Juicer
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Juicer is a mercenary super-soldier created through an illegal operation. Once a very potent combatant, he has found that his powers are now waning as the long-term effects of alteration of his body are taking hold over him.
Contents
History
The Juicer Uprising
Wayne Carella Jr was born in the slums of Rio, living a harsh and difficult life from an early age. Joining street gangs, he found that in spite of his lack of education and formal training, he had a good grasp of tactics and teamwork; within a few years, he was running his own gang, one of the most powerful in the city. However, for Wayne, that was far from enough. He found that given the choice between living easy and fighting hard, he preferred the latter; the thrill of combat and violence drove him forward more then any other desire.
Leaving the slums behind, he became a professional mercenary, showing an incredible aptitude for combat despite his young age. By his early 20s, he’d fought in actions across central and South America, as well as several other battles in Africa and other remote parts of the world. In each case, he showed a combination of skill and tactics that made him a formidable combatant.
His actions in these battles bought him to the attention of a shady group of researchers known only as Cyberworks who had been developing their own super-soldier program. They approached Wayne, offering him an opportunity; the chance to become not just an even better soldier then he was now but a super-solider, one with abilities far beyond normal men. Wayne jumped at the opportunity; while they also offered him a not inconsiderable amount of money, it was the promise of power that held the most appeal for him.
Wayne’s body was augmented through a series of chemical injections that enhanced his physical traits to well beyond the human norm, making him stronger, faster, tougher and more capable then even the best soldier could hope to be. Additionally, he was equipped with an array of advanced weapons and body armour to further enhance his capabilities. In return, Cyberworks merely asked to observe his abilities in the field to see how he – and their technology – preformed.
Naming himself “Juicer” due to the chemical “juice” that powered him, Wayne again returned to the battlefield, proving the capabilities of his augmentations. As he grew more and more capable and confident, he began moving into other, more lucrative fields. He began working for criminal and even supervillain groups, taking larger bounties while all the time pushing his newfound abilities further and further. And he loved it.
The Promise of Power
His creators revealed to him that while the experiment had greatly enhanced him, they also had a price; the chemicals within him were slowly killing him, breaking down his body at the same time that they enhanced it. Furthermore, he was already a rather advanced case; even if he were to give up the system now and live a normal life, he would have a greatly truncated lifespan, probably dying at forty. Furthermore, Cyberworks, aware of this limitation, had already discontinued production of the criminals he needed, leaving him with only a limited sample.
Rather then accept his fate, Juicer decided to embrace the life that he had lead to this point, but rather now he had a new mission. While Cyberworks believed that his situation was incurable, he felt that there were other options. To that end, he began to seek a cure for his situation, one that would not only prevent his death, but serve to stabilise his condition and reverse the degradation.
Obtaining the last remaining samples of the chemicals, he turned to Doctor Angela Wallace, a biochemist with a lack of ethics or morals. Offering her a not inconsiderable sum of money, she agreed to do the work to duplicate the chemicals and refine them for him. Initially, Angela’s work proved fruitful, with her being able to decode the compound and begin work on duplicating it. However, in an effort to distance herself from the project should it be discovered, she chose to leave the final distillation in the hands of an intern who had no idea of what was going on.
Unfortunately, that intern made a small mistake that resulted in an explosion, which destroyed both the original samples and the recreated and improved formula, while also destroying the lab (but leaving the intern strangely unharmed). Lacking a new formula to work from as well as not wanting to expose herself to further risk, Dr Wallace chose to discontinue the project. Frustrated at this setback, Juicer continued to search for other ways to avoid his seemingly inevitable fate.
Lone Star
While Dr Wallace had discontinued the project and ordered no further enquiry into the accident in order to avoid incriminating herself, Juicer was not satisfied with the outcome. He decided to do some research of his own into the matter, specifically with regards to the intern that had been involved in the accident. What he found was somewhat surprising, to say the least.
Compared to comments of the “mousey, average and mostly non-noteworthy” intern he had heard about, his own investigation revealed that she was a veritable giant, standing over two meters tall and being heavily built. Further investigation, however, revealed that she had not always been this way – in fact, she had only recently shot up in height following the chemical accident. He surmised that the change had been gradual and thus escaped notice; more to the point, he surmised that it was because she had been imbued with the chemical formula that Dr Wallace had been working on.
Unfortunately for him, he also discovered the other effects of the explosion; she was now possessed of superhuman strength and stamina, and was more then willing to use those assets to defend herself. While his first attempt to capture her was unsuccessful, it did yield two things. The first was that he was able to link Jill Vader with the costumed superhero Skadi, giving him a way to better track her. The second was that he came away with a sample of her blood.
Analysis by Cyberworks confirmed that the blood indeed contained trace elements of the chemicals; however, there was not enough to duplicate the effects of the transformation, nor to engineer a new serum for him. However, the researchers also conformed that further investigation of the subject could yield appreciable results – albeit, after a complete dissection, something she probably wouldn’t agree to.
He in return made them an offer; he would assist them in capturing her if they would provide him with material support, as well as provide him with the completed super-soldier serum. The agency readily agreed, providing him not only with access to Cyberworks technicians, but also a specially-designed harvesting rig to extract the needed materials from her. Finally, they also provided him with a sidekick to aid him if needs be.
The Final Siege
Over the next few months, Juicer made numerous attempts to capture Skadi; initially, he only dispatched his soldiers to attack her, not wanting to risk capture or imprisonment (or worse) himself, feeling that it would be counterproductive to his own plans. However, it became evident that he had underestimated both her strength and resilience; the mercenaries he pitted against her were defeated.
Realising that he had no choice but to confront her directly, Juicer began quietly stalking her, looking for an opportunity to strike. On several occasions, he ambushed her, the two of them clashing. In these instances, she proved to be his equal, her superhuman strength balancing his agility and experience. In each instance, he was forced to withdraw as his hopes of a quick kill became a drawn-out battle.
Taking another approach, he decided to play on her heroic nature to his advantage. Taking over a television station, he threatened to execute his hostages on live TV unless she showed up in person. Knowing full well that it was a Trap, Skadi none the less complied, entering the studio – where she was ambushed by a squad of soldiers who stuck her with enough tranquilizers to knock out a rampaging rhino.
Taking her to the warehouse that was serving as his base of operations, he explained to her why he had done what he did, and how she had to die in order for him to live. As was expected, she didn’t take it well. While he had taken numerous precautions against her escaping, he’d failed to consider the human factor in his plans. Skadi easily duped his aide, Agent Jenkins, and was able to escape.
Realising what had happened, Juicer and his men (including Jenkins), set off after her, desperate to recapture her. He figured that, now that she knew the stakes, she would be determined to stop him; his only option was to take her out first. Managing to track her, Juicer, Jenkins and his remaining soldiers cornered her, aiming to take her down and drag her back for him to complete the operation.
However, instead, she fought with a greater ferocity then he’d ever seen before, knocking out most of his men with ease, and incapacitating Jenkins before he could deploy the experimental weaponry he was issued just for this task. As the fight came down to just the pair of them, Juicer realised that he has to take extreme measures in order to defeat her. He activated an emergency over-ride on his harness, overdosing on the chemicals, turbo-charging his abilities at the cost of further truncating his life.
It didn’t work; as dangerous as he had become, Skadi was even more determined to evade capture and dissection. Using every bit of her strength, she matched him blow for blow, responding to his blades with punches, lamp-posts and chunks of concrete. In the end, her stamina proved to be too much; he collapsed from both the injuries he had suffered and the drain on his own systems.
Arrested, Juicer fully expected to die in prison. Instead, he was given a surprising alternative; Skadi offered him a serum that would not allow him to retain his powers with no ill-effects; rather, it would serve to stabilise his system and, essentially, allow him to live out a normal life. (Skadi versus Science, part 2)
Phase World
He kept to that promise. For whole months, at least.
An unknown party arranged for Wayne Carella to escape from prison, taking a lot of effort to cover their tracks and make sure that nobody found out that he was gone – including setting up Green Dragon as a fall guy to get punched out for it. Taken to a remote location, Juicer was given a new option. His mysterious benefactor offered him a change to not only regain his powers, but to make him even more powerful then he was before.
Knowing full well that this would come with a cost, he demanded to know what was going on. His benefactor explained that he still would have a reduced lifespan, but at the very least, it would still be longer then he had before. Their only price, they explained, would be services down the road. He agreed, eager to have is powers back, regardless of the cost. He also figured that wherever “down the road” was, there was every chance that he would be dead before that.
Agreeing, he found that his benefactor was true to their word. He had become even stronger and more powerful then ever before, superhuman in abilities. He was eager to use his newfound strength, and quickly returned to his mercenary life. Quickly mastering his newfound skills, he developed a new desire. No longer caring if she held the secrets to saving is life, he desired to fight Skadi again simply to match his newfound strength against hers.
He would get his opportunity. Seemingly yanked out of space by an unseen party, Juicer was taken with four other villains – Corproate Buyout, Zero Point, Serious Business and Shockblast to an arena in some strange, shadowy netherworld. It was there that he realised why he and these others had been bought to this place, as Skadi and a quartet of other heroes appeared to face them.
Throwing himself into battle, he was thrilled to discover that he was every bit as strong as his enemy was. He could more than match her blow for blow, able to manhandle her and throw her around as she had to him. And, despite her being more experienced then when they had last fought, he was proving to be more then a match. However, as her strength weakened, he found himself unexpectedly attacked by the other heroes.
Battered and beaten, he staggered back, then plummeted of the edge of the platform – only to be saved by Skadi, who took his hand. He taunted her, telling her to let him fall – after all, if he died here, he would never be a threat to her again. Instead, she took his hand and hauled him up to safety, explaining that it may not have been the most sensible thing to do; instead, it was the right and heroic thing to do.
As Skadi and the other Lolcat Brgud members left to confront Shadow Destroyer - the man who may or may not have been his mysterious benefactor - Juicer was left to consider her words; for the first time since his escape, he began to wonder if he had truly made the best choice for himself.
Powers/Abilities
Juicer’s power comes from the chemical injections and augmentations that Cyberworks subjected his body to. The chemicals altered his body, giving him superhuman levels of strength, agility, endurance and speed. Furthermore, they gave him an advanced regenerative capability, allowing him to quickly recover form severe injuries.
However, these abilities have come with a price. The chemicals are slowly eating him away from within, destroying his body even as they augment it and speeding up his demise. Not only are his superhuman abilities beginning to decrease, but he is also suffering from numerous chronic conditions bought about by the decay of his body, While, as yet, this is yet to affect his combat abilities, it may be only a matter of time before he begins to become too weak and ill.
In battle, Juicer wears an advanced suit of body armour that was custom designed for him. Lightweight and flexible, it protects him form injury while not hampering his movement in any way. The armour also contains a specialised injection harness that keeps his body constantly topped up with the chemicals he needs to maintain his abilities. While proficient with a wide range of weapons, he prefers swords and other blades.
Juicer does have a small cadre of mercenary soldiers that he pays for; these individuals, while competent fighters in and of themselves, are still normal humans and not augmented in any way.
Since his upgrade, Juicer has become even stronger and more powerful then ever before. His strength has be augmented to the point where he can match up with superhumans such as his arch-enemy Skadi, and he is also incredibly resilient. Despite this power, he still likes to use his vibro-blades, seeing them as a way to only augment his already impressive powers. This has come at a cost; he is less agile and stealthy then before; however, he does not see this as too much of a loss, given his now frightening strength.
Personality
On the surface, Juicer is a daredevil and risk-taker, one who does the most dangerous things possible simply because he can. However, this is a degree of front; while he is well aware of his own abilities, he is actually a rather clever tactical planner; if he does something that seems stupid or risky, then there usually is a good reason for it. He tries to fight on his terms, dragging a battle into a situation where he has an advantage over his foe. Above all else, Juicer does like to fight. He just likes to do it in a way that allows him to win.
As his situation has worsened, Juicer has become both desperate and somewhat embittered. While once something approaching a casual killer, he now seems to be permanently angry to the point where his tactical judgement is becoming a lot less sound. Similarly, when he is not fighting, he spends most of his time – and money – on finding a way to cure his condition. Of late, he has become more noticeably desperate, almost clutching at straws for a way to turn around the inevitable.
Appearance
Wayne Carella Jr is a tall man in his early thirties; he has dark eyes and slicked, spiked black hair. While nominally somewhat handsome, the are around his eyes is somewhat lined while his eyes are rather bloodshot, making him seem prematurely aged to those that notice. He usually wears a suit of advanced body armour, while his face is covered by goggles.
