"You're sure you don't want to compete?" Larry asked to Anton and Marlysa as he noted the two seated in one of the front rows at the Claw Coliseum for the A-BC competitions.
Larry and Anton may have had past rivalry, but it was actually rather friendly in many ways. While Larry was looking forward to doing well, as becoming an Animalian had improved his body and build in many ways, he actually did wish to have Anton there. In a way, if he won, it would mean that he'd win fair and square in a way, especially considering how well toned both Anton and his wife, Marlysa were. In some ways, Larry was also jealous of his friend in that Anton had found love twice. He remembered sending sympathy cards when Anton's first wife died from an allergic reaction to a bee sting, and had been quite glad to see Anton smile again when his wedding to Marlysa was televised.
"If I were to compete... it would be in the partner's competition with Marlysa," Anton answered, "but right now... with teaching and coordinating things for Project White Lilly... there's a lot on my plate."
There was also the fact that Anton and Marlysa also had their hatchlings to take care of. And they were presently sleeping in the stroller right in front of Marlysa at the moment. Anton thought he heard a chirp come from them as they reacted to some of the crowd noise, but it didn't last too long and wasn't super loud. If they were waking up, they'd probably be fine, and if the crowd noise was too much, they weren't too far away from an exit.
"You still lift, mate, we've even worked out together quite a few times," Larry pointed out.
"Most of that is just to stay in shape and stay active," Anton answered, "but don't worry... this doesn't mean I would participate in some events like the IAC. As I told you before... shaping young minds and helping them be healthy in life is a big part of what I do now."
Larry waived one clawed hand back to Anton as though he were dismissing the argument entirely. Anton only shook his head at that.
"Sometimes... you can't help but miss the old days and all that," Larry answered, "it's not the same without you."
"Even if we were in the A-BC this summer, though," Marlysa spoke up, "we'd be in the couples competition. So... it wouldn't be quite the same as the old days for you."
Larry tilted his head, stepped back and made a pose that made him look like superman leaping into the air with his scales outlining the strong curve of his muscles. He then extended his neck frill, making his head and neck area look bigger before giving a cocky grin to Anton.
"This time I'd win," Larry commented, "Iguanas don't got the muscles for this, do they?"
"No, no they don't," Anton shook his head, "but then, they don't a frill to begin with."
"And I think the judges will have markers that will serve for comparison between species with regard to the overall score," Marlysa commented, "so... Iguanas not having the specific features that the Frilled Lizard has would be taken into account. The big thing you'll have is making sure you're healthy."
Larry shook his head and then nodded. He knew that, as the organizers running the competition were pretty clear on the rules. Which was big as while most of the competitors were Animalians, there were a few human competitors that had also entered as part of the present professional body building circuits. They were allowed in, as while most Animalians were generally stronger than normal humans, a lot of the competition related to how well sculpted the muscles were. In this, someone who had a lot of big muscles but little real tone to them could lose to someone with smaller muscles but bet tone to them. And much of the competition also had competitors divided into specific brackets that would make the judging easier.
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Meanwhile, on stage, Amos was going through his own routine. As he moved and flexed, his eyes were focused on the judges who sat at a table in front of him, and they frequently looked to each other and jotted down notes. It had to relate to his score and his spines. While the spines on the Texas Horned Lizard Animalian didn't block all view of his musculature, they could get in the way, and unlike the Turtle Animalians, he couldn't just remove his spines the way they could remove their shells. He was healthy, he knew that, and he actually felt rather good about these events as he would actually be in good health and completely clean.
His past use with steroids had provided plenty of problems, which had been a big part of why he'd joined Project White Lily with Buford and Esteban. It got all of that out of their system, and privately, Amos had to admit to himself he looked rather good as an Animalian. He felt stronger and healthier than he'd ever felt before, and he did his best as he made his poses as part of going through his routine.
"And now for the big test," Amos thought to himself as he turned and clinched his muscles trying to get as much definition as he could, hoping that his spines wouldn't be too much of a problem. He knew that the rules were such that specific anatomical features wouldn't be used to count against Animalian or Human competitors, but there had been plenty of specific rules that required specific actions, and it wasn't impossible that his spines might count against him, as they could block the view of the muscles on his back.
He then completed the turn and moved back to face the judges again as they deliberated. After a few moments they reached behind the curtain that the covered the table they were at to lift and then hold up the scores they assigned. The cards were large and essentially held one number on them and the judge held up two cards. The card on the left side would before the decimal point while the number on the right would be after the decimal point. Cameras caught the sight and then displayed it on the viewing screens for all to see, though Amos didn't need that. He could see the numbers with his own eyes and he gave a bit of a fist pump at that. His scores weren't necessarily the best, but they were more than good enough to move on. Feeling secure in that, he thanked the judges and then moved toward the stairwell behind him.
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In a section of the stands that was set aside for those competing in the A-BC, Esteban clapped with approval for Amos being able to move out of the preliminary round and into the next one. While the Project White Lilly members had put a lot of effort for training for the UFC-A tournament, and spent some time training for it, there was a lot of that training worked very well with a lot of what they'd done before, which made participation in the A-BC something to do for fun. Some of it was also something that all of them could take pride in the fact that they were clean.
And so far it looked like everyone from Project White Lily had made it through the first round, though after the preliminaries, the rounds would get particularly tougher. And Esteban had seen some fairly decent competition ahead of him, which would mean the next rounds would have the potential to be tough.
"I thought that score was a bit low," a voice commented from behind him.
Esteban turned and saw one of the other Turtle Animalians that was in the competition. He was a male Box Turtle Animalian, who looked quite well, and had seemed to bring his own special cheering section. Esteban remembered seeing a group of Box Turtles cheering and waving signs that read "Green Glacier Dad Forever." Among them was a female that held up a hatchling to wave down to the male. And while the Alligator Snapping Turtle was easily bigger than the Box Turtle, Esteban could easily see that this male was fairly impressively built and had done extremely well in his round of the preliminaries.
"Amos probably just missed a specific pose or something like that," Esteban answered, "I don't think they could dock points for his spikes, since he can't remove them. It's something that professional judges pay a lot of attention to."
"Yeah... there was a bit of that with the IAC last summer," the other turtle Animalian commented, "My wife and I went together... mostly for fun and in some excitement after some of the other perks of being an Animalian."
"Wouldn't you be with her in the couple's competition, then?" Esteban wondered.
"Nah, Fran isn't competing with this tournament... and I'm mostly here for fun," the male answered.
"Why not?" Esteban wondered.
"Our eggs hatched," the male gave a proud smile, "So, we take turns looking after them... though when they're hungry... they need their mother, as I can't give milk."
Esteban nodded at that. He'd seen a few of the scientific papers that had been posted on Animalians that would attract a lot of attention. He didn't fully understand it all, but some things did make sense in that since the project that Horizon and the government had been working on before the first outbreak related to a specialized hormone supplement to make healthier cattle for the meat market, but lacking many of the negatives that other such programs had had, that that sort of treatment soon crossed species barriers and was part of why every mature female Animalian was always lactating and why even birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish Animalians would develop features that were typically mammalian. It then meant that Animalian infants would require milk for their own nutrition.
"So, I take it the group up there in the stands with the signs is your family?" Esteban asked.
"Yeah, my wife Fran, my oldest son, Peter, his girlfriend and her sisters, and mine and Fran's hatchlings," the male answered, "We're one happy family... You can call me Carl."
"Esteban," Esteban answered offered Carl a handshake, "You figure you'll be doing this professionally?"
"Nah, just for fun," Carl answered, "don't get me wrong... I like having the energy and strength... but I'm more in this for fun, rather than money... Especially when this wouldn't be a career you can pursue forever."
Esteban nodded, though he was thinking for the moment.
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Meanwhile, Buford and Aleta were actually waiting in a line at one of the concession stands that was present for those that came to the arenas at the Claw Coliseum. They were essentially located below and behind the main stands which guests could go to for various foods. Some were Animalian specific vendors and served foods that they could digest without difficulty and others were more typical concession stands for the human guests that would come to various events. They'd watched through some of the other events with the A-BC, and Buford was glad to see old friends like Esteban and Amos do well. However, at the moment, the two Bull Shark Animalians had felt their stomachs gurgle and thus had come to satisfy that need.
"Hey... aren't you two IN the event?" the vendor asked them as they waited and finally got to the front of the line.
"We're in the couples grouping," Aleta answered, "but that's the last group to come up... right now we're a bit hungry and would like a bite to eat before that part of the preliminaries starts."
"But... uh... wouldn't you be worried about loosing your muscle?" the vendor asked, seemingly generally puzzled.
"With all the training for this and for the UFC-A, I'd think we can indulge in a little jerky without too much risk," Buford commented, "junk food can be bad... but only if you eat too much. Even some of the foods that they say are "good" for you won't be as good if you have too much."
The vendor shrugged and then turned to collect a set of wrapped jerky from a tray behind him, "Do you two think you'll win?"
Buford looked over to Aleta and then back to the vendor and gave a small shrug. He'd like to win, but he'd found that competing as a couple was very different from competing as an individual. Anton and Marlysa had given some great tips and pointers that related to their competing in the IAC, but Buford still found that it was something quite different from what he was used to. He had some awareness on how couples would be judged, but a lot of the practice for the event was actually something depended on the tips from Anton and Marlysa.
"I'd think we'd just rather have fun with this," Aleta commented, "Prior to my uplifting... I was never involved in anything like this."
"And while I did compete professionally for a time... before I met Aleta... I was pretty much on my own," Buford added, "I'd think a lot of this is exploring new waters... for both of us."
The vendor shrugged before giving a smile before offering the wrapped jerky and taking Buford's payment.
"Well... I wish you the best of luck," the vendor spoke.
"Thanks," Buford smiled as he and Aleta took their jerky and moved to head back to their seats.