X-Men 2

Chapter One The White House " 'We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.' " The young woman smiled at the camera-toting tour group as she led them through the carpeted halls of the White House that were open to the public. She stopped in front of a portrait of Abraham Lincoln. "Lincoln said that in his inaugural address as our nation's sixteenth president." She smiled more broadly. "It's one of my favorites." As the tour group admired the portrait, the young woman began leading them to a security checkpoint. Armed Secret Service agents were watching closely as they approached. Metal detectors crammed the small space, and cameras trained down on it from above. "If you'll please have your tickets ready, we'll begin the tour," the guide said, gesturing to the metal detectors. The tourists filed through obedientlyeveryone except a nondescript man in a baseball cap and a long trench coat. As the others went through the checkpoint, he stepped to the side and turned the corner. A janitor's closet was there, just out of sight of the security officers. The closet door was open slightly. He darted inside. Moments later, bamf! a flash of light beamed out from under the closet door. Smoke seeped through the doorjamb. The door cracked open and he stepped outside. He wasn't an ordinary man. He was Nightcrawler. As he headed down the hall, away from the tour group, a hand grabbed his shoulder. He turned, careful to keep his head bent down. "I'm sorry, sir," said one of the security officers. "Are you lost?" Nightcrawler nodded, staying shielded. He was there to do something, but what it was danced around his mind, never letting him fully grasp it. A beat went by and then he looked up, revealing his face. The face of a demon. Yellow, dilated eyes surrounded by skin so blue it appeared black bore into the security officer. His teeth and the whites of his eyes glinted. "What" Gasping, the security officer reached for his pistol. But he was too slow. From behind the agent's head, Nightcrawler's forked tail reached up and whish! wrapped around the gun, throwing it to the ground. He flipped the officer over. Then, fingers curled and teeth bared like an animal, he ran down the White House corridor at full speed. Something bad was going down. Something very bad. Agent Fabrizio pressed his earpiece closer, his heart racing. "Perimeter breach at visitors' checkpoint!" screeched the White House Secret Service agent on the other end. Agent Soltis ran up to him. "Multiple subjects!" he cried, his eyes ricocheting left and right. "I just went to shoot itand there was another one!" Agent Fabrizio motioned for him to follow and the two men raced into the Oval Office. "Mr. President, security breach." Fabrizio waved away President McKenna's bewildered assistant, Jackie, and grabbed the president. "Let's get him out to the car!" he yelled to Soltis. Before they could reach the exit, three more agents swarmed into the room, surrounding them. "The exit's not clear!" shouted a rookie, Agent Morris. "We don't know how many there are!" More Secret Service agents crowded into the room and formed a circle around President McKenna. All of them had their guns drawn, pointing toward the several doorways into the room. Alarms blared. Radios broadcast loud, unintelligible static.Conner, Ted is the author of 'X-Men 2', published 2003 under ISBN 9780553487763 and ISBN 0553487760.