"He really should've stopped talking," Lady WiFi scowled, glaring at Nino's frozen figure. I slowly back away from her, trying my best not to provoke her. I don't even have Arya with me right now, I'd stand no chance!

Lady WiFi has other ideas and fires two lock symbols at me, trapping my wrists to the wall. My eyes widen in horror as she approaches me. I close my eyes, bracing myself for whatever she plans to do to me.

I feel her hand gently cup my cheek, moving my head so I'm facing her. "You can open your eyes. I'm not here to hurt you, Esme."

I find the courage to peek due to her soft, sincere voice. This is so weird, for a villain. Then again, I guess it's not exactly unheard of, either; Evillustrator loved Marinette, Copycat loved Ladybug... come to think of it, everyone just loves Marinette whether they know it or not.

"You didn't pause me," I say, gathering the nerve to speak up. "You want something, don't you?" "Mm, maybe not from you," Lady WiFi hums, looking me up and down. "But you'll be perfect bait for Ladybug and Chat Noir so I can steal their Miraculous. Besides, I wouldn't mind the company."

"I would've thought you'd like Nino as y-" I begin, but Lady WiFi cuts me off. "I am not just Nino's pathetic little girlfriend! Not anymore, at least. I'm Lady WiFi now, so I do what I want! And I'm bringing you with me, not him!"

She speaks with such contempt, practically spitting out Nino's name like it leaves a bad taste in her mouth. I stay quiet from now on, seeing this as my best option.

"I'll be back in a minute, you stay here. And if you try and scream for help, just know you have another thing coming."

She heads upstairs, then I hear yelling and crashing. Oh for the love of god, she's wrecking the Nest! If the Miraculous Ladybug doesn't fix this all up afterwards, I swear I'll-

"Esme?!"

"Arya!" I smile, relieved to see the little kwami. "You've gotta stay quiet, okay? Get in my bag, there's no use transforming now but I'll  do it when the time comes. Just be careful."

"Hold on, I know!" Arya flies over to Nino, taking his bracelet. That must be the turtle Miraculous. "Bring this as well! You may need it and Nino can't do much with it now!"

Wayzz emerges from under Nino's hat. "What are you doing?!" "Sorry, Wayzz, but we need all the help we can get," I tell him quietly. "Keep your voice down, okay? Nino can't transform into Carapace like this, so it's more useful for you to come with us."

"How did you know Nino was Carapace?!"

"I've known for a while now, your secret's safe with me," I assure him. "But get in my bag before Lady WiFi comes back. If she catches two kwamis, we're all screwed."

Wayzz nods and follows Arya into my bag. She's carrying the bracelet so Lady WiFi doesn't spot it and get suspicious. I'm lucky they got in when they did, because it didn't take long for Lady WiFi to return.

Lady WiFi unlocks my wrists, then picks me up, much to my surprise. "Hold on," she orders me. I do so, wrapping my arms around her gingerly. A small part of me can't help but be excited about being like this with Alya, but the more logical side of me is fully aware that this is far from the scene I'd had in mind.

Besides, after Nino's attempted confession, she probably hates me. If Nino really likes me, he practically dumped her for me. She must've overheard or something. I should've seen the akuma coming! I should've protected her like the last time!

Lady WiFi starts walking, carrying me in her arms. We head upstairs, passing a pretty much destroyed Nest. I gasp when I see Viperion amongst the chaos, a lavender pause icon glowing dimly in front of him as he seems to be shielding someone, likely Ladybug.

"Viperion's my little trophy now," Lady WiFi smirked at my reaction. "But Ladybug ran off like the coward she is. How about we go draw her out, eh?"

I don't answer, no longer brave enough to speak out after last time. I really don't wanna say the wrong thing again and anger her. I don't know what she might do to me while akumatised, she isn't herself.

Lady WiFi turns to the TV, which somehow has avoided being smashed, and pulls herself through it, taking me with her. When we emerge, it's at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Why are we all the way up here?

She sets me down against a beam and locks me to it, then starts recording. "Hello, Paris! Lady WiFi is back! And this time I have a new friend!" She gestures to me. I hang my head, refusing to look at the camera, but she comes over and tilts my head up for me. Great.

"Ladybug, Chat Noir, if you don't come and give me your Miraculous, it just might be a goodbye for little Esme here instead of a hello! Make your choice!" She shuts off the video, smirking.

She turns to me much too quickly for my liking, causing me to flinch. "You make a lovely piece of bait, you know," she smirks, almost coyly, as she sits down beside me. I don't reply, making her smirk flip to a scowl. "Nothing to say for yourself?"

I flinch again. "No..." I mumble quietly, unsure what she'd want me to say. "Am I... am I supposed to...?"

She watches me for a moment, seeming to be thinking. "I've always known you were awkward in social situations, Esme, but never like this. I always saw you as the calm one in these situations. But now you're just acting like a scared baby."

I'm slightly emboldened by this comment. "How else do you expect me to react when being told you're gonna throw me off the Eiffel Tower in exchange for jewellery?"

"Fair enough," Lady WiFi admits. "Still, though. I wouldn't have thought you'd be such a wuss about it. I would've thought you'd try and 'save your wittle Alya with the power of fwendship and love'!" She says the last part in a mocking baby voice.

"I'm not stupid, I know you're not Alya when you're like this," I shake my head. "So there's no point trying to reason with you that way." "Glad you have some kind of sense," Lady WiFi smirks.

"Mm... depends," I mumble as I start to get a few ideas.