The day of the debate has finally arrived! A stage with two podiums has been set up on the beach. Facing it are rows of chairs broken into two separate seating areas by an isle. At the end of the isle, near the stage, is a microphone.
"Due to the small population of Beach City, the debate is going to be in a town hall meeting format." Pearl explains as Dewey straightens his tie nervously. Lapis isn't looking any less nervous. "This is where the audience asks questions to any number of candidates and those asked must respond. This format is considered by some to be the fairest of debate formats because of the spontaneous nature of the questions."
"Spontaneity?" Peridot states. "Hear that Lazuli! The fact that we didn't prepare a thing is irrelevant now!"
Peridot grins. Lapis halfheartedly grins back. Pearl nods her head towards Peridot and Lapis and gives Dewey an I told you so glance. Dewey breathes a sigh of relief and looks a lot better. Dewey makes his way to his podium as Pearl and Peridot head towards backstage.
As Peridot begins to leave, Lapis grabs a hold of her shoulder. Peridot lets out a small gasp of surprise and turns around to look up at Lapis and sees the nervous expression on her face.
"Lapis, relax." Peridot says with a grin. "Just remember to state your position and arguments clearly and logically. Also find any weakness in your opponent's position and destroy it."
"But there's so much to remember, and there's no game plan, and I don't know what Dewey plans, and I can't rip-" Lapis quickly raves and rants before getting instantly cut off by a loud, disgusting fart. Lapis stares at Peridot dumbfounded.
"I know the sounds of the organic butt amuses you." Peridot explains as she reveals her tape recorder from behind her back. "So I recorded one."
"Peri... Where did you get that!?" Lapis forces out in between fits of laughter.
Peridot gets momentarily lost in thought then just shudders. She walks backstage as the now calm Lapis takes her place at the podium.
"Preparing a contingency to ease Lapis' nerves... Clever." Pearl says with a smile, not looking away from the debate.
"Yes. Though its not as clever as your sabotage with the newspaper." Peridot retorts.
Pearl looks down at Peridot. "How did you-"
"Amethyst." Peridot explains cutting her off.
"Figures." Pearl states.
She and Peridot then switch their focus onto the debate.
Everything is under way, and the townspeople are lined up to ask their questions.
Up first is Nanefua Pizza. "We have all seen the publicity stunts, but now is the time to know. What do you both stand for?"
"That is a difficult question." Dewey states as he fixes his tie. "There are many complicated facets of being mayor with many different obligations and stances to consider... But I do stand with Beach City."
The crowd murmurs quietly in approval.
"We need to restructure how insurance claims are handled as well as overhaul the city budget. In short, less commemorated park benches and more public aid." Lapis says. This straight forward answer catches the audience off guard. After a long moment of silence, the crowd cheers. Lapis looks at Dewey. "This isn't that difficult, buddy."
Lapis grins menacingly at Dewey. Dewey swallows hard and tugs at his collar.
Nanefua sits down and Kofi Pizza is next. "Every week something bad happens, and I have to fix my shop!"
"That's... Not question..." Lapis states with confusion. "But I think I get what you're saying... The city needs to talk with construction companies to work out a deal that's good for everyone's businesses."
Kofi Seems satisfied with that answer.
"I... You know... I actually agree whole heartedly with that." Dewey says with the first bit of sincerity in his voice since the campaigning started.
The audience is taken aback. Lapis and Pearl both smile. Peridot is Peridot and pays no real attention to Dewey's taking a stance.
Up next is Greg Universe. "Uhm. Yeah. This question goes to Lapis... Don't you think being mayor would... I dunno... Interfere with important gem stuff?"
The question catches Pearl and Peridot's attention. They look at each other with an expression of we didn't think of that. They then look back, awaiting an answer.
Lapis also has a similar expression but she composes herself rather quickly. "Maybe if I needed to sleep?" Lapis chuckles. "Fortunately gems don't need to do that, so I have a few more hours than my opponent here."
The crowd doesn't know how to take that answer. Greg sits back down.
Up next is Ronaldo Fryman. "Hi. I'm Ronaldo Fryman, creator of the blog Keep Beach City Weird." Everyone groans. "How do we know that this isn't some kind of plot? That the Rock People want to infiltrate our government and slowly harvest our resources for their goals of galactic conquest!"
"Uhm... I think this question is for you..." Dewey says hesitantly to Lapis.
"Thanks..." Lapis says dryly. "Ok..." Lapis breathes deep and slowly exhales. "What makes you think tha-"
"You already took the ocean once!" Ronaldo yells, cutting Lapis off. Lapis looks irritated. "Am I the only one who remembers that!?" The audience talks among itself, but Ronaldo just yells louder into the microphone drowning them out. "And don't think I didn't notice your campaign manager! She's green! Just like the giant hand ship that almost killed us all!"
The audience starts getting louder. Some of them audibly jumping on board with Ronaldo's paranoia. Lapis is now actually mad.
"Look here, Fry-clump!" Lapis angrily states as she makes a fist and swings down on her podium. The loud bang in the microphone silences the crowd. "First! I gave the ocean back! Second!" Lapis stops. She notices that some of the people in the audience were now scared. A little girl looks to be on the verge of crying. Lapis forces herself to calm down. "Sorry... Its just that... I stole the ocean. Peridot did kind of invade Earth... And Dewey is a sniveling coward... But I like to make people laugh. And despite her cynical disposition, Peridot is a naive and lovable goof... And Dewey is a good person at heart... The point is... We are all so much more than what we've done in the past. Everybody makes mistakes. But if we learn from them and move on... Then so should you."
The crowd murmurs in approval. Dewey begins to clap which starts the audience into an applause. Peridot blushes and smiles. Pearl notices out of the corner of her eye and smiles. She puts a hand on Peridot's shoulder.
Ronaldo storms away from the microphone and down the beach. "I guess I'll have to save the world by myself!" Ronaldo angrily complains through gritted teeth.
Mr Smiley approaches the microphone and faces the audience. "We'll gonna take a 15 minute break! Take this time to use the bathroom or get a snack. Just don't approach the staging area!"
((Who has two thumbs and forgot about taxes? This Clod! And it figures. I got so wrapped up in the everything that I forgot to do them all the way til the last minute, and it was a weird year. With multiple moves, multiple jobs, and other random crap... Long story short... I dun goofed on scheduling. Sorry.
But yeah, the story. This debate is going to be longer than a chapter. also Ronaldo really needs to chill. I mean come on. In Horror Club he tried to sacrifice Lars to Wall Devil... That's what I call that gem. Wall Devil. Why? Because it was embedded in a wall and was pulling some pretty effective Evil Dead shenanigans.
Also horizontal lines! This was recommended to help divide when parts of the chapter are at different locations and whatnot. Figured I'd implement them because it was a good idea.))