Kirk stands between the two teams and in front of the Steps of Knowledge. ?Welcome back to Legends,? he says. ?Now, the glory goes to the fastest and the strongest, but before we get started, I wanna talk to our two tough teams here.? He turns to interview the short black boy on the Green Monkeys. ?On the Green Monkeys, we have Demetrius. And how old are you??
?Twelve,? Demetrius replies.
?Now I understand you like to play basketball? a lot,? Kirk reads on his index card. ?Tell me about that.?
?Well,? Demetrius explains, ?I play with my friends every day after school.?
?Your size keep you from doing good on the court?? Kirk asks.
?I dunno,? Demetrius says.
?But it?s got you a nickname, right?? Kirk reads.
?Yeah,? he answers, ?Lil? D my friends call me.? The audience applauds as Kirk goes to interview the brown-haired girl on Demetrius?s left.
?And you?re Alyssa,? Kirk says. ?And how old are you??
?Thirteen,? Alyssa answers.
?And you like to hang out at the mall and play soccer,? Kirk reads. ?Tell me about that.?
?Well,? Alyssa begins, her brown eyes shining, ?I?m on my school co-ed team and, um, I?ve been playing? four years.?
?What position are you?? Kirk asks.
?I?m on defense,? Alyssa replies.
?I wonder if you can keep the other team from scoring here,? Kirk comments. ?We?re about to find out. Let?s hear it for the Green Monkeys!? The audience applauds for a moment as Kirk goes to interview the short, brown-haired boy on the other team. ?And on the Orange Iguanas, we have Jason. How old are you??
?Twelve,? Jason replies.
?Now you?re on your school swim team and you?re also into skateboarding,? Kirk reads. ?Tell me more.?
?Uhh? I?ve? been boarding for four years now,? Jason slowly replies, ?and my favorite trick is the Rocket Air.?
?All right,? Kirk says, going to interview the dark-haired girl next to Jason. ?And you?re? uh??
?Laida Etxebarri,? the girl replies, her almond eyes sparkling as she says the tx in her name like a tch, ?and I?m thirteen years old.?
?And it says here you were born in Spain,? Kirk reads off the index card. ??Hablas espa?ol??
?What??? Laida says before she laughs for a second. ?No, but I?m learning Spanish.?
Kirk gives her a confused look. ?You lived in Spain but don?t speak Spanish??? he repeats.
?I?m from Euskadi, actually,? she replies. ?They speak Basque there.?
?All right then, if you guys go to the Temple promise you?ll teach me how to close the show in Basque,? Kirk says.
?Yeah,? Laida replies with a short laugh.
?Then let?s hear it for the Orange Iguanas!? Kirk shouts, and the audience begins to cheer loudly.
?Why don?t you guys go get ready for the first Temple Game, girls go get ready for the second,? Kirk says as the players walk off-screen in different directions, ?and I'll tell you guys what's gonna happen here. Now, in the Temple Games, these teams will be competing to win?" he opens his pocket 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 Olmec?s Temple. There are three Temple Games, and Olmec will tell us about Temple Game #1.?
Olmec begins:
?Jehuda Cresques had to make the maps in the Catalan Atlas piece by piece, and here you will do the same. When Kirk gives the signal, crawl into the first cube, grab the first piece of your map, then crawl back with it and place it in the correct position on your board. Then, go back to get the next segment of the map. Along the way you must try to avoid the swinging obstacles.
?The first player to grab all four pieces of the map? or the player that?s grabbed the most pieces of the map in 60 seconds? wins.?
The camera fades to Kirk. ?They used to make maps just like this,? he says. ?Let?s set the clock for 60 seconds.? The clock then appears in the bottom-right corner of the screen. ?Let?s get the sandbags back in position and then start swinging them.? The spotters do just that. ?On your marks, get set, GO!?
Demetrius and Jason crawl out immediately, but Demetrius gets hit by a sandbag on the first two tries. Jason, on the other hand, manages to grab the first quadrant of his map on his first try and bring it back fairly quickly. Demetrius is much slower on his third try, but sticks the first segment of his map on the board with over 30 seconds left? just a second or two after Jason reaches his second piece. But Jason waits a few seconds before beginning to crawl back with it. After 60 have elapsed, a number of ceiling spotlights flash repeatedly to indicate that time is up.
?All right! Time?s up!? Kirk shouts immediately after, running over by Demetrius and the team boards to count up the scores. Jason comes over from behind one of the sandbags a second later. ?Real twist-around near the end of the game there, looks like Orange Iguanas got two pieces of the map, but Green Monkeys got three! Green Monkeys win a half Pendant of Life!? The audience applauds for a moment. ?You had some trouble back there getting the third piece,? Kirk says to Jason. ?Tell me what you were thinking.?
?Well,? Jason replies, ?it was tough to pass those sandbags? I? uh? tried to wait for a run through and? took too long.?
?Well don?t worry,? Kirk says, ?you can catch up in the next Temple Game, ?cause it?s worth a half Pendant. Olmec, tell us about it.?
Olmec continues:
?Not only does the Catalan Atlas have four detailed maps, but also a cosmic calendar. The calendar predicts where the sun, the moon, and the other planets will be in the sky on a certain day. In this game, you will help Jehuda Cresques make another calendar. When Kirk gives the signal, climb on the wheel and adjust your weight to turn it. When the wheel makes one full rotation, it means you have moved your planet one mile toward Earth.
?The player who?s moved their planet the mostmiles toward miles after 60 seconds wins.?
?It?s gonna get dizzy back there,? Kirk says, gesturing to the girls preparing to climb on the wheels marked with the familiar Legends insignia. ?Let?s set the clock for 60 seconds.? The clock then appears in the corner of the screen. ?On your marks, get set, GO!?
The girls seem to have trouble with this game. Alyssa tries starting off slowly, but it doesn?t keep her from falling off very early. ?The key to this is in finding the rhythm,? Kirk explains as Laida falls off her wheel. Both girls fall off again at about the halfway point of the game, and then Laida starts moving faster than Alyssa after getting back on. Laida falls off one last time only a few moments before the ceiling spotlights flash to put an end to the game.
?All right, c?mon over!? Kirk says, running over to read the spotters? scoreboards as Alyssa and Laida climb off their wheels. ?So Green Monkeys made it six miles to Earth, but Orange Iguanas came back nine! Orange Iguanas win a half Pendant of Life!? The audience applauds again. ?You? uh? had a little trouble keeping up with her,? Kirk says to Alyssa. ?What happened??
?Well? um?? Alyssa replies, ?I guess I was just thinking she?d? go too fast and, um, slip up all the time.?
?I see,? Kirk comments. ?No worries though, you can still win this game ?cause this next game is worth a full Pendant. Whoever wins this goes to the Temple. Olmec, tell us about Temple Game? number three.?
Olmec narrates:
?With the Catalan Atlas to help him, John the Hunter would send men to sail to new lands and bring back many rare treasures. In this game you will help bring some of those treasures back to Spain. When Kirk gives the signal, grab a gold artifact and run out to meet your partner at the middle of the path. Then pass the gold treasure to your partner, who will slide back and place it in your team?s treasure box. Then go back and try it again.
?The team with the most pieces of gold in their treasure box after 60 seconds wins.?
?It?s all tied up half Pendant apiece,? Kirk reminds the audience, ?so this?ll decide who goes to the Temple. Let?s set the clock for 60 seconds.? The clock then appears on the screen. ?On your mark, get set, GO!?
The players grab onto the raised sides of the tracks and walk against the force of the bungee cords attaching them to the walls behind them. The cord are only just long enough so that the players can meet in the middle, so this game certainly proves to be harder than it appeared at first glance. The teams begin to score just a few seconds before the ceiling lights flash to end the game.
?Okay,? Kirk says as he walks into the space between the tracks and peers into the treasure boxes. As soon as the spotters unfasten the kids, they run over to join him. ?Green Monkeys got one piece of gold, Orange Iguanas got one, two pieces of gold! Orange Iguanas get the full Pendant, that gives them a Pendant and a half, the Green Monkeys had a half Pendant. The Orange Iguanas are goin? to the Temple!? Jason and Laida high-five each other several times. ?Green Monkeys, it looked like you had trouble connecting at the middle,? he says.
?Yeah,? Alyssa replies.
?But you guys gave it a great effort to,? says Kirk. ?Here?s what we?ve got for you.? Demetrius and Alyssa will each be receiving a $100 U.S. Savings Bond provided by Nestle.
Only Kirk and the Orange Iguanas are present when the camera cuts away from the consolation prize. ?We?ll see if the Orange Iguanas can make it through Olmec?s Temple and retrieve the Missing Map of the Catalan Atlas? right after this!? Kirk can be seen chatting with Laida (presumably about how to close the show in Basque) as the camera zooms out and fades to commercial.
Topic: Rediscovery EP: The Missing Map from the Catalan Atlas (Read 1251 times)