Location: A "Subway" Staircase in Spiritis
Time: 8:30 PM

*Razor continued walking down the staircase. Every step he took, he gripped the quarterstaff in his hand a little bit tighter. Every step he took, the air about him got a little bit hotter. It must have been the 130th step down when he stopped, and looked down the staircase: He still couldn't see the bottom. He looked at the walls, which were painted red in a fashion that made him wonder if it was actually paint upon the walls. He shuddered at the thought, and continued down. He heard a couple chuckles behind him, and started to turn to face them. He suddenly felt a hand on his left shoulder pull him toward the group, and he jumped a mile into the air, turning the rest of the way in mid-air, landing in a defensive stance. He saw Diane looking at him with an amused look on her face. Sephrinia, who was white, and smiling and chuckling.*

Razor: Sephrinia, please don't encourage her.
Sephrinia: I'm sorry, it's… just… you should have seen your face!

*Sephrinia suddenly shrieked, turning around. Jade was behind her, and was chuckling.*

Jade: It looked kinda like that.
Sephrinia: That is NOT funny, I thought you were a—

*Sephrinia suddenly turned blue, and bowed her head, turning around.*

Sephrinia: Okay, I get it… I'm sorry…
Razor: You aren't the one who did it… Blitz, please keep an eye on Diane… I don't want to have her doing that all the way down… I'd like to not lose my sanity until after we get out if that's okay with you.

*Sephrinia chuckled slightly, her color going from blue to black as she returned to her usual state of fear in the staircase. Razor turned around, and the group continued down. After what felt like an eternity, Razor could see the bottom of the stairs, and it was blazing hot. So hot that the air looked as if it were boiling to get higher into itself. Razor looked on the walls, and saw all sorts of haunting writings upon the walls. Most were in English, and looked to be frantic writings by people getting drug down. He saw the message several times: "What did I do, God?" Razor shook off the disturbing thoughts that entered his mind, and as he got to the bottom, he stopped cold in his tracks. He was so close to the gates he could almost touch them; they were less than thirty yards away. His eyes wandered to the skies uncertainly, and he jumped as he saw unevolved vampire bats… millions of them… billions of them. Razor remembered that when he had talked to the angel, it was near sunset, and he saw the bats start flying out of the area, through the staircase. Razor shuddered as the nearly endless line of them flew out, and wouldn't move after they left until some time after. Blitz smiled at him awkwardly, and patted Razor on the shoulder.

Blitz: Relax Razor… don't worry… you can do it man… I know you can.

*Razor suddenly had a thought, and spoke his mind.*

Razor: Blitz, maybe you and Diane should go up… especially Diane, I don't want to see someone so young dying… in here of all places.
Blitz: Don't worry, we've got it figured out what we are going to do if demons spot us.
Razor: Are you sure?
Blitz: Yes…
Razor: Does it involve pretending to try to harm any of the others?
Blitz: No
Razor: Okay then…
Sephrinia: What, exactly, is our plan, Razor?
Razor: Hmm… well, I know one thing for sure: that fox's estimate of how many would be down here is ridiculously under what is likely. I suggest that we try to take to stealth. How to do that, I am not sure. I know that it is likely that the place that my brother is being held… *pointing through the gates* is right there.

*Sephrinia gasped as she saw what Razor was pointing at: a colossal, palace-looking place that loomed on the horizon. Even from the distance, you could tell that it was ancient, for its structure spoke a lot of the gothic era.*

Sephrinia: This isn't going to be easy…
Razor: No… it isn't… what I need is for some way for someone to look like they… belong… *looking at Blitz* I hate to patronize you, man, but you look like you could pass as something from here… no offense.
Blitz: None taken.
Razor: What I need you to do, is fly into Hell and search for the best route to get to that place that I pointed to, and estimate about how long it is from here. When I say best route, I mean the one that we shall be able to stealthily accomplish. Try to use deserted back streets to get us there. Just scope the place out and come back and lead us on our way. Now, my guess is that the gates themselves have demons waiting, so we need to be ready. Sephrinia, stay with Jade. Jade, you'll be the last to enter. When Blitz comes back he shall tell you where we are going to be going when we break the line, and we shall wait for you, probably in some refuse container, if one exists. When we all are there, Blitz will tell us of the course of action, and we'll be on our way. Are there any questions, because we need to wait for Blitz to get back and tell us of how to get to that palace as stealthily as possible?
Diane: I have one, how do you know your brother is in that building?
Razor: It's a hunch, really. I hope I'm right.

*It was maybe 3 minutes later, and Blitz landed beside Razor, who was sitting down.*

Blitz: Razor, we're in luck. There is a side alley first left into the gates of Hell. This alley goes into an alley, about half a mile later, which goes up near the palace that we are seeing. There is, ironically enough, some sort of thing up the side of the building there. It looks like a fire escape, no lie. We can climb this fire escape and onto the roof of some demon's home, and roof hop for the half a mile it takes to get over near the palace. Then it is simple as finding a way down, then climbing over the fence around the palace. The grounds of the palace are not well guarded on the outside, it seems, but some passer-bys might see us and attack, and so we need to be on our guard. The total distance we travel is probably about 3 miles if we do this.
Razor: Excellent, Blitz… Absolutely excellent. Did everyone hear that?

*Everyone nodded*

Razor: Jade, look for us in that first left that he told us about when you get through the first. There might be a bit of a battle ahead of us just to get in, but then we might breathe slightly easier until we are upon the roofs. However, nobody is to at any time put their guard down, which I doubt I need to say, since I think adrenaline will take care of that. Now, once we get into the alleys, unless somebody has something of dire importance to say, they are not to talk, since we are trying to remain silent. Are we ready?

*Everyone nodded, Razor flipped the quarterstaff around in his hands, holding it readily in one hand, ready to use it at a moment's notice like a club.*

Razor: Let's go!

*Razor turned to the gates, and walked toward them. Sephrinia was beside Jade, who was behind Blitz and Diane, who were beside Razor. As Razor got closer, he drew a deep breath, ready for the battle that would ensue shortly to get through the gates into the land of the damned.*