Jasmine cradled the magic lamp in her arms and asked. "We need a plan to save Razoul but first I need some information. First off, what happened to Aunty?"
Jean shrugged. "She was not a good spell crafter. She left an obvious backdoor and so I stepped through it and took over her end of the spell. I may be a former genie but I can still do that."
Jasmine nodded. "So Jafar is still in the dark but can you untangle the spell?"
Jean shook her head. "I've had time to look more closely at it. It's got both Jafar's and this woman's powers tied up in it. The only thing I can do is take her place and of course I can activate it which I have no intention of doing."
"So, you're essentially neutralized." Jasmine said. She glanced at Abis Mal. "Do you have any powers?"
However when Abis Mal shook his head, the Guardian interrupted. "I beg to differ. He has the gift of gab. He's driven me nearly mad in the last year. I still can't tell if he's the diamond in the rough or just mad."
"Hey, watch it." Abis Mal complained.
Jasmine thought a moment and then said. "That might be useful to provide a distraction and confuse Jafar. I bet he thinks you're dead."
She then looked over at the carpets. "Any powers besides flight amongst you?" She asked. They all sadly dinged negatively.
"Well, flight may still come in handy." She looked at the lamp in her arms. She lifted it up. "What are the powers of this genie? They have to be great if Jafar wanted them."
The carpets all jumped up and down, waving their tassels, and dinging frantically. Jean sighed. "Yes, boys and girls, I agree. He is a little odd. He's fun and great to be around but he has a strange sense of humor."
She turned back to Jasmine. "His powers are indeed almost beyond imagining but they've been so limited by Genie Incorporated that they are not what they should be. He can give you only three wishes and you can't wish for more. He cannot bring back the dead, he can't make someone fall in love, he can't kill someone for you, he can't have someone else kill for you, he can't be wished free of the lamp and I bet they added he can't get a wish from you, especially after Abis Mal came up with that so I could free myself."
Jasmine smiled at Abis Mal. "That was quite clever of you. If you think of anything I'm overlooking don't hesitate to mention it." Abis Mal blushed and nodded back. Jean gently squeezed his shoulder.
Jasmine held up the lamp. "Well, I don't think Razoul has a lot of time left here. Let's get the Genie out and find what he can do." She rubbed the lamp.
The cave rang with demonic laughter, smoke shot from the end of the lamp, and lightning flashed. The smoke boiled up to the top of the cave and a demonic figure appeared. "Who summons the Genie of the lamp?!" It roared, shaking the walls.
There was a large burst of smoke and a light-blue genie appeared. "Man, I've been forever in that one room efficiency apartment, no running water, no newspaper, and let me tell you the dog has got to go." He turned into a small blue Scotty dog and ran over to the cave wall where he lifted his leg.
"Hey!" Roared the Guardian. "There's a bathroom here! Use it!"
The Genie turned back into his human form and got all bashful. "Sorry. But when you have to go you have to go."
He suddenly seemed to realize that he wasn't alone. "Rug men!" He shouted and started slapping hands with their tassels. "Am I glad to see you guys. Give me some skin. Now up high. Now low. Oh, too slow." He laughed while they all mobbed him.
He saw Jean and suddenly appeared besides her while all the carpets fell in a giggling heap. "Jean! It's been too long. When was the last time? I know. It was the Vegas convention. Did we give those Shriners a hot time or not?" He laid a big smooch on her which she returned. He swung her around laughing.
"Put me down, Mork." She protested.
He dropped her. "Don't ever call me that again." He said with his best Bogart voice. He then turned into Edward G Robinson. "You don't want to get on my bad side, kid. You really don't."
She grinned back at him and put her arm around Abis Mal's shoulder. "The truth is I'm no longer in the genie game. I've found someone. Meet Abis Mal."
Abis Mal said tentatively. "Hi."
Genie grew in size and stared at him up close. "He doesn't look like much and he certainly could use some under arm." A cloud of perfume left Abis Mal coughing.
Genie shrank down and asked. "Seriously, is he my new master? I hope not. But if he is, oh well." He got out a tape measure and started measuring Abis Mal. "A little bit dumpy and too many snacks, but I can work with it."
Jean pointed at Jasmine. "No, Genie. Princess Jasmine is your mistress now."
"Oh, good. Here's my card, Abysmal. Call me when I'm out." He sized Jasmine up and down. "A mistress. Well, it's a welcome change. Let me change." He became an EMC and went off into his song and dance routine singing about "Mrs. Jasmine Madam and how it would all go bam." There were many more lines and antics as he went into his stick.
"Is he always like this?" Abis Mal asked as he stared at the card which read "I Genie, Tailor of Personalities, Extraordinary."
Jean grimaced. "He's usually more moderate. I suspect he hasn't had his caffeine fix yet."
"All right that's enough!" Jasmine yelled. Genie didn't hear over his own noise and kept on dancing and changing scenery. "Guardian, a little help here." She snapped. "Get his attention."
"A pleasure, Princess." There was a loud roar as the air seemed to suck out of the room and then the Guardian shouted. "WILL YOU SHUT UP?" The blast of sound blew Genie off his ivory tower.
Silence fell and Genie dropped out of the air onto a pile of dancing girls sitting on large, fluffy pillows. "Sorry, ladies, to drop in unannounced." They all giggled and shoved him to his feet. He smiled back at them. "Later, girls." They blew kisses back as they vanished.
He shook his finger at Jasmine. "You're going to be a lousy Mistress. You have no sense of humor." He accused.
"Not when the one I love is about to be murdered at any second with a magic spell, I don't." She retorted.
He stared at her in surprise and then slumped. "My bad." He sighed. "First rule is that the customer is always right." He smiled sheepishly. "It's just that I've been so long in that cursed lamp that I wanted to have a little fun. Well, let's get going. First, I have to give you the lawyer mumbo jumbo."
"Wait until you see the new rules." Jean told him.
He put his lawyer glasses on and his barrister's wig. A scroll appeared in his hand. He let it unroll and it rolled out of sight. "That's some list." He said.
He stared at it in shock and then fire shot out of his ears. "What? No wishing the genie free. Limited time with the client. You can't get a wish given to you. Remember the Company loves you like the cherished asset you are?"
He grabbed the roll of paper in a fist and it burst into flames. His face had turned red and steam came out of his ears. "They can't do this. Damn lawyer imps anyway. All they're good for is kindling."
He stomped around and yelled while Jasmine tapped her foot until he acknowledged her. "Well, I suppose I still need to give you the pro bonos and quids."
"It's okay, Genie, thanks to Jean I'm already familiar with the rules. Let me tell you about our problem." Jasmine declared and began to fill him in.
He listened intently until she was done and rubbed his head. "Ay Yi Yi. You do have a problem. Let me check it out." He took a jeweler's glass and fitted it to his eye. He stared at the floor, looked over at the door, back at Jean, and then finally at Aunty who sneered at him. Genie grimaced. "The magic mirror had you placed, didn't he? What a nasty piece of work you are." She stuck her tongue out at him.
He looked back up at Jasmine. "All right what do you want me to do?"
Jasmine started to say. "I wish for you to…."
But Abis Mal interrupted. "Ask him what he can do first, Princess." He shrugged. "You'd be wasting a wish or time if he couldn't do what you asked."
Jasmine nodded. "Thanks, Abis Mal." She turned back to Genie. "It's a good question. We want to get Razoul out unharmed. What can you do?"
Genie sighed. "I can't bust the spell because it's one of the kinds of spells that will go off if you try and cancel it. I can't knock Jafar out because that will set it off. I can't overload it as that will set it off. I'm open to suggestions here."
Abis Mal said. "Jean went in a backdoor and took over this, this old hag and separated her from the spell. Can you do that with Jafar?"
Genie scratched his head. "I could but then that would leave two of us tied with your friend Razoul to the spell and I would be unable to work magic very effectively then."
Abis Mal screwed up his face. "Maybe we're going at this all wrong. How about going through the link with Razoul?"
Genie grinned. "I like that. Come here, boys and girls. It's time for the hidden
ball play."
He was suddenly dressed like an NFL coach and drew them all into a huddle. He described what he had in mind and then clapped his hands together. "Come on, gang, let us win this one for the Quipper."
"Who?" Asked Abis Mal as they broke the huddle. When no one answered he shrugged. "I'm glad when it came to genies I drew the sane one."