Hello all! So this is my first Billy Hatcher story! Any reviews you have will be nice! I've never played the game, but I got into the fandom after playing Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing. He's one of my favorite characters to use in the game, and of course, I wanted to know more about the series itself.

I personally love Billy and Chick Poacher, who is the main pairing in this story. No Yaoi, of course! Ewwww! :P They are both just so adorable and Chick reminds me of a little Knuckles the Echidna in a cute chicken suit!

So please enjoy! Again, I'm new to this fandom, and there's literally not that many out there, so if you know any sites, please PM me! Anyway, here's the first chapter! If I'm inaccurate about anything, please let me know! I own none of the characters in this story, and I'll be basing this plotline about seven months after the actual game. Enjoy!

PS: In this story, Billy and Rolly are 11, Bantam is 13, and Chick is 8. And yes, this tiny 8 year old has a potty mouth.


Friends Forever

Chapter 1
Hurt

Chick groaned as his violet eyes opened. It was...morning already? What the heck...? Sleep seemed to take away so much, he mused.

Extremely disoriented, Chick yawned and threw his short legs over his oddly oversized bed edge. He jumped down and headed for the bathroom. As he walked down the hall, he got this odd feeling that something didn't seem quite so right today.

He stood on his stool and turned the faucet on. Looking up at his reflection in the mirror, he absentmindly stuck his hand under the warm water and left it there. They were gonna be meeting today...his best friends, Rolly and Billy and Bantam... it should be a great morning... as long as Billy and Bantam don't annoy him...

So why did Chick Poacher feel like something had gone horribly wrong?

Chick shook the feeling off, brushed his teeth and washed his face before going to his room to pull off his pajamas and pull on his jeans and blue hoodie. The weather had gotten pretty cool lately, he mentally noted. Grabbing his teal goggles he left sitting nearby, he ran downstaris, grabbing two slices of toast before running out to meet the others in the woods.

As Chick ran, he couldn't help that dreadful feeeling that was climbing up his small bones. He kept trying to convice himself that it was probably just the cooler tempertures getting to him.

'It's probably nothing, right? Shit, if those stupid crows think they're coming back, they've got another thing coming! I'll kill them for sure!'

Finally, Chick could see Bantam holding his famous stopwatch as he checked the time. they were walking a bit up ahead, so Chick yelled, "HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! GUYS, WAIT!"

For a little tyke, Chick could yell like the rest of them. Rolly, Bantam and Billy all stopped once they heard him run up.

"Hey, everyone!"

Billy turned as the adorable redhead ran up, cathcing his breath. Bantam gave him a mighty pat on the back, causing the little guy to fall face-first into the sweet smelling grass.

"Gah! You baka!" Chick complained, jumping up and dusting himself off.

"Hey to you too, little guy!" Bantam greeted happily, waving a meaty hand around.

Rolly laughed, a delicate hand covering her smile. Billy chuckled, shaking his hand and holding up his ball. "Alright! Now that the gang's all here, LET'S GOOOO!" Billy whooped, and bolted on ahead to the open meadow. Rolly followed suit, and Bantam stormed after them. But Chick stayed behind, looking over his shoulder into the woods.

'Something's really...odd today. I wonder why I feel like something bad's about to happen...it's making my stomach turn...'

As Chick turned around, he scoffed quietly to himself, and decided that the toast he grabbed out the house before he left was probably not what he wanted to eat that morning.

"Chick! You coming today or next week?" yelled the deep voice of Bantam. Chick rolled his eyes and ran after them.

When Chick finally got to his friends, Billy tossed up his favorite kickball, and the foursome proceeded to play a game kicking the ball around the field just for the heck of it. It was just what Chick needed to take his mind of that funny, sicking feeling he felt.

They played all morning, and most of the afternoon, when Bantam delcared, "Man, I'm getting hungry! What's for lunch?"

Chick poked his large friend from his spot laying on the grass. "Bantam, aren't you ALWAYS hungry?" he questioned, a hint of annoyance and playfullyness in his tone of voice. They other two laughed while Bantam huffed, arms crossing his massive chest. Rolly looked up at the sky, her hand shielding her eyes from the sun. 'They sky looks so blue and calming today', she thought happily, before responding to Chick.

"Well, it is getting late. And I'm kinda hungry, too." Rolly admitted. Chick mumbled a 'whatever', standing up. Billy came over and clapped his friend on the back.

"Come on, Chick! You gotta be hungry, too!"

"No I'm-"

As if on cue, little Chick's stomach suddenly grolwed LOUDLY. He flushed bright red in embarrassment while they others laughed.

"T-That...I...ugh, come on if we're gonna eat already! Sheesh!" he stuttered before stomping off in a tiny huff. Billy, having gotten his laugh under control, looked at his friends and said, "Let's go make sure he doesn't try to break down Ban's door."

Rolly wiped the tears that had fallen from her laughing so hard, and agreed, still laughing every once in a while. Bantam began to walk, the entire time, making fun of Chick's loud stomach, which made Billy and Rolly laugh even harder.


Little Chick stomped through the woods, embarssed at his growling stomach, and mad that his friends laughed at him. He grumbled and muttered rather unplasent words as he kicked up dirt with his shoe.

"Blasted, stupid...ehh, who needs 'em?"

He stopped after a few more ranting moments, and it was then he realized that he had no idea where he was. Somehow, it had gotten oddly dark, although Chick knew that it was still afternoon. And he felt that he was no closer to getting to Bantam's house than before.

"I'd better turn around and head back. Those idiots are probably still there laughing at me..." he told him as he pulled up his sky blue hoodie and ran as fast as he could.

A sudden face palm with dirt and Chick felt the entire...wherever he was at spinning. He groaned, looking at the random branch that was sticking out from benenth the ground. He grolwed, now even more pissed, and pulled his foot free. When he stood, he winced.

"Dammit", the little tyke cursed, "I cut my knee. That's just freakin' perfect!"

Chick sighed, sitting down and rolling up his leg to access the wound. Nothing deep, just a scratch, but it was bleeding a bit more than Chick would like. He shrugged. Nothing to do about it now.

Getting up, he heard a familar sound laughing behind him, and looked up at a nearby branch.

Perched on said branch was the last thing Chick needed, or wanted to see. A crow.

Chick stood his ground. The last seven months of peace had relaxed Chick, and this dumb crow wasn't about to start messing with that. Chick realized with a sick intrest that he enjoyed cracking their skulls open, and the fact that the stupid bird caught him in one of his pissed-off moods added on to the desire to kill the thing. He scanned the ground quickly and located the perfect weapon- a nice, medium-sized, smooth rock.

Grinning almost madly, Chick sccoped it up, yelling, "Take this, you piece of shit!" before chucking it with his full strength at the bird. It hit him square on, but for some creepy reason... the bird didn't fall. It just sat there, yellow eyes staring at Chick, blood smoothly leaking from the nasty wound it had in its skull.

"What the hell...?" he questioned, eyes widening a bit.

Suddenly, the injured crow gave a shrill cry, and Chick realized that he was being surrounded. He looked around, horror filling his large violet eyes as the amount of darkness that filled the branches became too much for him to comprehend.

"How the hell did you all... oh no..."

Yellow, glinting eyes stared at their prey, and Chick noticed that one of them had the Cresent Crow symbol. The black-feathered chest of the bird he had just hit glowed a omnious purple-black with the Cresent Crow Symbol.

"Dark...Raven..." he managed to get his dry lips to speak. He took a trembling step back.

"No...t-that's wrong...we killed you!"

The bird seemed to chuckle, and Chick knew then.

He knew once the leader he cursed at and chucked the rock at came at him, his talons glinting and aiming for his neck.

He knew he was in trouble without his suit and his powers.

He knew that was indeed Dark Raven.

He was in deep trouble...

And he was alone.


Rolly, Billy and Bantam were sitting at Bantam's place, eating some lunch, when Billy looked outside, a cup of iced tea in his hand.

"Hey, I wonder where Chick went. Didn't he know we were coming to Bantam's for lunch today?" he asked his two friends.

The green-eyed orangette looked worridely outside as well. Billy had a point- Chick should've at least been back to the village by now. "Maybe we should go look for him, guys. He's probably mad at us from what happened earlier." she suggested.

Bantam waved that theory off, shoving his face full of fries. "He'll be fine, Rolly. He's probaby just...doing something that Chick...I dunno, does."

The blond whirled around fast, realization hitting him just as Bantam finished his sentence. "Ban, you do realize that if what you're saying is true...then we need to go find him now, right?"

The other two, now awareof what Billy had said, looked at each other worriedly, trying to remember all the places the little tyke liked to go to be alone. It was then that Bantam remembered something.

"Come to think of it, he's been acting...off all day. " Bantam muttered in thought. Billy blinked in confusion.

"What are you talking about, Bantam?" Rolly asked. Bantam furrowed his eyebrows in thought as he recalled Chick's unusual behavior when they were heading out to play in the meadows.

"I dunno, it...it was weird. He kept stopping and staring back in the woods, like...like there was someone following him. I was gonna ask him about it, but he seemed fine the rest of the day, so I dropped it."

Rolly looked frightened. "Guys, do you... do you think Morning Land...?"

Billy's hand tighened into a fist. "NO, Rolly. We killed him and his army. We saved Morning Land...he can't be back!"

Rolly wanted to believe that, but the slightest chance that Dark Raven and his evil army could be back scared the living daylights out of her. She still remembered watching Billy fighting that mad bird alone, and that nightmare haunted her ever since.

"But what was making Chick so jumpy today...?" the blond mused to himself.

Billy stood up, resolve burining in his aquamarine eyes. "Guys, I'm gonna go find out little friend before he does something he'll regret later. Stay here in case anything happens."

Rolly and Bantam nodded. Billy grinned, reassuring Rolly that nothing was gonna happen.

"Don't you worry, Rolly, I'm bringing Chick home!"

With that, Billy bolted out of the house. Bantam looked at Rolly, who was close to the verge of tears. Resting a gentle hand on her shoulder, he said softly, "Don't worry, Rolly. Those two are too stubborn. Chick probably hurt himself, that's all. Billy's gonna bring him back, and you repremand him all you like."

Rolly looked at her tough friend, smiling as she wiped her tears away. "I never knew you knew that word, Ban."

Bantam chuckled sheepishly, a meaty hand rubbing the back of his head. Rolly gave him another smile before looking out the window, her hands clasped over her drumming heart. She tried to keep a positive view, for all their sakes. She couldn't help but worry whenever Chick wandered off like this and was gone for so long...

"I hope you're right, Ban. I really do." she whispered. Bantam sighed, following Rolly's gaze. Lunch had become the last thing he wanted to worry about now. He wondered if Chick knew that there was a possiblity that Dark Raven or one of his cronies had somehow returned... but then, how come none of the others noticed anything?

Bantam shook that thought from his mind for now. He just needed to physically see Chick here with them. They could ask questions later.

"I know. I do, too."


Chick panted heavily as he ran. His lungs burned beyond all description, but he had to keep running.

By now, his clothes were torn to near shreads, and he had quite a few gashes and scratches all over his back and right arm. His body burned, and he was sure he lost his goggles somewhere back there. But he foreced himself ro run. Where, he didn't know.

The crows, who seemed to be laughing at the redhead running, came after him, nicking, scratching, pulling, doing whatever they could to keep him in the darkness.

Sadly, Chick realized too late he had somehow wandered into the wrong side of the village. The sky, the woods, everything was cloaked in darkness. But how come no one noticed it earlier? Why was it only here? Better still, why is it here at all?

'He's back... the bastard...he survived! But how? Billy killed him...I watched him die! I gotta...'

Chick coughed, making a sharp turn left as he contiued to run. "G...Gotta...get...h-help...Billy...gotta... GAHHHHHHH!' he yelled as another crow grabbed his already wounded arm, raising him in the air.

He looked around, slightly disoritented, the pain making him see black spots for a moment before trying to pull himself free. Large violet eyes looked directly into the evil golden yellow ones right before the crow flung him with surpirsing strength at a nearby tree. Chick let out a short gasp, blood flying into little splatters on the ground.

'T-They...they're stronger than...b-before...this isn't good, that means...Morning Land...the elder...I have...to...warn the...the others...'

He struggled to get up. He needed to get out of here, and get to Billy before they found him. He needed help!

"G-gotta...run..." he panted.

But another attack from a crow, and he collasped in an exhusted, wounded heap on the ground. Chick rested his body against the tree, his chest buring in protest, his body terribly sore. How the hell had he been right?

Just then, yet another crow landed in front of him. It wasn't the leader, but it was glowing purple-blackish, too. It cocked its head to the right, and if Chick didn't feel so disoritented or sick from loss of blood and some other wounds, he could've sworn that it was...grinning at him. Two more landed in front of him as well, one flanked on either side of the middle one.

"Go..to hell... stupid birds..." Chick mumbled, eyes sliding closed.

The last thing Chick remembered feeling or hearing before he blacked out was his scream as pain shot throughout his entire body, and another familar voice talking to him.

"You'll be perfect..."