Chapter 4: Ghosts

"You're supposed to be dead." Aladdin's hands balled into fists, his tone low.

Jafar teased the end of his beard with one hand, while the other clutched his snake staff. "That's quite a line. But if I'm standing in front of you, then your logic isn't relevant, now is it? I'm hurt you'd want me dead so easily."

Aladdin hesitated. How can he still be here when Iago destroyed his lamp. He doesn't seem to be a Genie, but...

"Your silence betrays your fear, Aladdin."

"I'm not afraid of you." But even as Aladdin said the words, he felt his heart racing in his chest. He had one foot behind him, as if he wanted to step back. He wasn't sure how the sorcerer could be there, but one thing was certain, he'd been the one Rajah had chased after.

Rajah...

"What did you do to Rajah?" Aladdin demanded.

Jafar's face twisted into a sneer. "Oh, that oversized feline. I had to take some precautionary measures to see that our reunion wasn't...interrupted." Jafar snapped his fingers, and a distance from where Jafar stood, Rajah appeared, surrounded by a red aura, body limp as he floated to the ground.

"No!" Aladdin felt every muscle in him tense, his breath drawn. He broke into a run to Rajah, to see if he would have any luck waking the tiger, but Jafar's moves were quicker. The sorcerer raised his staff, conjuring magic that shot out like a bolt toward Aladdin. It struck him hard, fast, enveloping him in the same red aura that Rajah had been moments before. He couldn't move, and every inch of his skin felt like it was set ablaze. He yelled from the pain as he felt himself lifted from the ground.

"What's the matter, street rat? You can't scurry over into a corner to hide? Or is it that you want wings? I can show you flight. Batter up!" Jafar clutched his staff like a bat and swung. Aladdin felt something hit hard into him, and he shot through the air, dropping to the ground in a roll a far distance away. Pain shot through his spine as he hit the ground, the red aura disappearing. He still couldn't move. He gasped, trying to recover.

Jafar took his time in his approach, gripping Aladdin by his hair with one hand. The other hand gripped the snake staff, and Aladdin felt the cold metal of the staff pressed against his chest.

"You look a bit tired. Why not stop to take a long nap? For eternity." Jafar's grin widened. Aladdin struggled to keep his eyes open, to move, but it was hard to do so when he felt magic gripping every part of him, tightening like a fist around his body.

Aladdin heard Jafar yell, startled then. His attack halted. The familiar growls clued him in. Rajah was awake. And very, very angry.

Aladdin's eyes flew open, and he managed to sit upright, turning to see Rajah and Jafar in a scuffle.

"All right Rajah!" Aladdin said, then turned to see Jafar's staff laying a distance away. Though his body felt pinched with pain, if he could just reach it...

Aladdin took to his feet and rushed over to the staff.

He hadn't expected Jafar to recover so quickly. The sorcerer's eyes glowed red and shot magic out to stun Rajah, who yelped and doubled over. Aladdin couldn't close the gap between himself and the staff fast enough, not before Jafar reached it and snatched it up. Aladdin stopped himself too late as magic shot from the staff and hit him like an arrow through the heart. His yell struck the night air, before he fell to the ground again.

"I've already spent far too much energy with the two of you for tonight, but I've gotten what I've wanted from you, especially you, boy. Until next we meet, when the moon is full in the sky, Aladdin, your death awaits you." Aladdin thought he heard a strange lisp in Jafar's speech. Even as he couldn't think much past the pain and dizzying rush that filled him, he knew something was off about it.

And what did Jafar mean by "getting what he wanted?"

Before Aladdin could speak, he saw the sorcerer disappear in a puff of dark smoke that faded into the crystal clear night. Jafar was gone, and it wasn't long before Aladdin, too, sank into his own darkness.

Rajah nudged Aladdin awake, his cold nose pressing into Aladdin's neck. Rajah gave a low growl, gentle, and the look in the tiger's eyes suggested that he'd definitely been concerned.

Aladdin sat up on one of his elbows, groaning as he threaded his fingers through Rajah's fur. The tiger winced.

"You saw him too, didn't you Rajah? That was definitely Jafar."

Rajah gave a low, bitter growl.

"I thought so. Come on, we have to get back to the palace and warn the others." Aladdin sat up further, wincing as he held one hand against his chest, his breath unsteady. "Something about this isn't right."

"He can't be alive! He just can't be!" Iago was probably the most hysterical about the news, flying frantically in circles while the others sat in stunned silence as Aladdin told them what happened. The party had long been over and everyone had left the palace by that point, but one could hear a pin drop in the Sultan's throne room.

"I hate to break it to ya, kid, but that couldn't be Jafar," Genie said, his expression in a firm frown.

"What are you talking about?" Aladdin said. "Rajah and I saw him tonight; he attacked both of us!"

Rajah nodded his head, voicing a low growl that made Abu cower in a nearby corner. Carpet looked ready to fly under a nearby table to hide, shaking knobs and all.

"I'm not sayin' that, at least on the end of 'something' attacking you," Genie held up his hands, palms forward, shaking his head. "It's just...well, when a Genie's lamp is destroyed and they're bound to the lamp, there's no coming back. He's gone, done, more broken than Humpty Dumpty falling off his wall. There's no putting him back together." He transformed into a life sized egg broken into multiple shards.

Aladdin's shoulders slumped, his gaze turned downward, teeth clenched. "I know what I saw."

"No one's doubting that, Aladdin," Jasmine ran her hands up and down Aladdin's arms gently. She tilted his chin for him to meet her gaze. "But we saw him disappear - all of us. What would he have to come back from?"

Aladdin shook his head. "I don't know how to explain it."

"I think the Palace and the whole of Agrabah should be on high alert over the next few days. I do regret that you and Rajah were ever attacked at all, Aladdin, whatever foul magic is at work," the Sultan said, a scowl crossing his features as he sat at his throne.

At least that was better than outright claiming that Jafar wasn't the one who attacked him. Aladdin sighed. "Thanks, Sultan."

The head of the royal guard, Razoul, gave a disapproving grunt under his breath in one of the corners of the room. Even after all the time that he'd been at the palace, Aladdin knew Razoul still didn't completely trust him. There were times when he was willing to admit to Aladdin's bravery or quick-thinking, but other times...well, it was clear Aladdin still didn't fit well into the royal social circles.

"Am I the only one here that thinks we oughtta pack up and leave the city before he comes back?" Iago's eyes wide with horror. "'Cause if he's anything like he was the last time we tangled with him, we might have to start taking out life insurance policies."

Aladdin shook his head. "No. I don't think running away is going to solve anything."

"Well, what do you suppose we do?" Razoul snapped. "If it was Jafar, which I highly doubt, there isn't anything standing in his way for vengeance. He could strike at any time. And he wouldn't give you such a strict deadline."

"And why would you say that?" Aladdin asked.

"Because the Jafar I knew wouldn't make his motives so clear."

Aladdin considered it. That part was true, but he couldn't deny that the figure that he and Rajah had seen was Jafar. There was the odd distortion at one point in his voice, but still...

Aladdin shook his head. "I know what I saw, and who I saw, Razoul." Aladdin stood to attention even as Razoul was taller than him, not backing down.

Razoul seemed dubious, shifting his gaze from Aladdin to the Sultan, stiffening into a bow. "Your majesty, just as a precaution, I'll have my men spread over the palace and through the city over the next few days. If 'Jafar" strikes, my men will be ready for him."

The Sultan nodded, seeming unaware of Razoul's sarcasm. But Aladdin caught it loud and clear. If no one would believe him, he'd have to get to the bottom of it himself.

"That went better than expected," Jatika said, grinning while relaxing at a rock near the oasis, examining his glowing hands. He'd returned to his original, impish form. "I not only gained enough power to compensate for the loss of the transformation, but extra. That boy is strong willed and his fear of that sorcerer is sound." His grin became a hard scowl, his brow furrowed. "But I need more power. If I'm assuming correctly, the guard might be alerted and make it hard for me to roam into the city given my chosen attack tonight. That could pose as a problem."

The imp stroked his chin. He conjured a spell between his hands and out of the sands near his curled shoes, two small scorpions materialized. They clapped their pinchers and stabbed the ground with their tails eagerly.

Jatika grinned. "Now, now, I'm sure you wonder why I've summoned you, pretties. First, my target is the one called Aladdin. You are to observe him through tomorrow. Then the moment the full moon appears along the desert, you are to subdue him. There is no room for failure."

The scorpions clipped in agreement, but seemed to communicate something only the imp could understand. Jatika sighed.

"No, I don't want you to kill him. I need him. I've given you the power to put him into a deep sleep for a time, enough to aid in his capture. Summon me when you're done, and I'll teleport him here. I don't want to waste more power than I have to. Then my plan on making Agrabah a city of eternal sleep can begin." The imp grinned widely. "Do we have a deal?"

The small scorpions agreed, clipping in the night air.

"Very good. Now off with you. And please don't run into any of the others if you can help it. I don't need any excess baggage interrupting my fun."

The scorpions scurried away from the oasis towards Agrabah.