A/N: The story is dark, do not read if you cannot handle M rating content.
Naruto x DCU x Marvel x DBS
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Chapter 1: Escape. Preview
Apokolips...
On a planet that can only be described as hell, with fire pits and the wails of the residents screaming in pain and begging for mercy, there is a room deep beneath the domain of Darkseid, The New God of Evil. The room houses a being who has never seen daylight or experienced freedom; he was born trapped within its confines.
The only interaction the being had with the outside world was when a kind woman would give him food and tell him stories of heroes who were long dead, but those stories gave him hope that one day they would be saved.
"Then Superman lifted the building up and dropped it on the parasite," the woman said as she went on to describe what could only be something out of a comic book, but was real.
"So this Superman is strong," the being said. "Then why doesn't he come to save us?"
The woman remained silent for a moment as she recalled the horrors of the day when the universe lost its heroes.
"That is because all of the heroes died the day Darkseid and his army of Parademons attacked Earth, and he killed them one by one." The woman replied sadly.
"So there are no heroes left; therefore, we have no hope in this universe," the being said as he had never known anything about the outside world â" all he had ever known was what a woman told him.
"There is hope as long as we are alive," the woman said. "There is hope," she repeated.
The person locked away in the darkness didn't reply, but he thought that the woman was a fool; they were trapped in their own personal hells with no one coming to save them â" there was no hope.
He felt sorry for the woman, even though he was locked away; his senses remained very sharp, and he had heard what the monster called Darkseid had done to the woman, which made him shudder.
Fast Forward...
In the darkness of his cage in the wall, the being had dreams of a life he once led as Naruto Uzumaki, a ninja who had endured all the world could throw at him, only to lose it all due to his own foolishness. He let his responsibilities to his village overshadow those to his family, allowing complacency to set in and turning himself into a weakling.
In the end, Naruto was killed by an Otsutsuki after his family was also slaughtered; he assumed Naruto's soul must have reincarnated due to the tragedy he had suffered.
It seems as if there is only despair in this universe, and those who perish are merely foolish victims of a worthless cause.
"Hey, are you awake?" The woman's voice cut him out of his depressing thoughts. "I brought you something to eat."
"Why" Naruto said as he didn't understand this woman.
"What? What do you mean, 'why,' you are hungry, aren't you?" the woman replied in confusion.
"Why do you keep on feeding me? I know you're being punished every time you do, and why bother? You should just let me die; there is nothing but suffering here." Naruto stated as he heard the torture she had endured each time she fed him. It would be easier to just give up and die.
"So you can hear that from inside there," the woman said sadly. "It does matter if I have to suffer to get you food because you are my light, never tell me again that I should just let you die. You are my only reason for living; you are my savior, my hero."
Naruto stood in silence as those words filled him with warmth; he hadn't felt in a long time.
"Yes, you are. So, don't ever say that I should let you die; you must endure everything, and one day I am sure we will be saved." The woman spoke with conviction.
The woman's words brought back more memories of his past life, and the will to never give up. He came to a realization; they had to save themselves, because there was no one coming to save them. They had to escape from this place.
"Okay, I understand you are frustrated. Can you please tell me more about those heroes who saved the Earth?" Naruto asked as he began to formulate a plan to escape. He knew he needed to gather more information about the outside world before approaching the woman, though he was certain she was being monitored.
"I would be happy to tell you; I think you will enjoy hearing about the time my cousin and his friend Batman saved the multiverse from the Dark Multiverse." the woman said happily.
Fast Forward...
Naruto started making his escape plan; he already had a good layout of Apokolips from his senses and from what the woman told him in stories, all he needed was power to escape his cage and find a Boom Tube.
To become stronger, Naruto had tried to feel his chakra, but he quickly realized that he had none in this new body; however, he possessed another energy that was much more violent and uncontrollable.
He managed to get a handle on it, but he knew that he is nowhere near strong enough to defeat anyone on the planet, his only chance for freedom lay in escape.
He had to get to a portal and escape the planet, but the problem was that all Father Boxes are connected to Darkseid, so he would know where to find him if he used them. He would then send one of his avatars after him.
The only way around it is to travel to the dark multiverse, hope that they have a way to cross dimensions and jump to another dimension before Darkseid finds him and the dark dimension collapses in on itself.
He would have to leave the woman behind because he didn't have the strength to protect her; he needed to act fast or else he would be caught.
"Hey, I hope you're hungry." The woman's voice interrupted his thoughts.
Naruto answered, "I am, but I am always hungry." He then continued, "Can you tell me some stories about the Dark Multiverse?" Naruto asked for some information on the place he planned to escape to.
"Oh, so you want to hear about the time the Justice League defeated the Batman Who Laughs?" the woman said as she began to retell the story of the Dark Knight.
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A/N: This is a preview of my new story called The Hero which is a crossover fanfic with Naruto x DCU x Marvel x DBS. I hope you enjoy it, chapter 1 and 2 are already on my Pa-tre-on if you want to read ahead and have access to exclusive content.