Chapter One

There is one day where the Villains are allowed to roam to the surface world where the Disney Castle resides and that is Halloween. While they are on the surface they can cause as much havoc as they wish until the bell tolls for midnight. Once Halloween has come and gone away and now all the Villains must return to the Anti-Realm below the Disney Castle. An endless rainfall and darkness plague the entire Anti-Realm where all the Villains must reside for the other 364 days of the year. Other than the moon to remind them of what light in the sky once was, there were no stars, no light of hope, no promise of sun, nor the security of living another day so long as the Villains roamed the streets. These Villains are the antagonists to their stories, those that lost to the heroes, princesses, and victors. Now they roam the Anti-Realm and take out their wrath and vengeance against all who get in their way, innocent or not. Their minions, sidekicks, and even noble steads have been forced to follow their Villains all the way into the Anti-Realm where they shall continue to live with their loss for all eternity.

However, it has been nearly five years since the last visit to the surface world and things have been changing since the newest ruler of the Anti-Castle took to the scene. It has shaken the entire Realm and the Villains have grown impatient like predators in a cage waiting to be free. It was all thanks to a little outburst of Dr. Facilier in trying to pay off his debts to his friends on the Other Side that ultimately sealed the Villains away in the Anti-Realm and caused his assistant of sorts to take to the ruling position of the Anti-Realm. Now Mr. V and three of his fellow Hosts rule the Anti-Castle and try to set some sort of balance and order to such a chaotic world. After years of suffering and serving under the great Villains of Disney, Mr. V has put a plan into action to change the lives of not only the Villains, but their Recruits as well to make this Realm just a little less bleak and dark.

In the center of the entire Anti-Realm, a completely blackened and ashen mirror to its sister of the Disney Castle up above sits the Anti-Castle. Inky black and weather beaten by the rain, it looms as the highest Castle of all the other castles that belong to the Villains within the Realm to remind them who truly rules this Realm. All who pass it remember their failures and insignificant lives they must now live in comparison to the lives of considerable luxury it was on the surface world. In the highest room in the highest tower on the third floor, a man in a top hat could be seen standing in the window watching the blackened Disney world below. Thunder rolled overhead while lightning flashed to show a small crowd of unique individuals walking in a line to the front doors of the Castle. The man in the top hat, Mr. V, stood watching and waiting for his guests to arrive.

Through the ancients and cracked windows an ebony man with dreadlocks knotted in gold tips and his finest indigo Shadowman suit and top hat looked down at the watery streets below counting the heads of the approaching crown. He had counted down the hours and minutes for this day to come as his most honored guests arrived outside, all twenty had arrived. A smile rose on his face as a thrill of accomplishment ran through him as he watched the crowd grow closer to the entrance of the Castle; it would soon begin, and such events needed to be recorded. A low chuckle escaped him as he could see everything falling into place and he snapped his fingers. A pair of skeleton hands appeared holding pen and a pad of paper ready to write Mr. V's words down.

"Where the Heroes live on the surface of Disney World," his voice was low and deep like a sea, "the Villains live under that surface in the Anti-Realm, an alternate universe that is similar to its counterpart above, but much darker than what anyone could have imagined. The Original Villains from the stories that many know from childhood are wanting their stories retold.

He walked away from the window and towards his desk, the skeleton hands writing furiously behind him. He paused in front of his desk to stare at the file folders, journals, and portkeys that would soon be given to those admitted into his program to give the skeleton hands enough time to finish writing his words before continuing.

"To have their stories retold, they have agreed to send their Recruit to me to assist them in changing their stories." A rumble of pride echoed in his chest as he looked around his grand office that once belonged to his failure of a master, Dr. Facilier. "All the Original Villains to their tales, the Evil Queen, Queen of Hearts, Captain Hook, Cruella de Vil, Ursula, Scar, Jafar, Lord Claude Frollo, and Hades, have brought their apprentices, experiments, or child that has become their Recruit here tonight along with all their trust that they can change their stories. It makes one wonder just how differently their story will end. . ."

Mr. V paused again to give the hands a chance to finish writing his words down and to think on his predecessor's mistakes. The original reason there had been Recruiters to the Villains at all was to recruit people to the dark side, to a life of villainy; however that was just a farce that Dr. Facilier had used as a way of drawing victims in to pay off his debts to his friends on the Other Side. They had enticed people by giving in to the darkness within their hearts and had recruited many over to the Anti-Realm. It worked for a while and the Anti-Realm grew in population with low lives and downbeats of humans and monsters alike until the Anti-Realm was suddenly overpopulated. By the time the Heroes of Light up above realized what was happening and stopped and saved as many as they could, many had already lost their lives and souls to the Other Side. It was still not enough to pay off Dr. Facilier's debt and ultimately resulted in his second death to his friends on the Other Side; Mr. V was sure that Dr. Facilier would not be given a third chance to repay his debts. Still, it was because of that incident that the Heroes of Light closed the portal to Disney World, and they were no longer allowed on the surface world. The tides of war amongst the Villains grow more turbulent with each passing day making more challenges for Mr. V to appease the Villains; however, with the help of his Story Weavers things could be a little different now.

Thunder boomed overhead, as if to scoff at him and his ideas of changing the lives they all lived before offering him his last moments of solitary silence before things would entirely change. Should the Villains all agree to their contracts, nothing would ever quite be the same for any of them; especially their Recruits, they would actually have a chance at life. He and his fellow Hosts would have a chance at life and possibly redemption. As his fellow Hosts came to mind Mr. V knew that he needed to hurry and join his fellow Hosts to welcome their honorable guests as he knew they would not be patient. Taking a deep breath to calm his excitement he looked at the pile of folders that held the contract and dreams of making his plan a reality. Collecting the folders that belonged to the Villains, he snapped his fingers to dismiss the skeleton hands.

Just past the large doors of his office was the distinct ding of the elevator as it reached the third floor followed by the never-ending urgent footsteps of his secretary, fellow Host, and personal assistant Ms. Scatter. He took a deep breath and released it and turned to greet her as she burst through his office doors.

"Mr. V!" her shrill voice harped as she entered the office, "Mr. V!"

He rolled his yellow hazel eyes at her needless anxiety, but he nonetheless threw on a smile on his face before responding to her. "Yes, Ms. Scatter?"

"They're here!" She panted heavily as she pushed her red cat eyeglasses which were nearly on the tip of her nose back onto her face. "The guests are here!"

Her black hair which was always in a tight bun was in disarray and her gray pencil skirt suit was wrinkled. Mr. V held his tongue at scolding her as he knew she must have run here, again, in her excitement to inform him of the arrival of their guests and forgot her profession as the assistant and secretary to the Narrator and acting ruler of the Anti-Realm. Not that his position was one taken seriously by others within the Anti-Realm, but it was for the face of things that mattered specifically for this night. He had no doubt that Ms. Villa would have a fit upon seeing Scatter in such a state of disarray on such a special day for them.

"I can see that, Ms. Scatter." He gestured to the windows with his stack of manila folders.

"Oh, right." She laughed nervously and stood straighter as she adjusted and fixed her clothes and hair in their original proper positions. "I was just so surprised to see that they all responded that I couldn't help but tell you!"

She looked at him with onyx black eyes beaming with pride and Mr. V could hardly fault her excitement. The Villains were all fickle in their own ways and would not agree to meet under normal circumstances; but they were no longer under normal circumstances and things were greatly changing for all of them. Her excitement of pride was infectious and even Mr. V swelled in pride.

"I don't see why you're so surprised." He snorted and adjusted his vest and jacket. "I know how to go about my business right, unlike my predecessor who is now forever stuck on the Other Side with his friends."

"You shouldn't say thing's like that!" Ms. Scatter hissed as the smile quickly disappeared. "You never know who might be listening."

Though Mr. V was now the current and acting ruler of the Anti-Realm, she was right. There were all sorts of people waiting for the moment for them to slip up and use it as a chance to steal the throne out from under him. Still, her concern for him was rather unnerving and downright odd for someone in the Anti-Realm. He cleared his throat and gently moved her to the side to grab his cane from its holder beside his desk.

"I know where I stand, Scatter," he reassured as he picked up his cane. "If something is overheard by someone on the Other Side, well just remember: I didn't make a deal that I knew I couldn't keep." He twirled his cane confidently in his fingers as he turned and looked at her. "There are some things in life that just aren't worth gambling for. . ."

Ms. Scatter wordlessly stood and stared at him, her mouth was slightly open, and he couldn't tell if she were horrified by his confidence or thought him to be admirable for it; not that it mattered anyway. He had a job to do and so did she. He tapped his cane on the ground and caused her to jump as if awakened from a daze.

"Well now, Ms. Scatter." He pointed to the door with his cane, "Don't you think we should go downstairs and greet our guests? Or should we make Ms. Villa and Mr. Po do all the work?"

"I would hate for all our hard work to be ruined with Eva Lou Villa commenting on just how outdated the Villain's attire is." She frowned and clung to her clipboard in her hand. "I don't think we can really rely on Mr. Po to actually hold her at may for it to work without us. He does like to see the chaos after all. No, we should really head down there. Now."

She readjusted her glasses on her face before matching ahead of him to lead the way. He chose to follow her and flicked his dreads behind him and adjusted his shirt collar as he left his office. While they waited for the elevator doors to open up, Scatter nervously checked, double checked and even triple checked the itinerary for the evening. Mr. V couldn't help but roll his eyes at her, she constantly worried about needless things that would undoubtedly change because of who the Villains were. He did, however, refrain from pointing out such things as the elevator dinged and the doors opened to allow them on.

He was very aware that his associate Hosts were very capable people, though when they were left to their own devices for too long, they could completely jeopardize the whole program. Ms. Villa was an eccentric fashion designer and diva who worked alongside Edna Mode and has remodeled the entire Anti-Castle and brought more modern tastes while still keeping everything in a grand and gothic theme. Her assistance, Mr. Po was perhaps just as polite and odd as Ms. Scatter, only because he always ended up cleaning up the accidents and messes of all of their clients behind Ms. Villa. Although he could trust them to at least properly greet their most esteemed and honored guests, he could not entirely trust them on their own for too long. The last thing he needed was any of the Villains taking offense to Ms. Villa's comments or being taken aback by Mr. Po's politeness and completely obliterating them before they had a chance to eat. No, in order for this to work, all four Hosts needed to be present and accounted for.

Author's Note:

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you're enjoying the story so far!

For many of you this will be the first time reading this story of mine, however, for others you are having to travel back with me on this journey as I go about to improve this story. For those of you who don't know I had to add two very important characters who I had accidentally left out because I was not entirely sure if they were truly part of the cast or not. There are in total four Hosts and I had only originally included two. Having learned of my great mistake I had to circle back and correct this.

Please leave me a comment and review to tell me what you think! I love getting feedback from my readers and it is very encouraging! The original title that I had for this story was Another Chance for Disney Villain Recruiters, but I have altered that title to suit the story more to A Chance for Villain Recruiters.

Thanks for coming along the journey with me, stay tuned for more!

Ko-fi/SarahtheWriter