Here's a story that I've wanted to write for quite some time, and I hope that you all enjoy it. A lot in my recent stories, as well as several of those by my good friend, Bloodrayne666, have been leading up to or hinting toward this.

As for when this takes place, a short time after both my fic Nemesis and Bloodrayne666's Animals We Have Become, possibly even during her Sharks and Ninjas as well.

I See the Light

Chapter 1

Shadows From the Past

It was another calm day in the hidden mutant sanctuary of Mutopia, underneath the city of Chicago.

The Chicago Knights, a group of Mutopians that had taken up protecting Chicago from crime, had returned after a very calm night of patrolling the city, and were enjoying some down time.

One of said mutant crime fighters was Amber the Marine Iguana, who was casually strolling alongside the canal that ran through the old ruin in which they had settled. A buzz in her pocket made her stop and pull out her shell-cell, which displayed a message on the screen that made her smile.

'Soon.'

Pocketing the phone again, she continued her stroll, this time with a few butterflies in her stomach.

'Oh, I can't believe this is finally happening, that the day is finally here. It's been such a long time.' she thought to herself.

As she kept walking, she soon ran into her brother, Tyroth the Dragon, and his mate, Sephie the Gecko.

"Hey, Amber. You look happy." Sephie greeted as they three met up.

"Just some happy thoughts, that's all." Amber responded.

"Nothing wrong with that, sis." Tyroth chuckled.

Suddenly, the village shook to the sound of an explosion, coming from the tunnel that led to the secret entrance, from which smoke spewed like water bursting through a dam.

Soon after, an army of Foot ninja poured into the village, weapons drawn and shouting loudly, and together with them were the deadly Venomous Five, the Foot's elite mutant muscles. And at the rear of the small army, were none other than doctor Arden, the head scientist of the Foot, Arashi, the second in command, and the Shredder himself.

"What…?!" Sephie gasped. "How?!"

"Doesn't matter! To arms everyone!" Tyroth roared, drawing his mighty blade, trying to rally his people to fight off the invaders.

"I don't understand!" Sephie said as she drew her bow and fired an arrow into the horde of ninja. "How did they find us?!"

"Stow the questions, Sephie!" Amber barked, drawing her twin butterfly swords and getting into a battle stance. "You'll get your answers soon!"

Without warning, Amber turned towards Sephie, and quick as a flash, stabbed the gecko in her stomach, making her cry out in pain and shock.

"Sephie!?" Tyroth exclaimed upon hearing his mate's cry, and he was even more surprised when he saw what had happened.

By this point, Amber had positioned herself behind Sephie, one hand still on the blade that had impaled the gecko, and the other holding the second blade against her neck, holding the whimpering gecko as a hostage.

"Amber?! What in Helheim are you doing?!" Tyroth roared.

"Stand down, brother, and tell the others to do the same, or I will slit her throat!" Amber snarled with a malicious grin on her face.

Tyroth glared at his sister, but then his gaze began sweeping the area, and how the Foot quickly surrounded them. Many other of the civilians were quickly captured, and while the Knights did fight back, they would soon be overrun unless he could aid them.

He growled loudly, then sighed, dropping his sword to the floor with a clang.

"Stand down!" he shouted, the words leaving a vile taste in his mouth.

Whether the Knights followed his order or not, they were soon shackled and rounded up, those that had resisted being in worse shape.

Tyroth especially was bound tightly in many strong chains, all while the Shredder and his lieutenants looked down on him on his knees. But his own eyes were on his sister, whom still held Sephie at the mercy of the blade.

"See, I told you that she would be our greatest weapon." Arden told the Shredder with barely contained excitement.

"That you did, doctor." Oruko Saki praised, his eyes turning to Amber. "I have waited for this moment for quite some time, and it has been worth the wait. Well done in coming to your senses, my Champion."

"I live to serve, my master." she replied proudly, then she looked at her brother, their eyes locking. "Oh, don't look so surprised, my dear brother, you should have known that a creation of the Foot could not be trusted."

Tyroth growled loudly in defiance, but as he saw his people being treated as animals by their captors, his heart sank even deeper. He never thought that this was how it would end.

Tears fell from his eyes as he closed them, and the malevolent laughter of the Shredder and the others echoed around him, and together with them, Amber laughed as well.

"No!"

Amber screamed as she sat bolt upright in her bed, sweat dripping from her forehead and her heart beating like a jack-hammer in her chest.

Her eyes darted all over the place, and despite the darkness, she could see that she was still in her room in Mutopia. She looked at her alarm clock on the nightstand, 14.32, the middle of the day for the humans above, but it was the middle of the night for the nocturnal mutants.

She buried her face in her hands and wept, mostly for how horrible the nightmare had been, but also partly in relief that it was just a nightmare.

"Why… why does this have to keep happening…" she sobbed. "Will I ever be free from these horrors?"

For several minutes, she just sat there and sobbed, feeling so alone, weak, and vulnerable, just like when she had been kidnapped by the Foot years earlier.

Eventually, she took several deep breaths and wiped her tears. Even though her hands were still shaking from the bad dream, and her heart still beat at a rapid pace, she knew that she needed to get her sleep, no matter how unappealing it felt at the moment, how much she feared that the night horrors would plague her again.

Still, she had no choice. She'd be completely ruined the next day if she didn't get enough sleep, and she knew it. Laying back down, she got back into an as comfortable position as possible, and tried to think of far more pleasant things, even though the memories of not only the dream, but also the incident that spawned it, still lingered in her mind.

It took well over an hour before she had fallen asleep again, but luckily the following rest had been calm.

Splashing some water in her face to freshen up the next morning, she got dressed and left her room, heading for the mess hall to get some much needed breakfast.

Once there, she gathered some cereal, yoghurt, toast, cheese, and orange juice on a food tray and looked for a place to sit down and eat. She was a bit early compared to the majority of the Mutopians, so there weren't that many others in the mess hall yet, but of those that were there, one greeted her with a wave and a warm smile, beckoning the marine iguana to join her.

Sephie.

Amber had some mixed emotions because of the nightmare, but she and Sephie had always gotten along very well, and Sephie was also the closest thing Mutopia had to a proper psychotherapist, and she had helped others before, Amber included.

"Hey, Amber!" Sephie said as her sister in law sat down at the opposite side of the table. "How's your morning?"

"Morning, Sephie. Not too good, honestly. Had a rough night."

"Oh? How so?" Sephie asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Just a nightmare." Amber sighed.

"Oh dear… Was it one of the…?"

"Not quite… but definitely related…"

"I'm so sorry, Amber. I really hoped that I could have helped you get rid of them after all these years." Sephie placed her hand on Amber's in a show of comfort.

"It's not your fault, Sephie." Amber said with a weak, but genuine smile. "And you've already done so much for me already. Why, you started helping me deal with everything right after I mutated, both with adjusting to my new form, and to process all that I had to experience when Arden turned me into a half mutant and brainwashed me. Back then, I had nightmares about that nearly every night, and while I still have them, they are a lot rarer than they were years ago."

"Still, my heart goes out to you. I really wish that there was something more I could do for you."

"Thank you. But I will manage. Like I said, they are quite rare nowadays, but they still leave a lasting impression when I do have them."

"Even normal nightmares can do that." Sephie stated. "Would you like to talk about this last one? You know I will always listen."

"I know, but…" she took a quick look around, as more people had started to arrive. "I'd rather do it somewhere more private. Someone might get the wrong idea if they were to hear it."

"Of course, we can do this in your room then, after breakfast."

"Thank you, Sephie."

"What are sisters in law for?" Sephie replied with a quick wink, and Amber couldn't help but giggle a little.

Even after all this time, Amber is still troubled by what she went through back in my other story, A Sister's Plight, and who can blame her.

At least she does have friends that help her in her times of need.