Before the exit counter variable goes to zero, call the new level complete screen code, which forces the counter to freeze.
if player.exiting == 10
[...]
intermission = true
[...]
end
if intermission == true
[...]
player.exiting = $1 + 1 // this is decremented every frame. increment it to "freeze" it.
[...]
Thanks. The NiGHTS bug has been fixed and... I thought giving +10 energy for every ring box would be cheating (as the player's start energy is 50). Maybe 1/4 of the max energy?