He had reached the edge of the desert and Jump City lay before him. Pausing at the edge of a cliff, he squatted down with his staff slung across back. Deciding it was too conspicuous, with one thought, he changed it into a knife with a black blade and tucked it beneath his belt. His black jumpsuit and headband whipped around in the wind. He lifted his black mask up to feel the wind on his face. Hopefully he could start anew here. Maybe it was in this city he could escape his past. Maybe in this city the name "Shadow Shifter" would mean nothing, which is the way Seth preferred it.

He had been on the run for about 2 years now and he was only 16 years old. The son of military scientists, Seth had been the subjected to military experiments and training because his parents felt their advancements would further the army. The experiments conducted on Seth gave him extraordinary powers of stealth and increased his strength. The name of the project was called "Project Dark Strike" due to its advancements in stealth and spying. At the age of 10, Seth could sneak past anyone on the base he lived on. He had to have a locator chip implanted into his neck to keep track of him. He earned the nickname "Shifter" due to his ability to move with shadows flawlessly and move about with out anyone knowing. He also began training as a spy, a craft he mastered quickly. Some on the base referred to him as a ninja because of his stealth and mastery of martial arts, which he was required to learn.

At age 12, Seth received a weapon, an odd piece of metal in the shape of a rectangular box. Upon receiving it, it transformed into a bo-staff. Seth soon learned this weapon could change into anything he wanted it to.

Entering his teens, Seth was given his first mission and was conscripted into the army. His mission was to assassinate the head of a drug ring to help topple it. From a young age, Seth was told to show no hesitation and no remorse if he had to kill. He completed his mission successfully.

At 14, Seth became rebellious, and he began to infiltrate every part of the base he could. At one point he was caught and put under lockdown. He could not remember why he was put under lockdown or what he saw during the infiltration. It was a blank spot in his memory. Having had enough, he managed to escape into the desert and began to travel.

For two years in cities and towns, he had lived on the streets, utilizing his talents to survive. He learned the ways of the streets and therefore the ways of the underworld. As he watched people in the cities get mugged, kidnapped, beaten, robbed, etc. he began to take action as a vigilante. But realizing he could not stay in one place, he kept on moving from place to place. He also learned to tame his lethal talents to only inflict enough to subdue his adversary. The one catch in relation to his locator chip was that it could be detonated, standard procedure in order to eliminate rogue agents. The question of why they hadn't blown his head off constantly hovered in his subconscious, haunting his dreams.

All this raced through Seth's mind as his eyes took in the skyline of Jump City.

The first thing Seth needed was a set of street clothes. He figured he could pickpocket some money and hit a thrift store. He did exactly that. He picked a few pockets and purchased some items. He bought a black zip-up hoodie, a pair of beat-up jeans, and an old Clash shirt he had found there. He found he had enough money for food so he went to a nearby sushi house.

Before coming to Jump City, Seth had done his research. He knew that this was the Teen Titans' city. He also knew two major underworld players were the HIVE and Slade. This was also a hotbed for criminals of any type imaginable.

As his order came, a reporter popped up on the TV and began reporting an incident at a location not far from where Seth sat.

"Presently there is a hostage situation at the bank downtown. Armed robbers have taken control of the bank and are holding an estimated 25 hostages. Sources say there are eight gunmen inside…."

Seth looked at the TV, looked at his weapon, now a spiked bracelet on his wrist, and watched the footage onscreen. Soon there were gunshots and a body was thrown out into the street a few minutes later. At this, Seth finished his meal and paid the tab. He then calmly picked up his pack of clothing and other personal effects, and walked out of the restaurant.

Ducking into and alley way, he donned his gear and slipped his weapon, now a knife, into a sheath. How cliché, he thought as he changed. He then scrambled up a fire escape, his pack on his back. He darted from rooftop to rooftop, a black blur heading in the direction of the bank.

When Shifter reached the bank, he paused on the roof of a building across from the bank. From where he was, he could see the police had the entire bank surrounded. However, Shifter noticed that the roof was unguarded. Atop that roof was a ventilation shaft. Shifter began to formulate a plan, but first, he needed to do recon. He did not bother considering the necessity of saving the hostages. While going through military training, Shifter learned to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. He in himself contradicted this belief during his one and only assassination mission. He had been forced to plant a bomb in the building so it would look like a gas explosion, one that would annihilate everyone, innocent and guilty, in that house. After becoming a roaming vigilante, he made a personal vow to never hurt innocents again.

Quickly, Shifter made his way to street level and over to the bank. Hiding in the shadow of the building, Shifter discovered he was within earshot of the newscaster and the police on the scene.

"There are reportedly 8 men holding about 20 hostages at gunpoint," reported the newscaster.

This was all Shifter needed to hear before making his way to an alley between the bank and an adjacent building. Transforming his weapon into a grappling hook, he threw it to the top of the bank and began to scale the wall. Reaching the top, Shifter spotted a doorway to a staircase that would lead into the bank. He also spotted a ventilation shaft. He opted for the ventilation shaft, removed the grate, and slid into the shaft silently.

He began to army crawl through the system until he heard voices. He crawled until he came upon a grate right over a teller's desk. No one seemed to be in the direct vicinity, so Shifter lifted the grate and carefully poked his head out.

He saw that there were in fact 10 robbers and it seemed to be around twenty hostages. Shifter smiled at this and smiled even more since the police had cut the power and caused the lighting to be very dim in the bank. Shifter changed his weapon into a nightstick and slowly lowered himself down out of the ventilation shaft and landed quietly on the floor.

Darting behind the nearest desk, he again poked his head out and sized up his adversaries. Each was holding a SMG (submachine gun), pointing the weapons at the hostages. Eight of the robbers stood guard while the other two roamed the surrounding area, checking the movement of the police.

Shifter made his way to a wall and sat in a shadowy corner awaiting one of the patrollers. When one came around the corner, he passed right by Shifter, who seemed part of the shadow he sat in. When the robber turned his back, Shifter darted forward and delivered a swift blow to the robber's neck with the nightstick rendering him unconscious. Shifter then dragged him behind a desk and shoved him underneath. Shifter then waited for the next thug.

This time, as the man walked past, Shifter delivered a swift kick to the man's left knee, causing him to stagger, within an instant, Shifter had incapacitated him by delivering a sleeper hold, knocking him out.

As the man slumped into his arms, his gun clattered to the floor.

Shit was the only word that ran through Shifter's mind as he heard people yelling for the two patrollers. He knew that he would have to strike first in order to still keep the element of surprise. He transformed his weapon in to a quarterstaff and swiftly ran at the robbers.

Leaping into the air, he brought his staff down on the head of one thug. Then, using his staff, vaulted himself into the air and landed on another robber by planting both feet into the thug's chest. A robber lifted his gun to fire as another ran at Shifter from behind. Shifter hurled his weapon like a javelin at the man with the gun, knocking it out of his grasp. Shifter then turned to face his other attacker. The man threw a punch. Shifter caught his arm, and placing his left hand on the man's elbow and his right on the man's forearm and pushing in opposite directions, was awarded with a loud crack as the man fell with a broken arm. Turning back to the other robbers, they all moved to surround Shifter. Diving for his staff, Shifter came up with the weapon over one shoulder and a big grin under his mask. As the men lifted their weapons, he swung the staff from his shoulder in a wide arc, disarming all his opponents. Then, swinging the staff in an opposite arc, made contact with each man's jaw, and knocking each of them senseless.

Shifter then gathered the weapons, unloaded them, and turned the safety on on each of them. He then looked back to the hostages, all of whom were looking at him in fear and awe.

"Stand up and get out of here, tell the police that its all-clear in here," was all Seth said to them.

A small girl among the hostages stayed back as the rest moved to the doors, she couldn't have been more than five years old. Seth took a knee and looked into the little girl's eyes.

"Are you a Teen Titan?" was all she asked.

"No, no I'm not," was Seth's reply.

"Then who are you?"

Seth paused a moment and said, "My name is Shifter, now go to the doors before your mom starts to freak out."

As he stood up the girl looked up at him, said, "Thank you Mr. Shifter," and ran to the doors. Seth then piled the weapons and lined up the unconscious bodies of the robbers. The man whose arm he had broken was the only man still conscious. He moaned in pain as Seth dragged him. Seth took pity on him and splinted his arm with a med kit he found near the fire extinguisher at the exit.

"Who the fuck are you?" asked the robber.

"Shifter, the new kid on the block," was his reply.

"Shit, not another kid running around. Are you a Titan?"

"No, I'm just the FNG."

"Fucking New Guy?"

"Yeah, now shut up," Seth said as he ran towards the back exit.

When he got outside, he made his way to the roof and started darting from rooftop to rooftop. Now all I need is a place to crash for the night, was the only thought in his mind.

At Titan's Tower:

Beast Boy and Cyborg were channel surfing and stopped on the news channel, which was just running a story on the bank.

"Hey guys!" called out Cyborg. "Come check this out!"

Robin, Starfire, Raven, and Terra all walked in and sat down to watch the newscaster.

"A few moments ago, the 20 hostages being held inside the bank by armed robbers walked out the front doors of the bank. When police entered, they found 10 unconscious bodies and a pile of weapons, unloaded and safeties on, next to the line of knocked out robbers. Hostages say a young man, dressed entirely in black in a suit similar to the garb of a ninja, rescued them and single-handedly subdued all of the robbers. They say this young man used a weapon that changed its form during the course of the rescue. The only clue to his identity is the name he gave to a little girl among the hostages. That name, is 'Shifter'. Back to you in the studio," the newscaster reported.

The Titans looked at each other with perplexed looks on their faces.

"How can one guy take down 10 armed with submachine guns?" asked Cyborg.

"I have no idea," answered Robin.

"At least it looks like this guy is on our side," muttered Raven.

Beast Boy and Starfire looked at their friends and sank back into their seats, thinking it over. Terra kept staring at the screen.

"Think we should extend an invite Robin?" asked Cyborg.

"We should if we can find this guy," Robin answered. "Seems likely too, where ever trouble is, I have a feeling this guy will be there."