Gravity Winx
By adventuremaker21
Chapter 13: The Monster and the Willow
Author's note: Chapter 13 is here, and if you love Flora, then this chapter is for you! Hope you enjoy and don't forget to leave a review.
After the hell that was the simulation test, the Winx rested up as much as they could that night, especially for Dipper, Mabel, and Bloom, who were sleeping off that horrible, horrible midterm, even though the trio passed with an A. But the next morning, that cheerful rest would come to an end as Bloom woke up to the sound of Stella yelling.
"DRAGON-FUCKING DAMNIT, FLORA!" Stella yelled, instantly waking up Bloom. She had never heard her this angry before, so this was something to be concerned over. Bloom then got up, dressed as best she could, and left her room to see that there were plants, vines, and all nature of nature covering the entire dorm.
"What's going on here?" Bloom asked Stella and Flora, who were in the middle of an argument. "And why are there plants everywhere?!"
"Gee, I don't know, blame the nature fairy for this," Stella said as she angrily pointed at Flora.
"It's not my fault that I got a potions exam coming up, so I need to prepare the best potion I can think of," Flora said as she tried to defend herself from Stella's anger.
"You've been trying to do this for a while now, ever since last month's Cloud Tower break-in," Stella said. "You were all like 'I'm going to use the power of flowers to thwart the witches' evil spells.'"
"First of all, I do not sound like that, and second, not all of us can afford to lounge around while the rest of us work our butts off," Flora argued with Stella. As she said that, both Dipper and Mabel were shoved out of their rooms by a sentient plant.
"Hey, let us back in!" Mabel said as she hit the door. "Our stuff is inside."
"Yeah, I was in the middle of adding some stuff to my journal," Dipper said, suddenly having a scary thought. "DON'T YOU DARE WRITE ANYTHING IN MY JOURNAL, YOU WEED!"
"And that's how we all fail because someone decided to turn all of our rooms into one big greenhouse!" Stella said as Flora saw Mabel and Dipper suffering from her plant fiasco and was shocked.
"Dipper, Mabel, are you both alright?" Flora said, realizing that she had gone a step too far,
"And it's not just them who's suffering, Flora. Your plants got into my closet!" Stella yelled at Flora.
"Wait, you mean our closet, right?" Bloom asked as the five of them entered Bloom and Stella's dorm.
"Yeah, that," Stella corrected herself. "So I might have given Flora permission to put her stuff on our window because they need a lot of sunlight and I am sunlight incarnate, but look where they are now!" Stella then pointed to the closet where the plants demonstrated their curiosity about fashion , trying on everything. "THEY'RE TRYING ON MY CLOTHES!"
"That's not too bad, is it?" Dipper asked.
"Normally, I'd be willing to share since nobody should be without a good sense of fashion, Dipper," Stella said while taunting Dipper's brown sweatshirt, khaki pants, blue shoes, and the trapper hat he got from Wendy at the end of the summer. "BUT LOOK, THEY'RE MIXING COLORS AND SEASONS! THEY'RE SO REPUGNANT!"
"Stella, this isn't that bad," Bloom said. "Maybe Flora can ask them to stop."
"Yeah, but make it snappy. They're even thinking about using my makeup and jewelry!" Stella pleaded with them all.
"I guess they want that all-natural look," Mabel joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Mabel, this is serious," Stella said. "What if these plants started trying on your sweaters?" This made Mabel gasp.
"NOBODY TRIES ON MY SWEATERS WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!" Mabel yelled out.
"Trust me, it's the last thing you should do," Dipper said, warning the others about this. "Last time I did it because it was so cold out, Mabel put makeup on me while I slept."
"He turned out to be very pretty," Mabel said proudly.
"Ooh, cute. Got any pics?" Stella said as Dipper grunted.
"Don't we have other roommates to check on? They could be trapped by Flora's insane plants," Dipper said as he headed towards Musa and Tecna's room.
"My plants aren't insane, Dipper," Flora said, defending her plants. "Even Tecna hasn't said anything about it." As they went into their room, they saw that it was clean as usual.
"Yo, what up?" Musa said, greeting them.
"Oh hey Musa," Dipper waved back. "Are you doing well?"
"Have you guys had any issues with plants lately?" Flora asked.
"Uh not really, no," Musa asked, confused at what was going on.
"Because I asked Tecna to keep an eye on some seeds in her dark, damp, and unsafe closet," Flora said as she opened up a closet door to show Tecna bound by vines and weeds. Normally, Tecna would have broken free from the vines, but they had bound themselves so tight, not even the team muscle could do it.
"TECNA!" Dipper yelled in horror as he went to try to help her.
"HOLY SHIT, TECNA!" Musa said as she jumped out of her bed to try to free their wrapped-up friend. At that was happening, Layla screamed from the bathroom and ran out of it, pissed.
"WHO FLOODED THE BATHTUB WITH SEAWEED AND OTHER PLANTS?!" Layla said, demanding answers. Both Stella and Musa immediately pointed at Flora.
"OH, COME ON," Flora yelled. "IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" Dipper then removed the vines from Tecna's mouth so she could speak again.
"You will pay for shoving veggies in my mouth, Flora," Tecna promised.
"It might be best if you said you were sorry," Mabel suggested. "After all, nobody could predict any of this happening."
"As much as I like to walk through nature, I do not want to do it indoors," Layla added. This all annoyed Flora, so she used her magic to shrink down her plants and put them and some equipment from her room into her bag.
"Well, it looks like I'm off to the Black Mud Swamp," Flora said, clearly pissed that every one of her friends, including Mabel, was telling her that her plants spilling out everywhere and flooding their living quarters was not a good idea.
"Wait, the Black Mud Swamp?" Bloom asked. "The one from our field trip a few months back?"
"Why would you EVER go back to that accursed place?" Stella asked Flora.
"Because CLEARLY my plants are an issue and since you guys need space to do whatever you want to do, I've decided to go out to the swamp to do my research in Mother Nature's embrace," Flora explained as she got her bag and was ready to head out the door.
"Ugh, the swamp," Tecna said as she shivered. "Not a fun place to be."
"Tecna's right, Flora," Dipper added on. "Remember that one lesson where we were forced to find our way back without magic?"
"Oh yeah, the time we got sidetracked to look for a troll," Mabel added to that. "That was NOT a fun day."
"Look, Flora, we're sorry for yelling at you," Bloom said as she thought of an idea. "I know, why don't we all pitch in and help Flora out? So that way she's not stuck out there for hours and doesn't have to face any threat alone."
"What?" Musa asked angrily.
"You must be joking," Tecna added.
"Dipper and Mabel are right, Flora," Bloom said. "The Black Mud Swamp is a dangerous place to be alone. So let us come with you?"
Flora thought about it for a while.
"Are you all gonna complain about the plants?" Flora asked of them.
"Of course not," Stella said.
"My dad has a garden back home, so no," Musa added.
"Tecna? What about you?" Flora said as she eyed the fat cyborg. Tecna sighed.
"I won't let myself stand in the way of helping you with your project," Tecna said to Flora, who smiled at her determination.
"Good enough for me," Flora said as she put her bag on her back and waited until the rest of them were ready to go. "Let's go to the swamp!"
Meanwhile, back in Alfea's simulation room, Palladium was working with a new person to determine what went wrong with the code. Off to the side, a man who looked almost exactly like him was helping with the system's wiring, even though he had no idea what exactly to do.
"Thank you so much for agreeing to help out, Stanford," Palladium said as he was tinkering with the code .
"It's no problem at all," Stanford said, his arms disappearing amongst the machine's wiring. "Faragonda's an old friend of mine I met during my portal travels. Never thought I'd get to work with her again."
"And sorry we had to drag your brother here as well," Palladium said, pointing to Stanford's brother, who was leaning against a wall. "Stanley, was it?"
"Call me Stan," Stan said. "And don't sweat it, elf boy. Sailing without adventure had started to become boring."
"As long as we get to work on this magnificent contraption, I think we'll be just fine," Ford said as Stan scoffed at him.
"Nerd alert," Stan joked as Ford chucked a light tool at him, laughing at his own joke.
"Hey, just because this thing is basically a holodeck from Star Trek, doesn't mean you get to call me a nerd," Ford warned him.
"Whatever you say, dork," Stan snickered, and Palladium couldn't help but chuckle at their back-and-forth banter. Stan and Ford reminded him of Dipper and Mabel, which made sense given that these two were their great uncles. "Whatever happened to this thing, anyway?"
"Oh, we think it might have been sabotage from students at a rival school called Cloud Tower," Palladium explained to the older pair of twins. "Luckily, things calmed down before it could hurt the three powerful students who were taking a midterm at the time."
"That kind of reminds me of the time Ford and I did something like that to our rivals at Beach City High when they stole our school mascot," Stan explained. "So we coated their entire gym with sand just before a big game of theirs."
"It was probably the most fun I had in high school," Ford said as he smiled. "And probably the last illegal thing I did before... the incident."
"Yeah... that," Stan said, remembering the day when he got kicked out of his home just before graduation. He also remembered that he never received a GED.
"You two must have lived quite a life," Palladium said, hearing them both talk.
"Oh, you have no idea," they said as Faragonda entered the control room.
"Greetings gentlemen," Faragonda said. "How are the repairs?"
"They're progressing faster than expected, actually," Ford said, happy to see his old friend again. "We should have this done before the end of the day."
"And just before my next class," Palladium added. "Which is wonderful." He then stood up and faced Faragonda. "It's lucky you had him as a member of the Company of Light."
"Which is related to what I want to ask," Ford said as he set down his tools. "I think it might be time to reassemble the Company of Light."
"Reassemble the Company of Light?" Faragonda repeated as she turned away. "That might be hard to do."
"What, did someone die or something?" Stan asked without taking a second to think about it.
"Goodness no," Faragonda answered. "It's just that my ex-husband and ex-wife got into a very bad divorce with me, so things have been awkward since Domino's downfall. Not to mention my daughter and son-in-law won't return to the Magix Alliance due to their self-imposed exile."
"What about Hagen, the blacksmith that helped craft your weapons?" Palladium asked.
"Well, he hasn't been seen since then," Faragonda said. "I think he actually might be dead."
"Bummer," Stan said, not knowing who any of those people are.
"But despite that, you briefly mentioned a dark force that was sensed by you," Ford asked. "Was this force connected to the Ancestral Witches by any chance?"
"It might be," Faragonda said as she looked at her hands and thought about it. "You know what? I think it might be time to reassemble the Company of Light after all."
"Excellent," Ford said, happy about the answer. "And I think we should let my brother join in."
"Your brother?" Faragonda asked. "If I may ask, what did you do that would earn your place among the greats?"
"Oh me?" Stan said as he checked his fingernails. "All I did was kill a little demon known as Bill Cipher." As he said that with such gusto , both Faragonda and Palladium gasped at the sudden revelation.
"BILL CIPHER WAS DEFEATED BY YOU?!" Palladium asked. "You don't seem like the type of person who could. How did you even do it?"
"Long story short, Elfy, is that my brother and I posed as each other and Bill wanted Ford's mind, but went into mine by mistake. So I ended up punching him so hard, he atomized to hell or whatever he believed in as Ford used this memory gun to erase me to make sure he was gone for good," Stan explained with such pride, it was starting to hurt.
"I later checked and made sure that there weren't any remains of Bill in that hollow head of his, and that's the end of that," Ford finished. As he did, Faragonda needed to sit down. She had heard the story that Bill Cipher was dead, but never how he died. Hearing this was unreal to her, and she secretly used her magic to make sure that neither of them were lying without them knowing. And they were not.
"The news of Bill's death reached the far corners of the Magix Alliance," Faragonda told the older twins and Palladium. "But to think that your brother could do this is unbelievable."
"Gee, you're welcome," Stan said as he rolled his eyes. As he said that, Faragonda had another thought brewing her in that head of hers.
"How would you two like a job here at Alfea?" Faragonda asked them.
Outside Alfea, the Winx Club was on its way once more into the Black Mud Swap. As they entered the swamp once more, a sudden breeze of cold air shivered most of them.
"By the dragon, it's freezing!" Stella said, trying to cover herself while trying to stay warm.
"I should have dressed better," Layla added. "We Androsians do not do well with cold weather."
"It is good to dress warmly," Tecna said as both Dipper and Mabel agreed with her.
"SWEATER POWER!" Mabel happily shouted.
"Also the power of general foresight," Dipper added to it.
"I think I should be able to use my fire magic to warm the group up," Bloom said as she started glowing, and then the rest of the group started as well, warming them up.
"Mmmmhhhhaaahh," Flora said as she felt the warmth. "Toasty."
"Good call with the heat, Bloom," Stella praised Bloom. As the rest of them continued walking into the swamp, Tecna started to feel uneasy.
"Ok, I'll just say it, why did you exactly want to go to the Black Mud Swamp?" Tecna asked. "This place is just too goopy for me."
"Oh there's a reason for that, Tecna," Flora said as she pulled out a book of hers and opened it to the page she needed, one with a colorful flower on it. "This, my fellow fairies, is known simply as the Cheerful Gladiolus, a magical flower that can reverse nearly any spell thrown your way. From hexes that make you sneeze feathers to being turned into a pumpkin, this flower has been called a miracle by many for its healing properties."
"Ooh, pretty," Mabel said, admiring its beauty.
"And it can be found in the swamp?" Dipper asked, taking notes down in his blue and silver journal. Dipper had been working on a journal similar to the one he had over the summer, but in his own colors and with his own marks. This told of fairy spells, witches' hexes, specialist moves, and stories of what was said about Magix as a whole. There was even a pine tree with the number 4 on it.
"Of course," Flora said. "Not a lot of people know this, but the Black Mud Swamp contains lots of different plants from all over the universe. From Andros to Zenith, if you can believe that."
"That does explain why a plant from my world tried to attack us back during that field trip," Musa reminded them all.
"And like all beautiful things, this one comes with a twist, doesn't it?" Stella asked.
"That it does," Flora replied. "This flower is alive and won't let itself be picked by just about anyone. You must earn the respect and the right of the flower, and only then will you be allowed to pick it."
"Great, more sentient plants," Stella said as she scoffed.
"I cannot agree with you more," Tecna said, still miffed about being tied up in a closet.
"I just hope the pets won't mess up the rooms more than Flora's plants have," Tecna said.
"Once we get back, I'll clean everyone's rooms, even if some of them are smelly beyond belief," Flora said.
"After we take showers," Layla reminded them all.
"Ok, stop," Dipper said as he pouted while some of them laughed.
"Come on, Dipper. We're just teasing," Stella said to him. "And you have gotten a lot better since day one." As they all walked into the swamp, they found that it was just as mucky and gross as it was during that field trip.
"Why is this place so..." Stella said. "What's the word?"
"Swampy?" Musa asked, hoping it would be the answer.
"Exactly," Stella said.
"Then maybe you shouldn't have dressed the way you are," Flora said to her.
"Like I'm no expert, but I don't think you should wear high heels in a swamp," Bloom said to her, being honest.
"Oh please, Bloomy, I make anything look good," Stella said as she took one bad step and fell into the murky waters of the swamp, eating her own words.
"OH CRAP, STELLA!" Bloom said as she rushed over to get her up. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, say something," Mabel asked, also worried for her.
"No, I'm not ok," Stella whined. "I hate the swamp! It's moist, it's dirty, it's full of mud, there's creepy crawlies everywhere, and I'm tired of it all. And I nearly twisted my ankle walking in this stupid place. If only we can find these stupid flowers soon then we can get the Omega out of here!" As she shouted this, Flora and Musa heard something nearby, something new that they've never heard before.
"What is that?" Musa asked.
"Quiet Stella, I think Musa and I are onto something," Flora said.
"No, I will not be-" Stella said as Flora put her hand over her mouth, shutting her up but annoying her even more. As she did that, Flora used her other hand to point to some flowers floating on top of the swamp. As everyone looked, they saw some creatures popping their tiny heads out of the water.
"What are those things?" Bloom said, now able to make out the shape of something that looked like a mini mermaid.
"Oh my goodness, a water nymph!" Layla quietly said, excited to see one. "I never knew these were on Magix."
"Wait, a water nymph?" Dipper asked. "Are they like Daphne in a way?"
"No, but I can see why you would ask that," Layla said. "But to avoid confusion, they also like to go by Undynes."
"Undynes, huh?" Dipper said as he wrote that down in his journal.
"Aw, they're so cute!" Mabel said, almost squealing. As everyone was distracted by these Undynes, Stella took this chance to get revenge by biting Flora's hand.
"YEOW!" Flora shouted, not expecting Stella of all people to bite someone like that. "STELLA, YOU BITCH!" As Flora said that, the two Undynes saw her and were scared.
"Oh no, ground walkers saw us!" One of the Undynes said.
"We must head back!" The other one said as they both swam away.
"No, wait! I'm sorry for screaming. I am a friend," Flora desperately cried out as she pointed very angrily at Stella. "If I fail this midterm, this will be on you."
"Ok, fair enough," Stella said defensively.
"Aw, I wanna know more about the Undynes," Dipper said.
"Hey come back," Mabel said as she started running after them.
"Sweetie, wait!" Flora said as she started running after Mabel. As they both ran off, the other six started running after them, wanting to make sure they're ok.
"Aw dammit, not again," Stella said as she started beating herself up. "Stupid Stella, why can't you just keep your damn mouth shut?"
"Stella, it'll be ok," Bloom tried to reassure Stella. "Sure, you can be a bit of a loudmouth, but at least you're aware of it."
"Then what am I supposed to do if it causes Flora to fail?" Stella asked herself. As the Winx were running through the swamp, Flora couldn't help herself from pointing out the different plants she saw. Soon, she wasn't just pointing them out, she was completely geeking out.
"Wait a minute... these lilies. They're from my home of Lymphia!" Flora announced. "And these Gladioli, I read about these being native to Osiris." As Flora recognized more and more of these new plants, Mabel stopped at the water's edge and gasped.
"Hey guys, look!" Mabel said as she pointed downward. "It's a whole group of Undynes with bubbles." The rest of the Winx stopped behind her, looking down at the iridescent collection of organized spheres.
"She's right," Layla said t. "Undynes use the water lilies as foundations to build their homes or even an entire system of networks to form a community."
"It's like an ant colony, except much cleaner," Dipper exclaimed as he wrote it down in his journal. As he did that, the same two Undynes saw them and came back up to the surface.
"Apologies, but we cannot let you into our bubbles," One of the Undynes said, feeling guilty. "You are simply too big."
"But our queen requests an audience with you eight, as you might be what she is looking for," The other Undyne said, happy that they had guests. The both of them led the Winx inside a hollow tree on the other side of the area which contained a miniature royal courtroom, complete with guards, pillars, and even a throne with a queen Undyne residing upon it.
"Welcome, students of Alfea," the queen announced. "We are very happy to have you here."
"The honor is ours, Your Majesty," Stella said as she bowed respectfully to her as the other fairies followed her example.
"Why you all must be exhausted after the journey you've had," The queen said. "Would you care for some refreshments?"
"That would be wonderful," Stella replied, secretly tired and needing a drink after that long walk in the swamp.
"Your majesty, if I may ask for a request," Flora asked. "Is there any chance I can acquire a single flower? A Cheerful Gladiolus?"
"Hmmm," The Queen thought it over as she looked at Flora. "What is your name, fairy?"
"I am Princess Flora Hanover, crown princess of the planet Lymphia, the fairy of nature," Flora introduced herself.
"I thought you felt familiar," The queen said. "You have such a gentle touch with nature's embrace. We would gladly let you have one, but alas, we cannot because of the dilemma we are facing."
"A dilemma?" Bloom asked. "If we may, Your Majesty, what dilemma are you facing?"
"It has to do with the Great Monster of Black Island," The queen started to explain. "Out in the middle of the swamp, near the great lake, stands an island at the middle of the swamp, and on that island is an underground cavern where a monster lives that threatens our very way of life. Every day, my people live in constant terror of the Great Monster, wishing for peace within these uncertain times."
"Why don't you and your people move into Alfea?" Stella offered. "It's no swamp, but I can assure you'd have a place there away from that monster. We do have a ghoul, but she's mostly harmless."
"Thank you for the offer, dear fairy, but that island also houses a plant known as the Xilith, and that is the only place it grows on this entire planet," the queen explained.
"Xilith is a rare plant that helps us create the materials for our housing bubbles under the water," one of the Undynes said, explaining further.
"But thanks to that monster being scary, securing that plant has become almost an impossible task," the other Undyne said. "Without new bubbles, we are then forced to move above ground, and there are predators on the surface."
"Yikes, this is a problem," Musa said.
"What's worse is that from the last few times we tried gathering the plant, we could only send small search parties to avoid losing too many of our own," the queen explained. "And our last team, lead by Lusiz the Fast, never made it home."
"I miss my wife so much," One of the Undynes said as she started to tear up. Mabel knelt down and started comforting her.
"It'll be ok," Mabel said. "Because we're gonna rescue your friends and your wife."
"We are?" Tecna asked as she was elbowed in the gut by Dipper.
"Yes, we are," Dipper said.
"You are lucky you are a good person, Dipper," Tecna said, playfully shoving him back.
"We're gonna stop that monster and rescue your missing Undynes," Bloom announced.
"And we're gonna bring back a lot of Xilith plants so you guys can build more homes," Flora said, finishing their plan.
"That would be wonderful," the queen said. "Fairies of Alfea, you have my blessing."
Thank you, Your Majesty," Stella said as they bowed once more.
"Alright, Winx Club, let's go gardening!" Flora said as the Winx transformed into their fairy forms, leaving the Undynes in the room in a state of awe.
"Just be careful, Winx Club," the queen said, blessing them as they flew off.
A while later, the Winx Club was flying in the skies, heading towards Black Island, their new task forcing them to put their main mission on hold.
"I can't believe we are on a sidequest, like in those video games," Bloom said, discouraged.
"Look on the bright side, Bloom. If we complete this, then we'll be ableto finish our main quest of getting that flower," Flora said, happy about the outcome.
"Plus, some of us could use the flower for our midterms," Layla said, happy that she wouldn't bomb her tests like Stella with the potions lab. As they were flying, they all saw a shadow in the waters below.
"I saw something," Mabel said, pointing below.
"Wait, I see it too," Layla said. "I think it's the monster."
"You know, I was thinking," Stella said, having a thought.
"That's a first for you," Dipper said, making Musa snicker at the comment.
"Shut up, but I was thinking that since the Undynes are small creatures, what's small to them could potentially be waist high for us," Stella suggested. "So dealing with this monster should be a piece of cake."
"I don't know about that one," Dipper said. "I know sizes, and this thing they're talking about could be bigger than any of us."
"Oh yeah, the flashlight incident," Mabel remembered that one flashlight Dipper modified that could shrink and grow things at will, that he forgot back in his dorm room. And right on cue, a gigantic monster sprung out of the waters, roaring at the Winx. It resembled a worm with eyes, its green body smooth and flexible. Its mouth opened wide enough to easily swallow a fairy whole.
"Told you," Dipper said, scared by the beast and holding onto Mabel, who was doing the same to her brother.
"HOLY SHIT, THAT'S HUGE!" Bloom shouted. As the monster fell back into the waters, the Winx Club discussed what to do next.
"I think that was the Great Monster of Black Mud Swamp," Flora said, trying to cope with what she and the others had just seen. As they were resting in the air above, the monster resurfaced and was aiming its teeth at the group. Musa saw this and charged up her magic.
"SONIC BURST!" Musa shouted,her attack forcing the other seven away from her as she was eaten by the monster.
"MUSA!" The other seven shouted as they saw the monster descend into the waters below. Layla, Dipper, and even Tecna were all freaking out over how someone very close to them just became monster chow.
"Oh crap, OH CRAP!" Dipper shouted. "MUSA JUST GOT EATEN BY THAT THING!"
"I'll save you!" Layla said as she tried to go after it but was stopped by Tecna. "LET ME GO, FATASS! MY GIRLFRIEND NEEDS ME!"
"We will save her, but we need a plan!" Tecna said as she tried calming down Layla, which worked for a bit. "But how do we follow an underwater monster?"
"I think I know what to do!" Flora said as she created air bubbles around the seven of them. "I got the idea from the Undynes and their homes."
"And allow me to add the final touches," Stella said as her hands lit up. "LUX LUMINOUS!" As she yelled that, the bubbles started giving off a gentle glow that would allow them to see underwater. "Now we can see everything."
"Nice touch," Flora said to Stella, which made her blush. At that moment, the seven of them dove underwater as the lights from their bubbles grew stronger to illuminate the dark swamp waters below.
"Hey Dipper, doesn't this kind of remind you of that Gobblewonker incident from early in the summer?" Mabel said to her brother.
"Kind of, yeah," Dipper said. "But let's just hope this thing isn't some robot monster or a disguise."
"I really hope this isn't Wizgiz's sick idea of a midterm," Mabel said, now annoyed at that possibility. They explored the waters until they saw the monster below.
"Guys, I found it," Tecna said as Layla started swimming after it.
"GIMME BACK MY MUSA!" Layla swam after the beast but was knocked away by the monster. Bloom then swam past her and dove right into the monster's mouth as it closed.
"BLOOM!" The remaining six said as they all readied themselves for the monster's next strike, but the unexpected happened. Flames shot from the monster's nostrils as Bloom shot herself out of its mouth with Musa in her bubble.
"LET'S GO!" Bloom ordered as they all flew behind her and out of the waters, their bubbles popping as they returned to the sky. They then landed on Black Island, which was covered in a thin layer of red gas, and noticed Musa huffing and puffing.
"I WAS VORED!" Musa shouted in disbelief. Flora then came over to check on her.
"You don't look to be injured in any way," Flora said, caring about the wellbeing of her red fairy friend, but then was grabbed by Musa.
"I! WAS! VORED!" Musa repeated, traumatized from being swallowed whole. "Where are we, anyway?"
"If I had to guess, I think we just arrived at Black Island, home of the plants the Undynes need to build their homes," Dipper said.
"So let's take a couple and bring them back with us when we find the missing Undynes," Mabel suggested.
"Ooh, that's a smart idea," Flora said as she yawned. "Ugh, excuse me." As she said that, Stella yawned next.
"Yeah, today has been very tiresome," Stella said as the group started walking. "As soon as we get back, I'm hitting my bed and sleeping until tomorrow. I don't know if you all know this, but tomorrow is a very big day for me."
"If it's midterms, you're gonna do just fine," Bloom said as she tried assuring her while yawning.
"Yeah... midterms..." Stella said, clearly withsomething to hide, which made Dipper suspicious. He decided to keep an eye on her. As they were walking, Flora saw something strange about the trees ahead.
"Huh, that's weird," Flora said. "It looks as if the trees are planted in a specific way." As Flora walked closer, she then saw the leaves of the tree. "Oh, no wonder why I recognized them. These are Red Willow trees."
"Red Willow trees?" Bloom asked.
"These are unique trees that grow in a specific way to help shield their leader," Flora explained. As she said that, the yawning became more contagious.
"Ok, this yawning is getting out of hand," Tecna said as she brought up a face shield from her suit and started scanning the area, and the results she got were shocking. "SLEEPING GAS?" As she said that, the Winx started to fall asleep one by one. In a quick motion, Tecna got a second mask out and slapped it onto Flora so she could breathe easily.
"Sleeping gas? Are you kidding me?!" Flora said.
"I mean, the results are in front of us," Tecna said, pointing at the other six Winx sleeping on the ground below.
"Thank you, you're so kind," Stella said, sleeptalking.
"Oh crap, this is from the Willow!" Flora said, now remembering why that was so familiar. "The Willow is a living organism that makes its prey sleep forever."
"Then we got to take down this tree," Tecna said as she charged up her arms.
"I agree," Flora said. "This tree must go down!" As she said that, she cast another bubble spell that covered the area the Winxwere sleeping in. "And now we filter the bad air..." Flora said as she did just that, which slowly caused the rest of the club to wake up.
"Mmmwwaaahhhh... Where are we?" Mabel said as she woke up, feeling refreshed.
"Last thing I remember is that we fell asleep looking at trees," Dipper said as he looked and saw the trees from the bubble. "That explains that."
"Ugh, seriously?" Stella said as she complained. "You mean we're really out in the Black Mud Swamp and not back at the dorm, relaxing after a nice day of classes?"
"I'm afraid not," Flora said as she saw the bubble getting smaller. "Ok, I think I might need some help here." The rest of the fairies nodded and started expanding the bubble shield with their magic, trying not to pop it.
"And look over there!" Bloom said as she pointed to the Undynesbelow the tree. "There's our missing Undynes."
"And there are the flowers they were supposed to get," Flora said as she pointed at them.
"Which means the Great Monster of Black Island isn't that thing in the waters, it's actually the giant Red Willow tree that's been causing this to happen!" Dipper pieced together.
"The question remains, how do we stop it," Layla asked.
"How else," Flora said. "We pull some weeds. We take out the leader, the rest will stop making those horrible gases that would have made us sleep forever."
"We rescue the Undynes, we pick some flowers, we all get to go home just in time for a nice hot bath," Stella recapped. "That works for me." As she said that, the ground outside the bubble shook as the center Red Willow tree started forming a face and attacking the bubble with its branches.
"Ok crap, I think it heard us," Flora said. She then used her magic to hold back the tree as Tecna used hers to help bring the Undynes into the bubble, thus slowly waking them up.
"W-wha... where are we?" One of the Undynes said. Bloom turned to face the Undyne.
"Are you Lusiz?" Bloom asked. "Your queen asked us to rescue you and your friends from the monster under the island."
"The Queen sent you?" Lusiz said. "Thank you for rescuing us, but I'm afraid you got it mixed up. The monster you saw is also a victim of the Red Willow's sleeping gas."
"Wait, what?" All eight of the fairies said at the same time.
"The Island here is actually one large Turtle that's been sleepwalking for eons thanks to the Red Willow," Lusiz explained as she tried to help the other Undynes that were under the sleeping curse.
"Which means the thing that ate me is not only the head of the turtle... but also another victim of these damn trees?" Musa said angrily. "I'm so gonna carve up that fucker with my knives."
"But won't this bubble wake him up?" Tecna asked.
"I'm afraid not," Lusiz explained. "This bubble, while an impressive use of your magic, is still too weak to reverse all of the Red Willow's gasses. You need to fully destroy the tree to make it happen." As she said that, the bubble started shaking once more as it grew smaller.
"We only got one shot," Bloom said. "Dipper, Mabel, Flora, you're with me on offense. The rest of you defend the Undynes. We only have one chance at this, so let's make it count."
"Gotcha!" The rest of them said as the bubble finally broke and the Winx went into action.
"INFERNO FIREBALL!" Bloom, Dipper, and Mabel cast together as they flung a giant fireball at the Red Willow, who looked very scared, but then began to burn without the flames hurting the turtle. "UPROOT!" Flora said to completely uproot the evil tree as it burned into nothingness.
Since the tree was gone, he gasses started disappearing. "HEY, WE DID IT!" The rest of them cheered at their victory.
"Finally, our side quest is done!" Stella said, proud that this was over. As they celebrated, the Turtle's head, originally mistaken for the monster, popped out of the water.
"I take it you all have something to do with my awakening?" The turtle said, happy about what happened as he saw something was missing from his shell. "Given that the awful Red Willows on my back are gone?"
"Yup, that was us," Mabel proudly said, knowing she made the turtle happy.
"Wonderful!" The turtle said. "Thank you for freeing me from my 3000-year curse, fairies."
"It's our pleasure," Flora said. "We never knew we would end up helping you by helping them."
"That just shows how an ecosystem works," The turtle replied. "We all live in harmony with one another. To disrupt that is to disrupt what Mother Nature has laid out before us." As he said that, he then saw Musa pouting. "And I do wish to apologize for trying to eat you. I was not in the right mind with those trees on my back."
"Well... apology accepted," Musa said, forgiving the turtle for trying to swallow her whole.
"We should head back to the queen with the good news," Flora offered as the others agreed.
A short while later, the Winx Club was back with the Undyne Queen, watching the other Undynes reunite with their loved ones after so long. Flora was explaining to the queen all that happened with the Red Willow and the Monster that turned out to be a turtle, and how everyone is now safe.
"Oh my sweet Nyrana," Lusiz said, embracing her in her arms. "How I missed you dearly."
"I'm so glad that you are safe," Nyrana said, kissing her wife on the lips.
"Aaw, they're so cute together," Mabel said.
"We should give them some privacy, Mabel," Stella suggested as she listened to her.
"Winx Club, I cannot express how grateful we are for your victory today," the Queen said, thanking them. "Thanks to your bravery, you freed all the imprisoned Undynes, stopped the monster, and freed a turtle who was under the Red Willow's control. This is a very good day for all of us." As she said that, the turtle poked his head through the very large opening.
"And I wish to repay the favor as well," the turtle said. "I will stay here to protect these Undynes, as long as they get this gunk off of me."
"As much Xilith as we need and we gained a gigantic guardian," The queen said happily. "This is a good day indeed."
"A very good day," Flora said as a flower started to grow beneath her feet. She looked down and gasped at the realization of what was growing for her.
A Cheerful Gladiolus.
"As promised, Flora, the flower you seek has deemed you worthy for you to pick," The queen said. "I hope this flower brings you as much joy as you hope it would."
"It does," Flora said as she graciously plucked it. "Don't worry, little guy. I'll replant you in my garden, and make sure you live a nice happy life."
"This is wonderful, Flora," Bloom said.
"Easy A+ on that exam, here you come," Mabel happily said as Flora smiled at her.
"Thanks, sweetie," Flora said as she hugged her. "And tomorrow, it'll be the rest of our midterms from that simulation chamber."
"Wait, that's tomorrow," Stella said as she grew wide-eyed. "Uh, yeah, let's do our best."
"And after we're done, we can relax at long last. No witches, no surprises, just us having a good time," Bloom said as the rest of the Winx cheered as the Undynes thanked the group of fairies for ushering in a new era for their kind. A tale that will become a legend for the Undyne people of how the Winx Club took down the Red Willow's sinister sleeping gas and brought new peace to their land.
Back at Alfea, Faragonda, Stan, and Ford were all relaxing in her office after a long day repairing the simulation chamber, with Griselda there to observe them both. Palladium was back at the room working on the final adjustments and after that, the chamber would be back to running at full power - and right on time.
"Thank you both so much for helping us out," Faragonda said as she sipped some tea. "If we hadn't asked for your help, we would have been stuck working on that for weeks, or quite possibly months."
"Eh, it's our pleasure," Stanley said as he drank some coffee. "Whoa, this packs a punch."
"Lymphian coffee packs more of a punch than normal Earth coffee," Ford explained. "At least 3 times as powerful."
"Ugh, if it was between this or Mabel Juice, I'd just take the Mabel Juice," Stan said as he avoided drinking more. "So, about this job you mentioned before."
"Of course," Faragonda explained. "I would like to hire you two as new staff members to help fortify Alfea's defenses. Ford could teach lessons on defense through science, while Stan can teach a class on finances."
"Well, I do like money," Stan said as he thought about it.
"Take your time," Faragonda said. "We would require your assistance after what Earthlings refer to as 'New Year's Day'."
"That should give us time for one or two more adventures," Stan said with confidence.
"It would be fun to finally be referred to as Professor Pines," Ford said, imagining it. "Finally, to be a part of the teaching side of academia."
"Of course, you would react like that," Stan said as Ford playfully shoved him.
"You could teach your new students how to handle their money and hopefully not blow it on useless things," Ford said. As the two of them were talking and catching up, Griselda could only watch in disgust.
"These two old men are on the same level of respect as Faragonda herself?" Griselda thought to herself. "This has got to be some cosmic mistake the Great Dragon has made."
Over at Cloud Tower, inside the Trix's dorm, the four of them were relaxing and watching a movie together. While the Winx were off with the Red Willow adventure, they decided to take the day off and relax by watching a movie marathon, now that most of their midterms were over. And to everyone's surprise, Pacifica did very well, getting a range of A's for all her subjects. Icy, Darcy, and Stormy were all impressed with how much she was growing as a witch. Not only were they impressed, they were proud.
"Look at you, becoming a witch in this short amount of time," Stormy said as she cheered. "And to think that we found you almost dead in the woods on Earth."
"Yeah, that would... would really suck," Pacifica said, looking at herself. "To think, there was more to me, to the world beyond being rich and being superior." As she droned on, the others piled on top of her for a group hug.
"Yeah, but you're here and you're way better than what you used to be," Darcy said to her.
"Yeah, Pazzy," Icy teased. "When I said you were one of us, I truly meant it from the bottom of my heart." Pacifica smiled upon hearing all of that. Despite their appearances, these three are very kind and caring to people like her, who had a history of being a mean rich person.
So why did the 3 girls she viewed as sisters work for forces of pure evil like the Ancestral Witches?
"Plus, tomorrow, we have a ton of fun plans for us to do," Stormy said. "It involves breaking into a pageant and winning."
"Cheating at a beauty pageant? That would be pretty hard to do," Pacifica said as she thought about it. "Trust me, I used to do them myself."
"That's why we need the four of us and a special guest to help with our scheme. It'll be fun," Darcy said. "And here's the best part: the Winx have no idea that we're even doing this."
"Well, they have been pretty annoying about stopping us from getting the flame," Pacifica said. "Eh, what the hell. I'm in."
"Excellent," Icy said, currently scheming. "Tonight, we watch crappy movies and have fun, for tomorrow, we use our powers to win this year's Miss Magix!"
Authors note: What a nice turn of events that showcases a new lesson passed, the midterms are almost done, a new adventure was made, and some new staff joining the crew. Let me know what you think of what went on, and next time is Miss Magix. Make sure to read and review!