Hey everyone! Welcome back to the story! Hope you're ready for an update! Here we go! By the way, realfanficts, cameos means something like guest appearances. So anytime something from another series, or a minor character keeps making small appearances, is featured in a story, it can be called a cameo.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans or Sonic the Hedgehog, or any affiliates. Man, I really need to think of something interesting to say in this part...

Chapter 26: The Perfect Finish!

The group ran further up the stairs, arriving at the door, ready to attack whatever lay behind it. Robin and Sonic jumped into the air, and kicked the door down, bursting into the room.

"All right Eggman!" Sonic said.

"The party's ov--!" Robin began. "Huh?" he said, noticing what was actually in the room.

Emerl was standing in a large room, full of computer terminals, and a few larger pieces of equipment. Eggman was nowhere to be found. Only Emerl was in the room, clasping the last three Chaos Emeralds.

"Hmm? Oh, hello everyone." he said calmly.

"Emerl, what's up?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah. Shouldn't old Eggman be in here somewhere, blasting you with some machine, and you fighting back?" Cyborg said.

Emerl shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe he ran. He wasn't in here when I came in. Just the Emeralds here." he said.

"Well, that doesn't make any sense..." Rouge said.

"Tell me about it." BeastBoy said, nodding. "He wouldn't have old man Chang in that Superbot if he just planned on running..." he said. "...would he?" he asked.

Everyone was silent.

"Well, what matters now is Emerl's winnings." Raven said.

"Yeah! Absorb the last three Emeralds!" Tails said.

"No need to tell me twice." Emerl said, clutching the three Emeralds to his chest. A bright light began to originate from Emerl, covering his body, as the three Chaos Emeralds slowly slid into his body, and the light grew brighter, causing him to become engulfed by the light, and everyone shielded their eyes. Once everything began to dim, they uncovered their eyes and saw Emerl standing there, a somewhat blank look on his face.

"Emerl?" Starfire said.

"Tell us how you're feeling." Shadow said.

Emerl remained silent.

"Emerl?" Tails said, steeping up to him to touch his shoulder.

"Show me..." Emerl said, in a much deeper and more commanding voice. It startled Tails, causing him to step back.

"W-What?"

"Show me your power. Or I will not obey. I represent all things, and shall become Gizoid, conqueror of all." Emerl said.

"What's up with the freaky talk?" BeastBoy asked.

"I-I don't know!" Tails said.

"Wait..." Shadow said. Everyone looked at him. "Gerald told me once, 'Shadow, you are not alone in this mission I ask of you. Should you ever meet the robot of ancient times, remember these words...bring hope to humanity.'"

"But what does it mean?" Robin asked.

"I think it's some kind of password." Shadow said. "I'll try it." he said, stepping up to Emerl. "Gizoid! Ancient weapon of legend, I command you, bring hope to humanity!" he said.

For a minute, Emerl just stood there blankly. Then something changed in his look, and he looked over at everyone. "Huh? What's with the looks? Don't get so serious on me now!" he said, back to his calm, yet happy manner.

Everyone sighed.

"Whew! He really had us going for a minute there!" Sonic said.

"Yeah. Glad that's over." Robin said.

"Come on. I've had enough of this place." Raven said.

"Yeah, me too." Knuckles said.

"Affirmative." Silver Sonic said.

"All right. Let's go." Emerl said.

Everyone began to group together to head out the door, but...

"Not so fast!" Came a voice from a corner. Everyone turned to see Eggman standing, a big smirk on his face.

"Eggman!" everyone said.

"Of course. Like you said, it just wouldn't seem right to run, would it?" Eggman said. "I merely planted the Emeralds, and waited for the Gizoid to absorb them. I wanted it to be fully awakened when I unveiled this!" he said, pressing a button on a console. A screen appeared, showing a floating spherical orb, somewhere in space. "Witness the ultimate planet destroying battleship...the Death Egg, equipped with the Final Egg Blaster!" he said. "There's no way any of you could hope to stop its strength!" he said. "Well...except for that Gizoid, but it can take the risk of challenging me, can it?" Eggman said, pointing at Emerl, before heading into one of a few pods laying against a wall. Stepping in and pressing a few buttons, Eggman began to disappear.

"..." Emerl was silent, then, without warning, took off after Eggman, diving into the pod right as a bright light engulfed them both, and they were apparently transported to the Death Egg.

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Eggman and Emerl rematerialized within dis Death Egg. The instant they were material enough, Eggman took ahold of Emerl, and tossed him onto a panel in the center of the wide room. As soon as he landed in it, an electrical cage appeared around Emerl, trapping him inside.

"Mwahahaha!" Eggman laughed. "As expected, you fell right for it!" he said.

"What are you talking about?" Emerl said.

"I knew a little taunting would make you want to flaunt that new strength of yours, so I had you follow me here, to implement my plan. Now!" he said, pressing a button on another console. "Look at the view." he said, pointing at a large looking glass on one side. Emerl turned, and saw what must have been the Final Egg Blaster charging up. After putting so much energy into the tip, a laser fired into the depths of space, reaching further into the distance, until a distant burst of light appeared. "Mwahahaha! How do you feel, Gizoid?" Eggman said. "All the stars in that area have been destroyed! What do you say?" he asked.

"What? I-I feel...weird..." Emerl said, before returning to the blank look he had before. "Data acquisition initiated..." he said, in his powerful commanding voice, the voice of the ancient weapon, Gizoid.

Eggman pressed a few more buttons on his console, linking with the one on Earth. The Titans, and Sonic and friends, appeared on the screen. "Take a good look, little ones! This is farewell to your little friend!"

"What are you doing to Emerl?" Tails said.

"Mwahahaha! You all may have formed a Link with the Gizoid, binding his loyalty to you, but there's one thing that you overlooked...the Gizoid will forge a new Link if someone of greater power comes along! The Gizoid is mine!" Eggman said. "Isn't that right, Gizoid?" he asked, smirking as he turned to Emerl. Emerl had stepped over to a console, and had connected to it with some wires. Emerl was still silent, until...

"Launch Final Egg Blaster at Earth..."

"What? Gizoid! Halt!" Eggman commanded, running to him. "I can't take over the world if it's vanished! I command you to stop!" he said.

Emerl simply, hit Eggman with the back of his fist, sending him flying back into the transporter tube. "Silence." Emerl commanded, and the transporter tube activated, sending Eggman back to Earth.

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As Eggman reappeared in the tube, no one payed any attention.

"What can we do?" Rouge said.

"Yeah, at this rate, the Earth's toast!" Cyborg said.

"I was afraid of this." Tails said. "Emerl's absorbed too much power and is going berserk. The only way I can think of stopping him is..." he trailed off.

"Is?" Robin asked.

"...Initiate a battle with him. If he's beaten enough, he should stop. But...he can't control his strength...and will probably destroyed. There are four other transporter tubes. It looks like there's only enough power for one two way trip with each. Only four can go, and only once, so make it count. Who's going to go?" he asked.

"Emerl's our friend." Sonic said. "I know he would rather be destroyed than to live with the fact that he annihalated the Earth. I'm going."

"As a fellow project of Gerald Robotnik, I can't allow him to run rampant. I'm going, as well." Shadow said.

"I have a duty to the citizens of the city to protect them from any threat. It's my job to go." Robin said.

"Okay, that's three. Anyone else?" Tails said.

BeastBoy glanced at Rouge, then stepped forward. "I'll go, too." he said.

"You sure?" Tails asked.

"Well, without an Earth there'd be no Rouge, and after all we've been through, that'd be pretty bad, don't you think?" he said, grinning.

"Beastie..." Rouge said.

"All right." Tails said. "Step into the transporters." he said, and they did so. The familiar light engulfed them, and they were transported to the Death Egg.

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Once inside, they headed right over to where Emerl was standing, still hooked into the console. "Final Egg Blaster nearing full charge..."

"Emerl, stop!" Robin yelled. Emerl paid him no heed.

"Do you want to destroy the Earth?" Sonic said.

"Come on! After all we went through?" BeastBoy said.

"..." Emerl was still silent.

"Gizoid, ancient weapon of legend, show us your power! Initiate battle mode!" Shadow said.

Something in Emerl's eyes seemed to flash. The cords connecting him to the console retreated back into his body. "Request granted..." Emerl said, then dashed so quickly forward it was like he was floating above the ground. Colliding his shoulder into BeastBoy, he went flying to the back, against a wall.

"Ow! Holy crap, he's strong!" he said.

Sonic dashed forward, and punched Emerl in the stomach. Emerl slid backwards a bit, but then jumped in the air, clutched both fists together, and tried to use an overhead smash on Sonic. Sonic dodged, though, and Emerl hit the ground, creating a crater. As Emerl was getting up, Robin jumped in the air, and slammed him across the head with his metal staff. Emerl slid across to the right, and Shadow was waiting.

"Chaos Spear!" he said, shotting several shots at Emerl. Emerl turned to them, and holding out his palm, deflecting them in all directions, sending them crashing into the walls. BeastBoy appeared behind him, in gorilla form, and grabbed him under the arms, trying to hold him still. As Robin came forward to continue the attack, Emerl grabbed BeastBoy, and swung him into Robin, sending them both flying. Sonic and Shadow both zoomed towards Emerl, but Emerl demonstrated more of his strength. Lifting one foot and slamming it into the ground, Emerl created a shockwave that sent everyone into the air. As they were airborne, Emerl jumped after them, punching Robin backward into Sonic, throwing those two into BeastBoy, then slamming the three towards the ground, rushing to grab Shadow, then heading back to the ground, so that the falling group of three collided with both Shadow and his hand, then tossing them to the side. As the group tried to get back up, Emerl ran past them, scraping his hand across the ground. After he passed them, a second passed where nothing happened, then, suddenly a trail of fire where he slid his hand appeared, nearly burning the group. They were able to avoid in time, though. Breathing heavily, they stood wearily.

"He's tough, isn't he?" Robin said.

"No kidding." Sonic said. "We keep up like this, we're finished, and so will the planet!"

"Yeah, but what can we do?" BeastBoy said.

"He just seems to be getting stronger by the second." Shadow said.

"Hold up!" Sonic said. "I got an idea!"

"What?" Robin said.

"Just hold up and follow me." Sonic said. Running forward, he zigzagged around Emerl, apparently baiting him. As Emerl kept attacking, Sonic kept dodging. It was like Sonic was waiting for something. Suddenly, what he was waiting for must have come, for he quickly spindashed right into Emerl's chest, pushing him back, farther and farther, until it became apparent what Sonic had planned. Emerl and Sonic hurtled right into one of the active transporters, which engulfed them in light and transported them back to Earth.

"Follow them!" Robin said, and they rushed into the other three transporters.

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A bright light came from one of the transporters, and Sonic and Emerl appeared, Sonic still pushing against Emerl. BeastBoy, Shadow and Robin appeared a second later. Emerl's resistance seemed to be gaining though.

"What are you waiting for?" Robin yelled.

"Attack him together! It's the only way to beat him!" Shadow said, as Sonic's last burst pushed Emerl backward. BeastBoy headbutted Emerl as a minotaur, sending him another way. Cyborg blasted him with his Sonic Cannon, then Silver Sonic blasted missiles at him. Shadow shot another volley of Chaos Spears at him, and Starfire fired her eyebeams, through teary eyes. Raven lifted him up with her dark magic, and threw him to Robin, who sent him airborne again, and Knuckles and Rouge jumped into the air after him, delivering a simultaneous axe kick and downward punch. Emerl crashed into the ground, and lay still. Everyone looked at him, until he sat up, once again a different look in his eyes.

"Guys..." he said. "...I did something bad, didn't I?" he said.

"You are not at fault." Silver Sonic said. "My former master was responsible for your rogue actions."

"Still, it was nice to spend time with you guys before this had to happen..." Emerl continued.

"Emerl?" Tails asked.

"Thanks for taking such good care of me, Tails. Sonic, you were a good friend, but treat Knuckles and Shadow a little better, will you? They're good guys." Emerl went on, not paying attention to anyone else.

"Kid...all right." Sonic said.

"Thanks for the compliment, but what's with the attitude?" Knuckles asked.

"So, you realize what's happening." Shadow said, his eyes closed.

"Tell Amy and Cream to enjoy themselves, all right? Tell Espio, Charmy, and Vector to keep up their ambitions. Tell Big to keep with the simple life. It's the best way to live."

"We will." Robin said.

"Silver Sonic, don't let the past govern your actions. Live for the days to come."

"Affirmative..." Silver Sonic replied.

"Robin, stay focused, but not so much that you lose sight of anything else. Starfire, enjoy the simpler things even more. Raven, I hope you can show more emotion someday. Cyborg, remember, technology isn't what makes you. BeastBoy, Rouge...treat each other well."

"Emerl..." Starfire said.

"Little man, you got a big brain." Cyborg said.

"Don't worry about Beastie, all right?" Rouge said.

"Ditto with Rouge, okay?" BeastBoy said.

"Now I've said all I need to say. At least I got to do that before..." Emerl began, then turned silent. A slow, steady beeping began, then sped up, until it was a continuous, shrill sound. Emerl was engulfed by a bright light of his own, and everything seemed to rush inward toward him a bit, then burst outward...

...as Emerl exploded. Everyone shielded their eyes, covering themselves from the debris, while the explosion destroyed the consoles, the monitors, the transporter tubes, and blew the windows outward.

Once the explosion had settled, nothing was left of Emerl, save for one Emerald laying on the ground. The others must have been spread out by the explosion. Tails stepped over to the Emerald, and picked it up, holding it close.

"Gerald's final program..." Shadow said. "Should a machine begin to go rampant, it will automatically destroy itself. Such a travesty..." he said.

"Emerl..." Tails said.

"Hey, little buddy..." Sonic said. "Don't worry. So long as we have the Emeralds, we can always remember Emerl, and honor his memory by continuing to do good. Right?" he asked everyone.

Everyone nodded. "Right." they said. Looking over at the wreckage of the transporter tubes, they noticed something.

"Oh, no! Eggman's gone!" Rouge said.

"Oh, great, he's gone again!" Cyborg said.

Everyone ran back downstairs, hoping to maybe catch him outside the building...

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Once they got outside, they were greeted with the sight of several cops there, with Chang, and the group of terrified guards, in the middle of getting arrested. Unfortunately, they noticed Eggman wasn't one of the ones getting arrested. It looked like they'd have to wait until his next plan before they'd get him.

"Yo! What's up?" Cyborg asked.

"We got an anonymous tip that the Titans and their allies might need a few arrests made while they were busy. Looks like the guy was right." the police chief said.

"Yeah, but who would tell them?" Knuckles asked.

"Who knew about it?" Sonic said. "It's not like stuff like this is announced in superhero television interviews or something."

As everyone pondered this, BeastBoy's eyes caught something. Across the street, in the alley, was the boss of the guards, leaning against a wall, watching the arrests in mild enjoyment, when he caught sight of BeastBoy looking at him. He smirked.

BeastBoy stared at him a bit, then had to clear something up. You? he mouthed.

The boss just smirked a bit more. BeastBoy grinned. Thank you! he mouthed again.

The boss put two fingers up to his forehead, then put them down, in a sort of affirmative salute, then began walking away from the scene, still smirking.

'That guy sure is cool.' BeastBoy thought. 'I wonder if we'll see him again?' he thought.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

Whew! Big chapter, I believe. I do hope this chapter was the zenith of the arc, as it is the finish of the arc. I hope it was action packed enough, as well as with enough emotion, after all, Emerl is no more.

Plus, we have more from the mysterious boss of the guards. Is he to appear again, like BeastBoy thinks? Well, if you guys like him, he probably will!

Stay tuned, the next arc, Sonic Riders, begins next chapter! Another arc that's based around more of a fun event, rather than an evil plan, kind of like the Tournament arc was. Stick around.

Tell me what you thought! R&R, please! Later!