Episode 4

"What do you think he does all day in there?"

Ahri had her ears pinned against the red door located near the back of the store, listening intently for any sort of sound or voice that might come from within. The door had only a lone, solitary window and a brand new label below which simply read: Manager's Office. Do Not Disturb. Yes Ahri, This Means You.

"How should I know? You're the one standing there with your ears against the door," Twitch said nonchalantly.

"I have an idea...Twitch, come up and take a peek through the window," Ahri whispered quietly. She motioned silently for Twitch to move up to the door. "Use your invisibility so he won't notice anything. Hurry up!"

Twitch slowly faded out of view, and then moved up to the red door and gazed inside the window.

"So what do you see? What's he doing in there?"

Twitch rose up, trying to get a better view inside the office.

"Um...he seems to be...I think he's crying! He's just sitting in his chair crying..."

Ahri nudged Twitch with the point of her index finger.

"Well go in and comfort him then! He must be feeling really lonely in there."

"Dude, I'm not going in there...he doesn't even know I exist! Besides...what do you think a crying man needs most?"

"...huh? What he needs most?"

"Boobs, Ahri. When a man breaks down and cries, that's his desperate mating call telling the world he needs Boobs."

Twitch felt a large object impact suddenly against his skull, and the world turned into a whirling blur. He felt hands dragging him somewhere, and heard the sound of a door opening. Vaugely he noticed the painful nudge of a foot shoving him through a doorway, and then the clatter of a door slamming shut behind him. He slowly came to his senses, and tried to get a bearing on his surroundings.

He was inside Veigar's office, and the aforementioned yordle was sitting behind his desk, staring sorrowfully up into the ceiling, looking dejected and uttering nonsense.

"Ohhhh God...I'm such a failure! I try so hard to be merciless and evil, and the only response I get is laughter and ridicule! Have I not burned and sundered the bushes in my neighbor's backyard? Did I not make his 2-year old daughter tremble in fear? Do houseflys not flee in terror when they sense my prescence? And then to add insult to injury the league doesn't even want me as AP mid anymore! They're replacing me with those stupid Black Cleaver-wielding AD buffoons!"

Veigar took out a wet towel from his pocket, and blew into it with his nose. Twitch thought the display was so pathetic, that he decided to go and try to comfort the sad yordle. Veigar continued to ramble on, not seeming to notice the rat standing beside him.

"Maybe I should just call down a meteor of dark matter and end it all...would anyone even care?"

"Umm...don't say that Veigar, life is hard for everyone!"

"Life is hard? What a joke! Some champions just have it all!"

"I know," Twitch exclaimed mournfully. "I was born with nothing, and everyone thought I was just some crazy talking rat..."

"Oh why did I have to be born into this sad yordle body? Why God?"

The yordle and the rat started wailing sadly together, and then they faced each other, and started moving in for a hug, each trying to comfort the other, when Veigar suddenly stopped and stared at Twitch, a slightly horrified expression evident on his face.

"What the hell is this? Am I seriously being comforted by a giant mutant rat? "

Twitch started waving his hands magically in the air in front of him, and he started to fade slowly out of vision.

"Thissss...is all a dream Veigar...none of this is real...echo...echo...echo..."

Veigar saw the rat dissapear from sight. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples slowly. There was only one explanation for this.

"AHRI. I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE! I WANT YOU IN MY OFFICE. NOW!"

The red door seemed to open ever so slowly, and Ahri came in cautiously, hands clasped together as if begging for forgiveness. She walked up to Veigar, dropped to her knees, made an exaggerated bow, and then spoke to Veigar in a dutiful tone. The entire scene had an air of facetiousness.

"Oh Dark Overlord of Evil, your Highness Veigar...why have you summoned this lowly fox into your court?"

Veigar lowered his head and moaned audibly in annoyance. He felt an incoming headache, looked back up at Ahri, and breathed in slowly.

"..Ahri, why is there a giant rat in this store? Can you please, for the love of god, explain this in a way so that I won't want to shoot myself in the face later?"

Ahri stayed motionless, with her face lowered and staring at the floor.

"Yes, your malevolence. I only wish to please your highness. This lowly fox found the aforementioned creature in the store, homeless and hungry, and this fox, only wishing to swell the ranks of the Dark Overlord, permitted this mysterious creature to stay and prosper along with your empire."

Still on her knees, Ahri made a series of repeated, melodramatic bows, then looked up at the yordle earnestly.

"Please Veigy? He has nowhere to go, and he could help around with the store."

Veigar stared blankly at Ahri and sat there for awhile, almost in disbelief. After a while, Veigar let his hands drop down and sighed painfully.

"Fine, Ahri...ugh... we do need someone to organize the shelves and fill in when needed...but I'll only let him stay if he doesn't bother the customers and goes invisible when they're here."

"This humble fox thanks your Malevolence. Long live the Dark Overlord!"

Ahri bowed again in grateful reverence, stood up, then backed out slowly, facing the yordle the entire time, furiously swaying her arms up and down and bowing repeatedly. She crossed through the doorframe, arms still bowing furiously, and continued to stare down at the floor, then quickly closed the door shut.

Veigar sighed and looked down at his paperwork, still slightly soggy with tears. He didn't know why but he felt a little better.

"How am I gonna explain this if the health inspector finds out...sigh..someone just kill me, please..."

Outside, Ahri breathed a sigh of relief, then searched for Twitch. She saw him appear in front of her, and smiled at him.

"Hehehe...I can't believe we actually convinced Veigy to let you stay." Ahri said happily.

"Yeah...you somehow managed to cheer him up, Ahri. I thought I was screwed...he was talking about how he wished he could be more evil..."

Ahri's smile suddenly disappeared upon hearing that last word, and she stayed still for awhile. She looked back at Twitch with a slightly remorseful expression.

"Twitch...I'm sure you know how cruel this world can be...only humans have the concept of evil, so they live their lives not noticing it. But, animals are different..."

Ahri stopped, and looked down. After awhile, she look back up at Twitch sincerely.

"Part of the reason I spend so much time at this store...is because I don't sense any Evilness from Veigy...deep down I think he's a nice guy. Twitch...am I wrong?"

Twitch was half taken aback, surprised that his friend's normally happy demeanor had suddenly turned so dark.

"Um...well...all I know is that I've always had this sort of sixth sense and could always guess if someone was really evil...I think you have it too, and Ahri – I don't think you're wrong about Velgore...or uhh...whatever his name is."

Ahri looked up at Twitch, her face expressionless as if she had some troubling thought in her mind, and then she looked away, and started walking towards the front of the store.

Twitch watched Ahri as she slowly headed back towards the front counter. She didn't seem to want to talk anymore. Her demeanor reminded him of that time when they had first met, when she had talked about someone searching for her, and Twitch couldn't help but wonder just who this person could be, and why he or she would want to find her so much.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this, the next episode will feature a very epic confrontation...and no, it's not what you think!