Chapter 5: Cutting Ties

Aladdin woke in a dimly lit room, and he noticed two odd things about his environment at first. The first was that he was lying on his side on the surface of a table. The second was that the source of the lighting in the room was a large candle which he could see the dripping wax streaming down the thing like a large waterfall.

The third thing shocked him the most - his reflection in a nearby glass. It made him gasp and spring to his feet. But since something tangled his legs, he ended up stumbling and falling backward with a loud clack.

"Hey, careful there, the first step's always a doozy when you've been napping." The voice came from behind Aladdin, and he looked up to see an small stuffed bear wearing a drum and uniform.

"W-who...Where...What?" Aladdin stammered. He struggled to find words.

"You must be new around these parts. I figured you weren't here yesterday for the festival. I'm Fitz, drummer bear extraordinaire. You are?"

"A-Aladdin. My name's Aladdin." Aladdin slowly stood between the tangling strings around him and wooden handles beneath his feet. He was still trying to get used to what he was seeing around him, let alone what he seemed to be. His whole body was smaller, his limbs more stiff, his eyes more glassy. He pulled up one of his pant legs to see that his knees were wedged at the joints. His bare arms and elbows revealed the same.

Fitz scratched his head. "Huh. Fancy that. You've got the same name as the famous Prince of Agrabah. He's got quite a name across the seven deserts. Fights a monster everyday, from what I heard."

"That's because I am that Aladdin."

Laughter erupted a distance from where Aladdin and Fitz stood. A larger puppet stood over them, looking between the both. "Well now, that's a lie if I ever heard one, because the Prince of Agrabah isn't a puppet, but a flesh and blood human being. You, my friend," he jabbed a finger at Aladdin's chest. "Are not flesh and blood. You're a puppet."

Aladdin winced. "I'm...how..." He looked at his reflection in a nearby glass, pressing his small hands against it. "I don't even understand how I got this way. One moment I was fending off Mirage, and the next..."

Fitz's brows raised. "You fought Mirage? You definitely sound like the brave prince in the stories we've heard. None of us would ever go against her."

"Oh please, Fitz. You can buy into that argument all you would like, but the fact of the matter is, he's nothing more than a block of wood that has his strings tied up."

"I'm not a puppet!" Aladdin whirled around to face the larger puppet. He grimaced a little at the fact that he hadn't expected the puppet to be so tall, towering over him like some of the buildings in Agrabah towered over the street.

The large puppet rolled his eyes. "I've heard that one before. Name began with a 'P', ended with an 'O.' And I watched his nose grow. Tell me what I don't know."

Fitz frowned. "Stop mocking him, Darbin." The bear addressed the larger puppet as if his own height in comparison - smaller than even Aladdin - weren't an inferior factor. "If he says he is who he says he is, then I believe him."

Darbin looked unconvinced. "You're quite trusting of someone who just showed from nowhere claiming to be a Prince. Why would he allow himself to be caught by Mirage, anyway?"

"She tricked me, that's how." Aladdin's fists balled at his sides as he spoke. "Last thing I remember she blasted me with magic. That had to have done something to me." He looked around the room to see it was the backstage to some performance area.

Is this supposed to be the favor I'm supposed to do for her? Why? Maybe she's trying to draw attention from our own festival or something.

The thought of the festival he was missing and his fight with Jasmine came rushing back to him. He groaned, putting his face in his small hands.

"Aww, what's the matter? You're finally admitting you're the puppet you say you're not?" Darbin mocked.

Aladdin glared at him. "I am who I say I am, regardless what you think. I have to figure out a way to get out of here, before..." He trailed off as he realized that he, Darbin and Fitz have a larger audience of their conversation. Several puppets and stuffed figures peered from behind boxes and from within dollhouses and miniature palaces. There were even toy horses and camels looking at them - some weary, and some intrigued.

"Wow, there's...so many of you," Aladdin managed.

"What does it matter to you?" Darbin snapped. "Allow me to cut to the chase, good sir. You are a puppet and the only way we're going to have to prove that you're a puppet is if we take drastic measures. Fair warning, it's not as if you'd die, but this might sting your stuffing a little. Or at least give you some splinters."

He pulled what Aladdin assumed to be a play knife from a dartboard and then threw it straight toward Aladdin. Aladdin barely had time to evade it as it landed on the surface of the table beside where he fell.

The "play" knife wasn't fake at all, especially from where Aladdin stared at it, wide-eyed.

"Have you lost your marbles?" Fitz demanded, whirling around to face Darbin.

Darbin snorted. "I warned him. My test didn't hit its mark, so I'm willing to try again." He pulled a sword from his side. "I wouldn't mind running him through with this just to prove a point. It's your last warning to tell us the truth, impostor."

Aladdin realized he didn't have much time to defend himself. He leapt to his feet and grabbed the knife. He wasn't a match for the larger puppet on attack, but he could work that out as he went along.

He was able to parry blows from Darbin's long, slender weapon. When he couldn't, dodging was his only choice. At one point, Aladdin used his momentum to roll between the legs of the larger puppet and run. But it was hard to do considering he had strings attached to him from a much larger wood piece, where it seemed like it was used to control his hands and limbs. If only he could...

He smiled as a thought occurred to him, but it faded just as quickly when he saw the larger puppet recover. Aladdin waited for Darbin to strike his sword down, before he dodged at the last minute.

The first few swipes did the trick, cutting Aladdin loose from the strings that were attached to him. That shocked the growing audience of toys, puppets, and otherwise plush animals who watched the fight.

Fitz's brows rose. "That's the first time I've seen a puppet get used to being out of his strings that quickly."

Darbin huffed with disgust. "Just means he's a fast learner. Doesn't make him any different from the rest of us."

"I. Am. Not. A Puppet." Aladdin snapped. "What do I have to do to convince you?"

"You can start by holding still!" Darbin brought down his weapon another time, and Aladdin stumbled back, the blow too close for comfort as Aladdin felt the air shift from the swipe.

"Will you stop this nonsense at some point, Darbin?" Another puppet darted close just as Darbin brought his weapon down, and none of them expected her to be in the path of the blade. She looked in horror as it came down.

"NO!" Aladdin just managed to push her aside, preparing himself to take the blunt of the blade.