BIOGRAPHY
Emily Guerrero is of Irish and Mexican descent. When her grandfather, Ivan Guerrero, brought her family to New York, they struggled to settle in both Hell's Kitchen and Spanish Harlem, finding that they didn't fit into either community. [Uncanny Avengers (3rd series) #6] When the Inhumans released the Terrigen Mists across the planet, many “NuHumans” were created after unwillingly being exposed to the Terrigen Mists. Emily, her father and brother were three such people.
The Terrigenesis placed them into cocoons and, when Emily emerged from hers, she discovered she had a connection to animals. Her grandfather boasted that he had a connection to plants, and that they will be able to save the world with their new abilities. When Emily went to check on her brother, she found that he had not emerged from his cocoon. [Uncanny Avengers (3rd series) #4] Emily began to use her newfound abilities to stop low-level crimes, like street criminals and muggers. [Uncanny Avengers (3rd series) #19]
Somehow, Emily came to the attention of Commander Steve Rogers. Despite her not even having met the Inhumans, Emily, who had adopted the codename “Synapse,” was invited to join a new Avengers Unity Division. This team including representatives of both the mutant and Inhuman community in an effort to quell the rising trouble between the two species, since the Terrigen Mists proved fatal to any mutant who encountered them.
Despite being advised not to date teammates, Emily agreed to have dinner with Quicksilver. It was during dinner that Emily had a strange telepathic flash of danger and, when the Unity Division gathered in Boston, they were confronted by strange, mutated creatures, with which Emily could not connect telepathically. This annoyed Rogue, who was suffering from the M-Pox caused by the Terrigen Mists, and she acted aggressively towards Synapse. Despite not being able to connect to the animals because they had no souls, Synapse still proved useful in battle when she was able to calm a baby who, like others in the vicinity of the strange animals, had been affected by the strange plant life growing in the area.
The Unity Division battled to keep the civilians safe and find the source of the environmental chaos when they were joined by Cable, who had appeared from the future. Cable warned the heroes of a ruined future and seemed to call into question Synapse's abilities. Nonetheless, Synapse proved her worth once again as she was able to connect to a bird and locate the source of the infected plant life. While her teammates were overwhelmed by the toxic plants, Synapse appeared to be immune to them.
As she confronted the mysterious Shredded Man, who was behind the chaos, Synapse soon realized that he was her grandfather and that he planned to bring about a catastrophic reality. The Shredded Man claimed a mass extinction event was the only way to save the planet. Prepared to kill her grandfather to prevent the catastrophe from occurring, Synapse was stopped by Cable – he knew that, if Synapse killed her grandfather this nightmare, they were trapped in would never end. Cable revealed that, in this particular future, he developed a serum which removed an Inhuman's immunity to the environmental plague that the Shredded Man devised. To her surprise, Synapse was shot by Cable, who used the serum on her to remove her inhuman immunity.
The Shredded Man was not prepared to let his granddaughter die and, despite warning Cable that he could have prevented all of the impending environmental disasters humanity will face, he reversed his virus, restoring Boston and those affected by the toxins. Synapse was helpless to stop her grandfather from disintegrating. Before he did so, he vowed to return – and warned Synapse that, when he did, there would be no mercy. In the aftermath, Synapse asked Cable not to tell the other Avengers about her connection to the Shredded Man, and afterward grieved for her grandfather. [Uncanny Avengers (3rd series) #1-4]
After spending some time avoiding Medusa's phone calls, Emily found herself ambushed by the Inhumans' Royal Family. Emily made it clear she had no interest in being part of the Inhumans' society at New Attilan but she nevertheless accompanied Medusa and the others there. A short time later, New Attilan appeared to be under attack from Hellion, a young mutant who had contracted M-Pox and was seeking vengeance against the Inhumans. Hellion's powers were out of control and he caused a lot of damage, until Synapse was able to calm him down by using her powers to “unplug” his connection to his telekinesis. When Synapse appeared not to support the Inhumans' war with mutantkind, Medusa claimed that, if the Inhumans were able to get to Emily and her family when they first emerged from their cocoons, they may have prevented her grandfather from becoming the Shredded Man. To this, Emily responded by suggesting that perhaps it is time to destroy the Terrigen Mists all together. However, when Medusa mentioned Emily's brother, asking her if it is true of what he was capable, Emily shut down and announced that she wanted to leave. [Uncanny Avengers (3rd series) #6]
Synapse found a surprising new ally in Cable, who joined the Avengers Unity Division. Despite Synapse pointing out that she was not able to read minds, Cable began to train her in ways to expand her psychic abilities. Through this, Synapse discovered she could “smell” when people were lying or telling the truth through synesthesia. It wasn't long before Synapse had to put her new skills to the test, when she and Cable encountered the villain called the Wrecker, who appeared disorientated after escaping a secret facility known as Pleasant Hill. He claimed to have had his memory erased and Synapse was able to verify this thanks to her synesthesia. [Uncanny Avengers (3rd series) #7]
This ability came in handy once more when the Unity Division encountered Hank Pym, who had become merged with the deadly Ultron. Synapse was able to confirm that Pym still had human brain activity. Synapse didn't actively participate in the battle against Ultron and was quite concerned when both Deadpool and Quicksilver were seriously injured in battle. Synapse later used her psychic abilities to help amplify Quicksilver's ability to heal himself and spent time with him while he recuperated in hospital. [Uncanny Avengers (3rd series) #9, 11, 14]
When the criminal organization known as the Hand resurrected the Hulk, Synapse joined the rest of her teammates in tracking him through Japan. She participated in the battle against the Hand and, when the team eventually located the Hulk, Synapse had trouble against him, initially finding herself unable to use her powers to make him go to sleep. Later, however, she was able to disrupt his senses, rendering him blind, and then severed his brainwaves from his ear, effectively delivering the final blow against the behemoth. With the Hulk taken down, Doctor Voodoo, one of Synapse's teammates, was able to return the Hulk to death. Synapse's mentor, Cable, also seemed pleased with how Synapse was developing her abilities. [Uncanny Avengers (3rd series) #15-17]
After finishing a boxing session, Emily was walking down a street when a disorientated Quicksilver appeared before her. Emily immediately knew something was wrong with him but, before she could help him, he knocked her out. Unfortunately, Quicksilver was under the control of the Red Skull. Imprisoned in a psychic cell, Emily was tormented by the Red Skull, who appeared to her as her grandfather, the Shredded Man, and encouraged her to kill herself. The Red Skull was using the stolen psychic abilities of Professor Xavier and controlled Synapse and several of her teammates, forcing them to hunt down Deadpool. When Rogue was able to defeat the Red Skull temporarily, Synapse and the others were freed. Synapse later found Cable and discovered that his mind had been erased. [Uncanny Avengers (3rd series) #18-21]
Synapse wondered how best to get a message into the future to warn Cable about what had happened to him in the present. While many of the X-Men's telepaths visited Cable in the hospital, none of them were able to restore his brain. Synapse observed from the shadows, finally emerging to attempt to find Cable's mind herself – but she could not. Deciding anything was worth trying at this point, and having never connected to anything that wasn't a living brain, Synapse linked to the artificial intelligence in Cabe's bionic arm. This plunged her into a version of a horrific future in which she found herself hunted by Sentinels.
After evading the Sentinels and a Hound, Synapse located Cable, who was under attack from Stryfe. She made quick work of the clone before turning her attention to helping Cable. The trouble wasn't over, though, as a cloaked figure appeared and confronted Synapse. Assuming this to be her grandfather, the Shredded Man, Synapse attacked him and knocked his mask off – only to discover a future version of herself underneath. This version of Synapse had given in to her grandfather's point of view, which had led her on a dark path. Synapse refused to give into this dark version of herself and destroyed her. Synapse then helped Cable, who had in fact deleted the artificial intelligence from his bionic arm and hidden his own mind there. With the future version of Emily defeated, the world changed and did not become a ruined future. Synapse pulled Cable back to present-day reality and discovered that he remained with the Unity Division to help train her. Synapse appeared grateful to Cable, but any chance of future training with Cable was cut short when Cable teleported away. [Uncanny Avengers (3rd series) #22-23]
During the reign of Hydra, when New York City became trapped within a Darkforce dome, the Avengers Unity Division found themselves cut off from the outside world. Synapse became overwhelmed by the emotions of civilians trapped within the dome, but maintained her focus in desperate times, and entered a burning building to rescue some children. As panic spread within the dome, further trouble was not far away when Doctor Voodoo became possessed by a demon. Synapse attempted to connect with Doctor Voodoo's mind, only to discover nothing there, as his spirit had left his body. Synapse allowed Doctor Voodoo's spirit to enter her own body, and together they fought the demon. They were not strong enough to defeat the demon, however, so Synapse sent a psychic call for help to Rogue, who was elsewhere within the dome dealing with another crisis. Rogue joined her teammates defeated the demon. Synapse was exhausted after the battle, having pushed her mind further than she had before. [Uncanny Avengers (3rd series) #24-25]
When tensions finally rose between the Inhumans and X-Men, Synapse worked with a group of other young Inhumans who had gathered to protect Jersey City, while the Inhumans' Royal Family had been trapped in Limbo. However, when the young Inhumans discovered that the Inhumans' Terrigen Cloud was soon going to cover the entire planet, rendering life on Earth inhospitable for mutantkind, Synapse and the others began to wonder who the villains were in this situation. Despite her sympathy for mutants and unease with the Inhumans, Synapse accompanied Reader and found Karnak, who was trapped within the World. Synapse was able to wake Lockjaw, who was able to teleport the Inhumans from Limbo to the Philippines as they got ready for another battle with the X-Men. When that battle finally arrived, Synapse stood at the side of the Inhumans' Royal Family. [Inhumans vs. X-Men #3-6]
Emily became concerned for Quicksilver's wellbeing when his sister, the Scarlet Witch, soon rejoined the Unity Division. Emily discovered that Quicksilver and his sister seemed to have a fractured relationship. The Wasp told Emily not to be too worried about it, as the twins' fraught relationship was something she would get used to. [Uncanny Avengers (3rd series) #26] While the members of the Unity Division attended to various personal matters, Emily and Quicksilver used this opportunity to spend some time together. During this time, Quicksilver revealed to Emily that recent events had led him to realize that he missed spending time with her. The two were about to kiss, only to be interrupted by Rogue, who summoned them back to Avengers Mansion.
There wasn't a crisis, at least to begin with. Rather, Rogue merely wanted to talk to the team, while magical creatures attended to the rebuilding of the mansion. Unfortunately, these magical creatures were connected to the Juggernaut, who was transported to the Mansion and lashed out at the Avengers. Synapse found herself darting about the battlefield as Quicksilver picked her up and sped about in an attempt to distract the Juggernaut. When Quicksilver launched an attack on the Juggernaut, he was able to remove the Juggernaut's helmet, giving Synapse a chance to enter the Juggernaut's mind and shut him down. However, they didn't count on the Juggernaut having a second helmet underneath and, with no chance against him, Synapse was struck by the Juggernaut so hard that she sustained multiple fractures, torn muscles and bleeding. Quicksilver was denied the opportunity to see Emily and, given her Inhuman physiology, Emily was transferred to a special facility where she could be better treated. [Uncanny Avengers (3rd series) #28-29]
Emily was sent to New Attilan General Hospital where she recovered from her injuries. She was somewhat surprised to see Hellion, who had been volunteering at the hospital after being cured of M-Pox. He wanted to pay Emily back for the way she helped him and had decided volunteering with the Inhumans was one way to do that. Hellion gave Emily a letter from Quicksilver in which Quicksilver told Emily that he was sorry for his part in causing her injuries, and that he hoped she could forgive him. [Uncanny Avengers (3rd series) #30]
Strange natural disasters began occurring around the Earth and, despite still recovering from her injuries, Synapse was on hand to assist the Unity Squad in San Francisco when the Earth mysteriously vanished. Its displacement caused multiple natural disasters across the globe and the majority of the world's heroes were trapped, frozen in some sort of stasis. Synapse was among a number of Avengers who remained free and, when the call to Assemble was made, Synapse, along with the rest of the Unity Squad, gathered at Avengers Mansion. There they discovered the mysterious Voyager, apparently a long-lost founding Avenger, had called everyone to assemble.
Unbeknownst to the heroes, their ordeal was orchestrated by the Grandmaster and the Challenger, who had selected Earth as a battleground for their new “Contest of Champions.” They pitted the Black Order and the Lethal Legion against each other in a quest to secure points by collecting pyramoids. The Avengers had more pressing concerns, though, as the natural disasters continued to occur, placing the lives of all of humanity in danger. The Avengers split into three squads but, when Quicksilver wasn't selected for one of the active squads due to his unreliability, Emily tried to talk to him, only for him to reject her, claiming he didn't want her pity. With no time to coddle Quicksilver, Synapse joined the rest of her squad, firstly in battling the Lethal Legion and then against the Black Order, where Synapse connected to the villains' minds and painfully discovered they were fighting over the mysterious alien objects.
Emily did the best she could, given the dire stakes the Avengers were facing. However, when her longtime Unity Squad teammate, the Human Torch, was seemingly killed when he attempted to retrieve one of the strange pyramoids, she was visibly shaken. It wasn't long before another battle occurred and, in this fight, Synapse found Captain Glory of the Lethal Legion opening his mind to her. There, Synapse learned more about the Avengers' current plight, including that, once this contest between the Grandmaster and Challenger was over, the gameboard – Earth – would be tossed in the trash.
During a moment of respite, Emily reunited with Quicksilver, who was acting quite disorientated. She wanted to use her powers on him to help calm him down, but Quicksilver told her not to do so and was surprised that she was even talking to him after everything he put her through. Emily assured Quicksilver that she didn't blame him, noting that one can't control every eventuality in life. However, when Quicksilver volunteered for a dangerous mission that would potentially restore all of the heroes who had been frozen in suspended animation, Emily kissed him, telling him that she was sorry they never got closer. Emily used her powers to help protect Quicksilver's mind from the experience of chasing the beacon and, while he succeeded in catching the beacon, he was seemingly erased from existence in the process.
When the Avengers launched their final assault on the Challenger, Synapse proved instrumental in weakening the villain, thanks to an idea that Squirrel Girl had. Even though the Challenger had closed his mind to Synapse, she was able to enter it through the Falcon's mind, after the Falcon used his connection to birds to link to the Challenger. A risky move, considering the heroes had no idea whether the Challenger evolved from ancient beings like birds. Nevertheless, the plan worked and Synapse joined the other Avengers in defeating the Challenger. Earth was restored to its true place in the universe. Afterwards, Synapse met with the Scarlet Witch and Doctor Voodoo, who believed that Quicksilver was not in fact dead. They were planning to find him and Synapse offered her assistance. In a tribute to all of the Avengers who participated in the battle against the Grandmaster and Challenger, a new statue was erected at Avengers Mansion, with Synapse rightfully depicted amongst Earth's Mightiest Heroes. [Avengers (1st series) #675-690]
Synapse returned to Avengers Mansion with the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver as they began their search for the missing speedster, who was lost in Hyper-Space. Quicksilver could see Synapse and the others searching for him but could not communicate with them. However, when an energy creature attacked Quicksilver in Hyper-Space, Quicksilver moved Synapse and other Avengers at the Mansion from harm's way as he battled the creature. [Quicksilver: No Surrender #2-3]
The Avengers have restructured several times since Synapse's last adventure with the team, and she has not been a part of any roster. Nor has Synapse affiliated herself with the Inhumans, which is understandable given her suspicion of them. Presumably, Synapse and Quicksilver ended their relationship amicably, as Quicksilver has since moved on to other relationships. Interestingly, his most recent partner also wore a black and white costume while serving alongside him as a member of the Unity Squad. Perhaps Synapse is living a quiet life as a civilian – or maybe she's searching for her mysterious brother....