Jafar was so busy writing down Iago's suggestions that he totally ignored the astronomers and the soldiers who were quietly sneaking up on him. He stared at the list. "That's number twenty one." He said to Iago.

"Yeah, you didn't take into account that the Guardian might shut its internal doors as she went through them. What happens to the spell then?" Iago shook his feathers out. "As I said, not well thought out."

"Any more?" Jafar sighed.

"Well, suppose the Guardian sends them deeper into the ground than your spell can go?" Iago leered up at his former partner.

Jafar groaned. "That's number twenty two. I'm beginning to think I was a little hasty in terminating our partnership."

"I told you that originally, buddy. But you never listen to me." He looked over Jafar's shoulder as movement caught his eyes. His expression froze and then turned into one of surprise. "Number twenty three." He declared. "What happens if someone else has already copped the lamp?"

"What?" Jafar stared at him and then whirled around, following Iago's pointing feather finger. His jaw fell open.

A procession was pouring out of the cave entrance. A line of guards with swords held in their fists in front of their faces was marching out in lock step. They were followed by dancing girls in almost transparent costumes who whirled and twirled. Little girls with flower baskets strewed flowers all over the path. Trained bears balanced on balls and wove in amongst the flower girls and the dancers. There was a roar of trumpets and a short, dumpy man dressed in rich robes came floating out on a flying carpet with a beautiful blond woman stroking his head. Overhead carpets did barrel rolls.

A parade announcer floated here and there, chanting about the greatness of Prince Abis Mal. One line was that "He's really on the ball; as he made the Great Wall fall." Unnoticed the parade announcer vanished.

Genie appeared next to Razoul's ear. "Don't look now, pardner, but the cavalries here."

To say Jafar was stunned was to put it mildly. "Abis Mal, you have the lamp?"

Abis Mal smiled at him from the carpet. "What lamp? Oh, you mean this old thing?" He held up a gold lamp encrusted with jewels. "I kept waiting for you to come and get it but you didn't open the door again and so I assumed you didn't want it. Therefore I used it." He looked at the diamonds twinkling on his sleeves. "Oh, I love sparklies." He kissed the beautiful blond beside him and then smiled at the stunned Jafar. "She and a great kingdom were my last two wishes."

'He's still an idiot.' Jafar thought. 'So limited in his dreams.' He tried to put a friendly grin on his face. "I take it you're done with the lamp then?" On receiving a nod he continued. "Then how about letting me have it like we agreed?" He grinned again, not noticing the small poof at his feet as Genie vanished.

Abis Mal seemed to consider this and then nodded. "Here, you go, have fun." And he tossed the lamp at Jafar.

Jafar went stumbling backwards and juggled the lamp several times before he caught it. He fell on his stomach and broke out into hysterical laughter. "It's mine, all mine."

Iago said. "Hey buddy, don't forget about me."

"Oh, you'll get what's coming to you, don't you fret." Jafar declared as he rubbed the lamp while saliva drooled from his lips in anticipation. When the lamp didn't respond, he rubbed harder and harder. Finally panting, he looked at Abis Mal with anger. "It's not working."

"That's because it's not the lamp, Jafar." Jasmine said as she stepped out of the cave. "You've lost."

"This is so not good. For you, Jafar." Iago said and then he flew off to join the astronomers.

Jafar hurled the jeweled piece of junk away. "No, you've lost, Princess. Bring me the lamp or I'll kill your lover before your eyes."

Jasmine considered him coldly. "You're a loathsome maggot, Jafar. I never knew how much I despised you until now. No, I don't think I will give the lamp to you. I wouldn't want to live in the world you'd create."

"Then his death is on your conscience." He gestured.

The dagger plunged into Razoul's chest and he screamed in agony, his feet drummed on the ground, and he foamed at the mouth and then his head flopped to the side.

Jafar drew the power into himself and snarled. "It's all on you, Princess. This is your doing."

"Hey." A voice protested at his feet. "Don't I get any credit here for my great acting?" He looked down and saw Razoul vanish to be replaced by a blue genie.

Genie leaped to his feet and they were suddenly surrounded by applauding crowds. There were cheers and shouts of 'bravo' and 'encore.' He made bows in all directions as flowers fell at his feet. He blew kisses to the crowds. "My adoring public, how I love them." A beautiful blond in a black dress handed him an Oscar. "Finally, my coworkers appreciate me." He shouted and started doing cartwheels.

Jafar snapped his head up as Razoul stepped out of the cave entrance besides Jasmine and glared at him. "You've lost, Jafar." Jasmine snarled. "Get out of here and I may let you live."

"I'm not so inclined." He snarled back. The crossbow appeared in his hands as he shouted. "Die!"

Razoul reacted instantly and stepped in front of Jasmine. He took the bolt in the chest, spun once and fell on his side.

"Razoul!" Jasmine cried. She fell to her knees and pulled him by his shoulder. He rolled over to reveal the feathers of the bolt sticking out of his chest. "Razoul! No!" She screamed.

He coughed once and said weakly. "I'm glad that I saved you. I couldn't live, knowing I'd failed you."

Tears sprang to Jasmine's eyes and began running down her cheeks. "Oh, Razoul, you didn't have to do that. Genie had me protected. I was shielded."

Razoul coughed again and this time blood ran out of his mouth and down his chin. "I didn't know. Oh, Jasmine, I love…." His eyes rolled up and then his head fell to the side. Jasmine put her hands to her mouth and screamed.

With a shout of rage Genie attacked Jafar. He was dressed in green trunks with blue boxing gloves and looked like Rocky. "You're going down, Apollo!" He shouted and his upper cut sent Jafar flying through the air.

He landed at the astronomer's feet and instantly he was attacked by their spells. His lenses were cleaned, his focus was sharpened, he was polished and he was wrung out to dry. With a last spell he was tied and gagged and dumped in the sand with Aunty.

"Good plan you had, genius." She snapped.

"Oh, shut up." Jafar mumbled around his gag as little tweeting birds and blinking stars circled his head.

Genie strutted with his blue gloves raised. "The winner and still champeen of the world."

He looked over to where Jasmine knelt, cuddling Razoul's head in her lap. His smile vanished and he fell silent as he approached her with a sad look on his face. She looked up at him; her eyes filled with tears. "Please, Genie. Please, bring him back."

"I'm sorry Jasmine, but you know I can't bring back the dead." He hung his head.

"Yes you can." Jean spun him around to face her. "You can bring him back because he hasn't really left his body. Don't you remember? In genie training they said you had four minutes to revive someone before they irreversibly died. Now, damn it, do it."

Genie lifted his eyebrows in surprise. "Four minutes? Really? I must've slept through that part of the course. Just like Razoul missed the memo on Jas's shield."

He looked at Jasmine who was pleading with her eyes. "Is that an official wish?"

At her tear-filled nod he suddenly turned into Dr. Frankenstein. Lightning crackled around Razoul who was now bound on an operating table. Jasmine found herself clutching Jean's hands in her own while she watched with rising hope.

Iago in the form of Igor stood by the table with his hand on a switch, wondering how this had happened. "Live, my glorious creation, live!" Genie shouted. "Now, Igor, my faithful assistant. Now throw the switch!"

With a shrug Iago Igor threw the switch. There was a flash of lightning and a blast of thunder. As the echoes died away, Razoul opened his eyes and blinked. "Go forth and seek your bride, my glorious creation!" Genie commanded as Razoul sat up and his bonds dramatically burst and then added. "But please leave the villagers alone."

Razoul staggered off the table. "Jasmine?" He asked, looking frantically for her, and then she was in his arms, crying and weeping. He swung her around with a cry of joy and then they kissed and kept on kissing.

Iago who had flown over to sit on Abis Mal's shoulder griped as he watched the two of them. "That's disgusting." He craned his head at Abis Mal. "Want to take bets on when they come up for air? I call two minutes."

Abis Mal grinned slyly at him. "Jean and I once did three. I'll bet on that."

Jean put her hand on Genie's shoulder and said in Edward G Robinson's voice. "You did good, kid, real good."

Genie grinned at her. "Now you're cribbing my lines." He looked back at the two lovers. "But you're right. I did good." He then sighed. "That leaves only one wish. She used the first to free him and the second to save him. I wonder what the third will be?"

Jasmine and Razoul finally unclenched. "Don't ever scare me like that again." She admonished him.

"You love me so much that you gave up two wishes to save me?" He hugged her hard. "I just hope I can be worthy of your love."

"You already are, my love." She whispered. "You complete me."

Then they both noticed that everyone was staring at them. She looked over at the General, his soldiers, and the four astronomers and said softly to Razoul. "Now, our secret is out in the open for all to see."

He nodded. "It's time for you to be the Princess again. I'll follow your lead." His look told her he'd follow her anywhere.

She smiled back at him and took his large hand in hers and then declared loud enough for all of them to hear. "Gentlemen, as you can plainly see, I'm in love with Razoul and he's in love with me and I don't care if the entire city knows it. If I could marry him this minute I would do so." She frowned. "If anyone thinks this affects my ability to rule, say something now."

One of the soldiers began to chuckle and said something to his nearest mate. The others all began to laugh. General Ayverli frowned until his aide whispered in his ear and then he began to smile. He turned to face the two of them. "The others just reminded me that Razoul was once being groomed to be my replacement and when he left to be a palace guard we all thought he'd made an irretrievable mistake, a downward career path so to speak. Princess, there is no better man here in the city that you could've chosen."

He lifted his sword and all the soldiers imitated him. "All hail the Sultanas and her husband to be." He cried out and the soldiers roared their approval while Genie created a band playing a Sousa march.

Tears came to Jasmine's eyes. "Thank you one and all, I'll never forget this."

Beside her Razoul wiped at his eyes. At her questioning look, he mumbled. "Sand got in my eyes."

She gave his hand a squeeze. "You really are a big softy." She whispered.

Iago nudged Genie. "Knock it off with the band. You're hurting my ears." The band vanished but then there was a rain of flower petals. "He doesn't know when to quit." Iago griped.

The General sheathed his sword and gave her a smile. "I'll bet, Princess, I can guess what your third wish is going to be."

Jasmine smiled sadly. "I suspect you'd be wrong." She led Razoul over and introduced him to Genie while behind them Abis Mal and Iago got into an argument about who had won the bet and then realized neither one had been timing.

"Genie, that leaves just one wish, doesn't it?" Jasmine asked him.

Genie got out his ledger and put his accountant's cap on. He flipped through the pages and studied it for a minute before he looked up with a serious expression. "Well, Princess, I'm sorry to say that's two wishes you've used. I really wish I could've combined them as you two make a great couple and I'm going to miss you." He raised an eyebrow. "What is the third wish going to be?"

Jasmine smiled and squeezed Razoul's hand. "In any other case I'd use it to marry Razoul." Then she sighed. "Unfortunately I need to use it to save the planet."

He made a note in his ledger and then looked up with a frown. "And how am I going to do that, Mistress?"

"You're going to destroy or remove an asteroid before it hits the Earth." Before he could ask another question she asked the Astronomer Royal to point out to him where the asteroid was.

Genie squinted along the Astronomer's pointing arm. He peered closer and then smiled. "I got it." He declared. He interlocked his fingers and then stretched forward his arms. Every knuckle on his fingers popped. Abis Mal winced. That had to hurt.

"Let's just see what our little problem is." He stated. He gestured and an image of the slowly tumbling dumbbell shaped asteroid appeared before them. They all stared at it as it slowly spun and oscillated until Genie asked. "It's what? About a hundred feet across for each sphere?" He looked at the Astronomer Royal anxiously. "Please say it's no more than that."

"Why?" The man asked. "It's a lot bigger than that."

"Ay caramba." Genie slapped his head. "I can't make that vanish."

"Why not?" Iago asked. "You just brought a man back from death and you can't handle a little rock?"

"A roc I could handle." Genie declared. "But this is no bird."

Iago frowned, not understanding. "A rock isn't a bird." He declared.

Jean whispered to him. "Think of the tales of Sinbad the Sailor."

"Oh." Iago said as the light dawned. "He's trying to be punny and failing."

Genie turned back to the others. "Do you realize how much energy and mass this thing has?" He suddenly became Einstein and started pacing as he muttered to himself. "Don't need relativity for this calculation. Just half mass times velocity squared. Assume the same density as iron for one limit and water for the other and that gives us." His jaw dropped. "Even at a minimum that's in the google range of energies." He turned back to the Princess. "I'm sorry, Jas, but I can't handle that."

"What if you busted it into pieces?" Abis Mal asked.

"Even if he could, it won't do any good." The Astronomer Royal declared. "All that energy is going to still end up on Earth and this time it will come down as a firestorm. It could be much, much worse than if it impacted as two pieces."

"Suppose you just shoved it aside?" Iago asked. "Made it miss instead."

Genie turned into Newton. He grabbed a paper and started calculating. He stopped and stared at the sheet. An apple fell out of nowhere and bounced off his head. "Ouch." He rubbed his forehead, picked up the apple and ate it.

He sighed. "That helps some, but the asteroid is too close. I'd only shift the impact point. We've already passed the zero barrier for Armageddon." He turned into a man with scraggly hair, wearing a spacesuit without a helmet. "I guess we all need to get our front row seats for the end of the world. I have the perfect spot picked out, on the asteroid itself."

They all stared at him but he ignored them and became himself again. He sighed. "That's it. I don't have enough power. Better breakout the life preservers, the Titanic is going down." There was a long silence.

"How much power do you need to shift it?" Abis Mal asked. "Suppose you had more genies as strong as you?"

Genie glanced down at his sheet of paper. "If we had a thousand we might be able to affect it. Does anybody see a thousand other genies here?" He crumpled up the paper in disgust.

"Couldn't Genie Incorporated supply that many genies?" Abis Mal asked. "It's their planet too."

Genie grimaced. "Fat chance you'd have getting permission from those cheapskates."

Jean nodded. "They'll just use magic to ride it out and be back in business as usual."

"No sense of civic responsibility." Iago griped. "They all sound like Jafar and Aunty."

Abis Mal screwed up his face in thought and then he raised one finger. "I have an idea, and the Princess can use her wish for something she really wants and we can get you your freedom."

Genie stared at him and then looked over at Jean. "Is he serious?"

She smiled and put her arm around Abis Mal's shoulder. "Quite serious. He's the one who got me free after the Company ruled a client couldn't wish a genie free."

"Okay, but I'm still doubtful. Let's hear this masterful plan." He leaned forward and grew a huge ear. "I'm all ears."