their remaining money and leave the gang to start a life together. Tensions Masquerade and some other Bang Babies dealt with another branch of S.Y.S.T.E.M. They were captured for a brief time, but escaped, transformed and with their powers enhanced. Masquerade knew he could never return to the Syndicate and sought to make a team of those who were captured, but they all went their separate ways. Third Rail and Brickhouse left the gang, but still found trouble. They opened a burger joint together, but Third was attacked by a gigantic foe, the Techno Shaman. He possessed Third, but Brickhouse called on her old friends for help and they defeated the Shaman. When he lay defeated, Brickhouse sent the others away and finished him off. Kwai recovered from her injuries but learned that she was on the last of a series of mystically granted lives. She traveled to her home realm, Kwen Lun, the Wondrous Lands, in a desperate attempt to gain at least one more buffer life. During Kwai's troubles, Tech Nine seemingly returned from the dead. His grave was empty, and they had to believe it was him. They looked for Dogg to confirm things, but Dogg was gone. He had been captured by operatives of a murderous organization called S.Y.S.T.E.M., who wanted to experiment on him and other Bang Babies. Tech spoke boldly to Fade about having feelings for him, something the real Tech never had. Fade was attracted to Tech, but Tech never took it seriously, nor did he slam Fade for his sexual orientation. As the gang searched for Dogg, suspicions mounted about Tech. Upon returning home, Kwai met with her old friend, the Monkey King, and the two pleaded to her father, the Jade Emperor for another life. The Emperor denied this request, declaring that she had grown too attached to the mortal world. He then sentenced her to death without reincarnation stating that she broke the blood contract between them by rebelling against him. To save Kwai's life, the Monkey King recruited most of the Syndicate to go with him to Kwen Lun to save her, while Tech-9 and Flashback stayed behind as backup. In the Kingdom of Ti Yu (Hell), Kwai was offered marriage to the Dog God to save her existence, but decides she couldn't marry him and went to meet the Grey Lady. There she learned that her entire existence