Chapter 16: Deku and the Shadow Wood
Our heroes have now left Plegia Castle on their way to. They have been given a mysterious mask. Liro said it was the key to navigating the Shadow Wood and Venom Swamp but what did he mean by? They’ll find out soon enough. We were flying over Plegia on our way to Shadow Wood where our true destination Venom Swamp lurked & where we can find Chrom’s Mixel Tribe the Glorp Corp. I was in the training room sparring with Eren. We had the Fang Gang, Sacred Swords, Chrom, Kiruko, Yarne, Mikasa, Armin & Soulamaru watching us. “Hyah!” Eren shouted as he attempted to kick my leg. “Too slow Eren!” I shouted as I jumped into the air dodging Eren’s kick & got behind him. “Come on Eren! You can do it!” Gobba shouted.
“You’re doing great Kurutaru!” Bronze Fang shouted. I grabbed his arm & slammed him into the ground hard. “That’s Eren 0 & Kurutaru 2.” Golden Claw answered. “Kurutaru is pretty good fighting hand to hand. She’s got some very good reflexes. That can be very useful in battle.” Chrom answered. “Yeah no kidding. Where did she learn to fight like that?” Yarne asked. “My father taught her how to fight. She is more into fighting with swords than hand to hand.” Kiruko answered. “You did good Eren but you need to be a bit more faster. Your attack would have done me in but you were too slow with it & that’s why I was able to dodge. Try working on your speed more.” I answered as I helped Eren up.
“Okay & thanks for the spar Kurutaru.” Eren said. “Hahaha! Titan Boy got his butt handed to him!” Gangrel shouted as he walked in. “Hello there Gangrel. You want something?” I asked. “Yeah. I want to spar with you with real swords. My Levin vs your Broad. I want to see how good you are.” Gangrel explained taking out his Levin Sword. “Is that so? You want your butt handed to you then so be it.” I answered as I took out my broad sword & got into a battle stance. Eren immediately sat down trying to avoid the fight that was about to start. “Begin!” Golden Claw shouted. Gangrel rose his sword into the air as a huge bolt of lightning came out of nowhere & headed straight towards me. “!” I thought as I immediately jumped out of the way of the attack & headed straight towards Gangrel as the lightning followed me.
“You’ve got to strike faster than that! Now take this! Mach Blade!!” I shouted as I ran at supersonic speed at Gangrel as I slammed my blade straight into his Levin Sword sending him flying back & stopping his assault. Gangrel recovered in midair & leaped high into the air attempting to land a downward slash on me. I quickly blocked the blade with my sword in an instant. “You’re pretty good!” Gangrel shouted. “You ain’t bad either but I’m just warming up!” I shouted as golden flames enveloped my sword. ! Gangrel thought as he jumped back before the flames sent him flying. “Golden Fire Slash!” I shouted as I fired a huge golden fiery slash with a swipe of my sword straight at Gangrel. “Levin Slash!” Gangrel shouted as he fired a huge lightning slash with a swipe of his sword. Both attacks collided with incredible force causing a huge explosion. We were about to attack when Sacred Dragoon spoke.
“Sorry to interrupt your training session but we have arrived at the Shadow Wood. I suggest you get ready.” Sacred Dragoon said. “We’ll resume our battle another time.” Gangrel answered as he left. “…” I said. I immediately grabbed the Deku Mask & headed outside the ship with everyone else. Frederick, Cynthia, Aversa & Sumia had their horses & Pegasi with them. Cynthia’s & Sumia’s Pegasi were white dawned with blue & silver light armor. The Shadow Wood looked pretty ominous, the trees were dark, the sun hardly penetrated through the leaves, glowing fireflies & plants were scattered around & a strange mist flew throughout it. “No wonder why this place is called the Shadow Wood. It so dark & creepy.” Daxter answered. “Liro said I should put on the mask when we got there. Let’s see why it’s so special.” I answered as I took the mask & placed it on my face. The moment I did pain surged through my body & I began to feel very strange.
“Kurutaru? Are you okay?” Kiruko asked. “Gr…rghh…RAWR!!!!!” I shouted as the mask’s eyes went wide open as dark energy flowed from it & into my body engulfing me completely. “KURUTARU!!!” My friends shouted surprised. I’ve began to change. The mask merged with my face as my hair turned light green & curved like leaves, 2 leaves appeared on the left & right side of my forehead, my eyes turned a dark gold, my skin turned into brown wood, my size shrank until I was 3 ft tall, my nails became wooden claws, I grew a wood tail with leaf blades going down it, my armor had transformed into a green leaf bra & skirt & leaf rimmed brown boots & my broad sword transformed into a tree root hilt silver rapier & brown tree root bow with silver head arrows. The green light vanished as my transformation was complete. “What happened? Why are you guys are so big?” I asked in a daze. “Look for yourself.” Golden Claw said as he handed me a mirror & I looked into it.
“…WHAT THE FREAKIN HECK?!!!!! I’M A FREAKING SHRUB!!!!!!” I shouted completely surprised. “Whoa! That mask turned Kurutaru in a tiny plant thing!” Kiruko & Connie shouted surprised. “Hahaha! That’s a good look for you shrub girl!” Gangrel laughed. “She’s not a shrub. She became a Deku Scrub. No wonder why that mask looked familiar. It was a Soul Mask.” Armades explained. “Soul Mask?” Chrom asked. “A Soul Mask is a type of mask with a spirit sealed inside of it. If a person wears a Soul Mask, they become the being that was sealed in it. That Deku Mask was a Soul Mask & when Kurutaru put it on, it turned her into a Deku Scrub.” Armades explained. “And you could have said something before she put it on?” Jean asked. “Yeah but how good is she now since she’s now a shrub? She’s too small to do any damage & look so easy to beat in that state.” Auruo stated. “What was that?!” I shouted as I suddenly created a big green bubble from my mouth which rocketed straight into Auruo & exploded with incredible force sending him flying into a tree hard.
“Didn’t expect that!” I shouted surprised. “What the heck was that?!” Auruo asked completely surprised. “I forgot that she can create a highly pressurized bubble from her mouth & shoot it at enemies. When the bubble pops it releases a huge explosion enough to blow trees apart. Deku Scrubs can also go into plants & control them, launch themselves from special flowers & are immune to poison. So don’t underestimate their appearances.” Tiras explained. “So basically she’s more dangerous in that state?” Eren asked. “Pretty much.” Adreus answered. “I guess Plegia royalty must have known about this! That mask could actually lead us through the forest & swamp!” Erd shouted. “Then lead the way Dekutaru.” Chrom said. “Dekutaru?” I asked. “We’ve got to call you something since you’re a Deku Scrub now. Do you mind?” Chrom asked. “I’m okay with it.” I answered.
“Yeah! That name sure suites your state! Lead the way Dekutaru!” Lissa shouted. “Follow me.” I said as we headed deeper into the forest. Despite being dark the lights in the forest were very beautiful from the glowing fireflies to the illuminating flowers. For reason I could hear the thoughts of the plants like they were leading to where I need to go & where to take my friends too. “Wow. This forest is actually kind of pretty.” Lissa said. “Yeah! Look at the glowing flowers! They are so cool! I wonder if I can eat them?” Chomly asked. “This is why we call you the Brown Trashcan.” Aversa deadpanned. “Haha! Brown trashcan!” Sasha laughed. “Don’t think you’re above him Potato Girl.” Lon-qu deadpanned. “How do you know where your going? This is the first time you’ve been here.” Frederick asked. “Somehow I can hear the thoughts of the plants telling me where to go. It’s strange.” I answered. “It’s probably because you’re a plant now.” Panne answered. I suddenly stopped causing everyone else to stop. “What is it Dekutaru?” Miriel asked.
“Something’s here. I can sense it.” I answered as I took out my sword. The bushes began to move & the trees began to rustle as well while we ready ourselves. An army of creatures jumped from the bushes & trees surrounding us. It was Dark Hounds along with 5 ft tall dark purple monkey like Dargeddons with glowing yellow eyes, sharp fang like jaws, light purple fur on their chests & stomach, black claws, spiral ears, a purple monkey tail with a mace at the end, a buff structure, & silver talons. “Dark Hounds & Primarks!” Golden Claw shouted. “Let’s see what I can do!” I shouted as the Dargeddons headed straight towards us. “Nature Dragon Slash!” I shouted as a huge green energy slash was fired with a swipe of my blade which sliced in half 3 Dark Hounds with incredible power they scattered into darkness. “Burn! El Fire!” Miriel shouted as a red array appeared in front of her before it fired a huge fireball straight into a bunch of Primarks burning them to ashes.
“El Wind!” Laurant shouted as a green array appeared in front of him before it fired a huge sphere of wind straight into 4 Dark Hounds ripping them into shreds of darkness. “Luna!” Frederick shouted as light blue energy enveloped his Silver Lance as he charged towards a bunch of Dark Hounds on his horse piercing through them with incredible power as they scattered into darkness. “Rubber Ace!!” Balk shouted as he leaped into the air & slammed down his tentacles crushing 2 Primarks with incredible power before they had a chance to dodge. “Levin Bolt!” Gangrel shouted as he raised his Levin Sword into the air as a huge bolt of lighting came down on 2 Primarks & 2 Dark Hounds electrocuting them as they scattered into darkness. 3 Primarks immediately began to attack me with their sharp claws but I jumped high into the air & out of their way landing a tree branch.
“Nature’s Arrow!” I shouted as green energy enveloped my arrows as I fired them at the 3 attacking Primarks piercing through them as they scattered into darkness. “Ocean’s Tail!!” Golden Claw shouted as fierce water energy enveloped his tail as he slammed it into two Dark Hounds tearing them apart into pieces of darkness. “Nature’s Claw!” Gobba shouted as brown energy enveloped his fists in the form of claws as he sliced apart two Primarks with incredible power. “Spinning Blade!!” Lucina shouted as she leaped into the air delivering a spinning slash to two Dark Hounds slicing them into shreds of darkness with incredible speed & power. “Nature’s Boom Bubble!!” I shouted as I created a huge highly pressurized bubble & fired it at the remaining Dark Hounds & Primarks creating a huge explosion that obliterated them completely with incredible power along with blowing apart a few trees in the process.
“Well that takes care of that.” Lissa said as I leaped off of the tree branch & onto the ground. “For something weird & small, you sure are strong.” Lon-qu stated. “Told you not to underestimate her.” Armades answered. “Wait…the trees are talking again.” I stated. “What are they saying Kurutaru?” Armin asked. “Something is in this forest…This forest is the protection of the swamp but something is now attacking it. The Guardian of this forest has disappeared. If we are to move on we need to find its guardian.” I explained. “So where can we find the guardian?” Eren asked. “Follow the light…” I answered as a sphere of green light emerged in front of us & headed off deeper into the forest. “After that light!” Erwin shouted as we went after the glowing green light. We were running through the woods following the glowing green light. The further we went the darker the forest had gotten & the feeling of dread became more pronounced. I was faster than everyone else so I was in front of them & they had to keep up with me even my friends who were riding horses or using 3DM Gear.
“She sure is fast like that! I wonder how those tiny legs of hers could go so fast!” Jean asked. “I can hear you horse-face! So go kiss my little tail or better yet eat my dust!” I shouted as I slapped my tail on the ground sending dirt into Jean’s face. “Hey! That’s *pft* playing dirty! Literally!” Jean shouted as he was trying to spit the dirt out of his mouth. “Hahaha! Take that horse-face!” Eren laughed. “Shut up Jaeger! I don’t want to hear your annoying voice.” Levi hissed. “Jeez, aren’t you a ray of sunshine.” Gobba teased. “Shut up before I slice.” Levi hissed. “Don’t make me come over there!” I shouted annoyed. “Are we getting close Dekutaru?” Robin asked. “Yes. We’re almost there. Be ready for anything you guys.” I warned.
We arrived at a wide clearing of the forest a bunch of huge thorns were coming out of the ground & heading up towards the sky. On one of the thorns was a cage holding what looked like a 15 ft tall mystical brown wooden dragon like creature with long branch like horns, sharp fangs, glowing light green eyes, green leaves on the top of its head going down its back, big black thorns going down its neck to its back, wooden limb & green veil like wings on its back, sharp thorn claws, & a brown mace like tail. “I think we’ve found the guardian!” Donnel shouted. “It’s a dragon of some sort.” Miriel answered. “That’s not any dragon! That’s a Nature Dragon, a very rare dragon that lives in the most sacred of forests. So rare you’ll be lucky to see one once. They are also incredibly powerful too.” Golden Claw explained.
“We need to set it free! I bet it’s the guardian we were told to save!” Eren shouted. I began to sense something from underground. “I think we’re going to have issues with that! Something is coming our way from below! Prepare to fight!” I shouted as we got into a battle stance. Something big erupted from the ground in front of us. It was a 300 ft tall giant green thorn like worm creature with razor sharp black teeth, red stripes on its head & body, black rings going down its body with spikes around it, brown tree like horns, glowing yellow eyes & huge green spikes going down its back with a glowing red crystal in its forehead. “What is that thing!? It’s gigantic!” Erd asked completely surprised. “Is that a Wormonger but why does it look so different?!” Silver Talon asked. “Look! On its forehead! That’s a Darcrystal! It’s being controlled!” Golden Claw shouted. “Two questions. What’s a Wormonger & Darcrystal!?!” Connie asked.
“Wormonger is a legendary giant monster that can eat any prey whole & dwell in deep forests & jungles & a Darcrystal is a Dargeddon with the ability to control anything they latch onto! We’re in big trouble right now because it’s controlling that Wormonger!” Golden Claw explained. “Here it comes you guys!!” I shouted as Wormonger immediately charged at us forcing us to jump out of the way. “Master Eren! We’ve got to do a Mixel Force if we’re going to stand a chance!” Chomly shouted as Eren took out the Fang Gang Cubit. “Same here Master Jak!” Hoogi shouted as Jak took out the Spikels Cubit. “We’ve got to do it as well Doctor!” Balk shouted as the Doctor took out the Flexer Cubit. “Alright! Let’s do it! MIX!” The 6 shouted as they touched their partner’s cubit & merged with them.
Eren’s skin turned to a slightly dark brown, his teeth became sharp fangs as two stuck out from his bottom lip giving him a bit of an underbite, a black Mohawk like fin appeared on his head, two black tusk like spikes came out of his cheeks, two black blades came out of the top part of his arms, his arms became twice their size & had black claws, two big brown arms similar to Chomly’s but had 3 black talons between the pincer like claws came out of his back, 3 black spikes came out of his elbows, his jacket transformed into a brown & bronze white fang style jacket with a Fang Gang Cubit in the center, his pants became gold shorts with fang like patterns, white bandages covered part of his legs, & his shoes became black sandals while he was now 9 ft tall, Jak’s muscular density became doubled, his arms were 3 times its normal size & equipped with huge long blade like claws for fingers & big brown spikes on his arms, his teeth became sharp fangs as two stuck out from his jaw line giving him quite an under bite, 2 brown spike like horns came out from the top of his head, he grew a huge hand like tail similar to Hoogi’s, his feet became hand like claws with blades for toes, his clothing became a tan shirt with tan Cubit on it & tan shorts which revealed his rip chest, arms & legs, while his hair became long with brown highlights & he grew until he was 12 ft tall, & the Doctor’s skin turned orange, his muscular density doubled giving him a buff frame, his head became more hammerhead shark like, his teeth became sharp fangs, 4 black tentacles appeared on the side of his cheeks, his hair became long & wild with orange streaks, he grew an extra leg with sharp claws while other legs became just like that one, he grew a long black tentacle like tail, his hands became sharp claws, & his clothing turned into a brown leather vest with a orange cubit in the center of his chest & black shorts while he became 13 ft tall.
“Mixel Force: Chomeren Fang Gang Basher!” Chomeren howled. “Mixel Force: Jaogi, Metal Spikel Shredder!” Jaogi howled. “Baltor, Flexer Crushing Battler!” Baltor shouted. Wormonger charged at us again but we jumped out of the way quickly. I leaped into the air above Wormonger’s head. “Nature’s Boom Bubble!!” I shouted as I created another huge green highly pressurized bubble from my mouth straight at Wormonger as it exploded putting it in a little daze & doing serious damage. “Nature’s Druid Hammer!!!” Chomeren shouted as fierce brown nature energy enveloped his back arms as he slammed it down on Wormonger’s head doing serious damage to it while stunning it.
“Metal Fury Swipes!” Jaogi shouted as fierce silver energy enveloped his claws as he delivered a barrage of slashes onto Wormonger’s face doing serious damage to it. “Now it’s my turn!!! Heavy Rubber Mallet!!” Baltor shouted as fierce orange energy enveloped his head as he headbutted Wormonger so hard he sent it flying into a couple of trees with incredible power & force. Wormonger snapped out of its daze & was mad as it let out a huge orange powder like breath from its mouth at us. The breath was giving us a bad burning sensation on our skin except for me.
“Get out of there! That’s a Burning Breath!” Golden Claw shouted as they immediately ran out of the gas cloud. Wormonger was laughing at us which made us all mad. “You dare make a fool out of me you oversized bait?! Take this! Levin Electrocution!!!” Gangrel shouted mad as he raised his Levin Sword causing a gigantic bolt to come down from the sky & slammed into Wormonger zapping it with incredible power. Wormonger retaliated by swinging its tail straight towards us. “Nature Dragon’s Vine Shot!!” I shouted as I fired an arrow from my bow which hit into the ground causing huge vines to grow from the spot & snaring Wormonger’s tail stopping its attack. “Meteor Stomp!!” Kiruko shouted as he leaped into the air & slammed down on Wormonger’s head with his feet sending its face into the ground hard. “Ancient’s Force Palm!!” Soulamaru shouted as fierce yellow energy enveloped his palm as he slammed it in Wormonger’s face causing a huge explosion from contact sending the beast flying back while destroying the vines holding down its tail.
“Nature’s Fang!!” Chomeren howled as fierce brown energy enveloped his fangs & back arms as he brought it down on Wormonger’s neck doing serious damage to it before he jumped back. “Heavy Rubber Pistol!!” Baltor shouted as he stretched his arm back & slammed it into Wormonger’s face sending it flying back with incredible power. “Metal Cross!” Jaogi shouted as his claws were enveloped in silver energy & he delivered a powerful cross slash to Wormonger doing serious damage to it & sending it down to the ground hard. Wormonger got up & wasn’t happy. It let out a huge purple gas from its mouth that poisoned the plants near it. “That’s Poison Gas & it’s coming our way!” Gobba shouted. “No you don’t!!” I shouted as I suddenly began to inhale the poison gas cloud. “Kurutaru!” My friends shouted. “Is she sucking in the poison!? She’s going to kill herself!” Petra shouted.
“Don’t worry. Deku Scrubs are immune to poison.” Armades answered. I’ve inhaled the poison & started glowing a purple aura. Wormonger looked very surprised at what I did. “Eat this!! Nature’s Exploding Bubble!!” I shouted as I created a gigantic green & purple bubble from my mouth & fired it like a bullet straight at Wormonger as it slammed in its face & exploding sending it flying into the air dazed. “I’m going to finish this!!!” I shouted as the purple transformed into a fierce rainbow aura as a line energy connected me to the Mixels & Mixonis in play surprising everyone as the link quickly vanished. “What was that?! I felt some sort of power transfer!” Chomeren shouted. “That transfer! She’s going to do a Mixel Element Chain!!” Golden Claw shouted. “Mixel Element Chain?” Levi asked. “It’s a type of attack that only the Sacred Swords & their Master can activate. They call upon the power of all of the Mixel Tribes with them & then unleash it in the form of a powerful attack. This attack is extremely powerful the more tribes are joined in!” Golden Claw explained.
“Mixel Element Chain Rank 4: Deca Force Seal…!!” I shouted as a huge tan, brown, gold & orange seal snared Wormonger immobilizing it in midair. “…BARRAGE!!!” I shouted as I created a huge tan, brown, gold & orange energy sword in my hands & began to unleash slashes on Wormonger from all angles with incredible power & speed before slicing in half the Darcrystal on its head as it came crashing down free from the seal. I landed on the ground as the array vanished along with the energy sword & aura. The vines holding the dragon vanished as it landed on the ground gently. Wormonger’s color as changed until it was red with black stripes with no green or brown plant like features on it. Chomeren, Baltor & Jaogi demixed back into Balk, Doctor, Chomly, Eren, Jak & Hoogi. The dragon approached me. “Thank you for saving me & Wormonger. I am the Spirit of this Forest, my name is Naturia. Tell me your name one of altered shape.” Naturia asked. “My name is Kurutaru Harashama, Guardian Naturia.” I answered. “Kurutaru Harashama, as thanks for saving me & Wormonger, I’ll grant you some of my power.” Naturia said as she engulfed me with her wings as I started to glow.
I suddenly grew a pair of brown & green leaf veil like wings on my back, 2 green leaf like blades came out of the side of my arms & two pink flowers emerged on the top of my hands. I stopped glowing as my transformation was complete. “Whoa! Dekutaru just sprouted wings!” Jean shouted surprised. “Whoa! I feel much more powerful! Look! I can fly now!” I shouted as I flew into the air. “I’ve granted some of my power. It seems to cause your altered shape to evolve. Use this power wisely. Now I’ll let Wormonger take things from here.” Naturia answered as Wormonger got up & faced us. “OOOOH YEAH BABY!!! I’m free from that monster’s control!! HOW YOU DOIN’ MY PEEPS?! My name is Wormonger of the Giants! Thank you for freeing me! Being controlled sucked but now I’m free! As a token of my thanks I give you the Giant’s Mark Kurutaru!” Wormonger shouted as golden circle array like mark appeared on the palm of my hand. “Giant’s Mark?” Erwin asked.
“The Giant’s Mark allows the person to call on the Giant Monsters that are scattered across the world. Just chant the incantation of the Giant you want to summon & we’ll come to your aid! You can bring only one giant into a battle so be careful of who you choose! Right now you can only summon me but I’ll be a huge help to you!! Now climb onto my back & I’ll take you to the Venom Swamp, my peeps!” Wormonger explained. “Oh yeah! That’s what I’m talking about! It’s not every day that you get to ride a giant worm!” Doctor shouted excitedly as him, Balk, Kraw, Tentro & Clara jumped on Wormonger’s back. We just looked at each other like he was crazy before hopping on Wormonger’s back. “Hold on tight ladies & gentlemen! Because our next stop is Venom Swamp, home of the Glorp Corp!” Wormonger shouted as he took off deeper into the forest. Our heroes have rescued the guardian of the Shadow Wood Naturia & her friend Wormonger. Now they are heading to Venom Swamp in search of the Glorp Corp. More adventures await our friends on their journey!