He touched Aladdin's arms, chest, and other body parts, jotting notes with two extra arms and adjusting his glasses with another. He stepped back, returned to his Genie form, and asked, "How do you feel, pal?"
"Strange. I don't feel anything," Aladdin responded with a frown.
Abu leapt onto him, sniffed around his body, and shook his head.
"Are you sure? Feel deeper. You should sense a warm feeling within you," Genie said, poking at his stomach with a number one fan glove with a bright blue 'You can do it' floating around it.
Aladdin closed his eyes and followed Genie's instructions. "I can feel something… It's warm... And it's cool as well. I feel like I can release it."
As Aladdin finished talking, a burst of magical energy erupted from within him, manifesting in the form of a whirlwind. The sudden, immense magical pressure pressed Abu to the ground, knocking him unconscious.
"Abu!" Aladdin immediately cut off the magical energy he was releasing and quickly checked on him. He placed his ear on Abu's chest and sighed in relief, realising that he was fine. He had simply gone unconscious.
"He's alright. There's no need to worry," Genie checked Abu with his stethoscope as well and responded.
Carpet wiped away imaginary sweat beads with his edges. Despite only knowing Abu for such a short time, he had grown to love him. It's been a millennium since he met anyone, especially the weird duo before them.
"I need to be careful when handling my powers from now on," Aladdin said.
He had forged an unbreakable relationship with Abu and wouldn't forgive himself if something bad had happened to him because he had gotten carried away testing his powers.
"Servants," Genie clapped his hands.
Instantly, a group of servants carrying a small monkey-sized bed with a parasol overhead and curtains flowing down to cover it quickly arrived beside them.
"Place him here."
Genie tucked aside the curtain for Aladdin to place Abu on the bed.
"Let us know when he awakens," Genie ordered.
The servants bowed with a nod. They quickly moved aside, not too far from Aladdin and the others, but not too near either, giving them enough space.
"Genie, I would like to make my third wish," Aladdin said.
"What do you want to wish for this time around? To be Prince Perfect… to…" Genie began.
But then he heard something he had never expected to hear in his countless years of living.
"Genie, I wish for your freedom," Aladdin said.
Genie froze. "You… what?" He couldn't believe his ears. For the first time in a millennium, he showed genuine, mixed emotions of shock, disbelief, and joy.
Aladdin raised the lamp and said, "Genie, you're free!"
The lamp floated away from his hand, and a burst of blue smoke emerged, wrapping around Genie's lower body with a pink whirlwind.
Genie stared at the whirlwind in confusion and stunned surprise, as though unable to understand what was happening. The golden cuffs around his arms broke apart and vanished into thin air.
The lamp shook for several more seconds before landing on the ground lifelessly.
Genie picked up the lamp. "…I'm free," he said with a light chuckle, as though still processing the event that had just transpired.
"I'm free," he repeated once more, but this time with more certainty.
Genie quickly handed the lamp back to Aladdin and said, "Quick! Make a wish. Wish for something outrageous. Say you want the Nile. Wish for the Nile. Try that."
Then he turned to the side and closed his eyes tightly, his blue hands pressed against his chest.
"Um… I wish for the Nile!" Aladdin replied. He inwardly smiled, realising that Genie had asked him to say the exact same thing as in the movie.
"No way!" Genie shouted, laughing hysterically as he bounced around the oasis like a pinball. "Oh, does that feel good! I'm free! I'M FREE AT LAST!!"
He hugged Aladdin, shook Carpet's tassels as though they were hands, and even waved at the warriors who were observing them in the distance.
"Your empire is already built, buddy. If you want to access it, use this key." Genie manifested a large golden key from nothingness and stretched his hand forward.
Suddenly, the air trembled, and a bluish portal appeared from the tip of the key, stretching outward, large enough for Aladdin and the Genie to walk through.
Through the portal, Aladdin saw a vast empire bustling with activity, with monumental structures rising in the middle of a sprawling desert, before the portal sealed shut again as Genie withdrew his hand and placed the key around Aladdin's neck like a necklace.
Genie nodded in approval as the piece fitted with Aladdin's overall attire.
"Take care of your empire, pal. I hope that by the next time we meet, you become a powerhouse to be reckoned with," Genie said, shaking Aladdin's hand rapidly.
"I'm hittin' the road," Genie said as he pulled out a suitcase from thin air and began packing items such as toys, a beach ball, and other travel essentials.
"I'm going off to see the world! I—" Suddenly, Genie froze when he noticed the sad look on Aladdin's face.
The suitcase vanished into thin air as Genie approached Aladdin and asked, "What is it, buddy?"
"Genie, can I still call you that? I was thinking that maybe you could hang around for a bit and watch me win the love of my life. Perhaps help teach me a few tricks so I can learn how to adapt to my newly found abilities," Aladdin replied, scratching the back of his neck.
He had granted Genie his freedom because he genuinely wanted him to be free. And from the bits of the Aladdin series he remembered, the free Genie seemed much more lively.
However, the greatest risk of wishing for Genie's freedom was that he might leave to see the world, only appearing occasionally afterwards. Aladdin knew that, yet he had still decided to make the wish because it was the only way to genuinely earn the Genie's trust, and hopefully keep him by his side.
Because he needed a teacher who could show him how to utilise his abilities to the fullest. And who better than the Genie before him, who had once been the most powerful being in the world and the one who had granted him his wishes?
Aladdin was certain he could find skilled teachers within his vast empire, which he had glimpsed through the portal. But again, who better than the former Genie of the Lamp?
"Al… you can always call me Genie. I don't know if I ever had another name in the past. But even if I did, I can't remember it. One thing I do know is that in all my years of granting wishes, you're the only one who ever asked me what I wanted, and the first to keep your word," Genie said.
"Every other human I've met was either consumed by greed or selfishness, or treated me like an object to grant their wishes. But you…"
He placed his hand on Aladdin's shoulder.
"Oh, you're the one who has shown me the most humanity. You sacrificed your wish for my freedom and did it all within the first few hours of meeting me. Even if I could grant a wish to become a man like you, it wouldn't even measure up to you." He gently tapped him.
"You weren't born into royalty, yet you're already greater than the greatest of kings. Your wisdom, decisiveness, heart, and courage will surely bring even more prosperity to your empire than what you'd originally wished for. An empire is exalted by a wise king, and that's a standard I'm certain fits you perfectly."
Suddenly, Genie pulled him into a hug before releasing him.
"You smart genius, pulling on my heartstrings. I knew you were up to something when you made that second wish. But if that's what you want, I'll stay for a little while and watch you win your princess. She better be up to standard, because I'll accept nothing less for my Prince Al of Ababwa. I'll even teach you a few of my tricks… How about it, the adventures of a new series: Aladdin and the Genie?" Genie continued with a smile.
"Thank you, Genie," Aladdin said, sighing inwardly in relief.
His heart was finally at ease.
"Don't mention it. Now…" Genie clapped his hands.
Instantly, a massive elephant with massive tusks and a royal howdah, which resembled a carriage, mounted on its back, appeared before them and knelt on its four knees.
A staircase magically extended from the royal howdah down to their position.
"Your carriage… Monsieur." Genie transformed into a major and stretched out his hand.
Aladdin took Genie's hand and climbed up the stairs. Genie's blue arm magically stretched until Aladdin reached the carriage and sat down before retracting.
Genie whistled loudly.
Carpet soared through the air and swept him up from under his feet as the elephant rose to its feet.
***
Moorree Powerstones!!