The pendant splits, the camera zooms out from a small muddy puddle in front of the Forest of a Thousand Dragons, and then we fade to Kirk and the two teams.
“Welcome back to Legends,” says Kirk, standing in front of The Tiger’s Den with the two remaining teams. “Now the glory goes to the fastest and the strongest… so before we get started, let’s meet our teams. On the Red Jaguars, we have Wayne. Wayne, it says here that you like playing soccer, but it also says that you are a black belt in Kung Fu—is that right?”
“Uh, yeah,” says the short boy who appears to be Asian, with long black hair and dark brown eyes. “I started learning Kung Fu when I was five, and I got my black belt two years ago.”
“And how old are you now?” Kirk then asks.
“13,” answers Wayne.
“All right, six years of practice,” remarks Kirk. “Let’s see if that can come in handy. And also, we have Sharron.” He turns to the next player, a slightly taller girl with brown hair and blue eyes. “It says here that you like to surf—tell me about that.”
“Uh, well, my dad asked me to try it when we went on vacation in California,” she explains, “and I never surfed before, so he had to kinda force me to do it, but I liked it.” She pauses and smiles.
“Okay, well, sounds good,” comments Kirk as he turns around to face the audience. “Let’s hear it for the Red Jaguars!” The audience briefly cheers for the team as Kirk turns his attention to the boy on the Silver Snakes, with slightly tanned skin and black hair hanging down over one side of his face.
“And on the Silver Snakes,” says Kirk as he looks up at the boy, “we have Julio. You like playing all sorts of sports, but you told me that you also won a science fair—tell me about that.”
“Uh, yeah, I won my school’s science fair… two years ago,” replies Julio.
“And, um, what did you make that won?” asks Kirk.
“I designed a sort of dumbwaiter,” he says.
“Sounds cool,” says Kirk. “I’d like to have one of those in my house myself.” He turns to the final player, a girl with light blond hair and a freckled face. “And over here, we’ve got Benita. It says here that you play basketball, but it also says that you’re really into music and you want to be a singer. Tell me about that…”
“I dunno, I just really like singing, and I wanna become a singer someday,” shrugs Benita.
“Well, what type of, uh, music would you sing?” Kirk then asks.
“Probably like pop or something,” she laughs. “That’s what I listen to the most, so…”
“Okay then,” continues Kirk. “Let’s hear it for the Silver Snakes!” The audience applauds for the team before Kirk continues speaking.
“All right, ready to play?” shouts Kirk. The players cheer and yell in response. “Okay then, why don’t you guys go get ready for the second Temple Game, and the girls can go get ready for the first…” Kirk points in different directions, and the players follow them, walking off-camera.
“In the temple games, 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 now tell us about Temple Game #1.”
Olmec explains:
“Kings reign for as long as they live, and sometimes, that can be a long time. George the Fifth ruled as the King of the United Kingdom for 26 years. When Kirk gives the signal, climb up onto the wheel and shift your weight to make it spin. Every full revolution clockwise represents one year of George’s reign. The first team to make 26 full spins, or the team that’s further along at the end of 60 seconds… wins.
“As they say, time flies,” comments Kirk as he backs away from the Game to get a clear view. “Let’s put 60 seconds on the clock!”
The clock slams down into the corner of the screen. “On your marks, get set… GO!” Immediately, Sharron and Benita climb up onto the giant “Pendants of Life” and begin to spin them by walking upwards. “The Red Jaguars have got some good balance,” commentates Kirk. “The Silver Snakes aren’t doing so well—OH!” Benita slips down after making two spins—with 45 seconds remaining—and Sharron takes this chance to increase the score to 3-2. “Ooh, but she makes a quick recovery…” Indeed, Benita climbs back onto her wheel quickly and begins running quickly—but loses her balance a second time as a result! [0:32] The score is now 7-5 Red, but Benita is not giving up, trying to speed up continuously, but having to slow down numerous times to keep herself from sliding off the wheel. Sharron continues her steady pace, which seems like a far better technique than the start-stop technique Benita uses. “Oh, it’s gonna come down to the end,” says Kirk. [0:10] With the score now at 10-9, both Benita and Sharron now begin to speed up, trying to get more points before time runs out… but right as Sharron completes her 11th spin, TIME IS UP!
“Okay, time’s up!” announces Kirk as he runs back into view of the camera, running over to the airbags below the disks. “All right, let it on down… come on over here, let’s check out the scores…” We cut to a view of the scorecards the spotters have been using to keep track of the scores.
“The Red Jaguars made 11 spins,” says Kirk, “and the Silver Snakes made… 10 spins! That gives the Red Jaguars the half Pendant of Life!” The audience cheers as Benita gives Sharron a quick low-five, as they both appear to be quite tired.
“The Silver Snakes can catch up in the next game,” he then says. “It’s worth a half-a-pendant—Olmec, tell us about Temple Game #2.”
Olmec narrates:
“The British Empire in the late 1800s expanded gradually, taking control of one place at a time. One of the places they colonized was India, and they did it a bit at a time. Today, you’ll be doing the same thing—just in a different fashion. Before you are two boards: one is empty, and the other has the letters of the word ‘India’. When Kirk gives the signal, run forward and grab a letter, and then change direction and stick it on the other board. The first player to spell the ‘India’ on their board, or the player that’s further along at the end of 60 seconds… wins.”
“This looks like it might be tough,” remarks Kirk. “Let’s set the clock for 60 seconds!”
The clock bangs down into the screen’s bottom-right corner. “On your marks, get set… GO!” The boys run forward, jumping up, but turning around to pick up speed. “This isn’t an easy game,” explains Kirk. “They’ve got to keep changing directions to get those letters onto the… uh, other boards, there…” [0:52] Wayne is first to grab a letter—the ‘N’—and then takes another eight seconds or so until he gets it up onto the second board, right as Julio turns around and heads toward the board to place his first letter. “Red Jaguars doing great… Silver Snakes are right on their tail, though.” [0:40] After a miss by Wayne, the Silver Snakes overtake and place their second letter on the board to spell “I_ D_ _” with 32 seconds remaining. “All right, Red Jaguars are catching up now,” comments Kirk, as Wayne and Julio grab their third letters each at around the same time, but with Julio slightly ahead. But Wayne spins in midair, and manages to change direction far enough to slap on his third letter, forming “IND_ _”. [0:24] Julio once again falls behind, but fortunately for him, “—the Red Jaguars missed!” shouts Kirk with 20 seconds left, and he ties up the scores again. “The Red Jaguars really need to catch up if they want to take that lead back, now—we’re running outta time…” With about nine seconds left, Julio sticks the ‘A’ onto the board, right as Wayne grabs his fourth letter. He turns around and tries to make a mad dash for a last-second attempt to tie the score, but is unsuccessful. “Time’s up!” yells Kirk as the clock explodes over the screen.
Kirk runs over to a clear area near the boards to get a view of the progress. “Okay, well, the Red Jaguars got three letters up correctly,” he says, “and the Silver Snakes got FOUR letters, so the Silver Snakes get the half Pendant of Life!” The camera shows Julio throwing his hands up in celebration, still swinging back and forth on his cord.
“That gives the Red Jaguars a half-pendant,” recaps Kirk, “and the Silver Snakes also have a half-pendant. We’re going in to our third and final game! It’s worth a full pendant—Olmec, tell us about it.”
Olmec continues:
“To declare his love for Marie of Edinburgh, George the Fifth travelled miles and miles to her palace just to propose. Today, you will be making that same journey. Before you, the route to Marie’s palace is marked: over a hill… through a jungle… across a lake… and up the tower of the palace. When Kirk gives the signal, the first player will conquer the first obstacle, and then tag their partner at the end. Then their partner will move on to the next obstacle, and you’ll do it again! When you reach the Tower, both of you climb to the top, and place the ring on one of Marie’s fingers. The first team that reaches the top of the Tower and places the ring… wins.
“Let’s get these teams to Marie of Edinburgh—and hopefully to the Temple,” says Kirk. “Okay, teams—on your marks, get set… GO!”
The boys are up first, springing into action as they begin to climb the rock climbing wall on the face of the Hill. “It’s gonna be neck-and-neck all the way, I have a feeling,” remarks Kirk, as the camera shows that Julio and Wayne are ridiculously close together. “These are two tough teams, and it’s a tie—and this is our tiebreaker! Who’s gonna get that glory and go on?” Although the Red Jaguars are first to slide down to the other side of the Hill, the Silver Snakes are just seconds behind, and Benita soon jumps into the Jungle not far behind Sharron. “Oh, but she’s gonna walk,” narrates Kirk, as Benita is seen moving through the elastic cords while standing, pushing them out of the way, instead of simply avoiding them by going low like Sharron. The Red Jaguars are first out of this obstacle, and Wayne immediately races up the steps to the deck of the Lake and jumps into it with ease. “Here comes Julio, though,” commentates Kirk as the boy on the Silver Snakes is seen catching up. “It’s gonna come down to the last obstacle… The Tower…” Both boys choose to wade through the water, splashing loudly as they try to run across the “lakebed”. Wayne and Sharron both begin to scale the tower, with Wayne going up first—doing so quickly, too. The Silver Snakes attempt to catch up, but as they begin to climb, the Red Jaguars have already reunited atop the Tower, and grab the inner tube “ring” and slide it atop the gigantic hand’s ring finger to end the game.
“That’s it!” shouts Kirk. “That is IT! Stop right there—Silver Snakes, Red Jaguars, you can come on down…” He runs to the base of the Towers—airbags for safety—and waits for the teams to come down to announce the results.
“Well, the, uh… Red Jaguars got up to that Tower first; they got that ring up there first—so they win the full Pendant of Life!” Kirk pauses for applause before continuing.
“That gives them a pendant and a half,” he counts. “The Silver Snakes had a half… The Red Jaguars are going to the Temple!” Wayne and Sharron high-ten and hug as the audience gives them a very loud round of applause.
“Nice job!” praises Kirk. “The Silver Snakes did a fantastic job too—they gave it a valiant effort. We’re not gonna let them go away empty-handed. We’ve got a great gift for them, and here’s what it is.”
Dee reads the prize:
“Get ready to dodge darts all day, because you’ve won a NERF Dart Tag Hyperfire set! Comes with two new NERF Mavericks and 20 soft darts for fun yet safe play—from NERF.”
The prize is pushed out of the screen to reveal Kirk and the Red Jaguars. “Let’s see if these Red Jaguars can make it through Olmec’s Temple,” he says, “retrieve that Sword of George the Fifth—right after this!” We switch to a high-up shot, flying past the top floor rooms of the Temple—first the Lion Cave, then the Anaconda’ Sanctuary, and finally stopping at the Vine Drop. As it slowly zooms in on the door linking the Walk of Faith and the Room of the Tropicana Birds, the titlecard appears, and then we fade to commercial.
Topic: Wild Jungle EP: The Sheathed Sword of George V (Read 921 times)