U n d e r w o r l d ;

Michael is caught in the middle of a shootout between vampire Death Dealers and Lycans one night on his way to work. Unknown to him, Michael had been targeted by the Lycans for a hybrid experiment, as his blood might have held a rare genetic trait needed by the group. The goal was to retrieve a blood sample to test, but due to the interference of the Death Dealers, Michael escaped for the time being. Afterwards, Michael was ambushed by lycans at his apartment. He was rescued by Selene, a Death Dealer to whom he becomes completely devoted, and despite her efforts, he was bitten by the Lycan leader Lucian. Lucian's aim was to retrieve a blood sample as the previous attack on Michael had not been successful in acquiring a sample. Lucian's bite transmitted the Lycan virus, thus infecting Michael and setting him on the path to become a Lycan. Lucian's bite was also a sure way to keep Michael on their side and to discourage the vampires from running tests on him.

The Lycans tested the blood sample acquired by Lucian, and were then able to establish that Michael was indeed the carrier of the rare immortal gene passed down by Alexander Corvinus. Discovering this, the Lycans made it their main objective to capture Michael. This was proven to be more difficult than the Lycans had originally thought. During an escape attempt, Selene was severely wounded and passed out at the driver's wheel due to a significant loss of blood. The car plunged off a dock and into a river. When they finally got out of the sinking car, Michael bandaged her wounds and performed CPR. After resting for a part of the night, Selene regained consciousness. Going against the rules of Selene's coven, Michael was kept hidden in the coven's manor house for protection. Upon waking, Michael found himself confronted by Erika, another vampire from Selene's coven, snarling at him - Erika had discovered that Michael was bitten by a Lycan. Startled, Michael quickly escaped from the manor and headed back to the hospital he interned at to treat his wounds. When at the hospital, he shared his ordeal with Dr. Adam Lockwood (Wentworth Miller) who shortly afterward proved to be untrustworthy, relating Michael's tale to two men who seemed to be police. Upon seeing the two "officers", Corvin fled the hospital, running back to the vampires' manor to find Selene. She drove him to one of the secret Lycan interrogation buildings and explained to him the full implications of his situation.

The pair were quickly discovered and, while Selene became engaged in battle, the two Lycan agents who had posed as police officers at the hospital manage to subdue and kidnap Michael. However, on the way, he began to change into Lycan form due to exposure to the full moon, but the Lycans injected him with an enzyme to stop the transformation.

Michael was taken to Lucian where he met the Lycan leader for the second time and was finally made to understand the war from Lucian's point of view. When Lucian had bitten him, Lucian's memories had been passed on to Michael, causing Michael to see what had motivated Lucian in the war.

Soon afterward, Death Dealers invaded the lair. In the commotion, Michael was shot with a lethal amount of silver nitrate bullets by Selene's jealous suitor, Kraven. Due to his Lycan physiology, the silver nitrate would have killed him, but on the advice of Lucian, Selene bit Michael. She had transmitted the vampire virus to his bloodstream, and thus Michael became the first Hybrid. Viktor, who condemned his daughter to death just to prevent such an occurrence, fought Michael. Michael initially gained the upper hand, as the Elder was thoroughly unprepared for his physical strength. But despite being more powerful, Michael did not have Viktor's centuries of combat experience, and the vampire soon turned the tables on him. Viktor almost killed him, but was stopped when Selene interfered. She took Viktor's sword, slicing his head in half and thus killing him.