Chapter 8: The Winners!
"And now for the moment you've all been waiting for," announced Bailey dramatically.
"The moment that every awards show spends as much time as humanly possible building up to," Zack said.
"The revelation of the fabulous winners!" London exclaimed.
"Okay, we have a lot of categories to cover, so let's get started." Cody pulled out the first list. "Our first category, most embarrassing scene, goes to Just One of the Guys, Chapter 12, by Elianna22."
"Not bad, Ellie," Bailey commented as she scanned for the next category. "The winner for best 'Aww' moment is I'm Right Here, Chapter 29, by CRIMS0N HAZE."
"That was a good one," Cody recalled, "but I really hope CRIMS0N is able to continue that great story."
"Yea, leaving a story like that is evil, even by my standards," Zack said. "Now, onto the best comical scene." A look of confusion spread across his face as he reviewed the votes.
"If they're big words, don't be afraid to ask for help," Cody encouraged.
"That's not the problem this time," Zack told him, "We have two stories on the list."
"I guess that means we have a tie," Cody concluded. "For best comical scene, we have Cherry Bombs by sol invictus."
"And Separated, but not Apart, Chapters 17–18, by Tiger002," the older twin added. "By the way, there were two very important lessons in those two stories."
"Oh, what are they?" Cody inquired.
"One, you shouldn't drink, and two, I should play more video games so I can get us out of life or death situations."
Cody turned red. "Yea, something like that..." he muttered.
"Now, onto romance!" London shouted, clapping her hands.
"For the best pairing involving me," Zack said, "readers chose Bailey and me in Just One of the Guys by Elianna22. Great story, Ellie."
"Just don't start getting any ideas," Cody warned.
"Don't worry, Cody," said Bailey comfortingly. "People don't want you to be alone. The winner for best Cody pairing goes to Two Brothers and a Pop Tart by Lodylodylody for Cody and Mikayla. I have to agree, they do make a cute couple."
"And since some authors saw the brilliance of me, there were a number of non-twin pairings as well," London spoke up.
"And the winner goes to Elianna22's Just One of the Guys/Repercussions series for her Woody and Addison pairing," Bailey said.
"But we have a tie here as well!" London protested. "The other winner is Lance and me in Agent L by Snapplelinz." She paused thoughtfully. "Well, I suppose Icould give Lance another chance. Hey, that rhymes!"
Now, time for the best kiss," said the farm girl with a romantic sigh. "This one goes to Zack and Max in The Truth Comes Out, chapters 3 and 4 written by Woundedhearts and Lodylodylody."
"That wasn't the only way the authors showed the love between characters," Cody resumed. "Onto best brotherly love."
"Um, I'm not sure if that was the best transition," Zack said awkwardly, "...anyway, the award for best brotherly love goes to I'm Right Here by CRIMS0N HAZE."
"Now for the story that stretched the characters farther than the show would ever think to," Bailey said. "Best character development goes to Mikayla in Two Brothers and a Pop Tart by Lodylodylody."
"That takes skill," Cody stated. "Lody managed to win in the Suite Life Awards with a Hannah Montana character."
"These authors have a lot of skill, especially in unleashing the full force of their evil ideas," he continued. "Many of these stories had our favorite characters face heart-wrenching hardships, but the best traumatic experience goes to what Cody went through in Somnium of Nex by Kulmanari."
"And none will deny all the emotions that fill the story when readers see their favorite character fade into the everlasting slumber," Bailey said. "Best death also goes to Chapter 10 of Somnium of Nex by Kulmanari."
"These stories are so sad." The heiress said, blinking away tears. "If there's one thing I've learned from them, it's how to have a breakdown that will get Daddy to do anything I want. The best emotional breakdown goes to Zack's breakdown in Chapter 10 of Moment of Weakness by Hurricane13, co-written by cetrix."
"I gotta give you authors props, even I couldn't resist crying at some points," Zack said, shaking his head in disbelief. "But the one that got to me most and was voted best tear jerker was Letting Go by Woundedhearts."
"We have a tie in this category, too," spoke up Cody. "Readers also voted Somnium of Nex by Kulmanari for best tear jerker."
"And we have just received word that the tissue industry wants to thank both Woundedhearts and Kulmanari for their hard work," Bailey added. "Shareholders at leading manufacturers extend their heartfelt gratitude."
"While none of these stories put even me to sleep," London said, "we do have a category for best dream sequence. And the winner is Cody's ongoing dream throughout Somnium of Nex by Kulmanari."
"Now for the best twincest story," Bailey resumed. "The award goes to Forbidden by Everlasting76."
"Alright, now for the fun categories." The older twins rubbed his hands together with gleeful anticipation. "Some of my favorite characters are the villains. How can you not love someone who pushes laws aside for his own desires? They're so much less boring than clichéd heroes. Now, I present the greatest villain of all time…" he grabbed the list theatrically, "Howard Brownstein in Consequences by Woundedhearts."
"See, I told you," Cody pointed out smugly. "A story doesn't have to be an action/adventure one to have a good villain."
"Yea, but I'm sure the most hated character has to be." Zack produced the results for the next category while Cody stood beside him, smirking. "And the prize goes to John Mackenzie in Older Brothers by Reneyyy'Sprouse'."
A defeated Zack walked away.
"Don't worry, Zack," Bailey reassured him. "I'm sure the next winner will be from an adventure story."
"Really?"
"Yea," Cody replied. "The award for best battle goes to Separated, but not Apart, Chapters 23–25, by Tiger002."
"There are also the authors who draw the reader into the story, only to leave them with a cliffhanger," Zack declared. "It's truly an art how they do it, but our readers agree that the best on the site is Letting Go, Chapter 3, by Woundedhearts."
"Some people have short attention spans," London said, "and don't have time to read a lengthy story, so I'll just announce the winner of the best one-shot before I have to go shopping. Congratulations to Cherry Bombs by sol invictus."
"Our readers are a musical bunch," said Cody, "which is why it's no surprise that we have three winners for best song-fic. And they are Last Night on Earth by Reneyyy'Sprouse,' Bailey's Song by Super Secret Squirrel and The Reason by strawberryfinn."
"Great job, you three!" Bailey cheered.
"Now, for the stories that found that people like us weren't enough," London said. "There are so many different ways that authors combine our fandom with others. The story that readers overwhelmingly voted for as best crossover is Two Brothers and a Pop Tart by Lodylodylody."
"Authors often start with ideas based on what would happen if we were to meet a certain person and let the story go from there," Cody said. "Many of you developed your own characters to join us on our adventures, but there is one original character that stood above the rest. The award for best original character goes to Justin Martin from The Martin Triplets by MorbidMaestro."
"One thing I admire about the authors is their creativity." Bailey beamed at the audience. "I can't begin to imagine how you came up with your ideas, but I'm glad you did. Deciding on the most original story concept is an impossible task, as our votes proved with having two stories tied for first. The gold goes to Somnium of Nexby Kulmanari and Agent L by Snapplelinz."
"Some stories keep going, spanning several fics and examining many different angles of a story," Cody said. "The best series goes to Elianna22 for Just One of the Guysand Repercussions: Parts 1 and 2."
"The last sub-category honors the best story that makes you think it's Christmas," Zack said.
"Does that mean I get presents?" London asked.
"No," the rest of the cast answered in unison.
"The best holiday collection story goes to The Day Times Square Stood Still by James Doyle," Cody revealed.
"And, like all the awards shows, we save the best categories for the end," Zack said.
"These are the ones that made us laugh, cry and lash out at our computers when we saw the authors hadn't updated the next chapter," Cody said.
"So, let's start with the best comedy," Bailey said. "The prize goes to Just One of the Guys by Elianna22."
"Oh, but that's not all," Cody said. "The best romance also goes to Just One of the Guys by Elianna22."
"It seems that our voters haven't forgotten about the classics either," Zack said, "since the best drama goes to I'm Right Here by CRIMS0N HAZE."
"The best tragedy also has a tie," Cody proclaimed. "The winners are Letting Go by Woundedhearts and Somnium of Nex by Kulmanari."
"In the world of fantasy, strange things can happen," London said. "Even things like me being poor." The heiress shuddered with horror. "Our readers have declared the best fantasy story to be Separated, but not Apart by Tiger002."
"For action/adventure stories, the winner is also Separated, but not Apart by Tiger002," Zack said.
"The award for best story was highly contested, but one story barely made it out on top," the younger twin announced. "The best story on the site, as voted by our readers..." he took a deep breath to prolong the suspense.
"IsSeparated, but not Apart by Tiger002!" Zack blurted out.
Cody shot his brother a glare, but quickly returned to the task at hand.
"Before we announce the final category for best author, we want to give a shout-out to the many great authors who did not make it into the final round, but were nominated," Bailey said. "Congratulations to our honorary mention winners Sillvermedal, Snapplelinz, CRIMS0N HAZE, Suspension, James Doyle, ItsASuiteLife, mikromb13, DarkElements10 and Raina Kaiba."
"Keep up the great writing, guys," London enthused.
"The final category had many of our voters asking if they could vote for a four- or five- way tie," Zack began.
"But we forced them to choose, leading to a highly contested battle," Cody continued.
"In the end, though..."
"The winner won the readers over with their variety of gripping stories—"
"Even those who aren't a fan of the genre couldn't help but get into the stories."
"And the best Suite Life author is," Cody said.
"Elianna22!"
"Lodylodylody!"
The twins looked toward each other, wondering how they had received different information.
"It appears we have a tie here." Cody double-checked the list of votes. "Both Elianna22 and Lodylodylody have been chosen as the best author. Congratulations!"
"Now even though the awards are over, we still have one more thing we must take care of," Bailey said.
"This is a massive project, one that Tiger couldn't have pulled off without support from many people, but a few in particular put in many hours to make the show a success," Cody added.
"So, a big thanks goes to Elianna22 for taking the time to beta this story, which make it as good as it was, and mostly typo free," Zack said.
"And don't forget about the fabulous Woundedhearts who came up with a plethora of questions to interrogate the authors with," Bailey said.
"Thanks to all of our favorite authors for taking to time to answer those hard questions too, but most of all for writing these wonderful stories that we all love," Zack told the audience.
"And because we love you," London said, "We plan on having these awards annually, so head on over to Tiger's forums if you have any ideas how to make next year's even better."
"Keep up the great writing everybody!" Zack exclaimed as the hosts left the stage.
