Deep within Cliffside Asylum. There is an ancient cyclopean temple, massive, even for the largest Mammals. This unholy place was dedicated to the Great Old One, Cthulu, High Priest of the Great Old Ones, The Great Dreamer, The Sleeper of R'lyeh, The Star Spawn, Him Who Lies Dreaming, Him Who Will Rise Again, Him Who is to Come, Lord of the Watery Abyss, The Sleeping God. Among other epithets, each one more terrible than the last.
Within this temple, Dawn Bellwether was struggling to open a grimoire of Eldritch lore penned by her ancestor, Jebediah Bellwether, one of the first inhabitants of Zootopia when the city was founded in the mid-19th century. A radical who insisted on a city ruled exclusively by Prey, rather than a fair rule between both Predators and Prey. But at every turn, he was opposed, by the Vampires of the Cabal of the Unseen Eye.
Greedy for power at any cost. Jebediah sold his soul to abominable powers beyond our reality. He used his fortune to appease these powers, specifically Cthulu, in an attempt to free his patron. He failed, as did generation after generation of Bellwether until Dawn's father, Jebediah IV succeded... for all of one minute, when rookie cops, Bogo, Benjamin Clawhauser, and Detective Timothy Goldhoof interfered. Binding Cthuhlu in an ancient totem.
After Dawn had gone into hiding after the Battle of Forrestvale, and the fall of the Night Dragon Cabal. Despite all of the hardships since the Night Howler Crisis, she was still overcome not just by her desire to knock Predators from the top of the food chain (so to speak). But by burning revenge against Judy Hopps, Nick Wilde, and anyone else who had wronged her since she was caught.
By pure chance, she had nightmares that directed her to the temple beneath Cliffside Asylum. And after communing with the octopus-headed terror. She had received Cthulu's blessings.
At present, Dawn is struggling in her efforts to open up her great-great-grandfather's grimoire. "Okay... I'm starting to think that I can't open this stupid book."
"Patience... there might be another way." Said Cthulu, bound within the totem. "You have been using brute force... I know you possess cunning Dawn Bellwether. Perhaps... you must literally use your blood to open it."
"That... makes sense," Dawn admitted. "But there don't seem to be anything I could cut myself with."
"And at this point, no ordinary mortal tool could cut you any way... but there is a way," Cthulu said. "It's a longshot... but I can sense an artifact nearby that can cut through flesh that carries my blessing."
"Any idea where it is?" Dawn asked.
"Show me a map of this city... I will do the best that I can." Cthulu said as Dawn accessed a map of Zootopia on her smartphone. Dawn kept zooming in at the locations that Cthulu specified, needing to be corrected a few times as Dawn struggled with her tentacles. "There... that address! That is where the dagger lies!"
Dawn looked at her phone, her face turned to disbelief when she recognized the address. "Are... are you sure this is right?"
"That is the closest one. All others are far and beyond your ability to travel to without being noticed." Cthulu explained. "Leave... and keep to the shadows. Even in its keepers weakened state, that dagger will be difficult to attain... even with my blessings."
Dawn gulped at the thought of going there. She had only been there a few times... and each time she was harassed by that insane fruit bat.
XXXX
At Blackback Manor, Anna and her husband Davies Hopps were getting ready for an evening. "Are you nervous Davies?" Anna asked her autistic husband.
"We're going to a black-tie party where we'll be mingling with people I know I'll be hating. We won't be able to leave until it's late, and I'll be bored out of my mind by the time we can leave. And I'll probably have to make a speech in front of an audience that expects me to choke." Davies rattled off. "So no... I'm not even a little nervous."
Anna scoffed. "I know you hate these with a burning passion. But we really need to do this." She then shot a glare at Josephus, her insane fruit bat butler. "And you remember what you're supposed to do Josephus?"
The German bat rolled his eyes. "Guard the house, make sure nobody breaks in. I've only been doing this for what? Two-hundred, three-hundred years?" He said in exasperation.
"The Cabal is just concerned about recent... events," Anna said. "You know every artifact down in the basement. You know what even one of those can do in the wrong hands."
"Remind me, when is that basement going to be fully cleared out?" Davies asked.
"Another month I'm afraid," Anna said as she and Davies went out the front door. "You'll get your studio down there, rest assured my love."
Dawn was hiding in some bushes nearby as the two rabbits got into their limo and left. "I thought they'd never leave." She said with relief, Dawn remembered the last time Dawn had been to Blackpaw Manor. She felt an ominous feeling of dread the entire time, and at random intervals, Josephus would glare at her, which made the entire situation worse.
Bottom line, it was the worst birthday party she had been invited to, she didn't even get to eat any cake. Dawn wasn't even surprised when she learned that Anna and her butler were Vampires, it made way too much sense when she stopped to think about it.
Dawn darted through the shadows, keeping out of sight of Anna's neighbors into the backyard. She tried her best to not make any noise to attract Josephus's attention. Though thankfully for her, she didn't realize that Josephus had his affairs to see to.
XXXX
Josephus was playing a modded video game. "YES! KILL THOSE DAISES MY ZOMBIE MINNIONS!" He screamed ecstatically. "TEAR THEM UP BY THE ROOTS MY PRETTY MINIONS!"
XXXX
Dawn, unaware of any of this. Tried to not make any noise. Her blessings from Cthulu made a difference, but she was still anxious about attracting Josephus's attention. For example, she carelessly bumped into an end table, knocking off a priceless vase. She barely caught it with her tentacles and spent five minutes putting it back in place without risking that Anna would notice anything out of place.
She continued threw the hallways until she found the way down to the basement. Then right as she got to the elevator... she noticed what Josephus was doing. "THIS NOISE COULD KILL ORDINARY MORTALS!" Josephus screamed, completely oblivious to Dawn.
Momentarily confused and exasperated, Dawn went down the elevator. "And that's one of the people who rule society from the shadows." She said to herself in disbelief.
When she reached the sub-basement floor where Anna kept the magical artifacts that she was entrusted with. She was in awe at the sheer size of the place, it seemed to stretch on forever. "Focus Dawn." She slapped herself back into focus. "Now if I were an Eldritch dagger, where would I be?" She said out loud. Thankfully for her, she didn't need to look for it, as right there next to the door was a map with 'you are here written near the entrance. "Well... that's convenient," Dawn said, not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth.
She looked over the map and found a sector designated. 'Omega Storage'. "That could be it," Dawn said to herself. She then ran in the direction of Omega Storage, as the hours went on. Dawn was surprised to learn that the floor was much, much bigger than she expected. "I... I'm going to learn there was a tram service I could've taken before, aren't I?" Dawn said when she finally reached Omega Storage.
She then looked to the left and saw that indeed there was an automated tram... by which I mean it was driven by a skeleton. Dawn laughed bitterly to herself as she went into Omega Storage. Inside were various artifacts from bygone eras, each one capable of bringing untold chaos and suffering. Though for now, Dawn was only interested in the dagger.
"No... no... fake... decoy... what even is this? Not it... negative... it's like sorting through Lion-Farts drawers." Dawn muttered to herself as she looked through shelf after shelf of dangerous artifacts from before the dawn of Mammal civilization. Eventually, she came across a very distinct-looking dagger. It was a sickly green and decorated in claws, tentacles, and images of Cthulu's face. "Oh... oh this is what I'm looking for." She said with a grin on her face.
She took the dagger into her hoof/hand. "Tours are closed." Said Josephus, appearing suddenly behind the mutated ewe. "If you want, you can schedule in advance."
Dawn looked Josephus in the eyes. "You know something... I was scared out of my wits when I first met you." She said boldly. "The screaming... the ranting... the glares that seemed to last forever." Dawn showed no fear at Josephus, only bemusement. "But since then... I've seen things you couldn't imagine."
"Oh I know what you are... you're the newest member of the Lovecraft Steel Wool Corporation. You scour all surfaces clear all food, and destroy all germs and grime!" Josephus ranted. "And you're in league with the Daisies!"
Dawn was taken aback. "Okay, everything but that daises part sounds about right." She said. "But- why do you hate daises so much?!"
"If you knew what I knew, you'd know that I know that DAISES CAN'T BE TRUSTED!... now put that dagger back," Josephus said.
Dawn pretended to think about Josephus's demand. "No." She then slammed the Vampiric fruit bat into a nearby wall with her tentacles. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a Great Old One to liberate."
"I'd like to argue with you!" Josephus said as he leaped at Dawn. "No, you won't!"
"Look," Dawn said as she grabbed the Vampiric butler. "I think I know what you're doing, and I'm not going to waste time going back and forth in a bad parody of a Monty Python sketch." She then broke Josephus's wings with her tentacles. "So all I'm going to say is that there's a world of difference between straight-up arguing and contradiction."
Josephus then kicked at Dawn. "I'M INVINCIBLE!"
XXXX
Later that night. Davies and Anna returned from their party. "Davies, I'm so proud of you!" Anna beamed. "You went through a party without having a meltdown!"
"Gosh..." Davies blushed brightly. "It... I just knew that you'd be embarrassed if I lost it."
"You never cease to amaze me." Anna giggled. This mood was ruined when they found Josephus mutilated in the living room.
"Before you ask, this was not self-inflicted like last time when I thought that daisies were going to sprout from my skin," Josephus said. "Short story, we've been burglarized."
"B-B-By who?!" Davies asked in disbelief.
"I'll give you one hint." Josephus then started bleating.
Anna and Davies were annoyed by this, even more than usual with the blood-sucking fruit bat. Then something clicked in Anna's mind. "Bellwether..."
"What?" Davies asked.
"Bellwether... what did she steal Josephus?" Anna demanded.
XXXX
In the depths of the temple, Dawn used the dagger to drip her blood on Jebediah Bellwether's grimoire. "Yes... YES!" She said as the book finally opened. "FINALLY!" Dawn then looked over the contents of the book. Her look of satisfaction and happiness changed to one of disbelief. "I can't read a word of this." She said as she looked over the Eldritch runes that the book was written in.
"I did offer you knowledge beyond mortal ken when you came here," Cthulu said. "But you chose primordial strength instead."
"I thought I'd get more mileage out of the strength, and I did. I mutilated Blackpaw's insane butler while getting the dagger." Dawn said.
"Well, now you'll need to find a mortal scholar who has studied the written language of the Great Old Ones. Fortunately, there's a professor in Arkham Mouseachusets who specializes in the lore of my kind." Cthulu said at length.
"You sure about that?" Dawn asked.
"Since the town's founding, there's been at least one or two Mammals who have studied the Great Old Ones and beyond. Where do you think Jebediah I learned of me?" Cthulu explained. "At any rate, I believe he works at Arkham University. Same as every expert of the Great Old Ones in that town before him."
XXXX
The following morning. Anna was at ZPD Precinct 1, reporting the theft of the dagger. "Oh... this is so much worse than I imagined," Bogo said in disbelief.
"If we're lucky, she can't read Great Old One," Anna said. "Cthulu would know about Arkham University, but it'd be next to impossible for her to directly contact the university without being tracked."
"I'm not going to wait," Bogo said boldly. "I'm going to organize a raid on-"
"No," Anna said. "If Dawn can injure Josephus as badly as she did, then she could decimate any strike team you could organize! You'd be sending Mammals to their death!"
"Well then what are we supposed to do?" Bogo demanded. "Wait for Dawn to free that tentacle-faced monster?!"
Anna sighed. "I... I don't know. We need to be smart about this, but... but I just don't know what to do." Anna was beside herself. "If I were still a Vampire-"
"But you chose to become mortal," Bogo interjected. "Now you've got to deal with the consequences of no longer being a powerful creature of the night. So unless you can just change back into a Vampire despite the vaccine, you're as powerless as I am." Anna's ears drooped. "Just... go home and be safe Mrs. Blackpaw-Hopps. I'll drive you home if-"
"I'll find my own way back home," Anna said as she got off the chair. "Thank you, Cheif Bogo."
XXXX
At Arkham University, professor Horatio Withers was grading papers. Snorting angrily as he looked over a paper. "I... HATE... THIS... JOB!" The horse snarled as he marked another paper with an F-. "I should burn these, and avenge these despoiled parchments... but the university can't afford another lawsuit from rich idiots of rich idiot brats who only took my class for the credits, can't be bothered to study my research notes properly!" He ranted as he signed another stack of papers with an F-.
He growled as he graded paper after paper. Looking forward to lambasting his students. As he said, pretty much all of his students were trust fund babies who regarded his class on the occult as a joke in the first place.
"I left Zootopia to get away from this kind of madness!" Horatio seethed. Wanting nothing more than to get revenge on everyone who had ever been mean to him. He took to studying the forbidden knowledge of the Great Old Ones. "But here I am... stuck in a dead-end job where I'm a joke for actually being knowledgeable, and NOT filling my students with ideological trash!" The ranted like this until he was done grading papers, and as he went to sleep. "One day... all of this is going to be worthwhile."
As he dreamed, he saw visions of cyclopean architecture and a figure in a robe. "Well... you're new. Who are you?" He said to the small figure.
The figure then pointed a giant tentacle upwards. Horatio craned his neck upwards... and was in shocked awe at what he saw.
"Horatio Withers... I have come to bargain." Cthulu said. "Come to Zootopia... aid my disciple. And I shall grant whatever you desire."
Horatio was speechless. All his life, he looked for some way to contact one of the Great Old Ones. But here... in his dreams. He saw one of the most infamous of the Eldritch star gods. Cthulu himself. "I... I would be honored." Horatio said, kneeling before the terrible abomination.
"Make every arrangement you must... and all of you're wildest dreams may yet come true," Cthulu said.
"Yes... yes my lord. I will leave Arkham. A-A-And help your disciple however I can." Horatio prostrated himself. "It... it would be my honor."
"Move quickly... I grow impatient, and time may not be on our side." Cthulu said.
The following morning, Horatio gathered everything he needed to go to Zootopia. His notes and research chief among them.
He was more than eager to gain his revenge. On Arkham University for keeping him on staff as a joke for his studies, on his students for wasting his precious time, and even on a specific fox that coned him out of his lunch money throughout High School... Nickolas Piberius Wilde.
"I've waited years for this..."