Hello Everyone!
Guest IG - It's not foreshadowing. No parents will perish in this fanfiction.
Before we kick off, I'd like to commemorate this chapter to Kōji Wada. For anyone who doesn't know, Kōji Wada was a Japanese pop singer who was best known for performing theme songs for several installments of the Digimon anime series. He gave us songs like the ending themes of Digimon Frontier: Innocent ~Mujaki na Mama de and An Endless Tale (with AiM). If it wasn't for him, Digimon's music wouldn't have been the same.
Unfortunately, he passed away due to an illness on April 3, 2016. Since my latest chapter release is close to the date, I wanted to give him a shout-out and pay my respects.
Kōji Wada - Thank you for giving us songs for the Digimon Series. Even though you're not here, your memory will always live on to the people who love you and to all the Digimon fans worldwide. May you rest in peace.
Without further ado, here is the latest chapter: The Winter Forest.
Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park was a national park in the Yamanashi, Shizuoka, and Kanagawa Prefectures, and western Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The place was divided into four general areas: Mount Fuji, Hakone, Izu Peninsula, and Izu Island. Each area had its unique resorts and landmarks making it a popular tourist attraction. People could spend weeks here and still not completely experience everything, It was a big park.
Walking in one of the forest trails were Takuya and Tomoki. After their train dropped them off at the Hakone-Yumoto station, they took the bus to Senjoku where the GPS led them to the Mount Kintoki hiking trail.
Before leaving, they changed out of their school uniforms into something more casual. Takuya had on a yellow shirt, red/black jacket windbreaker, faded green cargo pants, and his usual goggles around his neck. Tomoki wore a white shirt over a dark green and orange striped sweater vest with khakis. Who knew how much traveling would be needed, so comfortable clothing was a must. And boy was it a good thing.
Mount Kintoki Loop was located in the Hakone area. The trail had a length of 3.5 miles and took approximately 2 hours and 55 minutes to complete. Although it was ranked hard for hikers, the stunning views when walking to the top were completely worth it. Takuya and Tomoki would've enjoyed it, but they were on a mission.
While walking the trail to find the Beast Spirit of Ice, the GPS coordinates showed a place dense with trees nowhere near the path, so Takuya and Tomoki had to go off trail into more rocky, uncharted terrain. It was an interesting, new experience.
"Now I understand why people rarely go off trail," Takuya said as he maintained his footing while pushing away the branches with his hand. "If not careful, you can fall or hit a tree. Tomoki, are you sure this is the right way?"
"We're going in the right direction," Tomoki answered from behind Takuya. He looked at his GPS on his phone strangely. "Something off though."
"What do you mean?"
"The coordinates to the beast spirit kept changing," Tomoki showed his cell phone to Takuya. The screen showed a dot of them and the Symbol of Ice. Their dot remained the same, but the Symbol of Ice kept moving around, never staying in one spot.
"That is strange," Takuya said, looking at the moving symbol on the map. "But it could be a glitch. You know how GPSs can be when they get a faulty signal, especially with all these trees blocking the way."
"Yeah, you're right," Tomoki concluded, but he couldn't shake off this weird feeling. If the GPS app on his phone wasn't faulty, then something must've happened to the beast spirit causing it to move around. The question was how.
Without him, the beast spirit was running on limited energy. It wouldn't be moving around this much. Something else was going on, but Tomoki couldn't put a finger on it. All he could do was just follow the GPS. Luckily, his beast spirit seemed only to be moving around a specific area, so he and Takuya didn't have to change their walking path.
"Tomoki," Takuya said, getting his friend's attention. His tone sounded surprised. "I think we're getting warmer finding your beast spirit. Or this case: colder."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Tomoki asked. His eyes were glued to the GPS on his phone. He wanted to make sure they were going the right way.
"Look."
Tomoki looked up and his eyes went wide. In front of him was still the same forest, but it was covered in a few centimeters of ice and snow. Snowflakes fell from the sky adding more to the winter wonderland. If one looked close enough, they would see snow spreading out and expanding slowly through the area. He and Takuya both ran to the outer perimeter to check it out.
"How?" Tomoki asked, taking a ball of snow into his hand. It felt cold to the touch, and when he squeezed it, it broke apart falling into chunks on the ground. The snow was real. "It's the middle of Spring. There shouldn't be any snow around this time of year in this area."
"This must be the butterfly effect Bokomon was talking about," Takuya replied, scanning the surroundings. "Digimon must've been in a fractal field recently and caused our random snow zone."
"This is insane," Tomoki said. Although the snow was real, it felt unnatural to him. "Takuya. If this was caused by an ultimate or a bunch of champion-level Digimon, imagine what would happen if a mega came through. If Bokomon is right then–"
"Don't think like that," Takuya interrupted. "That won't happen. Let's just focus on the situation at hand: finding your beast spirit. Now we know we're in the right direction. All this snow must be related to him in some way. We just have to keep going."
Tomoki nodded and continued their search. As they walked deeper into the forest, the snow became more apparent and increased a few inches on the ground. The place was starting to look like a regular day in winter.
The Bearer of Ice inwardly shivered, but not due to the cold. He just couldn't believe that his beast spirit could do this and touched one of the trees. It felt cold and fragile. The boy didn't like this one bit.
'Bam. Bam.' Gunshots were heard in the distance followed by birds flying off into the air causing the two boys to jump.
"What was that?" Tomoki asked.
"I don't know," Takuya responded. "But it might be a clue to your beast spirit."
Tomoki and Takuya ran deeper into the woods to follow the previous gunshots. A few meters out, they ran into a small clearing with a shocking sight.
In the area were three burly men and a black dog. Each person had long hunting rifles aimed at a group of Japanese weasels huddled together. The poor little animals were cornered and shaking in fear as the dog growled menacing at them. These guys were poachers.
"What do you think you're doing!?" Tomoki blurted out and walked in between the poachers and weasels. Takuya followed closely behind.
"Well looky here," One of the poachers said. "Some kids wandered out of the usual path and came here. What a surprise."
"Move along kids," Another poacher said. "We're in the middle of the hunt, and those weasels are our prey."
"But this a national park," Tomoki responded fiercely. "Hunting is strictly illegal here. Their populations have been declining in recent generations. The government has even restricted hunting the females to preserve the species. Are you thinking of hurting these innocent animals?"
"It doesn't matter," The last hunter said. He was the leader of the group and the one holding the dog. "We couldn't find the forest protector, so we'll settle with those little weasels over there. Now move," He commanded and pointed his rifle threateningly at Tomoki. "Or do you need a bullet through your body to do it?"
Tomoki looked at the rifle and the man then turned toward the frightened weasels. They were shaking uncontrollably and had fear in their eyes. It pained the boy's heart.
"Then do it." Tomoki turned back to the poachers and said with determination. "Shoot me."
The poachers paused for a moment. They weren't expecting that answer.
"I said move," The leader commanded again. "Do think for a second I won't put a bullet through you!"
"Now wait just a second," One of the poachers said, putting his hunting rifle down. "I'm not shootin' some kids just for a couple of animals. If they're ain't moving, I ain't shooting."
"They will once I do this," The leader lifted his rifle over Tomoki's head and fired, causing a loud bang. More birds around them got spooked from the noise and flew away. "That was your warning shot," He aimed his rifle again at the boy. "Now move or the next will be through you."
Tomoki jumped a little from the sound of the gunshot, but his body stayed firm. He wasn't going to move. He was going to stay and protect these little animals.
Takuya grabbed Tomoki's shoulder and stood beside him. His intent was clear. He was going to be with his friend and support him no matter what.
"They're not moving," The second poacher said, looking curiously at Tomoki. "Why do you want to protect these animals anyway? Do you know them or something?"
"I don't," Tomoki answered. "But I know what it feels like to be chased and hurt in fear. I can't turn my back on people or animals who feel like that, especially in their homes that are supposed to be a safe place for them."
"Yeah…"The other poacher's eyes became softer, lost in thought about something. Shortly after, he also put down his rifle. "I understand that."
Two down. One to go.
"Are you two really stopping just because of two kids," The leader practically shouted. What greeted him was only silence.
"Fine, I'll do it myself!" The leader pointed the gun at Tomoki again. "This is your last warning, kids," He commanded for the last time. His patience was getting thin. "Move or I will shoot you down!"
But Tomoki didn't move an inch. Was he afraid? Of course, he was. Anyone would be afraid to get shot, but when he saw those poor shaking weasels being cornered, it reminded him of a scene.
It was when he was 8 years old. Tomoki was swinging on a swing set when he saw a boy similar to his age being pushed around and surrounded by older kids. They were ganging up on the poor little boy.
Tomoki wanted to help, but couldn't. If he did, those older kids would come after him next. And so, he fled. He ran away without looking back. It was one of his most regretful choices.
Growing up, he's come to learn that doing nothing and running away would just cause people to do bad things more. If you wanted someone to stop or change, you had to speak up–through words and actions. If Tomoki hadn't spoken up to Takuya when he was out of control in his beast spirit form, the Bearer of Flame would probably still be rampaging around and burning forests in the Digital World.
Tomoki was a person aiming to be student council president. A president who wanted to let people know bullying and hurting innocent, scared people or animals had horrible consequences. If he didn't speak up and stick to his morals now, what was the point in running for student council president?
"No," Tomoki said with a voice of cold determination. "This is not a hunting ground. These animals deserve to live life like we do. I'm not moving!"
"Your funeral," The leader loaded his rifle. All he had to do now was pull the trigger.
The other poachers looked at their leader in shock. Previously, they thought he was bluffing. Now, they weren't sure. Was he really going to shoot children for just a couple of uncommon animals? It was a horrible choice with a lot of consequences. Luckily, the choice wasn't going to happen.
"Freeze!" 3 men and 2 women in uniform suddenly came out into the forest clearing with tasers and guns in hand. They aimed them at the 3 poachers. "Hakone Park Rangers! Drop your weapons! You're under arrest for hunting on illegal grounds!"
The 2 poachers immediately dropped their rifles to the ground. The leader hesitated for a little bit but eventually relinquished his weapon as well. There was nothing they could do. They were outnumbered and put their hands in the air.
3 of the rangers went to detain the poachers, while the other 2, a man in his early thirties and a woman in her mid-twenties, walked toward Tomoki and Takuya. The woman in particular walked to them impatiently. She was practically running.
"Tomoki?" The woman said in shock. "Is that you?"
"Misaki?" Now that the woman was face-to-face with Tomoki. He recognized her immediately. "What're you doing here?!"
"I could ask you the same thing," Misaki answered. "You can't walk off trail like this. It's dangerous."
"Officer Tashida, do you know these civilians," The older man asked.
"Yes, lieutenant. I know the taller one," Misaki responded. "He's… a brother of my friend."
'Friend was putting it mildly,' Tomoki thought but kept it to himself. This was not the time or place to say anything personal.
"I see," The lieutenant looked toward Tomoki specifically. "I heard what you and your friend said earlier while running over here. That was really brave."
"Thank you, sir," Tomoki responded, bowing his head a little.
"But also really stupid," The lieutenant continued. "If that man shot you before we showed up, you could have been seriously injured, maybe even dead in this forest. It's good to be brave, but your life is just as important."
"I know, sir. I do," Tomoki's fist gripped and he took a deep breath. "But what's the point in living just to see others take the life of another? Sometimes, it's more important to stick to one's beliefs and morals. I can't stand by and watch someone be killed near their own homes even if they're just animals. They're just as important to be in this world."
The lieutenant looked deeply at Tomoki and nodded. "Very good! I like your answer kid! But let us professionals handle the rest of this. I'll have one of the officers escort you two back."
"No problem, but I have to do something first," Before the lieutenant could reply, Tomoki already run off. He was heading to the weasels.
"Hey," Tomoki said soothingly, staying at a reasonable distance from them. They were still wild animals after all, and the boy did not want to get bit. He bent down to one knee making it seem like he wasn't so big to them. "It's okay now. You guys can leave. We won't hurt you."
At first, the weasels were still scared, but looking at Tomoki's eyes, they calmed down. For some unexplained reason, the little animals understood his words and ran off further into the clearing–careful not to run into any of the other humans.
The lieutenant looked at Tomoki and smiled. He wished there were more people like him. It would make the world a much better place.
"Lieutenant," Misaki said. "Permission to escort these civilians safely back to the correct trail path."
"Permission granted," The lieutenant saluted. "We'll take these poachers to jail then rendezvous at the center."
The lieutenant then met up with his other officers. They had the poachers secured and handcuffed. These hunters weren't escaping any time soon.
"Come on," Misaki said to Takuya, gesturing toward a direction in the woods. "We have a lot of ground to cover."
"Alright…" As much as Takuya wanted to continue the search for the beast spirit, there were too many people. He and Tomoki wouldn't be able to search freely without causing suspicion, so it was best to follow the officer. "Tomoki, let's go!"
"Okay!" Tomoki stood up and was about to go when something caught his eye. Further down the path of the retreating weasels was another weasel. This one looked different. Unlike the others, the weasel had white fur instead of brown. The little guy watched his brethren closely making sure they were safely leaving.
Tomoki couldn't be sure, but there was something different about that animal for some reason. He just didn't know why. White weasels are more uncommon than brown, but not by much. Still, the boy couldn't take his eyes off the little guy.
"Tomoki!" Takuya yelled, breaking the Bearer of Ice's thoughts. "You coming?"
"Yeah! I'll be right there!" Tomoki responded and broke eye contact with the weasel to rejoin Takuya and the park ranger.
With Ranger Tashida leading the way, Tomoki and Takuya started the way back to the trail. They went a few meters out in silence when Tomoki finally said something.
"Thank you, Takuya."
"For what?" Takuya asked.
"For sticking with me in that gunfight earlier," Tomoki specified. "I know risking your life for animals isn't exactly your thing."
"Tomoki," Takuya smiled and laughed a little. "I've known you and watched you grow up for years. I know what kind of person you are. No matter what happens, I'll always support you and be by your side."
"Really?"
"Really," Takuya gave a lighthearted punch to Tomoki. "Besides, we have more important things to worry about. For starters, who is that officer? It seems like you two know each other."
"We do. Her name is Misaki Tashida. She's my brother-" Tomoki coughed. "Ahem, ex-girlfriend."
"Oh…" Takuya did not need any further inquiry.
"Yeah," Tomoki said. forcing a laugh. "Things are a little awkward between them."
"That's putting it lightly," Misaki finally said while still leading the way. She turned to look at Tomoki and smiled. "It's good to see you though. You've gotten a little taller since the last time I saw you. Have you been doing well?"
"I've been doing great!" Tomoki happily replied. "I recently decided to run for student council president at my school, and your knowledge has been really helpful!"
"That's great to hear. How are your polls doing then? Are your statistics accurate?"
"Yes. It's really good because my brother–" Tomoki started to say but stopped. Unfortunately, it was too late. As soon as Yutaka was mentioned, Misaki's smile faded, and turned back around.
"Come on you two," She said, slightly depressed. "We still have a lot of ground to cover."
Tomoki sighed sadly. His shoulders dropped. How did it come to this?
Misaki Tashida was 25 years old and majored in environmental science. She wanted to help the world and prevent the spread of pollution. Making the earth eco-friendly and preventing greenhouse gasses were her biggest dreams.
She met Yutaka around their junior year of college, and they instantly hit it off. Out of the girls his brother brought home with him, Tomoki liked Misaki the most. She was amazing.
The girl was courageous and never afraid to speak her mind. She was very knowledgeable about the environment and endangered species. Half of her free time was spent doing community service like beach and park trash cleaning. Yutaka loved spending time with her.
Then one day out of the blue last year, he and Misaki ended things.
Tomoki never found out why. His brother never told him. He just came home one day, said they broke up, and went to his room. Clearly, Yutaka was upset over the breakup and didn't want to talk about it.
It didn't just affect him. It affected the whole family. The Himi family liked Misaki and treated her like a daughter. Without her, it felt like there was a void between them. It took months for everyone to recover.
At first, Tomoki was shocked to see her again here of all places, but after some thought, it made sense. Misaki's expertise was in environmental science. By being a park ranger, she could study the wildlife and protect the area. It was the perfect job for her, but Tomoki wanted to know something else.
Seeing her expression when mentioning Yutaka, Misaki looked heartbroken. It felt like she missed him, but why? Tomoki always figured she broke up with Yutaka since his brother was depressed at the time, so why did she feel sad? Was there more to it?
"Misaki? Is everything okay?" Tomoki asked with concern. "You seem tired and depressed."
"Oh! no…" Misaki answered, trying to hide her fatigue. "It's not about you or your brother. These recent few days have been taxing on me."
"Does it have something to do with the recent ice and snow here?"
"Yes," Misaki confirmed. She rubbed her temples to stop a headache from coming. "Although it's only been here for a short time, it's already causing so many problems."
"How?" Takuya asked. "There is only a little snow in the area, and it's cool that it's coming from a different season."
Misaki and Tomoki looked at Takuya in disbelief.
"Um… Did I say something wrong?"
"Kind of," Tomoki answered. "Although the snow and ice seem cool at first, it's extremely harmful to the environment. We live in a delicate ecosystem. Any temperate changes could destroy the balance."
"Take the snow for example. We're in the spring season right now where plant life should be thriving," Tomoki picked up a dead plant cold to the touch. "But with the new ice-cold environment, it kills off the plants. Animals eat them for sustenance. Without it, they would starve and die disrupting the entire food chain."
"Not only that," Tomoki picked up a handful of snow and threw it into the air. The snow broke apart into many pieces, and some of them melted to liquid from his touch. "When snow touches the warmer climate of spring, it'll evaporate in the atmosphere causing hail and snowstorms. The cold climate would continue to spread all across Japan creating ecological imbalance."
"Very good Tomoki," Misaki nodded in approval. "Your knowledge of ecology is still excellent!"
"I mostly learned about it from you." Whenever Yutaka brought Misaki home, she would teach his family some things about her major and activities to do to reduce pollution. "Some of the issues I need to tackle as Student Council President involve our environmental problems, so your knowledge comes in handy."
"I'm very glad you're taking our environmental concerns very seriously." Misaki smiled and turned her attention to Takuya. "Do you now understand now what problem we're dealing with here?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't know," Takuya apologized. "But if the snow and ice are such a big problem, why don't you melt them?"
"Using extreme heat is just as bad for the environment as extreme cold," Misaki explained. "The best course of action is to find the source of the snowfall, isolate it, and let nature heal itself naturally."
"It's a slow process, but it's the best solution from harming the ecosystem any further," Tomoki added. "But where is the snow coming from?"
"That's the problem!" Misaki answered, exasperated. "Me and my colleagues have been trying to locate the source the whole day yesterday and today with barely any sleep, but we can't seem to locate it. It's like everything showed through magic!"
The park ranger rubbed her temples to suppress an oncoming migraine. "Not only that. We also have to deal with these poachers trying to hunt down the Protector of the Forest."
"Protector of the Forest?" Takuya said. "That poacher said something about it as well. Who is this Protector of the Forest?"
"You two didn't come all the way here to get a glimpse of the Protector?" Misaki asked questionably. "If not, then why are in an area off limits to the public? You should know better than this, Tomoki."
"My friend said he knew a shortcut to finish the trail faster." Tomoki lied. "We then got lost leading us to find this winter forest."
"This area is pretty far from being lost. You should've retraced your steps and tried to return back to where you guys came."
"You don't know my friend," Tomoki gestured to Takuya. "Once he has something in his head, he won't stop until it's seen through to the end. He's very stubborn like that."
'Tomoki…' Takuya silently fumed but let the jab slide. Although the boy didn't like taking the blame, this was something he would do. Sometimes the best lies had a hint of truth.
As expected, Misaki believed it. "Your friend does look like someone who would take shortcuts without considering the risk."
"Hey!" Takuya spoke up. "What's wrong with taking a risk? Big risks can turn into big rewards or faster trail finishes."
"They can also turn into big losses," Misaki answered back. "With a higher chance to be lost in the forest and be shot at by poachers like what happened recently."
"If it happens, it happens. We can deal with it when we hit that wall. It'll work itself out."
"If me and my colleagues didn't appear, you and Tomoki would've probably been shot!" Misaki pointed out. "The chances of us showing up were very slim!"
"Exactly," Takuya agreed. "You guys showed up before anything escalated and caught some poachers. Even though the chances were low, you still appeared and everything worked out, ~Right?~"
Misaki went speechless. Was he serious? The sad part is she couldn't refute his logic and then turned to Tomoki. "My condolences."
"He's not as reckless as you think he is," Tomoki said, laughing a little. "We're getting off-topic. You said something about the Forest Protector? Who is he?"
"I shouldn't say anything," Misaki said. "But I know what kind of good person you are, Tomoki. I trust you and your friend won't do anything bad. You'll probably find out eventually anyway."
Misaki then explained the Protector of the Forest. It happened shortly after the snow arrived. While some of her colleagues were researching this unexplained phenomenon, they witnessed a giant creature three times their size in the distance. It only appeared for a moment and disappeared, so they surmised it to be a trick of the light.
Somehow two hunters got wind of the news and decided to test their luck. The result was they got flung onto a tree. When they got back up and aimed their weapons, the creature was already gone. It was like the creature disappeared into thin air.
The hunters couldn't get an exact description, but from what they could see, the creature looked like a yeti.
"A yeti?" Tomoki said. "But that's a creature from a myth in the Himalayas. We're nowhere near that mountain range and on an island."
"That's what I thought too!" Misaki replied. "But similar reports have been coming in from more hunters. They've all tried to find and hunt this yeti but failed miserably. The creature always disappears as soon as he appears! The weird part is that he doesn't attack my colleagues, only hunters or poachers hence the title: "The Protector of the Forest."
"He always comes when there's an animal in trouble," Misaki then focused on Tomoki. A thought suddenly came to her. "Sorta like you did, a few minutes saving those weasels."
"I see.." Tomoki and Takuya shared a look. They might've had an idea of the identity of the Forest Protector, and it wasn't a yeti. The question was how.
Like the human spirits, beast spirits needed vessels to use their strength. If not, they would run out of energy and revert back into their relic form. But according to Misaki, the beast spirit has been all around without energy depletion, so how has he been moving around without Tomoki?
"Soon, more poachers and hunters will come when the news spreads," Misaki rubbed her temples. "The unexpected snowfall is already running us thin. The environment will only get worse with the additional people here."
"Will having more people in the forest really hurt the environment?" Takuya asked.
"It's not that simple," Misaki answered. "Yes, one or two more people won't hurt the environment. At most, some grass or flowers would be stomped on, but imagine if more people did the same thing. Even unintentionally, a lot of people can destroy an ecosystem just by simply walking. It's one of the reasons why we have paved trails minimizing the damages in the forest."
"I see," Takuya said, nodding his head in understanding.
"Would poachers just come all the way here just to hunt for something that doesn't even exist destroying this beautiful forest?" Tomoki then asked.
"Trust me. People have done worse for less." Misaki sighed. "They will do almost anything if it gets them rich or famous quickly, but luckily you guys don't have to worry about that. Let me and the park rangers handle these kinds of things. It's not your problem."
Tomoki and Takuya looked at each other having the same thought. It was their problem. The current phenomenon had something to do with the Beast Spirit of Ice, and they had to find him. If not, more people and places could be destroyed in the process. They had to continue the search!
"Ranger Tashida! Do you read me!" A voice blared out from the radio on Misaki's arm. "Ranger Tashida, do you read me!"
"Tashida here," Misaki pressed the button on her radio and answered. "What's up?"
"Big problem! One of the poachers we were escorting escaped!"
"What?!" Misaki shouted in shock. "How? I was there myself! They were securely detained. Did someone help them?"
"No one did," The officer answered. "It was the poacher himself. Somehow he broke out of the metal cuffs using only brute force! Taking his dog, they both ran back inside the forest. The lieutenant and another officer tried to stop them, but the poacher just knocked them out cold with inhuman strength!"
"What about the other 2 poachers? Did they escape as well?"
"That's the weird thing,'' the officer's tone sounded confused. "He just left them here. They were just as surprised at their friend's recent actions. Right now, we're still detaining them and taking care of our people, but we need someone to pursue and locate the runaway."
"Understood. I'll take care of it." Misaki turned her attention toward Tomoki and Takuya. "Looks like we'll have to end the escort early. You guys will have to get back on your own. Try not to get lost again."
Before even hearing a reply, Misaki took off going deeper into the forest. Takuya and Tomoki just looked on as her figure turned blurry until she disappeared into the vast trees.
"We're going after her," Tomoki said. "Aren't we?
"Oh yeah," Takuya answered and they both sprinted to catch up to Misaki.
"A man who broke his handcuffs with inhuman strength," Tomoki said, thinking. "Takuya, you don't think…"
"I think so too," Takuya agreed. "A Digimon must've taken him over."
Although Digimon could only roam the Real World at a rookie power level, they would still be stronger than the average adult. Breaking metal cuffs would be as simple as snapping a toothpick to them. Even if humans are exempted from a fractal field, it's a different story when a compatible vessel is involved.
Like the spirits of the Legendary Warriors, the fractal code of Digimon could also roam freely in the Real World. Once they find the right vessel, the fractal code enters it, turning partially into data. Even if they're humans, once a Digimon takes over them, they become eligible to be in a fractal field.
Stomp. Stomp. Misaki stopped when she heard the sound of crushed snow and scoffed. She knew it was Tomoki and Takuya following her.
"Okay Tomoki," Ranger Tashida turned around to face them. "I know you want to be a hero and stop the bad guy, but you have to let-"
Misaki didn't finish because there was no one to talk to. She could see the fresh footprints in the snow, but no one was in sight. Whoever was standing there just disappeared into thin air.
Where did Tomoki and Takuya disappear to? To find out what happens next, tune in next time on Digimon Frontier 2: Fractal Fusion.
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