She’s a Knockout
“Vi! Vi! Vi!” The crowd roared as her band took the stage, with their frontwoman still on the side, savoring the moment.
She brought her head up slowly before starting to make her way in front of the screaming crowd. She walked over to her tech as he passed her number 1 guitar so she could start the performance. Vi walked over to the center mic and stood there, waiting to acknowledge the crowds’ very apparent existence. She turned back to her sister, eagerly sat behind the drums waiting for Vi to give her the cue to start.
Vi started her signature smirk while turning back to the crowd. She decided that she had had enough fun toying with them and after what seemed like an eternity, finally spoke.
“You finally ready for the real show to start?”
The audience doubled in volume as she finished, clearly enjoying being in the palm of Vi’s hand.
“Well, it seems to be that way,” Vi said through a chuckle. “Alright, here’s a little something we haven’t played in a while. Here we go.”
Their set was an all out attack on the crowd, full of fast songs and really no breaks, apart from some stage banter from Vi. They knew that this specific gig was special, a homecoming for the band after a long, and pretty brutal tour.
The Last Drop was a sacred venue, and everyone treated it as such. It was the first stepping stone for any artist trying to make it big. “If you could make it here, you make it anywhere” was what they all said. And thankfully for Vi, Jinx, Mylo and Claggor The Last Drop crowd had taken a liking to them early in their career making them into who they were.
After a show, the venue usually just became a bar as no-one ever got “kicked out.” It was just an unspoken rule that everyone would start to file out naturally unless you drank a little too much and passed out somewhere. But even then, you would remain undisturbed until you awoke in the morning.
The owner, Vander was a mountain of man but one of the sweetest souls you’ll ever meet. He ran The Last Drop as more of a sanctuary, knowing that people came there to have fun and not worry about whatever was happening outside of his doors. It was what many called home, especially a very certain group of rag-tag misfits from Zaun.
After a show, Vi always went straight to hang out with the fans, making sure to give back to the people who supported her band. She walked through the venue, slowly making her way to the bar while stopping for every autograph and picture that was asked of her.
Upon reaching the bar, she saw that her favorite seat was still unused, as was the tradition. She had long since given up trying to get people to sit there whenever they performed. It was known as “Vi’s seat,” placed right in front of Vander.
She waved to the towering figure behind the counter, and he walked over with an indescribable look of pride.
“How’d we do, Vander?” Vi asked while taking a seat at the bar.
“Pretty amazing kiddo,” Vander said while pouring her a beer. “I have to say, you’ve come a long way from that scrappy bunch of misfits with nothing but a fire and a promise to make it big.”
Vi smiled as she took a long drink of her beer. Vander always somehow knew exactly what to say, no matter the occasion.
“Do you think we still have a chance?” Vi asked, while signing a shirt.
“At the big time record deal?” Vander tilted his head towards her. “I think you’ve always had a chance, and tonight is just more proof of what I’ve always thought. You four have something really special going on so any label that skips out on you is really missing out.”
”You think so?” Vi chuckled as she set her beer back down.
“I know so kiddo.” Vander smiled as he went to serve another customer.
Vi turned around to look at The Last Drop, finally getting to relax after the last couple months’ tour. She loved being on the road as it was her home away from home but even she couldn’t deny that they had overdone it this time around. 6 months of nonstop action and very little time to rest had taken its toll on everyone, especially Powder who had become dependent on epsom salt baths and muscle rub for the latter half of the run.
Everyone agreed that they’d take a break after this and get back up to 100% before working on anything music related as a band. Vi intended to start writing for what would be the next record during this time but who knows, maybe she’d actually sit still for longer than a minute.
In the corner of her eye Vi could see the rest of her band walking out from backstage, freshly showered and ready to finish off the night strong. She stood up and made her way over to them, a smile slowly creeping up her face.
“Look who finally decided to join the party,” Vi smirked, taking a long sip of her beer.
“Look who refuses to shower after a show and waits for the hotel room so she can interact with fans.” Powder shot back, moving to hug her sister.
Vi broke into a smile as her sister brought her in for a hug, soon joined by Mylo, Claggor and Ekko. After a while Vi broke up the hug and rubbed her eyes, finally feeling the exhaustion set in from the night and by extension, the tour.
Vi took another drink and used Powder as a brace to try and stay on her feet. She could feel her conscious fading, knowing that she had reached her limit and quietly muttered a few words before passing out on her sister.
Powder gently placed her on the ground, leaning her against the wall as she tried to wave down Vander, who was talking to a patron at the moment.
“How long do you think she’ll be out for?” Ekko curiously joked in an effort to bring Powder back into the conversation.
“At least two days,” Powder answered, still trying to wave down Vander to help Vi back to her room. “Probably a little longer this time around. Hope she doesn’t sleep through the tickets we bought.”
Ekko chuckled as he saw Vander finally see that Powder was trying to get his attention, presumably for Vi. What surprised him was Vander motioned for the woman at the bar he was talking to follow him over at his request.
Vander arrived glancing over at Vi slumped over against the wall, putting his head in his and chuckling. He then stood up straight and announced the woman who had followed him over.
“Kids, I’d like you to meet Mel Medarda.” He spoke. “Talent relations at-“
“KIRAMMAN RECORDS?” Powder interrupted, shooting forward to shake Mel’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Powder, but you probably know me as Jinx. Next to me is Ekko, our tech, Mylo our other guitarist and Claggor our bassist. Oh! And slumped against the wall over there is Vi, our front woman.”
“The pleasure is all mine.” Mel responded, politely laughing at the scene that had taken place in front of her. “Good to finally see a young band with some character.”
“They’ve certainly got that.” Vander laughed, handing Mel a drink. “But I assume that’s not enough to get a record deal.”
“Sadly no, but I did come here with the intention of business. Maybe we could schedule a meeting when… all parties are fully together.” Mel took a glance at Vi and turned back to the group with a smile. “So, how does that sound?”
“I think that’s a great idea, but would you be open to the idea of multiple meetings?” Powder asked, trying to get the rest of their group on board with her plan.
“That could be arranged, but why do you ask for such a thing?” Mel tilted her head, trying to get a read on Powder before ultimately coming short on any conclusions.
“Well, I appreciate the gesture of wanting to wait until our front woman wakes from her slumber, but I think it would be better if we had a meeting without her because well… she’s a little hostile when it comes to dealing with people from Piltover.” She looked over at Vi against the wall and sighed knowing that a meeting without her wouldn’t go over well after she woke up.
“I see. Do you want to give an explanation as to why she feels this way?” Mel questioned, feeling a tension rise in her body as Powder explained her reason for wanting a meeting without Vi.
“Because those dirty Piltie enforcers killed our parents.” Vi spat, now awake enough to join the conversation.
“I’m sorry to hear tha-“ Mel started before being interrupted by Vi.
“Yeah, yeah yeah everybody’s sorry for something.” Vi said as she disregarded Mel’s apology before sighing and meeting her eyes. “Look, I’m sure you mean well by that, but in the end it doesn’t change anything. If you want to stage a meeting without me, be my guest.”
“I think I have a better plan.” Mel smirked as she looked towards Vi. “I have a copy of what basically is your record deal. I’d go through it with Vander just to have as many eyes go over it as you can. It doesn’t have any rates or percentages listed because we go through that with the artist at our offices. Now I think it would be easier to ease you into our process so I’ll have you meet with our main producer, who will most likely be doing your record. She’s playing a small gig at a coffee shop in a couple days so I'll get you tickets. And-“
“Sorry to interrupt but are you talking about Caitlyn?” Powder asked, not able to contain herself?
“I am, how’d you know she was playing a gig?” Mel questioned, looking over Powder.
“I adore her music so I asked our promoter for tickets to her next performance and they hooked us up with some.” Powder explained, grinning from ear to ear as she spoke. “So there’s no need to get us tickets as we’ll already be there. She looked over at her sister, who nodded and gestured for the conversation to continue.
“In any case,” Mel continued. “I’ll arrange for a meeting after her performance for a little ice breaker before the negotiations. Does that work for everyone?”
Everyone turned to look at Vi who again looked like she was about to pass out.
“Yeah that works for me I guess, I don’t know what to expect but it’ll be better than being shoved headfirst into a room with a bunch of Pilties.” Vi bluntly responds.
“All right then, I’ll pass the message on to Caitlyn.” Mel responds, opening up into a smile. “I hope everything goes well and I’ll see you in negotiations preferably sooner than later.”
Mel then said her goodbyes and left The Last Drop, leaving the band to come to terms with what just happened.
“Oh. My. God. We fucking did it!” Powder exclaimed, turning around just in time to see Vi pass out and fall to the floor. “We still did it! One of us is just on the floor now.”
They all laughed as they went to pick up Vi and bring her to her bed so she can rest before their meeting in a couple days.