THE C.L.U.B. Pilot Synopsis

The Secret

Shane, decked out in a tuxedo, quietly creaps through the halls of a Switzerland mansion. Coming upon the computer lab, he pulls out a cigarette case which opens into a mini-computer. Plugging it into the main disk drive, the entire database downloads onto the handheld. As Shane removes the devise from the computer, an armed guard stumbles across the spy. Before the guard has the opportunity to react, Shane knocks him uncontious with a well-placed karate chop, but not before the alarm is triggered. In the hallway, an onslaught of guards rush toward Shane, who dives through a window head-first. Doing a flip in the air and clicking his feet together, skis extend from his shoes as he lands on the snow-covered mountain. Pursuit is instantaneous as motor skis erupt from the building and give chase. It continues as Shane slowly picks off the pursuers one by one using the landscape until one guard remains. Unable to shake him, Shane heads for the mountain cliff and launches off the edge. He soars through the air with his arms extended wide when …. the teacher calls on him to answer the question. Returning from his imaginary journey to find himself once again in John Adams High School, he has found himself not knowing the response that his raised hands have volunteered him to answer. Jumping forward to between classes, he is confonted by his best friend Mark about the incident, telling him that one of these days his imagination is going to get him into trouble. It is then that the two teens spot the cadre of secret service agents, present to guard the president's daughter, who attends public school due to her father's education reform platform.

A few days later, Shane and Mark are seen in the cafeteria having lunch and talking about their childhood when several previously-unseen adults enter the room and take up guard positions at the doors, drawing the attention of the two boys. When the advisor goes to question the men, violence erupts as they quickly knock him out and pull out weapons. As a majority of the kids panic, both Mark and Shane duck under the table and take refuge from the guards wrangling the children into one area. Averting the intruders' attention, the two make there way through the building (taking note that similar situations are occurring throughout the school) to discover that this is an attempt to kidnap the president's daughter. Before Shane is able to react to the situation, Mark jumps into action, taking out the three closest kidnappers, releasing the secret service agents, and leading them to rescue everyone else. In the end, everyone is saved and Shane stands with a dumbfounded look on his face.

Shane sits on his front steps flipping franticly through the newspaper as Mark approaches. Shane confronts his friend as to what happened, where he has been for the past five days, and why it has not been mentioned in the newspaper. When Mark keeps quiet and refuses to answer Shane's questions directly, the two let the topic drop. Over the next couple of days, however, Shane begins to follow his friend secretly. After about a week, he follows Mark into a secret federal installation and directly into the headquarters of the C.L.U.B.

After several hours of questioning, Shane has managed to piece together enough information to call out Mark and Alpha on the existence of the secret organization and Mark's part in it. When they are forced to confirm the facts and question what they are going to do about the situation. When Shane offers the exchange of membership for his silence, he is told that his membership was declined years ago due to his overactive imagination. Nevertheless, the security of the organization was compromised, and therefore all options would be considered. Until a final decision was made, Shade would be put under Mark's guidance and responsibility.

Over the next couple of days, Mark begins to start training Shane, who proves to be far less capable than his imaginary self, but the two teens begin to reestablish their friendship now that no secrets stand between them. Shade still lags, however, as he still maintains that the job is a game. Shane is also introduced to the rest of the team, including Vi, Walter and Dirk, the latter of which instantly takes a dislike to Shane. The group ups the challenges in Shane's training, pushing him beyond his capabilities to the point where he is almost ready to quit from physical exhaustion. It is then that he overhears Alpha and Dirk speaking and learns that his quitting is their primary purpose, which re-ignites his resolve.

Back in school, Shane's grades suffer even more due to his "extra-curricular activities" and sleeping in class. As his teacher confronts him for such behavior, he is also addressed by Mark and informed that if he cannot maintain passing grades, he will be drummed out. The two teens are interrupted by a news report that the president's daughter has been kidnapped. Mark sets out to report for duty, and Shane once again follows, this time to prove his worth.

As the raid begins, Shane takes to the air ducts while the C.L.U.B. operatives split up to search the premises. During the search, Mark is distracted by Shane falling from above, leading to Mark getting shot by the guards and Shane captured and taken to where the president's daughter is being held. Distraught by the death of his friend due to his ego, Shane frees himself and attacks the kidnappers, freeing the hostage single-handedly …. or so he thinks. In reality, Vi has also found them and assisted him from the shadows.

Following the funeral of Mark (with the cause of death being shifted to a drive-by shooting), Alpha calls Shane into his office, presumably to release Shane from the C.L.U.B. Instead, he offers Shane a permanent position within the organization, if he still wants the job. When Shane explains that Mark's death was his fault, Alpha tells him that he knows, and that the teen's choices are to either use that experience to learn or enter into depression and self-doubt that would eat away at him for the rest of his life. In the end, Shane accepts Alpha's offer and joins the C.L.U.B.

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