It was nearly nightfall and after bestowing upon Steven a powerful sealing spell, the two men make their way towards the Catacomb with The Clothier taking the lead. Steven was donned in silver armor while also wielding a silver broadsword; despite his old age one couldn’t help but to respect his courage. Looking around, Lunaris was quite surprised by the unusual scenery. It certainly was not what he was expecting. Instead of a foreboding landscape filled with rotting trees and various graves, or even a graveyard, there was instead... A lush forest?. This forest didn’t at all give off any sense of danger, in fact, one couldn’t even tell there was a catacomb in the area. There is however one thing that stood out most to Lunaris as he says:
“Hmm, no undead walking around this place... Not even any guards or undead guardians. There’s literally... Nothing, nothing unusual at all.”
“Exactly... Do not let appearances deceive you Lunaris. That’s exactly what Skeletron wants you to think, It’s how he’s been catching people off guard during the day and why we couldn’t, at first, track down his lair. That previous bunch of heroes and adventurer’s I mentioned back at The Tavern?, they all disappeared. The local populace became too fearful to investigate but I couldn’t allow their lives to be snuffed out for nothing. So, I followed the path they took and found myself in these very woods. I had the exact same reaction as you did and I was about to call off the search, at least, until I saw zombie. It was one of the adventurers...”
“Good god, Steven... What the hell are we truly dealing with?. I heard of Skeletron’s powerful necromancy but you make it sound as if this was all-”
“Intentional?, yes... Because it is. I mentioned this too back at The Tavern, Skeletron is incredibly smart. He’s got the mind of a tactician despite being a sack of bones, he’s not exactly your typical ‘Saturday morning cartoon villain’. We need to be careful. There!, up ahead... That’s the entrance to this place.”
Finally, they stand before the entrance of The Catacomb which was in the form of a large cave opening. With determined expressions, Lunaris turns to his friend and asks:
“You sure you want to do this Steven?, I know I sound like a broken record but it’s not too late to turn back now.”
“It’s fine Lunaris, I’m going to see this through to the end. I appreciate you worrying about me my friend but this must be done, I just want you to know... No matter what happens here tonight it will not change the man that I am. I shall wield Skeletron’s power in order to protect Terraria, this I swear to every man, woman, and child. None shall fear the undead plague of the north any longer.”
“[SIGH] Alright then Steven... I’ll take your word for it.”, Lunaris then conjures up a spherical/orb shaped object which floats itself just above the two men. “Orb Of Light, best thing to have to explore a dark cave or a catacomb, in this case. Well... A Shine Potion might be a bit better.”
“Ok, let’s go meet our necromancer.”
-CATACOMBS-
Some time goes by and the two men now finds themselves within a large chamber, so large in fact that it may very well be the largest throughout the entire Catacomb. The skeletal remains of long deceased individuals were placed within the walls of the chamber, via manholes, along with rusted weapons and armor sat nearby. Some individuals were even laid to rest with their effects still equipped. The two men gazed upon a particular object which floated in a rather noticeable portion of the chamber surrounded by blue energy.
"Is that... a sword?"
"Wait... why would Skeletron have a-"
[HEAHAHAHAHA]
“Here he comes Lunaris!, be ready!”, Steven shouts as a most unusual, yet highly disturbing, scenario plays out before them:
The skeletal remains that littered the walls of the chamber begins to float in the air as they all then fly towards the sword. The eye sockets of each skeleton were both glowing and leaking a black aura while that same aura enveloped the rest of their skeletal structures. All of the skeletons, suddenly, broke apart and begins to meld together creating a much larger skeletal being.
“W-wait, what’s going on?”
“What are you talking about Steven?”
“That... That’s not Skeletron’s true form!”
“Seriously?, why am I not surprised... Show yourself you coward!. What’s wrong, too afraid to show the real you?. You disappoint me, Skeletron.”
”[CHUCKLE] You speak of cowardice... Have you forgotten whos domain you are in?. Worms, I don’t need to fight you personally. I have more pressing concerns to attend to.”
“The hell do you mean by that?!, your biggest concern is the two of us standing before you!”, Lunaris exclaims as an electrical surge surrounds his right hand, Steven grits his teeth and readies his silver broadsword. Lunaris then aims his hand towards ‘Skeletron’ and says: “Tell us right now!, what do you mean by that?!”
“I don’t like this Lunaris, this is different from his usual approach. Why would-”, Suddenly, Steven’s eyes shot wide open with realization. “Oh my god... I’ve doomed everyone back in the settlement. Lunaris... He wants us to be here!”
”Aw, good boy Steven. I knew you would catch on, my old friend.”
“Steven!, talk to me!. The hell is this psycho on about?”
“We must return to the settlement right now Lunaris!. Skeletron is attacking it as we-”
”You two aren’t going anywhere. This catacomb... Is now yours, enjoy your stay.”
[SLAM]
The doors to the chamber are suddenly forced shut with frightening force. The large skeletal being lifts its right hand into the air and summons forth two large, floating, skulls.
”[CHUCKLES] You’re going to have a bad time.”, ‘Skeletron’ antagonizes as he extends his right hand forward and points an index finger at the two men shouting: ”Kill them!”
On cue both of the large skulls rushes forward, separates towards their chosen target, and attempts to ram into the two terrarians. Both men managed to dodge in time upon which Steven lets out a war cry and slices into the side of the large skull that targeted him as it flies by. Lunaris lets loose a powerful bolt of lightning which strikes the other large skull, causing it to shatter on impact. The mage then turns his attention towards the skull that continues to pester Steven as he puts both of his hands together, generates a large surge of electricity in his hands, and thrusts his arms forward releasing yet another powerful bolt of lightning.
[CRASH] [CLONK]
The sounds of bones falling to the floor engulfs the chamber as the second skull is shattered as well.
“Thanks for the assist, Lunaris.”
“No problem Steven.”, lunaris replies as he then turns to ‘Skeletron’. “That all you got?, at this rate you’re just annoying.”, Lunaris antagonizes as he prepares another bolt of lightning.
“Ok, I confess... I’m not actually trying to kill you. This piece of my consciousness lacks the power to do so I’m afraid. However, It’s enough to keep you... Entertained.”, Upon saying those words, ‘Skeletron’ takes on a rushing stance as the large skeletal being takes off and runs forward shouting: “I will continue to annoy you both until you drop and rot before me!”
“Here he comes again!”, Steven exclaims as the two men brace themselves for the oncoming skeletal behemoth’s impact. Lunaris teleports away but before Steven could dodge again, ‘Skeletron’ suddenly stops; skis across the floor for a moment, and side steps with Steven. The large skeleton then extends their right hand out as its large skeletal hands covers Steven’s head completely. ‘Skeletron’ lifts Steven into the air, the fashionista muffling his words in the process, as the large skeleton says:
”Is this the best you could offer Steven?, come on, let me hear you squeal. Beg me to let go of you, so I can tighten my grip and pop your head like a grape.”
“[MUFFLE]... I... Make...”
”What’s that Steven?, I can’t hear you in there. Are you asking me to squeeze harder?, oh, you masochist.”
“A... Great... Distraction.”
[ZAP] [SIZZLING] [BOOM]
Suddenly, a large bolt of electricity impacts ‘Skeletron’s’ back causing the entity to shatter to pieces thus dropping Steven in the process.
“He’s saying you forgot about me, smart ass.”, Lunaris retorts with a smirk. Steven recollected himself and ran over to the mage as he says:
“He’s just toying with us now, we need to put that thing down for good and get out of here. Who knows how much damage Skeletron is already causing to the settlement by now.”
[WHIRL] [CLANK]
The same black aura from before begins to whirl around the chamber as if a small tornado were trapped with the two men. The bones of the shattered entity begins to reconstruct itself, much to the displeasure of the terrarians. In mere moments, ‘Skeletron’ now stands before them once again.
”I told you before, this body can not be destroyed permanently. It may lack the power to kill you both in an instant, but it’s more than enough to-”
[WHAPACK]
Suddenly, ‘Skeletron’s’ words were cut off as Lunaris throws a blue pouch at him. The mage then points a finger towards the pouch, which now laid at the feet of the skeletal being, and charges up another bolt of lightning.
”[CHUCKLE] What’s this?, desperation?, is this a pouch of gold?”, ‘Skeletron' antagonizes.
“No, Purification Powder.”, With that retort, Lunaris fires his bolt of lightning from his finger which makes impact with the pouch resulting in a small explosion. This causes the powder to completely cover the entity as it dissolves the bones of ‘Skeletron’.
“RRRAAAAWWWWwww.....rrrggghhhh”, ‘Skeletron’ cries out; said cries slowly dies down as the powder reduces the being’s form to nothing but ash. In that very instant, the doors to the chamber opens up again allowing the two terrarians to leave.
“How in the hell did you get Purification Powder?”, Steven question’s in disbelief.
“My friend Sai Sahan has some connections to The Dryad’s. His family more specifically, they’ve been collecting this stuff over the years and has hidden away the stash. He gave that pouch to me as a gift and I’ve been saving it for a rainy day. To be honest?... I didn’t expect that to work.”
"Well, now that that's over with let's attend to this swor- It's gone!, the blade is gone Lunaris."
"What?!, when did he- no, there's no time for that now Steven!."
"You're right, you're right. let’s get back out there and stop him!”, Steven exclaims which causes Lunaris to nod his head understandably. Magical energy begins to form around the mage as he says:
“I’ll teleport us back to the settlement, take my hand Steven!”, Heeding his request, Steven takes the gesture as the two disappears in a beam of light.
[SHIM]
[SHIM]
The two men reappears in a beam of light as Lunaris regains his composure first and says:
“Alright, I’ve teleported us back to the...”, Lunaris cuts off his own words as his eyes shot wide open.
“I’ve got to learn that trick of your- oh my god...”, Steven’s train of thought was also derailed as he witnesses the same spectacle before him.
Before their very eyes was the settlement being torn apart by a large hoard of undead. Fires began to consume the buildings as the screaming of men, woman, and even children echoed across the landscape. Most disturbingly of all was the large, floating, skeletal abomination himself looking down upon the town condescendingly: Skeletron.
”Took you long enough, gentlemen.”
Skeletron's presence wasn't the only thing that shocked the two men as they realize that the night sky was noticeably... red?. Especially, the moon itself. Steven sees this and says:
"Oh no... The Blood Moon!"
