Digimon Tamers: The Legend of the Blue Wolf

Chapter 3

The tamers were all gathered in the park trying to decide how best to deal with Lycamon. It had been two days since their heated conversation, they hadn't seen him since due to the lack of bioemergences. But he was around, Renamon had sensed him a few times during that time.

It was midday when Renamon sensed the approach of a new digimon, one that wasn't bioemerging as it was already here. It wasn't one she recognised so it wasn't Impmon, Calumon or even Lycamon. Turning around she saw what appeared to be a black coloured version of Lycamon, emitting a dark aura that seemed unholy even to her. The others soon saw it and took defensive stances. Henry was first to scan the new digimon.

"Um, guys? I'm getting nothing on this one."

"Neither am I."Takato stated. Even Rika couldn't get any information on her digivice. Just as they were going to ask what was going on, a certain blue wolf arrived.

"Stay back humans, this isn't a fight you can win."

"And what makes you think you'll do any better?" Rika asked, annoyed by his presence already.

"Because she is like me. She is the one I'm hunting, the reason I'm in this world. Stay back. This is my fight." He didn't wait for a response before he strode forwards. He addressed the new digimon. "We both know you can't run anymore. Let us end this." The other digimon growled, a bestial sound devoid of intelligence. "Hmph. That supposed to be threatening?" She uttered another growl, obviously biting to his taunt. Black energy gathered in both her paws as he summoned his own attack. "Let's finish this! Lightning Claw!"

Flashes of yellow and black danced across the park as dark fought light. Both digimon fought with barely contained power, trading blows back and forth. It was after a shout of 'Static Discharge' that the dark wolf was thrown to the ground, defeated but not deleted.

Lycamon strode forward, battered from the fight but better off than his dark counterpart. "You have nothing left now, you are done. Surrender your sins and temptations, take my paw and let me free you. Dark Lycamon, you are no more."

"Dark Lycamon?" Rika asked to no one in particular.

Dark Lycamon struggled to get up before Lycamon pinned her down. "Don't struggle, you'll make it hurt more." His voice was soft, almost as if he knew her. "Please, let me help you." She continued to struggle in his grip as he reached for a device buried in his fur. "The hard way it is then. Forgive me." He slammed the device into her chest, causing her to glow brightly before vanishing. Lycamon stood with a sigh, his eyes glistening. "It is done. My task is complete." He turned to the tamers and spread his arms. "Now I have a favour to ask of you."

"And why would we help you?" Rika stated, still annoyed but impressed with the fight. Secretly.

"Because it solves your problem. I want you to delete me."

All three tamers stepped back in shock. "You want to be deleted?" Takato asked. "Why? No digimon asks to be deleted." They noticed the liquid tracing down his face from his eyes.

"I just did, now please. Do it. I have fulfilled my purpose. I have nothing left. Delete me." His voice now had a tint of sorrow in it, almost unnoticeable.

"No." Rika's voice cut though them all.

Lycamon's eyes flashed briefly. "I'm asking out of courtesy human. I could always make myself a threat towards you and force your hand."

"And knowing what we do now, we still wouldn't delete you." All of them looked at Rika as if she had grown a second head.

"Rika?" Henry's confusion spoke up. "Weren't you the one to say we should delete him earlier? Why the sudden change?"

"Aren't you listening? He wants to be deleted. Why should we give him that?" Lycamon growled deeply. "Stop your growling, your embarrassing yourself."

"You would deny me my final request?" A hard edge was present in his voice now. "You would condemn me to a life without purpose? What kind of monsters are you?"

"We aren't monsters. I am the one denying you. If your life has no purpose, find a new one. Make your life be about what you want it to be. Make your own choices, live your life for yourself. Throwing it away like your asking isn't what life is for." Rika's speech fell upon Lycamon like a lead weight.

"You wouldn't understand my reasoning even if I told you."

"Try us. You want this so bad right? Tell us why." Rika replied.

Lycamon sighed, eyes still holding unshed tears. "Dark Lycamon wasn't always that. She was a Lycamon just like me. We were mates, destined to be together. Childhood friends for years, it seemed natural to make that final bond. We had just made our status known when I was called upon to become partnered. I'm sure you know what that means. With no room to argue, we were separated. She told me she would wait for me, even if she had to come over to the real world to find me. My heart ached for her, my tamer knew I wasn't happy and he made dammed sure I suffered for it.

"Three years later he broke our partnership, saying I wasn't worthy of being partnered. He cast me back to the digital world and destroyed the digivice. Even though I missed my mate, I still tried my best to live up to his standards. But every time I seemed to be doing right, he would change things so I remained wrong. I was glad to be free of him, but everyone else saw my shame. I eventually found my way back to my mate, but I couldn't bring myself to face her as I used to. My failure prevented me from doing so. She tried her best to lift me up again, but she eventually left saying she was going to find help for me. I knew she wouldn't leave me, but I didn't know what help she could find. I left a day later to follow her, her tracks were still there to see.

"After two days I came across a dark energy, something that shouldn't be there. She was with it, why I didn't know. I called to her but she didn't respond. When I got close enough I saw her fur change colour, the same colour you just saw her as. She became corrupted whilst trying to help me. She became violent, hostile towards everything. I chased her across the digital world to try and stop her, praying that there was a way to undo what had happened to her. One of the Sovereigns answered my calls, giving me a device that he said would transport her to him where he could remove the corruption. But using it would cause great pain to her.

"She eventually crossed to this world. I spent a while trying to find my own way over, which I did the first time you saw me. That was why I interrogated the other digimon I met, in case she had gone back across. I eventually caught her trail yesterday and chased her around until just now. The rest you already know. If I could have got her back without using the device she would have almost certainly survived the cleanse. But now, I'm not so sure. The device interferes with her digital essence so she can't escape it, but doing so makes it harder to cleanse her. I fear she won't survive, and I gain another reason to be ashamed." By the time Lycamon had finished his story, the tears his eyes held had broken free and spilled down his face. No one said anything for a few minutes after he finished, no one knew what to say.