Second Annual Quistis Ball

[Alpha]

Spitting out his beer, Alpha screamed "WHAT THE ****!?"

Faces turned towards him, reeling at what were some of the only words he had uttered that night. People began to smile, assuming that he was surprised for winning the runner-up prize for TFF's Most Intelligent Member. Until they realised something was wrong.

Alpha collapsed into a chair, and looked at his feet. His face was placid, but his heart disturbed. What a way to learn that Govinda has left. Without even a goodbye, TFF's idealist realist was no more.

[Andromeda]

Continuing to move things on Andromeda II checked the next category on the list. “2009’s Best Lurker! Though I don’t know if they’ll show up since they are so good at their job, but let’s find out if they’re here tonight!” He flipped through the paper and readjusted himself with Andromeda on his back.

Andromeda pressed up against his face looking down at the paper forcing her way in with her usual lack of grace. She stared at the sheet for a moment before looking back at him. “He’s got the best signature around! But is the other still around? I haven’t seen him in forever.”

Andromeda II forced her back with his hand to put her in line. “I won’t begin to understand what you’re talking about. Anyway for 2009’s Best Lurkers…Soldier #819 and Dawezy made runner-up by two votes! We’ve got their awards in fed ex boxes just in case we need to send them out! Come on up if you’re here!”

[loaf]

Sitting in the freezer in the back of the kitchen, Lowlf then heard the next award being announced.

"2009’s Best Lurker! Though I don’t know if they’ll show up since they are so good at their job, but let’s find out if they’re here tonight!”
“He’s got the best signature around! But is the other still around? I haven’t seen him in forever.”

It was Soldier #819 and the runner up was Dawezy. Lowlf heard Dawezy's name and remembered that Dawezy didn't show up to the ball. Lowlf gout out of the freezer and walked through the kitchen, walked passed the bar and grabbed a shot sitting there.

"I will accept Dawezy's reward on his behalf!"

[Andromeda]

(OoC: Alright, I’m going to be accelerating things significantly to close things up quickly. Things are taking longer than I was originally planning. So bare with the speed. You’ll still have your chance for speeches, but it’ll probably look, format wise, a little weird. Anyway, here it goes. I would have had this up sooner, but I had to adjust plans from one award to a bunch.)

“Seeing that the lurkers are still doing their jobs well seems we’ll be moving on. Loaf, here’s Dawezy’s award.” Andromeda II handed the award over to Loaf as he approached. He looked back at Andromeda and sighed. ‘Got to get through this quickly…’ His hand ripped at the tied bow around his collar with it still managing to keep some of its form. “Pretty right?”

“…oh…” she said in a trance almost from the alcohol. Anything off of his person was of great interest to her and she followed it through the air as it flew from his hands and back stage. Andromeda quickly ran off at it search.

“Now then…Most Old School Member of 2009! Let’s see…Psiko! Congrats! Come on up!” Andromeda II briefly clapped his hand allowing for Psiko to come up to the stage. Once he had finished his speech Andromeda II returned relieved to that it was working for Andromeda.

He smiled quickly and pushed on through to the next award. “The next award is for 2009’s Biggest Camera…Attention Grabber Person…” There was a long silence after the awkwardness for his words. It was an unfortunate case for him to have to be presenting it since it was a word that he kept out of his vocabulary for a couple reasons. “Anyway…it is Priscilla! Congrats! Come on up!” He backed away as the clapping began allowing her to come up to the stage.

When she finished he took the front and tried to forget what had happened before. “We are now up to the Nicest Male! 2009’s Nicest Male in TFF goes to…Meier Link! Congrats for three wins, sir! Come on up! You’re going to have a lot of shelf space to clear off tonight.”

Meier Link finished his third speech and stepped down from the stage with Andromeda II returning. “As you’re probably expecting the next is Nicest Female. So let’s see when won this year…TFF 2009’s Nicest Female is Dodie16! Congrats on your second award tonight, Dodie! Come on up!”

“Moving forward,” Andromeda II said approaching back to the front with Dodie departing, award in hand. “The next award we have is for Funniest Male of 2009! This looks to be a little more complicated than the last ones. The winner for 2009 is James K. Polk! However we have two runner-ups tied at only 1 vote away. The runner-ups this year are Che and Rocky! Congrats everyone! Come on up!”

After the stage was cleared the next round continued for him. He adjusted the paper so that he could see more of the list as he was nearly halfway through it now. “We now present the Funniest Female of 2009 for TFF. Hmm…” Andromeda II took a look at the name seeing a problem. He looked back towards the crowd and managed to wash away his expression. “The winner is Govinda! As I said before Govinda has left the community so they will not be able to accept the award in person. We will try to reach them to let them know though.” The list shift a little as it came out awkwardly. “The next award! Most Sarcastic for 2009 TFF…it is Jin! Congrats! Come on up!”

Jin ended his speech and stepped off. Andromeda II resumed going down the list, still surprised he was able to keep Andromeda away for so long. “Our next award is for the Most Attractive Male! Let’s see who it is…” The outcome made him double check so that he was not mistaken. “It seems we have a tie for winner this year. Rocky and Moogable are both the winners! Congrats to Rocky for another award and congrats to Moogable! Come on up!”

While they were giving their speeches he looked around to find Andromeda, but she had disappeared from behind stage. No one he asked had seen her in a while. The thought that she was wandering drunk out of her mind with no control of her actions worried him. Unfortunately, he had to return back to the show. “Most Attractive Female!” he said quickly trying to speed things up even more knowing the trouble that could happen. “Oceaneyes28 is the winner for 2009! Congrats on your second award tonight! Come on up!”

He searched around the crowd from his position while the next speech was going on. There was still no sight of her and his time was coming to a close. “The next award! Most Bizarre or Random Member of TFF for 2009 was…James K. Polk! Congrats on your second award, come on up!”

(OoC: You can still do speeches as I said just post as though they are taking place in the section I have. I’ll be posting the last ten awards in the next post in a few days. It’s nearly over! ^^)

[Meier Link]

(( OOC: Sorry for making this a quick one but I agree, lets get the show on the road ))

Meier found his self back at the bar in the VIP CPC8 room, he applauded for all the winners as they where announced, many were dear to him and in his opnion deserved the wins.

As Meier sat in amazement he heard his name called for the 3rd time of the night, this time for the nicest male. He got up from his chair and deiced to take the short cut to the stage this time. He ran down the stairs, ran out the VIP entrance and took a 3-step runing start and leapt into the air, whisking over the top of the crowd.

As he closed in on his destination he realized something was wrong; he was loosing momentum and height at the same time. With a loud thud, clang and crash, Meier smashed into the front of the stage.

"Oh god, not again" Meier thought to hiself for makeing a fool of his self for another time tonight; not that he really cared in the long run.

He hoped up and brushed hiself off quickly. As he took the short jump onto the stage and approached the Andromedas for the third time he felt like doing something rememberable. Meier walked up to Andromeda II and with a swift swing of the arm slapped him on the ass.

Andromeda II was a a little shocked by this and dropped the mic. Meier caught it and pulled it into position and started to speak.

"Good game Andromeda II" he said.

Andro II just gave him look of confusion and Meier continued on.

"I will make this short and sweet seeing we are trying to move things along. Thanks for everyone that voted for me to win this noble prize. Rocky tell your mom that I still love her. Crao Porr Cock8!"

He handed the mic back over to Andromeda II walked of stage grabbing a few shots from a passing waitress and returned to the action area.

[Jin]

Using a combination of magic and telekinetic telepathy he had invented and developed in his spare time, Jin appeared out of thin air and shouted obstinately, interrupting the ceremony, "That 'Jin' that supposedly ended his speech was an imposture! Andromeda is using some advanced cloning technique - I don't know if it's inspired by Crackdown or by Arnold - to finish my speech for me! The gull! But fear not, citizens, I am here, in the flesh, to give my acceptance speech."

Jin cleared his throat and began, "I am both honoured and utterly humbled to receive such a prestigious award. Frankly, I don't believe I was the candidate deserving enough to win, but I will accept it with grace and humility. And that, my friends, is the most sarcastic statement ever to pass through my lips."

With that, Jin used his made up, nonsensical power to once again disappear, never to return to the party.

[Andromeda]

Having to settle on not knowing where Andromeda disappeared to Andromeda II forced on through the show. “Next award is for Music Guru! The 2009’s TFF Music Guru is Telegraph with Maridia as the runner-up by one vote! Congrats, come on up!”

The time passed quickly and it came to the next award. Andromeda II watched Telegraph and Maridia walk off the stage. “And our next category is Best Roleplayer of 2009! Let’s see who it is…” He checked the paper a couple times to be sure and looked back up at the crowd. “2009’s Best Roleplayer is Dragonheart! Congrats! Come on up!” There was a brief glimpse in his eye of something darting across the room. It gave him a sick feeling, but he knew that he had to focus.

“Alright! Keeping things moving! The next award is for Best Writer for 2009.” He checked the name as he paused and looked back uncertain. “And suddenly I feel like Issac Asimov at the Huge Awards minus the whole sarcastic thing, but yeah…no one got that either. The winner for 2009’s Best Writer of TFF goes to Andromeda…” Andromeda II searched around trying to think about how this sort of situation was supposed to work. Generally, it is not good form to give and receive awards as the same person.

Suddenly, a person approached him and placed a hand on the award that Andromeda II was holding. “Thank you very much!” they said.

Andromeda II immediately turned over to see who it was that was next to him only to be perplexed. “Um…who are you?”

“I’m Andromeda,” the person said with a smile. The silent disbelief from Andromeda II forced their hand to an explanation. “If there can be two of you, why not three? Hmm…thinking of me as the creative force or the puppet master behind you two. The person writing this right now.”

“You know you’re breaking the fourth wall, right?”

“It’ll all in good fun. Anyway, I’m not much for speeches. So I’ll be brief. Thank you to those that read Shift this last year and I hope you continue to enjoy it this year. Sorry for the delays, but RPG season is deadly. AESIR and Twin Moon will be getting updates soon as well. Thank you!”

Andromeda II blinked slowly and watched them leave the stage still a little uncertain about what had just happened. “Err…yeah…anyway! Best Graphic Artist! 2009’s award goes to Violet with Mistress Sheena taking runner-up by two votes. Congrats and come on up!”

Still recovering from the previous events, Andromeda II cautiously walked back up for the next award. “Best Traditional Artist is the next award to present. The award goes to Violet! Congrats! Second award tonight Violet and you just got off the stage too. Hope you don’t mind turning around before getting to your spot!”

After Violet finished again Andromeda II returned feeling more at ease now. “Next award is Member with the Best Avatar/Signature Combo and the winner in 2009 was…” He checked the list a little surprised that it happened again. “Well it seems we have a tie for winner! It goes out to James K. Polk and Unknown Entity! Congrats to both and another award for James! Come on up!”

The last few awards were coming and he was glad that the stress was almost over. He preferred his carefree life that he had up until then. It was easier teasing Andromeda. “Most Interesting Journal is the next award for us tonight. 2009’s Most Interesting Journal goes to OceanEyes28! Congrats Ocean another award tonight for you! Come on up!”

“Our next award is Most Creative! In 2009 the Most Creative member of TFF is…” Andromeda II looked down at the paper and froze. “A tie…between Andromeda and ViviMasterMage! Congrats to both? Come on up…” He started looking around figuring that it was going to happen again.

“Ah thanks! You’re surprisingly easy to startle,” the other Andromeda said.

“Where? How?”

“I can write myself in anywhere, it’s pretty simple. Thank you for the award, but I’ll hand the stage over to ViviMasterMage.” They disappeared again on Andromeda II before he could figure out what happened and the next speech was going on next to him.

“Well then…Best Club! This is a little different than other awards since it is not just a single member. So when I announce it the entire club may come up and accept the award. The winner is CPC8 with the runner-up Por Rorr Kitty9 by two votes. Congrats to everyone!”

“We come to the last award of the night the Best TFF Couple!” Andromeda examined the last part of the paper carefully and did not find it to be surprising. “The winner is Rocky, Lococolt04, Meier Link and Pete! That’s a complicated couple, I hope they know how to share. Anyway, congrats! Come on up!”

As the last the speeches was ending Andromeda II let out a soft sigh to himself. “That’s the last award! Thank you for bearing through it all. Don’t forget to congratulate them when the complete list is posted! Thank you all for making the Quistis Ball 2009 a success. Keep enjoying yourself we have the place until the morning! And we have plenty of taxis for everyone that needs them! Good night!” Andromeda II turned around turning off the microphone only to freeze seeing Andromeda in front of him. She had hopefully been hidden behind him, he hoped. Her condition was still totally wasted and it seemed that her dress was in a worse state. ‘This is bad…’ Andromeda II lifted her up and carried her off back behind the stage to get her out of sight. “You’re never drinking again…”

(OoC: Alright, the award show is completed. You can still do speeches as you like, but Ocean will be posting the complete list soon and handing out the awards as well. So look for them soon! Thank you everyone!)

[Chaos_Weapon]

Chaos applauded one last time for good grace and on the behalf of Meier. His headset beeps repeatedly, indicating a PM call:
"This is Chaos."
-"Status Report."
"I'm sorry, but our agreement stated that I don't exactly 'work for you'. And a 'please' would be nice."
-"Where is the 'Target', Chaos?!"
*sigh* "You Edea-Fanatics are always bossy... Makes the sorceress looks like a saint. But I digress; your precious 'Target' just went up to the Balcony Suite to view our full moon."
-"And why aren't you in pursuit??!!"
"Because I'm an Engineer, as much as her dear friend. Not a ninja-spy with no remorse for loved ones. You wanted her current location after the Ceremony, I delivered, unless you want to take back on our deal."
-*loud screaming and banging* "KEEP HER BUSY UNTIL WE GET OUR CHANCE, CHAOS!!!"
"I swear...being blackmailed by Rebels is never a thing to look forward to. Contact me when you've arrived and DO NOT hurt her! Don't think for a second I don't have 'insurance'."
-"You have our word, Mister Weapon. She only has information we so dearly need. The worst we can do is kidnapping. Truth Serum does the rest, and you can expect her back by the AM. You get your Highwind X4 blueprints back, everyone wins."
"Yeah. Except the victims of your arrogance. Nobody wins when you guys start supporting the Wicked Witch of the West."
-"Its called Foresight to a new era. You'd be wise to accept her reign, Mister Weapon."

"Not even all the Gil in the world would suede my judgement for Edea. An enemy of Squall's is an enemy of mine and my company."
-"Good day, Mister Weapon. We will be in touch."
*receiver disconnects*
Chaos look towards the staircase leading to the Balcony Suite in grief and begins his ascent.
"Some friend I turned out to be... Sorry, Ronia."