Chapter Four

MR. V

Once all the Villains took their leave and left their Recruits behind, the tension in the air shifted as all the Recruits tuned and looked to the four Hosts. All ten Recruits standing at different heights and shapes stood with their hoods up and staring expectantly at them for what was to happen next. The only noise that passed between them was the rain pouring on the roof above.

"Well now that it is just us," Mr. V took his hat off and ran a hand through his dreadlocks. "Allow us to formally introduce ourselves to our new guests. We are the official Hosts of the Recruit Program and we are delighted to have you here with us. I am Mr. Valentino, but you will call me Mr. V."

Some gave nods while others remained as motionless as possible to watch the four Hosts as Mr. V slipped his hat back on his head. When he saw little to no reaction from the Recruits, he glanced at his nervous Hosts and held his hand out to Ms. Scatter. "And these are my fellow Hosts that will assist you all as you begin your journey." They all flinched as they realized they would be giving their own introduction and that he would not be speaking for them. He couldn't help but smirk at their reaction, "We will then start with my lovely assistant here, Ms. Scatter."

She held her clipboard closer to her chest and adjusted the glasses on her face. "H-Hello," she tried to sound professional, but Mr. V could hear how nervous she was. "It is a pleasure to meet you all! I am Ms. Ashe Scatter and will be the one managing your time during your stay here and will make sure that you all are doing your missions accordingly." She glanced at Mr. V and he quickly gave her a nod of encouragement and approval as she continued. "Should you need anything, you only need to ask and I will do everything in my power to acquire it."

Mr. Po and Ms. Villa nodded and gave a soft clap to her. With a big smile, Ms. Villa stepped forward. "Hello, beautiful darlings." She blew a kiss at them and waved dramatically as if waiting for her picture to be taken. "I am Ms. Eva Villa, and I will be taking care of all of your fashion needs, make sure your rooms look the absolute best in the entire Realm, and I will make sure to have the best quality of everything! Should, for whatever reason, you find your wardrobe or room disagreeable you only need to tell my assistant, Mr. Po, and I shall design something entirely new for you!"

Mr. Po beside her clapped and cheered her on while Mr. V rubbed his brow with the quick headache that spurned behind his eyes. Completely undeterred by Mr. V, Mr. Po stepped forward and gave a polite bow to the Recruits. "Greetings to you all!" He stood up with a nervous laugh. "Although my name is Mr. Polite, you will call me Mr. Po. I hope that we will all get along well together."

He stepped back in line next to Ms. Villa and looked expectantly to Mr. V. "Mr. Po is the disciplinarian and will make sure that we all get along here." With a sigh he looked to the Recruits to explain what Mr. Po's role was, "He will even be a part of your occasional training and will be able to assist you in your missions should it be required; but knowin' all of your capabilities you shouldn't require much of his services."

A few chuckles escaped the Recruits and he was pleased to see that some were finally relaxing in the presence of their new caretakers. He looked to the ten Recruits that would be staying with them and held his hand out to them. "Now, who might you all be? Don't be shy now. I need a name and your Villain's name, so I know which story to put you in."

None of them moved, they all stood in their cloaks and looked amongst themselves. Mr. V shook his head and rolled his eyes as he looked at the Recruits. "All right," Mr. V huffed. "If no one is going to volunteer, I'm just going to have you -" he pointed to the tallest one on the end. "You go first."

The tallest Recruit grunted in annoyance, but silently stepped forward and removed his hood. He had inky black hair that was cut close and combed back like a traditional prince. His skin was sickening white and his eyes were so black that the pupil had disappeared in the depths of his eyes. He had a strong jaw line and stood straighter than the other Recruits. He ever so meticulously removed his cloak and draped it over his arm. He wore a blackish blue and gold embroidered suit coat, white fitted pants, and shiny black leather long boots. A dark prince if Mr. V ever saw one. "My name is Apple Poison," his voice was very deep and rather flat and almost chilling. "I was created by the Evil Queen. You may call me Adam as that is a more appropriate name than Apple Poison."

"Aww, you don't want to be called Appoi~?" The Recruit next to him, who was much shorter, laughed too sweetly and earned a glare in response.

"Adam." He growled before turning back to Mr. V. "I will go by Adam, and you shall all call me that."

"All right, Adam," Mr. V semi applauded him and hoped to draw the attention away from him. "Thank you so much for setting the example. If the rest of you would just follow his lead."

He gestured to the next Recruit and he, with a dramatic flair, flipped his cloak open to reveal his mismatched pattern suit of black, white, and red hearts. Dark brown hair curled from underneath his half black and white fedora and mahogany brown red eyes glimmered at Mr. V and Ms. Scatter. He removed his hat with a bow, and when he stood straight again Mr. V could see a red heart tattooed on his right cheek. "I'm Jack Heart," his voice was smooth like honey and was a touch too warm for Mr. V, but with a glance down at Ms. Scatter, she seemed to like this one, Ms. Villa too. "Everyone calls me Jack though, probably because I don't always fit in with the deck of cards. . ." He pressed a finger to his cheek before smiling like a fool. "In case the hearts didn't give me away, I'm the Queen of Hearts's Recruit."

"Simply marvelous!" Ms. Villa practically squealed where she stood and reached to clutch onto Ms. Scatter. "It is so Rococo!"

With much less flair and much more malice, the lady Recruit beside him who was taller than Jack but shorter than Adam, removed her hood and a mane of black coffee curls spiraled down her back. Her caramel orangey brown eyes had a fire to them that kept her at a literal and figurative distance from the other Recruits. She had a beauty mark just under her left eye and she had very clear tanned skin for a pirate. She replaced her hood with a brown leather pirate's hat to match her brown and sun-bleached boat top. She wore a simple brown leather vest, cotton pants, and brown leather boots that went up her thighs. For a pirate she was modestly dressed.

"Lady Hock," her voice was smoky and had a touch of a Spanish accent. "The Recruit of Captain Hook."

Mr. V frowned at the short, sweet and blunt way of her answer but said nothing as she stepped back in line. The Recruit beside her stood staring at Lady Hock for a moment, as if waiting for her to say anything else so as to properly wait his turn. When she did not, he stepped forward and awkwardly removed his cloak. His cloak sat a tad higher on his head than the others because of his horns. He wore a simple black suit that was lined in a velvety dark purple trim. His emerald eyes shone underneath his black feathery hockey cut hairstyle. Above his head was a long, horn fitted fedora that hid his horns. "The name's Malfie," he wanted to sound smooth and confident, but his voice held just an edge of nerves that was hardly masked by his charismatic tone. He gave a shrug then pulled out a small hand mirror from his inside suit coat pocket and checked his hat. "I'm the handsome Recruit of the magnificent Maleficent."

"Oh please," the boy beside him snatched off his hood and crossed his arms. "The most magnificent villain is my Madame Cruella!"

Malfie hardly looked over his mirror and sneered at his fellow Recruit. "And you are?"

"I the WANderful, Dalmatia." He barked and snatched off his cloak to reveal his fashionable red pants and black and white fur attire. His black hair was asymmetrical, and he had one blue eye and one brown eye. "The WANderful Recruit of Madame Cruella de Vil!"

"You're far too loud," the man beside him yawned in an annoyed voice. He removed his cloak and his styled silvery white hair stood out and his purple eyes looked like they wanted sleep. His completion was fish bone white and looked a little dehydrated, as though he had been out of the water for too long. His suit was a simple black suit with purple tentacles lining the lapels of his coat. "I'm Joe, Eight Foot Joe." He snapped and Ms. Scatter curiously tilted her head to the side. "I'm Ursula's Recruit."

"Eight feet?" She looked him up and down. "You're not eight feet tall."

"Eight feet," He snapped and flashed his true form of an octopus to show his eight feet. "I have eight feet. I never claimed to be eight feet tall!"

"I-I'm-m sorry!" Ms. Scatter escaped behind Mr. V, and Joe just griped as he crossed his arms and stood next to the others who had revealed their identities.

"Oh wow, you need a nap, don't you Mr. Octopus?" The girl beside him placed her hands behind her back and looked up at him. Her voice was so bubbly, she sounded a little like an airhead.

"My name is Joe," he hissed down at her, "not octopus."

"And my name is Farja," she beamed up at him, totally unperturbed by his snappiness. She flipped her hood down and twirled it away to reveal twirling black and red ankle length skirts. She had a red hairband that held her waist length black hair out of her face. She had sparkling brown eyes and a flower in her hair that kept changing colors from pink to yellow. "I'm Master Jafar's Recruit! Pleased to meet you!"

"Ooooo~" the girl beside her held Farja's hair. "You have such pretty, pretty hair!" A curly massive copper and brown mohawk rested on the girl's head and blue eyes sparkled as she looked up at Farja. Her clothes were mismatched animal skins from the plains of the Pride lands. "I'm Jamila, the Pretty Scar." She gave Farja a quick hug. "Aren't I pretty? I'm the pretty Recruit of the handsome Scar!"

"Yes," Farja nodded her head with a smile. "You are very pretty."

"Yay!" They hugged each other tighter and squealed a little. "You're my new friend!"

"Yay! I've never had a friend before!" The high-pitched squeals were quickly silenced by the soft ringing of a hand bell by the smallest of the Recruits.

She only slid her hood off but did not remove her cloak and continued to ring her little silver bell until there was absolute silence. She was a very petite albino with a white bob and ruby red eyes. "I am Veil," her voice was so soft it sounded more like a whisper. "I am the Recruit of my Master, Lord Claude Frollo."

"My, my, isn't she a little cutie?" Ms. Villa purred. "A tad too quiet though, I can hardly hear her."

"Oh, honey, we are going to have to work on your volume." The last cloaked Recruit beside her spoke in a sassy tone. Her cloak was magically eaten by blue flames and the girl with ashy grey skin and teal blue attire, blue lips, and flaming blue bob. She flicked out her fan and gently fanned her face. "Call me Ember. I'm known as Ms. Hades according to Pain and Panic in the Underworld. I'm Hades' assistant to the Underworld as well as his Recruit. We, of course, had to save the best for last." She blew a blue kiss in the direction of the other Recruits.

"Excellent," Mr. V clapped his hands together. "Now that we all know each other's names, let's go ahead and get you all settled into your rooms."

"Rooms?" Farja tilted her head to the side. "But I didn't bring any of my things!"

"Don't worry my dear." Ms. Villa spoke as she and Ms. Scatter stepped forward. "It has all been arranged."

"The rooms here in the castle are magical. You will each have your own room, and the doors to your rooms will be a portal of sorts to your actual world and room at home." Ms. Scatter clarified as she adjusted her glasses, and while some of them seemed pleased with this, the others did not. "Of course, if the rooms are not to your liking, just let me know and we will change them to the fashion and order that you wish to have."

"Though they should be since I am the one who designed them." Ms. Villa smirked in pride as she crossed her arms.

"We're going to do our absolute best to make you feel at home here." Mr. Po spoke as he stood alongside Ms. Villa while Mr. V stood next to Ms. Scatter and draped his arm around her shoulders.

"If you need something, want something, need help with anything, let Ms. Scatter here know and she will get things in order for you." Mr. V explained. "With the introductions out of the way, are y'all ready to see your rooms?"

"Not so fast." Ember snapped her fan and impatiently fanned herself. "Are you going to explain to us why we're here trying to 'change' the past?" She did air quotes as she looked directly at Mr. V.

"If you all have similar character traits to your Villains, this is going to be a long process, and I would much rather go over the details in the morning," Mr. V sighed and scratched his beard. "The change that you are all making is not only for your Villains, but also for yourselves." He held his hand up to stop Ember from further questioning. "Let me finish, and this will be done."

He put his hands behind his back and began pacing and twirling his cane, " I don't know any of you, that much is obvious, but since you were all born in a world of villainy I know that with the exception of perhaps three of you that many of y'all did not have a happy childhood." Both Lady Hock, Marfie, and Dalmatia shifted uncomfortably while Farja looked around confused. He stopped and slowly looked them each individually in the eye, "Although you respect your Villains, I am giving y'all, as a fellow Recruit who has been screwed over by their Villain, a new chance at life."

"And why, exactly, are you wanting to do us a favor?" Lady Hock asked and put her hand on her hip. Her bangles jangled as they moved.

"I thought I made it clear," he tried to keep an easy smile on his face as he could feel the accusing glare of the others quickly growing on their faces, "I'm just trying to give you a helping hand - "

"No." She snapped and pointed a finger at him. "What is in this for you?"

"Honest?" He asked and relaxed his hands on the handle to his cane. "I'm bored, and I'm sure that your decisions will provide me with some sort of entertainment." A grin crept on his face and he earned a glare from Lady Hock. If looks could kill Mr. V surely would have been a dead man under the piercing glare of Lady Hock.

"Do we have any more questions?" Mr. Po clapped his hands and looked at all of them; none spoke up. "Good, then let's get you kiddos to bed. Gentlemen, you'll follow me. Ladies, please follow Ms. Scatter and Ms. Villa."

Ms. Scatter jumped at the mention of her name, but nodded, saluted, and headed towards the East Wing while Mr. Po and Mr. V led the boys to the West Wing. The boys were wise to remain silent as they were escorted down the series of halls of the West Wing. Mr. V was sure that he would snap should any of them pop off the way that Lady Hock did. Mr. Po slapped his hand on the doorframe as he walked past, "The bathroom is here on the left."

"It's big enough so not just one person can hog it the entire time." Mr. V chuckled, but still none of them said anything. "Y'all's rooms are here at the end of the hall. The eldest gets the biggest room, and the rest of y'all can figure things out from there."

At the end of the hall there were five doors, two and two across from each other with one at the very end of the hallway. "Adam," Mr. V pointed to the door at the end of the hall, "That is your room. I hope it is to your liking."

Adam said nothing but walked on to his respective room. Joe followed him and took the one that was closest to the end on the right and Malfie the one right next to his. Dalmatia and Jack took the neighboring rooms and whispered excitedly to one another. With their rooms claimed, Mr. Po and Mr. V's presence no longer needed, they left the West Wing and returned to the midpoint of the second floor to join Ms. Scatter to further discuss what their next plan of action would be.

"Well, that went better than I thought it would." Mr. Po commented happily as they walked. "I guess I was expecting more rage and chaos from the group, I'm just so surprised that they were all so calm and quiet."

"They are not their Villains." Mr. V reminded him. "They have a chance to be different and save their own lives as well as their Villains. It is a good thing that they were so wary and quiet, it means they are observant and are probably very clever."

"I suppose you're right." Mr. Po nodded his head in agreement. "Do you think that Ms. Villa or Ms. Scatter had any problems with the girls?"

Mr. V knew that he was hinting about Lady Hock after the threatening gaze she shot at him and the sharp tongue of Ember Hades. Those two were not afraid to vocalize their opinions or thoughts and could take the confrontation head-on. "Nothing that they couldn't take care of." Mr. V chuckled. "They are tougher than they look."

"Because we are, gentlemen." Ms. Villa snipped as she and Ms. Scatter stood waiting for them at the base of the stairs. "And it's a good thing to see that one of you recognizes it!"

"I always recognize it, my sweet Eva!" Mr. Po gasped dramatically as he went to her side. She looked like a pleased cat the way the corners of her mouth curled into a smile as Mr. Po wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled into her neck.

"And don't you forget it." She chuckled and patted his head. "So, did we miss anything?"

Author's Note:

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

Please remember to leave a comment or a review and tell me what you think!

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

Ko-fi/SarahtheWriter.