[Co-written by GorgingGeorge]

Licorice entered the city of Parfaedia, with Poison Mushroom with him. The two of them were sent on a mission to retrieve an item from the museum for Dark Enchantress' newest project. The Cherry Moon Crystal. Though, of course, they were in disguise, not only because of the fact they were working for one of the evilest cookies ever, but because Licorice may or may not have been expelled from the magic school, but to him it felt like banishment.

It felt odd for the lanky cookie to be in the city he's been banished from. Seeing what changed and what stayed the same. But what the two cookies were looking for was right ahead of them.

"Alright, Poison Mushroom, make sure you stay with me and don't get lost, okay?" He asked the child. "Okay."

As they wandered through the museum, there was something that took the necromancer's attention, and it wasn't the gem they were after. "What the? History of Licorice magic? I thought they hated that, why would they put this up for display?" He thought reading the plaque of information.

"This society prided itself on the dangerous use of resurrecting crumbled cookies and forming them into misshapen globs of dough that do their very bidding. Their home in the Dark Cacao kingdom was left abandoned years later with only books and scrolls of their forbidden magic left scattered across the snowy grounds, these forms of magic are still outlawed to this day." He read.

Licorice had to muster up all his strength to not punch a wall, how could this museum have the gall to steal magic books and then made it seem like Licorice magic was the reason for the village being left abandoned? "Gah! Well, it can't be stealing if they're the ones who stole these items first now, can it?" He thought, sneaking into the exhibit.

There were mannequins depicting the villagers performing Licorice magic and using their creations to take out entire villages, wiping them out until nothing was left. "This can't be further from the truth! They think just because one form of magic sounds scary that it must be evil?!" He snapped, yanking one of the scrolls off of a display case.

However, he failed to realize there was a security sensor. As he was taking more of the scrolls and books, the sound of someone clearing their throat was heard. "Excuse me what do you think you're doing?"

"Gah!" Licorice turned around. It was Eclair, the museum's curator. "I'm sure you're aware that the museum is closed and that touching those evil yet fragile scrolls of dark magic with your bare hands would damage them." He stated. "Like you care! If you even gave a damn, you wouldn't have painted an entire culture as a bunch of demonic, uncaring jerks!" Licorice stated. "Poison Mushroom, hit him with a mushroom!"

"Okay Licorice." Poison Mushroom stated before forming a mushroom. "Wait, Licorice, as in from the Licorice village? Hoh, as dangerous as you are, I want to know every little thing about you, you're a piece of living history!" Eclair stated.

"What? But you don't even like me; not by the way it's written at least. Not to mention you stole from my people!" Licorice shouted.

"The village was abandoned with no trace of life left in sight, that was what the excavation team said as they went to dig up the site. I couldn't let such a piece of Earthbread's ancient cultures be forgotten about, even if the culture was to resurrect monsters to do their bidding. If they were left in the snow, they would have withered away to nothing." Eclair explained.

"Oh, abandoned huh? You think it's okay to just take something that's not yours because no one immediately came back to claim them?!" Licorice snapped. "You didn't think maybe some villagers were still out there and came back to find their homes broken into and all of their things stolen?! I thought heroes like you were supposed to be against stealing."

The curator would have continued if Poison Mushroom didn't jump on his back, knocking him down, which was surprisingly easy from how petit he was. "Stealing bad? All things here stolen?"

"Stolen? Museums were built to display these works of our history and culture for future generations to learn from, to study those ways of life and to-"

"To try and make us all seem like the bad guys!"

"Well, not all of the cultures in the museum are evil-"

"Oh, yeah, would slaying a dragon make me less evil? Cause that's what I'm thinking it is. Now then, if you excuse me, I'm going to be taking these since they are my culture and I think I'm the only licorice magic user alive." The lanky cookie stated as he went back to taking back what was his.

However, as soon as he was about to head towards the Cherry Moon Crystal, the main thing they were there for, the door bust open. "Freeze!"

"Eek! The cops!" Licorice said as he tried to escape through a window but realized Poison Mushroom would still be there. "Shit, on the one day I don't bring my scythe!" He thought, scooping up the child. Unfortunately, he was cuffed by some nut looking handcuff.

"So, you're one of Dark Enchantress' lackeys, am I right?" A gruff voice remarked, this was Almond, the head police detective of Parfaedia.

"Excuse me?! Saying I'm just a lackey undermines all that I'm capable of!" Licorice grunted.

"I think that answers my question. You had an easy way of escaping, yet you decided to take a child with you?"

Licorice didn't respond, he simply kept Poison Mushroom in his arms and out of reach from the detective any way he could. "You're not thinking of putting them in handcuffs too, are ya? Poison Mushroom here doesn't deserve to be put in jail."

"I'm sorry, but they knocked down an innocent per-"

Licorice immediately blew his top. "Innocent?! So, if a thief puts their stolen goods on display, they're no longer a thief?!"

"Sir please calm down-"

"No, I will not 'Calm Down'! If no one was able to consent to it, it's still theft! Even if that twink over there wasn't a thief, you can't just arrest a child! Isn't that one of the things, anyone under the age of 18 can't be arrested?!" Licorice shouted, holding the child close, hiding their wrists so they couldn't be cuffed. "They can be arrested just not tried as an adult. Either way, juvie isn't out of the question either."

Poison Mushroom looked at Almond, then at Licorice. "He gonna take us away...?" They asked. "Yeah, but he's planning on taking you away from me." Licorice stated with a sigh.

The child, not liking the thought of being separated from their brother figure, started getting upset. "Wha- Hey, it's going to be okay Poison Mushroom." The lanky cookie stated, hushing them, trying to make them less upset. "But that meanie gonna sep...separ... take you away!" Poison Mushroom said

Licorice tried to think of a way to respond, but Poison Mushroom was already starting to cry at the thought of losing the only person they thought of as family. They sniffled and buried their head into Licorice's cloak, spores flying out uncontrollably to the point Almond needed to cover his mouth and nose as he approached.

"You seem really close to Licorice." He noted, Almond then placed a weighed blanket atop of the distressed child. Much to Licorice's surprise, it did calm Poison Mushroom down quite a bit, but not enough to stop the crying.

"You can't take them, I found Poison Mushroom when they were abandoned, left in an old dumpster near the Parfaedia academy. We're the only family we got, if you separate us, they... No one understands them like I do!"

Almond was taken aback; he didn't expect someone working for Dark Enchantress to be this dedicated to helping a child.

"Is this guy not as evil as it seems?" The detective thought as he looked at them. He couldn't do much, since if he did, it would go against his principles, but there was one thing he could do.

"... I see... Well, as much as I want to lessen your sentence as a cookie with a child myself, it's not in my hands. However, with in my power, I can get you a good lawyer who could get a few years taken off your sentence."

"Huh? You'd do that?"

"Legally you're supposed to have a lawyer anyway so might as well." Almond stated as he took the two to the station. He let Licorice keep the artifacts for now until they had to be bagged as evidence.

"So, who's this lawyer you mentioned earlier?" Licorice asked.

"His name is Langue Du Chat cookie, he successfully managed to convince the court that Roguefort was framed for a crime last year, he should be able to convince the court that you were only stealing to survive." Almond informed him. "Although until I can get through to him, you both will have to remain here."

"Well as long as we're not going to be separated." Licorice mumbled, keeping Poison Mushroom on his lap. The mushroom child finally calmed down, curled up under the weighed blanket. "I'm not going to let anyone take you away, we're each other's family, and no one can ever change that." He promised.

Poison Mushroom just flapped their arms as they heard their big brother talk about them. "Can we get Shroomies afterwards?"

"Erm... I'm not sure, but I'll see what I can get you if we have to go to jail. You'll get the big portions like always."

Almond overheard their conversation as he went to the phone.

Langue Du Chat, though for the sake of this story, we'll just refer to him as Du Chat, was awake at this hour. He was just having trouble sleeping. That was until he got a phone call. "Hello, Langue Du Chat speaking." He spoke as he answered. "Hey. It's Detective Almond. Are you available for a case this week-"

"Do you have evidence?"

"Not that points to them being innocent, though I believe they are doing it out of necessity. Uh, you can come to the station if you need to get some." Almond stated before the phone beeped, indicating that the phone was hung up. "... Is he not taking this case?" He thought.

However, the defense attorney was on his way to get evidence, both by verbal accounts and photographic evidence. Once at the station Du Chat looked at the two Cookies of Darkness. "Oh... This case is going to be harder than I first thought, but I'm sure we can get through this trial together." He stated.

"You really would? Uh even if people think of us like monsters...? I mean, that's what everyone thinks of my culture anyways, even if I didn't join Dark Enchantress." Licorice mumbled.

"Your culture? I have heard of the old Licorice village being destroyed by its own magic, but I would like to hear it directly from someone who is a part of this culture." Du Chat asked. "Erm, if you don't mind me asking you at least."

"Finally, someone who actually wants to hear my side of the story." Licorice exclaimed. "Well first of all, we do resurrect undead creatures, but not to invade other villages or desecrate the graves of fallen cookies! We have our own licorice servants that are made out of sugar bones that are only here to carry our things or if we want to ask questions to long dead rulers on topics we want to know more about."

"I see, so you do it out of a desire for knowledge, and not power?"

"If we needed power, we would have just gone to king Dark Cacao's castle and resurrected his fallen soldiers. But we never did. We left the village not because our magic did us in, it was everyone believing us to be monsters! We were literally cut off from society and now I don't think there's any more Licorice magic wielders left out there!"

"Hmm... I see, so you were racially profiled. and not just that, your culture was turned into a stereotyped version of what it was." Du Chat stated. "Now, if you don't mind me asking, why did you join Dark Enchantress?"

"Um... I was kicked out of magic school for performing Licorice magic. At the time, I wasn't aware that it was banned and thought that learning a spell of my past would be neat and possibly give me extra credit. Now, I was a teenager at the time of this so, in a fit of emotionally imbalance, I ran away, feeling like I've been exiled from the school, and the city. That's when I found Poison Mushroom. They were a baby at the time so I couldn't just leave them in a dumpster. That's when I met Pomegranate cookie, who promised that if I worked for Dark Enchantress, I'd be able to get my revenge and be respected. I, a teenager at the time, accepted it, but I've never gotten any respect from her, from Dark Enchantress, or anyone other than Poison Mushroom."

After Licorice trauma dumped, he paused, realizing he said too much. He tensed up, his eyes darting around the room. "Hey, hey, it's okay, that's evidence we can use-"

"No, you don't get it, Dark Enchantress sees and hears everything. What if she heard me say all of that? What if she..." He started, paranoid that his toxic boss was listening in.

"On man he has severe paranoia." Du Chat thought before placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's going to be okay. You will be safe; she will not get you." He started, which seemed to calm the licorice magic wielder enough. "Now then, is it alright if I take some photos of you naked-"

"What?!"

"I know it sounds weird, but you might have bruises and or damage, so I need to document that for evidence." The defense attorney stated.

"Well, uh... I do have a few, but only so Poison Mushroom was never hurt for failing us. They didn't even know what they were doing was for Dark Enchantress' cause, they were caught up in the moment like I was, and they didn't want to leave my side." Licorice admitted. "Um, not out here, right?"

"No, we'll take you into a handicapped bathroom stall so you can have room to strip and have privacy." Du Chat assured him. "Uh, Poison Mushroom, you wait outside the door and if anyone tries anything, just scream for us."

The mushroom child nodded as they toddled behind the two men until they reached the bathroom. "Big brother be okay?"

"Yes, everything will be okay now. With everything I know now, you two have a good chance of being sent into witness protection." The blonde cookie assured them patting their head softly. Inside, Licorice got out of his robes, exposing just how skinny he was. "Oh, you look as if you haven't eaten a full meal in years."

"It's because I haven't. If we fail, we don't get any food. Pomegranate says it's to weed out any failures in the group. Anything I get, Poison Mushroom always gets first pick. They're a child, they need all that food more than I do."

Hearing this was shocking to the blonde. "He really cares about this child. Of course, Poison Mushroom sees him like a brother." He thought as he took the pictures for evidence.

"Ah... I knew Dark Enchantress was evil but to allow child abuse is a whole new low... After we're done here, I'm going to get you some food." Du Chat stated. "You are? I-I mean you don't have to; I mean taking this case is enough-"

"I'm just trying to be nice, besides, as much as Poison Mushroom needs food, you also need food. I mean you could crumble if you don't." He stated as Licorice put his robes back on. "Is that all the evidence we need? Uhm, I mean, what else do we need?"

"Well for the main part of the case, I need to take photos of the exhibit you broke into because of it being what caused you to take back the artifacts. It'll be quick." Du Chat stated leaving the stall.

Licorice wasn't going to waste another moment being without Poison Mushroom, as soon as he got dressed, he went right towards his little sibling and scooped them up. "I can't believe this is happening. I thought for sure we would be sent off to jail and be forced to separate... At least, that's what Pomegranate always told us whenever we thought we could leave." He mumbled. Although he would have to wait until the day of the trial to see what will happen to them.

That day soon came, Almond along with his daughter, Walnut were sitting with the judges while Eclair was in the benches alongside reporters and other onlookers. Langue Du Chat came up to the judge with his briefcase in hand. "Your honor, these two cookies have stolen from the museum, but out of anger of Licorice Cookie's culture being demeaned in such a manner."

As he explained everything Licorice and Poison Mushroom went through, the trial murmured amongst themselves, eying the cookies they assumed were completely immoral. "And furthermore, Licorice was willing to risk his own life for a child to be able to survive."

"Objection! I fail to see how that relates to case." The prosecutor stated.

"Well, you see, it was all based on the outlawing of licorice magic which was based on the Parfaedian understanding of the culture, which is currently being circulated via the museums and possibly in textbooks, since they saw it as something evil and immoral. Because of that outlawing, Licorice Cookie was expelled from the magic academy 10 or so years ago due to indulging in his own culture, which caused him to turn to Dark Enchantress, having no other option."

After a good 20 minutes of back and fourth, the judge made his ruling. "For the case and trial of Licorice Cookie, I declare you... Not Guilty."

Licorice Cookie couldn't beleive it. He honestly thought they were going to jail, but Du Chat was able to prove his innocence in a way. "I... I don't know know what to say. Thank you, Langue Du Chat Cookie. I owe you my life-"

"You don't have to go that far; I was just doing my job." The blonde stated.

"Well uh.. I still feel like I owe you something."

Du Chat just held his shoulder. "All you need to do is make your way into recovery, you have a long road ahead of you and it must be a huge change from what your life used to be, but it will be alright now."

"Yeah.." It was hard getting used to living without worry of food, but it was a good change. Now they had everything they needed.