The First Annual Carmen's! "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the First Annual Carmen Awards," Misty said into the microphone to a huge, eager audience. The auditorium was packed. The very air vibrated with the collective anticipation! "Without further ado," began Ann, the co-hostess, "we shall begin." "The nominees for Best Writing in an Episode are," Misty began. A large monitor to the right of the stage lit up, displaying clips of the nominees' work. "'The Tigress,'" Ann announced. "'Follow My Footprints,'" "'Can You Ever Go Home Again?' Parts One and Two,'" "The 'Retribution' mini-series," "'A Higher Calling,'" A low drum roll started. "And the winner is..." Ann and Misty said in unison, opening the envelope. "Oh my gosh! We have a three-way tie! Tigress, Footprints, and Home all have won!" The audience applauded as the writers climbed up the stage. "Wow, umm," one stammered. "We really never expected to win an award for this. Really." "Yeah, this is a real honor..." The writer glanced at the doughnut shaped award and added, "Say, are these things edible?" The music was hastily struck up and the rather befuddled winners were quickly escorted off stage. Kara, who was conducting the orchestra, exchanged an annoyed glance with Ann. "Ahem," Misty cleared her throat loudly, "Here to present our next 'Carmie' is the head of the on-line Carmen discussion Forum, Laurie LeBlanc!" Much cheering followed Laurie as she walked to the podium. "Hello! Thank you for coming tonight and honoring the show 'Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?' Our next award is for the bad guys. The low down, no-good, villains - who give us countless hours of discussion at the Forum! The nominees for The Person We All Most Love to Hate are: "The tourist lady from 'Retribution,'" As the monitor showed her immortal scene, a wave of gasps and exclamations of disbelief went through the audience. Laurie nodded her head knowingly. "Lee Jordan," And the winner is... "Lee Jordan! Due to the fact that Mr. Jordan is in prison, he could not be here to -" "I wouldn't be too sure of that!" The most despised anathema of all (wearing a black and white striped prison uniform) swung from a rope to the stage, swiped the donut-shaped award from the podium, and ran to the left stage exit. "Security," Laurie called into the microphone calmly, not even batting an eyelash. "It just wouldn't be a party without El Creepo to crash it," she explained, shrugging slightly. Laurie walked off stage and Misty took her place at the podium for the next announcement. "No need to worry, ladies and gentlemen! We'll have Mr. Jordan back in the state penitentiary in no time. "Now, we have some entertainment for you all. A grand production of our favorite song! We are pleased to present: Peabo Brison, Linda Ronstadt, and the Carmen Sandiego dancers!" Linda and Peabo walked on to the stage to much applause. They sung their soulful rendition of the Carmen theme song as the dancers flipped and cartwheeled to the rhythm. They were dressed in red, purple, and black costumes with capes. Bright lights flashed images of Carmen's greatest heists and scenes from the opening sequence. Meanwhile, behind the scenes... "I betterrr win!" "Ms. Bellum, I'm sorry! No one, not even Ann and me, are allowed to look into the envelopes until it's time! Don't worry, you're a very popular character; I'm sure you'll win an award!" "Forrr, yourrr sake, I hope you'rrre rrright! That is a promise!" Sara vowed. Misty gulped audibly. "I'm afraid you'll have to break that promise." The detective and the (mad) scientist whirled around to see a tall figure emerge from the shadows. "Carrrmen!" Sara all but squealed. Ann was the next to announce a category. "Animation is the medium through which our show is expressed. Therefore, the quality of this animation is very important. Our next award is given as recognition of the hard work of all the artists who work on "Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? " The nominees for Most Accurate Scenery are: "Victoria Falls, in 'By a Whisker.' "Holland, in 'The Stolen Smile.' "The haunted house, in 'Trick or Treat.' "Alaska, in 'Déjà vu.' "And the winner is...Victoria Falls in 'By a Whisker!'" The audience and Ann applauded. "The next category is The Most Evil Villain. The nominees are: "Lee Jordan." The monitor lit up with Lee's famous scene in 'Can You Ever Go Home Again?' The audience booed and hissed. "Dr. Maelstrom." The audience members looked on in quiet fear at the video clip of Maelstrom. "Sara Bellum." The audience only laughed. And the winner is... Dr. Maelstrom. He couldn't be here tonight to accept this award..." Meanwhile, backstage... "Dr. Bellum, you will win if the most people voted for you, and you will not win if they did not. I will be very displeased if I hear of any attempts at inappropriate behavior on your part." Sara only scowled in response. "I'll take that as a 'yes.'" Carmen disappeared back into the shadows. "Oh great," Misty grumbled, "Sara may behave now, but Carmen probably has something up her sleeve." "Hey, Misty!" Ann called. "You're up." Misty nodded and went on stage. "The next category tonight is Best Comedic Performance by a Henchman or -woman," she said into the microphone. "The nominees are: "Al Loy and Dara Riska, in 'All For One.' "Sara Bellum, in 'When it Rains.' "Moe Skeeter and Lars Vegas, in 'Trick or Treat.' "Moe and Lars, in 'Just Like Old Times.' "Moe and Lars, in 'Follow My Footprints.' "Lee's partner, in 'Can You Ever Go Home Again?' "And the winner is...Moe Skeeter and Lars Vegas in 'Follow My Footprints!'" The two men stumbled on stage. Moe licked his chops when he saw the award. "Hmm, this reminds me I'm hungry..." Lars grabbed the award away just before he could bite into it. "It's an award, you numbskull!" Lars and Moe were quickly escorted off stage. "If another winner tries to eat the award, I'm gonna go Bellum," Misty vowed, rubbing her forehead. She and Ann stepped back out on the stage and presented the next category. "The nominees for Best Costumes are: "The costumes in the 'Labyrinth' miniseries. " Ivy's Carmen suit in 'Trick or Treat.' "And, Carmen's Ivy suit in 'Trick or Treat.'" "And the winner is...Carmen's Ivy suit in 'Trick or Treat!'" "The next category is," Ann began, "Best Supporting Actor or Actress. The nominees are: "Suhara...Sara Bellum." Sara shot Misty an evil glance from back stage. "That's Dr. Sarrra Bellum, you idiot!" "Ivy...Zack...and the Chief." The winner is...Ivy!" An elegant redhaired young woman wearing a white gown strode up to the podium. "Thank you all for giving me this award! But I couldn't have won if it wasn't for my friends and co-stars; lil' bro', Chief, Suhara, please come up here and accept this award with me." The audience cheered madly as the celebrities stood center stage. Cameras flashed, and pictures of the moment would hit front pages of many newspapers the next day. Dr. Bellum shook with rage. When the audience had finally quieted down, Misty took the podium again. "Here to announce our next category is the winner of the Detective of the Year award, is detective Jasmine." "Here are the nominees for Best Dramatic Performance," Jasmine began, as the video monitor lit up. "Avalon's amnesia scene in 'Can You Ever Go Home Again?' Ivy in 'Déjà Vu.' Carmen Sandiego in 'Can You Ever Go Home Again?' The Chief in 'Follow My Footprints.' Carmen in 'Follow My Footprints.' Ivy in 'Follow My Footprints.' Zack in 'Follow My Footprints.' And the winner is... Carmen Sandiego in 'Can You Ever Go Home Again?'" The audience cheered and clapped enthusiastically, but the room went dead quiet when a tall, dark-haired woman approached the podium. Jasmine stepped mutely aside. "Thank you," Carmen Sandiego said simply. The audience went mad. People in the next state could hear the commotion made by the devoted audience. They gave her a standing ovation for a full five minutes. Carmen walked off the stage as elegantly as she had walked on, and disappeared behind the curtain. When the audience was finally quieted, Ann gave the next award. "Uh, the nominees for Best Comedic Performance are: "Zack in 'Scavenger Hunt.' "Zack and Ivy in 'Timing is Everything.' "Moe and Lars in 'Follow My Footprints.' "The Chief in 'Split Up.' "Sara Bellum in 'Follow My Footprints.' "And the winner is... Moe and Lars again! This is their second award tonight for their performance in 'Follow My Footprints!'" This time, a security guard just tossed them the donut-shaped award, and didn't let them on stage. "Thank goodness," Kara mumbled. "Here to present our next award is DDS ward nurse, Jaci!" "The next category is Most Memorable Quote." Jaci turned to the video monitor, which displayed the nominees' best lines. The audience members each clapped as their personal favorites played. "The envelope, please," asked Jaci when all the nominees had been displayed. "And the winner is... Carmen Sandiego for her memorable line, 'Look at your globe, pick a spot. It's always morning somewhere!'" She looked over her shoulder to see if the Lady in Red herself was going to make an encore appearance, but the scarlet curtain remained motionless. Jaci shrugged. "Well, this one's for you, Carmen Sandiego!" Ann stepped to the mic. "The next award's for Favorite Reoccurring Character. The nominees are..." Backstage, Misty exhaled loudly. Hopefully, accepting her own award was all Carmen had planned for tonight. The sound of heels softly clicking against the concrete floor ended that bout of wishful thinking, however. She whirled around to see Carmen Sandiego. "Oh, Carmen," Misty chatted nervously, "nice acceptance speech." "You haven't seen anything yet, detective," Carmen promised. "I was afraid of that. Look, Carmen, this is an awards' ceremony. Please, don't steal anything." "I wouldn't dream of it," she said, feigning surprise. "But this is my show, and the least you could have done was e-mailed me about this whole thing!" "Sorry. It all got set-up so fast, I almost forgot to tell the Chief=" "Forget it. I'm here now, and I'm going to give you all a show you'll never forget!" On stage, Ann had just announced the nominees, "Tatyanna, Sara Bellum, Josha, Moe and Lars, Jasmine, and Armando. " And the winner is...Get ready to swoon girls- it's Armando!" The young gaucho detective strode to the podium. "Thank you! Thank you! I couldn't have won this award without all my fans; this, um, donut belongs to you all!" Misty stepped to the mic when Armando had left. "Well, it's time again to turn the spotlight to the bad guys, the villains! The award for Best Villain is between two of the slimiest, most disgusting, soulless - I mean bad, folks! Lower than a snail's belt buckle -" "Misty!" Ann hissed from backstage, "we get the point!" Misty blushed the color of Carmen's hat. "Anyway! Who will win? Lee Jordan or Dr. Maelstrom?" "What!" Dr. Bellum shrieked from behind stage, "I vasn't even nominated! I'd like to see Lee Jorrrdan alterr the weatherr patterrns of the vorrld vhile wearring rrred pumps!" "And the winner is...Lee Jordan!!!" Boos and cheers resounded throughout the auditorium. Ann presented the next award. "Carmen Sandiego has always pushed the limits of possibility. Her daring thefts have given us fans many hours of entertainment - and a whole agency full of detectives jobs! The Best Heist by Carmen is... "The chess board in 'Rules of the Game!'" "Now, we have to give proper respect to the detective duo who make our favorite show interesting - and, though she might not admit it, keep Carmen on her toes! Zack and Ivy's Best Detective Work is..."Capturing Carmen using the Tigress facade!" Zack and Ivy rushed on stage. "Wow! This is going on the mantle next to our Detective team of the decade award, huh sis?" "You bet, lil' bro! We've had a blast chasing Carmen around the world all these years, and winning an award for it...well, we feel really lucky." "Yeah! Thanks everyone!" The audience applauded loudly. "The next category is Most Memorable Henchman. The nominees are: "Moe Skeeter, Lars Vegas, Mason Dixon, and Lee Jordan. The winner is... "Lars Vegas! This is his third win tonight!" The audience groaned, and once again, the security guards threw him the golden donut. "The next award is Most Memorable Henchwoman. The nominees are, "Sara Bellum and Hannah Lulu. The winner is..." Ann paused for a moment, then said quietly, "Security, please stand by. The winner is Psycho Sara Bellum." "YYEESSS!!!!!!" Bellum ran out on stage, circled the podium several times, jumping up and down, and shouting ecstatically. "I wonder if she's at all related to Cuba Gooding Jr.," Misty said under her breath. When Sara could finally slow down, she gave her breathless acceptance speech. "I vould just like to say: I deserrve zhis awarrd morrre than anyone else. I proved myself to be zhe grrreatest henchwoman! Carrrmen vould be nowherrre vithout me!" Sara was frantically signaled to leave the stage, and the music was hastily struck up. "Oy! She hasn't gained any donuts, I see," Zack whispered to his sister. When the audience had recovered from their collective shock, Ann announced the next award. "The next award is for the Best Plot Element. There were many nominees, but the winner is...Sorry Josha fans. The relationship between Carmen and the Chief!" "Now, the next award is Favorite Season. Every season was nominated, and the winner is... Oh, it's a tie between season two and three!" The audience shouted and cheered. "Our second-to-last award tonight is the award for Best Episode. The nominees are: "'Cupid Sandiego,' 'Hot Ice,' 'A Higher Calling,' 'The Remnants,' 'Just Like Old Times,' 'By a Whisker,' 'Shaman Spirits,' 'Follow My Footprints,' 'Can You Ever Go Home Again?, parts one and two,' and, 'The Tigress.' And the winner is... A tie between 'Can You Ever Go Home Again?' and 'Follow My Footprints'!!!!" "All right, our very last category! We had many, many nominees for the category of Favorite Moment from the entire series, but the winner is... Envelope please," Ann asked. "The winner is... The scene where Ivy places a single red rose on Carmen's grave from 'Follow My Footprints!!!!'" The audience went crazy! Misty walked on stage to the podium with Ann. "Well, that concludes the First Annual Carmen Awards. Thank you everyone for joining us tonight!" With that, all the nominees from that evening clambered up on the stage - even Carmen Sandiego herself! As the theme music played, they all took a bow in unison. Suddenly, the stage started to tremble and shake. Misty looked to Carmen, who was smiling broadly. "I enjoyed this evening so much, I decided to take a piece with me." The cast members and hostesses hastily jumped off the stage, as it rose into the air, attached to two air balloons. "Argh! Our show is ruined!" Misty exclaimed. "Hey, listen," Ann said. Misty did. The audience was cheering madly. They loved it. Everyone looked to one another, shrugged, and took another bow. The evening was complete.