Chapter 2

"Why are we still Hydra and not Jean?" Luka asked as the three talked in their mindscape.

"Did I say the words wrong?"

"No that is not it. Something is not right." Marinette comforted one of her boyfriends. "You said everything right."

"Marinette you try now. And then if that doesn't work I will try."

Marinette and then Luka both assumed control over the shared body and neither managed to transform.

"This is a purrfect pickle. My lord and lady." Adrien said as he put down the hood he was wearing to scratch his head. "Why are you two staring at me?"

"Adrien you are wearing one of those head bands." Luka said as he gently lowered his girlfriend's hood to see she always had one of those head bands on. And allowed her to do the same to him confirming that all were wearing them.

After a few minutes of trying to remove them and being unable to. They began a full search to see if there were any other pieces of clothing, they did not remember being apart of their costume. And found a thin band around their waist hidden underneath their belt and a thin ring on their right thumb each bearing the symbol.

The trio were called back to attention from their mindscape as they heard the sounds of stirring coming from their past selves. As they came to it was obvious that something was wrong. Luka awoke first and after rubbing his eyes and looking around started playing with his ears and then trying to remove the piece of material covering his ears to no avail.

Marinette woke up next and began almost immediately rubbing her eyes and then trying to remove the mask that covered them. Adrien seemed to have the least issues at first as he woke up and took stock of his location. It was not until he rubbed Luka's back to help settle him, he had the same look of horror on his face as his significant others. Well as much as the lower face mask would show. As began frantically touching everything he could.

What is going on?

I don't know he is freaking out

His ears are bothering him?

Why aren't they making noise?

So she can't see?

He can't hear.

And I guess he can't feel?

It took a few minutes for Jean in order to get their past selves to come down enough to sit down and start breathing normally. As they began getting what information they could from their past selves through a combination of typing on phones and miming. They soon learned that Adrien, as they suspected could not feel anything. Just as Luka could not hear and Marinette could not see. None of them could speak.

"So the last thing you remember is walking home the day after the big math test?" Adrien and Marinette nodded and Luka did once he was shown the message on a phone. Which was weeks earlier. They had no idea what had attacked them or why they did not wear the correct miraculous. Or why Hydra was unable to transform back.

They began quacking reaching out to their friends on the trip to see what was happening but after the fifth person did not respond they knew something was amiss.

"Alright if no one is answering back something must be wrong. We need to be ready in case a villain attacked." Luka took control of the body as he felt his more experienced superhero significant others began formulating plans in the back of his head. "First step is get back to the camp site." A quick climb up the tallest nearby tree and Luka was able to see a large clearing in the forest a few kilometers away which looked like the pictures online.

As they landed the conversation drifted in their head as Adrien and Marinette finished a preliminary plan.

I think that is a good plan. Get to the camp site investigate there. Met up with any of our friends and then search for the presumed villain.

Maybe there will be something we can figure out what they want and perhaps more importantly what they can actually do. We also can not rule out Sentimonster so be careful though they been appearing less and less.

I wonder why that is it is not like Hawkmoth to let an advantage not be used. Mayura and him must be planning something big. Poor Nooroo and Duusu. No one should ever have to work with someone like them.

Speaking of Kwamis we should ask the Kwamis our past self have. Maybe whatever affected us had less effect? Or they may have some insight at least.

He trio asked their past selves who began looking though their pockets unable to find their Kwamis.

Something is off about my/His ring. I can't place my finger on it though.

Broken?

No it looks intact just something seems off?

Maybe the attack changed it?

No that is not it. It almost looks like …

Yes?

Like when I am transformed. Like it is charged still and not disguised.

Maybe because "I" am wearing it?

I have seen other people wear the ring before and the charged form always looks similar.

Now that you mention it the snake miraculous seems to be in an active state as well. My muse.

After informing their past selves of their running hypothesis and seeing them visibly calm the two trios began their journey. The walk would normally only have taken perhaps a half hour but would take them the better part of 2 as Luka and Marinette where still getting used to having to rely on other senses to avoid tripping or inuring themselves. And Hydra refused to leave them alone.

I have to say I am impressed. They are handing these setbacks with a great deal of grace.

It might help that they know each other so well. Nearly as well as we know each other, and they didn't spend several months literally in each other's head. But they already seem to be communicating.

Adrien Luka and Marinette had developed a system. Adrien and Luka communicated with eachother via text. While Luka and Adrien communicated with Marinette though touch (touching her left shoulder meant no, squeezing her right hand meant stop, tapping right shoulder meant danger etc) and text to speech on their phones. She communicated back with body language, miming and text to speech though being unable to see the keyboard was a much slower and tedious process to use. All told while nowhere as efficient as an actual dedicated language such as LSF or other sign languages it was a good start.

It really is amazing in under an hour maybe 70 minutes those three are having conversations again. I knew there was a reason I fell for your two.

Our ability to talk to each other? Because did you met me before I could barely speak to Adrien out of costume for like 2 months and even then I never told him how I felt for like what a year? I could only talk to Cat Noir because I didn't know.

Well yes. But more of the fact that you two are both cool under pressure and always able to come up with plans and adapt to changing circumstances. And I love listening to you. I am not joking when I say you two make beautiful music with every word you speak.

The conversation petered out as they neared the camp site. They found it not, well as they remembered it, but as they would have expected it to be set up. Tents and coolers. Some of the sports equipment they were going to use neatly stacked in a pile.

But no sign of their friends if they had not known better it would have looked like they had just left to do some hiking or to take a walk.

A few minutes into their search when Hydra only narrowly avoided getting brained with a tree branch wielded by Kagami.

"My apologies I thought you were the villain coming back."

"Kagami I am so glad you are safe. Do you know what happened. Their and our memories have been affected." Hydra said pointing to their boyfriends and girlfriend. As Luka, Adrien, And Marinette switched in and out for a chance to talk to Kagami and explain what happened.

Kagami sat and absorbed the somewhat unstructured deluge of information that she received from her polycule. After gathering her thoughts for a second. She began speaking. "We all were having fun setting up the camp site and where just about to break for lunch when the sounds of a super villain attack seemed to start up in the distance. It seemed to be coming from the town that your father was at for his fashion show. You are all used that as excuse to make some phone calls and leave. You did not say anything to me but presumably to transform into your alter egos."

She paused for a moment to allow Adrien a chance to finish transcribing what she was saying for Luka. "About 35 minutes later, the villain floated over the trees and attacked. A few of our friends where taken and the rest scattered I stayed in the area in case you all returned."

She explained that like most of the villains he screamed his name as he attacked. BalanceMaster. He seemed to use a scale as a tool and a floating gold box as a sentimonster. The box absorbed, teleported, shrunk, or otherwise did something to the ones hit with it because they vanished.

"And he had another ability besides the relatively standard powers that Hawkmoth grants, strength agility durability etc. He could launch beams from his scale, and it seemed to create clothing on those it hit. Which looked a lot like those." She said pointing to the headbands and masks Adrien, Luka and Marinette wore. "Oh at least with the same symbol on them Kim was shot, and it seemed to hit his shoes after words he was running much slower and seemed to be unable to jump. Max was hit and it formed a headband as well. He seemed confused all of a sudden like he didn't know where he was. I think a few others where hit, but I am not sure as we all scattered into the woods. I know Max and Kim were taken but the others I am unsure of."

That's bad.