Chapter One

For the past 10 years, the earth has been under the control of the Red Lanterns, a ferocious group that is driven by anger. This story actually begins at the start of the invasion.

10 years ago, Three Days into Invasion

The Earth was happy, that is until the sky turned a blood red and everyone was running away as strange people started flying through the atmosphere. These beings were capturing anyone they could, but one family was staying out of sight.

"Mom, what's going to happen?" The little girl asked.

"I don't know honey, but you and your brother need to get out of here." The woman answered.

"We're not going to leave you." The boy said.

"Listen to your mother, run away and find a place to hide." The man in the family said.

The twin children were not willing to leave their parents behind, but they headed out after hugging each other goodbye. The boy managed to find a hiding spot and motioned for his sister to come to him, but one of the invaders saw her running and grabbed her. The girl's parents screamed in fear, thus alerting the invaders to their presence and they were pulled out of hiding.

"Take the girl to the reprogramming warehouse; she will be useful in our army. As for the adults, they will be destroyed." A deep and hate filled voice said as the leader of the invaders flew down beside his followers.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO." The girl said as the one follower that wasn't holding her held out his arm and the special ring sent out two sharp blasts, each hitting one of the parents. Tears ran down the girl's face as she saw the life leave her parents' eyes.

The brother was crying as well, but it seems that they didn't know about him. The invaders took off with his sister, and he knew he'd never see or speak to her again.

BAUBAUBAU

Six Hours Later, Reprogramming Warehouse

The eight year old girl was put in a large cage with other children that seemed to range from her age to about 15. She was still crying, and that's when the voices started to taunt her.

"You think this is bad; just wait till they get you reprogrammed." One teenager said.

"Hope you aren't going to miss your memories, because they will be gone soon enough." Another teen said.

The girl didn't say anything, and continued to cry. The teens started laughing, but there were two kids that came out of the group and walked over to her.

"Hey, what happened?" The red headed boy said.

"These invaders killed my parents right in front of me." The girl said, the tears slowing down as she felt that these two were really worried about her.

"They do that, I'm sorry you lost your parents, I'm Conner Kent." The dark haired boy said.

Both boys looked to be about 2-3 years older than her, and she felt safe with them, so she opened up a bit.

"I'm Reiena Grayson, it's nice to meet you Conner." The girl said.

"I'm Wally West; I lost my parents to the Lanterns too." The red head said.

"Lanterns?" Reiena asked, curious about the name Wally used for the invaders.

"They call themselves Red Lanterns, and they thrive on hatred and anger. We don't know why they came to Earth." Wally told his new friend.

"Why are they taking kids though….and reprogramming them?" Reiena asked.

"Wally and I think it's to build an army of their own to conquer other worlds." Conner said.

"They've been starting with the teens, leaving the younger ones for last." Wally stated.

Reiena felt all hope leaving her as she took in everything that Conner and Wally were telling her.

"Let's get some rest; you've had a hard day." Conner said as he touched Reiena's shoulder lightly.

Reiena didn't say anything as she looked at Conner then jumped into a hug. Conner knew that this 8 year old had been through a lot today, so he returned the embrace and they headed to a corner of the cage to get some sleep.

BAUBAUBAU

The next morning the three fast friends woke up and saw that they were the only ones left in the cage.

"Guess we're next." Reiena said, worry in her voice.

"We'll fight the reprogramming, we have to. Reiena, you can't lose the person you are inside. Fight it with everything you have, okay." Conner said.

"Before it happens, how old are you two?" Reiena asked.

"I'm 10 and Conner is 11." Wally answered.

"I'm eight." Reiena told her new friends.

"We'll stay who we are, just fight with all your might." Wally stated, and it was after that when the invaders came into the area.

"You three, come with me, it's time for you to get reprogrammed." The invader said.

The three kids looked at each other then went toward the cage door. The invader was pleased that the children didn't struggle or fight as the door was opened and three strings of energy came from his ring, wrapping themselves around the kids' arms. They were then lead out of the room.

It wasn't long before the three children were strapped into machines with probes at their temples. The Lantern operating the machine smiled as he turned it on. Wally, Conner and Reiena started crying out in pain. The readings were fine, until all of a sudden the machine started to go haywire and seemed to overheat. Within a minute the machine broke down.

"What happened?" The Red Lantern leader asked, coming into the room.

"I do not know, Lord Atrocitus; the machine is not responding anymore. The readings say that all three children will not survive much longer." The Red Lantern informed his leader.

"Toss them somewhere to die." Atrocitus said, and with that three Lanterns came and each carried one child. It was seen that they were bleeding, which meant that parts of the pods created shrapnel which entered the children's bodies.

The Red Lanterns then took the children to a place where all others that were resistant to the reprogramming were taken to die.

BAUBAUBAU

Each of the Red Lanterns went to one of three disposal areas and dropped off the child they were carrying. Reiena was all alone, and bleeding out; but soon a shadowy figure came and carefully picked her up. The only thing she could really make out was that her savior had a head shaped like a bat. She then passed out and the figure headed off with the eight year old held gently against him form.

BAUBAUBAU

Two Days Later, Unknown Area

The eight year old girl was finally waking up. She had no memory of anything and as she got up, she felt something wrapped around parts of her body. She jumped up trying to struggle and a fresh pain ripped through her body.

"You'll be alright, as will your friends." A deep yet caring voice said.

"Friends?" She questioned; then she saw two boys lying on make shift tables beside her. "I vaguely remember them."

"Do you remember your name?" The voice asked.

"I'm not…..Reiena, but that's all I can remember." The girl said as she looked at the two boys.

"How do you remember your name?" The voice asked as a figure came out of the shadows.

"These boys, seeing them made me remember." Reiena told her mysterious savior.

"I can't stay and care for you, but these boys were found with the same injuries you have. There is enough food and water for two years. I have to do everything I can to stop these invaders." The figure said. "I'm Batman, by the way."

"Red Lanterns….that's what they are called." Reiena stated. "Seeing the red head reminded me, Batman."

"Okay, and thank you, Reiena, but I have to go; I'm sorry." Batman said and with that he headed out, leaving the three children alone.

Suddenly the red head started to wake up, and as he sat straight up, cringed in pain.

"Batman said that you'll be alright. He saved us and that dark haired boy." Reiena told the red head. "I'm Reiena; do you remember your name?"

"I'm not sure; I know it starts with a W." The red head said.

"I think it's Wally; I remember you; the two of you comforted me." Reiena said, trying to remember everything. "I'm sure his name is Conner. We just have to wait till he wakes up."

"So this 'Batman' just left us here alone." Wally questioned.

"I don't think he wanted to leave, but he seems to be fighting the Lanterns alone." Reiena said, thinking about Batman and his emotions when he was talking to her.

"Let's get some food. I think we should be sparing with it. We need to make it last as long as we can, and Batman said there was enough food and water for two years." Reiena said as she went over to the boxes and pulled out two meals.

Soon enough, 'Conner' woke up and he was filled in on what the other two knew. The three children ate in silence then talked about what they were going to do.

BAUBAUBAU

It had been three days since his whole life was uprooted. The eight year old boy watched his parents get killed and his twin sister get taken away. All he could do now was hide from the invaders and hope he could stay alive. While he was carefully moving to a new place, he heard talking and hid so as not to get caught.

"We have to find any and all food we can." A male voice said.

"I can't believe they killed our families. At least we were hiding and they didn't find us." A female voice said.

"How could they kill my uncle, he's not even from Earth." A second female voice said.

"They were able to attack my home of Atlantis deep under the ocean; only with my king's help was I able to escape." The male voice said.

The young boy stayed hidden, but when he was sure that these voices were of people that were attacked, he came out of hiding. The three mysterious people turned and they were just kids themselves.

"Who are you?" The blonde girl asked as she pulled her bow and arrows out.

"I'm Dick; my parents were killed by these invaders." The boy said, tears coming to his eyes.

"It seems we all have something in common. My name is Kaldur, this is M'gann and Artemis." The male of this new trio said.

"It's nice to meet you all. M'gann, did I hear you say that your uncle was not from Earth?" Dick questioned, thinking about what he had overheard.

"Yes, my uncle is….was a Martian, I'm one too. We came to Earth to see what we could learn." M'gann said.

"I'm so sorry. I did have a sister, but the invaders took her away." Dick told the three older kids as more tears started to form.

"So you don't have anyone to stay with, even in hiding." Artemis asked.

Dick shook his head as the tears continued to form. M'gann couldn't stand seeing this little boy upset so she walked up to him and gave him a hug. Kaldur and Artemis also walked up to Dick and the eight year old felt safe; seeing as there was a Martian and an Atlantean here.

"How old are you, Dick?" Artemis asked.

"Eight." Dick said as he left M'gann's embrace.

"M'gann and I are 16; Artemis is 15. We have a place we have been staying at since we met; let us head there for the night." Kaldur said, and with that, Dick headed out with his new friends to somewhere safe.