Upon seeing Rouge's capture, Knuckles immediately rushes to her aid. However, the guardian was unaware of the previous stork bot tugging away at it's metal tongue. In the process, the mechanical bird dismantles the pillar that its tongue and cloth was wrapped around. The cloth breaks a part of the pillar from its foundation, and the stork bot swings its tongue in a clockwise direction. In doing so, the heavily wrapped pillar section in the cloth hits an unsuspecting Knuckles. The guardian of the emerald then heads toward the altar side after the devastating blow in an unconscious state. The impact with the altar rendered Knuckles out for the count, but his vulnerable condition left him as prey for the stork bot. Soon after, the metal menace took the echidna in its robotic talons and flew off.

Knuckles the Echidna © SEGA

Art by: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/artiecanvas