Lawrence Ethan Lancer was a lot of things, a man, a teacher…

An idiot wasn't one of them.

As such, he immediately stilled when he saw a peculiar group huddled close to one another in front of the old history classroom.

Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley left unsupervised and without their friend Daniel Fenton were never a good sign.

(He still remembered vividly the march for and against meat at the cafeteria, and how such a simple conflict between two friends had developed into a fully fleshed out riot for all of the town.

A terrifying day it was.)

(Something he still couldn't explain too.)

Lawrence was about to go and stop whatever new mischief they were plotting, when he spotted someone else in the group.

Surely, Jasmine Fenton would be able to contain them for the time being. And keep them from blowing up his classroom.

(Oh Shakespeare, what was he thinking ? Nothing, no one apart from Daniel could ever stop them.)

He took another step forward, and then again stopped, because of the last figure standing in the group.

They were quite a bit smaller than the rest of them, and if he had to guess, he'd give them 13 to 14 years old, maybe even less. They had jet black hair, similar enough to Samantha's, buzzed short and neatly, half hidden under a blue space-themed beanie that did jolt his memory a little, as did the forest green hoodie and dirty sneakers.

Point was, he didn't know them. And he prided himself for his knowledge of every student that had ever stepped into Casper High, at least by face and name.

He took yet another step forward, before stopping again when he got a better view of their face.

God, did Daniel ever mention a younger sibling ?

They were like the splitting image of the young man when he first met him. Lean, hunched over, bags under their eyes, small smile and this sort of strength in their vulnerability.

And more than anything, their blue, deep, infinite eyes.

But then again, Amity Park always moved too quickly for anyone to comprehend, and an instant after Lancer perceived their face, they grabbed the doorknob of his classroom's door, and pulled.

A flash of green forced Lawrence to blink quite a few times, all the while his brain tried to register what had just happened.

In the spot where his classroom should have stood, there was instead… a green void.

Swirls of the color floated around, some of them near the children curling around the doorway and brushing against the door itself. In between those snakes of… liquid ? Fumes ? Were hundreds of doors, some similar to his class's, others completely different. Hundreds of designs, from all eras, floating around in this strange place he was witnessing.

He felt hypnotized by what laid behind this door. A different world, something he'd never seen before and yet something that seemed familiar, in a sickening, soothing, frightening way.

He couldn't tear his eyes of the void.

That is, until the child he did not recognize jumped into the void.

Immediately followed by his students.

Lawrence had no time to cry out before the door closed again on the children, green light cut off so quick the hallway seemed darker than ever.

He ran to the door, calling for Samantha and Tucker, but no one answered. He called for Jasmine but no one opened the door again and the swirls had disappeared.

And when he opened the door and stumbled through the doorway…

There was only his classroom behind.