Seth had found a place to stay. Actually, he was squatting in an empty apartment in Midtown. It wasn't bad, he had what he needed, a mattress, a window, and enough floor space to work out.
Since the bank incident, Seth had taken up vigilante duties. However, he wasn't very picky in who he protected. One night, bounding from roof to roof, he came across a small gang fight. From the shadows, he watched as the gang members fought. As the fight went on, soon it became a 4 on 1. Seth then jumped down into the street and fended off the four. When he turned back to the one he defended, he saw that the kid was no more than 13.
"What gang you from kid?" Seth asked.
"Midtown Screwballs," the kid muttered.
"Damn right you're screwballs. Christ…"
Then, some more gang members ran over to the kid. One, a gang boss, walked up to Seth.
"Thanks for helping our guy, the Screwballs owe you man, this kid is our leader's little bro. You need anything, come to me, Joey," the guy said.
"Screw you man. What the hell do you think you're doing recruiting kids like this?" Seth rasped at him, disgusted by the corruption of this kid.
"You better watch your mouth punk!"
"You watch my mouth you prick. If I find any more kids like him on the streets that are part of your gang, I'll be on your ass you got that?" Seth growled at Joey. "Now get out of my sight."
Joey glared at Seth, looked at the unconscious bodies lying around, then grabbed the kid and ran off. Seth just lifted his mask to spit on the ground in disgust before darting back into the shadows. Someone had seen this whole ordeal and carefully documented this before returning to her base.
A few days later…
"Titans! Cinderblock is at the docks!" Robin yelled as he readied his utility belt.
"What are we waiting for?" asked Cyborg as he and Beast boy jumped into the T-car.
At the docks, Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy arrived to find Starfire, Raven, and Terra already combating not only Cinderblock, but Overcharge as well.
"Crap," muttered Beast Boy.
"You said it," replied Cyborg.
With that, the Titans jumped out of the car and charged towards the fight. It was a back and forth battle. In the process, Cinderblock threw a forklift into a gas container, causing a loud explosion.
This very explosion grabbed Shifter's attention as he rested on a rooftop. Something's up. He then grabbed his weapon, which took the shape of bo-staff, and started making his way towards the docks.
Upon reaching the docks, he found the Titans fighting two criminals he only knew from his recon of the city's underworld. He watched as Robin and Cyborg combined a blast disk with a sonic charge to dispatch Cinderblock. Nice move. He turned his attention to Overcharge, who was pummeling Terra with electric bolts. Terra went limp at his feet. It was then he decided to jump in since Overcharge seemed to be a problem, and Shifter had an idea how to solve it.
Vaulting himself into the fray, he landed silently, then charged at Overcharge. He made a brief modification to his weapon and then landed a blow on Overcharge's back. To the Titan's, who had not noticed Shifter, it was a complete surprise to see Overcharge's body fly apart. They were more surprised to see a figure in black land on the spot where Overcharge had just been. Cinderblock picked up Overcharge's main component and bounded away.
Not paying attention to the Titan's, Shifter bent over Terra to examine her injuries. Even hurt she looks pretty. He prodded her arms and saw nothing was broken. She would be fine given some rest. Before he rose, he heard a click as Cyborg pointed his cannon at him.
"Who are you?" demanded Cyborg.
Shifter paid no attention and continued to examine Terra.
"Get away from her!" Beast Boy yelled, jumping in front of Terra and taking on the form of a tiger.
Shifter smiled. He took a brief look at Robin, who he knew was the leader. Robin saw the smile and narrowed his eyes.
"Back off guys. Who are you?" asked Robin.
Before answering, Shifter willed his weapon to change into a wristband, which it did.
"Shifter," he answered.
"Shifter? The one who took down the bank robbers a few days ago?"
"The very same."
"Believe it or not we've been looking for you. We'd like extend an invite to join up with the Teen Titans," Robin offered.
Shifter was taken aback by this offer. While he was thinking it over, he watched as Raven made a stretcher to carry Terra. By this time Terra had come to and Beast Boy was filling her in. Terra sat up to get a look at he rescuer. Shifter looked straight into her eyes, smiling at her from beneath his mask. Terra blushed and smiled back as she stared into his hazel eyes.
"As much as I like the offer, I'll have to say no for now. I think I'll go it alone for a bit."
"Fair enough. If you ever need anything, you know where to find us," said Robin. "One more thing, what did you do to defeat Overcharge?"
"I charged my staff with a negative charge. Since he was made of electricity, he had a negative charge too. Like charges repel," Shifter replied with a laugh.
At this, Robin and Cyborg laughed as well, each thinking, why hadn't I thought of something like that? Saying goodbye, the Titans left for their tower. Shifter watched them go, and noticed that Terra turned to get one last look at him. Shifter couldn't help but smile and give a small wave. He was rewarded with a small wave as well. Maybe this town isn't so bad.
"So Robin, what do you think of this Shifter guy?" asked Cyborg as they sat around at the tower.
"He seems ok, I don't think we've seen the last of him. It's strange though, I couldn't find any file on him what so ever, it's like he had no past."
Just like me, thought Terra, who was perched on a windowsill. She blushed at the thought of him, even though she only saw his eyes. He had saved her life and she was determined to find out who he was.