Thank you keiman and kei and daisygirl101 for beta reading and helping me improve!

I do not own Chicken Little. Chicken Little is owned by Disney. I only lay claim to Chauncey Cheetah.

Chapter 2

After Mutton ended, Chicken Little, Abby, Runt, and Fish were outside the classroom, waiting for Chauncey. Since it was a fifteen-minute break until their next class, they figured it would be long enough to know some things about the cheetah.

The tall cheetah was the last one out of Mr. W's classroom.

"Hey Chicken Little!" Chauncey greeted, giving him another handshake.

"Hello Chauncey. I'd like to introduce you to Abby, Runt, and Fish," Chicken Little replied.

"Nice to meet you Abby, Runt, and Fish," the cheetah greeted warmly, shaking their hands with a smile on his face.

"You're really tall, Chauncey. Taller than me," Runt stated, noticing how tall he was compared to the cheetah.

"I know right? Ever since I started school, I have stood a good foot and a half taller than my other classmates. Guess part of it might be my healthy diet. I do care about what I am putting in my body. Not only do I do it for health, but to stay strong and fast. I must be that way for sports, after all," Chauncey explained.

"You like sports?" Chicken Little asked, interested.

"Yeah!" the cheetah exclaimed.

"What sports do you like to play?" the chicken wondered.

"I really love basketball. Basketball's been my favorite sport since my earliest days, with baseball being a very close second," Chauncey smiled.

Chicken Little smiled. However, it soon faltered a bit.

He recalled when the boys' basketball team made it to the championship game last year. The leader of the team, Brett Bear, was the best player they had since their previous championship season nearly three decades prior. He was a terrific power forward, capable of shooting three-pointers and muscling his way in for easy buckets on offense. On defense, he was the team's best player at deflecting passes and coming up with steals for fast break points. Before last season, the team had never even reached the playoffs.

Until Brett Bear came along.

It was late February, one week before baseball tryouts began. The championship game was between Oakey Oaks, and their long-time rival, the Spud Valley Taters. Oakey Oaks had gone 19-1 during the regular season, with their only loss being a double-overtime loss to the Taters on the road. Behind the backs of Brett Bear, the team breezed through the playoffs to the championship game. They met up with the Spud Valley Taters, who had won the championship the season prior. During the course of the game, the Acorns got off to a great start. By the end of the first half, the team was up 28-13, appearing poised to end the Taters' bid for a repeat championship as well as the school's first in twenty-nine years.

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However, just before the first half ended, the unthinkable happened. Brett Bear landed awkwardly on his right knee while trying to go up for a rebound. He tried to stand up but was in too much pain to do so. His teammates rushed over to help him up and get him to the locker room. The star player of the Acorns quickly got his knee scanned and was declared out for the season with a torn ACL.

Without Brett Bear to lead the way, the Acorns began to lose ground. They began to miss open shots, turn the ball over, and the once thundering Oakey Oaks crowd began to quiet down.

When the last quarter rolled around, with only one minute remaining, the unthinkable happened. The Taters had rallied back from the halftime deficit. Now they were down by only two points, 43-41. However, the Acorns still had the lead. The crowd was now anxious, desperately hoping their team could hold on long enough to win the game. Chicken Little and his friends were growing nervous as well. Oakey Oaks had possession of the ball, and with how much time was left they could hold on to win as long as they scored on that particular possession.

The second-best player on the team, Ryan Rabbit, dribbled up the court, with the Spud Valley fans chanting, "Defense!"

Ryan made a pass to another teammate, and surprisingly found himself wide open in the right corner for a three-pointer. His teammate noticed and made a no-look pass to the rabbit for a potential game-sealing shot. However, the ball rattled out, and the Taters grabbed the rebound.

After calling timeout, Spud Valley inbounded the ball to their best player, Fred Fox. With less than five seconds left on the clock, he dribbled in between his legs, shook off his defender, and unleashed a game winning three from about six feet behind the three-point line. A hush fell upon the Taters' gym as the shot came floating down toward the basketball hoop. As the buzzer sounded, the ball swished through the hoop, and the Spud Valley fans went delirious as teammates clobbered him in triumph. The Acorns could only stare as their rivals celebrated their second straight championship. What looked like an easy win, ending up turning into a heartbreaking defeat.

"Chicken Little?" Chauncey stated worriedly.

The chicken was snapped from his thoughts.

"Chicken Little? Are you alright there, man?" Chicken Little looked to see Chauncey towering over him, a look of concern on his face.

"Yeah. I'm fine," the chicken said. "I was just thinking about how close the boys' basketball team came to winning the championship last year, when it all fell apart after Brett Bear was lost for the season. He's also out for this season as well to recover from his injury."

"I heard about that, actually. Losing your best player is not a good thing. It can be a devastating blow to the team when you don't have your leader to utilize everything your team does," Chauncey said, showing sympathy for the bear, even if he wasn't in sight.

Everyone nodded.

Fish smiled and said something like, "Maybe you could be the boys' basketball team's new leader!"

"What Fish?" Chauncey asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He said that maybe with your height, you could be the new leader and star player of the boys' basketball team this season. Fish also said with you, it might just be our year to win the championship," Chicken Little smiled.

Chauncey was shocked. "Me? As a leader of the basketball team? I don't know, guys. Today is my first day of middle school, and to be honest, there are lots of things I must work on if I would like to be the star player of the team."

"Such as?" Abby wondered.

"I'm great at shooting from anywhere on the court. However, my ball-handling, passing, and dribbling skills need a lot of work. Only then will I be worthy of being the new leader of the team," Chauncey seriously explained.

"As long as you work hard, you shouldn't have any trouble at all," Chicken Little winked.

"Thanks Chicken Little. I will try dude. Really. I'll try my best," Chauncey smiled.