Brochure
Title:
The Reviewer's Choice Awards!
Premise: A rather lengthy two-shot awarding the characters of Yu-Gi-Oh (AKA the stars) the awards for winning the categories YOU voted on!
Summary: The story is over, but the Reviewer's Choice Awards are here! Come watch your (un)favorite characters win awards in a variety of categories as the Talshar twins attempt to keep the insanity and destruction down to a minimum. Minimal bashing.
Genre: Humor and Suspense, no doubt!

Table Of Events
The Award Ceremony
The Quiz Bits
The Credits
The Sequel Preview

Hosted by: Mena and Toli Talshar
Lighting and Camerawork by: Mani Talshar and Izzy Keyein (cousin, 8)
Closed Captioning provided by: Mom Talshar
Guest Appearance Key: (We did some extensive researching ((AKA we looked at people's URLs)) to find out people's names. Anybody whose name we couldn't find gets initials or a nickname. Hope we don't make anyone out of character! Or mess up genders-that's a bad one. And sorry if you aren't on the guest list. We only added the people who voted)
Masami/Damion -Masami Mistress Of Fire
Erckie/Kyrie -Erckie
Ines/Torru -Dark mage of sea
MG/Killer -Millenniumgrl126
Jessica -dragon shadows
Marshmellow/Sarki -MarshmellowDragon
Sarah -Scarab Dynasty
Elizabeth/Ashley -Elizabeth Aiken
Krista -Krista123
Phoenix/Shadow Phoenix -Linkin Phoenix
Silver/Luna -Silver Moon Phoenix
Kameeko/Kamoray -kameeko
Julia -dontmesswithYami
Sheby/Mera/Sinya -ShebyTheDogDemoness
Commander -SPUW Commander
Kitsune -sabishii kitsune
Angel -Angel In The Mirror

Warning: OOCness from some of the characters!

End of Brochure


There was a knock on the door. "Um, sister, it's that time," Mena's voice said on the other side of the dressing room door.

"Mom decided to disown us again?" Toli questioned, straightening her tie.

"Um, no. The other time," Mena said. "The Reviewer's Choice Awards is here and the reviewers are all gathered in the auditorium. Oh yeah, and the stars are too. We gotta go before they decide to riot!"

Toli nodded at her reflection in the mirror. "Okay, just a sec," she said, brushing one side of her chin-length ebony-colored hair behind one ear. She stepped out of her dressing room to find Mena waiting outside. Mena was wearing a sleeveless, sequined blue evening gown, and her hair was pulled back with a blue barrette. Toli, ever the trend breaker, had on a dark blue denim jacket over a red sequined evening gown, and a red tie around her neck.

"Toli, why must you do this?" Mena wanted to know, rolling her eyes. "Can you ever just dress like a normal human being for once?"

"Why would I wanna do something as cliché as that?" Toli asked.

"Come on, guys! It's time to start the show!" Mani urged from some random place.

The two twins nodded at each other and trooped onstage together to begin the show.

There were cheers from the two overhanging balconies, where all of the reviewersone for voters and one for regular reviewershad happily gathered to watch the show. Some had even bothered to tie up friends and drag them in as well. On the floor where the regular chairs were, the stars of the show sat with their respective agents. About twenty seats around Seto and Mokuba were taken up by agents and excessively bulky bodyguards. The need for the bodyguards became clear when a group of Seto fangirls who had gotten together all unanimously blew kisses at their stalkee.

The two onstage went up to the two waiting microphones. Toli took hers right off the stand and went to the edge of the stage. "Ladies and gentleman, disgruntled spirits and androids, yamis and hikaris and those here against your will, welcome to the very first Reviewer's Choice Awards!"

There were cheers and applause from the reviewers, and applause from the stars.

Mena had come up beside her sister. "To reward you all for being so kind and generous with your magnanimous-" she paused as the crowd "ooh"ed at her use of a big word "-reviews, we're bringing you an award show like no other! You have all had a chance to vote for your favorite nominees in a series of categories we picked out, and now we're going to see who gets to win a lovely Revo!" She held up what looked like a little golden man typing away on a little golden laptop in his lap. More cheers.

"Why's it called a Revo?" Toli asked Mena.

Mena shrugged. "It sounded good," she whispered back. Then, back into her microphone, she said, "Now, it's time to begin the show and present our first award!"

Cheers and applause.

"As you all know, no story or show is worth watching...or reading...unless there's a hero-ish person to play the main character. So, our first award of the night is for Most Heroic Character!" Mena said. "And here are the nominees!

"First off, Yugi!"

There were cheers, and several fangirls screamed in delight as a giant picture of Yugi in the audience was plastered up on the giant screen we happened to forget mentioning. He was sitting between Yami and Grandpa and looked cutely embarrassed at the sudden attention.

Mena accidentally dropped the piece of paper she was holding. She picked it up again. "Okay, the next nominee is...Yami!"

More cheers and delighted fangirl screams as the camera swiveled to look at Yami. The fact that he was in black leather instead of a suit or something made the fangirls scream even more. His face was expressionless, but the fact that his eye was twitching meant the screams were getting to him.

"All right, the last nominee is...Joey!"

The same reaction from the crowd and the Joey fangirls as the camera swiveled around a few times before finding Joey. He was sitting between Mai and Serenity, looking for all the world like a hungry puppy. Seto's smirk was almost audible.

"Okay, okay, settle down, people," Mena said. "I still have to announce the winner!" The noise suddenly stopped, like someone had flipped a switch, as the crowd waited for the important announcement. You could hear a pin drop, and Bakura actually dropped a sewing pin on the dark red carpet, to see if you could hear it. It landed with a loud clang and rolled away.

Mena opened the envelope. "And the winner of the Most Heroic Character is...dotdotdot..."

Silence, as the audience held its breath.

"Yugi!"

The reviewers erupted into cheers as the spotlight we also forgot to mention shone down on Yugi. He stood up, wearing a black shirt and pants and his blue jacket, and made his way out to the aisle to get to the stage. Ashley, Silver, and Kitsune all threw white roses down on him.

"Go, Yugi!" Ines cheered from the balcony. "I voted for you!" Ignoring Torru's attempts to quiet her, she happily pumped a fist as he made his way to the waiting microphone. Toli took advantage of the opportunity and gave him a giant hug (as several jealous fangirls looked on) and then gave him his Revo.

Yugi looked up at the microphone. Mena had to lower it. He still couldn't reach, so she lowered it again. Finally, in exasperation, she just yanked the microphone off the stand and handed it to him.

"Um, first I'd like to thank...uh, well, I don't know. I didn't exactly plan a speech," Yugi admitted sheepishly. "Well, then I'd like to thank my grandfather for raising me, and I'd like to thank my friends for hanging out with me, I'd like to thank my yami for protecting me and hanging out with me and filling up all the empty space in my mind, and I'd like to thank the Talshar twins for organizing this event, and...oh! And I'd like to thank all the reviewers who voted for me!" Yugi flashed a grateful smile at the balconies, and several fangirls fainted while others screamed or started jumping up and down or blew kisses.

After that, Yugi left the stage with his award, as the reviewers cheered and the stars applauded. The spotlight wandered aimlessly over random parts of the crowd before centering on Toli.

"Well, as you may know, it's incredibly hard for a hero to be heroic if there's no villain to be villainous," Toli said. "So, our next award is for the Most Villainous Character!"

Cheers and applause, whistles and catcalls, screams of being murdered and laughter from knock-knocks. All response to Toli's statement.

"Here are the nominees for this category," Toli said, looking down at a piece of paper. "First, everyone's favorite CEO, Seto!"

There were according cheers and screams as the camera focused on Seto. He was sitting between Mokuba and three bodyguards (all in one seat...?) and he glared into the camera. A bunch of fangirls got together and started chanting "SETO! SETO! SETO!" while swaying back and forth. They almost knocked Elizabeth off the balcony, but Ashley and Luna grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her back up.

"Our next nominee is..." Toli began, looking back down at the piece of paper, "that evil thief you love to hate, Bakura!"

The usual response. The camera found Bakura in the audience, sitting between Ryou and Marik, caught in the act of trying to light a firecracker that he could shove under Marik's seat. He tossed the unlit firecracker and smiled innocently at the camera.

"And the next nominee," Toli said, "is our Funny Bunny-loving villain, Pegasus!"

There were cheers and applause but not as many screams. The camera found Pegasus, in an impressive and expensive-looking tuxedo, sitting between two Funny Bunny plushies. Except for the plushies, he looked like he actually thought the evening was a serious affair.

Yeah right.

"And our last nominee," Toli said, "is that crazy Rod-wielding maniac-"

"Hey!" Marik shouted from the audience.

"Oh, wait your turn!" Mena shouted back.

"You guys mind?" Toli demanded. Mena and Marik shut up. "Okay. Like I was saying, or last nominee is Marik!"

The usual screams and cheers and applause followed her announcement. The camera, which happened to be flying over people's heads with two little angel wings, focused on Marik, who was sitting between Bakura and Ishizu, the two Ishtars wearing formal Egyptian clothes. He was pouting angrily about Toli's introduction of him.

Toli waited for the noise to die down before opening the envelope. "All right, and now the moment you've been waiting for! The winner of the Most Villainous Character award is..."

The audience held their breath. Then Julia let it out in a gasp and passed out.

Toli read the envelope and looked up with a smile. "Marik!"

There were cheers and applause as the camera turned to see Marik with the pout still on his face. Ishizu poked him in the side and whispered something in his ear, and his pout turned to a look of confusion. She whispered in his ear again, and Marik suddenly sprang upright and made his way out to the aisle. Krista threw a purple rose on his head and blew kisses at him. He went up to the stage amid cheers and applause and screams and cries and someone blowing their nose quite loudly. Mena handed him his Revo and gave him a bone-crushing hug.

"Uh...well...I'd like to thank me, because I'm great," Marik said. "And...well, that's about it. I don't care enough about anyone else to thank them."

"Marik!" Ishizu exclaimed, standing up in the audience.

"Oh yeah. I thank my sister...my brother...um, the mailman...can I stop now?" he whined to Ishizu.

Ishizu sighed and nodded, and Marik, relieved, left the stage with his Revo and Krista's purple rose tucked under an arm.

"Okay, commercial time!" Mena announced. The crowd groaned. "Oh, shut up and take it!" Toli snapped. She and Mena left the stage together and left the crowd to mingle as the screen rolled with sponsors' ads, most of them obviously homemade. The crowd immediately mingled.

"I'm so glad Yugi won the Most Heroic Character award," Erckie said to Kyrie and the Aiken twins. All four had Vanilla Cokes in their hands.

"I would have liked it better if Joey had won," Elizabeth admitted.

Torru passed by with Ines but did a double take. "Hey, is that Coke? Can I have some?"

They let him have one. "What are the other awards?" Ashley asked no one in particular.

Elizabeth pulled out a brochure. "They don't say. They just tell you when all the events will take place."

"Hey, you guys," Sarah said, coming over to their group, "me and some of the other fangirls are planning to kidnap Yugi after the award show. Any of you wanna help out?"

While the Vanilla Coke group was being hired to break the law, Ines and Torru were talking to Damion and Masami.

"So, you're Mena's boyfriend, right?" Torru asked Damion.

Damion turned a bright red. "Yeah what's it to you?" he asked defensively.

"So you know Toli, don't you?"

Damion shrugged. "Yeah, some. She's a nice girl."

Torru nodded. "Has she, uh, said anything about me?"

Ines and Masami rolled their eyes. "Sometimes boys are such idiots," Ines said.

"I agree," Masami put in.

Meanwhile, Julia had revived and was now trying to sneak her way over to Yami. She found him in the middle of a conversation with Yugi, who was holding his Revo in his lap. Grandpa had left to take care of business. Julia saw it as the perfect opportunity and took the old man's seat.

"Hi, guys!" she said cheerfully.

Yami and Yugi turned to her. "Uh, hi," Yugi said.

"Can we help you with something?" Yami asked, trying to be polite.

Julia shook her head. "Oh, no, not really."

Just then Mena and Toli came back onstage. "Okay, people, we're back!" Mena said into her microphone. People started heading back to their seats. Grandpa came back from the little boys' room and found Julia in his seat. Not wanting security to toss her out, he took a seat on the floor beside Julia's new aisle seat.

"Sorry about the commercial," Toli said, "but we wanted everyone to get to make an appearance in the story! And just so you know, we'll be having three more commercials. Anyway, let's keep going!

"Well, we all know that a great show has to have a hero and a villain. But there's something else a great show needs," Toli said as the wandering spotlight finally figured out where she was. "And that's somebody to get on your nerves!"

There were laughs and a shout of "Ain't that the truth!" from Marshmellow, who was holding Sarki in place by the ear.

"Well it's time to appreciate those annoying people in all their glory," Toli went on, "so our next award is for the Most Annoying Character!"

There was the usual applause, cheers, and snorts.

Toli lifted the sheet of paper with the nominees on it. "And our first nominee is, our one and only Friendship Freak, Tea!"

There were cheers and applause but no screams, for fanboys don't scream. The camera found Tea, who was sitting between Yami and Tristan, wearing an off-white evening gown. She smiled and waved at the camera.

"And the next nominee," Toli went on, "is that guy who sort of blends into the wall. Tristan!"

Applause, but no cheers or screams. The camera turned to look at Tristan, who hunched down in his seat and started grumbling about something.

"The next nominee," Toli continued, "is that mutt everybody knows, Joey!"

"Hey! I ain't a mutt!" Joey cried over the applause, cheers, and screams from Joey fangirls. He was standing up.

"Oh, yes you are, Wheeler," Seto suddenly said, standing up in the sea of bodyguards. "Don't act so appalled because your true nature has been exposed."

"Grrr, KAI-BAAA!" Joey roared, shaking an angry fist. "Yer gonna get it someday, believe you me!"

Toli sighed. "Do you guys mind if I continue or what?" she demanded. Seto and Joey sat down. "Thank you. Anywhatever, our next nominee is that same tomb robber we mentioned before, Bakura!"

The same cheers, applause, and screams from Bakura fangirls from last time started up again. The camera looked at Bakura, who was about to plant something small and black in Marik's hair. He quickly tossed it over his shoulder and smiled innocently at the camera again.

"And our final nominee," Toli said, "is the little Kaiba, Mokuba!"

There were cheers and applause as the camera focused on Mokuba, wearing a tuxunlike his brotherand sitting between Seto and four bodyguards (all in one seat, I suppose...). He looked a little bored, and Seto looked angry that his brother had been nominated for this specific award.

"And the winner of the Most Annoying Character award is..." Toli opened the envelope and looked at the card. Everyone held their breath in suspense. Julia, having learned her lesson, simply breathed quietly.

Toli looked up and smiled. "Tea!"

There were cheers and applause, despite the fact that this was in most terms a negative award. Tea stood up as the camera and spotlight finally figured out where she was. She stepped out into the aisle and headed for the stage. Phoenix threw a pink rose down on her.

"Where are all these roses coming from?" Sheby wondered aloud.

Mera turned to look at Sinya. "That is not your cue to wander around," she said sternly.

Sinya gave her a "oh, I wouldn't do that" look. Meanwhile, Tea walked up to the stage, where Mena gave her a hug and handed her the shiny gold Revo. Then Tea stepped up to the microphone and waited for the noise to cease.

"This is really awesome," Tea said, "and even though this would be considered a negative award in most respects, I still appreciate it. I actually do have a short speech planned-"

The audience groaned. Tea rolled her eyes. "It isn't a friendship speech!" she snapped.

The groaning stopped. Tea sighed and pushed her hair out of her face. "So, like I was saying, I'd like to thank my friends for supporting me-" she glared as about half the audience cringed when the word "friends" came from her mouth. The other half glared at the cringing half. "And I'd like to thank everyone else who has made a difference in my life. I'd also like to thank the reviewers who voted for me!" She bowed and left the stage amid applause. The spotlight and camera, both flying over the audience, bumped into each other once. Mani and Izzy, who were controlling the light and camera from the rafters, started pushing buttons on their remote controllers.

Toli took the mike again. "As you can obviously see from my original fashion sense-" she paused to quickly display her outfit again, earning light applause "-I like to look good. Of course, who doesn't want to dress their best? But dressing your best and putting together an outfit that people will agree looks hot are unfortunately two different things. Well now we're here to shine the...er, erratically moving spotlight on those who can do both, so our next award is for the Best Dressed!"

As usual, applause, cheers, screams, gurgles, heavy breathing, and other such noises of appreciation.

Toli smiled at the audience. "Our first nominee is, once again, everyone's favorite trenchcoat-wearing CEO, Seto Kaiba!"

Applause and cheers and screams from the Seto fangirls. Someone decided it would be fun to drool on the red carpet from the balcony. The camera turned to Seto, dressed in black and a gravity-defying trenchcoat, which was partially floating over his seat. He had his usual cold scowl in place.

"Our next nominee is a guy who can still look good, even with his hikari's limited wardrobe, none other than Yami!"

The appropriate cheers, applause, and screams of joy were heard as the camera focused on Yami again, still in his black leather (like he would have taken it off or something?). He raised an eyebrow slowly, and then casually lifted a hand to wave at the camera. Two seats away from him, Julia was giggling at the thought of being so close to Yami.

"Our next nominee," Toli went on when the noise finally died down, "is, once again, Funny Bunny Freak, the guy never caught without a suit on, Pegasus!"

Applause but no screams. The camera turned to look at Pegasus briefly, and then it decided to look elsewhere like it was bored.

"Our next nominee," Toli said, "is everyone's favorite miniskirt-wearing female duelist, Mai!"

Applause and cheers and a happy yell from Marshmellow as the camera righted itself and focused on Mai, who was sitting between Joey and Duke. She was wearing a minidress and knee-length high-heel boots, and some guys started cheering louder.

"And finally," Toli said, "our last nominee is, everyone's favorite dice freak who can't keep his hands off his own hair, Duke!"

The normal applause, cheers, and screams from Duke fangirls. The camera focused on Duke, who was sitting between Mai and the aisle, dressed in red and black, playing with his hair, as usual.

"And the winner," Toli said, opening the envelope, "of the Best Dressed Category is..."

Everyone held their breath. Julia, once again, breathed quietly, and this time Angel passed out from holding in air for too long.

Toli smiled. "My choice exactly. Mai!"

The audience burst into applause and cheers as the camera and spotlight found Mai without incident. She stood up and went out into the aisle. Marshmellow roped Sarki and Commander into helping her throw green roses on Mai's head as she went onstage. Mena gave her a high-five and her Revo, and she stepped up to the microphone.

"Wow, this is pretty awesome," Mai said, smiling. "Well, let's see. I'd like to thank Joey for escorting me to the Reviewer's Choice Awards, and I'd like to thank my professional consultant for helping me put all my outfits together, and I'd like to thank Maybelline for making the makeup I use, and I'd like to thank the Talshar twins for putting this together, and I'd like to thank all the reviewers who said my clothes are the best! This one's for you!" She held up the Revo as the cheers and applause started up. Then she went back to her seat.

"Okay, people, commercial time again!" Mena said.

This time no one groaned because Toli was giving them a glare. "Mingle and enjoy each other's company!" The twins left the stage, and the audience started mingling.

Jessica made her way to the bathroom. When she came back, things had changed a little among the reviewers. Erckie and Kyrie had somehow cleared away several chairs and set up a Vanilla Coke stand and was selling Vanilla Cokes to people for money and other such valuable things and ideas. Shadow Phoenix, Killer, Luna, Mera and Sinya had set up a black tent in one corner of the balcony and had a sign which read "Meeting For Those Here Against Their Will". Sarki was heading over to them. Ines and Masami had left Torru and Damion, who were busy talking about the Talshar twins, and had collected up Sarah, Kitsune, Sheby, Silver, and Phoenix and were now happily discussing how they planned to kidnap Yugi after the show. Julia was still in Solomon's seat and was talking to Yami and Yugi about where they bought their clothes. Suddenly Chemo and Croquet, who had been hired by Mom Talshar to be security guards, showed up and Julia had to go back to her seat in the voters' balcony. Before leaving, she gave Yami and Yugi a big hug each.

"Psst, Jessica," a low voice said from behind a random curtain. Jessica turned and saw Mena's yami, Jesselda, hiding behind the curtain, wearing a black dress and cape. She motioned Jessica over. "Here, take this," she said, handing Jessica the Millennium Plate. "Do not let Mena have it until this is over." That done, she walked off to join the "Those Here Against Their Will" meeting.

"...Um...okay..." Jessica said uncertainly.

Meanwhile, at Erckie and Kyrie's Vanilla Coke stand, the two had started selling virgin pina coladas and roses of every color. It turns out that Mani had had all the roses and had handed them out to people who wanted to throw them. Now she had given them all to Erckie and Kyrie to sell.

"How much is two Vanilla Cokes?" Kameeko asked.

"How much do you have?" Kyrie asked.

"Um...six dollars and seven cents...and two and a half dinner mints," Kamoray answered, holding out their offering.

"That'll work." Erckie took the money and mints and handed them two Vanilla Cokes. Kameeko and Kamoray left, to be replaced by Shadow Phoenix who bought a Vanilla Coke for himself and one for Phoenix.

Silver came up while Shadow Phoenix was doing so and leaned over the counter, eyeing the incredibly short list of things they sold. "Do you guys sell pancakes?"

"Pancakes?" Erckie glanced at Kyrie, who shrugged. "I don't think we have any. But we'll see about it."

"You guys, I don't think security will just let you kidnap Yugi after the show," Krista said, walking by the Yugi-fans group.

Julia appeared out of nowhere. "That's right!" she agreed. "That security is fierce. Hope you have stun guns!"

"Toli's little sister Mani sold us all of Toli's old frying pans," Ines explained. "We can use those."

There was silence as the group contemplated Toli's sanity.

"Hey, I think the show's back," Kitsune said, pointing to the big screen which had stopped showing poorly made commercials.

The voters all grabbed seats, most of which had been knocked down when Erckie and Kyrie had been looking for a place to set up their stand, and started sitting down. Most sat near Erckie and Kyrie's stand so they could buy drinks without having to walk a long distance. The "Here Against Our Will" and "Kidnap Yugi" meetings quieted down as the twins showed up onstage again. The flying spotlight slammed into the railing of the voters' balcony. Izzy, who was controlling the flying spotlight, got a nice clock on the head from Mani.

Mena grabbed her microphone and smoothed her hair. "Okay, we're back now!" she said. "It's time for the next award!"

The usual noises of appreciation occurred.

"Well, we've covered the fact that every show needs a hero, a villain, someone to annoy you, and a good dresser. But there's another thing that a good show needs," Mena said. "And that," she stated importantly with one finger in the air, "is the most important guy to the plot!"

All the girls agreed. The guys simply waited to hear more.

"So," Mena said, lowering her finger, "our next award is for the Most Important Male!"

This time everyone contained the strange noises and simply cheered and applauded.

Mena opened the paper containing the list of nominees. "All right," she said, "our first nominee is, well, duh, this guy is obvious, I mean, the main man, or highschooler, Yugi!"

Cheers and applause and screams. The camera found Yugi, but the spotlight crashed. Mani whacked Izzy on the head with frying pan as punishment. Sarah was accidentally shoved over the railing of the balcony and fell on top of Chemo, who was making rounds. She got up and dusted herself off, unhurt, but Chemo didn't move.

A sweatdrop appeared on the back of Toli's head. Is it me, or are things getting weirder by the minute? she thought.

Mena, oblivious to the crashed camera, and the fact that her little sister was physically abusing her cousin, and the giant sweatdrop weighing down her twin's head, and the fact that Sarah had possibly killed one of the guards by falling on him, made a motion for the noise to quiet. "Our next nominee," she said when the noise had quieted, "is the resident 5,000-year-old pharaoh, the guy who everyone wishes was in their head, Yami!"

As usual, screams and cheers and applause. Izzy, ignoring the giant lump on his head, righted the spotlight as the camera focused on Yami again. This time Jessica was shoved off the balcony, and she fell on Croquet. She was unharmed as well, but Croquet didn't move either.

"Who keeps pushing people off the balcony?" Silver wondered.

"Hey Silver," said Ines, who was sitting beside her, "where's Luna?"

Silver glanced around and saw that Luna was gone. "Uh oh..."

"Our next nominee," Mena said, "is the guy with the gravity-defying trenchcoats, Mr. CEO-I-can't-get-over-a-grudge himself, Seto!"

There was applause, but no cheers and screams as people's voices were starting to get worn out. Many bottles of Vanilla Coke were sold in the next six seconds to remedy this. Whoever was attempting to murder knocked Kitsune off of the balcony this time, and she fell on both Sarah and Jessica. Silver left her seat to go find Luna. Mera, in the meantime, noticed that Sinya was missing as well. Oh yeah, and the camera turned to look at Seto, who scowled.

"Big brother," Mokuba said, nudging Seto in the ribs, "can't you smile at least a little for the cameras?"

"Why would I want to do something as pointless as that?" was the response.

Mena, who hadn't noticed a single speck of the threatening pandemonium, simply looked down at the nominee sheet. "And our last nominee," she said, "is everyone's favorite dumb blond, the guy who makes you laugh even in the middle of a crisis-who wrote this? Anyway, Joey!"

There was applause, and cheers and screams from the revitalized throats as the camera found Joey again. Everyone at the edge of the balcony wrapped their legs around their chairs as they applauded to keep from being knocked over the edge, but Ashley was a beat too late and she got knocked off. On the floor, Sarah, Jessica, and Kitsune were prepared and were nice enough to catch her.

"And the winner," Mena said, opening the envelope containing the name of the most voted for, "of the Most Important Male category is..."

Everyone waited. Having learned from Julia's and Angel's mistakes, everyone just kept their breathing quiet.

Mena looked at the paper and smiled. She showed it to Toli, who grinned happily. Then Mena returned to the microphone. "Yami!"

Cheers and applause and happy screams of delight as the camera and spotlight focused on Yami. Yami leaned over and said something to Yugi. Yugi said something back while pointing at the stage, and Yami stood up and got out into the aisle. Ines, Julia, and Kitsune, who was still on the floor, all threw silver roses on Yami, and Julia blew him a kiss. Yami made his way up onstage, where Toli gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek (as we all know, Toli is a major Yami fan, winkwink) and handed him his Revo. Mena then handed him a microphone.

The noise died down. Yami approached the edge of the stage. "Well, I don't exactly know what to say," he admitted. "I've only seen things like this on television, and I have never been to one, much less won anything. But I think I get the idea of what you're supposed to do up here, so here goes. First of all, I'd like to thank Yugi for solving the Puzzle in the first place and releasing me, and being my closest friend."

All the girls in the audience went "Awww!"

"And I'd like to thank all my friends for being my friends, and I'd like to thank all of the nice people who voted for me."

"That was me!" Julia yelled.

Yami bowed and walked offstage amid cheers and applause. When the noise died down, Toli had taken over the microphone.

"Okay, all right, so we all know a good show needs a incredibly important guy," Toli said. "but, let's not forget, where there's a guy, there's got to be a girl to kick him into shape."

Masami, Mera, and Ines agreed vehemently with this.

"And where there's an important guy, there's an important girl," Toli went on. "So our next award is for the Most Important Female!"

Cheers and applause, laughs and screams, loud denyings of plans for world dominationthe usual noises.

"Our first nominee," Toli said, "is everyone's favorite female duelist, the one with all the blond hair, Mai!"

Cheers and applause. The camera found Mai, who had her Revo from the Best Dressed category in her lap. She smiled and flashed a peace sign at the camera.

"Our next nominee," Toli went on, "is that lovely woman from Egypt, the one who used to have the Millennium Necklace, you know, the one who foresaw all that stuff. Ishizu!"

Cheers and applause. The camera bounced off of Masami's head and then found Ishizu. She was sitting between her brother and the aisle. She smiled at the camera. In the wings, Mani started banging on the controller in her hands. "This thing is malforktioning!" she grumbled.

"The next nominee," Toli continued, "is once again, our Friend Freak, the one that likes dancing, Tea!"

Once again, cheers and applause. The camera found Tea, who was holding her Revo. She waved happily at the camera.

"And last, but definitely not least," Toli said, "is Joey Wheeler's little sister, Serenity!"

Applause and cheers (ha! It was cheers and applause last time!) as the camera turned and found Serenity. She was sitting between Joey and Tristan. She looked embarrassed at the sudden attention, but managed a smile.

Toli waited until the noise had died down before opening the envelope. "And now," she said, "the winner of the Most Important Female Award is..."

Everyone leaned forward in their seats, causing a synchronized squeaking of chairs.

Toli's eyebrows raised as she looked at the envelope. "Something wrong?" Mena whispered. She glanced at the envelope. "Is that all?"

With a shrug, Toli turned back to her microphone. "The winner is Tea!"

Applause and cheers. Someone accidentally dropped a can of Vanilla Coke off the balcony, and it spilled onto the carpet below. Tea got out of her seat, leaving her Revo for Most Annoying Character in it, and went up to the stage. Mena gave her a hug and handed her the new award.

"Wow, two awards in one night!" Tea said into the microphone when the noise had died down. "This is a real honor. I appreciate it so much. I'll keep it short this time, and just say thanks to everybody!" The audience applauded as she made her way back to her seat, now holding two Revos.

Mena grabbed up her microphone. "Well, it's that time again. Commercial break!" She and Toli left the stage and went backstage as everybody started mingling again.

Down on the floor where the stars were sitting, Sarah, Jessica, Ashley, and Kitsune were considering how to get back up to the voters' balcony. "Maybe we could make a human ladder or something," Kitsune suggested.

"How would that work?" Sarah asked. "We're not tall enough, and even if we were, only one of us could get back on the balcony!"

"Does anyone know who even knocked us off?" Jessica asked.

"I have no idea," Ashley said. "What about you Kitsune? Sarah?"

They shook their heads. They all looked up at the voters' balcony and sighed.

Meanwhile, up on the balcony, things were getting just a little weirder. Erckie and Kyrie were now selling pancakes, Cheez-It crackers, and some of Toli's more inventive "prezzies". Their best selling item was still Vanilla Coke, though. Jesselda had joined the "Here Against Our Will" meeting and was telling them about the secret escape path up through the rafters. The "Kidnap Yugi" meeting was kind of falling apart, since three of their members were no longer present on the balcony.

"What are you doing?" Silver asked.

"Looking for Sinya," Mera answered her. "That delinquent disappeared during the Most Important Male award."

"So did Luna," Silver said, her chin in her hand as she thought. "Why don't we team up and look for them together?"

Mera shrugged.

"Sarki!" Marshmellow yelled across the balcony. "SARKI!"

"WHAT?" Sarki yelled back.

"YOU WANT A VANILLA COKE?"

"OKAY!"

Marshmellow turned back to the counter. "Okay. One more Vanilla Coke, please," she said to Kyrie.

"MARSHMELLOW!"

"WHAT?"

"EVERYONE ELSE IN THE MEETING WANTS ONE TOO!"

"OKAY!" Marshmellow turned back to Kyrie. "Scratch that. Make it seven more Vanilla Cokes."

"You got fifty-seven dollars and twenty-nine cents and two different color buttons?" Kyrie asked incredulously.

Marshmellow handed the required over and got her Cokes. She tossed them over to the HAOW (Here Against Our Will) meeting and hit everyone on the head except Sarki, who caught her soda.

"I hate her," Shadow Phoenix commented, wincing at the pain of a brand new lump on his head.

"She's as bad as Mena," Jesselda chimed in.

Torru and Damion were still talking about the twins. Masami and Ines had come over to ask them if they wanted Vanilla Cokes, and were patiently waiting for a break in the conversation.

"Do you guys want a Coke or what?" Ines demanded.

"Just a sec," Torru told her. "So, do you know what Toli's favorite color is?"

Damion rolled his eyes. "Dude, I'm obsessed with Mena, not Toli. I wouldn't know, okay?"

"Guys! Do you want some Vanilla Coke?" Masami asked frustratedly.

"Did Mena ever tell you what type of guy Toli likes?" Torru asked.

"Nope," Damion answered.

Ines and Masami gave each other frustrated looks. Moments later, both Torru and Damion had been shoved over the edge of the balcony. The four girls already there didn't bother to catch them. They fell on Chemo and Croquet, who were just recovering, knocking them out again.

Up in the rafters, Mani and Izzy were sitting together, dangling their legs over the edge. "Did you happen to notice how berserk things are going?" Izzy asked Mani.

Mani nodded. "That's what happens whenever my big sisters plan an event and invite anyone outside the family."

"Ohhh, so that explains the whole trip-to-France-plane-fiasco thing last summer," Izzy realized.

"Hey Mani," Mena said into the walkie-talkie, "we need you onstage!"

"Okay," Mani said into hers. She stood up and called someone on her cellphone. "I'm getting somebody to work the camera while I'm gone," she explained to Izzy. Moments later, MG, who had absolutely nothing better to do and didn't know how Mani had gotten her cellphone number, showed up and took over the camera's remote control as Mani ran off to make it to backstage.

"What are you doing?" Killer demanded into the walkie-talkie that had magically appeared on MG's hip.

"I'm managing the camera," MG answered.

There was a sigh. "Well, you better get back down here and give me the money for a Coke soon," Killer said.

"Yeah, yeah," MG said, pushing buttons on the controller.

TO BE CONTINUED...


Mena: What? Why did you cut it off there?

Toli: Because my hands hurt! Don't yours?

Mena: Well, now that you mention it...

Toli: Sorry, folks, but we have to cut the awards show in half in order not to blow you over or overwork ourselves. But the second half will be up soon, you can count on that! So you don't wanna miss it! Review and tell us what you think so far!

(All review responses will be in the second half)