Getting the Bugs Out part 1
It was a nice sunny day in the marketplace and I there with none other than Jasmine. I was glad for days like this, when it was just me and her. Oh, and Iago. He had decided to come with us, mainly to get away from Abu. Those two never stopped arguing. What Jaz was looking for, I wasn't sure of. We had walked around all morning and hadn't found anything yet.
"Wares! Get your wares!" Vendors shouted at us as we passed but Jaz only shook her head that she wasn't interested. Iago rolled his eyes and pointed at a man holding up pots.
"Wares? They call this junk 'wares'? Looks more like whats or whys." I sniggered and then picked up a strange pair of spectacles I saw on a stand. Slipping them on I turned to face him.
"What about these?" I tapped him. He looked over at me and shrieked hiding in Jaz's hood, before scowling at me.
"Don't do that!" I only laughed and Jaz giggled as Iago glowered at her. I looked into a mirror that was hanging on the stall and laughed at my bug-eyed reflection.
"No, I don't think so." Jasmine said with another giggle and I put the glasses back onto the stall.
"That was low." Iago muttered and I rolled my eyes.
"Well excuse me. Sorry for having fun."
"You call scaring me fun?"
"You shouldn't be so jumpy about everything!"
"Well you should-"
"Oh, look this would be perfect for my father's toy collection." Jaz interrupted and we stopped arguing long enough to look at what she had. In her hand was a small golden bug that had big red jeweled eyes and thin shiny wings.
"Careful!" A man shouted and snatching it from Jasmine's hands held it closer to himself. "This is a priceless family heirloom." He informed us and Iago and I exchanged eye rolls. Jaz folded her arms across her chest irritably. "Very expensive. 100 dinar."
"Does it work?" She asked him and judging by the surprised look on the vendor's face he didn't know.
"But of course!" He stated and Iago rolled his eyes.
"Yeah right, how much you wanna bet it crashes?" Iago muttered, I sniggered and Jaz hid a smile. The vendor shot us a glance before giving it a toss in the air. It went up and….then came right back down.
"Ahh!" Iago screeched as it fell onto him and bounced off onto the ground. The vendor gave us a cheesy grin before picking it up and dusting it off.
"Told you." Iago whispered, shooting me a smirk.
"Okay so it's not an heirloom. It's just a piece of junk I found in a canyon in the desert." He admitted grimly.
"I'll give you two dinar." Jaz held out too coins and the man sighed.
"Sold." He said a little begrudgingly and Jaz took the little dragonfly.
"Wonder what it does." I commented as we walked back to the palace. Jasmine smiled at me.
"I don't know, but father is very good with these things. I'm sure he'll figure it out." Iago only eyed it with slight interest.
We passed Rasoul at the door, who made a sour face at us, (that I returned) and we went up the stairs. Jasmine went to her room to change from her peasant clothes and Iago and I went to find Al. He was in toy room with the Sultan. The ruler was leaning over a table tinkering with something when we went inside.
"Hey, Al!" I called to him and he waved me over. I came to the table and looked to see what the Sultan was doing.
"What are you doing, your highness?" I asked and he looked up at me.
"One of my camels wouldn't run properly. So I fixed it." he held up the now moving toy with a smile.
"That's neat!" I exclaimed and he chuckled. "Where'd you learn to do that?"
"I learned as a young lad many years ago." I smiled at him.
"Father!" We looked to see Jaz in the doorway. "Look what I found for you in the marketplace." She came up and handed the Sultan the golden bug.
"A piece of junk if you ask me." Iago muttered from the Sultan's left. Al shook his head and I grinned.
"Hm. It's absolutely exquisite." The Sultan commented and he took it over to the table.
"You know I helped pick it out." Iago put in and I snickered. He shot me a look.
"Unfortunately it doesn't seem to work." Jaz admitted and Abu looked sad. The Sultan chuckled at our expressions.
"Not to worry. I have some expertise in these matters." We watched as the Sultan started to tinker with the toy.
"Can you fix it?" I asked and he smiled at me.
"I do believe so." He then spotted something. "Aha! Here's the problem! There's a speck of grit stuck in here." He poked the toy and then tipped it over. A small pile of sand was now on the table.
"What are you going to do now?" He lifted a can of oil and looked over at me.
"It just needs some oil. The oil's run dry." He explained and Abu and I watched over his shoulder as he oiled the bug. Next he stuck a key in and started to wind it up. "There now." he said when he had finished. "That ought to do it." In awe we watched as the toy began to move its wings. Slowly it began to lift from the table top until it was now soaring about the room.
"It's neat, isn't it Al?" I asked and he nodded.
"Sure is." We watched as the toy suddenly started to spin gracefully in the air. Then it paused and I arched an eyebrow wondering what it was going to do now. We all gasped, stunned as it suddenly sprouted three sharp-looking daggers.
"Al!" I yelped as it started down towards us quicker than we thought it was able too. We all ducked and it zoomed over our heads crashing through the colorful kites that were hanging down from the ceiling. The weapon wielding bug started flying quickly about the room and we scattered as it came back around towards us.
It jabbed Iago in the butt and he gave a shriek before flying off. It tried to get Abu next, but the tiny monkey leapt into a jar to avoid being attacked. Then it started towards me. I yelped and took off running from it and narrowly avoided it as I slid under the table. The Sultan yelled in terror as it came towards him now and he jumped behind a golden statue which the little dragonfly prompted broke, slicing the head off the golden elephant.
"Aladdin, do something!" The ruler yelped coming up where the elephant's head should have been and I scrambled further under the table as the bug circled the room again.
"Don't worry, I'll handle this!" Al got the lamp out and started to rub it. As soon as he did pink smoke came from it and Genie appeared, wearing a bathrobe and glasses. In his mouth was a pipe and he was reading a paper.
"Hey, guys." He said casually not seeing that we were standing fearful about. "What's-" he was cut off by the flying metal dragonfly whizzing past his head, making it spin. "Whoaa!" Al whistled for Carpet then as the bug turned around.
"Genie, Carpet, stop that thing!" Al told them and they saluted.
"It's a done deal!" Genie shouted and they both flew up. Genie popped up in a baseball outfit (A game he introduced to us not to long ago), and had a thick black mustache, and he batted the dragonfly as it came towards him. It flew towards Carpet who caught it and then slammed it into the ground. It now lay in a crumbled heap on the floor.
"Nice catch Rugman!" He complemented as he and Carpet high-fived and I cheered gaining his attention.
"You can come out now. It's safe." Genie peeked under the table and grinned at me before pulling me out. I laughed and hugged him.
"Thanks Genie! And thanks Carpet!" I said sincerely and Carpet patted my head in thanks.
"Aladdin, how can I thank you?" The Sultan said suddenly running over to my brother. Genie and Carpet looked stunned and Jasmine tried to get his attention. "You saved my life!"
"I did?" Al said confusedly.
"He did?" Genie asked in disbelief and I shook my head.
"No, you and Carpet did." I frowned at Al as he made no move to tell the Sultan who really saved him.
"Hey, I guess I did." He announced as the Sultan walked off and Jasmine scowled at the same time I did.
"Aladdin!" she scolded.
"Oh, come on Jasmine! It's not often that I get to impress your father."
"But when you do, it should be from something you did, Al." Al waved it off and I scowled deeper. He went over to the Sultan who was trying to fix his golden statue.
"No thanks necessary sir. An adventurer such as myself must laugh at danger ha ha ha." I rolled my eyes at him. He's getting a swelled head again.
"Um, I'm confused." Genie tapped Al on the shoulder. "I smashed the thing. Carpet caught it. What exactly did you do?"
"Yeah, Al, enlighten us." I frowned at him and he grinned sheepishly.
"Well uh-"
"We must do something!" The Sultan interrupted us by laying a hand on Al's shoulder. "What if there are more of them? No one in Agrabah would be safe."
"Not to worry, Sultan. I'll get to the bottom of this!" Al proclaimed to the Sultan and then he strutted past us. "Hey, come on guys let's get to the bottom of this." Genie and Carpet shrugged before following him out the door.
"Nice present." Iago sneered at Jasmine landing on the broken toy in her hand. "Next time, why don't you get him a cobra?" Jasmine frowned at him in irritation. Spring! The broken dragonfly bounced Iago into the air and we burst out laughing.
"That's what you get!" I told him when he landed back onto the ground. "Besides it's not her fault. That vendor was the one who…" Jaz looked at me, we had the same idea.
"The vendor!" Jaz and I said together and we ran to go tell the 'heroic' guy outside.
After tracking down the vendor and getting directions to the canyon we started towards it. Genie was in his lamp, probably sulking because of Al. Not that I blamed him. Al shouldn't take credit for things he didn't do.
"There's the canyon where the merchant said he found that thing!" Al announced and we all looked to see a very large and deep canyon in the ground. Carpet flew us down through there and the whole canyon was so wide that a city was nestled at the bottom of it.
"Wow, wonder who lives down here?" I asked and Jasmine had similar thoughts.
"Whoever it is must know where the toy came from." Al and I nodded at this.
"The city is a wreck!" Iago snorted. "Trust me, this isn't gonna be a quick search!" I grinned and patted him.
"You can stay away from the palace for one day Iago." I teased and he scowled.
"Who asked you?" he said irritably and Al shushed us as we got closer. I just sniggered as Iago ruffled his feathers in an angry fashion.
"Guys we need to keep a low profile. Something happened here. They might need some help!" He then stood up on Carpet, trying to impress the people that were crowded in a small circle. Oh, boy here we go again. Just as he was about to say something that was probably cheesy and big-headed, Carpet came to an abrupt stop sending him flying towards the villagers and landing right at their feet. I fell into fits of snickers and Jaz covered her mouth to hide a giggle that I knew was bubbling up.
"Providence has sent a man from the sky to be our new leader!" One of the villagers shouted. Uh-oh. The villagers cheered and lifted Al to their shoulders. He looked at us and shrugged and Abu shrugged back. The men set Al on a small broken stage then and Carpet let us off beside him. Al turned and gave us a grin.
"They can sense my inner strength." He commented and Jaz scowled as I rolled my eyes.
"Oh, brother." She muttered as Al caught a bouquet of roses. Then they set two large baskets of fruit onto the stage which Iago and Abu dug into immediately.
"Congratulations!" An elderly man came up the steps then and placed a large purple vase with a green feather on his head.
"Nice turban, Al." I muttered and he shushed me.
"You are the new leader of the village Iminabadway! Now get rid of the golden plague for us?" Iago spat out his fruit.
"Plague?" he shrieked up at us and I could only shrug.
"Leader!" Al laughed. "Gee, I'm-I'm honored!" he told the crowd of people. "Uh, what was that about a plague?" He suddenly asked. Iago started to panic and grabbed Abu's paw telling him that he was getting sick. I rolled my eyes at his dramatics.
"Uh, that would be the golden plague now." A nervous villager moaned we all looked up to see five large golden beetles headed our way.
"Okay great leader, you're on!" The elderly man gave Al a shove before running off. Abu and Iago hid under the now empty baskets as Al summoned Genie from the lamp.
"You heard him guys you're on!" he told Genie and Carpet and they took off. I poked Al in the chest in annoyance.
"I think they meant you, great leader." Al rolled his eyes and pushed my accusing finger away.
"Alaric's right." Jaz grabbed a pole and handed it to Al. "Here you go great leader." I grinned at Al's sheepish expression before he jumped down to fight.
Al tried to hit one of the flying beetles but it almost knocked him over. Jaz and I had to jump off the stage, as one crashed into where we had been seconds before. Carpet chased two as they went flying by buildings damaging them as they went. He then got the upper hand and rolled up to swat them. He knocked them both hard into the ground. Two down three to go.
"Get down!" Jaz called as one flew at us. She, Al, and I ran and hid under a wagon, but the bug was turning around. Genie got that one by swatting it into the ground, saving me, Al, and Jaz from being crushed. Two more to go.
Genie and Carpet chased these two high into the air and Genie sprayed them with something before Carpet rolled up and swatted these too. With two loud thuds the battle was over. Cheering erupted from the villagers and we came out from under the wagon. Genie and Carpet waited to be praised but the villagers only ran by them to congratulate Al.
"We've got to get ourselves a new agent." Genie muttered to Carpet.
"You have saved our village!"
"You are our hero!"
"From now on your credit is good in all our shops!" They shouted and Al sighed contentedly.
"Ah, it was nothing. Anything else giving ya trouble? A barbarian horde perhaps?"
"A swell headed brother?" I muttered and Al glared at me.
"Aladdin, don't you think that you should share the credit?" Jaz asked pointedly towards Genie and Carpet. Genie turned into a puppy and flew over to lick his face.
"Oh, uh, good job guys." He told them absently handing Genie/puppy a bunch of flowers. Genie whined.
"Well, I thank you guys. You saved us." Genie turned normal and ruffled my hair as Carpet flew around me.
"Thanks kiddo. At least one of you cares." He looked dejected and I patted him.
"Hey, Al cares. He's just being…well a jerk right now. He'll figure it out eventually." I tried to sound convincing but a dejected rug and jinni was something that was going to be hard to fix.
Later that night, the villagers threw Al a celebration party. Al sat the head of the table and Jaz and I sat on either side of him. I poked the table again with a sigh. All night long they had been feeding Al's ego and now it was just about unbearable. Abu and Iago were having a good time stuffing their faces though and it was amusing to watch.
"Hey, kid, watch this!" Iago sat a small fruit on his head and started to dance with it balancing it while he did so.
"Ya, da, dad, a, dadada!" Iago sung as he waved about and then he tossed the fruit up and caught it in his mouth. "Ta-da!" he announced and I just shook my head and grinned at him. Abu attempted to do the same but his fruit landed on Iago and a war started.
Finally Jaz had enough. "Shouldn't we get ready in case some more of those things show up?" She stood and the villagers all blinked at her.
"Relax." Al looked at her from his laid back stance against the pillows behind him. "The great bug destroyer is here! Ha, ha. Or whatever it is they call me?" He looked at my annoyed face. "Lighten up, Rick. It's a party." Then he narrowed his eyes. "You're not jealous are you? I mean come on I know that this whole thing leader thing is new but, there's no reason to be jealous." My face flushed with anger and I gritted my teeth. "You'll get over it." I then snapped.
"What?" I shouted getting up from the table. The whole room fell silent and I stood seething over Al, who was looking at me with wide eyes obviously not expecting the anger. "You think I'm jealous of you!"
"Well…I could see where you would be."
"Oh, do you?" I spat and started for the door. "I'm going to find Genie, let me know when you're done being a bigheaded jerk!" I stomped past the shocked villagers and left Al gapping open-mouthed at me. I made it outside and sighed angrily. I kicked at small stones muttering as I stalked past buildings to find Genie and Carpet. Al had told them to patrol the area just in case 'he' was needed. They looked up when I came over.
"Hey, short-what's wrong?" I sat beside Carpet on a rock I sucked in a breath.
"Nothing."
"Come on." Genie prompted and I quickly told of what Al had said.
"And everything just exploded in me! I didn't mean to yell at him like that, but I was tired of it!" I concluded and Genie hugged me as Carpet patted my head.
"Bet you feel better now don't you?" Genie asked and I nodded.
"Yeah, I've been holding it in for a while."
"Don't do that. You're a kid, let your emotions run free unless there bad emotions, keep those under lock and key." I laughed and Genie ruffled my hair and we sat in silence for a bit.
"It's quiet." Genie commented in a strange tone and Carpet and I nodded. It was eerily silent. Suddenly Genie poofed away and appeared a little ways away dressed in a weird outfit.
"Aye, a little too quiet." He said and held a telescope to his eyes and peering around. "Reminds me of the time we were stranded off the isle of Madagascar…" Carpet and I exchanged looks as Genie chuckled darkly. "And then the sharks came!" Genie hollered making me and Carpet jump. Carpet shook with fear and he hid behind me on the rock as Genie turned to face us completely with a savage expression.
"They circled us for days." Genie now had a shark fin and was slowly circling the rock we were sitting on an evil grin on his face. Carpet was hugging me, still shaking and we both watched as Genie went round and round. "Waiting to make their move. Waiting…until suddenly….without warning!" We were both waiting for something to happen but Genie drew back. "They got bored and went away." Carpet fainted. "Infernal sharks and their short attention spans." I laughed and then Genie whirled around.
"What's that?" His eyes got really big. I gasped as me and Carpet both looked up to see more of the metal bugs coming.
"Come on we gotta tell Al!" Genie tucked me under his arm and ran towards the building I had left Al in. We found him, Jaz, Abu and Iago asleep at the table. Genie poked Al on the arm.
"There baaaaaack." He said giving off an eerie glow. Al yawned and stood up.
"Okay, guys." He said placing the 'turban' on his head. "It's show time." I shook my head and followed them out the door. Al walked out so the bugs could see him, while Jaz, Iago, Abu and I peered around a wall. Jasmine gave a gasp at the bugs as they hovered nearby. Genie and Carpet came up to help Al. Carpet gave Genie the thumbs up as he came up in a cowboy outfit, standing at the ready.
"Okay, bugs." Al murmured and he narrowed his eyes in concentration. Two of the golden beetles suddenly opened small doors on their stomachs and metal spiders came out. Curious we all watched to see what they'd do and to our surprise the spider's back opened reveling two small cannon looking things. Then at once they fired nets towards Genie and Carpet! Carpet was caught and pulled into the metal bug, but Genie was able to get out.
"Ah, ah, ah." He scowled. "It isn't that easy to catch a jinni."
"Genie look out!" I hollered too late as another of the metal bugs came out with a strange contraption that sucked him in. As the metal bugs flew away with their quarry, they wreaked the building we had been in moments ago.
"The great Aladdin has failed us!" One of the villagers cried and we turned to face them.
"He is nothing without his genie and carpet." Another mocked and I frowned. Al sighed behind me.
"They're right. I'm nothing without Genie and Carpet."
"You are something, Al." I said touching his arm. "You're the best."
"Yes, you still have us." Jaz added.
"Oh, no! Don't look at me!" Iago snarled from the ground and I rolled my eyes. "It's the great, Aladdin's problem! Nobody ever said anything about the great Iago." He suddenly slipped into some black stuff that was on the ground. "Alright who spilled the oil? It's just going to wreak the environment!"
"You complain too much." I muttered at him and he scowled.
"It is oil." Jaz said getting closer to it. "It must have leaked out of one of those…things."
"It left a trail of oil!" Al exclaimed and we then saw it. "C'mon guys! This will lead us right to their nest!" Al took off at a run with Abu and Jaz right behind him. I paused for a minute eyeing Iago.
"Hey good luck! Let me know how the whole bug thing works out!"
"Oh no, you don't! You're coming too!" I grabbed him by the tail as he tried to fly away.
"Hey!" he protested loudly, trying to get away. I let him go then and he flew above me indignantly.
"Hurry or we won't catch up!" I said and with a sigh he followed after me.
"You owe me for this!" he hollered and I only laughed.