Disney's Aladdin:

If Witches Were Horses, Pt 1 of 4

Story by Jill D. Weber

(Disclaimer: The Aladdin characters and City of Agrabah are copyrighted by Disney Corporation and are used without permission or intent to make a profit.)

The giant mechanical crab scuttled towards Agrabah. Mekhanikles, self-proclaimed Greatest of the Great Greek Geniuses had gone out of his way to make sure no one would see him coming. He'd carefully designed the legs so they would scuffle, not stomp. All of the joints were well oiled. And the whole thing was painted a Darker than Hades black, so as it scuttled through the night, it looked like a passing shadow.

Of course, in the daytime, it was rather conspicuous against the bright golden sand, so Mekhanikles slunk through the mountains near Agrabah while he waited for nightfall. As the he reviewed his meticulous plan, he chuckled over the surprise he was going to give that Poofy-Haired Street Rat.

Eight pairs of narrowed eyes peered over the edge of the dusty Carpet. A sky blue hummingbird darted around four cloaked heads chortling to itself. "Genie was right!" said Jasmine.

The four rose up to kneeling positions. A by-stander in the canyon would have seen two teenagers, a monkey and a parrot -- all dressed in black cloaks. "And you said a giant mechanical crab alarm was a stupid idea," the genie-faced hummingbird smirked at the parrot.

"It IS a stupid idea," grumbled the red parrot grumbled, trying to get the cloak adjusted correctly. "You were just lucky." Iago was grumpy because Genie had insisted everybody had to wear 'ninja black' but was still running around in his own normal shade of blue. Even Carpet had been well dusted with charcoal to dim his bright colors to a nondescript grey.

"Luck had nothing to do with it," Genie sniffed. He poofed into his usual form, but retained the hummingbird size and fluttering wings. He was now dressed in scholarly black robes, complete with mortarboard and a tassel with a four leaf clover and a rabbit's foot hanging from it.

"I don't believe in luck," Genie said, materializing a piece of wood so he could knock on it. "I simply calculated..." the board turned into an abacus. "...Which member of the phylum Arthropoda..." a chart containing over 900,000 little pictures, many of them checked off, poofed into existence. "...that Mekhanikles hadn't used yet and set my traps accordingly."

"Good work, Genie," Aladdin whispered. Genie beamed, his head turning into a 'light bulb' and causing Aladdin to squint. The pause in Genie's monologue, however, gave Aladdin a space of silence to continue.

"If anybody has an idea, let's hear it," Aladdin said.

"Let's go home," Iago whined. Abu pulled Iago's hood over his face. Then the monkey flung his cape over his shoulder dramatically and scampered up Aladdin's cloak to rest on his friend's shoulder. Aladdin tugged on his cloak to keep his 'not appropriate for spying' outfit out of sight as much as possible.

(Under the cloak he was wearing his usual street outfit of off-white bag-trousers and purple vest. His only alternative was the blindingly white 'Prince Ali' outfit. He had refused point blank to let the Genie give him a proper 'Bondjamesbond' outfit.)

"He meant a GOOD idea, Iago. There's no point in going home, it will only follow us," Princess Jasmine snarled at the parrot.

She surveyed the scene and chewed on her lower lip. She was dressed in what it pleased Genie to call her "Ram-Jazz" outfit. The one she'd created when Abis Mal had given her amnesia and convinced her she was the "Scourge of the Desert". It consisted of a black bandeau with grey trim and black pants with a grey sash. Steel wrist bracers covered with black leather completed her outfit. Her hair was pulled to the top of her head and allowed to spill over in a pony tail.

"I have a plan," Jasmine announced. "Genie what were those things you used on the Legion of Doom?"

"Oh, the super-deluxe glue guns," Genie said, poofing out of his scholar's get-up and into overalls. A couple of the glue guns materialized in his hands.

"Good, we'll need some of those... um... spray paints, too," Jasmine continued.

"Any particular color?" Genie asked coyly, batting his suddenly long, luxurious lashes. He poofed himself into a pink dress and buxom body. He held up a color chart for Jasmine to study.

"Oh, red, will do," Jasmine said, waving one hand airily. "To match Mekhanikles' face, when we spoil his plan. Abu and Iago, you take the spray paint and paint over the eyes. Mekhanikles can't attack Agrabah if he can't see it."

"We can figure that our for ourselves, THANKS," Iago grumbled.

"Oh, hush," Genie said. "Don't you recognize plot exposition when you see it? At least she hasn't mentioned that Mekhanikles is a neatnik of the highest order and will totally freak when he sees the mess we're going to make on his new toy."

Iago clenched his wingtips and scrunched his face up. "That's because we have YOU for that kind of stuff!" he yelled.

Aladdin clamped his hand around Iago's beak. "Shhh, he'll hear you," he cautioned. "What do you want me to do?" he asked Jasmine.

"See if you can sneak inside," Jasmine answered.

Iago got his beak free. "You forget her birthday or something?" he asked snidely.

Aladdin snorted and noogied Iago.

"Carpet and I will go to the left with the glue guns. Genie, you take the right," Jasmine flashed her best Ram-Jazz grin and rubbed her knuckles against her palm. "We'll catch him" she waggled her eyebrows. "... in a pincer movement."

"Ouch," was Genie's comment. He gave Jasmine a wounded look. "No fair, puns are my department."

Aladdin clamped his hand over Iago's beak again before the acidic psittacidae could screech. "Let's do it," he whispered, leaping heroically off Carpet to land with a soft thud on the creature's carapace.

It was lucky for Aladdin the monster was in the shade, or the metal might have burned his feet. As it was, the metal was uncomfortably warm. Aladdin could also feel a faint vibration. It gave him a creepy feeling, as if the metal monster was alive.

He shook that off, he'd seen enough of Mekhanikles inventions to know they were just tools. Very big tools with a malicious mind using them, but tools nevertheless.

"He has to get in somehow," Aladdin muttered. "So, where's the entrance?" Then he spotted the hatch. Crawling over, he examined the hatch carefully and found the lock. He pulled a picklock from his collection and seconds later, the lock clicked.

"That was TOO easy," Aladdin said. He looked at the lock pick for a moment and wondered if Mekhanikles had been careless or if he had just fallen into a trap. His question was answered a moment later when the hatch popped open and a net zipped out and slurped him inside.

"Jasmine is NOT going to like this."

"Well, well, well, if it isn't that Poofy-Haired A-lad-din, come to pay a call," Mekhanikles' high pitched, variable voice grated on the ear and the pencil necked Greek's smirk grated on the nerves.

Mekhanikles right eye was perpetually covered with some sort of lens, like a miniature telescope, that constantly whirred in and out. Right now, it was in Aladdin's face, giving the young hero an entirely too close look at the madman's eye. Mekhanikles backed off and looked at a miniature sundial strapped to his wrist.

"My, my, you're early! I didn't expect to run into you for another..." he whipped out a scroll, his eye whirred and he zipped through the list of "Things to Do".

"Hmm... Wash the dishes, mop the floor, sneak up on Agrabah, get attacked by Poofy-haired hero... two hours and forty minutes." Mekhanikles turned the scroll in Aladdin's direction and pointed to a line Aladdin couldn't make out. "See?"

"Sorry to spoil your plans, Mekhanikles," snarled Aladdin in his best 'trapped but still defiant hero' voice.

"Oh, don't worry," Mekhanikles smirked. "You didn't. You just moved up my timetable a little."

"You won't conquer Agrabah today!" Aladdin said.

"Of course not, it's not on my agenda," Mekhanikles said brightly. He held up the scroll again. "See? Not on here."

"Then why are you here?" demanded Aladdin, without looking at the scroll.

"Why, I'm here to kill you," Mekhanikles said blandly. "With this." he touched a panel and the wall slid upward, revealing a roomful of something that smelled like... fireworks. Gunpowder, that's what Genie called it. There was enough of it in the room to blow Agrabah to Thundra's Valley.

Jasmine's plan seemed to be working perfectly. She gummed up the crab's claws and Genie mashed up together and she added more glue. They finished just as Iago and Abu finished painting the eyes.

Soon the mechanical crab staggered off course, smashed into the side of the canyon and came to a full and complete halt.

A hatch popped open and Mekhanikles came flying out on his favorite mechanical beetle, Scooter. "We've stopped you again, Mekhanikles!" boasted Genie.

"You may have stopped me for today, but my bomb will stop that Poofy-Haired a-LAD-din... FOREVER," Mekhanikles cackled as he sailed out of sight.

"What's a bomb?" Jasmine asked, bewildered.

"Big trouble!" Genie gasped. Reacting instinctively, that is to say weirdly, Genie turned into a giant frog and slurped up Jasmine, Abu, Iago and Carpet.

Lock picks were not meant to cut rope, but several of Aladdin's collection had serrated edges and terror is a great motivator. He wriggled free of the net just as the crab jolted to a halt. A hatch in the belly of the beast popped open and Aladdin grabbed the net and dove out the hatch. He was pretty far off the ground, but he gritted his teeth and swung hard so he could clear the crab's body. He hit the ground, rolled and ran.

Genie-frog took a giant leap and landed on the crab, but before he could start looking for Aladdin, the bomb exploded with enough force to send Genie flying.

He hit the ground, then leaped to his hind flippers: "Foppo, the Frog Who Eats Monarchs, triumphs again!" he roared.

"Aladdin!" was Jasmine's somewhat muffled cry from the belly of the beast.

The Frog's pop eyes popped even farther. He spat out his passengers and suddenly his hind legs turned into rockets and he blasted away. "Al! Al! Where are you, Little Buddy!!?? AL!!!"

Jasmine somersaulted through the air and Carpet caught her mid-flight. "Let's go!" she cried.

Iago managed to grab Abu with his claws, then bite down on Carpet's back hem just as Carpet accelerated. Bird and monkey *snapped* behind Carpet like the tail of a kite.

Iago grabbed Carpet with his wings, freeing his mouth to complain. "Hey! Those are our spines you're cracking!" howled Iago.

Abu just clambered over Iago onto Carpet and urged him to greater speed.

Even Iago was silenced when he saw the flaming wreckage.

"We'll have to split up," Jasmine said. "Iago, you go right. Genie, go left. We'll go straight ahead."

"Never mind, there he is!" Genie exclaimed, diving through the smoke.

How Genie could see through the smoke and fire, Iago couldn't guess. Carpet didn't seem to have any trouble following, so Iago just held on and let himself be towed. Soon he spotted a pile of flaming debris that pinned the unmoving Aladdin to the sand..

"Aladdin!" cried Jasmine as she jumped off Carpet.

Genie blocked her path. "Let me handle this, Jazz," he said. He

didn't look silly now. He scowled at the fiery debris that threatened his friend. He pointed and snow started to fall. A circling gesture produced a mini whirlwind that blew the flame and debris AWAY from Aladdin. The mini-blizzard passed Jasmine and the others, then Genie waved his hand and a full grown blizzard shrieked down the canyon and smothered the rest of the fire.

"Aladdin?" Jasmine breathed. She leaped off Carpet, only to have Genie *poof* in front of her wearing a dark blue uniform. A yellow ribbon with the words: 'Crime Scene' appeared in front of her, blocking her path.

"Hold it miss, let the professionals handle this." Genie handed Abu to her. "Here, hold the monkey... and the parrot," he added, adding Iago to her armload.

Genie and Carpet swooped over to Aladdin. The yellow ribbon proved to be magically impassable, so Jasmine was forced to wait, nervously squashing Abu and Iago to her chest.

"Al?" Genie whispered nervously. Aladdin was lying on his stomach, half buried under a pile of twisted metal. His left arm was twisted behind his back, the right was curled around his head. His face was buried in the crook of his right arm. Both legs were concealed by the debris from the crab.

"Aladdin? Kid?" Genie tentatively reached out a hand and touched Aladdin's left shoulder. He was rewarded with a faint moan.

Then Aladdin twisted his head slightly so his cheek was flat against the sand and he could see Genie out of the corner of his eye. "That HURT!" he rasped.

Genie sighed with relief and disposed of the crime scene tape that kept the others back. "Don't move," he said gently. He studied the twisted wreckage narrowly. Then he poofed into workman's clothes and began to take measurements.

"Wasn't plannin' to," was Aladdin's muffled reply.

"How badly are you injured?" was Jasmine's first question when she knelt next to Aladdin.

"Hard to tell," Aladdin's voice was almost to faint to hear. "My legs are numb."

Jasmine and Iago exchanged worried looks. Abu scurried under the rubble to sit next to Aladdin's face.

"Hey, Abu," Aladdin. He tried to grin but it came out more of a grimace. "Genie? What's taking so long?" he asked plaintively.

"Gotta make sure I don't hurt you more when I move this stuff," Genie said grimly. He finished his measurements, rolled up his arms.

"Close your eyes," he warned. Then, with his usual arabesque special effect, he zapped the debris into glittering motes.

"My eyes!" wailed Iago.

"I warned you to close them," Genie said mildly.

"It didn't help," Jasmine gasped, hands over her eyes as she tried to blink the afterimage away.

"Sorry," Genie scooted over to Aladdin, determined to get the first look.

Aladdin was now on his right side. He had the back of one hand over his eyes and the other hand clutching the top of his left thigh.

"Al?" Genie asked. "What hurts the most?"

"My left leg," Aladdin said through gritted teeth. "I think it's broken."

"Let's get you back to the palace," Jasmine said. She sighed with relief as her sight returned and she saw the wreckage around her. It could have been so much worse. If she ever got her hands on that pencil necked Greek, she would...

***

"... Strangle him with my bare hands," Jasmine growled. It was three days after the exploding crab incident and she was visiting her

friend, Sadira, the street- rat- turned-witch-of-the-sand-in-training

(sort of). Jasmine slumped in her seat, propped her elbows on Sadira's

table and clutched her hair with both hands as she glared into her

coffee cup.

"Mekhanikles?" asked Sadira,

"Him, too," grumped Jasmine, shoving her hands deeper into her

hair.

The brown haired witch blinked her blue eyes and studied her

guest. Jasmine was dressed in her usual 'about town' outfit-- brown robe over her sea green harem outfit. She'd shoved the camel colored hood off her head in disgust. Sadira wondered how Jasmine could look so elegant and so frazzled at the same time. It must be a princess thing, she decided.

Sadira smiled sympathetically and placed a plate of muffins on the table. "Aladdin's not being a co-operative patient?"

Jasmine sighed and straightened up. "That's putting it mildly." She sighed. "I know I should be more patient with him, I know it's inconvenient for him, but honestly, Sadira. Does he have to rush things? The leg isn't going to heal any faster. He may even do more damage!" She looked doubtfully at the muffins, remembering Sadira's earlier attempts at cooking.

Sadira patted Jasmine's shoulder. "They're safe, I bought them. As for Aladdin-- Remember, to a street rat, being able to move isn't just a convenience, it's a matter of survival."

Jasmine frowned. "But he's at the PALACE!"

Sadira smiled cryptically as she pointed out. "So are the guards."

It was getting dark as Jasmine arrived back at the palace. She felt a little guilty, her coffee klatch with Sadira had lasted several hours longer than she had expected it to. The Princess wondered what Aladdin had been doing all afternoon.

"Fazal, where is Aladdin?" she asked the portly, dark skinned soldier on guard at the main entrance.

"Um," Fazal said.

Jasmine raised an eyebrow.

"He's in the menagerie," Fazal said with what appeared to be reluctance.

Jasmine put this impression down to her own guilty conscience, until she reached the menagerie and heard Rasoul speaking.

"Do you need anything else, lad?" Rasoul was saying in an unctuous tone that caused Jasmine's teeth to grit. She could imagine what it was doing to Aladdin. Now she understood Sadira's comment about the guards also being at the palace.

"No, Rasoul," Aladdin said with exaggerated patience. "I have everything I need, thank you."

"Perhaps another pillow? Or some nice, warm milk?"

The menagerie was getting dark, but Rasoul's white pants and Aladdin's bandages stood out sharply in the dusk. Jasmine's brown robe made her almost invisible, and neither man saw her as she approached.

Aladdin was seated under an apple tree. His crutches sprawled in the damp grass just out of his reach. Apparently they had toppled from where he had set them. Rasoul was leaning casually against the apple tree, smiling the long distance down at Aladdin. Aladdin had his arms crossed over his chest and his gaze fixed grimly straight ahead. "That will be ALL, Rasoul," Jasmine growled.

Both men jumped and looked in her direction. "Your Highness!" blurted Rasoul. "I was just..."

"I heard what you were JUST," Jasmine said with a glare. "Go and tell Chef Aben that will have supper in the Blue Sitting Room."

Rasoul opened his mouth, then decided discretion was the better part of job security. He bowed and left the menagerie.

Aladdin scowled, as much at Jasmine as at Rasoul. "I can take care of myself," he said.

Jasmine put her hands on her hips and glared. "Did I say you couldn't?" she demanded.

Aladdin actually blushed. "No." He dropped his gaze to his hands. "Sorry, that wasn't called for." He started to rub the back of his neck, but stopped when he hit a bandage covered burn.

Jasmine collected his crutches and handed them to him. "Here, I think we should go inside."

"Thanks," Aladdin took hold of the crutches and levered himself to his feet without looking at Jasmine. He hopped awkwardly towards the palace, head hanging down as if he felt the need to be extra cautious with his footing.

Jasmine matched her stride to match his. She was still miffed at his comment, but he didn't look very happy himself, so she said nothing. "Um, did you have a nice time with Sadira?" Aladdin asked tentatively, as if he expected to be snapped at.

"Ah, yes," Jasmine said. She felt guilty over having been away so long, and annoyed at feeling guilty, and angry at Aladdin for making her want to stay away. She couldn't decide what to feel so she shelved all her emotions for further study.

"We had a pleasant time," she said blandly. She paused, not sure what else to say. "We decided we should take cooking lessons. Something 'girlish' we could do together on an equal basis."

"Oh," Aladdin paused. "Cooking isn't just for girls. I wouldn't mind learning, either," he added, then he paused again. He paused in his walking, too. "Jasmine, I'm sorry I've been such a pain about this." He still didn't look at her.

Jasmine touched his arm, then put a finger under his chin to raise his eyes to hers. "It's all right," she said as a matter of form.

Aladdin shook his head, freeing himself of her touch. "No it's not. I've been a jerk and now everybody's mad at me." He sighed. "And I don't blame them."

She took his arm and tugged, causing him to start hobbling again. "I'm sure the guys aren't mad at you..." she looked around the darkening garden. "Where are they, anyway?"

"I don't know," Aladdin confessed. "I told them to go away and they did." He dropped his gaze to his bandaged leg. "No, I howled at them to go away."

"I see." Jasmine felt her bad mood fade as they entered the palace. It wasn't as if Aladdin wanted to be ornery, and he could have been killed.

They went into the Blue Sitting Room. It was one of Jasmine's favorites, having a nice view of the menagerie, a full sized fire place, comfortable divans and several well stocked book cases.

"Well, I haven't been very nice, either, running off and leaving you at Rasoul's mercy all afternoon."

Aladdin made a wry face. "Well, I wouldn't have been all alone with Rasoul if I hadn't yelled at the guys."

Reminded, Jasmine changed the subject. "I'll have to do something about Rasoul," she said ominously.

"Nah," Aladdin replied. "I'm not scared of the big ape."

"And you don't want it to look like you are?" Jasmine asked.

He grinned at her as he lowered himself to a divan. The grin fled as he gasped with pain and dropped his crutches. "Aladdin?"

Aladdin grabbed the back of the divan with both hands to keep from falling to the ground. He made an obvious effort to not cry out in pain, squeezing his eyes shut and biting down on the inside of his cheek. "I'm... I'm okay," he gasped after a few moments. "Just sat on the wrong bruise."

Jasmine blushed when she realized that while the broken leg was Aladdin's worst injury, it was far from the only one. She reached out to steady him, and looked around for assistance.

"Allow me," Genie appeared suddenly. He gently lifted Aladdin up, Carpet swooped under and Genie gently set the youth down. Abu and Iago showed up with pillows and blankets. Between the four of them, they managed to find the least uncomfortable position for Aladdin.

"Guys, I'm sorry," Aladdin started. "You should be..." Iago's tirade cut off Aladdin' s apology and was cut off in turn when Abu shoved an apple core into his beak.

Iago spat it out and started after the monkey, only to be warned off by Jasmine's disapproving glare.

Having disposed of the remains of his apple, Abu scampered around Aladdin's shoulders, avoiding the bruises and chattering his forgiveness. Carpet patted him on the head.

Jasmine ruffled his hair. "It's all right, " she said, meaning it this time. "We know you're having a bad time."

Aladdin smiled lopsidedly. "That's no excuse for giving you a bad time. I promise, I'll try to control my temper in the future." He started to sit up but Genie gently held him back.

"You also need to listen to doctor's orders and not overdo things!" Genie commanded in a serious tone.

Aladdin held up his hands in surrender. "I promise, I'll be as good as gold."

Genie couldn't stand being serious for long. He poofed into a floral granny dress with a frilly apron and a stethoscope. "Now, just relax, Dr. Mom knows best!" There was a puff of smoke and table laden with steaming soup bowls appeared. "Some of Chef Aben's finest chicken soup is JUST what you need!"

In the Royal Kitchen, Chef Aben looked at the garnished but otherwise empty floor space in front of him. Then he looked at Chief Cook Safiya. Safiya, who'd been at the Palace longer than Aben, merely smiled and said brightly. "That takes care of the soup! Now you check your masterpiece for today while I finish the salad."

Aben sighed and looked around for a broom. "Looks like it's going to be one of THOSE Arabian nights," he muttered.

In the following days, Aladdin was as good as his word. There were no more angry outbursts and he scrupulously followed the doctor's orders. The bruises faded and the burns began to heal. But the nagging aches and pains lingered. Worse, the confinement began to wear down Aladdin's spirit.

Twentieth century medical lingo would term it 'depression'. All that his friends knew was that Aladdin was miserable.

Even Rasoul began to worry. "He's too quiet," Rasoul muttered.

"We gotta do something," Iago said.

But there wasn't anything they could do.

"Frankly, I wish we could go back to the temper tantrums," Jasmine confessed to Sadira one morning. She had stopped by for a brief visit, and this time her worry over Aladdin made her keep it brief.

"Can't Genie do anything?" Sadira asked.

Jasmine shook her head. "He can't, and we can't find anything in Jafar's library that will help, either. Healing wasn't his specialty." She paused. "Well, I've got to get going," she added apologetically. "I'm going to pick up some sugar dates and I'd better do it while the selection is still good."

Sadira frowned at the library of magic scrolls around her. Healing wasn't a strong suit of the Witches of the Sands, either. But maybe there was something? "Well, I don't have anything else to do today," she said to herself. So she began to search through her scrolls.

Several days later, she arrived at the Palace with several ancient scrolls in her carry-sack. "I think I found something that might help," Sadira announced. She pulled a scroll out of her carry-sack and held it up. "I found this in the Witch's library.

They were in the Blue sitting room again, and Jasmine had been serving tea when Sadira had arrived. Aladdin was arranged as comfortably as possible on a divan.

Iago threw himself in front of Aladdin, spreading his wings out defensively. "You get the kid to safety, I'll hold her off!" he proclaimed in heroic tones.

Jasmine would have been annoyed if Aladdin hadn't laughed for the first time in almost two weeks. She looked at Sadira, who just rolled her eyes and muttered "Men!" in a good humored way.

"I didn't know the Witches of the Sand went in for healing," Genie said suspiciously. Not that he distrusted Sadira (or so he kept telling himself). "Are you sure it isn't a trap of some sort?"

"They weren't very people oriented," Sadira understated in mild tones. "But I think this scroll is genuine. Look." She handed the scroll to Genie. Genie pulled the scroll from its case and squinted at the archaic script as he read aloud: "Horse Care, Scroll Four: Healing Broken Legs." He held the scroll so that the others could see the picture of an injured horse on the cover.

Iago dropped the defensive posture flapped over to Genie's shoulder. "I'm almost relieved," he said. "They'd consider HORSES to be valuable. So this might work... assuming the scroll isn't cursed and they had some idea of what they were talking about."

Genie *poofed* himself a pair of magnifying spectacles. He examined the scroll thoroughly. "What about the others in the series?" he asked.

Sadira unslung her carry-sack and handed it to him. "There's ten in the set," she said. "Dealing with things like colic, bad habits, training. Scrolls four through nine deal with injuries and diseases."

"What does scroll ten deal with?" Jasmine asked, handing Sadira a tea cup. Sadira took a sip. "Reanimating dead horses," she said.

"Yuck," was the mildest of the opinions of the listeners. Aladdin shook his head in wonder. "Mamluk horses, I hope Mozenrath doesn't hear about this!"

Jasmine shuddered at the thought of Mamluks on horseback. Then she looked at Genie with hope in her eyes. "Do you think it will help?" she asked. Aladdin held his breath.

Genie and Iago consulted over the scrolls. "You might as well finish your tea," Genie said. "This will take a while."

The 'awhile' lasted until after tea, Chinese checkers, chess, lunch and a game that Genie called Monopoly. It was late in the afternoon when Genie and Iago made their judgement on the scroll.

"I can't see anything harmful about it," Iago said, a trace of doubt in his voice. "But then, I'm not sure what all these subordinate clauses do."

"It's the strangest spell I've ever seen," Genie confessed. "It looks sort of like an amalgamation of Sand Magic and Genie magic."

"I thought mixing magics was dangerous," Jasmine said, thinking of the LAST time they had mixed Sadira's and Genie's spells. Aladdin had wound up running around the desert thinking he was some sort of Dragon Slayer. It had only been Sadira's kiss that had broken the spell. She really didn't like that memory, even if Sadira was one of her best friends.

"It is, but I only said this almost looks like a mixture," Genie said. He frowned. "It... well, it certainly looks like it would heal your leg."

"Well, if it looks safe enough, then let's try it," Aladdin said. "Sooner or later somebody nasty, like Mozenrath, will find out that I'm laid up. I don't want to be helpless when somebody comes after me."

Jasmine frowned. "You mean, if."

The guys exchanged looks, then turned their gazes to the girls and shook their heads (well, Carpet shook his hem.)

"With Al, it's when," Iago sighed.

"Genie?" Aladdin asked.

"Well, I can't think of any reason to not use the scroll, other than it was made by the Witches of the Sand," Genie confessed. "I don't see anything that would hurt you, and I can't think of any reason why the witches would hurt a horse."

"Then let's do it," Aladdin said.

Genie frowned, but he knew that sooner or later that one of Aladdin's enemies would show up. And the later it got, the sooner the villain would show up. "Okay, Al, you're the boss," he said unhappily.

Jasmine turned to Sadira, "What do we do?"

"First we go outside, onto the grass." They trooped outside, Aladdin riding on Carpet.

"Aladdin, you need to lie down on your non-injured side." Sadira said as she pulled the ingredients she needed from her carry-sack. She arranged incense burners in a circle around Aladdin.

"I guess we don't need a rope around your neck," she said to Aladdin.

"I won't run away," Aladdin promised dryly.

"Now, you guys need to turn your backs," Sadira said, including Jasmine as one of the 'guys'. "I'm not sure if this is part of the spell, or part of their secrecy, but I'm not taking chances." To Aladdin, she added: "You can't turn your back, so just close your eyes." She looked around to make sure nobody was looking, then began the ritual gestures and intonations of the healing spell.

The spell was more powerful than they had imagined. The bright noonday sun faded as clouds rushed together. The wind howled and there was a boom of thunder. Before anyone could question if this was how the spell was SUPPOSED to work, there was a flash of lightning and a cry from Aladdin.

"AL!" cried Genie as Jasmine cried: "Aladdin!"

They all whirled around to see Sadira staring wide eyed at her patient, with her hand over her mouth. Aladdin's bandages and clothing lay scattered in the grass, and there weren't any injuries to be seen. Aladdin was on his feet, looking dazed.

At least, they assumed the silvery stallion standing in the circle of incense burners was Aladdin.

The clouds dissipated and the sunshine returned, but everyone was too stunned to notice the weather.

"Ooo-kay, so it was a shape shifting spell as WELL as a healing spell," Genie said, looking Aladdin over from all sides.

"Must have wanted to improve the horse as well as heal it," Iago muttered.

The stallion stared at them in consternation, then craned his neck to look at himself. He looked at both silvery flanks, then bent forward to look at his black legs. Then he looked at the others and flicked his ears.

"Aladdin?" Jasmine asked coming forward. She reached out and touched his neck with one hand, the other hand going up to cover the 'o' her mouth was making.

The stallion nodded.

"Well, at least he remembers who he IS this time," Iago's sarcastic voice broke in.

Sadira blushed. She kept hoping to live down the 'Dragon Slayer' incident.

Carpet swooped around Aladdin agitatedly, and Abu bounded onto the horses withers, chattering worriedly.

"Are you in any pain?" Sadira asked worriedly.

Aladdin shook his head, then threw it back and let out a horse laugh.

"What's so funny?" Jasmine demanded, hands on hips.

Aladdin lifted his feet up and set them down again with great deliberation.

"Oh, your leg is better," Jasmine interpreted. She wasn't quite sure what to feel, alarmed didn't quite seem right, and there was nobody to be angry at.

Even the Witches of the Sand had done exactly what they said. More, in fact, for the remaining burns and bruises were also gone. "There is a way of turning him back into a human, isn't there?" she asked the magic users.

Sadira shrugged. "I don't know. This spell doesn't come with a reversal like the 'Dragon Slayer' spell did. You might try kissing him."

Jasmine kissed Aladdin on his velvety nose, but nothing happened.

"I might try kissing him," Sadira suggested, not entirely seriously.

Jasmine gave her a dirty look. Sadira shrugged and spread her hands. Jasmine thought it over, Sadira's Dragon Slayer spell had required Sadira's kiss to break it. She sighed. "Oh, go ahead, then," she said, much to everybody's surprise.

Sadira kissed Aladdin on his velvety nose. Again, nothing happened.

"Sorry," Sadira said.

Everyone looked at Genie.

"Well, this does seem to be a standard shape shifting spell," Genie said. "Like the one that turned Jasmine into a rat and Iago into a flying rat... sorry, you're already a flying rat, I meant 'frilled lizard'.

"You are so NOT funny!" growled Iago.

"I can give it a shot," Genie said, ignoring Iago. "Stand back and close your eyes!"

Remembering what happened last time Genie had said that, Jasmine and the guys turned their backs and covered their eyes. Sadira decided they knew best and followed their example. Genie cracked his knuckles, went into his windup and let loose. There was another flash and another yelp from Aladdin, then: "Well, THAT'S an improvement," Aladdin said wryly. "Almost."

Joyfully, Jasmine turned to hug her beloved, then stopped short. Aladdin was still uninjured, and still unclad, and still on four equine

feet. Only now the horse's neck and head had been changed into Aladdin's upper torso and head.

"Oh, great, now he's a centaur!" Iago yelled.

"Oopsie," Genie said.

To Be Continued