On the outskirts of Agrabah, as the wind stirred the sand dunes, three inhuman forms sat around a blazing campfire, warming their taloned fingers and scaly feet. The three had snake heads, blazing yellow, red and green eyes respectively, and long robes that covered their massive, scaled bodies. The yellow eyed one appeared angry and disgusted. The green eyed one looked distracted. And the red eyed one looked like he didn't want to be anywhere near the yellow eyed one.
Garan, the green eyed serpent, sighed. "S-so, when are we going to s-start work again?" he hissed.
"We s-start tomorrow and carry through this week. No pulling out at the last minute again, do you hear, Faran?" The yellow eyed serpent said.
"S-sorry, it was just that one time. It won't happen again. This would be much easier if we had another member of our group. You know what I mean, Ajan."
"Well, we could recruit someone easily." Garan said with wide, fanged grin. "Of course it would have to be against their will, but I don't mind s-sinking my teeth into it."
"S-silence!" Ajan said, taking to his feet as the flames of the fire lurched upward. The glow of the fire made his eyes and fangs more intimidating, so much that even Garan, who was taller and more muscular than Ajan, bristle.
"If we need another team member, I get to s-sign off on it. We're making enough profit from Agrabah, dealing the damage with what we do in the city. If we didn't, then we would have the need for recruitment. Besides," Ajan paused, "there's no soul worthy enough to join the rank of us for now - the U-Serpents. We're the only group who makes profit off the damage we do to cities, and Agrabah's the best one we've come across in these parts-s."
The three snake men laughed heartily, as the flames cracked and cackled in the night.
Genie, Aladdin, Carpet, and Iago were in for a busy week. The previous night hadn't lent any new clients, but did see some improvements in the amount of donations they received (especially when Aladdin made it clear the money would go toward helping repair the city if it were damaged - that caught more people's attention than a little bit.)
But Aladdin realized that from the number of beasts and other disturbances from the desert that tried to enter Agrabah, not to mention a series of "accidents" that happened in the night that no one could account for, Aladdin realized that indeed, Agrabah definitely needed the "beast-busting" service and the repairs from the tangles they had in the city. By the end of the week, the cost of repairs in the city met the amount of money they'd made from their work, and they had a little extra to spare, which Aladdin kept in a sack in his hiding place.
"I can't believe how well this is working so far." Genie said. "Not only we keeping the damage at a minimum, we actually have extra change left over. I'm surprised Razoul and the other guards haven't bothered us."
"I don't think we're doing anything wrong, Genie, that's why they haven't said anything. Razoul's probably glad he didn't have to tangle with that scorpion monster we fought off today." Aladdin said with a smile. "I think if anything else happens, this should help cover the damage for some of the buildings. Maybe if we have some left over, we can give the citizens of Agrabah a feast to remember."
"Hey, that's an idea." Genie said, and circled his big blue burly arm over Aladdin's shoulders. "I'm proud of you kid - you're doing a good thing here."
"Yeah, thanks Genie. I just wish we knew what was causing those accidents around town. Those are usually what take up most of the donations, and they're almost always happening when one or all of us are sleeping." Aladdin said with a scowl.
"Yeah, I'm not even sure what's up with that." Genie admitted, shrugging. "It's always in a different place every night, too."
"Well, for now, I think I'm going to catch up on some sleep here. I think we should try to get to the bottom of it eventually, or maybe it'll even out on its own." Aladdin said, yawning. "By the way, where did Carpet, Abu, and Iago go?"
"Back to the palace to get some shut eye, probably. I think I'm gonna stick around here with you, and do the same." Genie yawned, stretching out two, four, and then eight arms from his usually big, blue body. He looked at his arms in confusion. "Whoa, I think I've stretched myself a little too much."
"Heh, well hopefully once you get some rest too, it won't be so much. Night Genie."
"Night to you too, kiddo."
"I still can't believe how much moola we made today." Iago said, rubbing his wings together. "I mean did you see the size of that sack of coins! Al's rollin' in the dough. I gotta hand it to the kid, he knows a good idea when he gets one going. This little project of his is coming in handy."
Abu stuffed his mouth full of a banana, so he didn't have much time to react to what Iago said, added to the fact that he'd been exhausted from the rush around the city, and a little too much excitement for the week. But he nearly spat out part of his banana when he heard the voice that came from behind them.
"I can't believe Aladdin would do something like that. So that's what he's been doing all week long."
"Uh, Jasmine?" Iago said in shock, his face whirling around to face Jasmine, who had her arms crossed, a disappointed look crossing her face.
"Hey, wait a sec, it's not what you're thinking! Al got this little project going where he's taking money from some of the citizens of Agrabah..."
Abu started screeching in Iago's ear about the difference between taking money and taking donations, and Iago winced. "That's what I was trying to say - stop interrupting me. Anyway..."
"It doesn't matter Iago. I'm going to talk with Aladdin personally. And don't think that my father isn't going to hear about this. Come on, Carpet." Carpet looked reluctant, but allowed Jasmine to board.
"Wait, Jasmine, you got it all wrong..." Iago called after her, but she'd already disappeared into Agrabah's moonlit skyline.
Abu gave Iago a stony glare.
"Hey, is it really my fault she took what she wanted to hear out of that conversation?" Iago protested. "Oh, who am I kidding? I guess we'd better go after her before she goes postal on Al." Iago took Abu in his claws and they started flying after Carpet as fast as Iago's wings could carry them.