(AN: Ha ha, not a very long wait, considering that I'm writing this. Of course, updates after this will probably be few and far between again—starting college and all, you know. ;) But anyway, here's chapter four!)

O.o.O

Tonya, too, was regarding the new rooster suspiciously.

"I don't like the looks of that guy," she said to her seven siblings who were there—Alison, Logan, Alexander, Nicole, Karley, Julius, and Ryan.

"What's not to like?" Ryan asked innocently. "He's just a rooster."

"It's not like we'll have much contact with him anyway," added Karley.

Tonya stood up a little bit more to look out of the window of their coup. "I know, but… did you guys see that smirk on his face when all the hens came running to him? I've got a really bad feeling about this. He's probably gonna get them all infatuated with him, and then he's gonna use them all as peons to take over the world, and they'll blindly follow his every order!"

Her siblings stared at her.

"Well, okay, that might be a little dramatic," admitted Tonya after a brief thought. "But you get my drift, right? If he asked them to, they would. Didn't you see the way they all swooned for him?"

"Mom didn't," said timid little Alexander, almost fearfully.

"But she came close," said Logan thoughtfully. "I think you might be on to something, Tonya. It isn't like Mom to go ga-ga like that over anyone. If even she's been taken in by this new guy, you know what the rest of them will be like!"

"His slaves, basically," said Alison.

The chicks' conversation was suddenly cut short as the sound of two more creatures entering the room bounced off the wall. Not knowing who they were, but not wanting to take any chances, Tonya quickly hushed her siblings.

She needn't have worried. Booker and Sheldon were soon in plain sight, and they sat down next to their siblings, making the group of ten complete. "What are you guys holding a meeting about?" Booker asked Tonya.

"That new rooster," said Tonya, with a look of disgust. "Haven't you heard?"

"Heard? I was there when he came!" said Sheldon.

"You were?" cried Tonya. "Tell us what happened!"

And quite suddenly, Sheldon could see dimly through his shell all of his siblings save Booker crowded around him and staring at him.

"Well…" Sheldon began, "there's not that much to tell, honestly. One of the hens—Frances, I think, although I'm not sure—came running up to Mom and Roy asking them if they'd heard about the new rooster we're getting. She told them that the farmer brought him here to help Roy, not replace him, but I don't think Roy believes that. Then he showed up—"

"What did he look like?" Logan interrupted.

"I hear he's really handsome," said Nicole with a grin. Alison, Logan, and Karley giggled. Tonya shot her sisters a stern look.

"Let's continue, please, Sheldon…"

"Right. Well, I couldn't really see him—it's hard to see much from this shell. And besides, I have no clue what makes a guy 'handsome'. But apparently, he's a drop-dead-gorgeous hunk. All he had to do was fluff his tail feathers back, and all the hens nearly swooned—two actually did."

"Okay, okay, we get that!" Julius finally cried. "But what we want to know is… is he, well, evil?"

Sheldon undoubtedly blinked. "Evil?"

"Tonya seems to think he is," said Julius matter-of-factly.

"I'm not saying he's evil… necessarily…" Tonya clarified, "but he does give me a nasty taste in my mouth. Did you see any… I don't know, nasty gleam in his eyes?"

"Sheldon's not the one to ask," said Booker indignantly. "At least I could see him without a big shell obstructing my vision."

"Hey!" cried Sheldon. He was used to having almost everyone else make fun of his shell… but Booker was the only one who actually stood up for his decision. But now he was… mocking him?

"He just looked stuck-up to me," Booker continued. "Buck, I mean. I didn't get to see him that close, but I think he's going to be just like Roy—annoying, but nothing really to worry about."

"Can I beg to differ?" Tonya said, almost angrily. "I didn't see him all that well either, but I know the difference between just stuck-up and completely iniquitous!"

"What… what does ini… inikwi…" Alexander stammered.

"Iniquitous mean?" Tonya finished. "Evil. Wicked. Nasty. Immoral. Corrupt. Need I go on?"

"I think you're overreacting," muttered Booker, beginning to feel the same way Sheldon had earlier—with Tonya the way she was, how had they not figured out the Roy was their father? She was just as snobbish, irritating, and annoying as he was!

"I'm not!" screeched Tonya. "I tell you, that smirk he had, that glimmer in his eye… he's got something bad in mind. I don't know what, but he does. And it's not just one of the harmless—and very funny, if I hear correctly—pranks that you're always saying Roy pulls."

"They're not funny!" howled Booker. "You just think they are because you've got that same messed up sense of 'humor' he does! And Buck's not evil—he's just your typical conceited rooster!"

"SHUT UP!"

Tonya and Booker froze, only turning their heads to look at their sister Nicole. Nicole rolled her eyes at them. "Okay, so you both feel differently about this Buck guy. Why don't both of you find out more about him? You've both confessed that you hardly even saw him. Why don't you spy on him or something, then you'll know just how evil he is?"

"Now that's an idea," said Tonya thoughtfully. "I think I will." She dramatically strode to the entrance of the coup.

"Me too!" cried Booker, running after Tonya a lot less gracefully. "And I am so going to prove you wrong!"

O.o.O

Spying on Buck was easier than either Booker or Tonya imagined. For that night, all the hens decided to throw Buck a party to welcome him to the coup.

Joanna herded her chicks with the other hens' chicks off in a back room. "Now, you ten stay here until the party's over… the last thing I want is you getting underfoot."

Booker and Tonya shot grins, then glares at each other.

Joanna left the room, shutting the door behind her. Well, thank God that was over. Getting to, ahem, know Buck would be pretty difficult with her children underfoot… especially with perceptive and intelligent children like hers.

The coup was packed today, for all the rest of the farm's inhabitants were there too… and not being very tactful in their comments, Joanna couldn't help but notice.

"I'm telling you, this new rooster is a jerk, plain and simple," Lanolin was saying to Orson. "He had the gall to call me moronic right to my face!"

"Well, Lanolin…" Orson was at a loss for words, but it was his belief that he should always find the good in everyone. "You know Roy's always cracking somewhat offensive jokes… but he really doesn't mean any harm by them—"

"Trust me, I'd rather have Roy insult me any day than this new guy," snapped Lanolin.

"And, like, that's sayin' something, man," pointed out Bo.

"What did you think of him, Bo?" Orson asked.

"Like, usually my sis overreacts to this kind of stuff, but not this time, man," said Bo, shaking his head. "This new guy's givin' me bad vibes. Can't explain it, but he's got bad thoughts in his head, know what I mean?"

Tonya, who was listening from up in the rafters (somehow, she managed to climb up there), did.

"I knew it!" she hissed. "But I bet Booker won't believe them even if they told him themselves. I'd better go find 'Buffy Bucky' himself." She scampered along the rafters to where all the hens were congregated—thus, where "Buffy Bucky" himself was.

"…of course, after saving all those lovely hens from that coup fire made them want me to stay even more," he said with a haughty ring in his voice. All the hens twittered with laughter. Tonya gasped. All the hens was right—even her own mother was there!

"Mom, I can't believe you're falling for this piece of work!" she whispered. "God, it's worse than I thought…"

"Hey, duck," Buck suddenly snapped. A fearful looking duck—Wade, but Tonya didn't know that—meekly stumbled up. Buck snapped his fingers… uh, feathers, at him. "Get me some more chicken feed."

"Y-y-yes, master," the duck said, shaking with terror. He scampered off, still shaking.

"Oh, no way," whispered Tonya. "What a JERK with a capital… uh… I wish I knew how to spell," she said, blushing to herself. "But with all letters capitalized! I swear, Booker had better have seen that, because if he did, then even he would have to admit that… that…"

Tonya stopped and looked back down at the hens. Buck was continuing with his stories in which he was the hero and all the hens were back to gazing ga-ga at him… even Joanna! Tonya blinked and rubbed her eyes, making sure she wasn't seeing things. Even after that, her own mother was still… It couldn't be possible! Her mother had always been the only smart hen there… but… Why on earth was she eating up his garbage like a lovesick hen?

"Please don't tell me that you're in love with that phony!" cried Tonya, almost a little too loudly. Thankfully, no one heard her.

Not even Booker, who was, just now, peeping his head around the corner on the floor, watching and listening. Unfortunately, he had just now arrived, and had missed Buck's cruel treatment of Wade. In fact, all he was hearing was Buck's dramatic, self-centered stories.

"What's Tonya talking about?" he muttered. "He's nothing but an ego-case! Annoying, but not evil! Eh… eh… ah… AH-CHOO!"

All the hens spun around.

"Booker!" cried Joanna angrily, jumping out of the circle around Buck. "I told you to stay in the room and not get underfoot! What are you doing?"

"I, uh… Tonya's here too!... Somewhere," he added, shamefaced.

"I don't care if who else is here, if you followed her out, whatever! Just because your sister left the room doesn't mean that you can too!"

Booker couldn't believe it. He was getting reprimanded and Tonya—wherever she was, the little sneak!—was completely avoiding punishment!

"Is that your son, Joanna?" Buck said, laughing not very nicely. "Little squirt, isn't he?"

"Annoying little squirt," muttered Joanna. "Now, Booker, can you go back to the room by yourself or do I have to escort you?"

"I'll go myself," mumbled Booker, shaking with rage. Buck—who, while not maybe evil, was certainly more of a jerk than Booker had initially thought—just insulted him in front of his mother, and instead of coming to his rescue, Joanna had agreed with him!

Booker stormed off to the room where the other chicks were and slammed the door shut. Tonya, who had seen and heard all from the rafters, giggled.

"Um, excuse me, Buffy Bu… I mean Buck," someone suddenly said. Tonya stopped her giggling and peered down again, seeing Roy, who had just entered, confronting Buck.

"Ooh, this oughta be good," she said to herself, getting comfortable.

"Oh yes… old-timer… What do you want?" Buck asked, feigning courtesy.

"Old-timer or not, I'm still a resident rooster here," snapped Roy, clearly livid. He paused to get himself a bit more under control. "Look, all I want right now is to get over to the other side and get some chicken feed…"

"Hey, I'm a benevolent rooster," said Buck, smiling. "I'll let you have this area all to yourself. I'll move. See, I can be accommodating." Buck sat up and began walking over to the other side of the room.

"What's he planning?" mumbled Roy.

"What's he planning?" mumbled Tonya.

All the hens stopped moving. Then they looked at Roy. They turned to look at Buck. They looked at Roy again.

Then they followed Buck.

"Oh, no way!" cried Roy.

"Oh, no way!" cried Tonya.

In complete shock, Roy managed to grab Joanna's wing. "Joanna, you can't possibly be falling for this guy's lameness! I mean, the others maybe, but not you!"

Joanna shook Roy off. "And what's that supposed to mean? That I can't appreciate a handsome guy every now and then? Let go of me!"

Roy obeyed and Joanna ran to catch up with the others. Tonya, in disgust, started to climb down, having seen enough.

Buck had been right—Roy now had that area all to himself. Completely alone. He stood, his body slumped in complete dejection, dumbly watching the hens leaving. Particularly Joanna.

Joanna…

Suddenly he stood up and ran to the door, running outside in the cold night air. He flung himself on the ground, clutching his heart and gasping.

"Ooh… ouch! Jeez, this hurts!" he managed to moan.

Somehow, he knew what it was, even though, as far as he knew, no chicken had ever felt it before… it was heartbreak, pure and simple! At that moment he realized that he must have been in love with Joanna for a long time now, otherwise this wouldn't hurt as much as it did.

"Ugh… this hurts so bad it might move me to write poetry!" he gasped.

He managed to sit up, but his heart still felt like someone was very slowly shredding it into little pieces. "I guess… I guess I can take a hint," he muttered angrily. "I'm obviously not wanted around here… not even by Joanna!" He sniffed. "Oh jeez, this is pathetic… but whatever. I don't care. I'm leaving!"

O.o.O

When none of the rest of the chicks were looking, Booker pushed open a loose board and climbed out of the coup.

"My dad insults me and plays practical jokes on me… my mom agrees with someone who insults me and yells at me for walking out of a room… I can't take this anymore! I'm leaving!"

And he started walking straight forward, not looking back.

O.o.O

(AN: Keep up all those nice reviews! Until next chapter! :) )