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, so let?s talk to our team players.? He turns to the camera-left side of the screen to interview the short girl on the Silver Snakes, whose dark hair is tied back in a ponytail with a navy blue scrunchie. ?On the Silver Snakes, we have Emily. How old are you??
?Twelve,? Emily replies.
?Now, I understand you?re on your school?s swim team,? Kirk says, ?but you also like to draw. Tell me about that.?
?Well,? Emily explains, ?I like to draw animals a lot. I draw a lot of cats and dogs? sometimes guinea pigs.? She smiles.
?Oh, very nice,? Kirk says, going to talk to the dark-haired boy on the camera-right side of Emily. ?And your partner here is Matt. How old are you??
?Twelve,? he replies.
?And I understand you?re really into baseball,? Kirk says. ?Tell me about that.?
?Well, I?m on a team,? Matt explains, ?I play every day, have a big card collection and watch it on TV a lot.?
?Favorite team?? Kirk asks.
?Red Sox all the way!? replies Matt.
?All right,? Kirk replies. ?Let?s hear it for the Silver Snakes!? Matt and Emily clap along with the audience, and Kirk goes to talk to the dark-haired girl on the other team. ?But on the Green Monkeys, we have Maria. How old are you??
?Twelve,? replies Maria.
?And I understand you like to make dolls,? Kirk reads on the index card in front of his face. ?Tell me about that.?
?Well,? Maria begins, ?I?m learning a lot from my mom, she?s teaching me to sew and I?ve got two little sisters that?re twins, so I want to make something for them to play with.?
?Well, sounds nice,? Kirk then goes to interview Maria?s redhead teammate. ?And Jeremy, how old are you??
?Thirteen,? he answers.
?And I understand you got a nickname,? Kirk reads. ?What do they call you??
?It?s ?J-Dog,? ? Jeremy replies.
?How come??
?Well, nothing to do with hip-hop except maybe to make fun of it,? he begins, ?but I?m Year of the Dog, I have five pet dogs and I want to be a vet, so? yeah.?
?Let?s hear it for the Green Dogs? I mean, Monkeys!? Kirk chuckles at his own joke. Maria and Jeremy applaud with the audience.
?Why don?t you go get ready for the Temple Games, girls go get set up for the first one there, guys go get set up for the second one there,? Kirk says as Maria and Emily walk offscreen in one direction and Matt and Jeremy walk off in another. ?In the Temple Games, teams are 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 you tell us about Temple Game #1??
Olmec begins:
?Dmitri Mendeleev used cards to write down information on the different elements. In this game, you will gather some cards. Before you stands a huge spider web with several cubbyholes around the outer edges. Beware, because not every cubbyhole contains a card. 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 there?s a card inside, grab it, come back down and place it in your bin. Otherwise, climb towards another cubbyhole and try again.
?The first player to find the four cards? or the player that?s found the most cards in 60 seconds? wins.?
The camera fades to Kirk. ?Let?s set the clock for 60 seconds,? he says. A countdown clock then appears in the bottom-right corner of the screen. ?On your mark, get set, GO!?
Maria and Emily fling themselves onto the webs, but Emily proves to be a much worse climber than Maria. They both go for the second cubbyhole from the left on the top of the web, and Maria finds the first card with 48 seconds to go, bringing down the card for ?Carbon? with :45 on the clock and proceeding back up to go for the top-corner cubbyhole. Emily, meanwhile, brings down her first card (also ?Carbon?) with :36 remaining and then heads off to her top-left corner. With 27 seconds to go, Maria brings down the card for ?Hydrogen?; Emily does the same a few seconds later.
?This game takes? Well, you gotta climb,? Kirk rambles. Both girls went for the second cubbyhole from the right on the top row, but the difference is that Maria doesn?t find a card while Emily does. Maria opens the cubbyhole with six seconds left, however; she?s inching over to the next one and cracking it open to find ?Nitrogen? just as Emily finds ?Nitrogen,? but neither player can make it down and put the card in the bin before time runs out. A pattern of ceiling spotlights flash to indicate the Temple Game is over.
?All right!? Kirk comes onscreen to count the scores. He grabs the bins as Maria and Emily come over, cards still in hand. ?Green Monkeys got?? he pulls the cards out of the bin? ?one, two cards; Silver Snakes got one, two cards! It?s a tie, so they each get the half Pendant of Life!? The audience applauds briefly. ?The next game?s worth a half Pendant too. Olmec, tell us about it.?
Olmec continues:
?Dmitri Mendeleev?s discoveries might have earned him quite a bit of money, and in this game, you will collect a bit of money that he never received so that it can be brought to its proper heir. When Kirk gives the signal, jump up, grab a coin off the ceiling, and come back down to place it in your bin. Then, jump back up and do it again.
?The first player to grab all the coins? or the player that?s further along after 60 seconds? wins.?
The camera fades to Kirk in front of the equipment for the game. ?Set the clock for 60 seconds,? he says. A clock then appears in the bottom-right corner of the screen, and Kirk goes to the side of the screen, past Matt?s equipment. ?On your mark, get set, GO!?
Both boys jump up and get the first coins off the ceiling on their first try; Jeremy gets to the ceiling quicker due to a higher jump and gets the first of ten in the bin with 56 seconds left; Matt is only a second behind. The next jump is unsuccessful for both of them, however. After a little more struggling, Jeremy scores the second time at the :46 mark, Matt still being a second behind. When Jeremy falls back down early on the next jump, however, Matt ends up a little ahead and actually gets the third coin in the bin with 41 seconds left, two seconds before Jeremy does.
?This game is all about getting up there and fast,? Kirk says, ?but you kinda gotta work with or against the bungee cords.? If one player doesn?t jump high enough, the other cuts ahead; Matt fails to reach the ceiling on the next two attempts, but Jeremy gets his fourth coin in with :35 left. However, his next jump doesn?t bring him high into the air at all, allowing Matt to get the fourth coin in the bucket with 32 seconds to go. After that, the players are pretty much a mirror image on the next jump, and both have a much better successful jump rate from that point on, but otherwise, the lead remains Jeremy?s for another fifteen seconds until he starts failing, letting Matt slip ahead. Matt eventually gets the tenth coin in the bucket with five seconds remaining, ending the game.
?All right, that?s it!? Kirk comes back onscreen, grabbing the bins again. Spotters work to get Matt and Jeremy out of their harnesses while Kirk starts to count up the scores. ?Green Monkeys got?? he pulls the giant coins out of the buckets as he counts? ?one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight? nine coins. Silver Snakes got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine? ten coins! Silver Snakes get the half Pendant of Life!? The audience applauds again. ?So Silver Snakes have a full Pendant, Green Monkeys a half, we go to the third and final game, it?s worth a full Pendant. Olmec, tell us about it.?
Olmec narrates:
?Like all scientists, Dmitri Mendeleev used the scientific method throughout his experiments. On the wall above you are the four major stages of the scientific method: Inference, Hypothesis, Data Collection, and Conclusion. When Kirk gives the signal, load the slingshot and fire a ball. Your partner must catch the ball and stick it on the first stage. Once you?ve covered a stage, it means it has been completed, and you can climb up and try to complete the next stage.
?The team that completes all four stages first? or the team that?s furthest along after 60 seconds? wins.?
?This is for the Temple,? Kirk says. ?Let?s set the clock for 60 seconds.? The clock appears onscreen. ?On your mark, get set, GO!?
Jeremy and Matt stay in position at the base of the walls, since they?re already right next to the first step, ?Inference.? Neither Maria nor Emily is a crack shot, but they both give it a good effort. Both players start off poorly, but Emily manages to get a ball over to Matt with :45 left. He catches the ball, sticks it on ?Inference? and climbs up to ?Hypothesis,? but Jeremy follows him a few seconds later. Emily and the Silver Snakes score first there again? Matt catches and sticks a ball on ?Hypothesis? with 23 seconds to go. The Green Monkeys land a shot with 17 seconds left, and Jeremy climbs up after Matt.
?This game takes some communication,? Kirk mentions, ?but they?re both up at ?Data.? This looks good.? Maria gets lucky with the slingshot, taking only two more tries to get a ball that Jeremy catches and sticks to ?Data collection,? but Emily has more trouble aiming that high accurately. She eventually gets a ball to Matt with four seconds remaining; the spotlights flash a second after he climbs up to ?Conclusion,? and a spotter signals to the boys to come back down. Kirk comes onscreen to count the scores.
?All right!? Kirk remarks, gesturing to the boards while spotters unfasten the harnesses Matt and Jeremy are wearing. Emily and Maria come over to join Kirk and the boys. ?Both teams both got three stages? it?s a tie! They both get the full Pendant, that gives Green Monkeys a Pendant and a half, but Silver Snakes got two Pendants, so they?re going to the Temple!? The players meet each other and high-five. ?Green Monkeys gave it a gallant effort, it was really close. We got a great gift for them both and here?s what it is.? Maria and Jeremy will each receive a copy of the Kingdom Hearts II PlayStation 2 game.
The camera cuts back to Kirk standing with the Silver Snakes in front of the giant wall. ?We?ll see the tough Silver Snakes try to make it through Olmec?s Temple to retrieve the Missing Card of Dmitri Mend-a-leaf,? he says, ?right after this!? The camera goes over to the Crystal Cave and zooms in on the Missing Card before fading to commercial.
Topic: Rediscovery EP: The Missing Card of Dmitri Mendeleev (Read 1034 times)