Chapter 22: AND WITH BOILING BLOOD…
"How did this shit get so out of hand?"
Adams seemed to be asking himself that question with every second that passed by. Here he was, sitting in some sort of futuristic flying jeep, sailing across a landscape he'd never before seen in Hell, riding along with a 10-foot tall robot, the Princess of Hell, a bunch of humans and his psycho-turned-secretary lover, Annie.
Shit was not Gucci.
"What was that, Adams?"
Speak of the demon. He turned to Annie and tried to crack a smile.
"Eh, nothing. Just some self-reflection."
Annie tilted her head curiously, but eventually looked off into the distance.
"You know, I never expected to be doing this. I mean, I never expected there to be a hell in the first place, but I really didn't expect to be doing this in Hell."
"Me fucking neither."
"Hey, whatcha guys talkin' about over here?"
Adams looked back to see another imp, one with a black-and-white striped pattern on her horns, wearing some sort of black dress that suggested sluttery of the highest level. Despite this, she radiated no sexual intentions, but rather a giddy, go-get-em attitude.
"Erm...who are you, precisely?" Adams asked as politely as he could. The imp stood up, pressing one hand against her chest.
"I am Millie, and this-"
She gestured proudly to another imp, who was sitting near the back of the floating transport.
"-Is my husband, Moxxie! It is so wonderful to meet you!"
Despite her cheerful attitude, Adams was put off by the sadistic aura she seemed to carry with her. It felt to him as if she could beat someone to death with a monkey wrench with an innocent smile on her face. Which was not something Adams wanted to be around.
"Sorry she's bothering you two." The other imp, Moxxie, muttered. He seemed far less cheery than her, almost shook, as if he was still recovering from some deep-embedded trauma.
"Er, no, it's no problem." Adams quickly worked to reassure him. "However, your name is Moxxie, as I've heard...I believe you're part of the I.M.P., correct?"
Moxxie raised his head upon hearing that.
"Oh...yeah...that seems so long ago…"
"...Okay...Anyways, yeah, it's coming back to me. You guys were following- wait, where is Blitzo?"
Moxxie's mood seemed to dampen a bit.
"Well...he kind of got into some trouble with the royalty, so...he's being transported in another one of these floaty car things, except he and Loona are prisoners."
"Prisoners?" Adams questioned. "What did he do?"
Moxxie shrugged.
"No idea, but he isn't paying our salary anymore, so who cares?"
Her face contorted into a menacing grin.
"I just want to kill something. And these guys offered me that opportunity."
Upon hearing this, Adams decided that as soon as the expedition stopped at a new destination, he and Annie would be finding a new transport vehicle to ride on.
Suddenly, Moxxie raised his head, peering at something behind Adams.
"What the...fuck is this?!"
Adams couldn't help but turn his head to see what the fuss was about. His jaw dropped as his eyes were assaulted with the fuckfest that was the new landscape they were crossing over.
"What the fuck?"
As the vehicles crossed the line between the black marbled ground onto the bizarre landscape before them, there was a noticeable shift in mood as the entirety of the expedition felt a sort of anxious tension wash over them. They were now in a place they had never seen before, in circumstances that made them...vulnerable. And they knew it.
As they sailed through, they were only more bewildered and frightened by the environment. The land was all mismatched, like jigsaw pieces put in the wrong places. All types of terrains, atmospheres, weather conditions and environments melded together like some sort of bizarre super-biome. The expedition passed through snow, thunderstorms, clear skies, and acid rain all within a single minute. Fog was recurring and disappearing constantly, which got many drivers lost in certain biomes very often.
Worse, creatures and animals of all kinds were residing in some of these biomes, and often many attacked the vehicles.
"Holy shit, this fucking sucks!"
Moxxie was the first to criticize the situation.
"Does this place have any fucking relevance to the actual reason I'm in hell? This whole ordeal is retarded."
Adams was the second.
Due to the constant attacks from the creatures in these biomes, the expedition decided to take liberties with their hovercrafts and flew at a much higher altitude for most biomes, avoiding low-hanging storms and such.
"Wait, what is that?" Annie questioned, squinting to look beyond the jumbled mess of environments. She noticed something bright on the horizon.
And just suddenly, as if out of nowhere-
BOOOOOOOOOM!
All four demons looked back in shock as they watched one of the carriers exploded in the air, falling towards the ground in a flaming wreckage.
"OH MY GOD, HARRIS, NO!"
Several soldiers, both demons and UAC, shouted in shock, horror and wailing agony as they watched one of their squads die without any warning. Hayden's cold, searing voice suddenly came in through nearby speakers.
"Deflect the expedition team to the right, and find out what caused that explosion."
"DEMONS, SIR! IT WAS DEMONS!"
A soldier's panicked message cut through into the comms and frightened everyone.
"Demons?!"
"But...the Doom Slayer isn't here!"
"What the hell are we gonna do?!"
The soldiers began to panic over the comms, mumbling and muttering in fear as everyone was paralyzed with terror.
Whiizzzz-
A fireball had just barely scraped by one of the transporters, causing the crew inside to shout in terror, others screaming in pain as the pain flames seared their skin.
The panic was growing. Many transporters' crews were desperately shooting downwards with their rifles in hopes of killing whatever was launching those things at them.
"Oh, Loona, would you look at all that!"
Loona growled in frustration from hearing Blitzo's patronizing voice yet again, trying to plug her ears. Their transporter was a big cage with an auto-driver.
"Would you shut the fuck up and leave me to sleep?"
"Not interested in seeing the carnage? What a looper you are."
Loona ignored him and tried to tuck up against her side of the cage, leaving Blitzo to sigh.
"Alright, ya dumb bitch, if you wanna be a pussy and not watch your death coming, be my tick-covered guest."
He watched with a malicious grin as the passengers of the other vehicles screamed and panicked in terror at the incoming barrages.
"Things got a lot more interesting, for sure."
"Someone should look over the transporter and see what the hell is shooting fireballs at us!"
Having said that, Angel was more so looking for someone else to do that than for him to actually do it himself. He, Angel, Niffty, Vaggie, Charlie and Benny were all in the same carrier. Despite sharing the same vehicle as royalty, he didn't feel any sort of extra protection from being inside this carrier. He remembered Charlie once telling him that no one actually cared about her title, and he was starting to wonder if that was true in all categories, especially SAFETY.
He suddenly heard Hayden's robotic voice chime in through their speakers once more.
"Not necessary. My drones surveyed the land below - It's a demonic outpost."
"Are you telling me they have fucking outposts?" Husk said in outrage. "Are they a fucking standing military?!"
Charlie looked to Benny, whose face was grim set. He was still focusing on the other carriers, as he had been calling out certain barrages, watched where they were heading towards, and told certain carriers to move out of the way from the attacks.
"Don't they have fuckin' tail guns on this thing? Something we can shoot down at them with?!" Husk questioned in anger. "For fuck's sake, I'm not gonna go down defenseless, damn it!"
Once more, Hayden's voice popped in.
"There is a function for the passengers of each carrier. Find the console on the back of the driver's seat."
Everyone looked at the console attached to the small wall separating the driver and the passengers. Angel crawled up to it. It was an interactable screen.
"Okay, now what?" He asked nervously.
"Swipe to the right until you find the 'deploy machine gun placements' option."
"Wow, that's really obvious."
"I make them suited towards the audience."
Angel elected to ignore that scathing insult, considering the volatile situation he was in. He swiped to the right until he found the option, then tapped the screen several times. It seemed to be lagging in its response time, so Angel helped it along by fervently smacking the screen until he cracked the screen.
Nonetheless, holes opened up all around the carrier, with the protective guardrails around the carrier moving aside to make room for the machine guns emerging from the holes.
"You and the Doom Slayer both seem to share the same brutish trait of breaking things and somehow having things work out in the end." Hayden said sardonically over the comms.
"Heh, don't get snarky, you robot prick." Angel replied snarkily, taking a hold of one of the machine guns. "I'm on this journey for fun!"
BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!
Angel sprayed a cascade of bullets down into the landscape, seemingly not aiming.
"YEAH, YOU LIKE THAT, YOU SCALY FUCKS?!" He shouted and yipped in delight.
"That was extremely rude, you speciesist bastard!"
That voice sounded familiar to Angel, who raised his head in curiosity and looked to the left, towards the carrier behind them.
"Hoooly shit- Is that the fuckin' Snake Guy? Uh, what's his name-"
"Sir Pentious?" Charlie piped up. She remembered seeing him pop up on television when she was trying to get her hotel advertised.
Her hotel…
Even in the midst of aerial chaos, Charlie couldn't help but reflect on the past week. So much had happened...she had forgotten all about the hotel. No longer was she fighting to get demons to repent, but now to protect Hell and all of its residents.
"Yeah! That's the guy. Hey, how the fuck is he here? Didn't he get fucked up by the Strawberry Pimp a while ago?"
BOOOOOOOOM!
Another carrier was hit, its flaming remains falling to the land below. This caused more panic on the carriers as people shouted and cried out in despair. Angel took this moment to press down on the comms button and speak into it.
"Hey numbnuts, if the robot didn't tell ya, you better go to those consoles in front of ya and start swiping right. You'll be able to get those machine guns out and then ya won't be so busy wailin' like little bitches."
As soon as the announcement was made, several carriers began deploying these machine gun placements, and the air was deafened by the sound of a constant barrage of machine gun fire.
BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-"I need ALL carriers to pull down and land!"BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-"It's too risky to stay in the air!"BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!
Nobody could hear anything over the constant barrage of machine-gun fire, and it remained like that for several seconds, with more and more carriers getting shot down, one by one.
"PULL DOWN TO THE GROUND!"
Hayden's voice rang through the speakers, the volume turned up drastically so that the orders rang louder in everyone's ears than the machine-gun fire. However, it did the trick, and the carriers moved in unison to find a place to land on the ground.
As they approached ground level, the frontmost carriers, one of which contained Adams' crew, seemed to realize that they were within the boundaries of the demonic outpost, and were about to pull out.
"DO NOT LEAVE!" Hayden shouted through the speakers. "WE WILL TAKE MORE LOSSES BY GOING BACK UP INTO THE AIR! DEPLOY NOW AND BEGIN PURGING!"
"Are you fucking insane?!" Husk shouted into the radio. "We're going to get slaughtered out here!"
Pssshhhhhh!
Suddenly, the sides of the carriers opened up, and out came racks of various weaponry, from LMGs to assault rifles to shotguns to snipers. Charlie and the others looked at the weapons in bewilderment.
"What the-"
"Choose your weapon. If you die, might as well do so fighting."
That memo did nothing to help the morale of the expedition, but nonetheless people that weren't soldiers began grabbing these weapons quickly.
"They're coming over! Look!" One soldier shouted as he pointed downhill towards the center of the outpost, where several demons were congregating and gathering to attack.
"I'd advise you all to start shooting."
The sound of Hayden's cold, steely voice made Charlie angry, realizing that he held no remorse if any of them died during this attack. She stormed over to the rack quickly, taking up an assault rifle. Benny looked at her in shock.
"M-Miss Charlotte, what are you doing?!" He exclaimed.
Charlie marched over towards the front line until she got a sight on the demons. Everyone else watched as she did so, their eyes wide with fear and shock. She pressed the stock against her shoulder, aiming down the sights. Husk grinned as he watched her pull the trigger.
BRAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
The bullets whizzed through the air, and in the distance everyone could see clouds of blood shoot out from the demons that took the shots. As a few fell over dead, the rest began rushing towards the expedition. Charlie looked around at everyone, a steely determination in her eyes. She raised one arm, balling her fist and thrusting it into the air.
"LET'S TEAR THEM TO BITS!" She shouted, her demonic side revving up as she did this. It worked, as everyone else raised their fists up, their spirits heightened.
"YEEAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
And within seconds, they, too, fired their weapons. And the air was once more filled with the deafening sound of gunfire.
BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!
In that moment, Charlie could not think. Her head was filled with nothing but the sounds of gunfire, of screaming and yelling and hollering; The bullet casings flew by her eyes as they ejected onto the ground; She saw fireballs fly by her, exploding into the ground near the others, blowing some to bits and throwing others around with the shockwave.
She just kept shooting.
She saw her friends moving around her, people yelling as their limbs were blown off, or their friends were killed by stray bullets; She could faintly hear the sound of someone laughing maniacally in the background, for what purpose she had no idea.
She just kept shooting.
And when consciousness began to waiver, when she wasn't sure if she was shooting or reloading or taking cover from a bombardment, when she had no idea if her side was winning or losing, how many lives had been lost in this needless conflict,
She just kept on shooting.
Eventually, she witnessed the demon horde finally reach them, slamming into the ranks of soldiers and support troops, tearing them apart.
"FUUUUUCK THIS! FUCK ALL OF THIS!" Adams shouted, ducking and weaving between the bombardments of fireballs that exploded near him every other second. Whenever he had a chance to fire, he would shoot desperately and haphazardly with the single pistol he had picked up from one of the arsenals that had suddenly appeared in front of him and everyone else. Annie was not far behind him, carrying a light machine gun and laying into the horde with the barrages of heavy gunfire. Whenever a demon got up the hill and too close to either of them, she whipped out her shotgun and blew their faces off.
"IT'S OKAY, RILEY! WE'LL GET OUT OF THIS ALIVE!" She shouted over the sounds of battle and carnage. Despite her good intentions, Adams felt like this really wasn't the time for pep talks.
Eventually, he found a rock to hide behind and dove for it, desperately trying to scrunch himself down behind it as much as possible to avoid all the chaos.
"FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUUUUUCK!" He shouted in sheer terror, shaking violently as he watched the scene of pandemonium before him. Demons were tearing through the expedition team, throwing them around, impaling them, crushing them underfoot, setting them on fire - It was a complete massacre.
He watched one of the demons on his side, a very tall spider-looking creature, slink away, holding some sort of tome in his arms, but that quickly left his attention as he saw one of the enemy demons, standing monstrously tall, its skin crimson red and with hooves for feet. It raked its hooves across the ground, roaring ferociously as it seemed to lock onto Adams. It began charging, much to Adams' horror.
"FUCK, SHIT!" Adams shouted desperately as he aimed his pistol at the incoming demon and pulled the trigger.
Click, click, click.
"Wha…"
Adams' voice fell flat as he realized the pistol in his hand was empty. He looked back up to see the demon only a few meters away at this point, about to run him over in the next moment.
Is this really how I die? He asked himself. I don't want to die in this pathetic state-
BRRRRRRRT-BRRRRRRT-BRRRRT!
His train of thought was impaired by the deafening gunfire that erupted from his left. He flinched at the sudden burst, but watched as the towering demon before them came falling down to the ground, his face and chest torn apart by the heavy machine gun fire. Adams looked over his left shoulder to see Annie standing over him, sweating as she held the LMG in both hands.
"I said…*huff*...we'll get out of this alive, didn't I?" She asserted, cracking a smile at him.
"I love you so much!" Adams wailed. However, his victory was short-lived, as he saw another, even bigger and redder demon emerge from the hill behind Annie so suddenly. He was paralyzed with fear as he looked into its glowing, menacing eyes as the demon conjured a fireball into its hands.
It craned its arm back, preparing to throw the fireball. Adams realized where he was aiming.
And in a moment, he scrambled to his feet, pushing Annie to the side.
FWOOOSH!
The next moments were of absolute, indescribable agony. Adams could only scream as his skin burned and boiled as the flaming-hot fireball collided directly into him and exploded. He fell to the ground, convulsing as the flames engulfed his entire body. He could not think. He could not talk. He could not move of his own will.
He could only flail and scream.
"OH, GOD, RILEY!" Annie screamed in horror, paralyzed with shock and terror as she watched Adams flail around on the ground, the flames attached to his body like napalm. She ran over, throwing herself onto him in a vain attempt to try and stoke the fire, only to then light herself on fire when the flames jumped onto her clothing.
"AAAAAAHHHH!" She screamed, now engulfed in the same flames as Adams.
Moxxie, who had witnessed the horrific display, ran around desperately, looking for something to put them out with, while Millie protected him, shooting and killing anything that came close to threatening his life.
The fight began to close in as more and more demons and UAC personnel on Charlie's side began to dwindle in fighting numbers, with people being struck down left and right. While they had gained the initial advantage in an uphill battle, the demons far outmatched them in combat ability, and had caught them while they were vulnerable.
Charlie, who had recovered from the initial engagement, could not help but feel an overwhelming despair as she watched those she had intended to protect fall around her. The situation was hopeless, and she started to realize the true meaning of despair as her side continued to dwindle.
Charlie looked all around her. The faces of those she knew. Husk, Niffty, Vaggie, Benny - All of them had been fighting, yet all of their faces were filled with the same level of despair. She saw mounting fear in Vaggie's face especially, likely because she was terrified about where she would be going if she died.
And yet, she didn't see Angel anywhere.
Whizz- BOOOOOOOOOM!
Charlie was suddenly thrown to the side by the shockwave of a nearby fireball exploding into the ground, the assault rifle flying out of her hand. Disoriented, she tried to look around, though her vision was greatly impaired in the effort. Despite this, she barely made out something standing above her, one of the enemy demons. It had some sort of mechanical thing on its back, and its gnarled hands were held out in front of its body. It looked down at her with malicious contempt in its eyes, and powered up its weapons, aiming them at her as she could do nothing but struggle on the ground.
Zip!
And within the next second, the demon straightened, as if hit by something, and fell over backwards, collapsing on the ground. Charlie's vision cleared a bit, and she looked towards the opposite direction in confusion.
There stood Angel, and on both sides of him were a number of very powerful demons that Charlie knew about.
"Alright, let's go fuck these suckers up!" Angel shouted, which was then followed by the raucous shouting of the sudden compatriots that had shown up for battle.
The following minutes were marked by the reinforcements, who began to take down the hordes that had descended upon them with relative ease. To Charlie, it was like seeing two giants fight. The combat ability of these powerful demons she knew, nobles and warlords, was comparable, if not better than the demons they were facing in battle currently.
As the expedition crew watched these demons fight in their place, they began to fall back, resting and recovering as the new demons took over the battle.
And within a minute or two more, the battle had finally ended. Bodies from both sides littered the battle grounds, blood stained almost every patch that could be seen, limbs and organs were more plentiful than the bodies.
Having recovered from her disorientation, Charlie got up on her feet and began walking around, almost in shell-shock. While the powerful demons drove off the enemy demons, the expedition crew was trying to recover as well as they could from that lethal encounter. Several members went about trying to give medical treatment where they could, while others cried or laughed nervously in grief and relief. Some of the crew mourned over the bodies of those they knew.
As Charlie found a rock to sit on, she groaned, then looked down at her side. There was a small gunshot wound to the right of her abdomen. She knew that she was a quick healer, but the pain was an inconvenience at this current moment.
"Hey, uh...you doin' okay?"
Charlie looked up to see Angel approaching, holding some sort of book in his hand. His hands, arms and face were covered in blood, as well as most of his clothing.
"What….happened? Why did...these demons show up? How did they do that?" Charlie questioned, looking back at the powerful demons she had known for a long time. Angel cracked a half-grin.
"Well, I signed a contract with these fellows and fellas, which agreed that in exchange for saving Hell's ass from getting invaded, they would be called on to help by me if I ever thought that there would be a situation in which we were about to get majorly fucked."
"Wha...how did you manage to get all of them to agree to that contract?" Charlie inquired, even more curious now. The demon war lords and nobles she knew would never sign a contract with somebody for any sort of obligation, no matter how miniscule. Angel grinned fully this time.
"I told them that whoever answered the call to battle would grow their influence and power when every other demon in Hell sees them as a hero."
Charlie bowed her head. If this wasn't such a morbid, horrible situation they were in, she would have chuckled at that.
"Well…" Charlie muttered. "I suppose we won…"
Angel nodded solemnly, though Charlie could tell he didn't believe her statement.
"I'm gonna go check on the victims. One of the demons I summoned is really good with healing, so...if anyone is alive and injured, I'll get her on it. Namely those two that I saw get burned up from a fireball."
Charlie nodded, and Angel ran off. Charlie had no idea when Angel had become such a team player, but she appreciated his help, nonetheless. As she recovered her breathe from the massive fatigue she had suffered during the battle, she didn't dare to look around at the aftermath of the battle. She feared she would get flashbacks to the other times she had been in the aftermath of a battle, either with the Doom Slayer or the demons from his dimension.
She instead chose to look at the ground, and think about her situation. And soon she realized that what she had said only a few moments ago, she had lied about completely.
They had not won, not in the slightest...only survived. This time.