Seeing Aladdin's signal, Carpet landed before them.
Aladdin climbed on first and sat down before helping Jasmine up beside him.
"Genie, help him if he runs into trouble. Can you do that?" Aladdin asked.
Jasmine looked at Genie as well, her expression pleading.
"Genie, do this… Genie, do that… Sometimes I wonder if I'm really free," Genie grumbled, slumping his shoulders.
But seeing their expressions, he couldn't bring himself to refuse such a simple request.
"Fine. But after this, I'll fulfil the promise I made to you before going on my vacation. Any calls for help during that time will go to my receptionist."
Genie pulled out a massive 90s-style smartphone and pointed it toward them.
"The number you're trying to reach is not available at the moment. Please do your best to help yourself until the owner returns from his vacation," a feminine voice said from the phone.
"Don't say I didn't warn you in time."
The phone dissolved into wisps of blue smoke. Genie vanished and reappeared beside the Sultan.
"Where do we head to first?" Genie asked.
"The Royal Records Vault," the Sultan responded.
Genie nodded. He clapped, and instantly they both vanished into thin air.
The grand hall, which had become a mess due to the aftermath of Genie capturing Jafar, was reverted back to its original state, with no dirt in sight.
Aladdin and the others swiftly soared out of the hall on Carpet.
***
An execution platform stood at the centre of the market square.
Hundreds of thousands of people crowded the market square.
Four hours ago, they had received orders from the Sultan to gather there, and anyone who was absent would be deemed to be showing contempt for the Royal Family and would be punished accordingly. So, they had no choice but to leave their houses in the middle of the night, taking their children and elderly relatives with them.
Rumours spread quickly among the crowd. Some said that Princess Jasmine had finally found her suitor in Prince Ali Ababwa, who had entered the city with a grand parade. Others said that Princess Jasmine had eloped with Prince Ali Ababwa, causing the Sultan to place the Kingdom on lockdown and summon all his citizens for questioning.
Many believed that an unprecedented conspiracy had unfolded within the palace, leading to the execution of several important figures in the Kingdom, especially with the execution platform standing in the middle of the market square.
With rumours flying everywhere, no one knew what to believe anymore. So they remained quiet as the guards had ordered, waiting for the arrival of the Sultan.
Suddenly, rows of royal guards parted through the crowd.
They led a chained man toward the execution stage.
Instantly, the crowd began to bustle with discussion.
"Hey, isn't that the Royal Vizier!"
"Oh my goodness, is the Royal Vizier part of the conspiracy? What's going on?"
"It seems that the conspiracy is bigger than we'd expected?"
Soon, many of them came to the realisation that a major event was about to unfold within the Kingdom.
Moments later, a flying carpet descended from the skies and landed on the stage.
The crowd gasped in surprise and shock upon seeing who was seated on it.
"It's Princess Jasmine and Prince Ali Ababwa! Why are they together?"
"I knew it! Our Princess Jasmine finally has a suitor!"
"Wait! What does this have to do with the Royal Vizier? Are they also part of this conspiracy?"
"This is getting too much to handle. Where is the Sultan? We need him to explain what's going on!"
Suddenly, a loud trumpet resounded across the market square, causing the crowd to immediately fall silent.
Dense smoke instantly enveloped the stage, and from within it emerged the Sultan, accompanied by a royal guard.
The Sultan cleared his throat and announced,
"Citizens of Agrabah. I have summoned you all here today to inform you that a great calamity had almost befallen us. My Royal Vizier, Jafar, has committed treason by attempting to seize the throne for himself and by forging documents of our holy law in order to wed the Princess as his bride, along with countless other acts of treachery."
"But due to the help of Prince Aladdin Ababwa, we managed to uncover the plan and put a stop to it before it was too late."
The citizens fell into stunned silence before a sudden roar erupted from them, resonating across the square. A familiar name escaped their lips as they raised their fists into the air.
"PRINCE ALI!!"
"PRINCE ALI!!"
"PRINCE ALI!!"
After checking through the royal records, the Sultan had discovered funds diverted from public taxes, unauthorised arrests, and executions, some of which he remembered approving but could not recall why. This led him to realise that he had been charmed into giving orders against his will.
Along with that, there were records of various underground smuggling operations involving rare magical materials, magical creatures, and many other illegal dealings. They were too numerous to count, and that was only the portion of the records he had managed to glance through within four hours.
There were still many more that he needed to investigate.
The Sultan realised that for many years, Jafar had truly been the one ruling the Kingdom. The only reason he had not fully taken control earlier was that he lacked the power to do so, which was probably why he had sought the wish lamp.
Earlier, the Sultan had felt the need to question Jafar and ask why he had done all of this. But now that feeling had faded. He had simply sat upon his throne in defeat while Genie, who had helped him sort through everything, offered him words of comfort.
Otherwise, he might have fallen into grief.
Nonetheless, his heart still felt heavy as he realised that he had failed the people he was meant to protect and care for. He had appointed a criminal as his most trusted royal advisor and allowed him to terrorise the people he ruled over.
Aladdin had been quietly discussing something with Genie, who was in his royal guard form and standing behind them, when he heard his name shouted by the crowd.
Aladdin grew slightly shy, but he maintained his composure.
Jasmine elbowed him lightly at the side. She raised her brows at him with a sly smile.
Aladdin coughed softly, not expecting Jasmine to take advantage of the moment to tease him.
Genie chuckled quietly at the situation.
The Sultan raised his hand. Instantly, the crowd fell silent.
"As punishment for his crimes, it has been decided that he will be immediately executed. However, I still want to hear from you, my people. Do you support this punishment for his crimes?" the Sultan asked.
Although his decision was already final, and he had received advice on what to do from Aladdin, out of guilt, he still wanted to hear the voices of the people who had suffered under Jafar.
"Kill Jafar, the traitor!"
"Kill Jafar, the traitor!"
"Kill Jafar, the traitor!"
The Sultan nodded.
He raised his hand once more, and the crowd quieted again.
He turned to face Jafar, whose head was already positioned above the wooden block, awaiting the executioner's blade.
He gestured for the guards to remove the cloth tied around Jafar's mouth.
"Is there anything you have to say, Jafar?" The Sultan asked, his tone and expression solemn.
"Cough! Cough!! You can't kill me! I'll return from the dead to hunt all of you to your graves and take what's rightfully mine... This kingdom, and everything in it, is rightfully mine! You don't deserve to be the Sultan... I will become the greatest sorcerer in all of the Seven Deserts, one that not even the Genie can stand against. Nothing will stop me from achieving my goals…!" Jafar coughed violently as he spoke in a weak voice, his face twisted into a crazed expression.
"So that is all you have to say," the Sultan said, filled with disappointment.
The Sultan raised his hand and gave the order.
"Do it!"
A muscular soldier, carrying a large two-handed axe with a glinting blade, stepped forward and raised the weapon above Jafar's neck.
"Prince Ali! Abooboo, I promise I'll return for my revenge…!" Jafar screamed.
However, his voice was cut short as the axe descended.
BAMM!! SHSHSK!!
Jafar's head landed on the stage.
Blood flowed out like a river, flooding the platform.
The Sultan sighed and turned his head away.
Meanwhile, at that moment, Aladdin nodded at Genie.
Seeing the signal, Genie stretched out his hand and instantly grabbed an invisible wisp rising from Jafar's body. The wisp transformed into a spectral form resembling Jafar.
Yes, this wisp was Jafar's soul.
Aladdin remembered one of the plots that had stuck with him, a crossover between the Aladdin Series and Hercules. In that storyline, the former Aladdin had teamed up with a teenage Hercules to face Hades, who had revived Jafar with even greater power to attack them.
////////
I saw a comment that stated birds pee differently from mammals. I'd always thought that the white droppings were just poop. I've never bothered to check. Well, guess I learnt something new.
Nonetheless, this also made me look through the Aladdin universe wiki to refresh my memory and verify a few things. And Wow.. Do you know that the Genie race had 73 tribes with exactly 72,000 Genies, with their own hierarchy based on colour and traits? Many of which had been hunted down and killed, or trapped like 'Genie'.
Exactly!
MORREE POWERSTTONESS!!