The Song of Eternity
Canto 9
Ronin
Verse 3
The chance for a normal life is right in front of me,
Why do I stay to help them?
When they don't care about themselves…
"What are you doing here?" Lance asked Murphy as he got out of his car.
"You know, I love hanging around with you guys so much, I figured I'd come over," Murphy laughed. "Actually it's my shift to watch over you guys," he added as Magneto and Storm came through the mansion's front door. "Uh, oh. The boss man is here."
"If it is insisted that one of the Turks is here with us, I would prefer that he not take his job so lightly," Magneto said as Lance edged away from the conversation.
"Take it easy there guy, you people got the defenses up again, right?"
"Yes, we have repaired most of the damage," Storm nodded.
"Then, the only real things we have to worry about are angry mobs or a mutant powerful enough to get by our defenses, so I would appreciate it if you would get off my back," Murphy snapped back at Magneto. The three of them turned as another car came up the driveway and parked behind Murphy. "Jeez, why's Elena here?" Murphy said irritably.
"Hello everyone, Vincent sent me here to share whatever information we have regarding the whereabouts of Chaos and Logan. And I need to talk to you later," she added to Murphy.
"Fine, let's go into Charles's study, I am not trusting enough of the local populous to stand out in the open like a target," Magneto agreed. Once inside the mansion Magneto spoke again. "Creed is out patrolling the grounds for intruders and McCoy can handle the kids for a little by himself while we exchange information," he explained as he sat down. "What news of Logan?"
"Valentine got some satellite images of the mountain where they went, the only problem is that the monastery is no longer there and the place looks like it never was there," Elena said as she handed Magneto and Storm some photos. "He's working on tracking them down with Starmore's technology, but so far he hasn't found a trace of Logan, Chaos, Wanda, or John," Elena admitted as she recalled the four missing companions. "Cole can't sense them either, but that doesn't mean anything because he has never really been able to sense this Mesmero guy either, besides that time at the mall."
"As near as we can gather, they are being shielded somewhere by someone who knows our capabilities. We can't locate them with Cerebro either, so the question is, who has taken them?" Storm asked.
"Valentine thinks it's that Apocalypse guy, some of Starmore's instruments went crazy before this government fiasco, warning us of some action going on at some places where he is connected to," Murphy explained.
"So we really know nothing about where they are, just that Apocalypse probably has them," Magneto mused. "So until something presents itself, we are stuck," he said angrily.
"Vincent is checking out the safe houses that were compromised, maybe he'll find a lead," Elena suggested.
"I doubt anyone smart enough to infiltrate one of Starmore's safe houses would be dumb enough to leave a trail," Murphy pointed out.
"Great, nice optimism there Murph," Elena said irritably.
"If there is nothing else, we need to attend to the children," Magneto excused himself and took Storm with him.
"What's so important that you came all the way here? I knew that we didn't have any idea where they were. I coulda handled it," Murphy pointed out.
"I had a talk with your brother," Elena said.
"So what, I have talks with him all the time, he doesn't say much back, but still, we talk," Murphy shrugged.
"What the hell is going on at your house?" Elena asked angrily. "From what Cole tells me Vincent is drinking himself to death and Cole is ready to fight anything, no matter the odds."
"That sounds about right," Murphy said defiantly.
"Why the hell don't you do something, you could have told me earlier, I could have helped," she shouted.
"Help them? Ha!" Murphy laughed. "Valentine is obsessing on how many people he has killed and how his life is an endless bloodbath, no matter what he tries to do to stop it. And Cole, the kid is messed up. He's a nut, both of his personalities are taking turns controlling the body, talking to each other, basically things that they should not be doing, and he doesn't care. I can't help them if they won't help themselves at all," he finished.
"But they're your friends," Elena insisted.
"Screw 'em. I keep them alive. I thought they could be helped, but it is gonna take more than what I can do to fix them. So if you don't mind, I'm gonna go sit outside until my shift is over.
Murphy watched Elena leave as he sat on the hood of his car and looked over the area. He frowned when he saw all the damage from the military's attack. "What a waste," he muttered as he heard someone waling up behind him.
"Yes it is," Magneto replied.
"What do you want? Come to complain about us being here watching over you? If I had my choice, I'd be back home watching TV, so if you gonna complain, just leave," he spat out quickly.
"I will say nothing of the sort, you are better equipped to handle whatever happens than the kids are," he replied.
"Good, then what do you want?"
"Take a look at this," Magneto said as he handed Murphy a piece of paper. "I found it in Xavier's desk," he explained as Murphy stared at the paper silently.
"Did you now…" Murphy muttered before the paper burst into flames in his hand. "Oops," he joked as the ashes drifted to the ground.
"What do you suppose I should make of that drawing?" Magneto asked.
"You know what to make of it, quit playing dumb," Murphy replied. "I suggest you forget about it and not bring it up to him, it could set him off, which no one wants," he added.
Later, after Magneto left, Murphy was watching the sunset when Rogue, Lance, and Scott approached him. "S'up people," he greeted them. "How goes life in the big house?"
"It's taking some time to adjust, Magneto is very different than Xavier was," Scott replied.
"Anything is an improvement over our old house," Lance laughed quietly. "That place was a dump," his voice trailed off.
"How was today? Not too bad I hope," Murphy said, making small talk.
"Great, if you like no one talking to you and generally avoiding you like the plague," Rogue sighed.
"So what brings you three out here?" Murphy asked.
"As a group, we've come to a decision," Scott took over. "We won't use our powers in school if we can help it, but we want you, Cole, and the rest of the Turks to back off and let us take care of it," he explained.
"I'd love to let you take care of it as well, but I'm not really in charge here. So long as you don't kill anyone I'll let you run wild, but Valentine and Cole have other ideas," Murphy explained. "I'll talk to Vince, I should be able to get out of my duties watching you guys, and Elena will probably go along with it," he guessed. "Even Vincent might let you be, but there's no way to tell what Cole's gonna do."
"Fair enough," Scott agreed.
"Yeah, hopefully we can get on with our lives, I've had enough adventure for a couple lifetimes over the past six months. Once we find John, Wanda, Logan, and Chaos again, I'd be glad to quit using my powers casually," Lance admitted.
"You shouldn't be afraid or ashamed of what you are," Murphy broke in. He held his hand out and created a sphere of glowing energy. "If they have a problem with you, it is their problem," he spoke as the sphere shot out small blast of fire, ice, and other magical elements. "You just have to make them understand that you are the same people you were before. Don't change for them," he said sternly. "Well, my shift is over, see you in school," he laughed before heading out in his car.