Chapter Text
Matt hates portals.
They don’t make sense. The air opening up and things that weren’t there suddenly there. They’re jarring and unpredictable and honestly just annoying.
If you would’ve told Matt a few years ago that things coming out of portals would be a normal experience for him, he would…. probably believe you. That’s not the most unbelievable thing he’s been told. But still.
So, when a portal opens up in front of him and he’s hit with the pungent scent of blood, he’s at least a little prepared for it.
Matt lets out a breath of relief when he hears the faint but steady rhythm of a heartbeat in the body that has just fallen out of the portal.
Matt is weighing his options and already readying his burner when the bloodied person shoots up with a gasp.
“Bloody fuckin’ hell!” the young man groans. He pauses, most likely looking around. “Where am I? And who are you?”
“You’re in Hell’s Kitchen, New York, America and I’m—“
“Gross. America? I hate Americans.”
Matt does not know how to respond to that.
The young man suddenly sucks in a sharp breath. “I’m alive. I’m alive! Oh WAP Twitch Prime. Thank you, your holy goodness. I am your most faithful follower and my devotion to you remains strong. Pogchamp.”
Matt’s mind spins trying to decipher what the young man is saying. It’s almost familiar, like some sort of prayer. Clearly where he comes from, they worship a different deity than the God and Gods that Matt knows.
“My name is Daredevil,” Matt says. “I am the protector of Hell’s Kitchen.”
“What makes it a kitchen?”
Matt blinks. “Pardon?”
“I don’t see any furnaces anywhere. So what makes it a kitchen?”
Matt shuffles awkwardly. “It’s… that’s just its name. I didn’t name it.”
“Huh,” the young man says. “I bet if you’d named it, you would’ve picked a better name, yeah? Or maybe you wouldn’t. Maybe you’re shit at naming things.”
“I think I’m… good at naming things,” Matt says unsurely.
“I’m great at naming things,” the young man says. “I’ve named lots of things.”
“Well, on the topic of names, what is yours?” Matt asks.
“The name’s Thomas Careful Danger Kraken Innit, but you can call me Tommy. He/him.”
“…Right.”
“The builds around here are impressive,” Tommy says. “Tall. You guys must’ve grinded like crazy to get the materials.”
“A lot of these buildings are centuries old. I can imagine it took them a lot of time to gather the materials necessary.”
“Wow,” Tommy says. “If these buildings are centuries old, how old are you?”
“I’d prefer to not say,” Matt says, shifting slightly uncomfortably.
“No worries, big man. Boundaries are important and I respect that!” Tommy claps. “So what server are we on? Because I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this place before.”
“Server?” Matt asks.
“You know.” There’s a small whoosh in the air where Tommy is waving his hands. “Server!”
Matt does not know. “Like… the planet? We… we’re on Earth.”
Tommy perks up. “Like SMPEarth?”
“Uhm,” Matt says. “Terra Earth.”
“Huh,” Tommy says. “I haven’t seen this in any of hubs I’ve been in. Is it a whitelisted or public?”
“Public…” Matt says with uncertainty.
“Pog!” Tommy says. “How many players are there on here? There’s gotta be what? A hundred?”
“Hell’s Kitchen’s population is about forty five thousand but the Earth has a population of eight billion.”
“Holy fuck!” Tommy says. “Eight billion? You’re not kidding, are you? You’re being deadass.”
“I am not kidding,” Matt says.
“Woah,” Tommy says, his voice tinged with astonishment. “Well, it’s gonna be hard to make a base that won’t be griefed.”
Matt blinks. “What?”
“With that many people on the server, there’s gotta be so many trolls and griefers. Hell, I could barely keep my house ungriefed on a whitelisted server of like twenty five people. But eight billion? Not a chance! Not a fucking chance.”
“Griefing,” Matt says. “Do you mean vandalism?”
“You know,” Tommy says. “Griefing. Robbery, arson, the works.”
Matt’s eyes go wide. “Though you may be subject to a robber, arson is not typically something you need to worry about here.”
“No shit?” Tommy says. “At all?”
“Well, statistically, there are a few arsonists, but they don’t make up the majority of the public.”
“Huh,” Tommy says. “So I’m guessing that means I also can’t commit any arson then?”
“Do you… plan to?” Matt says, the words going high at the end of his question.
“...No.”
Matt pinches the bridge of his nose. He takes a deep breath and brings his head back up to face Tommy. “Do you know how you got here?”
“No fuckin’ idea, mate,” Tommy says. “One moment I’m being beaten to death by a potato and poof! Then I’m here. Definitely not where I set my spawn last.”
“Right,” Matt says. “And you don’t have any way to travel where you last came from? Your… whitelisted server?”
“Not that I know of,” Tommy says. “Whitelists are tricky like that and considering that was my third canon death, I don’t know what would happen if I went back. Probably would be stuck in limbo or turn into a ghost.”
Matt pauses, not knowing what to say to that. “Well,” Matt says, “since you are staying in our universe, you’ll need to go through the process of obtaining documentation. I know a guy who can help you out. His office is closed at the moment, but if you go in the morning, he should be there. He’ll also help assess the differences between our universes and hopefully set you up to properly live in this world.”
“Oh, wow,” Tommy says. “You’re like… really nice.”
“It’s the least I can do,” Matt says.
“Actually it’s, like, the most you could do,” Tommy says. “You don’t have to help me at all, but you are. You could totally kill me but instead you’re being all nice and shit.”
“I don’t kill,” Matt says. “Most people in this world do not.”
Tommy lets out a bitter chuckle. “Sounds like a nice world.”
Matt knows he’s going to regret this, but he’s never been known for his logical thinking. “That guy I know? I’m sure he’ll give you a place to stay while you try to get on your feet.”
“How do I know he’s not gonna kill me?” Tommy asks.
“I vouch for him,” Matt says. “I trust him with my life.”
“Yeah, well,” Tommy huffs, “I trusted a lot of people with my life and that didn’t work so well, now didn’t it?”
Matt feels his heart tug at his words. “This world may not be kind, but from what I can tell, it is kinder than your world,” Matt says. “This guy will help you and he won’t hurt you.”
Tommy must be looking at him, studying his face for deception because he’s silent for a long while. “Who is this guy?”
“Matt Murdock.”