Kingdom Hearts: Genie In A Bottle in Gamer's Gaming

The Road So Far…

Sora, a young boy from the Destiny Islands, is chosen by the Keyblade to be a Keyblade wielder. They Keyblade is a mysterious weapon that not only is one of few weapons that can be used to combat the Heartless, creatures bent on stealing the hearts of all living things, but can also be used to seal away the hearts of worlds. The Heartless have been set out to capture the hearts of the worlds by Maleficent, an evil sorceress seeking power by destroying worlds and casting them into darkness. Sora is seeking out his friends Riku and Kairi. The three were swallowed by the darkness as their world was destroyed. In Traverse Town, a way station of sorts for those who managed to escape the destruction of their worlds, Sora met Donald and Goofy, who were searching for their king, Mickey, who had set out to discover why the worlds were falling into darkness. The trio set out in the gummi ship and called upon many worlds. In Wonderland, they met a young girl named Alice who shone forth with a brilliant inner light. Though the trio defeated the Heartless plaguing Wonderland, Alice herself was abducted and taken off planet. In the Olympus Coliseum, the trio met Phil, a trainer of heroes, who ran the Olympus Games. After impressing Phil and defeating both Cloud, another world traveler searching for a lost friend, and Cerberus, the guardian of the Underworld, the trio had successfully thwarted the plans of Hades, God of the Underworld…well, at least for the time being. In the Deep Jungle, the trio met Jane and Tarzan, who had been raised by gorillas. The trio foiled the repeated attempts of Clayton, a hunter, to kill the gorillas. After saving the gorillas from both Clayton and the Heartless, the gorillas granted the trio access to their nesting ground, where Sora found and sealed a Keyhole, similar to one they had found in Wonderland. Both Keyholes, when sealed, spit out gummi pieces. As they had run out of worlds to explore, the trio returned to Traverse Town to see if Leon might be able to tell them what the gummi was used for. Back in Traverse Town, the trio spoke to Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid, refugees from a world destroyed by the Heartless. Nine years earlier, Maleficent led the Heartless against their homeworld and destroyed it. Cid managed to escape with Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith in a gummi ship he had constructed on his own. However, the leader of their world, a wise man named Ansem, was swallowed along with their planet. Ansem had been researching the Heartless and had written a report detailing the Heartless that may give them insight on how to defeat them. Cid also told them that they had found a navigation gummi and offered to install it in their gummi ship. However, these were not the biggest surprised the group endured. Travelling through the Third District, the group was met by Riku, who had also been searching for Sora and Kairi. Riku disappeared during an argument between Sora and Donald, but showed up again outside the renovated Third District house where the refugees were staying…with Maleficent, who apparently had been helping Riku in his search. Maleficent convinced Riku that Sora had forgotten about him and told him that she would help him find what it was he sought. Sora, meanwhile, had learned a few things. First, he explored a mysterious book that Cid had asked him to deliver to Merlin. Inside the book was a world all it’s own. However, pages of the story were missing. Sora sensed that finding the pages may be a key to obtaining more power. Also, the Fairy Godmother gave Sora the ability to summon spirits from gemstones that might be found around the worlds. These gemstones contained spirits whose hearts were too strong to be consumed when their home worlds were consumed. Sora had received a gemstone from Leon that contained a spirit named Simba, a lion from the Pride Lands. With this new ally in the fight against the Heartless, Sora pursued a lead regarding the bell in the Second District. Ringing the bell three times revealed the Traverse Town Keyhole. Approaching the Keyhole, the trio was attacked by an enemy known as the Opposite Armor. Though the fight was the hardest they had yet to encounter, a combination of Simba’s roars, Sora’s keyblade attacks, Goofy’s shield strikes, and Donald’s magic allowed the group to conquer their foe and seal the Keyhole, protecting Traverse Town once more. With another gummi piece in tow, the trio set out towards the Olympus Coliseum, where they heard a tournament was being held. The trio entered the Phil Cup, the most basic of Games. The trio conquered the Games and were hailed as champions. Sora also entered the Games solo and, though tough, conquered the Phil Cup on his own. With the confidence and rewards the Games gave them, the trio set off into a nearby warp hole and came upon a new world made of sand and magic.

Now…

In the middle of town, Maleficent and Jafar walked along together. Maleficent questioned Jafar about the Keyhole. Jafar told her that the Heartless are searching for it as they speak. With that search ongoing, Iago arrived to tell Jafar that he had searched everywhere for the princess of Agrabah, Jasmine. However, she had seemingly disappeared. Jafar claimed that Jasmine is more trouble than she is worth. Maleficent, disappointed in the lack of results, mocked Jafar, who had told her he had everything under control. Jafar told her that Agrabah is full of holes for “rats” to hide in before asking why she is worried about Jasmine in the first place. He reasoned that whether or not they have her, once they find the Keyhole, they won’t need her to control the world anyway. Maleficent informed him that they will need all seven princesses of heart to open the final door. Any less than that was useless. Jafar said that if Jasmine is that important, they would find her. Jafar then summonned the Heartless to search for Jasmine and commanded them to bring her to him at once. Maleficent warned Jafar not to play with the darkness for too long, because should he become careless, the Heartless would consume him as well. Jafar laughed it off, thanking her for her concern, even though it is not necessary. Behind one of the counters in the market, Jasmine eavesdropped on the conversation. She bent down farther, a worried look on her face as the scene cut back to Sora and company, newly arrived in Agrabah and assaulted immediately by the Heartless. They were attacked by the typical Shadow enemies along with a new Heartless, the Bandit. These Heartless were able to travel underneath the sand and attacked using swords. Making their way deeper into the city, the trio came into the market area and were attacked once more by Bandits and Shadows, along with a new enemy known as the Pot Spider. These Heartless hid inside clay pots and only attacked when the trio came close. Inside a nearby apartment, Sora and crew stumbled upon a carpet…one that was moving! It was trapped underneath a crate. Sora freed it. It seemed to be happy, but then flew off. Donald watched it go and noted that it had flown toward the desert. After deciding they should explore the city further, the group shuffled out of the apartment. The group decided to explore an alleyway off to the left. In the alley, Sora and company spotted a woman hiding behind some crates. The woman emerged into the alley and introduced herself as Jasmine, the princess of Agrabah. Her father, the sultan, had been deposed by Jafar, who now controlled the city. Goofy asked who Jafar was, but Jasmine seemed puzzled that the trio had never heard of him. She told them that Jafar was an evil vizier who had gained evil powers and seized Agrabah. Jafar, she said, was looking for something called a Keyhole. Jafar had captured the princess, but a young man had helped her escape. Sora asked her who the young man was, but all she would say was that the pair had been hiding nearby until the young man had left to take care of something, saying she hoped Aladdin, the young man who had saved her, was alright. Suddenly, Jafar appeared on a wall above the group, asking where he might find the street rat, Aladdin. Jafar set to capture Jasmine, but Sora told her to run and drew his keyblade. Jafar seemed unsurprised to finally meet the keyblade master and summoned some Heartless to his side, leaving them to take care of the trio. Sora and company dealt with the Heartless in short order, but as they pursued Jafar back into the market, they found that both Jafar and Jasmine had disappeared. With no other clues, the group explored the rest of the city, jumping high above the ground, finding treasures, but little else. With nothing else to do, the trio ventured out into the desert to find the living carpet that had flown off in that direction.

Just outside the city, the trio saw the magic carpet flying back toward them. The carpet seemed to be offering them a ride. With a shrug, the trio hopped onboard and were taken out into the desert. As night fell, the trio arrived just in time to see Aladdin and Abu, his monkey friend, being sucked under by some quicksand. The trio approached to help, but were immediately attacked by Heartless. After the fight, Sora and company approached the quicksand to save Aladdin, but Aladdin freed himself and raised a golden lamp. Rubbing it, Aladdin wished for the Genie to get rid of the remaining Heartless. A giant blue Genie appeared from the lamp and granted Aladdin’s first wish by dispatching the Heartless. Safe, Aladdin thanked Sora and company for their help. Sora asked Aladdin what had brought him all the way out to the desert. Aladdin told them that he had just come from the Cave of Wonders where he had found the flying carpet and the magic lamp. Aladdin told them that whoever holds the lamp could summon- oh, the Genie had to interrupt to introduce himself in a more grandiose fashion. Genie told the group that all one had to do was rub the lamp and he would grant them three wishes. Donald, perplexed, asked if that meant they could make any wish. Genie told them that he would grant any three wishes, then he would take off. Genie then asked Aladdin what he would like for his second wish. Aladdin asked Genie to make him a fabulously wealthy prince before realizing where he was, saying he would hold off until they had reached Agrabah. Goofy asked why Aladdin would want to be a prince. Aladdin explained that he had met a girl named Jasmine, but she was a princess and he was a lowly commoner, so she could never possibly fall for a guy like him. Hearing Jasmine’s name reminded Sora that they had met her and that she was in trouble. Aladdin, alarmed at the news, insisted that they get going. The group, with Aladdin in tow and Genie leading the way, flew back toward Agrabah on the flying carpet. On the flight back, Sora and Genie got to talking. Genie remarked on how wonderful it felt to be out in the open air. Sora figured that he must not get out much. Genie told him that was the game: phenomenal, cosmic powers, itty-bitty living space. After Genie grants the three wishes, he gets transported back into the lamp. Genie bemoaned how he only saw the light of day once every century or two. Aladdin then proposed that he could use his final wish to free Genie from the lamp. Genie lit up, surprised that someone would do that for him. Aladdin promised that as soon as they had saved Jasmine, he would free the Genie.

With that out of the way, the group found themselves back on the streets of Agrabah and immediately faced a new threat, the Fat Bandit. The Fat Bandit attacked much like the Large Body, but was stronger and had the ability to use fire. The market had been blocked off since their last visit, but Sora and company used the awnings and rooftops to make their way around the city. As they made their way into the marketplace, however, they found that the previously blocked area was now open. Walking through the tunnel brought the group out in front of the Palace Gates. However, the area before the gates yielded no clues, so the group retreated back to the marketplace and regrouped inside Aladdin’s home. Sora and company related to Aladdin the plan they had overheard Jafar speaking of. Genie piped up that he swore he had heard about a Keyhole somewhere before. Donald asked Genie where it was, but it had been two hundred years since he had last been out of the lamp. Sora refocused the group, saying that the most important thing was stopping Jafar before it was too late. The group left Aladdin’s house and spotted a new doorway on a nearby rooftop. Through the doorway was a Bazaar. On floor level, the group found a blue trinity mark, which rewarded them with a Mega-ether upon activating it. On the rooftops, the group noticed a keyhole on the wall. Using the keyblade, Sora unlocked a doorway back in the marketplace. Accessing the doorway led to the rooftops overlooking the Palace Gates. In front of the gates, the group spotted Jafar and Jasmine. Aladdin and the trio jumped down, getting Jafar’s attention. Jafar laughed, mocking Aladdin by saying that he was aiming awfully high by falling for Jasmine. Jafar claimed he was protecting Jasmine, but Aladdin called forth Genie and, for his second wish, asked him to save Jasmine. However, Jafar had planned ahead. Iago returned with the lamp in his talons and gave the lamp to Jafar. Genie apologized for not being able to carry out the wish before disappearing, dropping Jasmine into a pot which immediately became a Pot Spider. Jafar then disappeared, commanding the Heartless in the area to attack. The Heartless formed a giant train, becoming the Pot Centipede, a Heartless with a long body composed of Pot Spiders. The Pot Centipede was a tough foe and almost defeated the group, but persistent attacks and magic spells helped the group to fell the powerful Heartless. With the enemy defeated, Aladdin yelled that they needed to get back to the desert. Boarding the flying carpet, the group made their way back to the Cave of Wonders.

Approaching the dune they had found Aladdin near earlier, the sand exploded up into the sky and a giant cat’s head formed from the sand. However, something had changed from when Aladdin had entered the cave before. The cave had been possessed by the Heartless! The head thrashed about and Bandits rose up out of the sand to attack the group. Sora noticed from the ground that the eyes of the cave seemed to be shrouded in darkness. Making his way to the back of the cave, Sora scaled the back of the head and climbed up on top, putting him in perfect position to attack the dark eyes of the cave. Though the head thrashed back and forth and the Heartless attacked with no end, Donald and Goofy managed to hold back most of the threat while Sora attacked and finally disposed of the Heartless possessing the cave. With the Cave of Wonders no longer possessed, the group made their way inside. Inside, the group was faced with two paths. They first chose to head down the stairs and were lowered via platform into a Relic Chamber. Inside these lower level chambers, Sora and company came upon treasures and statues holding pink gems. Sora walked up to one of the statues and touched his keyblade to the gem, revealing a doorway on a cliff high above. Unable to access the pathway, the group returned to the entrance chamber and made their way further into the cave. In the next room, many traps awaited the heroes. They fought Heartless as they tried to avoid carved faces in the wall spraying water. On the other end of the room, however, a Fat Bandit knocked the group back down a hole. The hole fell all the way down into another watery chamber. Inside the chamber, the group found a treasure chest that contained one of the missing pages of the mysterious book. However, a set of stairs lay close by, leading back up into the Hall. The group decided to try a different tactic. Letting Aladdin lead them back into the Relic Chamber, Aladdin asked Abu to touch the gem on a statue that was out of reach. Doing so lowered a stairway into the water next to the statue and revealed a path back into the Dark Chamber the group fell into previously. However, all they were able to find was a chest containing a gummi. Undeterred, the group made their way back to the Entrance Chamber before heading back into the Hall. This time, Sora looked to his right as he entered the Hall and noticed a stairway. The bottom fell off into the pit, but Sora saw a water spewing carving in a nearby pillar. Carefully, Sora jumped to the carving, then to the stairway. Making their way up, the group entered the Bottomless Hall. The group found a chest and a block, which Sora pushed off the edge, believing that it had been placed there for such a purpose. With a great leap…er, fall of faith, Sora followed the block into the depths. Back down in the Silent Chamber, Sora came upon what appeared to be a worn down pillar. From a nearby set of stairs, Sora leaped at the pillar and slashed with the keyblade, destroying a section of the pillar and dropping the rest of it down some. With that, the scene cuts to a chamber farther along in the Cave of Wonders. Jafar had a passed out Jasmine laying at his feet and a slumped over Genie at his command. Jafar’s first wish was for Genie to reveal the Keyhole to him. Genie had no choice and so obliterated a portion of the chamber wall, revealing the Keyhole. As Jafar laughs insidiously, the scene cuts back to our group of heroes. With no other paths available to them, they make their way back to the Hall and through a nearby doorway which leads to another section of the Bottomless Hall. An ensuing battle caused the group to fall back into the depths once more. On a hunch, Sora and crew swam back into the Relic Chamber. They discovered the block Sora had pushed off the ledge in the Bottomless Chamber, giving the group access to a previously unreachable chest containing Mythril. With this new treasure packed up, the group made their way back to the Bottomless Hall. After a few brief fights with the Heartless, the group made their way through the Bottomless Hall and into the Treasure Room. Inside the Treasure Room, Aladdin asked Abu to access two more statues, both of which launched Sora to previously unreachable chests within the room. The group also activated a red trinity mark, which showered them with munny and gave them a mythril shard. Finally, the group made their way into the Lamp Chamber.

Inside, Maleficent and Jafar were found conversing. Maleficent couldn’t believe that Sora was once again interfering with their plans. Jafar actually marveled at Sora’s persistence. Jafar questioned why Maleficent had not explained the situation to Riku, as he may prove useful. But before Jafar could finish his comment, he turned and spotted the group running into the chamber. Spotting the evil sorceress in the back, Sora questioned if she was Maleficent, but Maleficent just disappeared, leaving Jafar to deal with the group himself. Aladdin yelled at Jafar to let Jasmine go, but Jafar balked, telling the group that Jasmine was one of the seven princesses needed to open some door. Donald and Goofy questioned what opening the door meant, but Jafar simply informed them that they would not live to see what lies beyond it. Jafar then made his second wish, commanding Genie to crush the group. Aladdin pleaded with Genie not to do it, but Genie told them the one with the lamp calls the shots and he had no choice but to obey. With Genie ready to attack, Jafar magically sealed both the path to the Keyhole and the exit from the room, trapping the group with Genie and himself. As Genie made to attack the group, they did their best to attack Jafar, figuring that defeating the evil vizier would halt the attack of Genie. As Jafar spirited around the room, Genie attacked with spell after spell. The trio pursue Jafar as he flew from platform to platform and all around the room. It was Jafar’s arrogance and hatred that led to his undoing. As he boldly attacked Sora, the Keyblade wielder bashed the evil vizier with combo after combo. Finally, at the edge of their strength, Sora unleashed one last mighty attack and felled Jafar. Jafar’s own magical power short circuited and swallowed the vizier into the darkness. The battle provided Sora with a boost to his ice magic, changing Blizzard to Blizzara. With the vizier out of the way, the group made their way across the room to the still unconscious Jasmine. As they reached her, however, an evil voice sounded out from behind them. Jafar lived! Jafar asked for his final wish: to become an all-powerful genie himself. Oh crap… With no choice, Genie granted Jafar his final wish. The group, with little option but to attempt to destroy the transformed vizier, dropped down into the molten cavern Jafar had created to do battle. As the group searched for Jafar in the fiery chamber, the evil, newly minted genie emerged from the lava to attack. Suddenly, Sora spotted Iago the parrot flying by holding a black lamp. Realizing that the lamp was the only chance they had to stop Jafar, the group made to attack Iago and the lamp. Though Iago proved evasive and Jafar attacked the group relentlessly with large molten rocks, the group finally managed to do enough damage to Iago and the lamp to cause Jafar to be imprisoned within the lamp. The battle with Jafar’s genie form also managed to increase Sora’s magical knowledge. This time, Sora’s Fire spell improved to Fira. Back in the Lamp Chamber, Jasmine looked down into the fiery chamber where the battle with Jafar had taken place. However, a figure approached Jasmine from behind. As Jasmine readied a scream, she was enveloped in darkness. The group made their way back up into the chamber with the help of the flying carpet, but Jasmine was nowhere to be found. However, the Agrabah Keyhole reacted to Sora’s Keyblade and locked the heart of the world away once more, protecting it from the Heartless. However, it seemed to prove too much for the Cave of Wonders to handle, as the cave shook and began to sink back into the sand. Aladdin looked all around for Jasmine, but could not find her as the flying carpet made to escape with the group onboard. With amazing agility, the flying carpet dodged falling debris and many pillars and other obstacles, finally escaping with the group and bringing them all back to Aladdin’s house in Agrabah.

Inside, Aladdin came to terms with the fact that Jasmine was no longer in Agrabah and insisted that he would help search for her, but Sora told him that they could not bring him along, as Aladdin did not belong in the other worlds and could cause more damage than he helped solve. Sora promised that they would bring Jasmine back to him. Genie then reminded Aladdin that he still had one wish left. All Aladdin had to do was say the word and Genie would find Jasmine for him. At that moment, Aladdin wished…he wished for Genie’s freedom. Genie was freed from the bonds of the lamp. Aladdin held true to his promise and told Genie that he was now his own master and could go anywhere he wanted. Aladdin did ask that, if he wanted, Genie could go along with Sora to help find Jasmine. Genie turned his back on his former master, telling him he was done taking orders…BUT, a favor was an entirely different matter! With that, Genie decided to accompany Sora amongst the worlds to help find Jasmine. Genie hugged Aladdin and the scene faded out…only to come back in on a dark chamber. Inside the chamber, Maleficent stood with her back to Hades and Riku. Hades mocked Jafar’s failure, but commented that he might have succeeded if someone had stuck around to give him a hand, looking directly at Riku. Riku claimed he had done his part by bringing the princess. Maleficent told them that Jafar was beyond help, consumed by his own hatred. She warned that they should beware of letting such hatred burn too fiercely. Hades, knowing the comment was pointed at him, told Maleficent to lighten up. Besides, Hades said, Riku had kept his end of the bargain, and so he and Maleficent had a gift for him. Upon the table in the center of the room, a green light shone forth. In the light, Riku could see a prone Kairi sleeping away. Maleficent told Riku to go to her and that he had a vessel waiting. As if in response to some call, Captain Hook entered the hall, reminding Riku that the trip was not going to be pleasant. Riku, suspicious as ever, asked Maleficent why she was doing this for him. After all, there had to be a catch. Maleficent claimed that Riku was like a son to her and that she only wanted for him to be happy. Riku, apparently more sensible than the situation would have us believe, doubted that Maleficent’s intentions toward him were at all motherly. She brushed the comment off, however, telling him that she had kept her end of the bargain. With that, Riku turned and left the hall as the scene switched back to the group inside Aladdin’s house. Sora had learned how to summon Genie now and could call on him in battle as he did Simba. Aladdin also gifted Sora with a new keychain. When attached to the Keyblade, the keyblade became Three Wishes. This new keyblade with an Arabian twist was shorter than the Jungle King keyblade and thus would require Sora to get closer to his enemies, but the keyblade itself made up for it with increased strength and by being difficult to deflect. Sora and company also gained the ability to activate green trinity marks. With a final plea from Aladdin to find Jasmine, Sora and company set off to the gummi ship. Inside the ship, Goofy suggested they go back to Traverse Town, reminding Sora of the green trinity mark inside the Accessory Shop. Sora also remembered the torn page he had found and decided a trip back to Traverse Town sounded like a good idea, so Donald activated the warp drive and set a course for Traverse Town.