Issue 84: Riddles and Jealousy

Riddles and Jealousy is the eighty-fourth issue of the Winx Club Comic Series.

Synopsis
After the defeat of the Stone Giants, Roxy and Manuel are now stuck in an awkward stage of their relationship. Even though he kissed her cheek, Manuel still fears that Roxy may reject him if he confesses, whereas Roxy is still under the impression that Manuel does not feel the same way about her as she does for him. Things begin to get more complicated for them as another Specialist plans to use Roxy for a bet. Meanwhile, Musa and Lukas become an official item, however, Lukas has begun to act strange at the same time an elderly lawyer started looking for him. As the Winx and Specialists try to help Roxy and Manuel confess their feelings for one another, Musa looks for where Lukas had been hiding out in order to figure out what is going on.

Plot
The Specialists have just finished up a routine maintenance check on their shuttles at Red Fountain just as dinnertime starts. Manuel tells the others that he would rather stay with the shuttles as he does not have much of an appetite. Sky is surprised that Manuel is not hungry as he has been working harder than everyone else all day and Brandon claims that it is not all the effort Manuel put in that is making him want to skip dinner. He kneels down next to Manuel and claims that if Roxy were here serving dinner, Manuel would not waste any time eating and would probably even have seconds! Sky tries to stop Brandon from teasing but Manuel claims that he would like to see how Brandon would act if Stella started avoiding him. Brandon believes that Stella loves him too much to avoid him and that is when Sky cuts in to tell Manuel that he agrees with what Brandon was going on about earlier: that Manuel really does like Roxy. Manuel believes that he does not have the courage to tell her about how he feels as he does not know what to do if she were to say no. He also does not wish to wreck their friendship if she were to reject his feelings. Manuel confesses to the boys that, even if he does not wish to ruin their friendship, he cannot sleep a wink thanks to his feelings for Roxy. Timmy claims that this is all typical behavior as there is nothing rational about love. He explains that love is impulsive and makes one's brain go haywire because there is no logic when it comes to matters of love. Manuel, Sky and Brandon are all left confused by Timmy's explanation and simply agree with him to avoid another one. Meanwhile, at Alfea, Roxy is having a similar problem as she just did poorly in her mathemagics class. Stella points out that Roxy said the same thing that morning and asks Roxy for her desert because she is starving. Roxy lets her have it and Bloom asks if Roxy is worrying over Manuel. She suggests that Roxy call him but Roxy believes that the boy needs to make the first moves. Bloom asks Roxy where she got that idea from and tells her that boys and girls are now on the same playing field since times have changed and things have become less traditional. She urges for Roxy to tell Manuel of her feelings if she really likes him so much but Roxy is still hesitant as she does not know what to do if he were to reject her. Tecna still thinks it would be better for Roxy to tell Manuel but Roxy insists that it is not all that easy. She explains that it is similar to taking a test at school: she shows up prepared but once she gets the test, she begins to get nervous. Bloom assures Roxy that she understands her struggle as she used to be the same way with Sky and she asks if the two of them kissing after the Stone Monsters were defeated was true or not. Roxy confirms that Manuel did kiss her but she believes that it was only on impulse; possibly due to him being so relieved after escaping the Stone Giants by a hair. Something like that never happened again so Roxy is still confused. That is when Stella proposes that Roxy get help from Musa to write a melody for Manuel, only to realize that Musa did not come to eat with them. She asks why Musa did not come and Bloom reminds Stella that Musa is still in Magix since some bands are rehearsing late.

Just as Bloom said, Musa is tending to the Winx Club hangout with help from Lukas. Musa thanks Lukas for helping her and Lukas proposes that they take a break outside as the band rehearsing is doing so really loudly. As the two of them head outside, Musa laughs as she thinks Lukas loves music too much to complain about it. Lukas claims that thanks to Musa and her music hall, young people from all over Magix can realize their dreams by practicing there, but Musa claims that it is not as deep as Lukas thinks as she only got the music hall to help others rehearse. Lukas insists that Musa should not belittle the significance of her music hall as it is the beginning of one's dreams that count the most and that the music hall is much more than a business she is using to scrape by. He truly believes that it is a wonderful thing and that this is how it should be. Musa asks if Lukas really feels that way as she sits on top of a nearby rock and Lukas affirms his beliefs, as he also believes that Musa is a wonderful girl. Musa invites Lukas to sit next to her and the two share a kiss under the full moon. The following day, Roxy is sitting through one of Professor Wizgiz's classes, where Wizgiz claims that the Specialists of Red Fountain know the basics of magic and reminds his students that they know the basics of conventional tactics. He then introduces his guests, who are a group of Specialists, to the class and encourages the girls to treat them with an air of dignity.

After class, Stella, Musa and Flora approach Roxy as Stella asks if a group of boys really did get to show up in her class. She asks how they were and Roxy claims that the boy she got partnered with was fairly nice.

She then flashes back to what happened during class. Wizgiz had set Roxy up with a purple-haired boy who quickly took a liking to her. The boy asks Roxy if she knows how to do any magic since she is learning to become a true fairy and Roxy insists that she can. The boy then suggests that Roxy should show him some tricks sometime, like how to put frogs in pots or put tacks on chairs; simple pranks to show some of his friends. Roxy tells the boy that they do not do such things in class but she will try to figure something out and that is when the boy points out that Roxy has beautiful eyes.

Back in the halls, Roxy claims that her partner is really nice and cute. She thinks it will be nice to study with him and Stella is impressed by how Roxy already managed to make such an impression. Roxy insists that they just met but Stella thinks that they will just have to wait and see. As the girls head out, Stella claims that this may end up solving all of Roxy's problems as this may cause Manuel to come to his senses and ask her out. Meanwhile, the boy Roxy has been partnered up with is bragging about her to his friends at Red Fountain. He claims that Roxy is already falling for him but his two friends are not buying it. That is when Mikos bets that he can make Roxy his in just three days and his friends agree to it. Manuel happened to be working on a nearby shuttle and overheard everything.

Later that day, Manuel is walking around the college by himself until he is stopped by Timmy who has news for him. He tells Manuel that Mikos is going around bragging that Roxy is already his girl but Manuel cuts him off to reveal that he had already overheard Mikos' bet. Timmy urges for Manuel to do something if he really cares for Roxy and Manuel claims that he already planned to talk with her at the White Horse this upcoming weekend. Timmy tries to tell Manuel that he would be there to help if he needs a hand but he is interrupted by a sudden phone call. It turns out that Tecna had called him to ask if he was able to tell Manuel about what has been going on. He tells Tecna that Manuel did not have much to say except for how he plans to talk to Roxy this weekend. He then asks if Roxy really does like Manuel and Tecna is certain that she does but the two of them need to hurry and make up their minds. She tells Timmy that if Mikos turns out to be interested in Roxy and were to interfere then it could mess everything up, but Timmy believes that Mikos is not interested in Roxy at all. He tells the girls that Mikos only plans to win a bet by using Roxy and this will end up hurting her in the end. The two hang up and Tecna tells Bloom and Stella that, according to Timmy, Manuel knows about Mikos' bet and plans to talk with Roxy this weekend. Bloom hopes that Manuel really will talk with Roxy as it could cause them a whole mess of trouble if Mikos were to interfere. Stella, on the other hand, fawns over the whole ordeal as things like deception, doubts and plotting when it comes to matters of the heart are the spices of life.

Suddenly, Musa begins to head out and tells the girls that she is running late getting to their Club since she ended up becoming busy with Miss Barbatea. She promises to be back later and heads out as the three of them say goodbye. Once Musa has left, Stella suspects that she is going into the city to meet up with Lukas. She tells Tecna and Bloom that she is really happy for Musa and Tecna agrees. Bloom does as well as she believes that Musa deserves a peaceful romance after putting up with all of the problems that Riven gave her. Meanwhile, in Magix City, Musa gets off just in front of the Winx Club building and heads for the gates. Just as she is about to enter, she is approached by an old man who introduces himself as a lawyer by the name of Leopold Zinieff and asks if she is Musa. Musa greets Mr. Zinieff and asks if there is anything she can help him with. Mr. Zinieff tells her that he is looking for Lukas and that he came to learn that she is his friend. Musa confirms that she is and tells Mr. Zinieff that they have an appointment together. Mr. Zinieff interrupts her by saying that he had already checked inside the building but found no sign of Lukas, only a band of young men who play instruments horribly and at a deafening volume. Musa catches that Mr. Zinieff had called Lukas "Master" but Mr. Zinieff claims that she misheard him. He then asks if Musa could just tell him where to find Lukas so that he may warn him but Musa does not even know what all of this is about. Mr. Zinieff decides to give up, claiming that all "these young hoodlums" are all the same. As he storms off, he tells Musa that as an employee of Zinieff & Zinieff, he will find Lukas whether she wants him to or not. Musa makes her way through the front gates as she comments on how creepy that encounter just was and wonders why he would be looking for Lukas anyway. She remembers that the old man called himself a lawyer and suspects that Lukas did not show up because lawyers like Mr. Zinieff were possibly hounding him.

Musa approaches a young man named Adrian in front of the building and asks if he has seen Lukas today. He claims that he has not and Musa thanks him for telling her. She tries calling Lukas but he does not pick up his phone. She decides to leave the Winx Club building to go search for Lukas, hoping that nothing bad happened to him. Musa walks through the busy streets of Magix looking for Lukas and quickly comes to realize that she is being followed by someone. So she cuts through a bakery and comes across an apartment complex. She climbs the stairs, finds a door and knocks on it. Lukas answers the door and is surprised to see Musa, but Musa is confused as to why Lukas did not meet up with her at the Winx Club building. She asks if he forgot their arrangement but Lukas reveals that he has to leave Magix for a few days. Musa asks why he has to run and if it has to do with that lawyer from earlier. Lukas wonders what lawyer she is talking about but quickly tells her that it is better to not think about it as he thinks it would be better for him not to know about it. Lukas tries to leave until Musa stops him by warning him not to use the front door since there was a guy following her. She wishes for Lukas to be more careful as the guy may have still been able to follow her even after she took a detour. Lukas kisses Musa and praises her on her quick thinking. He then rushes for the back door as he says goodbye to Musa and promises to be back in a few days. Musa watches him leave with a lonely look on her face. She then returns to Alfea, where she explains the entire situation to the rest of the Winx. Musa confesses that she does not know what to think and Stella asks if Lukas may have been up to something fishy. Bloom wonders why Stella would say such a thing and Stella goes on to suspect that Lukas may be a spy hiding out in Magix. Musa doubts that any of that is true and thanks Stella for trying to cheer her up. Just then, there is a knock at the door and when Musa answers it, it is Knut. He tells Musa that Faragonda wishes to see her in her office and Stella fears that Musa may have gotten in trouble. Musa assures Stella that she will tell her and the Winx of what happens when she gets back and she leaves with Knut.

A short while later, Musa and Knut arrive in Faragonda's office, where Faragonda asks if she remembers the old lawyer from earlier. Mr. Zinieff tells Musa that he owes her an explanation for all of what is going on and reveals that Lukas is the only son of a man named Sigmund Viker. Sigmund Viker is the owner of one of the largest industrial businesses and all of Magix known as Viker Steel but, unfortunately, Mr. Viker has fallen ill as of late. With no one to guide the company in Mr. Viker's stead, the Viker Steel company is falling apart and they are all desperate for Lukas to return and take ownership. Mr. Zinieff was tasked with finding Lukas, who had run away from his home about a year ago due to a disagreement he had with his father. Faragonda asks if Musa understands all of this and if she will be able to help Mr. Zinieff. She urges for Musa to tell them of Lukas' whereabouts even if she does not want to as she needs to see how important this predicament all is. Musa understands and promises to tell Faragonda or Mr. Zinieff.

Once her meeting with Faragonda is over, Musa leaves the Headmistress' office and is met by Bloom and Stella, who are eager to know what happened. Musa explains that they want to know Lukas' whereabouts and that she had to tell them about him. She tells her two friends that she has to find Lukas and tell him all about what is going on, but tomorrow is important to more than just Musa.

Everyone is hanging out at the White Horse and Roxy and Mikos are walking around the outside of the café. Mikos is glad to have found the White Horse and Roxy explains that she was accompanied by her friend Bloom, who also works there as a waitress. Mikos invites Roxy to go for a walk with him, suggests that they could probably get some ice cream, and Roxy takes him up on his offer. The two of them make it to a quiet part of the lakeshore where Mikos confesses that he finds Roxy to be really pretty and claims that he does not have a girlfriend. He then asks how Roxy would feel about becoming his girlfriend as he tries to force a kiss onto her. Meanwhile, Manuel is walking around the White Horse trying to gather his thoughts and figure out how he will confess to Roxy. He happens to turn around a corner by the lakeshore and finds Mikos and Roxy "kissing." Feeling as if she rejected him, Manuel quietly storms off.

Roxy is disgusted with Mikos' sudden advances but Mikos claims that he did it because he finds her to be really cute. She berates him by telling him that that does not give him the right to do whatever he wants and storms off for the café, leaving Mikos to try and play it all off as a joke.

Roxy makes it back inside where she is greeted by Bloom. Bloom asks Roxy what is wrong and tells her that she saw Manuel pacing around just a bit earlier.

Meanwhile, just outside the café, Mikos is bragging to a crowd of his friends about how Roxy nearly fainted in his arms from his kiss. One of his friends calls Mikos out for making all of it up and laughs over how he saw Roxy nearly slap him. Mikos demands to know where he is going with this and his blonde friend concludes that Roxy may have dumped him right after the kiss. His friends laugh at him as Mikos insists that he told Roxy to act angry in order to put on a show and that girls always do what he says. Manuel overhears all of this and confronts Mikos, demanding to know if that is all Mikos feels about girls; that they are only around to do what he says. Manuel then calls Mikos out on being an arrogant idiot and demands that he stay away from Roxy from this point on. Mikos wonders what Manuel's deal is and asks if Roxy is his girlfriend, to which Manuel claims that she is not because he has not asked her out yet. Stella happens to overhear the argument and rushes inside the café, where she eagerly tells Roxy that Manuel is fighting for her.

Mikos and his friends try to make fun of Manuel for thinking Roxy is his girlfriend despite not asking her out but Manuel insists that he has not because he respects her. He then shouts about how girls deserve respect and calls Mikos out on not thinking so, especially when it comes to Roxy. A purple-haired girl in the crowd suspects that Manuel must care for Roxy a whole lot to make him challenge Mikos in such a way and even wishes that she was in Roxy's place. Manuel confesses that he does care for Roxy because she is a great girl and demands that Mikos never dare to disrespect her again. The purple-haired girl and Mikos' blonde friend argue for a bit until they are interrupted by Roxy who proclaims that Manuel is the guy she wants. Manuel is surprised that Roxy heard everything and Roxy kisses him on the cheek as thanks for trying to defend her. The two of them go off on their own, leaving Mikos to be taunted by his friends about losing the bet and being publicly humiliated. Bloom and Stella watch Roxy and Manuel walk along the lakeshore as Stella is happy that the two of them ended up getting what they wanted in the end. Bloom agrees but begins to worry about Musa and hopes that everything works out for her as well.

At the same time, Musa is walking through Magix City, making her way to the Winx Club where a guy in a green jacket and sunglasses suddenly bumps into her, causing her to drop her purse. The man offers to pick it up as he apologizes and hands it to her. The two of them then go their separate ways until Musa notices that her purse is slightly lighter. She looks through it and comes to realize that her phone has been stolen. She suspects that the man who bumped into her must have stolen it and begins to panic as she thinks about all the possibilities as to why he did so. Musa then remembers that Lukas' cellphone number is on her phone and she searches for a phone booth in order to warn the Winx.

At the White Horse, Stella's phone starts vibrating and she picks it up, thinking that it may be Brandon. It turns out to be Musa who asks if Stella is with the others and tells her that something suspicious has happened. She reveals that her phone has just been stolen, which confuses Stella because it was not even the latest model. Musa suspects that it was stolen because it had Lukas' number in it and worries that they may be able to pinpoint Lukas' location if he were to pick up. She urges for the girls to come find her as she will be needing her help and Stella has Musa tell her where she is. She ends the call and Stella tells the girls that Musa is in a coffee shop that she is familiar with located in downtown Magix. Bloom quickly tells Greta about the situation and, once everything is settled, the girls transform to find Musa. Shortly afterwards, the girls find Musa waiting for them at the back of the coffee shop. Stella hands Musa her phone and Musa calls Lukas. As she does so, she tells the girls that she did not want to call Lukas in the coffee shop as she feared that someone after him may overhear their call. Soon enough, Lukas answers the phone and Musa asks if he is okay. Lukas says that he is fine but is confused as to why she is calling him again from a different number. Musa reveals that she did not call him before and that she is just now calling using Stella's phone because hers was stolen. Lukas asks what happened and Musa explains that whoever is after him may have been able to locate him now that he has answered their call using her stolen phone. Just then, Lukas hears footsteps coming from the landing just outside his apartment and Musa urges for Lukas to tell them where he is as she and her friends are here to help. Lukas frantically tries to tell them that he is in the Sintex Building in the industrial area just north of some factory buildings, but he is interrupted by whoever is outside his apartment breaking down his front door. He tells Musa that he is going to run for it and Musa tells the girls that they need to leave as quickly as possible. She then transforms into her Believix and the group flies off towards Lukas' whereabouts.

Soon enough, Bloom realizes that Sintex is a chemical factory and the Winx head off after her. The six fairies quickly come across a building with many footprints outside of it and follow them, only to end up finding Lukas being chased by three men. Musa quickly realizes that the men were not simply trying to find Lukas but also wanted to kidnap him, so the girls swoop down to attack them. With Lukas' kidnappers out cold, Musa hugs Lukas, relieved that he is safe. Lukas thanks Musa and her friends for saving him.

A few days later, Musa comes to the girls with news. The kidnappers confessed that they had orders to kidnap Lukas and make it look like he left of his own free will. Musa also reveals that the lawyer, Mr. Zinieff, orchestrated the whole thing. It turns out that Mr. Zinieff had made an agreement with Lukas' father that stated that if Lukas could not be found then Mr. Zinieff would take over Viker Steel. Stella claims that she knew Mr. Zinieff seemed like the villainous sort and realizes that Mr. Zinieff would have ended up with complete control over the company. Bloom adds that no one would have suspected a thing as it would have meant that Lukas was missing and Tecna asks Musa what Lukas is up to now. Musa reveals to the girls that Lukas returned to Viker Steel in order to take charge of it in his father's place as he could not let all of the workers lose their jobs. Musa knows that it will be a difficult job and is worried that she may not get to see him that much. That is until Roxy points out that Lukas is approaching the school building from their window. Musa and the girls rush outside to greet him as Musa is still shocked that Lukas has come back so soon. Lukas explains that his father was never ill but had gotten depressed and perked up when he saw his son return. He tells Musa that his father really wishes for him to come back and follow in his footsteps to help him run Viker Steel. Lukas is relieved that his father still needs him and will be more than happy to help him, but this means that he will have to leave Musa in order to do all of that. He apologizes to Musa and tells her that new commitments are waiting for him. He is unsure if he will ever see her again but he assures her that he will never forget her and that she will always be in his heart. Musa assures Lukas that she understands his circumstances as tears well up in her eyes.

Spells Used

 * Sound Wave - Used by Musa to disorient three of Lukas' kidnappers.
 * Dragon Fire - Used by Bloom to attack one of Lukas' kidnappers.

Mistakes

 * The Winx's Believix outfits hold some minor errors throughout their appearance in this issue.
 * Bloom's blue translucent gloves are missing.
 * Stella's pink translucent gloves are missing.
 * Flora's bracelets are missing.
 * Musa's pink elbow-length fingerless gloves are missing in the last panel of page 31 and beginning panel of page 32. They tend to appear, disappear and reappear but the gloves are not fingerless.
 * Aisha's glove and bracelet are missing.
 * When the girls first transform on page 29, Stella's Believix wings are missing even though she should be flying.
 * When the girls find Musa at the back of the coffee shop on page 30, Tecna's hair flows down to her chest rather than being at shoulder-length.
 * As the Winx search for Lukas on page 32, Musa's long braid is missing in one of the panels.
 * As Musa and Lukas embrace on page 34, Musa's pants are the same color as her skin, causing it to look like she is only wearing a bikini bottom.
 * On the same page, Aisha gains pink elbow-length gloves.

Debuts

 * Mikos
 * Leopold Zinieff
 * Adrian
 * Sigmund Viker

Characters

 * The Winx
 * Bloom
 * Stella
 * Musa
 * Aisha
 * Flora
 * Tecna
 * Roxy
 * The Specialists
 * Sky
 * Brandon
 * Riven (mentioned)
 * Timmy
 * Manuel
 * Humans
 * Lukas Viker
 * Adrian
 * Sigmund Viker (mentioned)
 * Red Fountain Students
 * Mikos
 * Alfea Staff
 * Wizgiz
 * Barbatea (mentioned)
 * Knut
 * Enemies
 * Stone Giants (mentioned)
 * Leopold Zinieff

Trivia

 * This is a direct continuation of Monsters of Stone.
 * This marks the beginning of Roxy and Manuel's relationship as well as the end of Musa and Lukas'.