The Rise

George picked up his bag from homeroom and barged out of school without saying a word to anyone. It wasn't that George was kicked out of school or suspended, he simply didn't want to be around when the news broke. At the front gate he walks past Leon who notices George's furious face.

"George!" he called out

George comes to a halt, but doesn't turn around. Leon makes his way towards him cautiously.

"What's going on?" asked Leon

"I'm out. Disqualified." said George bitterly. He turned around and faced Leon "Congratulations, it's all yours to win now." said George with resentment.

"How did it happen...?" said Leon

"It doesn't matter. But you were right, I guess I don't have any luck with girls." said George as he immediately turns around and storms away before Leon can ask any more questions.

As soon as Leon entered homeroom,Taylor ran up to him with Justin lagging behind.

"Did you hear!" exclaimed Taylor excited

"Yeah..." said Leon

Justin placed his hand on Leon's shoulder.

"Looks like you're gonna win." said Justin calmly

"No. Not yet. Nearly half the student body was voting for George - depending on how the information spreads and how they'll react - this election may be far from over." warned Leon

Back in Theodore's office, he was meeting with Natalie - the Minister of Education. She was a highly respected minister with plenty credentials to her name.

"Prime Minister? Is everything okay?" she asked as she sat down.

"I need you to fire the principal at Unitare, immediately." demanded Theodore, skipping any formalities.

"Principal Earl has been outstanding for several years, he's not made a single mistake. There is no reason for firing him." she said diplomatically

"Natalie, you know how loyal I am to my cabinet. I expect that loyalty in return. Cut the crap, we know what's going on here and today my son was brought into all this. So you will pick a side - me or Thomas." he said intimidatingly

"You want me to fire a man who worked his entire life for this school because of a high school election?" said Natalie

Theodore leaned back into his chair.

"Your royalist ideals are more important to you than our journey to get here? We worked together for years Natalie. Can I not trust any of you anymore?" pleaded Theodore

"It's because of what we've shared that I'm must refuse to fire an innocent ma-"

"I demand your resignation by 10:00am today. It's over, Natalie, you're finished - now get out of my office." he said indifferently.

"You can't-"

"I can. You'll return to the back benches, marginalized in the party for the next three months and when I win again, you're out completely." said Theodore ending the conversation.

Gideon was in his car and it wasn't too long since he left the Prime Minister's home. He had just called Hilda.

"Hilda, call off the purge, I've convinced Theodore to remove the Minister." said Gideon as soon as Hilda answered the secure line.

"I gave you an order Gideon. You will exterminate them one by one like the insects they are." demanded Hilda.

"Think about the council Hilda, Theodore has always been loyal, purging his cabinet will only spit in his face. I've dealt with the situation using our initial plan, and that's all that matters. Now that the principal is gone, Elizabeth will be able to control the election results and we don't have to worry about Sinclair." said Gideon

Hilda kept silent on the other end of the call.

"I also have someone I need you to meet. You said you didn't understand Thomas' endgame, well he might be of help." said Gideon

"Did you trap me a little royalist dog willing to talk?" she said

"Yes, he'll tell us everything he knows." said Gideon

"You were always the only one who would question my orders. Perhaps that's why I've kept you around for so long." she said hanging up on the call immediately.

Meanwhile in the royal palace, Thomas Vinzent was meeting with his scar-faced private investigator, Eight (*). Thomas was venting about how Sinclair was last in the polls even after George's disqualification. He assured his silent investigator that everything is fine since now there is around three hundred votes in circulation for the taking. After allowing Thomas to vent, Eight gave Thomas a folder with several pictures inside.

"This is just a car, all the windows are tinted." said Thomas prem.a.t.u.r.ely before even going through all the photos. Eight kept silent waiting for Thomas to reach the last few pictures. The last few photos were taken with several different lenses and cameras - including Infrared and night vision. This allowed the faces to be seen behind the tinted windows of the car. As soon as Thomas saw the images and made out the faces, he turned towards Eight with sinister, demonic eyes, then looked back at the photos.

"Oh, Leon... how could you." said Thomas smiling menacingly.