I'll admit it, I fucked up a bit. My first instinct when confronted with new shit is to seek comfort in what I know. So, when I became a Planarch, I got a new lease on life, including muscles and a bigger dick? I was already on the upper end of too much change, good change, but change, nonetheless. Then I found out I was basically the weakest Planarch in a city that had a literal 'too-many-to-count' number of them. I panicked; I ran home. Or, 'walked' home. If Wizards of the Coast hadn't already trademarked the name Planeswalkers I was certain that would've been the name we used.
When I arrived home, it was a few minutes before I became a Planarch, and so past-me was there. I had, in my panic, just inserted myself into a stable time-loop, wherein I had to be the one to lead myself on a tour of what it meant to be a Planarch, just an hour or so after becoming one myself. Come to think of it, the version of me who led me around Fulcrum was pretty shifty, so it's likely he had the same reaction I did to our power problem.
Leading Past-Leon on his tour, picking up his Pocket Inventory and Meta-Modular Tool, and giving him the bad news about his power, or lack of it, seemed to go by faster than it did when I was the one being led, but maybe that's because I was excited before. Watching him dart away like I did an hour before was equal parts hilarious and embarrassing. Did I trip when I ran home? I couldn't remember.
It was around this time that I remembered why I had run from Fulcrum in the first place, I don't trust anyone not to fuck me over. I could walk home, it'll be empty by the time I return, but… would it really fix anything? If I go home, to boring, mundane earth, then the only thing that'll happen is I'll go back to my life before, I'll stay weak. I hated the idea, but I hated going into danger, into the unknown, about as much, leading to my indecision.
Where would I even go? It has to be somewhere with a power system that's widely adopted, since my ability to Attune is limited. It has to have a relatively low danger level as well, since having roughly Peak Human attributes, my best combat-oriented ability is blinking, or short-range teleportation, and maybe flight. I can also mess with time, but that's support. I can only do so much damage with my fists or whatever I can pick up.
I need experience, or at least a crutch I can use until I gain experience. Something I can pick up and gain some safety… something I can grab. Something came to mind, a cliche that I barely remembered from fanfiction.
The walk from Fulcrum to my home on earth only took a minute or two, the walk from my mundane earth to the Disney subset of worlds was significantly longer, probably pretty close to two hours. Honestly, I spent most of it catching up on new music releases through Spotify. The internet connection was weirdly stable, so I assume Fulcrum has crazy good coverage, or reality warping bullshit, either way.
The cave of wonders wasn't empty when I arrived. Aladdin was already there, but I had thought about this on the way. Time slowed to a crawl, then it stopped. Walking between universes is basically effortless, if tedious due to the travel time, my other abilities weren't quite the same. There was a slight resistance to messing with time, like lifting a gallon of milk, just enough that you notice it at first, and then more or less forget about it.
I stepped around Aladdin and grabbed the lamp. If I wanted to, I could probably summon the genie, get my wishes, and then leave the lamp behind. I'm even mostly sure events would play out like the movie. There was just one problem with that. I'm a selfish guy, and Jasmine is gorgeous. Sorry Aladdin, I'll make it up to you, probably.
If stopping time was a slight effort, warping the fabric of reality is like playing tug with a puppy, get complacent, and the rope may just be ripped from your hands.
'Search for an empty lamp.'
'Isolate the square foot of space surrounding it.'
'Overlay the isolated space over the original.'
'Tie the spaces together until they're indistinguishable.'
'Cut off the isolated space from its original reality.'
'Stretch the surrounding space to fill the hole.'
A bead of sweat actually formed on my brow, the work wasn't even hard, I'm just not used to concentrating that intently on anything. That, and it was my first time, and I didn't want to fail. Even if no one would see, it'd be embarrassing.
"Well, that was a neat bit of magic. The time-stop, too. What wasn't neat was you ignoring me." I spun around to see the Genie beside me. I looked between him and the lamp, then back again.
"You didn't even mean to summon me, did you?" He pretended to wilt.
I nod my head, before speaking. "Yeah, I was planning to go somewhere else before summoning you, how did I do that, anyway? Actually, scratch that, when did I do that?"
The Genie scratches his chin. "Around the time you made that other lamp appear. I had a whole speech and everything, but you completely ignored it, even when I got out the saxophone solo!"
"Huh, must've been completely lost in concentration. My bad. I'm Leon, and that-" I point over to the still frozen form of Aladdin. "Is Aladdin, the guy who was planning to trade your lamp to someone else."
"Feeling guilty?" The Genie asks. I want to say no, but the Genie is a bro, and I don't want to lie to him. "A bit. His story is one I loved as a child, and I developed a crush on the woman he would've married in the future. Is it really okay to steal that from him? If I do this, even if I make sure Aladdin survives tonight, there's a good chance that I'll have ripped that future from him. Does that make me a bad guy?"
The Genie morphed into a tall, long bearded robed guy as he spoke. "Good, Bad. It's mostly a matter of perspective. Yes, you're taking something from him. Both the wishes I could've granted and this future wife you talked about as well. Here's the rub, are you only taking? Have you made any sort of plans to give him something of equal value? If being a good person matters to you, then be one. Give more than you take." He rubbed his beard a few times for good measure.
I couldn't help but chuckle, his wise grandmaster impression was just that good. "Thanks Genie. I wish Aladdin and Abu were living a good life with loving parents, and that he could remember both what he's already experienced, and this new version of events. What do you think?"
Raising an eyebrow, the Genie snorts. "I think you're bold, using a wish for someone else, but only because it helps you." I don't flinch, it was more of a twitch, really. Regardless, he continues. "No judgement here. I've granted worse wishes for guys not half as self-aware as you." He snaps his fingers and both Aladdin and Abu vanish, then he chuckles. "Seems you did him more of a favor than you expected." Another snap of his fingers and a hazy image appears in front of us. It's Aladdin, sitting on a hill with his fingers interlocked with a glowing woman with blonde hair. She's wearing a purple dress with a heart pin holding her shoulder strap.
"... Is that Aphrodite?" I'm not sure how this changes things, but I'm certain it will.
'Ding' 'Ding' 'Ding' A bell rings out before vanishing again. "10 Points to Gryffindor!" He exclaims as my head snaps toward him. "What? I got curious when you talked about Ali-boy's story. You neglected to tell me that he'd free me as his third wish." He ends it with a pretend glare.
"Sorry, I figured since I planned to do the same it wasn't too big a deal." This time it's the Genie's turn to be surprised. "Really? You'd do that, for me?" Comically fat tears threatened to come out of his eyes.
"If you saw my past or my world at least, then you probably saw the internet's view of you, right? I mean, you're regarded as an S-Tier bro. Leaving you to what amounts to slavery would be pretty shitty. No, I decided before I got here that I owed you your freedom. The only question is, do you trust me to give it to you later or do you want me to hurry this up?" Genie stares me down, uncharacteristically serious. Whatever he's looking for, it seems like he finds it.
"Alright, I can stick around for a bit, besides, I have to see how these next few days play out." He's smiling, like he knows something I don't.
"Genie, what did you do?" I ask. Genie's smile grows wider. "I didn't do anything, scouts honor!" He even shifts into a scout shirt, a hundred pins and all, with the three-finger salute.
"Just for that, you're going into the Pocket Inventory." I grumble as I let Genie's lamp flash into my inventory. The Genie disappears with it, but it was a fake out, and he taps me on the shoulder from behind. "Did it work?" He asks, having shapeshifted into the grandmaster from before and started stroking his beard.
"Just... make yourself invisible or something, I'd rather not show you off to everyone outside." I sigh.
I take the fake lamp and carry it to the exit of the Cave of Wonders, planning to scam Jafar with it later. Waiting for me at the entrance is the man himself, disguised of course. It takes me a moment to realize why he's there. Aladdin's history changed, but Jafar's didn't. He would have still looked for someone to do his dirty work, and since I was planning to go into the pass to ensure Jasmine's day in Agrabah didn't end with her losing a hand… Genie didn't do anything, I did it to myself.
Damn Time-Loops, if you weren't so useful, I'd hate past-future me for starting this.
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Author's Note:
Like with the other stories on here, if you want to see new chapters, feel free to let me know. No guarantees, of course.