Douglas T Bernhardt (Scooby)

 Membership: Freelance

Race: Human

Height: 5’9

Weight: 170

Apparent Age: 55

Archetype: Private Investigator

Preferred Weapon: DAOD Assault Pistol

Runner Song:

Bio: His name is Scooby and he is one of the few honest Private Investigators working within the shadows, this man has been slithering through the shadows ever since he retired from the Houston Police Department where he was a highly decorated and respected detective. Scooby would retire after being critically wounded during a raid on a human trafficking ring that would leave him physically and mentally damaged and unable to return to active duty. Though for Scooby the tides of retirement where too much for him to manage and he would once again put on a badge and enter the private sector to continue his illustrious career within law enforcement.

Scooby would initially start with the basic cases that all investigators receive and as much as he would enjoy busting the cheating husband or lecherous wife, it wouldn’t leave him fulfilled and he would be longing for more. Scooby had to much honour to work for one of the many corporations looking for a security chief and forget the insurance companies as he actually cared about his credibility and wouldn’t stoop to their level of doctored evidence and mocked up transcripts to save them a few credits. So it was back to the drawing board as he would begin to reinvent himself and recreate his business, this is how he would end up working within the shadows and helping the innocent and those citizens that needed his special skills and yet couldn’t afford the services of a high priced investigator. Scooby would begin to offer his services to those in need for a discounted rate, for Scooby believes that justice should not be only for the rich and powerful; so with his legendary investigative abilty and distrusting nature Scooby would quickly become the defence attorney’s best friend and the bane to the legal system as he would begin to discredit their stacked deck and unravel many slam dunk cases; Scooby would be horrified to discover the level of corruption within the Houston Police Department and within the Office of the District Attorney.

This would be where his career would both sky rocket and plummet at the same time, he would become to be known as the pursuer of justice and the beacon of honor but it would come at a cost as he would become shunned by his once friends and colleagues who would see him as the enemy. The deeper he investigated and exposed the corruption the worse his life would become and Scooby would have to actually worry about his own safety, he would also completely destroy any of his old social connections and end up living in complete isolation as if he was a leaper. This sudden change in his social calendar as well as the heart breaking discovery that many of his closest friends where entwined in this conspiracy would send Scooby into a further mental break and cause him to pick up the bottle once again. Between the death threats, the social isolation and his drinking his wife of thirty years would divorce him and take the children with her as she moved to parts unknown after marrying his old partner.

As Scooby’s professional life was climbing his personal life was deep in the gutter causing a wave of depression and even suicidal thoughts to bubble to the surface. Though it wouldn’t be till he was testifying at the trials of his former friends and colleagues that he would hit his breaking point.  Scooby had busted the entire conspiracy wide open and with the help of the Texas Rangers and the State Department he would become the hero of Texas as many guilty parties where making deals and being sent to prison for their part in the great conspiracy. Though it was the trial of his former Captain and best friend Richard Hunt that would cause Scooby to contemplate eating a bullet after his testimony not only ruined his friends career but also sentenced him to death by hanging. This was not the only one of Scooby’s former friends and colleagues that would be sent to death row because of his work and for Scooby it was becoming too much to handle.

He was already living in complete isolation and having to be on the look out for any threat to his life as he was receiving death threats daily and had already thwarted multiple assassination attempts including having to kill his eldest son who would attempt to murder his father by driving a steak knife into his chest as they ate at a local steak house; the players in the conspiracy had gotten to his children and it was only going to get worse the higher up the food chain this went. Scooby was already drowning himself in the bottom of a bottle nightly and taking handfuls of pills to deal with the pain and nightmares from his injuries. On the night of Richard Hunt’s hanging, Scooby dressed in his best suit and took his seat next to the Texas Attorney General in the front row to witness the hanging of the corrupt police officer, for the attorney this was a political blessing as it was an election year and though for Scooby it was a moment of emotional distress, as he had known Richard Hunt since he was a rookie and looked up to the man as a mentor and father figure, Captain Hunt was the best man at his wedding and was the Godfather of his children; and here he was front row at the mans execution a hanging that was only happening because of Scooby’s investigation.

So as the clock struck two minutes to midnight the curtain opened exposing Richard Hunt in his prison jumpsuit, legs and arms properly bound with a noose placed around his neck and hood covering his face and head. The man he looked up to once before, was now only minutes from executed and his final minutes where being carefully studied and preserved for prosperity and to be studied in academies for generations to come. Scooby noticed that Hunts family wasn’t present and he was going to die alone and forgotten. As the priest finished giving last rites and the warden read the sentence and death warrant, the final seconds of Hunts life was hanging in the balance; as the seconds clicked away, Scooby only prayed that the phone would ring and the Governor would call with a stay of execution but to no avail when the the final second of Thursday 26th of May 2060 clicked away and the clock struck midnight, the warden threw the lever and Richard Hunt fell out of sight and the rope went taught, with only a shadowy silhouette of Hunts body was visible swaying at the end of a rope with his head draped forward and his feet pointed south. Scooby just stared in horror at the witnessing of his friends execution an execution he caused, though the Attorney General just smiled and said well one down many more to go, then he looked at Scooby and thanked him for his dedication and would require his presence at further hangings.

This is when Scooby nearly ended his own life, he was lost in depression and drinking his tears away, the deceased’s family had contacted Scooby and forbid him from even attending the funeral as they blamed him solely for their father, grandfather and husbands execution and he was no longer welcomed anywhere near the Hunt family. Scooby could understand the reasoning and as he stared at old family photos in his debilitated one bedroom apartment as he was forced out of his home and now with the death of his closest friend Scooby had nothing left. His career had driven him to this point and he only had more heartache and suffering to come as he testified in further trials and witnessed many more hangings. He figured that he had already done enough damage and thoughts of suicide flooded his mind.  If Scooby hadn’t been heavily drinking he might actually have succeeded and this article wold be In memoriam to an honorable and noble detective and officer of the law. Scooby ended up drinking himself till he was blindly drunk and when he pulled the trigger the gun jammed and he passed out.

That night was an eye opener for Scooby and he knew he needed to get help or he really would end his life.  That’s when he would seek the guidance of a pastoral counselor to help him with his demons and allow him to continue on with his noble career. Over the next decade Scooby would become the scourge of the corrupt as he would focus his frustration and disappointments into his work and keep digging into the web of corruption, many lives would be lost to judicial hanging and many more would be incarcerated for life because of his investigation and dedication to justice. As Scooby would watch many more of his friends loose their lives at the end of a rope and even more swallow a bullet prior to being arrested. Scooby’s demons would return and thoughts of suicide would cross his mind once again, he would have to seek his therapists assistance numerous times to stay among the living.

It would be under the advice of his therapist that Scooby should leave Texas and end his current investigation as if things continued their current course he might actually be successful one of these times and the world would lose a brilliant mind and legendary detective. That’s when Scooby decided to move to Seattle in the fall of 2070 and initially try to join the Seattle Police Department but do to his mental trauma they red flagged him and showed him the door. Scooby would enter the world of the shadows and partner up with some of the shadows most honourable runners and investigators, a whole new world would open up to Scooby and he would begin to see the dangers of the UCAS and the native threat that existed within Seattle. Scooby would also come to learn about the new and altered history of the United States and this would bother him more than anything else, the new history would contradict everything he had learned in school and from his parents and grandparents. Scooby would focus his investigating career into the UCAS and thus he would cross paths with the Colonists where he would find kindred spirits and people who knew even more about the history of the United States of America, the ever curious Scooby would absorb the information like a sponge and thus furthering his desire to help defeat the corrupt and tyrannical UCAS once and for all.

Scooby has spent the last four years working within the Colonists and helping the poor of Seattle receive justice and keeping an eye open for the injustices of the current government. Scooby in the short time he has been in Seattle has already uncovered many corrupt organisations and broke wide open the connection between the Vandals and Aries Arms Corporation that the UCAS has been trying to keep tightly sealed and secret. Scooby has once again made some very serious enemies and for this alcoholic and suicidal detective it seems that he will once again be walking along the edge of sanity as he peruses the truth and fights for justice for all. Scooby is a brilliant mind and a super detective as nothing escapes his glance and he has a photographic memory, this leads to his trauma and as he fights depression within the Emerald City war looms on the horizon and the Colonists will be called to action once again. Though for this legendary detective, one can hope that his new friends and allies can keep him focused and keep his demons at bay so the world can benefit from his vast wisdom, experience and dedication.

Page Written By: Trevor Jones