First a shout out to Horizen Skies for there comment on my story. I know you commented a while back and i'm sorry it took me till now to give a shoutout. But thanks for commenting, its much apprechiated. This next chapter is dedicated in your honor.

Firemon and Ashley (c) Me

Swordmon and Jacob (c) Lindsay

Cole (c) Cole

Digimon (c) Bandai

"Remember this Cole; if you make a promise to me you'd better keep it." She stared into his eyes, her ice blue eyes piercing through him. She took promises very seriously; she'd been caused too much pain from broken ones. "I was once made a promise, they didn't keep it, and now they've lost my trust forever. If you break this to me I will tear you in half rip your flesh from your bones. Now…do you still promise this to me?"

He starred back at her. He was prepared to make that promise to her. "I promise, I'll find a way to beat it." Even if he failed he was prepared to take the consequences, he couldn't let the digital world fall because of Jacob. Not one of their own, they'd stop him…or die trying.

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Another weeks passed, too much time in Ashley's opinion. While the time passed who knew what Jacob was doing to the digital world. The only comfort they took in it was that at the very least they knew their Digimon were safe. His reach didn't seem to have spread as far as the real world. At least not yet but it couldn't be long before he figured out a way to reach the digital plane in this world to.

Ashley had spent the days in hiding, Cole had brought her meals so she didn't starve and they were going down better. But her dreams were still there, still destroying any chance at sleep. She knew they needed to figure everything out soon, but there was much still left to be solved.

Even if they found some sort of anti-virus they still had no way to return to the digital world. If not for the fact that it wasn't just her life that Jacob was ruining she might of just given up and died, but there were so many others counting on them and she wasn't going to let them down.

'And now I care about others… Maybe I have changed after all.' The thought amused her, in a dark sort of way.

Cole's mother was a work until late today so they were downstairs in his basement, where his computer was. They were trying to find a way to deal with it. Cole had come up with all sort of anti-virus programs but all the tests they could conduct couldn't even match the power that Jacob's virus could produce. There was just no way to know if anything they did would be powerful enough to take it down.

They were so engrossed in their work they didn't even here Cole's mother come home until she was downstairs and they heard her gasp of surprise. They both whirled around and froze dead solid.

"Ashley?" His mother said still is shock. Evidently she had also thought she had died.

'Fuck! What's wrong with me?' She wasn't going to get out of this one without messing everything up that she had worked towards since Firemon had come to her years ago. 'Fuck it.'

"Cole hand me the disk with the anti-virus." She shouted at him, ignoring his mom.

Cole protested, "But its not finished, the tests clearly show…"

"Fuck the damn tests, give me the fucking disk." She shouted, ready or not they obviously weren't going to get a chance to finish it. Better that then nothing.

Cole wordlessly grabbed the disk and handed it to her. Before he had much time to react Ashley grabbed his arm and dragged him up the stairs past his mother, knocking her down in the process.

They ran out the door and didn't stop until they were in the middle of town, by one of the bridges that lead across the river separating the town in half. She pulled him down the side of the river under the bridge.

She didn't speak until they both had their breath back. No doubt the cops would be called, and the station wasn't far from the bridge. They didn't have much time, she'd been found alive that certainly would be news the entire town. The dead Digimon Tamer who had helped save the digital world wasn't so dead after all, but very much alive. That would be news to Digimon supporters and even to those who were against it. She couldn't return to this town ever again, she'd be found, forced back to her parents. It would be like a jail. She didn't want to live there.

So now she would give Cole a choice, "You're not a moron so I'm going to lay down the options to you right now. Option number one is, you come with me without a fight and help me take down the virus. The odds that you will die are very likely, and you will never be able to return to this town again, under any circumstances. "She paused, was there any other option? She had just ruined his life, there was no way she could let him return. He'd be pressured to tell the cops everything he knew about her and how to find her.

Unless… "The other option…" How far was she willing to go to stop Jacob? How much was she willing to lose? The answer, as far as it took and she'd lose everything to stop him. There was no question about it. "I let you go right now, with no information as to what I'm doing, what I plan on doing, where I'm going and how I'm getting there. I will then never be able to contact you again and you will never see me again, for the rest of your life. I have the only disk with the anti-virus and even you don't know how to trace it. Those are your options, and really Cole I don't give a shit what you choose. So hurry up."

Cole's eyes shifted back and forth, he had to decide now. He could go with Ashley but his parents needed him… But so did Ashley… didn't she? He then knew his choice. "I can't go with you. I'm sorry Ashley."

"Don't apologize, you made you decision. Now get out of my sight." She turned her back to him.

"Take him down Ashley." He said before turning around and running away from her. He doubted he'd ever have to make such a decision again. He hoped not. Once he rounded the nearest building he fell over he back against the wall, and he cried. 'Take him down Ashley…"

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Ashley watched Cole run away, and silently thanked him for all his help. She doubted he'd ever know how much his friendship meant to her. He had remained her friend until the very end, which meant a lot. She wasn't always the easiest person to be around. She was guilty of being a bitch to him more then once. She didn't fault him for his decision to leave her now; he had a family after all, no matter how broken.

"Come one Firemon, let's get out of here." She said impassionedly.

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She was at the next town over before she aloud herself the luxury of resting, she didn't sleep, she couldn't; the threat of discovery was too great if she closed her eyes for even a second. She turned to Firemon, "So what now? Even with this…" She flashed the disk back and forth, as if studying it. "We still can't get to the Digital World. Do you have any ideas because my brain is stripped." She said, and it was true. Now matter how much she willed it her brain just didn't want to function. She could only think of one thing

'Jacob.'

It had become and obsession, she had to take him down. But the road to that path was clouded from her vision. She couldn't understand anything except what it was she wanted to do. Her mind was a blur and the only thing focused in it was Jacob, or whatever the hell he had become. Her dreams, her thoughts, her whole existence itself was centered on him.

"Just one." He said, not looking at her. He couldn't stand the look that haunted his tamers face. It was worse then death, he didn't quite know how to explain it but it terrified him. The other fear was that he could do nothing about it. He knew quite well why that haunted look was there; it was Jacob and that made it even worse. He knew not how to resolve the situation to make his tamer happy. It was all he wanted that's why he worked so hard, it was all for that ever elusive smile. The rarity of it on her face, made having it there worth all the pain of battle. But it was not there now, and he feared it would never be there again.

"What is it?" She said, noticing the way he never looked at her anymore. She thought it was because he thought that she was somehow responsible for the way things were turning out. 'He blames me. Rightly so, if I was stronger then this virus would not of spread so quickly. If I was a little better then I could have beat it. If I…."

Firemon had to be careful how he worded his next sentence, "Jacob virus, digital world done. But he not forgets Ashley. He still knows you threat. He come, if he shown where his enemy be."

"Yes… his enemy." Firemon heard Ashley whisper. 'Stupid, stupid Firemon.' He scolded himself. That was not what he should have said. He was scolding himself when he realized something. He'd seen other tamers in the digiworld with their Digimon. They'd always seemed so happy, laughing alongside their tamers. He tried to recall a moment like that between him and his tamer but he couldn't. It saddened him to no degree that, in a moment like this their deaths almost secured at the hands of a former friend that Firemon with all his digital heart just wished for one moment like that. 'How greedy can I be…?'

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"We can't get him to answer any of our questions."

"Have you gotten anything out of him? Anything at all we can use to find her? She's been missing for how long now? God knows a child that age can't get by on her own."

"She has the Digimon of hers… Flaremon or whatever the devil its name is."

"A Digimon is no substitute for a guardian."

"But…"

"Back to the topic, we need info, and this young man is the only one who's been in contact with her recently."

"The boy won't talk, like I said earlier."

"What the devil do you mean? He's a grade A student, not an incoherent hobo."

"Would you like to interrogate him? He won't so much as make a sound, its like he's in a trance."

"This man's got one of them Digi-hickers to doesn't he? Get that beast in here and make it talk."

"There's something…"

"What now?"

"It's…gone."