Kyle, Richard, and Tyler nervously approached the front of the Horizon building where they found a lone Box Turtle Animalian waiting for them. Though his friendly smile was enough for them to recognize him and they soon jogged up as best they could.
"Peter! What's up?" Kyle asked as he came up and shook hands.
"Nothing much," Peter said slowly, "Glad that things are finally warming up."
The three noted the turtle Animalian was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a shirt under his shell. They knew that in a way Peter's shell, and nearly all other turtle Animalians' shells functioned like clothing in a way, but with regard to certain modesty rules, Peter did still wear clothing. The big thing there, though was the fact that since turtle Animalians could remove their shells, Peter didn't need to buy oversized clothes to fit over his shell. Now, he did need larger sizes, as the three of them could see that his muscles were much bigger than they had been before Animalia. The group had been friends with Peter and his group, and often did agree on many things, ranging from being polite and standing up to bullying, though there had been the obvious difference in that Kyle, Richard, and Tyler weren't into "Dungeons and Dragons" the way the main members of the Green Glacier Adventure Clan were.
"Yeah... that's great," Tyler agreed, "Where are the others?"
"Right now... out with some community service type things," Peter answered, "You know... helping little old ladies cross the street and work out in the gym."
That was something that Peter had found interesting. While he'd gained a lot more energy and interest in things beyond Dungeons and Dragons as an Animalian, which had included working out to impress Mara and the other females, he'd also found that many of the gym facilities that were built in Animalia soon attracted a fair number of even Lyre humans to come in and work out as well. In fact many people from Lyre seemed to enjoy many of the things that were built for Animalia as well. This helped build the two communities closer and closer together, and Peter figured would help both communities survive. This often included senior citizens from Lyre also participating in basic work outs to help them get into and keep and shape, which soon lead to the GGAC offering to help them when they had the time.
"But, as your official sponsor, I'm here," Peter told them, "You guys DO have your parent's permission slips, right?"
Kyle, Richard, and Tyler turned to take their backpacks off and present them to Peter. Peter watched as they pulled out signed permission forms that were pretty standard issue that Horizon issued, particularly with regard to human minors who wanted to become Animalians. It was something that made sure that Horizon didn't abuse anyone and that teens who wanted to become Animalians fully understood that there would be no going back once they converted. They also presented the standard conversion form as well, and both the permission and conversion form were signed by Kyle, Richard, and Tyler's parents in blue ink. That gave some confirmation that they had permission and weren't faking it, as the signatures didn't look like how he or any of his friends signed their names.
"That's good there," Peter nodded, noting the species requests that were on the conversion sheets.
Kyle had requested a melanistic Leopard, which wasn't too hard. While it wasn't naturally that common, Peter knew that Horizon had plenty of DNA for that specific conversion. Richard had requested a leucistic Peregrine Falcon, which as far as Peter knew had taken some time, as that condition was rarer and it took a bit of time for Horizon to get the necessary DNA for that condition. Tyler's was for a domestic goat, and specifically the Arapawa breed. Peter also noted that they were only cleared for a single dose, but that everything was in order, and as such things were okay and he could let them go on as the official "sponsor."
"The only sad thing is that many of the instincts and behaviors aren't quite like the way the Chaotic characters are described in the card game or in the cartoon," Richard said slowly.
"That's probably because it is fantasy," Peter commented.
This was where the biggest difference between them was. While Peter had often played "Dungeons and Dragons" and several more traditional fantasy games with Adam, Tom, and Jerry, with Lina, Reva, Dela, and Mara joining them after Animalia got going, Kyle, Richard, and Tyler had been more into some of the newer trading card games, and most notably the game "Chaotic." Peter knew next to nothing about it, and Adam didn't really like it all that much. From the way Adam described the game, it sounded more like a series of various power ups and alternations that weren't a real test of skill. A player with the right card could get his creature to win regardless of either skill or strategy but simply augmenting the creature through either tech, magic, or some location. Kyle and Adam often debated on the issue with Kyle saying that the game was more than just the points that Adam made to criticize it. Eventually, the two sides agreed to a "live and let live" policy, since before Animalia, none of them were going to do well in a physical confrontation.
"Yeah... but we'd get to LOOK like our favorite characters," Tyler commented, "or at least somewhat."
"Just remember that the point of being an Animalian isn't to resemble characters," Peter reminded them, "you can enjoy all the stories about Perm..."
"Perim, the name of the world where Chaotic takes place is Perim," Kyle answered, "and even that is sort of a hidden magical type place that is a world apart from Earth... Just like Dungeons and Dragons is."
"The point is not to get lost in characters or anything like that," Peter reminded them, "even with only one dose, you'll still have lots of things to get used to that are very different." Peter then looked to Richard specifically, "and for you, Richard, adapting to being able to fly will be a BIG part of that."
The three then nodded, and Peter lead them in, and from there they went through the various specific hoops to go through that related to the standard conversions. It took time, but that was fairly typical with regard to how conversions were handled. Peter waited quietly in one of the waiting rooms where those who would come in for a normal conversion and worked on his homework while waiting for Kyle, Richard and Tyler to come back after their conversion. But even with only one dose, Peter could tell on just how dramatic the transformation for Kyle, Richard, and Tyler was. He remembered his own transformation, not to mention his parents' transformation, and of course those of Adam, Tom, and Jerry. All of those transformations had seen those who were frail, small, and likely to be picked on becoming muscular, healthy, and the physical picture of desirability and athleticism.
However, for himself, his family, and the other Green Glacier Adventure Clan members, that was a pretty singular transformation in that they'd all become Box Turtles. There were some points of difference that related to exact scale colors and shades, but they did all look similar to each other. However, as Kyle, Richard, and Tyler came back, Peter could see some of the more dynamic differences in the fact that each of them had become different Animalians. It was that factor that actually most impressed Peter.
Kyle had become very lithe and agile looking when he came out. He wasn't that much bigger as he was only a single doser and the fact that while Leopards were among the big cats, they didn't have the same bulk that Lion and Tiger Animalians did. In fact large Mountain Lion Animalians like Rick and Clara could be physically bigger than some Leopard Animalians, and Mountain Lions were often considered "little" cats. The most impressive thing though was that Kyle's black fur practically glistened under the lighting. Peter could see that the coat didn't remove his spots, in that like all leopards, Kyle had them, but they were actually a darker shade of black than the rest of him and if one focused, they could find the spots.
Richard was the exact opposite of Kyle. As a bird Animalian, he was pretty close to the size that he was when he went in, though he was stronger looking. As a falcon, and specifically based off of a subspecies of the Peregrine Falcon from South America (Falco peregrinus cassini), his wings were much narrower than the Eagle Animalians and even narrower than the Hawk Animalians, which in theory would help enable him to gain greater speed in a dive. The subspecies he'd chosen was known for some members also having traits that would be judged to be leucistic. His feathers held the same general pattern that the Peregrine Falcon was known for, but his leucism had lightened the feathers on his dorsal side tremendously. Instead of the bluish black coloration, the feathers on his head, back, shoulders, tail-feathers, and wings were actually a whitish-gray. The white underbelly that was normal for the Peregrine Falcon was unchanged. Peter also noted that Richard was also periodically squinting his eyes, though not to bring his eyes into focus but to protect against seeing too well.
The last to come back was Tyler. His transformation was the most interesting in terms of the coloration of his Animalian form. In general he matched what one would expect from a single dosed goat Animalian, being of modest height with short and wiry fur that covered him. His muscles were a bit stronger and larger, but as a single doser, he was obviously smaller than Peter, a double dosed Animalian. His horns weren't fully grown in, but they did poke out through his blonde human hair and curved back slightly. His furred ears were pointed and were on the upper sides of his head, but held a rather stretched out football like shape. His eyes were still the same blue they'd always been, as has been noted that many humans when they became Animalians didn't see their eye color change, but his pupils did take on the horizontal shape that was typical for goats. It was the coloration as a Arapawa Goat that was the most interesting.
His head, the back of his neck, shoulders and back was black in color. However, there were strands of creamish-white fur that ran over his eyes and ran down the top sides of his muzzle. They also made some spots along his lower jaw and chin that were also a creamish-white in color. This also ran in a stripe from Tyler's down the sides of his neck and then to the underside of his neck and chest. His lower legs and arms were tannish brown with black striping that lead down to his hooved digitigrade feet and fingers. Tyler was wearing shorts when he came back, but Peter could see that his upper legs were a grayish-brown.
"So, how are you feeling?" Peter asked.
"Not baaaaaaaaaad," Tyler joked.
That earned a few laughs that were enjoyed by all.