Chapter Text
Edward had been teaching at Casper High for long enough to know that on days when he was taking his class on a field trip, he always needed to pack his migraine medication. Every field trip, without fail, always had something go wrong, even before ghosts started attacking the city on a regular basis. So far the record for the school’s worst field trip was the time they lost one of their students who ended up in Spain somehow, despite the group only visiting the local community theater, but with Edward’s current batch of students he knew it was only a matter of time before that record was broken.
Case in point, the group had barely been at Amity Park’s brand new aquarium for more than an hour before security had needed to come get him to deal with an incident between three of his students. Edward had sighed deeply, pinched the bridge of his nose, and then turned to Ms. Tetslaff.
“If you wouldn’t mind keeping an eye on this group,” he drawled. “I have a feeling I know which of our usual troublemakers is involved, given Mr. Foley and Miss. Manson are right there, and I’d better handle this myself since Mr. Fenton is usually my problem.”
Chuckling, Ms. Tetslaff gave him a nod. “Go deal with ‘em, Ed. Sarah is just on her break but she’ll be back soon. Between the two of us, we should be able to handle things here.”
“Thank you, Debbie.”
The rest of his students taken care of, Edward approached the security guard lingering nearby, waiting for him to finish.
“After you,” Edward told the man politely. The security guard nodded to him, and then led him back through the halls of the aquarium towards the front of the building. Just before they reached the main entrance, however, the guard turned towards a pair of double doors marked ‘employees only’. He swiped the badge on his belt to unlock them, and then pushed through, leading Edward into the back halls of the aquarium. Several twists and turns later through a series of identical featureless beige hallways, the guard stopped in front of a door marked ‘security’.
“They’re waiting in my office,” the security guard explained as he swiped his badge again, unlocking the security office. Inside there was a small desk area, and then three doors along the back wall. “Given what happened I couldn’t let them hang out too close to the fish tanks, but one of them also looked a little flighty so I didn’t want to risk dealing with a runner.”
“May I ask what exactly they did before I go in there to hear their highly edited version of the story?” Edward asked.
The security guard snorted. “I mean, they were a bunch of teenage boys being stupid, of course. The big blond kid was helping the scrawny one try to dip his head into the shark tank, and the other one looked like he was egging them on.”
Edward’s eyebrows rose up to his non-existent hairline. “Moby Dick! They tried going into the shark tank?!”
“Don’t worry, they didn’t actually manage to get in the water before someone stopped them,” the security guard quickly reassured him. “And even if they had, our sharks are well-fed. They would have been fine. Our fish were more at risk than your students.”
“I’m equally worried about both!” Edward insisted, his mood darkening. “Of all the foolish, idiotic things!”
“Oh yeah, it was really stupid,” the security guard agreed with a laugh. “But it also happens, like, once a week here. Don’t get me wrong, all three of them are permanently banned from visiting, but the good news is at least no actual harm was done.”
“Thank you for filling me in on the situation,” Edward said, pinching the bridge of his nose again to stave off the oncoming headache. He took a few deep breaths to regain his calm, knowing that he’d need to keep his cool while dealing with his three misbehaving students. “I believe I can take it from here.”
“I’m short staffed today, so I’ll have to leave you here to go make some rounds. If you need anything, though, Annie’s at the desk in the room to the left of the security office, she can get me on the walkie talkie.”
“Sounds good. Thank you,” Edward told him. With a nod, the security officer took his leave, heading out to keep an eye on the rest of the building.
The moment he was alone, Edward took a final deep breath to find his center, and then he pushed into the small security office. As soon as he entered, three heads whipped up, each of their faces displaying various levels of apprehension and/or annoyance.
“Boys,” Edward said as he closed the door behind him. “Care to explain just what in Chaucer’s name you thought you were doing?”
“We were just trying to help!” Dash Baxter immediately cried, jumping up to his feet. “Fenturd — I mean, uh, Fenton was trying to look at the sharks but he was just too short and scrawny to see them properly, so Kwan and I offered to help by giving him a boost! He’s the one who insisted he wanted a closer look! We were just helping out!”
“No I didn’t!” Daniel Fenton protested. He looked more annoyed than fearful of repercussion, perhaps because at this point, getting in trouble was like second nature for him. “I wasn’t even looking at that tank, I was trying to see if I could spot the octopus in the one next to it!”
Edward gave both of them a flat look, but neither of them backed down. That left him dealing with the final student in the room.
“Mr. Park.” Edward looked to Kwan Park, who was still sitting quietly in his chair, visibly squirming with anxiety. “It seems we are stuck in the middle of a classic ‘he-said-she-said’ situation. Care to weigh in on the events?”
Kwan startled a little at being addressed unexpectedly, looking up at Edward like a deer in the headlights. His eyes darted nervously between Dash and Danny as he swallowed thickly. “Uh…”
“Mr. Park. I’m asking you, not Mr. Baxter and Mr. Fenton.”
“I, uh. Think Dash is right,” he said meekly.
Edward wasn’t an idiot, and he wasn’t blind. He was well aware that Dash was lying, and that he and Kwan had likely tried to force Danny into the shark tank. Dash’s history of bullying Danny was well known to him, but between the school’s reliance on the football team doing well for funding and Dash’s mother being the chair of the PTA, his hands were often tied when it came to actually punishing Dash for his behavior. Thankfully the young football star was starting to mellow out as he got older and schoolwork took up more of his attention, but he was still prone to occasionally tormenting Danny whenever the opportunity arose, and Danny standing too close to the shark tank must have been too hard to resist.
Edward was also well aware that Kwan was much more uncomfortable with lying compared to his friend, and would likely crack if he put on just a teeny bit of pressure. So Edward just continued to stare at him, one of his eyebrows slowly rising as the silence stretched and stretched past awkward to the point of becoming uncomfortable. The longer he waited, the more Kwan seemed to twitch, his brow beading with sweat and his fingers clenching on his knees, the perfect picture of discomfort.
At the three minute mark, Kwan finally snapped. “A-actually, Mr. Lancer — ”
He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence, because at that moment Danny suddenly went stiff, his head whipping towards the doorway. “Oh no,” he groaned, expression pained.
“Mr. Fenton?” Edward frowned at his most troublesome student. “Is something the matt — ”
Edward’s question was cut off as a loud siren abruptly went off, a set of safety lights beginning to flash overhead. The four of them all tensed, recognizing the sound of the ghost alarm that was standard in all buildings in Amity Park now. Sure enough, a second later a woman’s calm voice came over the PA system.
“Attention all visitors. Ghost attack in progress. Please proceed to the nearest exits in a calm and orderly fashion.”
Edward didn’t have to strain his hearing very hard to make out the sounds of panicked screaming and stampeding in the distance as the aquarium guests all started to flee the ghost attack. The sound was muffled in this small out of the way office far off the beaten track, but they could still feel the tremors of the rush of hundreds of footsteps pounding through the building, even from this distance.
Edward sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, well aware that he’d have to put their punishment on hold until the ghost attack was over. “The Crucible,” he cursed under his breath, before lifting his head to face the students. “Alright, we’ll have to pause this discussion for now until we reach the evacuation point, but once we’re there we will resume our little chat. Come with me, you three. I’m not letting you out of my sight until we’ve talked about your lack of respect for the aquarium facilities.”
“But Mr. Lancer — !” Danny started to protest.
Knowing how slippery Danny could be when it came time to face the music about his troublemaking, Edward made a point of placing a hand on Danny’s shoulder to guide him forward just so Danny couldn’t sneak away. “No time for arguments, Mr. Fenton. We need to get out of the building.”
Edward led them out of the small side room and into the little main lobby of the security office. He glanced around, but there was no one there at the moment that he could see. Guiding his students forward, he led them out of the hallway, letting the door to the security office close softly behind them.
All at once, Edward realized that they had a bit of a problem. The security guard who had led them here was nowhere to be seen, and Edward couldn’t remember which way they’d come from anymore. The plain beige hallway looked the exact same stretching out in either direction, and the doors that stood along either side in regular intervals were poorly marked. Frowning, he glanced both ways, trying to remember where to go. Hadn’t the security officer said something about someone who could help them next door?
Deciding that as long as they picked a direction, they’d make it out of the building eventually, Edward turned to the left first. He tried the next door over, and found it to be unlocked, but when he poked his head inside, all he found was an empty office space, the desk chair tipped over like someone had stood up from it in a rush.
“Hmm, I was told someone would be in here who might be able to help us,” Edward murmured to his students. “But she must have evacuated already.”
The three boys were starting to look nervous now, though Danny, oddly enough, was more tense than anxious. Dash and Kwan shared a look, before glancing back up at Edward.
“Which way should we go, then, Mr. Lancer?” Dash asked, eyes darting down the hallway.
Edward had been about to suggest that they just follow the hallway until they found an exit sign, but suddenly the low level tremors that had been rocking the building since the alarm had gone off seemed to ramp up drastically. Edward let out a cry of surprise, knocking into Danny as the floor jumped and he lost his balance a little.
“What was that?” Kwan demanded, definitely starting to look scared now.
“I’m not sure,” Edward admitted slowly, struggling to maintain his calm as his own fear grew. He had assumed that the low level rumble that he’d been feeling up until now had been the echo of fleeing people running through the building nearby, but now he wasn’t so sure. For one, the ghost attack alarm had been blaring for long enough that most people should have made it out of the building by now. Even if they hadn’t, a stampede shouldn’t have caused that sudden jolt. Whatever was making the walls and floors shake this badly, Edward was starting to suspect it wasn’t caused by people.
“Uh, Mr. Lancer. I need to go to the bathroom,” Danny suddenly announced, unable to meet Edward’s eyes. He started to move away, but Edward just reached out and grabbed Danny's shoulder again, locking Danny in place. What had started as an attempt to keep Danny from escaping punishment had just turned into a method to keep him from stupidly getting himself killed.
“Mr. Fenton!” he shouted. “There is an in-progress ghost attack! Now is not the time for a bathroom break!”
“But I really need to go!”
“Hold it until we get outside,” Edward growled, starting to move out of the office doorway and back out into the hall.
Just then the building shook again, this time hard enough that Edward stumbled into the wall. Behind him, Kwan actually lost his footing and hit the floor, Dash scrambling to pull him back up.
At the same time, a loud cackle rang through the air, the voice muffled by distance but loud enough to be heard clearly. “That’s right, you little minnows! Cower before the Duke of the Depths! The Sultan of the Seas! I shall bring the fury of the ocean down on you all, and free my briney brethren from these barbaric prisons you have trapped them in!”
“Oh great, not this guy again,” Danny muttered under his breath, almost too quiet to be heard.
Edward glanced towards Danny in surprise. He couldn’t say he was the most well-versed on the ghosts that regularly haunted Amity Park, but he’d seen most of them, and he didn’t recognize the ghost’s voice that they’d just heard. A quick glance at Kwan and Dash showed they looked equally confused, but Danny seemed to know exactly who they were dealing with. Had Danny somehow run across this new ghost before?
He quickly decided that was a question that could be asked later. Right now their priority should be getting out of the building.
“It sounds like the ghost may be up ahead,” Edward said quietly, fighting to keep his voice level. “Let’s head back the other way to avoid it.”
Dash and Kwan nodded in agreement, but Danny’s expression only grew more pinched. “But Mr. Lancer, I, uh, think I saw an exit sign up ahead that way. Maybe I can run ahead and check it out? Just in case?”
“Mr. Fenton! There is a ghost attacking the building!” Edward hissed, giving Danny a stern look. “It is my job as your teacher to protect you during an emergency such as this, and that means not letting you out of my sight! Now will you please cease this tomfoolery, and stop trying to wander off!”
Danny paled, his eyes darting back towards the end of the hall. “But — ”
What was it with these Fentons and their lack of self-preservation instincts? Edward had seen Jack Fenton literally stick his head into the mouth of a ghost lion once to ‘get a better look at its dentition’, and it seemed that he’d passed on those same survival instincts on to his son. “Mr. Fenton, you are already in enough trouble. If I hear you ask about leaving again, you will be in detention until you graduate, do I make myself clear?”
For a second, he thought Danny might still try to escape. His eyes darted back towards the end of the hall as if he was thinking about it. But then Edward made a furious warning sound in the back of his throat, and Danny slumped in acceptance. “Yes, Mr. Lancer.”
“Now come on.” He gave Danny a gentle shove forward, propelling him down the hall back in the direction they’d come from. “I’m sure there’s another exit this way.”
The four of them hurried down the hall, heading away from the ghost’s cackles. Edward winced when he heard something go boom back behind them, and he felt a small hint of relief that he hadn’t decided to press on in that direction after all.
But that relief was short lived, because a moment later the whole hallway shuddered hard enough to knock all of them off balance, sending them crashing into the wall. A series of loud crackles and booms followed, making the floor jump and tremble even more.
“The Last Days of Pompeii! It sounds like the whole building is coming down!” Edward cried.
Almost as soon as he said it, a loud snapping sound came from above them, and Edward whipped his head up to see a long crack appear in the ceiling overhead, working its way down the length of the hallway. Dust began to rain down on them, and the fluorescent lights flickered. He’d been exaggerating before, but now his eyes went wide as he realized that his statement might have been more accurate than he’d expected.
It slipped out before he could stop himself. “Shit.”
At once, his mind flashed back to what he could recall of the building’s layout. The security officer had led him closer to the front at first, but then they’d turned left, which meant they were likely deep in the administration part of the aquarium building. If Edward was remembering what it had looked like from the outside, that meant they were on the first floor of a three-storey tall portion of the building, with who knew how many floors below. If this place was no longer structurally sound, they needed to get out of here now.
“Time to pick up the pace boys,” Edward instructed them tensely, helping Kwan to his feet and giving him a push to get him moving. “We need to evacuate immediately.”
“Mr. Lancer?” Dash called, his voice shaky. “What’s happening?”
“Please just run, Mr. Baxter!” Edward shouted urgently.
Dash shared a worried look with Kwan, but then the two of them thankfully followed Edward’s directions, breaking into a jog to race down the hallway.
Danny, however, started to slow down almost as soon as they’d started running, falling behind. Without breaking stride, Edward reached back and grabbed the boy’s wrist, tugging him forward faster. “We do not have time to dawdle, Mr. Fenton! I know you aren’t a fan of laps in gym class, but this has become a matter of life or death!”
Danny made some sort of noise of protest, but Edward wasn’t listening anymore, too focused on guiding his students out of danger. He pulled Danny along, rushing after Dash and Kwan until they’d passed the security office again and almost made it to the end of the hallway.
Just before Dash could turn the corner, however, the building shook again. The crack above their heads widened and split off into a dozen other fractures, until a huge chunk of masonry suddenly broke free from the ceiling and nearly crashed down on Dash’s head. Only Kwan’s quick grab managed to save Dash from being crushed under the rubble. The two jerked back with a yelp that quickly cut off into harsh coughing as a cloud of dust blew up into their faces.
Edward stumbled to a halt as well, his stomach sinking as he realized that their escape route this way had just become cut off. His eyes flew to the hole above, noting the way that the cracks were continuing to spread, and he felt himself grow pale.
“Get back!” he shouted, reaching with his free hand for Kwan. He grabbed hold of the back of Kwan’s jacket and yanked, pulling him away just as another piece of the ceiling caved in. He and Dash both screamed in fear, stumbling away from the rapidly collapsing ceiling.
“Back this way!” Edward ordered, pulling both Kwan and Danny along now. Kwan grabbed Dash as well, and then, running in a long chain, the four of them charged back down the hallway.
Overhead the cracks were continuing to grow, however. Edward’s eyes landed on the nearest door, and he lunged towards it, praying that it didn’t require a badge to open. Thankfully it swung open as he crashed against it, allowing them to stumble into what looked to be a small, dark meeting room illuminated only by the emergency lights, just as the walls started to crack as well.
“Under the table!”
They dove as one under the table in the middle of the room, shoving the surrounding rolling chairs aside as they crawled beneath. Edward dragged them as far under as he could, before pulling the boys as close as possible to him, shielding their heads the best he could manage with his own body. The sound of cracking and heavy things falling grew louder as the room they were hiding in started to tremble as well, the sound of little bits of stone hitting the table over their heads as loud as hail on a tin roof. Edward squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself over the boys as the cacophony of the building collapsing grew and grew.
Just then, there was a deep groan, and then a particularly loud cracking noise sounded underneath them. That was all the warning they got before the floor suddenly tilted and then dropped, the world falling out below them. Edward only had enough time to tighten his grip on the three students so that he could hopefully protect their heads as much as possible, and then they were falling into noise and dust and darkness.