I quickly took assessment of our situation. Storm and Cyclops stumbled over to Magdalena and me, their in-fighting halted, at least for now. Scott had a rather nasty bruise on his jaw. Phoenix was lying on the ground in a ball, gripping the deep bloody gash in her side. Colossus was slowly trying to climb out of a deep smoking crater in the sidewalk. Gaia, Magneto, Master Mind and Nightcrawler were still unconscious. Wolverine was swimming in the Hudson River towards us, but clearly he would be awhile. I looked over at Mystique who held her gun to Dr. Rao's head. Her steely gaze left no doubt as to her intentions.

"Believe me Xavier, there is nothing that would give me more pleasure than toasting this bitch!" she shouted.

"I believe you, Mystique. But you must understand that doing so would not change anything. They already have whatever their cure is. Killing her won't stop that. In fact, it will just make the humans see us as more of a menace then they already do. They would be more likely to take some drastic paranoid action like making the 'cure' mandatory."

I could see the truth of my words were having an effect on her. Mystique may be cold blooded, but she is very logical.

Finally, she said, "Alright then, how do you propose we stop them?"

I looked around the devastated street. It was like a scene from Blackhawk Down. There were still several camera crews taping us though. Reaching into their minds, I coaxed them to come closer. When they were all gathered in front of me, I addressed the newsmen.

"Do you see what your fear has wrought?" I said into the cameras. "Rather than accepting mutants as people with the same rights and obligations as yourselves, you insist in treating them as lepers, inferior beings who must be destroyed. How can you be surprised that some mutants would feel threatened and try to defend themselves? This 'solution' that was being proposed today is predicated upon a false supposition - that there is a 'mutant problem' that must be cured. There is no more a mutant problem than there is a black problem, or a Jewish problem. Mutants are not an aberration and they are not a disease that must be cured. They are a natural step in the evolutionary process. Man and mutant should live together in peace. This is the only solution to your inherent desire for security. Taking steps like trying to create a cure will only create hostility. You are throwing fuel onto the fire. Peace, tolerance and acceptance is the only path to security. The first step to that peace is laying down your weapons and destroying your cure."

I looked over at Mystique. She hesitated, unsure of how to respond. I could feel her inner conflict but finally she lowered her gun. Dr. Rao stepped forward and in a clear voice said, "The efforts toward developing a system of curing mutations shall be stopped from this moment forward."

There was a smattering of applause from the few people on the street. When I turned around I saw that both teams had gathered behind me. Gaia used her warping powers to heal Jean's side. Magneto flattened out the Yugo into a large smooth disk which we all boarded and he took us up to the X-Jet.

I don't know how long this truce will last but hopefully - oh, who am I kidding. This isn't going to last long at all.