Tales From the Cave-Wally and the Magic Lamp

The Cave of Wonders

"This way!" The Team was caught in a sandstorm, following the old man from the dungeons through the deserts of Timoria. Some of them were having trouble marching through the hundreds of grains of sand blowing at them from all directions. Aqualad was getting weaker and weaker, so much so that he had to lean on Raquel for support, coughing and gasping for air and moisture. Conner held M'gann close to his person, covering her with his thick leather jacket to protect her from the sand.

Robin caught up with Wally, his dark glasses preventing sand from blowing in his face. "Wally, are you sure you want to do this?" "I'm sure, Rob!", Wally shouted to be heard over the sounds of the howling winds. Roy stomped over to his side. "But this is crazy! How do you know you can trust this creep?  Did all that time around the dungeon slime molds mess with your brain or something?"

Wally did his best to shoot Roy a nasty glare.  "You shut it, Roy! I blew it with Artemis because of you! This is my second chance, and I'm not gonna let it slip away because of your worthless opinion." With that, he trudged up faster, Robin close behind, leaving Roy standing alone, hurt and rejected.

At last, the old man stopped in his tracks. "This is it!"  He reached into his ragged brown robes and pulled out two golden pieces.  Zatanna looked at them closer, and her eyes grew wide.  "The sacred scarab.", she whispered. "Where did you find it?"

The man only ignored her as he slowly put the two halves toward one another. The moment they touched, the scarab glowed as bright as a golden star. It's wings buzzed as it came to life and flew into the air, whizzing around in circles towards a sand dune. Once it emerged inside, the dune began to move. It swirled and twisted, grew and shifted, changed into a gigantic mystical tiger's head, with the two scarab halves for it's glowing eyes.

It gaze it's fierce gaze upon the Team and spoke, it's voice thundering throughout the deserts. "Who dares disturb my slumber?" The old man nudged Wally. "Go on, boy!" Wally took a few steps toward the tiger's head. "Its me, Wallace Rudolph West. Although most people know me as Kid Flash. Well, they don't know I'm Kid Flash, 'cause I have to keep that side of me a secret. Its just that a lot less people know me as Wally West, because I can't tell anyone I'm Wally West and Kid Flash, so—"

"Enough!" One word from the head was enough to earn total silence from Wally, a remarkable achievement for anyone. "You may enter.", the head boomed, so low and loud, it was like thunder, even shaking the very ground they stood on. "And remember, touch nothing but the lamp." The mouth opened as tall and wide as could be, the golden-red glow emitting from the inside like a fire.

"Go on, boy!", the elderly man shouted after him. "Go in! Bring me the lamp, and you shall have your eternal reward!" Wally gulped down his doubt and, very slowly, took a few steps inside. He turned around and motioned for the others to follow him in.
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It was pitch blackness inside the tunnels.  M'gann was clinging to Conner, and Robin had his hands hovering by his utility belt, just in case.  Finally, the Team saw a great golden light glowing at the end of the tunnel.  "This way!"  Wally zoomed to the end, only to stop dead in his tracks.  "Whoa."

The old man had been telling the truth.  The Cave was stocked with treasures only seen in one's biggest, wildest and wettest dreams.  There were piles of gold and silver coins as tall as mountains, reaching only inches from the hundred-foot ceiling.  There were stocks of precious gems in every color, type and shape, as big as your fist.  Littered within the piles if gold and jewels were all sorts of treasures from the ancient world, from places like India, Africa, China and Japan.

The Team found themselves in utter astonishment, staring at the riches that had exceeded their expectations by a hundredfold.  "That ol' man wasn't kidding around!", Wally exclaimed.  "Look at all this!  Just a handful of this stuff will make me richer than the King!"  Kaldur stopped him with a hand to his chest.  "Stop.  You heard what the Cave spirit said.  Touch only the lamp.  That is what we are here for."