Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Avengers or Marvel.
A/N: Thank you to all of my reviewers. In this chapter, a lot happens, and the subplot continues. I don't know much about Natasha except what I've read in a few comics and what I've seen in the movies so forgive me for taking a few liberties with her background. Enjoy.
Redemption
by
I Am Atrocity
Chapter IX: Keep Your Friends Close, Keep Loki Closer
'Come ride with me through the veins of history. I'll show you how God falls asleep on the job. And how can we win when fools can be kings? Don't waste your time or time will waste you. No one's gonna take me alive. The time has come to make things right. You and I must fight for our rights. You and I must fight to surive.'
-Knights of Cydonia by Muse.
The tires of the limo released a loud screech as it was maneuvered around a turn at near-breakneck speed, throwing all of its passengers about, colliding with both windows and each other.
"Sorry," Loki muttered as the car took the turn, forcing him against Natasha, trapping her even more between him and the door. He was sitting as far back in the seat as he could manage, his shoulders further back than hers, the sudden turn had caused his arm to slip behind and around her shoulders when he reached out to steady himself. Loki had Volstagg next to him so he was effectively trapped as well. Oh dear...
"It's O.K.," she responded, trying to shift herself closer to the door. She schooled her features to avoid letting the heat in her cheeks show through.
Loki was able to withdraw his arm and bring it, and his other, to settle in a crossed position over his chest. He managed to keep his limbs to himself for the rest of the ride, though he could see Natasha casting glances at him every few seconds.
When they arrived, Natasha was out of the door beside her before the car had even stopped. Loki followed her out, with Thor and Steve exiting the other side. Thor stopped to speak to Sif and the Warriors Three. After a moment, he stood back and let Jane out before closing the door and the car sped off again.
Loki started toward the front door of the building, seeing Natasha already disappearing inside. He traded glances with the others before they all jogged to catch up with the Black Widow.
They caught up to her just outside the control room where Fury was standind. From his stance, he had been expecting them. Natasha marched right up to where he was standing. "Director," Steve called out before Natasha could open her mouth. "Care to explain why a mercenary, claiming to be under your orders, attacked one of my charges in the middle of a populated area?" He stopped next to Natasha and leveled a stern glare at Fury.
Fury wasn't fazed and stared right back. "I had to be sure that our ally wasn't going to go AWOL on us at the first sign of attack. Or as soon as he was out of our line of sight."
"With all due respect, sir, if Loki didn't want to be here, I don't think we could stop him from leaving." Natasha's words were laced with sarcasm and frustration.
"You're missing my point," Fury told her.
"And what point is that?" she asked, barely able to restrain herself from growling the words.
"I know that Loki could leave here at will, I've spoken to his mother and some of the others about his abilities. What I needed to know was whether or not he still retained his lust for violence." He shot a glance at the subject of their discussion over Natasha's shoulder. Loki had settled himself into a chair and was calmly watching the proceedings with calculating eyes. Fury turned his gaze back to Natasha and Steve. "When he last came here, he killed over eighty of our agents, and injured others. He subjected Agent Barton, Eric Selvig and several others to mind-control, forcing them to do his bidding. Then, he opened a portal to allow an alien army to invade our planet. Granted, he did help us end the battle and he hasn't behaved hostilely since his return, but I had to be sure. This wasn't just a flight of fancy. Judging Loki's responce to pressure and violence."
"Then why did you send Logan if that's all you wanted to see?" Steve asked. He remember the viciousness and ferocity of the man during the times they had fought together in Europe; and seeing him today, he was convinced that the years had not calmed the fire inside him.
Fury's eye twitched. "Logan is one of the only men I trust explicitly. If he says Loki isn't dangerous to us, I believe him."
"And what, pray tell, was his assessment of me?" Loki asked, tilting his head to the side, resting it on his palm. He appeared so nonchalant that it was starting to bother the every one else. He was the only one in the room that wasn't showing some kind of emotion.
"Somehow, you've gained a valuable ally for the future," Fury told him. "Logan doesn't normally take to people well, but he seems to think you're 'a good kid', and I've learned to trust his judgement."
Loki nodded and looked up at the ceiling with a bored look on his face. Thor stepped forward. "No matter the reason, I do not take kindly to anyone attempting to harm my family!" He made to step forward but two things stopped him. One was Loki telling him to calm down and the other was Jane not releasing the hold that she had had on his hand.
Steve sighed. "I understand why you did it, sir, but you could have gone about it in a better way. And a little heads-up would have been appreciated."
Fury tilted his head in acceptance of that fact. "Sorry about that, Captain. If you had known, Loki would have been able to tell. I sent you along so that you could help restrain Loki if things went sour. I had to trust that you could react fast enough and already be prepared for any and all threats."
Steve opened his mouth, as if to respond, but then seemed to think better of it and closing it again. Natasha wasn't quite so quiet. "That still doesn't make it right." Her words were said softly, but were somehow heard throughout the room.
Fury's gaze was stern and his eye hard when he turned to her. "Agent Romanoff, as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., it is my responsiblity to recognize, assess and prevent potential threats to our planet. Given his past history, Loki falls under that catagory. As an agent under my command, it is your job to do as I tell you. Is that clear?"
Natasha bit her lip and nodded, feeling thoroughly chastised. "Yes, sir." Fury didn't get angry at his agents very often, but when he did, he came across in a way that, while letting the agent know that they were in the wrong, without making them feel humiliated. It was a quality that had served him well over the years.
"I understand your views on this situation, Agent Romanoff. But personal feeling have no place in this line of work. I know you of all people understand that so I won't go into it any further." Fury spoke to Thor next. "As for trying to harm your family, Thor: I have no ill will toward Loki, so long as he remains our ally. Rest assured that this was a one time thing."
Thor still didn't look happy, but nodded anyway, Mjolnir still gripped tightly in his hand.
"Now, if that's all, I have a council meeting to attend." Fury tapped a few things on the screens that he was standing between and then headed out of the room, his long, black leather coat billowing slightly as he walked.
Loki stood from his seat and casually walked out the door as well, though turning in the opposite direction as Fury. Thor, unsure as to where Loki was going, followed him.
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The ice melted beneath his feet as he walked, his great sword in hand. His body was wreathed in living flames from the tips of his horns to his cloven-hooves. He had traveled as quickly as he could manage, his power growing at a steady rate, and had made good time. He was now marching through the heart of Jotunheim.
Upon his arrival, the Frost Giants had attempted an assault, hoping their meager control over the ice that coated their land in a frozen tundra would be enough to weaken him. Their petty resistance had been felled with a single swing of his sword.
After that, the few survivors that were left had fled, probably to a nearby city for shelter and refuge. After he had razed Midgard and leveled the gods of Asgard, he would return and melt this world, and the Jotuns with it. But, for now, he continued his march through the seemingly endless wasteland that was Jotunheim.
He had been walking for three hours when they appeared ahead of him. A large assembly of Jotuns had gathered under the banner of King Thrym. He never slowed in his march, though he lifted his sword and prepared to strike.
The first line of Jotuns rushed to engage him, sending small blasts of ice that turned to steam before they even touched his flesh. With a swift movement of his arm, he blazing sword arched down, searing its way through the ranks of the army of Frost Giants.
Two more massive attacks had the army greatly diminished with nearly a fourth of their numbers destroyed.
The Jotuns were a warfaring race, fierce in battle and great in number. But against the might of Surtur, who's sheer power equal to that of the great Odin in his prime, they stood little to no chance.
Thrym was a wise king, having reinstated the peace between Jotunheim and Asgard as soon as he was able. He had called to Heimdall, the gatekeeper of the Bifrost, to open the bridge so that he may speak with Odin, but the bridge had not opened on that occasion, nor on many other occasions, until a year ago. Upon his arrival in Asgard, he had been taken to Odin's palace to speak with the illustrious king of the gods.
Negotiation were short, Odin too was eager for a return to peace, and now, with the Bifrost rebuilt, the traitor Loki imprisoned, and a wiser King at the helm of Jotunheim, lasting peace was finally possible.
As a king wise not only matters of diplomacy, but also in war, Thrym knew when his armies were outmatched. Surtur, the great demon of Muspelheim, would tear through his forces like a plague. With this in mind, he gave the order for retreat, withdrawing all of his forces to his capital.
Surtur, no longer met with the resistance of the Frost Giants, marched on. Midgard was only a world away. His journey was near its end, and soon all the Nine Realms would fall before his might.
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On the Bifrost, Heimdall and a group of twenty warriors stood, looking toward the gates. "We need supplies. Freyr, you know your mission, do not take any unneccesary risks."
The Asgardian warrior nodded and saluted Heimdall before he and his group set off into the city. Using his Allsight, he was able to watch their movements.
Just inside the gates they were met with small resistance when they ran into a Chitauri sentry that was patrolling the city. Freyr quickly dispatched it by skewering it on his sword and then tucking the corpse out of sight behind some plantlife that was nearby. They did not want to risk any other sentries finding the body and alerting the others to their presence. He watched them as they traversed the streets of Asgard, avoiding and eliminating Chitauri sentries all along their path.
They were heading to the farms on the edge of the city, where the Asgardians grew the majority of their food. Heimdall only hoped that they could make it back out of the city with the supplies. He knew there was enough food, he had seen it, and he knew that the invaders had yet to seize them for themselves.
Asgardians could go for a week or more without food in regular circumstances. The current situation was anything but normal, however. They had already been fighting hard, thus they were physically depleted and in need of sustenance.
Freyr and his group were nearing the outskirts of the city, not far from the farms. They finally reached the great fields that held an abundance of easily attainable food. Various crops and even some livestock.
The group procured four wagons, and harnessed horses found in a stable to them. They began filling the wagons with whatever they could get without venturing too far from the others. Several animals were tied to the wagons to be butchered and consumed, and one wagon was partially filled with firewood to use for cooking. All in all, it was a descent haul.
As they began their return trip, a Chitauri flew overhead on one of their strange crafts. When it spied them, it spun about and headed back to the city. Seeing this, Freyr ordered his group to increase their speed.
Heimdall turned to some of the other warriors. "Come, we must go to the gates. The enemy will be in pursuit of them, we must cover their escape."
He and thirty more warriors set off quickly toward the gates, weapons ready. As they ran, Heimdall used his sight to keep track of where the others were. They were making good time and where nearing the gates as Heimdall and his group finally arrived.
The wagons passed between them as they prepared to fight off the pursuing Chitauri. As the first of the alien creatures came through the gates, Heimdall swung his sword, catching the beast across the face and sending it to the ground, dead.
They swarmed out, weapons in hand, clashing violently with the Asgardians. Swing after swing, thrust after thrust, strike after strike, Heimdall felled foes left, right and center. He soon had a ring of fallen enemies laying around him i various states of brutality. Some where headless, others had their throats cut, the rest where either sporting a gash through their chests or stomachs. As their numbers began to dwindle, Heimdall took one last swing of his blade. The blade of the sword came down hard atop a Chitauri's head, splitting both the helm it wore and the skull beneath in a shower of sparks and blood.
As this last foe fell at his feet, Heimdall took stock of their own losses. Seven of his thirty were laying in pools of their own blood, and two others were covered in energy burns from the Chitauri blasters.
As for the rest, they were still on their feet, though a few were nursing some minor wounds. "Gather the dead and fall back to the Bifrost," he ordered, scooping the body of a fallen comrade onto his shoulder and starting back. He could hear his men following, some with heavier steps than the others, indicating that they were burdened with the corpse of a fallen shield-brother.
They had gotten their supplies, but at the price of nine lives. But, Heimdall reasoned that there was no gain in any venture without some form of cost, and they were lucky that the price had not been steeper.
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Loki smirked as he watched Thor follow his projection down the hall. He made the clone turn a corner and then canceled the illusion before turning and walking the path that Fury had taken. I may not be planning to attack anyone, but that doesn't mean I won't have a little fun while I'm here. Now, what else is Fury up to?
He came to a door that was left open, and he could hear Fury's voice, as well as some others that he did not know, coming from inside. He focused his magic and forced his body to become as visible as air. Hidden from view, he stepped inside the room.
Fury was standing in front of a series of large screens, each holding the image of a different individual somewhere else in the world. They were all in the same room, judging by the similarities in their surroundings.
"Have you done as we asked?" A woman asked. From the first word, Loki found her voice to be annoyingly grating.
"I have," Fury answered. "Though I've taken a lot of flak for it."
"What were the results?" one of the men enquired.
"Passed. Loki showed no signs of deadly intent when engaged in combat." Fury seemed pleased at that result.
"How can you be so sure?" Another man asked, sounding skeptical.
Fury frowned. "You ask me to test someone, and then question my assessment? I'm starting to think that you wanted him to be hostile."
"Well, he did nearly destroy the planet," the woman said.
"Hardly. He attacked New York and destroyed one of our bases. That's hardly the planet." Fury seemed to barely be holding his temper in check. Loki could understand; he'd only been here for a few moments and he was already tired of them, and he wasn't even the one talking to them. How does he deal with this on a regular basis?
"Don't tell us you've taken his side." a third man said, his voice held a trace of disgust.
"No," Fury answered. The way he said it conveyed that he thought that the councilman's words were stupid. "But I'm not going to walk around here distrusting treating Loki like he'll fly off the handle at the slightest provokation." He narrowed his eye. "And, need I remind you that you are the ones that tried to nuke Manhattan Island?"
The council was quiet for a moment, shifting uncomfortably in their seats at the reminder of their 'stupid-ass decision'. The woman cleared her throat. "How do we know we can trust your source?" That woman was seriously getting on Loki's nerves.
Fury sighed in frustration. "Logan has proven himself as trustworthy more time than I care to count. I have no reason not to believe him."
The second man nodded. "Very well. If his assessment proves wrong, it will your head on the line, Director."
Fury nodded. "Someone has to take responsiblity around here." The not so subtle jab brought a smile to Loki's face as he watched frowns adorn the faces of the council.
The woman turned the page on a small stack of papers sitting before her. "Now, what progress have we made on Phase 2?"
Fury seemed amused. "Phase 2 has come to a stand-still. Stark has refused to have anything to do with the project, and we no longer have a source to draw energy from."
"What do you mean?" The woman asked.
"Where is the sceptre?" the first man followed up.
"Back where it belongs. In its owner's hands," Fury stated.
"You returned it to Loki?"
"I did."
"On what grounds do you have the authority to hand over that object?" There was anger in the man's voice.
"On the same grounds that I returned the Tesseract to Thor. I didn't argue when a god asked for his weapon back." Fury said this like it was obvious. "If you have a problem with that, feel free to try and take it back yourselves." Oh, I'd love to see them try. Loki grinned darkly, reaffirming his grip on the sceptre. "We can't move forward without someone to manufacture and produce the weapons anyway." To Loki, Fury didn't seem too upset by this; if anything, he seemed happy. For what purpose would these people want to create weapons such as what I say in that file? He shook his head. Foolish humans. They will destroy themselves.
Loki could feel a bit of his old contempt for this race rising in him like a wave. He pushed it back, though it left a sick, burning feeling in him, much like when bile burns your throat.
"Then we will find a different contractor. We must have those weapons in case of another attack. The world can't always count on the Avengers to save them." The third said, making a note on the piece of paper in front of him.
Fury looked down, shaking his head. "I still think you're making a mistake, Councilman."
"That is irrelevent in this matter, Director."
That comment caused Fury's eye to burn with rage. He was suddenly emodying the emotion for which he was named. "With all do respect, Councilman, as Director and co-founder of S.H.I.E.L.D., my opinion in any matter is very relevent."
"Your authority can easily be overridden, Director. As was demonstrated last year." The woman spoke with an air of superiority.
"Yes, perfectly demonstrating how flawed your judgement is. Congradulations for costing two pilots their jobs," Fury said angrily.
"What do you mean?"
"I had them both court-marshalled and discharged immediately after the situation settled," Fury informed them.
"You never told us about this."
"I didn't see how it was any of your business how I handled my own subordinates."
"Those pilots were just following orders," the woman said, her voice raising an octave with her own outrage.
"Orders I did not give. Therefore, they were rogue." Fury stepped up to the console and put his finger on a button. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a division to run." He pressed the button and the screens went blank. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. From the way his shoulders slumped, Loki could easily see that he was tired and frustrated. Absently he wondered when Fury had last taken a break or a day off.
After Fury had left the room and the door closed behind him, Loki stepped up to the console curiously and pressed the same button that the Director had. The screens flared back to life, revealing that the council was still in session without Fury. They obviously had not noticed that they were once again broadcasting to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.
"Fury is out of control. He needs to be replaced," the woman said.
"I agree, but it won't be as simple as that. Without a ligitimate reason, we have no grunds on which to have him removed," The first man told her, not even bothering to look up from the papers that he had in front of him.
"Just as he had no grounds to fire those pilots?" the third man asked. "We need no grounds to have him replaced."
While they were saying this, Loki was studying the other keys on the console. His eyes landedon one that read 'record'. A mischievious smirk lit up his features as he pressed the button and a status bar appeared on the screen showing that everything, from the moment he had turned the screens on, was being saved. So much for the element of surprise, eh, Council?
Loki had no love for Fury, but he did have love for mischief, and being a thorn in the side of these self-righteous pencil-pushers seemed like it would be fun.
"I'll go through a few applications and select some possible candidates for the position. We cannot trust any of Fury's agents, they're too loyal to him," the second man said writing on one of his papers.
"Loyalty can be bought," the woman said.
The second man shook his head. "I'm not willing to risk it. If we approach the wrong person, they could inform Fury of our intentions. Under no circumstances can Fury know about this before everything is in place."
"Agreed," the first and third man said in unison. After a moment, the woman nodded as well.
"Good. Council adjorned."
Loki ended the video and turned off the screens as the council members all stood and left. He looked around for a storage device like the ones he had seen some of the Midgardian scientists use when working on computers. One of them had explained the use of them during his time hidden away while Selvig worked on the device to harness the Tesseract.
He was able to locate what they called a 'flashdrive' and transphered the recording onto it.
XXXX
After everyone had left, Natasha had taken to watching the security videos being broadcasted to the control room from all over the compound. It was a menial and mindless task that allowed the mind to travel where it would.
She was currently scolding herself for her earlier actions. She had argued with Nick Fury, her boss, and one of the men responsible for her not being dead. While Clint had not killed her when ordered to, it was Fury that canceled the hit in order to bring her into S.H.I.E.L.D.; a fact she wouldn't soon forget.
But, on that note, she had opted to give Loki a second chance as well. She could understand the place he was in. No one trusting you because of your past, treating you like you were going to just randomly start killing people for little to no reason. She had been there. Hell, she had even been put through a test as well. Her's had consisted of Fury calling her to headquarters to find a group of armed agents waiting to 'arrest' her and take her for interrogation. She had fought back and incapacitated the agents. After she had knocked the last of them unconscious, Fury had congratulated her on not killing any of them, therefore deeming her to be in control and not prone to needless bloodshed. She had passed.
While her test was more straightforward than Loki's, and a lot less dangerous. And yet, he walked away from it like it was nothing. This bothered her on an emotional level, though she wasn't sure how or why. The feeling harkened back to her nightmare from the day Loki was freed. The sight of him in pain had triggered a responce inside her, causing her to cry for the first time in years, thus setting him loose from his cage.
She had every reason, every right to hate him, yet...she didn't. She couldn't bring herself to. A year is a long time to hold onto a grudge, or to not move on from a loss. She figured that that was why Tony was able to extend the hand of friendship so soon. He had accepted the loss of Phil Coulson, his friend, and moved on from it, letting go of the anger he felt toward Loki in regards to it.
Clint, on the other hand, had yet to move on. He still held a grudge against Loki for getting inside his head and controling him. She could understand that he was upset and extremely angry about being forced to hurt the people he worked with and saw as his friends, but even so, Loki had served his time, and now was his new start. Clint just couldn't accept that both he and Natasha were just as bad as Loki, in their own ways, and they had been given second chances. So why deny Loki the same?
Steve was trying to stay neutral in this ongoing fight, not wanting to take either side. Fury seemed to fall under this catagory as well. Idly, she wondered how Banner would react to Loki now that he was back. But, Banner was back in Kolkata, once again working as a doctor for the less-fortunate people of the slums.
Loki only had support from his brother, Tony and herself. The rest, excluding Clint, were all taking a neutral stance on the matter.
Her eyes flicked back and forth over the screens absently as she continued to ponder her own inner thoughts.
What was the reason for the dream she had had. Of course she had dreamed of Loki before, ever since her first encounters with him he had haunted her dreams, always with a confident poise and a sadistic smile. But, over time, the scenes had changed. There were parts of her dreams that she could not remember, always before they shifted into memories; but none of this had ever really frightened her. Seeing him bound and burning...that had truly scared her.
She moved her eyes to the screen that showed Fury talking to the council on their big screens. After a second, he turned off the screens and left, looking worn out. As soon as the door closed behind him, the screens came back on.
She sat up and focused more on the screen, seeing nothing out of the ordinary in the room itself that would have caused the screens to turn on again. Then, she saw it. On the desks near the console, a few objects were moving, seemingly of their own accord.
She leapt to her feet and hurried in that direction. Only one person here who can turn themselves invisible at will. She passed Fury on her way, nodding to him as he walked by, and then rushed on. She turned the corner into the hallway were the council room was in time to see the door close and Loki reappear in the hall, smirking like a madman.
"Loki, what were you just doing?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from being too suspicious or accusing.
Loki didn't seem surprised that she was there. "A bit of this and a bit of that," he answered with a smile.
Natasha sighed and crossed her arms under her bust. "That's not an answer."
Loki raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it?" He seemed to be daring her to say otherwise.
She gave him a 'be serious' look. "No."
Loki looked thoughtful. "Hmm. You want to know what I was up to?" She nodded. "Then, follow me, Natasha." He walked past her, heading back to the control room. "Come along, the game is afoot."
Natasha shook her head at his evasiveness, but turned to follow him anyway. What choice did she have? If she wanted answers, she would just have to go along with whatever it was he had in mind.
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Heimdall stood atop the Bridge, a blazing torch in one hand. Ahead of him, laid out in the back of one of the wagons were the nine warriors that had fallen helping him hold off the Chitauri. The wagon had been splashed with some oil from the lamps inside the Bifrost.
He stepped up to the wagon and touched the torch to the oil-soaked wood. The fire quickly spread until it had consumed the entire wagon. "Be at peace, brothers. Valhalla awaits." He turned to face the rest of the warriors that remained, all were present to pay their respects to their fallen brethren. "Mark this occasion well, for, on my honor, this will be the last pyre we shall light until Asgard is ours once more." All of the warriors raise their heads, standing proud. "Tonight, we bid farewell to nine of our own. Remember them as they were, but do not dispair over them. Only, resolve that we shall either hold a feast in their honor once this battle is won, or shall join them in the halls of Valhalla." He placed a hand over his chest. "Hail the honored dead."
"HAIL!"
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Thanos watched from the top balcony of the palace as the pyre was lit, a smile adorning his face. Yet more souls had been offered up to Death.
His forces occupied the city, ensuring that the Asgardians could not attempt to retake it without being surrounded and defeated.
A Chitauri scout entered the room and bowed to Thanos. "My Lord, our reinforcements have arrived."
Thanos' smile widened. "Good. Deploy the Leviathans."
The Chitauri bowed again before scurrying from the room to carry out his orders. The Leviathans, great flying beasts that could transport a battalion of Chitauri, would aid n both the patrolling of the city, as well as discouraging the Asgardians with their sheer size. Almost all of the pieces were in place. First, The Other would take Earth, claiming the Tesseract in the process, then use the Tesseract to access the Bifrost from the outside, effectively trapping the Asgardians between two armies. Once the Asgardians were destroyed, they would use the Bifrost and the Tesseract to spread their forces throughout the Nine Realms and beyond to world that few had heard of, and even fewer had seen. And, once the Asgardians were out of the way, he would use the Gauntlet to seal Surtur away once more, eliminating yet another threat. The Universe was at his feet, ready to be taken, and he, Thanos, would collect. One world at a time. And Death would rejoice at the tribute paid her.
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A/N: Another down. What did you think? Let me know: Review, but don't flame; I already deal with enough of that from Surtur...that was lame...Oh, well. On to the next one.
Inntil neste gang.
-Atrocity.
