It was the dark of the night. The wind whistled through the branches of the trees, the leaves rustling as a result. It seemed to be silent with the nearby road having no traffic whatsoever. It was very peaceful and calm for an evening like this.
However, the silence was shattered by the sound of crunching leaves under feet, the panting of someone's breath. A silhouette of a small and young male figure could be seen swinging and running through the trees, almost like it's trying to get away from something. The figure looked back to the forest, then up to the moon, almost like it's in fear of something, until it eventually collapsed into the ground, the leaves partially covering the figure.
The only sound that can be heard from the figure was that of faint whimpering and sobbing...
"Scooby-Dooby-Doo!"
Out on the dark and empty road on the outskirts of the city named Coolsville, the mystery-solving gang known as Mystery Inc. were all riding around in their van, the Mystery Machine, heading off back to their headquarters after a long mystery. The self-proclaimed blonde leader Fred Jones was driving the van, with the redhead girl Daphne Blake next to him. In the back, there was the auburn-haired girl genius Velma Dinkley, with the cowardly go-lucky male Shaggy Rogers and the talking Great Dane Scooby-Doo.
"Like, talk about a crazy mystery." Shaggy sighed in relief.
"Reah." Scooby nodded back, whilst sitting next to him and laughed.
"At least we caught the monster before it got away." Velma added, then she noticed outside the window that the van was slowing down. "Fred, what's going on?"
"There's something on the side of the road." Fred replied, and he stopped the van. As the headlights were set on high-beam, they saw what looked like a small figure, but it was covered in leaves, with it was lying on its front. It also seems to have dirt and leaves.
"Velma, come on." Daphne now climbed out of the van, along with the smart girl, and they ran over to the figure. The two woman grabbed the figure, then they brought it into the van, whilst Shaggy now sat up front, Scooby sitting with the girls to take a look.
"I'm not sure, but this little person looked like they've been through a lot." Velma noted, then she and Daphne began to clear the leaves off the figure's body.
After a bit, they saw the figure was a teenage boy, with soft brown hair, one who looks to be around eleven-years-old, with pale white ghost skin, but he has bruises, cuts and slashes across his arms and on his face. There was a lot of dirt smudges across his body. His clothes, which consist of a thin red shirt, degraded jeans, and ruined shoes, also looked to have cuts and rips along them. There also seemed to be some bandages around the forehead of the kid who had long dark brown hair, as well as other bandages.
"Jinkies." Velma said in shock as she saw all the cuts and bruises.
So, while the girls tended to the wounds on the little boy's arms and face, Fred immediately drove back to Headquarters, Shaggy and Scooby keeping an eye out every now and then.
Once back at headquarters, Velma and Daphne placed the boy's body down onto the large couch in the large room. The boys all looked over to see, and they too were rather surprised by this.
"From his height and size, I figure he possibly stands at least five feet tall and three inches." Velma took a guess to the others. "Though his facial features and body figure help prove to us that he's roughly around the age of either eleven or twelve-years-old."
"But, like, why does he have such scars?" Shaggy wondered, Scooby sitting next to the unconscious brunette.
"Why don't we get him to a doctor, and see if they can figure out-" Fred began to say.
"Hold on, guys. He's waking up!" Daphne whispered.
The boy stirred a bit, opening his eyes, revealing them to be a bright brown blue, his vision a bit blurry as he placed a hand on his head. When his vision soon cleared, he sat up quickly, now backing into the corner of the couch, pulling his legs up to his chest and looking nervously at the gang, trembling a bit.
"Who are you guys?" The boy asked in fear of not recognizing them.
"Oh, you don't know us... I'm Shaggy, this is Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Scooby Doo. What's your name?" Shaggy asked the boy gently.
The boy said nothing, scooting back a little in worry. "Um…." He mutters but they barely could hear it.
Daphne cleared her throat, sitting down beside him. "You don't have to be afraid. We're going to help you out. Can you tell us your name?" She asked, kindly.
The boy stopped shaking a bit, then he spoke but it was a bit rapsy. "It's David Hayes." He introduced himself.
"Okay, David, can you tell us exactly what happened?" Daphne asked him gently.
David nodded his head as he spoke once more. "I am on the run. My family hates me and abuses me a lot."
"Why would they do that?" Fred asked. David began to wince, shaking his head, as tears slowly started appeared in his eyes.
"Hey. Don't cry. It's okay." Daphne said softly, gently putting a hand on David's shoulder. She even wiped away some of his tears, as he looked over at her. "Tell you what - why don't you tell me what happened, and we can go on from there." She offered.
David thought for a short moment, and though he had just met and known these people for less than an hour, he sensed they were good people, and ten times better than the family he's been placed with over the last four years. He nodded to Daphne in agreement.
David thought back before the accident, but as he does so, small tears began to appear in his eyes again. But, he took a deep yet shaky breath, and he began to explain what happened as Daphne tended to his wounds while the others listen.
"It all started when I was born. My mom had an affair and my dad…or step dad I should say didn't know about it. But even then as I grew up, dad regularly abused me physically and emotionally, one such time for having little skill at aiming a weapon in order to hunt for food during our camping trip. One day, dad caught me whittling little chest pieces with dad's hunting knife and beat me mercilessly. Also, years later, me and my brother have a playful sword fight. Dad is unimpressed by my skills and attacks me. I did not wish to fight with my father and did not do much to protect myself, causing me to lose the fight. Dad left me with the words "Some days, it's a miracle you're still alive, boy", and stated that he thought I was foolish and impulsive. Eventually, Mom stop caring and let Dad do it to me so much that she watch and agree with my dad's method. If that wasn't worse, my own siblings turn their backs against me. All three of them besides my older brother, he didn't care I was only his half-sibling and that he cared for me. So after one day of my life being too much, my brother had me run away and get as far away as possible as he hopes I could live a better life….and that's when you guys found me." David explains his origins as the Mystery gang was shock and not too happy to hear this.
"Whoa..." Was all Fred could say about what he heard
"Like, zoinks." Shaggy said in shock. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, man."
"Reah." Scooby nodded in agreement. "Rhat now?" Scooby asked he had his head on David's lap as the young boy was kind of him to let him get close.
"Please don't make me go back." David said in a pleaded tone.
Freddy kneels down to him. "Hey, we won't do that. No one should have went through that especially you." Freddy said with concern.
Shaggy had an idea. "Hey, why not take a show, while we talk. That way you can get cleaned up." Shaggy suggested as the others agreed with idea as he takes David to get some clothes that will do for no as he showed him the bathroom.
After a few tense minutes, the Mystery gang gathered together in earnest discussion, their thoughts consumed with finding a solution to help David. They were acutely aware of his dire need for assistance, recognizing that the unwavering members of the Mystery Incorporated would never turn away from someone in need. Each member passionately debated the various ways they could provide support, fueling a determined atmosphere as they cemented their commitment to offering their unwavering aid.
"So, what now?" Fred asked.
"Well, we can't take him back to that family, after what we've read." Velma pointed out. "Plus, the police would want to hear from his point of view."
"I was thinking, why don't we let him stay with us? Maybe even adopt him from that abusive family?" Daphne suggested to them. "He's only eleven years old, and he needs someone to watch out for him."
"Like, that's a good idea." Shaggy nodded in agreement to her idea.
"Yeah. Since he seems to be more relaxed around us a bit, I think he could stay with us." Velma added in.
"Okay. I'll go talk to him." Daphne stood up, and as she turned around, she saw David standing at the doorway, now wearing a white shirt with blue pants, which do seem a bit big on him, but they were better than his old clothes. "Oh, David. Listen, we've all talked a little about your situation, and about what you've been through, and we all decided that you should be part of the gang, and I'll adopt you under our protection."
Scooby then walked up to David, and the boy looked to the Great Dane. He knelt down to him, and hugged Scooby. The Great Dane smiled a little, and hugged him back, the others smiling at this interaction. David then ran up to Daphne and hugged her around the waist, to her surprise but she hugged him back in almost a sisterly manner. The others also walked up and they hugged the young kid, David feeling warmth and comfort from them.
And sure enough, after about a week of rehabilitation for David, he got used to being around other people, Daphne and Velma having tended to some wounds, and even Shaggy and Scooby getting him some new clothes to wear. After that, Daphne took the abusive family to court about what happened, and they tried to defend themselves, saying that Mystery, Inc. was responsible for kidnapping and abusive behaviour. But, due to David's papers and the gang's words against the abusive family, the latter had no choice but to give up their adoption rights on David, and Mystery, Inc. legally adopted the young brunette into their group and family, Daphne was thankful for her know-how in the courtroom thanks to her own family and their know-how.
After that, David became a fully-fledged member of the Mystery Inc. gang and family.
Over the course of a few weeks, the gang have gotten accustomed to their new friend, and they all welcomed him in with open arms. After a bit, David had gotten used to his new lifestyle, along with his new affiliation as a mystery solver. It was spooky for him, but slowly and surely, his fears started to die down. Fred had helped David with getting into shape, and slowly, his small and skinny body became slightly lean, but he didn't mind. It was just slow progress, by the way. Velma had taught him about what he must look for during mysteries, and she when taught him different types of elements. It was a little tricky for his little still-developing mind, but he eventually got the concept of the elements in no time.
Shaggy and Scooby had also taught him how to cook different types of meals, along with creating different ideas of how to run away from monsters or ghosts, even though they don't actually exist. The boy even had a knack of being sarcastic in every way in their training course towards the monster dummies. David got the handle in the kitchen, even got a stepladder so he can reach the top of the bench to work. Finally, Daphne, despite being a damsel-in-distress, she taught him of what he must do in case of something goes wrong, whether it be escape tricks or even some quick strikes and kicks.
Now, David was living a happy and care-free life with Mystery Inc., a brand-new family, and with nothing to no longer worry about...for now
A/N: there we go. The first chapter of my Scooby Doo series. I would like to thank Braedimus95 over on Wattpad for letting me rewrite his series but with my OC instead. This time we are meeting David Hayes, he is going to be considered the teen with the mouth. He is going to be very sarcastic just like Deadpool. And after watching Deadpool & Wolverine, which you guys should totally watch, this inspired me to make his personality just like that!