Crash immediately ran up to the kangaroo like he had done with all of his previous encounters with opposition, but the kangaroo, as mad as he was, kicked Crash back with his two large, blue feet. The force rocketed Crash into the opposite wall, and the kangaroo merely flipped back onto his feet once more.
"Y-you're gonna have to t-t-try harder than...heheheheh...THAT!" He lunged towards Crash in one monstrous leap. Aku Aku immediately fired a beam, but the kangaroo was too quick, and leaped up into the air and onto Aku Aku. Crash pulled himself up. He looked back to see a a crack his body had made in the wall, all the way up to the ceiling. The place was too unstable to fight for too much longer. Crash snapped off the claws of the remains of one of the Sky Demons and threw them at the blue bullet. Almost instinctively, the kangaroo kicked them back at such a high speed, they became lodged into the wall behind Crash. He heard the wall crack even more as a drop of water fell on his head.
"F-face it, b-b-bandicoot...hahaha...there is n-no way to w-w-win against the m-m-mighty...heeheehee...Ripper Roo!" He began rolling on the floor, not being able to control his laughter. "I-I will taste b-bandicoot blood tonight!" He spun on the ground, propelling himself onto the wall, where he bounced off towards Crash at a blinding velocity. It was all Crash could do to defend himself against the swift and powerful kicks that seemed to come from every direction. Aku Aku got up again and fired his laser at Ripper Roo. The blast grazed his skin, causing him to fall of course and crash into several Sky Demon bodies. Crash looked around his feet and found one of the soot-covered swords and picked it up. Ripper Roo hopped back up and grinned at Crash.
"That s-sword will only...hahahaha...SLOW YOU DOWN!" He lunged at Crash, who immediately thrust the sword into the cracked wall behind him. He closed his eyes and a massive torrent of water savagely plundered into the room, filling it up about halfway. Aku Aku began to laugh.
"Too bad, Ripper Roo. It looks like you've lost your speed. Give up, so we won't have to harm you."
His head burst through the lake that Crash had created. "Y-you tricked..hehehehe...ME!" He looked down into the murky water and began to laugh. "You f-f-forgot one small d-detail..."
The bodies of the Demons began to bob up to the surface of the water. Ripper Roo swam up to one and climbed ontop, regaining his balance. As soon as he did, however, the skeleton began to sink back into the water, forcing him to quickly hop between skeletons to stay atop the water. Crash floated up and clutched clumisly onto a skeleton, gasping for air. The only one not affected was Aku Aku, who was able to hover above the water.
"Y-you...hahaha...STILL LOSE!" Ripper Roo sprung at Aku Aku, who barely managed to dodge the kick.
"Crash, there's only one option; I'm going to need you trust me." Aku Aku looked over to see that Crash had slipped off and was slowly falling deeper into the water. Immediately, Aku Aku dived in and placed himself on Crash's face just seconds before his lungs filled with the tainted soot-water. A light began to fill the room up, and the murky water turned crystal clear, as the shining, Aku Aku-possessed Crash rose above the water. He then descended onto the water and began to gently walk on it towards Ripper Roo. The sound of drums echoed in the room around them.
"W-What have you done?!" Ripper Roo began to hop away, but in vain. Aku Aku caught up to him within the second, snatching him up by the neck.
"Ripper Roo, you have meddled with forces outside of your control," Aku Aku boomed, "begone, before I see fit to destroy you!" He raised his free hand, and the water began to evaporate into a mist. As soon as their feet touched the solid ground once again, Aku Aku let go of Ripper Roo's neck, allowing him to dart out of the ruins and into the jungle. Aku Aku and Crash began to glow again as their bodies came apart. The room went dark once more, and the sound of drums quieted. Crash collapsed on his backside, eyes wide in disbelief.
"I'm sorry to have done that to you, my child, but I saw no other option." Crash pulled himself up and forced a smile through the pain he was feeling from being beat into the wall. "Let's find that gem and move back towards the surface; I believe the rain has finally stopped." Crash nodded, and scooped up the gem, which had fallen onto the throne. As he touched the throne, his eyes immediately closed and he collapsed onto the ground. He could hear Aku Aku's foggy voice slowly fade away as a vision flooded into his head.
A light grew bright, and his body moved him through a hallway into the same room, but adorned with tapestries and color. He was guided towards the throne, where a long man sat. He couldn't see him, but he understood that he was there. The man began to speak not in words, but in color and feeling through his mind. He could tell the man was fearful of his life. From out of his line of sight, what he understood to be his minion, sliced the man's neck, allowing his blood to spill. The trail of blood weaved and moved along the floor like a serpent, meeting several other snakes of blood. They hissed and and snapped at each other, eventually coiling into one large serpent, which turned towards Crash. Unable to move, Crash could only watch as the red beast lunged at him. The snake pierced his fangs into Crash, piercing his skin. The pain immediately woke him up. Aku Aku was still trying to communicate with him.
"Are you okay, Crash? What happened to you?" Crash was dazed. He looked down at his chest to see four scratches in the shape of a square, each with a drop of blood protruding from them. He tried to stand up, but couldn't, as the pains from the fight suddenly took hold of his weak body. Aku Aku moved towards him. Crash looked in front of him and saw the gem, hovering and spinning as he blacked out once more.