Iago heard Abu's screeches, but it wasn't until Abu came rolling out of the shadows of the staircase that he figured something was wrong.

"Oh, now what? You'd better have a good reason to be making a racket, because if it's anything other than..."

A loud hiss and Versat's form emerging from the shadows was enough to make Iago's feathers stand on end, cutting him off midsentence.

"Okay, I stand corrected - it's a perfect time to run!"

Abu ran forward and narrowly eluded Versat's grasp as they meandered through the treasure room. He screeched something to Iago as they rushed away from the U-serpent, but Iago couldn't understand him.

"What are you tryin' to tell me? And where the heck is Al? I mean, I know it's every man, bird, or monkey for himself, but still! That's not like him. "

Versat laughed, slashing his claws through the air and clipping a few of Iago's feathers while in the midst of pursuit. "Aladdin's not available for the moment. And if I have anything to say about it, he never will be again!"

"You've gotta be kidding me," Iago said, flying just above Abu and picking him up by the arms before flying higher than where Versat could reach them. Versat hissed in annoyance.

"Ha! This is one of those times when I'm glad that snakes don't have wings! Your loss, you scaly peabrain."

"We'll s-see about that!" Versat snapped. The U-serpent took a spare sack of coins, light enough to whirl around like a sling shot, but heavy enough to carry a load, and hurled it at Iago. The bag hit its target perfectly, sending Iago crashing into a nearby wall, while Abu fell into a mound of gold coins. Normally, it would've been a dream for Abu swimming in so much treasure, but he wasn't happy when he poked his head above the mound to face Versat's grinning, sharp fangs.

Abu couldn't move fast enough as the U-serpent grabbed his tail. Versat laughed as he watched the monkey dangle from the grip of his large claws. "Well now, it s-seems not only do I have a newly acquired body, but I also have a little s-s-snack for my delicacy."

Abu grinned nervously, but as quickly as Versat opened his mouth within range of clipping Abu, he suddenly hissed in pain, dropping Abu safely to the ground, where the monkey didn't hesitate to escape.

"Wait, what? What's goin' on with him?" Iago called. "Why's he acting so weird?"

"It's because he's in a body that doesn't belong to him, that's why!" A familiar loud (and particularly irritating in Iago's opinion) voice called. Iago looked a distance away to see Genie, Jasmine, and Carpet flying into the treasure room.

"About time you guys got here - we lost Al, and we've got this bozo on our tails!" Iago snapped.

"Uh, I hate to break the memo to you, birdy, but that bozo's Al. Though I'm kinda surprised that U-serpent's in one piece. Might be more correct when I say Versat's inside Al, trying to take over Al's body. I think." Genie shapeshifted into a likeness of Aladdin and then Versat to demonstrate his point before transforming back into his normal form.

Abu screeched a distance away on a high mound of treasure, confirming Genie's words. That made Iago's jaw drop twice what it would've normally done.

"How did that happen?"

"We don't know," Jasmine said. "Genie, is there anything we can do for him?"

"Not much, I'm not even sure how the U-serpents turned him." Genie appeared to think on the matter for a fraction of a second before frowning and snapping his fingers. "Oh wait, that's right - they bit him and we don't have an anecdote for the venom. Nuts."

"But he was fine a while ago! He rescued the monkey and me and looked the way he normally does! Not like that!" Iago shouted, pointing a wing at where Versat seemed to struggle against himself, hissing and clutching his arms.

"Seriously?" Genie asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, we both just saw Al in the flesh!"

At that moment, all of them saw Versat's form transforming again, phasing between the scaly, massive body of the U-serpent, and Aladdin's kneeling form on the sands.

"He's fighting it - come on, we have to do something to help him!" Jasmine said, as she leapt from Carpet to land on the sands, running towards Versat.

"No, wait! Jasmine!" Genie called, but by the time Genie finished his words, Jasmine was already close to where Versat kneeled on the treasure room floor. The U-serpent saw her coming. He hissed loudly, using one of his large scaly arms to knock her aside.

Jasmine rolled on the sands, slightly stunned by the impact. She stood, but not in enough time before the U-serpents arms wrapped around her, squeezing her tightly. Versat laughed.

"Now I've got your precious-s princess-s! Hahaha!" he laughed.

"Oh, terrific," Iago said. "Now what do we do?"

Jasmine struggled against Versat's grip, but she couldn't move, and the tightness of Versat's arms made it hard for her to breathe.

Genie transformed into an army general with a toy magic water gun. "I can't get a clear shot - I repeat, I can't get a clear shot. Operation Release Jasmine is looking tricky!"

"Tricky is an understatement," Iago said in a small voice.

But just as soon as the words left Iago's beak, Versat started having the same reaction again. His grip loosened.

"Jasmine, get out of here!" Versat's voice hissed as the arms released her. Jasmine was stunned at first, but Abu screeching a distance away snapped her out of it long enough to get away before Versat could grab her again.

Abu jumped on top of Versat's scaly face and started scratching at it, but Versat grabbed the monkey and threw him away. Luckily, Genie caught Abut with both hands.

"Man, oh man. This is freaky," Genie said, his hands pressed on each side of his head just above his ears. "It's like Al's trying to speak while still in Versat's body."

"Yeah, which means both of them have serious identity problems!" Iago said.

Genie decided it was time to take drastic measures. "All right, all, I'm ready to fire. It's time for a little dose of magic hands! I'm gonna make Versat wish he'd never been in Al's body to begin with."

Genie aimed as Versat began struggling against himself again, firing magic blasts that came from his hands like lightning bolts. The bolts shot out immediately, but midway before hitting their target - Versat's form finally faded out, returning Aladdin to his normal form.

"Aladdin, no!" Jasmine cried, as Aladdin looked wide eyed at the approaching blast.