CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

We were beamed into the Peddler's Shop. The entire place was covered in gold. As Donald was looking around, he bumped into a vase.

"Wak!" he cried.

"You break it, you buy it!" the peddler said. "Oh! Hello there, friends."

"Wow. What happened here?" I said.

"You made out like a bandit!" Sora said.

"Please... I am but an honest merchant." the peddler said. "What you see is merely the reward for my hard work."

"Honest?" I snickered.

"Gawrsh, they sure are nice." Goofy said.

"And they're on sale! Interested?" the peddler said.

"No thanks. Listen, have you seen a guy in a black coat?" Sora said. "Someone from Organization XIII?"

"Or some weird white creatures?" I said.

"Who, me? Most certainly not..." the peddler said.

"Okay. We'll keep asking around, then." Sora said.

Suddenly, Aladdin, Iago, and Abu ran into the shop.

"Sora! Don't let him get away!" Aladdin said as Abu jumped over the counter.

"What's going on?" Sora said.

"Can't believe it... The stupid peddler let Jafar out of the lamp!"

"JAFAR?!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy said.

"I'm guessing he's bad?" Callum said.

"Very bad." I said. "Wanting to seize Kingdom Hearts bad."

"You guys better be careful." Aladdin said.

"Huh?" Donald said.

"I'm sure Jafar wants to take over Agrabah again, but I know he's out for revenge, too."

"I guess he's still sore about that whole lamp thing, huh?" Sora said.

"Iago was there when Jafar was released. Okay, Iago. Spill it."

"Hey! I told you everything I know!" Iago said.

"This is your one and only chance, Iago. If I find out later that you've been lying or hiding things from us, we're through." Aladdin said. "I'll never speak to you again!"

"I can't take it! I know where Jafar is!"

"Where?" Goofy said.

"Uh, er, I mean, that is, I, um... Ack! I really shouldn't..."

"Spill it, birdbrain!" I said.

Iago sighed. "He's in the desert ruins."

"Let's get the jump on him. Lead the way!" Sora said.

We walked to the Palace Walls. Looking in the distance, we saw that the desert ruins was being attacked by a nasty sandstorm.

"What a disaster! We're just gonna hafta turn back." Iago said.

"What's wrong, Iago? Hiding something?" I said.

Iago went silent.

"There's gotta be a way..." Aladdin said.

"Aw, c'mon, kid, that's an easy one!" a voice cried.

Genie came zipping through the skies over to us.

"Al, ol' buddy, ol' pal!" Genie cried. "This is what having a genie for a best friend is all about! I mean, how can you leave me on the sidelines in a time like this?! Live large. Wow'em, Al! Give 'em the old razzmatazz! What do ya say, kid?"

"Hey, Genie." Sora said.

"Sora! Wanna see a little something I call "Sandstorm Sweep"?"

"Uh-huh!" we all said.

"Take it away, Genie!" Aladdin said.

Genie posed firepower style. "Ala-ka-ZA...um..." Genie faltered, then turned around with his shoulders slumped. "You know? One lousy sandstorm is just too easy."

Genie lazily pointed a finger over his shoulder. A stream of magic shot through the desert and dispersed the sandstorm.

"Wow!" we all said.

I heard Iago grumble beside me. We looked around, but Genie was gone.

"How about giving me a challenge next time, eh Al?" Genie called.

We walked to the edge of a sand cliff and looked down at the desert ruins.

"What do we do now?" Aladdin said.

We watched Carpet fly through the desert ruins and over to us. It floated close to the ground and waved its tassels at us.

"Nice timing, Carpet!" Sora said.

Sora and I jumped onto Carpet. Carpet flew forward suddenly.

"Whoa-!" I cried.

I lost my balance and stumbled at the edge. Sora reached out, grabbed my hand and yanked me forward. As I fell forward, I shot my hands out and planted them on Sora's chest to balance myself. We looked at each other and I realized that we were standing extremely close to each other with my hands on his chest and his arm around my waist to steady me. I cleared my throat and pushed myself away, dusting myself off.

"Sorry." I said.

"Just be careful. Carpet likes to ride fast." Sora said, shrugging the situation off with a smile.

I nodded, then looked ahead of us.

"Look!" I pointed.

Underneath an arc, a gray silhouette appeared in robes and holding a serpent scepter.

"That's Jafar!" Sora said. "After him, Carpet!"

Carpet saluted with its tassel and we raced towards Jafar's shadow. As we approached it, the shadow disappeared and Rapid Thrusters, Hook Bats, and Fortunetellers appeared around us. A light pink barrier formed around us.

"Not a very fair fight..." I said, summoning Chaos Ripper. "For them."

I raised my Keyblade and cast Magnara. A ball of magnetic force appeared and the Heartless were forcefully sucked into it. As they squirmed around, Sora and I attacked them. Once they were gone, we looked around.

"Over there!" I said as Jafar's shadow appeared.

We chased Jafar's shadow throughout the ruins, attacking it when it stopped to try and cast spells. We chased it to the top of a large red tower. The shadow raised its arms and another barrier appeared around us. It disappeared and more Heartless appeared.

A Rapid Thruster barreled towards us. It slammed into me and I fell off of Carpet. I flipped right side up and landed at the top of the tower. I growled and summoned Chaos Ripper. I ignited my Keyblade using Fira and hurled it at the Rapid Thrusters. It spun rapidly in the air, cutting through the Heartless. As a Fortuneteller cast ice shards at me, Chaos Ripper came flying back to me. I jumped in the air, caught my Keyblade, and landed in a backhand spring. Sora cast Thundara and destroyed the remaining Heartless. A monument appeared in the center of the roof.

"What's this?" I said.

I walked over and laid a hand on it. Images appeared in my mind. I saw three different locations in the ruins with strange glowing orbs floating there. The images disappeared and I removed my hand.

"What'd you see?" Sora said.

"Some kind of switch." I said.

I looked past the tower into the desert. I smiled, sprinted to the edge, and jumped over.

"Hallie!" Sora called.

I fell over to a ledge that jutted out of the tower below. I somersaulted and stood up on my feet.

"Are you crazy?!" Sora said as he and Carpet flew next to me.

"You say it like it's a bad thing." I said. Sora held out a hand to me and I climbed onto Carpet. "There's a switch under this ledge.

We looked underneath, and six of the floating orbs twirled around each other. As we approached it, the orbs formed into a circle and glowed red. I cast Fira and the orbs lit up and changed turquoise. I directed Carpet through the ruins to where the switches were. The second switch required thunder magic and the third required blizzard magic.

"Think that'll open the door?" Sora said.

"Yeah. But we should hurry before it closes." I said.

Carpet zoomed through the ruins. As we flew, Heartless appeared and chased after us. As we got closer to the tower, two Crimson Jazzes appeared and prepared to launch some fire power at us.

"Almost... there!" I said.

Carpet zoomed through the door and it closed. I breathed a sigh of relief.

We ran up the tower to a spacious room that was littered with debris on the walls.

"The game's up, Jafar!" Sora cried as we all drew our weapons.

It was silent. No one besides us was here.

"You sure this is it?" Aladdin said.

"Iago?" Donald said.

Iago flew onto a rotting beam and bowed his head shamefully.

"Ya gotta understand! It wasn't my idea!" Iago said. "It was Jafar. He made me bring you here! You don't know him like I do! He can be VERY convincing!... He said if I didn't cooperate, he was gonna-"

"Where is he?" Aladdin said.

"C'mon Al, you've gotta forgive me."

"Where's Jafar, Iago?!" Callum said.

"Well... um, let's see... right about now, he's probably attacking the palace."

"I can't believe you, Iago!" I said. "We trusted you!"

"I had no choice! His eyes, they got all creepy and WEIRD!"

"Whatever! Iago, you're supposed to be our friend. But you've been playing both sides, just to make sure you save yourself." Sora said.

"I knew you were still a bad guy!" Donald said.

"I say we leave him in here." I said.

"I'm SORRY!" Iago cried.

He flew back and smacked into a black pot. The pot tumbled from its pedestal and fell to the ground. It shattered to pieces. The tower began to rumble. Chunks of the ceiling fell around us. Carpet flew in, weaving through the falling debris.

"Can we still leave Birdbrain here behind?" I said.

"As much as I want to, we can't." Aladdin said. "Let's get out of here!"

Sora and I hopped onto Carpet. We shot up through the ceiling and into the desert air. As we flew around the tower and through the ruins, we fought off the Heartless that approached us.

"Look out!" I cried.

A tower fell in our path. We ducked and flew up into the air. Heartless appeared and floated to form shapes. After we attacked, Carpet zoomed downward like a roller coaster. Sand geysers erupted before us.

"Hang on!" Sora cried.

We crouched down and gripped Carpet as he wove through the geysers. I sputtered as sand flew into my face. We flew out of the desert.

Carpet fluttered to the ground in exhaustion.

"I feel the same way." I said as I plopped onto the ground.

"Get some rest, Carpet. You earned it." Aladdin said.

"C'mon, let's get Jafar!" Iago cried.

I scoffed.

"And who asked YOU?" Sora said.

"The palace is through there. Hurry!" Aladdin said.

As we ran to the palace, we ran into the peddler.

"I guess you know everything now, eh?" the peddler said.

"You can't keep shady stuff secret for long." Sora said.

"So true. I had just snuck into the Palace to, er, borrow some treasure when I heard this... voice. It said: "Release me, and I will give you an even greater reward." "Who are you?" I asked. The voice spoke again. "The true Sultan of Agrabah," he said. "Imprisoned by villains." Oh! Why did I believe such a tall, tall tale?" the peddler said. "Perhaps I was under Jafar's spell. Yes! That must be it!"

"And I'm sure the treasure had nothing to do with it, right?" Sora said, crossing his arms.

"Maybe a bit. But Jafar, he never gave me a thing..."

"So, then, where did you really get all of your treasure?" Callum said.

"Why, the man in the black coat, of course."

"Organization XIII?!" Donald squawked.

"I KNEW it!" Sora said.

"Is everyone here a dirty, lying thief?!" I cried. I glanced at Aladdin. "Um... no offense."

"The treasure was a gift, so I would tell no one about Jafar's return." the peddler said. "He said he would destroy Jafar after turning him into a... "Heartless." So there was no need to upset Agrabah."

"And you bought that?" Sora said.

"I'm a merchant. And a good one, at that."

"Apparently not." I mumbled.

"I'll buy anything if the price is right. It would have been a successful transaction if I hadn't been seen..."

"Oh, you're so kind..." Iago rolled his eyes.

We all glared at him.

We ran to the palace courtyard. Jafar stood next to Jasmine, who was chained to the door. We drew our weapons and struck our battle stances. Jafar's eyes shifted to me.

"So I see the Keyblade has chosen yet another bunch of brats." Jafar said. Jafar saw Iago peeking out from Goofy's shoulder. He scowled. "You dare defy me! You useless bird!"

Jafar's scepter glowed red. He shot a beam at Aladdin. Aladdin gasped.

"Al!" Iago cried. He flew in front of Aladdin. The beam hit him in the chest and he fell to the ground.

"Iago!" Goofy said.

"You'll all be joining him... VERY soon!" Jafar cried.

He began to glow red and smoke rose into the air. Jafar transformed into a gigantic, red genie. We gaped in shock. A tower from the palace crumbled off and fell down towards us.

"Look out!" I cried, shoving Sora and Aladdin out of the way.

I gasped as the tower piece was only yards away. Suddenly, I felt my feet sweep out underneath me and I fell back on something soft. The tower crumbled to the ground and I was whisked away.

"Carpet!" I said, laughing with relief. "Man, you're timing is impeccable!"

Genie Jafar cackled as he swirled dark magic around in his hands.

"We've got some genie butt to kick." I said.

"Hallie!" Sora called.

Carpet flew down to the ground. I reached out and Sora grabbed my hand, using the momentum to swing him onto Carpet. He flew us above Agrabah. We charged at Jafar and drove our Keyblades into his stomach. As Jafar doubled over, we grabbed his tail and wrapped it around him. We tugged and Jafar went spiraling. As he stumbled around in a daze, we attacked his head. Soon, Jafar sparked with magic and writhed around.

"No... How can I BE defeated again, by a pack of filthy street rats?!" Jafar cried.

"Don't mess with street rats!" Sora said.

Carpet flew us back into Agrabah. Jafar turned into a ball of red power and exploded. The black lamp which once held him faded into darkness.

"You went mano a mano with Jafar, and you didn't invite me, Al?!" Genie cried as he appeared.

"Sorry, Genie. Things happened kinda fast." Aladdin said.

"And I had some new moves to show off, too..."

"But, Genie, we still need your help!" Donald said.

"Who's gonna fix Agrabah?" Sora said.

"No one fixes better than you!" I said.

"Oh, YEAH!" Genie cried. "One super-duper spruced-up Agrabah comin' right up! You won't even recognize the place when I'm through with it!"

"Just like it was, please." Aladdin said.

"Really? Same old same old?" We nodded. "All right."

Genie raised his hands and magic sprung from his fingertips. Magic rays swirled down Agrabah, fixing Agrabah. A wave of sparkles rained down from the air.

"Et voila! Next time let me put in a few swimming pools, 'kay?" Genie said.

"I guess Agrabah's all right now." Sora said.

"Yeah! Thanks, guys." Aladdin said.

"Hey, you behave yourself, got it?" Sora said to Iago.

"I most definitely got it! No more lookin' out for number one. I'm reformed!" Iago said. "I wanna be a good friend, like Genie, but I can't do anything to help you. What kind of a friend is that?"

"Oh, come on, Birdbrain. It's nothing like that." I said. "Being a friend doesn't mean you have to "do" stuff for them. As long as you enjoy being with them and having fun, that's all that matters."

"So... what do you guys do for fun?" Aladdin said.

"We do THIS!" Donald cried as he and Goofy made silly faces.

"Uh... that's not quite what I meant."

"Well, anyway..." Sora said, placing his hands behind his head.

"Ow... my beak!" Iago cried suddenly.

"Gawrsh, Iago. I hope ya didn't hurt yourself." Goofy said.

"Well... cough cough... at least I can still fly."

As Iago stumbled around in the air, Goofy followed him with his hands out in case he fell.

"Look out!" Donald cried.

"Huh?" Goofy said. We cringed as he crashed into a stand.

"Ooh! Was that my cue? Am I on?" Genie's voice called. "C'mon, Al, lemme build a freeway or something!"

"Everything's fine. Don't panic... Genie!" Aladdin said.

"But I can't hold it any longer!" Genie cried. Beams of magic swirled in the air, creating another rain of sparkle. "Sora! Hallie! Donald! Goofy! You guys are too much! If you're ever in the mood for some more cosmic razzle dazzle, gimme a shout, okay?"

"You got it!" Donald said.

"Well, you've done it again, Sora." Aladdin said. "Don't forget about us, okay?"

"I won't!" Sora smiled.

"And Sora... about that friend of yours, the one you're looking for..."

Sora's face fell and he bowed his head to the ground. Aladdin walked over and put his hands on his shoulder.

"You'll find him. Trust me."

Sora looked up and over to me. I smiled and nodded, placing a hand over my heart.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

When Hallie and the gang arrive in Agrabah, they find out from Aladdin that Abu released Jafar, the evil sorcerer who joined with Maleficent and many other villains to seize Kingdom Hearts, from his lamp imprisonment. After prodding the stubborn bird, Iago reluctantly agrees to lead the gang to the temple where Jafar is hiding. With the help of Genie the Magic Carpet, Hallie and Sora head to the sandy ruins near the city, but when they arrive at the temple, they find out Iago was lying and Jafar convinced him to deceive them while he tried to take over Agrabah. The gang rushes back to Agrabah and rescues Jasmine from the sorcerer's clutches. Jafar transforms into his massive, powerful, genie form, but Sora and Hallie defeat him for good. Iago swears that he will be good from now on, but it's going to take a lot to convince Aladdin and the others. As Genie helps to fix up the city, Aladdin promises Sora that he will find Riku eventually.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!