Disney's Aladdin: 
All's Fair 
By J. D. Weber 
characters copyrighted by Disney, 
except the villains, which are all mine. 
      
     It had been a lovely evening. The dinner had been delicious,   
the entertainment had been colorful, and there had been NO  
interruptions by bad guys. That came afterward.  
     Aladdin and Jasmine strolled from the Club Nest Egg Casino to  
their hotel. They could have taken Carpet, or asked Genie to magic  
them over. They could even have stayed at the Club Nest Egg as  
Sultan Pasta al Dente's guests. However, they had wanted some time  
alone, in a quiet place, so they could talk and hold hands without  
comments from the peanut gallery. 
     At first, they were too wrapped up in each other to notice the  
shadowy figures that kept pace with them. It wasn't until they came  
to an uninhabited section of the city that the shadowy figures  
brought themselves to their attention. 
     "Look out!" Jasmine's warning came as one of the shadowy  
figures struck at Aladdin with a staff. Another of the shadowy  
figures grabbed Jasmine's left arm. 
     Aladdin dropped to the ground to avoid a swinging staff. He  
caught himself with his hands and pivoted smoothy on one foot as he  
kicked several of his attackers' feet out from under them. Jasmine  
decked her attacker with a right cross. Aladdin rolled to his feet  
and used his momentum to add power to a punch to the midsection of  
another attacker. Jasmine snatched up the staff her attacker had  
dropped and rammed it into the jaw of one of the attackers who was  
still on his feet. 
     "Run!" Aladdin advised. They leaped over their sprawled  
opponents and headed back the way they had come. As they ran,  
Aladdin reached behind him, trying to grab the pocket of his  
flapping cloak without breaking stride. 
     They had reached the end of the street when there was a flash  
of yellowish light and more shadowy figures appeared in front of  
them. Jasmine charged, shrieking and whirling her captured staff  
over her head. Two of the new attackers jumped out of her way. Then  
a bola whirled out of the shadows and wrapped itself around  
Aladdin's knees. 
     An eager attacker advanced on Aladdin, only to be repelled  
backwards by a kick to the jaw as Aladdin turned his fall into a  
forward handspring. A warier attacker, coming up from behind, used  
his bola to trap Aladdin's arms. 
     Aladdin lost his breath as he hit the ground hard. Seconds  
later, the attackers swarmed over him, preventing him from moving or  
even breathing. Jasmine whirled to face her attackers, keeping them  
at bay with short rushes and feints with her staff. She could see  
Aladdin turning blue, and she frantically tried to think of a way to  
reach him before he suffocated. 
     "Surrender, Your Highness," a young man stepped forward to  
address Jasmine. He was dressed in black silk and blackened steel  
armor and had an aura of leadership about him. 
     "You had better back off," Jasmine warned. "My father..." 
     "Will not dare make a move against us while we have you as..."  
the leader paused ominously. "A hostage." He waved his men off.  
"Come now, Princess, you must realize you are trapped. You might be  
able to escape, but your fiance..." 
     He gestured and Jasmine looked in time to see Aladdin's captors  
move away from him. One of them tossed a small glass globe which  
burst into a puff of greyish smoke when it hit the ground. Aladdin  
could not avoid the smoke as he gasped for air and he soon went  
limp. 
     Jasmine's eyes snapped back to the leader. "You monster!" she  
snarled and raised her staff. 
     "He's not dead, Your Highness, I assure you," it was the  
leader's words not than his raised hand that forestalled Jasmine's  
charge. "But my orders were to bring you BOTH back alive. If I can't  
do that, then I will kill him." He plucked a glass globe from a  
pouch in his belt. "I promise you, none of my men will touch you.  
But I have no more time, surrender or chose a new fiance." 
     Jasmine sighed and dropped her staff. The leader tossed the  
globe at her feet. There was a faint pop, then a sickly odor... 
      
     Jasmine woke up in what was obviously someone's seraglio. Silk  
covered furnishings, velvet covered walls... bar covered windows.  
She was still dressed in the lavender velvet gown she had been  
wearing when she was captured. As far as she could tell, no one had  
done anything to her while she had been drugged. She started to sit  
up, then had to lay down again as a wave of dizziness hit her.  
     Now that she had time to think, she wondered who had kidnapped  
her. She also wondered where she was, where Aladdin was, how Aladdin  
was, how she had gotten here. She also wondered how the kidnappers  
had gotten into and out of Getsastan. Then she remembered a group of  
them appearing in front of her, so obviously they used magic. She  
hoped Genie would be able to find them. She now wondered where the  
lamp was. Aladdin had been carrying it, she was sure. If only he'd  
been able to reach it! 
     When the dizziness passed, she sat up again cautiously, but the  
dizziness did not return. She slowly got to her feet, but there were  
no more bouts of dizziness. Apparently the side effects of the drug  
passed quickly. 
     She looked around and frowned. She was used to palace luxury,  
but this was too much. Fountains sprayed perfume into the air, as  
caged birds warbled in jeweled encrusted gold cages. There were rugs  
piles on rugs, pillows piled on pillows and everything that wasn't  
covered in fabric was covered in gold and jewels. 
     She heard the rustle of a beaded curtain behind her. So, you  
are awake, my wife," a clipped baritone addressed her. 
     Jasmine whirled, fairly spitting fire as she confronted her  
captor. "I will NEVER be YOUR wife!" She paused when she recognized  
her captor. "Sultan Saddam Kadafi," she added grimly.  
     She remembered him clearly. He was one of her rejected suitors.  
At first glance, he would not have been a bad choice, in spite of  
the difference in their ages. He was tall and handsome, with a  
short, well groomed beard and hair that was still more black than  
grey. More importantly, as far as the suitor business was concerned,  
his kingdom was prosperous, the taxes were said to be reasonable  
and, as far as Jasmine and her father knew, his people loved him. 
     The problem had been in his attitude. At first, he had sent an  
envoy to win her from her father. For once, the Sultan had been in  
complete agreement with his daughter. Courting by proxy was not  
acceptable. He sent a message to Sultan Saddam Kadafi to come and  
ask for Jasmine's hand in person. 
     So Saddam had come. He spoke to Jasmine's father at length,  
explaining the political, military and financial advantages of  
joining their two kingdoms. Jasmine's father had been aware of all  
this. Saddam had NOT talked of love, respect or friendship. He had  
not asked to meet Jasmine. In fact, at no point in his negotiations  
did Saddam Kadafi actually mention Jasmine. 
     "If you want to propose an political alliance," her father had  
said. "Then I am all ears. But if you want to marry my daughter,  
then give me a reason to believe you will love her." 
     Saddam had asked. "What does that have to do with anything?" 
     Jasmine hadn't seen her father lose his temper very often, and  
certainly not to the extent he had at that time. Her father thrown  
Saddam and his retinue out of Agrabah. It had been the talk of the  
Seven Deserts for months after that. Especially as Saddam Kadafi had  
NOT started a war, as many thought inevitable. 
      
     Which explained a lot about the kidnapping, Jasmine thought.  
Especially why Saddam thought he could get away with it. She glared  
at him as she stated her refusal to marry him.  
     Saddam merely looked at her with the same flat gaze as he'd  
given her father when he'd asked why he should love his wife. "You  
have no choice in the matter," he told her in cool tones. "I have  
decided that marrying you will benefit me." 
     "I will never consent to marry you, and you can't force me,"  
Jasmine said defiantly. 
     "But I can," he informed her somberly. "I have Aladdin. If you  
don't marry me, I will have him executed." 
     Jasmine felt a tightness in her chest and sternly schooled  
herself to stay calm. "You will kill him anyway," she said angrily. 
     Saddam shook his head. "No. I do not waste lives unnecessarily.  
Why do you suppose I did not declare war after your father's  
insulting actions?" 
     When Jasmine merely scowled at him, he continued. "Your fiance  
is resourceful. I would never waste such a valuable resource.  
Especially when I can turn it to my advantage." 
     "And how would you plan to do that?" Jasmine asked acidly. 
     "Aladdin loves you above everything else. His doglike devotion  
to you will even extend to your children. My son by you will need a  
bodyguard and Aladdin will die before letting any harm come to your  
child. And YOU know he is far too resourceful to be killed easily." 
     With an effort, Jasmine kept from leaping, doglike, at Saddam's  
throat. And she'd thought her FATHER had been obdurate in trying to  
arrange her future! "Why should I believe anything you say?" she  
challenged him. 
     Saddam merely walked to the door and knocked. It was opened  
from outside by a tall, muscular guard with a stony expression.  
Saddam gestured for Jasmine to precede him. He guided her down  
several elaborately decorated corridors and stopped at a juncture. 
     "To your left, Princess Jasmine," Saddam instructed. 
     Jasmine walked through an archway that lead into a small room.  
The room was surprising in that it was plain blue tile with no  
ornamentation at all. In the center of the room was a well.  
Obviously the builder of the palace had intended that they never run  
out of water. 
     There were several muscular black soldiers standing in a line  
next to the well. Standing apart from the were two Arabic men, only  
a few years older than Jasmine. One was the leader of the  
kidnappers, both bore a definite resemblance to Saddam. Jasmine was  
less than surprised when Saddam introduced them. 
     "My sons by my first wife," he said, gesturing. "You've met  
Ghazi, the sorcerer. (Which explained how the attackers had arrived  
in Getsastan, and how they had been brought here, Jasmine thought.  
She did wonder why Ghazi hadn't just kidnapped them magically.)  
"Ghalib, his twin, does not have magical talents, but he is useful  
to me, none the less." 
     Jasmine could have sworn she saw a flicker of annoyance on  
Ghalib's face, but she could not be sure. Then she noticed the rope  
the men were holding. Jasmine felt her chest tighten again when her  
gaze traced the rope into the well. Under the circumstances, she did  
not need to have someone draw her a picture. 
     "Aladdin!" she cried, running to the well. 
     Ghazi gestured at the burly soldiers and they hauled back on  
the rope, grinning as they did so. Aladdin could not have been under  
water for very long, he came up even with the curb of the well  
sputtering and coughing out words that well brought up princesses  
shouldn't know about. He stopped abruptly and actually blushed when  
he saw her. "Jasmine!" he gasped. "Are you all right?" 
     "So far," she said. "But I'll be a lot happier with you on dry  
land." She reached over and grabbed Aladdin's arm and tried to pull  
him over the curb. They had taken most of his clothing, leaving him  
clad only in his white 'Prince Ali' style trousers. His arm was  
slippery and Jasmine couldn't get a grip on him.  
     "Don't bother, there's a weight tied to my legs," Aladdin  
informed her. He shrugged and held his bound hands out to Jasmine. 
     She smoothed his sodden bangs out of his eyes and touched his  
hands. "I'm sorry," she said. "I never thought Saddam would resort  
to something crazy like this." 
     "You know this creep?" Aladdin asked. His glare was ruined by a  
coughing fit. 
     Saddam raised an eyebrow. "I am Saddam Kadafi, Sultan of  
Nasayastan, Conqueror of the Troglodytes and Lord of Five of the  
Seven Gems of Domination. And I will soon be YOUR master." 
     Aladdin made a rude noise. "MY master? NEVER!" 
     Saddam gestured. Ghazi plucked a wand from his flowing sleeve  
and pointed it at Aladdin. A sickly yellow light encircled the  
former street rat and lifted him over the rim of the well. Aladdin's  
face twisted in pain, but he made no sound. Saddam nodded and Ghazi  
let Aladdin fall. A nod at the solders and they released the rope,  
allowing Aladdin to fall with a splash. 
     They pulled him out immediately. He was coughing, but not  
swearing, and his head drooped. Saddam grabbed him by the hair and  
forced his head up. "You will serve me. Your princess will be my  
fourth wife. How well she is treated will depend on your future  
behavior. Do you understand me?" 
     Aladdin met his gaze defiantly for a moment, then dropped his  
eyes in apparent defeat. "Yes," he muttered. 
     "Yes, what?" Saddam prompted, twisting Aladdin's hair. 
     "Yes, YOUR HIGHNESS," Aladdin said grimly. 
     Saddam snorted, possibly with amusement. "That will do for  
now." He looked at Jasmine. "Now, Princess, you have the decision as  
to our next actions. Marry me, and Ghalib will cut the rope that  
binds the weight to Aladdin's feet." Ghalib pulled his scimitar from  
his belt. Saddam continued. "Refuse, and he cut Aladdin's throat." 
     Jasmine looked at Aladdin, who shook his head at her. "Don't do  
it, Jasmine," he said. "Think of Agrabah." 
     "Agrabah has nothing to fear from me. I am a good ruler," said  
Saddam. "Princess, you are out of time." He spoke matter of factly,  
as if he knew what decision Jasmine was going to make. He was right,  
of course, Jasmine could not stand by and let them kill Aladdin.  
"You win." 
     Saddam nodded at the soldiers and they pulled Aladdin over the  
edge of the well. Ghalib sliced the roped binding the stone to  
Aladdin's feet, but he left Aladdin's hands and feet bound. 
     "Come," Saddam said. "I have the ceremony chamber ready for our  
ceremony." He actually smiled when he added. "I had it appropriately  
furnished." For the first time, Jasmine was actually afraid.  
Saddam's smile was far worse than most men's scowls. 
      
     Aladdin had trouble walking, the circulation in his legs had  
been cut off for too long. At a curt order from his father, Ghalib  
cut Aladdin's hobbles. Ghalib touched the side of Aladdin's throat  
with his scimitar. Aladdin shot him a sideways look. Ghalib gave him  
a tight grin. 
     They made better time after that, obviously Saddam was in a  
hurry, for all that he appeared calm and collected. Jasmine knew  
why. Once her father and Sultan al Dente found out where they were  
being held, fur would fly. Saddam obviously was counting on the  
Sultan of Agrabah not attacking his son in law. 
      
     The chamber they came to was far more elaborate than the well  
chamber. It had an ornately carved ceiling, complete with a fancy  
chandelier. The floor was an elaborate mosaic, there were dozens of  
carved tables scattered around. There were candles and lanterns and  
lamps of all descriptions sitting on the tables, in niches in the  
wall, hanging from the ceiling. The room was almost too bright. 
     Aladdin felt sick. If he had kept the lamp in his sash, he'd  
have been able to reach it before he'd been pinned and Jasmine  
wouldn't be in this situation. He sighed, carrying the lamp in the  
cloak's pocket had been MUCH more comfortable and he hadn't been  
expecting an attack. He should have known better. Unfortunately,  
Saddam apparently knew what the lamp was. It had been gone when he  
woke up. His only hope was that Saddam was the gloating type and  
that his comment about the chamber being 'appropriately' furnished  
meant the lamp was here, somewhere. 
     Aladdin looked around the room and mentally crossed his  
fingers. It would be a good place to hide the lamp, he thought,  
amidst a hundred others. Especially if the person doing the hiding  
didn't want others to know the lamp was anything special. 
     Saddam looked at his captives smugly. He knew there was a risk  
in letting them come so close to the Genie's lamp, but he dared not  
leave the lamp unwatched for long. Besides, he doubted they could  
find the lamp in all the clutter. He could only spot it because he  
knew where he had put it. 
     "Bring out the marriage contract," Saddam instructed Ghazi. The  
sooner I have this woman bound to me, the sooner I can go about  
incorporating Agrabah into my kingdom." 
     Jasmine felt certain that Genie's lamp was somewhere in the  
room. It would be just like Saddam to mock them by hiding it among  
all the other lamps. She looked at Aladdin and saw the same  
certainty in his eyes. Aladdin's eyebrows quirked just a fraction.  
'Okay, what do we do now?' seemed to be his question. 
     Create a diversion, was Jasmine's answer. She had no way of  
conveying this to Aladdin directly, instead she turned on Saddam. "I  
consented to marry you! I did not consent to give you the throne of  
Agrabah!" she snapped. "I can't, my father is the ruler!" 
     Saddam looked at her. "He won't be long after..." 
     Jasmine howled, grabbed the handiest candlestick and flung  
herself at Saddam. Saddam flung his hand up to grab the candlestick,  
but Jasmine faked left, then struck under his guard and folded him  
up. She hurled the short candlestick at a guard and grabbed a floor  
length model and charged. 
     The guards, taken aback at being attacked by a girl, fell back  
in confusion, warding off the blows, but not yet counterattacking.  
Ghalib kept his scimitar at Aladdin's neck. Ghazi moved towards  
Jasmine, gesturing. The sickly yellow light gathered around  
Jasmine's makeshift quarterstaff and lifted it out of her hands. 
     Jasmine leaped at the floating candlestick, but instead of  
trying to wrest it out of the air, she swung around it like a  
gymnast, then used her momentum to fling herself at Ghazi and kick  
him across the room. She turned her rebound into a backwards  
somersault and knocked Saddam off his feet just as he was getting  
his equilibrium back.  
     "Stop her," Saddam wheezed at Ghalib as he sprawled on the  
elaborately tiled floor. 
     Ghalib looked at his father, then finally took his scimitar  
from Aladdin's neck. He moved towards Jasmine, sword at the ready.  
     "Don't damage her!" Saddam bellowed. 
     Ghalib gave a small sigh, and sheathed his sword. 
      
     As soon as Ghalib moved away, Aladdin began his visual search  
of the room. There were dozens of lamps the same style as Genie's,  
but Aladdin was sure he'd be able to pick out the lamp.  
      
     "Hold this," Jasmine told Ghalib, and shoved the candlestick  
into his arms.  
     Instinctively, Ghalib grabbed the candlestick and Jasmine  
grabbed his scimitar. Now the guards pulled themselves together.  
Having a beautiful woman poke at you with a long candlestick was  
almost amusing, having the beautiful woman pull a sword at you was  
business. 
     "Put those swords away!" bellowed Saddam. "And get out of here,  
you're only getting in the way!" 
     The soldiers sheathed their swords and filed out. Ghalib  
feinted with the candlestick. Jasmine parried and circled. 
      
     Everything in this room had one thing in common, Aladdin noted.  
Cleanliness. There was no dust or tarnish on anything Saddam Kadafi  
owned. However, the nature of Genie's lamp made it impossible to  
shine WITHOUT alerting Genie. Aladdin left the lamp as it was  
because Genie claimed polishing it tickled. This meant that the lamp  
should be its usual battered, tarnished self. So all he had to do  
was spot the area that didn't gleam as brightly as the rest. 
      
     Ghalib backed Jasmine up until she was directly in front of his  
twin. She could sense Ghazi coming up behind her. So, when Ghalib  
thrust at her, she dropped the scimitar, grabbed the candlestick,  
and threw her weight into aiding Ghalib's advance. Off balance,  
Ghalib staggered forward and crashed into his brother. 
     "Idiots!" snarled Saddam. He was back on his feet and behind  
Jasmine. He lunged and grabbed her arm before she could dodge. 
      
     There! Among all the fine, shiny lamps was the battered and  
tarnished lamp that Aladdin had brought out of the Cave of Wonders.  
It was lit, which meant not only was Genie's decor being ruined, but  
the lamp would be hot. He sighed, no time to worry about that.  
      
     Jasmine didn't try to pull away. Instead, she stepped into  
Saddam's pull and kicked him in a place that well brought up  
princesses shouldn't know about. Saddam went grey and folded up as  
Aladdin lunged for the lamp. 
      
     The twins hesitated long enough for Aladdin to grab the lamp  
and rub, once, before dropping it with a yelp of pain. 
      
     There was a thunderclap and a gush of wind. "AL! JAZZ! Where  
have you been, we've been worried..." Genie's babble was cut off  
short when he saw the scene. Jasmine was scooping up the scimitar  
again, getting ready to defend herself. Aladdin was dropping to his  
knees, cradling his burned hands against his chest. Saddam was  
doubled up on the floor in agony and the twins were just recovering  
enough to come after Aladdin to use him as a hostage again. 
      
     Genie also saw that his lamp was lit. "You ruined my comic book  
collection, you creeps!" he bellowed. A wave of his hand and Saddam  
and his sons were swept out of the room on a tidal wave. 
      
     "Get us out of here!" Jasmine shouted. 
      
     "Consider it..." Genie clapped his hands together and they were  
back in Getsastan. "...done, Jazz." 
      
     Jasmine explained what happened as Sultan al Dente's personal  
physician tended to Aladdin's minor burns. When they got home, they  
had to explain the whole adventure to Jasmine's father. 
     "I never like him," said the shocked Sultan of Agrabah. "But I  
never thought he'd go THAT far!" 
     "That's what Pasta al Dente said," Aladdin replied. "He thinks  
there's more to this than Saddam Kadafi wanting a wife." 
     "I agree," the Sultan said thoughtfully. "You were just lucky  
that you could spot the lamp." 
     Aladdin smiled at Genie. "Like I could ever mistake that lamp  
for anything else?" 
     Genie gave him a noogie. 
      
     Back in Nasayastan, Saddam Kadafi had recovered his  
equilibrium. "I obviously underestimated those two," he said  
thoughtfully. "I shall have to be more careful next time." 
     "You will be going after Princess Jasmine again, Your  
Highness?" Ghalib asked respectfully. 
     "Oh, yes," Saddam said. "Once I have the Seven Gems of  
Domination, I will be able to rule the world. I only have five, I  
need the other two." 
     "And Princess Jasmine is the key to obtaining the sixth gem,  
Sire?" Ghalib asked curiously. 
     Saddam shook his head. "Princess Jasmine IS the sixth gem," he  
said.  
     "Do we need Aladdin alive, Sire?" asked Ghalib. "Or is he the  
seventh gem?" 
     Saddam shook his head. "No, the seventh gem isn't a person.  
Yes, we need Aladdin alive." His gaze went from one son to the  
other. "There must be a reason the Cave of Wonders chose HIM to  
receive the Genie's lamp." He looked off into the distance. "I want  
to know the reason. I WILL know the reason, once I have Aladdin,  
Princess Jasmine, and the lamp in my power."