Hellloooo travelers! Foamy here with the start of a new adventure!

Now to start this off I have to declare that this was ready to post May 15th, the 5 year mark for Those Violet Eyes, but FF is being an ass and wouldn't let me chose categories when making a new story. I had to break down and get the app just to post this.

With that being said, this story will make SO MUCH MORE SENSE if you've read a decent bit of the DC comics, particularly Animal Man/Swamp Thing. This is because I've spliced together multiple comic ages/eras and melded them with the animated series universe to create this one. There will be people you don't know and things going on that won't be explained right away. Google helps with the people (I lie, I've retconned things to make more sense!) but Foamy helps with the story.

But you'll have to read and find that out for yerself.

Welcome to the Foamyverse.

Drip…drip…drip…

"Ignatius?"

"Yes, Maxine?"

"I…don't really like this place."

"Me neither."

"It smells really bad."

"As the Avatar of the Red, you can turn off your olfactory senses if need be."

"Oh, for real?"

"Yes. Your father didn't tell you?"

"…he didn't even tell me he was going away until the day he left. So…no."

"Oh." The cat paused and looked up at his ward. "I'm sorry, Maxine. I had no say in Buddy's deal with the Bridgewalker-"

"It's okay, Ignatius. I'm used to wading through the crap that is my life."

Ignatius cringed at that statement and glanced at his sixteen year old human companion. Maxine Baker, the present Avatar of the Red and the daughter of the former hero Animal Man, looked tired and sad. Her life had indeed been a rough one. Conceived using the power of the Red solely for the purpose of being the Avatar, she had only a few peaceful years of her childhood before everything blew up. Between the fighting with the Rot, the insurrection of the self proclaimed King of Limbs, the divorce of her parents, and the death of her brother, it had been a wonder that she was still sane by the time she hit ten.

Things hadn't gotten any easier for her after her father had left over a year and a half ago to take the place of the Bridgewalker, the overseer of the Seed World, which was a planet sitting on the fringes of existence that had the power to create life on newly formed planets. How the Green and the Red had control over that world when it should have been the Divided's job was beyond both his understanding and control.

But hopefully today's investigation would be quick and easy. He and Shepard had talked about it and agreed that some downtime was necessary. The girl might be physically fine but she was in need of mental rest too. Maxine liked snow, so maybe a nice mountain retreat somewhere.

"I take it your mother still isn't speaking to you?" He asked, trying to shift the subject.

"She told me she was getting married a few days ago. Some guy named Billy or Brad or something." She said bitterly.

Ignatius cringed again. Now that she was the full time Avatar, she had responsibilities she had to attend to. Her mother had vehemently fought with him about it when it started, but Maxine chose the Red over her mother as a bigger picture sort of thing. And since this was the second time this had happened, Maxine's mother had reacted very, very negatively about it.

"I'm sorry to-"

"What are we doing here again?" Maxine irritably interrupted him. This was becoming more commonplace and it concerned him.

"There's been a number of unusual animal deaths here and we're here to see what's going on." Ignatius said gently.

"We're in a sewer. Under Los Angeles. Of course things are dying down here!"

"Well, it's animals that shouldn't be down here-"

"We literally just passed an alligator the size of a school bus a few minutes ago. She had her babies on her head. Alligators aren't supposed to live in sewers and yet-"

"Yes Maxine, I saw them." Ignatius snapped at her. "But things like gorillas and kangaroos don't belong down here now do they?"

Maxine paused and looked down at her feline companion in confusion. "Gorillas and kangaroos?"

"Yes, amongst other things."

Maxine was quiet as they walked further down the sewer line, but she did eventually sigh.

"I'm sorry Ignatius. I didn't mean to snap at you like that." She said as they came to an intersection. She peered left and he looked right.

"It's alright, I understand that you're under pressure right now. I'm sorry for snapping too."

"If that freaky plant guy would leave me alone it wouldn't be so bad, but…" Maxine sighed again. "I miss Swamp Thing."

"As do I." Ignatius lied. He didn't particularly care for the plant elemental, but he was infinitely better than the Floronic Man, the latest Avatar of the Green. For some reason he was hell-bent on killing Maxine and wiping out the Red, which put him in the same exact category as Anton Arcane, the Avatar of the Rot. He didn't have the slightest inkling as to why the man(?) hated the Red so much.

They really needed some more allies. Perhaps the Blue or the Melt would ally with them? Granted, there would have to be a really good reason for them to do so…

"Look!" Maxine pointed down tunnel in front of them.

Ignatius looked down into the murky gloom and found that one patch of darkness did not wilt under Maxine's flashlight. They moved forward together, cautiously, until they found that it was a slight step off that led to a door in the wall. It had no labels on it.

"This looks newer than the sewers." Maxine said as she looked at the doorframe.

Given that there were clear markings of the door having been opened in an area where it was obvious that humans rarely came, he couldn't help but to be wary.

"Open it, but be ready." He told her.

Maxine, ready to bolt, did as he asked. She was not a fighter and he always prioritized her safety because of it.

The door, unlocked, quietly swung inward. It was just as dark in the downwards stairwell as it was in the tunnels. And it was most certainly cleaner.

They said nothing as the descended deeper and deeper into the earth. There was absolutely no way this was a part of the sewer system above at this point.

"I don't like this." Maxine admitted.

"I don't either."

"Something feels…off."

He paused. "Off?"

Maxine nodded. "Yeah. I can feel animals here, but something about them doesn't feel right. And there's something else here too. Something…big."

"What is it?"

"I don't know. I've never felt anything like this in the Red before."

So much for an easy day. Ignatius thought ruefully as they continued down the stairs.

Eventually the stairs ended and a new tunnel began. Like the stairs, it was noticeably cleaner. Noticeably did not mean perfectly, because there were a few spider webs in the cracks of the brick walls and ceiling. As Maxine approached, the spiders would come scurrying out and climb her, the insects eager to be near the All-Mother.

Ignatius understood the feeling. All living beasts felt drawn to Maxine, the living heart of the Red.

"Look, light!" Maxine called out softly as she cut her flashlight off. There was indeed light ahead, coming from around a curve.

They crept forward as quietly as possible, Ignatius is his original cat form and Maxine smothered in spiders.

While the tunnel did keep going, there were, in fact, small windows in the right hand wall. Little more than a head sized hole, they must have served as air ventilation as well as for viewing.

And by fang and claw, what a view did they reveal!

"Is that a dragon?!" Maxine whispered, her eyes wide as she picked Ignatius up to see too.

"Impossible." He said. "Dragons left this world, left the Red, centuries ago!"

But lo and behold, there was indeed a dragon there, sitting upon a throne of pillows and surrounded by…

"Ignatius! Is that the Splinterfolk that followed Brother Blood?!" Maxine asked in horror.

"It is!" He said, just as horrified. "Your father said he dealt with them after that!"

"It doesn't look like he did shit to them! I thought they lived in San Francisco, what are they doing here?!"

Maxine was right. The former humans were just as mutated and warped by Sebastian Blood's power as they were when they invaded the Red with their master to do the bidding of the self-proclaimed King of Limbs. Hell, some of them looked even more abominable than before, more animalistic even.

And they were clearly worshipping the dragon!

There were rows and rows of them on their knees, bowing and chanting something he couldn't understand, while a few others were waiting in line as if to speak to the dragon. Off to the side there were a handful of other Splinterfolk that were in chains. Dissenters, perhaps?

"Oh great dragon, master of the Splinterfolk and voice of the King of Limbs!" The lead bestial being said. "We have brought you new offerings!"

Ignatius remembered that man, Clinton Hogue. His body was just no different than it was before, with his clawed bear-like right arm, zebra striped left arm, and his furry lower half. The only real difference was that the horn on his head was broken.

Another stepped forward, small and rat-like.

"I am Samuel Samson of the Southshire Skitterlings, great dragon!" He said in a voice that was more a squeak than anything. "I have caught-brought you tribute for your enjoyment, master-lord!"

The 'offering', so to speak, was a dark haired Hispanic girl no older than Maxine. Dressed in naught but rags and terrified beyond belief, she screamed as another person, a pig-like woman(?) with a buffalo's horns, dragged her forward and threw her down before the gargantuan reptile. The great lizard leaned his long neck down and gave the frightened girl a once over.

"This pleases me." He rumbled in a way that shook the room. "Take her to that circle."

The screaming girl was dragged to an odd white mark on the floor and tossed upon it. No sooner did she land did the dragon spit out a word and the girl vanished in a flash of red light. What was that? Magic?

"What more have you to offer?" The dragon said, smoke lazily floating from it's nostrils.

"Five who speak-talk ill of you, my lord, and fifty hand crafted pillows made from the finest materials available!" Samuel looked back and gestured to some of the Splinterfolk that followed him. They brought up bags and bags and bags of pillows and piled then around the dragon, who looked amused.

"There is more." The dragon said, not asked.

The ratman nodded. "Yes-yes, my lord-master. As per your orders, we have been looking for magic users and have found-located one. His name is Felix Faust and he live-dwells in a small tower at the northeastern tip of the human territory named Vermont, where we are from."

"Faust? Hmmm….a name I have not heard for some time." The dragon's tail twitched. "This pleases me. Your tribute is adequate."

Samuel beamed with joy. "Thank you, oh great master! We live to serve-obey!"

"Yes, you do."

Without warning, the dragons tail lashed out and crushed the five dissenters. There was a sickening thud and crunching of bones, but the Splinterfolk died without a word escaping from their lips.

"Have you found the hideout of the betrayers?" The dragon continued, unfazed by what just occurred.

Samuel, shaking with both awe and in terror, shook his head. "They escape-flee quite too well, my lord. But we, like the other clans, still search for them constantly!"

"Good. Now-"

Whatever the dragon said was lost to Maxine and Ignatius as a creeeeaaaaakkk sounded to their left.

Both snapped their heads in that direction to find another rat-like man stepping out of a door far down the hallway neither had noticed. He was cradling a rifle in one arm as his free hand rubbed his stomach, a disturbed look on his face.

"No more taquitos for this one, no-no." He grumbled before he looked down the hallway. His eyes met theirs and widened with shock.

Ignatius bolted down the hallway, his form rippling and growing as he assumed his actual form of a massive hairless cat. It wasn't his body as a Totem of the Red, but as Maxine's guardian. He fully expected the ratman to flee or shoot at him, but he was proven very, very wrong when the bestial being ran to the nearest window.

"MASTER! MAN-THIIINNGS!" The man shrieked before Ignatius could stop him. He didn't hesitate to pounce and snap the Splinterfolk's spine in one blow, but he just wasn't quick enough.

"Ignatius." Maxine said in a panic, looking back through her window and making eye contact with the dragon. "We need to go. Now!"

"Agreed."

By the time Ignatius made it back to Maxine the air had grown insanely hot. Using the very being of the spiders, they leapt into the Red with flames tickling their feet. The hallway behind them melted under the dragons flames and countless insects died in the process.

Laying on the metaphorical ground at the baffled Shepard's feet, Maxine and Ignatius panted and tried to calm their pounding hearts.

"That was too close. Way too close." Maxine said.

"Agreed."

"…we just made a new enemy, didn't we?"

"Probably." Ignatius groaned. So much for a good day.

"Well? Who was it?" Malchior asked.

Clinton Hogue gestured to another Splinterfolk, a doglike man with an alligators tail.

"I know that smell in the stairwell, my lord, from a long time ago. It was the Avatar of the Red, Maxine Baker, enemy of the King of Limbs. She is a usurper!" The man said enthusiastically.

"Interesting. My first time seeing her." Malchior rumbled in displeasure. The Splinterfolk finding out that he had no voice for their so-called King of Limbs didn't concern him. What could these mongrels do to a dragon as mighty as he? Nothing, that's what. But the Avatar of the Red…

"Summon the clans." He ordered after dwelling on this for some time. "Reach out to those who follow the Great Maw as well. I am willing to negotiate an alliance. Use Black Manta as a liaison. Also, send word to General Immortis of the Brotherhood of Evil. We will need the technological support of his robot legions to make up for lack of numbers. But more importantly…find the Avatar of the Red."

"As you command, master!" The Splinterfolk all said in unison.

Content, Malchior settled in on his pillows to brood as they scattered about. By taking the power of the Red, he could conquer this world and find his kin. He wouldn't need the humans for his experiments anymore. That was good, for he found their flesh to be revolting.

All he had to do was be patient for just a bit longer...