Disclaimer: I do not own Knuckles, Rouge or any of the other official SEGA characters. Aki is property of me.

Yes, I finally got around to writing this chapter…I'm really sorry it took so long, but I think I've just about figured this fight scene out. Now, without further ado, here is the long-awaited (or not…) Chapter 5!

Protector-Chapter 5

Knuckles turned to the door, fists clenched, teeth barred, ready to clock Fang in the face just as soon as the door opened…

But after a few moments, the door remained shut.

Confused, Knuckles looked out the window of her hospital room. Aki was still unconscious on the ground, but Fang was nowhere to be seen.

"What the…where'd that weasel slink off to?" he wondered as he looked down the halls for any sign of Fang. "This doesn't make sense…" he wondered aloud. "He wouldn't just leave without making some kind of move on either me or Rouge…"

"…Bingo."

Knuckles whirled around to see the shifty weasel right behind him, standing next to Rouge's bed.

"Son of a…how'd you get in here?" Knuckles demanded. Fang simply pointed upwards with his gun. Knuckles looked in the direction to see the air vent, the cover completely gone.

"You're right. I ain't leaving here till I get my payback on this broad."

Knuckles started to charge towards him, but screeched to a halt when Fang put the gun up to her head. "Not so fast, hot shot! One more move, and I'll personally make sure she never leaves this hospital!"

The echidna clenched his fists, gritting his teeth. "Damn…" he growled. Seeing that Knuckles wouldn't dare risk Rouge's life, Fang started to put his gun away. But before the echidna could react, the weasel quickly turned the gun on him and fired four times, knocking the echidna into the wall.

But it wasn't bullets that were fired.

When Knuckles got his bearings back, he found that his wrists and anklets were pinned to the wall by 4 metal bands. "The hell is this?" Knuckles exclaimed. He tried to break free, but the bands wouldn't budge.

"Don't bother trying to escape." Fang explained. "Once those bars find something to stick to, there's no breaking free." He smirked, twirling his gun around his index finger. "Nice little gift courtesy of Dr. Eggman."

"Eggman? He still trusts you enough to give you this?"

"I never said he 'gave' them to me." Fang laughed. "I found these little babies while I was sneaking around Eggman's base." Fang stepped in front of Knuckles, staring him dead in the eye. "And now that I know you won't interfere," He held up his gun. "…I'm gonna have a little fun."

Fang flicked a single bullet out of his glove and loaded it into the gun. He spun the barrel around a few times, then twirled the gun and aimed right at Rouge. "Let's just see how lucky your woman is."

"What are you…!"

He pulled the trigger.

Nothing.

"Hmmm…got lucky this time…" Fang muttered as Knuckles strained to break free of his restraints. "Didn't I tell you? You can't escape." Fang twirled his gun around his finger, tossing it behind his back, and catching it on his other finger. "Just sit back and enjoy the show."

"He's just toying with me!" Knuckles realized. "Dammit! There's no way to break free!"

Again, Fang pulled the trigger.

Nothing.

"That's twice…" Fang muttered again, twirling his gun.

"If you hurt her…" Knuckles growled. Fang turned to the guardian, boiling with rage. "If you hurt her again…I'll kill you!"

Fang just merely laughed. "You're in no position to be making threats! You couldn't save her last time, and you sure as hell won't save her this time!"

That was the last straw.

Something inside Knuckles snapped and with a great roar, he broke free of his restraints, much to the weasel's horror.

"Wh…wh…what! Th…those restraints were 100 titanium! There's no way…!"

Before Fang could finish, Knuckles grabbed the gun out of his hand. The weasel could only watch as Knuckles crushed the gun with a single fist, the pieces falling to the floor.

"Your luck just ran out, Fang…"

Knuckles smashed his fist into Fang's face, sending the weasel hurtling through the glass window and into the opposite wall, where he fell to the floor with a dull thud.

"Ohhhh…" Aki moaned, rubbing the back of her neck. She had just regained consciousness and now had a throbbing pain in her neck. "Ouch…what happened?"

Her question was soon answered when she saw Fang lying on the ground, unconscious.

"WAAAAAUGH!" Aki shrieked in surprise, scooting back away from the body. "Wh…wh…wha…that…did…wha…!"

"Relax, Aki." came a voice from Rouge's room. Aki turned to see Knuckles, standing by the broken window, a relieved smile on his face. "I got him."

A/N: Whew! It's over! I originally had another idea for this fight scene, but after an old episode of 24, I got this idea.

There's just one more chapter to go...sad, huh? It should be up as early as tomorrow morning, so please check back. Until next time, R&R!

On another note, Happy 15th Birthday to Sonic the Hedgehog! Here's to 15 more years of speediness and then some:)