PLOT:
Pain, perhaps like a flame, brings clarity of thought and produces efficiency according to General Immortus. And when the pain receptors are finally dulled, only the
clarity and efficiency will be left behind, making Mike Miller a much more formidable opponent. If Mike ever wants the torture of having pure fire coursing through your insides
taken away, he'll continue to fight alongside Immortus and his band of misfit baddies. Oh yeah, and also, if he tries to run away Immortus will just
detonate an explosive device placed on his
brain stem effectively killing him. There's that too.
Nevertheless, Mike accompanies the others on a snatch and grab mission on an army convoy that runs afoul of Clayface. At this point, there's been so many Clayfaces running around the criminal underground that it's become
hard for even the JLA to keep them straight. But it's safe to say that this particular Clayface is the same Clayface that joined up with Libra's Secret Society during the Crisis because he appears none
too happy to see the Human Flame again. Luckily, Mike and the others are able to get what they came for - a case full of a chemical called Californium-252 and jump back through one of Polka Dot's
colorful tunnels before Clayface can get his revenge. The only downside being is that Clayface, once apprehended, rats out to the capes that the Human Flame has upgraded his operation.
Returning back to the warehouse the gang of losers is starting to seem less like a criminal operation and more like a cult. The way they talk about Immortus and his "love" just rubs Mike the wrong way. Plus there's no money. And
for a bank robber, that's a big detractor. Luckily there's the appropriately named Seductress. The former burn-out stripper turned hench-woman
accompanies Mike on his compulsory bank job to score some cash and she really seems to be into him. Or maybe that's just her super-pheromone
implants. Either way, she let's Mike in on a secret - the Californium-252 that they got from the army convoy was actually the final ingredient needed for the serum that Immortus (whom she calls Morty)
uses to stay immortal. It was this same serum that N-Emy was accused of trying to steal that cost him his life.
Somehow Seductress convinces Mike that he needs to make off with this serum. But before he can get away, Mike is caught red handed by Immortus and his crew. What's worse, Seductress double crosses him! Before Morty and the others can kill him
or brain wash him using some neural implants - Mike makes a run for it! He's always been his own man anyway, he reckons and so he bids adieu to the gang and jumps out of the nearby warehouse window.
The only problem is that they're three stories up.
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