While there were plenty of people who went to Claw Coliseum to work out, there were some who came here just to watch Animalians work out. Considering both sexes worked out in skintight outfits that often left a lot uncovered, it was not hard to see why this would be so irresistible for some. As such, there was a guy in a pest control suit who goes around and sprays the larger crowds of peepers at the Coliseum with a mixture of dry ice and grape juice. It was harmless fun, but it reminded the peepers to move on.
And it shouldn't be much of a surprise that there was a rather big crowd of peepers for the newest members of Animalia. Andre was pretty big himself, a product of his overproduction of testosterone before his conversion. Even as a lizard, he was taller and more muscular than other boys that were his age and only single-dosed. But Heracles was easily bigger still. The liger had weighed half a ton before his uplifting and while it wasn't a record-breaking size, it still translated to a pretty huge Animalian form. And while he still had room to bulk up more, Heracles was clearly in the super-heavyweight division. As such, there were multiple girls drooling at the windows that had to be sprayed away rather often.
"Those girls really like to watch you flex," commented Andre.
"If they're wanting to be my mate, they're in for a disappointment," said Heracles, "I'm sterile. I'll never be able to produce cubs."
"Somehow, the cubs part doesn't seem like the thing they want most," said Andre, "Anyways, that might not be the case. Wouldn't the Animalian virus have fixed that problem?"
"Ligers have an uneven pairing of genes," said Heracles, "It keeps me from producing any viable seed."
"Well, you're not just a liger now," said Andre, "Maybe the human DNA's balanced you out."
"Maybe, but I'm not offering myself that easily," said Heracles. Though the idea of being able to father cubs did appeal to him. It would be one of several advantages his uplifting would have brought.
==========
Ligers, being an unnatural species, were not common. Usually, the crossbreeding happens accidentally when zookeepers have left a lion and a tigress alone for too long. Though there were unscrupulous sorts who purposely breed ligers. But Heracles was not one of them, having been born and raised in a respectable zoo. When Horizon Labs started looking for a liger to uplift, Heracles was offered not because he had a medical condition or that he was too old. Rather, Heracles was too lonely. It was clear he picked up the sociability from the lion side and since there weren't any other ligers in the zoo, he was obviously feeling lonely. Life as an Animalian should give Heracles more chances to socialize.
While Judy had overseen the uplifting of many a carnivore since she had first started working at Horizon Labs, few made her want to bolt like Heracles. He was a massive cat, already eye level with her abs and looked to be 10 feet long at least. His fur was mostly tawny with dark brown stripes and a pale underbelly. He had a bit of a scraggly mane, not unlike an adolescent lion's. "Is it true that ligers keep growing all their lives?" asked Judy.
"That's a misconception," said Dr. Stein, "Ligers simply take longer to reach their full size and they grow a lot during their formative years. But they have been known to surpass their parents in size, even the tigers."
"Well, Heracles here is definitely going to be as big as the Roman hero he's named after," said Judy.
"Actually, Heracles is the Greek name. The Romans were the one who called him Hercules," said Dr. Stein.
"Really? Everyone says it's Hercules, even with those Greek plays," said Judy.
"Well, Hercules rolls off the tongue a lot easier than Heracles," said Dr. Stein.
Despite his formidable size, Heracles was led into the testing room rather easily. Being around humans all his life had made him a lot more sociable than some other big cats. When the water bowl was presented to him, he just lapped it up before yawning. He rather felt like taking a nap.
But thoughts of sleeping were forgotten when a strange tingle ran through his body. Heracles made a small moan of discomfort as it felt like he was getting too big for his own skin. But his skin was stretching along with his body, which was working itself into a new shape. His front legs were being forced farther apart as his shoulders were getting broader. His front paws were also stretching out into a new shape, the toes becoming longer and more dexterous while his dewclaw grew out into an opposable thumb. He gripped the table with his new hands and tried to pull himself up. He nearly pulled the table over at first, his new arms being a lot stronger than he thought. But then he was able to get his feet under him and push upwards. He stood up tall, really tall. He was eight feet tall and still changing. Compared to this, the adaptation of his brain to allow more complex thoughts and emotions was barely registered.
'Massive' would be a very good way to describe Heracles. He was standing and impressive 8'7" and thickly muscled. There was a small amount of flab because of his leisurely zoo life, but that was negligible compared to his incredible musculature. Heracles looked around and said in a suitably deep voice, "Everything's so...tiny."
"Well, you are very large, even for an uplifted big cat," said Dr. Stein.
"Uplifted?" asked Heracles.
"It means an animal that was made humanoid and sapient, as opposed to a human who was converted into an Animalian," said Dr. Stein.
"There are more like me?" asked Heracles.
"Not more ligers, but many other Animalians, including several big cats. You'll get to meet them soon," said Dr. Stein.
Heracles was already interested. His world had just gotten a lot bigger.
==========
While Heracles was still adjusting and acclimating to Animalia, the scientists were still running a few tests on him. So far, Heracles was exceeding their expectations. The only thing that was still undetermined was whether or not he was fertile. It was taking a bit of time to test for that. But this successful uplifting has already gotten them interested in other animal hybrids. They were currently looking for a few mules that would be good candidates for uplifting to see if they were capable of breeding afterwards.