Emma Valentine was very proud of herself right now. It wasn't easy but she managed to find and locate sixteen units (meaning some had more than one person competing) to compete in the “tournament” she made so that she could find someone to be the next new main attraction of the Valentine Troupe. Each and every one of those she picked were special in their own extraordinary way and would no doubt have a lot of potential. As much as she hated to, Emma could only choose one so she would choose the person who wins the competition. She knew that one is for sure, this tournament is not one to miss.

Wellington walked down one of the many halls of the Valentine Troupe Headquarters while reading a paper.

“Hmm... According to this sheet of paper, Miss Valentine, my room should be here somewhere.” The werewolf said to himself. “She also said that the person I am living with should be someone I am able to get along with.”

Wellington then took a deep sigh. “I sure hope so. I was never good at making friends and hopefully whoever I am living with would be tolerant of my werewolf form.”

The butler continued to walk down the hallway while eyeing the doors. He soon came upon a door which is right in the middle of the hall.

“Now, let's see here.” Wellington said examining the door. “According to this piece of paper, this should where I'll be staying.”

With that, the midget nodded to himself before walking in front of the door and knocking on it a couple of times.

“I just hope whoever my roommate is, he or she is already inside.” Wellington said.

Suddenly, his canine ears picked up something. The sound of footsteps, and they sounded like they were getting closer and closer to the door. With each step, Wellington got more nervous hoping he could make a good impression. Soon, the door opened up and once it did, Wellington looked up to find someone looking down at him.

He was a tall man who looked like he was in his early twenties. He had short messy black hair and wore a white shirt, a blue tie, a lilac cotton shirt, blue cotton pants and cheap shoes. He even had a monocle on his right eye like Wellington, only his was gold-plated.

“Oh, good day to you, my fine furry friend.” The man spoke.

“Um, good day to you too.” Wellington said nervously.

“How may I help you?” The man asked.

“Um, well...” Wellington said before coughing and bowing politely. “My name is Wellington and I will be your new roommate.”

The man blinked twice before smiling. “Ah, a fellow gentleman.”

With that, he returned the bow.

“My name is Gentleman. A pleasure to meet you, Wellington.”

“Same here, Mr. Gentleman.” Wellington nodded happy that he was starting off on the right foot.

“Would you like to come in?” The young man asked stepping back.

“Well, thank you.” Wellington smiled before walking inside.

The room itself was quite nice. Decorated with bright yellow wallpaper and red carpeting, the room was quite large with two beds and a dresser with a lamp on it.

“My, this is quite charming!” Wellington smiled.

“That's what I said when I first came in.” Gentleman chuckled.

Wellington continued to examined the room until he noticed something sitting on one of the beds. A brown briefcase.

“Hm? What's that?” Wellington asked pointing to the briefcase.

“Um, my briefcase?” Gentleman asked unsure why the butler asked that question.

“Yes, I can see that but may I be so bold but to ask why it is here?” Wellington asked walking over the briefcase. “I thought you didn't have to bring your luggage.”

“Um, yes, well...” Gentleman said scratching his head.

Suddenly, much to the shock of Wellington, the briefcase opened up revealing nothing but pitch darkness, save for a pair of red demonic eyes and a red evil smirk. The werewolf stood completely stunned at this.

“Why, hello there. My name is Larry and I eat little animals like you for breakfast.” The briefcase said in a dark tone.

“AAAUUUGGGHHH!”

That was the scream of Wellington before he ran over to Gentleman in a blinding speed, scampered up the purple-clad man and latched onto his head suffocating the human.

Being cut off from breathing, Gentleman grabbed Wellington tried desperately to get him off his face but to no avail because Wellington's grip was, surprisingly, far too strong. He tried shouting but all he could do was make muffled cries. The briefcase known as Larry couldn't help himself but to laugh at the two's misfortune.

“Did you see the look on his face when he saw me!?” Larry said between laughs. “I thought he was going to have a heart-attack!”

Soon, Gentleman had finally pulled the freaked-out Wellington from his face. After taking a couple of deep breaths to get his air back, he glared daggers at the cackling briefcase.

“That was so not funny, Larry!” The namesake man scolded as Wellington shook violently in fear in his arms. “It was mean and immature! You nearly scared this poor wolf to his grave!”

“That was the point.” The talking briefcase said bluntly.

“Larry!”

“Gentleman, seriously, this guy may be our roommate but he is also our competition.” The demon said. “If he does die, then our chances of victory will sky-rocket. Heck, for all you know, he could be our first opponent!”

The dark-haired man narrowed his eyes at this. “Now that is just poor sportsmanship! I rather lose in a fair fight than win by cheating! Besides, if this poor man dies, we will be both arrested if not kicked out of the tournament!”

“Not if we stuffed the body in my mouth.” Larry winked in a sing-song tone.

“LARRY!”

Wellington had finally got over his shaking state and looked up at Gentleman who looked back at him concerned.

“Are you all right, Mr. Wellington?” Gentleman asked.

“Um, yes, I think so...” The werewolf said in a slightly shaky voice.

“I have to apologize about Larry. He is very juvenile.” Gentleman sighed.

“I-I see... He... He won't kill me, right?” Wellington asked.

“No promises!” Larry smirked.

“Larry!” Gentleman scolded before turning to Wellington. “Ignore him, Wellington.”

“O-Okay... If you say so, Master Gentleman.” The midget said taking a deep gulp.

Gentleman gently put the aging wolf on the ground.

“So it looks like that we are going to be roommates for a while.” The well-dressed man said.

“Y-Yeah. Looks like it.” Wellington said before walking over to the opposite bed and climbing onto it and sitting on it.

“So since that we are going to stay with each other for a while, how about we interact with each other for a while?” Gentleman asked before sitting down next to Larry.

“Um, I don't see why not.” Wellington said.

“Perfect. You first, fuzzball.” Larry spoke up. “What are your strengths? Your weaknesses? Your phobias? Your allergies?”

“Um, okay. Well, I don't know much about strengths but I can tell you my weaknesses. Well, as you can see, I can be very jumpy sometimes. Also, I...” Wellington started.

“Larry!” Gentleman shouted. “Wellington, please don't take this Neanderthal seriously!”

“Um, if you say so...” The werewolf said.

“So what do you do?” Gentleman asked.

“Well, I work as a butler.” Wellington explained.

Gentleman's eyes lit up at this. “Oh, really? That must mean you work for a high-class person right?”

“High-class?” Wellington asked before thinking. “You can say that. It's... kind of hard to say, really.”

“Really? Splendid.” Gentleman smiled. “Please, Wellington, enlighten us with the name of your master.”

“Walter.”

“Ah, I could tell already he is up the highest class because of his name.” Gentleman said.

“Yeah, the highest class of nerds!” Larry piped up.

Gentleman growled at his ally's rudeness but chose to ignore him. “So what does he do?”

“What does he do you say?” Wellington asked before he started sweating. “Um... I guess you can say that he is unemployed.”

“Doesn't sound very high-class to me.” Larry said. “Where do you two live? A trailer?

“A giant castle, actually...” Wellington spoke up.

Gentleman smirked. “Tsk tsk tsk! Wrong as usual, Larry! This Walter person is obviously very rich to get a castle. I must say, whatever he does definitely brought home the bacon or something like that!”

“Yeahhhhh...” Wellington said. He didn't wanted to tell his new roommate(s) that his master was a blood-thirsty vampire and the castle they lived in was the kind Dracula would have.

The werewolf thought it was best to change the subject. “What about you, Gentleman?”

“Me? Well, unlike this Walter character of yours, I am a middle-class gentleman.” The young man explained.

“More like lower-class with those clothes on!” Larry cackled.

“Hey! What's THAT supposed to mean!” Gentleman snapped offended.

“Buddy, I know for a fact that you got those clothes at the bargain bin.” Larry said matter-of-factly. “I know because you told me.”

“Shh!” Gentleman scolded. He then turned to a confused Wellington with a sheepish grin on his face. “I admit I don't dress like it but I really am a middle-class gentleman.”

“If... If you say so.” The brown-furred canine said.

“I worked long and hard for my position as middle-class and now I finally got it but...” Gentleman said before trailing off.

“But...” Wellington said.

Gentleman took a deep breath. “I want to be a upper-class gentleman. It is one of my greatest desires.”

“Does it mean that much to you?” Wellington asked.

“Of course! Do you really think a upper-class lady would fall in love with a middle-class bum like him!” Larry spoke up.

“LARRY!” Gentleman shouted.

“Well, it's true!” The briefcase cackled.

Gentleman took a deep sigh. “I suppose you are right. You see, growing up, I had this crush on a beautiful upper-class lady called Lady Marley.”

“I see.” Wellington nodded.

“Yes, I really loved this woman. Ever since I first laid eyes on her. I want to go over to her and talk with her but...” Gentleman said looking at the ground.

“She only dates upper-class men?” Wellington asked.

“You can say that.” Gentleman said. “And to become an upper-class gentleman, you have to be rich and well-known.”

“Gentleman is very rich but he is particularly a nobody in terms of being well-known.” Larry said flatly earning a glare from his friend.

“So by becoming a famous entertainer, you will be well-known and then you will finally be an upper-class gentleman?” Wellington asked.

“Yes, Wellington and then, I can finally ask Lady Marley out on a date.” Gentleman nodded.

“Oh my...” Wellington said in awe.

He had not expected that someone had entered this tournament with such a determined cause. And yet here he was talking to a man in hopes of winning the contest to become famous and impress his childhood crush. His ears then drooped in sadness for some reason.

“Hey, wanna hear about MY backstory?” Larry piped up.

“Um... Is it okay that we can talk about it at breakfast tomorrow?” Wellington asked.

“What? Why?” Larry whined.

“Mr. Wellington's right. We have to get up very early tomorrow so the best thing to do right now is to sleep.” Gentleman nodded.

“Riiiiight. Sleep...” Wellington said scratching the back of his head. He just wanted an excuse to avoid hearing about Larry's past because he thought he would regret it.

“Humph. Fine...” Larry scoffed.

“Now, now. You will get your turn tomorrow. For now, just go to sleep.” Gentleman scolded.

“Pfft. Whatever.” The demon said before he closed himself.

Wellington stared in awe. “My, Larry is certainly an unique fellow.”

Gentleman sighed in hopelessness. “That's one way of putting it. I swear sometimes he makes me want to tear out my hair.”

Wellington nervously scratched the side of his face.

“Hey.”

The wolf butler looked at Gentleman.

“Best of luck to you tomorrow. May the better gentleman win.” The purple-clad man smiled.

Wellington stared in silence before smiling and nodding.

“Why, thank you. Best of luck to you too.”

/-/-/-/-/-/

Just like Emma said, everyone woke up at exactly 8 o'clock sharp. After all of the contestants got up, ate breakfast and spoke with each other, they all stood in front of the red-haired ring-mistress where they were to hear about the tournament at 10 o'clock.

“Ah, morning,, everyone.” Emma grinned. “I hope you all slept well?”

Everyone nodded.

“Good. I am glad to hear that!” Emma nodded. “Especially since today we will kick-off the first match of our little competition. Want to know the rules?”

Again, everyone nodded.

“Good. Now, here is where how the tournament works. You all have been given a pair of dice. A normal one and an inverted one.” Emma explained. “I may have explained it to some of you earlier but these dice are key for this tournament.”

The young beauty then started paced back and forth.

“You see, these dice will determine everything. Who will you face-off against, HOW you will face-off and WHERE you will face off.” She said before looking back at everyone. “The possibilities are endless, really. You can practice your social skills in a jungle or use your academic intelligence in a foreign area or even fight inside a dream world.”

Emma then adjusted her hat.

“Now, here is how we are going to decide the match-up. Everyone will take a turn throwing the dice. After all the dice have been thrown and I wrote down the numbers, I will decide who goes up against who.” She said. “Now, the white die will determine the battle type while the black die will determine the location. It all depends on the number who get. If however one of you will roll a six with either die, I will decide on which battle type or location you will do, depending of which die you roll with. Any questions?”

Everyone shook their heads.

Emma smiled. “Great! Now, let's get the ball rolling or in this case, dice!”

After the order have been decided, everyone then took turns throwing dice. Soon, all of the contestants had rolled their dice.

“Good. That's everyone! Now, just give me a minute to sort out the match-ups with this device.” Emma said before getting out a device and typing in some numbers into it.

Everyone waited in either fear and/or excitement for the eccentric woman to finish her calculations. Needless to say, Wellington was one of the most nervous. This was the first time he ever did anything like this and he was afraid that he will fall at the first hurdle.

“Perhaps this was a mistake.” He said to himself.

That was all he got out before Emma nodded to herself and looked back at the contenders.

“All right! The match-ups, battle types and locations have been decided!” The ring mistress announced. “I will read them out! Wellington.”

The brown-furred wolf jumped a bit.

“You will face off against...”

He closed his eyes and braced himself for whoever he is up against.

“Gentleman.”

Wellington's eyes opened up to reveal that he was completely shocked. He turned to Gentleman to see that he had the same expression on his face. It was obviously to the two that they were not expecting to go up against each other right after they became friends last night. Now, to continue they must crush each other's hopes in the tournament but beating them.

“Told you we should have put him inside of me.” Larry piped up into Gentleman's hand.

“Shut up, Larry.” Gentleman scolded.

“Now, you two rolled a 5 with your white die so you two will be going against each other in a contest of social skills.” Emma explained.

Wellington's eyes bugged out in horror. “Social skills!?”

“And you have rolled a 1 with your black die so it will be in a public area.” Emma added.

“Public!?” Wellington shrieked.

The small wolf buried his face in his hands. He had never been very good with being the centre of attention and now he had to be in a battle about it!? It doesn't help that the person Wellington was up against was quite good with social activities.

“Easiest win yet.” Larry said smirking inside the briefcase.

/-/-/-/-/-/

After setting the rest of the contestants their tasks, Emma sent Wellington and Gentleman to an uphill road not too far from the headquarters with one of the four judges that the beautiful red-head hand-picked herself. Once there, the two gentlemen stood in front of the judge intending to hear her.

The judge was a beautiful woman in her late teens. Along with a stoic look on her face, she had long brown hair, brown eyes, an indigo sweatshirt, a purple shirt and dark blue shoes.

“Okay, you two, listen up.” The woman said with absolutely no emotion in her voice. “My name is Cassandra Rumshack and I am going to be your judge for your match.”

“Rumshack? That's a lame name.” Larry rhymed.

“Larry!” Gentleman scolded before turning to Cassandra. “Miss Rumshack, please excuse my ally's rudeness!”

“It's all right. I used to people like that.” The brunette said with a small shrug. “Anyway, I think you already know but Emma told you that your next match involves social skills, right?”

“Right.” Wellington sighed.

“Good. Now, I want a nice, clean battle. No dirty tricks, got it?” Cassandra said with her arms crossed.

“Got it.” The two then nodded.

“Hey, Wellington.” Gentleman said.

“Yes, Gentleman?” The butler asked looking up.

The middle-class man knelt down and held out his hand in form of a handshake. “Best of luck to you.”

The canine smiled before accepting the handshake. “Thank you. Best of luck to you too.”

“Um, will you two stop acting buddy-buddy? You are both enemies here” Larry spoke up.

“Oh, hush.” Gentleman scolded.

“Anyway, you want to know what exactly your match is about?” Cassandra asked.

The two gentlemen nodded.

“Very well. I will explain to you about your match.” Cassandra said. “You two will be selling cookies.”

That last comment summoned blank faces on the two men's faces.

“Just like I said. You are going to be selling cookies.” Cassandra said. “Trust me. It's a nice, slow start for the tournament.”

“Greeeeeeat. Gentleman is going to be an upper-class gentleman by acting like a girl scout.” Larry said sarcastically.

“Oh, hush. We all have to start somewhere.” Gentleman scolded.

“Now, here is how the battle is going to go. You will be working in cookie wagons on opposite sides of the park.” Cassandra explained. “The objective is simple. Sell the most cookies and make the most money in one hour. Whoever makes the most money at the end wins the match.”

“Well, I guess it IS a simply task.” Wellington shrugged.

“Use whatever methods you can to get customers.” Cassandra explained.

“Can I threaten them?” Larry asked.

“Of course, there ARE limitations.” Cassandra said making the demon pout. “Now, let me show you to your wagons.

/-/-/-/-/-/

After the two contestants were introduced to their wagons, the battle had eventually began. Wellington took a deep breath as he stood on a stool inside his wagon which was placed on top of a hill.

“If anyone told me that I would be selling cookies in a tournament, I would question their sanity...” He sighed. “Well, might as well get this over with!”

The canine then noticed a few people walking past him.

“Um, excuse me, miss.” Wellington said trying to catch someone's attention.“Sir, if I could get a minute of your time. Um, sir? Madame? Anyone? Please stop and listen. Please? Pretty Please?”

Unfortunately, his plea fell on deaf ears as everyone else just walked by.

“This isn't going to work...” Wellington frowned. “Perhaps a more direct approach.”

With that, the worry-wart stepped off the stool and walked out of the wagon. He then looked around for somebody to talk to. His eyes then caught sight a teenage couple talking to each other on a bench. Smiling, he walked over to the couple as they stared lovingly in each other's eyes not noticing the butler coming.

Wellington coughed a few times trying to catch their attention. “Um, excuse me? Sir? Miss?”

The couple jerked their heads up in confusion before looking around for the direction of the voice.

“Did you hear that?” The boy asked.

“Yeah. Some kind of voice.” The girl noted. “I wonder where it came from.”

“Um, pardon me but...” Wellington spoke up.

“There it is again!” The boy said.

“It... It can't be that far!” The girl explained trying to hide her worry.

“Hey! Whoever's there come out now!” The boy shouted angrily.

“Down here.” Wellington said.

The couple raised an confused eyebrow before they both looked down to see the aging wolf.

“Um, greetings.” Wellington greeted.

The couple's eyes widened to the fullest at the sight of a talking animal.

Wellington bowed politely. “Um, forgive me for bothering you but I only need to few minutes of your time. Well, you see I am selling cookies over there and I was wondering if you want to spare a couple of pounds for a box.”

The couple blinked twice staring at the butler.

“So... Could you care to buy a box of cookies from me?” Wellington asked while smiling sheepishly.

The boy and girl simply stared in silence for a moment. That was until the girl decided to break the silence.

“AAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!”

“IT'S A DEMON WOLF!” The boy screamed.

Wellington's eyes bugged out in horror. “Demon wolf!? Nonononono! I am not a demon wolf! I am...”

“HELP! HELP! POLICE! POLICE!” The girl shrieked.

“LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!” The boy shouted.

With that, the two teenager got off the bench and ran off screaming leaving a trail of dust behind them. Poor Wellington stared at the whole scene with his ears dropped and a hurt look on his face.

“Well, that hurt...” The wolf frowned. “Maybe I was not cut out to be a cookie vendor.”

“Hey, look! A cookie wagon!” A new voice said.

“Yeah, I see it! I see it! But... Where's the owner of it?” Another voice said.

Wellington's eyes lit up before he whirled around to see two boys standing in front of the wagon.

“Hello! Is anyone there?” One of the boys said.

As quickly as he can, Wellington darted towards the cookie wagon at a surprisingly fast speed and got back into it. He then jumped onto the stool and startled the kids with a sheepish grin.

“Yes, right here!” He grinned.

“Whoa! A talking wolf!” One of the boys said surprised.

“Cool!” The other one smiled

Wellington chuckled feeling a bit better. “Well, thank you. Now, um, would you like some cookies?”

“You bet!” The two said in unison.

Wellington smiled at this. For once, things were looking his face.

“I will take it triple chocolate chip, please!” One boy said.

“I want mine to be white chocolate!” The other boy exclaimed.

Wellington's smile disappeared. “What?”

“Just like we said. He wants triple chocolate chip and I want white chocolate.” The second boy said.

Wellington frowned. “I am sorry but all I got is oatmeal cookies.”

“Oatmeal!? Blah!” The first boy exclaimed with disgust.

“Why? What's wrong with oatmeal cookies?” Wellington asked.

“They have no flavor!” The second boy scolded.

“No flavor? Are you sure? When I was your age, I LOVED oatmeal cookies!” Wellington explained.

“Yeah, back when dinosaurs ruled the earth!” The first boy said rudely.

“Dude, I am going to say this to you as honestly as I can.” The second boy said. “Only people like my grandparents like these cookies! Especially since they didn't have different flavours back then!”

“But... But...” Wellington said. “The original cookie is always the best!”

“Welcome to the present, buddy!” The first boy snapped crossing his arms.

“Come on, let's go!” The second boy said before they both stormed off.

Wellington stared stunned staring at the two boys walking away. He then gave a deep sigh.

“Now I know how that round-eared mouse felt like when that blonde pop-star took over that cartoon channel.”