Donald Pierce was the leader of the Altered Humans, a faction assembled and ordered by Apocalypse to prevent the Human High Council from launching their pre-emptive strike. Pierce, along with Altered Humans Clegg and Slocum, made their way to Europe posing as humans during the Sentinel Evacuation of North America. At the Sentinel landing site, Box and Copycat provided a distraction that the trio used as cover to sneak past the mutant/weapons scanner testing and board the Council's air vessels. They were successful in delaying the strike by destroying the analog guidance system used to navigate their ships. After both Clegg and Slocum failed in their assault on Weapon X, Pierce blew up the ship they were flying in.

Pierce later resurfaced when he learned of Weapon X's position at Wundagore Mountain from the Altered Humans Dead Eye and Mangle. With the company of Vultura, Pierce traveled to Wundagore to stop Weapon X from acquiring the means for the Human High Council to continue with their planned nuclear strike, but was foiled when Gateway teleported himself, Weapon X, and Carol Danvers aboard the plane he was piloting. He was about to kill Weapon X, but Danvers tackled him, knocking them both outside of the aircraft, and triggered a grenade explosion while the two were in free fall.

The leader of the Altered Humans reappeared a final time, once again aboard the Human High Council armada, to stop the pre-emptive strike on North America. This time, Pierce had in his company a survived Danvers with the remains of Vultura grafted on her body. After he murdered Brian Braddock, he witnessed Danvers hesitating to attack Weapon X and slaughtered her as a repercussion. He then latched on to Gateway, who would have been his next victim, if Weapon X had not come to the rescue and final put Pierce out of commission for good.