Issue 26: The Seed of Disagreement

The Seed of Disagreement is the twenty-sixth issue of the Winx Club Comic Series.

Synopsis
The Trix plan to use the Disagreement Plant to cause realm-wide chaos, while the Winx and Specialists must retrieve it before that can happen.

Plot
The Winx and the Specialists are enjoying a nice weekend together by the lake, as Timmy announces that the sausages are finally ready. After everyone gets their own sausages, Bloom comments on how tasty they are. Sky asks if she expected anything less and Bloom jokes about how she would not suspect that a prince would know how to cook. Sky begins to tell Bloom how, when he was a child, he used to steal biscuits, and while he would hide to eat them, he overhear the cooks talking; causing him to learn the recipes. Bloom tells Sky that, jokes aside, the idea to have a picnic was a great one and that they all really needed a time to relax and hang out. Sky asks if school has been getting to Bloom, to which she explains that they have been having pressure piled upon them lately now that they are studying more difficult things. She then tries to change the subject and asks Sky if he would like to grab more sausages to eat but, as everyone gathers around the fire to cook another batch of sausages, they all hear a loud noise. Stella directs everyone's attention towards the sky above them and they all see that a spaceship engulfed in flames is barrelling towards them. They all barely manage to dodge the ship as it swerves past them, crashing into the lake and causing a huge wave to rush towards them. The wave soaks everyone and almost sweeps Stella into the lake until Brandon and Helia grab hold of her and pull her back to shore. Everyone takes a moment to take in the sudden crash until Timmy concludes that they should check for survivors, but Sky stops him. He notices emergency ships directly overhead and tells Timmy that since emergency services are already here, then they should leave the crash to them.

Later, the emergency services have been able to put out any fires that were started by the crash, retrieve and hospitalize any survivors and pull out most of the ship from the lake. Stella notices that news reporters have arrived and tries to avoid any cameras as she may be looking terrible. Bloom asks Sky if he was able to find anything out. Sky tells them all that the cargo ship's engine had failed. He claims that making an emergency landing should not have been difficult to do but something else happened that made it impossible and that there were be an inquest held soon to figure out what caused it. Bloom asks what became of the cargo ship's crew members, to which Sky answers by saying that this crash could have been a lot worse and claims that once the emergency services are able to round up the crew members, they will have them explain to them what exactly happened. Stella suggests that they leave now that she is freezing cold and Brandon pulls her into his arms in an attempt to warm her up and comfort her. Bloom agrees with Stella that they should head back to their schools now that there is nothing more for them to do at the lake. As they leave, Aisha notices that the head of the cargo ship's crew arguing with an official. Bloom comments on how the men cannot seem to get along and Flora agrees but claims that they should not be arguing at a time like that.

A few days later, the girls are sitting through another one of Wizgiz's classes as Stella comments on how she cannot take much more of it. Wizgiz furiously slams his wand onto Stella's desk, claiming that he asked a question and forces her to come up with an answer. Since Stella was not listening as usual, she tries to dodge the question by claiming that she cannot get any sleep when trying to figure out the answer to Wizgiz's questions. Wizgiz, however, is completely furious as he concludes that Stella has no idea what he is asking for and decides to give her a zero as an overall grade. Stella is shocked as to why Wizgiz would give her such a low grade and is outraged by the fact that getting a zero would destroy her average, claiming that she could never have her grade recover from it. Wizgiz demands to know what type of average Stella even manages to have, to which Stella counts up all her grades and comes to the conclusion that if Wizgiz were to give her a six instead, then her average would improve, albeit a tiny bit. However, Wizgiz does not think so and refuses to give Stella anything other than a zero. As Stella tries to figure out what is wrong with Wizgiz today, a girl sitting behind her claims that it he was right for punishing her so severely. Bloom does not think it is right for the girl to agree with how Wizgiz was acting but the girl insists that she just does not agree with Stella. Stella angrily sits back in her seat and tells the girl sitting behind her that Wizgiz could have given her a zero too and that, when he does so, she will have the last laugh. The girl just sticks her tongue back out at Stella.

Fortunately, class ends soon enough. In the corridor, Stella cannot get over how the girl in their class was trying to start a fight with her. Bloom tries to get her to calm down and tells her not to pay any mind to it now that it is over. Musa tells the girls that she overheard Wizgiz arguing with Griselda earlier as Bloom chimes in by claiming that she has never seen Wizgiz be so severe. Stella is mad that she has been caught in the middle of all of it and Flora claims that everyone must be stressed out. Bloom then invites Stella to a trip in Magix City to help her cool off and, since she is already meeting with Sky there, Stella could invite Brandon to come if she wanted. However, Stella is not in the mood and she is behind on her homework, so she heads back to their dorm in a rather dramatic fashion.

In Magix City, Bloom meets up with Sky. He asks if she is well and she says that while she is not, she just needed the fresh air to clear her head. She tells Sky that school was tough for her thanks to everyone being irritable for some reason, and Sky tells Bloom that it has been the same at Red Fountain as well. He further explains that since the teachers have been so busy with the investigation of the cargo ship crash that they have been acting as ferocious as bears lately. Bloom then asks Sky how the investigation has been going and if he was able to hear anything. He claims that there have been some indiscretions and tells her that what seems to have happened during the crash was rather absurd. The two are walking past a tower with a large monitor broadcasting the news, and Bloom takes the opportunity to have her and Sky watch.

The news anchor reports that after an examination of the recordings onboard the cargo ship, the cause of the crash was due to a dispute that erupted between the ship's pilots on how to perform an emergency landing. He simplifies it by saying that the two pilots were actually so busy caught up in their argument that they could not even fly the cargo ship. The anchor further adds that the investigation commission cannot come to an agreement and even argued in front of the press during a conference. He believes that because of all of this, it will take much longer to for him to receive word on the official conclusions and signs off.

Bloom comments on how ridiculous all of the bickering was and Sky adds that Codatorta had also gotten involved with the dispute, which caused his terrible mood. Bloom asks how Codatorta is connected to this but Sky does not know for sure. He claims that the officials needed his opinion on the crash and that Wizgiz was supposedly asked as well. He further explains that they were all called to the crash site as experts and Bloom cannot believe that Wizgiz was called as an expert on something such as a ship's crash. Bloom then tries to change the subject so that they will not get too stressed out and asks Sky where he wants to go. Sky does not know yet so he asks Bloom what she wants to do, to which Bloom starts to talk about a new shopping center that had opened up and that they could grab a bite to eat there after some shopping. Sky, however, does not want to be stuck going shopping and suggests that they go to the latest sports center instead. While Bloom initially disagrees with this, she later claims that she does not mind and suggests that they check out some gymnastics while they are heading towards the sports center. Sky complains under his breath that he would rather avoid gymnastics all together.

Later that day, Bloom returns to her dorm, slamming the door open and storming off to her bed as the rest of the Winx try to figure out what happened to her. Flora and Stella approach Bloom, asking her what is wrong, and Bloom confesses that her date with Sky was completely ruined due to them arguing for the whole day. As she cries, she claims that she does not know what happened but, no matter how hard she tried to compromise, Sky remained stubborn and unhappy throughout their date. She adds that she and Sky almost broke up for good, too. Flora tries to assure Bloom that this is just all a passing face as Stella tries to figure out what is going on, coming to the conclusion that the boys may be under pressure like they are. Flora tries to get Bloom to stop crying by telling her that Helia and Codatorta also got into an argument, resulting in Helia being severely punished for it. As the rest of the Winx come into the room, Flora exclaims that the boys must be nervous wrecks due to large amounts of studying they need to do but Stella insists that they are in the same boat. In a dramatic fashion, she exclaims that she cannot study any longer because she is getting wrinkles, but she claims that she is neither angry nor unbearable, like how everyone else is acting. Stella tells Bloom that women need to have more patience than men because men would not be able to survive without women otherwise.

However, the next day, things seem to be getting worse. As the girls head into the main hall for breakfast, Flora asks Bloom if she is feeling any better. Musa tries to encourage Bloom by telling her that she will be able to forget about what happened after they eat some breakfast but she accidentally bumps into another student, causing her to spill her coffee all over her shirt. The girl is outraged by Musa making her spill coffee all over her shirt but as Musa tries to apologize, Griselda interrupts her to warn her to stop arguing with the girl. Musa tries to explain that they are not arguing, but Griselda thinks that Musa raising her voice is enough to prove that she was arguing and marks it down on Musa's registry. Believing that Griselda is being unfairly severe, Musa marches up to her claiming that she did not do anything wrong and that she does not deserve the mark. As she is arguing with Griselda, Headmistress Faragonda and Professor Avalon come walking in. Faragonda suggests that Griselda drop the whole incident as breakfast is starting to get cold but Griselda disagrees with her, to everyone's surprise. She claims that discipline means everything in a school like Alfea and that they have been too lenient with the students but Faragonda believes that a fairy must be tolerant and understanding until Avalon chimes in by claiming that he also does not agree with Faragonda's methods. Stella asks Tecna what could possibly be going on in Magix and Faragonda overhears this. She takes it upon herself to intervene in Avalon and Griselda's squabble and claims that she needs all of them to come to her office, including the Winx. Stella asks the girls if any of them can make sense of what is going on but Bloom does not know either, and Tecna claims that she can feel that something bad is happening under everybody's noses.

Faragonda announces that she brought them all to her office to carry out a confidential survey. She then asks everyone how long they have been arguing and if they have smelled any strange odors as of late. Avalon gets offended and is about to declare that he disagrees with this sudden survey until Faragonda cuts him off, telling him that this is exactly why she needs to carry out her research. Faragonda proclaims that people have been arguing with each other and fighting in Red Fountain, Cloud Tower, and all over Magix. She claims under her breath that they all thought it was extinct but now that it does not seem to be the case, then all of Magix is in danger. Bloom asks what Faragonda means and she tells the Winx that is must be the cause of the disagreement plant. The disagreement plant has a terrible effect on those its spores latch onto and that ancient sages tried to eradicate these plants long ago. They believed themselves to be successful but, with what is currently happening, that does not seem to be the case any longer. Faragonda takes out a book and shows the girls what the disagreement plant looks like as she explains that they need to get rid of the plant before its spores spread and cause more disagreement plants to grow. Bloom asks Faragonda if the plant really is that dangerous, to which Faragonda tells her that the plant's aroma increases existing disputes between people and makes them permanent. This would cause all human relations to become impossible. She then proclaims that they need to secretly mobilize all of the colleges to find that plant and avoid panic.

Obviously enough, the Winx ask the Specialists to help them search for the disagreement plant. Bloom explains to everyone that she believes the cargo ship brought the disagreement plant to Magix. She reminds everyone that this could be a possibility since the crew members were too busy arguing with each other, which caused the cargo ship to crash in the first place. She further explains that the plant must have contaminated the crew members with its spores and everyone else became contaminated after the investigation. Sky, however, does not believe that to be the case. He tries to claim that the investigation still has not concluded so it could be a technical fault, but Stella interrupts, reminding him that the professors who were arguing also visited the crash site. She further explains that their bad moods may have been the result of them breathing in the plant's spores, until Sky claims that she must be joking. Stella points out that Sky must have breathed in the plant's spores when he got too close to the crash site to ask for information, which caused him to be contaminated and argue with Bloom all day for their date. Sky insists that that is not the truth until Flora interrupts him by claiming that Bloom may be right since even the highest officials cannot seem to agree. Flora exclaims that they all need to hurry and check the wreckage before the plant's spores affect the rest of them, however, Riven claims that it could possibly be too dangerous. Sky proclaims that he believes everyone to be wrong about the entire situation. Bloom, fed up with his behavior, insists that their friendship is the only thing that can counteract the disagreement plant's spores. She pleads with him to try and convince himself into believing in their friendship and Sky tells her that he believes in her and their friends.

Now that Sky has calmed down, the Winx and Specialists approach the crash site to look for the plant. Bloom and Brandon find a door leading down towards the cargo room and manage to pry it open. Once they all manage to get down into the cargo room, Bloom notices that there are nothing but small greenhouses inside. Flora pities all of the other plants that are wilting until Bloom asks if they could all be disagreement plants. Flora tells her that that cannot be the case because they are all completely harmless exotic plants and claims that she may have figured out what had happened. Flora explains that the crew may have collected exotic plants from some sort of nursery and picked up the seed of disagreement unintentionally and, when the plant germinated inside one of the greenhouses, the worst happened. Bloom asks where the plant may have gone, but she quickly spots a large crack in the glass windows and comes to the conclusion that when the water got into the ship, the current took the plant away. Flora adds that if the plant were still in the ship then they would have fallen victim to the plant's effects by then. Sky claims that they are in trouble now and suggests that the only way to find the plant now is to study the water currents.

Unbeknownst to the Winx and Specialists, the Trix have been closeby, watching them. Icy tells her sisters that they are only following the Winx and the Specialists so that they will also be able to find the plant but Stormy starts doubting if they will ever find it. Icy tells Stormy that since there are more of them, they can move around more freely and insists that they will eventually find the plant. Darcy laughs at the idea of snatching the plant from right under their noses as soon as they find it. Icy agrees with the idea and adds that they just have to wait for the right time. Stormy hopes that it will work but does not like the idea of handing the plant over to Griffin once they find it. Icy, however, believes that the plant will be too useful to simply hand it over and that they will benefit from it greatly if they keep the plant for themselves. She then uncovers her motorcycle by the bushes and tells her sisters that they will continue to follow them.

Some time later, the Winx and Specialists are following the river's currents on a speed boat. Bloom notifies Sky that the currents flow towards a bay as Sky keeps the boats course. Bloom reminds Flora and Aisha to keep following the red coloring in order to keep track of the currents and Aisha assures her that the coloring is becoming denser as they move on. Aisha praises Bloom on coming up with the ingenious plan to use coloring to follow the plant, but Bloom thanks Timmy for coming up with the idea. Brandon jumps up from his seat and proclaims that using the coloring to track the currents was his idea and that Timmy had nothing to do with it, but Timmy leaps to his feet and claims that is was actually his idea, while accusing Brandon of just being a braggart. Brandon pushes Timmy and warns him not to give him such a look when he is talking to him and Bloom tries to break up the fight. However, when she tries to move Brandon's arm away from Timmy, Stella shoves her away and yells at her to leave Brandon alone. Aisha and Flora become angry with Stella's behavior and threaten to fight her to protect Bloom as their friend, but Stella threatens them to keep their noses out of it. Bloom cheers on Aisha until she realizes that they must be near the disagreement plant and that must be the cause of everyone's sudden fighting. She tells Sky that they need to hurry and leave before the effects become permanent. However, Sky does not think they should do so, but Bloom grabs hold of the boat's steering wheel and steers it in the opposite direction, hoping that the wind will blow away the plant's spore and restore everyone to normal. After the rough turn, Stella cannot seem to remember what happened minutes before as Brandon asks if she is alright. Bloom tells everyone that the disagreement plant's spores were starting to affect them but they got away in time so they were not permanently affected by it. Brandon asks what she means exactly and Bloom claims that the plant is somewhere in the bay, but they cannot get at it without succumbing to the effects of the plant's spores. Stella suggests that they warn Faragonda or even the leading authorities of Magix, but Bloom claims that the effects of the plant are a lot worse and more severe for adults. Flora asks if Bloom's belief that younger people are less affected by the plant, to which Bloom affirms this by claiming the friendship is more important to people the younger they are since they are more indifferent to serious matters and will love their friends more intensely. As Bloom starts to doubt that their friendship may not be enough, Flora tells her that they may know a few people that would be better for this mission than they are: the pixies. Bloom and Stella praise Flora for coming up with that idea and Bloom is now certain that they will be able to pull off the mission.

A little while later, the Winx's bonded pixies arrive and Bloom explains the situation to them. Lockette tells Bloom that they would be happy to help them, but suspects that Bloom may have her doubts about sending them. Bloom assures Lockette that they are not doubting any of them, but warns them to be careful because it could be dangerous. Chatta tells Bloom to relax, insisting that she is too nice and generous of a pixie to become a pain from the plant's influences, but Tune openly doubts that Chatta is nice or generous. Chatta tells Tune to think to herself if she wants to say mean things until Lockette manages to quiet her and Tune down. Lockette then tells Bloom that everything will be okay and go as planned. As the pixies fly off, Bloom tells the pixies that the bay is on the other side of the forest and that the plant must be close to the riverbank somewhere. The pixies continue to make their way to the riverbank as Tune confesses that she always wanted to do something heroic. Lockette notices that they are approaching the lake and suspects that the plant must of washed up on the shore, but Chatta keeps trying to get the others to stand back so that she can find it by herself. Amore catches up with everyone else with a glass jar to put the plant inside until Chatta lunges at her because she wants to carry it. Amore and Chatta fight over who gets to carry the glass jar until Amore drops it. Luckily, Piff catches it before it can break. Lockette berates Chatta and Amore for fighting and tells them to make up since they are already friends. Chatta and Amore hug as they apologize and make up, when Lockette hears Piff calling for them.

When they all turn around, they realize that Piff had already found the disagreement plant! Chatta praises Piff on being able to find the plant even when they were all arguing with each other and they all decide to head back, however, the pixies are all caught by the Trix in blue cloaks. Icy has Stormy cast a soporific cloud into the net to knock out the pixies and now that they are asleep, the Trix take the jar with the disagreement plant inside. Darcy suggests that they leave the pixies since they were able to find the plant without recognizing them and Stormy is relieved that they can take off their cloaks now. Icy reminds her sisters that no one needs to know that they now have the plant since they still believe that they have turned over a new leaf. However, as the Trix are about to make off with the plant, they spot the Winx and the Specialists blocking the road up ahead. Bloom realizes that the pixies still have not returned and believes that something may have happened to them. Stella asks Bloom if it would be a good idea to get any closer to the disagreement plant to look for the pixies, but she soon notices that the plant is not having any sort of effect on them. She suspects that the pixies may have obtained the plant, even if they do not understand why they have not returned as soon as they got it.

Stormy frantically asks Icy what they should do now and that if the Winx spot them then their plan to keep the disagreement plant for themselves will go out the window. Icy tells Stormy that all they need to do is create a diversion and suggests that they start a fire. As Icy marvels at how impressive the fire as, she commands Stormy to cast a big wind to have the fire spread. Though, when she turns around, the jar with the plant inside is gone and she catches Stormy taking off with it. Stormy thinks that she will be able to become more powerful than everyone so long as she keeps the plant for herself, until Icy fires a blast of ice at her. Stormy manages to dodge it but she trips over a tree root, dropping the jar. The jar breaks and the plant releases its spores as it quickly catches fire. The Trix proceed to fight amongst themselves over who gets to keep the disagreement plant until the fire quickly spreads and engulfs them.

Bloom hears a scream and Musa suspects that those who were responsible for starting the fire may have gotten caught up inside it, as the fire definitely was not started by anything like a lightning strike. Sky tells everyone that they need to get out of there as quickly as possible but Musa realizes that the fire has already surrounded them. That is when Brandon activates his hover-shield and suggests the other boys to do the same. The Winx quickly hop aboard each of the Specialists' hover-shields as they safely glide over the raging fire. When they make it across, Stella jumps into Brandon's arms and asks if he would believe her now if she were to tell him that he makes her float on air whenever she is around him until Musa asks where the pixies could be. Bloom thinks that even though the pixies can fly, they may have gotten caught up in the fire as well, and suggests that they look for them.

The pixies wake up from the tattered net they were caught in and soon realize that the forest is on fire. As they try to escape, they fly over the broken jar and see the disagreement plant burning in the fire. A little while later, the pixies manage to make it out of the forest fire safely and reunite with the Winx. Lockette tells Bloom everything that had happened to them and that the plant got completely burnt up in the fire. To confirm that this is true, Bloom asks Lockette if the disagreement plant was completely destroyed. Lockette says that it is and asks if it was bad that it ended up being burnt, but Stella assures her that this is great news. The girls praise the pixies for completing their mission and Stella cheers that they now have another victory over the Trix.

Speaking of the Trix, they had inhaled the disagreement plant's spores directly so the spores affected them more than anyone else. In another part of the forest, the Trix are still fighting amongst themselves.

Spells Used

 * "Hell's fire, be released from my hands and turn everything around us into a volcano!" - Used by the Trix to start a forest fire.

Mistakes

 * When Musa accidentally bumps into another student on page 17, the girl exclaims that Musa stained her dress, even though she is wearing a green top with orange pants.
 * In the middle panel of page 25, Flora’s top covers her belly.
 * As Aisha and Flora are keeping track of the currents by watching the red coloring flow on page 28, no red coloring can even be seen in the water.

Debuts

 * Professor Avalon
 * Seed of Disagreement

Characters

 * The Winx
 * Bloom
 * Stella
 * Flora
 * Musa
 * Tecna
 * Aisha
 * The Specialists
 * Sky
 * Brandon
 * Riven
 * Timmy
 * Helia


 * Enemies
 * The Trix
 * Icy
 * Darcy
 * Stormy
 * Pixies
 * Lockette
 * Chatta
 * Amore
 * Tune
 * Digit
 * Piff


 * Alfea Staff
 * Faragonda
 * Griselda
 * Wizgiz
 * Avalon
 * Cloud Tower Staff
 * Griffin (mentioned)
 * Red Fountain Staff
 * Codatorta (mentioned)

Trivia

 * A more accurate translation of the Italian title would be "The Seed of Discord".