Maleficent walked with a slow pace through the empty marketplace, her steps light as a feather, smiling softly at the abandoned shops. Her Heartless had driven away the locals, whom had barricaded themselves in their homes when the wave of darkness had first seeped through their lands. Yet, she did not come to this world to allow her Heartless minions to feast on the hearts of men; she had much bigger plans in store.
"And what of the Keyhole?" she asked the man who had been following her through the plaza.
"The Heartless are searching for it now," the man with the snake staff replied with a stoic expression, "I'm certain we'll find it soon enough. So that just leaves..."
The sound of a squawking parrot interrupted his soliloquy; the anxious parrot swooped down towards the villains, perching itself on the man's shoulder, whom looked highly offended at being interrupted. "Jafar!" the parrot squawked, gesturing wildly, "I've looked everywhere for Jasmine. She's disappeared like magic!"
The wicked Jafar rolled his eyes. "The girl is more trouble than she's worth."
"You said you had things under control," Maleficent said sternly.
"Agrabah is full of holes for rats to hide in," Jafar responded, wrinkling his nose, "But why worry about Princess Jasmine? With her or without her, surely this world will be ours when we find the Keyhole."
"We need all seven Princesses of Heart to open the final door. Any fewer is useless."
"Well, if the princess is that important, we'll find her."
Jafar waved his hand as a few Heartless appeared behind him, wearing traditional garb to match the locals and brandishing long scimitars. "Find Jasmine and bring her to me at once," he barked.
The Heartless quickly obeyed him and sprinted through the streets, breaking barrels and crates, poking through every nook and cranny in search of the princess.
"Don't steep yourself in darkness too long," Maleficent advised, "The Heartless consume the careless."
Jafar gave out a hearty laugh. "Your concern is touching but hardly necessary."
He watched as Maleficent disappeared in a portal of darkness before frowning in disgust. Certainly, she had no reason to ever doubt the royal vizier; he was more than qualified for the job. However, the Mistress of Evil herself had decided to grace his world with her presence; failure was not an option.
"Whew, Donald, where in the world did you bring us?" Akira asked, fanning herself as she wiped the sweat off her brow.
Donald fared no better, being covered in feathers. "I didn't bring us here. It was the closest world to the navigation portal Cid's gummi opened for us. Besides shouldn't you guys be used to the heat?"
"We didn't live in a desert," Sora said as he flashed Donald a glare.
Indeed, the junior heroes had landed at the entrance of a sprawling city with shops and taverns and houses galore. Unfortunately, the magnificent city was located right in the middle of the desert, and the group definitely felt the heat as they explored their surroundings. The locals must have found ways to adapt and cool off in the excruciating heat but, to the group's dismay, not a single soul could be found.
Amidst his attempts to cool down, Goofy accidentally tripped over a barrel and sent four crates crashing to the ground, breaking open as exotic fruit rolled down the streets.
"Nice going, Goofy," Donald said as he tapped his foot.
"Who's there? Hello?"
Their attention was instantly drawn to a striking young woman who had been hiding behind the crates that had just tumbled to the ground. She poked her head out of her hiding spot to examine them, her eyes filled with worry.
"It's okay! We don't mean any harm," Sora said, attempting not to spook her.
"Yeah, Goofy's just a klutz," Donald added.
The young woman slowly rose from her hiding spot, watching the group with her soft brown eyes as she reluctantly took a step forward. Akira completely understood why she'd be apprehensive; her golden earrings, necklace, and shoes must have been worth a fortune. She gave Sora a look of surprise once he also noticed her expensive jewelry. No simple commoner would dress themselves in such luxury to wander the streets of the marketplace and hide behind some crates.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"We're Sora, Akira, Donald, and Goofy," Sora said while gesturing to each individual.
The young woman nodded as a gentle smile formed on her face; she felt no malice from these oddly dressed visitors. "I am Jasmine. My father is the sultan of Agrabah," she explained.
"So that means…" Akira said with wide eyes, "You're a princess!"
Jasmine nodded solemnly. "That's correct. But my father has been deposed by Jafar, who now controls the city."
"Jafar?" Goofy asked, scratching his chin.
Jasmine's eyes grew wide with surprise. She assumed from their strange attire that they'd be from a city across the desert; but, even so, everyone knew of the sultan and his royal vizier. "You haven't heard of him? He's the royal vizier, loyal consult to the sultan. Well, he used to be…"
"What happened to him?" Akira asked.
"It happened almost overnight. He gained awful dark powers and seized Agrabah. He's desperately looking for something – something he calls a 'Keyhole'."
The four of them immediately turned to each other and nodded. The story was all too familiar at this point; there was trouble brewing in this city, and they were definitely needed here.
"Jafar caught me trying to escape, but then he helped me," Jasmine said in a dreamy voice.
"Who helped you?" Sora asked.
"We were hiding nearby, but he left a while ago to take care of something..." Jasmine recalled, "Oh, I hope Aladdin's all right."
"Aladdin? And where might I find this street rat?"
Just the mere sound of his voice hissing through the air sent chills down their spines. They didn't recognize the voice, nor did they recognize the man it belonged to when they perceived him looking down at them from a high ledge, but they somehow knew this awful man could be none other than the infamous Jafar.
"Jasmine, allow me to find more suitable company for you, my dear princess," he said with poison dripping from every word, "These little rats won't do, you see."
Sora summoned his Keyblade and shielded the princess with his arm as Jafar called a mass of Heartless from the shadows. "Jasmine, run," he whispered urgently.
"Ah, the boy who holds the key," Jafar said with a wide grin as his army of Heartless poured from the ledge to attack, "So, you have crawled your way into my grasp…"
They summoned their respective weapons and clashed with the Heartless in battle, falling right into Jafar's trap as they remained too occupied dealing with the threat to notice Jasmine escape from the danger, with Jafar following closely behind her.
"Where could she have gone?" Donald asked breathlessly.
They found themselves alone when they disposed of Jafar's Heartless and resorted themselves to exploring the city to find where Jasmine may have hidden. Yet, their luck had run dry, for the princess was nowhere to be found.
"We've got to think," Akira said, bringing her finger to her lips, "In this city, where would you hide from danger?"
"How about up an alcove?" Goofy called.
He had found a climbing pole reaching up to a hidden nook amidst the narrow buildings, completely concealed from the average eye unless one were to be specifically looking for it.
"That's brilliant, Goofy," Sora said excitedly.
They followed the pole and climbed up into a small loft nestled between two buildings, but what they found was far more than what they expected. Despite the massive holes on both sides of the walls, the alcove seemed to be inhabited by someone. Ripped cloth was used as a makeshift curtain to cover the holes in the walls, and old discarded furniture was given new life in this room, such as dressers, bookcases, and even a worn-out bed. Regardless, these weren't the nicest living conditions compared to the rest of the homes that lined the streets, which only meant one of two things: either someone would escape here when the difficulties of life caught up with them, or someone too impoverished to own a regular home lived here.
Despite whatever the reason could be, the group had come here for one reason, and were heartbroken to find that the princess they searched for was nowhere in sight. However, as luck would have it, a clue presented itself to them as they searched the room; Donald approached a chest of drawers and quacked in surprise at what he saw.
A well-crafted and very ornate purple rug thrashed beneath the chest, desperate to free itself from underneath the weight of the furniture. They mustered their strength and managed to push the chest off the carpet, whom jumped into the air in ecstasy. It waved the tassels at its corners in gratitude to the group before flying out of one of the holes in the wall, making its way towards the desert.
Akira stood frozen, her jaw dropped. "Th-that carpet… just thanked us and flew off."
Donald groaned. "You're okay with talking doorknobs but no, you draw the line at a flying carpet." He brought his feathered palm to his head in disbelief.
Akira narrowed her eyes. "Forgive me for not casually accepting the fact that a literal carpet just flew away into the horizon."
"Guys," Sora said with a grin, placing a hand on each of their shoulders, "Can this wait? Jasmine is kind of in trouble right now."
"Maybe we should follow that carpet to the desert," Goofy suggested, "It might lead us to a clue to finding her."
They exited the city in a hurry to find the same carpet they had been chasing had waited for their arrival, gesturing impatiently towards the desert. Sensing danger nearby, they accepted the carpet's offer to carry them towards the disturbance, though, when they lay eyes on the threat, they almost wished they hadn't.
A massive horde of Heartless, far more than they can count, danced around a pit of sand, hungrily eyeing a trapped young man who tried desperately to escape. A small companion monkey was pulling on the young man's arm, but the weight was too much for the little monkey to handle.
"Look, down there!" Sora yelled, pointing to the scene before them, "He's in trouble!"
They leaped off the carpet together and landed in the sand amidst a large group of Heartless. Akira summoned her staff and knocked one out of Sora's way as Donald set fire to another that attempted an attack. "We'll take care of the Heartless. Go help that guy!" the duck yelled among the ruckus.
Sora sidestepped between hordes of angry Heartless, narrowly dodging claw swipes and the occasional flying scimitar as he made his way towards the young man. The monkey squeaked loudly when he arrived, flailing its arms as it begged him to help. Sora grabbed onto the man's arm and pulled him out of the sandpit with all his strength, crashing into a few Heartless in the process.
"Th-thank you," the man managed to say as he spat out the sand from his mouth.
Sora quickly summoned his Keyblade and knocked a few Heartless away from them, slipping in the sand as he tried to keep his balance. His friends fared no better, and soon enough, they were completely surrounded by a plethora of different varieties of Heartless, each one deadlier than the last.
"No… there's too many of them!" Sora cried as he blocked another blow.
Amidst the chaos that surrounded them, the man managed to stand up, pulling an old oil lamp from his pocket. "Genie, get rid of these guys!" he yelled, raising the lamp into the air.
Sparks burst and sputtered from the tip of the lamp before a blue smoke erupted from within, revealing a massive, blue, human-like genie with golden cuffs around his wrists and a red wrap just below his abdomen. With a smile, the genie snapped his fingers, and every single Heartless in the vicinity suddenly vanished, leaving nothing but the dying desert winds around them. He winked at Aladdin before melting into a puff of blue smoke and returning to the lamp.
"What…happened?" Akira asked, shocked.
"Some kind of miracle?" Donald said in a daze.
They were certain this desert would be their demise; there were far too many Heartless for just the four of them to handle. Unless Sora had unleashed an incredibly powerful attack they were unaware of, they couldn't figure out how the Heartless would just dissolve into thin air in the blink of an eye.
"Thank goodness that's over with," the man they had rescued said as he dusted off his billowing white pants. He wore a purple vest and a small red hat atop a head of jet-black hair. He shook the remaining sand pebbles from his hair, still clutching the golden lamp in his right hand. "Thanks for coming to rescue me," he said with a brilliant smile, "Didn't expect to find anyone this far out in the desert!"
"The carpet guided us here!" Goofy explained as they approached the new stranger.
The man smiled as the flying carpet twirled around him before settling at his side. "I see you've met Carpet. I would've been a goner if it weren't you for you, buddy."
He bumped his fist with the carpet's tassel and laughed before introducing himself. "My name's Aladdin, and my monkey friend here is Abu. We were on our way back to Agrabah from the Cave of Wonders when those shadow creatures attacked us."
The small monkey tipped his hat to the group and bowed as Sora gave him a nod of approval. "We're Sora, Akira, Donald, and Goofy. So, how did you run into the Heartless, Aladdin?"
Aladdin wrinkled his nose. "Heartless? Is that what they're called?"
Sora nodded. "Yeah, they're our enemies."
"More importantly, how did you get rid of them all so quickly?" Donald asked.
Aladdin gave out a hearty laugh as he scratched the back of his head. "Oh, that? I used the lamp I found in the Cave of Wonders!"
He stretched the golden lamp out for all to see. They marvelled at how beautiful the small lamp looked amidst the dirt and grime that stained its surface, with its solid gold handle and intricate writing in a language foreign to their own.
Aladdin lowered his head, drumming up the suspense. "Legend has it, whoever holds the lamp can summon the-"
"Please kid, leave the intros to a professional!"
The group gasped at the sudden muffled voice. They were certain it had come from the lamp, however the lamp seemed much too small to house an actual person. Aladdin grinned, enjoying their looks of surprise as he rubbed the side of the lamp.
The same blue smoke from earlier began to slowly seep forth from the tip of the lamp, forming itself into a large and powerful genie. "The one and only Genie of the lamp!" he boomed with his arms outstretched.
"A real-life genie?" Akira beamed. One of the first books she had ever read on her own was a collection of short stories involving cunning thieves, lavish treasures, and crafty genies; though she never imagined she'd actually meet one.
Genie nodded to the admiring teens. "Yes, ma'am, an honest to goodness, one of a kind Genie! Rub the lamp and have your dearest wishes granted!" he announced as he floated over to Aladdin's side, "And today's winner is… Aladdin! Congratulations!"
He merrily shook his hands as he made confetti appear from thin air, raining down on Aladdin as he held up a sign reading the word 'Winner'.
The friends watched the show with mouths agape, stunned and excited at what the genie would come up with next. Donald, however, had different concerns in mind. "Any wish?" he asked hungrily.
"Patience, my fine feathered friend," Genie said, raising a finger in the air, "Any three wishes. One wish, two wish, three wish, then I make like a banana and split. Our lucky winner has already made his first wish – and what a doozy that was – so he has two left!"
Genie summoned a microphone out of thin air and placed the spotlight on Aladdin, moving all the attention to him. "So, master, what'll you have for wish number two?"
Aladdin scratched his chin for a moment but needed very little thought; he knew exactly what he wanted for quite some time. "How about making me a fabulously wealthy prince?"
Genie's smile grew wide with excitement at the idea. "Oh! Money! Royalty! Fame! A hundred servants and a hundred camels loaded with gold!" He made a phone appear out of thin air and brought it to his ear while typing on a computer he also conjured up in an instant. "Just say the word and I'll deliver it in thirty minutes or less, or your meal's free! Hey, I'll even throw in a cappuccino."
"Now that is what I call a wish!" Donald said excitedly.
Aladdin chuckled. "It certainly is, but I think I'll put it on hold until we reach Agrabah."
"Why a prince?" Goofy asked.
Aladdin blushed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "You see, there's this girl in Agrabah named Jasmine. But she's a princess and I'm just a… ah, she'll never fall for a guy like me."
"How romantic," Akira said dreamily, cupping her face in her hands, "… wait a second, princess?"
"Jasmine?" Donald continued.
Sora gasped as he and his allies suddenly remembered the reason they were in this situation. "Oh, right! Aladdin, she's in trouble!"
"What?" Aladdin exclaimed, his expression filled with worry, "Well, come on, let's get going!"
Thankfully, Carpet was able to carry the weight of five average-sized people and a small monkey at a relatively quick speed as they raced back to Agrabah, and to Jasmine's rescue. Genie flew at their side, enjoying the warm air and good company.
"Fresh air! The great outdoors!" he exclaimed.
Sora looked over to him. "I guess you don't get out much, huh?"
Genie shrugged his shoulders. "Comes with the job. Phenomenal cosmic powers; itty-bitty living space. It's always three wishes, then back to my portable prison. I'm lucky to see the light of day every century or two..."
The group looked to the ground, unable to figure out what to say next. Genie seemed like such a happy and cheerful character when they first met him; they didn't imagine he kept so much hurt inside when he was busy throwing confetti and granting wishes.
Finally, Aladdin spoke up. "Say Genie, what if I use my last wish to free you from the lamp? What do you think?"
Genie took a moment to answer, stunned by his sudden proposition. "You'd do that?"
The team felt the sincerity in Aladdin's proposition as he smiled to Genie. No matter what happened, he'd set him free.
"Genie, it's a promise. After we help Jasmine."