Peridot set down a small device she had made herself. She grinned at her cleverness and turned, "Hmm, this spot should be safe. Lapis, do you have the robonoid?"

"Of course." Lapis mumbeld. She held the thing in a bubble of water and smiled.

"Lapis, you clod, I just repaired that, you might break it in water!" Peridot cried.

"It okay!" Lapis groaned. She let the thing down.

"Ugh! Okay, we have everything we need for the experiment," she looked up at the dark temple. "and Connie is fast… GHAA!" Peridot screeched. Connie was suddenly right in front of her.

"Hello!" Connie said happily.

"Connie! It's way past your time of rest! Go back to the house, now!"

"What? I don't want to miss... this. What is this exactly?" Connie asked.

"Peridot got lonely, so she randomly just made a robot, like she always does."

"It's not just any robot, Lazuli - it's a robot disruptor. It should produce a localized energy blast so when Pearl shows up to…" Peridot saw Connie cock her head. The gem coughed and said, "... talk like a civilized person would
with us, we'll have something that can knock out all her robonoids."

Peridot placed the robonoid down in front of the machine and walked back. "Now stand back everyone!" She pressed a button and the machine activated, it sendt out a very powerful signal that knocked the gems off their feet and shut
off all electricity in Beach City.

They all gave groans. Connie sat up and pointed to the roboniod. "We did it!"

The roboniod suddenly got up, unaffected. Lapis gave a sigh and fell back.

"Oh… you knocked out all the lights in town." Connie whispered.

"That was not the point of the machine!" Peridot growled. She gave a sigh. "Alright, that was a start, I guess. Now I'm going to need to take some parts out of the washing machine. Connie, you might have to wear the same dress for
a while."

"Don't worry, I'm completely prepared." Connie said. She tugged of her sun yellow dress to reveal a light turquoise and white one underneath.

The next morning, Connie was fully awake, as she was a morning riser. She open the fridge and pulled out her breakfast, putting it in the microwave after she had crawled on the counter. It didn't work. She frowned. She tried to look at it
closer but it opened, hitting her in the face. "Ow! Ugh... ! What is the meaning of this?!"

There was a sudden knock and Connie went to answer it. The sweating Mayor was there.

"Er… good morning, Mayor… What's wrong?" Connie said uncertainty, cocking her head.

"Hello there young Universe." The Mayor said. "Any of your sisters home?"

Connie was even more confused now. "My... sisters?"

"Your caretakers! You know...the big one, the green one, the hot one."

Connie stared blankly.

"Look, the power is out and I've been mayor long enough to know they had something to do with it."

"My sisters?" Connie whispered again.

"Is there anyone else I can talk to about this?" The Mayor groaned.

Connie slowly turned into the house, about to call for Peridot when Lapis suddenly came out of her room. The mayor started to sweat harder, adjusting his collar.

"Oh, hi Connie!" Lapis said, flying up. She then saw the mayor and smiled. "Hello, can I help you with something?"

"Yes." The mayor said, dumbfounded. He came to his senses suddenly. "Oh hi! Beach city is currently experiencing a wide spread power outage-"

Lapis grinned. "Oh, don't worry about that, Peri said the power should be back on as early as tonight or as late as... never!"

"Never coming back?!"

"Um… yeah."

"No, no, no! It has to come back! The people of Beach City can't handle a situation like this, they need their electronic distractions so they won't know that this town is a magnet for disaster!"

Lapis cocked her head. "It'll be okay. I saw humans get on fine without power for millennia. You used to hunt and gather… what happened to that?"

The mayor seemed scared. "You don't understand, sure things seem calm now in the light of day but when the sun goes down," his face darkened. "so does the town."

"He's right." Connie said. "Mayor Dewey, this is our responsibility, we'll help you clean up this mess."

Suddenly they heard Jasper yell, "Not gonna happen!"

Lapis walked away.

"I'll help you clean up this mess." Connie rephrased.

"Okay, but you're not getting paid."

Connie and the Mayor drove up to the Big Doughnut.

"All right, we gotta go do damage control now or the boardies are going to get restless."

"Boardies?" Connie asked.

The mayor hopped out of the van seeing Lars and Sadie. "Hello, youth resident of Beach City."

"Is everything all right?" Lars asked.

"You mean besides the power knocking out the freezer and melting all this ice cream?" Sadie growled, throwing a box of melted ice cream on top of others beside the dumpster.

"Oh, sorry guys." Connie sighed.

"It's a real pain in the-" Sadie sat down on the stack of ice cream which was quick to get on her jeans. "Wahh! Ugh…"

"I'd offer you some but its pretty soupy." Lars said, turning and putting some boxes on the pile.

"Can other businesses not run without electricity too?! This really is a crisis! The city will be a mad-" The mayor put a hand on Connor's shoulder.

"Now lets all calm down here, I have everything under control."

"You do?" Connie whispered.

The mayor forced a laugh. "Of course! The power will be back and the freezers will be working by sundown. No need to cry over frozen milk, here." He gave Lars a glow stick and election button.

"I'll catch you kids on the side that flips. You take care now." The mayor said, walking back to the van.

"Bye." Connie waved, running to the van.

Lars looked down at his head, then back at Connie. "Thanks for the glow stick."

"So everything is going to be okay?" Connie whispered.

Mayor Dewey frowned. "What? No."

"You lied to them?!" Connie cried.

Dewey rolled his eyes. "Look Connie, it's not lying when you're the mayor - it's politics."

Connie frowned. "It is?"

"Of course it is. Let me tell you something, when you work for the government you can't control what happens in the world but you can control how people feel about. That's the real weight I carry, making the good people of Beach City feel
better, safer, more secure."

"But, sir-"

"What's my other option? Let the people panic and riot? That didn't work out so well for Ocean Town."

Connie cocked her head. "I've studied the surrounding cities before, I've never heard of Ocean Town."

"Exactly, that's why you've got to give the people something to believe in. When they see my giant head on this car rolling down the boardwalk they think "Here comes help!". Well, some people think "Here comes that exterminator guy." But then
they realize its me - their mayor! Have you seen that exterminator truck with a head on it? He's totally copying me."

"Uh…"

"Here, take these." He handed Connie a paper bag full of election buttons and glow sticks.

They drove in front of a crowd of fighting people, almost the whole town. The mayor went out of his van with a megaphone, Connie standing awkwardly beside him. "Attention, my good citizens. As you may or may not be aware of, there is a power
outage affecting all of Beach City Area proper."

"Oh, really." Gunga Pizza said, crossing her arms.

"This problem is just a temporary one - not a big one at all. Things could be worse - we could be in Ocean Town." Mayor Dewey laughed nervously. Some uneasy glances and hushed laughs rippled through the crowd.

"Too soon!" Mr. Fryman yelled.

"Anyway, the power will be back on by sundown so in the meantime, just enjoy this beautiful, peaceful day outside. The power will be back on before you know it, I promise."

The crowd buzzed in approval, Gunga saying, "I trust this man!"

The mayor whispered into Connie's ear, "Okay, make sure everyone gets a button and a glow stick." Conni stiffly walked away while the Mayor waved with a nervous grin to the crowd on his face.

Connie gave a glow stick and button to every member of the Pizza family. She went to her father next.

"Oh, hey, pumpkin. You get some sort of secret government internship I need to know about?" Doug asked. Connie gave a nervous laugh, giving him a button and glow stick. "Apparently you can't have too many 'Mayor Dewey' buttons. Sounds
like I'm not gonna be needing this glow stick though." Doug gave the glow stick back. He walked away. Connie noticed the empty street.
"But... Dad!"

Connie walked up to the beach house, pausing to glance at the sea before walking up the steps. She paused when she heard the Temps' voices.

"She's going to have backup, Amethyst said so!" Lapis cried.

"Who knows what she's going to have? We won't stand a chance against their weapons. But, if we can just knock them out…" Peridot thought.

Connie glanced over and saw a group of electric cannons. She felt her body take in fear and worry.

"It's not about the robonoids, Peridot! She's coming with other gems, you get that, right?! Some gems might even stronger than me!" Jasper growled. Connie was shocked.

"T-That's… no! No!" Lapis cried in panic.

"Lapis, calm down!" Jasper said.

Lapis was breathing hard as Connie walked up. The blue gem saw her and gasped. "Connie!"

Peridot and Jasper saw the girl and immediately quieted. Lapis flew up. "Honey, I thought… you weren't coming back anytime soon! W-Why are you here?" Lapis said, hugging Connie with a nervous smile plastered on her face.

"I live here…" Connie whispered. "Um, is everything okay?"

"What? Everything's fine! Just fine!" Peridot laughed.

"A-ok kiddo!" Jasper grinned. "We were just about to play cards!"

"Indeed! Would you like to play War?" Peridot blurted out. Lapis glared at her. "I mean… Peace?"

"But we can't play in the dark." Connie frowned.

"We can make a fire." Jasper suggested.

Peridot nodded. "Yes, like the early settlers before you!"

"Come on!" Lapis laughed. They walked in but Connie hesitated. She peeked in, seeing the Temps talking quietly to each other. She was certain they weren't talking about cards. She saw the setting sun in the distance. She remembered the
mayor's words: When the sun goes down, so does, "The town."

The residents of Beach City were angry, very angry at the mayor.

"How come there's still no power?" Peedee yelled.

Jenny called out, "You said it would be on by sundown!"

"Everyone just calm down. I'm sure if we just talk rationally, we can come to an agreement."

"No agreement!" The grandmother yelled. "You promised us!"

"Without power, I can't take care of my family!" Mr Fruman cried. He paused and then gestured to Peedee, "Well, this one's fine," he then pointed at Ronaldo, "but this one can't take care of himself."

"I'm sure the power will be on tomorrow... I think... Maybe." The mayor whispered.

The crowd grew more inraged.

"Stop pulling our legs! You lied to us and you are lying again!" The eldest Pizza yelled. The crowd roared in agreement.

"Please! Consider things in Beach City!" The Mayor pleaded. A election button*button hits him. "Ow!"

The crowd started throwing more buttons and glow sticks at him, feeling their trust betrayed.

The mayor got into the van then rolled his window down for protection. "If you'd all just calm down -"

"Tip the truck!" Gunga yelled. Mr. Frowney, Mr. Fryman and Peedee ran to the van, pushing it over. The mayor's son stood helplessly watching.

The crowd roared in approval when the van was successfully tipped over.

Connie gasped then ran to the van. She climbed on top before shouting. "Everyone, please!"

The crowd quieted, seeing this small girl demand them.

"The power might not be back on tonight. It might not even be back on for even a year!" Connie cried. The crowd gave yells of shock and dismay.
"But I know that you're all going to be okay, because it may have taken me a while, but I know each and every one of you!" She looked at the Pizza family, "You're smart," She turned to the Frymans, "you're tough," She looked
at Lars, Sadie and her father, giving a weak smile. "and you're resourceful. And you all care about each other more than you care about microwave dinners or video games or being able to see in the dark. I know it'll hurt your businesses, I know
it'll hurt your lives, and I know it might hurt this town and it's government. But, tell me, are we really going to hurt each other?"

The crowd realized her point and murmured among themselves.

"Of course not! We'll face the night together and we'll survive because, we are the light of Beach City!" Connie cried.

The crowd cheered.

Mayor Dewey suddenly climbed out of the van, putting a arm around Connie. "Yes! Thank you, Connie. I couldn't have said it better."

"Don't try to worm your way out of this!" Gunga yelled. The crowd roared and the Mayor flinched. Connie suddenly yelled, "It's okay! It's okay! Mayor Dewey was hiding things from you but he did it because he didn't want you to worry!"

The mayor nodded.

"He was just sheltering you from the truth because he…" Suddenly, Connie realized something, remembering how the gems had brought up cards when they clearly were worried about Amethyst, Pearl, and whoever else was to come. Connie whispered,
"He loves you."

The crowd nodded and whispered then suddenly started cheering for their mayor. Connie shook her head in surprise, then leapt off, running to the beach house.

Connie entered the house, finding the Temps had lit a cozy fire. Jasper was sitting on the couch, Lapis laying beside her. Peridot was working on her machine. To think, Connie would've found this completely normal, that cards would look not out
of the ordinary… not like it was supposed to distract her.

"Greetings." Peridot murmered, conctrating on her work.

Connie waited then took a breath. "Um... Do you guys want to talk?"

There was a jarring snap when Peridot nervously disconnected a part of her machine. "What? Why? What is it?" She cried.

Lapis saw her panic and smiled softly. "Um, you, young lady, still owe us a game of cards."

Jasper picked up some cards. "Yeah, and I'm gonna win!"

Connie felt her emotion rise. "N-no. I don't wanna play cards. I wanna talk about Pearl."

Peridot looked up, "Oh, heh, her. She's nothing to worry about, you shouldn't be worrying about he-"

"Yes, I should." Connie snapped. "I know you just don't want me to be scared but just tell me the truth! I can handle it!"

The gems stared silently then Jasper gave out a sigh. She put the cards down. "Kid, Pearl is coming, and we don't know who or what she'll be coming with. She's a modern gem with modern gem technology that's bound to overpower us, to overpower
me."

Connie listened, shocked.

"Connie, the truth is... we're scared." Jasper sighed in defeat.

Connie gave a tiny whisper, "We've been scared before, right? None of us know what's going to happen, but... that's okay. We can figure things out - together."

Peridot, Lapis and Jasper all nodded silently. Suddenly, the lights came back on….