Author's Note: Here's another Scooby AU series I've got in mind, folks!
As the title of the series suggests, this series is named after the Batman comic book Batman: Streets of Gotham.
Like Coolsville Central, this series functions as a modern-day reboot of Scooby-Doo and shares plenty of characteristics with the series in question with a few deviations.
For instance, Coolsville is now a city in California and located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and co-exists with Crystal Cove. In fact, Coolsville is now the county seat of Crystal Cove County.
This series is inspired by a handful of (mainly serious) Scooby fanfics that depicts the gang's relations with Daphne's father as being strained, including stories that also depicts Fred not seeing eye-to-eye with Daphne's father on numerous occasions.
With that being said, the parents from the mainstream Scooby continuity are utilized in this series, not the SDMI parents.
As with Coolsville Central, this series incorporates elements from the Post-Crisis, pre-New 52 DC Universe and the DC Animated Universe.
Also, this story is the second of my stories to be a rewrite of the 2009 live action film The Mystery Begins, following the story of the same name that functions as the origin story for my reboot of SDMI in D3.
As with its D3 counterpart, this story is an origin story and also includes modifications of its own from the source material.
In addition, this story incorporates elements from Little Gem Magnolia's story Textbook Murder.
In this series, all human members of Mystery Inc. are born in 1993.
I don't own Scooby-Doo. Hanna-Barbera Productions and Warner Bros. does.
Chapter 1: A typical morning for Shaggy
October 2, 2009
(Shaggy's Point of View)
It was yet another annoying morning when the alarm clock went off, just as I felt like I was getting comfortable in bed.
I swear that darn thing has been resetting itself every night so that with each passing day, it goes off earlier than it did the day before.
Either it's time for me to get a new alarm clock or it's time for me to look forward to when daylight saving time ends so I can sleep in an extra hour.
As I shut off the alarm clock and took a look at the time, I realized that I was mistaken on my initial thoughts that the alarm clock resetting itself so that it will go off earlier than it did the day before.
7:45. Drat.
With no time to think, I jumped off my bed, hurried to the washroom to do my usual business before changing into my usual clothes, not giving a rats rear end on whether the shirt and pants have been washed. Here we go again.
After finishing my business, I quickly grab my school bag and raced up the stairs to the dining room.
My Great Dane and old buddy Scooby Doo was still sleeping in his bed, and I made the effort to not wake him up as I hurried up the stairs.
Mags was already seated at the dining table eating breakfast when I arrived, and she looked up to me as I pulled a chair out.
"About time you got up." She said to me. "You better hurry up and finish your breakfast, because the bus is gonna arrive soon."
I nodded as I quickly dig in, keeping an eye on my watch as I ate.
Eventually, I finish up just as Mags headed for the door with her school bag. Time for me to head out as well.
With the bowls and spoon washed, I quickly went to grab my school bag, rushed to the front door to put on my shoes and hurried out the door, locking it after it was closed.
Rushing for the bus stop, I saw the big yellow bus pulling into the stop and Maggie ready to get on.
With all my might, I hurried over to the bus stop just as Maggie got onto the open doors.
Fortunately, the driver saw me running and as I made it onto the bus, he sighed as I walked past him.
"That's the fifth time your sister has asked me to wait for you, Mr. Rogers." He reprimanded me.
"Sorry, sir." I quickly said. "Like, it won't happen again."
The driver grunted before closing the doors and pressed on the gas and the bus was on its way to Coolsville Central High School, which is one of the 12 high schools in the city.
Our stop is the last stop on the route before the bus continues on to Coolsville Central High School, so I don't know much on where the other students get on and off.
I believe an introduction is in order. The name's Rogers. Norville Rogers, but many people call me Shaggy, mainly because of the hair, not that I minded.
Maggie is my twin sister, and you can say she's older than me. After all, according to Mom, she was born five minutes before I was.
Speaking of Mom, her name's Wendy and she's a medical doctor working at the Coolsville Don Messick Memorial Hospital, specializing in dental care and is certified to do oral care and oral surgery.
As I made my way to the back of the bus, I found that a majority of seats are taken and Mags has already joined her friends at the back.
Shrugging, I looked around to find a seat, but most of them were already taken.
With Mags still chatting with her friends near the front of the bus, where the seats are pretty much filled, I have no choice but to head to the back of the bus.
Just then, I found myself flying towards the floor and managed to break my fall by grabbing onto the seats by my sides.
"Having a nice trip, Shaggy?" That familiar voice asked me mockingly as I got up.
"Yeah, I sure did." I said as I turned to the guy who tripped me, whose name is Thomas.
That guy may look beefy, but I can assure you it's not the fat that made him look beefy. After all, he's a star athlete in the school's football team.
Also seated with Thomas in the row was his friend Fred Jones, who's the quarterback in the school's football team.
You certainly can say that Fred's the handsome kind of guy, in fact, I heard that a lot of girls are looking to go out on a date with him.
After my encounter with Thomas, I continued on towards the rear of the bus, whereupon I managed to find a vacant seat.
Much of the bus ride was uneventful, though along the way, the bus had to pull over to the curb in order to let a couple of cop cars with their sirens flashing pass through.
Oh, speaking of cops, I almost forgot to mention Dad.
Our Dad's name is Sam and he's a cop. He has been serving with the Coolsville Police Department for quite a while, well, since 2006. He's a police captain, to be exact, which also means that he's a senior figure in the city's police department.
Wait, so if he's a senior police officer, how is it that he went from beat cop to police captain in three years?
He didn't. One thing I should tell you all is that I'm not a native of Coolsville, nor were Mags and I born in the City of Mysteries.
Mags and I were born in New York, and New York's where we have adopted our old pal Scooby-Doo.
Anyways, Dad was a young cop with the New York City Police Department when Mags and I were born, and prior to becoming a cop, he was serving in the Marine Corps.
It was during his service with the Marine Corps that he also met Mom. Back then, she was an Air Force medical officer while he was commissioned to the military police and assigned to a unit that was deployed to the Middle East during the Gulf War.
Anyways, Dad raised through the ranks in the NYPD after his discharge from the Marine Corps, becoming a detective and eventually a lieutenant when he was transferred to Coolsville three years ago.
I sure wonder if Dad ever regretted accepting the transfer to Coolsville, because it has a reputation as being the second-most dangerous city in the country, second only to Gotham City, not to mention the continuous scandals and rampant corruption in the City of Mysteries.
I suppose that explains why Dad frequently has to work overtime, perhaps it was due to his efforts to clean things up in the department, what, with him being a senior figure in the police department.
And of course, how could I forget my old buddy Scooby-Doo?
His real first name is Scoobert, and he's a Great Dane with brown fur, always wears a blue collar with a diamond-shaped dog tag with the initials "SD" on it and has black spots.
One thing to note is that he has some rather interesting characteristics for a Great Dane.
First off, he has a longer than usual tail that seems to have a mind of its own.
Second off, he has opposite thumbs on his paws, which enables him to hold items like a human.
And third, he talks.
Yes. You heard me right. Scooby-Doo talks. I honestly don't know how he talks, but he does. Mags also agrees with that assertion.
Anyways, it doesn't take long before our high school building comes into view. With its Edwardian-style architecture, the place does seem a bit spooky.
Oh well, that feeling must be from the fact that I haven't fully adjusted to living in the City of Mysteries even after moving from the Big Apple three years ago.
Soon, the school bus pulled into the front lot of the school, and everyone got up from their seats when it came to a stop.
As I made my way to the front, I tripped over Thomas' foot again.
"It's just too easy!" Thomas laughed as I got up.
A short while later, I was at my locker and trying to get the locker door unlocked, or more to the point, trying to get that scrap metal of a combination lock to turn and hit the right numbers.
I swear these lockers haven't been replaced since the school had its last major renovation in the 1960s, because you can see the rust on some areas on the locker door and the lockers themselves sure looked aged.
No matter how hard I try to pull the blasted door open, the locker door wouldn't budge.
With all my might, I pulled on the door handle, grunting as I tried to pull the blasted door open.
Just then, the broken lock gave into my pulling and tugging, but I was completely unprepared for the door to suddenly flew open.
Before you know it, I find myself stumbling backwards and fell upside down into a garbage bin on wheels.
I certainly don't know what happened next, as everything around me was pitch dark, though my feet were moving as I tried to get myself out of the moving garbage bin.
Just then, the garbage bin hit something and I found myself flying out of it and ended up sailing through the air and landed right in a chair.
My eyes adjusted before I found myself seated across the desk from Principal Sheldon Deedle, who was signing a file when I landed right in the chair.
"Locker troubles again, Mr. Rogers?" Principal Deedle asked me without looking up.
"You can say that again, Principal Deedle." I nodded. "I sure wonder when will we get new lockers?"
"You know Crystal Cove County Public Schools." Principal Deedle replied. "Always telling me and other school principals across the county that they don't have the budget to replace the old lockers."
"Can't say I'm surprised, sir." I shrugged. "What, with all those scandals at the county government and in the city almost every other week."
Principal Deedle nodded in agreement.
"Anyways, Mr. Rogers...Norville, there's something on my mind that has me thinking..." He said to me. "You're new to Coolsville, are you?"
"Like, you can say that." I nodded. "My family and I moved here from the Big Apple when Maggie and I were 13. Still trying to adjust to life in a small city."
"I can see that." Principal Deedle nodded. "I noticed that Margaret has been doing well socially with her group of friends and is always the happy, go-to person around school. Not sure if I can say the same for you..."
"I do hang out with some people, Principal Deedle." I quickly said. "Like, with my gymnasium club."
"Oh yes, you sure are an amazing gymnast, I'll hand you that." Principal Deedle said. "Having had helped Central win a number of awards in state competitions. I'm more of talking about outside gym class and outside school time."
"Well, I do talk to my classmates from time to time, sir." I said. "It's not like I prefer being a social outcast."
"Yes, I understand." Principal Deedle nodded. "What I really wanted to say, Norville, is try to expand your scope of friends and not try to limit yourself to the very few people you do hang around with."
I nodded, though I wasn't exactly sure if that can be accomplished.
After all, while I may have contributed to Central winning two state gymnasium competitions in a row, not much people are interested in hanging out with a guy who's a gymnast but has a large appetite and doesn't exactly enjoy working out.
"I understand, sir." I nodded.
It was then that the school bell rang, and I realized that I've got five minutes before class starts.
"Anyways, I believe you should get going to class." Principal Deedle said to me as I got up from the chair. "And think about what I just said about making friends, Norville."
"Yes, sir." I nodded before noting him offering his fist.
"Give it a good one." Principal Deedle smiled as he offered his fist.
I nodded as I made a fist and bumped his offered fist before making my way out of his office and towards my morning first period class.
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