Rin and the others filed down the rickety stairs into the secret passage under the boathouse. Shura and Yukio had felt the demonic presence above and bolted, leaving Charles behind. When they stumbled back into the underground facility, he was waiting with a grave expression.
"Ms. Kiragakure, exactly how much danger do these demons pose to the school?"
Storm looked at Xavier with wide eyes, "Charles – what are you saying? You know about these…these demons?"
Xavier sighed, "Unfortunately, yes. They are very real, and very dangerous. And apparently invisible to us."
"How are we supposed to fight something we can't see? And why can Logan see them?"
"I don't know. I hadn't been able to see them until I went to True Cross Town," he answered gruffly.
"That demon you saw in the street probably gave you a temptaint. Enough of that, though – can we focus on your master plan, whatever it is?" Shura answered impatiently.
Storm frowned, "A temptaint?"
Xavier peered at Shura, "A temptaint is an injury sustained by a demon, and apparently it gives you the ability to see them, as well."
"Oi, old man! Keep out of my mind!"
"My apologies, but you did bring demons to my school. I think I'm privy to some information," Charles said not unkindly, but the tone of his voice indicated he was not joking around. Rin hung his head – the Professor was right. They had brought these demons to the school, and now because of Rin everyone was in danger.
"Shura, you're right. We should go – I'll only put everyone in danger by being here."
Logan clenched his fists, "Can you all just shut up? I told you I had a plan – now come on!"
He started running down the corridor, and everyone followed suit. Xavier pressed a control on his wheelchair, and the specially designed chair moved along just as quickly as the rest of them.
"Where are we going?" Yukio called to Logan, keeping pace without breaking a sweat.
"We need to get to the entrance, where we parked the car!"
"The car? Why do we need to get to the car?"
Rin furrowed his brow, flashing back to a moment during their ride to the school from the airport.
They had all been crammed in the Subaru amongst various bags, weapon cases and canisters of holy water, and Rin's stomach had been growling louder than a grizzly bear.
"Oh my god, Rin, shut up!" Shura groaned, while Rin slumped against the window and clutched his stomach, feeling weak.
"I'm sorry, I'm just so hungry," he whined, whimpering a little. Everyone was testy after their long trip and lack of sleep, and now they had been sitting in this car for hours while Logan drove to the mansion based on his memory.
"Are you sure you remember the way?"
"Yes, Shura, now please shut up."
"I'm just saying, this is taking awfully long. And I don't know how much more of this I can take."
"I don't know how much I can take, either," Yukio muttered as Shura flopped back into her seat with an exaggerated sigh. Rin's stomach gurgled again, and he let out a little moan.
"So…hungry…can't we stop and get some food?"
After a few more minutes of grumbling and whining, Logan finally pulled off at the next exit and swung into a McDonald's, stumbled through the order as everyone clamored for their food, and pulled up at the window. When she named the price, he patted his pockets only to come up empty.
"Damn, the money is in my bag."
"I'll get it!" Rin twisted around in his seat and dug through the luggage, finding Logan's duffle and unzipping it eagerly, impatient to get his meal.
"Hey, be careful! Don't dig around in my stuff!"
Rin plopped the duffle in his lap and rooted around in the bag, cringing at dirty underwear and sweaty socks, until he found a small leather pouch that looked like it could be a money bag. When he touched it, however, a strange sensation came over him. Holding the leather bag, he felt a peculiar sensation start to spread through his body – but in the next instant Logan had snatched the bag out of his hands, expression fierce.
"I said don't dig around in my stuff."
"I'm just looking for the money!" Rin cried innocently, holding up his hands in surrender.
Shura reached in and held up a pair of boxers decorated with big red hearts, "Really?"
"I said don't dig around in my stuff!" Logan shouted, snatching the whole duffle away from Rin and quickly pulling out an envelope stuffed with bills. The lady gave them their food and Logan peeled out of the parking lot, still glowering as Shura made jokes about his underwear.
Rin had been too busy stuffing his face after that to think about the leather pouch, or the strange sensation it had given him. But now, as they ran down the corridor back to the car, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that whatever was in that bag was Logan's secret plan. But what could Logan have that could combat demons? Whatever it was, the knotted feeling in Rin's gut told him it was dangerous.
"Here! Come on!"
Logan slid to a stop in front of an elevator, punching the button impatiently. The doors quickly rolled open, and their group crowded in, elbows awkwardly digging into ribs and stepping on top of each other. In another moment, the doors opened up and they all spilled out into the hallway of the school. The halls were empty, but from somewhere in the mansion there was the sound of shrieks and running feet. Outside the window they could see several students run past with panicked looks, and from somewhere out of sight there were angry shouts.
"Storm! Professor! Thank god you are here – I have been looking all over for you!" Rin stepped back in surprise as suddenly a man popped into existence in front of them, appearing from thin air. He was blue from head to toe, with a barbed tail wavering behind him. He spoke with a thick accent, but the anxiety in his voice was clear to everyone.
"Kurt, what's going on?"
"I'm not sure! Er, Pyro is going crazy – he says there are monsters! And two of the students are…they've gone mad! They're trying to break into your car, Mr. Logan. And things are moving on their own – I thought maybe someone invisible was playing pranks, but no one…"
"It's alright, Kurt – keep all the students inside, we'll take care of this," Charles said. The blue guy nodded, nervously eyeing their group before disappearing into thin air once again.
"Who was that?" Rin exclaimed.
"Nightcrawler – he's a teleporter," Storm answered.
"Nightcrawler? Does no one around here have normal names?" Shura cried incredulously, but Storm just gave her an annoyed look.
"How about someone explain what's going on? What did he mean, the kids were going crazy?"
"I have a bad feeling about this," Yukio muttered, but Logan was already running towards the door.
"We don't have time to explain! Come on!"
They burst out the front door and paused for a moment, taking in the scene. There was a scraggly group of little hobgoblins running around, attacking a cluster of confused students. They weren't doing much harm, just jabbing and yanking on hair mostly, but Pyro was amongst the group. And apparently, he could see the demons.
He was shouting at them, shooting balls of flame at the little goblins while the other students screamed in terror, thinking they were being attacked. More alarming than that, however, were the two students by Logan's car. They were surrounded by a misty swarm of coal tars, and demonic power was leaking from their bodies. Rin could see the demons that had possessed them breaking out, stretching the skin, horns tearing through their scalp and claws creeping out of their fingertips. It reminded him of the first demon he had ever met, the kid that had shot the pigeons. It made him think of Satan, possessing Shiro. Making him bleed, burning up his flesh. Killing him.
He clenched his fists, and hardly noticed when his blue flames started flickering around him.
"Rin, stop!" Shura cried, but it was too late. The two demon possessed kids turned towards him, tilting their heads.
"Is…that…"
"Young Prince?"