9. The Magic Lamp

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Lance leads the horse through the desert with the old man and Kalt on it. Lance sees the cave of Voltron. "Who disturbs my slumber?"

"It is I, Lance."

"Proceed. Touch nothing but the lamp." The cave opens with a roar, and a staircase appears in front of Lance. 

"Remember, boy--first fetch me the lamp, and then you shall have your reward."

"C'mon, Kalt," Lance said to Kalt who was hiding under the shoulder of his vest. Lance begins to descend the staircase. He reaches the bottom and enters a golden chamber filled with treasure. "Would ya look at that!" This was the most gold Lance had ever seen in his life. 

"Uh oh!"

"Just a handful of this stuff would make me richer than the sultan!" He knew it was an exaggeration but the thought was there. Kalt peeks out, sees the treasure, then bolts for it. "Kalt!" Kalt stops in mid-run, hovering over a rug on the floor. "Don't...touch...anything! We gotta find that lamp," Lance reminded her. They begin to make their way through the room when the carpet rises off the floor and begins following them. Kalt gets the feeling they're being followed.

"Huh?" She turns, and the Carpet lies flat on the floor. She continues, and the Carpet begins to follow again. Again, Kalt turns back, but the Carpet is rolled up, leaning against a pile of treasure. Kalt runs to Lance and tugs his pant leg. "Lance! Lance!"

"Kalt, will ya knock it off?" Lance tells her as he keeps going. This angered Kalt but continued following him. Again, the Carpet follows, but this time, when Kalt turns, the Carpet jumps to the other side. It reaches down with a tassel and pulls Kalt's tail. When Kalt jumps around, Carpet again goes to the other down and plucks Kalt's hat off, then puts it on itself. Kalt sits thinking for a second, until Carpet waves a tassel in front of her face. Kalt and Carpet both jump scared and run away. Kalt tackles Lance and turns his head to look at the Carpet. "Kalt, what are you--crazy?" The Carpet peeks out from behind a pile of treasure. "A magic carpet! C'mon. C'mon out. I'm not gonna hurt you." The Carpet slowly comes out, shyly, then picks up Kalt's hat and dusts it off. It flies over to Lance and hands the hat to Kalt next to him. Kalt screeches and jumps onto Lance's shoulder. "Take it easy, Kalt. He's not gonna bite." The Carpet again picks up Kalt's hat and hands it to her. Kalt shakes her fist and screeches at it. Carpet begins to walk away, sadly. "Hey, wait a minute. Don't go. Maybe you can help us. " Carpet looks back, excited. It then flies over and wraps around the pair. "Hey, whoa! You see, we're trying to find this lamp. Carpet motions for them to follow it. " I think he knows where it is." They pass through a long cave, until they emerge in a giant underground cavern. In the center of the room is a tall pillar, with a staircase going up to it. It is surrounded by water with unevenly placed stones forming a bridge. At the top of the pillar is a beam of light. "Wait here!" Lance tells Kalt, not wanting her hurt. Lance begins to cross the bridge.

"Oh. Huh?" Kalt sees a shrine with a golden monkey. The outstretched paws hold a giant ruby. Kalt is hypnotically drawn to it. Lance climbs the stairs quickly. Carpet sees Kalt and grabs her tail trying in vain to hold her back. Lance finally reaches the magic lamp." This is it? This is what we came all the way down here to-- " He looks down and sees Kalt break free of Carpet's hold and lunge toward the jewel. " Kalt- No!" Kalt grabs the jewel. There is a rumbling, and the room begins to shake.

"Infidels!"

"Uh oh!" Kalt tried putting the jewel back, but it was too late. The jewel turned into lava. "You have touched the forbidden treasure. Now you will never again see the light of day!" Fire emerges right in front of Lance. He rushes down the steps, but they flatten into a ramp, and he skies down until he flies into the air. The water has turned into lava. He is falling toward it, when suddenly, Carpet appears and catches him. Kalt is standing on one of the rocks of the bridge. She looks left and right and sees rocks exploding into lava. Then Carpet races over and Lance grabs her, just as the last rock is exploding. 

"Whoa! Carpet, let's move!" Together, they race back through the caves dodging walls and falling debris. Kalt grabs Lance's head and covers her eyes. "Kalt, this is no time to panic!" He pulls Kalt off his head and sees they are flying into a wall. "Start panicking." Carpet goes into a dive, then through another cave. Finally, they emerge through the internal entrance. Outside, the cave begins to growl and close. Carpet and company are almost to the top when a boulder drops on carpet, sending it to the floor. Lance grabs onto the rock wall and holds on. He sees the old man at the top, within reach. "Help me out!"

"Throw me the lamp!"

"I can't hold on. Give me your hand."

"First give me the lamp!" Lance reaches in and pulls out the magic lamp. He hands it up, and the old man raises it above his head. "Ha ha ha ha! Yes! At last! Ha ha ha ha!" Lance climbed out with the assistance of Kalt. But the old man kicks aside Kalt and grabs Lance's wrist.

"What are you doing?"

"Giving you your reward. " Lotor returns to his voice, "Your eternal reward." He pulls out a crooked dagger and is about to stab Lance, when Kalt bites him on the wrist. He screams, but let's go of Lance, who falls into the cave. Old man throws Kalt into the cave as well. They fall. carpet sees this but is pinned under a boulder. It struggles to break free, then does. It races up and catches Lance, but he has already hit the wall several times, and is unconscious. On the surface, the cave roars one final time, then sinks back into the sand. Lotor pulls off his disguise. "Heh heh heh! It's mine. It's all mine! I-" He can't find it in his pocket, "--- where is it? No. NO!!"


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