Easter brought about some things that were to be expected. Many businesses and resteraunts closed for the holiday to let people be with their families, and this was welcome. However, this particular Easter also carried a few extra expectations that related to the recent Animalia Magazine issue that had come out. This was particularly true for the Dinotopians, who had a lot to look forward to in the coming summer. A lot of that had to do with the fact that by June, the new colony city in Texas would be ready for them to move into and that was something was looked forward to, as while Animalia was great, there were some features that had the potential to be cramped for them in terms of size issues. The new colony city would be specially built for the Dinotopians.
The public buildings that would be there would said to have the same features that were in Animalia, which would let people of all sizes use them, but the base size would be there for the Dinotopians. This was especially desired by the Sauropod Dinotopians, as for Luke, Marjorie, Andrew, and Jen there was a lot of attention on that specific issue. Even with hollow birdlike bones, their muscular bodies were enough that a fair amount of furniture in Animalia was not built for their weight and their long necks often made the rooves and ceilings of some buildings a bit too low.
"It'll be great to see once its all built," Luke commented as he talked with Andrew and Jen, while he and Marjorie enjoyed a good Sunday afternoon stroll and enjoying some of the warmth that came along with Easter this year, "Something that will be tall enough for us."
"Yes," Andrew gave a low chuckle as the height of buildings was especially important for him and Jen, given how much taller Brachiosaurus was than Diplodocus in the fossil record, "it'll be good to have some head and neck room."
"I wonder what it'd be like," Jen commented, "will it be something like the buildings here in Animalia, just scaled up to our size? Or will they make them based on the Dinotopians that are already exist? I mean... WE are pretty tall, easily taller than even the Giraffe Animalians, but then you look at Sora and Yuki... or Roland and Sophie. Velociraptors and Pterodactyls aren't exactly huge animals. Which means, while Sophie and Roland still have a little bit of maturing to do... they'll probably still about the same height as they are now."
"Their wings will add to their weight though... not much, as the Animalia Magazine gave a mention that Pterosaur bones are just as hollow as ours are, but there would still be added weight there," Andrew commented, "Though... I suppose on that we'll have to wait until they graduate college. I've gotten to talk with Sophie's mother a bit here and there, often when she's come to the grocery in Animalia or Lyre... and while she's seemed curious about some things, I don't think that either are going to let their daughter just go to Texas until after she's graduated college."
"Makes sense, a loving parent would want to keep her child close," Marjorie commented.
"A lot of this town will probably built like Lyre is in a way... at least with the areas in Lyre that have been built to work for both Animalians and Humans," Luke commented, "as from what I've heard, the town will either have some Human residences in its marked city limits, from those who lived outside Glen Rose, Texas and didn't want to leave their homes, and with some of other local attractions in the area as well. Which means while things may be scaled up to our size a lot of things in the town will have their input."
"Did you hear if they wanted to become Dinotopians?" Marjorie asked.
"No... but from what I've heard... it's not likely," Luke shrugged, "Regardless though... It'll still be something to look forward to."
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Others were more looking forward to the opening of the Mesozoic Fight Club. Sure, it wasn't something to think of as an "Easter celebration," but it was something that had actively had some attraction to it and why some people became Dinotopians. Among them was Walter, who'd become an Ankylosaurus Dinotopian to heal old brittle bones and get a shot at the fight club that was being organized. Some things were slow going, as at first the Dinotopian strains of the Animalia Virus were limited to those who were in specialized programs/projects while Horizon gathered the scientific data needed to understand how the transformation would affect Humans becoming Dinotopians. And that made sense, given what had to be done to ensure a successful transformation.
By the past summer, the Dinotopian strains of the Animalia Virus opened up to the public, and while there were a few new converts here and there, most of them had tended to be with some of the smaller Dinosaur species. This meant that Walter as an Ankylosaurus wouldn't have that many potential rivals in his size class. Brett Horne, Sherry, and Rachel Stega all had the potential to match Walter's size and strength, but of them, Brett was often busy with some of the administrative parts of the Mesozoic Fight Club and Animalia's UFC-A, Sherry was more with law enforcement, and while Rachel Stega had an interest in boxing, sporting rules would actually prohibit Walter and Rachel being pitted against each other. Most of the rest of the Dinotopians that were in Walter's size bracket either weren't interested in the Mesozoic Fight Club at all had other jobs that would keep them away from it.
This in turn would limit the actual matches that Mesozoic Fight Club would have as it got started, though not that it really prevented Walter from training for it. It was something that held some enthusiasm for it, and he was willing to train with anyone. And on that Easter Sunday afternoon, that included Rachel Stega and Dory, the Doedicurus Cenozoic Animalian that Walter had men in very early 2018. Of the two of them, Walter had actually grown the closest to Dory. It was true, her form was based on a Cenozoic era mammal rather than a Mesozoic reptile like Ankylosaurus, but they got along well and she was fun to talk to and work out with. In this, in over the year of knowing her, Walter felt he'd actually learned quite a bit on how sometimes different groups of animals adapted similar features.
"So... you're going to move down to Dino City too?" Rachel asked as the three jogged along one of the roads in Lyre, much of it endurance training.
"Yeah... it'll be warmer there," Dory answered, "Doedicurus may be a mammal... but the Cenozoic wasn't a period were we had nothing but ice... Shoot, even during the Pleistocene when Earth's temperatures were generally colder, there were plenty of areas that were warm enough to stay above freezing."
They jogged in place for a moment while waiting for the traffic light to change color and indicate they could cross the street. Dory took that opportunity to glance to Walter while they waited.
"Besides... you go to Texas, you'll run into Armadillos at some point," Dory answered, "best to have an Animalian that is related to the Armadillo to provide help and backup."
"I don't think Armadillos are a threat to people," Rachel gave a chuckle and noticing that Dory had glanced to Walter before she spoke.
"A large Glyptodont would," Dory said with a chuckle and patted her armored back as she jogged along and with her heavy club tail swaying side to side with each stride, "and besides... you never know, I could have a very good friend there too..."
Rachel glanced to Walter after that and watched as the scales on his cheeks darkened a little. That was rather impressive given the dark color they already had to begin with. Rachel only shook her head with a small chuckle and continued on. If Walter and Dory were involved, there was nothing that Rachel could really do about it. There was the obvious point on Animalia's edicts and the fact that Doedicurus Clavicaudatus and Ankylosaurus Magniventris were not the same species and were not even remotely related beyond that both were vertebrates, but Rachel had found that there were a few technicalities in which Animalia's edicts came into play. Technically those edicts forbade inter-species breeding, not inter-species relationships. Which could mean that Walter and Dory could potentially marry and wouldn't be breaking Animalia's edicts. Though it would mean that if they were to have children, it would either have to be by adoption or through a surrogate pregnancy. Rachel wasn't going to get into that though, though it didn't stop her from chuckling.
"I'll still be looking forward for the first real Mesozoic Fight Club matches," Walter commented, "I think the initial fight isn't going to be much more than a show match... but it might serve to energize fans and get them eager for the real bouts."
By this point they crossed from Lyre into Animalia on a path that would take them pas the Claw Coliseum. It was closed for Easter, but the building figured to be a part of the Mesozoic Fight Club once it officially got started. And both Rachel and Dory nodded in agreement. They had both seen the ads for the fight between Regina and Heather to open up the Mesozoic Fight Club, but while Rachel had seen both working out at the gym from time to time, Regina seemed more interested in swimming than some of the weight training that would go into preparation for various combat sports, and from what Rachel occasionally heard from Tyra was that Heather was more focused on her work with regard Horizon's ad campaign. In this, there was some suspicion that the "Indominus/Spinosaurus" fight was going to be decided by a vote and the fight simply stylized to fit the vote. That wouldn't be bad, as it was supposed to be the start for the league. The real question would be making sure that there would be enough Dinotopians interested to assure that there would be matches to have.
"I think we're all waiting for that," Rachel chuckled, "the key thing will be seeing if enough people will become Dinotopians, or perhaps Cenozoic megafauna to assure that the size comparisons work well enough so that there are fair matches."
"I'd think some are just waiting for Dino City to open," Dory commented, "once its open and Dinotopians would have a place to live comfortably, and coming here for the tournaments and so on would be a short break... rather gaining great size and having to be cramped."
"Yeah..." Walter agreed, "a lot of Dinotopians have had to deal with that and its created some issues in some construction projects elsewhere. I was talking with Brett and Mario... supposedly they have a list of athletes who've had interest, but have stated they wouldn't go through with the conversion until one the contracts are guaranteed and two they can be assured a place to live."
"Sounds confident," Rachel huffed.
"I think some of them were former low tier Human athletes that matches against top tier athletes ended their careers," Walter admitted, "becoming Dinotopians would restart that... with the hopes of being top tier. But beyond that, they didn't say. I don't even know how many had signed up or what species they'd listed."
"So... much to look forward to," Dory chuckled as they kept jogging.