So unfortunately, while Elsie could not own one herself, visiting the Kadoatery daily on her way home from work was the next best thing. She had already fed Cupcake the Sketch Roast Chicken the Kadoatie had been pining for, but was reluctant to leave. Cupcake was in a playful mood, beaming at Elsie through the bars and cheerfully sashaying her tail in every which direction.

"Okay, okay," Elsie relented. "I'll play with you for fifteen more minutes, but not until you're due for your next snack! I have to get going soon. Speaking of snacks, I wonder what you like to eat at home. Your owners must spoil you silly..."

Elsie let her mind wander, imaging what Cupcake's family must be like. Probably really caring, she decided. All of these Kadoatie owners must be, to so thoughtfully leave their Petpets in this close-knit community when on vacation.

After petting Cupcake for a few moments longer, Elsie let out a soft little grunt and lifted herself off her stomach to stand and gather her belongings. She was slinging her backpack over her shoulder when suddenly, the overhead lights turned off and the front door thudded shut with a definitive click.

The Acara stiffened. Had she been locked in here by mistake? "Hello?" She called tentatively, stumbling over Kadoatie cages as she blindly rushed to the door to try the handle. She twisted it every which way to no avail. She was locked in. Around her, the Kadoaties began to wail.

"Oh no...!" came a voice from Elsie's left. The Acara jumped with surprise. "Have we been locked in here? I think we have!"

A flashlight's blinding golden beam suddenly filtered on Elsie's face, coming from the direction of the stranger's voice. She squinted into the light to see who she was trapped with...

"I can't believe this keeps happening to me! Even with all the precautions I have taken with the staff." The voice continued on, the flashlight waving back in forth, casting strange shadows every which way. A few Kadoaties mewed in protest whenever the light shone towards them.

"Who are you?" Elsie questioned, momentarily transfixed by the new mystery before her.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" The flashlight turned opposite from Elsie, a new shadow appearing before her on the wall. It was in the shape of a Usul. "I'm invisible, you see? My name is Bonnie."

Elsie let out a short laugh of surprise. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but an invisible companion was not it.

"I carry around this flashlight when playing with the Kadoaties because they like the shadow play, they also chase the beam of light and it's super cute." A shadow puppet of a Cybunny formed along the wall as she spoke, Bonnie's hands expertly twisting to bring her shadow puppet to life.

"Well I'm glad I'm not alone. My name is Elsie, by the way." The Acara introduced herself. "What did you mean when you said that this keeps happening to you?"

"Being invisible means that sometimes things happen to you more often than it should." Bonnie replied. "This is my fourth time being locked in. But don't worry! A security Chia guard usually begins a patrol in about an hour or so." The Cybunny shadow puppet did a few more hops then disappeared. Elsie imagined the Usul was probably beaming proudly towards her.

Elsie leaned against the door in resignation, the cool metal handle dug against her back. A solid reminder that she was locked in. Despite Bonnie's reassurances, Elsie did not feel content to simply wait and hope some Chia would come by and rescue them.

"Bonnie..." Elsie began, "Do you think that maybe there is some other way we could get out? An emergency exit, perhaps?"

"Well, when I was last locked in two Wednesdays ago, I saw a-" She paused suddenly. "What was that?"

Elsie heard it too. Somewhere in the mess of Kadoatie cages, she heard a distinct screech of metal on metal. "Shine your flashlight over there." She instructed, pointing in the direction of the noise.

Bonnie's flashlight swooped over to where she had indicated to reveal...

Nothing but empty space and an open cage.

"Oh! That's Cupcake's cage! Where is she??" Elsie looked around in the dark and called out to her favourite Kadoatie to no avail.

"Bonnie, let's get closer!" She walked over to the cage, and as her new invisible friend shined her flashlight over the area, she noticed that the lock had been smashed into little pieces.

Elsie could hear Bonnie gasp as she realized what she was looking at.

"Woahhh... this is weird. The Kadoatie definitely didn't smash the lock like this... is there someone... or something else in here with us?"

They walked around the dark room, shining the flashlight all around and calling out for Cupcake. The other Kadoatie had grown strangely quiet, a stark difference from their wailing just a few minutes ago. It was almost as if they were scared of something in the room.

Soon they heard a voice call out to them from the darkness.

It said...

The Acara and Usul swung toward the voice, Bonnie’s flashlight landing on a tall, lanky Green Acara dressed in dark, aubergine cloaks. Gold jewellery adorned her double ears matched by a radiant broach on her sternum. The Acara peered at them with darkly lined eyes and luxuriant lashes. A breath caught in Elsie’s chest, held both by the Neopet’s beauty and domineering presence.

“Wh-who are you?!” demanded Bonnie bravely. The flashlight shook in her hand as she tried to steady it, evident by the way the light bobbed up and down in the dark Kadoatery, then stabilized.

“I’m Masila, the Mistress of the Double-cross,” she purred. “But, luckily for you, I’m only here tonight to take a few Kads, sell them for profit, and make a modest living. After that, I’ll be on my way.”

It was then that a sudden motion caught their eyes. The pair noticed a burlap sack flung over Masila’s shoulder, something inside squirming behind her. From inside the bag, they heard a muffled mew followed by a sad whimper.

“Oh my!” Elsie gasped. “Is that Cupcake?! Let her go this instant!”

“Fat chance, Sterling Silver. Precious little Cupcake is going to make me a pretty penny. The White Kadoaties always do,” Masila the Thief said with a snicker. “I’m going to take two more from their cages, place them in this sack, and be on my way.”

“Like Fyora, you’re not!” Bonnie said, approaching her.

“Oh, yeah? And what are you going to do to stop me?” she asked, puffing out her chest…

"Drats!" Masila yelled, spinning to look at the door. Judging by the silhouette in the door's window, the Chia guard was here early.

"The guard! He must have heard the Kadoatie cage being forced open!" exclaimed Bonnie. The Chia seemed to be fumbling with his keys, trying to find the right one. Bonnie screamed, "HELP! THERE'S A THIEF!"

"Meddling kids! I won't forget this!" grumbled Masila. Before either Bonnie or Elsie could react, the Acara hoisted the bag over her shoulder and ran over to the wall, where a vent had been pulled aside to allow her to drop through. She jumped atop one of the cages and shoved the bag into the vent, swiftly disappearing after it.

Elsie gasped. "Bonnie! We have to go help Cupcake!"

The duo scrambled toward the open grate and crawled through. They found themselves in a short tunnel. Masila was nowhere to be seen, but they could hear a banging from somewhere ahead.

Elsie and Bonnie quickly scrambled down the vent, as the path ahead twisted and turned. Before long, they came upon a hole. Another grate had clearly been removed and discarded.

"Let me go first," whispered Bonnie. "I'll scout ahead, and if it's clear, I'll shine the flashlight." Elsie heard the Invisible Usul slide up to the hole and disappear.

Elsie waited for the signal. Within a few seconds, she saw the flashlight beam shine up into the vent. She dropped down through the hole and saw...

“There she is!” whispered Bonnie, her voice shaking with excitement and a touch of fear. “We can’t let her escape with Cupcake!”

The Usul and Acara crept closer, ducking behind barrels of Juppie Juice and large boxes stamped with “Fragile: Gummy Rats Inside.” Bonnie’s light trained on Masila, catching the thief’s piercing green eyes as she spun around, her smirk widening with mischief.

“Oh, so you really want to tangle with me, eh?” Masila chuckled, adjusting her cloak and flashing the sinister glint of the Thieves Guild badge on her lapel. “If you two meddling Neopets want to try and stop me, go ahead. But this little Kadoatie is mine! Do you know how rare white Kadoaties are? I’ll be able to trade her for stacks of Dubloons and stacks of Neopoints!” She held the sack aloft triumphantly, and Cupcake’s tiny paw reached through the top, clawing at the air.

“Not on Fyora’s watch!” shouted Elsie, her Silver Acara fur bristling with determination. She glanced at Bonnie, who gave her a confident nod. They were going to do whatever it took to rescue Cupcake.

With a hiss, Masila darted toward a narrow side door, but Elsie was faster. She leapt over a stack of Petpet pillows and landed squarely in front of the door, blocking Masila’s escape. Bonnie quickly joined her side, standing tall with the flashlight now aimed directly at Masila’s face.

“Looks like you’re out of exits,” Bonnie declared, her tone resolute. “Hand over Cupcake, and maybe we’ll let you walk out of here.”

Masila scowled. “You think I’d just give up that easily? Hah! You don’t know me at all.” In a swift movement, she flung the sack up into the rafters, the weight of it catching on a hook high above their heads.

Cupcake let out a startled “mew!” as she swung back and forth like a pendulum.

“No!” Elsie cried, watching helplessly as Cupcake dangled just out of reach. But Bonnie’s clever eyes had already spotted something useful...