GMRRRMMRRRR—its roar rolls through the depths, vibrating through the water and into my bones.
The roar before it rises. The Leviathan surges upward again.
WRAAAAATHH—its cry should explode above the surface, but down here I hear it only as a muffled thunder.
The chain drops again; their effort falters. Everyone freezes, tense at the sound of its roar.
But the captain, resolute, forces himself up and begins to count once more.
"COME ON—ONE! TWO! THREE!" The winch is pushed again.
I draw closer.
"ONE!" I am near.
"TWO!" Nearer still.
"THREE!"
At last—the Leviathan begins to descend again. It will rise once more, and its body is directly beneath me.
I leap at the exact moment.
"AAAARGH!" I shout in the water, driving the sword between its scales as I am dragged upward.
"HIROOO!" Rose's cry reaches me.
"THE BOY!" another voice shouts, growing faint.
"THAT BOY!" someone else yells, fading into the storm.
I am lifted now, but the sword is only lodged between its scales. The moment it stills, I will be flung away.
It stills.
It stills.
"This is it!" I am thrown.
Its body—its body—its body—
"ITS BODY!" I shout, refusing to miss again. "THIS IS IT!" I swing the sword.
Its body is beneath me.
"HAAASHH!" I drive it in.
WRAAAAATHH—its roar explodes again, thick with pain. "There it is," I murmur.
SKRAAATH—lightning tears across the sky.
Oliver's sword. Oliver's technique.
SKLASH—I release the blade, take its stance, and surge forward. With a sweeping cut toward the creature's tail, I drive ahead.
SLASH—SLASH—SLASH—I cleave through half of its tail, carving and hacking with Oliver's technique, my movements guided by sight alone.
WRAAAAATHH—A thunderous, echoing roar of pain. "That's what I needed," I murmur. My assault is not finished.
"WOOO—!" "What is that?!" "How is that possible?"
Cheers erupt across the deck, witnessing an act they cannot believe from Hiro.
SKRAAATH—Lightning tears across the sky.
The light fades. I press on, charging forward again.
SLASH—SLASH—SLASH—SLASH.
WRAAAAATHH—Another thunderous, echoing roar of pain.
At last, I sever and carve the tail completely—only the body and the head remain. "This is it!" I shift into my stance again, preparing to charge.
But—
"Huh?" the captain murmurs.
"Kid!" a stranger shouts.
"No—" The crew freezes.
The Leviathan hurls me into the air—
WRAAAAATHH—Its roar explodes, deafening, its jaws gaping wide before me.
SKRAAATH—Lightning splits the sky.
HAAASHT—The Leviathan snaps its mouth shut. I am inside its jaws.
"HIROOO!" Rose screams.
"THAT KID!" another man shouts.
"THAT BOY!" the captain cries.