Co-written by GorgingGeorge 

Ship: Multi [Roguemond, Espressoline, DarkLico, Purple Milk (mentioned)]

NSFW: No

---------------------------------------------------

It was 3 minutes to midnight, and Poison Mushroom cookie was up, since that was the prime time for shroomie finding. It wasn't picking per say, since they would just admire them.

Though, since they're a child, someone had to go with them. That someone was Licorice Cookie. "Poison mushroom, do we really need to do this? You can just summon mushrooms..." The dark mage groaned, tired from being awakened by the child.

"But shroomies are different at night. They glow!" The child stated. Licorice was about to say something but that's when he saw it. A large field of mushrooms, but something seemed off about them.

Not only were they glowing as Poison Mushroom said, but the had a spiral pattern of red and white on them. "Wow! So many shroomies!" The mushroom child exclaimed, looking at all of them.

"Hey, be quiet, we're close to the city limits, someone might hear us." Licorice stated. "Oh, sorry, I'm just sooo happy to see the shroomies!"

Poison Mushroom immediately hopped onto the biggest mushroom, bouncing on the cap of it. "Aw, these ones don't have spores. I like shroomie spores a lot." They exclaimed. "But they smell nice."

Licorice took a closer look at one of these mushrooms, they had a sweetish scent to them. But were they safe to eat was the question, Poison Mushroom may have been an expert but he wouldn't be affected by any toxins that might be inside. "Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to give it a taste. I mean, I still haven't eaten yet."

He decided to pluck some of the mushrooms out of the ground, he could share some of them with Dark Choco. There was no doubt that he hasn't been able to eat either. "Poison Mushroom? We should get back now, before someone spots us here."

"Aww already?"

"Yes, Poison Mushroom. If we're caught by anyone in the city, they'll put us in jail! Well, I'll be in jail and then they'll force you to be in an orphanage, they'll split us apart."

"Oh, okay." Poison mushroom said as they went back to their group. The threat of being separated from their brother figure was enough to make them follow Licorice.

However, what they didn't know is that these mushrooms were, well, a little different than regular mushrooms. What do I mean by that? Well, they were going to find out. Once they returned Licorice examined the mushroom yet again before sticking it in his mouth.

The taste was sweet, similar to a fine bear jelly, it also had a similar texture. "Oh wow, this isn't half bad!" Licorice thought, happy to have found a food source for whenever he needed to give his rations to Poison Mushroom. However, he started to feel a bit off.

He felt less bitter about what happened in the past, and less vengeful. "Weird... Hmm... Poison Mushroom can you eat one of these?" He asked handing the child a mushroom, which they did. But nothing seemed to happen. "Ah I should have known that you wouldn't be effected." Licorice said before noticing Dark Choco enter the kitchen where they were.

He stared at the two, not thinking they would be there at that time since at that point it was 1 am. "Dark Choco do you want to try one of these mushrooms? I swear they're edible." The mage said.

The former prince looked over at the mushrooms, giving one a good sniff. "Well, it does smell sweet, I cannot recall the last time I had anything so luxurious." He remarked, finally taking a bite. "It is sweet, just like those jellies Hollyberry once sent to my father."

However, as he continued to eat, he seemed to relax more. He let go of his sword for the first time in years, as if every memory he had with the sword just vanished from his mind. "I feel... Free." Was all he said, he just mindlessly patted his belly as he thought more about the good memories he shared with his father in the past.

"Whoooooooaaaa. I never seen you so happy, Dark Choco." Poison Mushroom remarked. "It's nice, you never smiled before."

"I... I'm smiling? My, this is a change." The exiled prince remarked.

"Oh, uh yeah, it's a nice change though. Like it lights up your whole face or uh, or something." Licorice added. "Hey... I'm feeling a lot better too, this is weird."

"It is."

As the three conversed, the commotion caused another member of their crew to enter. "What on earthbread are you doing up this late. You'll wake my soldiers." Red Velvet stated. Then he laid his eyes upon the mushrooms. "Are those Poison Mushroom's?"

"No we found them." The mushroom child stated. "Yes, and the only changes they cause seem to be positive, so maybe you should try some if you haven't eaten yet."

"A general mustn't indulge on these things, I would set a bad example to my soldiers." the cake cookie hybrid explained, picking one up to examine it. But, as he did, Chiffon, Red Velvet's most loyal hound, bumped into him after having a bit of zoomies, causing him to fall and inertially eat the shroom.

As soon as he took that bite, his eyes lit up. He immediately shoved a second mushroom into his mouth, followed by another. "Whoa, what was that about you setting a bad example to your soldiers?" Licorice joked.

"Soldiers? As in the army?" He then dropped his sword in shock. "I'm a lover, not a fighter!"

Now this was very much unlike the battle-ready Red Velvet. "I guess these mushrooms also cause people to not want to cause conflict." The necromancer thought to himself. "Hey, why don't we make some cash selling these mushrooms out in the city?"

"Uh... But won't Pomegranate be mad at us?"

"Aw screw her, what has she ever done for us, huh? I mean, she barely lets us eat and then blames us when we don't have enough energy to fight Gingerbrave and his crew."

"What's this? Treachery?" A voice called. It was Pomegranate. "I mean, yeah, you failed to fufill the promises you made, why should we stay here?" Licorice asked, catching the priestess off guard.

"How dare you-" She would have gone on but the licorice mage threw a mushroom into her mouth, which she swallowed.

"So, Pomegranate how do you feel?" Licorice asked. "I... I feel sinful... I need to repent." She said before going, as if she was going back to her original state as a priestess.

"Well now that she's dealt with how about we continue our plan?" The necromancer asked, picking up Poison Mushroom.

"Yay! Shroomies for all!" they smiled, stimming as they were carried back to the field of mushrooms.

The sun was rising over the horizon as soon as the group of former evil cookies have finished harvesting all the mushrooms from the field. Poison Mushroom was sound asleep with Licorice using one of his spare cloaks as a blanket for them.

"Alright so umm... How exactly are we going to sell this to the other cookies without getting weird looks from people because of what we used to do?"

Dark Choco had a thought. "We could start up a small stand where we can sell one mushroom for about three coins each, does that sound alright?"

Using his magic, Licorice got to work building a wooden stand to sell their shroomies at. "This should do it, now we wait for customers to start coming in."

As the morning went on, nothing much happened. They were close to other businesses, but since people don't buy specific mushrooms unless it's for potions or relaxation, which are both nighttime activities. However, they're first customer approached.

"Ah, hello, are you interested in buying some mushrooms, it's three coins for one." Licorice offered. "I see, a steal really, you should be selling them for three times that for such a unfamiliar mushroom." Their customer stated taking out their pouch. "I'll take 5, I might find some use for coffee magic using these."

"Well, we don't want to overcharge. Anyway, that'll be 15 coins." The necromancer stated handing the magic cookie the mushrooms. After the exchange the other cookie went off.

That cookie was Espresso Cookie. He was in town since he had to get some ingredients for a potion-based spell he was working on and well, they seemed interesting.

"I know these are meant for eating, but I suppose these could be other uses for something like this. Mm, as sweet as it smells, I must resist."

Espresso supposed that one bite wouldn't hurt anyone, especially since they were so cheap so he could always go and buy some more if he ran out. "Mmn, it has the scent of real sugar in it, and a hint of marshmallow from the mushroom cap."

Taking a sigh, he finally took a bite out of the mushroom. He let the sweet, soft mushroom roll around over his tongue. "Oh wow! This taste it... It's... Well, it's yummy, that's good enough for me!" He exclaimed, getting some mushroom bits all over his face.

For some reason, he found a hard time coming up with words describing the taste of the mushroom. He could barely even think of any of his coffee-based spells.

Once he finished his mushroom he sighed. "Well, better get back to work." He stated to himself as he looked at his home chalk board. However, his mind couldn't figure out anything on the board.

"Huh? Did I write this? It's my handwriting but... I don't know any of this!" He groaned. He was about to push himself hard, but he was already feeling himself crash out just by reading the high-level equations.

"Hmm... I should take a break. Maybe take a bath, that will help." He thought before making his way to his bathroom. It was a little odd for him taking a break, and a long one at that, but he felt like if he didn't, he might go crazy.

As he took his bath, he was unaware of a certain blond entering his home. That blond being Madeleine, who was close enough friends with the professor to feel like he could just let himself in. "Espresso, are you in?" He called, smelling the scent of soap in place of burnt coffee. "I am, just taking a bath." Espresso called back. "Oh? He's taking a break. A bit odd but I suppose he is taking care of himself." The paladin thought. That's when he noticed the mushrooms on the counter.

"Oh? What is this? My, it smells as sweet as the cakes my aunties bake for me!" He declared. "I suppose he wouldn't mind if I had just one bite out of this. No, I must ask him first, it is in the readings of the Divine Light to be honest and to practice temperance."

After half an hour, Espresso emerged with nothing but a bath towel around his waist. "Oh, hey there Madeleine. Uh, did I forget to lock my door?"

"I have a spare key given to me from your sister, although I would like to ask about this mushroom you have found, it looks very tempting to eat."

"Eat? Oh yeah, I bought five of them, they're really cheap at this mushroom vender stand thingy." Espresso explained. "Here, you can have this one, it's uh. It's really tasty."

Madeleine cocked his head, usually Espresso would be irritated at him for interrupting his work and barging in, but now he didn't seem to mind. "I'll gladly sample this delectable little morsel and perhaps give one to Financier as well back at home."

"Oh? What is this? My, it smells as sweet as the cakes my aunties bake for me!" He declared. "I suppose he wouldn't mind if I had just one bite out of this. No, I must ask him first, it is in the readings of the Divine Light to be honest and to practice temperance."

After half an hour, Espresso emerged with nothing but a bath towel around his waist. "Oh, hey there Madeleine. Uh, um, did I forget to lock my door?"

"I have a spare key given to you from your sister, although I would like to ask about this mushroom you have found, it looks very tempting to eat."

"Eat? Oh yeah, I bought five of them, they're really cheap at this mushroom vender stand thingy." Espresso explained. "Here, you can have this one, it's uh. It's really tasty."

Madeleine cocked his head, usually Espresso would be irritated at him for interrupting his work and barging in, but now he didn't seem to mind. "I'll gladly sample this delectable little morsel and perhaps give one to Financier as well back at home."

Espresso paused. Usually he wasn't the jealous type, especially with someone who he's just friends with, but this mushroom is making him think differently, it was like his critical thinking has lowered to around Madeleine's.

"Espresso, are you alright?" The paladin asked, noticing the look on Espresso's face.

"Oh, um, yes, I'm okay, you should go give it to her, she'll probably like it." The coffee mage spoke. "Ah, alright, I shall go then."

Madeleine then returned to his home, mushrooms in hand. Though, he couldn't wait until he gave one to Financier cookie, so he ate one. However, unlike the previous changes, Madeleine started to feel a bit, devious, like he wanted to betray the light.

"What is happening to me? Why do I have a sudden urge to sin? To go against everything the Divine Light has taught me? Oh my... Am I losing my way?" He struggled to keep his urges intact, but eventually the mushroom seemed to get to him. "I have spent years only ever following the light, it's time I made my own path."

As he approached the Creme Republic, Financier and Clotted Cream were waiting for him in front of his mansion. Madeleine's aunties were taking a vacation to the Soda Isles and asked the two to watch over the house while they were away. "Where is Madeleine anyways? Shouldn't he be here to watch over this place?" Financier grumbled.

"Well, you know how he is, as a paladin he must fight for what they call the Divine Light. So, he's probably too busy to do something as mundane as dusting the furniture or stuff like that." Clotted Cream replied. "Ah, here he comes right now."

Madeleine was now dressed much differently, his armor replaced with some merch of the Cake Pops. Definitely something the two never expected him to wear. "Oh? What is in that bag of his?"

"Annyeong!" The blond exclaimed, doing a little idol pose as he greeted the other two in Korean. "Madeleine cookie, what is the meaning of this!" Financier demanded. "Oh? this? I decided the light isn't a path I can follow anymore, not when I'm so into the Cake Pops. They are my divine light now!"

"The who? And you're giving up being a paladin? What would your aunts think?" The woman Paladin asked, finding all of this to be crazy. "Financier, as much as I am equally confused on why he has changed paths, we cannot control him." Clotted Cream stated.

"Thank you for understanding."

"Now then, if I may ask, what do you have with you?" Clotted cream asked, gesturing to the bag. "Well, I have light sticks, merch, a vinyl of The Cake Pops' latest album, and from Espresso, these mushrooms. I'm assuming he's researching them." Madeleine explained before yapping about how hot they are.

"May I see the mushrooms?" the councilman asked before being handed them willingly.

"How peculiar, these seem to have some sort of spiral design on the cap. Do you think this could be why he's acting this way?" Clotted Cream thought, unfortunately before he could mention this to Financier, she had already taken a bite out of the mushroom.

"Ah! Don't eat that!" He squeaked.

"Don't eat what now?" Financier asked, a big bite was already in the mushroom she had. "Oh, I mean it didn't taste poisoned if that's what you're thinking. It's actually quite nice and sweet, even more than those cakes Madeleine's aunts bake. Erm, don't tell them I said that, okay?"

"Um, okay?"

What happened next would definitely get Clotted Cream to realize something was wrong, Financier went over and helped Madeleine carry all of his merch inside. "She's helping him out? The last time they were together, they didn't really get along well."

After everything was settled, Financier was awfully close to Madeleine, in a weird sort of way. She was almost sitting in his lap. "Oh, you're close, uh, do you want to listen to the record I got?" He awkwardly asked. He didn't really like this position, but he got to share the music he enjoyed with others, so he didn't mind.

"I still find their behavior weird, dare I say worrisome." Clotted cream thought as he watched the two interact. "Um, can you back up a little, I have no space." Madeleine asked politely.

"But, well, um... Madeleine, I have something to confess to you. I have always admired you and, well, I think I love you, I'd die to fight by your side." She stated, causing both Madeleine and Clotted Cream to react.

"You what?" They say in unison. "I know it may be shocking but-"

"I'm not going to let you finish and let me tell you this. I don't like women like that, I'm gay, don't waste your breath in a confession that won't matter." The blond stated before hearing metal drop from the main hallway. "Oh? There's someone in the home. I'll go investigate." He stated before getting up to go.

However, all he saw was his armor. "Oh, this is mine, I took it off at Espresso's place but... Why is it here?" He thought.

It had the faint smell of milky coffee on it, very different from the bitter coffee that Espresso often drank. "It must have been sent here by Latte, since she's the one who prefers some sweet milk in her coffee."

However, he didn't realize that it was Espresso who used a spell to return his armor to the mansion, he was now busy drowning his sorrows at a bar, chugging bottle after bottle of milk. It was definitely an odd sight to the regulars inside. "I didn't take you as the type to drink milk, since you prefer your espressos bitter." A voice remarked.

It was none other than Almond Cookie, a detective who was currently on one of his rare breaks. "I tried drinking coffee, but it was way too bitter for me now." The professor replied. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"It's my break, I was called over by Latte about a new mushroom that has been sold around the city. It has been causing whoever ate them to act oddly. It's to be expected if they were sold by the Cookies of Darkness."

"Oh? They were the Cookies of Darkness? I just assumed they were just herbalists... guess that's why I'm struggling to focus..." The coffee mage stated before pausing. "Maybe that's why I'm so dumb now... Does Madeleine not like dumb guys? I mean, bold of him to say that..." He thought before finishing his bottle.

"Well, I'm guessing you know where they are, if you aren't too intoxicated I'll need you to lead me to them both so I can arrest them for selling allegedly tampered goods, and so we can get a sample to test." The detective said before Espresso placed a sack of coins onto the bar. "Let's go." Espresso spoke, stumbling a little as he led.

At the stand, the former cookies of darkness were counting their money. "Alright, we got 400 coins so far, which I think can cover our dinner tonight." Licorice spoke as he put the money in a locked box for safe keeping.

"Excuse me, do you have a permit?"

Looking up, Licorice flinched when he saw Detective Almond staring at him. "Gah! No, but-"

"Well, you're coming with me, selling, especially tampered goods, without a permit is a crime." Almond stated getting out his cuffs.

Poison Mushroom's eyes widened the moment they saw the handcuffs, were they going to be arrested now? But they hadn't done anything wrong in their eyes. "Ah! But we were just giving out shroomies to everyone, we were giving them shroomies!"

"I'm sorry but you still broke the law. You will be brought in for questioning." He stepped forward, only to be tripped over as Poison Mushroom toddled in front of Licorice. "We're not going to be separated!"

Espresso eventually caught up, he somehow got lost while trying to find the stand. "I ate a mushroom and now it made me stupid." He replied.

"Uh what? It did that to you? I thought it would just erase any traumatic events from your memories." Licorice stammered. "Honestly, we had no idea it would do that to you!"

It seemed the mushrooms would cause whoever eats them to act the opposite of how they would usually behave. "If you have any left, we'll need to test for any tampering with those mushrooms. Where did you grow them?"

"We find them, I was looking for shroomies and found them." Poison Mushroom whimpered.

"So, you sold items of unknown origin for cookie consumption?" Almond asked. "... When you put it like that, you're making it seem like we're doing something wrong when we're just trying to support ourselves."

"You are, you are violating several health codes and not to mention-" Almond started telling them what they did and what their sentence was and such. But Licorice had an idea.

And that idea was the same idea he had when dealing with Pomegranate, throwing a mushroom into Almond's mouth, forcing him to eat it.

"That should give us enough time to get some supplies quickly and leave, we might need to travel far but if we can support Poison Mushroom, I don't care how far I have to travel." Licorice stated before scooping the child and the money, bolting out of there as fast as his spindly legs could carry him.

"Uh, Mr. Detective? Is everything alright there?" Espresso asked, he slowly approached Almond, poking his cheek. The usually serious detective suddenly had an urge to do something he never would have imagined doing, he would steal.

He looked over at some stray coins left on the table, and he snuck them into his jacket pocket. "Wait, why are you stealing? Isn't that against the law?"

Almond didn't respond, he then swiped up the remaining mushrooms for himself too. "AH! Oh this is bad, oh I know! I'll contact Latte, maybe she can use her glyph thing to keep him locked up until we find a cure for this. Or maybe it'll just wear off on its own, I hope it does."

Espresso of course had to keep Almond from busting into a nearby store to steal all the loot, it seemed his brains were replaced with brawn as he found it surprisingly easy to pick up the detective and keep him from committing any crimes.

"What the hell? Let go of me!" Almond exclaimed. "Can't do that. Though you're surprisingly light... Or maybe I'm just stronger now. Either way I can't let you down." Espresso stated as he basically held the detective in a choke hold as he called his sister.

"... You mentioned how light I was... Well, that's true, since I don't have the time to eat or even rest, I focus on job too much, and any time I do get I take care of my daughter." Almond explained. "Really? Still, stealing is bad. Can't you just ask for time off?"

"No, that jackass running the agency threatened to fire me if I did." Almond stated, still holding onto the mushrooms. "Oh... Have you thought about suing him?" Espresso asked before getting scoffed at by Almond.

"Those mushrooms really did make you stupid. He has some of the best lawyers in the city, even the country so taking him to court would be a losing battle." He explained.

"I was just giving you a suggestion, geez." Espresso kept him held down until Latte finally arrived. "Oh, hey Latte! The Cookies of Darkness have been unintentionally selling mushrooms that cause the eater to act the opposite of how they're supposed to be."

"Unintentionally?"

"Well, they were shocked when Almond told them how the mushrooms changed cookies. Uh, do you think there's a way for this to stop?"

Taking a look at the mushrooms, the spiral pattern on the cap may have been a hint at how they would affect cookies who eat them. "Eclair might have some scrolls in his office about this type of mushroom and then hopefully we can make an antidote for it. Then we can give it to whoever ate it."

Espresso nodded as he carried Almond to the Parfaedia institute. "Almond apparently hasn't had a break in years."

"Oh? Has he thought about-"

"Espresso already suggested suing but that's not possible." Almond interrupted. As he was about to ask about where the scholar was, Eclair entered from his office. "Oh, professor Latte, professor Espresso, what brings you here and why are you holding detective Almond like that?"

"It's a long story, but do you know anything about mushrooms?" Espresso asked, causing the historian to turn back into his office to retrieve a book.

"Alright, Historia Fungorum, the History of Mushrooms. Anyway, how would you describe the symptoms of those who ingested it?" Eclair asked he flipped through the book. "Well, they act like the opposite of themselves. I ate one and now I'm basically dumb as rocks." Espresso explained.

"I see, that must be Fungus Vicissim, in English being the Reversing Mushroom. side effects should go away by the end of the week."

"End of the week?! Well today is Thursday so uuuuh.. That's two whole days! How can I manage like this?!" Espresso snapped.

"Terribly sorry, but at the very least we know that the effects will wear off in time. That does save you the trouble of needing to create an antidote for the mushroom." Eclair tried to reassure him. "But I'm sure you'll be able to make do with your situation, perhaps now you can experience how Madeleine might be around the premises."

Just hearing his name caused Espresso to shut down, that paladin was the lest person he wanted to be compared to. "Well... Who cares about him?! He's gone off with Financier or whatever her name is..."

"Wait Financier? Her? She doesn't even like Madeleine, how could he be dating her?" Latte asked, not hearing about this until now.

"Huh? She doesn't? Well, she could have fooled me when she exclaimed 'I love you' at him, at least, I think. I was going to get his armor to him, since he left it at my place but... I guess it was an overlapped hearing spell, so I heard it as I teleported it." Espresso stated.

Latte paused. "It seems like she had eaten one of the mushrooms, since there is no way she would be romantically into Madeleine."

"Oh... Still, even if she was, Madeleine is probably going to get married to her and stuff because she's stronger than I am and, not to mention, I'm a guy, he's probably straight!" Espresso whined. In his freak out about his feelings he unintentionally let go of Almond, who was making his escape.

Almond had a way out, but he felt bad for the distraught professor. Like something was telling him to stay back and hold off stealing for a bit to help this stranger. "Well, confront him about it, get the answer straight from the paladin's mouth." He declared. "You're not going to find out for sure if you just sit around and mope."

Latte helped her brother up, wiping some tears off of Espresso's face. "We'll take a blimp over to the Creme Republic and see for ourselves." She assured him. "I'm certain this whole thing is just a big misunderstanding, let's go and see him."

"I... I..."

Almond hoisted him up too. "It'll be better for your mental state. And once that mushroom wears off, you'll be able to regain your critical thinking ability." He assured him.

Espresso just took a deep breath; it was time to see for himself how Madeleine was doing and whether or not he was straight.

Meanwhile, Madeleine was still focused on the Cake Pops, at this point developing a dream related to K-pop. "If you aren't going to stay with the light, maybe you can become a pop idol?" Financier suggested. "My god that's perfect! I mean I'm fit, I have a beautiful voice, I would be amazing!" Madeleine exclaimed before hearing a knock on the door. "Huh? Who could be here at this hour?"

Answering the door, Madeleine was shocked to see Espresso in such a depressive state. "Espresso are you okay?" He asked. "I... Um... Uh..." Espresso couldn't get his words out.

"Espresso tell him, I know it's hard for you, but you need to." Latte stated, staying by her brother in case he was rejected. "M... Madeleine, I know that... Um... I know you're with Financier but... But I like you, a lot, I love you, even." Espresso stammered not looking at the paladin so he could see his reaction.

"This is stupid, I shouldn't have come here, he's just going to laugh at me for having these feelings..." He thought. That was until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up it was Madeleine's. "You... Have feelings for me?"

"Why does it matter? She loves you, you're probably busy on a date right now when I-"

But before Espresso could finish his sentence, Madeleine held both of his shoulders. "I know Financier has confessed to me, but I told her I wasn't interested in women. We're only friends, and she took my rejection well." He explained.

"You... You mean you're not in love with Financier?"

The former paladin just shook his head. "In fact, I... I always wanted to tell you something important. But I never had any time to say it until now." He placed his forehead onto Espresso's, with the latter blushing profusely.

"You... You like me too?"

"I have, I found your devotion to learning and your dedication to your magic very admirable, of course that's to say nothing about your sense of style. Your lovely locks of hair and your deep brown eyes I would love to get lost in."

The professor blushed wildly by this confession. "You... did? Um... Well, you're hot, your blonde hair is pretty, and so are your eyes. I'm struggling to find the words to describe how handsome you are thanks to that mushroom, but I know I love you." He stated.

"I see, so would it be okay if I give your lips a kiss?" Madeleine asked, a soft smirk on his face, getting nod of approval from the cookie he was holding. With the consent, he kisses him softly on the lips. It felt right to Madeleine. That Espresso's lips were perfect for kissing.

"Well, now that that's dealt with, I guess I'll make my escape." Almond thought before booking it, accidentally bumping into someone who was on their own heist.

"Oof, excusez-moi- Wait Monsieur Almond? What a shock to see you here." They stated, backing up. However, they were shocked to notice Almond wasn't reaching for his cuffs at all, even though they were right in front of him.

"If you're going to steal that giant sapphire you can think again, it's mine!" The detective declared.

"Uh, yours? Shouldn't you be guarding it so no one steals it?" They asked.

Almond gave him a weird look. "I would if I had any respect for the law, but this cash should be enough for me to finally retire and get that boss of mine off my back." He simply stated.

Now this was new, at first Roguefort always assumed Almond was just always on call. "Sounds to me like your boss barely gives you any time to relax."

Almond scoffed. "Why do you care?"

Roguefort knew something was off, they grabbed Almond by the shoulders, making the detective blush. "Right, I'm taking you to your home right now. Something's gone wrong with your mindset." They immediately declared. Almond would have argued back if Roguefort didn't scoop them up and carry him over their shoulder.

"Why the hell are these twinks so damn strong!" Almond thought as he was forcefully carried back to his home. Speak of his home, Walnut, his daughter was sitting on the couch, shocked to have come home to an empty home.

"Guess he's working late." She thought before feeding the family pet, Constable Whiskers. As she placed the food bowl down for the cat, she heard the door swing open. "Dad-" She exclaimed, assuming it was just her father. But she was soon shocked by the realization that her father was in the hands of a criminal.

"Walnut, I know this looks bad but something is wrong with your father." Roguefort explained. "What do you mean?"

"Well, he tried stealing a gem I was after, which surprised me, since I was sure he wouldn't do that." The phantom thief explained. Now this was shocking to Walnut. "This couldn't be by choice... Did he eat something that would have made him like this?"

"I'm not entirely sure." Roguefort stated, rummaging through almond's pockets to find his hand cuffs to make sure he can't steal, only to find the mushrooms that he stole earlier.

"Huh, this is a weird looking mushroom." They were about to hold it up to their face when Walnut yanked it out of their hands. "Ah! I take it it's something dangerous?"

"More like the reason why he's acting this way, Professor Latte called me about this mushroom. Whoever eats it will begin to act the opposite of how they usually do." Walnut explained. "And it'll take two days for it to wear off."

Almond was still struggling against Roguefort's grip, eventually tiring himself out. "I need cash and I need it now, I... I need a break for once, just to get some time to have a proper lunch break." He gasped out, he gave up and just laid there.

Roguefort placed him on the couch. "Mon dieux, you don't even get paid vacation days?"

"If I do my boss sure hasn't told me about that." He groaned to himself. "It's been hell, but I'm not going to take it anymore."

"No Dad! I don't want you to get arrested..." Walnut begged, hugging his arm. "Why didn't you say anything about this? Isn't it against the law?"

".. You act like I would win a court case against him."

"Oh... Right... I forgot about those court cases he won by having better lawyers." Walnut sighed. "... Are there no other lawyers you could use?" Roguefort asked. "Not within our budget no, besides-"

"What about Langue De Chat? He seems like a good lawyer, they got me out of jail." The phantom thief commented. "And he's a rather cheap lawyer."

"Yeah, but they're a defense attorney, he probably won't accept a civil case like this." Almond said. "Well, you'll never know if you don't ask him."

"I guess, but... Still... Ugh I guess I should write him an email about the situation, though I should wait until these urges die down." Almond stated. "Though one thing is messing with me... Why are you even caring about this? Wouldn't you be using my downfall to your advantage?"

"Oh, well, I'm just concerned, not to mention if you're stealing that makes less options of things I can steal." Roguefort stated. Deeply they had an infatuation with the detective and seeing and hearing how he was used and basically abused didn't sit right with them.

"I uh... I didn't think my life was this much of a wreck that I needed help from a thief." Almond mumbled, he still laid on the couch, not knowing what else to do.

"Hey, anyone with a soul would want to help you out of this situation. You're a single parent and you're being taken advantage of by your boss." Roguefort simply said. "If you want, I could help out around here until that mushroom's effects wear off."

Almond cocked his head, but he was thankful that someone was looking out for him. "I... I suppose I could use the company while I'm here."

Walnut was surprised by Roguefort's insistence on helping out as well, what was going on with them, she wondered. "Roguefort, I need to speak with you in private."

As soon as she dragged them out of Almond's earshot, she asked; "do you like my dad?"

This caught Roguefort off guard. "I-I mean who wouldn't like your father, he's hard working, diligent-"

"I meant... Do you like-like him? Are you romantically interested? Cause it seems like you are." Walnut stated. Roguefort paused. They did like Almond, they really did, but something with in him made him not want to admit it. "Why do you want think that?"

"I mean, you carried him here, you're insisting on helping him. It seems kinda suspicious." the child detective stated.

"I... Er... Oui, I like your father in that way. I didn't think I was being that obvious with my feelings. Though, I don't think telling him would matter, after all... He wouldn't be desperate enough to be with a thief." Roguefort admitted with a sigh.

Walnut was shocked, more shocked than she was before, since they sounded genuine about this, about their feelings.

"You... You really mean that."

"I wouldn't have admitted to that if I didn't. I admired how he never once gave up on trying to arrest me, he is a diligent worker... Um, but that's probably not a very good thing, considering how he's overworked by his abusive boss." Roguefort added, taking a seat on a kitchen chair.

"If you think he'd never be with you just because you're a thief, you won't know if you don't just tell him how you feel."

Almond overheard it once he got up off of the couch, this sounded exactly like what he told Espresso with Latte earlier. "So, they like me... They want to be my romantic partner; they were so kind to me despite us constantly being at odds with each other."

"... Walnut I know you mean well but... I don't know, what if he's disgusted with me for even being attracted to him?" Roguefort paused after saying this. "And if he does accept me now, in his mushroom-based mind, what if his feelings leave once the mushrooms wear off?"

"Stop thinking so negatively, assuming everything will go wrong isn't going to help you. Now if you excuse me, I need to take care of Constable Whiskers." Walnut stated, letting Roguefort sit on his decision.

Looking to their left, they noticed that the mushrooms were left there. "If they made Almond into a thief, then maybe it'll turn me good. That way, even after the mushrooms wear off of Almond, I could still be considered a possible mate." They thought, picking one up.

Once they consumed it, they felt their urges die down, however it came with a side effect of guilt for stealing in the first place. "Oh no, I need to give back the items... How could I have resorted to stealing? What would my mother think...?" They thought, pacing around the kitchen.

"I know what I must do, I must go back to my mansion and return everything I have stolen." They declared. As soon as Roguefort dashed out the door, Almond had to go and follow them.

"Did they eat that mushroom too? Why would they do that?" He thought, he made sure to keep his distance as to not tip off to Roguefort that he was following them. Eventually they stopped in front of an abandoned looking mansion. "Is this where they live?"

The thief took a key out of a plant pot, using it to unlock the door and enter. "Let's see now, I think some of these should be small enough for me to return to those jewel shops and the museum." They said to themself. "I'll start with these rings and earrings."

Almond managed to sneak his way inside, and the interior of the mansion didn't look any better than the outside. "Why would they live somewhere that's this close to falling apart?" He thought. However, his thoughts were stopped short after hearing a small meow.

Lord Crumbles III trotted out from his bed, sniffing the stranger.

The detective looked at the cat. "Is this theirs? This cat seems pretty well fed." Almond thought as he picked him up. Lord crumbles was indeed Roguefort's, though he seemed to be comfortable in Almond's arms.

Looking back up he say Roguefort staring at him, having heard Lord Crumbles' mewing. "What are you doing here?" Roguefort stated. "I could ask you the same thing, this place looks like it's going to collapse at any moment."

"Well, it's not like I have much choice. After all, when you're being hunted it wouldn't be keen to have renovations done where the first hit was." Roguefort stated, looking away. "Wait you're being hunted?" Almond asked, concerned.

"Yes, I mean... I shouldn't have stolen, but I had no other options for money. But... This guilt inside of me... I need to return these..." Roguefort said before Almond stopped them. "You're not yourself, did you take a mushroom?"

"I did, what of it?" Roguefort asked, looking away. "Why did you take one? You were aware of the effects, weren't you?" The detective asked. "I... I just thought you'd like me if I wasn't a thief..." Roguefort admitted.

Almond cupped their face, seeing Roguefort blush by his touch gave him the confirmation that they did have feelings for him. "You being a thief didn't matter, your feelings for me are genuine. You didn't have to listen to me when I was ranting about my boss, but you still did. You even took me home and suggested I go to court against him."

"I uh... I was concerned, and... I guess we have one thing in common. We would do anything for our family, well, the only family I have left anyways." Roguefort admitted. "You really mean that? That it doesn't matter that I was a famous thief?"

"I... I must admit, I have found your methods quite charming. I felt something whenever we were close, but I had no idea what it could be. Until I overheard your feelings towards me."

Roguefort only blushed more. "C... Can we kiss?" Roguefort blurted out before covering their mouth. "I-I'm sorry I didn't know why that came out I-"

"I'm fine with it. I haven't kisses anyone since my wife divorced me but, I'm sure I can still kiss." Almond said, leaning in and kissing Roguefort on the lips, softly yet passionately.

After a bit the two separated, both blushing. "Um, wow, that felt amazing." Roguefort stammered. "It did, didn't it. Your lips are soft and so kissable." Almond commented before kissing them again, this time only a soft peck of the lips.

"Um, I hope this isn't too personal but... Why did your wife divorce you?" Roguefort asked. Almond paused and sighed. "Well... She said I wasn't spending time with her enough so, she left. I tried explaining myself and yet she didn't listen." Almond stated.

"Oh... Well, that's her loss, she didn't seem to care about you." The thief stated, holding his hand.

It was then Almond had an idea. "Why don't you and your cat come and live with me?"

"Oh uh.. Are you sure? I still feel guilty for stealing all this, I feel like I should be in jail-"

Almond interrupted him by kissing him again. "I'll say that I put you under house arrest with me, that way you and Lord Crumbles will have a better place to live." He explained.

"Oh, oh! And if you say that, your boss will have no choice but to give you time off, because your duty is to keep me from breaking out." Roguefort realized. "So, we both get something out of this."

The pair continued to lay in each other's arms for a while longer, until it was time to return the stolen goods. Because the station wasn't aware of the mushrooms, they were able to get Almond's boss to give the detective time at home to keep an eye on Roguefort.

"Mmn, this is nice. It seemed those mushrooms have brought two couples together. It seemed something good came from this." Almond admitted, sitting with Roguefort on the couch.

"Oh? Well, that's nice. Other than the confusion they cause at first, maybe these mushrooms are a good thing." Roguefort added as they laid their head on Almond's shoulder.

Speaking of said mushrooms, more were growing back, and instead of being sold, a group of cookies were going to naturally stumble upon them. "Mushrooms? They look yummy! As your king, I would like to have one!" The youngest member, Custard Cookie the 3rd, demanded, going towards them.

"We literally just ate, how are you hungry already? Besides, you don't know what kind of mushrooms those are, you could get sick-" The snarky second oldest of the group, Wizard, mentioned before noticing that the child was munching on one. "Wha- Do you ever listen?!"

But as he was going to confront the child noble, he tripped over his own robes, landing face first into one of them. "Whoa! That seemed like a nasty fall, are you okay Wizard?" The leader, Gingerbrave asked, helping his friend up.

"I uh, I think so. I'm not leaking any jam at least." Wizard replied.

Now this got Gingerbrave surprised. "You actually gave me a straight answer? I expected you to make some kind of sparky remark about this situation." He remarked.

"Oh, I guess I did. I guess I'm not really in the mood to crack any jokes when I tripped and could have hurt myself." Wizard simply replied. "How is Custard the 3rd? Where did he run off to this time?"

Custard was now acting differently himself; he was actually offering one of the mushrooms to Strawberry. "Um... I'm not sure if it's safe to eat. I think I'll pass on this one."

"I had a bite, and I feel fine. Besides, it would be unkinglike of me to not offer my subjects nourishment." The self-proclaimed king insisted.

"He's actually sharing food? And when Wizard ate one, he's acting differently too." Gingerbrave thought. "Can it be the mushrooms that did this?"

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen your face. Wait, I think these mushrooms make you the opposite of you. Meaning if I ate one-"

"You'll be frightened of everything." Wizard replied. "It is definitely a peculiar mushroom. Well as long as it's not poisonous, I expected the Cookies of Darkness to be here or use it to their advantage."

"Yeah, I haven't seen them all day either. Do you think they ate one of these to become the opposite of evil?"

Wizard shrugged his shoulders, it was possible. "Of course that would be a sight to see. And it would also save us so much trouble, as they won't get in or way as we stop Dark Enchantress cookie."

"Hey!" A shrill voice exclaimed. It sounded familiar. The group turned to face their foe. "All the Cookies of Darkness? Here?" Gingerbrave exclaimed as he readied his candy cane.

"Ahem! We aren't the Cookies of Darkness anymore; we're something else but we aren't that!" Licorice said, holding onto Poison Mushroom. "What business do you have here then if you're not evil anymore?" Custard asked.

"Well, we're selling these mushrooms so we can get a place to live. I mean we are only selling them for 3 coins each but, they seem to be popular." Licorice explained. "Oh, do you guys not have housing?" Gingerbrave asked.

"Not since we quit. But we're making our way up, we currently have 350 coins, we used to have 400, but poison mushroom needed to eat." The necromancer stated.

"Wow, I guess they really have changed." Wizard thought, then he spoke up. "Well since it's so popular now, I think you should raise your prices. It's a proven success and you'll need more cash in order to support that child."

"Wait, you really mean that? Huh, it's kinda odd, hearing you being genuine to us." Licorice admitted. "So, um... Are you just going to fight Dark Enchantress now? If you are, we wish you luck. Poison Mushroom and I better get back to Dark Choco, I think he's found a house for us all to live in."

Now there was a name they didn't expect to hear, Dark Cacao might want to hear about this going on. "I think we might need to take a pit stop to Pure Vanilla's castle first, if Dark Cacao is there at least. We'll let him know about where his son is and about those mushrooms." Gingerbrave explained.

The two former Cookies of Darkness watched and waved as they left. "Huh, guess it was a good idea to go shroomie hunting after all, huh Poison Mushroom?"

"Of course! It's never a bad time to find shroomies, and shroomies that help everyone too!"

And so, they went to the place Dark Choco had found, after picking some more mushrooms. "It's not much but it'll house us." Dark Choco stated as Licorice enters with the child. "Oh, you're back."

"Yep, we got more mushrooms after the ones we were selling got stolen." Licorice said as placed Poison Mushroom down. "We ran into those hero cookies while rummaging though, they didn't want any trouble." Licorice said, not bringing up the fact he heard them mention Dark Cacao, thinking they weren't going to bring him into this.

However, he was wrong. Gingerbrave relayed the message of Dark Choco's location to Dark Cacao. "He's not evil you say? Well... He may not be but me showing up might cause whatever effect those mushrooms have on them to wear off faster."

"Oh? Should we send someone?" Pure Vanilla asked.

"I suppose, since we don't know where they live now." Dark Cacao stated as Pure vanilla sent two cookies to do the job: Milk and Purple Yam.

"Graaah!! So all this time he's now just living in some woods with his new boyfriend?! What sort of prince does he think he is?!" Purple Yam snapped.

"Now now, Purple Yam. This only occurred earlier today, but we can take comfort in the fact that they no longer work for Dark Enchantress. And if those mushrooms work as Pure Vanilla described, eating one may have caused him to have all of his trauma from being banished to be undone." Milk explained to his partner. "Now, that patch of odd mushrooms should be around here somewhere..."

As they were searching around, Poison Mushroom was playing out around the cottage Dark Choco and Licorice have decided to call home. Red Velvet meanwhile had found himself a field where he could allow his cake hounds to roam free, but they made sure to keep in touch. "Wow, this place is the life. Just the three of us and our mushroom selling business."

Just as they thought nothing could go wrong, a knock was heard at their door.

"Oh? Someone's at the door?"

Dark Choco went and opened it, only for Purple Yam to tackle him. "Grah! You're coming with us!" The purple cookie declared. "What on Earthbread are you doing!?" Licorice shouted, then getting an idea. And if you guess him throwing a mushroom into Purple Yam's mouth, then you'd be correct.

After ingesting it, the raging cookie calmed down to a neutral point. "Oh, sorry about that, we were tasked to bringing you back to your dad." He apologized.

"Wait what? He was the one who banished him! Why should he go back?" Licorice asked, finding this unbelievable. "Well, he regretted doing it." Milk stated.

"He... He does?" Dark Choco asked. It's been years since his banishment, so he wasn't expecting this to be a possibility. "Yeah, now take your boyfriend and let's go, your father is waiting."

"Boyfriend? I mean, uh, we aren't, we haven't um..." Licorice stammered blushing. "I mean it's not like his father would want me there for such a private family thing when I'm not family."

Dark Choco only blushed too, rubbing the back of his head. "I um... Licorice? When I was recruited into the Cookies of Darkness, I always felt comfortable around you. Your kindness to me, how you would always put Poison Mushroom before yourself." He admitted.

"Oh I... Heheh, I never knew you felt that way about me too. Ah! I mean um..." With the two blushing profusely, Milk chuckled at the sight.

"Oh, I know just what's going on here. Don't you, Purple Yam?"

"Huh? What is that?" Milk placed an arm around his shoulder.

"They were in love and never got to admit it until now, sort of like you and I, huh?" The milky white cookie exclaimed, giving him a loving nuzzle. "Dark Cacao would love to hear the news that you have started a family of your own."

"He... He would?" Looking over at Licorice and Poison Mushroom, he felt more confident in reuniting with his father. "Alright, we will all go and see him."

Licorice, fearing the worst, pocketed two mushrooms. "I mean, better safe than sorry right? I mean he might be homophobic." He thought as he picked up Poison Mushroom.

After a long train ride and some walking, they made it to the Vanilla Kingdom where Dark Cacao was staying for a meeting with the other ancients. "You're father should be in his chambers." Milk stated, leading them there.

Knocking on the door, the three were allowed in. "My boy... I heard you have given up evil." Dark Cacao stated, looking at them. "Well, I was possessed but... No hard feelings I guess."

"You were possessed? This is news to me. Though, I suppose you were shaken from what I said." Dark Cacao stated. "May you introduce your friend to me?"

"Oh, this is Licorice Cookie... My Boyfriend." Dark Choco stated. "Oh. I didn't know you were queer."

"Is that a problem?" Licorice asked. "No, not at all, I'm just shocked that he would date males." Dark Cacao stated.

"Oh.. I was worried you would.. You know.."

"If you believe that I would disown my own son for loving another man, it would make me a hypocrite. I allowed him to transition into a male while he was still living in my kingdom, so seeing him with another male is perfectly acceptable."

Licorice's eyes widened as he turned to Dark Choco. "You're trans? Wow.. You pass really well."

Dark Choco blushed. "Why thank you.. Um, this doesn't change anything between us, does it?"

He got his answer when he was kissed. "If you wish, you three are all welcome to live in the Dark Cacao kingdom, I can set up rooms for you and your child."

Looking over at Poison Mushroom, their cottage was cozy, but it would be best if they had a full place to call their own. "Thank you. But, as long as Poison Mushroom has a little garden to grow mushrooms in, is that alright with you?"

The old king nodded; he was relieved to be back with his son. "I have a feeling they will be a herbalist once they grow up, one specializing in fungi."