Juicer

**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.

## History

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.

However, things suddenly started to change. After several defeats, Juicer found that he was actually getting weaker again; while still better then any normal human, he also found that he was beginning to slow down, losing some of his enhanced edge. At the same time, he began developing inexplicable pains and several undocumented illnesses. Finally, he confronted Cyberworks to discover the truth of what was going on.

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 which 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 has continued to search for other ways to avoid his seemingly inevitable fate.

## 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.

## 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.

## AppearanceEdit

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.