Magi: The Tale of Faith and Hope

His name is Judar

"... Ja'far, do you know him?" Aladdin asked.

"Yeah, who is that guy? 'Cause he sounds like a whole can of nuts," Faith remarked.

"He is Judar, and he has a long history of accumulated hatred with us..." Ja'far replied. "What's more, Aladdin... he's the same as you, a 'magi.'"

"!?" Aladdin and the twins were startled.

"Magi!?" Aladdin and Faith exclaimed, whipping their heads around to stare at the aggressive teen in black.

'I've got a bad feeling about this...' Hope thought with a bead of sweat sliding down her face.

"Oh! You shouldn't misunderstand!" Judar said, continuing his conversation with Sinbad. "The one I want to work together with the most is you, Sinbad! I just can't stand the emperor of the Kou Empire~" He smirked and held a hand out to the king. "That's why you should cut it out and partner up with me in attaining world domination!"

"I have repeated myself many times already. I won't be your puppet," Sinbad replied coldly.

"..." Judar withdrew his hand and finally turned his attention to the rest of them. "Then again, who are all these people? Gathering in droves..." He fell silent when his eyes landed on Aladdin.

"!" Both magis were surprised when their eyes met.

"... Hm? Who's this guy?" Judar asked. "Hey, Sinbad... the rukh around this guy is weird," he said, pointing at Aladdin with his thumb. "Who is he exactly?"

'Oh no...' Sinbad thought, concerned for the younger boy's safety. 'But it's not like I can conceal it from him...' "... He's the same as you, a magi," he answered carefully, waiting to see how his enemy would react.

"... What—!!?" Judar shouted incredulously in a slightly delayed reaction. "This midget is a 'magi'!? No way~~!?" he said, leaning down for a moment to invade Aladdin's personal space in order to have a closer look. "Magi are supposed to be amazing beings! When rukh was sent out to change the world, they're considered the strongest magic users with the largest amount of magoi in creation of the world. That's 'magi'!!" he ranted, pointing at his chest. "How can you tell me to accept the fact that there are magi other than myself!?"

"... It's precisely because he is a magi that you even responded to him," Sinbad said with his arms crossed.

"..." Judar stared at the idiot king for a moment before turning back to face Aladdin again with a friendly smile on his face. "Hello, midget! I'm Judar, and you are?"

'Uh-oh,' the twins thought, easily recognizing a happy bitch façade when they saw one.

"I... I'm Aladdin," Aladdin replied a little nervously.

Judar held out his hand, still smiling. "So you're Aladdin. As fellow magi, let's get along well from now on!"

"..." Aladdin hesitated for a moment when he noticed how on edge the rukh around the twins were, but reached out to accept the older magi's hand.

"!?" the twins gasped as they reached out to support him along with Alibaba and Morgiana, outraged when Judar's outstretch hand suddenly clenched into a fist and punched him instead. They had been expecting a harsh hand squeeze or a bitchy insult, but a punch to the face!?

"!" Aladdin gasped in pain, staggering backwards while he clutched his eye.

Hope and Faith glared Judar. Shit was on, now.

"Hey, Hey~ Are you saying that this slow guy is the same as me, a 'magi'?" Judar said mockingly. "Sinbad, don't tell me you've decided to abandon me... to work together with that guy...?"