Disney's Aladdin:
The Bride of Mozenrath
By Jill Weber
Part 2 of 4
Characters (c) by Walt Disney Corp.

Xerxes swam up to Mozenrath and hissed. "Master, Hero come!"

Mozenrath strode to the top of the dune that concealed his Mamluks and 
struck a dramatic pose. A few minutes later, the youthful sorcerer 
could see Aladdin coming over a sand dune, alone and on foot, as per 
orders. Aladdin wore a hooded cloak of indeterminate color over his 
regular street clothes. He also had a walking stick in his hand that 
MIGHT be a swordstick, but Mozenrath didn't care. A sword wouldn't help 
the Street Rat now!

Mozenrath rubbed his hands together in satisfaction. "This is going 
just as planned." He slid partway down to meet Aladdin, but stopped 
midway, forcing Aladdin to look up at him.

Mozenrath smiled broadly. "AL! How NICE of you to drop by!"

"Nice-sssss," Xerxes hissed.

Aladdin scowled. "Don't call me 'Al' you MONSTER! Where's Jasmine? What 
have you done with her?" He tightened his grip on his walking staff 
until his knuckles turned white. Even the walking staff was looking a 
trifle pale where he held it.

Mozenrath smirked. "She's healthy and safe. I haven't done anything to 
her, except make her more... congenial."

Aladdin glared at him suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

Mozenrath spread his hand and said blandly: "Just a little love potion, 
that's all."

Aladdin surged forward, raising his stick. "You flea-bitten, son-of-
a..."

Xerxes snapped at Aladdin's face, forcing the street rat to jump back. 
Aladdin stumbled downhill, keeping his balance with an effort. As he 
stumbled, he shifted the stick in his hands to take a swipe at Xerxes. 
The eel snarled and snapped at Aladdin's hand.

Mozenrath shook a finger at Aladdin. "Uh-uh-uh, mustn't annoy the man 
who has your pretty-pretty princess at his mercy." Mozenrath's tone 
went glacial. "Such as it is."

Aladdin trembled with rage, but held his temper and his tongue. 

Mozenrath smiled triumphantly. "That's better." He gestured and a puff 
of black smoke rose from the dune. Jasmine, dressed in an overly 
elaborate golden gown appeared.

She ran over to Mozenrath's side. She would have preferred to run to 
Aladdin, but she KNEW that Mozenrath had set a trap. If she tipped her 
hand now, she could wind up in even worse trouble, and this stupid 
dress was NOT designed for fighting. She hoped she could tip off 
Aladdin to her ruse without tipping off Mozenrath.

Aladdin looked at his fianc‚e anxiously. "Jasmine are you all right?"

She looked down her nose at him. "And what business is it of yours... 
Street Rat?" she asked disdainfully.

The look of hurt and uncertainty on Aladdin's face made Mozenrath throw 
his head back and laugh. Xerxes followed suit. In that one moment of 
her captors' inattention, Jasmine looked into Aladdin's eyes and 
twitched her head in a negating manner.

The hurt and bewildered expression remained on Aladdin's face, but not 
in his eyes. When Mozenrath looked at him again, Aladdin 'forced' his 
face to change to a glare. "You slimy creep! What have you done to 
her?" he demanded.

Mozenrath touched the tips of his fingers together and smirked. 
"Weren't you listening? Or are you just being especially slow at 
comprehending today? I gave her a love potion. She'll do anything I 
tell her to do." His smile went from smug to predatory. "Even die."

Aladdin felt a chill hand touch his heart. If Mozenrath discovered 
Jasmine's bluff... "What do you want from me?" he demanded harshly. He 
didn't have to hide his fear because Mozenrath would misinterpret it.

Mozenrath smiled unctuously. "That's more like it, Street Rat." He 
examined his nails for a few minutes before answering. "I want a wife."

Aladdin lunged, only to be knocked down by a blast from Mozenrath's 
gauntlet. Aladdin landed on his back, losing his grip on his walking 
stick. Mozenrath jumped after him, kicking the walking stick well away 
before kicking Aladdin in the stomach.

Aladdin clutched his stomach and rolled away. He started to push 
himself up, then Mozenrath kicked him in the side, sending him sliding 
head first down the dune. Aladdin tried to stop his slide with his 
hands, but only succeeded in cutting his left hand on something under 
the sand.

Mozenrath started to follow Aladdin downhill, but Jasmine wrapped her 
arms around his shoulders. "Stop, most beloved Mozie," she whined in 
un-Jasmine-like tones. "You'll get your SHOES dirty, and I just CLEANED 
them!"

Mozenrath gave her a suspicious look, which faded when Jasmine allowed 
a few crocodile tears to slip down her face. "Oh, all right, Little 
Princess." He shrugged Jasmine off and allowed Aladdin to get to his 
feet.

Jasmine moved back a few steps, but remained ready to pounce if 
Mozenrath looked ready to blast at Aladdin again. Aladdin glared, his 
ribs hurt, but he wasn't going to give Mozenrath the satisfaction of 
seeing him rub them. His hand hurt, too, but he didn't rub that for an 
even more pressing reason. He didn't want Mozenrath to realize Aladdin 
had found his trap. There was something sharp hidden underneath the 
dune, and Aladdin was willing to bet he knew what.

"Don't get your fez in an uproar, Street Rat!" Mozenrath sneered. "I 
don't want the PRINCESS!" he spat the word out as if it were an 
epithet. "I want someone more magical, someone more FEMININE!"

Jasmine had to bite her tongue to keep from responding to that.

"Yah, feminine!" seconded Xerxes.

Jasmine kept her tongue between her teeth to keep it from sticking out.

"Then where do WE come in?" Aladdin asked grumpily. He put his clenched 
fists on his hips, at least partly to hide the blood on left one.

Mozenrath rubbed his hands together. "You are SO good at finding 
magical beings that I've decided to grant YOU the honor of finding me a 
suitable bride. Once you have done so, the Princess is yours again."

Aladdin's scowl returned. "How do I know you'll keep your end of the 
bargain?"

Mozenrath smiled genially. "You don't." He paused. "Now be quick about 
it. I expect your first candidate to be presented to me in three days. 
Oh, and don't try to sneak into the Citadel to rescue your precious 
little princess. If I spot you any closer than this, and she will kill 
herself, won't you my dear Little Princess?"

Jasmine batted her eyes at Mozenrath, in as breathless a voice as any 
dizzy dancing girl, she said: "ANYthing for YOU, my most beloved Mozie, 
dear!"

Mozenrath held out his arm and she took it. "Come along, Little 
Princess, YOU have a lot of work to do." They started to walk away and 
Mozenrath said over his shoulder. "Oh, do hurry before she gets dishpan 
hands. I understand that will diminish her market value."

Aladdin leaned forward, as if he meant to charge uphill again. Xerxes 
swam in front of his face, gloating. "Market value! Market value!"

Aladdin crossed his arms so Xerxes wouldn't see the blood. "How will I 
let you know if I find someone?" he shouted after Mozenrath.

Mozenrath paused. "Oh, how silly of me." He reached into his belt pouch 
and threw a small golden bell at Aladdin. "Come to THIS spot and ring 
this. I'll hear you. Ciao!"

With a dramatic swirl of his cloak, Mozenrath, Jasmine and Xerxes were 
gone. Aladdin picked up the bell and his walking stick, turned and 
trudged back the way he had come.

It wasn't until he was well with in the golden sands, and well out of 
sight of the meeting place did he plant the walking stick into the 
sand. "There was something sharp under the sand," he told the 'stick', 
holding up his left hand to show the cut.

The stick sprouted eyes, a mouth and a sharp nose. Then it sprouted 
arms so it could rub its chin. "Hm," Genie said. "That area isn't zoned 
for a landfill."

"It's not zoned for a cemetery, either," Aladdin said, adopting Genie's 
phrasing without really understanding it. "But I'll bet it's loaded 
with Mamluks."

Genie puffed into himself and took Aladdin's hand to examine it. "A 
cemetery filled with the shambling half-dead, interesting. Would that 
make it a semi-cemetery?"

Aladdin rolled his eyes as Genie cleaned and bandaged the cut. 
"Whatever, let's get out of here before Mozenrath realizes that I 
wasn't alone."

He took of his cloak and threw it in the air. Genie one finger zapped 
it, changing it back into Carpet. If they had gotten a chance, the plan 
had been to grab Jasmine and fly. Mozenrath hadn't given them that 
chance.

As they flew into the afternoon sun, Genie asked. "You think he didn't 
know Rugman and I were there?"

Aladdin shook his head. "I don't know," he replied. "I hope he didn't, 
for Jasmine's sake."

    
Meanwhile, back at Mozenrath's Citadel, Jasmine followed Mozenrath into 
his Great Hall. So far, this was the only room that Jasmine noticed any 
care being taken with. It was all grey and black, but showed none of 
the filth of the other rooms. Aside from a few broken beams, it 
actually looked presentable. Mozenrath threw himself into his throne 
and Jasmine bowed low in front of him.

"How may I serve you, most beloved Mozie?" she cooed. Mozenrath looked 
ill. 'Serves him right,' Jasmine decided. She also decided to cool it 
before Mozenrath got suspicious.

Mozenrath frowned at Jasmine. "First of all, stop calling me 'most 
beloved Mozie'. Call me, 'My Lord'. It's much more dignified."

Jasmine bowed her head. "As you wish, mos... My Lord," she said sulkily

Mozenrath leaned back in his throne. "That's better, my Little 
Princess. Next you can clean this place up a bit. I wouldn't want you 
to be held captive in a place even dirtier than Aladdin's hovel!"

Jasmine frowned, then covered up by saying. "But mos... My Lord, I 
can't clean the Citadel all by myself! I'm a PRINCESS!"

Mozenrath frowned, then shook his head. "Ah, yes, I forgot the 
inbreeding for a moment." (Jasmine managed to keep a pleasant 
expression on her face with great difficulty.) "Very well, I'll arrange 
for the Mamluks to follow your orders."

Mozenrath waved one of the Mamluks over and muttered a short 
incantation, ending with a snap of his fingers and a 'Make it so.' He 
turned to Jasmine and said: "Follow him."

Jasmine dropped a pretty little curtsey as she'd learned to do as a 
child and followed the Mamluk out the door. To her great relief, the 
slimy little eel didn't follow.

***

The kitchen wasn't anything to write home about, unless your family was 
into horror stories. All the flat surfaces were coated with the same 
black grit that pervaded Mozenrath's kingdom (such as it was). The fire 
in the fireplace gave off more smoke than anything else, and the soot 
fallout added to the general dinginess of the room. The piles of pots, 
pans and dishes had begun to grow mold, and the sink was so choked with 
dirt and debris that the Mamluks standing next to it looked clean by 
comparison.

"I take it Destain was a bachelor, too?" she said dryly to her guide.

"Ur," said the Mamluk.

"I couldn't have put it better myself."

Jasmine sighed and shook her head. "I could ALMOST feel sorry for 
Mozenrath." Then she snorted. "Then, again, the scumwad deserves 
everything he gets, including food poisoning, and I hope it's soon."

There was a covered bowl on the table, Jasmine removed the cover and 
was surprised to be rewarded with fresh, clean apples. She picked one 
up, sniffed it and took a bite. She leaned against the wall and tried 
to think of what to do next. She had to get out of there, quickly. 
Mozenrath wouldn't be taken in by her act for long. For one thing, if 
he called her 'Little Princess' one more time, she was going to 
throttle him. She took another bite of apple and swallowed. Then asked 
one of the Mamluks by the sink. "So, is there any cleaning equipment in 
this dump?"

"Ur," said the Mamluk.

"Oh, that's helpful. Can you speak up?"

"Ur ur," denied the Mamluk, with a shake of his head.

Jasmine blinked. "You ARE answering me, aren't you?"

"UR," replied the Mamluk, nodding.

She straightened up from the wall. "Very well, fetch cleaning 
equipment." The first Mamluk shambled off, dripping non-essential 
anatomy as he went. Turning to the next Mamluk, she pointed to some 
buckets. "Clean those out and fetch in some clean water."

The Mamluk was only able to carry one bucket. There was apparently 
something wrong with his left hand. Jasmine sighed. "How can I even 
pretend to clean when my assistants are falling apart on me?" She 
looked at the third Mamluk. "You, bring me some gloves."

The third Mamluk shook his head. "Ur ur."

Jasmine cocked her head to one side. "No gloves?"

"Ur."

Jasmine snorted and started pacing. "I have lots of gloves," she told 
the uncomprehending Mamluk. "And Mozenrath so kindly brought all my 
belongings with me. Unfortunately, the kind of gloves I own aren't 
exactly suitable..." she stopped pacing and grinned wickedly. "They're 
so very inappropriate..." she looked at the Mamluk and made a snap 
decision. "You, come with me."

    
Mozenrath paid no attention to the Mamluk dusting cobwebs from the 
ceiling when he entered the Dining Hall. Nor did he note the peculiar 
list one of the one potted plants had developed. He headed straight to 
the mirror on the wall and gestured.

A scene sprang into view. The Sultan of Agrabah's throne room, complete 
with distraught Sultan. Aladdin and Genie were also there. The Flying 
Carpet was hovering over the throne, and Abu was on Aladdin's right 
shoulder.

Suddenly the loud-mouthed Iago flew into view and crash-landed on 
Aladdin's left shoulder. Mozenrath saw the parrot's beak move, but 
couldn't actually hear anything. He scowled and gestured again, to turn 
the sound volume up. As he did so, Aladdin shook the parrot off his 
shoulder irritably. "Ow, IAGO!"
Iago flew over to Genie and landed on his shoulder. "What's up, Bird 
man?" Genie asked.

"Read the script," Iago huffed.

Much to Mozenrath's disgust, Genie whipped out a sheaf of paper and a 
pair of wire rimmed reading glasses.

Iago pulled a quill pen out from somewhere, scratched something out and 
scribbled onto the paper. "Can't you even spell my name right?!"

"Humph," Genie grunted uninformatively. "Oh, you blew your line, Al," 
Genie added, handing the script to Aladdin.

Aladdin glanced at it and said: "I prefer to improvise, thank you."

"This is STUPID," Iago said. "You know Mozenrath won't keep his word. I 
say we just cut our losses and forget Princess Jasmine." He flew over 
to the Sultan's shoulder. "There are lots of girls in the world who 
would LOVE to be a princess! You can adopt yourself ANOTHER daughter!"

The Sultan glared, but before he could speak, Aladdin interrupted. "Put 
a sock on it, Iago," he said, giving Genie a meaningful look. Genie 
obliged by zapping a sock over Iago's beak. Iago flapped around, 
glaring at everybody.

"We've ALL had enough of your cynicism." Aladdin said. The Street Rat 
put one hand on the Sultan's shoulder and gestured with the hand 
holding the script. The Sultan's eyes followed the 'script' for a 
moment, then he looked at Aladdin.

"I think we can trick Mozenrath," Aladdin bragged. "We've done it 
before, it's no biggie."

Abu nodded his head and agreed enthusiastically.

    
Mozenrath growled to himself.

    
"What did you have in mind, my boy?" the Sultan asked eagerly.

"Yes, do tell, BOY," Mozenrath muttered.

Aladdin looked at Genie and grinned broadly. "Mozenrath wants a magical 
wife?"

Genie grinned and poofed himself into a gorgeous blonde wearing a blue 
velvet dress. 'She' whipped out a small mirror and powdered her nose. 
"Then a magical wife he'll get!" 'She' fluffed and preened and said in 
sultry tones: "Well, let's get me to the church on time, big boy!"

    
Mozenrath waved his hand and the picture disappeared. However, he was 
too busy snickering to notice the reflection of the spying princess. 
"This is even better than I hoped!" Mozenrath chortled. "All I have to 
do is plant a Crystal of Ix at the ambush site and I'll get Aladdin's 
Genie as well as his little princess!"

Jasmine growled softly to herself. "That mirror has GOT to go."    
Genie poofed back into his usual form, but he still held the compact in 
his hand. "The bird man was right, Mozenbreath WAS watching, but now 
he's changed the channel." He pliffed the compact out of existence, and 
conjured a cylinder with writing that said: "Moze-Buster." Genie 
strapped it to his wrist. "This handy little gadget will let us know if 
Mozenrath starts peeking again."

Aladdin handed the sheaf of papers to Genie. Most of the pages were 
filled with gobbledy gook, except where Iago had written 'HES WATCHING'

"You forgot the apostrophe," Genie told the parrot as he pliffed the 
paper to a recycling bin some 1600 years into the future.

"What d'ya want?" Iago screeched. "Good grammar or good info."

"Good work, Iago," the Sultan praised. "But how did you know that 
Mozenrath was watching?"

"Because that's what I... er... That's what Jafar would have done," 
Iago barked. He fluffed his feathers. "There are certain advantages to 
having an inside look at the methods of a madman."

The Sultan glared at his late enemy's former sidekick, but said 
nothing.

"Whatever," Aladdin said. "The important thing is now Mozenrath THINKS 
he knows what we are up to. Which means we have to get somebody ELSE to 
be the bride of Mozenrath."

"Oo?" asked Abu, looking pointedly at Iago.

Genie blinked at the monkey. "Monkey boy has a point. Who?" he asked, 
also looking pointedly at Iago.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Iago snarled flapping backwards away from them. "I 
won't do it! I refuse to participate in any plan that requires getting 
within grabbing distance of Moze."

"Iago, my daughter's life is at stake!" pleaded the Sultan.

Genie floated circles around the parrot. "Aw, c'mon Iago! I can't do 
it, AL can't do it, and neither Carpet nor Abu can talk!" He added in 
wheedling tones. "I'll let you keep the dress!"

"What part of 'NO!' don't you understand!" Iago said, backwinging 
desperately. "Besides, Mozengoon wants a MAGICAL bride, remember? I 
can't do magic!" He landed on Aladdin's shoulder and tried to hide 
under the Street Rat's poofy black hair. "How about Sadira?"

Genie snapped his fingers. "Of course! The witch of the sand turned 
street rat/sneak thief!" He put his finger to his lower lip and rolled 
his eyes. "Or... was that the other way around?"

"She's perfect," was Iago's somewhat muffled response. "She's female. 
She's magic. She OWES Al for that nasty spell that had him running 
around the seven deserts thinking he was the great Dragonslayer."

Aladdin shook his head, causing Iago to lose his balance. Abu pushed 
him off of Aladdin's shoulder. "No, She won't do," Aladdin said.

Iago flapped over to hide behind Carpet. Carpet patted him on the head. 
Aladdin smiled crookedly. "Don't panic, Iago, you won't do either." 
Iago emerged, wiping his forehead with the back of his wing. "The mood 
Mozenrath will be in, we don't DARE use an ally."

Genie's bottom half transformed into a mirror image of his top half, 
giving the effect of an hourglass with two heads. Both held its right 
elbow with its left hand, while it tapped its chin with its right 
forefinger. "Well, it won't be easy to get a total STRANGER to act as 
Mozenbait."

Genie emphasized his hour glass figure by turning his midsection into 
an hourglass. The sands running from the top half to the lower half 
made the lower head sneeze and glare indignantly. "And we're running 
out of time," the upper head added.

The Sultan shook his head. "We can't endanger an innocent by-stander, 
not even to save Jasmine," he said firmly and unhappily.

Aladdin sighed. " You're right. We can't use a stranger or a friend. 
Mozenrath is liable to go up like Vesuvius after we rescue Jasmine."

Iago flapped back to Aladdin's shoulder. "Assuming that we do."

Aladdin brushed him off irritably. "If we fail, we're done for, which 
is all the more reason we can't endanger a friend or a stranger."

Genie poofed his lower self into legs. "Well, if can't use a friend, 
and we can't use a stranger, that only leaves one category, Al."

"An enemy," Aladdin said ironically. "A female, magical enemy." His 
lopsided grin reappeared. "Which narrows the field down considerably. 
There's Mirage..."

Genie poofed into a scrawny blue alley cat. "Feline femme fatale... 
heavy on the fatale."

Aladdin nodded and said: "Or Saleen."

Genie morphed into a merman, fishing pole in one hand and a fish shaped 
bowl of tuna salad in the other. "Dish of a fish, a mermaid to DIE 
for."

Abu hid under Aladdin's vest. "I know, Abu, I don't like this, either." 
He sighed. "Anyway, I really don't think we can take on Evil Incarnate 
today."

Genie changed into a fisherman, retaining his pole. His other hand now 
held a picture of Saleen, who red headed woman from the waist up and 
spiky tailed lion fish from the waist down. "That leaves Miss Sea 
Witch, who tried to steal you from Jasmine. And when that didn't work, 
she tried to turn you into a shark!"

"I haven't forgotten," Aladdin said dryly.

Genie waved the fishing pole like it was a magic wand and the picture 
of Saleen transformed into a picture of a large octopus. "And leave us 
not forget her heavily armed cohort, Armand!"

Aladdin shook his head. "I haven't forgotten him, either. And yes, I 
know that even though he helped us when I was turned into a shark, it 
wasn't because he's ethical. It was because he wanted to be Saleen's 
only pet."

Genie waved the magic fishing pole one more time, and the picture of 
Armand turned into a display case of various types of bait. "So, how do 
we lure Miss Fish Styx into cooperating? She's too cunning to bite at 
just any bait!"

Aladdin's grin had a touch of madness in it. It actually SCARED Genie. 
"We bait our hook with the one thing she keeps trying to get, but 
can't." Genie opened his mouth to protest, but Aladdin silenced him 
with a gesture and tapped his own chest. "Me."