A Cop in Jump City:
The untold story of one day in the life of one of Jump Cities finest (and no I don't mean the Teen Titans!)
It's not easy being a cop in Jump City; every bank robber's a super villain, no laboratory is ever safe and every other week some twit in a costume tries to take over the city. But for the boys of the JCPD, they have to do the best they can.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans
It was four o'clock in the morning and Captain William Whites was sitting in a Jump City squad car and, despite evidence to the contrary, was in a good mood. Captain Whites loved the early hours of the morning. Between four and five the day time criminals hadn't woken up yet and the night time ones had finally decided to turn in. Peace and quiet. He took a gulp from a Styrofoam cup of cold coffee, his face twisting up in disgust, and tried to remember how much better it had tasted a couple of hours ago. Glancing to his right he perceived the slumbering form of his partner, Officer Mark Peel, a new fresh faced lad, only a couple of weeks out of the police academy. The captain sighed, he supposed that he should have woken the kid up the moment that he'd noticed that he'd dropped off an hour ago but somehow he just hadn't been able to bring himself to do it.
Captain Whites was about to take another swig of his revolting coffee when suddenly he stiffened. Turning his head left and right he tried to work out where the sound had come from. Reaching across the senior police officer shook his younger colleagues shoulder "wake up kid, do you hear something?"
Yawning Officer Peel opened his eyes and said at last "like an engine in the distance sir?"
"Yeah, and it's getting closer" answered Whites starting his car's ignition "someone's coming this way, and bloody fast". The captain had barely finished his sentence when he was proved right; a red and black striped motorbike roared past like a hound fresh out of hell. Immediately Whites activated the siren and slammed his foot down hard on the accelerator "Johnny Rancid, son of a...don't these villains ever sleep?" he snarled.
As the squad car hurtled along after of the demonic biker Officer Peel grabbed the police communicator on the dashboard in front of him "this is car eight, repeat car eight; we are in pursuit of a motorcyclist, believed to be Johnny Rancid".
After a moments static a voice answered "do you require any assistance?"
Peel glanced at Captain Whites who shook his head "the captain says the we do not require back up" answered the young cop, sounding as if he doubted it.
"Very well, good hunting car eight".
Rancid seemed to have at last noticed his pursuer and, turning in his seat and firing over his shoulder, he proceeded to unleash a hail of bullets from his machine pistol. Luckily for the two officers of the JCPD their police car was rather better protected than most, boasting both armoured body work and bullet proof glass. Rolling down his window Captain Whites drew his own sidearm, a police issue laser pistol, capable of both killing and stunning, and took careful aim. His first shot whistled over the bikers head, the second missed by a yard, but the third slammed into the villain's vehicle, forcing him to swerve violently. When Johnny, who had only kept his seat by a miracle, attempted to put on a fresh burst of speed his precious bike merely groaned in response.
"You've hit him sir, he's slowing down!" shouted Peel excitedly, and rather unnecessarily. Johnnie's motorcycle was now belching forth black smoke and decreasing in speed by the second. The young policeman suddenly frowned, looking into his wing mirror "funny sir, we didn't request any backup did we?"
"Of course we didn't" answered Captain Whites frowning "why do you ask?"
"Well sir there's a squad car coming up behind us. At least" added the young officer, squinting into the mirror "I think it's a squad car."
The captain felt his heart sink "great" he muttered, as a car moving so fast that it resembled nothing more than a blue and white stripped blur over took the speeding police car, a red motorbike following in its wake. "That's just great".
By the time the police car ground to a halt Johnny Rancid was already lying face first in gutter, his hands handcuffed behind his back, and the Teen Titans standing over him. Robin nodded to the cops as they approached "He's all yours, he won't be any trouble" before smiling a self satisfied smile and adding to the captured biker "you're going to jail for a very long time Johnny".
Captain Whites scowled in the privacy of his helmet, stepped forward and through gritted teeth said in a bored voice, as if reading from a script "thank you Titans, you've done it again, you've saved us all, this city owes you a great debt, etcetera etcetera". Stooping Whites grabbed Rancid's shoulder and pulled him roughly to his feet, before shoving him into the back seats of his police car. "And now if you don't mind we'll be heading back to the station, you know how it is, we're very busy at the moment with lots of paper work to shuffle".
"Come on Peel let's go" said Whites turning and walking towards the squad car. Honestly, he thought angrily to himself, it was a joke! The Titans got all the freedom they wanted to chase villains and criminals around Jump City, while the regular cop was constantly fighting his way through a thick forest of red tape. Every day the newspapers headlines read 'Titans catch Mumbo in the act' or 'H.I.V.E Five in jail thanks to the Titans'. And then you could guarantee that somewhere down the page the damn journalist would have said 'and where was the police department'? Where was the police department indeed! Whites would like to see some of these journalists tackle the likes of Slade with nothing more than a badge and baton. The disgruntled Whites was on the point of opening the door of his squad car when suddenly he realized that his partner had not followed him.
Turning Captain Whites saw Officer Peel looking nervously embarrassed, holding his helmet in the crook of his left arm. At last the young man seemed to reach a decision and ran towards the T-Car "excuse me Titans, but would you mind...could you...may I have your autographs?" The teen heroes seemed surprised, but pleasantly so, and after autographs were explained to Starfire, the five Titans all signed the small black notebook proffered to them by Peel.
Officer Peel grinned happily as he sat in the squad car on the way back to the station "wow, can you believe that I got the Titan's autographs? I mean the real Teen Titans! They're so cool aren't they sir? There's Cyborg and Robin with those amazing weapons and gadgets, and then Beast Boy. Imagine being able to transform into any creature you wanted at will! And Raven and Starfire, well they're just so...I mean they're both..." the officer blushed.
Captain Whites shook his head in disbelief, but then again Peel was still just a kid. He wouldn't upset him by saying just what he really thought of his heroes. Maybe I'll apply for a transfer to the Gotham Police Department, Whites thought gloomily, at least most of the super villains around there don't have powers.
It was twelve o'clock in the afternoon and Captain Whites and Officer Peel were racing towards the Bank of Pérez, siren wailing. It was an all units, and that meant big trouble. As the squad car approached both policemen could clearly hear the sounds of chaos; explosions, crashes and plenty of terrified screaming. Upon rounding the corner Officer Peel could not help but gasp in amazement; a gigantic green Tyranasaurus Rex was locked in combat with a huge concrete statue. Eventually however the great lizard proved the stronger and drove the golem backwards until he eventually hurled him bodily against a nearby building. At first it seemed as if Cinderblock was about to rise and continue the fight, but then the statue's red eyes flickered and died, and with an almighty crash he slowly collapsed.
As the dust settled a dozen policemen advanced towards the fallen villain, while Captain Whites, being the most senior officer present was left to deal with the victorious Titans. Having not slept since his last encounter with the teenage heroes and having spent the entire morning writing up reports, Whites was now in a filthy mood. The Jump City mayor had made it very clear to the police department; the Teen Titans were the best thing that ever happened to this lousy city and that they were to be helped in any way the cops could and on no account should give the heroes any trouble. Well as far as the captain was concerned, he was about to accidently forget this instruction.
"Well done Titans!" said Captain Whites in a voice of manic cheerfulness "congratulation, another victory under your belts!"
"Just doing what we can officer" said Robin.
Cyborg frowned "Hey man weren't you the guy we handed Johnny Rancid over to this morning?"
"That's right" said Whites curtly.
"Oh do you also wish for the autograph, man of the police?" asked Starfire happily.
It was lucky for the Titans that Captain Whites was wearing his helmet, for he had turned a quite remarkable shade of purple "no thank you" he hissed through gritted teeth. "So" he continued as the Titans were turning to leave "I wondered if I might ask you a few questions about the battle with Cinderblock? It will be a great help to us when it comes to writing up the reports".
"Umm sure" answered Robin, slightly surprised.
"Well then, let's see shall we, where to begin; exactly how did Cinderblock blow that hole through that wall over there?" asked Whites brightly, indicating a charred and blackened fissure in the wall of a nearby shopping centre.
Starfire blushed "I fear that that was not the Cinderblock, it was caused by one of my own starbolts".
"I see" said Whites, jotting something down in his notebook "and what about these cars which seem to have been crushed together to form a gigantic metal snow ball?"
Raven gave a slightly embarrassed cough "I had to use the cars as missile against Cinderblock".
"Quite understandable, and how did the aforementioned villain come to destroy this building here?" asked Whites in a voice now so terrifyingly cheerful that all five Titans took an involuntary step backwards.
Beast Boy raised a hand "when I pushed Cinderblock back, he kind of fell, you know, on it..." the green Titan broke off with an apologetic smile.
Snapping his notebook shut Captain Whites turned on his heel and without another word stalked off towards where a group of officers were trying to decide how best to move the unconscious stone goliath. "Sergeant!" shouted the captain.
"Sir?"
"Get a flatbed truck over here on the double, and get hold of as many chains and heavy duty straps and ropes as you can. I want this lump of rock locked up tight as a drum and on his way back to prison as soon as possible". As the officers hurried away to find the means of containing and transporting Cinderblock, Captain Whites scowled to himself, if he never saw those meddling kids again as long as he lived it would be too soon.
That evening a squad car cruised quietly along one of Jump City's streets. Owing to the area being almost exclusively occupied by warehouses the road was deserted. Both the officers were sitting in silence, that is until Peel plucked up the courage to say "sir?"
Captain Whites sighed; he thought he knew what was coming "yes Peel?"
"Do you not like the Teen Titans captain?" the young officer asked hesitantly.
Captain Whites didn't answer for a moment "well kid, it's not that I don't like them personally. They're all nice enough people, I just don't like the way that they can cause as much destruction in the name of justice as they like without any consequences. The way that they always take the credit for our hard work gets on my nerves as well".
"But sir sometimes..."
"Oh yes sometimes they come in handy, I'll grant you that. The Titans have proved a useful asset every now and again. For example I'm not sure how we would have dealt with that giant fire monster that attacked the city a while back, or that plague of mutant moths. But a lot of the time and with a lot of these villains the Teen Titans simply aren't required. There's no need for them to stick their noses in when it comes to the likes of Fang, Johnny Rancid, Mammoth, Private H.I.V.E and Jinx, to name but a few! The police can handle them just fine thank you very much"
"Umm sir" asked Officer Peel hesitantly "weren't you and Officer Crane knocked out by Jinx when you were guarding that museum?" [Authors Note: see episode Lightspeed]
Captain Whites scowled, did everyone on the force know about that? "Yes, but she got the jump on us, it wasn't a fair fight!"
Before the junior officer could point out that villains rarely played fair an explosion from a nearby warehouse made both policemen jump. "Here we go again" muttered the captain, activating the cars siren and speeding towards the site of the blast. As they neared the building both cops could clearly see that the warehouses main door had been blown off its hinges. Suddenly a figure in a white hazmat suit appeared around the edge of the building, aimed a strange staff like weapon at the police car and fired. The red energy beam struck the vehicle like wrecking ball, sending it careering off the road and into a nearby wall.
"Sir? Sir wake up! Captain Whites sir are you alright?"
Captain Whites awoke to find Officer Peel shaking his shoulder urgently "alright Peel I'm fine" he grunted as he straightened himself and looked around him. The figure in white had vanished, presumably into the warehouse, from which Whites could make out the sounds of battle. Glancing across at his young partner Whites was horrified to see Peel, who had removed him helmet, deathly pale. "Peel what's wrong?" he asked, fearing the worst.
Peel winced "I think my leg's broken captain".
Whites looked down and then promptly whished that he hadn't, no human leg could be bent like that and not be broken in at least a dozen places. "Are you losing a lot of blood Peel?" Whites asked urgently.
"Not too much sir".
"Then stay here and try to contract headquarters on the radio, get them to send an ambulance and back up. If you can't get through just stay here until I get back, then I'll go for help".
Peel managed a weak smile "watch your back in there sir".
Captain Whites opened the boot of the squad car and retrieved a police laser rifle, before he began to slowly advance towards the warehouse. As he drew nearer the sounds of a struggle became still more distinct, with explosions, gunfire and shouting, until without warning silence fell like a shroud over the building. Feeling unnerved by the sudden calm Whites carefully peered around the doorframe and into the dark building beyond. Before him, with their backs to the door, stood two hazmat suited guards. A less experienced cop might have told them to put up their hands and turn around slowly, not so Captain Whites. With his rifle set to stun he took aim and shot both men in the backs.
Entering the warehouse Captain Whites stooped to examine the fallen sentries, noting the hazmat suits and electrical staff weapons. He recognized the uniform as belonging to Professor Chang's henchmen; which meant that the demented scientist was somewhere nearby. A slight, almost imperceptible sound suddenly made the captain spin around, just in time to see a third guard taking aim at him with one of Chang eclectic shock staffs. Whites didn't think about what he did next, simply acting on instinct; leaping forward he drove the butt of his rifle hard into his attacker's stomach. The suited henchman doubled up gasping, dropping his weapon, as Whites decided that this was no time to be a gentleman and brought his knee up into sentry's groin.
Leaving the two unconscious guards and a third groaning in agony, Captain Whites headed for a nearby side door and climbed the stairs beyond. He found himself on a high walkway that ran around the edge of the warehouse, giving him a perfect view of the drama that was playing out below him. Originally Professor Chang must have had close on thirty henchmen with him, but now less than a third of them were still on their feet. The remaining guards and the professor himself stood around five glowing cages of cracking energy, within which were the Teen Titans.
"So" crowed the grinning Chang "the good little boy and his good little friends have walked straight into my trap. You fought well, but alas to no avail". Robin drew one of his birdarangs and slashed at the glowing cage in which he was trapped, to no effect. "Oh I am sorry my boy but your dangerous toys will not help you now. Or" he added, turning to the other trapped Titans "will any of your abilities for that matter. You are my prisoners and will remain so for as long as you live". The evil professor cackled "but on the positive side, that won't be very long".
As Professor Chang proceeded to explain, in exquisite detail, what he intended to do to his victims he did not notice the shadowy shape moving in the gantry above him. Levelling his rifle against a railing the cop took careful aim. "...and so" finished Chang "you see through your deaths our medical and scientific knowledge of the resilience of the human mind and body will have been infinitely expanded. This I trust will be of some consolation to you. And now..." Chang was suddenly cut off by the crack of a rifle.
One of the professors henchmen collapsed to the floor and then another and another. One shot, one sleeping guard. Chang spun on the spot, letting out a high pitched howl of rage and surprise "What! What is going on? Guards...catch...f-fine him!"
But very soon Professor Chang was shouting to himself, for each of his henchmen lay unconscious at his feet. A final crack of the laser rifle and Chang's electric staff was blasted from his hands. With a terrified squeal he turned and made a break for the door; he had however not gone five paces when a heavy hand fell on his shoulder and the professor found himself looking up into the helmeted face of a Jump City police officer. Leaning down Captain Whites growled "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights as they have been said to you"?
Professor Chang could do nothing but gape in amazement. Finally he said "you are not a super hero?"
"No sunshine I'm a cop" answered Captain Whites, as he handcuffed Chang to a convenient pipe.
Professor Chang was silent for a few seconds before turning white with rage and howling in despair and disbelief "I have been caught by a common policeman!"
Leaving the screaming villain Captain Whites walked over to where the Teen Titans were being held prisoner and pressed a button on a nearby podium. The five shields immediately deactivated and the Titans were once again free. Walking towards their saviour Robin asked in amazement "is that you officer; from this morning and again with Cinderblock?"
"That's right" answered Whites.
"Dude!" exclaimed Beast Boy "you just totally saved us!"
"Who are you?" asked Raven, allowing a note of interest to inject itself into her usual monotone.
"Captain Whites, JCPD" said Whites saluting the teen heroes.
Captain Whites was a good cop and could generally pre-guess most combat situations. But he did not see what was coming next. "Booyah, way to go man!" shouted Cyborg clapping the captain on the shoulder with enough force to knock over an elephant.
Staggering to his feet and putting up his visor so as to better get his breath back Captain Whites was very nearly smashed to the ground again when Starfire hurled herself into his arms and kissed him on the cheek "you're arrival was most timely, new friend known as Whites, I thank you from the bottom of my tolorf'narf!"
"Yeah dude you kicked butt!" shouted Beast Boy leaping up and down.
"You shoot very well captain" said Raven politely inclining her head "thank you for your help".
Robin stepped forward and shook hands with the captain. As the captain's hand came away Whites found that it contained a yellow communicator bearing the letter T. "For If we need your help, or if you ever need us" said Robin smiling "how would you feel about becoming an honorary Titan?"
Captain Whites hesitated for a moment before he suddenly smiled "Titans, it would be an honour". Perhaps these young super heroes aren't all bad, thought Whites to himself, as he shook hands, high fived and was hugged.
It was four o'clock in the morning and Captain William Whites was sitting in a Jump City squad car, his new partner fast asleep beside him. In many respects he was in exactly the position that he had been two days ago, when he had given chase to Johnny Rancid, but with two significant differences. Firstly he was drinking hot coffee from a thermos flask and secondly because he was reading a newspaper. The headline read "Cop Saves Titans!" with a second smaller headline reading "Captain Whites Now A Titan?" Whites grinned to himself and murmured "perhaps I won't apply for that Gotham City transfer after all".
The End
Authors Note: I hope that you enjoyed reading my second Teen Titans fan-fic, as usual please review, it's always interesting to hear what you guys thought.