A few months later...
It was a bright and sunny day in the city of Gardenia, California; and Bloom and Daphne were walking down the street, having the time of their lives after a full day of playing around the town.
Shortly after Daphne's welcome home party on Dominio, Bloom took her sister on a month long vacation to her home town of Gardenia to spend time with her, and her adoptive parents Mike and Vanessa. Daphne looked forward to spending some long overdue bonding time with Bloom and getting to better know the adoptive parents who took care of her little sister for over 16 years. It was the perfect way to make up for lost time and spend quality sister bonding before the next semester at Alfea.
Currently, the two sisters were strolling in the park enjoying the weather, the city, and each other's company.
"What a day! First there was that volleyball game on the beach, the jazz band at the Frutti Music Bar, then there was that great new pizza parlor on Board Street, which was delicious by the way, and now we're in the park on such a great day with great weather!" Bloom greatly enthused about the events of their day so far.
"Yes, Yes, everything has been excellent." Daphne agreed. She was all smiles, but not quite as animated as Bloom.
In truth, Daphne it didn't care what they did. While the day's events had been fun, they could have been stuck cleaning a bathroom or stuck meeting self absorbed nobles with their parents, and she still would have enjoyed it because she got to do it with her sister. She especially sought to treasure these last few days, because Alfea's next semester was a one week away.
Bloom suddenly heard her name being called by multiple people behind her; all of them fans of the Winx Club. There were tweens who wanted autographs, teenagers who wanted a selfie with Bloom, and little girls that wanted both while wearing costume fairy wings styled after Bloom's Believix form.
Daphne looked on as Bloom was doing an impromptu meet and greet session with a few of her fans. Autographs, questions, answers, and selfies were quickly exchanged. Daphne was beaming with pride at her sister as she was interacting with her fans.
Gardenia had become a different place since the Winx Club first arrived to restore magic and find the last Earth Fairy. Gardenia had become something of a major tourist attraction due to the presence of the Winx Club. Belief in fairies and magic was now accepted as a part of everyday life. At least in Gardenia. The rest of the world still had yet to completely catch on.
Once the impromptu meet & greet was over, Bloom turned back to her sister who was still smiling.
"What?" Bloom asked incredulously.
Daphne just laughed and put her arm over Bloom's shoulder.
"I'm just so proud of you. You have done so much to save the whole Magix universe and make people on Earth believe in magic again."
Bloom blushed. "I can't take all the credit. Everything great I've ever done was a team effort thanks to the Winx and you." Then she quickly side-hugged her sister. Now it was Daphne's turn to blush.
"So what do we now?" Bloom asked as they made their way through the park. Before either of them could exchange a thought, a gathering crowd caught their attention.
They noticed that a crowd was gathering to watch the jumbotron that was set up for just for one purpose: to broadcast the single sporting event that the whole planet was watching: The Fastest Man Alive Charity Race between Superman and The Flash. Not even the Super Bowl got that kind of special treatment.
Bloom and Daphne decided to join the crowd and watched the event along with them. The crowd didn't pay Bloom or Daphne any mind because they were too enraptured by the race, and the neck and neck speed of the competitors.
Crossing their 17th lap out of 100, Superman and The Flash remain tied in the race. The unseen broadcaster's voice droned on. It's impossible to tell who will be the victor, but polls favor the Flash as the estimated winner. Though their competition has been receiving delays due to unusual weather anomalies that keep appearing in unnatural climates. They have now passed the Asian continent and are now crossing the Pacific Ocean. Their next stop on land is expected to be on the West Coast of the United States, and will be passing through the city of Gardenia, California.
This caused great excitement among the gathered crowd. Debates (and monetary bets) arose among them about who would be the victor of the race: Superman or Flash.
Bloom believed that Superman would be the winner based on her past experiences with him. Daphne didn't know much about Earth's superheroes beyond what Bloom had told her about them, but it seemed possible to her that the race could be a tie.
Before either girl could voice their opinions on the race and it's potential winner, two loud voices cried out.
"No way! Superman would totally crush Bloom!"
"Nuh-huh! Bloom has fairy magic! She's way more powerfuler than Superman!"
Both fairy sisters quickly whipped their heads in the direction towards whoever said that.
It didn't take long to find the source of those voices. It was a a boy and girl (6 year old siblings seemingly) who were playing and arguing (a little too loudly) about who was more powerful: Superman or Bloom, while waving around their respective Superman action figure and Bloom doll to prove the other's point.
The arguing got a little too loud, to the point that insults were beginning to be thrown around. Bloom was about to step in and intervene, but Daphne held her hand up, signaling that she was going to stop them. Bloom stayed put while Daphne walked over to them.
"Hey, kids. What's going on here?" She called out to them.
The arguing ceased and the two kids looked up at Daphne.
"My sister thinks that Bloom is more powerfuler than Superman because she has fairy magic." The boy explained. So they were siblings after all.
"Yeah she is! Bloom has fairy magic which makes her even more powerfuler than Superman!" The sister whined, while waving around her Bloom doll around.
"Oh yeah, Superman has super strength, laser vision, and can fly!" the brother argued, while waving around his Superman action figure.
"But Bloom can fly too!"
"Yeah, but Superman is stronger and can fly faster!"
The loud irritating arguing promptly resumed. Daphne had to do some quick thinking on how to resolve the argument.
"Kids, kids, KIDS!" Daphne yelled over them to get their attention. The kids stopped arguing, and paid attention to her again. She knelt down to speak at eye level to them.
"I don't know Superman personally, but I know Bloom pretty well. I'll tell you this about both of them: They would never fight each other. If there is a problem or a great evil rises, they would find a way to work together to fix it. They are much stronger together than they are apart. Just like the two of you are when you get along with each other. OK?"
The kids thought for a moment and seemed to agree with her, and ran off (presumably towards their parents), playing nicer with each other this time.
"That was great Daphne." Bloom praised as she rejoined her sister.
"I just wanted to see them stop arguing." Daphne modestly shrugged. "Siblings shouldn't fight like that. Every moment with a sibling is precious, and not one moment of it should be wasted."
"Of course." Bloom responded; a recognizable hint of somberness in her voice. She understood what Daphne meant. In not so many words, Daphne had expressed a moment of regret of not being able to grow up with Bloom the way that they should have. When the Ancestral Witches attacked Domino, they not only stole their home, they also stole the childhood that they were supposed to have growing up.
Despite this, both sisters counted their blessings. They both managed to undo what the Ancestral Witches took from them, and sought to right the wrongs of the past in the present. Neither wanted to waste the second chance they had been given in life.
Bloom sought to lighten the mood back up again, and focused on another aspect of her sister's talk with the kids.
"I definitely agree with you about me and Superman. We would definitely work well together. We would be stronger together than apart. Just like we are." Bloom side-hugged her sister while they kept walking through the park. Daphne blushed again.
"Besides, I would never want to pick a fight with Superman. He's easily the most powerful superhero on this planet. Maybe the universe!"
"Bloom you could easily could take him on. He maybe strong, but he doesn't wield the power of the Dragon Flame." Daphne boasted, completely confident in her belief of her sister's power.
Bloom didn't give any response because she really didn't want to find out who would possibly win in a fight between herself and Superman. She prayed that she would never have to find out.
The girls made their way out of the park and to a bus stop. Next to them was a poster for a touring stage magician attached the bus stop wall.
Zatanna! The Mistress of Magic, the Princess of Prestidigitation, and the Diva of Divination!
Come see her magical performance at the Theatre Straffi!
The poster read. The poster also showed a dazzling image of it's advertised magician. She was a bombshell beauty with long dark hair, glittering purple highlights, sparkling eyes, and a dazzling smile; dressed in a female-tailored suit, fishnet stockings, and high heels.
Daphne got a good chuckle out of the poster and it's boasting about how great it's advertised "Mistress of Magic" was. "Since real magic has started to come back to Earth, you'd think that these fakes would stop trying deceive everyone with their over-glorified parlor tricks." she dismissively scoffed at the poster. Bloom couldn't help but disagree. "Don't be so harsh Daphne. Sometimes stage magic can be quite fun. It's still fake, but it's fun."
Oh, if they only knew how wrong they were! But that would have to be a moment of ignorance that would be corrected at another time.
Suddenly, there was a massive explosion and a quake shook the earth, which threw everyone off their balance.
"What just happened?" Both girls asked among themselves. Fire trucks and police cars quickly zoomed past the girls. Daphne and Bloom sprinted after them to investigate the cause of the explosion and quake. They couldn't keep up, so they did the only logical thing to do in this situation.
"Magic Winx! Sirenix!"
A flash of magical light, and Bloom and Daphne transformed into their sirenix fairy forms. They flew off to the source of the disturbance that the police and fire squad were headed towards.
They followed police and fire squad to the source of the disturbance: the Bank of Gardenia, where there was a gray cloud of smoke coming out of the bank. A police perimeter and barricade had been set up. Bloom and Daphne kept their distance in the air to observe the situation.
"THIS IS THE POLICE! DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND COME OUT YOUR HANDS UP! YOU'RE COMPLETELY SURROUNDED!" An officer ordered on his megaphone.
There were several men emerging from the dark gray smoke cloud that was coming out of the giant hole in the bank.
At the head of the gang was a large man dressed in a trench coat, sunglasses, and wearing giant metallic gauntlets on his hands. Behind him were several pretty insignificant thugs (at least 20 of them) who almost disappeared into the background behind their giant boss. Large bags of cash were held in all their hands.
The police were ready to fire, but the thieves weren't intimidated in the slightest.
The leader dropped his cash bags, turned up the large dials on his gloves and slammed his hands, palms down, on the ground. This caused a massive earthquake which created great tremors in the earth, chasms in the pavement, waves of concrete rippling like water, glass shattering and raining down from neighboring buildings.
This was Temblor; a paid for hire strongman who could do any criminal job, as along as it involved massive destruction thanks to his gauntlets which could create instant earthquakes.
Bloom and Daphne quickly used their magic to protect the police from the earthquakes; shielding them from the shockwaves, the broken glass raining down from neighboring buildings, and the widening chasm being made in the pavement.
"I'll handle the guy with the gloves, you handle the others." Daphne quickly ordered. Bloom gave a quick "Right!" and flew in pursuit of her target.
Daphne flew in pursuit of her target. "Hey!" She shouted to get Temblor's attention. His head turned in her direction.
"Surrender and return what you stole, so I won't have to burn you with the power of the Dragon Flame!"
Temblor gave no verbal response, and only clapped his hands together which created a shockwave that threw Daphne off balance and expelled far away from the bank and even further away from the city.
Simultaneously, Bloom flew in hot pursuit of the henchmen who were fleeing the crime scene with their bags of cash in hand. Bloom cast her first spell.
Fire Cage!
A cage of fire entrapped all twenty of the fleeing henchmen. Bloom's victory was short lived when all the henchman slid through the cage as if they were made of mud.
Bloom was astonished at this, but before she could try a different spell, the police opened fire on the henchmen.
The bullets hit their targets, but the henchmen weren't killed. Instead they merely turned back to spit the bullets out, as if they were spitting unwanted phlegm. The spit out bullets flew like they had been been shot out of a gun. Their target: the police officers.
Bloom reacted quickly before the bullets could hit their new targets.
Sirenix Protection!
A wall of fire instantly shielded the police officers and melted the bullets before they could make any impact. Bloom tried a different offensive spell on the henchmen.
Fire Blades!
This knocked them down, but not for long. The henchmen got back on their feet, and merged together into a giant monster made of clay.
This was Clayface; formerly actor Basil Karlo who had an abused an experimental facial cream to fix his face to the point were the cream had absorbed into his DNA, transforming him into a shapeshifting monster, earning him the moniker Clayface. He was a villain that wasn't impossible to defeat, but was very difficult to do so.
Daphne managed to regain her balance and composure; not to mention the throbbing headache she was getting from Temblor's offensive clap. She was now high up in the air, away from the bank and looking down on all of Gardenia. Quickly flying back to the bank to her target she quickly came up with a new battle strategy. Namely: attack and subdue the enemy with no prior warning.
Bloom was hovering in mid-air facing Clayface, determined more than ever to beat her enemy. Before Bloom could attack, Clayface made his attack by slinging his clay all over the area.
The clay projectiles varied in size, but they manged to do even more damage to the area; collateral and personal. The unfortunate ones, mostly the police and firemen, who got hit with the clay projectiles, felt the clay growing on them, to the point were it was suffocating them to death. Bloom wasn't doing any better, as she too hit by the clay and it was growing over her. She struggled to utter a spell to free herself from this growing parasite.
Daphne came charging in, without warning behind Temblor; her spell fully charged and ready to unleash.
Dragon Kick!
With the full force of the Great Dragon, Daphne kicked Temblor in his back side. He was instantly on the ground; alive, but down and out for the count.
Daphne didn't have time to revel in her victory as she noticed her sister on the ground. "Bloom!" She instantly joined her sister's side. Daphne hands glowed with a spell that disintegrated the clay encompassing Bloom. Bloom took a breath to get oxygen back into her system. She gave a quick "Thanks", and directed her sister's attention to those who were also affected by the clay monster's attack.
Bloom and Daphne performed a spell to free the police and firemen from the ever-growing and suffocating clay. Their spell worked, and the people were breathed the fresh air, free of the clay.
Satisfied that they managed to save them, the girls turned their attention back to Clayface. Clayface had absorbed all of the stolen cash bags inside his body, and was trying to make his escape. He had grown into a nearly 50 ft monster by this time.
They flew up to his level, and Bloom cried out: "Hey! Ugly!"
That got his attention, and the fairies wasted no time in giving him a magical beating.
Lava Jab!
Dancing Flames!
Flame Spiral!
Dragon Fire!
Fire of Sirenix!
The fairy sisters fired fire spell after fire spell at Clayface hoping to cook his clay and bring him down to Earth. Their magic was beginning to have an effect on Clayface, and he was beginning to weaken.
Clayface defended himself, hoping to beat the fairies. He swung his arms around, attempting to swat the faires like flies. He turned his giant hands into giant hammers, sickles, and maces, attempting to kill the fairies. He also fired clay projectiles, attempting to bring them down. The fairies manged to evade all of his attacks, much to Clayface's chagrin.
Daphne and Bloom decided to create a convergence to bring down Clayface in one final blow.
Dragon of Domino Convergence!
The fiery Dragon in their convergence spell engulfed Clayface in flame and baked him into a giant terracotta statue. He was defeated, but another problem arose. He became top heavy, imbalanced, and threatened to fall; potentially smashing into the street, causing even more damage than before.
Bloom and Daphne quickly used their magic to gently set him down on the street, without damaging the city any further. They succeeded, but Bloom cringed on the inside seeing the property damage that they were unable to prevent. Broken glass, semi demolished buildings, and other pieces of public property lay about heavily damaged. She only hoped that they were at least able to save lives, even if they couldn't save public property.
By now, the battle had taken them far away from the bank. Police, Fire, and now medical service's sirens could be heard catching up with the heroic fairies.
Suddenly, the Clayface statue began to crack on it's own. Clayface, though beaten and heavily damaged, attempted to rebuild himself and strike back against the fairies.
Before could the fairies could fire off one spell, Clayface was instantly pelted with a heavy hosing of water.
Bloom's adoptive father Mike had his fellow firefighters hose down what remained of Clayface, breaking him down into a large harmless puddle of mud. Daphne and Bloom gave an appreciative smile and thumbs up for the bravery of the firefighters.
The cash bags from Clayface's damaged body slid out into the open air. The police quickly retrieved the evidence, despite how dirty and slimy it was. As TV crews arrived to began reporting on the scene, Clayface found his opening to discreetly escape from his enemies, and attempted to reform his body to make a quick getaway disguised either as a policeman or a random citizen.
Out of nowhere, a blast of ice froze Clayface's reforming body. Freezing his remains to prevent him from rebuilding himself and escaping.
Both girls jumped at the sudden blast of ice, alert again for another attack. Bloom quickly searched for the source of the ice blast, expecting the Trix to be behind her again. Instead she saw a large flying bat-shaped vehicle block out the sun. The vehicle's back port opened, and it's crew jumped ship. She expected the Specialists to jump out of the vehicle, but breathed a sigh of relief when she saw who it really was: the Justice League!
Jumping, gliding, and flying out of their signature troop carrier vehicle, the Flying Fox, were the following JL members:
Wonder Woman, Blue Beetle, Cyclone, Ice, and 3 members of the Shazam family (Billy, Freddy, & Mary).
Cyclone was another recent recruit of Diana's. She was Maxine Hunkel, a metahuman teenager who had the power to manipulate wind and air. She looked similar to Bloom, but with more freckles on her face.
Wonder Woman directed her team for their first task at hand: collecting Clayface's solidified and frozen remains to be placed on the Flying Fox for transportation to a specially designed containment cell at STAR labs.
The fairy sisters stood back away from them, unsure if they were welcome to join them or not. They both suspected that the Justice League would welcome them, but they didn't want to impose.
"Do you feel that?" Daphne asked quietly. "Yes I do." Bloom responded, just as quietly.
Even from a distance, Bloom and Daphne could sense powerful magic coming from the three caped heroes. They would have to find to time to ask them about their magic. They may get that opportunity sooner than they thought, because Wonder Woman motioned for the fairies to join their team on clean up duty. Both were surprised by this, but decided not to question it.
They set to work immediately loading the pieces of the defeated villain on the ship. Some like Wonder Woman and the three Shazam family members lifted the larger pieces, some with normal level human strengths like Ice and Cyclone lifted the medium pieces, and the others whose strength could change at any given time like Blue Beetle and the Winx fairies did both at the same time using their respective powers.
They carried out their task in silence, but Wonder Woman was the first to break the silence.
"Excellent job Winx. You did well in stopping the criminals and protecting the city."
It took the fairy sisters a moment to sink in the fact that Wonder Woman herself complimented them on a job well done.
"Thanks" They both said gratefully. "But look at all the damage we couldn't prevent." Bloom added; gesturing around to all the damage caused by the supervillain attack.
"What's important is the lives you've saved today. Buildings and property can be fixed and replaced. Lives can't." Wonder Woman stated in a serious tone.
"I wish you had all been here sooner. Can you believe that in the one month since I've been on this planet, this is the first major disaster I've had to deal with?" Daphne complained. She wasn't much of a complainer (her parents raised her better than that), but she was too frustrated and fatigued to care.
"Be grateful that you've had peace before this. When I first became a part of Man's World, the war to end all wars, what is called today World War I had been at it's high point. I didn't know peace in Man's World until I helped bring about it's end." Wonder Woman stated; recounting her past.
Bloom was stunned. Wonder Woman had to be over a century old if she actually fought in World War I, and didn't look a day older than 30!
The superheroes and fairies finished collecting Clayface's remains and the Flying Fox closed up its hatch and flew off (via remote) far away from Gardenia. The fairies assumed to a special prison to contain his slippery form.
"Is he dead?" Bloom asked about Clayface once the ship was out of sight. "No, he's just stunned. I don't think he even can really be killed." Shazam (Freddy) answered.
Now it was Daphne's turn to ask the questions. "What about the man with the gauntlets?". "You mean Temblor? He's already arrested and on his way to prison." stated Shazam (Mary).
"Thanks for helping, but I wish you'd been here faster to help us stop the bad guys." Bloom made her voice heard again. "We weren't here for the bad guys, were here to protect the city from the coming hurricane." Shazam (Billy) explained.
"Hurricane?" The fairy sisters both questioned. "But there's not a cloud in sight." "How can there be a hurricane coming?" Bloom stated and Daphne questioned.
"You mean you don't know?" Blue Beetle joined in the conversation. He pressed a device on his forearm which projected a holographic video. "This was taken from a broadcast that appeared nearly half an hour ago." he explained.
Onscreen was a masked man whose voice was disguised by a modulator to make his voice sound deeper and more menacing.
"Three times you have failed to head my warnings, and three times you have failed to meet my demands.
5 billion dollars should have been transferred to my offshore account by now, but since you refuse my demands, I have decided to show your the true strength of my powers.
I will unleash a hurricane that will destroy the next city Superman and the Flash will pass through. They have chosen my target: Gardenia, California.
Since you have failed to heed my my warnings and demands, Gardenia will pay for your obstinate cowardice."
Bloom and Daphne were shocked to the core.
At that very moment dark clouds blocked out the sun. The winds appeared, gradually blowing stronger and stronger. Rain began to fall heavily on the earth below. Dust, papers, trash, and other debris started to fly. Cars and other vehicles began to skid and move out of control. The calm waves transformed into violent surfs.
The storm had arrived.
And they were too late to stop it.
Thanks for reading Chapter 2!
Now it's time for some Behind the Scenes trivia.
Superman and Flash's competitive racing first began in Superman (Vol. 1) #199 (August 1967) and has been a staple of DC Comics lore since then. Referenced in this chapter is one very particular version of the race; Speed Demons from Superman: The Animated Series which is the 17th episode in the series; hence why I made it a point to say that Superman and Flash have now made their 17th lap out of 100 in the race.
Just as DC Comics often names locations and other paraphernalia after noted creators, I named the theater hosting Zatanna, after Winx Club creator Iginio Straffi. I'll try to feature more Winx Club creatives getting name drop cameos.
Zatanna did not appear in the JL lineup because she is not in Gardenia yet. She is still on tour somewhere else. She is not even a member of the Justice League yet, but will eventually appear somewhere else in the story. S'ti gniog ot eb ytterp lacigam nehw ehs seod yllanif raeppa!
For our selection of villains; I reached way back into the depths of DC obscurity to bring you Temblor. A villain created solely for The Batman animated series (2004-2008), and only appeared in the Season 3 opener Batgirl Begins Part 1. I think he is a cool villain that needs more notice, but he's clearly not a media villain that resonated with audiences; not on the same level as Harley Quinn, Phantasm, Livewire, Ursa, Non, or even Bob, Joker's #1 guy. Such a shame. At least he got an action figure.
Then we have well known A-Lister villain Clayface who, despite being primarily a Batman villain, I think is big enough a threat that he can take on the whole Justice League. He's also a tricky villain to defeat, which is why I think it's always quite satisfying when he finally is beaten, it's almost never the same way twice.
The masked villain in the end broadcast was the Weather Wizard. Since I said before that the version of the Superman/Flash race I've adapted is the S:TAS version, he is, by default, the villain of their story. However, I disguised his face and voice because, in retrospect, the Weather Wizard was an idiot for showing his natural appearance on live television in front of Superman, Flash, & the US government, making his defeat a little too easy in my opinion. That has been corrected here.
I'm pretty sure that (at least in the DCEU, and not counting the events of WW84, since I've not seen that yet) Wonder Woman fought crime incognito after the events of the first film, always careful to cover her tracks until the events of BvS where she became a public figure again. This is why Bloom (and most of the world) would be surprised to learn that Wonder Woman fought in World War I, and hasn't aged a day since then.
As I said before, this story doesn't reflect any of the continuity for any of the DCEU movies that happened after Shazam! (except for the Glorious Snyder Cut of course), so this is Cyclone's first appearance, and her appearance in Black Adam is not canon to the story. Major difference between that movie and my story, is that Cyclone actually looks like the way she does in the comics, and is not an unnecessary race swap, like Hollywood does to so many gingers.
Despite the speculation of who would win in a fight between Bloom and Superman, there won't be any Justice League v Winx Club fights in this story, nor is any character on those teams going to turn evil and start fighting each other. Unless I get the Scarecrow involved in this story, and they will start fighting each other out of blind fear and panic. That could happen, but I'm trying to avoid that.
I don't mind the trope of good superheroes turning evil or superheroes fighting each other (hell, one of my favorite films is Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, and that film is about superheroes fighting each other, because they see the other as the antagonist of the movie.), but the trope has become so overused in the past 10 years or so, that I think that those tropes have become tiresome, predictable, and need to be retired for the next 20-30 years so that those tropes can become fresh again.
Special shout out and thanks to the Winx Club Wiki for their complete listing of all the spells used in the show. I'm pretty sure that Bloom and Daphne's magic is similar to each other, so they will be sharing spells throughout this story.
I had a little trouble with the final battle between Bloom, Daphne, and the villains. Fight scenes along with the fight banter, which you'll notice that there isn't much, are not easy to plan or write. I hope I can improve on this in future chapters.
I want you to keep in mind the complaint of the Justice League that they weren't fast enough. This will be a recurring problem throughout the story that I have a pretty spectacular resolution to in mind.
Any suggestions for improvements or corrections are welcome, but please PM me for them.
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Next Chapter: Bloom and Daphne work together with the Justice League to protect Gardenia from an artificially produced hurricane. Expect intense action, intense disasters, and more great characters to make appearances!