Kirk is standing in front of the Mine Shaft with the team players around him. ?Welcome back to Legends,? he says. ?Now the glory goes to the fastest and the strongest, so let?s get to know our team players.? He turns to talk to the girl to his immediate right, whose brown hair is tied back into a ponytail that extends about a third of the way down her back. ?On the Green Monkeys, we have Olivia. How old are you??
?Thirteen,? she replies, her blue eyes blinking.
?And it says here that you play soccer and you?re also a cheerleader,? Kirk reads on the index card in his hand. ?Tell me about that.?
?Well,? Olivia explains, ?I started at the beginning of the school year, and I just love? how I can scream loud and not get in trouble.? She gives a bit of a silly smile, which reveals her braces, as Kirk goes to interview the blond boy on Olivia?s right.
?And Nathan,? says Kirk, ?how old are you??
?Thirteen,? he replies.
?And you play baseball and you like to swim, but you were in a regional-level spelling bee last spring,? he reads. ?Tell me about that.?
?Oh, I didn?t make it that far,? he says modestly. ?There were 41 kids there, whoever was first would go to Washington, D.C. for the national championship, I was 27th out of 41.?
?What word did you get knocked off on?? Kirk asks.
?Junta,? replies Nathan. ?I started with an h instead of a j.?
?You trying again this year?? asks Kirk.
?Yeah,? he answers.
?Well I hope you?ll do better this time,? Kirk says. ?Let?s hear it for the Green Monkeys!? Nathan and Olivia high-ten as the audience applauds. Kirk turns to the right side of the screen to talk to the short-haired blond girl on the other team. ?And on the Silver Snakes, we have Hannah. How old are you??
?Eleven,? the short girl replies.
?And you like to swim and you collect baseball cards,? Kirk reads. ?Tell me how you got into that.?
?Umm,? Hannah explains, ?I have two older brothers, Tyler and Jay, and they collect baseball cards, and I guess that?s how I started.?
?How big is your collection?? Kirk asks.
?Maybe? 100,? she replies. ?I started? my birthday last year.?
?Oh, I?m sure it?ll get bigger,? Kirk says, going to interview the taller, curly-brown-haired boy on the far right of the screen. ?And Cameron, how old are you??
?Fourteen,? Cameron replies.
?And you?re an aspiring writer and you say you?re obsessed with studying ancient Greek culture,? Kirk reads. ?Tell me about.?
?It?s not just in?erest in the myths,? Cameron explains, ?it?s been ever since my parents made a family tree and I found out that on my dad?s side I?m related to Archimedes.?
?Well you?ve really studied enough here too, first in the Steps of Knowledge,? Kirk says. ?Let?s hear if for the Silver Snakes!? The audience applauds again, and Cameron and Hannah clap along with the audience.
?Okay,? Kirk says, ?you guys ready to play??
?YEAH!? The players reply.
?Okay, go get ready for the Temple Games,? Kirk says, pointing in different directions, and the players walk offscreen. ?In the Temple Games, each teams will be competing to win?" he opens a pouch and pulls out a small gold medallion to show to the camera? "Pendants of Life. 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. Olmec, tell us about Temple Game #1.?
Olmec begins:
?Painting was no easy task in Titian?s day. He would have to get lots of supplies before getting to work on one painting. In this game, all you need is the paint. Before you stands a huge spider web with several cubbyholes around the outer edges. When Kirk gives the signal, fling yourself onto the spider web in front of you and climb up to one of the holes and break it open. If the paint container inside is full, grab it, come back down and place it in your bin. If the container is empty, climb towards another cubbyhole and break that one open.
?The first player to find the four full paint containers? or the player that?s found the most full paint containers in 60 seconds? wins.?
The camera fades to Kirk. ?Okay, this is a new way to paint,? he says. ?Let?s set the clock for 60 seconds.? The clock then appears in the bottom-right corner of the screen. ?On your mark, get set, GO!?
Olivia and Hannah launch themselves onto the nets and start climbing up to the top. Hannah goes straight for the camera-left corner of her net, while Olivia sticks to the stage-right portion of hers and has a little trouble deciding what container to break open. Finally, she settles on one in the top corner, finding a small container filled with blue paint whereas Hannah discovers an empty container. (The containers are actually just inkwells.)
?It?s a tough game, but it looks close!? Kirk comments. Hannah puts her container back in its cubbyhole and moves over to her right to find a blue-paint-filled container in the next cubbyhole, while Olivia slowly climbs down, sticking near the sidewall and being careful not to drop and break the container. But Hannah doesn?t climb down quite as slowly, and so she manages to place her first paint container in her bin only a second after Olivia gets hers in the bin. As time begins to run down, Olivia finds a black-paint-filled container just off-center, while Hannah indecisively floats around near the top of the net. The ceiling spotlights flash as Hannah drifts toward another cubbyhole and Olivia starts back down with a container of yellow paint.
?Okay, time?s up!? Kirk shouts, running over to count the scores. ?Silver Snakes had only one color paint, but the Green Monkeys got two! Green Monkeys get the half Pendant of Life!? The audience applauds for a second. ?Silver Snakes can catch up in the next game worth a half Pendant. Olmec, tell us about it.?
Olmec continues:
?Not all of Titian?s subjects lived in the city of Venice. Often artists would travel to find the people they were going to paint portraits of. Before you stands a part of an Italian forest. When Kirk gives the signal, put your paintbrush behind your head and make your way through the forest. Whenever you come to two trees, you must find a way to maneuver between or around them, keeping your paintbrush behind your head and both of your hands on it.
?The first player to exit the Italian forest? or the player that?s closest to the end after 60 seconds wins.?
?The forests look just like this in Italy, too,? Kirk says. ?NOT. Let?s set the clock for 60 seconds.? The clock appears in the bottom-right corner of the screen. ?On your mark, get set, GO!?
Nathan and Cameron begin to make their way through the forest, trying to spend as little time as possible maneuvering between each pair of oddly bent trees. Neither is exceptionally fast, but both are evenly matched. However, Cameron makes it out just before Nathan, and with 30 seconds left.
?All right, that?s it!? Kirk shouts, appearing from offscreen to announce a winner. ?Silver Snakes just edged out the Green Monkeys, giving them the half Pendant of Life!? The audience applauds again. ?The third and final games, it?s worth a full Pendant. Olmec, tell us about it.?
Olmec narrates:
?When Titian died, Palma the Younger threw out the old painting and replaced it with a new one. In this game, you and your partner will work together to replace a painting. When Kirk gives the signal, stick the original painting to your helmet, and run out to meet your partner at the middle of the path. Then, your partner will grab the painting slide back and place it in the disposal bin. Then, your partner will grab the replacement painting, stick it to their helmet, run out, and pass it to you.
?The first team to complete the exchange? or the team that?s furthest along after 60 seconds? wins.?
?Sounds like a tough game,? Kirk says, and the camera shows Nathan and Cameron with the rather small paintings stuck to helmet. ?Remember, it?s all tied up, whoever wins this goes to the Temple. Let?s set the clock for 60 seconds.? The clock appears in the corner of the screen. ?On your mark, get set, GO!?
The players try to defy the force of the bungee cords, but it proves to be a tricky Temple Game, as Kirk predicted. Olivia and Cameron make it to the middle first, but each has to wait a few seconds for their partner to appear. Hannah, having trouble stretching the cord all the way, keeps sliding backward as Nathan gets to the middle of his track where Olivia is waiting. Olivia manages to place the original painting in the disposal bin with 40 seconds remaining, but the Silver Snakes don?t transfer their original painting until only 32 seconds are left. The bungee cords begin tugging on both players on the Green Monkeys, but they manage to transfer the new painting and put it in place with 18 seconds left.
?Okay, we got a winner!? Kirk announces as the spotters free all the players from their equipment. ?Green Monkeys finished well before time was over, they get the full Pendant, that gives them a Pendant and a half, the Silver Snakes only had a half. The Green Monkeys are goin? to the Temple!? Nathan and Olivia run out to the middle of the track, hug for a second and then high-five each other. Kirk runs between the tracks to talk to the Silver Snakes. ?The Silver Snakes made it a great effort too. Here?s what we?ve got for them.? Cameron and Hannah will each be receiving a $100 U.S. Savings Bond provided by Nestle.
Kirk is standing in front of the tracks with his hands on Nathan and Olivia?s shoulders. ?We?ll see if the mighty Green Monkeys can make it through Olmec?s Temple and retrieve that Incomplete Painting of Titian,? he says, ?and we?ll see right after this!? The camera whizzes past the Silver Snakes standing near a piece of Temple Games equipment which was not used, and zooms in on one of the gold doors in the Switch Inferno before fading to commercial.
Topic: Rediscovery EP: The Incomplete Painting of Titian (Read 1281 times)