Issue 50: Rebellious Genie

Rebellious Genie is the fiftieth issue of the Winx Club Comic Series.

Synopsis
Faragonda requests the Winx to check on an old colleague and good friend of hers, Selim Mustakar, who had not been responding. She is worried and also has the items he requested as does he with theirs. As it turns out, he accidentally trapped himself in a lamp which was discovered by Ofir. Selim refuses to grant any of Ofir's wishes and until he does, he will remain trapped in the lamp.

Plot
Faragonda calls the Winx into her office where she gives them a special mission - find out why her old friend and colleague, Selim Mustakar, had not been responding. She explains that Selim had taught at Alfea many years ago but his bad temper made it difficult to teach and so he quit; he went back to his country the Kingdom of Altaduna. Faragonda wants to make sure that he is okay but also has items he requested to be delievered; in exchange, Selim would give them a magical powder he has been working on.

The Winx are excited because they get a short vacation and spending it with the boys. Unfortunately, the Specialists can only drop them off and pick them up, as it is the end of the semester and Codatorta will not allow them to be gone for too long. After the girls are dropped off, they start their search for Selim at his house. They find it deserted and in a state of disorder but are alerted by someone fleeing from them. The girls transform and go after the stranger, finding him in a shed. When Bloom threatens to turn the stranger into a mouse he quickly steps out with his hands in the air. Tecna notices he is unarmed and the girls reverted to their civilian selves. Seeing their mystical abilities in action the man, Kemal, states they have powers just like his master. He explains what he saw - he was tending to the goats far away from the house because Selim did not want to be disturbed while conducting an experiment. Robbers came and ransacked the house and when Kemal saw the robbers leave, he ran into the shed terrified and when he stepped out, he saw no robbers but then the girls were there, and so he hid in the shed again. Stella comments that he is not much of hero but it seems the Kemal can help them find Selim. Kemal offers his assistance mostly because he had yet to receive his paycheck. Turning towards the gate entrance, they notice camel tracks and follow it by flight and Kemal on a carpet Stella bestowed with magic. They fly for hours but come to a dead end, to make matters worse, a sandstorm comes in and clears the tracks. Thankfully, there are houses nearby. The Winx and Kemal head down to investigate. Bloom knocks on a door and a man named Ofir answers it. Bloom quickly says they are traveling pilgrims trying to reach the mountains. Ofir, without hesitation, lets them in and offers water and home grown dates for their journey.

Kemal notices a lamp on display that belonged to his master and angrily calls Ofir a thief. Ofir refutes the claim and firmly states that he had found it on a slope. Stella concludes that the real robbers must have dropped it and Ofir affirms it. However, Ofir had rubbed it and the genie refused to grant his three wishes. And so, he placed it on display instead as a sort of revenge. Except for Bloom, the girls think Ofir is lying until Bloom tells them of fairy tale named Aladdin that had the exact same story. She is shocked that it is true with Flora saying that all fairy tales have a certain truth to them.

Stella wants to bring the genie - Selim - out but Ofir vehemently denies them permission as he is the genie's master after all. Bloom uses a seductive look to convince him that Selim might be in trouble and could use his help. Ofir agrees and Stella is left impressed. After rubbing the lamp, Selim appears bad-tempered as ever. He immediately scolds Kemal for not being there while the robbers ransacked his house, saying he can never do things right. Stella points out the irony in his words considering that he somehow got stuck in a lamp and is unable to get out. Selim explains he was only conducting an experiment leaving Stella to take another jab at him. Selim then says the experiment went well despite the end results. Stella responds that he should get out of the lamp if it was successful, after all, it must be cramped in a lamp.

That is when Ofir speaks up - Selim cannot leave the lamp because he has not granted his three wishes. Aisha inquires about these three wishes. They are: become handsome, attain wealth and finally, make Selima fall in love with him. Selim finds these wishes completely unreasonable and tactlessly states that intelligence has more bearing than looks, wealth means nothing without said intelligence and he refuses to force "an ignorant girl [into falling] in love with an idiot." To add onto it, Selim would rather be trapped in the lamp where he is not disturbed than grant those baseless wishes; he refuses to be "a good genie".

The girls completely understand what Faragonda meant by Selim's bad temper, it is really bad. Ideas are thrown around on how to resolve this. The girls do need to grant Ofir's wishes otherwise Selim will remain a genie forever. Stella suggests using magic but Flora reminds her that magic does not make things permanent not to mention the massive amount of energy required to do so and love is its own unique and special magic, it cannot be forced.

So, the girls make Ofir earn those wishes by himself through hard work. For his first wish - becoming handsome - he washes up, hair and beard trimmed, working out to slim down his figure and build muscle, and eat healthy. The end result is fantastic and with that, the first wish has been granted. But Musa points out that the second wish is much harder to grant, money and wealth. Tecna mentions the sheer amount of energy needed for that but Ofir steps in and explains he wants to work hard for it. A shocking response but Ofir explains he had learned his lesson and has a plan. He reiterates that he is an expert in dates. The problem is, he does not have enough land to plant more. And so, they consult Selim the Genie who again still refuses to help them until Stella mentions selling them.

Selim tells them to meet with his merchant friend, Ibrahim who can assist them in the business. Ibrahim offers a loan so that Ofir can buy more land and harvest even more dates. Ofir happily agrees as his neighbor's large land is up for sale. However, since Ofir does not own anything, Ibrahim cannot give him a loan. So, Ofir brings out his genie lamp in which Selim appears and threatens to turning him into a donkey if he does not help. A scared Ibrahim (mostly because of Selim's rage) quickly gives him the loan.

With the land purchased, Ofir gets to work all by himself and has harvested a mountain of dates. But he has no way to sell them until Stella's persistence in Selim helping Ofir and thereby regaining his freedom from the lamp, convinces Selim to use his magic and summon a wealthy merchant to purchase Ofir's harvest for a lifetime. The second wish is fulfilled and the overjoyed Ofir leaps to see Selima, the love of his life.

Selima opens the door and asks why he is shouting, his response was inappropriate. He said that he is rich and now Selima can marry him if she wanted. She took offense, slapped him and slammed the door on his face. Ofir is shocked and dejected, he no longer cares for his income and freely gave it to people who needed it.

Back at his house, Ofir is in the slumps and again, Selim proclaims that it was a waste of time trying to grant his wishes. Then, there is a knock on the door. It is Selima! Ofir asks why she is here and she says that she had heard of his generosity. She now sees him as a wonderful man and would like to get to him better and Ofir leaves with her to go on a walk. The final wish has been fulfilled and Selim is freed at least.

The Winx and Selim make their exchange. With their mission complete, the Winx say their goodbyes and head home. When they return, Faragonda praises them. Selim had told her about their work, his mood had changed for the better, Ofir and Selima are getting married and he will serve as a witness to the happy ceremony. Faragonda comments on how powerful love is and the Winx could not agree more.

Spells Used

 * "Lowly carpet, listen now, with magic I will endow, and quickly order you to fly. So off you go into the sky!" - Used by Stella to make the carpet the robbers left fly so that Kemal can follow them in their search for his master.

Mistakes

 * When Flora transforms into her Enchantix, a part of her dress is missing.

Locations

 * Altaduna

Characters

 * Selim Mustakar
 * Kemal
 * Ofir
 * Ibrahim
 * Selima

Main Characters

 * The Winx
 * Bloom
 * Stella
 * Musa
 * Flora
 * Aisha
 * Tecna

Recurring Characters

 * Alfea Staff
 * Faragonda
 * Wizgiz
 * Specialists
 * Sky
 * Brandon
 * Timmy
 * Wizgiz

Minor Characters

 * Red Fountain Staff
 * Codatorta (mentioned)
 * Wizards
 * Selim Mustakar
 * Humans
 * Kemal
 * Ofir
 * Ibrahim
 * Selima

Trivia

 * After hearing of a magic lamp that belonged to Selim Mustakar, Bloom is reminded of Disney's Aladdin, which leads her to believe Ofir's story.