and formed a new gang. Tech Nine, Flashback, Fade and Dogg from the Force Syndicate reached out to whoever else they could find. They reached out to Holocaust first, but he killed them all with his fire powers. Flashback saved them with her power to turn time back three seconds. They convinced him not to attack them again, and he helps them recruit Wise Son (by threatening his family). They found Third Rail in a homeless camp deep below the streets, suffering from guilt over his father. They tricked Juan Templo into leaving the safety of a local church to join them. The group agreed to work together, and after a healthy disagreement, chose the name Blood Syndicate (a combination of the names of the two rival gangs they came from, "Force Syndicate" and "Paris Bloods"). Their first action as a gang was when they attacked a crack house to steal the money for "operating expenses". Their raid killed many addicts and criminals, and gained them another member, Masquerade. He was hired to guard the drugs, but the new gang recruited him to join them instead. They went back to "Ground Zero", the place where the Bang happened, only to be ambushed by a large contingent of local criminals. Templo was killed, but the new gang worked together and killed every last one of their attackers. Media spotlight Brickhouse and DMZ joined the team at some point after their first crackhouse raid and the annihilation of the attack force. Their exploits attracted the attention of Dakota's local media. The Dakota Chronicle, the city's most popular newspaper sent reporter, Roberta "Rob" Chaplik, to score an interview with the Syndicate. Chaplik followed them to a raid on a crack-house, their main source of money. She was killed by one of the drug dealers, but Flashback reversed her death by turning back time three seconds and pushing Rob out of the way of the shotgun blast that killed her the first time. Holocaust burned the shooter to death before he could fire again. Holocaust challenged Tech Nine for leadership of the gang, and by the rules they'd set down, they had trial by combat to choose which of them would be the leader. Tech Nine took a horrible beating, but thanks to Holocaust's arrogance and his own power of unlimited gunfire/telekinetic control over his guns, he won the fight. Holocaust left the gang