A Fiend in Need

Part 3: Suggestions

"Al," Genie called from across the hovel, "it's not gonna get any better if you keep picking at it."

It was obvious that Genie's advice went unheard as Aladdin prodded his rich juniper blue cheek in front of a mirror. Jasmine had given him a full-length mirror in her ongoing attempt to make the hovel more welcoming, along with a set of red curtains that had a gaping hole due to Iago ripping right through them in panic. This would be the recorded as the first and only time that Aladdin used that mirror, as well as the longest time. Carpet peeked over Aladdin's shoulder, inquisitively when the boy brushed him away.

"Look at me, Genie," Aladdin said, turning to his companion. "I'm...blue."

"So am I," Genie replied cheerfully. "We could start a club. I already got the t-shirts made up!" Genie unfurled a light blue shirt with white letters reading "Code: Blue". "It was the name of a band I started, but then the lead singer quitted and did that talent show..." Genie trailed off when he noticed the dour expression on Aladdin. "Sorry, Al. That probably didn't make you feel any better."

Aladdin sighed before looking at the mirror once more. He suddenly slammed his fists on the wall. "Pestor did this to me," he growled, "and I am gonna find him and make him change me back!"

"Well, that's gonna be kinda hard," Genie replied sheepishly. "I kicked him pretty far. Who knows where he ended up?"

As Carpet hovered over the boy's shoulder, Aladdin jerked his head around. Genie and Carpet recoiled with great exaggeration. Aladdin merely chuckled as he got closer to his companions.

"Well, maybe you can find a cure," the boy suggested. "You know, use some of that semi-phenomenal, nearly cosmic power?"

With that Genie smiled and, in a swirl, the hovel changed into a sterile white room, inhabited by large boxes with flashing buttons and that emitted chirps and mechanical whistles. Aladdin was poofed onto a bench, covered in white paper. Genie reappeared, in a glaring white lab coat and a thick pair of goggles.

"Now, Al," Genie said, waving his hand and making a ledger appear in his hands, "we are going to conduct a series of tests, with hopes of finding the cause and thus concocting a possible solution to your 'colorization'." He thumbed through the ledger as Carpet pried Aladdin's mouth open with his tassels and held a light to his jaws. "Now, first question: did he give you any gum?"

Baffled by this question, Aladdin reluctantly mumbled, "No."

"Okay," Genie slammed the ledger shut, "so you're not turning into a piece of fruit. That's good, because I just rented out my juicing equipment for the weekend. Mr. Dahl likes his fresh-squeezed-"

"Genie!" Aladdin interrupted.

"Okay, okay," Genie shook his hands. He then tapped his chin, thoughtfully. "Hmm, maybe we should use the machine."

Aladdin suddenly had an uneasy feeling in his gut. "What's the machine?"

Aladdin got his reply when Carpet stuck a suction cup to Aladdin's forehead. The boy looked at it, a thin wire curling into a large, intimidating looking box with red flashing buttons and long levers. Genie hovered towards it, pushing the buttons and moving the levers up and down. The machine began to crackle and hum. Aladdin gripped the edges of the bench, bracing himself as the hum got louder and the crackling became more intense.

Then there was a tiny ding!

"Danishes are done!" Genie announced cheerfully, pulling a lever down and a plate of steaming pastries popped out. Putting on an oven mitt, Genie grabbed the plate and set it down on a bench. The jinni then summoned a carton and three tall glasses and poured milk into the glasses. Carpet prodded the pastries cautiously with its tassel. Genie handed one to Aladdin, who was very confused by all of this. "Careful, they're still hot."

"Uh, Genie," Aladdin asked, "was there a point to this?"

Genie looked up, mouth covered with crumbs and cream cheese. "Oh, there's a point, I promise." Genie wiped the crumbs away with his sleeve. "This machine-" He pointed to it. "-not only makes delicious pastries, it monitors your brain waves." He flicked the suction cup on Aladdin's forehead. "If your brain senses something wrong, it will send it to the machine through the little cup."

Suddenly, there was a sharp ding!

"Oh, must be the print out." Genie flew back to the machine and in front a roll of paper was slowly coming out, accompanied by loud humming buzz. The jinni ripped it off and scanned it. As he read, a worried look appeared on his face.

"What is it, Genie?" Aladdin asked, growing concerned.

"There's definitely something in your head, Al," Genie said finally after a dramatically long pause, "and...I don't know what it is."

"What? But what about-" Aladdin's face fell. He looked at his skin and frowned. Carpet "looked" at him, concerned and lowered itself next to him, nuzzling against him.

"But that didn't stop us in the past," Genie added. "I'll find out everything there is on that Pestor even if it kills you."

There was a pause.

"Not in the literal sense, of course."

Before Aladdin could answer, the white room disappeared and was replaced by a dimly lit, musty smelling library. Aladdin was seated on a large squishy cushion, Carpet in a rather stately armchair. Suddenly, there was a slam on the nearby table. Aladdin looked up and Genie, peeking behind a tall tower of leather bound books, was dressed in robes and a mortarboard was perched atop his head.

"Let the rrrrrresearch begin!" Genie trilled as his pulled off the top book and, slumping into an armchair, began to flip through it.

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With an amused expression on his face, Mozenrath began circling Eden and Dondi. Xerxes, finally showing up, snapped ever so often at the young girl, who pulled closer to her jinni.

"My, my," he mused as he completed his circle, "interesting, isn't it?" Eden stood defensively in front of her young mistress. "I never really knew what would happen if anti-magic manacles ended up on a non-magical being. Oh, well, you learn new things every day."

"What do you want?" Eden demanded.

"Oh, a little song, a little dance," Mozenrath said, nonchalantly, "Aladdin's head on a lance." Dondi mouthed an "ewww". "But what I need is you to do what I command."

Eden glowered with revulsion. "What makes you think I'll do that?"

With a devious smirk, the sorcerer reached behind Eden and grabbed Dondi by the wrist, the girl letting out a yelp. Eden growled, reaching for her mistress, but recoiled as she was shocked once more. Then Eden looked at Mozenrath and crossed her arms, shrewdly.

"Oh, I see," the jinni said, realization setting in. "You still haven't gotten your powers back, so you're gonna wrangle me into your rodeo, cowboy."

"This wasn't because of Khartoum," Mozenrath sighed. "This was due to a completely unrelated circumstance. Now, my demands are simple-"

"Okay, how did you lose your powers this time?" Eden asked, interrupting.

"It's not your concern," the sorcerer answered quickly. "Now if you please."

"But if you got your powers back without using me," Eden elaborated, "then why can't you just do the same thing this time?"

"I just can't, all right!" Mozenrath yelled, his grip on her wrist made Dondi squirm. "Look, do what I say or I feed little Dumbo to Xerxes."

Eden stared at him, aghast. Dondi tried to slink away, but, grabbing the collar of her coat, Mozenrath jerked her closer to his side. Xerxes made a slurping sound, followed by a cackle.

"You can't feed her to that thing!" Eden yelled. "And her name is Dondi!"

"You're right," Mozenrath said lightly, inspecting Dondi. Eden and Dondi looked at him with "seriously?" expressions on their faces. "She'll have to take a bath first. I don't want Xerxes getting food poisoning."

The jinni's and her master's jaws both dropped.

"But, if you play nice, I'll take the manacles off of...Dondi and the both of you get to go home happy."

"Wait a minute, you gozlin," Eden pointed out. "You tried this shmuts last time. The moment I agree to do what you want, you double-cross me and suck me dry! How will I know that you won't pull that a stunt like that this time?"

"Would you like to bet her life on it?" Mozenrath asked, sharply tapping on Dondi's head. The girl swatted his fist away with her free hand. Suddenly, after a momentary pause, Mozenrath's mouth twitched. "Did you just call me a gosling?"

"Actually, I think she called you a thief," Dondi explained. Mozenrath shot an icy glare at the child. She shrunk back slightly. "It's 'Genie-ish'."

"Ever been a hostage, kid?" the sorcerer asked her, still glaring at her.

"Well, there was this one time where these two men put me in a cage-"

"Then you should know that hostages are required to be quiet!" Xerxes let out a raspberry at the girl.

"Hey!" Eden yelled. "Don't talk to her that way!" Mozenrath turned his focus back on the jinni, frowning. "There's still that manner of our deal."

The corners of the sorcerer's mouth formed a smirk.

"So, we have a deal?" Mozenrath asked, his tone now pleasant. "Or does my familiar get to eat the brat?"

"Yeah," Eden sulked, pursing her lips.

"Excellent," Mozenrath said, throwing Dondi back to Eden, who braced herself as the manacles on Dondi's wrists shocked her. "See what happens when you cooperate?"

The jinni only glowered resentfully before turning to Dondi. "You okay, baby?"

Dondi nodded quickly, glancing back at Xerxes who was hovering close behind her, grinning.

"Beat it, tube sock!" Eden bellowed, her mouth revealing jagged fangs. The eel gulped frightened and scurried back to the safety of his master's shoulder. "So," Eden turned back to Mozenrath, "What is it that requires my 'assistance'?"

"I need you to assist me in a heist."

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It had only been a good hour of flipping through dusty tomes, yet the research marathon seemed to drag on far longer for the three companions. Genie, now on his two hundredth book, now sported five band-aids on one hand. Carpet, slumping to one side, turned the page of its book slowly. Aladdin drummed his fingers on his leg impatiently as he read the contents of its page. He stared intensely at the grotesque picture of a man suffering from a rare disease, his skin covered in big round blue blisters. He shuddered, slamming the book shut, when he heard Genie cry excitedly.

"I found our little bugger!" Genie exclaimed, holding a page to Aladdin's face.

Aladdin scanned it. "It looks like a journal."

"Yes, because it IS a journal," Genie confirmed, "The journal of Khan Struck!"

"Wait, we broke his jewel only this morning!" Aladdin pointed. Carpet nodded in affirmation.

"Yes," Genie exclaimed, "but there's more to his legacy than that jewel and more importantly, a connection to Pestor!"

Aladdin's expression brightened. "Well, what does it say about him?"

"Well, apparently, Khan didn't like him that much as judged by this little cartoon of him stabbing him repeatedly and the words 'Die! Die!' surrounding him." Genie flipped a couple pages forward and, holding up the book, pointed to the crudely drawn cartoon. "From what I've read, Pestor was Khan's assistant in his contracting firm, construction I believe, but, as I said before, Khan hated him and-"

"Well, what happened between them and why is he here?" Aladdin asked. "Is there anything about slime?"

"Whoa, easy, Al," Genie warned. "Don't burst all at once. Well, there are references to eggs that leak strange colored slime. Ugh, there's a picture of one of them crawling up into somebody's nose. Doesn't look pretty." Aladdin reached up and snatched the book from Genie's hands. He made a face, looking at the picture of a man, his body contorting horrifically as slime climbed up into his nostril.

"Does it mention anything about a cure?" Aladdin asked. When he saw Genie shaking his head, his heart sank.

Suddenly, there was a frightened screech as Abu comes running into the library.

"Whoa, Abu!" Aladdin exclaimed as the monkey leapt onto his head and started the boy's fez nervously. Aladdin reached up and snatched his squirming friend. "Whoa, calm down, calm down," he said soothingly, stroking Abu's head. Apparently, it had an effect as Abu immediately loosened up like a rag doll with a sigh. "Okay, buddy, what did you see?"

Aladdin set Abu down on the table, where the monkey began to chatter rapidly. Genie, meanwhile, pulled out a dictionary, aptly titled "The Human to Monkey Edition", and began flipping through it.

"Hey, slow down and enunciate!" Genie said to Abu, who glared at him and resumed chattering, though now at a slower pace. "Okay, 'ook-squeakity-squeakity-squawk-ook'." He turned to Aladdin. "It seems Cheetah here says that he found Pestor over in the bazaar again and something about a purple donkey dishwasher."

"What are we waiting for!" Aladdin exclaimed. "Let's go!" The boy ran towards the door when he is stopped by Genie's hand, the arm attached to it stretched very long.

"Whoa, there," Genie remarked, retracting his arm, "Might I suggest doing something about the...blueness?"

Aladdin took a moment to look at himself. He had almost forgotten he was blue.

"Any chance of covering it up?" he queried Genie.

"Let's see," Genie mused, looking at Aladdin. "I'm thinking long sleeves, pants and boots. Maybe some tasteful gloves." Suddenly, the jinni smiled and, gripping the corner of Aladdin's vest, he ripped off his former master's clothes in one swift motion.

For those who think that Aladdin was standing there in the buff, get your minds out of the gutter. Aladdin was now dress in a grey long-sleeved shirt with a green vest over it and a pair of grey comfortable pants. On his feet was a pair of black boots and on his hands there were black gloves. However, Aladdin was unable to see this as he was struggling to pull off the white bandages wrapped around his head.

"Genie," he mumbled, aggravated.

"Okay," Genie chuckled awkwardly as he pulled the bandages quickly, sending Aladdin into a wild spin. "So the Claude Rains look isn't for you."

Carpet caught the boy, who now appeared...turquoise and ready to vomit.

"I guess we'll have to call on Mary Kay."

Suddenly, Aladdin was plopped down on a chair as Genie, now appearing as an ample-breasted blonde woman in a white smock, hovered above him, armed with a make-up sponge and a cake of foundation.

"Now, darling," he said, "if it stings, that means the beauty is burning through."

Before Aladdin answer, Genie began to work, a cloud of flesh color dust appearing inside the library. As the dust settled, Genie handed Aladdin a mirror. Aladdin looked into the mirror, his familiar face staring back at him. With astonishment, he prodded his cheek. However, the slight euphoria he felt briefly disappeared as he glanced at the flesh colored spot on the fingertip of his glove and the spot of juniper blue standing out on his cheek.

"You need to be careful, Al," Genie remarked, dabbing that blue spot with his sponge. "And bring an umbrella. You'll never know when those unexpected rainstorms come popping up, though chances are it's just Iago and Thundra having a lover's quarrel."

"Thanks, Genie," Aladdin said, as he jumped to his feet. "Come on, guys. Let's go!"

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"So, let's review what you want me to do," Eden said. "You want me to break into-"

"Infiltrate," Mozenrath corrected her.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the jinni rolled her eyes, "infiltrate the Royal treasury, take seven hundred dinari, and just give it to you?"

"Precisely," the sorcerer replied. "Even she can understand that." He added, pointing to Dondi who was sitting cross legged on the floor, propping her head up with her knee and looking very listless. "I don't get why you can't."

"Because, frankly, I just think it's an insult to both our intelligence."

Mozenrath glared at Eden for a moment. "I didn't ask you to be obstinate," he said, icily.

"And Dondi didn't ask to come here," Eden replied. "Look at her. She clearly bored out of her skull." Dondi winced as Xerxes nipped at her ear, trying in vain to push the eel away.

"I did not ask about the conditions of my hostage!" the sorcerer exclaimed, angrily. "I merely want to know why you are defying me!"

"For moral obligations," the jinni replied, simply.

"Moral obligations?" he sputtered, incredulously.

"We have a young and impressionable child here." Eden pointed to Dondi, now slapping Xerxes' cheek. The eel blew a raspberry as he swam out of the room. "If I commit theft, what example would I be setting for her, especially since I keep telling her that stealing is wrong?"

"Setting an example?" Mozenrath slapped his forehead in frustration. "Look, will you just cool it with the overprotective soccer mom attitude?"

"And another thing," Eden approached the sorcerer, accusingly, "that plan lacks any of your imagination. I mean, break into the treasury for gold. It's like saying that you're strapped for cash."

A momentary pause occurred between them.

"You borrowed a book from the Interdimensional Cosmic Library and didn't return it on time, didn't you?" Eden inquired, though it was more of a statement.

Mozenrath doesn't answer, but walked away from Eden, his arms crossed, like a spoiled child would after being scold.

"Figures he would. Hey Mozie!" Eden hollered after him. Immediately, he stopped.

"Do not call me that," he seethed, that tone of arrogance present in his speech. "Refer to me as 'My Lord'."

"I'll call you whatever I please," Eden retorted. "Listen, better sorcerers than you had to scrounge to pay their library fines to avoid bankruptcy, heck one of my last masters had to sell my bottle to pay for a half of what he owed those crooks. So just get over yourself."

Mozenrath shout a venomous glare at Eden, his lip twitching.

"Um, sir," Dondi spoke up. Mozenrath glanced down at the child. "Um, my Lord, you run this place, right? Like the Sultan?"

Mozenrath's eyebrow rose, inquisitively.

"If you need the money, why don't you just temporarily raise taxes to pay your debt?"

The sorcerer sighed annoyed and knelt down, now at Dondi's level. "Kid, have you seen what's outside?"

"No, you had me tied to a chair in the hallway. You need to learn to tie knots better."

"Well, if you haven't noticed, apart from myself and my mamluks, there aren't any people and no people means no money from taxes."

"I'm beginning to see why you're bent on world conquest," Eden remarked. "Nobody wants to live in this dump, let alone pay to live in it."

"Well," Dondi added, "maybe if he tried making it better for people, maybe they would-"

"And ruin the reputation I've spent years developing for myself?" Mozenrath scoffed as he stood upright. "I found it's more effective and, in long run, safe to be feared than to be loved."

"You've been reading Machiavelli's diary, haven't you?" Eden remarked, sharply.

"Well, had I know that I was going be lectured about financial and political affairs by a jinni and her pet rat," Mozenrath growled, "I would have just used the Crystal of Ix."

That moment, Eden turned pale. Mozenrath smiled, cruelly.

"Yes, that's it. That'll cure your impertinence. IXTA-" However, before he could utter the last syllable, Eden flicked her finger and the sorcerer's lips were sealed with a zipper, a device that didn't appear until approximately four hundred years later.

"Don't go around saying things you don't mean, you shmuck," Eden said. "You forget I have more power in a toenail than you have in your entire existence."

Muffled, Mozenrath managed to scream, his face turning maroon.

"What's that?" Eden asked, mockingly. "Yes, you are a shmuck."

Glancing back at Dondi who looked at her bewildered, Eden sighed and unzipped the sorcerer's mouth.

"How dare you speak to me like that!" Mozenrath bellowed. "You forget that you agreed to this! In fact, I was the one who decided to be polite and merely asked rather than just sucking you into the Crystal of Ix the moment you set foot on here!"

"Well, I'm doing you a service of making sure that you're not going to do something stupid," Eden retorted, "that will just further complicate things and get you in trouble."

"Oh, and you and your boyfriend would just hate to see that happen," Mozenrath hissed, "wouldn't you?"

"Only because I'm not leaving until you take those things off of Dondi." Eden pointed at the manacles.

"Well, tough luck, 'cause the only way that's going to happen is if I get money and how will I get it without magic?"

"Why can't you just get a job?" Dondi asked all of the sudden. There was a long and awkward pause as the sorcerer glared at the child, dumbfounded.

"Let me rephrase what I just said," Mozenrath replied, recovering. "The only way that's going to happen is if I get money TODAY. Not tomorrow, not two weeks from now."

"Yeah, but did they specific a deadline?" Dondi asked. "I mean, it's not as risky as just stealing the money and you pretty much got nothing to lose except a few hours."

"But who would hire me?" Mozenrath asked, doubtfully.

"Anybody who is willing to have a pasty megalomaniac on their payroll," Eden interjected (Mozenrath just shot a venomous glare at her), "and that's pretty much everybody."

"Yeah," Dondi replied, "you're smart, um, pretty-" Mozenrath looked at her, oddly. "-uh, handsome and well-dressed."

Mozenrath placed a finger on his chin, thoughtfully. It was a well-known fact that most villains liked having their egos stoked, but, while he was hardly an exception (heck, it wasn't everyday that he was complimented), the sorcerer knew the old adage too well.

"You honestly think that?" Mozenrath asked, suspiciously as he approached her.

"Yep," Dondi replied, "especially about the part of being smart and handsome." Dondi looked at Eden who was now behind Mozenrath. Eden gave a quick thumbs up. "But if you don't feel confident enough," Dondi added, nonchalantly, "it's completely understandable. Eden said to me time and time again that it's hard to find a job, even if you have brains."

"She's right," Eden added. "I bet you can't get a job, even with your book learning and experience in management." The sorcerer mulled what the girl and Eden said over. He glanced back at the djinni and her mistress. He couldn't get the feeling that he was falling into a trap out of his head. However, he then approached the child and looked down at her, his arms crossed, defensively.

"I know this is just some half-baked plan that you two are concocting to get the better of me," Mozenrath said to Dondi, skeptically, "but seeing that I have very few options and that you were more constructive than your jinni, I'll play your game. It's not like you're going anywhere, kid."

Dondi nodded, Mozenrath smirking as he headed towards the hallway. He stopped at the archway and whispered to Xerxes.

"And what do you plan for us to do while you're out, exactly?" Eden inquired.

"The library's a mess," Mozenrath replied, cockily. "I want you to clean it up. Meanwhile, I have to go job searching." However, before he could take another step, Eden poofed in front of him.

"Oh, allow me," Eden said, a devious smile present on her face. Before Mozenrath could protest, a swirl of green smoke surrounds him and he vanished. Dondi ran to her jinni, but kept a reasonable distance from her.

"Where did you send him?" Dondi asked, curious.

"Oh, he'll know when he gets there," Eden replied, cheekily.

"You don't like him very much, do you?"

"You have no idea, baby."

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The chattering business of the Agrabah Office of Employment and Training was temporarily put to a halt as a young man in dark blue crashed through the roof of its waiting room. As the dust cleared, business resumed as if nothing happened. Mozenrath groaned and cough as he shakily rose to his feet.

"I thought I'd learned my lesson in subcontracting," he grumbled to himself as he brushed the red dust off his tabard. "Why? Why didn't I?"

"Hey, lady!" A gruff voice barked. Mozenrath turned towards the rather large and burly man behind him and scowled. "I don't care that you made a big entrance. Take a number and wait your turn like the rest of us!"

Any other day, Mozenrath would just rear back his right hand and hit that man, hurling him to next Thursday, and take his spot in line. However, common sense and the fact that he was currently just another scrawny pale weird kid up against a giant that could easily break him like a chicken bone won over and he shuffled over to the desk up front. He swiped a small red ticket from a roll and glanced at it.

"47" was on his ticket.

They were currently serving "9".

Mozenrath frowned when he felt a nudging against his shoulder. He turned and was staring face to face with a camel. Despite his shock, he noticed that the beast had a clipboard, attached to it was parchment, in its mouth. His brain insinuating that the camel wanted him to fill out some paperwork, he slowly slid the clipboard from the beast's lips, a string of drool dangling off it. He found a seat in between a rather hirsute fellow (his attire was evidently Odiferous) and a shivering man wearing nothing but a white turban and a white diaper. Ignoring them, Mozenrath took a glance at the parchment on the clipboard.

"What was your grandmother's middle name?" was one of the questions printed upon it. Thus he began his dive into the muddled swamp that was the Agrabanian bureaucracy.