The Curse of the Desert Temple

Chapter 1 - Dreadful Dreams

"Hablabablabahbhablah. Hablah."

Sandy woke up quickly from his comfy pink-and-yellow bed. This wasn't Gene's real voice. This new voice sounded... odd. He turned around and gasped.

Indeed, it was Gene, but...he had changed. He had red skin and wore a blood-red coat rimmed with gold. A rope was tied on his stomach, much like a belt. A cape softly ruffled behind him in his wake. A gigantic, golden lamp stood upon his head. 

"Hablabble hhabol ablah," this Gene said, his yellow eyes glowing in anger. He stroked his black, pointy beard, smiling wickedly.

Earlier, Sandy had been too tired to translate what he had said. Not now.

The time will come, and I shall destroy the world with ease.

Before Sandy could move an inch, the weird Gene grabbed his large lamp and pointed it towards him . A hand materialised and grabbed his coat. He laughed and threw him towards a wall.

"Hablahbalbalh!"

Sandy screamed, his eyes wide open. He threw handfuls of starry sand at the Gene.

"Hablah..."a familiar voice said weakly.

Sandy rubbed his eyes. In the center of his room, Gene (the actual one) lay buried under a pile of sand, his hand visible.

"Help meeee," he had said just now. Sandy and Tara had learnt about Gene's language and often translated it for themselves and everyone around him. As Sandy, sometimes that just gets boring. It takes a long time, honestly, just to translate a few words of his language.

He rubbed his eyes. That must've been a really bad nightmare.

"Why'd you throw me at the wall just now?" Sandy sighed as he lifted Gene up.

"Was tryna wake you up. You are one heavy sleeper. Luckily, not heavy in terms of MASS," Gene chuckled, brushing himself off the sand.

"Haih, what is it?"

"You know, there's a desert temple not too far from here. No one actually explored it. There could be treasure or ancient artifacts! So, I decide to go explore. Been thinking maybe you wanna go too?" Gene asked.

Sandy thought for a moment. He was too bored, and a little adventure wouldn't hurt. Besides, the gamemodes hadn't refreshed yet.

"Eh, why not," Sandy mumbled, yawning an.

"Cool! I'll check with your sister!" Gene said.

"By the way, Gene, I dreamt about--"

Before Sandy could say more, Gene disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.

"Great," Sandy grumbled, packing up his things for the trip.

"Why is it so hot?!"

Sandy trudged through the hot sands of the desert. Tara had decided not to join them. Gene opted to walk there, since it was nearby. However, walking through the sand under the blazing sun was exhausting.

"C'mon, Sandy, a little walking can't hurt!"Gene babbled.

A strong wind blew Gene, throwing him into a mound of sand.

"Never mind."

Sandy laughed, lifting a buried Gene up and adjusting his turban. They continued walking along.

"Over there!" Sandy shouted, pointing his finger forwards.

There, in front,stood a golden yellow pyramid. It reflected the light of the burning sun and nearly blinded Sandy.

"This is it, Sands. The desert temple!"

They walked closer towards the temple. There was a large wooden door that marked its entrance. They walked in.

"Now," Gene advised."This temple seems quite welcoming, but it is rigged with--"

He stepped on a button that camouflaged with the brownish, stony ground. An arrow whizzed through the air and pierced his turban.

"...booby traps."

"Run!" Sandy screamed.

Arrow after arrow sliced the air , coming out from hidden holes. Gene and Sandy dashed helter-skelter. One arrow stabbed into Sandy's coat. Another one nearly took his knee off.

As they reached the other side, Gene plucked out the arrow from his turban and gestured to Sandy to follow him. He nodded and continued on.

They trudged through the twisting passages of the temple, checking for traps as they did so. Not even a single torch was it, so Gene lit his lamp. The eerie,blueish light threw long shadows on the temple's yellow walls. Its walls were old and crumbly, almost untouched. Some plants grew around the walls' edges. Sandy wondered how old this monument was.

Reading his mind, Gene babbled,"This temple here dates back to thousands of years ago, said to be cursed by three demon lords of the past. However, it is known to contain several valuable treasures. None have dared to try, though."

Sandy shivered. Demon lords? As if the temple itself wasn't scary enough!

"Then again, think about it. I mean, if we die, we'll just respawn back, right? We can do this several times!"Gene added, observing a mark on the wall.

Sandy felt a bit more relieved. Whenever they died outside of a match, they always respawned next to their homes. One time,Sandy accidentally got bit by Gale's snake when Gale was selling items and found himself  next to his desert temple home.

The group turned a corner and saw a towering wall blocking their way.

"Another dead end?! That's our sixth one!" Sandy groaned.

Gene frowned, backing away from the dead end. As he did so, he tripped on a stone and fell.

Beep.

Their surroundings started to churn and rumble. Gene sat up, allowing Sandy to see what he had landed on.

A button.

Before they could react, a deep chasm opened up, swallowing the two down into the unknown.