"Missions are basically club sanctioned activities that are both on and off island." Nashoba said looking at D through his round rimmed glasses.
"They can range from simple group projects to high stakes missions in the real world, it all depends on the students and the club"
D sat in his seat and said nothing looking firmly at Nashoba as he told him this. He looked to the ceiling and smiled before saying, "off island missions you say?"
Val cut in tenuously "T-those types of missions are typically only for specific clubs like the Student Security Committee, our clubs mission are usually more low stakes" Val reached under the table and pulled out a large book.
"Before we give you guys any more info we'll need you to sign your names in here, to know you're really committed y'know." She looked the trio over as they each sat next to one another.
"Well it's not like me and Max have much of a choice but to join, but what about you Roxanne?" D turned in his chair to look at her. "It's not like you have to join, you could join any club you wanna."
"Well that's not exactly true" Val said. "Students on the hench track aren't allowed to join clubs that are catered toward the villain track, such as the SSC or Sparring club." Val opened up the large books and slid it over to the trio.
"As far as clubs go most clubs with a villain track president like ours wont take henchs, this club is probably the best offer you're gonna get." Nashoba said while reclining back in his seat. Val kicked him lightly with her brown loafer for being too forward.
"While that was a bit too mean, he is right. This club is probably your best bet."
The group starred down at the book as it sat on the table, the thick old pages seemingly calling for them to sign as so many had before them. "so? What's it going to be?" Nashoba said, his eyes firmly placed on the trio.
D took a sharp inhale and held it for a long moment before exhaling and looking to Val.
"Got a pen?" was all he said and she handed him the black ballpoint pen she'd been holding, as he signed his name down into the book.
He looked over to Max and held out the pen to him, wondering if he'd do the same or protest. He'd been uncharacteristically quiet today, no doubt still recovering from his hang over from the following night.
"Well if you're in, dammit I'm in too!" Max said grabbing the pen from D and scribbling his own name down hastily next to his. Finally they looked towards Roxanne who'd came prepared with her own pen, pencil, and eraser.
D just looked at her warily, hoping she knew what she was in for if she signed that book. Max however just smiled at her and nudged the book toward her.
She stared down at the book through he red and black hair, before raising her pen and signing her name a good ways away from both D's and Max's large scribbles.
She slid the book back over to Val who sat at the tables head with a large smile plastered across her face. "Now that all that's taken care of we can continue with the first meeting of the villain literature club!" She said a little too enthusiastically.
Her enthusiasm spreads causing Max to raise his hand up high like a child in a classroom trying to get the teacher's attention. Val just stares at him for a second before pointing to him.
Max lowered his hand as he asked, "can you tell us more about the hench and villain track? I still don't really get it."
"Of course, now that you're full fledged members of the club I can tell you all manner of things." She stood from the table and walked over to the whiteboard attached to the back wall and grabbed a black marker.
She drew a large H and a slightly smaller V on the whiteboard before drawing a bunch of small circles around each of them. Finally she turned to the group and took a large breath inward.
"Okay as you can see here on my great artist's rendition, the group of Hench students is greater in number than the amount of Villain track students, right Max?"
"Uhh, yeah!" Max said, eyes firmly on the whiteboard.
Val turned back to the board and began writing in the small circles that were attached to the letters. The H had two circles and the V had three around it, inside of each circle she wrote what each of them represented.
In the Hench circles she wrote the words Clubs in one of them and Trials in the other, and in the Villain circles she wrote Clubs, Missions, and Off-island.
She turned to face her group of impromptu students and pointed to the Hench circle. "The hench track is for students deemed unfit for being full-fledged villains. Either due to lack of sufficient power rating, or lack of drive, or...it doesn't matter-"
"What does matter is that's where the three of you are right now." Nashoba cut in to say, a small smirk of superiority laced his face.
"...Right, that is where you three currently are. You have access to some clubs and um" She fumbled with the marker she was using a pointer and stepped to the other side of the white board to point at the villain track. "Never mind the other option-"
"What's that? What's the other option?" D asked and pointed to the other circle she'd skipped over. Val blew out a frustrated breath and looked at Nashoba. Nashoba just shrugged as he said "They're bound to find out about The Thorn Trials anyway might as well."
"I think i heard something about that," Roxanne added. "They're some sort of right of passage or something?"
"In a sense, the trials are a series of 3 challenges that students can undertake if they choose." Val walked back over to the table and sat back down. before she could continue D interrupted. "What kinds of challenges are we talking about?"
She let out a strained smile and fake laugh "I'm getting to that, the trials change every year but they are typically three different types of challenges." She held up three fingers. "One is a combat challenge between students, one is an on campus group mission, and the final is an off campus trial mission."
"So these trials are the way we can get onto the villain track and get off-island missions, why wouldn't you want us to know about them?"
Val let out a solemn sigh and looked D right into his eyes as she said, "Why don't you ask the last students who attempted the trial." She stood up from the table and walked over to a large window and pointed out to a large graveyard on the other side of the courtyard.
"Come here you three, I want to show you what happens when you attempt the trials"
The trio stood from the table and walked over to the window where they saw what she was pointing at.
"They all died?!" D asked.
"Yes, and some of them..." She squeezed on one of her hands whilst looking wistfully out at the graveyard. "Some of them didn't even want to compete but were goaded into it by so called friends."
D stood there thinking, his mind flashing back to all the trials he'd already had to face just coming to this island. His mind was made up in an instant.
"I'm going to enter The Thorn Trials!"