Chapter 3: Fall Little Puppet

Aladdin and Abu saw Warek adjusting a few banners in one of the dens set aside to house some of the materials and sets for the art festival. He didn't look too pleased.

"Hey Warek, what's going on?" Aladdin asked.

Warek sighed. "Ah, Aladdin. I just returned to town with Dyna." Dyna was Warek's loyal traveling camel, who sometimes seemed human with the way she reacted to things. Aladdin didn't dare make the suggestion because Warek seemed oblivious to the fact. She snorted at them before turning her attention to something else.

"You sound like you had a long trip," Aladdin said, leaning against a wall.

Warek nodded. "After what happened last night, I'm surprised I got back so quickly to the city from the next kingdom."

Aladdin frowned. "Wait, what happened?"

"Several vandals apparently came into the city and wrecked a few of our sets. Not too many of them, but enough to set back our progress. No one saw anything, but judging from the sounds one of the witnesses heard, we think it might've been cats."

"Cats?!" Aladdin and Abu said at the same time.

"If you don't believe me, take a look at this." Warek held up one of the damaged signs, which was marred by...

"Claw marks." The words came nearly breathless on Aladdin's tongue. He ran his fingers down the strong impressions in the wood. "Somehow I think there may be more to it than that."

Warek raised a brow. "Why would you say that, my Prince?"

Aladdin told him about the vandalism of Genie's puppets. Warek's face fell.

"You think it could've been by the same culprit?" the merchant asked.

Aladdin shrugged. "I don't know, but it's all really strange that it happened in the same night. Just keep on your guard. We can't afford to have anything else happen so close to the deadline. And I think Jasmine might be to the point where she's going to load me with questions about everything soon. We're so close."

Warek laughed. "You are a mindful prince, indeed, Aladdin. We'll keep all our eyes watching. But you need not worry about your young wife. We'll surprise her and the Sultan soon enough."

Aladdin smiled. "Glad to hear it."

The night had been a nice one for Aladdin and Jasmine as far as their first outing together in a while, but things had gone wrong only after Aladdin dropped Jasmine back to the palace.

He lay flat on his stomach aboard Carpet as Jasmine looked up at him from the balcony, her arms resting on the railing. "Are you joining me inside?"

He shook his head. "As much as I would like to...there's still so much for me to do in the city."

She frowned, folding her arms across her chest. "Aladdin..."

He held up his hands, sitting up on Carpet. "I really do have a lot to do tonight."

"Too much to spend a night with me, or did you just manage to fit me in your schedule enough for all of that? I actually had a really nice time."

"I did too, I just...Jasmine, I didn't mean to make it sound like that." He hated how he had to dance around the issue, the secret he couldn't tell. It would be easier to just tell her that he was planning a surprise for her and the Sultan, but he couldn't even let that much slip.

She sighed, turning away from him. He saw her shoulders dip a little. "I just wish that you would be more open with me. Just tell me, I can handle it."

He leapt from Carpet, meaning to approach Jasmine closer than where he stood, but he stopped short. "I can't. I just wish you would trust me."

"You can't, or you won't? There's a difference!" She whirled around, and pointed an accusatory finger at him. "And it's a little hard to trust when you're up and gone before morning and even in the evenings and I barely see you. You never say anything about it, either. And it's not that Father has you working on any special projects because I asked him!"

"You asked him?" Aladdin felt a little rush of fury boil in his belly. "Why couldn't you just ask me?"

"It's a little hard to when you're never around!"

He winced.

Jasmine ran her fingers through her hair. "You know what, never mind. Just...do whatever it is you think is more important than spending time with me."

"That's not..."

"Good night, Aladdin." She whirled around and disappeared behind the curtain. It was hard to miss the hurt and frustration in her voice, but Aladdin's tone hadn't been too far from that either. He turned, stepped on the rail of the balcony and fell to let Carpet catch him.

Carpet made a gesture that seemed like asking Aladdin if he was okay, but Aladdin couldn't say anything at first.

"Sometimes it doesn't feel like working so hard for something meant to be a surprise is worth it if the people you love are mad at you. Especially if it's the reason it makes them mad at you. You know what I mean, Carpet?"

Carpet hung his knobs sadly.

"Come on, let's get back to the city."

Aladdin made it back to check on the progress of the merchants, and it looked like the sets were nearly finished. He congratulated everyone on a job well done and had left Carpet to help them out on moving debris and materials. He was going to walk the rest of the way to his hiding place, it really wasn't that far.

And he needed to clear his head after the fight with Jasmine. He really didn't mean to make her upset, but she had a point.

"What's the matter, Aladdin? Having a little relationship trouble?"

Aladdin stiffened at the sound of the familiar voice. He turned toward it to see Mirage appear in a puff of swirling smoke, her eyes glowing in the darkness. She leaned against a nearby building.

"Mirage." Aladdin's fists curled at his sides. "What are you doing here? And you were spying on me?"

She laughed. "Oh, I just happened to be waltzing around the neighborhood. And I wasn't spying on you, just had a lucky guess. A man's shoulders slumping like that can only be caused by a rift of love. Too bad for you."

Aladdin folded his arms across his chest. "You still didn't answer my question."

"Silly me. Let's just say I came to offer you a task."

"For me to do for you? No way."

She appeared in front of him as he started to move away. "I don't take rejection well, just a word of warning."

"I would never do a favor for someone who's tried to hurt me or my friends. Especially...wait a minute." Aladdin trailed off, as his mind started clicking events and pieces together. Then he was angry.

"It was you, wasn't it? You're the one who vandalized the sets and destroyed Genie's puppets! Between the claw marks, the timing of those events - all of that was you!"

Mirage gave a steady clap of her hands. "Bravo. Though I think you would've figured it out long before now. What was it, the claw marks on the signs? At least you got the obvious clue. I guess that makes it a question of why I did it. Wouldn't you like to know, or can you guess?"

"I don't care. The answer is no, Mirage."

"Silly boy, you make it sound like I'm giving you a choice." There was an odd, vibrating tone to her voice. Aladdin had turned away from her, but looked back in time to see her eyes glowed an odd color, and didn't see the blast of magic until it hit him in his stomach.

It lifted him off his feet and threw him into a nearby empty merchant stand. He groaned, even as he heard Mirage laughing. If she wanted to fight, he wasn't backing down. He crawled from the debris, and when he was sure she wasn't looking, he darted behind her, lifting himself up above where she approached the broken stand. The billowing sand hadn't yet cleared from the blast, so she couldn't see him.

"Oh, Aladdin, I didn't know you were such a weakling. Come on, you've got to take hits better than that."

"Actually, I can take my share just fine - the question is, can you?"

She whirled around, but not in enough time to stop the cascade of fruits that barrelled around her from where Aladdin released the crate above her head. She screeched as fruit pelted her.

Aladdin smiled as he lowered back down to the streets and bolted towards his hiding place. He had to buy himself enough time to tell Genie and the others what Mirage had done. He wasn't apt enough to guess her plan, but he knew enough of her involvement to know that she wanted to sabotage their festival.

Mirage appeared not far from where Aladdin just reached close to the roof of his hiding place though. She was still covered in fruit and appeared very angry. Her eyes glowed in the darkness.

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Aladdin."

"Funny, I slowed you down a lot faster than you did me. What's the matter, afraid I might tell my friends what you're really up to?" he challenged.

"You should worry more about what I'm going to do to you!" She aimed another several magic blasts at him, but missed. Aladdin was quick enough to dodge them, but he realized that she really *was* trying to keep him from telling Genie and the others, as the blasts drove him backwards, away from his space where he knew where they were.

He wasn't afraid of Mirage, but he knew somehow he didn't want to get hit by whatever was in those blasts. It was a different kind of magic than the initial one that Mirage hit him with. It even made the air crackle around him as he evaded it. He felt it down to his bones.

He caught his breath long enough to reach a corner down to the streets again. He pulled out the lamp beneath his tunic (having lost his turban somewhere in his run), and started rubbing it.

"You've reached the residence of the Genie of the Lamp, but considering I'm no longer bound by the lamp, I can't come to it right now. If you leave your name and message, I'll get back to you as soon as possible. And if this is Al, you've got me on speed dial."

Aladdin looked stunned a moment at the automatic message in Genie's came across as he rubbed the lamp. "Oh, come on Genie, this isn't time to be fooling around, I need your help. Mirage is trying to...OW!"

One of Mirage's magic blasts, even if she wasn't aiming directly for it, hit the lamp and made it burn so hot that Aladdin dropped it, causing it to skid into a dark corner of the alley in which he stood. He winced, holding his hand, and looked to where Mirage stood at the end of the alley, smiling at him.

"Found you."

Aladdin tensed, but glared hard at her, taking careful steps as he backed away. He realized she cornered him, but if he could do it right, he could get out of this on his own. Genie wasn't there to help him, no one was, but...

Aladdin looked out the corner of his eye, and saw his opportunity. He gave Mirage a tight smile. "Hey Mirage, what are you waiting for, if you're going to aim that magic at me, might as well have at it."

Mirage frowned. "Are you seriously challenging me? Do you even know how powerful the magic I'm wielding IS? Fine!" She aimed two magic blasts at him. The first one missed him, and the second one hit right where Aladdin wanted it to, breaking a rope. He grabbed the end of it as a sack dropped down on Mirage's head. He heard Mirage screech below him in frustration, just before flipping upwards to the rooftop of a nearby building.

"That outta slow her down," he said with a grin.

But suddenly he didn't feel like smiling anymore as he nearly ran into Mirage, who appeared in front of him in billows of smoke.

"If you think you can make a fool of me, Prince of Agrabah, you can think again."

Before Aladdin could react, Mirage blasted him with magic that hit the center of his chest. The impact made him grunt, sending him falling over the side of the building.

Mirage smiled as she looked over the side of the building to where Aladdin lay motionless in the alley below. She'd saved him - in a way - using her magic to lower him safely where the fall would've broken him much like the puppets she'd destroyed in his hiding place.

"Don't worry Aladdin. I mentioned it before, I have something for you to do for me. And you don't get much of a say about it, I'm afraid. Besides," she purred. "There are certain things that are worse than death, and I have a few in my plans for you."