Mr. Immortal is able to return the favor when Deathurge appears to take away Monkey Joe to the afterlife in the form of a squirrel, leaving him in a vulnerable state. Deathurge then revealed to Mr. Immortal what his destiny was: to outlive everyone as the one true immortal, and then learn the grand secret that will reveal itself at the end of things, in addition revealing Mr. Immortal not to be either "Homo sapiens" or "homo superior", but rather "Homo supreme": a being that has evolved past death itself, making him the ultimate human. Deathurge, by taking away some of his loved ones, tried to prepare Mr. Immortal so that he could truly live to that destiny, but this is jeopardized by the supervillain Maelstrom, who threatens to destroy the entire universe. This gives Mr. Immortal a new incentive to live, and he sets out to stop Maelstrom and save the universe. The GLA confront Maelstrom, who in the course of the conflict, commits suicide. The GLA, however, gain no recognition and circumstances force them to cease using the Avengers name. After discovering that they were all mutants, the team decides to change their name to the Great Lakes X-Men, and adopt new costumes.