::The Rangers gather at the podium
again::
Chip: Now, the Tex Henson award for the Best All-Time Fanfic. Tex Henson helped
to create the Chip ‘n Dale characters, and to give them a prominent place in
Disney lore. So it’s befitting that we honor him as well by attaching his name
to this award, the story voted best in the Rangerphile community.
Gadget: This award’s also a matter of opinion, showing that one story can be seen as the greatest one year, and another the next.
Dale: But to win the award says that your story’s among the immortals, the best that’s out there.
Foxy: And that it can stand the test of time!
Zipper: Buzz Buzz! (And still draw new readers for years to come).
Monty: And now, pallies, we give you the nominees…
Tammy: For this year’s Best All-Time Fanfic…
“Rhyme and Reason”, Mike Demcio
“Of Mice and Mayhem”, Fish
“Gadget's Quest”, Kevin Sharbaugh
“Gadget Until Proven Innocent”, Morgan K.
“Gadget in Chains”, Loneheart
“A Ranger's Trek”, The Gnome
“A Romance for the Romantics”, Rachel Gloess
“Dale the Detective: Case of the Nabbed Necklace”, Indy & Chris Silva
::Monty receives the envelope this
time, again from Desiree. Her perfume nearly draws him offstage but a word from
Chip brings him out of it::
Monty: Sorry about that, pallies. And now, the winner for Best All-Time
Fanfic…a tie! Between “Rhyme and Reason” and “Of Mice and Mayhem”!
::Fish runs up on stage, followed
by Mike Demcio::
Fish: Ten minutes…oboy. Well friends, it’s a real honor to share the stage with
this guy. Mike Demcio helped make Ranger stories what they are, so to tie with
him is a real honor. I know that I’ll treasure this one for a long time to
come.
::Fish waves and runs for the back
of the auditorium, then stops::
Fish: Oh no, I forgot my award!
::From out of nowhere, Drywall appears and grabs the trophy. In a flash, he brings it to Fish, who puts him in thanks::
Fish: Thanks, Drywall. And thanks to all of you! Oh man, the
taxi fare’s going to be…oh, I’ll just charge it to the king as “travel
expenses”…
::Fish runs out, the crowd applauding. Mike Demcio
takes center stage now, and all attention is on him. Graciously taking the
award, and leaning close to the microphone, he begins::
Mike: I'd like to
thank the people of
::The crowd laughs::
Mike: Okay, “Lord Of The Rings” just came out on Video. I don't think hat joke's stale yet. Well here I am again, humbly getting recognition from the Ranger community for this..um..I guess you could say "Novel" of mine. I'm...really, well I'm just plain amazed. When I wrote this, well really when any author writes anything, the best they can hope for is that people will take the time to read what you've written, and that hopefully it'll be well received.
No one...no one realistic really sets out to think "I'm going to write the ‘All American Ranger Story’, to borrow a bit from a writer's cliche, and ‘everyone's going to just love this story to pieces. Not just now, but *years* from now!’
::Mike pauses, soaking in the moment, then continues::
Mike: I'm truly surprised, truly happy, and most of all, truly honored that my work has stayed with the fans of the Rescue Rangers for all this time. For everyone who's read this story, who by word of mouth has suggested it to someone, and has cared enough to find the recognition for it that they saw fit in measure to how much they enjoyed it..*thank you*.
Perhaps one day I'll come up with a tale that will rival
Rhyme & Reason for its quality, or at least
gain its own bit of recognition in its own right, perhaps not. Only time will
tell, but at the very least I’m overjoyed that folks have cared enough about
the Rangers to keep them alive and well in the consciousness of the fans, and
that I've contributed to the legacy that all of us, as devoted fans have made
to this show.
::The crowd stands as one, the Rangers shaking Mike’s hand as he takes his trophy then stands next to the larger version for some more commemorative pictures. He waves again to the audience, heading back to his seat::