"Hey, girl! You got any plans for the weekend?"
At least Ronnie had waited to call her until she was off work this time. And Krystal was also off work, so was in the room for emotional support. Ronnie had previously, over text, threatened Tay if he was put on speaker with Krystal in the room, but he didn't say (and couldn't do) anything about briefing her after the fact. She audibly groaned with her phone on mute before picking it back up.
"Why do you want to know?"
"Because you do now. Be in Vegas first thing Saturday morning. I got you a studio booking. You're going to be recording my album!"
"First of all, it isn't your album. And second of all -- that's in four days! How the fuck am I supposed to get a band to a studio in Vegas that soon?! I don't even have a band!"
"Yes, you do. Who do you think you've been doing shows with? I can give them the word and they can come help you out."
"And be alone with them in an enclosed, soundproofed space? Nice try."
Ronnie exaggeratedly gasped. "What? Do you honestly think that I'd have your stage band attack you while there were no witnesses?"
"Yes."
"Well, there's nothing I can do about you being a wimp. Be at the studio at the time we booked. After all, your info's still of serious interest to the medical and scientific community..."
"If I record the stupid album, will you let me go? That's what you wanted, right? Is to have me release TDIMIY2, or whatever I'm going to call it since I'm not allowed to do anything that could remotely be confused with Falling In Reverse, and see how well it does, to see if I was right about being a better you than you? That's what was on my contract. Once I release an album, your power over me is null and void and you're removing all records pertaining to me from your files."
"Damn. Didn't expect you to actually read it."
"I'm a writer, buddy. Not sure what you expected."
"You know, I've been considering dabbling in journalism myself... what do you think? Could also stretch my mad graphic design skills -- say, you ever tried those AI image generators? It's remarkable what you can do with them..."
"If you're trying to piss me off, it isn't going to work."
"Whatever. Just be there. You're booked for 9:00 AM. By the way, I haven't heard a 'thank you' yet. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get bookings on this short of notice? Especially for a new band no one's ever heard of? Honestly, you have no idea how much I've been sticking my neck out for you. All so you get a fair shake because I love uplifting promising new artists."
Despite the phone call being audio-only, Tay could tell that Ronnie was sneering at those last words. The whole time, he'd been sing-songing his way through it like he honestly believed he was doing her a favor and was going to milk it for every last drop.
"Oh, and by the way, don't you dare put out a casting call saying you're being held against your will. I know you're thinking of it, and if you say I threatened you, you're getting sold to the highest bidder like the motherfucking medical miracle you are. Or I just, y'know, kill you. I've done it before."
"What happens if I just don't show up?"
"Then that's a breach of contract, so I don't need to follow my end either."
Ronnie abruptly hung up the phone, cutting off right at the start of what was probably going to be some obnoxious laughter. If anything, what Tay's brain autofilled was worse than what he actually sounded like, not the least of which because she couldn't get Tragic Magic out of it. Tay turned towards Krystal, who nodded in response.
"Wow. You sounded remarkably civil."
Tay took a deep breath in and out, then screamed for 10 seconds straight. She'd started taking lessons when she'd started getting forced into doing shows, since she figured that if she was doing this, she might as well make sure she was getting the technique to do it correctly. They'd been paying off; it came off impressively menacing.
"So, what is he making you do?"
"Apparently I'm recording an album. In Vegas. This Saturday. With the goons. I'm pretty confident that the moment he gets me in an enclosed space without witnesses, they're going to -- well, you can fill in that blank yourself."
"You are a lot bigger now..."
"Yeah, but I can't fight four guys of comparable size, and this is Ronnie 'Brass Knuckles' Radke. Do you really think he'll fight fair?"
"Tay, if he wanted to attack you, he wouldn't have waited this long."
"I just don't trust them not to be gross, or violent, or try to screw me over. Why do you think I've been changing and doing my vocal exercises before every show in my car?"
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Break every bone in his body."
"...is there anything I can do to help that won't land me in prison?"
"Look on every social media and gig platform you can find and get me some session musicians who can get down this Saturday. If I'm going to be doing this, it's not going to be with the Falling In Reverse goon squad. I don't care how much I have to pay them. Hell, you work for a record label; ask if any of their bands are close enough to the genre to fake it! It's not like it's that difficult for anyone who knows what they're doing."
When none of the gig musicians Tay had contacted had responded by Thursday morning, she started getting worried. She'd at least expected some kid with a Neocities site and 20 different -cores in their bio to send her some shitty electronic beats, but had gotten absolutely nothing. Perhaps her adjacency to Falling In Reverse (which she wasn't allowed to mention) had scared them off, or the assumption was that no one would get booked to record an album without a band, so it was probably a scam? Close to hyperventilating, she called Krystal.
"Please tell me that Variant Records found someone with nothing better to do!"
"Best I can do is 'emo revival' acoustic indie-pop."
"Shit! I can't bring an entire rock kit in my car! We at least need somebody with instruments we can amplify..."
"No response to your social media and gig site queries, huh?"
"That and every bathroom wall I could think of. Hell, I'm ready to hire a hooker if she can play the bass!"
"Have you tried that? Sure, it'll be expensive since they charge by the hour, but if you ask one of the escort services..."
"We still need instruments, Krystal. And I can't exactly fit a guitar, a bass, and a drum kit in my hatchback. And that's if we assume the studio's bringing their own amps."
"You know, maybe the problem with your bathroom wall and gig site answers is that you're sending them in text, or phone calls. I've been checking the Ronnie socials this whole time, and he's been pretty flattering about you -- well, mostly about how nice he is for supporting you, but it's something -- and the fans love you. And while they might not be very good at it, a lot of Falling In Reverse fans have something like musical ambitions themselves. Maybe if you put out a request with your face, some of them will respond?"
"Falling In Reverse fans have the same problem as his goons."
"Tay... I don't want to be rude, but you do know that they're not going to see you as a woman anymore, right? They've all totally forgotten about your original post on the sub, so they probably just think you're some 20-something guy that Ronnie abducted and turned into him. So, the girls might sexually harass you, but..."
"The whole point of looking for a different backup band is getting away from Falling In Reverse..."
"Well, what other options do you have? At least the fans won't, you know, know. Ronnie's goons probably do."
"Fine. I guess I technically have a TikTok and Instagram account. Haven't used them in years, but maybe if I tag some of the big young Ronnie fans..."
Tay took a deep breath before recording the story she was going to send out, tagging some of the major Ronnie "content aggregators" (God, she hated everything about that word and concept) who liked The Drug In Me Is You, and absolutely loved her whole "gimmick". She mostly felt bad for them for having for some ungodly reason fallen in love with an extremely uninterested and openly horrible man twice their age, when she wasn't disgusted with them for apologizing for him. At least this time maybe they'd be good for something.
"Hey, so, uh, this is that... guy, the one who looks and sounds like a young Ronnie Radke who you've probably seen around. If you've gone to any of my shows, or seen videos and liked what you saw, I need your help. My, uh, manager, is totally screwing me over. He's forcing me to record an album this Saturday, and I don't trust the band he's set me up with. I can't move or cancel without losing my contract. So, if you know or are any musicians who can get to the Vega City area by Saturday morning, PLEASE contact me. We can talk about payment over DMs; I'll do competitive rates and then some. Rock or metal experience appreciated, but not required. Please be able to bring your own instruments."
The video released, Tay promptly exited all social media apps and considered uninstalling them before remembering she needed to get notifications. In practice, she didn't expect anyone to actually respond.
Craig Mabbitt (Escape the Fate / Dead Rabbitts, formerly The Word Alive and Blessthefall) specifically didn't let himself spend any more than 2 hours a day on social media, unless he was doing something actively work-related. That being said, maintaining a communicative presence and interacting with fans (you know, who actually WANTED to be interacted with, unlike some people) was a fundamental part of his job, and keeping tabs on what was going on in the scene legitimately interested him. Apparently the latest hot news in his neck of the woods was that Ronnie had adopted some kid and was gushing all over the place about how much they reminded him of a younger version of himself and how much he was looking forward to their first album release that he'd made possible. Craig typed in the relevant names to a search engine to get to the obligatory Loudwire / PRP articles.
Hmm. That's unusual.
Despite scanning every version of the article he could find, there wasn't any mention of Ronnie's protege's name, or the name of any band they were working with. Nor did, when looking for them with a quick search, he find any presences that clearly belonged to the kid themself. Everything pertaining to them seemed to be entirely going through Ronnie, and there wasn't any space for this kid to speak for themself. Plus, if this really were a new artist that Ronnie had decided to jump-start, they'd have a previous portfolio on YouTube, TikTok, somewhere. After all, Ronnie had to discover them from someplace, but Craig couldn't find anything about them anywhere. Honestly, it felt like this kid didn't exist until about a month and a half ago.
And thinking about it, the closest thing Ronnie had to a protege was Andy from Black Veil Brides, and he was of similar or higher tier publicity and scene standing to Falling In Reverse. The last time Ronnie had promoted a notably smaller artist was with Survive This in 2013, but they actually had interviews where they spoke and, well, clearly existed before Ronnie, even if he'd produced their first album and all of their marketing solely revolved around being friends with him.
God, I'm so glad I left Epitaph. Best career decision I ever made.
Craig already had his suspicions, and his own theory of what had happened. It wasn't too uncommon, after all, for Falling In Reverse fans across the gender spectrum to cosplay as Ronnie or do their best impressions of him. Perhaps one of them dressed as him for a local talent show or something, Ronnie got tagged in it, and he decided to take advantage of the poor kid for his own amusement. He briefly scrolled right past a video centered on what looked to be a young Ronnie, but with short hair's face, before abruptly going back to it. The first split seconds of voice he'd heard sounded awfully familiar.
"My, uh, manager, is totally screwing me over. He's forcing me to record an album this Saturday, and I don't trust the band he's set me up with."
Craig wasn't able to determine this kid's age, gender, or much of anything else. They honestly looked and sounded exactly like Ronnie to an uncanny degree. What he was able to determine was that they sounded absolutely terrified. He watched their entire video, several times, and their voice was shaking in a way he'd never heard from Ronnie, complete with their eyes wide and despite their best efforts to look at the camera, darting around the room in response to background noises. While Ronnie was pallid at the best of times, this one was nonetheless substantially paler, made all the clearer by their eyeliner. Which Craig couldn't help but suspect they really didn't want to be wearing, seeing as the rest of the video and their ensemble didn't suggest they were dressing up.
You know, I really try not to interpret his actions in bad faith. He's my brother and friend and stuff. And he at least... used to sound like he was really trying to improve.
The kid's DMs were open, so Craig composed a quick message. He considered approaching casually, but realized that would probably come off as catfishing (he was also aware of that recent news about Ronnie...), so figured he'd establish his concerns up front and included a picture of his face just in case.
(text interface; add in HTML form)
Do you need help, are you being held against your will, and does this have anything to do with Ronnie Radke?
< Yes, yes, and yes.
I know some musicians in the Vega City area who are looking for any gigs they can get, and know how to deal with Ronnie. Are you still looking?
< HOLY SHIT YES
< That would be amazing, thank you so much!
If you need shows to maintain your contract, I'm going to be up on the west coast next month and know some trustworthy bands. I'll ask my manager, too, if he knows anybody better you can sign on with. I don't know what's going on, but I've dealt with Ronnie before and no one deserves that. We're going to get you out of here.
< I'm literally crying rn
< seriously, you saved my life. maybe literally
< so, uh, sorry for bullying you and your music for the entire span of 2008-10? and apologies on behalf of the entire falling in reverse community
< I'd say we're not all that bad, but having kinda been on both sides of that whole situationship, we totally are.
Hey, water under the bridge. I already brought the flood, remember?
(2,848 words)