When the screen fades back in, we see a close-up shot of two shrubs in the audience sections, with the show’s logo in the corner and the words “Wild Jungle” next to it. The Pendant and the words shatter and spin off in different directions, and the camera zooms out before fading back to Kirk, Josh, and the two teams standing in front of Olmec.
“Welcome back to Legends,” says Kirk. “Now the glory goes to the fastest and the strongest… so before we get started, let’s meet our teams.”
Kirk turns to the girl on the Green Monkeys, short with dark hair and dark brown eyes. “On the Green Monkeys,” he begins, “we have Megan. It says here that you swim and dive. Tell me about that.”
“Um, I swim competitively, but the diving’s just for fun… like with my friends, and stuff,” she explains.
“Oh, okay,” says Kirk in response. “Do you have a best event?”
“Uh, yeah—backstroke,” Megan answers.
“Okay,” replies Kirk, turning to Megan’s partner—a slightly taller boy with blue eyes and short blonde hair. “And over here, we have Max. Max, you tell me that you’re a big fan of classic rock, but you’re also in a band—tell me about that.”
“Oh, um, I play guitar, so I just wanted to start a band,” explains Max. “I’m lead guitarist and vocalist.”
“All right, sounds cool,” comments Kirk. “Let’s hear it for the Green Monkeys!” Megan and Max both yell and clap as the audience cheers for them. “And, Josh, who’s on the team you have there?”
“I’ve got the Purple Parrots,” Josh answers, “and on the Purple Parrots, we’ve got Coleen.” He turns to a tall girl with long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and blue eyes. “You are… a gymnast, it says here. Tell me about that.”
“Yeah, my mom put me in gymnastics when I was five,” she explains, “and I didn’t want to do it, but I ended up liking it a lot.”
“You’ve got to be really, uh, flexible then, huh?” says Josh.
“Uh, yeah, kinda,” laughs Coleen in response.
“Okay, well, let’s see if that can help you to Olmec’s Temple,” Josh then says, turning to a tall black boy with a buzz cut and dark brown eyes. “Also, we have Adrian—you’re a basketball player, but you also want to become a veterinarian. Why’s that so?”
“Oh, I like animals,” he explains, “and I wanna… help animals, you know, if they’re hurt, or sick, or something.”
“That sounds very nice,” remarks Josh. “I hope you’ll be able to become one. Give it up for the Purple Parrots!” The audience once again cheers briefly, this time for the Purple Parrots.
“You guys ready to play?” Kirk then asks. The players shout and cheer in response. “Okay, then go get ready for your games, and I’ll explain what’s gonna happen—” Kirk and Josh point the players in different directions, and then Josh and the players disappear off-screen, leaving Kirk facing the camera.
“In the temple games,” he explains, “teams are competing to win these Pendants of Life—” Kirk grabs a pendant out of his pouch and holds it up to the camera. “The winning team will need those Pendants to protect themselves from the dreaded Temple Guards, as they make their way through the Temple. There are three Temple Games, and Olmec will tell us about Temple Game #1.”
The lights beneath Olmec turn on as he begins:
“Shin-K?ry? might not have known how to protect themselves against floods, but most people today do. Today, you’ll be building a wall around this Japanese village to protect it from floods. When Kirk gives the signal, run around, jump up, and grab a stone block. Then, spin back around, drop it in your bin, and do it again. The team that collects the most stone blocks at the end of 60 seconds wins.”
“Hope there won’t be an actual flood,” mutters Kirk. “Let’s put 60 seconds on the clock!”
A countdown timer with Olmec’s face on the side of it lands in the bottom-right corner of the screen. “On your marks,” begins Kirk, “get set… GO!”
Max and Adrian immediately push their feet off the ground and begin to spin their levers, both unable to jump up and grab a block their first time past the pedestal. “This is a game of momentum,” says Josh. “If our players don’t get the rhythm, they won’t be able to grab the blocks,” he explains, as Adrian is the first player to grab a block, bringing it round and dropping it in his basket with 52 seconds left. “Mm, that’s right,” agrees Kirk. “Purple Parrots have got one—Green Monkeys missed, but maybe they can make up for lost time now…” Max grabs a block, but as he swings around his basket, he drops it a little too early and it falls on the floor. “Nope, gonna have to try again,” narrates Kirk as the score becomes 2-0 Purple. [0:42] Max finally drops his first block into his basket, but continues to trail by two blocks, as Adrian drops a third block into his basket when the clock reaches 38 seconds.
“Purple seems to have a nice, slow, steady rhythm,” remarks Josh. “The Green Monkeys just seem to be losing their rhythm right now…” [0:32] Max is now bouncing off the floor at the wrong moments—about halfway in between the basket and the column on both sides—while Adrian continues to add more blocks to his basket, bringing the score up to 5-2 with 24 seconds remaining. “I think it’s going to be a landslide victory—maybe, maybe not,” comments Josh, as Max finally drops a third block into his basket. “Well, we’ll see—it could come right down to the end, like many games have,” explains Kirk. [0:15] The score is now 6-3, with Adrian still keeping his steady momentum, swinging around and bouncing up exactly before the pedestal to grab the blocks—but he misses trying to get a block that is positioned slightly further away. With 10 seconds remaining, Max accidentally knocks off a block from his column, and Adrian drops a seventh block into his basket. “Just a few more seconds, I believe…” announces Josh, as Max and Adrian both grab a block at about the same time—but TIME IS UP before they can drop them!
“Time’s up!” shouts Kirk as the clock explodes. “That’s it! Stop them—” Kirk pauses momentarily while the spotters chase after the players and stop their levers. “Let’s count up the scores…”
Kirk walks over to the Purple Parrots’ basket, throwing the blocks out on the floor as he counts them. “We’ve got one… two… three… four… five… six blocks! And how many on the Green side, Josh?”
“Well, we’ve got one…” begins Josh, as he counts too, “two… three blocks. That means that the Purple Parrots win this game and get a half-a-Pendant of Life!” The audience cheers as a small scoreboard appears in the corner, with a half-Pendant under Purple and an empty space below Green.
“But remember,” reminds Kirk. “Our next game is also worth a half-Pendant—the Green Monkeys can always catch up in this next one. Olmec, tell us about it.”
The camera cuts back to Olmec as he explains:
“The villagers of Shin-K?ry? were always in constant fear that a terrible storm would cause floods in their village. Today, you will have to cross one of the village’s most treacherous areas—its valley. When Kirk gives the signal, choose one of the steps from the many that lie in front of you. If it stays still, choose another step and move on, but if it sinks into the water, you must return to the beginning and start again. The first team to find the correct path and have both feet on the opposite end—or the team that’s further along at the end of 60 seconds—wins.”
“It’s a minefield of steps,” remarks Josh. “Let’s see how the players will handle it. Uh… 60 seconds… on the clock!”
The clock lands in the corner of the screen with a bang. “On your mark,” shouts Josh, “get set… GOOOO!”
A heavy drum riff kicks off the players—Megan on the Green Monkeys stepping on a sinking step immediately, dropping into the pool below. “Oh, she has to drop down to go back—that water looks punishing,” narrates Josh. “It is indeed,” replies Kirk, as we see Coleen sink on the third step that she tries. [0:51] By now, Megan is beginning again, choosing the step beside the sinking one to start, and then moving on to one diagonally to the left of it with 47 seconds remaining. “The Purple Parrots are doing great, out in front,” commentates Kirk. We see Coleen about a third of the way across the field of steps, but steps on a sinking steps and has to start again. “Oh! Back into the water! That’s going to be a really time-consuming swim back to the beginning,” says Josh.
[0:33] “Okay, here she comes… one… two… three steps, still not falling in,” narrates Kirk as the camera zooms in on Coleen, making her way across a third time. Meanwhile, Megan falls in a third time about ¾ of the way across the field, and reluctantly lets go of the pole, wading her way back to the starting platform. “Just a few more steps—will Coleen make it?” asks Josh rhetorically with 26 seconds left on the clock, as Megan climbs back up onto the deck at the end of the pool. “I think Coleen’s gonna make it, Kirk,” observes Josh, as the camera zooms in on her, two rows of steps away from the end. [0:21] “Me too,” agrees Kirk, as he watches Coleen step onto a step in the penultimate row, hesitating awhile before randomly choosing a last step—and it stays intact! “Yes! She’s made it!” shouts Kirk as Coleen steps off and onto the opposite deck, ending the game with 16 seconds to go.
“That’s it!” shouts Kirk, as he runs over to the end platform of the game, which Megan is pulling herself up onto. “All right, nice job… you can come on down over here to Josh…”
Kirk, Coleen, and Megan walk over to Josh, standing slightly further away from the game. “All right, good job, girls,” praises Josh. “Coleen, you made it to the end first, so you get your team another half Pendant of Life!” The audience cheers as the scoreboard appears in the corner, with a full Pendant now filling the space under Purple.
“So now the Purple Parrots have a full Pendant,” recounts Kirk, “and the Green Monkeys don’t have any yet, but they still can catch up in the next game. It’s worth a full Pendant—Olmec, tell us about it.”
We see a close-up of Olmec as he speaks:
“The two men that killed the Rain Dragon had a long climb up the mountain to get to the Dragon’s cave. Today, you will be recreating that difficult climb on our own mountain. When Kirk gives the signal, the first player will climb up their own side of the mountain with their sword, making sure to avoid the boulders and obstacles. When the first player reaches the halfway point, the second player will take the sword and climb the cliffs of the mountain. When you reach the top of the mountain, grab the sword and place it inside the hole in the dragon. The first team to reach the top—and slay the dragon—wins.”
“A great new Temple Game, right here,” explains Kirk, “right here on our brand-new mountain. Let’s get in position, players! And… on your marks, get set… GO!”
On Kirk’s signal, the girls begin to race up a set of paths zig-zagging through the base of the mountain, each tipping down slightly as they are stepped on. “Those are difficult,” explains Kirk. “They’re gonna want to trip those players up—but they’ve got to keep moving if they want to go to that Temple!” As she rounds the third corner on her route, Megan is tripped by the tipping path, mis-stepping and falling briefly, allowing Coleen to round her fourth—and last—corner up to the ledge halfway up the mountain. “Okay, now that second Purple Parrot can begin the climb up the cliff,” narrates Josh, as Coleen hands Adrian the sword. “It’s gonna be a difficult climb with a sword in your belt!” Adrian slips the sword into the space on his belt and then begins to climb the Cliff, right as Megan hands Max her team’s sword.
“It’s gonna be a close race to the finish!” shouts Kirk, about 30 seconds into the game, as Adrian continues to power his way up the cliff, hand-over-hand on the grips. “It’s neck-and-neck right now,” commentates Josh, as the camera shows Max’s hands just inches away from Adrian’s in terms of height. “… but it looks like it might be Purple!” Josh then shouts, as the camera zooms in on Adrian, pulling himself up onto the top ledge. “Just gotta jam that sword—” says Kirk, but is interrupted by a loud roar as Adrian sticks the sword into the slit in his team dragon’s body to end the game.
“We’ve got it!” announces Josh, as we cut back to him running to the base of the mountain with Kirk, looking up at the players at the peak of the mountain; the audience continues to cheer loudly.
“Wow—what an exciting finish!” exclaims Kirk as the audience finally quiets down. “The Purple Parrots made it all the way to the top to finally slay the dreaded Rain Dragon, so they get the full Pendant of Life! That gives them two—they’re going to the Temple!” The audience explodes in applause as the camera zooms in quickly on the Purple Parrots—now united at the mid-point—who hug and high-ten. As they do so, the scoreboard comes up in the corner again—reading 2-0 Purple and the Purple side’s border flashing a bright yellow.
“We musn’t forget that our Green Monkey team did an awesome job too,” adds Josh. “We’ve got a nice parting gift for them because they gave it a great effort, and uh… Olmec will tell us what it is! Olmec?”
Olmec announces the prize as a picture of it appears onscreen:
“You will now be able to trek back home with some new shoes which you can buy with your Skechers Footwear savings bond! Skechers—it’s the ‘S’.”
The screen fades to reveal Kirk, Josh, and the Purple Parrots all standing atop the mountain. “Now we’re gonna see if the Purple Parrots can make it through Olmec’s Temple,” shouts Kirk, “retrieve that Sash of the Rain Dragon… right after this!” The camera quickly swivels away from him to face the Temple, zooming in on the Boneyard. Two halves of a Pendant of Life crash together to form the show’s titlecard, the words “Wild Jungle” appear under it, and then the screen fades to commercial.
Topic: Wild Jungle EP: The Scaled Sash of the Rain Dragon (Read 1024 times)