When they emerged from the volcano, they found that the land had changed again in their absence; but even as Knuckles got his bearing, the land changed yet again.

"The time between changes is accelerating further," he said. "We must move!"

All around them Echidnaopolis reappeared. Knuckles led her as they cut through the crowd. They ran as lightly as possible—Myla was no longer hurt badly, and Knuckles could stifle his pain, but it was still a struggle for both of them.

They soon found the fault point between old and new, and there Knuckles stopped. "What is it?" asked Myla.

"That tower," he said, "is supposed to be my way up to the Ruins of the Sky. But it has changed! Look." He pointed to a ruin. "That is where I must go, but its connection to that tower," pointing to a building, "is inaccessible."

"We'll do it the hard way, then," said Myla. "All of these towers have elevators—devices that send you up or down. We'll use the elevator to get to the top."

"And then we will hope the Emerald doesn't abandon us," Knuckles said with a wry voice. "Let us go, then!"

They ran to the door. It was locked, but Knuckles solved the problem with his barbs.

Knuckles could see a row of closed doors, with many echidnas around them. That, obviously, was where the elevators would come. However, in his way was a barrier with a very perturbed echidna sitting behind, glaring at them.

Even as Knuckles tried to go around, Myla in tow, the echidna shouted, "Halt!"

"What is it?" asked Myla.

"Your nudie there is wanted by the police! He just tore up our door, and according to my files…" he glanced down at something, "he's wanted on counts of assault and indecent exposure!"

Knuckles glanced at her. "Do we have time for that?"

"That's a definite 'no'."

"Fine." Knuckles turned back. "I am afraid the police will have to wait. I am too busy right now." The echidna gaped at him, so Knuckles took that as his signal to leave. He grabbed Myla and they ran around the barrier to the elevators.

One had just arrived. Knuckles and Myla plowed through the crowd and entered the elevator. The other echidnas quickly backed away. As the doors closed, Knuckles saw several echidnas dressed alike entering the building.

"Were those police?" he asked.

"Yes."

"What "assault" were they referring to? Did he mean that the police think I did wrong by hunting down that thief?"

Myla tried to hide her face. "I'm pretty sure that's what he meant."

Just as Knuckles was readying to communicate his disgust to Myla, the elevator, with a jerk, suddenly stopped its upward motion. Inertia threw the echidnas about, but they quickly recovered. "They're going to try and get to us while we're stuck here!" said Myla. "Knuckles, punch through the ceiling!"

He saw where she was pointing—a kind of grate was on top of the elevator. Knuckles crouched, called upon the Emerald, and jumped.

He smashed through the grate in an instant and landed on top of the elevator. He reached back down and pulled Myla out. Now standing on top, he looked around. "Now what?"

The elevator shaft around was unsettling. Its darkness hurt Knuckles' reckoning of how large the shaft was, but he felt it safe to assume it was enormous. He just hated seeing neither floor nor ceiling.

Myla looked around. "Hey! There! Another elevator's coming up! We can get on to that, right?"

Knuckles checked the distance, but it was coming up so fast he had no time. He chose.

There was a sickening feeling as they fell, but it was over almost instantly when he hit the top of the other elevator. "Are you all right?" he asked Myla. When she nodded, he tore the grate off of the elevator and dropped inside.

The other echidnas in the elevator backed away, but Knuckles hardly noticed them, as he was concentrating on catching Myla. He caught her when she dropped and set her down.

"Don't mind us," said Myla as she pushed a button in the wall. "We're just headed for the top."

The elevator slowed, and when the doors opened, all the other echidnas swiftly piled out.

"They do not like us, do they?"

"It's not every day a nudie and a girl drop in through the top of an elevator. Of course, none of this situation is normal, but you still can't expect that they'd like us suddenly appearing."

They reached their destination without further ado. When the doors opened, Knuckles and Myla were not on the roof; rather, they were on the top floor below the roof.

Knuckles looked out. "There! I see our destination. This tower is above the ruin I need to get to—I can reach it from here!"

Myla smiled. "Good luck, Knuckles."

He was confused. "Good luck?"

"It's a saying. I hope you save the world."

She thought he would leave her behind! Knuckles had never considered such a thing. "I will not leave you behind," he said firmly.

"But there's no way you can get us both over there!" she protested. "You may be able to reach, but not carrying me. Besides," she said, and for a moment she paused. "Besides, I'm… afraid. I couldn't handle it…"

Part of Knuckles' mind was amazed at what he now did; the rest was glad that he'd finally done something. He walked close to her and put a hand on her cheek, rubbing her lips with his thumb. "Listen to me," he commanded. "I need you to come with me. I will not leave you behind. And neither will I let any harm befall you. You, at the least, will be safe. But I could not proceed without you."

She was speechless for a moment, then embraced Knuckles. His heart flipped inside his chest. "Thank you," he said to her.

He turned and walked to the glass barrier between him and the outside. She slipped her hands under his armpits and crossed them, bracing herself to him.

Stuffing his own emotions, Knuckles said, "I am going, now… now… now!"

Crash!

Glass blew out all around Knuckles—beautiful, in a way, had he not been far too busy to appreciate it.

He was past the falling glass by now. His full concentration was devoted to summoning the Emerald's energy. It supported him as he glided through open space towards his destination.

He was falling ever so slowly! There was nothing he could do about it, though, for try as he might he could get no more energy out of the Emerald.

His body was fully extended—back straight, arms forward, legs behind him—the posture he used when the Emerald was supporting his body weight. Myla's body was pressed against his, but that made things easier, for by supporting his body he supported both of them.

The distance between him and the ruin closed, ever so slowly. Thirty echidna-lengths… twenty-five echidna lengths… It was so hard to tell if he'd miss the top!

A supremely loud voice shook him. He lost his concentration!

The air was whipping by him. He was in free-fall!

He fell several echidna-lengths before he recovered and extended his body. He looked angrily to where the sound had come from. It was a machine, floating nearby him. Echidnas dressed as police were inside.

The loud voice spoke again. "What are you doing?"

Knuckles hadn't the time or energy to respond, so he ignored the query and continued on. It was clear now that he would miss the top of the ruin, but not by much.

Closer… closer… there!

He drove his knuckle-barbs into the ruin. As he did, the Emerald's power fled from him, and his body slammed against the wall.

With difficulty—made worse by his carrying Myla—he crawled, hand over hand, towards the top of the ruin. The weight seemed to be tearing his arms out of their sockets, but he pressed on regardless.

When at last he reached the top he felt exhausted—he'd done quite a bit so far today! He prepared to pull some energy from the Emerald, but as he looked up, he saw some police.

He finished hauling both himself and Myla over the edge. "What's this all about?" said Myla at the police.

"He's wanted on charges," said one of the police. "Assault, indecent exposure, and two counts of vandalism! Not to mention that bizarre flying-from-the-window thing, that sure got our attention."

Knuckles couldn't help but laugh. "Some hoodlums trash a store and the police do not care, Myla, but I stop a thief and it is "assault"!"

"Tell it to the judge!" barked one of the police.

Knuckles nodded at Myla. She understood. "Sorry, pal, but we're a little busy saving the world. Why don't you chill out a bit?"

Thunk! One of the police stumbled backwards, then fell.

The other police glanced at his partner. Knuckles aimed his second rock right at his temple.

Thunk! At such high speeds, the rocks were enough. The second police collapsed to the ground.

With the threat eliminated, Knuckles and Myla scrambled to their feet. He led the way. "What are we looking for?" she asked.

"There it is!" said Knuckles. He pointed at a purple orb, surrounded by mechanical apparatus. "We can use this to appear in the Hidden Palace!" He went to the base, quickly configuring it to do what he wished.

"A teleport orb!" said Myla. "There are only, I think, three of these!"

"I use them all," said Knuckles.

"But they're not safe for people to use!"

Screeeeeee…

They looked around. Time had caught them!

"The land is changing! Come!"

He leapt upon the orb. She hesitated just a moment, then moved to join him.

Light shone about them, and not just from the changing land; the teleport orb was powering up. Myla leapt into Knuckles' arms. Knuckles held Myla tightly, and she did the same.

Mere moments before the land changed, the light around them grew to blinding proportions.

And then… nothing.

Total nothingness.