Moonlight shimmered through the forest canopy like spilled silver.
The night was not silent; it breathed. Leaves whispered secrets to one another, branches creaked under the weight of unseen watchers, and insects hummed in low, restless patterns. The air itself felt awake, charged with an ancient, heavy energy.
Mokshit ran.
His shoes struck the dirt and tangled roots without rhythm. His breath was ragged, and his chest burned—not from the miles he had covered, but from the storm raging inside him. Anger, fear, and a crushing sense of helplessness fought for dominance in his mind.
"Then your family will pay the price."
Nirmul's cold voice echoed in his head, a poison that wouldn't leave. Mokshit pushed harder, branches scratching his arms as he tore deeper into the forest, fleeing the city lights, the roads, and a world that felt suddenly rotten and corrupt.
The forest accepted him. It always had.
He burst into a familiar clearing and skidded to a stop beneath a titan—the massive Banyan tree. Its aerial roots hung like frozen waterfalls in the moonlight. This was the tree from his childhood. The one that had listened when no one else would.
His legs finally gave out.
Mokshit fell to his knees, his fists trembling against the cool, damp soil. "Why me?" he whispered, his voice cracking. "Why did I get these powers? I'm just a kid."
The wind shifted. Leaves lifted from the ground, glowing with a faint, ethereal green light.
"What do I do now?" he pleaded. He pressed his forehead against the earth. "I want to protect this place. The way it protected me. But I'm scared... what if I'm not enough?"
The ground responded.
A low, deep rumble echoed beneath him—not a violent tremor, but a heartbeat. The Banyan tree's veins began to pulse with emerald light. Mokshit looked up, his eyes wide.
"You're listening, aren't you?"
The leaves rustled. It wasn't random noise; it was a rhythmic, deliberate answer.
"BRO!!"
Footsteps crashed through the underbrush. Rohan stumbled into the clearing, doubled over and gasping for air. "WHY... DID YOU... RUN OFF," he wheezed, "LIKE NARUTO IN A SAD FLASHBACK?!"
Nikhil followed, nearly tripping over a protruding root. "Yeah!" he shouted, panting. "At least leave a message! 'BRB, becoming a forest god' or something!"
Mokshit didn't turn around. Meera arrived last, her breath steady but her eyes filled with concern. She knelt beside him. "Mokshit... your eyes..."
He looked down at his hands. Green light was pulsing beneath his skin like a second heartbeat.
"I need control," Mokshit said, his voice dropping an octave. "I need to fight Nirmul. If nature gave me this... then nature has to help me shape it."
He slammed both palms onto the ground.
VWOOM.
Circles of green energy rippled outward from his hands like stones thrown into a still pond. The roots beneath the soil trembled. Leaves rose into the air, spinning in a slow, hypnotic cyclone. Vines emerged from the earth, curling around his arms—not with force, but with a gentle, protective grace.
Meera's breath caught. "It's beautiful."
Rohan stared, his jaw hanging open. "Bro... it's like the forest is choosing its king."
Nikhil's eyes sparkled. "TRANSFORMATION SCENE! HERE WE GO!"
The vines tightened, weaving themselves into bracers of living bark etched with glowing veins. Roots wrapped around Mokshit's legs, forming a natural, flexible armor that looked stronger than steel. Leaves spiraled around his torso, layering and fusing into a chestplate that pulsed in time with his own heart.
Finally, a massive vine rose from the earth and curved around his head. It hardened and smoothed, shaping itself into a mask of polished wood, traced with glowing lines of emerald light.
Mokshit touched the mask, his voice muffled but resonant. "...A mask?"
The wind answered, a soft, ancient whisper that seemed to come from the trees themselves.
"A guardian must hide his fear... and show only his courage."
Mokshit stood up. Energy crackled across his new armor. His eyes burned with twin flames of forest light.
Rohan let out a jagged laugh. "THIS IS SICK! Bro, you look like a straight-up anime protagonist!"
Nikhil pointed wildly. "You look like Groot and a Ninja had a baby! It's incredible!"
Meera stood up slowly, her eyes shining with tears. "No," she said softly. "He looks like himself. He looks like the Protector."
Mokshit clenched his fists, and the vines tightened into heavy gauntlets. "This feels right," he said. "Like the forest isn't just around me... it's inside me."
The Banyan tree glowed with a blinding light. An ancient roar, felt rather than heard, rolled through the clearing.
"Rise... Nature-Man."
A single tear slipped from behind Mokshit's mask. It wasn't a tear of fear, but of acceptance. "I am Nature-Man," he declared.
The distant roar of metal shattered the moment. Machines. Far off, trees were being torn down.
Mokshit raised his hand. Vines surged upward, wrapping around a nearby damaged sapling, sealing its cracks and flooding it with life instantly.
"You're healing them?" Rohan asked, amazed.
"No," Mokshit replied, turning toward the sound of the saws. "I'm defending them."
Vines lifted Mokshit into the air, creating a path of branches and leaves that arched forward to meet his feet. The forest moved for him. It bowed to his will.
Nikhil screamed at the top of his lungs, "THAT'S MY BEST FRIEND! GO GET 'EM!"
"KICK HIS ASH, BRO!" Rohan punched the air.
Mokshit didn't look back. His voice echoed through the dark woods, a promise and a threat. "Nirmul... you won't touch my home again."
Green light exploded from his form, and Nature-Man launched into the night.