Tales to Astonish

"stay away from me You Monster!" Kendos voice rung out through the laboratory, reverberating off the pearly white walls that felt like they were enclosing on the greenette. 

"No, no this can't be happening. I didn't mean to- you were never meant to find out like this" izuku looked on at the orange haired girl as she backed away from him.The look in her eyes almost caused him to recoil back. She was afraid... of him. No she was More than just scared, she was disgusted.

He would've walked closer to her, but his foot stopped just short at the lifeless body of his blonde boss.

"I was never meant to find out at all" kendo corrected as she circled around the other side of the table in the middle of the room Putting something in-between her and him.

"... You're right. I never wanted you to find out. Because I didn't want you to look at me like im-"

"A monster?" There was no doubt that she was disgusted with him now as she kept backing away. 

"It's not my fault I didn't mean to cause any of this I didn't.. I didn't mean to... I'm sorry, I love you" izuku tried to get her to look at him with those same eyes she used to. Those same eyes that made him feel like he actually meant something to someone. But that was Gone. And in it's place came that same nawing feeling of disgust at himself, those same thoughts that kept swimming around in his head. That's it Then. She's leaving you. Forever... And there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Because you're a monster. Because you deserve this.

"Wake up to reality. If you think I'd ever love a monster like you, then you need to-"

---

"Wake Up Izu!" Izuku's eyes fluttered open lazily, his vision coming in blurry. It took him a while to get his bearings but once he did, he noticed kendo standing in front of him shaking him awake. 

"Finally. I've been shaking you for a while now" izuku looked around at his surroundings to see that he was still in his school lab, still behind his desk working on something. Oh it was a dream. Those types of dreams seemed to always get him sweating, it wasn't difficult to figure out why but still. 

"Oh god how long was I out?" 

"I don't know I came in to see you knocked out" kendo said looking at the messy table that was covered in junk and random mechanical parts that kendo would never understand the purpose of. She let out a frustrated sigh after realizing what most likely happened.

"Did you go another night without sleep? I swear ten months of dating and I still can't seem to get through that thick skull of yours. You need to stop overworking yourself. You'll only break yourself doing that." She then cleared all the unnecessary clatter off his table before placing her rear on it. "I mean come on. I got into ua a week ago and we still haven't celebrated."

"And I'm sorry but I have important stuff to do in this lab" the boy said which caused kendo to raise an eyebrow 

"Come on. Is one date too much to ask for? I mean I doubt Melissa would say anything, she knows how much you overwork yourself too. Come on just one date and then you can get back to.. whatever it is you make in here."

"... Okay" izuku said getting out of his chair semi reluctantly. Once he got up he checked his phone to see three missed calls from his aunt mitsuki. I'll have to call her back later, he thought to himself putting it back into his pocket.

-later- 

Izuku and kendo made their way through the busy streets of musutafu... Well more like kendo was dragging him through the crowd. Was this really the best use of his time? The hulk was his top priority so why was he currently being dragged around by his girlfriend who refused to admit that they were lost? "I'm gonna say it again, you're lost"

"No, I'm just.. scouting the area." Izuku was pretty sure that was code for "I have no idea where the **** I'm going" 

"Sigh. Where are you even trying to go?" Izuku looked at the area she had brought him to. It was one of the more commercial areas of musutafu, where all the little corner shops and small time businesses reside. He felt kinda uncomfortable being here, since last time he was here he kinda... Yeah.. Smash.

"And... Ta-da, were here!" Izuku looked up at where she had brought him and he let off a small smile. This was the same katsudon shop she had brought him to when they first met. "Do you remember this place?"

"Yeah.. yeah I do.. but what's the occasion?" Don't get him wrong he would never complain about his favorite food, but there had to be a reason beyond just her being hungry.

"Well I was thinking about how to get your mind off your work and I thought, hmm what could get izuku's mind off things better than food from his favorite place?" The smile on her face was infectious and pretty soon izuku was smiling even wider than before.

"Thanks!"

"Don't mention it"

-meanwhile- 

Aizawa wasn't the type of person to really care about social gatherings or hangouts. They were a waste of time that he could be using to do more important things, they also just generally weren't his style. But somehow all might had managed to get him to agree to come to a party that a few of the more no name heroes in Japan were hosting. It wasn't that big, only a couple dozen small time heroes and a few relatively famous celebrities but that was about it.

"Thank you for coming aizawa" the number one hero was sitting beside the narcoleptic teacher on a bench in the corner of the building far away from everyone else. 

"What exactly did you need to talk to me about?" Aizawa asked.

"I need your help."

"Oh? The number one hero needs help with something? I thought you could fix any problem." The obvious sarcasm in aizawa's voice would've been annoying to most other heroes or maybe even obnoxious to some, but toshinori was used to it. 

"I need you're help finding someone, his name is Carl creel, one of the few people who survived an encounter with the hulk. He might just be able to help us stop it." Aizawa's ears perked up at that, someone who could survive the hulk? Now this was worth his time. "I came to you because you're probably the best tracker I know."

"Alright, I'll look into it, but... Why exactly did you bring me here? We could've had this talk anywhere, so why here?" 

"Cause one of the heroes invited was doctor leonard Samson"

"The therapist?"

"The same one. I've heard that he's been giving free sessions to the people who lost something because of the hulk" all might explained 

"And you think creel took one of these sessions?"

"I think there's a pretty good chance." 

"Alright, here we go" aizawa got up out of his seat before walking off to go find Samson.

-

elsewhere- 

Izuku found himself too engorged in his food to notice the way Kendo's eyes ran on him. She was worried about him. He was always so stuck on trying to help defeat the hulk. So hyperfocused on the hulk. It was weird.

She had never seen anyone so fixated on the hulk other than maybe all might. It was probably entirely justified though, the hulk ruined a lot of lives. Who's to say izuku isn't just another one of it's victims.

"Woah slow down izuku, don't eat so much at once you're gonna choke." She chuckled at just how much he was gorging down, he might be one of the bigger appetites she's seen and it was kinda cute.

"So.. what's it like being at ua?" Izuku asked after finishing his katsudon and wiping some off his face 

"Honestly? Not as exciting as I thought. I get to train with future heroes and Great people yeah but, aside from the fact that we're training under heroes it really does just feel like middle school all over again. Still I know you would love it and I mean I got to humble katsuki so I'm not complaining."

"Wait you fought kacchan!"

"Don't worry, it was a training match." She tried to reassure him 

He was about to comment on that, but unfortunately the katsudon shops lights went out completely along with everything in the area 

"Umm what just happened?" Kendo questioned the owner before izuku himself could. 

"I don't know, the whole cities been getting blackouts like this for the past week. People have been trying to fix it, but it hasn't been fixed yet." The man explained "which is why I'm gonna have to ask you two to leave. I gotta go see my kids, see if they're alright you know." That bummed out kendo but she understood. 

"Alright. Come on izu, let's go.. izu?" She quickly noticed that he wasn't paying attention, he was kinda in a bit of a trance. "Izu!" Her yell seemed to have snapped him out of it. "Let's go." She said softly before they both got up to leave. That wasn't normal for izuku, the whole trance thing, it was pretty concerning. Maybe he just needed sleep, maybe he was busy using that massive brain of his. Either way, she would bring it up later. 

-elsewhere-

"Doctor Leonard samson! I would like to have a word with you." The therapist was surprised when he had heard eraserheads voice from behind him.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" The green haired man questioned aizawa. Who didn't answer right away. He just looked him up and down. 

"I've heard that you offer therapy sessions to people who've had their lives ruined by the hulk." Aizawa explained as he sat down next to the doctor. 

"Ah, I see. So what did he do to you?" The much bigger man asked. 

"I'm not here for therapy. I'm a hero hunting down one of your patients. I believe that he may be able to help us put a stop to the hulk." Aizawa didn't bother trying to lie or butter him up, if Samson didn't wanna give him the info then he'd just get it from his records, it was pretty easy to get this info.

"Which one? There's quite a few people who've believed themselves capable, but few would actually be able to help you." The doctor said.

"Carl creel. An American like you. He was one of the few people who actually survived their experience with the hulk. Do you have any idea where he might be now?"

"Last time I spoke to him Mr creel said he didn't need my service anymore. Said something about dealing with his trauma himself. Then he left my office and never came back. That was a week ago and I haven't heard anything about him since." The therapist explained.

Aizawa huffed, of course he'd have to find another lead. These things were never easy.  

"Although.. I don't think you should be so... Unforgiving towards the hulk." That comment caught aizawa off guard.  

"Would you care to explain?" Aizawa looked at the man like he had asked to let a villain out of prison. 

"I don't think the hulk is as bad as you all seem to think he is. From what I've seen the hulk isn't actively going out of his way to hurt people, he just wants to be left alone. It's clear in his behavioral patterns and his random sporadic attacks that he's not going out of his way to hurt anyone, otherwise most of Japan would've been flattened already, and given the way he only fights when cornered by people trying to hurt him. He's not a psychopath he's just doing this for self preservation." The man explained his thought process further which had aizawa questioning his own for a second, but he quickly shook that off. 

"You seem to know alot about the hulk doctor samson." Aizawa looked at the man suspiciously.

"Of course I do. I came to this country to study him, and helping the people who were attacked by him. I've dedicated my life to understanding the hulk, it only makes sense that I know so much." The man explained but aizawa was not convinced. There was something more to this that the doctor wasn't saying. He knew alot more than he let on. But aizawa didn't pry Into it. He was gonna get the info sooner or later so there was no need to force it. 

"Thank you for your time doctor samson  I'll have to get going now" aizawa said as he got out of his seat. 

"Wait Before you go.  I don't know if this helps but, before he left my office Mr creel said that he was working with someone. Some kind of leader." This caught aizawa's attention.

"Alright I'll keep that in mind, thank you for the information."

-meanwhile- 

Izuku had found himself back in his lab. He had gotten kendo to go home so that he could be alone. Right now he was not in the best state of mind, something was wrong, something was messing with his head but he didn't know what. For some reason the hulk was trying to let itself out, even though he wasn't angry, he was perfectly calm so why now was he having to hold the hulk back? Something wasn't right. 

It was then that he heard a knock on the door. That was probably Melissa, she did worry about him sometimes, she probably wanted to check up on him.

He opened the door, but instead of seeing his boss's familiar face, he saw a face he really didn't want to see, especially not right now. Jimmy Darnell, one of blonsky's friends, the guy was an asshat who only ever seemed to take advantage of those weaker than him. 

"Sup deku, I came to see the state of your stupid lab. Hm I'm impressed you haven't run this place into the ground yet." The guy barged in past izuku. He did not need to see this guy, especially not now of all times when he's barely holding back the hulk. It kinda seemed like the closer this guy was the more difficulty he had holding back...

It was then that izuku realized. Wait did he just call me deku? Now izuku's senses were on overdrive, he hadn't heard that name since he got transferred into this... School? Job? It was still kinda unclear but what wasn't unclear was the fact that no one at this school should've known the name deku so something was definitely up. 

"Gotta say. You sure have made a living for yourself. Getting outta bakugous house, your not a bum anymore." Jimmy teased him with a weird smug smirk on his face.

"How do you know-" 

"So much about you?" Jimmy finished izuku's sentence for him "simple. Cause I know you. And you know me." The boy walked up closer to izuku which had izuku's mind telling him to fight. 

"Jimmy I'm gonna have to ask you to get outta my lab" izuku pulled the door open and gestured for him to get out. But much to the greenettes surprise the boy blasted a beam of yellow electricity at the door locking it. 

That definitely wasn't apart of his quirk before. Izuku thought to himself before looking back at the boy who was laughing at izuku wildly.

"W-who are you what do you want from me?" Izuku tried to step back, but his back was already against the wall.

"Oh deku, didn't I already explain it? You know me and I know you. The real you. Not the person who you tell your little girlfriend you are. I know exactly who you really are. you. Are monster. You. Are the hulk."