Morgiana peeked from the corner of a building, seeing the guards posted at the gates to King Shahryar's palace suddenly run in some direction yelling for reinforcements as they exited through the front gates; after some time passed and she did her analysis of where to enter, Morgiana took the opportunity given to infiltrate the king's palace. As she entered through the gates, she forward rolled into a shaded area of some small shrubbery-noticing more guards posted inside the main courtyard. She saw a trio of them in front of the palace front door, but off to the sides were two mashrabiya windows: one pair that were closed with patterned designs and another pair that were open-one of each on both sides, that had exterior curtains long enough for her to climb and sneak in from that way; judging by floors, it'd take her to the second floor, although she wanted to start from the first floor since it'd be quicker for her to reach the underground floor-she'd work with what she could.
The windows had huge pots and vases under them, some of them were covered and looked like they would be strong enough for Morgiana to find her footing. She looks at the trio of guards, figuring out that her best chance to smoothly infiltrate would involve her having to the distract the guards for just a moment-long enough for her to climb the curtains. She took out her arrows and aimed at red pot behind one of the guards, then as she focused her aim, she thought about the potential consequence of only making one distraction-they'd pinpoint it was her.
She reached in her bag and pulled out two more arrows, take this! she yelled in her mind, releasing the triplet of arrows. The arrows ricocheted off the floors and the walls, forcing the guards to crouch down and take cover; Morgiana took this moment to run over to the closest open mashrabiya and begin her climb to the second floor. By the time the guards noticed there were no more arrows shooting at them, Morgiana had already made her infiltration onto the second floor. She rolled into the empty room, relieved that her plan worked. She crouches across the floor, unsure if there are any guards nearby or at the door-pressing her ear against the door to sense any footsteps. She could hear a conversation between two guards sounded like it was not too far from the room, and then footsteps that soon became faint. Unfortunately, she couldn't make it too clear what they were saying from the door being so thick, but she was sure she heard something about traps, and plenty of chaos waiting for anyone who tried to intrude.
She was puzzled, does this mean he's aware of plan? N-no way! Unless…-She thought about Sonic and she slowly began to panic-Could it be that King Shahryar captured the blue one? -she shook her head, trying to keep composed-with speed like that, he couldn't have gotten captured…perhaps he must have created too much attention and alerted the king. She opens the door slowly to take a peek-seeing no one nearby, "I'll have to hurry this up and rescue Ali baba; more than likely there are traps everywhere and guards posted near them."-she exits the room and begins her infiltration; a few minutes passed, and she arrived at the first floor in a single hallway that had some sharp turns going left, seeing the place didn't have as many guards as she thought-most probably went after Sonic. She tiptoed over to a wall and then rolled to the wall diagonal, quickly hiding at a corner-looking over her shoulder. She saw guards standing around, some walking, and some even taking a nap. She sneaks around, waiting for some guards to walk away before advancing forward. She looks around-double checking that no one is following her. She sneaks past a pair of guards conversing leaning up against the wall, as they turned, she bolted. She arrived at a circle of guards that appeared to be gossiping about something; she couldn't make out what they were saying, so she went closer to hear.
The group of men were laughing, "So they went after the blue hedgehog?" one guard said in a chuckle.
"Yeah, apparently he rescued that lady and defeated Cassim rather swiftly." Another said with a smirk.
"Serves him right, no one likes a traitor-not even King Shahryar!" another guard said; this one was shorter than the other two.
Morgiana was shocked by the news she heard-covering her mouth, H-he found her sister!? And he defeated Ali Baba's traitorous brother…!?-she put her hand to her chest, feeling her heart begin to beat louder as she blushed with a smile-what an interesting man…-she peeked over to listen to more of the conversation.
"So, any word about that prisoner? Cassim's brother?" said a tall guard approaching him.
"No, he's still in the basement below rotting away…I think captain has the keys for there." The short one responded.
"The doors are locked without the captain's keys." The tall man said aloud, but meant for himself.
"And, where is he?"
"He should be a little further down that hall on the third door to your right."
"Thanks, I was given word by King Shahryar to prepare to bring him to be executed."
Morgiana brainstormed, if she could get that key, she'd be fine. The issue however was all the guards that were occupying the area; she needed to get rid of them, the less of them around, the quicker she'd be able to get to the top. She digs through her trusty bad that contained all her stuff and pulled out big purple grenades with a mischievous grin on her face. She looks over, throwing the pack of grenades; the grenades roll to the feet of the guards, and then explode. Purple gas fills the hallways, the guards drop to their knees-collapsing. Morgiana covers her face with her facemask and darts through the room, taking the directions that the guard said earlier. Morgiana followed the directions, and luckily, she didn't run into any other guards-appeared most really did leave. She arrived at the location where the guard who had the keys appeared to be. She turned the knob slowly to see if it might be locked without alarming anyone who might be in there; she felt the stiffness the moment she completed her turn and knew that it was locked, taking out a lock-pick and unlocking it. She barged through, seeing a man reclined in a seat with his feet kicked up on the table and his arms behind his head-snoring, and immediately put him in a headlock; she applied enough pressure until head passed out, and then seized the keys, finding the map and then racing to the basement door.
Ali Baba sat in his prison cell, thinking about everything that happened; he was emotionally scarred by the betrayal of his brother Cassim, but he was mostly disturbed by what King Shahryar was doing. The image of women being beheaded for simply not being married, it haunted him to know that the true reason behind Shahryar's ruthlessness was because woman broke his heart and fled. For Ali Baba, he only came to talk some sense into the king and stop him from committing such a vulgar act. He sat alone in the dark, sticky, smelly cell-seeing nothing but regret in the proteins that swam around in his vision. He buried his head in his arms and knees, beginning to cry at the thought of death. He prayed, shutting his eyes tight as tears streamed, praying to the gods for mercy; the doors unlocked, and as he looked up, he saw Morgiana waiting for him at the entrance to his cell.
"M-Morgiana!?" he said with mixture of shock and relief.
She smiled, "I'd never abandon you, Ali Baba."
Ali Baba hugged her, his tears staining her clothes; she embraced, knowing Ali Baba must have been terrified of everything that happened. She wiped his tears, with her thumb and smiled- "I'm going to make King Shahryar pay!"-Ali baba shook his head in denial, pleading her not to face him- "don't worry, I won't do it alone…I have found someone…"
Meanwhile Shahra was getting closer to the top floor; she two floors away from the top and was readying herself to confront the king. She had done well to avoid the many traps located all over the palace, learning from some guards she hid from that the traps were plentiful on floors 3 and up; she was floor 8 of 10. She makes her way to through the floor, hiding every chance she could-even knocking unsuspecting enemies out and hiding their bodies, making it to the next floor and then the next. She arrives at the tenth floor, seeing many places that had piles of sand everywhere and off to the side. She tiptoes, knowing this floor was the biggest and most heavily guarded floor.
Some guards pass by, but thanks to her quick wits, Shahra transformed into sand-hiding in the sand, closing her eyes since it was the only thing that remained once she turned to sand. She kept her eyes closed, waiting for them to pass by-feeling the vibrations from their feet as they passed. She opened, looking both ways before returning to normal- "That was close…"-wiping away the sweat on her forehead- "I'll need to be more careful."
She continued her way, prepping her mind for what she was about to do-she knew facing him alone wouldn't be wise, but she felt guilty for bringing Sonic into this mess again after achieving incredible power, so she only felt it be fair that she handles this by herself. She arrived at the front doors, pushing them open-seeing the sight of women bowing and praying with platoons of guards surrounding the room; she gulped, entering the room-no turning back, now she had to go through with this. The large doors slam shut, echoing throughout the massive room.
King Shahryar laughs, seeing how easy he had to wait for his wife to return to him-grinning from ear to ear as stopped his guards from attacking, preferring to torment her psychologically before issuing any sort of attack; he wanted to make her suffer for escaping his grasp. She glared at him, clenching her fist as a fire burned in her eyes-seeing the many victims waiting for their slaughter bow at his feet-it disgusted her, and made her want to take the initiative and end it quickly.
"You know, Shahra…"-he sits back in a lax position- "Oh how I've missed you…your beautiful face, delicious body, and enriching tales. Stories that uncaptured my heart and made me believe that you were worth keeping alive…"-he balled up his hand in a fist and slams it against the armrest- "Yet you dare run away…!? Disgusting scum!"-he spits at her, his glasses shining- "I've waited patiently for the day you would come back, not stepping foot outside this room until your return. And now, here you are-before me…"-he rises, looking down on her with his chin raised- "You shall suffer at the hands of my men, experience the consequences of disobeying King Shahryar!"
The guards began to move, but Shahra didn't seem worried-instead her glare intensified. She looked around the room and then at King Shahryar, "Where is my father." She said furiously.
King Shahryar smirked, "Look over there…"-he pointed to his left to an old man sitting on the floor, battered and bruised with scratches covered all over his body; Shahra was horrified by the condition her father was in, her body trembling in anger as her fist raised.
"What did you do to him…"
"He tried to persuade me into not harming you and your sister, such a foolish man he is. As punishment, I had some of my guards beat him until he could no longer move…consider him nothing more than a vegetable!"
Shahra's eyes shook as stared at her father, "Father…!? Father…!" she called out, hoping for any response, but she got none-he sat there helpless, not moving a limb. "Father, please…"-her voice wavered- "Please, don't make your daughter cry…"-it was too late; indeed, her father could no longer function on his own. The guards brutally attacked him enough for his brain to stop functioning- "You…rotten bastard!" Shahra yelled, the fire in her eye burning hotter than the sun, sand swirling around her with remarkable force.
King Shahryar was astonished, seeing the genie of the ring truly become the genie of the sand; Shahra: the genie of sand, was one of the more powerful genies alive. King Shahryar motioned with his hands at his followers; all the bowing women stood to their feet and lined up. Shahra was puzzled by the sight before her-seeing all the women stand before King Shahryar as a meat shield. The king smiled, "If you really want my head, then you'll need to kill these meat shields first!"
"Y-You monster!"
Shahra was stuck, not knowing how to attack him when he had so many innocent people in the way. She stood there for a moment and then stared at one of the weapons in the guard's hands: a spear; a lightbulb went off in her head, and she held her hand out, creating a spear from the sand in her hand. The spear was super hardened hand, but was none of the less, sand-after a few uses, it would break. If Shahra wanted to avoid hurting a mass of people with her sand powers, she'd need to concentrate it into small quantities and attack only at King Shahryar.
"Come at me, Shahra: Genie of the Sand!" King Shahryar taunted, motioning with his hand; Shahra bit her lip angrily, rushing towards King Shahryar but then making a sharp turn and striking a guard dead, stabbing him in the neck with his sand spear; King Shahryar was surprised by the sudden act, but understood very well why she did it. Shahra's fiery eyes sharpened as a glint cut through the fire-shining with a lust for the king's blood; a chilling sight to behold for most of the people that witnessed it, but for King Shahryar, he only smirked-knowing it was only a matter of time.
Shahra rushed forward again, but this time she was met by a trio of guard who ambushed her-all big and buff men with sickles as their weapons. Shahra avoids all their attacks, but they stay persistent-refusing to give her any chance to recover and regroup. One of the guards continues to pressure her with his onslaught of offensive maneuvers while the other two circled around, driving Shahra crazy with the thought that she always must be on edge with the odd not in her favor didn't make her to thrilled.
"You are strong, but can you handle more of these men…!"-more guards rush in to attack; Shahra, recognizes the situation, seeing the numbers game come in to play- "Ready to die?"
Shahra panted as the guards rushed at her; she channels a sand barrier to protect her from all angles, but since she was fatigued, it wouldn't last long. Meanwhile, Sonic and Dunya arrive at the entrance to the first floor; Sonic had been carrying Dunya on his back since she couldn't keep up with his speed like Shahra could. They arrived, seeing many of the guards were already defeated-lying on the floor unconscious. Morgiana and Ali Baba appear from the basement door located to the left; it was a secret door that had been covered by a rug until Morgiana found it. Ali Baba was thankful to be reunited with Sonic, Dunya was relieved to see that the people Sonic was talking about during the trip weren't harmed. They each explained what had happened leading up to their meeting and then decided on the next action: Get to King Shahryar's palace.
"But be careful, I overheard something about traps…" Morgiana said to Sonic.
"More than likely, he's turned the entire palace into one big obstacle course…" Dunya said, knowing from experience that King Shahryar loved to make people complete obstacle based challenges for entertainment, it'd make no difference here.
"Sounds like him, he was joking around about the killings when I confronted him." Ali Baba stated in a thinking pose.
Sonic grinned, "An obstacle course? Sounds like my kind of thing…"-he crossed his arms- "I can speed through this obstacle challenge in no sweat!"
"But how will you carry all of us?" Ali Baba asked, knowing of Sonic's incredible speed.
"Good question…" Sonic said as he thought it over in his head.
Dunya came forward, "I can do it…my wind powers. I can create two air bubbles for them, and the bubbles will follow me since I can control them remotely. All you need to do is carry me like you did before."
"Really?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.
"We don't have much time; your sister is probably in trouble if she's the only one not here." Morgiana said hastily.
"You're right…we must hurry." Dunya nodded, proceeding with the plan: creating two bubbles for Morgiana and Ali Baba. She hops on Sonic's back, giggling at the sight of Sonic pretending to struggle holding her up.
"Let's go!" Sonic says in a spirited tone, running in the direction that Dunya pointed.