A/N: Well, it was nice posting things so close together for the past few chapters. I'm afraid this is the last one I have lined up though. I've stalled out on the next chapter because my muses decided to latch onto another story for a while. I'll do my best to steer them back here.

In the meantime, we finally made it to the end of phase two! Thank you everyone who has stayed with me until this point, especially those who left reviews on more recent chapters: pj, Zero-ryuu, spiffyperson, johncorn, and Miss Lib93. It's simply amazing to me that people are reading my story and English isn't their first language. Truly, people who take the time to review deserve the best! You all remind me why I put so much time and effort into this story.

And before I get anymore mushy, let's see what our villains are up to!

The Creator, formerly the Master, sat in front of his wall of monitors watching the news coverage of the rampaging Hulk with a satisfied smile. Shaky cell phone video showed the green beast slamming the useless Thor into the ground as civilians screamed and fled in terror. Perfect.

The Asgardian's arrival had been a surprise, but nothing he couldn't account for. In fact, the one who held the potential for disrupting the Creator's plans was not Thor, but the other Asgardian that had recently arrived, Loki. The Creator scowled at the thought. Loki could be more difficult to manipulate than his hero brother, but if the Creator could get Loki onto his side…

He shook his head to himself. No need to make a move on Loki yet. He needed more information on Loki's motives before he could make a decision.

A low growl from behind him shook him from his thoughts. Naturally, it was Blonsky. Bolten also sat behind him, but the young man was too busy letting his mouth hang open in awe of the Hulk. The Creator couldn't blame the young man; he had had a similar reaction the first time he saw the magnificent green beast.

Blonsky shifted, craning his long neck around to look at the Creator properly. He slumped as he moved, avoiding putting weight on his damaged leg. His body had been so damaged from SHIELD's little science projects that the Creator now looked at him with pity. Such a waste of potential.

"You seem smug despite the fact that your plan failed," Blonsky growled in his deep voice.

The Creator grit his teeth. The tone Blonsky used was disrespectful at best. Blonsky thought they were equals when the reality was they were levels apart if Blonsky couldn't see the brilliance of the Creator's plan. Blonsky's value was decreasing by the second. But there was one thing the Creator still needed from Blonsky, so he took a calming breath before answering. "Failure? No, no Blonsky. This is not a failure by any means."

"Really? Because if I'm not mistaken, that's the Hulk." He jabbed a fat, gray finger at one of the screens. "And he looks alive and well. Barely a scratch on him. If I'm not mistaken again, wasn't the plan to off him?"

"There's more than one way to kill a Hulk," the Creator repeated the words he had typed earlier in a taunt for the Avengers.

Blonsky lowered his finger and thought for a moment. "You mean to kill his reputation. He will no longer be touted a hero after this."

"More than that. Look closer," the Creator said slowly as if encouraging a child to find a hidden item.

Blonsky growled, catching onto the Creator's tone. But the Creator could see him pause as he considered the footage. His large, dark eyes reflected the footage of Hulk grappling with Thor. "He hurt his friends. He won't forgive himself for that."

The Creator stamped down the urge to clap condescendingly. "Precisely. I have killed his confidence. Now it is all but assured that the last phase of my plan will succeed. You will see your revenge soon, Blonsky. As long as Bolten plays his role…"

Blonsky snorted and leaned back, finally showing satisfaction. He glanced at the young man beside him with eyes squinted in skepticism.

"Wha…?" Bolten finally stirred from his mesmerized state at the sound of his name. "Oh. Oh! Yeah! Totally! I'm totally getting a hang of my powers and role and stuff." He wiggled his fingers as if they were shooting beams of magic.

Blonsky's scowl deepened, wrinkling his sunken cheeks. "Are you sure you can trust this idiot to get things done?"

"Hey!" Bolten flipped his long, dyed bangs out of his face. They immediately flopped back to their original position. "You shouldn't talk to him that way! He has a plan. You can't question the plan. The Creator deserves your respect and reverence—"

Blonsky snorted again.

"I'm totally serious! He created us, man," Bolten said as a soft awe entered his voice.

"If anyone deserves credit for creating all of us, it's Banner," Blonsky muttered.

"What?!" Bolten's eyes went wide at the scandalizing thought.

"You know, what? I'm not arguing this with you again." Blonsky stood and began limping out of the room. He paused at the door and looked back at the Creator. "If you get me Hulk's head like you say you will, I'll call you whatever name you want. Until then…" He lumbered out of the room.

The Creator looked down at his white knuckled fists and forced them to relax. Such impudence.

"I'm so, so sorry you had to hear that, oh great Creator." Bolten gave a sweeping bow.

The Creator brushed him off. "Enough Bolten. Go eat your dinner. Bring food to Morais afterwards. I trust the illusion you are holding her in is still intact?"

"Yes! She's been in it for almost two days straight without noticing. I'm getting a whole lot stronger! With your guidance of course, magnificent Creator." The Creator gave a curt nod of approval, so Bolten bowed out of the room. The Creator rolled his eyes. Such different reactions to a name.

Blonsky was not a fan of his search for a proper name. While "The Master" had induced simpering from Bolten, it had also resulted in insolent eye-rolling from Blonsky. Unfortunately, "The Creator" was not faring well as a title either. Bolten had increased his groveling, taking up the implied link between the level of creator and god. It was accurate, sure, but exactly what he had been trying to avoid from Bolten with the name change.

Meanwhile, Blonsky had gone from silent impertinence to outright disgust. He kept bringing up the idea that gamma mutated beings were technically created by Banner of all people. As if the Creator would not have made his own serum from scratch given enough time. So he had borrowed some ideas from Banner. The serum he was using now was a variant of Banner's, but that did not mean he had put forth less effort or creativity to make it...

The Creator squeezed the bridge of his nose at the irritating thought. Perhaps it was time to try a new name. After all, "Creator" implied he would not destroy. And goodness knows, he had much to ruin and raze. The Destroyer was too forward. The Razer was too ridiculous and made him sound like a computer manufacturer. No... He liked to work from the shadows. Pull strings and watch everything fall into place... A true Manipulator...

He smiled as he watched a particularly stunning shot of the Hulk smashing his fist into Iron Man play on loop. One of the news anchors was speaking over the footage with a solemn tone.

"This raises the question: should we continue to call the Hulk one of our heroes? One of the Avengers? Can we trust the Avengers to keep him on a leash or, for that matter, should we be trusting the Avengers, sitting high and mighty in their tower, at all?"