Ms. Mendeleiev had been gone for over five minutes.
"I'll be right back." Marinette asked.
"Where are you going?" Lila asked.
"To find Mendeleiev. She's been gone for nearly ten minutes." she answered.
"You don't think she's been akumatized, do you?" Alix asked.
"That's crazy. If anything, I think Nathaniel's been akumatized yet again." Kim asked.
"I thought that Hawkmoth usually didn't use the same trick twice."
"Remember Lila? She's been akumatized too many times to count."
"You wanna make a bet?"
"Sure. If Nathaniel gets akumatized before Ms. Mendeleiev, you have to be my servant for a whole week."
"Alright. If I win, you have to wear a dress to the summer solstice gala."
"I'm gonna win. Nathaniel is doomed to akumatization."
"You're gonna lose. That's crazy."
"Actually, it isn't." Max said.
Juleka looked at him, puzzled. "Huh?"
"What do you mean Kim isn't crazy?" Chloe asked.
"Well, from what I have gathered from multiple akuma stories, the negative emotion that creates the most akumas is anger. And Nathaniel was extremely mad at Ms. Mendeleiev for falsely accusing him of theft and deception. Whereas our teacher showed little to no negative emotions at all. The chances of Nathaniel turning into Evillustrator are approximately 85.5%." Max answered.
Alix's jaw dropped. "I better start making a list of demands now." Kim said.
"Shut up, Hercules." she grumbled.
"Why should we even search for her? She's awful, and we all know it." Alya said.
"She seems emotionless with only anger and discontent. Trust me, I've seen it all before." Adrien remarked.
"But she's still human, just like the rest of us. Everyone has emotions, even the strictest of teachers." Marinette answered.
"Be careful out there." Alix said.
Marinette left the room and looked around. She didn't see anyone. No teachers, students, not even Fred Haprele, who was usually in the courtyard. She felt a bad feeling on creep up her spine. She heard the clinking of glass bottles. She slowly turned around only to be hit in the eyes with acid. Then she screamed.
"My eyes!"
Her eyes stung. She couldn't see a thing. She heard footsteps. They were loud and fast. Then they stopped. Then she felt someone grab her. "Ahh! Help me!" Whoever this person was, they were taking her somewhere. She tried to escape.
"Marinette, calm down! It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." a familiar voice said.
"Cat? Is that you?" Marinette asked.
"No, it's me Adrien." he answered. "Try and keep your eyes open."
Adrien led her to the sink and turned on the cold water. Marinette tried to flush the chemicals out of her eyes.
"Marinette? Are you okay?" Sabrina asked.
"I don't know... What was I hit with?" Marinette asked.
"Did you see your attacker?" Rose asked.
"Only a flash of white. They threw some kind of acid at me, but I don't know what it was." the blue haired designer answered.
"Did you see the color of the acid? Give us as many details as you can." Nino said.
"The acid seemed colorless." she answered. "Maybe a hint of light yellow?"
"That sounds like impure sulfuric acid." Max answered.
"How bad exactly is that?" she asked.
"It's serious, but it could be worse. Sulfuric acid is obviously an acid burn. Thank goodness you don't have an alkai burn. That could cause permanent blindness!" Max exclaimed.
"Wouldn't that actually be a good thing? Then Marinette could actually see that she's no match for me." Chloe said, laughing.
Several people glared at Chloe. "Chloe, that was completely uncalled for!" Alya screamed. "Do you want me to slap you?!"
"Do it!" Alix commanded.
"Guys, calm down!" Ivan exclaimed. "All this arguing will get us nowhere, especially with an akumatized baddie roaming these halls!"
"There's an akumatized villain?" Juleka asked.
"Most likely." Sabrina answered. "Who or what else would attack such a nice girl? Marinette hasn't done anything wrong."
"How can you say that?" Chloe asked, glaring at her.
"Because I'm right." she said. "Chloe, I'm through being your slave! There's nothing you can say or do to convince me otherwise! So about me being your all-purpose girl, forget it! You don't deserve my assistance, or any of your fabulous riches, including this mere comb!"
She tried to take the comb, but Chloe slapped her hand away. "Hands off! That was a gift!"
Sabrina scoffed. "From who? Your father?"
"Yes!" Chloe answered.
Suddenly, Nathaniel came running in, slamming and locking the door behind him. "She's gone mad! Mad, I tell you!"
"Mad as in angry, or mad as in totally crazy?" Kim asked.
"Both!" he answered. "Where are Ladybug and Cat Noir when we need them the most?"
Adrien knew that Cat Noir wouldn't show up. He wanted to believe Ladybug would come, but he had no idea that she had just been hit with sulfuric acid.
"Ivan, Kim, Nino, quickly barricade the door!" Adrien commanded. They did as he said, using two heavy lockers to block the door. "Nathaniel, what happened?"
He spoke quickly, "A mad scientist tried to kill me with various chemical concoctions. She seemed to be pulling various compounds out of thin air!"
"What did she look like?" Sabrina asked.
"Her pink hair was long and spiked upward. Her eyes were purple and her complexion was a bright red tone. She wore a long purple dress with several equations and formulas in black font along with a white lab coat, and a green bracelet on her wrist with a silver atom charm." he answered.
Alix held up her hand. "That's enough. I think we know who's at fault for Marinette's eye injury."
Kim started sweating. "Oh no... No, no, no, it can't be..."
"Don't lie to me, Kim. The Mad Scientist is Ms. Mendeleiev." Alix looked at Kim. "You lost the bet. And that means two things; one, we're in trouble, and two, and more importantly, I was right! In your face, meathead!"
"Do you have to gloat about this now?!" Chloe asked.
"Uh, what happened?" Nathaniel asked.
"It's a long story, I'll tell you later." Alix answered.
"Why would our teacher target Nathaniel?" Rose asked.
"She thinks I'm a thief and a liar, even though I never stole anything. I swear on my life, I'm telling the truth!" Nathaniel answered. "She's searching for me right now. I managed to shake her off, but it's only a matter of time before she finds me. And the rest of you."
"Are you sure?" Juleka asked.
"I'm certain. She'll stop at nothing to get her revenge." Nathaniel said. "We're in a really bad situation."
"You sure about that? It could be worse." Marinette said.
"Let's see. Mendeleiev's gone mad, she's after Nathaniel, our heroes are no-shows and the entire school could be destroyed. Could this get any worse?" Alix asked.
"Ahh!" screamed a familiar voice.
"Lila!" Rose exclaimed.
Suddenly a table was thrown towards Alix, hurling her into the wall. A crack was heard and she screamed in agony before landing face first onto the floor.
"ALIX!" Kim yelled, rushing to her side.
Volpina emerged from the ground, causing the students to gasp in terror.