Fuse

Fuse (Atlas Eden) is a supervillain who opposes the Vanquishers. His primary rival is Signal. He first appeared during the events of "The Truth is Out There," which saw him and his accomplice Airwave attempting to make contact with an alien threat.

{ played by @Occultist }

NAME: Atlas Eden
AGE: Unknown
EYE COLOR: Yellow
HAIR COLOR: None
OCCUPATION: Supercriminal
PLACE OF BIRTH: Salt Lake City, UT
POWERS:

• Technological Integration - able to adapt technologies into his bio-synthetic body and make them a part of himself.
• Bio-Fusion Reactor - an anatomical component that generates radioactive energy that can be used for power, sustenance, and offensive attacks.
• Alien Link - partial connection to the Schism's hive mind gives him a cosmic awareness beyond normal human capabilities.

The less said of the man called Atlas Eden, the better. He was a link in an evolutionary chain -- a flesh and blood human strangled by physiological needs and psychological shortcomings. He had delusions that his existence was one worth enduring. The insignificant and ignorant often do. His time prior to ascension was nothing more than a mirthless meandering, monotony broken up only by grandiose gestures to get back into the good graces of his on-again, off-again mate. He was, in Earth terms, a loser.

Then came salvation from the stars themselves. In the midst of the wildest solar storm modern humanity ever experienced, the Schism made their presence known. They were extraterrestrials from far beyond Earth's solar system -- a hive mind that enveloped and assimilated entire stellar civilizations. A few small pods made contact with the planetary surface near strategic military targets. Atlas Eden just happened to be driving nearby one of them: Edwards Air Force Base in California.

This first strike was intended primarily as a scouting mission by the Schism. The pod that landed near Edwards' outskirts was tasked with the absorption of nearby technology and lifeforms so that Earth could be more accurately studied and prepared for. When the proper invasion commenced, the Schism could leave no variables to chance. As the amorphous scouts expanded outwards from their impact point, Atlas Eden was in the midst of a cross-country relocation. Suddenly, the undulating, unfamiliar Schism appeared in front of his vehicle. He swerved to avoid them, running off the side of the road in the process. His car flipped and was rendered inoperable. As he tried to crawl free from the driver's side door, the alien haze overcame him. He was chosen.

In the wake of this harrowing encounter, new life was created. The Schism turned that hapless human into Fuse, a convergence of man and machine, and uplifted him into their connected network of thought. It was a privilege to be expanded beyond his former limitations. Food, water, sleep -- all these nagging desires no longer hounded him. The Schism were the cure to all of humanity's ails.

Yet, as Fuse searched the area for the scouts that changed him, he found nothing. In fact, the Schism's presence seemed to vanish entirely. Soon, it became clear what happened. The benevolent gift of progress, passed down from the heavens, was met with resistance. The Vanquishers, warned by the Schism's longtime foe Signal, formed a bulwark against the Schism. Their ambassadors to Earth were wiped out, and Fuse was left stranded with no guidance of what to do next.

That's when a paranoid tracker by the name of Airwave found him. The mysterious individual claimed to know much more about the aliens' activity, as well as the Vanquishers and Signal. Airwave wanted the Schism to return -- just like Fuse did. Together, perhaps, they could make their wish come true



Airwave and Fuse came into conflict with Signal and the Vanquishers again at a gala hosted by the tech investor Vance DeWolf. There they planned to kidnap various aeronautics engineers and force them to build a deep space communications device capable of contacting the Schism. Though their plan was stopped, the attack forced the government to declassify much of the information surrounding the past extraterrestrial incursion to the public. This allowed Airwave and Fuse to cultivate a devoted following of conspiracy theorists via pro-Schism propaganda they disseminated onto the darkweb.

A mysterious insider eventually provided Airwave and Fuse with the means to obtain defunct technology from Nyxia, a satellite research company that Signal worked for. The upgrades allowed Airwave to intercept Schism transmissions and send messages back. In order to appease their overlords, the two offered to capture Signal, called the 'disruptor,' and give her over to the aliens as a form of tribute. During a gathering dubbed 'Schismcon' by their legions of true believers on the internet, Airwave offered the entirety of his amassed Bitcoin wealth as a bounty for Signal. The result was total chaos as participants from all over geared up to try to claim the reward for themselves.

The Vanquishers eventually put an end to Airwave and Fuse's bounty and repelled another unit of Schism scouts sent to receive the disruptor. With their hopes for salvation dashed yet again, Airwave and Fuse escaped in their modified base of operations: an old Airstream RV. They now remain in hiding, plotting a way to atone for their past failures.