Finally outside, Jennie inhaled deeply before she started to make her way toward the Trocadero.
Every time she took a step outside further proved that she was no longer home, it was in moments like these that she felt alone, even if she was already getting accustomed to it.
Meanwhile, the walk toward the Trocadero took almost 20 minutes. As she reached the plaza bustling with people, she was welcomed with the view of the Eiffel Tower that was even more impressive from up close than it was from her bedroom windows. It glistened as it reflected the sunlight, it was such a mesmerizing sight to look at.
Jennie subsequently pulled out a pair of earphones from her pocket, and played some classical music on her phone to match her current mood. Immersed to the tunes in her ears, she started to hum in delight and forgot about her worries whilst she stood in the middle of the plaza, admiring the scenery.
Unfortunately, it wasn't long until that blissful moment was abruptly interrupted, through her earphones, she could hear muffled screams and multiple explosions that caused the ground to tremor.
Jennie turned to her right and, from the corner of her eyes, she saw the chaos unfold all around her. The citizens of Paris were desperately fleeing to safety, away from the range of the incoming blasts and from what seemed to be a floating shadow in the sky which was the cause of this mayhem.
To be more precise, an Akuma, whom she had almost forgotten about their existence and wished they didn't exist.
Within a few seconds, it had already reached the plaza. 'Damn it!' She grumbled internally.
Without any time to waste, Jennie quickly ran to the nearest car on the opposite side of the plaza to hide from the Akuma's sight, and held her breath as it approached. She was not the only one who had that idea as she spotted a lady and a pair of father with his daughter doing the same by lurking behind the neighboring cars.
It was truthfully the first time that she was experiencing an Akuma attack, she did not expect it to happen this soon; granted she was fortunate enough to not meet any of them until today, since she was most of the time in her apartment watching the news or too far away to be concerned by those kinds of events.
Moreover, it was undeniable that in front of them, she felt absolutely powerless, without any way to defend herself other than to hide or run the farthest away as possible.
Akumatized villains tended to be abnormally volatile and unpredictable, at the same level as psychopaths, it was better to take a good distance away from them as to not attract their attention or worse provoke them. They did not pity anyone who was unfortunate enough to cross their path, and she preferred not to be a part of those people.
Peeking from behind the vehicle, what seemed to be a cloud slowly dispersed as it landed on the plaza, pigeons simultaneously spread out to reveal the akumatized villain.
It wasn't surprising that her first encounter with an Akuma had to be Mr. Pigeon, given how often he fell victim to hawkmoth's manipulations, which was quite pitiful. But regardless, Akumas were still Akumas under hawkmoth's influence, Jennie had to stay wary around them.
Whilst Mr. Pigeon scanned around the plaza, seemingly looking for signs of Ladybug and Chat Noir, Jennie noticed a purple butterfly-shaped outline gradually appear around his eyes; it wasn't hard for her to guess that Hawkmoth was directly communicating with him. After a few moments it disappeared, instead, a smirk began to form on the villain's face, which certainly wasn't a good sign.
Jennie noted this shift in the villain's behavior and became even more alert.
Hawkmoth was good at taking advantage of people's emotions and for Mr. Pigeon to have that kind of reaction must mean that he might have already formed some sort of wicked plan, he would do anything to be in possession of the Cat and Ladybug miraculous.
After receiving instructions from Hawkmoth, Mr. Pigeon blew his whistle, ordering his pigeons to split up and check around the perimeter; because he was able to communicate with the pigeons, they acted as his eyes and ears just like radars.
After his command was issued, Jennie dreaded the thought that a pigeon would head toward her and desperately hoped that it wouldn't happen. But as her luck would have it, her wish didn't come true as two of them unhurriedly flapped their wings to the car she was hiding at.
Jennie found herself in a tough spot, she gritted her teeth and further pressed her back to the vehicle as to make herself less noticeable whilst she tried harder to stay quiet. At the same time, she started to think rapidly of the different scenarios that could possibly happen and how to get out of this predicament without exposing herself and with the least casualties.
All of a sudden, a little girl who seemed to be aged around 6 and 7 years old that was wearing a ladybug costume, recklessly charged - and without any regard for her safety - straight to the pigeons as she screamed "GO AWAY EVIL AKUMA, STOP SCARING EVERYONE!", coincidentally chasing them all away from her hiding spot.
The father that was hiding behind one of the vehicles yelled at his daughter's action, it seemed that he didn't notice her slip away from him. He was in utter panic!
Unfortunately, the girl didn't know that by doing so she would provoke the wrath of the Villain, she wasn't being courageous, but irresponsible, putting herself and her parents in a precarious situation.
"Oh excellent! A bait! I will use you as a bait to attract ladybug and chat noir," he smirked despite his anger.
She turned around, expecting her father to shower her with praise only to find him with a face pale with fright, he yelled "COME BACK!" as he witnessed the pigeons that she chased away doing a U-turn and charging toward his defenseless daughter at an unbelievable speed.
Jennie witnessing all of this happen in the span of a few seconds was horrified. Akumas attacks are dangerous, especially toward civilians let alone a helpless child, she could be gravely injured.
Jennie hesitated if she should save the little girl or stay in her place. Is it worth it to risk herself getting discovered for a kid? Especially since the miraculous cure would fix everything once it's over, she just had to stay patient and wait for ladybug and chat noir to show up and do their thing. But, the little girl kind of unintentionally chased away the pigeons away from her...
While she struggled internally to make a decision, in the span of a few seconds the pigeons got closer and closer to the little girl until Jennie could not turn a blind eye to it anymore.
Without thinking Jennie instantly got up and rushed to save the kid. When she got near enough she lunged at the girl and she wrapped her arms around her to shield her from the incoming impact as they rolled away on the ground, they dodged in a timely manner.
BOOM!
The pigeons hit nothing but the floor where the child previously stood at, leaving only a hole as the dust and gravel raised from it.
Jennie shuddered at the sight of the damage made by those pigeons.
Mr. Pigeon was furious, seeing as his attempt to attack the child failed because of another teenager that chose to interfere. He glared at Jennie, preparing another flurry of attacks toward her, only this tile they were relentless.
The ground reverberated with each frenzied attack, Jennie dodged as fast as she could with the child still in her arms, escaping the incoming pigeons by the width of a hair.
Dodging became more and mire difficult whilst she held the child, she began to pant and sweat all over. In a moment of exhaustion jennie tripped and missed. She could no longer get up. Spraining her ankle in the process.
Surrounded by a swarm of pigeons, She held the little girl closely as she closed her eyes at the inevitable attack. Preparing herself for the pain.
But contrary to her expectations the pain didn't come, she heard multiple thuds like the sound of metal hitting the birds and some of them being knocked to the ground. She opened her eyes and reveled at the sight of chat noir standing just in front of her.
Chat Noir adeptly swung his steel baton at each pigeon, knocking them to the ground, sending them back to where they came from.
"Pawsome fight! Thank you for holding off Mr. Pigeon for me until I got here, I am taking over from here," he said as he glanced back at Jennie for a brief moment, but with admiration clearly reflecting from his bright emerald eyes.
"Quickly bring the girl to safety." He evaded a pigeon and focused his attention back to the fight.
Jennie nodded and hurried back up, with the trembling girl still in between her arms. With a bit of difficulty she handed over the child to her father, "Please get to safety in one of the nearby buildings, Chat Noir is finally here, hopefully Ladybug gets there soon."
"Thank you!" Responded both the Father and daughter with tear stricken faces, hugging each other tightly from their reunion before they ran to the nearest building.
Jennie sighed in relief and turned back limply to watch over the confrontation. She hissed from the pain that coursed from her ankle, the pain should be temporary she reassured herself, injuries from akuma attacks get healed thanks to the miracle cure, that is if Ladybug manages to catch the akuma.
Things didn't look too good for Chat Noir as he was dragging on the fight with lot of difficulty given his allergy to feather. That's right, even now his weakness affects him greatly.