Early one morning in Agrabah, Aladdin awoke. As he yawned and stretched he noticed the air was warmer than usual for this time of day. Next to him the Magic Carpet fluttered awake.

Aladdin stood up. "C'mon, Carpet, let's go get something for breakfast." Aladdin hopped on Carpet and out they flew over the town that was just awakening.

Their first stop was at Daoud, the fruit merchant's, stand. Daoud wiped his face with a cloth and said, "I have no fruit to sell you. It has all withered in this terrible heat."

Aladdin looked at the dry, shriveled-up fruit on the booth. What was causing this heat wave? As Carpet and Aladdin went through the city, they noticed other signs of damage. Flowers hung drooped over in their window boxes, tree leaves were turning brown, children were not outside playing, everyone, everywhere was wiping the constant sweat from their faces.

"Carpet, stop at the well, I need a drink," ordered Aladdin. A good cold splashing would feel good also. But the well water was warm and almost all evaporated.

"I gotta find what's causing this," Aladdin thought. Out loud, he said,

"Keep going east, Carpet, the heat seems to be coming from that direction." That was weird, heat didn't come from a direction as the wind blew. But Aladdin was sure he could feel the heat become stronger as they traveled farther east.

And no wonder! For in that very direction, the evil Mechanicles was putting the finishing touches on his latest invention. A huge, metal sand beetle crouched in the sand. Inside, there was a burning furnace that was the source of the heat waves plaguing Agrabah.

In his underground hideout, safe from the killing heat of his work, Mechanicles turned to Scooter. "We are now to witness the greatest plan of Mechanicles be put into action." Under his breath he muttered, "This will pay Aladdin back for my other plots he fouled up!"

Mechanicles grabbed a red handled lever and jerked it down. This lever was to activate the beetle to stand and march into the city. But as he watched eagerly through his viewer, the machine hummed but did not move. Throwing aside the viewer in disgust, Mechanicles grumbled, "What could possibly be wrong now! I've tested and checked it down to the puniest little detail and still it isn't working!"

He peered at the machine again. "Aha! I see the problem! And once it has been fixed nothing will stop my fiery machine of destruction!" Eagerly the villain started toward his experiment table. But wait! What was that object in the corner of the viewscreen? Peering through the viewer once again, he suddenly clenched it in anger and his face showed pure rage and hate.

Carpet and Aladdin flew toward the source of the heat. As they came closer to the large, golden machine in the sand, Aladdin immediately recognized it as one of Mechanicles' inventions.

"So he's the one behind this!" Aladdin exclaimed. "C'mon, Carpet, we've got to find a way to stop this thing!" Even though the heat was intense, Aladdin knew he had to stop it or it would destroy his city. Even if it meant being baked alive!

As Mechanicles watched Aladdin fly around the beetle, his face twisted into a wicked grin. "This is one time you aren't going to stop me, Aladdin! I will be invincible!" He reached over and pushed a large red button. "So long, Aladdin! I hope you like yours hot!"

A long mechanical arm extended from a panel on the beetle. It reached out and clutched Aladdin and Carpet in mid-air. As its prisoners struggled, the arm reached over to another panel in the head, which opened up. Here it deposited the two and withdrew. The panel closed, shutting Aladdin and the Magic Carpet inside a small chamber.

The chamber was dark and hot as an oven. With sweat running down his body and soaking his clothing, Aladdin pounded on the closed doors, trying to escape. It was no use, they were trapped.

Aladdin felt sick and faint, the heat was causing him not to think straight. He struggled to stay awake, but soon the blackness was overpowering and Aladdin gave way to unconsciousness.

Meanwhile, back over in Agrabah, Genie, Iago, and Abu were just waking. Right away they noticed the unusual heat.

"Is it hot or what!" squawked Iago. "I feel like roast parrot!"

Genie pulled a weather chart out of thin air. With a pointer in his hand, he pointed to a big, yellow sun. "The weather forecast for Agrabah this morning is intense heat, followed by even more heat this afternoon."

"Jerk! We know it's hot! Do somethin' about it!" Iago yelled.

"Abuu ho-ot!" Abu chimed in.

"All right, Happy Campers, there's only one way to beat the heat!"

Genie said. "Let's hit the pool!" With a poof of blue smoke, he and the other two were wearing ridiculous trunks, sun glasses, and hats. "Grab the suntan lotion and beach towels, Al," Genie continued, "and we're outa here!"

"Al?" he questioned again, looking around. "Al and Rugman must have already beat us there." Genie grabbed the two little animals and flew off to the place and royal pool.

Jasmine was seated by her fountain in her royal bathingsuit. She was fanning herself with a small feather fan. Rajah lay half sunk in the cool water.

"Hey, Jas," yelled Genie after they had landed in the palace gardens, "mind if we hang out and take a swim?"

"Go ahead," Jasmine consented. "This heat is terrible!" With whoops of joy the trio splashed into the pool, sloshing water everywhere. Rajah, disturbed from his nap in the water, gave a slight growl and moved away from the splashing and noise.

After watching the group for a few minutes Jasmine asked, "Where's Aladdin? Don't tell me he's flying around in this heat!"

"Al? We thought he was here already!" Genie answered.

"I haven't seen him yet today," said Jasmine.

Genie came out of the pool and sat beside the princess. "He wasn't there when we woke up this morning," he told her.

Jasmine looked worried. "Aladdin wouldn't just fly off like that! We're could he be?"

Instantly Genie was dressed as a police officer. "Don't worry, ma'am! We specialize in missing persons," he said. "Now, we'll need you to identify him, hair color, eyes, age?"

"Black, brown . . ." Jasmine caught herself. "Genie! This isn't time to fool around! Aladdin could be in trouble!"

"On my way, Princess! Don't worry your pretty little head!" Genie said. "I'll find him before you can say Constantinople!"

Then Genie rocketed upward and shot off over the city, higher and higher till he could see for miles.

"Hmm. I don't see him anywhere," Genie muttered to himself. He held his hand over his eyes and scanned every direction. "I know!" Genie snapped his fingers and a telescope appeared. Genie peered over the desert with it.

"Picking up strange pink object." Genie talked as if he were a radar scanner. "Zoom in. Ahh! That's Al's fez!" He flew as fast as he could to the small object, so fast that he ran into Mechanicles beetle.

Taking a few dazed steps backward Genie surveyed the contraption.

"Whooee! So this is where all the heat is comin' from!" he exclaimed. "And who else loves to build beetle bugs but the evil Greek genius . . . Mechanicles! And as soon as I find Al, he'll wish he never . . ." Genie gave a small yelp of surprise. "Al!" Looking in through the glass eye of the beetle, he could see right into the small chamber where Aladdin and Carpet were trapped. Aladdin was slumped onto the floor with Carpet underneath him.

"Hang on, kid! I'll get you out!" Genie flew to the panel and tried to open it. After banging and pushing the door with no avail Genie stepped back. "All right, time to use my semi-phenomenal, almost cosmic powers!" He pointed both hands at the panel and shot bright blue lightning. The door blew into a million pieces. Genie reached in and pulled out Aladdin and the Magic Carpet.

The Carpet fluttered to life after a few minutes, but Aladdin remained unconscious. He was hot to the touch and under his natural tan there was a bright red color.

"Al, Kid! You're burnin' up!" Genie, wasting no time, flew full speed to Agrabah and the Sultan's palace, with Carpet close behind. "Ohh! When I get my hands on that scrawny little inventor, he'll wish he never showed his face on this side of the seven deserts!" Genie muttered angrily to the Magic Carpet.

Aladdin awoke with a splitting headache. He was lying on a bare bed in the palace. Abu and Carpet wove huge feather fans, while Jasmine covered Aladdin with cool, wet cloths. Aladdin gave a small groan and flickered his eyes open. He noticed Jasmine looking at him anxiously and he smiled weakly. Genie, who also had been watching worriedly since he brought Aladdin to the palace, grinned in relief. "Al! Little Buddy! You're awake! I knew you'd come through!"

Jasmine pressed Aladdin's hand to her cheek. Through the daze of pain in his head, Aladdin tried to respond, but his mouth was too dry and swollen.

"Come get your ice-cold popsicles, kiddies! Right here!" Genie was dressed as an ice-cream man and holding a handful of colorful ice on sticks that was quickly melting. Aladdin took a purple one and put it in his mouth.

"Thanks, Genie!" The cold treat had soothed his mouth. "How did you guys find me?"

"Well," began Genie, "you weren't there when we woke up, so we went to the palace, and Jas said you weren't here, so then I went out to find you, but you weren't in the town, so . . ."

"Genie looked out over the desert and saw your hat," interrupted Jasmine. "That's how he found you. What is Mechanicles up to now?"

"I don't know," said Aladdin, "but we gotta stop him, before he does whatever it is!"

Jasmine looked uneasy, she remembered a time when Aladdin had fallen and bruised his ribs. At the same time Abis Mal had stolen a griffin's egg. While they had been chasing the thief, trying to retrieve the egg, she and Genie had upset Aladdin by being over protective of him. But still, Jasmine loved Aladdin and didn't want him in worse shape than he already was.

Iago spoke her thoughts for her. "No offense, kid," he squawked, "but when Genie brought ya' here you looked like you'd been barbecued! Roasted alive!"

"Iago . . ." Aladdin cut in.

"And now you think you're gonna fight that crazy inventor and his burnin' beetle," continued Iago. "Let's get back to reality!"

"The bird's right, Al!" agreed Genie. "You look like an overripe tomato!"

"C'mon, guys!" Aladdin argued. "I'm okay now."

Genie made himself appear as a doctor, filling out a paper on a clipboard. "Doctors orders are: After having been exposed to extreme heat, that you stay in bed, drink plenty of liquids, and . . . IXNAY ON FIGHTING MANIACAL INVENTORS!"

"I think we should let Aladdin decide for himself what he feels like doing," Jasmine said quietly. She remembered how she had hated being fenced in by all the palace rules, before she had met Aladdin. And now she loved Aladdin too much to make him unhappy in that way.

"Thanks Jas!" Aladdin smiled gratefully at her. "Now what to do about Mechanicles?"

Back in the desert, in his underground hide-out, Mechanicles had just finished repairing the defective part of his beetle. After polishing off his already immaculate work area, Mechanicles unrolled a scroll.

"Now, let's see . . . Destroy Aladdin, and fix part," he muttered as he checked off these two items. "Next, march beetle into city and end all dirt and disorder!" he read aloud with a twisted smile. In his excitement he didn't notice the gaping hole and empty chamber left by Genie.

Once again, Mechanicles grabbed the red-handled lever and gave it a joyous thrust downward. This time it worked. The humming was accompanied by screeches as the hinges in the legs stretched out. Then the huge beetle scuttled bug-like off to Agrabah.

"Yes, yes!" Mechanicles exclaimed with excitement. "That's it, Daddy's big boy!" Then he grabbed a remote control form a nearby surface and pushed a small green button. A panel popped open and an opening appeared in the ceiling. Mechanicles hopped onto Scooter and flew upward, to witness the victory of his latest plan.

Aladdin, Jasmine and their friends watched in horror as the monstrous, mechanical bug marched through Agrabah, scorching everything in its path.

Aladdin spotted the notorious inventor on top of Scooter, as he controlled his invention with the remote. They hadn't thought of a way to thwart Mechanicles, because they didn't know exactly what the Greek inventor was planning to do with his machine. But Aladdin and his friends had to come up with a plan quick, or Agrabah would be destroyed!

Frantically, Genie looked about himself as if trying to find an idea floating in the air around him. His eyes fell on Rajah still lying in the garden pool, obviously unaware of the Mechanicles crisis, as he lay dosing in a catnap. Water that had splashed over the sides of the pool mixed with the garden ground and formed mud. Mud that was quickly drying up. Genie snapped his blue fingers together and exclaimed, "I've got it! I know how to stop Mechanicles and his beetle of bolts!"

Genie snatched Aladdin off the bed and plunked him down on the Magic Carpet. "Quick, Al! You and Rugman distract that crazy Greek, while we put an end to the beetle's death march!"

"Oh, Su-u-u-u-r-r-e!" complained Iago. "Give Al the easy job and expect us to do all the hard stuff!" Genie flew everyone out the window to the garden.

"We're not goin' to do anything hard! We're goin' to have fun!" he reassured Iago. Then Genie quickly changed into a fat little child with a shovel and pail. "C'mon, everyone, let's make mud pies!" he said in a high-pitched child's voice.

"Genie!" Jasmine looked exasperated. "We can't fool around at a time like this!"

"As your lover-boy likes to say, Princess, 'Trust me'!" Genie replied. "Just make as many mud pies as you can!"

With Iago complaining about dirtying up his bright plumage, Jasmine, Genie, and Abu quickly patted the dirt and water together into the forms of little mushy cakes.

Meanwhile, Aladdin and Carpet flew toward Mechanicles, who was sitting on top of Scooter.

"What are you doing here?" Mechanicles screamed when he saw him. "You're supposed to be destroyed!" He gave his braids an angry jerk. It was then that Mechanicles noticed the open chamber in the beetle's head.

"So that's how you escaped your demise," he muttered. "No matter, I can correct that problem right now!" With a push of a button on the remote, a net flew out of Scooter and over Aladdin and Carpet. Mechanicles flew scooter with the bundle over to the beetle's head.

"Wait! Mechanicles, wait!" Aladdin called. "I couldn't help but be impressed by this super mechanical bug! And I was wondering what you planned to accomplish with it!"

Mechanicles peered at Aladdin, who was trying his best to look convincing, pleased with the prospect of bragging about his invention.

"Well," he began, "it's really quite interesting, you see, about a month ago I realized what a wonder heat was for doing away with all yucky stuff, like dirt. Observe . . ." Mechanicles pressed a button on the remote, and out of Scooter popped an ironing board and iron. He laid his sash on the board and picked up the iron. ". . . how the heat of the iron does away with messy wrinkles. Or how . . ." Again he pressed a button. The ironing board and iron popped back in, while a small model of a stove popped out. "This invention of mine, the self-cleaning oven, uses heat to destroy all yucky dirt and crud in or on itself!"

While Mechanicles prattled on, Aladdin gazed toward the palace. "C'mon Genie! We don't have much time!" he thought urgently.

". . .And so, that is my plan to rid this filthy city of all its ickyness, starting with you!" Mechanicles concluded with a sneering smile.

"Hold it right there, you Greeky Greek! No one turns my best friend into shish-Al-kabobs when I'm around!" Genie's voice boomed through the air. "All right, Gang, bombs away!"

Before he could utter a sound, Mechanicles was bombarded by globs of mud. It covered his face, clothes, and Scooter.

After rescuing Aladdin and Carpet from the net, Genie, with an armload of mud flew into the contraption. He dumped a pile on the huge furnace, causing the fire to go out. Then he gummed up the works with another glop.

After Mechanicles wiped the mud off his face and cleaned it off his glass eye, he looked about himself in appall. His machine was gummed up with mud, and he himself was covered with it! Mechanicles could not abide dirt, especially on himself!

"You Nincompoops!" he shrieked to Aladdin, Jasmine and their friends. "Do you know what mud does to silk?!" His reply was a mud pie smacked in the middle of his face.

"Scooter," Mechanicles whined, "Fly us home immediately! I must get rid of this icky yucky dirt!"

The group of friends on the ground whooped with joy and did high fives as the Greek inventor disappeared over the horizon.

"And now," announced Genie, "I'll turn this hunk of junk into something useful!" With a flash of magical energy, the broken beetle was transformed into a soda machine.

"IT'S POOL PARTY TIME!" Genie yelled as he snapped his fingers and everyone plus the soda machine was moved next to the palace pool.

"Not again," moaned Iago, for he and Abu were again dressed in stupid swimmer gear.

"Last one in is a rotten egg!" called Jasmine as she raced towards the pool, with the others in close pursuit. They all landed in the cool water with a tremendous splash!

A little while later, a now clean Mechanicles moped over his defeat. "Foiled again by that street rat kid and his stupid friends! Arrgh!" He tugged his hair in frustration.

"It's a good thing I'm always prepared!" Mechanicles grinned to himself as he selected a scroll from the pile. He unrolled it and read, "Draw blueprints for a new machine, then destroy Aladdin . . ."

The End