I've perfected the ending and the last chapter of Season 1 shall reflect this. This is how I wanted this to go from the start. ENJOY~!
Chapter 16
The Beginning of the End
"Sleep... Now... Me..." Ray walked up the stairs to his room followed by Ralph.
"Vanellope... Don't stay up too late. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow." Ralph chastised her gently.
Ray woke up at 4:30 in the morning and snuck out of bed, trying not to wake Ralph.
As he crept through the hallway, he heard a squeaky yawn as he passed by the guest room.
"Ray?" Vanellope glitched into the hallway.
"Hey... Give this to Ralph when he wakes up." Ray whispered and handed her a black box.
"Sure thing..." she yawned loudly then glitched back into her room.
Ray took the secret door up to the roof and sat on the edge.
"Right on time." Justin teleported next to him.
"Punctual as usual... Now let's start."
They began a quick sparring session and kept up the momentum until they heard a knock on the ceiling.
"Ray! You up there?! I got the note!" Ralph's voice penetrated the morning silence.
Ray unlatched the door and Ralph hopped through.
"Now that you're here, let's try something different." Ray went to a corner of the roof and pulled a tile revealing a keypad.
He typed in some coordinates and the roof turned into a 6 story building downtown surrounded by similar buildings all equipped with air ducts, metal pipes, and littered with gravel.
"Good thing you're wearing those boots or this gravel would murder your feet. Now, first person to the green pole wins. Ready?" Ray pointed to a glowing pole in the distance.
"When did you find the time to build this?" Justin was in awe as he took in the scenery.
"Well this was my old training spot before... let's get going."
Ray leapt off the roof and landed on an adjacent roof in a roll.
Ralph followed suit, but fell feet first.
Justin came last landing on a ledge.
"Watch it! You fall and you're disqualified!" Ray slid under a pipe then looked back. "I taught you better than that!"
Ralph and Ray we're neck and neck, but Ray knew something the wrecker didn't.
He hopped from the roof into a window just below the roof with the pole on it and kicked a support beam causing it to collapse.
Ralph and Justin were about to touch the pole, but the building fell and they fell with it.
"Winnah!" Ray shouted as he floated up with the pole and they fell onto Ray's roof.
"Damn... That was a workout." Ralph commented as he rubbed his neck.
"How'd you do that?" Justin inquired as he regained his footing.
"I learned that move the hard way. Know your surroundings."
"Well tomorrow Ralph's going back so let's spend this last day doing what he wants to do." Justin suggested.
"Sounds like a plan. What'd you want to do?" Ray turned to Ralph.
"Well..."
"Whoa..." Ray gushed as he saw the huge bowl of ramen.
"Why did you want to take this challenge again?" Justin sat on the Ralph's left while Ray was on his right holding Vanellope.
"I need this." Ralph picked up a pair of steel chopsticks and nodded in respect to the meal on front of him.
"You have 15 minutes to complete the challenge. Begin!"
Ralph began slurping down the ramen like it was no one's business.
Vanellope cheered him on in her own special way.
"Don't gag, stinkbrain! You got this!"
Only 2 minutes in and he was almost halfway done.
'Where did he get that iron stomach?! That ramen is super spicy!' Ray thought to himself as he watched his love devour his meal.
'I had to eat scraps for 30 years. Your stomach becomes a lot more tolerant after a while.'
'Whoa... you heard that? And how are your lips not moving?'
'Yeah. We're linked. Remember that time 3 years ago during the invasion?'
'That wasn't an alternate timeline...?'
'Linked.'
'I love you~'
'Love you too.'
Ralph was so busy mind chatting with Ray; he didn't notice he was finished until his sticks clinked at the bottom of the bowl.
"Winner!"
"Yes he is." Ray spoke softly as he watched his boyfriend pose for his picture.
"He needs a new pose."
New Year's Eve came and Ray, Vanellope, Ralph, and Justin filed into Litwak's around 5 in the morning to return them to their games. All the while, Ray was searching his pockets frantically for something.
"Where's the medal?! Where is it?! I had it yesterday on the roof..."
"You left it on the roof?!" Justin barked as he ran up to Ray.
"No. But my pockets did get lighter during the race..."
"Wait... I can track it!" Justin dashed into the code room and began his search for the medal.
'The roof, Ray? The roof?' Ralph inquired.
'Says the guy that was wiggling his ass in my face on purpose.' Ray shot back.
'You saw that?'
'Your subtlety level is under 9000.'
'I believe it's over 9000.'
'Don't you meme me you Vegeta look alike.'
"Found it!" Justin broke the silence of the room with his outburst. "I'm surprised the two of you stayed so quiet while I was working. Usually you'd be hardcore flirting."
"You have no clue." Ray commented as Ralph stifled a giggle.
Vanellope was still asleep on his shoulder. The cause? Toonami.
"Now... the signal has been traced to an abandoned mansion on the countryside."
"Who has it?" Ray inquired gripping the back of Justin's shirt.
"Well... That's the bad part."
"Let me guess..."
"Ashton's gauntlet signal was with the medal."
"Damn it!" Ray shot a bolt of lightning at the wall in anger.
"Wait! This may be a good thing. He could've brought the Big 4 to the mansion, so it's the perfect chance to take them all out at once." Justin plugged the coordinates into his gauntlet. "Simple."
"But how are we gonna get Vanellope home?"
Justin opened a drawer full of medals. "I mass produced then so I could sell them to the Bazaar."
"Remind me after this is all done to make you do 100 pushups..." Ray growled under his breath.
"Are they coming?" Ganondorf inquired as he sat in a poorly lit room with Ashton, Dr. Wily, and Sephiroth.
"They've defeated all but one of our generals. Sephiroth, Where's your general!?"
"He's guarding the door."
"But Ray has accessed the full power of X Mode. He won't go down easy." Ashton added.
"Let him come. He will fall like all that came before him."
Mr. Litwak closed the arcade so both search and destroy missions wouldn't be interrupted. Ray's mission to defeat the Big 4 and the mission to destroy the Virus Factory.
"Can I count on you to lead your team to victory without me?" Ray asked Sean before they went their separate ways.
"You can count on me!" He replied with a thumbs up.
Ray, Justin, and Ralph reached the mansion about 30 minutes after leaving the arcade.
"This place reminds me of Bowser's castle without his face all over it..." Ray commented. "Do you think they're actually in there?"
As they reached the door, a huge sword crashed in front of them.
"I'm gonna say yes..."
The sword was one foot wide and someone had wrapped it in bandages.
A white cloaked man with golden spiky hair and a scarf covering his mouth appeared from behind a tree.
"What business do you have here?" He inquired as he pulled the sword from the ground.
"Cloud Strife... We're here to defeat the Big 4 of Litwak's Arcade. Step aside, please."
"I can't do that, Ray. My master won't free me unless I defeat you."
"But you're not a bad guy."
"As the strongest general of Litwak's Big 4, I shall not lose."
Ray's armor flashed onto his body. "Legendary Katado! Appear!" Ray swiped the once again golden card and his master weapon slipped into his fingers. "This shall be a learning experience for us both." Ray opened the blade and charged it with his natural electricity.
"Don't disappoint, son of code."
"That's my line."
Ray dashed at Cloud and bashed his sword into the air.
Cloud skillfully dodged the follow up strike by hopping if Ray shoulder and grabbed his sword. On the way back down, he used the momentum from his fall to knock Ray's weapon away from his body, allowing him to jab at the Codemaster's chest.
Ray regained his breath and exchanged blows with Cloud.
They clashed repeatedly, neither fighter lowering their guards.
Every time Ray found an opening, Cloud countered his strikes as if they were telegraphed, and every time Cloud saw an opportunity to get the upper hand, he was outmatched by Ray's speed.
"How could someone so strong, talented and good fight for evil?"
"As long as I fight for Sephiroth, he stays away from my game."
"I could stop him. Let me help you!"
"If you can defeat me, you may enter."
"Fine then," Ray slid back and tapped his gauntlet. "X Mode Activate!" Cloud was blinded by the transformation. A lightning bolt threw him back with the sheer force of the impact.
"Finishing move! X Thunder!" Ray threw the Katado into the air and charged electricity in his hands. He then grabbed his sword and slashed an X in front of Cloud. Cloud hid behind his sword to block the attack. The massive blade disintegrated.
"I'm sorry about this." Ray whispered as he dealt a final slash sending Cloud back to the arcade.
"Wasn't that guy from the PS2 in the snack bar?" Ralph inquired as they entered the mansion.
"Yes. But now we have bigger fish to fry."
They crept through the mansion slowly, but were stopped at the stairs by none other than Ganondorf.
"I'll take care of this." Justin stated as he stepped in front of Ray.
"You? The student? Thinks he can fight a Big 4 member on his own?! Laughable!"
"Take him out." Ray growled as he stepped back with Ralph.
"Codemaster! Sonic Boom!" His armor appeared and he charged Ganon.
Ferocious blows were exchanged and blood splattered onto the floor. Justin lost his footing momentarily, allowing Ganon to catch him with a Shadow Punch to the chest.
"That's it! Code Change! Sonic the Hedgehog!" He crushed the card and his armor began to change.
His helmet was replaced with a pair of shades, his shoes became hover shoes, and his lower body armor became lighter and more flexible.
He tapped the shades which activated a built-in scanner. "Attack high, Defense mid, weakness... Really?" Justin sighed and pulled out a card.
"Element Bow!" He crushed the card and took aim at Ganon's weak spot, his triforce hand.
"Fire!" He scored a direct hit and Ganon fell to his knees.
"How could this happen?"
"I will end you if you throw a pun at him..." Ray whispered harshly.
"You should've... tried force." Justin kicked Ganon down the stairs and back to the arcade.
"That's 1000 pushups now."
Ray hit Dr. Wily with a sneak attack and sent him back to the arcade.
Now only Sephiroth remained.
They entered the grand ballroom to find him along with Ashton standing in the center of the floor.
"We are the last of the Big 4. Even if you defeat us, our master will send new members to replace us. We shall never be defeated!" Sephiroth pulled a sword from thin air. Its blade was longer than 3 Ralphs.
"I've put too much effort into this! Prepare to die!" Ashton bellowed as he transformed into the Shadow Wrecker. "I won't be using my shadow clones this time. All their power is mine and mine alone!"
"Ready guys?" Ray inquired as he took his stance.
"Ready!"
"Codemaster! I'm gonna wreck it!"
"Codemaster! Sonic Boom!"
Ray charged Sephiroth with his Katado and clashed against his saber repeatedly.
Meanwhile, Justin was dodging piles of rubble being chucked at him by the Shadow Wrecker as he shot arrow after arrow just barely missing his mark each time.
Ray hopped over Sephiroth and slashed his one black wing at the connector, but that only made him madder as he dealt a rapid thrust combo to Ray with the latter barely dodging in time.
"This is getting me nowhere! X Mode Activate!" The X's graced his armor and deflected a beam of light shot at him by Sephiroth.
"Enough!" Sephiroth sliced Ray's blade into code. As Ray dodged thrust after thrust from his opponent's sword, he could faintly hear his protégé summoning his Code Change powers.
"Weak points? Where are you?" Justin asked himself as his glasses scanned his enemy.
"AHA!" He shouted as he shot an ice arrow directly at the Shadow Wrecker's feet.
"Whoa... That's cool..." The latter commented as he shivered on the spot.
"Finisher! Icy Wind!" Justin shot his arrow through Shadow Wrecker, turning him back into Ashton.
Needless to say, the ex codemaster was furious.
"Well if I can't beat you, you're going down with me!" Ashton bellowed as he dashed at Justin and got him in a bear hug.
"Stop!"
Ashton began to glow white. He smirked, and then exploded violently, leaving nothing but a corpse that used to be Justin.
"JUSTIN!" Ray watched the scene before him with red tinted glasses. Nothing could suppress the rage that was building inside him.
"You took my student and best friend away from me..." Ray stated as he disengaged his armor.
The real Ashton floated above them. "At least that double did something right."
"You're not even hurt!?" That was the straw that broke the camel's back. "If I can't defeat you using my X Mode or my legendary weapon, I still have one other option." Ray took his gauntlet and dropped it on the floor.
His body surged with a dark aura and he began chanting in an unknown language. Static clung to his fists as a dark emblem appeared above him.
The air around him and Sephiroth grew thicker by the minute.
"My virus has pulled all his darkness to the surface!" Ashton gloated. "He's our puppet now..."
"This is the true power of the Shadow Paladin. The reason my grandpa wanted my dad to train me. I am the prince of Darkness! I am almighty! The darkness has taken hold and it feels good!"
Ray's arms became more buff, his hair became longer, and his smile, instead of a genuine happy smile, became an evil grin.
"Ray..." Ralph could only watch as his beloved turn into a monster.
"Do you like me now?! HUH!" 2 blades made of pure darkness appeared in his hands.
"Something is wrong... He should be submitting to us." Ashton's grin became a frightened shudder. "Why isn't he submitting!?"
Ray and Sephiroth began to clash again, but the paladin obviously had the upper hand.
"Shadow Lightning!" Ray pointed the swords at Sephiroth and vaporized him completely, leaving only a black ink stain where he once was.
"I am now the ruler of the Big 4 of Litwak's! First the arcades will bow to me, then the world!" He ranted as he started shooting lightning at random.
"Am I late for the party?" A voice said from behind Ralph.
"Sarah?! Oh, thank goodness! Something's wrong with Ray! I think he's fallen to the darkness!" Ralph's blubbering was silenced by a quick slap to the face courtesy of Sarah.
"Calm it down. I know how to stop this." She stepped forward and pulled out a shiny silver chain with a flash drive on the end of it. She held it out and chanted,
"If one shall conquer the darkness, they must be in tune with another, with the power of earth and the strength of thunder. They must love each other with all their heart, now their true love must complete the final part!"
She jammed the flash drive into Ralph's hand and threw him at Ray.
As soon as they connected, a blinding flash covered the room and trapped them in a bubble of energy.
"It's all up to Ralph now." Sarah sat outside and waited for the results, all the while, Justin was slowly inching his way over to her.
Ralph walked down a light blue corridor as he searched for Ray.
"Where are you babe?!" He barked. Suddenly, he heard fighting from the end of the hall.
When Ralph reached the room, he saw a dark purple version of Ray fighting what he assumed was the real Ray.
"Give in to the darkness! It feels good!" Shadow Ray jested as he dodged kicks and jabs.
"Never! I'll never become him! You can't make me!" Ray got a good shot in to the doppelganger's chest.
"Why do you resist me so? Why must you stop my every move?"
"Because he doesn't want to be evil. I should know." Ralph entered the room and stared at the dark avatar.
"Ralph!"
"Let's do this babe... together!" Ralph charged Shadow Ray with a fist cocked back.
"You see that? That's mine." Ray joked as he threw Shadow Ray up into the air and Ralph decked him into the wall.
"Ready?"
"Ready!" Ray launched off of Ralph's outstretched hands and kicked Shadow Ray in the face causing him to bounce up a bit which set Ralph up to uppercut him into the ceiling.
"Finisher! Thunderforce!" Ray sent jolt after jolt into Shadow Ray causing him to fry up on the floor.
"Congratulations... You've gained full control over the darkness in your heart. Jack will not be happy about this..." The fake coughed out before he dissolved into the floor.
"Ray... You feel all right?" Ralph inquired as his lover cracked his neck.
"Never better! Now let's get out of here."
Sarah sat outside the bubble with Justin resting on her side waiting for a sign that the fight had ended, but she was getting impatient.
"Ugh! What's taking so long! This is like waiting for theblacksnorlax to upload!"
Hey! No breaking the fourth wall!
"Sorry..."
Seconds later, the 2 lovebirds descended and fell flat on their faces.
"Not my smoothest landing." Ray commented as he stood up.
"You should've seen me in Sugar Rush the other day. Talk about bad falls."
"Whatever! This one tops that one by a mile!"
"Nu uh!"
"Uh huh!" They went back and forth for a bit until Sarah smacked them both upside the head.
"We got an injured Codemaster here! Pay attention much?!"
"Justin!" Ray squealed as he hugged the air from his student's lungs. He was glad he survived and missed the seconds he was gone.
"Need... air..."
"Sorry."
Next chapter is it! Final one of Season 1 as I like to call it of Wreck-it Ray Final Mix! LEGGO!