Okay, I promised that I would update this weekend, and when I promise when I'm gonna update I generally don't let people down. That's why I'm saying that I don't know when the next one is gonna be. I have the next chapter almost completely finished, but I like to stay one chapter ahead. Depending on how fast I write, it might be posted in the middle of the week, it might be toward the end. I will promise you this: No matter what, I will not leave you hanging for over a week without an update! If I don't update before then, I promise you all that it will be before next Monday.

Thankeys for all the wonderful reviews and name ideas. I like "Eclipse" for the black one (SquirrelGirl13's idea). And fan-girls2.0, I have a cat named Hershie already, so those ideas really apply! Harm Marie, I like the name, but might use it on an orange one instead. It might make my mom cry though, because I had a great-great-great-aunt Pearl who just died in February... If she's okay with it, I'd like to name the kitten that though.

You are all wrong! haha! I win! Of course, I'm the authoress, so I win anyway, but still... everyone thought it was Jazz, Sam, and Tucker, right? Read on and find out who it really was!

So this is Chapter 7: The Lion's Den. Enjoy!

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Despair continued, "Somewhere in this maze I have your sister, your best friend, and your former girlfriend in a cage, with a hungry lion in another cage right next to them. A mechanism is rigged so that when the timer reaches zero the lion will be released into their cage. You have five minutes."

Even before the ghost had finished speaking, Danny was charging down the hall, wishing with all his might that he could go ghost to make the search go faster. Dash was right behind him though, so this option was unavailable at the moment, at least unless he got totally desperate.

In two minutes his breath was coming in short gasps as he pushed his already exhausted body to new heights.

He rounded a corner and suddenly came upon the cages Despair had spoken of, with half of his time gone.

A large screen with a keyboard below it took up nearly half of the left wall. The two boys immediately ran over to it, both knowing instantly that this was the way to free the three prisoners.

A series of xs, os, lines, and arrows filled the screen. Dash soon began to read it the same way he read football plays.

"Okay, so the QB gets the ball, passes it over to his left. The receiver charges straight through the defense but has to turn to the left here to avoid being tackled. Then he has a straight sprint, and touchdown!"

Danny glanced from the screen to the keyboard and back again. "So… what's it called? What're we supposed to type?" He began to look closely at the path of the ball that Dash had just described.

The jock shrugged in response to the question. "I've never seen a play like this before."

Danny paused. "Is it supposed to look like something?"

Dash followed the trail with his finger. "It's just some stupid zigzag."

Danny's face lit up. "It's Cassiopeia!" His fingers raced across the keyboard as he typed the word and hit "enter". Valerie instantly disappeared from the cage.

Dash gave Danny a quizzical look. "What's a case-o-whatchamahoozit?"

"A constellation that appears ever year around November." Danny didn't even bother correcting Dash on his pronunciation of the constellation.

That had taken over a minute. The timer now showed "1:07".

Dash started reading the next screen, simply tracing his finger across it where the ball would go.

Danny quickly typed "Hydrus", and Tucker instantaneously disappeared from the cage.

Only Jazz remained stuck, but because of the complicated diagram that had been used, they only had 23 seconds to free her.

Danny determined that if the lion was released he would dive through the bars to save he. His sister's life was worth way more to him than his secret.

Dash began to read the next play. "QB gets the ball, takes two steps forward and to his right, then passes a long one with a slight spin to the left. The receiver has to double back a bit, then goes forward for touchdown."

Danny hesitated for a moment, studying the screen. "Aries!" he suddenly exclaimed. Practically holding his breath as he prayed franticly that he was right, Danny's fingers skimmed over the keyboard and hit "enter".

The timer stopped its steady ticking with four seconds to go. Jazz vanished, and Danny breathed a sigh of relief.

Dash looked at Danny, "How'd you know what that stuff was?"

Danny shrugged, "I've always wanted to be an astronaut. I dunno how realistic that is with my grades, but still…" He trailed off with a small sigh.

Dash remained silent. He had always dreamed of being a pro football player. At least he had a fairly large chance of living his dream.

Danny changed the subject, puzzled. "I can't help but wonder why Sam wasn't in there with the others… oh crud."

He had just heard an all too familiar scream echo through the hall.

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Okay, I leave behind one cliffy and give you another! (grins evily) Don't you all just love me to death? Now you see why I didn't have Sam in the cage, I needed her for this next thing, which will be much more pivotal in the plot. Despair said, and I quote, "...when some of the only people..." He never said all!

The more reviews the sooner the update! Oh, and I forgot to celebrate getting over the 100 mark! (dances around like an idiot while confetti and streamers appear out of nowhere and fly everywhere)