Mardi Gras...
Peter's life had changed a lot because of the Animalia Virus. He had a very fit body that was no longer hampered by asthma or bad eyesight. He had four sexy girls who were very willing to share him and have a lot of sex. His parents were also healthier than they ever were before. The fact that they were all anthro box turtles didn't bother anyone at all.
But it wasn't just his species and health that changed. The Animalia Virus gave Peter and his dad very muscular bodies and they both felt the urge to work them out. Peter spent a lot of time at the gym lifting weights and pushing the limit of his new strength. He was working to compete in the middleweight bodybuilding competition for the IAC. And yet Peter was still overshadowed by his father. For some reason, Peter's dad became even more massive than Peter and was entering the heavyweight bodybuilding competition. His mom certainly loved her sexy, buff husband. They made little secret they were planning on producing eggs in the spring nor their nightly 'practice sessions'.
Considering his muscular new body, his new exercise drive, and his personal harem, one would have expected Peter to become another jock. But that wasn't the case. While Peter had better health and a rich sex life, his core personality was still the same nerd that he always was, just more physically active. He never got who he was before Animalia nor did he leave the only friends he had when he was human.
Considering Peter was a near-stereotypical nerd, it was little surprise that his friends were also classified as nerds. As a matter of fact, the four of them covered a wide spectrum of nerdish appearances. Adam was a typical Asian nerd, having Japanese parentage. He was also easily the shortest boy in school, being only 4 and a half feet tall. He wasn't really a midget, but he sure was treated like one by the bullies. Tom was the fat guy in their group. He always had a roly-poly figure ever since he was a baby and never really lost. He attempted to make himself look a little tougher by keeping his hair in a short buzzcut. However, everyone agreed it only made him look like Curly Howard. Jerry was the slacker type of nerd who wasn't very particular about his appearance. Which would explain why he kept his blond hair so long it obscured his eyes most of the time.
The four of them stuck with each other through thick and thin. Eventually, they started their own D&D club. They named it the Three Friends and Jerry Adventure Guild because that cartoon was their favorite and fortunately it described their little group quite nicely. There were other people in their club which made their nerdish isolation a lot better.
When Peter became a turtle Animalian, he didn't just leave his friends for cooler circles. He still kept hanging out with them, even if his attention was a little divided with his new exercising drive and his personal harem. The other three were were rather impressed with Peter's change in fortune and it was pretty obvious that they envied his new life. The only reason they didn't join in as well was the cost of people who weren't in Project Phoenix to become Animalians was becoming pretty high to the increasing demand and to deter just everyone to becoming Animalians and create too much of an imbalance.
That wasn't to say the current price was unachievable. In fact, pooled together, the four of them did have enough money for conversions. The problem was that it was only enough for two. And considering the 'all for one and one for all' loyalty of their group, none of them would consider taking the conversion when one of their number would be left behind.
Thankfully, that was about to change. It wasn't that they would suddenly come into enough money for a third conversion. In celebration of Mardi Gras, the festival of debauchery, conversions were half-off. Meaning they had enough money to get all three of them converted now. And Peter knew how to go about that: with a goblet of turtle milk.
"So, once we drink from this, we'll be muscular turtle men like you?" asked Jerry.
"You'll need a second dose and the girls will help you with that," said Peter.
"This seems...a little too easy," said Adam, "This is the kind of thing we should win after an epic quest."
"Well, if you want to play a game of Dungeon & Dragons with the goblet as a prize..." started Peter.
"Uh, no, I don't think we need to bother with that," said Tom quickly, "Why wait? Paperwork's all one, payment's made, we have the goblet right here. We're not going to wait until Mardi Gras is over, right?"
"If you insist," said Adam.
"I want to be a turtle now anyways," said Jerry.
The three of them took turns drinking from the goblet. It didn't take long for the milk to take effect. Like Peter, they felt their skin becoming covered with scales while their torsos got bulkier with their growing shells. The most painful part was when their faces changed into turtle beaks.
When the changes stopped, the boys peeled off their ill-fitting clothes. "Huh, it's like I'm wearing my own personal armor," said Jerry.
"I thought I would be taller," said Adam, who was still noticeably shorter than the others.
"And bulkier," said Tom. He did slim down, but he wasn't as ripped as Peter.
"Well, that's what the second dose is for," said Peter, "The other girls have already got that set up. There's just a little matter of a quest to get to them."
"Do we have time for D&D game?" asked Tom.
"Actually, it's more like LARPing," said Peter.
That quickly hooked his friends on the idea. Peter had set up a pretty impressive dungeon, even if a lot of it was cardboard. And at the end of the long obstacles awaited their prizes: three turtle girls willing to help them 'level up'. It wasn't particularly clear which of the four turtles they were dealing with. With their ID tags, it was pretty hard to tell the girls apart. Even Peter could be confused at times. But the reason the girls weren't wearing their tags was because they wanted to allow chance to have a greater factor. After all, eventually, these turtle men would become the mates of whoever Peter ultimately didn't choose.
Once the second dose had been, ahem, administrated, the turtles decided they needed a new name for their club. 'Three Friends and Jerry Adventure Club' didn't seem to have the right ring now. They needed something to better describe their new races. After some considerable thought, they settled upon the 'Green Glacier Adventure Clan', considering their scales were green and they were now, in terms of fighting classes, might glaciers. This will be the start of a new lifestyle for them, one that involves board games and weight lifting.