Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic&Co. I do own Rouge's parents though! They are my own characters! –grins-

Also…note that there will be characters from the video game, Sonic Riders. Just to let you know…they aren't mine either.

Chapter 3

Knuckles arrived on his island in no time at all. The moment he landed, the intense calling of the Master Emerald ascended dramatically, causing the red hero to grip his head and fall to his knees.

'Something is very wrong here…it's never been this strong before…' he thought as he regained his footing. Knowing immediately which way to go, Knuckles took off towards the shrine.

The massive trees of the island were becoming rather bothersome and Knuckles is not one for patience. With a mighty roar, he thrust his powerful fists forward and pummeled through each and every tree that happened to be in his way. Crash after crash echoed throughout the forest as he continued on to the shrine. Soon, he made it to the stairway and began his climb. His pace was slowing down as the calling in his mind increased, but he pushed his legs to there limit and moved quickly up the stairs. About halfway up, Knuckles missed a step and slipped, bashing his chin and nose on the stone stairs beneath him. He lay there for a while, rubbing his nose free of the blood the fall had caused. Then he picked himself up and ran as fast as he could. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Knuckles made it to the top.

The one messing with the Emerald had already removed it from its altar and was getting ready to take flight. Knuckles growled, his mind registering the pitch-black wings and white fur as Rouge. As he ran after her, his eyes focused and he realized that it wasn't Rouge. This bat fit the description of Rouge's mother, Crystal. He stopped in his tracks and gasped.

The gasp caused the bat to turn and jump in slight surprise. She had no idea that there were others on the island. She visibly relaxed, however, as she noticed the bewildered appearance of the red echidna. Crystal took a step towards Knuckles, who stepped back slightly, but then retook his step forward and shouted,

"THAT EMERALD IS MINE! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO STEAL IT FROM ITS PLACE HERE! RETURN THE EMERALD AND LEAVE!"

Shocked by his sudden aggression, Crystal replied, "Well, well, well. Don't we have a loudmouth? That's no way to speak to a lady." She took another step forward, taking in the echidna's growing diffidence with every move she made. "You don't have the confidence to take me on. I can see it in your stance. No, it's not confidence. You're way too much of a gentleman to fight a woman."

Knuckles was taken aback by her perception. 'How can she assume that from just looking at me?'

"I've had experience with all sorts of men, boy." She said as though she had read his mind. "You're the kind whose shyness is what holds them back from going anywhere with women. I'll bet you're still a virgin, aren't you?"

Knuckles' face burned bright red and he clenched his fists. "GET OFF MY ISLAND!" he screamed, desperately trying to hide his embarrassment.

Crystal smirked. She was winning this battle of wits. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, boy. You are just a late bloomer, that's all." She said and started to laugh.

"LEAVE! NOW!" he shouted. Knuckles wasn't going to sit here and let this bat make fun of him. Finally managing to get his feet to move, he lunged at Crystal, tackling her to the ground.

The move was unexpected and hit Crystal hard. She struggled to free herself from his grip, but his strength greatly over powered her own. He had her pinned to the ground, his hand in a tight fist and ready to pummel into her face. His fist sailed through the air. Crystal cringed, awaiting pain from the blow. She screamed as the blow made contact, but surprisingly, the blow didn't hit her. At the last minute, Knuckles had changed his fist's course and punched the ground just millimeters away from her head. Contact from the hit caused the ground to crumble and fall in, creating a small crater around them.

Crystal remained stunned on the ground as Knuckles stood up and dusted himself off. He then walked over to the Master Emerald and hefted it over his head. Without saying a word to Crystal, he went back to the altar and placed the Emerald back in its rightful place. After a sigh of relief, Knuckles then returned to the bat who was still lying on the ground.

"No one makes off with my Emerald. No one tries to make off with my Emerald." Knuckles stated, grabbing Crystal's wrist and forcing her to her feet. He grabbed her shoulders roughly and asked, "Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?" Crystal nodded slowly. "Good. Now LEAVE!" Knuckles demanded, shoving Crystal to the ground. She squeaked and scrambled away, got to her feet and flew off.

Knuckles watched as Crystal flew off, making sure she didn't turn back with the intent of returning. When it was pretty obvious that she wasn't coming back, Knuckles sank to the ground, holding his fist he had thrust into the ground in pain. Several bones in his hand had been shattered from the strike to the ground. It had already been damaged from busting through the enormous trees of the forest, so the ground hit only made it worse.

As he stared off into the sky, he suddenly sensed another presence. His body tensed and he slowly stood back up, still clutching his injured hand. The other person there with him was making no attempt to hide himself any longer. Knuckles could hear every unstable step that was being made and was starting to feel a powerful desire to just rush through the woods like a battering ram as he did earlier. But he withheld from doing so.

"Come and find me, boy." Said the other being from the woods. There was a harsh and heavy cough afterwards.

Then a terrifying screech pierced through the air. Knuckles felt a deep shudder through his entire body and suddenly couldn't move.

"Actually, I think I'll come to you."

Then, from the forest emerged the rather beaten form of Rouge's father, Garnet. His wing that had been previously injured hung limply, seeming completely useless. Knuckles tried to move, but his body seemed to have been paralyzed. All he could do was growl and grunt, making it obvious to Garnet that he was immobile.

"You won't be able to move for quite some time. I've paralyzed you." Knuckles growled louder. Garnet shrugged and continued, "I don't think I'm under any obligation to explain how I've paralyzed you, so you may as well stop your feeble growls and sit, or should I say stand, there in silence like a good little boy. I've come to take what my mate had failed to." With that, Garnet turned and made his way to the altar of the Master Emerald.

Knuckles snarled as best he could in his paralyzed state and tried to move. His body didn't seem to be responding to any of the commands his brain was giving.

'Shit. Shit! SHIT! Why can't I move! Move damn it! MOVE! I need to get to the Emerald!' He thought desperately.

Then, a loud thud was heard from the altar. Knuckles grunted as he tried to turn and see what was happening. As he made more distressed sounds, Garnet suddenly came sailing through the air past him, as though he had been thrown. There would have been a sigh of relief from the echidna, but Garnet came flying back at a greater speed and returned to the altar.

'What the hell is going on!' Knuckles tried his utmost hardest to break free of whatever was holding him, but still couldn't move a muscle.

"Get back here with that! That gem belongs to me!" Came the voice of Garnet.

"Oh, I don't think so, pal!" a voice said in response, followed by a cackle of laughter.

'Wait…I know that voice!' Knuckles thought.

"You don't have any idea who you're dealing with, do you, little birdie?" Garnet said, as he spread his wings to take flight after the thief. He gave a slight grunt due to the pain in his injured wing.

"You're the one who doesn't know who he's dealing with." The voice said.

"Jet! We need to get moving! NOW!" another, more feminine voice shouted.

"Relax, Wave. There's no way that old bat could do anything to…"

Garnet then appeared right before Jet and roundhouse kicked him squarely in the beak. Jet, in a daze, began to descend rapidly to the ground.

There was a softer thud, followed by a very loud thud. Jet had fallen and so had the Master Emerald. Knuckles knew he had to move, and soon! There were two, maybe three thieves here after his emerald.

'DAMMIT! MOVE!' was Knuckles' only thought, but he still could get no reaction from his muscles.

"Jet! Get up or he'll get the gem!" Wave cried as she swooped down at Garnet who was making his way towards the Master Emerald.

Jet lay on the ground, his head spinning from the collision. Wave's demand did not reach him, but he stood and wobbled over to the emerald. Garnet turned and saw the hawk reach the Master Emerald.

Wave took this opportunity to strike and aimed a kick straight for the back of the bat's head. Holding her breath, she jetted forward and landed the blow directly on it's target. Garnet fell to the ground, unconscious. After a short outburst of victory, the purple swallow ran to her woozy companion who had been leaning on the Master Emerald for support.

"Wave…I don't think I can fly…" Jet said warily. He pushed off of the emerald and ended up landing on his face.

"Oh, come on Jet!" she replied in frustration, picking him up and leaning him against the emerald again. "You've taken hits way more powerful than anything that old man could dish out! Now, get up! We have to go."

Jet growled and thrust a feathered finger at his friend. "Hey! You take a kick squarely to the beak from that guy, while in flight, and tell me how it feels!" he shouted angrily.

"Don't yell at me, pea-brain! I wasn't the one who was getting cocky!" Wave said, pushing his hand away from her face. She walked to the other side of the emerald and proceeded to heave on the enormous gem.

Jet simply laughed at her feeble attempts. He whistled and as soon as he was done, a shadow soared overhead. A large grey bird made a rather clumsy landing before the green hawk and with a salute said, "Ya call me, Boss?"

With a motion towards the purple swallow, Jet replied, "Help Wave carry this gem to our lair, would you Storm?"

"Right away!"

Storm waddled to the gem and easily hefted it over his head. Wave had been holding onto it and was tossed to the area where the still paralyzed Knuckles stood. She sat up, grumbling something about the stupidity of the big oaf, Storm, when she suddenly gasped and backed up when she saw Knuckles standing before her.

'Oh man! If she finds out I can't move, they'll definitely run off with the Master!' Knuckles thought. Desperately tried to move, but only managed to make more noises. 'Well…this is officially hopeless. What am I going to do?'

Author's Note: I apologize for the extremely long wait for this chapter. Thank you for your patients and for the reviews!