AN: I'm going on vacation in a few days and, as such, won't be able to write. It isn't too long, but it marks the end of my summer vacation, and the starting of school. Sorry for all these inconviences, but I managed to grind out this chapter for you. Enjoy!

Chapter 10: Skeletron Prime

"Gather around one and all, and welcome back our friend, the guide. While we thought he was dead, the spirit of darkness used him to bring destruction and death. He has lost his greatest weapon, and now he will be fighting like the cornered rat he is. We've smashed two of the three crimson alters, and destroyed two of his three mechanical menaces. Tonight, he will most certainly try to finish us, but we will prevail. I tell you now, one and all, please evacuate the village. Go as far away from it as you can, and don't come back until the morning. I do not want the death of any more of you! Guide, Logrolf and I will deal with the threat!" I said confidently. I was sugarcoating the truth- the spirit of darkness no longer needed guide.
"How do you know that there are only three?" The guide asked curiously. The crowd had just dispersed.
"Dryad told me a few days before she died. The last one will be harder to locate." I replied. I looked at the ground and sighed.
"It's alright Vald. There was nothing you could do." Guide said, forcing a smile. I wanted to argue, but instead forced myself to nod. Now wasn't the time for drama.
"She also said that the night after I destroyed the crimson alter, Skeletron prime would most likely be sent to kill us in a last ditch attempt to keep the last crimson alter safe. Be ready." I said, trying to act confident. As I walked away, Logrolf ran up to me, wearing a full set of sparkling green armor. He had a sword decorated with the same patterns as my hammer hanging by his side by a small strap, rather than a sheath. "What is that sword you have?" I asked instantly.
"This is the blade I used during the great war. It is called Excalibur. It's made of hallowed bars, and it was the most feared blade during the war. It is powered by the blood of the corrupt, and I helped the first hero of Terraria defeat the corruption using it." Logrolf said grimly.

I stood on the edge of the cliff, looking over at the fields of hallow. A few unicorns and pixies roamed around, and the moon began to rise. Guide and Logrolf stood on either side of me, both with swords at the ready. We would be ready for the attack of skeletron prime.
Suddenly, I heard an ear splitting roar, and I instantly activated my wings and flew to the village, Logrolf and Guide following close behind.
"This is what you've been trained for Logrolf. I trust you haven't forgotten your training." Guide said darkly. Guide didn't seem like the same Guide I knew when he was around Logrolf.
"I've been trained in every type of combat by the Dryad and the elves of Summerset, home of the warriors. I don't easily forget something like that." Logrolf said, evidently offended. Guide sighed and turned to me.
"Vald, you've got a mechanical demon to beat down. Fight well, and try not to get yourself killed. I can't possibly deal with all these crazy villagers by myself." Guide joked. I drew my sword and nodded. Logrolf pulled the his blade from its sheath, and swung it at an invisible oponent a few times. Satisfied, he held it by his side. Guide had his diamond plated Muramassa, which I then noticed looked suspiciously like the dungeon sword I had used when I created Night's edge. We stared at the hills, and as the last beams of light were washed away, the demonic horror's red eyes shone from miles away. It was like nothing I had ever seen. The skull was made entirely of metal, its red eyes casting an eerie glow over the entirety of it. The jaw snapped open and shut, and it cackled evily, its four gigantic arms swinging madly. One arm had a huge metal hand on the end, with twitching fingers, all of which crackled with electricity. Another had a large metal cannon on the end, which glowed with red energy. The third was also armed with a cannon, though this one was shorter and was evidently made to launch something. The last one, the most chilling of the four was a gigantic hack saw, covered in dried blood. It looked sharp enough to cut through every metal I could think of, and large enough to cut through an entire house with one stroke. Logrolf launched himself forward quicker than I could follow, and leapt up to meet the beast. The hacksaw was swung towards him, and I watched in terror as he rose his blade. But as the saw hit his sword, he pushed it back, at the same time climbing higher onto the beast's head. He smashed his sword into its head, and clung onto it. Suddenly, it began to spin, and spikes shot out from the skull. Logrolf was flung off, minus his sword, which was still imbedded in the skull. He hit the ground face first. I ran over to him, concerned. Guide followed.
"Logrolf! Are you alright?" I asked, holding out my hand. He coughed and stood up, ignoring me.
"I'm fine. Give me a bow." He said angrily. I handed him my silver bow and a quiver of arrows. With inhuman aim, he knocked the sword from the beast's skull on the first shot, and darted over to catch it. Rather than admire his cleverness, I flew up to the skull and landed on one of the arms. Unfortunately, it was the electric one. A burning pain shot through my legs and all the way through me. I managed to stay conscious, and cut off the hand in a single stroke. A large explosion threw me off, and I managed to activate my wings and fly out of reach of his saw. He cackled again, and I noticed he had the glowing cannon aimed at me. I jumped to the side just in time to dodge a long barrage of red lasers. I sighed with relief, but quickly noticed a spinning red orb flying towards me. Out of instinct, I whacked it with my sword. The result was about the same as hitting a primed grenade with a tennis racket. It hurtled backwards, and exploded in a cascade of fire against Skeletron Prime's face. He charged forwards, and a red light on the strange bomb launcher began to light up. Guide ran forwards, standing by me. Suddenly, it lunged towards us, and let out a huge torrent of flame. My armor would have saved me, but he centered it... on Guide.
Guide held up his sword and I watched with horror as a large amount of flame smashed into him. But as the fire faded, he stood still, holding his sword with both hands. He later told me that it felt like being thrown in a microwave.
"Guide!? How did you survive that?" I asked, astonished.
"Muramassa is made of enchanted cobalt. It's power is based around water, and so the fire curved around it." Guide said, quickly diving to the side to avoid a fiery bomb. It exploded next to him, and we were seperated by a wall of flame. Suddenly, Skeletron prime turned around. The back of his head was now riddled with tiny holes. I stared at the source- there stood the arms dealer, holding his half shark and half machine gun with both hands. He had a large smile on his face. He waved, then unleashed another barrage of bullets, this time into the monster's gaping jaw. It quickly slammed shut and charged towards him. There was no fear on his face as the saw slammed into his side, and he sunk to the ground. I cried out something, but it couldn't be heard over the roar of flames. But quickly, all of my horror and sadness turned to pure rage. I flew towards the skull, and slammed my sword into its eye. I pulled it out and stabbed again, tearing out several large wires. The eye lense cracked, and a huge red ball fell from the socket and exploded on the ground, sending fire and sparks everywhere. It roared and spun around, spikes shooting out. My armor dented, but I ignored it. I grabbed a grenade and popped it through the empty eye socket, and watched with satisfaction as fire shot out of every hole in the skull. Sparks and fire poured out of the empty eye socket like water, and it would have roared if the speakers weren't broken. It instead let out a broken crackle, and shook me off. It spun once more, and only some of the spikes came out of the head, tongues of fire coming out of several of the holes. The one eye that was left was flickering, and its incoherent crackling were somehow enough to make me hesitate. I shook my head and flew towards it, Logrolf following behind me. The laser arm suddenly exploded, and I saw Guide, standing on top of a flaming mound of wood and dirt, holding a bow and torch. The fire arrow must have lit some gasoline and caused the arm to combust. I Skeletron Prime then stopped crackling, and it simply stared, gasoline leaking from the bottom. I stared back into its broken eye, and it suddenly looked around. It looked... confused?
"What's going on?" I whispered to Logrolf. He didn't answer. I turned around. He was straining against something, his hand held out as if pushing against a wall. Suddenly, as thin beam of blue light shot from his hand, and through the empty eye socket. Its eye stopped flickering, and suddenly began to glow green. It slowly sunk down, and landed next to Logrolf. Its arms sagged down, and I was starting to wonder what was going on.
"What just happened?" I asked, mistified.
"We were never going to destroy it, and I had no intention of doing so. I was just unclogging its A.I. Now, if we return it to the steampunker to have it fixed, we'll have ourselves another soldier to fight against the Spirit of Darkness." Logrolf said happily. I smiled, but quickly ran over to the arms dealer.
"Arms Dealer! Why did you come ou? I told you stay at the village!" I said, trying not to cry."
"I couldn't watch you be mauled by some mechanical demon. And as a thank you for everything you've done, I want you to have the minishark. It's the most valuable thing I have." The arms dealer choked. He didn't seem at all scared of dying.
"Thank you. I'm sorry I couldn't help." I said, managing to stay calm.
"Nah kid, there was nothing you could've done. Goodbye, Vald. Don't make me regret this." He said, forcing a laugh. He died with a smile on his face.
Logrolf ran over to me, and put a hand on my shoulder.
"He said it right buddy. There was nothing you could've done. You did everything you could by telling them to stay at home. Now we need to get back to the village- it's turning day, and we don't want them to get their hopes down." logrolf observed. I nodded in agreement, and as Guide caught up, we walked home, united as a team.