::From offstage, a siren howl sounds, “BOW WOWWOW WOOOW WOW!” and Flash the Wonder Dog swings onto the stage. However, he misses his “mark” and slides all the way across the stage, resulting in a crashing noise and several screams of surprise from stage right. The costumed canine reappears, none the worse for wear::

 

Flash: Hello there, action fans! Well, you just saw an example of why action’s best left to the pros.

 

::Some laughs and chuckles come up from the audience, and Flash continues::

Flash: This year, BW and I’ve been asked to present the award for Best Action-Adventure. Being a dog of action myself, I know that it takes split-second timing and great courage to handle the adversities out there—and that was just getting a parking place here tonight.

 

::A few more laughs, and BW takes over::

 

BW: What's a story without a lot of Action and Adventure to keep us on the edge of our seats and asking for more? Well this year we've had our share of some best Action/Adventure stories of 2004, but only one story can be named Numero Uno, so here are the nominees and good luck!

 

“Gadget's Quest”, Kevin Sharbaugh

“Lost Rangers”, UrthQuake

New York City Trilogy”, Ulrik Raben

“Theo’s Origin”, Indy and Chris Silva

 

Flash: And now, the envelope…

 

::From offstage, Conrad Cockatoo flies out with the envelope, giving it to Flash. The canine tears the letter open::

Flash: And the winner is…wow, Kevin Sharbaugh again, for “Gadget’s Quest”!

 

::The applause for the lucky recipient begins to die down when it becomes apparent that no one is coming forward to accept the award.  The resultant awkward silence is interspersed in some areas with whispering.::

Unidentified audience member: There he is!

::All focus is quickly directed in the direction of one of doors.  The camera pans across the audience until it fixes on KS who is jogging down the aisle.  A polite second round of applause starts up as he makes his way onto the stage, stopping at the podium::

KS: Sorry 'bout that, but I had to make an emergency pit stop.  Since there was only a twenty-five percent chance of me getting this award I thought I'd be in the clear if I ducked out for a minute.  Anyhow, I'm a little surprised to get this award since I hadn't actually intended for "Gadget's Quest" to be considered an action/adventure story so much as drama, but I couldn't help giving Gadget a chance to bust some heads given what we've seen her going through in "Gadget in Chains", and having her mother flatten Capone's thugs in a firestorm of maternal fury was essentially the scene around which the rest of the story was crafted.

 

Dee always enjoys a good dust-up, but she was rather disappointed that I decided Gadget would win a fight between the two of them, and downright pi-... er, ticked that I wrote a scene in which she was chained and roughed-up to the point that she cried out to Mommy for help, so after she had *me* chained and roughed-up I agreed to give her a free ride in the next story... all she has to do is sit back and enjoy the bachelorette party.

Dee (in the audience): WOOOO!!

KS: In any case, Many thanks for the award!

::With a smile and a courteous bow, KS leaves the stage. Flash and Conrad salute and follow::