It was a common sunny morning in the city of Petropolis. After 20 years of hard work and safety patrols, everything seemed to be at a more balanced nature. At this moment, Dudley Puppy's alarm clock went off which he smashed with a hammer. "This is IT!" he yelled as he jumped from his racecar bed and after removing his pajamas, and putting his usual black t-shirt.

"Dudley, breakfast", his mother Peg called from downstairs.

"Be right there."he answered. "I can't believe this is happening. Today is the day the new Tuff CEO will be announced! I can't wait."

Dudley then went to the bathroom, and after showering, brushing his teeth and using mouthwash (his mom's been trying to teach him new stuff lately since she left him in Frisky Business), he headed downstairs rather fast and tripped and fell down the stairs( which happens often). At that moment Peg had walked in and after seeing Dudley on the floor looked as though she might faint.

"Dudley, are you alright sweetheart?" she asked him as she did a quick look to see if he was fine.

"I'm okay Mom. I just fell down the stairs again", he answered.

"Dudley, you could have got a concussion. What's with the rush? I know that you're a Tuff agent and all, but do you really have to rush everything? By the way breakfast is on the table." Peg assured beginning to calm down a bit. Dudley however had made his way to the kitchen table and after scarfing it down, headed to the door.

"Dudley, don't forget to make an sure your seat belt is fastened.", Peg called after him as he blew her a kiss good-bye. As Dudley made his way to the Tuffmobile parked on the curb, he turned to see his mom at the front porch to see him off and noticed new purple shutters just starting to get painted.

"Mom, why are you painting our shutters purple? Can't they be gray or even-"

"Dudley, works not gonna wait." Peg called which caused Dudley to floor the gas and speed off with surprising speed. Peg however looked worried.

"Dudley, sometimes I really worry about you. I just don't want anything bad to happen to you. I know that I can be a little overprotective at times, but isn't every mom a little?" She walked back inside closing the door behind her.

Over at Tuff HQ, there was excitement in the air. Everybody in Petropolis had gathered because today marked a very special day. News anchorman Wolf Spitzer even made the trip.

"This is Petropolis news anchorman Wolf Spitzer here are just outside Tuff HQ, with chief agent Herbert Dumbrowski who will soon be retiring."

The chief, Keswick and Kitty Katswell were in the front of Tuff HQ. After being on the job for so long, it was finally time to elect the new chief of Tuff.

"After being on the job for so long, I think it's finally time for someone else to take my place" the chief told Spitzer and just then Dudley showed up and after parking the Tuffmobile, zoomed up to be beside Kitty.

"Dudley, you almost missed the announcement", Kitty assured him sounding a little annoyed that he was late.

"Sorry Kitty, I'm just so excited",he answered. After several minutes, it was time for the main event.

"As we know," the chief announced, "the time as come. The new chief of Tuff has worked here for many years and through great promise and consideration, I have chosen one of our finest for the job."

"Come on chief.", Dudley thought his excitement growing, "Say my name."

"So without further ado, I'm pleased to announce the new chief of TUFF: Agent Kitty Katswell!" At that moment a huge banner rolled down saying "Congratulations Kitty" and although the crowd was cheering, Dudley cheered loudest of all which halted it.

" I knew it. I knew it. I knew it. Thanks every body for seeing that I am more than suitable to-" "Heel Agent Puppy!", the chief ordered which Dudley did, "You didn't get the job."

Dudley looked shocked.

"What?"

"You...didn't...get..the...job",the chief said again.

Dudley started to sniffle and his eyes started to water.

"But...why?"

"Agent Puppy, your a great agent. But Kitty has been here longer than you have and it's natural she had this job because she's just well, more mature than you."

"I'm not mature?" Dudley asked as a tear slid down the side of his face.

"No it's not that, what I'm saying is, you're merely a child at heart and to be the chief of a secret agency, you need to be a man. Understand?"

"I guess so", Dudley whimpered as he stepped off the stage and walked inside Tuff HQ slumped. Although she won, Kitty watched Dudley go inside and she couldn't help feeling sorry for him. Later in the day as Kitty cleared out her desk to move into the chief's office, she stopped by Dudley's cubicle where she found his still sulking.

"Hey, you okay?"she asked him, but he didn't answer. "Dudley please, talk to me." Dudley turned around and looked her in the eyes.

"Kitty, if your the new chief, what about me? Without you, I'm nothing."

"Listen Dudley, I'm going to put my stuff into my new office. Try and make it through the day, I'll meet you after work and we'll talk okay?"

"Okay." he answered although his words sounded hollow.

As the day wore on, no crime seemed to be occurring that day. Finally at the end of the shift as she promised, Kitty met up with Dudley so they could chat.

"How was work?" she asked as they drove home(just to clarify, Kitty's driving).

"Don't know, I spent the whole day sulking. We've gone through so much together haven't we?" Kitty sighed.

"Yes we have". She remembered the day her partner and her met. She didn't like him then, but as they continued to work and learn more of each other, the more he grew on her. He might not have been the best partner she had, but he did make her job a lot more exciting and fun. Finally they parked outside Dudley's house and as Dudley got out Kitty stopped him.

"Hey, no matter what anybody says, you'll always be the best secret agent to me."

Dudley was starting to tear up a little, but he managed a smile.

"Thanks Kitty. That means a lot to me."

As he walked up to his house, he looked back to see Kitty wave back before driving off. He felt a little better but not very. The following day, work was still pretty much the same as yesterday, Kitty was continuing on her duties as the new chief of TUFF and Dudley was at his post trying to do some work, but Kitty could tell he still needed some help so she walked over to chat.

"Hey Dudley, I've been thinking about our talk yesterday and I was thinking that maybe-"

"You're going to decline you're new position?" Dudley asked lighting up a lot.

"No, I think that you should partner up with someone else."

"WHAT?!", Dudley answered in shock, "Partner up with SOMEONE NEW?!"

"Pipe down!", Herbert called outside his office on video chat( as he normally does), "I don't make me tell Keswick to use the Holler Collar again."

"Dudley, I'm sure you can find a suitable replacement somewhere. Keswick will help." Kitty assured him. Despite the efforts he made to try and change Kitty's mind, Dudley had to partner up with somebody. Keswick used the only method the had on short notice: pick a name out of the old hat tactic. However when every other agent found out about what the hat was for, they all cleared out almost as fast as lightning. Keswick did pick a name, but shortly after he did, Dudley's new partner quit being his partner. And the same thing happened to the next several replacements also. Either the teamwork was too unstable, or Dudley drove his new partners totally crazy. While all this was occurring, Kitty was getting settled into her new station in the chief's office. As she was getting organized, she accidentally bumped her phone and triggered the answering machine. When she heard Dudley's excuse and the chief's objection, she couldn't help but feel like she did like things the way they were. Dudley did drive her a little crazy( okay, a lot), did get them caught and nearly dead, and stick his nose where it shouldn't have. Then again, he did come out as the partner she could rely on. And his personality did add more spice to her regular crime fighting life. Just then Herbert saw that she was reflecting and wanted to get her attention, but he felt like she went through a lot lately and decided she needed a moment. He remembered the time Dudley was chief of TUFF( even though it was for a day) and it was pretty interesting. But the rules were the rules, and all TUFF agents had to abide by them. Dudley however, was not so fortunate. Finally Keswick threw in the towel.

"That's it. We've gone through every p-p-p-ops-possible agent that we have, and NOBODY wants to be PARTNERS with AGENT PU-PU-PUPPY because he's JUST TOO UNPREDICTABLE!", Keswick fumed.

That comment really struck Dudley low.

"He's right, nobody can replace Kitty, I know I can be a pain at times, but I can't help myself." Dudley then slumped over to his desk and just sat there wailing at the thought that maybe he'll never find someone new. Then he figured that maybe Kitty could do missions with him even though she was his new boss, but it wouldn't feel the same as her doing missions with her every single day. Keswick went back to his lab to work on scientific development while Kitty watched Dudley through her office window. Herbert saw she was looking a little down so he hopped over to her.

"You really miss him don't you Agent Katswell?", he asked her and Kitty sighed.

"Chief, I do miss him, and I know that my new job is supposed to be a major event, but do I really need to give up on my partner?"

"Sorry Kitty, but you know the rules. Sooner or later, Agent Puppy needs to learn to grow up and move on. He's not going to have this job forever. And neither will I. There will be times when you can accompany him on his missions, but it can't be a daily routine. A chief must always do the right thing, even though it's hard."