The palace life had always been easy enough to adjust to. He could get used to the privacy, the large open areas, the lavish tapestries. Everything he could only have dreamed of before he had met and fallen for Princess Jasmine. Oh, and by the lords, Aladdin would boast over his current status in Agrabah as much as he wanted to. But his old life wasn't something that he was just going to forget. He'd always gone so far as wearing his "street rat" clothing when heading into the city, just as he was now.

Aladdin had taken it upon himself to "patrol" the city. He'd never been popular with the guards even after he had begun to live in the palace and, frankly, he didn't find them the most intelligent of people. So he liked to keep an eye on things himself. Honestly, though, part of him was just looking for an excuse to take a ride of his magic carpet. After all, what better way to feel free than flying?

Eventually, the carpet took him to his old home. The abandoned area he used to spend his nights with Abu. As he turned around to catch the familiar view of the palace on the other side of the city, Aladdin sucked in a deep breath. It was the familiar sound of his monkey friend, Abu. "Hey, Abu," he said with a smile, glancing down briefly. "You're feeling nostalgic, too?"

Mozenrath had been plotting for months now, plotting an ingenius plan that only he, Mozenrath, could possibly plan. And that was a lot of p's for planning. He would trap that infidel Aladdin who'd always managed to slip out of his grasp (but not this time!) and then finally he would be free to torture the lad as he wished. The though of revenge put a smile on Mozenrath's cold, dusty mauve lips as he hid in Aladdin's old hovel of a home.

Mozenrath had disguised himself as a piece of tattered cloth - easily looked over with the rest of the 'trimmings' of this area. It wasn't so much his disguise that was important as was his method of capturing the Arabian thief-turned-goodie-two-shoes of Agrabah. It really was ingenius. He'd managed to remote cast a spell on Abu's hat when the monkey was otherwise distracted, turning it into a portal point. As soon as even one of Aladdin's arm hairs made contact with the hat...he would be downstairs in his dungeon, shackled into iron and steel together, with vicious snapping turtles at his heels. He would have had alligators...but Aladdin had disposed of them last time, which only made his desire for revenge stronger.

Touch it, thought Mozenrath, billowing in the wind, a cloth of seemingly innocent blue and purple. Touch iiiiit...!

Abu's typical collection of squeaks and calls hardly gave Aladdin the chance to really reminisce. Why should he really want to, though? He liked his life. Being a thief was fun and all (other than that whole prison thing), but living in a palace sure did have its perks.

For just another short moment, Aladdin's eyes lingered on the view before his fingers brushed the various familiar cloths hanging here and there. His eyes found Abu and he sighed, moving toward him. "Don't hang on for too long, Abu," he said as he held out his arms to the monkey to let him climb up. He felt like he was more talking to himself than to Abu, though. "You'll just get atta--" Aladdin was almost immediately cut off, though, as Abu reached his elbow and he felt the firm cloth-covered hat on Abu's head come into contact with his skin.

And suddenly there was black and Aladdin was desperately holding his breath, struggling to breathe. It only lasted a matter of seconds, though, and when he had come to, he was far less concerned about his surroundings and much more worried about gasping for the air he had just lost. "What the ... " Eventually, though, he would have had to notice his surroundings. Or lack of, rather. He could hardly move, shackles around his limbs holding him firmly to the wall. He was in a dungeon. He didn't know where or whose; every dungeon had begun to look the same to him. He didn't quite have time to think about that either as he took notice of the snapping turtles beneath his feet. His eyes widened and he sucked in a deep breath as his bare feet perched themselves on the wall in an attempt to avoid any painful contact with the turtles.

What in the world was this?

Mozenrath was going mad with anticipation. Why wouldn't he just touch it? Then Aladdin began aimlessly dragging his hands across the old cloths, and he thought he was going to rip his hair out. Instead, he found himself being stroked by a broad, tan hand. The feeling of being stroked, as a cloth, was unlike anything Mozenrath had ever imagined or felt in his life. He found himself simultaneously intrigued and disgusted at himself for taking on a cloth of ribbed texture, as it had allowed Aladdin's fingers to slide up and over each groove slowly. He shuddered - as much as a cloth could shudder without giving itself away as an evil madman bent on power.

Then the boy was reaching for the hat! YES! cloth Mozenrath exclaimed...in his head, fluttering in the non-existant wind excitedly. His eyes sparkled with glee as Aladdin disappeared into thin air, and when Abu began chattering and squealing in a panic, he transformed back into his devilishly handsome self and picked the monkey up by the tail. "Looking for your friend? He's a little busy for the moment. In fact...he's going to be busy...for eternity!" Mozenrath let out a sexy evil villain laugh and was about to dash poor Abu's head onto a nearby rock, when he got a wonderfully awful idea.

"Oh...but I suppose I should at least give you a chance at rescuing him." he said, grinning, tickling Abu's chin fur and then quickly withdrawing his index finger, as it was nearly bitten off. "I'm willing to discuss ransom - after all, Aladdin doesn't have much power...on his own." he grinned. "Tell the Genie to come visit me at my lair. Alone. Give him this." he said, handing Abu a shiny purple pendant. "The map will only be revealed to him, so don't try any monkey business." Mozenrath got another snap for that one.

The moment Aladdin had disappeared, Abu burst into a panicked frenzy of squeals and they only grew louder when Mozenrath made his appearance and picked him up by the tail. Abu began to flail his limbs a bit, tossing his short arms uselessly toward the boy's face. His arms withdrew almost instantly and clung to his shivering head as he felt Mozenrath beginning to fling him toward ... something. A wall, a rock, it didn't matter either way.

That was why he was so relieved when the villain suddenly changed his mind and handed him a shiny purple pendant, which the monkey couldn't help but stare longingly at for a couple of seconds. Shaking his head, though, he let out a few more chattering squeals before squirming his way out of Mozenrath's grasp. Desperately clinging onto the pendant, Abu disappeared around a corner and down to the street so that he could race back to the palace.

It was long before the monkey had found Genie, playing with a blue tuba by the fountain (of all things to be doing). As always, Genie had to slow the monkey down just to try to interpret what he was freaking out about. But once he had figured it out, he was speechless for a couple of seconds before the tuba floating beside him vanished. "Don't worry, Al. I'm coming for you, buddy!" he called to his non-existant friend as he snatched the purple object from the monkey's hands and was off. Any logical person (or magical being) would have realized that it was a trap and it wasn't like Genie had never dealt with Mozenrath before. But he couldn't just leave his best friend there.

Mozenrath, meanwhile, had teleported back to his underground lair and was busy amusing himself watching Aladdin's heels come under attack by snapping turtles.

"So...Aladdin." he purred, beady eyes zeroing in on the struggling street rat cum prince. "Enjoying your new lodgings, I take it?" He went over and pet his snapping turtles on their shells. "Good boys, make sure you keep Aladdin company...after all, he's going to here for a while!" Mozenrath let out another long laugh that nearly weakened his lungs. Ever since that damned magic sucker had been let loose on him, Mozenrath had been forced to rely on more and more potions and borrowed magic to keep his own magic powered up. And it was all the fault of Aladdin. But now...revenge was his! And he had a grand total of...snapping turtles, a number of knives and about maybe 30 potions in reserve. It seemed so boring now that he thought about it. Thank goodness he'd decided to do a ransom for genie!

"So tell me boy, what kind of a trap should I lay for your friend?" he chuckled, tipping his fingers up underneath Aladdin's chin.

Aladdin was struggling to keep his feet perched up as they slid down the wall each time he placed them back again. He was far too distracted to even notice Mozenrath's appearance and it was the sound of his familiar voice which did attract his attention. "Mozenrath," he mused, though only half with shock. He should have known that he had been behind this. It had been awhile since he had seen this particular villain's face - he had surely been planning this for awhile - and Aladdin knew that that only lasted for so long.

He was almost relieved when Mozenrath approached because the snapping turtles finally backed off a bit. He let out a relieved sigh before a pair of dark brown eyes glared toward Mozenrath. "I love the accommodations," Aladdin returned bitterly as his eyes flickered toward the snapping turtles. By the end of the night, he wouldn't be able to walk. Assuming nobody came looking for him. When Aladdin disappeared, though, it tended to be a big deal.

"Friend?" His eyes moved back toward Mozenrath as he instinctively snapped his neck away from his fingers. A brief smile and Aladdin let out a sharp laugh. "You're still going after Genie? I thought you would have realized now that he's too smart for you. He'll know this is a trap."

"Oh I don't underestimate your cerulean friend's intelligence, not at all...but I know he's a sucker for when poor widdle Awwadin is in trouble." Mozenrath cooed, poking at Aladdin's cheeks as though he were a cute little toddler. Well, he certainly wasn't a toddler, but Mozenrath wasn't going to deny the man was attractive. "He'll know it's a trap, he'll know I'll be right here waiting for him, but his PRECIOUS AL has to be saved from the EEEEEVIL Mozenrath, and he'd lay down his life for you. I'm more than willing to bet on it." The magician looked up and down Aladdin's form, surveying the peaks and valleys with a grin.

"And what is with your choice of clothing? You still haven't adjusted to palace life? Maybe you want someone to come and remind you of the street rat you are?" he chuckled, fingering the tiny holes in Aladdin's vest from wear, tear and adventures. "Oh I do hope your blue friend comes soon...there's just so many more ways to make you miserable with a power supply like his!"

Aladdin squinted a bit as Mozenrath to poke at his cheeks as if he were some kind of adorable toddler. He couldn't even swat his fingers away, but he did catch himself pulling uselessly on his restraints as he glared at the man standing in front of him.

Now, normally Aladdin would have protested in response to the little explanation Mozenrath had broke into. But he remained silent and that was the worst part. He had no way to argue that logic because, no matter how pathetic Mozenrath was managing to make it all sound, he'd basically hit the nail on the head. Genie was probably his most loyal friend and he was positive that he was on his way to get him right now. Part of him was relieved, but the other had a really terrible feeling about this.

Suddenly, though, the magician had begun to question his choice in clothing and was starting to stick his fingers into the tiny holes in his purple vest, clearly amused. "Better a street rat than a cowardly magician relying on traps," he retorted, wishing he could lift a leg to kick him away.

Suddenly, though, he heard the familiar voice of the Genie calling out for him from somewhere above this dungeon room. Soon following, there was a crash, perhaps the sound of Genie drilling through a wall or something. With that creature, the possibilities were endless. "Genie!!" Aladdin suddenly shouted, though he wasn't sure whether or not that was actually a good idea.

"You see?" Mozenrath grinned, pulling Aladdin forward by his vest, even though he was still in chains.

"I don't think cowardly is quite the word you're looking for. I think exceedingly smart and cunning and oh yes...RIGHT...those are much better adjectives to put into play." he grinned, slamming Aladdin semi-gently back against the wall, rubbing his hands together with glee.

"Your blue friend is about to get the surprise of his infinite lifetime." he purred, getting up close and personal with Aladdin's face, smirking exceedingly annoyingly. He quickly realized he was within spitting range though, and moved away, calling on one of his large snake pets.

Aladdin heard himself grunt lightly as his back hit the wall and he glared at Mozenrath. "It's a shame that you're the only one who would agree with those adjectives." Surely he only needed his own pride to pull out those cheeky grins and mischievous glances.

The boy was more than ready to spit in Mozenrath's face as he leaned into his face to taunt him. Unfortunately, he suddenly pulled away and Aladdin clenched his jaw, utterly disappointed that he had missed his chance. He would have to catch up with that later.

And there was that crashing sound again. Aladdin's eyes snapped toward the door and there was Genie, drilling through the wall half with determination and half with glee. He'd always been thrilled that Genie was one of his incredibly close friends. Otherwise, he doubted he would have been a huge fan of him.

"Alright, Al! Time to high-tail our way out of here!" Genie said, floating effortlessly in the air. His eyes rested on Mozenrath almost immediately. Every time he looked at the man, he was reminded of that magic-sucking creature he had set loose on him and he shuddered a bit before composing himself. Composing himself, of course, meant turning himself into something new. In this case, a prideful warrior, complete with armor, sword, and fluffy red-topped helmet.

Mozenrath grinned, seeing Genie appear on the scene. "Ah, you're just in time." he grinned. But rather than move to attack Genie, the man simply waited, petting his rather large serpent and tickling it under the chin. "It's obvious what you've come here to do...so attempt it, if you can." he taunted, looking altogether too smug.

He was obviously hiding something - something big. Of course, he wasn't about to tell Genie or Aladdin about it - too many times he had seen villains give away their evil plans and have them thwarted. Once Genie was caught in his web, THEN he could gloat. But not ahead of time. That was just asking to fail.

"Interesting Roman Centurion garb, I must say." he mused, looking at Genie with a chuckle. "Though I have no idea how you'll find it useful in this case."

"I thought I looked dashing!" Genie whined as his eyes glazed over the large snake sitting by Mozenrath. To be safe, he lifted himself further into the air. Granted, he wasn't sure how much good a snake would do against him since he could probably shrink the creature down to half its size if he wanted to. But Mozenrath clearly had something planned. He was just wasn't sure what.

POOF!

"Red flag, red flag!" Genie called, now wearing some sort of old fashioned police uniform, and he was speaking enthusiastically into a walkie-talkie. "Copy that!"

"What are you up to, Mozenrath!?" Aladdin shouted as he continued to struggle with his restraints. Genie had made it clear that he knew something was up, but the blue ball of heroic energy was back in his normal puffy pants soon enough and was lifting a finger in either hand and sending a quick beam of magic toward Aladdin's restraints.

"Oh, I've made the mistake of telling you before, but this time, it's my little secret...Aladdin." he purred, stroking his snake once more. His smile turned maniacally happy as Genie sent a beam of magic towards the restraints. The restraints themselves had been spellcasted so that any magic shot at it was instantly absorbed for Mozenrath's later use. Not only that, but the shackles would use the magic that was trying to destroy it to link to the magic user and drain them through the beam itself.

The shackled glowed red and began sucking the magical energy out of Genie, refusing to give up the link that the blue being had created. Mozenrath cackled with glee, seeing the amount of magic begin stored for his purposes. "Oh, you are ever so DEPENDABLE Genie! Right down to the last detail!"

Nothing was working. None of the Genie's magic was working and he had really begun to panic. "Al!?" he shouted with wide eyes as he tried to pull away, but the magic beam he had created wasn't letting go. "Al!" He knew that calling for Aladdin would do nothing at this point, but it had worked in the past. He hadn't realized exactly what was going on at first, but it hit him like a brick the moment he felt himself weakening. Bit by bit.

"Let him go!" Aladdin shouted as his eyes darted to the left and to the right at his restraints which were now glowing red. He continued to thrash about in the shackles, not accustomed to the idea of hanging here helplessly. He eventually started to give up, though, as he watched Genie begin to descend and his outer panic was subsiding the weaker he got. His mental panic was off the charts, though.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll let your blue friend go - once I've drained him completely of his ever so useful powers." Mozenrath grinned, coming over to Aladdin and patting his cheek in a pseudo-affectionate matter. "WHERE I let him go is another question entirely." he snickered. Mozenrath watched with glee as the shackles became more and more powerful. He ran his hand along them and could feel the pure power pouring into his body through osmosis.

"You have no idea how beautiful this is." he grinned, his fingertips pulsating with the sensation. "The things I can do to you now...why previous plans just pale in comparison." he said, taunting Aladdin with future tortures. Imagination was always worse than the real thing.

As Mozenrath stepped toward him, Aladdin began his squirming again, but it was no use at all. As he touched his cheek with the obvious intention to taunt him, Aladdin cringed a bit as he arched his neck and pulled his face away from his hand just as Mozenrath withdrew.

The magician's taunts were working, though Aladdin was working hard to keep a certain air of outer confidence. "It'll never work. They'll notice I'm gone. Jasmine will send guards after me and I'll be out of here in no time," he said, narrowing his eyes. Despite the confidence in his tone, he knew that was quite possibly the worst rescue attempt ever. The guards running around Agrabah had never been very successful at what they did.

Suddenly, though, Aladdin realized how close Mozenrath was to him again, though. So he leaned forward quickly and took that chance to spit at the man.

"Oh yes, the palace guards. Because those are so-" Mozenrath was cut off by Aladdin's spit hitting his chin, and part of his lip. Not pleasant, not at all. But...it gave him a wicked sort of idea.

"Well now my uncooperative prisoner, if you're that intent to swap fluids with me..." he grinned lecherously, taking the spit off his own lip and wiping it on Aladdin's. "That can be arranged."

Aladdin squinted a bit as Mozenrath wiped the spit onto his lip without any hesitation at all. "That's sick," he said bitterly, and he did indeed look like he was going to be sick. He distracted himself, though, as his eyes flickered toward the unmoving body on the Genie, who was now sprawled out on the floor. He was sure that he'd even heard his friend mutter, "Sorry, Al" under his breath and the boy sucked in a deep breath. "If you hurt him ... " he practically growled, looking back to Mozenrath. He clearly already had, but he just wanted to see him safe in the palace. Away from here.

"You have more important things to worry about than Genie right now, Aladdin." Mozenrath grinned, absorbing more energy from the restraints, but leaving a little in. He began to murmur a spell in Sanskrit for aphrodisia and lust intoxication, and the shackles squeezed tighter on Aladdin's arms, pushing the spell through his body against his will. Red swirls would pattern Aladdin's arms and skin and dissolve into him, letting the aprohdisia intoxication trickle through his veins.

Meanwhile, the magician scooped up Genie and wore him around his neck like a scarf for a few minutes, having an insane villain moment, before promptly letting him go - into a nice lamp with a cork in it, that is.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, Aladdin knew that Mozenrath was right. The villain had gotten what he wanted, but Genie wasn't the one shackled to this dungeon wall. After a few painfully unrecognizable words from Mozenrath, Aladdin's eyes widened a bit at the realization that his shackles were actually tightening around his arms. As he looked, he spotted the red patterns appearing on his arms in swirls, creeping down his skin and eventually seeping inward before disappeared.

After a couple of moments, he began to feel gradually different. His desire to break free of these shackles began to dissolve as he grew tired quicker. His head had begun to pound and his heart had begun to race. Trying to catch his breath, Aladdin felt himself slump a little bit. "What are you doing to me?" he insisted, his eyes creeping toward Mozenrath who was 'unloading' Genie into a lamp.

"Aladdin, Aladdin! Must you be so dense? This is the magic aided torture part of the plan, must I explain EVERYTHING to you?" he chuckled, walking over to him with his pet snake. He instructed the beast to slowly coil up Aladdin's legs and to settle around his thigh, straddling the area - as much as a large python could straddle anyhow.

"Really, you'd think a street urchin would have more smarts from all your experience." he grinned. "But this, I think, is something you're rather...inexperienced in." Mozenrath grinned, licking his lips. "It's not like Jasmine's expecting any time soon all these years..."

Aladdin shuddered when he felt the large snake wrapping itself around his foot and then beginning to slither its way up. He tried to pull away, but there was nowhere to go so he just hung there limply, feeling the weight of the python tugging on his thigh. It took him a moment to absorb what Mozenrath was saying since he was entirely right. It wasn't a subject that Aladdin was experienced with. He supposed the thought had crossed both he and Jasmine's minds once in awhile, but nothing past that. "Stay away from me," he said bitterly and for the first time he may have begun to panic a little bit. His body seemed to be working against him at the moment, though, as, past the grogginess and the pounding head, he was getting these bizarre sensations.

"Oh heavens Aladdin - you never fail to amuse me." Mozenrath grinned, tracing the path that the snake had gone with his hands. "Stay away from you? When I finally have you right where I want you? So brave, so naive." he smirked, using a magic zap to melt off Aladdin's holey purple vest.

"And so VERY excited." he chuckled darkly.

Aladdin's body trembled a bit at Mozenrath's touch and he clamped his mouth shut, clenching his jaw. He let go, though, when his purple vest began to melt. Literally melt. He sucked in a deep breath through his nose, practically chewing on the inside of his bottom lip out of habit. "You've just gotten crazier over the years, haven't you?" he said as he pulled back his body far as he could - which wasn't far at all - the bare skin on his back clinging to the cold stone wall behind him.