They found the Spade King on the rooftops of his castle. They also found Lancer.
"Father!" said Lancer. He had not noticed them yet. His attention was completely on the man in shadows, with only the glint of his crown visible.
"Lancer, my son," said the Spade King. "Have you dispatched the Lightners as I commanded?"
"Well, no…" said Lancer. "But I did even better! It turns out we don't have to fight them! They said they could just talk to you and—"
"THEY'RE ALIVE?"
"Yes, and I think you would like them a lot!" said Lancer. "There's Susie, she's purple and very strong, and—"
"WHERE ARE THEY NOW?" The Spade King roared.
"Ummm…"
"Hey," said Susie, just the hint of a growl in her tone, as she stepped forward.
"It's nice to meet you!" said Ralsei as he followed.
The Spade King stared them down.
"…Lancer," said the Spade King. "Do you remember what I told you?"
"D…don't get too attached?" said Lancer.
"You have failed," said the Spade King. "They have poisoned you with their sentimentality. Free yourself, Lancer. They care not for you. Their only goal is to destroy our glorious Fountain."
"N…no they aren't—"
Lancer was cut short as the Spade King's hand clawed through his clothes and lifted him into the air.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" the Spade King roared
"Let him go!" said Susie.
The Spade King laughed. Geeze, this guy even laughed like a villain. But Mabel could find no humor in it as the King raised his hand, the same hand that carried Lancer, and held it above the rooftop railing.
"You want me to let him go now?" said the Spade King. "I'll drop him off the edge and let him splatter...unless you all learn your place and KNEEL before me!"
Mabel fell to shaking knees. Her mind was elsewhere, her eyes scanning the battlefield for any advantage she could take. If she could somehow strike the King from behind, somehow get him caught off-guard enough for him to let go of Lancer…
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dipper reaching for his Portal Gun as slow as he dared, thinking the same thing she was.
They didn't need to. A single, spade-shaped bullet struck the King, causing him to stumble and lower his arm. Lancer wriggled free and barreled past them, not even stopping as Greg offered candy from his hat, and ran into the castle.
All for the better, Mabel thought. She wasn't sure if she could hold herself back against the Spade King now.
*MABEL'S Will is changing…STARLIGHT BREAKER became INTEGRAL BLAZING!
*DIPPER'S Will is changing…CONIFEROUS BUSTER became ENDURANCE BREAKER!
Mabel and Dipper ran through the storm of spade-bullets, their eyes set squarely on the King himself. Mabel waved her wand and started her attack. But rather than the large star she expected, she was greeted with many star-shape bullets, nearly as many as the spade bullets she was surrounded by. They swirled around Dipper's attack, not just one but three tree-shaped bullets.
The Spade King shook as the bullet hit him, but otherwise did not move.
"How dare you come here, Lightners?" said the Spade King. "You left us in the shadows, stripped of meaning…you dare to torment us once again?"
Mabel had not realized his attack started until it was too late. The tendril that hung from the King's stomach lashed out at her, glowing with magic as it transformed into a bullet.
*CORALINE'S Will is changing… KOUMPOUNOPHOBIA became BRAVER SWORD!
Coraline moved between them, holding out her sword to Defend. The tendril struck the metal of her sword, again and again, trying to find a way to the girl on the other side. Coraline trembled, but did not break her hold. Her sword began to glow with the magic it absorbed.
Coraline swung her sword down. The blade did not strike the King; she was too far away, and too inexperienced to do any real damage. The magic that the sword had gathered did that for her. Two thin lines of bullet magic moved away from her sword and lashed out at the King.
The King stumbled backwards with the force of the attack. He was quick to catch himself, focusing his attack on Coraline. His tendril lashed out at her again, the spade-shaped ending parting to latch onto her Soul.
Coraline found herself thrown into the air and tossed through a sea of spade bullets. She tried to curl up on herself, tried to hide her Soul against the onslaught of attacks and brace herself for impact. It hardly helped. The bullets pierced her Soul and she was tossed to the ground.
Coraline tried to pull herself back to her feet. The shadow of a King loomed before her.
"Begone, Lightners!" said the King. "For we have found fresh purpose. Our Knight has appeared, and we will blanket this world into Darkness together!"
"Candy ATTACK!"
Two mints and a candy bar bounced off the King's skin, distracting him long enough for Greg to run to her side.
"Take the cinnamon ones," said Greg.
"Why, does it heal more?" said Coraline.
"No, I just think it's tastier!"
The King had recovered from Greg's attack, but he was angrier now than ever. He waved his hand, summoning another sea of spade-bullets, each one aimed directly for Greg.
*WIRT'S Will is changing… SONG OF THE FOREST became JUST LIGHT!
A bright light shined upon the field. It was different than Wirt's usual Action. Rather than falling into the lantern, the spade bullets in its path burned, turning into ashy-dust in its wake. The light continued on its path, heading straight for the Spade King as a kind of magic beam bullet. It struck, knocking the King over with its sheer force.
Coraline turned her head towards Wirt. He was standing above them now, the lantern in his hands. He must have run to catch up with them; his cone hat had blown off of his head. It made the horn-like stumps on his head visible. As the light of the lantern died down, the rings of light around his eyes became visible. Coraline dared herself to look away from his face and down to his Soul, which fluttered around his chest like a bird with a broken wing. Parts of it were missing, leaving behind small, square-shaped holes. Others did not seem to know where they belonged, and darted from one section to another in waves of static.
The King groaned. That was right. There was still a battle going on. Coraline did not have time to ask questions, or wonder just what happened to Wirt that made this, or get scared for her friend. Popping one of Greg's candies into her mouth, she rose to her feet and stood, preparing herself for whatever attack he threw at them next.
But nothing happened. The Spade King stumbled as he rose, only managing to slump on his knees.
"You are…far stronger than I envisioned…" said the Spade King. Enough is enough. I see…I see that I cannot defeat you. Lightners…I…perhaps I have been too cruel."
"You just threatened to throw your son off a roof," said Norman.
"The truth is, I was not always this way," said the Spade King. "There was once a time where Darkners and Lightners lived in harmony. It would be a lie to say that I, too, do not yearn for these days. Perhaps…perhaps you are right. Please…let us put away our weapons. There must be a peaceful solution to all this."
No one moved a muscle. No one was ready to forgive him after seeing what he did to Lancer. No one thought the battle was really over.
No one, that is, except for Ralsei.
"I'm glad you're starting to realize, Mr. King," said Ralsei. "None of us really want to fight."
The King let out an agonizing cough.
"My apologies, I…" said the King. "I am not used to fighting this way. My body is…getting weak…"
"Oh, don't say another word!" said Ralsei.
Ralsei's magic surrounded the King.
"There, you should be all healed up," said Ralsei. "How do you feel?"
"Never better,"
A storm of spade bullets struck Ralsei down before he could answer.
Ralsei did not simply collapse. He did not even turn to dust, like a monster would. (W̷o̵u̵l̵d̴ ̴t̷h̶e̶y̸?̶ ̶H̶o̴w̷ ̴w̴o̶u̵l̸d̷ ̷h̴e̶ ̴k̴n̵o̵w̶ ̷t̶h̵a̶t̶?̷). His Soul didn't even shatter. For one moment, a form was inside those minty green robes and raspberry scarf, and the next, there was nothing. His robes folded in and crumbled to the ground.
Norman was so distracted by Ralsei that he had no time to think about the Spade King. He found himself snatched off the ground, dangling from the heart-shaped locket that hung around his neck, face-to-face with the Spade King.
"Hey, let him go!" said Coraline.
"Oh, spare me the heroics," said the Spade King. His mask focused on to Norman. "You were the ones that dared to destroy this world our Knight has created. Now tell me, did you intend to fight, or just talk me to death? Were you going to laugh as you cast us into obscurity once more?"
Norman didn't know if he should be answering these questions. He didn't know that these were questions that had an answer. All he knew right now was that the locket chain was incredibly thick, and it was twisting around his neck as he struggled.
"Our Knight has made this world right," said the Spade King. "And I will defend the world they created with my last breath."
The Spade King stopped short. Out of the corner of his eye, Norman could see Susie, her ax pointed at the small of his back.
"Let. Him. Go." said Susie.
The Spade King laughed. It was then Norman noticed the sounds. At first, he thought it may have been thunder for how loud it was. But it was too frequent, too close together. No, this was the sounds of footsteps.
"Or what?" said the Spade King. "You'll kill me?"
"No," said Susie. "But they will."
The castle rooftop was soon overcome by a horde of Darkners. Ruddins, Hathys, Jigsawrys, and a whole slew of Darkners Norman could not make out or did not recognize marched as one army. Distracted, the Spade King dropped Norman, who landed on top of a Hearthy. Lancer sat beside him, carried comfortably by the Darkners below as if he were crowd-surfing.
"What's up, blue kid?" said Lancer.
"Did you never learn my name?" said Norman.
"Nope!"
"What is the meaning of this?" said the Spade King.
"Sorry, Dad! You're being overthrown!" said Lancer. "Now I'm the dad!"
"You idiots!" said the Spade King. "The Lightners are your enemies!"
"Everyone remembers how kind the Lightners were to them," said Lancer. "And they would much rather have a king like that!"
"FOOLS! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!"
As mighty as the Spade King was, he could not compete with the will of every Darkner united. The army of Darkners soon overcame the King, swallowing him into the crowd and forcing him down into the dungeons.
"Yikes!" said Lancer. "I think someone needs a time out!"