Issue 24: Love Potion

Love Potion is the twenty-fourth issue of the Winx Club Comic Series.

Synopsis
Unable to forget about Brandon ever since he risked his life to save her during their canyon mission, Shilly's feelings for the brunette Specialist have only grown with each passing day and today is the day that she will finally try to grow closer to him. Unfortunately for her, Brandon is still very much in love with Stella and he ignores Shilly's advances at every turn. Depressed by the fact that her feelings will be going unrequited, Shilly decides to make one last move to steal Brandon away from Stella and make him her boyfriend. She is willing to even use magic to make it happen.

Plot
Classes have just come to an end over at Cloud Tower. One witch asks Shilly what her plans will be for the weekend and mentions that a group of Specialists had invited her and her friends to go to the lake with them. Shilly agrees to go and openly hopes that he will be there. Her friend asks if she has her eyes on somebody, to which Shilly explains that she does in fact have a special someone and managed to take a picture of this person last Sunday.



Shilly shows her friend a picture of Brandon, where her friend excitedly asks if he and Shilly have talked already. Shilly explains to her friend that while they were assigned to hunt for surviving shadow monsters, Brandon put his life on the line to save her and that the two of them were alone together for hours. Shilly then tells her friend that she honestly expected to forget about Brandon but, since she hasn't, she has decided to go after him.

Meanwhile, at Alfea, the Winx are waiting for the bus that regularly stops by the White Horse. Just as the bus arrives, so do the Specialists on their hoverbikes. Before Stella hops on Brandon's hoverbike, Bloom warns Stella that she cannot ride on a hoverbike without a helmet. Stella tells Bloom not to worry and uses a spell that she had picked up to equip herself with a riding outfit and a helmet. Tecna asks Stella where she picked that spell up, to which Stella claims that she found it when one of last year's textbooks fell on the floor and opened up to the spell's specific page by chance. Flora comments on how another bus is arriving until Tecna, Bloom and Musa use the spell to outfit themselves. However, Flora and Aisha decide to take the bus and meet up with the rest of them at the White Horse.



As the Winx and the Specialists speed on towards the White Horse, Bloom expresses her relief now that she will not be running late. Brandon starts to slow his hoverbike down and, when Stella asks him why, he claims that he wants to stretch the ride out so that he can be with Stella longer. They eventually reach the White Horse where they meet up with Flora and Aisha, asking how their ride was. Bloom asks Stella how they get their riding outfits off and, with a wave of the finger, Stella manages to make them come right off. Bloom runs into the cafe to get the ice cream stall ready and the rest of the Winx follow, eager to help out Bloom. Brandon warns Stella not to eat all the ice cream but Stella promises to save him a bowl.

Just as Brandon is putting his stuff away, Shilly comes up from behind and asks if he still remembers her. Before he gets too confused, Shilly reminds him about the mission with the shadow monsters they had and how he dove into raging waters to rescue her. Brandon realizes who she is and asks how she has been since then. Shilly says that she has been fine and notices that he frequently goes to the White Horse to hang out. He tells her that he likes to come there with friends, to which Shilly suddenly asks if he has a girlfriend. Brandon makes it clear that his girlfriend is Stella, but Shilly tries to convince him to go for a walk with her since she is not here with them; telling him that she came with a group of witches and other boys and that they are walking around the lake's shore. Brandon thanks her for the invitation by declines, telling her that he came to the White Horse with his own group of friends and that they already have plans. As he is getting his riding suit off, he waves goodbye to Shilly and heads inside.

Inside the cafe, Stella gives Brandon the bowl of ice cream she saved and the two head for their table. Stella asks Brandon who the girl he was talking to outside was but Brandon tries to shake it off by making a joke. Stella tells Brandon that she was looking for him and found him talking to the girl outside. She then asks if he knows her, to which Brandon reminds her of the shadow monsters mission they completed a while back. Stella asks him what Shilly wanted from him and Brandon tells her that she wanted him to hang out with her friends, but reassures Stella that he is dating only one girl which is her. Stella asks him if she really is the only one, to which Brandon reaffirms this and suggests that hey go for a walk.



As the two of them go for their walk, Shilly watches from behind with a sad expression. However, she is quickly interrupted by Icy, who claims that the sight of Brandon being with Stella must be a living nightmare for Shilly. Shilly turns around to recognize Icy and asks if she knows the fairy who is with Brandon. Icy claims that she does not but still knows that she is irritating as she sits at Shilly's table. After the two of them introduce each other, Icy comments on how pretty Shilly is and asks why she does not have a boyfriend, but she cuts herself off and apologizes. She then looks back at Brandon and Stella and asks Shilly if she finds Brandon to be cute. Icy insists that Shilly is more beautiful than Stella and asks why Shilly has not decided to steal him from her, but Shilly tells her that she already tried to get Brandon to notice her but he barely acknowledges her existence. Shilly gets upset at the fact that she was so excited to meet Brandon over the weekend that she had trouble sleeping for three days, but before she gets too emotional, she asks Icy if writing Brandon a love letter would be a good idea. Icy claims that writing a letter would be too old-fashioned and suggests that, as a witch, Shilly use magic to make Brandon hers. Specifically, to use a love potion. Shilly insists that she cannot use magic as forbidden as a love potion and, when she notices Icy is unaware of this, she reminds her that it is a very strict rule set by the teachers of Cloud Tower. She adds that a witch only learns how to make a harmless love potion during their third year, so she would not know how to make one otherwise. Icy acts like it is such a shame that Shilly refused her offer by telling her that she could have helped her make the love potion if she wanted and leaves. Shilly sees Brandon and Stella kissing by the pier and comes to the decision that she should take Icy's offer.

That night, in the Cloud Tower libraries, Shilly manages to find a book on love potions and copies down the information she needs so that she does not have to steal the book. Once she has finished copying down the information, Shilly runs off, completely unaware that Icy has been watching her from behind.



Icy returns to her dorm and claims that Shilly has fallen for the trap. Darcy tells Icy that her idea was a great idea to start up more trouble with the Winx. Stormy asks if Shilly really will use the love potion, to which Icy tells her that she saw Shilly sneaking out of the library, possibly with the formula. Icy then tells her sisters that she may actually lend Shilly a hand, as thanks for making life harder on the Winx.

Meanwhile, another attempt to make the love potion fails. Shilly's friend comes by and asks what she is making but Shilly insists that it is nothing. Her friend notices a sheet of paper and tries to look at it, but Shilly snatches the notes away and tells her friend to mind her own business. Her friend gets upset and thinks Shilly is trying to be the only one that gets good grades in potionology, so she tells Shilly that she will not let her copy her curseology homework. As Shilly is about to start another attempt, Icy walks in and gives her the missing ingredient that will complete the potion: a vile of scolopendra extract. Shilly insists that she is not making any sort of potion but Icy leaves the vile near Shilly and leaves, just in case Shilly wanted to use the scolopendra extract. Once Icy leaves and no one is really paying attention, Shilly uses the extract.



A few days later, the Winx and Specialists are hanging out on the main street in Magix. Tecna spots a computer monitor from a store's window and yanks Timmy over to look at it. Tecna marvels at all of the other products until Timmy asks how much it will all cost. She berates Timmy for immediately thinking about money when they are all window-shopping until Stella points out some clothes from another store. Brandon tells Stella that they cannot stop every ten feet to look at clothes but she continues to be amazed by all of the beautiful clothes. Sky tells Stella that they will be going to the cafe ahead of her and that she can catch up with them when she is done window-shopping. As Brandon tries to get Stella to move on and rejoin everyone, Shilly is tailing them from closeby.

When they make it to the cafe, Stella complains by telling Brandon that he should have let her buy something. The waiter gives the person by the counter their orders but just before he can bring out their drinks, Shilly interrupts by claiming that the people dining outside are her friends. The waiter lets her take the drinks and while he is not looking, Shilly slips the love potion into Brandon's drink.

Shilly brings the drinks to the Winx and Specialists and, when asked what she is doing at that cafe, she makes up a lie by claiming that she is working there. After she hands Brandon his drink and sets the rest of them down, she leaves, wishing them a nice evening. Stella is annoyed by how frequently they have been running into Shilly but Brandon insists that it was just coincidence. Stella confesses that she still cannot stand Shilly being around them and suspects that Shilly is trying to steal Brandon from her. Brandon tries to calm her down by offering her his drink, but Stella does not want any, so he drinks it himself. Stella claims that she is tired of sitting still and offers to pay for everyone else's drinks before storming off. Brandon wonders if he did anything wrong, but Bloom assures him that it is just Stella acting out. As everyone gets up to leave, Brandon tells them that he has to get something done really quickly and asks them to wait as he runs past into the cafe. While inside, he runs into Shilly and tells her that he just wanted to say goodbye to her. Shilly tells Brandon that it was really nice to do that and gives him her cellphone number to keep in touch. Brandon promises to call her later as he runs out to catch up with his friends.



When Brandon makes it outside, Stella asks what was taking him so long, to which he responds by telling her that he had to say goodbye to Shilly. Before Stella gets too upset, Brandon claims that he thought it was just the nice thing to do since they are acquaintances. He tells Stella that she is the only girl he likes and hooks her around his arm. Stella playfully asks if what Brandon says is true and Brandon assures her that he is telling the truth. However, he looks back at Shilly standing by the corner of the cafe as if he would rather have her instead.

Later that night, back at Cloud Tower, Shilly gets a call. She insists that it is just from a friend but due to the fact that this "friend" of hers called her past midnight, Shilly's friend believes that whoever is calling may be more than a friend. She pries Shilly for answers on who is calling her but Shilly just tells her to mind her own business as she sends a text.

At Red Fountain, Brandon gets text from Shilly saying that she will be at the lakeshore at eight P.M, asking if he will come meet her. Sky notices that Brandon is still awake and asks him why he is not asleep since it is already so late. Since he has been acting rather strange lately, Sky asks Brandon if there is anything wrong. Brandon tells him that everything is fine as he heads into their dorm.



The following evening, Brandon meets up with Shilly by the lake shore in secret. However, a girl who is also on a date with a boy by the lake catches Brandon walking with Shilly in his arms.

The next day, at Alfea, the girl is telling her friend that she saw Brandon walking together with Shilly and that they were so close together that they were practically kissing. Stella overhears this and demands the girl tell her what she knows about Brandon. The girl tries to shake her off by claiming that she could be mistaken but Stella still wants to know. DuFour asks that the girls not be so loud during class, but Stella asks the girl sitting behind if she is going to tell her what she knows. The girl passes Stella a note that says that Brandon is going out with a witch now, which causes Stella to cry. The girl's friend asks her why she told Stella the bad news but the girl insists that Stella kept asking her. She also adds in that Stella always acted like she was better than all of the other girls since she had a boyfriend and that this piece of bad news would teach her a lesson. Bloom notices that Stella is crying and tries to ask her what is wrong, but Stella asks DuFour if she can leave. Once Stella gets permission, Bloom also asks DuFour if she can leave. DuFour lets her leave but she warns Bloom that she will never be able to learn anything like that.

Out in the hallway, Bloom catches Stella sobbing by the windows and asks her what happened. Stella tells Bloom that Brandon had been acting strange all week and that one of the girls in their class told her that he is dating Shilly behind her back. Bloom tries to calm Stella down and tells her that she should speak with Brandon instead of listening to what could be a rumor. Stella calms herself down a bit and agrees with Bloom, promising that she will speak with Brandon since he has never lied to her before.

Meanwhile, at Red Fountain, Timmy comes running to Brandon, telling him that he got a message from Stella and that she will be waiting for him that afternoon at the White Horse. Brandon wants to know what Stella could have told Timmy but Timmy tells him that she has not been able to call Brandon since he has had his cellphone off for the whole week. Timmy tries to ask Brandon what is going on with him but Brandon walks off, telling Timmy to mind his own business.



That afternoon, Brandon arrives at the White Horse where Stella is waiting. Before he says anything, Stella realizes that what she has been told was the truth and asks Brandon why he never told her beforehand. Brandon claims that he would have as soon as he understood what was going on with himself. He then explains to Stella that things between them was not working out and thinks that this is for the better. However, before he is able to apologize to her, Stella runs off in tears.

Back at the Winx's dorm, Bloom tells the girls that Stella has been depressed in her bed all evening and that she has been refusing to speak with her. Flora urges the girls to leave Stella alone because she will need time to accept the breakup. Tecna says that matters of the heart are so complicated and Musa agrees by adding in that boys can act so stupid sometimes. Bloom claims that that is just how life goes and that some relationships come to an end while other ones can start. Although, Bloom cannot understand why it happened so quickly and that she never expected something like this to come from Brandon of all people.



Meanwhile, at Cloud Tower, Icy congratulates Shilly on being able to win Brandon over. Shilly asks how Icy found out that they were together, to which Icy explains that everyone has been talking about it and that Stella, Brandon's ex, has been taking their break-up really badly. Shilly claims that Stella will get over it eventually and Icy agrees until she asks Shilly how cute Brandon is. Shilly fawns over how sweet and protective Brandon is and openly expresses how she thinks they will be together forever. She goes on to say that she is deeply in love with Brandon and that he must definitely be as deeply in love with her until Icy comments on how Shilly's love potion must have worked well. Shilly asks Icy what she means by this and Icy reminds her about the potion she used to make Brandon hers; that his love for Shilly is not real love. Shilly insists that she did not use the potion on Brandon and that he truly loves her as Icy walks away, wishing her lots of true love for her and Brandon. Initially, Shilly suspects that Icy is just jealous of her and tries to fool herself into thinking that Brandon loves her for who she is now; that the love potion must have worn off and has nothing to do with his love for her. Shilly comes up with a plan: to have Brandon drink the antidote to prove that he truly loves her.

That weekend, Shilly and Brandon are at the White Horse. Shilly asks if Brandon loves her, to which he obviously says that he does, claiming that he even left all of his friends to be with her. Shilly asks again, this time asking if he loves her for who she is or if he feels forced into loving her. He tells Shilly not to worry by saying that he really does love her, however, Shilly stills had doubts and, to distract him, she asks Brandon if he can get her a bowl of ice cream. As he gets up to go get her ice cream, Shilly pours the antidote into his drink. Bloom, who is cleaning a table across from Shilly notices this.



Brandon returns with Shilly's ice cream and tells her to hurry since it is already melting. As Shilly is about to eat her ice cream, she asks if Brandon is going to have his drink. He says he will and makes it as if it were a toast to Shilly's health. Shilly watches nervously as Brandon drinks his water until he jerks backwards, holding his head as if he suddenly got a big headache. Shilly asks how Brandon is feeling now, but Brandon does not seem to know how or why he is at the White Horse. Not knowing what he means, Shilly tells him that he is dating her now, but Brandon gets up from his chair claiming that Stella would be really upset if she knew he and Shilly were alone together. Brandon then apologizes to Shilly by telling her that he does not know what is wrong with himself and that they are all wrong for each other. As Brandon leaves to find Stella, Shilly cries to herself.

Brandon approaches Bloom and asks if she has seen Stella anywhere. She tells him that Stella is outside and that she wanted to be alone but Brandon goes after her anyway, thanking Bloom before he leaves. Bloom decides to confront Shilly over Brandon's behavior that past week until she notices that Shilly is crying. Bloom sits in the seat across from Shilly and asks if it was the potion's effects that caused Brandon to fall for her. Shilly claims that it may have worked too well due to the fact that she fooled herself into thinking that it was true love between herself and Brandon.



Meanwhile, Brandon manages to find Stella outside and runs towards her. Stella notices Brandon coming towards her and tries to get him to go away by shouting that she wants to be left alone. Brandon still sits next to her and asks her to listen to him because he has so much to say to her.

Back inside the cafe, Shilly explains to Bloom that she gave Brandon the antidote because she thought that he truly loved her but she was wrong. He always loved Stella and never stopped loving her, even under the effects of the potion. Shilly laments over the fact that she is all alone now and desperately asks Bloom what she should do while sobbing. Bloom tries to calm Shilly down and tells her that even though people fall for others, they cannot make the person they had fallen for love them back. She tells Shilly that if she truly loves Brandon then she would want what is best for him and accept his choices. Shilly is able to calm down and tells Bloom that she knew she was wrong from the start. She reaches into her bag and claims that she knows how to make up for all the trouble she has caused.

Outside of the White Horse, Brandon is asking Stella why she is refusing to believe him. He explains that he was not acting like himself but despite the fact that he does not know what was happening that past week, Stella is still the only girl who has his heart. Stella, however, keeps telling Brandon that she cannot believe him; that she does not want to believe him. She tells him that she does not want to get hurt again but, before she is able to get the rest out, she notices Shilly walking towards the both of them. Shilly hands Stella an envelope, claiming that it will explain everything, and she says goodbye to Brandon as she walks off. Stella opens the envelope and finds a letter and a vial inside of it. While reading the letter, she learns that Brandon was under the effects of a love potion and realizes that she was about to break it off with him for good. Brandon leans in to try and read the letter, asking what happened, but Stella jumps into his arms and tells him that he has always been hers. The two of them look at the vial and Brandon realizes that he had been under the effects of a love potion. Stella confirms this by telling him that Shilly gave it to her within the envelope as proof. Stella adds that in the letter, Shilly told her that she can use what is left of the potion to keep Brandon hers forever, but Stella chucks the vial into the lake. Brandon playfully says that Stella is full of herself and Stella responds by telling him that she does not want to use magic to keep him hers, but prefers to win him over day after day.



Bloom and Shilly are watching Stella and Brandon from a nearby balcony, where Bloom asks Shilly if they will stay as friends. Shilly says that she will stay friends with Bloom because, at a time like this, she will really need all of her friends. Bloom tells Shilly that she did the right thing and that she will find someone of her own that will make her feel happy. Just then, a group of boys leaving the White Horse notice Shilly and Bloom up on the balcony and start complimenting her. However, Shilly still believes that she will not be able to love anyone as much as she loved Brandon. Despite this, Bloom chimes in by telling Shilly that she does not think she will always feel that way.

Spells Used

 * "Protectium and safetium, securium clothesium!" - Used by Stella to equip herself with a riding outfit and helmet.
 * "Whosoever doth drink of this potion will glow... with love for the one o'er whose hand it flowed." - Used by Shilly as she poured the love potion into Brandon's drink.

Mistakes

 * On page 9, when Stella is asking Brandon about Shilly, Brandon's face is as blue as the window they are sitting by.
 * On page 11, when Icy and Shilly are chatting, Icy's eyes are red instead of their usual blue.
 * On page 12, when Icy tries to convince Shilly to use a love potion on Brandon, eyeshadow is missing on her right eyelid.
 * On page 17, when Tecna argues with Timmy about money, her sleeve is missing.
 * On page 38, when Brandon snaps out of the love potion's effects, he calls Shilly, "Scilly."

Debuts

 * None.

Characters

 * Winx Club
 * Bloom
 * Stella
 * Flora
 * Tecna
 * Musa
 * Aisha
 * The Specialists
 * Sky
 * Brandon
 * Timmy
 * Riven
 * Enemies
 * The Trix
 * Icy
 * Darcy
 * Stormy
 * Alfea Staff
 * DuFour
 * Cloud Tower Students
 * Shilly
 * Ivey