Issue 29: Magic Tournament

Magic Tournament is the twenty-ninth issue of the Winx Club Comic Series.

Synopsis
A Fortress of Light Councilman by the name of Givelian has had his proposal shot down yet again, however, the number of votes he has gained has grown. In order to completely tip everything in his favor, Givelian plots to have the headmasters in charge of Magix's three major magic colleges, Alfea, Cloud Tower and Red Fountain, replaced with younger magical gifted individuals who would favor his ideals. Givelian may even have all the tools needed to make the current headmasters look foolish enough to be fired with the upcoming Magic Tournament.

Plot
A vote between council members has just ended at the Fortress of Light and the head of the council is about to read the results. The head of the council thanks all of the council members that have participated and announces that the proposal that was given by Counselor Givelian had been rejected by 56 votes against 44. The head of the council then sends everyone off.

As the council members disperse, a small old man approaches Givelian and apologizes, telling him that he thought Givelian's proposal surely would have made it through. The small old man then tells Givelian that while he did not get the majority vote, the amount of votes he had gotten proves that he still has plenty of support. Givelian thanks the small old man, referring to him as Counselor Yerka, but her claims that losing the majority vote will still halt his plans.

As Givelian and Yerka make their leave, a council member tells the head of the council that the division between the council will become a serious issue and asks him if he thinks that Givelian will present the same proposal again. The head of the council is not so worried and tells the other council members that Givelian has every right to make the same proposal again, though, he is not too happy with how impulsive Givelian is and claims that once he gives it more thought, he will be able to see why the opposing council members were right.

Yerka comments on how the other half of the council members mutter to themselves around the head of the council and insists that the Fortress of Light Council would be able to be a lot more beneficial to the Magic Dimension if Counselor Givelian were to be the head of the council. Givelian tells Yerka that everything will work in due time and explains that the Council should be using their magic more effectively, such as directly intervening in worldly affairs rather than controlling them from afar like they are doing now, however, not all of the council members agree with his ideals. Yerka suggests that he try to find support from outside of the Council and Givelian agrees, adding that their only way out may be through the magic colleges. Yerka does not know where Givelian is going with this and Givelian explains that the magic colleges are where promising youths that may be capable of becoming Fortress of Light Council members can be found. He further explains that if they were to direct the curriculum in the direction they want, then the students from these magic colleges will come to share their opinions and will support their ideals in future debates. Yerka claims that it will take too long for them to share their beliefs, but Givelian reminds him that he is the youngest council member at 142 years old. Yerka then praises Givelian on his ingenious idea and asks how they will be able to change the curriculum as another council member reports to Yerka and Givelian that Saladin, Faragonda and many other headmasters support their opponents. Givelian simply claims that headmasters such as those two will have to be substituted and explains to his fellow council members that they need to prove that the headmasters are not adequate enough to run their respective schools. Once they are able to do so, they can appoint skilled magicians that support their ideals as replacements and Givelian even proposes that he could be the new headmaster of Alfea. Yerka then interjects, proposing that if they are able to successfully pull this off, then maybe he could become the new headmaster of Cloud Tower. Givelian claims that he will take note of his suggestion. Yerka asks when they will take action, to which Givelian reminds him of the upcoming Magic Tournament that will be held on Magix and he explains that they could have the tournament take an unpleasant and unexpected turn as the rest will soon follow. In their dorm, Stella complains that studying for the upcoming Magic Tournament is the last thing they needed to busy themselves with. Bloom asks Stella what other things she needs to get done first are, and Stella whines about how she needs to concentrate on the upcoming Fall Fashion Collections. Bloom laughs at Stella's usual melodramatic acts until she realizes how nervous the professors were today. Flora interrupts by explaining that the Magic Tournament is held every three years and that Cloud Tower had won the last time. She further explains that the Magic Tournament is held by the Fortress of Light Council to help determine which is the best magic college is and that the winning college obtains great honors and new funding. Musa asks what the funding would even be used for until Stella explains that it could be used to expand the school, buy new equipment, and that, best of all, use the funding for a great end-of-term field trip to an exotic location. Stella starts to think that winning the tournament may not be all that bad and tells the girls that when Cloud Tower won, they spent a whole month on a planet with some charming magicians that had a school on that planet. Bloom then asks if there are other magic colleges aside from Alfea and Cloud Tower, to which Stella tells her that there are but the ones situated in Magix are more important as the Fortress of Light Council controls them directly. Stella starts to go on about other schools that the Council may not be able to control or are managed differently, until Tecna interrupts, believing that they should not concern themselves on political matters they are not involved in and proposes that the return to studying. Musa agrees and adds that she would love to do well in the tournament because there are also individual prizes that get given out. Flora then remembers that she was told that Helia was put on the awards committee and that if she were to win an individual prize, she would be getting it right from Helia's hands. Bloom then encourages Flora to do well by telling her that they will all be rooting for her. Stella jumps back into the conversation and tells Bloom that the tournament is conducted through teams so they will all have to use their great teamwork until Tecna cuts in by telling Stella that they will not have to study and help Stella cheat. Stella asks Tecna why they would not help her out and reminds the rest of the girls that, as the Winx Club, they are supposed to help each other out as friends. She starts to frantically ask if that is not true anymore until Bloom tells Stella that she will have to do her part. Tecna frustratingly shouts that there will not even be an in-class exam and that the tournament will be more like a practical one; a batlle. Flora asks who they will have to battle against and Tecna reads from the instructions sheet they got. It says that their opponent will be symbolic and can be anything ranging from a man, an animal, an object or the opposite of the following three things, even taking the shape of a feeling or concept. Musa asks what all that could mean until Stella interrupts by telling the girls that they should not be worrying over it and that all of this will be explained in class, believing that they will be able to find a way to cheat then. During class, Professor DuFour explains to her students that if they want their spells to be as effective as possible during the tournament, they need to pay close attention to how they say it. She further explains that the more pleasant and harmonious the verses are, the more effective the spell will be, telling them that the rhymes between verses symbolize the harmony and equilibrium of the world and of the mind. She tells them that their interior harmony is crucial in becoming a real fairy and calls on one of her students for an example. DuFour suggests that her student use a spell to change the humidity in the air but when the student tries to cast the spell, she conjures up a fairly weak cloud that barely makes it rain. DuFour assures her that she made a good effort but she could have done better. She explains that they will need to concentrate if they want to be capable of doing things like watering a dry desert landscape and calls on another one of her students to cast the same spell, but with more determination. The student manages it to conjure up a much bigger cloud that pours a torrent from under it. Everyone is amazed by this showcasing and DuFour encourages her class that they can do better if they incorporate what they have learned in their magic and literature classes. She casts the spell with great gusto and conjures up a rain cloud that covers the ceiling of the classroom as a waterfall practically pours from under it.

The Winx are amazed by the powerful spell DuFour was able to cast and DuFour tells her students that if they all continue to be steadfast and stand firm, then she is confident that Alfea will be able to win the tournament this year.

Class ends and as they make their way out, Musa asks the girls if they listened to DuFour's verses. Flora is a bit scared that they may not be good enough until Stella tells the girls that the only reason the witches won three year ago was because the Winx Club did not exist back then and, now that they do, Alfea is a shoe-in to win the tournament.

As days pass, the Winx continue to study as much as possible in the Alfea Libraries. Musa suggests that they take a break as they have been studying for six hours straight and Tecna agrees. Stella confesses that she thinks they may be blowing the Magic Tournament out of proportion because studying as much as they are is not healthy. She suggests that they just drop studying and go back to living a carefree life but Musa objects, telling Stella to speak for herself because she actually wants to win. Bloom returns and tells the girls that she has heard something rather serious. When asked what this is, Bloom reveals to the girls that while she was passing by Faragonda's office, she overheard her talking with Saladin and they seemed very worried over the upcoming tournament.

Faragonda told Saladin that there is an ongoing power struggle going on within the Fortress of Light Council and that this power struggle will involve their magic colleges. She explained to Saladin that the results of the tournament are very important and that, if Alfea does not perform well, the Council will ask her to resign. Saladin added that after Faragonda is replaced, the Council may want to replace Griffin as headmistress of Cloud Tower. He then revealed to Faragonda that someone within the Council wishes to manage the colleges differently and they find headmasters like him and Faragonda to be in their way. Saladin advised Faragonda to put more pressure on her girls to do well in order to make Alfea look prestigious but Faragonda was very hesitant because if she worried them too much, then they would become stressed out and would perform even worse. Faragonda tried to assure Saladin that everything will work out in the end but Saladin had his doubts on the matter.

Bloom clears up this information by simplifying it, telling the girls that if Alfea loses the tournament, Faragonda will be replaced. Flora and Tecna voice their objections to such an idea as they think Faragonda is the best headmistress for Alfea. Stella gives into the fact that they cannot get away from studying now that Faragonda's job is at stake until Musa reveals that the tournament is only a week away. Tecna takes it upon herself to to create an electronic spreadsheet to him them divide the work and Bloom tells the girls that she will notify Madame Greta that she will not be able to work that weekend. Stella realizes that if Bloom will be too busy to work at the White Horse then they will not be able to hang out with the boys. More importantly, Stella will not be able to see Brandon. Bloom tries to calm Stella down since they will only be missing one Sunday but Stella insists that she will not be able to make it if she cannot see Brandon. Bloom gives in, telling Stella that they will be able to see them a bit on Sunday afternoon and Stella thanks Bloom. Tecna comments on how fast Stella is on going from tragedy to comedy and Stella admits to this as she notices that her fake-crying did not even mess with her makeup.

Sunday finally arrives and the Winx are taking in the fresh air by the pier until Flora notices that the Specialists have arrived. Stella comments on how late Brandon is and Brandon tells them that they are also under pressure. Thanks to the tournament, Codatorta has been cracking down on them. Stella then gets jealous claiming that Brandon would choose Codatorta over her until Brandon tells her that this is not the best time for her to be acting childish. Stella insists that she is not being childish and that while she is as tired as Brandon, she is not trying to be mean. Brandon tells her that he is not trying to be mean and that he is just trying to let her know when it is an appropriate moment to joke around, but then Stella gets the impression that Brandon is underestimating her intelligence. Brandon then tells Stella that if she wants to fight then he will not stand there and take it as the last thing he needs is for Stella to act like a brat after Codatorta has been pressuring him all week. Tecna jumps in to warn Brandon to be careful of what he says because they are just as stressed as the boys are and that no one is acting like a brat, until Timmy chimes in, telling Tecna not to get involved. Tecna takes offense to this as she was just trying to speak in defense of a friend and she furiously asks Timmy if he believes in Brandon's nonsense. Timmy cannot seem to answer until Sky tells the girls that no one is speaking nonsense, but they may be going too far. Stella agrees by claiming that all she wanted was for Brandon to be nice to her, further adding in that the boys are not the only ones who have saved the Magic Dimension countless times over. Aisha then jumps into the argument, telling Stella that boys will keep getting upset if you do not let them win, which greatly ticks Brandon off. He shouts that he will not be used as a way for the girls to take out their stress on since he is in a mood just as bad as the girls' and tells them to deal with it themselves. As he storms off with the rest of the Specialists in tow, he tells them to let him know once they have gotten over themselves. Bloom asks Stella about what she has done since she is now ruining their Sunday but Stella claims that their Sunday afternoon is already ruined. She starts to cry about how Brandon could not understand that she just needed a bit of cuddling until Flora suggests that they run after the boys before they leave and explain themselves. Aisha, however, believes that they should not go running after them. Flora tries to explain that she does not believe it will be a bad idea but Aisha interrupts, explaining that the boys were the ones who started the fight and that they the ones who always act tired and never actually contribute on missions; leaving them with all of the work. Aisha further explains that if it were up to her, she would wait for them to come running back apologizing. Flora tries to ask what Aisha would do if they did not come running back until Tecna shouts that Aisha can only blurt out the things she is saying because she does not have a boyfriend of her own. Aisha insists that she would do the same thing even if she did have her own boyfriend but Tecna does not think so. Bloom interrupts the girls, telling them to remember the Winx Club rules as they stop bickering amongst each other. Stella blames the tournament for stressing them out and realizes that it will be held tomorrow. Worst of all, she cannot remember a single thing that they had studied. Bloom tells the girls that they should go back to studying until Tecna asks Bloom if they really are not going to go after the boys, to which Bloom confirms that they need to calm down as well and that the last thing they need at this time are more distractions. Bloom is able to convince the girls to head back to Alfea to study, and reassures them that everything will become less stressful as soon as the tournament is over. On their way out, Stella starts to panic over how all this studying will cause her to break out and insists that pimples are sprouting all over her face. Musa, however, tells Stella that she is just being overdramatic as always. The next day, the Magic Tournament is being prepared for. Faragonda makes her way to the benches where the other headmasters and the Fortress of Light Council members will be sitting and congratulates Griffin on picking the location of the arena. Griffin reminds Faragonda that it was Cloud Tower's duty to pick the location of this year's tournament since they were the victors in the last one and that, once they chose the location, they were able to set up the arena with a little bit of magic. She further explains that once the competition is over and everyone has cleared out of the arena, it will disappear, preserving the natural environment. Faragonda then reminds Griffin that it is tradition for the challenging school's headmaster to give the starting signal and wishes her luck. Griffin quickly asks the head of the Council if she can help him with anything else, but he assures Griffin that everything is fine and that he will greatly enjoy watching this year's participants. He expresses his expectations for the students as Griffin tells him that they will not disappoint.

Faragonda commences the beginning of the Magic Tournament by initially explaining the rules: a team of witches and a team of fairies shall face their opponent without transforming themselves. They will make use of what has been taught to them until now and the tournament shall not be interrupted until either one team claims victory or until all participants give up. Faragonda then announces for the first group to come forth and the Winx enter the arena, mesmerized by the amount of people watching.

Many of the people in the stands are cheering for the Winx to bring home the victory to Alfea, including the Specialists. Just as Stella gets excited over how many people are cheering for them, the opposing team enters: the Trix  alongside three other witches. Once they make it on stage, the other half of the audience starts cheering for the witches to win the tourney a second time for Cloud Tower.

Faragonda tells them to be wary of all the hidden symbols and allegories within the challenge, advising the two teams that by understanding, they will manage to win as she wishes them luck. From the Council stands, Yerka reports to Givelian that he was able to modify the drawing charm the way he wanted. Givelian thanks Yerka and chuckles at the thought of the combatting students being met with a rather unpleasant surprise.

The drawing charm flies into the arena and spits out a torrent of paper slips. A woman carrying a bow enters from the entrance and shoots an arrow. The arrow shoots through one of the many paper slips and onto a target. Faragonda then takes the paper slip that was shot and announces that the enemy the two teams will be facing is fear. As the two teams steel themselves, large patches of creeping ivy grow up from the cracks and spread rapidly. Faragonda tells the two teams that fear often limits a person's freedom by paralyzing them so, such as fear, the ivy will try to do the same, and she advises the teams to defend themselves with their magic. Icy forms her magic into that of a buzzsaw and tries to cut up the ivy, however, the pieces that were cut off cast new roots, growing even more quickly as they entrap the Cloud Tower team.

From the stands, Griffin and Faragonda realize that the ivy has been tampered with, as it is behaving like a higher level spell; a spell too strong for the combatants. Givelian, however, leaps from his seat, taking offense to their accusations. Before their outbursts get out of hand, the head of the Council steps in to tell Givelian that they should not go throwing accusations around, but most wait and find proof first. They try to put a stop to the tournament but cannot, as it will only end until either one team wins or until all combatants forfeit. Faragonda tries to urge the Winx to forfeit but, without any context as to why, the girls refuse. Stella then tries to dry out the vines with a sun spell but it only makes the vines grow even faster. Flora then gets the idea to go to the source of the vines rather than constantly try to escape them and starts to journey into the dense vegetation. The Specialists watch as the Winx are swallowed up by the vegetation and try to figure out what they can do. However,  because of the tournament rules, the boys are forced to sit and wait.

Inside the vegetation, the branches and vines are more densely packed so they are unable to go after the girls. While the Winx figure out what to do, they begin to notice all of the life that flows through the vegetation. They also realize that they needed to understand the problem rather than try to destroy it because if they did destroy the vegetation, then they would be destroying all of the life that lives within it. The girls then make their way down to the roots of the vegetation.

Meanwhile, Faragonda and Griffin worry that the girls may be in grave danger. Even though Faragonda has faith in the Winx, she is still worried that they may come to face something more powerful than them.

As for the boys, Timmy remembers that the girls were made to keep a tracker that keeps track of them and their emotions on their clothes. He uses his laptop to intercept the trackers and is able to locate them, reporting to the rest of the Specialists that they girls are thirty meters underground. The boys then decide to catch up to the Winx by going inside the part of the crevice that is outside of the arena.

Back with the Winx, they have entered a large cave by following the massive trunk of the vegetation. When they make it to the roots, they notice that they are split in two; one group of the roots absorbs murky water as the other group of roots cannot absorb the clean river water thanks to boulders that are on top of them. Musa and Stella realize that the roots have a symbolic meaning and they all come up with a plan to move the boulders off of the other group of roots so that they can drink from the clean water, however, when they try to move them with a spell, the boulders do not move an inch. Stella blames their failure on herself because she believes that she cannot concentrate enough thanks to the fight she had with Brandon at the White Horse. Tecna also blames herself for being so hostile towards Timmy and, just as they wish they could see the boys and make up, the Specialists appear from another part of the caves. Stella and Tecna make up with Brandon and Timmy and the Winx try to move the boulder again, but with more confidence. They are successful in moving the boulders!

From the surface, the ground is shaking as the ivy is receding back into the crevice, which also sets the witches free. The Winx emerge from the crevice which causes Alfea to be declared the victors. The head of the Council congratulates the Winx on their victory and comments on how their professors and headmistress must have taught them very well if they were able to complete a task that was mysteriously set it be too tough for them. He then declares the Magic Tournament over and recognizes Alfea as the winning school, bidding everyone farewell. As the Winx rejoice, Givelian vows that he will not fail in his schemes the next time and leaves with the rest of the Council.

Spells Used

 * "It's raining, it's pouring from this cloud, it's falling." - Used by one of DuFour's students to conjure up a small rain cloud in class.
 * "Hail this good shower for only it has the power. Save us from the heat and that's no small feat." - Used by another one of DuFour's students to conjure up a much large rain cloud in class.
 * "May the scattered clouds rain on the parched plain! Come, vapor from distant lands, rain from our hands! May the sound of life giving precipitation be heard on the desolate vegetation!" - Used by DuFour to create an enormous storm cloud in class.
 * "Saw that cuts and breaks, destroy this noxious vine for all our sakes." - Used by Icy in an attempt to destroy the creeping ivy.
 * "I summon thee, oh magic sunlight, to dry these leaves just right!" - Used by Stella in an attempt to destroy the creeping ivy.
 * "Move from here, you big rock. This root you may not block. It must go strong and fear no wrong." - Used unsuccessfully by the Winx to move the boulders off of the roots.
 * "We said it once, we'll say it twice: this plant needs truth and no more vice. Free this root from fear, leave and go nowhere near!" - Used by the Winx to successfully move the boulders.

Mistakes

 * When the Specialists storm off on page 22, the other half of theirs and Flora's bodies are missing.
 * As Flora lets the girls know that they are safer inside the vegetation of page 34, Stella's shirt is missing its jagged blue stripes.
 * For the next two pages, her shirt constantly switches colors.

Debuts

 * Head of the Council
 * Givelian
 * Yerka

Characters

 * Winx Club
 * Bloom
 * Flora
 * Stella
 * Tecna
 * Musa
 * Aisha
 * Specialists
 * Sky
 * Brandon
 * Riven
 * Timmy
 * Helia
 * Enemies
 * The Trix
 * Icy
 * Darcy
 * Stormy
 * Fortress of Light Council Members
 * Head of the Council
 * Givelian
 * Yerka
 * Alfea Staff
 * DuFour
 * Faragonda
 * Red Fountain Staff
 * Saladin
 * Codatorta (mentioned)
 * Cloud Tower Staff
 * Griffin
 * Cloud Tower Students
 * Lynel
 * Lunilla
 * Lucrezia
 * Ivey
 * Polly

Trivia

 * Despite the Magic Tournament being a competition between all of the magic colleges in Magix, Red Fountain does not participate. This could possibly mean that Red Fountain does not count as a magic college, as it physically trains their students and none of the Specialists are shown using magic.