Chapter 7

Inside darkness there's... more darkness

"Well... it looks like I've been discovered." Samedi murmured, his aura enveloping him.

"Let me guess, you were never a god, right?" Roosevelt asked.

Baron Samedi began to laugh.

"I told you, I'm literally death. And you're just the toy I'm finally going to have some fun with."

Samedi was nothing like the elegant man he'd introduced himself as. He had become a monster, like those he had exterminated for centuries before his encounter with Bright.

"What an idiot, he just blew his cover..." says Maman Brigitte, almost humorously.

But she was the only one to have this reaction. All humans, without exception, were terrified.

"What kind of- creature is this?"

"The devil! It's the devil himself!"

This reaction was also shared by Selira, who had taken refuge behind Abraham Lincoln's legs. But even those legs were trembling slightly.

"It's worse than anything I could have thought of..." Druca whispered.

And yet, while all of humanity and almost the entire arena is frightened by Baron Samedi, Theodore doesn't flinch. This seemed to piss off the Baron, who lunged at his adversary, his fist shrouded in sinister smoke. The attack struck the president in the chest, but he didn't move. Samedi didn't give up and continued to hit TR, relentlessly and without reducing the pace.

"Baron Samedi seems to have gone back to his primal instincts! He attacks relentlessly out of pure anger!" exclaims Rhymus.

And indeed, his blows are swift and violent, but Theodore Roosevelt handles them with ease. Suddenly, the last blow of Samedi's salvo pushed the president back a few meters.

"Why won't you die?!" Baron Samedi says upset and angry.

TR giggles as he tenses his muscles. His white shirt and jacket rip until he tears them off and throws them in the air, revealing his bare torso. He has blue markings that stand out from his veins, which cover most of his arms and torso. Placing his hand over his heart, his torso and arm cover themselves with the same blue aura that appears when he fights.

"Patriotism, son." His arm finishes covering itself. "It hardens my body in response to your physical attacks."

Roosevelt strikes the ground violently with his blue arm, causing a quake throughout the arena.

"You can't hurt me, Samedi."

Nevertheless, the Baron runs towards Teddy, landing a heavy blow to the face, but the president takes it. He puts his glasses back on.

"What did I just say?"

And soon afterwards, he delivers a violent uppercut to Samedi, throwing him into the air before he crashes back to the ground. Theodore proudly displays his torso.

"This is America's Torso!" Selira cries out proudly, cheering on her idol.

But Samedi didn't give up. Smoke appeared in the palm of his hand; smoke as black as night. Then he threw his arm forward.

"Vile Nightmare Blast!"

A swift, powerful jet erupted from his hand. The baron's smoke is so black it seems to absorb light. Roosevelt avoided the attack, but his hand did not. It was completely crushed in an instant, so fast that the president didn't feel the pain immediately.

"He finally got him! Baron Samedi's powerful attack finally wounded mighty Theodore Roosevelt." Rhymus shouts as the gods cheer on their representant.

TR glanced at his hand and tried to move his fingers, without success. Every bone in his left hand was shattered.

"You can do it Teddy! I'll always believe in you!"

The president turned at these words and saw his beautiful wife Edith cheering him on. He fought so hard for his fellow citizens in his life on Earth, but now he's fighting first and foremost for his wife.

"You can break my body as much as you like, demon, but my will shall remain indestructible." exclaimed the president, brandishing his right fist.

"Good, good, GOOD! So be it!"

Samedi's hatred and anger give him more strength than when the fight began. All the bad emotions of his life and the previous one rise up inside him and take control of his body.

"Pull yourself together, you fool... this hatred will consume you and you will succumb all by yourself..." Maman Brigitte murmured, recognizing the man she had met and not the one who had become her lover.

But the baron didn't seem inclined to listen. He expelled more black smoke before attacking Roosevelt again.

"Tell me... where is all this smoke coming from?" says Dionysus, slumped on a sofa drinking his wine.

"It's Black Smoke from the underworld." Persephone remarks. "My husband and I had no idea that anyone could control it like that."

She continues to observe the fight.

"The smoke has already misted his mind, and if he can't get any more, he'll die."

"And what does this smoke actually consist of?" replied Dionysus, vaguely interested.

"Black Smoke is much denser and heavier than any other smoke, which is why it can be used as a weapon. But when the user breathes it in, it impregnates his spirit and brings out all its evil. And once this state is reached, there's no way back, because when the smoke is fully consumed, it's death." explains the Goddess of the underworld.

Dionysus simply took another sip in surprise.

"You know we're nearing the end." Samedi says.

The president shook his itchy left hand.

"You know it's unusable. Punching with this hand would condemn your chances of repairing those bones, if you survive of course..." continues the baron.

"Oh, if that's all, it's no big deal." Roosevelt replies.

Baron Samedi grinned.

"You mad fucker!"

Theodore Roosevelt buff himself up again using his blue aura. As for Samedi, he takes hold of his staff and swings it forward. But to his surprise, Teddy catches it and holds it firmly. The baron grunts and pulls back on the staff with all his might, but the president doesn't let go. Suddenly, a cracking sound can be heard, and the next moment, the staff shatters under TR's powerful grip. Samedi finds himself thrown backwards, holding a half of his staff in each hand.

"H-How…"

The Baron keeps his eyes riveted on the two halves of the staff and doesn't notice Theodore Roosevelt's right hand coming up to his face. He dodges it at the last moment, but to everyone's surprise, the president has planned ahead and hits his enemy with his left hand.

"That's it, Teddy! Don't stop and you'll get it!" Selira shouts at the top of her lungs.

"I think it's going to be complicated..." Lincoln says suddenly, pointing at Roosevelt.

The latter was out of breath and hitting with such force with a broken hand had affected him more than he wanted to show. The pain caused by his left hand would have made anyone scream in agony, but even if he wasn't anyone, TR was in a great deal of pain. This made Samedi laugh, a blood-curdling laugh.

"A very daring attack..." the baron struggled to his feet, blood running down his lip and from his nose.

Theodore looked at him and realized something: another attack of at least this caliber using both hands would undoubtedly kill his opponent. But that would be at the cost of his left hand, if nothing more.

"Teddy, I beg you, stop! You're going to lose your hand!" Edith screamed.

"If sacrificing my hand is the price to pay to save you, so be it!" Theodore answered his wife, determined as ever.

Samedi condenses all the smoke in his body in his right hand for a powerful Vile Nightmare Blast. TR prepares to strike with both hands.

"Grizzly's Right! Grizzly's Left!"

The blue aura metamorphosed into two grizzly paws at the end of each of his arms. Baron Samedi aims his attack at the president's left hand. He avoids Theodore's right and manages to partially counter his left fist, which he nevertheless receives right in the chest. The baron's attack did still leave its mark. The shackle around TR's left wrist breaks and falls to the ground, his left hand half torn off, while bits of bone and flesh also fall to the ground.

"Teddy!" Edith cried out in concern.

But it wasn't as bad as it looked. A hand is not a vital organ, whereas Samedi had been hit many times in much more serious places. What was more serious for Theodore Roosevelt was that he had lost one of his shackles. This would certainly affect his American Spirit.

"Druca tells me, Teddy's going to win, isn't he?" Selira asks.

Probably not wanting to force fate, Druca says nothing and stays focused on the fight.

Suddenly, smoke begins to billow from Samedi's broken staff. Seeing this, he smiled. He had used up almost all his internal smoke resources with this previous attack, so he rushed to let it enter his body. Theodore understood.

"You don't really manipulate smoke, you're dependent on it and your quantities are limited."

"It's too late to realize it." replies Baron Samedi. "I'll show you how we do a good death ritual at my place."

The baron began to make strange movements, like a kind of dance. Theodore was surprised by this reaction.

"From now on, it's going to be... a Deadly Party."

Surrounded by black smoke, Baron Samedi dances haphazardly around Roosevelt, who remains static. He spreads his smoke to create an opaque zone encircling the president before the two combatants are no longer visible to the spectators, or even to Rhymus.

"I- I don't see them anymore. They're completely submerged in smoke!" Rhymus says under shock.

Taking advantage of TR's confusion, the baron launched a series of attacks, emerging from the smoke and disappearing again. The president can hardly defend his left flank due to the loss of a shackle. Samedi's assault continues for a moment before the smoke clears. Not being in hell at the moment, the smoke dissipates much faster in clean air. Once the two combatants were visible, most of the audience at Heaven's Gate Coliseum watched in horror as Theodore Roosevelt's left arm fell to the ground, completely mutilated. Edith screams in horror. The president grunted in pain.

"This… this is nothing but a scratch." he says, still ready to fight.

"Don't lie to yourself, you won't get far without a missing arm."

"Have you forgotten what I told you?" Teddy closed the distance between himself and Samedi in a single jump. "My body can give in, but not my mind! Grizzly's Right!"

And in an instant, before Samedi could understand, he was finally struck full force by this powerful attack. He couldn't dodge it this time. His face partially dislocated and he was thrown several meters.

Holding the left side of his face, Samedi tried to stand up but fell to his knees. The left side of his face was no longer aligned with the rest of his head, and his eye looked like it was about to pop out of its socket.

"Fucking yes! He has the upper hand." Selira says jumping.

"For now, but his body is reaching its limits." observed Lincoln. "If one or the other doesn't get it over soon, they'll both go..."

And Abraham was right. Samedi's body has been severely damaged and he certainly suffers from numerous fractures and internal hemorrhages. As for Roosevelt, he's never had to exert himself like this on Earth, and his human body wears out far too quickly. If they continue to fight without collapsing, the two won't get out of the arena.

"I'm going to kill you, president. I'm going to kill you to stay close to my Brigitte!"

Despite the tense situation, Maman Brigitte couldn't help smiling.

"You say that as if you were the only one with a woman to take care of, but I'll protect my Edith to the end, because I failed with Alice..." replies Roosevelt with sorrow.

The man and the demon fight like savages in this arena. They went at each other blow for blow, but Roosevelt had no weak points on his body now that his left arm was no longer part of it. Samedi wears out and loses his precious black smoke in vain.

"What a waste…" murmured Persephone.

The Baron was trying to come up with a plan, but his brain had suffered too much concussion for him to think clearly. That's when Teddy stopped hitting. The blue aura disappeared and he began to have trouble breathing. His trump card was consuming his strength, and the weight of these divine artefacts was beginning to feel as heavy as when he first wore them.

"I'm beginning… to think… we're both in for it..." Samedi says with some trouble to speak.

"Speak for yourself, it takes more than that to finish out the Bull Moose."

Mankind held its breath. Theodore Roosevelt had to win. Three defeats and zero wins would all but kill their chances in this tournament. And so, in unison, humans chanted the name of the 26th President of the United States.

"THEODORE ROOSEVELT! THEODORE ROOSEVELT! THEODORE ROOSEVELT! THEODORE ROOSEVELT! THEODORE ROOSEVELT!"

"Come on Teddy!" Selira adds.

"You can do it, my friend." Abraham Lincoln said.

And he stood up proudly. The man, the human in the arena, Theodore Roosevelt, was carried by every human in the stands. He who bore one people was now borne by all peoples. But the gods were not indifferent. Even if Baron Samedi turned out to be a demon, he's the one fighting for the gods at the moment, and so the gods began to cheer him on.

"Go Baron! Get that human!"

"He may be bigger than you, but you're faster!"

"Don't die, my little devil, Mommy will come to comfort you." Says Maman Brigitte.

And Samedi rose to his feet, buoyed by all the shouts of encouragement.

"One thing's for sure… one of us is going to die in the light…" he says.

"That would be the last straw for a demon like you."

"Maybe... but I wouldn't complain..." replied Samedi with a smile.

These words made Theodore smile too, as he realized that Samedi had spent his whole life in the darkness and was ready to die here, in the light if need be. But none of them were going to let themselves be killed. The two fighters looked each other straight in the eye, understanding that the next exchange of blows would be their last, and for one of them, the last moment of his life.

"Mr. Lincoln…" asked Phearl. "Could you please carry me?"

Abraham smiled and took Phearl in his arms to place her gently on his shoulders.

"Is that all right with you?" he asked softly.

"Yes, thank you. I'm not afraid anymore, I'm ready to accept any eventuality from now on."

At these words, Druca smiled, seeing that Phearl seemed reassured and ready at last.

Just before throwing himself into this final confrontation, Theodore turned to his wife and smiled. He may have lost his first wife Alice and his mother two hours apart before his very eyes, Edith had managed to make him happy again and had stayed there until his death. He could never forget all she had given him, and even if his soul were to disappear, he liked to believe that some things would stay forever. At least, he thought so to give himself the strength he needed for this final brawl.