Previous Chapter: Chapter 1
Chapter 10: Crossroads
Danny looked around the floating rock with its single tree and sighed. The rock seemed to get smaller with each passing moment. Plus, the additional inaction of waiting did not help with his restlessness. He was not one to sit around and do nothing. He had always preferred action of some sort. Jazz had always said it was part of his hero complex that grew deeper by the day. Of course, she had said it wasn't necessarily a bad thing after Danny saved her from a set of large ghost-ferrets that had squirmed their way into the school, but had added in an undertone that it wasn't necessarily a good thing either.
Despite all that, Danny discovered he just couldn't sit and stay, waiting to be found. The Boo-merang would find him no matter where he was, as Jazz had demonstrated during the Dark Dan incident. Besides, he might find a way home before that became necessary.
Decision made, Danny set off in a random direction, figuring he could always change course if necessary. The Ghost Zone was filled with possibilities, after all, and he never appreciated this as much as now, while flying past doors, portals, and strange phenomena that floated in the green expanse.
As Danny passed through the green haze mingling in with the purple accents that came by, he noticed more and more doors coming by at the slow, drifting pace. At the corner of his eye, he caught movements from other ghosts as well, though thankfully none of them attacked him or even took notice of his passing.
Hours went by and Danny could feel himself tiring, but he still didn't seem to be any closer to home. Nothing was familiar; in fact, it all seemed to be blending together in a long unending stretch of door and rock filled green haze. For all he knew he was traveling in circles.
Frustrated, Danny flew up to the first rock found big enough to hold ghost-plants. The single tree sitting on the pot-marked surface looked disturbingly like the tree and rock he'd rested on before when he'd first arrived in the Zone. Danny forced himself to believe that it wasn't.
"This is going nowhere!" Danny growled to himself, aggravation boiling over. "Maybe I should ask for directions?" he wondered, but the idea didn't hold much appeal to him. Sure, the ghosts in this region hadn't attacked him yet, but who was to say what would set them off. That one kid had gotten mad at him for just going into his room when he had been looking for his mom's anniversary present. Perhaps they hadn't attacked yet because he just hadn't given them good enough cause.
A free floating portal drifted by spiraling in a slow counterclockwise motion, swirling black and purple together. It caught Danny's eye and he watched it pass, ready, in case something less than desirable came out in a rush.
"Or maybe I could take a portal," Danny said, scratching his head as he watched the inter-dimensional door way drift by.
A portal could get him home faster than anything. If Danny could find the right portal he could be dumped right back into the center of Amity Park. The problem was finding the right portal. If he took the wrong one, which was far more likely, he could be dumped anywhere from back in time to an entirely different dimension or planet. Danny grimaced at the thought. Then he could really be stuck if he couldn't find another portal back.
Maybe it was just better to keep going as he had. The Ghost Zone, while strange and alien, was at least more familiar than a different dimension. Plus, being there gave Jazz and the others a chance to find him with the Boo-merang. It was a gamble either way.
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If you think Danny should ask for directions: GO TO CHAPTER 3.
If you think Danny should try a portal: GO TO CHAPTER 12
If you think Danny should keep going in the Ghost Zone: GO TO CHAPTER 6
Feel free to leave me a review at any point during the story! ;)