Connie practiced her sword techniques in the beach in front of her mailbox as she gave a yell, slamming into Steven's practice shield. Peridot had forgotten about training, trying too hard to find Pearl. Steven slid behind Connie suddenly and tossed
his shield like a boomerang. Connie snapped around and swung her sword, making the shield change it's target. They heard the metal clang against the wall and heard a scared gasp. They turned to see the mailman shaking.
"Oh! Sorry, Jamie! I didn't see you there!" Connie apologized, running up and getting the shield. Steven walked up and took it. He glanced at Jamie, "What's up, Mr. Postman?"
"Steven, Connie, look!" Jamie made a fanfare and gave Connie a flyer that said, 'The Tale of William Dewey"
"A play!" Connie gasped while Steven's eyes turned to stars.
"I'm holding auditions tonight. It's a local production drifting through space, looking for stars." Jamie said, gave a gesture.
Steven grinned and said in an Italian accent, "If'a ya' need a great actor, you'a come to the right'a guyyyyyya."
Jamie and Connie were silent until Jamie gave a small cough, "What was that?"
"An accent!" Steven said as if it was clear.
"From where?" Connie asked beside him. Steven looked at her and then at Jamie, "Huh. I don't really know." After a pause, Jamie and Steven high fived, saying, "Acting!" Connie gave a tiny smile, "... Acting?"
That night, Steven and Connie had gone to the auditions together, both living close to the stage.
"Jamie! Jamie!" Steven cried, running to him while Connie waved behind the boy, "Where is everyone else?"
"Uh, you're the only two that showed up. But, hey, some plays only have one person in them, so we're already in three hundred percent better shape than that." Jamie said shyly.
Connie frowned, "Er… sure?"
"Seems legit to me!" Steven said.
Jamie handed them both scripts, Connie trying to hesitate, but he interrupted, "Great! Here's a copy of the script."
"Beach City or Bust: The Tale of William Dewey"." Connie read.
"This is my first production, so it needs to be exciting! It needs to be classic!" The teen then sighed, "It needs to be fully funded by Mayor Dewey. And it is... because he wrote it."
Connie opened the little book and saw it was indeed written by Mayor Dewey. "Oh… "
"What's it about?" Steven asked.
"I'm glad you asked!" A voice suddenly said. They turned to see Mayor Dewey walking on the stage. "This is the story of how Beach City was founded nearly two hundred years ago by my great-great-great-great-grandfather, William Dewey.
It's a truly important historical tale with a lot of sentimental and political importance to me."
"Well, we're just about to get started, uh... Would you like to sit in on the rehearsal, Mayor?" Jamie asked.
"Don't mind if I do!" Mayor Dewey said, sitting down.
"OK, Connie, Steven, since you're the only ones who showed up, you'll be playing the lead roles of William Dewey and his first mate, Buddy." Jamie explained.
Connie blushed, "Er, I'm not really acting, I came here to support Steven and ask if I can work on set and lighting…"
Jamie gave a cry suddenly, clutching his heart. He fell to his knees and grasped Connie's hand, "N-No! This is my first play, I… I need all the actors I can get! Please, my good lady! Please! Help me achieve my dreams!"
"But-" Connie started.
Steven interrupted, "Please, Connie? You don't want to disappoint Jamie, right? Besides, this'll be fun!"
Connie looked at Steven then at a desperate Jamie. "I… suppose… But why do I have to play William Dewey?"
"Because, you are talented and you do not do strange accents!" Jamie cried, leaping right back to his normal state. "It is decided! Now, as for other roles I guess I'll have to play... all of them." Jamie cleared his throat,
starting to read the script, "The ship is out at sea. The sun beats down on the crew while they stand on deck. Suddenly, the tall, ruggedly handsome man standing in front of them speaks,"
"Crew," Connie started weakly, "I'm so glad you could be part of this journey with me as we search for a new land to build a distinguished, new city in!"
Steven nodded, "Oh, Captain William Dewey, you are such a good captain! Never has a voyage been so super good!"
"Good point, First Mate Buddy!" Connie said.
"Woo-hoo for fun!" Jamie called as multiple people of the crowd.
Steven read that they were now in a lighting storm, "Oh no! Is that a wild squall approaching us? Surely this can't be good!"
"Be calm, my crew! I'll just save us with my heroic, supernatural ability!" Connie cried. She then read off the script directions, "And then William Dewey grows to a fifty-foot giant… and carries the boat safely to shore. The crew thinks he's
so good at being captain that they elected him to be the first mayor of Beach City… Hold on, what is this?! It isn't even possible!"
"Wow, Mayor Dewey, that was really good!" Steven said.
"William Dewey is a really, ah... "good" character, but maybe we could bring out another side of William Dewey? See his struggles?" Jamie whispered. Connie nodded.
"The great William Dewey didn't struggle! He was good at everything on the first try! Just like me when I wrote this play! Not a single word needs to be changed!" The Mayor said.
"But-" Connie started when the man shushed her, "Now, now! Don't you two forget who's funding this!" He stood up and laughed, "Well, good hustle, Connie, Jamie, carwash boy, keep it up!" He left and Connie sighed.
"This is going to be a disaster." Jamie whispered.
"I know." Connie sighed.
"What do you guys mean?" Steven asked. Connie gave a moan, dropping the script to the ground, "This story is just terrible, Steven! Literally anything I've ever read is better than this…"
"William Dewey is completely unbelievable!" Jamie added.
Steven glanced between them, "Is it because he turns into a giant?"
"No! He's got no character!" Jamie cried.
"But the script kept saying he was really good!" Steven whispered.
"Steven, even who seems like the purest, most good person must have faults deep down, that's what makes a hero, their struggles." Connie explained.
"My first play," Jamie sighed, "and probably my last…"
Connie walked in, sad and feeling for Jamie. Peridot looked up from wiring something and cocked her head, "What's up with you?
Connie went up to the couch and sat down, "William Dewey is so uninteresting! He has no character at all!"
Peridot frowned, "You mean, Dewey the Dunce?"
Connie glanced up, "Er… maybe? Steven asked me to join a play about Beach City's founding, but the lead I'm playing is just… boring! He's perfect, no mistakes or flaws."
"Heh… I used to be that way." Peridot sighed, "Until I made the one mistake that ruined my record!"
Connie bit her lip and whispered, "That's okay… Everyone makes mistakes. It's not strength if you just sit in the hole you made yourself, it's strength when you can climb out of it."
The gem looked at the girl with a small smile, "Sometimes… you're even smarter than me." She took the script and read it over, "Ugh, what even is this? It's so inaccurate and… cloddy and bad! Who wrote this play?"
"The mayor." Shrugged Connie.
"Well the mayor wasn't even there." Peridot huffed. "I mean, I was."
"Wait! You're a first person source on this! What really happened?" Connie asked excitedly.
Peridot smirked, "Well, he practically drolled over Lazuli for one, and he didn't even deserve her!"
Jamie had clutched this new script in his hands while Steven and Connie waited for his response, "Connie… This is so real! It was like it was written by someone who was really there!"
"It was." Connie smiled.
"I added the jokes this morning!" Steven added proudly.
"So I see. It's so gritty, so passionate, so…" Jamie was interrupted by Connie, "Historically accurate?" Was
"And the drama! This is the play we should be doing."
"Let's do it then!" Connie cried.
"But how?" Jamie asked. "My roles have now doubled, we need new costumes, and the mayor will have our heads!"
"Jamie, a true hero struggles, remember?" Connie smiled.
Jamie glanced at the two children then at the script, "By Jiminy, you're right! This show will go on tomorrow night! With Connie as Captain William Dewey, you as Buddy, and I as the remaining roles!"
"All of them!?" Connie gasped.
Jamie inhaled and pumped his fist, "All of them!"
That night, Connie, Steven, and Jamie stood backstage as Doug, Jasper, Peridot, and Lapis sat in the audience. Jasper was asleep while Peridot read a brochure and Lapis casually blew hair out of her face next to a beaming Doug. The mayor
walked up suddenly and went to the seat next to Lapis, "Ahem, do you mind if I take a seat?"
Lapis looked at the seat, then at the man, "Er… yes, yes I do."
"But why?" Dewey sputtered.
"Because someone's already sitting there." Lapis muttered. She made a water clone of a human and glanced up at the mayor. "I'm not interested, thank you." Said both she and the water. The mayor gave a dry horrified noise
and went to sit far away from her. Lapis smiled.
Backstage, Connie, Steven, and Jamie sat talking hushed.
"I hope I don't secretly have stage fright…" Connie murmured. Steven grabbed her hand reassuringly and smiled, "You'll do great!"
Jamie was breathing hard and Connie glanced at him, "Nervous too?"
"Very. This could make or break my career!" Jamie cried.
"You'll be fired?" Connie gasped, "Don't worry, I've been reading up on cheap apartments to rent near Beach City, I'll find you a new job somehow.-"
"Oh, well, no, it could make or break my hobby then." Jamie murmured. They each put a hand in and whispered, "Acting…"
Soon, the spotlights went onto the curtains as Jamie said, "Boardies and gentle-boardies, I am thrilled to present to you... The Tale of William Dewey!" The audience cheered. The curtains opened revealing Connie and Steven on a
fake boat.
"Oh Captain, my Captain, how long until the soft lips of our sailing ship kiss the rugged beard of new lands?" Steven asked as First Mate Buddy.
"I know we've been journeying for many months, but surely we'll run into something soon, something amazing! The ocean can't be that big, right?" Connie continued
There was sudden yells from the crowd:
"That's my girl!" Jasper yelled.
"Connie! It's us!" Peridot called.
Lapis held a camera and smiled, "I'm so filming this!"
Connie blushed. "Back home, they called me Dewey the Dunce! Said I couldn't find land even if I was standing on it!"
The audience laughed.
"What the-" The mayor started.
"And I'm starting to fear that they were right…" Connie sighed.
"What light through yon stage left breaks?" Steven cried, pointing.
"What is it?" Connie asked, turning.
Jamie called from off stage, "It is the east, silly human, and we are the Crystal Temps!"
"What!? This wasn't in the script! This wasn't in the budget either!" Dewey cried, taking out his calculator.
Jamie lowered onto the stage by a rope in front of the children, wearing sunglasses and a party hat on his nose. "Greetings! I am the great Peridot! And I come to you as a messenger of the brilliant, wonderful, amazing, Yellow Diamond!"
The real Peridot frowned, "Hey! I had two pages more of descriptive words! They skipped it!"
"Listen, human, turn your ship around! The land you're headed for is full of pain and doom and despair for your kind so, go, or I'll call the others!"
"Nonsense! I won't take orders from the likes of you!" Connie cried while she felt Peridot staring at her, clearly mad about the cheaply-made costume her character had.
"Hmm!" Jamie bent down and tied a feather duster on his head and put a stick-on gem on his nose. "You guys better turn around before I make you!" He said roughly.
Jasper frowned. "Is that me?"
Jamie bent down again and held up a water bottle with taped on wings, "Yeah! I'll push you right back if you don't yourselves!"
"I'll just return home like the failure dunce I am… Never to be as great or amazing as the Crystal Temps." Connie sighed. She turned and tipped over the sail and mast of the ship, "Ah! I can't even turn a sail right! Why must I always
struggle!?"
The audience laughed again as the curtain went down. Buck turned to his father, "Wow, dad...what a loser."
The curtain rose again. Connie and Steven were both on one leg, tipping from side to side with a dark background behind them, pretending to be in a storm.
"Oh, Captain, Captain! We've drifted miles from our course! These waves are nothing like I've ever seen before!" Steven cried.
"Nonsense! This is only a drizzle! How could it get worse?" Connie said as William Dewey.
Jamie popped up behind them and dumped a bucket of water over her. "... Yep… more than a drizzle, definitely got worse."
A roar suddenly was heard and the actor gasped, "What's that portside!? …"
Jamie suddenly leapt out wearing a purple tentacle costume. The crowd gasped as he grabbed Steven by his waist from behind him. Steven gave a cry, kicking, "Captain! It's got me!"
"First Mate Buddy!" Connie cried, reaching for Steven.
"Whatever you do," Steven fake struggled, "don't give up your search! You're the bravest man I know because you try, perhaps even braver then that amazing gem that we encountered! …. Oh, who am I kidding..."
Peridot smiled and the others glanced at her with disbelief. "Eh, it's what he said himself!"
"Buddy! Nooo!" Connie yelled, pretending to cry. Jamie went behind the ship with Steven. The boy snuck off.
Connie took off her hat, "Oh, Buddy! A stale biscuit 'til the end!" A silhouette of a big monster appeared behind her. Jamie appeared as the tentacle and a cardboard one appeared beside him.
"Ah, I am doomed. Dewey, the Disastrous Dunce…" Connie sighed. A noise was heard, "What's this?"
Another silhouette appeared next to the monster, resembling a gem fusion, and the fight began, Jamie fighting nothing. Connie pretend to be shocked.
"Oh my! The monster has simply vanished in yellow light! Whoever this savior is, must be told in the legends!" Connie whispered. Jamie ran off as the monster disappeared. Connie looked up at the fusion that drew close, "Oh no! It's
coming! Oh, please, powerful goddess of power, don't hurt me." A giant cardboard hand pushed the prop boat and the background changed, the wave pulling off and a beach coming on.
"Ha! Ha! I've made it!" Connie cried, laughing like Peridot. She leapt out of the boat. She fell to her knees, "Land! Sweet, solid land!" She kissed the floor boards then made a disgusted noise. He got up and held his
hand to his heart, looking up at the fusion shadow, "Thank you, giant woman."
Jamie's voice came over and said in a harsh voice, "You, human man, this land is dangerous.
I order you to leave!"
"No! I will stay! For I am William Dewey, and I don't give up in the face of failure!" Connie cried.
"Alright then. But I won't promise you we won't bring… danger to this place. I'm sorry." The fusion vanished and the young actress looked around at the stage. "I shall name this place after my dead first mate Buddy…"
Suddenly, Steven rolled in on a prop wave and cried out in his accent, "I'm a' baccck!"
"Beach City it is!" Connie cried. A banner unfurled behind her that said 'Dewey for Mayor' The people cheered and clapped while the mayor sweated. "... What?" He realized they were applauding him and smiled.
"Nice to know great-grandpa was a real person with flaws. Gutsy move, Dad." Buck said next to him.
Later, Jamie wore his sunglasses as he signed autographs with Connie and Steven by his side, "One for you... And one for you."
The mayor walked up to them, "Excuse me. If I could have a moment with the talent?"
The people left. The mayor put his arm around the teen, "Jamie! Oh, yeah! Fantastic work! I love the message. Vote Mayor Dewey! How about I offer you another role? Lead Director of Beach City Community Theater. You could put on more plays,
as long as the budget allows it!" Jamie had fire in his eyes and made an excited noise. He straightened up, "Thank you sir."
Connie smiled, "Peridot helped a lot!"
Peridot walked up with a smile as Connie's family was behind, "Yes. I did it all. You can praise me now."
Dewey blushed and laughed nervously, "I suppose you three do protect us, even me from shame. You know, I believe that William Dewey even had a crush on one of you!" The mayor laughed nervously.
"I know." Lapis smiled. "You remind me of him, what's 200 years between friends?"
"Weeell, I must be off then to bask in the adulation of my constituents." Dewey said. He left. Lapis smiled, "He's gotta move on."
"That campaign slogan ruined my excellent writing!"
"Art doesn't always need a reason, Peri." Connie said, "Sometimes, you just gotta make the audience happy! That's why you always end on a joke!" There was an awkward silence. Jasper suddenly laughed, slapping her knee, "I
get it! That's hilarious!"
The reason both Steven and Connie are in the play is I really don't believe Connie would be comfortable being on stage, the center of attention. In this, I feel if Steven didn't convince her, she probably wouldn't go.