Previously:

"Oopeen… Sesame…!!" Aladdin commanded the great doors.

'Wha-Wait, seriously…!?!?' Faith thought, watching in amazement as the huge door split in two and swung wide open with a huge gust of wind and dust.

"Whoa!!" Alibaba exclaimed, staring in awe. "The door's opening on its own…!?!?"

"Uh, duh! It's a magic door, ya know!" said Faith with a roll of her eyes. What else did he think was going to happen? Although, it might've been cool if it had exploded or something…

'Awesome… This is just awesome… This is it… I can feel the 'treasure box' from here…!!' Alibaba thought excitedly, way too psyched to be bothered by her sarcasm. 'Finally, I'll have my own mountain of riches!! Gold, diamonds, emeralds!! They're all waiting for me…!! I'm coming, my beautiful, beautiful treasures!!" he thought with sparkling eyes.

Chapter 15: Necropolis

The three of them coughed from the dust as they passed through the gigantic doorway.

"What's this… It's all just open space…" Alibaba said disappointedly. "Is this the wrong…"

"Hey, what's that?" Faith asked, pointing to a shadow that was becoming visible in the cloud ahead as the dust began to settle.

"Wha? Oh, good job! It looks like you found something…" Alibaba said, taking a step forward. "…!" He was surprised when Faith suddenly reached out and pulled him back by the collar of his shirt. He coughed, nearly choking. "Wh-What was that for!?" he asked incredulously.

"Uh, Alibaba-kun…" Aladdin said, pointing to the space where he had been about to step, which was actually over the edge of whatever they were standing on. A bead of nervous sweat rolled down the side of his face. That would have been a really long fall…

"Wow… You saved me!" He said as he looked up at Faith, impressed.

"Yeah, how bout that? But no need to thank me." Faith said modestly. "Actually, I just didn't want you to beat me to the treasure." Alibaba flinched in shock as an angry vein popped on his forehead. This little…!! "But more importantly… check out this view!!" She said excitedly, calling their attention to the rest of the incredible scene before them.

"WHOOOOOAA!!" Alibaba exclaimed as he stood up and took another look alongside Aladdin. It turned out they were standing on the rooftop of one of many buildings in some kind of vast underground city! "Awesome… It doesn't look like there are any treasures here, but we've stumbled on the resting place of an ancient society…!"

"Hope would totally love seeing this!" Faith said with a grin. "I so feel like Indiana Jones right now!!"

"Who?" Aladdin asked.

"A kick-ass archaeologist." She answered a smirk.

"Never heard of him." Said Alibaba.

"Oh, you poor deprived soul…" Faith said, giving him a look of such extreme pity that it actually pissed him off.

"Anyway, Aladdin, let's go have a look!" Alibaba said, deciding getting even wasn't worth the damage she would undoubtedly inflict upon him in return. "There have got to be treasures in that city that we can't see from here!"

"Oh! Let's make that huge and overly conspicuous tower over there our first stop!" said Faith excitedly, deciding to let the fact that he was trying to ignore her again slide for now.

" 'Kay!" Aladdin said excitedly.

"But maaaan, this place is awesome." Said Alibaba as they walked through the ancient and deserted streets. "Who would have thought a city like this would exist here…"

"This dungeon is definitely 'bigger on the inside'…" said Faith with a Cheshire cat grin as she looked around. Talk about best quest ever!! Eat your heart out, Wow!

"Yeah." Aladdin agreed.

"…" They fell silent as they continued walking.

"Heheheh… to think I'm finally here…" Alibaba laughed quietly to himself.

"Huh? What's up, Alibaba-kun?" Aladdin asked.

"Yeah, what's with that creepy grin on your face?" Faith asked. He looked like he was plotting something nefarious over there.

"We should totally call this place 'Alibaba Park'!" Alibaba said excitedly with a big goofy smile on his face. "After all, I'm the guy who discovered this city, right? Wait, no. Since the three of us found this place, it should be called 'Aladdin and Alibaba and Faith Park'!"

"That's hella long… How 'bout we shorten it to 'Faibabaddin Park'?" Faith suggested wryly.

"Alright! Then I'll be mayor, and you'll be my vice-mayor!!" Alibaba told Aladdin, pumping his fists in the air.

"Yaay! That's great!" cheered Aladdin, imitating the gesture.

"And I'll be queen!" said Faith with a sparkling shit-eating grin.

"Why would there be a queen!? This is a city, so the highest rank should be mayor!" said Alibaba with a frown.

"Of course there's a queen!" huffed Faith. "And I'm the oldest, so what I say goes. I'm pulling rank!"

"What!? No, you're not!"

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen." Alibaba answered proudly.

"Hah! Eighteen." Faith said with a grin. "I totally win."

"But…!!" Alibaba started to protest, when Aladdin reached up and patted him on the shoulder.

"Alibaba-kun, sometimes it's better to just let difficult people think they've won… It makes life ten times easier." The younger boy advised him with a sage smile, lowering his voice so she wouldn't hear.

'The youngest one here is the most mature…!!' Alibaba thought, impressed with how well Aladdin already knew how to handle older girls.

"Huh? What are you guys whispering about back there…?" Faith asked, glancing back at them with a slight frown.

"Nothing!" Alibaba said a bit too quickly for her liking.

"…" Faith stared at him for a moment before giving him a quick slap.

"Oww!! What was that for!?" Alibaba asked incredulously.

"For talking about me behind my back." She replied bluntly as she started walking again. She didn't know what was said, but she knew she probably wouldn't like it if she did know, she might as well get her lick in now.

"Why am I the only one getting hit…!?" he muttered darkly under his breath as he trudged along at the back with veins throbbing on his forehead. Aladdin smiled wryly and sweat-dropped. Poor Alibaba… He just couldn't win, could he?

"…" They walked along in silence some more until Alibaba spoke again.

"Oh, yeah, Aladdin… don't worry about your flute, It's my fault that slimy bastard stole it…" he said regretfully.

"Yep, definitely your fault." Faith agreed with a straight face.

"You…!! You were there too, you know!!" Alibaba reminded her with a vein throbbing on his forehead. "What's your problem!? Are you trying to pick a fight with me!?"

"Maybe. I do that sometimes when I'm bored..."

"…" Aladdin and Alibaba stared at her.

"We're in an ancient, never before seen underground city, inside of a dungeon full of slime monsters, that we had to almost get killed by a trap to find, with the most powerful and cruelest man in Qishan and his freakishly strong slaves on our tail, and you're bored!?!?" Alibaba exclaimed incredulously. Seriously, what was wrong with this girl!?

"It's not like I want to be bored! It just happens." Faith said with a shrug. She blamed her ADD.

"A-Anyway…" Alibaba said, suddenly feeling emotionally exhausted with the strange girl. "Don't sweat it buddy… I'm definitely going to get it back!" He promised Aladdin seriously. "It'll be okay, this city's gotta have a 'treasure chest' somewhere… and I'm sure in that chest is a 'Djinn vessel'…! And where there's a vessel, there's a Djinn!!"

"Yeah, then we can get this dungeon's Djinn to help us get back Ugo-kun and his flute!" said Faith.

"Yeah! Definitely!" Aladdin said with a smile.

'Dude… I'm so nervous I feel like I'll fall apart in this silent atmosphere… If I stop talking, I'm sure to get even more anxious…' Alibaba thought when they started to fall into silence again. "But seriously, I wonder what all of this is?" he said aloud. "What era did this actually come from? I haven't heard of this before… a city like this sleeping in a dungeon."

"Maybe… it was built by aliens…!!" Faith said dramatically, wishing she had a flashlight to shine on her face. Once again, the boys stared at her as if they might be concerned for her sanity. "Just a thought."

"… It's a necropolis…" Aladdin said after a moment.

"Huh?" said Alibaba.

"A 'city of the dead'…? You mean like a cemetery?" Faith asked.

"A long time ago, Ugo-kun told me all about it. He said that outside the 'Room of Fortitude' there are ghost civilizations known as necropolis." Aladdin explained.

"So that's what it is…" said Faith thoughtfully, glancing around. That was a pretty creepy thought, actually… If there used to be people here, then what happened to all of them?

"Hey, wait a minute…" said Alibaba. "You've mentioned that 'Room of Fortitude' before… What is it? Is it like a dungeon? Since the doors are the same, after all…"

"Well… I really don't know." said Aladdin. "It was much more confined in there… and Ugo-kun would always tell me that we could never leave."

"Hmm… On that note, I had no idea that the big dude could talk."

"I've never heard him, either." Said Faith.

"He can!" Aladdin insisted excitedly. "Ugo-kun's body is the only part of him that can escape, but… but he has a face and everything. He's really handsome too!"

"Heh, bragging are we?" teased Alibaba.

"Yeah! I'm so proud that he's my friend!" Aladdin gushed, beaming with pride.

"I see… you guys did say you guys were buddies…"

"Hmm… He does seem like he'd be a stud, with all those muscles and everything…" Faith said with an almost dreamy expression on her face while she tried picturing Ugo with one.

"I thought you liked girls?" said Alibaba, furrowing his brow slightly in confusion.

"Oh, I'll go for anyone!" she admitted frankly. "Boy or girl, man or woman… I don't discriminate. None of that really matters to me as long as they're attractive."

"I-I see…" he said, sweat-dropping. "Hey, after we get out of this dungeon, do you think you could introduce me to him?" he asked Aladdin. "I'd like to know more about you too!"

"Sure! That's fine!" Aladdin agreed with a smile.

"Don't you want to know more about me too?" Faith asked.

"No thanks… The more I get to know you, the less I want to!" Alibaba deadpanned.

"Mandible claw!!" Faith shouted, quickly jabbing her middle and ring fingers into his mouth with the thumb of the same hand placed under his jaw, stabbing him in the soft tissue on the bottom of the inside of his mouth as she applied downward pressure by her middle and ring fingers while her thumb forced his jaw upwards.

"!?!!!?" Alibaba let out a strangled cry of pain, cradling his poor aching mouth while she calmly walked away.

'Alibaba-kun… He never learns…' Aladdin thought with an awkward smile, sweat-dropping.

"We made it! The honor's all yours, Aladdin!" Faith said brightly when they reached the door of the tower.

'So our dungeon diving expedition has come to an end…' Alibaba thought, watching as Aladdin stepped forward and opened the door for them. 'I've bet everything on finding a treasure in this dungeon! And now, with my own eyes, I'll bear witness to it!!' The three of them coughed as the dust cleared. "Wh-What the… What's this?" he asked as they stared into the room, stunned. It was not at all what they had expected. Instead of precious metals and gems, they had found an entire room full of stone items. "It's not really a 'treasure chest'… but a 'storage' room?"