Merry Christmas, guys. (: To those of you who don't celebrate Christmas, happy Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and any other holiday you may celebrate. Enjoy this time with family and love. (:

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I raced for the tower, Snake Eyes at my side. As we got closer to the base of the tower, I nosed Snake Eyes, quickly telling him what do to. He nodded, and we both raced through the crowd, ignoring the chaos that was going on. Once we got closer to the base, I jumped and crouched, just as Snake Eyes jumped towards me. As soon as I felt his feet hit my back, I thrust myself upwards in a powerful buck, sending the ninja flying upwards. He grabbed onto the metal with one hand before pulling himself up and through the metalwork like a monkey. I watched him before turning to see that Duke and Ripcord were already running after the Baroness and the warheads. I knew that I'd only cause more chaos if I tried to follow, and if I shifted now to follow them, I probably wouldn't have the strength to shift again; shifting into the velociraptor had taken a lot out of me.

I turned my head when I heard car tires behind me, giving a relieved whistle when I saw Scarlet, Breaker, and Heavy Duty jump out from the RV with weapons. I trotted over to them, and they instinctively took a step back. I clicked, turning my head so that my blue eye showed, reminding them that I was still me.

As I walked towards them, guards came up, shouting and pointing their weapons at all of us. I went on the defensive, standing in front of them and giving a screech, crouching and ready to fight if necessary.

"Spirit, stand down!" Scarlet said before looking at the guard and speaking in a tongue I'd never heard before. I didn't bother trying to find out what she was saying; I already had a hard time understanding English.

More cars screech, and I turn my head to see flashing blue lights. I growl, taking a step back so that I'm closer to the others. Breaker runs a hand down my back, whether to give me comfort or just to see what a dinosaur felt like, I don't know. I hear a loud bang, and I look up to see something hit the Eiffel Tower. Green smoke explodes before pulling in on itself. Then, the metal starts to disappear.

'Everyone move!' I screech, though I probably panicked the people more as some disembodied voice rang through their heads. At least they did what I said, running away from the tower.

I heard screams coming up from the tower, and I watched with horror as one mother lost her grip on her child, the little girl falling. I caught a flash of metal before Ripcord managed to grab the child. I give a sigh of relief before racing to the tower, needing to do something to help. However, being a velociraptor had it's disadvantages. Instead of fleeing from the tower, the people fled from me, even if it meant heading back to the tower. Getting frustrated at this, I finally just went around the people and started to herd them out of the tower instead; at least that way, I was getting them out of the tower. As I was doing this, I heard the crying of a child. Even though I had never been a mother myself - and probably never would be - the cry tugged at my heart, and I instinctively turned around. There, standing by himself in the middle of the chaos, was a young boy who'd gotten separated from his mother. Reacting instinctively, I darted forward, grabbing the toddler's shirt in my jaws and carrying him out of danger before turning my head and setting him on my back. The toddler, wide-eyed and fascinated by the fact that he was riding a dinosaur, giggled in delight, though was smart enough to keep hold of my neck. I trotted easily from the tower, the toddler clinging to my back as I continued to herd people away from the collapsing structure.

Once I felt that we were far enough away from the chaos, I scented for the child's mother. It was hard, but the raptor's nose was incredibly sensitive. I followed the scent of the child that clung faintly to a woman sobbing and crying out a word over and over again; I took this to be the child's name. Sure enough, as I approached, the toddler squealed for his mother. She instantly looked up and she ran over, ignoring the fact that her child was sitting on the back of a creature that had been dead for millennia. She only took her child and held him close. For a moment, I was envious of that woman, but then I realized that I had bigger problems. The tower was falling, and I knew that if those nanomites hit the ground, it would spread into the rest of the city; even I could see that, despite my lack of knowledge on the subject.

'Scarlet!' I exclaimed upon seeing the redhead. 'It's going to fall!'

"I know!" Scarlet shouted back, looking worriedly upwards. I followed her gaze, seeing a large jet hovering over the tower as two small figures leapt from the collapsing structure, landing on the jet. I snarled.

'Ana and Storm Shadow,' I said, lashing my tail and digging my talons into the concrete. 'They're getting away!'

"Can you shift?" Scarlet asked me. I almost immediately shook my head.

'I don't have anything fast enough in the air to stop them. Besides, shifting into this took a lot out of me,' I replied, frustrated. I looked back up at the jet to see a third figure jump through the door. 'Duke.'

Scarlet swore, looking towards the jet sagged when Duke grabbed onto the side door before hauling himself inside. I gave a screech of frustration, unable to do anything as my friend put his life on the line. I could only watch anxiously as the jet tilted and then the green from the nanomites suddenly cut off.

'He did it!' I said happily before realizing that Duke was still inside the jet. 'How do we get to Duke?'

Scarlet shook her head. "We don't," she said before there was an ominous groaning sound. We both looked up to see the weakened tower sagging and then starting to fall. I turned and ran, dodging the falling debris with Scarlet and the others close behind. I see a piece of falling metal from the corner of my eye, and I rush forward to slam into Scarlet's back, knocking her out of the way. I fell as a result, and the piece of metal meant for Scarlet landed on my back. I gave a scream of pain when I felt something snap in my back, my lower half pinned under the partially melted metal.

"Spirit!" Scarlet cried, starting towards me, but I snarled to keep her back.

'Go,' I said. 'I'll be fine.' I knew I certainly didn't look fine, what with my spine twisted grotesquely to one side, the source of the snapping sound from earlier. When Scarlet didn't move, I snarled at her again. 'Go! You're wasting time.'

Scarlet, realizing that I was right, nodded and raced after the others; Breaker had probably thought of something to help find Duke. I laid my head down on the ground, unable to feel my lower half. I knew my back was broken, but I wasn't going to heal until the metal piece was off my back, and I wasn't strong enough to move it by myself.

It wasn't long before I heard footsteps, and I tried to raise my head, but a hand rested on my neck to keep me still. I snarled, rolling an eye before I recognized Snake Eyes. I gave another soft snarl, reluctantly resting my head back down on the ground. The ninja came around so that I could see him, withdrawing his sword and sliding it under the metal. Then, he pushed down on it, using it as a lever to help push it off of my back. I tried to claw myself forward, but my arms weren't nearly as strong as I would have liked them to be. So, Snake Eyes did what he could. As he levered the metal off of my broken back, he used his foot to help push my lower half out from under it. It couldn't have been easy, what with me being at least four hundred pounds of muscle, but we managed. With him pushing and heaving and me clawing, we finally managed to free my lower half from the wreckage. I laid my head back down on the ground, exhausted. Snake Eyes poked me, and I narrowed an eye at him.

'What?' I asked tiredly. He made a bunch of motions with his hands before freezing, realizing that didn't have a clue as to what he was trying to tell me. He finally just pointed to me and then pointed to himself. Seeing my confused expression, his shoulders sagged slightly - probably in annoyance - before he rolled one of his sleeves back, revealing smooth human skin, and placing it against my scales.

'You want me to shift into my human form?' I guessed. When he nodded, I narrowed my eyes slightly. 'You do know I'll be naked right?'

Apparently this thought hadn't occurred to him for he went still. A few seconds passed before he stood up and left. I watched him go, wondering what he was doing. As I waited, I felt the bones in my back beginning to shift and snap back into place, a slow but sure process. I heard footsteps and looked back up to see Snake Eyes returning with what looked to be a blanket in his hand. He threw it over my body before once again pointing to me and then to himself.

'Yeah yeah, I got it,' I grumbled, closing my eyes and bracing myself for the shift. Fresh agony rippled down my body as I shifted, scales smoothing out into skin and heavy muscle diminishing. I moaned, my back giving a loud crack as the last few bones slid into place before it shortened as my tail disappeared to make what the humans called a tailbone; I didn't see as to why since humans didn't have tails. Thankfully the process only took a few minutes before I was back in my human form. I wrapped the blanket tightly around myself, hiding my scars from view. Snake Eyes waited until I'd finished shifting before picking me up from the ground, one hand supporting my tender back while the other went under my knees. I kept myself bundled up, feeling the colder air now that I didn't have the protection of fur or scales.

"So, what's our plan now?" I asked, head resting against Snake Eyes's chest. The ninja, of course, didn't answer, so I just closed my eyes and went to sleep.

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I hope that this had enough action for you guys. (: Thanks for all your kind words and encouraging messages. They mean a lot. Merry Christmas, and happy holidays.

ML out

(PS, I'm having some troubles with the dialogue for GI Joe: Retaliation. If any of you guys know how to either find the movie online (without signing up, buying, or downloading) or know where to find the screenplay, that would be great! Thanks lots!)