Floating through the ocean on a bed…
GREAT…
And, strangely enough, this set off Anne's seasickness.
She leaned over the headboard, trying to settle her stomach.
She'd always had a strange, unnatural fear of large bodies of water, that her sensei said came from an incident from before she could remember.
Hearing sounds like eating, she turned around.
Seeing Gomamon eating out of the pouch she'd had attached to her belt, with emergency food, she panicked.
"G-GOMAMON!"
He jumped back, with the face of a child with its hand caught in the cookie jar.
"I-I told you not to eat all the food! W-We might need it for later!"
"But it IS later!"
"I-It's only been twenty minutes!"
"But that's LATER!"
Anne tried to calm down.
"Is there at least some left?"
"Uh…you see, since you're seasick and all, I kinda…ate everything…"
The panic was coming back…
"But I need to eat so I can Digivolve and fight bad Digimon!"
She started shaking him.
"If I starve, who are you going to protect?!"
Then the nausea returned, and she ran to the edge in order to dry-heave into the ocean.
"Lets stop talking about food…" Gomamon said quietly, rubbing her shell soothingly.
"Everything will be alright, Annie…"
The Digimon perked when he saw a large crate drifting towards them, and Anne followed his gaze.
Naturally wary and skittish, she let only the smallest glimmer of hope into her voice.
"Maybe it has food in it…"
"I wish…"
"YOU wish? YOU ate all of our food!"
"…You get angry when you're hungry…"
"Hunger is a good motivator…"
The crate hit the edge of the bed gently, and the two looked at it curiously.
"How do we open it?"
The wood began to splinter, then exploded as Ogremon appeared.
Scared and shaken, Anne fell back on her shell, trying to crawl back.
"Pummel Whack!"
The two ducked below the powerful swing.
He kept repeating it until the club fell straight through the middle of the bed.
Anne cried out as she flew through the air.
"Marching Fishes!"
As Ogremon was distracted and slightly hurt, the grey/white-banded turtle landed on one half of the bed.
"How can those little fish beat Ogremon back?"
"When the small and weak join forces for a good cause, they can often bring about the defeat of the big and powerful."
Ogremon seemed to have enough, and knocked the fish back easily.
"…Then again, sometimes they don't stand a chance…"
"G-Gomamon!"
Ogremon turned to the shaking turtle, and his club started coming down.
"Gomamon, Digivolve to…IKKAKUMON!!"
"Pummel Whack!"
"Harpoon Torpedo!"
As Ogremon was distracted with the pain, Ikkakumon moved closer to his partner.
"Get onto my back!"
Climbing up the long fur, the large Digimon swam away from the danger.
Clinging to Ikkakumon's horn, Anne tried to calm her racing heart and breathe deeply.
She was surprised when the water started getting closer, and her eyes widened.
"I-Ikkakumon!"
"Weak…hungry…sinking…"
"I-Ikkakumon, don't! I-I can't swim!"
But he was already Dedigivolving, and she fell into the water.
Panic and fear overloaded her systems, and she was quickly running out of air.
'Gomamon…Rosie…h-help…'
Her world started to grow black, and she felt someone grab her, a short tug…
'Help…'
--
Her eyes fluttered open, and she saw the night sky above her, twinkling with stars.
"Annie! You're okay!"
Turning her head with some difficulty, she saw the worried crimson eyes of her older sister.
"R-Rosie?"
"It was a good thing Gomamon found my fishing line! Are you feeling okay?"
"Y-Yeah…"
Sitting up, Anne put a hand to her head.
"Is G-Gomamon okay?"
"I'm fine, Annie!"
Biyomon moved to her partner's side.
"You look tired, Annie."
"I-I'm okay…"
Rose sighed with relief, helping her sister stand.
"Come on. We need to find the others somehow. What do you think, imouto?"
"Wh-Why are you asking me?" Anne asked, looking confused.
"I'm fresh out of ideas, sis. You must have SOMETHING."
Looking uncertain, Anne shrugged.
"I-I haven't really thought about it…"
The ringing of what seemed to be church bells caught both turtle's attention, and they looked up through the mist.
"I-Is that a church?"
It really was, but it was on an elevated section of the island.
"Maybe the others are there…" Anne stated.
Rose smiled.
"Then lead the way!"
Looking uncertain and timid, the grey/white-banded turtle nodded, trying to gather her courage before starting the trek.
Once the church came in sight, she stopped, looking questioningly back at her older sister.
"Go on." Rose encouraged, smiling reassuringly.
The grey/white-banded turtle nodded slightly, and stepped around the building as quietly as she could manage.
Rose followed her, silent as a shadow, to look at the back of the building.
Music was playing, and people with strange masks were dancing around.
Both looked curious, and Anne turned to her sister.
"I-I think they're celebrating something…"
"It's the Bakemon Holiday."
Both sisters and Digimon jumped, turning to the minister that had somehow snuck up on the two kunoichi-in-training.
He had a mask on his face like the others, and his voice sent an uneasy chill down Anne's shell.
He led them INTO the church, and Anne hid a bit more behind her older sister.
She didn't like the feel of this place…
Judie said she was as jumpy as a rabbit, but Anne had always had a strange sense of impending danger.
Besides, whenever Judie said that, she was about to do something deserving of a spanking…
And she'd drag poor little Terrie along with her for the ride…
"We'd love to have you join us. We don't have a lot of young people around. No holiday is complete without them. You arrived just in time for some…fun…"
The semi-circle of people before them had their backs to the turtles, and Anne froze.
"But…The only Bakemon I know is a horrible Digimon that lives among ghosts as their ruler. Why would you honor and celebrate someone like that?"
Biyomon seemed to agree with the swimming Digimon, but the minister didn't seem happy…
"Don't you dare come in here telling us who to honor or not!"
Anne scooped up her partner as Rose pulled hers back.
"They're just…opinionated."
Rose smiled sheepishly, but her heart hammered powerfully, as it did when she was scared.
'But there's nothing to be scared of…' She assured herself.
"You're not afraid?"
Rose shook her head, as did the two Digimon, but Anne's shaking gave away her skittish, jumpy nature.
"Well, you should be…Because it's a trick!"
The mask cracked before the disguise flew away in shards, showing a Bakemon.
"And you're the treat!"
The other masked men also revealed themselves as Bakemon, and the grey-banded turtle couldn't help a scream.
They ran for the exit, bursting out, only to find the dancers becoming Bakemon, too.
"Spiral Twister!"
Gomamon jumped to the ground, running.
"Gomamon, Digivolve to-!"
He tripped, too weak to Digivolve.
"G-Gomamon!"
Biyomon was also too weak to Digivolve, and fell right out of the air.
The Bakemon grabbed them, tying the two turtles up tight as they took their partners away.
Once they were laid on two stone tables, Rose started to struggle.
"R-Rosie, they're not really going to EAT us, are they?"
"Like I'll let them!" Rose snapped.
When the Bakemon started to cover them in salt and pepper, Anne shuddered, sneezing.
"St-Stop! Y-You don't want to eat us! W-We're all shell, anyway!"
The Bakemon seemed to ignore the turtle's pleas, and morphed into one giant Bakemon.
He reached forward to grab them, and Anne cried out.
"Gomamon, Digivolve to…IKKAKUMON!!"
The large Digimon busted through the floor behind their heads, stopping Bakemon in his tracks.
"Biyomon, Digivolve to…BIRDRAMON!!"
Rose finally undid the ropes, and helped her sister before both ran outside, Bakemon forcefully THROWING their Digimon after them.
Hiding behind tombstones, they watched as Bakemon beat down their friends.
"Harpoon Torpedo!"
Bakemon caught the explosive, redirecting it behind him.
"Meteor Wing!"
The fire didn't seem to affect the ghost Digimon, and Anne would've shrunk back if something hadn't tugged at her heart.
If she shrank back, backed down, gave up…Ikkakumon would get hurt…
Her mind raced, trying to think of something that could help.
"Rosie, turn around."
Looking confused, the orange/red-banded turtle looked at her sister, surprised by the sense of confidence.
"What for?"
"I remember reading something about a Roman physicist. He said that by repeating a mantra, it helps to focus mind over matter." The younger turtle explained, grabbing a stick.
"So we can do the same to weaken Lord Bakemon so our friends can beat him."
Rose nodded slightly, turning her shell to her sister.
As the steady rhythm vibrated through the shell, the oldest female turtle found herself joining in on the mantra.
"Bakemon, lose your power. Bakemon, lose your power. Bakemon, lose your power."
The ghost was shrinking, diminishing, and smiles broke across the sister's faces.
"Get him, Birdramon!"
"Ikkakumon!"
"Harpoon Torpedo!"
"Meteor Wing!"
Bakemon seemed to explode like a balloon, and the two turtles cheered.
A crack formed in the ground, large enough to see through, and Rose looked down to see Black Gears.
They were spinning at a frightening speed, and suddenly broke down.
Anne looked into the distance, no longer shaking.
"…Infinity Mountain…"
Rose nodded, standing beside her oldest imouto.
"…We've got to go there, Rosie."
"I totally agree with you." Rose assured, grinning.
She grabbed onto Birdramon's ankle as she started flying, and Anne climbed onto Ikkakumon's back after he jumped into the water.
Heading towards the imposing mountain, Anne tightened her hold on her partner's horn.
'We'll find the others…And I'll try not to be afraid anymore…because everyone will be counting on me to be brave…'
She smiled up at her older sister.
'…If Rosie believes in me…I'll try…'