It wasn’t long before he got busted for selling weed at school. His grandmother was called in and during a talk with the dean, she decided the best course of action was to pull Spliff out of that school and put him into a private school. She went to the bank, emptied out her entire savings and enrolled him in South Platinum City Preparatory Academy.

At first, Spliff absolutely hated SPCPA. He felt everyone was too rich, too white and too stuck-up for his taste. Then he discovered their propensity for recreational drug use, which was supported by their unnecessarily large allowances. In other words, he could make nearly 10 times more money selling to this population than he ever could slinging nickel bags in the ghetto. Also, because these kids were so upper class, they were hardly ever harassed by police officers. Spliff thrived at the private school, both as a drug dealer and as a student (for his grandmother was still very strict about his school work).

He graduated from SPCPA at the top of his class and earned a scholarship to prestigious Platinum City University. He did a double major in chemistry and business and by the time he received his degree, he had learned everything there was to know about operating a drug empire.

He also gained hyper-abilities while attending PCU. He developed his powers one night in a university chem lab. He was experimenting with different chemical mixes in an attempt to enhance his product. He got a little too ambitious and inhaled an extremely toxic concoction that knocked him unconscious. The next morning when he woke up, the lab was completely filled with a thick smoke. But he wasn’t choking or coughing at all. In fact, he discovered that the smoke was emanating from his own body.

It wasn’t long before he learned to control and manipulate this power and after hooking up with old friends Blunt and Yayo (the latter whom Spliff gifted with special abilities of his own), he began to exert his influence in the streets of Southern Platinum City. As the only drug dealers with super powers, it was quite easy for Spliff’s crew to take down all competition. Within no time, they were the only suppliers of fine narcotics in their part of the city.

Spliff was extremely protective of the people who worked for him, so when he heard that his friend Blunt’s little brother, Deshawn, had been killed as the result of a string of incidents stemming from the Smash and Grab crisis, he was upset beyond belief. He quickly began investigating the incident and learned that a huge portion of the bank robbers had been average, law-abiding citizens who were brainwashed by Hysteria, the villainous leader of The Disturbed.

Spliff found Hysteria’s hideout and confronted the maniacal supervillain. But she wasn’t alone! Her Disturbed teammate, Kray Kray, leaped out and attacked him with her blades. He quickly hit her with a blast of smoke taking her out of the equation. Next, Hysteria attempted to mind-manipulate the young kingpin, but a second blast of smoke choked her out and sent her reeling. Finally, the third member of the Disturbed, Deleria, stepped out. Before she could even make a move, Spliff unleashed a third smoke bomb, but to his surprise it had no effect on the supervillain whatsoever. She charged right at him and a hand-to-hand fight ensued. It lasted several minutes as the two of them were pretty evenly matched. Hysteria and Kray Kray, however, were regaining their composure and Spliff knew he had no chance against all three of them. So, he retreated. He’d have to use a more calculated approach to take down Hysteria.

Upon returning to his apartment in King projects, he found Yayo and a few other members of his crew waiting for him. They quickly informed him that Blunt had gone to the upper-class neighborhood of Summercrest to exact revenge on The Prosecutor, the vigilante hero who’d been responsible for his brother’s death and subsequently exonerated in a court of law.

He arrived in Summercrest just in time to find Blunt and Blunt’s friend, LaLa, surrounded by an army of police officers. Spliff raised his hands and created a massive smoke cloud causing everyone in a mile radius to cough and choke uncontrollably. He then calmly walked through the mist and approached Blunt and LaLa. He helped them to their feet, used his powers to remove the smoke from their lungs and led them out of harm’s way and back to his car. They were home free…

Or so he thought. Another Platinum City Police Force squad car was fast approaching. But the two officers inside this car were not your typical officers. In fact, they were not your typical human beings; they were hyper-humans; literal super cops.

There was no way Spliff was letting his friends get arrested, so he told Blunt and LaLa to get in the car and go. He watched as they sped off, then turned to see officers Ox and Brolic standing in the middle of the street staring him down…