That night William called Sid and Robyn back to the Forest village, using a Wormhole Potion to teleport to Sid in the Jungle, and finding Robyn fishing by the lake in the Snow biome.

"So, there's a new development I would like to share with you all," he said.

"Did ten new citizens arrive while I was in the Jungle?" Sid asked.

"Believe it or not, no more citizens have shown up since we found the Tavernkeep," William said. "Good job on the bar, by the way – it came out better than I was expecting."

"Cheers," Sid said, raising an arm at it in the background. It was basically a big wooden box with one door and the word 'BAR' badly spelt out with stone blocks over the entrance. Yes, it looked ugly, but none of the citizens seemed to mind.

"So what I wanted to tell you is that I discovered something in the Snow biome," William said.

Robyn's head seemed to perk up, though he couldn't tell what her facial expression was since she had her silver helmet on. William kind of wished she would take it off while they were having conversation, but wasn't sure how to politely ask.

"Did you find the Dungeon?" she asked.

He stared at her. "You found it too?"

"Yeah. A big, dark building at the back of the Snow biome on top of a hill," she said. "Did you see the Old Man pacing around there? He looks... troubled."

William shook his head. "I didn't see any Old Man, I didn't get too close to this... Dungeon."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Sid said. "We should go investigate. There must be loads of treasure inside."

"We can't!" Robyn cried out suddenly. "I mean, the Old Man told me – he won't let us enter until we free him from his curse."

"Well, he's just an Old Man. What could he do to us?"

"He's been cursed," Robyn said. "He could do things to us that we... I don't know, can't even imagine. For all we know, if we try to enter the Dungeon, we instantly die, or become cursed like him."

"Robyn is right," William said. "We should do what the Old Man says. Free him from his curse." He stared at her. "Did he share any details on how to do that?"

"He said only at night can we try to free him from his curse. By summoning and defeating his master."

***

The three of them trudged up the snowy hill that led to the Dungeon.

When compared with the Brain of Cthulhu, they had made some minor upgrades – Sid had upgraded from his long-worn Flinx Fur Coat to Obsidian Armour, and had crafted a new whip named the Snapthorn using materials he'd found in the Jungle. He'd also crafted for William a new sword – the Blade of Grass, and an upgrade to his Ice Boomerang, the Thorn Chakram. William himself had upgraded to Crimson Armour almost immediately after they'd returned from fighting the Brain.

They approached the entrance to the Dungeon. There William could see the Old Man, just as Robyn had described. Old, wearing ragged clothing, and with cursed red eyes.

Looking between Sid and William, the Old Man said, "Strangers, do you possess the strength to defeat my master?"

Sid brandished his Minishark and summoned his Flinxes by his side. "I believe we do."

"Between the three of us," William added.

"Battle my captor, and free me," the Old Man said. "Then, I will grant you passage into the Dungeon."

William looked to Robyn and nodded.

She stepped forward, holding her arm out as though she was about to open up a citizen's shop.

However, when she touched the Old Man, he vanished.

Only to be replaced by a massive skull the size of the Eye.

The skull roared as it rose up. Two large skeletal arms folded out from behind it, hands flexing their bony fingers.

William looked between the skull – 'Skeletron: 8800/8800' and its hands – 'Skeletron Hand: 1560/1560'.

This was more life than they'd ever had to face on any creature before, more than twice than the Eye.

They were going to be in for a big battle.

The left hand shot forward, slamming down where Sid was standing. He faded as a couple of illusions rotated around him – his Brain of Confusion had protected him. He pointed his Flinxes forward and began opening fire upon Skeletron's head.

Robyn did the same with her Frostburn arrows, and William hurled his Thorn Chakram at it.

Skeletron surged forward, arms swinging and slamming.

"We're barely doing any damage!" Sid cried. "Each of my bullets are only dealing 1!"

"Maybe we need to destroy its hands first!" William shouted as one slapped him in the face, dealing 32 damage.

"Good idea! I can barely dodge them!"

The three of them began focussing on Skeletron's hands, but the head roared and shot forward, spinning through the air.

"Watch out!"

They ran, out of the Dungeon entrance. Skeletron's spinning head pursued them down the brick steps and onto the snow, then raised up and swiped out with its hands.

"Focus on that left hand!" William pointed.

Robyn shot it with Frostburn arrows, illuminating it with icy flames. Sid whipped it with his Snapthorn, and the Flinxes jumped up to bite it.

"My Flinxes are barely doing any damage even to the hands," Sid muttered. He switched over to his Minishark, which dealt more consistent damage. Between them it didn't take long for the left hand to break apart, the bones in its arm collapsing to the ground.

"Let's give ourselves a big hand!" Sid cried. "One down, one to go!"

At that moment a small glowing skull shot out of Skeletron's skull. It shot towards him, but he dodged it by jumping over it. He flew over Skeletron's head using his Spectre Boots.

More glowing skulls began shooting out. William realised they could curve slightly to chase after them, as even when he dashed to the side with his Shield of Cthulhu, one of the skull projectiles tuned in mid-air and glanced against his chest.

The remaining arm grew more frantic, slamming its palm onto the ground over and over and at one point managing to knock William backwards and into one of the pillars that held up the Dungeon entrance. It soon fell too, breaking into bony fragments, but Skeletron's head only doubled up on its attacks. It roared and began spinning towards William.

He wasn't able to get out of the way in time. He took 54, then 52, then 55 damage, unable to escape from the grinding force of Skeletron's head.

Pain... Pain, PAIN!

He desperately thrust out his grappling hook, impacting it on the snowy hill. He was pulled out from Skeletron's jaw, and double-jumped to get further away from it.

"Come after me, you bonehead!" Sid cried, his Minishark roaring bullets at Skeletron.

He got his wish, as the head rushed after him, shooting a volley of homing skulls. Sid jumped up, flying over Skeletron's head, and most of the homing skulls lost track of him and flew off into the night.

William drank a Healing Potion and ran back into the fight, swinging his Starfury to bring falling stars upon Skeletron's head.

He watched Robyn firing arrows at Skeletron as it spun after her next, but she was able to run out of the way in time.

The three of them continued their deathly dance with Skeletron for so long that it was almost sunrise when he was finally brought down. Its skull fractured, splitting into pieces, revealing the Old Man encased inside. He fell, his body slumping against the Dungeon stairs, amidst a pile of items. One appeared to be a miniature version of Skeletron's head, while another looked like a grey sofa with red pillows.

Sid stepped forward, picking up the skull.

"Skeletron dropped his mask!" he exclaimed.

"Huh," William said.

"It says it's a vanity item." Seconds later, his obsidian helmet was suddenly replaced with a skull. "Neat! It looks like I can wear it over my armour for decoration!"

William saw that Robyn, meanwhile, was kneeling besides the Old Man. He still wore the same clothes as he'd been wearing before... Skeletron had appeared, but they seemed to have repaired themselves, no longer showing holes or raggedness. His hair and beard were also less unruly, and he now sported a red hat upon his head.

And he had a new label.

'James: 250/250'

***

James was still unconscious when the three of them brought him back to the Forest village.

The Forest village had changed a lot since the days of the overcrowded fort. Gone were the walls, instead a collection of wooden houses with sloped roofs and stone foundations dotted the landscape. The boatload of extra rooms on the original base had been removed, leaving only the first room with the tunnel leading down the mines, and the grey-brick forge, which both served as like a memorial of their humble beginnings.

William had set up a row of chests on platforms, which were currently the foundations of what he planned to be their shared storage and crafting area. The one chest that had been placed in the forge had quickly grown into an uncontrollable chest monster, until William had gone to the trouble of organising and cataloguing every item they owned into several categories, such as ores, or plants, or blocks, and then sorting them into new chests.

James was brought to one of the spare empty houses on the outskirts of the Forest village. Sid placed down the grey sofa that Skeletron had dropped, and they rested the Old Man on it.

"Are you sure putting him on that sofa is a good idea?" William asked, "It came from Skeletron after all..."

"Since when has anything dropped by bosses ever caused us any harm, anyway?" Sid asked.

William shrugged.

"I noticed the sofa is named 'Chippy's Couch.' No idea who Chippy is, otherwise I'd return it to him –"

The Old Man groaned.

"He's waking up," Robyn said, stepping forward.

James sat up on the couch, rubbing his forehead.

"Are you okay?" she asked. William noticed her taking off her helmet.

"Never... felt... better!" James exclaimed, smiling.

Robyn smiled back. "I'm happy you are!"

James patted the couch he was sitting on. "This couch is reasonably comfortable," he said. "Every man needs a good couch in their life."

Sid chuckled.

"Do you remember me?" Robyn asked.

James stared into her face.

"I don't... know. I... I remember I was cursed..."

"Do you remember who cursed you?" William asked.

James shook his head.

"Everything that happened while I was cursed... it feels like a pile of unorganised clothes. I'm... not sure how to put it all together."

"It'll be okay, you're safe now," Robyn said.

"Yes, you are," Sid said. "We defeated your master, and lifted you from your curse. That means we can enter the Dungeon now, right?"

"Dungeon..." James murmured, then seemed to stare blankly ahead. "I'm having vague memories of tying up a woman and throwing her in a Dungeon..."

"A... woman?" William exclaimed.