CHAPTER 6

AGRABAH

promise

THE GUMMI SHIP SAILED THROUGH THE VASTNESS OF the Other Sky.

“It’s gotten more comfortable in here, huh?” said Goofy.

Sora was standing on the little dais, gazing out at the Other Sky. Hearing Goofy, he jumped down. “Yeah. There’s way more space.”

Before the upgrade, it had been rather cramped aboard the Gummi Ship. But with Cid’s improvements, there was plenty of room.

“It’s not just the interior that’s better,” said Donald Duck. “Even the operation’s powered up!”

With a little tremble, missiles launched from the Gummi Ship and blasted through the boulder that floated ahead.

“Wow! C’mon, Donald, let me fly it…” Standing behind the pilot seat, Sora stared closely at Donald’s hands on the controls.

“No, no, no! I’m in charge of the flying!” Donald shook him off and gripped the control stick harder. The field of vision from the cockpit was much wider, too, and it looked easy to navigate.

“Cid’s pretty good at what he does, I’d say,” Jiminy Cricket remarked.

“He might be even better than Chip and Dale,” Goofy agreed, naming the engineer and the mechanic at Disney Castle. “Where are we headed to next, Donald?”

“Quack? We decided to go past Wonderland!”

“Past Wonderland…?”

I wonder what happened to Alice, Sora thought. Is she somewhere out there in the Other Sky? Or…

“Look, there it is!” Donald pointed at the new world that came into view ahead.

It was a world covered in tawny sand—Agrabah.

“Whoa… That beach goes on forever…,” Sora murmured, staring down as the Gummi Ship hovered in the new world’s sky.

“Oh, that’s no beach—that’s a desert,” Jiminy corrected him. “You won’t find any ocean lapping at those sands.”

“There’s sand, but no ocean?!”

“That’s right.”

Taken aback, Sora looked down at the land again.

“I can see a city that way,” said Donald.

Sora leaned over to see. Across the desert sands there was a rampart of stone.

“C’mon, Donald, Goofy! Let’s go!” Sora couldn’t wait to touch down on the desert world.

“Hey, wait!” Goofy rushed to get ready, but Sora was already running out to the open sand.

A city made of stone stood in the middle of the desert, surrounded by huge stone walls nearly the same color as the sand. The city was its own sizable kingdom, where people traveling through the desert would come and go, bringing business for the various shops lining the bazaar. It should have been a lively place. But the city was eerily silent.

A man and a woman, both dressed in black cloaks, walked through the streets.

“Where is the Keyhole?”

“The Heartless are searching for it now. I’m certain we’ll find it soon enough.”

The one who asked the question was the dark witch, Maleficent.

The one who answered her was the royal vizier of this world, Jafar.

“And what about the other matter?”

“Yes, about that—” Interrupting him, a brightly colored parrot landed on Jafar’s shoulder. “Iago! Did you find the princess Jasmine?”

“I looked everywhere for her. She’s disappeared like magic!”

Maleficent frowned at the parrot. It was apparent that Maleficent and Jafar were both looking for this princess named Jasmine.

“You said you had this place under control.”

“Agrabah is full of holes for rats to hide in.”

It sounded as if everyone in the city was imprisoned by some scheme of Jafar’s.

“But…with or without the princess, surely this world will be ours once we find the Keyhole,” he said. “What do we need Jasmine for?”

This time Maleficent frowned at Jafar’s question. “We must have all seven princesses to open the final door. Any fewer is useless.”

“Ah, the door, is it. If the princess is that important, we’ll find her. —You there, find Jasmine and bring her to me at once!”

Heartless armed with curved swords appeared behind Jafar. They wore turbans on their heads, like desert warriors, but like all known Heartless, they had no faces.

“Now let’s get going!” Iago flew farther into town, leading the Heartless away with him.

“Don’t steep yourself in darkness too long,” Maleficent warned. “The Heartless consume the careless.”

Jafar laughed with half a cruel smile. “Your concern is touching but hardly necessary.”

A single fat orange tumbled from its pile on a fruit stand, but neither Maleficent nor Jafar noticed.

There, behind the stand, was the beautiful black-haired princess—Jasmine.

The trio stood in front of the huge gate.

“I wonder if this place is full of Heartless, too…,” Goofy said, frowning as if he didn’t want to go inside.

Donald jumped and brandished his wand. “We’ll be all right! Won’t we, Sora!”

“Yeah. Leave it to us!”

“Gawrsh, I hope so…”

They went through the gate, and Heartless sprang up out of the ground as if they’d been waiting to ambush the trio.

“Wh-whoa! I knew it!”

“Donald, Goofy, c’mon!” Sora ran straight into the swarm of Heartless.

“They’ve got funny-looking swords!” Goofy shouted, blocking an attack from a Heartless with a big curved blade.

“These guys have wings!” It was all Sora could do to avoid the low-flying attacks of the winged Heartless.

“All right, my magic will— Quaaack!” Just as Donald was about to use his wand, a floating Heartless in a red robe shot magical fire at him. “They got stronger again!” he yelled, batting at his hat to put out the flames.

“Let’s just get out of here, Sora!” Goofy ran a step ahead into an alley.

Sora was still intent on fighting. “But we can get more of them!”

“Come on, Sora!” Donald grabbed his arm and dragged him away after Goofy.

“Aww…” Sora kicked a pebble by his foot in the alleyway.

“Those Heartless were pretty strong,” said Goofy.

“We could have beaten them all!” Sora retorted, twisting his mouth in a pout.

“Those ones with the swords were really tough…” Goofy let out a huge sigh.

Beside them, Donald was looking around. “Well, anyway… Where are all the people in this city?”

The vendors’ stands were all lined up in the market, giving the impression of a very prosperous city—but there was no one to be seen.

“Are these things for sale?” Sora picked up an orange from one of the stands. It was delicious-looking, but…

“Who’s there? Hello?”

“Ack!” Sora jumped back from the sudden voice.

“Is someone there?” Goofy peered into the stand from behind its counter.

A beautiful young lady with delicate features and raven hair appeared. A sweet fragrance seemed to waft from her every movement, and her clothes were the color of fresh water, like an oasis in the hot desert city.

“I’m Jasmine,” she said. “My father is the sultan of Agrabah.”

“Uh, so…that makes you a princess,” Goofy replied.

Jasmine shook her head. “…My father was deposed by Jafar, who now controls the city,” she told them softly, but it seemed painful for her to say.

“Jafar?” said Donald.

“You haven’t heard of him?” Jasmine asked in reply.

“No… We only just came here.”

“So you’re travelers… Well, Jafar has imprisoned everyone in Agrabah. There’s no one here…” Jasmine looked down sadly. She must have thought that Sora and the others were citizens who had escaped Jafar’s clutches.

“Jasmine, I’m Sora. Can you tell us anything else about what happened here?”

“Jafar is the royal vizier. He gained evil powers and seized Agrabah. He caught me trying to escape…but someone helped me…”

“Who helped you?” Sora asked, and she looked up at him.

“His name is Aladdin. We were hiding nearby, but he left a while ago to take care of something… Oh, I hope he’s all right…” Her gaze strayed down again.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at one another uncertainly.

“Is there anything else you’ve heard? I think we can help,” said Sora.

Jasmine thought for a moment and replied, “Jafar seems to be looking for something.”

“What’s he looking for?” Donald exchanged a glance with Goofy.

“I think…he called it a ‘keyhole.’”

“The Keyhole!” Donald jumped up. “That’s what we’re looking for, too!”

They leaned closer, hoping Jasmine would tell them more. Could the Keyhole have something to do with the strange events in this city…?

But then—an arrogant voice rang out from above their heads. “You are more trouble than you’re worth.”

“Jafar!” Jasmine cried.

A man with a snake-headed staff was looking down at them.

“Princess Jasmine, allow me to find you more suitable company,” he said, stroking his bearded chin. “These little rats won’t do…”

“Jasmine, run!” shouted Sora, who stood ready with the Keyblade.

“Ah, the boy who holds the key.” Jafar looked over him and watched Jasmine run away with a nasty smile that said she wouldn’t get far. “I suppose we’ll get to see what you can do.”

Then Jafar waved his staff, and Heartless appeared, rushing at the trio.

“Wak!” Donald jumped and dodged an attack.

Looking down on the scene, Jafar turned with a sweep of his cape.

“You’re running away?!” yelled Sora. Jafar smirked and left unhurriedly.

“Stop right there!”

“Sora, look out!” Goofy slammed into a Heartless that rushed at Sora as he tried to follow Jafar.

“Whoa!” Trying to jump away, Sora fell flat on his behind.

“Sora, we gotta beat these Heartless before we can go after Jafar,” said Goofy.

“And we gotta help Jasmine!” Donald added.

Sora got up, swinging the Keyblade. “Okay! Let’s each take on one!”

“Got it!” Goofy winked.

Donald waved his wand. “This one’s mine!”

All at once, the three jumped at the Heartless floating in the air like big balloons.

Catching their breath after defeating the Heartless, they sat down on the spot.

“They really are stronger…,” Sora said, not quite unscathed.

Donald gave him a potion. “Well, we’ve got to keep fighting!”

“Yeah.” Sora gingerly stood up and looked around. “We have to find Jasmine.”

The trio headed toward the direction where Jasmine had escaped.

“Didn’t she say she was hiding in a house over this way?” Donald paused in front of a small stone house. “Maybe this is it…”

They opened the wooden door and went into the little house, looking around for Jasmine.

“There’s nobody here…”

Donald peeked into a large pot. “Hmm… I wonder where she could’ve gone. It doesn’t look like that Aladdin guy is here, either.”

Sora folded his arms, thinking, and they heard a clunk! from the corner.

“Huh?” When he turned, somehow a carpet was flapping around by itself.

“Th…that carpet is moving!” Donald exclaimed.

“Gawrsh, it doesn’t look like a Heartless…,” said Goofy, but he was lifting his shield anyway.

The carpet rattled the cabinet that was on top of it.

“It looks like it’s stuck,” said Sora.

“Watch out, Sora!” Donald had his wand out, but Sora went closer to the waving carpet and pushed the cabinet off.

“There, now you can move, right?”

The carpet stood on its end and folded itself in half.

“Did it…just bow to thank us?” said Goofy.

Then the carpet went back down and nudged at their feet.

“Are you telling us to get on?” Sora jumped atop the carpet, and it seemed to bounce happily. “Donald, Goofy, get on!”

Donald and Goofy looked at each other and nervously stepped onto the carpet.

And then the carpet flew out the window and on past the edge of the city.

“Whoa!”

Outside the city, the carpet suddenly sped up, and they were zooming over the desert.

“Wow… A flying carpet!” Sora looked down over the dunes.

It wasn’t at all like the Gummi Ship—they could feel the wind on their faces. The desert air was hot and dry, but it still felt wonderful. Sora had never experienced anything like it.

“I wonder where we’re heading…?” Goofy murmured, his long ears flapping.

“There!”

Where Donald was pointing, they could see a single small figure struggling not to be swallowed up by the sand.

Fighting for his life, Aladdin couldn’t hear anything but the soft rush of the falling sand. He was buried up to the knees of his white pants, and with every movement, he only sank deeper. Under his vest, his brown body was fit and tough, but there was nothing he could do against the quicksand.

“…Guess I better use it.”

As Aladdin stared hard at the lamp he held, he heard another voice.

“Hey, are you Aladdin?!” Sora called out to the man in the sand and jumped down from the carpet.

“That’s right! Who are you?”

“I’m Sora. Let’s get you out of there!” He got down in the sand and stretched his hand out to Aladdin. But then—

“Wak! Heartless!” shouted Donald, jumping up and down. A huge number of Heartless appeared, surrounding them.

“We have to beat them first, or we won’t be able to do much to help!” said Goofy.

“Just hold on—we’ll help you, promise!” Sora told Aladdin, who was buried up to his waist now, and got to his feet with the Keyblade ready. “Yaaargh!”

He jumped up and launched himself at the flying Heartless that was coming for him. But it was harder to move on the sand, and he only managed to hit its leg, not doing much damage.

“Fire!” Donald covered for him with magic.

“Thanks, Donald!”

“No problem!”

Fighting together, the trio took down the Heartless one by one, but as many as they defeated, more kept rising up out of the sand.

“Gawrsh, not again!” cried Goofy.

“But we have to beat them to help Aladdin!” Sora yelled back.

Sinking in the sand, Aladdin held the lamp up high. “Genie, get rid of these guys!”

With that, a big blue cloud spilled from the lamp’s nozzle—it was the Genie of the lamp, flying out and roaring.

“Wish number one, coming right up!”

“Whoa!” Sora fell backward in surprise.

The Genie snapped his fingers and all the Heartless disappeared without a trace.

“Wow…”

“Easy peasy, piece of cake!” The Genie winked and folded his arms. His big broad body had no feet, and he floated in the air like a ghost.

“Sora, we gotta help Aladdin!” said Goofy. Sora stretched out his hand to Aladdin, still stuck in the quicksand. As their hands clasped, Donald and Goofy held on to Sora’s feet, and they all managed to pull out Aladdin.

“Whew…” Aladdin brushed off the sand that was stuck all over him and smiled brightly at them. “Thanks, Sora! And…”

“Donald Duck!”

“And I’m Goofy!”

Donald and Goofy each shook Aladdin’s hand in turn.

“Aladdin, what’re you doing out here in the desert?” asked Sora.

“Oh, you know, just hunting legendary treasure. Just paid a visit to the Cave of Wonders.” As Aladdin said that, the carpet came down to land.

“Legendary treasure?”

“I found that flying carpet you came here on…and this magic lamp.” In Aladdin’s hand was the small metal oil lamp.

“How is it magic?” said Sora, staring at it closely, and the Genie put his face level with Sora’s to stare back. “Whoa!”

“Leave the explanations to a professional!” The Genie puffed himself up in front of Sora, taking a heroic pose. “The one, the only, the Genie of the lamp! Rub-a-dub-dub the lamp and out comes the Genie to grant your dearest wishes! And today’s winner is…Aladdin! Congratulations!”

Dancing around, the Genie snapped his fingers and a fanfare sounded. Confetti sprinkled down on Aladdin.

“Any wishes?” asked Donald.

The Genie waved his index finger in front of Donald’s face. “Patience, my fine feathered friend! You get…” He flew up in the air and tripled himself—there were three Genies. Each one held up three fingers. “Any three wishes! A one wish, a two wish…” The duplicate Genies disappeared. “A three wish—then I make like a banana and split!”

Then he flew behind Aladdin. “Our lucky winner made his first wish—that means he has two left! So, master, what’ll you have for wish number two?”

The Genie held his hand out and a spotlight illuminated Aladdin.

“Hmm,” Aladdin said quietly. “How about making me a fabulously wealthy prince…?”

“Oooh! Money! Royalty! Fame!” The Genie applauded. “Why didn’t I think of that?!”

“Gawrsh, really…?” Goofy murmured, tilting his head.

“Okay, you asked for it. A hundred servants, a hundred camels laden with gold! Just say the word, delivery in thirty minutes or less or your meal is free! I’ll even throw in a free cappuccino!” Rubbing his hands together, the Genie sidled up to Aladdin.

But Aladdin shook his head. “No, thanks.”

“Okay…”

“I think I’ll put it on hold until we reach Agrabah,” Aladdin said, looking regretful.

“Uh, why do you want to be a prince?” Goofy asked with his arms folded.

“You see, there’s this girl in Agrabah named Jasmine. But, well…” Aladdin looked down sadly. “She’s a princess, and I’m… Aw, she’d never fall for a guy like me.”

“…Jasmine?” Donald cocked his head. There was something about that name…

“Oh—that’s right! She’s in trouble, Aladdin!” Sora ran up to him urgently, and the color drained from Aladdin’s face.

The carpet flew through the air carrying Sora, Aladdin, Donald, and Goofy.

“Ahh, fresh air! The great outdoors!” Flying behind them, the Genie took a deep breath and stretched.

“I guess you don’t get out much, huh?” said Sora.

At that the Genie looked a little glum. “Comes with the job. Phenomenal cosmic powers, itty-bitty living space. It’s always three wishes and then back to my little portable prison. So I’m lucky to see the light of day every century or two…”

The Genie hung his head miserably.

If I were shut up in that tiny lamp… Sora tried to imagine it and shivered. That had to be just awful. Destiny Island was full of sunlight and friends, and even there, Sora had wanted to go to other worlds.

Aladdin thought for a bit, too. “Say, Genie, what if I use my last wish to free you from the lamp? What do you think?”

The Genie’s eyes shone. “You’d do that?”

“Genie, it’s a promise. After we help Jasmine!”

The Genie somersaulted in the air. “Yahoo!” And he kept flying in loops around them.

“So, what is Jafar up to anyway?” Aladdin asked the trio, still watching the exultant Genie.

“We don’t really get it, either,” said Sora. “But Jasmine said Jafar was looking for the Keyhole.”

“That’s what we’re looking for, too!” Goofy added.

Genie paused to fold his arms and think. “A ‘Keyhole,’ eh? I could swear I’ve heard about that somewhere before…”

Donald jumped up. “Really? Where?”

“Now, where was it? It’s been a few centuries…”

“C’mon, remember!”

“Hmmm… Can’t say.” The Genie tilted his head at Donald, who was stomping his feet on the carpet.

“Anyway, we’ve gotta stop Jafar before it’s too late,” said Sora. “I’ve got a bad feeling…”

Aladdin nodded. “Let’s go!”

The carpet sped faster over the desert.

The main streets of Agrabah were completely barricaded, but that was no problem with a magic carpet. When flying Heartless came up to waylay them, Donald’s magic came in handy.

“Quack!” Donald shot off a spell. Sora threw the Keyblade, which whirled through the air and finished off the Heartless, then returned to his hand.

“A-hyuck! Wow, Sora, that was a neat trick!” Goofy exclaimed.

Sora gave him a thumbs-up and a grin. He was learning how to use the Keyblade better and better.

They could see two figures down at the great palace gates. “Jasmine!”

“Jafar’s there, too!”

Aladdin jumped down from the carpet, and the others followed.

“So, the street rat comes out of his hole at last,” said Jafar, sniffing with contempt.

“Let Jasmine go!”

“Setting your sights a little high, aren’t you, boy? I will not allow you to trouble the princess any more.”

“Aladdin!” Jasmine tried to run toward him, but Jafar held her back.

“Genie… Help Jasmine, please!” Aladdin whispered, rubbing the lamp.

“One wish left! You’re making this really easy, you know.” The Genie disappeared from behind Aladdin and reappeared behind Jafar, then scooped up Jasmine in his arms.

“So sorry, boy,” Jafar sneered. “I’m afraid your second wish has been denied.”

They heard wings flapping. Iago, the parrot, held the lamp in his claws.

“Huh?!” Aladdin looked at his empty hands.

“I’m sorry, Al…,” the Genie murmured sadly.

The lamp dropped from Iago’s claws into Jafar’s hand, and in the same instant, the Genie vanished.

Jasmine screamed. Without the Genie holding her up, she fell straight down and landed right in a big clay pot.

“Jasmine!” Aladdin ran toward her, but the pot sprouted legs—it had transformed into a Heartless. And it scuttled away through the city streets at a tremendous speed.

“Help!”

As Jasmine’s cries echoed back at them, Jafar smirked. “And now, I bid you street rats farewell!”

“Stop!” The four of them tried to follow him, but more Heartless already blocked their path.

“Out of the way!” Sora slashed down at them with the Keyblade.

“They’re over here, too!” Goofy took out the Heartless that kept appearing. But now they’d lost sight of Jafar.

“Jasmine! Jasmiiiine!” Aladdin called out, swinging his sword at the Heartless, and just then the carpet floated down in front of him. “Are you telling me to get on?”

“Let’s go, Aladdin!” Sora shouted. “I bet the carpet can take us to Jasmine!”

He hopped on, and then Aladdin, Donald, and Goofy followed.

“…Jasmine…” Hanging his head, Aladdin pounded the carpet with his fist.

The carpet let them off at an enormous statue of a tiger’s head.

“The tiger god’s mouth is closed!” Aladdin shouted as he jumped down from the carpet. The others followed him.

Goofy cocked his head. “The tiger god?”

“The Cave of Wonders is inside its mouth,” Aladdin replied, staring at the huge stone figure. Its eyes glowed with purple flames, seeming to glare at them.

“What’s this Cave of Wonders?” asked Donald.

“It’s the cave where I found this carpet and the magic lamp.”

They looked around. Jafar was nowhere to be seen.

“So, that means there’s lots of treasure inside, right?”

“Well, I guess you could say that.”

Aladdin moved closer to the tiger’s head. Its eyes glowed with dull, menacing light.

“Whoa!” Aladdin fell to the ground, raising a cloud of dust. “I don’t get it—the tiger god let me into the Cave of Wonders before, when I found the lamp…”

“Aladdin! Get down!”

He was about to get up, but at Sora’s warning, he ducked, and bright bolts of light nearly grazed the top of his head. The tiger god opened its mouth as if it was waking up, and something came rushing out.

“Heartless!” Goofy lifted his shield and rushed at them.

“Why is the tiger god doing this?!” said Aladdin.

“Something’s controlling it!” Sora ran to Aladdin and helped him up. “Does anything about it look different from before?”

“…Its eyes are a different color. And the attacking part is new, too.”

With sword and Keyblade out, Aladdin and Sora ran up to the tiger god’s mouth.

“Can you guys take care of these Heartless?” Sora called back.

“Leave it to us!” Donald jumped, waving his wand.

“Aladdin, go for its eyes!” yelled Sora. He leaped up onto the tiger god’s nose and brought the Keyblade down on its right eye. The impact clanged and the tiger god roared. And more Heartless poured out of its mouth.

“Wa-waaak!” Donald’s magic exploded on the new Heartless, and Goofy rushed at them with his shield.

“All right, one more!” Sora and Aladdin both jumped up again onto the tiger god’s nose and attacked. It let out a terrible roar and then, with its mouth wide open, stopped moving.

“We did it!” They jumped back down and hugged in celebration. Having defeated the Heartless, Donald and Goofy joined them.

The purple light went out from the tiger god’s eyes, and it loomed silently.

“Let’s go!” The four ran on into the tiger’s great mouth.

Inside the cave it was completely still. Jafar walked through it with the lamp in his hand. On his shoulder, Iago perched, shifting his feathers.

“With this, I’ll be able to find it…” Jafar rubbed the lamp and called out, “My first wish, Genie! Show me the Keyhole!”

The Genie flew out from the lamp, looking dejected. He reluctantly snapped his fingers and the back wall crumbled to reveal the Keyhole.

Still hanging his head, he floated behind Jafar.

“The Keyhole, and the princess… Maleficent will have nothing to complain about now,” Jafar murmured, and Iago flapped his wings, agreeing.

And then the very same black-cloaked witch appeared behind him.

“Why, you’re here early, Maleficent…”

She made no reaction to Jafar’s greeting, but glanced at the princess sprawled on the floor and then quietly strode to the Keyhole. It was as if Maleficent didn’t even see him. Jafar’s lips curled in annoyance, but he took a deep breath and told her, “The boy who holds the ‘key’ is on his way.”

At that, Maleficent’s eyebrows went up ever so slightly. “…That child, again?”

“He’s more perceptive than I would have guessed. Why not explain the situation to that other boy—Riku, was it? Doing so may actually prove useful to our—”

Sensing another presence behind him, Jafar turned midsentence. Four sets of footsteps were coming closer. “The street rat…”

When Maleficent turned to look, Sora and the others were standing there.

“Who are you?!” Sora demanded.

Maleficent vanished without a word.

“Jafar! Let Jasmine go!” Aladdin shouted.

“Not a chance,” Jafar said glibly. “You see, she’s a princess—one of seven who somehow hold the key to opening the door.”

“Open…”

“…The door?”

Goofy and Donald repeated in turn.

They had heard about the Keyholes, but not about a door. What could it possibly mean…?

“But you fools won’t live to see what lies beyond it. Genie! My second wish. Crush them!”

The Genie still floated in the air, limp with misery, and then he looked straight at Aladdin.

“Genie! No!”

“Sorry, Al. The one with the lamp calls the shots. I don’t have a choice.” Hunching his shoulders helplessly, the Genie began to attack Aladdin and the trio.

“Genie!” Aladdin dodged and kept staring at him in disbelief.

“Why don’t I join the fun, as well…?” Jafar swung his snake-headed staff and a great jet of flame shot out toward Sora.

Donald didn’t waste any time with his wand. “Blizzard!” Shards of ice flew and doused the flames.

“Putting up a fight, are you?” Jafar smirked and sprang high into the air.

“Hey!” Sora and Aladdin followed him. When he landed again, Jafar stuck his staff into the cavern floor, leaving it standing on its own.

“Look out!”

Goofy jumped up as a lightning bolt from Jafar’s staff bounced off his shield.

“You’re not gonna beat a royal magician with magic!” With an enormous flourish of his wand, Donald let loose another barrage of ice. As Jafar dodged it, Sora moved in with a flying leap and struck him. Aladdin likewise caught Jafar in his distraction, but the Genie sent him sprawling back.

“Genie…?”

“I’m sorry…Al…” The Genie flailed around, his eyes tightly shut.

“Genie!” Sora called. “What if we got rid of Jafar somehow?”

“Well…sure, without the guy who calls the shots, I wouldn’t have to take any…”

“So we just have to beat Jafar! Aladdin, keep away from the Genie! All we have to do is take out Jafar!” Sora raised the Keyblade again and hurtled straight for Jafar.

Aladdin followed him with a ferocious bellow and they closed in. “Yaaaaaahhh!”

“Cover us, Goofy!”

“Got it!”

Donald shot a huge cluster of ice crystals at Jafar, while Goofy jumped in with his shield and kept Jafar’s magic from hitting Sora or Aladdin.

Sora grunted and jumped up high to bring the Keyblade down on Jafar. When he moved to dodge it, Aladdin’s sword was there waiting.

The boy’s sword and the vizier’s staff met with a tremendous clash.

“Let Jasmine go…!”

“You’ll never have her!” Jafar had the upper hand, just barely.

“Aladdin!” Sora yelled, and in the same instant, Aladdin leaped back. Sora hurled the Keyblade at Jafar.

“…Sora!” Donald attacked with his magic, too.

“Here goes!” Goofy ran in and dealt Jafar a heavy blow with his shield.

“Ngh— Aaaaaaargh!” Jafar crumpled with a terrible cry, and then his body was enveloped in darkness.

“We did it!”

The four of them ran to Jasmine, who was still unconscious on the floor, but then—

They thought Jafar had disappeared. They were wrong—now he was floating in the air. “Genie! My final wish!” he cried, holding the lamp high. “I want you to make me an all-powerful genie!”

“…Your wish is my command, master…” Genie covered his face, cowering as he pointed at Jafar without looking and gingerly let loose his magic from his index finger.

The beam of magic grew to engulf Jafar, glowing—and the floor of the cavern cracked open. Jafar fell in.

“C’mon!” Sora and the others jumped into the crack.

In the cavern below, the lowest reaches of the Cave of Wonders, the air rippled with terrible heat. Huge square boulders were lined up in the center like stairs. And to all sides, fiery red lava bubbled and swirled.

“Jafar! Where are you?!” Aladdin shouted.

Then Jafar, now a genie himself, rose up, his body all red as if it had taken its color from the lava. Unlike the friendly blue Genie, Jafar’s crimson form had a terribly frightful cast.

With a terrific rumble like an earthquake, Jafar threw balls of lava at them.

“Whoa!” The four jumped out of the way, and Donald’s tail caught fire.

“Quaaaack!”

“Ha-ha! Idiots!” Iago flapped around behind Jafar, carrying the lamp in his claws.

“The lamp!” Aladdin called. “Get Jafar’s lamp!”

There was no way they could win fighting Jafar in his new form as a genie. They had to take the lamp and trap him with its power.

“Hah! Like I’m gonna let you jerks have it!” Iago flew out of their reach.

“Aladdin! You handle Jafar!”

“Right!”

Sora went after Iago, clambering up the square boulders. Aladdin lured Jafar away, dodging the balls of lava that Jafar tossed on him. The brightly plumed parrot perched far off on the highest spot in the cavern, rustling his wings. Sora snuck up as close as he could and swung out with the Keyblade and felt it hit Iago.

“Yeeowch!” Iago squawked and flew closer to Jafar again.

“There he goes!” Sora told Donald.

“Gotcha! Fire!” Donald jumped up toward Iago and let the flames fly.

“Ack! Water, where’s some water?!” Iago’s feathered head was on fire, but then with a huge sweep of his arm, Jafar raised a waterspout to douse it.

“It’s no good—we can’t get it!” Sora yelled. Iago was diligently keeping away from them now. There was no way they could take the lamp from him.

“Then what do we do?” asked Goofy.

“Well…” Sora got Goofy and Donald, and then Aladdin, together in a huddle and whispered to them.

“Will that really work?” Donald worried.

“It’ll work!” Sora thumped him on the back and ran to the very edge of the boulders.

“Hey, Jafar! Over here!” At the same time, Aladdin went to the opposite end. A huge fireball of lava fell toward him, but he dodged it effortlessly. “Is that all you’ve got?! C’mon!”

Jafar took the challenge and turned his back on the other three. He tried to bring a fist down on Aladdin, as Iago hovered up by the ceiling.

“Goofy, Donald! Now!” Sora called from the corner. Standing at the highest point he could reach, Goofy flung Donald up in the air.

“Here we go!”

“Quack!”

At the same time Sora ran to them. “One, two, three!” he yelled and launched himself up first with Goofy’s help, and then with Donald’s tail end as a foothold, so he flew up high.

Iago squawked as the Keyblade hit his feet, and the lamp tumbled from his grasp. Sora had aimed for the lamp itself, not the parrot.

“Got it!” Sora landed as Iago was scrambling to reclaim the lamp. But Sora got there first. He held the black lamp aloft. “Back to your lamp, Jafar!”

Jafar howled like a storm, and with a swirl of red light, the lamp sucked him in.

“We did it!”

As the four of them stood back, basking in victory, a single piece of paper came fluttering down from above.

“What’s this…?” Sora picked it up. The paper was covered in mysterious words, difficult to read.

“Maybe Jiminy will be able to read it,” said Donald, peering at it over Sora’s shoulder.

Just then the cavern rumbled, and pieces of rock began to fall from the ceiling.

“Gawrsh! It looks like we better get out of here…” Goofy held his shield over his head and looked around desperately.

“But we have to close the Keyhole and get Jasmine, too!” said Sora, looking at Aladdin. They nodded. The magic carpet was there waiting for them.

A terrible roar startled Jasmine awake.

“Where am I…?”

She looked around and saw the great crack in the cavern floor next to her.

What in the world was that…? She tried to look over the edge.

“Princess,” said a low voice from behind her.

She turned, and the one who had spoken touched her shoulder…

Just before she lost consciousness again, she caught sight of a handsome boy with silver hair.

The carpet flew out of the crack in the floor, which sounded like it would collapse any minute.

“Jasmine!” Aladdin called. But she was gone. “Jasmine?! Jasmine!”

They all searched the cavern for her, to no avail. Then the Keyhole began to sparkle.

“Jasmine, where are you?!” Aladdin was still looking for her in a panic.

“Sora, we’ll find her!” said Goofy. “Take care of the Keyhole!”

“Right!” Sora pointed the Keyblade, and a beam of light shot from the end of it to the Keyhole. He could hear the locking click, and then the Keyhole turned into shards of light and vanished.

The entire Cave of Wonders began to shake even more.

“…We’d better go, Aladdin!”

“But we haven’t found her— Jasmine!”

“She might have made it back to Agrabah!”

“But—”

With the biggest tremor yet, the walls and ceiling started to crumble.

“We gotta get out of here, Sora!” said Goofy. They had to drag Aladdin by force onto the magic carpet, and it took off like a rocket toward the entrance.

“Jaaaasmine!” Aladdin’s shout was lost in the roar of the collapsing caverns.

In the house where they’d found the magic carpet, Aladdin was hunched down on the floor, unmoving. The lamp sat beside him.

“I’m sorry, Aladdin…”

“So Jasmine isn’t anywhere in Agrabah?”

“I don’t know, but…”

One of the seven princesses, Jafar had said. He needed Jasmine for something. And so far, Sora knew of two other girls who had disappeared from their worlds.

Alice from Wonderland… And Kairi.

So maybe that meant…

“Aladdin, we’ll find Jasmine and make sure she comes home to Agrabah. I promise. We’ll save her no matter what.”

Someone important to him disappeared…, Sora thought. I want to find Kairi, too. Aladdin feels the same way…

“I can’t go with you?” said Aladdin.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at one another. “Sorry. We can’t take you,” Sora replied sadly.

The lamp rattled beside Aladdin, and the Genie flew out. “Hey, Earth to Al, hello! You still have one wish left. Look, just say the word. Ask me to find Jasmine for you!”

Aladdin slowly looked up to stare thoughtfully at the Genie and took a deep breath. “I…I wish…”

The Genie folded his arms and puffed his chest out, beaming as he waited for Aladdin’s wish.

“…For your freedom, Genie.”

“Al!” the Genie cried in surprise. Dazzling swirls of light engulfed him.

Sora and the others shut their eyes against the brightness, and when they looked again, the golden cuffs on his wrists disappeared. Instead of a ghostlike trail of smoke, the Genie had legs.

“A deal’s a deal, Genie,” said Aladdin, looking up at him. “Now you can go anywhere you want. You’re your own master. I promised I’d set you free with my last wish.”

The Genie stared back, looking a little troubled.

“But if you can… I’d be really glad if you could go with them and help Sora find Jasmine. And then, when you find her, bring her back here…”

The Genie turned away from him. “Sorry, Al. I’m done taking orders from people.”

Aladdin didn’t look away, but kept his gaze on the Genie’s back.

“A favor for a friend, though… Now, that’s a totally different thing!” The Genie turned to Aladdin again and put an arm around his shoulders. “After all, we’re pals, right, Al?”

“Genie…”

“Just leave it to me!” The Genie winked.

“But…won’t this be meddling?” Goofy whispered to Donald.

“Meddling? Why, nothing’s impossible for the one, the only, the Genie formerly of the lamp! Watch this.” The Genie shrank into a puff of blue smoke and swirled under Donald’s hat.

“Waaak!” Donald lifted up his hat and the miniature Genie’s top half poked out.

“With me along, your magic’ll get a turbo boost! Limited time offer—you don’t wanna miss out on this deal!”

“Is that okay?” Donald rubbed his hat uncertainly.

“Isn’t it?” said Sora and held out his hand to Aladdin. “We’ll find Jasmine. I promise—just like you promised Genie!”

“Find her, Sora. I’m counting on you!”

Aladdin and Sora firmly shook hands.