Miller realizes that in order to get out of town he's going to need some kind of firepower so he tracks down the similarly gimmicked (but infinitely more successful) Heat Wave. Surely the fraternity of the criminal brotherhood will buy him enough goodwill to score him one of Heatwave's guns. Unfortunately it would seem as though the answer would be a resounding "no." But it's when Miller attempts to simply steal a gun away from Heatwave that things get ugly. Ultimately the encounter leaves him beaten and bruised even worse than before. What's worse is that even though Heatwave might not want to give him the time of day - two Justice Leaguers named Firestorm and Green Lantern are very interested in having some face time with the man who laughed and took pictures while their colleague was brutally murdered.

Still on the lam with no money to speak of and no weaponry to back him up, Miller staggers into a dive-bar looking for a doctor who, in his words "doesn't talk much and accepts I.O.U.'s" to stitch up some of his wounds. As luck would have it, criminal underachiever Condiment King overhears Mike's plight and offers to help him. Together the two men head to the condemned warehouse headquarters of General Immortus. Inside, Immortus has surrounded himself with a bevy of henchmen (and women) culled from seemingly the very bottom of the criminal barrel. Before Miller can mock them appropriately, Professor Milo sneaks up behind him and sticks a syringe full of paralyzing neurotoxin into his neck.

Unable to move an inch, Miller is wide awake while Milo dissects him like frog. As it turns out, Milo and Immortus have brokered a deal of sorts in which Immortus supplies Milo with funds and subjects and Milo uses these subjects to build upon them and improve what would otherwise be a C-list criminal henchperson into a vastly improved minion thanks to Milo's surgical implants.

Mike wakes up after the surgery to find himself in practically a brand new body. Gone is the flabby mid-section and need for fuel tanks and fancy suits. Milo has re-built him, giving him a near perfect physique with flamethrowers embedded into his skin - controlled by brand new neuro-pathways hooked directly into his brain. Making his way back to Immortus's meeting area, the General is kind enough to give Mike a chance to show off his newly acquired power set. Immortus claims that one of the other henchmen, a man by the name of N-Emy has stolen from him and as such the General orders that he be terminated with extreme prejudice.

Upon doing so however, Mike collapses to the floor, writhing in pain. As a safety precaution, Immortus has ordered that Milo not dampen any of the pain receptors in the newly re-built associates. So every time Mike uses his new capabilities he will feel every scorching ounce of fire that pours through his veins. That is unless he does everything Immortus tells him to.