Issue 46: Mission to Andros

Mission to Andros is the forty-sixth issue of the Winx Club Comic Series.

Synopsis
Lately, Professor Wizgiz has not been seen around Alfea and, during one of DuFour's classes, Musa reveals that it is because he had to travel to Andros to help repair the Omega Portal with the help of other powerful wizards. Suddenly, the Winx are called to the headmistress' office, where they are tasked with delivering the notes Wizgiz had left behind and, to show her gratitude towards the Winx for their heroic efforts against Valtor, she gives them the week off with the Specialists, too. However, just as the Winx and Specialists get comfortable on Andros, the group witnesses a meteor slam into a nearby island. Thankfully, the girls are able to save all of the island's inhabitants and they get a surprise visit from Nabu, who came after seeing the falling meteor. The group then investigates the crash site, finds monstrously large eggshells and conclude that the meteor had been carrying a foreign lifeform inside of it. To make sure that the lifeform does not ravage Andros, the Winx and Specialists accompany Nabu to meet with Professor Torganis and, with his help, they all plan to contain the creature and study it. However, they are going to be facing trouble from Count Kargan, who only wants the monster destroyed. Nabu and Aisha may also be facing their own share of troubles within their relationship, as Torganis' daughter, Helisia, has fallen for Nabu, and it seems as if Nabu may feel the same way.

Plot
The Winx are attending one of Professor DuFour's classes, where Musa asks the girls if they know why they have not seen Professor Wizgiz as of late. Stella claims that she has no idea, to which Musa reveals that Wizgiz was called to Andros to consult with many powerful wizards pertaining to the Omega Portal. Bloom then asks if this means that Valtor managed to live past their final battle with him, but Musa assures her that Valtor is still dead, even demanding that he never be mentioned again. Musa reminds the girls of how Valtor was able to force the Omega Portal open with the Trix's help, which meant that the spells the portal held were too weak, so Wizgiz and other wizards were called to Andros to try and find a solution. Stella then marvels at the idea of meeting up with powerful wizards from all across the Magic Dimension until Aisha catches them mentioning Andros over and over. Stella tells Aisha that she will tell her after class until Knut comes in, bringing a message from the headmistress. DuFour gives him permission and Knut reads the message aloud: apparently Faragonda wishes for the Winx to meet in her office. As the girls try to figure out what Faragonda could want them for, DuFour urges them to leave, telling them that they can practice the exercises later. As the girls head for Faragonda's office, Stella asks Knut if this has to do with her slipping grades, but Knut claims that he does not know the reason either.

Once the girls enter Faragonda's office, she tells that girls that she has great news for them, especially Aisha. She asks if the girls would like to take a nice trip to Andros themselves, which leaves them confused. She then explains that Wizgiz forgot all of his notes and tools at Alfea. Faragonda asks the girls to deliver Wizgiz's tools and notes to him without letting anyone else know about it so that he does not embarrass himself. The girls agree to do so as Faragonda explains that she wants to send them on a small vacation after everything they have done for Magix, especially in the fight against Valtor. She reveals that the boys will also be accompanying them and asks Aisha to send her regards to her parents once they land on Andros.

Later, the Winx and Specialists arrive on Andros and land their shuttle on the island with the Omega Portal on it. Wizgiz rushes to the shuttle, asking if they brought what he needs, to which Brandon assures Wizgiz that they have done so and carries the chest with all of Wizgiz's notes and tools off of the shuttle with Riven's help.

As the two boys help set down Wizgiz's chest of notes and tools, Bloom and Stella pop up from the shuttle's entrance, letting Wizgiz know that they have also tagged along. Wizgiz then gets the idea to have the Winx help him and his fellow wizards understand what happened to the Omega Portal, since their magic was essential in the fight against Valtor. Bloom tells him that Faragonda wanted them to return as quickly as they could, but Wizgiz insists that they enjoy themselves until he needs them. He then asks if they kept his things a secret and Stella assures him that it is a secret between him and the Winx. Wizgiz bids the girls goodbye and Stella is ecstatic that they are getting a surprise vacation on Andros with the boys! Brandon and Riven return and board the ship. Timmy asks Aisha where she would like to go and Aisha wishes for Timmy to pilot the shuttle towards Andros' Royal Palace, as she cannot wait to see her parents and Nabu once again.

Soon enough, the group makes it to the Royal Palace, where Aisha runs inside to embrace her mother, Queen Niobe, and greet her father, King Teredor. Aisha formally introduces the Winx and Specialists to her parents and Teredor thanks them for assisting in the fight against Valtor and ultimately saving Andros. Aisha then asks her mother where Nabu could be and Niobe reveals that he is not in the city, but on the Island of Nadur helping Professor Torganis conduct oceanic studies. Niobe suggests that Aisha go out to visit him, which surprises Aisha because she thought that her parents would rather have her spend time with them at the palace. Niobe insists that they will be happier once Aisha and her friends are all together and the Winx agree to go with Aisha to the Island of Nadur. As Aisha hugs her mother goodbye, Teredor suggests that she and her friends take one of the royal cruise ships on their way there in order to see all of the wonders of Andros. The Winx and Specialists rush towards the piers and Teredor lets them know that he will alert the crew.

The group makes it to the pier, where they can all see one of the royal cruise ships headed towards them in the sky. The Winx and Specialists hop aboard the ship as Aisha directs it towards the Great Oceans, in order to show her friends how beautiful Andros' oceans can be. Aisha has the masts set and the ship begins to sail faster. Aisha tells the girls that the ship moves quietly as it sails with the wind, making it a perfect way to ride on the waves as they enjoy the beauty of nature.

The group passes by a large red ship in the waters catching a whale shark, as Aisha describes how ferocious it can be. They then approach the Green Archipelago where the Island of Nadur is located, but on their way there, they catch site of an asteroid that is on a collision course with a nearby island! The asteroid slams into the biggest volcano on the island, nearly shattering it as if it were made of glass! Aisha urges the Winx to help her stop the now unstable volcano pieces from falling into the ocean or else its fall will cause a massive tidal wave that will wipe out the island's inhabitants. The girls quickly go into their Enchantix forms and fly towards the island to warn the inhabitants.

As they fly towards the island, Bloom insists that Aisha get all of the villagers somewhere safe as she and the rest of the Winx will try to prevent the half of the volcano from falling. Aisha and Tecna warn the people, who are all surprised that the realm's princess has arrived. Aisha tells them of the possible danger they will become victims of if they do not get out in time and the villagers start to panic.

Meanwhile, Bloom, Stella, Flora and Musa have made it to the half of the volcano. Stella wonders how they will be able to stop it but Flora claims that only the earth can prevent the landslide. She flies around the volcano half sowing seeds into the ground, and she uses a spell that makes the seeds grow quickly. With the help of Bloom, Stella and Musa's magic, Flora is able to make the vines stronger as they continue to rapidly grow. However, a sudden earthquake occurs and the vines are not able to reach the top of the half in time. The volcano half begins to crumble and topple over into the ocean. This causes the giant tidal wave Aisha had feared and the wave washed away the villages, ultimately flooding most of the small island. Fortunately, Aisha and Tecna were able to get the villagers to higher ground.

The villagers thank Aisha for warning them until Bloom, Flora and Stella return, asking Aisha if she is alright. Aisha assures them that everything is fine and Bloom apologizes for not being able to stop the half of the volcano from falling. Aisha is happy that they were able to give her enough time to get the villagers to safety, claiming that it is not a total loss that the village was destroyed because no one had died. Stella then notices a red ship flying towards them and does not recognize it. Aisha tells the girls that the ship is one of the Andros Exploration ships and, as she runs up towards it, the ship lands and Nabu steps out of it. Nabu is surprised that Aisha is also on the island and asks what she is doing there. Aisha tells him that they had to carry out a mission for her parents and she took the opportunity to come out for him. She asks if he is happy to see her, to which Nabu confirms. Brandon then asks if Nabu also so the asteroid and Nabu tells them that its collision with the island is what made him come out there. Nabu notices that there are no casualties, despite seeing a tsunami before arriving, to which Timmy explains that it is thanks to the Winx. Nabu agrees and tells Aisha that it was lucky that she and the Winx arrived on the island when they did. Aisha notices Nabu's worried expression and asks him what is on his mind. Nabu claims that it is nothing and invites Aisha and everyone else to check out the meteor's crash site on his ship. Stella takes Nabu up on his offer and tells the girls that she heard of a rumor: that diamonds can be found where a meteor falls. She asks the girls if it would be great if they ended up rich out of this but Tecna brings up the fact that Stella is already rich. As they climb aboard Nabu's ship, Stella claims that she was just kidding about becoming rich, but adds in that a girl can never have too many diamonds or beautiful clothes. Once everyone is onboard, Nabu has his ship take off and flies it towards the crash site.

When they land, Timmy tells everyone that it is safe to come out of the ship as he cannot track any signs of radioactivity. Once everyone is off of the ship, they get closer and closer to the crash site. They are able to see the meteor up close but they quickly begin to realize that the meteor is not made of rock. Instead, it looks more like a giant egg.

Nabu enters the giant egg-like meteor and sees a tangle of meshed up fibers inside. He concludes that something organic and possibly alien was inside the giant egg. Aisha notices a large footprint next to the opening of the giant egg and Bloom begins to suspect that there was a monster inside that escaped once its egg crash-landed. Aisha cannot believe that an alien monster had landed on Andros and Brandon insists that they go after it. However, Nabu thinks that it would be a better idea for them to go to the research labs to give the alarm. He further claims that since the island is deserted, the monster would do no harm if it stays. As everyone boards his ship, Nabu tells them that they will go after the monster once Professor Torganis tells them to do so.

Soon enough, everyone arrives at Torganis' research labs on the Island of Nadur. Nabu introduces everyone to Professor Torganis, who is delighted to have all of them visiting his labs. As Torganis welcomes everyone inside, Aisha looks worryingly at Nabu. Stella asks Bloom in a low voice why Nabu did not tell Torganis that he and Aisha are engaged, but Bloom does not either.

Continuing further into the research labs, Aisha catches a girl watching her from a nearby pillar. She notices that the girl is staring at Nabu and asks him who she could be. Nabu calls the girl Helisia, and asks her what she is doing as she should be resting. Torganis notices Helisia too, and Helisia claims that she wanted to see Nabu's friends. Torganis tells Helisia not to be so reckless and urges her to go back into her room to rest as the medicine he had administered may still come with unexpected side-effects. Torganis then offers to take her back to her room, but before they both leave, Helisia asks Nabu if she will be able to see him later. Nabu says that he will visit her later and Torganis walks her back to her room. Aisha, Bloom and Stella look at Nabu as he tries to look away, avoiding their gazes.

Torganis rushed back to the group, telling them that Helisia, his daughter, is very ill but Nabu takes care of her and it is his love for Helisia that gives her the strength to keep going. He then urges the group to not be so glum as he leads them into his office to show them what he has recently discovered.

Meanwhile, out at sea, two men have managed to catch another whale shark. One of the men orders the other one to try and pull up the whale shark and tie it to the hull, but a large, red reptilian monster emerges from the depths of the ocean. It grabs the whale shark and swims back down into the ocean, pulling the boat down with the whale shark. They try to release the line but it is too late and the ship sinks into the ocean.

Back in Torganis' labs, Nabu briefs him in on what they found. Torganis claims that they have to make sure the alien lifeform is not dangerous and tells the group that they need to find a way of capturing it without harming it, as he believes that the alien lifeform could end up becoming a valued resource rather than a danger to the people of Andros. With a map on Torganis' desk, Nabu tells him that the island they found the alien's egg is fairly small, so it would not be too hard to find it. Just then, another one of Torganis' workers bursts through his office door, telling him that an unknown monster attacked a fishing boat that was last seen off of the coast of the Green Archipelago. He then adds that another ship was attacked, possibly by the same monster, farther up north and that there were no casualties. Torganis realizes that catching the alien is a lot more difficult than he had initially thought and insists that Aisha go back to the royal palace where it is safe. Aisha refuses to go back as she believes that she needs to get involved if it means that Andros is being put in danger and Stella agrees, adding in that she, the Winx and the Specialists will be helping, too. Torganis agrees in letting Aisha and her friends help capture the monster until a loud siren starts blaring. He and Nabu look outside the windows and see a warship approaching the research labs. The other worker identifies the warship as one that belongs to Count Kargan and Torganis begins to get an idea as to what they could want.

Kargan calls Torganis, requesting that he lend his research labs to him to help him hunt the alien lifeform. Torganis grants Kargan permission, impressed by how quick his response was, and Kargan reveals that he learned of the threat from space while cruising past the Island of Nadur in his battleship. He then tells Torganis that he will be the one to destroy the alien and that he expects Torganis' assistance. Once the two disconnect, Torganis lets his true opinions of Count Kargan open; calling him a "stupid warmonger." Aisha wonders how Kargan is back in the royal court as he was exiled by King Teredor years ago. Torganis reveals that Kargan has many supporters inside the royal court, has a vast amount of resources and has even allied himself with pirates from the various seas of Andros; creating a sort of dominion over the frontier. Aisha insists that a violent man with no regard for science like Kargan should not be trusted and Nabu urges them to capture the alien monster before Kargan does. Torganis agrees with Nabu and has his other worker prepare a ship. He advises Nabu and his friends to act in secrecy, as they cannot afford to make Count Kargan an enemy.

Deeper inside the labs, Torganis leads the group to one of his research ships: a submarine that he calls "The Kraken." Nabu insists that The Kraken is not ready to be used but Torganis assures him that he has put so much work into the submarine that he will be able to trust Nabu and his friends with it. Torganis then reminds the group that the only way to capture the alien monster is to act without Kargan taking notice and Nabu is confident that he and his friends will be able to accomplish this. Torganis hands Nabu a powerful magic sleeping potion and advises him to use it on the monster once he gets close enough. He then requests that Nabu say goodbye to Helisia before heading out. Nabu tells the group to board the ship without him and leaves with Torganis. Aisha is slowly becoming more torn up about the situation and Musa tries to cheer her up.

Sooner or later, The Kraken is swimming through the oceans of Andros. Nabu tells Timmy that the autopilot will keep the submarine on its course but invites Timmy to try out the controls if he wants. Timmy claims that it will not be hard to pilot the submarine as it seems to be similar to that of a Red Fountain shuttle. Nabu notices Aisha huddled in the corner by herself and tells Timmy that he will be back soon.

Nabu takes a seat next to Aisha and tries to explain that he is only looking out for Helisia because she is very ill. His company seems to be the only thing that keeps Helisia going and her father, Torganis, is trying to come up with new medicines, hoping to cure her. Aisha already caught onto what was going on and tells Nabu that she thinks Torganis relies on him to get Helisia to try the new medicines. She tells Nabu that he could have told her that much but Nabu insists that the relationship between him and Helisia happened without him knowing because Aisha was always far away, at Alfea. Aisha calmly asks Nabu what he will do once Helisia gets better, as he will have to choose either her or Aisha, but Nabu claims that he just does not know nor has he thought about it. Suddenly, Timmy tells everyone that the submarine's sonar has picked up on something. He quickly notices that a big black mass is heading towards them from the front and the group is quickly met with the large yellow eyes of the monster.

Timmy tries to get the ship to turn but the monster swipes at The Kraken, ripping pieces of it off and causing water to pour inside. Nabu hastily tries to activate the pumps as Bloom and Stella huddle close to each other, fearing that they may end up drowning. Timmy manages to have The Kraken regain its balance and drives it off in the other direction as the monster swims away. Once it no longer notices them, Nabu orders Timmy to have the submarine pursue the monster and tells him to attack once the time is right.

However, several hours later, they lose sight of the monster and have not been able to pick it up again on the sonar. As Nabu and Timmy become discouraged, Aisha springs from her seat and asks them if they remember where the monster attacked them. Nabu claims that they were near the Island of Nantros and Aisha remembers that Nantros is an island with a high amount of volcanic activity. Nabu asks her where she could be getting at and Aisha concludes that the monster may be attracted to places that have or are around active volcanoes. Aisha then asks if there are any other islands with volcanoes nearby and Nabu pulls up a map, pointing at the Island of Guanaco. Guanaco is hundreds of miles away from their current location, but Nabu still asks Aisha if she believes that the monster may be hiding on that island. Aisha believes that Guanaco is their only hope at this point and Nabu has Timmy head for it.

Soon enough, the group can see Guanaco just in front of the horizon. Bloom wonders how they will be able to administer the sleeping potion and Nabu thinks that they may have to restrain the monster by flying around it. Aisha urges the girls to use a binding spell on the monster and lure it towards the boys who will be able to capture it. Bloom agrees with Aisha's plan and they all transform. As they fly towards the monster, Brandon urges the guys to prepare a dinghy so that they can catch up with the girls and get into position.

On the island, the girls quickly surround the monster as Aisha tries to make sure that they all remember the binding spell. The girls then perform the spell and successfully bind the monster down in two golden rings of light. The boys have just made it to shore, where Sky tells Nabu to get into position with the sleeping potion as the rest of them pull the dinghy onto the shore. Nabu gets into position but, before he shoots the sleeping potion onto the monster, a cannonball almost lands a hit. Stella points out a battleship that seems to be hiding behind the volcano and concludes that Kargan followed them without them realizing it. The rings of light fade away as the girls lost their concentration and Kargan's battleship fires another shot.

Inside the battleship, Kargan notices that the monster is trying to take shelter behind the base of the volcano and has his men get ready to fire another round.

Nabu and Sky notice the monster moving and realize that it is trying to take cover within the volcano. However, Kargan's battleship lets out a barrage of cannonballs that manage to land a hit on the monster. The monster loses its grip and falls into the magma below. Feeling full of himself, Kargan has his men turn the ship around and sail off. The group quickly scales the volcano but there seem to be no signs showing that the monster survived. They all decide to return to Nadur and tell Torganis the bad news.

As the group makes their way back to the shore, something is still nagging at Aisha. She cannot understand why the monster tried climbing over the volcano instead of around it as it would have lived if it did the latter. Bloom notices something from the corner of her eye and signals for everyone to come over. When they make it, the group comes face to face with a large nest full of eggs. Nabu concludes that the monster may have laid them and Brandon realizes that the monster was looking for islands with volcanoes as a source of heat for her eggs. Aisha starts to suspect that the monster may have laid eggs on other islands and Nabu begins to dread the thought of having Andros taken over by the alien babies. Nabu then proclaims that their mission is not over yet as they have to locate any other nests and either block them or retrieve them before they hatch. The rest of the group heads for the dinghy but Nabu pulls Aisha aside, telling her that they will have more time together. Aisha agrees, claiming that they still have time, so long as it is useful for something.

Spells Used

 * "Cling to the rock, wherever I sow; fill the cracks and, everywhere, grow! Rise ever higher, up to the sky; for every pebble, a stem, I spy!" - Initiated by Flora and used by the Winx in an attempt to prevent an unstable half of the volcano from falling into the ocean.
 * "Block the path, bar the way; a sturdy barrier quickly, we say, and like a web, go to stay, all those who seek to stray!" - Used by the Winx to bind down the monster from the asteroid.

Mistakes

 * The outfit that Flora wears throughout this issue is supposed to have a big pink floral accessory dangling from her top, as it has in previous issues.
 * The Winx's Enchantix forms hold a lot of errors that are constant throughout the issue.
 * For Aisha, her Enchantix wings often look either translucent or completely purple.
 * For Flora, the borders of her Enchantix wings will often come in purple instead of pink. Later on, the insides of her wings are more orange than green.
 * For Musa, her hair does not gain the purple coloring it is supposed to gain when going into her Enchantix.
 * For Tecna, her wings will look either completely purple with none of the details or her bottom pair of wings will be colored in yellow in some panels.
 * For Stella, the borders of her Enchantix wings will often go missing.
 * On page 15, as the four of the Winx make it to the volcano half, Flora and Bloom's wings are completely transparent. Flora's dress is also purple instead of pink.
 * From page 23 to page 39, all of the Specialists' pins are yellow instead of being their respective colors.
 * On page 38, as the girls transform, the skirt Musa wears in her Enchantix form resembles Stella's; being an orange and pink floral skirt. Tecna and Stella are also missing their wings.
 * On the same page, Aisha's hair goes back to resembling her normal hair in her civilian form despite being in her Enchantix form.
 * The wings of Aisha, Bloom, Tecna and Flora are completely green, blue, purple and pink respectively, with none of their designs.

Debuts

 * Nabu (physically)
 * Helisia
 * Professor Torganis
 * Queen Niobe
 * Count Kargan
 * Asteroid Monster

Characters

 * The Winx
 * Bloom
 * Stella
 * Flora
 * Aisha
 * Musa
 * Tecna
 * The Specialists
 * Sky
 * Brandon
 * Timmy
 * Riven
 * Helia
 * Nabu
 * Royalty
 * King Teredor
 * Queen Niobe
 * Count Kargan
 * Alfea Staff
 * Faragonda
 * DuFour
 * Wizgiz
 * Knut
 * Enemies
 * Valtor (mentioned)
 * Humans
 * Island Villagers
 * Torganis
 * Helisia
 * Monsters
 * Asteroid Monster

Trivia

 * For the first half of the issue, Aisha's Enchantix outfit takes on its original design. However, for the later half of the issue, her Enchantix outfit takes on its more green and pink design.
 * Valtor is referred to as "Baltor".