This is a new story that I will be using to relieve a bit of writers block. The Dead Can't Be Heard already has chapters hand written up to chapter eleven, I am currently working on getting them typed up so they'll be up soon. Anyhow, here's this new story for people to enjoy. I hope you do and look forward to more of TDCBH.

Start!

The Man Who Would Be God

Chapter One:

He Cometh

"In honor of your resurrection, my daughter, I will grant you the honor of becoming my sacrifice, so that I may finally devour...this Universe!"

Time knew no meaning as Jump city was in flames. Trigon, a Devourer of Universes and Souls, stood atop the dilapidated ruins of the Titan Tower. His four piercing yellow eyes glared down upon the unconscious forms of the Titans and his downed Daughter of Pride, Raven. She met his glare with a powerful one of her own. "No! I won't let you do this!"

The blood red monster spread his wings and let loose a pulse of malevolent energy. "You truly think that you have the strength to stand against me?! You have no strength left to speak of. You cannot stand, let alone fight, my daughter."

Raven, clad in white, struggled as hard as she could to stand, but to no avail. Her will to even stay awake was fading into nothingness. As darkness clouded her vision, she began to utter words that shook the very ground beneath her feet.

"Timeless Being, Betwixt Illusions and Realities..."

The ground began to crack as the very air around the dark sorceress began to bend and fissure. Trigon heard the echoing whispers of his daughter and narrowed his sickly eyes, dark magical energy gathering around his form. "You're too late!"

"Protect My Body, Destroy My Enemies..."

The buildup of magical power was released in a massive beam of destructive power, but before it struck his daughter, somehow reality twisted upon the beam and it simply vanished from existence itself. His eyes betrayed a sense of an emotion that he had not felt in ages as his daughters chant continued.

Fear.

"With This Deal, My Soul You Shall Rend..."

Trigon kept up his useless attempts to destroy her, but reality simply wouldn't allow it. Whatever power Raven called upon would not allow its summoner to be harmed. as her arms gave way and she fell to her stomach, the last few words left her mouth.

"Heed My Call...Deity...of...the...End..."

Her vision faded to black as unconsciousness took her. Trigons face twisted in rage as the warping of reality became increasingly unstable. Cracks began to form in the air itself as a low growl was heard echoing through the air. The Demon Lords fist clenched hard enough to pierce his own flesh, bringing forth a bead of black blood that flowed over his hand. "To think that I would be forced to meet you face to face once more...by my own daughter no less."

The cracks in existence itself snapped open as a being exploded into existence. Dark magics swirled in a spiraling pillar of energy that very soon began to calm into a breeze of still overwhelming power. As the magic that shrouded his form dissipated, Trigon gazed upon the form of his long sworn enemy and ancient conquest over the gods. The being took the form of a man who soon stood to a height of six feet tall. His hair was of decent length, the sun blonde locks reaching down just below his shoulders. His skin took on a sickly tone that horribly contradicted his hairs vibrant color. His unclothed torso was built with an athletic tone and a mass of scar tissue over where his heart was while his lower body was covered by a rough umanori hakama colored with a tone reminiscent of fresh blood and an accenting of black in a stripe down the side of his legs. His feet were bare and his hands were clenched in a manner that made his devilish claws even more menacing than they already were. As his eyes opened to gaze up at Trigon; the Demon Lord, for the first time in millennia, stared back into the blood red eyes of his enemy.

His voice echoed over the expansive wasteland of Jump City, the water surrounding the island pulsing with each syllable he spoke.

"Skaath."

Trigon glared harder at the being before him, disappearing into nothing before appearing once more a mere ten feet from him. "I never thought that I would have to suffer the displeasure of looking upon your disgusting visage once more, Naruto."

The being, Naruto, stared at the monstrous beast that easily towered over him by a good three feet with a look of absolute apathy, but spoke with dissent in his voice. "I never thought that I would be contracted to your daughter, Skaath. It seems as though both of us are displeased. To be bound to someone of your blood until their death is certainly a punishment I wouldn't wish upon the worst of scum. And please, don't speak my name. I can't quite place it, but for some reason, coming out of your mouth, it just seems...unnatural."

The Lord of Madness huffed rather uncharacteristically at the blonde before sending a wave of dark magic at him, only for him to simply wave it into nothingness. "Almost, Skaath, but not quite. As much as it pains me to say, I AM bound by my law. Despite your daughter having no idea what she has done, I will slaughter any enemy she stands against until such the time comes for me to devour her immortal soul, however that works. Anyhow, right now you are her enemy. Quite a prize in my opinion. Fair warning, I'm a little bit rusty, so I would appreciate you going easy on me."

Naruto began to stretch his arms and legs, gaining even further ire from his age old enemy. "When I sealed you away between the fabric of dimensions, I obviously was wrong to assume that I had dealt with your ridiculous antics once and for all. A being with no purpose. All that power, and nary a goal to point it towards. A useless figurehead to signal the advent of the end."

The blonde smirked lightly and he cracked his knuckles. "You merely succeeded in sealing me away because my previous contractor held my hand. A sick ploy by your fellow deities in an attempt to control me. Luckily for me, you seem to have a few...family issues. Not to worry, it will all be over soon."

It was in that moment that Trigon learned just how outmatched he was. Naruto disappeared from sight and reappeared with his fist firmly planted in the demons face, sending him careening into the rubble of the Titan Tower with a resounding boom. The blonde beast shook his hand lightly with a fake wince of pain. "C'mon there, Skaath. That couldn't have knock you ou-..."

He was cut short by a blast of malevolent energy that struck him hard enough to send him back to where he had stood in front of Raven's unconscious body. "I will not be trifled with by a man who fancies himself some sort of deity. You are not the god you tout yourself to be! A so-called Deity of the End...Bah! You're nothing but a pathetic little man. Though...I suppose this is some form of poetic irony, as I will end you. Once and for all."

The assault of Trigon's fists did not budge the blonde one bit. Instead, he smirked, grabbing one of the barraging fists before pulling the hulking demon lord down to his level and connecting another devastating hook to his face, sending him back once more into the rubble with a roar of rage. Naruto chuckled lightly and bounced around like a boxer would in the ring. "I've got to hand it to you, Skaath, you certainly pack more of a punch than you used to. However, you're still as weak as ever."

As Trigon picked himself up from the rubble, Naruto began to walk forward, the earth trembling with each step, as if the very ground feared the power he exuded. "Now tell me, Skaath; why in the multiverse do you honestly think you have a chance?"

The aforementioned demon glared through his blood-blurred vision as the wound on his face began to close. "I am going to kill you..." Naruto sucked his teeth and placed a hand firmly on his hip while he pinched the bridge of his nose in contempt. "I swear, you have no idea when to just give up. At first it was kind of endearing. Now..." He glared at the demon lord and his eyes began to glow a deeper red than before, his magical power swirling into a tornado pulsating with royal purple energy.

"You're just irritating."

Trigon roared in fury as he charged the blonde, his own dark magic beginning to culminate. As he neared him, Naruto narrowed his eyes and raised his hand to the malevolent being. "I grow tired of this already. By Writ of Ancient Law, I Sentence You to Death."

As Trigon came closer, the Titans began to rouse from their pain-induced slumbers. With their first conscious breaths being taken, a single word rang through the air. Buildings crumbled under the weight of this word. A pressure took the Titans by surprise as they could not move. The power behind his voice made even Trigon falter.

"Begone."

The horrid demon could not even scream. The power behind that single word wiped him from existence. His very being now an object of fiction. A fairy tale that parents will go on to tell their children. Naruto lowered his hand and sighed before rolling his shoulders slightly as the Titans slowly rose to their feet, speechless at the act they just witnessed. "You'd think that after a thousand years, you would've kept me entertained at least a little bit longer. It's no fun doing things like that."

Raven was dumbfounded as she stared at the entity with his back to her. This being had just simply...willed her father out of existence. To wield such power was...unsettling to her and to the rest of the Titans. "Who...are you?"

Naruto jumped slightly as he slowly turned his head to peek over his shoulder. "Who? Me?" She nodded slowly, still in shock from the previous events. He turned fully to the Titans who now gathered around him, each ready to attack if need be. The blonde rolled his eyes and pointed one of his clawed digits at the indigo haired sorceress. "Don't think playing amnesiac is going to get you out of our deal, Raven Roth."

She was confused, but the one to speak up was the Boy Wonder, Robin. "What are you talking about? What deal?" Naruto huffed and sat down crosslegged with a hand on his knee and the other on the bridge of his nose. 'The Presence only knows that this is going to become the norm until our contract is up...'

With a snap of his fingers, the world around them shattered. The Titans jumped in fear and surprise as they appeared in the massive den area of the Titan Tower, the whole building and the rest of Jump City completely unharmed. Raven's eyes widened in fear as the gears in her head began to turn. "The Deity of the End..."

Naruto threw his hands up into the air with a gasp and clapped sarcastically. "There you go, little Roth! Second try!" The cybernetic teen, Cyborg, behind her, composed himself with a deep breath and spoke as calmly as possible. "Raven...did you just say...Deity of the End?"

Raven took a slight step back, nearly tripping over her white cloak until an unseen force set her upright. "The Deity of the End is a being that came into existence over ten thousand years ago. No one knows where he came from. He just...appeared. Where he came from isn't important however, because it was his coming that brought about the end of an entire galaxy. Countless Gods and Goddesses came together in an attempt to stop him but nothing worked. My...father sealed him away a thousand years ago after a contract was formed from the laws of both Divine and Unholy deities. The contract, after it was created, was immediately destroyed so that no one could ever free him. It's the only time in recorded history that Trigon ever cooperated with other deities."

The green one, Beast Boy, was far more...animated in his response to this information. "Then how the heck is he even here?!"

Naruto was the one to speak up this time, though he was no longer sitting and was now rummaging through the fridge for a drink. "Little Roth over there summoned me of course, my tiny green friend. Gotta say, it's nice to be free, no matter how confusing it is. Even for me, considering that my contracting ritual was destroyed. Rothy Roth, you wouldn't mind telling me how it is you knew it, would you?"

Raven shook her head slowly, truly not knowing how she knew it. She was still questioning to a degree as to whether or not she actually did summon him. Her answer, though, garnered a shrug from the pale blonde as he drank his newly acquired soda. "Oh well, can't say I have much of a reason to complain anyway. It's pretty cold in between realities. Only yourself to talk to and even fewer things to do. Hm...WELP! Now that I'm back, I'll uphold my contract until such time comes to crunch down on her soul and then I guess I'll just move on. I wonder what there is to do in a place like this? Technology seems to have advanced pretty far in the last thousand years."

The room was quiet as the Titans couldn't bring themselves to fully grasp what he had just said. Robin spoke up once he found his voice. "Um...I'm not sure we all heard you. You're going to...eat her soul?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders once again and tossed his can into the nearby trashcan. "It's just one of those deity things, I guess. I'm not the one who designed this contract in the first place so don't go getting on me for it. To be honest, it was probably just one of those other gods trying to make me out to seem like a bad guy."

"Destroying an entire galaxy could do that too, ya know."

Beast Boy's snarky comment got a chuckle out of the blonde as he leaned back on the counter. "I suppose you're right about that one, Green Bean. But, in my defense, it wasn't like I wanted to do it in the first place."

This caught the Titans off guard, namely Raven. "All the legends state that you were a violent, malicious entity. You wiped out entire systems simply because you could!"

Naruto shook his head with an aggravated look. "See, this is why I always hated legends and all that stupid shit. I'll admit, I don't think they were wrong for sealing me away, but even those all-seeing deities couldn't see past their own noses. Shit, probably still can't. When I first came to this universe, a bunch of weird shit was going on. I couldn't and still can't remember any life before that time. Imagine being an all-powerful being, just appearing with no idea of what's going on. People worshipped me, but at the same time they feared me. I remember why it all began."

The blonde deity stepped away from the counter and began to play with what looked like an oversized atom he created. The Titans all drew closer, intent on hearing the story. "When I first appeared, I was drifting through nothing. All around me I could see stars and balls of gas and dirt. I did not eat, sleep or breathe. I simply existed. As time went by I began to understand the things that I could do. I could create. I could destroy. As I drifted through space, I fell to a planet and became a god to its inhabitants. Turns out, though, I had broken a few rules I didn't know about."

He came to sit on the massive couch and leaned back with a huff. "Another deity ruled over that planet. I encroached on his territory without even knowing it. He thought I was some sort of false prophet or whatever and tried to kill me. Every single time, I just came back. After about the tenth time I got tired of it and decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. I willed him to die. To disappear. But he didn't come back like I did. I'm special like that. He wasn't. Simple as that. Well that caught everyone else's attention. These gods came for me and tried to wipe out the people who worshipped me when they realized they couldn't kill me, thinking that I got my powers from their worship. Useless pieces of shit, if you ask me. The gods, not the people. Just...just to clarify."

Raven held up her hand and he stopped immediately. "You mean you wiped out a galaxy because of the other Gods killing your followers? In the history of even our own galaxy this happens all the time. Gods wiping out civilizations because they were slighted." Naruto kept his emotions in check, not wanting to anger his master, despite her shortsightedness. "Well, I didn't exactly ask to be targeted, now did I? The men, women and children didn't ask for it either. They were killed because I broke the rules. Not them. I had to rectify. They needed justice. For the next couple thousand years I wiped out countless Gods and Goddesses. Then? Well, you know the rest. Destroyed a galaxy, came to the little ol' Milky Way, they thought I was gonna do the same thing, we fought, I killed a few and the rest is history!"

Robin shook his head to clear his thoughts. "So let me get this straight. Raven...you summoned a god killing god that destroyed an entire galaxy. This god is also bound to you until he eats your SOUL, which afterwards he's going to have no one to keep him in check?"

Naruto nodded and willed his play atom out of existence. "That about sums it up, shorty. Though, to be honest I'm not sure how the whole soul eating thing is going to work. Only had that one other contract before this and I didn't even eat the guys soul. Pretty sure that was just a loophole, what with the sealing between realities and all that jazz."

"I wasn't asking you."

The blondes red eyes narrowed dangerous and Robin soon found himself paralyzed and suspended in the air while the other Titans minus Raven prepared to attack. He voice changed to a deeper, more guttural tone, a far cry from his normally gruff yet alluring one. "You'll find very quick, young fool, that YOU do not speak to ME in such a manner. Raven Roth is my master for the duration of my contract and is the only one I shall tolerate to address me with such...disrespect. Continue doing what you just did, and I won't hesitate to wipe you from existence. You won't even exist as a memory."

With his threat looming over the Caped Crusaders protege, he let him down and let his head fall back against the couch as he rested his eyes. "Now, if you don't mind, Raven Roth, I'm going to get some sleep. Drifting in the nothingness between realities isn't exactly a comfortable place to get some shut-eye."

Raven said nothing, so he took it as consent. As he drifted off into his dreams, the other Titans let their guards lower as Robin spoke up. "Raven, you have to find some way out of this and put him back where he came from!"

The grey skinned sorceress lowered her head and pulled her hood up as she tried to gain control of the tempest of emotions going through her head. On one hand she completely understood the paranoid nature of the Boy Wonder. She had somehow summoned THE most dangerous being the universe had ever known and most likely WILL ever know. Even her father didn't elicit as much terror as the slumbering deity did in the past. On the other hand, a part of her was...excited? With him here, she had access to the knowledge of an entirely different galaxy that has been dead for over ten thousand years. Plus, realistically, there was no way out. For all intents and purposes, she had the power of the universe at her command.

As she gathered her thoughts, the Titans were arguing.

"He saved friend Raven from Trigon! Surely this god cannot be as evil as the legends make him seem."

"Honestly, I have to agree with Robin. This guy can't be good news."

"Cy is right! I mean, this guy seems pretty dangerous if he can kill GODS!"

"ENOUGH!"

The room grew quiet as all eyes went to Raven. Despite her outburst, she remained calm as she took a seat beside the blonde. "There's no way out of this contract. What's done is done. For the time being he is under control and will do as I say. A deal with a god is unbreakable by either party." Robin huffed and began to walk away, as did the other Titans, none of them wanting to be near the Deity of the End. Raven, however, sat on the floor in front of the couch and began to levitate into her meditation.

-X-X-X-

Minutes soon turned into an hours as Naruto began to wake up. The sun was down and the moon was high in the sky. 'It's been far too long since I had the pleasure of sleeping on anything with a cushion. Unfortunately, I have other things that I need to take care of.' As he opened his eyes, he noticed the essence of pride still levitating in a trance-like state. 'Hm...I suppose I could've been linked to an idiot. Little Roth is at least a looker.'

He sat up and looked down at the sorceress. "Hey, little Roth."

"My name is Raven. Please don't call me Roth."

He held up his hand in defense to the unflinching teen. "Understood, Raven. You know, just for future reference, since I'm bound to you, you don't have to say all that polite 'please' shit. You're my master until you die. I am yours to command."

"I'm aware. But would you rather us at least be polite with each other?"

Naruto shrugged and began to play around with the remote to their television. "Hey, whatever you want, Raven. I don't care one way or the other, but regardless of our feelings on the situation, we need to lay down some ground rules."

This got Raven's attention and she opened her eyes, still levitating. "What're you talking about?"

"I had a long time to think in that void between realities and I've ultimately learned that while in the grand scheme of things, almost everyone is the same, people have different ways of doing things. If I am going to being serving you, I need to know what restraints you wish to preemptively place me under."

The indigo sorceress raised a brow at this and let herself lower to the floor. "You actually WANT me to restrain you?" The blonde shook his head and scratched the back of his neck. "Well, I'd prefer it if you didn't, but what with you being...a hero, I guess, I figured you'd have some sort of rulebook or something. Like some bullshit of not killing people. All you heroes are all about that self-righteous crap, right?"

A new voice was heard behind him before Raven could speak. "We do have rules. Since you being here is unavoidable for the time being, you are going to be following the same rules that all of the Titans do."

Naruto narrowed his eyes and slowly turned his head to see the young masked hero Robin coming through the main door. "Hey, little Grayson, what'd I say about you thinking that you can talk to me like that?"

"Don't."

The blonde deity huffed and turned back to Raven. "As you wish, Raven. Anyways, what orders do you wish of me?"

Raven sighed and stood with her chin between her index finger and thumb in thought. "Just...follow orders for now. Robin is pretty much our leader so his orders are mine. Disobeying him is the same as disobeying me."

Naruto grumbled and huffed. "You mean you just follow this little brats orders? You do realize that you could just wipe him out and take over the team, right?"

Raven narrowed her eyes at the blonde and he stopped his line of thought, outwardly. "Robin was trained by Batman, one of the founding members of the Justice League. He is one of our smartest members, so yes, we follow his orders. Sometimes..."

Naruto chuckled. "So you're saying that if you disagree, you just disobey him?"

Her eyes remained narrowed, as did Robin's own. "What're you getting at, Deity of the End?"

The blonde god put his hands behind his head and leaned back, doing his best to ignore the ire in his tone. "Why, nothing at all, little Grayson. Just a thought, is all. And please...if I'm going to be following your...orders, call me Naruto. I want us to be friends after all!"

Robin glared at the blonde before turning his back and walking back through the door. "Just don't kill anyone. For now, that'll be enough."

Naruto sucked his teeth and stood with a stretch. "You're no fun, kid. Sometimes killing is half the fun of a fight!"

Robin shot the blonde one final glare as the door closed, leaving him alone with Raven once more. "You could at least be a little more polite. Since you're here until I die, you'll be dealing with all of them."

The blonde rolled his eyes and walked to the window, gazing out over Jump City with an almost unnoticeably forlorn look in his eyes. "I understand, Raven. I request that you please don't take my disregard for little Grayson as wanton disrespect. I simply don't appreciate his sense of...superiority. My contract is with you and you alone. If you wish for me to take his orders then I shall, but his belief of entitlement that he can just order ME around without any RIGHT?! Hm...makes a part of me wishes he was one of your enemies."

Raven just shook her head and made her own way to the door. "I'm going to bed. I would suggest you do the same, because tomorrow, I would almost guarantee Robin is going to have us going out on patrol. With the city back to normal, we are going to need to make sure that nothing is out of place and no on gets any bad ideas."

He nodded and crossed his arms. "I don't need to sleep. Just woke up ya know. But I will be ready to move to your orders, Raven."

The sorceress spared him one last glance, taking in his form against the moonlit skyline of Jump City. When he wasn't being disrespectful, or talking for that matter, he exuded a sense of dominance like a true god. Taking her eyes away and making her way down the hall, her mind was still in shock at the situation, no matter what she tried to do. 'A god who destroyed an entire galaxy...it's just...this is insane...'

As Raven was relaxing in her room and falling to sleep, Naruto still stood looking over the city. His piercing red eyes scanned over the city like an eagle, sensing the lives of every living soul. Observing families with their lives back. A daughter in tears caught in the arms of a resurrected father. A husband doting over his healed wife. An unfamiliar look in his eyes, the blonde turned away from the massive view and sat back on the couch, trying to figure out how to work the television. Finally getting it to work, he leaned back and started to flip through channels, missing a voice that passed through his head, as if carried by a faint breeze.

"You did good, kid. I just hope you enjoy it for once."

END:

I do hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter. I hope it wasn't too stuffed. I'm just gonna leave this here and look forward to the next few chapters of TDCBH!

Elemental Shadow Out!