The meteor fragment sat on the reinforced table in front of me, bathed in the soft glow of containment lights.
I studied it one last time before Starfire insisted we secure it in the vault. The crystalline surface caught the light in strange ways, shifting between deep purple and an unsettling black that seemed to absorb rather than reflect illumination.
Starfire examined it with genuine wonder, her eyes wide with curiosity as I vaguely explained that it originated from some kind of meteor.
"It is secured," Starfire said, sealing the vault door with a soft hiss. "No one will access it without the proper authorization codes."
I nodded, though unease coiled in my stomach. Something about the fragment felt wrong. Not dangerous in the conventional sense like I'd faced genuinely dangerous things. This was different.
The Tower was silent by 2 AM. Most of the team had retired hours ago, but I found myself unable to sleep. I'd retreated to my quarters and spent the time staring at the ceiling, listening to the hum of the building's systems. For some reason, my mind wondered to some memories I have. Memories about the time I went to Planet Kaldir. Cold and inhospitable planet but left quite the impression.
Suddenly, something tugged at the edge of my consciousness. A vibration of sorts that I couldn't quite place.
Then the alarms screamed to life.
I was on my feet before the first wail finished echoing through the corridors. Red lights pulsed in rhythmic bursts as I sprinted toward the common area. Starfire was already there, her hands glowing with barely contained power, her expression morphing from confusion to determination.
Raven emerged from the shadows near the kitchen, her cloak billowing around her as dark energy crackled at her fingertips.
Beast Boy came sliding around the corner in his beast form before shifting back to his human shape, his usual joking demeanor replaced with focused concern.
"What happened?" Starfire demanded.
Before anyone could answer, Blue Beetle came flying through the window in a shower of glass, his armor clanging as he landed hard on the floor. "Something just broke through the east wall! I was on patrol and-"
The building shook. Not from an explosion, but from impact. Something large had hit it. The walls trembled, and cracks spiderwebbed across the reinforced glass of the laboratory beyond. An alarm specifically for the vault began wailing with a sound I'd never heard before.
"The fragment" I whispered.
We ran.
The vault chamber was a disaster. The reinforced door hung open, twisted at angles that shouldn't have been possible. Dust and debris filled the air, illuminated by strobing emergency lights. And standing in the center of the room, silhouetted against the glow, was something that made my blood freeze solid.
It was massive, easily twelve feet tall, its body a grotesque marriage of bear and ape. Chitinous armor plated its furry hide, banded with segments that rippled as it moved. Four limbs supporting its body, in a posture that screamed predator. White tooth-like tusks perfectly positions for skewering. Two glowing blue orbs inside its skull lit up its face.
An Ursadon. A freaking Ursadon.
The world tilted slightly. That was impossible. They shouldn't exist here. They couldn't exist here.
"What is that?" Beast Boy's voice cracked as he slowly backed away.
The creature's head snapped toward us with an unnatural fluidity. Its jaw opened, revealing layer upon layer of teeth, and it released a sound that was part shriek, part roar, a sound that vibrated in my chest and made my ears ring.
"Attack!" Starfire shouted and she was moving, her hands erupting with brilliant green energy.
The energy blasts struck the Ursadon full in the chest. They detonated in brilliant flashes of light, the concussion throwing everyone backward several feet. Dust and rubble exploded outward. For a moment, I dared to hope.
The creature emerged from the cloud utterly unscathed. Not a single mark marred its body. It lowered its head and charged.
Raven threw up a barrier of dark energy and the Ursadon crashed into it with the force of a freight train. The impact sent her sprawling backward, her concentration shattered. The creature's claws raked at where she'd been standing, leaving deep gouges in the reinforced floor.
"It's not working!" Blue Beetle's armor flared with energy as he dove in, his plasma cannons blazing. The shots raked across the creature's shoulder and flank. More light, more sound, more fury. The Ursadon barely slowed.
Beast Boy shifted into a tiger, his form lithe and dangerous, and leaped for the creature's face. His claws found purchase on the chitinous armor but couldn't penetrate it. The Ursadon's tail which I hadn't even noticed it had, whipped around with vicious speed. Beast Boy barely rolled aside as it cracked the air where he'd been, the force of it enough to shatter a support column.
I stood frozen, watching. My mind reeled with impossible information. This creature was a product of my universe, something that should have remained locked in the past, in dimensions far away from here. How? How was this possible?
"Voranis!" Starfire's cry snapped me back to reality. "Don't just stand there!"
Something didn't feel right. Sure, Ursadons are tough but this is ridiculous. It's shrugging off attack from 4 different superhumen.
"I need a minute!" I shouted.
We were getting pushed back as the fight continued. Nothing we threw at it mattered.
At one point, we stopped fighting and retreated.
"Scarab says that his sensors are going haywire! Something is wrong with this monster besides the physical aspect." Jaime informed us as we ran.
"You've been silent Voranis, have you noticed something?" Raven chimed.
I had noticed a weird glimmer whenever our attacks landed but what could that be?
Then is hit me. It was the same glimmer as the fragment!
"I think it has something to do with the fragment. We need to find it and destroy it!"
Raven's eyes widened in understanding. She pulled her focus from combat and spun toward the shattered vault. The fragment lay on the ground, glowing with that same shimmering light, pulsing in rhythm with the Ursadon's movements, as if they shared a heartbeat.
The creature shrieked again and lunged for Starfire, who barely managed to dodge, her superhuman reflexes the only thing saving her from those terrible claws. The Ursadon's jaws snapped together with enough force to pulverize steel. It was playing with us now, or perhaps simply treating us as the insignificant prey we were.
"Blue Beetle!" I ran toward the fragment. "Keep its attention!"
"That's gonna be easy!" Blue Beetle shouted, launching another barrage of plasma fire. The creature turned, distracted for just a moment, and I dove for the vault.
The fragment was hot, almost burning to the touch. That same wrongness pulsed from it, that terrible resonance that made my teeth ache. Raven was beside me, her dark energy forming protective barriers as the Ursadon wheeled back toward us, having decided we were somehow more interesting than the flyers.
It covered the distance in three massive bounds.
I grabbed the fragment, my fingers closing around it despite the heat. Raven's barrier held the creature for just a couple of seconds, just long enough.
Lightning came to life in my hands, like waking serpents.
Time was of the essence so I just did what I had to in the few precious seconds that Raven gave me.
The full might of my psychic power was channelled through me and into the fragment. One of the very rare occasions that I unleashed my powers to the max, even if I count the time back home.
The resulting clash was blinding. Debris started floating like gravity didn't exist and a blinding light was emitted like a shockwave.
The crystalline structure shattered with a sound like breaking glass mixed with the wail of something unfathomable. The purple light exploded outward in a shockwave of pure energy that sent everyone flying backward.
For a moment, the world was nothing but that sickly glow accompanied by complete silence.
And then it was over.
The Ursadon's scream cut off abruptly. Its massive form flickered, becoming translucent, insubstantial. For just an instant, I could see through it, see the wall beyond rendered in ghostly silhouette. Then it was gone entirely, dispersing like smoke on the wind.
Silence crashed down on the chamber, broken only by the sound of heavy breathing and the distant wail of the alarm systems.
Beast Boy shifted back to his human form, gasping for air. "What... what was that thing?"
Blue Beetle's armor powered down with a series of mechanical whines. "Did we just get our butts kicked by a demon or something"
Starfire stared at me, her eyes searching. "Voranis, you knew what that thing was." She said after a couple of second.
It wasn't a question.
I looked at the shattered remains of the fragment, scattered across the floor like broken glass.
Raven moved to my side, her gaze fixed on me with that unsettling penetration she sometimes possessed.
Blue Beetle and Beast Boy looked at Starfire and me in confusion.
"I guess I owe you an explanation" I sighed.
"Hell, it's about time." I thought.