Back at TUFF, Kitty had just got back from her little search. She had looked for Dudley all over , Petropolis, and found him nowhere. Just as she was about to give up, she noticed a glitter near a trash can so she went to investigate. There, she found something interesting: Dudley's badge. How did that get there? She figured that Keswick could help her piece the issue together so she had returned to TUFF to get answers. Keswick ran a scan and sure enough it was Dudley's badge alright.

"Why would Dudley loose his badge like this?", she wondered, "It's not like him."

"Looks like Agent Puppy is just disappeared about a while ago", Keswick informed.

He pulled out a graphic display of Petropolis and located Dudley over the course of four hours back. Kitty observed as Dudley's TUFF signal flickered for a minute then vanished. Where did it go? Now Kitty was worried about Dudley's well being. What if someone had gotten hold of him and tried to annihilate him while she was busy with her errands? She was about to start a search party, but then found out it was quitting time. On the way out however, Herbert stopped her.

"Kitty, I think I have a plan. Dudley may not be willing to talk to me, but maybe he'll open up to you."

"Why me?"

"Because the way you two were together all that time through the ups and downs, you could come through for each other any day."

He had a point there. Kitty had no time to consider this, but now she was starting to understand. All those times that Dudley and her spent with each other were forming a strong bond between them. Maybe she could get through to him. Hopefully he'll listen to reason from her better than anyone.

"Okay chief, I'll try. I just hope it works."

"So do I Kitty. So do I."

The following day at TUFF, Kitty and most of everyone there was looking high and low for Dudley. It was near time for him to clock in and he was almost late. Kitty definably remembered the time that Dudley skipped over a year of work. Although he didn't mean to, the fact still stood that he would be in big trouble if something like that happened again. As Kitty made her rounds around TUFF, she decided to visit the snack bar for a quick bite. And who was there lounging on one of the tables? Dudley Puppy who looked very confident for someone who was almost late.

"Dudley?", Kitty asked as she walked over, "How did you get in here?"

"I came in early to get a heads up", Dudley said with a very smug smile on his face, "You should try it sometime."

"Uh Dudley, are you okay?"

"Never better", Dudley stated as he got off the table and dusted off his shirt, "I just met the most fantastic person that I ever could."

"Who was that?", Kitty asked him.

"Wouldn't you like to know", Dudley answered still smiling.

If it was anyone else, they would believe that, but Kitty knew Dudley and something about him was not right. Dudley knew something.

"Listen Dudley, I tried to find you cause-"

"What are you? My personal keeper?", Dudley snapped turning his smile into a dark look, "You think I can't make my own decisions? You think I'm below you? Were all those times we spent together pointless? Listen carefully to me Kitty. I don't need a babysitter to tell me what to do anymore. You're the new chief of TUFF? All the more reason you forgot about me. You should have considered my feelings, but no. Need to grow up DO I?!"

Kitty couldn't believe her ears. Dudley never talked back so viciously, now he spoke of that comment Herbert mentioned to her.

"How did you know about-"

"I'M NOT FINISHED YET!", Dudley yelled, "You think you're all that because you're mature and less...childish than me. IS THAT THE REASON YOU LEFT ME?!"

"Dudley, pull yourself-"

"NOT UNTIL I'VE MADE MY POINT! I don't need a new PARTNER anymore! I can handle crime myself."

"What?!", Kitty asked in shock, "But we look out for each other."

"I believe you mean WE USED TO! Now if you'll excuse me chief, I have a whole city to safeguard, with hey, my name on it."

With that, Dudley just walked away with his nose in the air and without looking back. Kitty couldn't believe it. This wasn't Dudley at all. Dudley was kind, loyal, a little bit on the challenged side, but was the very figure of TUFF. Now he was this selfish, stuck up dog who just wanted glory. What exactly happened to him last night?

Dudley was as bad as his word. No matter who tried to partner up with him, he rudely turned away and turned them down. And every time he caught someone "goofing off", he put his foot down and yelled to get those people to get back to work. Herbert noticed this and decided that he had seen enough. So he wheeled his tiny wheelchair over to Dudley's desk. Dudley was typing up some paperwork when Herbert got on to his desktop.

"Oh look", Dudley noted as he noticed Herbert on his desk, "it's Mr. Sneaky. Trying to ruin my day again are we?"

"Dudley, we really need to talk."

"You're so right. I'm thinking you need to explain to me why you didn't give me your old job and gave it to someone else."

"I wanted to talk about you. What happened last night?"

"I don't think I'll tell you."

"Dudley, as your boss, I order you to tell me!"

"I just met someone and he made an offer I couldn't refuse."

"Who was it?", Herbert asked but Dudley turned away.

"As much as I want to mention him, I have work to do. Now do us a favor and make yourself scarce."

"Hey, you can't talk to me like that!"

"I just did."

Kitty overheard this and walked over.

"Dudley, you're not yourself. This isn't you."

"You're right Kitty."

"Really?", Kitty asked hoping she finally got his attention.

"This is BETTER than me! This is new and improved me. And I'll prove it to you when the next mission comes up."

Kitty and Herbert couldn't believe this. Then, when the alarm went off, Dudley was instantly off his chair, and at the computer.

"Get this, we got another robbery on our hands. LOOK ALIVE PEOPLE!"

Agents bustled around while Dudley was already going down the chute to the Tuffmobile. Kitty worried about him, and even though she had responsibilities, she chased after him. By the time she got there, she found an extraordinary sight. Dudley was there with the thieves tied up alright, but standing near him were Snaptrap, Bird Brain, the Chameleon, and their underlings. They hardly looked like themselves. Besides the new muscle improvement, they had other features. Snaptrap, Ollie, and Larry had sharp claws, fangs and were wearing dark cloaks and iron bracelets. Their flesh was pale and they seemed to be infecting everything they touched. Chameleon had a bony spine across his back as his transformation suit seemed to be fused to his skin. Francisco was outfitted the same way with a height as tall as Chameleon. Bird Brain was looking younger. That sparked the memory of the time he harvested that rare flower in Kitty's mind. However now he was hovering with his usual henchmen (Zippy, Owl, and Bat) floating nearby. They all looked menacing and Bird Brain seemed to be keeping them in a formation like fighter planes. Dudley noticed Kitty and shot her a very smug smile.

"Well, how do you like my new team?"

"New team?!", Kitty asked.

"Yeah, they came with my new occupation. Snaptrap the Plaugebringer. And his harvesters, the reapers"

Snaptrap, Ollie and Larry instantly showed what they could do. After Snaptrap spread rot on a trash can, Ollie and Larry leaped forward and the can was cleaved in two.

"Chameleon, the living weapon. And his assistant, Francisco."

Chameleon and Francisco instantly shifted parts of their bodies into many weapons to prove Dudley's point.

"Bird Brain, the warrior. And his armada."

With that Bird Brain and his henchmen flew high, and then dive bombed nearby. Completely destroying a dumpster. Kitty had never seen such power. Dudley however looked as smug as he did when she noticed.

"Magnificent aren't they? If I can't be the best on TUFF, then I'll make my own agency like I did this morning. Where I'll be the best agent ALL THE TIME!"

Kitty was shocked. Dudley had changed alright. And this was no coincidence. Somebody was behind this and she wanted that someone to go down.

00 at this time was down in his citadel watching Dudley on his special stone. This was no ordinary stone you understand. It looked like a sphere of polished obsidian, but using dark magic, it was 00's eye to the world which allowed him to see many things. It was placed on a pedestal in the middle of his throne room. He had shown it to Dudley before. After assuring him that he could be the new chief of TUFF and the whole world as his tennis ball was brilliant. And all this talk of the newcomer taking his job and his friends forgetting about him? Genius. Now with TUFF out of the way, and focusing on Dudley, he was now able to put other things into motion.

"Oh, Agent Puppy you're too kind", 00 chuckled wickedly to himself, "You don't know it, but soon, I will make you're entire dream the worst nightmare you ever lived."

00 then walked to the other side of the room where several dark and small containers were placed on a table. He picked up a couple, then walked over to the stone again, and made a phone call which 03 and 04 answered.

"00 to 03 and 04. Everything's going as instructed. I'm sending you the next phase. Plant this "special delivery" underneath Petropolis. Await further orders."

"Aye aye sir."

00 then placed the containers near the stone, waved his hand over it, and a portal opened out of nowhere. He then tossed the containers he had through, then sent several more. After that the portal closed, and 00 went back to watching his little drama while pulling out a contract from his coat. Unfolding it, he scrolled down it and smiled malevolently as he came to the signature. Written in infernal ink, was Dudley's name.

"Yes Dudley, enjoy your little reputation boost while you can. Because in mere days, I'll deploy other missions for you to take that really get things interesting."

Now at this time Joseph Amber( now back in his Dante Swigger disguise) was making a round trip around Petropolis. His partner was gathering the last of the materials( he had delivered his earlier) and now he was on an investigation of his own. Ever since he found out that Dudley had started his own agency, he wanted to get to the bottom of this. First Donnagon shows up, then these new criminals partner up with Dudley? Things were getting out of hand. Just as his motorcycle was turning a corner, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something. It was believe it or not 03 and 04. Before he could give chase, he got a phone call from Otto.

"Otto to Dante. The rest of the materials are sent. We'll now investigate what Donnagon is up to. Any ideas?"

"I'll inform you if anything comes up. Right now, I've got a couple of underworld bounty hunters to trail."

"Bounty hunters?"

"Yep it's 03 and 04. And if they're here, then he's not far behind."

"Understood. Mrs. Cobble is investigating as well. I'll let you know when things get interesting. I know this much, Donnegan's really starting to get things going."

"Yeah, I'll trail 03 and 04 for now. Keep an eye on Dudley. He might give something away. And if not, let me know what's going on with his reputation."

Dante then hung up, and started to trail his new targets. 03 and 04 were certainly major parts of the underworld and if they were being deployed, it had to be important. He also made sure he was a good distance away( don't want to give the enemy any idea that they're being followed). After following 03 and 04 for about twenty minutes, they came to an old sewer drainage pipe where 03 and 04 entered.

"What are you up to Donnagon?", Dante asked himself, "And why are these two bad eggs not doing some spying on targets like they usually are? Guess I'll find out soon enough."

Dante parked his own motorcycle and after having it take it's original cube form and putting it in his jacket pocket, he approached the pipe cautiously. Then after making sure that 03 and 04 had not seen him or for the matter, gave the thought of looking back, entered the pipe himself and continued his pursuit.