"Impressive brute strength," the Skull uttered, voice dripping with sarcasm. "But I'm afraid all you've done is turn an army into a single foe."
"Why do I get the feeling he doesn't mean himself?" Autumn asked.
The ground rumbled again as the dust and chunks of bone flew into the air, coalescing at an achingly slow pace. It was so slow that after watching it for three whole minutes, only the vague shape of a head was visible, poking out of the cloud.
"… Let's just kill him," Nikolas said.
"Agreed. I don't want to be here all day," Maya said.
They advanced toward Skull, who didn't turn his eyes from his creation. "Good luck," the man whispered reverently. "Nothing can stop me while I work."
"Doesn't sound in your skillset," Maya replied. "It's pretty obvious you're all about bones."
When they were but twenty feet away from the dais, the trio learned what he meant. A massive wall of bone erupted from the ground, blocking their path and sealing off the two sections of the catacombs entirely. Set in the center was the macabre face of a laughing skull, its blue flame pupils staring down haughtily.
"None may disturb the master while he works," rattled the skull. "Just sit tight and wait for your Death."
"Autumn?" Nikolas asked.
"Of course," she replied, stepping up.
Cocking back her fist, a nebula of dark, destructive energy formed around her arm, spinning faster and faster until it resembled a liquid more than a gas. With this supercharged arm, she punched forward, the ground quaking as her limb made contact with the wall. When she brought her fist back, she frowned angrily.
Nikolas and Maya, knocked down from the intensity of the strike, picked themselves up. They walked forward and followed Autumn's gaze, their brows furrowing as they found what made her angry. Nik scratched his head.
"Well, that's… something, I guess."
The wall was entirely unharmed, except for a slight chip so small one had to squint to even notice. The bony jaws of the skull parted as it chuckled at their expressions.
"I am six hundred thousand tons of pure bone, humans," it told them. The world could explode, and I would be just fine. Maybe. I can't test it, for obvious reasons."
"Just let us in, man," Nikolas pleaded. "I don't want to be in this stinky, musty old cave anymore. I've been standing for hours."
"Not a chance, pipsqueak," the skull grumbled. "I have a job to do. And when you don't have hands, you take what you can get to be useful. You three will just have to wait until the Overbone is finished. If you kill it, my master will probably let you through to fight. Not that you stand a chance."
"Did you just call it an Overbone?" Maya asked.
"That's what it's called, yes."
"That's a horrible name," Autumn said.
"No, it isn't," the wall protested. "It's a cool one, capable of conveying the strength and awe of my master's genius."
"It conveys something, alright," Nikolas muttered.
Maya's frown deepened. "Why can't you just use those powers of yours on him?" she asked Nikolas.
"What do you think would make an indestructible wall without fears or any means of attack feel fear or want to attack something?" Nikolas asked.
"...Never mind."
"Exactly."
"It's not like it'll be hard to beat this thing," Autumn said. "I punched through its parts easy enough."
"The Overbone is being strengthened by my master," said the bone wall. "It won't come anywhere close to my greatness, but it will be able to weather the strikes of the brunette."
"Not for long, I bet," Autumn growled, smacking her fists together.
By now, the cloud of dust had sprouted arms and legs, the skull head fully formed. It stared eagerly at the humans, ready to fulfill its purpose. As the last chunk of rock settled into place, the Overbone fell to the ground, landing with a loud THUD! After landing, it rose to its full height, reaching halfway to the ceiling.
It was… a giant skeleton. One with a skull and legs armored in that strange black metal, coursing with the same enchantments that blocked Nikolas' Manifest Power. Its face, stuck in a constant grin, loomed above them, the blue fires of its eyes each as big as Nikolas himself.
When one remembered that the ceiling was a mile above the ground, it helped put into perspective how massive this thing was.
Each finger bone was bigger around than Autumn was tall, its huge feet sinking into the soil as it shifted its position. It was over twenty-five hundred feet tall, any one of its bones weighing several tons. The thing's yellowed bones were perhaps the only vulnerability immediately apparent.
It let out a rattle, which sounded more like two mountains crashing into each other, and raised a fist to its eye. It moved slowly, befitting its size, though Nikolas didn't doubt that it would increase its tempo when it entered battle.
"What was that you were saying, Autumn?" Maya asked.
"I stand by my words," she retorted. "People are always saying 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall.' Well, this bastard is huge, so he's going to topple like a set of dominoes."
"I hope you're right," Nikolas said, "because Maya won't be much help in this one. Her powers don't work on the undead, and her Divine Reach is a little lacking. No offense, Maya."
"None taken," Maya shrugged. "It's just you two against that thing. I'm sitting this one out."
"I'm happy my Divine Hold is so strong," Nikolas said sarcastically. "I sure do love having to fight against giant bone monsters with nothing but telekinesis."
"Ah, cheer up, Nikolas," Autumn reprimanded. "Just think: once we take out this thing, we can off the Skull guy and go home. Then you can sleep for a week, if you want to."
"Hm," Nikolas pursed his lips, stroking his chin. "It could be worse, I suppose. He could have a weapon."
Autumn gasped, eyes darting to the skeleton. When nothing happened, she let out a sigh of relief before smacking Nikolas on the shoulder.
"Hey, what was that for?" Nikolas asked, rubbing the spot she struck.
"Don't you know anything about jinxes?" Autumn asked angrily. "Count yourself lucky that it didn't work."
At that moment, a whoosh rang out, and they whipped their heads back to the skeleton. It pulled a sword of blue flame out of its eye socket, which charred the air around it and made the cavern dry and crisp.
"That's on you," Nikolas said upon noticing Autumn's glare. "You were the last one to say something."