Fabienne Growly was exasperated as she looked over her board. Since her co-anchor for the Zootopia New Network left to pursue acting for the newly created Blackpaw Film Company. She had stumbled upon facts in her news story that, as far as she could figure didn't add up.
Specifically, the events that surrounded Forest Vale when it was overtaken, and nearly turned into an artificial meteor. As well as other strange happenings that have been happening in and around Zootopia since the Nighthowler Crisis. Extraordinary crimes, bizarre happenings, monsters rampaging through the streets in one form or the other, and of course the Battle of Zootopia.
The feline reporter couldn't help but be bothered by the fact, that parts of these crises were kept secret. Her journalist instincts burned at her, as every attempt to fully learn about these events, someone or something prevented her from actually learn anything important or relevant.
It was as if some sort of organization was deliberately trying to cover up what was going on. Something that Fabiene was familiar with as a journalist. But this... someone should have figured out why Dragon Enterprises so brazenly attacked the city, and how they built up such an army, made up of hybrids, robots, and what appeared to be monsters that drank blood.
Suffice it to say, Fabiene was running on fumes with all of these questions running through her head. So much so that it had been affecting her work at ZNN and her personal life. She looked over the conspiracy board she had made, regarding the strange happenings she had observed since the events around the Missing Mammal case.
Then, Peter Moosbridge entered her apartment. "Uh... hi Fabienne." The moose said, weirded out by his former co-workers slide into insanity.
Fabienne darted right into Peter's face, with all the speed of her distant Savage ancestors. "Did anyone follow you?"
"N-N-No! What have you been doing here?!" Peter said in surprise as he looked around at the red thread and all of the conspiracy boards.
"I've been trying to make sense of everything... all the weird things," Fabiene explained, clearly looking disheveled. "I'll admit, I've been more than a little... obsessive."
"A little?!" Peter said, looking at a conspiracy board on the ceiling. "How many of these are there?"
"At least thirty-five. I've been trying to figure out what these events have in common." Fabienne explained as she poured herself some coffee. "I'd offer some, but I'm almost out of beans."
Peter looked worried at his ex-co-worker. "Fabienne... can you give me an abbreviated version of all this?"
"Vampires!" Fabienne blurted out. "Vampires... rule the world from the shadows." She said with a crazed and exhausted look on her face.
"Really? Vampires run the world?" Peter pinched the bridge of his snout. "Fab, that was a movie I stared in. President of Blood? The where I was turned into a Vampire and sought to-"
Fabienne burst out laughing. "Peter, I may not have gotten proper sleep for the last week. But I think I can tell the difference between reality and a silly movie."
"Davies was adamant about keeping the scene where I read to children!... it was a complicated scene. The kids kept trying to climb on my antlers, and it did nothing to forward the plot." Peter said at length. "But my point is, you're losing your mind about this!" Peter said with concern. "For crying out loud... you have a conspiracy wall. On. You're. CEILING. How did you even get it up there?... and why?"
Fabienne looked at the wall he was talking about. "Yeah... I'll be honest, I hadn't slept for four days when I hung that. So I don't even remember what I could have been thinking. But I know that this is true! Somehow, if they aren't directly running the world. The police, the government... they know about the Vampires and their secret societies!"
Peter looked flabbergasted. "Okay..." He said as he looked at one of the conspiracy walls. "So Anna Blackpaw is in on this?"
"Yeah, you have no idea have no idea how hard it was to find a picture of her that wasn't just filth on the internet," Fabiene said proudly.
"And she's a dead ringing for one of the Zootopia Founders," Peter said, squinting at a printout of an old photo. The photo showed Anna Blackpaw wearing a mid-17th-century dress. "Probably looked stunning that dress."
Fabiene patted Peter on the butt. "Cheeky. But it's not just Blackpaw." She then pointed at an elephant in the picture.
"Wait... I know that guy. He owns Jumbeaux's Café! Remember that birthday party we hosted for my niece there?" Peter asked.
"You've got a big heart... but I'm thinkin' this," Fabienne said, slurring from lacking sleep. "See... I did some research. The people in this picture were sick after it was sick... they claimed that the silver nitrate didn't agree with them. Although... no, it didn't specify what kind of camera they used."
"That doesn't mean they were Vampires!" Peter said in exasperation. Then Fabienne fell to the floor. "You're going. To bed." The moose then picked up the snow leopard woman and took her to her bedroom. He then laid her down on her bed. "I don't believe this..." He then called Anna Blackpaw.
"Peter? Where are you? Your director is bombarding me with complaints that you're running late to the set." Anna said.
"Yeah, I got a call from Fabienne. She's taken up conspiracy theorist as a hobby since I left ZNN." Peter explained.
"Really? That would explain why she's been looking tired on TV recently." Anna said. "What exactly are these conspiracy theories about?"
"Well, it's pretty out there. But, she thinks that you and that ice cream elephant from Sahara Square are Vampires that founded Zootopia!" Peter explained. "I mean that's crazy right?"
Anna was silent for a moment. "Peter, do what you must for Ms. Growly. I'll explain the matter to the director. That jumped up twit won't listen to reason, but it's better than nothing. Goodbye, and good luck." She said solemnly, she then hung up the phone.
XXXX
Several hours later, Fabiene woke up from her involuntary nap. She left her room and found Peter. Sitting with the elephant that, as far as either of them presently knew. Was Jerry Jumbeaux Jr. "Ms. Growly, take a seat."
Fabienne did so. "Mr. Jumbeaux? Why are you here?"
"I got a call from an old friend." The elephant said somberly. "And... well times are changing." The elephant then stood up and changed into a monstrous Vampire form. "I... am the First Among Equals. I, and like-minded Vampires-" Then Peter and Fabiene started screaming. The First Among Equals sighed, and then conjured a magic bubble around them. "There, at least nobody will be able to hear any of this. CALM. DOWN." He commanded.
The two Mammals did indeed calm down. "Well... I do have quite a few questions." Fabienne said.
"Really? I would never have guessed." The First Among Equals as he looked over the conspiracy walls. "Why is this one on the ceiling?"
"Look, I just want to know. What has been going on?" Fabienne asked. "Why are we being kept in the dark about what's going on?"
"Because what we're keeping hidden could destroy the minds of mortal Mammals." The First Among Equals said solemnly. "And frankly... things are getting worse every day."
"So... my boss is a Vampire?" Peter asked candidly.
"When she hired you, yes. But, since the beginning of this year. She became vaccinated by a cure made by her niece from the future." The First Among Equals explained. Peter and Fabiene burst out laughing. "Yeah, I know that sounds crazy. But it's true, and there are more important things going on than what will happen. What has been going on, is that the enemies of my Cabal. The Unseen Eye. Have been growing bolder, attacking our holdings outright."
The two mortal Mammals stopped laughing. "The Battle of Zootopia. That was these enemies you spoke of, aren't they?" Fabienne asked.
"The Cabal of the Night Dragons. Yes, they orchestrated the entire thing, their leader mustered everything they could. So that their leader, Draco Long-Fang, could exact revenge on Anna for the sake of avenging a thousand-year-old wrong." The First Among Equals then continued explaining all of the abridged details of what had been going on throughout this story.
From the events surrounding the Battle of Zootopia to the Battle of Forest Vale and the fall of the Cabal of the Night Dragons. And got around to the reemergence of the Ancient One, the Progenitor of all Vampires. "Wow... that is pretty crazy, I'm not going to lie," Peter exclaimed. "I mean... Pandora went back in time to try to kill her brother... and said brother was a gift from THE, Loki?!"
"Yes, we keep these things secret from Mortals for good reason. Most would go insane just learning that they're real." The First Among Equals said. "We only keep especially note-worthy Mortals abreast... try to anyway. There are some things even there better off not knowing in full."
"This is excellent!" Fabienne said as she was writing down on a notepad.
"Ms. Growly, were you not listening when I explained the consequences of this getting out?" The First Among Equals said sternly. "Cause I'm not kidding when I say that, they will lose it. Chaos will ignite, and millions, if not billions will die in the mayhem that follows. And not only would it be a devastating blow to the blood supply, but such a loss of life is unacceptable. None of us would want that. Including you."
Peter sighed. "Fabienne... we've been friends for years. I know that you do this, not for the sake of fame. But because you want to help people." Fabienne then seemed to second guess her decision. "Just... just put your notes somewhere nobody would think to look."
Fabienne looked conflicted. "I... I don't want people to die because of my decisions." She then took her notepad and locked it in the safe in her bedroom.
"I'll leave you two alone." The First Among Equals left the apartment
XXXX
Later that night, the First Among Equals arrived at a meeting of the Unseen Eye's Council. "Sorry I'm late, I would've taken the Shadow Path. But I was almost out of sunblock... you know how it is." He said as he took a seat.
Beside him were War Master Guerrier, Hierophant Wilo Chingu, Shadow Corps Alpha Umbra, the previously unmentioned First Minister of the Unseen Eye known as the Midnight Wolf, and finally the new Master of Coin Scrooge McBlackpaw.
"My men are keeping a close watch on Zootopia. So far we haven't gotten reports of any sightings of the Ancient One... though we've had rising reports that match perfectly to unknown Vampire activity." Umbra said, showing pictures of the acts in question. Along with an unfamiliar symbol. An eye underneath what looked like stars. "But what about Growley?"
"Yes, she agreed to keep our secrets that way." The First Among Equals said. "Though I must ask... what is the situation with Radost? The warrior from the Russian Ice Revenants?"
"So far the most she's doing is some bounty hunting, catching mortal criminals who have a price on their head for skipping bail among other reasons." The Midnight Wolf explained. "She signed a Blood Oath with Anna, restraining her actions against the members of the 'Four Faces of Death'. But what I find most concerning is her companion. The Vampire Hunter, a rabbit known as Polnoch." He explained, showing relevant pictures.
The First Among Equals looked perplexed at the photo of the large male rabbit. "Are you sure this is a rabbit? Not a jackrabbit? Or a hare?"
"I got a good smell of him, he's rabbit alright... though his body odor made that difficult to tell," Scrouge spoke up. "I mean me own father refused to bathe more than once a month, but I wouldn't be surprised if this fellow never even heard of a bath."
"At any rate, my agents are scouring the sewers for any trace of the Ancient One or his minions. But so far they haven't come across anything concrete." Umbra explained.
XXXX
Meanwhile in the sewers, Special Agents Jack Savage and Winter Skye were looking for any sign of the Ancient One and his minions. They were clad in high-tech armor and advanced gas masks. "I am so happy that we got these from the boss," Skye said as they ventured through the darkness of the sewers.
"Agreed, we'd be fools to go through this mess in our regular outfits," Jack said as they rounded a corner.
"Refresh my memory, isn't it weird that our 'regular outfits' are a tuxedo and dress?" Skye asked.
"You've never worn a tux," Jack said obliviously. Then unexpectedly, the two agents ran into a dark-furred rabbit with a crossbow. "Contact!" He said as both of them drew their weapons on this unknown four-foot-tall fluffy rabbit.
The giant rabbit inhaled. "You... not Vampire." The giant rabbit said with a deep Russian accent.
"I'm surprised you could smell the difference down here," Skye said.
"Why you down here?" The rabbit asked.
"That's classified," Jack said.
"Hmm." The rabbit said to himself. "I never heard of 'classified'. It matters not. Polich is hunting monsters." Polnoch introduced.
"Blood-drinking monsters that are terrorizing Zootopia?" Skye quizzed.
Polnoch looked curious at them. "Undead?"
"That is one way of looking at it. They have no pulse and don't show up on thermal scans." Jack said.
"Then is Vampire. We have a common query. Polnoch proposes we work together. It could save Polnoch time, hunting down undead villains and protect innocent lives from them." Polnoch proposed.
The three of them used a mix of Polnoch's hunting skills, and Jack and Skye's high-tech equipment to maneuver through the sewers. Eventually coming across a chamber that was dug out of the sewer walls. Lit by torches, and reeking of blood. "Yes... this is Wild Vampire Nest. Where those who can't handle the restrictions of the Cabal's dwell."
"We can save Q&A for latter," Skye said as they descended into the nest. Eventually, finding the chamber of the Ancient One. And on the other side of the chamber, was the Ancient One himself. Resting. "And that big boy fits the description of our target to a 'T'."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Polnoch loaded his crossbow with a wooden stake. Aimed, and fired. However, as it flew towards the Ancient One's heart. A paw caught it in mid-air.
"Non... bad mortals." Delphine Refait chided, holding the sanctified piece of wood in a gloved paw. "I've only just finished tending to his wounds. Zhe Wilde-Hopps did a number on him."
"WildeHopps?" Polnoch said in confusion. "Sounds like bistro filled with small portioned food that waiters describe with obnoxiously pretentious adjectives."
"Tell me about it." Delphine agreed. "But enough about complaining about high culinary cliches and traditions. Zhe Ancient One needs blood, and I am famished myself." Delphine tossed aside the stake and charged at the three hunters.
Polnoch's training as a Vampire Hunter and Jack and Skye's equipment and years of experience kept the fight from being a quick win for Delphine. But Delphine fought dirty, using her blood magic to give herself an edge as well as her Vampiric form.
Eventually, Delphine managed to gain the upper hand. Knocking out Polnoch, and exploiting flaws in the agent's technology. "Well... that was fun, I shall not lie. Now, to get you undressed." Then without warning, a time portal opened. With Pandora, Nick and Judy's hybrid daughter from the future came through in a flying kick, hitting Delphine square in the jaw.
Delphine staggered to the ground as Pandora threw the Vampire Hunter, and the two agents into separate time portals. Delphine recalled the young fox/rabbit hybrid from the failed assassination attempt on Cheif Bogo. "Yes... it's me." Pandora said, remembering the same incident that they met.
"What... what are you? Where do those portals lead?" Delphine demanded, Pandora, snapped her fingers. Causing the time portals to close.
"I, am Pandora Wilde-Hopps. And none of you're business you blood-sucking creep." Pandora said scornfully.
"Okay... I don't know how that relays to anything." Delphina said as she stood up. "But I'm going to get my master the blood he needs to awake from his surgery!" Delphine caught Pandora off-guard and quickly incapacitated her. "Now... let's see if you're blood will work." She picked up Pandora, made her way to the sleeping Ancient One. And drew a small measure of blood. Dropping it into the Ancient One's mouth.
The Ancient One's eyes shot open."Yes... YES! I feel like my old self again!" The Ancient One proclaimed joyfully with outspread wings. "But... what manner of creature is this? I am unfamiliar with this breed of Mammal."
"Oh, this is a rare vintage. A Mammal... from the future! A hybrid even!" Delphine said, holding Pandora over her head. "She has intelligence far and above the Mammals of this age, she has harnessed Tempus Mallum for-"
"Enough! If what you are suggesting is that I Change her... well after the incident that wounded me in the first place. I'd prefer not to take that risk." The Ancient One admitted.
"But sire, her knowledge could be invaluable... and the only way for you to partake of that knowledge. Would be if you Changed her." Delphine said like the temptress she was. "You want to save us all from the Coming Storm, don't you?" She said, playing the Ancient One like a Stagaverius violin.
The Ancient One then drained Pandora dry of her blood and dripped a single drop of blood into her mouth. Turning her into his Vampiric minion. Unknown to everyone, Clancy, the AI of the Time and Space Displacement Device initiated an intense shock to Pandora, breaking her potential enthrallment in much the same way that Harry and Sawa's car accident did.
"What... what just happened?" The Ancient One said in bewilderment as Pandora awoke, looking to have all of her faculties.
"You... you..." Pandora said angrily as she stood up, both of her eyes glowing red with anger and her Vampiric powers becoming manifest. "You just signed you're death warrant!" Pandora then sped out of the nest. Moving through the sewers like a shadow. Eventually, arriving at her childhood home.
XXXX
"Wow, that was quite a day," Nick said as he and his wife returned home in the evening.
"Yeah, but the point is we made the world just that much better," Judy said, they opened the door, and saw a familiar hybrid... with unfamiliar eyes. "Pandora?!... what happened to you?"
"I made a quick stop to save agents Savage, Winter, and the Vampire Hunter Polnoch from the Ancient One. But his second-in-command, Delphine caught me off-guard... and the Ancient One Changed me." Pandora explained. "And thanks to that, I can't just return to the future."
"Did you leave any kind of trail between his lair and here?" Judy asked with concern.
Pandora's eyes widened in disbelief. "No... no, I didn't think to do that."
"But I did," Clancy said. "I laid down a path with special radiation that Vampires can't perceive. I also gave special instructions to all relevant parties and special equipment."
Nick and Judy looked at each other. "So you want take-out for dinner tonight?" Nick asked.
"Come on, we've had takeout for the last three days," Judy argued.
Pandora smiled wistfully to herself. "I miss seeing you two bicker... but seriously, I need to get to work on this matter." She then turned into a shadow and left the house.
"Think she's going to bother-" Nick then clearly heard Professor Wily Iatrans screaming from his home. "-nevermind. Think she remembers that time she and Olaf messed with his interdimensional portal?"
"Probably. Anyway, we've got a month-old bag of fries in the freezer. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Judy said as she took a bag of curly fries from the freezer.