Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. I do not own the name Razgriz. I do own this character Razgriz
Note: Razgriz THE NAME is copyright Ace Combat 5. Razgriz THE CHARACTER is copyright Me.
For a drawing of Razgriz OYL by me cehck my profile for a link.

My deepest apologies to my readers for taking so long to update. I ahve up to chapter 10 written so keep your eyes out. Enjoy :)

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Chapter 7: One More One More Time

It had been days since Apollo left the tower, willingly, with his master Azrael and there was still no sign of either of them anywhere. Razgriz had since recovered enough to search with the rest of the team. She spent most of her nights searching rather than sleeping. The Titans have been using every method of searching available to them but it seems Apollo and Azrael will only be found if they wish to be.

Days became weeks and they had all decided it was best to search from the Tower as opposed to breaking up the team and combing the city in case another emergency arose. Razgriz still flew over the city looking for any sign of Apollo nightly. Ever since he left she had been spending less and less time with the team, even avoiding them. This concerned them all; whenever they did see her she seemed as if she hadn't slept in days and hardly spoke a word. The team knew they had to do something to get the old Razgriz back before something awful happened to her. For this particular task they all voted Raven should go and talk with her, they were all close friends but Raven seemed to be a little closer with her than the others.

"Razgriz, it's Raven can we talk?" She asked softly at Razgriz' door.

She received no reply and knocked on the door again, "Razgriz I know you're in there… Please let me in, we need to talk."

Silence again, "You know I'm an empath too right? I can feel all the things you're feeling right now and I know you're trying to hide them. Let us help you, let me help you at least."

Just when she thought Razgriz was never going to open the door she heard it unlock. She opened it and walked into the dark room expecting Razgriz to be standing in front of her, but she was sitting in the corner with her knees held up to her head. Razgriz lifted a finger, which closed the door and locked it. Raven tried to find the light switch seeing as they were off but was stopped by a depressing quiet voice.

"Please… Leave them off…"

Her voice was so distant, it only made Raven all the more worried. She walked over to her and sat down next to her. For a while they sat in silence, Raven taking in all she was feeling. Now that Razgriz wasn't fighting to keep her emotions in it was much easier.

"It's not your fault," Raven said to break the silence.

Razgriz continued to stare into her knees.

"You need to stop blaming yourself."

A few tears worked their way into the sides of her red eyes.

"I know you feel like you failed him but he's still out there, we can still save him together."

"How?" She asked, the tears now streaming down her cheeks, "We can't even do something as simple as finding him."

"We'll find him, hopefully before he finds us."

Silence for a moment then, "If that's what happens, if they find us first… He'll be his old self again. His old demon slayer self trying to kill and banish me."

Raven stayed quiet this time, feeling Razgriz had more to say.

"I wish you were there when the curse was being suppressed. The emotions he was giving off… I'd never felt them from him before. Without the curse he was a good person. I even felt remorse from him for yelling at and hurting me… Remorse Raven, he's never hinted at feeling that before that night."

"I'm sorry that part of him is gone now, but wallowing in your own self pity isn't going to help anyone, especially not him."

Razgriz turned away from her, expecting encouragement from her and receiving what she took as being harsh.

Raven of course sensed this but decided to stick with her original plan, "You know whose fault it is don't you?"

"Aside from mine you mean?" Razgriz said with some bite.

"It's his own fault, Apollo's," she said nonchalant.

This had Razgriz facing her in a hurry, "What?"

"It's his own fault," she repeated, "It's his own fault he's curse and you know it."

"Stop it…"

"You need to accept the truth. He made a mistake and he's living it."

"Like you've never made a mistake?"

"I've made plenty."

"So what are you saying, we leave him as Azrael's slave the rest of his life?"

"No, I'm saying get off your depression trip and save him, you know how to find him."

"If I knew that I already would have!"

"You want him back don't you?"

"Of course I do!" She yelled, the most emotion she showed in her voice all week.

"Then think about it. You've seen inside his spirit, you know what it feels like. Concentrate. Find it."

Razgriz was breathing heavily in frustration on top of crying still. She had already tried that and failed many times, though she admitted her mind was a flurry of activity and she was unable to concentrate for very long.

"You need to let it go, stop blaming yourself like you always do and find him."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Raven moved around in front of her and took her hands and closed her eyes as well.

"Concentrate. Focus on his aura. Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos…"

She let go of everything like Raven told her to; she'd let everything go if she could save him. She opened her eyes and they were glowing white.

'I can see… I can see inside his spirit,' she thought, 'His mind… Can you see it too?'

'Yes,' Raven answered, 'These look like his memories.'

In their minds the events of Apollo's journey rushes around them. They focus on a particular image and see him looking up at a strong looking man walking in front of a house. He calls him father he calls him his hero. But then from above a dark figure descends on the man. The brutal scene before him sends the young Apollo into a panic and the girls' feel it as well, he's so afraid. As the dark figure finishes off his father, his hero, it looks directly at the boy. Then in a flash of red it's destroyed. Azrael shows himself, his hand outstretched to help Apollo up. He smiles that wicked smile and Razgriz flinches as she did seeing it the first time.

'We… Need to find a more recent memory,' thought Raven, 'it should show us where he's hiding.'

They pushed forward with there minds until they saw the tower. It was Apollo looking back at it while flying away with Azrael. He was suddenly enveloped in darkness and when it cleared he was in a cave of some kind. It was lit by numerous torches and had the look of a torture chamber or a dungeon or both.

'As disappointed I am that you allowed yourself to be captured I am glad to see you are unharmed apprentice,' Azraels voice echoed, 'Tell me… What was it that Demon was doing with you?'

'She was attempting to converse with me.'

'So I see… I trust you said nothing of importance about our mission?'

'No… Nothing of importance Master.'

'Good, good. Come now, we must make preparations. Soon we will strike the Titans and slay both the so-called demons Razgriz and Raven. We'll need to deal with the other four effectively before we can move on to the demons. I have already planned a---'

They were shaken out of Apollo's mind and spirit by a loud buzzing and came back to consciousness to find the room blinking red. They both got up and rushed to the main room, both knowing what triggered the alarm. The others met them their, Nightwing staring at the monitors.

"The cities under attack! We need to move fast. They've started focusing in here," he pointed to the same park on the map that Apollo first appeared, "Titans, move out!"

They descended on the scene; burnt land and destroyed trees throughout the park but luckily all civilians had already left.

"Cyborg," Nightwing said.

"I'm getting a lot of readings all around us… No way, they couldn't have surrounded us this quick!"

The Titans looked around and spotted five odd-looking creatures appear before them. They looked like some sort of dog or wolf but were standing upright and looked like something from a nightmare.

"Raven… They look just like," whispered Razgriz

"The creature from Apollo's childhood…"

"The what?" asked Beast Boy, very confused.

"We'll explain later."

"The Teen Titans!" Echoed a voice from above, "It is good to see you are defending this city so promptly."

"Azrael," said Razgriz, anger showing in her voice.

He hovered above them with Apollo on his right side with his sword in his grasp. His face was lifeless.

"I wish not to trouble you further. That being said, if you'd kindly hand over the demons we'll be on our way."

"Not a chance you old geezer!" shouted Beast Boy, getting ready to fight.

"We're not letting you lay a finger on either of them," said Nightwing, taking out his escrima sticks.

"How unfortunate for you," his voice suddenly deepened, "Minions, attack!"

The five creatures dashed into action at their master's command. Each Titan squared off against one and dispersed throughout the area. Razgriz stood looking up at Apollo as he descended and landed in front of her.

"Prepare to be slain Demon of Razgriz," he said wickedly.

He charged at her at stabbed his sword forward, aiming for her heart. She calmly put up her hand and created a barrier of light and dark energy, the sword struck it and simply bounced off.

"That sword wasn't meant for evil deeds, Retter. You cannot defeat my magic with it now that it has tasted my blood again and knows my true nature."

Nightwing leapt and bounded left and right to avoid his opponent's barrage of attacks. The creature let loose with its teeth and claws as well as magic fueled attacks. He jumped above it in a flash and came down with his stick in hand striking its head, making a sickening thud. The creature seemed to be going down but suddenly looked Nightwing in the eyes and growled, striking him with a claw.

Cyborg wasn't fairing well. He sent punch after punch into the beast only to damage his own fists. Its mouth sparked with energy and it fired out what looked like a bolt of lightning. Cyborg had no time to move out of its way but managed to get an arm up to protect his vitals. He flew backwards and crashed against a burnt tree trunk. When he attempted to lift his arm he found that it had been deactivated, it's circuitry burnt out as if overloaded.

"Okay… That's not good," he said then managed to dodge another bolt.

Starfire flew above another creature, raining starbolts at it but they seemed to have little effect. Noticing this she charged down at it with a battle cry and sent a fist into its abdomen, propelling drool out of its mouth. It recovered easily and attempted to slash at her. She avoided the attacks and grabbed one of its fangled arms and managed to lift it over herself and slam it into the ground. She smiled in victory, but it was a short lived one. The creature's mouth glowed purple and from it came a powerful beam that blasted Starfire into the sky.

Beast Boy morphed into a rhino to charge at his target. He was grabbed by the horn and stopped in his tracks. He changed into a bull and attempted to throw the creature off of his head but it was just too strong. He became an anaconda next and snaked his way from its grasp, then turned into a falcon, flew up and dropped down as a gorilla, slamming his arms onto the creature. The force was enough to make a cracked the ground under it, but it ignored whatever injuries sustained and slashed at Beast Boy with its claws cutting his chest before he could maneuver away. He returned to his human form and fell to one knee, placing a hand on his bleeding chest and winced in pain. The creature charged at him, its claws growing as it did. Beast Boy snarled and turned into a raptor, charging head on towards it.

Another creature fired a powerful purple beam from its mouth at Raven. She was doing her best to completely avoid the attacks, knowing from their sheer force as they passed that her barriers and shields wouldn't last long against more than one. There wasn't much to pick up and use since most of the park was destroyed so she flew a little higher in the sky where some dark clouds had formed.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

Her black aura pulsated throughout the clouds and from them came a bolt of dark lightning, it struck the creature and it let out a roar of pain then fell onto its back. She returned to the ground and found the creature still moving, trying to get back up. By the time it was on its feet it was hit with a broken tree surrounded in Raven's magic.

"Going to have to thank Gar for those batting lessons," she said.

It was knocked far enough to land near the fight between Apollo and Razgriz. He slashed and her repeatedly, none of his enraged strikes landing. She surrounded a fist in light as another strike came her way and with one swift back fist the blade was knocked from his grasp, stabbing into the ground near the creature Raven defeated.

"You can't beat me Apollo, and I know why," she smirked.

"Silence Demon!"

He gathered his violet fire in his fists and sent a fair sized wave at her. She put up a dark barrier, effectively diffusing the attack, then sent the barrier at him knocking him back even further. She walked towards him, not bothering to run, her eyes never leaving his.

"I know deep down you're still fighting the curse, even with Azrael near by."

"There is no curse! You made that up to trick me into betraying my Master!"

He sent salvo after salvo of fireballs at her. She knocked each away with a handful of light or dark magic and continued to approach him.

"Deep down you don't want to fight anymore, I can feel it. I can feel your spirit, remember?"

"Stop it! Leave me alone!"

He seemed on the verge of tears now. His attacks became weaker as Razgriz got closer. When she was only a few feet away his arms dropped to his side.

"Please… Stop…" He said somewhat delirious, "Stop it…"

She placed a hand on his cheek and he let a tear slide down on to her gloved hand.

"Stop…Him…"

Razgriz quickly put up a shield as a red bolt headed her way. Her shield took the hit, shattering, but she was still sent hurdling backwards. She spread her wings and narrowly avoided crashing into Raven.

"I got through to him again," she smiled, "He's still fighting the curse!"

A creature flew over their heads and landed on top of the one already unconscious on the ground nearby.

"Turns out these guys don't like sound too much," said Cyborg.

His arm was still deactivated and some of his other parts had slashes and gashes chipped off here and there. They heard an explosion and turned to see its source. Another creature was added to pile.

"They don't like explosives too much either," said Nightwing.

He held only one escrima stick in hand as he limped towards the group, his costume torn in some places exposing deep cuts and other wounds. Another creature flew overhead, a green beam forcing it further to land on the pile. Starfire flew to her group, she wasn't hurt much but she was noticeably exhausted.

"Dick, you're hurt!" She said and flew to help him stand.

"I'll live Star, we still have a fight to finish," he said.

The last creature was knocked into the pile with the rest of its friends; they saw many slashes on its body. Beast Boy, in the form of The Beast, made his way to his friends, panting and bleeding from many open wounds.

"Gar!" Raven called out as she flew to him.

He returned to his human form and would have fallen to his knees if Raven hadn't caught him.

"I'm okay… That Beast still takes a lot out of me y'know? And the whole… loss of blood thing too," he smirked a little.

She began healing him, noticing she was worried for nothing. Although he was cut all over none of his wounds were life threatening. She immediately calmed down and focused on healing the deeper wounds at least so she could get to the rest of the team.

"I'm glad to see you're all in one piece," smiled Razgriz.

"Ahem" voiced Cyborg.

"Mostly in one piece, Cyborg," she added, to which he grinned.

"Demon of Razgriz and Daughter of Trigon," Azraels voice echoed throughout the area, "it's time you're scourge on existence has ended. Your so called friends are battered and beaten, and neither of you can defeat me or my apprentice together."

He snapped his fingers and the creatures they battled disintegrated and Apollo's blade returned to him.

"You sure keep strange company for someone who slays demons, Azrael," said Raven, "I've seen spells that can call demonic hounds into this realm but never the mind control needed to keep them from turning on you."

"Hold your tongue Daughter of Trigon! I'll not have you slander my Master's reputation with such lies," said Apollo, aiming his blade at her.

"Raven, stay here and tend to everyone's wounds as best you can," said Razgriz, "I'll take care of Apollo… And watch out for Azrael, I have a feeling he has something else planned aside from watching his apprentice do all the work."

"Be careful, he may be fighting the curse but he's still under Azrael's control."

She nodded, and flew towards Apollo. He did the same, blade first. She formed two blades of her own in each hand, one light and one dark, and countered his attacks with them.

"Keep fighting it Retter! Fight the curse!"

"I… I can't! Argh!" He shouted angrily.

He swung his blades harder and swifter each time. Razgriz found it more and more difficult to avoid and block them as he continued to attack. During one of his barrages she noticed his eyes were flickering with red and white energy and he gritted his teeth the point of almost breaking them. Even the blade glowed with red energy.

'Azrael… He must be fueling the curse directly at this distance!' She thought, rather hopelessly.

While she was thinking Apollo managed to fly a short distance above her. He came down on her with his blade faster than she anticipated. She crossed her blades to block the attack but they were shattered into pieces, luckily the blade hadn't hit her. But the force of the attack, combined with the breaking of her magic, sent her spiraling towards the ground. She landed in a roll and came to a stop on her back, looking up at a roaring Apollo. She managed to sit up as he flew towards her, in a diagonal dive, once more blade first.

"Retter… No…"

She closed her eyes, not having the strength to even move out of the way.

'Move Razgriz! You still have to save him! Move!'

She opened her eyes and saw it was already to late, Apollo was only a few feet away from her now. Everything slowed down as Razgriz took in what she thought to be her last few seconds of life, surely she couldn't survive being pierced by this blade for a third time, not in this body. She closed her eyes again, this time in defeat. Then, to her surprise, she heard a deafening sound of metal meeting metal. She opened her eyes to see, what? A green sword was in front of her, blocking Apollo's blade. She followed its length to find its owner, someone she hadn't seen before, and she hadn't even sensed his presences until just now. A warrior clad in odd green armor with even odder green hair exposed from the top of his helmet. He spoke, and not even his voice was familiar, yet it comforted her as its owner had just saved her life.

"Hm, this must be why I'm in this reality."

To Be Continued.

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Hope you enjoyed it! Chapter 8: Enter The Guardian coming soon. For a drawing check the link for "Diamond" in my profile.

Reviews (not FLAMES) are welcome :)