Hey- sorry this update took forever to come, but I was on vacation. And I give my reviewers many thanks, yet again. As to a few discrepancies on the people at the Mutant Manor, I really don't want to waste my time trying to remember all the characters. I'll just say that anyone who isn't there is at home over summer vacation with their families. And Spike's just staying over for the summer or something like that. I update again soon.

Enjoy!

--- Syaoran ---

The past few weeks staying in America was fun, if uneventful. Although Li and

Eva had gained little insight as to who had taken out their New York branch, they learned

many details: Whoever murdered their fellow sorcerers, they did it with an

unconventional type of magic, something so unusual, they couldn't identify it at all. Eva

and Li, who had been trained to recognize supposedly every type of magic, were now at a

loss.

Meanwhile at the Institute, things were going well. It took the students a while to

grow accustomed to the sorcerers-Li and Eva being dignitaries made them seem very

unapproachable. Eventually, working with them as a team, they soon forgot all about it.

The next problem was dating. Being exotic and easy on the eyes, they

immediately gained unwanted attention from the opposite sex. While Eva would

completely ignore a boy vying for her heart and maybe give them a good shouting, Li

didn't need to. With his intimidating glare, he managed to fend off any female silly

enough to ask for a date up front. And when they asked for 'favors', like the time Tabitha

asked him for help on her summer math homework, he accepted and actually did the

favors, drilling math equations down pat so well in her brain that she was actually good at

it.

After all of that, there were little barriers for them to fit right in. Li somehow or

another seemed to relate with most of the students in the mansion, and gained the

confidence of many by sharing experiences. Over the years he had grown this vibe that

made people want to trust him- a leadership skill he had unconsciously acquired. Eva

however did not fit in as well as he did, having a more exacting attitude if an equal need

for privacy, but still made fast friends when helping. Whether it was doing the dishes, or

deflecting a hit in the danger room, within a month almost everybody in the school liked

or at least recognized her as a kind friend.

One of their best friends they had in the group was Rogue- Their tendency for

quiet, and their not-so-happy pasts sort of bound them together, especially Li. They held

an unsaid understanding of each other and eerily enough always knew what the other

needed without a thought.

At the same time, Eva made fast, if slightly fickle, friends with Jean. The two of

them were very much alike to each other, sharing the same elegant looks, need for order

and taste, and loved learning with a passion. Even if Eva was slightly brainier than the

red head, they fit together so well it was a little startling. The only problem was that

every once in a while the telekinetic felt a little insecure around the blond beauty- and

they' have day long fights which consisted of not talking to each other until they met up

somewhere, having a tense but quiet fight, and then the next day, make amends.

Along with others, Li had come to like Spike a lot. With his laid back manor and

his undemanding, congenial air, he was a good friend to just hang around with and be

almost normal- that is until they would start talking about missions and so forth.

Eva, despite her vigorous denial, also liked the human icicle Bobby. Though their

relationship was entirely platonic, Bobby would flirt endlessly with the girl in a teasing

sort of way, and every once in a while, pull a prank on her. She would then retaliate in a

wicked, sly, well thought out plan that was ten times as worse. The worst thing you could

do in the Mansion was piss of Eva and Bobby at the same time, for by the end of the

week if you hadn't inadvertently made an extravagantly embarrassing display, you would

have somehow ended up with extra danger room lessons for the whole week. But most of

the time, both things happened.

As for teachers, the two Asians knew most of them very well and liked them a lot.

Like Rogue, Wolverine had the same type of connection to the sorcerers as they did with

Rogue. Dr. McCoy loved the two of them, especially Li, as he was a healer. They could

talk about different treatments for hours, and the doctor thanked him continually for

dealing with some of the patients while he was busy. Li also made fast friends with Storm

because they both spent time in the gardens- she to tend to her flowers, he to tend to his

herbs (for making potions)

At the moment, the students were lazing around on a warm summer's day by the

pool. Most of the students were in the pool, playing a heated game of volleyball in

exception to Amara, who detested cold water, Rogue, who would not dare go in because

of her powers, and Li, off doing business. The two non-swimming girls watched the

game while sunbathing (Rogue had protested greatly to this, but Kitty literally dragged

the girl outside).

"Yes! Score! We are whipping you guys!" Bobby taunted over to Eva's team as

he did a little victory swim in honor of his last point. Eva looked ready for murder.

"Bobby, enjoy your winning while it lasts, because I promise you it won't stay

that way for long." She practically hissed out, fuming.

Jean nodded primly, adding an "Just wait and see." With a little wicked smile,

something she had picked up from Eva.

Evan merely laughed at this. "Jean, you're no precog, and it would take you guys

a miracle to turn this game around!" Even Kitty and Scott, the faithful leader, laughed at

this one. Kurt, who was on Eva and Jeans side, nearly bristled, and Jamie ground his

teeth.

Eva, who caught sight of Li coming back into the mansion, said telepathically to

her red-headed friend, 'We don't need a miracle, we need to get Li on our team.'

'Li?' Jean thought-spoke to her friend, 'I haven't seen him do so much as pick up

a ball. Is he any good at volleyball?'

Eva's answer came readily. 'Li's a complete sports fiend, though he pretends not.

Never gets to play much anything any more.' Then Eva said aloud to Bobby, "If you say

it'd be a miracle for us to beat you, then would you allow us to get an extra player?"

Bobby wondered who she'd bring in, but was confident that no matter what,

they'd beat them. "Sure, why not, it's not going to change anything here," he said,

laughing.

Eva didn't wait a second to act. "Syaoran!" She called as she watched him open

the back door. He looked at her questioningly.

"Eh? What?" He said, a little stressed. His business meeting with the American

clients hadn't gone well (The Li family has many businesses to keep it wealthy). None of

the girls noticed his stress, most of them too caught up in how handsome he looked in a

suit, in exception to Eva who was too busy trying to draft him on their losing team.

"Will you come and play volleyball with us? No powers involved." she asked

sweetly.

Li, surprised and a little wary of her demeanor, answered, "Sorry, I've really-"He

was cut of mid-sentence.

"If you don't play with us now, then I'll make sure by the end of the week you'll

be hand cleaning the jet." Eva said softly in a dangerous tone that didn't allow room for

argument.

He sighed, exasperated, but answered in the affirmative. "...okay, whatever." He

looked at her, slightly peeved, before making his way inside to get changed.

"That girl got you whipped!" Evan called out at Syaoran's retreating back. Some

of the kids laughed nervously, but most didn't at all. They all knew Eva was sly enough

to actually do it, and had seen many an incidence occur with Bobby. Li simply shrugged

in response.

He came down five minutes later in his trunks, another thing for the girl to ooh

and aah over. They didn't mind his scars at all; many thought it made him look hotter. In

twenty minutes the game had ended with, as Eva planned, a startling win over Bobby's

team.

"Man, I never knew Li was so good at volleyball," Bobby said, defeated.

"yeah, man, totally. How'd you get so good?" He asked the now stoic leader.

"dunno," he answered casually. Eva however didn't leave it at that.

"Oh, come off it Li!" she lightly tapped him on the head, one of the few people

who was able to tease him that way- all the other students held too much of a distant

respect for him to do that. "Li's always been crazy trying to be the best in everything he

does, mostly because of his four older sisters who used to be able to trounce him from

sword fighting to spelling."

She was about to elaborate into a story which he was sure he'd be left

embarrassed by when the professor acted just in time to save him.

'Students, we will have a meeting in my study in ten minutes. Come prepared in

your fighting gear- we have a mission.' With that, all the selected students were quickly

getting out of the pool, a few already fighting over dibs on the shower. Jamie looked

around, puzzled.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked wondering why some of the students were

leaving.

Evan looked at the kid sympathetically. "Sorry, man, the big guy just alerted us

that we have a mission in a little while. Gotta get ready." Jamie simply hung around

glumly in the water, saying, "I never go on missions..."

Ten minutes passed and the assigned team showed up, dressed if not all washed

clean from the chlorine. Li and Eva looked around the room to see Jean, Scott, Rogue,

Kurt, Kitty, and Evan – all original team members except for the two sorcerers who were

chosen because of their danger room abilities.

"Good, you're all here," said the professor lightly; He looked like he had

something else on his mind. "Now here's our mission- Magneto has sent both the

brotherhood and his acolytes to find a group of people in New York City." He paused,

serious. "Truthfully, I have no idea who these people are, or even why he wants them, but

they seem very important to him and I intend to deny him whatever he wants. We have to

find these people first" He then finished, adding on, "Wolverine and storm will be

accompanying you. You will be split up into two teams under Scott and Li. Scott, you

take Evan, Eva, and Kurt. Li, you take the rest. You will both be under order of either

Storm or Wolverine." Xavier knew how angry Scott would get about the situation- he

knew he was a bit jealous of the Li clan leader- but now was not the time to deal with

such matters. 'Let's hope he forgets that now, and forgives me later,' he thought to

himself.

"Well, get a move on it!" wolverine got the students up and moving in a flash,

heading towards the blackbird. "Stay with yer groups- shades, you take orders from

Storm here- and karate kid," Logan's nickname for Syaoran, "you listen to me."

Ororo started warming up the jet's engines. "Everybody buckle up now!" He

watched with slight amusement at Kitty nearly jumping at his orders, quickly stuffing a

fresh first aid pack into the cabin. He made a mental note to get her to do it properly

when they landed.

The Jet was ready for flight. Now wolverine, too, sat down and buckled himself

up, getting ready to feel the increase in g-force on his body when they'd shoot into the

sky at a nice and fast mach 2. "Get ready for take off," Storm called over her shoulder-

and all the old students tensed up, waiting for take off like wolverine was. "Now here we

go."

The plane shot into the sky, slamming the unprepared sorcerers down to their

seats. Despite Eva's usual calm, collected attitude, she let fly a curse.

"Shit!" She cried, quickly following suit to everyone else's posture along with Li,

who looked fairly startled too, though he covered it up better. "How –fast- are- we-

moving?" It was slightly difficult to speak because of the speed.

"Fast," was their only response from Scott, along with a comment from Kitty:

"We don't usually go his fast, but when we're in rush, well you know," She spoke

better than Eva had managed, but it had come out slower then usual, especially from the

fast-talking gossip.

"We'll be there in a minute," stated Ororo with perfect ease. She was used to such

high speeds. Li looked at his watch – it had been five minutes since take off, and they had

already arrived; a testimony of their speed because the normal car ride would take close

to an hour. As they were slowing down, preparing to land, Logan went over tactics.

"Because we don't know who our specified targets are for this mission, our

objective is to find and takeout one of Magneto's goons. From there, Rogue'll find out

exactly who we're lookin' for." Everybody nodded blankly and looked at Rogue with

respect- most of the students had never really known how useful her powers could be.

"From there, it's back to the usual course of action- beat the Brotherhood an Acoltyes,

and find these people."

Storm was having a hard time finding a place to land, giving Wolverine a little

more time to talk. "Now what are our advantages and disadvantages fighting in a city?"

Li's response came quickly and intelligently. "When we fight, we must be

mindful of bystanders and nearby structures. The enemy will use these to their advantage,

as they have no problem hurting or terrorizing people."

"good answer, karate kid," Logan said, angering the other team leader a lot.

"Those are the disadvantages, so what're the advantages?"

Scott was quick to answer this question first, slightly cutting off the Chinese

sorcerer. "we will have ample hiding spaces for attack"

Li spoke up, "but that isn't necessarily an advantage to us. Magneto's men can do

that just as easily as we can." Scott didn't want to admit it, but he had a point. He got a

little angrier, and blamed his bad thinking on being so eager to answer the question. He

grimaced.

"Our only real advantages are Cerebro and the Jet- that way we can determine

exactly where to find the where the mutants are by any display of their powers, big or

small. And if they escape with our targets, we have the speed to catch up to them."

Wolverine nodded.

"good answer again, Li," He said as Ororo was landing the plan. "Now I hope you

all were listening, so you understand the fighting conditions." He said to the rest of the

team.

"I want this run to be quick. Now, the most recent place we found our little

friends was on fiftieth, off Lexington Ave." He looked to Cyclops. "Shades, I want your

team to go and give them a warm welcome over there."

Logan faced Li. "And you, kid, stay with me until we're updated, and I want you

and your team to do surveillance until I send you guys out." They had now landed. "Now

everyone! Move!"

Scott's team was already brought halfway down the block when Kurt bamphed

them out; Li's team was making a wide circle on top of the building around the jet,

looking for any signs of a fight, and Logan got a whiff of the air, trying to see if he

recognized a scent- nothing yet.

"Let's just hope this goes well," Logan growled, half to himself, half to Storm.

They were both worried because they hadn't remembered the last time they had seen the

professor so worried.

"Yes, let's hope." Storm answered, quietly.