We return from the break to find Kirk standing in front of the Temple with the two remaining teams.
“Welcome back to Legends: Rebirth,” he welcomes us. “Now’s when the glory goes to the fastest and the strongest, but first, let’s meet our two teams.”
Kirk turns to the Green Monkeys first, who are made up of an average-height blue-eyed girl with shoulder-length black hair and a slightly taller brown-eyed boy with stringy brown hair and braces.
“First, on the Green Monkeys, we have Ashley. How old are you, Ashley?”
“Thirteen,” Ashley replies.
“And it says you play basketball and run track, but you also like collecting seashells—why is that?”
“Well…I just like how they look, and…they’ve got, like, different colors and shapes, and…I just like ‘em.”
“What’s your favorite seashell you’ve collected?” asks Kirk.
“Um…probably this big conch shell from Hawaii,” says Ashley.
“Ah, neat,” says Kirk before turning to talk to her male partner. “And over here, we have her partner, Stanley. How old are you, Stanley?”
“Thirteen,” is Stanley’s reply.
“And it says here you like mountain biking, but you also like to listen to rock music—why’s that?”
“Um,” struggles Stanley, “I guess it’s just ‘cause I like the sound of it.”
“Who’s your favorite band?” asks Kirk.
“Mmmm…probably Nickelback,” says Stanley.
“Okay, well, we’ll see if they can rock these Temple Games—let’s hear it for the Green Monkeys!” Stanley and Ashley applaud along with the audience.
Kirk now turns to the Orange Iguanas, who are made up of a slender brown-eyed girl with ash-blonde hair tied back into a ponytail and a tall, slightly-heavier-than-average blue-eyed boy with short black hair.
“And on the Orange Iguanas, we have Jennifer. How old are you?”
“Thirteen,” Jennifer says.
“And it says here you like to play softball—tell me about that.”
“Well, I’ve been playing ever since I was in fifth grade, and…I’ve gotten pretty good at it. A bunch of my friends and I play every day after school.”
“Ah, all right,” Kirk says before turning to talk to her partner. “And over here is your partner, Chad. How old are you, Chad?”
“Fourteen,” he responds.
“And it says here you play football, and you want to be a fireman when you get older—why is that?”
“Uh, my dad’s a firefighter, and…I like what they do to serve the country, so…I just think it’d be cool.”
“Very admirable team over here,” says Kirk. “Let’s hear it for the Orange Iguanas!” Chad and Jennifer applaud along with the audience.
“All right, are you guys ready to play?” Kirk asks the two teams.
“Yeah!” all four players reply.
“Okay—go get ready for the Temple Games,” Kirk says. “Now, in the Temple Games, the teams are competing for…” Kirk retrieves a Pendant of Life from his pouch and holds it up to the camera. “…Pendants of Life. The winning team will need these Pendants to protect them from the dreaded Temple Guards as they make their way through the Temple. There are three Temple Games, and I’m fairly sure Olmec will tell us about the first one…”
The black lights under Olmec come on as he begins to explain the first Temple Game:
“John Muir was a pioneer in conservation, which led to the creation of laws to protect endangered plants and animals. In this game, you’re about to help rescue some endangered animals. When Kirk gives the signal, jump up, grab an animal, come back around and place it in your bin. Then run back around, grab another animal and do it again. The first team to collect all eight of their animals, or…the team with the most animals at the end of thirty seconds…wins.”
“Looks like it’s time to save the animals,” remarks Kirk. “Let’s put six—uh, thirty seconds on the clock!” The clock slams down on the bottom central part of the screen with a loud gong sound. “Ready? Set—GO!”
Ashley and Jennifer each have a little trouble getting used to the rotating lever, and they both miss their pedestal of plastic toy animals on their first go-around. Jennifer grabs a tiger and places it her bin on her next try, but Ashley misses her pedestal again. On her next jump, Jennifer manages to grab a gorilla, and Ashley also manages to grab her first animal—a panda. A distinct pattern of grab-and-miss continues for the full thirty seconds, and the score looks fairly even as time expires.
“Okay, that’s it!” Kirk shouts as he rushes back onscreen. “Stop spinning—no more animals! Both teams had to get used to jumping up pretty high in that one—bring the baskets over and let’s see how we did.” A spotter brings both bins over, and Kirk kneels beside the Green Monkeys’ bin first. “Let’s start with the Green Monkeys—they got…a tiger…a panda…a giraffe…and an elephant, so that’s four animals. And the Orange Iguanas got…a gorilla…a rhino…an eagle…and a tiger—they also got four animals, so both teams get the half Pendant of Life!” The audience applauds for a few seconds. “We’re tied up right now, but the next game is also worth a half Pendant. Olmec, tell us about Temple Game #2…”
Olmec begins:
“At the time John saw the California condor, there were less than fifty of the birds alive. Thankfully, there are many more alive today, thanks to dedicated people protecting them. In this game, you’ll be playing the role of conservationist, delivering a pair of condors to their nest. When Kirk gives the signal, grab the two condors behind you, make your way to the trampoline, and throw them up through the hole. Then propel yourself up to the next level and do it all over again. When you reach the top, place the birds on the nest there. The first player to place both of their condors, or…the player that’s further along at the end of sixty seconds wins!”
“In case you’re wondering why the birds can’t just fly up to the nest, I have no idea,” Kirk remarks. A good number of audience members laugh. “Okay—sixty seconds on the clock, please!” The clock slams down in the bottom right corner with the usual sound. “On your mark, get set, GO!”
Chad and Stanley both throw their stuffed vultures up through the first hole in the vertical maze, and use the trampoline to jump up to the next level. Stanley has a little trouble pulling himself up once he’s gotten a handhold on the next level, but despite his size, Chad is quite agile and makes it up to the second level first with 41 seconds remaining. Stanley is right behind him, however, and both boys throw their birds to the next level as the clock counts down. It remains neck-and-neck up until the end, when Chad pulls himself to the top level just a few seconds before Stanley and places both stuffed condors on the nest-shaped pinnacle with twelve seconds remaining.
“Okay, he got it!” Kirk says as the camera zooms out to show a full shot of the maze, then zooms in on Kirk at the bottom. “The Orange Iguanas made it to the top first and put the birds in the nest first, so that means they get the half Pendant of Life!” The camera cuts to Chad, clapping and raising his hands in the air before we go back to Kirk on the floor. “So now, the Orange Iguanas have a full Pendant; the Green Monkeys have a half Pendant. Now, we go to the third and final Temple Game. It’s worth a full Pendant of Life—Olmec, tell us about Temple Game…number three…”
Olmec begins to explain the final Game:
“One of John Muir’s biggest contributions was convincing the government to set aside land for many of America’s national parks. In this game, you’ll also be setting aside some land for this very purpose. Before you stands a wall with the names of four national parks: Yellowstone…Yosemite…Everglades…and Great Smoky Mountains. When Kirk gives the signal, one player from each team will shoot a ball up to their teammate on the wall. There, their partner will catch the ball and stick it on the park’s name there. Then, climb up to the next park. The first team to cover all four parks, or…the team that covers the most parks at the end of sixty seconds…wins.”
“This is for the Temple,” Kirk says. “Let’s put sixty seconds on the clock!” The clock slams down in the corner, ready to go. “I’ll get out of the way so I don’t get shot here—ready, aim, FIRE!”
Both girls have respectable aim—both boys catch the first ball their partners shoot up to them and place it on “Yellowstone”. The Orange Iguanas manage to cover up “Yosemite” with one shot, but it takes the Green Monkeys two tries to cover their second target with 45 seconds left. The girls’ aim gets worse as the boys climb higher on the wall, but Chad manages to catch another ball and stick it on “Everglades” with 22 seconds left. Cannonballs fly everywhere for the remainder of the game, but no one manages to score any more when the game ends.
“Okay, that’s it,” says Kirk as he appears back onscreen. “Come down here, guys!” The spotters lower Stanley and Chad down from the wall as Kirk continues to talk. “That was a close one, we had balls flying everywhere, but there’s no question that the Orange Iguanas made it higher and covered more targets, so they get the full Pendant. That gives them two; the Green Monkeys have a half—the Orange Iguanas are goin’ to the Temple!” Chad and Jennifer high-ten one another, and Stanley and Ashley applaud politely. “Green Monkeys were a great team, too; they were up against some tough competition. But we’re not sending them home empty-handed—we’ve got a great gift for them for playing, and here’s what it is!” They receive a custom-made Legends of the Hidden Temple: Rebirth watch.
As the prize disappears off-screen, we can see Kirk standing beside the winning team. “Now we’ll see if the Orange Iguanas can make it through Olmec’s Temple and retrieve the Condor-Feather Hat of John Muir, right after this!”
The camera pans in on the Snake Pit and zooms in on the Condor-Feathered Hat as the title appears onscreen, and we go to a commercial.
Topic: Legends: Rebirth-The Condor-Feathered Hat of John Muir (Read 994 times)