Whoa, whoa, hold up, bro. Let me get this straight.
You were on and on last night on #soniccenter talking up a storm, saying that one or more of my rings stats could have been pwned, because of a flashy, yet minor corollary of something I found about a year ago?
I hate to be captain obvious, but 999 can't really be beaten just because you found three more rings to pick up by being in act 2.
You also told me in chat yesterday that you couldn't locate where you were after that rise. You said it was a new stretch of area that was independent of either act. That's Act 2 showing through, I can tell by the smasher and the three rings afterward. I've stared at that section of the screen for ten years. This is the area in which I wait for about half a minute with my spinning top to push high enough through the ceiling. It's not a new piece of a level or anything of the sort. >_>
And as for clearing MG2 in that short a time, you might want to refer to Icecap 2. A similar approach had already been banned. Also note that the competition rules say you can't start an act anywhere except for the entry from act 1 boss, or from level select.
Obligatory reference to the possibility that this may already have been discussed; if so then I get today's dunce hat.