We return from the break to find Kirk standing in front of the Temple with the two remaining teams standing on either side of him.
“Welcome back,” he says. “Now the glory goes to the fastest and the strongest, but first off, I’d like to get to know our two teams a little better…”
Kirk turns to the Red Jaguars first, who are made up of a tall blue-eyed girl with long black hair and an equally tall brown-eyed boy with very short ash-blond hair. He turns to talk to the girl first.
“First, on the Red Jaguars, we have Megan. How old are you, Megan?”
“Fourteen,” Megan replies.
“And it says here you play soccer and softball, but what you really like to do is write—what kind of stuff do you write?”
“Uh, mostly fiction,” Megan explains. “I just…like to read fiction stories, and…I just kind of got into writing my own stuff.”
“What’s your favorite thing you’ve written so far?” asks Kirk.
“Um…probably this story about a girl who turns into a mermaid,” Megan replies after thinking for a while.
“Hmm, sounds interesting,” says Kirk before turning to talk to her male partner. “And over here, we have her partner, Brad. How old are you, Brad?”
“Fourteen,” Brad replies.
“And it says here you like to play hockey—now, is that ice or street hockey?”
“Uh…both, but I like street hockey better,” says Brad.
“What position do you normally play?” asks Kirk.
“I’m usually the goalie,” says Brad.
“Well, let’s see if they can score in these Temple Games—let’s hear it for the Red Jaguars!” Megan and Brad applaud along with the audience.
Kirk now turns to the Purple Parrots, who are made up of a short green-eyed girl with long, straight blonde hair and a much taller African-American boy.
“And on the Purple Parrots, we have Sara. How old are you?”
“Twelve,” Sara replies.
“And it says here you have a pretty unusual talent—what is that?”
“Um, I can walk on my hands,” Sara says.
“For how long?” asks Kirk.
“Um…probably from about here to…the camera guy over there,” Sara replies.
“Okay…interesting,” Kirk says before turning to talk to her partner. “And over here is your partner, Marcus. How old are you, Marcus?”
“Thirteen,” Marcus responds.
“All right…and it says here you play baseball, but what you really like is scuba diving—why’s that?”
“Well, ‘cause I like the ocean, and I like to swim, and…that’s both of ‘em together, so I just really like it.”
“Sounds like we’ve got two tough teams today,” says Kirk. “Let’s hear it for the Purple Parrots!” Marcus and Sara applaud along with the audience.
“All right, are you guys ready to play?” Kirk asks the two teams.
“Yeah!” all four players reply.
“Well, all right then!” Kirk says. “Go get ready for the Temple Games! Now, in these Temple Games, our 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 is gonna need Pendants just like this to protect them from the dreaded Temple Guards inside Olmec’s Temple. There are three Temple Games—Olmec, could you tell us about the first one?”
The black lights under Olmec come on as he begins to explain the first Temple Game:
“By leaving a bell jar full of mercury in sunlight, Joseph Priestley unintentionally set off a chemical reaction that produced pure oxygen inside the bell jar. In this game, you’ll be setting off a chemical reaction of your own. When Kirk gives the signal, adjust your weight and begin turning the giant wheel. For every rotation you make, it symbolizes one molecule of pure oxygen from the chemical reaction. The player who makes the most oxygen molecules in thirty seconds…wins.”
“It’s a race to make oxygen,” Kirk remarks. “Let’s put sixty seconds on the clock!” The clock slams down in the bottom right-hand corner with a loud gong, set for thirty seconds instead of sixty as Kirk said. “On your mark, get set, GO!”
Both Sara and Megan have a little trouble balancing on them at first, but they get the hang of it at about the same time and start rotating the giant Pendant-shaped wheels. Sara falls off almost immediately, allowing Megan to take a slight lead. Both girls continue rotating the wheels, with the slightly faster Megan taking a two-point lead with about ten seconds remaining. Megan falls off with about five seconds left, but unfortunately, Sara can’t catch up before time expires.
“Okay, that’s it!” Kirk shouts as he appears back onscreen. “Come on down here, you two—that was fast and furious, but who did better?” Kirk glances back at the scorecards. “The Red Jaguars made eight oxygen molecules, and…the Purple Parrots got seven! That means the Red Jaguars get the half Pendant of Life!” The audience applauds briefly. “The Red Jaguars have a half Pendant, but the Purple Parrots can catch up in this next game. Olmec, tell us about Temple Game #2…”
Olmec begins:
“To test if the oxygen he discovered was safe to breathe, Joseph placed a mouse inside his bell jar. In this game, you’ll be doing the same thing. When Kirk gives the signal, jump up, grab a mouse, come back around and place it in your bin. Then run around, grab another mouse and do it again. The first player to get all their mice, or…the player with the most mice at the end of thirty seconds…wins.”
“Don’t worry, these mice don’t bite,” jokes Kirk. “Let’s set the clock for thirty seconds!” The clock slams down in the corner. “On your mark, get set, GO!”
Both Brad and Marcus get the hang of this rotating-lever game pretty quickly, but Brad develops a slightly better rhythm of jumping up and grabbing his plastic black mice. Marcus has three mice—half of the total for each team—in his bin at the halfway mark, but Brad has four. With four seconds remaining, Brad drops his sixth and final mouse into the bin to end the game.
“Okay, that’s it!” Kirk shouts as he appears back onscreen. “Nice job, you guys! Great performance by both teams!” Marcus almost hits Kirk as he tries to stop spinning on his lever. “But the Red Jag—whoa-ho, easy there! The Red Jaguars got all six of their rats before time was up, so the Red Jaguars get the half Pendant of Life!” The audience applauds for a few seconds. “So now, the Red Jaguars have two Pendants—no, the Red Jaguars have one Pendant, and the Purple Parrots don’t have any yet. But now, we go to the third and final Temple Game. It’s worth a full Pendant—Olmec, tell us about Temple Game #3…”
Olmec begins to explain the final Game:
“In Joseph’s time, air was thought to be a pure substance, completely devoid of all other gases. Today, we know that to be the opposite—air is made up of many different types of colorless, odorless gases. Before you stands a wall with the names of four different gases contained in air—nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and carbon dioxide. When Kirk gives the signal, one player from each team will shoot a ball up to their partner on the wall. Their partner will then catch the ball and place it on the name of the gas there. Once an event is covered, climb up to the next one. The first team to cover all four gases, or…the team that’s further along at the end of sixty seconds…wins.”
“This is for the Temple,” Kirk remarks. “Let’s put sixty seconds on the clock!” The clock appears onscreen. “Let me get out of the way here…ready, aim, FIRE!”
Both teams cover up “nitrogen” on their first shot. The Purple Parrots successfully cover up “oxygen” in one shot, while the Red Jaguars get it in two shots. Unfortunately, it’s all downhill from there, as Sara and Megan have trouble dealing with the increased height of the shots. After a lucky shot from Sara, Marcus covers up “argon” with twelve seconds remaining, and that’s as far as anyone gets when time expires.
“Okay, that’s it!” Kirk shouts as he rushes back onscreen. “Not an easy shot when you have to shoot as high as these guys did, but the Purple Parrots managed to make it farther up, so the Purple Parrots get the full Pendant of Life. That means the Purple Parrots have a full Pendant; the Red Jaguars also have a full Pendant—we’ve got a tie! Let’s bring in the tiebreaker pedestal over here!”
A spotter wheels in the tiebreaker pedestal, and both teams position themselves behind it. Kirk stands beside the pedestal and explains the rules.
“Okay, here’s what’s gonna happen. In a few minutes, Olmec will ask you one question. If you think you know the answer, hit the gong in front of you. You’ll have three seconds to answer, and I must accept your first response. The first team to buzz in and answer the question correctly is going inside the Temple in search of the Oxygen-Filled Bell Jar. All clear?” Both teams nod in response. “Okay,” Kirk says. “Olmec…what is your final question?”
Olmec begins to ask the final question of the day:
“Oxygen is one of the two elements that forms water. Is the other one: carbon, hy—”
The Red Jaguars ring in early. “Hy—hydrogen…?”
There is a long pause. Finally, Olmec shouts, “That is correct!”
“The Red Jaguars are goin’ to the Temple!” Kirk exclaims as Megan squeals in delight and she and Brad high-ten one another. “They pulled it out in the clutch—nice work! Purple Parrots, you guys did great, too. We’re not sending you guys home empty-handed—we’ve got a great gift for you, and here’s what that is!” They receive camping gear from Outdoor Products.
As the prize disappears off-screen, we can see Kirk standing beside the winning team. “Now it’s time to see if the Red Jaguars can retrieve the Oxygen-Filled Bell Jar of Joseph Priestley from Olmec’s Temple, and we’ll see that right after this!”
The camera pans in on a fake tarantula on top of a small skull near the edge of the Dungeon as the title appears onscreen, and we go to a commercial.
Topic: Legends: Rebirth-The Oxygen-Filled Bell Jar of Joseph Pr... (Read 1198 times)