"Poor Bill," Kai said. "I hope that he will be alright."

Slappy crossed his wooden arms. "He will be fine," he told the green-eyed yak. "According to him, he is an all-powerful being. Besides, we would be better off without him."

"But...we are friends. The three of us are friends."

"Blah, blah, blah. Just because all of us are bad guys and have plenty in common does not mean that we are close friends." The puppet glared at the guard who was leading them. A tear appeared from a glassy eye and streamed down his cheek. "I lost my friend a long time ago."

The yak was surprised. "Oh? Who was your friend?"

The front guard interrupted their conversation by snapping his fingers.

"Quiet!" he snapped. "We are about to go to the basement, so there needs to be total silence."

"Yeah," the guard from behind agreed, holding up his space gun. "Or else."

Kai nodded, knowing what would happen if he did not do what they said. "Absolutely. Our lips are sealed."

The guard from behind pointed his gun at Slappy's head. "What about you?"

The puppet dropped his arms to the sides and moaned in protest, but did not say anything negative.

"You!" The guard in the front pointed a finger at Kai. "What the heck is he doing?"

The Maker of Widows shrugged. "I-I do not know. Perhaps...mooing like a cow?"

Slappy stopped his moaning and growled.

"Stop your growling!" both guards said. "Or you will never see Shelly again."

Hearing the threat that he might never see, hear, or hug the love of his life for even one last time, Slappy stopped growling and rubbed his arm. His cheeks turned red.

"That is better," the front guard said. He turned, his back facing the two villains and the other guard once again. "To the basement!"

The group soon reached the end of the hall and came upon a swirling staircase. The staircase touched the top and stretched to the bottom. Half of it disappeared, for the bottom was darkness.

The guards let Slappy and Kai peer down. Slappy and Kai got on the first step and clutched the black railing. They leaned forward and looked down at the darkness. Blackness.

The Taker of Chi gulped. "How far do the stairs go down?" he asked.

"Pretty far," one of the guards answered. "They lead unfortunate souls to the basement."

Slappy suddenly burst out laughing. "Ha! The darkness never bothered me anyway!" he stated. "I love the darkness!"

The other guard tsk-tsked. "Too bad," he said. "You are not going down there anyway." He grabbed the puppet's wrist.

The first guard pushed Kai down the stairs, while the second guard pulled the puppet away from the staircase.

"Wait, why are you taking me to the basement?" Kai asked. "Why me and not the puppet who is made of wood."

"And ink," Slappy added.

"We are taking him to the medical room," the first guard reminded him. "You, on the other hand, are being taken to the coal room. The coal room is located in the basement."

The yak put a hand - or in this case, hoof - on the railing and started going down the spiraling stairs. He felt that he had no other option and was sick of the guard pushing him. He glanced up at Slappy.

The puppet stood at the top of the staircase and waved. He mouthed the phrase 'Stine used to be my friend.'

The Taker of Chi sighed and continued his way to the basement.

"If I could only use the chi that I stole. Er, have," he mumbled. "But I cannot risk myself into becoming nothing. A pile of ashes." He noticed that the guard who was forcing him to the basement had his space gun ready to shoot. "No. It is not worth the risk."