The film opens at night, as a woman urinates on the grass by the side of the road. She pulls up her underwear, gets into a car driven by her husband, and they drive away. The couple lose their way in the dark and subsequently run off the road. The next day their corpses are discovered, the man inside the vehicle, the woman thrown from it and her body cut in two.Kerekes (1998), p. 35-50

The film centers on Rob Schmadtke, the tragic hero, who works for "Joe's Cleaning Agency", a company that removes bodies from public areas and cleans up after traffic accidents. Their emblem is the Totenkopf symbol (skull and crossbones variant) within a pentagram.Kerekes (1998), p. 35-50Blake (2004), p. 195 This job leaves him the opportunity to pursue his full-time hobby: necrophilia. He returns home from his job to his apartment and girlfriend Betty. He plays with his assortment of preserved human remains and watches television while Betty takes a bath in blood-laden water. Their apartment is decorated with centerfolds featuring models, pictures of famed killers, and jars containing human parts, which are preserved in formaldehyde.Kerekes (1998), p. 35-50

Rob watches a televised interview of a psychiatrist who speaks on the topic of arachnophobia and ways to overcome phobias. Rob then enters a daydream of a young rabbit being caught on a farm and graphically slaughtered. It is implied that these are memories of his father killing "a beloved childhood pet". A scene of an autopsy on a human cadaver follows.Kerekes (1998), p. 35-50 Next, a man drinking beer and shooting at birds with his rifle accidentally kills a nearby gardener, then discards the corpse.Kerekes (1998), p. 35-50Blake (2004), p. 195

Rob returns to work and discovers his new obsession, the corpse of the unnamed gardener, which has been found rotting in a pond.Kerekes (1998), p. 35-50 During the removal process, Rob absconds with it. He excitedly returns home with this gift for his waiting wife. They immediately cut a steel pipe and put a condom over it so Betty will have a phallus to straddle during their ''ménage à trois''. This is immediately followed by a scene of meat being fried.

Betty and Rob dine and converse while watching their new "toy" hang on the wall. Plates collect the fluids that drip out of the body. When Rob goes to work the next day, he is confronted by his co-workers, who are tired of his habitual tardiness and the stinking suit festering in his locker. His foreman Bruno (Harald Lundt), who never liked him, bullies him as they climb the stairs to see the boss. Rob is fired on the spot.Kerekes (1998), p. 35-50

At the apartment, Betty reads a love story to the corpse. She asks the corpse if it could feel the love in the story and begins to straddle the face of the corpse. When Rob returns, he informs Betty of his termination and she berates him for his failure as well as the fact that he did not stand up for himself. Betty soon leaves and takes the corpse with her. In a violent outburst, he kills their cat and bathes with its blood and entrails in the tub while the animal's body hangs over the tub. He then leaves to go to see a horror film. After being bullied by a fellow movie-goer, Rob leaves to go back to his apartment, visibly despondent.Kerekes (1998), p. 35-50

Rob attempts suicide with pills and whiskey. He begins to drift into a dream in which he emerges from a garbage bag in a partially decayed state. He is soon greeted by a woman in white who gives him a corpse's head and they begin to dance, tossing the head and entrails back and forth. Once he wakes up, he leaves his apartment and hires a sex worker. They go to a cemetery, where he hopes the environment will help satisfy his libido, but he fails to perform sexually. When the sex worker mocks him, he strangles her and then rapes her corpse.Kerekes (1998), p. 35-50 He is startled as he awakes beside her with an old gardener standing over them. Rob grabs the man's shovel, chops his head off, and runs away.Kerekes (1998), p. 35-50

The film closes with Rob's grisly suicide, in which he stabs himself while ejaculating. This scene is filled with flashbacks to the rabbit slaughter seen earlier in the film, but in reverse. In the final scene, a woman starts digging up Rob's grave. Only her foot is seen, in stockings and high heels.Kerekes (1998), p. 35-50

Bardock, a low-level Saiyan soldier and his crew are on an assignment to slaughter the inhabitants of Planet Kanassa. They manage to accomplish this by using the planet's full moon to transform into Great Apes. The next morning, Bardock and his crew rest and celebrate their victory until one surviving Kanassan warrior catches him off-guard and decides to give him the "gift" of seeing the future as his way to avenge his people, before being killed by Bardock who subsequently passes out. Bardock returns to Planet Vegeta to heal and visits his infant son, Kakarot, who is being prepared to be sent to Earth in order to exterminate all life there. Bardock starts to have visions of Kakarot fighting future foes, as well as Planet Vegeta's destruction at the hands of Frieza, the emperor of the Universe and overseer of the Saiyans. Bardock dismisses the visions and goes to join his team on Planet Meat, only to discover most of them dead, and his best friend Tora mortally wounded. Before he succumbs to his injuries, Tora reveals that Bardock's squad was betrayed and killed by Frieza's henchman Dodoria and his elite soldiers, and that Frieza ordered the attack on the crew due to him becoming paranoid about the growing power of the Saiyans. Horrified and enraged by his fallen friend's last words, he then battles Dodoria's soldiers and defeats them all, only to be easily overwhelmed by a single mouth blast from Dodoria. He is left severely injured, but manages to return to Planet Vegeta.

Now realizing that Frieza intends to destroy the entire Saiyan race, Bardock attempts to convince the other Saiyans of the danger that they are all in; but his claims are laughed off and ignored. Bardock thus begins a final one-man assault against Frieza and his men. After fighting his way through Frieza's soldiers, Bardock sends a large energy blast at the tyrant himself. However, Frieza counters this with his deadly ''Gigantic Death Ball'', killing Bardock, many of his own soldiers, and destroys Planet Vegeta. As he perishes, Bardock has one final vision of the future: Kakarot facing off against Frieza. Assured that Kakarot will be the one to defeat Frieza, Bardock smiles as he along with Planet Vegeta are engulfed by the energy bomb. After his demise, Bardock telepathically wishes Kakarot to carry out his will and avenge his people and their home planet, also stating his one regret of not holding his child when he still had the chance. At the same moment, Kakarot, who is hurdling toward Earth in his space pod, wakes up. Elsewhere, having just completed an assignment on a faraway world, Vegeta, the Saiyan Prince, is informed by his colleague Nappa of his homeworld's destruction, and that Frieza claims that the planet was destroyed by a meteor. Vegeta's pride keeps him from expressing his shock, and he remains outwardly emotionless. Soon afterwards, Kakarot's space pod touches down on Earth, where he is found by an elderly man, Gohan and giggles happily in the old man's arms. Gohan then decides to adopt the boy as his own grandson, and gives him a new name - Goku.

During the ending credits, Goku's battles against the Red Ribbon Army, Tien Shinhan, King Piccolo, Piccolo, Nappa and Vegeta are shown, culminating with an image of Goku about to battle Frieza, with the spirits of Bardock and his team watching.

Don Lorenzo Borrelli (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) is a priest in a poor neighborhood in Naples where Mafia killings are a daily occurrence and most young people see organized crime as a way to earn respect. Don Borelli tries as best as he can to persuade the adolescents that the Camorra is at odds with Catholicism, but has to learn that nothing will change as long as their parents silently accept the Mafia supremacy.

Borrelli's personal life centers on his relationship with a 13-year-old choir boy, Nunzio Pianese (Emanuele Gargiulo), who is not only strikingly handsome but also a very talented musician. Nunzio plans on becoming a priest as well, as the easy life of a priest without worries about the future appeals to him.

The mobsters figure that a child molestation charge is a convenient way to get rid of the incendiary Don Lorenzo and try to get the local authorities to investigate. Meanwhile, Nunzio begins to doubt if he should stay his course or give in to the pressure to denounce Don Lorenzo.

''The Passenger'' begins in 1960, fifteen years after the end of World War II. The setting is a transatlantic voyage aboard a luxury liner en route from South America to Europe.

Lisa Kretschmer (Alexandra Śląska), a former concentration camp SS officer, has a chance encounter with a fellow passenger who was one of her inmates at the camp, Marta (Anna Ciepielewska). Aboard the vessel, the roles of Liza and Marta are more of less reversed. Marta is in a position to expose the former Nazi as a war criminal, and if not to the authorities, at least to Liza’s husband, who is ignorant of her past. The meeting unleashes a cascade of memories for Liza, in which she struggles to revisit the events at the extermination center, and the nature of her behavior towards Marta. In a series of flashbacks, Liza’s internal narrative, which serves to rationalize her role, clashes with memories of the systematic murder of men, woman and children that characterized the Holocaust. The complexities of the relationship between perpetrator and victim reveals the degradation of Marta, who survived by accommodating herself to her oppressors.

Aliens from the planet Zoran are sent to Earth to fight against professional wrestlers from the United States and the Soviet Union, but prove to actually be man-eaters who devour their opponents upon defeating them.

''Medabots''

The series centers around Medabots, artificially intelligent robots, whose purpose is to serve humans in a future time. The series begins with a ten-year-old (nine in the Japanese version) boy named Ikki Tenryō, who wants to become a champion of the World Robattle Tournament. However, Ikki is unable to afford a Medabot, and his parents refuse to buy him one. However, he manages to get enough money to buy an outdated model, and, with a bit of luck, he finds a medal in a river. Ikki quickly inserts it into the Medabot he purchased named Metabee. The only problem is that the medal he found gives Metabee a severe attitude problem (a problem rarely seen in a Medabot), which leads Ikki to think he is defective. However, this theory is proven wrong later in the series, as it is revealed that Metabee actually has a rare medal.

The rare medals were kept secret by the Medabot Corporation, as very little was known about them. However, a Medabot with a rare medal would be able to call upon an attack called the "Medaforce". In the manga, the Medaforce is a form of medal mind control, as explained by Dr. Aki in the third graphic novel of Medabots. In the cartoon however, it is shown as a way of increasing the power of the Medabot's special skill into a focused beam attack.

Another important aspect is the story of Henry, the store clerk who sold Ikki Metabee. It is revealed that he is, quite obviously, Phantom Renegade. A running gag of the series was Henry almost telling everyone he is The Phantom, with no one ever discovering this fact. Space Medafighter X is introduced, who is another one of Henry's secret identities, the number one medafighter in Japan. Later, during the World Finals, he rarely shows up to the fights, instead sending substitutes and working behind the scenes. This being because he supposedly started The Ten Days of Darkness, which occurred eight years before the events in the series during the World Robattle Cup when Henry fought as Hikaru Agata with the original Metabee (however, the medal was different). The Medabots went on a rampage during the Ten Days of Darkness, which stopped when Henry was forced to kill his Medabot by destroying his medal.

At the end of the second season, it is revealed that Victor (a medafighter for Team Kenya and Warbandit's owner) was helping Dr. Meta-evil to get medals during the tournament. During the finals, Metabee and Warbandit continue to fight, even with their partners lost and their bodies damaged. It is during this event that Dr. Meta-evil starts his plan using Metabee and Warbandit's medals; trapping them both in a dream. However, Ikki manages to get Metabee to wake up from the dream, while the other medabots, free now, help Metabee to fight against Dr. Meta-evil. Ikki must also stop the plans of the nefarious "RubberRobo Gang".

Later in the series, Medabots are found to be actually thousands of years old; remnants of an ancient civilization who called themselves Medalorians. The Medalorians were obsessed with war, and to become more effective warriors they fastened metal armor to themselves. However, their wars decimated the civilization, and the survivors coded their memories onto hexagonal pieces of metal. These, "Medals", cloned and mass-produced by the Medabot Corporation (a corporation founded by Dr. Aki), are the Medabot equivalent of a brain and soul. The original medals, referred to as rare medals, are kept in storage because of the extreme power they have.

''Medarot Damashii (Medabots Spirits)''

''Medarot Damashii'', a sequel to the original series, follows Ikki and Metabee, as they face a new challenge following the events of the original series. Kam Kamazaki, a twelve-year-old boy, has designed one of the most dangerous medabots in the entire story, called Kilobots (or Death Medarot, in the Japanese version), who use the X-Medal. These Kilobots have no feelings, since the emotion part of the Medabot medal has been removed, and more strength parts have been replaced instead, and can break the rules in order to win a fight. Because they have no personality, the Medaforce is useless against them. In the first episode, Ikki loses a Robattle to Ginkai and his Kilobot when it cheats and reloads. But he soon meets Nae, a Medabot mechanic and Dr. Aki's granddaughter, who gives Ikki new medaparts in order to defeat the kilobot through using a new feature called Action Mode (later Demolition Mode is introduced as well). Throughout the season, Ikki, Erika and their new friend Zuru (who also masks as the Mystery Medafighter) battle several of Kam's friends and their Kilobots. The Mystery Medfighter's ambition is to rid the world of Kilobots, with the help of his medabot Roks. Eventually, Ginkai re-discovers the true spirit of medafighting and ceases being a rogue medafighter and returns to using Medabots. Eventually Kam realizes the error of his ways and stops trying to develop stronger and more dangerous Kilobots, choosing to remain with his Kilobot Blackbettle, who has a personality installed into her medal.

The series is often criticized for the removal of several supporting characters such as Henry/Hikaru Agata/Phantom Renegade/Space Medafighter X and Arcbeetle, Rokusho, Koji and Sumilidon, Rintaro and Kantaroth, Karin and Neutranurse, Victor and Warbandit, Mr. Referee, the Rubberrobo Gang and the Chick Salesman, as well as for the fact that many of the new Kilobots and Medabots are simply slightly modified versions of the original series without relation to the original characters: Roks (Rokusho), Exor (Sumilidon), Arcdash (Arcbeetle), Unitrix (Warbandit).

Heidi, a pretty teenager living in the Canberra suburbs, flees home after her mother, Nicole, finds her trying to seduce Nicole's boyfriend. She takes a bus to a ski resort in the Snowy River National Park where a man lives who once gave her his business card and invited her to contact him if she was ever in town. However, when she phones him, his wife answers the phone and he says that he does not remember her. She meets some other teenagers at a club and goes home with them. In the morning, the boy she slept with tells her he is going back to Sydney and, when she asks if she can go with him, one of his friends says he already has a girlfriend. She tries flirtation to get a job in a ski equipment shop and to talk to a man in a parked car who was eyeing her, but without success.

In a bar, a young man called Joe who saw her in the club the previous night buys her a drink and strikes up a conversation. Without anywhere to sleep, she asks to go with him and he takes her to a motel but leaves quickly for work in the morning without suggesting further contact. She strikes up a friendship with Irene, the woman who runs the motel and gives her breakfast. She asks vainly for a job but, after Heidi says that her mother is dead, Irene allows her to stay in the room and pay the following day. Irene warns her that the resort is now out of season and there are no jobs available. Heidi calls Joe at his parents' farm but he doen't return her calls. Irene, knowing she doesn't have the money for the room, puts her in her son's flat, though she still wants rent in due course. In order to pay for it, Heidi needs a job, and is hired at a petrol station. Joe sees her by accident and they go for a drink and back to her flat. Her co-worker is Bianca and they become friends after Bianca's mother offers her a lift home, where Joe is waiting.

One night, Joe and Heidi encounter some of his friends, who mock her for working in a petrol station. When Joe and Heidi go to a Chinese restaurant, she asks him if he loves her and, when he refuses to make any commitment or even discuss it, swallows a small bowl of chilli. He drags her to the bathroom to sick it up and takes her back to the motel. He then visits a gay neighbour, Richard, and after saying how much he is obsessed by Heidi and drinking a lot of whisky, tries to seduce him. Richard says he doesn't know what he wants. At home, his father ignores his emotional distress.

Heidi, upset by being rejected and neglected by Joe and by being been forced out of her job by gossip, goes to the night club and gets drunk. Two young men pick her up and go home with her and they smoke cannabis. Though she is barely conscious, they kiss and undress her, at which point Joe comes in and beats up one of them who is insolent. After they leave, he condemns her promiscuity and she accuses him of not caring for her, which he does not deny and drives off, despite her following him out to his car naked and begging him to stay.

The next morning, Irene tells Heidi that, after the scene the night before, she is no longer welcome to stay. Heidi forces Irene to admit that her son is in prison for murder and confesses that her mother was not dead after all and she had to leave. Irene asks Heidi to call her mother and make amends. The film ends as Heidi's mother comes to pick her up, embracing her, and Joe comes to say goodbye.

The episode is told in flashback, as Sisko records a personal log entry on the events of the past two weeks.

The losses suffered by the Federation in the Dominion War are taking their toll. To turn the tide of the war, Sisko decides that he must bring the Romulans into the war on the Federation's side no matter what.

To do so, he will need evidence that the Dominion plans to attack the Romulans. Sisko enlists Garak's help to find this evidence, but all of Garak's contacts end up dead shortly after communicating with him. Garak suggests they forge a recording of Dominion leaders discussing a surprise attack. Hesitant, but driven forward by the Dominion's recent conquest of Betazed, Sisko obtains permission from Starfleet to proceed.

At Garak's request, Sisko secures the release of a forger named Grathon Tolar from a Klingon prison. In order to obtain an authentic Cardassian data rod, he is forced to trade a large quantity of bio-mimetic gel, a rare, dangerous, and highly regulated material, over Dr. Bashir's protests. When Tolar stabs Quark in an altercation while drunk, Sisko bribes Quark to drop the matter.

Tolar forges a holographic record of a meeting between Dominion leaders discussing plans to invade Romulus. Meanwhile, on Garak's advice, Sisko arranges a secret meeting with Vreenak, an influential Romulan senator. Sisko gives Vreenak the recording, but the senator discovers the forgery and vows to expose the deception. As Sisko faces the possibility that his actions may actually force the Romulans to side with the Dominion, he learns that Vreenak's ship was destroyed en route home.

Sisko confronts and punches Garak, who admits he planted a bomb on Vreenak's ship. Garak explains that when the Romulans scan the wreckage and find the rod, any imperfections will be attributed to damage from the explosion, and the Romulans will assume that the Dominion assassinated Vreenak to prevent him from bringing the rod back. Thus, the recording will implicate the Dominion as planned. Garak tells Sisko he can ease his conscience with the knowledge that the Alpha Quadrant may have been saved, at the cost of the lives of Vreenak and Tolar (whom Garak has also killed) and Sisko's self-respect—which Garak calls a bargain.

Soon, the Romulans indeed do declare war on the Dominion. At the end of his log entry, Sisko wrestles with having condoned forgery, bribery, and murder for the good of the Alpha Quadrant, and, after thinking about it, declares that he can live with it. He then deletes the entire personal log.

In 1917, during the last months of legal prostitution in Storyville, the red-light district of New Orleans, Louisiana, Hattie is a prostitute working at an elegant brothel run by the elderly, cocaine-sniffing Madame Nell. Hattie has given birth to a baby boy and has a 12-year-old daughter, Violet, who lives in the house. When photographer Ernest J. Bellocq comes with his camera, Hattie and Violet are the only people awake. He asks to be allowed to take photographs of the women. Madame Nell agrees only after he offers to pay.

Bellocq becomes a fixture in the brothel, photographing the prostitutes, mostly Hattie. His activities fascinate Violet, though she believes he is falling in love with her mother, which makes her jealous. Violet is a restless child, frustrated by the long, precise process Bellocq must go through to compose and take pictures.

Nell decides that Violet is old enough for her virginity to be auctioned off. After a bidding war among regulars, Violet is bought by an apparently quiet customer. Hattie, meanwhile, aspires to escape prostitution. She marries a customer and leaves for St. Louis without her daughter, whom her husband believes to be her sister. Hattie promises to return for Violet, once she's settled and has broken the news to the new spouse.

Violet runs away from the brothel after being punished for some hijinks. She appears on Bellocq's doorstep and asks him if he will sleep with her and take care of her. He initially says no, but then he takes her in and commences having a sexual relationship with the child. In many ways, their relationship resembles one between a parent and child, with Bellocq standing in for Violet's absent mother. Bellocq even buys Violet a doll, telling her that "every child should have a doll". Bellocq is entranced by Violet's beauty, youth, and photogenic face. She is frustrated by Bellocq's devotion to his photography and lack of care for her as a dependent, as much as he is frustrated by the reality that she is a child.

Violet eventually returns to Nell's after quarreling with Bellocq, but social reform groups are forcing the brothels of Storyville to close. Bellocq arrives to wed Violet, ostensibly to protect her from the larger world.

Two weeks after the wedding, Hattie and her husband arrive from St. Louis to collect Violet, claiming that her marriage is illegal without their consent. Bellocq does not want to let Violet go. Violet asks if he will go with her and her family. Upon hearing that she does in fact want to go with them, he lets her leave without him, realizing that schooling and a more conventional life will benefit her greatly.

The bulk of ''Monstrous Regiment'' takes place in the small, bellicose country of Borogravia, a highly conservative nation, whose people live according to the increasingly strange (and harmful) decrees of its favored deity, Nuggan. The main feature of his religion is the Abominations; a long, often-updated list of banned things. To put this in perspective, these things include garlic, cats, the smell of beets, people with ginger hair, shirts with six buttons, anyone shorter than three feet (namely dwarves, children and babies), sneezing, jigsaw puzzles, chocolate (which was once Borogravia's staple export, plunging the country into increasing poverty), crop rotation (which denigrated Borogravia's food supplies), and the colour blue.

The list of "Abominations Unto Nuggan" often causes conflicts with Borogravia's neighbours, with uncertainty over the whereabouts of Nuggan and how to lead moral lives leading the inhabitants of Borogravia to deify their Duchess, to whom they pray instead as the traditional head of the Nugganitic church. This slowly causes problems as, on the Discworld, belief grants power. Borogravia is in the midst of a war against an alliance of neighbouring countries, caused by a border dispute with the country of Zlobenia. Other factors include Zlobenia's Prince Heinrich claim to the Borogravian throne, believing his aunt, the long-unseen Duchess, to be dead, and Ankh-Morpork's diplomatic involvement following the destruction of Clacks towers by Borogravia. Rumour is that the war is going poorly for Borogravia, though the country's leadership (and "everyone") denies it.

Polly Perks's brother Paul is missing in action after fighting in the Borogravian army. Paul is naive and believes what he is told regardless of the credibility or political leanings of the source, and even though Polly is more qualified to take over the family business (a famous pub known as "The Duchess"), according to Nugganitic law, women cannot own property, so if Paul does not return the pub will be lost to their drunken cousin when their father dies. Partly to ensure her own future but mainly to ascertain whether Paul is alive, Polly sets off to join the army in order to find him. Women joining the army are regarded as an Abomination Unto Nuggan, so Polly decides to dress up as a man (another Abomination) and enlists as Private Oliver Perks (taking her name from the folk song "Sweet Polly Oliver"), a song that her father sang to her when she was a young girl.

While signing up, Polly encounters the repulsively patriotic Corporal Strappi, and the corpulent Sergeant Jackrum. Despite her apprehensions regarding Strappi, she kisses the Duchess – that is, she kisses a painting of said noble – and by doing so, joins up. Due to the shortage of troops, her fellow soldiers include a vampire named Maladict, a troll named Carborundum, and an Igor named Igor. They also include "Tonker" Halter, "Shufti" Manickle, "Wazzer" Goom, and "Lofty" Tewt.

That night, Polly encounters an unknown supporter whilst answering a call of nature, who assures her that although they know that Polly is a girl, they won't give her away. They also give her some hints on how not to be discovered. Over the next few days, Polly makes a startling discovery: Lofty is also a girl. Since Lofty and Tonker are always together, Polly assumes that Lofty joined the army to follow her man, just like in "Sweet Polly Oliver". Later, she finds out that Shufti is another girl, and a pregnant one. She also joined the army to find her man; in this case, the father of her child, who she'd only known for a few days, and is known as Johnny.

Gradually, Polly discovers not only that everyone in her regiment is female, but also receives confirmation of Borogravia's bleak situation. Most of her country's forces are captured or on the run, and food supplies are limited. This point is driven home when Igor (actually Igorina) demonstrates her surgery talents and saves several lives among a group of badly injured fleeing soldiers.

The regiment, under the leadership of their inexperienced commanding officer Lieutenant Blouse, makes its way toward the Keep where the enemy is based. Meanwhile, thanks to a chance encounter where the regiment unknowingly subdue and humiliate an elite Zlobenian detachment, including Prince Heinrich, their exploits become known to the outside world through William de Worde and his newspaper, ''The Ankh-Morpork Times''. Their progress particularly piques the interest of Commander Vimes, who is stationed with the alliance at the Keep. Vimes has his officers keep track of the regiment, occasionally secretly providing aid. As a result of Maladict suffering from caffeine withdrawal following the loss of his coffee-making equipment, he and other members of the regiment experience 'flashsides' to Earth's Vietnam War.

Polly and most of the regiment are able to infiltrate the Keep, disguising themselves as washerwomen, and once inside plot to release the captured Borogravian troops. They manage to do so, and Borogravia is able to retake much of the Keep, but when Polly admits they are women, their own forces remove them from the conflict and they are brought in front of a council of senior officers, where their fate will be decided. With the council about to discharge them and force them to return home, Jackrum barges in and intervenes, revealing that a third of the military's top officers (including Chief of the General Staff General Froc) are actually women as well. But in the midst of this revelation, the Duchess, now raised to the level of a small deity by Borogravians' belief, takes brief possession of Wazzer, her most passionate believer. The Duchess urges all of the generals to quit the war and return home, to repair their country, returning their kiss of service, and ending their obligation to her. It is revealed that Nuggan is now dead, being reduced to a whisper, with the new Abominations (the last being rocks, ears and accordion players) being produced by the collective anxiety of his 'worshippers'.

In a private moment with Jackrum, Polly reveals to her Sergeant that she now knows him to (physically) be a woman and persuades Jackrum to go to the home of his grown son William and reveal himself as William's long-lost father. The regiment is sent to the enemy and successfully negotiates a truce, and military rules are changed so that women are allowed to serve openly and Maladict reveals himself as really being Maladicta. Polly finds her brother alive and well and they return home to the Duchess with Shufti, who joins Polly in her refusal to be subjugated on the basis of her gender and marital status. The other members of the regiment go on to lives that they would not have been able to consider before their emancipation, such as Igorina opening a gynaecology clinic on the basis that many women would prefer to see a female practitioner.

Sometime later, despite the peace they had desperately fought for, conflict breaks out again. Polly, having received correspondence from Sgt Jackrum, leaves the tavern to seek new ways to fight a war using the influence she gained and finds herself in the role of commander of boy-impersonating young women who are marching off to war, reuniting with Maladicta.

The novel is told from the point of view of Roth as a child growing up in Newark, New Jersey, as the younger son of Herman and Bess Roth. It begins with aviation hero Charles Lindbergh, who is already criticized for his praise of Hitler's government, joining the America First Party. As the party's spokesman, he speaks against US intervention in World War II and openly criticizes the "Jewish race" for trying to force US involvement. After making a surprise appearance on the last night of the 1940 Republican National Convention, he is nominated as the Republican Party's candidate for president.

Although criticized from the left and feared by most Jewish Americans, Lindbergh musters a strong tide of popular support from the South and the Midwest and is endorsed by Conservative Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf of Newark. Lindbergh wins the 1940 election over incumbent President Franklin Roosevelt in a landslide under the slogan "Vote for Lindbergh, or vote for war." Montana Senator Burton K. Wheeler is Lindbergh's vice president, and Lindbergh nominates Henry Ford as Secretary of the Interior. With Lindbergh now in the White House, the Roth family begins to feel like outsiders in American society.

Lindbergh's first act is to sign a treaty with Nazi Germany and Hitler that promises that the United States will not interfere with German expansion in Europe, known as the "Iceland Understanding," and another with Imperial Japan that promises noninterference with Japanese expansion in Asia, known as the "Hawaii Understanding." The new presidency begins to take a toll on Philip's family. Philip's cousin Alvin joins the Canadian Army to fight in Europe. He loses his leg in combat and comes home with his ideals destroyed. He leaves the family and becomes a racketeer in Philadelphia. A new government program, the Office of American Absorption (OAA), begins to take Jewish boys to spend a period of time living with exchange families in the South and Midwest to "Americanize" them. Philip's older brother Sandy is one of the boys selected, and after spending time on a farm in Kentucky under the OAA's "Just Folks" scheme, he comes home showing contempt for his family, calling them "ghetto Jews."

Philip's aunt, Evelyn Finkel, marries Rabbi Bengelsdorf and becomes a frequent guest of the Lindbergh White House. Her attendance of a state dinner party for German Foreign Minister Joachim Von Ribbentrop causes further strain in the family. A new version of the Homestead Act of 1862, called Homestead 42, is instituted to relocate entire Jewish families to the Western and Southern United States by mandating companies to relocate positions to those regions. Many of Philip's Newark neighbors move to Canada. Philip visits Evelyn, a senior OAA administrator, in order to try and prevent his family from having to leave Newark, but this results in Philip's shy and innocent school friend, Seldon Wishnow, an only child, and his widowed mother, Selma, being moved to tiny Danville, Kentucky. Herman quits his job selling insurance and starts working for his brother in order for his family to avoid relocation.

In protest against the new act, the radio personality Walter Winchell openly criticizes the Lindbergh administration on his nationwide Sunday night broadcast from New York and is fired by his sponsor. Winchell then decides to run for president in 1942 and begins a speaking tour. His candidacy causes anger and anti-Semitic rioting in the South and the Midwest, and mobs begin targeting him. While addressing an open-air political rally in Louisville, Kentucky, on October 5, 1942, Winchell is shot to death. Winchell's funeral in New York City is presided over by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, who praises Winchell for his opposition to fascism and pointedly criticizes Lindbergh for his silence over the riots and Winchell's assassination.

As he is returning from delivering a speech in Louisville on October 7, 1942, Lindbergh's plane goes missing. Ground searches turn up no results, and Vice President Wheeler assumes the presidency. German State Radio discloses "evidence" that Lindbergh's disappearance and the kidnapping of his son were part of a Jewish conspiracy to take control of the US government. The announcement incites further anti-Semitic rioting. Wheeler and Ford, acting on the Nazis' evidence, begin arresting prominent Jewish citizens, including Henry Morgenthau Jr., Herbert Lehman, and Bernard Baruch as well as Mayor La Guardia and Rabbi Bengelsdorf.

Seldon calls the Roths when his mother does not come home from work. They later discover that Seldon's mother was killed by Ku Klux Klan members who beat and robbed her before setting fire to her car with her in it. The Roths eventually call Sandy's exchange family in Kentucky and have them keep Seldon safe until Philip's father and brother drive there and bring him back to Newark. Months later, Seldon is taken in by his mother's sister. The rioting stops when First Lady Anne Morrow Lindbergh makes a statement that asks for the country to stop the violence and move forward. With the search for President Lindbergh called off, former President Roosevelt runs as an emergency presidential candidate in November 1942 and is re-elected. Months later, the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, and the US enters the war.

Aunt Evelyn recounts a theory of Lindbergh's disappearance, the source for which is First Lady Lindbergh, who disclosed the details to Evelyn's husband, Rabbi Bengelsdorf, shortly before she was forcibly removed from the White House and held prisoner in the psychiatric ward at Walter Reed Army Hospital. According to Evelyn, after the Lindberghs' son, Charles, was kidnapped in 1932, his murder was faked, and he was then raised in Germany by the Nazis as a Hitler Youth member. The Nazis' price for the boy's life was Lindbergh's full co-operation with a Nazi-organized presidential campaign by which they hoped to bring the Final Solution to the US. When Lindbergh informed them that the US would never permit such a thing, he was kidnapped, and the Jewish conspiracy theory was put forward in hopes of turning the US further against its Jewish population. Philip admits that Evelyn's theory is the most far-fetched and "unbelievable" explanation for Lindbergh's disappearance, but “not necessarily the least convincing.”

Eleven-year-old Napoleon lives with his grandfather. He and his grandfather adopt a lion named Major when by chance they meet an old clown who cannot take him back to Europe. The old lion has bad teeth and only drinks milk so they put Major in the chicken cage to look after him. When Napoleon's grandfather dies of old age, Napoleon asks a young grad student named Danny to help bury his grandfather. Uncertain about his future Napoleon runs off with the lion, a pet rooster, and his eight year old friend Samantha to try to find Danny, now a goat herder who lives in the mountains, and so Napoleon can avoid being sent to an orphanage.

Along their way, the two children encounter many dangers. Napoleon nearly falls off a cliff, but Major manages to pull him up with a rope. They have to cross a river which Major does not like, since most cats are afraid of water. A cougar attacks Napoleon's rooster, but Major easily defeats the much smaller cat and chases it up a tree. While Napoleon is out looking for wood he comes across an angry black bear that chases him back to where Samantha is resting with Major. At first, Major is too tired and wants to sleep while Samantha desperately tries to wake him. But as soon as the lion hears the roar of the bear, he stands up to challenge his opponent and protect the children. As the bear is much closer in size to Major than the cougar was, the two beasts fight hard but Major eventually gains the upper hand and the bear runs away.

Eventually the children find Danny's cabin and he takes them in with the hope of convincing Napoleon that orphanages really aren't that bad. Danny leaves the kids with a man named Mark Pierson and attempts to find Samantha's family to notify them, but he is arrested and accused of kidnapping the children. While at the police station, Danny notices a photo of Mark, who happens to be a dangerous psychopath and escapes to rescue them. He steals a motorcycle and the police chase him all the way back to his cabin where they find and arrest the wanted man.

When things are back to normal, Napoleon takes Major and tries to run away again to live with the Indians but Danny catches up. Danny explains that the Indians don't really live out in the wild anymore and that Napoleon should give foster care a try with a promise that Major could stay in the mountains and live with him. Napoleon agrees and they go back to Danny's cabin.

The film revolves around college football and a game between the fictional Darwin and Huxley Colleges. Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the new president of Huxley College, is convinced by his son Frank, a student at the school, to recruit professional football players to help Huxley's losing football team. Baravelli is an "iceman", who delivers ice and bootleg liquor from a local speakeasy. Pinky is also an "iceman", and a part-time dogcatcher. Through a series of misunderstandings, Baravelli and Pinky are accidentally recruited to play for Huxley instead of the actual professional players.

The climax of the film, which ESPN listed as first in its "top 11 scenes in football movie history," includes the four protagonists winning the football game by successfully performing a version of the hidden ball trick and then scoring the winning touchdown in a horse-drawn garbage wagon that Pinky rides like a chariot. A picture of the brothers in the "chariot" near the end of the film made the cover of ''Time'' magazine in 1932.

On Guy Fawkes Night, Mary Poppins arrives in the wake of the last fireworks display by the Banks family. The Banks children Michael, Jane, the twins, and Annabel plead with her to stay. She reluctantly agrees to do so "till the door opens". When an anxious Jane points out that the nursery door is always opening, she clarifies "the Other Door."

Mrs. Banks has Mary and the children find a piano tuner, who happens to be Mary's cousin, Mr. Twigley. When Mary and the children visit, Mr. Twigley tries to unburden himself from seven wishes given to him when he was born. Besides pianos, Mr. Twigley also specializes in songbirds such as nightingales, one of which he releases when he's finished. He also provides music boxes for Mary and the Banks children to dance to. When they return home later, the drawing room piano is playing perfectly, and when the Banks children ask Mary what happened, she sharply rebukes them.

Other adventures in the book include Mary telling the story of a king who was outsmarted by a cat (known as "The Cat That Looked at a King"), the park statue of Neleus that comes to life for a time during one of their outings, their visit to confectioner Miss Calico and her flying peppermint sticks, an undersea (High-Tide) party where Mary Poppins is the guest of honor, and a party between fairy tale rivals in the Crack between the Old Year and the New. When the children ask why Mary Poppins, a real person, is there, they are told that she is a fairy tale come true. The next morning, Jane and Michael find definite proof of the last night's adventure, and this time she does not deny it, simply telling them that they too may end up living happily ever after.

Finally, after Mary and the children have a nonmagical (but nonetheless wondrous) afternoon playing on the swings at the Park, the citizens of the town as well as many other characters from the previous two books turn out in front of the house to have a farewell party. Before going inside, Mary urges the children to be good and remember everything she told them, and they realise that it is Mary, not the other characters, who is departing. They rush to the nursery to see her open and leave through the nursery door's reflection in the window. Later that evening, Mr. Banks sees a shooting star, and they all wish upon it. The children wish to remember Mary Poppins all their lives, and they faintly make her out in the star. They wave and she waves back to them. The narrator remarks, "Mary Poppins herself had flown away, but the gifts she had brought would remain for always."

A starship crew—Captain (in the original, Coordinator), Doctor, Engineer, Chemist, Physicist and Cyberneticist (robotics expert)—crash land on an alien world they call Eden. After escaping their wrecked ship they set out to explore the planet, first traveling through an unsettling wilderness and coming upon an abandoned automated factory. There they find a constant cycle of materials being produced and then destroyed and recycled. Perplexed, they return to their ship. At the crash site they find a local sentient alien has entered their vessel. They name these large creatures, with small torsos retractable into their large bodies, doublers (a translation of Lem's neologism ''dubelt'', to mean "double-bodied").

The next day the expedition begins to come into contact with the local civilization, and their strange, wheel-like vehicles. Eventually they come into conflict with a vehicle's pilot, who is a doubler. Killing the pilot and fleeing in his vehicle, they return to the ship and prepare defenses. After an attack never comes, they assemble their jeep and half the team sets out to explore further, the other half remaining behind to repair the ship.

The jeep team eventually discovers structures resembling graves and hundreds of preserved skeletons, and adjacent to it, a settlement. Two expedition members exploring the settlement become caught in a stampede of doublers, who seem totally indifferent to the presence of the alien expedition. One doubler however, comes to the jeep and refuses to return to the settlement, and is brought back to the ship. While the expedition explored the settlement, a large group of doubler vehicles had reconnoitered the crash site and then fled.

After a while the crew learns that the local civilization is planning to act against them. Shortly thereafter the area around the ship is bombarded for several hours, with all hits falling into a circular ditch made earlier. It turns out they were bombarded with "micromechanical devices", from which a wall of glass begins to grow and eventually assembles into a dome, an attempt to isolate the ship.

The doubler that has joined the group proves to be uncommunicative, leading some of the crew to suggest that it has some sort of intellectual disability. The crew also begins to postulate that the "naked" doublers they have seen are the victims of genocide. Choosing to explore further, the crew activates "Defender", a large tank which they have managed to repair. Blasting through the glass dome they travel far southwest, observing from a distance, for the first time, everyday doubler life.

Returning to the ship in the night, the crew encounters a group of doublers being gassed to death, and act in self defense with their antimatter weapons, killing an indeterminate number of both "naked" and "soldier" doublers. When the Defender team returns to the ship, they find that most of the glass wall has repaired itself, and blast another hole. Returning to the ship until the radioactivity dies down, the expedition plans its next move. In the middle of the meeting a dressed doubler suddenly enters, and the crew makes contact, discovering the doubler to have knowledge of astronomy.

The first contact however, is soon turned into a bitter victory, as the crew learns that this doubler has unwittingly exposed himself to radiation by entering the hole made by Defender. Informing the doubler of his impending death, both parties struggle to learn as much as they can. Through a developed computer translator, the crew and the doubler can speak to one another and begin to gain an understanding of the other's species.

An indistinct image emerges of doublers' Orwellian information-controlled civilization that is almost self-regulating, with a special kind of system of government—one that officially does not exist and is thus impossible to destroy. The society is controlled through a fictitious advanced branch of information science Lem dubs ''procrustics'', based on the control and stratification of information flows within the society. It is used for molding groups within a society and ultimately a society as a whole to behave as designed by secret hidden rulers. One example described in the novel is the above-mentioned settlement, kind of a "concentration camp" without any guards, designed so that the prisoners stay inside apparently of their own "free" will.

Although the doublers know almost nothing of nuclear science, they once conducted a massive genetic experiment to enhance the species. This attempt failed miserably, resulting in deformed doublers who, if they survive, are often driven to the fringes of society. Much like the government, the very existence of this experiment, and the factories created for it, are denied, and anyone with the knowledge of them is eliminated. The doubler explains that the information disseminated to the higher echelons of doubler society was that humans, having been subjected to the effects of cosmic rays throughout their space journey, were mutant monsters that were being quarantined, but he had seen it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and chose to pursue it, a choice the humans greatly empathize with.

Finally the ship is repaired and the crew is ready to leave Eden. The astronomer doubler, although recovering fully from his radiation exposure, decides to stay behind, and as the starship takes off, much to the crew's sadness, the two doublers stand by the ship's exhaust, choosing to die rather than return to their oppressive society.

The planet is seen from the distance once again, a beautiful violet sphere, whose beauty, they now recall, was the very reason they crashed while attempting too close a fly-by and hitting the atmosphere by mistake. It was because of its beauty that they called it, when first seeing it, Eden.

Seven years after the events of ''The Sands of Time'', following the reversal of his devastating release of the Sands in the palace of Azad, the Prince is hunted by a being called the Dahaka as the Prince was destined to die after releasing the Sands. Seeking advice from a wise man, the Prince learns the Sands were created on a distant island by the Empress of Time. Despite the wise man's warnings about changing fate, the Prince resolves to travel to the island and prevent the Sands' creation. The Prince's ship is attacked by Shahdee, servant of the Empress, but he survives and washes up on the island. He chases Shahdee into the ruins and follows her through a time portal into the past, killing her in combat after finding her apparently attacking another woman Kaileena. Despite believing the Prince's efforts are futile, Kaileena helps him gain access to the Empress's throne room. During his efforts he is stalked by a being called the Sand Wraith, which is captured and killed by the Dahaka. Before confronting the Empress, the Prince offers to take Kaileena to Babylon, but she reluctantly refuses.

In the throne room, Kaileena reveals herself as the Empress, attacking the Prince in an attempt to change her fate of death at his hands. The Prince fights and kills her, but the Dahaka still pursues him; it was the Empress's death that created the Sands of Time. Briefly losing hope, the Prince finds a carving from the army which first recovered the Sands, detailing an artefact called the Mask of the Wraith that allows the wearer to change their fate. He plans to use a time portal to bring Kaileena into the present, allowing the Sands to be created while negating their discovery and transportation to Azad, freeing him from the Dahaka. The Mask transforms the Prince into the same Sand Wraith which stalked him before, and he sees Kaileena's efforts to change her fate despite Shahdee's pessimism, and that she was fighting with a rebellious Shahdee when the Prince appeared. As the Sand Wraith, the Prince succeeds in getting his other self taken by the Dahaka instead, taking his place in the timeline and freeing him of the Mask. The Prince continues to the throne room and, despite his pleas to Kaileena that they can change fate, she attacks him as before.

The ending changes depending on whether the Prince acquired a special weapon called the Water Sword. Without the Water Sword, the Prince kills Kaileena in the present as planned and the Dahaka absorbs her and all remnants of the Sands' power before vanishing. With the Water Sword, the Prince defends Kaileena from the Dahaka's attack and uses the Water Sword to kill it; the two build a boat and leave the island, sleeping together during the voyage. In both endings, Babylon is shown in flames and under attack from an invading army.

The novel's plot is largely concerned with the so-called Fringe War. All the intelligent species of Known Space are interested in the Ringworld. In the novel, they engage in a Cold War of sorts (actually begun in the previous novel, ''The Ringworld Throne'') on the fringe of the Ringworld star system.

The play begins with detectives Berkley and Williams at a crime scene where a man, identified as George Barber, has been murdered, the top of his head cut off and his brain stolen.

One of the detective is interviewing a neuroscientist (who we learn at the end of the play is named Pensfield) specializing on research of the nervous system. Pensfield has many brains in jars hooked up to life support and lights in his lab. He tells how a rat can only imagine so much and is limited by the structure of its brain. Creatures like humans that can anticipate possible futures and make contingency plans have an evolutionary advantage, according to him.

In what seems a flashback, George meets Joyce, a scientist, at a bar. This time he is luckier because she does not flat out reject his advances, rather invites George to call her. Joyce is doing research on how to improve intelligence and her specialization is in rat cortexes. Williams and Berkley are in their office with a rat brain from Pensfield's lab. Williams tells Berkley about a course his wife wants him to take to increase intelligence and imagination.

George is back with Joyce, this time a stockbroker. He mismatches Joyce the stockbroker with Joyce the scientist about where they were born. George also tells Joyce about a dream with the slab and block men. In this dream, there is the Guide who is Pensfield. George and Joyce, now the scientist, are at her apartment filled with the same kind of stones that were in George's dream. George convinces the workaholic Joyce to take time off from work and go to the beach with him.

Williams is listening to a tape from meditation teacher Jocelyn when Berkley interrupts him. They are visited by the caretaker of George's Building. He tells them about seeing a UFO the night that George died and fears that “they” will kill him too. Later, they will find him frozen to death without a logical explanation.

Joyce is looking at a picture of the beach while telling George about a demonstration that was being held outside her lab in response to one of colleague's work. Her college is keeping an ape's brain alive. George is back with stockbroker Joyce who breaks up with him because she has been seeing someone else. Williams and Berkley talk about Louise, the rat brain. William feels bad for Louise and decides to take the brain back to the scientist because he is the only one who can “help” her.

George meets Joyce the scientist on a beach. She does not know George and she has a boyfriend. George tries to tell her that they were once married and lived together and it freaks her out. Joyce insists that he has her mixed up with someone else and tries to run from George. George attacks Joyce. He is then with a doctor who is Pensfield. George says when he's dreaming, he sometimes thinks he is falling asleep.

Williams comes into the office and tells Berkley he has found the missing brains and Pensfield had them all along. He is arrested. Joyce Barber, George's real life wife, is met by the detectives and told that her husband's brain is alive and producing rudimentary consciousness in a very discontinuous “fluctuating dream state”.

George is again with Joyce on the beach. They see a blinking light in the ocean that goes out shortly afterwards before they can figure out what it was. The light is reminiscent of the light that came on with brain activity, suggesting the real Joyce agreed to terminate George consciousness.

The film focuses on seven women who decide to fight the local drug cartel after the brother of Michelle Wilson, a Las Vegas pop singer, is found severely beaten. When taken to the hospital, the young man is found to have been on illegal drugs. The singer meets with April, her brother's teacher, and the two hatch a plan to destroy the local drug processing plant. They recruit four more women with special skills and connections to help them carry out their audacious goal. As they plan their first strike, they discover high-schooler Trish spying on them. The student gets relegated to phone duty, but eventually worms her way into their escapades. The "Angels" not only destroy the processing plant, but also manage to intercept one of the shipments. As a result, the women receive unwelcome attention from the local drug cartel.

In the 1970s, Lillian Frank is a performer at a nightclub. Lillian tries to rouse the crowd with her torch song, "Lillie's Blues", with her daughter Billie Frank accompanying her on vocals. The plot fails and Lillian is fired. Lillian feels defeated and lights a cigarette, but then accidentally falls asleep, starting a fire and causing the building to be evacuated. Due to her mother's actions, Billie is fostered.

Years later, in 1983, the adult Billie is a club dancer along with her foster-care friends Louise and Roxanne. They meet Timothy Walker, who offers a contract as backup singers and dancers to the singer Sylk and the three are contracted. Later at a nightclub hosted by Julian "Dice" Black, Sylk debuts "All My Life". Dice discovers that Billie is the real singer of the song, as a means to cover up Sylk's abysmal singing ability. Impressed, he wishes to produce her but Billie raises concerns about her contract with Timothy and he eventually agrees on the provision that Dice pays him $100,000.

Billie and Dice start working on songs. Ultimately they sign with Guy Richardson of a major record label. With success in their hands, he asks her up to his apartment and they have passionate sex. Billie's first major single, "Loverboy", is a success. Billie is called to perform at an awards ceremony, where she meets singer Rafael. Billie gets a threat from Timothy concerning the debt that Dice failed to pay. Billie, upset about how Dice lied about her contract and his arrest, argues with and leaves him. Following the break-up, Billie collaborates with several songwriters, including Rafael, with whom she makes another hit single, "Want You", and her debut album becomes a massive success.

Billie begins writing a song on her own, due to her emotional pain. Dice also misses Billie, and also begins writing a song. Billie goes to Dice's apartment to reconcile with him but discovers he is not home. She discovers the music he has written and realizes they wrote the same song, "Never Too Far", and kisses his music sheet. Dice, upon seeing her lipstick prints on the sheet, plans a reconciliation but is shot dead by Timothy. Before playing at Madison Square Garden, a devastated Billie sees the news report of Dice's death, and onstage after, commands the band to stop playing "Loverboy". She tearfully tells the audience not to take the ones they love for granted, and she then starts to sing "Never Too Far". Afterward, Billie reads a note Dice had left her, where he tells her that he loves her and that he has found Lillian. Billie's limo takes her to the secluded rural property where she is happily reunited with her mother.

The Federation starship ''Enterprise'' has been directed to make contact with a reclusive species known as the Melkotians. As they approach the Melkotians' planet, they encounter a probe carrying a warning for them to stay away. Crewmembers hear the warning in their native languages, suggesting that the Melkotians are telepaths. Despite First Officer Spock's warnings about the formidableness of telepaths, Captain Kirk orders the ship to remain on course. Once in orbit, Kirk, Spock, Chief Engineer Scott, Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy, and Navigator Ensign Chekov transport to the surface.

They are met by a Melkotian emissary, who declares that they have been condemned to death for trespassing. The landing party then find themselves in an abstract landscape that resembles a Old Western town, though many buildings are only simple wooden facades. Furthermore, they find their phasers have been changed into six-shooters, and they cannot contact the ''Enterprise''.

Exploring the town, they find a newspaper dated October 26, 1881, the date of the infamous gunfight at the O.K. Corral. The townspeople believe the landing party are members of the Cowboys: Kirk as Ike Clanton, Scott as Billy Clanton, McCoy as Tom McLaury, Spock as Frank McLaury, and Chekov as Billy Claiborne. The crew soon discovers that men dressed as the Earp brothers; Virgil, Wyatt, and Morgan, as well as their deputy Doc Holliday, are preparing to fight them at the appointed time.

Knowing that in real history the gunfight was fatal to most of the Cowboys, the ''Enterprise'' crew try to change their fates by getting the sheriff and the townspeople to stop the fight and even attempt to negotiate with the Earps, but nothing works. However, when a barmaid, Sylvia, gets close to Chekov, a jealous Morgan Earp shoots him dead. Spock remarks that the real Billy Claiborne had survived, suggesting that the day's events could be changed in other ways. To that end, Spock creates an improvised tranquilizer gas grenade to subdue the Earps before the shootout and is surprised when the gas fails to work.

The time of the shootout draws near; a defiant Kirk and the landing party suddenly find themselves at the O.K. Corral, with the Earps approaching. Spock realizes from the failure of the gas grenade and the "death" of Chekov that the world they are in does not conform to the laws of reality and persuades the others that as long as they are convinced of that they cannot be harmed. Kirk has Spock mind-meld with the rest of the team to imbue them with absolute conviction. Thus, when the Earps and Holliday open fire, their bullets pass harmlessly through.

Kirk beats Wyatt Earp in a fistfight and disarms him, but when given the chance to kill him in revenge for Chekov, he instead throws his weapon away. The crew find themselves, along with a still-living Chekov, on the ''Enterprise'' bridge (Chekov having survived only because his mind was on Sylvia and not dwelling on the fact that he could be killed). The Melkotians make contact, inquire about Kirk's refusal to kill, and finally welcome the ''Enterprise'' to approach their planet.

One of six predetermined origin stories begins the game, depending on the player character's race and class. Each story ends with the player leaving with Duncan, the commander of Ferelden's Grey Wardens who is seeking new recruits and selects the player as a candidate. The two journey to Ferelden's southern fortress, Ostagar, to join Cailan, the King of Ferelden, and his father-in-law Loghain, a legendary general and close friend of Cailan's late father, King Maric. The three leaders plan to attack the encroaching Darkspawn to stop a new Blight from overwhelming Ferelden. Duncan senses the influence of an Archdemon, a god-like Dragon that commands the Darkspawn, and emphasizes the importance of defeating the Blight before it can threaten the rest of Thedas.

Duncan initiates the player into the Grey Wardens via a ritual called the Joining, which involves imbibing Darkspawn blood. The recipient, if they survive, is granted the Taint, a connection into the Darkspawn hive mind to sense them. After surviving, the player (now nicknamed "The Warden") and fellow Grey Warden Alistair are tasked with lighting a beacon at the top of the fortress to signal Loghain's men into charging the Darkspawn horde flank. However, upon arriving, Loghain abandons the battlefield, leaving Cailan, Duncan, and their army to be slain by the Darkspawn, who seize control of Ostagar and begin advancing into southern Ferelden.

The Warden and Alistair are saved by Flemeth, a powerful witch who lives in seclusion. Flemeth sends her daughter Morrigan to accompany the Warden and Alistair in gathering a new army to combat the Archdemon and stop the Blight. Using ancient Grey Warden treaties, the Warden travels across Ferelden to enlist the aid of the Circle of Magi, the Dalish Elves, the Dwarves of Orzammar, and soldiers in Redcliffe loyal to Arl Eamon. In addition, Alistair reveals that he is a bastard son of King Maric, making him a contender for the now vacant throne. Meanwhile, Loghain returns to Ferelden's capital city, Denerim, to inform his daughter, Queen Anora, of Cailan's death. Loghain scapegoats the Grey Wardens for the defeat at Ostagar and demands the deaths of any survivors. While Anora inherits her husband's authority, Loghain declares himself her regent and seizes control of the kingdom, becoming a tyrannical ruler determined to retain power. Ferelden's nobility rebel against him, igniting a civil war which ends in an inconclusive stalemate and allows the Darkspawn to advance further into Ferelden unopposed.

Eamon then calls a Landsmeet among the nobles of Ferelden to rally the kingdom against the Darkspawn, where the Warden or a party member defeats Loghain in a duel. If Alistair defeats Loghain, he will then execute him. Otherwise, the Warden can either have Loghain executed or recruited into the Grey Wardens and the party in place of Alistair (who quits both in turn). Dependent on this and other past decisions, the Warden then settles who assumes Ferelden's throne (Alistair and/or Anora), with the option of marrying the one of opposite gender if a Human Noble.

Before the final battle, the Warden learns that a Grey Warden must slay the Archdemon to prevent it from releasing a demonic essence which finds a new host in the nearest Darkspawn. The essence will be drawn to the Taint, killing the Warden in the process. Morrigan meets with the Warden and proposes a ritual that will see her conceive a child with a Warden. The Archdemon, upon death, will instead be drawn to the child, born as a demigod with the Taint, sparing the Warden who slays it. Morrigan agrees to conceive the child on the condition that she raise it alone. The Warden can accept Morrigan's offer (if male), convince Alistair/Loghain to take part instead, or refuse the proposal (which causes Morrigan to leave the party).

The next day, the Warden and the newly assembled army gather in Denerim. They repel the Darkspawn horde and vanquish the Archdemon. If Morrigan's ritual was performed, the Warden slays the Archdemon. If not, they must decide whether they or Alistair/Loghain does so and perishes in the process. The remaining Darkspawn retreat from Denerim, marking the end of the Fifth Blight. The story ends with a ceremony attended by Ferelden citizens, where the Warden and their companions are honoured for saving the kingdom. An epilogue details the ramifications of the Warden's choices, including the future of Ferelden, any rumours, and the fates of his or her companions.

''Blade of the Immortal'' follows the deeds of Manji, a skilled ''rōnin'' who has a decisive advantage: no wound can kill him, except for a rare poison. In the past, his criminal actions led to the death of 100 other samurai (including his sister's husband). He becomes immortal at the hand of an 800-year-old nun named Yaobikuni, and is compelled by the death of his sister to accept the quest that will end his agelessness. He has vowed to make amends by killing 1,000 evil men, and until he does Manji will be kept alive by , remarkable creatures that allow him to survive nearly any injury and reattach severed limbs even after hours of separation. They work by sacrificing themselves to seal the wound - they are worms that were bred to be as close in chemical and physical make-up to humans as possible without actually being human. They cannot handle regrowth on a large scale, but, for example, can reattach a severed limb or seal a hole in the brain.

Manji crosses paths with a young girl named Rin Asano and promises to help her avenge her parents, who were killed by a cadre of master swordsmen led by Anotsu Kagehisa. Anotsu killed Rin's father and his entire dōjō, making them a family of outcasts. Anotsu's quest is to gather other outcasts and form an extremely powerful new dojo, the Ittō-ryū (a school teaching any technique that wins, no matter how exotic or underhanded), and has started taking over and destroying other dojos.

In addition, another group calling itself the Mugai-ryū has emerged, in opposition to the Ittō-ryū. Its true leadership and motives are initially a mystery, but its methods (any tactics that lead to victory) resemble those of the Ittō-ryū. They try to enlist Manji's help as they seem to want the same thing. Eventually, Manji joins but quickly pulls out after he finds out a member, Shira, is way too sadistic for his tastes. After a while, Manji finally discovers that the Mugai-ryū work for the government. They are all death row inmates who are allowed to live only if they serve the shogunate. While Manji and Shira quickly grow to hate each other, after Shira runs off, Manji remains on friendly terms with the other members of the group.

The Fifth Dominion

The novel opens with a man, Charlie Estabrook, hiring the mysterious assassin Pie'oh'pah to murder his estranged wife, Judith. Pie heads to New York and makes an attempt on Judith's life, but fails. Estabrook, having come to regret hiring the assassin to kill Judith, then contacts Judith's former lover, an artist named John Furie Zacharias also known as "Gentle", and asks Gentle to protect her. Later, Gentle comes upon Judith just as Pie is making a second attempt on her life. Gentle chases Pie away, but Pie, who has the ability to change its exterior, later disguises itself as Judith and comes to Gentle's apartment with the intent of having sex with him. During their tryst, Judith calls, alerting Gentle to the fact that he is in fact coupling with the shape-shifting assassin. Gentle is horrified and demands that Pie leave.

Meanwhile, the Tabula Rasa meet at Roxborough Tower to discuss the recent events regarding Pie'oh'pah. A man from one of the other Dominions named Dowd is ordered by the council to bring his master, Oscar Godolphin, to see them. Despite being a member of the Tabula Rasa, Godolphin frequently travels between Earth and the reconciled dominions. Godolphin meets with the Tabula Rasa and murders Dowd in front of them, convincing them that Dowd was actually a doppelganger who had taken on Godolphin's appearance while travelling between worlds. Godolphin later revives Dowd and gives him permission to kill Pie.

Judith returns to England and sneaks into Estabrook's house to steal back some of her former property. She also discovers a strange blue stone that causes her to have an out of body experience, during which she witnesses a mummified woman being kept prisoner by the Tabula Rasa in the Roxborough Tower.

An artist's impression of the beads found by Jude.

Gentle, meanwhile, has another encounter with Pie, and the two of them pass through the "In Ovo" to the Fourth Dominion. Judith, who was coming to see Gentle, arrives just as the two go away.

The Fourth Dominion

Pie and Gentle arrive in the Fourth Dominion and head to the nearby village of Vanaeph, where the Autarch is coming to investigate rumours of rebellion. They soon get into a conflict with some locals and are helped by a man named Tick Raw. Later, Gentle is confronted by a creature known as a 'Nullianac', and manages to kill it using a protective spell called a 'pneuma'. Pie and Gentle then head to the mountains to find a way of breaking into the Third Dominion.

Back on Earth, Judith meets up with Estabrook to find information about his brother, Oscar Godolphin. After leaving Estabrook for dead in the Second Dominion, Godolphin begins a relationship with Judith.

Meanwhile, in the Fourth Dominion, Gentle and Pie find the frozen bodies of a group of women who were killed by Hapexamendios during his journey across the Dominions. Gentle ends up freeing the women, who then lead Gentle and Pie to a frozen doorway leading into the Third Dominion.

The Third Dominion

Judith meets with a woman named Clara Leash, a former member of the Tabula Rasa. When the two try to break into Roxborough Tower to free the prisoner from Judith's vision, Dowd arrives and kills Clara.

Meanwhile, Gentle and Pie travel through the third dominion searching for an old friend of Pie's named Scopique. They learn that Scopique is being held in a prison at the Cradle, a giant lake whose waters remain frozen unless the cloud cover breaks, allowing the sunlight to shine on the surface. Gentle and Pie make their way across the Cradle just as the sun starts to rise, and when the lake becomes liquid again Gentle almost drowns, taking days to recover.

Once in the prison, Pie is reunited with Scopique and Gentle befriends Aping, the second in command and an artist like Gentle. Gentle becomes upset when he learns that Pie has been having sex with N'Ashap, the commandant of the prison, in return for Gentle being nursed back to health, leading the two to admit their feelings for each other and decide to get married. Security tightens at the prison, however, and the two realise that they must soon escape. Aping asks Gentle to take his daughter Huzzah with them when they leave.

Eventually the opportunity arises and Gentle, Pie, Scopique, Aping and Huzzah all flee across the lake at night, while the waters are still solid. Aping is killed, and Scopique chooses to stay behind after N'Ashap is overthrown and killed. Gentle, Pie and Huzzah are able to successfully escape and head to the Second Dominion.

The Second Dominion

Around the time that Gentle and the others head to the Second Dominion towards Yzordderrex, the Autarch visits a retreat which used to be the location of the 'Pivot', a large monument which was moved to his palace in Yzordderrex. It is here where we first learn that the Autarch is familiar with Earth, particularly the locales that our heroes are from.

Judith finally convinces Godolphin to bring her to Yzordderrex with the threat of leaving him. They head to the retreat where they originally met, but as Godolphin starts their transference to the second dominion, Dowd comes and interferes and ends up going through to Yzordderrex with Judith instead of Godolphin. They arrive in the house of Peccable, a merchant friend of Godolphin's. Arriving in Yzordderrex, Gentle, Pie and Huzzah encounter an entourage containing the Autarch's Queen, Quaisoir, and Gentle is shocked to find out that her appearance is identical to that of Judith's. With the rebellions in Yzordderrex getting out of control, she flees and Gentle becomes convinced that he has to head to the palace to find out if it is really her. Judith meanwhile has another out of body experience where she witnesses Quaisoir after a fight with the Autarch, who is upset with her becoming enamored with religion, and Father Athanasius, the leader of the 'Dearther' group of rebels (and the man who wed Gentle and Pie at the Cradle). Gentle, Pie and Huzzah arrive at the Eurhetemec Kesperate (district) that Pie is from and find it mostly deserted except for four people, who have a hard time believing that they're not the enemy. Pie tells Gentle and Huzzah to meet him later at a cafe they were eating at. Although Huzzah and Gentle return there, with the chaos going on they leave and encounter a group that includes a Nullianac that kidnaps Huzzah. Gentle chases after them and eventually defeats the Nullianac, but not before it rapes and kills Huzzah.

Put on trial, Pie explains itself, saying that it became entrapped in the in Ovo and was summoned to the Fifth Dominion by the Maestro Sartori, who had led the attempt at reconciliation 200 years ago. Pie felt bound to him which is why it never returned until now. Pie is instructed that it is banned from returning to the Eurhetemec Kesperate until it kills the Autarch. Pie heads there with a fellow group of its species but most are killed and it tells its final companion to leave when it finds paintings of familiar places from Earth in the palace. Gentle as well heads to the palace with a follower of Athanasius, who found the still living Estabrook after he was left for dead after his fight with Godolphin. When they are caught by one of the Autarch's generals, Gentle's companion is killed, but Gentle is surprisingly let go when the general sees his face.

Quaisoir meanwhile flees from the palace in search of Athanasius but instead is encountered by a group of rebels who attack her, blinding her by stabbing her in the eyes. Dowd and Judith, who had been having more visions of her, soon arrive and all the rebels are either killed or flee. Quaisoir at first thinks Dowd is her Lord but when Judith spoils the illusion by talking, Dowd tries to kill her. Judith flees as Dowd attacks Quaisoir instead and ends up near a large well. Dowd catches up to her and is about to kill her by throwing her in there. About to die, Judith has visions of her origin, she was created as a replica of Quaisoir hundreds of years before. Quaisoir, amazingly still alive arrives and using her power saves Judith and lets Dowd fall in the well after he reveals that hundreds of years before he found a woman for Hapexamendios, Celestine, who bore him a child.

Gentle makes it to the top of the palace where he encounters the Autarch, who reveals that Gentle is the Maestro Sartori, who led the failed effort to reconcile the Dominions 200 years before. Going to see the Pivot, Gentle is told that he has to make another attempt at Reconciliation. Through explanation by the Autarch and a vision he witnesses, the true events of what happened 200 years before are finally revealed. As Sartori, he was in love with Judith, the lover of Joshua Godolphin, and was able to convince Joshua to let him create a replica of her through magic. During the long process of replicating her however, he got drunk and went into the circle that she was being replicated in, and made love to her. This resulted in a replica of himself being created as well. Once the Reconciliation failed, the replica of Sartori left to the Dominions and eventually became the ruler of them as the Autarch. The original Judith became his queen, Quaisoir, while the replica, the Judith we've come to know throughout the book, remained on Earth, bound to the Godolphin family. Sartori convinced Pie to cast a feit on him that caused him to continuously lose his memory of the event. The Autarch wants Gentle to join him as he goes to conquer the Fifth Dominion but Gentle refuses. While fleeing, Pie comes across the Autarch, and attacks Gentle when he arrives. Although Gentle is able to convince Pie that it is the real him, the Autarch (referred to from this point on through the rest of the book as 'Sartori') attacks Pie, mortally wounding it, then escapes.

Gentle decides to bring Pie to a Dearther camp at the Erasure, the border between the Second and First Dominions where Estabrook was healed earlier. Pie heads off into the Erasure after Gentle reluctantly lets him go. Gentle meets up with Father Athanasius again who attempts to kill him, but the entire camp is destroyed by the power of Hapexamendios, who pulls Pie back into the First Dominion when it tries to leave. Among those killed is Estabrook, who was still living at the camp after being healed there. Gentle is determined to reconcile the dominions and enlists the help of a man at the Erasure, Chicka Jackeen.

Return to the Fifth Dominion

Gentle returns to the palace in Yzordderrex where he's reunited with Judith. The entire palace including the Pivot starts to collapse and while they are able to escape, Quaisoir is killed. Gentle and Judith go to Peccable's house and then return to Earth. Gentle decides to return to the house on Gamut Street where he attempted Reconciliation 200 years before and some of the memories from that time return to his head. His returned memories include those of conversations with Joshua Godolphin and the ancestors of those in the Tabula Rasa, as well as a young man, Lucius Cobbitt. Also remembered is the moments after the reconciliation failed and the horror brought upon everyone when Sartori tampered with the ceremony and creatures from the In Ovo were released. Gentle has a vision of those killed attacking him, a sort of 'final rite of passage' as his memories return. A creature known as Little Ease sent by Sartori invades Gentle's mind and tells him that Sartori will use him to prevent the Reconciliation from occurring by any way possible. When Gentle leaves the house, Little Ease releases all of Gentle's memories from the past 200 years into his mind, harming him tremendously. Gentle, scarred from the event later appears where some homeless people are living and is almost killed by one of them until he uses a pneuma to defend himself. He befriends Monday, a fellow artist. Judith meanwhile sleeps with Sartori, thinking that he is Gentle.

After being reunited with old colleagues like Klein, Clem and Oscar, Judith becomes obsessed with freeing Celestine from her prison below Roxborough Tower. She and Oscar eventually head to Roxborough Tower after all of the Tabula Rasa end up being killed. When they split up, Oscar ends up getting attacked by Dowd (still alive, with pieces from the Pivot shoved into his body), who slices him up much in the same way that Oscar did to him near the start of the book. Judith arrives just as Oscar dies. After speaking with Dowd, Judith returns to the basement of the tower and frees Celestine, who then fights and defeats Dowd. Celestine tells Judith that she wants to see Maestro Sartori. Clem one night while helping the homeless finds Gentle and helps him get his senses back. Gentle heads off with him, and Monday tags along. Sartori meanwhile reveals to Judith (who still thinks he's Gentle) that he has impregnated her when she tries to get him to see Celestine. Judith tells him to go see Celestine. The real Gentle arrives shortly afterwards with Clem and Monday, and they head to Roxborough Tower, where Sartori has already met Celestine, who reveals that he was the child she bore when she was raped by Hapexamendios hundreds of years before. Gentle and Sartori do battle while the others help Celestine out of the tower.

The Reconciliation

Once their battle is over, Gentle and the others head back to the house on Gamut Street where Judith captures Little Ease. In exchange for not being killed, Little Ease swears allegiance to Gentle. Gentle has Judith and Monday return to Godolphin's retreat to retrieve stones to be used in the ceremony, while there Judith encounters Dowd one last time. Before dying, Dowd leaves some doubt in Judith's mind about what Hapexamendios's intentions really are and whether the Reconciliation will be a good thing or not. Judith decides to head to Yzordderrex to see the Goddesses and find out from them whether or not the Reconciliation should go forward. She tells Monday to return to Gentle with that message and heads to Yzordderrex.

Gentle sends his spirit across the Imajica to meet with the other Maestros joining him in the Reconciliation: Tick Raw in the Fourth, Scopique in the Third, Athanasius in the Second (who Scopique was able to convince to help them), and Chicka Jackeen near the First (who is revealed to be Lucius). Judith meanwhile makes it to Yzordderrex and heads to the Autarch's palace, now in ruins and flooded. There she is able to meet with the Goddesses, Tishallulé, Jokalaylau, and Uma Umagammagi, who had been trapped in the Pivot until its destruction. Initially distrusting of her, the Goddesses convene among themselves and tell Judith that it is all right to go ahead with the reconciliation. They also reveal to her that when reconciled, the Imajica is a circle and that Judith may one day be among the Goddesses. It is also revealed that, because the Imajica is a circle, the souls of the dead ones will not be able to escape the Imajica itself as they hoped with the Reconciliation.

Judith returns to the Fifth Dominion, to the house on Gamut Street. Gentle begins the Reconciliation as everyone else in the house keeps watch for Sartori and his minions to make sure they don't interfere. When they do arrive, they kill Little Ease and Sartori confronts Judith. He now seems a changed man, saying that once the dominions are reconciled Hapexamendios will turn them to a wasteland. Sartori tries to convince Judith that they should kill themselves, but she instead rushes back in the house to try and stop Gentle from completing the Reconciliation. She enters the circle where he is performing it and Sartori soon follows. Gentle tampers with one of the stones used in the ceremony to attack Sartori. The two do battle and Sartori severely wounds Gentle by stabbing him, then takes his place and returns the stone to its rightful place. Sartori's minions carry Gentle's body out of the room to Celestine and Judith accompanies them as the clock strikes midnight and the Reconciliation is completed. Celestine tells Gentle to send his spirit to see Hapexamendios and convince him to send his fire their way, as the god is unaware that the Imajica is a circle, and his attack would simply come back to him.

Gentle's spirit makes its way through the Dominions, passing through the Erasure into the First Dominion. There Gentle sees a magnificent, seemingly infinitely large city that initially appears to be deserted. After some help from a Nullianac Gentle realises the truth, that Hapexamendios himself ''is'' the city. Gentle starts speaking to Hapexamendios and convinces him to show his human form, which is gigantic, but also distorted and misshapen. When Celestine is brought up, Hapexamendios grows angry and sends a flame across the dominions to kill her. Celestine is vaporised, but with the circle of the Imajica now restored, it returns to the first dominion and destroys Hapexamendios himself. Severely burned by Hapexamendios's fire, Sartori dies in Judith's arms.

The weeks and months go by and the Dominions slowly become used to becoming reconciled. Many like Tick Raw come from the various Dominions to see Gentle, but he can only think about Pie. Judith leaves to Yzordderrex to give birth to her child, a daughter whom she names Huzzah, and Gentle and Monday follow and are eventually reunited with her. They then head to the first dominion to see Chicka Jackeen and Gentle parts with them, never to return. Monday and Chicka Jackeen head back to the Fifth to see Clem with a map of the Imajica Gentle has been working on and his last message. On the promontory, Gentle looks down and sees beyond the waves what looks like another sky but is, in reality, a gate outside Imajica that his father tried to seal and was reopened by the Goddesses. Jumping into this gate, Gentle becomes reunited with Pie'oh'pah outside of the Imajica; meanwhile in the Fifth Dominion, Jackeen, Monday and Clem start drawing Gentle's map of the Imajica on every wall.

While the online version of ''The Order of the Stick'' unfolds continuously, the strips have been broken down into plot arcs for purposes of publication; the plot summary that follows breaks the story down into these arcs for clarity. Burlew notes in the commentary of ''War and XPs'' that the strips contained within that volume were the first to be plotted with publication in mind from the very beginning.Burlew, ''War and XPs'', Introduction, p. 5. Several volumes have been released in book-only format: ''On the Origin of PCs,'' a prequel to the heroes' adventures; ''Start of Darkness,'' a prequel to the villains' escapades; ''Good Deeds Gone Unpunished,'' a prequel that includes stories about various residents of Azure City; and ''Snips, Snails and Dragon Tails,'' a collection of all the ''Dragon Magazine'' comics plus 80 pages of new material.

''Dungeon Crawlin' Fools''

The webcomic begins with the Order fighting goblins and other monsters on their way through the Dungeon of Dorukan (although the first volume of the printed edition later included a preamble showing how the Order finds and enters the Dungeon). They are led by Roy Greenhilt on a quest to destroy a lich sorcerer named Xykon. Roy is motivated by nightly visits from the ghost of his father, from whom he receives a cryptic warning.

The Order briefly joins forces with an adventuring party known as the Linear Guild, led by Nale (the evil twin of the Order's happy-go-lucky bard, Elan). The Guild eventually betrays the Order, but the Order prevails due to Roy's sudden understanding of his father's prophecy. Durkon Thundershield, the Order's dutiful dwarf cleric of Thor, enjoys a sexual encounter with the Guild's dwarf cleric of Loki Hilgya Firehelm, but they shortly afterwards part in tears.

The Order goes on to battle Xykon near a mysterious magical gate. Xykon shatters Roy's ancestral sword, but before he can release his ace-in-the-hole (a powerful creature known as the Monster in the Darkness), Roy flings him into a deadly mystic rune that protects the gate. Xykon's body is destroyed, but his disembodied soul is ferreted to safety by his lieutenant, Redcloak, in his phylactery. The book ends with Elan accidentally destroying the entire dungeon, including the gate, by activating another magic rune. The Order escapes to safety.Burlew, ''Dungeon Crawlin' Fools''. The printed book contains strips 1–121, plus extras.

''No Cure for the Paladin Blues''

The Order travels to Wooden Forest, where Vaarsuvius slays a black dragon and they loot its hoard in order to retrieve a rare "starmetal" to repair Roy's broken sword. The party is arrested by the paladin Miko Miyazaki for destroying the magical gate in the Dungeon of Dorukan. While stopping at an inn, the party loses the dragon's treasure in an explosion, the shock of which renders Haley unable to speak coherently (rendered as cryptograms in the comic).

In Azure City, Belkar is imprisoned separately from the rest of the Order but escapes, murdering a guard in the process. The others are put on trial before Miko's liege, Lord Shojo, who informs them that the gate they destroyed is one of five gates that reinforce the structure of the universe. Without them, a god-killing abomination known as the Snarl would escape and destroy all of creation. The five gates were each built by a member of an adventuring party who defeated the Snarl in the past, and, with one exception, named after their creators: Dorukan, Lirian, Soon, Girard Draketooth, Kraagor (who was killed in battle) and the halfling Serini Toormuck (who named her gate in honor of Kraagor rather than herself). Dorukan's and Lirian's Gates have now both been destroyed; Soon's Gate is located in Azure City.

The Order is acquitted with the help of Celia, a sylph they had aided in the Dungeon of Dorukan. Belkar, however, is recaptured by Miko and returned to prison for his murder of the guard. Shojo reveals that the trial was a sham to recruit the Order to defend the remaining gates. Roy reluctantly agrees once he learns that Xykon has survived and is recruiting a massive army of hobgoblins to seize the remaining gates. As a condition for his agreement, he has Belkar released on bail, with a magic rune on his forehead (called a "Mark of Justice") that will trigger a curse on him if he violates certain conditions. In addition, each member of the Order receives a boon, one of which is the repair of Roy's sword.Burlew, ''No Cure for the Paladin Blues''. The printed book contains strips 122–301, plus extras.

''War and XPs''

In Azure City, Celia and Roy begin a romantic relationship, and Celia gives Roy a talisman which will summon her when broken. The Order travels to Sunken Valley to consult an Oracle as to which Gate Xykon will target next. Roy phrases the question poorly and receives the misleading answer that, out of Girard's and Kraagor's Gate, Xykon will approach Girard's first; in fact Xykon's army embarks for Azure City.

The Order makes a brief diversion to Cliffport to confront the Linear Guild, who have kidnapped Roy's sister Julia. After Nale frames Elan for the Linear Guild's crimes, Elan escapes from prison and reunites with Haley with the help of a dashing swordsman named Julio Scoundrel. Haley recovers her speech and confesses her love for Elan, who reciprocates.

The Order returns to Azure City to ask Lord Shojo for further directions. Miko, who does not know about the plan to find the Gates but does know about Xykon's army, overhears the conversation and jumps to the conclusion that both are in league with Xykon. She strikes her master down, and is immediately stripped of her paladin status by her gods and imprisoned.

Xykon's hobgoblins attack the city the next day. The Order helps Shojo's heir, Hinjo, hold the city walls. Xykon attempts to circumvent the defenders, but Roy leaps up to the zombified dragon that Xykon is riding, and the two duel once more. Xykon overpowers Roy and sends him falling to his death. Xykon and Redcloak attempt to activate Soon's Gate, which is embedded in the royal throne, but Miko, having escaped from prison, destroys it to prevent this. In the ensuing explosion, Miko is killed, and Xykon and Redcloak escape. The city falls to the hobgoblins. Haley and Belkar become separated from the party when they go to recover Roy's corpse, while the others sail away with Hinjo and the surviving Azurites.Burlew, ''War and XPs''. The printed book contains strips 302–484, plus extras.

''Don't Split the Party''

Roy finds himself in the Afterlife with his father, who cannot rest until Xykon is gone. Roy is found worthy of entrance to paradise, but he returns to his father's side when he learns that almost four months have passed. Looking down, he sees that Haley and Belkar have formed an underground resistance movement in hobgoblin-occupied Azure City. Haley accidentally breaks Roy's talisman and summons Celia, who convinces her to look for the other half of the party.

They first return to Sunken Valley in the hope that the Oracle can restore Roy to life, but he denies having any such power. In the ensuing quarrel, Belkar stabs the Oracle to death, thus triggering his Mark of Justice; he becomes ill. (The Oracle, resurrected after they leave, tells Roy's eavesdropping ghost that Belkar will die within the year.) Their travels take them to Greysky City, where Haley is betrayed by one of her old friends in the Thieves' Guild, but the Order triumphs over the Guild in the ensuing battle. Belkar's Mark of Justice is removed by a priest of Loki, and he decides to be more helpful to his teammates.

Meanwhile, Elan, Durkon, and Vaarsuvius foil a plot to assassinate Hinjo, and Vaarsuvius kills the ringleader (a nobleman named Kubota). Vaarsuvius then flies to an isolated island to search for Haley, where s/he is attacked and defeated by the mother of the black dragon whom s/he had killed during ''No Cure for the Paladin Blues''. After the dragon threatens to kill Vaarsuvius' children, s/he contracts with three archfiends to rent the souls of three evil spellcasters; in exchange each archfiend earns temporary possession of Vaarsuvius' soul. S/he then kills the black dragon and her entire lineage with an epic ''Familicide'' spell from one of the souls.

Loath to waste this increased arcane power, Vaarsuvius teleports to Azure City to defeat Xykon. Here s/he encounters a paladin named O-Chul, a prisoner of Xykon and Redcloak who has secretly befriended Xykon's Monster in the Darkness. Vaarsuvius is knocked out during the battle and loses access to the "rented" souls, but O-Chul breaks free and comes to Vaarsuvius' aid. Xykon's phylactery falls into a storm drain and is lost.

Vaarsuvius and O-Chul are teleported to Hinjo's fleet in the nick of time by the Monster in the Darkness. There, the Order regroups and Durkon resurrects Roy. The story arc ends with the Order sailing towards the next gate and Vaarsuvius apologizing to the neglected familiar Blackwing, who tells Vaarsuvius that it saw what appeared to be another world in the rift in space caused by the Snarl. The printed book contains strips 485–672, plus extras.

''Blood Runs in the Family''

While O-Chul and fellow paladin Lien travel north to Kraagor's gate, the Order sails to the Western Continent. Their search for Girard's Gate takes them to the Empire of Blood, where Tarquin, the Empress's chief general (and the true power behind the throne), dramatically reveals himself to be Elan's father. Tarquin gives the Order a tip that Girard's relative Orrin Draketooth can be found in Windy Canyon. However, Tarquin and the Linear Guild join forces and plot to seize the gate for themselves.

Meanwhile, in Azure City, Redcloak's troops recover Xykon's phylactery and destroy the resistance's base. Redcloak, who is plotting against Xykon, gives him a fake phylactery and keeps the real one for himself.

The Order discovers a magically cloaked pyramid in Windy Canyon, but once inside finds the entire Draketooth clan dead — an unexpected result of Vaarsuvius's ''Familicide'' spell, which causes him/her to flee into the pyramid in horror. The Linear Guild arrives shortly after in hot pursuit. Belkar, Durkon, and Tarquin become separated from their respective groups in the ensuing battle. Belkar and Durkon encounter Tarquin's cleric Malack, who kills Durkon, turning him into a vampire thrall. Belkar reunites with the Order and they continue deeper into the pyramid, overcoming various traps and illusions along the way.

When they discover the gate, Roy decides to destroy it, and consequently the entire pyramid, rather than risk it falling into the hands of Evil. Vaarsuvius, in an adjacent corridor, tries to tell him not to, but is temporarily dragged into hell as one of the archfiends collects on their debt. Again the Order sees what appears to be another world in the rift.

With Tarquin gone, Nale takes the opportunity to kill Malack, freeing Durkon who rejoins the Order. Tarquin kills Nale for disobedience upon returning and sends a vast army to attack the Order. With the help of Julio Scoundrel swooping in at the last moment, the Order is triumphant. Tarquin is left in the middle of the desert as the Order flies away on Julio's airship towards the last Gate.

The final strip reveals that the Northern death goddess Hel has placed a spirit in the vampirized body of Durkon, and plans for the spirit to bring ruin to the Dwarven lands as the real Durkon helplessly struggles trapped in his own body. The printed book contains strips 673–946, plus extras.

''Utterly Dwarfed''

Julio's airship gets damaged in a storm, and the Order stop in the steampunk-inspired gnome town of Tinkertown to repair it. Haley deals with her old enemies, while Roy and Durkon search for a cleric who can cure Durkon's vampirism. The vampire spirit possessing Durkon's body forces Durkon to show him his memories so as to fool the rest of the Order into thinking he is the same person. They encounter Veldrina and Wrecan, who are traveling to the Godsmoot, an interfaith council of clerics. The Order flies the pair to the Godsmoot with the goal of restoring Durkon to life.

At the Godsmoot, they discover that due to the threat of the Snarl, the gods are casting votes (conveyed through their mortal representatives) on whether to destroy the world and start over. Vampire Durkon, revealed to be the High Priest of Hel, votes in favor of the destruction, causing a tie. Roy and Vampire Durkon fight to a standstill; the demigods' priests vote and also end up in a tie – with the priest of Dvalin needing to consult with the Dwarven Council before he can cast a vote.

Vampire Durkon is now revealed to have turned a number of other people into vampires behind closed doors before the vote; he and most of them teleport out to the dwarven lands (leaving one as a replacement High Priest) to dominate the Council so they will vote in Hel's favor. The Order regroups and flies off to the dwarven city of Firmament, their journey plagued by frost-giant attacks and mutiny.

O-Chul and Lien reach the North Pole. There, they watch Xykon's party attempt to find Kraagor's Gate, which is hidden behind one of hundreds of dungeon doors leading from a ravine. The Monster in the Darkness marks the doors they have already tried with paint, but when the others' backs are turned also marks other doors in order to stymie their plans.

In Firmament the Order gain allies (among them Hilgya Firehelm, accompanied by her and Durkon's infant son Kudzu) and fight newly vampirized dwarves. The vampires manage to hypnotize most of the Order, ruining their plans and leaving all of them unconscious. However, in the meantime Durkon tricks Vampire Durkon into absorbing the rest of his memories all at once, effectively turning him into a copy of Durkon for long enough to get their body destroyed by Belkar.

Durkon's soul ascends to the afterlife along with that of another dwarf cleric (Minrah Shaleshoe). They encounter Thor, who reveals that their world is the latest of many thousands created by the gods as temporary prisons for the Snarl. Having been created by ''four'' pantheons, the Snarl is stronger than anything created by only three, and always destroys its prison eventually. However, Thor reveals that a fourth pantheon has arisen in this world consisting (so far) only of the goblins' god The Dark One. He tasks Durkon with recruiting Redcloak, the Dark One's high priest, to help stop the Snarl for good.

Hilgya resurrects Durkon. The Order and an army of dwarves led by Minrah (who has also been resurrected) storm the Dwarven Council chambers and defeat the vampires. Using a magical hammer gifted him by Thor, Durkon damages the Council table sufficiently to get the vote delayed indefinitely. The Order embarks for Kraagor's Gate, with Minrah joining them. Meanwhile, O-Chul and Lien are kidnapped and drugged by invisible attackers.

The printed book contains strips 947–1189, plus extras.

Book 7

The Order reaches the North Pole, where Kraagor's Gate is hidden. They investigate the paladins' disappearance, but Durkon and Minrah abscond (against Roy's orders) in an unsuccessful bid to win over Redcloak to Thor's cause. In the ensuing fight, the two dwarves are routed by Redcloak, Xykon, and others; they hide, tricking the villains into seeking them behind one of the many doors, then rejoin the rest of the Order. With Xykon's party close on their trail, the Order take refuge behind one of the doors. They bypass a magical trap laid across the threshold, which proves to be a teleport gate when the villains cross it and vanish.

O-Chul and Lien wake to find themselves chained to a wall at the mercy of Serini Toormuck, now elderly and part troll due to a past accident. Toormuck fears that they and the Order will destroy the last Gate and, with it, the world, rather than let Xykon win; on that basis, she proceeds to ambush the Order with the aid of her adopted son, a trusting beholder named Sunny. The Order prevails and restrains her, releasing the paladins. Eventually they manage to convince her that saving the world from destruction requires stopping Xykon, and she agrees, grudgingly, to ally with them.

The story is about a boy called Mangchi. He is small, but he possesses a magical hammer that helps him get around all his problems. He therefore got the nickname of "Hammerboy". Mangchi lives on a small distant island called Candlestick because everywhere else has turned into a wasteland because of some big catastrophe. When Princess Poplar from the kingdom of Jemius is being pursued by henchmen of the conspirator Moonk, Hammerboy sides with her, ready to unleash all his latent powers in order to save humankind.

Cindy "Cebe" Barnes is a rebellious adolescent tomboy being raised by her heroin-addicted mother, Kathy, in rural British Columbia. Cebe's father, Don, an abusive alcoholic, is serving a prison sentence for a road accident in which he drunkenly crashed his semi-truck into a school bus, killing all of the school children onboard; Cebe was in the truck cab with him when the crash occurred. In Don's absence, Kathy has carried on an affair with Paul, the owner of the restaurant where she is employed as a waitress. Don's friend, Charlie, makes lecherous advances toward Cebe, and also forges a sexual relationship with Kathy, to whom he provides heroin.

Cebe finds escapism in idolizing musicians such as Elvis Presley, Sid Vicious, and Johnny Rotten, and spends time alone in her father's wrecked semi-truck, which has been left abandoned on her family's property. She seeks further refuge from her unstable home life by sneaking into local bars, and hitchhiking to Vancouver. On one occasion in the city, Cebe accompanies a cab driver to his apartment to smoke marijuana. She narrowly escapes when the cabby and his prostitute girlfriend make sexual advances toward her. Cebe flees to a punk concert being put on by a local band. She is treated kindly by the band members, who allow her to watch them perform from the stage; the drummer briefly allows her to play on his drum kit during the performance. Eventually, Cebe is apprehended by police as a runaway minor, and is evaluated by child psychologist Dr. Brean, who returns her to the care of her mother.

Don is released from prison on probation after five years of incarceration, and returns home, where Kathy unsuccessfully attempts to regroup their family. Don continues to engage in reckless behavior and drinking, and shows little remorse for the accident he caused. When the father of one of the children killed in the crash gets Don fired from his job at a local landfill, Don retaliates with the help of Charlie by bludgeoning the man to death outside his home. Later, he shows Cebe a stick of dynamite he stole from the landfill, which he plans on selling for quick money. Don begins physically abusing Kathy, and the stress in the household causes Cebe to lash out at school. She is again evaluated by Dr. Brean, who comes to suspect that Don has sexually abused Cebe since childhood.

Late one night, Don and Charlie get belligerently drunk at the Barnes' house, while Kathy uses heroin in the bathroom. The men joke about Cebe possibly being a lesbian, and Don suggests that Charlie rape her. This drives an incoherent Kathy to tears. Don and Charlie barrel into Cebe's bedroom, where she is dying her hair black to resemble that of Elvis. She rebuffs them both, proclaiming her hatred for her father, and forces them and an inconsolable Kathy out of the room. Don later returns to Cebe's bedroom, and recounts memories to her from her childhood. Cebe defiantly tells him she remembers his abuse, before cutting his throat with a pair of scissors, killing him.

Cebe later awakens Kathy, dressed in her father's leather coat, and with a safety pin pierced through her cheek. Cebe insists that Kathy go with her to the wreckage of Don's truck, so they can have a conversation. Kathy agrees to go with her. In the truck, Cebe lights the wick of the dynamite, which she has hidden in the dashboard, and assures her mother it is only an electrical fuse from the wreckage. Moments later, Cebe references Sid Vicious, who "took his loved ones with him" when he died, before the wrecked truck explodes, killing them both.

The player controls BLOB (Bio-Logically Operated Being), whose mission is to penetrate the unstable core of a rogue planet which has appeared from a black hole. If the core is not repaired within the set time limit it will implode causing a chain reaction which will destroy the entire universe. The planet is inhabited by various primitive creatures, all hazardous to the touch, and the remnants of a previous civilisation which provides the items needed to rebuild and stabilise the planet core.

A dissatisfied yuppie couple in the IT business, with no kids and a fancy house in a prestige neighbourhood, have a few weeks off before the husband's new career challenges. Envious about their friends' exotic holiday destinations, the husband meets a travel agent at a party, offering the ultimate experience: a one-month vacation under a false identity in Jakomäki, a suburban block of flats in Helsinki. Part of the deal is that their credit cards, house keys, phones, passports, and custom automobile are all traded in for a run-down council-housing apartment and four envelopes each with a weekly cash, equal to a standard unemployment allowance. Acting as an unemployed couple, their street credibility is often questioned by their new neighbours who are more at home with the ways of the concrete jungle. However, they discover after the first week that the second envelope is empty, and that the travel agency where they purchased their extreme vacation, does not exist.

The story begins when a friend of Dr. Watson's wife comes to Watson's house, frantic because her husband, who is addicted to opium, has gone missing. Watson helps her pull him out of the opium den and sends him home. Watson is surprised to find that Sherlock Holmes is there too, in disguise and trying to get information to solve a different case about a man who has disappeared. Watson stays to listen to Holmes tell the story of the case of Neville St. Clair.

St. Clair is a prosperous, respectable, punctual man. His family's home is in the country, but he visits London every day on business. One day when Mr. St. Clair was in London, Mrs. St. Clair also went to London separately. She happened to pass down Upper Swandam Lane, a "vile alley" near the London docks, where the opium den is. Glancing up, she saw her husband at a second-floor window of the opium den. He vanished from the window immediately, and Mrs. St. Clair was sure that there was something wrong.

She tried to enter the building; but her way was blocked by the opium den's owner, a lascar. She fetched the police, but they did not find Mr. St. Clair. The room behind the window was the lair of a dirty, disfigured beggar, known to the police as Hugh Boone. The police were about to put her story down as a mistake of some kind when Mrs. St. Clair noticed a box of wooden toy bricks that her husband said he would buy for their son. A further search turned up some of St. Clair's clothes. Later, his coat, with the pockets stuffed with hundreds of pennies and halfpennies, was found on the bank of the River Thames, just below the building's back window.

Hugh Boone was arrested at once, but would say nothing, except to deny any knowledge of St. Clair. He also resisted any attempt to make him wash. Holmes was initially quite convinced that St. Clair had been murdered, and that Boone was involved. Thus he investigated the den in disguise. He and Watson return to St. Clair's home, to a surprise. It is several days after the disappearance; but on that day Mrs. St. Clair had received a letter from her husband in his own handwriting, with his wedding ring enclosed, telling her not to worry. This forces Holmes to reconsider his conclusions, leading him eventually to an extraordinary solution.

Holmes and Watson go the police station where Hugh Boone is held; Holmes brings a bath sponge in a Gladstone bag. Finding Boone asleep, Holmes washes the sleeping Boone's dirty face—revealing Neville St. Clair.

Mr. St. Clair has been leading a double life, as a respectable businessman, and as a beggar. In his youth, he had been an actor before becoming a newspaper reporter. In order to research an article, he had disguised himself as a beggar for a short time, and was able to collect a surprising amount of money due to a skillset uncommon to beggars; his actor's skills enabled him to emulate a more sympathetic character with make-up, as well as provide a repertoire of witty dialogue with which to entertain passers-by to offer coins—he was as much a street performer as a beggar. Later, he was saddled with a large debt, and returned to the street to beg for several days to pay it off. His newspaper salary was meagre and, tempted by the much larger returns of begging, he eventually became a "professional" beggar. His takings were large enough that he was able to establish himself as a country gentleman, marry well, and begin a respectable family. His wife and children never knew what he did for a living, and when arrested, he feared exposure more than prison or the gallows. But there is no murder, so he is released, and Holmes and the police agree to keep Mr. St. Clair's secret as long as no more is heard of Hugh Boone.

As London prepares for Christmas, newspapers report the theft of a near-priceless gemstone, the "Blue Carbuncle", from the hotel suite of the Countess of Morcar. The police arrest John Horner, a plumber with a criminal record who was in Countess's room repairing a fireplace.

In Baker Street, Watson finds Holmes contemplating a battered old hat brought to him by Peterson, a commissionaire, who seeks Holmes's help in returning the hat to its rightful owner, along with a Christmas goose. Both had been dropped in the street during a scuffle. Although the goose bears a tag with the name Henry Baker, there is little hope of finding an owner with such a common name. Peterson takes the goose home for dinner, and Holmes keeps the hat to study as an intellectual exercise.

Peterson returns excited, carrying the stolen gem, and reports that he found it in the goose's crop. Holmes closely studies the hat and its condition, deducing Henry Baker's age, social standing, intellect, and domestic status. When Baker appears in response to advertisements that Holmes places in the London newspapers, Holmes offers him a new goose. Happily accepting the replacement bird, Baker declines to take away the original bird's entrails, convincing Holmes that he knew nothing about the gem. He tells Holmes that he had purchased the goose at the Alpha Inn, a pub near the British Museum.

Holmes and Watson visit the pub, where the proprietor informs them that the bird was purchased from a Covent Garden dealer. The dealer there refuses to help, complaining of the pestering he has endured recently about geese purchased by the Alpha Inn. Holmes, realising that he is not the only one aware of the goose's importance, tricks the irate man into revealing that the bird was supplied to him by its breeder, Mrs Oakshott of Brixton. A trip to Brixton proves unnecessary when the dealer's other "pesterer" appears – James Ryder, head attendant at the hotel where the gem was stolen.

Back in Baker Street, Ryder admits that he and his accomplice, the Countess's maid, had contrived to frame Horner, believing that his criminal past would make him an easy scapegoat. During a visit to his sister – Mrs Oakshott – Ryder had hit on the idea of feeding the gem to a goose she had promised him as a gift. Unfortunately, Ryder then took away the wrong bird, confusing his goose with another in the flock. By the time he realised his mistake, the other had already been sold.

Ryder sobs convulsively. Holmes takes pity on the man and allows him to flee, having concluded that he has been far too frightened by the episode to offend again. Also, it was the season of forgiveness. Horner can expect to be freed as the case against him must now collapse.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson rise unusually early one morning to meet a young woman named Helen Stoner who fears that her stepfather, Dr. Grimesby Roylott, is threatening her life. Roylott is a doctor who practised in Calcutta, India, and was married to Helen's late mother when she was a widow living there. He is also the impoverished last survivor of what was once a wealthy but violent, ill-tempered and amoral Anglo-Saxon aristocratic family of Surrey, and has already served a jail sentence for killing his Indian butler in a rage.

Helen's twin sister died almost two years earlier, shortly before she was to be married. Helen had heard her sister's dying words, "The speckled band!" but could not decode their meaning. Helen herself, troubled by the perplexing death of her sister, is now engaged. She has begun to hear strange noises and observe strange activities around Stoke Moran, the impoverished and heavily mortgaged estate where she and her stepfather live.

Dr. Roylott also keeps strange company at the estate. He is friendly with a band of Gypsies on the property, and he has a cheetah and a baboon as pets. For some time, he has been making changes to the house. Before Helen's sister's death, he had modifications made inside the house and is now having the outside wall repaired, forcing Helen to move into the room where her sister died.

Holmes listens carefully to Helen's story and agrees to take the case. He plans a visit to the manor later in the day. Before he can leave, he is visited by Dr. Roylott himself, who threatens him should he interfere. Undaunted, Holmes proceeds to the courthouse, where he examines Helen's late mother's will, and then to the countryside.

At Stoke Moran, Holmes scrutinizes the premises inside and out. Among the strange features that he discovers are a bed anchored to the floor, a bell cord that is not attached to any bell, and a ventilator hole between Helen's temporary room and that of Dr. Roylott.

Holmes and Watson arrange to spend the night in Helen's room. In darkness, they wait until about three in the morning; suddenly, a slight metallic noise and a dim light through the ventilator prompt Holmes to action. Quickly lighting a candle, he discovers on the bell cord the "speckled band"—a venomous snake. He strikes at the snake with his riding crop, driving it back through the ventilator. Agitated, it fatally attacks Roylott, who had been waiting for it to return after killing Helen. Holmes identifies the snake as an Indian swamp adder and reveals to Watson the motive: the late wife's will had provided an annual income of £750 sterling, of which each daughter could claim one third upon marriage. Thus, Dr. Roylott plotted to remove both of his stepdaughters before they married to avoid losing most of the fortune he controlled when the daughters took with them their share of money left for them by their mother. Holmes admits his attack on the snake may make him indirectly responsible for Roylott's demise, but he doesn't foresee it troubling him since his action saved Helen's life.

A banker, Mr. Alexander Holder of Streatham, makes a loan of £50,000 (equivalent to approximately £ in ) to a socially prominent client, who leaves a beryl coronet—one of the most valuable public possessions in existence—as collateral. Holder feels that he must not leave this rare and precious piece of jewellery in his personal safe at the bank, and so he takes it home with him to lock it up there. He is awakened in the night by a noise, enters his dressing room, and is horrified to see his son Arthur with the coronet in his hands, apparently trying to bend it. Holder's niece Mary comes at the sound of all the shouting and, seeing the damaged coronet, faints dead away. Three beryls are missing from it. In a panic, Mr. Holder travels to see Holmes, who agrees to take the case.

The case against Arthur seems rather damning, yet Holmes is not convinced of his guilt. Why is Arthur refusing to give a statement of any kind? How could Arthur have broken the coronet (even Holmes, who has exceptionally strong hands, can barely do it) and without making any noise? Could any other people in the household be involved, such as the servants, or Mary? Could some visitor, such as the maid's wooden-legged suitor, or Arthur's rakish friend Sir George Burnwell, have something to do with what happened to the coronet? The failure to resolve the case will result in Mr Holder's dishonour, and a national scandal.

Holmes sets about not only reviewing the details that he learns from Holder but also by examining the footprints in the snow outside. Eventually, Holmes solves the mystery, and Holder is flabbergasted to find that his niece was in league with a notorious criminal (Sir George Burnwell), although apparently, she is unaware of his character. The two of them escape justice; however, Holmes is convinced that they will receive their punishment in due time. Arthur's motive in allowing his father to think he was the thief was that he was in love with his cousin Mary and saw her passing the coronet to Burnwell outside the window. (The coronet was broken when Arthur was struggling to wrench it from Burnwell's grasp.) Holmes regains the jewels after threatening Sir George at gunpoint with an offer of £1,000 apiece (for each of the 3 beryls); Burnwell is shocked at Holmes' offer—he had already sold them to a fence for £300. With the additional offer of no prosecution, Holmes buys the beryls from the fence for £3,000; Holmes receives £4,000 compensation but sternly scolds Holder that he owes his son an apology for erroneously assuming Arthur had stolen the coronet.

In a typical American town, barbed wire, barricades and soldiers in Soviet uniforms are shown. Narrator Jack Webb explains that there are several places behind the Iron Curtain used for training Soviet espionage and sabotage forces prior to infiltrating America.

The Donovans are a typical American family consisting of father Jerry, mother Helen and daughter Linda, whose boyfriend Bill has been invited to dinner. Jerry is missing a PTA meeting to go bowling, and he intends to skip his Army Reserve training, which upsets Helen. Linda and Bill inform Jerry and Helen that they wish to marry, but Jerry replies they are too young and should wait five years.

Jerry awakens to find meetings in the public square about infiltrating America to bring down capitalism. He returns home to find his daughter going to a farm collective escorted by Bill, who is now in a Russian Army uniform. Helen informs Jerry that he will have to address the PTA on the glories of communism, which Jerry refuses to do, but his wife says that he has no choice. At work, Jerry's foreman tells him that he has not met his quota and must work through the lunch break to meet it.

On Sunday morning, Jerry wakes to find his two youngest children being sent to a state-run communist school against his wishes. He insists that the children attend Sunday school and takes them to their church, which has been converted into a museum glorifying the Soviet Union, including many inventions made by Americans that the Soviets claim to have invented. Jerry knocks the exhibits over and is arrested by troops led by a commissar.

Jerry is brought to trial at a Soviet tribunal, where there is no jury nor defense attorney. Jerry demands to know the charge against him. After condemning testimony from several witnesses, including his own wife, Jerry is convicted and sentenced to death. When he is strapped into the execution chair, Jerry makes a speech about the Soviet people awakening one day to overthrow communism before he is shot in the head by the commissar (offscreen).

Jerry wakes to his freedoms and apologizes to Bill and Linda. Bill says that Jerry was right about waiting to get married and that he and Linda will do so after he finishes his enlistment in the United States Army.

Violet Hunter visits Holmes, asking whether she should accept a job as governess—a job with extraordinary conditions. She is enticed by the phenomenal salary which, as originally offered, is £100 a year, later increased to £120 when Miss Hunter balks at having to cut her long copper-coloured hair short (her previous position paid £48 a year). This is only one of many peculiar provisos to which she must agree. The employer, Jephro Rucastle, seems pleasant enough, yet Miss Hunter obviously has her suspicions.

She announces to Holmes, after the raised salary offer, that she will take the job, and Holmes suggests that if he is needed, a telegram will bring him to Hampshire, where Mr. Rucastle's country estate, the Copper Beeches, is situated.

After a fortnight, Holmes receives such a message, beseeching him to come and see her in Winchester. Miss Hunter tells them one of the most singular stories that they have ever heard. Mr. Rucastle would sometimes have Miss Hunter wear a particular electric blue dress and sit in the front room reading, with her back to the front window. She began to suspect that she was not supposed to see something outside the window, and a small mirror shard hidden in her handkerchief showed her that she was right: a man was standing there on the road looking towards the house.

At another such session, Mr. Rucastle told a series of funny stories that made Miss Hunter laugh until she was quite weary. The one astonishing thing about this was that Mrs. Rucastle not only did not laugh but did not even smile.

There were other unsavoury things about the household. The six-year-old child that she was supposed to look after was astonishingly cruel to small animals. The servants, Mr. and Mrs. Toller, were quite a sour pair. A great mastiff was kept on the property and always kept hungry. It was let out to prowl the grounds at night, and Miss Hunter was warned not to cross the threshold after dark. Also, Toller, who was quite often drunk, was the only one who had control over the dog.

There was also the odd discovery by Miss Hunter of what appeared to be her own tresses in a locked drawer. Upon checking her own luggage, however, they turned out to be another woman's, but identical in every way to Miss Hunter's, even to the unusual colour.

However, the most disturbing thing of all about the household was the mystery wing. Miss Hunter had observed a part of the house that did not seem to be used. The windows were either dirty or shuttered, and once she saw Mr. Rucastle coming out of the door leading into the wing looking most perturbed. Later, he explained that he used the rooms as a photographic darkroom, but Miss Hunter was not convinced.

When he is drunk, Toller leaves the keys in the door to the mystery wing. Miss Hunter sneaks in. She finds the place spooky, and when she spots a shadow moving on the other side of a locked door, she panics and runs out into Mr. Rucastle's waiting arms. Mr. Rucastle does not reproach her; instead, he pretends to comfort her. However, he overdoes his act and alerts her suspicions, causing her to claim that she saw nothing. In an instant, his expression changes from comfort to rage.

With the great detective's aid, it is discovered that someone has been kept a prisoner in the forbidden wing. The purpose of hiring Miss Hunter becomes clear: her presence is to convince the man watching from the road that Rucastle's daughter Alice, previously unknown to Miss Hunter and whom she resembles, is no longer interested in seeing him.

Holmes, Watson, and Miss Hunter find Miss Rucastle's secret room empty; Rucastle arrives and thinks the trio has helped his daughter escape and goes to fetch the mastiff to set upon the trespassers. Unfortunately for Rucastle, the dog has been accidentally starved for longer than usual and attacks him instead. Watson shoots the dog with his revolver. Later, Mrs. Toller confirms Holmes' theory about Rucastle's daughter and reveals that when Alice came of age, she was to receive an annuity from her late mother's will; Rucastle tried to force his daughter to sign control of the inheritance over to him, which only resulted in Alice becoming ill with brain fever; hence, the cut hair. Rucastle then tried to keep Alice away from her fiancé by locking her up in the mystery wing and hiring Miss Hunter to impersonate Alice.

Rucastle's daughter escapes with her fiancé, and they marry soon after. Watson notes that Holmes appears to have been drawn to Miss Hunter. However, to his disappointment, Holmes does not show any interest in Miss Hunter after the mystery has been solved, which was the real force behind his feelings. Rucastle survives as an invalid, kept alive solely by his second wife. Miss Hunter later becomes principal of a girls' school, where she meets with "considerable success."

Opening

Parodying the opening of the 1931 movie ''Frankenstein,'' Marge warns the audience of the nature of the episode and tells them to put their children to sleep instead of writing angry letters.

Wrap-around

On Halloween, Bart, Lisa and Maggie sit in the treehouse and tell scary stories, while Homer who had just come home from trick or treating eavesdrops on them.

"Bad Dream House"

In a parody of ''Poltergeist'' and ''The Amityville Horror'', The Simpsons move into an old house, wondering about its low cost. Their questions are answered when the walls begin to bleed and objects begin to fly through the air, and Lisa senses an evil presence in the house. There is also a portal to another dimension in the kitchen. Marge expresses the desire to leave, but Homer asks her to sleep on it, due to the cost of buying the house. That night, the house possesses Homer and the children, manipulating their minds and making them chase each other with axes and knives. Marge unlike the others however, is instead using her knife to spread mayonnaise on a sandwich and intervenes, breaking the trance. Afterwards, Lisa discovers the source of the haunting—a Native American burial ground hidden in the basement. After the spirit of the house threatens them again, Marge loses her patience and confronts the house, demanding that it treat them with respect during their stay. The house thinks it over, and finally opts to destroy itself rather than live with the Simpsons.

"Hungry Are the Damned"

The Simpsons are in their backyard having a barbecue when they are abducted by two extraterrestrial life forms named Kang and Kodos. The aliens explain that they are taking the Simpsons to their home planet on Rigel IV, "a world of infinite delights", for a feast. En route they present the family with enormous amounts of food and watch eagerly as they gorge themselves, then check their weights, being particularly delighted at Homer's mass. Suspicious of the alien's intentions, Lisa sneaks into the kitchen and finds a book titled ''How To Cook Humans''. She takes the book and shows it to the aliens, who explain to her that part of the title was obscured by space dust, which they then blow away to reveal the title ''How To Cook For Humans''. Lisa, skeptical at this, blows off more space dust, revealing the title to be ''How To Cook Forty Humans''. The aliens blow off the last of the space dust, finally revealing the real title ''How To Cook For Forty Humans''. Enraged at Lisa's mistrust, they return the Simpsons to Earth, explaining that Lisa has ruined the family's chance at paradise on the aliens' home planet.

The story is a play on words and was molded from ''The Twilight Zone'' episode "To Serve Man", which itself was a teleplay of a short story by Damon Knight.

"The Raven"

Lisa reads "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe. In this adaptation, Bart is depicted as the raven, Homer finds himself in the role of the poem's lead character, The Narrator, while Lisa and Maggie are seraphim. Marge appears briefly as a painting of Lenore. James Earl Jones narrates. The segment ends when The Narrator, infuriated by the Raven's mockery of his grief, flies into a fit of rage chasing it across his study, ending with the Raven's eventual victory and The Narrator staring helplessly at it as he sits on the floor amid a scatter of books.

The episode then returns to the treehouse and Bart, Lisa and Maggie, who are not frightened by any of the stories. They climb down from the treehouse and sleep peacefully the whole night. Homer, on the other hand, lies in his bed terrified, despite Marge's reassurance that they are just children's stories and cannot bring him any harm. As he notices a raven outside the window similar to the one from the poem, Homer exclaims that he hates Halloween, ending the episode.

The USS ''Enterprise'' meets the merchant vessel ''Antares'' to take charge of Charlie Evans, the sole survivor of a transport ship that crashed on the planet Thasus. For fourteen years, 17-year-old Charlie grew up there alone, stranded in the wreckage, learning how to talk from the ship's computer systems, which remained intact. Charlie is to be transported to his nearest relatives on the colony Alpha V. Crew members aboard ''Antares'' speak praises about Charlie, but seem pleased to see him removed from their ship. He tells Dr. McCoy the crew of ''Antares'' did not like him very much, and that all he wants is for people to like him.

Despite his eagerness to please, Charlie becomes obnoxious since his lack of upbringing has left him with no knowledge of social norms or control of his emotions. He latches on to Captain Kirk as a father figure and develops an infatuation with Yeoman Janice Rand. He demonstrates extraordinary powers of telepathy and matter transmutation, though the crew initially fail to recognize the cause. Charlie meets Rand in the recreation room, where Mr. Spock plays a Vulcan lyrette and Lt. Uhura suddenly starts singing. Charlie is annoyed with being a subject in Uhura's performance, as well as with Rand paying more attention to the song than to him, so he causes Uhura to temporarily lose her voice and Spock's instrument to malfunction.

When the ''Antares'' is nearly out of sensor range, it transmits a message to the ''Enterprise''. The message is cut off before it can convey a warning. Scanners show the ''Antares'' has been reduced to debris.

Kirk tries to teach Charlie martial arts. Sam, Kirk's training partner, laughs at one of Charlie's falls, and Charlie makes him "vanish". Shocked, Kirk calls for security guards to escort Charlie to his quarters. Charlie makes all phasers on the ship disappear, but ultimately yields to Kirk's order that he return to his quarters. Records show that Charlie's abilities are the same as those of Thasians, but the medical examination McCoy conducted when Charlie came on board confirmed that he is human. Charlie admits he used his powers to remove a vital component of the ''Antares''. Frustrated at the adversarial turn in his relationship with the crew, Charlie breaks out of his quarters and begins to use his powers on the crew-changing their physical forms or freezing them according to his whim. When Rand resists his romantic advances, he makes her "disappear." When Kirk demands to know if Rand is dead or alive, Charlies refuses to tell him.

Realizing Charlie's powers are too great to be controlled, Kirk opts to divert from Alpha V so as to at least keep Charlie away from a civilized world, where he would wreak havoc. Charlie discovers Kirk's plans, and takes control of the ''Enterprise''. Speculating that controlling the ''Enterprise'' may sap Charlie's power, Kirk orders all of the ship's systems to be activated and attacks Charlie. Though his hypothesis proves incorrect, it distracts Charlie from fleeing a Thasian Ship that had been pursuing them.

A Thasian ship approaches and restores the ''Enterprise'' and its crew to their proper forms -although they admit they cannot restore the ''Antares''. The Thasian commander says that his race gave Charlie his powers so he could survive on their world, but these powers (which they can't remove from him) make him too dangerous to live among humans. Charlie begs Kirk to not let the aliens have him, since the Thasians lack any physical form or capacity for love. However, the Thasians reject Kirk's argument that Charlie belongs with his own kind, and with a final echoing wail of "''I wanna stay!''" Charlie is transported away and Yeoman Rand begins crying.

After the "World Crash of '79", massive civil unrest and economic ruin occurs. The United States government is restructured into a totalitarian regime under martial law. To pacify the population, the government has created the Transcontinental Road Race, where a group of drivers race across the country in their high-powered cars and which is infamous for violence, gore, and innocent pedestrians being struck and killed for bonus points. In the year 2000, the five drivers in the 20th annual race, who all adhere to professional wrestling-style personas and drive appropriately themed cars, include Frankenstein, the mysterious black-garbed champion and national hero; Machine Gun Joe Viterbo, a Chicago tough guy gangster; Calamity Jane, a cowgirl; Matilda the Hun, a Neo-Nazi; and Nero the Hero, a Roman gladiator. Machine Gun Joe Viterbo, the second-place champion, is the most determined of all to defeat Frankenstein and win the race.

A resistance group led by Thomasina Paine, a descendant of the 1770s American Revolutionary War hero Thomas Paine, plans to rebel against the regime, currently led by a man known only as Mr. President, by sabotaging the race, killing most of the drivers, and taking Frankenstein hostage as leverage against Mr. President. The group is assisted by Paine's great-granddaughter Annie Smith, Frankenstein's navigator. She plans to lure him into an ambush in order to have him replaced by a double. Despite a pirated national broadcast made by Ms. Paine herself, the Resistance's disruption of the race is covered up by the government and instead blamed on the French, who are also blamed for ruining the country's economy and telephone system. At first, the Resistance's plan seems to bear fruit: Nero the Hero is killed when a "baby" he runs over for points turns out to be a bomb, Matilda the Hun drives off a cliff while following a fake detour route set up by the Resistance, and Calamity Jane, who witnessed Matilda the Hun's death, inadvertently drives over a land mine. This leaves only Frankenstein and Machine Gun Joe Viterbo in the race. As Frankenstein nonchalantly survives every attempt made on his life during the race, Annie comes to discover that Frankenstein's mask and disfigured face are merely a disguise; he is, in fact, one of a number of random wards of the state who are trained exclusively to race under that identity, and each time they die or are brutally mutilated, they are secretly replaced so that Frankenstein appears to be indestructible.

The current Frankenstein reveals to Annie his ''own'' plan to kill Mr. President: when he wins the race and shakes hands with Mr. President, he will detonate a grenade which has been implanted in his prosthetic right hand. However, the plan goes awry when Machine Gun Joe Viterbo attacks Frankenstein and Annie is forced to kill him using Frankenstein's "hand grenade". Having successfully outmaneuvered both the rival drivers and the Resistance, Frankenstein is declared the winner of the race, although he is wounded and unable to carry out his original "hand grenade" attack plan. Annie instead dons Frankenstein's costume and plans to stab Mr. President while standing in for him on the podium. Before she is able to do so, Thomasina shoots "Frankenstein", convinced that he killed Annie. The real Frankenstein takes advantage of the confusion and rams Mr. President's stage with his car, finally fulfilling his lifelong desire to kill him. Frankenstein becomes the new president, marries Annie and appoints Thomasina as the Minister of Domestic Security to rebuild the state and dissolve the dictatorship. Junior Bruce, the announcer of the Transcontinental Road Race, opposes the race's abolition and impertinently claims that the public needs performances of violence. Annoyed by his complaints, Frankenstein hits Bruce with his car and drives off with Annie to the cheers and applause of the crowd.

While watching a 1950s science fiction movie, Bart and Lisa see a commercial for a model rocket kit and Bart orders it by using Homer's credit card number. Homer helps Bart and Milhouse build it, but it blows up before launching. Jealous that Ned Flanders built a superior rocket, Homer enlists the help of his former nerdy college roommates, Gary, Doug, and Benjamin, to build a rocket piloted by the hamster Nibbles. The rocket lifts off successfully, but it develops complications and Nibbles bails out. Homer attempts to shoot down the rocket with a 12 gauge shotgun, but the rocket crashes into the church. The church council meets up to decide how to come up with money to fund the repairs to the church. With no other aid available, they accept help from Mr. Burns and Lindsay Naegle, who wish to run the church as a business. The two rebuild the church as a commercial monstrosity, complete with advertising signs, a currency exchanger, a Lard Lad statue, a photo booth for the churchgoers to put their faces in a cut-out of Jesus from The Last Supper, and a Jumbotron known as "Godcam". Lisa is appalled at this and after Lovejoy welcomes The Noid to hold a sermon "on the sanctity of deliciousness," she abandons the church, feeling her religion has lost its soul.

That night, Lisa prays to God and assures him she has not turned her back on Him, but plans to seek a new path to “Him” (or “Her,” she says). While on a walk around town, passing many sacrilegious signs, she finds Springfield's Buddhist temple. Inside she sees Lenny and Carl meditating, and Hollywood actor Richard Gere teaches the core concepts of Buddhism to her. An intrigued Lisa takes a pamphlet on Buddhism and studies it at home. It convinces her of the virtues of the faith, and Lisa announces out her window she has become, and forever will be, a Buddhist. Lisa plants her own bodhi tree in the back yard and begins to meditate, but Marge grows increasingly worried about Lisa's soul and tries to convince her to come back to Christianity.

At the church council meeting, Reverend Lovejoy tells Marge to use Christmas to bribe her back. Marge bakes cookies, decorates the home, and has Ralph and Milhouse dress as a pony in wrapping paper to tempt her, but Lisa runs from the home when she realizes what is happening. At the Buddhist temple, she tells Gere her family tried to trick her, but Gere informs her that while Buddhism is about one finding inner peace, it is also about respecting the diversity of other religions based on love and compassion. Thus, Lisa is free to celebrate any holiday with her family, including Christmas. Lisa goes back home, falling asleep beside the Christmas tree and tells everyone that she will be celebrating Christmas with them and continue paying lip service to Christianity while practicing Buddhism for the rest of her life. As Marge takes her to the kitchen to get some cookies for her, Lisa asks about her pony, and Marge tries unsuccessfully to change the subject as Lisa calls out for her gift.

The game is set on the fictional planet Twinsun, a world which is held in a suspended orbit between two suns resulting in a polar region around its equator. Four different sentient species populate Twinsun; Quetchs are aesthetically similar to humans except that they all possess ponytails, Spheros are short spherical creatures, Grobos resemble anthropomorphic elephants, and Rabbibunnies are tall, thin humanoid rabbits. As the game begins, it is explained that all peoples of Twinsun have been herded into the Southern hemisphere by a brutal tyrant called Dr FunFrock, who has subjugated the planet by developing an army of clones which travel using teleport machines which he has dispersed around the planet. The player character is a young Quetch named Twinsen, who has been incarcerated in an asylum on the fortress-like Citadel Island because of his prophetic dreams about the end of the world.

Twinsen escapes from the asylum and returns to his house which he shares with his girlfriend Zoe. When Dr FunFrock's clones arrive to re-arrest him, Zoe hides Twinsen from them and is arrested herself. As Twinsen travels between the islands of the planet, seeking to find a way of overcoming FunFrock's clone army and recovering Zoe, he discovers that his strange dreams are in fact part of the Prophecy, a legendary tale regarding a being known as Sendell who is said to inhabit the core of the planet and watch over the people of Twinsun. Twinsen's dreams are in fact telepathic messages sent by Sendell, who chose his ancestors to help her watch over the planet centuries prior and is now contacting Twinsen (as the current descendant of his family line) to warn the inhabitants of the planet of the danger posed by FunFrock.

Realising that finding FunFrock and fulfilling the Prophecy is the only way to recover Zoe, Twinsen teams up with a group of rebels resisting the rule of FunFrock. The rebels help him sabotage FunFrock's cloning and teleportation abilities and give him passage through to the Northern Hemisphere, where FunFrock has set up a massive drilling operation into the heart of the planet. Twinsen breaks into FunFrock's main fortress and finds Zoe seemingly locked in a jail, but she is revealed to be a clone created by FunFrock as bait, and FunFrock reveals that with Twinsen safely locked up where he cannot fulfil his part of the Prophecy, he is free to drill through to the Well of Sendell, deep in the planet's core, where he hopes to encounter Sendell and gain the godly powers she possesses for himself.

Twinsen escapes from the clutches of FunFrock's clones and succeeds in blowing the fortress up, clearing the way for him to fight through FunFrock's drilling operation to reach the Well of Sendell. FunFrock waits with Zoe at the entrance to the Well, telling Twinsen that he'll spare Twinsen and Zoe if he opens the Well for FunFrock to advance and reach Sendell. Twinsen pushes FunFrock off the side of a cliff during a sword fight and opens the Well in order to complete the Prophecy, inadvertently allowing a surviving FunFrock access as well. Twinsen defeats FunFrock in a final confrontation, and him and Zoe encounter Sendell, a being appearing to consist purely of glowing electrical energy, who thanks them for saving a gestalt entity which she is protecting in the core of the planet. Sendell uses her powers to allow Twinsen and Zoe to fly back to the surface, where the inhabitants of the planet have prepared a celebration in Twinsen's honour.

Characters

'''Twinsen''' is the hero of the game. The chosen one of the planet, heir to its prophecy, he must gather magical objects and sabotage FunFrock's reign. He is voiced by Sylvain Caruso in French, and Dana Westberg in English.

'''Zoe''' is Twinsen's girlfriend. She is captured by two Grobo clones shortly after Twinsen escapes from the asylum. Near the end of the game, Twinsen rescues what he thinks is Zoe, but turns out to be a clone. Twinsen rescues the real Zoe at the very end of the game. She is voiced by Julie Bataille in French, and Trish Kessler-Caffrey in English.

'''Jerome Baldino''' (better known as '''Baldino''') is the local inventor on Proxima Island. He aids Twinsen in the game with his protopack, which the player must use to rob a museum. He only appears for a short time, though he plays a bigger part in Little Big Adventure 2. He is voiced by Sylvain Caruso in French, and Christian Erickson in English.

'''FunFrock''' is the main antagonist of the game. He is the dictator of Twinsun who controls the planet using three powers: cloning, teleportation and mutant breeding. His true goal is to achieve the God-like status by destroying Sendell, the goddess of the planet. After Twinsen defeats him, the planet is peaceful again, and no longer under the reign of terror. It is revealed in Little Big Adventure 2 that Twinsen actually killed a clone of Funfrock in the end of the game. He is voiced by Pierre-Alain de Garrigues in French, and Christian Erickson in English.

'''Dino-Fly''' is a dinosaur with wings, roosting on top of Tippet Island. He says he has been waiting for the heir (who is Twinsen) for centuries. He helps Twinsen get to the other islands of the northern hemisphere of Twinsun. He is voiced by Pierre-Alain de Garrigues in French, and Christian Erickson in English.

'''Sendell''' is the goddess of Twinsun. She calls Twinsen for help in his dreams, warning him of FunFrock's dictatorship. She and other Sendells are watching over a Stellar Entity that is in gestation in the centre of Twinsun. She is seen briefly in the ending cutscene. She is voiced by Julie Bataille in French, and Trish Kessler-Caffrey in English.

The main character, Ray Stokes (Olivier Gruner) is a down-on-his luck police officer on a distant, corruptly-ruled mining colony. He has already lost his wife Dana (Anna Karin) to his corrupt boss, John Dawson (Craig Wasson), not from any failure in romantic rivalry, but as part of a deal to pay off their dead daughter's medical bills: making her Dawson's "Contract Wife".

Samuel Nelson (Harry Wowchuk), an Enforcement Division chief of security, is sent to clean up the Colony's local Enforcement Division, but is killed in the course of his investigation. Stokes is framed for the murder of another ED officer, also killed by Nelson's assassin. However, Dawson is implicated in Nelson's death and wants to avoid any inquiry. He sends Stokes on a six-month trip to Earth, protecting a cargo of cash. Meanwhile, the crew of ''The Endeavour'' has planned to intercept the money ship while the crew are in hibernation. The interception occurs, Stokes and Beth Sheffield (Alicia Coppola), the attractive female navigator, are the only survivors of the ensuing gun play; they steal the money and buy the mining colony. The evil boss is arrested, and presumably they all live happily ever after.

In 1896, during the Klondike Gold Rush, a young explorer named Jack Conroy arrives in Alaska from San Francisco to look for his deceased father's mining claim. Conroy meets two mushers named Clarence "Skunker" Thurston and Alex Larson, Conroy's father's buddy, who reluctantly agree to guide Jack to his father's claim in Yukon. While on their journey, they are stalked by a large pack of wolves. One night, while resting at a campfire, a female wolf named Kiche manages to lure one of the sled dogs (Digger) away from the group, and another wolf appears and chases the dog into the woods. Skunker uses his ammunition to wound Kiche and gives chase to save his dog, but is killed and devoured by the rest of the pack. Later that night, the wolves return but are scared off by Jack and Alex using burning branches. The following morning the wolves attack the two men, but they are saved when another sled team arrives with one of the men mortally shooting a female wolf. The injured wolf hobbles back to her den, and her cub remains by her side until she dies. The pup is left to fend for himself. Jack and Alex reach a town where they plan to stay for the winter. A band of Native Americans, meanwhile, find the pup, and the chief, realizing he is a wolfdog (a hybrid of a wolf and dog) from the color of his teeth, names him White Fang.

As spring comes, Jack and Alex resume their quest, but stop off at the Native Americans' settlement. The chief explains that White Fang has been raised to obey, not to be friendly, but Jack seeks to change that. Jack's chance comes when he is suddenly chased and attacked by a vicious grizzly bear. White Fang intervenes and holds the bear at bay in defense of Jack while standing his ground, saving the latter's life. Jack and Alex later leave the settlement. Not long after, White Fang is unfairly traded to a brutal dogfighter named Beauty Smith (who previously stole Jack's money); he blackmails the Native American for the wolfdog, saying that ownership of a wild animal is considered illegal. Smith and his gang train and abuse White Fang into becoming a vicious killing machine in order to enter him into illegal dogfights. White Fang eventually meets his match in a brutal fight against a bulldog, but Jack happens upon the fight and intervenes in the nick of time. Having earlier reached his father's claim and begun the work of digging for gold, Jack returns with White Fang to the cabin where he seeks to transform White Fang's vicious and territorial nature.

Jack's attempts to tame White Fang eventually succeed; both animal and man develop a close and trusting bond. Alex helps Jack mine for gold and they strike it rich with the help of White Fang. One morning, Jack travels to town to claim proper ownership to the gold when Luke notices White Fang with him. Seeking retaliation and planning to steal the gold for himself, Smith and his men attack the cabin site armed with guns and explosives. White Fang attacks Tinker, who accidentally discharges his gun, wounding Luke in the process. White Fang eventually subdues Smith until he's ordered by Jack to back down. Jack and Alex take Smith and his men prisoner and force them at gunpoint to haul gold ore into town.

Alex and his wife, Belinda, offer to take Jack back to San Francisco, but he lets Jack know that city life is no place for a wolf; he must let White Fang run free in the wild. Though White Fang cannot understand why Jack is trying to leave him, Jack's efforts by using a stick (which is White Fang's worst fear when he was under Smith) finally succeed in scaring the wolfdog off. Later, just as he's boarding the ship back to San Francisco, Jack realizes that his rightful place is in the Yukon and he decides to stay behind alone and live off the land; Alex congratulates him by saying that it is what Jack's father would have wanted. After a short time, White Fang returns to the cabin site where he and Jack are happily reunited.

The game begins with Professor Farnsworth, wearing a sombrero, selling the Planet Express delivery company to Mom, explaining that it had been losing money for years due to mismanagement. The buyout gives Mom ownership of more than fifty percent of Earth, allowing her to become the supreme ruler of Earth. Soon after this, she enslaves humanity.

After Fry, Leela, Bender, and Farnsworth repair the inexplicably broken ship, they escape from Earth with the Professor's new invention, the Re-animator (which closely resembles a giant toaster), which brings the crew back to life every time they die. However, Mom pursues them in an effort to capture Farnsworth. She hopes to turn Earth into a giant warship, and Farnsworth is the only person who knows how to build an engine large enough to move the Earth. She ultimately captures Farnsworth, places his head in a jar, and sends the ship hurtling into the Sun with Fry, Leela, and Bender on board.

After discovering that the Sun is habitable, they help the Sun People, then head for the planet of Bogad, where Farnsworth's mentor, Adoy, lives. Adoy has invented a time machine, which he uses to send Fry, Leela and Bender back to a few minutes before Mom buys Planet Express from the Professor. However, the ship crashes into Planet Express, destroying the ship. This prompts them to steal the ship of the past, leaving the broken ship to be repaired by their past selves. They attempt to stop the sale, which prompts Mom to send Destructor to attack them. They defeat the robot, but the Re-animator gets damaged and falls on Destructor, causing it to fall on top of them. Angry at the fact that the robot killed his crew, the professor refuses to sell Planet Express. But after Mom bribes him with a sombrero, he sells, and the events of the game continue in an endless cycle.

The USS ''Enterprise'', under the command of Captain Kirk, is on an 8-day supply mission to Colony Beta VI. Passing through a "star desert", the ship encounters a rogue planet previously hidden from their sensors. As Lt. Sulu attempts to enter a course around the planet, he suddenly vanishes from the bridge, and Kirk vanishes a moment later.

First Officer Spock assumes that the two must have been taken to the planet, though sensor readings indicate the planet's atmosphere is lethal to most forms of life. The ''Enterprise'' then receives a strange message on a viewscreen in blackletter writing: "Greetings and Felicitations!", followed by "Hip hip hoorah. Tallyho!" Spock orders Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy, along with Lt. DeSalle and geophysicist Karl Jaeger, to form a landing party and conduct a search.

The landing party beams down and unexpectedly finds itself in a lush and breathable environment. They also come across what appears to be a medieval castle, within which they find Captain Kirk and Lt. Sulu, immobilized, along with a humanoid being who identifies himself as "General Trelane, retired", and invites everyone to stay as his guests on his world, which he calls Gothos; he also explains that his hobby is studying earth history and still [wrongly] believes earth is engaging in world conquest. McCoy's medical tricorder cannot detect this person as a living being.

Spock, meanwhile, manages to locate the landing party in a minute zone of breathable atmosphere, and beams everyone, except Trelane, back to the ship by locking onto every detectable lifeform in the area. Trelane, however, appears on the ''Enterprise'' s bridge, and brings the entire bridge crew down to the planet, including Spock, Communications Officer Lt. Uhura, and Yeoman Teresa Ross.

Kirk's patience begins to wear thin, especially when Trelane dances with Yeoman Ross and changes her standard red uniform into a 19th-century ball gown. Kirk and Spock both notice that their host never strays far from a particular wall mirror; they surmise that the mirror is the source of his powers. To test this theory, Kirk provokes Trelane into a duel, and during the fight, he destroys the mirror and damages some strange machinery inside. The bridge crew then beams back to the ''Enterprise'', but as the ship attempts to warp away, the planet Gothos keeps appearing in its path. Kirk finally orders the ''Enterprise'' into orbit and decides to beam down.

On the planet, Kirk finds Trelane seated on a courtroom bench, dressed in the white wig and robes reminiscent of an English circuit judge. Trelane reads charges of "treason", "conspiracy", and "fomenting insurrection", and then, silencing Kirk's protests, condemns Kirk to death by hanging. Kirk, however, points out that Trelane could find a more stimulating alternative. Trelane suggests that Kirk be prey for a royal hunt, and Kirk agrees in return for the release of his ship. The hunt begins, and Kirk is eventually cornered at the castle entrance, but remains defiant – he slaps Trelane – tells him he has a lot to learn about life and breaks Trelane's sword. Suddenly two energy beings appear and call out to Trelane, ordering him to "come along", and lecturing him for his misbehavior. He then disappears, and the two beings follow after apologizing to Kirk, who returns to the ship.

Small-time criminal Mike works for the more connected criminal Vinnie in hopes of leaving Liberty City with him and retiring from their life of crime. Vinnie convinces Mike to do work for the Mafia in order to achieve this goal. However, after several jobs, Vinnie is seemingly killed in a car bomb explosion, which also destroys all their money. Mike vows revenge, and quickly falls out with the Mafia as he investigates Vinnie's murder. After carrying out some jobs for 8-Ball, an explosives expert and old acquaintance of Vinnie's, he points Mike to a bartender named Jonnie, who maintains connections with the city's criminal underworld and might help him find the answers he seeks. Jonnie hires Mike for several jobs while they investigate Vinnie's murder together, until the former is suddenly killed midway through the investigation.

While searching for the killer, Mike spots some Yardies leaving Jonnie's bar in a rush, and follows them to their leader, King Courtney. Courtney denies involvement in Jonnie's murder, claiming that his men were only sent to collect money Jonnie owed to him, and offers to help find the true culprit. After carrying out some jobs for him, Courtney points Mike to Colombian Cartel leader Cisco. When Mike confronts Cisco, however, he quickly realizes that the man is innocent, and that Courtney has been using him all along to eliminate his rivals. Mike then begins working separately for the Cartel and their main rivals, the Yakuza, led by Asuka Kasen, in hopes either gang will aid his investigation. After Cisco is suddenly killed, Mike pursues the murderer, and is shocked to find a still-living Vinnie, who reveals that he faked his own death to flee Liberty City with their money, and killed both Jonnie and Cisco to ensure Mike never learned the truth. Enraged at his former partner's betrayal, Mike kills Vinnie and steals his money, despite Vinnie's warnings that every criminal in the city will now target him for his wealth.

While meeting with 8-Ball to tell him how his investigation ended, Mike is attacked by the Cartel, who mistakenly assumed that he had killed Cisco. Although Mike escapes the attack, 8-Ball is injured during the shootout and subsequently arrested by the police. After dealing with the Cartel's new leader, Mike learns that Courtney is after his money and meets with Asuka one final time to plan an ambush. However, the Yakuza fail to show up for the attack, leaving Mike to face Courtney on his own. Mike gravely injures Courtney but before he can finish him off, the police raid Courtney's hideout, forcing Mike to make his escape. After evading the police, Mike goes to the airport and leaves Liberty City in Cisco's private plane, heading to Colombia to start a new life with his wealth.

Samantha MacKenzie is the only child of U.S. President John MacKenzie. Because of her father's political career, she has been in the public eye her entire life and spent most of her high school years in the White House. Having to deal with lack of privacy and public scrutiny for the most ridiculous things, Sam has had a sheltered existence and her father has trouble letting her have more freedom yet is too busy to spend time with her.

Though her mother Melanie is supportive, she still stands by her husband's decisions, leaving Sam feeling restricted from having a normal life. Accompanied by Secret Service agents everywhere she goes, and with her father running for re-election, Sam finally believes she has the chance to break out of her cocoon when she is given the opportunity to attend college in California.

At school, Sam ends up sharing a dorm room with boy-crazed Mia Thompson, who is hesitant at first to room with the first daughter, but eventually warms to her. After her Secret Service agents tackle a student brandishing a water gun at a pool party and hastily evacuate her from the premises, she insists that her detail be reduced to just two agents, which her father begrudgingly agrees to. Settling into some semblance of normalcy, she meets and becomes interested in fellow student James Lansome, her resident advisor.

James helps her avoid paparazzi, escape her security team, and experience life as a normal girl. They discuss their deepest thoughts and wishes, and Sam tells him that although she is never alone, she is often lonely. She says she always wanted to get in an old Volkswagen and drive herself off to college, with no babysitters or parents. To thank James and Mia for their tolerance of her complicated world, Sam flies them home to D.C. to attend a ball, with the dresses delivered to her personally by Vera Wang. Outside the ball, a protest causes her security team to evacuate her again, when she discovers that James is actually an agent and has been protecting her all along.

Heartbroken and betrayed, Sam tries to readjust to college life, but an attempt to make James jealous only results in her drunken photo splashed across tabloid articles. She returns home to help her father on the last stretch of his campaign, while James is disciplined for failure to act in a manner becoming of an agent. Sam asks her father to make sure James's career is not ruined by their romance, to which he agrees.

The President wins re-election and dances with Sam at his inauguration ball, referencing something she told him in his speech and acknowledging she is now a grown woman and worthy of his respect. She is surprised and pleased to see that James is in attendance at the ball, having been reassigned to the presidential detail. They dance, and he gives her keys to an old Volkswagen (her dream car) and encourages her to go "break some rules."

The film ends with Sam driving off in her car heading back to college and the narrator telling us that she will be back in the Spring, and reunite with James.

Texas Governor Elisha Pease sends a small troop of Texas Rangers, under the leadership of Captain Inish Scull, to the Llano Estacado in pursuit of the celebrated Comanche horse thief, Kicking Wolf. This bold Indian steals Hector, Scull's famous horse, and takes it to the Sierra Perdida to give to the notorious Mexican bandit Ahumado, feared for the horrible tortures that he inflicts upon his victims. Scull, promoting McCrae and Call to Captains and instructing them to lead the Ranger troop back to Austin, sets off on foot after Kicking Wolf, accompanied only by the Kickapoo tracker Famous Shoes. Ahumado ties Kicking Wolf up to be dragged away by a horse, and takes Kicking Wolf's companion, Three Birds, prisoner. Ahumado intends to impose a slow death on Three Birds, but Three Birds throws himself off a cliff. Scull finds the unconscious Kicking Wolf being dragged by the horse, and cuts the Comanche's bonds, which allows Kicking Wolf to survive and return to his tribe. Scull is soon captured by Ahumado, and placed in a cage, where he is supposed to die slowly.

Having returned to Austin, McCrae learns that his beloved Clara Forsythe intends to marry his rival, horse trader Bob Allen (though she is not married yet, as Scull's wife had led McCrae to believe). Call learns that his lover, the reluctant whore Maggie Tilton, is pregnant with his child. Prompted by Scull's insistent and promiscuous wife Inez, Governor Pease sends Call and McCrae out in charge of another typically small Ranger troop to rescue Captain Scull. While they are on this mission, Comanche chief Buffalo Hump leads his nation on the warpath. They burn much of Austin, killing Clara's parents and ravaging fellow Ranger Long Bill Coleman's wife, Pearl. Maggie, having been prepared by Call, hides under a smokehouse, thus escaping the Comanches' notice.

The Rangers turn back to Austin as soon as they hear of the raid there. Pearl and Long Bill are unable to recover emotionally, and Long Bill hangs himself.

Scull handles the cage so well that Ahumado has him taken down, and has his henchman Goyeto cut off his eyelids. Ahumado sends word to Austin that he will return Scull for a ransom of one thousand cattle. Governor Pease sends the Rangers out once again, to collect the cattle and exchange the herd for Scull. The Rangers go to Lonesome Dove in search of cattleman Captain King. Realizing they will not be able to even gather the cattle, let alone persuade King to sell them, Call and McCrae set out to try to rescue Scull on their own terms, leaving the rest of their troop behind. Meanwhile, Ahumado has been bitten by a brown recluse spider, and goes South to die. Call and McCrae find Scull going insane in a pit, but the rescue is soon enough to allow Scull to mostly recover. Scull returns to Austin and later becomes a general with the Union army. Because of the eyepieces he has devised, he becomes known as "Blinders" Scull.

Meanwhile, Buffalo Hump banishes his half-Mexican son Blue Duck. Blue Duck goes East and acquires wealth and notoriety as the leader of a gang of bandits.

At this point, the novel moves more quickly, giving highlights covering the period leading up to the sequel, ''Lonesome Dove''. Maggie gives birth to Call's son Newt, but Call refuses to acknowledge the child is his. She goes to work at the general store, and Jake Spoon more or less moves in with her. The Civil War takes most of the soldiers away from the frontier, enabling the Comanches to push back the white settlers. After the Civil War, Call and McCrae are sent in pursuit of Blue Duck and his band of renegades. Buffalo Hump has gone off to die. Blue Duck hears of this and leaves his cutthroats to pursue his father. The Rangers attack his band, but Blue Duck, having left, evades capture. He finds his father at his chosen place of death and kills him there. Maggie dies while the Rangers are on this expedition.

After finding out that all of the nuclear plant's staff members had been informed of the plant's maintenance via e-mail, Homer decides to buy a computer. After he gives up on learning how to use it, Lisa sets up the computer. Homer eventually catches on and starts his own webpage, which contains copyrighted material from other pages. To avoid getting sued, Homer calls himself "Mister X". Late at night, unable to sleep until someone visits his page, Homer hears a rumor from Bart started by either Nelson Muntz or Jimbo Jones that Mayor Quimby spent the street repair fund on a secret swimming pool. He posts this rumor on his page, which is seen by several of Springfield's citizens.

Mayor Quimby is the subject of a citywide scandal when a barrage of reporters find a luxurious pool along with many scantily dressed women in Quimby's office. Homer keeps his anonymity while posting more rumors and finds out Mr. Burns plans to sell uranium to terrorists and is later arrested by the FBI. Eventually, Mr. X wins the Pulitzer Prize for his journalistic achievements, despite nobody knowing who he is. When he hears that the prize money will be given to starving children, Homer reveals that he is Mr. X. However, this ends up alienating Homer from the rest of the town, as nobody feels comfortable confessing their secrets now that they know he is Mr. X, and his fame soon plummets. To boost his popularity, Homer begins posting outrageous stories on his webpage. Regaining his fame, Homer celebrates by going to a fake Kwik-E-Mart, and ends up being kidnapped.

Homer wakes up on the "Island", a place where the inhabitants are people who have been exiled from society for harboring dangerous secrets. Homer learns from the organization's leader, Number Two, that a story he wrote about flu vaccinations containing a mind-control serum is true; the mind control drug is calibrated to drive people into a frenzy of shopping, which is why flu shots are administered shortly before Christmas. While Homer is trapped on the Island, he is replaced by a doppelgänger who looks identical to him but speaks with a thick German accent.

Number Six, who is trapped on the Island for inventing the bottomless peanut bag, tells Homer about a makeshift boat he spent thirty-three years making, which Homer steals and escapes the Island with, popping the Rover that emerges from the water to trap him. When he gets home, Homer tries to send out a message to the police through his computer, but is stopped by Number Two taking over the computer and is caught by his doppelgänger.

Homer fights his double and defeats him by kicking him in the crotch. Marge and the kids are happy that the real Homer has returned, but then a fake Santa's Little Helper spouts a gas that drugs the entire family. The episode ends with everyone in the family enjoying their strange, new life on the Island.

A brief introduction describes "cutters", who edit the collected memories of the recently dead into feature-length memorials that are viewed by loved ones at funerals. Their code forbids them to mix footage from implants, to have the requisite implant, or to sell memories.

The film opens with Alan Hakman as a child (Casey Dubois). While visiting a city with his parents, he meets another boy, Louis (Liam Ranger), and the two bond as they play together. Louis reluctantly joins Hakman in exploring an abandoned factory, and Hakman crosses a wooden plank suspended high above the ground. Goaded by Hakman, Louis also attempts to cross the plank, but he loses his confidence and falls. Hakman races to the ground and panics when he steps in what he thinks is Louis' blood. Hakman flees the scene and tells no one what had happened. Later that day, he leaves the city with his parents.

Years later, the adult Hakman (Robin Williams) has become a skilled cutter who specializes in editing the memories of controversial people into hagiographies. When Fletcher (Jim Caviezel), a former cutter, confronts him at a funeral, Hakman describes himself as a sin-eater, who brings redemption to the immoral. Fletcher offers him $500,000 for the memories of his latest client, wealthy businessman Charles Bannister (Michael St. John Smith), but Hakman refuses. In a later meeting, Fletcher demands the memory recordings so that he can use Bannister, who he suspects was a pedophile, as a scandal to shut down EYE Tech, the implant manufacturer. Hakman again refuses, and, worried for his safety, uses his knowledge from memory tapes to shake down a shady criminal for a pistol.

As Hakman works through Bannister's memories, he encounters a scene that implies that Bannister was molesting his daughter, Isabel (Genevieve Buechner). Hakman wordlessly deletes it and presses on. He eventually comes upon a person that he is convinced must be his childhood friend Louis. Excited, he sets up a meeting with Bannister's family to find out more information. Bannister's wife Jennifer (Stephanie Romanov) is dismissive, but Isabel reveals that the man, recently dead of a car crash, was a teacher named Louis Hunt. Hoping that Hunt had an implant, Hakman organizes a break-in at EYE Tech, but they have no record of Hunt. Instead, Hakman finds a file on himself, which he is surprised to find documents his parents' purchase of an implant for him.

In his distress, Hakman turns to his lover, Delila (Mira Sorvino). At his apartment, he shows her the equipment that he uses to view memories, and he demonstrates surreal footage from a defective implant. He leaves her alone as he seeks help from anti-implant protestors, who have discovered a way to block the implant through specialized body modification. When he returns to find his apartment in disarray, he assumes that Fletcher has broken in; instead, Delila confronts him, having found memory tapes that document her prior relationship. She accuses him of voyeurism and angrily destroys his memory viewer, which results in Bannister's files also being damaged.

Fletcher and his associate finally break in, but they find nothing. Hakman tells Bannister's wife that the erased footage was lost in an accident, and she feigns disappointment, content to let dirty secrets stay hidden. Hakman asks his colleagues to recover live footage from his own implant, a potentially deadly process. They agree, but admonish him that he can never cut memories again; a cutter with an implant is a violation of the "Cutter's code". The resulting memories show Hakman attempted to dissuade Louis from crossing the plank, and stepping in red paint, not blood. Hakman, relieved, visits Hunt's grave but is confronted again by Fletcher, who has learned about Hakman's implant. After chasing Hakman through the graveyard, he hesitates and seems willing to let Hakman go; however, Fletcher's associate kills Hakman.

In the last scene, Fletcher loads Hakman's memories into a viewer and promises to use them for the greater good. As he pages through Hakman's memories, looking for evidence of Bannister's guilt, he sees Hakman watching himself in a mirror, and the memory implant lingers on the scene after Hakman has left.

The story is narrated by Blanca Trueba, a young woman from a powerful Chilean family.

1926

Blanca's mother, Clara del Valle is a child from a well-off family in Santiago whose father is running for the Senate. Clara possesses clairvoyant abilities and foresees her own marriage to Esteban Trueba, a miner.

Esteban uses the gold he found from mining to buy a hacienda, Tres Marías. He employs natives to work as peasants on the dilapidated land, eventually turning Tres Marías into a successful estate through his use of brute force. One day while horseback riding through the countryside, he sees a peasant girl, Pancha García. Esteban rapes Pancha, resulting in the illegitimate birth of a boy. He also spends nights with Tránsito, a local prostitute to whom he lends money so she can start a new career in the capital.

1946

Twenty years later, Esteban’s sister Férula informs him that their ailing mother has died. At his mother’s funeral, Esteban sees a grown Clara and reacquaints himself with her. The couple marry, and Clara and Férula become especially close, with Clara allowing Férula to come live with her and her new husband at Tres Marías.

Clara eventually gives birth to a girl, naming her Blanca. One day, Pancha García appears at the family estate with her now teenaged son, Esteban García, asking his father for money. Esteban Trueba gives them some money but harshly turns them away. Esteban’s rejection leads his son to nurse a resentment against his father and Blanca.

Meanwhile, Blanca befriends one of the peasant children, Pedro Tercero, the young son of Esteban's foreman Segundo. Esteban disapproves of his daughter playing with a peasant boy and sends her to a boarding school.

1962

After graduating from boarding school, Blanca returns to Tres Marías and reunites with Pedro, meeting him by the river every night. Férula continues to live with the family and has become a rival to her brother for Clara’s affections. Esteban throws Férula out of the house when he catches her and Clara asleep in the same bed. Before leaving, Férula curses Esteban to eternal loneliness.

Esteban catches Pedro preaching revolutionary ideas that are critical of wealthy landowners like him to the peasant workers. He punishes Pedro with a whipping and banishment from Tres Marías. That night at dinner, Clara and Blanca see a vision of Férula while having dinner. Férula kisses Clara on the forehead before calmly walking out. Realizing Férula has died, Clara drives into town to find Férula dead in her modest home. In a moment alone with Férula, Clara tells her how much she and Blanca miss her, and how proud she would be of Blanca.

Blanca continues to meet Pedro in secret. Jean de Satigny, a French nobleman who aspires to go into business with Esteban, sees Blanca and Pedro in a tryst at the river and rats her out to her father. Esteban punishes Blanca by whipping her and vows to go after Pedro. He strikes Clara when she points out his hypocrisy -- having himself slept with women not of his own class -- after which Clara vows never to speak to him again. She leaves Tres Marías with Blanca to live in Santiago.

Esteban offers a monetary reward for anyone who can reveal Pedro's whereabouts to him. Esteban García, unrecognized by his father, aids in helping to find Pedro. Pedro is able to escape from Esteban, who declines to give a reward to his son. Esteban later learns Blanca is pregnant with Pedro's child, and he goes to her house to falsely tell her that he murdered Pedro. Clara makes Esteban leave and reassures Blanca that Pedro is indeed alive, but they won't be reunited for some time because he needs to flee to safety. Years later, Esteban goes to Clara and apologizes for his actions. Though she maintains some distance from him, she does allow him to meet their seven-year-old granddaughter Alba and to be a part of her and Blanca’s lives again.

1973

Esteban is now a senator in the Conservative Party, while Pedro is a leader with the People's Front. Despite Esteban’s success, he is lonely and finds comfort in the arms of Tránsito, who now runs a high-class prostitution establishment. Esteban believes his party will win the election as usual, but the People’s Front ends up gaining control of the government. Clara passes away after gently explaining to Alba that she has always been in touch with spirits on the other side and will be in contact with the rest of the family.

A conspiracy between Conservative Party members and the military leads to a coup d'état, and the military seizes control of the country. Under military control, people associated with the People's Party are captured and even killed. The police come and arrest Blanca for her association with Pedro Tercero. Before Blanca is taken away, she tells Esteban that Pedro is the love of her life, just as Clara was his. She appeals to Esteban to use his political influence to help find asylum for Pedro outside Chile so the three of them can be a family. In the coming days, Blanca is tortured and sexually abused by her half-brother, Esteban García, who had joined the military with his father's help.

Esteban decides to honor his daughter's wishes and helps to find exile for Pedro in Canada. He also turns to Tránsito, who as an influential Madam has connections to high-level military figures, to help free Blanca. One morning, a beaten Blanca finally arrives back at her home. A grateful Esteban tells her that Pedro is waiting for her and Alba in Canada, and hopes his help can make up for the damage his actions wrought on his family.

Epilogue

Blanca and the elderly Esteban return to Tres Marías with Alba. Esteban is finally visited by Clara's spirit, who has come to help the old man on to the next world. Blanca sits outside and ponders her life, looking forward to a future with Pedro and their daughter. She reflects on how she does not want to live her life with anger or hatred—instead, she wishes to move forward and be happy.

John and Alice (Rutherford) Clayton, Viscount and Lady Greystoke from England, are marooned in the western coastal jungles of equatorial Africa in 1888. Some time later, their son John Clayton II is born. When he is one year old his mother dies, and soon thereafter his father is killed by the savage king ape Kerchak. The infant is then adopted by the she-ape Kala.

Clayton is named "Tarzan" ("White Skin" in the ape language) and raised in ignorance of his human heritage.

As a boy, feeling alienated from his peers due to their physical differences, he discovers his true parents' cabin, where he first learns of others like himself in their books. Using basic primers with pictures, over many years he teaches himself to read English, but having never heard it, cannot speak it.

Upon his return from one visit to the cabin, he is attacked by a huge gorilla which he manages to kill with his father's knife, although he is terribly wounded in the struggle. As he grows up, Tarzan becomes a skilled hunter, exciting the jealousy of Kerchak, the ape leader, who finally attacks him. Tarzan kills Kerchak and takes his place as "king" of the apes.

Later, a tribe of black Africans settle in the area, and Tarzan's adopted mother, Kala, is killed by one of its hunters. Avenging himself on the killer, Tarzan begins an antagonistic relationship with the tribe, raiding its village for weapons and practicing cruel pranks on them. They, in turn, regard him as an evil spirit and attempt to placate him.

A few years later when Tarzan is 21 years of age, a new party is marooned on the coast, including 19 year old Jane Porter, the first white woman Tarzan has ever seen. Tarzan's cousin, William Cecil Clayton, unwitting usurper of the ape man's ancestral English estate, is also among the party. Tarzan spies on the newcomers, aids them in secret, and saves Jane from the perils of the jungle.

Among the party is French naval officer Paul D'Arnot. While Tarzan is rescuing D'Arnot from the natives, a rescue ship recovers the castaways. D'Arnot teaches Tarzan to speak French and offers to take Tarzan to the land of white men where he might connect with Jane again. On their journey, D'Arnot teaches him how to behave among white men. In the ensuing months, Tarzan eventually learns to speak English, as well.

Ultimately, Tarzan travels to find Jane in Wisconsin, USA where he rescues her from a fire. Tarzan learns the bitter news that she has become engaged to William Clayton. Meanwhile, clues from his parents' cabin have enabled D'Arnot to prove Tarzan's true identity as John Clayton II, the Earl of Greystoke. Instead of reclaiming his inheritance from William, Tarzan chooses rather to conceal and renounce his heritage for the sake of Jane's happiness.

An evil alien empire known as the Bozon are launching a full-scale attack on Earth. As either Lt. Henry or Sgt. Sanders, the player must pilot a giant space mecha known as a "Mobilsuit" to defeat the aliens. Up to two players can play simultaneously.

O'Brien is sent to infiltrate the Orion Syndicate on an out-of-the-way planet called Farius Prime. Starfleet Intelligence has given him the cover of a "fix-it man" down on his luck, knowing that the Syndicate is recruiting people with such skills. He spends his days in a bar frequented by Bilby, a local Syndicate operator.

O'Brien creates an opportunity and makes the most of it: when one of Bilby's men, Krole, is attempting to hack into a computer belonging to a local restaurant, O'Brien sabotages the computer to damage Krole's expensive hacking equipment. Miles saves Krole from injury, introducing himself as "Connolly", and volunteers to fix the equipment. Later, O'Brien repairs three broken Klingon-made disruptor weapons for Bilby, thereby winning his trust.

Bilby "witnesses" for O'Brien before his boss, Raimus, taking responsibility should anything go wrong with "Connolly"'s involvement in the Syndicate. Raimus comes to a meeting accompanied by a Vorta, revealing that the Orion Syndicate is working with the Dominion. By now O'Brien has succeeded in learning the identity of a Starfleet officer secretly working for the Syndicate, fulfilling his original mission objective; but Chadwick, his Starfleet Intelligence contact, asks him to remain undercover to learn more about the Dominion's involvement.

The Vorta orders Bilby to use the Klingon disruptors to assassinate the local Klingon ambassador, an opponent of the alliance between the Klingons and the United Federation of Planets against the Dominion. By having the ambassador killed by Klingon disruptors, it will appear that his assassination was ordered by the Klingon chancellor Gowron. The Dominion believes that he will be branded a martyr, furthering his cause and therefore weakening the alliance from within.

O'Brien informs Chadwick of the assassination plot. Rather than arrest the men involved, he opts to alert the Klingons and let them capture and execute Bilby and his men. By this point O'Brien has gotten close to Bilby, and hates the idea of being responsible for the death of a man who trusted him. He decides to tell Bilby the truth. Broken by the news, Bilby has little option but to head straight into the trap, as there is no running from the Syndicate. He hopes that, if he dies before it becomes obvious that O'Brien is working for Starfleet, Raimus will spare his family. Before leaving, he asks O'Brien to take care of his pet cat Chester.

''Zoot Suit'' tells the story of Henry Reyna and the 38th Street Gang, who were tried for the Sleepy Lagoon murder in Los Angeles, during World War II. After a run-in with a neighboring gang at the local lovers lane, Sleepy Lagoon, the 38th Street Gang gets into a fight at a party, where a young man is murdered. Discriminated against for their zoot suit-wearing Chicano identity, twenty-two members of the 38th Street Gang are placed on trial for the murder, found guilty, and sentenced to life in San Quentin prison. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Henry's brother Rudy is beaten and stripped of his zoot suit during the Zoot Suit Riots.

Through the efforts of George and other lawyers, as well as activist-reporter Alice, with whom Henry has a brief romantic encounter, the boys win their court appeal and are freed. The play ends with a Reyna family reunion as Henry returns home and Rudy is about to leave to join the Marines. The scene suggests that it is not the happy ending we expect, however, as multiple endings of Henry's story are suggested: that he returned to prison and drug abuse, died in the war in Korea and was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, or married Della and had five children.

The Federation starship ''Enterprise'' is summoned to a space station without explanation. Commodore Wesley (Barry Russo) explains that the ''Enterprise'' will be a test vessel for the M-5 Multitronic System, a revolutionary tactical and control computer designed by Dr. Richard Daystrom (William Marshall). The M-5 is to handle all ship functions without human assistance. While Science Officer Spock is impressed with M-5, Captain Kirk and Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy have doubts.

The M-5 succeeds at its first tasks, performing ship functions more quickly and efficiently than a living crew. However, M-5 also exhibits unexpected behavior, such as turning off power and life support to unoccupied parts of the ship, and drawing increased power for unknown reasons; Daystrom maintains M-5 is working properly.

In its first tactical drill, M-5 defends the ''Enterprise'' against mock attacks from Starships ''Excalibur'' and ''Lexington''. The ''Enterprise'' is declared the victor, and Wesley jokingly refers to Kirk as "Captain Dunsel", employing a Starfleet Academy slang term for a part serving no useful purpose. Kirk is troubled by this.

Some time later, M-5 detects the ''Woden'', an unmanned freighter, and attacks with live torpedoes, destroying it. Kirk orders M-5 taken offline, but on attempting to do so, finds it protected by a powerful force field. Chief Engineer Scott orders Ensign Harper to disconnect its power source, but the M-5 creates a direct connection to the ship's warp engines, vaporizing Harper in the process. Spock and Scott attempt a manual override, but discover that the M-5 has rerouted all controls. Spock questions Daystrom on his computer design, and Daystrom reveals that he has imprinted human engrams onto M-5's circuits, creating what amounts to a human mind operating at the speed of a computer.

Meanwhile, four of ''Enterprise'''s sister ships, ''Lexington'', ''Potemkin'', ''Excalibur'', and ''Hood'', approach to begin a new tactical drill. Since M-5 has disabled communications, Kirk is unable to warn M-5's targets. M-5 detects the ships, and attacks them with full-strength weapons. The crew watches helplessly as the ''Enterprise'' fires on the ''Lexington'', killing 53, and then turns to the ''Excalibur'', killing all aboard and leaving her adrift. Commodore Wesley assumes that Kirk himself is responsible for the attacks, and requests permission from Starfleet Command to destroy the ''Enterprise''.

Daystrom, having indicated that the engrams he used were his own, believes he can reason with the M-5, but his conversation with the unit quickly degenerates into a self-pitying lament over his own career disappointments. McCoy warns Kirk that he sees a psychotic episode coming, and as Daystrom begins loudly to proclaim his and his creation's invincibility, Spock subdues him with a Vulcan nerve pinch.

Kirk then tries to persuade the M-5 to stop its attacks. The M-5 acknowledges Kirk, who asks M-5 what its purpose is. M-5 responds that its purpose is to protect lives. Kirk rejoins that it acted contrary to its purpose by murdering people. M-5 acknowledges that it has committed murder and must therefore die, and shuts itself down. In so doing, it also cripples the ''Enterprise''.

Having received permission to destroy ''Enterprise'', the other Federation ships close in. Since Scott is unable to restore communications immediately, Kirk decides to allow the ship to drift with shields down, hoping that Commodore Wesley will realize that the threat has passed. The gamble pays off as the Commodore orders his ships to stand down at the last moment.

Beginning where book six left off, Jake Chambers and Father Callahan battle the evil infestation within the Dixie Pig, a vampire lounge in New York City featuring roast human flesh and doors to other worlds. After fighting off and destroying numerous "Low-Men" and Type One Vampires, Callahan sacrifices himself to let Jake survive. In the other world—Fedic—Mia, her body now physically separated from Susannah Dean, gives birth to Mordred Deschain, the biological son of Roland Deschain and Susannah. The Crimson King is also a "co-father" of this prophetic child, so it is not surprising when "baby" Mordred's first act is to shapeshift into a spider-creature and feast on his birth-mother. Susannah shoots but fails to kill Mordred, eliminates other agents of the Crimson King, and escapes to meet up with Jake at the cross-dimensional door beneath the Dixie Pig which connects to Fedic. Maturing at an accelerated rate, Mordred later stalks Roland and the other gunslingers throughout this adventure, shifting from human to spider as the need arises, seething with an instinctive rage toward Roland, his "white daddy."

In Maine, Roland and Eddie recruit John Cullum, and then make their way back to Fedic, where the ka-tet is now reunited. Walter (known in other stories as Randall Flagg) plans to slay Mordred and use the birthmark on Mordred's heel to gain access to the Tower, but he is easily slain by the infant when Mordred sees through his lies.

Roland and his ka-tet travel to Thunderclap, then to the nearby Devar-Toi, to help a group of psychics known as Breakers who are allowing their telepathic abilities to be used to break away at the beams that support the Tower. Ted Brautigan and Dinky Earnshaw assist the gunslingers with information and weapons, and reunite Roland with his old friend Sheemie Ruiz from Mejis. The Gunslingers free the Breakers from their captors, but Eddie is wounded after the battle and dies a short while later. Roland and Jake pause to mourn and then jump to Maine of 1999 along with Oy, in order to save the life of Stephen King (whom he writes to be a secondary character in the book); the ka-tet have come to believe that the success of their quest depends on King surviving to write about it through his books.

They discover King about to be hit by a van. Jake pushes King out of the way but Jake is killed in the process. Roland, heartbroken with the loss of his adoptive son, buries Jake and returns with Oy to Susannah in Fedic, via the Dixie Pig. They are chased through the depths of Castle Discordia by an otherworldly monster, then depart and travel for weeks across freezing badlands toward the Tower.

Along the way they find Patrick Danville, a young man imprisoned by someone who calls himself Joe Collins but is really a psychic vampire named Dandelo. Dandelo feeds off the emotions of his victims, and starts to feed off of Roland and Susannah by telling them jokes. Roland and Susannah are alerted to the danger by Stephen King, who drops clues directly into the book, enabling them to defeat the vampire. They discover Patrick in the basement, and find that Dandelo had removed his tongue. Patrick is freed and soon his special talent becomes evident: his drawings and paintings become reality. As their travels bring them nearer to the Dark Tower, Susannah comes to the conclusion that Roland needs to complete his journey without her. Susannah asks Patrick to draw a door she has seen in her dreams to lead her out of this world. He does so and once it appears, Susannah had a bittersweet goodbye with Roland and crosses over to another world.

Mordred finally reaches and attacks Roland. Oy viciously defends his dinh, providing Roland the extra seconds needed to exterminate the were-spider. Oy is impaled on a tree branch and dies. Roland continues on to his ultimate goal and reaches the Tower, only to find it occupied by the Crimson King. They remain in a stalemate for a few hours, until Roland has Patrick draw a picture of the Crimson King and then erase it, thus wiping him out of existence except for his eyes. Roland gains entry into the Tower while Patrick turns back home. The last scene is that of Roland crying out the names of his loved ones and fallen comrades as he had vowed to do. The door of the Dark Tower closes shut as Patrick watches from a distance.

The story then shifts to Susannah coming through the magic door to an alternate 1980s New York, where Gary Hart is president. Susannah throws away Roland's gun (which does not function on this side of the door), rejecting the life of a gunslinger, and starts a new life with alternate versions of Eddie and Jake, who in this world are brothers with the surname Toren. They have only very vague memories of their previous journey with Susannah, whose own memories of Mid-World are already beginning to fade. It is implied that an alternate version of Oy, the billy-bumbler, will also join them.

In a final "Coda" section, King urges the reader to close the book at this point, consider the story finished with a happy ending, and not venture inside the Tower with Roland. For those who do not heed the warning, the story resumes with Roland stepping into the Dark Tower. He realizes that the Tower is not really made of stone, but a kind of flesh: it is Gan's physical body. As he climbs the steps, Roland encounters various rooms containing siguls or signs of his past life. When he reaches the top of the Tower, he finds a door marked with his own name and opens it. Roland instantly realizes, to his horror, that he has reached the Tower countless times before, and is trapped in Ka's wheel as punishment for his ruthlessness and killing. He is forced through the door by the hands of Gan and transported back in time to the Mohaine desert, back to where he was at the beginning of ''The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger'', with no memories of what has just occurred. The only difference is that, this time, Roland possesses the Horn of Eld, which in the previous incarnation he had left lying on the ground after the Battle of Jericho Hill. Roland hears the voice of Gan, whispering that, if he reaches the Tower again, perhaps this time the result will be different; there may yet be rest and redemption, if he stands true. The series ends where it began in the first line of book one: "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."

The story takes place before and leading up to the events in ''The Invasion''. It is narrated by Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, or, as he is later known, Prince Elfangor, of the alien race known as Andalite. It begins with him uploading his memory into the computer before facing Visser Three at the abandoned construction site. The rest of the book is then a flashback of Elfangor's personal history, beginning with him as an ''aristh'', a warrior in training, and ending with him at the construction site.

In 1976, Elfangor and his fellow ''aristh'' Arbron (aboard the dome ship ''StarSword'') rescue two humans from the Skrit Na: Loren (no last name given) and Hedrick Chapman. They are assigned to return them to Earth under the leadership of a disgraced War-Prince, Alloran-Semitur-Corrass. However, upon realizing the Skrit Na are in possession of the mythical Time Matrix, they are forced to go after it. They find out that the Skrit Na are taking the Time Matrix to the Taxxon homeworld. Arbron becomes trapped as a Taxxon, and Elfangor becomes responsible for Alloran's infestation when Sub-Visser Seven (Esplin 9466) tricked him. Eventually, Elfangor, Alloran, the Yeerk controlling him (Esplin 9466), and the humans fall into a black hole. They are forced to use the Time Matrix to escape, which takes them to a fragmented universe created from Elfangor, Loren, and Esplin's (now Visser Thirty-Two) memories. Elfangor and Loren are able to escape to Earth in Loren's own time - although she has aged by several years due to the effect of the Time Matrix - where he permanently morphs into a human and stays in that form. He marries Loren sometime later, but just before she gives birth to Tobias, the Ellimist repairs Elfangor's "timeline". Elfangor finds himself in the middle of a battle between his old ship and the Yeerks. The Yeerk ship is being commanded by Visser Thirty-Two, now Visser Three. Elfangor rams the Yeerk ship, almost killing himself, and saves his fellow Andalites. After this, he is considered a hero.

The story returns to the construction site after Elfangor crashes back on Earth. It is here that he encounters his son Tobias and his four friends. Elfangor breaks the Andalite law and gives the five teenagers the ability to morph. As he dies, he expresses hope for the future.

On the eve of a United States presidential election, NASA discovers a meteorite in the Milne Ice Shelf containing an insect-like creature, seemingly proving the existence of extraterrestrial life. The discovery could potentially be a deciding factor in the presidential election, in which one of the key issues is whether to continue funding NASA. Incumbent US President Zachary Herney favors supporting space research, while his challenger Senator Sedgewick Sexton argues for dissolving NASA.

President Herney sends a team of experts to the Arctic to verify the authenticity of the extraterrestrial insect: oceanographer Michael Tolland, astrophysicist Corky Marlinson, glaciologist Norah Mangor, paleontologist Wailee Ming, and National Reconnaissance Office employee Rachel Sexton, Senator Sexton's daughter.

When the scientists find an anomaly that calls the authenticity of NASA's discovery into question, they're attacked by a Delta Force team that had secretly been spying on them. The Delta Force soldiers kill Ming and Mangor while leaving Rachel, Tolland and Marlinson to perish on an ice floe, but they're rescued by the Navy submarine USS ''Charlotte''. Rachel alerts presidential advisor Marjorie Tench and NRO director William Pickering of the attack, and Pickering sends an air transport to bring them back to the United States.

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., Tench tries to sabotage Sexton's campaign by blackmailing his aide Gabrielle Ashe with photos of an extramarital affair that she had with Senator Sexton, and reveals that Sexton is secretly backed by a coalition of private aerospace corporations who would profit from NASA's dissolution. Ashe discovers that Tench's claims are true, but also finds out that NASA lied about the origin of the meteorite.

The surviving scientists retreat to Tolland's research ship off the New Jersey coast, where they fully re-analyze their data and discover that the meteorite is fake. A surprise attack by the Delta Force team prompts Rachel to fax the data to her father, asking for help. In the ensuing skirmish, all Delta Force soldiers are killed, their helicopter is sunk, and Pickering is revealed to be their commander. Pickering reveals that he masterminded the fake meteorite to aid Herney's campaign and prevent the dissolution of NASA. The ship and Pickering are sucked in by a vortex, while a Coast Guard Osprey picks up Rachel, Tolland and Marlinson.

Sexton attempts to reveal Rachel's fax in a press conference in hopes of implicating NASA and the president in the meteorite hoax, but Rachel and Gabrielle swap Rachel's fax with the photo evidence of Sexton's affair with Gabrielle, humiliating him and ruining his chances of winning the election. By the end of the story, Michael and Rachel have developed a romantic relationship.

Nineteen-year-old high school student Danny Fisher (Presley) works before and after school to support his surviving family: his father (Dean Jagger) and sister Mimi (Jan Shepard). After Danny's mother died, his grieving father lost his job as a pharmacist, and moved his impoverished family to the French Quarter in New Orleans.

At work one morning, Danny rescues Ronnie (Jones) from her abusive date. After a taxi ride to Danny's high school, Ronnie kisses him. Danny responds to witnessing schoolmates' teasing by kissing Ronnie back and then punching one of them in the face when he makes a teasing remark. Danny is summoned, where Miss Pearson (Helene Hatch), his teacher, tells Principal Evans (Raymond Bailey) that Danny will not graduate because of his poor attitude. Mr. Evans is sympathetic, but powerless to help, so Danny decides to drop out of school to find work, against the wishes of his father, who tries to convince Danny to stay in school.

When Danny leaves the school grounds, three young men lure him into an alley. Their leader, Shark (Vic Morrow), wants revenge for Danny hitting the teasing student at school, who turned out to be his brother. Danny defends himself so well that it impresses Shark, so Shark invites Danny to join his gang. Shark then has Danny to help the gang shoplift at a five-and-dime by singing "Lover Doll" to distract the customers and staff.

Only Nellie (Dolores Hart), who works the snack bar, notices Danny's complicity in the theft, but she does not turn him in.

Later that night, Danny meets Ronnie again at The Blue Shade nightclub, where Danny is now employed. At first, she pretends not to know him, as she is accompanied by her boyfriend and the club's owner, Maxie Fields, aka "The Pig" (Matthau). When Maxie does not believe her, she claims she heard Danny sing once. Maxie insists that Danny prove he can sing. His rendition of "Trouble" impresses Charlie LeGrand (Paul Stewart), the honest owner of the King Creole nightclub, the only nightspot in the area not owned by Maxie. Impressed, LeGrand offers Danny a job as a singer at his club.

After leaving the club Danny meets up with the Shark gang for his share of the nightly take. He then makes his way to the five and dime at closing time to see Nellie. Danny invites Nellie to a fictitious party in a hotel room. Finding nobody else there, Nellie starts crying in fear and leaves after admitting that she still wants to see Danny again, but not under those conditions.

Meanwhile, Mr. Fisher finds employment as a pharmacist in a local drug store, but his boss, Mr. Primont (Gavin Gordon)—who reluctantly hired Mr. Fisher after his boss made him do so—constantly demeans Mr. Fisher out of retaliation, much to Danny's embarrassment. That situation makes it easier for Danny to go against his father's wishes and accept Charlie's job offer. When Danny becomes a hit at the King Creole, Maxie tries to hire him. Danny declines his offer out of loyalty to Charlie.

Shark, now working for Maxie, suggests to Danny they beat up Primont to help his father. One night when Mr. Fisher leaves the store dressed in Primont's hat and coat (lent due to a rainstorm), Shark recognizes him, but decides to mug him anyway, as that would be even better for Maxie's purposes. Danny's father is so badly injured that he needs expensive surgery, so Maxie pays for a specialist to perform it. Maxie later blackmails Danny into signing with him by threatening to tell his father about his involvement in the mugging, and then does it anyway. Outraged, Danny pummels Maxie for the betrayal and helps Ronnie escape him.

Maxie sends his henchmen after Danny. Shark and another gang member trap him in an alley. Danny knocks out one of his pursuers. Then Shark stabs Danny, but kills himself in the struggle. Ronnie finds a profusely bleeding Danny and takes him to her house on a bayou to recover. She asks him to forget her sordid past and to love her, even only for a short time. Danny replies that it would not be difficult to love her and kisses her. Maxie drives up, accompanied by Dummy (Jack Grinnage), a member of Danny's former gang. Maxie fatally shoots Ronnie. Dummy, who had been befriended by Danny, grapples with Maxie. The gun goes off, killing its owner.

Danny returns to the King Creole, still mourning Ronnie. Nellie promises to wait for him. Then at the club he sings a sad song with the lines "Let's think of the future, forget the past, you're not my first love, but you're my last". Mr Fisher also shows up to listen to his son sing.

The main characters of the novel are Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza. Florentino and Fermina fall in love in their youth. A secret relationship blossoms between the two with the help of Fermina's Aunt Escolástica. They exchange love letters. But once Fermina's father, Lorenzo Daza, finds out about the two, he forces his daughter to stop seeing Florentino immediately. When she refuses, he and his daughter move in with his deceased wife's family in another city. Regardless of the distance, Fermina and Florentino continue to communicate via telegraph. Upon her return, Fermina realizes that her relationship with Florentino was nothing but a dream since they are practically strangers; she breaks off her engagement to Florentino and returns all his letters.

A young and accomplished national hero, Dr. Juvenal Urbino, meets Fermina and begins to court her. Despite her initial dislike of Urbino, Fermina gives in to her father's persuasion and the security and wealth Urbino offers, and they wed. Urbino is a physician devoted to science, modernity, and "order and progress". He is committed to the eradication of cholera and to the promotion of public works. He is a rational man whose life is organized precisely and who greatly values his importance and reputation in society. He is a herald of progress and modernization.Morana, Mabel (winter, 1990). "Modernity and Marginality in ''Love in the Time of Cholera''". ''Studies in Twentieth Century Literature'' '''14''':27–43

Even after Fermina's engagement and marriage, Florentino swore to stay faithful and wait for her; but his promiscuity gets the better of him and he has hundreds of affairs. Even with all the women he is with, he makes sure that Fermina will never find out. Meanwhile, Fermina and Urbino grow old together, going through happy years and unhappy ones and experiencing all the reality of marriage. Urbino proves in the end not to have been an entirely faithful husband, confessing one affair to Fermina many years into their marriage. Though the novel seems to suggest that Urbino's love for Fermina was never as spiritually chaste as Florentino's was, it also complicates Florentino's devotion by cataloging his many trysts as well as a few potentially genuine loves.

As an elderly man, Urbino attempts to get his pet parrot out of his mango tree, only to fall off the ladder he was standing on and die. After the funeral Florentino proclaims his love for Fermina once again and tells her he has stayed faithful to her all these years. Hesitant at first because she is only recently widowed, and finding his advances untoward, Fermina comes to recognize Florentino's wisdom and maturity, eventually gives him a second chance, and their love is allowed to blossom during their old age. They go on a steamship cruise up the river together.

G-Force is a special team of trained animals. The primary field team consists of three guinea pigs: Darwin, Blaster, and Juarez, as well as a mole, Speckles and a fly named Mooch. The unit's leader Ben, orders an unauthorized infiltration of the residence of home electronics and appliances magnate, Leonard Saber, who is working with an unseen business partner named Mr. Yanshu. Saber's appliances all have control chips inside them that will activate a function called Sabersense, allowing electronic communication. The team retrieves sensitive information about a scheme called Clusterstorm, which will occur in 48 hours. However, when Ben's superior, Kip Killian, arrives for his evaluation, he is angry at Ben for performing an unauthorized mission. The government agent orders the unit shut down. With the help of the humans, Darwin, Juarez, Blaster, Mooch, and Speckles escape, but find themselves in a case bound for a pet shop. Ben and his assistant, Marcie, send a trained cockroach named Harry to infiltrate their hideout, which is now guarded by FBI agents, and recover Darwin's Personal Digital Assistant, which contained the information acquired from Saber's computer.

Trapped in the store's pet rodent display case, G-Force meet Hurley, a guinea pig, Bucky, a hamster, and three mice. Although Blaster and Juarez manage to get themselves sold to a family with plans to return to extract their comrades, Speckles is thrown and seemingly crushed in a garbage truck. Meanwhile, Mooch manages to return to Ben to tell him where his mammalian agents are, but Darwin escapes with Hurley, who is forced to come after he gets kicked out by Bucky, before he can arrive to collect them. While Blaster and Juarez escape their new owners to return to Ben, he and Marcie discover that the intel in the PDA has a computer virus that hid the scheme. At this time, Darwin and Hurley make their own way to their superior. En route, Darwin sees a Saberling coffee maker and decides to investigate it, but it turns into a violent robot; which he and Hurley defeat by luring it into the road where its destroyed by a passing car. After examining the wreckage, they discover that Sabersense and Clusterstorm are connected and that the chips found inside the appliances actually transforms them into killer robots.

Once they all return and inform Ben of Speckles’ apparent demise, Ben eventually confesses that they are not special genetically enhanced animals as previously told, but ordinary ones Ben took in and trained for the team. However, Hurley lifts them from their despair by reminding the team of the astounding feats that he has seen them do. He also suggests using the virus in the PDA to take down Saber's computer mainframe. Emboldened, Ben provides the field team with the means to infiltrate the Saber residence and plant the virus in the mainframe. Unfortunately, FBI agents are ordered by Killian to capture the animals dead or alive. After the team infiltrates Saber's mainframe, they encounter a bomb trap, but avoid it because of their size.

In every place with Saberling appliances, all of the machines also transform into killing machines resulting in massive chaos; one of which tries to kill the 3 guinea pigs after trapping Hurley inside & tries to cook him. The team fight the monster until it is destroyed by the bomb trap, and the resulting battle separates the group, leaving only Darwin and Mooch to take the mainframe down. Meanwhile, Leonard Saber is shocked that his appliances have turned into killing machines, having wanted them to communicate with each other. As this happens, Kip and the FBI, having found out about the appliances going on a rampage via live television, decide to apprehend Saber for his actions, only to find out that he didn't do anything wrong and that he just wanted to make Saberling the biggest appliance manufacturer in the world. Darwin finds Speckles alive and well (having faked his death) at the mainframe, who reveals that he is the mastermind behind the plot and is also the mysterious Mr. Yanshu (Yanshu means "mole" in Chinese), tricking Saber into planting the control chips into the appliances to repurpose Clusterstorm into causing a massive planet-wide bombardment of space debris to make Earth's surface uninhabitable while using Sabersense as a cover up, and reveals that he was the one who sabotaged G-Force's presentation to ensure that they did not find out about his plot. He explains his motive is to exact revenge on the human race for the death of his family after being persuaded by his father to do so. Speckles promptly amalgamates the various appliances in the vicinity into a giant walking robot, which attacks the police and grabs the command truck with Ben, Marcie, Killian, and Saber inside. During the fight, Darwin convinces Speckles to change his ways, but he refuses and summons a Saberling blender to overpower him, which loses his PDA and parachute in the process. However, Darwin manages to persuade Speckles by saying that G-Force is his family now, one he was close to destroying like what had happened to his first family long ago because Ben was the only human who took him in when they had nobody else. Realizing Darwin is right and that he is close to destroying the only family he has left, Speckles tries to shut down the robot, but he cannot control them anymore. With Mooch recovering the PDA, Darwin uses it on the device to take it down, destroying the robot and nearly killing Hurley, but saving Ben, Marcie, Kip, and Saber, who is later taken by the FBI. With the mission complete, the G-Force find Hurley dead, but they use the remains of his chocolate cake that Hurley found earlier to revive him.

The guinea pigs are personally commended by the FBI Director, who also appoints them special agents of the FBI. Furthermore, G-Force is reinstated as a unit of the Bureau and expanded with Hurley, Bucky, and the mice inducted as new recruits. Meanwhile, Saber was forced by the FBI and the government to make the largest consumer product recall in history where Speckles is given the duty of removing the malicious chips from all 178,003 Saber appliances before rejoining the team. Agent Killian is relocated to an FBI base in the South Pole as a punishment for trying to arrest G-Force. Darwin, Blaster, Juarez, and Hurley have a dance party to celebrate their victory, with Bucky and the mice joining them.

The story opens with a fictional rendition of the Namamugi Incident. On September 14, 1862, Phillip Tyrer, John Canterbury, Angelique Richaud, and Malcolm Struan are riding on the Tōkaidō, when they are attacked by Shorin Anato and Ori Ryoma, both Satsuma samurai and ''rōnin'' shishi in the ''sonnō jōi'' movement, cells of revolutionary xenophobic idealists. Canterbury is killed, Malcolm seriously wounded, and Tyrer receives a minor arm injury; only Angelique escapes back to Yokohama unharmed to get help. Tyrer and Malcolm make their way to Kanagawa (Kanagawa-ku) later that day, where Dr. Babcott operates on Malcolm. Meanwhile, at a village inn in Hodogaya the daimyō Sanjiro of Satsuma, meets with Katsumata, one of his advisors, and receives Ori and Shorin, with whom he plots an overthrow of the current Shogunate. Two days later Malcolm is moved to the merchants' settlement in Yokohama. He is not expected to last long and while he is in bed sick, he shows his emotions for Angelique, a voluptuous but penniless French girl.

The novel spins two story lines which intertwine with ever increasing complexity: one follows the "gaijin" (foreign) community in Yokohama, the other, the Japanese, both the government (Bakufu) run by a Council of Elders who advise the young Shōgun, and the anti-government, xenophobic, pro-Emperor forces, focusing on the "shishi". The Japanese distrust the foreigners only slightly more than they distrust each other. The various nationalities that make up the foreign community likewise plot against and socialise with each other warily. Both Japanese and foreigners are convinced of their own superiority.

While Malcolm slowly recovers from his wounds and falls in love with Angelique, she is raped by one of the Japanese samurai assassins, Ori Ryoma, as she lies sedated to treat her shock. Horrified, she keeps this a secret but later discovers she is pregnant. Desperate, she obtains Chinese medicine that precipitates an abortion, with the help of a French spy who later blackmails her with this knowledge. At the same time, she learns her father is a degenerate gambler in jail for debt, and her uncle loses her capital in a failed investment. Marriage to the infatuated Malcolm seems increasingly attractive but she must keep her rape an absolute secret. Obsessed with her, Ori rapes her again. This time, Angelique is not drugged, but she yields and tricks Ori into leaving afterwards instead of killing her, as she knew he intended. He is shot outside her window but no-one suspects he was leaving; it is rumored that he was trying to break in.

Yoshi Toranaga, a descendant of Lord Toranaga in Shogun and one of the Council of Elders, narrowly escapes various assassination attempts while he tries to out manoeuvre his fellow councilors, all of whom mistrust each other, as well as hunt down the rogue shishi. He hates the foreigners as passionately as the shishi do, but recognizes that their superior military technology makes ''sonnō jōi'' impossible for the present. This position puts him at odds with almost everyone around him. A meeting is arranged between the council and the representatives of the foreign community to deal with their demands for reparations and justice for the murderous attack, only one of several such incidents. Despite much Japanese prevarication, and the three-way interpreting necessary (English–Dutch–Japanese), a deal is struck.

Malcolm Struan is heir to the Noble House of Struan's, but he is not yet of age and therefore technically not yet "taipan". Meanwhile, his mother, Tess Struan, runs the business and urges him to return to Hong Kong and give up his infatuation with this unsuitable penniless French "gold-digger". Her imperious attitude angers him and he resists, determined to marry Angelique and be taipan.

The brothels of Yokohama are where Japanese and foreigners meet. The French spy is besotted with a Japanese prostitute, whose Madame is associated with the "shishi" and who exchanges favours for information. The French spy introduces Tyrer to the delights and protocols of Japanese brothels. Later, Tyrer befriends a young Japanese and they begin to teach each other, although, unbeknownst to Tyrer, the Japanese is a fanatical "shishi". He gradually adopts the same position as Lord Yoshi, his implacable enemy: the only way to purge Japan of these revolting barbarians is to learn their military and technological secrets.

Malcolm marries Angelique irregularly on board ship, but dies on their wedding night when his wound hemorrhages. His mother is now officially taipan. Angelique is at first hysterical and nearly goes mad. When she recovers, she find she has gained wisdom and an icy calm and lost all fear. She plans to outwit Tess Struan, with the help of Edward Gornt, who hopes to marry her and also obtain revenge on Tess' family.

Tyrer discovers his "friend" is a dangerous assassin wanted by Lord Yoshi and must be handed over as part of a deal, but the shishi disappears. He hides out with his "sensei" and others in the brothel district. As the government samurai close their net, the sensei decides on a suicide mission: to set fire to the Yokohama settlement and sink the largest foreign ship in the harbour. Tyrer's friend is horrified but cannot disobey. The firebombs go off, the shishi saves Tyrer's life while the French spy dies in the flames. Though the brothel district and native village are destroyed, the foreign settlement and military camp are relatively undamaged, so the foreigners do not leave, thus subverting the purpose of the arson. To escape certain death and also to further his study of the source of foreign power, the shishi gets himself shipped off to England with Tyrer's help.

The story closes with a brief narration of the bombardment of Kagoshima and its aftermath.

In 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars, Royal Navy Captain Horatio Hornblower commands the 38-gun frigate HMS ''Lydia'' on a secret mission to Central America. He is to provide arms and support to a megalomaniac named Don Julian Alvarado, who calls himself "El Supremo" ("The Almighty"), in his rebellion against Spain, an ally of Britain's enemy France.

Upon arrival, Hornblower is told that a larger, much more powerful Spanish warship, the 60-gun ''Natividad'', has been sighted. When it anchors nearby, Hornblower and his crew board and capture it in a surprise night attack. He then reluctantly hands the ship over to Alvarado to appease the madman, and they go their separate ways.

Later, he encounters a small Spanish vessel and learns that Spain has switched sides, so the ''Lydia'' will have to attack the ''Natividad'' again. Two passengers transfer to the ''Lydia'' (over Hornblower's objections): Lady Barbara Wellesley and her maid, fleeing a yellow fever epidemic. As Lady Barbara is the (fictitious) sister of the Duke of Wellington, Hornblower cannot refuse her request for passage to England.

Using superior seamanship and masterful tactics, Hornblower sinks the more powerful ''Natividad''. When the ship's surgeon is killed during the battle, Lady Barbara insists on tending the wounded. When she later falls gravely ill, Hornblower nurses her back to health. On the voyage back to England, they fall in love. However, when she speaks of her feelings (although she is engaged), Hornblower gently tells her he is married. Later they meet in a passageway and embrace passionately. She promises her maid’s discretion, he says that they are not free.

After arriving home, Hornblower learns that his wife has died in childbirth, leaving him an infant son. Later, he is given command of the ''Sutherland'', a 74-gun ship of the line captured from the French, and is assigned to a squadron commanded by Rear Admiral Leighton (Denis O'Dea), an arrogant officer who owes his position to influence more than skill. Leighton has just returned from his honeymoon with Lady Barbara. Outside the Admiralty, Lady Barbara tells Hornblower that she did not learn of his wife’s death until she returned from Ireland. Leighton’s squadron is to help enforce the British blockade against Napoleonic France.

Hornblower learns that four French ships of the line have broken through the blockade. Leighton assumes they will make for the Mediterranean, but Hornblower suggests that they mean to support Napoleon's campaign on the Iberian Peninsula. Leighton decides to cover both possibilities by detaching one ship to patrol the French coast. When he learns that Hornblower's ''Sutherland'' is best suited for this task, having the shallowest draught, he accuses Hornblower of pursuing glory and prize money and expressly forbids Hornblower’s taking any independent action if he sights the French.

Hornblower's French-built ship is subsequently mistaken for a friendly vessel by a small French brig, which flies the enemy's recognition signal for the day. After capturing the vessel, Hornblower learns from its captain that he was transporting powder, beef and oats to the four warships for use in Spain. Rather than return to the squadron, Hornblower enters the enemy harbour where the French ships are anchored and guarded by a well-armed fort. By flying a French flag and the recognition signal and taking advantage of his ship's French design, Hornblower fools the garrison into believing that the ''Sutherland'' is friendly. His gun crews dismast all four enemy ships before French cannon fire forces the British to abandon ship. Hornblower scuttles his ship in the channel, bottling up the French ships.

As the rest of the British squadron arrives to complete the job, Hornblower, First Lieutenant Bush, and seaman Quist are taken by carriage to Paris to be tried for piracy. However, they escape en route and make their way to the port of Nantes. Disguised as Dutch officers, they board the ''Witch of Endor'', a captured British ship. They overpower the skeleton crew, free a working party of British prisoners of war to man her, and sail away to freedom.

Hornblower is hailed as a national hero and learns that Leighton was killed in the battle. Hornblower returns home to visit his young son and finds Lady Barbara there. The two embrace.

According to the Vectrex manual, the story involves "protecting your comrades from alien ships trying to infiltrate your culture" and "defending the sovereignty of your planet."

''Ammonite'' is the story of Marghe Taishan, an anthropologist and employee of a government agency, the Settlement and Education Councils (SEC). She is sent as an SEC representative to the planet Jeep (Grenchstom's Planet – "Jeep" being the pronunciation of the abbreviation "GP"). Centuries in the past, Jeep was colonized by people from Earth, but contact was lost with the colony, and now the planet is a target for recolonization by the sinister Durallium Company (mostly referred to as "Company"). Some years prior to the beginning of the story, Company sent an expedition of technical and security personnel (the latter called "Mirrors" for the mirrored helmets on their combat armor) to the planet; a short time later, all of the men and many of the women in the expedition died from a virus, also known as Jeep, which was endemic to the planet. As a result, the planet was placed under quarantine, and none of the surviving members of the expedition have been allowed to leave. One of the mysteries of the planet is that there is a "native" population, entirely female and apparently descended from the original colony.

Marge is sent to Jeep not only to study the native cultures, but also to test a potential vaccine for the Jeep virus. She makes a journey across Jeep, living with several of its indigenous cultures. Shortly after the start of her journey, she is captured and enslaved by the nomadic Echraidhe, one of whose members, Uaithne, believes herself to be the Death Spirit, the chosen representative of the goddess of death destined to bring about an apocalypse. Escaping the Echraidhe and almost dying in the extreme winter, she reaches the quieter village of Ollfoss, where she joins a family and stops taking the vaccine, accepting the virus into her body and truly learning what it is like to be a native (including how the natives are able to conceive children). She learns the mystic discipline of "deepsearch", and eventually becomes a "viajera", or traveling wise woman. Afterward, she is forced to the center of a conflict between the Mirrors and the Echraidhe under the leadership of Uaithne. Marghe stops the conflict, but shortly thereafter Company, believing the vaccine to have been a failure, destroys the space station orbiting Jeep, apparently isolating the people there. However, Marghe and the Mirrors believe that the Company will probably return one day, a return they must prepare for.

Adaptation to life on Jeep appears to be a greater theme of Griffith's novel, as not only Marghe, but other Company personnel, also eventually are forced to settle on Jeep and adapt to the cultures that its prior colonists have created, in order to adjust to the planetary environment.

The story follows an anthropomorphic Jack Russell Terrier named Olive. While in town, she meets Martini, a con artist penguin from whom she buys a counterfeit Rolex watch. When she returns home she finds her owner, Tim, sad that there "won't be any Christmas". Olive discovers that Blitzen, one of Santa's reindeer, is injured and unable to fly. Santa expresses in a radio interview that Christmas isn't cancelled if his sleigh can be pulled by "all of the other reindeer". Olive's pet flea, Fido, mishears this as "Olive the other reindeer", and Olive becomes convinced that it is she Santa is referring to, prompting her to travel to the North Pole to help pull the sleigh.

On the way to the bus station, Olive runs into a disgruntled Postman who is frustrated by having to deliver mail during the Christmas period, and expresses that he is glad Christmas might be cancelled. He learns Olive is trying to save Santa's flight, and is determined to stop Olive from saving Christmas. Olive goes to the bus station to buy a ticket to Arctic Junction. Martini shows up and Olive buys him a bus ticket, but before they can leave the station, Olive is captured by the Postman, who abducts her, claiming she is wanted for mail fraud. After she pleads for Martini's help, Martini trips the Postman, allowing Martini and Olive to catch the bus.

On the bus, Olive and Martini talk to an Inuit couple and bus driver Richard Stands. They believe Olive misheard Santa, but wish her luck. The Postman pulls up next to the bus in his mail truck, but Martini makes a paper airplane, tells him, "Deliver this, punk!" and throws it at the Postman, knocking him off the road. When they arrive at Arctic Junction, they must wait for the next bus, so they go to a restaurant. The Postman, disguised as their waitress, lures Olive outside by stating that Santa is waiting for her. The Postman throws Olive into his truck, and while he is driving away, Olive finds a package addressed to her from "Deus Ex Machina" containing a that Olive uses to escape.

Olive returns to the Junction, and Martini and Richard, having discovered the Postman's actions, ask her how she got away. Olive and Martini, having missed the bus, go inside a nearby bar and are initially harassed by the bar's patrons, including bar owner Round John Virgin. Olive stands up to them, giving a speech about the meaning of Christmas. The patrons apologize for their behavior and Round John Virgin offers Martini and Olive a ride to the North Pole. At the North Pole, Olive is denied entry, but Martini distracts the guard, allowing Olive to get inside and look for Santa. Aside from Blitzen's injury, Santa is unsure about going out for Christmas, due to having received mean-spirited letters addressed from children. Olive convinces Santa that the letters are from the Postman, and persuades Santa not to give up on Christmas; Santa thanks Olive, and she joins the other reindeer in order to fly the sleigh.

Before they leave, the Postman switches the bag of toys with a bag of junk mail and kidnaps Martini. Later, Santa discovers what happened, and Olive follows the Postman's scent to track him down. Olive struggles with the Postman, and Martini scares the Postman with a jack-in-the-box, and he hits his head and is knocked unconscious. They retrieve the presents, rescue Martini, and then deliver the presents to the world. Santa gets lost in fog, and Olive guides the sleigh back to the North Pole by following the scent of cookies baked by Mrs. Claus. Comet gives Olive a ride home and she makes amends with Tim, who is happy to see her. The Postman is bound with packing tape and fitted with cardboard "wings" and put in the penguin exhibit in the zoo in Martini's place, while Martini is now in charge of the mail.

''Rite of Passage'' is told as a flashback by Mia Havero, the daughter of the Chairman of the Ship's Council, after she has completed her own rite of passage, also known as ''Trial''. She has survived for thirty days on a colony planet with minimal supplies as part of her initiation into adulthood on one of several giant Ships that survived Earth's destruction in AD 2041. To prevent overpopulation on the Ships, family units can only produce children with the approval of the Ship's Eugenics Council. The penalty for breaking this rule is exile to a colony world.

By the year 2198, Mia Havero is twelve years old and, like most of Ship-bound humanity, regards the colonists as "Mudeaters", a derogatory reference to frontier life on a planet. When she accompanies her father on a trading mission to the planet Grainau, Mia learns from the children of a Grainau official that the feeling is mutual; many on the colony worlds call Ship people "Grabbies" because they take whatever goods they cannot produce on the Ships in return for knowledge and technology (doled out sparingly), the heritage of Earth to which the ship residents have laid claim and which colonists are unable to maintain, being too busy staying alive.

When Mia returns to the Ship, in addition to her regular studies, she joins a survival class. Survival class is every thirteen-year-old's preparation for ''Trial'', the Ships' rite of passage into adulthood required within three months of turning fourteen. By requiring adolescents to experience the rigors and dangers of life on a colony planet, the Ships hope to avoid stagnation and ensure that those who survive are skilled enough to contribute significantly to Ship life. However, the mortality rate of Trial participants is fairly high, so no expense is spared to train the adolescents about to go through Trial so that they will survive the month spent planetside.

Mia's companion in school and in survival class is Jimmy Dentremont, a highly gifted boy of her own age. Their initial rivalry turns to friendship and eventually blossoms into love. Both in and out of survival class, sometimes with Jimmy and sometimes with other children, Mia has a series of adventures that build her confidence, broaden her world, and prepare her for ''Trial''. Her moral awareness also grows during this time, both through formal study of ethical theory and through reflection on the errors she inevitably makes as she risks new experiences.

Shortly after her fourteenth birthday, Mia and her class are dispatched to the planet Tintera to undergo their ''Trial''. Having quarreled with Jimmy, Mia refuses to team with him, but still chooses the ''tiger'' strategy over the ''turtle'' strategy; that is, she chooses to act on this world rather than hide out for the month that she's on planet. Mia soon encounters a party of rough men on horseback, who are herding ''Losels'', native humanoids the Tinterans treat as domestic animals and use for simple labor, although they may be intelligent enough to be considered slaves. Mia escapes the Losel herders' attempted kidnapping, and when she reaches the nearest town, she is repulsed by the fact that all Tinterans are "Free Birthers"—they have no population control. She is also disturbed by their apparent practice of enslaving Losels.

After a second run-in with the Losel herders leaves Mia badly beaten and robbed of the signalling device she will need to return to her Ship, she is rescued by Daniel Kutsov, an old man who has been reduced to a simple, manual job as a result of past political activity. Kutsov treats Mia like an adopted grandchild and explains to Mia that her speech gives her away as being from the Ships. Kutsov tells Mia that Ship people are at best regarded with resentment, and at worst killed. Mia has already learned that the Tinterans have captured a scoutship from another Ship and arrested one of her fellow ''Trial'' participants. While recovering from her injuries in Kutsov's house, she discovers that the prisoner is Jimmy Dentremont. Singlehanded, Mia stages a jailbreak and escapes to the wilderness with Jimmy, but not before the two witness the brutal killing of Kutsov in a roundup of political dissidents.

Riding through the night in the pouring rain, Mia and Jimmy set up a tent in the woods. While in the tent, they realize their feelings for each other and have sex. They arrive the following day at the military headquarters for the territory, where Jimmy retrieves his own signalling device. Before they leave the base, they also disable the captured scoutship.

Soon after Mia and Jimmy return from ''Trial'', a Shipwide Assembly debates what to do about Tintera. The Tinterans are Free Birthers, possibly slavers, and a potential danger to the Ship itself. As Mia hears the Assembly's debate, however, she understands that her views have changed. Her moral world has broadened to include the Tinterans as people, rather than faceless ''spear carriers'' to be used and discarded. Thus she cannot bring herself to condemn the Tinterans ''en masse''. However, under the leadership of Mia's father, who perceives the Tinterans as beyond re-education, the Assembly votes by an eight-to-five margin to destroy Tintera in the name of 'moral discipline'. Mia and Jimmy, as adults, prepare to settle into their own living quarters on board Ship. Jimmy offers the hope that they will someday be in a position to change their society.

The USS ''Enterprise'' investigates a distress call from the Malurian star system. Upon arrival, First Officer Spock reports no life readings from any of the 4 billion inhabitants, despite otherwise normal recent communications. The ship's shields are suddenly activated when a meter-long cylindrical object attacks with a powerful energy bolt equivalent to 90 photon torpedoes. Captain Kirk orders return fire, but his weapon's energy is simply absorbed by the object. Following several more incoming attacks, and on the verge of his ship's destruction, Kirk hails the object. After several back-and-forth attempts, the object requests in-person communication with the Captain and allows itself to be beamed aboard the ship.

The object identifies itself as "Nomad", and refers to Captain Kirk as "the Creator". Spock reports that a ''Nomad'' space probe was launched from Earth during the early 21st century; its mission was to explore the galaxy and seek out new life, but it had been reported destroyed a report that Spock acknowledges may have been wrong. The current Nomad has mistaken Kirk for Dr. Jackson Roykirk, the scientist who created and programmed the original probe. Nomad's new mission is to seek out and eliminate any "biological infestation" that it deems imperfect, including the entire population of the Malurian star system. Nomad states that its attempt to destroy the ''Enterprise'' had not been necessary since "the Creator" was aboard.

Left in the care of a crew member, Nomad escapes to investigate the sound of Lieutenant Uhura singing, which it detects over the intercom. Arriving on the bridge to make inquiries, it asks Uhura to "think about music" while probing her mind, which erases her memory. When Chief Engineer Scott tries to intervene, Nomad kills him, pleading self-defense. Upon learning that Kirk cannot repair Scott, Nomad offers to restore him to life. Nomad heals Scott, but cannot "repair" Uhura's memory loss; Nomad is taken to the brig. Since Uhura's brain was not damaged (only her memories erased), the medical staff proceed to re-educate her (by the end of the episode, Uhura is almost back to normal).

To uncover more information, Spock performs a Vulcan mind meld with the machine. He discovers that Nomad collided with a meteor and was severely damaged. It then wandered through space, finally coming into contact and merging with a powerful alien probe called ''Tan Ru'', designed to obtain and sterilize soil samples from other planets. Nomad partially integrated ''Tan Ru'' s agricultural mission directives, interpreting them to mean "sterilize imperfections". The merging of the two probes imbued Nomad with ''Tan Ru'' s vast powers, sufficient to destroy life throughout an entire solar system. Kirk compares Nomad's reincarnation to the changeling legend, in which a human child is switched with a fairy child, with the latter assuming the identity of the former.

Nomad escapes from its cell, killing two guards who attempt to stop it. The probe makes its way to the engineering deck, where it begins to make adjustments to the engines, accelerating the ship beyond its normal maximum warp speed. As Kirk arrives, Nomad tells him that engine efficiency has been boosted 57%; Kirk orders it to reverse the changes since other structures on the ''Enterprise'' cannot handle the faster speed. Nomad complies.

Exasperated by Nomad's prejudice toward imperfect "biological units", Kirk points out that its own "Creator" is a biological unit. Nomad responds that it must "reevaluate." Kirk orders the probe back to the brig, and it departs under security guard. Spock then suggests to Kirk that admitting to Nomad that he, "the Creator," is imperfect was probably a mistake. Spock also observes that because Nomad has threatened to return to its "launch point," the Earth and all its inhabitants are now at risk of sterilization.

En route to the brig, Nomad kills its two security escorts and heads instead to sickbay. After examining Kirk's medical files and verifying his imperfections as a biological unit, Nomad's "reevaluation" is complete. It proceeds to engineering, incapacitates crew members and shuts down the ship's life-support systems, thus rendering the ''Enterprise'' habitable for only a short time longer.

Kirk arrives and again confronts the probe, questioning it about its mission. When Nomad declares that its directive to sterilize imperfections allows no exceptions, Kirk points out that Nomad itself is imperfect, since it has mistaken Captain Kirk for its true creator Jackson Roykirk. He then claims that Nomad has committed two other errors, by not discovering its own mistake, and by not sterilizing itself as imperfect. Nomad begins to analyze the implications of Kirk's claims, a process that causes noticeable stress to its systems. Kirk and Spock carry Nomad in a rush to the transporter room and, with a final command from Kirk to "exercise your prime function," beam it into deep space. Seconds after transport, an explosion is detected near the ''Enterprise'' and Nomad is no more. The episode ends on a humorous note, with Kirk observing that he is proud that his "son" Nomad, having healed Mr. Scott, would have made a good doctor.

The play concerns the Battle of Granada, fought between the Moors and the Spanish, which led to the historic fall of Granada. The Spanish are kept generally in the background, and the action mainly concerns two factions of Moors, the Abencerrages and the Zegrys. The hero is Almanzor, who fights for the Moors. He falls in love with Almahide, who is engaged to Boabdelin, king of the Moors. She loves him, too, but she will not betray her vows to Boabdelin, and Boabdelin is torn between his jealousy and need for Almanzor. Almanzor and Almahide remain separated until the death of Boabdelin in the last act, when impediments are removed and the forbearing lovers can be united. There are two other crossed love plots in the play as well. Abdalla, brother of king Boabdelin, and Abdelmelich, the head of the Abencerrage faction, vie in love for the hand of Lyndaraxa, the sister of the leader of the Zegrys. Also, Ozmyn, a young Abencerrage man, loves Benzayda, a Zegry. It turns out during the play that Almanzor is the lost son of the Duke of Arcos, a Spaniard, but he fights for the Moors out of duty.

At the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, the employees of Sector 7G have a Secret Santa. Homer receives a DVD player and the first series of ''Magnum P.I.'' from Carl, but Homer himself, at the very last moment, gets Lenny a wrap of Certs from the vending machine, much to everybody's chagrin. Instead of a Christmas bonus, Mr. Burns gives Homer a Joe DiMaggio baseball card. He sells it to Comic Book Guy and earns a small fortune, then takes the family Christmas shopping at upmarket shops. Homer promises to buy a large Christmas tree, but instead spends the majority of the money on a talking astrolabe for himself, meaning that the only Christmas tree Homer can buy with the leftover money is a cheap, dry, twig-like tree that catches fire if rubbed; after hearing the astrolabe talk, the family are disappointed by his selfish behavior. That night, after being made to sleep on the couch by Marge, Homer watches ''Mr. McGrew's Christmas Carol'' and after imagining seeing his name in the show, realizes that he must change his ways.

Now more charitable, Homer apologizes for his mistakes, donates his old clothes to the homeless shelter, gives Marge the last porkchop at dinner, and builds a public skating rink in his backyard, as well as giving Lenny a decent Christmas present to make up for the Secret Santa: a cube made of photographs of Lenny and his friends. At church, Ned Flanders becomes jealous of Homer's position as the new nicest person in town, and sets out to buy gifts for everyone to regain the title. Meanwhile, Lisa tells Homer about her Buddhist beliefs that people would be happier without material goods. For his next 'good deed', on Christmas Eve night, Homer sneaks into the citizens' houses and steals their presents. In the morning, an angry mob confront Homer and Flanders. Flanders calms them by reciting a Bible verse, while Homer shows a Christmas star (in reality, a distress flare fired by Hans Moleman), before he and Ned give everyone back their presents and everybody sings "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing". The episode ends with Snake stealing Homer's astrolabe and running away.

''Angel's Egg'' follows the life of an unnamed young girl living alone in an undefined building near an abandoned city. She cares for a large egg which she hides under her dress, protecting it while scavenging the decrepit Neo-Gothic/Art Nouveau cityscape for food, water and bottles. In the prologue, an unnamed boy in militant garb watches an orb-shaped vessel covered with thousands of goddess-like sculptures descend from the sky. Awakened by the orb's whistles, the girl begins her day of scavenging, but soon crosses paths with the boy on a wide street traveled only by biomechanical roving tanks. Frightened by the boy, who carries a cross-shaped device over his shoulder, the girl runs off down an alley. When she returns to investigate, the boy has left. She resumes searching for food and glass bottles, avoiding the statuesque figures of men clutching harpoons.

Later, the girl spots the boy again and approaches him. He turns and surprisingly produces her egg from underneath his cape; she had abandoned it on the plaza where she was eating. He instructs the girl to "Keep precious things inside you or you will lose them," and returns the egg. When asked what she believes is inside the egg, the girl asserts that she can't tell him. The boy then suggests breaking the egg to find out, which incenses the girl and drives her away, only to be pursued by the boy.

Eventually the chase gives way to the pair bonding, as the stoic fishermen figures spring to life and frighten the girl. The fishermen race after enormous shadows of coelacanth-like fish that swim across the surfaces of streets and buildings. The animated men ineffectually lob their harpoons at the shadows, hitting only brick and stone. As the shadows swim away, the girl explains that while the fish are gone, the men persist in hunting. The pair wait out the commotion within a vast cathedral decorated with stained windows of fish.

Leaving the city and heading towards the girl's settlement, the pair stop within a massive structure which appears to be the carcass of a beached leviathan. Noticing an engraving of a tree on a pillar, the boy describes his memory of a similar tree which grew to hold a giant egg containing a sleeping bird. When the girl inquires as to what the bird dreams of, the boy flatly asks if the girl still won't tell him what's inside her egg. The pair ascend a staircase arrayed with bottles of water, like those the girl collects, on each step. Adding her newest tribute to the line of bottles, the girl and boy reflect on their amnesia, wondering about their identity and purpose. The boy begins to recount the biblical tale of Noah's Ark. The tale deviates when the boy claims that the dove never returned to the ark, and thus its passengers forgot why they were sailing, forgot about the civilization drowned below, forgot about the animals who, as a result, turned to stone.

The boy asks the girl if they themselves or if the strange world they live in really exists, or if it is merely a memory like his image of the sleeping bird. The girl suddenly insists that the bird does exist, and leads the boy down corridors of ancient fossils to arrive at an aerie. There they find the skeleton of a giant, angelic bird. The girl explains her intent to hatch the egg.

Later, the pair warm themselves within the girl's settlement. As the girl drifts off to sleep, she speaks to the creature inside her egg of their future together. Outside, the heavy rain consumes the city and floods the streets. While the girl is turned away from the egg in her sleep, the boy takes it and smashes it, leaving afterwards. The next day, the girl discovers the broken shell of her egg and shrieks out, utterly heartbroken. She starts to run away from her settlement into the woods, past a giant tree holding a huge egg, in pursuit of the boy. In her haste, she falls into a ravine. Beneath the chasm's water, the girl transforms into an adult woman before releasing a final breath, which rises to the surface as a multitude of bobbing eggs.

As the rain suddenly abates, trees holding eggs like those described by the boy are shown to be scattered throughout the landscape. The boy stands on a vast shore littered with white feathers as the orb-like vessel rises from underneath the ocean. Among the thousands of statues adorning the orb is a new feature: a figure of the girl, sitting serenely on a throne and caressing the egg in her lap. The screen slowly zooms out to reveal that the land of the beach, the forest, and the city is part of a small and lonely island within a vast sea, appearing not unlike the hull of an overturned ship.

The film is set in Canterbury-Bankstown and opens with the protagonist, Pauly (Paul Fenech), claiming that the following events are all true and that real names are used.

Pauly arrives late at work to find his employer, Bobo (Johnny Boxer), has hired a new delivery driver, Davo (Jason Davis). Pauly explains to Davo that Bobo is crazy from being a forty-year-old virgin who lives with his mother, but is getting married the next day to a Vietnamese mail-order bride, Lin Chow Bang (Tuyen Le), who is sneaking into the country illegally. Pauly then shows Davo the “Former Employee Hall of Shame”, which features Sahib (Desan Padayachee), who was forced out for being too polite and not tough enough. In retribution for being fired, Sahib and his friends opened their own pizzeria, Phat Pizza.

Later on, Pauly gets into a traffic accident with clown mascot Ronnie Mcdoggle (George Kapiniaris), whom Pauly mocks and assaults. Dozens more clown mascots surround Pauly, forcing him to single handedly fight them all off, after which the clowns decide to back down and Pauly flees the scene in his delivery car.

Meanwhile, Davo is late delivering a pizza to a house of bikies. While looking around the delivery address, he finds a drug lab producing homemade steroids and a large amount of marijuana. He is then discovered by the bikie gang who fight with and subdue Davo. The bikies are about to kill Davo as the lab catches light and explodes as a result of Davo dropping a joint during the fight. Davo and the bikies survive the explosion, but Davo is able to escape. Back at the Pizzeria, Davo meets fellow delivery driver Sleek the Elite (Paul Nakad), who tells him how he feigns romantic interest in unattractive women so he can meet and sleep with their attractive friends. Sleek then details how he has another delivery driver, Habib (Tahir Bilgic) secretly film his sexual encounters without the women's knowledge.

While Pauly is getting ready to go clubbing with the other delivery drivers, Sahib steals his employee uniform from his clothes line and uses it to sneak into the pizzeria and tamper with the phonelines, redirecting all incoming calls to steal their business. Upon leaving, he is spotted by a group of the clown mascots who mistake him for Pauly and beat him up. As a result of their tampering, Phat Pizza then receives a phone call from the bikie gang asking for their address. During the night out with the other delivery drivers, Sleek runs into Toula (Rebel Wilson), one of the girls he has been leading on. Toula and her friends drug Sleek and abduct him. Upon awaking, they tell Sleek that they are sick of men using them to date their attractive friends and rape him as an act of revenge.

Come the next day, Sleek is on his way to the wedding when he is attacked by a coalition of organised crime syndicates who have allied against Sleek because the mafia leaders’ daughters were victims of Sleek and Habib's voyeurism. Scared for his life, Sleek calls Rocky for help, who rallies a Lebanese mod to come to Sleek's defence. However, Rocky discovers that his sister was one of the girls Sleek slept with and had Habib film, leading him to turn on Sleek and join the gangs in beating him up. Bobo, his bride and their guests discover at the wedding that the priest quadruple booked the church, causing the priest to hastily marry all of the couples. Pauly then declares in a cut-away that “At this point, all that was left to do was go and get pissed”.

In the post-credit scenes, Sleek calls Bobo from the hospital to ask for workers compensation only to be fired. The bikie gang members then kill the Phat Pizza employees mistaking them for the staff of Fat Pizza.

Conan and his companion, the thief Malak, are confronted by Queen Taramis of Shadizar, who tests their combat ability with several of her guards. Satisfied, she tells Conan that she has a quest for him. He refuses her, but when she promises to resurrect his lost love, Valeria, Conan agrees to the quest. He is to escort the Queen's niece, Princess Jehnna, a virgin, who is destined to restore the jeweled horn of the dreaming god Dagoth. The magic gem Heart of Ahriman must first be retrieved, in order to locate the horn. Conan and Malak are joined by Bombaata, the captain of Taramis's guard. Bombaata has secret orders to kill Conan once the gem is obtained.

The gem is secured in the fortress of a powerful wizard, so Conan seeks the help of his friend Akiro, the Wizard of the Mounds, who must first be rescued from a tribe of cannibals who have captured him. The adventurers encounter Zula, a powerful bandit warrior being tortured by vengeful villagers. Freeing Zula at Jehnna's request, Conan accepts the indebted warrior's offer to join their quest.

The adventurers travel to the castle of Thoth-Amon, where the gem is located. As they sleep by the lake surrounding the castle, the wizard takes the form of a giant bird and kidnaps Jehnna. In the morning Akiro divines this and also divines a hidden entrance to the castle through a water gate. As they search for Jehnna, Conan is separated from the group, and the others are forced to watch him battle a fierce man-beast in a hall of mirrors. By breaking the mirrors Conan mortally wounds the creature which is revealed as a polymorphed Thoth-Amon. With the wizard's death, the castle begins to disintegrate, forcing the group's hasty retreat. They are ambushed by Taramis's guards, but drive them off. Bombaata feigns ignorance about the attack. The gem reveals where the jeweled horn is. Jehnna expresses romantic interest in Conan, but he rebuffs her and declares his devotion to Valeria.

They reach an ancient temple, where the horn is secured. Jehnna obtains it while Akiro deciphers engravings. He learns that Jehnna will be ritually sacrificed to awaken Dagoth. They are attacked by the priests guarding the horn. A secret exit is revealed, but Bombaata blocks the others' escape and seizes Jehnna. Despite this treachery, Conan and his allies escape from the priests and trek to Shadizar to rescue Jehnna.

Malak shows them a secret route to the throne room. Conan confronts Bombaata and kills him in combat. Zula impales the Grand Vizier before he can sacrifice Jehnna. The rising Dagoth becomes distorted from a human statue into a monstrous entity. He kills Taramis, then attacks Conan. Zula and Malak join the fight, but Dagoth effortlessly sweeps them aside. Grappling with the monster, Conan tears out Dagoth's horn, weakening Dagoth enough to kill him.

The newly crowned Queen Jehnna offers each of her companions a place in her new court: Zula will be the new captain of the guard, Akiro the queen's advisor, and Malak the court jester. Jehnna offers Conan marriage and the opportunity to rule the kingdom with her as her King, but he declines and departs to find further adventures and his own place in the world... but that is another story.

Lin McAdam and 'High-Spade' Frankie Wilson are searching for Dutch Henry Brown, with whom Lin has a personal score to settle. They arrive in Dodge City, Kansas, just as Sheriff Wyatt Earp forces saloon girl Lola Manners onto a stagecoach leaving town. He tells Lin that firearms are not allowed in town and must be handed in to Earp's brother Virgil. Lin and Dutch then lay eyes on each other in the saloon, but cannot fight due to the presence of the Earps.

Lin enters the town's Centennial shooting contest for a prized "One of One Thousand" Winchester 1873 rifle. Competing against many others he and Dutch end up as finalists. After matching Dutch shot for shot, Lin wins by successfully betting he can shoot through a stamp placed over the hole of a coin-shaped ornament from a Native American necklace. Dutch then says he is leaving town and Lin, eager to pursue him, refuses Earp's offer to engrave Lin's name on the rifle butt's plate and goes to his room at the boarding house to pack. There, Dutch ambushes him, steals the rifle, and rides away with two cohorts.

As they left town in a hurry they did not retrieve their guns from Earp. This puts them in a weak position because of Native Americans in the area and because Lin and High-Spade will still pursue them. Arriving at Riker's Bar, they find Native American trader Joe Lamont who sees the prize Winchester and becomes determined to own it. He raises the price of his guns and ammunition supply so high that Dutch and his men cannot afford to buy any. Dutch's only option is to trade the rifle for Lamont's three hundred dollars in gold plus their pick of weapons from the stock that Lamont is going to sell to the Native Americans. Dutch makes the trade and then tries to get the rifle back by gambling the three hundred in a poker game against Lamont, but loses.

Lamont takes his guns to meet Native American buyers, but their leader Young Bull doesn't like Lamont's old, worn-out merchandise; he wants the newer guns that Crazy Horse used at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Then Young Bull spies the prize Winchester and wants it. When Lamont refuses to sell it, he is robbed and scalped.

Meanwhile, Lola is now in a wagon with her fiancé Steve Miller traveling toward a new home. Suddenly pursued by Young Bull and his warriors, they realize that they will not be able to outrun them. Panicking, Steve jumps on his horse and rides off, claiming he is going ahead to find help; Lola is left stranded. Not far ahead, however, Steve finds a small encampment of soldiers and leads them back to rescue her. Lin and High-Spade, chased by the same Native Americans, also ride into the encampment that night.

The soldiers are new to the territory and green. Lin gives their sergeant tactical advice on fighting Native Americans and they prepare for an attack expected early the next morning. When it comes, Lin gives Lola his revolver and tells her to save its last round, implying that she should commit suicide with the final bullet to avoid capture. After a fierce battle in which Young Bull is killed, the Native Americans leave and so Lin and High-Spade depart to continue searching for Dutch. Unknowingly, they ride past the prize Winchester where Young Bull had dropped it when he fell. It is found by a trooper and the Sergeant who, not wanting any officer to have it, gives it to Steve.

Steve and Lola reach the Jameson house, which is set to become theirs. He wants her to stay with Mrs. Jameson and her two children while he goes to meet outlaw Waco Johnnie Dean, much to the disapproval of Lola, but Waco and his men arrive unexpectedly, chased by a posse led by Sheriff Noonan that surrounds the house. Once Waco sees the prize Winchester, he too covets it. He insults and humiliates Steve to provoke him into a gunfight, whereupon Steve draws his gun and Waco kills him. Waco and Lola then escape the posse and ride to Dutch's hideout. There, Dutch claims the rifle is his and says that if Waco does not return it Dutch will deny the outlaw a share of a big robbery he plans for tomorrow in Tascosa, Texas.

Waco acquiesces, and after the gang is told of the robbery plan they all go to Tascosa. Lola is forced to play the piano in a saloon where Waco is stationed to give gun cover for the gang's escape after the robbery. In the meantime, Lin and High-Spade also arrive. Lola warns Lin about Waco and Lin strongarms him into agreeing to take him to Dutch. Waco then attempts to shoot Lin and is killed, while around them the robbery goes awry and Lola is wounded. While Lin follows Dutch out of town, High-Spade reveals to Lola that Dutch is Lin's brother and that Dutch had robbed a bank and a stagecoach and returned to the family home hoping to hide out. When their father refused to help him, Dutch shot him in the back and Lin has sworn revenge.

Lin finally confronts Dutch on a rocky hill and calls him by his real name, Matthew. They shoot it out on the hill before Lin finally kills him with a rifle shot. Exhausted, Lin returns to town with the Winchester and Dutch's body. Lola runs to him and he puts his arm around her as Lin and High-Spade look down at the rifle in Lin's other hand.

Ka-Kui is the "supercop" of the Hong Kong police with amazing martial arts skills. He is sent to Guangzhou, where the Chinese police force's Interpol director, Inspector Jessica Yang (Michelle Yeoh), briefs him on his next assignment. The target is Chaibat, a drug lord based in Hong Kong. To infiltrate Chaibat's organization, Ka-Kui is to get close to Chaibat's henchman Panther, who is in a Chinese prison. Ka-Kui, posing as a petty criminal prisoner, manages Panther's escape with the connivance of the guards. Grateful, Panther invites Ka-Kui to go with him to Hong Kong and join Chaibat's gang. Panther meets up with some of his other men, and vouches for Ka-Kui. The group heads for Hong Kong.

On the way, they pass through Ka-Kui's supposed home village, and Panther insists that Ka-Kui visit his family there. He does not actually know anyone in the village, but is pleasantly relieved to be greeted by undercover police posing as his family, with Yang as his sister. The local police pretend to arrest Ka-Kui in a restaurant, but Ka-Kui and Yang (also a martial-arts expert) escape after a big fight, which concludes with the faked killing of a policeman. This confirms Panther's trust in them.

In Hong Kong, Chaibat welcomes Ka-Kui and Yang to his luxurious hide-out. He takes them with him to a big opium grower's fortified compound in the Golden Triangle military camp of Thailand, for a meeting of big-time heroin traffickers. During the meeting, Chaibat's gang attack from outside while Ka-Kui and Yang protect him inside. In a huge gun battle, Chaibat's gang kill the rival traffickers and their guards, and smash up the compound. The grower survives, but will now sell only to Chaibat at Chaibat's price.

The action then shifts to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where Chaibat's wife, Chen Wen-Shi, is in prison, facing the death penalty for an unspecified crime. Chaibat needs to get her out of prison, because only she knows the secret codes to his Swiss bank account, and will not reveal them to him unless freed. Chaibat brings his gang, now including Ka-Kui and Yang, to Kuala Lumpur to stage a jailbreak.

A new difficulty arises when Ka-Kui sees his girlfriend May, a tour guide, in Kuala Lumpur leading a party of Hong Kong tourists. He has told her he's on assignment. Ka-Kui evades May at first, but she sees him at the luxurious hotel where Chaibat's gang are staying, with the beautiful Yang, and confronts him in a jealous rage. This nearly blows Ka-Kui's cover, but Panther is persuaded that May is angry because Ka-Kui tried to proposition her as a prostitute. Later, Ka-Kui gets May alone and explains the situation, and she finally calms down. At one point, May even manages to keep Ka-Kui from inadvertently blowing his own cover. But then, in an elevator, May tells a co-worker about Ka-Kui, and is overheard by one of Panther's men. Chaibat takes May hostage, and forces Ka-Kui and Yang – their cover now blown – to help free Chen.

Chaibat's scheme is successful and May is released, as per their agreement. However, the exchange turns sour when Chaibat pushes May from his helicopter, though she survives. Furious, Ka-Kui and Yang pursue Chaibat and his men over the roads, rooftops (where Ka-Kui and Yang defeat Panther and his partner), and skies of Kuala Lumpur. In the climax on top of a speeding train, Chaibat is killed after his helicopter collides with a bridge and lands on him. Yang and Ka-Kui also recapture Chen. Since her husband is dead, she decides to tell Yang and Ka-Kui the password to Chaibat's bank account. The two partners argue whether Hong Kong or China will get the money.

Photographer Adam Stanheight awakens in a dilapidated bathtub, with his ankle chained to a pipe. Across the room is oncologist Dr. Lawrence Gordon, also chained, and between them is the corpse of an apparent suicide victim holding a revolver and a microcassette recorder. Both men find a tape in their pockets, and Adam retrieves the recorder. Adam's tape urges him to survive, while Gordon's tells him to kill Adam by six o'clock or his wife Alison and daughter Diana will be killed. Adam finds a bag containing two hacksaws inside the toilet which they try to use to cut through their chains, but Adam's saw breaks. Gordon realizes the saws are meant for their feet, and identifies their captor as the Jigsaw Killer—a serial killer testing his victims' will to survive through murderous contraptions referred to as "games", whom Gordon knows of because he was once a suspect.

Five months prior, Gordon, while discussing the terminal brain cancer of patient John Kramer, was interrogated by Detectives David Tapp and Steven Sing, who found his penlight at the scene of one of Jigsaw's games. Gordon's alibi cleared him, but he agreed to view the testimony of heroin addict Amanda Young, the only known survivor of one of Jigsaw's traps. After Gordon's release, Tapp and Sing find Jigsaw's warehouse using the videotape from Amanda's game. There, they apprehend Jigsaw and save a man from a trap, but Jigsaw injures Tapp and escapes. Sing pursues Jigsaw down a hallway where he accidentally triggers a shotgun trap and is killed.

In the present, Alison and Diana are held captive at their apartment as their captor watches Adam and Gordon through a hidden camera. The house is simultaneously watched by Tapp who, after being discharged from the police following Sing's death, has become obsessed with the Jigsaw case, and is convinced that Gordon is the killer. Meanwhile, Gordon finds a box containing two cigarettes, a lighter, and a one-way cellphone. He recounts his abduction in a parking garage by a pig-masked figure. Adam recalls his own abduction when he returned home to find a puppet in his darkroom, where he stored photos of Gordon.

Alison, held at gunpoint, calls her husband and warns him not to believe Adam. Adam admits to Gordon that he was paid by Tapp to spy on him, and reveals his knowledge of Gordon's affair with one of his medical students whom he had visited the night he was abducted; Gordon deduces the affair is the reason he is being tested. Adam finds a photo of Alison and Diana's captor whom Gordon identifies as Zep Hindle, an orderly at his hospital.

Once the clock strikes six, Zep, seeing that Gordon has still not managed to kill Adam, moves to murder Alison and Diana, but the former frees herself and fights him. The struggle attracts Tapp's attention, and he saves Alison and Diana before chasing Zep to the sewers, where he is shot in the chest after a brief fight. Gordon, only aware of the gunshots and screaming, is shocked and loses reach of the cell phone. In desperation, he saws off his foot and shoots Adam with the corpse's revolver. Zep enters the bathroom to kill Gordon but Adam, having survived the gunshot, bludgeons him to death with a toilet tank lid. Gordon crawls out of the bathroom to find help while Adam searches Zep's body for a key. He finds another tape, revealing that Zep was just another victim of Jigsaw following rules to obtain an antidote for a slow-acting poison he was given.

As the tape ends, the corpse in the room rises and is revealed to be John Kramer, the real Jigsaw Killer. He tells Adam that the key to his ankle chain was in the bathtub and went down the drain when Adam had first awoken. Horrified, Adam attempts to shoot John with Zep's gun, but John electrically shocks him through his chain and exits the bathroom before sealing the door, leaving a helpless Adam to die.

Sly Cooper comes from a long line of master thieves (the Cooper Clan) who only steal from other criminals, thus making them vigilantes. The Cooper family's heirloom, an ancient book by the name ''The Thievius Raccoonus'', records all the secret moves and techniques from every member in the clan. On his 8th birthday, Sly was supposed to inherit the book and learn all of his family's ancient secrets which was supposed to help him become a master thief. However, a group of thugs called "The Fiendish Five" (led by Clockwerk, who is the arch-nemesis of the family clan) attacked the Cooper household and killed Sly's parents, and stole all of the pages from the ''Thievius Raccoonus''. After that, the ruthless gang go their separate ways to commit dastardly crimes around the world. Sly is sent to an orphanage where he meets and forms a gang with two boys who become his lifelong best friends, Bentley, a turtle technician, inventor and a talented mathematical hacker with encyclopedic knowledge who plays the role as the brains of the gang, and Murray, a huge hippopotamus with a ginormous appetite who plays the role as the brawns and the getaway driver of the gang. The three leave the orphanage together at age 16 to start their lives becoming international vigilante criminals together, naming themselves "The Cooper Gang". Sly swears one day to avenge his family and track down the Fiendish Five and steal back the ''Thievius Raccoonus''. 2 years later, the Cooper Gang heads to Paris, France, to infiltrate Interpol headquarters in order to find the secret police file which stores details and information about the Fiendish Five. During the heist they are ambushed by Inspector Carmelita Fox (towards whom Sly develops a romantic attraction), a police officer who is affiliated with Interpol and is after the Cooper Gang. The gang manages to steal the police file and successfully escapes from her and the rest of the cops. With the secret police file finally in their hands, the Cooper Gang manages to track down the Fiendish Five.

Their first target is Sir Raleigh, a greedy aristocratic bullfrog who uses his mechanical skills to prey on sunken ships and steal buried treasures throughout the islands of Wales. After bringing down Raleigh and leaving him to be arrested by Interpol, the gang then heads to Mesa City, Utah, where Raleigh's old friend Muggshot, a muscular bulldog has taken over the city center for his personal gambling empire and street crimes. Once Muggshot and his gangsters are dealt with, the gang heads to their third target in the Haitian jungle; Mz. Ruby, a voodoo priestess alligator, who plans to create an army of ghosts to terrorize those who rejected her as a child. The fourth target, the mysterious Panda King, resides in the Kunlun Mountains of China, where he terrorizes nearby villages by burying them in avalanches triggered by his fireworks. With four of the five members of the Fiendish Five dealt with and locked up by the police, Sly analyzes the collected pages of the ''Thievius Raccoonus'' and determines that the final target is Clockwerk, the leader of the Fiendish Five who killed Sly's parents and stole the ''Thievius Raccoonus''. The gang soon discovers that Clockwerk had always stalked the Cooper Clan since its earliest days. Bentley traces metal used in some of the Fiendish Five's vehicles to a remote volcano in Russia, where the gang heads next.

Using special upgrades to the team van, the gang breaches Clockwerk's lair, only to discover that Carmelita has been captured. Sly tries to save her, but gets gassed by one of Clockwerk's traps. Bentley manages to save him by hacking into Clockwerk's security algorithm and shuts down the gas, saving Sly, allowing him to rescue Carmelita and break her free from the dome cell she was trapped in. Sly and Carmelita, despite their professional differences and the fact they are in other sides of the law, agree to team up to stop Clockwerk and put an end to his dastardly deeds. Sly manages to get past Clockwerk's death ray base and destroys it by trapping it to sink and finds a jetpack and uses it, allowing him to confront Clockwerk once and for all. Sly and Clockwerk engage in aerial combat, with Clockwerk revealing that he has always been jealous of the Cooper Clan, and that he turned himself into an immortal machine fueled by his own jealousy and hatred toward the Coopers. Clockwerk recruited the Fiendish Five for the sole purpose of destroying the Cooper family's legacy. Clockwerk also revealed that the reason why he and the Fiendish Five left Sly alive after they killed his parents was to prove that since the ''Thievius Raccoonus'' was stolen, Sly would be useless and weak without it, as Clockwerk wanted to prove that the Cooper Line was nothing without their family heirloom. Sly replies that the ''Thievius Raccoonus'' doesn't create great thieves, and that it only takes great thieves to create the ''Thievius Raccoonus'', and proceeds to destroy Clockwerk's body and head. After the battle is over and Clockwerk is defeated, Carmelita moves to arrest Sly since their temporary truce is done with, but agrees to give him a ten-second head start. Sly kisses her at the last second while also handcuffing her to a rail, running off with his gang in celebration as Carmelita angrily swears to hunt him down. Sly, Bentley and Murray make it back to their hideout and manage to reassemble and restore the ''Thievius Raccoonus'' with all of the complete pages they recovered, with Sly finally completing his life-long goal to avenge his family line and steal back his birthright. The gang still stay together and pull off new heists with the now recovered ''Thievius Raccoonus''.

After the credits, one of Clockwerk's eyes flashes open, indicating that he is still alive.

The storyline of ''Megaman Network Transmission'' takes place during the first decade of the 21st century ("200X"), one month after the original ''Megaman Battle Network''. Following the defeat of the "Life Virus", the ultimate weapon of Dr. Wily and the "WWW (World Three)" organization, Lan Hikari and his network navigator (NetNavi) MegaMan.EXE return to a life of ease. However, no sooner does Lan begin to relax when he hears of a mysterious and destructive computer virus called the "Zero Virus" that infects Navis and causes mayhem via his personal information terminal (PET) e-mail. Lan has other qualms to deal with however, receiving an e-mail detailing fellow NetNavi Roll.EXE being trapped in the internet. MegaMan goes to save her, finding an infected FireMan.EXE as the cause of trouble. Defeating him, the duo talk to FireMan's operator, Mr. Match, and learn of the vaccine being distributed to amend the Zero Virus is actually doing just the opposite, having caused FireMan to go berserk.

Confirming this with Lan's father, Dr. Yuichiro Hikari, the two set out to search for the cure of the problem, finding many situations of pragmatic Navis infected and causing mayhem. Stopping all of them and returning them to their respective operators, the two eventually discover more clues leading to the remnants of the WWW. It is revealed that a powerful Navi called StarMan.EXE has been distributing the virus. After defeating StarMan, MegaMan and Lan engage in a climactic battle against the powerful super virus Zero himself. However, at the conclusion of the battle, just as the finishing blow is about to be delivered to Zero, the heroes discover he is not evil. Lan's father then transforms him into a full-fledged Navi. However, their happiness is short-lived as a former member of the WWW simply named "Professor" reveals this was all part of his scheme to revive the dreaded Life Virus. Analyzing clues, MegaMan and Lan engage and defeat the second Life Virus and use Zero's observation powers to eventually bring the Professor to justice. There is dialogue at the end of the game between ShadowMan.EXE and his operator Mr. Dark, leading the plot into the next chronological installment, ''Mega Man Battle Network 2''.

Alexandra "Alex" Mack is an ordinary teenage girl, living with her parents, George and Barbara, and prodigious older sister, Annie, in the industrial town of Paradise Valley, Arizona. The town is largely funded around Paradise Valley Chemical, a chemical factory that employs most of the adult residents, although the factory's staff and history are notoriously shady. While walking home after her first day of junior high school, saddened by an embarrassing encounter with a boy and bullied for having a ''Trollz'' lunchbox, Alex is nearly hit by a truck from Paradise Valley Chemical, and during the incident, she is accidentally drenched with GC-161, an experimental substance developed by the factory. She soon discovers that it has given her strange powers, including telekinesis, shooting electricity from her fingers, and the ability to dissolve into a mobile puddle of water. Alex finds this exciting and fun, however, her powers prove to be unpredictable (occasionally, her skin glows a bright yellow when she is nervous). She confides only in Annie and her best friend Ray, choosing to keep her powers a secret from everyone else, including her parents, for fear of what the chemical factory's CEO, Danielle Atron, will do to her if she finds out.

Series overview

The series evolves from Seasons 1–4 from innocent hijinks to darker connotations; Seasons 1–2 mostly deal with cheerful misadventures and comedic encounters with incompetent Paradise Valley Chemical staff Vince and Dave. Seasons 3–4 take on a more serious and dark development, in which it is revealed that Danielle Atron had been developing GC-161 as far back as the 1970s, and that she may have had fellow scientists and researchers systematically assassinated to cover up GC-161's mutagenic effects on people.

Subplots of the series included Barbara Mack going back to college as a mature student, Alex and her friends being targeted by a school bully, Alex's crush, Scott, turning out to be a fairweather friend, and Louis Driscoll befriending Alex and Ray after moving to Paradise Valley as a new student. Vince, meanwhile, is fired in Season 3, replaced by an asocial Vienna-born scientist named Lars Frederickson. Vince makes frequent reappearances as a guest character, obsessed with trying to get his job back. While Alex was initially bullied by an older student named Jessica in Season 1, Jessica's actress, Jessica Alba, left for other projects and the character was replaced with Kelly, a preppy but mean-spirited cheerleader, and later Jo (the aforementioned school bully who goes after Alex and Ray).

In Season 4, Alex develops a serious relationship with Hunter, a new boy in town. She initially believes he is infatuated with Danielle Atron after discovering what appears to be a love shrine to the woman in his bedroom, but Hunter is revealed to be investigating Danielle's potential involvement in the death of his scientist father by drowning. Alex shares her first kiss with Hunter.

The plot revolves around a series of couples in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Augie Morosco (John Candy) is a reformed gambler whose wife Elena Morosco (Ornella Muti) (playing a similar character to her role in ''Oscar'') is concluding a business deal, Neil Schwary (James Belushi) is a gambler looking to strike it big and whose wife Marilyn Schwary (Cybill Shepherd) is hoping to buy some designer clothes. Julian Peters (Richard Lewis) and Phoebe (Sean Young) met each other in Rome and are attempting to return a dachshund to the wealthy Madam Van Dougan.

Madam Van Dougan is found murdered and the interactions between Julian and Phoebe and the other couples begin to look increasingly suspicious, as Inspector Bonnard (Giancarlo Giannini) needs to unravel the clues. Over the course of the film, Augie returns to gambling, Elena has an affair and Julian sells and repurchases the dog.

The United States and the Soviet Union have both developed technology that can miniaturize matter by shrinking individual atoms, but only for one hour.

Scientist Dr. Jan Benes, working behind the Iron Curtain, has figured out how to make the process work indefinitely. With the help of American intelligence agents, including agent Charles Grant, he escapes to the West, but an attempted assassination leaves him comatose with a blood clot in his brain that no surgery can remove from the outside.

To save his life, Grant, Navy pilot Captain Bill Owens, medical chief and circulatory specialist Dr. Michaels, surgeon Dr. Peter Duval, and his assistant Cora Peterson are placed aboard a Navy ichthyology submarine at the Combined Miniature Deterrent Forces facilities. The submarine, named ''Proteus'', is then miniaturized to "about the size of a microbe", and injected into Benes' body. The team has 60 minutes to get to and remove the clot; after this, ''Proteus'' and its crew will begin reverting to their normal size, become vulnerable to Benes's immune system, and kill Benes.

The crew faces many obstacles during the mission. An undetected arteriovenous fistula forces them to detour through the heart, where cardiac arrest must be induced to, at best, reduce turbulence that would be strong enough to destroy ''Proteus''. As the crew faces an unexplained loss of oxygen and must replenish their supply in the lungs, Grant finds the surgical laser needed to destroy the clot was damaged from the turbulence in the heart, as it was not fastened down as it had been before: this and his safety line snapping loose while the crew was refilling their air supply has Grant begin to suspect a saboteur is on the mission. The crew must cannibalize their wireless radio to repair the laser, cutting off all communication and guidance from the outside, although because the sub is nuclear powered, surgeons and technicians outside Benes's body are still able to track their movements via a radioactive tracer, allowing General Alan Carter and Colonel Donald Reid, the officers in charge of CMDF, to figure out the crew's strategies as they make their way through the body. The crew is then forced to pass through the inner ear, requiring all outside personnel to make no noise to prevent destructive shocks, but while the crew is removing reticular fibers clogging the sub's vents and making the engines overheat, a fallen surgical tool causes the crew to be thrown about and Cora is nearly killed by antibodies, but they are able to reboard the sub in time. By the time they finally reach the clot, the crew has only six minutes remaining to operate and then exit the body.

Before the mission, Grant had been briefed that Duval was the prime suspect as a potential surgical assassin, but as the mission progresses, he instead begins to suspect Michaels. During the surgery, Dr. Michaels knocks out Owens and takes control of ''Proteus'' while the rest of the crew is outside for the operation. As Duval finishes removing the clot with the laser, Michaels tries to crash the submarine into the same area of Benes' brain to kill him. Grant fires the laser at the ship, causing it to veer away and crash, and Michaels to get trapped in the wreckage with the controls pinning him to the seat, which attracts the attention of white blood cells. While Grant saves Owens from the ''Proteus'', Michaels is killed when a white blood cell consumes the ship. The remaining crew quickly swim to one of Benes' eyes and escape through a tear duct seconds before returning to normal size.

Thanks to falsified dental records supplied by his former neighbor Nicholas "Oz" Ozeransky, retired hitman Jimmy "The Tulip" Tudeski spends his days compulsively cleaning his house and perfecting his culinary skills with his wife, Jill, a purported assassin who has yet to pull off a "clean" hit everyone she is hired to kill dies in bizarre accidents before she has a chance. Oz now owns a dental practice in California and has married Jimmy's ex-wife Cynthia and expecting their first child, but the relationship is strained by Oz's excessive paranoia as well as Cynthia's secret continued contact with Jimmy.

Their lives are further complicated by the return of Laszlo Gogolak, Jimmy's former mob boss and father figure, whose son Janni was killed by Jimmy and Jill while Laszlo was in prison. Having deduced that Jimmy faked his death, Laszlo abducts Cynthia and threatens Oz to try to learn Jimmy's location, but Oz escapes. A desperate Oz contacts Jimmy and Jill, but Jimmy refuses to help until Laszlo's men attack, having followed Oz to Jimmy.

Capturing Laszlo's remaining son Strabovitz, Jimmy offers to trade Strabo for Cynthia. Oz triggers further conflict between Jimmy and Jill when he reveals Jimmy still wears a crucifix from Cynthia. At a bar, Jimmy becomes increasingly depressed at his failure to father a child with Jill, and aggravates Oz by discussing his and Cynthia's old sex life, culminating in Oz and Jimmy becoming so drunk they wake up in the same bed.

Frustrated by her poor sex life with Jimmy, Jill attempts to seduce Oz but is interrupted by Jimmy, who knocks Oz out and regains his passion for Jill and his work as the two have sex in the bathroom. Re-arming themselves at Oz's house, the three are attacked by an unknown marksman and Strabo is killed in the crossfire. Jimmy insults Jill’s capabilities and coldly dismisses Oz; Jill leaves. Oz retreats to his practice where he is met by Jimmy, who apologizes for recent events. The two are chloroformed by Oz's new receptionist Julie, revealed to be the sister of Frankie Figgs, seeking revenge for Oz and Jimmy's role in her brother's death.

Waking up beside Cynthia and Jimmy in Laszlo's apartment, Oz is shocked to learn that the entire situation has been planned by Jimmy and Cynthia to find Laszlo's half of the first dollar he ever stole, which he had torn and divided between Jimmy and Yanni as kids. As Laszlo prepares to kill them, Jill arrives, having tied up Strabo's body in her car with explosives to appear alive, and threatens to detonate unless Laszlo releases Oz and Cynthia. Asking to join Laszlo's organization, Jill is ordered to kill Jimmy, who tells her she'll never be a successful hitter before she shoots him in the heart.

Jill's car explodes as Laszlo's men try release Strabo, revealing Jill was in on the plan and shot Jimmy with blanks. Jules is exposed as the shooter who killed Strabo, and Laszlo shoots her. Jimmy, unable to kill the man who raised him, has Jill shoot Laszlo in the foot. Jimmy and Cynthia further reveal that Laszlo's half of the dollar combines with Jimmy’s to reveal the number for a $280 million bank account. Jill reveals she is pregnant, and the four drive away as Laszlo is arrested.

In 1585, Catholic Spain, ruled by King Philip of Spain (Jordi Mollà), is the most powerful country in the world. Seeing Protestant England as a threat, and in retaliation for English piracy of Spanish ships, Philip plots to take over England and make his daughter, Isabella, the Queen of England in Elizabeth's place. Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth I (Cate Blanchett) of England is pressured by her advisor, Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush), to marry – if she dies childless, the throne will pass to her first cousin, once removed, Mary, Queen of Scots (Samantha Morton), who is Catholic.

English explorer Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen) is presented at Queen Elizabeth's English court, having returned from the New World. Queen Elizabeth is attracted to Raleigh, enthralled by his tales of exploration, and asks Bess Throckmorton (Abbie Cornish), her most favored lady-in-waiting, to observe him. Bess also finds Raleigh attractive and they begin a secret affair. With tensions strained between England and Spain, Elizabeth seeks guidance from her astrologer, Dr. John Dee.

Jesuits in London conspire with Philip to assassinate Queen Elizabeth and replace her with Queen Mary, in what King Philip calls "The English Enterprise", historically known as the Babington Plot. From her imprisonment, Queen Mary sends secret correspondence to the Jesuits, who recruit Anthony Babington to assassinate Elizabeth. Walsingham continues to warn Queen Elizabeth of Spain's rising power and of the Catholics' plots against her, but unlike her predecessor and half-sister Mary I of England, Elizabeth refuses to force her people to share her religious beliefs.

Walsingham's Catholic brother, who knows of the plot against Elizabeth, is jailed, leading Walsingham to reveal Spain's plan to Queen Elizabeth, who angrily confronts the Spanish diplomats. The Spanish ambassador feigns ignorance, accuses Queen Elizabeth of receiving Spanish gold from pirates, and insinuates that she has a sexual relationship with Raleigh. Enraged, Elizabeth throws the Spaniards out of court. Meanwhile, Philip is cutting down the forests of Spain to build the Spanish Armada to invade England. Mary writes letters condoning the plot.

Babington storms into a cathedral where Elizabeth is praying and fires a pistol at her, though Elizabeth is unharmed as there was no bullet in the gun. As Elizabeth learns of Mary's involvement in the plot, Walsingham insists Mary be executed to quell any possible revolt. Elizabeth reluctantly agrees. Mary is tried for high treason and beheaded; Walsingham realizes this was part of the Jesuits' plan all along: Philip never intended for Mary to become queen, but with the Pope and other Catholic leaders regarding Mary as the true Queen of England, Philip uses Mary's death to obtain papal approval for war. The "murder" of the last legitimate Catholic in the line of succession gives Philip the pretext he needs to invade England and remove Elizabeth, leaving the way to the English throne free for his own daughter.

Bess reveals to Raleigh that she is pregnant with his child, and pleads with him to leave. Instead, the couple marries in secret. When Elizabeth confronts Bess, she confesses her pregnancy and that Raleigh is her husband. An infuriated Elizabeth berates Bess, reminding her that she cannot marry without royal consent. She banishes Bess from court and has Raleigh imprisoned for the crime of seducing a ward of the Queen.

As the Spanish Armada begins its approach up the English Channel, Elizabeth forgives Bess and sets Raleigh free to join Sir Francis Drake in the battle. The ships of the Armada vastly outnumber England's, but a storm blows the Armada toward the beaches, endangering its formation and becoming vulnerable to English fire ships. Elizabeth, atop her coastal headquarters, walks out to the cliffs and watches the Spanish Armada sink in flames as the English prevail.

She visits Raleigh and Bess and blesses their child. Elizabeth appears to triumph personally through her ordeal, again resigned to her role as the Virgin Queen and mother to the English people.

Pebbles, who now works for an ad agency and Bamm-Bamm, who works in a car repair shop, decide to get married after Bamm-Bamm proposes with a poem, in the middle of the street (after Pebbles mistakenly thinks he was trying to dump her when Bamm-Bamm read her a letter that started "Dear Pebbles"). However, Fred loses the family savings when he bet it on his team, the Bedrock Brontos. Fred tries asking for a raise from Mr. Slate, but is dismissed from his job because of his violent temper.

Fred enlists Barney's help in bringing more money for the wedding, but they fail, losing Barney's money to a real estate con artist and becoming more in debt than before. Meanwhile, Wilma's mother Pearl Slaghoople arrives to help with the wedding. Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm decide to elope in Rock Vegas because of their parents' arguing and fighting. Wilma and Betty discover the truth about Fred and Wilma's nest egg, and Fred is forced out of the house. After seeing that even Dino’s mad at him, Fred finally realizes the error of his ways and decides to fix his mistakes. Reconciling with Barney, Wilma, Betty and Pearl, Fred asks Barney to help search for Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm.

Fred and Barney travel to Rock Vegas looking for Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm. They stop at a casino where Barney wins more money. They are attacked by the Wedding Whackers gang after mistaking them for Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm getting married and took a photo of them robbing a newlywed couple. Shortly afterwards they are rescued by Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm. During the chase, the photo of the Wedding Whackers is destroyed, so the four are captured as suspects of being the marriage whackers, along with the real marriage whackers.

While in detainment, Fred reveals all the trouble he has gone through to try to help Pebbles with her wedding ceremony which leads the marriage whackers to reveal to their crimes, to the dismay of the Whackers' mother. Since Barney made a lot of money on his casino wins on the big wheel, they can use it to pay for the wedding, replace their nest eggs and pay off their debts. Fred, Barney, Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm finally reunite with Wilma, Betty and the others. Mr. Slate rehires Fred, and Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm get married, with Fred, Barney, Dino, Wilma and Betty as the happy ones seeing them getting married. Fred gets his job back from Mr Slate and is given a raise after being invited to the wedding. At the end, Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm reveal they are moving to Hollyrock with Barney paying their way with his share of the Rock Vegas winnings, at which Fred gets angry with Barney and they start to fight again.

Act I, Scene I

Johnson and Smith, who has just come to the city from the country, meet by chance and begin talking about the new plays that are currently being shown. The author and director of a new play, Bayes, appears and introduces his production to the two men, boasting about the greatness of his work. Lacking inspiration for original material, Bayes steals all of his ideas from different epics and plays of the time, as well as classical authors such as Seneca and Pliny. Wanting to show off his play, he offers to bring Johnson and Smith to a rehearsal.

When the three men arrive at the rehearsal stage, the actors are seen struggling to understand how they should portray their roles. Bayes continually intervenes to explain what's going on in the play to Smith and Johnson and also to direct the players.

Because it lacks logic or continuity, Smith constantly asks Bayes about the plot of the play. However, Bayes asserts that Smith doesn't understand because he's been in the country for too long. Johnson spurs Bayes on, because he wants to see the foolishness of the play and to irritate his close friend Smith.

One proposed prologue or perhaps epilogue of Bayes’ play features the characters Thunder and Lightning, who threaten the audience. The prologue is ludicrous and Smith once again questions Bayes about what's happening. Bayes defends himself and the play by stating that it is a "new way of writing." Because at first he doesn't understand that Smith is criticising, Bayes just answers all the questions as if they were purely academic queries and not patronising questions.

Act II, Scene I

Bayes introduces his play, and claims that it will begin with two men whispering to one another. The egotistical playwright justifies the whispering on the grounds that they're politicians and not supposed to talk about matters of state. We later discover the two men are plotting against the two kings of Brentford, and Bayes wants to foreshadow the future overthrowing of the kings.

Act II, Scene II

Two kings enter the stage, hand in hand. They begin speaking of the whispering between the usher and the physician which Smith once again questions, as the kings were not present in the previous scene. Bayes faults the actors by saying they should have entered earlier.

Act II, Scene III

Yet another new actor comes out as Prince Pretty-man and immediately falls asleep, allegedly as a symptom of his love for Cloris. A woman actress enters, supposedly Prince Pretty-man's love interest, whom he describes as "a blazing comet." Prince Pretty-man falls asleep again, then suddenly awakes, declaring "it" is resolved. No one is sure, other than Bayes, what "it" is. When questioned, Bayes declares that this is the new style of writing, where one doesn't need to explain oneself.

Act II, Scene IV

The whispering conspirators return, apprehensive that their whispers from the opening scene were overheard. This scene, according to Bayes, is meant to show the audience how businessmen ought to discuss business. In light of their predicament, the two actors pull out their swords and claim the two thrones; somehow this indicates that these two men have overthrown the kings and are now the new kings. They exit triumphantly.

Act II, Scene V

Four actor-soldiers enter and kill one another. Despite their deaths, they are expected to stand up and perform a difficult dance. Bayes offers abusive criticism on their dancing. The actors complain that they are unable to dance to this music, since it begins fast and ends slow. Bayes attempts to show them how it's done, but falls on his face, breaking his nose.

Act III, Scene I

Act III begins after Bayes's injury from his previous fall, whereupon he tells Johnson and Smith he plans to end every act with a dance. Bayes then continues to describe his style of writing, adding that some scenes of his play might be entirely unnecessary to the plot, but are full of "Wit" and are very popular in the "new style" of writing. In fact, the further the play continues, the less sense it makes, and the more Bayes defends it. Discussion continues to include Bayes' approval of such devices as "songs, ghosts, and dances," as a way of filling the theatre seats. Finally, Bayes calls his play a "Touch-stone," and says he will be able to judge the character of any man by observing his reaction to the play.

Act III, Scene II

Scene 2 of the play includes 3 major plot developments: the mysterious death, the fisherman/prince conundrum, and the boots/love affair.

The scene begins with the revelation that someone has died; however, exactly who has died is a rather obscure matter. Cordelio enters with a message that is difficult to grasp because all the audience can understand is that someone has died based on one person's words from one kingdom through another's words, incomprehensible. Smith questions Bayes on the identity of who has died, and Bayes still refuses to reveal the character, even suggesting that "she" may still not be dead.

The supposed killer is a fisherman, whom Prince Pretty-Man had believed was his father. Bayes expects his audience to already know that the Prince was a foundling raised as a son by the fisherman, information that was not given during the earlier scenes of the play. The prince then finds out that he is not actually the fisherman's son. He is disturbed by this because he would rather be the son of a fisherman than a bastard.

Prince Volscius falls in love with a barmaid's daughter, who ignores his advances. He is putting on his boots while talking about his love and how he feels love sick. He is giving the boot-putting-on process a second meaning. Boot-putting-on process = indecision. Bayes, Johnson, and Smith talk about this dilemma as if it were a real struggle. The scene concludes with a dance to top off the act – Bayes's signature.

Act IV, Scene I

This scene is centred around a funeral. The funeral is for a new made-up character, Lardella, who drowned at sea. Bayes has created her brother as well, Drawcansir, a fierce warrior-hero in the play who "frights his mistress, snubs up kings, baffles Armies, and does what he will, without regard to good manners, justice or numbers." (4.1)

Act IV Scene I begins with Bayes’ reading of a letter that he wrote from Lardella as her final words, to be written to her cousin, the King. This final note is a ridiculous metaphor comparing herself to a "humble bee" forever to buzz around in the after-life, essentially haunting the king for the rest of his life. The two usurpers both loved Lardella, and are determined to stab themselves rather than live without her. However, Pallas intervenes and informs them that Lardella is actually alive and they should have a banquet in place of the funeral. To add to the ridiculous scene, Pallas presents a lance full of wine, a pie in her helmet, and a buckler made of cheese. This "nuptial banquet" is then interrupted by Drawcansir's arrival. He snatches the usurper's bowls of wine, threatening anyone who would try to prevent him: "Who e'er to gulp one drop of this dares think I'l stare away his very pow'r to drink. I drink, I huff, I strut, look big and stare, And all this I can do, because I dare."

Act IV Scene II

Bayes introduces the next scene in which Prince Pretty-Man and Prince Volscius argue because they love two different women. They are arguing over whose woman is better. Bayes keeps interjecting comments about how excellent the lines are. Pretty-Man starts out saying how he wants to talk to Volscius about something. Volscius response that he will listen but there is no way that Pretty-Man's love is greater than his. Pretty-Man and Volscius begin to go back and forth arguing about how great their loves are. They declare their loves are so divine that even gods cannot compare. Their comparisons are very extreme and outlandish. Parthenope is the woman that Prince Volscius loves and Cloris is she whom Prince Pretty-Man loves. At the end of the scene the argument is not actually resolved, because Bayes drops his wig. Johnson wonders why the scene is suddenly all in verse in comparison to the rest of the play and Bayes's responds that the subject is too lofty for prose. Bayes continues to congratulate himself on the magnificence of his writing.

Act V

At the very beginning of Act V Bayes introduces a scene with many characters including the two usurper kings, four cardinals, and two princes, as well as many of the lovers and the two usurper kings. Two cardinals are dressed differently from the others but Bayes won't tell them why this is important. Then the scene changes with Bayes bragging about Amaryllis speaking very well about the situation. Amaryllis speaks two words and is then cut off by music. The usurpers that are on the thrones perceive that the real kings are coming, and decide to leave. Then the rightful kings descend on clouds singing, symbolising their divine right to rule. Bayes tries to emphasise the kings’ importance by having them speak in rhyme. However the kings’ speech is garbled nonsense. At the end of the speech, fiddlers come out and the kings say they are going to play a coranto. Meanwhile, the fiddlers play a totally irrelevant song. Smith points out that the way the kings are speaking is just confusing. Bayes defends himself by explaining they need to speak in rhyme because they came down from the clouds. The kings call for a dance before they discuss "serious counsel." The kings’ army then arrives to warn thekings that war approaches. The kings pay them, and while Amaryllis is trying to speak again a fight breaks out over the money sent to the army. The kings flee.

At this point Bayes is trying to defend his play from Johnson and Smith. This happens in an interim in acts between the play. They talk about having a fight scene, and Bayes says that there is one coming up. The fight scene is a mockery of fighting because the two actors meant to fight the war each have a lute in one hand and a sword in the other. They carry out their battle in the form of a recitative, each singing of the battle to be fought by huge armies. Bayes says the battle is interrupted by a double eclipse in the form of a dance. Luna is concealed by her veil, like an eclipse, and calls for earth to appear. The sun soon joins them. They dance. Bayes calls an end to the eclipse and another battle ensues. Bayes calls out commands for the battle. The soldiers, some on hobby horses, fight, and one man, Drawcansir, comes in and kills everyone on both sides. Drawcansir then has a brief monologue about how good a fighter he is. He has apparently killed thousands of people and he thinks he stronger than other heroes of literature. He exits.

Johnson and Smith suggest that the dead characters cannot be carried offstage, since there is no one to carry them. Bayes finds this ridiculous because they are not actually dead, so he commands the soldiers to just walk off stage because the audiences knows that they are not actually dead, then he steps out to speak to "Mr. Ivory." Johnson and Smith leave before he returns. Bayes and the players return and Bayes wonders where the men went and goes to find them. One of the actors reads a paper that Bayes left behind that is another bit of "plot." These actors leave for dinner. Bayes enters again; he couldn't find the gentlemen. He then ridicules them for leaving his play early. The stage manager enters, and says that all of the other players have left. Bayes is insulted and starts ranting about how horrible the players are. He says he wants to sell the play to another theatre. He leaves, resolving to take his play with him. Then the remaining players all go to dinner after a short dance.

The epilogue says that there has been no plot to this play. There is also no wit. The remainder is to deplore that plays in that time are ridiculous and nonsensical. The epilogue hopes no more such plays will be written.

Setting

All of the novels take place in the same fantasy universe, spanning a time period of almost two thousand years.

Within this universe, all matter is aligned with two competing forces: order and chaos. In their natural state, these forces are equally matched, in a condition called Balance. These two forces can be seen as fantasy representations of the natural entropy (chaos) that occurs in matter, balanced by the various molecular forces (order) that bind matter into structured forms. These forces are understood, at a basic level, by all inhabitants of the world. The colour white is identified with chaos; black with order. The first published novel explains it this way: white is the chaotic combination of all wavelengths of visible light, while black is the absence of this light. The extreme of either is undesirable...for a human, perfect chaos is destruction, perfect order is death.

Rare individuals within the universe possess the inborn ability to manipulate these forces. White wizards can draw chaos from a surrounding area and focus it into bolts of flame. Black mages can concentrate order into matter, making it unnaturally strong. A more limited "subclass" of black mage which

is generally acceptable, even highly desirable, even in white chaos dominated societies is the healer. Both forces can be used to kill or to shield. Both types of wielders can, to a degree, detect the presence of both forces. People who are being deceptive, infections, and toxins emanate chaos of differing types discernible by a trained wielder.

Openly gray mages are extremely rare. They manipulate both order and chaos. They are among the most powerful characters in the series. They can prolong their lives and perform awesome magical feats. It is hinted that some black mages could have become gray if they had decided to, and many of the white wizards are implied to be secretly gray, and they may not even be aware of this. "Grays" can choose the lifestyle of a Druid. Druids live in seclusion and are far less known, most in the Great Forest of Naclos. They exercise magic differently.

Part of the plot in each novel involves protagonists discovering novel ways to wield chaos and order. Individuals vary significantly in innate magical strength and in skill at wielding it. They improve through exerting themselves through practice, developing new techniques via personal experimentation, and by studying written lore (which is scant and cryptic).

The manipulation of chaos comes at a price: over time, it can permeate a wizard, accelerating the deterioration of everything around him or her (example: wine turning to vinegar almost before the wizard can drink it). Those wizards who channel chaos through their bodies (nearly all of them) have short lifespans, inversely proportional to the amount of chaos they raise. Some have found ways to reduce this effect. Additionally, any living being that is exposed to much chaos (such as the inhabitants of Fairhaven) experiences a burning sensation upon touching an ordered object, akin to touching an extremely cold object. The effect's severity is proportional to the accumulated chaos. For White Wizards, the result is often death.

The manipulation of order has costs too. Wielding it carelessly can drain a mage of the order needed to sustain life (example: absent-mindedly stroking one's wooden staff). Exceptional mages in the series discover ways to use order to funnel chaos, working around their inability to manipulate chaos directly. This is effective in combat but these actions backlash on the wielder because death itself releases chaos. The unleashed chaos harms the mage. It can cause disorientation, even sensory deprivation, for timespans proportional to the amount of destruction.

The original wielders of magic were marooned on the world of Recluce from another universe, where they were space-farers engaged in a protracted war, and most of the novels take place long after these arrivals, however, ''Fall of Angels'' does provide a brief glimpse into that other universe. The reader first discovers this through quotes and legends peppered throughout the series. The preexisting native population had developed something approximating medieval technology. The new arrivals could not keep their technology operational, but found the same skill with which they interfaced with their ship, allowed them to manipulate latent forces within the new world.

The ancestors of the people who would rule empires powered and dominated by white chaos were stranded first, they were the Rationalists (aka "Rats", or "Demons"). They would found an empire, Cyador, that would destroy the majority of the Great Forest, what they call The Accursed Forest, enclosing the remainder inside a great wall, and dominated the East of the continent of Candar. This empire would be patriarchal and could be oppressive to women in varying degrees through its history, but a genteel and paternal sort of oppression, in contrast to the "native" misogynists, who are more predatory and crude.

The ancestors of those who would predominantly wield black order known as Angels, were marooned 600 years later, and would found two authoritarian, militaristic, matriarchal, vaguely misandrist states on Candar and generally fought native opponents rather than their Rationalist counterparts. The series is named for a black order-based island state which was founded by two powerful individuals from those states, abandoning the matriarchy and vague misandry in favor of a more modern (but not fully) outlook. However it does evolve an intolerance for anything that threatens its highly successful order-based homogeneity, banishing anyone they believe to be undesirable, chaos wielders and those unwilling or unable to fit in to Recluce society alike.

The technology, weaponry, and ideology of each culture is reflected in the magical abilities, hair colour, and world views of their descendants in the Recluce universe. Offspring can usually inherit magical abilities, and talent for both black order and white chaos appeared in the descendants of both groups, although one was generally favored over the other, if the other wasn't oppressed or shunned.

The arrival of the Angels is described in ''Fall of Angels'': a space warship, the ''Winterlance'', is part of an Angel fleet attacking a Rationalist blockade. The Angels are losing. During the battle, an exceptional event occurs: energy weapons of opposite types align and focus on the Winterlance. The result is surprising: instead of being destroyed, the ship materializes elsewhere. From various evidence, the crew concludes that they are in an alternate universe, ruled by different physical laws. The ship no longer functions but it is close to a habitable planet, and the crew crash lands there. Soon, individuals discover strange talents and physical changes (such as hair colour) that will ultimately become linked to order magic. Upon contacting the planet's locals, they discover that Rationalists are also present on the planet.

Chronology

Chronologically, the series spans 1,855 years. The story actually begins well before even the earliest novel, with the arrival of the "demons of light" from another universe. Using their manifest chaos powers as well as their advanced technology, these people create an empire called Cyador, on the continent of Candar. While the series is named after Recluce, that island is uninhabited for the first millennium of the story.

The first two books, chronologically, are ''Magi'i of Cyador'' and ''Scion of Cyador'', which describe the operation of the Cyador army and its battles against the natives of Candar. These novels primarily serve to flesh out a formerly unknown part of the history of the universe. The story does establish one key element in the history of Cyador: the ultimate decline of the advanced technology of the Rationalists. Initially, upon landing on a mostly-uninhabited part of one of the world's continents, the Rationalists (later known as Demons) managed to create a number of advanced mechanical devices, powered by chaos. They also erected a number of collection towers that were used to focus chaos into these devices. By the time of the first novel, these towers are failing, and the empire is losing the ability to maintain its advanced technology. The opening of ''Magi'i of Cyador'' is usually considered "Year 1" in the history of Recluce.

''The Fall of Angels'', 400 years later, details the arrival of the Angels and the founding of the female-dominated city of Westwind. Unlike the Demons, the Angels manipulate order. Of note are two specific angels, Nylan and Ryba, who would become legendary figures in coming novels. Ryba develops a talent for prophecy. Her extensive writings are quoted by future generations as ''The Book of Ryba'', while Nylan develops the foundations of order magic. Nylan also fathers the child Weryl. In ''The Chaos Balance'', Nylan leaves Westwind for a more direct confrontation with Cyador. By this time, the fire-wagons and fire-lances that were once central to the empire have vanished, and the empire is fully dependent on its chaos wizards. The ultimate result of this confrontation is the founding of the Druids, which take up residence in a magically active forest called The Accursed Forest by the natives, but The Great Forest of Naclos in later generations.

Set ten years after the events in ''The Chaos Balance'', ''Arms-Commander'' follows the story of Saryn, the head of the guards of Westwind. She tries to protect Westwind, as political and military problems build in the surrounding countries of Gallos, Lornth, and Suthya. In this novel, characters indicate that almost 10 generations have passed since the reign of Lorn in Cyador.

Decades after the fall of Cyador, ''Cyador's Heirs'' finds its survivors have reestablished themselves in Cigoerne, a fertile country coveted by hostile neighbors in less hospitable lands. Young Lerial, the second son of Duke Kiedron, lives in the shadow of his older brother Lephi, the heir to their father's realm. Lerial's future seems preordained: He will one day command his brother's forces in defense of Cigoerne, serving at his older sibling's pleasure and no more. But when Lerial is sent abroad to be fostered by Major Altyrn to learn the skills and wisdom he will need to fulfill his future duties, he begins a journey into a much larger world that brings out his true potential. Lerial has talents that few, as yet, suspect: he is one of those rare beings who can harness both Order and Chaos, the competing natural forces that shape the world and define the magic that exists within it. And as war finally engulfs the fringes of Cigoerne, Lerial's growing mastery of Order and Chaos is tested to its limits and his own.

Generations after the Angels reshaped the political climate in central Candar, the Prefect of Gallos seeks for an excuse to start another war with Westwind in the opening of ''The Mongrel Mage''. The Prefect sends three white mages with an escort to investigate 'raids' in the bordering plains between the two powers. Those mages are Beltur, his prominent white mage uncle, and his uncle's apprentice. After their findings displease the Prefect and his high mages, Beltur's uncle sacrifices himself so the young man can flee. With the aid of Jessyla, a young healer, Beltur travels to Elparta in Spidlar alongside a black mage named Athaal. Beltur, always considered weak as a white mage, is revealed to be a black, or possibly gray, mage. In Elparta he increases his skills in order magic, finds works serving in the city patrol and helping a coppersmith forge cupridium, and strives to recover from the turmoil of Gallos. Soon, however, he discovers he cannot escape his past, as the Prefect and his white mages decide to conquer Elparta with their powerful army. Recruited into Elparta's defense, Beltur excels as an arms-mage, bolstered by his desire to defend his new home and its people which now includes Jessyla, her mother, and many other recent friends. The victory of Elparta is marred by the loss of Athaal who Beltur was unable to save in battle. In ''Outcasts of Order'' Beltur attempts to return to his daily routine immediately after the war with Gallos but intrigue among the Trader's Council and the local group of black mages removes any chance he has to make Elparta his permanent home. He begins to train the young daughter of a black mage who is destined to be a powerful chaos wielder. Forced to flee after defending himself and his coppersmith partner from two murderous black mages, Beltur travels to Axalt as the request of the smith and with Jessyla as his new consort. Adjusting to a new life in Axalt grows increasingly complicated as once again the powerful are threatened by his presence. When his white mage apprentice and her family are exiled from Elparta they seek refuge with Beltur in Axalt. Despite assistance from the coppersmith's family Beltur, Jessyla and their guests are barely able to secure permission to stay. When he is unable to prevent a murder, Beltur tries to enact some justice for it, but ultimately is forced out of another city. Remembering an invitation from a mysterious trader in Montgren, Beltur and Jessyla travel with the young white mage and her family to the small duchy to seek a better life. Surviving bandit raids and surveying local power structures along the way, Beltur's followers arrive in Montgren to find themselves not only welcome, but expected. The Duchess offers them an enticing prospect - they can become the new council for a practically abandoned town, making it a home shaped in their own image. Beltur accepts and pledges to manage the town, Haven, as a place where mages of both chaos and order will be welcome.

500 years after the arrival of the Angels, in ''The Towers of Sunset'', Cyador is long gone. But, half-way across the continent of Candar, towards the East, is Fairhaven: a city-state ruled by an oligarchy of white wizards. Their prejudices and their written history imply that Fairhaven was founded by descendants of Cyador. Westwind is the bulwark of the matriarchal societies of Western Candar which hold to the Legend of Ryba. Westwind is under threat from the white wizards of the city of Fairhaven, which exerts a great deal of influence over the male-dominated lands of Eastern Candar. A very strong order mage, Creslin, who is suggested to be the son of Weryl and grandson of the first "black mage" Nylan, flees female-dominated Westwind prior to an arranged marriage, only to be pursued by the white wizards who fear his strength. He ultimately escapes Candar, having married a chaos wizard in the process, and sails to the uninhabited island of Recluce. Here, Creslin begins a society based entirely on order magic. We also begin to learn the dangers of widespread order or chaos magic, as Creslin's unskilled efforts to make Recluce habitable cause severe weather elsewhere in the world, including massive storms, hurricanes, floods and droughts.

Several hundred years later, the chaos wizards in Candar have managed to conquer almost the entire continent. Beginning in the year 1190, ''The White Order'' and ''Colors of Chaos'' depict the progress of a young chaos wizard named Cerryl as he rises in the ranks of the white wizards. He is constantly fending off attempts on his life from the extremely powerful wizard Jeslek, who has begun to literally raise mountains from the ground to protect the paved highways the chaos wizards have been creating across Candar. At the same time, in the year 1200, ''The Magic Engineer'' details the journey of Dorrin, an order mage from Recluce. This is the point, both chronologically and to the reader, where the importance of balance between chaos and order starts to become apparent. (There are some hints in this regard in the first novel, but here the underlying causes are explained more fully.) Creslin's attempts to focus order around Recluce have led to an abundance of "free chaos" elsewhere in the world. This has led to increasingly stronger chaos wizards, ultimately leading to the formation of a 'chaos-focus' in the wizard Jeslek, granting him extraordinary strength. This, in turn, is allowing more order to be focused in Recluce, until something catastrophic happens to reset the balance.

Dorrin begins using order magic with his innate engineering talent to create steam-powered machines from order-infused wood and metal. These are capable of containing large amounts of chaos energy. Of particular note are the extremely fast and powerful warships that Recluce begins to build, after Dorrin demonstrates their usefulness. The vast amount of order concentrated in these ships will accelerate the growth of chaos in the world. Dorrin spends some time in Candar fighting off the white wizards, then returns to Recluce to become the first "order engineer" and founds what later becomes the major city on Recluce, named after Nylan from "The Fall of Angels". Meanwhile, Jeslek is ultimately destroyed in his confrontation with Dorrin, leading to Cerryl becoming High Wizard and attempting some measure of truce with Recluce.

In 1500, the story continues with ''Natural Ordermage'' and ''Mage-Guard of Hamor''. It deals with the familiar motif of exile for a budding mage as yet unable and/or unwilling to control his newfound powers, this time on the continent-country of Hamor. The switch (which is a Modesitt trademark) from a pro-Recluce viewpoint to one inside the heretofore vilified Hamorian empire provides a probing look at prejudice, and also lays bare the conflict and corruption within the Recluce society and organizations at that time. Rahl, an apprentice scrivener with no taste for responsibility or accountability, is discovered by the magisters of Recluce to have an inordinately strong grasp of certain order abilities. As their methods are not suited to instruct one such as him he is exiled to Hamor. Caught in the middle of a conspiracy immediately after his arrival, Rahl soon finds himself in the infamous penal ironworks of Luba only to escape them when his abilities surface. As a mage-guard of the Empire he finds himself forced to become more than he was in order to survive first as a patroller and then as an officer in an army during a civil war.

After centuries of relative peace, in 1650, ''The Order War'' depicts the progress of two order mages from Recluce, Justen and Gunnar, as they attempt to defend the last free country in Candar from the white wizards, who have begun to use order-based soldiers to add to their own defense while simultaneously increasing their own chaos powers by increasing the amount of order in the world, as according to the plans of Cerryl from ''The White Order'' and ''Colors of Chaos''. During their journey, Justen transitions himself into a gray mage, and is ultimately driven into the forest of Naclos, where he becomes a Druid. We also meet several legendary figures, including Ayrlyn (the wife of Nylan and one of the original angels) and the still alive Weryl, and learn how the Druids' mastery of both order and chaos has enabled them to keep their bodies alive for thousands of years. Justen leaves the forest and returns to fight the chaos wizards, and uses his newfound knowledge of order and chaos balance mastery to form a tremendous weapon. This weapon unleashes the apocalyptic event that has been building for centuries, drawing on vast amounts of both order and chaos to utterly destroy the chaos wizards' capital city and kill nearly all of the powerful chaos wizards in the process. The result of this is a dramatic reduction in both free order and free chaos in the world.

Another diversionary storyline begins in 1710, with ''Wellspring of Chaos'' and ''Ordermaster'' depicting the life of an unlikely mage named Kharl. This storyline (which spans the continents of Nordla and Austra) tells the story of Kharl's transition from cooper to order-mage. Kharl becomes a powerful self-taught order-mage, an unlikely hero, and reputedly the most powerful black mage outside of Recluce during this time period. The two books flesh out the resistance of Nordla and Austra to the Empire of Hamor's attempts to expand their influence on the two continents. Notable characters from previous books of the series make brief appearances, including the gray wizard Justen. The two books flesh out two of the areas of the world that were mostly ignored in earlier novels and provides insight into the evolution of the Empire of Hamor, which plays a prominent part at the end of the series.

The final part of the saga occurs in the year 1850 and begins with ''The Magic of Recluce''. Gunnar, who has kept himself and his family alive using druidic techniques taught by his brother Justen, sends his son Lerris (who is unaware of his father's history and his own magical potential) to Candar to undertake a rite of passage commonly administered to dissatisfied individuals living in Recluce, especially those who have an affinity or ability for either order or chaos. While exiled to Candar, Lerris meets his uncle Justen, and comes to understand his father's ulterior motives for sending him off. Centuries of dominance by Recluce and their order engineers has once again led to increasingly more powerful chaos wizards in Candar, with one in particular threatening to cause trouble on the scale of the white council. Gunnar has sent Lerris to Candar with the suspicion that a strong order mage and strong chaos wizard will ultimately be drawn into direct conflict, and that Lerris would take care of the problem without Recluce being directly involved. Lerris ultimately defeats the white wizard and settles down in Candar to live as a woodworker.

The climax of the story, 5 years later, in ''The Death of Chaos'' sees the powerful Empire of Hamor, the oldest inhabited continent in the world, has been using the relative instability of the rest of the world to consolidate its power, building an enormous fleet of steel warships armed with powerful canons. In the final climactic battle on the shores of Recluce, Lerris and his family use their mastery of order and chaos to forcibly impose a balance on the world, unleashing vast amounts of subterranean lava directly into the ocean beneath the invading Hamorian forces. In the end, Lerris uses the vast amounts of order in Recluce to bind all of the free chaos into small, balanced units (again, strongly reminiscent of particle physics). The result is the destruction of nearly all of the order and chaos magic in the world, including Lerris's family (which was being kept alive by magic) and even parts of the continent of Recluce itself.

Aside from the titanic magical battles, the book introduces the unique character of Lerris - wielder of enormous, literally earth-shaking magical power, yet whose true passion and vocation is woodworking and creating exquisite pieces of furniture by completely material tools and with no use of magic. At the concluding scene of the book - and so far, of the entire series - Lerris, deeply scarred from the final cataclysmic battle, is happy to leave magic behind him and settle into the life of a skilled craftsman.

Alfred J. Kwak was born as the son of Johan Sebastian and Anna Kwak. Some time after his birth, Alfred loses his parents and his brothers and sisters after a car hits them. Henk the mole, a good friend of the Kwak family, raises the little orphan duck. Alfred experiences a lot of adventures.

Unlike many other cartoons targeted for children, ''Alfred J. Kwak'' features exceptionally mature and often dark themes. Amongst others it deals with different social and political issues, such as abuse of power, but also raises important values such as friendship and solidarity.

The cartoon is also notable for the political themes on which it touches. In the cartoon, Alfred fights against a fascist dictator, takes in refugees fleeing from a country under Apartheid (with white geese and black ducks), saves whales against hunters, and oversees the changeover of his country from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy with a democratically elected president. Such themes are far from typical in a children's cartoon, and form a big part of ''Alfred J. Kwak'''s appeal. Other episodes have satirised the Japanese love of golf, and criticised countries which have sharp north/south economic divides.

The cartoon is also unusual for the subtlety of its long-term narrative. In most children's cartoons, the characters do not age. In ''Alfred J. Kwak'', we see the progress of the main characters from very young children to adulthood as the series advances. This is particularly striking in the character of Dolf, who is initially a mere schoolboy, but who, as time passes, becomes a criminal and a dictator.

Setting

The time setting of the cartoon is somewhat surreal. On the whole the technology and dress of most characters seems appropriate to the late 20th century, and yet Alfred and Paljas/Boffin often travel in a spaceship with a technology far more advanced than that, while many characters such as the king's staff, Scratchpaws the cat, and Dolf in his Napoleonic incarnation wear clothes more appropriate to previous ages. Other surreal elements to the cartoon include such strange characters as the evil genie of the bottle, living chess pieces from Alfred's chess game, Pied Piper style Clown on the Moon, and aliens who appear like ducks except for their human-style feet, and a "dream" style wild West episode during which Dolf seems to become aware that he is a character in a cartoon.

A safari explorer arrived in the jungle one day, and the animal inhabitants decided to cook up a scheme to get rid of him. Bongo the ape volunteered to chase him out with fire. One night, while sleeping peacefully in his tent, the explorer awoke to a fiery sight: the large ape Bongo had lit his tent on fire, but this didn't scare the explorer away. It only strengthened his resolve to push deeper into Bongo's domain and exact revenge for the cruel joke.

''Banana Fish'' is set in the United States in the mid-1980s, primarily New York City. Seventeen-year-old street gang leader Ash Lynx cares for his older brother Griffin, a Vietnam War veteran who has been in a vegetative state since a combat incident in which he fired on his own squadron and uttered the words "banana fish". One night, Ash witnesses two of his gang members kill a man who instructs Ash to "seek banana fish" before dying. The two gang members tell Ash they were acting on orders from Dino Golzine, the head of the Corsican mafia in New York; Ash was formerly an enforcer and child sex slave to Golzine, having been groomed from a young age to become the eventual heir to his criminal empire.

Ash begins to investigate the meaning of "banana fish" while simultaneously endeavoring to dismantle Golzine's criminal operations. He encounters multiple allies and enemies in the course of these efforts: chief among his confidants is Eiji Okumura, a Japanese photographer's assistant who has travelled to New York to complete a report on street gangs, and with whom Ash forms a close bond. It gradually transpires that "banana fish" is a drug developed by an American military doctor during the Vietnam War that brainwashes its users; early versions of the drug were tested on American soldiers, including Griffin, which drove them to insanity. Its perfected formula has been acquired by Golzine, who intends to sell the drug to factions within the United States government, who in turn seek to use it to overthrow communist governments in South America.

Ultimately, Golzine is killed in a climactic battle, his government co-conspirators are exposed as participants in his child sex trafficking ring, and all evidence of the banana fish project is destroyed. Ash comes to recognize the danger he exposes Eiji to, and reluctantly ceases all contact with him. Eiji returns to Japan, though prior to his departure, he writes Ash a letter in which he tells him that "my soul is always with you." While distracted by the letter, Ash is fatally stabbed by a rival gang lieutenant. He staggers into the New York Public Library Main Branch where he dies, smiling and clutching Eiji's letter.

The book follows a typical day for Fungus the Bogeyman, starting when he wakes up and ending just before he falls asleep. As his day progresses, he undergoes a mild existential crisis, pondering what his seemingly pointless job of scaring surface people is really for. He is a member of the Bogey society, which is very similar to British society, but Bogeymen enjoy things which humans (called ''Drycleaners'' because of their contrasting environmental preferences) would not be comfortable around; for example darkness, damp, cold and over-ripe food. The book depicts the mundane details of Bogey life in loving detail, with definitions of Bogey slang and numerous annotations concerning the myths, pets, hobbies, literature, clothing and food of the Bogeys.

Much of the humour derives from word play. For example, Bogeymen are shown to enjoy eating and sharing flies in a similar way to human cigarettes; one brand of fly is the "strong French Gallwasp", a pun on the cigarette ''Gauloises''.

The series focused mostly on Sam, a bald-headed, big-eared human who escaped the harshness of everyday life with the help of abstract friends that he created based on parts of his life. His friends included Yorick, Harry the Hipster, Professor Madcliffe, Chicken Liver, and a lizard-like character named Kermit (who later evolved into Kermit the Frog).

Early in its run, the show mostly featured the puppets lip-synching to popular songs of the day (if the song was by a female performer, the puppet would wear a wig while singing). Later, formal sketches were drawn up, many spoofing well-known television shows at the time, including the series which followed ''Sam and Friends'' in the Washington market, ''The Huntley-Brinkley Report''.

A popular early sketch that would be used often in subsequent Henson productions was "Inchworm", in which a character, often Kermit, would nibble on what looked like a worm, but would ultimately turn out to be the tongue or nose of the monster Big V, who would devour him.

Bob Payne once substituted for Jim Henson while he was in Europe. Jerry Juhl also worked on the show toward the end of its run where he substituted for Jane Henson. Starting in 1959, advertisements for Esskay Meats would appear at the end of the show, as well as Wilkins Coffee (the latter featured two Muppets created exclusively for the spots, "Wilkins" and "Wontkins").

While Payne, Juhl, and Jane Henson all puppeteered in the series alongside Jim Henson, Jim provided all of the voices himself (unless the voices were taken from a record).

Sylvia Barrett, an idealistic English teacher at an inner city high school, hopes to nurture her students' interest in classic literature (especially Chaucer and writing). She quickly becomes discouraged during her first year of teaching, frustrated by bureaucracy, the indifference of her students, and the incompetence of many of her colleagues. The title of the book is taken from a memo telling her why a student was being punished: he had gone "up the down staircase". She decides to leave the public school (government-funded) system to work in a smaller private setting. She changes her mind, though, when she realizes that she has, indeed, touched the lives of her students.

The novel is epistolary; aside from opening and closing chapters consisting entirely of dialogue the story is told through memos from the office, fragments of notes dropped in the trash can, essays handed in to be graded, lesson plans, suggestions dropped in the class suggestion box, and most often by inter-classroom notes that are a dialogue between Sylvia and an older teacher. Sylvia also writes letters to a friend from college who chose to get married and start a family rather than pursuing a career. The letters serve as a recap and summary of key events in the book, and offer a portrait of women's roles and responsibilities in American society in the mid-1960s.

An inter-classroom note in which the older teacher is translating the jargon of the memos from the office includes the memorable epigram Let it be a challenge to you' means you're stuck with it." Calling a trash can a circular file comes from the same memo: Keep on file in numerical order' means throw in waste-basket." Another, "It has come to my attention" means "You're in trouble."

In Tokyo, a disaffected high school student named Light Yagami finds the "Death Note", a mysterious black notebook that can kill anyone as long as the user knows both the target's name and face. Initially terrified of its god-like power, Light considers the possibilities of the Death Note's abilities and kills high-profile Japanese criminals, then targets international criminals. Five days after discovering the notebook, Light is visited by Ryuk, a "shinigami" and the Death Note's previous owner. Ryuk, invisible to anyone who has not touched the notebook, reveals that he dropped the notebook into the human world out of boredom and is amused by Light's actions.

As criminals around the world die from inexplicable accidents and heart attacks, the global media suggest that a single mastermind is responsible for the mysterious murders and name him . Hoping to apprehend Kira, Interpol requests the assistance of an enigmatic consulting detective, known as L, to assist their investigation. Deducing that Kira is based in Japan, L tricks Light into revealing that he is in the Kanto region of Japan by manipulating him to kill a decoy. Furious, Light vows to kill L, whom he views as obstructing his plans. L deduces that Kira has inside knowledge of the Japanese police investigation, being led by Light's father, Soichiro Yagami. Under the suspicion that "Kira" could have family ties with members of the "Kira" investigation, L assigns a team of FBI agents to monitor the families of those connected with the investigation and L learns enough to designate Light as the prime suspect. Around this time, Light graduates from high school to college. L recruits Light into the Kira Task Force, with each trying to get the other to reveal crucial information.

Actress-model Misa Amane, having obtained a second Death Note from a ''shinigami'' named Rem, makes a deal with Rem for ''shinigami'' eyes, which reveal the names of anyone whose face she sees, at the cost of half her lifespan. Seeking to have Light become her boyfriend, Misa uncovers Light's identity as the original Kira, but Light has another motive: he intends to use Misa's ''shinigami'' eyes to discern L's true name. L deduces that Misa is likely the second Kira and detains her. Rem threatens to kill Light if he does not find a way to save Misa. Light arranges a scheme in which he and Misa temporarily lose their memories of the Death Note, and has Rem pass the Death Note to a less morally driven individual, Kyosuke Higuchi of the Yotsuba Group. With memories of the Death Note erased, Light joins the investigation and, together with L, deduce Higuchi's identity and arrest him. Light regains his memories and uses the Death Note to kill Higuchi, regaining possession of the book. After restoring Misa's memories, Light instructs her to begin killing as Kira, causing L to cast suspicion on Misa. With Light insinuating the investigation would lead to Misa's capture and execution, Rem realizes Light's plan all along was to have her sacrifice herself to kill L, as a ''shinigami'' may not kill others to prevent a human's death. After Rem kills L, she disintegrates and Light obtains her Death Note. The task force does not announce L's death and agrees to have Light operate as the new L. With Light working as both L and Kira, the investigation stalls but crime rates continue to drop as he no longer has a threat of capture.

Four years later, cults that worship Kira have risen. Two young men, raised as potential successors to L, are revealed: Near and Mello. Aware that L is dead, they consider Light, the current L, as a prime suspect. Mello, with Mafia assistance, kidnaps Light's sister, resulting in his father's death during a rescue mission. As suspicion falls again on Misa, Light passes Misa's Death Note to a fervent supporter of Kira, Teru Mikami. He also appoints newscaster Kiyomi Takada as Kira's public spokesperson. Realizing that Takada is connected to Kira, Mello kidnaps her. Takada kills Mello but is killed by Light. Near deduces Mikami's connection to Kira and arranges a meeting between Light and the current Kira Task Force members. Light tries to have Mikami kill Near as well as all the task force members, but Mikami's Death Note fails to work, having been replaced with a decoy. Perusing the names Mikami had written down, only Light's is missing, which proves Light is Kira. Light is grievously wounded in a scuffle and begs Ryuk to write the names of everyone present. Ryuk instead writes down Light's name in his Death Note, as he had promised to do the day they met, and Light dies.

Three years later, Near, now functioning as the new L, receives word that a new Kira has appeared. Hearing that the new Kira is randomly killing people, Near concludes that the new Kira is an attention-seeker and denounces the new Kira as "boring" and not worth catching. A ''shinigami'' named Midora approaches Ryuk and gives him an apple from the human realm, in a bet to see if a random human could become the new Kira, but Midora loses the bet when the human writes his own name in the Death Note after hearing Near's announcement. Ryuk tells Midora that no human would ever surpass Light as the new Kira.

In 1962, aspiring author Barbara Novak arrives in New York to submit her book, ''Down with Love'' to Banner House publishing. It is about freeing women from love, enjoying sex without commitment, and replacing the need for a man with things such as chocolate. Barbara believes her rules will help boost women in the workplace and the world in general. When Banner House's male executives reject the book, Vikki Hiller, Barbara's editor, suggests Barbara meet with Catcher Block – a successful writer for ''Know'' magazine and a notorious ladies' man – to help promote the book. However, Catcher repeatedly avoids meeting Barbara until, fed up, she insults him. Catcher's boss and best friend, Peter MacMannus, and Vikki develop a mutual attraction, but neither is brave enough to express their feelings to the other. Peter feels overshadowed by Catcher's strong personality, and Vikki wants to see strength in her lover, even assuming Peter must be gay.

Barbara and Vikki persuade Judy Garland to sing "Down with Love" on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' to promote the book. Sales skyrocket, as women around the world rebel against their men; Catcher now wants to meet Barbara but ''she'' rejects ''him''. The breaking point comes as Barbara appears on a national TV show and discusses a chapter from her book – "The Worst Kind of Man" – and cites Catcher Block as the perfect example, causing the women he dates to reject him.

Catcher schemes to prove Barbara really wants love and marriage like every other women. He poses as Major Zip Martin, a polite and attentive astronaut. Barbara is immediately infatuated with a man who seems unaware of her celebrity, in contrast to the men who now avoid her since her book was published. As "Zip" takes her to fashionable New York locations, he maintains sexual tension by feigning naivete and a desire to remain chaste until he is "ready" for a physical relationship. His plan becomes complicated after he starts falling for her.

When Barbara encounters Catcher/Zip at a party, which nearly exposes his true identity, he decides to take everything to the next level. He tells Barbara Catcher Block wants to interview him for an exposé on the NASA space program and asks her to be there. At his apartment, he sets everything up to record her saying she loves him. Unfortunately, as they are about to have sex, one of his lovers, Gwendolyn, walks in. Not knowing who Barbara is, she exposes Catcher's identity, forcing him to confess to Barbara. Barbara then reveals she is actually Nancy Brown, one of Catcher's many former secretaries. She fell in love with him whilst working at ''Know''. She had turned down a date with him, refusing to be another fling. She wanted to be different from the other women he knew, and make him fall in love with her. Catcher proclaims he wants to marry her, but Gwendolyn, having overheard Barbara Novak's name, thanks her for what she has done for womankind. Barbara realizes she does not want love or Catcher, as she has become a real "down with love" girl. Vikki and Peter's relationship also changes when she insults him for helping Catcher. Peter realizes he is indeed like any other man, and takes Vikki to Catcher's apartment to have passionate sex with her.

Days later, Catcher is completely depressed and has failed to win back Barbara. Even his exposé, which he wrote on how falling in love with her made him a better man, is ruined now Barbara has told her story in her own magazine, ''Now''. Catcher goes to ''Now'' on the pretense of a job interview. He tells Barbara how much she has changed him and wishes there could be a middle ground for them, somewhere between her confident blonde persona and her original brunette self. After he leaves her office, she surprises him on the elevator, showing him a bright red hair style. she has found the middle ground and wants to be with him. They elope to Las Vegas, inspiring Vikki and Peter to also get married.

The end credits show Barbara and Catcher's marriage has resulted in a new book aimed at ending the battle of the sexes. The pair sing "Here's to Love".

The plot concerns the efforts of a young member of the bourgeoisie, Victor Krap, to cut himself off from society and his family—while at the same time accepting hand-outs from his mother. The title, ''eleutheria'' (''ελευθερία'') is Greek for "liberty". Each act takes place on successive Winter days in Paris.

Act I

Henri Krap is having problems with his urinary tract, and when he sits down, he is unable to get up. His wife is expecting a visit from her friend, Jeanne Meck, whose husband, a field marshal, has recently died. Before that, her sister comes, newly married to the hideous Dr. André Piouk, a radical with a hideous countenance who wants to end the human population through mandatory use of condoms, abortion, and homosexuality, and encouraged euthanasia. The family's main concern, is that Victor has left the household. They have put barbed wire around his favorite places. The family, except for Henri, leaves to try to get Victor to come home. After behaving inappropriately with Olga and Marie, making them uncomfortable, Henri becomes interested in Piouk's ideas and muses on the notion of homosexuality, asking Joseph, the servant, to kiss him, who complies. During the night, Henri dies in his chair.

Act II

Victor does nothing but move around his apartment in a pattern. He throws one of his shoes out the closed window, and a glazier appears immediately with the shoe, and he and his ten-year-old-son, Michel, set to work fixing the pane. The glazier thinks Michel is a dolt, and things often have to be repeated. Victor's family keeps arriving to interrupt the glazier's work, and Mme. Karl, the landlady, keeps inquiring as to whether Victor is staying or going. The Kraps want Victor to attend his father's funeral, but he is not interested in leaving his apartment. Mme. Meck tries to get her chauffeur, Thomas, to forcibly remove him, but fails.

Act III

The glazier is still repairing Victor's window, as well as the lock on his door. Victor's mother is now ill with grief, and the funeral has been delayed as long as possible to get Victor to attend. The glazier starts to get an explanation that Victor desired freedom from his family, but could not get it because of their interminable visits, but that he has not received any sort of freedom when they are not around, either. An audience member becomes dissatisfied and leaves his box to get on the stage, complaining that the play is going on without providing any satisfaction to the audience. the prompter becomes fed up, and the script plummets from the sky onto the ground. The audience member brings a Chinese torturer to try to cure Victor. Eventually, he gets a mildly satisfactory answer and leaves the stage. Dr. Piouk, whom Victor is stunned to learn is now his uncle by marriage, arrives with Olga to see if he wants to take a poison pill and commit suicide, but he does not wish to. The glazier leaves his work unfinished, leaves the tools to Victor, and Mme. Karl again arrives to ask for the rent. He gives her a wad of money from the drawer, but it's not enough, so he gives her the tools, and tells her to pawn the jacket he thinks that he has left on the stairs to pay the rent. She tries to offer him food, but says that she can't be a nursemaid to him. He pushes the bed as far from the door and window and as close to the audience member's box as possible, then sits on the bed to rest.

The pilot opens with Ben Stiller talking about the cancelled ''Ben Stiller Show'', the Emmy Award he won for the show, and sarcastically criticizing George Lucas for having not won an Emmy. After a short sting, ''Heat Vision'' then opens with a title sequence explaining how Jack gained his new powers, and how Heat Vision came into existence.

Details of contemporary small-town American life are embroidered upon a description of an annual ritual known as "the lottery". In a small village of about 300 residents, the locals are in an excited yet nervous mood on June 27. Children pile up stones as the adult townsfolk assemble for their annual event, which in the local tradition is apparently practiced to ensure a good harvest (Old Man Warner quotes an old proverb: "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon"). However, some other villages have already discontinued the lottery, and rumors are spreading that a village farther north is considering doing likewise.

The lottery preparations start the night before, with coal merchant Mr. Summers and postmaster Mr. Graves drawing up a list of all the extended families in town and preparing a set of paper slips, one per family. All are blank except one, later revealed to be marked with a black dot. The slips are folded and placed in a black wooden box, which in turn is stored in a safe at Mr. Summers' office until the lottery is scheduled to begin.

Upon the morning of the lottery, the townspeople gather shortly before 10 a.m. in order to have everything done in time for lunch. First, the heads of the extended families each draw one slip from the box, but they wait to unfold them until all the slips have been drawn. Bill Hutchinson gets the marked slip, meaning that his family has been chosen. His wife, Tessie, protests that Mr. Summers rushed him through the drawing, but the other townspeople dismiss her complaint. Since the Hutchinson family consists of only one household, a second drawing to choose one household within the family is skipped.

For the final drawing, one slip is placed in the box for each member of the household: Bill, Tessie, and each of their three children. Each of the five draws a slip, and Tessie gets the marked one. The townspeople pick up the gathered stones and begin throwing them at her as she screams about the injustice of the lottery.

When a mysterious beam of light starts disrupting and destroying the Earth's atmosphere, Flash Gordon (Buster Crabbe), Dr. Zarkov (Frank Shannon), and Dale Arden (Jean Rogers) - accidentally accompanied by wisecracking reporter Happy Hapgood (Donald Kerr) - swing into action in Zarkov's rocketship, believing that it could be coming from the planet Mongo. Once in space, however, they discover that the ray is originating from Mars.

Journeying to the fourth planet, they discover that their old enemy from Mongo, Ming the Merciless (Charles B. Middleton), whom they had believed dead, is still alive, and has formed an alliance with Azura (Beatrice Roberts), the Witch Queen of Mars. From Azura's planet, and under her protection, he is operating a gigantic Nitron ray that is destroying Earth's atmosphere. Azura's powers include the ability to transmute people into figures of living clay, condemned to live in darkened caves, and she is hated and feared by most of the population. Conversely, the Clay People, led by their King (C. Montague Shaw), know the secret of how to eliminate Azura's power, but lack the means of escaping the caves to which their ruined bodies restrict them, to battle her.

Gordon and his party seem to hold the answer to their problem, except that the Clay People do not trust them at first, and end up holding Dale Arden hostage. Ultimately, the Earth visitors and the Clay People become allies in the tandem quest to defeat Azura and stop Ming from destroying the Earth. Flash, Dale, Zarkov, and Hapgood do battle against Azura's magic and her Martian space force, Ming's super-scientific weaponry, the treacherous Forest People, and other dangers on the Red Planet. Finally, they win by the classic strategy of divide-and-conquer, showing Azura that Ming has been plotting behind her back to take power from her.

Azura's alliance with Ming is broken, at the cost of the Queen's own life, but the Clay People are freed from their curse. The evil emperor of Mongo, his Nitron ray destroyed and his escape cut off on all sides by the now hostile Martian forces, is finally destroyed by the accidental result of his own machinations and treachery.

The ''Clamp School Detectives'' is a series of episodic cases.

Sidney ("Sid") Stratton, a brilliant young research chemist and former Cambridge scholarship recipient, has been dismissed from jobs at several textile mills in the north of England because of his demands for expensive facilities and his obsession with inventing an everlasting fibre. Whilst working as a labourer at the Birnley Mills, he accidentally becomes an unpaid researcher and invents an incredibly strong fibre which repels dirt and never wears out. From this fabric, a suit is made—which is brilliant white because it cannot absorb dye and slightly luminous because it includes radioactive elements.

Stratton is lauded as a genius until both management and the trade unions realise the consequence of his invention; once consumers have purchased enough cloth, demand will drop precipitously and put the textile industry out of business. The managers try to trick and bribe Stratton into signing away the rights to his invention but he refuses. Managers and workers each try to shut him away, but he escapes.

The bosses negotiate with Daphne, the daughter of the owner of Birnley Mills, that she will trick Stratton into giving it all up and she asks £5000 for this, but when she meets Stratton she has a change of heart and encourages him to announce his invention to the press. Going back to his rooms he is confronted by a woman who he thought was on his side, but suddenly realises that no-one wants his invention.

The climax sees Stratton running through the streets at night in his glowing white suit, pursued by both the managers and the employees. As the crowd advances, his suit begins to fall apart as the chemical structure of the fibre breaks down with time. The mob, realising the flaw in the process, rip pieces off his suit in triumph, until he is left standing in his shirt and underwear. Only Daphne Birnley, the mill-owner's daughter, and Bertha, a works labourer, have sympathy for his disappointment.

The next day, Stratton is dismissed from his job. Departing, he consults his chemistry notes. A realisation hits and he exclaims, "I see!" With that he strides off, perhaps to try again elsewhere.

As the story unfolds, Phillip reflects on the major incidents in the life of his once well-to-do family, which was forced to leave Nashville during the time of the Great Depression after the older Mr. Carver, a distinguished lawyer, lost a great deal of money in failed investments with his then-friend and business associate Lewis Shackleford. Though this happened when the four Carver children were still in their teens, they recall the event as a great betrayal, and the resulting move had a major impact on them and continues to affect their abilities to build stable relationships and function as adults. Their lives were further dominated by their father as he ended romantic relationships for his children if he disapproved of them for any reason.

Ultimately, the oldest Carver son joined the army and died in World War II. Neither Phillip nor his sisters ever married. His sisters maintain an odd continued adolescence well into their fifties, dressing as though they were still attractive teenagers. Phillip moves to New York and lives with a younger woman whom he will never marry. The "summons" to Memphis in the book's title refers to several events, but chiefly a call by Phillip's sisters to return and help them block their then-octogenarian father from remarrying after the death of their mother.

The book is a rumination on the responsibilities of parents, friendships between men, the relationship between the "old" and "new" south, the nature of revenge and the possibility of forgiveness.

Having read the book's title, Grover is horrified to learn that there is a monster at the end of the book. He immediately begs the reader not to finish the book, so as to avoid meeting the monster.

Growing increasingly fearful as the story continues, Grover constructs a series of obstacles in hopes of preventing the reader from reading further, such as tying pages together, nailing one page to the next one and building a large brick wall, but nothing works (mostly because these are really simple illustrations to the reader, not actual obstacles).

Near the end of the book, Grover makes one last frantic plea not to turn the final page, only to discover on that page, in a surprise self-referential plot twist, that the monster is himself. He tries to laugh it off, claiming that he knew it all along, but the reader can see at the end that he is quite embarrassed by the whole ordeal.

Set on an imaginary island off the African coast, it tells the story of the remote village of Pachanga, still unknown to the rest of the island, and the inhabitants who still live a traditional lifestyle, untouched by modern innovations. According to Asare, their existence is far from idyllic. They are governed by a Mzee Matata, a fetish priest, who refuses to allow any innovations to undermine his authority, but after many years of cultivating the same land and fishing the same stream, the soil is overworked, the fish are being rapidly depleted, and the villagers are facing starvation.

Only one villager, Ngurumo, dares to challenge the fetish priest by suggesting that the villagers relocate to a fertile valley on the other side of the jungle. Mzee Matata rejects this idea, arguing that the villagers are suffering because they have displeased the gods. He regards Ngurumo as a threat, and attempts to have him killed during a hunting expedition. When this fails, Ngurumo realizes how dangerous it is for him to remain in the village, and together with his wife Seitu, he sneaks away at night and builds a new life for himself in the valley.

To Mzee Matata, Mgurumo's disappearance and the possibility that he is living well while the rest of the people suffer is a serious challenge to his authority, especially as the people are starving. At a meeting of the entire village, he explains to them that the gods are angry with Pachanga because of Ngurumo and because the villagers have abandoned the ancient practice of human sacrifice. That night, he sends a group of hunters led by Fundi to the valley to bring back Ngurumo and Seitu so that they can be sacrificed and the village spared.

Ngurumo and Seitu are brought back to the village and prepared for sacrifice. As Mzee Matata raises his knife to plunge it into Seitu's belly, there is suddenly a loud pop, and he falls dead to the ground. He was shot by Shabani, a government surveyor, who happened upon the valley by chance just as the ceremony was about to take place. Shabani startles the villagers with his magic stick (his rifle) which can kill a powerful fetish priest at a distance and the many other wonders he shows them. He befriends Ngurumo and begins to prepare him for a new leadership role for the villagers. He is, however, insistent that the choice be made democratically, and that Ngurumo be elected. His chief rival is Fundi, who inherits the role of fetish priest from Mzee Matata.

Ngurumo wins the election and takes a group of men to the valley to build a new villager. Upon their return, they discover that Fundi has attempted a coup: Shabani was killed by a python in a trap set for him by Fundi, and Seitu has been kidnapped and will only be released, according to Fundi, if Ngurumo hands his authority to him. Ngurumo leads another group of men to rescue Seitu just as she is about to be killed, then returns to the village and challenges Fundi to a fight to the death. After winning the struggle, he leads the people to the new village, and plans on sending an expedition across the mountains to the modern people that Shabani described.

Jed Catlow and Ben Cowan served together in the Civil War and became friends, but now Catlow is a thief and Cowan a marshal tracking him down. Catlow is accused of rustling cattle, especially from the wealthy rancher Parkman. Parkman has hired a vicious gunfighter, Orville Miller, to kill Catlow. Offering to turn himself in, Catlow joins Cowan on a stagecoach to Fort Smith, but his men stage an ambush. Catlow heads for Hermosillo, Mexico, where a woman named Rosita is in love with him and a $2 million shipment of gold is arriving soon by mule train. The ranchers send Cowan after him along with Miller. Catlow gets the drop on Miller during a bath and hits him with a jug that shatters, cutting Miller's vocal cords. After a later confrontation, Catlow tosses the bound marshal across a horse with a badge pinned on his backside and turns him loose. He is later bushwhacked by Miller; and even later he rescues the nephew of a Mexican general who had been attacked by Apaches, then both are attacked by Apaches and Cowan barely avoids a plunge to his death off a cliff. Allowed to recover at General Calderon's grand hacienda because he saved his nephew, Cowan becomes attracted to Christina, the general's daughter. After stealing the army's gold, Catlow flees toward the scorching desert and into dangerous Apache territory. He rejects Rosita, who angrily recruits men to go with her after Catlow and kill him. Cowan follows, as usual, but Miller shows up and shoots Cowan, wounding him. Catlow picks up Cowan's gun and shoots Miller. Christina will take care of Cowan. Meantime, a smiling Catlow puts on his friend's badge and gives an indication that he will turn to the right side of the law.

Around 2000 years after his defeat in the original game, the mysterious Grandmaster has returned once again to finish his plans and claim total control over the world. However, Strider Hiryu, a Strider carrying the same codename of the man who slew the Grandmaster in the past, has also surfaced. According to Capcom, this version of Hiryu is a clone of the original Hiryu created by the Strider organization in order to reincarnate Hiryu back from the dead. As one of the last survivors after the Striders were wiped out, he carries the mission to destroy the Grandmaster once and for all.

''God's Army'' is about Mormon missionaries as they struggle with their work and, almost inevitably, their faith. The movie focuses on a pair of missionaries, Elder Allen (Brown) and Elder Dalton (Dutcher) serving as missionaries in Los Angeles, California ("elder" is an office in the priesthood and a title male LDS missionaries use while serving missions). Dalton is a seasoned missionary and Allen is a new recruit paired with Dalton to be trained.

Allen questions his reason for being on a mission. He is a somewhat faithful member of the church, but his father was excommunicated from the church and his mother doesn't attend anymore.

Dalton proves to be a demanding taskmaster and he demands much of Allen—almost too much in Allen's eyes. Allen teeters on the brink of leaving his two-year mission almost as soon as it begins. Allen witnesses another missionary lose his faith and abandon his own mission. Allen changes his mind as he finds the sacrifices others have made to be on a mission, such as ostricization from family. His own companion, Elder Dalton, dropped out of medical school to serve a mission and is fighting a losing battle with brain cancer. After a trial of his faith and some earnest soul searching, Allen finds untapped courage and embraces his work as a messenger of God.

After the asteroid Orpheus in the Asteroid Belt is hit by a comet, dozens of asteroid fragments are sent on a collision course towards Earth, along with a five-mile fragment which will cause an extinction-level event. While the United States government engages in political maneuvering, the smaller asteroid fragments preceding the main body wreak havoc on the planet, revealing the threat. The United States has a secret orbiting nuclear missile platform satellite named ''Hercules'', which was designed by Dr. Paul Bradley (Sean Connery). It was intended to defend Earth against a threat like Orpheus, but instead was commandeered by the U.S. Armed Forces to become an orbiting weapon now aimed at the Soviet Union. After many calculations, it is determined that the fourteen nuclear missiles on board Hercules are not enough to stop the asteroid.

The United States has known that the Soviet Union also has a similar weapons satellite called ''Peter the Great'' in orbit, with its sixteen nuclear warheads pointed down at the United States. Needing the additional firepower to stop Orpheus, the President (Henry Fonda) goes on national television and reveals the existence of ''Hercules'', explaining it was created to meet the threat that Orpheus represents. He also offers the Soviets a chance to save face by announcing they, too, had the same program and their own satellite weapon. To coordinate the counter-effort between the two countries, Bradley requests a Soviet scientist named Dr. Alexei Dubov (Brian Keith).

Bradley and Harry Sherwood (Karl Malden) of NASA meet at the control center for ''Hercules'', located beneath 195 Broadway in Lower Manhattan. Major General Adlon (Martin Landau) is the commander of the facility. Dubov and his interpreter Tatiana Donskaya (Natalie Wood) arrive, and Bradley gets to work on breaking the ice between them. Since Dubov cannot admit the existence of the Soviet device, he agrees to Bradley's proposal that they work on the "theoretical application" of how a "theoretical" Soviet space platform's weapons would be coordinated with the American platform.

Meanwhile, more meteorite fragments strike Earth (one inside Siberia), and the Soviets finally agree to join in the effort. Both satellites are coordinated, and turned towards the incoming large asteroid as smaller fragments continue to strike the planet, causing great damage, including a deadly avalanche in the Swiss Alps and a tsunami which devastates Hong Kong. With hours remaining prior to Orpheus' impact, as planned, ''Peter the Great'' s missiles are launched first because of its relative position to the asteroid, with ''Hercules'' s missiles timed to be fired 40 minutes later.

Immediately prior to ''Hercules'' s missiles being launched, a splinter fragment is discovered to be heading towards the command center in New York City. If the center is destroyed, ''Hercules'' will not be able to launch. With seconds to spare, ''Hercules'' receives the signal to fire from the command center, and launches its missiles. The splinter impacts the city, destroying the top half of the World Trade Center twin towers in a direct hit, and creating a large crater in Central Park. Several workers inside the control center are killed when the facility is partially destroyed by the collapse of the building above, and the survivors are forced to work their way out of the control center by going through the New York subway system, which becomes a trap due to water from the East River flooding the tunnels. Meanwhile, the two flights of missiles link up into three successively larger waves. The ''Hercules'' crew reaches a crowded subway station and waits while others try to dig them out.

Eventually, the missiles reach the meteoroid. The first wave of missiles strikes the rock, causing a small explosion, the second wave follows with a larger blast, and the third wave creates an enormous explosion. When the dust clears, the asteroid appears obliterated. In New York City, the radios broadcast the good news: Orpheus is no longer a danger to Earth. Just then, the subway station occupants are rescued.

Later, at an airport, Dubov, Tatiana, Bradley and others exchange goodbyes before Dubov and Tatiana depart on a plane for the Soviet Union.

Orlando's family consist of his wife Grace, and three kittens: Blanche (white), Pansy (tortoiseshell) and Tinkle (black). The family, especially Orlando, get involved in many adventures together and make friends as they do so. They can range from going to the moon (''Orlando Goes to the Moon''), becoming a replacement judge (''Orlando the Judge'') or to keeping a large black poodle dog (''Orlando (the Marmalade Cat): Keeps a Dog).

Set mainly in the Boston area and in rural New Hampshire, its main characters are a 12-year-old girl, Michelle Martel, with leukemia and her father, Charles Martel, a former allergist turned cancer researcher, as well as her stepmother Cathryn and her two older brothers, Chuck and Jean-Paul.

After falling ill one winter morning, Michelle is hospitalized, diagnosed with acute myeloblastic leukemia, and given experimentally high doses of chemotherapy, to which her father objects, since it has no effect on her leukemia and weakens her with side effects. Cathryn, a former receptionist at the fictional Weinberger Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Charles has worked since turning to cancer research, has little medical knowledge and only wants what is best for her stepchildren, and feels torn between her husband and Michelle's well-meaning but conventional doctors. Charles then traces Michelle's leukemia and a neighbor boy's fatal aplastic anemia to benzene dumped into the river flowing past their house by a local rubber and plastic recycling plant owned by the same corporation that owns the Weinberger Institute and the pharmaceutical company that makes a cancer drug he is being forced to study, and discovers that he is surrounded by corruption, as family, colleagues and the authorities turn against him. He ends up valiantly trying an experimental treatment based on his own research on Michelle, desperately trying to save her life, while barricaded in his own home, sought by the police, and fighting off attacks by thugs hired by the recycling plant and its parent company which are condoned by the local authorities.

Arolen is a giant pharmaceutical company, expanding at rapid pace and bringing more and more doctors into its clutches. Once doctors go on CME on board a cruise organised by Arolen, they come back totally changed, in personality and opinions. Strangely many of them opt for a job in Julian Clinic, even at the cost of leaving their lucrative private practices. Incidentally, the number of therapeutic abortions at the Julian Clinic are also rising. The hero of the novel, Adam Schonberg, a third year medical student, has to leave his medical education midway for want of money as his wife becomes pregnant and later on trapped in the clutches of unethical medical practice. Adam finally succeeds in unraveling the mystery behind Arolem pharmaceuticals. They drug the doctors and later perform psychological surgery on them aboard the ship (Fjord) which makes them opt to join the Julian Clinic.

Category:Novels by Robin Cook Category:Macmillan Publishers books

The player chooses one of six X-Men: Cyclops, Colossus, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler or Dazzler. Their objective is to stop the villain Magneto from wreaking havoc on human civilization. They must fight through enemies from the comics such as an army of hundreds of Sentinels, mutant crocodiles, Reavers and supervillains such as Pyro, Blob, Wendigo, Nimrod, The White Queen, Juggernaut, and Mystique. Later, Magneto kidnaps Professor X and Kitty Pryde, prompting the heroes to go on a rescue mission. The heroes fight their way to Island M and ultimately to Magneto's base on Asteroid M where the final battle takes place.

At his mother's insistence, Mathabane starts school and learns to love it, rising to the top of his class in spite of frequent punishments due to his family's late payments for school fees and inability to afford school supplies. He graduates from primary school with a scholarship that will pay for his secondary education.

Mathabane's grandmother becomes a gardener for a liberal white English family, the Smiths, who give Mathabane second hand comic books, novels and tennis equipment. His English improves greatly through reading these materials, and he begins to play tennis frequently. Mathabane eventually befriends a coloured tennis coach who trains him.

Mathabane joins the high school tennis team and begins to play in tournaments, unofficially sponsored by Wilfred Horn, owner of the Tennis Ranch. It is technically illegal for Mark to play there, but the law is ignored and he becomes more comfortable with whites who frequent the Tennis Ranch. Eventually renowned tennis player Stan Smith takes Mathabane under his wing when the two meet at a tournament. Stan pays for Mathabane to compete in tournaments and talks to his coach at the University of Southern California about Mathabane attending college in the United States. The coach writes to colleges on his behalf, and Mathabane earns a tennis scholarship to Limestone College and leaves for the U.S. in 1978.

In New York City, Detective Eddie Santos and mob figure Tino Zapatti kill each other in a shootout; a stray bullet also kills a child passing by. In the wake of the tragedy, questions are raised as to why Judge Walter Stern, an old friend of the ambitious Mayor John Pappas, had previously set the criminal responsible free on probation. Pappas' loyal deputy mayor, Kevin Calhoun, decides to dig for answers. Meanwhile, legal aid Marybeth Cogan uncovers a conspiracy to smear Santos.

Calhoun's investigation leads to Frank Anselmo, a Brooklyn politician who has connections to Tino's uncle, crime boss Paul Zapatti. Anselmo plants money at Zapatti's behest to frame Santos. Calhoun and Cogan continue to seek the truth from a number of sources, including Santos' partner and another Zapatti relative. After the murder of probation officer Larry Schwartz, they ultimately conclude that Judge Stern had to be on the take. Pappas agrees that Stern must resign.

The scandal snowballs to the point where Zapatti instructs Anselmo to commit suicide rather than become an informer or go to jail. To protect his family, Anselmo shoots himself. Calhoun uncovers evidence that Pappas put Stern together with Anselmo to receive a bribe and leave the young Zapatti on the street. Shocked and disheartened by the revelation, Calhoun talks to Pappas and tells him there is only one choice—to quit as mayor and leave politics for good ("You're gonna take yourself out, John. You're gonna take yourself out."). Even though Pappas initially wants to fight the nearing scandal, he has great respect for Calhoun's integrity and acquiesces to his request. Pappas and Calhoun share an emotional goodbye, and Pappas retires from politics.

Some time later Calhoun runs for city councilor and loses the election, remaining steadfast on trying to make a place for himself in politics and also make the city a better place in which to live.

Modesty Blaise is working as a croupier in a casino in Tangier. A group of violent criminals assassinate her employer and enter the casino shooting staff and demanding entry to the casino's safe. Modesty delays her retaliation and retribution as she protects the lives of her staff. When the criminals kill the only person who can open the safe, Modesty arranges for a fellow employee to arrive who has the password for the computer that holds the details of the entry to the vault. As the criminals and their captives await the individual, Modesty takes on the leader of the criminals at the game of roulette. They agree that if she wins twice in a row a captive sworn to not tell what happened is released; when she loses she has to tell the truth about her background to the leader of the criminals who has become fascinated by her. She relates her life story little by little in the manner of Scheherazade.

Modesty tells her life story in flashback beginning as an orphaned child in a refugee camp in the Balkans, to her meeting her mentor who teaches her his knowledge of various languages and martial arts until his death in Algeria where she makes her way to Tangier and becoming a croupier. The criminals eventually enter the safe but are confronted with a revenging Modesty.

The time setting of the film is kept vague. Although flashback sequences involving warfare invoke World War II or other conflicts in the late 1940s and early 1950s (in keeping with the original comic strip), Modesty as an adult is shown using computers and other current (for 2004) technology.

Matko Destanov, a small-time Romani smuggler and profiteer, lives with his teenage son Zare in a ramshackle house by the Danube River in eastern Serbia near the Bulgarian border. He has plans to steal a whole train of smuggled fuel. To obtain a loan that would subsidize the heist, he visits Grga Pitić, a wheelchair-bound old gangster, who is an old friend of Zarije Destanov, Matko's father and Zare's grandfather. Matko plots the details of the job with an ally named Dadan, a rich, fun-living, drug-snorting gangster who has a harem, juggles grenades, and cheats at gambling. However, Dadan double-crosses him and glitches up the deal by giving Matko a drink that is drugged, and carrying out the job while Matko is unconscious. Matko is unable to repay his loan, so Dadan makes a deal whereby he would forgive the debt if Zare marries Afrodita, Dadan's dwarf sister. However, Zare (17) is in love with Ida (26), a barmaid who works in an establishment run by her Roma grandmother Sujka, and Afrodita is waiting for the man of her dreams. Dadan coerces Afrodita into marrying by dunking her in a well, while Zare first learns of the scheme to marry him off from Ida, who has overheard Dadan and Matko plotting it in the restaurant where she works. Meanwhile, Zare retrieves Zarije from the hospital where he is being kept, with the aid of a gypsy band. Grga Pitić is having problems of his own, as he wants his grandsons, including the 2.00m giant Grga Veliki, to get married.

The two reluctantly endure the wedding ceremony held at Matko's house, which Dadan refuses to postpone despite the sudden apparent death of Zarije. They were not supposed to have a wedding while in mourning, but Dadan decides to delay the death announcement, so Matko and Zare hide Zarije's body in the attic, packed in ice. Ida and Sujka provide the catering for the wedding, and Ida is upset at seeing her beloved married to someone else. However, the bride runs away mid-ceremony, pursued by Dadan, Matko and Dadan's criminal cronies. Meanwhile, Grga Veliki is driving his father and brother to Matko's house so that they may visit Zarije's grave (Grga Pitić and Zarije old friends). The fleeing bride stumbles across Grga Veliki, and the couple fall instantly in love. Grga Pitić arrives on the scene, after his wheelchair had fallen out the back of the truck and rolled downhill, and he is delighted that Grga Veliki has found his mate. The old gangster forces Dadan, who had once worked for him, to accept the match.

The groom conspires with Sujka and Ida to bring Dadan down a peg, and rigs the outhouse so that the seat will come apart. While the preparations for the wedding ceremony of Afrodita and Grga Veliki are being conducted, Matko and Dadan pass the time by playing dice, with Dadan cheating. Sujka comes in during the game, and serves the unsuspecting Dadan a drink spiked with a laxative. Grga Pitić apparently dies, and Dadan and Matko hide his body in the attic, where Zarije's body is also hidden. However, the two corpses soon both come back to life; they were not dead after all. They are surprised to find themselves together, as they had not seen each other for 25 years and each had thought the other was dead. During the ceremony, Dadan starts to feel uncomfortable and rushes into the outhouse, only to fall into the manure. His harem and cronies desert him, and as he tries to clean himself off on a goose, only Matko remains loyal, and he provides Dadan with a shower from the garden hose. Zare grabs the wedding official at gunpoint and orders him to solemnize his marriage with his sweetheart, Ida, and the two sail off together on a riverboat set for Bulgaria with a fistful of cash stashed in his grandfather's accordion, the blessing of their respective grandparents and, as witnesses, a black cat and a white cat.

During the French Revolution, Marquis d'Apcher writes his memoirs in his castle. He recounts to 1764, when a mysterious beast terrorized the province of Gévaudan. Grégoire de Fronsac, a knight and the royal naturalist of King Louis XV of France, and his Iroquois companion Mani, arrive to capture the beast. Fronsac becomes interested in Marianne de Morangias, the daughter of a local count, whose brother, Jean-François, was also an avid hunter and a world traveller, whose arm was mangled and rendered useless while overseas. Fronsac is also intrigued by Sylvia, an Italian courtesan at the local brothel.

While investigating another victim, Fronsac finds a fang made of steel. A traumatized child witness swears that the beast is controlled by what seems to be a human master. As the investigation proves unfruitful, the king's weapons master, Lord de Beauterne, arrives to put an end to the beast, and Fronsac is sent back in Paris. He realizes that the beast is actually an instrument of a secret society: The Brotherhood of the Wolf, which is working to undermine public confidence in the king and ultimately take over the country. Back in Gévaudan, the attacks by the real beast continue, and Fronsac returns to put an end to the beast's killings. At a secret rendezvous with Marianne, they are attacked by the beast, where it mysteriously refrains from attacking her.

Fronsac, Mani, and a young Marquis set out into the forest and set up an array of traps to capture the beast; it is severely injured but escapes. Mani sets off alone in pursuit, where he finds a catacomb used as the beast's holding pen, inhabited by the Brotherhood. Outnumbered, Mani is shot and killed. Fronsac discovers Mani's body and performs an autopsy, finding a silver bullet—Jean-François' signature choice of ammunition. In a fit of rage, a vengeful Fronsac goes to the catacombs and slaughters many members, but is overpowered by the local authorities and imprisoned.

Sylvia visits him in jail and reveals that she is a spy for the Holy See. She explains that Henri Sardis, the local priest and leader of the Brotherhood, believes that he is restoring worship of God to France. Pope Clement XIII has decided that Sardis is insane, and has sent her to eliminate him. She then poisons Fronsac, saying that he knows too much. Meanwhile, Jean-François comes to Marianne's room and reveals to her that he is the beast's master; it recognized his scent on her when it came near her, which is why it did not attack. He then rapes her when she rejects his advances.

Sylvia's agents exhume Fronsac, who had not been killed but merely put into a temporary coma, and he appears at one of the Brotherhood's sermons. He kills several members, including Jean-François, who reveals that he had regained use of his supposedly mangled arm. Sardis escapes into the mountains, but is mauled to death by a pack of wolves. Fronsac and Marquis go to the beast's lair, where it lies severely wounded. It turns out that the beast was a lion that Jean-François brought back from Africa as a cub that was tortured into becoming vicious and trained to wear spiked metal armor. Fronsac takes pity and kills the beast in an act of mercy.

Marquis finishes writing his account just before he is led to his execution by a revolutionary mob. He states that he doesn't know what happened to Fronsac and Marianne after the death of the beast; but he hopes that somewhere, they are happy together. A final scene shows Fronsac and Marianne sailing on a ship named Frère Loup—Brother Wolf.

''The Bushido Blade'' is a fictional sideline to the true events surrounding the treaty Commodore Matthew Perry signed with the shogun of feudal Japan. The samurai sword entrusted to Commodore Perry for President Franklin Pierce of the United States by the Emperor of Japan is stolen by factions wishing to maintain Japanese isolationism. The sword is stolen by Baron Zen, who is a servant of Lord Yamato, who opposes the Convention of Kanagawa about to be signed.

Commodore Akira Hayashi is told to recover the sword and, as a matter of honor, not sign the treaty until it is recovered. Prince Ido has received Hayashi's order to regain the sword and goes to the castle of Yamato alone. Similarly, Perry has ordered Captain Lawrence Hawk to retrieve the sword. Hawk brings Midshipman Robin Gurr and Crew Bos'n Cave Johnson. The three get separated and the movie centers on their stories.

Despite characters, themes and weapons similar to samurai cinema set in Feudal Japan, ''Bushido Blade'' takes place during the modern era (this is shown, for example, when the player reaches a helicopter landing pad phase set in a large city).

A fictional 500-year-old dojo known as Meikyokan lies within this region, and teaches the disciplines of the master Narukagami Shinto. A society of assassins known as Kage ("Shadow") also resides within the dojo. Once led by the honorable swordsman Utsusemi, he lost his position to Hanzaki, another skilled member of the dojo, in a fierce battle. Hanzaki gained respect as the Kage leader, until he discovered a cursed sword known as Yugiri. He began to change, disregarding the group's honor and the traditions held by its students.

One day, a Kage member escapes the confines of the dojo with its secrets. Several other members of the society, under penalty of death, are sent to dispatch the defector, only catching up to him (or her) within the ruins of the surrounding Yin and Yang Labyrinth Castle. In single player mode the players take on the role of the escaped assassin (independent of whatever character they choose), fighting their way out by killing their comrades one by one. Elements of the game story differ with each character selected.

Anna Foster (Mandy Moore) is the daughter of POTUS James Foster (Mark Harmon). After Secret Service agents ruin a first date, Anna demands less supervision. For his upcoming trip to Prague, the president agrees to assign only two agents to watch over Anna, whose Secret Service codename is Liberty.

In Prague, Anna and her friend Gabrielle La Clare (Beatrice Rosen) attend a concert, where she spots numerous agents in the crowd. Believing her father has broken his promise, she eludes her protectors with Gabrielle's help. Outside the theater, she asks Ben Calder (Matthew Goode) for a ride on his motorbike. Unknown to Anna, Ben is a Secret Service agent, and he informs agents Alan Weiss (Jeremy Piven) and Cynthia Morales (Annabella Sciorra) where she can be found. When the president learns of her behavior, he instructs Ben to guard her without revealing his identity, to give her the illusion of freedom while guaranteeing safety.

Believing she is finally free, Anna jumps into the Vltava River naked, mistaking it for the Danube, and she and Ben climb a rooftop to watch an Offenbach opera being shown in a plaza. The next morning, Anna calls her parents. Initially relieved his daughter is safe, the President's tone changes when he is shown photos of her skinny-dipping. Outraged at her father's tone, Anna decides she will go to the Love Parade in Berlin. She and Ben board a train, where they meet Scotty McGruff (Martin Hancock), a flighty romantic backpacker who gives them a stack of ''Six Million Dollar Man'' stickers, telling them to post them in random places. One day when they are unhappy, they may come across one and it will make them smile. Ben discovers that they have boarded a Venice-bound train going in the opposite direction from Berlin.

In Venice, after checking in with agents Weiss and Morales—who are now growing closer romantically—Ben joins Anna and McGruff and together they explore the city. McGruff disappears with Anna's wallet, she is recognized by tourists and she and Ben flee. With no money, they tell a kind-hearted gondolier, Eugenio (Joseph Long), that they recently married against her parents' wishes. During the free gondola ride, Ben kisses Anna to hide her from their pursuers. When he learns the "newlyweds" have no place to stay, Eugenio invites them to his house, where they are welcomed by his mother, Maria (Miriam Margolyes). That night, thinking their kiss was heartfelt, Anna offers herself to Ben, but he rejects her advances.

The next day, Eugenio drives them to the Austrian border, as Weiss and Morales show up at Maria's house and are told that Anna and Ben are married, which is then reported to Anna's parents, causing confusion. Upset at Ben's rejection, Anna hitchhikes a ride in a truck, leaving him to chase her through the Austrian countryside. Anna comes to a bridge, where she meets the Jumping Germans, a bungee jumping group. Ben arrives just as she is being strapped into the harness, and insists on jumping with her.

Later that evening at the Jumping Germans' camp, one of the Germans invites Anna to share his tent for the night. She refuses and flirts with Ben, who rejects her advances again. Upset, she declares that she will share the German's tent after all; Ben finally admits his feelings for Anna and they spend the night together. At the Love Parade, as Ben explains his actions on the phone to his fellow agents, Anna discovers his identity. Enraged at the apparent betrayal, she runs off, only to be harassed by a group of men who recognize her. Ben rescues her, and Anna and her family return to the United States.

While preparing for college, Anna tells her mother her heart is "a little bit broken." At college, with Weiss and Morales (who plan to marry) still protecting her, she sees a ''Six Million Dollar Man'' sticker, reminding her of her European adventure. During Christmas break Anna's father tells her Ben resigned from the Secret Service and is working as a photographer in London. During an exchange program to Oxford University she visits him at the opera, where they kiss, reconcile, and escape on his motorbike.

In 1501, a city in Italy has been taken by a coup d'état while its rightful ruler, Arnolfini (Fernando Hilbeck), is away. Arnolfini promises some mercenaries 24 hours of looting if they succeed in retaking the city, and they do so well, raping and killing those who stand in their way. But in their revelry, Arnolfini decides that he wants them gone. Hawkwood (Jack Thompson), the commander of the troops, is caring for a young nun he mistakenly attacked during the siege. Arnolfini promises to get medical attention for her and Hawkwood leads Arnolfini's cavalry, betraying his former lieutenant, Martin (Rutger Hauer). The cavalry ejects the mercenaries from the city without their loot. Soon after, Martin's son is stillborn. Burying the infant unearths a wooden statue of Saint Martin of Tours—a saint with a sword. The mercenaries' cardinal views this as a sign from God to follow Martin as their new leader.

Arnolfini's son, Steven (Tom Burlinson), is betrothed to Agnes (Jennifer Jason Leigh). They meet for the first time and eat from a mandrake to magically fall in love, then the entourage is attacked and robbed by Martin's band. Arnolfini is seriously injured; Kathleen, Agnes's lady-in-waiting, is stabbed in the chest and dies; and Agnes is hauled away, concealed among her valuable dowry. Martin discovers Agnes later that evening as they strip the caravan of valuables. The men desire to gang rape her but Martin decides to take her himself. He rapes Agnes while she at first taunts him and then begins to flirt with him, hoping to gain Martin's protection.

The mercenaries come upon a castle where, unknown to them, the inhabitants are infected with the plague. They capture the castle easily with the help of Agnes. She induces Martin to fall in love with her and works on the other mercenaries to accept her. She appears to have given up on her former life. Meanwhile, Steven is determined to rescue her and turns to Hawkwood. Hawkwood only wants to live a quiet life, married to the former nun he had injured. Steven, becoming as ruthless as his father, seizes the nun to force Hawkwood to help his pursuit of Martin. They locate Martin and the mercenaries. They do not have sufficient force to take the castle and lay siege to it. In the castle, Martin asks Agnes where her true loyalty lies; she is noncommittal, hinting that the winner takes all. Outside, the plague spreads among Steven's forces and infects Hawkwood.

Steven builds a siege tower to storm the castle, and Martin destroys it with something Steven had tried earlier: gunpowder. Steven's soldiers are killed as Steven scales the tower's ladders, and he falls into the castle grounds. The mercenaries capture Steven and shackle him in the courtyard. Agnes pretends to join in the abuse of the captive Steven and even makes love to Martin in his presence. Using a new medical technique Steven had learned (cutting the buboes on the infected body), Hawkwood cures his plague. He cannot continue the siege alone but, before leaving for additional troops, he catapults pieces of an infected dog into the castle. One chunk lands near the chained Steven, who flings it into the castle's water well. Agnes sees this and Steven tells her that she can decide whether to tell the mercenaries.

The mercenaries wish to leave the castle, fearing the plague, but Martin persuades them to stay. At the next meal, Agnes watches as they drink infected water. As Martin begins to drink, she slaps the cup from his hand. Many mercenaries soon show signs of the plague sickness and hurl Martin into the well. As she did after Steven's capture, Agnes pretends to join in the abuse of Martin. Hawkwood and Arnolfini have recovered from their wounds and return with an army. Inside the castle, Steven needs Martin's key to escape from the shackles, and Martin needs Steven to get out of the well. The two cooperate, but upon seeing the besieging army, Martin flees to the belfry. Steven frees himself and, as the battle rages, races to find Agnes. During the fighting, the belfry catches fire. Before long, all the mercenaries but Martin, Polly, Anna, and Little John are dead.

Martin confronts Agnes. She claims that she loves him, but he prepares to murder her rather than allow her to return to Steven. As Martin is strangling Agnes, Steven attacks. Martin, a cunning and hardened mercenary, overpowers Steven. He almost drowns him, but Agnes strikes Martin on the head, and she and Steven flee the blazing castle and reunite with Hawkwood. As Agnes and Steven embrace, Agnes sees Martin over Steven's shoulder, escaping from the castle, a sack of loot on his shoulder. She says nothing.

The movie consists of four distinct short stories about the suffering of the Cuban people and their reactions, varying from passive amazement in the first, to a guerrilla march in the last. Between the stories, a female narrator (credited "The Voice of Cuba") says such things as, "I am Cuba, the Cuba of the casinos, but also of the people."

The first story (centered on the character Maria) shows the destitute Cuban masses contrasted with the splendor in the American-run gambling casinos. Maria lives in a shanty-town on the edge of Havana and hopes to marry her fruit-seller boyfriend, Rene. Rene is unaware that she leads an unhappy double-life as "Betty", a bar prostitute at one of the Havana casinos catering to rich Americans. One night, her client asks her if he can see where she lives rather than taking her to his own room. She takes him to her small hovel where she reluctantly undresses. The next morning he tosses her a few dollars and takes her most prized possession, her crucifix necklace. As he is about to leave Rene walks in and sees his ashamed fiancée. The American callously says, "Bye Betty!" as he makes his exit. He is disoriented by the squalor he encounters as he tries to find his way out of the area.

The next story is about a farmer, Pedro, who just raised his biggest crop of sugar yet. However, his landlord rides up to the farm as he is harvesting his crops and tells him that he has sold the land that Pedro lives on to United Fruit, and Pedro and his family must leave immediately. Pedro asks what about the crops? The landowner says, "you raised them on my land. I'll let you keep the sweat you put into growing them, but that is all," and he rides off. Pedro lies to his children and tells them everything is fine. He gives them all the money he has and tells them to have a fun day in town. After they leave, he sets all of his crops and house on fire. He then dies from the smoke inhalation.

The third story describes the suppression of rebellious students led by a character named Enrique at Havana University (featuring one of the longest camera shots). Enrique is frustrated with the small efforts of the group and wants to do something drastic. He goes off on his own planning on assassinating the chief of police, however when he gets him in his sights, he sees that the police chief is surrounded by his young children, and Enrique cannot bring himself to pull the trigger. While he is away, his fellow revolutionaries are printing flyers. They are infiltrated by police officers who arrest them. One of the revolutionaries begins throwing flyers out to the crowd below only to be shot by one of the police officers. Later on, Enrique is leading a protest at the university. More police are there to break up the crowd with fire hoses. Enrique is shot after the demonstration becomes a riot. At the end, his body is carried through the streets; he has become a martyr to his cause.

The final part shows Mariano, a typical farmer, who rejects the requests of a revolutionary soldier to join the ongoing war. The soldier appeals to Mariano's desire for a better life for his children, but Mariano only wants to live in peace and insists the soldier leave. Immediately thereafter though, the government's planes begin bombing the area indiscriminately. Mariano's home is destroyed and his son is killed. He then joins the rebels in the Sierra Maestra Mountains, ultimately leading to a triumphal march into Havana to proclaim the revolution.

This dark comedy is set in a town that is regularly attacked by arsonists. Disguised as door-to-door salesmen (hawkers), they talk their way into people's homes and settle down in the attic, where they set about planning the destruction of the house.

The central character, a businessman called Biedermann, is seen at the outset reading newspaper reports of arson, convinced that he could never be taken in. Within minutes, the first "hawker" has appeared (Schmitz), and through a combination of intimidation and persuasion he talks his way into spending the night in the attic. As the play unfolds, a second arsonist appears (Eisenring), and before Biedermann can do anything to stop it, his attic is piled high with oil drums full of petrol. He even helps them to measure the detonating fuse and gives them matches, refusing to believe the full horror of what is happening. He soon becomes an accomplice in his own downfall.

The action is observed by a Greek-style chorus of "firemen", and the increasingly surreal flavour culminates in a final scene, the afterpiece, where Biedermann and his wife Babette find themselves at the gates of Hell. Here they once again meet Schmitz and Eisenring who turn out to be Beelzebub and the Devil respectively, who, after becoming angered at the number of mass murderers being allowed to go to Heaven, refuse to conduct a Hell for a "small fry" like Biedermann.

Donald Morton (Josh Hartnett) is a taxi driver with Asperger's Syndrome and drives two Japanese passengers and his pet cockatiel around Spokane, Washington. Distracted, he bumps into the back of a florist's van, damaging his stock. Unfazed, Donald and his budgie take their groceries and leave, abandoning his taxicab and passengers. He takes his groceries to the self-help group for autistic adults. Before they head to the park to meet another autistic group, he tells one member, Gracie (Rusty Schwimmer), to gather the women and he will gather the guys to practice telling personal stories, but keeps getting distracted by performing mathematical sums of the microwaves' depleting numbers. He notices that Isabelle Sorenson (Radha Mitchell), who also has Asperger's, a new name, has signed up and tells Gracie to let her go first.

At the park, Isabelle tells the women of a childhood memory: she saw that her parents were happy an Olympian had broken a record, so in order to please her parents, and taking what she heard literally, she broke their music records. Donald tells his story to the men about his ability to do complex sums, but couldn't make friends. Isabelle goes on to tell of when she was raped when she went hitch-hiking. This causes Gracie to laugh manically. Heard by Donald, he tries to calm down an angry Isabelle and they find that they have much in common and take a liking to each other.

After Isabelle talks to Gregory (John Carroll Lynch), a man also in the group who is taking notes on a notepad, he calls Donald over to ask Isabelle if she may escort him to a Halloween party on his behalf. However, before Donald has the chance, Isabelle asks Donald out for lunch. They go to the zoo the following day where Isabelle asks Donald to escort her instead of Gregory. They agree to meet in-costume Halloween night. Donald dresses as a whale but decides against attending, ultimately leaving Isabelle, dressed as Mozart, waiting. She goes to his apartment and they decide to take a walk about town and talk until the final bus is due when they share their first kiss.

Unsure when to call, Donald leaves multiple messages on her phone; she finally answers and they go to the amusement park. During a ring toss, the clanging of the metal rings hitting the bottles and the ringing of a bell cause Isabelle to scream and collapse on the floor. Donald takes her back to his filthy apartment and they agree to sleep together. The following day at the self-help group, Gregory accuses Donald of exploiting his position for sexual favors. Meanwhile, Isabelle occupies herself by waiting with Bronwin (Erica Leerhsen), a member of group who recently learned that her father has blood cancer, until her parents pick her up.

Isabelle takes the liberty of cleaning his apartment while he goes shopping. When he returns, he is horrified to see that everything is different; the piles of newspaper are stacked neatly, rotting food from the fridge is thrown away and has a new shower curtain. He becomes angry at Isabelle for changing everything. He later leaves a number of apologetic messages on Isabelle's phone. The next day, he goes to the hair salon where Isabelle works as a hair stylist to apologize in person, and Isabelle forgives him, introducing him as her boyfriend to the staff.

Isabelle shows Donald an abandoned rooftop, calling this a place where people who don't know where they belong can belong. She suggests that they can buy a house and her therapist has arranged a job interview for a statistic analyst post at a university. He gets the job and they move into their new house, making it their own.

Donald tells Isabelle that he wants everything to be nice for when his boss, Wallace (Gary Cole) comes for dinner. Believing that he thinks that she doesn't keep the house nice, Isabelle spites Donald by keeping the pets uncaged, much to Donald's shock when he returns, and she maintains extroverted behavior and tells of her off-the-wall plans for the house. Donald explodes, but when Isabelle says that they are both crazy, he retaliates by telling her that she is crazier, which leads to her throwing him out. He stays with Gregory in his house, and after listening to an answer message that Isabelle's rabbit, Bongo, has died, he runs to comfort her. Isabelle suggests that they should just be friends.

Donald invites Isabelle to a restaurant, where he proposes to her, much to Isabelle's dismay. She leaves abruptly back home and overdoses. Donald returns just in time to take her to the hospital, where Isabelle's psychiatrist advises him to leave her alone, testing his willpower to refrain from calling her.

Donald sees Isabelle leaving the university and follows her to the abandoned rooftop, where he expresses that the only nice thing he had left to give her was not to call, to find that Isabelle was waiting for his call and she missed him. They express their true love with an embrace and kiss. The movie ends with the happy couple, now married, in their home, enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with the self-help group members.

John Carter, a Confederate veteran of the American Civil War, goes prospecting in Arizona immediately after the war's end. Having struck a rich vein of gold, he runs afoul of the Apaches. While attempting to evade pursuit by hiding in a sacred cave, he is mysteriously transported to Mars, called "Barsoom" by its inhabitants. Carter finds that he has great strength and superhuman agility in this new environment as a result of its lesser gravity and lower atmospheric pressure. He soon falls in with a nomadic tribe of Green Martians, or Tharks, as the planet's warlike, six-limbed, green-skinned inhabitants are known. Thanks to his strength and martial prowess, Carter rises to a high position in the tribe and earns the respect and eventually the friendship of Tars Tarkas, one of the Thark chiefs.

The Tharks subsequently capture Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, a member of the humanoid red Martian race. The red Martians inhabit a loose network of city-states and control the desert planet's canals, along which its agriculture is concentrated. Carter rescues Dejah Thoris from the green men in a bid to return her to her people.

Subsequently, Carter becomes embroiled in the political affairs of both the red and green Martians in his efforts to safeguard Dejah Thoris, eventually leading a horde of Tharks against the city-state of Zodanga, the historic enemy of Helium. Winning Dejah Thoris' heart, he becomes Prince of Helium, and the two live happily together for nine years. However, the sudden breakdown of the Atmosphere Plant that sustains the planet's waning air supply endangers all life on Barsoom. In a desperate attempt to save the planet's inhabitants, Carter uses a secret telepathic code to enter the factory, bringing an engineer along who can restore its functionality. Carter then succumbs to asphyxiation, only to awaken back on Earth, left to wonder what has become of Barsoom and his beloved.

Baltimore City firefighter Jack Morrison saves a man's life in a massive four-alarm fire in a 20-story concrete grain elevator/warehouse in the Canton waterfront neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. However, the grain stored in the warehouse explodes, causing Jack to fall through several floors and break his leg. The film follows the efforts of the other men in his unit, ''Ladder Company 49'', led by the commands of Deputy Chief Mike Kennedy, Jack's mentor, to rescue him while Morrison tries to reach a safe area of the burning structure. Interspersed with the current rescue efforts are a series of flashbacks showing how Jack joined the fire department, his first meeting (at a supermarket) with the woman who would eventually become his wife, his relationship with his children, and the bonds he formed and the trials and tribulations he endured with his fellow firefighters.

After graduating from the fire academy, Jack is sent to work on Baltimore City Fire Department (BCFD) Engine Company 33, in the busiest firehouse in the city. Quartered with Engine 33 is Ladder Company 49. On Engine 33, Jack learns the ropes of firefighting. He quickly becomes close friends with his fellow firefighters, including Mike, his Captain at the time. Jack's first fire takes place at a burning vacant rowhouse. Engine 33 and Ladder 49 respond and are the first companies on the scene. Jack and Mike enter the building with a hose line and tackle the blaze, with Jack on the nozzle of the hose. They quickly and triumphantly extinguish it.

After some time working on Engine 33, Jack arrives at the scene of another vacant rowhouse fire, where a fellow firefighter from Ladder 49, Dennis Gauquin dies after falling through the roof of a building. After a quarrel between the firefighters, the Captain tells them to stick together. Later, numerous firefighters attend Dennis's funeral. Jack decides, although it is more dangerous, to take his late friend's position as a "truckie", a search and rescue member on Ladder 49 by transferring to the Truck.

As the years go by, Jack suffers some traumatic experiences, including rescuing a man from the ledge of a burning high-rise building in Downtown Baltimore, and witnessing another friend and fellow firefighter from Ladder 49, Tommy Drake suffer severe burns following a steam explosion at an industrial building. He finds the work rewarding, but his wife initially worries about his safety and opposes the change. However, she eventually accepts his new role and even talks him out of taking an administrative position that Mike, who has now become a Deputy Chief, offers him.

One Christmas Eve, Jack and the members of Engine 33 and Ladder 49 respond to a burning apartment building. Jack is able to rescue a young girl trapped in an engulfed apartment, but is briefly trapped himself before being rescued by a fellow Firefighter from Ladder 49, Leonard "Lenny" Richter. Both men receive the department's Medal of Valor for their actions.

Back at the present day grain building fire that opened the film, Jack's fellow firefighters become extremely determined to rescue him, and Jack does his best to reach the only possible safe area Mike tells him about. However, upon reaching that room he sees that the only exit is cut off by raging flames. Out of air and with the heat intensifying, Jack realizes that his situation is hopeless. He radios Mike to pull his men back so no one else will be killed or hurt while trying to rescue him, and accepts his fate to die in the fire. A devastated Mike reluctantly agrees and commands all rescue units to evacuate the building.

At Jack's funeral, Mike delivers an emotional eulogy in celebration of Jack's life, which inspires a standing ovation from friends and family in attendance. Jack's body is then carried to his resting place, with full honors, on the back of Engine 33 in a typical fireman's funeral procession. The film ends with Mike and the company en route to a call while the former flashes back to Jack and his fellow firefighters going to fires and a final shot of Mike and Jack coming out of Jack's first ever burning building in triumph.

The story chronicled the battle between the crew of the semi-transformable carrier '''Daikū Maryū''' (also called the '''Kargosaur''' in the Shogun Warriors toyline, and also known as the Great Space Dragon in the US English dub) and the Super Robot '''Gaiking''' invented by '''Dr. Daimonji''' ('''Prof. Hightech''' in the English-language version of the show or Dr. Diamond in Spanish version) against an invading race of aliens called the '''Dark Horror Army'''. This army hails from the planet '''Zela''' whose home planet is facing destruction by their star, Sigma, turning into a black hole as their population starts to become extinct. Notable aspects of the series include the dinosaur-based designs of the Daikū Maryū and its support machines and the use of part of the carrier to form the main robot. The robot Gaiking was piloted by former baseball star named '''Sanshiro Tsuwabuki''' (Sanshiro's name was changed to '''Aries Astonopolis''' for the English version with the carrier being called the "'''Great Space Dragon'''", a literal translation of "Daikū Maryū". Likewise, for the Latin America version the main character was called '''Brando Drummond''' and the carrier "'''Gran Dragon del Espacio'''") who was drafted for the job because his latent psychic powers made him the only one capable of doing so, all other similarly empowered candidates having been assassinated by alien agents with he himself having been injured in an attack that ended his sports career. Gaiking is most easily distinguished from other mecha by its skull-shaped golden torso formed from the head of the Daikū Maryū and its golden horns.

The leader of the Dark Horror Army was a robot scientist named '''Darius The Great''' or Dario el Grande in the Spanish version and all of their ships and mecha were fish-shaped, which most likely inspired the Darius series of video games. He uses four giant robotic leaders called the Death Cross Generals composed of '''Dr. Dankel''', '''General Asimov''', '''General Killer''', and '''General Desmont'''. These generals used bomber-like spaceships called Grotectors to create artificial black hole vortexes to travel to Earth and back. Throughout the series the Death Cross Generals and Darius note that natives of Zela originally came to Earth for research purposes before slowly colonizing the planet and using it to hide various dark monsters with the rise of humanity, as far back as one million years before the start of the series until the twelfth century AD. For their military natives of Zela were brainwashed and genetically altered into birdmen called the dark avians with elite individuals becoming dark knights.

Quirky scientist and inventor Wayne Szalinski has been designing a ray gun machine capable of shrinking objects, but cannot get it to work properly. His obsession concerns his wife, Diane, who feels compelled to be the breadwinner. It also concerns his teenage daughter Amy and preteen son Nick, who has inherited Wayne's inventive ingenuity.

Their next door neighbors, the Thompsons, are getting ready for a fishing trip, but their eldest son, Little Russ, is less than enthusiastic, as his interests often clash with his father's. Shortly after Wayne leaves for a conference, the younger Ron Thompson accidentally hits a baseball through the Szalinskis' attic window, inadvertently activating the machine and blocking its targeting laser. Caught by his brother, Ron is forced to confess to the Szalinski kids. Ron and Nick enter the attic to retrieve the ball and clean up the mess, and the activated machine shrinks them. Amy and Little Russ suffer the same fate when they go searching for their siblings.

At his conference, Wayne is laughed off stage for failing to provide proof of his shrinking machine concept. He leaves in frustration and returns home, where the shrunken four try to get his attention, but their voices are only loud enough to be heard by the family dog, Quark. Already frustrated, Wayne goes to the attic to find the broken window and snaps, smashing the machine. He sweeps the debris, along with the kids, into a dust pan and trash bag. They manage to escape only to discover that they are at the back of the yard and must venture through uncut grass to return to the house.

Meanwhile, Diane and Wayne grow concerned about Amy and Nick's absence. Wayne eventually pieces together what happened and accidentally activates the yard sprinklers while searching through the backyard. Amy nearly drowns after getting knocked into a pool of muddy water, but Little Russ rescues and revives her. Big Russ and Mae Thompson grow concerned and are forced to call off their trip, and they file a missing persons report with the police. Wayne reveals what happened to Diane, and she joins in the search. Later, she convinces Wayne to share the information with the Thompsons, who are extremely skeptical.

The kids feast on one of Nick's discarded Oatmeal Creme Pie cookies and befriend an ant scout they name "Antie", which they ride back to the house. As night falls, the kids find shelter in a Lego piece. Amy and Little Russ begin to express feelings for one another, despite initially feeling resentment. They are later attacked by a scorpion, prompting Antie to come to the rescue. The kids are able to safely evacuate the area, but Antie is fatally stung.

The next morning, Nick's friend Tommy arrives to mow the lawn. The kids are forced to seek shelter in an earthworm burrow, barely escaping the vortex caused by the mower, which Wayne and Diane shut off just in time. The kids hitch a ride on Quark and enter the house, but Nick falls into Wayne's bowl of Cheerios; he is nearly eaten when Quark nips at Wayne's ankles to get his attention. He discovers the kids and works on returning them to normal size. Back in the attic, the kids use charades to inform Wayne that the baseball blocked the laser, which was overheating targets and causing them to explode. He corrects the mistake and Big Russ volunteers as a test subject; the test is successful and the kids are restored to their original size.

Months later at Thanksgiving, the Szalinskis and Thompsons have become good friends and are toasting over an enlarged turkey.

Part 1

Frédéric Moreau renews his acquaintance with a childhood friend, Deslauriers, who advises him to meet with Dambreuse, a rich Parisian banker. Frédéric leaves for Paris, armed with a letter of recommendation from his neighbour M. Roque, who works for Dambreuse. Despite this, his introduction to Dambreuse is not very successful. In Paris, Frédéric stumbles across a shop belonging to M. Arnoux, whose wife he developed a fascination for when he met her briefly at the start of the novel. However, he does not act on his discovery, and lives idly in Paris for some months. A little more than a year after the start of the story, Frédéric is at a student protest and meets Hussonnet, who works at M. Arnoux's shop. Frédéric becomes one of the friends M. Arnoux who meet at the shop. Eventually, he is invited to dinner with M. and Mme Arnoux. At the same time, his old friend Deslauriers comes to Paris. Frédéric becomes obsessed with Mme. Arnoux. Deslauriers tries to distract him by taking him to a cabaret, where they encounter M. Arnoux and his mistress Mlle Vatnaz. Later, Frédéric is persuaded to return home to his mother, who is having financial difficulties. At home, he meets Louise, the daughter of his neighbour M. Roque. His financial worries are eased by the chance death of an uncle, and he leaves again for Paris.

Part 2

Returning to Paris, Frédéric finds that M. and Mme Arnoux no longer live at their previous address. He searches the city, eventually meeting Regimbart, one of his group of friends. He learns that Arnoux has financial problems and is now a pottery merchant. Arnoux introduces Frédéric to another of his mistresses, Rosanette. Frédéric likes Rosanette, and has Pellerin paint him a portrait of her. Mme Arnoux learns of her husband's infidelity. Frédéric has promised money to Deslauriers, but lends it to Arnoux instead, who is unable to repay him. Deslauriers and Frédéric fall out. In an attempt to resolve the financial situation, Frédéric returns to Dambreuse, who this time offers him a position. However, Frédéric fails to keep his appointment, instead visiting Mme Arnoux at the pottery factory. She is unresponsive to his advances, and on his return to Paris he instead pursues Rosanette. His difficulties mount and eventually he meets again with Deslauriers, who advises him to return home. At home, Frédéric falls in love with and becomes engaged to Louise, his neighbour's daughter. Deslauriers conveys this news to Mme Arnoux, who is upset. Frédéric says he has business to complete in Paris. While there, he meets Mme Arnoux, and they admit their love for each other.

Part 3

In the midst of the revolution, Frédéric's political writings win him the renewed respect of his friends and of M. Dambreuse. Frédéric, living with Rosanette, becomes jealous of her continued friendship with M. Arnoux, and persuades her to leave with him for the countryside. On his return, Frédéric dines at the Dambreuses' house with Louise and her father, who have come to Paris to find him. Louise learns of Frédéric's relationship with Rosanette. Frédéric meets with Mme Arnoux, who explains why she missed their arranged meeting. During this encounter, Rosanette appears and reveals she is pregnant. Frédéric decides to seduce Mme Dambreuse in order to gain social standing. He is successful, and soon afterwards M. Dambreuse dies. Rosanette's newborn child becomes severely ill and lives only a short time. Meanwhile, M. Arnoux has finally been overtaken by his financial difficulties and is preparing to flee the country. Unable to face the loss of Mme Arnoux, Frédéric asks for money from Mme Dambreuse, but is too late to stop M. and Mme Arnoux from leaving. Mme Dambreuse meanwhile discovers his motive for borrowing the money. Frédéric returns to his childhood home, hoping to find Louise there, but discovers that she has given up on him and married Deslauriers instead. Frédéric returns to Paris. Many years later, he briefly meets Mme Arnoux again, swearing his eternal love for her. After another interlude, he encounters Deslauriers and the novel ends the way it began, with the pair swapping stories of the past.

Johnny Dingle has been in love with Missy McCloud since they were kids. In his senior year of high school, he decides to fake a robbery at Missy’s job with his best friend, Eddie. He hopes that by stopping the "robbery" he will impress her and she will go to the prom with him.

During the "robbery" a real robber holds Johnny and Missy at gunpoint. Thinking it is Eddie, Johnny dies taking a bullet meant for Missy. After the funeral, Johnny rises from the grave. He is greeted by Murray the gravedigger, who warns him that he can’t leave the cemetery. Johnny ignores him and goes back to his home.

Missy is hesitant to be around Johnny, but changes her mind when her boyfriend Buck and his dim-witted friend Chuck discriminate against him for being a Zombie. They go on a date, which goes well until Missy accidentally rips Johnny’s ear off.

Johnny goes to the town doctor, Dr. Bronson, who refers him to a woman named Maggie, the widow of a zombie. She tells Johnny that he needs to eat the flesh of the living to stop decaying.

Johnny and Missy meet up at the library, where he’s attacked by Buck and Chuck. Chuck accidentally hits himself in the head with an ax and dies. Johnny eats Chuck's body, invoking the wrath of Chuck’s father, Big Chuck.

Missy’s father, the town sheriff, tells Johnny to leave town for his own safety. Johnny doesn’t listen and returns to Missy at night, but leaves when he bites her arm. He’s captured by Dr.Bronson, who attempts to dissect Johnny and create a youth formula from his zombie cells. Johnny escapes when Big Chuck leads a mob to kill him, with Missy and Eddie helping him. He flees to the cemetery, where Murray, his parents, Eddie, and Missy defend him, earning him the town and the sheriff’s acceptance. Johnny and Missy dance, but Johnny begins to decay and dies.

In Heaven, he’s told by the gatekeeper that he was not meant to die in the robbery, and he is sent back the moment before the robber entered. The events replay but Johnny survives this time due to the bullet hitting Missy’s locket. Johnny and Missy go to the prom as a couple.

''MechAssault'' takes place in the BattleTech universe, a science-fiction universe that often revolves around pitched battles between human-piloted walking, heavily armed and armored machines, called BattleMechs. The plot of the game centers on an inhabited planet called Helios in the dominion of the Inner Sphere, a powerful coalition of feuding factions in control of large areas of space. The player is a BattleMech pilot (referred to throughout the game as simply "Captain" or, "MechWarrior") in the employment of an elite mercenary organization called Wolf's Dragoons. The player's ship is hired to investigate the cessation of communications from the planet Helios. The Dragoons' ship, the ''Icarus'' arrives at the planet and is shot down upon entering the atmosphere, causing the ship to crash-land on the surface of Helios. It is later discovered by the player that a rogue technology-worshipping cult known as the Word of Blake has invaded and conquered Helios, and is under the rule of an iron-fisted fanatic called Commander Strader. The game follows the player as, commanded by elite officer Major Natalia and assisted by inept techie Lieutenant Foster, they fight the military forces of the cult, assist in the liberation of the planet from Word of Blake rule, and assassinate Commander Strader.

The film is a comedic mockumentary depicting the perspective of a filmmaker as she trails a hardcore gangsta rap group called N.W.H. ("Niggaz With Hats"), a play on the name of the popular group N.W.A. In many ways, ''Fear of a Black Hat'' is similar to the satirical film about early 1980s heavy metal, ''This is Spinal Tap''.

The members of N.W.H. are: Ice Cold (Cundieff), the main rapper and the intelligent and vulgar backbone of the group. Tasty Taste (Larry B. Scott), the ultra-violent secondary rapper who always seems to be armed with a variety of dangerous assault weaponry. His name is spelled "Tasty-Taste" in the credits but not in other parts of the movie. *Tone Def (Mark Christopher Lawrence), the esoteric DJ who is talented enough to scratch with his buttocks and his penis (the latter is not shown directly, but strongly and humorously implied). His name is spelled "Tone-Def" in the credits but not in other parts of the movie.

The film is told from the point of view of Nina Blackburn (Kasi Lemmons), a sociologist who analyzes hip hop as a form of communication for her degree. She chooses N.W.H. as the subject of her thesis and follows them around for a year. She familiarizes herself with the band members, their beliefs, and their often strange behavior.

The members wear outrageous headwear during their performances. This is explained as an act of rebellion, remembering their slave ancestors, who had to work bare-headed in the sun. According to N.W.H., hats are a symbol for resistance and revolution since their hatless ancestors were too tired from working all day in the sun to revolt. This is a typical example of the bizarre logic the group uses to explain the deeper meanings behind their otherwise crude and base music and images.

A steady source of comedy is N.W.H.'s use of over-the-top graphic language (e.g. sex, violence and rantings against the police), which detractors see as a cheap means to sell records, but in their eyes is essential to convey a "socially relevant message". They offer jaw-dropping explanations why songs such as "Booty Juice" and "Come and Pet the P.U.S.S.Y." are in fact deep and socially significant, and that detractors obviously do not truly understand the "real meaning". Throughout the movie, it is difficult to tell if the members of N.W.H. truly believe what they are saying, or are just portraying an image.

A lot of time also goes into describing N.W.H.'s feud with another rap group, the Jam Boys. The groups constantly insult and discredit each other, even sometimes resulting in brandishing weapons. At one point, N.W.H. brings to light evidence that the Jam Boys' lead rapper attended a prep school, directly threatening his street credibility.

A macabre running gag—inspired by ''This Is Spinal Tap''—involves their white managers dying under mysterious circumstances (the group originally insist that they "wasn't in town when the shit happened"). They explain to Nina that their first few managers were black—in fact, were their relatives—and that they decided switching to white managers would be better for their families and the black community.

N.W.H.'s internal matters turn sour when Ice Cold cuts down his involvement because he wants to participate in a film, and Cheryl C. (Rose Jackson), a groupie, hooks up with Tasty-Taste. Although she is clearly more interested in his money than in him, Tasty lets her take over his life. When Tasty finds Cheryl and Ice Cold in bed, N.W.H. is no more.

The group breaks up and each member launches a solo career. Ice dedicates himself to house music; Tasty brings out a diss track in which he curses Ice; and Tone Def becomes a hippie (with obvious references to "flower rappers," such as P.M. Dawn). None sees much success until they ultimately reunite for a triumphant comeback in which their differences have been set aside, at least for the time being.

The plot is that of a black woman going to the dentist for a toothache and being given laughing gas. On her way walking home, and in other situations, she can't stop laughing, and everyone she meets "catches" the laughter from her, including a vendor and police officers.

Lionel Carpenter (Billy Crystal) is a night-school teacher who has bad luck with women. He remains a virgin until his brash cousin Danny (Alex Rocco) sets him up with a one-night stand. Soon after, Lionel starts feeling nauseated and vomits, eventually doing so onto Segoynia Savaka (Joan Prather), one of his immigrant students. This turns out to be a blessing in disguise, as it gives him an excuse to ask her out on a date, and a romance develops.

When Lionel meets Segoynia's fortune-telling grandmother (played by Roddy McDowall in drag), she intuits that he is the world's first pregnant man. This results in a series of gags relating to his pregnancy and people's reactions to it. One side plot has Lionel being pursued by the Army because the President of the United States is afraid of what effect the widespread ability of men to conceive will have on population growth.

In the ending sequence, which is patterned after the Nativity, Lionel finally goes into labor. The camera rises to Heaven, where God announces to the viewers the successful delivery: "Oh my god... It's a girl!"

A few months after the end of World War II, Miles Hammond is invited to the first meeting of the Murder Club in five years. When he arrives, no one else is there except Barbara Morell and Professor Rigaud. When no one else shows up, Rigaud tells the story of Fay Seton.

Seton was a young woman working for the Brooke family. She fell in love with Harry Brooke and the two became engaged, but Harry's father, Howard, did not approve. One day, he agreed to meet Fay in a tower—all that remained of a burned-out chateau. It was a secure location on a lonely waterfront, and was the perfect place for such a meeting. Harry and Professor Rigaud left Howard alone at ten minutes before four. When they returned, fifteen minutes later, Howard had been stabbed, and the sword-cane that did it was found in two pieces beside his body. At first it seemed an open-and-shut case, but a family that was picnicking a few feet from the entrance of the tower swore that no one entered the tower in those fifteen minutes, that no boat came near the tower, and no one could have climbed up, because the nearest window was fifteen feet off the ground. The only one with any motive was Fay Seton, who was believed to be able to bring a vampire to life and terrorize people.

Miles quickly becomes involved in the affair because the new librarian he just hired is Fay Seton.

Narrated by the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt, ''Blood Canticle'' finds young Mayfair witch and heiress Mona slowly dying, afflicted with a mysterious disease brought on by the birth of her daughter Morrigan. Over time, Mona and her guardian, Rowan Mayfair, reveal more and more about the powerful genetic plague that has haunted the Mayfairs for generations: their connection to the Taltos, an advanced species of human to which both women have given birth. Mona and the young vampire Tarquin "Quinn" Blackwood are in love. Lestat turns a dying Mona into a vampire so that the lovers can be together forever.

While trying to prevent Mona's family from discovering her transformation, Lestat falls in love with the married Rowan, and she secretly pines for him as well. As Mona adjusts to her new power, Lestat enlists the ancient vampire Maharet to help find Mona's Taltos child. Lestat, Quinn and Mona arrive at the remote island colony of the Taltos, but instead of finding a secluded utopia, they discover that years of criminal intrigue and civil war have taken their toll. The remaining Taltos join the Mayfair clan at the Mayfair Medical Center where they intend to safely learn and grow as a family. Mona and Quinn are instructed in the proper ways of vampirism by Maharet and her twin Mekare. Rowan seeks out Lestat, half in love with him but torn by her love for her husband Michael. Exhausted by her life, she requests that he make her a vampire. Lestat declines, pained though he is, because she is a guiding force for the Mayfair family and he cannot take her away from it.

A castle-like outpost comes under attack by a creature, named Grendel, on a nightly basis. However, it refuses to attack the border lord Hrothgar. One of the outpost's residents, Pendra, escapes the following morning but is captured by a rival siege line who intend to kill her to prevent the outpost's evil from spreading. Pendra is saved by a mysterious warrior named Beowulf and rides with him. When she realizes Beowulf is riding for the outpost, she runs back to the siege line and is killed. Beowulf meets Hrothgar, and is permitted to stay to help slay the beast. Hrothgar, his daughter Kyra, and his military leader, Roland suspect that Beowulf was sent by a rival family to avenge the death of their son Nivri, Kyra's former husband. However, Kyra's suspicions dissipate when she realizes that Beowulf can sense evil.

For a few nights, Hrothgar experiences nightmares, triggered by a succubus, about his late wife's suicide. When Grendel attacks during the day, Beowulf and Hrothgar's remaining soldiers are forced to confront Grendel. They evacuate the women and children to a sanctuary, but they are immediately slaughtered by Grendel. Beowulf manages to wound Grendel, but is also wounded in the process. As Kyra attends to Beowulf, Roland confesses his romantic feelings for her, however, she only sees him as a brother. After Beowulf recovers, Kyra reveals that Nivri was an abusive spouse and she killed him after he attempted to force himself on her. Beowulf believes she was justified. Beowulf faces Grendel again and severs its arm. Believing Grendel to be dead, the survivors celebrate and Roland is visited by the succubus.

Kyra discloses her romantic feelings of Beowulf to him and the two engage in intercourse. Afterwards, Beowulf reveals to Kyra that he is half human because his mother was impregnated by Bael and is able to suppress his inner evil by battling evil. Beowulf senses the succubus and rushes to find her. Kyra and Hrothgar return to the dining hall to find everyone dead, including Roland. They encounter the succubus, who reveals herself to be Grendel's mother and Hrothgar as its father, hence why Grendel had spared him before. Hrothgar's unfaithfulness led to his wife's suicide. Hrothgar attempts to kill the succubus but is killed by Grendel. Beowulf arrives and kills the beast. Grendel's mother attempts to appeal to Beowulf's inner evil, but fails and transforms into a giant humanoid spider-like creature. After Beowulf defeats Grendel's mother, their battle forces the outpost to collapse on itself. Beowulf and Kyra escape, and she convinces him to accompany him on his journeys.

Underneath Raccoon City exists a genetic research facility called the Hive, owned by the Umbrella Corporation. A thief steals the genetically engineered T-virus and contaminates the Hive with it. In response, the facility's artificial intelligence, the Red Queen, seals the Hive and kills everyone inside.

Alice awakens in the bathroom of a deserted mansion with amnesia. She dresses, checks the mansion, and is tackled by an unknown person as a group of commandos led by James Shade breaks in. Alice's attacker is cuffed and then released when he claims to be Matt Addison, who just transferred as a cop in Raccoon P.D.. Alice and Matt are ordered to go down to the Hive with the group, where they find another amnesiac, Spence, hidden in their train. The commandos explain that everyone in the group except Matt is an employee of the Umbrella Corporation, and Alice and her partner Spence were assigned to guard the Hive's secret entrance under the mansion under the pretense of being married.

At the Red Queen's chamber, a laser defense system kills Shade and three more commandos. Despite the Red Queen's urgent pleas for the group to leave, Kaplan disables it, causing the power to fail and all of the doors in the Hive to open. This releases the zombified staff and containment units containing Lickers, creatures created through experimentation with the T-virus. The humans are attacked by the horde; J.D. dies, Rain retreats with Kaplan and Spence, and Matt becomes separated from Alice, who starts regaining her memories.

Matt looks for information about his sister, Lisa, and finds her zombified. Alice saves him, and Matt explains he and Lisa were environmental activists, and Lisa infiltrated Umbrella to smuggle out the evidence of illegal experiments. Alice remembers she was Lisa's contact in the Hive but does not tell Matt. The survivors reunite at the Red Queen's chamber, where the commandos explain they have one hour before the Hive traps them inside automatically. Alice and Kaplan activate the Red Queen to find an exit; to force her cooperation, they rig a remote shutdown. As they escape through maintenance tunnels, zombies ambush them, and a reanimated J.D. bites Rain before she shoots him dead. They reach safety except Kaplan, who is bitten and separated from the group.

Alice remembers that an anti-virus is in the lab, but they find it missing. Spence and Alice remember that Spence was the thief who stole and purposefully released the T-virus, and hid the T-virus and anti-virus on the train. Spence turns against the others but is bitten by a zombie, which he kills before trapping the survivors in the lab. Spence retrieves the anti-virus but is killed by a Licker set upon him by the Red Queen. The Red Queen offers to spare Alice and Matt if they kill Rain, who has been infected too long for the anti-virus to work reliably. As the Licker attempts to reach them, a power outage occurs. The lab door opens to reveal that Kaplan shut down the Red Queen to open the door. The group heads to the train, where Alice retrieves the anti-virus and kills a reanimated Spence before escaping with the others.

On the train, they inject Rain and Kaplan with the anti-virus. The Licker, having hidden on the train, attacks them, clawing Matt and killing Kaplan. Alice subdues the Licker before Matt is attacked by a zombified Rain, the anti-virus having failed to cure her. He shoots Rain dead, and her head hits a button, opening a door and dropping the Licker under the train, killing it. At the mansion, Matt's wound begins mutating. Before Alice can give him the anti-virus, the mansion doors burst open, and a group of Umbrella scientists seizes them. They subdue Alice and take Matt away, revealing he is to be put into the Nemesis Program, and that the Hive is to be re-opened for an investigation into the incident.

Sometime later, Alice awakens at the Raccoon City Hospital strapped to an examination table. She escapes outside to find Raccoon City deserted and in ruins. She retrieves a shotgun from an abandoned police car and continues through the streets.

While walking through downtown Springfield, the Simpsons collide with Smithers, who has just stolen a large diamond from a jewelry shop for Mr. Burns. The diamond goes flying and lands in Maggie's mouth, and she begins sucking on it like a pacifier as Smithers kidnaps her. The rest of the Simpsons give chase across the city, fighting off hordes of enemies (hired by Mr. Burns) to reach the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. The pursuit covers eight stages, each of which ends with a fight against a strong boss character. In the final stage, the Simpsons must defeat first Smithers and then Mr. Burns, who uses a mobile battle suit equipped with a variety of weapons. Once Mr. Burns is defeated, Maggie puts her pacifier in his mouth and the Simpsons take her home, with Homer throwing the diamond away.

Jeeves types a report of Bertie's latest misadventures for the club book of the Junior Ganymede Club, in which the club's members are required to record information about their employers, to inform those seeking employment about potential employers. Bertie worries that his embarrassing information will fall into the hands of his judgmental Aunt Agatha and asks Jeeves to destroy the pages about him, but Jeeves asserts that the book is secure and refuses to defy the rules of his club.

An old school friend of Bertie's, Ginger Winship, is standing for the House of Commons in a by-election at Market Snodsbury, near the home of Bertie's Aunt Dahlia, Brinkley Court, on the wishes of his strict fiancée. Aunt Dahlia persuades Bertie to come to Brinkley to assist in the canvassing. Before departing, Bertie has drinks with Jeeves at the Junior Ganymede. They discuss how Ginger's chances for election will be hurt if the public learns about his rowdy past (mild by Bertie's standards but potentially offensive to the traditional rural populace of Market Snodsbury). At the club, they see an uncouth ex-valet that Bertie once employed, Bingley, who greets Jeeves in an overly familiar fashion, calling him "Reggie".

At Brinkley, he discovers Ginger's fiancée is the overbearing Florence Craye, who has previously been betrothed to several people, including Bertie. Florence mistakenly believes that Bertie still wants to marry her, and Bertie's personal code prevents him from telling her otherwise. The intimidating Roderick Spode, 7th Earl of Sidcup has come to deliver speeches for Ginger, and he has brought ''his'' fiancée, Madeline Bassett. Like Florence, Madeline thinks Bertie wants to marry her and Bertie is too polite to correct her.

Also present is L. P. Runkle, a financier and collector, who is visiting Brinkley to sell a silver porringer worth nine thousand pounds to Bertie's uncle Tom Travers (who has fled Brinkley Court to avoid the guests). Runkle was the employer of the late father of Bertie's friend Tuppy Glossop, and profited from Tuppy's father's invention, leaving little for Tuppy and his father. Dahlia wants to soften up Runkle and get him to pay Tuppy his due so Tuppy can finally marry his fiancée, Angela, Aunt Dahlia's daughter.

Ginger's chances for election (and thus his engagement to Florence) are threatened by Bingley, who has purloined the Junior Ganymede club book. Bingley intends to sell its pages about Ginger to his opponent or to the local newspaper. To prevent this, Jeeves pays Bingley a social visit, taking the opportunity to slip him a Mickey Finn and recover the book.

Surprisingly, this does not please Ginger. After disappointing Florence in his performance at the Council meeting, he no longer wants to marry her, and has fallen in love with his secretary, Magnolia Glendennon. Like Bertie, Ginger is prevented by his personal code from telling a woman he does not want to marry her. To spur Florence to break the engagement, Ginger wants the local newspaper to print the club book's pages about him, but Jeeves is unwilling to part with the book. Meanwhile, Spode is entranced by the reception he is getting at his speeches for Ginger, and thinks of renouncing his title and running for the Commons himself. This upsets Madeline, who wants to become a Countess. Madeline considers marrying Bertie instead of Spode.

Aunt Dahlia, failing to convince Runkle to give Tuppy any money, has stolen the silver porringer he wished to sell to Tom. Bertie tries to return the porringer, but is caught, and hides the object in his bureau drawer. At the candidate debate, Ginger, following Jeeves's advice, endorses his opponent and resigns the race. Havoc ensues between the opposing sides, and those present, including Spode and Florence, are pelted with produce. Florence breaks her engagement with Ginger, and he promptly elopes with Magnolia.

Bingley (in Runkle's employ) discovers the missing porringer in Bertie's drawer, and Runkle accuses Bertie of the theft. While Bertie faces jail time, this has the positive effect of keeping Florence from trying to marry Bertie. Spode realises he would prefer to stay in the produce-free House of Lords and chooses to keep his title. He and Madeline reconcile.

Finally, Jeeves reveals secrets about Runkle written about him by Bingley in the club book, preventing him from pressing charges against Bertie, and also forcing him to give Tuppy his legacy. Noting that Bingley was able to steal the club book, Bertie again asks Jeeves to destroy the eighteen pages that Jeeves wrote about Bertie. Jeeves states that he has already done so.

Paul and Jessie Duncan (Greg Kinnear and Rebecca Romijn) are a happily married couple who have an eight-year-old son named Adam (Cameron Bright). The day after his eighth birthday, when fetching a basketball into the street, Adam is killed in a collision. While leaving a church, Jessie and Paul are confronted by Dr. Richard Wells (Robert De Niro), an old professor of Jessie's. He offers to clone Adam, an illegal procedure which would require a change of location and identity, to which the Duncans reluctantly agree. Everything appears to be fine with the new Adam until he reaches his eighth birthday. That night, he experiences a violent nightmare. Richard explains to Paul that it is typical for boys his age to have night terrors, and that it is not serious. He explains that because Adam II has reached the age at which the original Adam died, his life cannot be predicted anymore. From that moment on, Adam II continues to have night terrors until they become visions and he starts having them while he is wide awake, losing control of his actions.

Adam's visions are recurrent: he witnesses a boy named Zachary (Devon Bostick) walking around in a school building while being laughed at by other children. These images alternate with images of the school burning, and children screaming, and the image of an unidentified woman being attacked and killed with a hammer. Adam's visions affect his daytime personality, making him bitter, delinquent, and uncooperative. Adam begins to bully another boy that goes to his school. One night at dinner, Jessie receives a telephone call from the parent of that child, distressed that her child is missing. Jessie tells Paul, who then asks what Adam was doing that day. Adam says that he was at the river playing. When Paul asks who he was playing with, Adam responds that he is "not supposed to say". The next day, as the Duncans are driving on their way home over a bridge, they are slowed by a police officer. They walk to the side of the bridge to see the woman who had telephoned about her missing child the previous night, screaming at the sight of her son being retrieved by paramedics from a river where he had drowned. Paul believes Adam was involved with the child's death.

With the help of Richard, Paul examines Adam and talks to him about his visions. He finally finds out that the school in Adam's visions is called Saint Pius and that Zachary's last name is Clark. With this information, Paul is able to track down the child's address and find a former nanny of Zachary. The nanny informs Paul that Zachary was deeply disturbed. He was bullied at school tremendously, and in the wake of his emotions, set fire to the school. When he returned home Zachary killed his mother with a hammer before setting fire to their house, where he burned along with his mother’s body. When he asks the nanny, Paul learns that Zachary's father was a geneticist—enough information to uncover that this man was none other than Richard Wells, living now under a false identity. Through the operation to clone Adam, Richard had secretly mixed Adam's DNA with that of Zachary (as the fire damaged Zachary's DNA to where it could not be cloned without the assistance of other living cells) with the hope of bringing his own son back to life, and then kidnapping him. The operation did not yield a complete success. After arguing with Richard and learning what has caused Adam's erratic behavior, Paul races home. He finds Adam and Jessie in the shed in the woods. He has arrived just in time to stop Adam (with Zachary's personality in control) from killing Jessie with a hammer, in nearly the same way as Zachary had killed his mother. Adam's personality manages to regain control, and everything seems to be okay.

In an attempt to shake the psychological transitions from Adam to Zachary, the Duncans escape from Richard and move to a different neighborhood. All seems well. Adam is friendly and happy, but as he is left alone in his room, Adam hears a noise in the closet. When he opens the closet door, a slightly burnt and decayed arm wearing Zachary’s jersey, reaches out from the darkness of the closet and pulls Adam in. Paul comes back to check Adam and looks in the closet, but he does not see anyone. Adam then appears from behind and shocks Paul by touching him, indicating that Zachary has regained control.

The infamous stand-up comic Roy Chubby Brown stars in this irreverent, science fiction spoof. Performing one night at the end of Blackpool Pier, Chubby is beamed up to a spaceship populated by feminist aliens. Put on trial for crimes against women and quickly found guilty, the unapologetic misogynist is condemned to become pregnant every year for the next thirty years.

Avengers

Jack of Hearts, who had been dead before the storyline, arrives at Avengers Mansion. The zombified hero explodes, damaging the mansion. Scott Lang is killed in the blast. The Vision pilots an Avengers Quinjet into the partially damaged Avengers Mansion, causing more damage.

Elsewhere, Wanda Maximoff arrives at the United Nations, where she speaks with Captain America, who announces that he is ending their fledgling relationship. Tony Stark suddenly becomes drunk and belligerent despite not having imbibed any alcohol at an important UN meeting to decide if the Avengers should have their security clearance revoked following the events of ''Secret War''. After Tony drunkenly attempts to pick a fight with the Latverian ambassador, the Avengers UN charter is revoked; Iron Man leaves Hank Pym in the lurch to respond to the "Code White" from Avengers Mansion.

Leaving the crashed Quinjet, Vision warns the Avengers of a mysterious plan to destroy the team and then vomits up eggs that spawn Ultron drones that attack the Avengers. She-Hulk becomes consumed with bloodlust, tearing Vision in half, killing him, and brutally assaulting Wasp and Captain America.

She-Hulk is subdued by Iron Man and Captain America and Hank Pym joins them and rushes Wasp to the hospital. Returning, Hank reveals to Cap and the team of Iron Man's drunken outburst at the UN and the UN's decision to revoke their charter. All past members of the Avengers gather at the mansion, fearing that Ultron may be behind the attack. Suddenly an armada of Kree soldiers appear in the sky and attack Manhattan. In the ensuing battle, Hawkeye's arrows are hit, causing their explosives to go off. In his dying moments, Hawkeye takes out a Kree battleship in the blast after taking flight with a commandeered Kree jet pack.

In the wake of Hawkeye's death, Doctor Strange appears for the first time since the Dark Dimension invasion several months earlier. He explains to the Avengers that the inexplicable events—Tony's sudden inebriation, She-Hulk and Vision's loss of control, Jack of Heart's resurrection, and the enemies they have encountered—are magical, and that their trail leads to Wanda. A flashback reveals that Wanda has lost her sanity after an errant comment about motherhood from the Wasp triggered a suppressed memory of Wanda's lost twin children, William and Thomas. The children were magical constructs Wanda created in an impossible conception between her and the Vision. They were lost when both children were magically absorbed by the villain Master Pandemonium, and the memory was suppressed by Wanda's mentor, Agatha Harkness, reasoning that the children were unnatural constructs and better for Wanda to forget. The reawakened memory has caused Wanda to lose her sanity and blame the Avengers for the loss of her children. Strange reveals that the abilities previous ascribed to Wanda's "chaos magick" are actually uncontrolled manifestations of her ability to warp reality, and that she must be taken down immediately before she threatens the world in her current mental state.

The Avengers visit the home of Agatha Harkness, and find her long dead, having been killed by Wanda. The Avengers find Wanda, who summons an army of the Avengers' past enemies to destroy them, including a version of Rogue, Red Skull, and a group of SS troops. Doctor Strange uses the Eye of Agamotto to put Wanda into a coma. Before the Avengers can decide what to do or how to deal with their losses, Magneto arrives to retrieve Wanda from the Avengers, much to Captain America's dismay and horror. Reluctantly, he allows Magneto to take his daughter with him after he vows to help her with the assistance of Charles Xavier.

In the aftermath, the Avengers disband, but reminisce about their numerous triumphs and memories of one another. Pietro Maximoff arrives and apologizes for Wanda, letting them know that Xavier is attempting to fix Wanda's mind, before speeding away. The remaining members accept their losses, discuss Wanda's history, and struggle with forgiveness. Ultimately, they toast to their fallen comrades, including Wanda. As they leave the destroyed headquarters, they are greeted by a civilian vigil, bearing candles and signs expressing gratitude for the heroes.

Iron Man

After rescuing Force from the corrupt senators who have been trying to kill Tony Stark since he became U.S. Defense Secretary, Iron Man finds himself targeted by an impostor who murders his longtime love interest Rumiko Fujikawa. Iron Man eventually defeats his impersonator and brings down the ring of corrupt senators who organized the murder and blackmailed Force. Realizing that his loved ones are being targeted by his enemies, Stark gives a press conference where he announces that he is resigning as Defense Secretary and will no longer actively be Iron Man, in favor of returning to "subordinates" filling the role for him.

Thor

A mystic force that is the living embodiment of Ragnarok has begun slaying the Asgardian Gods in rapid succession. Investigating the genocide of his people, Thor discovers that the universe itself is seeking to eliminate the Asgardians for cheating death by surviving countless previous attempts by the universe to fulfill Ragnarok and wipe out the Asgardians. Ultimately Thor allows himself to be destroyed, as all known Asgardians are destroyed.

Captain America and Falcon

Captain America and Falcon are in the midst of an international scandal between a naval intelligence operation (ONI) and a Drug Cartel with ties to A.I.M when Cap starts having hallucinations; some of them involving encounters with his fellow Avenger Wanda Maximoff A.K.A. the Scarlet Witch. Meanwhile, Falcon is gifted a new enhanced costume from Wakanda and uses it to escape the feds. Captain America discusses his past, most notably his guilt from the death of Bucky, with Scarlet Witch and she eases his trouble. While they engage in a romance, Cap cites that he can not give her the normal life she desires due to his own emotional issues. His apparent romance with the Scarlet Witch ceases just prior to the UN meeting to retain their UN Charter. Wanda, oddly tells him she has no recollection of their romance, indicating that Cap hallucinated the whole thing. Cap later believes that due to the events of "Avengers Disassembled", Wanda was responsible for his visions and Falcon's aggressive behavior.

Spectacular Spider-Man

Peter Parker finds himself locked in a desperate battle with Adrianna "Ana" Soria (aka "The Queen"), a mysterious villainess with the ability to control her minions with powerful pheromones. During their first confrontation, a captive Peter is forcefully kissed by the Queen, causing him to mutate into a grotesque human-spider hybrid over the course of many days. As he attempts to return himself to normal, it's ultimately revealed that the Queen's powers are the result of an American military experiment from World War II, and she has returned to seek revenge on the US government for abandoning her after the war.

In his final confrontation with the Queen, Peter stops her from destroying all human life in New York City with a biological bomb. In the course of the battle, he is fully transformed into a monstrous spider, but the transformation has the unintended side-effect of making him pregnant—allowing him to give birth to a perfect replica of his old human self, with all of his memories fully intact. In his new form, Peter possesses the ability to shoot organic webbing from his wrists, eliminating the need for his homemade "web-shooters".

Fantastic Four

While the Avengers face the destruction of their mansion and the invading Kree armada, Wizard and the Frightful Four launch a surprise attack on the Fantastic Four, defeating the heroes and seizing control over the Baxter Building. The Fantastic Four regroup.

Captain America

Following the events of "Disassembled", Captain America is naturally depressed and rekindles a relationship with Diamondback (Rachel Leighton). Meanwhile, the Red Skull conspires with a corrupt SHIELD agent to kill Captain America using Diamondback, but his plan backfires. During these events Steve realizes his love for Rachel.

Tommy Johnson (Danny Dyer) is a member of a violent Chelsea hooligan firm and an eager ornithologist. His friends and fellow hooligans include Tommy's best friend Rod King (Neil Maskell), the hot-tempered Billy Bright (Frank Harper), and impulsive younger members Zeberdee (Roland Manookian) and Raf (Calum MacNab). Tommy spends his days drinking, using drugs, womanising and fighting, much to the disappointment of his grandfather Bill Farrell (Dudley Sutton), a pensioner and veteran who plans to move to Australia with his best friend Albert (John Junkin).

Tommy has an epiphany about his lifestyle during a fight with the Tottenham hooligan firm. Tommy, Billy and Rod are arrested for assaulting two Stoke City fans whilst travelling to an away match. These actions draw the fury of Harris (Tony Denham), the leader of the Chelsea firm, whose attempts to keep order are thwarted by Billy's aggressive outbursts.

Rod begins a relationship with Tamara (Sophie Linfield), the court clerk at their arraignment, and she pressures him to skip his weekend meets. Zeberdee and his friend Raff accidentally burgle Billy's house and are forced to stand in his living room, whilst Billy's children throw darts at them. Billy deals with his increasing loneliness after he overhears Harris discussing his irrelevance. Bill's plan to retire to Australia are postponed when Albert dies the night before they are to leave.

Early in the film, Tommy is caught and held hostage by the brother of Shian (Michele Hallak), a girl he picked up at a club. He is saved when Rod hits the man on the head with a cricket bat. Sian's brother turns out to also be the brother of the rival Millwall firm's leader, Fred (Tamer Hassan), who then hunts Tommy down throughout the entire film. The film culminates in a pitched battle between the Chelsea and Millwall firms. Rod (after a few espressos and a line of cocaine), leaves a dinner with Tamara's parents after offending them, and attends the "meet". Tommy is severely beaten by Fred and a group of Millwall hooligans, and ends up in the hospital with Bill, who, in the meantime, has suffered a heart attack.

At the end of the film, a crippled Tommy decides that his place is at the firm with his friends, Bill gets cured and moves to Australia and Billy Bright is incarcerated for seven years after being arrested at the Millwall meet (whilst saving Harris from being arrested). Zeberdee is killed by a drug dealer whom he had previously mugged, fulfilling a recurring nightmare that tormented Tommy throughout the film.

The delivery boy from the first book, who is now the Avatar, must stop an epic clash of civilizations between the Western world, led by Christian extremist General Horatio Cruz, and the Middle East, led by Muslim extremist Al-Zee. To accomplish this task, the Avatar decides to find the "Prime Influencer", a person who, he feels, can indirectly influence all the decisions people make by virtue of responsibility, from fashion to the election of the President. He attempts to do so by enlisting a talented and arrogant programmer at Global Information Corporation (G.I.C.) (an all-encompassing, world-wide future sort of T.I.A. created out of fear of terrorism) to analyze G.I.C.'s massive databases. Also, people's phones are, in the name of preventing terrorist communications, restricted to only calling certain contacts a person has that have been approved by the Department of Communications; this fact ultimately comes back in the book's climax.

The Avatar applies his unparalleled ability to identify developing patterns and accurately determine the most probable results of a situation to accurately predict the war plans of both Cruz and Al-Zee. He subsequently uses his ability to recognize even the vaguest patterns (which makes him seem to know more than he actually does) to bypass guards, escape interrogations, and ultimately win an audience with the warring leaders.

Ultimately, the Avatar fails to stop the coming of the war. However, at the conclusion of the book, the Prime Influencer, who turns out to be an opinionated café owner whom the Avatar had met previously by chance, launches a simple, yet catchy, phrase (''If God is so smart, why do you fart?'') that spreads throughout the world like a virus thanks to an advanced computer worm, named Giver-of-Data (G.o.D.), launched by the G.I.C. programmer shortly before his death, which unlocked everyone's phones, linked them to automatic translation systems, and disabled call-billing. According to the story, "Once you heard it, you could never forget it." It was this phrase that finally captured the collective imaginations of ordinary people, causing them to reevaluate the basis of their notions of a god. This ultimately led to the elimination of fundamentalist religious practices throughout the world, which, in turn, resulted in the end of the Religion War.

Persepolis 1: The Story of a Childhood

''Persepolis'' 1 begins by introducing Marji, the ten-year-old protagonist. Set in 1980, the novel focuses on her experiences of growing up during the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Her story details the impact of war and religious extremism on Iranians, especially women. Belonging to an upper-middle class family, Marji has access to various educational materials, such as books and a radio, which expose her to Western political thought at a very young age. By discovering the ideas of numerous philosophers, Marji reflects on her class privilege and is eager to learn about her family's political background. This inquiry inspires her to participate in popular demonstrations against the Shah's regime in which people are asking for his exile as a way to safeguard their rights. Unfortunately, after the Shah's departure, Marji notices the rise of religious extremism in her society and is unhappy about it. Her uncle Anoosh's visit deepens her interest in politics when he tells her stories of being imprisoned as a communist revolutionary. His stories cause her to value ideas of equality and resistance. The new government then begins to reform Iranian society, especially having women cover themselves while out in public and putting restrictions on social freedoms. Marji's family begins to fear for their lives since many of their friends and thousands of Iranians had fled the new regime to Europe or the USA, but they resolve to stay. Anoosh is arrested again and accused of being a spy. He is executed for his political beliefs. Marji is upset that God did not do anything to help her uncle and rejects her faith.

After an abrupt family vacation to Europe, Marji returns to Iran where she learns from her grandmother that the government has declared war against Iraq. As her hometown of Tehran comes under attack, she finds safety in her basement, which doubles as a bomb shelter. One night, the family hears the Iranian National Anthem play on the TV, moving them to tears. It is later revealed that the government released the soldiers and air pilots from prison who were in jail for protesting. The soldiers agreed to fight on the condition that the country's National Anthem be played on the public broadcasting. Amidst the chaos of an ongoing war, her family secretly revolts against the new regime by having parties and consuming alcohol, which is prohibited in the country. Two years of war force Marji to explore her rebellious side by skipping classes, obsessing over boys, and visiting the black market that has grown as a result of the shortages caused by war and repression.

As the war intensifies, Marji rushes home one day to find that a long-range ballistic missile has hit her street. Her family escapes the missile as it hit the neighboring building, which housed their neighbors, of Iran's very minor population of Jews, the Baba Levys. Traumatized by the sight of her friend's dead body, she expresses her anger against the Iranian political system. Her family begins to worry about her safety and decides to send her off to Austria for further study and to escape the war. The novel ends with her departure to Europe.

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

The second part of the series takes place in Vienna where Marji starts her new life at a boarding house because her mother's friend has no room for her at her own apartment. Since she cannot speak German upon arrival, Marji finds it hard to communicate but eventually overcomes it and makes friends. She assimilates into the culture by celebrating Christmas and going to Mass with her roommate. Away from home, Marji's Iranian identity deepens and she is expelled from the school after a verbal altercation with a nun who makes xenophobic comments against Marji.

No longer in school, Marji starts living with her friend Julie and her mother. Here, she experiences more culture shock when Julie talks about her sexual endeavors, as such topics are prohibited in Iran. Soon she undergoes a physical and ideological transformation by using drugs and changing her appearance while continuing to move house. Marji finally settles on a room with Frau Dr. Heller, but their relationship is unstable. Issues also arise in many of Marji's relationships, in which she finds comfort in drugs. She forms a relationship with Markus, but breaks up with him when she discovers that he has been cheating on her. Marji leaves Dr. Heller's house after she accuses Marji of stealing her brooch. She spends the day on a park bench and ends up living on the streets for two months. When she catches bronchitis she almost dies, but is found and taken to a hospital. Marji reaches out to her parents who arrange for her to move back and thus after living in Vienna for 4 years, she returns to Tehran.

At the airport, she recognizes how different Iran is from Austria. Donning her veil once more to go out, she takes in the 65-foot murals of martyrs, rebel slogans, and the streets renamed after the dead. At home, her father tells her the horrors of the war and they talk deep into the night about what she had missed. After hearing what her parents had gone through while she was away in Vienna, she resolves never to tell them of her time there. However, her trauma from Austria makes her fall into depression forcing her to attempt suicide twice. When she survives, she takes it as a sign to live and starts her process of recovery by looking after her health and taking up a job. She also begins art classes at the local university. However, due to the restrictions of showing female nudity, Marji and her friends attend secret sessions and parties, away from the prying eyes of the religious police.

Following her return to Iran Marji meets Reza, also a painter, and they soon begin to date, but this proves to be frowned upon by the religious police. They are caught holding hands and their families are forced to pay a fine to avoid their lashings. In 1991, Reza proposes marriage to Marji, and after some contemplation, she accepts. Her mother, Taji, warns her that she has gotten married too young and Marji soon realizes that she feels trapped in the role of wife. Marji attends a party, but someone warns them about the religious police. They quickly discard the alcohol and the women cover themselves as the police enter the building. The men make their escape by jumping from the rooftop, but Marji's friend Nima hesitates and falls to his death. Later on in 1994, her marriage has deteriorated and Marji confides in her friend, Farnaz, that she no longer loves Reza and wants a divorce. Farnaz advises her to stay with her husband because divorced women are social outcasts, but her grandmother urges her to get a divorce. After much contemplation, Marji decides to separate from a reluctant Reza. She goes to her parents and tells them about her and Reza's divorce and they comment on how proud they are of her and suggest that she should leave Iran permanently and live a better life back in Europe.

In late 1994 before her departure for Europe, Marji visits the countryside outside Tehran. She also visits the Caspian Sea, the grave of her grandfather, and the prison building where her uncle Anoosh is buried. In the autumn, Marji along with her parents and grandmother go to Mehrabad Airport for their final goodbye as she heads off to live in Paris. Marji then reveals that her grandmother died in 1996. The book ends with the message: "Freedom has a price."

The story revolves around the last Pope, John XXIX, who was overthrown more than twenty years earlier with the establishment of a new world government under General Megrim. The pope is now a frail old man, who lives in obscurity under a moderate form of house arrest, ignored by his neighbors and forbidden to keep any religious items. All he has left is a book, possibly a Bible, that he has managed to hide, and a crucifix with an arm broken off. He is already feeble-minded and has forgotten most of his past, and the world has forgotten him as well—when the concierge at a hotel is told that he is the pope, he answers, "The Pope? What's the Pope?"

When the Pope was toppled, there was an attempt to assassinate him, but this failed, and it was since decided not to make him a martyr to the few surviving Christians. Since then, Christianity has been eradicated, and the pope is now the last surviving Christian.

In the story, the Pope is flown for a formal meeting with the General, the new leader of the new world order. After many long years, it is a formal meeting, much publicized in the world press. The pope's robes and even his papal ring are restored to him from the World Museum of Myths, and he is forced to don them for the occasion, faintly remembering earlier days when they were his normal attire. At 11:30 am sharp, he is taken to meet the general, who reminds him that he is "The last Pope, but still a Pope," and therefore still a threat. The general places a gun on the table and offers him an opportunity to die with dignity, "The last Christian. This is a moment of history." After many long years of isolation, this is a relief to the Pope. The two men share a glass of wine before the execution is to take place. His last words, before he is shot, are ''Corpus domini nostri''...

Greene ends the story by reflecting on the General's concern that Christianity may be abandoned and its last believers persecuted, but that somehow the faith will survive. Even after performing the execution himself, the General is plagued by the doubt, "...is it possible that what this man believed may be true?" Even religion's greatest enemies, Greene is saying, still live with the question of what if they are wrong, and as long as the slightest doubt remains, Christianity will survive. Even though he is frustrated by the modern world's skepticism, he believes that that very skepticism may yet be what keeps Christianity alive.

The narrative of ''Buso Renkin'' follows Kazuki Muto, who saves Tokiko Tsumura and is killed by an alchemical monster known as a homunculus. Tokiko, an alchemist warrior, feels responsible and revives him by replacing his destroyed heart with a . The kakugane is an alchemical device which, when activated, takes a weapon form based on its user's personality, forming a buso renkin the only thing that can destroy a homunculus. Kazuki creates his own buso renkin and joins Tokiko in the fight against the homunculi and their master, Koushaku Chouno. Chouno, who has renamed himself "Papillon", is killed by Kazuki, but is later resurrected by the L.X.E., a humanoid homunculi group led by Chouno's great-great-grandfather Bakushaku Chouno, now calling himself Dr. Butterfly. In various battles, Kazuki, Tokiko and Captain Bravo (their team leader) destroy most of the L.X.E.'s members. After learning that Dr. Butterfly believes him to be weak and useless, Papillon rebels against the L.X.E. and kills Dr. Butterfly.

Before his death, Dr. Butterfly drains the energy of the students at Kazuki's school to heal and revive Victor, a being superior to humans and homunculi. Victor is confronted by Kazuki, but Victor is not interested in fighting and leaves. During the battle, however, Kazuki's kakugane is revealed to be the same type as the Victor's—a black kakugane created by the Alchemist Army as a prototype to the philosopher's stone. The black kakugane absorbs human life forces; to prevent this from happening, Kazuki's death is ordered by the Alchemist Army. Captain Bravo tries to kill Kazuki, but Tokiko finds him alive. A team is commissioned to confirm Kazuki's death, but Kazuki, Tokiko and Gouta Nakamura (an Alchemist Warrior and former protégé of Tokiko's) fight their way past the members of the Re-Extermination Squad. Later, Kazuki's death is postponed because, as the Alchemists' leader explains, their top priority is to defeat Victor.

Kazuki and Tokiko find the white kakugane, which can negate the effects of the black kakugane and is guarded by Victor's daughter Victoria, who is herself a humanoid homunculus. During the Alchemist Army's final battle against Victor, Kazuki applies the white kakugane to Victor, but it only weakens him. To protect humankind from both of them, Kazuki propels himself and Victor to the moon. Later, Papillion creates a white kakugane to heal Kazuki. The Alchemist Army rescues Kazuki, creates another white kakugane and restores Victor's humanity. Reunited with his daughter, Victor asks the Alchemist Army to turn him into a homunculus and tells them that he and his daughter will lead all the homunculi to the moon. The Alchemist Army dedicates itself to research a way to revert homunculi back into humans, ending their war activities. All Warriors abdicate their kakugane. Kazuki and Tokiko return to their daily lives together while Papillon becomes an urban legend throughout Japan.

In the spirit of Edwin Abbott Abbott's ''Flatland'', Dewdney and his computer science students simulate a two-dimensional world with a complex ecosystem. To their surprise, they find their artificial 2D universe has somehow accidentally become a means of communication with an actual 2D world – ''Arde''. They make a sort of "telepathic" contact with "YNDRD", referred to by the students as Yendred, a highly philosophical Ardean, as he begins a journey across the western half, Punizla, of the single continent ''Ajem Kollosh'' to learn more about the spiritual beliefs of the people of the East, Vanizla. Yendred mistakes Dewdney's class for "spirits" and takes great interest in communicating with them. The students and narrator communicate with Yendred by typing on the keyboard; Yendred's answers appear on the computer's printout. The name Yendred (or "Yendwed", as pronounced by one of the students, who has a speech impediment) is simply "Dewdney" reversed.

Written as a travelogue, Yendred's journey through the West takes him through several cities. He visits the Punizlan Institute for Technology and Science, where Arde's technology is explored in great detail. For example, all houses are underground, so as not to be demolished by the periodic 2D rivers; nails are useless for attaching two objects, so tape and glue are used instead; most Ardean creatures cannot have deuterostomic digestive tracts since they would split into two; even games such as Go have one-dimensional [http://www.gamerz.net/pbmserv/alak.html Alak] analogues. An appendix explains various other aspects of two-dimensional science and technology which could not fit into the main story.

The underlying allegory culminates in Yendred's arrival at the watershed of the continent and the planet's only building above ground, where he at last finds Drabk, an Ardean who professes "knowledge of the Beyond", and teaches Yendred to fly. Yendred finds that to keep contact with Earth is no longer of benefit, and contact with Arde is lost.

The film is set in southwest France in 1962. François (Gaël Morel), a shy young man from the lower middle class, is working towards his high school diploma. He spends most of his time talking about movies and literature with his best friend, Maïté (Élodie Bouchez), whose mother Mme Alvarez (Michèle Moretti) is François's French teacher. Mme Alvarez and Maïté are communists. At the boarding school, François becomes acquainted with Serge (Stéphane Rideau), the sensual son of immigrant farmers. At night, he joins François in the dormitory to chat. Finally, Serge draws François into an erotic relationship.

François discovers his homosexuality and develops a deep attraction for Serge, who has only acted out of curiosity. François confides this discovery to Maïté, who swallows her disappointment and encourages him to come out of the closet. When Serge becomes increasingly interested in Maïté, she declares herself to be interested in nobody.

Serge's brother Pierre dies while serving in the army in Algeria, and Maïté's mother suffers a nervous breakdown, having previously refused to help Pierre desert. An Algerian-born French exile, Henri (Frédéric Gorny), enrolls in the boys' boarding school and aggravates their conflicts, adding a political conflict. He is obsessed with events in Algeria and supports the OAS, which opposes Algerian independence and defends the rights of French settlers there. He treats François without sympathy and bluntly tells him to own up to his homosexuality. His political stance provokes Serge's hatred. Henri finally engages Maïté, his political opposite, and they yield to their mutual attraction.

Each member of the quartet develops in the course of the film, shifting repeatedly from stubborn positions to more flexible appreciations of their circumstances, explained in French class by a reading of "The Oak and the Reed", one of La Fontaine's Fables.

Harris K. Telemacher (Steve Martin) is a TV weather presenter living in Los Angeles. He is in a dead-end relationship with his social-climbing girlfriend Trudi (Marilu Henner), and feels his job requires him to be undignified and unintellectual, though he has a PhD in arts and humanities. He wants to find some meaning and magic in his life, having grown increasingly weary of what he sees as the rather shallow and superficial city of LA, from overly pretentious coffee orders to bizarre shooting etiquette rules on the freeway. He spends his time roller-skating through art galleries with his friend Ariel, offering eccentric art reviews to acquaintances, remixing Shakespeare a lot, and otherwise seeking to escape his ordinary life.

At a luncheon with a group of friends, he meets Sara (Victoria Tennant), a journalist from London, with whom he immediately becomes infatuated.

Driving home that night, his car breaks down on the freeway. He notices that a freeway traffic condition sign seems to be displaying messages intended solely for him. It offers him cryptic advice on his love life throughout the movie.

He begins to fall for Sara, but she is conflicted because she has pledged to reconcile with her ex-husband, Roland (Richard E. Grant). Feeling that a relationship with Sara is unlikely, Harris begins dating SanDeE (Sarah Jessica Parker), a ditzy aspiring spokesmodel, whom he meets at a clothing store. After his first date with her, Harris discovers that Trudi has been cheating on him for three years with his agent. The discovery leads him to pursue his romantic interest in Sara. This is complicated by his new relationship with SanDeE and by Sara's feeling of obligation to Roland.

By the conclusion, he has successfully wooed Sara – with some encouragement and advice from the sign, some helpful weather, and plenty of cameos from Patrick Stewart, Chevy Chase, Iman, Rick Moranis, Terry Jones, and many others, with musical encouragement from Enya.

Elizabeth believes she has gone into labor, but at the hospital, the doctor tells her she was having Braxton Hicks contractions. The reality is that in the world from which babies come, Milo is too scared to leave the comfortable place where he has lived. Since babies must be born in order, no other babies will be born until Milo changes his mind. The people in charge give the job of educating Milo to Elmore, who is in a kind of limbo until he proves he is worthy of Heaven.

Elmore and Milo go out the door which normally serves only as an entrance. Outside is the energetic and terrifying New York City. Elmore loves it, but Milo doesn't want to be in this scary place.

The big news story is the lack of births anywhere.

Elmore eventually takes Milo to Atlantic City, where he loved to gamble when he was alive. Elizabeth also ends up in Atlantic City. Milo's mind has not been changed and there is a deadline: at midnight, the door that the souls go through to be born will close, and no more babies will ever be born. In Atlantic City, Elizabeth meets Milo, who realizes Elizabeth is his mother, and decides he wants to be born. He also realizes Elmore is the father who abandoned Elizabeth.

The USS ''Enterprise'' arrives at planet M-113 to provide supplies and medical exams for the only known inhabitants of the planet, Professor Robert Crater (Alfred Ryder) and his wife Nancy (Jeanne Bal), who operate an archaeological research station there. Captain Kirk, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Leonard McCoy, and Crewman Darnell (Michael Zaslow) transport to the surface as Kirk teases McCoy about his affection for Nancy ten years earlier. They arrive in the research station, and each of the three men sees Nancy differently: McCoy as she was when he first met her, Kirk as she should look accounting for her age, and Darnell as an attractive blonde woman whom he met on a pleasure planet. When Nancy goes out to fetch her husband, she beckons Darnell to follow her.

Professor Crater is reluctant to be examined, telling Kirk that they only require salt tablets. Before McCoy can complete the examination, they hear a scream from outside. They find Darnell dead, with red ring-like mottling on his face, a plant root in his mouth, and Nancy standing over him saying she was unable to stop Darnell from tasting the plant. On board ''Enterprise'', Spock analyzes the plant. He confirms that it is poisonous, but that mottling is not a symptom. McCoy conducts a medical exam and, together with Spock, determines that all the salt was drained from Darnell's body. In response, Kirk transports back down to the planet with McCoy and two crewmen, Green (Bruce Watson) and Sturgeon (John Arndt). Kirk tells Professor Crater that he and his wife should stay aboard the Enterprise until they find out what killed Darnell. Crater then runs off trying to find Nancy. Nancy kills both Sturgeon and Green; their faces show the same mottling as Darnell. Nancy assumes the form of Green, and meets Kirk and McCoy. They beam back up to the ship with Sturgeon's body.

"Green" roams the corridors, stalking several crew members, killing one. It shape-shifts into the form of McCoy after confirming that the real McCoy has taken a sedative to sleep. Meanwhile, Spock confirms that scans show only one person, Crater, on the planet; Kirk and Spock beam down to capture him. They find Green's body before Crater tries to frighten them away with phaser fire. After they stun him with a phaser beam, the dazed Crater reveals that the real Nancy was killed by the creature – the last member of a long-dead civilization of shape-shifters who feed on salt – a year earlier. The creature continued to take on the appearance of Nancy out of affection for Crater, and he has been feeding it, comparing it to the "now-extinct buffalo". Kirk informs ''Enterprise'' of the creature's intrusion, as the landing party and Crater transport back to the ship.

Crater refuses to help them identify the creature, so Kirk orders the fake "McCoy" to administer truth serum. Kirk arrives in sickbay to find Crater dead and Spock injured; Spock's Vulcan blood made him incompatible with the creature's needs. Back in its "Nancy" form, the creature goes to McCoy's quarters. Kirk arrives with a phaser to provoke the creature into attacking. McCoy gets in the way, giving the creature the opportunity to attack Kirk. The creature reverts to its natural appearance and starts to feed on Kirk. McCoy opens fire with his phaser. The creature changes back into the shape of "Nancy" to plead for its life as McCoy continues firing and kills it. As ''Enterprise'' leaves orbit, Kirk comments to Spock that he was thinking about the buffalo.

Following a standard style of the era, the film is a romantic slapstick comedy short. Fields and his rival (played by Bud Ross) vie over the affections of a woman (played by Marian West). When their antics get out of hand at a picnic, it is decided that they should play a game of pool. Both of them are pool sharks, and after the game turns into a farce, a fight ensues. Fields throws a ball at his rival, who ducks. The ball flies through the window and breaks a hanging goldfish bowl, soaking the woman they are fighting over and leaving goldfish in her hair. She storms into the pool hall and rejects both men.

It is 25 September 1944, during the last days of the Warsaw Uprising. Lieutenant Zadra leads a unit of 43 soldiers and civilians to a new position amidst the ruins of the now isolated southern Mokotów district of Warsaw.

The composer Michał manages to telephone his wife and child in another part of the city that is being overrun by the Germans. After a few words, she tells him that the Germans are clearing the building and that they are coming for her. Then the line goes dead. The next morning, 23-year-old Officer Cadet Korab apologizes after walking into a room to find the second in command, Lieutenant Mądry, and messenger girl Halinka in bed together (Halinka later reveals that Mądry is her first lover). A German attack is stopped, but Korab is wounded while disabling a Goliath tracked mine.

Surrounded by the enemy, Zadra is ordered to retreat through the sewers to the city centre. Now down to 27 fit to travel, including Korab, they slog through the filth.

Daisy, their guide, asks Zadra to let her help Korab, claiming that the others can find their way easily enough. Zadra consents. However, the pair fall further and further behind. When they reach the designated exit at Wilcza Street, Korab is too weak to climb the upward sloping tunnel, so they rest for a while. He notices some graffiti on the opposite wall, but cannot quite make it out. Daisy tells him it says "I love Janek", when the name is actually Jacek, Korab's first name. She decides that they should head in the direction of the river, which is only a short distance away and drives him on, not letting him stop. Finally, they see sunlight. By this time, Korab is half blind and at the end of his strength. He cannot see that the exit is closed off by metal bars. Daisy finally reveals her feelings for him, kissing him before telling him that he can rest for a while.

The main group follows Zadra for a while, but they become lost without Daisy. Finally, when Zadra tells Sergeant Kula to order them onward after a brief rest, they remain where they are. Kula lies and tells Zadra they are following in order to get him to keep going. Eventually, the only remaining soldier following Zadra and Kula is the mechanic Smukły.

Meanwhile, Mądry, Halinka and Michał are also lost. Eventually, Michał loses his mind and wanders away, playing an ocarina. Upon reaching a dead end, Mądry cries out that he has somebody to live for. When Halinka asks who, he tells her that he has a wife and child. She asks him to turn off his flashlight, and then shoots herself. Mądry finds an exit, but as soon as he has climbed out of the sewer he is disarmed by a German soldier. He looks around the courtyard he has emerged into and sees others who have come though the same manhole standing in silence guarded by armed German soldiers. Some are lined up against a nearby wall that is stained with blood. Despondent, he kneels beside the bodies of others who have already been executed (this scene is based on an event that really happened during the escape from Mokotów on 26/27 September 1944 - a large group of insurgents climbed out of the sewers at Dworkowa Street, in German-held territory, and 120 of them were executed by the Germans).

Zadra, Kula and Smukły miss the exit at Wilcza Street but find another - however it is booby trapped. Smukły disarms two German grenades, but is killed by the third and last. Zadra and Kula emerge from the sewer to find themselves in a deserted part of the ruined city. When Zadra tells Kula to bring up the rest of the men, Kula admits he lied and that they left them behind a long time ago. Enraged, Zadra shoots Kula and reluctantly heads back down into the sewer to search for his men.

12 years after graduating from high school, three friends, Jerry, Dan, and Tom, find out that their childhood friend Billy has died in a parasailing accident. After the funeral, they revisit the group's old tree-house and find a map leading to D. B. Cooper's lost treasure, which Billy had apparently been working on for his entire life. Dan takes a break from his job as a doctor and joins Jerry and Tom on a camping trip to find the treasure.

Canoeing down the river, they eventually stop on the riverbank for the night. They realise that they forgot to bring food, so Tom goes out to catch some fish. However, the activity attracts a grizzly bear and it chases them. When Dan falls, the bear seemingly treats him like a cub until he breaks free, following the others up a tree. In the morning, they find all of their gear has been ripped up and completely destroyed by the bear.

The trio takes off into the river but are unable to read the damaged map, causing them to go the wrong way. They go over a waterfall, and although they survive, their canoe is wrecked. Venturing into the woods with a compass, they find themselves at a pot farm where rednecks Dennis and Elwood, mistake them for thieves and start shooting at them. They escape, burning the pot garden down in the process. This enrages Dennis and Elwood, who decide to hunt them down.

Later, far into the forest, the trio meets hippie girls Flower and Butterfly, who treat them in their tree. Using a radio the farmers find them, but the women drop paper bags full of feces at the farmers to distract them while the trio escapes. They are saved from the thunderstorm by a mountain man who takes them to his hut and provides them with clothes. He later reveals himself to be Del Knox, Cooper's partner before his death.

The next morning, the farmers find them, assaulting the hut. The trio escapes while Del shoots at the two with his dual wield revolvers. The trio stumbles upon the site of Cooper's crash-landing, discovering his skeleton and the suitcase he used to hold the ransom money down an old mine shaft. They realize he burned his share of the money attempting to survive.

As Dan crawls through a small tunnel to find a way out, the farmers find Tom and Jerry, and a fistfight ensues. Eventually, Sheriff Briggs, who had earlier helped the trio, intervenes. He then reveals himself to be the farmers' employer. Jerry arms a grenade taken from Dennis and throws it at the pot dealers. It explodes, causing a tree to fall on the farmers and the sheriff, who are soon arrested.

In the closing scenes, Del gives Tom, Jerry and Dan what's left of D.B's non burnt money ($100,000) but Jerry and Dan decide Tom needs it more than they do, so they let Tom keep it, while Del gives D.B. a proper funeral. Jerry proposes to his girlfriend Denise, Dan starts a relationship with Flower, and Tom becomes a camp counselor for a children's summer camp where he tells his troop an exaggerated version of the trip.

In AD 859, as the Tang Dynasty declines, several rebel groups are established, the largest of which is the House of Flying Daggers, based in Fengtian, who battle the corrupt government that oppresses the people. Its members use special throwing daggers that always hit their targets to steal from the rich and give to the poor, gaining the support of the locals. Two police officers, Leo (Andy Lau) and Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro), are ordered to kill the leader of the group within ten days, a task that appears to be impossible as no one knows who the leader of the House of the Flying Daggers is.

To accomplish this, Leo arrests Mei (Zhang Ziyi), a blind dancer who is suspected of being the previous leader's daughter. Jin proceeds to assault the jail and set Mei free, pretending that he is a rebel sympathizer, an act which gains Mei's trust. As Mei and Jin travel to the Flying Dagger headquarters, Leo trails behind with reinforcements. Unfortunately, Mei and Jin fall in love.

To make the deception more realistic, Leo and his policemen pretend to ambush the pair. Later, though, they are ambushed for real by soldiers. At a secret meeting, Leo explains that the military has gotten involved and wants Jin and Mei dead. A few days later, Jin and Mei are ambushed again in a bamboo forest and almost killed, but they are saved by the House of Flying Daggers and taken to their headquarters. At this point, Mei is revealed to have been faking her blindness, and is not the actual former leader's daughter. Furthermore, she is engaged to Leo, who has also been revealed to have been pretending to be an officer, and is really a Flying Daggers member. The Flying Daggers are not afraid of the military and are actually looking forward to an open battle. A heartbroken Leo tells Mei that he waited for her for three years since he went undercover to infiltrate the police, and asks how she could fall in love with Jin after only three days, only to be told she has her heart set on Jin.

Leo tries to rape Mei, but their superior Nia throws a dagger into Leo's back and reassigns them to new missions, separating them. Shortly after, Mei is told to execute Jin. She frees him instead but refuses to desert the House to join him. Later, Mei changes her mind and rides after Jin, but is ambushed by Leo, who casts two daggers at her. Mei manages to deflect one of them while the other pierces her breast and seemingly kills her. At this point, Jin discovers Leo and the two of them fight, but their skills are too evenly matched. A raging blizzard falls upon them, while the military approaches the House.

Finally, with both men badly wounded and exhausted, Leo pulls Nia's dagger out of his back and threatens to use it on Jin. Mei reappears and threatens to pull the dagger out of her breast and throw it at Leo, which would cause her to bleed to death, but Jin begs her to save herself. After several tense moments, Leo decides to pretend to throw his dagger, intending to die by Mei's dagger while sparing Jin. However, Mei attempts to use her dagger to intercept Leo's dagger in flight. The result is that neither Leo nor Jin dies, but only Mei. In the end, Leo stumbles away in guilt while Jin cries over Mei's body, singing a song praising her as a "rare beauty", the likes of which he will never see again. Whether the House won against the military is left ambiguous.

On his eighty-first birthday, retired homosexual writer Kenneth Toomey is asked by the Archbishop of Malta to assist in the process of canonisation of Carlo Campanati, the late Pope Gregory XVII and his brother-in-law. Toomey subsequently works on his memoirs, which span the major part of the 20th century.

At a young age, Jackie Kallen learns about boxing with her father and uncle in a small gym. Later, she becomes assistant to a Cleveland boxing promoter. Her boss then begins doing business with Sam LaRocca, a sports manager, during a middleweight championship fight.

Challenged after the contest to demonstrate an understanding of the fight game, she proceeds to embarrass LaRocca, who then offers to sell the loser's contract to her for the price of one dollar. She accepts, only to discover upon visiting the fighter in his home that he is addicted to drugs and enmeshed in a dangerous and self-destructive lifestyle.

Enter Luther Shaw, a small-time hood. Kallen watches in horror and fascination as Shaw pummels the former middleweight champ. She offers to manage him professionally. Shaw is at first hesitant, but eventually signs on with her.

Because of LaRocca's influence, Kallen can't find Shaw a fight anywhere in Ohio, so the two are forced to go on the road until Shaw makes a name for himself. Jackie begins to get swept up in all the attention she gets for being the first female boxing manager. Her attention eventually shifts from Shaw to her own media persona as her fighter's number of wins continues to climb.

Finally realizing that she is not paying enough attention to her only client, Kallen agrees to sell Shaw's contract to LaRocca on the condition that he be given a championship fight. LaRocca agrees, setting Shaw up for a shot at the title before he could be ready. Kallen arrives at the fight and stands in Shaw's corner as he pulls off an upset and wins the championship.

The Elder Gods

The first volume of the series, ''The Elder Gods'', is about the invasion of the unsuspecting Zelana's Domain by the hordes of the Vlagh inhabiting the Wasteland center of the Land of Dhrall.

The Elder Gods are each given an infant told to be a Dreamer and are supposed to save the world and defeat the Vlagh. When Eleria, Zelana's child, has the first dream, the Elder Gods go out in search of mercenaries to hire with gold (found useless and common in the land of Dhrall).

Zelana takes to the west of Dhrall to the land of Maag where she forces a storm to bring the ship and crew of Sorgan Hook-Beak to her domain. Hook-Beak is shown that she will pay a large quantity of gold to hire an army from Maag and fight a war. He takes the native archers Longbow and Red-Beard as well as Zelana with her child Eleria to Maag in search of more crews. They find much success but when the Vlagh sends an agent out to convince a crew to destroy Sorgan Hook-Beak and steal the gold, they are stopped thanks to a vision of Eleria. The night they came to attack, Longbow and the small Maag smith of Hook-Beak's crew, Rabbit, destroy the enemy fleet and the Vlagh agent responsible. A tight friendship is made by Rabbit and Longbow.

Meanwhile, in the Trogite Empire, south of Dhrall, Veltan has managed to hire a retired army general, Narasan, and his companions Padan, Gunda, Keselo and Jalkan.

The two armies meet in the western domain in surprise due to their extreme dislike for one another but Hook-Beak and Narasan become friends quickly as they plan to stop the foreseen attack in the Ravine above the Dhrall village of Lattash, the home of Red-Beard. Yaltar, the Dreamer of Veltan, foresees that the Vlagh would attack there and that there would be much killing on both sides. As the armies of Maag and the Trogite Empire build their barricades and planned their assault after the warm ocean air, created by Eleria, melts the snow where the Vlagh's servants are waiting, thus creating flooding and winning most of the war then. While Eleria dreams up the flood, Rabbit and Kesselo are informed about the true nature of the gods, and what they really are, and told to keep it a secret from the other outlanders.

Sure enough, Eleria's dream brings forth an extremely warm wind and many servants die in the flood. The native archers dip the arrows in the venom of the dead servants washed down to Lattash to ensure their victory, but the venom was also used with spears and wooden stakes. The remaining creatures of the Vlagh in the ravine met their ends with their own poison.

After the Vlagh's first wave of minions were obliterated, the outlander armies moved north to the top of the ravine and built a fort to prevent the continuous coming of the servants. However, as the fort was finished and the domain of Zelana was seemingly impregnable, the Vlagh's servants revealed their clever trick. They were using creatures to climb the mountain to the fort as decoys so that the bulk of their army would walk through tunnels in the mountain to end up far down in the ravine. The Vlagh had successfully trapped the outlanders as the earth began to shake. Veltan came and warned the outlanders to reach safe ground as Yaltan was having a dream that was about to unleash a behemoth. The outlanders evacuated as two volcanoes of massive power eradicated the Vlagh's creatures by filling up the tunnels and burrows with molten rock. The war had been won by the outlanders.

Zelana was afraid of the capabilities of the Dreams and fled but when she returned, Lattash had to be moved due to the twin volcanoes and the chief of the people of Lattash passed on his title to Red-Beard as the natives and outlanders pondered the next location of the Vlagh's attack.

The Treasured One

Narasan and Sorgan move their armies to the Domain of Veltan, where they meet Veltan's friend, Omago. Before their arrival, Veltan had given Omago a knife, and Omago figured out how to turn the knife into a spear, a weapon that was common in the outside world, but unknown to the peaceful people of Veltan's domain. Veltan shows the outlanders his house, which they are shocked to discover is made from one stone. They examine a miniature model of the Domain, and begin to make plans. Omago's wife, Ara, enters, announcing supper is ready, and Jalkan, known for his violent and corrupt nature, suggests she take up prostitution, and Omago hits him. Jalkan attempts to retaliate, but Keselo stops him, and Narasan fires him, ordering Padan to chain him up and throw him in the brig of his flagship, the Victory.

Jalkan escapes and returns to The Trogite Empire, where he reconnects with his former friend and partner-in-crime, Adnari Estarg. Adnari maintains a position of power within the corrupt Amarite church, and is interested in the tales Jalkin brings of abundant gold in the land of Dhrall. The church puts together a large expedition intent on plundering Veltan's domain and selling its peaceful citizens into slavery. However, shortly after they arrive on Dhrall, a supernatural being (later revealed to be Omago's wife, Ara) bewitches the Amarite force into believing that the Wasteland of the Vlagh is covered in gold dust. The church's soldiers, forced into a supernatural frenzy, rush towards the Wasteland, leaving their camp unguarded and freeing the natives whom they have enslaved.

Meanwhile, the combined Armies of Narasan, Sorgan, and Red-Beard, along with a group of farmers-turned-soldiers led by Omago face off against the minions of the Vlagh, who have evolved into three new forms. Bat-insect hybrids serve as scouts for the Vlagh, while large snake-men and giant spiders with shells like turtles comprise its combat force. Although they initially appear formidable, these creatures are revealed to be slow and stupid, and are easily held back by the defenders.

Longbow has a dream in which a mysterious woman (again, later revealed to be Ara) encourages him to pull the defending armies back, thereby allowing the Amarite church's expedition to advance towards the Wasteland. Still believing they will find gold, the church army engages the minions of the Vlagh. While they are fighting, one of the dreamers redirects the course of a river, causing it to drown both invading forces.

Crystal Gorge

The Crystal Gorge is another book by David and Leigh Eddings. Like the Treasured one, it is divided into sections which give background information on a particular character, and summarizes the story from the first book to the present from the character's point of view. After the battle in Veltan's domain, the important characters meet at Veltan's home to discuss their next moves. They agree to separate their forces until one of the children gives them an indication to where the servants of the Vlagh are going to mount their third invasion. Narasan and his Trogite soldiers go to Aracia's domain (who knowing that her domain is defenseless tries to convince Dahlaine that the servants of the Vlagh are going to attack her domain next.) In the end they split up their forces, and the Maags go north to Dahlaine's Domain. Rabbit, Longbow, Red-beard and Keselo go with them. Ekial and Veltan go to the land of the Malavi to hire Malavi horse warriors, and then with a little tampering from Veltan get the warriors to Dahlaine's country. They discover that the servants of the Vlagh are stirring up trouble in the numerous clans of Dahlaine's nations. Lillabeth has her dream, which the other Dreamers know about and tell Zelana that Aracia is trying to keep Lillabeth quiet. Zelana goes to intimidate her sister and learn of the dream. The defenders get rid of the insane Atazkan chief and find the source of the plague which is not a plague - it is actually the poison of the servants of the Vlagh. Afterwards, the defenders fortify Crystal Gorge, with the help of the Malavi, the Trogites, and the Maags, the defenders fight back the minions of the Vlagh. Finally, a tornado of fire sweeps through crystal gorge, created by the Dreamers, destroying the servants of the Vlagh.

The Younger Gods

The end of the 25 eons has arrived. The Elder Gods are getting sleepier and sleepier by the second, but are forced to stay awake and alert as Alcevan, a servant of The Vlagh, convinces Aracia to kill Lillabeth, saying that The 'Wicked Enalla' is trying to usurp Aracia's throne. And by killing Lillabeth, Enalla will be prevented from ever taking Aracia's place again. Aracia, in her insanity, tries to kill Lillabeth, but in her madness forgets the most fundamental law that defines the gods of Dhrall: they may not kill. Aracia thus ceases to exist.

Meanwhile, Longbow, Omago and others journey to the Wasteland. Omago uses his newly remembered powers to block the Vlagh from the Overmind and order all the bugs out their nest. The Vlagh comes out, as Aracia's copy, and watches as her bug-servants eat the other bugs til there are no more and the Vlagh is all alone. The Vlagh screams out loud, (Omago comments that "It will probably continue on forever") and Longbow is delighted as he had seen the Vlagh suffer, and says that Misty-Water is now avenged. Screaming in the same cave but a different cavern is the servant who convinced Aracia to attempt to kill Lillabeth. And they shall scream for eternity.

Because of Aracia's disappearance, Eleria is convinced to be Aracia's replacement, since Balacenia and her can no longer merge, as Zelana's hands-off approach to parenting and Eleria's subsequent time being raised by dolphins means they are now too different. Eleria requests that Ara resurrect Longbow's love Misty-Water, who was killed by the Vlagh years before. Ara agrees, and both the Elder and Younger Gods attend the wedding.

The story ends with Zelana and Eleria going to sleep, with Balacenia promising to awaken them when she is ready to sleep again in another 25,000 year.

Michael Felgate is an English auctioneer living in New York City where he manages the Cromwell auction house. He proposes marriage to his girlfriend Gina Vitale, but is disheartened to be turned down. Gina tearfully explains that her father Frank and most of her cousins and uncles are gangsters deeply involved in a Mafia crime family, and she is concerned that Michael will be forced into their world. Michael assures her that he will not let this happen, but barely is their engagement party over before he is unwittingly involved in a money laundering scam, and soon the FBI takes an interest in him.

When one of the money laundering scams at Michael's auction house goes wrong, Gina's cousin Johnny confronts and attacks Michael. Gina takes his gun and fires a warning shot into the ceiling, which ricochets and accidentally kills Johnny. Johnny's father Vito finds out, and he tells Frank he will kill Gina unless Frank kills Michael during his wedding speech. Having grown fond of Michael, Frank confesses what Vito has ordered him to do to Michael and the two of them turn to the FBI in return for protection. The FBI set up an elaborate operation in which Michael's execution will be faked at the wedding reception. Michael is given a hidden recording device and is tasked with trying to record Vito into admitting his criminal activity on tape before he is "executed".

Michael's plan fails, and when Vito realises that his execution is a set-up, he orders Vinnie to kill Michael. Vinnie shoots Gina in what appears to be an accident. Vito is arrested for ordering Michael's execution. As Frank and Michael mourn Gina's apparent death in the back of her ambulance, it is revealed that her death was faked as well, and that Vinnie and Gina were also involved with the FBI as a back-up plan.

In Seattle, housewife Claire Bartel is happily married and pregnant with her second child. At a routine check-up, she is sexually molested by her new obstetrician, Dr. Victor Mott. Traumatized, she tells her husband Michael, who encourages her to report Dr. Mott to the state medical board. Her accusation prompts four more women to come forward about Dr. Mott assaulting them, and multiple charges are prepared against him. Dr. Mott commits suicide to avoid being arrested. Lawyers tell Mott's pregnant widow that her husband's assets have been frozen because of the lawsuits. They also reveal that he voided his life insurance contract by committing suicide, and she will lose her luxurious home. Stressed, Mrs. Mott goes into pre-term labor, loses her baby, and undergoes an emergency hysterectomy. While recovering, she sees a news story identifying Claire as the first woman who came forward with the allegations against her husband.

Six months later, Claire has given birth to a boy, Joey. Looking for a nanny, she unknowingly hires Mrs. Mott, who is going under the alias "Peyton Flanders". Mott wages a campaign to undermine Claire in her household, seeking revenge against Claire for reporting her husband in spite of his behavior, as her husband was her only chance to have children. She frequently breastfeeds Joey in secret; this causes him to stop taking Claire's milk. Mott tries to turn Claire's daughter Emma against her and secretly destroys Michael's office proposal. Solomon, an intellectually disabled handyman who has been assisting the Bartels, discovers Mott breastfeeding Joey. To prevent him from exposing her, Mrs. Mott implies to Claire that she believes Solomon may be molesting Emma. Mott plants a pair of Emma's panties in Solomon's toolbox, leading Claire to fire him, to Emma's disappointment and causing her to become distant from her mother as Mott had planned. Unknown to the family except for Emma, Solomon keeps a watchful eye over them. Knowing that Claire's close friend Marlene had been Michael's ex-girlfriend before he married Claire, Mott suggests to Michael that he arrange a surprise birthday party for Claire, leading Marlene and Michael to meet in secret. Claire accuses Michael of having an affair with Marlene, only to find the party-goers waiting in the next room.

A now wary Claire begins to suspect "Peyton's" hand in all of these incidents and suggests to Michael that they should take a family vacation without "Peyton". Mott overhears this and boobytraps the greenhouse for Claire. Marlene discovers Mott's identity, but before she can tell Claire, Mott tricks her into going into the greenhouse, where she is killed by the falling glass ceiling. Knowing that Claire suffers from asthma, Mott empties all of her inhalers. When Claire finds Marlene's bloodied body, she has an asthma attack and is briefly hospitalized. Michael is left distraught over Marlene's death and his wife's condition; Mott attempts to seduce him, but he rejects her. Claire uncovers the truth about Mott, and confronts her while revealing the truth to Michael. They kick her out, and Michael tells Claire to get Emma and Joey so they can head to a hotel for safety.

Mott breaks into the house and hits Michael with a shovel, knocking him down the stairs and breaking his legs. She then attempts to fulfill her true goal: taking Emma and Joey for herself, but after seeing Mott assault her mother, Emma outsmarts Mott and locks her in the nursery, declaring that Mott will never be her mother. Mott escapes and finds Solomon in the attic, aiding the kids' escape. She attempts to kill Claire but stops after Claire appears to be having another asthma attack, prompting Mott to mock her. As she tries to take Joey, Claire gets up, having faked her asthma attack, and viciously attacks a stunned Mott, and Solomon distracts her enough for Claire to push Mott out of the window, impaling her on the picket fence and killing her. Touched at how Solomon risked his life to protect her family, Claire welcomes him back, and they all leave the attic to help Michael up as the police and paramedics arrive.

Eight years after the events of the first film, Mike and Marcus are investigating the flow of ecstasy into Miami. They infiltrate a Klan meeting held in the marshland outside of Miami only to discover that they are, in fact, buyers and not distributors of the ecstasy. After a radio mishap leads to a delayed arrival of Miami Police’s Tactical Narcotics Team (TNT), Mike and Marcus end up in a shootout with the Klansmen that results in many casualties and injuries, with Marcus accidentally sustaining a gunshot wound to the buttocks from Mike.

These antics lead Marcus to re-evaluate whether he wants to remain partners with Mike, who is secretly dating Syd, Marcus’ younger sister. Unbeknownst to both Marcus and Mike, Syd is working undercover for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as a money launderer to a branch of the Russian Mafia operating in Miami’s drug trade. The Russians, in turn, are the main distributors of ecstasy for Cuban drug lord Hector Juan Carlos “Johnny” Tapia. After laundering a large sum of money for the Russians, Syd is intercepted by Haitian gang Zoe Pound while she is transporting the money. Mike and Marcus, working on a tip from an informant, had been following the Haitians when the latter made their move, leading to an extensive gun battle and car chase through Miami that resulted in significant collateral damage and loss of life as well as the angry reprimand of Mike and Marcus by Captain Howard, who was further angered to find out the DEA was running an investigation in Miami without consulting him first.

Mike and Marcus then track down the surviving Haitians, and after another gun battle inside the leader’s house, they interrogate the leader and learn from one of the Haitian’s video camera that Tapia is using a local mortuary as a front for his operations. To gain more intel Mike and Marcus pose as pest exterminators responding to a rat infestation of Tapia’s Miami residence. They use the cover to gain access to the mansion and plant bugs throughout the premises. Meanwhile, Tapia has had a meeting with his Russian business associates Alexei and Josef. While he discusses his business with Alexei, Tapia has Josef butchered in his kitchen and places the remains in a tortilla bin as a threat to Alexei to sign over all of his Miami night clubs where he distributes ecstasy. Mike discovers some of Josef’s remains in the kitchen where he was dismembered, smuggling a pinky finger for later identification. With the Russians removed from the equation, Tapia begins a mixed business-personal relationship with Syd wherein he intends for her to launder all of the money for his operation.

Later, Mike and Marcus infiltrate Tapia’s mortuary. Inside they discover that Tapia is using cadavers and coffins to smuggle drugs and money in and out of the country. However, Marcus swallows two ecstasy pills by accident and ends up high in the process. They are almost discovered but two other officers crash into the building, allowing Mike and Marcus to escape. The evidence is sufficient for Captain Howard to authorize a raid on both Tapia’s residence and the mortuary in collaboration with the DEA and the U.S. Coast Guard. Nearly all of Tapia’s drug supply and money are confiscated in the raid, though Tapia flees to Cuba with Syd as a hostage before he can be apprehended. Using her as a bargaining chip, Tapia demands the return of his money from Miami PD. Knowing that’s impossible, Mike and Marcus arrange a covert operation to rescue Syd, forming an unofficial task force with agents from the DEA, TNT, and Captain Howard’s contacts from the CIA.

The team is inserted by the Coast Guard a few miles off the coast of Cuba, where they rendezvous with a fellow officer’s brother, Tito, who is head of the underground resistance in Cuba. There, Tito assists the teams with weapons, a tunnel network, and an accurate mapping of Tapia’s new mansion.

The team infiltrates Tapia’s mansion, rescues Syd, and leaves a large explosive device that demolishes the mansion upon the team’s exfiltration. Tapia survives, and pursues Mike, Marcus, Syd and Tito through the countryside and the village of hillside shacks where cocaine is processed, ultimately ending up outside of Guantanamo Bay. Not recognized as U.S. Citizens, the Navy personnel on the base shoot at both Mike and Marcus as well as Tapia’s vehicles, prompting them to stop just as they enter in a live minefield. With only a couple of rounds remaining in their weapons, Marcus manages to shoot Tapia in the head while the latter holds Mike at gunpoint. Tapia falls backward onto a mine which obliterates his corpse.

Later, Mike, Marcus, and Syd celebrate at a barbecue in Marcus’ backyard with his family; Marcus has decided to remain partners with Mike.

Part 1

In 2511, a squad of "Independents", led by Sergeant Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds and Corporal Zoe Alleyne, fight in the Battle of Serenity Valley during the Unification War. Despite Mal's insistence that the battle can be won with air support, Zoe receives orders to surrender from the leaders of the rebellion. Mal is forced to watch in horror as Alliance ships sweep the battlefield unopposed, destroying the rest of the Independents.

Six years later, Mal is the captain of his own transport ship, an older-model ''Firefly''-class vessel he named ''Serenity'', with Zoe as his second-in-command. The rest of the ship's crew consists of Wash (Alan Tudyk), who is the pilot and Zoe's husband; Kaylee (Jewel Staite), the engineer; and Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin), an untrustworthy gun-for-hire. Inara (Morena Baccarin), a "Companion" (a very high-class courtesan) who rents one of ''Serenity'' s two shuttles, normally travels with them, but she is currently away on business.

While the crew are illegally salvaging some crates off a derelict Alliance spaceship, they are spotted by an Alliance cruiser. To escape capture, Mal has Wash deploy a fake distress beacon. The Alliance cruiser falls for the deception, but broadcasts a bulletin that a ''Firefly''-class ship is carrying stolen Alliance goods.

The crew of ''Serenity'' travel to Persephone to deliver the stolen goods to Badger (Mark Sheppard), the small-time crime lord who hired them for the heist. However, Badger reneges on their deal after learning that the Alliance has put a bulletin on Mal's crew. He also does not like the way Mal looks down on him. Mal decides to try selling the cargo to Patience, an old business associate who lives on Whitefall. Zoe has misgivings, since Patience shot Mal the last time they met, but Mal is desperate to get rid of the hot cargo. The crew picks up passengers before leaving Persephone for extra income, and Inara rejoins the ship. The new passengers are a preacher named Shepherd Book (Ron Glass), a bumbling man named Dobson (Carlos Jacott), and a wealthy doctor named Simon Tam (Sean Maher) who brings aboard a mysterious large crate.

En route to Whitefall, Wash discovers that someone on board sent a message hailing the nearest Alliance cruiser. Suspecting that Simon is the mole, Mal confronts him, only to discover that Dobson is actually an undercover Alliance lawman. Dobson surprises Mal by telling them it's Simon he wants to arrest, not Mal. During the tense confrontation, a nervous Dobson accidentally shoots Kaylee in the stomach before being overpowered by Book, who manages to easily disarm and subdue him. When an Alliance cruiser orders them to dock for prisoner transfer, Simon threatens not to treat Kaylee if they do not flee. Mal reluctantly agrees (after being prodded by Inara to do so), but then has Jayne restrain Simon while he opens Simon's mysterious crate, only to be surprised to find a naked young woman inside in cryonic sleep.

Part 2

The woman in the crate is River Tam (Summer Glau), Simon's younger sister. Simon explains that his sister was a brilliant child prodigy who was sent to an elite, but secretive Alliance academy when she was fourteen. After River sent him an encoded letter for help, he discovered that the Alliance was experimenting on the academy students. Simon abandoned his career as a successful trauma surgeon to rescue her and spent all of his money to get her smuggled out of the academy. The Alliance wants River back very badly. Mal decides to proceed to Whitefall as planned and drop off both the goods and the Tam siblings.

Mal tells Jayne to interrogate Dobson to find out what he told the Alliance about them. Once Jayne finds out that the Alliance knows nothing, Dobson tries to bribe him, offering him enough money to buy his own ship.

Soon after, they discover that a Reaver ship is approaching. Zoe explains to Simon that "If they take the ship, they'll rape us to death, eat our flesh and sew our skins into their clothing. And if we're very very lucky, they'll do it in that order." Luckily, the Reaver ship passes by without incident.

''Serenity'' lands on Whitefall. Not trusting Patience, Mal sends Jayne to take out her hidden sniper while he and Zoe meet Patience and some of her henchmen in a barren valley. Mal gives Patience a sample of the cargo. As expected, Patience tries to kill them after learning where they have buried the rest, but Mal, Zoe and Jayne gun down Patience's men. Mal leaves Patience alive, but takes the money he was promised. Jayne is warned by Wash that the Reavers turned around and followed them to Whitefall.

Meanwhile, back on the ship Dobson escapes, knocking out Book and grabbing River. Mal returns and calmly shoots Dobson in the head, dumping his body off the ship as they start to lift off, the Reavers hot on their tail.

Mal orders Inara, Book, Simon and River to go to Inara's shuttle, just in case the ship is boarded. Jayne carries the still-convalescing Kaylee to the engine room, and Book offers to help her. With Jayne and Book carrying out Kaylee's instructions, Wash is able to pull off a "Crazy Ivan" (VIFF), and ''Serenity'' manages to shake the pursuing Reavers.

Jayne tells Mal that they should dump the siblings since Dobson had told him that the Alliance will keep coming after River. Mal asks Jayne why he did not turn against him. Jayne responds that the money Dobson offered was not enough. Mal suggests to Simon that he and River might be safer on the move, and points out that ''Serenity'' is always moving, and in need of a qualified ship's medic. Simon reluctantly accepts his offer.

Act 1

• Scene 1—The Duchess's palace in Malfi: Antonio and Delio are discussing the former's return from France, and discussing how the French king runs his court, comparing it to an easily poisoned fountain. They are interrupted by the entry of Bosola and the Cardinal. Antonio and Delio hold their conversation, stepping to the background to watch as Bosola angrily tries to gain the Cardinal's pardon, speaking of the time he has spent in the galleys in penal servitude, and in the service of the Cardinal. Bosola declares that he is surely done with service, but the Cardinal is not interested in Bosola's new merit and takes his leave. Bosola compares himself to Tantalus, never able to acquire the thing he most desires, like an injured soldier who can only depend on his crutches for support of any kind. When he leaves, Antonio and Delio comment on his past offence, and how he will surely come to no good if he is kept in neglect. Ferdinand comes into the palace, talking to his courtiers about a tournament that Antonio has just won. When the Cardinal, Duchess, and Cariola enter to speak with Ferdinand, Antonio and Delio have a moment to themselves to discuss the Cardinal's character; he is found to be a very dishonest, disagreeable person, as is his brother, Ferdinand. Only their sister, the Duchess, earns the approval of everyone, a very pleasant and gracious woman. After the two gentlemen leave, Ferdinand petitions his sister to make Bosola the manager of her horses; when everyone else leaves, Ferdinand and the Cardinal reveal that it is because Bosola is to spy on their sister. When Bosola is brought in and made aware of this plan, he at first refuses, but ultimately is given no choice. The Cardinal and Ferdinand then turn their attention to their sister, urging her not to marry again, now that she is a widow, going so far as to threaten her with death, in Ferdinand's case. She refuses to be bullied, and once her brothers are out of sight, she proposes to Antonio by giving him her wedding ring. Having Cariola, the Duchess's maid, as their witness, this private ceremony is legally binding and the Duchess and Antonio become husband and wife.

Act 2

• Scene 1—The Duchess's palace in Malfi, nine months later: Bosola and Castruchio enter, Bosola criticising his companion's appearance, and telling him that he would make a ridiculous judge. When an old woman intrudes on their conversation, Bosola's insults turn on her, calling her hideous to the point that no amount of make-up would help. He also accuses her of being too like a witch; the old lady and Castruchio leave Bosola alone to muse on the mysterious way the Duchess is acting of late. He believes she is pregnant (no one but Delio and Cariola know that the Duchess and Antonio are married), and aims to prove it by using apricots both to spark her pregnant appetite and to induce labour, as apricots were believed to do. The Duchess, when she enters, accepts the fruit from Bosola, and quickly starts going into labour. She then retires to her chamber claiming to be ill, with a worried Antonio following in her wake.
• Scene 2—Same place and time as the previous scene: Bosola, alone, realises that the Duchess is indeed pregnant. After accosting the hapless old lady again, he watches as Antonio and the servants in a commotion about a Swiss mercenary who had invaded the Duchess's room, and the loss of several jewels and gold utensils. Even with all the uproar, Antonio is not distracted from his wife's "illness"; she is actually in labour. Cariola, the lady's maid, enters with good news once Antonio is alone—he is the father of a son.
• Scene 3—Same place and time as the previous scene: Bosola re-enters the now empty room, having heard a woman (the Duchess) shriek. Antonio discovers him and questions his purpose in being there, since everyone had been commanded to keep to their rooms. Antonio tells him to stay away from the Duchess since he doesn't trust Bosola. In Antonio's agitation, he accidentally drops a horoscope for his son's birth, which Bosola retrieves. He realises what it means, and resolves to send it to the Duchess's brothers with Castruccio.
• Scene 4—The Cardinal's rooms: The Cardinal and his mistress, Julia, are discussing their rendezvous when a messenger calls the Cardinal away with an important message. Delio enters to find Julia alone. He was once a suitor of hers and offers her money. Julia leaves to meet her husband, Castruccio, and Delio fears that her husband's arrival means Antonio's secret marriage is about to be revealed.
• Scene 5—Rome, in Ferdinand's private apartments: An enraged Ferdinand, with the letter from Bosola, and his brother the Cardinal, meet to discuss what they think is an awful treachery by their sister. Ferdinand is angry to the point of shouting about his sister's "whorish" behaviour (he knows of the child, but not of the marriage), and the Cardinal struggles to control his brother's temperamental outburst. Ferdinand resolves to discover the man his sister is seeing, threatening all and sundry.

Act 3

• Scene 1—The Duchess's palace in Malfi, after some time has passed: Antonio greets the returning Delio, who has come from Rome with Ferdinand. Antonio reveals that the Duchess has had two more children in the time Delio was gone. Antonio fears the wrath of the recently arrived Ferdinand, and Delio tells him the ordinary people think the Duchess is a whore. While they talk, the Duchess and Ferdinand enter. He tells her that he has found a husband for her, the Count Malateste. She disregards this, as she is already married (still secretly of course) to Antonio. When left alone, Ferdinand consults with Bosola to discover the father of the three seemingly illegitimate children; Bosola has acquired a skeleton key to the Duchess's room, which Ferdinand takes, telling him to guess what will happen next.
• Scene 2—The Duchess's bedchamber: Antonio comes up to the Duchess's bedroom to spend the night, and they banter back and forth about the point of lovers just sleeping together. Antonio and Cariola leave to allow the Duchess to complete her night-time preparations, but she is not alone; Ferdinand sneaks in and startles her. He gives her a knife, intending her to kill herself, and his fury increases when she tells him she is married without his knowledge. Ferdinand leaves, declaring he will never see her again. He exits just in time, for Antonio bursts in brandishing a pistol, but the Duchess forces him to leave again when Bosola knocks at the door. Bosola informs the Duchess that Ferdinand has left for Rome again, and she tells him that Ferdinand's bills of exchange (he has so far dealt with her accounts) will no longer work, since Antonio has been false with her accounts. This is, of course, a trick to get Antonio out of Malfi; she calls Antonio back in (once Bosola exits) to tell him to flee to Ancona, where she will send him all her treasure and valuables. The couple puts on a show argument for the benefit of the returning Bosola and officers, where she criticises his faulty record keeping and banishes him. Bosola does not believe the Duchess was justified in banishing Antonio, and tells her that Antonio is a good, honest man. This speech prompts the Duchess to confide the secret marriage to Bosola. He is then left on stage to lament his role as a spy, for now he must reveal all to Ferdinand.
• Scene 3—A room in a palace at Rome: The Cardinal, Ferdinand, Malateste, Pescara, Silvio and Delio are discussing the new fortifications that are being made in Naples. Ferdinand and his men, leaving the Cardinal and Malateste to speak privately, are very harsh in their critique of Malateste, considering him too cowardly to fight in an upcoming battle. Bosola, meanwhile, interrupts the Cardinal's private conference with news of his sister. The Cardinal leaves to petition for her and her family's exile from Ancona, while Bosola goes to tell the Duchess's first child (from her first husband) what has happened with his mother. Ferdinand goes to find Antonio.
• Scene 4—The shrine of Our Lady of Loreto, Italy, in the Ancona province: Two pilgrims are visiting the shrine in Ancona, and witness the Cardinal being symbolically prepared for war. The Cardinal then proceeds to take the Duchess's wedding ring, banish her, Antonio, and their children, while the pilgrims muse over the reason for what they have just seen.
• Scene 5—Near Loreto: The newly banished family, and the maid Cariola, enter Loreto. Shortly after their arrival, Bosola comes and presents the Duchess with a letter from Ferdinand, which indirectly states that Ferdinand wants Antonio dead. Antonio tells Bosola that he will not go to Ferdinand, and the Duchess urges him to take the oldest child and go to Milan to find safety, which he promptly does. Bosola and masked guards then take the Duchess and her remaining children captive, on the orders of her brothers.

Act 4

• Scene 1—A prison (or the Duchess's lodgings serving as a prison) near Loreto: Ferdinand comes in with Bosola, who is describing to him how the Duchess is dealing with her imprisonment. It seems she is not affected to Ferdinand's satisfaction, and he leaves angrily. Bosola greets the Duchess, telling her that her brother wishes to speak with her, but will not do so where he can see her. She agrees to meet with her brother in the darkness. Once the lights are out, Ferdinand returns. He presents her with a dead man's hand, leading her to believe that it is Antonio's, with her wedding ring on it. He then exits, leaving Bosola to show the Duchess lifelike figures of her husband and children, made to appear as though her family was dead. The Duchess believes them to be the genuine articles, and resolves to die—her despair is so deep it affects Bosola. When she leaves, Ferdinand re-enters; Bosola pleads with him to send his sister to a convent, refusing to be a part of the plot any more. Ferdinand is beyond reason at this point, and tells Bosola to go to Milan to find the real Antonio.
• Scene 2—Same place and time as the previous scene: The Duchess and her maid, Cariola, come back, distracted by the noises being made by a group of madmen (Ferdinand brought them in to terrorise her). A servant tells her that they were brought for sport, and lets in several of the madmen. Bosola, too, sneaks in with them, disguised as an old man, and tells the Duchess that he is there to make her tomb. When she tries to pull rank on him, executioners with cords and a coffin come in. Cariola is removed from the room, leaving Bosola and the executioners with the Duchess. The Duchess makes a brave show, telling the executioners to "pull, and pull strongly", welcoming her strangulation. Cariola is brought back, and after struggling fiercely, she too is strangled. Ferdinand comes to view the scene, and is also shown the bodies of his sister's children, who were murdered as well. Ferdinand reveals that he and the Duchess were twins, and that he had hoped, if she had remained a widow, to inherit all her wealth. Bosola, sensing that Ferdinand is ready to turn on him next, demands payment for his atrocities. Ferdinand, distracted, leaves him alone with the bodies. Astonishingly, the Duchess is not dead. A shocked Bosola has no time to call for medicine; he manages to tell the Duchess that Antonio is not really dead; that the figures she saw were fake, before she finally dies. Bosola, remorseful at last, takes her body to the care of some good women, planning to leave immediately thereafter for Milan.

Act 5

• Scene 1—Outside Ferdinand and the Cardinal's palace in Milan: Antonio returns to see if he can reconcile with Ferdinand and the Cardinal, but Delio is dubious as to the wisdom of this. Delio asks Pescara, a marquis, to give him possession of Antonio's estate for safekeeping, but Pescara denies him. Julia presents Pescara with a letter from the Cardinal, which states that she should receive Antonio's property, and which Pescara grants to her. When Delio confronts him about this, Pescara says that he would not give an innocent man a property that was taken from someone by such vile means (the Cardinal took the property for himself once Antonio was banished), for it will now become an appropriate place for the Cardinal's mistress. This statement impresses the hidden Antonio. When Pescara leaves to visit an ill Ferdinand, Antonio decides to pay a night-time visit to the Cardinal.
• Scene 2—Inside the same palace: Pescara, come to visit Ferdinand, is discussing his condition with the doctor, who believes Ferdinand may have lycanthropia: a condition whereby he believes he is a wolf. The doctor thinks there is a chance of a relapse, in which case Ferdinand's diseased behaviour would return; namely, digging up dead bodies at night. Pescara and the doctor make way for the mad Ferdinand, who attacks his own shadow. The Cardinal, who has entered with Ferdinand, manages to catch Bosola, who has been watching Ferdinand's ravings. The Cardinal assigns Bosola to seek out Antonio (by following Delio) and then slay him. After the Cardinal leaves, Bosola does not even make it to the door before he is stopped by Julia, who is brandishing a pistol. She accuses him of having given her a love potion, and threatens to kill him to end her love. Bosola manages to disarm her and convince her to gather intelligence for him about the Cardinal. Bosola then hides while Julia uses all of her persuasive powers to get the Cardinal to reveal his part in the death of his sister and her children. The Cardinal then makes Julia swear to keep silent, forcing her to kiss the poisoned cover of a bible, causing her to die almost instantly. Bosola comes out of hiding to confront the Cardinal, although he declares that he still intends to kill Antonio. Giving him a master key, the Cardinal takes his leave. However, once he is alone, Bosola swears to protect Antonio, and goes off to bury Julia's body.
• Scene 3—A courtyard outside the same palace: Delio and Antonio are near the Duchess's tomb; as they talk, an echo from the tomb mirrors their conversation. Delio leaves to find Antonio's eldest son, and Antonio leaves to escape the distressing echo of his wife's resting place.
• Scene 4—The Cardinal's apartments in Milan: The Cardinal enters, trying to dissuade Pescara, Malateste, Roderigo and Grisolan from staying to keep watch over Ferdinand. He goes so far as to say that he might feign mad fits to test their obedience; if they come to help, they will be in trouble. They unwillingly exit, and Bosola enters to find the Cardinal planning to have him killed. Antonio, unaware of Bosola, sneaks in while it is dark, planning to seek audience with the Cardinal. Not realising who has entered, Bosola attacks Antonio; he is horrified to see his mistake. He manages to relate the death of the Duchess and children to the dying Antonio, who is glad to be dying in sadness, now that life is pointless for him. Bosola then leaves to bring down the Cardinal.
• Scene 5—The same apartments, near Julia's lodging: The Cardinal, unaware of what has just happened, is reading a book when Bosola enters with a servant, who is bearing Antonio's body. He threatens the Cardinal, who calls for help. Help is not forthcoming, for the gentlemen from the beginning of the previous scene, while they can hear him calling, have no desire to go to his aid (because of his previous order to not at any cost try to help Ferdinand). Bosola kills the servant of the Cardinal first, and then stabs the Cardinal. Ferdinand bursts in, also attacking his brother; in the fight, he accidentally wounds Bosola. Bosola kills Ferdinand, and is left with the dying Cardinal. The gentlemen who heard the cries now enter the room to witness the deaths of the Cardinal and Bosola. Delio enters too late with Antonio's eldest son, and laments the unfortunate events that have passed.

Scene: London and the neighbouring Country, except for Act IV Scene ii which is set in Moldavia.

As a play called ''The London Merchant'' is about to be performed, a Citizen and his Wife 'in the audience' interrupt to complain that the play will misrepresent the middle-class citizens of the city. The Citizen, who identifies himself as a grocer, climbs onto the stage, bringing his Wife up to sit with him. They demand that the players put on a play of their own choosing and suggest that the Citizen's own apprentice, Rafe, should be given a part. Rafe demonstrates his dramatic skills by quoting Shakespeare, and a part is created for him as a knight errant. He refers to himself as a 'Grocer Errant' and has a burning pestle on his shield as a heraldic device.

This meta-plot is intercut with the main plot of the interrupted play, ''The London Merchant,'' in which Jasper Merrythought, the merchant's apprentice, is in love with his master's daughter, Luce, and must elope with her to save her from marriage to Humphrey, a City man of fashion. Luce pretends to Humphrey that she has made an unusual vow: she will only marry a man who has the spirit to run away with her. She knows that Humphrey will immediately inform her father. She intends to fake an elopement with Humphrey, knowing that her father will allow this to happen, but then to drop him and meet up with Jasper.

Meanwhile, Jasper's mother has decided to leave her husband, Old Merrythought, who has spent all his savings in drinking and partying. When Jasper seeks his mother's help, she rejects him in favour of his younger brother Michael. She tells Michael that she has jewellery that she can sell to live on while he learns a trade. They leave Merrythought, and lose themselves in a wood where she misplaces her jewellery. Jasper arrives to meet Luce and finds the jewels. Luce and Humphrey appear. Jasper, as planned, knocks over Humphrey and escapes with Luce. The Grocer Errant arrives, believing when he sees the distraught Mrs Merrythought that he has met a damsel in distress. He takes the Merrythoughts to an inn, expecting the host to accommodate them chivalrously without charge. When the host demands payment, the Grocer Errant is perplexed. The host tells him there are people in distress he must save from an evil barber named Barbaroso (a barber surgeon who is attempting cures on people with venereal diseases). He effects a daring rescue of Barbaroso's patients.

The Citizen and his Wife demand more chivalric and exotic adventures for Rafe, and a scene is created in which the Grocer Errant must go to Moldavia where he meets a princess who falls in love with him. But he says that he has already plighted his troth to Susan, a cobbler's maid in Milk Street. The princess reluctantly lets him go, lamenting that she cannot come to England, as she has always dreamed of tasting English beer.

Jasper tests Luce's love by pretending he intends to kill her because of the way her father has treated him. She is shocked, but declares her devotion to him. Humphrey and her father arrive with other men. They attack Jasper and drag Luce away. The merchant locks Luce in her room. Jasper feigns death and writes a letter to the merchant with a pretend dying apology for his behaviour. The coffin, with Jasper hiding within, is carried to the merchant's house, where Luce laments his demise. Jasper rises and explains his plan to save her from marriage to Humphrey: Luce is to take Jasper's place in the coffin while Jasper remains hidden in the house. When the merchant enters, Jasper pretends to be his own ghost and scares the merchant into expelling Humphrey. A chastened Mrs Merrythought returns to her husband. Jasper reveals he is still alive. The merchant asks for Old Merrythought's forgiveness and consents to Jasper's match with Luce.

The Citizen and his Wife demand that Rafe's part in the drama should also have an appropriate ending, and he is given a heroic death scene. Everyone is satisfied.

The novel is set in Faulkner's fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi and takes place in May and June 1929.

In May 1929, Horace Benbow, a lawyer frustrated with his life and family, suddenly leaves his home in Kinston, Mississippi, and hitchhikes his way back to Jefferson, his hometown in Yoknapatawpha County. There, his widowed sister, Narcissa Sartoris, lives with her son and her late husband's great-aunt, Miss Jenny. On the way to Jefferson, he stops for a drink of water near the "Old Frenchman" homestead, which is occupied by the bootlegger Lee Goodwin. Benbow encounters a sinister man called Popeye, an associate of Goodwin, who brings him to the decrepit mansion where he meets Goodwin and the strange people who live there with him. Later that night, Benbow catches a ride from Goodwin's place into Jefferson. He argues with his sister and Miss Jenny about leaving his wife, and meets Gowan Stevens, a local bachelor who recently has been courting Narcissa. That night, Benbow moves back into his parents' house, which has been sitting vacant for years.

After meeting Benbow, Gowan leaves to go to a dance in Oxford that same night. Gowan has returned to Jefferson after graduating from the University of Virginia, where he "learned to drink like a gentleman." He is from a wealthy family and prides himself on having adopted the worldview of the Virginia aristocracy. His date that night is Temple Drake, a student at the University of Mississippi ("Ole Miss"), who has a reputation of being a "fast girl." Temple also comes from a wealthy Mississippi family and is the daughter of a powerful judge. While they are out, Gowan and Temple make plans to meet the next morning to travel with her classmates to Starkville for a baseball game. But, after taking Temple home after the dance, Gowan learns from some locals where he can find moonshine and spends the night drinking heavily. He passes out in his car at the train station where he is supposed to have a rendezvous with Temple the next morning.

Gowan wakes the next morning to discover that he's missed Temple's train. He speeds to the next town to intercept it, meeting Temple in Taylor, and convincing her to ride with him to Starkville—a violation of the university's rules for young women. On the way, Gowan, still drunk, and an obvious alcoholic, decides to stop at the Goodwin place to find more moonshine. He crashes his car into a tree that Popeye had felled across the drive in case of a police raid. Popeye and Tommy, a good-natured "halfwit" who works for Goodwin, happen to be nearby when the accident happens, and take Temple and Gowan back to the old mansion. Temple is terrified, both by Gowan's behavior and by the strange people and circumstances into which he has brought her. Upon arriving at the Goodwin place, she meets Goodwin's common-law wife, Ruby, who advises her to leave before nightfall. Gowan is given more liquor to drink.

After nightfall, Goodwin returns home and is upset to find Gowan and Temple staying there. All the men continue to drink; Gowan and Van, a member of Goodwin's bootlegging crew, argue and provoke each other. Van makes crude advances toward Temple, rousing in the drunken Gowan a sense that he needs to protect Temple's honor. By this point, Temple is deeply distressed. She is apprehensive of the bootleggers, truant from school, and afraid of being discovered for fear of her family's disapproval. She is condescending, which angers Popeye, and tries to hold court in the room where the men are drinking despite Ruby's advice that she stay away from them. After being harassed, Temple finds a bedroom to hide. Gowan and Van finally fight, and Gowan is knocked out. The other men carry him into the room where Temple is cowering and throw him on the bed. Ruby and Tommy keep the men, including Popeye, from bothering Temple. Finally, the men leave on a whiskey run in the middle of the night.

The next morning, Gowan wakes and silently leaves the house, abandoning Temple. Tommy, who dislikes and fears Goodwin's other men, hides Temple in a corn crib in the barn. But Popeye, who has obviously been devising a scheme, soon discovers them there. He murders Tommy with a gunshot to the back of the head and then proceeds to rape Temple with a corncob. Afterward, he puts her in his car and drives to Memphis, Tennessee, where he has connections in the criminal underworld.

Meanwhile, Goodwin discovers Tommy's body at his barn. When the police arrive on the scene, they assume Goodwin committed the crime and arrest him. Goodwin knows of Popeye's guilt, but doesn't implicate him out of fear of retaliation. In Jefferson, Goodwin is jailed, and Benbow takes up his legal defense, even though he knows that Goodwin cannot pay him. Benbow tries to let Ruby and her sickly infant child stay with him in the house in Jefferson, but Narcissa, acting as half-owner, refuses because of the Goodwin family's reputation. In the end, Benbow has no choice but to put Ruby and her son in a room at a local hotel.

Benbow tries unsuccessfully to get Goodwin to tell the court about Popeye. He soon finds out about Temple and her presence at Goodwin's place when Tommy was murdered, heads to Ole Miss to look for her. He discovers that she has left the school. On the train back to Jefferson, he runs into an unctuous state senator named Clarence Snopes, who says that the newspaper is claiming that Temple has been "sent up north" by her father. In reality, Temple is living in a room in a Memphis bawdy house owned by Miss Reba, an asthmatic, widowed madam, who thinks highly of Popeye and is happy that he's finally chosen a paramour. Popeye keeps Temple at the brothel for use as a sex slave. However, because he is impotent, he brings along Red, a young gangster, and forces him and Temple to have sex while he watches.

When Benbow returns from Oxford, he learns that the owner of the hotel has kicked out Ruby and her child. After Narcissa again refuses to give them shelter, Benbow finds a place for Ruby to stay outside of town. Meanwhile, Snopes visits Miss Reba's brothel and discovers that Temple is living there. Snopes realizes that this information might be valuable to both Benbow and Temple's father. After Benbow agrees to pay Snopes for the information, Snopes divulges Temple's whereabouts in Memphis. Benbow immediately heads there and convinces Miss Reba to let him talk to Temple. Miss Reba is sympathetic to the plight of Goodwin and his family, but she still admires and respects Popeye. Temple tells Benbow the story of her rape at Popeye's hands. Benbow, shaken, returns to Jefferson. Upon his return home, he reflects on Temple and is reminded of Little Belle, his stepdaughter. He looks at a picture of Little Belle, and then becomes ill while being disturbed by images of her naked, conflated with images from what he has heard from Temple about her night at the old mansion.

At this point, Temple has become corrupted thoroughly by life in the brothel. After bribing Miss Reba's servant to let her leave the house, she runs into Popeye, who is waiting outside in his car. He takes Temple to a roadhouse called The Grotto, intending to settle whether she permanently stays with Popeye or Red. At the club, Temple drinks heavily and tries to have furtive sex with Red in a back room, but he spurns her advances for the moment. Two of Popeye's friends frog-march her out of the club and drive her back to Miss Reba. Popeye kills Red, which turns Miss Reba against him. She tells some of her friends what has happened, hoping he will be captured and executed for the murder.

Narcissa visits the District Attorney and reveals she wants Benbow to lose the case as soon as possible, so that he will cease his involvement with the Goodwins. After writing to his wife to ask for a divorce, Benbow tries to get back in touch with Temple through Miss Reba, who tells him that both she and Popeye are gone. At around this time, Goodwin's trial begins in Jefferson. On the second day of the trial, Temple makes a surprise appearance and takes the stand, giving false testimony that it was Goodwin, not Popeye, who had raped and brutalized her, and that Goodwin had shot Tommy dead. The district attorney also presents the stained corncob used in Temple's rape as evidence.

The jury finds Goodwin guilty after only eight minutes of deliberation. Benbow, devastated, is taken back to Narcissa's house. After wandering from the house that evening, he finds that Goodwin has been lynched by the townsfolk with his body set ablaze. Benbow is recognized in the crowd, which speaks of lynching him, too. The next day, a defeated Benbow returns home to his wife. Ironically, on his way to Pensacola, Florida to visit his mother, Popeye is arrested and hanged for a crime he never committed. Temple and her father make a final appearance in the Jardin du Luxembourg, having found sanctuary in Paris.

Mario is the owner of Mario's Toy Company, a toy enterprise in which he sells a series of small wind-up figures called "Mini-Marios". After seeing a television advertisement for the Mini-Marios, Donkey Kong immediately falls in love with the toys and sets out to the store to get one for himself, only to find that the toy is sold out. Furious, Donkey Kong breaks into Mario's toy factory across the street and steals all of the Mini-Marios, prompting Mario to chase after Donkey Kong to get his toys back. Mario travels in pursuit of Donkey Kong, rescuing the Mini-Marios and battling Donkey Kong several times along the way before retrieving all of the toys. Mario, the Mini-Marios, and the Toad employees from Mario's Toy Company all make fun of Donkey Kong, who has realized that all of his stolen toys are gone, prompting him to kidnap all of the Toads and imprison them on the tower of a big building. Mario climbs to the top of the tower, rescues the Toads, and battles Donkey Kong once more, after which Donkey Kong falls onto a truck containing a shipment of new Mini-Marios. Donkey Kong then promptly steals this set of toys as Mario pursues him once again to reclaim them. Following another cat-and-mouse chase, Mario gets back all but 6 of the captured Mini-Marios, which Donkey Kong holds captive and guards with a large robot mech. Mario fights Donkey Kong one last time, destroying Donkey Kong's mech and finally getting back the rest of the toys. Mario notices that Donkey Kong is devastated and crying in shame, to which he responds by comforting him and giving him a free Mini-Mario toy. After finally getting what he has wanted all along, Donkey Kong, Mario, the toads, and the remaining Mini-Marios all rejoice together.

In ''Witchaven'', the player is cast in the role of Grondoval, a hardy knight in service of his homeland Stazhia, been chosen by his master, Lord Verkapheron, for a mission to rid the world of the threat posed by the evil Illwhyrin. In her lair, known as the realm of Witchaven and hidden in a massive subterranean maze under the forbidding Isle of Char, Illwhyrin performs sinister rituals seeking to lift a dimensional barrier, known as the Veil, that separates the game's universe from the chaotic Nether Reaches. If she succeeds, she might access unlimited dark powers to draw upon and gather a vast horde of demonic minions to use as armies for conquest. Grondoval arrives at Char by boat, armed only with a dagger. He needs to fight his way through the hordes of monsters dwelling in a labyrinth of dark caves and dungeons so he can reach Illwhyrin's inner sanctum in time and put an end to her before it is too late.

''Samurai 7'' tells the story of a village named Kanna. Set in a futuristic world that has just witnessed the end of a massive war, scores of villages are terrorized by Nobuseri bandits. But the Nobuseri are no normal bandits. They were once samurai, who during the war integrated their living cells with machines to become dangerous weapons now appearing more machine than man. Absolute power corrupts, and their reign of terror is increasing its hold on the countryside.

The elder of Kanna Village has decided that to protect the village they must hire samurai to fight against the bandits. However, the village has no money and thus must find samurai willing to protect the village for a payment of rice. Three members of the village leave to attempt to recruit samurai. They travel to the city and search for samurai willing to work, and after finding several samurai and having a few encounters with the local government, they return to Kanna village to prepare defenses against the bandits.

The samurai train the villagers in the use of bows, building walls, and construct a giant ballista to defend the village against the bandits. After successfully defeating the bandits, the samurai then launch an attack upon the capital to defeat a power-hungry ruler who has recently risen to power as Emperor. After heavy casualties for the samurai, and the near-destruction of Kanna village, the capital is finally defeated.

The USS ''Enterprise'' under the command of Captain Kirk arrives at the dying planet Psi 2000. Their mission is to observe and document the planet's breakup, and to retrieve a research team stationed on the planet. Mr. Spock and Lt (junior grade) Joe Tormolen beam down and find the researchers' life support system shut down and the team frozen to death—one fully clothed in a shower, one seated at a control console as if nothing was wrong, and one who was strangled. Tormolen removes his environmental suit glove to scratch his nose and comes in contact with a strange red liquid. The landing party is beamed back to the ship and examined by Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy. McCoy finds no medical issues with them and allows them to return to duty.

While having lunch, Tormolen begins to act irrationally, expressing hostility towards other crew members, and threatening Lieutenants Sulu and Riley with a knife before turning it on himself. His wound is not life-threatening, but in sick bay he dies after a successful surgery, to McCoy's bewilderment.

Both Sulu and Riley also begin to behave irrationally. Sulu runs about with a sword, like a swashbuckler from ''The Three Musketeers'', while Riley revels in his Irish ancestry, locks himself in the engineering section, and proclaims himself captain of the ''Enterprise.'' Those whose skin they have touched follow suit, and the infection quickly spreads through the crew. As they abandon their posts, the ship's orbit destabilizes and it falls into the planet's erratic gravity well. As the ''Enterprise'' enters the upper atmosphere, the hull begins to heat.

Chief Engineer Scott regains control of engineering from Riley, but Riley has shut down the engines. It will be impossible to restart them by normal procedures before the ''Enterprise'' crashes into the planet.

Spock becomes infected when Nurse Chapel takes his hands and confesses her love for him. Spock struggles to contain his emotions, and infects Captain James T. Kirk when he tries to help. McCoy studies blood samples from his patients and water from Psi 2000 and finds that the water from the planet possesses a previously undetected complex chain of molecules that affects humanoids like alcohol, depressing the centers of judgment and self-control, and is transmitted by touch. He develops a serum to reverse the effects, administering the initial doses to the command crew to allow them to bring the ship back under control.

Kirk orders Scott to make a full-power restart of the warp engines, a dangerous process that mixes matter and antimatter in a cold state to create a controlled implosion and drive the ship away from the planet. This is suggested by a theory postulating a relationship between time and antimatter, but it has never before been attempted. The restart is successful, propelling the ''Enterprise'' at impossible speed away from the planet into a space-time warp that sends the ship back 71 hours in time. Spock comments that they now know a way to travel back through time. Kirk's response is "We may risk it someday, Mr. Spock."

'''Peter McDermott:''' The main character is Mr. Peter McDermott; the general manager with a past. He is a graduate in Hotel Management from Cornell University and subsequently got a job in a hotel. However, he had been involved with a lady at time when he was supposed to be on duty. This gave Peter's wife and the lady's husband a reason to ask for a divorce. McDermott's dalliance was not a big thing for the hotel, but the newspaper coverage was such that he was dismissed from his job and blacklisted. But Warren Trent, the head of the St. Gregory Hotel, ignoring the past and considering the skill, hired him. The novel is about McDermott's attempts to deal with several crises in the hotel which involve a range of other characters.

'''The Hotel Finance Problem:''' The hotel's unpayable and unrenewable mortgage is due on Friday, necessitating its sale. Curtis O'Keefe, who owns a large hotel chain, plans to buy the St. Gregory hotel as the O'Keefe chain did not have a hotel in New Orleans. They had offered to pay the two million due on the mortgage and one million dollar and living accommodation to Warren Trent as well. However Warren did not want to lose the hotel which he had nurtured for so long. They decided upon a deadline of Friday afternoon to make a decision on the deal. Warren Trent meanwhile decided to make a deal with the Journeyman's Union who had long wanted to enter the hotel Industry but were not successful. This way Warren Trent could maintain the hotel's independence and still have a say in its affairs. The Journeyman's Union had decided to send two of its executives on Thursday to study the hotel books and then decide before the Friday afternoon deadline. Royall Edwards of the St. Gregory had been appointed by Warren Trent to work with the two officers all night, if required, so that they could complete the study. However, upset with the denial of entry of a Negro man to the hotel, which made headlines, the Journeyman's Union broke the deal. Warren Trent had no option but to give in to Curtis O'Keefe. To his utmost surprise, a few minutes before Friday noon, the bank manager who had turned down refinancing of the hotel, came with an offer, that an individual, whose name could not be disclosed then, would be paying the mortgage and buying the major shares of the hotel. Warren Trent would be the chairman, though Warren knew that he would be just a figurehead but as it was a better offer, so he accepted.

'''Christine and Albert Wells:''' Christine is Warren Trent's secretary. Peter and Christine have a liking for each other. They share many things in common and feel they could be happy together. In the hotel, an elderly guest, Mr. Albert Wells, suffers a medical problem in his room. The hotel staff is alert and quickly moves him to another room. Christine took care of Albert Wells personally as he was the hotel guest.

'''Marsha Preyscott:''' In another incident a group of teen-aged boys create a major incident that is aggravated by the fact that they are the sons of the local banker, car dealer, and other town notables. They attempt to rape Miss Prescott, the daughter of Mr. Prescott, a department store magnate, who is currently in Rome. However, on hearing her screams, Aloysius Royce, (a Negro and main help to Warren Trent who treats him like a son), steps in and Marsha is able to escape. Peter handles the situation and asks for a written apology from each of the boys involved in it. In these letters, the villainous Bell Captain, Herbie Chandler is named as the one who made the incident possible. Because of his collusion in this, Chandler is threatened with firing on the spot, however, McDermott plans to take it to Mr. Trent, because of Chandler's years of employment. Chandler attempts to bribe the general manager, but fails, and is told to leave the office in a cold rage. Chandler plots some kind of revenge against McDermott, and he steps on elevator number 4. Marsha falls in ‘love’ with Peter McDermott and proposes marriage. Peter finds it difficult to say no to her considering her affluence and beauty but finally says no as he knows that he likes Christine. However he overcomes his sense of guilt when he learns from Anna (Head maid servant of Marsha) that she is always the same and will be OK in a little time and that Anna was not married. However, Marsha, in framing a good background to convince Peter, had said that Anna had a very good life with her husband whom she had met only once before marriage, and it was not necessary to know a person for too long before to decide on marriage.

'''The Dentist Convention:''' The hotel business gains a minimum from room rent, the bulk of its profit coming from the food and the conventions held. A major convention of dentists was supposed to be held in the St. Gregory. Dr Ingram, the president of the convention has arrived and settled in his room. Then a Dr. Nicholas, a prominent dentist, university lecturer, and Negro, arrives at the counter, showing a confirmed reservation. However hotel policy does not allow Negroes. Dr Ingram was quite disappointed at this and threatened to take the convention out of the hotel, causing a major loss. When Peter discussed it with Warren he said, that after a few discussions this would be forgotten and the convention would be held and there was no need to worry. And after a few meetings the convention finally decided to stay though Dr. Ingram resigned from his post.

'''Curtis O'Keefe and Dodo:''' Curtis O'Keefe, the man who owns a large hotel chain plans to buy the St. Gregory. He is there with Dodo, his girl friend. But Curtis wants to move on. He gets a movie role for Dodo and intends to go to New York to meet his new girlfriend. When Warren tells Curtis that he is not going to accept Curtis' offer to sell the hotel, Curtis is very disappointed and in a fit of anger he tells Dodo that he doesn't want her any more. Dodo is upset, although somehow she already knows. She has to board her flight to Los Angeles and takes elevator number 4, as she is about to move out of the hotel.

'''Duke and Duchess of Croydon:''' In another instance the Duke and Duchess of Croydon are hiding out in the hotel as they are responsible for a gruesome hit-and-run accident which made the headlines. The Duke had gone to a night club and the Duchess reaches the club to find her husband. On their way back the Duke hits a woman and her daughter and both the woman and her daughter died. However, in the accident the headlight and the trim ring of the car were damaged. The Duke and Duchess arrived back at the hotel and try to find a way out, so that there not the slightest suggestion of them being involved in an accident. When the room-service waiter arrives in the presidential suite with dinner, the Duchess intentionally hits him so that her dress gets spoiled. The Duchess creates a big issue over this, just to make her presence felt so that it can be interpreted that she was in the hotel. But the chief house officer Ogilvie gets a hint of it and tries to blackmail the Duke and Duchess. They finally reach an agreement that Ogilvie would drive their Jaguar to Chicago and a total of twenty-five thousand dollars would be paid to him. By the time the police identify the car with the broken headlight and trim pieces, Ogilvie would be out of New Orleans. The travel was supposedly on Thursday night at 1 am. Ogilvie gets a written note from the Duchess asking for permission to drive her car out of garage in case the garage officer asks for it. The moment he is driving the car out of hotel, Peter enters the hotel and they make eye contact, though Peter did not think much of it at the time. However, recollecting all the events – a Jaguar being driven by Ogilvie belonging to the Duke and Duchess – the broken headlight of the Jaguar – the fuss created by Duchess about the waiter – all establish a link towards the involvement of the Duke and Duchess. Peter inquires from the garage officer and is informed that Ogilvie had a written note from the Duchess and so was allowed to drive the car away, but somehow the note got misplaced. Peter informed police captain Yolles of the incident, but they could not prove it without any evidence. After working hard, the incinerator officer, responsible for garbage recycling, manages to find the note. When the note is shown to the Duchess, she frowns. The Duke then decides to admit his crime and decides to leave and steps into elevator number 4.

'''Keycase Milne:''' A hotel thief operating in the St. Gregory. He has managed to get keys of several rooms in the hotel by using tricks, asking for other room number keys from the reception desk, using girls to obtain keys for him and many other ways. When he saw the duke and duchess in hotel he thinks it would be excellent if he could get the key of their room. He manages to get the key from reception by trickery, gets a duplicate prepared and steals fifteen thousand dollars and some jewelry from the duchess's room. After obtaining so much he decides to leave the hotel and boards elevator number 4.

'''Climax:''' The meeting to take over the hotel scheduled at 11:30 am Friday is in place. Mr. Dempster from New York arrives to tell who his boss is and it is Albert Wells, the hotel guest whom Christine had taken care of and thought of as not a rich man, who has bought the hotel. To Peter's utmost surprise, he is appointed the Executive Vice-President of St. Gregory and would be running the hotel with Dempster being the officiating president, the position Dempster had in all other hotels owned by Albert Wells. It was within the meeting itself that Christine comes running and tells them that elevator number 4 has met with an accident and had a free fall, killing a worker.

Dodo suffers a lot of injuries and is rushed to a hospital. It was then that Curtis realizes how much he loves Dodo and gets the best neurosurgeons for her. She is soon out of danger. The Duke is instantly killed. The Duchess, still cold on hearing that, is expressionless. The policeman, Captain Yolles, now thinks the blame for the hit-and-run could be easily moved on Duke as he is now dead and the Duchess could save herself. Keycase escapes unharmed and runs away with all his money, vowing to go straight. Warren Trent is happy that he could retain his hotel as its chairman. Herbie Chandler, the bell captain, is permanently paralyzed and never works again. Aloysius Royce leaves the hotel to study law but not before he and McDermott have a drink together.

Major characters

The storyline of ''Amerika'' primarily follows three political leaders: '''Devin Milford''' (played by Kris Kristofferson): a maverick politician before the Soviet occupation who ran for president in 1988 (in the novel, 1992), after the Soviet takeover began. Milford was placed in a prison camp for daring to speak the truth about the Soviet conquest; at the beginning of the miniseries, Devin is declared "rehabilitated" and released back into society into the custody of his father, who lives in the Nebraska county run by Peter Bradford. '''Colonel Andrei Denisov''' of the KGB (played by Sam Neill): the Soviet administrator for the American Central Administrative Area. He is romantically involved with actress Kimberly Ballard (played by Mariel Hemingway). Andrei's superior and mentor is General Petya Samanov (played by Armin Mueller-Stahl), the Soviet military leader in charge of the United States. *'''Peter Bradford''' (played by Robert Urich): a county administrator in Nebraska who cooperates with the Soviets to create a better life for his community. He attracts the attention of the Soviet leadership because, while cooperative, he is independent and respected by his constituents. At the series' climax, the Soviets carve a new country called "Heartland" out of the Midwest, with Bradford as its "governor-general".

Major female characters, in addition to Ballard, include Peter Bradford's wife, Amanda (played by Cindy Pickett), Devin Milford's ex-wife, Marion (played by Wendy Hughes), and most notably, Devin's sister Alethea (played by Christine Lahti), who at the outset is prostituting herself to the local occupation leader. "Alethea is the center". noted Donald Wrye. "She is a metaphor for America – not just phonically – and it is she who discovers her moral core through(out) the course of the series." Lara Flynn Boyle played Bradford's teenage daughter, Jackie.

The human drama of these characters intersects with the political intrigue of the Soviet plans for the breakup of the United States. Bradford, the pragmatist, clashes with Milford, the idealist; Bradford's wife is Milford's ex-girlfriend, who finds she still has feelings for Milford upon his release from the prison camp; Denisov appoints Milford's ex-wife, a powerful magistrate (and General Samanov's mistress), to serve as Bradford's deputy and assistant in Heartland; and Kimberly's renewed sense of U.S. pride ultimately affects her relationship with Denisov.

Backstory

Towards the end of the 1980s, as the decline of the Soviet Union puts it in danger of losing the Cold War, the Soviet leadership makes a desperate gamble to rearrange the global balance of power. Four large thermonuclear weapons are detonated in the ionosphere over the United States. The resulting electromagnetic pulse (or EMP) destroys the nation's communications and computer systems, cripples the U.S. electrical grid, and affects any equipment that relies on computer technology, such as most late-model automobiles. With its ICBMs inoperative—and the National Command Authority unable to contact U.S. military forces abroad or their foreign allies in western Europe to launch a counterattack—the U.S. is forced to accept Soviet terms for surrender: unilateral disarmament, the end of the dollar as a reserve currency, and integration into the Soviet military/economic bloc. The United States quickly falls under Soviet military occupation under the command of Russian General Petya Samanov, with the President and Congress becoming mere figureheads for their Soviet overseers. Communications between the administrative areas have been cut off, and the damage to the electrical grid caused by the EMP attack has never been fully repaired.

The above events are implied in the miniseries, although never directly explained. The description is taken from the novelization of the miniseries, ''Amerika: The Triumph of the American Spirit'' by Brauna E. Pouns and Donald Wrye (Pocket Books, 1987), based on Wrye's screenplay.

Geopolitical situation

In 1997, a decade after its defeat, the contiguous United States is occupied by a United Nations peacekeeping force, the United Nations Special Service Unit (UNSSU), composed primarily of Eastern Bloc forces. The UNSSU in Milford is under a command of an officer from East Germany, Major Helmut Gurtman (played by Reiner Schöne). UNSSU troops periodically engage in destructive combined arms training exercises which are deliberately intimidating to the local population.

Those Americans who engage in dissent are stripped of their privileges and sent to exile camps, where they are anathema to the Soviets and their fellow citizens. Association and communication with the exiles is forbidden, although some risk their own remaining freedoms by offering humanitarian aid. Production quotas have been imposed, and foodstuffs rationed, with the surplus being shipped to the Soviet Union.

Against this background, Bradford ascends to the leadership as governor-general of Heartland. He acts the part of a collaborator, hoping to reform the Soviet occupation from within with ideals of the old United States. Milford is released from the prison camp, hoping to be reunited with his children and fight to end the occupation and restore the United States. Denisov hopes to "salvage as much as possible" of the old U.S., while realizing that the U.S. essentially must cease to exist as a nation in order to appease the Soviet Union's leadership.

Climax and resolution

The Soviet leaders of the occupation are faced with the dual problem of keeping the U.S. pacified and convincing the Politburo that their fears of a revitalized U.S. are unfounded because the country can no longer pose a threat. The Politburo is not convinced, and considers exploding nuclear weapons over several unnamed U.S. cities as a warning to the American people and to the world. Samanov and Denisov, both of whom want Soviet control of the United States to be relatively humane, are horrified by this idea.

At great personal risk, Samanov convinces the Soviet leadership to accept a compromise plan. The United States will be divided into "client states" such as Heartland. Additionally, members of the United States Congress will be executed if they refuse to dissolve the nation's government and disperse in peace. When Samanov asks the assembled Congress to disband the legislative body and dissolve the United States government, the members angrily refuse to do so. Samanov walks out of the House of Representatives chamber and his men begin firing into the crowd of legislators. All members of Congress are killed in the attack, along with the speaker of the House of Representatives and the vice president. The United States Capitol building and the artwork in its rotunda are destroyed. After the act is carried out, Samanov surveys the damage and the dead bodies of the members of Congress. He then sits in the United States House of Representatives chamber and commits suicide.

In the final episode of the miniseries, Heartland has seceded from the United States, with other regions to follow within the next few weeks. Instead, Heartland soldiers and local militia attack the local UNSSU compound. There is talk of a "Second American Revolution" that could undermine the Soviet Union's plans to break up the United States. The miniseries ends on a downbeat note, Devin Milford is shown about to make a nationwide speech telling Americans to revolt against the Soviet occupation, however, Milford is shot to death. It is unclear if he managed to make a nationwide broadcast calling on Americans to resist the breakup of the United States, but based on the ending, it appears that the United States ceases to exist as a nation and is broken up into several independent countries.

The Divided States of America

In this fictional timeline, the U.S. Congress divided the United States into multiple "administrative areas" in 1988, one year after the communist takeover. These areas are intended to become polities modeled on the Soviet republics, joined together in a new North American Union. A map shown on screen reveals these administrative areas to be:

California Special District: California, Nevada Western Semi-Autonomous: Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming Northwest: Oregon, Washington Southwest: Arizona, New Mexico North Central: Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Central: Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska (this is Peter Bradford's administrative area, and the territory which eventually becomes Heartland, with Omaha, Nebraska, as its capital) South Central: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas Southern: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi Mid-Atlantic: Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia Appalachia: Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia Ameritech: Indiana, the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania (presumably named after the phone company that serviced these areas) Northeastern: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont

In addition to these areas, Washington, D.C. comprises its own National Administrative District, South Florida is described by a character as the "Space Zone", and there is a passing reference to three "International Cities", one of which is San Francisco. Michigan is separated into two administrative regions, with the Lower Peninsula belonging to Ameritech, and the Upper Peninsula belonging to the North Central region. Alaska is described as never having been pacified, requiring continued engagement by Soviet troops, and there are pockets of armed resistance in the Rocky Mountains and in West Virginia. There is no mention of what has happened to Hawaii, or to U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico, Guam, and American Samoa.

The Rust Belt (presumably "Ameritech") faces its own special problems. Most of its advanced factory equipment was removed at the start of the occupation and taken to the Soviet Union. The region suffers 50% unemployment as a result, and its residents are not permitted to leave, except to volunteer for factory work in the Soviet Union, from which no one has yet returned.

Travel and communications between the various zones is heavily restricted, part of the "divide and conquer" plan of the Soviet occupation.

Communist occupation elsewhere

Both the novel and miniseries imply that the Soviet Union has conquered other countries after the U.S. coup (it can be surmised, for example, that the EMP which disabled U.S. technology also would have crippled Canada and Mexico, a minor character says that he and his wife fled East Germany for the United States and remarked that "the promised land [had] become worse than what [they] left", and Denisov says at one point that "we control most of the world").

In this new world, Fidel Castro heads what is now called "Greater Cuba", embracing most of the Caribbean and Latin America, and Taiwan has been absorbed into China. North Korea has conquered and occupied South Korea and Korea is united under communist rule. A politician named "Mbele" heads the "Socialist Republic of Southern Africa" which also includes South Africa, "Barghout" is the leader of "Iraqistan" which includes present-day Israel and all of the Arab world in both the Middle East and North Africa. Eastern Europe is in a state of unrest, echoing the turmoil in the former United States. The Soviet leader mentions being stationed in England before being posted in America, implying that Western Europe is also under Soviet control, much like America.

National symbols

The flag of the occupation is the pale blue United Nations flag, with crossed U.S. and Soviet flags superimposed on the sides. The U.S. flag is shown without its stars, and this flag is displayed during the "Lincoln Week" ceremonies. The standard U.S. flag is outlawed, although one scene shows a group of war veterans marching with the old U.S. flag upside down, this being a distress signal. The U.S. national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner", also is outlawed, but this does not stop a group of citizens from singing it (haltingly at first) after the "Lincoln Week" parade.

Abraham Lincoln is included with Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin in propaganda. One of the signature scenes in the film is a twenty-minute, dialogue-free depiction of the celebration of "Lincoln Week" (a holiday replacing the Fourth of July), with both Lincoln and Lenin displayed on red banners that were most likely intended to be striking and startling to television audiences of the time.

A new pledge of allegiance is given by "rehabilitated" political prisoners upon release from the U.S. gulags. While the prisoners are told that they are free to refuse to make this pledge, the circumstances under which it is administered suggest otherwise. The pledge states:

I pledge my allegiance to the flag of the community of American, Soviet, and United Nations of the World, and to the principle for which it stands – a nation, indivisible with others of the Earth, joined in peace, and justice for all.

Ned Kelly is forced by police persecution to become a bushranger. He robs several banks and is eventually captured after the Siege of Glenrowan. He is hanged in Melbourne.

Willie Morris as an adult looks back on his childhood in the early 1940s and how it was colored by his dearly beloved dog, a Jack Russell Terrier whom he had named Skip. Willie is a lonely 9-year-old child with a gruff, proud father Jack, a Spanish Civil War veteran, and a charismatic, talkative mother Ellen, a housewife, but he is an only child and small for his age with few friends. His one companion is a young man who lives next door, Dink Jenkins, who is the local sports hero in Mississippi. However, when Dink is drafted to go to war, Ellen decides to buy him a dog, against Jack's wishes, in order that he should have some company.

Willie and Skip become firm friends very quickly. However, Willie gets bullied at school by Big Boy Wilkinson, Henjie Henick, and Spit McGee, until Dink sends him a German helmet and belt from the front line. The other boys demand he play ball in order to win back his belongings, while Skip leaps in to help him. That same day, the three boys talk Willie into spending the night in a graveyard, where they claim a witch is buried. If he stays there, he gets to join their gang and also keep the ball Dink signed for them; otherwise, he has to give them his German helmet. Willie stays at the graveyard for a number of hours until he hears two moonshiners Millard and Junior who are loading crates into a crypt. Skip jumps on Millard until Junior comes at him with a spade. Willie slingshots Junior with an acorn and attempts to escape the graveyard with Skip, but they are soon captured by Junior. He threatens to kill Skip unless Willie stays before sunrise. After the two men leave, the three boys return and accept Willie into their group as a reward.

Skip, having always been a friendly dog, is known by everyone in the town, including black people - significant because Mississippi was still segregated at the time. Skip leads Willie through the best parts of his life; his boyhood days. Thanks to Skip, Willie now has three friends, and a girlfriend, Rivers. Skip is there for him when Dink gets home, shell-shocked and a drunkard since dishonorably discharged from the Army, presumably for desertion. However, when Willie's first ball game comes along, Skip and Willie have their first falling out. Dink agrees to come along, but does not bother because since the war he has found competitions do not interest him anymore. Skip, wanting to cheer Willie up, runs onto the field and sits wagging his tail, refusing to leave. Angry and embarrassed by his poor performance at the game, causing his team to lose, Willie publicly hits Skip across the muzzle and he disappears without a trace.

Unbeknownst to Willie, Skip has returned to the crypt, and has been accidentally shut in the grave where moonshine is being stored. As Willie searches in the graveyard, he hears Skip's barks and runs to save him, but Junior knocks the dog unconscious with the spade. Dink arrives and manages to eject the two moonshiners. As Willie and Dink's families gather in solemnity in the vet's waiting room, Skip nearly dies from his injuries in Willie's arms, but the dog awakens, licking Willie's hands and face.

Willie explains about his friendship with Skip, that he had been an only child and Skip an only dog. When Willie leaves to go to Oxford University in the 1950's, Skip remains with Jack and Ellen, sleeping in Willie's old room, and then dies on Willie's bed at age 11: having succumbed to arthritis and old age, he is then buried under the elm tree by Jack and Ellen with Jack telling Willie of Skip's death via a transatlantic call.

The story describes a young woman and her husband. He imposes a rest cure on her when she suffers "temporary nervous depression" after the birth of their baby. They spend the summer at a colonial mansion, where the narrator is largely confined to an upstairs nursery. The story makes striking use of an unreliable narrator in order to gradually reveal the degree to which her husband has imprisoned her: she describes torn wallpaper, barred windows, metal rings in the walls, a floor "scratched and gouged and splintered," a bed bolted to the floor, and a gate at the top of the stairs, but blames all these on children who must have resided there.

The narrator devotes many journal entries to describing the wallpaper in the room – its "sickly" color, its "yellow" smell, its bizarre and disturbing pattern like "an interminable string of toadstools, budding and sprouting in endless convolutions," its missing patches, and the way it leaves yellow smears on the skin and clothing of anyone who touches it. She describes how the longer one stays in the bedroom, the more the wallpaper appears to mutate, especially in the moonlight. With no stimulus other than the wallpaper, the pattern and designs become increasingly intriguing to the narrator. She soon begins to see a figure in the design. Eventually, she comes to believe that a woman is creeping on all fours behind the pattern. Believing she must free the woman in the wallpaper, she begins to strip the remaining paper off the wall.

When her husband arrives home, the narrator refuses to unlock her door. When he returns with the key, he finds her creeping around the room, rubbing against the wallpaper, and exclaiming, "I've got out at last... in spite of you." He faints, but she continues to circle the room, creeping over his inert body each time she passes it, believing herself to have become the woman trapped behind the yellow wallpaper.

The series is set in 1961. Cameraman Viktor Khrustalyov is in a difficult situation; he is suspected of being involved in the death of his friend, talented screenwriter Kostya Parshin, who committed suicide during a drinking-bout. The authorities try to put Khrustalyov in prison by any means. Viktor needs to shoot the comedy "The Girl and the Brigadier" in order to get permission to make the film "Shards" after the wonderful scenario left from his deceased screenwriter friend. Young director Yegor Myachin wants to adapt this screenplay. Khrustalyov arranges him as a trainee to the venerable director Krivitsky for a comedy. In the same film act Khrustalev's ex-wife Inga and his young sweetheart Maryana, with whom Yegor Myachin is also in love.

In Corey's room, an unseen person steals her piggy bank off her dresser. The theft is witnessed by Papa Smurf, who emerges from a Smurfs comic book with the other Smurfs and alerts the other cartoon characters in the room (Alf from a framed picture, Garfield from a lamp, Alvin and the Chipmunks from a record sleeve, Winnie the Pooh from a stuffed animal, Baby Kermit from an alarm clock, and Slimer who passes through a wall).

Alf, Garfield, Alvin, Simon, and Theodore track down the thief and discover that it is Michael, Corey’s brother. Alvin opens a box under his bed and Simon identifies its contents as marijuana. Meanwhile, Corey expresses her concerns about his change in behavior, causing him to storm out of the house. The cartoon characters quickly realize that something must be done about his addiction and they set off after him, leaving Pooh behind to look after Corey.

At the arcade, Michael smokes pot with his old "friends" and "Smoke", an anthropomorphic cloud of smoke, who try to convince him to try harder drugs. They run out and are chased into an alley by a police officer, who is then revealed to be Bugs Bunny wearing a police officer's hat. He traps Smoke in a garbage can and uses a time machine to see when and how Michael's addiction started. It turns out that it did so through peer pressure by some older high school kids. After he has returned to the present, he meets up with his "friends" and they decide they want to do some crack. He is hesitant until one of them steals his wallet. He and Smoke chase after her, until they fall down a manhole and meet up with Michelangelo, who tells them that the drugs are messing up his brain. Soon after, Baby Kermit, Baby Miss Piggy, and Baby Gonzo take him on a tour of the human brain. There, Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Tigger join the rest of the cartoon characters in trying to teach him the many "Wonderful Ways to Say No."

Michael wakes up in his room, believing the whole thing to be nothing but a nightmare. Corey walks in and tries to talk to him, but he loses his temper and angrily yells at her, nearly breaking her arm and hurling her to a wall. He comes to his senses and tries to apologize to her, but she runs out frightened. Smoke appears and tells him he did the right thing, but he is not sure. Saddened, he looks at himself in a small mirror and is shocked to see Alf looking at him. Alf grabs him and pulls him into the mirror. Inside a Hall of Mirrors, Alf shows him his reflection of how he is today, then the one if he does not stop taking drugs: an aged, corpse-like version of himself. When he insists that he could quit if he wants to and that he is in charge of his own life, Alf takes him to see the "man in charge". He is horrified to see that it is Smoke.

Later, Corey and Pooh go back into Michael's room and find his box of marijuana. Smoke appears, throws Pooh into a cabinet, and starts tempting Corey into trying it. She believes that if she does so, then maybe she and Michael could have fun together like they used to before he started doing drugs.

Meanwhile, the drug-induced carnival in Michael's mind leads him to Daffy Duck who reads his future in his crystal ball - which proves to be a bowling ball - and it is an even sicklier version of himself than before. After one last warning from the cartoon characters, he, now extremely ashamed of himself and his drug addiction, comes back into his room just in time to stop Corey from using the drugs herself. He tells her that he never wants to see her end up like him, and admits he was wrong for using them in the first place, though he is unsure if he can change despite his obvious desire to do so. She advises him to talk about his problems with her and their parents. Smoke tries to persuade him otherwise, but he grabs him and throws him out the window, as he feels that he has "listened to long enough." After falling in a garbage truck, Smoke vows to return, but all of the cartoon characters appear on a poster on Michael's wall as a reminder to always say no when confronted by drugs. He releases Pooh from the cabinet and smiles down at Corey as they go talk to their parents about his drug addiction.

The story is set on Mars in the late 21st Century. It follows the exploits of the 400-year-old vampire John Shade, whose comfortable life in the Hellas crater on Mars is disrupted when he is forced to become part of a complex conspiracy to protect the Janglers, a sub-species of humans who have replaced parts of their brains with technology.

Shade eventually becomes the leader of a collection of loners, losers, drop-outs and rebels, holding them together through unwitting charisma and a sense of personal vengeance against the government of Mars.

As a vampire, Shade sometimes feels a lust for blood, though this only occurs once or twice a year - though the Need, as it is called, strikes several times during the course of the novel for reasons that are not fully explained. Shade also possesses increased strength and reflexes, a photographic memory, excellent mathematical knowledge, the ability to change his own shape and the power to "shift" into "high temporal", which tremendously enhances his speed. Shade has read Bram Stoker's Dracula and believes it to be "foolish in many details".

Mike Donnelly, a good-natured but loud and bumbling oddball of his family, is driving an advertisement truck to support his brother Al Donnelly's campaign for Governor of Washington. His competition is incumbent Evelyn Tracy. Mike is chased by dogs while driving and crashes into a local movie theatre. Al's campaign manager, Roger Kovary, advises Al to get rid of Mike, but Al decides to have Mike campaign for him in town with the assistance of campaign aide Steve Dodds, who accepts the job in return for a spot on Al's staff following the election. As Steve goes to pick up Mike, he hits crazed Vietnam veteran Sgt. Drake Sabitch, who ends up stealing his rental car.

Later on, Mike tries to stop underage kids from drinking, but incriminating pictures make it look like he was drinking with them, leading to his termination from a county recreation center. While packing up, he runs into a pair of thugs who set fire to the building, while the same photographer takes potentially incriminating pictures of Mike right after the thugs leave the scene of the fire. However, the first cop to arrive at the scene is Robbie Mieghem, a friend of Mike's who lets him and Steve leave before the police arrive. The two take off in Mike's car and, per Kovary's instructions, head for a shack in rural Garfield County.

The next day, as Steve and Mike hang fliers, Steve tries to make a call via cell phone; while looking for a place with reception, Steve stumbles upon the home of the aforementioned Drake Sabitch - an old school bus with a TV, a hammock, a grill, and several weapons. While trying to find a high-ground to get reception on his phone, Steve accidentally loosens a rock in a pile of stones. Later on, as the guys play checkers, a huge boulder rolls down the mountain, almost completely knocking their cabin off its foundation; that night, a stormy wind blows the roof away and hail falls inside. The next day, Mike tries to talk to Al, but Kovary refuses, so Mike decides to head into Seattle that night to talk to Al, who is going on MTV's Rock the Vote campaign. However, after hanging out with some Rastafarians and being mistaken for his brother by Mudhoney, Mike makes a fool of himself onstage (culminating to his yelling "KILL WHITEY!" to a suddenly silent audience) as a shocked Al and Kovary helplessly watch. Because of his stunt, Al decides to no longer let Mike help him with the campaign, leaving Mike down. The next day, Steve and Mike sneak into Drake's home (after dodging some hidden land mines) to watch Al's debate on his TV. When Steve goes outside to use the restroom, he is attacked by Drake, but is saved by Mike, who beats the ex-soldier in unarmed combat. Drake is impressed by Mike's fighting skill and befriends both men.

Governor Tracy, in hopes of sabotaging Al following their debate, purchases the pictures of Mike at the rec center fire and posts them on TV, therefore allowing Tracy to win the election. Mike notices that the total vote count is 1,882 for Garfield County, when in fact there are only 1,502 registered voters there; furthermore, Mike recognizes the two men who set the rec center on fire standing next to Tracy. Mike and Steve go to the Garfield County Courthouse, where they obtain the names of the voters in the election. They discover that over half the people who voted for Tracy have been dead for over ten years (including Drake's father and grandfather), proving Tracy had rigged the elections. To get this to the people and Al, Mike and Steve borrow Robbie's squad car to get to Governor Tracy's victory party the following day.

At the party, the duo appears during Tracy's victory speech and the police try to arrest Mike for arson. At the podium, Mike takes a gun from one of the cops and pretends to hold Steve hostage, while Drake shows up in time to prevent a sniper from shooting Mike and controls the crowd by threatening them with an RPG. Mike reveals Tracy's election fraud, overturning the election results and making Al the winner.

Three months later, Steve is Al's new assistant and advisor, replacing Kovary after earlier in the movie, he made Al choose between his career or being with his "loser" brother and as a result, Al fired him; Al offered Mike a job in his administration, but he declined since he got his job running the recreation center back; and Al has decreased crime rates in Washington. As Al and Steve enter a jet to go to a meeting, Mike's jacket gets caught in the plane's door, causing him to be trapped outside while it takes off.

11-year-old Preston Waters laments his relative lack of money compared to his entrepreneurial older brothers and his working class father, an investor. His situation regularly leads him to humiliating situations including having his brothers, 16-year-old Damian and 15-year-old Ralph, commandeer his bedroom as an office for their home business. He is also forced to attend his bully Butch’s birthday party at Cliffside Fun Park, where he is unable to afford anything other than the kiddie rides because his father is very frugal with money.

One day, he gets involved in a bike accident with escaped convict Carl Quigley, who had just left a Zero Halliburton briefcase containing $1,000,000 in stolen cash in the care of bank president Edward H. Biderman to be laundered and retrieved by an associate the next day. Afraid of drawing attention from the police, Quigley hastily hands Preston a signed blank check and flees the scene.

Preston is grounded by his father for not taking care of his possessions. He then uses his computer to fill out the check himself for $1,000,000 and attempts to cash it the next day. He is taken to Biderman, who believes Preston is the associate named “Juice” that Quigley told him he was sending. Believing this is part of Quigley's plan, Biderman fills Preston’s backpack with $1,000,000 in clean money and Preston leaves the bank just as the real Juice arrives for the money. An angered Quigley sets out to find Preston with the Juice hoping to reclaim his stolen money and threaten Biderman with death unless he comes along. Meanwhile, Preston goes on a spending spree, purchasing a large house and a limousine service with a chauffeur named Henry, and then fills the house with toys, gadgets, and electronics all in the name of a mysterious employer he creates named "Macintosh", after his brothers' computer. Preston uses a computer program called MacSpeak as the voice of Mr. Macintosh in order to buy a house over the phone.

Shay Stanley, a teller from the bank, seeks out Preston and his employer Mr. Macintosh, after the realtor who sold the house to Macintosh deposits $300,000 cash with her bank. Shay, an undercover FBI agent investigating Biderman for money laundering, is suspicious of the sudden flow of cash that has come through Biderman’s bank and follows the trail to Preston/Macintosh. Denied a meeting with Macintosh, Preston claims that he handles some of Macintosh’s financial affairs and the two end up going on a business date. Later, Preston throws an expensive birthday party for himself and Macintosh for which the party planner Yvonne takes at least $40,000 in cash from Preston, claiming it covers the fees for the event. Yvonne later gives Preston the party planning bill and cost which is $100,000. Preston invites Shay and Henry to the party, with many others showing up. At the party, Preston learns that he only has $332 left and that he cannot pay the planner what he owes for the party.

Still checking on the computer, his dad shows up talking to the so-called Macintosh. He tells him that if he sees where Preston is at and tells him to send him home because it is his birthday. He just takes a second to talk about his son. He talks about how he puts pressure on his son, how he doesn’t listen to him and about having money. He leaves and Preston starts crying and realizes that his dad is not there. The planner shuts the party down, leaving Preston alone in the empty house. Quigley, Biderman, and Juice arrive and demand Preston return the money, only to find out Preston has spent all of it in six days; Biderman tells Quigley about helming the Macintosh name in hopes of inheriting the new life he was hoping. After pursuing Preston throughout the property when the latter tries to escape, the FBI shows up with Shay in time to save Preston.

Quigley announces that he is Macintosh, thinking that assuming the false identity would grant him the new life he was seeking after escaping prison. However, the FBI arrest Quigley for numerous crimes they intended to charge to Macintosh, along with Biderman and Juice as accomplices. Preston says goodbye to Shay and Henry before returning to his family to celebrate his birthday, now understanding that money cannot buy happiness and that his family is what matters most.

It is June 1940, during the Battle of France. After five-year-old Paulette's parents and pet dog die in a German air attack on a column of refugees fleeing Paris, the traumatized child meets 10-year-old Michel Dollé whose peasant family takes her in. She quickly becomes attached to Michel. The two attempt to cope with the death and destruction that surrounds them by secretly building a small cemetery among the ruins of an abandoned watermill, where they bury her dog and start to bury other animals, marking their graves with crosses stolen from a local graveyard, including one belonging to Michel's brother. Michel's father first suspects that Michel's brother's cross was stolen from the graveyard by his neighbour. Eventually, the father finds out that Michel has stolen the cross.

Meanwhile, the French gendarmes come to the Dollé household in order to take Paulette. Michel cannot bear the thought of her leaving and tells his father that he would tell him where the stolen crosses are, but in return he should not give Paulette to the gendarmes. His father doesn't keep his promise: Michel destroys the crosses and Paulette ends up going to a Red Cross camp, but at the end of the film is seen running away into a crowd of people in the Red Cross camp, crying for Michel and then for her mother.

Hollywood A-list actress Honey Whitlock publicly presents herself as a sweet and considerate woman, but is actually a profane, unreasonable, and demanding diva. While in Baltimore to attend a premiere, Honey is kidnapped by the manic film director, Cecil B. Demented, and his band of misfit, Andy Warhol–worshiping artists who have branded themselves "kamikaze filmmakers", going by the group name "SprocketHoles". Each of the SprocketHoles has infiltrated the staff of the theater where the premiere is to take place; they subsequently kidnap Honey as she concludes her remarks on stage. In the ensuing mayhem, the group escapes.

Honey is taken to an abandoned movie theater where she is kept gagged with tape on her mouth, tied up and blindfolded. Honey is introduced to Cecil's crew of followers, each of whom wears a tattoo of a noted filmmaker and reveals unique, individual quirks. Cecil explains that he wants to make his masterpiece film and needs Honey to star as the lead. At first she resists, shooting scenes emotionlessly, but when Cecil demands better results, Honey gives an over-the-top performance in the film's opening scene which pleases him. Apart from the first scene, Cecil, Honey and the crew roam around the city filming scenes at real (unapproved) locations, often involving innocent bystanders in the process.

The group's first location is a movie theater playing ''Patch Adams: The Director's Cut'', which they storm with guns and smoke bombs before leaving with their footage. Several bystanders note in interviews that Honey seems younger and cooler than in her recent Hollywood films, but a spokesman for the Baltimore Film Commission "says no to cinema terrorism". Inspired, Cecil decides to invade the luncheon the commission is hosting. The group crashes the event and Cecil orders Honey to jump off the roof of a nearby building, which she does without safety measures. A gunfight ensues between Cecil's crew and the police, during which Rodney the hairdresser is killed and Cecil is wounded. Honey uses the opportunity to turn herself in to the authorities and they take her away in a police car, but the film group retrieves her soon after.

As Honey seems to become more comfortable with her situation, possibly developing Stockholm syndrome, she watches a television special discussing her disappearance. Persons who knew her, including her ex-husband, are interviewed and come clean about how mean-spirited she was in daily life. Honey now realizes that her desire to escape would only lead her back to Hollywood, where she is hated for being rude. She resists the idea of joining Cecil's followers but soon reconsiders and declares herself "Demented forever", burning a brand into her arm and officially joining the motley crew.

The SprocketHoles then invade the set of the ''Forrest Gump'' sequel being filmed in Baltimore, at Honey's suggestion. Upon arrival, they subdue and replace many of the film's crew. A gunfight breaks out between Cecil's friends and Teamsters who got free. Members of Cecil's crew are either killed or wounded. The surviving SprocketHoles and Honey flee to a nearby pornographic theater and seek refuge inside. The audience helps Cecil escape.

At their last location, Cecil is shooting the final scene at a local drive-in while law enforcement are alerted. Cecil and the crew invade the projection room, and he proceeds to excite the crowd into a frenzy. He asks Honey to light her hair on fire for the final shot (which she does). With the film finished, the SprocketHoles start having sex in public before the authorities step in. Cecil sets himself completely ablaze as police arrive, to give Honey a chance to escape. In the ensuing chaos, some crew members escape with the raw film footage while others are shot. Taken into custody, she is surprised and pleased by the new affection that the crowd has shown to her as she is put into the police van.

As kids, Darryl and Kevin Walker grew up as fans of the television series ''Batman''. Now grown up, Darryl is a clumsy, nerdy repairman, while his brother Kevin is a tabloid news cameraman. They both live with their Grandma Walker, who is an avid supporter of Alderman Marvin Harris' anti-corruption mayoral campaign, as evidenced by Harris publicly refusing a bribe from mobster Michael "The Suit" Minelli. Kevin is interested in getting out of making tabloids and doing a serious story about Minelli, but attempts to do so are shot down by his boss, Larry Stone, a perverted tabloid news junkie. Darryl is overly optimistic, almost child-like naive to the harsh realities of living in the inner-city (such as the crackhouse next door), but is a brilliant inventor: having a robot assistant named J-5, and with one of his experiments accidentally allowing him to create bulletproof clothing. One night, their Grandma is murdered by Minelli's henchmen; the murder is what opens Darryl's eyes to the urban decay all around him. He begins to fight crime by boldly saving an elderly transit passenger from being mugged, but makes a dumb mistake storming the crackhouse next door to rebuke the gang members. He then decides to become a vigilante superhero, using his technical expertise to create weapons and gadgets for his crime-fighting crusade, all under the annoyance of Kevin.

After Darryl is nearly killed trying to protect a citizen on the street, and is arrested by the cops who ridiculed him after he demanded to see the police commissioner, Kevin takes Darryl to see a psychiatrist. It doesn't work in Kevin's favor, as Darryl denies being a superhero, and puts the blame on Kevin, whom the psychiatrist then attempts to psychoanalyze. Kevin changes his mind and goes along with the fantasy, believing that it's Darryl's way to cope with the murder of their grandmother, but under the guidance of starting a neighborhood watch instead. When a girl tells them of a pregnant woman trapped in an elevator, Darryl arrives as his superhero alter-ego. Upon delivering the baby, he is surrounded by many, including reporters. Asking for his name, Darryl just stares; Kevin says he's gone blank, to which everyone interprets this as his name: Blankman.

Over time, Darryl uses his Blankman identity to protect various community members, build up a reputation, and inspire both the town's citizens and other real-life superheroes. One person interested in him is Kimberly Jonz, a fellow reporter that Kevin hopes to win the affection of. When Kimberly wants to know if it's possible to get an interview with Blankman, Kevin begs Darryl to allow her to interview him. He relents, on the condition that she wear a carnation. Taking her on his Blank-Cycle at the train tracks, he brings her to his secret hideout: The Blank Station, an abandoned subway station filled with all of his inventions, or in his words, “junk”. Kimberly interviews him about how and why he took up crime fighting, revealing it was because of the death of his grandmother. Impressed by his heroics and modesty, Kimberly immediately falls in love with him. She kisses him, only for him to panic when his gets an erection.

Mayor Harris attempts to bring in outside money to pay the IOUs the city has been giving its workers, and requests that Blankman be there to protect the people and receive a special award. As the money is released, Minelli's henchmen storm the bank and take the mayor hostage, threatening to detonate explosives. At the police chief's request and the crowd's chants, Blankman attempts to save the mayor; even with Kevin's help, he is unable to stop the crooks, nor defuse the bombs. Before the bombs go off and the Mayor along with it, Darryl reveals his identity and his grandmother's support for the Mayor. Mayor Harris wishes him well, warning him to run and says he will tell his grandmother about Darryl. Blankman runs out screaming as the bank explodes, killing Harris. The crowd, seeing his failure, turned on him and chased him down the street. With the city hating him, Darryl gives up on crime fighting and even a possible relationship with Kimberly. Trying for a normal life, he gets a job at a McDonald's.

Wanting a great story, Larry Stone manages to contact Minelli and trades knowledge of Blankman's love for Kimberly in exchange for an exclusive interview. In the midst of doing research on Minelli and Darryl's grandmother's death, Kimberly realizes his true identity and calls Kevin with the news, only for Minelli to take Kimberly hostage. Thinking he is talking to Blankman, Minelli threatens to kill Kimberly if Blankman doesn't show up. Kevin rushes to Darryl's workplace with the news, but Darryl refuses to help until Kevin reveals Minelli killed their grandmother. They leave and change to their superhero identities: Blankman, and with Kevin agreeing to wear a costume himself, the "Other Guy". The two heroes rush to the TV station, where Minelli has murdered a reporter and is threatening others, including Stone. The two engage in a fight with Minelli's goons, but they lose. They are placed in a water tank and left to drown, with Stone and Kimberly chained up and left to die, and Minelli having hidden bombs to destroy the building. Blankman calls J-5 to save them, and succeeds. The duo then finds the bombs in the women's bathroom, and stuffs the explosives inside J-5, while he frees Kimberly (Stone is left behind, as a joke by Other Guy). Once outside, the explosives detonate, destroying J-5. Distraught, Blankman swears revenge.

Tracking Minelli to his factory hideout, Blankman and Other Guy prepare for the final battle. Other Guy is overconfident and gets wounded, because his costume is not bulletproof. Blankman then defeats Minelli's goons with his electric "newchucks", and activates his jet-powered roller blades to capture Minelli, delivering him to the police and finally avenging their grandmother's death. Blankman, this time with Other Guy, is once again acknowledged as a hero by the people, and receives the Mayor Harris Award for outstanding community service at a ceremony in their honor, while Other Guy receives a Blankman T-shirt, much to Kevin's disgust. After the ceremony, Kevin introduces Kimberly to Darryl. The two make light conversation, until Kimberly pretends to see a purse snatcher, which puts Darryl on high alert. It was actually a trick, as Kimberly reveals she already knows that Darryl is Blankman; to prove it, she kisses Darryl, causing him to fall to the ground embarrassingly like before. The film ends with a shot of a banner that reads "We Love You Blankman... and the Other Guy".

When school ends for the summer, Gerry Garner’s parents send him to Camp Hope, a weight loss camp for boys. Initially reluctant, Gerry meets enthusiastic camp counselor Pat, and befriends the other campers, who have smuggled in enough junk food for the entire summer. The first night at Camp Hope brings the revelation that the original owners, the Bushkins, have declared bankruptcy and the camp has been bought by fitness entrepreneur Tony Perkis Jr, who plans to transform the camp’s weight loss program into a best-selling infomercial.

Tony replaces the camp’s beloved activities, including go-karts and ”the Blob”, with a punishing exercise regimen. Pat is replaced by the strict new counselor Lars, and the campers endure a painful softball game against their more athletic, over-competitive rivals, Camp MVP. When Tony purges the cabins’ hidden food caches, camper Josh stands up for Gerry by taunting Tony, and is sent home without a refund, which prompts the other campers to theorize about what happened to Josh after this. Tony arranges a dance with Camp Magnolia, a girls’ summer camp, to humiliate the boys into losing weight, but counselors Tim, Pat, and camp nurse Julie convince everyone to enjoy themselves together. Josh returns to Camp Hope, revealing that his father, a lawyer, threatened to sue Tony for kicking his son out without a refund.

Gerry and his friends sneak into Tony’s office in search of their confiscated snacks, and learn that Tony has intercepted all the campers’ letters to their families, including the letter that Gerry wrote to his grandmother. They discover a secret food stash used by most of the camp, leading them to gain weight, and Tony forces the boys on a twenty-mile hike, preparing to endanger their lives for the sake of fitness. The boys trick Tony into falling into a pit, and imprison him at camp in a makeshift cell, electrified with a bug zapper. With Pat, Julie, and Tim on their side, the campers take back control of Camp Hope, tying up Lars in the woods with Tony’s other counselors, and celebrating with a binge eating bonfire party.

The next morning, Pat rallies the campers to take responsibility for themselves and start losing weight, and they all start a healthier regimen while making Camp Hope fun again. The boys’ parents arrive for visiting day and are shown a video documenting Tony’s cruelty, which is interrupted by Tony, having escaped his cell. Exchanging blows with Gerry’s father, he attempts a series of backflips but knocks himself out. As Tony is taken away, his own father (a Western Pennsylvania lamp store guru whose fortune Tony uses to buy and fund the camp) arrives and promises to refund everyone’s money, but announces that the camp will be closed. The boys ask for the camp to stay open, and Pat – with eighteen years’ experience and the support of Gerry and the others – agrees to assume responsibility for Camp Hope.

Under Pat’s leadership, the campers restore their favorite activities, and prepare to face Camp MVP in their annual competition. Camp MVP takes the lead in the first event, an obstacle course, but Camp Hope catches up in the second round, a test of knowledge. In the final go-kart race, Gerry wins the competition for Camp Hope. Demonstrating that having fun is more important than winning, Pat throws the trophy in the lake, and seals his romance with Julie with a kiss. As Camp Hope celebrates their victory, Gerry thanks Pat for the best summer of his life.

In a post-credits scene, Tony has become an unsuccessful door-to-door salesman selling healing crystals.

An abandoned boat drifts into New York Harbor, and is boarded by two harbor patrolmen. A hidden zombie kills one of the patrolmen, but is shot by the patrolman’s partner and falls overboard; the dead patrolman's body is taken to the morgue. Anne Bowles (Tisa Farrow) is questioned by police, as the boat belonged to her father. She claims he is conducting research on Matul, a Caribbean island. British journalist Peter West (Ian McCulloch), is investigating the story; he and Bowles learn that Bowles' father is suffering from a strange illness on the island. They hire a boat and two guides—Brian Hull (Al Cliver) and his girlfriend Susan Barrett (Auretta Gay)—to reach Matul.

Meanwhile, on Matul, British doctor David Menard (Richard Johnson), and his wife Paola (Olga Karlatos) have been researching the phenomenon of zombie reanimation. Paola wishes to flee the island, but Menard insists on staying. That night, Paola is alone in the house when a zombie tries to enter; she pushes the door shut but it breaks through with one arm. Paola is dragged through the hole and killed, with her eye being gouged out by splintered wood.

Approaching Matul, Barrett dives in the ocean around the boat. She encounters a shark, and flees behind a reef only to be accosted by a submerged zombie. Surfacing, she reaches the boat while the shark and zombie attack each other. Eventually, the boat docks at Matul.

Menard is alarmed to find that one of his colleagues, Fritz, has died of the zombie infection. He tells his remaining staff to shoot all the dead bodies in their heads. While digging a grave for a body, he hears a signal flare and follows it to discover the boat group. Menard sends them back to his mansion in order to fetch his wife, where they discover Paola's corpse being eaten by zombies. The group fends off an attack against them and escapes in a jeep, with West suffering an ankle injury when the vehicle veers off-road after slamming into a zombie. Resting in a jungle clearing, the group realize they have encountered a Conquistador-era graveyard; Barrett is killed when one of the corpses rises from the earth and bites out her throat.

As more corpses reanimate, the group flees to the local hospital, where Menard explains that the dead are rising as a result of a voodoo curse which he has been trying to stop. The hospital is besieged by zombies, and Menard is killed by a reanimated Fritz. As the zombies attempt to enter, those being treated for infection inside the hospital also reanimate, killing several hospital staff who have stayed behind. As the dead outside breach the door, Bowles and Hull set the building on fire; the undead Barrett bites Hull but is shot in the head by West. Bowles, West and Hull escape to the boat and leave the island. At the sea, Hull dies of his infection, and his body is locked in a cabin to be used as evidence of what has happened. However, as the boat approaches New York again, a radio broadcast reports that the city is under attack from zombies—the result of the initial attack in the harbor.

In 1980 Madrid, young film director Enrique Goded is looking for his next project when he receives the unexpected visit of an actor looking for work. The actor claims to be Enrique's boarding school friend and first love, Ignacio Rodriguez. Ignacio, who is now using the name Ángel Andrade, has brought a short story titled "The Visit," hoping that Enrique would be interested in making a film out of it and give her the starring role. Enrique is intrigued since "The Visit" describes their time together at the Catholic boarding school and it also includes a fictionalized account of their reunion many years later as adults.

"The Visit" is set in 1977. It tells the story of a transgender drag queen with the stage name Zahara, whose birth name is Ignacio. Zahara plans to rob a drunken admirer but discovers that the man is her boyhood lover Enrique. Next she visits her old school and confronts Father Manolo, who abused her when she was a boy. She demands one million pesetas from him in exchange for halting publication of her story "The Visit". The story is set in a Catholic boarding school for boys in 1964. At the school, Ignacio, a young boy with a beautiful singing voice, is the object of lust of Father Manolo, the school principal and literature teacher. Ignacio falls in love with a young Enrique, and the two go the local cinema and grope each other. Manolo discovers them together that night. Although Ignacio allows Manolo to molest him in exchange for not punishing Enrique, he expels him nonetheless.

Enrique wants to adapt the story but balks at Ángel's condition to be cast as Zahara, feeling that the Ignacio whom he loved and the Ignacio of today are totally different people. He drives to see Ignacio's mother in Ortigueira, Galicia and learns that the real Ignacio has been dead for four years and that the man who came to his office is actually Ignacio's younger brother, Juan. Enrique's interest is piqued, and he decides to do the film with Juan in the role of Ignacio to find out what drives Juan. Enrique and Ángel start a relationship, and Enrique revises the script so that it ends with Father Manolo, whom Ignacio was trying to blackmail to get money for sex reassignment surgery, having Ignacio murdered. When the scene is shot, Ángel breaks out in tears unexpectedly.

The film set is visited by Manuel Berenguer, who is the real Father Manolo, who has resigned from Church duty. Berenguer confesses to Enrique that the new ending of the film is not far from the truth: the real Ignacio blackmailed Berenguer, who somehow managed to scratch together the money but also took an interest in Ignacio's younger brother, Juan. Juan and Manolo started a relationship and after a while realized they both wanted to see Ignacio dead. Juan scored some very pure heroin, so that his brother would die by overdose after shooting up. After the crime, the relationship disintegrates; Berenguer wants to continue the relationship with Juan, but Juan is uninterested. Berenguer claims that he will never let Juan go, and Juan threatens to kill him if Berenguer continues to pursue him. Berenguer attempts to blackmail Juan for his part in the murder of Ignacio. Enrique is shocked and not at all interested in Juan's weak vindications for what he did to his brother. Finally, before he leaves, Juan gives Enrique a piece of paper: a letter to Enrique that Ignacio was in the middle of typing when he died reading "I think I have succeeded..."

An epilogue states that after the release of the film Juan and Enrique both achieved great success, although Juan was later relegated to television acting after his career declined in the 1990s and killed Berenguer in a hit-and-run because of his continued blackmailing of him.

Noriko, a secretary in Tokyo, lives in Kamakura, Kanagawa with her extended Mamiya family, which includes her parents Shūkichi and Shige, her older brother Kōichi, a physician, his wife Fumiko, and their two young sons Minoru and Isamu.

An elderly uncle arrives and reminds everyone that Noriko, who is 28, should marry. At work, Noriko's boss Satake recommends a match for her with a forty-year-old friend of his, Mr. Manabe, a businessman and golfer. Noriko's friends are divided into two groups —- the married and the unmarried—who tease one another endlessly, with Aya Tamura being her close ally in the unmarried group. Noriko's family gently pressures Noriko into accepting the match proposed by Satake, agreeing that it is time for her to marry and believing that the match proposed is a good one for someone her age.

Childhood friend Kenkichi Yabe, a doctor, widower, and father to a young daughter, arranges to have tea with Noriko and gives her a sheaf of wheat. The sheaf is a gift from a brother who was killed during World War II and who had asked Yabe to deliver it to Noriko in case he did not return. Later, Yabe is posted to Akita, in northern Honshu. Akita is considered so rural that Noriko and Aya make fun of the area's accent. However, when Yabe's mother Tami impulsively asks Noriko to marry Yabe and follow them in their northward resettlement, Noriko agrees. When Noriko reveals her decision, her family is quietly devastated. They hint to her that the match is a poor one. When Noriko persists, the family is forced to live with their disappointment.

The family gradually accepts Noriko's choice with quiet resignation, and before she moves on, the family takes a photograph together. Noriko's parents console themselves that Noriko and Kenkichi will move back to Tokyo in a few years' time, reuniting the family. Meanwhile, the parents move to a rural region to stay with Noriko's elderly uncle. In the final scene, Noriko's parents watch a bride pass down the country road in her traditional costume. The final shot is of a barley field ripening around.

The USS ''Enterprise'' is on a geological exploration of the planet Alpha 177. Geological Technician Fisher is injured after a fall and transported aboard ''Enterprise'', though Chief Engineer Scott has some trouble with the transporter. The transporter equipment appears to be fine but he notices some magnetic dust from ore samples covering Fisher's uniform that may have interfered with the transport.

Captain Kirk transports back to the ship. The transporter appears to work correctly, but Kirk experiences some disorientation, and Scott escorts Kirk out of the transporter room. While unsupervised, the transporter activates a second time, materializing a second version of Kirk which behaves more maliciously than his counterpart. This "evil" Kirk begins to wander the ship, and those he encounters are confused by his behavior.

Scott assists in beaming a dog-like animal specimen from the planet, but two identical creatures materialize (the "good" one then the "evil" one, like Kirk) – one completely docile and the other vicious. Scott surmises that the ore dust has caused the transporter to split the personalities of those they beamed up, creating good and evil counterparts. Scott reports this to Mr. Spock and then orders the transporter taken out of service to investigate, stranding the landing party on the planet as the bitterly cold night sets in. Elsewhere on the ship, the "good" Kirk begins to feel uncertain, and struggles to make decisions. The "evil" Kirk, in a drunken state, sexually assaults Yeoman Janice Rand in her quarters. She scratches his face with her fingernails. When Fisher witnesses this and calls security, the "evil" Kirk attacks and knocks him out. Rand reports the incident to the bridge. The "good" Kirk orders the crew to capture the "evil" Kirk, but at Spock's advice he keeps the fact that their quarry is his evil half a secret so as not to weaken the crew's faith in him; the crew are instead told of an imposter recognizable by the scratches on his cheek.

The "evil" Kirk hears this announcement and uses makeup to mask his injury. He secures a phaser from a security officer, before going into hiding in engineering. Putting himself in his shoes, the "good" Kirk anticipates this move. While the two Kirks scuffle, Spock disables the "evil" Kirk with a Vulcan nerve pinch. Spock and McCoy recognize that both Kirks are mentally deteriorating, and they must find a way to reverse the transporter accident to save them, as well as the landing party. Spock and Scott use power from the ship's impulse drive to reverse the transporter on the dog-like specimen. When it materializes, the creature is whole but dead. Spock suggests that it died because its animal brain could not handle the stress of its two halves being reintegrated, so Kirk will be able to survive the same procedure, while Dr. Leonard McCoy insists they can't take the risk that the death was caused by ongoing transporter malfunction.

With the landing party nearly dead from hypothermia, the "good" Kirk opts to gamble on the procedure rather than wait for an autopsy on the creature. When he releases the "evil" Kirk, his other self overpowers him, and gives him facial scratches like his own. Pretending to be the "good" Kirk, he tells Rand the truth about the "imposter", and makes a date with her before heading to the bridge. He orders the crew to leave orbit, telling the navigator that the landing party cannot be saved. The "good" Kirk and McCoy race to the bridge, where the two Kirks face off. The "good" Kirk at last persuades the "evil" Kirk that they need each other to survive, and will both live on as parts of each other. He orders Scott to attempt the reversal process, and Kirk is rejoined as one being. With his sense of command and good will restored (and the transporter repaired), Kirk orders the landing party beamed up. They are safe despite the cold. Rand tells Kirk about her last encounter with "evil" Kirk, but he cuts her off before she can discuss the issue of his romantic overtures.

In August 1942, German soldiers enjoy leave in Cervo, Liguria, Italy, after fighting at the First Battle of El Alamein, where ''Unteroffizier'' Manfred "Rollo" Rohleder and ''Obergefreiter'' Fritz Reiser are introduced to ''Leutnant'' Hans von Witzland, their new platoon commander. Their unit is promptly sent to the Eastern Front to fight in the Battle of Stalingrad.

Witzland's platoon joins a company commanded by ''Hauptmann'' Hermann Musk. Musk leads an assault on a factory, which results in heavy casualties. Later, Witzland requests a ceasefire with the Soviets so both sides can collect their wounded, which they agree to. Müller (called "HGM" to distinguish him from other Müllers) breaks the ceasefire, much to the anger of Witzland and Reiser; the latter angrily assaults him.

Witzland's platoon is surrounded in a decrepit building. During a Soviet attack, Witzland, Reiser, Rollo, Emigholtz, and "GeGe" Müller go down to secure the sewers. Witzland gets separated from the others and captures a female Soviet soldier named Irina; she offers to lead him to safety, but instead pushes him into the water and escapes. His men rescue him, and Emigholtz is found severely wounded by an explosive trap, his right leg hastily having to be amputated by the men; they take him to a crowded aid station, where they grab a doctor at gunpoint to treat Emigholtz, who nonetheless dies. They are then arrested by '' Hauptmann'' Haller, who has previously clashed with Witzland regarding the treatment of Soviet prisoners. They are assigned to a penal battalion, disarming land mines.

Four weeks later, a brutal winter has set in and the Soviets have surrounded the German Sixth Army. ''Hauptmann'' Musk thus reassigns the penal battalion—which includes disgraced fellow officer Otto—to combat duty, after the men threaten to mutiny unless their crimes are pardoned. Witzland's platoon defends a position from a Soviet tank column, and emerge victorious after a bloody battle. ''Hauptmann'' Haller later orders von Witzland and his men to execute some unarmed civilians, much to their reluctance.

Witzland, GeGe, and Reiser decide to desert and head towards Pitomnik Airfield in hopes of catching a plane back to Germany, stealing medical tags from some dead bodies along the way to feign being wounded. By the time they arrive, the last transport has left. They rejoin the others in the shelter, where they find Musk suffering from severe trench foot. While the men recover a German supply drop, Haller appears and holds them at gunpoint, but is quickly subdued; he accidentally shoots GeGe as he falls, killing him. Haller then pleads for his life, telling them about the supplies he is hoarding in a nearby house before being executed by Otto.

In the house's cellar they find shelves stocked full of food and liquor, and Irina tied to a bed. Witzland cuts Irina free. As the rest of the men gorge themselves, a deluded and dying Musk tries to rally them to rejoin the fighting. Otto becomes hysterical and commits suicide. Rollo carries Musk outside, only to find the Sixth Army surrendering to the Soviets. Musk succumbs to the elements upon Rollo being instructed to surrender.

Irina offers to help Witzland and Reiser get away, but while trudging through the snow they are shot at by the Soviets; Irina is killed and Witzland wounded. The two Germans get away, but Witzland eventually becomes too weak and dies in Reiser's arms. Reiser cradles his body and freezes to death.

A new faction of the Jokerz gang—consisting of Bonk, Woof, Ghoul, Chucko and the Dee-Dee twins—attempts to steal high-tech electronic equipment, but they are intercepted by Batman (Terry McGinnis), the protégé of Bruce Wayne. The gang reports back to their leader, revealed to be the Joker, who was Bruce's nemesis and had presumed dead years ago. The Joker kills Bonk for defiance and to intimidate the other members.

Later, the Jokerz attack a press conference commemorating Bruce's return to Wayne Enterprises and the Joker reveals himself to Bruce, who insists that it cannot be him despite evidence to the contrary. After fending off the attack, Terry demands information from Bruce and Gotham City Police Department's Commissioner Barbara Gordon, the former Batgirl, but neither gives him answers. Eventually, Bruce orders Terry to return the Batsuit so he can investigate and confront the Joker on his own despite the limitations of his age. However, the Jokerz attack Terry, nearly killing his girlfriend Dana Tan, while the Joker poisons Bruce and his Great Dane, Ace—revealing he knows Bruce was Batman and that Terry is his successor.

After Terry saves Bruce's life with an antidote, Barbara finally explains the Joker's disappearance albeit reluctantly; Four decades ago, sometime following Dick Grayson's departure from Gotham City to Blüdhaven, the Joker and Harley Quinn kidnapped his successor Tim Drake, then Robin, while he was on patro, inflicting three weeks of torture and brainwashing on him to learn Batman's secrets. When Batman and Batgirl found Tim, he was altered by the Joker's chemicals to match him, albeit as a miniature version. A fight ensued, during which Tim turned on and killed the Joker, suffering a complete nervous breakdown, while Harley fell down a ravine and was presumed dead. After he recovered a year later with help from Wayne family friend, Dr. Leslie Thompkins, Tim was forced into retirement, severing his ties with Bruce and left to make it on his own in life.

Terry visits Tim, who voices bitterness towards his past as Robin but denies any involvement in the Joker's return. Terry's next suspect is Jordan Pryce, a Wayne Enterprises executive who hates Bruce, but he only finds Pryce guilty of conspiring with the Jokerz to have Bruce killed. When the beam of a directed-energy weapon strikes Pryce's yacht from above, Terry rescues Pryce before turning him in to the police. In the Batcave, after realizing the Joker only destroyed the Robin costume, Terry recalls Tim's grudge against his old persona and deduces he must be involved; cross-referencing Tim's expertise as a telecommunications engineer with the Jokerz' thefts, Terry and Bruce discover the stolen equipment can create a jamming system to seize control of a laser-armed military satellite.

When Terry goes to face Tim, he triggers a trap set by the Joker, who he then follows to an abandoned candy factory after surviving further attacks from the satellite. Subduing the Jokerz with Ace's help, Terry confronts the Joker, who reveals he encoded himself into a microchip built with genetic technology hidden behind Tim's ear—allowing him to survive his death by turning Tim into the Joker's replicate, who is on the verge of completely taking over Tim. With the satellite, the Joker plans to kill Bruce and Terry's loved ones before destroying Gotham City. As they battle, Terry uses one of the Joker's joy buzzers to destroy both the weapon and the microchip, saving the city and freeing Tim as the Joker finally meets his end.

Following the Jokerz' arrests, Barbara hides Tim's unwitting involvement to protect him with the Joker declared dead in the factory's explosion, while the Dee-Dee twins are bailed out by their grandmother—an elderly Harley Quinn, who survived her fall and reformed. Bruce makes amends with Tim and Barbara while Tim recovers in the hospital, during which Bruce and Tim acknowledge Terry as worthy to carry the mantle of the Bat.

The story begins in Vienna just before the beginning of the Second World War. Dr Roder is physician to some important members of the Nazi party but prefers being at his luxurious house with his wife and servants. Their friend Otto returns from Italy and they throw a party with many interesting and high-ranking attendees. During the party the Gestapo call, requiring his immediate attendance.

At his club, the main servitor, Sebastian, announces the club is closing and they will not see him again.

His wife Irena is an actress, and after her performance it is related that Adolf Hitler very much admired her performance. She is offed a post in Berlin as Reich Director of Popular Pageantry. At church the priest decries the deposition of a fellow priest inciting an attack by a group of SS officers including Otto who glares at the shocked doctor. The priest is killed but the press release blames the congregation.

Hans Glaser is trying to get a radio sales licence and the doctor says he will try to help. He tells his fiancee Elly who runs a newspaper stall, despite various papers regularly being confiscated.

Frau Schmidt is pestered by her neighbour who wants to borrow lard. The neighbour eavesdrops and hears her listening to French broadcasts. The neighbour reports her to the SS who smash her radio and arrest her just as the granddaughter Elly arrives. An SS officer assaults the girl. After interrogation she is sent to a "rest home".

Dr Roder and his wife start drifting apart especially when he says the Nazi party is like a cancer. She leaves him and goes to stay in Stuttgart. Things get worse, with beatings, interrogations and book burning.

The doctor asks Hans to build a secret radio. Hans first suspects a trick. The doctor explains he wants to create a "Freedom Station"... both knowing they face death if caught. They use a basement under a toy shop and smuggle parts in through toys brought for repair.

He creates a secret radio station transmitting on 26.9, from which he broadcasts condemnations of Hitler and prays for a "better" Germany to arise from the ashes of his ruined country. The unauthorised broadcast is intercepted and a public announcement made saying "do not listen to 26.9" accidentally promoting the station. They broadcast each evening at 10.30pm.

The birth of "Freedom Radio" sees the creation of an underground group of anti-Nazis who regard Karl as their leader.

Multiple people ring the doctor to wish him happy birthday... but it is not his birthday.

Captain Muller explains to his superiors how triangulation can be used to calculate where the signal is coming from. He blames Goebels for jamming the signal which then cannot be traced.

Otto visits Irena when the radio is on, they both think they recognise Dr Roder's voice. Otto is asked to join Muller's detection unit. Fenner starts doing more of the live broadcasts and the doctor's voice is put onto a gramophone record for broadcast.

His friend Rudolf has friends on each side. It is intimated to Rudolph in a coded message that Germany will invade Poland on the following Friday.

It is discovered that Hitler will be making a major broadcast from a stadium and Hans go to rig up a bypass to allow their own message to be broadcast instead. Ironically Irena is in charge of organising the pageantry of the huge rally. She has a special seat with Rabenau. Hitler starts to speak then it jumps to Roder... he speaks for under a minute before the power is switched off. Hans escapes dressed as an SS officer.

They suspect Dr Roder and burst into his clinic. They find nothing. Meanwhile Hans gets home and finds Elly in his room.. she looks broken, like an old woman. She has been in a concentration camp.

His wife returns and accuses him of being a traitor. He vows to make one last broadcast. Otto appears and chats with Mrs Roder. She tells Otto she knows where the broadcast is coming from. She is taken to Ranenau's office. Dr Roder had indicated a photo in a frame as the site of the broadcast. The SS identify it as Spiedler's cottage. As Ranenau tells Irena that there will indeed be war she goes to Dr Roder to warn him that the Gestapo are coming to the cottage. But the doctor sets up the transmitter in the back of a van. Irena joins him. The Gestapo close in and locate the van. They fire a machine gun into the van killing the doctor but not before he broadcasts their plan to invade Poland.

This episode is a continuation of the Season 4 episode "Point of No Return". A spaceship that had been hidden in the outer solar system activates and begins approaching Earth, and its energy signature is matched to that of Martin Lloyd's escape pod suggesting that this is its mother ship. The military tracks down Lloyd (played by Willie Garson) and discovers that he has become the creative consultant for a television series whose concept he sold to a Hollywood studio, ''Wormhole X-Treme!''. The parallels between ''Wormhole X-Treme!'' and the real SGC are clear. The Air Force had decided that while being a breach of secrecy, the show could prevent any future leaks of information about the Stargate program from being taken seriously.

Jack O'Neill is given the position of the Air Force technical advisor to the show in order to covertly confront Lloyd about both the secrets he has leaked and the approaching spacecraft. He discovers that Lloyd has resumed using memory suppressants and does not consciously remember his previous encounter with them or his own extraterrestrial origin. O'Neill initially suspects Lloyd's associates of drugging him again, but in fact Lloyd started taking them on his own so that he could feel more comfortable with living on Earth.

Lloyd's associates are indeed nearby, however, as well as another secret government group called the NID that wishes to seize the ship's technology for themselves. Lloyd has in his possession the remote control device necessary for boarding the empty ship when it arrives, thinking it merely another of the many functionless science fiction props used on the show, and both parties want to recover it. His associates kidnap O'Neill and Lloyd, injecting Lloyd with a memory-restoring drug. Before they interrogate him, however, O'Neill and Lloyd escape.

O'Neill and Lloyd recover the remote control just as the spacecraft arrives, with the NID and Lloyd's associates in close pursuit. O'Neill gives the remote to Lloyd's associates allowing them to flee Earth, both because he sympathizes with their plight and to deny the ship's technology to the NID. Lloyd decides that he is comfortable with his new life and remains on Earth to continue consulting for ''Wormhole X-Treme!''.

At the end of the episode there is a "Making of ''Wormhole X-Treme!''" featurette with interviews of several of the actors from the fictional show. ''Wormhole X-Treme'' is mentioned again in the season 8 episode "Citizen Joe", which reveals that the fictional show ran for one episode before being cancelled, though Mitchell later claims it ran for three episodes. Martin Lloyd returns in the milestone episode "200" in season 10, trying to write a TV film based on the fictional show. The latter episode stated that ''Wormhole X-Treme'' ran for ten seasons prior to cancellation.

The story is set in Dublin and County Wexford and described from the viewpoint of Helen, a successful school principal living with her husband and two children in Ireland. She learns one day, that her brother Declan, who is homosexual, has been ill with AIDS for years, and refused to tell her until then. He asks her to deliver their mother and grandmother the news. This presents a challenge to Helen as she has had minimal contact with the two women due to deeply buried conflicts relating to Helen's past and her father's sudden death when she was a child.

As the three women meet again they are forced to overcome these struggles for Declan's sake. The novel follows the painful journey they must take in order to correct the misunderstanding that exists between them.

The novel centers on the life of Dalia, a young Muslim woman living in Amman, Jordan. When she falls in love with Michael, a young Catholic major in the British Army, she is forced to keep the relationship a secret and rely on her friend Norma to act as an intermediary. Although the lovers are only able to be alone together on a handful of occasions and Dalia's virginity remains intact, her father is so enraged when he hears of the affair from her older brother that he kills her two months after her twenty-sixth birthday. Khouri claimed that as a result, she had been forced to seek asylum in Queensland, Australia.

Volume I: Mr Norrell

The novel opens in 1806 in northern England with The Learned Society of York Magicians, whose members are "theoretical magicians" who study magical texts and history, after the decline of magic in England several hundred years earlier. The group is stunned to learn of a "practical magician", Mr Gilbert Norrell. Norrell proves his skill as a magician by making the statues in York Cathedral speak, thereafter compelling the society to disband. John Childermass, Mr Norrell's servant, convinces a member of the group, John Segundus, to write about the event for the London newspapers.

Segundus's article generates interest in Mr Norrell, who moves to London to revive practical English magic. He enters society with the help of two gentlemen about town, the superficial Christopher Drawlight and the shrewd Henry Lascelles, and meets a Cabinet Minister, Sir Walter Pole. To ingratiate himself, Mr Norrell attempts to recall Sir Walter's fiancée, Emma Wintertowne, from the dead. He summons a fairy—"the gentleman with thistle-down hair" —who strikes a bargain with Norrell to restore Emma: half of her life will be spent with the fairy. After news spreads of Emma's resurrection and happy marriage to Sir Walter, magic becomes respected, and the government seeks Norrell's aid their ongoing war against Napoleon.

While living in London, Norrell encounters Vinculus, a street-magician, who relates a prophecy about a "nameless slave" and two magicians in England, but Norrell dismisses it and has Vinculus banished. While travelling, Vinculus later meets Jonathan Strange and recites the same prophecy, prompting Strange to become a magician. Meanwhile, the gentleman with thistle-down hair takes a liking to Stephen Black, Sir Walter's butler, and promises to make him a king. Emma (now Lady Pole) lapses into lassitude; she rarely speaks and is distraught by music and parties. Each night she and Stephen are forced to attend balls held by the gentleman with thistle-down hair in the Faerie kingdom of Lost-Hope, where they dance all night long; their attempts to communicate their situation are confounded by magic.

Volume II: Jonathan Strange

In 1809, Strange learns of Mr Norrell and travels to London to meet him. They immediately clash over the importance of John Uskglass (the legendary Raven King) to English magic. Strange argues that "without the Raven King there would be no magic and no magicians" while Norrell retorts that the Raven King abandoned England and should be forgotten. Despite their differing opinions and temperaments, Norrell acknowledges Strange's magical ability and takes him on as a pupil, but deliberately keeps some knowledge from him.

The Stranges become a popular couple in London. Lady Pole and Strange's wife, Arabella, become friends; during a visit, Arabella meets the gentleman with thistle-down hair, whom she assumes is a relative. The Cabinet ministers find Strange easier to deal with than Norrell, so they send him to assist the Duke of Wellington on his Peninsular Campaign. For over a year, Strange helps the army: he creates roads, moves towns, and makes dead men speak. After he returns, he fails to cure George III's madness, but manages to save him from the gentleman with thistle-down hair, who is determined to make Stephen a king. Strange then helps defeat Napoleon at the horrific Battle of Waterloo.

Upon returning to England, Strange finds that Drawlight has been stealing money from English citizens with prospects of fulfilling their wishes through Strange's magic. Drawlight's schemes are publicized and he is arrested. Norrell strongly wishes for him to be hanged for magic-related crimes, but has insufficient political influence. Lascelles becomes closer to Norrell, challenging the relationship between Childermass and his master.

Frustrated with being Norrell's pupil, Strange pens a scathing review of a book outlining Norrell's theories on modern magic; in particular, Strange challenges Norrell's views of the Raven King. The English public splits into "Norrellites" and "Strangites". Norrell confides to Strange that he wasted years attempting to summon the Raven King, but Strange disagrees that the effort is futile; the two part company, although not without regret. Strange returns home and works on his own book, ''The History and Practice of English Magic''. Arabella goes missing, then suddenly reappears, sick and weak. Three days later she dies.

Volume III: John Uskglass

In 1816, Lady Pole attempts to shoot Mr Norrell. Childermass takes the bullet himself but is not killed. Lady Pole is sent to the countryside and cared for by John Segundus, who has an inkling of the magic surrounding her. During travels in the north, Stephen meets Vinculus, who recites his prophecy: "the nameless slave shall be a king in a strange country ..." Stephen believes it applies to him, but the gentleman with thistle-down hair argues that it applies to the Raven King.

Strange travels to Venice and meets Flora Greysteel. They become fond of each other and Strange's friends believe he may marry again. However, after experimenting with dangerous magic that threatens his sanity to gain access to the Faerie kingdom, he discovers that Arabella is alive and being held captive alongside Lady Pole in Lost-Hope; he realizes the bargain Norrell struck with the fairy. The gentleman with the thistle-down hair curses Strange with Eternal Night, a pillar of darkness that engulfs him and follows him wherever he goes. Thereafter, Strange's strenuous efforts to rescue Arabella take their toll: his letters to his friends appear crazed and his public reputation suffers. At Strange's request, Flora moves with her family to Padua and secludes herself, along with a mirror given to her by Strange. Drawlight is sent by Lascelles and Norrell to Venice to find out more about Strange's activities and Strange magically brings Drawlight before him. Strange instructs him to deliver messages to Norrell, Childermass and the magical community within England before dismissing him. Strange then re-invokes the old alliances that exist in England between the forces of nature and John Uskglass. This sparks a magical renaissance, reopening roads to Faerie and causing many to spontaneously perform magic, but Norrell fails to grasp its significance.

Drawlight attempts to deliver the messages but is intercepted by Lascelles, who murders him, as Norrell learning the truth would damage Lascelles' control over Norrell. Strange, bringing the "Eternal Night" with him, asks Norrell to help him undo Arabella's enchantment by summoning John Uskglass. Childermass explores a corner of Faerie and stumbles upon a castle where he is challenged to a duel by its guardian; he declines the duel. Lascelles challenges the guardian himself, wishing to preserve English honour, and succeeds in killing him, but is magically entrapped into the position of the guardian himself.

Childermass meanwhile eventually receives the message meant for him by Strange; he and Segundus use magic to break the enchantment over Lady Pole. Enraged by this, the gentleman with the thistle-down hair intends to place a second deadly curse on Lady Pole, as Faerie tradition demands. En route, he murders Vinculus after they encounter him, with Stephen Black forced to watch. During these events, Norrell and Strange attempt a spell that would cause the natural forces of England to pay homage to John Uskglass. Not knowing his true name, they dedicate it to the "nameless slave". However, instead the power is invested in Stephen, who uses his momentary control of all of English magic to destroy the man with the thistle-down hair. Then, leaving England forever by one of the Faerie roads, Stephen sheds his name and becomes the new king of the now-blossoming Lost-Hope.

Childermass discovers Vinculus's body and notes that it is tattooed with the last work of John Uskglass. A man appears; he calls Childermass his servant, though Childermass does not recognize him, then brings Vinculus back to life and performs other feats of magic with ease. The mysterious man, heavily implied to be John Uskglass himself, then disappears, removing Childermass's and Vinculus's memories of the encounter.

As a result of the imprecision of the fairy's curse, which was placed on "the English magician", Norrell is trapped along with Strange in the "Eternal Night," and they cannot move more than a certain distance from each other. Upon the gentleman with the thistle-down hair's death, Arabella comes through the mirror in Padua, where Flora is waiting for her upon instruction of Strange. Childermass informs The Learned Society of York Magicians that their contract is void, telling them they can study magic again. He shows the now-restored Vinculus as proof that John Uskglass's book of magic remains, tattooed upon his body. Two months later, Strange has a conversation with Arabella, who is still living in Padua, and explains that he and Norrell are working to undo the eternal darkness they are both trapped in, but are planning to adventure into other worlds in the meantime. Neither wishes to take Arabella to Faerie again, so he instead promises to return to her when he has dispelled the darkness and tells her not to be a widow till then, which she agrees to.

During his fifth grade year, ten-year-old Joshua A. Beal (Joseph Cross) begins a personal search to find answers about life and death — a journey triggered by the passing of his beloved grandfather (Robert Loggia).

Josh attends Waldron Mercy Academy, a private Catholic boys' school. The adults in his world have not been able to convince him that his grandfather is in good hands, so he sets out on a personal mission to find God. In their varying ways he is guided on his metaphorical journey by his best friend Dave (Timothy Reifsnyder) and a Philadelphia Phillies-loving nun (Rosie O'Donnell) a teacher.

Josh shows doubts about his religion as he questions if God truly exists, particularly when Dave is diagnosed with epilepsy and the moments as Josh experiences his first crush. As his academic year comes to an end, he finds his answer in an unexpected way.

The last plan of Don Domenico Clericuzio, an aging Mafia boss, is to eventually have his family enter the legitimate world and assimilate into American society. Twenty-five years later, his grandson Dante and grandnephew Croccifixio "Cross" De Lena make their way through life, and the eighty-year-old Don is semi-retired. Cross, who holds a majority share in a Las Vegas casino, is supposed to become the strong arm of the family. However, when he refuses to take part in the murder of an old friend, Dante is left to be the sole tough guy. Dante's greed for power and blood lead him to plan the elimination of his relatives, who are an obstacle to the desire to become as powerful as the old Don himself. When Dante arranges a hit on Cross's father, strongman Pippi De Lena—who, in a subplot, once commanded the elimination of the rival Santadio Family whose scion, Jimmy, married Don Clericuzio's daughter Rose Marie and fathered Dante before his family's assassination, driving Dante's mother to insanity—Cross, who is aware of being on the blacklist, catches Dante in a trap. Having acted against the family, he waits for the Don's vendetta, but, to his own surprise, his life is spared and he is only condemned to exile. Cross then resumes his romance with actress Athena Aquitane. The story ends with the revelation that Don Clericuzio planned this outcome, even anticipating his grandson's death, all along, for the long-term survival of his family.

Shortly after completing their training at Two Rivers, the Spirit Monk helps fend off an attack by a Lotus Assassin, facing undead opponents in the process. Master Li reveals the Spirit Monk's past, his own identity as Emperor Sun Hai's brother Sun Li and role in the destruction of Dirge, and the increasing threat of the undead that is tied directly to Sun Hai. During a final training session to recover an amulet of their people, the Spirit Monk meets the spirit of the Water Dragon, who reveals that Sun Hai has incapacitated her and left the Spirit Monk as the land's only hope. Master Li's preference for the Spirit Monk pushes the impatient Gao the Lesser over the edge, leading to his expulsion. Gao the Lesser then kidnaps Dawn Star and summons Lotus Assassins allied with his father Gao the Greater. The Spirit Monk rescues Dawn Star and defeats Gao the Lesser with help from Sagacious Zu, but the Lotus Assassins—led by Death's Hand and his second-in-command Grand Inquisitor Jia—destroy Two Rivers and capture Master Li.

Using one of Gao the Greater's airships, the Spirit Monk travels to the village of Tien's Landing. During their time there, they fight and defeat Gao the Greater and learn that Master Li was taken to the Imperial Capital. While there, the Spirit Monk finds two missing pieces from their amulet, acquires a map of wind currents that will allow passage to the Imperial Capital, and helps the village by purging the neighbouring Great Southern Forest of a corrupting force and closing a large dam, which allows trading vessels to navigate the river again. They are also joined by Wild Flower, who guarded one of the amulet fragments; Black Whirlwind, who was hired to eliminate the monsters in the Great Southern Forest; Henpecked Hou, on the run from his wife; Sky, who was freeing slaves taken by the Lotus Assassins; and Kang the Mad, who was held captive by Gao the Greater. They are also first attacked and then aided by Silk Fox, who is determined to topple Death's Hand.

Using Kang's special airship, the party travels to the Imperial Capital, where Silk Fox meets them in her true role as Princess Sun Lian, Emperor Sun Hai's daughter. While in the Capital, the Spirit Monk gains access to the Lotus Assassins' ranks by competing in a local fighting tournament. Once among the Lotus Assassins, they dismantle them from within before retrieving the final amulet fragment from Grand Inquisitor Jia. Death's Hand then attacks, but Sagacious Zu sacrifices himself to collapse the Lotus Assassin base on Death's Hand. Led by Silk Fox, the group then infiltrate Sun Hai's palace, confronting the Emperor as he interrogates Master Li and finding him withered through using the Water Dragon's stolen power. After the Emperor's defeat, Master Li kills the Spirit Monk and steals both the completed amulet and the Water Dragon's power, setting himself up as the new Emperor.

The Spirit Monk is guided back to the living world by the Water Dragon and the ghost of Dirge's abbot, who reveals that Sun Li had conspired with his brother Sun Kin to seize the Water Dragon's power and kill Sun Hai after taking Dirge. The brothers' plot failed as the Water Dragon's power made Hai immortal. Kin was killed, while Li escaped and killed the Spirit Monk's rescuer, taking the child to mold into a weapon against Hai. Death's Hand was created by the Emperor by binding Kin's spirit to Li's armor. Returning to life in Dirge, the Spirit Monk reunites with their companions and holds off a vast assault from Li, who also sensed their return. In their final confrontation with Death's Hand, the Spirit Monk can either free or enslave Sun Kin's spirit. Infiltrating the Imperial Capital, the Spirit Monk's party fights their way through the palace and discovers the Water Dragon's body, torn open and preserved in a state between life and death to provide endless water to the Jade Empire. The Spirit Monk then goes to confront Li.

Depending on the player's choices at these points, one of several endings plays out. If the Spirit Monk surrenders to Li, they are remembered as a hero who knew their place, as the Empire becomes an oppressive dystopia. If the Water Dragon's body is further corrupted by the Spirit Monk, then they usurp Li's stolen power and emerge as the next Emperor following his death. If the Spirit Monk destroys the Water Dragon's body, then her spirit is freed, and the dead are able to find their way into the underworld, causing the people to rejoice and hail the Spirit Monk as a hero of the Jade Empire.

Set in the year AD 2225, mankind has spread from Earth to inhabit nearly all the planets or nearby moons in colonies and settlements. Space travel has grown and improved to the point of being commonplace. For the inhabitants of the solar system, an astronaut career isn't out of the question, and one of the schools set up to train future space voyagers is the Liebe Delta, a space station positioned somewhere in Earth's orbit. This growth is despite the mysterious phenomenon known as the ''Geduld'', a sea of plasma that suddenly erupted from the sun along the Earth's orbital plane in AD 2137. Stretching from the sun to the edge of the solar system, this area of high temperatures and gravity pressures has never been explained.

Kouji Aiba is a sixteen-year-old boy who packed his bags and left his home on Earth for the Liebe Delta and the training to obtain his Level 2 piloting license. He journeys to the space station accompanied by his childhood friend, Aoi Housen, whom Kouji discovers to his chagrin has enrolled in the Liebe Delta's flight attendant program. En route to the spaceport Aoi gives Kouji the additional unwelcome news that his younger brother, Yuki, is also to attend the Liebe Delta and in fact the brothers will be in the same flight class together. The list of Aoi's unfortunate news to Kouji is topped by her quipping that the boys' mother Mrs. Aiba had asked Aoi to look after the brothers while at school. Kouji's unhappy moodiness does not improve.

Once aboard the space station, the students and teaching staff on the Liebe Delta were like any other school, normal and concerned with their own affairs and classes. They even had a vacation period, known as the ''Dive Break'', when the space station ventured near the Geduld for system maintenance. Out of about 1000+ students, about 500 stayed for the break. Unknown to all, the space station, in the middle of the routine dive considered so regular that it has been entrusted to the elite ''Zwei'' cadet class, was sabotaged and the majority of the staff gassed and rendered unconscious, free falling into the depths of the Geduld Sea, where the resulting gravity pressures would crush the station and kill all aboard. The remaining adults, all instructors, sacrificed their lives in an act that they believed would save the majority of students on board. When their heroic actions proved unsuccessful and the Liebe Delta hung on the verge of collapsing, a mysterious ship named RYVIUS, hidden within the Liebe Delta activated itself and surfaced from the Geduld Sea. There were a total of 515 personnel on board the Liebe Delta at the beginning of the dive, of whom a total of 486 were successfully evacuated, meaning that a total of 29 people were killed in the sabotaged dive. 8 were instructors, 12 were the gassed staff who were later executed by the 2 saboteurs, and 9 students. The average age of the Ryvius crew is 16, so the story, despite its space-age setting, is more of a coming-of-age tale than anything else.

Stranded in space, with humanity's governments forsaking them, and within the ship anger, agitation and fear setting in, Kouji tries his best to maintain a semblance of order and peace in a time of crisis. But with fighting his own brother Yuki, dealing with his feelings for the beautiful Uranian aristocrat Fina S. Shinozaki, trying to avoid Aoi, and seeing the strange apparition of a girl in pink wandering the halls, will Kouji be able to help until the Ryvius reaches safety, or will he lose all that's dear to him in the process?

Stockbroker Mark Bannister and his TV reporter/anchorwoman wife Jessie are a successful yuppie couple with an idyllic California life, aside from a toilet with a faulty handle. It is interrupted when Mark's timid cousin Fred, and his pregnant wife Bernice fly in from New Jersey. The first days are slightly chaotic thanks to Bernice's cat Scruffy. Mark gives them $300 to spend in the city, but his alone time with Jessie is interrupted when her gold-digger sister Claudia arrives after a fight with her rich Middle Eastern husband Kaddir, whom she divorces after he cancels her credit cards. Fred and Bernice's visit, meant to last only five days, is extended when Bernice falls on the way to the car. She is instructed by her doctor, Dr. Penix, to stay put until the baby is born.

At a local bar, Mark motivates Fred to quit being Bernice's pet, but Fred takes the message too far and leaves "to find himself." Meanwhile, Mark's next door neighbor and carpenter Dale builds a machine to keep Bernice comfortable in bed all day. Bernice becomes increasingly irritating, insisting on being waited on hand and foot and demanding constant funerals and burials for Scruffy, who dies multiple times but comes back each time. Claudia's son Jonathan also comes to live with them. Jessie tries getting Dale to seduce Claudia, but Mark and Jessie inadvertently burn down Dale's villa. Since it can't be rebuilt for three months, Dale and his two teens, delinquent son C.K. and phone-obsessed daughter Katy, move in, and Mark and Jessie are forced to take them in to avoid an arson lawsuit. Meanwhile, Mark helps Jonathan get a job as a mailroom clerk at his office.

As days pass, chaos persists, and Mark and Jessie are essentially forced out of their own home. When Mark fails to show up for work, his friend and colleague Wes finds the couple outside living like hippies. Wes motivates Mark to resist a little longer; he's on the verge of closing a successful deal for his boss, Bob Grindle. At work, Mark gets a box from Bogota containing cocaine—sent to him but requested by Jonathan. Grindle tells Mark to sell a set of stocks due to a scandal, but Mark forgets to before leaving work with the cocaine. Fred returns, having grown a mustache and acquiring a baby elephant. Police arrive at the house and find Scruffy ODing on cocaine; they destroy the Bannister house during the drug bust, which Jessie's TV station televises. Seeing it, the overstressed Jessie bursts into an expletive-filled mental breakdown on live TV. Pushed to their limit and facing apparent ruin and imminent charges, Mark and Jessie decide to abandon the house to their guests and leave town to start new lives.

The next day, when Mark and Jessie return to salvage what they can, they hear a recording from Dr. Penix stating that Bernice was actually never pregnant, and their last shred of sanity dissolves. An enraged Jessie catapults Bernice from her bed to the backyard and forces her to confess to knowing she wasn't pregnant. She then ruins Claudia's expensive clothes to force her out, while Mark terrorizes Dale with an electric saw until he and his kids leave. Lastly, Jessie puts fireworks in Jonathan's cocaine bag, which explodes as he tries to flee in Dale's (loaner) Lotus. Mark and Jessie then threaten to torch their own house in order to keep their parasitic visitors away for good. The police arrive and apologize, stating that their only evidence—Scruffy—disappeared, and that they will pay for all damages incurred. Grindle arrives and, believing Mark had meant to keep the stocks, declares that he amassed a small fortune when the scandal was found to be false. He offers Mark a portion of the profit and a promotion. Claudia takes the opportunity to seduce Grindle, and Dale flirts with one of the police officers, much to C.K's chagrin. Scruffy returns from the police-station evidence room, but is determined to stay with Mark and Jessie. Bernice and Fred depart, with Fred taking much more control than before. Jessie and Mark are about to get cozy, but first Mark smashes the ever-malfunctioning toilet with a sledgehammer.

The epilogue states that Jessie's furious on-air outburst earned her her own TV show, and she and Mark moved into a three-bedroom house in Malibu and lived happily ever after...until their parents came to visit.