Tokyo Wanderer, Aura Burst, Walking the Path of Heaven

"Look quickly, that kid..."
"Could he be a homeless person?"
"How pitiful... becoming a MADAO at such a young age."
Human World, Japan.
Odaiba on August 1st. The blazing sun and scorching temperature twisted the air. Facing Tai, who had suddenly appeared here, passing pedestrians and children playing in the park cast curious and sympathetic gazes at him.
After all, even sufferers of eighth-grade syndrome would peel off their bandages sealing the dark flame dragon's power in this weather of over 40 degrees Celsius, strip off their thick trench coats, and honestly put on shorts and short-sleeved shirts, or simply stay home.
The only ones willing to go out in this kind of weather were wage slaves forced to face the cruel society and energetic children of seven or eight years old who had no sense of temperature.
Tai, already in the sixth grade of elementary school, happened to be caught right in that awkward in-between age. Especially since he was draped in a cloak covered in yellow sand, he looked even more miserable.
Yet, facing the criticism of the passersby, Tai let out a sigh of relief.
"It seems everyone can't see you, Zero-maru."
Tai said to Zero-maru beside him.
"That actually makes things much easier."
He had been standing in this park for five minutes. During this time, the gazes of all the passersby were focused entirely on him. Even though Zero-maru, who was far more eye-catching than him, was standing right beside him, he was ignored as if he were air. One passerby even looked like he was about to crash straight into Zero-maru, only to suddenly change direction and walk around him.
Zero-maru, having evolved into AeroVeedramon, stood nearly five meters tall—taller even than some older houses. Coupled with his unique appearance, if people were to see him, it would inevitably cause a commotion.
It might even draw out the military.
If that happened, it would be troublesome; Zero-maru couldn't even guarantee he could eliminate the world's armed forces without harming a single person.
"So this is the human world."
Zero-maru looked around curiously. When he was little and just a Botamon, he had always lived inside Tai's Digimon virtual pet device. Through the screen of the device, he could only see Tai's face. Back then, he had always wondered what the world Tai lived in was really like.
Now that he had truly come to the human world, it somehow still felt a little small to the now-grown Zero-maru.
"It feels less free than the Digital World."
It wasn't just Zero-maru who felt this way; Tai, who had grown accustomed to adventuring in the Digital World every day, also felt somewhat restricted under people's strange gazes.
Clearly, he never felt this way when hanging out with Digimon.
"According to MagnaAngemon's explanation, where we are now isn't my original world, but a parallel human world."
Tai looked left and right, trying to find the differences between the two worlds, but in the end, he couldn't spot any distinction between them.

After all, what could you possibly tell from a park?
Zero-maru asked, "Where should we go now, Tai?"
Tai looked down at his Digivice. Perhaps due to having arrived in the human world, the Digivice remained completely unresponsive, even when Tai tried the traditional forty-five-degree smack.
This was not good. The data for MagnaAngemon—the only one capable of taking him back to his original world—was still stored inside the Digivice. If the Digivice wouldn't work, he might never be able to go back.
"As expected, I still need to find a way back to the Digital World first."
"Speaking of which, since Deathmon was able to generate a passage to the human world through an energy burst, could we also try the same method to get back to the Digital World..."
Tai looked at Zero-maru: "Anyway, let's find a place and try a power burst first."
Zero-maru nodded: "Understood."
An action like a power burst, which would cause large-scale turbulence, obviously couldn't be done in a crowded place.
Tai broke into a run, heading deep into the park.
A few cardboard boxes were scattered sparsely here, collected by the homeless people living in the area. For the moment, aside from those boxes, the MADAO seemed to have wandered off elsewhere. Coupled with the absence of security cameras, it was the perfect spot for Tai to conduct his experiment.
Tai and Zero-maru exchanged glances and nodded in unison.
Then, they placed their hands on their hips, squatted down slightly, and began to shout, "Haahhhhhhh!"
The intensity of the Digisoul was intimately connected to the mental strength of the Tamer and the power of the Digimon.
Now that Zero-maru had evolved into the Perfect level, the Digisoul was no longer confined to Tai's fists; a brilliant stream of data flames wrapped entirely around Tai, radiating intense energy fluctuations.
Before long, the clear sky was swallowed by dark clouds. In an instant, lightning flashed, thunder roared, and violent winds whipped up, causing the temperature to drop rapidly.
The energy reaction emanating from within the two of them grew stronger and stronger, but the spatial fortitude of the human world was much stronger than that of the Digital World. No matter how hard he shouted, he couldn't force open a gateway.
After a while, Tai gave up.
It seemed that wanting to return to the Digital World meant he could only pin his hopes on this digital world having someone capable of opening a gate and summoning him back, just like MagnaAngemon.
"Sigh," Tai let out a long breath. Ever since crossing over into the parallel world, he didn't think he had ever met such a reliable fellow.
Ah, Gennai?
Depending on him was even less reliable than counting on Daemon!
For now, Tai could only wait with hopeful anticipation for someone to open a door for him.
Before that, he needed to find a place to rest his feet in this world.

Tai pondered for a moment, then reached down into his pants.
Pulling out a key, Tai stared at it and muttered to himself, "I wonder if this will work in this world."
Just as well, there was a map in the park. Tai walked over and took a look.
He discovered that the place he wanted to go was a bit far from here.
Just as he thought about taking the train, Tai remembered that all his money had been spent on phone calls back on File Island.
Tai slapped his forehead in belated regret: "If I'd known, I wouldn't have been so impulsive. I should have let Zero-maru dig the coins out of the phone booth first before smashing them."
With no other choice, Tai gave a little hop and jumped onto Zero-maru's back.
"Let's go, Zero-maru. Let's 'go home' first."
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In the blink of an eye, Zero-maru carried Tai and, following his directions, landed in a quiet, deserted alley.
Stepping out of the alley, an apartment building stood right before them.
"So this is your home, Tai." Zero-maru tilted his head up to gaze at the dozens-of-meters-tall building: "What the heck, with a house this big, I don't need to worry about not fitting in at all."
"What kind of daydream are you having? This is just one small room inside," Tai shook his head.
"I wonder if 'me' in this world actually lives here."
When Tai was little, he actually lived in Hikarigaoka. Later, due to a change in his father's job, his whole family moved to Odaiba.
In this world, had his family experienced the same turn of events?
Perhaps the father in this world had worked hard in his career, carved out a successful enterprise, and eventually moved his family into a villa right under the Tokyo Tower. Who could say?
Zero-maru's nose twitched involuntarily: "Mhm, there's a scent similar to Tai's."
Tai's shoulders slumped: "Is that so."
It seemed Tai wasn't destined to be the man who walks the path of heaven and governs everything after all.
Even though he had a little sister, too.