Despite the Sultan telling them to go check in the desert, the adventurer's trio decided to give a quick look through the city of Agrabah in case the princess would happen to be around. Unfortunately, even with help from the guards, they were unable to find her anywhere. As such, they returned to the city's entrance gate and stood before the endless desert.
"Let's go! The princess has to be somewhere out there!" Sora declared, throwing a fist in his palm.
"Not so fast, kiddo!" Donald halted him. "We can't just go off and run in any direction when it comes to a desert. In case you didn't realize, it's huge and offers no protection from the sun. At this temperature, getting lost is a death guarantee."
"But can't you just manifest water for us if we need it? And shield us from the sun?" Sora asked.
"It's not that simple," the duck shook his head. "I don't have unlimited magic energy, not enough to just make water appear from out of nowhere until we search the whole desert. It could take days."
"He's right; we need a good source of water and preferably a means of traveling quickly," Goofy nodded his head. "Maybe we could go back and ask the Sultan to lend us some elephants to travel or-" He didn't get to finish talking as something whooshed past him, making him spin and fall face-first in the sand. This thing turned out to be some sort of carpet moving on its own.
"What the... Who are you? What is this?" Sora asked, giving a confused look at the thing.
"Magic Carpet! It's you!" Donald beamed, the carpet jumping in his arm for a big hug. "Sora, I present to you Magic Carpet, the best traveling companion in all of Agrabah!"
The living tapestry approached Sora, looking at him from every angle, before flipping him on his back and giving a mini-ride. "Whoohahaha!" the young boy laughed. "So that's what it feels like to fly? Amazing!"
"Say, Magic Carpet," Donald said after the tapestry brought his friend back to the sandy ground, "we're looking for Princess Jasmine. She has gone missing, and the whole palace is looking for her. Do you know where she could be?" At this question, Magic Carpet started jumping up and down, pointing one of its tassels in the direction of the desert. "You did find something? Can you take us there?"
Magic Carpet laid in the sand, waiting for the trio to get on. "Amazing! We're gonna go on a magic carpet ride!" Sora beamed and wasted no time getting on. Donald and Goofy exchanged a chuckle at their friend's enthusiasm before joining him. Magic Carpet ascended in the air before taking off in the desert at an impressive speed.
Soon, Agrabah became a spot in the distance behind them, dunes of sand passing beneath the group. Sora stood on the edge of the carpet to feel the desert wind. "So, Sora? Is flying as good as you thought it would be?" Goofy asked.
"No... It's much better!" he replied, shouting in joy. His two companions chuckled.
They flew across the desert for a few minutes before reaching what seemed to be a huge tiger head carved from stone. "Hey, isn't that the Cave of Wonders?" Donald asked.
"Look!" Goofy suddenly exclaimed and pointed down. Many guards from Agrabah were laying in the sand near the huge tiger head, seemingly wounded. Not wasting a second, Magic Carpet landed down so that the trio could approach them; they seemed in terrible condition.
"Heal!" Donald repeated and cast healing spells over each guard, making them sigh in relief. Once they were all better, Donald turned to the tallest guard, who was armed with two scimitars. "What happened here, Captain Razoul?"
"I did not expect to see you here, Royal Magician," Captain Razoul said as he straightened his back. "It shames me to say it, but my men and I were taken out by the Princess herself."
"Princess Jasmine did that?!" both the duck and canine exclaimed at once. "How?!"
"I'm not sure... But Aladdin went inside the Cave to pursue her," the captain said, pointing at the tiger's wide, open mouth. "We haven't seen him since."
"Okay, we'll go to help him. Stay here and make sure nobody leaves until we return!" Goofy instructed as Razoul nodded. "Let's go!" The trio of heroes headed inside the tiger mouth, not without Sora hesitating.
The Agrabah Palace was the most magnificent and beautiful place Sora had ever visited... However, it lost that title as soon as he entered the Cave of Wonders. It looked like the secret cave on Destiny Islands, but filled with mountains of gold coins, treasures and precious artifacts. For a young kid like him, it was a dream come true; his friends and he would always pretend to be pirates looking for treasures. Yet, they had never imagined mountains like this!
Which is why his happiness took a blow when Donald told him: "Don't touch anything - not even a single coin! If you pick anything in this cave, everything will collapse on us and we'll die. It almost happened to the man we're looking for..."
"Right. And don't get tempted to bring back a souvenir to Daisy, Donald," Goofy chuckled, receiving a glare from the avian.
Resisting the urge to fill their pockets, the heroes traveled deep within the cave's stone walls, illuminated by Donald's light ball spell. After a few minutes of walking, they reached an open space occupied by two people. One of them was a young man with tanned skin and black hair wearing Arabian clothes. "Jasmine, please, you HAVE to listen to me!" the young man said.
Walking closer, the trio got to see who he was talking to. A woman about his age with the same tanned skin he had, red lips and a fiery expression on her face. A dark blue band held her hair in a large ponytail, and she sported a black tube top with purple trip, as well as matching pants with two purple belts and boots. A little blue flower decorated her hair. "I told you, my name is not JASMINE!" she bellowed. "It's Scourge! Scourge of the Desert!"
"What's going on, here?" Aladdin turned around to see the trio approaching.
"Donald? Goofy? What are you doing here?" he asked.
"The Sultan has sent us to help with finding his daughter," Goofy quickly explained. He pointed at the girl. "What's wrong with Jasmine? Why is she dressed like this?"
"I'm afraid this is all my fault," Aladdin said, looking down. "You see, I have forgotten an event that was very important, so Jasmine was mad at me. In hopes of being forgiven, I offered her the rarest flower I could find."
"A flower? What flower?" Goofy questioned.
"A bad one, it turns out." He pointed at the blue flower in Jasmine's hair. "This, in her hair, is the Blue Rose of Forgetfulness, an ancient, mystical flower that, when worn, erases one's personality and replaces it with a different one. Now, all she thinks about is fighting and riches, and she calls herself 'Scourge of the Desert'."
"The Princess has lost her personality?! That's no good," Goofy gulped.
"Every single rich in this cave shall be mine!" Scourge declared, pointing a huge scimitar in their way. "Do not get in my way, or I shall cut you to pieces!"
Sora called Kingdom Key and stepped forward in his battle position. "So we just gotta destroy that flower to save her, that's it?"
"It's not that simple, I'm afraid," Aladdin said. "According to Genie, the only way to bring her back is for me to remember what I have forgotten that was so important to her. The problem is that...I just can't remember!"
"Well, get your memory muscles working while we prevent her from touching anything!" Donald called, stepping next to Sora and joined by Goofy.
With a battle cry, Scourge charged at the trio, brandishing her scimitar over her head. Goofy blocked the overhead blow with his shield, giving Sora the chance to kick her back. "Remember; even if she tries to kill us, she's still Princess Jasmine, so make sure not to hurt her," Goofy instructed. Scourge swung her scimitar to send wind slashes in the trio's direction. They were able to dodge them in time before Donald cast a Blizzard spell at her. She simply rolled out of the way and kicked the duck back.
Seeing the chance to try out his new Keyblade, Sora traded Keychains to turn Kingdom Key into Lady's Luck and engaged Scourge in a sword fight. His attacks did seem to have a little more strength and impact behind them, but not much. The brainwashed princess turned out to be more skilled in sword fight than him, kicking the Keyblade out of his hands and pushing him to the ground. Goofy saved him from a potential deadly blow by tossing his shield and knocking the scimitar out of her hands.
"Aladdin! Is it coming back to you?" Donald called from over his shoulder.
"I'm working on it! Come on, what day was today supposed to be?" the young man mumbled while rubbing his temples.
"Well, work faster!" Donald quacked and returned to the fight.
Goofy attempted to restrain Scourge in a Full Nelson, but she flipped him over her shoulder, hitting the ground hard. Donald cast another Blizzard spell, this time connecting, trapping her in ice. It bought them a few seconds before she broke free and rolled to regain her scimitar. She slashed several times at Sora, who parried while stepping back. The Keyblade Wielder kicked her in the stomach, making her stumble back in Goofy's Full Nelson hold once again.
The fight lasted for an eternity, the heroes handicapped by the fact they could not fight at full power. Aladdin closed his eyes and focused hard. What did he forget? What could it be that it'd make Jasmine so mad at him...?! Then, it snapped in his mind. Of course! How could he forget! As the three heroes got knocked back, Aladdin ran up to stand between her and them.
"Jasmine! I know what today is! I'm so sorry for forgetting it!" he quickly apologized. "Today...is the anniversary of our first date!"
Scourge halted her scimitar inches away from Aladdin. Her eyes widened and started glowing blue as her body convulsed. Soon, she dropped her scimitar and trembled, her body glowing a blue light. "I... I... NOOOO!" The Blue Rose of Forgetfulness levitated out of Jasmine's hair and glowed a strong light before fading away. Her previous owner collapsed on the rocky ground, groaning in pain.
"Jasmine!" Aladdin exclaimed and rushed to the princess' side, taking her in his arms. "Are you okay? You're not hurt?"
"Yes, I'm fine... A little tired and bruised, but fine," she confirmed in a tired tone.
"Sorry about that," Donald quickly apologized.
Jasmine looked down in shame. "I was conscious, but I could not control my actions. That other me, the Scourge, commanded everything - she was going to steal all the riches in this cave..."
Aladdin hugged his beloved princess, who returned the gesture, getting some 'awww' from the watching trio. "I'm so sorry for forgetting our first date anniversary, Jasmine. It's such a precious day, I never should've forgotten it. And sorry for giving you this flower without realizing it was dangerous."
"It's okay..." Jasmine dropped her soft expression, giving a serious glare and pulling Aladdin closer. "But don't EVER forget our anniversary or any other important date again, you hear me?" Aladding nodded nervously, while the heroes exchanged amused glances.
After leaving the Cave of Wonders and meeting Captain Razoul outside, the company made their way (with Magic Carpet's help) back to Agrabah and to the palace. As soon as they entered the throne room, the Sultan bounced out of his throne to meet his daughter with a big hug.
"My daughter! You're back! You have no idea how worried I was for you!" he yelled, comical tears of happiness in his eyes.
"I'm happy to be back, Father," Jasmine said, returning the hug. It lasted a good thirty seconds before breaking up. "I apologize for worrying you and the whole palace, for that matter."
"But what exactly happened? Why did you run away like this?" the Sultan questioned, raising a confused eyebrow.
"Well... I found this strange flower outside the palace while taking a walk. Turns out it was a magical flower that turned me into a bandit and made me want to steal all the riches from the Cave of Wonders. Good thing Aladdin and his friends were there to help me." The princess exchanged a little wink with her friends, all of them grateful of her making a story to cover Aladdin's back.
His heart filled with gratefulness, the Sultan rushed up to hug all of them at once. "Thank you, thank you, thank you so much! I don't know what I would've done if something horrible happened to my precious Jasmine!"
Aladdin chuckled and turned his head to Sora. "Sora, was it? I wanted to thank you and your friends for your help. All of this happened because of my bad memory," he mumbled the last part.
"It's okay, Aladdin," Sora assured with his hands behind his head. "Things that are truly important to you can never completely be forgotten. You can always remember them if you truly put your heart to it."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Aladdin nodded with a smile.
The Sultan then clapped his hands together. "What a day! You folks must all be tired after such an adventure. Why don't you spend the night at the palace? You'll be our guests." He then leaned towards Sora with a cheeky grin. "If you want, Sora, I could even lend you a...special guest room to satisfy your teenager's fantasies..."
At this proposal, Donald, Goofy and Aladdin widened their eyes while Jasmine muffled a laughter. Sora just tilted his head curiously at the term 'teenager's fantasies'. "YOUR HIGHNESS! HE'S JUST FOURTEEN YEARS OLD!" all three of them yelled in unison, causing the Sultan to laugh out loud at his little joke.
Author's note: A short, but fun adventure in the land of Agrabah. The threat of this adventure wasn't an army of Heartless, but the Blue Rose of Forgetfulness. For those of you who don't know, it comes from the episode 'Forget Me Lots' from the Aladdin TV series. I just thought it'd be fun to use material from the TV show instead of simply using the movie's plot again. Sora didn't get a new Keyblade here, as he didn't really get the chance to bond with any of the characters.
An important point I forgot to mention is the way the worlds are connected. Yes, in this story, people know that other worlds exist and the various Disney Kingdoms are connected to one another under a single banner. I never really liked that rule in the games that the worlds must not know about each other' existence and are normally separated, as it removes hope to see plenty of fun Disney crossovers. It seemed like an excuse for world travel, and only from a gameplay perspective. Besides, that rule isn't of much use as the characters find ways to travel to worlds in every single game - the corridors of darkness, the lanes between. Anyway, in this story, this rule doesn't exist; the people know about other worlds, some believing it and others not. And the various Disney Kingdoms are aware of the others and Heartless as well.