Kingdom Hearts
Ch. 56
Agrabah
Terror From 20,000 Feet
Back in the present, a plane in the desert skies flew over the sands contrasting the rest of the scenery. Inside the gang all rested sitting in the seats of the air plane. The plane was filled with Genie clones occupying all the seats not taken by the gang. Donald and Goofy sat in the middle where the wings could be seen from the window. Goofy was minding his own business while Donald read a newspaper.
Sora and Tarzan were next to them on the left. Sora was sleeping with his mouth wide open snoring quietly. Tarzan sat next to him looking out the window towards the desert. As the plane kept flying Tarzan swore, he could see a shadowy figure fly by.
Aladdin and the Magic Carpet sat in the front row. The Carpet seemed to enjoy not being the vessel of transport for once. Abu was wandering around the plane by crawling under the chairs pick pocketing the Genie clones.
Two Genie's sat ahead of them in the control room wearing aviator uniforms. The Captain had a microphone to speak into so he can communicate with the passengers. "Aaaaaa-this your Captain speaking. Aaaa-the weather seems calm and tranquil. Perfect weather for flying if I do say so myself. Aaaaa-We will be reaching Agrabah shortly. Aaaaa-in the meantime our stewardess will be handing out peanuts and refreshments.
A Genie clone walked in with a cart wearing a stewardess uniform. The stewardess stopped next Goofy and Donald asking, "Anything I can do for you two gentle man."
Goofy nodded, "Why yes, I'd like some peanuts please." She handed the bag to him nicely. He thanked her before she went off moving to Sora and Tarzan.
The keyblade wielder was still asleep while Tarzan scanned the wing of the plane. The ape man passed the woman off without saying a word. The stewardess walked down the aisle to the next row. Tarzan watched the plane's wing closely undeterred.
A winged green heartless with sharp claws and scaly covering landed on the plane scratching at the wing. "Ooh ooh!" he moaned waking Sora up.
The spikey haired boy struggled to get up. He opened his eyes before yawning. "What is it?" he spoke half asleep.
Tarzan grabbed his shoulder pointing to the window. "Heartless," he said a bit panicked.
"Heartless?" Sora responded. He looked out the window trying to see it. But when Sora looked through the glass nothing was there. "Tarzan, I don't see anything."
The ape man looked out the window again to see the gremlin heartless had vanished. "But it was right there," he said flabbergasted.
Sora returned to his seat, "You must be seeing things. You're not used to flying yet. Just forget about it and go to slee-pppzzzzzz." Sora fell right back into his earlier state completely unconscious. Tarzan continued to look outside watching the wings. And soon enough the gremlin heartless returned fidgeting with the electronics on the plane. Tarzan slammed against the window pressing his face against the glass.
"Peanuts or water," asked the Stewardess. Several of the Genies began calling out to her.
Aladdin remained silent after everything that happened. He turned over to see a Genie clone appearing to be the real thing. "Um, thanks Genie. You didn't have to do all of this. You are taking us back to Agrabah right? I didn't mention that in my wish."
"Nonsense," said the Genie happily. "It's the least I can do. I thought I was going to be trapped down there for ages. But you shortened it to less than a decade. Besides, I enjoy spending some quality time in the real world," he said.
"What do you mean?" asked Aladdin.
"Well as you can imagine I don't get out that much," the Genie said in the form of an introvert.
"Your trapped," said Aladdin bring out the lamp.
"It's part and parcel of the whole Genie gig," he said sadly. He transformed into a massive god like figure shouting out, "Phenomenal cosmic power." He turned to smoke returning to the lamp, "Tinny little bit of living space."
"Oh, Genie that's terrible," Aladdin remarked.
Genie came out of the lamp speaking. "It must be so nice. To be like you. Completely free. You can go where you want. Do what you want. And nobody can tell you otherwise. I'd give up all my powers to be a normal person like you."
"Yeah, it sure is," said Aladdin slumping in his chair.
"But enough about me. What about you," Genie said jabbing his finger on Aladdin's nose. He laughed a bit answering back. "Well there's this girl."
Genie stopped him right away shouting, "Wrong!" With a heart sign on his chest crossed off. "Hold on kiddo, I can't make anyone fall in love with anyone else remember," he said knocking on Aladdin's head. The street rat brushed it off. "No, it's not that. She's needs my help. And I was told you could help me save her."
"Oh, a damsel in distress scenario. Is she trapped in a castle by an evil dragon?" Genie said transforming into a knight fighting the dragon. "Or is she being held hostage by an evil deranged maniac planning on boiling her in a pot of molten steel," Genie said transforming into a superhero reenacting that same scenario.
"The second one," Aladdin answered. "But he's not going to kill her at least I hope not."
"I see. So, who is the name of the beautiful maiden and this captor that keeps our fare maiden apart from our entrusted hero?" Genie questioned nudging Aladdin.
"Well actually she's the Princess. And she's being locked up by the Sultan Jafar."
As the words left his mouth all the noise ceased on the plane aside from Sora's snores. The passengers turned looking at Aladdin speaking in unison, "JAFAR."
Aladdin felt a shiver run down his spine with the Genies staring at him even the Magic Carpet seemed upset as Aladdin caught his attention. The real Genie looked on with a dark scold and his eyes were clouded in shadows. He crushed the arms of the seat he sat in with his own fingers.
"Genie?" asked Aladdin a bit worried. After a few seconds of silence Genie reverted to his original self. "Oh, it's nothing. This Jafar guy sounds like a pretty nasty man. Tell me everything you know about him." The Genie said dressing up as a reporter.
Back with Tarzan and Sora, the ape man watched as more gremlins appeared messing with the plane's wings. They were ripping wire out of the wing to disrupt the planes control. Tarzan called out as the Stewardess came back around. "What is it good sir?" she asked.
The ape man pointed out the window saying, "Heartless." When the stewardess looked out the window the heartless fled leaving no traces they were there.
Seeing no sign of the heartless, the stewardess turned back to Tarzan. "Sir, there's no shame in being paranoid of flying. A lot of people have fears like that. Just buckle up and we will be landing safely. After all, while it's against popular belief. Flying's the safest way to travel." The stewardess walked away returning to her work.
After she left, Tarzan looked out the window again to see even more gremlin heartless returned tearing the wing apart. Tarzan panicked again shaking Sora violently trying to get him up. But the boy slept right through it.
Goofy next to them turned to Donald. "I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back." Donald nodded as he continued to read the paper. Goofy got up and moved to the back of the aisle entering the latrine on the plane.
Genie was writing down everything as Aladdin brought him up to speed on what happened in the last 10 years. Abu made his way back to Aladdin stuffed with stolen goods like money and jewelry. He stuck them in a hiding place under Aladdin's seat.
Tarzan was unable to wake Sora as he appeared to be a heavy sleeper. The ape man with no hope stood up and shouted, "Heartless on the plane." He pointed to the window getting everyone's attention. Everyone including the Genie clones seemed intrigued. They all looked out the window to see only blue skies and desert below them. Even Donald put down his paper to see if it was true. When everyone noticed nothing was out there, they returned to their seats.
"Where are they?" one of the Genie clones asked. Tarzan a bit embarrassed spoke in a soft and regretful voice. "They were right there. On the wing. But they only s-show up if I look."
The others did not know what to think. "Crazy" "Crackpot" were thrown around the plane by the passengers. Tarzan returned to his seat in shame. The gremlin heartless however have moved under the plain tearing at the main engine. The mischievous little trouble makers tore apart the planes exterior biting into the wire and short circuiting them. Causing a small fire as the propellers in the plane began to stop working. The air conductor Genie noticed they're having engine trouble calls out to the passengers on the microphone. "Sorry folks it appears were having a bit of engine trouble. Aaaaa-but we will pull through till the end. We're scheduled to land shortly."
Everyone remained quiet after the conductor spoke. Then without any sudden warning the entire plane rumbled abruptly scaring the passengers. Oxygen masks fell from above to the passengers below. Through the speakers the pilot shouted, "OH NO!"
The passengers remained dead silent till someone began to scream. Like a chain reaction everyone began to panic. The Genie clones screamed loudly waving their hands in the air. Tarzan grabbed his seat belt putting it on fearing this would happen. Sora still slept soundly as if nothing was wrong. Donald panicked with the other Genies while Abu climbed into Aladdin's arms. Goofy remained unaware taking care of his business while reading a magazine in the bathroom. The stewardess called out trying to get everyone to calm down. "Please everyone. Follow the safety instructions printed on the pamphlet in the pocket of the seat in front of you."
While they were all panicking the heartless continued playing as they dismantled the plane. A spark flared and the engine completely gave way. The plane then began to fall nose first. As the ship descended rapidly panic turned to chaos as everybody screamed in disarray. The pilot Genie was struggling to keep the air craft up. The control sticks broke off the control panel because the Genie was pulling so hard on the device. "Captain what do we do?" said the Genie clone pilot next to the captain. The highly decorated Genie spoke back, "Aaaaaaaaa-I'm pushing random buttons as we spin out of control son."
The Genie pressed every button and pulled every lever as the plane came closer to the ground. The gremlin heartless removed themselves from the crashing plane laughing as the people fell to their doom.
Back in the passenger's room. Donald was screeching with everyone as the plane dipped shouting, "Let me out of this thing. I'm not meant to fly."
In the bathroom, Goofy still ignorant of what's going on noticed the room tilting. He shrugged it off continuing to finish his business.
Tarzan's dreadlocks flew in the air as the plane seemed to be like a roller coaster going down a steep slope. Sora continued to sleep like nothing was wrong. At the front Abu latched onto Aladdin's face as the plane sped up. The Magic Carpet tried to open the window to escape but the glass was locked on tight.
"Genie!" shouted Aladdin but the all-powerful being just panicked with everyone else. As a last resort Aladdin brought out the magic lamp rubbing it. "Genie I wish—" His mouth was then covered by the Genie who shook his head.
The plane came near the ground at full momentum nearly crashing into the desert sands. Like a missile about to make contact with a target.
But no more than a few feet from the ground the plane stopped instantly like a fly caught in a web. The plane has frozen in midair right before hitting the ground. Everyone in the plane remained speechless trying to comprehend what was going on. The Genie clones all had distinct fearful faces. Donald and Tarzan both remained still as if they were dead.
In the cockpit, the two pilots checked the control panel looking at the fuel gauge. "Huh, out of gas," said the Genie pilot ironically. The Captain grabbed the microphone speaking into it. "This is your captain speaking. Aaaaaa-All seems right as rain. We have reached our destination. Thank you for flying with Genie Express."
Donald converted to liquid dripped out of his seat onto the floor. Tarzan passed out like Sora next to him. Abu and the Magic Carpet were wrapped around Aladdin each hosting a frightened face. The Stewardess came out again in front of everyone, "Like I said. Flying is the safest form of travel."
Goofy exited the bathroom stretching on the crocked aisle. "Gee fellers, are we there yet?"
Sora snored a bit before opening his eyes yawning. Realizing the plane has stopped Sora got up off his chair raising his hands up. "We're here!" He unbuckled himself walking into the aisle passing his comatose friends. Coming across the escape door he kicked it down sticking his head outside. He felt the fresh air role over his face. He jumped down on the sands smashing his feet on the ground shouting out, "Hello Agrabah." He smiled loudly opening his eyes seeing nothing there but sand and open sky. "Agrabah?" he said to himself. He looked around trying to find the city. Turning 180 degrees, he saw the great city in a distance.
Agrabah was surrounded by large stone walls with several entrances with hard wooden gates leading into town. It was built to protect the city from sand storms as the outside walls were scarred all across. Camels and residents walked in and out through these corridors built into the walls. Sora had been waiting to see the city the moment he got here. He shouted, "Agrabah. Here I come." He ran off towards the city leaving the plane behind.
Goofy cocked his head out the plane seeing Sora run off. "Wait Sora," he called out. Goofy turned back towards the others who were still recovering from the ride. "Donald, Tarzan let's go or we'll lose Sora," he called to his motionless friends. But they did not answer. Goofy stepped one foot out of the plane before tripping over something with the other foot. Falling out of the plane face first in the sand. He quickly got up shaking the sand off like a dog trying to get dry. "Sora don't leave without the rest of us," Goofy shouted trailing the young keyblade wielder as they both headed off towards city.