Mercury had managed to convince Uzziel to create one more temporary portal—ostensibly so that Mercury could return to the Courts of the Most High and turn himself in. Mercury, however, had other plans. Amid the chaos surrounding the apprehension of the apple-toting horde, they managed to smuggle Karl unseen to the Infernal Plane. "So," said Christine as they walked up the steps toward Lucifer's pink stucco house, "you made a deal with Lucifer to return Karl to him?" "Yeah, but don't worry," replied Mercury. "He'll be perfectly safe. And comfortable. Hey, Karl, that's your house over there." Karl looked in the direction of the cozy faux Tudor that Mercury was pointing out. "Looks OK, I guess," said Karl. "My mom won't be there, right?" "No, Karl. Your mom, along with almost everyone else in the Universe, has absolutely no idea where you are. That was part of the deal." "And I can work on my music?" "Absolutely," said Mercury. "I wrote a state-of-the-art sound mixing system into our contract with Lucifer.
