From Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ===== The story is told by the narrator, Toby Halpert, through a series of expositions detailing the history of the space station in which he lives, nicknamed Heaven. The history begins with Soviet cosmonaut Olga Tovyevsky, who disappears from radar while en route to Mars shortly after a routine scientific experiment. She returns into space-time two years later, and after being discovered her spacecraft is towed back to Earth orbit to be examined. Tovyevsky is in a catatonic state, and the spacecraft has been sabotaged in an attempt to make it impossible to find and to hide any details of the missing two years. In her hands Tovyevsky has a seashell, the likes of which is unknown in Earth's biosphere. Tovyevsky never regains her sanity. The Russians send another probe to the same space coordinates Tovyevsky had travelled to. The solo cosmonaut also disappears, at precisely the same point, after performing the same experiment, and returns dead 234 days later. He has committed suicide before anyone can reach him. Further attempts always end the same way; most of the cosmonauts have killed themselves before they can be found, while a very few have attempted to and failed, and are now insane. Attempts to send through unmanned spacecraft all fail, as well, and some manned spacecraft are simply never picked up for reasons unknown. Presently, the Russians enlist other countries in their search for answers. The process continues and interest wanes as the smartest minds humanity has to offer are destroyed. Everything changes when a Frenchman returns dead, carrying an iron ring encoded with information that proves to be the "Rosetta Stone for cancer". From that point on the astonishing frequency of the events creates a cargo cult mentality, with line-ups of prospective astronauts ready to take the trip regardless of its inescapable fatal end. The coordinates are the same each time, and referred to as the Highway, Metro, or River by various cultures. In an effort to learn more, a space station is established near the Highway, designed to be paradise. When capsules arrive with live astronauts they are sent to Heaven in an effort to keep the astronauts alive longer and tease out any additional information available before they eventually kill themselves. Halpert is one of the astronauts who had volunteered to go to the Highway, but he was rejected by whatever is out there. The same fate befell his girlfriend Charmian, who holds the record for keeping one survivor alive for two weeks. Halpert and Charmian's role is to meet returning astronauts, soothe their transition to the station, and allow scientists to analyze their findings. What information is returned shows that the technologies on the other side of the Highway are different, but not necessarily more advanced. None of what comes back could possibly explain how the Highway works, and it is assumed the same is true for the other races the astronauts apparently meet on the "other side". Halpert likens it to houseflies meeting in an international airport, happy to converse but utterly unaware of where they are or how they got there. The story is being told as Halpert is being readied to meet a returning female astronaut who is still alive – a "meat shot". While racing to meet the spacecraft, Halpert suffers a massive bout of agoraphobia, called "The Fear", a Lovecraftian sensation of being overwhelmed by the Highway's significance. Forced by electric shocks to enter the capsule, he finds the astronaut recently dead and discovers that she has reprogrammed her robotic surgeon suite to assist her suicide. Diagrams for incredibly powerful molecular switches are scrawled on the walls. ===== {| class="infobox" |- ! Actor ! class="unsortable" | ! Role |- | | ... | Anne Laurent |- | | ... | Georges Laurent |- | | ... | Majid |- | | ... | Pierrot Laurent |- | | ... | Majid's son |- | | ... | Georges's mother |- | | ... | Pierre |- | | ... | Georges's boss |- | | ... | Mathilde |- | | ... | Yvon |- | | ... | Chantal |- | | ... | TV Guest |- |} An affluent Parisian couple, Anne and Georges Laurent, discover a videotape left on their property without explanation that shows hours of footage of their residence, implying they are under surveillance. Puzzled about its origin, they debate its purpose, considering whether it might be a practical joke played by friends of their 12-year-old son, Pierrot, or the work of fans of Georges, who hosts a literary television show. A second tape arrives, accompanied by a childlike drawing of a person with blood streaming out of his mouth. Similar drawings are mailed to Georges's workplace and Pierrot's school. Disturbed, the Laurents turn to the French police, who determine the tapes are too harmless to be considered criminal activity. The Laurents host a dinner party that is interrupted by the delivery of another videotape, with a crude drawing of a chicken bleeding at its neck. When Anne discloses the stalking to their friends, Georges puts the tape in the VCR, and finds it shows the estate where he grew up. Georges begins to have vivid dreams about Majid, a boy he knew in childhood. Majid's Algerian parents worked as farmhands on Georges's family estate but disappeared in the Paris massacre of 1961. Feeling responsible for Majid, Georges's parents intended to adopt him, but the process was never finalised. Suspecting Majid might be responsible for the tapes, Georges visits his ailing mother, who surprisingly professes not to remember Majid well. When the Laurents receive another tape, revealing an HLM apartment, Georges tells Anne he has a suspect in mind, but will not say who until he can confirm his suspicion. Anne responds with shock at what she sees as his lack of trust. Following the last tape's clues, Georges locates the apartment off Avenue Lénine in Romainville and finds Majid there. Majid denies knowledge of the tapes or drawing, but Georges does not believe him and threatens him. A hidden camera recorded the conversation with Majid, who breaks down crying after Georges leaves, and tapes of the encounter are sent to Anne and Georges's employer. Georges explains to Anne that he was six when his parents were planning to adopt Majid and that he did not want it to happen; he told lies about Majid, who was sent away. When Pierrot disappears, the Laurents frantically contact the police, who check Majid's apartment and arrest Majid and Majid's son, though they deny involvement in kidnapping. Pierrot returns to his family, having spent time with friends, and hints to Anne that he thinks she is too close to Pierre, a family friend. Majid calls Georges and asks him to come back to the apartment. When Georges arrives, Majid denies having sent the tapes, says he wanted Georges present, and kills himself by slashing his throat. Georges confesses to Anne that as a boy, he had claimed Majid was coughing up blood and convinced Majid to kill the family's rooster, falsely claiming his father wanted him to. The police confirm the cause of death as suicide, but Majid's son appears at Georges's workplace to confront him. Believing the son is responsible for the tapes, Georges threatens him to cease surveillance, but the son replies he was not involved with the tapes and wanted to know how Georges felt about being responsible for a death. Later, Majid's son converses with Pierrot after school. ===== Widowed former CIA agent Jack Foster (The Shadow Man) is an enigmatic Fortune 500 business owner, and is the father of an 8-year-old daughter named Amanda. It's the anniversary of the death of Jack's wife, and Jack is taking Amanda to Romania, which is the birthplace of Amanda's mother, who died 5 years ago. But upon arrival at the airport in Bucharest, Romania, a car bomb blows up his CIA agent father-in-law George's limo, and Amanda is kidnapped. In the chaos, Jack reunites with Harry, a former CIA buddy who has mysteriously reappeared after not seeing Jack for about 7 or 8 years. They take off to track Amanda down, but they lose her—and Jack is suspicious of Harry. At a safe house, Harry leaves Jack locked in a secured room, and sends four men after Jack. Jack kills them, and then he escapes. Outside, Jack forces Harry to get inside of an SUV. Harry explains that it has to do with a biological weapon called MK Ultra. It's a virus that causes the infected person to come down with things like influenza, various forms of cancer, you name it. The infected died in 6 months to a year, and the virus is untraceable. George had the formula—he lifted it from the Black Ops section. He was planning on selling it to the highest bidder—the FSB, a new branch of the KGB. And now the FSB thinks George slipped the formula to Jack. Harry tells Jack that the FSB doesn't intend to let Amanda go until they get the formula. Jack puts a gun to Harry's head, and gives Harry two hours to find Amanda. They go to the U.S. Embassy, where he talks to Ambassador Cochran, who wants him to find Amanda. Outside, two Romanian cops named Seaka and Urich put Jack in a car, and take him to the station. They introduce Jack to a woman named Anya, and Jack recognizes Anya as the woman who kidnapped Amanda. Jack is forced to beat up Seaka and Urich while Anya escapes. Later, Jack goes to a building where he is to meet with Harry, who has two men named Schmitt and Chambers with him. Chambers kills Harry, and Jack kills Chambers and exchanges gunfire with Schmitt, who escapes. At the place where Amanda is being held, Anya and Amanda talk, with Anya explaining that she took Amanda in order to protect her. Anya explains that her husband and daughter died three years ago while she was an intelligence agent in England. Her husband and her daughter were killed by people from her own agency. Since Anya is a cab driver, Jack has a cab driver take him to Club Lido. Seaka and Urich get wind of it, and decide to send a couple of patrol cars to Club Lido. At the club, Jack sees Anya, and he confronts her in the women's restroom as Seaka, Urich, and the patrol cars arrive. Anya pulls a gun and demands a passport and passage to America in exchange for Amanda. Jack takes Anya to a different room, ties her to a chair, and demands answers. Schmitt arrives at the club and runs the cops off. A man named Jensen enters the room just as Jack hides, and demands to know where Amanda is, and then he wants to know where Jack is. Jensen and one of his men start looking for Jack, while Jensen's other two men stay with Anya. Jack and Anya beat up the two men, and head to Anya's car. Seaka and Urich go to Anya's apartment, and tear the place apart, finding no one there. After Seaka and Urich leave, Jack and Anya arrive, and see a patrol car outside the building. They go around back. Once inside, Anya grabs some documents, and they ditch the two cops. What Jack and Anya don't know is that Schmitt is working for a corrupt CIA agent named Waters, who wants to sell the MK Ultra to the highest bidder. Seaka and Urich want to get their hands on the MK Ultra for the same reason. And it was Schmitt who oversaw the bombing of George's limo. Jack and Anya lie low for a night at a large house. On the next day, Schmitt and one of his men track down Cyrell, a wheelchair-using man who is watching over Amanda for Anya. Not long after, Seaka and Urich get there, and a few minutes later, Jack and Anya get there. Jack and Anya go inside and find Cyrell dead. Amanda is not there. But Jack does find Amanda's backpack. Seaka and Urich come in, and Seaka grabs Anya and puts a gun to her head. Seaka tells Jack to give him the MK Ultra, or Anya dies. Jack shoots Seaka and Urich, and Jack and Anya escape. Seaka dies, and Urich calls Jensen and asks for a meeting on the roof of a parking garage. Back at the large house, Jack calls his CIA friend Rogers, who is a hacker. Jack asks Rogers to hack into the MK Ultra project and stop it for good. On the roof of the parking garage, Urich meets with Jensen, the man that Urich and Waters each want to sell the MK Ultra to. Jensen and his man start beating Urich up. Anya calls Jensen's cell phone number. As part of a plan to set Jensen up, she tells him that Jack is meeting with Waters and Schmitt in the central library. After they hang up, Jensen's man kills Urich. Just as Jack and Anya are leaving the large house, a man in a helicopter opens fire on them. The man is working for Waters. Jack and Anya run back inside and exit out the side door to Anya's cab. As they leave, the helicopter gives chase, and Jack and Anya hide the car in some woods. Jack gets out and fires several shots, causing the helicopter to explode. At the embassy, Jack waits for Ambassador Cochran in her office. Jack tells her to tell Waters to meet with him at the Central Library. At the library, Jack sees Schmitt and Waters. Jack sits down and tells Waters that Waters won't get the MK Ultra formula until he (Jack) sees Amanda. Waters has one of his men show her to him on a balcony above. Water tells Jack that he has 60 seconds to give up the formula, or Amanda will be thrown off the balcony. All of a sudden, Jack fatally shoots the man who is holding Amanda. Schmitt tries to shoot Anya. Jack grabs Waters' hand, and forces Waters to fatally shoot Schmitt. Jack then fires five shots, killing Waters. As Anya tries to get Amanda to safety, Jensen's two henchmen open fire on Jack. Jack kills one of them, and then confronts Jensen and his other henchman. Jack grabs Jensen's gun hand and causes Jensen to fire two shots, killing the henchman. Then Jack puts Jensen's eyes out, leaving him to die. As Jack leaves, George steps in front of him with a gun. George, who is the man behind everything, wasn't in the limo when it exploded. Jack kills George by using a martial arts move, a special hit to the chest, that sends George backwards into a wall, and there is blood on the wall as George slumps down. Rogers hacks into the MK Ultra program and puts an end to the project, and Jack is reunited with Amanda. Later, Ambassador Cochran gives Jack a passport to give to Anya so she can go to America. After Jack and Amanda get back to the US, Jack gets Amanda a horse for being so brave in Romania. ===== Set sometime during the 21st century, the player controls the grandson of the ninja master Joe Musashi, also named Joe, who is on a mission to defeat the minions of Cyber-Zeed, a terrorist organization founded by the remnants of the Zeed organization that the original Joe Musashi destroyed. Joe must fight his way through a series of six stages in order to prevent Cyber-Zeed from launching its stolen stockpiles of plutonium around the world. The stages consist of a construction site, a harbor, a heliport, a jungle, a waterfall, and the enemy's hideout. ===== The film begins in an ancient location where a man is cornered by a sorcerer after a knife-throwing accident. The sorcerer transforms the man into a genie and traps him in a lamp as punishment. Two thousand years later, Bernard Bottle, an art dealer for a prestigious firm in London, scores a huge sale and earns his company fifty million pounds. His boss, Charles Pinkworth, congratulates him on the sale, but when Bernard reveals that he gave half of the money back to the original owners of the paintings, Pinkworth fires him. Bernard returns dejectedly to his flat and seeks comfort, but discovers that his girlfriend has been sleeping with his best friend. She then clears Bernard's flat of nearly everything, leaving behind only a small amount of furniture and an ornate antique lamp. He attempts to clean the lamp, causing an explosion that sends him to the hospital. When Bernard returns to his flat, he encounters a man who tries to kill him. During the fight, Bernard wishes that the man could speak English, at which point he does. When the man states "Your wish is my command", Bernard wishes for the fight to stop, which it does. Bernard learns that the man, named Josephus, is a genie who had been trapped inside the lamp for two thousand years, and that he can grant almost any wish. The two forge a friendship in which Bernard introduces Josephus to modern food, music and entertainment, as well as using wishes to furnish his flat with expensive furniture and even the authentic Mona Lisa, which is subsequently reported missing from the Louvre. After a night on the town, Bernard returns to his flat without Josephus (who is watching movies at a theater) to find someone inside. He picks up a sword and attacks the person around the corner, inadvertently killing a police officer. A detective in the flat then reveals Pinkworth, who accuses him of grand theft, pointing to the Mona Lisa. Bernard finds himself unable to wish the painting away and is arrested for grand theft and murder. At the station, Bernard tries multiple times to call Josephus at his flat, but at first Josephus doesn't hear the telephone ringing, then fails to understand how the device works. He starts hanging up the phone each time it rings, which the police interpret as a form of coded communication. Bernard is put in jail, and Josephus eventually joins him in the cell. Bernard then wishes he could go back and do things differently, which suddenly causes time to rewind back to when Bernard was about to enter his flat. Bernard then enters his flat with confidence (and with Josephus by his side), where his boss again accuses him of grand theft. However, this time, a different and much less notable painting is on the wall, and the detective learns the Mona Lisa has been returned to the Louvre. The police apologize for the intrusion and leave. Bernard and Josephus discuss the meaning of Christmas and how the holiday has become commercialized over time, then they set out to grant wishes for children at a local mall. They also cause Bernard's elevator operator to win the football pools (which he claims to have won twice before), get Bernard's former girlfriend and best mate arrested on drug charges, and bring about a rare snow to London. Finally, they cause Pinkworth's entire fortune to be donated to a charity organization which, in a televised news event, gathers at Pinkworth's house to express their gratitude, to his great dismay. Josephus expresses a desire to return to his own time, and after an emotional conversation, Bernard absentmindedly says he wishes Josephus would go, causing the genie to disappear. Bernard is left with a ticket to the shopping mall where he and Josephus had granted wishes earlier. He hands the ticket to the woman at the entrance to see Santa Claus, and she asks him what he would like for Christmas. A moment later, Bernard is outside and waves to the woman through the window, who blows him a kiss in return. He cheers and heads home. The opening scene of the film is repeated, where Josephus is cornered by the sorcerer again. However, this time Josephus bargains with the man, revealing a thick-slice toaster that piques the man's interest. ===== Wealthy American Jervis Pendleton III (Fred Astaire) has a chance encounter at a French orphanage with a cheerful 18-year-old resident, Julie Andre (Leslie Caron). He anonymously pays for her education at a New England college. She writes letters to her mysterious benefactor regularly, but he never writes back. Her nickname for him, Daddy Long Legs, is taken from the description of him given to Andre by some of her fellow orphans who see his shadow as he leaves their building. Several years later, he visits her at school, still concealing his identity. Despite their large age difference, they fall in love. ===== The film opens with a description of a legend told by people who have survived being lost at sea: a presence, referred to as the Guardian, which pushed them to the surface, enabling them to survive until help arrived. Ben Randall (Kevin Costner) is the top rescue swimmer at the United States Coast Guard's Aviation Survival Technician (AST) program, but the long hours have destroyed his marriage. When on a rescue, Ben loses his team in a HH-60J Jayhawk helicopter crash at sea. While waiting in a survival raft, his best friend, Chief Petty Officer Carl Billings (Omari Hardwick), dies. Shaken by survivor guilt, Ben is transferred to become an instructor at the Coast Guard AST training school. He develops a legendary reputation among the students for his high number of rescues. Jake Fischer (Ashton Kutcher) is a hot-shot candidate for AST. Ranked as a top high school competitive swimmer with scholarships to every Ivy League college, Jake opts to enlist in the Coast Guard. During training, Jake meets local schoolteacher, Emily Thomas (Melissa Sagemiller), and they begin a casual relationship. The initial weeks of training end with most of the students dropping out and advanced instruction begins. Jake is late for class and Ben punishes his entire class for his tardiness. Believing Jake to be lazy and unmotivated, Ben tries to force him to quit. He gradually begins to see Jake's persistence and dedication. Jake meets Emily in a bar and tells her about beating Ben's old records. The bartender, a friend of Ben's, tells Jake about a time when Ben injured himself saving every victim from a burning hospital ship full of invalid patients. Later, a friend of Jake's is afraid of failing school because he is unable to cope with panicked victims in the water. Jake takes him out for a drink at a Navy bar to cheer him up. They get in a fight and land in jail after being badly beaten by the Navy sailors, causing Jake to miss a date with Emily. Chief Aviation Survival Technician Jack Skinner(Neal McDonough) bails Jake out. Back on base, Ben and Jake get into a confrontation about their pasts. It is revealed that during high school, Jake was involved in a car crash while on the way home with his teammates. It is revealed Jake lost the flip to be the designated driver and, although completely sober, blames himself for the accident. The two bond over the common experience of being the only survivor of fatal accidents. They return to the bar and fight the sailors again, this time winning. Jake returns to base and takes the blame for the fight. At graduation, only a handful of candidates remain. Jake has emerged as a leader during training. Emily attends his graduation, but they end their relationship because Jake is leaving for an assignment at CG Air Station Kodiak, Alaska, Ben's previous post. Ben and Jake are sent to rescue two kayakers trapped in a cave. Ben experiences flashbacks and Jake must guide him, but the rescue is eventually successful. Ben decides to retire after this. He tells Jake that the only record he kept track of was the 22 people he lost during his career. Ben apologizes to his wife and indicates he will not contest the divorce. Jake is sent to rescue the crew of a sinking fishing trawler. During the rescue, he becomes trapped in the ship. His helicopter is forced to return to base, where Ben hears of the situation and decides to suit up and go out to rescue Jake personally. He frees Jake from the hull. As they are winched upwards towards the helicopter, their combined weight causes the winch cable to begin separating. Knowing that the cable will break, Ben unclips himself so that Jake can survive. Jake catches him, but Ben removes his glove and slips free, plummeting into the ocean. His body is never found. Much later, Jake is on a rescue mission, when one of the survivors repeats the legend of the Guardian to him. Jake connects the legend to Ben. He goes back to Emily and they rekindle their relationship. ===== Roy Kapoor (Abhishek Bachchan) is a conman, information that his girlfriend Simran 'Simi' Ahuja (Priyanka Chopra) is not privy to. On the day of their engagement, however, Roy's true character is exposed and Simi leaves him. Consequently, Roy starts drinking heavily. Five years in the future... Roy meets Aditya 'Dittu' Srivastav (Ritesh Deshmukh) and Jassi (Sanjay Mishra), amateur conmen who attempt to con him but are unable to do so. They set their sights on a doctor, Dr. Bhalerao (played by Boman Irani) instead. Roy helps Bhalerao after he is conned and Bhalerao feels greatly indebted to him. One fateful day, Roy drinks too much and starts feeling dizzy. In the middle of the street, he falls, unconscious. He's saved by Dittu. Dittu begs Roy to teach him (Dittu) all he (Roy) knows about the art of conning. Roy reluctantly agrees and the two start their escapades, conning everyone from a family to a "gang" who possesses black money. Roy and Dittu decide to visit a club, where Roy starts feeling dizzy again. He again falls unconscious. Dittu then takes him to hospital. Roy learns (via a CAT scan done by Dr. Bhalerao) that he has a brain tumor and will die within three months. Simi, meanwhile, is working as a restaurant manager and is again engaged to be married to a man whom she doesn't love. Roy tries to tell her that he has a brain tumor. She eventually believes him - after meeting with the doctor - and they rekindle their friendship. Movie- goers then learn that Dittu's father and many others have been duped of their life savings by a man called Chandru (Nana Patekar). He's the main reason that Dittu became a conman in the first place. Roy decides that, before he dies, he'll help Dittu con Chandru of his stolen wealth. However, while planning the ultimate fraud, Roy's cancer enters its final stages. ===== On Deep Space Nine, as the Allies prepare to embark on a potentially final, decisive offensive in the Dominion War, Bashir wakes up with Ezri, O'Brien talks with his family about accepting a transfer back to Earth and Sisko comforts a pregnant, nauseated Kasidy. While heading for battle on the , Sisko's mother Sarah, a Prophet of Bajor, appears to him in a vision, telling him his journey's end "lies not before you, but behind you". The battle between the Jem'Hadar–Breen–Cardassian and Federation–Klingon–Romulan fleets begins. Kira, Garak and Damar, hiding on Cardassia Prime, incite a revolt and sabotage Cardassia's power grid, cutting off communication between the Dominion fleet and the command center. Weyoun and the diseased Founder order the Jem'Hadar to wipe out a Cardassian city. Kira, Garak, and Damar are captured but as the Jem'Hadar prepare to kill them Cardassian soldiers turn on their Jem'Hadar allies in revenge for the destruction of their city. As Starfleet and their allies are suffering many losses, the Cardassian ships switch sides when they learn of the atrocity, turning the tide of the battle. When the Founder discovers this, she orders the eradication of the Cardassian race and the Jem'Hadar begin leveling cities. The Dominion fleet retreats and regroups around Cardassia Prime and the alliance fleet prepares to mount a final offensive. Kira and her team storm the command center, capture the Founder and kill Weyoun; Damar is killed in the process. The Founder initially refuses to surrender, choosing instead to make the battle as costly as possible for the alliance. As Sisko prepares for the assault on Cardassia, Odo beams to the command center and tries to reason with the Founder. She argues that her people will never be safe from the solids but Odo defends the Federation's intentions, despite its flaws and links with her over Kira and Garak's objections, curing her disease; she orders an unprecedented surrender of all Dominion forces within the Alpha Quadrant. Odo explains to Kira that he has agreed to cure the other Founders but needs to join them permanently, so he can persuade them to trust solids instead of dominating them. Bashir and Garak are reunited in the command center as a flood of casualty reports indicate over 800 million Cardassians have been systematically murdered. Bashir tries to reassure him that Cardassia will recover but Garak laments that it will never be the same. On Bajor, Dukat, still disguised as a Bajoran and Kai Winn, who has turned against the Prophets, travel to the fire caves with an ancient book to release the Pah-wraiths, only to find the caves dark and barren. Winn recites a chant that releases the Pah-wraiths, filling the cave with fire, then poisons Dukat as a sacrifice, expecting to become the wraiths' emissary; they possess Dukat instead, resurrecting him and restoring his Cardassian appearance. A peace treaty is signed on DS9 and the crew celebrates in Vic's lounge but Sisko suddenly becomes aware that he must go to the fire caves. Once there, he attacks Dukat who easily subdues him with his newfound powers. Winn tries to destroy the book when she realizes she made a mistake by turning against the Prophets but Dukat kills her. While Dukat is distracted, Sisko attacks Dukat, falling with him and the book into the fiery chasm. Sisko suddenly finds himself in the Celestial Temple, where Sarah tells him that the Pah-wraiths, with Dukat, have been returned to their prison in the fire caves and will never emerge again with the Book destroyed and it is time for him to rest with the Prophets, having completed his task. The DS9 crew is puzzled by Sisko's disappearance until he comes to Kasidy in a vision, telling her that he has moved on to a new stage of his life. He assures her he will return, though he doesn't know when and she promises to wait for him. Martok has a drink on Cardassia, which disgusts Ross and Sisko; the three had previously promised to drink a toast on Cardassia in "Tears of the Prophets". O'Brien finds the figure of William B. Travis in his home, having accused Bashir of losing the figure previously in "The Changing Face of Evil". When signing the armistice that ends the Dominion War, Admiral Ross quotes General Douglas MacArthur's speech following Japan's surrender at the end of World War II. The crew go their separate ways. O'Brien will teach at Starfleet Academy, finally giving a stable home to Keiko and their children, Molly and Kirayoshi. Worf is appointed the Federation ambassador to the Klingon Empire, moving to Qo'noS where he will maintain his close friendship with Chancellor Martok. Nog learns that one of Sisko's last acts was to promote him to Lieutenant, Junior Grade. Bashir and Ezri discuss their future together. When Odo leaves DS9 to fulfill his promise to the Female Changeling, he refuses to give Quark the satisfaction of a fond farewell but Quark interprets it favorably anyway. Kira takes Odo to the Founders' planet, and Odo tells Kira to tell everyone he will miss them; even Quark, then they bid farewell, Odo sinks into the Link and cures the disease. Now the station commander, Kira continues Odo's and Sisko's example by going to Quark's to shut down his betting ring on who will be the new Kai, leading Quark to quote Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr with the final line of the show, "The more things change, the more things stay the same". Kira finds Jake on the promenade and they look longingly out as the wormhole opens, knowing that her friend and his father resides in the Celestial Temple. ===== During the American Civil War, teenaged Wyatt Earp lives on his family farm in Pella, Iowa, while his older brothers Virgil and James serve with the Union Army. Wyatt attempts to run away, intending to lie about his age and join the war, but his father catches him. His brothers return home at the war's end, with James gravely wounded, and the family moves west. Wyatt sees a man killed during a gunfight, and vomits at the sight. Years later, Wyatt works out west as a wagon driver, also serving as a referee for fights, and finds himself at odds with a bully. Wyatt and the bully come to the point of fighting, with the bully intending to shoot him, but Wyatt disarms and defeats him, taking his gun. Returning home to Missouri, Wyatt marries his childhood sweetheart, Urilla Sutherland. They move into their own house, and he begins working as a policeman. Months later, his pregnant wife dies from typhoid fever. After staying by her side through the illness, Wyatt becomes deeply depressed. Burning their home and possessions, he begins drinking and drifts from town to town, landing in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He robs a man and steals his horse, but is captured. With Wyatt facing certain hanging, his father bails him out of jail, telling him to never return to Arkansas. Working as a buffalo hunter, Wyatt befriends Bat Masterson and his brother Ed Masterson. Years pass, and Wyatt becomes a deputy marshal in Wichita, Kansas, building a reputation as a good lawman. He is recruited to work as a deputy in Dodge City, with a lower salary but earning extra money for every arrest. In Dodge City, Wyatt kills his first man, witnessed by actress Josie Marcus. Wyatt becomes romantically involved with a prostitute, Mattie Blaylock, and the Mastersons join him as deputies. Wyatt believes Ed is too passive, but the Dodge City council fires Wyatt for his excessive force, appointing Ed to take his place. Wyatt begins working for the railroad, capturing outlaws. Pursuing outlaw Dave Rudabaugh, Wyatt is introduced to gunman and gambler Doc Holliday in Fort Griffin, Texas, and the two become friends. Holliday assists Earp in locating Rudabaugh, whom he dislikes tremendously. Wyatt receives word that Ed has been killed, having shot and killed both his assailants before dying in the street. Wyatt returns to Dodge City to help bring law and order, before moving his family to Tombstone, Arizona, despite the wives’ and Mattie's protests. Wyatt immediately finds himself at odds with the outlaw Cowboy gang. He becomes romantically involved with Josie Marcus, angering her boyfriend Sheriff Behan and stressing his relationship with Mattie, and becomes the subject of rumor about town. Wyatt and his brothers Morgan and Virgil arrest several Cowboys, and Virgil takes over as marshal following the murder of Fred White. Tension builds between the brothers and the gang as Wyatt breaks up several altercations involving the Cowboys, particularly Ike Clanton, and Holliday swears his loyalty to Wyatt, whom he considers his only real friend. The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral makes the brothers very unpopular in town. Virgil is ambushed and wounded, and Morgan is killed. In the Vendetta Ride, Wyatt and his friends take revenge against the remaining Cowboys. Many years later, Wyatt and Josie mine for gold in Alaska. A young man on the same boat recognizes Wyatt, and recounts a story in which Wyatt had saved the boy's uncle, "Tommy Behind-The-Deuce". Wyatt says to Josie, "Some people say it didn't happen that way", to which she responds, "Never mind them, Wyatt. It happened that way." An epilogue states that Holliday died six years later in a hospital in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Members of the Clanton gang continued to die mysteriously for years after Morgan's murder. Josie and Wyatt's marriage lasted 47 years until Wyatt died at age 80 in Los Angeles. ===== Frank Flynn is summonsed from New York City to Vanuatu by his brother Charlie. He arrives only to find Charlie dead, and becomes involved with his late brother's partner, Viv, and Viv's unhappy wife, Anna. ===== After the death of her husband, Mrs. Hammond realizes that she is deeply in debt. She is used to living richly, however, and therefore focuses on her two beautiful daughters as her best hope of financial security. If she can marry them to rich husbands, both she and her daughters will escape poverty. To accomplish this plan, she pays off all her debts and all the property she can under the guise of grief, and moves to the country to save her money. No one must know the extent of her poverty, or the girls will never find a good match. There she waits until her children are old enough to marry, and spends the time making them into cultured young ladies: Lucy and Emily Hammond. The girls are not far apart in years, but there are differences between them. While Lucy absorbs the ideas about marriage that her mother imparts (all economically minded), Emily has a romantic personality that resists such materials concerns. When the two girls return to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 17 (Emily) and 18 (Lucy), their beauty is a huge success, and they have many admirers. A wealthy and noble Englishman, Mr. Walsingham, finally “bites” and marries Lucy. Emily is not as easily married off, especially after she sees the very moody poet Kelroy. Kelroy comes from a good family, but like the Hammonds has lost his fortune because of his father's love of gambling. He is currently penniless, but plans a voyage to India, where he hopes to make his fortune. Emily and Kelroy are a perfect match for each other and quickly fall in love, despite all the attempts Mrs. Hammond makes to separate them. Other suitors, notably Mr. Marney, are very jealous of this obvious attachment. Kelroy has one advantage, however: he is a good friend of Mr. Walsingham, who endeavors to help Kelroy in respect to Mrs. Hammond. Mr. Walsingham, who had been made to believe that Lucy has a fortune, now knows better and tells Mrs. Hammond that he will ask back for the money Mrs. Hammond has borrowed from him over the last months (900 dollars) if she does not agree to let Kelroy see Emily. Mrs. Hammond is in no position to return the money and reluctantly agrees. The two are engaged, but not married before Kelroy leaves for India. After Lucy and Mr. Walsingham leave for England, Mrs. Hammond's house burns down and she wins the lottery, which allows the pretext and the means to move to the country (to preserve the money she has left). Emily there meets a new rich suitor, Dunlevy. This man is perfectly nice, but Emily still loves Kelroy most and resists Dunlevy's advances. Only after she receives a letter from Kelroy in which he releases her from the engagement does Emily (deeply grieving) agree to marry Dunlevy. The marriage goes well for six months despite the death of Mrs. Hammond. But then Emily finds some letters her mother had hidden in a writing desk: one of the letters is an exact copy of the one she received from “Kelroy,” and seeing another written to Kelroy in her name, she realizes what her mother (in collusion with Marney) did. Unable to recover from this shock, she dies not long afterwards. Kelroy of course received a similar letter and has tried to forget about Emily. After hearing that both Emily and Mrs. Hammond have died, he returns to the United States. There, Helen (Emily's best friend) sends Kelroy the packet of letters to prove to him that Emily never quit loving him. The shock of this discovery so affects Kelroy that he borders on the edge of insanity. He decides to begin traveling again, and the ship he sails on sinks into the ocean three weeks after his departure. ===== Magic Journeys looked at the world through the eyes of a child. The film started with children running through a meadow and looking at clouds. Someone blew on a dandelion and the seeds then flew away, turning into stars and then turned into the sun. Next the kids were seen flying a kite at the beach. The kite then turned into a bird, a fish, a school of fish, a flock of birds, bird wings, a Pegasus, a horse and then finally into a merry-go-round. While the children rode the carousel, they began reaching for a brass ring spinning next to the carousel; the carousel spins around the moon and bats fly out past the riders. The moon becomes a witch, a mask, an Olmec head, and more until turning into a cat. A boy reaches out to the cat and it turns into the Sphinx, which turns into a lion jumping through a hoop in the circus. Trapeze artists and acrobats fly through the air and several clowns amuse the children. ===== The story is told from the perspective of Vandyck "Van" Jennings, a sociology student who, along with two friends, Terry O. Nicholson and Jeff Margrave, forms an expedition party to explore an area of uncharted land rumored to be home to a society consisting entirely of women. The three friends do not entirely believe the rumors because they are unable to think of a way how human reproduction could occur without males. The men speculate about what a society of women would be like, each guessing differently based on the stereotype of women which he holds most dear: Jeff regarding women as things to be served and protected; Terry viewing them as things to be conquered and won.Clute and Nicholls 1995, p. 496. When the explorers reach their destination, they proceed with caution, hiding the biplane they arrive in, and trying to keep themselves hidden in the forests that border the land. They are quickly found by three young women who they realize are observing them from the treetops. After attempting to catch the girls with trickery, the men end up chasing the young women towards a town or village. The women outrun them easily and disappear among the houses, which, Van notes are exceptionally well made and attractive. After meeting the first inhabitants of this new land (which Van names "Herland") the men proceed more cautiously, noting that the girls they met were strong, agile, and completely unafraid. Their caution is warranted, because as the men enter the town where the girls disappeared, they become surrounded by a large group of women, who march them towards an official-looking building. The three men attempt an escape, but are swiftly and easily overpowered by the large group of women and eventually anesthetized. The men awake to find themselves held captive in a fortress-like building. They are given comfortable living accommodations, clean clothes, and food. The women assign each man a tutor who teaches the men their language. Van makes many notes about the new country and people, commenting that everything from their clothing to their furniture seems to be made with the twin ideals of pragmatism and aesthetics given equal consideration. The women themselves appear intelligent and astute, unafraid and patient, with a notable lack of temper and seemingly limitless understanding for their captives. The women are keen to learn about the world outside and question the men eagerly about all manner of things. Often Van finds himself having difficulty justifying the practices of his own society such as the milking of cows, and the keeping of property, when faced with the apparent utopia the women have managed to build. After being held captive for a number of months, the men break out of the fortress and escape cross-country to where they left their biplane. Finding the biplane sewn inside a large fabric covering, the men are unable to get away and are resignedly recaptured by the women. They are treated well nonetheless and soon learn that they will be given a freer rein when they have mastered the women's language and proved they can be trusted. Van remarks upon Terry's personal difficulty in dealing with the women, who steadfastly refuse to conform to his expectations of how women should act, though Jeff seems perfectly enamored of the women and their kindness. Van gradually finds out more information about the women's society, discovering that most of the men were killed 2,000 years ago when a volcanic eruption sealed off the only pass out of Herland. The remaining men were mostly slaves who killed the sons of their dead masters and the old women, intending to take over the land and the young women with it. The women fought back, however, killing the slaves. After a period of hopelessness at the impending end of their race, cut off from the rest of the world and without any men, one woman among the survivors became pregnant and bore a female child, and four more female children after. The five daughters of this woman also grew up to bear five daughters each. This process rapidly expanded their population and led to the exaltation of motherhood. Ever since that time the women had devoted themselves to improving their minds, working together and raising their children; the position of teacher being one of the most revered and respected positions in the land. As the men are allowed more freedom, each strikes up a relationship with one of the women they had first seen upon their arrival: Van with Ellador, Jeff with Celis, and Terry with Alima. Having had no men for 2,000 years, the women apparently have no experience or cultural memory of romantic love or sexual intercourse. Accordingly, the couples' budding relationships progress with some difficulty and much explanation. Terry in particular finds it hard to adjust to being in a relationship with a woman who is not a 'woman' in his terms. Eventually all three couples get 'married', although the women largely fail to see the point of such a thing, and as they have no particular religion the ceremony is more pagan than Christian. Their marriages cause the men much reflection; the women they married have no conception of what being a wife or being feminine entails. Van finds it frustrating sometimes, though in the end he is grateful for his wonderful friendship with Ellador and the intense love he feels for her. Terry is not so wise, and out of frustration attempts to rape Alima. After being forcefully restrained and once again anesthetized, Terry stands trial before the women and is ordered to return to his homeland. The other men, while disapproving of Terry's actions, see them as merely impolite rather than criminal. Van explains to Ellador, "[Crime]'s a pretty hard word for it. After all, Alima was his wife, you know." Van realizes that he must accompany Terry home in the biplane and Ellador will not let him leave without her. In the end, both Terry and Van leave Herland with promises not to reveal the utopia until Ellador has returned and such a plan has been fully discussed. Jeff chooses to stay behind and live in Herland with his now pregnant wife, Celis. Van tries to prepare Ellador for returning to his world but feels much trepidation about what she will find there. ===== Call It Sleep is the story of a Galician Jewish immigrant family in New York in the early part of the 20th century. Six-year-old David Schearl has a close and loving relationship with his mother Genya but his father Albert is aloof, resentful and angry toward his wife and son. David's development takes place between fear of his father's potential violence and the degradation of life in the streets of the tenement slums. After the family has begun settling into their life in New York, Genya's sister Bertha arrives from Austrian Galicia (today Western Ukraine) to stay with them. Bertha's coarse and uninhibited nature offends Albert and her presence in the home renews and exacerbates the tension in the family. Listening to conversations between Genya and Bertha, David begins to pick up hints that his mother may have had an affair with a non-Jewish man in Galicia before marrying Albert. David imagines the romantic setting "in the corn fields" where the pair would secretly meet. Bertha leaves the Schearl household when she marries Nathan, a man she met at the dentist's office. She and Nathan open a candy store where they live with Nathan's two daughters, Polly and Esther. David begins his religious education and is quickly identified by his rabbi teacher, Reb Yidel, as an exceptional student of Hebrew. David becomes fascinated with the story of Isaiah 6 after he hears the rabbi translate the passage for an older student; specifically, the image of an angel holding a hot coal to Isaiah's lips and cleansing his sin. During the Passover holiday, David encounters some older truant children who force him to accompany them and drop a piece of zinc onto a live trolley-car rail. The electrical power released from this becomes associated in David's mind with the power of God and Isaiah's coal. Albert has taken a job as a milk delivery man. David, accompanying his father one day, sees Albert brutally whip a man who attempts to steal some of the milk bottles, possibly killing him. David meets and becomes infatuated with an older Catholic boy named Leo. Leo takes advantage of David's friendship and offers him a rosary—which David believes to have special powers of protection—in exchange for the chance to meet David's step-cousins, Polly and Esther. Leo takes Esther into the basement of the candy store and rapes her. David is thrown into an agitated state. He goes to Reb Yidel and fabricates a story, telling him that Genya is actually his aunt, his true mother is dead and that he is the son of her affair with the non-Jewish man. Polly tells Bertha and Nathan about what Leo did with Esther. As the rabbi goes to the Schearl household to inform Genya and Albert of what David told him, Bertha begs Nathan not to confront Albert about David's role in Leo's actions. Nathan goes anyway, but he fears Albert's wrath as well. After Reb Yidel relates David's story to Genya and Albert, David arrives at the apartment. Albert begins to reveal what he has suspected about David's birth. He tells Genya that their marriage is a sham, arranged to make one sin cover up the other—her affair, which was kept secret—against his sin, allowing his abusive father to be gored by a bull, widely known in the Galician village they left. Despite Genya's denials, Albert reaffirms his belief in his version of the story. He declares that David is not his son but the product of Genya's affair. At that moment, Nathan and Bertha arrive. Nathan hesitates at the moment of speaking his mind under Albert's cold fury. but David steps forward to confess to his parents of his part in what took place. He gives his father the whip that was used on the would-be milk thief. As Albert reaches the height of his enraged frenzy, he discovers the rosary that David possesses, believing it to be a sign that proves his suspicions. Albert makes as if to kill his son with the whip. As the others restrain Albert, David flees the apartment and returns to the electrified rail. This time, he touches the third rail with a long milk dipper in an attempt to create light and receives an enormous electric shock. Incapacitated, he is discovered by nearby tavern patrons, revived by an ambulance doctor and returned home by a policeman. When his parents are informed what happened, Albert appears remorseful and compassionate toward his son for the first time. As his mother takes him into her arms, David experiences a feeling such that "he might as well call it sleep". ===== Inspired by the Eskimo shaman Oogruk, Russel Susskit takes a dog team and sled to escape the modern ways of his village and to find his own "song" of himself hating the sound of snowmobiles and his fathers coughing in the morning. He travels across ice floes, tundra, and mountains, haunted along the way by a dream of a long-ago self whose adventures parallel his own. Reality melds with the dream when he finds an Eskimo girl named Nancy, who has run away from her village after becoming pregnant. Circumstances require him to provide for himself and the girl in a harsh and unforgiving land. Russel sets out looking for food, for Nancy and himself, after Nancy gives birth to a still-born baby. ===== For an initiation stunt, five college women are locked in an abandoned Kentucky hospital. ===== Dr. Henry Jekyll has succeeded in curing a higher primate of his serious heart condition. He tests the serum on himself, resulting in dire consequences; he is transformed into the evil Edward Hyde. Dr. Jekyll does not realize that Hyde is a manifestation of himself, and develops a kind of multiple personality disorder. Hyde murders female college students and frames Jekyll. Jekyll feels guilty about the murders, and gives the victims' families $30,000 in damages. Hyde rapes and murders Jekyll's boss, Donna Carew. During a dinner party, Jekyll's friend Dennis Lanyon sees his colleague transform into Hyde before his eyes. Detective Karen Utterson and Lanyon race to find Jekyll before it's too late, as the serum gives Hyde immortality. Jekyll tries giving himself up to the police, but Hyde won't allow him to go to prison, knowing he will be executed: If Jekyll dies, so does Hyde. Jekyll commits suicide by jumping off the roof of the hospital, in order to make sure that Hyde will never hurt anyone ever again. As Jekyll dies, he says "It was for my soul." ===== The film centers on a group of young people who killed an innocent person and videotaped the act for their own amusement. Comeuppance is provided by a mysterious man who seeks out each of the murderers and kills them for his personal pleasure. ===== President Fenton and the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives are killed at a summit in Frankfurt, West Germany when the palace hosting the legation collapses. By law the serving President upon the death of the elected one,Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 of the United States Constitution reads: "In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President." Vice President Noah Calvin is suffering from a terminal condition and refuses to assume the office. Arthur Eaton, the Secretary of State, corrects the popular assumption that he is the next in the line of succession,The Presidential Succession act of 1886 placed the Secretary of State in line immediately following the vice president. explaining that it had been amended by the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, and that the next successor is the President pro tempore of the United States Senate, who is Douglass Dilman. Dilman, a black man, is sworn in and arrives at the White House to assume office. Eaton's outspoken wife, Kay, berates her husband for not pushing to become President, even though it would violate the succession order. Eaton assures her that he will become President once Dilman proves unable to handle the job. In the morning, Eaton and his advisers arrive at the Oval Office and Eaton begins maneuvering himself into a position as the "power behind the throne". Eaton gives Dilman a binder of briefing notes, including responses to news media questions that support the positions of the Fenton administration. Dilman meets the press for the first time as President. He initially follows Eaton's instructions. When Dilman stops to consult notes after each question, an aggressive reporter accuses Dilman of being a puppet. Eaton scribbles a note and has it taken forward to the president. Dilman realizes that he's being manipulated, crumples Eaton's note, and shoves the briefing binder aside. He proceeds under his own initiative, deciding that as President he will have to make his own decisions. Dilman, a political moderate, is confronted by both activists and extremists about his skin color. Robert Wheeler (Georg Stanford Brown), a young black man, is sought for extradition by South Africa for an attempt to assassinate the defence minister of that country; Dilman offers his help when the young man claims he was in Burundi at the time of the assassination attempt. Senator Watson introduces a bill that would require Congressional approval of any dismissal of a cabinet member by the president. Eaton doesn't tell Dilman about it, but several black congressmen have a meeting with Dilman to discuss their concerns. Dilman believes they are talking about a minority rights bill and pledges his support, until one of the congressmen corrects him. Dilman subsequently reprimands Eaton and a group of senior leaders, questioning why such an important bill is not being brought to his attention. Senator Watson visits the South African embassy. The ambassador comments that his own country would never have a black man as president. He shows a news film to Watson that proves Wheeler was in South Africa during the assassination attempt. The scandal threatens Dilman's presidency. Dilman obtains Wheeler's confession and hands him over for extradition. The act alienates his activist adult daughter, Wanda. Wheeler calls the president a "house nigger"; the president responds that: "black men don't burn churches and kill four children; they don't hunt down a Martin Luther King with a telescopic sight. Passion may drive you to the streets to throw a brick, but to buy a gun, plant an alibi and travel 5000 miles and kill a human being is bloodless, worthy of the selective morality of Adolf Eichmann." The president addresses reporters, explaining that some people think violence is the only answer, but he will rely on diplomacy and peaceful means. He washes his hands of the Wheeler issue. A reporter asks if he's going to run for the presidential nomination in the next election. Dilman replies that he is going to "fight like hell" to win the nomination. To the tune of "Hail to the Chief," he is introduced to the party's National Convention. ===== In a plot script the artist works from a story synopsis from the writer (or plotter), rather than a full script. The artist creates page-by-page plot details on his or her own, after which the work is returned to the writer for the insertion of dialogue. Due to its widespread use at Marvel Comics beginning in the 1960s, primarily under writer-editor Stan Lee and artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, this approach became commonly known as the Marvel method or Marvel house style.Groth, Gary. "Editorial," The Comics Journal #75 (Sept. 1982), p. 4. Comics historian Mark Evanier writes that this "new means of collaboration . . . was born of necessity--Stan was overburdened with work--and to make use of Jack's great skill with storylines. . . . Sometimes Stan would type up a written plot outline for the artist. Sometimes, not."Evanier, Mark. Kirby: King of Comics (Harry N. Abrams, New York, 2008), p. 112 As comic-book writer-editor Dennis O'Neil describes, the Marvel method ". . . requires the writer to begin by writing out a plot and add[ing] words when the penciled artwork is finished. . . .[I]n the mid-sixties, plots were seldom more than a typewritten page, and sometimes less," while writers in later times "might produce as many as twenty-five pages of plot for a twenty-two page story, and even include in them snatches of dialog. So a Marvel Method plot can run from a couple of paragraphs to something much longer and more elaborate."O'Neil, Dennis. "Write Ways: An Unruly Anti-Treatise", chapter in Dooley, Michael, and Steven Heller, eds., The Education of a Comics Artist: Visual Narrative in Cartoons, Graphic Novels, and Beyond (Allworth Communications, 2005, ); p. 187 The Marvel method was in place with at least one artist by early 1961, as Lee described in 2009 when speaking of his and Ditko's "short, five-page filler strips ... placed in any of our comics that had a few extra pages to fill", most prominently in Amazing Fantasy but even previously in Amazing Adventures and other "pre- superhero Marvel" science-fiction/fantasy anthology titles. > I'd dream up odd fantasy tales with an O. Henry type twist ending. All I had > to do was give Steve a one-line description of the plot and he'd be off and > running. He'd take those skeleton outlines I had given him and turn them > into classic little works of art that ended up being far cooler than I had > any right to expect.Lee, Stan, "Introduction", in Yoe Craig, The Art of > Ditko (Idea & Design Works, January 2010), , , p. 9 The October 2018 issue of DC Comics' in-house previews magazine, DC Nation, featured a look at the creative process that writer Brian Michael Bendis and artists Ryan Sook, Wade von Grawbadger and Brad Anderson employed on Action Comics #1004, which included pages of Bendis' script that were broken down panel by panel, albeit without dialogue."Breaking Down a Page", DC Nation #5 (December 2018), pp 6-7. DC Comics (Burbank, California). Advantages of the Marvel method over the full script method that have been cited by creators and industry professionals include: * The fact that artists, who are employed to visualize scenes, may be better equipped to determine panel structure * The greater freedom this gives artists * The lower burden placed on the writer. Cited disadvantages include: * The fact that not all artists are talented writers, and some struggle over aspects such as plot ideas and pacing * It takes advantage of artists, who are typically paid for art alone even though they are essentially working as co-writers ===== Jack (Vandenberg) Severino is a quiet yet intense man who has no recollection of his past. He spends his time in violent no holds barred fights in a small South American village. The only friend he has is his manager Manolo, an Indian trying to escape poverty. Jack's violent past catches up with him when he sees a woman (Stana Katic) he has not seen in years bring back his memories. ===== The SG-1 team gets leave time as Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) had his appendix removed. Just after Major Carter (Amanda Tapping) declines Colonel O'Neill's (Richard Dean Anderson) invitation to go fishing, O'Neill is beamed aboard the cloaked Asgard ship Beliskner orbiting Earth. Encountering bug-like robots, O'Neill learns from the dying Asgard, Thor, that the creatures are called Replicators. They ingest the ship's alloys in order to self-replicate and will eventually land on Earth in the search of more raw material. O'Neill contacts Stargate Command with a request to beam up explosives, however, General Hammond (Don S. Davis) also sends along Carter and Teal'c (Christopher Judge) against O'Neill's wishes. An Earth shuttle may be sent to pick them up later. SG-1 plan to steer the vessel towards Earth to vaporize it during atmospheric reentry. Because the Replicators prevent SG-1 from retaking the bridge, Carter and Thor suggest placing an elementary naqahdah-enhanced bomb on the deceleration drive. When Teal'c leaves the spaceship to place the bomb on the outside of the hull, his airtank blows, however, Carter manages to beam him back on board. Thor, whose vitals crash at this moment, is put into a stasis pod to preserve his life. While SG-1 waits for the right time to detonate the bomb, they must devise a plan to get off the ship. They eventually beam Stargate Command's Stargate on-board and intend to travel to the planet P3X-234 before returning home using Earth's secondary gate ("Touchstone"). After Teal'c has dialed the gate manually, O'Neill detonates the bomb, crashing the ship in the Pacific Ocean. The last shot of the episode shows a Replicator crawling on remains of the sinking spaceship. ===== On the planet Eternia, at the center of the Universe, Skeletor's army seizes Castle Grayskull, scatters the remaining Eternian defenders, and captures the Sorceress of Grayskull, planning to add her power to his own by the next moonrise. Skeletor's archenemy, the warrior He-Man, veteran soldier Man-At-Arms, and his daughter Teela rescue Gwildor from Skeletor's forces. Gwildor, a Thenorian locksmith, reveals that Skeletor has acquired his invention: a "Cosmic Key" that can open a portal to anywhere by utilizing musical notes. The device was stolen by Skeletor's second-in-command, Evil-Lyn, allowing Skeletor to breach Castle Grayskull. With Gwildor's remaining prototype of the Key in hand, He-Man and his friends travel to the Castle. They attempt to free the Sorceress but are overwhelmed by Skeletor's army and forced to flee through Gwildor's hastily opened portal, transporting them to Earth. The Key is misplaced on their arrival and discovered by two California teenagers, orphaned high school girl Julie Winston and her boyfriend Kevin Corrigan. While experimenting with the device, they accidentally send a signal that allows Evil-Lyn to track it. She then sends her henchmen—Saurod, Blade, Beast Man, and Karg—to recover it. Kevin, an aspiring musician, mistakes the Key for a synthesizer and takes it to a music store run by his friend Charlie. Karg's team arrives and chases Julie until He-Man rescues her. Karg's team returns to Grayskull where, incensed by their failure, Skeletor kills Saurod and sends the others back to Earth, with a larger force under Evil-Lyn's command. Unable to find Julie, Kevin is taken to Julie's house by Lubic, a detective investigating the disturbance created by Karg's team. Suspecting the Key is stolen, Lubic confiscates it from Kevin and leaves. Immediately afterward, Evil-Lyn captures and interrogates Kevin for the Key's location with a mind-control collar, before pursuing Lubic. Julie and the Eternians release Kevin from the collar before they go after Lubic and the Key. They arrive at Charlie's store, but Skeletor's forces catch up with them and a pitched battle ensues. Evil-Lyn recovers the Key and summons Skeletor to Earth. Skeletor's forces capture the Eternians, and Julie is mortally wounded by Skeletor's lightning blast, which simultaneously erases the memory storage of Gwildor's Key. He-Man surrenders to save his comrades and is returned to Eternia as Skeletor's slave. Skeletor demands that He-Man kneel before him for all of Eternia to witness, before he is killed. He-Man refuses and is lashed by Blade's laser whip in an attempt to make him submit. He-Man is still standing when the moon rises, and Skeletor absorbs the powers of the universe. Declaring himself the Master of the Universe, Skeletor asserts his victory and continues to torture He-Man with energy blasts. Back on Earth, Gwildor repairs the Cosmic Key and Kevin re- creates the tones necessary to create a gateway to Eternia. The group, including Lubic who attempts to arrest them, are transported to Castle Grayskull, where they begin battling Skeletor's forces. Resenting that Skeletor absorbed the power of the Universe without sharing it with her, Evil- Lyn deserts him along with the other henchmen. Skeletor accidentally frees He- Man, who reclaims the Sword of Grayskull, and they battle until He-Man shatters Skeletor's staff, removing his new powers and restoring him to his normal state. He-Man offers mercy, but Skeletor draws a concealed sword and attempts to kill He-Man; He-Man knocks Skeletor into a vast pit below. The freed Sorceress heals Julie and a portal is opened to send the Earthlings home. Hailed as a hero for his bravery, Lubic decides to remain on Eternia. Julie awakens on the morning of her parents' deaths by plane crash. She prevents them from taking the ill-fated flight by taking their keys, and runs outside to find Kevin. Kevin confirms that their experiences were real, producing a souvenir from Eternia: a small blue sphere containing a scene of He-Man in front of Castle Grayskull with his sword raised above his head. In a post-credits scene, Skeletor's head emerges from the water at the bottom of the pit, saying "I'll be back!" ===== A man closes up a lecture hall; he spits into a box and snips the string holding a gaunt puppet. Released, the puppet warily explores the darkened rooms about him. The desolate ambience and haunting musical score are meant to convey a sense of isolation and futility. As the short continues, the mute protagonist explores a realm of what are described by the directors as "mechanical realities and manufactured pleasures". As the protagonist chooses to join this world, the camera slowly reveals how unfulfilling the surroundings actually are. WorldCat.orgFilmAffinity ===== A death row inmate has one final request before his impending hanging: he wants to spend the night with a woman. The police bring him a suicidal prostitute. After a night of lovemaking, the two are married by the prison chaplain. Just before going to the gallows, he describes a dream he had where the rope breaks during the hanging, the death bell rings, and he is freed. As he prays for his miracle the death bell tolls and the film fades to black. ===== In 1825, in the village of Pietranera in French-controlled Corsica, hot-blooded maiden Colomba della Rabia (Faith Domergue) wants her brother Orso (George Dolenz) to avenge the murder of their father by the powerful Barracini family. Despite being a lieutenant, Orso is a man of peace and reason who opposes the Corsican practice of vendetta and revenge; he is more interested in courting the beautiful English aristocrat, Lydia Nevil (Hillary Brooke), who is vacationing on the island with her father, Col. Sir Thomas Nevil (Nigel Bruce). To persuade Orso to do his family duty, Colomba must have the help of a family friend, the "bandit" Padrino (Donald Buka), and his servant Brando (Hugo Haas). When Orso is finally convinced that the Barracinis are guilty, and were acquitted at trial due to perjured testimony, he challenges Vincente Barracini to a duel, which pleases Colomba but horrifies Lydia. She is now bethrothed to Orso, but threatens to leave him if he goes through with the duel. When Orso heads to the appointed place, Colomba finds out that the Barracini brothers are going to ambush him, and rides out to give him warning. In the confrontation that comes, Colomba is shot and dies in Orso's arms, the Barracinis are killed, and Orso is wounded, but not seriously. Padrino tells the grief-stricken Orso that he must use his experience to guide the people to a better way of living, breaking the cycle of vendetta and death.TCM Full synopsisErickson, Hal Plot synopsis (Allmovie) ===== Phillip Davidson boards a boat and embraces Fay Driver. Then he goes down below to try to convince her father, Captain Driver, not to involve Fay in his criminal activity. However, Boyd brings aboard Delaney (a man he has agreed to smuggle out of the country) and two henchmen. When Boyd demands that Delaney pay him £500, rather than £200, a fight erupts, and Boyd knocks Delaney out. A broken oil lamp starts a fire, attracting the attention of the authorities, and Philip is fished out of the water. A charred corpse is found in the sunken boat. The Drivers and Tim Pewsey perjure themselves by identifying the dead man as Boyd, rather than Delaney, and claiming there was no other man present. This leads to Philip's conviction for Boyd's murder. Granted leniency, he spends 12 years in prison. Upon his release, he sets out to get even with the witnesses. He is kept under surveillance by the police on the orders of Superintendent Bob Lowther, who is now married to Fay. Philip finds an abandoned barge claimed by Jackson, a kindly old hermit. His plan is to live rough on the barge while he searches for the witnesses. But three people attempt - initially unsuccessfully - to befriend him. First, Jackson withdraws an initial request for rent. Then Craig, a newspaperman who suspects him to be innocent, arrives; Philip throws him out, but Craig tumbles down an open hatch and is knocked unconscious, and Philip rescues him. Finally he happens upon a sailor attempting to rape Ilse, a traumatised wartime refugee; when he rescues her and allows her to stay on the barge, she falls in love with him. Informed by Craig that Captain Driver had died four years earlier, Philip stalks Pewsey, with Lowther and Craig on his trail. Pewsey is frightened into confessing to Lowther that there was another man present at the murder. Now Lowther's marriage comes under increasing tension as he considers the possibility of his wife's perjury. Finally, she confesses she did lie to protect her father. Lowther tells her that she will have to turn herself in and he will have to resign. She asks for time, and goes to see "George Berry", who turns out to be Boyd. She asks him for money and they plan to leave the country together. Ilse pleads with Philip to give up his dream of revenge and start a new life with her. He confronts Fay in her home, realizes Ilse was right, and walks away. When Fay realises Boyd is not coming, she attempts suicide by trying to jump in front of an oncoming Waterloo & City line train, but is stopped by other people on the platform. She leaves with police sent by her husband after he read her farewell note. However, by sheer chance, Philip is then hired to deliver an urgent letter to "Berry". Philip confronts Boyd in his office, they fight, and then Philip stops fighting and walks away again. It is time for Boyd to meet Fay at London Waterloo station, but he pursues Philip and shoots him in the arm. Philip flees to the barge, but Boyd is waiting for him. After a chase, Boyd is about to kill Philip when he is shot dead by Jackson. Ilse and Philip refuse further help from the police, leaving to deal with their pasts and futures together. ===== Enemy saboteurs infiltrate the industrial suburbs of London, intending to disable three power stations in London and five other stations elsewhere, all strategically located throughout the UK. Their motive is to cripple the British economy and enable subversive forces to insinuate themselves into government. The saboteurs are thwarted, not by counterintelligence agents, but by workaday London police officers. ===== In 1913, Fernand Maubert (Eric Portman), the dedicated chief of police of Paris, is pursuing Philippe Lodocq (Guy Rolfe), a suave bank robber suspected of a series of thefts, but the criminal always has an alibi. After the latest robbery, Maubert does capture Lodocq's accomplice, Madeleine Saincaise (Nadia Gray). When she is released from prison, Maubert warns her to stay away from Lodocq (though he has a certain admiration for the man). Impressed by her intelligence, beauty and courage, he begins to court her himself. When Lodocq visits her, she professes her love for him, but he tells her that it is too dangerous for them to be seen together and that they would eventually tire of each other anyway. Later, however, during one of their cordial occasional meetings, Maubert tells Lodocq that he can tell that Madeleine is different from Lodocq's other women; she has gotten under his skin. Later, the police are tipped off by an informant and arrive during an attempted theft. Lodocq gets away, but his assistant Jean Louis (John Carol) is killed, along with a policeman. Lodocq persuades Madeleine to provide him with an alibi. Maubert knows she is lying, but can not prove it. However, he does stop seeing her. Finally, Maubert gets the break he has been waiting for. Lodocq employs Jean Louis' brother Alfred for his next theft. Maubert gets Alfred to betray Lodocq, not out of revenge for his brother's death, but by telling him falsely that Lodocq did not give his mother Jean's fair share of the loot. Lodocq is imprisoned just as World War I breaks out. During the war, Maubert becomes a major in French counterintelligence. When the Minister of War (Edward Chapman) tells him that they urgently need a list of German spies in France being kept in a safe in the German embassy in neutral Bern, Switzerland, Maubert states there is only one man for the job. Maubert is authorized to offer a pardon to Lodocq in exchange for his services. The prisoner agrees after Maubert dangles the prospect of seeing Madeleine. The theft goes off without a hitch. However, when Lodocq goes to Madeleine's flat, he finds a despondent Maubert already there. In a surprise twist, it turns out that Madeleine's name was on the list they stole. She is taken away, with the implication that she will be executed for treason. In the final scene, Maubert watches Lodocq, now an anonymous French soldier, board a train for the intense fighting at Verdun, both knowing that Lodocq stands little chance of survival. ===== In 1925 Damascus, the native Syrians are engaged in a guerrilla war against the French colonial rule of Syria. Harry Smith (Humphrey Bogart) is an amoral American black marketeer, secretly selling weapons to the guerillas. As the situation deteriorates, French General LaSalle (Everett Sloane) orders that civilian sympathisers shall be executed each time his soldiers are killed, but his head of military intelligence, Colonel Feroud (Lee J. Cobb), persuades him to alter the plan, and simply detain sympathisers for 48 hours. Col. Feroud calls in five of the city's profiteers (including Smith and Balukjiaan) and accuses them of selling food at excessive prices. Smith is the only one who appears to be willing to cooperate. After he leaves they investigate Smith and find he was a war hero in the First World War. A bomb goes off in a night club where Smith has been eying Violetta (Märta Torén) whilst drinking with his barber friend Nasir (Nick Dennis). Violetta is thrown to the floor. Col Feroud picks her up but it is Smith who comforts her. Violetta leaves with Feroud and returns to his apartment: it becomes clear that they are lovers. Feroud presses for negotiations with rebel leader Emir Hassan (Onslow Stevens). LaSalle reluctantly lets him try to arrange a meeting, but refuses to let Feroud make contact directly. A young military officer sent in his place is later found murdered with his throat cut. Feroud calls in Balukjiaan (Zero Mostel) and accuses him of being a gun-runner. He protests his innocence and suggests Smith instead. To complicate matters, Harry makes a pass at Feroud's unhappy mistress, Violetta , but she rejects him. Later, she informs Feroud she wants to leave him, but he refuses to let her Harry discovers that Nasir has given his name to the authorities when pressured, and plans his escape. At the same time Violetta shows up and begs him to take her back to Cairo. Needing to flee himself, he agrees to take her along. However, a French patrol nearly captures Harry. He barely gets away, but has to leave behind his money, and without that, he is soon betrayed to the French. Facing execution, Harry agrees to help Feroud meet with Hassan. Hassan calls the colonel a fool and dismisses his plea for negotiations, but decides to spare his life when Harry and Feroud's aide Major Leon (Gerald Mohr) show up offering a £10,000 ransom. The officers are allowed to leave; Harry is not so lucky. The rebels are angered that he has revealed the location of their headquarters to the French and fear he has sold them out, so they kill him. As Feroud and Leon walk back, they notice that the incessant gunfire and explosions have stopped. Feroud wonders aloud if he has convinced Hassan to be as big a fool. ===== Lynette tries a variety of ways to make working for her boss, Nina, more tolerable, but nothing works until she takes Nina out for a drink. Lynette finds that the only time Nina is ever shy is when it comes to meeting men, which is not a problem for Lynette. So Lynette introduces Nina to a man in the bar, and finds Nina's mood markedly improved the next morning when Nina shows up to the office wearing the same clothes from the night before. Later in the episode, though, Lynette discovers that Nina wants her to go out drinking every night to help her find men. Lynette encourages Nina to find another drinking partner, but Nina complains that the other women in the office are competition; Lynette isn't because she's married. Lynette endures five nights of this, missing valuable time with her family, before she realizes that the only way out of this situation is to become Nina's competition. Lynette goes wild in the bar, finds herself doing shots with a group of men and dances on the bar. Nina sits miserably in the corner and presumably never invites Lynette out drinking again. Susan has a meeting with her book agent and longtime friend Lonny, but is shocked when she finds out that Lonny has been fired for improperly handling his clients’ money. She asks him if he has stolen any of her money and he denies it. She decides, temporarily, to remain loyal to Lonny and his new agency, because she considers him “family.” However, when she discusses the matter with Mike, she discovers he is less willing to forgive and trust people. This makes Susan nervous because she hasn't told Mike that she paid Zach to leave town to find his father, and she's afraid of what will happen if he finds out. Susan then goes to visit Lonny, but discovers when she arrives that Lonny is broke and his family has left him. He also reveals that he illegally used some of her money too, contrary to what he had told her previously. Susan tells him that she can't trust him any more, but says that they will always be friends. He interprets her words as something more and tries to kiss her, and she runs out of the house. Gabrielle introduces her attractive new lawyer, David Bradley, to Carlos, but Carlos is immediately jealous of Bradley and refuses to let Bradley represent him. Gabrielle and Carlos later have a heated exchange at the prison's couples’ counseling meeting about her choice of a lawyer. Gabrielle tells Bradley, who continues to be flirtatious with her, that he must go back and deny to Carlos that he's interested in her, but he does something different: he tells Carlos that he does want to sleep with Gabrielle, but the only way that that won't happen is if Carlos keeps him on as his lawyer, since Bradley could be disbarred for sleeping with his client's wife. This tactic works and Carlos insists that Bradley be his lawyer. After Bree threatens to sue the police, Detective Barton decides to release Rex's body to her so she can reinter him. However, as Bree is waiting for Rex's body to be put in the hearse, Barton comes up to her and tries to get her to confess to poisoning Rex. He shows her the note that Rex wrote before he died that says "Bree, I understand and I forgive you." Bree is shocked that Rex believed that she had poisoned him. Bree had previously invited her friends to a small reburial service for Rex, but when they show up they find that Bree has moved Rex's grave away from the family's plot, saying "If you think I’m going to lay next to someone for eternity who thinks I’m a murderer, you’re crazy." She then proceeds to throw her wedding ring into Rex's grave. Betty is over at Edie's house retrieving some of her mail that was accidentally delivered to Edie, when she sees on the news that the police arrested a man in Chicago for the death of a "Melanie Foster." She goes home and begins writing an anonymous letter to the Chicago police saying that they've arrested the wrong person. When she goes down to the basement to talk to Caleb about the recent developments, Matthew sees the letter on the kitchen table and tells his mother not to send it. She says that Caleb didn't know what he was doing, that it wasn't his fault. Matthew says that they won't care that Caleb is "slow"; they'll execute him anyway. Caleb, who has escaped from his cell, is listening to them talk in the kitchen, but when he hears this, he returns to the basement. Betty delivers the mail that was addressed to the Young family to their house. The mailbox has much mail in it although no one is living there. When the mailman delivers a package to the Young's the mailbox was empty; Paul Young is back and he took the mail. ===== A house party is under way at the remote Black Dudley, and among the guests are some very shady characters. As they merrily recreate the ritual of the Black Dudley Dagger, Colonel Coombe dies. Pathologist George Abbershaw suspects foul play, and when a vital item is mislaid, a gang of crooks hold the guests hostage. Will they escape the house – what did happen to the Colonel – and just who is the mysterious Mr Campion? ===== Gerard Revé, an alcoholic, bisexual novelist, travels from Amsterdam to Vlissingen to give a lecture to the city's Literary Society. At the train station, he unsuccessfully cruises an attractive young man for sex. During the lecture, Gerard notices the society's treasurer, a cosmetologist named Christine Halsslag, incessantly filming him with a handheld camera. She informs him after the lecture that they have booked him a room at the Hotel Bellevue in the city, if he wishes to stay; Gerard is disturbed to find it the same hotel that was subject of a bizarre nightmare he had on the train. Christine instead asks Gerard to spend the night at her home, which is attached to a salon she owns. The two have sex, after which Gerard has a nightmare in which Christine cuts off his penis with scissors. In the morning, Christine tells Gerard she is a widow, having lost her husband Johan in an accident. Later, in Christine's salon, Gerard finds a photograph of her attractive German lover, Herman, and realizes he is the same man he encountered in the train station. Gerard swiftly becomes enamored of Herman, and agrees to have an extended vacation with Christine in hopes of encountering and ultimately bedding him. Gerard, a Catholic, begins having a number of bizarre, interconnected visions: While praying in a cathedral, he has an erotic vision of the large crucifix of Jesus transforming into Herman, wearing only a swim briefs; he also has several visions of Herman with a missing eyeball, as well as of a woman in blue, whom he believes to be The Virgin Mary. While Christine goes to visit Herman in Cologne, Gerard is left alone at her home. Instead of writing, he gets drunk and watches home movies that reveal Christine was married to two other men before she married Johan; the footage shows Christine with her three husbands on various vacations. Christine returns with Herman, and Gerard masturbates while spying on the two having sex. In the morning, Christine departs on a business trip, leaving Gerard alone with Herman. Only moments after she leaves, Gerard confesses to Herman that he encountered him before at the train station, to which Herman seems impervious, and mainly interested in Gerard's fame. Herman takes Gerard on a tour of the city, and Gerard forces him to stop the car when he sees a woman who has appeared recurrently to him in visions. He follows her to a cemetery, but she disappears, as Herman trails behind. A sudden thunderstorm breaks out, and the men seek shelter in a tomb. Gerard attempts to initiate sex with Herman, who is initially reluctant, but agrees. The men kiss passionately, and Herman begins to perform oral sex on Gerard. While Herman fellates him, Gerard notices three urns in the tomb with the inscription "Loving Husbands of Christine Halsslang." Gerard has a number of visions in which all three of Christine's husbands are killed during the vacation activities he viewed in the home movies. Gerard halts the sexual encounter with Herman, and confesses his belief that Christine is responsible for her three husband's gruesome deaths, and that either of them could fall victim to her. An infuriated Herman dismisses Gerard's claim as a paranoid fantasy. When the two men depart the cemetery, Herman loses control of the car near a construction site, and collides with a bundle of iron rods being lifted by a crane, which impale him through his eye socket, killing him. A traumatized Gerard is taken to a hospital for examination, where he tells the physician, Dr. de Vries—also a member of the literary society and an acquaintance of Christine's—that Christine is a witch who leads men to their deaths. De Vries dismisses Gerard as a fantastical liar, assuring him that all of Christine's husbands' deaths were unfortunate accidents. Gerard comes to the realization that the Virgin Mary's appearances in his visions were warnings of Christine's danger. When Christine arrives at the hospital, Gerard attacks her, and is incapacitated with a sedative by the Mary from Gerard's visions, who appears to him as a nurse. As Gerard is hospitalized, Christine meets another young, attractive man in the hospital lobby, with whom she leaves. ===== Terror and destruction have made their way to Ninja Valley. The Master of the Oboro school of shinobi sends his best students to investigate the suburban areas. They return with news of a powerful dark force that has established a base within Neo City. The Master knows that only a warrior trained in the arts of ninjutsu can stand against this menace. One by one his greatest pupils enter Neo City to locate and destroy the source of the evil. Ninja Valley has lost contact with each of them. All are believed to be captured. Now Joe Musashi the Red Shinobi, must carry out this dire mission. As the oldest and strongest of his ninja disciples, Musashi must use his special skills in the art of ninjutsu to free his fellow shinobi. With their combined strength, they can destroy the City of Fear. ===== Undergoing a messy divorce, Sarah Lawson visits her brother Robert Harmon, an alcoholic playboy and writer who is in a relationship with a professional singer. Robert is visited by his ex-wife, who forces him to take care of their eight-year-old son, whom he has never met before, for 24 hours. Robert's son is terrified by the hedonistic and decadent world of his father and begs to be taken home following an overnight trip to Las Vegas. After dropping him off, Robert is beaten up by the boy's stepfather, after which his son testifies his love for Robert. Fleeing the scene, Robert returns home to take care of his sister, his "best friend." Sarah tries with some success to curb the nihilistic self- destruction of Robert's life and simultaneously deal with her own depression and divorce, while Robert struggles between his intense desire to protect his sister and the challenge of accepting her freedom as the necessary cost of love. ===== The story of Mahomet unfolds during Muhammad's post exile siege of Mecca in 629 AD, when the opposing forces are under a short term truce called to discuss the terms and course of the war. In the first act the audience is introduced to a fictional leader of the Meccans, Zopir, an ardent and defiant advocate of free will and liberty who rejects Mahomet. Mahomet is presented through his conversations with his second in command Omar and with his opponent Zopir and with two of Zopir's long lost children (Seid and Palmira) whom, unbeknownst to Zopir, Mahomet had abducted and enslaved in their infancy, fifteen years earlier. The now young and beautiful captive Palmira has become the object of Mahomet's desires and jealousy. Having observed a growing affection between Palmira and Seid, Mahomet devises a plan to steer Seid away from her heart by indoctrinating young Seid in religious fanaticism and sending him on a suicide attack to assassinate Zopir in Mecca, an event which he hopes will rid him of both Zopir and Seid and free Palmira's affections for his own conquest.Mahomet Act IV Scene I Mahomet speaking We must work in secret, the dark shades of death must hide our purpose—while we shed old Zopir's blood, be sure you keep Palmira in deepest ignorance; she must not know the secret of her birth: her bliss and mine depend upon it Mahomet invokes divine authority to justify his conduct. Seid, still respectful of Zopir's nobility of character, hesitates at first about carrying out his assignment, but eventually his fanatical loyalty to Mahomet overtakes himMahomet Act IV scene IV Seid declares, To serve my God, to please and merit thee, This sword, devoted to the cause of heaven, Is drawn, and shall destroy its deadliest foe, and he slays Zopir. Phanor arrives and reveals to Seid and Palmira to their disbelief that Zopir was their father. Omar arrives and deceptively orders Seid arrested for Zopir's murder, despite knowing that it was Mahomet who had ordered the assassination. Mahomet decides to cover up the whole event so as to not be seen as the deceitful impostor and tyrant that he is. Having now uncovered Mahomet's vile deception, Palmira renounces Mahomet's godMahomet Act V scene VI and commits suicide rather than fall into the clutches of Mahomet. ===== Twenty years ago a certain process was done over the years. Yuga would take out babies from their mother's wombs for a few days. She would put a certain spell on them and return them to the mother's womb. The baby would be born as if nothing happened. The child would show incredible talent in different fields. These children were called "Shindou" or "Kidou". Twenty years later, the children would become incredible adults who have a high status or are well known. Yuga would appear before these people and would show them a mysterious puppet show. This causes them to remember why they were born in this world and would follow orders given by Yuga. ===== In a forest far away, a mother fruit bat has a new baby, and names her, Stellaluna. One night, an owl attacks the bats, knocking Stellaluna out of her mother's embrace, and she falls into the forest below. Soon the baby bat ends up in a sparrow's nest filled with three baby birds named Pip, Flitter and Flap. The mother bird will let Stellaluna be part of the family only if she eats bugs, does not hang by her feet and sleeps at night. When the birds grow, they learn to fly. When Stellaluna and the birds are out playing, it gets dark and the birds go home without her because they will not be able to see in the dark. Stellaluna keeps flying, but when Stellaluna's wings hurt, she stops to rest. When she does, she hangs by her thumbs. Soon another bat comes to ask why Stellaluna is hanging by her thumbs. As she tells the other bats her story, Mother Bat reunites with her and Stellaluna finally understands why she is so different. Excited about learning how to be a bat, Stellaluna returns to Pip, Flitter, and Flap in order to share her new experiences. They agree to join Stellaluna and the bats at night, but find they are unsuited to flying at night and nearly crash. Stellaluna rescues them and the four of them decide that while they may be very different, they are still friends and family. ===== Laura (Lara Wendel, age 12) and Fabrizio (Martin Loeb, age 18) have been meeting every summer in the forest by her parent's summer home. Fabrizio is a solitary boy with only his dog for company; Laura is a sweet girl, but she lacks confidence. This summer new aspects enter into their story as both are growing up. The film represents them as part child, part adult. Part naive, part knowing. Laura is falling in love with Fabrizio, while he displays a new sexual awareness of her masked by his malice. Fabrizio becomes inexplicably cruel. He accelerates his unwarranted torment of Laura in many ways, including tying her up and putting a snake near her and killing a pet bird she is fond of. Fabrizio prides himself on being 'king of the forest' and rubbishes Laura's tender attempts to be his queen. One day they climb the "Blue Mountain", a mysterious tall mountain at the forest's edge and discover ancient building ruins. Exploring these they find a cave. Inside, Fabrizio seduces Laura. Fabrizio's cruel streak is boosted by his new sexual confidence. At one point he virtually forces himself on Laura, much to her upset. He does relent when she makes it clear she wants Fabrizio to be gentle with her, which he ridicules. Things develop further when they meet Sylvia (Eva Ionesco, age 12). Unlike the previously virginal Laura, Sylvia is confident and assertive. Fabrizio develops a fascination with her, eventually bribing Laura to fetch her to the forest to join them in play. Sylvia, aware of Fabrizio's interest in her, asserts herself in his affections, quickly replacing Laura and demoting her to servant and victim, which Fabrizio takes delight in. Laura, reluctant to leave her old friend and new lover, stays and becomes the target of the duo's ever progressing cruelty. At one point, they both 'hunt' Laura with bows and arrows and at another, pretend to throw her off a high ledge. They make love in front of her, insisting her punishment is that she must watch, leaving Laura confused and heartbroken. At the end of summer, with the girls talking about returning to school, Fabrizio becomes pensive and agitated. He insists on taking Sylvia to the ruins for the first time. All three of them go into the cave to escape a thunderstorm and Fabrizio again pretends they are lost as he did with Laura. Sylvia breaks down sobbing for her mother, all traces of her confidence and maturity lost in the fear of being in the cave. Fabrizio repeatedly begs Sylvia to stay with him forever. In the morning, Sylvia is still lost in the cave and further rejects the desperate Fabrizio and his pleas to stay with him. She becomes hysterical and he kills her with a knife, feeling it is the only way he won't lose her. He stays with the dead body and gives Laura the flashlight telling her she knows the way home and Laura reluctantly leaves. The film ends with a translation of the poem "Akarsz-e játszani" ("Would You Like to Play?") by Hungarian writer Dezső Kosztolányi. ===== In this gentle, tragic drama, Olivier (John McEnery) is a wealthy young man. He spends his time building a boat on the lawn with his friend David (Jean-Pierre Cassel), a poor fisherman whom he grew up with. Though hardly idyllic, the relative calm provided by their friendship is disrupted by Eleonore (Claude Jade), a cute and determined young woman who sets her sights on David. She wants to wean David from his friendship with Olivier and plays on David's long-dormant jealousy of Olivier's wealth and easy life. Eleonore also plays the flipside of the jealousy issue, claiming that Olivier has made passes at her. Vincent Canby: "Adorable Acting, especially by Claude Jade, who brings the right mixture of conventionalism and self-interest into her role." The film was nominated for the Grand Prix and the Prix du Jury ===== In a parallel universe, Roddy (a.k.a. Arianrhod), daughter of two magicians who serve the King of Blest, has traveled with "the King's Progress" her entire life. The King's Progress is a mobile Court that continuously roams the Islands of Blest (our England) to contain and control the natural magic in the world. Roddy and her best friend, Grundo, uncover a sinister plot involving Grundo's mother and the new "Merlin" – the magical governor of Blest – to take over the throne and the magic of the universe. When Roddy and Grundo try to warn the adults around them of the plot, they are not believed, and Roddy ends up making a spell to ask help of someone from another world – unfortunately, the only person she manages to find is Nick. Nick Mallory (a.k.a. Nichothodes Koryfoides) is a boy living in our own England who dreams about becoming a magid and travelling to other worlds. A magid is a sort of magical policeman who travels between worlds and helps people. Nick finds himself accidentally wandering the dark paths between the worlds, where he finds Roddy and then the powerful magician Romanov. Nick finally makes his way to Blest when he finds Maxwell Hyde, Roddy's grandfather, who is a magid. But Grundo's mother and the fake Merlin have been kidnapping all the most powerful witches and wizards in Blest – including Maxwell Hyde and both of Roddy's parents – and it is up to Nick, Roddy and Grundo to raise the land and stop the plot. ===== Martha Beck is a sullen, overweight nursing administrator living in Mobile, Alabama, with her elderly mother. Martha's friend Bunny surreptitiously submits Martha's name to a "lonely hearts" club, which results in a letter from Raymond Fernandez of New York City. Overcoming her initial reluctance, Martha corresponds with Ray and becomes attached to him. He visits Martha in Alabama and seduces her. Thereafter, having secured a loan from her, Ray sends Martha a Dear Jane letter, and Martha enlists Bunny's aid to call him with the (false) news that she has attempted suicide. Ray allows Martha to visit him in New York, where he reveals he is a con man who makes his living by seducing and then swindling lonely women. Martha is unswayed by this revelation. At Ray's directive, and so she can live with him, Martha admits her mother in a nursing home. Martha's embittered mother disowns her for abandoning her. Martha insists on accompanying Ray at his "work." Woman after woman accepts the attentions of this suitor who goes courting while always within sight of his "sister". Ray promises Martha he will never sleep with any of the other women, but complicates his promise by marrying pregnant Myrtle Young. After Young aggressively attempts to bed the bridegroom, Martha gives her a dose of pills, and the two put the drugged woman on a bus. Her death thereafter escapes immediate suspicion. Janet Fay (Mary Jay Higby) just before her murder The swindlers move on to their next target, and after catching Ray in a compromising position with the woman, Martha attempts to drown herself. To placate her, Ray rents a house in Valley Stream, a suburb of New York City. He becomes engaged to the elderly Janet Fay of Albany, and takes her to the house he shares with Martha. Janet gives Ray a check for $10,000, but then becomes suspicious of the two. When Janet tries to contact her family, Martha and Ray bludgeon her with a clawhammer before strangling her to death. They bury her body beneath their cellar floor in her trunk, tossing into the grave's dirt the two framed depictions of Jesus that, Martha notes sarcastically, she'd told them she took everywhere she went. Next, they spend several weeks living in Michigan with the widowed Delphine Downing and her young daughter. Delphine, younger and prettier than most of Ray's conquests, confides in Martha, hoping that she will help her persuade Ray to marry her as soon as possible because she is pregnant with Ray's child. Martha is in the midst of drugging Delphine when the woman's daughter enters the room with Ray. He shoots Delphine in the head, and Martha drowns the daughter in the cellar. Ray tells Martha that he must proceed with his plan to move on to one more woman, this one in New Orleans, and then he will marry Martha; he reaffirms his promise never to betray her with one of his marks. Realizing that Ray will never stop lying to her, Martha calls the police and waits calmly for them to arrive. The epilogue takes place four months later, with Martha and Ray in jail. As she leaves the cellblock for the first day of their trial, Martha receives a letter from Ray in which he tells her that, despite everything, she is the only woman he ever loved. Titles on the screen then conclude the story, saying that Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez were executed at Sing Sing on March 8, 1951. ===== Incorporating dark comedy, I Luv Halloween follows a group of children as they go trick-or-treating each Halloween: Finch, the leader of the bunch; Moochie, his homicidal younger sister; Devil Lad, who only appears on Halloween to join the group; Pig Pig, a simple-minded boy; the perverted Mr. Kitty; and his mostly silent younger brother Spike. I Luv Halloween consists of three self-contained volumes. In the first volume, the children seek revenge after receiving apples, pennies, and candy which they dislike. Meanwhile, Moochie wanders away from Finch and kills the town bullies with a brassiere stolen from Nips, the town cheerleader. Obsessed with teeth, Moochie also extracts the molars of her victims. Finch and his group attempt to retrieve the brassiere from Moochie; however, after a series of deaths, they end up prematurely burying Nips. In the second volume, they learn that the townspeople have become zombies. Moochie embarks on a quest to drive out the "Chonkolit monkeys", and encounters a group of sisters: Vera, Vivian, and Vincent. Moochie takes Vera with her to hunt the king of the monkeys. Meanwhile, Finch and Mr. Kitty escape from a Christian couple by severely burning the wife. Her husband chases after them, only to be killed by Moochie. She then has Vera exorcise the king of the monkeys from him. In the third volume, Finch and his group discover that the town is experiencing an alien invasion. Mr. Kitty sneaks into one of the aliens' spaceships when he sees them carrying off Nips. Finch and Pig Pig follow him onto the spaceship, only to discover that the aliens have sewn his head to Nips's body. Curious about abortions, Moochie sets out to revive a fetus whom she believes is her sister. Along the way, she tortures and kills the town doctor. His son, whom Moochie also tortures, sees this as a hate crime and sets off a biochemical targeting all the people of Caucasian descent. He and Devil Lad leave the town afterward. ===== As part of her normal routine, every Tuesday afternoon Gabrielle visits the Eagle County Prison much to the delight of the prisoners. Each time Gabrielle visited the gestures would become more and more bizarre, as the prisoners became increasingly annoying to Gabrielle. The prisoners turn out to be an advantage to Gabrielle one afternoon when Carlos's lawyer refuses to give Gabrielle a conjugal visit. When the lawyer makes a snide remark about her affair, Gabrielle slaps him. When he tries to retaliate, a prisoner from behind the fence threatens him not to and a prison riot ensues. Carlos's lawyer dismisses his case and Gabrielle must meet a new lawyer. The new lawyer turns out to be a very handsome young man named David Bradley (special guest star Adrian Pasdar). David's history includes sleeping with many clients' wives. At the moment of their meeting, David tries to pursue her but Gabrielle catches on quick and is not interested. Gabrielle makes her case firm and demanding, she wants a conjugal visit by the following day or to consider himself fired. Gabrielle gets what she wants but wonders of Carlos's future and the future of their family if Carlos is forced to spend 8 years behind bars. Bree enjoys a pleasant evening talking with George outside of her home which is rudely interrupted by her son, Andrew. When George refuses to leave, Andrew begins to shove George which ends with Bree having to break the two up. Bree wants everyone to get to know each other so she plans a dinner for Friday evening. At the dinner while Bree and Danielle are washing dishes, Andrew fills George in on Bree and Rex's sex life before his death. The discussion ends with Andrew imitating Bree's pleasurable moan which she eventually does when she bites into her peach cobbler. George quickly leaves when Bree will not take his side on Andrew's bad conduct. The following day over watermelon, Bree tells George that they should not start their relationship so quickly since she and the children need time to grieve. George understands but then continues to ask Bree about Andrew's experience at Camp Hennessy (which was several months before) and whether he should go back for counselling. Bree decides that only if he does something drastic he will be sent back. At Andrew's swim meet, George arrives uninvited and sits next to Bree. He gives her a token of affection by replacing her broken china pattern. George then tries to kiss Bree. Andrew sees this and jumps out of the pool and on to George. The two fight until the coach steps in and pulls Andrew aside. Bree cares for a bloody George and that evening Andrew packs his bags for Camp Hennessy. Susan tries to bring back the "spark" with her relationship with Mike. Susan feels that she is finally ready to accept Zach into her life and would like to help him find Zach before anything else happens. The following day, Mike and Susan walk through the park and hand out fliers containing a picture of Zach on them. Shortly after, Susan takes a break to buy ice cream and spots Zach sitting on a park bench. When Zach sees her he quickly runs away and Susan chases after him. Susan finally gets closer but Zach shoos her away with a large piece of lumber. When she meets up with Mike, she says she has not seen him. Later at Gabrielle's over wine, Susan tells the wives of her encounter with Zach and asks what she should do. Bree decides that they should help Zach since he was Mary Alice's son but Gabrielle thinks Zach is a freak. Susan returns to the park the next day and meets Zach lying on a bench. Susan tells him not to run away but he cannot since he hurt his foot running from her earlier. Susan buys him lunch at a local diner and assures him that his father, Paul is alright. Susan tells him that because of what he has done in the past he has hurt a lot of people including Julie. Susan thinks of her daughter and decides to give Zach money to go and find Paul in Utah. She goes on her way and does not tell Mike of their meeting. Lynette has been very busy at work and has had little time for family life due to her long hours. Lynette and Tom's youngest son, Parker seems to take it the hardest and creates an imaginary friend, Mrs. Mulberry (a parody of Mary Poppins) to cope. When Lynette finds out, she tries to be more involved, but wherever Parker goes Mrs. Mulberry must follow. After Parker's behavior and protection of Mrs. Mulberry becomes more and more demanding (e.g. a desk and easel) and Lynette is called in for a parent conference she decides it's time for Mrs. Mulberry to leave. Lynette throws "Mrs. Mulberry's" umbrella in the trash and prays that it will be gone by morning. The umbrella falls out of the garbage truck though. Parker begins to look frantically for the umbrella but Lynette tells him that she is gone. However, when they leave for school, "Mrs. Mulberry" is patiently waiting in the street but as Parker runs to get her a truck drives past and destroys the umbrella. Parker runs to Lynette and she tells him that Mrs. Mulberry is gone and will not be coming back. That evening, Lynette sobs in bed as she feels guilty of what she did to "Mrs. Mulberry" but Tom reassures her that she did the right thing for Parker. ===== In New York City, a gunman perched atop a water tower opens fire with a .22 caliber rifle on the crowded streets below, randomly killing fifteen pedestrians. Peter Nicholas (Tony Lo Bianco), a devout Catholic NYPD detective, climbs the tower to talk to the sniper. Before jumping to his death, the gunman tells Nicholas that God told him to commit the murders. Although traumatized by the attack, Nicholas investigates a series of seemingly unpremeditated murders that follow: a mass stabbing at a supermarket, a mass shooting by a police officer at a St. Patrick's Day parade, and a man who murders his wife and children. They have all been committed by a variety of unconnected, seemingly normal assailants who claim that God told them to kill. Nicholas learns that one of the murderers knew a long-haired young man named Bernard Phillips. When Nicholas visits Phillips' address, Phillips' mother assaults Nicholas with a knife, but she dies during the attack by falling down a flight of stairs. She turns out to have been a virgin and to have once claimed she was abducted by aliens. Nicholas' superiors refuse to acknowledge a religious motivation for the murders and suspend him, so he leaks this story to the press, causing a panic. A group of men, members of a religious cult, are aware that their leader, Bernard Phillips (Richard Lynch), is influencing the murderers as he contacts and controls them via psychic powers and as he has informed them of each impending atrocity. Phillips has one of the members invite Nicholas to join them, but when Nicholas asks whether the follower knows about Phillips' mother, the follower suffers convulsions and drops dead. Another cult member attempts to kill Nicholas by pushing him in front of a subway train, but when he fails, Nicholas forces him to take him to Phillips, who isolates himself in a fiery furnace room deep underground. After delivering Nicholas, the follower decapitates himself using an elevator. A brief meeting convinces Nicholas that he himself is special and that Phillips does not kill him as he needs him for some purpose. By researching his own adoption records, Nicholas finds an old woman who seems to be his birth mother. She explains that she gave up her out- of-wedlock child after she was brutally impregnated by a strange ball of light while she walked home from the New York Worlds Fair in 1941. The meeting distresses both of them, and Nicholas is wracked with doubt over who or what he is. He confronts Phillips one last time and discovers the truth: both he and Phillips are the result of "virgin births" caused by a mysterious extraterrestrial "entity of light" with psychic/supernatural powers and advanced spacecraft technology. Nicholas' human genes are dominant, which is why he is unaware of his true nature, while Phillips is more like their unseen progenitor. Phillips reveals himself to be a hermaphrodite who wishes to spawn a new species with his "brother." Nicholas refuses and attacks Phillips, who uses his powers to destroy the building they are in and thereby commit suicide. Nicholas is arrested for the murder of Phillips. As he is led into court by police, a news reporter asks him why he committed the crime. He responds, "God told me to." Nicholas is committed to the Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. ===== Donald Duck and his nephews journey back to Plain Awful. This time, Scrooge McDuck goes with them. Scrooge plans to buy some square eggs from the natives, while Donald and the nephews plan to return the roosters they brought back from their first visit. Unfortunately, Flintheart Glomgold also wants the square eggs and again serves as Scrooge's unscrupulous rival. In Plain Awful, the ducks discover that, since their last visit, the highly imitative residents have sculpted their entire culture around the appearance and personality of Donald Duck (just as they had previously built their entire culture around the personality of their previous visitor). One aspect of Plain Awful's culture that has remained constant, however, is the law forbidding round objects, which Scrooge inadvertently violates by showing the natives his Number One Dime. As a result, he is held prisoner in the stone quarries, finishing the square eggs deal for good. However, Plain Awful's "President" (The leader decided to imitate America's system after Donald and his nephews' first visit) offers Scrooge a full pardon and reconsideration of the square eggs deal, if they bring him a rare item called "Ice Cream Soda". Donald and the nephews have to team up with Flintheart to deliver an Ice Cream Soda to the President of Plain Awful: Donald and his nephews need Flintheart to get the soda, while Flintheart needs guidance back to civilization since he arrived at Plain Awful just by a stroke of luck. Flintheart, of course, betrays them after getting the soda, forcing them to improvise making an ice cream soda on the spot, using dried milk, sugar, and chocolate from their ration packs, plus some snow and carbonated water from a fire extinguisher. Meanwhile, the natives start imitating Flintheart and Scrooge. This causes the President, (now the "Chairman of the board") to want a new item called "money" instead of the ice cream soda, in the hope that they will have something to store in Plain Awful's newly made money bin. Since Flintheart has spent all his cash in a helicopter to bring ice cream for the soda (except for a coin, which he wouldn't show after what happened to Scrooge), Scrooge gives one billion dollars (in bills) for his freedom. Plain Awful's "chairman" happily accepts the money, but to Scrooge and Flintheart's horror, the bills are chopped in two (leaving perfect square halves) and put on public display inside the bin. Scrooge and Flintheart are so disgusted by this that they want nothing more to do with Plain Awful, abandoning their aspirations of gaining export rights to the square eggs. The story ends with Huey, Dewey, and Louie leaving a copy of the Junior Woodchuck's Guide as a farewell gift to the natives, and Donald making fun of Scrooge and his famous motto, since the natives made their first billion "by being tougher than the toughies and smarter than the smarties! And they made it SQUARE!" ===== Inside a little-known and seldom visited psychiatric facility, Parrish Island, the government stores former intelligence employees whose psychiatric state make them a danger to their own government; people whose ramblings might endanger ongoing operations or prove dangerously inconvenient. ===== Mann is a mysterious World War I veteran who is scouting out land to buy. He comes to the town of Rosewood, a small and predominantly black town in Florida. Rosewood is home to the Carriers, an upwardly mobile black family, helmed by Aunt Sarah and her proud, headstrong son, Sylvester. Mann soon meets Beulah "Scrappie" Carrier, Sylvester's younger sister and the two quickly fall in love. Aunt Sarah works as a housekeeper for James Taylor and his wife, Fanny, a white couple who lives in the neighboring town of Sumter. Fanny, who has a history of cuckolding her husband, has a rendezvous with her lover while her husband is at work. Fanny argues with her lover, who ends up beating her. Aunt Sarah and her granddaughter, Lee Ruth, overhear the argument and the subsequent beating but do not intervene. A distraught Fanny, despairing of explaining her injuries to her husband, leaves her house and calls for help. She then tells several townspeople that she has been attacked by a black man. The white residents readily believe Fanny's claim. Hearing of an escaped black convict named Jesse Hunter, a posse from Sumner and nearby towns goes to Rosewood to investigate. The black residents of Rosewood are quickly targeted by a white mob, including men from out of state and members of the Ku Klux Klan. As a stranger, Mann is afraid that he will be accused of attacking Fanny and subsequently lynched. He plans to leave town over the protests of several Rosewood residents who have met in church to discuss plans to defend their community. Outside the church, Mann clashes with John Wright, a Navy Spanish American War veteran and the owner of a general store, one of the few white residents of Rosewood. Wright is also engaging in a torrid extramarital affair with Sylvester's cousin, Jewel. Mann then leaves. When the posse arrives at the Carrier home, Aunt Sarah attempts to placate the angry crowd. However, when she announces that Fanny Taylor's attacker had been a white man, someone in the crowd shoots her. She subsequently dies of her injuries. The posse comes and Sylvester shoots and kills two of its members. The posse falls back and a shootout erupts. After Aunt Sarah's murder, the posse launches an outright assault on Rosewood. Mann is on his way out of town when he witnesses the lynching of Sam Carter, the blacksmith. Changing his mind about leaving, Mann returns to Rosewood to fight alongside the residents. Some decent white men who live in Rosewood help black Rosewood residents escape. Railroad conductors smuggle people out of town on trains. Wright asks the train conductors to pick up the women and children while his wife hides several other African-Americans in their home. Other whites attempt to squelch the rising violence with little success. The posse swells in number. Believing that James Carrier held information about the escaped convict, they seek him out. After making an unsuccessful attempt to intervene on James' behalf, Wright reluctantly allows Sheriff Walker to take Carrier into custody because the officer said he only wanted to question him. When Carrier says he doesn't have any information, he is immediately shot by one of the members of the mob. Wright gets upset and the mob accuses him of being soft on blacks. The violence escalates and spills out into neighboring towns. But when the posse gets to the border of Alachua County, a group of armed deputized white men and a sheriff block the roads and turn them back. Surviving members of the Carrier family eventually escape on a train, which had been arranged by Wright. Scrappie and Mann finally share a kiss before Mann departs with Sylvester. The two plan to meet up later. After the violence eventually dies down, James Taylor confronts his wife, Fanny, telling her that "they haven't caught your nigger yet." Realizing that Fanny has lied to him about the true cause of her injuries and had affairs with other men (after being told by the sheriff), James beats her. Officially the final death toll was eight people, two whites and six blacks. Other accounts by survivors and several African-American newspapers estimated a higher death toll. ===== In the Hausruck Hills in Austria, CIA agent Harry Latham attempts infiltrating a secret training airfield belonging to the Brüderschaft der Wacht (The Brotherhood of the Watch), a Neo-nazi movement gradually building a renaissance of the Nazi ideology across Europe. However, he's exposed and captured, and the Brotherhood's chief surgeon, Dr. Gerhardt Kroeger, performs a microchip implant experiment on Harry in an attempt to make him a controllable double- agent. In Paris, the suicidal act of deranged World War II veteran Pierre Jodelle in a theater draws the attention of Drew Latham, Harry's younger brother and an agent for the United States Department of Consular Operations, whom believes Jodelle might have uncovered a potential Neo-nazi network in France, being his best clue to find his missing brother. After suffering an attempt on his life, Drew is put under the protection of the Deuxième Bureau under Director Claude Moreau, on a request from Drew's superior officer, Director Wesley Sorenson. As Drew continues his investigation, he's also assisted by Stanley 'Stosh' Witkowski, a Cold War veteran and Chief of Security for the US Embassy in Paris, and Karin De Vries, a linguistics expert and records specialist (and an unofficial black ops agent). Sudden and unexpectedly, Harry makes contact with the CIA weeks later, providing an explosive, suspicious incriminating list involving high-profile personnel, from politicians to celebrities, that he acquired under the alias 'Alexander Lassiter' - In fact, this is a move by the Brotherhood itself to provoke discord amongst the world's nations, removing strategic personnel to be replaced with the Brotherhood's homegrown sleeper agents, the Sonnenkinder, who'd "pave the road for the Fourth Reich". Drew and Harry meet each other at the Paris airport, but suddenly are targeted by the Brotherhood's assassins in a blitzkrieg attack. Though Drew survives, Harry is a confirmed kill. Moved by grief, determined to avenge his brother and draw the Brotherhood's agents into the open, Drew decides to assume Harry's identity, leading to believe he survived the attack. The fact that Harry's corpse could be recovered in time and couldn't be identified by the assassins whom rashly left the scene only strengthens the scenario, drawing the concern and even desperation from Kroeger, fearing his microchip experiment (which has an expiry date that'd result in the chip's detonation) would be exposed. Kroeger dispatches a unit of elite assassins - the Blitzkrieger - to neutralize Drew, but he and Witkowski repel the attempts, to the point the Blitzkrieger, fearing execution for their repeated failures, desert the Brotherhood and go into self-imposed exile in Argentina. Kroeger is eventually captured afterwards and taken to interrogation, but becomes unable to produce much relevant information. Drew's investigation into Kroeger's contacts, the Blitzkrieger attacks and the repeated attempts on his life reveal an informant network within the U.S. Embassy, which is eventually revealed to be headed by Janine Clunes Courtland, a Sonnenkind agent implanted years ago and wife to U.S. Ambassador Daniel Courtland. As Drew, Witkowski, De Vries and even the Deuxième attempt following her steps, to much little avail, Moreau and Sorenson perform their own investigations into both Clunes and Kroeger's connections, they come across the name of Dr. Hans Traupman, a neurosurgeon whom is a close friend of Kroeger, and has shown to have a connection with the Brotherhood. When Clunes is reunited with her husband (a devised plan to attempt reaching her), she is killed in a sudden strike by the Brotherhood's assassins whom quickly escape again. Witkowski, in an attempt to root out the Brotherhood's agents, forces Moreau to secret away her corpse and deliberately lie to the press that she survived the assault. Moreau himself, after an assassination attempt on his life, eventually confesses his involvement as a double agent for the Brotherhood, using their money payments for a secret revenge plan of his own making, which will be exposed if Moreau decides to interfere. Sorenson orders a black ops operation to kidnap Dr. Traupman and bring him to France for interrogation. In Nuremberg, Drew, Witkowski, De Vries and two special operations specialists (Gerald Antony and Christian Dietz) succeed in capturing Traupman in a sudden boat boarding operation in the Rhine river. Deciding to follow the boat's proposed trail, they discover a meeting of potential Neo-Nazi leadership members in a shore house, and De Vries discovers to her shock that her former husband Frederik, believed to have been captured and killed by the Stasi years ago, is the elected neo-Nazi leader using the alias 'Gunter Jäger'. They also discover a plan by the Brotherhood, codenamed "Water Lightning" to provoke a mass poisoning crisis in both the United States, United Kingdom and France by contaminating each capital's water supply, forcing each political leader to resign and allowing the Brotherhood to implant more Sonnenkinder in the void ranks. De Vries attempts confronting Frederik, alone, to learn and stop the operation, but she's nearly raped before Drew's team storms Frederik's shore house. As Frederik nearly overpowers Drew, De Vries shoots and kills Frederik. The evidence recovered plus intelligence analysis and Drew's quick deduction has them discover that the Brotherhood is using glider aircraft to carry out the chemical strike, as they would not be easily spotted on radar and be untargetable by anti-air missiles. The attack is successfully countered on the nick of time, but Drew learns shortly afterwards Moreau was mysteriously assassinated. At the Deuxiéme, Drew firstly talks and then coerces his eventual friendly chaffeur François into revealing that Jacques Bergeron, Moreau's aide and right-hand, was the one responsible for Moreau's murder, being revealed as an implanted Sonnenkind, and François as a coerced agent under blackmail. Bergeron evades capture and goes into hiding. François, afterwards, phones Drew revealing that Bergeron, in one night, ordered François to collect old documents and deliver them to an old castle in the Loire valley, Le Nid de I'Aigle (The Eagle's Nest), the property of a former French General named André Monluc, told to have been a close friend to Charles De Gaulle, but Jodelle believed him to be a traitor. Drew, Witkowski and De Vries organize a night raid operation to breach the castle, detain both Monluc and Bergeron and recover all and any information. With the aid of two hired prostitutes whom were spending the night at the place, Drew and his team are able to neutralize all resistance, but discover in shock when encountering Monluc, in a comatose state, seeing his facial features match exactly those of Adolf Hitler, under a very advanced age. As Bergeron is captured, De Vries and Latham discover a massive computer room with records, where they acquire over two thousand printed records with the real names of every real member in the Brotherhood across the globe. As the information is delivered to the world's intelligence agencies whom start taking action, Monluc passes away from a heart attack. In a secret laboratory in the Shenandoah Valley, DNA analysis reveals Monluc was in fact Hitler, but all evidence is destroyed to preserve established historical facts and prevent creating a legend for potential future neo-Nazis. Drew and De Vries return to the U.S., discovering that, as Harry made some brilliant investiments in the world's stock markets when he was alive, earned a millionaire fortune that was inherited to Drew. As they check out the reach in Granby, Colorado for their future house, Witkowski arrives and tries convincing Drew to return to work. Drew immediately refuses. ===== Chitra, a medical student and her friends are working on a project about the human brain. She wants to investigate the curious case of Sanjay Ramaswamy (Suriya), a notable Chennai based businessman, who is reported to have anterograde amnesia. Her professor denies access to Sanjay's records as it is currently under criminal investigation. Chitra, nonetheless, decides to investigate the matter herself. Sanjay is introduced as he brutally murders a man. He takes an instant picture of the man, and writes on it "done". Sanjay has anterograde amnesia; he loses his memory every 15 minutes. Sanjay uses a system of photographs, notes, and tattoos on his body to recover his memory after each cycle. It is revealed that Sanjay is ultimately out to avenge the death of his lover Kalpana, and that he is systematically killing the people responsible. His main target is Lakshman, head of Kolkata based human trafficking network and a notable socialite in Chennai. A police inspector, on the case of the serial murders, tracks Sanjay down to his flat and attacks and makes him unconscious. The inspector finds two diaries where Sanjay has chronicled the events of 2002 and 2003. The film flashes back to 2002 as the inspector reads the diary. Sanjay Ramaswamy is shown as the owner of the Air Voice mobile telephone company. In the course of his business, Sanjay sends his men to meet Kalpana, a struggling model, about putting up a billboard above her apartment. The owner of Kalpana's advertising firm misinterprets this as a romantic advance, and in view of a possible lucrative Air Voice ad campaign and other benefits, encourages Kalpana to accept the overture. Kalpana thinks of this as an innocent prank that may fetch her better modelling work, and decides to play out the charade as Sanjay's girlfriend. She gives an interview in a magazine citing Sanjay as her lover interest. This irks Sanjay; as soon as Sanjay knows of this matter, he decides to confront Kalpana but falls in love with her on first sight. Thus, he introduces himself as "Manohar". Eventually both of them spend time together and gradually develop a liking towards each other. The diary ends with Sanjay proposing to Kalpana and promising himself that he will reveal himself as Sanjay Ramaswamy if she accepts. Before the inspector can read the 2003 diary, Sanjay regains consciousness, attacks him and ties him up. He tracks down Lakshman to a college function where Lakshman is the guest of honour. Sanjay took pictures of Lakshman and decides to kill him. He meets Chitra at the function who, after some conversation, decides to befriend him. Later that evening, Sanjay mistakenly attacks and kills one of Lakshman's goons in the parking lot. Lakshman is perplexed and fails to recollect the incident. He decides to find and kill his enemies one by one, but Sanjay is not among them. In the meantime, Chitra visits Sanjay's flat and finds the inspector, beaten and bound. Chitra finds the two diaries and frees the inspector. She also finds that Lakshman is Sanjay's target. The inspector tells her that Sanjay is a known serial murderer. Sanjay arrives suddenly; he remembers neither of them and chases them out. The inspector is eventually hit and killed by a bus, while Chitra barely escapes, going into a phone booth. Believing Lakshman is in danger, she informs him that Sanjay is after him. Lakshman arrives at Sanjay's flat to kill him. He destroys all the photographs, notes and scratches off Sanjay's tattoos. Satisfied that he has neutralised Sanjay by wiping out any trace that connects back to him, Lakshman leaves. Meanwhile, Sanjay discovers that Chitra had warned Lakshman and goes to her dormitory to kill her, but Chitra calls the police and Sanjay is arrested. Back in her dormitory, Chitra reads the diaries. The 2003 diary reveals that Kalpana had accepted Sanjay's proposal and ends abruptly. Chitra investigates further, and discovers that Kalpana was travelling to Mumbai for a modelling assignment by train when she came upon 25 innocent young Tamil girls being trafficked to Mumbai, & Kolkata. She saves the girls who name Lakshman as the ringleader of the racket. Lakshman kills two girls, who recognised him, and goes in search of Kalpana. His goons break into her apartment and wait for her to return, upon which they give chase and subdue her. Sanjay arrives there to meet Kalpana, but notices the group of men grabbing her, and tries to rescue her. He overpowers them only to discover that Kalpana had disappeared amidst the chaos. He makes it to her room, and upon opening the door, she slowly walks towards him, drenched in sweat. Her last word to him is "Po" (Go), a warning for him to leave, as Sanjay looks down to see she had been stabbed from behind. Sanjay is suddenly aware but Lakshman hits him over the head with an iron rod that disorients him and is struck again in the head again enough to bring him to the floor. A badly injured Sanjay's last vision was to witness Lakshman brutally murder Kalpana with the iron rod much to his grief as he moans helplessly, despite already dying from the knife, and Lakshman hitting him in the face with the same weapon again, before losing consciousness. Chitra, now aware of the truth, finds Sanjay in the hospital and tells him the truth. He flies into a rage and he tells her to lead him to Lakshman. Meanwhile, Lakshman's twin brother Ram arrives from Kolkata to help him pursue Sanjay. Arriving at Lakshman's lair in downtown Chennai, Sanjay confronts all of Lakshman's henchmen and with superior strength, manages to disable them. Finding Lakshman himself, Sanjay fights Lakshman hand-to-hand. However, Lakshman realises that he is no match for Sanjay's strength, so Ram intervenes. As both brothers look alike, Sanjay's memory loss strikes again. Ram, exploiting Sanjay's memory loss, beats him mercilessly. Sanjay lies badly wounded on the floor when he sees a vision of Kalpana. With a sudden burst of last minute strength, and with the encouragement of Chitra, Sanjay overpowers both Lakshman and Ram, and kills them. While Sanjay drives Chitra back to her dormitory, he stops at a crossing to let young children cross the road. A young girl smiles at him, and he reacts by smiling back at her. ===== Paul Janson is an ex- Navy SEAL and former member of a U.S. government covert agency called Consular Operations. He is haunted by his memories of the Vietnam War and his brilliant commander and mentor, Alan Demarest. Unfortunately, Demarest was also a sadistic psychopath who loved to toy with the lives of both friend and foe; he arranged for Janson to be captured and tortured by the Viet Cong. Janson eventually escaped and provided evidence of war crimes, which led to Demarest's execution. Janson now makes his living as a corporate security consultant who is so much in demand that he can pick and choose which jobs he takes. After a mysterious woman makes contact with him while Janson is waiting for a plane, he finds himself taking on a job to repay a debt. She asks Janson to rescue her boss, the Nobel Peace Laureate visionary and billionaire, Peter Novak, who has been taken hostage by a militant organization which intends to kill him. But when the rescue goes horribly wrong, Janson finds himself the target of a "beyond salvage" termination directive (the directive of the title) issued from the highest levels of the U.S. government. Meanwhile, several senior U.S. government officials are assassinated. Janson is then faced with the difficult question of finding out who wanted to frame him for Novak's death, while dodging bullets from his former comrades at Consular Operations. Janson takes matters into his own hands as he tries to save himself and solve the mystery of a decades-old conspiracy that will rock the foundations of all countries in the world if exposed. ===== American graduate student Randi Wallace (Kate Hodge) travels to Britain to study mythology with Prof. Ian Matheson (Neil Dickson). She arrives expecting a stodgy old academic, but Ian is young and the two are immediately attracted to one other. Their attraction increases but a complication quickly arises when Randi spends a night on the moors and is bitten by a werewolf. She survives what the local hospital thinks was an attack by a large rabid wolf; she insists that it was not a true wolf but instead something supernatural and she seeks Ian's help. For the rest of the series, Randi and Ian investigate supernatural phenomena together while they search for a cure for her lycanthropy and he becomes her keeper during her transformations. Randi's curse draws the attention of various supernatural creatures: another werewolf, spirit possession, succubus, a possessed bookstore, a bogeyman, an evil carnival, a Guy Fawkes spirit, a killer horseman, in a small town, zombies who ultimately confront Randi in her werewolf form (Diane Youdale). Eventually, their search takes them from British academe to American TV, when they move back to Randi's native California and Ian becomes host of a trashy TV talk show focusing on psychic phenomena. The series was an old-style romantic comedy with a touch of horror. The romantic comedy comes from Randi and Ian's relationship, and their relationship to the Matheson family and the people she and Ian work for. Randi's transformations did not occur every episode but only during the full moon. This gave her and Ian a chance to investigate the supernatural without having to face possible lycanthropic transformations every week. ===== Brenden Abbott is on the run with fellow criminal Aaron Reynolds, having just escaped together from Fremantle Prison, Western Australia. They rob banks across Australia before Abbott decides it's time to live the high life for a while. To hinder identification, the two travel the country with a Japanese tourist and, during this trip, Abbott tells Reynolds he is giving him the flick. Reynolds tells Abbott, "You won't last a week without me," but it is Reynolds who is arrested some four weeks later. At Gold Coast, Queensland, Brenden meets the future mother of his only son William. He soon returns to robbing banks to feed his extravagant lifestyle. Abbott's brother Glenn introduces a driver whom he uses as an accomplice to rob a Perth bank, going in through the roof and breaking his ankle in the process. Abbott returns to Gold Coast and learns that his lover is pregnant to him. He leaves her and resumes bank robberies; she learns the true identity and character of the man she knew as "Peter". He begins seeing a prostitute, who becomes the getaway driver for his next few robberies. He teams up with his brother Glenn, who proves to be a loose cannon. He informs Glenn that he will still need his services in obtaining guns and fake ID cards, but will no longer rob banks with him. Glen replies that he is, "No good on me own," and punches Brenden before the pair go their separate ways. Glenn is detained by police while in possession of illegal weapons, and is forced to give up information on his brother's whereabouts, resulting in Brenden's arrest at Surfers Paradise. Abbott is sent to a maximum-security prison in Brisbane, where he befriends a small-time criminal who is due for release and successfully plots an escape with four other inmates. The four are quickly recaptured, while Abbott and his new partner remain at large. The pair rob a number of banks, including his most notorious robbery, netting some $800,000 from the Commonwealth Bank at Pacific Fair, Gold Coast. Abbott's partner soon is the target of a manhunt, after killing two police officers during a failed drug deal. He goes back to Abbott distraught at his actions and the two escape to Darwin, where they remain for some time. While walking down the street one day, Abbott returns a cricket ball hit by a boy. The boy's father—a policeman—recognizes the criminal, who is recaptured and sent back to jail in Queensland. A sequence in the film debunks the popular myth, created by police, that Abbott sent postcards to taunt them while on the run. In reality, an accomplice was caught with a roll of film which the police subsequently developed and sent prints to news media. ===== The novel is about an Englishman named Christopher Banks. His early childhood was lived in the Shanghai International Settlement in China in the early 1900s, until his father, an opium businessman, and his mother disappear within a few weeks of each other when the boy is about ten years old. Christopher is sent to live with his aunt in England. He becomes a successful detective; now he will turn his skills to solve the case of his parents' disappearance. Though he knows a young woman named Sarah (also orphaned at age ten), Christopher never marries; he adopts an orphaned girl in England named Jennifer. His fame as a private investigator soon spreads, and in 1937 he returns to China to solve the most important case of his life. The impression is given that if he solves this case, a world catastrophe will be averted, but it is not apparent how. As Christopher pursues his investigation, the boundaries between life and imagination begin to evaporate. At this time in China, Christopher is caught up in the Second Sino-Japanese War battles, which reach into the foreigners' enclave of Shanghai. Through an old detective, he locates the house at which his parents may have been held. Though the disappearances happened a quarter- century earlier, Christopher believes that his parents will be there, a notion supported by the present occupants of his old home who assume Christopher's family will be reunited in their home. On his way, he enters a war-torn police station belonging to the Chinese. After convincing them of his neutrality, he persuades the commander to direct him to the house of his kidnapped parents. After a while the commander refuses to take Christopher further, so he goes alone. Throughout all this, he appears to disregard the commander's words that what he is doing is dangerous, and even appears to be rude to him. He meets an injured Japanese soldier who he believes is his childhood friend Akira. They enter the house only to find out that his parents are not there. Japanese soldiers enter and take them away. He learns from Philip (a former lodger at their residence in Shanghai whom Christopher called uncle as a boy) that his father ran away to Hong Kong with his new lover and that his mother a few weeks later insulted Chinese warlord Wang Ku, who then seized her to be his concubine. Philip is a Communist double agent. He was complicit in the kidnapping and made sure Christopher was not present when this kidnapping took place. He offers Christopher a gun to kill him, but Christopher refuses. He learns that his father later died of typhoid but that his mother may still be alive. Philip reveals the source of Christopher's living expenses and tuition fees during his schooling in England. His mother extracted financial support for her son when Wang Ku seized her. In 1958 in Hong Kong, Christopher is reunited with his mother, who does not recognise him. He uses his childhood nickname, "Puffin", and his mother seems to recognise it. He asks her to forgive him, but she is confused as to what he should need forgiveness for. Christopher takes this as confirmation that she has always loved him. ===== Jason Chaser is an independent Hover Car racer, who along with his autistic adoptive little brother - known only as "the Bug" - are competing in regional races, with hopes of reaching the Pro circuits, but in reality have little chance of doing so. During a local derby, Scott Syracuse (representing the International Race School) is impressed with Jason's skill, and despite damage to the "Argonaut" placing them last, offers him a position at the IRC for the next season. Jason accepts, and he and the Bug find themselves in Tasmania (now a privately owned training school) along with some of the best student Hover Car racers in the world. Jason is paired with independent Mech Chief Sally McDuff, who will look after their equipment and pit crew, including a robot named "Tarantula" which will perform most of the actual pit work - changing the magneto drives which enable the hover cars to function, the compressed gas for steering, and the coolant to prevent the magneto drives from melting. During the first few races, Jason is outclassed and bullied - both on and off the track - by the other racers who all consider him inferior - the perfect Xavier Xonora, his own teammates Washington and Wong, and Barnaby Becker, who Jason already knew from earlier races. Even the equipment seems to be against them as they - and the only female racer Ariel Piper - suffer more than their fair share of faulty mag drives, substandard coolant, and failures on the part of Tarantula. Despite this, and due to their natural talent they begin to rise in the rankings, until it becomes apparent that they both have a chance of becoming 2 of the top 4 rated racers who will be invited to take part in the New York Masters. Ariel and Jason have forged a friendly relationship which becomes soured when Jason is critical of Ariels decision to use her body to gain advantage and keep in the good grace of Fabian, a ruthless, yet influential French Pro racer. When Fabian dismisses her after Jason beats her in a one-on-one race the two rekindle their friendship, which Jason consolidates when he later overhears LeClerq and Smythe (The Headmaster & stores chief respectively) discussing sabotaging Ariels pit robot, and at the same time admitting to having been responsible for her and Jason's earlier equipment misfortune. Jason forewarns Ariel, and the attempt to plant a virus on her pit robot backfires, instead disrupting the entire race power grid, meaning that none of the pit robots work. All racers have to perform a manual pit stop, and due to previously practising such tactics Jason and Ariel not only win the race, but Jason also ensures his place in the New York Masters. At the same time Jason attracts the attention of two individuals - Umberto Lombardi, the billionaire owner of Team Lombardi, and Dido, a beautiful Italian girl who thanks to her rich parents is able to follow Jason around the next few races. Jason agrees to trial race with Team Lombardi, and begins a tentative relationship with Dido, stilted slightly due to his age and inexperience with the opposite sex - a factor which causes Sally to tease him relentlessly. Prior to the New York Masters Jason is involved in a large and dangerous crash, completely destroying his Team Lombardi Hover racer, and with it much of his confidence, however with the aid of Sally & the Bug he regains his nerve, but not before several racers take advantage of his doubts and gain points that otherwise could have been his. Jason and Ariel get their revenge on Fabian when he challenges Jason to an exhibition race while in Italy - but Jason secretly swaps places and it is in fact Ariel who races - and beats - Fabian, thus ridiculing him for earlier comments when he stated that Ariel was "quite frankly, a non-event", also possibly alluding to her night with him. After again barely winning his next race Jason realises that Dido has been feeding Xavier information, including his doubts and race strategies, and he breaks off the relationship - after which Sally discovers that Dido is in fact Xavier's cousin, and the two are seen in public together. Jason and Xavier both race in New York, and as Xavier points out he is the far superior racer in every respect - something that Jason is forced to agree with. After reviewing all of Xavier's races Jason formulates a strategy based on not only Xaviers actual superiority, but how he perceives himself as well: Jason realises that Xavier celebrates victory before the race is won, and uses this to surprise him with a late charge and wins whilst Xavier is otherwise distracted already saluting the crowds whilst still on the home straight. During the rest of the New York races Jason and the Bug slowly collect points, relying on luck as much as skill, and ultimately find themselves in a last race with the world champion Alessandro Romba. After pulling a slight lead the Argonaut II suffers another bout of sabotage and literally meters from the finish line the rear stabiliser wing is destroyed by a tiny explosive charge placed by a corrupt betting agent, Ravi Gupta, who wishes to stack the odds in his favour. In a last desperate manoeuver, Jason uses his car's ejector seat to fire himself - and his steering wheel containing the Argonauts transponder - across the finish line thus winning the championship. Romba shows himself to be quite different from most of the other pro racers so far encountered, and is not only magnanimous in defeat, but genuinely pleased for Jason, and Jason himself secures a full-time racing position with Team Lombardi. ===== Two loving parents, Phoebe and Nate, find themselves hard pressed to emotionally deal with the fact that their kids are going off to school for the first time. However, the kids themselves, Samson and Deliah, are dealing with it in a very adult-like manner. ===== The game takes place "in ages past, when the pantheon was still home to countless gods from all empires." However, it is a time when the gods have lost their purpose; Jupiter is interested only in eating and drinking; Horus thinks of nothing except his pyramids; and Ch'ih-yu simply wants to eat livestock. The story begins with HE, the "Unknown God", and creator of all gods, summoning the lesser gods to HIM, and telling them "for eons, you think only of pleasure, and now even the lowliest men say, "these drunks don't do anything for us. Let's go over their heads to the boss"." HE is afraid this will lead to monotheism, which HE wants to avoid, as HE has neither the time nor inclination to govern all of humanity himself. As a result, HE commands each of them "to pick one who is the best of your people," and have him lead a war against the other two peoples. The two gods whose people lose will be punished by repainting the universe white. Jupiter picks Septimus Marius, a sea merchant; Horus picks Ramadamses, a sculptor; and Ch'ih-yu picks Tsu-Tang, a rice farmer. ;Roman Campaign Septimus Marius begins by putting down a rebellion amongst his own men. However, shortly thereafter, his highest ranking general, Remigius, betrays him and allies with Ramadamses. Septimus attacks Remigius, defeating him and forcing Ramadamses to retreat. A powerful group of nearby pirates, led by Flavius, then ally with Septimus, and pursue Ramadamses to a small cluster of islands, several of which are controlled by Tsu-Tang. With Flavius's fleet, Septimus is able to capture many of the islands, but shortly thereafter, a volcano erupts, decimating the newly established settlements. Ramadamses reoccupies the islands and forms an alliance with Tsu-Tang. After Septimus defeats Ramadamses, Tsu-Tang encloses him, but Septimus is able to fight his way out, defeating Tsu-Tang, and achieving victory for Jupiter. As Jupiter celebrates, Horus and Ch'ih-yu begin the task of painting the universe white, complaining that the competition was unfair, as Jupiter cheated, and the punishment is unrealistic. However, when HE threatens to also make them clean up after Jupiter's celebration party, they reluctantly begin to paint. ;Egyptian Campaign Ramadamses begins by defeating a tribe of his own countrymen. Thereafter, however, he is caught unprepared by Tsu-Tang, and must ally with a group of pirates. Together, they force Tsu-Tang to retreat, but he remains a threat. A thunderstorm then destroys several of Ramadamses's colonies, stalling his growth, and allowing Septimus to advance, and form an alliance with Tsu-Tang. Not yet strong enough to attack Tsu-Tang, Ramadamses instead disruptes their trade routes. Eventually, Ramadamses attacks Septimus, weakening him to the point where Tsu- Tang feels confident enough to betray their alliance. Ramadamses is then able to defeat Tsu-Tang, thus achieving victory for Horus. As Horus celebrates, Jupiter and Ch'ih-yu begin the task of painting the universe white, complaining that the competition was unfair, as Horus cheated, and the punishment is unrealistic. However, when HE threatens to also make them clean up after Horus's celebration party, they reluctantly begin to paint. ;Asian Campaign Tsu-Tang begins by defeating a group of pirates allied with Ramadamses, who subsequently negotiates a fragile truce. However, both intend to violate it at the earliest opportunity. Septimus then forms an alliance with Ramadamses. Tsu-Tang advances on them, but they encircle him. He rebukes their attacks, however, before defeating both, and achieving victory for Ch'ih-yu. As Ch'ih-yu celebrates, Horus and Jupiter begin the task of painting the universe white, complaining that the competition was unfair, as Ch'ih-yu cheated, and the punishment is unrealistic. However, when HE threatens to also make them clean up after Ch'ih-yu's celebration party, they reluctantly begin to paint. ===== In January 1998, Hess met with Blue Byte's head writer, Wolfgang Walk, to discuss the game's storyline. As it had already been decided that a new gameplay element would be "Divine Intervention", Hess suggested the plot have something to do with the gods of each culture, and the two worked out a rough draft in a single evening, based around a competition between Jupiter (Roman), Horus (Egyptian) and Chi-yu (Asian). Hertzler and Wertich approved the concept, but it quickly became apparent that the team currently working on the game would have no time to design or render any cutscenes. As a result, Hess suggested using a traditional animation studio with whom he had worked in the past, a Turkish company called Denge Animation. Subsequently, based on designs created by Hess, one of Blue Byte's in-house artists, Tom Thiel, drew sketches of the three main characters, with different facial expressions and seen from different angles, from which Denge would ultimately produce the finished animation. ===== Two sets of identical twins, played by Wilder and Sutherland, are accidentally switched at birth. One set, Phillipe and Pierre DeSisi, is aristocratic and haughty, while the other set, Charles and Claude Coupé, is poor and dim-witted. On the eve of the French Revolution, both sets find themselves entangled in palace intrigues. ===== In the early 20th-century, financial problems force young Boston widow Margaret Carey (Dorothy McGuire) and her 3 children to move out of their home. Nancy (Hayley Mills), the dramatic and kind-hearted eldest child, remembers a large yellow house that the Careys had admired when they visited the small town of Beulah, Maine, and makes an inquiry about it. Upon the sale of the family's treasured piano ("Flitterin'"), Nancy reveals that the house is vacant and the family decides to relocate to the country ("Beautiful Beulah"). When the Careys arrive in Beulah they realize they're slightly out-of-place although the town welcomes them. Overall, the Careys find that moving to the country was the best decision for them and they're content in their new home ("Summer Magic"). But the house is in a shameful state of neglect, and caretaker Osh Popham (Burl Ives), against his wife's wishes, offers cheap labor to make the house livable, as well as offering free products from his hardware store. He also steers young Peter in the right direction, trading him a pair of overalls for his "Buster Brown suit" in which he now feels too citified, and offering him haircut money and carpentry lessons. Just when the Careys are settled in and things are going better, they find out that orphaned Cousin Julia's adoptive parents have run into their own financial problems and want to send her to the Careys. They reluctantly agree, and while they get ready for her, Gilly (Eddie Hodges) and Nancy entertain Peter (Jimmy Mathers) with jokes about her appearance and snobby, snotty personality ("Pink of Perfection"). When Julia (Deborah Walley) arrives, she's even worse than her cousins remembered. Part of her welcome seems to include being jumped on by Peter's large dog Sam in the middle of the night. Aghast at Beulah's primitive ways, she forces Osh's daughter Lally Joy (Wendy Turner) to help her bathe in the kitchen rather than lug kettles of hot water up the stairs. While Nancy and Lally Joy cope with Julia, Peter enjoys working on the house with Osh, who entertains him with stories of bugs the like of which Peter hadn't dealt with in the city ("Ugly Bug Ball"). When Margaret informs Osh of their still-failing finances, Osh, hoping to keep them in town, makes up a request from the house's owner, Tom Hamilton, in exchange for no rent. He pretends that Mr. Hamilton has answered in the affirmative, only requesting that on Halloween the Careys must have a ceremony for his dead mother and find a decent place for her picture. The Careys accept and Osh chooses a fake picture for the ceremony. But Osh's wife Mariah, who has been on to his lies from the beginning, visits the yellow house to tell the Careys that Mr. Hamilton has no idea that they are there. Before she can spill the news, Osh fakes a fall from the second story, claims an injured leg, and insist that his wife help him get home. After church the next Sunday, Nancy and Julia spot a handsome man, Charles Bryant (James Stacy), who has moved to Beulah to be the new schoolteacher. They invite him to a lawn party at the yellow house, where both try to win his affections, Nancy with her smarts and Julia with her looks. Julia wins, leaving Nancy too jealous to enjoy the quiet evening after the party ("On the Front Porch"). In their bedroom, her jealousy and anger drive her to reveal that Julia's adoptive parents "dumped" her on the Careys after gambling away their money. Julia flees to Aunt Margaret for assurance that her parents truly loved her, and Margaret reveals that her parents' situation is looking good enough that they are about ready for her to come home. This makes Nancy realize that she has grown to love Julia despite her many flaws (and her having "won" Charles), and she begs her to stay. Julia accepts, and prepares to move in permanently with the Careys. As Halloween approaches, everyone gets ready for the big party. Lally Joy, who harbors a big crush on Gilly, displays her ugly dress to Nancy and Julia, fretting embarrassment at the party. Nancy and Julia promise to redesign the dress as they give her pointers on how to act around boys ("Femininity"). On the day of the party, a handsome young man (Peter Brown) appears at the yellow house and meets Nancy. She informs him that they'd been living in the house and tells him about the party for Mr. Hamilton's mother. The stranger quickly heads for Osh's store, where it is revealed that he is Tom Hamilton. Osh comes clean about renting the house to the Careys, inspired by Nancy's good-heartedness. Indignant, Tom leaves the store. Reluctant to escort Lally Joy to the party, Gilly becomes more willing as she makes her appearance in her beautiful redesigned dress. Seeing them together and Charles and Julia together, Nancy realizes that she's the only one without a partner; after talking it over with her mother, she decides to attend on her own. As she descends the stairs she runs into Tom Hamilton, who accompanies her to the party. Nancy presents the picture Osh had produced: unfortunately, it is a frighteningly ugly woman and Tom feels insulted and angry at Osh. He reveals his true identity to the thoroughly-embarrassed Nancy, and as he has taken a fancy to her, he asks her to dance. As the party gets going, Osh exclaims that things always work out in the end. ===== US Marshall Carrie Stetko is disgraced after murdering a criminal in a blind rage. As punishment, she's sent to McMurdo Station in Antarctica where she establishes herself as someone not to be messed with. Sometime after Stetko's arrival, a body is found on the ice surrounded by mysterious holes in the snow. Since the face is destroyed, he's identified through prints as Alex Keller, a member of a scientific expedition. Stetko investigates the other members of Keller's expedition, starting at Victoria Station. After meeting British agent Lilly Sharpe, the two find the two members stationed at the base murdered and the killer attacks, knocking out Sharpe and chasing Stetko outside. During her escape, Stetko gets frostbite from touching a door handle without a glove and nearly dies of hypothermia before Sharpe saves her. Back at McMurdo, Stetko's hand is treated by Dr. Furry, who is forced to amputate two of her fingers. Despite the setback, Stetko, now aided by Sharpe, learns that two more members are at the South Pole station. While Sharpe finds them dead as well, Stetko finds a surprisingly alive Keller. He flees, but is found inside the plane that brought Stetko and Sharpe, along with several bars of gold. After Sharpe stops Keller from killing Stetko, the two bring him back to McMurdo, where they realize the first victim is actually another member of the team, Weiss, and the murders were performed to keep the gold found in the snow, hence the holes. Sharpe sees Furry speaking with pilot Haden and becomes suspicious of the two, since Keller would need a pilot to help move the gold. When Furry realizes her suspicions, Haden tries to kill her, but flees when she wounds him. Afraid the incident will lead to him, Furry tries to help Haden leave. When Haden, convinced Furry is trying to cut him out, attacks him, Furry kills him. After treating Sharpe, Stetko forces Keller to admit Furry's involvement. Having realized Furry must have falsified the first victim's prints, Stetko and Sharpe check one of the bodies and find it full of gold bars. Stetko then arrests Furry and prepares to face the cold winter months. ===== The four Angel sisters are singers, although all wish to pursue other careers. At a roadhouse, bandleader Happy Marshall makes a pass at Nancy Angel, but she already has a boyfriend, cab driver Oliver. After the girls are paid just $10 for a performance, Bobby Angel gambles with her sisters' money and wins $190. But she is conned out of it by Happy, whose band needs it to make a trip to Brooklyn to perform at a club. Bobby thinks he wants to both hire and romance her, neither of which is true. Happy ends up falling for Nancy, and the girls' act is so good, the club's owner will not hire Happy's band in the future without them. Nancy is fine with the arrangement, particularly when Bobby ends up falling for Happy's friend in the band, Fuzzy. ===== The series takes place shortly after the wedding of Cyclops and Jean Grey in X-Men #30, some time after the events of X-Factor #68 (approximately 3 years in real time, but perhaps only a year or less in the timeline of the comic books). During their honeymoon, their time- lost alternate daughter, Rachel Summers who is then the Mother Askani, brought them into the future. Their physical bodies were left behind, but their minds were brought into two bodies waiting for them in the future. These bodies, very similar to the ones they had left behind, had weaker versions of their original powers. They were reunited with their son, and were given the opportunity to raise him in this bleak future that was ruled by Apocalypse. Prior to their arrival, the Mother Askani and the Askani clan attempted to save the baby Nathan from the TO virus. They first cloned the baby, fearing that they would fail in their efforts to save the original. They succeeded, however, and were left with two babies. The healthy clone baby was kidnapped by Apocalypse's forces to be raised by the villain, and was named Stryfe. Apocalypse thought the baby was the original, and had somehow survived the TO virus. Seeing this as a sign of strength (and his own body deteriorating), Apocalypse planned to transfer his essence into the young Stryfe once he reached maturity. The original baby was left behind, and was raised by Cyclops and Phoenix. As he began to grow, they protected him, and began to train him in the use of his vast, burgeoning telepathic powers, particularly how to use his telekenesis to keep the still present TO virus at bay. Their identity as his true parents (at least, genetically in Jean Grey's case) was kept a secret, and they instead went by the names Slym and Redd (these refer to Slim, a nickname Cyclops had picked up his younger years due to his slender frame, and Red, a common nickname for people with red hair, which Jean has sometimes been referred to over years, usually by Wolverine). All together, they spent 12 years raising Nathan Summers, who never knew they were his true parents. When the Mother Askani eventually died, their minds were brought back to their physical bodies, just after a combined effort of Slym, Redd and Nate finally defeating Apocalypse. ===== Holly and Gerry are a married couple who live in Dublin. They are deeply in love, but they fight occasionally. By winter that year, Gerry suddenly dies of a brain tumor and Holly realizes how much he means to her as well as how insignificant their arguments were. Deeply distraught, Holly withdraws from her family and friends out of grief until her mother calls her informing her of a package addressed to her. Within the package are ten envelopes, one for each month after Gerry died, containing messages from him, all ending with "P.S. I Love You". As the months pass, each new message fills her with encouragement and sends her on a new adventure. With Gerry's words as her guide, Holly slowly embarks on a journey of rediscovery. ===== Lawrence "Rip" Smith (James Stewart) is a former basketball player and ex-military who now runs a company that perform polls and consumer surveys. Lately he has started obsessing about being able to find a perfect mathematical "miracle formula" to perform the perfect survey, and compete for real with his rival companies. Because he lacks funds, he is far behind his number one rival George Stringer. One day Rip discovers that a survey made by a friend and ex- Army colleague of his, Hoopendecker (Kent Smith), in the small town of Grandview, exactly matches one that Stringer has made on a national level. Rip concludes that the small town demographic is a perfect match for the country as a whole, and believes he has finally found his miracle formula. Eager to test his theory, Rip sells a survey on progressive education to a client, with a promise the result will stand for the whole country. Furthermore he promises to deliver the result the same day as Stringer's company, even though the rival has been working on the project for quite some time. Rip and his team of professionals then travel to Grandview to perform the survey. They are pretending to be insurance salesmen. But trouble starts already when Rip overhears a conversation between a woman named Mary Peterman (Jane Wyman) trying to convince the mayor (Harry Holman) to expand the town and build a number of new buildings: a civic center. Rip wants this town to stay exactly as it is, so he can make his perfect surveys, mirroring the demographic of the country. Rip holds an electrifying speech to preserve the town, and the conservative members of the town council listen to him rather than Mary, whose proposition is laid to the side. Mary writes a bold and angry editorial against Rip in the local newspaper, which is run by her family. Rip starts a charm offensive towards Mary to soften her up, but she holds her ground. The two combatants are attracted to each other though. They spend a lot of time together while Rip secretly gathers information for his survey. One of Rip's colleagues warns him that he is becoming too involved in the subject he is supposed to be studying, but Rip is blinded by his attraction to Mary. Rip starts coaching the school basketball team, and attends a school dance where he meets Mary's family. When Rip later slips away to talk to his client over the phone, Mary follows him, eavesdrops on the conversation, and finds out the truth about Rip being in town. Angered by his deceit, she publishes the story in the newspaper the next day. A larger nationwide paper picks up the story, and soon the town is crawling with reporters. The town is called "the public opinion capital of the U.S." and its inhabitants start selling their views on consumer products on every street corner. The city council start making bold plans to expand the town, and both Rip and Mary feel ashamed of what they have done to change the town structure. Rip leaves Grandview and Mary and returns home. Soon enough a strange poll from Grandview says Americans would want a female president. The town is ridiculed in the press and the expansion plans get an abrupt ending. But Rip cannot forget Mary, and he returns to Grandview to reveal his true feelings. Mary admits she has feelings for him too, but also tells Rip that they have to fix the mess they have caused in Grandview before they can start a relationship. Rip starts by talking to a Grandview U.S. Senator Wilton (George Irving), to get help from him raising money to save the town. They display their plan in front of the city council, but the lead council member, Richard Nickleby, is negative. Upset, Rip tells Nickleby that he is "walking out on the team". Later, Rip learns from Nickleby's son Hank (Mickey Kuhn) that his father already has sold land where the main expansion would take place to a company. To stop this, Rip manages to publish parts of the council speech a few weeks earlier, where it said that they would expand the town "with their own hands". A lot of inhabitants who read the article start demanding that the city council build on the designated land to save the reputation of the town. It turns out the property sale agreement was not formally correct and the land is returned to the town. The inhabitants all pitch in to build a civic center on the land, and Rip and Mary become a couple. ===== Set during the early years of the California Gold Rush, the film tells of the adventures of Caroline Frost, the wilful and spoilt daughter of a US Senator. He does not approve of her beau, Lt Robert Latham, of the US cavalry, and persuades President James K. Polk to post Latham to guard gold shipments from the California mines owned by Jake Carstair. Caroline travels by train and steamboat and manages to join a wagon- train about to trek overland to the West. She shares a wagon with Johnny (Robert Paige), a debonair but ruthless gambler with whom she falls in love, and two comically inept opportunists, Prince Gregory Stroganovsky and his much put-upon servant Koppa. Adapting slowly to the rigours of the journey, she first claims to be married to the Prince (as no unattached women are allowed to join the wagon-train) and then further claims to be actually married to Carstair. She eventually reaches Sonora, California. Here, her problems are quickly sorted out. After some confusion between Carstair and his real wife, Caroline decides that she really loves Johnny. Her father, who has followed her, is reconciled. ===== One year after the defeat of Amakusa from within the first Samurai Shodown, a new threat soon emerges in the form of Mizuki Rashojin: a vengeful spirit who possess a local shrine priestess named Mizuki and seeks to bring forth chaos and destruction to the world in the name of the dark god Ambrosia's will. Those who had fought before in the past during Amakusa's reign of terror now find themselves, along with a few new faces, battling against Mizuki and her loyal forces in order to determine the fate of the entire world itself. ===== Ronnie Dobbs (David Cross)—a redneck petty criminal whose hijinks are caught on tape by a Cops-like television show called Fuzz—is noticed by failing infomercial personality/inventor Terry Twillstein (Bob Odenkirk), who notices Dobbs' popularity with lowbrow viewers. He promotes the idea for a Ronnie Dobbs show to television executives entitled "Ronnie Dobbs Gets Arrested" in which Ronnie is arrested in a different city each week. The show becomes a phenomenal success leading to a level of fame & fortune that dramatically changes Dobbs' life. ===== Two years have passed since the end of Metal Slug, when Capt. Marco Rossi and Lt. Tarma Roving of Peregrine Falcon Strike Force defeated and killed the evil General Morden, who had staged a coup d'état against the worlds' governments. Various factions sympathetic to Morden have been in operation, but are considered insignificant. They have begun to act in unison, and army intelligence concludes that the only way this could happen is if Morden is still alive and is attempting a new coup. Rossi (now a Major) and Roving (now a Captain) are sent to once again battle Morden. They are accompanied by two members of the Intelligence Agency's Special Ops Squad S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S.; Sgt. Eri Kasamoto and Sgt. 1st Class Fiolina Germi. As the levels unfold, it is revealed that Morden has formed an alliance with aliens in an effort to facilitate his plans (the previous game ended with one of Morden's soldiers sending a paper airplane into outer space). In the final mission, however, the aliens turn on Morden, attacking his troops and taking him prisoner. An ad hoc alliance is formed between the Peregrine Falcon Strike Force and General Morden's army to combat the greater alien threat. After a long battle, they succeed in defeating the alien mother ship. As the ship explodes, Morden falls to the ground, strapped to a solid iron plate. While his soldiers celebrate his survival, the plate loses its balance and crushes him. The game ends with Rossi, Roving, Kasamoto and Germi celebrating their victory. ===== An abandoned ship crashes into a dockyard in Brooklyn, New York, and the ship inspector, Silas Green, finds it full of corpses. Elsewhere, Julius Jones, Silas's nephew, has a run-in with some Italian mobsters. Just as the two goons are about to kill Julius, Maximillian, a vampire who arrived on the ship, intervenes and kills them. Maximillian infects Julius with his vampiric blood, thereby turning Julius into a decaying ghoul, and explains that he has come to Brooklyn in search of the Dhampir daughter of a vampire from his native Caribbean island in order to live beyond the night of the next full moon. This Dhampir turns out to be NYPD Detective Rita Veder, still dealing with the death of her mentally ill mother (a paranormal researcher) some months before. As she and her partner, Detective Justice, investigate the murders on the ship, Rita begins having visions about a woman who looks like her, and starts asking questions about her mother's past. Rita is completely unaware of her vampire heritage, and believes she is losing her mind like her mother. Maximillian initiates a series of sinister methods to pull Rita into his thrall, including seducing and murdering her roommate Nikki, as well as disguising himself as her preacher and a lowlife crook. Max, in these disguises, misleads Rita into thinking Justice slept with Nikki, making her jealous and angry with him. After saving Rita from being run down by a taxicab, Maximillian takes her to dinner. Rita is taken with Maximillian's suave charm, and while dancing with her, he bites her. The next day, Justice finds Rita in her apartment, having slept all day with it completely darkened. Justice informs Rita about Nikki's murder, and vows to help understand her visions, as one correctly foretold Nikki's fate. Rita forgives Justice, but she almost bites him in the neck during a passionate kiss before catching her disappearing reflection in a mirror, and realizes she is becoming a vampire. She confronts Max about the changes occurring in her, and deduces he is also responsible for the murders she and Justice are investigating. Rita further finds out that Maximillian was sent to her by her father; his death at the hands of vampire hunters was what drove Rita's mother insane. Max tries to convince Rita that she will be happier as a vampire instead of remaining in the human world, where he feels she will remain out of place and misunderstood by society. Justice plans to rescue Rita from Max, and seeks advice from Dr. Zeko, a vampire expert they visited earlier in the murder investigation. Zeko explains that he knew Rita's mother while she did her research on the vampires of the Caribbean islands, and she surrendered to evil by falling in love with Rita's father. To avoid becoming a vampire, Rita must refrain from drinking the blood of an innocent human victim; also, Maximillian must die before the next full moon. Zeko gives Justice an ancient dagger with instructions to either kill Maximillian or risk being killed by Rita. When Justice reaches her, Rita is lying inside Max's coffin, almost completely changed into a vampire, and threatens to bite Justice. Justice and Maximillian fight, during which Justice loses Zeko's dagger on the floor. Maximillian encourages Rita to kill Justice and complete the transformation, but she rejects life as a vampire and drives the dagger through Maximillian's heart, causing him to disintegrate. Rita and Justice then embrace with a passionate kiss. Meanwhile, Julius, now completely decayed, enters his master's limousine. He finds Maximillian's ring and puts it on, instantly transforming him into a fully intact member of the undead. Overjoyed, he tells Silas, "There's a new vampire in Brooklyn, and his name is Julius Jones!", as both of them drive off into the night to parts unknown. ===== The stories in the series take place in 18th-century Japan, during the Sakoku or seclusion period of Japan (the first four games run across 1788 and 1789) with great artistic license so that foreign-born characters (including some from places that did not exist as such in 1788) and fictional monsters can also be part of the story. The plot of each game is quite different, but they circle a central group of characters and a region in Japan. Samurai Shodown consequently portrays snippets of the Japanese culture and language internationally with little edits. For instance, unlike most fighting games made in Japan, the characters in the series (including the announcer) generally speak only in Japanese, with dialects ranging from archaic formalities and theatricalism to modern-day slang, something that has been preserved for overseas releases. Win quotes and other cut scenes provide subtitles in several languages, including but not limited to English, Portuguese, and German. Much of the music includes traditional Japanese instruments (predominately the shakuhachi, shamisen, koto and taiko) and later enka. Several characters are loosely based on real figures from Japanese history. ===== The Enterprise-D is called to assist the colony on planet Beta Agni II, which has suffered contamination to its water supply. They meet with the Jovis, a ship owned by the Zibalian trader Kivas Fajo (Saul Rubinek), a trader who so happens to have hitritium, the extremely rare compound needed to neutralize the contamination. The volatile substance cannot be beamed aboard, so Lieutenant Commander Data (Brent Spiner) is assigned to make several shuttle trips to collect the cargo. Just before the final trip, Data is kidnapped, and his shuttle is rigged to explode. The Enterprise crew scan the debris and finding trace elements matching Data, they believe he is dead, and are forced to leave to continue their mission. Data is reactivated in a secured room and is met by Fajo, who explains he collects rare and valuable objects and has kidnapped Data due to his uniqueness. Varria tells Data to change out of his Enterprise uniform and to sit in her chair. Data refuses to follow orders and remarks that they are both Fajo's prisoners. Mourning the loss of their friend, Geordi is certain that he is missing something about Data's destruction. Geordi takes his hypothesis to Picard and Riker, stating that the reason he can't find anything is there's nothing to indicate a malfunction. He explains that the only option is pilot error, but doesn't believe it as the odds are too vast to calculate. Picard gives him some words of solace and dismisses him. Picard and Riker select Worf as Data's replacement. In an effort to make Data comply with his wishes, Fajo says that he isn't at war with anyone and is in fact Data's liberator. He prods Data about whether or not he is capable of killing anyone, and Data states that he is programmed to never kill except in defense, and thus would be incapable of murder. When Data still refuses to submit, Fajo splashes a solvent on Data's uniform that dissolves it so he will be compelled to change his clothes. Geordi and Wesley run through Data's communications during the shuttle trips, with Geordi noting that Data follows protocol to the letter. Wesley further points out that Data didn't report the shuttle clearing the cargo bay of the Jovis on the final transmission, per protocol. Geordi and Wesley conclude that for Data to not follow standard procedures, such as not reporting something wrong, is not like him unless there was something wrong with Data himself. Data remains defiant against Fajo's attempts to make him an object of display, purposely remaining silent and immobile when Fajo shows off his collection to a rival trader (Nehemiah Persoff). Only when Fajo threatens to kill Varria with a very rare and illegal Varon-T disruptor does Data agree to follow Fajo's orders. The Enterprise crew arrives at the colony and uses the hitridium to neutralize the contamination, but finds it works far more quickly than it should and deduce that the contamination had been caused deliberate, leading them back to Fajo. They return to the last-known location of the Jovis to track Fajo down. Varria decides to help Data to escape. During the attempt they set off alarms that alert Fajo, and when he gets there, he uses the Varon-T disruptor on Varria, killing her without remorse. Data picks up the spare Varon-T that Varria had possessed and threatens to use it on Fajo. Fajo in turn threatens to murder more of his assistants if Data doesn't comply with his demands, believing that Data's programming will prevent him from shooting Fajo and to preserve the assistants' lives by submitting. Fajo further taunts Data to shoot him, mocking him as "just an android" incapable of feeling rage at Varria's death. Data states that he cannot allow this to continue and gets ready to shoot Fajo, much to the latter's shock. The Enterprise arrives and suddenly beams Data back aboard, discovering that the disruptor was in the process of discharging. Data is met in the transporter room by Commander Riker, and requests that Fajo be taken into custody, with Riker responding that arrangements have already been made. When Riker asks why the disruptor was energized, Data only offers that something may have happened during transport. Data visits Fajo In the brig, where Fajo laments the reversal of their situation, but says defiantly that he will again add Data to his collection one day. Data informs Fajo that his stolen collection has been confiscated, and all his possessions returned to their rightful owners. Fajo remarks, "It must give you great pleasure." Data replies "No, sir, it does not. I do not feel pleasure. I am only an android." He then leaves a stunned Fajo alone in the brig. ===== Approximately a decade before Fury3 begins, a large inter-planetary war threatened to destroy the once peaceful world of Terran. In order to defeat their enemy, Terran scientists genetically engineered a race of super soldiers that were to eventually become known as Bions, whose ruthless aggression and power meant that only a small number could fully take over a planet within days. The efforts of the Bions saved Terran, but their bloodlust was all- consuming, turning them on their creators. Towards the end of the war that followed, Terran created an unparalleled military force known as the Council of Peace, which steadfastly wiped out almost all remaining Bion forces. Smaller pockets of Bion troops remained, unbeknownst to the Council, and created a Headquarters on the planet Fury, from which they could rebuild and prepare to once more begin their domination of space. By 2839, the Bion forces had spread to 7 other systems, Terran included. In a hope to quash the Bion threat for the final time, the Council of Peace send one of their pilot Councilors, controlled by the player, to Terran, where the game begins. ===== The X-Men members Cyclops and Phoenix are brought to Victorian era England in the year 1859, where the scientist Nathaniel Essex, obsessed with Darwin's theory of evolution, encounters the centuries-old mutant Apocalypse who transforms him into Mister Sinister. Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix #1-4 (June-September 1996) ===== Victor Ward is in Europe in order to "take a whack at the whole modelling, European, figure-it-out kind of thing". The film uses song lyrics to tell the story of how Victor Ward becomes involved with a Florence bombing and then plans a second bombing in Rome, after sightseeing the ruins of the Colosseum and the Vatican. ===== Set during the Middle Ages in Europe, a king is seeking a brave warrior to kill a giant which has been terrorizing the small kingdom. There is much discussion in the village, but no one is willing to take on the task. Nearby in the same village, a young peasant tailor (Mickey Mouse) kills seven flies at once while at his work, and accidentally interjects several other peasants' discussion of the problems with the giant to brag loudly about his accomplishment: :Peasant (to his friends): "Say, did you ever kill a giant?" :Mickey (interjecting unwittingly): "I killed seven with one blow!" Gossip that Mickey has killed seven giants with one blow quickly spreads around the kingdom. The king summons him, and asks if he really "killed seven at one blow". He goes into an elaborate retelling of how he killed the seven (flies, not giants as the king believes), which impresses the king enough to appoint him "Royal High Killer of the Giant". Upon learning the misunderstanding, all of his confidence disappears and he attempts to stammer his way out of the assignment. The king offers him both vast riches and the hand of his only daughter, Princess Minnie, in marriage if he can kill (or at least subdue) the giant. Smitten with Minnie, he proclaims that he'll "cut [the giant] down to my size", and sets off for the giant's lair. After only a few minutes, however, he is ready to turn back and give up, but the townspeople and Minnie are counting on him. "Gosh," Mickey sighs to himself, wondering what to do. "I dunno how to catch a giant." Just then, the evil giant appears, forcing Mickey to scramble for a place to hide while the giant crushes a mountain, a forest, and a house. He sits down on a barn and eats a cart of pumpkins (as if they were grapes)and gets a case of the hiccups from eating too much, drinks some water (using a water well as if it were a thermos), and rolls a cigarette from a haystack Mickey was hiding in (lighting it with a stove in a nearby house after he pulls open its roof to get it), and leans on a silo to relax as Mickey briefly ends up in his mouth but escapes. Mickey is caught in the giant's cigarette, and gives his hiding place away by accidentally sneezing. The giant attempts to squash him, but Mickey quickly produces a needle and thread and binds the giant's limbs. With the needle and thread, Mickey swings about the giant, sewing him up and causing him to fall and knock himself out. The giant subdued, Mickey returns home and is hailed as a hero. An amusement park is built on the site of the battle (powered with wind power from the snoring giant). The film ends with the king and a newly married Mickey and Minnie enjoying a ride on the carousel. ===== Mickey is first seen reading Gulliver's Travels, the 1726 novel by Jonathan Swift, while the mice orphan children are pretending to be sailors. After poking Mickey with a pin, Mickey tries to make it up to them by retelling the Liliput sequences of Gulliver's Travels, pretending it was a real event that happened to him by portraying the role of Gulliver. The story ends with Mickey saving the town from a giant spider (Pete). However, after telling the story, one of the children dangles a fake spider attached to a fishing rod, which scares Mickey out of his wits. As soon as Mickey had managed to struggle to be free from the spider's long legs, he immediately gets the spider away. But in Mickey's story, he is battling a cushion making feathers fly everywhere! ===== The plot for the manga revolves around the hero Hamel who travels northbound towards the continent of demons in order to avert a great disaster. Using his magical oversized violin, he plays music that would force his enemies to repent for their sins and kill themselves – or so that was how the story should have been. The so-called Hamel is instead a selfish, cowardly, heartless, and immoral fiend that seeks to take advantage of those around him, and extort from those he saves. After saving the remote village of Staccato from nearby demons, he decides to abduct an orphaned girl named Flute as payment for his services. Hamel, Flute, and Oboe, Hamel's advisor who is a talking crow, head north on their long, arduous and ridicule filled journey. Along the way, they meet Raiel, the hero of Love who plays beautiful and powerful tunes that can summon spirits and manipulate people with his 500 kg solid gold piano; he is actually Hamel's childhood friend. Their first encounter results in a not so deadly battle for revenge. Next they encounter Trombone, the young prince of Dal Segno, the warrior nation renowned for their knights and their swordsmanship. Having his country burned to the ground and his parents murdered in front of his eyes, the young prince swears revenge and joins are party northwards in their quest. Adventure, hilarity, and humiliation ensues as Hamel leads the ragtag band north while performing street performances bicker with each other. Along the way, they fight dreadful enemies and eventually meet Hell Hawk King Sizer, one of the Lords of hell, the guardians of the Demons Legions. In a mostly one sided battle, Hamel's Violin is broken. It is also revealed that Hamel is actually the son of the Demon King Chestra, and that he heads north in order to defeat his father and save his mother Pandora. As they venture further north, they eventually reach the kingdom of Sforzando, one of the most powerful nations of their world, renowned for their magi-knight corps, their healing magic, and the strongest woman alive, Queen Horn. While at Sforzando, they meet the Head Priest of Sforzando, they greatest magic user in all of their kingdom, who immediately takes a dislike to Hamel. It is revealed that Flute, the victim of Hamel's humiliating antics was actually the only princess of Sforzando, who was unfortunately abandoned as a baby in order to increase her chance of survival when Sforzando was besieged in a dreadful war many years ago. Reunited with her estranged mother, Flute tries to deal with many pent up emotions while Hamel is sent out in order to Seek out a man capable of fixing his magical violin. Unfortunately, during Hamel and Raiel's absence, Sforzando is besieged yet again by the armies of Hell. Leading them are Dragon King Drum and King of the Beasts Guitar, both extremely strong and one of the 4 Lords of Hell. A fierce battle ensues, where both powerful forces collide and tens of thousands of both sides perish. In the end, Hamel and Raiel return after meeting Vi Olin and having the violin fixed in order to finish their foes off. In a last-ditch effort with everyone attacking at the same time, they manage to subdue the Dragon King Drum who had turned into a 48 headed hydra. The battle ends with the victory of Sforzando, and the revelation that the Queen had only a few years left to live, as her barrier magic requires the user to pay by giving up their lifespan. Once preparations were done, Hamel, Raiel, Trombone and Oboe set off once again on their quest to the northern continent. Torn between wanting to stay with her newly reunited mother and rejoining her rather ungrateful companions on their journey, she eventually chooses to follow Hamel and slowly realizes her feelings for him. At this point, the party splits up. Raiel heads to Staccato to deliver the money given to Hamel should he choose to leave Flute behind in Sforzando; Trombone goes back to Dal Segno to pay respects to those who perished there; Flute, Hamel and Oboe head north, and are joined by Cornet, Clarinet's younger sister. A sequel to the series called Violinist of Hameln: Shchelkunchik started serialization in January 2008. It involves the travels of a young boy named Schel who wishes to become a wizard. Along the way he meets Hamel's son Great. ===== In the 1960s, at Washington Square Park in Manhattan, hippies have gathered with guitars to sing protest songs. The titular antihero of the story named Fritz, a cat, and his buddies show up in an attempt to meet girls. When a trio of attractive women walk by, Fritz and his friends exhaust themselves trying to get their attention, but find that the girls are more interested in the crow standing a few feet away. The girls attempt to flirt with the crow, making unintentionally condescending remarks about black people, while Fritz looks on in annoyance. Suddenly, the crow rebukes the girls with a snide remark, indicates that he is gay and walks away. Fritz invites the girls to "seek the truth", bringing them up to his friend's apartment, where a wild party is taking place. Since the other rooms are crowded, Fritz drags the girls into the bathroom and the four of them have an orgy in the bathtub. Meanwhile, two bumbling police officers (portrayed as pigs) arrive to raid the party. As they walk up the stairs, one of the party-goers finds Fritz and the girls in the bath tub. Several others jump in, pushing Fritz to the side where he takes solace in marijuana. The two officers break into the apartment, but find that it is empty because everyone has moved into the bathroom. Fritz takes refuge in the toilet when one of the pigs enters the bathroom and begins to beat up the partygoers. As the pig becomes exhausted, a very stoned Fritz jumps out, grabs the pig's gun, and shoots the toilet, causing the water main to break and flooding everybody out of the apartment. The pigs chase Fritz down the street into a synagogue. Fritz manages to escape when the congregation gets up to celebrate the United States' decision to send more weapons into Israel. Fritz makes it back to his dormitory, where his roommates are too busy studying to pay attention to him. He decides to ditch his bore of a life and sets all of his notes and books on fire. The fire spreads throughout the dorm, finally setting the entire building ablaze. In a bar in Harlem, Fritz meets Duke the Crow at a pool table. After narrowly avoiding getting into a fight with the bartender, Duke invites Fritz to "bug out", and they steal a car, which Fritz drives off a bridge, leading Duke to save his life by grabbing onto a railing. The two arrive at the apartment of a drug dealer named Bertha, whose cannabis joints increase Fritz's libido. While fornicating with Bertha, he comes to a realization that he "must tell the people about the revolution!". He runs off into the city street and incites a riot, during which Duke is shot and killed. Fritz hides in an alley where his older fox girlfriend, Winston Schwartz, finds him and drags him on a road trip to San Francisco. When their car runs out of gas in the middle of the desert, he decides to abandon her. He later meets up with Blue, a methamphetamine- addicted Nazi rabbit biker. Along with Blue's horse girlfriend, Harriet, they take a ride to an underground hide-out, where several other revolutionaries tell Fritz of their plan to blow up a power station. When Harriet tries to get Blue to leave with her to go to a Chinese restaurant, he hits her several times and ties her down with a chain. When Fritz attempts to break it up, the leader throws a candle in his face. Blue, John, and the lizard leader then throw Harriet onto a bed to gang rape her. After setting the dynamite at the power plant, Fritz suddenly has a change of heart, and unsuccessfully attempts to remove it before being caught in the explosion. At a Los Angeles hospital, Harriet (disguised as a nun) and the girls from the New York park come to comfort him in what they believe to be his last moments. Fritz, after reciting the speech he used to pick up the girls from New York, suddenly becomes revitalized and has another orgy with the trio of girls while Harriet watches in astonishment. ===== Ventriloquist Jerry Etherson (Cliff Robertson) is performing an act with his dummy Willie in a small club in New York City. At the end of the act, Willie seems to bite Jerry's hand, and after he goes back to his dressing room he finds teeth marks on his finger. He begins to drink from a liquor bottle he'd hidden in a drawer. His agent, Frank, comes in and is upset that Jerry has resumed drinking. Jerry tells Frank, as he has numerous times before, that Willie is alive. Frank does not believe Jerry and has already pushed him into getting psychiatric help. Jerry is convinced that further psychiatric sessions would be redundant and that the only solution is to get rid of Willie and perform with a different dummy, "Goofy Goggles", from now on. He quickly comes up with new material for Goofy Goggles and locks Willie in a trunk. After the second act, Jerry refuses to comply with the owner's wish that he and his dummy mingle with the audience. His agent considers this the last straw and quits, saying that Jerry's behavior, in particular what he sees as his delusional belief that Willie is alive, are keeping him from being a star. Jerry tells Frank he is leaving for Kansas City to get away from Willie. After leaving the theater, Jerry hears Willie's voice following him wherever he goes, and sees his shadow on a wall. No one else can hear Willie, apparently confirming Frank's belief that Jerry is suffering from delusional fear. Jerry runs back into the theater. He goes into the dark dressing room, opens the trunk, throws the dummy on the floor, and smashes it. But when he turns on the light, he realizes that he destroyed the Goofy Goggles dummy instead of Willie. He can't understand how he could have been mistaken. He then sees Willie sitting on the couch, talking to him and laughing at him. Willie tells him that it was he, Jerry, who made him alive. Realizing the truth, Jerry lowers his head as Willie cackles crazily. The scene cuts to a man in Kansas City announcing the next act, "Jerry & Willie". The ventriloquist is actually Willie, and he is holding Jerry, who has been turned into a dummy. ===== A humanoid alien has just crash- landed outside a mountain village in Mexico, just across the border from Texas. He has killed a police officer and was wounded by another. When he reaches a village bar, he collapses. A sympathetic doctor operates on him, removing two bullets from his chest. The alien (who refers to himself as "Mr. Williams") becomes friends with Pedro, an orphan whose job is to clean the bar. Pedro receives a gift from Williams, who tells Pedro that he will explain it later. Meanwhile, the bartender notifies the army about Williams' location. Williams attempts to escape back to his ship, but soldiers and villagers corner him. He tries to explain that he has come in peace and that the police officer getting shot was an accident. He tells Pedro to show the gift to the doctor, but the villagers take the gift from him and set it on fire, claiming that it must be black magic or of the devil. As the villagers watch Pedro and Williams reaching for each other, fear drives them to shoot Williams before he has a chance to harm the boy. With Williams lying dead, the doctor picks up the remains of the gift from the fire. He reads the note on it aloud: "Greetings to the people of Earth: We come as friends and in peace. We bring you this gift. The following chemical formula is...a vaccine against all forms of cancer..." The rest is burned away. The doctor states, "We have not just killed a man; we have killed a dream." ===== Millionaire Paul Radin invites three people to the bomb shelter that he has built. He greets them politely but without genuine warmth as he holds a personal grudge against each of them. One is a high school teacher (Mrs. Langsford) who failed him when he was caught cheating on a test and attempting to frame another student to avoid the consequences; the second is Colonel Hawthorne, who had him court-martialed when Radin endangered lives by disobeying orders; and the third is Rev. Hughes, who made a public scandal out of a woman who committed suicide over him. Radin, with the aid of sound effects and fake radio messages, convinces the trio that an apocalyptic nuclear war will occur in just moments. He offers them refuge in the shelter if they do one thing: apologize for their actions. All three refuse his offer, valuing their honor above their lives and preferring to spend a last few moments with their loved ones or alone than to live with Radin. Radin, unable to believe that, opens the way out and pursues them to the elevator. Mrs. Langsford, still believing Radin will survive but be left alone, tells him to try to cope. She tells him that he has spent his life deluding himself about his own character and what is right and wrong. As the elevator leaves, Radin screams hysterically that this is not true. Suddenly, the sound of a bomb detonation shakes Radin's shelter. He takes the elevator to the surface and emerges to see the world devastated and in ruin. This twist ending is given another twist, however, when we learn that Radin, devastated by his hoax's failure, has lost his mind and is only imagining the total destruction. Radin sobs helplessly at the foot of a fountain outside his intact building while a police officer tries to aid him. ===== Hyder Simpson is an elderly mountain man who lives with his wife Rachel and his hound dog Rip in the backwoods. Rachel does not like having the dog indoors, but Rip saved Hyder's life once and Hyder refuses to part with him. Rachel has seen some bad omens recently and warns Hyder not to go raccoon hunting that night. When Rip dives into a pond after a raccoon, Hyder jumps in after him. Only the raccoon comes up out of the water. The next morning, Hyder and Rip wake up next to the pond. When they return home, Hyder finds that Rachel, the preacher, and the neighbors cannot hear or see him, and are tending to the burial of both him and Rip. Walking along the road, Hyder and Rip encounter an unfamiliar fence and follow it. They come to a gate tended by a man, who explains that Hyder can enter the Elysian Fields of the afterlife. Told that Rip cannot enter and will be taken to a special afterlife for dogs, Hyder angrily declines the offer of entry and decides to keep walking along the "Eternity Road," saying, "Any place that's too high-falutin' for Rip is too fancy for me." Later, Hyder and Rip stop to rest and are met by a young man, who introduces himself as an angel dispatched to find them and take them to Heaven. When Hyder recounts his previous encounter, the angel tells him that gate is actually the entrance to Hell. The gatekeeper had stopped Rip from entering because Rip would have smelled the brimstone inside and warned Hyder that something was wrong. The angel says, "You see, Mr. Simpson, a man, well, he'll walk right into Hell with both eyes open. But even the Devil can't fool a dog!" As the angel leads Hyder along the Eternity Road toward Heaven, he tells Hyder that a square dance and raccoon hunt are scheduled for that night. He also assures Hyder that Rachel, who will soon be coming along the road, will not be misled into entering Hell. ===== Actor Rance McGrew, who stars in a TV series as the fictional heroic marshal of the same name, arrives late to shoot the final scenes of an episode in which his character pursues Jesse James. According to the script, Rance turns away from a seemingly beaten Jesse, who then tries to shoot him in the back. The man playing Jesse says Jesse James fighting dishonorably is historically inaccurate, and asks permission to shout at Rance before firing, but Rance points out that shouting out a warning to a gunman who has already proven himself to be a better fighter makes no sense. Suddenly, Rance finds himself in a real Old West saloon. The real Jesse James walks in and says that he, Billy the Kid, and other famous outlaws are not pleased with the way that they are portrayed on McGrew's show. He challenges Rance to a fast draw showdown. Rance is unwilling, realizing he has no chance against a real gunfighter, but Jesse will not allow him to walk away. When the countdown finishes, Rance struggles for several seconds to get his gun out of its holster, then unintentionally flings it in the air in his panic. As Jesse aims his gun at Rance's forehead, Rance drops to his knees, pleading that he will do anything if Jesse spares him. Jesse accepts and disappears. Rance finds himself back on the set, and his agent is announced. The agent turns out to be Jesse James himself, in Hollywood garb. He insists that the episode be revised so that instead of trying to shoot Rance in the back, Jesse James throws Rance McGrew out the saloon window and makes his escape. The scene is shot to Jesse's satisfaction. As Jesse drives Rance back home, he goes over revisions to future episodes in which Rance McGrew fights Jesse's afterlife buddies. ===== The storyline revolves around the concept of the "Godwave", an interstellar phenomenon created by the Source that spread across the universe, creating gods on its first pass before reaching the edge of the universe and bouncing back, creating demigods and metahumans on its second pass. The Godwave threatens reality when it reaches back to its starting point, altering or neutralizing the abilities of various metahumans and making ordinary humans feel like something is missing. The superheroes of Earth and the New Gods of New Genesis battle Darkseid to prevent him from accomplishing his plan to seize the power of the Godwave. Darkseid and his forces stage an invasion of Earth before travelling to the Source Wall where they are confronted by the heroes. ===== In order to save his family and home town, contractor Norman Waters (Tony Danza) is tasked by an angel named Zach (Wallace Shawn) to rebuild Noah's Ark in 40 days to prepare for a great massive flood. ===== On Christmas Eve in Wichita, Kansas, mob lawyer Charlie Arglist (Cusack) and crooked businessman and pornographer Vic Cavanaugh (Thornton), gather together $2 million they have stolen from their boss, mobster Bill Guerrard (Quaid). While it initially appears that there will be an easy getaway for the pair, they learn that the roads out of the city are too icy to drive on. Vic takes the cash for safe- keeping and they split up and try their best to evade being captured by Guerrard and his men, who have discovered their scheme. Charlie visits Sweet Cakes, a local strip-club owned by Vic and run by Renata Crest, a woman whom Charlie has long lusted after. She quickly deciphers that he's hiding something. He hints at the existence of the money, and she suggests they run away together. Before they can do that however, she asks Charlie to steal an incriminating picture of herself and a local politician from Vic. After talking to his friend Sidney, a bouncer at Sweet Cakes, Charlie goes to another strip club owned by Vic, and takes the photo from a safe. Before he can leave, Roy Gelles, one of Guerrards enforcers, arrives looking for Charlie. Charlie hides in the men's restroom as Gelles enters. Roy reads aloud a limerick written in red marker on the wall above the urinal. After evading Gelles, Charlie goes to a local restaurant/bar and runs into his friend Pete, who is married to Charlie's ex-wife Sarabeth. Pete is very drunk, and decides to tag along with Charlie for as long as it takes to pass out. Charlie calls Vic from a pay phone, noticing the same limerick in red marker above the phone. He frantically tells Vic that Gelles is in town, but Vic dismisses this news, saying that Gelles has family in Wichita. Charlie goes back to Renata and gives her the photo, and she tells him that Vic had called her earlier and said that Charlie had been right about mob enforcer Roy Gelles tailing them. Charlie takes Pete home after he vomits in Charlie's car, leaving him passed out on the floor of his living room. Charlie then "borrows" a Mercedes Benz that Pete had bought for Sarabeth, and goes to Vic's house. He finds Vic's wife dead from a gunshot wound to her head. Vic arrives and reveals that he's locked Roy in an industrial clothes trunk. The two stuff Roy and Vic's dead wife into the trunk of Charlie's "borrowed" Mercedes and head for a local lake. On the way, Roy continues yelling at the two of them, claiming that it was Vic who shot his wife. Vic gets annoyed and shoots a hole in the trunk, silencing Roy. Charlie and Vic get the trunk down to the lake dock, but it's shot open from the inside by Gelles, with Vic being shot in the process. After Gelles gets out of the trunk a shootout ensues, ending with Roy dead and Vic falling into the frozen lake when the dock collapses. Charlie realizes that Vic was going to kill him and take the money for himself, so he leaves Vic to die. Charlie drags Vic's wife to the collapsed dock and slides her into the lake, knocking a pleading Vic underwater. Charlie opens Vic's suit case expecting to find the stolen money, only to see Vic's clothes. He realizes that without Vic, he will probably never find the money. Charlie runs back to the dock to save Vic, but it is too late. Vic has already drowned in the freezing water, with his wife's arms draped around him. Returning to Sweet Cakes, Charlie finds that Bill Guerrard himself has come to town, and he has tied Renata to a desk chair. Charlie finds a shotgun in the bar and turns it on Guerrard. Another shootout ensues, but the shotgun is loaded with small caliber shot, which only maims Guerrard, giving him the opportunity to stab Charlie in the foot. Renata distracts Guerrard long enough for Charlie to reload and finally kill him. Charlie and Renata go back to her house, where Charlie finds the money hidden there while Renata takes a shower. It's revealed via flashbacks that Vic and Renata were planning to run away together after Vic had killed Charlie. Charlie shoots Renata just before she can kill him with a hidden straight razor. As Charlie is driving out of town with the stolen millions, he sees Sidney on the side of the road with his kids in a motor home. Charlie stops to offer assistance. Sidney says that he is out of gas, so Charlie lets him syphon some gasoline out of his car. As Sidney is trying to start the motor home, Charlie takes out a red Sharpie and writes the limerick "As Wichita falls, so falls Wichita Falls" on the back of the RV, revealing that it was Charlie who had been writing it all over town. Sidney gets the motor home started, accidentally knocks Charlie down, and drives away. Charlie gets up and returns to the "borrowed" Mercedes. Pete wakes up in the back seat, and the duo drive away together for warmer weather. ===== 14 years ago, a girl fell to her death from the Ferris wheel in an amusement park and the park's owner hanged himself from the wheel. The park has been closed down by the government since then. Alan, a reporter, travels to the park out of curiosity and disappears after being pulled underground by an unseen force. Alan's sister, Yen, decides to enter the deserted park to search for her brother. Yen's mother, a ghostbuster who captures spirits with a magic camera, tells Yen that she knows Alan is dead and asks Yen not to find him. However, Yen insists that Alan is still alive and she goes to the park against her mother's will, bringing along six of her friends (Ka-ho, Dan, YY, Ken, Pinky and Shan). They meet the park's caretaker, a weird-looking old man, who shouts at them to leave, warning them that the park is haunted. They do not believe him and return to the park again at night, thinking that the old man is asleep. While waiting, Ka-ho tells them that he heard that the park used to be a cemetery before it was built. Strange things start to happen when they split up to find Alan. Ka-ho sees something on his camera recorder and follows it into the Haunted House. One hour later, when everyone comes back to the meeting point, they see that Ka-ho is missing too. They split up into two groups again to find him. Ken and Pinky take a ride on the carousel but it starts spinning at a fast speed on its own. Ken manages to jump off the carousel but accidentally knocks Pinky out in the process. Shan is left behind with Pinky while Ken runs away in fear and almost dies from being drowned by a ghost. His crucifix saves him but does not prevent him from being decapitated on a wire later on. Pinky is possessed and dies after slitting her wrist. Shan is apparently killed after being strangled by the possessed Pinky but his lucky charm saves him. Yen, YY and Dan enter the Haunted House and the wax figures inside come to life and attack them. YY is killed by the figurines while Dan dies after being set on fire by the ghosts. Only Yen is left alive and she weeps over YY's body, while the possessed caretaker approaches her from behind with an axe. Before he can kill her, Yen's mother arrives and starts to fight the evils. She is possessed by the demon and she asks Yen to capture the demon with her magic camera, which Yen does reluctantly. Yen's mother dies and before dying, she asks Yen to snap pictures of her deceased friends and other victims, and burn the photos to put them to rest. Yen is also briefly re-united with her deceased brother. At the last moment, Shan appears and reveals that he had been saved by his lucky charm. In the epilogue, Yen is seen taking over her late mother's duties as a ghostbuster while Shan continues to work as a car mechanic. When Yen calls Shan at work, Shan does not answer as he is killed mysteriously after being crushed by a car. In fact, the demon had survived in their group photo and it returns to haunt Yen as the film ends. ===== Nuvo hangs out with a group of pals who have an inordinate interest in recreational drugs. Like them, he is always interested in the next new drug to use. He and his friends Swatch, Chad, Theo and Ping know of a new drug called the Helix. They want to use it, but rumors exist that it has rather unpredictable effects. Used properly, it can give its users enlightenment, but a bad trip can cause insanity or worse. Nuvo's interest in the Helix is more philosophical than recreational, and he falls in with two mysterious figures, Infiniti and Orpheum, who are searching for The Other One—a person who can break through to a new level of understanding while under the effects of the Helix. ===== Flama and Moko are two 14-year-old boys who have been friends for a long time. One Sunday afternoon, Flama invites Moko to play videogames while his mother is not home. There they have everything they need to entertain themselves: videogames, pizza delivery, sodas, manga pornography and... no parents. But when the power goes out what seemed like a regular day becomes an adventure. ===== Babel has four main strains of actions and characters which are location based. The film is not edited in a linear chronological order. ===== As Basheer, who is jailed for writing against the ruling British, Gopakumar delivers a memorable performance. Basheer befriends his fellow-inmates and a considerate young jailor. One day, Basheer hears a woman's voice from the other side of the wall – the women's prison. Eventually the two jailbirds become lovebirds. They exchange gifts, and their hearts, without meeting each other. Narayani then comes up with a plan for a meeting: they decide to meet at the hospital a few days later. But before that, Basheer is released, unexpectedly. For once, he does not want the freedom he had craved for. The novel ends with Basheer standing outside the prison with a rose in his hand. ===== In April 1975, civil war breaks out; Beirut is partitioned along a line separating the Muslim-Christian-Jewish mixed West Beirut from the quasi- Christian East Beirut. After the line was created, Tarek is now considered to live in West Beirut (the mixed part and Tarek is Muslim himself) and is in high school, making Super 8 movies with his friend, Omar. At first the war is a lark: school has closed (and is situated in East Beirut no longer accessible to West Beirut residents), the violence is fascinating, getting from West to East is a game. His mother wants to leave the country; but his father refuses. Tarek spends time with May, an orphaned Christian girl living in his building. By accident, Tarek goes to an infamous brothel in the war-torn Zeytouni Quarter, meeting its legendary madam, Oum Walid. He then takes Omar and May there. Family tensions rise. Later on and as he comes of age, the war moves inexorably from adventure to a nationwide tragedy. ===== The story concerns the chance meeting between an elderly, witty, but miserly man and his estranged young niece. Both characters are strong and stubborn, but discover an affection and affinity for each other. The niece moves into the miser's house, and what follows is a battle of wills enjoyed by both parties. Indeed, on occasion, both characters scheme to achieve the same outcome (such as ensuring that the niece will miss a boat to Canada that would remove her from her uncle's life). Under his niece's influence, the uncle reluctantly abandons some of his financial prejudices. The book also chronicles their two romances, and, by the end, both are married to suitable partners. ===== The boss of a black market ring (known only as "The Chief") wants to smuggle a batch of jewelry from a foreign state into the Soviet Union by hiding it inside the orthopedic cast of a courier. The Chief sends a minor henchman named Gennadiy 'Gesha' Kozodoyev (played by Mironov) to serve as the courier. Kozodoyev travels to Turkey via a tourist cruise ship. The local co-conspirators do not know what the courier looks like; they only know that he is supposed to say a code word to identify himself. Due to a mix- up, they mistake Kozodoyev's fellow passenger from the cruise ship, the "ordinary Soviet citizen" Semyon Gorbunkov (played by Nikulin) for the courier. They place a cast around his arm and put the contraband jewels inside the cast. Upon the cruise ship's return to the Soviet Union, Gorbunkov lets the police know what happened, and the police captain, who is working undercover as a taxi driver, uses Gorbunkov as bait to catch the criminals. Gesha and Lyolik (another of Chief's henchmen, played by Papanov) attempt to lure Gorbunkov into situations where they can quietly, without a wetwork, remove the cast and reclaim the contraband jewels. On one such occasion, Gesha invites Gorbunkov to a fancy restaurant with the intention of getting Gorbunkov drunk enough for Lyolik to subdue him. However, both Gesha and Gorbunkov become drunk and Gorbunkov is taken home by the police after he and Gesha cause a scene. Gorbunkov's wife begins to suspect either that he has been recruited by foreign intelligence after finding a large amount of money and a gun loaded with blanks in Gorbunkov's possession (previously given to him by the police), or that he is having an affair. Gorbunkov explains that he is working with the Soviet police on a secret mission, but cannot divulge any details. The Chief sends Anna Sergeyevna, a female operative, to help retrieve the cast. Sergeyevna invites Gorbunkov to her hotel room under the pretense of wanting to sell Gorbunkov a gown and spikes his drink with a sleeping pill. As Gorbunkov is about to pass out, his building's nosy superintendent who had followed Gorbunkov brings his wife into the hotel room before either Lyolik or the police can get to him. Gorbunkov awakens the next morning to find that his wife has assumed that his story was all a cover up for an affair, and has left with the children. The police in the meantime have deduced that Gesha is involved with the smuggling scheme surrounding the cast, and ask Gorbunkov to mention to Gesha that he is planning to travel to another city and will have his cast removed there. Gesha reports this to the Chief, who sends Lyolik disguised as a taxi driver to pick up Gorbunkov. Gorbunkov assumes that Lyolik is also an undercover policeman, and gives away the fact that he has been in contact with the police the entire time. Lyolik plays along and tells Gorbunkov that he has been authorized to remove the cast a day early at a safehouse along the way to Dubrovka. As Lyolik is about to remove the cast, Gorbunkov deduces that Lyolik is actually a criminal and attempts to escape. Lyolik and Gesha chase Gorbunkov and with the help of the Chief himself, they capture Gorbunkov. Upon removing Gorbunkov's cast, they realize that the police had removed the diamonds in the cast a long time ago. The criminals kidnap Gorbunkov and attempt to flee as the police track them down in a helicopter and capture them. Gorbunkov is reunited with his family, with the police having explained the situation to his wife. Gorbunkov goes on vacation with his family, albeit now with a broken leg as a result of the kidnapping. ===== Set in the far future, it consists of two stories about how the peaceful Archivists of the library planet Earth have to deal with warmongers arriving and trying to exploit knowledge for power. It contains a lot of pictures and is aimed at children or adolescents. Category:1980 American novels Category:Novels by Frank Herbert Category:American science fiction novels Category:Ace Books books ===== A toymaker (Semon) reads L. Frank Baum's book to his granddaughter. In the story the Land of Oz is ruled by Prime Minister Kruel (Josef Swickard), aided by Ambassador Wikked (Otto Lederer), Lady Vishuss (Virginia Pearson), and the Wizard (Charles Murray), a "medicine-show hokum hustler". When the discontented people, led by Prince Kynd (Bryant Washburn), demand the return of the princess, who disappeared while a baby many years before, so she can be crowned their rightful ruler, Kruel has the Wizard distract them with a parlor trick: making a female impersonator (Frederick Ko Vert) appear out of a seemingly empty basket. Kruel sends Wikked on a mission. Meanwhile, in Kansas, Dorothy (Dorothy Dwan) lives on a farm with her relatives. While Aunt Em (Mary Carr) is a kind and caring woman, Uncle Henry (Frank Alexander) is an obese man with a short temper who shows little love for his niece. He also abuses his farmhands: Snowball (credited to G. Howe Black, a stage name for Spencer Bell, who frequently appeared in Semon's films) and Hardy's and Semon's unnamed characters. The latter two are both in love with Dorothy, who favors Hardy's character. Aunt Em reveals to Dorothy that she was placed on their doorstep as a baby, along with an envelope and instructions that it be opened only when she turned 18. On her 18th birthday, however, Wikked and his minions arrive at the farm by biplane and demand the envelope. When Uncle Henry refuses to hand it over, Wikked suborns Hardy's character by promising him wealth and Dorothy. Wikked then has Dorothy tied to a rope and raised high up a tower; his men start a fire underneath the rope. Hardy's character finds the note, but Semon's character takes it and saves Dorothy, only to have Wikked and his men capture them all at gunpoint. Then a tornado suddenly strikes. Dorothy, the two rivals for her affection, and Uncle Henry take shelter inside a small wooden shed, which is—along with Snowball—carried aloft by the violent wind and soon deposited in the Land of Oz. Dorothy finally reads the contents of the envelope; it declares that she, Princess Dorothea, is the rightful ruler of Oz. Thwarted, Kruel blames the farmhands for kidnapping her and orders the Wizard to transform them into something else, such as monkeys, which he is of course unable to do. Chased by Kruel's soldiers, Semon's character disguises himself as a scarecrow, while Hardy improvises a costume from the pile of tin in which he is hiding. They are still eventually captured by the soldiers. During their trial, the Tin Man accuses his fellow farmhands of kidnapping Dorothy. Kynd has the Scarecrow and Snowball put in the dungeon. Kruel makes the Tin Man "Knight of the Garter" and Uncle Henry the "Prince of Whales". Wikked suggests he retain his power by marrying Dorothy. The Wizard then helps the two prisoners escape by giving Snowball a lion costume, which he uses to scare away the guards. Though the Scarecrow manages to reach Dorothy to warn her against Kruel, he is chased back down into the dungeon by the Tin Man, and ends up getting trapped inside a lion cage (with real lions) for a while. He and Snowball finally escape. When Kynd finds Kruel trying to force Dorothy to marry him, they engage in a sword fight. When Kruel's henchmen intervene and help disarm Kynd, the Scarecrow saves Dorothy and Kynd. Defeated, Kruel claims that he took Dorothy to Kansas in order to protect her from court factions out to harm her, but she orders that he be taken away. The Scarecrow is heartbroken to discover that Dorothy has fallen for Prince Kynd. He then flees up a tower from the Tin Man, who tries to blast him with a cannon. Snowball flies a biplane overhead, and the Scarecrow manages to grab a rope ladder dangling underneath it. However, the ladder breaks, and he falls. The scene shifts abruptly back to the little girl, who had fallen asleep. She wakes up and leaves. The grandfather reads from the book that Dorothy marries Prince Kynd and they live happily ever after. ===== Scott Monroe, an American bodyguard and the protagonist of the game, is engaged to Miyu Sato, daughter of Isao Sato. At a hotel in Los Angeles, California, Scott is to meet Isao for the first time. A gang manages to disguise themselves as the hotel staff and open fire on Sato's room. Scott tries to help, but is knocked unconscious. He awakens and grabs a pistol off a dead bodyguard, fights through the gang, and meets up with Sato, who is injured, on the roof. Scott learns the ways of the katana from Sato after being attacked by a waiter with a sword. Sato and Scott retreat to Sato's personal suite, where Scott covers Miyu, Sato, and Ryuichi, one of Sato's guards, as they head to their car in the parking lot. Scott eventually meets up with them, but Ryuichi turns on them and kidnaps both Sato and Miyu. Scott pursues the car and saves Isao after shooting the car and besting the driver in sword combat, while Ryuichi manages to escape with Miyu. In Little Tokyo, they meet up with Tony Tanaka, Sato's friend in Los Angeles. Sato is revealed to be the Oyabun of one of the largest Yakuza families. To track down Ryuichi, Scott raids the Angel's Heaven, a spa which Ryuichi's mistress Angel owns, and Extreme Wheels, Ryuichi's car workshop, secretly used as a front to ship weapons. Ryuichi confronts Scott at an airport and bests him in combat, but spares him, as he escapes to Japan with Miyu. The yakuza will only hand Miyu over if the Katana Giri, a katana once used to execute dishonorable godfathers, is given as ransom. Sato gives Scott the Giri, before dying of his injuries. At Tokyo, Scott makes contact with Otori, a former samurai, and Harry Tanner, an American nightclub owner who assists him in tracking down Ryuichi. Harry leads Scott to a waste processing plant off the coast of Tokyo, where Ryuichi delivers Miyu to Tokai, the true antagonist of the game. Ryuichi duels Scott again, but is defeated. Scott spares him, but Ryuichi is murdered by a sniper while giving information to Scott. Tokai is revealed to have taken over the major franchises of Tokyo - financing, gaming, Geisha houses, and docks - bringing down the Sanro Kai, the leaders of these districts. Scott goes to the four separate districts, either managing to restore faith in the Sato Gumi to old members of the Sanro Kai or overthrowing a new leader appointed by Tokai. Eventually, Scott delivers the Giri to Otori for safekeeping. Back at Harry's bar, Tokai is waiting for Scott in the conference room. Harry turns on Scott, knocking him unconscious. Scott is brought down into the cellar to be tortured by Dozan, one of Tokai's henchmen. Scott manages to grab a sword and bring down Dozan, and escapes the cellar to interrogate Harry. Harry grabs a katana and battles Scott, giving him information after he is defeated and begging for his life. Whether Harry lives or dies, like most duels, is up to the player. Harry reveals that Tokai has raided Otori's dojo, having hired the Komori, a new wave of elite ninjas. During the attack, Otori's daughter Mariko is poisoned by the Komori leader, who wields a poisonous katana, as she tries to protect the Katana Giri in Otori's shrine. The attack is thwarted, and Scott travels to one of Tokai's bases, where he is going to execute the members of the Sanro Kai. Scott duels Tokai, learning he wanted the Giri to kill the Kai; they executed Tokai's father with the sword, and he wanted to avenge his father with it. Scott bests him and saves most of the Sanro Kai, but Tokai flees, thanks to a distraction by a Komori. After catching up to him, Scott is forced to duel with the Komori leader, allowing Tokai to escape; Scott emerges victorious, but it is unknown whether life or death of the leader is canonical. Otori and Scott travel to Tokai's private residence for the final battle. Otori is bent on avenging his daughter, and goes on his own to create a diversion for Scott. During the raid, Otori is cut and poisoned by a Komori blade. Scott confronts Tokai one last time, and defeats him. Tokai pleads with Scott to let him live, telling him that only he has the antidote for what has poisoned Otori and Mariko. Here, the player is presented with a choice: they may either protect Tokai from an approaching Otori, or stand by and let Otori kill Tokai. If Scott moves to defend Tokai, he fights Otori and breaks the Katana Giri in the process. Otori respects Scott's action and honors him. Otori and his daughter are cured with the antidote. At the end of the game, all the characters are at Isao's funeral. The Sanro Kai explains that they understand Tokai's motivation for his actions, but he must be punished. If Scott lets Otori kill Tokai or is unable to defeat Otori, then Tokai is killed; Otori and Mariko both die from the poison. Scott and Miyu leave Tokai's estate alone, ending the game on a more negative note. ===== The tale is narrated in the first person by Booth, an elderly resident of Falmouth, Maine, a small town which neighbors Jerusalem's Lot. Although things got quiet after Jerusalem's Lot was consumed by a brush fire (set by the protagonists in 'Salem's Lot, though they are never mentioned by name), some of the vampires have survived. Residents of Falmouth and other communities neighboring Jerusalem's Lot know of the vampires, but never speak of it. Booth admits that people in Falmouth, including himself (a non-Catholic), carry crucifixes, rosaries, or devotional medals for protection. No one from any of the neighboring communities ever ventures near Jerusalem's Lot, save a loudmouthed trucker who derides it all as nonsense in a fit of drunken bravado one night and goes into the area, only to never be seen again. Three years after the events of Salem's Lot, Booth and his friend, bar owner Herb "Tookey" Tooklander, attempt to rescue the family of a motorist named Gerard Lumley, whose vehicle had become stranded in a ferocious blizzard at night. At first, mildly contemptuous of Lumley for driving in such weather, both men are horrified when they realize that Lumley's vehicle is stranded in Jerusalem's Lot, and reluctantly drive out in an International Scout in an attempt to save his family. Instead, they barely manage to save themselves from Lumley's wife and daughter, who have been turned into vampires. Lumley falls victim to his wife. Booth himself nearly falls victim to Lumley's daughter. Only Tookey’s swift action of throwing a Douay Bible at her saves him, driving her off when it hits her. The two men manage to get into their vehicle and drive away. Booth concludes the story by saying Tookey died of a myocardial infarction a couple of years after the incident. He mentions that he has nightmares about that night, and Lumley’s daughter in particular. At the very end, he warns the reader that if they are in the area, to never go up the road to Jerusalem's Lot for any reason, especially at night, lest they encounter Lumley’s daughter, the little girl who is "still waiting for her goodnight kiss". ===== Joel Converse is a lawyer, having previously been a fighter pilot in the Vietnam War. Because of his wartime experiences with Command Saigon, in the form of a psychopathic general named "Mad" Marcus Delavane, he is chosen to thwart a cabal of former generals bent on world domination. ===== The first part of a two-chapter story that is chronologically set between the events of Samurai Shodown and Samurai Shodown II, Samurai Shodown III follows the journey of a young semi-amnesic boy named Shizumaru Hisame as he and many other warriors seek out a powerful and dangerous swordsman named Zankuro Minazuki for their own personal reasons. ===== A homicidal alien race is invading Earth, and the only thing that stands between them and world domination are a special forces team known as the "Alien Busters", composed of Karen (absent in the Master System version, named "Karla" in some versions), Garth (named "Gordon" in some versions) and Scooter (the robot, named "Slammer" in Master System and PAL versions). ===== There are four defining episodes in the story, and a variety of subplots and minor threads — many of them unrelated to the main story. The story begins late in the 20th century, and tracks the life of the main protagonist, Lewis Crane. The first of four episodes opens the story. An earthquake in California in the late 20th century has left seven-year-old Lewis Crane a crippled, homeless orphan. The second major episode shows Crane as an adult, world's foremost earthquake expert, a Nobel laureate, ruthless scientist, and entrepreneur dedicated to relieving the misery of those affected by earthquakes. He is also the moving force behind Foundation, an organization whose purpose is to further scientific research on earthquakes. Foundation has just perfected the technology to predict earthquakes to within minutes of due time, intensity, and geographical areas that will be affected. His first prediction is for Sado island in Japan—according to him, most of the island will be destroyed, as will the inhabited village of Aikawa. Local authorities not only ignore his warnings, but vilify him. On the predicted day of the earthquake, Crane has collected a lot of media and relief organizations to cover the event. Many of them are on a small part of the island that will be safe, according to the prediction, while others are covering the event from the air. Directly before the predicted time, the mayor of Aikawa arrives with police to arrest and deport Crane as a fear-monger; at that moment, the earthquake hits. By the time the dust settles, Crane's predictions have come true. The third major episode is set in the US. Crane's model has predicted that a major quake is to hit the areas around parts of the Mississippi river. A business politician cartel of disbelievers decides to use this prediction to further their interests in the presidential elections due soon. The cartel penetrates the Foundation, and tweaks their field data so the prediction is revealed to be a few months sooner. The cartel wins the elections, and Lewis loses credibility when the quake does not occur on the announced date. A postmortem at Foundation uncovers the altered data, and the fact that the quake is still due in a few months. After much public relations work, a few people are willing to take precautions, but many are not listening, as the governmental authorities attempt to silence Crane and his Foundation. The quake hits as predicted, and Lewis emerges a hero and a prophet. The fourth and final episode involves a bold plan to banish earthquakes from Earth forever by "spot welding" the plates forming earth's crust at about 50 strategic places, thus stopping their movement. This welding will be done by detonating powerful nuclear bombs deep inside the earth with energies directed downwards, with no impact on the surface. There are two objections from naysayers; first, that the detonation of nuclear bombs is dangerous, and second, that there may be unforeseen consequences by stopping all Earth's tectonic activity. This is when another long-range earthquake prediction is made. A few decades hence, a Richter 10 quake will split much of California from the North American mainland, and make it an island in the Pacific, with massive losses of life and property. However, if the first of the 50 odd "spot welds" is done at a certain location in the Western US, and within a certain time window, this disaster can be averted. Lewis convinces the powers that run the country of the event, and a secret project on the lines of Manhattan Project is conceived for the first "spot weld". Just before the nukes are to be triggered, a terrorist attack on the project destroys the facility; Lewis loses his wife and child in the attack. The book ends with Lewis's suicide by remaining in the quake zone when it finally hits. ===== Based on The Uncanny X-Men issue 123–125, Spider-Man has been noticing strange occurrences in the city as one by one, the X-Men are being captured by a man who calls himself Arcade. After witnessing Gambit's abduction, he tracks Arcade down to an abandoned building, where he, along with Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine and Gambit, are placed in the deadly games of Murderworld, a simulated program designed by Arcade to torture and kill his victims. After surviving the deadly traps, the X-Men escape only to be recaptured and it's up to Spider-Man to stop Arcade. After defeating him, he blows the building up. Spider-Man and the others survive but there is no sign of Arcade. ===== Neo Contra takes place during A.D. 4444 when the Earth has been transformed into a prison planet, home to criminals and political rebels. From this underworld society rises a new order called "Neo Contra". This government quickly showed its true colors, as it has other plans than bringing back normal civilization. Carrying out this new threat are four renegade Contras (elite warriors), who are called the Four Elite, united under the command of mysterious Master Contra. Thus, Bill Rizer is partnered with Genbei "Jaguar" Yagyu, a samurai, and the two are sent to Earth to deal with the Neo Contra threat. After defeating the Four Elite, the heroes discover the truth behind "Neo Contra", which is a facade for "Project C", a plan to create half-human AI from Bill Rizer's DNA, as an ultimate weapon, which is now Master Contra. Bill Rizer himself is just a clone of the original one, a side-objective of "Project C". With the help of Mystery G, an elder Contra operative, the heroes managed to defeat Master Contra and put an end to "Project C". ===== A Police Inspector and a vicar play a round of golf. The Police Inspector has a Constable help him to cheat by removing his golf ball from awkward situations, and the vicar ultimately requests divine intervention. ===== Drama critic Fitzgerald Fortune (Barry Morse), a caustic and cruel man, goes to Throckmorton's Curio Shop to buy his wife Esther a player piano as a 26th birthday present. The grouchy owner (Philip Coolidge) demonstrates the piano by placing a roll of music inside. As it plays "I'm in the Mood for Love", he begins speaking in a gentle, sentimental manner, even giving Fitzgerald a 20% discount because it is a gift. When the music stops, the owner resumes his ill-tempered sniping. Esther (Joan Hackett) asks why, after she has often said that she wants to learn to play the piano, Fitzgerald bought her a player piano. He cheerfully tells her that this will save her the time and expense of taking piano lessons, only to find that she has no talent for the instrument. As he demonstrates the piano by playing a roll for the song "Smiles" from The Passing Show of 1918, the Fortunes' normally solemn butler Marvin (Cyril Delavanti) begins to grin brightly. He says that he is happy because he is well paid, enjoys his work, and likes his two employers. When Fitzgerald protests that he treats Marvin poorly, Marvin reveals he finds his ego and temper amusing, to the point where he frequently has to restrain himself from laughing aloud. Again, this change ends when the tune does. Fitzgerald suspects that the piano makes people reveal their innermost thoughts. He tests it further by playing a roll for Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance" on the piano for Esther. She says she hates him and has come to believe that he married her because he wanted someone to bully rather than to love. She attributes her marrying him to youthful naïveté. Satisfied with the piano's performance, Fitzgerald decides to use it on the birthday party guests. The first guest to arrive is the playwright Gregory Walker (Don Durant). Gregory professes a distaste for any emotional involvement, but Fitzgerald plays a roll for "These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)". As it plays, Gregory admits to strong feelings for Esther, and even confesses that they had a tryst while she was on vacation. Esther enters and is mortified and implores Fitzgerald not to play the piano to the other guests. The rest of the guests arrive. Marge Moore (Muriel Landers) is the life of the party, enjoying the food and company while making jokes about her heavyset figure. When no one immediately volunteers for Fitzgerald's "party game", he picks Marge as the first to listen to the piano. As the piano plays Debussy's "Clair de lune", Marge goes into a trance, identifying herself as a little girl named Tina who loves to dance ballet. Fitzgerald encourages her to demonstrate, and she does so, prompting laughter from all of the party guests except Esther and Gregory. With further prompting, Marge speaks dreamily about her desire to be a tiny, "perfectly formed" snowflake, melting in the hand of a man who loves her. The guests stop laughing, while Fortune continues to roar with glee. The song ends, and a humiliated Marge takes her seat. Fitzgerald has Esther insert a new roll, which he claims will "bring out the devil" among them. He hands her a roll for the song "Melody in F", but she secretly switches rolls. The piano begins to play Brahms's Lullaby. The music makes Fitzgerald speak in a petulant, frightened voice. At the guests' prompting, he admits that, deep down, he is terrified of everything and everyone. He confesses that he hurt Marge and Gregory because he is jealous of Marge's eagerness for life and Gregory's talent. The guests leave without comment as Fitzgerald makes his final confession: he treated Esther with coldness and cruelty because he lacks the emotional maturity to receive and reciprocate her love. Gregory asks Esther to leave with him, and she does so, leaving Fortune alone. Fitzgerald, distraught at being abandoned, throws a tantrum, destroying furniture and decorations in the room. He ends his tirade by ripping the roll from the piano. Marvin enters; remembering his earlier confession Fitzgerald orders "Don't laugh at me." A somber Marvin replies, "I'm not laughing, Mr. Fortune. You're not funny anymore." ===== David Gurney wakes up from a night of wild partying to find that nobody recognizes him, and all evidence of his identity had disappeared. His wife, friends, co-workers, and mother all deny knowing him. He is placed in an insane asylum, where his doctor, Koslenko, tells him that David Gurney doesn't exist, and is only a delusional construct. Gurney deems this impossible since he has extensive memories of his life and the people he knows, and becomes convinced that someone wants to blot him out. He jumps through the window of the asylum, steals a van, and goes searching for evidence of his identity. He finds a photograph of him holding his wife, and says that the photo and its date disprove his wife's claim that she never saw him before. However, when the police arrive with the psychiatrist, the picture has somehow changed and portrays Gurney alone, inexplicably grasping thin air. He throws himself to the ground and wakes up in his bed. The whole adventure was a bad dream. His wife gets up from the bed and talks to him from the bathroom, where she removes cream from her face. When she emerges, Gurney is horrified to discover that, even though she acts and talks the same way, his wife does not look at all like the wife he knows. ===== In 1943 in German-occupied France during World War II, 18-year-old British courier Susan Traherne (Meryl Streep) waits in the woods for a message to be dropped by parachute from a British plane. After experiencing airplane trouble, a fellow British operative named Lazar (Sam Neill) parachutes down, and Susan explains how things are run at her post. When they are nearly caught by German troops, Susan's tough exterior cracks, and she cries on Lazar's shoulder. Soon after, the couple returns to Susan's home and make love. Lazar leaves the next morning, without saying goodbye to Susan. However, he leaves behind his cuff-links for her as a gift which Susan then carries around with her for the remainder of the film. Two years later after the war ends in 1945, while travelling through Europe with Susan, a man named Tony Radley drops dead of a heart attack in a hotel lobby in Brussels. Raymond Brock (Charles Dance) from the British Embassy arrives to oversee Radley's funeral, and consoles his widow, Susan. Sometime later at the embassy, Susan confesses to Raymond that she and Radley were not really married; they only posed as husband and wife during the war, and asks him to tell Radley's real wife that the man died while traveling alone. After returning to London for the first time in two years, Susan and Raymond begin a relationship, and he travels from his post in Belgium to visit her in England every weekend. Susan takes a job as a clerk in a small shipping firm in the East End. Susan's friend and colleague, the spunky 18-year-old Alice Park (Tracey Ullman), moves in with her, and they engage in a bohemian lifestyle, visiting nightclubs together. Susan is restless in her post-war life, and expresses frustration with her job at the shipping office. During the winter of 1945-1946, she quarrels with Raymond, and suggests they separate for the winter. Skipping forward to 1953, Susan is now working as a member of Queen Elizabeth's coronation committee. She has moved into a larger apartment, and Alice is still her roommate. One day, Susan asks one of Alice's former boyfriends and a fellow working-class lover, Mick (Sting), to father her child. He reluctantly agrees to conceive a child with her, but is discouraged that she would want to raise the baby without him. When her job in the coronation committee is done, Susan begins working in advertising, but leaves within months, finding the work unsatisfying. Over time, Mick tries to court Susan, but she refuses to consider having a real relationship with him. After 18 months of trying and failing to become pregnant, Susan ends their involvement which leads to a confrontation on New Year's Day in 1955 between her and Mick in her apartment which ends with Susan firing a gun above Mick's head to make him leave. Alice telephones Susan's former boyfriend, Raymond (who is still working in the diplomatic corps), to report that Susan has suffered a nervous breakdown. He arrives to visit her in the hospital, and in time, Raymond and Susan get married. In a jump-forward to November 1956, Susan remains frustrated with her life despite that she is married and now living in a fancy rowhouse in the West End. Susan's unstable mental state becomes apparent to everyone, including Alice, when Susan is moody and is insulting to Raymond and their friends during a party attended by Sir Leonard Darwin (John Gielgud), this prompts Darwin to needlessly humiliate Mme Aung (Pik-Sen Lim) and then walk out of the party. Raymond then announces to everyone that Darwin is going to resign from his position due to Great Britain's disastrous involvement in the Suez Crisis. Skipping forward three or four years later, Susan and Raymond have moved to Jordan, where Raymond has been assigned a diplomatic post. Alice pays them a visit, and is alarmed by Susan's subdued demeanor. Although Susan claims to be happy, Alice questions her and Raymond about their sedate lifestyle, and worries how her friend could stay in Jordan for another two years. When word travels of the death of Raymond's colleague, Sir Leonard Darwin, Susan uses the excuse to return to England for the funeral, and Raymond blames Alice for putting the idea in Susan's head. Back in England, Susan insists they not return to Jordan. Sometime later in 1962, Susan meets Raymond's employer, Sir Andrew Charleson (Ian McKellen), and questions him about her husband's stagnant career, which she correctly interprets as a censure for his abandonment of the post in Jordan. This fact is subtly confirmed by Charleson. The meeting soon turns ugly when Susan threatens to commit suicide if Raymond does not receive a promotion within six days, which prompts Charleson to have Susan removed from the building. Raymond is immediately summoned to Charleson's office, who informs him of his wife's visit and threats, at the conclusion of which he is dismissed entirely from the Diplomatic Service and forced into early retirement. When the distraught and sombre Raymond returns home, he finds Susan decorating the house, seemingly oblivious to her actions earlier that day. Raymond insists Susan see a mental health practitioner, but she refuses and claims to have no idea what he means by that. As the couple argue, Susan slams a door in his face, and Raymond is knocked unconscious. She nurses his bloodied face before packing her things and leaving. Soon after, Susan rekindles her wartime love affair with Lazar, meeting him at a seaside hotel, after he had tracked her down after seeing her being interviewed on a TV program weeks earlier about her involvement in the war. After they make love, Susan shares her mental instability with Lazar. When she falls asleep, he leaves. In the final scene, Susan recalls her idealistic youth in the French countryside, following the end of the war where news about Germany's surrender reaches the French village where Susan is staying. Susan talks with a local French dairy farmer about the end of the war and agrees to accompany him to a party with his family in the village to celebrate the end of the conflict. In the ironic final shot, Susan proclaims: "there will be days and days like this for many years to come!" ===== The novel's central character, symbolically named Cross Damon, represents the 20th century man in frenzied pursuit of freedom. Cross is an intellectual Negro, the product of a culture which rejects him. He is further alienated by his "habit of incessant reflection," his feeling that the experiences and actions of his life have so far taken place without his free assent, and a profound conviction that there must be more to life, some meaning and justification which have hitherto eluded him. When Cross is introduced (in "Book One: Dread") he is drinking too much, partly in an effort to forget his problems (of which he has many) but mostly to deaden the pain caused by his urgent and frustrated sense of life. There is an accident in which he is reported dead and so he sets out to create his own identity, and thus, he hopes, to discover truth. This search for the absolute compels him to commit four murders and ends in his despair and violent death. En route, he encounters totalitarianism in its most-likely-to-succeed form, Communism. Though he agrees with these other "outsiders" that power is the central reality of society and that "man is nothing in particular," he is outraged by their acceptance and cynical exploitation of these "facts". "That’s enough," he screams before he kills a Communist who has just told him that there is no more to life. > You say life is just life, a simple act of accidental possession in the > hands of him who happens to have it. But what's suffering? That rests in the > senses... You might argue that you could snatch a life, blot out a > consciousness and get away with it because you're strong and free enough to > do it; but why turn a consciousness into a flame of suffering and let it > lie, squirming...? Having rejected religion, the past and present organization of society, the proposed totalitarian alternative and the kindred uncontrollable violence of his own behavior as a "free" man, Cross abandons ideas and pins his last hope on love. But his mistress commits suicide when she sees him as he is. There follows a chapter in which the Law, personified by a hunchbacked district attorney who understands Cross Damon, convicts him of a crime and condemns him, but is powerless to give his life significance by punishment. After this Cross is murdered. The district attorney comes to his death bed and asks how was life and Cross dies murmuring, "It was horrible." ===== In the near future, illegal androids have become commonplace, and many criminals enhance themselves with cybernetic components, making them "more than human". Alex Raine (Olivier Gruner) is a disillusioned assassin/bounty hunter for the LAPD. During a routine mission, he is attacked by a group of cyborg freedom fighters known as The Red Army Hammerheads. Nearly killed by the surviving leader, Rosaria (Jennifer Gatti), Alex resists her assertion that he is a mindless robot: "Eighty-six point five percent [of him] is still human." After months of cybernetic reconstruction and recovery, Alex tracks Rosaria to Old Baja and kills her. Soon after this, his handlers show up—his former lover Jared (Marjorie Monaghan), who is an android, and another android, Sam. Alex decides he has had enough and leaves the LAPD, becoming a freelance hustler and triggerman. However, his LAPD bosses are just letting him run free for a while. After he is shot and badly wounded on a job, his old boss, Commissioner Farnsworth (Tim Thomerson), has him kidnapped and brought in for one final assignment. According to Germaine (Nicholas Guest), Jared has stolen vital security information regarding an upcoming summit between Japan and the United States, and must be stopped before she leaks the plans to the Red Army Hammerheads. Alex is told by Farnsworth that a bomb was implanted in his heart during his latest repairs. He is given three days to find Jared before she meets with the leader of the Hammerheads, Angie-Liv (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa); otherwise, the bomb will detonate and kill him. After flying to the island of Shang-Lu in the Pacific Rim, he is turned loose as bait for Jared. In reality, the freedom fighters are not battling against government control of people's lives, but for humanity's future. A newly designed android is infiltrating the higher echelons of human society, copying the minds of powerful leaders into synthetic bodies, Farnsworth among them. Jared threatens their plans, and so Alex's real mission is to smoke her out for the synthetics to destroy. Burnt out, Alex halfheartedly begins his search, checking into a local hotel. He is soon intercepted by Julian (Deborah Shelton), a cyborg representing Jared. She tells him he is being followed by an LAPD strike team led by Farnsworth, waiting for the opportunity to hit the Hammerheads and Jared. It turns out that Jared was fatally wounded in her escape from LA, requiring her memory core to be salvaged from her body. After removing a surveillance device implanted in Alex's eye, Julian injects him with a digital scrambler that prevents the bomb from being remotely detonated. She gives him Jared's memory core, enabling him to talk to her. The strike team storms the hotel and Julian sacrifices herself to allow Alex to escape. Alex eventually joins up with a local woman, Max (Merle Kennedy) who acts a scout for the Hammerheads while fronting as a tour guide. She is also the sister of Rosaria, the woman he had killed in Old Baja. While she wants Alex dead, her loyalty to the freedom fighters comes first. He is brought to the Hammerheads and is convinced by Angie-Liv to join their cause. Unfortunately, the strike team tracks them down, leading to a shootout and chase through the rundown city. Most of the Hammerheads, including Angie-Liv, are killed by Farnsworth's men. Alex saves Max's life, eventually earning her forgiveness. In a confrontation with Farnsworth, Alex shoots him with a grenade launcher, apparently killing him. Alex and Max arrive at a secret hangar where Yoshiro (Yuji Okumoto), a surviving Hammerhead, is waiting. While launching their escape vehicle, an aerodyne, they are attacked by the cyborg Farnsworth, reduced to his mechanical endoskeleton. Alex defeats him, but suffers grave injuries in the process and discovers just how much of him really is synthetic. Alex brings Jared's core to another Hammerhead compound where they will be able to destroy the labs being used to duplicate people. Unfortunately this means wiping her memory from the core, effectively killing her. Heavily bandaged and temporarily blind, Alex is forced to say goodbye. Sneaking into L.A. and hunting down the synthetic agents, Alex corners Germaine on the helipad of LAPD headquarters. Despite Germaine's protests that he cannot hope to kill all the synthetics, Alex shoots him. Before she died, Jared told Alex that the real Commissioner Farnsworth left him a letter at an old drop location. In it, his former mentor apologizes for his sometimes rough treatment, reminding him that they all have to do what is right. Alex walks off with his new partner, Max, and they joke about how they're going to smuggle his synthetic body through airport customs: "Piece by piece, Max..." ===== Mrs. Garrison pairs off the kids in her class and assigns them to care for eggs as if they were babies as part of a lesson in parenting responsibility. Stan is worried he will get paired with his ex-girlfriend Wendy, whom he has not spoken to since their breakup. However, Wendy is assigned to Kyle while Stan is paired with Bebe. The assignments cause tension among the students, as Stan starts to suspect Kyle of having his eyes on Wendy while Bebe is angry at Stan's indifference to their egg. Meanwhile, Mrs. Garrison is reminded of her ex-boyfriend Mr. Slave, who broke up with her after her sex change operation. Garrison attempts to take Mr. Slave back, only to learn that he is now in a relationship with Big Gay Al and that they are going to get married as soon as the governor of Colorado legalizes such unions. Mrs. Garrison, after learning this, becomes mad with jealousy and tries to stop gay marriage. Garrison rallies a crowd of people to petition against same-sex marriage and, upon realizing the governor won't veto the bill without proof that gays don't have the skills necessary to raise a family, makes plans for the final egg check in front of the governor's office and alters the pairs so that Stan and Kyle are the 'same-sex couple'. However, when it seems that the two are able to raise the egg properly, Garrison hires an assassin named Jakartha to destroy the egg to make sure Stan and Kyle's egg is broken when they present it, which he appears to do. Kyle comes over to Stan's house and Stan tells him to just go be with Wendy, but Kyle admits he never had any feelings for Wendy and he would never like her, and he just wanted an A on the project. Kyle then reveals that he feared Stan's jealousy would interfere with his ability as a parent and so gave Stan a fake egg while he kept and saved the real one. The two boys reconcile and rush to the governor's office in a taxi, with Kyle calling Mrs. Garrison and telling her their egg is fine and that they are on their way. A horrified Garrison demands that Jakartha destroys the egg before it reaches the podium. Jakartha tries to shoot the egg and set bombs to blow up the egg. Stan and Kyle avoid the attacks and reach the podium weary and hurt. The governor inspects the egg and, upon seeing that it is undamaged, announces that same- sex marriage is now legal in Colorado, Mr. Garrison is angry, the boys are confused about the entirety of what happened, and the crowd starts cheering. The episode concludes with Mr. Slave and Big Gay Al marrying. Randy informs that he's proud of the boys for helping spread gay marriage rights, much to the boy's confusion. Wendy then shows up and informs Stan that she's impressed that he'd be a good parent, but Stan informs her that he no longer cares about what she thinks of him as Wendy becomes heartbroken about what Stan has said. ===== The White Knights, a peacekeeping force within the Planetary System, are on a mission to destroy the evil Nohza (misspelled as "Norsa" in the North American version) Empire's base on Planet X. In order to do so, J.J., the main character from the Zillion anime, must infiltrate the base and acquire the five floppy disks that will enable him to input the self-destruct sequence into the base's mainframe computer. Mothership lands on the surface of the planet, and J.J. must make his way through the labyrinthine base, fighting enemies, avoiding hazards and possibly rescuing two of his captured allies on his way to destroy the base. ===== The Tooth Fairy has visited Cartman, leaving him $2. He rushes to the bus stop to share his news with the others. He then unveils his latest plan. If they all combined their lost teeth, the tooth fairy will provide them with enough cash to purchase a Sega Dreamcast. However, Stan and Kyle have lost all their baby teeth, but not Kenny. Cartman tries to get teeth out of his mouth. It turns out Butters has a loose tooth and is waiting for the tooth fairy. Cartman decides to steal Butters' tooth, disguised as the tooth fairy, and place it under his own pillow. Cartman's mother is finally suspicious that he has "lost" 112 teeth and calls their dentist, Dr. Roberts. She also decides to come clean and admit there is no tooth fairy. Cartman tells this to Stan and Kyle, leading Stan to try a new plot with other kids to raise money for a Dreamcast, that they place a tooth under a rich kid's pillow and steal the money. Meanwhile, the knowledge that the Tooth Fairy is not real prompts Kyle to question the truth of all things, including his own existence. He begins to study various philosophies about the nature of reality. The boys soon find out that there are others who are in the Tooth Fairy business; and they are taken to the leader, Loogie, who has been the leader of the business after his two brothers. His business is keeping track of which houses his gang hits and having them put teeth under children's pillows, leaving a note for the parents to let them know that their children have lost teeth. They return to collect the money once they have finished the circuit of houses. He gives the four boys a choice: either they work for him and get a 2% cut of the money or have their penises cut off. They choose to work for him. The American Dental Association is suspicious about the missing teeth and money, and the leader (Dr. Roberts) concludes that the culprit is a giant half chicken, half squirrel that steals either teeth or money from children as they sleep in order to build some kind of giant nest for its genetically superior and potentially dangerous offspring. Another dentist, Dr. Foley, logically concludes that the missing teeth and money are due to a black-market tooth racket that he has seen before in Montreal. The other dentists scoff at him and assume that Montreal is a fictional place. The boys are now rather wealthy from the tooth racket, but Cartman persuades them to cut their ties to Loogie and make more profits. Loogie learns about this and tries to have Kenny drowned by tying his feet to concrete weights and throwing him into the Platte River, which only covers Kenny up to his ankles. The local TV news reports a story about a child, Billy, who needs $600 for a bone marrow transplant, and has recently lost a tooth, but his parents plan to leave him the money. The story is a trap set by Dr. Foley to prove the ADA wrong. (Although the report was a trap, Billy did have the illness and did need the money.) Loogie and his gang arrive to confront the boys for severing their ties, but as soon as Cartman finally catches the money, the trap is activated and all of the boys (including Loogie) are caught. Kyle, meanwhile, disappears while questioning his own existence, but soon reappears wielding control over all reality, even becoming the half-chicken half-squirrel beast, scaring both Loogie's gang and the ADA away. Only Stan, Cartman, and Loogie remain when Kyle eventually reappears back to normal. Loogie, despite being upset that he would fall for the ADA's trap, decides that the fall of his empire is a good thing, ending the tooth racket and hoping to try out for flag football. Meanwhile, Billy is saved, as he discovers the "Tooth Fairy"'s money under his bed. As the credits roll, Kenny who is still attached to his concrete shoes, slowly hops through the shallow river and then falls into a deep spot. As he drowns, Timmy zooms across the bridge above and shouts his own name. ===== A gangster and a corrupt police officer travel to the tiny remote island of Mapado to hunt down a young woman who has run off with a winning lottery ticket. Upon arriving, they discover that no one lives there except for five old women who have not once seen a man for 20 years. Both men soon experience a nightmare of hard labour and harassment. ===== Written by famed Singaporean scriptwriter Ang Eng Tee. Holland V, spanning more than 100 episodes, Holland V, as the title suggests, revolves around the quaint neighbourhood of Holland Village, particularly singling out the Mo Family. "Big Sister" Mo Wanwan is known not only for her famous nasi lemak, but also for her Herculean strength, huge appetite and rotund build. Yet, she hasn't always looked like that. The hefty-sized Mo used to be a pretty, svelte girl, and had a daughter, Lin Siting, with Lin Jingcai at the age of 18. Jingcai then brought the baby back home to be taken care of by his wife Su Yueping, who is unable to conceive. Ever since Jingcai was put behind bars for a crime he committed, Yueping forbids Wanwan from seeing Siting. The 2 women are always squabbling, and are known as 'the most quarrelsome duo in Holland Village'. Upset from not being able to see her daughter, Mo turns her misery into eating sprees. Within a decade, she has turned into a boorish 'Iron Lady' whom everyone fears. She is however, forced to look into her weighty issues when she finds herself falling for Fang Nuowen, a doctor. Mo Wanwan has many siblings: second sister, the deceptively skinny Mo Lingling, possesses a formidable kick when she's provoked. Otherwise, though, Mo Lingling is all demure and kind but sadly, she is often bullied by her colleagues and even her own foul-tempered husband, Tian Dahua. Third sister, Mo Yanyan, also older twin sister to Mo Jingjing, is a lazybones who holds a record of sleeping continuously for 3 days and nights. A beauty with brains but who's so lazy, she could give up a Varsity exam for sleep! She soon begins to see the harsh reality of the working world but yet dreams of amassing $100m by the age of 30. Mo Jingjing is the exact opposite of her older twin sister, Mo Yanyan. She is dim-witted, has a low IQ but works very hard at Wanwan's nasi lemak stall. An innocent and kind girl who often gets cheated of her money and love, she nevertheless remained optimistic and bear no grudges against those who had done her wrong. Although her family often berates her for being stupid, Lady Luck is always by her side - she strikes lottery frequently and everyone begs her for lottery numbers. As a dedicated botanist, Mo Rourou is yet another pair of twins with her younger twin brother, Mo Yangyang, whose life revolves around nothing but plants. Though blessed with good looks, suitors are often put off by her highly scientific talks and unromantic soul. When out collecting specimens in the forest on one occasion, Rourou runs into her love interest's half-brother and is raped. She wakes up from the ordeal mentally traumatised. The only son and baby of the family and also younger twin brother to Mo Rourou, Yangyang is agile and alert, Yangyang is quickly promoted in the Police Force. However, when his girlfriend runs into some problems with the law, he gets himself onto the wrong side of the law in a bid to cover up for her... ===== In the sequel, Doc "Scylla" Levy, brother of Marathon Man's protagonist Babe Levy, survives his stabbing. The plot concerns an effort to instigate World War III by means of simultaneous, worldwide terrorist attacks, which Scylla attempts to stop. Scylla's job is to kill American scientists who made three inventions meant to give the United States a military advantage against the Soviet Union. There are two factions in the U.S. government, the Bloodies, advocating war, and Godists, who wish for more peaceful methods. Scylla initially recovers on an island, as he had been in recovery for a decade. He later goes to New York State, both New York City and Upstate New York. At Princeton University he kills "Arky" Vaughan, who made the suicide chemical, while in New York he kills Milo Standish, who created a chemical that makes other people do his wishes. After "Ma" Perkins, the spy who helped him recover, is murdered, Scylla goes to London. Scylla initially only knows of two inventions, but learns about the third after Ma's death. Scylla kills the Blonde, Perkins's killer, and Division head Beverage dies from suicide after Scylla confronts him. The final invention is exploding children made to kill important politicians and scientists to goad major world powers into attacking each other so the United Kingdom, left standing, could rule the world. Beverage had already sent exploding children, but they largely detonate prematurely and the mutual retaliation fails to materialize. However Babe's wife, Melissa, dies after a cache of children explode in her workplace in the UK; she had been sent there ostensibly to fine-tune speech of amusement park props. Scylla was tricked into destroying the cache thinking it was the only major cache, and he was unaware she was there; Beverage knew she would be there. When Babe and Scylla meet, they embrace and cry.From "The Little Bang Theory", and "After the End" ===== Loris (Roberto Benigni) is a part-time mannequin handler for a department store. He hopes to learn Chinese in order to get an assistant manager position. He lives in a building where he hasn't paid the rent in months, and he also owes money to other people around town. At a party, Loris is told about a nymphomaniac who will sleep with anyone. Loris approaches the wrong woman, who runs away and tells the police. Because of his odd behavior, he becomes the chief suspect in a series of rape/murders. The chief of police, frustrated by the lack of solid evidence against Loris, resolves to provoke his passion and catch him "red- handed." An attractive police officer, Jessica (Nicoletta Braschi) goes undercover as his roommate, and is directed by the chief and the police doctor, Paride (Michel Blanc), to dress provocatively in order to entrap Loris. After a few days living in his apartment, Jessica begins to doubt Loris really is the killer. Paride, however, is convinced that Loris is on the brink of committing his next crime. Paride visits Jessica's apartment on the pretext of fitting Loris for a suit. He performs all sorts of medical tests and Loris remains clueless, thinking he really is being fitted for a suit. Later, Loris goes to interview at the Chinese company. His teacher gives him a little Chinese good luck charm, and Jessica sees this. Loris bombs the interview, unable to answer the very first question: to tell his name. Jessica is about to give up on the case when Paride brings her a Little Red Riding Hood costume and says the chief orders her to put it on. Paride is certain this will unleash Loris' "erotic urges." Jessica does as instructed but Loris remains unmoved. Jessica is back at the police station when they get news that the killer has struck again. At the crime scene, Jessica finds the good luck charm and connects it to Loris' Chinese instructor. She goes to the instructor's house, where she finds both Loris and the teacher. She instructs a uniformed officer to release Loris, then she calmly directs the real killer to a squad car. The film concludes with Loris and Jessica kissing and then walking off into the sunset. ===== The series follows Abby van Alstine, a teenage girl who discovers that she is part of a mystical subculture among society, possessing several growing powers of her own. ===== The story's events take place in rural France in the late twentieth century. The protagonist is Emanuel Comte, former school director, now turned farmer and landowner. He is also an owner of a tourist attraction - an old castle called Malevil after the nearby village. Comte is a highly motivated, well-respected person with a talent for diplomacy and leadership. By chance, Emanuel and several of his friends find themselves in the wine cellar of the castle during the unexpected outbreak of nuclear war. The survivors find their surroundings reduced to ashes and rubble. Together under the leadership of Emanuel they start to rebuild. They later discover that other people and animals have survived in nearby farmsteads and villages. Nature begins anew and an agrarian society starts to reform. From time to time more survivors show up, some bringing death and destruction with them. One of the main challenges of the slowly emerging society is to fend off the threat of a new theocratic dictatorship that has taken over a neighboring village with the assistance of a marauding gang. ===== In ancient Japan the Gowa family created a demonic Armor in order to defeat their enemies. Hundreds of years later in the 2010s, this armor is exploited by the Gowa in the development of Tactical Armor for military usage and the usurpation of Japan. ===== Kenny Dantley is a car-loving Southern California high school senior. For a project in his shop class, Kenny rescues a Chevrolet Corvette Stingray from inside an operating car crusher in a scrapyard and helps rebuild it as a customized right-hand- drive with flashy bodywork. Shortly after the new set of wheels is unveiled, the car is stolen from the streets of Van Nuys. After hearing that the car is in Las Vegas, Kenny immediately sets out to take back the stolen car. On the way, he meets the seemingly confident drifter Vanessa, who is a self-described "prostitute trainee." Kenny finds work in a Vegas car wash, and spots his car on more than one occasion. He tracks it down it to a local garage, where he has an incident with the garage owner, Wayne Lowry, before being bailed out by Vanessa. Kenny’s high school teacher, Ed McGrath comes to Las Vegas, and Kenny is upset to learn that the teacher he once admired had arranged for the theft of the Corvette to help supplement his low earnings as a teacher. McGrath arranges for Kenny to go to work for Lowry. For his sake and that of his family, McGrath begs Kenny not to take the matter to the police. McGrath also ominously notes that if Kenny doesn't agree, one of Lowry's men will "handle it his way." Kenny agrees, but secretly plans to take the Corvette back. Eventually, Kenny takes the car back, saves Vanessa from an unusual scenario in a hotel, wins a wild car chase, and returns home with Vanessa riding shotgun in the Corvette. He keeps McGrath's secret, but rebuffs his attempts to repair their friendship. He gives the car back to the school, but walks away with Vanessa and his newly-earned high school diploma. ===== A young singer and his sister/manager travel to Nashville in search of stardom. As they journey from one grimy hotel to another, it becomes increasingly obvious that only one of them has what it takes to become a star. Travis Child (Quaid) is a country singer who had one hit song and then faded from the scene. His ambitious younger sister, Amanda (McNichol), is determined to get them to Nashville where Travis can once again become a star. Her plans are derailed by Travis's lack of ambition and easy distraction by women and booze. Amanda meets a state trooper named Conrad who shows concern for her. The two are separated in one town and by the time they find each other in the next one, Travis has been arrested for public drunkenness. To pay the fine he takes a job bartending at a roadside tavern called Andy's, where he meets and falls for a young lady named Melody with a very jealous ex-boyfriend—who happens to be the deputy sheriff named Seth James. Seth wounds Travis in an ambush. Travis hides in the floorboards of his truck and pretends to be dead. When Seth yanks open Travis's truck door to put another round in him, Travis kills him with a gun he was hiding. Travis, in bad shape, takes Seth's car and ends up driving it off the road, dying. Amanda buries Travis and hugs Melody good bye. She heads down the road with her dog. Conrad, in his police car tries to convince Amanda not to leave but she says she's going. Conrad goes to his cruiser, strips to his underwear and convinces Amanda that they'll go together. ===== Issue #1 of 5, published September 1996, introduces Luther Drake as an average man who follows a woman named Tina home but becomes a media sensation when he prevents her abduction. This issue was pencilled by H. M. Baker and inked by Bruce Patterson. Issue #2 of 5, published October 1996, sees Luther continue his vigilante activities while spurred on by personal demons and ever-increasing media attention. This issue was pencilled by H. M. Baker and inked by Bruce Patterson. Issue #3 of 5, published November 1996, ramps up the media "frenzy" with unauthorized Black Pearl merchandise on the market and more people trying to make money off of Luther's growing fame, including "shock jock" Jerry Delman. This issue was pencilled by H. M. Baker and inked by Bruce Patterson. Issue #4 of 5, published December 1996, puts Tina on the run after her best friend is murdered and tabloid reporter Frank Moran intensifies his search for the Black Pearl. This issue was pencilled by H. M. Baker and inked by both Bruce Patterson and Dan Schaeffer. Issue #5 of 5, published January 1997, wraps up the series with heightened danger for the Black Pearl as Frank Moran goes missing, Tina is placed in harm's way, and Jerry Delman plots his comeback. This issue was pencilled by H. M. Baker and inked by Dan Schaeffer. ===== Lewis Thomas (Paul Walker) and Venna Wilcox (Leelee Sobieski), his childhood friend and crush, prepare to go home for the summer holiday. Lewis, a University of California student, offers to come by Venna's campus at University of Colorado to drive her home instead of both of them flying back; Venna happily agrees. After refunding his plane ticket to buy a 1971 Chrysler Newport, Lewis calls his parents to announce the change of plan and learns that his older brother Fuller (Steve Zahn), the family's black sheep, has been arrested once again. Lewis drives to Salt Lake City and bails out Fuller, who then tags along for the trip. At a gas station, Fuller has a CB radio installed on Lewis's car for $40, and the two begin listening in on truckers' chatter. Fuller coaxes Lewis into playing a prank on a truck driver nicknamed 'Rusty Nail' (voiced by Ted Levine (uncredited)). Lewis pretends to be a woman named Candy Cane and sets up a meeting with Rusty Nail in a Wyoming motel where Lewis and Fuller will be spending the night. Lewis tells Rusty that "she" is in room 17, the room of an irritable businessman with whom Fuller had an unpleasant encounter earlier, but the guys are actually in room 18. When Rusty Nail arrives at the man's room, an argument and sounds of a scuffle are briefly heard. The next morning, Lewis and Fuller learn that the police found the businessman on the highway, barely alive with his lower jaw ripped off. Lewis admits they were involved, and Sheriff Ritter accosts them for their role in the incident, but lets them go, as he already has his hands full, and they do not know anything other than the man's nickname (CB handle). However, he orders them to leave the state by sundown. On the road, Rusty Nail is heard again on the CB radio looking for Candy Cane. Lewis talks to him and reveals that he is Candy Cane. Rusty Nail demands an apology, but Fuller insults him instead. Rusty Nail simply notes that they should get their taillight fixed, indicating that he is behind them, causing the duo to panic and speed up. At the next gas station, they unsuccessfully attempt to contact Ritter. Seeing an ice truck pulling into the gas station, the already paranoid pair drives away. The ice truck driver chases them down; however, the driver turns out to be merely trying to return Lewis's credit card, which he left behind in panic. The real Rusty Nail then shows up in his truck and smashes through the ice truck, killing its driver. As he slowly crushes Lewis's car against a tree, Fuller hysterically apologizes, and Rusty Nail drives away, declaring his actions to be simply a retaliatory joke. Believing themselves safe, the brothers arrive at the University of Colorado and pick up Venna. They stop at a motel and drink at a bar. Lewis goes to sleep, but Rusty Nail calls him, revealing he knows of Venna. The three flee the motel. Rusty Nail contacts them, announcing that he has kidnapped Charlotte, Venna's friend. After forcing the brothers to publicly humiliate themselves in a diner, he directs them to a cornfield, where he gets them to split up, and kidnaps Venna. Rusty Nail sets up a meeting at another motel in room 17, mirroring the false date with which he was pranked. He sets up a trap that will kill Venna if the room door is opened. Fuller attempts to get in the room by a window, but is injured by Rusty Nail and stuck outside the room. Rusty Nail's truck appears uphill and begins rolling down towards Venna's room. Lewis frees Fuller, and the brothers save Venna just in time. As the police investigate Rusty Nail's truck, they see a dead body in the driver's seat and Charlotte, still alive, on the floor. Lewis, Fuller, and Venna are treated for their injuries at an ambulance. At this point, the dead man found inside the truck turns out to be the ice truck driver. From the CB in the ambulance, the group hears Rusty Nail's voice, learning that he is alive and free. ===== Halfway through Bold as Love the two male leads agree that one day they will take oxytocin together — the intimacy drug, based on the hormone released to create the bond between mother and baby, or between monogamous reproductive partners. At the opening of the second episode we meet Ax and Sage loved-up, making out on Brighton Beach on an oxytocin high: a shocking development for readers lulled by the sexual conformity of the first volume. Ensuing chapters are devoted to the painful birth-pangs of a passionate rock and roll sexual threesome. Meanwhile, Ax's friends, the other almost-famous Indie musicians who survived Massacre Night, are repelled by vapid celebrity-culture, and form an alliance instead with the security forces, the emergency services, and the masses: the beleaguered people of England. This "innocent" feudalism is counterpointed by far more sinister developments on the Green Right Wing, where a Pan-European Celtic movement grows in the shadows, like National Socialism, into something monstrous. The love affair between Ax, Sage and Fiorinda is treated with wit and tenderness, and Jones's trademark emotional intensity, yet it clearly serves as a microcosm for the macrocosm of Ax's England: and a test bed for one of the most naïve (or daring) assertions of radical politics. Is love really all we need? Can utter personal freedom and licence, restrained only by that oxytocin bond, form the foundation of the Good State...? As in Bold As Love on Massacre Night there is a revelatory gestalt flip, here mediated by the Irishman, Fergal Kearney, (shades of Shane MacGowan) one of Jones’s fascinating and engaging secondary characters: a bridge after which everything developed in the first chapters takes on a different meaning. Readers are wrest from the canonisation of Thom Yorke and Led Zeppelin, and the highly plausible trials of a country wrecked by global warming and social unrest, into the darkest of adult fairytales. It seems that Jones, unable to contain the problem of evil realistically in the pantomime format of Bold As Love, (her own description) has chosen to depict the horrors, that must attend a future such as she describes, in terms of the supernatural. Parted by the manipulation of a truly horrible, thoroughly enjoyable pantomime villain, each member of the Triumvirate suffers the trials and tests of fairytale, updated for the 21st Century: Ax, far away, as the hostage of a vicious drug cartel, Sage in his struggle to achieve the Holy Grail of Bold As Love fantasy neuroscience; and Fiorinda as a different and uglier kind of hostage, laying down her life for her people. A rich fusion of legend and folklore, science and fantasy, ancient and modern, brings the story to a climax. By the time Aoxomoxoa sets sail for the castle of the Wounded King, in a futuristic yacht called the Lorien, with a mainframe computer in the jewel of a ring borrowed from the female Merlin, the re-imagining, re-vision of the Arthur cycle seems triumphantly complete. Jimi Hendrix was a great fan of science fiction, though probably not as steeped in sf as Gwyneth Jones has proved to be in rock and roll. His lyrics and his music permeate Castles Made Of Sand, but here the ruin of treasured dreams (...and so castles made of sand, fall in the sea...) is not the end of the story; and the violent romanticism of Led Zeppelin is not the last phase of this rock and roll career. There is more of Jones’s "complicated optimism" to come. Few readers can have anticipated a sequel so different from Bold As Love, yet essentially the formula is the same: a Brechtian pantomime, neither fantasy, nor sf, nor mainstream, that manages to be both deadly serious, and thoroughly entertaining. ===== ===== The novel follows Polly, an ordinary homeless teenager from the near future and Tak, a cyborg soldier programmed for obedience to his superiors. Tak is tasked to retrieve a "tor", a biological time machine, but it attaches itself to Polly and wrenches her back in time throughout history toward the eponymous Cowl. She meets several major figures in British history but is no closer to discovering the secret behind the tor which is leeching off her energy and life. Meanwhile Tak runs into Traveler, a time traveler, who shows him the future of the human race where the dominant Heliothane race is threatened by the Umbrathane uprising and the battles are being fought throughout time itself. Cowl, a Heliothane weapon is a human male that was genetically engineered to be the perfect specimen of human evolution. However he is also on the run from the Heliothane Dominion, which considers him their enemy after he slaughters the station he was born at. In an attempt to stop the rule of the dominant Heliothanes, Cowl travels back into pre-history with an incomprehensibly massive multidimensional creature called the Torbeast. The Heliothane theorize that Cowl intends to destroy the human race and supplant them with the Umbrathane checking on his progress by having the Torbeast send its parasitic scales into the future which drag its victims back to Cowl. ===== Set in 1939, and, despite having no permission to perform surgery, Ravic, a very accomplished German surgeon and a stateless refugee living in Paris, has been ghost-operating on patients for two years on the behalf of two less skillful French physicians. Unwilling to return to Nazi Germany, which has stripped him of his citizenship, and unable to legally exist anywhere else in pre-war western Europe, Ravic manages to hang on. He is one of many displaced persons without passports or any other documents, who live under a constant threat of being captured and deported from one country to the next, and back again. Though Ravic has given up on the possibility of love, life has a curious way of taking a turn for the romantic, even during the worst of times, as he cautiously befriends an actress. ===== George Shuttleworth (Formby) is a chimney sweep from Wigan who dreams of winning the Isle of Man TT. Unfortunately, George's attempts to secure a factory ride with the Rainbow Motorcycle Company are unsuccessful and consequently he resorts to entering his own machine the "Shuttleworth Snap", a motorcycle derived from an old Rainbow machine. Whilst running the engine of his machine, George inadvertently knocks the motorcycle off its stand and crashes into the fence of his next door neighbour, Mr Hardacre, who goads George about his dream of winning the T.T. Undeterred, George asks his mother if she could lend him £5 so he can make his way to the Isle of Man in order to compete at the races. Although unable to give him the £5 directly, George's mother endeavours to take the money from his Grandpa's savings which he keeps concealed in the lining of the settee. With money 'borrowed' from his grandfather, George make his way by train to Liverpool and embarks on the steamer for Douglas. As he prepares to embark, George's attention is drawn to the arrival of the more famous T.T. competitors -such as Bert Tyldesley- who embarks onto the steamer with the secretary of boss of the Rainbow Motorcycle Company, Florrey Dibney (Florence Desmond). George attempts to be included in a photograph with Tyldesley and another T.T. rider -Norton-, but as they assemble for the photograph, George observes a stray cargo crate heading towards them. In order to save Florrie from being struck by the crate, George pushes her out of the way and consequently knocks her hat over the side of the ship. More concerned at the loss of her hat than the danger posed by the cargo crate, Florrie takes George to task, and he resolves to climb down the side of the ship to retrieve the hat. As George begins to descend the side of the ship on a rope, the order is given to cast off and the deck hands begin to haul in the rope just as George reaches the ship's side belting. Holding onto the very end of the rope, it is suddenly hauled up and George falls into the water. Evading the rivals who have paid him not to compete, George makes it to the start with seconds to spare. He drives like fury, and most of his rival drivers are knocked out by crashes or blown engines. With yards to go, his bike conks out and he pushes it over the line to win; a split-second ahead of his fellow rider. So he not only succeeds in winning the race, but gets the girl as well. ===== Gail Cooper travels to her ex-husband Nick's apartment in London in order to remove some of its more valuable items. It soon becomes apparent that while Nick (a successful singer) isn't at home, someone is clearly there. The anonymous person watches Gail take a phone call from a reporter asking about the couple's divorce and inquiring as to when Nick will release his next album, as he's been on a six-year hiatus since marrying Gail. Just as Gail is about to leave, she is attacked by a killer wearing a hag mask and a lace shawl, who hacks her to death with a sickle. Meanwhile, Nick arrives in London from New York, where he is attempted to record a new album to satisfy his manager Webster. Nick finds some solace in Webster's secretary Linda, with whom he shares a strong mutual attraction. After some debate, Nick moves into a manor in the Surrey countryside that is overseen by the housekeeper Mrs. B and the gardener Mr. B. Soon after his arrival Nick begins to experience strange phenomena that include visions of his ex-wife Gail. Nick is unaware of Gail's death, so he's confused by her appearance at the manor. Despite this, Nick begins to work on his album and further develop his romance with Linda. His psychological state is not helped when his associate Harry goes missing and Nick discovers that Linda was formerly dating Webster. One night Nick decides to investigate some of the strange noises he's seen and ends up finding Gail's severed, decomposing head. This puts Nick into a catatonic state and he is temporarily admitted to a hospital. Nick and Linda eventually consummate their new relationship, only for Linda to disappear the following day. This nearly devastates Nick and he's instructed by his physician to take things slowly and to re-visit his apartment, as the physician believes that all of the unexplained phenomena have been a result of Nick's distress over the divorce and the stress of recording his album. Once at the apartment Nick notices that the apartment has been thoroughly cleaned with antiseptic and the carpeting replaced, which marks him as strange since he left the apartment clean upon his departure and gave no orders to have anything replaced. He returns to the English manor and discusses this with Mrs. B, who tells him not to worry about any of this. However soon after Nick is attacked by the masked old woman. He flees and runs into Mrs. B, who reveals that the masked old woman is Mr. B and that they have killed Gail and Harry out of insanity and revenge. They're angry with Nick, as their only daughter had been obsessed with him and had committed suicide after he announced that he'd married Gail. The murders and supposedly supernatural occurrences were to be their way of getting even with him for everything and that their final act would be to kill Nick himself after slowly driving him insane. Mr. B then tries to kill Nick again, only for Nick to duck and for Mrs. B to accidentally take the fatal wound, which stops Mr. B from further attacking in favor of cradling his dead wife's body. Webster then arrives and upon seeing what happened, calls the police. Just before they arrive, Nick hears tapping in the walls and manages to locate Linda, who the Bs had entombed in the walls with the body of their dead daughter. The two go outside and as the police cart away Mr. B, Nick sees the ghost of Gail waving at him from one of the manor's windows, showing that some of the phenomena he'd experienced had been at least partially real. ===== Mickaël (Johan Libereau) is from a poor working class family - his father Gérard (Jean- Philippe Ecoffey) is a taxi cab driver who lost his license and then his job as a result of a police roadblock targeting drivers under the influence of alcohol. His mother Annie (Florence Thomassin) works as a cleaning woman in the high school gym: After this they have a tough time financially. Not a great student, Mickaël excels in judo and his life is focused on his sport and on his girlfriend Vanessa (Salomé Stévenin). One of Mickaël's teammates Clément (Pierre Perrier) is from a wealthy family: his father Louis Steiner (Aurélien Recoing) uses a wheelchair and his mother Mathilde (Claire Nebout) is a woman of the world and society. Louis decides to sponsor the judo team, buys them outfits, and asks Mickaël to work with Clément to perfect his technique and prepare the judo team for a French championship. Mickaël and Clément relate well and while Mickaël is a winning player, Clément is smarter and understands the intrinsic rules of the game better. An incident occurs that forces Mickaël to take the position of a wounded team mate and in doing so he must lose eight kilos to qualify for the championship team. The struggle to lose weight (he is already in ideal physical condition) places stress on both Mickaël and his family and teammates. Mickaël and Vanessa include Clément in their camaraderie, a situation which evolves into a ménage à trois as the three have group sex in the after hours gym. Vanessa reacts as though this is the greatest physical feeling ever, Clément is smitten, and Mickaël has troubling doubts. When the three decide to try it again in a hotel room Mickaël is so conflicted that he does not join the other two, only listening to their cavorting in the bathtub feeling inferior to the smarter, wealthier Clément. But on the judo side, the team plays the championship and Mickaël's delicate sense of self worth is restored for a moment. It is the manner in which the trio of teenagers resolve their antics that closes the film. ===== Skeeve, a magician's apprentice and wannabe thief from the dimension Klah, tries to learn the basics of magic from Master Magician Garkin for several months but to no avail. Skeeve can do little more than float a feather or light a candle using magic. Wanting to convince Skeeve that being a thief is not as good as being a magician, Garkin summons a demon. During the summoning an assassin barges into the hut, and Garkin and the assassin kill each other. Skeeve is left alone with the demon. To Skeeve's surprise the demon politely introduces himself as Aahz. Aahz explains that demon is slang for Dimension Traveler. He further explains that there are thousands of dimensions with different races in them, and that he is from the dimension of Perv, making Aahz a Pervect, while Skeeve is a Klahd. Aahz is a master magician like Garkin but loses his magical powers during the summoning ritual (due to a practical joke played on him by Garkin) and becomes stranded in Klah. Aahz volunteers to take Skeeve on as his apprentice and teach him magic. The pair then embark on a series of misadventures as they try to evade more assassins trailing Skeeve. They decide to confront Isstvan, a dangerous Master Magician who plans to conquer all the other dimensions. Along the way they meet, and swindle, a demon hunter named Quigley. They encounter the assassins, and are saved by Skeeve's new magic. With information from the assassins they encounter Frumple, a merchant who transports them to the dimension of Deva (where the Deveels, master bargainers, live) so they can visit the Bazaar to find something to use against Isstvan. On Deva, Aahz abandons Skeeve while he searches for a solution to their Isstvan problem. Skeeve gets into all kinds of trouble. First Skeeve bonds himself to the dragon Gleep; the infuriated dragon master forces Skeeve to purchase the dragon. Next Skeeve encounters Tananda, a Trollop from Trollia. She's strikingly beautiful and a former assassin and con artist working with a pack of ruffians to shake down tourists in the Bazaar. Skeeve is chosen as their next target; however, he doesn't get shaken down because Tananda and Aahz are old buddies. Aahz finds the solution to their Isstvan problem and the three of them, with the dragon Gleep, go back to Klah. Back on Klah, Quigley, the demon hunter, joins their troupe. The five would-be heroes and the dragon Gleep and Quigley's war unicorn Buttercup confront Isstvan and defeat him by tricking him into consuming wine that destroys his magical ability. The defeated Isstvan and his allies leave Klah using a D-Hopper, a device that allows the user(s) to hop between dimensions. Tananda and Quigley leave too. Skeeve and Aahz remain at the Inn, and Aahz begins teaching his new apprentice more of the mastery of Magic. ===== An infant abandoned at a junction of four roads is adopted by a priest who finds it. The child grows up to be a soldier and participates in the Second World War. Most soldiers returned from the war carrying syphilis but this soldier did not get the disease. During peacetime, his courage earns him a means of livelihood. His curiosity about sex and another's treachery leads him to his first homosexual intercourse, in a state of intoxication. He gets the diseases gonorrhoea and syphilis and becomes a homeless wanderer. The insanity of the world infects him; the meaninglessness of his life and the pain of disease compel him to commit suicide. He does not succeed in his attempt at suicide. Overcome by a desire to confess, he walks into the house of a writer he respects and retells to him the story of his life. The soldier in the story has never done anything but kill other people. The horror of what he had seen and done during the war haunts him. He cannot take a bath, as he is afraid of blood; to him, water is the blood of the earth. At war, he once killed a friend of his at the friend's request. Blood was flowing from every part of his body; all his skin was gone. The soldier cannot adjust to life in peacetime. He is furious at "those dyed pieces of cloth": flags symbolizing people's groups with different opinions. He had never known a mother: the sight of breasts fills him with thirst. The first 'woman' of his life turns out to be a male prostitute dressed as a woman. "She.. it.. he" tells him how the street became his home. The soldier then describes to the writer his encounter with a mother and child, the mother a prostitute. He recounts the circumstances under which the mother kicked him in the chest and later gave him money for food, thinking he was a beggar. He then tells the writer about the failure of his attempted suicide. ===== The king promises his dying queen that after her death he will only marry a woman as beautiful and virtuous as she. Pressed by his advisers to remarry and produce an heir, he comes to the conclusion that the only way to fulfill his promise is to marry his own daughter, the princess. Following the advice of her godmother, the lilac fairy, the princess demands a series of seemingly impossible nuptial gifts in the hope that her father will be forced to give up his plans of marriage. However, the king succeeds in providing her with dresses the colour of the weather, the moon and the sun and finally with the skin of a magic donkey that excretes jewels, the source of his kingdom's wealth. Donning the donkey skin, the princess flees her father's kingdom to avoid the incestuous marriage. In the guise of "Donkey Skin", the princess finds employment as a pig keeper in a kingdom. The prince of this kingdom spies her in her hut in the woods and falls in love with her. Love-struck, he retires to his sickbed, and asks that Donkey Skin be instructed to bake him a cake to restore him to health. In the cake, he finds a ring that the princess has placed there, and is thus sure that his love for her is reciprocated. He declares that he will marry the woman whose finger fits the ring. All the women of marriageable age assemble at the prince's castle and try on the ring one by one, in order of social status. Last of all is the lowly Donkey Skin, who is revealed to be the princess when the ring fits her finger. At the wedding of the prince and the princess, the lilac fairy and the king arrive by helicopter and declare that they too are to be married. ===== In the 23rd century, the Federation starship USS Kelvin is investigating a "lightning storm" in space. A Romulan ship, Narada, emerges from the storm and attacks the Kelvin. Naradas first officer, Ayel, demands that Kelvins Captain Robau come aboard to negotiate a truce. Robau is questioned about the current stardate and an "Ambassador Spock", whom he does not recognize. Naradas commander, Nero, kills him, and resumes attacking the Kelvin. George Kirk, Kelvins first officer, orders the ship's personnel, including his pregnant wife Winona, to abandon ship while he pilots the Kelvin on a collision course with Narada. Kirk sacrifices his life to ensure Winona's survival as she gives birth to James T. Kirk. Seventeen years later on the planet Vulcan, a young Spock is accepted to join the Vulcan Science Academy. Realizing that the Academy views his human mother, Amanda, as a "disadvantage", he joins Starfleet instead. On Earth, Kirk becomes a reckless but intelligent young adult. Following a bar fight with Starfleet cadets accompanying Nyota Uhura, Kirk meets Captain Christopher Pike, who encourages him to enlist in Starfleet Academy, where Kirk meets and befriends doctor Leonard McCoy. Three years later, Commander Spock accuses Kirk of cheating during the Kobayashi Maru simulation. Kirk argues that cheating was acceptable because the simulation was designed to be unbeatable. The disciplinary hearing is interrupted by a distress signal from Vulcan. With the primary fleet out of range, the cadets are mobilized. McCoy and Kirk board Pike's ship, the . Realizing that the "lightning storm" observed near Vulcan is similar to the one that occurred when he was born, Kirk breaks protocol to convince Pike that the distress signal is a trap. Enterprise arrives to find the fleet destroyed and Narada drilling into Vulcan's core. Narada attacks Enterprise and Pike surrenders, delegating command of the ship to Spock and promoting Kirk to first officer. Kirk, Hikaru Sulu, and Chief Engineer Olson perform a space jump onto the drilling platform. Olson is killed mid-jump, but Kirk and Sulu successfully reach and disable the drill. Despite Enterprise's efforts, Nero launches "red matter" into Vulcan's core, forming an artificial black hole that destroys Vulcan. Enterprise manages to rescue Spock's father, Sarek, and the high council, but not Amanda, who falls to her death before the transporter can properly lock onto her. As Narada moves toward Earth, Nero tortures Pike to gain access to Earth's defense codes. Spock maroons Kirk on Delta Vega after Kirk attempts mutiny. Kirk encounters an older Spock, who explains that he and Nero are from 129 years in the future. In that future, Romulus was threatened by a supernova. Spock's attempt to use "red matter" to create an artificial black hole and consume the supernova failed, and Nero's family perished along with Romulus. Narada and Spock's vessel were caught in the black hole, sending them back in time. Nero stranded Spock on Delta Vega to watch Vulcan's destruction as revenge. Reaching a Starfleet outpost on Delta Vega, Kirk and the elder Spock meet Montgomery Scott. With the elder Spock's help, Scott devises a way for Kirk to beam onto Enterprise while it is travelling at warp speed. Following the elder Spock's advice, Kirk provokes younger Spock into attacking him, forcing Spock to recognize himself as emotionally compromised and relinquish command to Kirk. After talking with Sarek, Spock decides to help Kirk. While Enterprise hides itself within the gas clouds of Titan, Kirk and Spock beam aboard Narada. Kirk fights with Nero and Ayel, killing the latter and rescuing Pike, while Spock uses the elder Spock's ship to destroy the drill. Spock leads Narada away from Earth and sets his ship to collide with Nero's ship. Enterprise beams Kirk, Pike, and Spock aboard. The older Spock's ship and Narada collide, igniting the "red matter". Kirk offers Nero help to escape, but Nero refuses, prompting Kirk to give the order to fire, dooming Narada to be consumed in a black hole that Enterprise is only barely able to escape. Kirk is promoted to captain and given command of Enterprise, while Pike is promoted to rear admiral. Spock encounters his older self, who persuades his younger self to continue serving in Starfleet, encouraging him to do, for once, what feels right instead of what is logical. Spock remains in Starfleet, becoming first officer under Kirk's command. Enterprise goes to warp as the elder Spock speaks the "where no one has gone before" monologue. ===== The movie takes place in late 1920s Berlin. It opens with Paul being questioned by police about a note he had written. The scene then fades out, and the movie shows what happened. Paul, a shy virgin poet who is tired of being alone and heartbroken, is friends with an openly gay aristocrat boy, Guenther, who is suffering unrequited love for Hans. Paul is staying at Guenther's parents' country home over the weekend. The parents are absent. Guenther's sister Hilde, who stole Hans' heart besides, is loved by Paul, for whom Guenther has budding feelings, which complicates the brother-sister relationship. Hilde has no interest in committing to a relationship with Paul, however. Guenther invites some people over to have an all-night party, filled with alcohol, music, and sex. It is one of their last parties, since Paul and Guenther have made a suicide pact. Guenther, Paul, Hans and Hilde go through a series of couplings, conversation and partying before proceeding to Hilde and Guenther's parents' apartment in the city. There the drama ends with gunshots. The question is what actually happened. The film is based on a true story, the so- called Steglitz student tragedy. ===== On a farm, Daffy awaits his new Dick Tracy comic book to the tune of Raymond Scott's song "Powerhouse." The mailman then arrives, delivering the comic book. To the tune of Franz von Suppé's Poet and Peasant overture, he sprints to a corner of the farm and begins reading it, noting how much he "love(s) that man!." At one point in this issue, Dick Tracy is fighting Noodlenose. Imagining what it would be like to be Dick Tracy, he knocks himself out with his own fist. While unconscious, he dreams he is "Duck Twacy, the famous de-tec-a-tive." He dismisses a series of calls asking about stolen piggy banks as too inconsequential for him, suggesting the callers had been too reckless, until he finds that his own piggy bank has been stolen from his safe. He decides to call Duck Twacy (at one point having a phone conversation with himself) before he realizes he himself is Duck Twacy. He calls a taxi to follow a car without him, just to keep the bad guys on their toes. Daffy's search leads him to cross paths with Sherlock Holmes, then onto a streetcar (driven by a mustachioed Porky Pig in a silent cameo) leading to the gangsters' not-so- secret hideout. He falls through a trapdoor when he rings the doorbell, and follows footprints, even climbing up a wall (which makes him think that the culprit might be the Human Fly) to a mousehole. He concludes that the culprit is "Mouse Man," demanding, "Come out of there, you rat!"—whereupon a huge, muscular, and angry mouse emerges, and towers over him. Gulping in fear, Daffy timidly tells him to go back in again, and so he does. He runs away, but is surrounded by all the dangerous criminals in town (many of which are parodies of Dick Tracy's rogues gallery), and consisting of: * Snake Eyes – (spoof of B.B. Eyes, who has dice for eyes) * 88 Teeth – (spoof of 88 Keys, with piano keys for teeth) * Hammerhead – (a gangster with a hammer for a head) * Pussycat Puss – (a cat gangster who bears some resemblance to Sylvester) * Bat Man – (an anthropomorphic baseball bat who is a name parody of the comics character Batman) * Doubleheader – (a two-headed baseball player spoof of Tulza "Haf and Haf" Tuzon) * Pickle Puss – (a pickle spoof of Pruneface) * Pumpkinhead – (a gangster with a jack-o'-lantern for a head) * Neon Noodle – (a neon spoof of Frankenstein's monster) * Jukebox Jaw – (a criminal with a jukebox speaker for a jaw and a turntable on top of his head) * Wolf Man – (a wolf gangster) * Rubberhead – (a pencil eraser-headed gangster) ...and a host of other unnamed grotesque criminals. He then, with a certain lack of tactical sense, declares "You're all under arrest!" The villains then roar at our hero and the chase begins. In one sequence, the bad guys are seen using well-known Dick Tracy villain Flattop's head as an airstrip with planes taking off. When Daffy is trapped against a wall, Rubberhead "rubs him out" with his eraser head, but Daffy immediately reappears. Pumpkinhead moves in with submachine guns blazing. Daffy tosses a hand grenade directly to Pumpkinhead and he becomes a stack of pumpkin pies. As most of the villains jump to trap him in a closet, Daffy squirms out, slams the door shut on them, and eradicates the group with sustained fire from a Tommy gun. He opens the door, and the bullet- riddled bodies fall like dominoes. Neon Noodle (who survived because he is a mere neon outline with no physical "center" for Daffy to shoot) sneaks up on Daffy and tries to strangle him. Daffy defeats him by turning him into a neon sign that reads "Eat at Joe's" (a standard WB cartoon gag). Daffy then finds the missing piggy banks, including his own. He begins to kiss his bank but, since he is dreaming, he does not realize that he is on the farm again, kissing a real female pig. The plump-yet-curvaceous pig is rather smitten by Daffy since she believes he is trying to woo her with the barrage of smooches he plants all over her face. He wraps his kisses up with a peck to the cute pig's nose. In an elegant female voice, she asks, "Shall we dance?" and lovingly kisses him right on the mouth. Now wide awake, Daffy wipes the kiss away disgustedly and runs away. The lady pig then remarks, "I love that duck!," and laughs. ===== The events of Negation War revolve around the invasion of CrossGen's Sigilverse, i.e. the mainstream universe where all the other titles take place, by the forces of an alternate universe known as the Negation. The Sigil-Bearers, the protagonists of the core titles, led by the Atlantean Danik, are brought together to serve the purpose for which the Sigil was created: to fight off the Negation, led by the god-emperor Charon and his new consort/queen Evinlea. Negation War reveals some of the key mysteries of the CrossGen metaplot, continuing from the revelations of the later issues of Negation. Charon and his opposite counterpart Appolyon, are revealed to have been the human scientists who organized the Great Transition as seen in Crux. Charon secretly engineered the device to impart him with incredible god-like power, even as the rest of the human race ascended to a higher form themselves. The transition also sent the pair into another universe, which came to be known as the Negation; Charon took command of this universe, building it into a massive intergalactic empire, and imprisoning the slightly less powerful Appolyon. After meeting Appolyon, several of the characters from the Negation title travel to Han-Jin, the world depicted in Brath, Way of the Rat and The Path. Meanwhile, Samandahl Rey, hero of Sigil, is sent by Danik to gather the Sigil-Bearers. The series ends with a cliffhanger, as Evinlea leads the Negation assault on Elysia, home of The First. There, the first god to die is Raamia, Altwaal's former consort. Information concerning what was to occur in the remaining issues to tie up the plot has not been released. Category:2004 comics debuts Category:CrossGen titles ===== The premise of Alien Soldier is provided with a long text scroll at the start of the game. After the game has begun, it is not referred to again. In the year 2015, the A-Humans of A-Earth have created genetically engineered A-Humans capable of super intelligence and strength, as well as parasitic co-existence with machinery and animals, particularly humans. A terrorist organization known as Scarlet rose up within this race and sought to dominate the rest of the A-Humans and A-Earth by locking the planet down and keeping anyone else out. During the height of Scarlet's power, an assassination attempt on the group's leader, Epsilon-Eagle, was carried out by a special forces group. Scarlet fought back with their powers, and the battle somehow breached the space-time continuum. Epsilon was gravely injured and cast somewhere into the continuum. Seemingly gone forever, another Scarlet member known as Xi-Tiger took control of the organization. Under his rule, Scarlet became too brutal even for themselves, and they called for Epsilon to reclaim his position. More or less isolated from the rest of the group, Xi sought to find and assassinate Epsilon himself. He planned an attack on an A-Human research laboratory, where children with special abilities had been kidnapped and experimented on. Upon arriving, Xi-Tiger sensed the presence of Epsilon in one of the boys. However, he was unsure because he could not pinpoint the evil from Epsilon, who had entered the boy's body and was now living as a parasite. Xi-Tiger took a young girl hostage and threatened to kill her unless Epsilon revealed himself. The boy flew into a rage and morphed his body into Epsilon himself. Xi seemed to sense this strange power, and in fear, killed the girl and fled. Epsilon had completely split his dual personality apart; with both good and evil Epsilons now chasing after Xi- Tiger.Alien Soldier, Sega Mega Drive, Japan 1995, Treasure Co., Ltd. ===== After her internet company Homelearn.com goes bankrupt, Ellen Richmond decides to move back to her hometown to live with her eccentric mother, Dot, and scatter-brained sister, Catherine. At home, Ellen becomes reacquainted with her senior prom date, Rusty, who thinks they can pick up where they left off (which, since she is a lesbian, seems unlikely), and her befuddled high school teacher, Mr. Munn. Though worlds apart from the people who love her, Ellen begins to adjust to a very different way of life and takes a job as a guidance counselor at her former high school. ===== Vittorio (Franco Citti), nicknamed "Accattone" (meaning 'beggar' in Italian), leads a mostly serene life as a pimp until his prostitute, Maddalena, is hurt by his rivals and sent to prison. Finding himself without either a steady income or much inclination for working himself, he first tries to reconcile with the estranged mother of his child, but is driven away by her relatives; he then encounters the (apparently) naive Stella and tries to lure her into prostituting herself for him. She is willing to try, but when her first client begins pawing her she cries and gets out of the car. Accattone tries to support her, but gives up on honest labor after one day, and following a bizarre vision of his own death, he goes stealing with a couple of friends and gets killed in a traffic accident when he tries to evade the police on a stolen motorcycle. ===== In His Steps takes place in the railroad town of Raymond, probably located in the eastern U.S.A. (Chicago, IL and the coast of Maine are mentioned as being accessible by train), and Chicago Illinois. The main character is the Rev. Henry Maxwell, pastor of the First Church of Raymond, who challenges his congregation to not do anything for a whole year without first asking: "What Would Jesus Do?" Other characters include Ed Norman, senior editor of the Raymond Daily Newspaper, Rachel Winslow, a talented singer, and Virginia Page, an heiress, to name a few. The novel begins on a Friday morning when a man out of work (later identified as Jack Manning) appears at the front door of Henry Maxwell while the latter is preparing for that Sunday's upcoming sermon. Maxwell listens to the man's helpless plea briefly before brushing him away and closing the door. The same man appears in church at the end of the Sunday sermon, walks up to "the open space in front of the pulpit," and faces the people. No one stops him. He quietly but frankly confronts the congregation—"I'm not complaining; just stating facts."—about their compassion, or apathetic lack thereof, for the jobless like him in Raymond. Upon finishing his address to the congregation, he collapses, and dies a few days later. That next Sunday, Henry Maxwell, deeply moved by the events of the past week, presents a challenge to his congregation: "Do not do anything without first asking, 'What would Jesus do?'" This challenge is the theme of the novel and is the driving force of the plot. From this point on, the rest of the novel consists of certain episodes that focus on individual characters as their lives are transformed by the challenge. Norman decides not to print a prize fight, and to discontinue the Sunday edition, leaving a drop in subscriptions. Alexander Powers starts a small meeting for the railroad men, but also discovers the railroad's fraud against the ICC. He resigns his post, and goes to work as a telegraph clerk. Rollin Page proposes to Rachel Winslow, who rejects him, because he has no direction. Later Rachel and Virginia help Mr. and Mrs. Gray with meetings in the Rectangle (an area surrounded by saloons), and Rollin experiences conversion. Later, Virginia takes Loreen, a drunken lady who was earlier converted, to her house, to the dismay of her grandmother who leaves for high society. Jasper Chase, against the "What Would Jesus Do" vow, decides to print his novel anyway. Virginia later uses her inheritance to buy the Rectangle property and also to help Norman's newspaper. Rollin, having a purpose for his life helping people, declares love for Rachel. Chapters 16–24 shift the action to Chicago, with Dr. Calvin Bruce from Chicago visiting Raymond, and writing what he saw. He then decides to try similarly. Dr. Bruce does a similar pledge. His bishop, Bishop Edward Hampton visits him also. Rachel's cousins, Felicia and Rose are orphaned when their father commits suicide and their mother dies of shock. They go to live in Raymond for a little bit. Dr. Bruce and the Bishop start a work in the Settlement (similar to the Rectangle), with help from Felicia. The Bishop is held up, but the robber realizes the Bishop was the same person who helped him, and he reforms. Some of the characters from the earlier chapters, such as Henry Maxwell, Rachel Winslow, appear to see the work in the Settlement. The last chapter has a vision Henry Maxwell sees, telling some of the future of many of the characters in the book. ===== Jesus appears quietly at first, to one person and then to an expanding group of people in the small town of Raymond. He gradually draws more and more attention, including crowds. Jesus goes from Raymond to New York City and then Washington D.C., at points making a public splash, including media attention. The non-stereotypical character of Jesus seems fully capable of supernatural power (not showing up in pictures, for example), but chooses a nondescript mode of presenting himself. He does not appear to do dramatic public acts such as healing, but instead speaks words of comfort or lends practical help. He has views but relays them with understatement. He wears ordinary business clothes, at times blends into a crowd, and is not memorable in appearance. He is humble, practical and personable. His impact upon lives is not through obvious miracles, but old-fashioned kindness, care, and encouragement. ===== Somerset Frisby has a general store/gas station in a small town, and the townsfolk know him well for the tall tales he spins of his experiences, from his heroism in war to his inventions to his advice to presidents and captains of industry, all of which he fabricates. His friends gather in the store to hear him spin his stories, which they find very entertaining, and he often accompanies himself on harmonica. That evening, as he is alone at closing time, creatures from another planet lure him into their clutches while disguised as humans, then abduct him to their spaceship. They want to add Frisby to their collection of specimens from other planets. The aliens, who accept his tales at face value, have heard Frisby claim eight doctoral degrees, so they want him as the outstanding example of the human race. Ignoring his plea that he is late for supper, the aliens insist that Frisby accompany them to their planet. Frisby pleads that he is simply a shameless liar, but the aliens have no concept of lying, and ask him to just sit quietly and wait for departure. Unable to persuade the aliens to release him, Frisby decides to try to relax by playing his harmonica, and makes the unexpected discovery that the sound is extremely painful to the aliens (who call the notes "death sounds"). After two or three aliens are rendered senseless by the harmonica, the remaining ones permit Frisby to escape. Running back to the general store, he finds his friends waiting to throw him a surprise party (in the evening's excitement, he had forgotten that it is his birthday). When he tries to tell them what happened, they enjoy a laugh at what they of course take to be another of Frisby's tall tales. ===== ===== ===== Julia Jones (Alyson Hannigan) is an obese woman who dreams of marrying Napoleon Dynamite (Josh Meyers), but even in her dreams she is rejected. Writing in her diary, she thinks she will never find her true love. Julia goes outside and dances to impress men on the streets, but is unsuccessful. Julia goes to work at her father Frank's (Eddie Griffin) Greek diner, where she meets and forms an instant attraction with Grant Fockyerdoder (Adam Campbell). When Frank yells at Julia to get an order, she turns to respond and accidentally hits Grant over the head with the coffee pot she is holding, knocking him to the floor. She turns around only to find his table is suddenly empty and figures he ran away. Julia wants help and goes to see a love therapist, Hitch (Tony Cox), who rejects her at first but reluctantly agrees to help her. Hitch takes her to a garage where she gets "pimped out" and made slimmer. She earns a spot on a reality television dating show called The Extreme Bachelor, the bachelor turning out to be Grant, the man she met in the diner. Host Ty Andrews (Scott Speedman) introduces Grant, who greets all the women and is asked to eliminate the losers, which he does by shooting them one by one. Julia is the last woman standing and is rewarded with dinner for two at a restaurant called "A Restaurant". After their meal, Julia and Grant head back to her apartment, where they have sex. Julia takes Grant to meet her parents. Later, Grant takes Julia to Tiffany & Co., where they turn on the lights to reveal the salespeople ready to let her pick whatever she wants. Grant then confesses he loves her and proposes to her. Julia happily says yes. Julia and Grant go to a wedding planner named Jell-O (Valery Ortiz), who has a massive rear. She suggests that they go to a restaurant called Taco Butt. When they decline, she gets upset. She tells them that's the best she can do on short notice & they need to get more wedding materials. When Grant says he has a best man, she shows them what she booked for the entertainment, after which she uses her rear to knock over her desk then aggressively rips off her clothes to reveal a gold bra and tights. She shows off her dance moves until she backs up to them as they scream in horror, while she carelessly & joyfully crushes them with her rear, getting them back for declining her suggestions. Grant introduces Julia to his ex-fiancée, Andy (Sophie Monk), who seems to harbor no resentment towards Julia for marrying Grant, going so far as to help Julia shop for her wedding dress. At the dress store, Julia hits her head on a power box and finds that she can read people's thoughts. Julia finds from reading Andy's mind that she wants to get back together with Grant and plans to split the two of them up. Julia and Andy fight each other, Kill Bill-style. She cannot forgive Grant, and agrees to marry Nicky (Judah Friedlander). Once at the altar with Nicky, Julia is regretting it and has flashbacks about her and Grant. Frank objects to the union and realizes he was wrong about Grant who liked her even when Julia was ugly, and he persuades her to go after Grant who is revealed to have waited for months. Julia journeys to meet him as he is leaving, while tossing aside Andy who was pursuing him too. Julia arrives too late and sees Grant on the streets before she falls off the roof, though is conveniently caught by Grant. They get back together and get married, with Hitch officiating. Andy and Nicky meet at the wedding, and fall in love. Meanwhile, Grant and Julia leave in a horse and carriage. Julia also gets a present from her mother-in-law: a vaginal thermometer which apparently has been in their family for generations and is regarded as good luck when it is not washed. On their honeymoon, Grant and Julia go to Skull Island and film a woman, Anne (Carmen Electra), tied to two pieces of wood. After King Kong rips off Anne's dress and gropes her, she says "I like hairy boys", and King Kong roars and flattens her. ===== The film begins with Senthil Kumar (Cheran) who runs an advertising agency, boarding a train on a journey to invite his friends and family for his forthcoming wedding. Along the way, he encounters various individuals from his past, who bring back memories of three women that have influenced his love life. During the journey, he reminisces his teenage days. The happenings in the school, his tussle with his friends and his first love with his classmate Kamala (Mallika) are all pictured with fun and drama. However, her father married her off early before her 11th grade. He meets Kamala 14 years later, and she is now a mother of three children, and a wife of a Farmer. Senthil reaches the village and invites all including Kamala, who promises to come to the wedding. Then, he goes to Kerala, where he had his college education. His major crush at that time was Lathika (Gopika), a Malayali girl from Chalakudy, with whom he falls in love, but later, the affair proves to be short-lived as her parents marry her off to her cousin Madhavan after knowing about her love affair with senthi. On reaching Chalakudy to invite her, Senthil is slightly disturbed to see her as a widow living with her grandmother for the past 12 years. He attempts to rekindle his love for her, but she corrects him. On his journey, he comes across his trusted friend Divya (Sneha), who instills confidence and elucidates him to the life lesson – that one has to go ahead in life without looking back. While she and Senthil travel on a bus, she reveals her tragic experience, that her mother is a paralytic patient and that she is the breadwinner of the family. As time passes by, she reveals that she was in love with someone and believed that he was the man of her life, but she was unfortunately let down. A poetic narration on the need for a good companion like Senthil who gives attention to her is stressed, even if it is not possible at his stage. After her unwilling engagement with a businessman from America, she goes away from Senthil. Senthil meets her five years later, and she is now a divorcee. In the end, Senthil marries a girl of his parents choice, Thenmozhi (Kanika). All the three girls who were a part in his life, along with his school and college friends attend his wedding. Also, this sets a very jovial ending to the story. ===== Ramlal (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) have two sons - the ideal, older son Ratan (Mamik Singh) and the indisciplined younger one, Sanjay (Aamir Khan). Ratan competes for top honours at the inter-college sports event. He ends up losing the penultimate cycle race at the finish line to his archrival, Shekhar, by less than a cycle's length. Over the course of the next year, Ratan and Shekhar continually keep running into each other while training, usually ending with Shekhar, who is from the elite Rajput College, mocking Ratan over his modest background. Meanwhile, Sanjay is busy chasing girls in cars that he "borrows" from his childhood friend Anjali's (Ayesha Jhulka) garage. He lies to and starts going out with Devika (Pooja Bedi), a rich girl studying in Queen's College, who believes Sanjay is a millionaire's son and that he attends the elite boy's college, Xaviers. Sanjay is actually from the local Model College, like his father before him and his brother, but ends up falling in love with Devika despite Anjali's warnings. When Devika learns the truth, she immediately dumps him for Shekhar. Sanjay, who is regularly insulted by Shekhar and his friends over his apparent poverty (as compared to them), ends up fighting with them after being dumped by Devika. Ratan intervenes and saves the day, but pays the price the next morning when Shekhar's friends accost him on his training route. During the ensuing fight, Shekhar inadvertently pushes Ratan off the cliff. Ratan survives the fall but is seriously injured and will not compete in the next cycle race. This prompts a guilty Sanjay to get his act together - he begins training hard and preparing to participate in the race. He is helped by Anjali, who has always had a crush on him and with whom he later falls in love. At the annual cycle race, Shekhar and Sanjay take the lead but end up colliding and falling off course. They start fighting each other over the incident involving Ratan, only to rejoin the race once the rest of the field has overtaken them on the course. They both manage to chase down the rest of the field, and emerge one behind the other, with Shekhar leading. At the finish line in the last lap of the race, Sanjay overtakes Shekhar to win the race for his college, marking the first time since his father that Model College will lift the sports trophy. ===== Ernie Driscoll is a former boxer who, after sustaining an injury in the ring severe enough to force him to give up prize-fighting, is a New York taxi driver. His wife, Pauline, unhappy living a hard-up life, is having an affair with the much better-heeled Victor Rawlins, who happens to be a thief. An arrangement Rawlins made, to be paid for a batch of diamonds he has stolen, falls through; his fence indicates it is the presence of Pauline that has impeded the deal. In an effort to rekindle it, Rawlins kills Pauline and attempts to frame Driscoll for the murder. With the help of a female acquaintance, Driscoll tries to track down Rawlins before the criminal leaves the country. ===== Claudia Larson, a single mom who has just been fired from her job as an art restorer due to budget cuts, flies from Chicago to spend Thanksgiving at the Baltimore home of her parents, Adele and Henry Larson, while her only child Kitt decides to stay home and spend the holiday with her boyfriend. As she is dropping her mother off at the airport, Kitt informs Claudia that she intends to have sex with her boyfriend for the first time while she's gone. While on the plane, Claudia makes a phone call to Tommy, her younger brother and confidant, who she believes won't be attending the Thanksgiving dinner, telling him that she lost her job, made out with her boss, and knows that her daughter is going to sleep with her boyfriend. When Claudia arrives at the airport, she is greeted by her parents, who drive her to their home and help her unpack. Claudia remarks that she's thinking of looking into new careers, and her mother concludes that Claudia lost her job, which she initially denies. That night, Tommy arrives with his friend Leo Fish, whom Claudia believes to be his boyfriend. Claudia is glad to see her brother but fears that he and Jack, his boyfriend, have broken up. The next day, more family members arrive, including their eccentric Aunt Glady (Adele's sister), who once was a very bright Latin teacher now shows signs of dementia. While returning home after picking up groceries, Claudia runs into a girl she used to go to school with. As Claudia feels diminished by talk of her divorce, Leo comes to her aid. The next family member to arrive is Claudia's resentful, conservative sister, Joanne Wedman, accompanied by Joanne's stuffy banker husband Walter and their two spoiled children. On Thanksgiving Day, a series of mishaps occur. Aunt Glady professes her love for Henry, and Tommy accidentally spills the turkey all over Joanne and goes too far with his jokes. Joanne, in turn, reveals to everyone that Tommy married his boyfriend Jack in a beach wedding several months before. Their parents are hurt that they weren't told, and Adele retreats to a hidden pantry by the kitchen, where Claudia attempts to console her. After the meal, Kitt calls Claudia to say that she's fine and she's decided not to sleep with her boyfriend. Tommy, Leo, Walter, and Walter Jr. play football while Henry washes everybody's cars. When Walter gets frustrated of Tommy and Leo bending the rules, he spikes the ball on Tommy's classic GTO causing the brothers-in- law to fight. Walter wrestles Tommy onto the ground and threatens him and Tommy accidentally punches Leo who's trying to break them up. Henry sprays his son and son-in-law with the hose, and the Wedmans jump into the car and leave, soapsuds and all. The family returns inside, where they talk for a while. The phone rings a second time, and Henry answers; it turns out to be Jack calling. Before handing the phone over to Tommy, Henry says that he's happy for both of them. Adele insists that Claudia and Leo drive Aunt Glady home, then deliver leftovers to Joanne's family. Claudia goes down to the Wedmans' basement, where Joanne is exercising, to talk to her. Joanne says, "If I just met you on the street...if you gave me your phone number, I’d throw it away." Claudia responds "We don’t have to like each other, we're family". On the drive home, Leo tells Claudia that Tommy showed him a picture of her, and he came to Thanksgiving to meet her. The two talk for a while in the living room at her parents' house; but Tommy, who is sleeping on the floor, wakes up and reminds Leo that they have to get an early start in the morning. Claudia retreats upstairs to her room; Leo follows her, but is unable to persuade her to let him in. Early the next morning, Claudia wakes up and sees Tommy and Leo driving away. She goes downstairs and reminisces with her father for a while, before being taken to the airport and getting on her plane. Before the plane takes off, Leo gets in the seat next to her, and they fly back to Chicago together. ===== Zooni Ali Beg (Kajol) is a blind Kashmiri woman who travels for the first time with her friends, Fatimah (Shruti Seth), Mehbooba (Sanaya Irani) and Rubina (Gautami Kapoor), and their dance teacher Helen (Lillete Dubey) to New Delhi to perform in a ceremony for Republic Day. On her journey, she meets Rehaan Khan (Aamir Khan), a tour guide who flirts with her. Although her friends warn Zooni about him, she falls in love. On her last night in Delhi, Rehaan and Zooni spend the night together and end up in bed. As Zooni is leaving the next day, Rehaan comes and takes her away with him. Her parents arrive in Delhi to arrange their marriage. Zooni has a procedure done that helps her see again, but when she comes out of surgery, she finds out that Rehaan was killed in a bomb blast in the city. Malini Tyagi (Tabu) is a special intelligence agent brought in to assess the threat of the bomb blast, and the group responsible, an independent organization fighting for an independent Kashmir known as IKF. It is revealed that Rehaan is the man who placed the bomb blast in motion, then faked his death so that Zooni wouldn't come looking for him. He admits that he loves Zooni, but also concedes that he can never see her again because of his dangerous life. Seven years later, Rehaan is on another mission for the IKF. IKF has acquired a nuclear weapon but needs to get hold of the trigger, which is in the army's possession. Rehaan steals it, but Tyagi has figured out his plan and sends forces to stop him. In the ensuing shootout, Rehaan is injured. He makes his way to a remote house for help. It turns out to be Zooni's house. Zooni had become pregnant after Rehaan's supposed death and has given birth to and raised her and Rehaan's son (also named "Rehaan" by Zooni). Zooni's mother had passed away two years prior to Rehaan Qadri's return. Zooni and her father save Rehaan, though neither recognize him as Zooni's old lover. Though initially distant from them, Rehaan develops an affection for his son and the family. Rehaan eventually reveals his true identity to them, keeping the information of his terrorism behind. Initially hurt, Zooni refuses to let Rehaan leave her again, and the two of them get married by the arrangement of her father. Tyagi has a report published about Rehaan, warning the public that he is a terrorist. Zooni's father sees this report and confronts Rehaan on finding the trigger in his pocket. Rehaan accidentally throws Zooni's father off a ledge, killing him. He radios the IKF from an army officer's house but kills the officer when he discovers Rehaan. Zooni finds her father's body, and Rehaan lies about his death. However, Zooni later sees the news report, and finds the trigger. She takes her son and flees to the officer's house, where she radios for help. Tyagi tells her to stop Rehaan. Rehaan arrives the next day, and takes the trigger from Zooni, saying the IKF will kill her and their son if he doesn't. As Rehaan is about to give the trigger to the leader of IKF, Rehaan's grandfather, Zooni shoots him in the leg. Rehaan draws his gun on her, but can't bring himself to shoot. Zooni shoots him again, this time fatally, to stop him. In the nick of time, Tyagi arrives and stops the IKF from shooting Zooni. Rehaan dies in Zooni's arms. Zooni and her son later visit the graves of her father and Rehaan, who are buried next to each other. When her son asks if his father was wrong, Zooni tells him that his father did what he thought was right. ===== The plot of the series focuses on Marco, a boy who lives with his family in the harbor city of Genoa, Italy during a depression period in 1881. Marco's father, Pietro Rossi, is a manager of a hospital who dedicates his time to treating poor patients, and therefore the family has financial difficulties. His beloved mother, Anna Rossi, goes to Argentina to work as a maid to earn money for Marco. When the letters from his mother stop coming after an indication that she is sick, Marco fears the worst for her fate. Since his father is too busy working in his clinic and his older brother Tonio was sent to train as a locomotive driver in Milano, he is the only one free to go search for her. Marco takes his older brother's pet monkey Amedeo and they sneak aboard the Andrea Doria, a ship bound for Brazil. In Brazil Marco boards an immigrant ship and arrives in Buenos Aires, where he meets a puppeteer called Peppino and his family, whom he knew from Genoa. They accompany him to Bahía Blanca to try to locate his mother. In Bahía Blanca, he discovers his uncle stole the letters which his mother had sent him. He returns to Buenos Aires and sails off on a ship to Rosario; there he tries to figure out how to get on a train to Córdoba. Marco's Italian friends collect money and buy him a train ticket. Marco arrives in Córdoba, and successfully finds the agricultural engineer Mister Mequinez. He tells Marco that his mother works for his brother in Tucumán and gives him enough money for a train ticket. But Marco ends up giving the money to a doctor to save the life of a poor girl he meets. Marco sneaks on the train, but he gets caught and tossed off in the middle of nowhere. A group of traveling Roma rescue him and give him an old donkey. After a few days, the donkey dies and Marco continues to walk to Tucumán. He eventually arrives to his destination hungry and tired, and finds his mother. His mother is very sick and needs an operation, but she is too weak. As soon as she sees Marco, she regains her strength and manages to go through surgery successfully. At the end of the series, Marco and his mother return to Genoa, where the family is reunited. ===== A teenage boy named Troy McGreggor finds a map belonging to his late father, who was murdered seven years earlier. Troy’s father, Thomas, was an archaeologist who met his untimely death after becoming involved with a mysterious cult led by a sinister man with supernatural powers known only as Satoris (Shane Marceau). The orphaned Troy decides to study the map to learn about the circumstances of his father's death. Sensing the map has been uncovered, the same cultists that killed his father track down Troy. After a failed home invasion, they begin chasing him in a black Ford Torino as Troy has no choice but ride his bicycle as fast as possible. Eventually, Troy escapes by jumping into the back of a battered pickup truck heading into the Alberta countryside. Soon afterwards, the truck breaks down and Troy meets its owner: an alcoholic drifter named Zap Rowsdower. The two are able to get the truck to run again and Zap eventually warms up to Troy as they head to a nearby town. Upon arriving at a gas station to refuel, Zap phones the police to report finding Troy. As he does this, the cultists slowly approach them and begin to pursue them by vehicle into the countryside, where Zap and Troy are able to lose them. Later that night, Zap reveals to Troy the origins of the Ziox civilization as well as details about his life before becoming a vagabond. The next morning, the truck stalls and the two are left with no other option than to walk the rest of the way back to civilization, unaware that the cultists are still in pursuit. The two wander through the countryside and through a hidden cave. They find themselves pursued by the cult again as this leads them to the lodge of a shotgun-wielding hermit, Mike Pipper (Ron Anderson). A tear in Rowsdower's jacket reveals that he was a member of the same cult that has been after them. Before opening fire on them, Rowsdower calls Troy by his last name to save them. Pipper, recognizing the name, reveals that he was a close friend as well as an expedition partner of Troy’s father and has been hiding in the woods from Satoris for the past seven years. He later explains how the cultists are the last descendants of an ancient and advanced race called the Ziox, who had inhabited the area long before the Indians, and whose civilization was destroyed by their god in a month-long rainstorm after they turned to worshiping unholy idols. According to Pipper, the Ziox built a great city that was more advanced than "anything the ancient Egyptians or Romans ever knew." He believes that Satoris wants to raise the buried city in hopes that it will restore power to the Ziox and allow him to conquer/rule the entire world. After Zap leaves the two, Pipper confides to Troy that Rowsdower was with the cult the night Troy’s father was killed and that Zap may have possibly been the one that killed him. In a dream sequence, Rowsdower relives the night the cult’s insignia was branded on his arm, like the other cultists. Satoris seems to be able to torment Rowsdower through the mark, as we see Rowsdower writhing in agony while asleep, presumably having a Satoris-induced nightmare. Eventually, Troy is captured by Satoris and his cult, who use the map to locate their ancient idol. Satoris means to make Troy the titular final sacrifice. Pipper gives him his horse and a rifle, directing him to the ancient Ziox sacrifice site that he was able to decipher from Troy's map. Rowsdower discovers the site of the idol and duels with Satoris. During the fight, Satoris mocks Rowsdower with the fact that he could not bring himself to kill Troy’s father, implying Satoris had to do it himself. Satoris is about to kill Rowsdower when Troy manages to intervene, shooting the cult leader in the back with Pipper's rifle. Satoris’ death causes the destruction of the idol and the reemergence of the lost city of Ziox, indicating that Satoris was the true final sacrifice. Instead of bringing about evil, the risen city (as Pipper had foretold) is actually a force for good, and Satoris' cult breaks up as its members are freed from his evil influence. Troy and Rowsdower observe the rise of the lost city from the ground, then the two drive off together. ===== Several years ago, the evil General Morden was foiled in his attempted coup d'état against the worlds' governments by the Peregrine Falcon Strike Force. After forming an alliance with an alien race in an attempt to stage another coup, Morden was betrayed and taken prisoner by his new found allies. His rebels troops formed an ad hoc alliance with the Strike Force and the aliens were defeated and Morden was killed. Instrumental in defeating Morden during the first coup were Cpt. Marco Rossi and Lt. Tarma Roving. Rossi (now a Major) and Roving (now a Captain) led the fight against the Morden during the second coup, joined by two members of the Intelligence Agency's Special Ops Squad S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S.; Sgt. Eri Kasamoto and Sgt. 1st Class Fiolina Germi. Several years have passed since that time, and Morden is listed as missing by his surviving followers. Determined to wipe out every remnant of Morden's powerbase, the army send Rossi and Roving to destroy all remaining rebel strongholds, one by one. During the fighting, however, Rossi and Roving come to the conclusion that the enemy is too well organised, and perhaps Morden is not dead as was initially thought. Meanwhile, the S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S. come across a series of strange events which lead the army to conclude that the aliens with whom Morden once allied himself have returned. The Peregrine Falcon Strike Force and S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S. are once again united, and sent to defeat this new threat. After various battles against Morden's forces, the heroes face off against Morden. After defeating him, it is revealed that it was an alien in disguise, and the real Morden has been taken prisoner by the aliens. The aliens abduct the player character and leave Earth. At this point, another character takes the player character's place. An ad hoc alliance is formed between the Strike Force and Morden's troops so as to save their captured comrades. The rebels launch an armada of rocket ships to attack the alien mother ship, Rugname. After a long battle through the ship's interior, the Rugname starts to collapse due to the amount of damage it has sustained. After destroying the ship's core, the Strike Force must fight their way through armies of clones of their captured teammate, some of whom have turned into zombies. Both the captured member of the Strike Force and Morden are freed. As they escape, they are confronted by the aliens' leader, Rootmars. A battle ensues in Earth's atmosphere, which is won by the Strike Force, who leave Rootmars' body in the ocean. Upon seeing Morden and his men celebrating, the player character throws their weapon into the water in disgust. ===== George Dupler (Gene Hackman), a married man nearing middle age, is demoted after a temper tantrum at work (throwing a chair out of his boss's window) and reduced to working as the midnight-shift manager of an all-night pharmacy/convenience store. George's adult son, Freddie (Dennis Quaid), is having an affair with an older, married woman, who also happens to be Freddie's fourth cousin. George advises Freddie to stop the affair before it leads to any trouble, but Freddie declares that he might love her. One night at the store, George finally meets the woman, Cheryl (Barbra Streisand), an untalented singer-songwriter married to a volatile firefighter, Bobby (Kevin Dobson), and she begins to show an interest in him. After a while, the interest is mutual. George goes to Cheryl's house to return her cigarette lighter. She offers to show George the paint job Freddie has done in her bedroom. George and Cheryl are about to get intimate, when Freddie comes over to see Cheryl for another tryst. George escapes before Freddie could see him, but Cheryl decides to tell Freddie about the affair she is having with his dad. The next day, when George is trying to sleep, and his wife, Helen (Diane Ladd), is having a French class, Freddie confronts his father, trying to fight him. Helen hears about the affair and George leaves. When she demands a divorce, George agrees. George ends up quitting his job and buying a loft where he can pursue his dream of being an inventor. George goes to an anniversary party where everybody he knows is there, including his family, plus Cheryl and Bobby. He realizes Bobby is aware of the affair with his wife. George takes Cheryl away from the party and her husband. Even though Cheryl loves him, she thinks he is too good for her. Cheryl goes to the fire station where Bobby works to talk to him. Bobby ends up yelling at her and is about to hit her when the fire alarm goes off. He and all of the firemen leave, whereupon we see that it was George who reported the nonexistent fire. Cheryl moves into George's place. Freddie has accepted the situation and helps her move in, showing that he and his dad have reconciled. ===== The third episode of the Bold As Love Sequence opens on a cold beach in Mexico, where Ax and Sage are hesitantly renegotiating their relationship, while Fiorinda struggles on the brink of schizophrenic fugue. The rockstars, scarred by outrageous fortune, have dropped out, joined the masses, abandoned the centre stage: hoping to find peace. Their Avalon is invaded by Harry Lopez, the boy-wonder producer who wants to make a virtual movie about Ax Preston; who brings a summons from the US President. The secret behind the assassination of Rufus O’Niall is out. The Pentagon is openly embarked on developing the new human superweapon: but President Fred Eiffrich, who wants to stop the Neurobomb, believes the hawks are speeding the process by shocking, and extremely dangerous, means. He needs advice. With indecent haste the three decide that what they really need is the hair of the dog that bit them. Soon they are heading north to tackle the demons of the Republic of California, in an adventure where the West Coast music scene will be ignored, while Hollywood — the virtual movies, the stars, the agents, the players — takes the role that rock and roll played in England. In Midnight Lamp, the Bold As Love glamour is deconstructed by confrontation with the real world. A young woman raped by her father, and doomed by the crippling mental illness that is her heritage, featuring on the reality TV show hosted by Bollywood import, the truly wonderful Puusi Meera . A pop-icon warlord, latest darling of the Hollywood fame machine, admits to dirty secrets behind the romance of the Rock and Roll Reich. A reformed bad boy, stripped of his wealth, status and physical prowess, finds that enlightenment is no protection from remorse. Secondary characters come to the fore, loyalties are strained. The Few — shipped over from a dreary post-Ax England — are thinking of solo projects. As the Pentagon thriller unfolds, against the backdrop of an uncannily believable day-after- tomorrow tinseltown, Gwyneth Jones returns to her long-time fascination with boundary events, moments of change. The "magic" of the Bold As Love Sequence is conjured into science fictional reality (literally conjured, on stage at the Hollywood Bowl!) through the mediation of historical precedents: the sheer, limitless terror of the atom bomb when it was new; and the transition from alchemy into chemistry, myth into manufacture, in the midst of the French Revolution. And above all, there is the desert: Vireo Lake, Lavoisier, the "Cow Castle"—lyrical images of austerity and endurance, of human/nature, flayed to the point of death but undefeated. This is the lightest in tone of the Bold As Love books, despite some inventively gory crime scenes. Dissolution has gone global, there is no escape, but by the final credits the heroes have made their peace with the Burning World, the maelstrom in which they will live and die. Yet there is a darker undertow, an elegy for those who have no hope: for the Invisible People, fragments of human souls, digital fodder for virtual movies; for the self-immolation of the Gaian martyrs; and for the unsung queen of it all, Janelle Firdous. The addictions of fame, the addictions of power, are inescapable: but most dangerous, perhaps, those who have been cheated of the glittering prizes. ===== In the last pages of Midnight Lamp a secret military test of the Neurobomb went live, and the altered-brain neuronauts died in the act of wiping out the planet’s reserves of fossil fuel. Like the bombs exploded over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the "A team event" seemed both horrific and benign. The latest US/Islamic conflict was over at a stroke, the terminal sickness of post-peak-oil mercifully cut short. No way back to "business as usual": now there must be a new world, a better world. Band of Gypsys opens, some months later, with a complete change of pace. Having failed to make terms with a corrupt and dangerous Westminster government, the Triumvirate are in Paris, conducting a mordant John and Yoko style, "bed-in" in protest against conditions in English labour camps. Ax gets some bad news. US President Fred Eiffrich, the man who "Banned the Bomb", is doomed: brought down by a cunningly manufactured scandal. The hour is getting late. The rescue of Ax's family, held as hostages for his good behaviour, shows Ax and friends doing what they do best: extracting bloodless victory from a nasty situation. There's a festival at Reading, there's a clandestine mind/matter tech space programme in the basement of the Heads' Battersea HQ. The ideals of the Rock and Roll Reich are alien to a new, post-Crisis generation. The leaders of fashion are neo-feudalist dandy Jack Vries MP (secret chief of the secret police), and Toby Starborn, sinister young virtual artist. Ax 'n Sage 'n Fiorinda are outdated icons, corpses in the mouths of the bourgeoisie. When Ax and Sage are engulfed in the Lavoisier Massacre Scandal a moment's shocking loss of control precipitates disaster. The Triumvirate find themselves—like many English Royals before them—incarcerated. Once more they are forced to provide rock-star window-dressing for a reactionary and degenerate Green regime, but this time Ax Preston has no miraculous solutions. Locked away in the shadowy, haunted fortress of Wallingham House, the prisoners hear distant echoes of a new blitzkrieg. The Chinese, emerging from their own struggle with the Crisis years, are taking over in Central Asia. They are almost at the gates of Europe. ===== Stucker, Minor and Pataki are cast as a gay fashion designer, a horny soul brother (catchphrase - "This is the best- lookin' piece I've seen in a long time!") and an incompetent impressionist, respectively. The three escape their mental asylum and sexually assault their way into a girls' school. Their broad, knockabout performances attempt to keep the film's (fairly objectionable) content amusing rather than disturbing. The entire female cast consists of softcore porn models (mostly drawn from men's magazines of the era) who don skimpy karate costumes and violently turn the tables on their tormentors. ===== The plot is about three characters; L.A. Deputy Sheriff Danny Upshaw investigates a brutal sex murder which becomes a string of killings, working outside the law in his efforts to catch him. Turner "Buzz" Meeks, a disgraced former cop, now works for millionaire Howard Hughes and gangster Mickey Cohen as a fixer, and begins a dangerous affair with Cohen's mistress Audrey Anders. LAPD lieutenant Malcolm "Mal" Considine, involved in a bitter child custody case, tries, with varying success, to do the right things in an environment of deception, paranoia, and brutality. The three men gradually become part of a task force investigating Communism in Hollywood. The story takes place in the aftermath of the notorious Sleepy Lagoon murder case and the resultant Zoot Suit Riots. Over the course of the novel, Danny Upshaw becomes increasingly obsessed with the murder case - characterized by violent and sexual mutilations of male victims' corpses post-mortem - and begins to confront his own latent homosexuality in the process. He closes in on the killer, as the murders begin to connect to the UAES, the leftist Hollywood organization being investigated, particularly an actor named Reynolds Loftis, who matches the description of the suspected killer. Upshaw's investigation, however, is cut tragically short when a feud between County and City police leads to him being pegged for the killing of a corrupt LAPD detective who questioned his sexuality. Fearing the outcome of this investigation, Upshaw takes his own life with the murder spree still unsolved. From this point, Meeks and Considine pick up the investigation. Meeks does this out of a sense of responsibility - he committed the killing for which Upshaw was framed, but did so in self-defense while with Audrey Anders, forcing him to cover up the killing for fear of Cohen's reprisal, and inadvertently leading to Upshaw becoming the prime suspect due to his history with the dead man. Considine, meanwhile, partnered with Upshaw while the latter went undercover as a Communist, and feels a sense of obligation to him as well. Meeks and Considine share a rocky history, but set this aside to finish the case. Ultimately they identify the true killer - Reynolds Loftis' illegitimate son Coleman Masskie, with whom he had an incestuous affair, and who was attempting to frame his father in retaliation. In a climactic confrontation, Masskie kills both Loftis and Considine before being killed by Meeks, who is left the sole survivor. Seeking closure, Meeks tracks down a UAES-affiliated psychiatrist who was privy to Masskie's murderous inclinations. He discovers that Masskie, who briefly spoke to Danny Upshaw as a witness early in the investigation, began stalking the deputy and developed a mutual sexual obsession with him. The investigation also provides an apparent, fictional solution to the Sleepy Lagoon murder - it's revealed that a young Coleman Masskie witnessed LAPD lieutenant Dudley Smith committing the murder, a racist hate crime in retaliation for the Latino victim sleeping with his niece. This was part of what forced Masskie into hiding with his father, and eventually factors into his killings, as he emulates Smith's use of a "zoot stick" when mutilating his victims' corpses. Dudley Smith is a prominent lead investigator of the anti- Communist investigation, and is never charged with the crime - however, this discovery contributes to Meeks' and Considine's disillusionment with the investigation. At the conclusion of the novel, after Mickey Cohen finds out about Meeks' affair with Anders, Meeks burns down the DA's house along with all of the anti-Communist investigative material before leaving town. While the novel mocks opportunistic red-baiting as a scam to oust organized labor to benefit political careers and the fortunes of movie studio executives and mobsters, Ellroy is no easier on the film colony's communists and fellow travelers, many of whom he depicts as decadent hypocrites, who are easily compromised into "naming names" to hide their dirty secrets. As with most of Ellroy's fiction, he liberally employs the brutal slang of the times. Gays are "fruits," "homos", and "nances;" black people are "boogies" and "jigs:" and their neighborhoods are all "Niggertown." ===== Agastya Sen (Rahul Bose), nicknamed "English, August", speaks and thinks in English. A lover of poetry, he listens to Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, rock and jazz and reads Marcus Aurelius. He is also an Indian Administrative Service Officer, a member of the most influential and powerful cadre of civil servants in India. He is sent off for a year's training to Madna, the hottest town in the country. Culture shock and a language barrier in his own country follows (August's mother tongue is Bengali). He feels like a foreigner, but must survive. Moreover, August is surrounded by wild characters: Srivastava, the pompous head bureaucrat and his wife Malti, the fashion and cultural leader of the town; Sathe, a local pothead and cartoonist; Kumar, the Police Superintendent and connoisseur of porn films; and Vasant, the world's worst cook. August negotiates this provincial creek with the only paddle he can find; Fantasy, daydreams and "self-abuse" become his means of revolt and escape as he escapes from the heat into the mystery and quiet of his secret world of erotic fantasy and contemplation. ===== The game's premise is similar to that of the original Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic's nemesis, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, is planning world domination through the power of the Chaos Emeralds and an army of robots. Specific to this game, he is additionally constructing an armored space station known as the Death Egg (an homage to the Death Star), also for the means of world domination.Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis) instruction manual, p. 4. The events of the game see Sonic and Tails chasing Robotnik through West Side Island, and eventually up to the Death Egg, pursuing him with Tails' biplane, the Tornado. The plane is damaged after being shot at, but Sonic still manages to infiltrate the Death Egg, alone. Once there, he battles a robotic imposter before taking on Robotnik, who is piloting a giant mech. Sonic manages to defeat the robot and it explodes, damaging the Death Egg and knocking it out of orbit. Sonic comes down falling and is saved by Tails in the Tornado. If the player has collected all of the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic, in his Super Sonic form, flies alongside it. ===== The Stooges are janitors working at a space center who accidentally blast off to Venus. They encounter a talking unicorn, a giant fire-breathing tarantula, and an alien computer which has destroyed all life on the planet and creates three evil robot duplicates of the Stooges. When the boys return home triumphant, they are given a hero's welcome; a party in their honor becomes a free for all pie fight complicated by the arrival of the evil robots; our heroes and their unicorn friend managed to escape. The epilogue shows the Three Stooges riding on a rocket singing a monologue and ends with Moe getting plastered with cream pies by Larry and Joe! ===== The seaside town of Fircombe is facing a crisis – it's always raining and there's nothing for the tourists to do. Councillor Sidney Fiddler (Sid James) hits on the notion of holding a beauty contest. The mayor, Frederick Bumble (Kenneth Connor), is taken with the idea but feminist councillor Augusta Prodworthy (June Whitfield) is outraged and storms out of the meeting. The motion is carried in Augusta's absence, and Sidney contacts publicist Peter Potter (Bernard Bresslaw) to help with the organisation. Sidney's girlfriend, Connie Philpotts (Joan Sims), runs a local hotel and soon her residents—including the eccentric Mrs Dukes (Joan Hickson) and the randy old Admiral (Peter Butterworth)—are outnumbered by putative models, including diminutive biker Hope Springs (Barbara Windsor) and tall, buxom Dawn Brakes (Margaret Nolan). A catfight orchestrated by Hope after thinking Dawn has stolen her bikini provides better newspaper copy than bringing a donkey off the beach which, despite the bucket and spade of hotel porter, William (Jack Douglas), ruins the plush carpets. Augusta's son, press photographer Larry (Robin Askwith), is hired to document the donkey stunt and snaps the catfight that has the Mayor losing his trousers, then gulps his way through a nude photo shoot with Dawn. The Mayor's wife, Mildred (Patsy Rowlands), joins Prodworthy's bra-burning movement and plots the downfall of the Miss Fircombe contest on the pier. Peter Potter reluctantly becomes a man in a frock for another publicity gimmick for the television show Women's Things, presented by Cecil Gaybody (Jimmy Logan) and produced by Debra (Sally Geeson). Prodworthy and butch feminist Rosemary (Patricia Franklin) call in the police (David Lodge and Billy Cornelius) to investigate the male pageant contestant but Peter's previously prim girlfriend, Paula (Valerie Leon), has a makeover and turns out to be very buxom and glamorous. and steps into the breach as the mysterious girl. Prodworthy's gang put "Operation Spoilsport" into action, sabotaging the final contest with water, mud and itching powder. With an angry mob after his blood, Sidney makes his escape on a go-kart, finds Connie has taken all the money and then speeds away with Hope on her motorcycle. ===== Jarhead recounts Swofford's enlistment and service in the United States Marine Corps during the Persian Gulf War, in which he served as a Scout Sniper Trainee with the Surveillance and Target Acquisition (STA) Platoon of 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines. Like most of the troops stationed in the Middle East during the Gulf War, Swofford saw very little actual combat. Swofford's narrative focuses on the physical, mental and emotional struggles of the young Marines.Kakutani, Michiko (2003-02-19). "BOOKS OF THE TIMES; A Warrior Haunted By Ghosts Of Battle." NYTimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-03-08. One of the through lines of his first-person account involves the challenge of balancing the art and science and mind-set of the warrior with one's own basic sense of humanity. Swofford admits to a sense of disappointment, frustration and emptiness that comes in the wake of ultimately being cheated of any real combat experience by a war that, for many American Marines at least, has ended all too quickly after enduring many months of grinding, anticlimactic suspense. And yet there have been the numerous encounters with poignant, eerie tableaux of dead Iraqi soldiers who'd been killed so quickly where they sat so as to appear to have been deliberately posed, like store-display mannequins, in their final moments of life. ===== In Victorian England, widowed undertaker Cedric Brown is the father of seven unruly children—Simon, Tora, Eric, Lily, Sebastian, Chrissie, and Aggie. He is clumsy and loves his children, but since the death of his wife, has spent little time with them and cannot handle them. The children have had a series of nannies, whom they have systematically driven out with their bad behaviour and pranks. They also take great pleasure in tormenting their cook, Mrs. Blatherwick. Besides their father, the only one the children will ever listen to is Evangeline, the family's uneducated but sweet-natured scullery maid. One day, Cedric discovers multiple references for a "Nanny McPhee" throughout the home. That same night during a storm, while the children cause havoc in the kitchen, Cedric opens the door to reveal a hideous woman, who introduces herself as Nanny McPhee. With discipline and a little magic, she transforms the family's lives. The children, led by Simon, try to play their tricks on her, but gradually start to respect her and ask her for advice. Each time the children learn a lesson, one of Nanny McPhee's facial defects magically disappears. Over time, the children become more responsible, helping their clumsy father in solving the family problems, making Nanny McPhee less and less needed. The family is financially supported by Cedric's domineering and short-sighted aunt-in-law Lady Adelaide Stitch, who demands custody over one of the children. She first wants Chrissie, but Evangeline volunteers to go and Adelaide agrees, assuming she is one of the daughters. She also threatens to reduce the family to poverty unless Cedric remarries within the month; meaning the family would lose the house, and be forced to separate. Desperate, Cedric turns to vile and frequent widow, Mrs. Selma Quickly. The children assume from reading fairy tales that all stepmothers are terrible women who treat their stepchildren like slaves; together, they sabotage Mrs. Quickly's visit, who leaves, angry at Cedric. After the financial rationale for the marriage is explained to the children, they realize their mistake; the children appease Mrs. Quickly by confessing they were to blame for ruining her visit. Mrs. Quickly, intrigued when she hears about Adelaide's wealth and status, reconciles with Cedric and agrees to marry him. However, the children soon discover that Mrs. Quickly is just as cruel and awful as any fairytale stepmother when she breaks baby Aggie's beloved rattle (which previously belonged to their late mother). When everybody is gathered for the gaudy wedding Quickly insisted on, they disturb the ceremony by pretending there are bees (inspired by the way Quickly told them to "behave," and baby Aggie repeating the word but pronouncing it as "beehive"), chasing the guests, and starting a food fight using the pastries intended for the banquet. Cedric swiftly understands his children do not like the bride and, recognizing that she is not right for him or his children, joins in the commotion himself. Mrs. Quickly calls off the marriage and storms off in anger. When it seems that Adelaide's marriage deadline is missed, Lily suggests that Cedric marry Evangeline; the other children reveal to Adelaide that she is not, in fact, their sister. Evangeline and Cedric resist at first, but then realize their feelings for each other and agree to marry; satisfying Aunt Adelaide's conditions for maintaining her financial support. Nanny McPhee (who is now fully beautiful), magically makes it snow in August, which transforms the wedding scene and changes Evangeline's clothes into a beautiful wedding dress, and restores the children's late mother's rattle for them. Nanny McPhee leaves surreptitiously, in accordance with what she told the children before on her first night: "When you need me, but do not want me, then I must stay. When you want me, but no longer need me, then I have to go." ===== A Creole woman digs up a briefcase and drives off. Meanwhile, high school senior, Eden (Agnes Bruckner), and her friends, Rachel (Laura Ramsey), CeCe (Meagan Good), Ricky (Pawel Szajda), Patty (Davetta Sherwood), Tammy (Bijou Phillips), Eric (Jonathan Jackson), and Sean (D. J. Cotrona) are hanging out at the local burger joint. Sean's father and local tow truck driver, Ray Sawyer (Rick Cramer), comes by to pick up an order, leading Rachel to comment on how scary he is while Tammy flashes him. After work, Eden and Eric walk home just as Ray drives up and asks if she's alright. When he is sure, he begins to leave when the Creole woman – CeCe's grandmother – passes by. She swerves to avoid Ray and nearly falls off the bridge. Ray saves her, but the woman begs him to get the suitcase. As he reaches for it, the car falls off of the bridge and starts sinking into the water below. Upon suddenly opening, several snakes emerge and attack Ray. The ambulance arrives to find Ray and CeCe's grandmother dead. CeCe arrives shaken up over the tragedy, and takes a charm that was on her grandmother's corpse. CeCe then surprises Eden and Eric by asking them about Ray. Later that night, the coroner examines Ray's body, noting several snake bites. Suddenly, Ray gets back up and kills the coroner before leaving to retrieve his truck. The next day, Eden visits her father's grave, and sees Ray's tow truck driving by. While swimming in the lake, a heavily drunk Sean ditches Rachel, forcing Eric to chase after him. Meanwhile, Tammy and Patty are planning to go shoplifting, but stop by Ray's business to fix their car first. Once Tammy's done, she goes to look for Patty, only to find her hanging by several chains. She tries to escape, but Ray lowers a car on her and sandblasts her to death. As Eric follows Sean to Ray's garage, the latter gets angry at the former for abandoning him. He finds a picture of him when he was a little kid, which shows that Ray did care about him, but he storms out toward the garage and finds Tammy's remains. Later that night, Eden and her friends go to CeCe's grandmother's house, where CeCe explains that the snakes that killed Ray were full of evil that her grandmother took out of men to purify their souls. They try to escape, but their car has been flipped over. They see Ray and begin to run, but the undead killer pins Ricky with a crowbar and rips his arm off. Ray goes to enter the house, but finds he can't because it was blessed with voodoo spells. Despite this, he's able to throw a chain inside, drag Sean out, and mortally wound him. Eden and Eric shoot Ray with a rifle so the others can drag Sean inside and try to save him, but he dies on the floor. Rachel mourns the loss of her boyfriend while Eden talks CeCe into turning Sean's body into a human voodoo doll to control Ray. Meanwhile, Ray uses his tow truck on the house's foundation and pulls a whole room off; dragging Eric and Rachel with it and crushing CeCe's leg with a support beam. Ray begins to climb the wreckage toward CeCe, but she stabs Sean's body several times to slow Ray down. Ultimately however, the possessed killer reaches her and kills her. Eden, Eric, and Rachel try to escape, but Ray follows in his truck and manages to drag Rachel halfway out of the car. Despite Eden's best efforts, Rachel's impaled on a fallen tree. Stuck in the swamp, Eden and Eric try to reach dry land while Ray dives beneath the murky water. Soon enough, Ray attacks them and causes them to separate; causing Eden to end up in a crypt with Ray's victims. When she goes to escape, Ray locks her in. Fearing his return, she hides underneath Patty's body just as Ray returns and throws Eric in. She initially believes he's dead, but when he opens his eyes, her surprised gasp alerts Ray. Eric sacrifices himself to protect Eden before she fights back using a charm CeCe gave her. Ray appears to submit, but the snakes possessing him attack her. However, she's able to evade them and use Ray's truck to finally kill him. As she staggers off, two snakes emerge from Ray's body in search of a new host. ===== According to the description of the book by St. Martin's Press: ===== In-game screenshot Super Adventure Rockman is an interactive movie video game based on the Mega Man universe. It revolves primarily around the player watching pre-recorded animation cutscenes depicting the storyline. The game is divided into three different disks, each presenting itself as an anime episode and containing roughly a half-hour of video footage. Certain points allow the player to select a branching path, which can either lead them to helpful items or an ambush by enemies, sometimes utilizing quick-time events. If the player is ambushed, they are transferred to a rail shooter-like minigame where they must point an on-screen cursor onto enemies and shoot them. Some of these fights feature Robot Masters from earlier Mega Man games, particularly Mega Man, Mega Man II, and Mega Man III. The plot of the game centers on an ancient alien supercomputer named "Ra Moon", which was rediscovered by Dr. Wily in the ruins of the Amazon. Wily uses Ra Moon to revive his Robot Masters from previous games in the series. Wily also discovers Ra Moon's ability to cease almost all machinery and electricity in the world, as well as causing an invasive virus to spread across all technology. Roll is affected by the virus, with Dr. Light immunizing Mega Man and his brothers to prevent them from being infected. With Roll in trouble as well as the rest of the planet, Mega Man sets out to stop Wily and Ra Moon before it's too late. ===== Mega Man Xtreme takes place within the Mega Man X series timeline, during the 22nd century in which humans and intelligent androids called "Reploids" coexist. Daily life is under constant threat by "Mavericks", Reploids that have turned to a life of crime. The series follows the exploits of Mega Man X and his partner Zero, a pair of "Maverick Hunters" led by the benevolent Dr. Cain. This police force has been responsible for suppressing the threat of robotic, criminal activity, particularly that of a dangerous Maverick leader named Sigma. At the opening of the normal difficulty mode of Mega Man Xtreme, a hacker named Techno from a band called the "Shadow Hunters" breaks into the world's Mother Computer, destabilizing all of the networks and allowing Mavericks to run wild everywhere. X awakens to find himself on the highway from his first adventure to stop Sigma. Realizing it is merely a simulated replication, the protagonist is greeted by Zero, who informs X that the Maverick Hunters have partnered with a computer genius named Middy to halt the madness. With Middy's help, X dives into cyberspace to erase the battle data of four Maverick bosses from his previous missions. Once they are beaten, X makes his way to Mother Computer core and defeats the Shadow Hunter Zain, only to see Zain's companions Techno and Geemel retreat and Sigma unveils himself as the mastermind behind the hack. Dr. Cain manages to find Sigma's hideout, and X warps there via the Mother Computer core. At the hideout, X confronts Techno, firing his buster at the computer used to hack into the Mother Computer. Techno reveals that in order to hack into the Mother Computer he had to upload his own CPU into the computer X destroyed. Middy arrives, revealing that Techno is his twin brother. Having been controlled by Sigma, Techno comes to his senses and dies. X continues on, finds Sigma, and finishes the Maverick off. The computer core begins to detonate, but as X escapes, Middy chooses to stay, stating that he and his twin brother share a CPU and perishes alongside Techno. The hard mode of Mega Man Xtreme partially extends the storyline, where Zero informs X that someone else has illegally accessed records from the Mother Computer and reproduced more Maverick data. The heroes soon learn that Geemel and Sigma are again responsible and destroy both villains in a similar fashion. ===== The Mega Man X universe is set within the 22nd century, where humans and intelligent robots called "Reploids" live amongst one another. A tumultuous coexistence, some Reploids go "Maverick" and exhibit violent and destructive behavior. To extinguish such activity, a taskforce of "Maverick Hunters" is established by the human scientist Dr. Cain. The series chiefly follows the adventures of the Hunters Mega Man X and Zero, who have saved the world from the Maverick leader Sigma numerous times. Mega Man Xtreme 2 takes place between the events of Mega Man X3 and Mega Man X4, during which X and Zero, with the aid of their new friend Iris, are sent to investigate erasure incidents on the mysterious Laguz Island. Reploids around the Earth have been losing their "DNA Souls", leaving them as useless piles of junk. It is quickly revealed that the DNA Souls are being used by a "Soul Eraser" named Berkana to resurrect a growing army of undead Mavericks from the past. Berkana was once a Reploid researcher who created a DNA Soul chip that reproduced deceased Mavericks. She steals the souls of Reploids to enhance her own power, and that of her loyal partner Gareth. Once on the island, X and Zero encounter and destroy several powerful Mavericks from their past adventures. Rather than stop them early on, Berkana allows the two heroes to progress so that they may strengthen their DNA Souls for her to take. X and Zero confront both Gareth and Berkana inside the Reploid Research Laboratory and defeat them. Sigma then reveals himself as being behind the plot. X and Zero prevail over the Maverick leader, the DNA Souls are returned to the hollow Reploids, and peace is restored once again. Zero fears that Iris' brother, the Colonel of the Repliforce army, will blame him for getting Iris involved in the incident. X, however, feels that the experience will ultimately help her. ===== At the Presidio Army base in San Francisco, Military Police (MP) Patti Jean Lynch is shot dead while investigating a break-in and two San Francisco police officers are killed in the getaway. Jay Austin, a San Francisco police detective, is sent to investigate. He clashes with Lieutenant Colonel Alan Caldwell, the base Provost Marshal. Years earlier, Austin and Lynch were partners while serving as MPs and Caldwell was their commanding officer. When Austin arrested Lieutenant Colonel Paul Lawrence, Caldwell did not support him. In the aftermath, Austin was demoted and decided to leave the Army. The investigation casts suspicion on Lawrence, as Lynch was killed with a Tokarev 9mm pistol. Lawrence is the registered owner of a Tokarev, but claims he lost it in a poker game. Austin also learns that the getaway car used by Lynch's killer was registered to a civilian named Arthur Peale, who is wealthy and owns a holding company. Austin tries to question Lawrence about the Tokarev, but Caldwell intervenes. Recognizing that they have shared jurisdiction on the case, they uneasily team up to investigate. Caldwell states that if the Tokarev bullet that killed Lynch were to match a bullet fired earlier from Lawrence's Tokarev at the Presidio firing range, then Caldwell will arrange for Lawrence to surrender to Austin. In the meantime, Caldwell and Austin visit Peale, who claims his car was stolen and has an alibi for the night Lynch was shot. Caldwell sees Vietnam-era paraphernalia in Peale's office. Caldwell learns that Peale was previously in the CIA and a military advisor in Vietnam at the same time Lawrence was there. Austin gets the ballistics report back on the Tokarev, which confirms that Lawrence's gun killed Lynch. Austin corners Lawrence when he leaves the Presidio, resulting in a footchase through Chinatown. Lawrence is killed in a hit and run. Caldwell is furious that Austin disregarded their agreement. Caldwell confides in his friend, retired Sergeant Major Ross Maclure, who served with Caldwell in Vietnam. Caldwell and Austin both figure out that the killer at the Presidio was trying to break into a storeroom to retrieve a bottle of spring water. Following the lead to the water company, Austin gets the name of the delivery driver, George Spota. Caldwell recognizes the name as someone who served under Lawrence in Vietnam. Austin confirms that Spota's car hit and killed Lawrence during their footchase, and Caldwell learns that the water company Spota works for is owned by Peale. Austin and Caldwell follow Spota during his deliveries. Spota makes a delivery to Travis Air Force Base and picks up a water bottle that was transported to the base from the Philippines. Austin and Caldwell see the conspiracy come together. Spota, Lawrence, and Peale all knew each other in Vietnam. Spota picked up a delivery of water from the Philippines, but accidentally left that water bottle in the storeroom at the Presidio. When he realized his mistake, he went back to retrieve it, but Lynch surprised him during the break-in, and he shot her. Just as they figure this out, they see Maclure drive up. Caldwell realizes that Peale and Lawrence would have needed someone like Maclure to carry out the smuggling, because Maclure had contacts in the US military in Asia. Spota and Peale open the bottle that came from the Philippines, revealing diamonds inside. Maclure comes in and surprises them by pulling a gun. Peale reveals that Lawrence was blackmailing Maclure. Peale tries to convince Maclure to let the smuggling continue, but Maclure is disgusted and heartbroken over the death of Lynch. He says the smuggling must stop, but then is stripped of his gun by Peale's men. Just as Peale is about to kill Maclure, Caldwell and Austin enter. A gunfight ensues during which Peale and his men are killed and Maclure is fatally wounded. Caldwell asks Austin to delay his police report by 48 hours to give Caldwell time to bury Maclure with his honor intact. Austin agrees. At a military funeral, Caldwell tearfully eulogizes Maclure. Caldwell reconciles with his daughter Donna, who is developing a mutual attraction with Austin, and grudgingly admits Austin into the family. ===== John LeTour, a 40-year-old New Yorker, is one of two delivery men for Ann, who supplies an exclusive clientele in the banking and financing sector with drugs. While Ann contemplates switching to the cosmetics business, LeTour, who suffers from insomnia, has lost his perspective in life. One night LeTour meets his former girlfriend Marianne, with whom he once shared an intense but destructive relationship due to drug abuse. Although they stopped taking drugs, Marianne refuses his offer for a new start. After spending one night together, she tells him that this was her way of saying good-bye. Unbeknown to Marianne, her mother died at the hospital while she was with LeTour. The next time she meets LeTour, she attacks him, demanding that he get out of her life once and for all. Meanwhile, the police start observing LeTour because one of his clients, Tis, is connected to the drug-induced death of a young woman. On his next delivery, LeTour witnesses a heavily drugged Marianne in Tis' apartment. Only minutes after his departure, she falls several stories to her death. LeTour gives the police a lead to Marianne's last whereabouts. At the wake, Marianne's sister Randi tells him not to feel guilty for what happened. When Tis orders a new supply and insists that LeTour delivers it, he senses that Tis wants to dispose of him. Ann accompanies him, but Tis' guards force her to leave the room. In the subsequent shootout, LeTour kills Tis and both of his henchmen, but is left critically wounded. He lies down on the hotel bed, showing no anger or pain, only a profound weariness, as police sirens can be heard in the distance. Ann visits LeTour in jail, where he expresses his hopes for a better future. The film hints at the possibility that Ann will wait for him. ===== The novel takes place in the slums of Brooklyn during the Great Depression, and follows the narrator, Harry Odum, from his early childhood to his death. His father, Hap, abandons the family, leaving Harold to be raised by his mother, Kate. Harold falls in with his friends from the neighborhood, who take him along to participate in petty crime. He soon join up with "Bug", the neighborhood kingpin, and moves his way up through the local crime syndicate. He eventually becomes the neighborhood mob's killer for hire. Meanwhile, Kate spirals deeper into alcoholism and mental illness, and grows ever more possessive of her son. Through it all, the only person Harold feels any love for is his mother; he develops an Oedipal complex and an inability to sexually relate to anyone without resorting to his alter-ego, Madden. In the guise of this other self, he rapes a local girl, Iris, with whom he later falls in love. Harold attempts a relationship with Iris, but Kate threatens her away during a family dinner. The next day, Harold flies into a psychotic rage and rapes and kills his own mother, who he thinks committed suicide. A dazed, traumatized Harold then goes for a ride with some of his partners-in-crime, who are afraid he, in the mental state he is, lets information of any crime that might involve them, and make sure he never talks about it. ===== Michel (Martin LaSalle) goes to a horse race and steals some money from a spectator. He leaves the racetrack confident that he was not caught when he is suddenly arrested. The inspector (Jean Pélégri) releases Michel because the evidence is not strong enough. Michel soon falls in with a small group of professional pickpockets who teach him their trade and invite him to join them on highly coordinated pickpocketing sprees in crowded public areas. Visiting his mother, Michel meets Jeanne (Marika Green) who begs him to visit his mother more often. His friend Jacques goes on a date with Jeanne and invites Michel along. But after stealing a watch, Michel leaves Jacques and Jeanne at the carnival. While they are at a bar, the inspector asks Michel to show him a book by George Barrington about pickpocketing, bringing the book to the police station on an appointed date. Michel goes down to the station on that day, with the book. At the station, the inspector barely glances at the book. Michel returns to his apartment realizing that it was all just a ruse to search his apartment. However, the cops failed to find his stash of money. Michel's mother dies, and he goes to the funeral with Jeanne. Later, the inspector visits Michel in his apartment, and tells him that his mother had some money stolen, but later dropped the charges, probably knowing the thief was her son. The inspector leaves without arresting Michel, who decides to leave the country. He travels from Milan to Rome and ends up in England where he "spent two years in London pulling off good jobs", but throws his earnings away on alcohol and women. Returning to France, Michel returns to Jeanne, who has had a child by Jacques but did not want to marry him and is now left with nothing. Michel begins to work again to support her, but gives in to temptation and goes back to steal at the horse track, where he is caught by a plainclothes policeman. Jeanne regularly visits him in jail. On one such visit, Michel realizes he is in love with her. ===== Kenshin and Saitō Hajime both spend a considerable amount of time looking for Shishio, meeting him once in Shingetsu Village. However, Shishio left soon after they found him. After the ordeal in Shingetsu village, Kenshin ventured onward to Kyoto where they would have their duel. Upon arriving in Kyoto, Kenshin searched for the swordsmith Arai Shakkū to forge a superior sakabatō. Shakkū died during the ten years that Kenshin had last seen him, and found his son Arai Seikū as head blacksmith instead. Kenshin instead sought after his former mentor Hiko Seijuro XIII, but discovered Seikū's predicament which involved one of the members of the Juppongatana (Ten Swords): Sawagejō Chō. Meanwhile, Seta Sōjirō manages to convince Aoshi Shinomori to form an alliance with Shishio so the former could find Kenshin, while the latter could receive Aoshi's help to stop the Oniwabanshu and dig out Kenshin's location. Soon after, Shishio succeeds in reuniting the Juppongatana (save for Chō) and begins to proceed with his master plan. After defeating and arresting Chō, he revealed that Shishio had planned to have the Ten Swords burn down Kyoto. However, Kenshin and Saitō find that the plan to burn down Kyoto was just a diversion, and the Shishio's real plan was to use a steel plated battleship, Rengoku ("Purgatory") that Hōji had purchased for him to attack Tokyo. Kenshin, Saitō, and Sagara Sanosuke pursue and intercept Shishio in a harbor not far from his target; And using a set of explosives Sanosuke obtained from his long-time friend, Tsukioka Tsunan, destroys the Rengoku. However Shishio, Sōjirō, Hōji and Yumi, escape. Although his plan was foiled, Shishio was still not beaten, and instead arranged a duel to the death at Mount Hiei. Knowing that, Kenshin, Saitō, and Sanosuke travel there the next morning. While they were doing so, however, Shishio sent most of the Juppongantana out to kill Kenshin's friends at the Aoi-Ya, keeping only his strongest subordinates with him, and Shinomori Aoshi who had allied himself to Shishio in order to get to Kenshin. The members of the Ten Swords sent to the Aoi-Ya, however, were all defeated. After defeating Aoshi and Sōjirō, Kenshin faced Shishio himself. Kenshin had been worn out and injured from his consecutive fights with Aoshi and Sōjirō, and Shishio knocked him out fairly easily. Saitō entered and ambushed Shishio, attempting kill with a blow to the head. However, Shishio's hachigane (a headband containing a metal plate to cover the temple) stopped the attack, after which he easily blocked every move Saitō used against him and defeated him. Sanosuke also entered to fight Shishio, but could not even injure Shishio, despite landing a direct Futae no Kiwami to the face. Finally, Aoshi entered, and managed to stall Shishio long enough for Kenshin to regain consciousness. The two continued their fight, during which Shishio's body started to overheat to dangerous levels, but kept fighting despite that. At one point, Yumi intervened, standing in the way of a blow from Kenshin. Taking advantage of his moment of vulnerability, Shishio ran his sword through Yumi in an attempt to hit Kenshin. Kenshin ridiculed Shishio for betraying his love, but Shishio remarked that he understood that he did what Yumi wanted of him, which was in fact the case. Eventually, Shishio's body heat rose to the point where his blood evaporated and the fat and oils in his body ignited. The end result was Shishio combusting, and continued to burn until all that became of him was ash. He is later seen in Hell with Yumi and Hōji (who committed suicide in jail), commenting that they try and take it over. ===== The player takes the role of Tom Jetland, a down-on-his-luck space traveller trapped on Mars after crashing his ship. While searching for jobs to make enough money to get back off the planet, he discovers a conspiracy hiding contact with what seems to be alien life. The player visits the four Martian cities of Primus, Progeny, Parallax, and Proscenium, as well as traversing the Martian surface and visiting abandoned mines. The combat system features a bird's eye view of the battlefield. The player queues instructions for the characters of his or her party to perform in real time. ===== The book begins with a brief introduction to the main character, Leo, at an early age, which is followed by his move from his home state of Pennsylvania to Arizona when he is 12. Before the move, his Uncle Pete gives Leo a porcupine necktie as a farewell present, inspiring him to collect more like it. After his birthday and collection of porcupine neckties are mentioned in a local newspaper when he's 14, Leo receives a second porcupine necktie, left anonymously. The story picks up two years later with the arrival of Stargirl Caraway at Leo's school, Mica High. Leo learns that up until this point, she has been homeschooled, but even that doesn't seem to excuse her strange behavior; for example, she comes to school in strange outfits—kimonos, buckskin, 1920s flapper clothes, and pioneer clothes. She also brings a ukulele to school every day, as well as her pet rat, Cinnamon. She is so different that at first, the student body does not know what to make of her. Hillari Kimble, a well known and somewhat popular girl at Leo's school, declares that Stargirl is a fake, and speculation and rumors abound. One of Stargirl's quirks is singing happy birthday to students when it is their birthday, bringing her ukulele to school to do so. When Hillari orders Stargirl not to sing to her on her birthday, Stargirl sings Hillari's name but directs the song to Leo and mentions in front of everyone that she thinks he is cute. Though at first rejected by most of the students, Stargirl gains a measure of popularity and is asked to join the cheerleading squad after she succeeds in getting the crowd excited about the school's losing football team while cheering for them at a game. Students mimic her behavior, and at lunch, she no longer sits alone. Her antics on the squad spark a boom in audience attendance at sporting events. However, Stargirl's popularity is short-lived. Thanks in part to her efforts, the football and cheer season is the best in the school's history, and school spirit flourishes; however, students begin to resent Stargirl's habit of cheering for both teams, which before had added to her popularity. Their anger comes to a head during the filming of the student- run television show, Hot Seat, which is run by Leo and his best friend Kevin. During the show, a "jury" of students is invited to ask questions of the guest star. This show's guest is Stargirl, and the session turns into an embarrassing attack on Stargirl's personality and actions. An advising teacher cuts the show short, and it is never aired, but the damage is done. Shortly thereafter, Stargirl stops cheering for both teams at games, but cannot stop herself from comforting a hurt player from the opposing team during a playoff basketball game and is blamed for Mica High's loss in the following game. She is shunned by the entire student body, except for her friend Dori Dilson, Leo, and, to some extent, Kevin. Leo praises Stargirl for her kindness, bravery, and nonconformity, and the two begin a tentative romance. They spend more and more time together, and Leo experiences her unusual lifestyle and starts helping her with various projects, such as leaving cards for people they don't know and dropping change on the sidewalk for others to find. For a while, he is deliriously happy with their relationship, but as reality sets in, he realizes that the entire school is shunning both of them. In response, Leo convinces Stargirl to act more "normal." She starts going by her real name (Susan), wears typical teen clothing, and becomes obsessed with being accepted and popular. These actions fail to produce results. Stargirl decides that the best way to become popular is to win the state's public speaking competition, which she does. But when she returns to the school expecting a hero's welcome, only three people show up. Realizing that she has achieved nothing by trying to fit in and has betrayed her true self, Stargirl reverts to her former personality. Seeing that dating Stargirl is getting him shunned by his peer group, Leo parts ways with her so he can be accepted in social company, choosing his peer group as a group over his sweetheart. Despite the parting, Stargirl attends the school's spring dance—the Ocotillo ball—with Dori. Leo watches as Stargirl arrives at the dance on a bike covered in sunflowers. Though initially ignored by the other attendees, something about Stargirl attracts attention and temporary acceptance. She convinces the bandleader to play the "Bunny Hop," and the other students come to join her in the dance until the only people not in line are Hillari Kimble and her boyfriend, Wayne Parr. When the dance ends, Hillari confronts Stargirl, tells her that she always ruins everything, and slaps her as hard as she can. Stargirl returns Hillari's attack with a kind kiss on the cheek. No one in the town sees Stargirl again after that night, and Leo learns that she and her family have moved away to Minnesota. Flashing forward fifteen years, a now-adult Leo notes that his former high school has become permanently changed, and wonders what has happened to Stargirl. In the end, he reveals that he has received a porcupine necktie in the mail one day before his most recent birthday—presumably from Stargirl. The story continues with the sequel, Love, Stargirl, which is written from Stargirl’s perspective about her new life after Mica Area High School. ===== The story is recounted by the protagonist, Count Antoine de C, in the first person. Hundreds of years ago, Antoine's noble ancestor was responsible for the death of a dark wizard, Michel Mauvais. The wizard's son, Charles le Sorcier, swore revenge on not only him but all his descendants, cursing them to die on reaching the age of 32. The protagonist recounts how his ancestors all died in some mysterious way around the age of 32. The line has dwindled and the castle has been left to fall into disrepair, tower by tower. Finally, Antoine is the only one left, with one poor servant, Pierre, who raised him, and a tiny section of the castle with a single tower is still usable. Antoine has reached adulthood, and his 32nd year is approaching. His servant eventually dies, leaving him completely alone, and he begins exploring the ruined parts of the castle. He finds a trapdoor in one of the oldest parts. Below, he discovers a passage with a locked door at the end. Just as he turns to leave, he hears a noise behind him and sees that the door is open and someone is standing in it. The man attempts to kill him but Antoine kills him first. His dying words reveal that he is none other than Charles, who actually managed to successfully fabricate the elixir of life, enabling him to personally fulfill the curse generation after generation. ===== Mikhal's World is under attack by "The Skulls". It has become overrun, and the humans are ordering an emergency evacuation. The player has two minutes to reach his ship or be left behind. After this, the player is dropped onto Planet Oasis, where he goes into training. But while target training is underway, "The Skulls" attack, forcing an immediate evac from the area. War has broken out all over Oasis, with the humans losing badly. The players team are sent to grab all supplies from Oasis (In a return to the jump training mission) and prepare the jumpship for evac. Eventually, a total evacuation is ordered on Oasis, but the player is denied leave until he retrieves 'special technology' from the now abandoned military base on Oasis. Right after the player escapes, Oasis is annihilated by some form of alien technology, and in Hackett's words, "Have turned it into some kind of planet from hell". The humans plan a last- ditch attempt to destroy 'The Skulls', but their first priority is to secure Planet Anubis, where the miners have discovered something in the mine shafts. No survivors are found, but the player is sent to destroy the mine shafts and whatever may be in there. The player soon discovers that 'The Skulls' were living underground, but sick and tired of constant threat by the miners, they set out to eradicate all humans from existence. But while moving through the mine shafts, the player falls deep into the Skulls lair. The player meets his first 'Queen' in this level, and after defeating it, the CDF find a way out for the player, and he is immediately evacuated. They prepare to send the players team onto the enemy's current stronghold, the Juggernaut, but are ambushed along the way. The Ulysses is shot down, and the player is dropped by accident onto Ragnarok. After meeting up with another survivor, the player is forced to take down the enemy's air gun that is keeping the CDF from rescuing the player and his current teammate. After it is destroyed, the player is sent to investigate the Ulysses to rescue Commander Hackett, retrieve the command data from him, and afterwards, assist the troops in a war at the ravine. It is decided that the Ulysses is too dangerous to be left standing, so the player is sent back to destroy it. Afterwards, the player leaves Ragnarok, and resumes the mission of destroying the Juggernaut. They first capture the Mastermind to find out the codes for the security locks on the Juggernaut, and after killing the second queen, the player rushes off the Juggernaut before it explodes. They unfortunately find out, however, that Oasis (now known as DeadWorld) has been established as 'The Skulls' main base of operations, and they are set to beat the humans once and for all by eradicating their home - Earth. A last-ditch attempt is thrown to disable their primary attack and turn it against them, ending the Skulls threat once and for all. The player manages to get inside the gun, and is given a limited amount of time before it fires. While disabling the gun, the player meets the sole boss of the game, The King. After defeating it, it turns out that he was the main control for the gun, and without him, the Skulls are doomed. The player reactivated the gun, but shoots himself out, seconds before the planet destroys itself. The player is then given one last message before the logo and credits: "Stay there, Captain. We're coming to get you." =====