Marinette stared wide eyed at Lloyd, who had just challenged Chloe to make his life difficult. He folded his arms across his chest, one dark eyebrow popping up in a mocking manner. Nya was still fuming behind him, though she seemed pleased with her friend.

Marinette had not missed Lloyd's and Nya's small exchange. It was quiet and unnoticable, but she wasn't Ladybug for nothing. Her observations skills picked up on one thing:

Lloyd was the leader.

And not the ringleader of the friends, but someone in a position of authority. Not just the spokesman, the boss, someone higher ranked, (though it was apparent they were all quite fond of each other.)

That, combined with the small controversies in their story, was enough to raise Marinette's suspicions. Maybe it was because of Lila, the last new student, maybe not. But the fact that Tikki acted strange yesterday when they had arrived only added to her growing sense of unease.

Chloe's eyes narrowed. "I'm going to make you wish you were dead."

And after that statement, the faucet on the water fountain exploded.

A jet of water sprayed up and at Chloe, thoroughly drenching her already ruined sweater. The sprinklers on the ceiling went off, as well, and managed to soak through everyone's clothes. Marinette jumped with surprise, and, per usual, slipped in the puddle and landed on her rear with a squeak.

Someone grabbed her shoulder and helped her up. She smiled and was about to thank whoever it was when she realized who it was. Then she slipped again, this time pulling him down with her.

"S-S-SORRY ADRIEN!" Mortified, Marinette grabbed a napkin from her hip purse, and tried to clean him up before realizing it was fruitless.

Adrien's face broke out into a grin as his blonde hair plastered to his forehead. "No worries, Mari," he said with a laugh. He ran his fingers through the golden strands of his wet hair. Her stomach turned at the sound of her name on his tongue.

"Alright, Alright!" a booming voice called. Mr. Damocles stormed into the hallway, his beard dripping water. "Who pulled this?!"

"It just went off—"

"It was those new brats," Chloe shouted, wringing her hair. "They did it to ruin the school!"

Lloyd froze and stared at Chloe for a minute before frowning. Marinette couldn't make out the emotions on his face before he spoke. "Sir, we didn't touch the plumbing."

Mr. Damocles rubbed his forehead. "You are all dismissed to go home and get changed."

Marinette looked away and up to see that Lloyd and his friends had already silently vanished.

"Well, my father will kill me if I let his clothes become ruined," Adrien laughed, though it didn't quite sound lighthearted. "I gotta call Gorilla. See ya, Mari!"

"See-ee y-ou," Marinette managed to get out. After Adrien had disappeared around the corner, she finally was able to get to her feet. She could still feel her cheeks as warm. With a deep breath, she waved to the janitors who were still trying to turn the water off. She walked down the hallways to the exit that would be the closest to the cross-walk when she heard some tense, hushed voices.

"—be more careful."

She faintly recognized the voice to belong to Zane, another new student. She stopped and leaned closer to the corner and peeked around to the see all six of them talking.

Nya's eye was twitching. "Look, I swear it was an accident."

"Whether it was an accident or not," Cole rumbled, folding his arms. "It could still be a potentially exposing thing. What if he heard of it? If he was smart enough to locate them here, then he's definetly smart enough to look into a water incident."

Nya huffed. "Sorry, I'll have more control next time."

"Hey," Jay said sweetly hugging his girl. "Look, we get it. Chloe is worse than Ronan, but this is too important. We've already faced him three times, and we lost Zane one of those times. If we can prevent another confrontation…"

Nya shrugged him off. "Look, I know."

Marinette felt her confusion deepen. Lost Zane? What was that supposed to mean?

"Nya, we're not mad…" Kai started. He sighed. "Look, sis…."

"I said I get it." Nya's response was sharp and laced with anger. "I know I have to do better. You know me, I learn. So would you get off of me?"

"Nya…."

She stormed off.

Marinette slunk back and walked in the other direction, not wanting to risk them discovering her spying. The whole conversion was confusing. How did Nya have to do with the water? She didn't move or touch anything? Did she tamper with the pipes?

Something was definitely wrong.

—

Nya knew that they were right to be concerned. She typically had better control than to let her elemental powers explode on everyone. And the Overlord returning was a serious threat all of them were terrified of. But she couldn't help but feel like they were being unfairly harsh.

She walked into the bathroom, then locked a stall behind her. Using her powers, she drained the water from her clothes, leaving her relatively dry. She manipulated the water to drop into the toilet bowl.

In her frustration, she kicked the base of the porcelain toilet. "I won't do it again!" She hissed.

"No, you won't," an unfamiliar voice whispered in her ear.