Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Nice Going, Charles
Edwin was having a relatively normal day. Well, as normal as a day a ‘Dead Boy Detective’ can get. He, Charles, and Crystal were investigating a string of ghost disappearances in a deserted mental asylum. They had found the object that was causing the disappearances and they were in the process of removing it until Charles, being the spontaneous wildcard he is, accidentally touched it and sucked the lot of them into an unfamiliar area.
“Charles, what the actual fuck were you thinking?” Crystal said, anger lacing her tone as she stood up and looked around, it seemed that they were transported into an extremely shady alley.
“Well, I was thinking that nothing would happen if I touched the pendant, but it seems I was wrong,” retorted Charles, mimicking Crystal and standing up to face her.
“Enough. Both of you,” intervened Edwin, fed up with their antics, “We have other matters to attend to, for example, finding out where we are.”
Edwin, who had gotten up whilst the both of them bickered, strode over to the alley window and phased through it, intending to find a mirror so that the group could get back to the office.
A few moments later he had returned, wholly unsuccessful and very obviously downtrodden. Upon seeing him, all the hope that Charles and Crystal had of finding their home had disappeared and reality set in.
They were stuck in an unfamiliar place and have not one idea as to how they would get home.
“I could not mirror-hop, something was preventing me from leaving the town,” Crystal and Charles showed visible distress and disappointment, “I do however, have information on where we are.” At that sentence, Charles perked up and started spouting encouraging nonsense, Crystal quickly shushed him and motioned for Edwin to continue. “It appears that we are located in Gotham, New Jersey. It is a heavily crime-filled area with vigilantes that go by bat and bird-themed monickers, such as Batman, Nightwing, and Robin, we are currently in a location called Park Row, more commonly known as ‘Crime Alley’,” Edwin relayed, not pausing for a breath because, well, ghosts don’t need to breath, it’s simply a reflex, an instinct.
“Nice going mate, I guess we have to use the ferry then,” sighed Charles, he was never a fan of human transport, it was too bumpy and congested, too many things could go wrong, or as Edwin would say, ‘human transport has too many factors.’
“Right then, let’s get on with it.” Replied Edwin, an unhappy look evident on his face. Edwin too, was never a fan of public transport.
“Right, so, you didn’t happen to find a map and money, Edwin?” Asked Crystal, realizing that they had no idea where to go to get to a ferry and no way to pay for it as she didn’t have her wallet on her and neither of the two ghosts needed to carry money on them.
“I am afraid I do not have either of those, I got all my information from a couple stray cats, and no, I didn’t use magic on them, and no the Cat King is not here,” replied Edwin, no emotion visible on his face nor in his voice.
“Crystal,” Edwin paused, waiting for her to look at him to know that she was paying attention, “I would suggest refraining from using your powers for the time being, ‘Batman’ doesn’t seem to be a fan of individuals with unnatural abilities.”
Crystal let this new information sink in, and nodded, slightly touched that Edwin was looking out for her and warning her about this Batman individual.
“Yeah! And if he tries anything you’ve got your two ghost friends to protect you!” Exclaimed Charles as he grabbed his newly-repaired cricket bat.
Edwin nodded once, a clear sign of his complete agreement, and Crystal smiled, grateful for her two ghost friends. Soon it was getting dark and the three of them started looking for any abandoned buildings.