The great white whale, once a terrible monster that struck fear into the hearts of his many victims, was now thrashing with waning strength on the surface of the sea in its final death throes.
It was almost sad to watch it die, like something unique in the world was disappearing forever.
Cabernet allowed Zoro out of her chest cavity, careful not to let him go running off again.
Everyone watched him closely as he took in the sight of the dying beast, slowly starting to relax as he came to understand what was happening.
"Is that it?" Zoro seemed almost disappointed. "It died, just like that?"
"I don't know of many creatures that could survive an explosion in its stomach," Law said.
"I can!" Cabernet raised her hand with a proud smile. "Wanna see?"
Before anyone could say anything, Cabernet was rifling through Usopp's pockets.
"Stop it! Do you know how long my exploding stars take to make?!" Usopp cried out.
"Please?" Cabernet gave him puppy dog eyes.
Usopp cringed and tried to look away. He was powerless against Cabernet's puppy dog eyes.
"I believe you, I don't need to see it," Law said.
Cabernet pouted. It was one of her favorite party tricks, swallowing explosives.
*splash*
Everyone's heads swiveled to the water where they saw a familiar old man swimming away from the Polar Tang and towards the almost motionless whale.
"I'll strangle ye… with me bare… hands, monster! There won't be… no miraculous recovery… in yer future!" Baha shouted with each breath he took.
"How did he get untied?!" Law asked, already expanding his Room.
"Sorry, captain. When the news came that the whale was dying, he calmed down and I thought it'd be okay to let him come see for himself…" Bepo said softly, looking depressed.
'So cute…' Robin thought.
"Whatever, it's not a big deal. I'll just swap him with Usopp and he can swim back," Law sighed.
"Why me?!" Usopp complained.
"Because Zoro isn't an option and I'm not going to dunk my own crew, am I?" Law explained.
Usopp hurriedly looked around. "What about Franky?!"
"Oi," Franky said.
"He's already wet!" Usopp threw his crewmate under the bus with hesitation.
"Franky is bigger and way heavier than you. No need to waste energy," Law said.
"Well, maybe we should let the old man get his own closure, huh?!" Usopp argued.
"You just don't want to get eaten by sharks," Robin shook her head in mock disappointment. "Shame on you."
"Sharks?" Usopp paused, then his eyes widened. "That's right, there were sharks on the sonar! You can't throw me into shark infested water!"
Law paused with a frown. He had forgotten about that.
"Can you really call it shark 'infested' water when that's just where they live?" Cabernet asked. "Do people live in human 'infested' cities?"
"In some cities, yes," Law answered without skipping a beat.
Law closed his Room. "Adjust our course to follow the old man."
About a minute later, the Polar Tang was headed towards the whale. Baha had already reached it and now stood atop its carcass, stomping on one of its big black eyes. The whale did not stir in the slightest as blood flowed like a river from its open maw.
"Are you feeling okay, Zoro?" Robin asked the younger man.
"Yeah. Feels like I've been half awake until now," Zoro said. At first he hadn't been able to look away from the whale, but now he didn't want to look at it at all.
"I think that's a good sign. Baha doesn't look like he's getting better, though," Robin sighed.
"Hey, what's that?" Usopp pointed near the whale's tail.
Something peeked over the tail of the white whale, and it wasn't immediately apparent what it was. It was only when more of the things started to appear around the rest of the whale that a picture of the interloper appeared in their minds.
Eight enormous pink tentacles rose up out of the water and wrapped themselves around the massive carcass.
"Quick, get the old man!" Franky shouted.
Law opened his Room quickly, but not quick enough.
The whale's body was yanked down into the water with a terrifying amount of force. Baha was left suspended in the air for a fraction of a second before he plummeted down into the water where he disappeared beneath the surface. Law tried to find any trace of him that he could, but the undertow created from such a sizable object being dragged downwards had pulled the old man well beyond his range in only a few seconds.
"He's gone…" Law said, his voice betraying none of the complex emotions swirling below the surface.
Baha had largely been a nuisance for the short time that they had known him, but as far as they were aware it wasn't really his fault. The whale was the one that had driven him mad.
It gave them all a strange feeling, witnessing his death. Bepo felt guilty, of course, as did a few of the others. Perhaps the three samurai were the ones who felt the least. As they saw it, the old man had lived until his hair went gray and he got his revenge too. That was pretty good by a warrior's standards.
Zoro's emotions were largely centered on his own sense of inadequacy. What good did his strength do him if he could just be hypnotized by a big fish?
Usopp's mind wandered to all the close calls he had experienced in his travels. He's gotten better since he first set sail, but he wasn't nearly at the level of the powerhouses that he called friends. If that had been him atop the whale when the kraken dragged it down, the result would have been the same.
"I should have just dove in after him," Franky blew his nose into someone else's handkerchief.
"It's no use dwelling on it. We're sure to see other people die on our journey to the top of the world," Robin said. She was no stranger to death.
"That's right. He was just a silly old man who nearly got us all killed," Zoro said.
"Maybe you should dwell on it a little more," Usopp said.
"Look on the bright side. The crushing pressure of all that water crashing into him at once probably killed him instantly, so he didn't have to drown," Robin said.
"You're not helping!" Usopp pointed at her.
"It helps a little bit," Bepo muttered.
"It's nice to be appreciated sometimes," Robin sighed.
"I'm the bad guy?!" Usopp pointed at himself.
Several people nodded so Usopp threw his hands up in the air in surrender and went to sulk in the corner by himself.
It was several hours later that the unusual quiet on the submarine was broken by thunder. The return of the wild weather of the Grand Line was an almost welcome change. They simply didn't have the time or energy to think about depressing things.
The chaos quickly wore out its welcome, however, as they were soon back to cursing the troublesome weather. Everyone aboard wished that they would arrive at Wano sooner rather than later, and sooner or later they would.