The International Supernatural Criminal Police Organization; the largest police force in the world. In addition to assisting local law enforcement, as the names implies, their specialty is paranormal crimes and crooks. From minor magical misdemeanors to deadly curses and terrifying beasts, these cops were trained to handle these sorts of things.
Sort of...
You know what? Let's check in with some of the force's finest, shall we?
Officers Luz Noceda, Willow Park, Amity Blight and Gus Porter were driving down the street, passing through a more hostile part of town. Crimes of both the conventional and magical kind were particularly bad around here, so this place was a top patrol spot for both the local police and the ISCPO.
"So Luz, what exactly are we doing around here?" Amity asked.
"Well, we got calls about a noise complaint. Apparently, some guy has been running around harassing while blowing what was reportedly a police whistle." Luz explained.
Before the conversation could go on any further, the cruisers stopped after they were flagged down by Tuca, Bertie and Speckle. The officers stepped out of their cruisers, donning their hats as they walked up to them.
"Afternoon, you three." Luz greeted. "I assume you're the one who called."
"We were minding out my own crap, then suddenly this dude with a whistle starts chasing us around the block." The woman explained.
"I see." Amity noted as she jotted down in her notepad before she realized something. "Hang on what are you three even doing out here?"
"I don't wanna talk about it." Bertie sighed.
"Anything else you can give about this guy? Anything at all?" Gus asked.
"Well, he did look like some sort of cop from the 60s I think? I think was wearing like tan uniform and a brown hat I think. He also had what looked like an old club?" Speckle recalled. "That's all I can get."
"Okay, got it." Luz said. "Don't worry, I think we can handle this."
"Oh thank God." Bertie said in relief. "Good luck, you guys."
As the trio walked away, Luz turned to her friends.
"Looks like we got someone impersonating law enforcement."
"Gus and I will go north, you two go south." Willow said.
"Roger that." Luz affirmed as they split off, hoping to find that fake cop.
Figuring they could start by asking around for any potential witnesses, Willow and Gus have been knocking on doors. Gus was at a house when he knocked on the front door. After waiting several seconds, the door opened and he was greeted by an elderly bespectacled man in an electric wheelchair.
"Yes? How can I help?" He asked.
"Afternoon, sir." He greeted. "Officer Gus Porter of the ISCPO. Did you happen to see a man impersonating an officer?"
"Sorry, son. I don't know what you're talking about." The old man said.
"Are you sure?" Gus asked, noticing the frantic tone in the man's voice.
His only answer was the door slamming in his face. Sighing, he got off the porch and met back up with Willow.
"Any luck?" She asked.
"Nope. Though, that guys seems awfully suspicious."
Cruising down the road, Luz and Amity kept their eyes peeled for any signs of the impersonator. All they could see were rows of houses in various states of upkeep; from decently maintained to outright dilapidated and abandoned.
"No sign of the guy in our portion." Gus informed over the radio.
"Nothing so far with us, either." Amity replied.
"Maybe the guy already left?" Willow wondered.
"Maybe, but..."
"There he is!" Luz exclaimed stopping the car and and cutting Amity off.
Amity looked in the direction Luz was pointing and sure enough, found a man being chased by another man fitting their descriptions; old-fashioned uniform, brown campaign hat, old-fashioned wooden nightstick and blowing a whistle. Without hesitation, they hopped out of their car and ran after the guy, blowing their own whistles.
"STOP! POLICE!" Luz ordered as she pulled out her radio. "Willow, Gus, we found the impersonator!"
The followed the phony cop down an back alley. They ran until they reached a dead end, but they weren't deterred as Luz simply used an ice glyph to create an pillar of ice to catapult herself over the wall while Amity did the same with her abominations. That's when they saw the fake officer beating the suspect into the ground with his nightstick.
"Hey!" Luz called as she and her partner unfurled their own batons.
The phony cop saw them and booked it. They stopped for a moment to look over the suspect.
"You go after him. I'll deal with this guy." Amity said.
Luz nodded in response and pursued their suspect. She was gaining on him and and used numerous glyphs to try and subdue him. But none of them seem to have any effect on him. He turned a blind corner and Luz followed, only to slam head-on into Willow and Gus. The three officers laid laid on the ground in a heap as they pulled themselves upright.
"What the?" Luz stammered in confusion. "Did you guys see the suspect?"
"No." Willow replied.
"Wha- How?" Luz stammered in confusion.
"Well, we did see him a few blocks down there, then poof!" Willow explained.
As Luz helped her and Gus up, Amity ran up with the other suspect restrained by an abomination.
"Guys, what happened?" She asked.
"That fake cop just seemed to vanish into thin air." Luz told her. "I think he might be witch or something."
"Possibly." Amity said before she pointed to the suspect. "Let's just get this guy back to the station first. Apparently, this guy got caught robbing a convenience store."
"What about the fake cop?" Gus asked.
"We can worry about him later." Amity said.
"She's right, Gus." Luz sighed, equally disappointed they didn't catch the impersonator. "Let's just deal with one crook at a time."
With another dejected sigh, the quartet were about to make their way back to their vehicles when their ears picked up the sound of the same the same whistle echoing in the distance. Gus spotted something in the corner of his eye and was the first to turn his head. Sure enough, the same cop was a down the block, pursuing what seemed to be another petty offender.
"There he is!" He called. "Come on!"
"Amity, take this guy back to our cruiser." Luz told her girlfriend.
"Be careful, Luz." Amity told her, holding her hand.
"You know I will." Luz replied.
"Come on!" Willow pressed as she grabbed Luz by her collar and dragged her along.
The three officers raced after their suspect, blowing their own whistles and yelling for him to stop. The trio tried to stop him with their magic, but whatever spells they threw at him, they seemed to miss every time. It was almost as if they were going right through him.
"How do we stop this guy?!" Gus cried.
"I don't know, but we're not letting him get away." Luz replied.
Soon the chase led them to another alley. They followed their fake cop into it only to find that he had seemingly vanished without a trace.
"Aw come on!" Luz griped. "Where'd he go now?"
"Right here." They heard a voice exclaim.
Suddenly, Luz cried out in pain and surprise as she felt something wooden clonk her on the head.
"Ow! What the- OW!" Luz exclaimed as she clutched her head.
Willow and Gus were able to see who was responsible: The same fake cop they were pursuing. Not even a second later, he clonked Willow on the head as well before knocking down Gus by swiping at his legs with his baton.
"What the heck!?" Gus cried . "Ow!"
Suddenly, Luz launched herself at their assailant. she tried to put a glyph on him but he knocked her down as well. With the three ISCPO officers incapacitated, the cop handcuffed them all and forcibly dragged them out of the alley.
"Hey! What's the big idea?!" Luz demanded as she struggled against her bindings.
"You three are under arrest for impersonating law enforcement." The officer informed them.
"What?!" Willow exclaimed. "We were chasing you for the same thing!"
"Tell that to the judge." The 'fake' cop scoffed. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be used against you in a court of law."
Before long, he had dragged them to his patrol car: a black and white 1960s Ford Galaxie with red and blue rotary gumball lights. Opening the back door, he shoved the three officers inside before taking his seat in the front.
"This is Captain Adler MacMillan. I have apprehended three juveniles impersonating law enforcement. Over." He reported.
At least they got a name. When he got no reply on his radio, he tried a few more times to contact what they could only assume to be dispatch. After that, he gave up and continued driving.
"I never thought I'd be arrested in my life." Gus gulped.
"Gus, calm down." Willow assured. "I'm sure everything will be alright."
"Where are you taking us?" Luz asked.
"Where do you think?" Adler said.
After a few minutes, they had arrived at their destination: an old desolate police station. As the trio were dragged out and into the building, Luz could barely read the text on the tarnished brass sign above the door: Buena Vista County Sheriff's Office, Station 5. Gus and Willow were somewhat cooperative, but Luz still struggled against as Adler dragged them through the halls of the station. He then uncuffed them only to throw them into a holding cell.
"Let us out!" Luz demanded. "I'll have you arrested for this!"
"Hey! What did I say about having the right to remain silent?" Adler rebuked, banging his nightstick against the bars.
"Luz, I don't think we should egg him on." Willow whispered, but she was ignored.
"Oh I know have the right, but my ability to is another story." Luz snarked.
Adler narrowed his eyes at her as she smirked smugly in response.
"Regardless, you three are staying here until you can be properly sentenced." He said as he turned to leave. "I have to get back out on patrol."
As he disappeared down the hall, Luz continued to glare daggers at him. She then saw him leave in his car through a nearby window. As soon as he was out of sight, the bars of their cell suddenly dissipated into nothing, leaving nothing but the rusted metal frame. The station also went from a few cluttered pieces here and there to completely dilapidated.
"What. Was. That?" Willow gawked.
"Amity? Are you there?" Luz called on her radio.
"Yeah. Where are you guys?" Amity replied.
As the three walked out of their cell and made their way out of the building, Gus noticed a picture on the wall. It was old and weathered, but he could make out that it seemed to look like a younger version of the wheelchair-bound pensioner he had questioned earlier. On the bottom of the frame, it had a brass plaque that read, 'Oliver Kenneth MacMillan, Sheriff of Buena Vista County'.
"Gus! Come on!" He heard Luz.
"Coming!" He called.
He followed after them, but not before taking a picture of it with his scroll.
"So wait, you guys were chasing a ghost cop and got arrested by him?" Amity said in disbelief over the radio as she drove back to the station with the robbery suspect.
"Yeah." Luz replied. "Gus, Willow and I were able to get a name: Adler MacMillan."
"You think you can get some info about him?" Amity asked.
"As a matter of fact, we are." Luz said as they parked outside their destination: the HQ of the Buena Vista County Sheriff's Department. "We'll see what we can come up with. Officer Noceda out."
After putting the radio down, the trio exited their car and walked up to the building. When they entered, they found the receptionist at his desk, typing away at his computer. he paused and looked at the three young officers.
"The ISCPO, I presume?" He guessed.
"How'd you know?" Gus asked.
"I can tell by the uniforms." He answered casually. "So squirts, what can I do for you?"
Luz was a bit indignant at that comment but she let it slide.
"We'd like to see the records room please." Luz requested.
"Down the hall, second door to your right." He said before returning his attention to his work.
With that, the trio rushed down the hall. True to his word, they found the a door labelled 'Records'. Pushing it open, Willow flipped on a light switch. It was a vast room filled with various drawers stuffed to the brim with files. It was also quite dusty, causing them to cough like mad.
"Aw, man." Willow wheezed. "They haven't cleaned this room out in a while."
Just then, Luz spotted the computer on the far side of the room. Rushing over to it, she turned the thing on. After it booted up, she proceeded to open up the database and search for the name Adler MacMillan.
"Bingo." She cheered.
"Woah, human technology never ceases to amaze me." Gus marveled.
As she clicked on his name, they saw his profile as with a big, red 'DECEASED' stamp on it, confirming their suspicions. They also saw the location of his file. As Gus went to retrieve it, Willow and Luz decided to read up on the cop, hoping to get to know him a little better and this was what they read:
Name: Adler Nigel MacMillan
Birthdate: March 22nd, 1944
Death: March 23rd, 1969 (aged 25)
Cause of Death: Internal trauma and hemorrhaging.
Timeline leading up to death:
Shortly after being promoted to Colonel on his birthday by his father, Sheriff Oliver MacMillan, he volunteered for the night shift. According to MacMillan, he was assailed by the accomplices of the various crime bosses he arrested. He was dragged out of his patrol car and was savagely beaten unconscious. When he regained consciousness, he was able to call for assistance. MacMillan was rushed to the hospital but unfortunately succumbed to his injuries. His assailants were shortly found and captured.
The girls couldn't help but be saddened by his story.
"If you think that's bad, just wait until you see this." Gus gulped as he set the folder down on the table.
It was filled with the same document as well as newspaper clippings and photos of the incident. What really caught their eyes were the further details of his life story. He was a beloved member of the community and an upstanding cop with slightly unorthodox policing methods. During the funeral, his father was so distraught, he refused to attend and he was never formally relieved of duty. They even saw a picture of the Sheriff next to his son.
"Guys, that's the guy I was questioning earlier." Gus pointed out.
"Really?" Willow said in disbelief.
Just then, their conversation was cut short when they heard the sound of old sirens outside. As they they rushed out of the station, their hearts sank when they saw Adler standing on the other side of the street, waiting for them.
"I thought I just arrested you delinquents!" He growled.
"GO! GO! GO! GO! GO!" Luz screamed as they rushed into their car.
"Amity! Meet us at the station!" Willow called over the radio. "We'll explain!"
"Roger that, Willow. Go ahead." Amity replied.
As they sped away, Adler tried to start his own car. To his chagrin, it wouldn't.
"Dang thing." He cursed.
Just then, he saw someone throw a can onto the ground. Rushing out of his car, he chased after the litterbug.
"Hang on a dang minute." Officer Shag Rugg said as she was talking with Sergeant Reagan Ridley. "Didn't we have Cognito shut down and had everyone arrested like 7 months ago?"
"I can explain that." The precinct's leader, Colonel Ryder, said. "Inspector General Callaghan said that recruitment was down and we needed some more officers with technical expertise and the like."
"Wow, were we really that desperate?" Officer Augie Doggie remarked.
"Hey, who do you think designed all the gadgets we use?" Reagan rebutted the pup. "Besides, they let people like you join."
"...Fair enough." She admitted.
"Hey, guys! I got the bagels!" Officer Brett Hand announced.
"You have low fat cream cheese, right?" Yakky asked.
Before that question could be answered, Luz, Willow, Gus, and Amity burst in through the door, nearly running into Eda and King who were carrying stacks of paper.
"Oh, finally, you kids are back." Eda remarked. "You probably had a way better time than us."
"Why are you and King are on desk duty?" Luz asked.
"They were caught falsifying reports." Ryder explained.
"Okay, so maybe we exaggerated a little." King tried to retort.
"And let's no forget the fact that Eda tried to spike the coffee with laxatives." Officer Andre Lee interjected from one of the offices. "Thank God I caught 'em."
"Getting of topic!" Luz exclaimed. "Guys, to put it bluntly, we have a ghost cop wreaking havoc on our hands!"
"What?!" All those who heard it exclaimed.
"We tried arresting him earlier, but we remembered the hard way that you can't exactly arrest a ghost." Willow explained
"Yeah. He doesn't realize he's dead and I don't know if he's after us, but we're not waiting around to find out!" Gus added.
"Well, looks like we're gonna have to fight fire with fire." Shag explained before turning to Eda. "And no, it don't involve actual fire!"
"But we don't have ghosts on the force!" Luz pointed out.
"Astral projection maybe?" Eda suggested.
"The ritual will take to long. We're kind of on a time crunch." Amity said.
Andre rubbed his chin as he thought of something.
"You there is something that I've been working on." He said. "But it's highly experimental."
"Well, whatever it is, it might help." Luz said.
"I guess this is good of a time as any to test it. Follow me." Andre gulped.
The four young officers rushed after the chemist down the hall and into of the the building's labs. There, they found Lisa Loud and Cindy Bear. The two paused from their work and turned to look at them.
"Girls, it's an emergency!" He informed them. "Bring out the stuff."
"Woah, I'm gonna have to stop you there and this is coming from me." Cindy said. "Are you sure you wanna do this?"
"He just said it's an emergency, Bear!" Luz barked. "We've got a rogue ghost to deal with."
"Very well, but you wanted to do this." Lisa said.
With that, the Andre, Lisa, and Cindy put their hands on a scanner. That resulted in a hidden cabinet emerging form the desk before it opened up to reveal three syringes filled with pitch black liquid.
"What is this stuff?" Luz gawked.
"The actual name of this will be too difficult for the average person to pronounce, but colloquially, we call this Sleeping Death fluid." Lisa explained.
"I thought we agreed to to call it 'Near Eternal Rest'." Cindy said.
"You lost the bet, Cindy." Lisa said. "Anyway, this aims to mimic the effects of astral projection, but it hasn't been tested on a living being until today."
Eyeing the tar-like substance, Luz was initially unsure of what to do. But after realizing she could help Adler move on, her hesitance slowly melted away as she slowly grabbed a syringe.
"If you're going, I'm going too." Amity said, grabbing the second syringe.
Luz smiled at her girlfriend's loyalty before turning to Gus and Willow.
"We'll hold him off." Luz said. "You two know what to do."
"You can count on us." They both said with a salute.
While holding hands, the couple jabbed the needles into their thighs, wincing a bit before slowly pushing the plungers down. Once every single drop had been pumped into their veins, they yanked them out and... didn't feel any different.
"Rats." Luz grumbled. "Must a flu-"
Suddenly her speech began to slur and her vision grew fuzzy. The others watched with held breath as the two drowsily waddled around.
"I see a pretty light." Amity laughed deliriously.
"Is... that... normal?" Luz slurred.
With that, the two flopped down like ragdolls. Lisa and Andre went and examined their bodies.
"No breathing, but a barely detectable heartbeat." Andre reported.
"What the hell's going on in here?" Magic Myc asked, slithering into the lab.
Luz rubbed her head and groaned as she got up.
"Probably should've done that lying down." She groaned.
Her eyes then went wide when she saw her and Amity's bodies laying right in front of her. Not only that, she was levitating off the floor. Amity got up a few seconds after her.
"Luz, what happened?" She moaned.
"Amity, look! It worked!" Luz pointed out.
Amity couldn't believe her eyes.
"This is so weird." She gawked. "Are we floating?"
"Yeah!" Luz said, eyes full of wonder. "At least now we know what it's like to be dead."
But then they saw Andre and Myc drawing outlines of their bodies while giggling to themselves.
"Seriously?" Luz complained.
Myc, hearing her, turned around and screamed when he saw the officer's souls floating behind him.
"Holy crap, it worked!" Andre cheered.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" The mushroom screamed.
"We'll explain after we're revived." Luz said before turning to Amity. "Let's move."
With an affirmative nod from her, the two ghosts quickly floated out of the lab. Meanwhile, Adler had just parked outside the building. He sneered at the place, seeing all those inside as fakers.
"What the hell has this world come to?" He sneered.
Just as he was about to call in vain for become, he was suddenly tackled by Amity and Luz. However, due to his superior size, he was able to hold them against himself.
"You again?!" He growled. "Why does this always happen whenever I try to arrest women?"
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Luz hissed.
Sharing her girlfriend's sentiment, Amity bit down on Adler's hand. The ghostly police captain screamed before Luz elbowed him in the gut, forcing him to let them go. While Adler was doubled over in pain, Amity tried to use her abominations. However, when she tried to cast a spell circle, nothing happened.
"My magic!" She gasped.
"I guess it doesn't work when you're basically dead." Luz gulped.
When they turned back to Adler, they narrowly dodged a a swing from his baton. And another. And another. In response, the couple extended their own batons. Adler came swinging at Luz with his wooden nightstick. Both officers swung and parried each other's blows. Unfortunately, the more experienced Adler gained the upper hand, grabbing Luz's baton-holding hand, getting behind her and levering his own nightstick against her neck, using her arm as the fulcrum. As Luz struggled, Amity came to her rescue by sneaking up behind Adler and delivering two hard blows to his scapula, forcing him to release Luz.
"Thanks." Luz panted.
Before Amity could reply, Adler swung at her legs, knocking her down. While on the ground, she swung as hard as she could, hitting the deceased cop in the knees. This left him clutching his knee and hopping in place.
"Right in the funny bone!" He groaned as Luz helped Amity up.
Just as he was about to get back at them for that, he was ambushed by Eda who came at him with one of the ISCPO's patented Spectral Cubes, high-tech enchanted boxes specifically designed to trap ghosts.
"Gotcha, you little grunt." Eda chuckled.
"Hey! What's the meaning of this?! What happened?!" Adler screamed, demanding they explain his situation.
"Well, if you just bothered to listen you'd know by now." Amity scolded him.
"Know what?" He Asked sharply.
"Dude, you're dead!" Luz pointed out.
Adler wasn't buying it.
"Very funny." He scoffed.
"No really." Luz insisted, her voice turning more sympathetic. "You've been dead for over 50 years now."
The ghostly police captain was starting to lose his resolve.
"No, y-y-you're just monkeying around with me, right?" He said.
"Afraid not." Luz confirmed as Amity showed him a copy of his file and death certificate.
"If I know Luz, she's anything but a good liar." Eda said as she released Adler from the box.
"... 50 years you say?" Adler droned, tears welling up in his eyes.
"What part of you're dead did you not understand?" King said.
Luz, Amity, and Eda glared at him for his distasteful comment. If that, wasn't enough confirmation for Adler that he was indeed dead, that maybe this would.
"Adler?" An elderly voice said.
The group turned around and saw Gus and Willow accompanying the wheelchair-bound man form earlier. The old geezer rolled up to the ghost of his son.
"Dad." Adler said.
"Oh, my boy. I'm so sorry I wasn't able to make it to your funeral. I was just so devastated by your death, I couldn't bring myself to go." Oliver MacMillan tearfully apologized.
Adler only responded by hugging his father, sniffling. The retired sheriff responded by hugging the captain back. The others watched with smiles as they watched the tender moment unfold. After a few minutes, father and son finally pulled apart.
"Times have changed, Adler." Oliver said with a sad chuckle. "You always were a stubborn one."
"I guess I was." Adler replied. "But I think I'm ready to move on."
"That you are. After all, I think the afterlife could use some cops like you." Oliver agreed as Adler removed his seven-pointed star badge and gave it to him. "So, I hereby formally relieve you of your duty."
After that, he turned to the group.
"I'm so sorry causing you so much trouble." He said.
"Not much harm done." Luz assured, wiping the tears away.
As the the cops saluted him, Adler saluted back before walking to and climbing inside his car. Revving the engine, Adler sped off with lights and sirens blazing before fading into the unknown.
"This day turned out to be a lot more emotional that I thought." King said.
"True." Willow agreed.
"Okay, guys. Bring 'em back." Gus called on his radio.
Luz and Amity's eyes burst open as they say up, gasping for air.
"That... was an experience." Amity panted.
"Yeah. At least I'm slightly less scared of death now." Luz remarked.
Suddenly, they noticed they were wearing the force's formal wear. They also saw that they were in the precinct's chapel and laying in coffins.
"ANDRE! MYC! SERIOUSLY?!" The two roared furiously.
The next day, Myc and Andre had been put on desk duty for a month as punishment. In a addition to that, Luz came in wearing something a little extra something on her uniform.
"Is that... Adler's badge?" Willow asked.
Indeed, Luz was wearing the deceased captain's badge next to her own.
"Yeah." Luz replied. "Sheriff MacMillan heavily insisted I have it. And you know what? I like it."