Gravity Winx
By Adventuremaker21
Chapter 4: The Black-Mud Swamp
Authors note: not quite the Halloween chapter I want to do, but I do want to treat you all to the next exciting chapter.
The joys of an outdoor class have always been a favorite to students, whether they be from Earth for a peaceful reading class, or for the students of Alfea ready for a personal test. Here, in the middle of a strange swamp, we see the students wearing matching safari outfits, with some students wearing safari hats, or in Dipper's case, his trapper hat, to help them protect themselves from whatever lies within the woods they're currently in. "Before I would like to explain today's activity" began the elf professor "I should warn you that it will be a little challenging to those who have little experience with the outdoors," He saw that a student was raising her hand. "Yes, Miss Francine?"
"Professor Palladium, a mosquito just bit me." Francine, a fairy student, said, feeling all high and mighty.
"This is the outdoors, my dear. Mosquitoes and other insects will be out here. It's all part of one big ecosystem of animals and plants." He said, trying to make her feel better.
"But look where it got me." She said, lifting her shorts to reveal her thigh. "No one's going to date me with a bump on my thigh."
The professor stepped back in response as Bloom covered the twins' eyes, not wanting to corrupt their fragile little minds.
"I wanna see," said Mabel.
"Oh my...well-um...what I m-meant to say was...um..." He stuttered his response the best he could as most of the other students laughed at him.
"Poor Palladium. We really shouldn't be giving him a hard time," said Flora.
"If he were more confident, maybe he would have gotten more respect." Musa agreed with her friend.
Palladium cleared his throat and started saying something. "Now, as I was saying, today's activity will further your worth as a true fairy. You and your assigned teams of eight have three hours to get out of the Black Mud Swamp and into the clearing in the Gloomy Wood Forest, all without using magic unless it's an emergency." He then teleports out of the swamp but is still present enough to give one last sentence to his class. "Remember," he began, "Listen to nature and follow its voice. They tend to give out some really good advice."
The students break off into their groups, but the group we are focusing on is getting waist-deep in the mud, to Dipper and Mabel, it's going up to their shoulders. "Can you carry us?" asked Mabel. "We're not exactly tall as you girls and I don't want to drown in quicksand or goop. That's how some dinosaurs died, and I'm not ready to be a fossil fuel."
They immediately help their shorter friends out by having Stella carry Mabel on her back and Tecna carries Dipper on her broad back. "I don't know about you girls, but this place is totally disgusting," Said Stella, who detests being in the mud. "The first thing I'm doing when I get back is taking a long, hot bath."
Musa agreed with Stella completely, saying "Totally, but I'm taking one before you. There is no way I'm letting this mud get into my hair. It's personal, but it has to do with my cousin."
Tecna waves her hands the best she can without dropping her little 'genius buddy' in the mud to cast a spell, but Dipper stops her. "Wait," he began, "Remember what the professor said about magic. We have to listen to the voice of nature...whatever that means."
Flora sniffs the air quickly and covers her nose. "Ugh, that smell. It smells like..." She was about to finish her thought as she immediately knew what she smelled. "We have to get out of here, NOW!" She demanded. The others move away from the area as fast as they can. Flora picks up a stick, throws it, and pops a gas bubble, which causes a chain reaction of other bubbles popping. "If Tecna were to cast that spell, Alfea might have been serving fried fairy wings for dinner tonight."
"Yeah, and my outfit would have been ruined in the crossfire," Stella complained. "And you would have paid me back every cent of its value."
At the darkest, coldest rooms of Cloud Tower, a door swung open and the Trix witches stormed in, obviously done with classes for the day. Pacifica was the most done of them all, as she just wanted to lay down and think about stuff, maybe create a small metallic statue of herself as a treat.
"Thank God Classes are done for the day. If you need me, I'll be in my bed, covered in soft blankets," Pacifica said as she began to head to her bed.
Darcy stops and thinks for a second. "I feel like we're forgetting someone...someone big, yellow, and kind of incompetent." As she said that, the closet started rustling around.
"Ow..." a voice from the closet spoke. "I can't feel my foot and I really need to stretch my legs. Can I come out now?"
Icy, not looking at the closet, busy fixing her looks in front of a mirror, said "Let him out, Stormy. Knut may be a huge hulking ogre, but he still needs to be prepared for anything."
Stormy grunts and lets out Knut, who somehow makes the room smell with his body odor. Immediately, the 4 witches cover their noses and groan at the smell.
"Oh come on, Knut. I know you're an ogre, but you should at least smell better than this," exclaimed Stormy.
"Oh..." he began, "Then it's probably a bad time to mention that I ate beans for lunch."
Pacifica sighed, annoyed at the ogre, got up from her bed, and walked up to him. "This is what happens when you shove an ogre into a closet. Like I get it, sisters, keeping an ogre here is hard enough. But he should at least be allowed to roam the dorm room, as long as he doesn't go into our rooms. And Stormy's right, you need a shower! Oh, and one more thing," Pacifica said as she casts magic on his glasses and suddenly gains a stylish glasses chain on it. "There you go. I know they make you look like a librarian, but at least you won't lose them again."
Knut sees this and starts tearing up. "Wow... I've never received a present before." Knut then puts on the glasses and bows. "Thank you, Mistress of Metal."
"Call me Pacifica," Pacifica said to him. "Now where were we?"
"Something about pets?" said Darcy.
"Oh right, thanks. As I was saying, plus with the school's no pet policy, that could easily get us kicked out before our master plan kicks in." Icy sighs upset at the beast. "Did you at least spy on Red Fountain while we were gone?"
"Of course, mistress of metal," he said, getting up from the floor. "The hunting troll some specialists captured on Earth is being sent to Magix City later today and once he reaches Subtombian Prison, the guards and staff will know of everything he knows, including your plans for Stella's staff and the energy that rests within."
Icy screams in fury and throws her brush at Knut. "Great, now our entire plan is in jeopardy either way. Pacifica, Stormy, Darcy, get your stuff. We have a troll to silence."
"Wait," Pacifica asks, wondering about what she said. "By 'silence', you don't mean-"
Icy's right index finger starts having ice on it and elongates into an icicle. She then brings it up to her own neck and shows a slicing movement, showcasing exactly what she means by 'silence'.
Above the Black Mud Swamp, flew a red ship. Inside the ship was a cage with a blue creature in it. It was growling and snorting inside it, grossing out everyone on board. The people that were also inside were Brandon's Squad as they all sat in various chairs in the front. Brandon as the captain, Timmy as the pilot, Riven on weapons, Sky on navigations, Helia on technical, and Wendy on information. The stench of the troll was so repugnant, that even the seasoned Lumberjane was grossed out by it's stench.
"Ugh, the smell," Wendy said as she could barely breathe. She then went by the window and looked out while Timmy piloted the ship. "But the view here does not get old. And you say we do missions on these things all the time?"
"Sure do," Sky says. "We usually take an Owl grade transport ship, portals thanks to Helia the wizard, or my favorite: the Wind Rider hoverbikes."
"Sometimes, you can't help but blend magic and technology together," Helia said as Timmy nodded in agreement.
"Cool, I always wanted a hoverbike that actually hovers, unlike what's passed off as 'hover' back home," Wendy said. "I bet Dipper and his Grunkle Ford would LOVE to check them out if they ever got the chance."
"I can always show him our ships," Timmy suggested. "He and I actually became good friends during the party. Heck, he even introduced Tecna to me."
"But I do want to know why Alfea took in a couple of kids into its educational program. It's one thing for you to join our ranks, but kids at fairy school?" Asked Riven, watching the beast from the weapons chair.
"Hey, they're not kids, they're teenagers like the rest of us," Wendy defended them. "Dipper and Mabel being at Alfea is practically a dream come true, and Pacifica at Cloud Tower might need adjusting, but I want the best for her as well."
"I didn't mention the witch," Riven said, smirking. "You care about her, don't you?"
"Oh bite me," Wendy said, scoffing as she sat down.
"Before or after dinner?" Riven joked as he couldn't help but laugh at his own joke. Wendy tried saying something to him, but a loud crash was heard and alarms were going off in the ship, alerting all 6 Specialists inside.
"What the hell was that?" Wendy exclaimed, wanting to know what hit the ship.
"I don't know, Wendy, but the sensors didn't pick up anything. I was like it came out of nowhere. All I do know is that there's an impact on one of our engines," said Timmy, who was trying to level the ship after it was hit off course, but it failed, and then was forced into a nosedive straight to the swamp.
"Specialists, brace yourselves," said Brandon, who's buckled in and preparing for the worst possible scenario. "We're going down."
Five minutes later, at the crash site, Brandon's entire squad was adjusting to the crash. "Is everyone ok?" Brandon asked around to his fellow squadmates and friends.
"I'll be ok," Timmy announced. "But I don't think the ship can fly anymore."
"Yeah, I'm fine," Riven said.
"I dealt with tougher things before," Wendy said as she got up and brushed herself off.
"I MAY have a concussion, but I should be fine," Helia said as he held his head.
"Besides all that, we're all accounted for," Sky said as he headed with the group. "But what about our special guest star?"
"Timmy, Wendy, try to see if our troll friend is still here with us," Sky ordered the two of them as they went into the crashed ship cautiously. As they headed into the ship, the Winx Club walked up to the specialists, wanting to see if they were OK.
"By the Dragon, what happened here?" Said Stella, worried about the crash and the Specialists that were on board.
"Isn't it obvious, Blondie? We crashed," Riven said coldly, not wanting to deal with fairies at the moment. "At least the package is secured." As he said that, Musa looked at him and scowled at him. Riven sees her and looks away, huffing in the process.
Timmy and Wendy came out of the ship in a hurry with terrible news. "Yeah, about that..." Wendy began as Riven noticed this immediately.
"Don't tell me the Troll got loose," Riven asked as Stella and Bloom gasped in horror at the news. The rest of the Winx were confused by this.
"The troll that tried to get Stella's ring?" Bloom asked as Brandon nodded.
"Talk about one ring to rule them all," Dipper quoted as Musa agreed with him.
"You say that now, but it is true. That ring is a family heirloom to the royal Solaira throne," Stella explained. "I've had that since my 14th birthday, and my family trusts me with it."
"You had a troll and he escaped?" Said Mabel, looking around quickly to see around her to protect herself from the troll.
In response to Mabel's question, Riven said "It wasn't our fault. Something hit us that made us crash."
Sky spoke next, saying "But don't worry, little lady. The troll has a special pair of handcuffs on him that restricts his movement. He won't get far."
"Yeah, that leads to even more bad news," Timmy said, holding up a pair of broken handcuffs and showing it to the group. "The troll is completely free from its restraints."
"WELL THAT'S JUST GREAT! WE LOST A PRISONER ALL BECAUSE TIMMY COULDN'T FIND THE SOURCE OF THE ATTACK IN TIME AND WE HAVE A PIECE OF GARBAGE ROOKIE WHO CAN'T DO HER DAMN JOB!" Riven, obviously angry, yells out. Dipper is getting a little annoyed with his attitude towards Wendy, and some of the others can feel the tension in the air.
"She's doing the best she can, jerkface," Dipper said to him, clenching his fists.
"Dipper, no," Flora begged.
"Dipper, yes," Musa hoped.
"By the way, why are you fairies here?" Riven said, finally addressing the elephant in the swamp.
"Well, Riven, we Alfea students are in the middle of a magical assignment to use the forest's voice to find out the way back to Alfea," Dipper replied, trying to get Riven to stop talking to him because honestly? He doesn't like him that much.
Riven then says "Then go back to it, fairies, and leave the troll hunting to the Specialists, who actually know how to do their jobs."
Stella chimed in and said "The Specialists? I didn't know they would come here. Did you know they were coming, Layla?"
"I mean, I see Wendy here, but she's a specialist. A singular specialist," Layla corrected Stella.
"You got to admit, they got us good," Wendy told her Specialist friends.
"What Riven means is that we should be the ones to handle the troll while you girls...and Dipper... go back to your assignment and get your grades. Your futures are pretty important, after all," Brandon said so the specialists could avoid Riven blowing up again.
Riven sighs, calming down, and says "Fine, go do what you girls need to do, but if you run into the troll, don't expect us to come and help you out." When he said that, the specialists walked back to their ship, leaving the Winx behind in the swamp.
After a few seconds, Bloom decides to ask the group an important question. "Now what do we do?" she said.
Stella remembers something about the troll and says "Bloom and I know the troll. He attacked us on Earth when Bloom discovered her powers. Brandon and the others don't know what they're into."
"Didn't Brandon's group imprison the troll in the first place?" Dipper asked.
"He's got a point," Musa agreed with him. "If they can capture the troll once, they can do it again."
"But I don't think the troll got out on his own," Layla interjected. "Perhaps it's for the best we tag along and get to the bottom of this."
Flora hesitates on that, saying "I don't know, girls. I think we should stick to the assignment. Stella needs the grade for her to pass and I don't want to fall behind on my plant studies."
"If anyone asks, we can always rope this in as extra credit," Stella said, making the best of a bad situation.
"But we have no choice, Flora. I say we go out there and help those poor boys," Bloom added on, making the decision for them. "Now come on, Winx, let's go capture a troll." With that, everyone starts following the specialists to the ship, hoping this is not a bad choice they have all made.
So let's recap on how today was not a good day for a certain Specialist group from Red Fountain. Their ship crashed and landed in the middle of the Black Mud Swamp, their troll prisoner escaped and most of the fairies from Alfea made fun of the squad responsible for delivering the prisoner to the authorities in Magix City. Needless to say, things could be better for this squad of teenage boys and a teenage girl. Lucky for them, one of the fairy groups stayed behind to help the specialists; the Winx Club, formed merely 3 weeks ago after an incident with an ogre, and this group of fashionable teenage girls, along with their younger members of the group, twin siblings Dipper and Mabel Pines, who proved themselves to be magical prodigies that can stand with the rest of the first year's. Dipper, Tecna, and Timmy, the specialist's main technician, went to work on the broken ship as Musa inspected the handcuffs that held the troll prisoner with Wendy, Riven, and Layla.
"Whatever took out the ship also took out the stabilizer," Timmy told his friends. "Unfortunately, I can't find out what did it."
"But here's the thing; it doesn't look damaged from the outside, but under the plating, there's a lot of damage to the machinery. Tecna, would using your devices to check the electronics be against the assignment?" Dipper asked his larger friend.
"As long as it's just technology and not magical technology, of course," Tecna said while she plugged in her tablet to the machinery.
"You brought your tablet to the swamp?" Mabel curiously asked while looking for clues for the troll runaway. As she asks Tecna the question, a grappling hook falls out of Mabel's cargo pants, and everyone, minus Dipper, looks at her like she's crazy. "What? The teacher only said no magic. He never said anything about using a military-grade grappling hook to find our way back home."
Dipper looks up from the stabilizer and says "Trust her on this one, she's really handy with that grappling hook."
"Like the time she took down an ogre in one fell swoop?" Layla remembered.
"Bingo," Dipper replied.
"I bet she is," Riven said. "Perfect for you three shorties to get up to our height." As soon as he said that, he got punched in the gut by Musa.
"I may be small, but I do know how to throw a punch," Musa said, semi-angry at the magenta-haired specialist.
"THANK YOU FOR THAT!" Dipper yelled over to Musa as Wendy nodded.
Bloom chuckles as she sees some large footprints. "Speaking of appendages, take a look at this." Both groups come over and see the large footprints in the mud.
"Bet this guy spends a fortune on footwear," Mabel joked. "Size 20's sneakers, anyone?"
"Oh please, Mabel," Stella corrected her, "Trolls don't even wear shoes. Even if they did, they would be so last decade."
"They are battle-ready savages, after all," Brandon added. "They could care less about how they look as long as they get their target."
"What a sad existence," Stella commented.
They then see the footprint trail until they see that it suddenly stops. Wendy kneeled down and scooped up some mud with two fingers and sniffed it, grossing some of the group out. "Someone cast magic here and got the troll to safety," Wendy told the others.
"Can you find out what kind of magic, Helia," Brandon asked as Helia raised his hand and cast a detecting spell.
"There's a lot of dark magic in the area, which means the troll had multiple magic casters as allies," Helia warned the others.
"That does make sense. Trolls can't cast spells, after all," Sky said.
"Then that means the troll had some outside help," Dipper, Wendy, Timmy, Musa, Helia, and Tecna all said at the same time, surprising each other.
"Well, now we know theirs more than one culprit for this case," Riven said, ready to go into the swamp, but Flora stopped him.
"You just can't go in there blind. You'll get lost unless you're magical and listen to the voice of the forest," Flora warned Riven.
"Or if you know the forest like the back of your hand," Wendy added, rubbing salt on the wound.
Tecna huffs, crosses her thick arms, and turns her head. "It's easy for you to say, Flora. You're a Lymphian. We Zenithians are useless when it comes to organic matter, like fruits, vegetables, and the great outdoors."
"So that's why you stuff yourself with the greasiest of foods? Don't lie because I know about your secret candy stash," Musa snarks at her.
Mabel steps forward and says "Um...That's my candy stash, actually."
Riven grumbles and angrily says "Enough talk about fast foods and sugary sweets. We have a troll to catch."
"He's right, Tecna, and when we get back, we have got to talk about your diet," Flora says to her honestly. She then closes her eyes and feels the energy of the forest around her, sensing all of the people, animals, creatures, and plant life in the forest. She then opens her eyes and says "I know where to go, girls. Follow me." The other fairies follow her.
"I honestly hope we don't regret this," Tecna said, unimpressed that the fairy of technology has to go into the heart of the forest.
Sometime later, the 8 Winx fairies and the 6 specialists trek through the forest in their own direction. Brandon and Wendy were in front of the group, chopping a path with their techno weapons, the phantoblades. Brandon has a blue, translucent long double-edged sword, which looks like a lightsaber with a medieval sword hilt, and Wendy has a double-handled, translucent green double-edged ax. Behind them, are the rest of the specialists with their respective weapons out, and the Winx Club helping out by keeping an eye out. Little do they know, the sounds they make while walking down the forest floor and Riven's complaints cause a threat to loom nearby, but not the kind of threat they would expect.
"Ugh," Complained Riven, who got slapped in the face with a few free branches. "Who's idea was it to leave our hoverbikes behind? Because I'm blaming Timmy for this."
"And where would the bikes go, Riven," Wendy began. "There's no goddamn room in this forest for bikes."
"Besides, the sounds of the bikes and our voices would alert the troll, causing him to hide away," Timmy explained to the group.
"God?" Riven said, suspicious. "What kind of god do you worship that's just named 'God'?" Before someone else can speak, they hear something slithering on the floor of the forest.
"What was that?" Brandon asked, tightening his grip on his phantoblade. The others get their weapons out. Sky's weapon was a green dual-wielding broadsword and Riven's resembled a pink katana. Timmy, however, had a different weapon than the rest of the blade users; it looks a futuristic pistol-like weapon, and Helia had a light blue whip from his phantoblade. Surprisingly, Musa pulled out two daggers that looked like music notes that she had kept hidden in her clothes.
"Seriously?" Riven scoffed.
"At least mine's not battery-powered," Musa said back to him.
Sky stepped forward and got tangled up in some vines, which appeared to be moving up his leg and tying him up. He was soon hung upside down a couple of feet in the air from his leg, with his sword still in his hand. He screamed loudly in the process as he was yanked upside down. As he screamed, the vine grew tighter on him, trying not to let him go.
"What in the name of the Great Dragon is this, Timmy?" Riven demanded as some more vines wrapped him up like a mummy.
Timmy was getting his handheld tablet out from his thigh as he was wrapped up by the vines. "This is impossible, but I think the vines in this forest are alive."
Wendy, in response, brandished their axe in her hands, trying to cut down the vines that held their allies. Musa was joining her as she was slashing the vines that held the other specialists, including the ones that held Riven.
"Whatever it is, guys, it's official that WE NEED HELP," shouted Sky. The other specialists minus Wendy yell in fear and pain as they get hoisted into the air, bonded by the vines as Wendy tries to free the specialists.
"Try not to cut down the vines too much, Wendy," Flora asked of her. "I can hear some of the vines in pain."
"Sorry, Flora, but they're not leaving me much choice," Wendy said as she flipped back. "You of all people should know that nature is both beautiful and deadly."
"Just like yours truly," Stella flaunted.
"Is now really the best time, Stella?" Bloom scowled as Stella looked away.
"Besides, they'll grow back," Musa said as she slashed another vine. "Like how they're growing back rapidly right now and outnumbering us!"
"We have to go help them!" Bloom said, sounding both determined and nervous.
"Can we even do anything? We're not allowed to use our powers on this trip. " Stella seemed guilty after saying this. "Musa and Wendy are the only ones that can cut down the vines, and I'm pretty sure my staff can't cut through it.
"I'm afraid my trident won't be of much help, either," Layla said.
"And these damned vines will tangle up my drills," Tecna said.
"Where are you all getting those things, anyway?" Dipper asked them all.
"Maybe we want some weapons, too," Bloom added.
"We don't need them anyway. Not when we got…" Mabel said as she paused for the dramatic effect to kick in, which seemed to be working from the eyes of the others. "Da da da! GRAPPLING HOOK!" At the end of her sentence, she pulled out the famous grappling hook.
Musa seems to be unimpressed at that tool Mabel was holding that she only saw once on their first day at Alfea. "Are you sure that can help all of us?" she asked Mabel.
"Of course it can, Musie," Mabel assured her friend with a nickname as she face-palmed.
"Let me rephrase that; are you sure it can hold her?" Musa said, pointing to the 6-and-a-half-foot giant known as Tecna, who was trying to get a good read of the vines.
"If it's about my size, I can assure you that I'm only 325 pounds. It's a perfectly average weight for a Zenithian girl my height and age," Tecna assured her. "Besides, I just want to get out of here as soon as possible. Dipping Sauce promised me he would show me some of his Earth video games and I don't want this lesson to go late into the night."
"You two better not be playing through the new Horizon game without me," Wendy asked them as she as starting to get overpowered by the vines.
"Did you call him that because you bonded with him because he's smart like the both of us or did you call him that because it's around lunchtime and you need to eat?" Musa told her, clearly not giving a shit about Tecna's sisterly instinct to the youngest member of the Winx Club.
"Do I have the option to say both," Tecna asked politely.
"Save the argument for later," Bloom suggested. "We got our friends to save from the vines."
At that moment, Flora examines her surroundings and takes in some of the vines' importance. She then immediately shushes everyone on the spot. She then took out a notepad and wrote down as quickly as she could 'No one make a noise. The vines around us are the Quietous Carnivorous, also known as the Melodian Sound Vines. They are very sensitive to sound so no one makes a noise if you want to live.'
Stella reads this and laughs out loud. "The Melodian Sound Vines," she jokingly said, "How preposterous. They only exist on Melodi-WHOA HEY!" As she finishes her sentence, she gets hoisted into the air by her ankles. "GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!" She yells in fear. As Flora tries to calm the plant down, Musa jumps from branch to branch and cuts down Stella with her safari hat without making a noise, and then cuts down everyone else that was tangled as well. Musa lands in an awesome manner as Stella is caught by Sky in a romantic pose. Helia lands gracefully, Timmy is caught by Tecna, Brandon is barely caught by Bloom, and Riven lands by himself because nobody can catch him
Musa then sighs quietly and goes to Flora, takes the notepad and pencil, and writes down something. 'You're welcome,' Musa wrote down as they all physically thanked her with thumbs up and the like. At that moment, the vines started circling them as they tried to get back what they were owed. Flora points ahead and jesters for them to move ahead, but quietly. At that moment, everyone started running for their dear lives.
"Ugh, this place is so muggy!" Darcy roared as she and the other Trix were walking in the swamp. Icy was leading the pack, as usual, while Stormy was behind her with her powers active. Darcy was in the back, making sure Pacifica was safe as she did not like for her to be in the woods for an extended period of time.
"You just know this place is going to mess up my hair," Pacifica said, worried her hair might be ruined from this.
"See? At least SOMEONE gets it..." Darcy agreed with Pacifica as she turned to face another witch. "Stormy..."
"It's not my fault you two don't embrace a natural style like mine," Stormy says as she fluffs up her hair.
"What, you mean your bedhead?" Pacifica says, earning a high five from Darcy. Darcy laughs at the comment as well as Stormy scoffs.
"And this is why you will never get a date, Darcy," Stormy told Darcy.
"Sisters, focus!" Icy turned to them "Troll first, and then we can troll each other later."
"Just another day for the Trix, am I right sisters?" Pacifica said as she moved on through the swamp. Icy just looks at her and smiles, but she does wonder what she'd think of her when she finds out about the deal she made with her ancestor or the things shed have to do.
As soon as the Winx Cub and the Specialists all get out of range of the Sound Vines, everyone takes a breather, especially Tecna. "I...really...gotta...start...working out...again..." Tecna said with each breath as Dipper got off her back, letting her take a break.
"You work out, Tec?" Dipper asked curiously.
"Indeed I do," Tecna replied with pride. "You think I'm all fat? I'm a perfect blend of fat and muscle in all the right places, dipping sauce." She smiles as that as she puts her arms up to show him. "In fact, I do partake in a sport that uses brute strength and it's quite popular on Zenith. Two big people like myself, fighting for dominance in a ring-like arena. It's quite a show, don't you agree?"
"And here I thought you were just a lazy glutton who spends all day in front of a screen pressing buttons," Stella replied to her honestly, earning a glare from Tecna.
"You just haven't seen Tecna in her element," Timmy said as he adjusted his glasses. "Once she's determined, she becomes a mountain of steel who can beat you without so much as entertain her."
"Your words of encouragement are the reason why you and I are compatible," Tecna said as she winked at Timmy.
"Save the romances when we aren't covered in bugs, gunk, and vine remains," Musa said.
"Musa is right," Helia vouched. "We have a troll to catch, and a grade to earn." Both Brandon and Bloom agree to this, and as such, their search for troll and home resumes.
As they walked off together, Musa walked up to Riven. "I believe you want this back," Musa said, handing him his phantoblade back.
Riven takes it from her in a hurry. "My Phantoblade!" Riven reattaches it back to his side "Thanks, Musa. Coradonta would have had my head on his wall if I lost another phantoblade."
"Eh, well don't think of me as a charity," Musa said, trying to reestablish a friendship. "Besides, you aren't entirely useless with a sword."
"I should say the same to you with those knives," Riven pointed out. "You're not bad."
"Dad made sure I had some self-defense classes. Mix that with some of my music and sound magic, and you might as well be a ninja at that point," Musa elaborated.
"But it doesn't matter anyway because you are all scared of the prisoner," Riven disclosed to Musa. As Riven said that, Musa's smile turned into a frown in a split second and pushed him away out of rage. Musa then walks to Flora, who tries to calm the small-ranging fury down.
"Sorry to say, Riven, but if you don't team up with us, then you're on your own," Sky told him. Riven then pouts and sighs, defeated, and regretfully teams up with the Winx Club with his squad of specialists. They got themselves all ready and walked through the forest, with Flora leading the group due to her connection with nature and Wendy for her tracking skills. Tecna and Timmy were in the back because their tech know-how was not as useful in this situation.
"It kind of sucks when you aren't being useful," Timmy said. "I know I'm already on thin ice for not fitting the mold, but I'm trying my best to pull my weight."
"Don't worry about all that nonsense," Tecna said, putting her arm around his shoulder. "We have our own strengths and weaknesses. You see how Flora and Wendy are up there and how they lead us through this natural nightmare? This is their turf."
"That is true," Timmy thought about it out loud. "But imagine if we get a chance to use our tech know-how."
"Then we would be in charge and our skills would shine brighter than Stella's magic," Tecna elaborated. "You and I would have our moment in time." Timmy smiles and holds her hand as she holds his back. Further ahead, Dipper and Wendy were chatting about life and such.
"So, I don't think that date's happening tonight, " Dipper told Wendy. "Today's lesson is wiping !e out."
"That's fair. Today's just been exhausting," Wendy agreed with him. "Let's try to do it this weekend. I got nothing to do."
"Looking forward to it," Dipper said as Mabel and Flora saw them.
"You two are so cute together!" Flora complimented.
"Oh you should have seen their shenanigans over the summer," Mabel teased. Dipper grumbled while Wendy smiled at Dipper.
"Hey, some of those things were fun," Wendy reminded him. "Remember the time we took down a cult together."
"Yeah, that was kind of fun," Dipper remembered the Society of the Blind Eye.
"It's true," Mabel told Flora. "And I learned 3 things that day. The angst of a hillbilly, my own personality not needing to be changed by others to fit certain checkmarks, and Wendy hating rap music."
"Mabel, we've been over this," Wendy grunted. "I don't hate rap music. I just hate BAD music."
"Straight Blanchin isn't that bad," Mabel tried to tell her. As Wendy was about to answer that, Musa jumped in.
"Please do not tell me that you actually like that crime against music," Musa said.
"THANK YOU FOR SAYING IT!" Wendy said as she felt at ease with Musa.
"Aw man, Musa. I thought you'd like it," Mabel said as Flora leaned in, curious to know what was going on.
"Sounds like you guys had one heck of a summer," Flora noted.
"Oh, you have no idea," Dipper said, keeping some stories a secret for another day. Behind them, Bloom smiles at how everyone was, for the most part, getting along and Stella noticed this.
"I've never seen you this happy to track down a troll. Is everything ok?" Stella asked Bloom.
"Oh?" Bloom said, noticing the smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm better than fine. I'm just happy I have friends who are just as weird as I am."
Stella brings Bloom into a side hug and smiles at her. "Here's to the weirdness in life. Just good friends, magic powers, and awesome weapons."
"Just like In my DDMD campaigns," Bloom noted as they both giggled at this.
Eventually, they all reached a giant mud pit with decent-sized stepping stones scattered throughout the pond. The group of 14 of them all see this and Mabel chuckles at this. Riven, still pissed about Musa blowing him off, got a little angry at Mabel.
"What could possibly be so damn funny?" Riven demanded as Flora, Dipper, and Stella gave him a look for being angry with her.
"Don't you see," Mabel told them. "It's like a giant game of hopscotch." She then starts hopping from stone to stone, impressing everyone. She then reaches the end of the pond and signals for everyone to come over.
Soon after she signals, everyone starts to come over. Some came over quickly, like Musa, Riven, Helia, and Wendy. Others were slow and more calculated with their landings, like Dipper, Timmy, Layla, and Tecna. Unfortunately, Timmy missteps one stone and falls face-first into the mud. Some of them start to laugh, while Tecna and Stella help clean him off, but Riven kept getting more pissed.
"Now we have to add another clumsy person to the list," Riven said, tired of this day and wanting to go back home. Wendy nudges him as he falls into the mud himself.
"Whoops," Wendy said, unapologetic, "You should really be careful not to trip over your lack of balls." Brandon laughs at the joke and high-fives Wendy in response. Riven rose from the mud, tired of being the butt of every joke and the constant disrespect told today.
Tecna And Stella finishes up cleaning up Timmy from the mud. "Just because I'm a bit of a slob, doesn't mean others have to be as well," Tecna told him with Timmy in awe at her beauty.
"There you are. Now you look presentable again," Stella said as she finished up. The group then keeps moving as Timmy walks with Dipper for a second.
"I just want to say thank you for helping me get with Tecna. Ever since we met, it feels like everything just clicked into place," Timmy whispers to Dipper.
"It's nothing, really," Dipped explained to Timmy. "Faragomda and Griselda did say to help establish a good relationship with the 3 schools, so I just wanted to help a friend by helping her get close to another friend."
"Well, your gamble paid off in spades, Dipper," Timmy said. "Tecna and I are really good for one another. We are both smart, innovative, cyborgs from our home planet Zenith, and can see things others can't."
"Thanks," Dipper smiled. "Usually Mabel's the one who ships people together like she's a chosen matchmaker or a regular Tumblr shipper. It's how she used the love god's potion to ship a mutual friend of mine and Wendy's with one of Wendy's exes."
"Robbie Valentino, if I recall," Timmy remembered. "Wendy told us about all her past boyfriends while we as a squad were hanging out after classes."
"Surprisingly, I don't hate him as much as before," Dipper said. As the two of them were talking, Tecna dragged Wendy to her side so she could talk to her.
"So, while our boys are talking, I believe we should talk as well," Tecna said. "You and Dipper seem to get along really well. Did you kiss him yet?"
"Of course we get along. Dipper treats me like he would anyone else. Heck, he and I survived the weirdmageddon and a Mad Max-like road chase. And a few minutes after that he gave a speech to one of his greatest foes about love... and striving to be worthy of another love," Wendy said to Tecna, who was very interested in the story. "That's when I kind of knew that... I love him. And this was after I dumped him due to differences in maturity like a month and a half before."
"He just wants to make sure you can smile when you yourself can't," Tecna said. "In the very short time I have known him, Dipper is one of the most thoughtful friends I know. He's informative and ready to learn, he's very determined, and he is brave. Above all, he is kind... even if his body order does not match his personality."
"Mabel and a few others keep saying he smells awful, but I don't smell it," Wendy admits. "Probably because I was raised with a single dad with 3 brothers, and currently share the same dorm with a prince, a squire, a cyborg, a jackass, and an artist."
"Oh trust me, he smells worse than a post-ball dress," Layla said as she interrupted. "And what's worse is that Stella and Flora keep complaining about it."
"Trust me, this is not a natural smell that should be smelled," Flora interjects.
"I'll at least give him a talk about it," Wendy says to them. "Even if I can't smell it."
"Bless your nose-blind self, Specialist Corduroy," Layla thanked her as the four of them laughed.
"Oh come on, I don't smell that bad," Dipper pouts.
"If you take a shower tonight, we'll see that new movie that comes out this weekend, on me," Wendy promises.
"Ok, fine, but only because you asked," Dipper agreed. "Even though it's a waste of time and resources."
"Magic is eternal, Dipper, but personal hygiene is not," Stella noted to Dipper. Suddenly, the group hears girly screaming not too far from where they are at.
"Wait a second..." Musa said, shocked at what she was hearing. "I recolonize that scream. That's Francine, one of our classmates."
"Then let's get going, Winx Club. That troll's going to attack our fellow fairies and we're going to stop him from doing so," Bloom said, raising the spirits of her teammates as they rushed to where the scream was coming from, while the Specialists followed suit.
"Remember, we need the troll alive," Brandon ordered. "No sudden heroics of any kind, and that includes the fairies."
"YES, SQUAD LEADER!" The specialists, besides Wendy, barked out.
"I'll try my best," Wendy casually said as she adjusted her hat.
"And no magic unless it's life or death," Stella pointed at her fellow fairies. "I don't want to fail this class."
"It's like the beginning of the semester," Musa pointed out as she drew out her knives.
In another clear section of the swamp, a bunch of female students was huddled together while a giant blue troll with long black hair, terrible teeth, and breath, what appeared to be nipple rings and a brown, stained loin cloth on his body. The troll then roars at them, showering the girls with spit and flem and forcing them to smell his disgusting breath, which is a mixture of musk, fish, and decay. One of the girls in the group almost vomited on the spot, another one fainted, and Francine was too petrified to speak.
The troll then bent down and grabbed a fallen tree branch. He then lifted his tree branch and spoke in a rough voice.
"FOR THE GLORY OF THE ANCESTRAL WITCHES!" The troll roared at the top of his lungs.
Before he could slam the tree branch down, a laser was shot and destroyed more than half of the branch. The troll looked at his newly destroyed makeshift weapon and then looked at the direction of the blast, seeing Timmy's sharpshooting skills that destroyed his weapon. The other specialists had their weapons out as Tecna cracked her knuckles and Musa cracked her neck, chuckling as they did so. Musa pulled out her knives, Tecna's watches shifted and covered her hands, becoming drills, Flora pulled out a small vine that became an elegant vine whip, Stella took her ring as it became her staff, Layla did the same with her ring as it became a Trident, and Mabel pulled out her grappling hook once more. Bloom and Dipper see this and while they are jealous of not being able to help, they both go over to Francine's group.
"I'll distract the troll. Dipper and Bloom, you two make sure the others are safe. The rest are on me" Tecna demanded with a smile as the people she mentioned nodded.
"Way ahead of you, Tec," Dipper said, making sure to safeguard some fairies.
"But wait, how will you be able to distract the troll without magic?" Bloom asks Tecna, as the cyborg fairy starts to laugh.
"Bloom, you have much to learn," Tecna told her. "I might be the smartest member of the Winx Club, but I am also the strongest as well. My strength, my training, and with my Electro-drills, this troll is nothing more than defeated."
The troll then roars out a mighty battle cry and rushes at Tecna, who rushes in and stops the troll in its tracks. The troll grunts as Tecna and roars in her face. Tecna then smirks and roars back at the troll.
"I've distracted it, now do your thing," Tecna told the others. The specialists charge at the troll as Tecna pushes it away, making it stumble. Sky and Brandon were slashing at its hard skin with their swords, making dents in it, but not making it bleed. Helia and Flora used their whips to hold back an arm each. Musa used her speed to slash behind the troll's knees to make it bend, and Mabel shot its stomach with her grappling hook, forcing the troll down. All while Wendy, Layla, Stella, and Riven were pointing their weapons at the Troll.
"Look at that, Riven," Wendy pointed out. "We actually did it."
"Guess we did do it," Riven said back at her.
"Riven, the handcuffs," Brandon ordered Riven. Riven nods as he charges up to the troll with the handcuffs, but Timmy accidentally shoots it while trying to tell it not to stand up, breaking the restraint in two.
"TIMMY, YOU ACTUAL SON OF A BITCH!" Riven shouts at Timmy. The specialists all gasped at that and the Winx Club, particularly Bloom and Dipper, were on the verge of transforming to help their new friends, but the other fairies were laughing at the specialists.
"Looks like the Specialists of debauchery strike again," Francine and her friends said, laughing at them as the troll saw this as an opportunity to escape. He then flung Flora and Helia over its head and towards the others and then sped into the forest, feeling a little sore from the battle it was just in.
"That could have gotten a hell of a lot better," Wendy whispered to herself, helping her friends and allies from the aftermath of the battle, but sees Riven, Timmy, Brandon, and Sky arguing with themselves while Helia was trying to get them to calm down with no luck. Stella and Dipper
The troll was stumbling through the woods, with drips of blood dripping down from his knees and holding his stomach from the pain of the grappling hook. "Stupid fairies...stupid specialists... they didn't play nicely," The troll murdered himself as he started to feel cold from the wind as the forest suddenly turned dark. Soon, his metallic teeth and nipple rings were being pulled in front of him. From the shadows, out came Icy, who was smiling menacingly at him. Followed behind are Darcy, Stormy, and Pacifica.
"Look who we have here, dear sisters. The troll that escaped," Icy told her allies coldly. The troll gulped in response, knowing full well that he was going to die today.
"Mistress Icy... please spare me. I told not of your plan with the staff of Solaria and the power you seek from it," He begged them. "I ain't no snitch. Honest to the dragon."
"Can we really trust this brute? He's so disgusting," Stormy said as she cringed. "Make me want to puke."
"He is telling the truth, sisters," Darcy said. "He did not tell them anything about what's going on."
"Still, it's better to not leave any witnesses," Icy said as she prepared an ice blast. "I'd say it's been fun... but I never liked pawns."
"SPARE ME!" The troll begged. At that moment, Pacifica pulled out a postcard from her glove and flung it at the troll, teleporting him and the postcard out of existence.
"Was that a card door?" Darcy said as she looked at Pacifica.
"You know I don't like killing," Pacifica said. "So I sent the troll you three hired to Gravity Falls, Oregon, so he can spend the rest of his life without fear."
"Won't the people of Earth know of a troll?" Darcy asked Pacifica. "What you did was very risky."
"It's Gravity Falls, sister," Pacifica answered. "It houses gnomes, ghosts, manotaurs, and other weird stuff. I'm telling you, a troll to them is about as normal as things get."
"Hidden in plain sight while keeping your morals in check," Icy said as she bent down at Pacifica. "You've done well."
"But you should have told us," Stormy whined. "Then I would have come up with a cool line."
"Now where's the fun in that?" Pacifica snickers. Darcy smiles at what she said.
"You truly are a witch, Pacifica," Darcy complimented her while joining in on her snickering.
As they all snickered, they soon teleported away back to Cloud Tower as their work was done. The second they disappeared, Musa, Dipper, Helia, and Wendy go up to the area of the laughter and look around.
"I thought I heard something here," Dipper told Musa, curiously.
"If you've heard something, then I've heard something as well, Dipper. It was the Trix," Musa assures the small group that went looking for the troll. "The four of them somehow got the troll and disappeared into the shadows."
"So the Trix are somehow behind the troll and ogre attack back at Gardenia," Wendy pieced together. "Did Pacifica even know about all of this when she joined them?"
"Maybe, but maybe they're not telling her everything," Dipper said as he hugged Wendy. "I was told about how you and Pacifica were close."
"I just hope we get this all straightened out, man," Wendy said as she hugged him back. Helia and Musa then worried about the two of them. Neither of them wanted to have the heart to let them down, so they both refrained from telling them.
A long while later, the Winx Club and the Specalists returned to the crash site and fixed the ship up, even the other four specialists all agreed on a truce and managed to work together and apologized. Riven was also forced to make a truce with Dipper as he agreed to work with him so they can all get out and call it a day. As a token of their friendship, the specialists all took the Winx to the end of the lesson back at Alfea, landing in front of the professor and the rest of the students. They all said their goodbyes to one another as the specialists left for Red Fountain.
"Well, well, well," said Professor Palladium with a smile. "If it isint the MVPs of today's lesson."
"MVP's?" Mabel said, shocked as the elvish professor nodded.
"Indeed, young Mabel," Palladium assured her. "Even though you all came last in today's exercise, this lesson wasn't about who can get here the fastest, but more so who can get here the in the honorable way, even though you had specialist help for the latter half of their mission." As he said that, the other fairy students all complained about the Winx's method of how they completed the lesson. "It's not my fault, girls. Plus, half of you all used magic in today's lesson and none of the Winx used their magic at all. They showed patience and they demonstrated a great use of their problem-solving skills to do so. The ones who did not use magic all pass with an A. The ones who did use magic all get a C. Now, let's head back inside for a good meal and a good night's rest."
Meanwhile, back at Red Fountain's ship hanger, the 6 specialists were all working on the ship that was damaged as punishment for not bringing in the troll for their assignment. "Well," began Riven, "This mission was a complete bust."
"Tell me about it," Wendy said, working on the wiring of the ship. "But we did learn some valuable lessons about teamwork, honesty, and forgiveness, even if we do end up having to fix this hunk of junk."
"She's right, guys. It does help bond a team together," Timmy added, working on the program of the ship. "And I've never been a part of a squad before. I was always the loner nerd."
"You know what, guys," Brandon said, brushing his blond hair away, "I think this could be the start of a brand new specialist team."
They all share a laugh as both Wendy and Helia notice some tension between the other 4 to one another.
"Looks like we got to make sure to not let these guys kill one another," Helia whispered to Wendy. "I'll take the first watch tonight."
"Thanks, but I think this might blow over after we get some sleep," Wendy said as she yawned. "Honestly glad Dipper and I postponed our date."
"I just wish the others were as understanding as he is," Helia said as he pointed to Brandon and Riven staring down at one another. "Because I don't think either one of those two is gonna survive the year."
As the 8 Fairies head back to their rooms after the long day outside in the swamp, Dipper is barely able to walk because of how tired he is as Flora takes the liberty of cleaning everyone off with her magic and back in their original clothes. Everyone else was extremely tired as well from the lesson. "Phew," Mabel said, exhausted, "What a day, am I right, ladies?"
"You're not wrong, Mabel," Layla told her truthfully. "We passed a lesson, we bonded with each other and the boys and even though we lost the troll, I had a fun day today. We should bond more often together as a group."
"And I showed Riven that... I'm... the...," Dipper tried speaking as he passed out on the couch. Musa took one of the throw blankets in the living room and tossed it over him.
"You sure did, buddy," Musa said. As she did that, Tecna noticed that his watch was broken so she took it off his wrist.
"Wait, Tecna, what are you doing?" Flora asked as Mabel saw.
"Aw man, his favorite watch broke," Mabel said, telling the others about it. "Mom gave it to him for our 11th birthday and he's loved it since."
"Which is why I am going to fix it for him," Tecna told Flora and Mabel. "He introduced me to Timmy, and he is now my boyfriend. This is the least I can do for him."
"You are a true friend, Tecna," Stella said to Tecna. As she did, she saw Bloom looking out the window. "Yo, bestie. Are you doing ok over there?"
"I'm just thinking about something, Stella," Bloom said earnestly. "Between witches, your ring, Brandon, and all these powers, we have no shortage of adventures we're gonna go on."
"Ooh, Brandon? Do you have a crush on him?" Stella teased Bloom.
"You know, I'm an expert matchmaker," Mabel added. "I can help set up a date for the both of you."
"Thank you Mabel, but that's something I wanna do on my own," Bloom said as she looked at her phone and saw a photo of her she took in the swamp. A photo between a redhead named Bloom and a blonde named Brandon.