Anton was busy making protein shakes. Since a green iguana's diet was primarily vegetables, he needed an extra supplementary of protein to make sure that his muscles will stay strong. As usual, he was making a big enough batch to share with Marlysa who was working on their dinner salad.
But then there came a knock at the door. Of course, Anton had to turn off the blender to make certain he was actually hearing it. Wondering who it could be, he walked to the front door and looked out. He didn't see anything until a familiar voice said, "Down here, ya mug!" Anton looked down to see a short but rather beefy man. His hair might have been originally blond, but it was speckled thoroughly with grey now.
"Larry? Is that you?" asked Anton.
"Who else could it be, ya ol' bastard?" said the man in a distinctly Australian accent, but with a broad grin on his face.
"Well, come on in," said Anton, "If I know you were coming, I'd have gotten something made for you."
"Eh, no worries," said Larry as he came in, "Have ta be watchin' what I'm eatin' anyways."
Marlysa walked out of the kitchen and asked, "Anton, who is it?"
Larry gave one look at Marlysa and gave an impressed whistle. "She's a real spunk of a sheila, ain't she? You're tinny you netted her." Marlysa just gave him a confused look, not sure whether to be flattered or insulted.
"This is my friend, Larry. He was a rival back in my old bodybuilding days, he's from Australia, and he likes to use the lingo to confuse strangers," said Anton.
"I see," said Marlysa uncertainly, "Well, I'd offer you something to eat, but we mostly have vegetables."
"Really? Never thought you'd go as vejjo as a wombat," said Larry to Anton.
"Well, I am a green iguana now," said Anton.
"Well, go to town! You're as fit as a Mallee bull but you're only an iguana? Though you'd gone dinosaur," said Larry.
"No, you should see the real dinosaurs," said Anton, "They're even bigger than me."
Anton and Larry spent quite a bit of time catching up. Marlysa didn't interrupt their conversation very much, even though most of it was going right over her head. Eventually, where there was a break in the conversation, Marlysa asked, "So, what brings you all the way here?"
Larry sighed and said, "Well, I heard about this Project White Lily Anton has started."
"Oh, right," said Anton, "I had nearly forgotten that you used to 'juice up' back then."
"He doesn't look as bad as other steroid abusers," said Marlysa.
"I didn't use them as much, but often enough," said Larry, "I had a bit of a...Napoleon complex back then."
"He's sensitive about his height," explained Anton, "So when he couldn't get taller, he tried to get buffer."
"The steroids were only to help me get a boost," said Larry, "I didn't need them to keep me buff. But the piper's gotta be paid now."
"Where's it hitting you?" asked Anton.
"My kidneys," said Larry, "The ol' boys can't take as much bilge as they used to."
"Well, you don't have to worry about that now," said Anton, "This is why I set up Project White Lily. But you do realize it's more than cleansing your body."
"Yeah, yeah, some cleansing my spirit tosh," said Larry, "No offense, Anton, but I'm not much of the spiritual type."
"Well, let's focus on getting your body fixed first," said Anton.
==========
It was really a simple procedure to get Larry his doses. The groundwork for Project White Lily had already been well-founded by Project Phoenix which it was branching off from. Inspired by how his former rival had been changed, Larry decided he wanted to become a frilled lizard. There was a minor hassle as frilled lizard DNA was not ready at hand at Horizon Labs at the time. But Larry did bring a sample of lizard DNA from Australia that was good enough to use.
Larry's transformation was pretty interesting to watch. Since he was wearing just a pair of gym shorts, it was easy to see it happen. The progression of grey-brown scales across his body went pretty rapidly, though it result in quite a lot of hair falling off the hairy Australian's body. His muscles had gone a little soft with age, but they were becoming a lot firmer and bigger as his body became bigger. The claws on his hands and feet ended up being bigger than Anton's. Despite Australia's reputation as a desert country, the frilled lizard actually lives on the northeastern coast where there are forest and spends most of its life in the trees. His tail was also thicker than Anton's as the frilled dragon was well-known for being able to run on its hind legs. The development of Larry's frill was the most interesting part. It started out as some loose skin hanging from his jaws before the cartilage spines in it started growing out. Unfurled, it made it look like Larry was wearing a cowl. But when it expanded, the orange scales on it really stood out and it had a width of three feet. Larry was considerably taller and buffer after his conversion, if still a head shorter than Anton. But he would definitely be giving Anton some serious competition in the next bodybuilding contest.
After his conversion, Larry had a short interview with Animalia Ambassadoria for them to show on one of their later shows. "So, how well do you know Ben and Tyree?" asked Sophie.
"Those Tasmanian Tigers?" asked Larry, "Not really personally. I at least know about them by reputation. And I've been keeping track on what they've been doing. Kinda important now since I'll probably be part of the Australian Animalia colony now."
"Have they got their land yet?" asked Abby.
"They're still trying to nut out an agreement about where it could be. At least the private zoo is going help out by letting their animals be uplifted," said Larry.
"Anything else you've heard?" asked Samson.
"I hear they're gonna get a few Tasmanian Devils who've been suffering the worst from the facial tumor disease," said Larry, "It's not gonna save the whole species that way, but it'll at least help them."
There wasn't a lot that Larry could provide on information regarding Ben and Tyree's efforts. Hopefully they'll be getting more news from the Tasmanian Tigers soon.