Richard Sodium

Richard Sodium is a Saxanian factory worker who works for Saxa Salt, but is better known for his superpowered alter-ego Dick Salt, one of the most courageous and heroic heroes to grace the planet of Chlorike V.

Biography
Richard Savourious Sodium was born 17th May 1992, into a poor working class family in the derelict city of Saxaven, renowned for it's rich salt mines and processing factories. Richard was separated from his parents when he was born, raised in a home for future factory workers. Richard, due to his high intellect, was eligible to be selected for a research role as he grew up, but due to his low wealth and good physical stature, was condemned to the harsh labour of Saxa Camp 457. At age 14 Richard was thrust into working at the camp with the adult labourers, spending up to 18 hours per day digging into the raw, salt rich mines that kept Saxovor (the country in which Saxaven is located)'s economy ticking over. Richard developed an infatuation with this peculiar substance. Salt. Something that required such hard physical labour to utilise it, yet it was only destined to be packaged and sent off to faraway planets as a flavouring for foodstuffs. By age 17, Richard bathed in salt, ate salt, drank salt water and indulged in the crystalline white substance so much that his body initially developed a tolerance to it, but this led to a dependence, and soon Richard's body couldn't function without being fueled by the Saxa Camp's sodium chloride. However, the salt had a peculiar side effect to his body. Whereas most people would die of such a homeostatic imbalance in their bodies, Richard's body began to exhibit exceptionally high speed, much more than the fastest Saxanian athlete. He also had the ability to scale walls by pushing NaCl crystals out from the pores of his hands. He discovered his most extraordinary ability though, when one of his superiors pushed him into a pool of water. Upon landing in the pool, Richard's body dissociated completely, appearing completely invisible whilst being able to control the water as a body and managing to retain his sentience. Appearing as a huge tidal wive, he fled the Saxaven salt mines to Ethanor, the capital city of Saxavor. He entered the spaceport, overrunning the guards and taking pilots hostage, demanding they transport him to Chlorike II, a renowned scientific research planet, where he could find out what was wrong with him. Upon his arrival the Saxanian was taken in for testing by Saxavian (Chlorike II inhabitants) scientists. They discovered that he had consumed so much salt that his body itself had become NaCl based, rather than carbon based, and that he was now in essence a being of living salt. Fascinated by what he had become and the powers he possessed, the 18 year old Richard wished to depart Chlorike II to explore the universe, like his idol Jimmy the Wizard had done. However the Saxavians were not willing to let him leave, believing him to be a potential bioweapon. He was sedated and restrained, and the scientists subjected Richard to many torturous bouts of brainwashing. They also infused his body with a solution known solely as "MYSTERIOUS CHEMICALS", which served to amplify his powers and allow him full conscious control. They programmed a new name into his head, Dick Salt, and attempted to instill in his mind a deeply nationalistic loyalty to Chlorike II, hoping that he would aid them in a potential revolution to gain control of the whole Chlorike system. The programming initially worked, and Dick was sent to Chlorike I, a planet ravaged by war from many political parties to fight for the vested interests of the Saxavians on Chlorike II. The result was a partial success, with Dick himself being a key weapon, overpowering all that opposed him. However, one super soldier was not enough and the war raged into a brutal stalemate. Feeling the need to create more soldiers like Dick, the Saxavians recalled Dick and performed brutal experiments on him, trying to unlock the secret. However, this backfired, with the severe torment bringing back Dick's old mind, and he quickly escaped the facility. He took a Saxavian pilot hostage and demanded he fly him far away from the Chlorike system and into the vast, boundless universe ahead. Little did he know he was about to stumble across a small man with a very large, iconic afro, who would change his life forever.

Adventures with Jimmy the Wizard
The terrified pilot who was flying Dick away from the Chlorike System headed into the large, bustling world of Asphazia, in the Istha Planetary System (the closest system to the Chlorike System). Flying over a large city called Eraldi, the pilot ejected himself from the ship. Dick had no piloting experience, and the ship began to spiral towards the city below. Fortunately, Dick's quick wits managed to save him. He climbed into the ship's water tank and dissociated. The ship was blown to smithereens, but Dick was unharmed due to being in solution. He reformed and fled the scene of the crash. Alone and in an alien world, Dick was gripped by fear and paranoia. Little did he know, the Saxavians of Chlorike II had reported his disappearance to the UPA and none other than Jimmy the Wizard himself was hot on his heels. Dick finally met Jimmy in a tavern in Eraldi. The Saxanian had demanded food (namely salt) from the staff, and when they refused due to his lack of money, he overpowered them all, gravely injuring the proprietor. Jimmy entered the tavern, seeing panicked staff members tending to a barely conscious owner, with Dick in the kitchen, greedily feasting on all the salt he could come across. Jimmy cautiously introduced himself, saying that he knew Dick had escaped from the Chlorike System. Thinking Jimmy was an agent of Chlorike II, sent to retrieve and bring back their weapon, Dick lunged at Jimmy. However, he was blasted away before he came close, and after a few more futile attempts to engage the Afrometer in combat, he was apprehended. With Dick restrained, Jimmy explained that he would not be returning Dick to Chlorike II, as it was not his native home; instead he would bring him back to Chlorike V, where he would live out his life as he had before. Jimmy also said that he intended to remove Dick's powers. En route to Jimmy's ship, parked in a port in Eraldi, the Afrometer received an urgent distress call from somebody in Hurren City, 7500 miles North-East of Eraldi, in a separate continent. The distress call was not of a particularly high danger level; a group of rogue alien bandits terrorizing a large biochemical weapons firm. This meant that usually, a less powerful wing of the UPA would be dispatched to deal with the threat. However, due to Jimmy's proximity to the call, he decided to deal with it himself. Unable to leave Dick unattended, he was forced to bring the Saxanian along. During the trip, Dick told Jimmy of his struggle and his people's struggle at the hands of the few rich people that governed the planet, and Jimmy recounted the story of Jerome the Participator, and his uprising against those that enslaved the Afrometer people. They arrived at the biochemical firm an hour later, with the bandits stocking up on dangerous biochemical weapons, including lethal, fast spreading viruses. Jimmy gathered their attention, and began to thresh out negotiations. However, Dick stealthily broke away from Jimmy and launched himself at the bandits. Showing great speed and being impervious to their biological attacks, Dick easily defeated the cartel of ten bandits, which included members of barbaric, savage alien races. Highly impressed at his feat of strength and potential ability as a hero, Jimmy offered Dick the opportunity of a lifetime: to serve as the personal intern to the Afrometer, battling threats across the cosmos, and the opportunity to nurture and master control of his powers.

Over the next three months, Dick was involved in five high level UPA missions alongside Jimmy the Wizard. These included evacuating an entire planet's population before it was consumed by a supernova, as well as taking on Gust, a powerful crime lord who can manipulate particles of air and create gale force winds, preventing him from taking revenge on a population whom he felt had defied him.

Returning Home
At the conclusion of their fifth mission, Jimmy officially offered Dick a position in the UPA, with the contract earning up to $10 million per subsequent mission, with bonuses added depending on the danger. However, Dick felt as though he needed to return to Chlorike V and turn his homeworld into a prosperous one which wasn't exploited by the other Chlorikian planets. Due to the newfound bond between them and the gratitude he felt towards the Saxanian, Jimmy offered to create a UPA wing in the Chlorike system, with Dick Salt as its head. Dick thanked Jimmy for his help and guidance, but again refused the offer, citing the fact that he wished to remain an independent and freelance freedom fighter, mainly just for his own people. With that, he departed for Chlorike V, not knowing what to expect upon his return. However, in his time of absence, his great deeds and feats had garnered him a cult status among the working class of Chlorike V (much to the chagrin of its rulers), and he was mostly welcomed as a hero of the people. To this day, he has remained in the Chlorike system, fighting against what he sees as injustices against the Saxanian people.

Powers and Abilities
After his mutation, Dick Salt gained numerous abilities that give him a crushing advantage over most terrestrial adversaries.

His most distinctive and famous ability is his dissociation into bodies of water. When he does this, his body completely separates into individual particles of mutated living salt. Thus, this ability can be used to hide from foes in large bodies of water, as he becomes practically invisible in large dilutions. He can also control the body of water in which he is inhabiting, thus can move around as a mass of water. However he can only do this for a short period of time, as actually moving the body of water around on dry land expends enormous amounts of energy. However, if Dick dissociates into very large bodies of water such as oceans or lakes, he can traverse across it as a wave at blinding speeds.

Dick, in his normal form, can also move at very high speeds. This is considered to be his secondary ability. He can reach speeds of up to 120 km/h when sprinting, and he can use physical attacks at similar speeds, giving the impression of enhanced strength.

Dick can also push thick crystals of salt from the pores of his body to allow him to stick to walls, meaning he can scale walls and buildings. However as salt is not particularly stable in this use, he is limited in his pace whilst climbing walls. As his body is no longer made purely of organic tissue, Dick is extremely durable and can cope with more physical trauma than the average organic being. His body also recovers at a much faster rate, and if a body of water is nearby, a wounded Dick can dissociate into it and reform completely healed.