Winx Club A Different Way AU: A Dragon Awakens

by RayeWonderland

Bloom, a teen girl from Earth discovers she has magical abilities and enrolls in the Alfea College for Fairies. Along with her newfound friend Stella, a fairy princess, Bloom meets her other flatmates Flora, Musa, and Tecna. Together, they form the Winx Club and fight off the wicked Trix! This is a rewrite and I don't own anything from the Winx Club franchise.

6. Chapter 6: A Date with Disaster

Summary:

Stella receives what she believes to be an invitation for a date from Prince Sky, however the next day the princess seems rather angry and secretive towards her roommates. They're not sure what happened but whatever it is, they're going to figure it out.

A/N:

Greetings and salutations my readers! It's so great to be back! OMD, this has been a long time since I last posted! So sorry for that, no excuse really except I'm lazy lol. Long story short, threw out the old year and welcome the new one! I'm going to be better at this and thankfully chapter 7 will be posted next- soon, it'll be posted soon! Okay enough rambling, you know what the episode is about, let's go!

This is a rewrite. Changes have been made that conflict with the original canon, characters are different so please go in knowing this, whether you like it or not please understand this is a rewrite.

Edit: This story was originally in parts, but I decided to just make them whole chapters instead of two parters because the other format was a phase I was trying and not one I liked. So enjoy my long ass chapters now lol.

Enjoy the read!

Co-writers:

Nadia

Chapter 6: A Date with Disaster

"What the hell am I even looking at?" Bloom finally questioned, staring at a cruel sight in front of her.

The Alfea kitchen reminded Bloom of home; with the white checkered floor and stainless-steel tools, it almost felt like a fancy kitchen back on earth. She had become acquainted with this kitchen after spending an entire night washing dishes there. However, she still expected to see more magical equipment, which impressed Bloom even more. Basically, one man and a handful of other staff members could feed an entire school. Except the staff consisted of students and today Bloom, Tecna, Flora, and Musa had kitchen duty. Every flat had to work in the kitchen, one being chosen for a certain meal such as breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Today the Winx were tasked with making dinner.

Bloom wasn't sure what to make of the uncooked fowl before her. Its veins stuck out like a sore thumb and she could swear it was still pulsating. She circled around the table, examining the creature trying to figure out why it was purple of all colors, she was so used to pink plucked birds, not dark purple. Once the creature looked like it was breathing, she took a few steps back. All she could say after a few seconds of examining the creature was, "Is… is it supposed to be purple and veiny?"

"Yes, that means he's extra tender," Tecna said, elbowing the girl in the hip playfully. "Y'all ain't nevah had Akulina?"

"Earth, remember?" Bloom reminded. "The closest big bird we've had is turkey, not whatever this monstrosity is."

"This 'monstrosity' is big enough to feed the entire campus. Now keep peelin' them spuds before the chef sees ya," Tecna ordered, slowly pouring stock on the bird. "Man, I remember havin' these on Liberation Day. Momma would sprinkle it with chives, onions, and garlic. Put some lemons around it. Stuffed that baby with twenty-five sticks of butta and five pounds of lard and some other things I can't disclose. Family recipe and all. Man brings me back."

Bloom and Flora stared at the girl sharing the same horrified look of disgust. Even with the few details, the country girl could tell them provided an interesting image. Musa simply smiled while shuffling lettuce in a bowl.

"How are you still okay, health-wise?" Bloom questioned with concern.

Tecna let out an annoyed sigh with an equally aggravated expression. "Why does everybody ask that when I tell them about that enticin' meal?"

"Because that's, like, inhumane!" Flora said, switching from the calm persona that Bloom had seen from her so far. "This is such a cruel sight to witness," she lamented frowning. She was in charge of dessert, she practically begged to do it after she realized what the main course was. The poor empathetic girl couldn't keep her mind off the dead bird on the metal table. Every pulsating movement appeared to make Flora shudder at his or her death. Letting out a long sigh she finished with, "What did this majestic creature ever do to deserve this?"

"Be delicious," Tecna replied matter of fact.

Flora shook her head, turning away from the bird and pouring cupcake batter into tins. She didn't even want to look at the headless Akulina as Tecna continued working on it. After a second, the possibly artery-clogged girl went over to the fridge and pulled out five sticks of butter.

Bloom shook her head, chuckling.

As she went back to peeling potatoes, she couldn't help but have one concern as her wrinkled hands started getting sore from doing the job "Okay can somebody explain to me why we can't use magic to make dinner?"

"I don't know, but I wouldn't complain; we only got…" Tecna paused, checking her watch. "Two hours to make dinner and you are only halfway through them spuds."

"All I'm saying is why can't we wave a magic wand," Bloom held up the peeler like a magic wand and waved it around wildly. "Snap our fingers, wiggle our nose a couple of times, and voila!" She then proceeded to wrinkle her nose instead of wiggling it and snapped her fingers making the girls laugh.

Some of her magic knowledge was learned from reading fairy tales, fantasy novels, and shows as well, and it showed she wasn't ashamed to show her skills even if it did probably make her look foolish in front of her magically raised flatmates.

The mood was ruined though when everyone but Bloom froze in shock as if a dark looming presence had entered the room. Bloom turned around to see Chef Sefoglia behind her, she waved nervously at the rotund man.

"Sup, Chef." she greeted.

"Don't think I didn't hear you," he scolded in a thick French accent that Bloom still hadn't gotten used to, "Relying on mazic to solve all your problemz is a dangerouz way to live."

Bloom chuckled. "How?"

"Because uzing magic cooking both takes a long time to perfect and requires a load of energy. Not to mention beginners such as yourzelvez cannot create food, let alone boil vater," the chef chastised, "Tell me, Miss Mason, how would you use magic to cook food?"

"I don't know, I'd conjure up some eggs and scramble an omelet," Bloom answered, unsure if she was right.

"And what spell would conjure up eggs?" Sefoglia asked, tapping his foot. Bloom paused, scratching her head. She hadn't really thought about that part. "Exactly. How would zou heat it up? How would you avoid burning it or yourzelf? Magic doesn't provide a zolution to everything, dear. It's beneficial for you to learn zese kitchen duties so zat you don't rely on magic for everything."

"He's right," Flora said, licking some leftover batter from her cupcakes. "Cooking is an art and sometimes you can't use something like magic to perfect it, it requires hands-on skill. You should know that."

"Well excuse me for being new to this stuff," Bloom replied somewhat offended. "Fine, point taken. Peeling potatoes and learning how to cook… suspicious-looking birds will help me live here."

"Zee, now you're getting it," Sefoglia said before smacking Bloom's hand with a wooden spoon. "Don't forget it!"

"Got it," Bloom feebly said, rubbing her left hand. "Imma go back to peeling potatoes now."

"Zes and try not to peel too much of the potato, we have to feed over six hundred students," Chef ordered. "And prezerve zhe skin!"

"On it," Bloom nervously said, avoiding eye contact with the chef so as not to get on his bad side again.

"Chef, what kind of eggs are these?" Musa asked, staring at the spotted green eggs floating in a pot of boiling water. "Are they good?"

"Zes very good, these are rare reptilian eggs from the Deca Lizard, you're very lucky I was able to get them," the chef said, patting one of the eggs. "Once you boil them in zot water, and add ze little salt and pepper they taste divine."

"Hm, neat!" Musa agreed.

Flora, on the other hand, stood on the side, her mouth hanging open in disgust. She lowered her rubber spatula and covered her mouth trying not to vomit. Bloom knew her roommate was a strict vegan… she never shuts up about it, but she didn't know the nature fairy had such a visceral reaction around animal products. Even the mere mention of eggs seemed to make her visibly sick.

"Miss Rosa, do not dare throw up in my kitchen," the Chef warned. "Or you shall be reprimanded."

"I'm sorry chef," Flora apologized, swallowing her bile. "I just… Can we like, use egg substitute and replace this majestic creature that has left our mortal world with pho-akulina?"

Chef Sefoglia stormed over to the vegan fairy and smacked her with the same spoon he used on Bloom. Bloom immediately winced when she saw Flora recoil after being assaulted on the hand.

"I'm not even going to give that a response, young lady," the Chef said, glaring at Flora. "Now clean up your mess and leave the main course to Tecna."

"Yes, chef," Flora cowered, walking over to the sink with her bowl and rubber spatula.

Note to self, don't piss off Chef Sefoglia, Bloom subconsciously thought.

"Ain't gonna be me," Tecna whispered to Musa, drizzling oils on the large half-cooked bird. "My momma would've smacked my butt with that spoon if I dare question her cookin'."

"True that girl," Musa said high fiving her friend. The eager girl went back to tossing in a few more chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, and croutons in the large bowl of leafy greens. She scooped two handfuls of the mix and tossed it in the air energetically before shouting, "Almost finished with the salad chef!"

"Ah, zis is why zou're my favorite," Chef complimented. Musa grinned widely, making Bloom groan, upset she had been attacked with a wooden spoon while the chipper girl was getting praised. "All right, I zee you have this under control ladies. I'll retrieve some extra supplies from the ze basement for dinner tonight. Try not to burn anything."

The chef headed out of the kitchen as Tecna slid the bird back into the oven and wiped her hands on her shirt. Musa picked out a crouton from the bowl and nibbled on it while humming to herself.

"Okay, who else is scared of Chef Sefoglia?" Bloom asked, rubbing her bruised hand.

Everyone else nodded.

"All right, birds in the oven and it'll be done in… fo'ty minutes," Tecna said, checking the time on her watch. "Dawgone, that was a workout."

"I love cooking!" Musa cheered, tossing more salad in the air; it landed back in the bowl with ease. She grabbed a crouton and nibbled on it eagerly while humming a random song in her head. "Do you guys love cooking?"

Bloom chuckled being reminded of that cutesy children's cartoon back on Earth. "I used to, and then the chef smacked my hand with a freaking spoon," Bloom complained.

I feel like I'm in a Catholic school. Bloom thought, but kept it to herself since she wasn't sure her friends knew what Catholicism was, that also made her giggle.

While peeling red potatoes she couldn't help but remember baking with her mom back on Earth. Messing with the flour, stirring the batter, and sometimes snacking on it when her mom wasn't looking and then getting caught only to have her mother join in. It was cheesy fun, but it was still that, fun. She didn't think she'd be so homesick.

Flora sighed after placing the batter-filled muffin tins in the oven. "Well, at least I'll have salad for dinner," she lamented. "Why must innocent creatures be used for sustenance?"

"Well, Flo'a the best way to describe it is that we are omnivores creatures that require animal proteins to maintain proper health cuz we really ain't able to make some amino acids ourselves, and certain people, such as myself, require more animal-based nourishment," Tecna said half comfortingly, gaining a weary, looking glare from the brunette. "What? It's true."

"You can gain amino acids from eating plants and nothing but plants," Flora replied.

Tecna chuckled sarcastically with an eye roll while saying, "All right, flower chile."

Musa and Bloom chuckled.

At that moment, the doors to the kitchen opened as Stella waltzed in. "Greetings ladies," she cheerfully said and in return was met with groans from everyone except Musa, who bounced over to the Princess.

That girl's continuous large amount of energy both left Bloom impressed and befuddled. Seriously, how much sugar did she consume daily?

"Did you come to help us out?" Musa asked eagerly.

Stella giggled, patting the curiously eager girl on her head. "Oh sweetie, no I got out of kitchen duty remember?"

"How did you do that again?" Bloom asked pausing from her peeling while Tecna walked over and started helping her out. From the frustrated look Bloom noticed on her face, she guessed the girl assumed she was moving too slowly. She appreciated the help at least.

"I'm sick with a terrible head cold," Stella answered with a fake cough. "Don't let them know I'm faking."

"I would've thought it was because of the potion-" Bloom reasoned before Stella pointed her index finger at the coy girl.

Her left eye twitched before she shouted, "We never speak of that!"

Bloom chuckled; she had successfully irked her 'bestie' again. She loved playfully messing with her so far, especially about that incident.

"Minus the fibbin', that's a clever idea to skip cookin',' Tecna complimented with a wink.

"Thank you," Stella said, taking the compliment with pride. "It also helps that I received a proper invitation." The other girls mumbled some kind words but were too focused on their tasks at hand to ask more. "Would you… would you, perchance, like to know what it's about?"

Stella swayed on her heel, eagerly anticipating anyone to jump in, but even Musa had gone back to shuffling salad. The Princess's eyes had an eager twinkle to them and her coy smile was impossible to ignore. Bloom let out an exhausted sigh, regretting what she was about to do.

"We're just DYING to know," she replied, uninterested.

"I'd be glad to indulge you!" Stella gushed, pulling an invitation from behind her back. "Guess who it's from… Prince Sky! Can you believe it?! An invitation to this new café, Black Lagoon!"

"Oh, my dragon, you got a date from a prince?" Musa exclaimed, covering her mouth in shock.

"Wow, lucky you," Bloom half-congratulated, keeping her eyes on the potatoes.

"I know right, a man who knows yo' and still wants to see yo'?" Tecna jested.

The girls laughed causing Stella to blush with anger. She looked ready to shrink away as she held her head down, covering her face with her hair. Even though the girls meant no harm, it seemed to affect the Princess deeply.

Musa walked over to the girl and wrapped her arms around the girl's waist, giving her a sincere hug to cheer her up. "We're all happy for you," she reassured sweetly. "Now, tell us what you're going to wear."

Stella gasped, avoiding the urge to curse out her flatmates for Tecna's comments as her mind changed to a more important topic. "My word, I have nothing to wear!"

"Would you like our help?" Flora asked, causing Bloom and Tecna to drop their peelers in frustration.

"Why did you just say that?" Bloom asked, rubbing her forehead.

Flora shrugged with a smile, missing the point of the girl's frustrations.

"Why, you took the words right out of my mouth, Flora," Stella complimented. "My gals can help me find the perfect outfit for my date with the strapping, Prince Sky!"

Bloom sighed, reasoning she did need some time away from the kitchen, especially since her hand was still sore. A hit from a spoon apparently left a lingering pain. "Honestly, I'd rather be doing that over peeling potatoes."

She whipped off her apron, placed her peeler down, and walked over to Stella and Musa, along with Flora. Tecna kept peeling potatoes.

"Are you coming to join us, darling?" Stella asked her.

"I don't feel safe leavin' the kitchen while food is cookin'," Tecna said, warily eyeing the stove. "We still got these spuds to peel."

"Oh, come now, love, everything seems to be going well at this point," Stella said. "It'll take under five minutes to help me pick a dress to wear for my fabulous date with the—"

"Strapping Prince Sky! We got it," Bloom added with an aggravated nod.

"Fine, but if somethin' burns, I'm blamin' you," Tecna said placing her peeler down and removing her apron. She gave one last look at the oven, but turned away and followed behind the girls out of the kitchen.

"This is going to be such fun!" Stella exclaimed.

...

The girls entered Stella's room and gasped, amazed by her large five closet wardrobe of clothes, even Bloom was still fascinated that the Princess had thousands of clothes, shoes, and accessories all around her room, some she designed herself.

Stella's room reminded Bloom of the rich girls in the reality shows her mom always watched. Seeing it in real life though was… overwhelming, to say the least.

The walls were decorated with pictures of the sun, moon, family photos, and odd-looking fruits for some reason. An orange canopy bed was placed in the middle of the room freshly made. A large seven-drawer vanity table with an equally large mirror was placed next to her small desk. What finished off the whole room was the four large wardrobe closets.

The most Bloom's parents let her do to her room was paint the walls a dark shade of teal. However much the Solarian Princess's parents paid to get her this type of room with this type of setup was worth it. Bloom wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was a bit jealous. Although she could do without the blinding yellow and orange painted walls.

The Princess sprinted over to her wardrobe and eagerly flung open the doors showcasing many jackets, dresses, skirts, and tops.

"Yes, I know," Stella bragged with a cocky smile. "You're jealous. Very understandable."

"... we weren't thinkin' that," Tecna replied dryly.

"Shush, she can clearly read minds," Bloom joked.

Flora gulped frantically, placing a hand on her head. "She can?!"

"Oh my God," Bloom mumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Tecna patted Flora on her back, shaking her head in silence.

"Enough chatter," Stella said, returning focus back to her. "Time is of the essence. I have to find something to wear!"

"That's going to be a little difficult," Flora said. "You've got like a crap ton of clothes."

"Almost too many. Think you went overboard?" Bloom inquired, crossing her arms and looking over the first wardrobe.

"Yeah, there are people out there who can barely afford a shirt and you have four wardrobes," Flora critiqued. "No offense, it's just a bit excessive."

"Well, I mean…" Stella blushed, somewhat embarrassed. She seemed to have never been confronted about this before. "At the end of the month, I donate whatever I don't like to charity. Honest."

"Oh, okay that fixes everything," Bloom sarcastically said with a nod.

"Come on, fyrecracker, we gotta give her a plus for that," Tecna replied, giving the Princess the benefit of the doubt. "I must say though, all these clothes and not a single pair of pants?"

Stella giggled. "My family is pretty traditional when it comes to clothing, so I never really wear them unless I'm forced to, like on that awful trip around the swamp, but that's okay I make dresses work better anyways." she posed in her skirt and halter top combo making the girls roll their eyes. "Now be a dear and help me find something to wear."

"Where do we even start?" Musa questioned.

"That's a good and observant question, Musa," Stella agreed. "A date like this requires something sexy, alluring, and eye-catching,"

She went to her second wardrobe and started sifting through the clothes to find something of her caliber. The others followed and while Bloom did help, she couldn't stop herself from giving the side-eye to some of the Princess items. So many neon pieces of clothing.

How does one person have so much neon?

"I questioned the same thing about your vast number of dark shades of shirts alone," Stella replied behind her.

Bloom jolted in shock, questioning if the girl could really read her mind.

Stella rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Oh please. Don't look at me like that, I know what you're thinking. Now get back to searching and not judging."

Bloom laughed, returning back to deciding what might work for her hoity-toity friend.

A few minutes passed in silence until Flora spotted a long unflattering black halter top dress from the first closet and showed it off. "What about this one, Stel?"

Stella grimaced. "My word, where did that hideous thing come from?"

"You don't like it?" Flora asked, pouting. "I'd wear this! Pure, classic elegance! It's perfect!

Stella scoffed. "For a funeral maybe, in fact, Bloom, you want it?"

Bloom groaned, furrowing her brows annoyed. "Don't make me regret helping you."

"You know I kid, darling," Stella said with a sly smile. "Flora if you want it, you can gladly have it."

"Score!" Flora cheered happily.

"What about this?" Tecna asked, holding up a dress with puffy blue cotton balls sticking out of pink fabric. "Shoot that boy will have a lastin' memory of yo' in this."

Stella gasped. "Where did you find that?!"

"It was hidden in the back row," Tecna answered, chuckling. "Now I ain't a fashion connoisseur, but this looks tacky!"

"Give me that," Stella demanded, snatching the dress away and tossing it back into the closet. "My mum must've snuck this in as a prank. My nana gifted it to me and is dreadfully fashion deprived. Let's just ignore this old thing I can't get rid of until she dies."

The girls laughed as Stella blushed for a second until she joined in.

Bloom reluctantly pulled out a neon halter top. "This one? It's perfect for you."

"That's one of my clubbing dresses and while I adore it, it's not right for a date," Stella said, placing the dress back in the closet.

"I'm sorry, that was for a specific occasion?" Bloom questioned.

"I'm going to ignore that," Stella replied. She messaged the temple of her forehead. "Gals, you gotta try harder."

"We are, you're just being picky," Bloom said, tossing the dress on the bed. "I guess I'd be the same too, you guys don't know my sense of fashion."

Stella chuckled. "Too easy."

The girls went through ten more dresses and matching tops with skirt outfits for the Princess to try on, but she turned down each one of them. Nothing seemed to appease her taste for this date, aggravating the girls, even Musa was becoming frustrated at what the Princess might like. After what felt like half an hour had passed most of the girls were sitting down exhausted.

"This is more difficult than I expected," Stella said after a moment of silence.

"Have yo' thought about jest wearin' what yous already got on?" Tecna suggested.

"Wow, not time for jokes, Tecna," Stella chastised, shaking her head.

"I would've suggested the same thing, but remembered who I'd be talking to," Bloom said to Tecna who nodded in agreement.

The Winx girls seemed ready to give up until a flicker of light hit Musa's glasses. She turned to the closet and walked over to the third closet. "Hey, what about this one?" she suggested pulling out a mini glittery blue dress with a red ribbon belt. The glimmering colors sparkled from the sunlight illuminating from the window. "This is cute, right?"

"But not too cute?" Bloom asked mockingly.

"Exactly," Musa said with a wink. "Try it on, Princess Stella."

"Oh my, this cute little number could work," Stella said excitedly. The Solarian Princess instantly changed out of her clothes and whipped it on, eager to see how it looked on her.

While getting changed for the fifteenth time, Musa innocently covered her eyes, like she had those other times, causing Bloom to smile. Apparently, her musically talented flatmate wanted to give people some type of privacy while changing in front of her.

"This fits me perfectly!" Stella beamed, smoothing the dress to take out the wrinkles. She equally shimmering body matches the dress perfectly. She did a little spin and then posed in a nearby mirror. "Oh yes, Prince Sky will love me in this."

"He'll definitely love your confidence," Bloom complimented. "Will Brandon be there?"

"Why would Brandon be there?" Stella asked, staring at the girl with a raised eyebrow.

Bloom blushed nervously once she realized she was receiving judgmental looks from all her flatmates. "Oh uh, you know because Sky needs protection and stuff, that's all I was wondering."

"Oh, of course," Stella said, giggling at her flatmate's red face. "No, he won't be there, Sky doesn't need servants on a date."

"Bodyguard," Bloom corrected before adding, "Not that I care."

Stella smiled. "Sure, you don't." She did another spin and then plopped down next to Bloom who was sitting on her bed as well. "Musa, be a dear and bring over that green chest."

She pointed towards a large chest under the window. Bloom gave the Princess an unimpressed look. Obviously, she was far too exhausted from trying on clothes to bring it over herself.

"Yes ma'am!" Musa said while walking over to the chest and attempting to lift it. After a few seconds, she got a good grip on it and lugged it over to the Princess's feet. She wiped some sweat off her forehead, exhausted from the struggle.

"What's in that thing?" Musa asked.

"Just a few pieces of jewelry," Stella said, kicking open the chest and showing off a glow of hundreds of pieces of jewelry.

"A few pieces?" Flora exclaimed. "It's like, shining."

"Yeah, it's hurting my eyes," Bloom said, covering her face.

"Being a Princess has its perks," Stella bragged, grabbing a bracelet from the chest and a necklace. "I feel like a million dimars!"

Damn rich people.

"This looks perfect, but…" The Princess pondered staring at her ring. After a second, she removed it and passed it over to Bloom. "Bloomie, be a bestie and keep this safe for me."

"Uh, isn't this your magic ring? The one that turns into a staff?" Bloom asked.

"Yes," Stella answered nonchalantly. "It doesn't go with my outfit."

Bloom and the others all seemed to be thinking the same thing as a collective sigh filled the room.

"Okay, that's cool then." Bloom couldn't help but rub her forehead frustrated at the Princess's careless attitude toward something as important as a magic ring her father gifted her! "I'll keep the important magical artifact that your father entrusted you with, in my pencil case."

Stella laughed. "Just try to keep it safe, love. I trust you." The Princess stood up and did one more spin on her heel. "Plus, who needs a magic scepter when you've got a real prince to protect you?"

"Famous last words," Bloom said half-joking. "Also, I didn't say this earlier, but this café is called the Black Lagoon? It sounds like a bar, not a place where you get coffee."

Stella laughed, "Oh, please darling, that's not even the weirdest name I've heard for a place. Back in Solaria, there was this fantastic nightclub called the 'Fleeting Whale' and it was amazing!"

Bloom shrugged. "I guess I'll give you that."

"My oh my, I'd date me! Just imagine Sky being all over me," Stella gushed, admiring herself in the mirror.

Bloom rolled her eyes at her besties; she was getting so used to the frisky and vain girl.

"While you do look fine, I would keep an eye on this prince," Tecna said, crossing her arms. "Somethin' doesn't feel right about this date, I smell a rat."

"Oh pish-posh, Tecna I-" Stella stopped talking once she noticed the strong burning odor in the air. "Hey now that you mention smell, why is there an aroma of burning hair in the air?"

The girls sniffed the air and immediately Tecna's eyes widened. "THE AKULINA!"

She zipped out the door along with Musa and Flora while Bloom pinched the bridge of her nose again. She stood up, tucking the ring in her pocket and saying over her shoulder, "Thanks for the dress-up party, Stel."

"My pleasure, and make sure to keep that ring safe," Stella playfully ordered with a wink.

"I got you," Bloom guaranteed, calmly walking out the door.

...

Tecna, Flora, and Bloom burst into the kitchen while Musa ran to get a fire extinguisher. They raced over to the oven to see the Akulina half burnt and on fire and the pot with the eggs overflowing.

"We weren't even gone for that long!" Bloom exclaimed, scratching her head.

"I'll be honest, I ain't much of a cook and probably shoulda done salads," Tecna admitted causing Flora and Bloom to facepalm. She angrily pulled out the burnt bird, slammed it on the table, and fanned the flames. "My momma was right, nevah leave the kitchen unattended! I can hear her chastisin' words now."

"This is an absolute disaster," Flora pouted.

"Disaster? A better word would be a calamity, mishap, cataclysm, or my favorite, failure," a voice said entering the kitchen. It was good ol' Deputy Headmistress Griselda. "Your unreliability is unforgivable!"

Bloom covered her face in frustration. This situation just got worse. "Oh, great you're here."

"I came at the right time as well," Griselda scolded, moving her hand in the air while saying, "Aerolux."

This enchantment caused a sparkly mist to sweep across the kitchen and whirled around, cleared the air of smoke, stopped the pot from overflowing any further, and extinguished the fire over the Akulina preventing the sprinklers from going off and making a bigger mess.

"Okay that was cool," Bloom complimented, but the deputy headmistress wasn't hearing it.

"Leaving the kitchen unattended was such a-"

At that moment, Musa burst through the doors with a kick of her small foot and sang, "No need to fear, Musa is here!" Before her friends could stop her, she sprayed the room with a large amount of white foam that got on everyone and everything in the kitchen… except the food. Not even the bird was hit with a funky-smelling, foam. Bloom noticed that foam was weirdly warm, although that might've been from the rage emanating from Griselda.

After a moment of silence fell over the foam frosted kitchen, Chef SeFogelia entered the kitchen. He froze in shock, his eyes wide shifting from the foam-covered kitchen to the burnt Akulina to the overflowing eggs to the embarrassed girls.

"MY KITCHEN! WHAT IN ZE NAME OF THE OMEGA DIMENSION HAVE YOU FOOLISH GIRLS DONE?!" he fumed.

Griselda silently wiped a chunk of foam from her face before saying, "I'll tell you what happened. A group of immature girls left the kitchen and ruined the cuisine, then said immature girls let another immature girl retrieve a fire extinguisher without assistance from a faculty member. This brought us to our conclusion of the kitchen covered in foam, but no worries because said immatures girls will-"

"Yeah, yeah, clean it all up!" Bloom finished, shaking her head. "We get it!"

Griselda slowly turned to the girl with a deep to the soul glare, sending a shiver down the girl's spine, but she managed to hide by glaring back at the woman. "Oh, you'll be doing a lot of cleaning tonight. Starting here and ending in the bathrooms on every single floor! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Deputy Headmistress Griselda," the four guilty girls said.

"You just had to say somethin'," Tecna mumbled, elbowing Bloom in the side.

Bloom rubbed her hip as her shoulders slumped, exhausted. What had started as an okay day, turned into a disaster.

"Great," Griselda said with a curt smile, something Bloom never thought she'd see. "Now you have exactly an hour and thirty minutes before dinner time. I expect you to come up with something good for tonight. If you'll excuse me, I have to change out of my suit because it is now ruined!"

With that, Griselda stormed out of the room, leaving the girls and the furious chef in the foam-covered kitchen. Bloom pounded her fist together, unsure of whether it was okay to talk or not, but everyone seemed unsure of what to say next to avoid further angering the chef.

"So, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches then?" Bloom suggested only to be met with another spoon to the hand. "Ow! It was just a suggestion."

...

A few hours later, long after dinner ended, and after cleaning all the bathrooms on every single floor including the ones for faculty because Griselda was that furious. The Winx trudged back into their flat, exhausted from recooking and serving food, strenuous cleaning, and lastly another scathing rebuke from Griselda. The girls felt like they did a week's worth of work.

"Ugh, everything hurts," Bloom moaned, bending backward to crack her back. "How are you guys doing?"

She looked to Flora whose head was down as the girl snored away while standing up, like a cow. Bloom had never seen a person do that before, but she couldn't blame her for being that tired. She shook the girl slightly to not startle her, but the exhausted bags already around her eyes didn't budge.

Tecna pushed Bloom aside and came closer to the girl.

"Flo'a!" she shouted waking the brunette up from her trance like sleep.

"I'll take a veggie wrap!" Flora exclaimed, waking up. "Where am I?"

"In the flat," Musa answered. "You should probably head to bed."

"You're totally right." Flora yawned with a wave. "I need to be ready for classes in the morning, rest well girls."

"Night," Bloom, Musa, and Tecna said.

"Any idea when Stel will be back?" Musa asked the other two, as Flora walked into her room along with Kiko who was ready for his tenth nap of the day.

"Not sure, she said "don't wait up," when we last talked," Bloom answered, walking over to the fridge. She pulled out a bottle of Stella's peach pomegranate tea and took the lid off it. "Think she'll mind?"

"Probably, but she put her lips on it," Tecna warned.

"Eh," Bloom shrugged, taking a sip from the bottle. She licked her lips as the sweet nectar taste danced across her tongue. "Damn, that's good!"

Tecna and Musa giggled while Blook took another sip. She would tell her about it tomorrow, but right now she was thirsty.

"Don't tell Stella this, but I'm kind of jealous of her," Musa said, before covering her mouth shyly. "She's just so lucky! I wish I could go out to Magix on a spur of the moment like that. Not like a date or anything, just hanging out with friends."

"I agree, sho't stack," Tecna said, in between a loud yawn. "I ain't ever seen the point in datin' anyways. I could run numerous data analyses and statistics on the betterment of being by yerself."

"What's that thing you told me a few days ago?" Bloom pondered. "Oh right, it provides human interaction."

"I can get the same interaction in a chat room with some dudes playin' Trolls and Ogres," Tecna replied, crossing her arms.

"That's a chat room, but dating a cute girl or guy is always worth it," Musa said chipperly. "You should give it a shot, there's nothing to lose."

"Yeah, why not ask out Timmy?" Bloom suggested. "That cowboy of yours seems like your type."

Tecna chuckled. "Good night girls, I'm shuttin' down for the night.'' She walked to her room with a wave as Musa and Bloom laughed.

Musa yawned, rubbing her eyes. "I'm gonna head off too, but Bloom if you'd like, we can keep talking."

Bloom shook her head, rubbing her eyes. "I'm too exhausted to even stand, but hey if you ever want to hang out… I wouldn't mind it."

"Eeeeh!" Musa squealed, bringing the exhausted into a tight hug. "Okay, now I can go to bed happily."

Bloom laughed, releasing herself from the chipper girl's grip, and walked into her room while Musa walked into hers.

...

The next morning, Bloom woke up to the sounds of loud banging coming from outside her room. It was close by and it sounded like someone was moving heavy furniture around and throwing things. As she rolled out of bed, she figured it was Tecna up early as usual. She picked herself off the ground and headed out of the room while Flora was still asleep. As she made her way into the living area, she spotted Tecna sitting on the couch, sipping coffee, but not making a sound.

"Tecna, that's not you?" Bloom asked.

"Shoot no," Tecna said, finishing her sip of coffee. "It's comin' from the Princess's room," she answered. "I was meanin' to bother her, but it sounds like she's pretty busy."

Bloom chuckled angrily while marching over to Stella's door. She was ready to curse. "She better have a good reason for waking me up. It's at least…"

"An hour and a half befo'e breakfast time," Tecna supplied casually.

"Right," Bloom said, banging on the door. "Open the door!"

"What is with all the noise, a girl's gotta sleep," Flora sleepily said as she entered the living room. She let out a loud yawn. "First the scraping sounds and now the banging. Relax girl."

Bloom didn't reply, continuing her banging on the door while shouting, "Princess, open the freaking door! This is ridiculous!"

After a few more seconds of insistent knocking that alerted Musa to enter the room last, the door opened revealing Stella who looked rather frazzled and annoyed. Bloom peeked inside the room and saw it was a complete mess. Dresser drawers were on the floor, Stella's bed was upturned and the floor was covered in items that had been tossed around.

"What?" Stella questioned through gritted teeth.

"Morning Stella," Musa greeted with a friendly wave.

"Is it morning already?" Stella said, sounding somewhat surprised at what time it was. "Did I bother you gals?"

"No, I love being woken up early in the morning to incessant noises," Bloom sarcastically said. "What gives? People are trying to sleep!"

"Oh my, have I woken you up? My bad," Stella said with a nonchalant wave. "You see I'm searching for my… bloody purse and can't find it anywhere, apart from that everything's fine. May I help you with anything else?"

Bloom groaned, massaging the temple of her forehead. "No, I guess not, the alarm was about to go off in an hour anyway, didn't need that much sleep."

"Girl, yo' must've come in early from yer date last night; I wasn't even up when yo' came in," Tecna said.

"My what?" Stella questioned, looking confused.

"Your date…" Bloom paused. "With Prince Sky?"

"Oh right, the date... with Prince Sky," Stella said, averting eye contact.

"The strapping Prince Sky," Musa mimicked, as she clasped her hands together and gazed lovingly at the ceiling.

Stella gave the hyperactive fairy a disgusted look which confused Bloom as the Princess was the one who called him that like three times yesterday and now, she seemed repulsed by Musa's friendly impression of her.

"Well, what happened? Give us the deets," Flora pried eagerly.

"Uh," Stella nibbled her lip for a moment before saying, "Why we had a jolly ol' time let me tell you. He was the most smashing date I ever had. Let me tell you… love."

The girls stared at Stella oddly who seemed to be sweating nervously. Bloom knew she spoke with a British, or Solarian accent as Stella called it, but it wasn't that exaggerated, she had never heard her say smashing before. Each girl looked at the other and then back at the Princess.

"Did anything happen that you're not telling us?" Bloom asked suspiciously.

"Not really, darling," Stella said, backing away as she prepared to close the door. "Now I really should go."

"You're sure you don't have anything to tell us?" Bloom asked hands on her hips.

"I said nothing happened, now drop it!" Stella finally snapped, her accent momentarily disappearing. She pulled back and slammed the door in the girls' faces.

"Well, that was odd," Musa, of all people, stated. "Did she seem hostile to you?"

"Seem?" Tecna said feigning surprise. "That girl got an ol' stick up her ass."

"You could say that again," Bloom agreed. "And um, at the end there, did her accent slip?"

The girls nodded, sharing the same perplexed expression unsure if this was a natural thing she did or if it was something more. Something she was hiding from them.

"Something bad must've happened on that date to cause her to switch accents," Flora agreed. "Should we try again?"

Bloom stared back at the door as the sounds of moving furniture and banging restarted. "Right now, let's just give her some space."

"Yeah, well, who wants coffee?" Tecna offered, sounding glad that everyone was finally awake.

Bloom looked at her flatmate like she just asked to go for a run in the rain. She turned on her heel, walking to her room while calling over her shoulder, "Wake me in thirty."

...

Later that morning in Wizgiz's class, Bloom sat up front this time, dutifully taking notes, something she rarely did back on Earth, but she wanted to learn every drop of magical knowledge she could. Wizgiz walked to the back of the room and then rematerialized to the front of the classroom, shocking and amazing the students.

"I have a special trick I want you to try," Wizgiz started as everybody stared at him. "Today we learn about reversing transformations. As I taught you on the first day of class, transformation is a difficult task, and changing back is tougher than actually changing. Thus, it is vital to know how to switch back. To transform, one must focus on the image in your head, not yourself, and transform. To reverse you have to focus on yourself, you get what I'm saying?"

Bloom raised her hand. "Yes, Bloom?"

"I both understand and don't understand what you're saying," she said, gaining a few nods from a couple of girls.

Wizgiz chuckled. "I guess I'll have to show you, form a line." he eagerly jumped on his desk. "I will be performing a transformation and it'll be yer job to reverse it."

Nervously the students formed a line up to the desk where Wizgiz was standing on it. "All right, no need to be nervous," he said. "Let me explain as calmly as I can to prevent panic. I will be transforming each of your heads into pumpkins with faces and all that."

"You're doin' what?" Tecna shouted.

"I love when students have that reaction," Wizgiz said laughing. "It be nothin' to worry about, I just rearrange some bones in your head, restructure your nerves and then vanish your eyes and bang boom you have pumpkin heads. And if any of you feel there's somethin' wrong, ye tell me." The last part was notably less chipper, emphasizing the seriousness and scaring the girls.

"Thank you for the reassuring advice at the end," a girl with black hair sarcastically said, taking the words from Bloom's mouth.

"That's what I'm here for," Wizgiz said, rubbing his hands in preparation for the spell before holding them out for the girls to step into. "Now let's get this assignment started!"

The first girl gulped nervously and placed her head in between Wizgiz's hands. Wizgiz whispered under his breath and in a flash reformed her head into the shape of a pumpkin. She was missing her hair, eyes which were replaced with black circles, holes on the side took the place of her ears, and her lips became a single line.

The other students gasped in a mix of horror and disgust except for Bloom, who was behind the girl, who couldn't help but exclaim, "Awesome, it's like a horror movie!"

This reminded her of the famous Halloween three movie with the fancy pumpkin masks, although she doubted snakes and such were about to come from the girl's head. That'd actually be horrifying.

The girl in question frantically requested a mirror which Wizgiz was happy to pass to her. The girl screamed in horror once she saw how she looked, causing Wizgiz to console her.

"Nice job, crypt keeper," Bloom heard a girl whisper behind her, although it wasn't a whisper and the girl didn't seem to hide that she was aiming it towards her. She simply shrugged it off and walked forward to have her head turned into a pumpkin next.

"Awesome," she said with her new pumpkin head as she looked in the same mirror and returned to her desk. She wasn't really afraid of her new head, she had read so many children's horror novels as a kid, and this was nothing compared to those.

The other girls didn't seem to think so as one by one, the students cautiously walked up to the desk to have their heads reshaped into pumpkins. Some girls were horrified, some were confused, some were in tears, and some didn't seem to care much, especially Musa who danced around the room with her newly formed head although her small body struggled to support its weight. It was an odd sight to see but a laughable one at most.

"Now then," said Wizgiz as he took a sip from his coffee. "I want yo' to try and remember what yo' originally looked like. I want yo' to focus on yer original face and focus all yer magic on that image. Don't worry if you can't get it the first time, I have a special trick to reverse it."

Bloom immediately closed her eyes and tried to imagine her original face. Her thoughts were interrupted when Musa asked, "What if I like having a pumpkin head?"

Wizgiz chuckled. "I understand that, but trust me it's better havin' a human head for right now, maybe when you get the hang of it though."

The room returned to silence as Bloom focused on her head. It was somewhat difficult, as she had never done this, but she remembered what Flora had told her: Think of a relaxing hobby. This time she remembered baking with her mom. They were making pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving, but while rolling out the dough, Bloom found some extra flour and sprinkled it on her mother's hair, Vanessa smirked and sprinkled some on her hair, the sprinkles turned into a flour in the face battle that soon got her father involved.

The memory made her smile, after a few minutes of concentration and whispering: "Vanish pumpkin," under her breath, she could slowly feel a tingly sensation go down her spine. She opened her eyes and felt different.

She whipped out her phone and used the self-facing camera to see her reflection, it had worked. Her head was retransformed to what it once was.

Score five or six for my new magic. She thought in her head.

You're getting good at this. She heard a reassuring voice congratulate her. She spun around to see who was speaking but none of her classmates were paying attention to her.

Other girls seemed to have the same luck as well as their heads magically returned to their normal state. One student wasn't so fortunate though, as her head remained as a pumpkin causing the girl to grab her head shocked, "PROFESSOR! IT DIDN'T WORK! IT DIDN'T WORK!"

"Calm down, Katy. This is what happens when you don't concentrate enough," Wizgiz warned, reaching into his desk.

"I WAS CONCENTRATING!" Katy whined. "I don't want to be a pumpkin!"

"It works for you," Bloom jested, gaining a scowl from the aggravated girl.

"Here we are," Wizgiz said, retrieving a furry object from his top desk drawer and hiding it behind his back. "Katy, do yo' like rats?"

"Ew, no!" Katy answered.

"What about this one?" Wizgiz asked quickly, swiping the rat from behind his back and placing it in front of Katy's face. The large white rat squirmed around in the professor's hand and tried jumping over to Katy whose eyes widened so much they almost popped out of her pumpkin head.

"Get it away!" Katy shouted backing away as her head flashed back to normal.

"There you go, a good scare is always the best cure for de-transforming," Wizgiz proudly said, stroking the rat. "You're welcome."

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" Bloom questioned with a knowing smirk.

"I'm not goin' to lie I am," Wizgiz admitted chuckling.

"I hate this class so much," Katy complained.

"Slight mishaps like that happen, but don't let that discourage yer Spark," Wizgiz said just as the bell rang. "And that's the bell. I'll see yo' girls next week for our first lesson on entosymbiosis, the art of insect transformation."

"I'm this close to dropping this class," Katy mumbled.

Bloom didn't seem to agree as she eagerly gathered her things and walked over to Wizgiz, "Keep up the good work, teach."

"I try," Wizgiz said proudly.

...

"So, lunch later?" Musa asked as she and the other girls grouped up in the hallway. They were all preparing to separate for their different classes for the next hour but decided to have a quick conversation before splitting up.

"Sure, why not," Bloom shrugged.

"I'd love to," Flora agreed.

"Should we invite Stella?" Tecna asked. "I mean I want to, but when I tried talkin' to that girl before I left for breakfast, she made fun of my voice. At that point I had to restrain myself as to not say or do somethin' I'd regret."

"That's not like her," Musa said, concerned.

"We barely know her, maybe she's always been like that," Bloom said, although she hated to admit it.

"Come on, Bloom, Princess Stella is a little eccentric, but she's not a rude snob," Musa reasoned. "There's something wrong."

"The date probably went badly and she's pissed, but a few hours alone will do her some good," Bloom said, hesitation in her voice. "I'll see you guys later, I gotta get to class."

"Bye," each girl said, walking in the opposite direction to their respective classes.

...

Later that day, not long after classes had finished, Bloom and Musa sat outside eating dinner together. Surprisingly it was purple eggs and ham and it tasted just as odd as it looked, but it wasn't unpleasant. Bloom was just happy she didn't have to cook this time. The girls were busy talking about their respective planets.

"And that's the reason Hubbard Squash is our planet's favorite food," Musa finished before taking a big bite from a ham.

"It was the only resource you had during a famine which destroyed all your crops and you used it for every food type… awesome!" Bloom complimented.

"Thank you," Musa beamed. "Tell me more about Earth!"

Bloom shrugged. "There's nothing really to tell. It's an old planet, there's no magic, or at least there is none now, and the mere mention of it to adults here sends them into shock and terror."

Musa cocked her head. "I wonder why."

"It's a long, long story," Bloom said, averting eye contact with the curious girl.

The conversation was interrupted as Griselda stormed over to them calling their names. "I need to talk to you!"

"Oh goodie, she's here," Bloom frowned.

Griselda reached the two girls and glared at Bloom. "I know you made some snide remark about me, but that's not important right now."

"What is then?" Bloom asked, sipping from her glass of milk.

"Have either of you seen Stella? She hasn't attended a single class all day," Griselda asked, slightly concerned, but mostly irritated.

"I haven't seen her either, and she did miss a couple of classes with me. What about you Bloom?" Musa asked.

"Uh, yeah, she-" Bloom started but was cut off when she spotted Tecna and Flora walking over to them with their food.

"What's goin' on over here?" Tecna asked. "Greetin's, Miss. G."

"Hi, Jeanie," Flora greeted with a friendly wave.

Griselda's eye twitched slightly. "It's Deputy Headmistress Griselda and you will address me as such. As I was asking Miss. Mason and Tori, have either of you heard from Stella? She skipped all her classes."

"Nah we haven't seen her either, an' she shares a class with us, but she wasn't there," Tecna answered for her and Flora.

Griselda clicked her pen and noted this. "I figured as such, you know what this makes sense, we give a spoiled Princess a second chance and she squanders it."

"Uh, she's not 'squandering' it, she has a terrible head cold and is recovering," Bloom defended making sure to use the original lie Stella had come up with.

"We'll see what Faragonda says about this," Griselda said before storming off.

"Bye, Deputy Headmistress Griselda," Musa waved cheerfully. Ignoring the woman's anger. "Okay… so who's going to go find Stella?"

"Not me," Tecna said.

Followed by Flora and ending with Musa, causing everyone's eyes to shift to Bloom who was busy chewing on her eggs. She tapped her fork on her tray while chewing for a few seconds, but couldn't ignore the stares.

"Okay fine!" she relented, dropping her fork. "I'll be right back, but she's fine."

Bloom placed her food down on the bench, wiped the crumbs off her pants, and left the group who started eating without her. She turned back to them and they all gave her supporting thumb ups, but this didn't make her feel any better.

...

When she opened the doors to the flat, the first thing she noticed was that all the doors were open and the entire flat was a complete mess. Items were strewn across the floor; furniture had been moved and cabinets and shelves were thrown open. The bathroom was a mess of makeup and toiletries on the floor. Bloom couldn't find where the mess ended.

"Hello?" Bloom called. "Princess? Stella?"

Bloom walked into Tecna and Musa's room which was completely trashed. She scratched her head mystified at the damage Stella had caused.

What had Tecna and Musa done to deserve this? Is there something else going on that I'm not aware of? Bloom thought.

"Bloom?" sounded a familiar frantic voice behind her. The startled girl spun on her heel and behind the open door stood Stella, her hair looking more frazzled and her eyes bugged out.

"Stella… What the hell happened here?" Bloom asked worriedly.

"It's my ring, Bloom, darling. The Scepter of Solaria has gone missing!" Stella freaked out. Her accent was completely gone now. "I've searched high and low for it and can't find it anywhere. I think someone has stolen it. You must help me!"

"Y- your ring is missing?" Bloom asked, trying to comprehend what the Princess was telling her. "The important ring your father gave you?"

The suspicious Princess nodded with a distraught look on her face.

"Um, I'm not going to do that," Bloom said, backing away from the Solarian Princess.

"Why, don't you want to help your best friend?" Stella asked, stalking closer to the girl. "I'm your mestie after all."

"Bestie," Bloom corrected.

"Right, now help me find my ring," Stella demanded, looking around frantically.

"Stella, I have your ring," Bloom answered. "You gave it to me to protect it."

Stella's head slowly turned to Bloom and then she smiled. A twisted, crooked smile. The creepiest smile Bloom had ever seen. "Of course, I knew something was up, you hid it from me and now you're trying to take it from me. Give it back."

"No," said Bloom, taking another step backward.

"No? No!?" questioned Stella coming closer. "You dare deny a P- Princess's request? Are you dense?"

"Okay, I'll give it back to you, if you answer one question for me," Bloom requested.

"Fine. What. Is. It?" Stella asked, emphasizing each word.

"What happened to your Solarian accent?"

Stella, or whoever she was, eyes widened as she realized her accent wasn't there anymore, her left eye twitched nervously. "What are you talking about, love, my accent is top-notch. It just slips sometimes."

The fake accent imposter Stella switched back to was so unbelievably bad that Bloom couldn't hide her eye roll.

"Right," Bloom said, keeping her distance. "You forget who you gave your most important prized possession to, you're not speaking like you usually do and you're being a bitch. Maybe it's just me, but I'd like to err on the side of caution."

"Bloom, darling, you're just stressed from all these new experiences," Stella said calmly. She brought her hands together and stalked closer to the girl, her smile changed into a menacing leer, looking like something out of a horror movie.

"Oh really?" countered Bloom. "Where did we first meet?"

"Umm," Stella imposter paused. "Let's see… a steakhouse?"

Bloom smirked and then ran away to get anyone who could help her, Stella cracked her knuckles and with the speed of a viper, ran after Bloom and tackled her to the ground. The imposter landed heavily on Bloom's back and she brought her hands around her neck, tight enough to get a grip, but not too tight to prevent breathing.

"Listen here, ginger fairy," said the person claiming to be Stella, her expression filled with malice. "We're going to make a little deal. You tell me where the bimbo's ring is and I don't strangle you. I think those terms are agreeable."

"What...have… you… done with Stella?" Bloom hissed, struggling to breathe.

"That's for me to know and you… to never find out," said the imposter. "Now, once we have the ring, the girl is useless to us, and don't worry about it, she's fine… well as fine as a weak-willed fairy can be."

"I'll… kill you!"

"I know, but we don't want to do that, now tell me where the ring is or you're about to have a lot of trouble breathing!"

"Fuck... you," Bloom hissed one last time.

The girl on top sighed. "You fairies are so weird; I never understand why you act like this," she chastised. "I mean after I'm done choking you, I'm just going to re-enter your room and search it again. So, do yourself a favor and tell me where it is."

The leering imposter tightened her grip around Bloom's neck making it harder to breathe, but before she could pass out from lack of air, the imposter reacted to something and threw herself off, Bloom.

"Get your hands off her imposter!" snarled Musa of all people twirling an apple in her hand. Well, it wasn't a snarl as much as a stern demand. "I may only have fruit as my weapon, but it still packs a mighty punch!"

"Oh shit, I didn't expect this to happen," sighed the Stella imposter. "Oh well, we still have your friend. I'm taking this as a victory."

"Oh yeah, well I have an extra apple and a foot to shove up your butt, missy," Musa said, trying to sound tough.

"Good job, Musa," Bloom weakly congratulated.

The imposter simply smirked and snapped her fingers. Immediately a thick smoke engulfed the room and, in a few seconds, as it dissipated, no trace of the fake Stella remained.

"Coward!" Musa said before racing over to Bloom. "You okay, Bloomie?"

"As okay as I can be after being strangled by a Stella imposter," Bloom said hoarsely. "I'm fine, don't worry. I wonder where she went."

"The broken window," Musa answered, pointing to a shattered window in the living room. "Come on, let's tell the others before it's too late!"

...

"She was a what?!" Tecna exclaimed.

Flora, Tecna, and Griselda stood in the destroyed room as Bloom and Musa recapped everything that had happened a few minutes ago. It was a shocking story, to say the least.

"An imposter, she wasn't the real Stella!" Musa repeated. "And she almost hurt our Bloom."

Musa calmly patted Bloom's head, much to the annoyance of the girl. She wasn't in the mood since the one person who knew where her friend was had escaped. "I told you I was fine!" She pushed the girl away. "She was searching for the Scepter of Solaria and when I wouldn't give it to her, she attacked me, then Musa came in."

"Nice one, sho't stack!" Tecna said high fiving the short girl.

"So that's why she never made it to any classes," Griselda said, writing this down on her clipboard. "I believe you girls; this isn't the strangest thing that has happened at this school… unfortunately."

"So, what are we going to do?" Bloom asked, ready to fight.

Griselda pulled out her phone. "You do nothing, right now I will inform Headmistress Faragonda of what transpired, we'll call the police and wait."

"Wait, are you kidding me?" snapped Bloom. "Stella is gone and you're going to hope the damn cops find her?!"

"Excuse me, Miss Mason, but I would appreciate it if you don't use such colorful language when I'm trying to help find your friend."

"Stella could be in real danger and you want us to just sit and wait!" Bloom shouted, being held back by Musa as she came close to Griselda's face. She could feel the fire brewing in her chest and her voice showed it. "We're god damn fairies, we can fight them!"

"You have five seconds to step away or you'll have a lot worse to deal with," Griselda warned calmly.

"Bloom, it's going to be okay," Musa comforted, stepping in between the two women. "Sorry, Ms. G, Bloom's just really stressed, her bestie is captured, you understand?"

Bloom was ready to scream at the Deputy Headmistress, and throw in a few swear words as well, but she calmly took a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart. She noticed how heated she was becoming, the fire in her chest was burning again. She also had a huge amount of guilt for how she acted earlier, assuming Stella was just having a bad day and now she was gone, kidnapped by some imposter and there was seemingly nothing she could do about it.

"I get it and I'm sorry, but there's not a lot we can do, but we will try our best to find her in due time, so please trust the process," Griselda said, her voice soft and comforting.

"...All right," Bloom relented with a sigh. "Just try to get her back."

"We will," said Griselda before walking out of the room. "She'll be back safe soon."

With Griselda gone, Bloom stomped around the room and sat down on the couch to collect her thoughts. "We… can't… let her just call the police and do nothing!"

"I agree. This whole mess stinks like a skunk in the summer heat. Blondie is gone, probably being tortured and some clone went through all her stuff and attacked yo'," Tecna said, rubbing her chin. "It's downright cruel."

"At least the police will be informed," Musa reassured.

"Yeah, but Bloom's right, cops can only do so much , especially with not a lot of evidence," Flora countered. "Wait, didn't Stel receive an invitation?"

Bloom gasped. "My God, she did, from Sky. He might know something!"

"Yeah, we find it, tell Griselda and-" Tecna said as Musa quickly covered her mouth before she could finish her sentence.

"Or we find it ourselves, confront Sky and find her!" Musa finished.

"That doesn't seem logical," Tecna said through her covered mouth.

"Musa might be onto something, if there's nothing there, we move on, but if there is we'd be saving them time by doing it ourselves plus we're her friends," Bloom reasoned her heart racing. "If anyone can save her, it should be us. That made sense, right?"

Bloom's eyes shifted as Flora and Musa nodded. Tecna on the other hand was skeptical.

"That's some sloppy— Would yo' move yer hand!" she said, swiping away the short girl's hand off her mouth. "That's some sloppy thinkin', but what the Omega, let's see if we can find this invitation."

"The investigation is underway!" Musa cheered.

Cautiously, the girls entered Stella's room and began searching everywhere, although it was surprisingly difficult to find the invitation since the floor was coated with every item from Stella's lipstick to her shoes. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, Flora announced, "I found it! I think."

The other girls dropped everything and ran over to the brunette. In her hands was exactly what they were looking for, the invitation! It was still in its envelope. Flora pulled out the scented card and read aloud, "My dearest Stella, we've talked a lot lately and I want to explore that more. I'd like to invite you to the new Black Lagoon Cafe in Magix tonight at eight. With the best regards, Prince Sky Greenforest."

"Greenforest?" Bloom questioned.

"Stella's last name is Davenwood, it ain't that weird," Tecna reminded. "All right, might as well inform the police-" Musa quickly covered the country girl's mouth again, making her exclaim. "Not again!"

Flora giggled, saying, "Go head, small sprout."

"Thank you," Musa nodded. "Or we save them some time and ask him the questions ourselves! The buses should be here for the usual trip to Magix and Red Fountain."

"Why won't anyone listen to me!" Tecna yelled, yanking away the girl's hand.

"Tecna, please, we have to save Stella. We can't just stand around doing nothing," Bloom begged. "Please."

Bloom's heart didn't seem to stop pumping blood quickly thinking about the dangers Stella could be in right now. Tecna stared into the sarcastic girl's eyes and could see and feel how sincere she was.

"Whateva," she relented.

"Let the investigation continue!" Musa cheered, pointing her index finger in the air triumphantly.

...

After a thirty-five-minute ride to Red Fountain, Bloom stared out the bus window mystified at the great yellow walls of the school. Even though she was incredibly worried about her friend, she couldn't ignore the pristine and amazing architecture of the school.

"This place looks amazing!" she whispered.

"It's something isn't it," Flora said while looking out the window as well. "Impressive."

"How come all the schools look like kingdoms while Magix looks so plain?" Bloom asked.

"Oh please, this is such outdated architecture it ain't even fu'ny," Tecna said dryly. "Yo' ain't seen amazin' until yo' stepped foot in Titania."

"I bet it looks just like Magix," Bloom jested, still staring at the building with awe.

"Betta," chuckled Tecna.

The bus slowly stopped and the girls quickly rushed out. Musa turned to the driver and proudly said, "We shall be heading to Magix as well, so see you soon!"

The bus driver tipped his hat to the girl before closing his door.

Nearby a small group of Red Fountain students stood talking, training, and, resting. Unlike Alfea, it was a unisex school filled with male and female students. The Winx passed by two people, a boy, and a young girl with matching hair colors, who were in some deep conversation.

"Did you ever see the scene where he grabs his rocket launcher and aims it at the guy's face and is ready to shoot and he keeps turning it!" said a muscular boy with purple hair. "So awesome."

"And impractical, you need to watch The Omega, the guy fights people with nothing but swords," countered an equally muscular girl with freckles and purple hair as well.

"So, while I've killed the guy already, you'll keep slashing your opponent."

The purple-haired girl rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because unlike your launcher my sword doesn't need to be loaded."

As the girl and guy kept bickering, Bloom attempted to gain their attention, but their intense conversation was what they were mainly focused on.

"I'm telling you; a rocket launcher has more power!" the purple hair guy defended.

"You have to keep it on your shoulder and constantly reload, a sword has more power," the freckled girl countered.

"Oh, for dragons' sake, would yo' two have sex already and answer our question!" Tecna butted in.

"He's my brother," Freckles answered, slightly annoyed. "Can we help you?"

"Uh, yeah have you seen Prince Sky anywhere?" Bloom asked nervously.

"Sky? Oh yeah, he's over at the lookout. Go up the staircase over there, you can't miss it," responded the purple-haired boy.

"Thank you," Bloom said walking away.

"Have sex already?" Flora scolded Tecna.

Tecna shrugged, unsure of what she did wrong.

"Continue your conversation," Musa said, following behind the other girls leaving the brother and sister to continue their enthralling argument. They quickly raced upstairs and there they found Sky, leaning against a wall, catching his breath.

"Greetings Sky, how are you today?" greeted Flora.

"Oh hey… didn't expect to see you here, what's up?" Sky asked.

"Well, you see-" Bloom started before being yanked out of the boy's eyesight by an aggravated Tecna.

"Don't 'what's up' us. We know what yer up to, yo' sneaky snake in the grass. Now tell us what yo' did to Stella!" She grabbed the boy by the collar of his suit and although she was an inch shorter than him, she brought him down to eye length and glared deep into his soul.

"Oh, so this is what Timmy meant," Sky said calmly. The brunette had a look of innocence, unsure of what he was in trouble for. "What's going on?"

Bloom pushed Tecna away then explained, "Stella has gone missing, replaced by an imposter, and the last person who saw her was you. You sent her this invitation so if you know what might've happened to her, just tell us."

She pulled the invitation out of her pocket to show the boy the evidence, but Sky just stared at the piece of paper blankly.

"I wish I could help you, but I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," Sky replied. "I was working the stables until nine and then collapsed into bed. I haven't seen Stella since last week and I would never, ever send an invitation. That's so corny."

"What's so corny?" Riven questioned coming from behind Sky with a box of supplies in his hand.

"Stella's gone missing and... wait a sec," Sky took the note and read it thoroughly. "This isn't even my handwriting."

"What?!" the girls exclaimed, shocked.

"You can write!" Riven exclaimed jokingly. Sky made an aggravated look that only made Riven burst into laughter.

"Very funny, Riven," Bloom mumbled with a small smirk. "So, hi-larious."

"I know," Riven said, wiping his eyes. "Nice to see you again, Bloom."

"You too," Bloom greeted back as Musa eagerly waved at the cute boy. Sadly, he paid her no attention, continuing to stare at the invitation.

"No seriously, when did you learn how to write?" Riven insulted. "This is news to me."

Sky groaned "I'm going to throat punch you later." he mumbled, changing the subject. "Anyways, someone tricked her and kidnapped her, and I wish I could do something, but I can't leave."

"What?!" the girls exclaimed again.

"You're really good at that," Riven jested. "I gotta go, good day ladies."

"Bye, bye, bye, bye," Musa waved goodbye eagerly as Riven walked away without even waving back. Tecna rolled her eyes before pulling the girl's arm back down to her side.

"Yeah, so like I was saying, we've been stuck here because of the punishment we got last week. They won't even let us leave the base," Sky explained. "Sucks though."

"We just told you your… whatever is missing and that's your response?" Bloom chastised throwing the paper on the ground in a huff.

Sky simply shrugged, causing Bloom's shoulder and head to slump in frustration.

"Fiddlesticks!" Tecna snapped. As she seethed a large white dog ran up to her and started wagging his tail at her and licking her scar. "What the- get th- would it be possible to turn this animal off? Stop lickin' me!"

"Whose cute dog is that?" Musa said, scratching the dog's head.

"Lady, down," Sky commanded, but the dog just kept jumping up at Tecna who was backing away slowly.

"Look she's still goin'," Tecna said, pushing the dog down. The animal seemed to really like her scar wrapping around her arm and kept licking it. The country girl had a disgusted look at the hopping hound.

"Lady down!" Brandon called making his way toward the group. Lady in question jumped over to Brandon and whimpered. "It's okay, girl."

"Is this monster yers?" Tecna asked, annoyed.

"No, she's mine," Sky said, patting Lady's head. "But she's grown to have an attachment towards Brandon, for some reason."

"Who's a cute girl, you're a cute girl, yes you are!" Brandon said, proving why the dog adored him more than Sky. He started rubbing the dog's belly playfully. "Pat the belly, pat the belly."

"Hi Brandon," Bloom said, smiling at the boy's energy.

"Hey Bloom, good to see you again," Brandon greeted back. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Stel-" Bloom started before Tecna placed a hand over her mouth.

"Stella is missin', replaced by a doppelganger, who forged a note to her," Tecna answered before Bloom could. The annoyed girl shot her a glare while lowering her arm to which the southern girl shrugged at. "Didn't mean to take your thunder Bloom, but we ain't got time for this. Is anyone else comin' ovah we have to tell this to?"

"I don't… I don't think so," Sky said confused. "I can invite someone over."

Brandon sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I think you're missing the point."

"Hmm," Sky pondered deep in thought, or he was very lost. "Well like I said, I didn't invite Stella to anything. Even if I had, I wouldn't send an invitation this cheesy."

"Yeah, you'd send a text," Brandon added, nudging his friend. "The special text."

"Yes. Yes, I would," Sky said with a small prideful smile. The Winx looked at each other confused and then back at Sky and Brandon who were laughing at their inside joke. "Hey, shouldn't you have told the higher-ups about this?"

"We did, but we're like… investigating ourselves," Flora replied.

"That's stupid," Brandon and Sky said together.

"Thank yo'!" Tecna said, gaining a glare from Bloom. "I'm still right."

Bloom turned her glare and slight growl towards Sky and Brandon who took a step back. "There's only so much they can do; we can find her."

"Sorry, Bloom, there's nothing I can do," Sky said, slumping his shoulders.

At that moment, Cordatora walked past them looking angry and annoyed, he was the man Bloom had seen conversing with the Alfea faculty back at the dance. "Enough chatting with the girls, break's over! Some fierce, fiery dragons are anxiously awaiting your arrival! So, say goodbye to your little friends!"

"Yes, professor, we'll be there right away!" Sky said nervously.

"That's Cordatora the Terrible," Brandon whispered to the girls. "And it's best to not keep him waiting."

"March now!" Cordatora demanded.

"Coming!" Brandon said, running away towards the now-forming group.

"You'll keep us posted, won't you? And if you need any help… I'm willing to break a few rules to save her. When everyone isn't looking," Sky said confidently, before heading back to class.

"We promise," Bloom whispered sadly. "I guess we'll head back to Magix now."

"I think we should head back to Alfea, but ain't nobody listenin' to me!" Tecna seethed.

"Right, let's go," Bloom said, pounding a fist into her open hand.

...

About thirty minutes later, the girls walked out of the bus and onto the streets of Magix City. It didn't feel like the same vibe of calmness it was usually like for the girls, now there was an air of mystery. The sun began to slowly set, giving the girls little time to find the Princess.

"So, you think Stella is here somewhere?" Musa asked.

"If the Black Lagoon is here, she must be," Bloom said, looking around fretfully.

"Where do we even start?" Flora questioned.

"Let me check my handy dandy wristwatch," Tecna said holding her arm with her digital watch on it, the one with the scar. "Usin' my search program, I invented, we'll be able to find it and our Solarian Princess faster than cookin' pigs' feet."

"Neat!" Musa said, impressed.

"Thank yo', now a quick scan usin' the synchronic map and voilà!" Tecna's watch created a holographic map around her arm that amazed the other girls. After a few seconds, the wristwatch search brought up no results. "Strange, no sign of this Black Lagoon."

"You sure that thing is up to date?" Bloom asked, gaining an annoyed expression from her technologically advanced flatmate. "Okay, okay, sorry. Now let's try my search program."

Tecna ended her search system, giving Bloom a wary look. "How does it work?"

"Watch me," Bloom casually walked over to an older man and asked, "Excuse me, sir, I'm looking for the Black Lagoon."

"Black Lagoon? Never heard of it," the man answered before walking away.

Bloom turned around with a sly expression, Musa and Flora giggled as Tecna rolled her eyes, unimpressed. "You guys can use it too if you want. Easier to work with."

...

After twenty minutes of asking random strangers where a new weirdly named café was and being met with the same answer, the Winx sat dejected on the sidewalk.

"Na-da, this isn't good," Flora said after their fruitless search ended in a dead end.

"Nobody's ever heard of it," Musa added. "Does this place even exist?"

"If it does exist, they really should start advertising it a little bit!" Bloom complained, shaking her head. "This is a disaster. Oh God, what are we gonna do?"

"Oh, I know, maybe we should go back to dadgum Alfea and tell Ms. Griselda!" Tecna advised sounding frustrated.

"Are you giving up already?" Bloom asked, annoyed at how Tecna had been acting so far. She understood that this was a dangerous mission, but she knew she couldn't just leave Stella to continue being captured while they did nothing.

"Listen, this kind of perseverance ain't gettin' us nowhere, Bloom," Tecna reasoned, placing her hands on her hips. "And yo' know it."

"Neither are shitty gadgets," Bloom insulted, stepping closer to the stoic girl.

"Oh, I'm sorry yo' want to say that to my face?" Tecna inquired, holding her arms out.

"I would but you're all the way up there," Bloom said, holding her arm up high. "Come down here so I can say it to your face!"

Tecna crouched down slightly to meet eye contact with the seething girl. Bloom remained unfazed, looking like she was ready to give the towering girl a good tongue lashing. "You ain't gonna talk to me that way!"

"I'll talk to you how I want to bi-"

"Hey, hey, this is no time for fighting," Flora intervened, stepping in between the two girls. "We're in the middle of searching for our friend, remember?"

"Yeah, tensions are high, but let's bring it down," Musa agreed. "Arguing will get us nowhere."

Tecna and Bloom glared at each other for a long second, before turning away and both mumbling a quick apology to the other one.

"Um, excuse me," sounded a gruff voice behind them. The girls jumped to their feet in shock and spun around ready for whoever or whatever was behind them, only to find a short heavily bearded man with glasses. "Didn't mean to startle you. I couldn't help but notice that, uh, well you were asking questions about the Black Lagoon, and I think I have the information you're looking for. Maybe you'd like to know?"

"Are you kidding?" Bloom said, grabbing the guy by his shoulders. "Why didn't you say something until now?!"

The man's eyes shifted nervously.

Musa pulled Bloom away and came close to the man. "What our frantic friend means is, do you know anything about the Black Lagoon? If you do, please tell us. Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"Yeah, why not, it's a popular new café. Just outside the city, you follow the main road and keep going till you get to the bridge. You can't miss it! There's a really large oak tree right in front of it."

"Really? Thanks," Bloom said gratefully.

"No problem, take care," the strange man said before continuing down the street, humming to himself.

"Come on girls," Bloom said waving her arm in the direction.

...

Fifteen minutes later the girls crossed a wooden bridge over a stream just outside of town just like the stranger had told them. As they approached the big oak tree, they found a building behind it. A medium-sized building with "Black Lagoon" crudely written on a sign outside a window. Away from that, it was a very old building, with a straw roof and grey bricks. From the windows streamed a warm inviting light, alongside the sound of people having a good time, but something didn't feel right.

"The directions were right. This is the big oak tree and here's the Black Lagoon," Bloom said looking around.

"When we get back to Alfea, don't forget to update your search program," Musa said, nudging Tecna.

"My program works fine, it's this place that's wrong," Tecna said, noticing the eerie feeling around them.

Flora walked over to an oak tree and placed her hand on it. "Tecna's right, there's something strange about this place. This tree isn't breathing. It feels odd, cold, and distant as if it doesn't exist."

Bloom cocked her head. "Are you sure, Flora?"

Flora nodded. "Yeah, it's almost like an illusion."

Suddenly the building doors opened and a strong wind began to blow, revealing the illusion as the tree was revealed to be a dead one and the building was in a disheveled state. Darkness descended upon the building, the grimy windows made the building appear darker than usual and the sad remains of broken tables and rotted pictures were on the ground. There was an odd odor around them, like spoiled fruit.

"What just happened?" Bloom asked, shivering.

"Something very peculiar," Musa said, walking inside the building and looking around. "Guys it's empty in here!"

"What?" Bloom ran into the building next followed by the rest of the girls. As they all were in the house now, the door behind them slammed shut dimming the room further.

"Oh shit," Bloom said with a nervous groan.

"I saw this in a movie once, Killas from the Planet Numblar," Tecna commented. "Soon a masked fool will jump out with a butcha knife and stab the small one!"

Why would any of that give us comfort? Bloom thought.

"What?" Musa squeaked. "Guys, I hate horror movies!"

She wrapped her arms around Tecna's waist fearfully dreading a monster would appear and hurt her. Flora followed closely behind the two girls, she and Musa shook nervously. Tecna kept calm, looking around for any creatures that jumped out of the shadows.

"We should probably get out of here before the fool appears," Bloom said, turning on her heel, but as she reached for the doorknob, she made a shocking discovery. "Guys, uh, the door's locked."

"You're kidding?" Flora said, shaking in her pumps.

"Trying to get out?" asked a voice.

The girls looked up the spider web-covered staircase. At the top floor stood the man that had given them directions. "We've been waiting for you." Then with a chuckle, like the sound of a cackling hyena, he ran off.

"Get back here!" Bloom shouted, attempting to chase the man before Flora held her back.

"It could be a trap!" she warned.

"Yeah, well it's too late to turn back now!" Bloom said, pushing the girl away and running up the stairs.

"Bloom, slow down," pleaded Tecna, struggling to be heard by the infuriated girl. "This girl don't listen!"

"Stella!" Bloom called. "Princess!"

Up the stairs and down the hall they ran until coming to a door in the middle of the room.

"Okay, I'm done with the bullshit." Bloom angrily kicked the door in. It burst open. "All right, tell me where my friend is or you're dealing with a lot of flames."

"That's the badass line yer usin'?" Tecna critiqued.

"Shut up," Bloom mumbled. "Stella!"

"Well look who's here… my 'friends'. How nice of you to finally show up," sounded the mocking voice of the Stella imposter. A single light went on, revealing the menacing imposter still disguised as the Princess, a sinister smile on her face. "I knew you were that stupid."

"Where. Is. Stella?!" Bloom angrily demanded.

"I want my ring!"

"It's not your ring, you barmy!" Bloom said using one of Stella's insults.

"Oh wow, she's rubbed off on you," Stella imposter laughed maniacally. "Just as pathetic as I thought. Well, how about some of this!"

Stella's imposter leaped into the air and started blasting energy blasts at the girls causing the girls to run around the room to dodge the attacks. Bloom and Flora ran behind a pillar and Musa and Tecna ducked behind a tattered couch. The pillar sustained a lot of damage but remained stable enough to keep the girls protected.

They breathed a sigh of relief, but that moment was ruined once a flash of lightning bounced around the room and hit Flora in the spine, sending her to the ground in pain. Bloom crouched down to help her up, but the girl barely moved.

Bloom gasped, checking the girl's pulse. She had one but was unconscious.

"That's it," Tecna said. "Time to transform."

In a flash, Tecna transformed into her battle outfit and ran over to Bloom and Flora with a green shield up. "Do yo' girls need a lift?"

"Great timing, Tec," Bloom said, taking cover behind Tecna's shield. Flora stayed on the ground, groaning in pain.

Musa jumped up and then doing backflips, flipped over to the group, not getting hit a single time before joining the girls behind the shield. The girl was impressively gymnastic as well as being hyper.

"Give me the scepter, and if you haven't brought it, your little bimbo Princess will simply endure more torture," the imposter threatened.

Bloom bit her bottom lip. She knew the scepter was in her pocket. She had brought it just in case they found Stella so she could use it, but now it was seeming like a mistake to bring it.

"Bloom, have yo' gotten yer transformin' down?" Tecna asked.

"Honestly, not yet," Bloom admitted with regret. "But I'm done fooling around. Show us who you really are!"

"You're right, Ginger," the imposter agreed. "Time to shed my disguise."

The imposter's form dissipated away like shadows escaping from the light before revealing Darcy in all her wickedness. Out of the corner of the room, Icy and Stormy appeared ready to attack.

"Not these bitches," Tecna said angrily.

"Finally, standing in that corner was uncomfortable," Stormy complained, rubbing her side. "Icy, could you please not elbow me in the rib so much next time."

"Oh, I'm sorry like this?" Icy jabbed the cloud hair-shaped girl with enough force to cause her to clutch her stomach in pain. "Anyway, yes it's us."

"Missed us?" Darcy said with a mischievous smile.

"I'm also here! Can you please transform me back? This human form is making my skin crawl," the man begged, scratching his arm. Darcy rolled her eyes and zapped the man, returning him to his original form as Knut. He waved eagerly.

"Now back to the part where you give us the ring," Darcy requested, holding out her hand.

"Why do you want this ring so much?" Bloom asked, stalling for time.

"Nice try." Darcy taunted. "We're not revealing our plans that easily. But... would showing your little friend help persuade you?"

Bloom stepped closer. "Where is she?"

Darcy stared at her sisters as her mischievous smile turned into a menacing leer. She snapped her fingers and, in a flash, Stella appeared, her eyes glazed over, she looked like she was in a complete daze. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out. Her hands fidgeted together like she was knitting. Her hair was ragged, the dress was tattered, and her body was trembling slightly.

"Stella!" the girls shouted stunned.

Stella didn't respond, just incoherent muttering.

"What have you done to her?" Bloom demanded.

"Don't worry about her, she's just trapped in her mascara-stained mind," Darcy answered, walking over to Stella and patting her on the head. She waved her hand across the Princess's face, but the girl didn't even blink. "Hypnosis does that to you. We couldn't do much with her, still learning, you know? She's basically a vegetable. She put up quite the fight, but sadly without her ring, it took no effort at all to defeat her. We really went through her mind to get as much information as we could."

"Yeah, but the bitch blocked us from finding out you had the ring, Ginger," Stormy said, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Don't call her a bitch!" Bloom shouted, taking another step closer to the girls. Her hands started to feel hot as she attempted to control her anger. "I'm about to transform and when I do, you're going to be limping for a week."

"Before you do that, I should advise you that she's pretty much stuck in her mind. Not sure what her vapid mind could be thinking of though, but she's basically a puppet for us to use," Icy cautioned, tapping Stella's head.

"I'm sorry, my spell, I get to talk," Darcy said, causing Icy to step back aggravated with an eye roll. "Like my darling sister warned, we can make her attack you or… harm herself."

"Yes, I don't get to do anything this time!" Knut cheered, causing the witches to glare at him. He cowered before adding. "I stand by what I said."

"Yes, we won't need our ogre here to do the work for us," Darcy said with an aggravated sigh. "We have a hypnotized sun Princess for that. Isn't that right, Stella?"

Stella nodded. "Mm-hm."

"You do anything to her and you're dead!" Bloom threatened. "Stella, wake up!"

"There's no use trying to wake her up, this spell is pretty powerful and she'll only listen to my words," Darcy said smirking. Her eyes darted towards Musa, whose usual wide grin had changed to a nervous frown and shifting eye manner. "In fact, Stella... attack the annoying blue-haired fairy."

The witch snapped her fingers and Stella's eyes darted to Musa. In a haze of anger, she charged at the girl, who put her hands up frantically until the Princess tackled her to the ground. She started slapping and punching her while screaming like a maniac. Musa cried for help as the girl began to claw at her skin with her long nails. She begged the hypnotized Princess to stop, but as she stared into her eyes, all she saw was emptiness.

"Stella stop!" Bloom begged, attempting to yank the Princess off Musa. "Get off her!"

"Stel, snap out of it!" Tecna said, shaking the girl, but she simply broke free, snarling, and went after Musa again. Bloom and Tecna kept trying to pull Stella off but she grabbed the fearful formally chipper girl's neck and tightened her grip. She continued snarling while Musa weakly begged for her to stop. This was the first time Bloom saw Musa terrified. Icy started cackling at the melee.

"I think that's enough," Darcy said, snapping her fingers. "Bimbo, come!"

Stella froze mid-choke before standing up and mindlessly walking back over to Darcy, ignoring her friends pleading for her to stop. Darcy chuckled, placing her arm around the Solarian Princess's shoulder. "That was fun."

Bloom growled. "Let. Her. Go!"

"We will, once you hand over the ring," Darcy reasoned. "It's important to us."

"Time's running out," Icy added, causing her sister to sigh in frustration. "We will dispose of her either way, what do you think girls, jumping off a cliff?"

"I was thinking about drowning," Stormy suggested.

"We could freeze her," Darcy added, grabbing Stella's cheeks. "You'd like that, right Stella?"

Stella nodded mindlessly. "Mm-hm."

"Bloom we got this, let's fight 'em," Tecna said. "We don't back down to some weak witches."

Bloom stared intently at Stella as Darcy and Stormy laughed. She clenched her fist mulling over the right decision. She still wasn't good at transformation but didn't want to admit it, and as she looked around the only one still standing with her was Tecna. Musa was recovering from her attack, searching for her glasses and Flora was just regaining consciousness. If they chose to fight, they'd lose.

Stella stared silently into nothing as Darcy messed with her hair. She was helpless to what was going on around her or to her. Seeing that helped Bloom make her decision.

"Fuck," Bloom relented, muttering under her breath. "You win."

Tecna's arms dropped in shock.

Bloom walked over to the witches, giving each girl an intense death glare that unfazed them. She dug into her pockets, pulling out the blue and gold ring, but before she handed it over, she pulled back. "But if I hand it over, you bring my friend back. Now!"

"You don't trust us? Smart girl," Darcy nodded. "Normally I wouldn't, but we don't need her anymore." She snatched the ring and put it around her finger. "Cute, but not my style. Bimbo, you're free from my control." Snapping her fingers, she released Stella from her influence.

Stella's eyes rolled back as she collapsed to the ground in a heap. Bloom held her breath waiting for the Princess to say anything, after a second, she heard the girl groan and rushed over to her. "Wh- what happened? Where am I?"

"You're okay, that's all that matters," Bloom comforted, standing the Princess up and wiping some dust off her dress. "There you have it, now go!"

"Gladly," Icy said, attempting to grab the ring from her sister's hand.

"You just love hearing yourself talk," Darcy insulted, gaining a glare from the ice witch.

"Why… Why does she have my ring?" Stella questioned frantically. She stared at Bloom with a look of betrayal. "What did you do?"

"I had to," Bloom said somberly. "They were brainwashing you and they were going to hurt you."

"Hypnosis, but guilty as charged," Darcy said pridefully. "Oh, I wouldn't fight back if I was you, trust me, I can reactivate that spell just as quickly as I took it away."

"Yeah, yeah, would you just fuck off!" Bloom commanded.

"So testy," Darcy chastised with a smirk. "Calm down, sweetie. We're leaving."

"Wait," Stella faced the witches, trying to keep eye contact with them. "This isn't over you witches. You've done it this time, the moment I step foot back on Alfea, I'm telling everyone what you did."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Darcy warned, examining the ring. "You see while searching through your vapid mind I came across some interesting secrets. A lot of them. Stuff you wouldn't want to get back to your school, the press, your family, or your..." Darcy's eyes shifted towards Bloom and the other girls. She smirked before saying mischievously, "Friends."

"You… you went through my mind?" Stella asked, placing a hand on her forehead. "You bloody monsters!"

"Thank you," the witches said, taking that as a compliment.

"Seriously though, you wouldn't want any of these secrets getting out, do you? Especially the real reason you were expelled." Darcy said before cackling at Stella's worried reaction. "That look of fear really suits you."

"That's blackmail!" Stella exclaimed, her face turning red in anger.

"You call it blackmail, I call it an incentive," Darcy said arrogantly. "I could write a book on how much information I found. I could post it online right now; you know how quick people are to believe it."

"You're good," Stormy said, impressed.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Darcy said. "Now what'll it be?"

"Stella, don't listen to them, whatever they know we can fight it," Bloom said, keeping a tight grip on the girl.

"No… she's right," Stella relented, biting her bottom lip. "She's right."

Stella released herself from Bloom's grip, turned on her heel, and limped out the room as Darcy insincerely waved goodbye.

"Aww, I'm going to miss her, she was my first puppet," Darcy ridiculed.

Bloom clenched her fist, seething.

"I love when a plan works out perfectly," the cocky witch said, tossing the ring in the air and forming it into a scepter that Icy caught. Darcy gave her sister the side-eye, she looked about ready to kick her in the shin. The ice witch replied with a stuck-out tongue to her sister's face.

"It's finally ours!" Icy said cackling. "Thanks, girls, bye now."

In a flash, the witches and Knut were gone leaving the Winx in stunned silence at what just transpired, after a few seconds they heard sobbing. Bloom found Stella at the foot of the stairs in the fetal position, crying. She ran to the Princess and hugged her.

...

A few minutes later, the group walked out of the ruined house. Bloom was supporting a weakened Stella while Tecna helped a still disoriented Flora and Musa, both laying on one side of her shoulder. The sun began to set and stars became visible from the sky. The group felt fully defeated and bruised in different ways.

"I hate those witches," Stella said, still sobbing.

Bloom nodded. "I do too. Do you remember anything that they did to you?"

"It's all a blurry mess," Stella answered, wiping her tears. "I felt like I was sitting in a waiting room talking to my mum about the weather, so boring." The Princess bit down on her bottom lip. Tears kept flowing from her mascara-stained eyes. "They invaded my mind."

"Talk about disgusting," Musa said, wiping the dust off her glasses. "I'm just glad you're back."

"Musa, what happened to your face?" Stella asked.

The girls looked at each other nervously. Musa silently put her glasses on and stared down at her feet.

"Oh, um, you may... have attacked me when under Darcy's control," she sheepishly answered.

"I… what?" Stella stuttered, her voice breaking. She gently touched the girl's clawed cheek, once Musa twinged slightly in pain the Princess gasped in shock. Her hand started trembling as she stared at her nails. "I- I- I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to."

"I know, it's okay," Musa said, hugging the Princess as she started crying again. "It'll be okay, you're safe now."

"Not with those girls holding tons of information about me," Stella cried. "I'm such a weakling!"

"Stop that now," Tecna said, wiping the girl's tear-stained eyes. "We'll find a way to fix this, dontcha worry, when we get back to Alfea we'll inform Faragonda-"

"No, we can't, they have enough secrets I've stored in my mind to write a novel! We can't tell anyone who they are," Stella replied frantically. Her eyes widened in fear, but once she noticed her friends were staring at her with concern, she turned away. It's as if she didn't want them to see how panicked she was, but they simply wanted to help her calm down. "Why didn't I listen to you guys?"

"Stella," Bloom said calmly. "It's fi-"

"No, you don't understand!" the Princess shouted angrily. "I have tons of secrets I can never tell anyone about my family. About my life... and they know it all!" she clutched her hair as she dropped to her knees. "Oh, my Dragon, what have I done?"

Stella burst into tears, rocking back and forth. Bloom had never seen the Princess get this upset in the short time she knew her and it made her sympathize with her. The hysterical Princess started muttering under her breath, but from what Bloom could hear it sounded like, "My father's going to kill me, my father's going to kill me, my father's going to kill me."

She let out a sad sigh, unsure of how to comfort her friend. She wasn't good at this stuff. When something bad happened to her she'd usually bury herself in her art. The others seemed to share the same problem, except for Musa who quietly walked over to the Princess and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Please don't cry, Princess Stella," Musa comforted. "You're not at fault."

"I… you guys kept warning me and telling me to be cautious and I still went," Stella replied through sobs. "Bloom even told me the name sounded weird for a café and I was like 'Oh, it's fine.' Bloody moron!"

"No more negative words," Musa said, crouching down to face Stella. She smiled softly, seeming to be holding back tears herself. It was as if she could feel the Princess's pain. She spoke softly and calmly as she said, "People make mistakes and you couldn't have seen this coming. It is not your fault. Don't blame yourself for something you can't control. Okay?"

She hugged the girl tightly to which Stella reciprocated the hug. The kind girl started humming an unknown song while she rubbed the Princess's back. Unlike what Flora did with Bloom, Musa's humming and back rubbing worked, it even seemed to pass on to the other girls. Her comforting words and response helped the Princess breathe a little easier but still couldn't stop herself from crying.

"You are going to be okay," Musa reassured, pulling away. "I don't want to see you cry because you're amazing and strong, Princess Stella."

"Thank you, Muse," Stella said sniffling. "I'm still screwed."

"Stel, we don't even know how much they know. They probably only found out what your phone passcode was," Bloom joked, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. This was the best she could do to ease the tension.

"Oh Dragon, I have to change my passcode now, it was really good too," Stella lamented, shaking her head. She shot her bestie a tear-stained glare. "Bloom now is not the time for your witty sarcasm."

"Just trying to lighten things up," Bloom said, frowning. She helped Stella back up, wiped the dirt off her dress, and patted her on the back. "Look I don't know what she did to you, but trust me, we can get back at them and get your ring back."

Stella sighed sniffling sadly.

"I just wish yo' had let us beat the shit outta them, Bloom," Tecna said, crossing her arms. "Yo' send us on this wild goose chase to find her, but then do nothin' to stop 'em?"

"Because they had Stella under their control," Bloom defended. "A battle would've made things worse."

"You ain't the boss!" Tecna fumed.

"Okay listen here," Bloom started pointing at Tecna, ready to go at her, but Stella pulled her back.

"I would've done the same thing," Flora said, trying to ease the tension. "It doesn't even matter, what's done is done."

"Yeah, she's correct and, wait… you went out your way to save me?" Stella questioned, staring at Bloom.

"I mean, yeah, I didn't want to do nothing and you possibly end up in a worse state," Bloom said, rubbing her arm. "I know it was dumb, but you saved me once and-"

Stella immediately hugged Bloom tightly, shocking the girl, but this time around she didn't mind. For the first time in a long time, she wrapped her arms around the girl's body in a hug. The only people she liked hugging were her parents, but this time around she wanted to hug someone outside her family. She still wasn't sure what to make of Stella, but for right now, she was a friend who needed comfort and Bloom understood that more than she realized. "Thank you."

"It was nothing," Bloom said with a shrug, "I'm sorry I had to give your ring away. I'm just… I couldn't let them hurt you."

"I'm not even mad," Stella admitted, pulling away.

Bloom placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, smiling at the Princess and Stella smiled back, plaintively. "You sure you don't want to say anything?"

"Yes." Stella held her head down. "Ev- even if we did, those three will deny everything and just hide my scepter. We have to formulate a plan to get it back and then beat them with it."

"Sounds like a plan?" Bloom asked, turning to the other girls. Each girl instantly nodded. "Sounds like a plan, let's head back to campus. You need a bath."

Stella laughed following behind Bloom as the Winx headed to the bus that would take them back to Alfea. The day may have ended in sadness and defeat, but it wasn't the end of their journey. While there was tension among the Winx, they were ready to head back to the school where they would relax and then kick some witch ass.

...

A/N:

End

Woooow, that was cray guys! I was like "oh my dragon"! I don't know why I wrote the damn thing, I know what will happen but still as the writer, I should be enthralled with the material lol. And tbh I really was, again this is my fave chapter, I love writing mind control and hypnosis stories for some reason, it's just fun to explore the idea.

I had so much fun writing this and this went through so many edits and junk that when I finally did the last edits I still had stuff to fix! Luckily I was fully happy with the finished product, but if I do add new stuff I apologize, but again this I like a lot. No mistakes honestly.

Thanks for reading my long diatribe lol, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Expect chapter 7 in a week or two, I love you guys!

TTYL!