This chappie is dedicated to Lady-Kitty. You wanted to be in it…so here ya go!

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Mystery Solved, Thanks To The Syrup-Napper-Hunters' Club

Neal put his finger up against his lips as a signal for quiet then quietly parted the bushes and crawled through them. He crept nearer and nearer to the path, then, as his prey came closer, he crouched into a hunter's position and…

"AYEEEE!!"

The ear-piercing battle cry was all the warning Cleon had before something big, fat, and hairy leaped on him. He shrieked, and kept shrieking until a familiar voice came from the gorilla.

"Got you now, syrup-napper," snapped Neal's voice from the gorilla.

Furious, irritated, and more than a little embarrassed, Cleon grabbed the gorilla's head and yanked it, hard. It came off with a small pop and there was Neal, mussed brown hair and angry green eyes.

"Neal," Cleon groaned. "How many times must I tell you? I did not steal your stupid syrup!"

"We don't know that for sure," Neal pointed out, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Damn it, today you've attacked me with rose petals, pelted cheese doodles at me, tossed me in a cage marked 'Man-Eating Ostriches', stuck my head in a bucket filled with lime juice, braided my hair and put little pink bows in it while dressing me in a tutu, hung me upside down from a ceiling fan that was turned on, forced me to get my eyebrow pierced, forced me to get my bellybutton pierced, bleached one eyebrow blond and the other purple, drew rainbows on my forehead, tied me inches away from the surface of a pond filled with starving piranhas, made me sit on a nest of hatching crocodiles, tattooed 'I love to freak cheese' on my ass, made me eat weeds, and made me kiss a pig, and I have stuck by the truth, which is that I haven't touched your stupid syrup. I'm allergic to the frickin' stuff! Today has not been a good day."

"But, but," Neal blustered, "you have to be the syrup-napper!"

"WHY?!"

"Because…because…nobody else is!"

"And you know that…how?"

"We don't know," Kel whined, and burst into tears.

Cleon grabbed a nearby rock and threw it at her. It bounced off her head and she blinked, tears halting briefly.

"Now listen, both of you," he said sternly. "You have been acting stupid over syrup since it was…er…kidnapped. If you're so worried about it, why don't you just go ask Numair or somebody to help you find it?"

Neal blinked, then hugged a disgruntled Cleon around his middle. "Oh wow, Cleon! You're such a great friend…you always know what to do!"

"My hero," Kel cooed dreamily, and threw her arms around him and kissed him.

Ah. This brings back certain…memories. Wait a minute…I have a betrothed! Oh shit…
"Eh…Kel? Would you mine getting off of me?"
Kel opened her eyes and looked into his gray ones, then let out a shrill squeal. "Pervert," she screeched. "Bastard! Disgusting leper!"
Neal immediately jumped forward. "What did you do to her, you lech?"
"What the fuck?!" Cleon screamed. "She's the one who started working the tongue action first!"
"Come on, Kel," Neal huffed, glaring heatedly at Cleon before dragging his best friend away.
Extremely and utterly confused, Cleon stomped off. Then, realizing it was the wrong way, stomped back the other way.
- - - - -
Numair cackled and put the tips of his fingers together, grinning evilly. "So…" he said. "You want me to help you find your syrup, do you?"
Kel and Neal nodded tearfully.
"Hmm," he said, and stared off in space.
After several minutes, he nodded and stood up. "Stay here," he ordered. "AND DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!!!!!!!!"
He walked out.
Kel looked around the room nervously. It was small, and dimply lit. On the desk Numair had been sitting at were jars of squishy things. Also on the desk was a huge box, marked "Top Secret—Do Not Disturb". Curious, she reached out and picked it up.
"Kel!" Neal hissed. "Don't! It could be something dangerous!"
"Like what, deranged caterpillars?" she chuckled.
"YES!"
"Oh, come on, Neal, don't be such a 'fraidy cat."
Neal sighed huffily and crossed his arms, pouting.
"Help me," said a voice.
They both jumped.
"Did you hear that?" he asked.
"Yes…it came from the box!" she exclaimed.
Kel took out a knife and stuck it in the lock, twisting it. They heard a click, and the box sprang open.
"Help!" Inside that box was another, slightly smaller box. On it was a sign that said "Damn It, I Told You Not To Disturb!"
She picked that lock.
"Stop Disturbing Me!" was the sign on the next one.
"If You Touch Me Again, So Help Me"
"STOP!"
They came to the last box. It was still pretty big, but not as big as the first one. It was marked: "Here Is The Most Secretive Thing That You Will Ever See. If You Have Come This Far Then You Are Incredibly Brave."
They took a deep breath and opened it, and inside was…
"Our syrup!" Kel and Neal screamed.
"About time, you knuckleheads," Neal's syrup grumbled.
Numair walked back in. "I'm sorry, but there's no way I can…" He spotted them, gulped, turned into a bat, and flew out the window. Blinded by the sun, he fell into a lake and got strangled by a squid.
Neal held the door open for Kel as they entered his room, their syrup tucked lovingly in their arms. When he turned back to the pancakes…
"KITTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Neal's black cat, Lady-kitty, mewed and looked around innocently, her mouth purple from the blueberries.
(A/N: That's something I never understood…they're purple. Not blue. Anyone ever notice that?)
"BAD KITTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Lady-kitty hopped off the table, tail straight up, and blinked lazily up at him.
"You naughty, naughty kitty," Kel scolded.
"LOOK!!!!! There's ONE MORE!!!!!"
"We can split it," she decided, petting the pretty kitty's head.
"Okay."
So they split it and poured their wonderful syrup on it. Neal took a bite.
"It's COLD!!" he screamed, bursting into tears.
Lady-kitty shook her head and walked out the door. Cleon picked her up and walked back in.
"Is everything okay?" he asked, scratching the cat behind her ears. "I heard yelling, and—"
"The pancakes are cold," Kel explained. Neal just sobbed.
"It's okay, Neal," Cleon said, bewildered. "Just cook some more!"
Neal stopped crying. "That's brilliant," he breathed. "Ingenious…"

Cleon blinked, watching Neal skip off to the kitchen.

You know, I really should consider that whole Scanra idea. Though knowing my luck, he'll probably stalk me or something…You know what? That's EXACTLY what will happen. Damn. Should I go to a witness protection program? No, he'll still probably find me. ARGH!!!

"When will the madness stop?!?" he screamed, and jumped out the window, much to the dismay of Lady-kitty, who he was still holding.

"What's his problem?" Kel asked Neal.

He shrugged, shaking his head sadly. "He really should get a shrink you know. He's the kind of person that would go insane over missing syrup…"

"I'm glad we're not that kind of people," she said firmly.

"Yeah. That's just stu—WHERE'S THE FRYING PAN??? WHO STOLE MY FRYING PAN????? EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!"

The End. Muaha.