Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or any characters not created by me. I do own Kei, Takeshi, Kangamon, Shaulamon and their digivolutions and the plot.. you get the idea.

*word* -- thoughts

Digimon: Legend of the Holy Dragon

Chapter 6

There, in the middle of the room, on a stone pedestal, was the Fury.

It was shaped like a large egg lying on its side, large enough to fit in one hand. It had a base of green and had red, orange and yellow stripes on top. To complete the look, it had three black 'horns' and a black lightning bolt marking on top.

As Rick approached it, the Fury started to glow. In response, Rick's D- gadget glowed too, with a white light that surrounded both Rick and Vipermon. Rick reached out his hand-

And the chamber started to shake. A streamer of light spilled from the Fury and formed a halo in front of the pedestal. The halo of light spun and became a mini-tornado, which suddenly dissipated into little flecks of light. In the place where the halo was stood a strange looking Digimon.

It was shaped like a lion. Its entire body was covered with plush red fur with occasional ripples of orange as the light flecks danced over it. Its paws were metal with a greenish hue and it had a metal collar around its neck. A thick pale orange mane framed its head and large metal teeth could be seen poking out of its mouth.

Takeshi scanned it. Amazingly, there was no data.

The lion Digimon spoke. "I am Furiamon, keeper of the DigiEgg of Fury. You are finally here, chosen owner of the DigiEgg. However, you have to pass the test to receive the DigiEgg. Do you accept?"

Rick glanced at the other three. They were all looking nervously from him to Furiamon and back to him. He knew that by all rights he should be nervous about fighting Furiamon too, but strangely, he felt totally confident that he can and will defeat it and earn the DigiEgg of Fury.

"I accept."

Furiamon smiled slightly and nodded. Then in a blur, he leapt at Rick and Vipermon.

"Chip Activate! Maximum Speed Boost!" Rick yelled, just in time for the chip to take effect as Vipermon evaded Furiamon with incredible speed.

Instantly Furiamon and Vipermon attacked at the same time.

"Flaming Paws!"

"Toxic Strike!"

Fire flared from Furiamon's metal paws as it leapt again. Vipermon countered in mid air, black claws outstretched.

In a matter of seconds, all the DigiTamers and other Digimon could see were a series of blurs. Occasionally, one of the fighting Digimon would come into focus for a fraction of a heartbeat before speeding into a blur again.

However, Vipermon saw everything in perfect clarity, every movement his opponent took was as clear as crystal. As Furiamon slashed with his metal claws, he ducked down and swung his tail against Furiamon's hind legs, causing it to lose balance.

The others saw Furiamon suddenly falling out of the tangle of blurs and landing on the floor with a resonating metallic clang. Vipermon slowed down and similarly cam into view.

Without warning, Furiamon leapt up, high above Vipermon and, using all of his incredible speed, attacked.

"Lion's Fury!"

Copies of Furiamon materialized all around Vipermon. With an earth- shattering roar, Furiamon and its copies attacked, all ramming into Vipermon.

Vipermon shrieked in pain, a sound no one had ever heard him make before. Flames crackled all over his body as he collapsed, the shriek fading into a furious hiss.

"Vipermon!" Rick shouted as he dashed to his fallen partner's side. Vipermon had stopped hissing and was breathing heavily, wisps of smoke rising from where the flames had burnt him.

"I am sorry, DigiTamer. I have failed to defeat Furiamon and earn the DigiEgg." Vipermon managed between breaths.

"Its all right, Vipermon. It doesn't matter. As long as you're OK."

Vipermon looked into his DigiTamer's ice blue eyes and saw indescribable concern in them. * Why is he so concerned about me? Is this friendship?*

Behind them, Sacchi was yelling at Furiamon. "How can you hurt him like that? Isn't this supposed to be a test?"

"It is a test. A test to see if he is worthy of the DigiEgg which I have guarded for centuries. Besides, it was the DigiTamer's choice to accept the test."

"Choice? I'll give you choice! Come on, Pekomon!" Sacchi headed towards Rick.

An arm blocked her way. Startled, she looked up to see Takeshi preventing her from going to help. "Its his fight. We have no right to interfere," he said. Sacchi knew that Takeshi was right, but nonetheless glared daggers at him.

A flash of light caught her eye. As she looked towards Rick, her D-gadget flashed a word.

_DIGIVOLUTION_

A warm white light enveloped Vipermon as he changed. He grew much longer and his neck spread out into a cobra hood with scary markings. Green skin turned orange and red stripes turned blue. A bunch of spikes grew out of its tail.

The newly digivolved Digimon hissed a challenge. Rick stared at his partner and belatedly scanned him. "Cobramon. Virus type champion. Attacks: Fire Blast, Tail Slash, Copycat."

"Fire Blast!" An orb of fire formed in Cobramon's open mouth and grew in size before firing at Furiamon. The diameter of the blast was so large that Furiamon, for all its amazing speed, could not avoid it. It fell onto the ground, writhing in pain.

"Lion's Fury!" Furiamon roared. The attack hit again, but this time Cobramon remained standing and counter-attacked.

"Copycat: Lion's Fury!"

The DigiTamers and Digimon watched in disbelief as Cobramon produced a perfect replica of Furiamon's attack. The attack hit home and Furiamon was felled soundlessly. Cobramon reverted back to his rookie form.

Then everyone started cheering. Vipermon felt something vaguely like pride at having defeated Furiamon all by himself and an unusual feeling of happiness at having digivolved.

Just then Furiamon clambered to its feet, smiling.

"You have proved yourself, chosen owner of the DigiEgg. You may take the DigiEgg with you." With that, it disappeared in a whirl of light.

Rick tentatively stepped up to the pedestal and reached for the Fury. A white light surrounded his hand as he touched it. The same light surrounded Vipermon and revitalized him.

Rick closed his fingers around the DigiEgg and lifted it up. Its glow pulsed once, twice, then faded to reveal a green chip with red, orange and yellow stripes labeled 'Fury'.
A short while and many winding tunnels later, they found themselves on the beach again. However, the Seadramon was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, the sea became choppy. The waves grew and grew crashed not on the shore but sideways. The water slowly split to reveal a Digimon.

Kei scanned it. "MarineDevimon. Virus type ultimate. Attacks: Evil Wind, Darkness Water."

"Its an ultimate? Wow," Takeshi commented.

"I was sent by the Dark Lord to destroy you and prevent the resurrection of the Holy Dragon. Bow down before the Ultimate Darkness of the Dark Lord!" MarineDevimon exclaimed in a raspy, watery voice.

"Not if we can help it!" Sacchi yelled.

_DIGIVOLUTION_

White, green, blue and purple light flashed as all four rookies digivolved simultaneously as the MarineDevimon attacked.

"Evil Wind!"

TBC.

Author's notes: Sorry for the delay as my computer was sent for repairs. So what do you think of this chapter? Please R+R!! Arigato!

Up next: How will the battle with an Ultimate turn out? Stay tuned!