Kadoatery Chaos

     Bagel groaned. He had some choice words for his Neopet but decided to relent and let out a small meow in protest. His Neopet was hustling towards the front door of the Kadoatery, jostling Bagel in his small crate.

     As soon as they entered the building, Bagel’s ears exploded with the sounds of Kadoatie whining. He looked pleadingly at his Neopet, who was looking around the room for whoever was in charge. Finally, an Elephante stepped into the room through a door in the corner and smiled brightly.

     “This must be Bagel, welcome! We have his cage all set up for him, it’ll be nice and cosy for his overnight stay.” She gushed, gesturing towards a nearby cage, empty except for a thin blanket and small bowl of water. Bagel meowed again loudly in protest but his Neopet conveniently ignored him as he discussed logistics and pickup times with the Elephante. The other Kadoaties in the nearby cages were eyeing Bagel wearily as they enjoyed the foods in front of them. Each had a unique dish at the front of their cages, some still full as the Kadoaties savoured the meal, others already wiped clean.

     “I’ll be back to get you tomorrow morning Bagel, it’ll be like you’re on vacation too!” His Neopet cooed as he gently placed the Kadoatie into his new enclosure. Bagel growled in frustration as his Neopet gave his head a small pat and then practically skipped out the door with a goodbye wave over his shoulder. Bagel looked to the Elephante who was writing something down on a clipboard before she slid a plate of Berry Sloth Ice Cream into his cage.

     “Don’t worry Bagel, we keep a record of all of your favourite foods in the Kadoatery. Neopets from all over Neopia love to come in and keep you all well fed, so expect a lot of yummy treats today!” She cooed, before walking over to another cage across the room.

     Bagel looked at the slowly melting ice cream in front of him with disdain.

     Well, wouldn’t want it to go to waste… He thought before diving into the delicious meal.

     The rest of the day passed in a blur, with Neopets running in and out the doors with plates of food stacked in their hands. Bagel had never had so many delicious dishes to try and they just kept coming. He soon found himself whining and crying with the other Kadoaties when it had been long enough between meals. As the sun began to set in the distance, he watched as the Elephante came back into the room and started counting and checking off Kadoaties on her clipboard. After a couple minutes, she nodded her head approvingly and walked out the front door. Bagel watched her go, a puzzled look on his face.

     “She leaves every night before it gets dark. Figures they’d leave us alone just as the sun sets. It’s like they don’t even care.”

     Bagel perked up at the voice from across the room. A Pink Kadoatie was shaking her head disappointingly. She looked at Bagel and smirked.

     “The name’s HappyDaiz. This’ll be my fourth night here. My Neopet won’t be back for three more to pick me up. Figures she gets to go on a sunny vacation to Mystery Island and I get left here to fend for myself.”

     “I’m… Bagel.” He said slowly, looking around to make sure no Neopets were around. “What do you mean fend for yourself? We’ve been getting food all day. It’s actually been kind of… awesome.”

     “Ha!” The Rainbow Kadoatie directly above HappyDaiz guffawed. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

     “Cut him some slack Snotty.” HappyDaiz purred. “He’s just a newbie.”

     Snotty grumbled something in response that Bagel couldn’t hear.

     “I don’t understand, what’s so bad about the Kadoatery?” He asked slowly.

     “What’s bad is they forget about us, kid.” Snotty growled. “When that sun goes down, we’re alone. In. the. Dark.”

     Bagel gasped.

     “You mean there’s no… no light? At all? Not even a little nightlight?”

     HappyDaiz shook her head with a tsk.

     “But… but…”

     “They know we’re afraid of the dark and they still just let it happen.” Another Kadoatie closer to Bagel piped up. “It’s not right.”

     “It’s got to be a mistake!” Bagel insisted, starting to panic. “Maybe they don’t know the lights don’t turn on for us at night? There’s got to be something we can do!”

     “Like…?” Snotty asked condescendingly. The Kadoaties in the room were quiet as they waited for Bagel’s answer. He carefully looked around the large space but didn’t see any visible light switches. He finally spotted what looked like a circuit breaker box tucked away in the back corner of the room.

     “Like flip the switch in the breaker box! We’ll turn the power on and light up the room that way.” He said triumphantly.

     “The breaker wha-?” The Kadoatie near Bagel questioned.

     “My Neopet hangs out at Tangor’s Workshop a lot. I’ve seen him tinker with loads of things. The breaker box should have a switch for me to flip on and light up the room again.” Bagel assured everyone. The Kadoaties around him looked unsure.

     “Well, how do you expect to get to that magic box? You’re in a cage, remember?” HappyDaiz said.

     At that, Bagel smiled.

     “I’ve broken out of worse.” He grinned, working his paw through the cage door to grab hold of the lock. He stuck his nail in and began to twist it around until he heard that little click. The door swung open with a bang, and all of the Kadoaties in the room gasped in surprise.

     “Hurry, it’s getting dark in here…” Snotty whimpered, losing his intimidating tone at the mention of the night.

     Bagel jumped from his cage onto the floor and trotted over to the box attached to the wall. Luckily there was a shelf under it, so he was able to climb to its height easily. He used his paw to push open the door and stared at the wires and switches inside. There were so many, he felt overwhelmed with the Kadoaties staring at him in anticipation.

     “Hurry, Bagel!” HappyDaiz yelled as the room dimmed to almost darkness while the sun fully set in the distance. Bagel panicked and jumped onto the box, pushing his paws on the switches and flipping every one in the row as he fell back down to the shelf.

     At first, light filled the room. The Kadoaties all gasped and cheered in amazement. Bagel smiled at his accomplishment.

     But then, a loud boom echoed through the room, and it was once again pitch-black. The room shook with the force and the breaker box lit up with flashes of light between the wires. Bagel jumped back to the ground in surprise. The Kadoaties in the room began to wail in fear as sparks flew from the box. Bagel ran as fast as he could back to the safety of his cage, pulling the door shut behind him.

     Finally, the last spark went out and the room was dark once again.

     “Well, it was worth a shot…” Bagel heard HappyDaiz whimper.

     “I HATE THE DARK!” Snotty yelled before the room burst into the wails and cries of the Kadoaties once again.

      This is going to be a long night, Bagel thought.

     ***

      The next morning, Bagel was relieved to see the sun rise and the room fill with light once again. The Kadoaties acted as if the night before never happened and were once again delighted with the food choices being placed before them.

      Bagel’s head perked up as he saw his Neopet walk into the room with the Elephante. The two were deep in conversation as they walked towards Bagel’s cage.

      “It was the strangest thing, we’ve never seen anything like it before! Some residents heard a booming sound and then the Plaza went completely dark! We’ve never lost power like that, not even during a storm.” The Elephante was exclaiming.

      Bagel made eye contact with HappyDaiz, who gave a small chuckle before going back to her meal.

      “Hey Bagel!” His Neopet cooed into the cage, reaching in to grab him. “I hope you had a nice little vacation at the Kadoatery.”

      Bagel looked at the other Kadoaties around him and then back to his Neopet. He purred loudly and nuzzled into him. He was ready to go home, and of course, maybe have another snack.

     The End.