The next day, the final presidential debate of the election is about to begin. Just like the previous debates, the final debate is taking place at the school auditorium; however, there is one notable difference: the second-grade audience is divided into two groups based on who they voted for. The Princesses are sitting on the left side of the auditorium, and the Reptilians are sitting on the right. The former are wearing their pro-Princess merchandise and carrying flags, banners, and balloons expressing support for Lola while the latter are wearing their pro-Reptilian merchandise and carrying flags, banners, and balloons expressing their support for Lana. A few Princesses are holding a banner that states "GO LOLA!" as a few Reptilians hold a similar banner that states "GO LANA!" The enormous animosity between the Princesses and Reptilians is present as both groups glare at each other.
"You're going down, Reps!" Rhonda shouted at the Reptilians.
"Never gonna happen," claims Lucas, "because your beloved tyrant is gonna lose!"
"More like your rules breaker is gonna lose!" exclaims Isabelle.
The hostility is the reason why the school staff separated the second graders. They feared that another huge fight might break out between the Princesses and Reptilians, and rightfully so.
"Greetings, everyone!" Mrs. Wright greets the audience as she appears on stage with Lola and Lana. "I hope you're all having a great day and getting along with one another! As you all know, this is the final debate between your favorite candidates and the last time you will vote, if there's anyone left that is. Next week, the staff will count all your votes and declare the winner of the class election based on who earned the most votes. Now before we begin the debate I would like to introduce you all to a third candidate."
"HUH?!" the Princesses and Reptilians exclaimed in confusion.
"Third candidate?!" Lola and Lana exclaimed in unison.
"Yes you heard right. A third candidate will be joining us in this final debate," confirms Mrs. Wright.
"And who is this third candidate you speak of?" Lola demanded.
"That would be me," a male voice responded.
The twins look at the source of the voice and, to their surprise, see Greg, their classmate, appearing on stage from backstage. The audience watches in shock as Greg stands between the twins and faces the audience. Then, a trap door in front of Greg opens and a third podium rises from below. On said podium is a symbol depicting a balanced scale which represents the political beliefs of Greg.
"Greetings, my fellow schoolmates," Greg introduces himself to the audience. "My name is Greg Miller, the presidential candidate representing the Balance Party. It took me a while, but I've decided to run for president along with Lola and Lana."
"Now that we've got the introduction of the third candidate done with," Mrs. Wright tells the audience, "let the final debate begin!"
"You know, Greg, you could've nominated yourself way back in the beginning in the election," says Lola, "but no. You've decided to join way towards the end of the election."
"So what's the point of running for president now if you won't be able to beat me or Lola since you've joined late," adds Lana.
"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you," Greg told the twins, leaving them confused.
"Since we have a new candidate," Mrs. Wright began, "I'm going to ask this question again: what are your beliefs?"
"Pfft! That should be obvious," Lola scoffs. "A strong ruler like me should be in office to control the lazy troublemakers and aid the hard-working higher ups."
"A talented worker like me should be in office to grant freedom and equality to all students regardless of academic performance and abolish any form of authority that could lead to slavery," states Lana.
"Of course, the usual." Mrs. Wright rolled her eyes. She and the second graders heard the twins' beliefs countless times. "How about you, Greg?" she asks.
With a clearing of his throat and an adjusting of his shirt, Greg responds, "I believe that this school, particularly the second graders, needs a great, experienced leader who should enforce rules to protect students from misbehavior and bullying."
A small smile creeps on Lola's face as a small frown appears on Lana's face upon hearing the first half of Greg's belief. A sense of excitement dwells a bit among the Princesses while a sense of disillusionment dwells a bit among the Reptilians. It seems that Greg shares the same beliefs as Lola and the Princess Party.
But Greg has not finished his response. "But I also believe that all students, especially the second graders, are free and equal regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, religion, disability, age, and of course academic performance."
Lola's smile turns into a puzzled expression as Lana's frown turns into a smile upon listening to the last part of Greg's belief. The ecstaticism felt by the Princesses soon turned into bewilderment while the disappointment felt by the Reptilians transformed into elation. Turns out Greg also expressed the beliefs of Lana and the Reptilian Party.
"Amazing response, Greg!" cheered Mrs. Wright, impressed by his reply. "Never thought I'd see someone who shares the beliefs of both rivaling candidates and their parties! This is something new!"
"H-h-how can you believe in authority and freedom at the same time?!" Lola questions Greg.
"While it's true that authority and freedom oppose one another, that doesn't mean they can't coexist," was Greg's reply.
Upon hearing that, the Princesses soon went from feeling bewildered to now understanding Greg's belief, and that understanding transformed into agreement for a few Princesses. A few Reptilians also began to understand Greg's belief and agree with him. Turns out Greg can gain support from both sides after all, and that support increased as Greg was able to win all arguments against both Lola and Lana throughout the entire debate.
For example, the issue of higher pay for teachers:
"Teachers should just accept the low pay! They should be grateful that they're earning money at least!" argues Lola.
"Teachers have worked hard to educate us and make us smart! They deserve higher pay!" retorts Lana.
"I think teachers should be paid based on how much work they've done," asserts Greg. "If teachers have put in so much effort, then they deserve higher pay, but if some didn't put in as much effort, then they deserve lower pay. If certain teachers are lazy and don't do their job or abuses his, her, or their students, then that teacher deserves no pay and should be fired."
The issue of punishing low-performing students:
"Students receiving low grades should be punished with detention and be given extra homework to improve their grades!" exclaims the pageant star.
"Giving them extra homework would lead them to not do said homework even more, causing their grades to drop even more!" claims the tomboy.
"While I do agree that low-performing students should raise their grades if they want to enter the next grade next school year, they shouldn't be punished unless necessary," states Greg. "They should be placed in tutoring programs where tutors such as myself could help them understand the problems they were given as homework. If they still don't complete their assignments after participating in tutoring, then it's justified to punish them with detention and/or extra homework."
And finally, the issue of authority and freedom:
"Students should be told what to do! It's called following rules and being a good student!" the pro-monarchy Lola contends.
"Students should be free to do whatever they want! It's called being free and being who you want to be!" the pro-anarchy Lana asserts.
"I believe students should follow the rules and do what they are told by school authorities, but I also believe students should also be allowed some freedoms such as the freedom to protest against a rule they deem unjust. Authority nor freedom are absolute. There should be a balance of the two in order to create an equal and just society," explains Greg.
It was not long until the final debate was over.
"And that concludes our final debate between Lola, Lana, and Greg!" proclaimed Mrs. Wright. "Now this was an interesting debate! The first I've ever seen in a while! This is how political debates should be! Not a bunch of bickering between candidates! You all may head over to the gym to vote for your candidate; you may also withdraw your vote and vote for someone else if you changed your mind."
The debate then ends with the second-grade audience cheering with applause and exhilaration. They are no longer wearing the merchandise and carrying banners and flags expressing their support for Lola or Lana; instead, the merchandise, flags, and banners are littered on the floor. The audience is no longer divided as they now filled the empty seats that formerly divided them and are now united under the support for Greg Miller. They are no longer Princesses or Reptilians; they are now Balances (Greg supporters). More importantly, they are no longer radicalized into the right-wing beliefs of Lola and left-wing beliefs of Lana.
Later at the gym, the second graders that had not voted yet are lined up in front of the ballot with the Balance Party symbol on it, meaning they are voting for Greg. The lines in front of the Princess and Reptilian ballots are filled with voters who already voted for their respective candidates, but they are lined up to withdraw their votes so they can vote for Greg.
From the bleachers, Lola and Lana are watching their supporters withdraw their votes from their ballots. It has been a while since they sat together. Throughout the election, the twins refused to talk to one another even at home. To the Louds, it seems like Lola and Lana played the nonexistent game where they pretended to not know each other or even acknowledge each other's existence. Rita and Lynn Sr. tried to get their twin daughters to get along again, but the election is too ingrained into their minds. At school, as we all know, they defamed one another in order to gain voters, but now they are losing supporters to Greg. This gave Lola and Lana a chance to reflect their actions.
"Will you look at that," said Lana. "The voters that we've worked so hard to gain are now voting for that nerd."
"I'll admit, Greg did make some good points," said Lola.
"Speaking of his points, how can someone believe in both of our beliefs at the same time?"
"Beats me. Maybe he's so smart that he was able to mix our beliefs and destroy our arguments."
"That could be one explanation. Is that also why we're talking to each other now?"
"Now that you've mentioned it, we are talking to each other… and peacefully." Lola realized.
"We should be arguing by now. That's the only thing we've ever done when we encountered each other during the election," says Lana.
"Yeah."
Suddenly, the twins take notice of their friends who were members of their party entering the gymnasium. Soon, they take notice of the candidates and grow a little nervous.
"Guys? What are you doing here?" Lana asks her muddy buddies.
"Aren't you supposed to be at the clubroom?" Lola asks her pageant friends. "And why are you with the Reptilians?!"
"About that," Winston nervously began.
"No offense, but after listening to Greg's points we realized that he could be the class president we're looking for," Skippy admits.
"I mean, following rules while maintaining my freedom? Greg has got himself a deal!" exclaims Jane.
"We're sorry, but we've decided to quit the party," said Jackie.
"We hope you're not mad," utters Isabelle.
"That's okay," the tomboy said. "You guys can vote Balance if you want. We don't care by this point."
Lola was about to object, but she decided not to. There's no point in arguing against her friends' change of opinion.
Lola and Lana let out a huge melancholy sigh as they watch their friends form a line to withdraw their votes.
"Welp. There goes our closest allies," said Lana with Lola nodding in agreement.
After a short silence, Lana asks, "Lols?"
"Hm?"
"Do you think we've taken things too far?"
"What do you mean?" inquired Lola.
"I mean, we've spread lies about each other to gain votes, we did nothing to stop the fights between our voters, and we've attacked each other's views," explains Lana. "Heck, we've taken our political beliefs to the extreme."
"Now that you've mentioned it, yeah we did. I've actually wanted to torture students who receive F's."
"And I truly believed grades are a form of oppression. I sounded like an SJW saying that."
"And I sounded like a tyrant."
"So even if one of us became president, Principal Huggins would not let me abolish the grading system or rules for that matter," admits the tomboy.
"And he would not allow me to punish students cruelly," admits the princess.
"I guess we were both crazy."
"Yeah."
After another short silence, Lana says, "Since the election is about to be over, shall we make a truce?" She holds up her hand, offering Lola to shake her hand.
Lola shakes her sister's hand. "We shall," she said.