Legend: Birth of a Legend
At the river, Ernest finally shows us that he’s smart as well as shifty. On the site where the river was moved (by a timely and convenient earthquake), he finds clear traces of Special Effects.
He has a fine MacGyver moment of using his pocket watch to establish that the rocks in the area have been magnetized. (Magnets!!)
Ernest bethinks himself of the local Mad Scientist. On inquiry, Miss Sullivan (the Lawyer) reveals that the man’s name is Professor Bartok. Aha, say Ernest. A Hungarian name! The oppressed farmers are Hungarian immigrants! Also, a very conveniently timed cluster of special effects appears on the horizon. Literally.
Even Ernest can take a hint, when it’s got that many volts.
Bartok’s laboratory proves to be a farmstead equipped with all the most modern conveniences, including both internal and external lightning machines.
Inside the barn is a truly marvelous steampunk laboratory, done in the finest glass, brass, and wood. Ernest finds Bartok calmly reading under the light of the world’s most OTT Jacob’s Ladder. And guess what? Bartok is a fan!!
“I style myself as the foremost enthusiast of the works of Nicodemus Legend!”
Bartok knows perfectly well that Legend’s a fictional character. He created the quake that moved the river himself, to help his compatriots, and created an illusion - basically, a magic lantern image - of Legend on his horse, so that a conveniently nonexistent hero would get the credit. Ernest rages at Bartok and demands that he come immediately to the sheriff and confess his misdeeds, and let Ernest off the hook.
Off they gallop, but not on horseback: Bartok unveils one of his inventions, the ‘quadrovelocipede’.*
Ernest immediately recognizes it. Why? The contraption is from one of Ernest’s books! Bartok is such a fanboy scientific genius that he’s been inventing all the impossible gadgets that appear in the Legend books. Yup, it turns out that the Legend novels aren’t just a series of cheesy Westerns: they’re a series of cheesy Western Victorian sci-fi! The great hero Nicodemus Legend battles the Forces of Evil with Science!!
Tomorrow: Ernest demonstrates his prowess at the manly art of Bull-Slinging!
*Actually, he calls it the ‘Bartok Steam-Powered Town-and-Country Quadro-Velocipede’. Bartok is really bad at naming things.
He has a fine MacGyver moment of using his pocket watch to establish that the rocks in the area have been magnetized. (Magnets!!)
Ernest bethinks himself of the local Mad Scientist. On inquiry, Miss Sullivan (the Lawyer) reveals that the man’s name is Professor Bartok. Aha, say Ernest. A Hungarian name! The oppressed farmers are Hungarian immigrants! Also, a very conveniently timed cluster of special effects appears on the horizon. Literally.
Even Ernest can take a hint, when it’s got that many volts.
Bartok’s laboratory proves to be a farmstead equipped with all the most modern conveniences, including both internal and external lightning machines.
Inside the barn is a truly marvelous steampunk laboratory, done in the finest glass, brass, and wood. Ernest finds Bartok calmly reading under the light of the world’s most OTT Jacob’s Ladder. And guess what? Bartok is a fan!!
“I style myself as the foremost enthusiast of the works of Nicodemus Legend!”
Bartok knows perfectly well that Legend’s a fictional character. He created the quake that moved the river himself, to help his compatriots, and created an illusion - basically, a magic lantern image - of Legend on his horse, so that a conveniently nonexistent hero would get the credit. Ernest rages at Bartok and demands that he come immediately to the sheriff and confess his misdeeds, and let Ernest off the hook.
Off they gallop, but not on horseback: Bartok unveils one of his inventions, the ‘quadrovelocipede’.*
Ernest immediately recognizes it. Why? The contraption is from one of Ernest’s books! Bartok is such a fanboy scientific genius that he’s been inventing all the impossible gadgets that appear in the Legend books. Yup, it turns out that the Legend novels aren’t just a series of cheesy Westerns: they’re a series of cheesy Western Victorian sci-fi! The great hero Nicodemus Legend battles the Forces of Evil with Science!!
Tomorrow: Ernest demonstrates his prowess at the manly art of Bull-Slinging!
*Actually, he calls it the ‘Bartok Steam-Powered Town-and-Country Quadro-Velocipede’. Bartok is really bad at naming things.