9th Annual Fannie Awards

Chapter 2

"Well…" whitem started, checking himself in the mirror, "I think that the opening ceremony went pretty good, don't you think?" His eyes moved enough to look at his co-host's reflection.

"I agree." Slipgate replied, shaking his phone in an effort to make it work, even though he knew it wouldn't make a difference. "But why do you keep checking yourself out in the mirror?"

"Why don't you get yourself a normal watch?" whitem replied, tapping the Timex on his wrist as he turned around. "They're cheap, too."

Giving his co-host a narrowed look, Slipgate said "No answer huh? Anyway, it's also a phone you know… and a calendar, and a computer, and…"

"I know, I know. I finally ordered one myself and I should receive it in a week. But I'm still going to wear a watch." Slipgate chuckled and didn't say anything else on the matter.

After a moment whitem broke the silence. "Speaking of time, looks like we only have a few minutes here for us to start the awards portion of the show."

"Don't forget to introduce the rest of the Kimmity." the younger man informed his co-host.

"Kimmity? Oh, I get it. I haven't forgotten them. In fact, it's right here on our Itinerary/Program. See?" whitem held up a tablet computer that had the designation J.A.R.V.I.S. II on the lower right of the unit. He tapped the screen and a checklist popped up showing what was next for the Hosts.

"Where did you get that?"

"I was given this as soon as I arrived this morning." Whitem held the unit between two fingers twisting it in the air. "You were supposed to get one too. Don't you have yours?"

Slipgate patted down his jacket, " I do remember someone handing me…" Just then his hand tapped a hard object that was located in the left inner pocket of his jacket.

'Heh…" he offered sheepishly. He pulled out the unit and looked at whitem. "Sorry. But now you can't sass me about my phone if you're carrying this." After giving a small laugh, whitem informed him that the units were only connected to an Intranet that was dedicated internally to the J.A.R.V.I.S. II system.

"So why is the screen flashing yellow like that? Yours is doing the same thing."

whitem looked down at his own unit. "Uh oh… that's our warning that we need to get ready to go back on stage. Yellow is a ninety second warning, and red means we only have thirty seconds."

"So why did we have a stagehand counting down for us before?" whitem didn't say anything, tapped the screen twice to stop the flashing, and put the unit into his jacket's inner pocket. The stagehand then showed up once again seemingly out of nowhere, and started another countdown. whitem nudged Slipgate who quickly double-tapped his screen to stop the flashing red screen and placed his unit back into his jacket's inner pocket just as the stagehand pointed at them to walk out onto the stage.

…KP…

After the two hosts arrived back at the podium, whitem started the next segment.

"Welcome back everybody. First, we would like to kindly ask that you hold your applause until after each winner completes their acceptance speech. Next, we hope you were able to get a snack and something to drink. While you're all getting settled in again, I would like to say that Slipgate and I have not done all this alone. We have employed the help of none other than CajunBear73 and Sentinel103, also known as the writing team BearSent176. They have been a great help with Beta Reading for people, and they will also be helping us in presenting some awards tonight as well."

"Employed?" Slipgate asked out the side of his mouth, "That kind of implies that we're paying them, doesn't it?"

"We'll talk about it later, OK?"

Slipgate shook his head imperceptibly, then called out, "CB? Sentinel? Would you guys like to come out here and say 'Hi?'"

From Stage Right came the sounds of scuffling just before two gentlemen suddenly (and seemingly unceremoniously at that) burst onto the stage from the right wing. Looking back to where they 'entered the stage' they outrageously straightened their disheveled clothing before they realized where they were. Then they sheepishly glanced to the audience before shyly waving and shuffling toward the Hosts.

Rolling their eyes, Slipgate and whitem stepped to the other side, away from the podium and then gestured to both it and the microphone. Eyeing the Hosts, and then the audio stand in the middle of the stage, they timidly crept up to it, and after peering at it and back to each other a couple of times, they leaned in together and said, "Hi."

"Oh c'mon you two," whitem hissed off to the side just loud enough for the other two to hear. "I know you two aren't this shy. So stop messing around!" Frustration was just oozing from him.

Standing a little straighter, and with little smiles on their faces reminiscent of the Tweebs, CajunBear and Sentinel slyly looked to each other as they realized just how they could get under whitem's skin.

Sentinel quickly leaned in to the microphone. "All I'd like to say at this time is… it's all his fault." He finished with a thumb hooked in the direction of his friend.

Smirking at his online and offline partner in 'crime,' CajunBear began. "Well yes, we do enjoy what we do online with the Kimmunity, and look forward to more of it in the coming years." Then he looked to whitem and added, "And we have Slipgate and whitem to thank for letting us help with this year's festivities."

Then, holding his hand over the microphone, he leaned in theatrically towards Slipgate. "But do you think," he started, nodding toward whitem, "he'll pick up the tab for the party we hosted last night in his room while he was prepping for today? I mean, those penguins were just not going to leave without a fight, or a heck of a lot of fish to lead them out of there." Slipgate shrugged his shoulders in a non-committal gesture.

While realization came over the non-capitalized author's face, CajunBear nudged Sentinel, and quickly jabbing a hand in any direction but where whitem was standing, they quickly made for a swift exit.

Trying not to chase after the reason his room had to be aired out last night, whitem stepped up to the podium as CajunBear and Sentinel exited stage left. "No… no worries here, folks. I know how to find them. I know people who have special skills…" he started, but Slipgate quickly jabbed him in the side. "Ah, yes, well, as I was about to say, we are now ready for our first three winners. Slipgate, do you have the envelopes?" His co-host nodded and pulled them out of his jacket pocket far enough to be seen.

"Our first category is for Best KP Style Name. This award goes to the author who has come up with a name that has a play on words or phrases, such as Camille Leon, whose name sounds like Chameleon."

A small voice echoed from the audience. "Hey! My mother gave me that name!"

"Sorry Camille," whitem said into the microphone, "I was just using it as an example." A grumble that could barely be heard was then followed by a smattering of laughter. He then held out a hand to receive the first envelope, and opened it.

"Anyway, our first winner for Best KP Style Name is Ken Trepid, from the story 'Kim Possible Rides Again – Prologue' by hotrod2001!" Hotrod walked across the stage with a smile on his face. Slipgate brought forward a gold-colored Rufus statuette, which Hotrod graciously received. Then the author strode up to the microphone and immediately started his speech.

"What can we say about Ken Trepid? Most of you by now have probably gathered that his name is a play on words for 'Intrepid' which is defined as being 'resolutely fearless.' How I came up with it was basically a 'Eureka Moment' while strumming through a thesaurus searching for possible words to play on for an OC which was in every way Kim's equal and more. And one night, I came across Intrepid, and it just kind of went from there.

"We haven't seen much of Trepid in my story so far, but the reception I have gotten from you, the fans, so far of the glimpse that you have gotten is that you like the character and are looking forward to where and how he comes into the fray. To me, I think I have him exactly how I want him and that he would fit in well in the KP universe in both canon and fandom. A little rough around the edges, keeps to himself, and happens to get annoyed by Ron...which I think is forgivable because really, who doesn't get annoyed by the guy every once in a while?" A plaintive 'Hey!' was heard from the audience, which was followed by a 'hunph' when a certain red head's elbow was placed in a particular point in the blonde boy's ribs.

"Anyways, this was kind of short notice, so I'll wrap it up with this. I am very humbled that the fandom has embraced one of my own creations, and I hope that he delivers to the fans a performance that is memorable and one that is spoken about for years to come."

Both hosts watched the author as he walked across the stage with his award in hand, to the sound of loud approval by the audience. Slipgate stepped up to the microphone, silencing the crowd with his hands and said, "Next we have Best Original Character. This award is given to the author who has created a character of their own that wasn't in the Kim Possible TV series or either of the movies." He pulled the next envelope out of his pocket and opened it. He read the winner to himself and gave his co-host a sideways glance. "The winner is Moriarty, from the 'The Power of Ron' series by none other than my co-host whitem!"

"Umm… what?" The co-host actually looked a bit surprised. He stepped up to the microphone as Slipgate handed him the Rufus statuette, and adjusted the microphone position a bit.

"Wow… what can I say? Moriarty has just become a villain that people love to hate, I guess. I used a big mix of so many different villains when creating him, and tried hard to make him a villain that people would actually get pissed off at. Heh… I guess it worked."

"Receiving the Best Original Character for him though is a big surprise, as that award is completely different from Best Villain. It says that people actually like the character himself, aside from the fact that he is a villain. So for that, I say THANK YOU to all those who voted for him in this category. It means a lot. Now I kinda wish I didn't… oops… almost gave a spoiler to anyone who hasn't read the final story of the series. Anyway… Thanks again everybody!"

Again the audience applauded the winner as whitem stepped back and handed his Rufus statuette off to a stage handler who was there just for this purpose.

Returning to the podium, he shrugged and said, "Hey… ya never know if a Host is going to win something, ya know? Anyway… Minor characters… Those that didn't get as much screen time as Kim, Ron, Drakken, or even Shego. They are still an integral part of every episode as they help flesh out the story line. This next award is for Best Minor Character." He then held out a hand and Slipgate handed him the third envelope.

"The winner is…" He fumbled a bit with opening the next award, but was finally able to get the envelope open without causing any damage. "Tara, from Kim Possible Rides Again – Prologue,' by hotrod2001!"

The winning author walked up onto the stage, looking a bit stunned that he was once again receiving an award. He received the small statuette from Slipgate, and walked up to the podium after whitem stepped to one side.

"So, obviously I'm very thankful to the committee for bestowing this title on me and thanks goes out to all of the fans and friends out there who voted for me to get this award. And most of all, a big shout out to Taechunsa who has been my beta since Chapter 2 and has helped me make smart decisions about my story, including the idea of utilizing Tara a little more.

"Tara...I think when you ask any long-time KP fan out there which character was the most underused and underdeveloped on that show, I would think that she probably wins it hands down. For a girl who had a speaking role and managed to get to first base with Ron, you would have thought there was more to her than just good looks and cheerleading. Well, through the miracle of creativity and a series that concluded a little open-ended, Tara finally got her chance to shine. I remember when I first started working on this story on how I really wanted to show how strong of a character Tara could have been and what she could have achieved if she had been used a little more. As a result, a heartbroken Ron had an old friend step up and help him out during his darkest times, a friend who shot it to him straight and helped him reinvent himself into a young adult who was more than the comic relief he was later portrayed as. And with this award I think it's safe to say that I succeeded in giving her the role she never managed to have." A large amount of applause came from the audience as if in total agreement, and quickly died down so he could continue.

"So I guess the question is now, where does Tara and the rest of the story go from here? The prequel is nearing completion, give or take another chapter or two, and I'm planning on bringing her back before the story concludes... hopefully it has as much of an impact as what we have seen of her already.

"Anyways, thank you everyone for your votes, words of congratulations, and continuing support of this 'line drawing practice' I started 5 years ago. I do it because of you and thank you for letting me tell a story." The two hosts stepped back up to the podium as hotrod2001 walked off the stage with his second statuette in-hand.

Slipgate started the next segment. "Well folks, that's our first of many awards yet to come. We will take a short break and be right back for more awards! Keep in mind our food and drink services. whitem and I will be back in a bit with the next group of winners."

As the two hosts walked off the stage, another song by AC/DC played as they left the stage. This time it was the hard-hitting number called "Thunder Struck".

To Be Continued…