And the winner for the previous chapter's guessing game is...Guest reviewer Samantha! Five brownie points to you from yours truly! Yes, it is none other than the dolls from FF4. They'll have further involvement when I reach preparations for Hollow Bastion...which is all I'm gonna spoil for you.

...And now, back to our scheduled posting on the latest chapter.

So, anyways, Agrabah. Yeah, I made some tweaks in certain places. No big deal. But, on the bright side, I really wanted to do something interesting for certain confrontations (mainly the Genie-Jafar battle) and...oh, man...I can't take the Genie seriously even in the games.

With all that being said, enjoy!

To (Guest) Lightning: Things are just gonna get more interesting from here. Trust me.

I own nothing of Kingdom Hearts except my OCs.

Read, review, but no flames.

Chapter 10: Agrabah

As they flew off to their newest destination (thanks to the modifications that Cid made for them so that they can reach more worlds and commence more investigations), Luna felt like she needed a moment to herself as she tried to put together all that she had been experiencing thus far. Fortunately for her, her friends understood that she needed her personal space once in a while; though, there was no avoiding her guardian Medea since she wasn't the type to leave her be and for good reason.

Of course, Luna couldn't help but think back at the things that happened and grew very concerned about the situation. When they met up with Riku, she couldn't understand what was going on with him. She barely noticed that he seemed to be…upset about something, jealous even. Why would he? It wasn't like she and Sora were replacing him or Kairi, far from it. Granted, Sora was new to having different friends, but Luna knew Donald and Goofy previously and it was when they were merely acquaintances. Sure, she did notice that Riku was still inviting to her, but it still unnerved her that there was something dark about his behavior. She wished she knew what he went through to develop that sort of mindset.

Then, there was the matter of what the Fairy Godmother had told her. It worried her to learn that something horrible happened to the world she lived in and knowing that Cinderella disappeared in the midst of the chaos. It made her wonder if any of the other princesses she had known in her past were alright, or if they've disappeared as well; if that was the case, what was there to gain from kidnapping innocent women who were so pure in heart?

"I know what you're thinking: you're wondering if you're missing something in all this," Medea suddenly spoke up from the corner, "Don't sweat too much about it. Besides, if anything serious happened to those ladies you knew then, you would've known."

Luna nodded in agreement. "I suppose you're right, Medea. But even so, what about Riku? I don't understand what's wrong with him."

"If you ask me, he's misunderstanding the whole thing. You've been working your ass off looking for him, and even went so far as to travel with people you've known briefly in order to get help," Medea commented, "That being said, that duck shouldn't have refused him so impudently! Seriously, I swear he's being a bossy jackass and hasn't even bothered doing a background check on him!"

That was one thing Luna couldn't help agreeing on. If it were up to her, she would've allowed anyone to come along if it meant making sure that their friends are okay and helping them befriend the fellows she had known before. Perhaps the next time other people are given the chance to travel with them, she'll make the decision in Donald's place, and if she has to, she'll force Donald to cooperate should he continue to make unfair refusals.

Just then, Sora opened up her cabin door and came in to speak with her for a moment.

"Hey, Luna, we're about to approach the next world," Sora told her, "and it looks like it's going to be a desert world. We'd better get ready for this world."

"Alright, we'll be there in a moment. Thank you," Luna answered.

"A desert world, huh? Something tells me that we're gonna be involved in something way different than the norm," Medea commented.

Speaking of which, within the lowly streets of a city stretched between the vast desert and the grand palace that snugly nestled a ways away from the abodes and merchant stalls, two sinister individuals were passing by and were discussing matters that obviously meant ill on the desert world. The woman in black – who is now known to be Maleficent – was talking to the resident of the world, who gave off a darker Arabic feel in contrast to the lighter atmosphere.

"…And the keyhole?" she had asked.

"The Heartless are searching for it now. I'm certain we'll find it soon enough," the red-robed man reassured the witch. "So that just leaves…"

A bird squawk was heard not a moment too soon, and right on cue, a red parrot came flapping down frantically as he perched onto his master's shoulder while trying to catch his breath.

"Jafar! I've looked everywhere for Jasmine. She's disappeared like magic!" the parrot reported in.

Jafar knew that was coming. "The girl is more trouble than she's worth."

Maleficent gave Jafar a little glare when she heard this. "You said you had things under control."

"Agrabah is full of holes for rats to hide in," Jafar replied. "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 Princess of Heart to open the final door. Any fewer is useless," the witch explained.

That got the vizier's attention. "Well, if the princess is that important, we'll find her." Heartless appeared at the moment he gave an order. "Find Jasmine and bring her to me at once."

Just as the parrot, Iago, and a group of bandit Heartless started making their way through the city to locate the missing princess, Maleficent had a word of warning to give before making her departure.

"Don't steep yourself in darkness too long. The Heartless consume the careless," she warned him.

Jafar laughed at this. "Your concern is touching, but hardly necessary."

Meanwhile, Luna and Sora and the others had just landed in the new world and, sure enough, they could already feel the drastic change of climate from the moment they stepped within the city. It was certainly no joke that the world was surrounded by desert, and it didn't help that the heat felt rather cumbersome.

"It's so hot out here…" Luna sighed in displeasure as she tried to fan herself.

"Seriously, how on earth do these people deal with this crazy climate?" Medea questioned irritably.

"I've been through warm summers back on the island, but this is ridiculous!" Sora agreed as he wiped his brow.

"Gee, are you guys gonna be okay? Luna looks like she'd pass out at any moment," Goofy asked in concern.

"That'd be really bad," Donald admitted.

"Who's there? Hello?"

At the sound of the female voice, everyone stopped in their tracks and turned around to see a young woman emerge from behind a pile of crates. Judging from her simple yet elegant turquoise green attire and the simple jewelry she had on her, it was possible for them to speculate that she must be the princess of this world. But on Luna's part, she sensed something very special about her…but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it is.

"Hello there. Who are you, ma'am?" Luna asked first.

"I'm Jasmine. My father is the sultan of Agrabah," the princess replied.

Goofy caught on what that meant. "Uh…So that makes you a princess."

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Medea deadpanned.

Jasmine gave a sad frown. "But he has been deposed by Jafar, who now controls the city."

"Who's Jafar?" Luna asked, not liking where it was going.

"You haven't heard of him? He's the royal vizier," Jasmine was surprised at this. "He's gained evil powers and seized Agrabah. He's desperately looking for something – something he calls a 'keyhole'." She shook her head. "Jafar caught me trying to escape, but he helped me."

"Who helped you?" Sora asked.

Jasmine shrugged a bit. "We were hiding nearby, but he left a while ago to take care of something… Oh, I hope Aladdin's alright."

Before they could get any more out of her and find out what she was talking about, they were interrupted at the worst of moments.

"Aladdin? Where might I find this street rat?"

Everyone immediately looked up to find that someone had found them, and no doubt about it, it had to be the evil vizier Jafar.

"Jasmine, allow me to find you more suitable company, my dear princess," he said with ill intention in his voice. "These little rats won't do, you see."

"Rats?! You're the damned rat around here!" Medea retorted angrily as she formed her claws.

"Jasmine, run!" Sora ordered as he pulled out his keyblade.

"You have to get out of here!" Luna agreed as she summoned her Shadow Hands.

Immediately, the princess ran off while the vizier was preoccupied with the new faces. But the instant he saw the keyblade and Luna's conjurations, there was a twisted sense of intrigue creeping on the villain's face.

"Ah, the boy who holds the key and the girl who conjures the shadows," Jafar said wickedly.

That was when a group of Heartless in the form of desert bandits appeared within the alley to attack the party while the vile advisor left to attend to other matters. Granted, the new adversaries were no ballpark, but regardless they destroyed all the fiends before moving on with their search. As soon as they were gone, the party took a moment to discuss matters that needed to be sorted out they could know where to go from there.

"That guy was really creepy. He sounded like he had very bad plans for Jasmine," Sora commented.

"It sounds like that. There was something special about her," Luna agreed with concern. "But I wonder…who could've helped her escape from Jafar before leaving elsewhere?"

"Who knows? But maybe we should find this Aladdin and see if he can help," Donald suggested.

"Compared to you, I'm pretty sure he'd be of a lot more help around these parts," Medea commented sarcastically.

"Hey!"

"Then we'd better skedaddle for a little bit and find Aladdin," Goofy said, interrupting any possible argument.

It was settled then. If they were ever to get any help while they're searching around Agrabah for the keyhole, they'll have to find this person and see if he can provide some assistance. But the only question that remains is, where are they going to be able to find him? Fortunately, that question was answered for them when – all of a sudden – a flying carpet soared right towards them, frantically gesturing them to the vast desert sands outside of the city.

"Where'd that thing come from?" Donald had to ask.

Medea was confounded. "How the hell is that rug flying around like that? Or expressing itself, for that matter?"

Luna, on the other hand, was very curious. "Hello there. Is there something wrong?"

The carpet gestured once more out towards the desert, and then flew around all of them until it began to head out towards the exit of the city.

"Maybe it wants us to follow into the desert. Come on!" Sora called as he started to follow it.

"Sure looks like it," Goofy agreed as he followed close behind.

By the time they got out into the desert, the party found themselves crossing paths with the carpet again. But this time, it straightened itself out as though it wanted them to ride on it. But then it was realized that there was one matter that needs resolve.

"There doesn't seem to be enough room on this thing," Sora noticed.

"Now what do we do?" Donald asked.

Luna turned to her guardian. "Medea, do you think you could do it again?"

"Lend some wings? Sure thing, girl," Medea guessed, knowing where it was going.

With enough energy, Medea formed black wings from her back and picked up Luna like she's a small baby. Thanks to that, the rest of the group simply hopped onto the carpet and everyone began flying at full speed out into the desert to locate Aladdin. Sure enough, what they came to find was the very person they were looking for along with a small monkey trapped in the sinking sands. But before they could move in to help them, a group of Heartless showed up to try and impede their progress.

"Out of our way!" Sora demanded.

While Sora, Donald and Goofy kept the Heartless occupied with them, Luna conjured her Shadow Hands and used them to reach in the sand and pull out the two and onto more solid ground. But by the time she did, more Heartless showed up to give them trouble when they didn't want it.

"Dammit, these guys just won't quit!" Medea growled irritably.

That was when Aladdin pulled out what looked like a vintage oil lamp, and immediately rubbed it like it'd do something amazing.

"Genie, get rid of these guys!" he called.

Then, in a flash of bluish smoke and brightly colored sparks, a rather comical-looking blue entity with blue skin appeared before their very eyes.

"Wish number one, coming right up!" the Genie laughed excitedly.

With just a snap of his fingers, the Heartless that surrounded them magically disappeared into thin air without any resistance whatsoever. Everyone was quite stunned to see this, and turned with either fascinated or dumbfounded faces at the new faces they had certainly met in rapid succession.

"How did he…?" Luna was about to ask what happened.

"Can we discuss about that later? Let's get the hell outta here before more show up!" Medea ordered.

After moving a significant distance away from the site the Heartless had bothered them, Sora and Luna took the liberty to explain to Aladdin what they were doing in Agrabah without giving away too much. Thankfully, he took in what they were willing to tell them and understood the situation at hand.

"I see… Thanks, Sora, Luna," he thanked them for what they did.

"Aladdin, what're you doing out here?" Sora had to ask.

"Same old stuff. Hunting legendary treasure," Aladdin answered, "Just paid a visit to the Cave of Wonders. I found the magic carpet, and this lamp. Legend has it that whoever holds the lamp can summon the –"

"Please, kid, leave the introductions to a professional. The one and only GENIE OF THE LAMP!" Genie interrupted excitedly, "Rub-a-dub-dub the lamp and have your dearest wishes granted. Today's winner is…Aladdin! Congratulations!"

With how over-the-top and spontaneous the Genie was behaving, Luna couldn't help but giggle at the antics of the enthusiastic fellow. She had never seen such an individual so perky and overly comical in her life.

Medea couldn't help shaking her head at this. "Is this guy seriously a Genie? He sounds more like a parlor trick comedian…"

Donald was certainly curious about the whole 'wishes' part. "Any wish?"

"Patience, my fine, feathered friend! Any three wishes! A one wish, a two wish, a three wish," the Genie continued, "Then I make like a banana and split! Our lucky winner made his first wish - and let me tell you, what a doozy that wish was – so he has two wishes left. So, master, what'll you have for Wish Number Two?"

I wonder what I would've wished for, Luna thought.

Aladdin thought about it for a moment. "Well, how about making me a fabulously wealthy prince?"

"Oooh! Money! Royalty! Fame! Why didn't I think of that?" Genie exclaimed jovially, "Okay, you asked for it! A hundred servants and a hundred camels loaded with gold! 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!"

"What the hell's he talking about?" Medea questioned, having trouble keeping up.

"I don't know about that, but water wouldn't be a bad thing to have right now," Luna admitted quietly.

"No thanks. I think I'll put that on hold until we reach Agrabah," Aladdin declined politely.

"Uh, why a prince?" Goofy asked out of curiosity.

"You see, there's this girl in Agrabah named Jasmine. But she's a princess, and I'm…Aw, she could never fall for a guy like me," Aladdin confessed, a small embarrassed blush on his face.

"Oh, how romantic…" Luna mused with a blush.

That was when it hit Sora like a brick wall. "Oh, that's right! She's in trouble, Aladdin!"

Boy, he sure was horrified at the news. "What? Well, c'mon, let's get going!"

"About damn time we booked it back to town," Medea said as she sprouted her wings again.

Like they did before, Sora and the animal friends hopped on the carpet but with Aladdin joining them this time while Luna was carried by Medea as she flew not far behind them; the Genie simply flew by on his own and was able to keep pace with the rest of the party.

"Ah, fresh air! The great outdoors!" Genie sighed in relief as he stretched his arms.

"I guess you don't get out much, huh?" Sora asked.

"Comes with the job. Phenomenal cosmic powers," Genie replied, "Itty-bitty living space. It's always three wishes, and then back to my portable prison. I'm lucky to see the light of day every century or two…"

"Oh…that sounds lonely," Luna said sadly, "That does remind of some things…"

That was when Aladdin had a thought. "Say, Genie, what if I use my last wish to free you from the lamp? What do you think?"

That perked the Genie quite a bit. "You'd do that?"

Aladdin smiled. "Genie, it's a promise. After we help Jasmine."

By the time they did get back to the city entrance, it was immediately clear that the number of Heartless making their appearances was getting a lot worse. That meant only one thing for them: they'll have to fight through the horde so they could locate the princess.

"You don't suppose Jafar is getting desperate in his search, don't you?" Luna asked with unease in her voice.

"So, Jafar is after Jasmine and this 'keyhole'," Aladdin wondered.

"You bet your ass he is," Medea answered like it was already obvious.

"Keyhole, eh? I could swear I've heard about that somewhere before…" Genie pondered the thought.

"Really? Where?" Donald asked.

"Now, where was it? It's only been 200 years…" Genie tried to remember.

"Well, anyway, we've got to stop Jafar before it's too late!" Sora interrupted, not wanting to waste a minute.

Unfortunately for them, by the time they had mowed down any Heartless that got in their way and crossed through the dusty streets in search for the missing princess of the desert kingdom, the party was too late. Jafar had already cornered the princess, and he was about to take her away against her will. To make the matter worse, the moment they set foot within vicinity of the two, Jafar quickly noticed them coming.

"Setting your sights a little high, aren't you, boy?" he asked dismissively. "Back to your hole, street rat. I will not allow you to trouble the princess anymore."

"Looks who's talking, hypocrite! You're the one who's giving the lady a lot of trouble!" Medea retorted.

"I'm so sorry, Aladdin," Jasmine apologized. She tried to reach to Aladdin, but Jafar wouldn't let her.

Aladdin reached to the lamp and started to make another wish. "Genie, help Jasmine. Please!"

In an instant, Genie made his appearance and scooped up Jasmine – which did surprise Jafar a bit.

"One wish left! You're making this really easy, you know," Genie said.

But while nobody else was paying attention, Luna saw from the corner of her eye a parrot swooping by and snatching the lamp form Aladdin's hands. Before she could warn them, Jafar had a nasty move up his sleeve.

"So sorry, boy. I'm afraid your second wish has been denied," he said with a devilish grin.

When Aladdin realized what had happened, it was already too late. The parrot had already brought the magic lamp over to Jafar. That meant he can do what he wants with the Genie now.

Genie drooped in depression. "Sorry, Al…"

Just as he disappeared back into the lamp, Jasmine dropped right into a clay pot, but then it suddenly sprouted spidery legs and walked away with the villain's intended prize. But it only got worse from there…

"And now, I bid you all farewell," Jafar laughed as he started to vanish. "Attack!"

"You're gonna regret treating a woman like an object, you jackass!" Medea cursed angrily.

"Never mind that now! We've got other problems!" Sora pointed out what was going on now.

Suddenly, before their eyes, the pots around the place formed insect appendages and joined together with the head and the tail end of a new Heartless that took the shape of a centipede. All that had to be done was smash the sections apart until only the rest of its body remained for the kill.

By the time they were done, they could Jafar's evil laugh echo from outside.

"To the desert! C'mon, let move!" Aladdin ordered.

"We have to hurry before Jafar does any more harm," Luna agreed worriedly.

Immediately, everyone hightailed out of the city and back into the vast desert once more to follow Jafar's trail. Their chase led the party all the way back to the sandy dunes where they had first found Aladdin and saved them, but this time around, something different occurred once they had set foot on the sandy ground. With a loud rumble, the sands violently shifted into the shape of giant tiger's head but with the formation of an entrance into a cave hidden from prying eyes; however, there was something off about it: there was a dangerous dark aura surrounding it, and it was actually trying to attack them with small packs of Heartless!

"Someone really doesn't like us at all," Medea commented irritably.

"The Cave of Wonders is the only place Jafar could've gone," Aladdin pointed out, not liking the situation.

"We have to get in! Do something about that poor thing," Luna insisted.

The good news was that it didn't take much effort to stop the Cave from causing so much trouble; all that had to be done was to smack its eyes until it was freed from the brainwashing (if it could called that). From there, it was possible for them to enter the Cave of Wonders and find Jafar before he locates and exploits the keyhole for his own selfish gains.

But partway inside, the party has run into one problem: in order to find a way to proceed further in, they needed to go deeper into the cavern and find a way through.

"Let's see if we can find a solution down below," Sora suggested, pointing down into the dark pit below the chamber.

But Luna felt paralyzed by how dark it was down there. "Down…there? No…I don't like it. It's too dark…"

"Oh, for crying out loud… Luna, don't tell me you're chickening out now!" Medea groaned in dismay.

"Luna, we've got to keep going!" Donald reminded her.

She shook her head. "No…It's too dark down there. It scares me… Please, go without me."

Sora looked at her with concern. "Are you sure, Luna?"

Luna nodded her head timidly, allowing him to know that she won't go any further with them.

"Okay…I understand, Luna. We'll come back as quickly as we can," Sora promised her. "When we're on our way, we'll let you know, okay?"

Luna nodded in agreement.

"If it's all the same to you, I'll just stay with Luna. Besides, I'm a tad beat from all that Heartless pounding we've been doing," Medea said as she sunk back into Luna's shadow. "Not to mention, all that flying I did has worn me out a notch."

So, that was settled: while Sora led the rest of the group down into the dark chambers below, Luna stayed up here alone (well, not quite since Medea is most likely keeping an eye out from within her shadow). She did feel guilty for not joining with them, but she knew that some parts of her oldest fears had a way of hindering her ability to keep going when she didn't want it to; still, she wished had a way to face it without such a problem hurting her.

"Why does it always scare me like this? It hurts too much…" Luna asked herself.

"What are you doing here, Luna?"

She jolted a bit, and turned around to find Riku right behind her. How did he get there without her knowing it?

"Riku! Sorry…it's just that…" Luna hesitated. "I got scared, going down there in that place…"

Riku looked down at where she was looking. "Sora's not with you. He left you behind?"

"No, no, it's not that. That dark place scared me," Luna protested, shuffling her feet shyly. "I didn't want to go down because the dark place was…well…you know. But Sora promised not to take too long. And Medea's still with me, only resting."

"Why do you keep travelling with Sora anyway? He's been dragging you all over the place along them," Riku questioned with a hint of annoyance, "and you haven't found Kairi, for that matter. Don't you want to find her, Luna?"

"I do want to find Kairi. But…we just don't know where to look," Luna insisted as she started walking a bit, "Also…I can't leave Sora on his own. He's not as experienced with fighting monsters like I am, since he's never had to deal with these terrible things in his life as I did. If I had a way to know where Kairi is…" She sighed sadly. "If I knew how to find her, I would've done it the moment we arrived in Traverse Town."

A small explosion sound was heard far down below, making Luna turn around and try to find out what was going on.

"I guess you need some time to think things over. Just don't stick with Sora forever," Riku said as he walked away.

"Riku, what do you mean by…?" Luna was about to ask what he meant, but when she turned back, she saw that he was gone.

'What the hell was he saying to ya? It sounded like he wanted you to come with him or something,' Medea questioned in her shadow.

"I'm not sure. But why would he think Sora was dragging me everywhere…?" Luna replied, just as confused as her guardian was. "I don't understand why he was thinking like that…"

'Yeah, well, you'd better be more careful all the same,' Medea warned firmly.

Moments after, Sora and the others came back to get her and continue with their hunt for Jafar.

"Luna, we've opened up a way to the Lamp Chamber. We just have to get through the Treasure Room and we'll be there in no time," Sora explained to her.

"That's good to know. We'd better hurry," Luna said, trying not to show what she was feeling at the moment.

After traversing deeper into the cave's chamber, the party finally found the entrance into the Lamp Chamber where Jafar has both the princess and the Genie with him.

However, just ahead of them, it was discovered that there are a few problems to deal with. First of all, most likely due to the demands of the evil vizier, the keyhole of Agrabah had been found and exposed. To make the matter worse than it already is, not only was Jafar there, but Maleficent has also made an appearance; and apparently, she had just been informed by Jafar that he had an encounter with Sora and Luna.

"Those children again?" she asked, annoyed at the development.

"They're more persistent than I expected," Jafar confessed, "Why not explain the situation to that boy Riku? Doing so might actually prove useful to our –"

But their talk was interrupted when Sora, Luna, and the others entered the Lamp Chamber, rearing for a fight; Medea emerged from Luna's shadow just in time to ready her claws for something to kill. But the moment they saw Maleficent personally, Luna's eyes turned steely with a bitter rage while Sora finally got to see this vile stranger for the first time.

"Wait a second. Are you Maleficent?" Sora wanted to know.

"You…foul witch…" Luna hissed bitterly.

Maleficent only looked at them for a moment before she vanished without a trace, leaving them with only Jafar to deal with.

"Jafar, let Jasmine go!" Aladdin demanded.

"Not a chance. You see, she's a princess – one of seven who somehow hold the key to opening the door," Jafar refused haughtily.

"Open…" Goofy started to question.

"…the door?" Donald finished, equally confused.

"But you fools won't live to see what lies beyond," Jafar dismissed them. "Genie! My second wish. Crush them!"

Luna could see from Genie's pained face that he doesn't want to do them any harm, but the foul person who called himself 'master' was forcing him to do something that crosses the line.

"Genie, no!" Aladdin cried out.

"Sorry, Al. The one with the lamp calls the shots," Genie said sadly, "I don't have a choice."

Ultimately, it became a battle not only against the wicked sorcerer but also against the Genie; they were in a serious pickle right now. How are they going to be able to be able to attack Jafar if he has their poor friend sent to hurt them?

"What do we do now?" Donald wanted to know.

Luna had an idea, though. "Medea, try and hold off Genie as long as you can! We'll go after Jafar."

"Don't take too long, you hear me?" Medea agreed as she changed her size in order to meet Genie's level. "Make that jackass wish he was the one crushed!"

With that one moment, the tides were turned against Jafar. While Medea did all she could to keep the Genie at bay, Luna and Sora were able to maintain their focus on Jafar despite his ability to float around the arena. Interestingly enough, it wasn't just the disadvantage of not having Genie with him that irked him, but it was the fact that Medea was hindering the progress of the fight while the rest of the party was pursuing him.

"What sort of creature would dare to stop the Genie like that?" Jafar demanded to know. "No trickster can do that of its own will!"

"You should know why… Medea is not a slave without a will of her own!" Luna answered with a stinging anger in her voice. "At least she can think, can feel, and can say what she wants to say without being forced to do otherwise…Something that you shouldn't have treated Genie as!"

When Jafar was distracted by Luna's assault, Sora seized the opportunity to jump on Jafar and smash his staff with his keyblade. This caused the sorcerer to recoil from the out-of-control magic that he lost and collapse to the ground.

But this victory was not to last.

Just as they headed up to the keyhole and were about to check to make sure that Jasmine was okay, they got an unwelcome surprise when they found that Jafar was still alive – and boy, he was in a serious mood for absolute vengeance for his defeat!

"Genie! My final wish! I want you to make me an all-powerful genie!" the sorcerer demanded.

As horrified as Genie was to have to grant such a foolish wish, he had no choice but to do so. With a shot from his finger, Jafar suddenly overflowed with power – so much so that he created a deep hole leading into a chamber filled with lava surrounding the platforms! Quickly, the whole party gave chase into the hole to find that Jafar had become a giant, muscle-bound red genie; and then, Iago showed up carrying what appeared to be a black lamp.

"Is that Jafar's lamp?" Luna asked.

"Hell, yeah! It's parrot season, fellas! First one to smack the lamp outta that bird's talons gets to send that jerk into it!" Medea shouted eagerly, fired up for a competition.

Medea's words were just enough to get everyone motivated into pursuing the lamp in Iago's grasp. Granted, Jafar still put up some resistance when he would throws boulders of lava at them in an attempt to impede their progress, but fortunately, Donald and Goofy worked on keeping Genie-Jafar occupied while the rest of them chased after the parrot and the lamp. Not to mention, one of the most annoying things was that the platforms to help them reach different points of the arena would sometimes shift back and forth.

Ultimately, Luna won this bout when she used one of her Shadow Hands to shoot a Fire spell at Iago (singeing his tail in the process), forcing him to drop the lamp.

Triumphant, Luna held up the lamp and commanded. "Jafar, I wish you to get inside your lamp!"

"What?!" Jafar cried out in shock.

Medea smirked. "The one with the lamp calls the shots, remember?"

True enough, the lamp began to do the job and sucked Jafar into the place he would be kept imprisoned for the rest of his life; but not without grabbing his pet in the process.

But when they did get back up to the Lamp Chamber, they were shocked to find that Jasmine was nowhere to be found! That meant only one thing: someone had taken Jasmine away while they were preoccupied with confronting Jafar. But who could've done it, and without their knowing it?

Who could tell?

Then, the keyhole began to glow brightly, in which Sora and Luna turned around to finish their business in the Cave of Wonders. Sora used his keyblade to lock the keyhole of this world, and when he finished, Luna used her power to make sure the dark force is no longer around. But then, all of a sudden, just moments after sealing the keyhole, the whole place started to shake violently. That mean only one thing: the cave is about to collapse at any moment!

"Uh-oh! We'd better get outta here!" Goofy panicked with his shield up.

"Jasmine!" Aladdin called out desperately.

"Aladdin, Jasmine is not here! We have to go!" Luna told him.

"For the record, I don't wanna end up flat as a pancake in this place!" Medea agreed.

Thanks to the help of Genie and the carpet, they were able to escape from the collapsing Cave of Wonders and back out into the desert before anything worse could happen to them. With nowhere else to go, the best they could do is return to the city and recap what they just went through…

When they got back and took shelter at Aladdin's place, it was easy to see that the poor boy was deeply saddened at the unfortunate fate of the princess he was attracted to. Luna could certainly understand how it feels to be separated from a loved one, and couldn't help pitying him for having to experience such a cruel thing.

"We're sorry about this, Aladdin. We tried to help her," Luna said sympathetically, "but we failed all the same. She has to be okay, somehow…"

"So, Jasmine is no longer in Agrabah," Aladdin figured it out. "Sora, Luna, let's go find her."

Sora shook his head. "Sorry, but we can't take you with us."

"Why not?"

"We sure wish we could…" Goofy admitted.

"But we can't. If we take him to another world, we would be…" Donald reminded them.

"Muh…Mudd –" Goofy struggled to get the point out.

"Meddling?" Medea guessed quickly.

Luna put her hand into Aladdin's. "Don't worry, Aladdin. We'll find Jasmine for you. We promise."

"Uh, earth to Al? Hello! You still have one wish left," Genie suddenly cut in. "Look, just say the word. Ask me to find Jasmine for you."

But their peasant friend had other ideas, one that even Genie didn't see coming. "I…I wish…for your freedom, Genie."

After Aladdin used his last wish, swirls of magic surrounded Genie and – in mere moments, he gained two legs of his own than the wispy trail he had, and the gold cuffs around his wrists disappeared in sparks of magic. Genie turned in utter surprise at this unexpected freedom he had been given so selflessly, but Aladdin gave him a small smile at this.

"A deal's a deal, Genie. Now you can go wherever you want," he said, "You're your own master."

The others looked at him with surprise at this development, not expecting this to happen.

"But if you can, it'd be great if you could go with them and find Jasmine," Aladdin added.

Genie contemplated on that. "Sorry, Al. I'm done taking orders from others. But…A favor, now that's something different. I guess I could give it a try." He rushed to Aladdin's side. "After all, we're pals, right, Al?"

"Genie…" Aladdin couldn't help smiling at this.

"Any help that can offered would be most appreciative, Mister Genie," Luna said, happy to know someone's willing to lend a hand.

"C'mon, little lady, it's the least I could do after all the mayhem you guys went through!" Genie insisted, "I wanna help you rescue my best friend's girlfriend."

After bidding their last farewells, the party returned to the gummi ship and continued their journey through the roads to find the next world to visit.

Inside her cabin, Luna had several questions on her mind with no answer coming up too easily. Who could've kidnapped Princess Jasmine? Why was Jasmine kidnapped? And why did she run into Riku when the rest of the party wasn't around? She had no idea why everything was happening so swiftly, and she couldn't understand what the meaning of this was. Still, she knew that something was not completely adding up in the mystery; specific people were being targeted, which was what happened to Alice and now Jasmine. There had to be an explanation…

Still, something that Riku had been saying to her bothered her. If anything, it sounded like he wanted her to leave Sora alone and come with him to find Kairi. But why would he appear to her and not with Sora? And for that matter, what gave him the impression that she was left behind by their friend when her fears were the real hindrances?

"Thinkin' too hard's not gonna help you solve the puzzle, y'know?"

Luna looked over to Medea, who was leaning against the wall while tapping her fingers against her shoulders in contemplation.

"Medea…What could be going on with Riku? It wasn't like him to think Sora was doing something wrong with me," Luna asked with uncertainty, "He has been acting…strangely now. What could be wrong with him?"

"Don't know. But I'll say this: you'd better be more careful, Luna," Medea warned cryptically, "I'd hate it if he tries to do something funny with ya."

That was something she didn't expect from her Shadow Guardian; now Medea is on edge with the notion of Riku. Still, she suspected that her guardian might have some insight as to what might be going on with Riku that she hadn't seen yet. Perhaps is she saw him again, she could find out what he was doing that she didn't know.