Chapter 07 - Friend in Need

Nefir and his group were laying low in the Thieves Den that evening, still waiting for any sign of Aladdin or his friends to step out from the Palace and reveal what their non-human friends looked like. It was a frustration that the imp had on not being too obvious for intention, but if there was a place where he and his group could convene without arousing suspicion, it was the Thieves Den. Aladdin wouldn't be able to slip in and out as easily there unnoticed, not since he'd been Prince of Agrabah for a while. So Nefir felt at ease when he discussed the next part of the plan to his comrades.

"So it seems like things haven't shifted quite yet for them. Only the second day in since the transformation, I didn't expect much to change, but I did want to see what they looked like to know how to fight them. They still have quite a bit of time before things become dire with the spell's side effects. But I would like to try staging another attempt at stealing the tome. We can still use it for our purposes in transformation since we have the right protections. If the Sultans in Agrabah and Getzistan can't recognize us in human form, we can still create riffs between their kingdoms for wares. More wares equals more profit for us. Our plan has not completely failed yet, just met setbacks."

One of his henchmen pointed out that they may encounter the Genie and the others fighting their efforts.

"I'm not worried about the former animal ones being a problem, since their newfound humanity will slow them down against our magic. But I am still concerned about the Genie. I have a plan to distract him in order to get to the tome tomorrow afternoon - we can discuss that momentarily. If Aladdin tries anything against our efforts, I'll deal with him personally."

Nefir had been about to say more, when a loud bang interrupted them all, alongside an annoyingly familiar voice.

"Curse you, Aladdin! Curse you beyond the seven deserts! I only just got back from that sand pit trap. Still knockin' sand out of my ears."

Nefir stiffened, thinking Aladdin might be in the room, but it turned out it was the only the disgruntled ramblings of one of Aladdin's other enemies, the massively annoying - to Nefir's view anyway - Abis Mal. The sound of the bang was the thief slamming his mug against a table, waiting to be served.

"Looks like we may need to discuss this somewhere a little more private. I was hoping to do it over drinks and food, but I'd rather not be interrupted by the ramblings of that particular fool." Nefir grumbled.

His henchmen looked disappointed, even as they left the Thieves Den. Better safe than sorry, Nefir thought. Never know what ears might be listening in these parts.

At a far corner of the Thieves Den, Aladdin silently cursed his bad luck at Abis Mal's interruption. What were the chances that two of his enemies would be at the Thieves' Den in Agrabah the same evening? It's not that it hadn't happened before, but he hoped that it wouldn't spell trouble for him or his friends. It was strange that Abis Mal was by himself without Haroud or any of his usual henchmen. Then again, it had been a few days since Aladdin and his friends had thwarted their efforts and left them scrambling out of a sand pit trap they'd set for the dignitaries of another kingdom. Abis Mal and Haroud had been trying to steal treasures from a traveling royal caravan. Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, Abu and Carpet had been a part of the group making sure they traveled safely. (Iago opted to stay behind, though he hadn't known treasure was involved.) Thankfully, it all worked out.

"Guess I'd better leave before Abis Mal figures out I'm here. Got what little information I could out of Nefir's group, but still not nearly enough," he said softly. He waited a beat for Nefir and his group to leave, and for Abis Mal to get settled in enough to slip out of the place. If he'd left when Nefir had, it would have drawn suspicion. He wasn't looking for a fight that evening, only information. What little he learned concerned him.

They're going to try to steal the tome again sometime tomorrow afternoon, that's the main thing we've gotta worry about, Aladdin thought. But even with those other pieces of information...everyone might be in trouble after all. We just don't know when or how it'll be.

Aladdin looked up at the moon rising in the sky. They were already much later than they said they would be back at the Palace. The plan he had in mind was to go back to the hiding place and, much to his chagrin, wake up his friends and go back to the Palace for a report to Genie. He was also curious to know what Jasmine had done with Carpet and Iago that day.

Aladdin's attention shifted when he realized, fairly quickly, that he was being followed. Even as he took a different route than usual going back to his hiding place, he kept his cloak over his face and shoulders. First he picked up his pace with a fast walk. But when the figure made himself more obvious as a stalker, alongside two other thieves, Aladdin realized he needed to outrun them.

He hadn't been expecting a full ambush. Not until the moment the order - from a very familiar voice - was loud and jarring through the alleyway.

"Grab him! Now!"

Aladdin had enough time to evade the first few thieves that grabbed for him, but he was no match against a group of eight thieves. They tackled him to the ground, held him by his arms, yanking them behind his back. Another few thieves ripped the cloak from his shoulders, revealing his identity with ease.

When they lifted him from the ground and faced him towards their leader, Aladdin was not surprised at the figure standing before him. The prince spoke through a clenched jaw. "Not nice to see you, Haroud. Eight men against one royal official? You have some nerve. Either that or you really feel threatened by me for some reason."

Haroud made himself known by standing directly in the moonlight shining down in the alleyway, folding his arms across his chest. "I should have known it was you the moment I saw you leave from the Thieves' Den. Lucky I had my men stationed out here. What were you doing there this evening? Plotting something else against us?"

Aladdin snorted. "None of your business. But if you were wondering if I was there for either you or Abis Mal, you're wrong."

"Perhaps a little incentive is necessary to loosen your tongue." Haroud snapped his fingers. Two of the thieves planted swift knee kicks to Aladdin's stomach and one of his shins, making the prince wince. Low blow indeed.

"Changed your mind? I wouldn't kill you outside of the presence of the Master," Haroud made specific reference to Abis Mal then, "But I'm more than happy to take your mostly broken body to him, as penance for that stunt you and yours pulled on us."

"I'll take my chances," Aladdin snapped. At that moment, Aladdin knew he had to act fast because he'd caught one of his restrainers off guard long enough to get the advantage. I can fight a few of them and get away at least, but it might take me a while to evade them and get back to the hiding place, he thought. I don't want them anywhere near Rajah or Abu. Especially not now.

Aladdin was able to stomp on one of his restrainer's feet, and land another kick in the stomach of his other captor. That spurred the men to try to restrain him again, but Aladdin recovered enough to start fighting them, taking several of them out as soon as they could recover. Haroud had tried to launch himself towards Aladdin in an attack, but Aladdin was able to knock back one of the thieves, causing both of them to crash into each other and fall to the ground.

But even among eight thieves, Aladdin knew he was no match to fight them all on his own. He wasn't prepared for one of the thieves to have a makeshift weapon in the form of a broken piece of wood. When the splintering crack of the weapon broke against his back, Aladdin yelled, falling to the ground. He landed on his side, then rolled on his back. He tried to get back up, but the immediate pain of his injury was too much, leaving Aladdin dizzy.

Among the three thieves still in the fight, two congratulated the one thief who thought of doing that. But even as two of them held Aladdin on the ground by his arms and legs, none of them expected the other thief to brandish a dagger.

"What are you doing? I said don't kill him!" Haroud snapped, still trying to recover from Aladdin's counterattack against him.

The thief with the dagger shrugged. "Eh, don't think Abis Mal's gonna care if we bring his bloody body to him. Just as long as he's alive. Barely." The thieves restraining Aladdin didn't seem to mind that possibility either. Aladdin struggled against their grip, even as the thief with the weapon approached. Just as the thief was about to gut Aladdin with the dagger, a voice shouting from above startled them.

"Leave my friend alone, you jerks!"

Aladdin knew exactly who it was even before Abu leapt down and kicked the attacking thief, knocking the dagger aside into the darkness. The other thieves, who had been restraining Aladdin, diverted their attention to Abu.

"Look out!" Aladdin shouted as one of them tried to attack Abu from behind. But Rajah's sudden towering presence stopped the advancing thief in his tracks.

"Boo." Rajah said curtly, staring down at the thief. The thief decided it was better to run than take Rajah on in a fight against height and muscles.

"Who are you?" Haroud snapped. But he realized quickly that the other thieves were quickly retreating with Abu's and Rajah's presence. "Wait, you fools! There are only three of them!"

Abu turned his attention to Haroud. His expression was so serious that it made Haroud draw back a few steps. "Looks like you're the one that's outnumbered now, Haroud. Care to take us on, or are you joining them?"

Haroud opened his mouth to speak, realizing that the young man he didn't recognize knew who he was. But even as Haroud saw Aladdin slowly stand on his own, he turned his attention to the prince. "So you have new allies it seems. No matter, we'll deal with you later, boy. Next time it will be a fair fight."

Even as Aladdin watched Haroud run away, he said what he thought aloud, his voice tired. "Wasn't a fair fight to begin with."

"Aladdin, are you okay?" Abu approached Aladdin, even as the prince struggled to remain standing. Abu was quick to help support the prince, his hands gingerly avoiding the area where Aladdin was hurt. "Man, they really did a number on your back. Doesn't look like they broke the skin, but the attack took out a chunk of your tunic. You've got a bad bruise there."

"Thanks, Abu. I'll be okay. Could have been a lot worse."

"You are very well right that it could have been worse!" Rajah snapped, surprising both Aladdin and Abu in his fury. "You could have been killed, Aladdin. What were you thinking? Why were you at the Thieves Den?"

Aladdin had to steel himself a little at the reveal. He knew Rajah was upset with worry, but he was also surprised that they knew where he'd been. "How did you guys know?"

Abu answered. "I woke up and realized you were gone, found your note saying that you would be back a little later, but it was already past nightfall. Rajah was the one who thought you might be at the Thieves Den - and in trouble, no less. We came this way as a shortcut from the hiding place. I was the one who told Rajah that you and I took that shortcut all the time to avoid being seen. We saw you in the middle of being ambushed by Haroud and his men from the rooftops."

"I knew something was wrong earlier today when we were taking the tour of Agrabah by your direction. You told us specifically not to go there, of the danger it could present. I noticed you were acting a bit out of your usual then. Distracted by something," Rajah said. "I will ask you again - why were you there?"

Aladdin was honest. "I wanted to find information - rumors or not - about the tome that changed you guys. Nefir and his lackeys were there, as I suspected they would be. They wouldn't have given up or run out of town if they wanted to steal it that badly." It was Rajah's turn to be shocked. Abu hadn't stopped being surprised at the exchange between them. Aladdin continued. "I learned a little bit, but not nearly enough. Turns out they were going to use the tome to change themselves to human. But that wasn't all of it. What little I did find out was weird. We've gotta get back to the Palace and let everyone know. Especially Genie."

Abu looked at Aladdin, the concern in his friend's expression made Aladdin's gut pinch. "Are you sure? We probably should take you back to the hiding place to recoup since it's closer. Think you might have fared better if you took the lamp with you instead of leaving it with us for needing anything." Then he seemed to realize something. "Rajah, did you leave the lamp at the hiding place where Aladdin had it?"

"I thought you said you were going to bring it with you," Rajah said, his brow furrowed.

Abu rolled his eyes. "Seriously? That means we'll have to go back there to get it. Times like this I wish Carpet were here to zip us to wherever we need to go."

"Think I can solve that problem," Aladdin said with a small smile. He put his fingers to his lips and whistled. They waited a long moment. Come on, Carpet, are you there? he thought. Maybe he's in the middle of something with Jasmine and Iago.

To their pleasant surprise, the familiar kid form of Carpet appeared in the moonlight above the alleyway where they stood. Carpet seemed pleased to see them but his expression turned to one of concern as he looked among them, especially from the way Abu was helping hold the prince of Agrabah upright. "What happened to Aladdin?"

Abu raised a brow at Carpet. "It's a long story, probably one better told once we get back to the Palace. And maybe also after you tell us what happened to your hand." Abu pointed at the bandage around Carpet's hand. To all of their surprise, Carpet's eyes filled with tears. He furiously signed at all of them.

"Don't make fun of me! I burned my hand while making treats with Iago and Jasmine. Already feel bad enough that I ruined what was already a good day. Flying out here for the first time in a bit today was the first time I was actually starting to feel better."

"Sheesh, I wasn't making fun of you - I was just asking!" Abu protested.

"I doubt that you ruined anything about the day, Carpet," Rajah said. "Though I think that makes two in our collective group with injuries from the day's events."

Aladdin sighed as he gave a nod to Rajah's concerned look. "At least Carpet also had help close by, from what it seems like. Are you okay?" Aladdin turned to the kid, whose tears hadn't fallen, but he was still somewhat anxious.

He paused a long moment before signing to Aladdin. "I'm good now. It doesn't hurt as much anymore and Jasmine bandaged it really well. She said it wasn't my fault, but I still feel bad."

"Does your injury make it hard for you to fly?" Abu asked.

Carpet shook his head, seeming calmer. "Nope. Doesn't affect me loaning out my power either. I tried it on Iago earlier. Think he didn't like it that much. Since he doesn't have wings anymore, think he forgot how to fly."

Aladdin, Abu, and Rajah started to laugh. Aladdin was the first to speak after their laughs subsided. "Iago's probably not used to flying in his new body yet. That might explain it. Still, I'm glad you're okay, Carpet. We need to get back to the Palace. Can you lend us your power?"

"Sure." Carpet was quick to grant his power in the same way Aladdin had seen the day before. Abu was okay with flying as well, though Carpet had to help steady him a little as they flew up above the rooftops.

"Rajah, you should go with Aladdin and Carpet back to the Palace," Abu said. "I'll go back to the hiding place and get the lamp. Then all of us can meet for what Aladdin found out this evening from Nefir and the others."

Carpet's expression fell in shock. "Nefir did that to you?"

Aladdin shook his head. "No, it's a long story. I'll explain back at the Palace so all of us know at the same time. But I definitely learned a little bit tonight. We need to let Genie know and make a plan before things get worse."

Carpet head lowered solemnly. "Guess this turned out to not be such a great day."

Aladdin shook his head. "No, that's not true. Just because there are bad things that happen in a day doesn't take out all the good that happened. We can talk about what you guys were able to do also when we meet up. But...safe to say, things just got a lot more complicated."