the street not very far away. She knew she had to get the girl to safety before it got much closer.

"It's okay, little one," she gently told the girl. "I'm getting you out of here." She picked up the girl in her arms and ran down the street toward the entrance to the narrow corridor.

Iago was waiting at the entrance. "Hey princess!" he yelled. "We've herded everyone in here! Now let's take cover before that thing squashes us!"

Darting into the alleyway, Jasmine followed Iago. The little girl in her arms peered about anxiously, likely looking for her mother in the crowd of huddled civilians.

"My child!" a woman's voice was suddenly heard. "Princess Jasmine, thank you so much for rescuing my daughter!"

A peasant woman from the crowd came running up to Jasmine, and the princess immediately extended the little girl over to her mother. Both mother and daughter visibly lit up in happiness over their reunion.

"Don't mention it," Jasmine said with a smile, delighted that she had prevented a terrible family separation.

Eventually, the giant ant robot outside the corridor stomped on by down the street, bypassing the huddled peasant inside the alley. Jasmine and Iago hoped that Aladdin and the others were faring alright.


Aladdin had managed to draw Mechanicles' ant robots away from citizens' housing, but he still needed to find an opportunity to completely stop them. Leaping off Carpet, he ran into the streets and goaded the ant robots into coming after him, only to cause them to crash against each other. It wasn't enough to destroy them, but it would slow them down to allow more time for Genie to arrive, and for civilians to get away.

However, with the robots closing in, it was getting increasingly difficult for him to avoid them. Aladdin looked in all directions as the mechanical ants bore down on him and attempted to grab him or flash-fry him with their flamethrowers.

"It's useless to fight back, Aladdin!" Mechanicles declared. "Your genie isn't around to help you. He is now much too preoccupied with fighting my robots on the other side of the city."

Aladdin continued to draw the robots' fire, and Abu and Carpet ran around the giant ants' legs as well to keep them busy. But they needed a chance to get into Mechanicles' cockpit and disable his controls.

Suddenly, Aladdin saw Jasmine and Iago running down the street. He smiled, knowing that they must have gotten that crowd of citizens to safety. Then, an idea came to his mind.

"Jasmine! Iago!" he called out. "Come down here! I need you for something."

Jasmine and Iago rushed over to Aladdin, away from the reach of the robots. "I'm so glad you're alright," she told her fiancé.

"Yeah," Aladdin said. "And I think I know how to take care of Mechanicles until Genie arrives. Jasmine, stay with me and help me distract Mechanicles out here. Iago, you fly into Mechanicles' bug craft and start making a mess in there."

"Oh, I get it," Iago grinned. "You figure Mr. Obsessive-Compulsive will freak out over his room getting messy and divert him from his attack."

"Exactly," Aladdin said. "Now hurry! And see if you can disable the fuel line!"

Aladdin and Jasmine, along with Abu and Carpet, started running down the street in full view of Mechanicles and his machines. As Aladdin expected, Mechanicles and the robots started immediate pursuit of the four of them.

"You'll never escape my creations!" Mechanicles shouted from his personal ant craft. "Soon all will bow down to Mechanicles, the greatest of the great Greek geniuses!"

Meanwhile, Iago had flown toward the robot being piloted by the mad inventor and had slipped inside a small opening in the craft.

With Mechanicles' back turned, as he was still looking out his cockpit's window, Iago flew into the cockpit area and spotted a shelf stacked with containers filled with reserve fuel for the mad scientist's machines. Iago fluttered onto the shelf and kicked over two of the fuel containers. The containers clattered to the cockpit floor, spilling liquid oil all over the place.

Mechanicles turned around in shock at the sound of the noise, and gasped in horror at the sight of the spilled oil on his room's floor.

"Oh no!" he shrieked. "My floor! It's—it's filthy! And I had just finished cleaning this cockpit area!"

Frantically, the mad scientist abandoned the controls and grabbed a mop and a scrubbing cloth, attempting desperately to clean up the spilled fuel.

"Hey, Dr. Frankenstein!" Iago shouted. "You like the new paint job I gave your floor?!"

Mechanicles furiously looked up and saw Iago. "You!" he snarled at the parrot, unable to say more because he was practically choking with rage.

"Have fun admiring my artistry in oil painting!" Iago mocked. He flew off the top of the shelf and fluttered in the air.

Mechanicles grabbed a nearby wrench from the control panel and started to brandish it in Iago's direction. "I'll get you!" he hissed at the parrot while swinging the wrench.

But Iago dodged all of Mechanicles' attempts to hit him, and then he flew quickly to one side, prompting Mechanicles to lunge at him. But Mechanicles slipped on the super-slick oil that had spilled all over the floor, and with a loud yelp, the mad inventor slipped and fell to the floor with an audible splat.

"See ya!" Iago squawked as he flew out of the robot's cockpit, leaving Mechanicles lying in a heap on the messy floor. Now he left to cut off the robot's fuel line on his way out.


Outside, Aladdin and the rest of the gang saw that the ant robots were slowing down. They knew that Mechanicles had lost control of his machines, and perhaps the machines were beginning to run low on fuel.

"Yes!" Aladdin enthused. "I think Iago did it!"

"Those machines are slowing down!" Jasmine noted. "Maybe Genie will be able to finish them off!"

"Did somebody say my name?" said a voice.

Aladdin, Jasmine, Abu and Carpet looked up happily and saw Genie arriving. The blue jinn had grown bigger and had kicked aside a nearby ant robot as he made his entrance. The robot collapsed in a heap of mechanical components.

"I took care of those bug robots on the north side, guys!" he shouted. "Now I'm ready to clean up the south end of town!"

At that moment, Iago flew out of the master ant robot and rejoined the rest of the gang. "The mad scientist creep is down for the count!" he shouted. "And the fuel line is cut! He's all yours, Genie!"

"Glad to be of service," Genie grinned. He raised his arms and unleashed a barrage of magical energy bolts. The magic bolts bowled over a large number of giant ant robots, sending the machines crashing across the streets and reducing them to shattered parts.

Only Mechanicles' personal ant-robot craft was left. Inside the cockpit, Mechanicles, had finally recovered from his fall and was starting to get up off the floor. He looked up into the sky and, to his horror, saw Genie hovering above.

"Noooo!" he shrieked.

"Cannonball!" Genie yelled as he dove from the air down toward the cockpit in cannonball formation. He smashed his body with maximum force on the machine, crushing it and rendering it useless.

Genie's dive-bomb action also triggered a spring-loaded ejector mechanism inside the cockpit, which sprang up from the floor and catapulted Mechanicles into the air. The mad inventor screamed as he was catapulted far into the distance, out of the city, and finally out of sight. Agrabah was safe again.

Aladdin and the gang rejoiced, and Carpet gave two thumbs up with two of his tassels.

Jasmine beamed radiantly. "Genie, you did it!" she cheered as she ran over and gave the blue jinn a big hug.

"Aw, don't mention it, Jas," Genie said. "You guys deserve a lot of the praise. You kept so many people safe down on this side of the city, and you kept Mechanicles busy long enough until I could get here. I had to wipe out his other robots on the north side first."

"We all did it together," Aladdin smiled. "It couldn't have been done if we weren't working as a team."

The six friends all congratulated one another and prepared to leave the area.


A short while later, Genie had used his magic to repair the damage caused throughout the city by Mechanicles' robots. Now he, Aladdin, Jasmine, Carpet, Abu and Iago were back at the palace and taking a rest in the throne room after all of the excitement of the day.

"Oh boy, I hope it'll be a long time before I see any of those ugly bug machines again!" Iago averred. "Enough is enough already. Time for some relaxation."

Abu clearly agreed with Iago. The monkey was lounging around and eating a banana.

"Well, we'll certainly have quite a story to tell Father when he comes home," Jasmine noted. The princess was petting her pet tiger Rajah, who was curled up next to her and purring contentedly. The tiger had missed Jasmine while she had been gone.

"Princess, your dad will be really proud of you and Al," said Genie, who was lounging on a nearby sofa with Carpet. "You two have done a great job protecting the kingdom."

"It's a lot easier when you've got your friends to help," Aladdin said. "I'm glad you guys helped me and Jasmine sort out our differences from earlier."

"Oh, that was nothing, Al," Genie scoffed. "You kids were going to make up all along. We just wanted to give you guys a little nudge. But you and Jas are the ones who really made it happen."

Aladdin and Jasmine both smiled at each other as they whole gang continued to take it easy.


Later that night, Aladdin and Jasmine spent some time alone in one of the palace's sitting rooms. Nestled comfortably across a comfortable sofa, they both felt incredibly good to be in harmony once again.

"Jasmine," Aladdin said softly, "I know it wasn't right for me to not tell you what had happened when I got hurt a little. I'm sorry."

The princess grasped her boyfriend's shoulders and pulled him close to her. "Don't apologize, Aladdin," she urged. "We both had some big problems. I shouldn't have lost my temper over something so minor. I'm just glad to have you back."

"I am too," Aladdin agreed.

Jasmine rested her head against Aladdin's shoulder, and the two lovers held hands, playfully rubbing their hands and fingers together as they relaxed.

"I wouldn't want a future of being entrusted with the good of Agrabah without having you at my side, Aladdin," Jasmine averred gently.

"That is absolutely how I feel, Jasmine," Aladdin replied in earnest.

The two moved close and shared a long kiss as the moon and stars took shape in the evening sky outside the window.

The End