Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story, neither Teen Titans nor H.P. Lovecraft's Haunter of the Dark. The alien imagery in this chapter and the suspension of the crystal are lifted directly from Lovecraft. If the writing style seems to switch around a little in that passage, that's why.

TTT

"I can't believe UPS sent you out here right now."

The delivery guy grimaced, white skin and white teeth shining against the pitch-black sky. "Believe me, I'd rather be at home, but the boss's exact words were: 'It's just clouds and wind. The storm hasn't hit yet. So get out there and deliver the express packages or I'll fire you.'"

Cyborg winced. "And I thought Robin was unpleasant to have in charge. Tell you what. Stick around after I sign the form and I'll grab my wallet, give you a tip."

"Hey, thanks!"

Cyborg scribbled his unique signature -- "Vic Stone" in broad, deep lines, except for a jagged "S" that practically punched through the page -- on the delivery guy's form, took the top copy, set the small cardboard box down on the table, and snagged his wallet off the couch. "How's fifty sound?"

"Whoa."

"Guess that's a yes." He pressed the bill into the man's hand. "Get home safe, y'hear?"

The guy grinned. "I'll try."

Vic snorted and waved a cheerful goodbye as the man dashed for his truck, the winds rolling in from the ocean nearly blowing his hat off in the process. Chuckling, he closed the door and scooped the package up in one big metal hand. "Let's see...no name, but there's a return address... Boston? Who do we know in Boston?" He scratched his head. "Yo, BB, you know anybody in Boston?"

The shapeshifter looked up from the tofu sandwich he was making for the first time in five minutes. "No. Why?"

"Because we've won an all-expenses-paid trip there. But seriously --" Cyborg waved the package "-- any idea who could have sent us this?"

"Nope. Open it up. Might give us a few hints." Vic tore the package open with one swipe, and Beast Boy's jaw dropped.

"It's a...box...in a box!"

"Man, you really suck at irony, you know that?"

"Jerk."

"Takes one...ah, screw it. Let's see what we've got here." Cyborg popped the latch on the small box of yellowish metal. "Hey, cool..." The box held a many-faceted crystal, glossy black with red stripes, about four inches across. It did not touch the bottom of the box, but was held suspended by means of a metal band around its centre, with seven queerly-designed supports extending horizontally to angles of the box's inner wall near the top. Beast Boy crowded in to take a look as well. "Duuuuude..."

Flickering images began to appear in the depths of the black stone, and it glowed faintly in the near-dark of the incoming storm. A boundless jungle of outlandish, incredible peaks, balanced planes, domes, minarets, horizontal disks poised on pinnacles, and numberless forms of still greater wildness - some of stone and some of metal - which glittered gorgeously in the mixed, almost blistering glare from a poly-chromatic sky. A rocky hillside bathed in intense, diffused green light. Processions of robed, hooded figures whose outlines were not human, and endless leagues of desert lined with carved, sky-reaching monoliths. Towers and walls in nighted depths under the sea, and vortices of space where wisps of black mist floated before thin shimmerings of cold purple haze. Alien orbs with great stone towers, and other orbs with immense mountains and no mark of life, and still remoter spaces where only a stirring in vague blacknesses told of the presence of consciousness and will.

Victor and Garfield stared deeply into the crystal, drinking in the visions it produced for long minutes, until they were distracted by the whistle of Raven's tea-kettle. Raven herself padded into the control room half a minute later.

Eager as anyone with a new toy, Cyborg called, "Hey, Raven! Come take a look at this! It's incredible!"

She strolled over, curiousity aroused, black cloak swishing around her dainty feet. One glance at the crystal, and she screamed like she'd just been stabbed. Her face went stark with terror, and she grabbed the box with her powers, wound up, and hurled it out the open door, far into the bay. Vic's jaw hung open for half a minute before he finally managed to speak again. "What the hell did you do that for?"

Raven fixed him with a dagger-like stare. "Congratulations, you idiot! You've killed us all! And I haven't even had my tea yet!"

TTT

In the lowest sub-basement of the tower, something rustled and stirred in the windowless pitch-darkness of a storage room. Something which had not been present mere minutes ago...