Don't take this chapter too seriously. It's more segway than anything. Enjoy~!

Chapter 15

Ace in the Hole

Ray was adjusting his gauntlet for a trip into his DS when Vanellope walked in with a backpack full of sugary snacks.

"V... You know you can't come with me. If you died in this game, you won't respawn." Ray warned her as he set the DS on the table.

"But you need backup! I've gotta help!" She slung the pack on her back and gave Ray a sad face.

His resolve broke. "You're staying beside me the entire time. Don't leave my sight. Got it?"

"OK!" She responded as she slipped on the medal and grabbed Ray's hand.

"Transport! Game Central Station-3DS Red BlackLax!"

A flash of light shot them into Ray's DS as fast as you could say Dream Eater.

When they entered the station, it seemed just like the GCS they were used to, but with different characters and it was a bit smaller. The trains had been replaced with teleport pads as well.

"Ralph's tracker signal is coming from Apollo Justice, Ace Attorney. There's no real threat of death there."

"You put a tracker on stinkbrain?" Vanellope threw a smirk at Ray.

"You thought the boots were for show?" Ray threw the sugary racer a grin. "I only planned on using it if he got into trouble here." They followed the signal and entered the tunnel to the game.

The courtroom was abuzz with activity. There was a trial that had yet to begin and the attorney on the defense was panicking.

"Oh man oh man oh man! I couldn't find any evidence to help my client! All the witnesses were pulled before I could talk to them and this is only my second case!" Needless to say, Apollo was shaken.

"I've been through worse." His casually dressed boss, Phoenix Wright, replied.

"But this guy isn't even from this game! I don't know how I'm going to defend him!"

"I'll stand with you, Apollo. Leave it to me!" Ray walked up with Vanellope trailing behind.

"You're a lawyer...?" Apollo stared at Ray. He knew him as a codemaster, but not a lawyer.

Ray snapped his fingers and changed into a familiar blue suit with a attorney's badge pinned to it. "Now I am. I'm more than qualified to help you."

"I dunno..."

Phoenix placed a hand on Apollo's shoulder. "I can see the determination in his eyes. He's ready to help prove your client's innocence."

"Where is he?" Ray looked around for his boyfriend.

"He's in maximum security until the trial starts. They didn't want him escaping."

"Soon, he'll be declared innocent." The group walked into the courtroom and took their places.

The judge banged his gavel and addressed the room. "We will commence the trial of Wreck-it Ralph. Is the defense ready?"

"The defense was born ready." Ray replied.

"The prosecution... is ready." Ashton replied from his side, his arms crossed. He wore the same outfit as Miles Edgeworth wore in the original Ace Attorney game.

"Where is Prosecutor Gavin?" The judge asked Ashton.

"He stepped down so I could take this case. It's very important that I be the one to prove the defendant guilty."

"You won't be winning this case, Asston."

"Ok, that's just childish especially for you, Ray." Ashton feigned hurt.

"Can we please get to the trial?" The judge looked pretty mad.

"Right," Ashton cleared his throat and began, "Two nights ago, there was a brutal murder that took place in the abandoned apartment complex on the edge of town. The victim, Molly Sanchez, was crushed under a pile of bricks that was toppled by the defendant."

"Objection!" Ray called out. "What proof do you have that says Ralph caused the bricks to fall on her?"

"Check the Court Record. State Evidence #1, the defendant's blood is on 1/3 of the bricks that fell on Molly."

Ray checked to verify, but he saw a dark aura around that piece of evidence. "This has been tampered with."

"Come again?" The judge asked Ray.

"This is forged evidence. And so soon in the case too." Ray pulled the extra code from the bricks and the blood dissipated. "The blood was added after the murder."

"Mr. Ashton! What do you have to say for yourself!?"

Ashton had not lost his smirk. "That evidence was passed to me by Mr. Gavin before the trial."

"Objection!" Ray declared once more. "There are no signs of Klavier's fingerprints or any at all for that matter on this evidence. If he did give it to you, he would've left prints."

The court was in an uproar.

"Now that I think about it, there was no official autopsy report. The body was never recovered. Just a bloody arm and a bracelet. How do we know "Molly" every existed?"

"Because I planted her there!"

The courtroom went silent. Ashton had admitted to planting the victim at the scene of the crime.

"You killed her, didn't you?" Ray asked the prosecutor quietly as his voice wouldn't get any louder.

"This isn't my trial. It's Ralph's."

"We've already established you forged evidence and planted the victim at the scene. Who's to say you didn't kill her and pin it on Ralph?"

Ashton growled. "I won't be defeated again... not here."

He pulled out his gauntlet and shot a gray beam at Ray's chest. The defense watched as Ray was broken down into basic code and faded.

"Ray!" Vanellope dashed from her spot in the audience and grasped at where her brother figure once was.

"We'll meet again." Ashton disappeared in a veil of darkness.

Ray woke to Ralph's relieved face.

"They let me off. I almost got canned. Thanks babe..." Ray let out a relieved sigh. He soon realized he was in Ralph's lap.

The last thing he remembered was his vision fading and darkness.

"No problem. I've studied how this game works way too much to lose to him. The case was in your favor."

Ray looked up as Apollo approached the group. He liked just as relieved as the rest of the group.

"Thanks for the save. He blocked my access to the Court Record so I couldn't fulfill my duty as a lawyer." Apollo shook Ray's hand.

"Don't mention it. This wasn't your fight in the first place. Good luck in the future!" Ray waved to the Ace Attorney gang and teleported his crew back to his house.

"So the virus has been planted?" Sephiroth asked Ashton when he returned.

The ex-codemaster returned a smirk. His hair was disheveled and his shirt had seen better days. "Everyone thought he was dead, but soon, they'll wish he was."