It's great that people are actually reading this, but I need more! Tell your friends about this story!

Rivendella: Yay! New reader! Gracias, amigo!

Rike-sama: About your not pointless chapter comment: It's what I think if a chapter is not moving the plot forward very much. Character introduction chapters aren't my favorite. Also, since you're having Heartless trouble, I can send you a diagram of all the Heartless to make it easier for you. By the way, can I get some sound files of the characters of the German version? I need a good laugh today.

By the way, this chapter title is NOT referring to… Well, if you're old enough, you know what I'm talking about.

Chapter 3- Magic Mushroom

If anyone were to ask me, I'd tell them that I thought that Cherry was mentally insane. She probably got dropped on her red head when she was created or something. Even if she turned out to be an Imperfect (which I did not doubt), she still seemed a bit… different from the others. Eh, whatever. So, Cherry was dragging me to the back of the Coliseum where I would meet Truff… and about a hundred other White Mushrooms, apparently. Did everyone get the same inside information?

As soon as we approached the group, a strange sensation began to overwhelm my being. It was the same feeling I got when I saw the White Mushroom staring at Truff with what seemed to be nothing short of infatuation. Did every White Mushroom feel this way? Obviously not Cherry. She must have been created with at least half a heart to feel so strongly about a single Heartless. Honestly, it frightened me.

I looked over at my friend. The sensation of false love did not leave me. Strange… Was it still White Cherry that I was looking at? Why did she seem to have that same empty emotion that the others had?

I stood on the front end of my hollow underside (seeing as how all mushrooms lack toes) and tried to get a good view of the near-victorious Rare Truffle. The only think I saw was a mass of red and white… with a yellow top on the edge of it all. Bingo!

"Do you see him?" Cherry asked, trying to get a peek herself. She seemed more enthusiastic now.

"Barely," I muttered, trying not to topple over. "I think we should wait until this crowd – Whoa!" I shrieked, falling flat on my black face. Great… And in front of all these White Mushrooms, too. Before I could get up, I felt a new kind of energy in my body. When I got to my "feet," I created an arc shape in the air, starting at the top, with my arms. Suddenly, Cherry glowed green for a short moment, and her health seemed to be slightly better.

All eyes were suddenly on me. Whispers of "Did she just cast a Cure spell?" and "What kind of White Mushroom is she?" made their way into my ear holes.

"Lola…" Cherry gasped. "Did you just…?"

"She's not a normal White Mushroom," someone behind me stated. I spun around to see a few Soldiers in a horizontal line behind the crowd. In the middle of them all was one that was about twice as tall as the others, who spoke again: "And Maleficent never authorized any upgrades or special training involving White Mushrooms and magic." He snapped two metallic fingers, and the four smaller ones marched over to me. Two of them grabbed my arms, and the others lifted me into the air by my white body.

"Hey!" I called. "Put me down!" I began flailing my arms and squirming my skinny body about, hoping to escape from the fingers of my captors.

"Stop resisting," one of the Soldiers buzzed.

"Lola!" I heard Cherry call, but she seemed to stop halfway through the word. Both of us knew that questioning the direct underlings of Maleficent would result in punishment.

"Move along!" the head Soldier shouted. "Nothing to see here."

Nothing, my hollow butt!


"So, she cast a magic spell, did she?" Maleficent questioned in a smooth tone. That tone scared me.

"Yes, ma'am," the head Soldier replied. Only two normal Soldiers were holding me by my arms now.

The tall woman paced around me, looking my white and red body over. "I see," she mumbled, rubbing her chin. "What spell was it?" She looked down at me with piercing eyes.

"C-C-Cure," I replied, trying not to shake. What if she discovered that I was an Imperfect; one with a heart, at that?

"Interesting." She continued to pace around me. What was she trying to discover? "Have you ever trained in magic?"

"N-No, ma'am. I just feel to the ground and… well, I just… did it." That was the lamest statement I've ever heard come from my mouth.

There were several moments of awkward silence. Finally, Maleficent's piercing eyes made their way to the Soldiers gripping me. "Test her."

Gulp.


My heart was beating at a rapid pace as the open-ended glass cylinder clanked against the floor. Several wires were attached to me. I was just hoping that none of them could detect my heartbeat!

"All computers on, ma'am," a Black Fungus announced, typing in some commands on the keyboard. I noticed that he seemed to have a darker coloration to him than the others working on the computers.

"Begin the tests," Maleficent hissed.

Dear Walt, I prayed, holding back tears of fear, Please let me get out of this undiscovered. And remind me to kill White Cherry for getting me into this mess… Agh, there I go again, wishing for someone's death.

I felt small, painless jolts of electricity hit me. What kind of tests were they performing? I titled my head to get a better view of one of the screens. Nothing but gibberish and bar graphs appeared. Most of the stats, save for one on the far right, were at the top, threatening to climb over the edge.

"Her magic levels match that of the most powerful Wizards!" one of the Heartless exclaimed. "I've never seen anything like it!"

"Amazing," Maleficent whispered. "If such power lies naturally within her, then imagine the possibilities of training her to do much more!"

"Training me?" I asked, pressing the end of my arms against the glass.

Maleficent looked over at the darker-colored Black Fungus. "Release her," she ordered. Seconds later, all the wires popped off, and the glass tube was lifted to the ceiling. "White Mushrooms are constantly made fools of, are they not? Being forced to do charades and give their rarest items away."

"Indeed," I replied, trying to keep a steady monotone voice.

"Imagine the possibilities of improving your magic powers. You will be able to join the most powerful Heartless armies to take down the Keyblade master. You will seem like an innocent mushroom at first, but you will surprise Sora and his little friends when you cast a magic spell on them."

"No disrespect, ma'am," I began, "but I do not even know how I cast that spell in the first place."

"Do not let that worry you. Once we channel into your abilities, it will be simple after that."

What does that old witch know about zip? I thought, raising an invisible eyebrow.

"Find the Rare Truffle we have trained for battle!" the mage ordered. Why did she not call him by name? "He may be able to help this one here."

As the Black Fungi exited the room, the one with the darker coloration gave me what appeared to be a glare of suspicion. Did he find out something from the tests? Why didn't he tell Maleficent? I simply stared back, unblinking, until he paced out of the room, leaving me to wait for further instructions.

To be continued…

Da, da dum-dum! Yup, it looks like our friend Lilac has magic powers! Wonder how THAT will change the story?

By the way, this is going to be my main project for a while. I'll still update Shalla's Legacy some, yes, but not as much as normal. I know EXACTLY what I want to do with this story, so it'll be easier to write.