Nature of the Beast
Walking through the streets of Zaun, whistling a classic tune, this man had to be one of the happiest men in the entire city. While most Zaunites tended to display a grumpy face in public, he kept a laid back attitude, a small smile present on his face most times he wasn't whistling.
If anyone else did this, people would just assume that the individual in question's happy with his life, or at best ignore it. However, when a smile marked Doctor Edmundo's face, anyone with half a brain kept the hell away from him, with fear of being the next day's reason for happiness.
This thin, tall, glass-wearing man seemed, at first sight, like any other inhabitant of Zaun. However, if one would take a closer look, a medic for example, one could notice the needle marks on right shoulder, the dilated veins around his neck, and the feint, yellow glow which permanently marked his eyes. Not that Edmundo needed a doctor. His experiences assured that even when not a hulking behemoth, his regeneration rate was off the charts, being able to even grow back an arm or a leg, if the situation called for it.
Edmundo's reputation around Zaun was mixed, a nice way to say people questioned constantly if they should fear him more than be glad he's on their side, or vice-versa. Of course, the good doctor is not really on anyone's side, but the one which allows him to indulge in his sadistic, yet controlled bloodlust. Today Zaun and Noxus. Tomorrow, who knows?
Even though people feared him when he's happy, he's much worse when mad. Anger is one of two ways to transform the calm, controlled and affable man into the beast known as Mundo, even more uncaring than the man which gives it origin, and willing to suffer unimaginable pains just to inflict even worse of a fate to those unfortunate enough to be caught in his path. The other way is a solution, in the form of an injection, which works on him and him alone. It's the method he uses to be able to call the beast at will, and the one which gives him more control. The MO of the berserk Mundo and the controlled Mundo are mostly the same, but at least when in control he can enjoy the suffering of his victims to full extend.
Don't let yourself be fooled by his appearance and demeanors. Beneath it lies a man so cruel, so unimaginably twisted even the Void itself would spit him right back were he ever to enter. Even before his, shall we say, unique condition, his actions were already repugnant to any moral creature. He wasn't even four before he killed his first victim, the dog's next door, the first of many. His parents "disappeared" at the tender age of twelve, leaving him unsupervised, and visits to the police squad, followed by interrogations about untraceable murders became the norm, Edmundo's going so far as to try to predict when the next one would be, marking them on his calendar. And the uncanny thing is that most of them were spot-on.
Zaun was the home of the psychopaths. Such was known and came of no surprise, considering the more than liberal approach at laws and regulations. But Kreuben Edmundo was different from all others. Beneath his madness lied a brilliance hard to rival, far superior to the likes of Stanwick. With a mastery of biology, a natural affinity with the blade way pass uncanny, and a very advanced knowledge of chemistry, which, although could never hope to surpass Singed, came close to equaling the madman's craft, Edmundo is one of the most important men in Zaun. And one of the most dangerous.
Yet for all that might, he was a prisoner of his own power. People cowered when they saw him on the street, no one would even consider accepting his job offers for "lab assistance", and one would rather kill himself with a dull, rusty knife than be alone with the Good Doctor. It really made a dent in his efficiency. Less subjects of course meant less experiments, and it had really taken a toll at his mood. Although that had surely increased his efficiency in the Fields of Justice, Kreuben knew his protection from the law was based around his inhumane work. If he stopped being useful for Noxus and Zaun, he'd be trialed and condemned to prison in the Institute of War, like Nocturne. Kreuben had been desperate, and a desperate man does desperate things. And he did one hell of a gamble. Fortunately for him, and to the despair of everyone else, it had worked. Maybe a little too well.
Edmundo's walk around his decrepit little heaven of Zaun had come to an end, for he arrived at his house, the biggest one in his block. Two stories high, as broad as two normal houses, with a luscious garden, filled with the most exotic flowers, protected by a metal fence. The perfect home on the exterior, a wonderful façade for the little house of horrors contained within. For in Dr. Mundo's basement, no one can hear you scream.
As he was unlocking his door, a most delightful stench invaded his nostrils, one which many would consider foul and disgusting. He sighed. He really was looking forward for today.
He closed the door rapidly, not allowing the perfume of decay to leave his house. He walked through the hall and entered the living room, and lo and behold, there, in his couch, lied the corpse of a fifteen year old, her eyes gorged out, her belly ripped and opened, and her guts spilled across the floor. Some of the blood dripping from her face seemed watery, most likely being mixed with her tears. The beautiful red liquid was still very fluid. Edmundo crouched around the pool which formed at the couch's feet, touched it with his index finger, and brought it to his mouth. Warm. Probably around 35º C. Missed it by an hour. Dammit, couldn't you have waited until I arrived?
"Shaco, I told you I wanted this one alive."
Just as Edmundo's finished his sentence, the Demon Jester appeared right at his side from seemingly nowhere, a puff of orange smoke dissipating from behind the bloodstained couch. – "She was alive when I left her here. You should have saved your little march, march, march for latter."
"I meant unarmed."
"I'm so sorry, but I didn't have time to rip those off. She's un-eyed though, that should count for something!" – The Jester released a maniac laugh at his own joke, but he laughed alone as Edmundo looked at him with a humorless gaze.
"Why so serious, Doc?"
Edmundo sighed again – "Did you leave a Jack in the Box inside her, Shaco?"
"Me? I would never…" – the Doctor, now very exasperated, interrupted The Jester's ironic accentuations. – "Shaco."
"Oh, alright, alright. Sometimes you're such a buzzkill." – Shaco shoved his hand inside the girl's belly and took out his little fun box. The box, dripping in blood and guts, deactivated, it's head now swinging at its base – "Look at him. You made him sad."
"I really liked this couch, you know? It'll take days to clean." – Edmundo completely ignored the clown's whines.
"Oh, put a smile on your face. This one was my gift to me. I got your little girly intact."
Edmundo looked at Shaco in bored disbelief, holding back his happiness and relief brought by the news he'd still have fun today. – "Ok, ok maybe a scar or two, I'm only human."
"If that."
"Wouldn't you like to know?" – The Jester's characteristic grin now plastered cheek to cheek. – "She's at your basement. Have fuuuuuun."
And as swiftly as he came, the Jester disappeared in smoke, out of everyone's sight. For all his quirks and mannerisms, the clown truly was his ace in the hole, a gift from fate much appreciated. For all his qualities, Dr. Kreuben Edmundo was not a discrete man. His usual MO for catching victims was to overpower them in a dark alley and carry them along when no one's watching. Simple, but effective. Until a few years ago, when he was "volunteered" by Zaun to join the League. One shouldn't bite the hand which feeds it, and it would basically allow him to provoke carnage free of charge, so nothing bad could come of it. Or so he thought. As he became known, as Dr. Mundo became cheered and loved champion, Kreuben Edmundo became more and more known and feared. What before was neighborhood fame became Valoran-wide, and there's nowhere he could go where he wouldn't be recognized. This proven to be an issue for acquiring new test subjects, for all stepped back as soon as they saw him.
And that's where Shaco comes along. The Demon Jester, master of illusion and tricks, one of the only minds as depraved as Edmundo, had been a formidable ally and friend since the day they met, getting Kreuben all the victims he needed. Most people think of Shaco as a mere killer, but his refinement of the heart of stealth allowed him to do so much more, like knocking someone out without leaving a scratch or making a noise. Until Shaco entered the League, Edmundo had found no one who could help him with his little problem. Warwick tended to leave the intended test subject in pieces, and no other man hunter wanted anything to do with the good Doctor. But the day the clown passed by him, he knew. He knew the same madness that flowed through him ran in the Clown's veins.
Sure they're methods are different, and so his their time of madness, but they share the same bloodlust, the same desire to see their victims squeal, scream and beg, the same near orgasmic pleasure release as the life escapes their victim's eyes, and their last breath exits their mouth.
Two of a kind, they were. Some called them monsters, others called them demons, killers, murderers, wild animals in dire need of being put down, and other sorts of profanities. Yet all the insults in the world aren't enough to keep the Madman's cleaver, or the Jester's knives away from soft tender flesh.
Although Edmundo would admit there were differences. His sadism usually had a scientific basis, while Shaco's motives were as mysterious as the clown himself.
For example, right now, the teenager he had chained to his basement (or so he was told) served a much higher purpose than mere bloodlust. Zaun had commissioned him with a variation of Dr. Mundo's serum, which give the regeneration without the whole "uncontrollable, blood-hungry behemoth" side effect, no doubt with military ends in mind. It had proven itself a challenge, but after a few days the first prototypal injection, nicknamed "Phoenix", was ready. But he lacked the most important part. A lab rat. Not anymore.
Edmundo left the living room and returned to the hall. He opened the door under the stairway to the second floor, which led to another staircase, this one descending, leading to the good Doctor's basement.
He turned on the lights and closed the door behind him. He could hear a feint whine. Good to know the soundproof walls are doing their job. As he walked down the stairs, the whining intensified, turning into screams of desperation. "HELP ME!", "LET ME OUT!" and "PLEASE HELP!" seemed to be the most common. His heart bumped in palpitation. Ah, the sweet sounds of misery.
He reached the stair's end, entering His secret lab. Tables filled with chemicals materials, fluids and mixings, high-tech gadgets like a centrifuge and a hextech computer in his desk, at the left corner next to the entrance, mathematical formulas and so many others. Wonders of science littered the basement of one of the brightest minds in all of Zaun. And of course, la piece de la resistance, shackled to the wall opposing the lab's entrance, the screaming, pleading teenager, her face decorated with a knife-slashed smile from cheek to cheek, her casual clothes dirty and cut and her wrists bleeding from the force she made against the chains which bind her. A massive cleaver was leaned against the wall, easily half the teen's size.
"What are you doing, you maniac? Let me out! Let me…" – The girl froze in silence as she recognized the face of her captor. Kreuben slowly walked towards her, the anxious yet controlled steps of a sadist, enjoying every bit of his victims' anguish.
"One could confuse you with Evelynn, my dear, with so much blood dripping from your mouth." – He placed his hand upon her chin, making sure to press her cheeks just enough to slightly increase the rip in her cuts. – "Should I call you Eve?" – He let his fingers slowly slide down her face, releasing her from his grip.
"You… You're him right? D-Doct-or Mundo? No… no…" – Her eyes started watering up, twitching as tears started raining down her face. The combination of suffering and despair she was feeling was such the good Doctor had to hold his laughter.
"Thankfully for you, Mundo is in his cage. For now. Play nice and all you'll have to deal with is boring, old Kreuben." – He turned his back on her and allowed himself to smile. It was times like these which made him love his job.
"What're you going to do with me?" – Edmundo grabbed a recorder, a notepad and a pen from his desk, turning the recorder on and placing it in his belt. He moved towards the hanger to get his lab coat, putting it on.
"May 14, 24 CLE. After many months of research and experimentation, I have created a prototypal regeneration serum, codename «Phoenix». The following recording will relate how subject nº1, codename «Eve», reacts to the serum's venal injection." – The Doctor turned towards her little toy, grinning as she regained her strength and began trying to break free. A very pleasant image, but he had work to do, and her struggle would complicate that. He walked towards the table with the chemical preparations, and took a syringe filled with Phoenix from its holder. He ticked the syringe's glass twice, making sure the mix was properly stabilized. Getting satisfying results, he took out the protection from the needle, grabbed a thermometer from the table, placing it on his coat pocket, and approached the girl.
"Please stand still." – The girl took no notice of Edmundo's request, and kept flailing and moving. He tried to give her the injection, but she kept resisting, and the needle broke in her arm. He didn't like that. Not one bit. He could feel the beast within trying to break out and teach this bitch a lesson. He slowly placed the notepad on the closest tables, then got back to the teen, and punched her as hard as he could, breaking her nose and blackening her eye. Before she could even cry, he grabbed her by the neck and shoved his face as close as he could to hers.
"Listen well, you little wench." – As he talked, his grip on her throat grew stronger. – "Either you stay quiet and allow me to proceed with my experience…" - His eyes glowed yellow, his breaths were becoming sporadic and uncontrolled, the veins on his forehead and neck were starting to swell and turn blue and his skin was gaining a purple coloration. – "Or I'll let Dr. Mundo come out and do what he pleases with your little slut body, and trust me, he is anything but gentle!" – Two were shackled in that basement, and only one was about to break free. – "Am I being clear, you insignificant WORM?!"
The girl's pale white, at the brink of death. Edmundo controlled himself and released her, giving her a minute to catch her breath. After she recovered, she shook her head to signal "yes". Her throat was too sore to say more. It hurt her to swallow and breathe.
Edmundo's body returned to normal, barely any sign of the beast within remaining. He fully composed himself and grabbed the recorder – "memo: delete this section of the recordings". Then he went for another syringe of the serum. This time, the girl didn't even flinch as the needle pierced her skin.
A few seconds of nothingness after the injection, the girl's breathing quickened, with clockwork-like precision. Kreuben sensed her pulse. Her heart was working at twice the normal speed. He brought the recorder close to his mouth.
"The subject's heart beats have increased significantly after a few seconds of venal exposure to the agent." – He noticed his fingers felt warm, and touched the girl's skin to confirm his theory. – "The subject's internal temperature also suffered a significant increase, as predicted." – He took the thermometer from his pocket and measured her temperature. – "38.4ºC after twenty seconds. Acceptable divergence of 0.1ºC from the theoretical results."
The teen bowed her head, letting her hair cover her face. From the looks of it, the serum had an extreme physical toll. She barely seemed self-aware.
"The subject appears to be losing awareness of her surroundings." – He got close to her and raised her head with his hand. He was looking directly into her eyes, but it was like she didn't even notice her. He also noticed something which made him rejoice. The cuts inflicted upon her by the clown and the damage of his blow was healing, right in front of his eyes!
"Eve's reaction to the serum is very positive, overhaul. Fresh wounds closed in a matter of seconds and have initiated the healing process, any trace of them disappearing as this sentence is finished. However, the subject remains unresponsive. If this persists, the formula will require significant changes."
As he finished his entry, the girl regained awareness, and began to scream from the top of her lungs, a pain-filled cry echoing through the basement. This surprised Kreuben severely. He had made sure the regenerative process was separated of the pain he felt, it being a by-product of the muscle growth and enhancement in his private serum. The company who hired him requested as such. And as much as he enjoyed it, these screams might be announcing very bad news.
"What is it? What do you feel?"
"My chest! It's like... something wants to come OUT!" – Her voice trembled as erratic breaths escaped her mouth. Edmundo took off her shirt and bra, and noticed a severe swelling in her left breast. It had cuts seemingly caused by muscle dilation, and it showed no signs of stopping any time soon.
Edmundo quickly took out his recorder and started another entry – "Eve is experiencing extreme growth in her chest area, more specifically her left breast, exclusively. The skin which covers it, however, isn't expanding to accompany the dilation. I'll wait to see if the expansion stops without any outside stimuli."
"PLEASE, JUST MAKE IT STOP!" – The girl was getting more and more desperate as the pain increased. Edmundo took the thermometer and measured the temperature from the left breast, comparing it to the rest of the body. The results were... astonishing.
"The body's temperature measures 39.3 ºC, while the growing area has 45.7ºC, while the expansion shows no sign of stopping. At this point, the skin is almost removed, the muscle ripping it away. The swelling ball of flesh is, at this point, about as big as Eve's head."
The girl's screams were muffling the recording. I'll have to edit this after, Kreuben thought. His thoughts, however, were interrupted as he noticed little rips on the swollen breast, dripping of a liquid which seemed a mixture of blood and pus. He took his thermometer and placed it in the opening. 56.8 ºC. Oh crap.
He slowly stepped back, grabbing his protective glasses from the table. The rips increased in size and smoke started to come out of it, the smell of boiled blood filling the basement. I have to save this formula for private use, thought Edmundo.
Suddenly, the girl's screams came to a climax, and then ended, as the ball of flesh exploded, spraying muscle and blood through the room, splashes of "Eve" hitting the walls. A gaping hole was left in the teen's body, and you could see the ribcage and all the organs, if you could summon the stomach to look. It was cracked and broken, some shreds of bone scattered around the floor right below her, and a bit of rib was shoved deep into her lung.
Edmundo himself was covered with blood, flesh and gore, small pieces of her sprayed through his lab coat and face. He passed a finger through his face, getting it all dirty with the remains, then put it in his mouth, tasting his failure with a mix of pleasure and disappointment.
After the adrenaline rush ended, the pleasure too was gone to be replaced with concern. He was already overdue, and he had no idea what went wrong. His window of opportunity was closing out. He'd have to start from square one. Too many variables, not enough time.
He sighed, and resigned himself to his fate. – "Eve reacted very badly to the venal injection of Phoenix, and sadly, perished [with extreme prejudice], leaving an absolute mess in the lab…" – his lack of professionalism was a good sign of his mental state – "and possibly ruining weeks of research. Nothing much left but to autopsy the corpse and start over. With some shred of luck, maybe it was a rare reaction from Eve, instead of a general…" – A small hum distracted the Doctor. Couldn't be a wasp, the whole's basement airtight. But… no, that couldn't be.
He turned towards the teen. What he saw almost made him jump in delight. She was breathing! Faintly, sure, but she was breathing! And moaning, in pain surely.
He approached carefully. How could that be? Even the Summoner's magic is hopeless against such grievous wounds. As long as the body holds together, which in the fields was made possible by the magical barriers the Summoners created, it can be healed, but once whole parts of it were ripped away, all bets were off. By all rights, this girl should be worse than dead.
Out of curiosity, Edmundo reached for his tweezers. He grabbed the skin around the hole and moved it away so he could see better. It was incredible. The piece of rib was being ejected from the lung and fell on the ground, while the cut on the lung closed, much like the scars on Eve's face. The ribcage was being filled by some sort of cement-like liquid, which quickly solidified and fixed the bone. The muscle was re-growing in front of Edmundo's eyes, and after it regenerated the mammary was starting to re-grow too. After a few minutes there was no evidence a wound was ever inflicted, with the exception of the gore across the room, and the blood sprayed on Kreuben and Eve.
The Doctor grabbed a new syringe and took a sample of her blood. The girl was in the same state she was in the beginning of the experiment, barely conscious. Panting heavily, but barely here, mind-wise.
He placed the blood in his centrifuge, directly connected to his computer. The results arrived shortly. Success.
"It seems the experiment worked after all, even if in a completely different way than previously anticipated." – Edmundo could barely contain his excitement. This was the breakthrough he wanted. – "Small amounts of mana in the bloodstream suggest the Phoenix absorbs the magical energies present on the air, and transforms it in mass, using it to fuel the regeneration. The dilation Eve suffered was most likely a result of mana accumulating in a specific area, instead of active and continuous muscle growth, and as such the solution for this problem appears to be much simpler than initially thought."
A single, heavy breath signalled that his little lab rat regained consciousness. He smiled and turned off his recorder. He had her blood. He had samples of flesh and skin. He had everything he needed to satisfy his experimental needs. Only one thing remained to satisfy.
"Hello again my dear. How did the land of the dead treat you?"
"W-what are you g-going to do… with me?" – Her voiced was pain-filled, her words said slowly, as if talking hurt her. Her body was very hot, even if the temperature decreased from initial values. Naked from the waist up, any other man would lust after a different thing than Edmundo. And perhaps, given the choice, any woman would choose the brutality of human primal needs, if the alternative was the gruesome fate which awaited this poor girl.
"I'm a polite man at heart, Eve. I already got what I wanted. Now it's time to let Mundo out, don't you agree? He too deserves to celebrate our accomplishment."
"No, please… please, no. Anything, anything else! I'm yours, take me, ravage me, kill me now, but please, please, not Dr. Mundo. Not Dr. Mundo!" – If she didn't cry, it was because she ran out of tears a few minutes ago. She was desperate. She'd gorge her own eyes out if it would avoid the Burning Agony which awaited her. She heard the legends of Zaun, the whispers of the night, she saw what the monster did in the Fields of Justice. She remembered her mother, her father. She had a fight with them, right before being kidnapped. The last words they'll remember will be «I hate you». Why? Why?
Kreuben Edmundo could feel it. The pain. All of it. It excited him. It made him feel alive.
One of the misconceptions about the Good Doctor was that the Serum created Dr. Mundo. Dr. Mundo wasn't born on a syringe or a lab. He was always there, a seductive whisper in the back of one's head, which most choose to ignore. A temptation, a pleasure many pretend to lack, which society holds back at all costs, unless it benefits it, such is its hypocrisy. The serum did nothing but awake the monster within, give it form and purpose. It could never exist alone, not without the human with which is born. Such is the nature of the beast.
The girl continued her pleads and cries, but Kreuben had stopped playing attention for a while now. He took yet another syringe from their holder, and calmly searched for something.
He found it. The sweet blue liquid, the magnum opus of his life, stored safely in its transparent container. He carefully took off the lid and filled the syringe.
"You know, a few years ago, it'd be rare to see me as anything else but Dr. Mundo. I even mentioned it in an interview, how I found it a symbol of «Zaunite pride», eheh. I realized some time ago that the truly good things in life are best saved for special moments, lest it devalues the experience. Like this one, Eve."
Turning towards "Eve", he slowly advanced towards her, calculating every step he took to maximize her fear.
He took his hand towards her face, stroking her cheeks then grabbing her chin. She tried to resist and look away, but Kreuben's strong grip kept her head in place.
"Did your mother never tell you to look people in the eye?" – She barely waited for him to finish before she spit right in his face. Final act of resistance, a resignation to her fate? Who can tell? However, Edmundo could only laugh. He wasn't amused, but he still laughed.
"Seems like this won't be necessary after all." – He closed his fist, breaking the syringe, the shreds of glass shoving deep into his hand, which by that point was quickly increasing in size. He kept laughing as his muscles dilated, his clothes and lab coat ripped and his now-purple skin exposed itself to the elements. As his tongue swelled, his laughter devolved into chuckle-like grunts. The girl, who tried to stay defiant until the end, let out a scream of unrestrained fear.
The now transformed Dr. Mundo then drove his hand right through her chest, breaking through her ribcage and ripping her right lung out, squeezing it in his massive hand. The teen's screams were now of pure pain. The Phoenix did not allow her to die, as right as the lung was ripped, a new one was already starting to form in its place.
"Mundo thinks you a big sissy!" – the beast laughed at its one joke, and grabbed the cleaver next to the teen.
Once he was finished, the mess the Phoenix unpredicted effect caused was nothing compared to the result of Mundo's carnage. The walls around the shackles were more red than grey, and half the lab's floor was covered with flesh and fat. The smell of death lingered heavy on the lab, so thick the air was you'd feel you could grab it. The biggest bit of the girl could be easily placed on a door lock. The hulking behemoth was still laughing. He never stopped laughing during the 20 minutes of hacking, slashing and ripping it took for the Phoenix to stop working.
Now in full control again, his laughter finally over, the Madman of Zaun unceremoniously dropped in cleaver on the ground as he started to shrink, and his skin, veins and eyes returned to their (almost) natural color.
He grabbed his dirty recorder, for it had been too close to the ex-lab rat, and started recording for a final time.
"The subject showed extreme regenerative capabilities, being able to regrow missing limbs, including part of one's head, in a matter of minutes, and was able to survive after having every single one of her internal organs forcibly removed. Death came only with the total removal of Eve's head, and even then with was merely a result of the depletion of the residual mana which lingers in the air. However, this formula will most likely be unviable for mass production due to its massive expenditure of energy, and will be unviable for permanent usage, going against what Zaund and the Medusa Corp. requested. I shall begin working on a «watered-down» version at once."
As he finished recording, the Demon Jester appeared behind him from nowhere and yelled "buuuh!", effectively making Edmundo jump scared for the first time in his life. Shaco laughed and laughed, while Kreuben calmed himself and made a mental note to get back at the damned clown at a later time.
Shaco finally settled down, and started appreciating the spectacle, whistling as he did it. – "I gotta hand it to you Doc, you sure know how to make a number."
"Shaco, I had one rule. Just one rule. What was my one rule?"
"I can't enter your lab?" – he replied, as he tried, and failed, to put his most innocent of smiles.
"Do you have any idea what this place is?"
"Your lab?"
"Do you see any connection between my questions?"
"Huuuumm… no, why?" – Kreuben released a long sigh, exasperated by the clown's games.
"Come on, let's get out of here." – Edmundo pointed towards and door, and had Shaco walking in front of him.
"By the way, you never told me how many more subjects you were going to need."
Kreuben smiled wickedly – "Many. Many, many more." – and with those words, he closed the door to his basement.