Candidate: Dr. Mundo
Date: 20 October, 19 CLE
OBSERVATION
His labored breaths echo within the marble chamber. Every step he takes sends the foundations of the Halls rattling as saliva drips off of his chin and leaves a trail in his wake. His shoulders are armored in muscle, and the laziness of his gait causes them to wobble back and forth as he walks, like his weight cannot stay in one place. He beelines straight for the doors to the Reflecting Chamber, knocking his giant meat cleaver against them. There is no trace of restraint in the swings of his arms.
"Mundo ready for judge-room!" he hollers to nobody, between slobbers spewing from his mouth. He smashes his weapon against the doors again, somehow with even more force, but fails to even scratch the polish. The doctor releases an inhuman grunt, and turns the cleaver on himself, the rusted edge drawing a river of blood from his arm. Doctor Mundo yells as his right arm heaves back and hurdles through the air towards the doors, tearing the seam of his coat. He flings the cleaver. The impact punches a hole through the stone doors, and the projectile continues to fly into the chamber.
"Mundo need cleaver if Mundo be judgemented." His voice already back to its half-slobber, half-laugh, the doctor waddles in.
REFLECTION
He saw his own skin, so pale. His muscles weren't overgrown and bulky, and he had no trouble keeping drool off of his chin. And to be able to think so clearly, it was like a distant dream that dared not haunt him. He was Doctor Ussich Mundolev again, running his clinic in entertainment district of Zaun. He was serving a specially prepared tea to his patient, with curatives popular among courtesans. This one always came back to his clinic, always with her sanguine lips, wild firey hair, and crimson eyes. They contrasted so well with her pearly skin. And the heels on those boots, how much effort did it take to move around in those things?
She reached for a coin purse, but Ussich raised his hand to stop her.. "No charge this time, Miss Evelynn. Just promise you'll put it towards finding a more honest profession." She smiled that sweet genuine smile that he knew none of her customers ever got to see.
"Of course, doctor. I've been taking dance lessons in the mornings." Ussich felt something warm inside him, a sensation he knew he would not ever feel again. Darkness overtook him.
Ussich was holding her body in his arms. Beneath the dimming street light, he could see see a gaping hole where her heart should have been. Blood continued to pour out of her chest, flooding her gown. Her breath was weak as she cupped his square jaw in her hand.
"Hold on, Eve," he pleaded. "I'm a doctor, I'm a doctor! I can fix this!" He was rushing through alleys and around corners, taking every shortcut to his home. He thought he heard her laugh as she mumbled her last words.
"Is this my punishment? Was it wrong...for a hooker to love?" She hacked up blood, coughing a stain onto Ussich's coat.
"Eve, no...No!" Even though he carried her, Ussich never felt so helpless. "Evelynn, who did this? Who did this to you?"
"V-Vladimir," she said as her last breath escaped her lips. Her body went limp and Ussich fell to his knees. He did not care he was in public. Let the world know that he cried, because Evelynn was dead. He knew that when he would wake up the next morning, her corpse would be gone. And in a month there would be an assassin with her name and her looks, but without her heart. Tears flooded his eyes.
Ussich could see the syringe in his hand. He knew what it would do to him. It would mutilate his body, annihilate his mind, and mutate him into somebody else entirely. But this Crimson Reaper was some kind of devil, and a doctor was not fit to fight devils. He had to become a monster. The needle plunged into his shoulder, and he felt everything shatter. His legs gave way, falling to his knees. Muscle fibers grew and multiplied, to inhuman proportions. Something inside his head snapped, and suddenly everything, even the pain, was funny.
He looked up, and Evelynn was there, the wound still in her chest. As she spoke, Ussich's breathing fell silent and salt stung the edges of his eyes. "Why do you want to join the League, Doctor Mundo?"
"Because he tore out your heart, and ripped mine to shreds with it." Ussich's voice rose. "AND FOR THAT, HE MUST SUFFER!" Flesh grew over the hole in her chest, and he felt the haze cloud his mind again.
"How does it feel, exposing your mind?"
"Mundo forget on purpose," Dr. Mundo said. He snatched his cleaver from the floor with a grip that threatened to shatter the handle. "Now Mundo mad." He wobbled off, ready to cleave the next thing that moved.