Goliath groaned under the full weight of so many gargoyles. He had wrapped both arms and wings around Elisa, trying to protect her as best he could, then had to brace his arms on the ground in a kind of push-up to keep from crushing her when the others began falling into them.
He felt the weight beginning to lift off, as the others were getting to their feet to face their enemy.
"Are you harmed, Elisa?" Goliath asked, still gritting his teeth against the solid weight against his back.
"I don't think so," Elisa said with a groan of her own and rose slowly to her feet. "A few bumps and bruises, but I think I'm alright."
As they turned, they found Mallory floating in her cloud of smoky haze just at the edge of the courtyard, the streets of Manhattan below. Her hair flew, wild streaming like streamers in a strong wind, and her face was a dark mask of anger, hate and disgust.
"All I wanted was the box," she screamed into the small crowd. "It was so easy. Just hand it over and you would have all been fine." She opened her right hand and a bright orange ball of flame appeared in her cupped palm. "But you just couldn't do it, could you? Lucky for you," she repeated the gesture with her other hand, "I actually like the hard way."
And with that, she began hurling the fire into the small crowd.
Elisa dove one way while Goliath dove the other, both barely missing being hit by the fireballs.
Suddenly, the air was filled with engine noise as Elisa watched in stunned silence as a group of the Xanatos Steel Clan were suddenly airborne around them.
Mallory hissed, "And what is this?"
Most of the Steel Clan raised their arms, red dots from laser sights covered Mallory's form.
"I believe," Mallory snarled, "that we are at a bit of an impasse. You see, I am borrowing this form. If you shoot, it's not me you'll be hurting."
"Stop," Elisa shouted, running forward to signal the Steel Clan. "Don't shoot!"
Slowly, the Steel Clan lowered their arms, their lasers powering down.
"Very nice," Mallory sneered, her tone almost sickly sweet. "If I'd had any doubts that you were in charge, you just put them to rest. Now," Mallory called up two more fireballs, "Let's try this one…more…time. Give me the box."
"No," Elisa shouted back. She raised her gun.
"You won't shoot," Mallory ground out. "You wouldn't dare hurt an innocent woman."
Suddenly, two blue beams came from the east to surround Mallory in a blue, crackling, and sparking electrical shell.
Elisa looked up and spotted Talon, arms extended superman style as the beams of electricity shot from his hands.
Mallory's form reared back as she screamed in pain. Eyes shut, mouth wide open, her body (or the body she was using) went board straight, her neck craning backwards so that her face was straight up to the sky. Mallory gave two full body jerks before a thick, almost oily looking cloud began streaming from her mouth.
The cloud went up, into the sky, and began to swirl.
As the last of it left Mallory's body, the woman's form went limp and plummeted towards the ground stories below.
Elisa watched helplessly as the clan in the courtyard with her tried to hurry forward and catch the unconscious looking woman as she tumbled out of the sky. For that to happen, they would have to take the time to climb the high walls and get over. They'd never make it…
A pair of blurred shapes dove from a tower above, and Elisa had a moment of relief to see it was Hudson and Lyra.
Good, Elisa thought. They were diving to the rescue, leaving the rest of them to deal with…whatever was happening.
The dark mass, a swirling riot of blacks, blues, and purples, quickly flowed down to the courtyard, congealing into the form of a female.
A big female, Elisa thought as the form solidified and stood. As the woman straightened to her full height, she was nearly eight feet tall as Elisa could only guess from across the courtyard.
Then the woman opened her eyes, and the dark purple glow from them lit the contours of her face eerily.
"You dare," she shrieked, the musical quality of the voice had gone now to a sound similar to a cat scratching a sheet of metal. "Do you know who I am?"
"Unfortunately," Brooklyn muttered, coming to take his place at Goliath's side.
Apate turned to glare at Brooklyn as if she'd heard him. "I am Apate, born from the goddess of night and the god of…"
"Don't care," Talon snarled as he attempted another fly-by electrocution.
Apate reached up and swatted him out of the air as if he were a gnat. Talon flew through the air with the force of the hit and landed in a heap near the double doors leading inside.
"She's not using another body now," Xanatos called from above, causing heads to turn. He was clad in his Steel Clan suit, boosters keeping him in the air, with an almost comically large gun in his arms. He pointed his finger to Apate, "Open fire."
The Steel Clan took to the air as red bolts from laser fire began focusing on Apate, who began snarling and swiping at the metallic figures.
The gargoyles took advantage of her distraction and split off. Half climbed up walls to take to the storm roughened air, while the others ran in for a ground attack.
Elisa rushed to her brother who was unconscious on the ground. She grabbed under his arms, and began dragging him to safety.
"We got this," Doctor James said from beside her as she managed to get the doors opened. Her hands were swiftly replaced by others, as the medical teams sprang into action.
Elisa had a moment of surprise as she looked around and found that the great hall had been outfitted with portable cots and medical paraphernalia strewn about.
"What…?" Elisa began, but then caught sight of Nayeli. "What are…"
Elisa was jostled aside as Hudson and Lyra ran inside, an unconscious Mallory (hopefully the fully human version) carried between them.
"Later," Margaret said, pushing past her. "They need you out there, Elisa."
There was a boom, a crack, and Elisa put questions out of her mind. Turning, she ran back out the doors and into the battle outside.