Night had set by the time Sora's group emerged from the tunnel, finding themselves in an abandoned area of Agrabah.
"What happened here?" Sora asked, taking note of the ruined buildings.
"We had a few sandstorms a while ago," Aladdin explained. "But why would that thing bring Jasmine here?"
"Let's go find out!" Sora exclaimed, rushing into the streets in search of the golem.
Meanwhile, the sand golem had returned to the room where he had been summoned, Jasmine still imprisoned in his barred belly. "Is this the princess you wanted? I didn't see any others lying around," he asked Sadira, who had been lounging on a throne crafted with her new powers. The golem seemed to be unimpressed with Sadira's recent handiwork, clearly still not happy with his current assignment. "Now can I go smash something?"
Sadira rose from her seat, speaking to the golem with a commanding tone. "Not until I decide what to do with her." She spun the amulet's chain around in her hand whimsically.
"Sadira?" Jasmine confusedly observed. "You're behind this monster? But how?"
"Oh, did I forget to mention I was the master of the ancient sands?" Sadira bragged. "Silly me!" She commanded the sand to rise below her feet, raising her so she could speak with the still trapped Jasmine face to face. "I wonder if Aladdin would prefer a sorceress to a princess?"
"That's what this is about?" Jasmine asked with shock, She pleaded as Sadira lowered her platform and walked away. "Don't be a fool! You can't force someone to love you!"
Sadira snarled at the suggestion, turning around angrily. "Shut up! I don't care what you say, he will love me!" Doubt flooded her mind for a moment as she muttered to herself. "He has to…" She commanded the golem once more, done with the conversation. "Sand beast, take her away."
The golem scratched his head, trying to understand the command. "Where would you like me to take her?"
Sadira sighed with frustration. "I don't know, just find a hole or something."
The golem gave an equally annoyed sigh in return. "Listen. All I do is smash stuff. I know, I'm a one trick pony, I get it. Now if you want her squished into an itsy-bitsy paste, then I'm your monster. Otherwise," he said as he crossed his arms, "forget it."
"I don't want to hurt her," Sadira objected. "I just want to get rid of her."
"Jasmine!" Aladdin called out, he and Sora entering the scene. "Wait… Sadira?"
The golem chuckled and cracked his non-existent knuckles in anticipation. "I know I can smash these ones, right?"
"No!" Sadira yelled before her frayed nerves got the best of her. "I mean… I don't know…"
"You don't know?" the golem boomed. "You summon an entity of darkness and you don't know what to do with him?" He snatched the amulet from Sadira's hand. "Give me that!"
"But you can't do that!" Sadira asserted as she reached to take it back, with no success.
The golem swung the amulet by its chain tauntingly as he disagreed. "You've got trouble facing reality, haven't you? Now, I'm going to show you how to make decisions. One! I decide to take the amulet," he said as he threw it into the air, swallowing it.
"Two! I decide to take this pretty-boy!" The golem snatched Aladdin, simultaneously knocking Sora away. He then ate Aladdin as well, adding him to his cell.
"Three! I go and destroy Agrabah!" With a mighty leap, he dove into the ground, obliterating the floor below and creating another tunnel in the process.
Sora returned to his feet, brushing himself off. Before pursuing the golem again, he heard a familiar voice from behind.
"Sora, stop!" Oswald shouted as he and Firion finally caught up. "Could you stop running off for five minutes? This isn't our problem!"
"Of course it is. Aladdin and Jasmine are in trouble," Sora explained. His focus was pulled away from his friends as he noticed Sadira on her knees, sobbing into her hands.
"This wasn't supposed to happen," she moped. "I just wanted Aladdin to like me."
"I'm sure he liked you," Sora obliviously said.
"But he was with the Princess! Why would he want me if he could have royalty… I thought if I had powers, he'd…" Sadira trailed off, begging to see the folly of her plan.
"Oh… Ooooh…" Sora finally realized that she had been talking about romance rather than friendship. "Yeah, he definitely loves her. I'm sure you could still be friends though!"
"Yeah right," she denied. "That monster's probably going to crush him. Even if he gets away, he probably wouldn't want to see me ever again. Not after what I've done."
"I don't know about that." Sora knelt down to her level in an attempt to comfort her. "Aladdin's a pretty cool guy. I'm sure he'd give you another chance."
Sadira didn't seem convinced, turning away sadly.
"Hey, if you want to make it up to him, you could help save him!"
Oswald's ears perked up, a rage boiling inside him. "You aren't going to fight that thing, are you?"
"Of course I am," Sora answered frankly. "Besides, I've fought worse monsters than that."
"That's not the problem!" Oswald argue. "This isn't our fight!"
"Of course it is. Aladdin's our friend, right? Friends are supposed to help each other, even when things look impossible." He turned back to Sadira as he stood up, holding out his hand to Sadira with a smile. "So what are we waiting for?"
As if she had seen a light shining in the darkness, a smile crossed Sadira's face as well. She grabbed Sora's hand as he helped her to her feet.
Sora's words seemed to resonate with Oswald as well, the rabbit looking to the ground as he thought to himself. "Wait…" Oswald muttered. "I'll… I'll help too!"
"Oh?" Firion added. "So the little rabbit does have a heart. What made you decide to be so enthusiastic?"
"It's… It's none of your business!" Oswald exclaimed, undoubtedly flustered. "As soon as we get this done, we're out of here!"
"Whatever you say, little rabbit," Firion snarkily replied, not fooled by Oswald's objections in the slightest.
"Is everyone ready?" Sora asked, quickly receiving three nods in response. "Then let's go help our friends!" The quartet dived into the tunnel, ready to face the golem.