We were now in the forest near Alfea, where the Winx were helping Izuku with his training, as they had to be prepared in case the enemy attacked again.
"Ok. For starters, how much of your Quirk can you use?" asked Tecna.
"Between 10 and 15%. When I exceed more than that, my body suffers for it." reported Izuku.
"Alright. In that case, it would be best to start small." said Musa.
"Mmm." began Flora thinking of a way to help Izuku. "Let's try one thing. Close your eyes and concentrate on your power, start with the maximum amount you can and raise it a little bit more."
"Think of it as a chemistry experiment, if you add just the right amount, the formula will work." Layla commented.
Izuku listened to them and closed his eyes to concentrate. Lightning flashed through his body the moment he activated his Quirk, much to the surprise of the fairy group, as that was the first time they had seen his power.
Following his advice, Izuku concentrated on his power. He started with his limit of 15%, then gradually added more and more of his power until he reached 16%, then he reached 17%. He tried to go higher, but the increase in power made his body tremble, which a certain nature fairy noticed.
"Stop there. That's enough." said Flora, getting the green-haired boy to stop.
"Good. Now, fire all that force." said Bloom.
"Are you sure?" asked Izuku.
"Relax, there's nothing but trees in front of you. I don't think you'll hurt anyone." said Musa.
Reassuring himself upon hearing that, Izuku remained with the power from before and drew back his fist.
"SMASH!" shouted Izuku throwing his fist forward.
Although it didn't hit anything, the punch expelled a gust of wind so powerful that it destroyed several trees in its path, while leaving a mark of destruction on the ground.
Needless to say, the girls were impressed by this.
"Incredible!" said Stella in amazement.
"What a force!" exclaimed Musa.
"And that was only about 20%. Who knows what would happen if he ever used his full power!" said Tecna in horror at the image.
While they were focusing on that, another was focusing on something different.
"Well done, Izuku!" said Flora patting the green-haired boy's shoulder.
"Thank you. It took me a while, but I know that if I train more, I can achieve more." said Izuku.
"I'm sure of it. I believe in you." said Flora.
Izuku blushed a little at the nature fairy's comment. Fortunately, no one seemed to have noticed.
"Oh, how cute." said an unfamiliar voice. The seven looked up to see the wasp woman. "If it weren't for certain circumstances, you'd make a good couple." said the wasp woman mockingly.
"Who are you?" asked Flora, ignoring the previous comment.
"Oh. Didn't those two louts tell you about me? I'm offended." said the wasp woman with mock hurt in her voice.
"Those two... Wait! You're with the two guys who attacked the academy?" asked Musa pointing at her.
"Bingo. Prize for the winner." said the wasp woman.
"Cut the games. What are you here for?" asked Bloom.
"Oh, straight to the point. I like it. Turns out those two have forgotten a book, so we came to get it ourselves." said the wasp woman.
"We?" asked Izuku.
"Hello, boy." said a voice that, while unfamiliar to the fairies, was very familiar to Izuku and that made him nervous.
Looking towards the trees, he saw Alvarez coming out from behind them.
"YOU!" exclaimed Izuku surprised to see him again.
"We meet again. I never would have imagined you would interfere in my affairs. I guess I should have taken into account where you would land when I kicked you out of the tunnel." said Alvarez.
"Are you with those guys?" asked Izuku.
"Wrong. I don't work with them. They work for me." said Alvarez.
"So, does that mean you're the one who wants to look for the mystical tree?" asked Layla.
"You're right. For a long time I have been searching for that tree and thanks to that book, I will gain the power to rule over everything and everyone." said Alvarez.
"We won't allow it!" shouted Bloom before the Winx transformed and Izuku activated his Quirk, joining the group.
"Be free to try, I'll be able to have fun after all this time." said Alvarez.
"Gee, you're feeling pretty confident." said the wasp woman.
"You'd better give up! You're outnumbered!" exclaimed Tecna.
All she got from the wasp woman was a chuckle.
"What's so funny?" asked Stella.
"Oh, I'm sorry, my dear, but did you really think we'd show up before you without some trick?" asked the wasp woman without losing her smile.
Just then, a loud buzzing sound was heard. Shortly afterwards, flying on either side, several monster wasps appeared.
"Now, what was that they said about the numerical advantage?" asked Alvarez before launching a magical beam towards them.
"Flaming Armor!" shouted Bloom raising a shield that managed to protect them from the magic beam. "Come on girls!" shouted Bloom before the seven of them launched themselves to fight the enemy group.
Izuku used the power of his Quirk to jump high into the air and while he was up in the air, he launched a kick into the air, launching a wave of wind towards some wasps, knocking them down in the process.
As Izuku landed, a wasp tried to attack him from behind, but Izuku noticed and rolled to the side before hitting him hard in the chest, sending him crashing into another wasp, knocking them both down.
"Dragon Heart!" shouted Bloom throwing a sphere of fire at a mutated wasp which fell to the ground charred.
"Universe of Light!" shouted Stella causing a powerful light to erupt, causing a pair of wasps to groan from the pain in their eyes, which she took advantage of. "Solar Storm!" shouted Stella throwing magical beams of light at the two wasps, who fell limp to the ground.
"Stereo Crash!" shouted Musa launching sound waves, causing some of the wasps to cover their ears as they groaned in pain. It went on like this for a few seconds until the wasps fell unconscious to the ground.
"Super Prism!" shouted Tecna creating a dome to fend off the attack of four incoming wasps, when they retreated, she deactivated the dome. "Techno Shock!" shouted Tecna launching a magical beam with which she shot down the wasps.
"Andros Hurricane!" shouted Layla launching a morphix sphere with which she knocked down a wasp.
Several wasps surrounded Flora, but she didn't seem bothered by it. "Autumn Wind!" shouted Flora, launching a magical beam that hit all the wasps around her, who fell to the ground.
Flora was about to go to help the others when she felt something coming towards her. She quickly backed away, managing to dodge a barrage of needles.
"You dodged it. That's a shame." Flora raised her head to look at the wasp woman. "Mind if I have a little fun with you?" asked the wasp woman before launching a barrage of needles from her arms.
"Winter Rose!" shouted Flora, causing a wall of roots to emerge from the ground, blocking the needles.
"Pretty flowers, but is that all you can do?" asked the wasp woman without losing her smile.
"I can do a lot more than this! Summer Thunder!" shouted Flora, causing a bunch of roots to spring up from the ground and head towards the wasp woman with the intention of grabbing her.
Unfortunately, the wasp woman proved agile and quick enough to dodge every root that tried to grab her.
"Too slow, my dear. You'll have to be quicker than that." said the wasp woman before lunging towards her with her fist recoiled.
"Spring Ring!" shouted Flora summoning a shield, as she knew what the enemy's attack might be.
And that it was, as the wasp woman struck the shield with her fist. To the fairy's surprise, the force of the punch was so strong that it knocked her to the ground.
"It was fun while it lasted, but this ends now." the wasp woman said before swooping towards her, but before she got any closer to her, a gust of wind pushed her back.
Shaking her head, she looked over to see Izuku standing in front of Flora protectively with his Quirk activated.
"Get away from her!" shouted Izuku.
"Izuku!" exclaimed Flora in surprise at the green-haired boy's intervention.
"Oh, how cute. Looks like your knight in shining armor has come to save you. Though he seems to have forgotten his armor." said the wasp woman.
Soon after, she was surrounded by the rest of the Winx, signaling that they had wiped out all the wasps.
"That's it! We've wiped out all your nasty bugs! You've lost!" exclaimed Stella.
However, they all heard a chuckle. Turning their heads, they saw that it was Alvarez who was chuckling.
"My dear, you are very wrong. We have not lost." said Alvarez.
"What do you mean?" asked Bloom.
"I would like to point out that you are like the protectors of Alfea, but right now, you are taking care of us quite a distance away from the place. Don't you think that's a bit suspicious?" asked Alvarez.
Izuku paused for a moment to think about it, fully analyzing the situation.
It was then that he remembered Alvarez mentioning that those two beings that attacked the school earlier worked for him and now that he noticed, he hadn't seen them in all that time. Besides, Alvarez hadn't made a move. If they had really come to kill them, he would have cast a spell or something, but instead, he let the wasp woman and her lackeys take care of it.
Which left only one possibility in all that, one he didn't like at all.
"This is just a distraction!" revealed Izuku causing the Winx to gasp.
It was true what Izuku had said, for while they were fighting Alvarez and the wasp woman, in Alfea, several explosions were happening, courtesy of the lava rhino and the ice knight.
Both lackeys were in the office of headmistress Faragonda, who was lying unconscious on the floor and the ice knight was holding the book in his free hand.
"Ugh. Why do I have to be here when the boss and that flying cockroach are fighting?" asked the lava rhino complainingly.
"Consider this your punishment for failing the previous mission." said the ice knight before focusing on the fallen headmistress. "I congratulate you, Miss Faragonda. I dare say you know how to fight despite your age, but if you had agreed to give us the book, it wouldn't have had to come to this."
"Stop this nonsense. We've got what we want. Let's go!" said the ice rhino before the two left the room.
Back to the forest with the Winx, Izuku, Alvarez and the wasp woman.
"Indeed. I can tell you're smarter than them," said Alvarez.
"You tricked us! You cheaters!" shouted Musa.
"It's your own fault for letting yourselves fall for a simple trick like this." said the wasp woman.
"Well, I guess now that all is said and done, it's time to go-" said Alvarez.
"We won't let you escape! Fire Dragon!" shouted Bloom sending a fire dragon straight towards Alvarez, but a sweep of his staff caused a wave of magic to slam into the dragon, destroying both attacks in an explosion.
"As much as I would like to take care of you, I have more important things to take care of." Alvarez said as the wasp woman flew to his side.
With the magic of his staff, he created another portal through which he and his lackey passed, the portal closing shortly after.
"Damn it. They've escaped again." said Layla.
"Forget about it! We need to get back to Alfea as soon as possible!" said Tecna pointing towards the direction the school was in.
It was then that Izuku noticed something around his body and was surprised to discover that it was Flora, who was wrapping her arms around his body and even more so as she rose into the air.
"Flora! W-what are you doing?" asked Izuku very nervous about the situation he was in.
"Flying is the fastest way to get there first. You may be fast with your Quirk, but it's better to be safe than sorry." said Flora.
Izuku had to admit she was right. He had used too much of his Quirk during the fight and now he was very tired, so that method of travel would be better. Though he couldn't help but blush at the fact that a girl was grabbing him like that.
Wasting no time, the Winx and a blushing Izuku quickly flew towards Alfea, hoping it wasn't too late.