The Mole and the Street Rat

The Mole and the Street Rat is a short story released for Reign of Jafar. It was published on the Official Collector's Guide: Sets 5-8 on February 1, 2026.

The story follows Aladdin and Jasmine infiltrating Jafar's forces while trying to reclaim the Hexwell Crown.

Story

"Gotta say, I'm having second thoughts about this," the Aladdin glimmer whispered from the shadows of a huge pillar in Jafar's throne room. Beside him, a Jasmine. glimmer clutched Archazia's inkcaster—the perfect distraction for the powerful glimmer of the greedy sorcerer.

She scoffed. "You don't always have to be the hero."

"No, I'm just worried you won't be able to fool Jafar into thinking you're really on his side." He eyed the inkcaster—a powerful magical artifact that allowed an Illumineer to inkcast glimmers. "Do we really want to just hand it over to him?"

Jasmine shrugged. "Archazia said he won't be able to use it. We'll grab the crown right off his head while he tries." "What if she's wrong?" Jasmine sighed. "Then we'll add it to the list of powerful magical artifacts that Jafar has stolen. How's this?" A blank expression washed over her face and her voice lowered to a monotone drawl. "My Lord Jafar. I've brought the item you seek."

Aladdin shook his head, deeply impressed.

Basil appeared in the doorway, saluting with one finger as their prearranged signal. Once the glimmer noted that they saw him, he slinked away.

"Let's go," Jasmine said.

"But wait! Are you sure you're-"

She cut Aladdin off with a sly grin. "Hey, don't you trust me?" "I... yes. Of course I trust you." She grabbed his hand. "Then let's do this."

The two glimmers made their way down one of the many maze-like corridors of Jafar's palace, carefully avoiding the traps this glimmer of the wily sorcerer had repurposed from Archazia's obstacle training courses.

Soon they had to separate, Jasmine continuing on to meet Jafar while Aladdin climbed the nearest wall and perched just out of sight on a ledge near the ceiling. He was in the perfect position to snatch the crown when Jafar walked past.

"Good luck," he whispered to her. The door at the end of the hall opened and a voice boomed out, "WHO SEEKS AN AUDIENCE WITH HIS LORDSHIP HIGH SULTAN JAFAR?" Aladdin recognized the voice as one of the guards, though he couldn't know whether it belonged to an illusion or not. He'd heard rumors Jafar had created a new type of illusion that could hold its physical form even when confronted.

"It is I, Princess Jasmine," Jasmine said deferentially. "I've come with a gift for his Lordship."

"YOU MAY ENTER!"

Jasmine's footsteps faded away. Aladdin glanced nervously back down the corridor, expecting to see their other team member. "Bolt, where are you, buddy?" This was taking too long, he thought. He was just about to leave his post to find their Illumineer, Martin, and tell him they had failed, when he heard something scamper down the hallway.

"Bolt! Is that you?" he whispered fiercely.

Bolt skidded to a stop beside Aladdin and wagged his tail. "No one followed you?" Bolt shook his head.

"Okay," Aladdin said. "Now go fetch!"

With that, the canine glimmer bounded down the corridor after Jasmine.

Within moments, Aladdin recognized the piercing voice of the High Sultan. "After him, you fools! Must I do everything myself?"

Aladdin smiled to himself, pulling an exact replica of the Hexwell Crown from his pouch that inventive glimmers like Belle had expertly crafted. He leaned over the ledge, waiting for the perfect moment.

"Here we go," Aladdin murmured. Bolt bounded past, holding Archazia's inkcaster in his mouth like a giant stick. Jafar followed close on his heels.

In a smooth motion honed by years spent as a street rat, Aladdin latched his foot around a stone, swung down, and plucked the crown off Jafar's head, replacing it immediately with the decoy crown. The old sorcerer continued his mad dash after Bolt, yelling and cursing the entire way until he disappeared.

"All too easy," Aladdin chuckled to himself.

"You got it?" Martin asked, when they were all safely huddled together in a small room inside the maze. "I got it!" said Aladdin.

"We got it," clarified Jasmine. "Uh, right." Aladdin reached into his pouch for the crown. "Huh. That's strange." All he withdrew was a handful of sand.

"Hm... it's as I feared," said Basil. "Jafar's trickery and paranoia run deep. The crown was a deception! One of his most recent illusions, formed by a unique combination of light, sand, and magic." The glimmer looked up at the rest of them. "Our task has become a touch more complicated."

"We have to find the real crown before we can steal it," Martin concluded.

"And then make it out before Jafar's henchmen stop us," added Aladdin.

"Or his illusions," said Jasmine.

Bolt barked, and Aladdin nodded. "Or his traps," he said.

"Or the powerful magic of the crown that Jafar still wields," said Basil. "My friends, I say, the game is afoot!"

Characters

• Aladdin - Vigilant Guard
• Jasmine - Resourceful Infiltrator
• Razoul - Unyielding Guard
• Jafar
• Martin
• Basil
• Bolt - Down but Not Out
• Belle (mentioned)