"Call me crazy," I said, staring at the empty space in front of me, "But I think you need a car to actually drive."

Tabbatha was freaking out. "I swear! It was here a minute ago."

A flash of light caught my eye, and I turned to the road. "Found it," I said, pointing. A tow truck was exiting the parking lot with Tabbatha's Porsche chained to it.

Tabbatha screamed. "MY CAR!" She ran towards the truck, but it pulled out of the lot and started going 60 mph. A light shimmered on top of her car roof, and then there sat Artemis, smiling and waving.

Tabbatha screamed some very naughty words at the goddess and tried to throw a rock, but sucked epically at baseball.

"Where do we go to get it back?" I asked, coming by Tabbatha's side.

Tabbatha looked around. "I guess one of those yard places where they keep the cars."

"And that would be…" I looked at her expectantly.

"I DON'T KNOW!" cried Tabbatha. "Oh, gods! My car!"

"Umm…" I thought for a second. "We could call a taxi. The driver will probably know where the yard is."

Tabbatha was still trying to get over the fact that her car had gotten towed. "My car!"

"Tabbatha!" I said. She snapped her head towards me. "We're not getting anywhere by just sitting here. We should—"

"I know!" I said Tabbatha, cutting me off. "We could get a taxi. The driver will probably know where the yard is."

"I…" I slapped myself in the forehead. "Gee, why didn't I think of that?" I asked sarcastically.

Tabbatha ran to the edge of the parking lot. "Taxi!" she called, waving her arms frantically.

Racing up behind her, I joined in. "Taxi!" I called along with her. We waited for a moment as a big yellow car pulled in front of us.

"Took you long enough," grumbled Tabbatha, slipping in. I followed in past her. "Where do they take towed cars?" she asked the driver.

I shut the door. For a moment, there was silence. Then, the ceiling began to light up and a show tune started to play.

"Welcome," said the woman driving up front, "To the Cash Cab Demigod Edition!" (A/N Phoebe- Unfortunately, we don't own the cash cab…)

Tabbatha and I exchanged glances, and she reached for the door. Usually, things like these ended badly for us. The door wouldn't open.

"Here's how it works," said the woman happily. "I ask you questions, and if you get it right, you win money!"

"And if we don't get it right?" I asked fearfully.

"You don't win money," said the woman as if that were obvious.

Tabbatha and I let out a sigh of relief. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

"Oh, but if you get three wrong before you get to your destination…"

"You drop us off and make us walk?" guessed Tabbatha.

"No," said the woman. "I eat you."

My heart stopped. Tabbatha gripped my hand.

"Sorry," she said, pulling on the door again. "We're not interested."

"Oh, I don't think you understand," said the woman. "You get into the cash cab, you play."

I slammed my head against the window angrily. Tabbatha gripped my shoulder and pulled me back.

The woman smiled back at us, and then I noticed what was different about her. She had a pretty face, but her teeth were fangs. And she had on a fur coat, which matched nicely with her lion's body. "So, where are you heading?" she asked casually.

"Umm… The yard where they drop off towed cars from here."

"Sanderson Lot," said the woman, typing it into her GPS system. "That's thirty blocks from here. Plenty of time for you to rack up plenty of money, or for…" she smiled into the rearview mirror. "Or for me to get a gourmet meal for the day. It really is rare to come across a daughter of Hera."

Tabbatha looked at me, as if blaming me for this. I held up my hands, telling her it's not my fault.

"Anyway," said the woman who I now knew was a sphinx. "Let's get going." She started up the car. "What are rocks formed out of heat from a volcano called?"

"Umm," I scratched my head.

"Okay," whispered Tabbatha, nervously tugging on my hair because hers wasn't long enough to tug on. "There are three types of rock. Sedimentary, igneous, and… umm…"

"Metamorphic," I said, swatting her hand away.

"Yeah," she said. "Metamorphic is, umm, made of pressure and heat I think.

"And… igneous is made of pressure… right?"

"No… I mean… I don't know. I thought that it was made in a volcano… I'm not sure."

"Wait maybe it is made in a volcano, but… that makes sedimentary made of… pressure?"

"Umm," Tabbatha reached for my hair again, only to be swatted away. "Yeah, that sounds right."

"Okay…" I said…

"Final answer?" asked the sphinx.

"Igneous," I said, praying to Athena for wisdom.

The woman was silent a moment. "Correct!" she exclaimed, finally.

Tabbatha and I let out a breath. Thank you I thought to pretty much every Olympian I could think of.

"Next question! Who is the author of… Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?

"Roald Dahl," I said immediately. Tabbatha looked at me. "How the Hades do you know that?"

"Because Roald Dahl is the king of all that is awesome," I said. "Duh."

Tabbatha decided not to protest. "All right, Roald Dahl," she agreed.

"Correct!" said the sphinx. "Another $25! You now have $50!" And 25 more blocks to go! Now, who is the popular football star that was recently arrested for armed robbery of a hotel room, and supposedly murdered his wife in 1995?"

Tabbatha and I looked at eachother. "I don't know," I whispered.

"And you think I do?" she asked, twisting her smiley shirt nervously. "Umm, who's a popular football star?"

"Umm, I don't know much about sports. Michael Jordan?"

"Wasn't he a basketball star?" asked Tabbatha.

"It's the best I can think of!"

"Erm… I never heard of him killing his wife."

"Do you have any better ideas?" I shook my head to get my bangs out of my face.

"No," admitted Tabbatha. She blinked, and then turned to the sphinx. "Michael Jordan?"

The sphinx was silent a moment. "Incorrect!" she chuckled. "The correct answer is O.J. Simpson!"

I slapped myself in the forehead for the third time today. "Stupid," I accused myself.

"What's the square root of 16?" asked the sphinx, turning the wheel with her mighty paw.

"Umm…" Tabbatha closed her eyes and thought for a while. "CURSE YOU MATH!" she finally shouted, beating against the window.

"10 seconds," said the sphinx.

"How do you find a square root?" I asked.

"Er… you multiply something… no you divide, and then you…"

"Final answer?" asked the sphinx. "Or would you like to call for help?"

"Call for help?" I asked.

"You can call someone on the cell phone or open the window and shout it onto the street to see if anyone knows."

Tabbatha made an "O" shape with her mouth. "We'll call for help. Cell phone please."

The sphinx tossed us back her cell phone, which I caught. "I know who to call," I said, already plugging Annabeth's number.

There were three rings, and for a scary moment, I though no one would pick up. Then, a tired voice came on. "Hello?" it asked distractedly.

"Annabeth?" I asked with the same tone.

Annabeth, on the other line, seemed to suddenly snap all of her attention on the phone. "Phoebe!!! Where the Hades are you? Are you with Tabbatha? Are you alright? Why did you leave?"

"Annabeth," I said trying to calm her down. "I can't really talk. Tabbatha and I are fine if you don't count the fact that we're about to get eaten if you can't help us out."

"What do you need?" she asked seriously.

"Er… What's the square root of 16?"

Annabeth was silent. Then she finally said, "Why do you need to know that?"

"We're kinda on the… Cash Cab Demigod Edition."

"Four."

"Four?" I asked her.

"Yeah, four. Four times four is 16. Get it?"

"Umm, yeah. Thanks Annabeth, I promise, we'll explain everything if we get back."

"If?"

I hung up the phone. "Four," I said.

"Correct!" said the sphinx, adding $50 onto our money counter. 10 blocks to go.

Tabbatha put her forehead on my shoulder, obviously having mustered up a huge headache.

"How many movies for the High School Musical series came out in theaters?" The Sphinx turned another corner, and a couple blocks ahead, I could see Tabbatha's car in a lot.

"Who would got see High School Musical in theaters?" I asked. "It has to be a trick question."

"Don't underestimate the power of Disney Tools," said Tabbatha.

"Well I don't remember hearing any Aphrodite girls talking about Zac Efron's hair like they did when the last one came out."

"Well…" Tabbatha ran her hand through her sandy hair.

"10 seconds," warned the sphinx.

"Umm…" I looked at Tabbatha. "Let's say none."

"Well, I guess I don't have any better answers." She turned to the sphinx. "None!"

"Incorrect!" cackled the sphinx, putting down a second strike. "The correct answer is one!"

Tabbatha looked at me. "We shouldn't have underestimated their power."

We were three blocks away. "Next question!" announced the sphinx. "In ancient Greek Mythology, how did Bellerophon defeat the Chimera?"

"He… shot arrows at it, I think."

"No, there was something special about the arrows, I think." I scratched my head. "He poisoned it."

"With what?" asked Tabbatha. "He used an arrow, right?"

"Yeah," I said. "Some sort of poison was on the arrow. He shot it into the thing's mouth and it melted. What melts that's poison?"

"Umm… lead does." Tabbatha was chewing on her thumbnail.

"Yeah, I think that's it. He tied lead to the arrow, shot it into the Chimera's mouth, and it died."

"Genius," said Tabbatha. She looked at the sphinx. "There's you answer."

"Correct!" said the sphinx. She pulled to the side of the lot, where Tabbatha's car sat at the door. "Alright," said the Sphinx. "You've earned $150. You can take the money now and walk away, or you can win a special prize by answering one last question. That prize is a $500 gift card to—"

Tabbatha cut her off. "No thanks, we're not interested."

"Starbucks," finished the sphinx.

Tabbatha stopped mid sentence. I could tell her mouth was watering. "Starbucks? The… the coffee place? That Starbucks?"

"The very one," said the Sphinx.

Tabbatha looked at me. "I think this could be good for us."

"No it can't be!" I said, tugging my own hair. "It'll either get us eaten, or you so hyper that you'll die anyway!"

Tabbatha looked at me, as if still waiting. "I don't see any down side to this."

"We can't," I said, pulling on my door. Still locked.

"We'll take this question," said Tabbatha.

I gave her the evil eye. "I hate you so much right now."

"Alright," said the sphinx. "Please watch the small television hooked onto the ceiling."

I looked up. A clip from an old TV show was playing. "The 1990s hit TV show, Full House, was lead originally by a cast of 7. Who are the original 7 actors on this show?" A clock in the corner started to count down from 60.

Tabbatha furrowed her brow. "This was a stupid idea," she said.

I looked at her angrily. "Ya think?"

"Okay…" said Tabbatha. "Umm… Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen… Jodie Sweetin…"

"Bob Sagat…" I said. "Candace Cameron…"

"David Couler…" Tabbath looked at me. The clock red 15 seconds. "Who's the last one.

I put my head in my hands. "John… something. John… Smith?"

The buzzer went off, signaling we were out of time. "I'm sorry," said the Sphinx. "That is incorrect." She got up from her drivers seat, bearing her teeth. "Now my only problem is which one of you to eat first?"

I reached into my pocket and felt the keys. Slowly… very slowly…. I pulled it out of my pocket. "What's that, half-blood?" asked the Sphinx. "A flashlight?"

"No," I said, pressing the button. It elongated into a sword. "Tabbatha," I said, not taking my eyes from the sphinx. "Get out. I'll hold it off."

Tabbatha hesitated, but not for long. The sphinx jumped at me, her claws sharper than a child of Athena. I kicked her in the face, but she barely flinched. "Don't fight, Half-blood. Just give up."

I stabbed forward with my sword. "Why don't you?" I asked, cutting off some of her hair.

She roared. "Fine, I will devour you the slow and painful way." She bit my arm with one of he non-fang incisors.

I shrieked and jerked my arm back Tabbatha kicked out a window and flew out. I couldn't follow her, because I'd need to take my guard down to do that. Instead, I jabbed my sword upward through the roof, trying to cut a hole out.

Bad idea. The sphinx delivered a blow to my stomach. I brought my sword back out and stabbed the monster in the chest. It shrieked, and began to disintegrate. For good measure, I hit it with the hilt of my sword in the nose, sending it toppling down into the drivers seat. Then it was gone.

"Yes!" I said, sticking my sword in the air, which was a really stupid idea. I hit the TV and it burst into flames. "Uh oh." The fire sparks caught on the upholstery. The car was burning, and the gas tank… Suddenly I screamed. A pair of mighty hands grabbed me and hauled me out of the car, and then whoever it was went jogging into the lot and ducked behind a car just as the Cash Cab's gas tank blew up.

"Crap," I muttered, looking around wildly. "Where's Tabbatha?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tabbatha- SCARY!!!!!!!!!

Phoebe- Cliffhanger!!! Now everyone probably hates us!

Tabbatha- You bet!

Phoebe- Sorry we took so long to update…

Tabbatha- Yeah, school's been taking up our time with the homework… tests… teachers turning into monsters…

Phoebe- Happened to me twice this year.

Tabbatha- Three times for me.

Phoebe- Anyway… Please review. If you don't review your Porsche will get towed.

Tabbatha- Courtesy of Artemis.

Phoebe- So, you know what to do! Press that pretty little button on the bottom of the screen.

Tabbatha- Thanks for reading!