She peeked into the building and saw that she wasn’t the only person who had come to see what was going on. There was a crowd waiting in front of the cages, all silent and waiting for something to happen.

“What’s going on?” she asked a Blue Scorchio with a name tag; it read Brian. “What did they ask for this time?”

“Nothing,” Brian replied, his keys jingling at his belt loop. “They don’t want any food.”

“What?”

“They haven’t requested a single thing since workers showed up this morning,” a Pink Aisha on her other side said. She turned around, a badge from the local news station showing her name on her lapel; it was Paige Turner, the correspondent from the Neopian Times. She had a notepad in her hand, her pen poised above it to write the latest update.

“Why?”

“Because no one will adopt them,” Brian said in a conspiratorial tone. “They’re tired of eating and crying and being left in the dark at night with no one around.”

Susie had never thought about it that way. The Kadoatery had been around for longer than she had been alive and it was a constant presence in the The Neopian Plaza. She had never seen anyone adopt a Kadoatie, though, and had never bothered to pay attention to the name tags to even see if they were the same Kads whenever she donated a food item to one of them.

She pondered for a moment, tapping her head with her finger until an idea came to fruition. “I know what we have to do...”

"That's not a bad idea, actually," Brian replied thoughtfully, rubbing his scaly chin. "And that'll give us a chance to do a deep cleaning of the Kadoatery too, I can't remember the last time the place got a good scrub."

"Why not use the outing as an excuse to redecorate too?" Susie said, the vision growing clearer and clearer in her head. "I know Kadoaties are known for being hungry all the time, but surely they could do with some scratching posts and climbing shelves? Maybe some new wallpaper, too? They must get so bored of eating with nothing else to do, and the place doesn't exactly look happy and conducive for adoptions!"

"I agree with you there, Miss...?" Brian asked.

"Susie."

"Miss Susie, yes. I agree with you that these critters need mental stimulation and the building some renovations, but we're not exactly working with an unlimited budget here," Brian admitted sadly. "We run on charitable donations, and while food here and there from a generous Neopian comes easy, a complete overhaul of the Kadoatery won't come cheap.

"Also, taking the Kadoaties outside already requires a lot of manpower. They're not exactly the easiest charges, you know. So if most of us will be out here, who will do the overhaul? I'm sorry, Susie, but I'm afraid cleaning things up while we take them outside is the best we can do."

Susie's shoulders slumped. There had to be something that could be done! She looked glumly at the Kadoatery, taking in its decrepit look. With such a sad-looking building, it's no wonder the Kadoaties inside were sad too. And if the Kadoaties were sad, they didn't exactly look appealing to a potential adopter...

There was a tap on her shoulder from a well-manicured paw. It was Paige.

"I believe I can help out," Paige offered kindly. "I work for the Neopian Times, and maybe your project just needs visibility! We could publish an article that reads something like..."

"Oh, I like that!" Susie cheered. "That should draw people's attention to the article. We can ask for donations to help refurbish their living corridors, and we can even have people help take Kadoaties outside for some fresh air!"

"That would probably even help with getting some of them adopted," Brian chimed in, feeling excited himself. "It would provide a real bonding opportunity. I guarantee some people would find it impossible NOT to take one home with them."

"I love this! Absolutely adore this idea! I knew I came by the Kadoatery this morning for a reason!" Paige said excitedly, scribbling some ideas down on a pad of paper before giving the pad a firm hug. "Let me get back to you in a few days after I write up a rough draft of some ideas I have."

"A few days?" Susie asked, suddenly quieting down in pensive thought.

"Well, yes. The Neopian Times doesn't come out for a couple more weeks. There's plenty of time to write a good article," Paige explained, not sure what the issue was.

"But," Susie began. "If the Kadoaties are too unhappy to eat, won't two weeks be too long to wait?"

Both Brian and Paige grew quiet, slightly embarrassed that they had overlooked this crucial point.

Brian, being most familiar with the Kadoatery, was the first one to break the silence. "I guess in the meantime we'll just have to...

“Did I hear there are Petpets in need?” a loud voice boomed across the Neopian Plaza. Startled, Susie looked up to see a massive Tyrannian Elephante lumbering towards them. It was Pacha. He was the shopkeeper of the Tyrannian Petpets Shop. He also happened to be a veterinarian. Susie’s eyes lit up.

“Perfect timing!” Susie exclaimed. She hurriedly explained the situation, as Pacha listened intently. He shook his head rather sorrowfully when he heard about the abandoned Kadoaties.

“Perhaps, Neopians are not aware that several of the Kadoaties in the Kadoatery have been abandoned and are up for adoption?” Pacha mused. He turned to Brian. “Could you bring me to these poor little things? I’d like to take a look at them to make sure that they are in good health.”

Brian nodded and led Pacha to the Kadoaties, while waving at the crowd in front of the cages to disperse.

Paige followed, scribbling furiously in her notepad. “We will need photos of the Kadoaties. They’ve got to be really good photos, so you know, more Neopians will volunteer to help, or donate Neopoints so that we can redecorate.”

Paige turned to Brian. “Can you tell me more and maybe shed some light on the situation?”

“Technically the Kadoatery is meant to be a place where Kadoaties are dropped off while their owners are away on holiday,” Brian explained. “However, there are a handful of owners that have not returned for a very long time, and I fear they have been abandoned. Sadly, that has put a strain on our resources, which unfortunately means that each Kadoatie that we have does not receive the quality of care that they deserve. It’s very sad, really.” Brian hung his shoulders dejectedly.

Susie pondered for a moment, while Paige continued scribbling. This was going to be more difficult than she thought. Not only did they need donations, they also needed the right Neopians for the job. They needed a photographer, an interior designer, builders… The list went on.

“Do you think the Petpet Protection League could help?” Susie asked, to no one in particular.

Just then, the Kadoatery erupted into loud wails…

“They’ve never done this before! What’s going on?” Brian approached some nearby cages, looking closely at the Kads who seemed to be getting louder and louder.

Suddenly, a loud buzzer sounded through the building. Red alarm lights began to flash and the alarm blared so loudly that it nearly drowned out the still screaming Petpets. Susie looked around desperately, but stopped as she saw a small figure in the back of the room. Its tail flicked back and forth as it scurried out the back door. There was a button near where the figure was sitting, she squinted to read it.

“Emergency Release…” She whispered, the realization dawning on her.

A cacophony of loud creaks began to sound as the cage doors slowly opened for all of the Kadoaties in the building.

“The Kads! They’re escaping!” Paige yelled.

The Petpets immediately took off, scurrying out the door and into the streets as fast as lightning. Susie tried to reach down and grab any stragglers, but they all seemed to slide right out of her hands. She forgot how slippery Kads could be.

“How did this happen?” Pacha yelled in horror as they stared at the empty cages in front of them.

Susie pointed to the button. “I think one of the Kads got free and set them all loose. We have to get them back!”

Brian nodded quickly. “Everyone hurry, we’ve got to come up with a plan! We should…”

Outside, the Kadoaties had gone every direction and were already getting themselves into every kind of trouble a petpet could possibly get itself into. The last vestiges of Brian's calm evaporated as he watched one of the Kads entangle itself in a thorny shrub nearby, and he dove head-first after it, all thoughts of plans abandoned. Half a heartbeat later, Pacha was bounding toward nearby tree, where a flash of pink fur was visible on a very, very high branch.

"Right, so I guess that leaves us girls to figure out how to--," Paige started to say before something in the distance caught her attention. "Wait. Is that...? Oh no." The reporter bolted toward the Wishing Well where a Spotted Kadoatie sat, far too curious about the water below.

Susie looked around the Plaza frantically. "We're definitely going to need help," she muttered. But there didn't seem to be much help to be had. There were two Neopians making their way toward the wishing well, and a battle-worn Lupe being supported into the hospital by a friendly-looking nurse, but otherwise the Plaza was deserted.

She started toward the Neopets coming up the hill, but as she moved toward them, another building popped into view, far more promising: The Neopian Pound.

She halted. "Brian, Pacha, Paige!" she shouted.

In the few seconds that had passed, all three had found themselves in tricky predicaments trying to rescue the three most distressed Kadoaties.

"Just hang on! I'm going to the Pound to get some help!"

Susie raced toward the Pound's iconic red door, skidding to a haphazard stop and nearly crashing into it. She knocked as hard as she could. It cracked open. "We need help!" she said immediately, breathless from her spring. "We need lots of Neopets to help. The Kadoaties, they've--"

But as Susie caught her breath, she looked up and saw who had opened the door...

"Please!" Susie begged "The Kadoaties have all run off and we need as much help as possible to rescue them all-"

"I cannot help. I must remain here to operate the Pound."

"Yes but maybe some of the Neopets in the Pound could help us-"

"The Neopets in the Pound must remain until they are adopted."

"Just temporarily-"

Just as the discussion seemed to be headed nowhere, another figure approached, Dr. Death himself.

The Yellow Techo looked Susie over. He says, "What's all this ruckus, have you been abandoned for being a nuisance?"

"No! No! The Kads, they've escaped the Kadoatery and we need help to collect them all! As many Neopets as possible to help! Please if you could let the Pets in the pound help-"

Dr. Death was taken aback by her panic. "Hmm... ordinarily we don't have our inhabitants freely wander but if you can promise to bring them all back safely afterwards, then yes, some pets may help if they agree. Come with me."

They begin walking back into the Pound, to a sort of dormitory like space where Pets shared bunkbeds and looked at Susie with bored expressions. They came to a sort of courtyard near the middle of the building where some abandoned Neopets sat gathered around. Dr. Death stopped before them and looked at her expectantly, not helping with the pitch.

Susie, panic still hot in her blood but suddenly nervous, said, "Hello! Um, the Kads in the Kadoatery have all been released by some great mistake and we could really use some help in collecting them all, if any of you would be willing to lend a hand!"

A Yellow Gelert looked up at her, unimpressed. "Oh yeah? You want us to help catch some spoiled Petpets? What's in it for us?"

"Well they need our help, you can't really-"

"We also need help. We need homes. Yet everyone is so concerned about feeding the fancy Kads their fancy food, while we are stuck in here with nothing. Pssh. Asking us for help with this... don't make me laugh."

The Gelert got up and walked away from Susie, a small crowd of others following suit. Susie was crestfallen. She supposed the Gelert did sort of have a point.

Suddenly, she had an idea. "Wait!..."

The Gelert paused, the crowd of abandoned Pets with him, turning back to face Susie and Dr. Death.

"I have an idea to help you all and the Kads! We can..."

"Adoption event?" The Gelert asked, ears perking up.

"Yes, the Kads, we're going to put on an adoption event for them! We can include you all too!" Susie smiled at the Gelert, whose expression had changed to one of curiosity.

"I can fill you in on the details later, but the Neopian Times is going to write an article on it. I'm sure the heroes who helped catch the Kads would be at the top of many Neopians' adoption lists," Susie said carefully.

The Gelert shrugged, looking at his cohorts before examining his paws nonchalantly.

"I suppose it can't hurt," he said, shrugging again.

Susie exhaled a sigh of relief.

"So what do we need to do?" A Green Xweetok asked, her ears twitching.

"Um, well..." Susie hesitated. There were so many Kadoaties, and by now who knew where they had wandered. They needed a plan.

"I believe I can help with that," Dr. Death began...

She walked over quickly toward Dr. Death and looked down at the Neomail addressed to... Captain K?!

Dr. Death smiled and explained quickly.

"I play Gormball with the Defenders once in a while. They're pretty busy of course, but I know K is over at HQ now. See? He just responded that he'll help."

Susie and her new helpers from the Pound quickly went out into the Plaza, but as soon as she opened the front door of the Pound, a Kad went flying past her with a slice of pizza in its mouth.

A hush filled the group, however, as Captain K emerged from HQ, carrying something that would definitely help them in their current predicament.

As the famed Kacheek got closer, she could see...

How will this story end?

The pizza stealing Kad stopped mid run. Its ears were twitching. It turned toward the yarn with its sparkly eyes.

“Works every time.” Captain K said knowingly.

He tossed a bright red ball of yarn into the middle of the Plaza and chaos spread instantly. Kadoaties burst out from behind bushes and under carts. They jumped from rooftops and even out of someone’s shopping bag. They pounced on the yarn in a pile of paws and let out happy squeals.

“It’s working!” Paige cried.

“Quick!” Brian shouted. “Everyone grab the carriers!”

The abandoned Neopets from the Pound took action immediately. The Yellow Gelert scooped up two distracted Kads. Then, the Green Xweetok dangled another ball of yarn down an alley and lured three more Kadoaties into baskets.

Pacha rescued the scared Pink Kad from the tree. He hummed a melody to calm it down. Even Dr. Death helped, awkwardly holding a little Striped Kadoatie as it swatted at the tassels on his robe.

Finally, the Plaza wasn’t filled with panic anymore but instead with joy. Hours later, the final Kadoatie was safely returned to the Kadoatery. The group was exhausted and all collapsed onto benches. The Kads curled up together in freshly cleaned beds. All of them purring with happiness.

Susie looked around the room in amazement. The windows were open. The sunlight beamed inside. Volunteers from around the Plaza had arrived during the commotion to help scrub walls. They helped repair shelves and paint murals of Petpets across the corridors. Someone had even built a climbing tower in the corner. Most importantly of all, Neopians started arriving with adoption forms.

The heroic story of the runaway Kadoaties had traveled across the Plaza faster than any newspaper article ever could.

Paige closed her notepad with a big smile. “I think tomorrow’s headline will write itself.”

Brian nodded, watching a Blue Kougra cuddle one of the once forgotten Kads. “Looks like they just needed someone to notice them.”

The Yellow Gelert from the Pound stood beside a family of Cybunnies who were speaking kindly to him. He noticed Susie watching and looked away as he pretended not to smile.

Susie leaned against the doorway. She felt the warmth spread through her chest as the Kadoatery beamed with happy noise.

One of the Kadoaties padded over and placed its paws on Susie’s shoe. It looked up at her with enormous eyes and gave a little “Mrrrow?”

Susie laughed. “Oh no, don’t tell me you’ve picked me.” The Kadoatie purred louder.

For the first time in a while, the Kadoatery finally felt like a home.

The End.