Previously:

"W-Well, let's go…" Alibaba said nervously, starting to get to his feet. The Chief and his slaves swept straight past him and Faith without so much as a side glance. Their eyes were fixed on Aladdin. "!?" Alibaba said, surprised. 'They completely ignored us!'

'They totally blanked us…!' Faith thought with a scoff, a little offended.

"I've been waiting for you, magi…" the Chief said, kneeling respectfully before the sleeping Aladdin. "For ten lone years. And now, you're here before me…"

'Magi… What's that…?' Faith and Alibaba wondered. Why was this guy talking like he knew Aladdin?

Chapter 13: Tyrant

"Hey… How are you feeling?" the Chief asked the sleeping boy. Of course, Aladdin was in no position to answer. He was in such a deep state of unconsciousness in that moment that wild horses couldn't have woken him. "Goltas!" the Chief called.

"…" Goltas, the masked hulk with a sword, came forward at his master's bidding, and immediately picked Aladdin up using his free hand and hoisted the boy over his shoulder. Without further ado, the Chief and his slaves began walking away with their friend.

"W-Wait!! What are you doing?!?" Faith shouted incredulously, rushing after them. Alibaba immediately snapped out of his shock and followed. 'What's this bastard's deal!?' she wondered angrily. 'It's like we don't even exist!!'

"We said 'wait'!!" Alibaba said anxiously as they caught up to the other group and put themselves between them and the exit to block their path, forcing the Chief to take notice of them. "At least take us too!"

"Yeah! And when are you going to answer me!?" Faith demanded hotly. "I asked what you're doing here!!"

"…" The Chief and his slaves stood silent for a moment, as if speechless with surprise. "… I could ask the same thing of you." He told them. What did these dirty peons think they were doing?

"Huh!?" Alibaba and Faith said, taken aback.

"Why are you kiddos following me? What is it you need?"

"!?" said Alibaba, surprised.

"What do you mean, 'why'…?" Faith asked with a frown. "That's our friend you have there! Did you really think we were just going to let him get taken away by a bunch of strangers!?"

"Th-That's right… That guy came here with us!!" Alibaba said nervously, backing her up. "So I guess we're asking you… not to take him…"

"Huh? You say he's with you?" the Chief asked skeptically with a smile, laughing as if he had just heard a joke. "Listen up… You're just a couple of average Joes. I'll admit it's pretty brave of you to be in a place like this, and talking to me so familiarly… But you're not needed here, so get lost." He told them bluntly as he moved to step past them again.

"I said wait, dammit!" Alibaba snapped angrily with a vein throbbing on his head as Faith reached out and grabbed the Chief by the shoulder to stop him.

"You're the one here who isn't needed!!" she yelled.

The Chief stiffened and immediately slapped her hand away. There was a dangerous look in his eyes as he turned back to face them.

"You said… 'wait, dammit'…!? I'm the one who 'isn't needed'…!?" He demanded incredulously with a cold voice. "Apparently, you don't know your place, as human trash… Kill them, Goltas."

"Kill…?" Alibaba asked numbly, paling with shock, as Goltas handed Aladdin over to Morgiana and stepped forth to carry out his master's cruel order.

'This is fucked up…!' Faith thought nervously as the masked hulk towered over them with his big-ass sword.

"Hey, wait, big guy…" Alibaba said anxiously, taking a step back. "I was just kidding…!!"

"I was dead serious!!" Faith stated bluntly with such a serious expression, that Alibaba nearly face-faulted.

"The heck's you're problem!? You really will be dead in a minute if you don't shut up!!" he shouted at her as Goltas swung his blade, aiming to take them both out with one blow.

"Who's gonna die!?!?" Faith shouted incredulously as she and Alibaba quickly dodged the attack.

"!?" Goltas' eyes widened in shock as they danced around him. Before he could even blink, Faith was delivering a blow to the back of his knee and twisting his other arm behind his back. With her other leg she kicked the blade free from his hand, effectively disarming him.

"!!?" The Chief and Morgiana gasped and stared at them in amazement as Faith stood anchored there, holding Goltas in place, while Alibaba held his knife to the slave's throat to keep him from trying to escape.

"What the hell are you doing all of a sudden!?" Alibaba asked grimly. For a moment, the Chief just stood there, staring at them in stunned silence. And then, to their surprise, he started clapping.

"That's amazing! I thought of you two as nothing but a snot-nosed brat and a big-mouthed weakling of a girl… but you have some amazing moves!!" he praised them.

"…!?" Alibaba said nervously, a little taken aback and confused, while Faith's eye twitched in annoyance at his description of her. The Chief was… pleased?

"Which makes you worthless…" the Chief told his slave as he drew his sword and stabbed Goltas without warning. Alibaba and Faith's eyes widened in horror. They stood frozen shock as the Chief continued to stab his own slave over and over again. Faith immediately released her hold on Goltas, but he didn't move. He just stood there and took the abuse without uttering a sound. "Your job is to work for me… If you can't even do that much, you'll become an existence lower than trash." The chief continued coldly. "I guess this means I have to punish you… but how? Maybe like this? Or this?"

'What is his deal…' Alibaba wondered, dripping with cold sweat as the hand holding his dagger trembled, horrified by what he was seeing. 'What is he… He's not normal at all!!' he cried internally, stumbling as he fell backwards.

'This guy's a freakin' psychopath…!!' Faith screamed internally, so pale with shock that she almost looked blue. This guy was so dangerously insane that someone should have locked him up and thrown away the key! The look in the Chief's eyes while he calmly stabbed his own slave, another human, as if it were the most normal thing in the world to do frightened Faith far more than any monster could have. She began to shake and sweat bullets as terrifying memories from her past began to resurface, and images of the chaos after Katrina flashed through in her mind. The death of their mother… The looters breaking into their house… All of it came flooding back uninvited.

"Hey there… How about you two take his place?" said the Chief, pointing his sword at Alibaba and Faith. "Since you're so handy, I'll put you to work. You'll walk in front of me and make sure there are no traps. If you're willing to do that, I'll take you along. So, how about it?" he asked coldly with a dangerous look in his eye. "If you're going to remain in my sight… answer me!"

'What do I do!?' Alibaba cried internally. 'Run!? Or Do I fight this guy!? But… he's really bad news…!! Plus, he's got Aladdin captive… And Faith's miles away… What do I do, what can I do!?' Shaking nervously, Alibaba opened his mouth to speak. "Y… Yes! We'll do it…!!" He said determinedly, grabbing Faith's hand.

"!" Faith started out of her fifty-yard stare and looked at Alibaba as if she were seeing him for the first time. "… Yeah, we'll do it." she agreed, coming back to her senses. She clenched her fists. That's right, this wasn't New Orleans ten years ago. And she wasn't eight-years-old… She wasn't a helpless child who couldn't take care of herself anymore!

"Ahh, this is great!" said the Chief as the five of them walked along with Alibaba and Faith in the lead while Goltas carried Aladdin in rear. "I brought my slaves along with me and all, but then the exit went and disappeared! This sure is convenient!"

'Maybe for you…' Faith thought grudgingly as she trudged alongside Alibaba.

'Dammit… Aladdin is being held captive, so we don't have the luxury or the choice of running away…' Alibaba thought grimly, gritting his teeth.

'But hey, looking at it this way… If Aladdin is around, he can blow the flute when wakes up and get us out of this mess!' Faith thought with a gleam in her eye, trying to look on the bright side. She was seriously looking forward to that. All they had to do was bide their time til Aladdin was feeling better. The hard part would be playing along with the murderous psycho until then…

'I just have to figure out a way to get Aladdin away from them!!' Alibaba thought determinedly.

"What's with this flute…? It doesn't make any sound…" The Chief said, causing Alibaba and Faith to whip their heads around. Sure enough, the psycho now had the flute in his clutches. "We wouldn't want its owner to lose this while he's sleeping… So maybe I should hold onto it." The Chief said with a knowing smirk.

'Dammit, he's got the flute! He must have figured me out!' they both thought, gritting their teeth in frustration. Now what were they supposed to do!? As they walked, the naturally formed cavern soon gave way to a more structured tunnel that appeared to be man-made.

'What the? There are candlesticks here!?' Alibaba thought when the glowing moss was replaced by candles set in the brick-paved walls at even intervals.

'Wait, since when did the rocks underneath us become bricks?' Faith wondered when she noticed the ground beneath her feet had become much smoother. 'That only started just now, right?'

"Hmm, seems the dungeon… is changing?" the Chief thought aloud as the tunnel opened up to a larger chamber with a more neo-classical/Greco-Roman design, where they were greeted by the sight of what appeared to be an enormous stone dragon's mouth. The path before them, now lined with stone fangs, led straight into it. "Woow! Now this is what a dungeon should look like!" He said excitedly. "And I'm positive that the 'treasure chest' is waiting beyond this gate. Well, collecting treasure is a hobby of mine…" He stopped the group when they came to a large stone tablet mounted on a podium in front of the entrance to the dragon's mouth. "Well, well… What's written here, I wonder… It appears to bear an ancient language…" he mused aloud. "Hm? And this would have to be… the language of Torran…" Personally, Faith thought it looked a lot like Cuneiform.

"The language of Torran?" asked Alibaba, moving closer for a better look. "I hear there are a few tribes down south that use that language…" A bead of nervous sweat dripped down the side of his face when he realized the Chief was staring at him.

"Wow, you are amazing! I didn't think Plebeians could read such a complex language!" Said the Chief with a laugh. This little rascal~!

"Eh, I know a little I guess! Ahahah!" Alibaba laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hmm… My teacher showed me a little bit of language of Torran…" The Chief said thoughtfully as he took a closer look at the tablet. "Hmm… The translation of this should be… 'This path, down into the truth of the dragon…'…?"

'Hey now… our fearless leader is translating it completely wrong!' thought Alibaba, furrowing his brow. 'Wait, could it be… this guy can't read anything!' If that was the case, then it might be worth taking a risk… "To reach the truth, overcome the dragon's fangs… and find everything to behold at the dragon's tail. I think that's it, right?" He said aloud. The next thing Alibaba knew, the Chief's sword was cutting his arm.

"!!" Faith gasped in alarm as Alibaba fell to the floor in pain, clenching his teeth to keep from crying out. She quickly squatted down beside him to assess the damage. Fortunately it was just a superficial flesh wound.

"I was about to say that!" The Chief huffed, turning his back on them. "Plebian, don't get in my way again!"

'That's totally different from what you were saying a minute ago…!!'Faith thought angrily, sweat-dropping, as a vein throbbed on her head. Talk about mercurial…!

'Dammit, he's just doing whatever he wants!' thought Alibaba. 'But mark my words… I'm not just some nobody!!' With only a little help from Faith, he got back on his feet, and together they entered the mouth of the dragon with the rest of the group.

"… Sir, what's this?" Alibaba asked, paling slightly as they came to a stop upon reaching a section of tunnel where the roof was lined with steel spikes, a few of which still had skulls stuck on them.

'This is so a trap…' Faith thought, sweat-dropping.

"Haha, looks like we've come to a trap this time. It's your time to shine!" The Chief told him.

'A trap is it…' Alibaba thought, sweat-dropping. 'Geez, that ceiling could tear a guy apart! Those holes in the floor look kind of suspicious too…! I don't think I can just jump past 'em…' he thought nervously. 'Well… I can't get scared now…' he told himself, straightening up. 'This is a dungeon! There's no such thing as a road too far… or too dangerous… for treasure!!' he thought, taking off at a run. "!?" Alibaba flinched, nearly tripping in his surprise when he looked over and realized Faith was running with him. "W-What are you doing!?" he shouted at her.

"What do you think!? No way am I staying behind alone with that psycho!!" She whisper-yelled back seriously.

"What about Aladdin!?"

"He's safer than either of us right now!!"

"Whoa! They're fast! Are they training for the Olympics?" The Chief exclaimed in amazement, watching as they dodged the spikes shooting down from the ceiling with great speed and accuracy while they argued.

"If we can't plow through, we'll dodge!!" said Alibaba. "Whoa!" He exclaimed as he managed to miss another close call. "And then, we'll head for the clear areas…!!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Faith agreed, jumping out the way of another spike as they both slid home free, clearing the last of them. "Safe!!" She cheered with a grin.

"Oooh!! They got to the goal!" said the Chief excitedly.

"Wah… We did it!" Alibaba said, letting out a sigh of relief as he wiped some of the sweat from his brow. The two teens' eyes widened when they suddenly felt the ground beneath them give way. They had been sitting on a trap door!

'Shit…!!' Faith cursed mentally when she got a load of the spikes waiting for them at the bottom of the pit.

'What the… is this… how it ends for me?' Alibaba thought, shocked.

"AAAHHHHHH…!!" Faith screamed as she clung to him.

"!?!?" Alibaba cried with tears in his eyes as they plunged towards the spikes, unable to do anything to dodge them with Faith holding onto him so tightly.

'Fuck this shit…!!' Faith thought with a desperate anger, glaring at the impending spikes as they rushed up to meet them.

SCREEEECH!

"…!!" Alibaba gasped in shock and awe as the spikes directly beneath them were suddenly bent and flattened out while their fall was simultaneously softened by a burst of invisible force. For a moment, the two teens just lay there in shock, processing the fact that they were still alive. "Wh… What just happened…?" Alibaba asked, feeling a bit stunned and dazed.

"… I think my psychic powers just saved us…" Faith said, blinking.

"Psychic… what?" he asked dubiously.

"Psychic powers. Weird crap tends to happen around me from time to time, though it's usually just harmless stuff like a box of matches moving on its own, or a couple of broken light bulbs…" she explained matter-of-factly. That, and she would sometimes get this freaky superman type of emergency strength… It didn't usually happen unless she got really emotional or was under a lot of stress, but for some reason this stuff seemed to be happening a lot more often and a lot more easily since she came to this world… "Um, can you move so we can get out of here…?" She asked Alibaba, sweat-dropping. "This is starting to get kind of awkward…"

Meanwhile, the Chief and his slaves had simply walked around the trap door and were continuing to move forward down the path without even bothering to check and see if the two of them were still alive.

"Morgiana, how did you know where the trap door was?" the Chief asked.

"Because the smell of death was emanating from there."

"Oooh~ Well, even thought those two did a good job up until then, I knew that I could count on you guys more than them!" the Chief said with a smile, ruffling Morgiana's hair. "Shame we lost them both, though. We could have used an extra incase there are more traps up ahead!" Aladdin stirred on Goltas' shoulder. "Oh, you're awake?"

"…?" Aladdin opened his eyes and blinked. Where were Alibaba and Faith…?