When the screen fades back in, we see a shot of a large tree on the Rapids’ deck, the larger waterfall pouring water into the Rapids in the background, 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 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 first player: a tall girl with long, curly, brown hair on the Red Jaguars. “On the Red Jaguars,” he begins, “we have Selena. You say that you play tennis, but also it says here that you write music. Tell me about that.”
“Um, I write songs,” she says. “I don’t really write about any one topic, I just write… I write about anything, I guess.”
“And do you write the lyrics or do you write the music too?” asks Kirk.
“I play guitar, so I kinda write both,” she replies, laughing slightly.
“All right,” says Kirk, turning to an equally tall boy, with tanned skin, dark brown hair, and exceptionally long sideburns. “And over here, we have Justin. Justin, you say you enjoy playing sports like soccer and basketball, but you also skateboard. Tell me about that.”
“Um, my dad gave me a skateboard for my 10th birthday,” explains Justin, “and at first I, uh, didn’t really want to try, but I did, and I liked it, so…”
“Do you do any tricks?” Kirk then asks.
“Eh… not really,” shrugs Justin.
“All right, well, I’m sure you’ll learn some soon enough,” says Kirk. “Let’s hear it for the Red Jaguars!” The audience claps and cheers for the team.
Kirk then turns to the Orange Iguana girl, a short girl with long, wavy, blonde hair and bluish-green eyes. “And on the Orange Iguanas,” continues Kirk, “we have Tabatha. You tell me that you like soccer a lot, but that you also want to become a doctor—why do you wanna become a doctor?”
“I want to help people,” she says, “you know, like, with their illnesses and diseases, if they have any.”
“That sounds very nice,” Kirk comments. “Any idea what kind of doctor you want to be?”
“Um… not really,” she laughs. “Maybe a pediatrician.”
“That’s good,” Kirk replies. “It’s great that you want to help people. And your partner, here, Matthew—” The camera then focuses on a tall boy with blonde hair reaching down past his eyebrows, and blue eyes “—you say that you like playing hockey, but you also play in a band. What, uh… what do you play?”
“I play the lead guitar,” Matthew says.
“How long have you been learning to play the guitar?” Kirk asks.
“Uh, about… eight years, maybe,” he replies.
“You must’ve gotten lots of practice then,” Kirk says. “Let’s hear it for the Orange Iguanas!” The audience applauds for the Orange Iguanas before Kirk continues.
“You guys ready to play?” Kirk then asks. The players shout and cheer in response. “All right, first Temple Game’s over there, and the second’s over there…” The players walk off-camera in different directions, leaving Kirk alone in front of the camera.
“In the Temple Games,” he explains, “teams are competing to win 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:
“The Ancient Romans were known for their ornate monuments and buildings, all of which were made of stone. On the pedestal before you, we’ve laid out a ton of stone blocks, and it’s your job to bring them to the construction site. When Kirk gives the signal, run around, jump up, and grab a stone block. Then swing around back and drop the block into your bucket. The team that collects the most blocks at the end of 60 seconds wins.”
“Not sure if the Ancient Romans actually did it this way,” Kirk comments. “Let’s set the clock of—uh, for 60 seconds!”
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!”
On this word, Justin and Matthew begin, spinning around slowly the first time round and both not attempting to grab a block. “You’ve got to get that momentum first—that’s the important part,” explains Kirk. [0:54] As Justin spins his lever round a second time, he pushes off the floor and grabs a block, while Matthew misses again. “Nice move by the Red Jaguars!” comments Kirk, as Justin drops his first block into his basket with a healthy 50 seconds remaining. “All right, Orange Iguanas finally got one—can they get it in?” With 42 seconds on the clock, Matthew finally scores with one block, but Justin is already grabbing his third block. Both boys spin round, and together, they bring the score to 3-2. [0:35] “They’ve got the rhythm now,” Kirk narrates. “Now it’s all about keeping that rhythm.”
As the clock hits 30 seconds, Justin grabs a fourth block, followed quickly by Matthew grabbing his third, and they both score as they pass by their bins. [0:27] Justin jumps up to grab a fifth block… but he misses and falls down too early! “Oh, Red Jaguars lost a little of their momentum!” exclaims Kirk. “That gives the Orange Iguanas a chance to catch up… and they do!” Indeed, Matthew grabs a fourth block and ties the score, dropping it into the orange-tagged bucket with 20 seconds left. “But the Red Jaguars are catching up quickly—he’s not giving up.” Justin brings the score to 5-4, but not for long, as Matthew drops his fifth block into his bin seconds after Justin does. [0:15] “These are two tough teams, folks,” announces Kirk, as both players grab their sixth blocks almost simultaneously. “No one’s giving up their lead…” With 11 seconds left, Justin and Matthew jump up to grab their seventh blocks, both doing so, and then swinging back round to drop them in with about six seconds remaining. “Oh, this is gonna be exciting…” says Kirk, as the audience counts down the final few seconds. With three seconds left, Justin grabs his seventh block, followed by Matthew just split seconds later, but both players are unable to drop their blocks into their bins before the clock hits zero and explodes.
“Time’s up!” shouts Kirk, as the ceiling lights flash briefly. “Stop right there, let’s count them up…” Kirk runs over to the players, who are being stopped by the spotters. He gets down in front of the bin marked with a red-colored tag first to count.
“The Red Jaguars had one… two… three… four… five… six blocks,” Kirk announces, tossing the blocks out as he counts. He then moves over to the bin marked with an orange-colored tag to count. “And the Orange Iguanas had one… two… three… four… five… SIX blocks! It’s a tie—they each get the half Pendant of Life!” The audience cheers as a small scoreboard appears in the corner, with a half-Pendant under both Red and Orange.
“The next game is also worth a half-Pendant,” Kirk then says. “Olmec, tell us about it.”
The camera cuts back to Olmec as he explains:
“Maxentius was jealous of Emperor Constantine and tried to convince everyone that he was the true emperor, illegally replacing all traces of Constantine with himself. Before you are two boards, one with “MAXEN”, and the other with “TIUS”. When Kirk gives the signal, run out and grab a letter of Maxentius’ name, then place it on the empty board behind you. The first player to correctly spell Maxentius’ name on the empty board—or the team that’s further along at the end of 60 seconds—wins.”
“This is a publicity stunt, if you ask me,” Kirk says, backing away from the players to get a clear view. “Let’s put 60 seconds on the clock!”
The clock lands in the corner of the screen with a bang. “On your marks,” shouts Kirk, “get set… GO!”
The spotters push the girls forward to begin the game, and they swing back, pushing off the ground and moving forward. “All right, it takes awhile to get that rhythm going,” Kirk says, watching Selena and Tabatha swing back and forth, “but once you get it right, you’ve gotta make sure to not lose it again, or else you’ll be in trouble.” Tabatha finally grabs the letter “M” off her left-side board, sticking it up onto the first of the nine squares on the empty board with 50 seconds remaining, but Selena does the same at the same time. “It’s neck-and-neck now,” comments Kirk, as the girls both grab their second letters. “Who’s gonna be the first to falter—not the Orange Iguanas, I think!” [0:39] Both girls stick up their third letters, then grab their E’s, still simultaneously. “It’s still a close race… neither one of them wants to give up!” With 33 seconds remaining, Tabatha is shown sticking up her fourth letter, followed closely by Selena. “Oh, these are two evenly-matched teams we’ve got here today,” says Kirk.
[0:27] After sticking up their N’s, both girls attempt to change direction—Tabatha dealing with this far better than Selena, who ends up spinning in the air. “Oh no, Red Jaguars didn’t make a good transition!” shouts Kirk from the sidelines. “That’s gonna cost ‘em!” Indeed, Tabatha now takes the lead, sticking up her “I” with 17 seconds remaining. “Nice move by the Orange Iguanas—Red Jaguars are making a good effort to catch up, though.” Sticking up her “U”, Tabatha quickly pushes off the empty board, trying to swing faster. [0:10] “I think the Orange Iguanas might do it!” yells Kirk above a loudening audience. “Just one last letter… YES!” Tabatha sticks up her “S”, ending the game with six seconds to go while Selena is still grabbing her “U”.
“Come on back down…” says Kirk, running over to assist the spotters in stopping the players’ swinging harnesses. “All right, nice job by both teams… But Tabatha did manage to spell “Maxentius” before the Red Jaguars did, so that gives her a half Pendant of Life!” The audience cheers as the scoreboard appears in the corner, with a full Pendant under Orange and a half-Pendant under Red.
“So now we have a Pendant for the Orange Iguanas,” Kirk continues, “and a Pendant—or a half-Pendant for the… uh, Red Jaguars here. We’re going into our third and final game; it’s worth a full Pendant. Olmec, tell us about it.”
We see a close-up of Olmec as he speaks:
“Without permission, Maxentius declared himself as emperor. Today, it will be a competition between you and your opponent to see who can declare themselves emperor first. When Kirk gives the signal, the first player will climb their own side of the mountain, making sure to avoid the boulders and obstacles. When you reach the ledge at the halfway mark, tag your partner, who will then begin to climb the cliffs of the mountain. When you reach the top, hit the gong to declare yourself emperor. The first team to do so… wins.”
“I have a feeling this is gonna be a close race,” predicts Kirk, “so let’s get started. Players, get in position… and on your marks, get set… GO!”
The camera switches to a wide shot of the mountain, showing Selena and Tabatha fiercely fighting through the smoke that fills the bottom half of the mountain. “First, they have to climb up the slopes of the mountain,” explains Kirk, as Tabatha rounds the first of her switchbacks, slightly ahead of Selena. “Orange Iguanas seem to be doing well with the obstacles… Red Jaguars aren’t far behind though.” However, Tabatha hops over a boulder in her path without much trouble, while Selena accidentally gets caught up behind it, slowing her down. “Oh, Red Jaguars are running into some trouble!” exclaims Kirk, as Tabatha rounds her third switchback quickly, making her way up the last ramp. Selena quickly recovers and turns her third corner, but Tabatha is already on her way up to the middle ledge, tagging Matthew about 25 seconds into the game.
“All right, it’s gonna be all up to Matthew to climb the Cliff,” comments Kirk, as the camera zooms in on Selena, stumbling slightly as she makes her way to the middle ledge and tags Justin—but Matthew is already ¼ of the way up the cliff to the summit. “Oh, who’s gonna make it to the top first?” Kirk shouts as the audience’s cheering gets louder by the second. “It’s gonna be a close race—will one of them stumble?” Matthew reaches the ¾ mark of the Cliff as Justin only reaches about a third of the way up, and before Justin can catch up, Matthew pulls himself over the top of the mountain, slamming down on his gong to win the game after about 55 seconds.
“That’s it! Time’s up!” exclaims Kirk. “No, no, not time’s up—it’s over! The Orange Iguanas got to the top first—that declared them the emperors—and they get the full Pendant of Life!” The audience once again applauds briefly before quieting down.
“That means that the Orange Iguanas have two Pendants,” Kirk calculates. “The Red Jaguars had a half… The Orange Iguanas are goin’ to the Temple!” The audience cheers loudly as the scoreboard comes up in the corner again—reading 2-0.5 Orange and the Orange side’s border flashing a bright yellow.
“The Red Jaguars gave it a great effort,” Kirk then says. “We’re not gonna send them away empty-handed, though. We’ve got a great gift for ‘em, and here’s what it is.”
Olmec announces the prize as a picture of it appears onscreen:
“You have won $100 worth of Toys ‘R’ Us Geoffrey Dollars! Good as cash at any Toys ‘R’ Us store—so start shopping for the best gifts, toys, and gadgets.”
The prize plug cuts away to reveal Kirk and the Orange Iguanas—now back safely on the ground—standing together in front of the mountain. “Now we’re gonna see if the Orange Iguanas can make it through Olmec’s Temple,” shouts Kirk, “retrieve that Purple Cloak of the Roman Emperor—right after this!” We cut to a high-up view of Olmec’s Temple, zooming in on the Leopard’s Lair. 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 Purple Cloak of the Roman Emperor (Read 1013 times)