In 2002, the elite United States Army unit F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon) was founded to "combat paranormal threats to national security". The game is set in 2025 in the fictional city of Fairport, and begins as the unit is joined by a newly assigned rookie (referred to only as Point Man). At a facility owned by Armacham Technology Corporation (ATC), a psychic operative named Paxton Fettel has gone rogue. Officially an aerospace manufacturer and medical research company, in reality, ATC are a hugely powerful private military company dabbling in cryogenics, nuclear technology, cloning, and telepathy. They were attempting to develop a unit of telepathically controlled clone soldiers (known as Replicas), and Fettel was their commander. However, he has now used the Replicas to seize control of the facility. The mission of the three-person F.E.A.R. team (Point Man, Sgt. Spencer Jankowski, and CTO Jin Sun-Kwon) is to eliminate Fettel, which will automatically shut down the Replicas.

As soon as the mission begins, Point Man starts to have powerful hallucinations – Fettel asking him "what's the first thing you remember?"; a woman screaming, "where are you taking him?"; a man telling him, "you will be a god among men"; a baby crying; and, most frequently, a young girl in a red dress. In one particular hallucination, he sees Fettel interrogating a worker, demanding to know where "Alma" is. Shortly thereafter, Point Man finds the mutilated worker, who manages to say, "Alma. If Fettel finds her...Origin" before he dies. Despite Jankowski disappearing, F.E.A.R. are deployed to ATC headquarters, where a Delta Force recon team has dropped out of contact.

Point Man learns that Fettel's brain waves during his revolt were identical to those during the "first synchronicity event", which happened when he was ten and resulted in the termination of "Project Origin". This time, however, Fettel is infinitely more dangerous. Meanwhile, Point Man finds that the Delta recon team have been massacred. He then encounters an ATC survivor, Aldus Bishop, who tells F.E.A.R. that the Replicas were looking for Harlan Wade, a senior ATC researcher. A Delta Force team led by Sgt. Douglas Holiday is sent in to extract Bishop. They get him to a helicopter, but as he is boarding, he is shot by ATC security. Point Man subsequently learns that Fettel was the "second prototype" resulting from Project Origin. Shortly thereafter, Fettel tells Point Man "a war is coming. I've seen it in my dreams. Fires sweeping over the earth. Bodies in the streets. Cities turned to dust. Retaliation."

Point Man subsequently learns that the prototypes were created from the genetic code of a female psychic named Alma, who gave physical birth to both prototypes from within an induced coma. He also learns about the "synchronicity event" – despite being in a coma, Alma formed a telepathic link with Fettel, and began influencing his actions, leading to several deaths. In the Origin facility, Point Man discovers that Alma was only eight when she was brought into Origin, 15 when the first prototype was born, and she is the girl in the red dress. He also learns that Wade is planning on freeing Alma from stasis in the Origin facility, even though she officially died in 2005. After her death, the facility was sealed until 2025, when it was reopened (over Wade's objections) with an eye to possibly restarting the project. Moments later, Fettel experienced the second synchronicity event. Point Man then has an hallucination in which Fettel tells him that they are brothers, both born of Alma – Point Man is the first prototype. Finding Fettel, he shoots him in the head, rendering the Replicas dormant. He then witnesses Wade, who is revealed to be Alma's father, releasing her from stasis. She immediately kills him, and Point Man heads to the facility's nuclear reactor core, overloading it.

As the facility explodes, Point Man escapes and is picked up by a Delta Force helicopter, on board of which are Holiday and Jin. As it flies over the mushroom cloud, the helicopter loses power, and Alma pulls herself up into the cabin. The game then cuts to black. After the credits, we hear a phone call between an unnamed senator and Genevieve Aristide, president of ATC. She assures him that Project Origin is secure and Fettel has been neutralised. As he complains about how indiscreet the cleanup has been, she points out, "there is some good news, however. The first prototype was a complete success."

Dr. Rowan Mayfair is a gifted neurosurgeon in San Francisco, California. When her estranged birth mother Deirdre Mayfair dies in New Orleans, she begins to learn about the old Southern family to which she belongs. Michael Curry is a contractor who specializes in the restoration of old homes while dreaming of his childhood in New Orleans and yearning to return there. Rowan gradually realizes that she has the psychic power to either save or take lives. Michael drowns but she revives him, the near-death experience triggering a new and unwanted clairvoyant ability within him. Michael and Rowan fall in love, and when he decides to return to New Orleans, she follows him to learn the secrets of her past.

Aaron Lightner, a psychic scholar and member of the Talamasca, has studied the Mayfairs from afar for decades. The matriarchal family—known to the Talamasca as the "Mayfair Witches"—have a long and sordid history. Among the supernatural events surrounding them is a mysterious man, seen by Michael in his childhood and by other members of the family over time. Michael is revealed to be a Mayfair cousin, he and Rowan sharing lines of descent from the male witch Julien Mayfair. Rowan and Michael marry and conceive a child. As the designee of the Mayfair legacy, Rowan assumes control of the family's affairs. Soon the mysterious man reveals himself to her: he is Lasher, a spirit with wicked motives who has plagued the Mayfairs for centuries. His wish is to be made flesh so that he may walk the earth again in the permanent physical form of a human being, and he sets about slowly seducing Rowan.

Secretly thinking that she can outwit Lasher, Rowan sends Michael away from the house on Christmas Eve. Her plan is to bind Lasher to "weak matter" which she can destroy with her mental killing power, but this backfires. Lasher enters her womb and makes himself at home in the fetus. Rowan immediately goes into labor, which is violent and bloody, and Lasher enters the world as a human infant. But the hybrid baby immediately grows into a full-sized, intelligent man. Michael returns and tries to kill the creature, but Lasher is too strong and nearly drowns Michael in the pool. During this second near-death experience, Michael ends up losing the unwanted psychic sensitivity in his hands. Fearing for Michael's life, Rowan flees to Europe with Lasher.

Rowan has disappeared and Michael, feeling betrayed by her, has sunk into a depression, helped along by the useless drugs prescribed to him after his near-drowning. The sexually adventurous Mona Mayfair, a precocious teenage cousin also descended from Julien, is a powerful witch. She seduces Michael, who snaps out of his stupor and commits himself to finding Rowan, who he is now convinced did not leave willingly. Rowan, meanwhile, is essentially Lasher's prisoner. His first two attempts at impregnating her are failures ending in miscarriage, but he is successful the third time. Traveling with Lasher throughout Europe, Rowan manages to send DNA samples to colleagues in San Francisco. They discover that Lasher is a completely different species, later identified as a Taltos. Rowan herself has a genetic abnormality, polyploidy, or 92 chromosomes, which is probably what made Lasher's quasi-supernatural birth at all possible in the first place.

In the past, Julien finds himself to be the only known male Mayfair witch, and learns how to manipulate the spirit Lasher. Julien impregnates numerous Mayfair women as part of Lasher's scheme of inbreeding, which Julien believes is a means to keep power in the family but is actually the way by which Lasher hopes to resurrect himself in flesh. Rowan returns to America with Lasher, who sets out to impregnate other female members of the Mayfair family. All attempts are unsuccessful as the women immediately miscarry and hemorrhage to death. Rowan manages to escape Lasher, and after hitchhiking to Louisiana, she collapses in a field and gives birth to Emaleth, a female Taltos. Rowan's last words to Emaleth are to find Michael, which she sets out to do, thinking that Rowan has died. Rowan is found and is rushed to a nearby hospital in a state of toxic shock. An emergency hysterectomy is performed to save her life, eliminating any chance of her ever giving birth again. She is taken home to Michael, where she remains in a deep coma.

Lasher tells Michael and Aaron his story of his past life. Born to Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England, and a man from Donnelaith, Scotland, Lasher is believed to be a saint known as Ashlar. He is quickly taken away by his father, who is the son of the Earl of Donnelaith, and from there he is sent to Italy to become a priest. Lasher returns to Scotland after Elizabeth I takes the throne, and is killed there while performing Christmas Mass by followers of the Protestant reformer John Knox. His next memory is the summoning of his spirit by the witch Suzanne Mayfair in Donnelaith. When Lasher's story is complete, Michael kills him and burys him under the great oak in the yard. Michael discovers Emaleth in Rowan's room, feeding her mother the highly nutritious milk from her breasts. Rowan is revived, but upon seeing Emaleth before her, panics and screams at Michael to kill her. Michael refuses to, so Rowan grabs a gun and shoots her daughter in the head. Rowan immediately realizes what she has done, and crying for her daughter, insists that she be the one to bury her alongside Lasher.

Ashlar, the founder of a multi-million dollar toy corporation based in New York City, believes himself to be the last living Taltos. He is shocked to learn from his friend Samuel that a male Taltos has been seen in the glen of Donnelaith. Having buried Emaleth, Rowan exists a semi-catatonic state. She walks, she bathes, she eats, but she does not speak and does not respond to those around her. Rowan is awakened by the news that Aaron, now excommunicated from the Talamasca and recently married into the Mayfair family, has been deliberately run over by a car. She makes plans with Michael to seek revenge on the Talamasca, who she believes are responsible for Aaron's death. Mona discovers that she is pregnant by Michael and, after Rowan gives her blessing, ecstatically shares the news with the family. Mona later discovers that her unborn child is a Taltos, a female she names Morrigan. She runs off with Mayfair cousin Mary Jane to Fontevrault, an old plantation sunken into the marsh that has been owned by a separate branch of the Mayfair family for generations. Mary Jane's grandmother, Dolly Jean, helps deliver the new Taltos. Mona names Morrigan the designee of the Mayfair legacy, and she and Mary Jane make plans for the future in case Rowan and Michael try to kill Morrigan.

In London, Michael and Rowan meet up with Yuri Stefano, a pupil and friend of Aaron who has also been excommunicated by the Talamasca. Through Yuri they meet the Ashlar and his friend Samuel, who is one of the Little People of Donnelaith, dwarf-like Taltos who never fed on their mother's milk and were subsequently stunted. Ashlar kills Anton Marcus, the Superior General of the Talamasca, for his part in Aaron's death. Another Talamasca Scholar, Stuart Gordon, has been plotting with his pupils Marklin and Tommy to unite Ashlar with a female Taltos he has acquired. The excommunications of Aaron and Yuri, as well as Aaron's death, were a ruse perpetrated by Stuart to keep the men from interfering with his plans. Ashlar meets the female Taltos, Tessa, and disappoints Stuart with the news that Tessa is too advanced in age to bear children. Rowan uses her strong telepathic abilities to cause Stuart to have a fatal stroke. Yuri takes Tessa to the Talamasca, who welcome Tessa with open arms and punish Marklin and Tommy by burying them alive.

In New York, Ashlar tells Rowan and Michael the story of his long life. He explains that the Taltos once thrived peacefully on a tropical island north of the British Isles, where they had been since "The Time Before the Moon". The island's semi-active volcano reawakens, forcing the Taltos to flee south to the bitter cold of Scotland. They become hunter-gatherers, and occasionally see early humans, whom they sometimes keep as pets. The Taltos break off into different tribes and the largest of them, led by Ashlar, goes south to Somerset where they settle. Their peace is often disrupted by Celtic raids on the land. To adapt and live peacefully among humans, the Taltos become the Picts, and Ashlar their king. When Christianity comes to them in the form of St Columba, Ashlar converts with more than half his tribe. But there is a conflict between the Christians and non-Christians, and war ensues. Soon only five Taltos males are left, and they all become priests, including Ashlar. Several years later, he attempts to tell his story to a fellow priest, who believes the story is blasphemy. Ashlar is disillusioned, and goes on a pilgrimage, leaving Donnelaith forever.

Rowan and Michael return to New Orleans, where Michael is introduced to his daughter, Morrigan. He and Rowan accept Mona's decision to make Morrigan the designee. A frenzied Morrigan smells Ashlar on the gifts he has sent, just as he comes to the First Street house to visit. Morrigan rushes into his arms, and they run away together.

The film opens in 1099 at the end of the First Crusade, depicting Christian Crusaders sacking Jerusalem and slaughtering the local population. A Flemish Christian knight named Charles Le Vaillant (Jean-Claude Van Damme) becomes demoralized by the horrors of war and decides to create a new religious order. This new order brings together members from the three main religions of the region: Christians, Jews, and Muslims. As a self-declared leader and messiah, Charles writes the sacred texts of the Order. While traveling to Syria, his camp is attacked by the Christian knights, who kill Le Vaillant. The last chapter from their religious text, buried by Le Vaillant in a secret place, becomes lost in the desert after the attack.

In the modern day, Rudy Cafmeyer (Jean-Claude van Damme), a thief and smuggler of valuable historical artifacts, breaks into a high-security building and steals a precious Fabergé egg. He triggers an alarm in the process and is forced to fight his way out of the building, finding no car to meet him because the getaway driver, Yuri, was forced to leave by police. His problems are compounded when a potential buyer attempts to steal the egg and falls on it, destroying it.

It is revealed that Rudy's father is archaeologist and museum curator Oscar "Ozzie" Cafmeyer (Vernon Dobtcheff). Ozzie travels to Israel in search of a secret he has discovered and is kidnapped while on the phone with Rudy, who travels to Jerusalem to rescue him. Ozzie's associate, Professor Walt Finley (Charlton Heston), gives Rudy the key to a safe-deposit box in East Jerusalem before being gunned down by unknown assailants. Rudy opens the safe-deposit box and finds an ancient map showing a series of tunnels and a treasure room beneath Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, a devout contingent of Le Vaillant's followers known as the Order continues to practice his peaceful teachings in Israel. One of the disciples, Cyrus (Brian Thompson), enters into conflict with the Order's leader Pierre Gaudet over Cyrus's inflammatory rhetoric regarding an imminent holy war. Cyrus has Pierre Gaudet killed using a car bomb and assumes control of the Order.

Israeli Police Chief Ben Ner (Ben Cross) views Rudy's arrival with hostility and takes steps to have Rudy deported, appointing Lt. Dalia Barr (Sofia Milos) to ensure that Rudy does not escape. Lt. Barr escorts Rudy to the airplane but Ben Ner calls and demands their return, claiming that Rudy is smuggling an artifact. Lt. Barr knows that Rudy has been searched and is not in possession of any artifacts so she unlocks Rudy's handcuffs and lets him escape in a feigned struggle, meeting up with him again after he escapes from the airport in a stolen ramp-towing vehicle. Lt. Barr reveals that she was once a disciple of the Order but that she left when she was 18. Together they visit Yuri, who translates the map and explains that it leads to treasure, but thieves break in and steal the map, shooting and killing Yuri in the process. Rudy steals a motorcycle and pursues the thief who has the map. He catches up with him and shoots him, causing the thief to drop the map, but is also shot and injured.

Rudy hides from the police and is found by Lt. Barr, who drives him to be helped back to health by her old friend Avram, who is still a member of the Order. Lt. Barr gives Rudy papers left by his father in which Ozzie explains he had discovered the lost manuscripts of the Order, lost since the Crusades, and that the new sect within the Order does not wish for them to be revealed because they show the location of a mythical Jewish treasure. Rudy shows it to Avram, who insists that the "treasure" is merely a metaphor for the wisdom of the ancient sages and says that its location in the Order's monastery cannot be accessed by outsiders anyway. With Avram's aid Rudy and Lt. Barr pose as foreign members of the Order visiting on a pilgrimage in order to gain access to the monastery during a massive assembly of the members, now led by Cyrus.

In the catacombs Rudy finds the remaining manuscripts as well as his imprisoned father and a large bomb. Ben Ner arrives and explains to Rudy and Lt. Barr that he joined the Order when he found out about the treasure. Cyrus arrives and forces Ozzie to lead him through the tunnels in order to detonate the bomb under the Temple Mount during Ramadan to maximize casualties and make martyrs of the Israeli Lt. Barr and American Rudy Cafmeyer in order to trigger World War III. Rudy saves Avram from falling into a pit trap before they reach a room loaded with treasure next to the chamber underneath the Well of Souls. Ben Ner attempts to delay the detonation in order to collect more treasure, leading to a standoff with Cyrus's followers. Rudy, and Lt. Barr use the opportunity to escape but Ozzy is injured and Avram is killed. Lt. Barr shoots Ben Ner and helps Ozzie out of the catacombs. Rudy catches Cyrus in the treasure room and kills him with one of the swords found there. Rudy moves the bomb from under the Well of Souls and drops it into the pit trap. Ben Ner jumps at Rudy but only grabs his shirt and tears it off as he falls into the pit. Rudy races away from the pit as the bomb explodes. Worshipers above hear the explosion but continue praying.

Rudy is later shown visiting the office of his father, who has published a new book. In the office Rudy finds an ancient map that Ozzie claims shows the location of the Seven Cities of Gold. Rudy grabs the map and runs out of the office with Dalia. The film ends with a compilation of quick action cuts as well as a few outtakes.

The film is set in the fictional Yorkshire fishing village of Bramblewick and relates the rivalry between two fishing families. It is filmed mainly around Whitby (evidenced in the WY identity codes on the fishing boats).

The characters speak in the local Yorkshire accent and dialect. Rivalry between the lobster fishermen begins when one boat is fitted with a new diesel engine. Ropes are cut so the lobsters cannot be retrieved. The feuding comes to an end when a man from one family says he wants to marry a girl from the other family.

The work is based on the 1932 novel ''Three Fevers'' by Leo Walmsley.

Richard, Kahlan, Cara, Jennsen, Friedrich and Tom are in the Old World, near the Pillars of Creation. They are trying to determine the meaning of a small statue resembling Kahlan. Cara had touched it and it activated like a sand hourglass. Richard notices some ravens and suspects that the birds are tracking them somehow. In the middle of the night, a shadow of a man could be seen with the ravens, his outline betrayed by the swirling sand and grit. Richard also discovers the existence of a boundary, recently destroyed, similar to the ones placed between Westland, the Midlands, and D'Hara, although he could not fathom why it existed. Richard's gift is giving him headaches again, but they're different from before. As they continue to travel, they cross paths with a young man named Owen who recognizes Richard as the Lord Rahl and begs Richard to help save his people from the Order, as his own people are too enlightened to perform violent deeds. With other trouble on his mind, Richard refuses and sends Owen away. Richard begins to notice a problem with the Sword of Truth, as well as his magic. Furthermore, he starts developing a fever and a chill. Nicci sends a letter in warning, but it is destroyed by the Imperial Order before they could finish reading it.

Meanwhile, Zedd and Adie are back at the Wizard's Keep to defend it against Emperor Jagang's Sorceresses. However, they are overwhelmed by intruders who enter the Keep, unaffected by any of the protection spells placed. A sister enters the Keep after Zedd and Adie are tied up and Rada'Hans are placed around their necks.

Richard was poisoned by Owen, a man from the Bandakar Empire, in order to force Richard to save the Bandakar people from the Order. Like Jennsen, Owen is pristinely ungifted, meaning immune and invisible to magic. Arriving in the Bandakar lands, he finds them stunted intellectually and culturally, embracing a philosophy of aggressive passivity, allowing themselves to be dominated entirely by the Order. Given their complete lack of ability to do violence, Owen brought Richard, believing he could drive the Order away. Richard discovers that the Bandakar are the long lost descendants of the House of Rahl's pristinely ungifted children, banished across the boundaries to the Old World three thousand years ago. Once in the Old World, a great wizard then placed them in isolation to prevent their ideas from infecting the rest of the world. Using the Bandakar as hostages, Jagang sent them into the Wizard's Keep to rob it, as the pristinely ungifted Bandakar were totally immune to magic.

Richard demands to meet their leader and is shocked to discover that the Wise One is merely a blindfolded child indoctrinated in their beliefs, as they believed that innocent children could not lead them astray. After proving through debate that this is nonsensical, Richard is nearly killed by a Bandakar still dedicated to their passive beliefs, and the horrified Bandakar realize that despite their ideology, they are also capable of violence. After raising an ad hoc army from the newly converted Bandakar, Richard kills Nicholas the Slide, the creature created by the Sisters of the Dark, by tricking Nicholas into leaving his body vulnerable.

A famous cat pirate, Captain Nathaniel Joseph Claw, is imprisoned by the Cocker-Spaniards (a dog species, a pun on Cocker Spaniel) after they attack and sink his ship. In the prison cell, waiting for his execution, he finds a note and a piece of a map hidden in the wall. The note tells of the Amulet of Nine Lives—a mystical artifact that grants its wearer near-immortality. Breaking out of his cell, Claw sets out to collect all 9 gems of the amulet and retrieve it for himself.

The game begins with Claw outside his cell. As he progresses through the prison, he eventually gets to the outer wall and escapes to the forest after defeating the warden, Le Rauxe. In the forest, he encounters a gang of thieves, headed by his former love interest, Katherine. He manages to defeat them and finds his way out of the forest, and into the nearby port town of El Puerto del Lobo, where he is hunted down by the magistrate, Wolvington, and the city guards. After running through the city, escaping the guards, and defeating Wolvington himself, the Captain stumbles into a bar and overhears a conversation between two of the crew of Captain Red Tail, a lion who is Claw's arch enemy. He learns that Red Tail is looking for the gems of the amulet as well, and that Red Tail's first mate, Gabriel, has one of them in his possession. He also hears that Red Tail might have more himself.

Claw quickly makes his way through the port and jumps on Red Tail's ship, where he defeats the seamen (Gabriel among them) and hides in the ship until it sets port near the Pirate's Cove. Claw goes through the rickety wooden structures of the pirate cove, defeating the pirates and their leader, Marrow, Claw's former friend. Claw descends into the caves, where he discovers his old crew, presumed dead after the attack on his ship. The crew informs Claw that they were given three gems by a merchant in the tavern, but were forced to give two of them to Red Tail; they managed to keep the third as Red Tail believed there were only two in their possession. The crew then reveals that Red Tail has set sail for Tiger Island, a legendary place most doubted even existed, including Claw. Claw takes the crew's gem as well as a piece of the map, which shows a path to Tiger Island through the labyrinth of underwater caverns. The crew offers to accompany him through the caves to Tiger Island, but Claw insists on going alone, telling his crew to acquire a ship and meet him there. The Captain takes the shortcut through the caverns, where he fights through a race of merpeople, who fight him in order to defend their king: a giant frog-like creature called Aquatis. Claw manages to defeat Aquatis with explosives.

Claw resurfaces to face Red Tail and his crew on Tiger Island. Claw manages to bring Red Tail down and acquire the final two gems, yet Red Tail escapes. Claw enters the Tiger Temple at the heart of the island to claim the amulet. There he fights the highly trained tiger guards, avoids the many death traps in the lava-filled temple, and defeats Omar, the captain of the tiger guard, who holds the final gem. Claw places the gems on a pedestal, and Princess Adora appears. She gives Claw the amulet, granting him 9 lives, after summarizing his adventure. Omar is sworn to defend to the holder of the Amulet, thus becoming Claw's bodyguard. The game ends with Claw on his ship with the amulet, alongside his crew and Omar.

In the town of Oakey Oaks, Ace Cluck, also known as Chicken Little, rings the school bell and warns everyone to run for their lives. This sends the whole town into a frenzied panic. Eventually, the head of the Fire Department calms down enough to ask him what is going on. Chicken Little exclaims that the sky is falling, because a mysterious piece of the sky shaped like the nearby stop sign had fallen on his head when he was sitting under the big oak tree in the town square; however, he is unable to find the piece. His father, Buck (also "Ace") Cluck, who was once a middle school baseball star, assumes that this "piece of the sky" was just an acorn that has fallen off the tree and has also hit him on the head, making Chicken Little the laughingstock of the town.

A year later, Chicken Little has become infamous in the town for being prone to ruin everything accidentally. His only friends are outcasts like himself: Abby "Ugly Duckling" Mallard, an obese and cowardly pig named Master Runt of the Litter, and Fish Out of Water, who wears a helmet full of tap water to breathe. Trying to help, Abby encourages Chicken Little to talk to his father, but he only wants to make his dad proud of him. He joins his school's baseball team to recover his reputation and his father's pride but is made last until the ninth inning of the last game. Chicken Little is reluctantly called to bat by the coach. Chicken Little hits the ball on his third swing and makes it past first, second, and third bases, but is met at home plate by the outfielders. He tries sliding onto the home plate but is touched by the ball. While it is presumed that he lost the game, the umpire brushes away the dust to reveal Chicken Little's foot is barely touching home plate, thus declaring Chicken Little safe and the game won; Chicken Little is hailed as a hero for winning the pennant.

Later that night back at home, Chicken Little is hit on the head yet again by the same "piece of the sky" — only to find out that it is not actually a piece of the sky, but a hexagonal panel that blends into the background, which would thereby explain why he was unable to find it last time. He calls his friends over to help figure out what it is. When Fish pushes a button on the back of the panel, it flies into the sky, taking him with it. It turns out to be part of the camouflage of a UFO piloted by two aliens in metallic armor. After "rescuing" Fish, Chicken Little and his friends are pursued by the aliens throughout a cornfield. Just as they are cornered, Chicken Little manages to ring the bell to warn everyone, but the aliens escape, leaving an orange alien child behind. No one believes the story and Chicken Little's reputation is placed in jeopardy yet again.

The next morning, he and his friends discover the alien child, whose name is Kirby, just as a whole fleet of alien spaceships descend on the town and start what appears to be an invasion. However, the invasion is a misunderstanding, as the two aliens are looking for their lost child and attack only out of concern. As the aliens rampage throughout Oakey Oaks, vaporizing everything in their path, Chicken Little realizes he must return Kirby to his parents to save the town. First, though, he must confront his father and regain his trust. In the invasion, Buck, now regaining his pride and trust in his son, defends him from the aliens until they get vaporized. It is then discovered that the aliens were not vaporizing people but teleporting them aboard the UFO. After Chicken Little and his father return Kirby, it turns out the aliens were merely touring Earth every summer while on their way to their in-laws and came across the town for its acorns due to Earth being the only place that has acorns & that their town welcoming sign says "the best acorns in the universe". It is also revealed that the panel that fell off their ship is malfunctioning. After everything is explained, the apologetic aliens return everything to normal and everyone is grateful for Chicken Little's efforts to save the town.

Another year later, Chicken Little, his father, his friends and the citizens of Oakey Oaks watch an in-universe movie depicting an extremely fanciful retelling of the events that transpired, portraying Chicken Little as an action hero also named "Ace".

Two World War II servicemen, one American (Lee Marvin) and one Japanese (Toshiro Mifune), are stranded on an uninhabited Pacific island. The Japanese soldier suddenly discovers a military plane crash kit near his camp. The American, who survived the plane crash, watches him salvage the kit and confronts him on the beach. Both men have visions of getting beaten to death by the other, but in reality they only make aggressive gestures. The American notices that the Japanese has a small reservoir of drinking water and makes a dash to drink some, but is run off into the jungle. The Japanese sets fire to the jungle, smoking out the American. After chasing him off again, he wades out into the water to check his fishing trap. While his back is turned, the American makes another run for the drinking water, eventually stealing some and running off.

The next day, the American tries to steal more water, but is caught and falls on the reservoir, destroying it. After escaping, he destroys the fish trap, makes noises and plays tricks on the Japanese. After urinating on him from the cliff above, he's chased into the jungle by the infuriated Japanese, but collapses from dehydration. The Japanese takes him prisoner, binds his arms to a log and makes him walk back and forth in the sand. Eventually, the American escapes, surprises the Japanese and then binds him to the log and makes him walk back and forth in the sand. After getting frustrated trying to cook a meal, the American cuts the Japanese loose so that he can do the cooking. They cease hostilities and share chores and food from then on.

Later, the American notices the Japanese trying to build a raft. He scolds him for stealing "his" log to make the raft and for being sneaky about its construction. After observing what a poor attempt the raft is, he gets the idea that they should build a better one together. They argue over the design, but eventually work together and build a large raft. After setting sail and overcoming the strong waves of the reef, they hit open water.

Days later, they come upon a new set of islands, on one of which there appears to be an abandoned base. The Japanese takes the lead, since he recognizes it as a Japanese base. The American then spots American supplies and runs after him, imploring any soldiers who might hear to not fire because the Japanese is his "friend". At one point, startled by running into his friend, the American exclaims in relief, "for a moment there, I thought you were a Jap". Realizing that the base truly is abandoned, they rummage around for useful items and luxuries, eventually finding shaving supplies, a bottle of wine, cigarettes and an issue of ''Life'' magazine.

That night, each seeing the other clean shaven for the first time, they drink sake together, sing songs and tell each other stories, despite the language barrier. Casually, the Japanese picks up and looks through a ''Life'' magazine and is horrified to see photos of dead and imprisoned Japanese soldiers. The American gets upset that the Japanese isn't answering a question about whether the Japanese believe in God and the two angrily glare at one another, too upset to notice the increasingly loud sounds of the island being shelled. The Japanese stands up and walks a few paces away and the American gets up and kicks over the campfire. As the Japanese turns and walks back, a shell hits the building that they're in and destroys it. In the alternate ending (available on home video releases), no shell hit occurs and the two men are shown going their separate ways.

During the retreat of 1951, a small force of British soldiers is in danger of being cut off by the advancing Chinese army. The plot emphasizes the plight of the National Service men who, as they say, were "old enough to fight, but too young to vote."

The film also depicts a "friendly-fire" incident, in which the British are bombed by the Americans.

The film opens in Korea with a British Army patrol, led by Lt. Butler. In the patrol is tough veteran Sergeant Payne, a slightly psychotic Corporal Ryker, and the cowardly signaller Wyatt. As they search a small village, one of the party falls victim to a bomb planted in a small shack. With the death of one of his men, Butler moves the patrol out of the village. Out in the open plain, Butler and Payne discover a large force of Chinese soldiers heading directly for them. Sending Payne and the patrol back towards their own lines, Butler and three of his men stay behind to cover the withdrawal. After fending off two attacks, Butler discovers Lance Corporal Hodge is dead. Payne returns with the patrol, informing Butler that they were cut off by other enemy forces.

The patrol heads through the village and up a winding path towards an isolated temple located on a hill, with only a steep cliff to its rear. On the way, Wyatt throws away the only radio because he cannot be bothered to carry it up the hill. Then they run into an enemy patrol on the path. They ambush the Chinese, and continue up to the temple. With the Chinese knowing now exactly where they are, Butler must keep his troops together, and fend off the enemy attacks.

One day, 12-year-old Sandy Brown receives a package from her long-lost grandfather containing a stuffed Koala named Blinky that was lost in a shipwreck 38 years ago. Sandy gives the koala a Noozle (another term for an Eskimo Kiss) and it revives him from "magic sleepytime". His first word is "Blinky!!" in response to Sandy thinking out loud what she should name the bear right before she awakens him. They are soon joined by Blinky's sister Pinky, who appears out of thin air soon after Blinky is awakened, and demands immediately that Blinky returns with her to KoalaWalla Land. Blinky refuses however, and the trio go on to have many adventures together. Blinky is able to sustain himself while living on Earth with Sandy because of the Eucalyptus trees that Sandy's grandmother had planted 38 years ago when Sandy's grandfather, an archaeologist who had mysteriously disappeared while on an expedition to Ayers Rock, just before the ship was lost, told her that he was sending a Koala as a gift, as Sandy's grandmother had expressed that she had always wanted one as a pet.

It takes Sandy some time to determine that the "noozle" is the action that revives Blinky from magic sleepytime. She does this several times without thinking about it, and gets frustrated over the fact that Blinky falls asleep repeatedly (during which time his appearance is similar to that of an ordinary stuffed animal) and stubbornly refuses to awaken until she realizes what she must do to revive him. Early in the series, Sandy decides to introduce Blinky and Pinky to her grandmother, but decides to keep them a secret to everyone else.

About halfway through the series, Blinky and Pinky bring Sandy to their homeworld of KoalaWalla Land. KoalaWalla Land is a parallel dimension inhabited by anthropomorphic koalas, kangaroos, platypuses, cassowaries, kiwi, and frill-necked lizards. It is ruled by a wise old koala known as the High Dingy Doo. Humans aren't allowed in KoalaWalla Land (and in fact a human will be arrested and jailed on sight just for being in KoalaWalla Land), so Sandy has to wear a koala mask during each visit. A portal to KoalaWalla Land can be found at Ayers Rock. Pinkie also has the ability to create instant portals to KoalaWalla Land at any point, as well as portals back and forth through time, by utilizing the red lipstick in her magic cosmetic kit to draw an interdimensional hole in the time-space continuum.

Meanwhile, Sandy's father Alex, who is also an archaeologist like his father before him, is exploring Ayers Rock and trying to solve the mystery of what happened to his father 38 years ago. While there, he discovers a cave, and on the wall of the cave is a message that his father wrote 38 years ago, saying "I must leave on a mission of great importance. The little koala will know where I'll be." Alex stumbles into the portal to KoalaWalla Land at the end of the tunnel, where he is chased by the KoalaWalla Land police. Sandy, Blinky, and Pinky travel to KoalaWalla Land to rescue him. Alex stumbles upon a crystal planetoid in KoalaWalla Land, where he sees a shadowy figure resembling his father in one of the crystals. There, the KoalaWalla Land police find him and place him under a sleeping spell, but Sandy and Blinky and Pinky arrive to rescue him. They bring him back to Ayers Rock. Alex wakes up, convinced that the entire experience was a dream.

When Sandy hears that her father saw her grandfather, she and Blinky and Pinky decide to go back to KoalaWalla Land to look for him. They decide to look in The Crystal Place, which is connected to the crystal planetoid where Alex saw his father. The Crystal Place, which lies at the very core of KoalaWalla Land and helps hold the universe together, is a giant crystalline sphere filled with brightly colored orbs, which when touched by bare hands immediately entrap that person's essence forever with no escape. Sandy, protected by Pinky's magic bubble, enters The Crystal Place, and finds the spirit of her grandfather imprisoned in one of the orbs, trapped in a limbo-like state. He tells her to learn from the creatures of KoalaWalla Land and to understand how their community has come to survive in a world of love and companionship. Finally, he delivers the cryptic message "as the world of KoalaWalla Land goes, so goes the world of mankind." Sandy wants to know what he means, but that's all he can tell her, and he tells her that more will be revealed in due time.

Some time later, Alex is exploring Africa. He is scheduled to return home, but when he hears the story of a magic stone called the "wiseman stone", he decides to stay in Africa to search for it. Sandy and her mother are disappointed when they hear that Alex is staying in Africa, so Blinky and Pinky travel there to try to find a way to convince him to come home. They attempt to scare him back home by making ghost noises, and even create illusionary dinosaurs in an attempt to scare him away from the dig site, but nothing seems to work. Finally, Sandy's grandmother appears. She has traveled to Africa to scold her son for running off to look for the wiseman stone when his wife and daughter are waiting for him to come home. Alex decides to come back home with his mother. Shortly after arriving back home, Alex receives a phone call from his assistant Lionel who says that his team has found what they believe to be the Wiseman Stone, but they need Alex to check if it's the real deal since he's the expert on the subject. Later, during a visit to Sandy's grandmothers house, Blinky uses his magic powers to teleport an unknowing Alex to Africa. Confused as to how he got there, Alex checks the stone and confirms that it's authentic. Alex still has the stone with him when Blinky transports him back. Alex is still confused about the whole thing. When he shows the stone to his mother, she tells him that he must've found the stone in her attic, and that it is a stone that his father had found many years ago. After Sandy and her Parents have gone home, her grandmother brings the stone up to her attic, and it is revealed that there are two wiseman stones, one that Alex found in Africa, and another that his father had found years before.

One day, during another trip to Sandy's grandmother's house, Alex finds the two Wiseman stones in her attic. Alex is confused as to why there is now a second wiseman stone. His mother tells him that his father found one, and that he put the other one there when he came back from Africa. It is then that Sandy decides to tell her parents the truth about Blinky and Pinky. Shortly afterward, they receive a surprise visit from the High Dingy Doo, who has come to ask Alex a very important favor. The High Dingy explains that KoallaWalla Land and the Earth are destined to one day separate from each other naturally. However, because of Seismic Testing in the Australian Outback, the trans-dimensional axis that binds the two worlds together has become severely shaken, speeding up the process so much that both worlds could be destroyed in the separation. The High Dingy Doo also explains that Sandy's grandfather knew that this would happen someday due to his research of ancient Australian folklore. He entered The Crystal Place and became trapped there while trying to unravel the secrets of KoalaWalla Land. The High Dingy Doo says that Sandy's grandfather likely knows how to save the worlds from destruction, but that his spirit can only communicate with someone who is related to him by blood. The High Dingy Doo asks Alex to come to The Crystal Place so he can speak to his father's Spirit. Alex, protected by a magic bubble created by the High Dingy Doo, enters The Crystal Place and tells his father's spirit of the impending disaster. His father tells him that the only way to restore the balance between the two worlds so they can separate safely is to give the wiseman stones to Blinky, who will know what to do from there. After returning to earth, Alex gives the wiseman stones to Blinky, who now remembers what it is that he must do. Blinky teleports himself, Pinky, Sandy, her parents, and her grandmother to Ayers Rock, where the separation has already begun. Blinky and Pinky bring the stones to the top of Ayers Rock and place them in a predisposed altar, where Blinky manipulates them in a joystick-like fashion to keep the two worlds from destroying each other. Blinky and Pinky return to KoalaWalla Land in the process. Because the two worlds now exist as completely separate dimensions, Pinky's magic is no longer able to bridge the ties that formerly bound them meaning Blinky and Pinky must now forever remain in their home separate from Earth.

Setting

''Battlezone II'' takes place within the same alternative history universe as ''Battlezone''. In the 1960s, humanity came across a rare resource that landed on Earth via meteor shower called "bio-metal". The resource heightened tensions between the nations of the United States and the Soviet Union, as both formed their own space forces and eventually engaged with each on across several planets and moons in the Solar System. During this time, both sides came to learn that bio-metal was developed by an extinct alien civilization called the Cthonians, who maintained a vast empire that stretched across the system, before being undone by a new form of technology - a highly advanced vehicle called a Fury - that became sentient and aggressive. Both sides eventually form a truce in order to combat the threat before it could destroy humanity.

30 years later, the advancement of science and technology through bio-metal led to the formation of two separate organisations to ensure that that Earth's countries are kept in relative peace and harmony with one another - the International Space Defense Force (ISDF), an international peacekeeping force that secures bio-metal for Earth; and the Alliance of Awakened Nations (AAN), who oversee the distribution of resources between countries.

Story

General Braddock, head of the ISDF, orders troops to be sent to Pluto, after the AAN are alerted to the presence of an unknown outpost on the planet designated Cerberus Base after a distress call is sent out by its base commander, Major Henry Manson. Braddock orders the troops, including Lieutenant John Cooke and Commander Yelena Shabayev, to investigate the call, which had reported that the base came under attack from an unknown group of vehicles. Upon arrival, the ISDF discover that the base was attacked by an alien force called the Scions, and promptly work to secure the base and discover where they are operating. Learning that the Scions came from a planet within the Solar System that was unknown to astronomers, dubbed the "Dark Planet", Braddock sends his troops to investigate further.

Cooke and Shabayev discover that the Scions are making use of structures and technology connected to the Cthonians, including a wormhole that links to another part of the galaxy. Braddock focuses on sending the ISDF after the Scions in order to defeat them, suspecting that they are attempting to create a superweapon that could endanger Earth. However, as the ISDF focuses on combating the threat, Manson, Cooke and Shabeyev begin questioning Braddock's motives. The AAN eventually determine that Braddock was acting without their authority, and was responsible for constructing Cerberus Base, as well as attempting to cover up information regarding the Scions. After Braddock is suspended from duty pending a court-martial, the AAN attempt to broker a peace between the two factions. The diplomat sent to oversee negotiations is killed in a surprise attack, with Manson and Shabeyev lost in the ensuing chaos when their dropship plummets and crashes. Cooke continues to focus on missions assigned by Braddock, returned to duty, eventually assisting in the capture of the Scion's leader from the dropship's crash site.

Before Cooke can bring him back to the ISDF, a lone Scion craft contacts him, claiming to be Shabeyev, and informing him that Braddock has been lying, and that the Scions are linked to a former squadron of the ISDF. While she attempts to persuade him to bring the leader back with her, Braddock orders him to destroy the craft, claiming it is a Scion trick. At this point, Cooke is left with two options.

ISDF alternate ending

John obeys his superior's command and destroys the Scion craft. Braddock informs him that Manson and his men survived, but they refused to obey, saying that Braddock is a traitor to the AAN. Cooke inserts a small team under his lead and destroys the base. Manson's body is found at the outskirts of the base. They also find out that Burns has escaped.

Following Scion transmissions, they locate the heart of the Scion society, a medium-sized planet called the "Core" planet, which is presumed to be artificial. After establishing an outpost, Cooke follows a convoy to a hole in the crust, leading to the planet's interior. He descends, and after dispatching numerous automated defenses, destroys the central crystal, causing the planet to collapse and detonate.

Scion alternate ending

Instead of shooting the Scion as commanded by Braddock, Cooke orders the Tug carrying Burns to follow the Scion. After leading him through a tunnel, the Scion confirms that she is Shabayev. She was found by the Scions on Bane after the crash. She explains that Braddock ordered the attack on the drop ships to silence them. He had also ordered the Voyager to be shot down to prevent the AAN from detecting the ISDF base on the Dark Planet. She also reveals to John that the Scions are actually humans who have been fused together with bio-metal. At the core of the Collective are the former members of the Black Dog Squadron. After the uprising, they fled to the Dark Planet, then into the Scion system, where they found the Cthonian ruins on Mire and embraced their culture. Their ultimate goal is not to destroy Earth, but to bring the enlightened Cthonian culture back to humanity.

John is transformed into a Scion to better aid their cause. He is informed by Burns that the three machines that were disarmed were called alchemators, and that they did not destroy planets but rather terraformers. The Core Planet is dying, as evidenced by a large number of dead Scions found on Pluto and Dark Planet before. The Scion can only survive if they find a new planet, and the Dark Planet is the ideal candidate.

A routine patrol manages to steal one of the power crystals of the three machines. Shabayev asks John to escort the Hauler towing the power crystal to a nav point where it can be carried away by a Scion dropship. When the convoy arrives at the passage, a landslide occurs, causing them to have to reroute the Hauler. Cooke investigates the other side and sees a departing Scion vehicle. After the incident, Burns requests that John find and return the last two crystals. The second crystal is stolen from a base with a clever tactic: John lures the defenders into an ambush, then shuts down the defenses with a surgical artillery strike on the power generators. When the third crystal is acquired, each is sent to their respective alchemators. However, when he brings the final crystal to Rend, his team is ambushed by a much larger force of rebels who capture the crystal.

Burns receives information that Manson's AAN loyalists (including himself) have defied Braddock and are under siege from his New Regime troops. After breaking the siege, Cooke counterattacks with Manson's forces, destroying the NR base and even intercepting a rebel convoy carrying the crystal which they are willing to trade with Braddock for bio-metal.

With the last crystal in his possession, Cooke lands on Rend for a final payback. Braddock personally defends the alchemator with a trio of Attila Combat Walkers, but he is ultimately defeated and the crystal is placed. The three alchemators are then activated, and their combined beam is shot through a wormhole into the Solar System. The beam impacts into the Dark Planet, gradually transforming it into a new Core Planet at Earth's doorstep.

Setting

The sinking of the ''White Ship'' leaves King Henry I of England without a clear heir. After he dies the Anarchy begins: his daughter, Maud, and his nephew, Stephen of Blois, fight for the throne. Ambitious nobles and churchmen take sides, hoping to gain advantages. The novel, which is divided into a prologue and six sections, explores themes of intrigue and conspiracy, against a background of historical events. It explores the development of medieval architecture, the civil war, secular/religious conflicts, and shifting political loyalties.

Prologue (1123)

A red-headed man is hanged for theft after being condemned by a priest, a knight, and a monk. His pregnant lover curses the men who condemned him, declaring that their children will be hanged, their enemies will prosper, and that they will live the rest of their lives with regret and sorrow.

Part One (1135–1136)

Circumstances leave mason Tom Builder and his family destitute and starving. After his pregnant wife Agnes dies in childbirth, Tom abandons his newborn by his wife's grave in the snowy woods, having no way to feed the infant. He later has a change of heart and returns, but finds the baby missing. After meeting up with an outlaw named Ellen and her son Jack, whom they had first met earlier, the group discovers that Tom's infant has been taken to a monastery cell belonging to the Kingsbridge Priory. Knowing that he will be charged with abandonment if he says the baby is his, and confident that the monks will be able to look after him, Tom decides to leave the infant to the monastery. After several unsuccessful attempts to find work, Tom convinces Bartholomew, Earl of Shiring, to hire him to repair the walls of the Earl's castle.

Philip, the leader of the cell, is visited by his brother Francis, a priest, who warns him of a plot by Earl Bartholomew and the Earl of Gloucestershire against King Stephen. Philip tells Waleran Bigod, the ambitious archdeacon to the Bishop of Kingsbridge, of the plot, and travels to Kingsbridge Priory where the previous manager, Prior James, has died only a few days before. Waleran promises to make Philip the bishop's nomination for prior, practically guaranteeing Philip's election, in return for Philip's support to later make Waleran bishop though Waleran conceals that the bishop is also already dead. Philip agrees as the priory has become financially and spiritually destitute under Prior James, and he believes he can correct that. He wins, making enemies of the rivals for the post, in particular the sub-prior Remigius. Tom's infant, now named Jonathan, is sent to live with Philip at the priory.

Unsure of the validity of Philip's words, Waleran goes to the Hamleighs, a noble family who have been enemies of the Earl of Shiring ever since the earl's daughter, Aliena, rejected a marriage with William, the only son of the Hamleighs. Seeing this as an excuse for them to take their revenge, the Hamleighs take Bartholomew's castle and arrest the earl, forcing Tom and Ellen, now lovers, and their children into homelessness once again. They eventually settle in Kingsbridge, Tom hoping to get a job rebuilding the cathedral there. The family sees Jonathan during this time, although only Tom and Ellen know that he is Tom's son. To ensure that Tom will have work, Jack burns down the old Romanesque cathedral, telling no one else of his actions. After some convincing, Philip hires Tom to build the new cathedral.

Tom's strong son Alfred physically bullies smaller and weaker Jack through repeated acts of battery which creates friction with Ellen as Tom sees no fault in his son and never disciplines him. Brother Remigius, who is opposed to Philip as prior, charges Ellen and Tom with fornication. Waleran, who was cursed by the woman at the hanging, orders Ellen to live apart from Tom. Outraged by Tom's willingness to accept this, Ellen returns to the forest with Jack.

Part Two (1136–1137)

Philip and Waleran go to King Stephen in the hope of convincing him to give Bartholomew's estates, including a huge limestone quarry, to the church, so that they can be used to pay for the new cathedral's construction. Initially believing that Waleran will be loyal to him as a fellow cleric, Philip learns from the Hamleighs that Waleran intends to use the earldom solely to boost his own position. Realising that the Hamleighs are trying to divide him and Waleran so that they can take the earldom for themselves, Philip secretly conspires with the Hamleighs. They agree that Kingsbridge Priory will be given the quarry and some other lands with the rest of Shiring going to the Hamleighs, but the Hamleighs betray this deal and are given ownership of the quarry with Philip getting rights to, not ownership of, the stone. Furious at being foiled, Waleran vows to never let Philip build his cathedral.

Finding her still living in Shiring Castle, William attacks Aliena and her brother Richard. He mutilates the boy to coerce Aliena into not resisting as he rapes her brutally. This leaves Aliena traumatized. Homeless and destitute, Aliena and Richard travel to Winchester in the hope of receiving compensation from the king, and visit Bartholomew, now dying in prison. The former earl demands they swear an oath to work to regain the earldom. Aliena supports Richard financially by becoming a wealthy wool merchant (by, as described in the book, the hitherto unheard-of act of buying wool from the farmers on their farms and selling it at market rather than the farmers having to travel to market themselves, saving them time and effort) with the help of Philip, who agrees to buy her wool at a fair price when other merchants refuse to do so, and the two siblings settle in Kingsbridge.

The Hamleighs attempt to barricade the quarry against the priory, but Philip foils them by having his quarrymen travel there under the protection of the monks. The Hamleighs' men at arms retreat, fearing damnation if they do violence to the churchmen, leaving the quarry available for Philip's use. In retaliation, the Hamleighs work with Waleran to try to have the cathedral moved to Shiring, thus depriving Philip of the properties tied to it, by claiming that Kingsbridge lacks the resources and manpower to build a cathedral. At the advice of his allies, Philip calls across the county for volunteers to work on the cathedral as penance for their sins. On the day of an inspection by Bishop Henry of Blois that Waleran had arranged, they arrive en masse, and Henry is convinced to not move the cathedral.

Part Three (1140–1142)

William's father, Percy Hamleigh, passes away, and William learns that the earldom will either go to him or Richard, now a knight, since they are both sons of an Earl of Shiring. Prior to the quarry, William destroys a mill and murders a miller in a village in front of Arthur and the townsfolk to provide fear and control of the serfs and villagers. In order to restore his fortunes so that he can raise an army with which to impress King Stephen, William leads an attack on the quarry, which the Hamleighs had unsuccessfully attempted to barricade against Philip, killing and expelling the priory's quarrymen. Philip travels to Lincoln to attempt to persuade King Stephen to redress this outrage, but is interrupted by the Battle of Lincoln, where the king is captured by Robert of Gloucester. Philip is also captured by Robert's forces but is released by his brother Francis, who is chaplain to Robert. Francis gets Philip an audience with the Empress Maud, who grants him a license for a market at Kingsbridge, while William Hamleigh, who has switched sides from Stephen to Maud, is granted sole right to the disputed quarry. Philip, despite the quarry being thus denied him, still manages to pay for stone for his cathedral using the revenues from the market.

Tom befriends Prior Philip and, when Ellen returns, he persuades Philip to allow them to marry. After some time, Alfred proposes to Aliena, but she turns him down. She also strikes up a friendship with Jack, with whom she falls in love, now working as an apprentice mason at Tom's suggestion, but she shuns him after Alfred catches the two of them kissing, being reminded of William's attack on her. The two stepbrothers continue to be at odds, and Alfred later claims that Jack's father was hanged for thieving, starting a fight that leads to damage and a loss of construction materials. Jack is expelled from the cathedral construction, but Philip contrives a new construction overseer position for Jack that he can have, on the condition that he becomes a monk. Jack reluctantly agrees to this, in order to stay in Kingsbridge. Later on, Ellen claims that Jack's father was innocent.

William proves a hapless and merciless lord who mishandles the earldom financially and routinely rapes any peasant woman he wishes. Attempting to restore his fortunes, William leads an attack that burns down Kingsbridge and kills many people including Tom Builder. In the chaos, Aliena's entire stock of wool, in which she had invested all her money, is destroyed in the fire.

Part Four (1142–1145)

After losing her fortune again, Aliena agrees to marry Alfred if he supports Richard. Jack, who has been confined for continued infringements (largely fraternizing with Aliena) breaks his confinement in an attempt to talk to her, but is ultimately locked in the obedience room of the monastery. The next morning, Ellen breaks into the room, revealing that Jack's father had once been imprisoned there after he was framed for theft by three men. Freed by his mother, Jack and Aliena make love on the morning of her wedding, and he tries to convince her to leave Kingsbridge with him, but she refuses to do anything that would require her to break her vow to support Richard. Jack attempts to persuade Alfred to call off the marriage, but discovers that Alfred plans to marry her solely to keep her from Jack, and intends to mistreat her to further spite him. Ellen curses the wedding, seemingly leaving Alfred impotent, and he and Aliena never consummate their marriage. Jack leaves Kingsbridge to find out about his father.

After years of putting off the decision following the death of Earl Percy Hamleigh, Stephen finally gives the earldom to William. Alfred persuades Philip to replace the wooden roof of the cathedral with a stone vault, but fails to reinforce the structure at the higher levels. This causes the cathedral to collapse during a service, killing many people. Aliena gives birth to a red-headed son, and Alfred abandons her, having realised that the child is Jack's. On Ellen's advice, Aliena leaves with her son to find Jack, and follows evidence of Jack's sculpture through France and Spain, finding him in Paris, where they reconcile. Jack helps to calm a riot at a nearby cathedral using the "Weeping Madonna", a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary he was given by a spice merchant he befriended that appears to weep when taken from a hot place to a cold place. The statue is viewed as a miracle, which Jack leverages for financial support to rebuild the cathedral in Kingsbridge.

As he travels home, Jack makes his way to Cherbourg where he is mistaken for the ghost of his father, Jacques Cherbourg, before meeting his grandmother and other relatives, who reveal that Jacques had supposedly died in the sinking of the ''White Ship'', of which he was a passenger. Returning to Kingsbridge, Jack convinces Philip and the clergy to make him the cathedral's new master-builder, drawing up a new design for the cathedral based on his observations in France and Spain. His relationship with Aliena is discovered by the monks during the negotiations, and Philip orders them apart until Aliena's marriage to Alfred is annulled.

Wanting more information on his father, Jack questions Ellen, who has continuously kept the truth from him out of fear that he would devote himself to a life of revenge against those responsible for his father's death. She implies that the ''White Ship'' was sunk deliberately, reveals that the three men who framed Jacques Cherbourg were Percy Hamleigh, Waleran Bigod, and Prior James. After Jack visits Waleran to seek confirmation of Ellen's words, William, jealous of Jack's relationship with Aliena, convinces Waleran to let him attack Kingsbridge again, in order to kill Jack in a way that would avoid drawing attention to his accusations. Richard overhears fighters discussing the attack in another town, and his warning allows the villagers to build a set of town walls and earthen ramparts in about two days, thanks to the expertise of Jack. Fighting from the walls, the townspeople kill many of the attackers and repel William's attack, while making it impossible for him to raid Kingsbridge again. As revenge, William asks Waleran to block Alfred and Aliena's annulment. Though disheartened, Jack and Aliena agree to stay together, living separately (and occasionally making love in the forest) until the day they can marry.

Part Five (1152–1155)

Many years of famine pass, which are further exacerbated by William's poor leadership. Alfred has left Kingsbridge for Shiring, but following a downturn in business, he returns to Kingsbridge and begs for a job from Jack. William's mother dies, and after he forgets to summon the priest to give her last rites, the guilt-stricken William is persuaded by Waleran to build a cathedral in Shiring for the sake of his mother's soul. They are later aided by Alfred, who brings all of the Kingsbridge workmen to Shiring in return for being in charge of the cathedral's construction after Philip is unable to keep paying them.

Inspired by Aliena, Richard organises the starving peasants who have turned to outlawry into a militia, and goes to war with William, robbing him on multiple occasions. William learns of the location of Richard's forces from Remigius, in return for making the monk the head of Shiring's future chapter, and plans an overwhelming attack to kill all the rebels. When he arrives, he learns from Ellen that Richard's men have left to join the forces of Maud's son, the future Henry II of England, who has invaded the country on the advice of Francis.

Eventually, Stephen agrees to have Henry succeed him. Philip learns that as part of their deal, all properties will revert to the owners who held them prior to Stephen's reign, thus making Richard the official earl, but Stephen will not have to force the handovers, meaning that Richard might not gain the earldom until Stephen's death. With the help of William's young wife, who loathes him, Aliena is able to allow Richard to capture the earldom's castle before Henry and Stephen's treaty can be made official and the King's Peace restored. William returns to the village of Hamleigh, and Waleran proposes to sell him the position of sheriff of Shiring so that he can oppose Richard and keep funding the cathedral. Remigius is abandoned by the two of them during this time, but Philip forgives him for his treachery and allows him to return to the priory.

Richard refuses to grant the priory access to the quarry, on the basis that it was once part of the earldom. After Aliena calls him out for his ingratitude towards Philip, she is attacked and nearly raped by Alfred, who is out of work again after Shiring Cathedral is abandoned. Richard arrives and kills Alfred in the ensuing fight. Seeing a chance to regain the earldom, William obtains a warrant to arrest Richard for murder on the king's behalf. Realising that Richard has no chance of a fair trial due to the attitudes towards marital rape of the time period and the hostility of both William and Stephen towards him, Philip proposes that Richard, who is more suited to be a soldier than an earl, fight in the Crusades as penance for killing Alfred; William would be unable to arrest him, and Aliena would be allowed to look after her brother's lands, therefore giving the earldom both a competent ruler and one willing to cooperate with the priory. Aliena and Jack marry within the new cathedral.

Part Six (1170–1174)

After many years, Kingsbridge cathedral is completed. Waleran still seeks to ruin Philip, and accuses him of fornication by claiming that Jonathan, now a well liked and committed monk, is Philip's son. With Philip's conviction certain due to a lack of evidence proving his innocence, Jack and Jonathan attempt to figure out the identity of the latter's father, both being unaware that he is Tom's son. They discover the truth when Jonathan recalls that he had been found near the monastery cell that Philip once ran, a fact that had previously been unknown to Jack, who then remembers seeing the baby Jonathan lying on his mother's grave. The two of them manage to convince Ellen, who has remained bitter towards Philip for his role in splitting up her and Tom, to testify on his behalf.

At Philip's trial, Ellen's testimony saves him from being convicted. Regardless, Waleran accuses Ellen of perjury, and she exposes his own perjury in the framing of Jacques Cherbourg, revealing that Waleran and the others had been bribed to dispose of him. Remigius confirms her testimony, having heard Prior James confess to his perjury shortly before the latter's death. He explains that James's misrule of the Priory had been the result of the guilt he felt for his part in the conspiracy, and admits that he had sought to become Prior to repair the damage, before admitting that Philip was better suited for the task. Waleran ultimately loses his position as bishop of Kingsbridge as a result of the revelations.

Later on, William and Waleran become involved with the plot to assassinate Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in order to protect their now crumbling positions of power. William leads the attack, and despite the efforts of Philip, who had traveled to Canterbury to meet with Becket, the archbishop is brutally murdered. Upon seeing the distraught congregation, Philip is inspired to treat Becket's death as a martyrdom, and urges the assembled people to spread word of the murder across Christendom. With King Henry refusing to defend Becket's killers, William is subsequently convicted of sacrilege by the efforts of both Philip and Tommy, the son of Jack and Aliena, and hanged.

At Kingsbridge, Jack meets with a ruined and repentant Waleran, now living as a monk in the priory, to learn why his father was framed. The former bishop explains that a group of barons had arranged the sinking of the ''White Ship'' in order to kill the king's son and heir, with the belief that they would be able to influence the succession and gain more independence from the crown as a result. After they learned that Jacques Cherbourg had survived the sinking, the barons had him imprisoned in England to prevent him from exposing their conspiracy. While initially content to leave him there, they eventually chose to have him killed after he learned English and started attracting unwanted attention, hiring Waleran, Percy, and James for this end. Finally understanding the truth behind his father's death, Jack is able to put it behind him. Elsewhere, the Pope forces King Henry's public repentance and symbolic subjugation of the crown to the church, in which Philip, now Bishop of Kingsbridge, participates. In this final scene, Philip muses that the affair has proven the limitations of Royal power; the King could order Becket killed, but faced with the massive popular reaction he had to bow down and let himself be humiliated.

Edwin Leeford, who has a country estate, falls in love with his neighbour Agnes Fleming, who lives with her widowed former sea-captain father and her young sister, Rose. After Agnes becomes pregnant by Edwin, she discovers he is married, with a long-estranged wife and a teenaged son. Edwin is called to Rome by a dying uncle who plans to leave him a fortune as compensation for having arranged Edwin's unhappy marriage. However, his wife Elizabeth learns of this plan, follows him there, and murders him (after the uncle dies and Edwin inherits his wealth). She tries to convince their son Edward to murder Agnes, but his inability to do so triggers a seizure and Agnes runs away, convinced Edwin abandoned her despite his promise to return: Rose witnesses the attack and escape and is traumatized. Agnes seems to contemplate suicide but trudges on to a town, where she collapses, is taken to the local workhouse, and dies in childbirth. Her baby is christened Oliver Twist and taken to a farm for foundlings.

At nine, Oliver is moved from the farm back to the workhouse, where he is starved, beaten, and forced to work long hours alongside other children. Other boys compel him at mealtime to ask for more food, and the workhouse board decides he has to be sent away. He is apprenticed to Mr. Sowerberry, an undertaker, who is partly sympathetic to him, though his wife and their servants abuse Oliver, and Sowerberry's other apprentice, Noah, insinuates that Oliver's mother was a criminal, inciting Oliver to violence. Oliver escapes from the house and runs away to London, where he is taken by a young pickpocket, the Artful Dodger, to a dwelling occupied by young aspiring thieves under the tutelage of Fagin, a former magician from Prague reduced to a life of crime.

By this point, Edward Leeford, Oliver's half brother, lives in London with his mother, who is determined to disinherit Oliver. Using the pseudonym Monks, Edward associates with Fagin and contracts him to make Oliver a criminal and experience public disgrace, as a provision in their father's will left most of his estate to Agnes's child, but disinherited him if the child was a boy who showed any signs of bad character. Oliver accompanies the Dodger and Charley, another young thief, outdoors and they set him up to be arrested for pickpocketing. The target is Mr. Brownlow, Edwin Leeford's dearest friend and executor of his will, with whom Edwin left a portrait of Agnes on his way to Rome. A bookstore owner's testimony exonerates Oliver.

Unaware of who his charge is, Mr. Brownlow takes Oliver home to live with him and his housekeeper Mrs. Bedwin. Before Oliver can tell his story, he is kidnapped while on an errand for Brownlow by two of Fagin's adult accomplices, Bill Sikes (a housebreaker) and Nancy (Sikes's lover and a prostitute), and returned to Fagin's house. Brownlow reluctantly accepts his friend Grimwig's insistence that Oliver has lied and has returned to the thieves, and angrily sends Mrs. Bedwin, who defends Oliver, to his country house. Fagin, still determined to fulfill his contract with Monks and discredit Oliver, sends him off with Bill Sikes and another housebreaker, Toby Crackit, to rob this country house, where Mrs. Bedwin is looking after Agnes's orphaned sister Rose, adopted by Brownlow, now 17, and just returned from a trip to Paris with her governess. Four other servants help with the house.

During the robbery, Oliver is shot in the dark by one of the servants. Toby runs, Sikes leaves Oliver in a ditch, then runs off himself; Oliver makes his way to the house and is taken in by Mrs. Bedwin. When Brownlow arrives, finally what Oliver knows of his history is revealed, and Rose befriends him. However, Fagin and Monks travel to this place after neither Sikes nor Toby can confirm that Oliver is dead; Rose and Oliver see them peering in a window and Rose, recognizing Monks from his attack on her sister, has this old trauma reawakened. However, both men escape from the estate. Monks had previously managed to get from Mr. Bumble, formerly beadle in the town where Oliver was born, and his wife, the workhouse matron, a locket and ring Edwin gave to Agnes, engraved with their names, and has kept these proofs of Oliver's identity.

Brownlow and his household return to London to find out more about Oliver's history. Nancy, who has always been sympathetic to Oliver, runs to Brownlow's house while Sikes is asleep and tells them about the contract between Monks and Fagin. Finally, Rose is able to describe her nightmares about Agnes's attacker. Meanwhile, Fagin has grown suspicious of Nancy and has sent the Dodger and Charley to spy on her; when Sikes learns she went to Brownlow's house, he murders her in a fit of rage. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Leeford, who has persisted in her pursuit of revenge and money, but who now is aging and unwell, dies suddenly, leaving Monks/Edward, who is now strong enough to escape her beatings, a free agent. Brownlow's men arrest him and bring him to Brownlow's house.

Between Nancy's murder and Monks's desertion, Fagin is increasingly cornered. He scatters his gang and disguises himself. However, Sikes, now a fugitive, arrives to try to get Fagin to help him escape. By this point a mob is breaking down the doors of the house. Sikes falls from the roof and is killed; Fagin is spotted by Oliver and Charley (who has given up on crime) in the crowd and arrested.

Brownlow persuades Edward Leeford to confess to Rose and Oliver what he and his mother tried to do. He describes his own childhood trauma, including an accident that left him with uncontrollable seizures and his mother's abuse of him. Brownlow, Rose, and Oliver agree that he can have his rightful part of his father's estate, and he emigrates to the Caribbean, where he marries and starts a family.

As Fagin awaits execution, Brownlow and Oliver visit him, and he tells Oliver how to find what Monks/Edward gave him for safekeeping, an unmailed letter from Edwin to Agnes, written shortly after the death of his uncle and just before his own murder; Brownlow reads this to Oliver. Shortly thereafter, Rose marries Dr. Losborne, a local physician, and Oliver attends the wedding with Brownlow's household, where Charley is now employed.

The protagonist of the game, Nick Vrenna, has been unjustly incarcerated in a prison where the staff are performing unethical medical experiments upon the inmates. A prison riot occurs and an experiment goes horribly wrong. The people inside the prison - except for Nick, who seems to be immune - are infected with a substance called Abuse that transforms them into monsters. With the water supply in danger of being infected, Nick arms himself and fights through the horde to prevent this, and then escapes from the prison complex.

The series is about the mountain-based adventures of a young boy named Sebastian and his Pyrenean mountain dog, Belle, who live in a small village in Southern France. He has no friends because he is teased by the other children for not having a mother. But one day, he meets a gentle white dog who has been falsely accused of attacking people. He names her Belle and they become the best of friends. To save her from being put down, he leaves his adoptive family and flees to Spain with her and his little dog, Poochie. They have many adventures as they elude the police and search for his long-lost mother.

The story is introduced with an invocation to the Virgin Mary, then sets the scene in Asia, where a community of Jews live in a Christian city. A seven-year-old school-boy, son of a widow, is brought up to revere Mary. He teaches himself to sing the first verse of the popular medieval hymn ''Alma Redemptoris Mater'' ("Nurturing Mother of the Redeemer"); although he does not understand the words, an older classmate tells him it is about Mary, the mother of Jesus. He begins to sing it every day as he walks through the Jewish ghetto to school.

Satan, "That hath (built) in Jewes' heart his waspe's nest", incites some Jews to murder the child and throw his body into a public cesspit. His mother searches for him and eventually finds his body, which begins miraculously to sing the ''Alma Redemptoris''. The Christians call in the city magistrate, who has some of the guilty Jews drawn by wild horses and then hanged. The boy continues to sing throughout his Requiem Mass until the local abbot of the community asks him how he is able to sing. He replies that although his throat is cut, he has had a visit from Mary who laid a grain on his tongue and told him he could keep singing until it was removed and she would come for him. The abbot removes the grain and he becomes silent and passes away. The story ends with a reference to Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln, another child martyr whose death was blamed on Jews.

Domino Harvey, a bounty hunter, has been arrested by the FBI, investigating the theft of $10 million from an armored truck. She is interviewed by criminal psychologist Taryn Mills and tells her everything she knows about the case. Domino explains her profession and the events leading up to the theft with Mills occasionally prompting her to give more detail.

Domino is a former model living in Los Angeles who becomes a bounty hunter when, after being kicked out of college, she notices a newspaper advertisement for a bounty hunter training seminar. Her colleagues are Ed Moseby, Choco and Afghan driver Alf. They are employed by Claremont Williams III, a bail bondsman who also runs an armored car business, and whose mistress, Lateesha Rodriguez, works for the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Lateesha's granddaughter Mica is suffering from a blood disease and needs an operation that costs $300,000. Claremont sets up the robbery of $10 million from Drake Bishop, the owner of the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and a client of Claremont. His bounty hunters would return the stolen money and collect a $300,000 finder's fee from Bishop.

Lateesha has been running a counterfeit driver's license racket at the DMV. A teenager named Frances arrives at the DMV and asks Lateesha for fake licenses for himself, his brother, and two of their friends. The FBI are tipped about Lateesha's racket. They threaten to send her to jail unless she gives them information about Frances, whom they have been surveilling. Lateesha throws them off the trail by saying that Frances, his brother, and his two friends are going to commit the armored car robbery, when in reality she and Claremont are doing it themselves.

Lateesha carries out the robbery with the help of three co-workers. Claremont finds that Frances and his brother are the sons of mafia boss Anthony Cigliutti. He phones Lateesha and tells her to abort the plan, leaving the money with getaway driver Locus Fender, who takes the money to his mother's trailer home. Claremont has the bounty hunters apprehend Frances, his brother and his two friends and then tells them to deliver them to men working for Drake Bishop. Claremont tells them to retrieve the money from Fender and to deliver it to Bishop at the Stratosphere Casino. Following a shootout with Fender's mother, the $10 million is retrieved. Cigliutti is told about his sons' arrest and is led to believe that Bishop had his sons killed. In reality Bishop's men released the boys after learning that they did not know anything about the robbery. Believing his sons dead, Cigliutti wants revenge and heads for the Stratosphere. In Las Vegas, Domino takes $300,000 of Bishop's money and gives it to Lateesha for Mica's operation.

At the Stratosphere, the bounty hunters meet with Bishop, who has an armed crew with him. Domino and Bishop discuss the $10 million and what should happen next. Alf has stolen the money and filled the sacks with plastic explosives. He then reveals that he has the remote detonator taped to his hand, and has shipped the money to free Afghanistan. Shortly after this revelation Cigliutti turns up with his crew. Though Bishop denies he had Cigliutti's sons killed, Cigliutti shoots him. In the ensuing gunfight Choco and Ed are severely wounded, but make it into the elevator with Domino. Alf blows up the top of the Stratosphere and Domino is the only survivor.

After telling Taryn Mills everything, Domino is released by the FBI. Mills advises her to retire from bounty hunting. The (nearly) $10 million in boxes is delivered to Afghanistan and opened by celebrating children in the streets, Mica gets her $300,000 operation, and Domino shares a moment with her mother.

The story begins at the Palace of the Prophets where a funeral is being held for Nathan and Ann. Sister Verna and Warren, now freed from Rada'Han, are traveling with Richard to break down the barrier between the New and the Old World. Upon returning from the funeral, Sister Verna discovers that the ring of the Prelate is at the center of the large room, wrapped in a spell that does not allow any sister to retrieve it. The sisters invite Verna to make an attempt and she succeeds, becoming Ann's successor. Incredulous, Verna confides to Warren that she does not know what to do about the presence in the Palace of the Sisters of the Dark.

In the meantime, Richard suffers an attack by mriswiths at Aydindril but is saved by Gratch, who can sense the presence of the creatures. Realizing that they need allies, Richard decides to go to the embassy of D'Hara to claim the loyalty of the troops as the new Lord Rahl. On the way into town he gives a silver coin with the symbol of the Palace of the Prophets to a little girl who, with her grandmother, sells cakes with honey and is recognized by them as the Seeker. They promise not to reveal his identity. Shortly afterwards, Richard clashes with Blood of the Fold member Galtero, and is saved thanks to the intervention of four Mord-Sith: Cara, Raina, Berdine and Hally, and two personal guards of the Master Rahl, Ulic and Egan, who swear allegiance to him. Richard also learns from them the nature of the special bond that exists between Lord Rahl and all the D'Haran: a spell cast almost three thousand years ago by an ancestor of Richard, which involves a pact where the D'Haran protect Lord Rahl by force of arms and in return Lord Rahl protects all his subjects with the power of magic. The only requirement for the bond to work is that the D'Harans recognize the legitimacy of the title of Lord Rahl. Richard and his escort go to General Reibisch, the man in charge of the D'Haran army in Aydindril, in an effort to gain their loyalty. They succeed only through an attack of mriswith who burst into the room killing the Mord-Sith Hally, and several soldiers, which gives Richard the opportunity to kill the mriswith by dancing with the spirits, which convinces the D'Harans he is the real Lord Rahl. The general recognizes the authority of Lord Rahl, thus giving Richard control of the army.

At the Nicobarese's Palace in Aydindril, Lord General Tobias Brogan, assisted by his sister Lunetta, who through her gift is able to identify lies, investigates the death of the Mother Confessor. Among the ones being questioned is Sanderholt, the cook of the Confessors' Palace, whose lies are discovered by Lunetta who figures out that Kahlan is still alive. They also question the old lady and the little girl that Richard had previously bought cupcakes from, who demonstrate a knowledge of magic greater than expected. The old woman suggests that the Mother Confessor is alive and protected by a spell and she gives Brogan the money received from Richard telling him that in the city there is a magician powerful enough to cast a spell of that type. Brogan gives orders to his subordinates to question the two by all means to prove that they are servants of the Keeper. He then decides to go immediately in search of the Mother Confessor to kill her but is stopped by the words of his sister who explains that the spell that protects Kahlan probably makes sure that the Seeker can not recognize her. While deciding what to do, Brogan is summoned to the Confessors' Palace by the new Lord Rahl, along with all delegations in the Midlands. At the Confessors' Palace, Richard dissolves the Midlands giving everyone an ultimatum: either unite under D'Haran Empire willingly or be conquered. His words anger Duke and Duchess Lumholtz. Richard also announces that Galea has already joined the D'Haran Empire and he's going to marry their new queen, after which the assembly is dissolved with the caveat that none of the dignitaries will leave Aydindril until they surrender to D'Hara. Richard speaks to Brogan and his sister and demands they stop their interrogations that take place in the palace of the Nicobarese. Richard reiterates that the Mother Confessor is dead and emphasizes the fact that Nicobarese would do well to join D'Hara. Brogan gives his knife as a sign of confidence in Richard and asks for a silver coin in exchange. At the end of the meeting Richard sends Gratch to give a letter to Kahlan, describing his resolutions to dissolve the Midlands.

At the Palace of the Prophets, Verna and Warren go to visit sister Simona, a sister of the Light confined in the infirmary because she is considered crazy. She discovers that the Emperor Jagang, who is coming to visit in Tanimura, is the one in the ancient prophecies called the dreamwalker. She also realizes that there are many discrepancies in the circumstances that led to the death of Annalina and the Prophet Nathan. She decides to investigate.

Just out of the assembly, Tobias Brogan uses his sister to cast a circle spell on the Duke and Duchess Lumholtz, which would make them walk around a midden heap near the city. Brogan, Galtero and Lunetta wait by the midden heap until the couple shows up. Brogan greets the duchess warmly, wishing her a good evening but she ignores his greeting and walks right past him.

They wait until the duke and duchess show up again. This time, the duchess reacts with shock and asks Brogan to stop following her. She gets upset and closes her coat when she notices Galtero staring at her cleavage. The duke threatens to kill Galtero if he stares at his wife. Galtero just smiles without responding to the man.

The third time the noble couple shows up, Duchess Lumholtz gets angry and insults Brogan. He snatches the lace at the bosom of her dress and rips open her dress down to her waist, exposing her breasts. Galtero pins her arms behind her back and forces her to arch her back. The duke tries to draw his sword but is frozen in place by Lunetta's magic. The duchess's nipples stand out stiff in the cold.

rogan grabs the woman's left nipple, stretches it and cuts it off to give it to Lunetta, who uses it to cast a spell upon the young woman, making her obey Brogan. Under Brogan's orders, Lunetta heals Duchess Lumholtz left breast, leaving it without a nipple. Brogan then gives Duchess Lumholtz to Galtero, who rapes the woman on top of the midden. Brogan then kills the Duke and makes it look like a mriswith did it. After Galtero finishes raping the Duchess, Lunetta weaves another spell on her using the coin Richard gave, making her irresistible to Richard. Brogan also has the Duchess paint herself a nipple where her real one is missing.

Brogan decides to run away from Aydindril to pursue the Mother Confessor because he sensed that she hides under the identity of the queen of Galea. He returns to the palace and discovers that the soldier to whom he had given orders to torture the old lady is dead and that she and the girl have fled. Brogan and Lunetta prepare to flee to chase the Mother Confessor but are attacked by D'Haran soldiers guarding the palace. They are rescued by the mriswith, who kill the soldiers. Galtero knocks down the Mord-Sith Berdine and Lunetta then casts the same spell on Berdine as she cast upon Duchess Lumholtz, binding her to Brogan's will as well.

Berdine then presents Duchess Lumholtz to Richard. He is so attracted to her that he doubts control of his own actions and agrees to let her stay in the palace as a guest and to protect her from the mriswith if she will surrender Kelton.

Meanwhile, Warren discovers that he is a prophet, and when pronounces his first prophecy, in which he speaks of a "false prelate" and the "end the Palace of the Prophets." Together, Verna and Warren decide to find out why gravediggers were hired at the Palace of the Prophets.

Richard, now under the spell surrounding the Duchess Cathryn Lumholtz, is able to organize and carry out the public ceremony in which Kelton surrenders totally to D'Hara.

Ulicia and five other Sisters of the Dark arrive at the residence of Emperor Jagang where they discover that a large number of Sisters of Light and Dark are Jagang's and that he has bent them to his will using his dreamwalking. Ulicia and the five sisters unite their Han to destroy him. The Emperor effortlessly defends against the Sisters' attack because he has already made them into slaves, promising them agony if they use magic without his direct order. He then hands the sisters over to a bunch of sailors to rape, save for Merissa who he keeps as his new favorite after he kills Christabel as an example.

At the Confessors' Palace, Richard manages to retire to his room for the night in an attempt to escape the tempting Duchess Lumholtz. Soon after she enters his room eager to have sex with him, Richard realizes that something is wrong and uses his magic to see the nature of the spell cast on the Duchess. He realizes that she is about to stab him and barely manages to escape the attack. A mriswith enters the room and cuts Cathryn in half, telling Richard that he came to save him because he is a "skin brother." Baffled, Richard observes that there is something strange about Cathryn's left breast. He licks his finger and erases the paint, making him realize that the nipple was missing. He senses that this is tied to the spell that changed the behavior of the now dead Duchess. He has Egin roll up Cathryn's corpse in a carpet and take it away. Lord Rahl calls the three Mord-Sith and orders them to take their tops off. This reveals that Berdine, the Mord-Sith who threatened him with Agiel the previous day, has the same mutilation. Trying to save Berdine, Richard lets her hit him with the Agiel in order to prove that the magical link with the House of Rahl is the most powerful spell. Because the magical bond with Lord Rahl prevents Berdine from killing Richard if he does not try to defend himself, the woman is eventually destroyed by the pain of magic and begs Richard to kill her. Instead he saves her which erases the possession spell. Stunned by Richard's altruistic behavior, the three Mord-Sith swear their loyalty again.

At Aydindril, Richard and Berdine enter the Wizard's Keep to search for anything that can help defeat the dreamwalker. Following the directions of a mriswith, they arrive in a room in which they find the mummified body of a magician and a diary. The two take the diary and return to the Confessors' Palace.

The Prelate Verna wakes up in a cell and learns from Sister Leoma that her imprisonment has a specific purpose: Emperor Jagang wants to find out if it is possible to break the magical bond that protects those who are faithful to the Lord Rahl. Sister Leoma has been authorized to torture Verna through the Rada-Han and to use her as a guinea pig.

Richard gets a visit from the commander-in-chief of the Kelton army who says he is very concerned about the fate of his country because the death of the Duchess Lumholtz could cause a bloody war of succession. The general asks Richard to appoint a king for the Keltons and he responds by choosing Kahlan as Queen of Kelton. To the astonishment of Richard, the general and the Mord-Sith knows that Kahlan is the Mother Confessor. Richard then realizes that the spell that protected Kahlan has dissolved. He decides to send his soldiers to look for her.

Kahlan and Adie are then taken to the Palace of the Prophets and locked in a room to await the arrival of Jagang. Meanwhile, Brogan begins to suspect that what is happening to the Palace of the Prophets does not follow the will of the Creator and he begins showing signs of mental imbalance.

''Temple of the Winds'' picks up shortly where the last volume, ''Blood of the Fold'', left off. A wizard named Marlin appears in Aydindril announcing his intent to kill Richard Rahl. He is immediately captured and questioned by the Mother Confessor, Kahlan Amnell, and one of Richard's bodyguards, Cara. Cara uses her Mord'Sith ability to capture Marlin's gift when he tries to escape, but the link between Cara and Marlin is used against her when Emperor Jagang takes possession of Marlin soon thereafter. A lady named Nadine, whom Richard had known as an herbalist from the Westland, arrives and attempts to heal Cara, but fails. Richard's half-brother Drefan, a self-proclaimed high priest of a sect of healers, does, however, succeed in curing Cara with acupressure. Kahlan learns that Nadine and Richard had been close, but that Nadine had pursued Richard's brother in a baffling attempt to seduce Richard.

Meanwhile, Zedd and Prelate Annalina continue their search for the unleashed Nathan Rahl. Their search leads them to a run down inn in an unnamed city, where they discover that Nathan misled them into following another man. The man then gives them a message informing them not to follow Nathan but to protect a treasure instead. A Sister of the Dark, who was also following Nathan, ends up getting caught in a snare Zedd intended for the Prophet Rahl. Meanwhile, Nathan rescues a woman named Clarissa from a life of slavery in the Imperial Order. He then builds a relationship with the woman and uses her to obtain items from Jagang that were given under a tentative deal struck between Nathan (acting as Lord Rahl at the time) and the Emperor.

Richard and Berdine continue to work on the translation of the 'Journal of Kolo'. In the midst of all these activities, a Sister of the Dark travels through Aydindril spreading a magical plague. In a search for a cure, Richard travels to the First Wizard's Enclave. To save the people of the Midlands from the plague, Kahlan is told again and again by prophecy and the ancestor spirits of the Mud People that she must betray Richard to allow him to enter the Temple of the Winds, and that Richard must marry Nadine, or everyone in the New World will die of the plague. Even confronting the witch Shota, who sent Nadine to the Palace, Shota says that it was out of pity for Richard, that Nadine was the only other woman he ever even remotely cared for, and that the prophecy is unstoppable.

Eventually, a form of messenger from the Temple arrives and Cara steals his gift and the message, stating that Richard must marry Nadine and Kahlan must marry Drefan, and that the marriage must be immediately consummated, and in total silence. Utterly crushed at the loss of Richard, and wanting any form of comfort, Kahlan gives in, believing she is with Drefan. However, as lightning starts to crash all around, she sees it's Richard. Cara had swapped them in the dark of the corridors leading to the Temple. In the distance, Drefan throws Nadine from the cliffs as he had planned to do with Kahlan all along. Richard, feeling betrayed by Kahlan's apparent throes of passion with Drefan, is able to enter the Temple. Inside, he easily cures the plague and performs several other magical spells that used to be totally beyond him. He is then visited by the spirit of Kahlan's mother, who gently tries to explain the crushing loneliness of a Confessor's life, and Richard is eventually moved to return to the real world. The spirit of Darken Rahl appears and sets conditions for his release: he must give up the knowledge of the Temple of the Winds, and is infected with the plague.

When Richard returns, Kahlan learns from writing on Richard's hands and arms that she must destroy a book in order to save Richard, so she travels to the Old World in the sliph. Upon her arrival, she finds Nathan, Sister Verna, and Warren in a compromised situation, and she immediately spring into action to aid them. Clarissa is killed in the struggle by traitors.

Kahlan returns to Aydindril with the book, but is attacked by Drefan. Instead Richard, nearly dead from the plague, manages to subdue Drefan, who is then killed by the sliph. Kahlan destroys the book, recites the names of the three chimes, and Richard is cured of the plague.

In the epilogue, members of Drefan's sect come to see Richard looking for him. They tell him that Drefan was seriously disturbed, having taken to murdering prostitutes who reminded him of his mother. Richard and Kahlan travel to the land of the Mud People to be wed, where they meet up with Zedd and Ann. Richard and Kahlan are soon thereafter wed and are visited by the witch woman Shota, who once again warns them not to conceive a child.

Continuing on from ''Temple of the Winds,'' the story begins after Richard and Kahlan's wedding in the village of the Mud People. Strange deaths and the appearance of a 'chicken-that-isn't-a-chicken' leaves Richard fearing the worst. Zedd confides in Richard that the chicken is a Lurk sent by Emperor Jagang's Sisters of the Dark. According to Zedd, the only way to destroy the Lurk is by smashing a bottle from the Wizard's Keep in Aydindril with the Sword of Truth.

However, Zedd is actually lying. He has surmised that a terrible magic known as "the chimes" has been accidentally released by Kahlan in her attempt to cure Richard. The chimes will eventually drain all magic from the world of the living, beginning with the additive magic. This would cause death to beings that require magic and possibly cause the destruction of the world if additive magic were to completely fail. Zedd determines that he must find a remedy, and wants Richard and Kahlan safely out of the way while he does so.

Richard, Kahlan and Cara, unaware of the truth, set out to accomplish the task of breaking the bottle. Meanwhile, Zedd and Ann set off in separate ways. Zedd recalls some lore that relates the chimes to Anderith and he travels there to attempt to banish the chimes. Ann infiltrates the Imperial Order in order to save the Sisters of the Light under Jagang's enslavement. However, the Sisters of the Light betray Ann to Jagang because they fear the wrath of Emperor Jagang, causing Ann to be captured.

Elsewhere, there are Machiavellian politics of Anderith to worry about. Both the Anders, black-haired people who govern the city, and the Hakens, red-haired people under the boot of Ander oppression, occupy Anderith. From an early age, Hakens are kept under control and disrespected by the Anders and are taught that this oppression is a necessity to protect the Hakens from their violent ancestral ways. Most Hakens have bought into this idea and willingly subject themselves to the oppression.

Anderith is being wooed by the Imperial Order in the person of Stein, who personifies the savage ruthlessness of Jagang's empire. Stein offers double the going rate for any goods that merchants, all of the Ander race, will sell to the Imperial Order. He also plots with the Minister of Culture, Bertrand Chanboor, to surrender Anderith to the Order. They begin infiltrating Imperial Order soldiers into Anderith under the guise of Special Anderian Troops.

Dalton Campbell, aide to the Minister of Culture, has a hand in most events within the Anderith nation. He uses his connections, along with his squad of messengers, to accomplish underhanded tasks to ensure that the Minister will ascend to the chair of Sovereign (a religious position similar to the real world pope) when the present one passes on. Dalton treasures his wife Teresa above all else.

A kitchen scullion, Fitch, is recruited into the messenger corps by Dalton. Though he has conflicting goals and values, Fitch's gratitude towards Dalton results in blind obedience and he smothers his conscience to accomplish Dalton's bidding. Ultimately, Dalton betrays Fitch, who is forced to flee. Fitch determines to redeem himself by becoming the Seeker of Truth, a longtime fantasy of his. The first step to becoming Seeker is to obtain the Sword of Truth.

The Anderith Army is seriously under-trained and little more than children. They guard the Dominie Dirtch, a defensive line of giant bell-shaped structures, seemingly made from a solid piece of dark-veined stone, which kill anything in front of them when struck.

Elsewhere, Richard realizes the chimes are, in fact, loose. Because of this, he sends Cara to Aydindril to retrieve the Sword of Truth while he, Kahlan and Du Chaillu, about to deliver her child, head to Anderith to banish the chimes. Richard also deduces that the army of the Imperial Order is marching on Anderith. If the Imperial Order conquers Anderith, it will be a continuing imminent threat to the rest of the Midlands. Arriving in Anderith first, Zedd attempts to banish the chimes by offering them his soul. This is the cause of the chimes' presence: they don't have souls, and when Kahlan summoned them she inadvertently promised them Richard's soul. However, it is not Zedd's soul the chimes want. When Zedd's attempt fails, he undergoes a transformation, becoming a raven.

Richard and Kahlan arrive in Anderith and set out to look for the chimes, but they also work on joining Anderith with the D'Haran Empire. Word spreads and a vote is taken. While Richard makes a good plea to the people of Anderith, Dalton Campbell's interference sways the vote, leaving Richard defeated. At the same time, Kahlan struggles with the knowledge that she is with child, and the trouble that will come because of it.

Meanwhile, Ann finds the captive Sisters of the Light and persuades them to come with her. Since magic is failing, Jagang's abilities as a Dream Walker are null, and Ann informs the Sisters of a bond to Richard, the Lord Rahl, that can keep them safe from the Dream Walker. However, the Sisters, fearful of retribution by Jagang, betray Ann to the Imperial Order. She is left in her tent by herself when Sister Alessandra, a Sister of the Dark, begins visiting her and bringing her food. She attempts to sway Alessandra, at first to no avail but with success in the end.

Dalton Campbell, along with help from a Sister of the Dark, sets a group of his messengers on Kahlan when she is off by herself pondering on whether or not to keep Richard's child. She is beaten nearly to death, but she is saved by Richard, who at first doesn't recognize her. When he finally does, however, he realizes that he will be unable to heal her unless he manages to banish the chimes first.

Cara almost obtains the Sword of Truth, but is beaten to it by Fitch and his friend, Morley. A combination of sheer dumb luck and the fact that the Chimes have deactivated the Wizards' Keep defenses and killed many of its guards allow Fitch and his accomplice to easily obtain the Sword. Cara gives chase and kills the friend before chasing Fitch back to Anderith. When she catches him at the Dominie Dirtch, she loses the sword when Imperial Order scouts attack. The Order's soldiers collect the sword as a prize for Stein to present to Emperor Jagang.

Around this time, Dalton Campbell manages to murder the Sovereign, instead of waiting for the feeble figurehead to pass naturally. This immediately pushes Bertrand Chanboor to the rank of Sovereign. The empowered Chanboor consummates his promotion by sleeping with Dalton's wife, Teresa. Dalton pretends not to be disturbed by this betrayal and even seemingly "joins" the web of infidelity by sleeping with both Teresa and Chanboor's wife in turn, intentionally having contracted a lethal STD first. Campbell finalizes his revenge by killing the Imperial Order emissary, Stein (who had "shared" Teresa with Chanboor), gaining possession of the Sword of Truth in turn.

Having studied the actions of Joseph Ander, the ancient founder of Anderith, Richard comes to realize that the chimes and the Dominie Dirtch are connected. More specifically, he comes to understand that Joseph Ander enslaved the Chimes using them to power the Dominie Dirtch. Richard finally comes to understand that by using art as a form of intent, he can alter the Grace and create a new pathway for magic. Thus Richard counters the magic Ander used to enslave the Chimes and calls them forth giving the chimes a choice: His soul (which they were promised by Kahlan) or revenge on the spirit of Ander for enslaving them. The chimes choose vengeance, taking Ander to the underworld. Once he is successful in banishing the chimes, Richard sets off to heal Kahlan but is stopped by Du Chaillu, just having given birth, who tells him that his healing powers would kill her due to a hidden subtractive magic spell that has been placed within her.

Alessandra eventually frees Ann, reverts her faith back to the Creator and gives her oath to Richard. The pair soon sets off out of Anderith. When Zedd's soul is returned to his body with the banishment of the chimes, he also departs. Richard decides to leave for Westland, where he plans to let Kahlan recover from her wounds naturally. Dalton Campbell sees them off with his apologies and informs Richard that Campbell, Chanboor, and both of their wives have become stricken with an "unfortunate", incurable venereal disease and have doomed themselves to a slow, agonizing demise. He returns the Sword of Truth to Richard before they set off. Richard claims he will wait in Westland until the people of the world can prove to him that they truly desire freedom. As they depart, they pass a group of people set to welcome the Order, planning to sway them with peaceful protest. As they leave, the Order begins to sack the city, and the screams of the women being forced into sexual slavery follow them into the night.

Setting

The game's setting takes place within the same arrangement as the first five volumes of the 1984 Belgian graphic novel series ''XIII''. While the plot itself borrows major elements from all five volumes to create singular narrative - the attempt to uncover the identities of a group of conspirators seeking to overthrow the US government, and the involvement of a man with no memory to achieve this - the adaptation of the comics features notable differences and situations in various places.

Synopsis

On a beach in Brooklyn, New York City, a man with a gunshot wound is found by a lifeguard. Suffering from amnesia, the man can only recall being shot at while trying to escape from a boat, and learns he possesses a bank deposit key and a tattoo of the Roman numeral XIII on his right shoulder. When men led by a hitman named the Mongoose arrive to kill him, identifying him as XIII, he finds himself forced to escape. Investigating the key leads XIII to a bank where he recalls he was investigating a conspiracy, but had set a trap for those involved that he inadvertently sets off. Forced to escape in the chaos, XIII finds himself arrested outside the bank by the FBI for the assassination of the President of the United States, William Sheridan. Interrogated by the lead investigator, Colonel Amos, the man learns that his face belongs to that of the shooter in the murder, Steve Rowland. After the Mongoose attacks the FBI headquarters, XIII finds himself aided by a female soldier named Jones, whom he remembers working with, and escapes from the city.

Jones informs XIII that the pair were working with war veteran General Ben Carrington, who was conducting a parallel investigation into the president's death and had unearthed a conspiracy against the US government. Learning that he was arrested and taken to a base station in the Appalachian mountains, XIII proceeds to rescue him in order to uncover his past. Carrington agrees to help him, but instructs XIII to assist a contact in the Rocky Mountains. XIII meets with the contact who identifies herself as Kim Rowland, and that he is not Rowland; the real Rowland, her husband, died after committing the assassination. Protecting her from the men sent by the Mongoose, XIII is captured following an avalanche and promptly taken away to a mental asylum for examination after the hitman suspects him to be an impostor. XIII manages to escape, killing the asylum's director, before reuniting with Jones.

Informed of a meeting taking place in Mexico, XIII is sent to eavesdrop on it within the base of a special forces group called SPADS. During his infiltration, XIII finds out, while listening to a pair of SPADS soldiers' conversation, that he is actually Jason Fly, a squadmate of Rowland. Gathering evidence that the conspiracy involves a coup using SPADS soldiers led by a powerful group, XIII deals with two conspirators, while eliminating a stockpile of weapons meant for the coup. Upon returning to the United States, Carrington rendezvous with XIII alongside Amos, and reveals to both that Sheridan's murder was conceived by Rowland, but was murdered by the conspirators after the assassination, but survived long enough to contact his wife. Angered by his death, Kim decided to get revenge, and decided to expose the identity of the group and their scheme to the authorities through faking Rowland's survival. Carrington reveals that Fly agreed to assist by undergoing plastic surgery to replicate Rowland's appearance; XIII recalls he had been close to identifying the leader, before something went wrong.

With the aid of the FBI, XIII proceeds to uncover the identity of the conspirators, and infiltrates the meeting site of the group to find out how the coup will occur. With sufficient evidence, XIII, Amos, and Carrington meet with William's brother Walter, and explain to him the conspiracy - a group of powerful people in the United States, calling themselves "The XX" ("The Twenty") - due to the Roman numerals tattooed onto each member - planned a coup during a war simulation exercise using loyal SPADS soldiers, who would replace US democracy with a totalitarian government. As the coup involves a key military facility, Walter offers assistance to gain entry to the site. Shortly after arriving, XIII finds himself having to protect William's successor when SPADS begin attacking the site, eliminating the remaining members that had not been killed or arrested, before defeating the Mongoose in one final battle.

With the coup thwarted, Walter holds a party on his private yacht. While seeking him out, XIII overhears Kim arguing with Walter and enters the latter's private office to hear a weakened Mongoose on the speakerphone trying to contact Number I, the leader of the conspiracy. XIII then has one final flashback in which he recalls that he was on that yacht previously when he came close to identifying Number I; realising the person he saw in the office he is currently standing in was Walter. The game ends on a cliffhanger when Walter, accompanied by armed bodyguards, finds XIII in the office.

In the year 2230, the gigantic, interstellar space ship Toronto emerges from hyperspace at the edge of a distant planetary system. The ship's owners, the multinational DDT corporation, believe that there are rich deposits of raw materials on one of the planets in the system, and the Toronto is to mine the whole planet's resources at once. The player is cast in the role of Tom Driscoll, the pilot of the exploration shuttle sent to verify the status of the planet. His shuttle malfunctions, forcing him to make a crash landing. Tom discovers that the data that described the planet as a desert world was false. Albion is a world teeming with life, secrets, surprises, and magic. It is inhabited by the sentient, tall and slender, feline-like humanoids called Iskai and the many divisions of Celtic humans that traveled magically to the planet in their era. It is up to Driscoll to alert the crew of the Toronto to the true situation to save Albion and its inhabitants.

After having been thought to have died at the end of the 10th season, it is revealed that Mitch Buchannon only had amnesia where he was recovering in a Los Angeles hospital and has now retired from Lifeguard duty. His new fiancée, Allison Ford (Alexandra Paul), resembles his old lover, Lt. Stephanie Holden (also played by Alexandra Paul), who died during the seventh season of ''Baywatch''. Taylor Walsh (Angelica Bridges) now runs the Baywatch Headquarters, where Leigh Dyer (Brande Roderick) and JD Darius (Michael Bergin) are now in a relationship, and Mitch's son Hobie (Jeremy Jackson) has started a relationship with Summer Quinn (Nicole Eggert). Taylor manages to lure Mitch back to Baywatch so he can introduce everybody to Allison, and they're all surprised that she looks like Stephanie, especially Mitch's ex Neely Capshaw (Gena Lee Nolin), who shows up in an attempt to get Mitch back and becomes suspicious of Allison.

Meanwhile, C.J. (Pamela Anderson) is opening a bar and grill in Hawaii and invites many of the old lifeguards from ''Baywatch'' there for a reunion including Caroline Holden (Yasmine Bleeth), now an actress. Also there are John D. Cort (John Allen Nelson) and Eddie Kramer (Billy Warlock), who starts a relationship with Caroline after being separated from Shauni. Lani McKenzie (Carmen Electra) is now a Hula Dancer and is now good friends with C.J. Also, Kekoa Tanaka (Stacy Kamano) and Jason Ioane (Jason Momoa) are now in a relationship. C.J. gets a call from Mitch to announce his engagement to Allison and to tell her that they booked their wedding in Hawaii. But while everyone's there, Mitch's old nemesis, Mason Sato (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), takes pictures of his loved ones to plot his revenge against him.

Neely, still suspicious of Allison, gets into a fight with her in the water, in which she discovers her fingerprints on her necklace, which she gives to Jason to give to his detective brother to run a check on her. After they have the engagement party, they take a boat to Haiku Island, where the wedding will take place.

When they arrive there, Sato's men prepare to capture and drown Lani, Cort, Eddie, Caroline, Hobie, and Summer and record it all on video. Also, Neely finds out from Kekoa and Jason that Allison is really a criminal named Judy Radin who served time for forgery and assault with a deadly weapon, and had reconstructive surgery done to look like Stephanie, but Mitch doesn't believe her until he confronts Allison, who reveals her partner: Sato, and he and Mitch fight, and Sato shows Mitch his drowning friends on video, but gives him a chance to save them.

Neely and Mitch go to save Hobie and Summer, Leigh goes to save Cort and Lani, and J.D. goes to save Eddie and Caroline. But after Mitch and Neely save Hobie by performing CPR, Sato and Allison find them and hold them hostage, but Mitch and Sato fight again and Neely punches Allison and takes the gun from her.

Eddie, Caroline, Lani, and Cort get rescued, while Mitch and Sato continue their fight on the rescue boat, and Sato is killed by the propellers of the boat underwater. The Coast Guard arrives to arrest Allison and Sato's henchmen, and Mitch breaks off their engagement. J.D. and Kekoa became lovers again, and as did Jason and Leigh.

C.J. and her co-worker Lorenzo decide to get married so there would be a wedding while everyone watches, and Mitch and Neely reconcile as well.

The story starts with the del Valle family, focusing upon the youngest and the oldest daughters of the family, Clara and Rosa. The youngest daughter, Clara del Valle, has paranormal powers and keeps a detailed diary of her life. Using her powers, Clara predicts that an accidental death will occur in the family. Shortly after this, Clara's sister, Rosa the Beautiful, is killed by poison intended for her father who is running for the Senate. Clara is shocked into muteness after witnessing the autopsy performed on her sister's body. Rosa's fiancé, a poor miner named Esteban Trueba, is devastated and attempts to mend his broken heart by devoting his life to restoring his family hacienda, Las Tres Marías, which has fallen into poverty and disrepair. He sends money to his spinster sister who takes care of their arthritic mother in town. Through a combination of intimidation and reward, he enforces respect and labor from the fearful peasants and turns Tres Marías into a "model hacienda". He turns the first peasant who spoke to him upon arrival, Pedro Segundo, into his foreman, who quickly becomes the closest thing that Trueba ever has to an actual friend during his life. He rapes many of the peasant women and children, and his first victim, then 15 year old Pancha García, becomes the mother of his bastard son, Esteban García.

Esteban returns to the city to see his dying mother. After her death, Esteban decides to fulfill her dying wish for him to marry and have legitimate children. He goes to the Del Valle family to ask for Clara's hand in marriage. Clara accepts Esteban's proposal; she herself has predicted her engagement two months prior, speaking for the first time in nine years. During the period of their engagement, Esteban builds what everyone calls "the big house on the corner," a large mansion in the city where the Trueba family will live for generations. After their wedding, Esteban's sister Férula comes to live with the newlyweds in the big house on the corner. Férula develops a strong dedication to Clara, which fulfills her need to serve others. However, Esteban's wild desire to possess Clara and to monopolize her love causes him to throw Férula out of the house. She curses him, telling him that he will shrink in body and soul, and die like a dog. Although she misses her sister-in-law, Clara is unable to find her by any means - the gap between her and her husband widens as she devotes more time to her daughter and the mystic arts.

Clara gives birth to a daughter named Blanca and later, to twin boys Jaime and Nicolás. The family, which resides in the capital, stays at the hacienda during the summertime. Upon arriving at Tres Marías for the first time, Blanca immediately befriends a young boy named Pedro Tercero, who is the son of her father's foreman. Blanca and Pedro grow up together as best friends despite them being of two different social and economic classes. During their teenage years, Blanca and Pedro Tercero eventually become lovers. After an earthquake that destroys part of the hacienda and leaves Esteban injured, the Truebas move permanently to Las Tres Marías. Clara spends her time teaching, caring for her husband's battered body, and writing in her journals while Blanca is sent to a convent school and the twin boys back to an English boarding school, both of which are located in the city. Blanca fakes an illness so as to be sent back to Las Tres Marías, where she can be with Pedro Tercero, but when she arrives home she finds that Pedro Tercero has been banished from the hacienda by Esteban on account of his revolutionary socialist ideas. Pedro Tercero meets with Blanca in secret adopting disguises while also spreading his ideas in the form of song to neighboring haciendas.

A visiting French count to the hacienda, Jean de Satigny, reveals Blanca's nightly romps with Pedro Tercero to her father. Esteban furiously goes after his daughter and brutally whips her. When Clara expresses horror at his actions, Esteban slaps her, knocking out her front teeth. Clara decides to never speak to him again, reclaims her maiden name and moves out of Tres Marías and back to the city, taking Blanca with her. Esteban, furious and lonely, blames Pedro Tercero for the whole matter; putting a price on the boy's head with the corrupt local police. At this point, Pedro Segundo deserts Esteban, telling him he does not want to be around when Trueba inevitably catches his son. Enraged by Pedro Segundo's departure, Trueba begins hunting for Pedro Tercero himself, eventually tracking him down to a small shack near his hacienda. He only succeeds in cutting off three of Pedro's fingers, and is filled with regret for his uncontrollable furies.

Blanca finds out she is pregnant with Pedro Tercero's child. Esteban, desperate to save the family honor, gets Blanca to marry the French count by telling her that he has killed Pedro Tercero. At first, Blanca gets along with her new husband, but she leaves him when she discovers his participation in sexual fantasies with the servants. Blanca quietly returns to the Trueba household and names her daughter Alba. Clara predicts that Alba will have a very happy future and good luck. Her future lover, Miguel, happens to watch her birth, as he had been living in the Trueba House with his sister, Amanda. They move out shortly after Alba's birth.

Esteban Trueba eventually moves to the Trueba house in the capital as well, although he continues to spend periods of time in Tres Marías. He becomes isolated from every member of his family except for little Alba, whom he is very fond of. Esteban runs as a senator for the Conservative Party but is nervous about whether or not he will win. Clara speaks to him, through signs, informing him that "those who have always won will win again" – this becomes his motto. Clara then begins to speak to Esteban through signs, although she keeps her promise and never actually speaks to him again. A few years later, Clara dies peacefully and Esteban is overwhelmed with grief.

Alba is a solitary child who enjoys playing make-believe in the basement of the house and painting the walls of her room. Blanca has become very poor since leaving Jean de Satigny's house, getting a small income out of selling pottery and giving pottery classes to mentally handicapped children, and is once again dating Pedro Tercero, now a revolutionary singer/songwriter. Alba and Pedro are fond of each other, but do not know they are father and daughter, although Pedro suspects this. Alba is also fond of her uncles. Nicolás is eventually kicked out by his father, supposedly moving to North America.

When she is older, Alba attends a local college where she meets Miguel, now a grown man, and becomes his lover. Miguel is a revolutionary, and out of love for him, Alba involves herself in student protests against the conservative government. After the victory of the People's Party (a socialist movement), Alba celebrates with Miguel.

Fearing a Communist dictatorship, Esteban Trueba and his fellow politicians plan a military coup of the socialist government. However, when the military coup is set into action, the military men relish their power and grow out of control. Esteban's son Jaime is killed by power-driven soldiers along with other supporters of the government. After the coup, people are regularly kidnapped and tortured. Esteban helps Blanca and Pedro Tercero flee to Canada, where the couple finally find their happiness.

The military regime attempts to eliminate all traces of opposition and eventually comes for Alba. She is made the prisoner of Colonel Esteban García, the son of Esteban Trueba's and Pancha Garcia's illegitimate son, and hence the grandson of Esteban Trueba. During an earlier visit to the Trueba house, García had molested Alba as a child. In pure hatred of her privileged life and eventual inheritance, García tortures Alba repeatedly, looking for information on Miguel. He rapes her, thus completing the cycle that Esteban Trueba put into motion when he raped Pancha García. When Alba loses her will to live, she is visited by Clara's spirit who tells her not to wish for death, since it can easily come, but to wish to live.

García, fearful of his growing attachment to Alba, discards her. Esteban Trueba manages to free Alba with the help of Miguel and Tránsito Soto, an old friend and prostitute from his days as a young man. After helping Alba write their memoir, Esteban Trueba dies in the arms of Alba, accompanied by Clara's spirit; he is smiling, having avoided Férula's prophecy that he will die like a dog. Alba is pregnant, though whether the child is Miguel's or the product of her rape is unknown. Alba embraces this ambiguity, however, loving her unborn child as above all, it is her own. Alba resolves that she will not seek vengeance on those who have injured her, choosing to believe in the hope that one day the human cycle of hate and revenge will be broken. Alba is revealed to be the narrator of the novel, which she writes while she waits for Miguel and for the birth of her child.

The 30-minute opening sequence of the film depicts an opposed beach landing. Its graphic depiction of the violence and savagery of war was echoed years later in Steven Spielberg's ''Saving Private Ryan''. In one scene during the landing, a Marine is shown with his arm blown off, similar to Thomas C. Lea III's 1944 painting ''The Price''.

As Americans are shown consolidating their gains, flashbacks illustrate the lives of American and Japanese combatants. Shifting first-person voice-over in a stream-of-consciousness style is also used to portray numerous characters' thoughts. Like Wilde's previous production of ''The Naked Prey'' (1965), the film does not use subtitles for characters speaking Japanese.

The film contains large sections of voice-over narration, often juxtaposed with still photographs of wives, etc. (who are anachronistically dressed in 1967 attire). Many soldiers in the film shed tears, and the narrative displays an unusual amount of sympathy for the enemy.

In one scene, an injured Cliff is lying close to an injured Japanese soldier in a scene paralleling the one from ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' with Paul Bäumer and Gérard Duval. Just after the two soldiers bond, other Marines appear and kill the Japanese soldier, distressing Cliff.

Director, producer, and co-writer Wilde plays a Marine captain, the company commander. Rip Torn plays his company gunnery sergeant, who utters the film's tagline, "That's what we're here for. To kill. The rest is all crap!"

The starship USS ''Enterprise'' arrives at Minara II to recover research personnel as its star is about to go supernova. Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, and Science Officer Spock beam to the surface but find the research station deserted. Chief Engineer Scott moves ''Enterprise'' to a safe distance to protect it from being bombarded by a solar flare.

The landing party is suddenly transported into an underground chamber and discover that they are trapped along with a beautiful mute woman, whom McCoy names "Gem". The landing party is attacked by two aliens, Lal and Thann, from a race of humanoid beings known as Vians, who proceed to injure Kirk. Gem proves she is an empath by absorbing Kirk's injuries, briefly taking them on herself before they are healed.

They search the nearby chambers and find machinery and computer systems, along with transparent cylinders, some containing the missing research personnel in grotesque poses, and three empty ones labeled with the landing party's names. Lal arrives, but Spock subdues him with a Vulcan nerve pinch and allows the group to escape to the surface.

They are surprised to see Scott and a landing party waiting for them, but soon discover they are only a mirage. The Vians arrive and transport Gem and Kirk back into the underground complex, where they begin torturing Kirk with Gem only able to watch. During this, the aliens explain that they had tested the research personnel (Linke and Ozaba) similarly, but both men died from their fears.

Gem and a badly injured Kirk are transported back to where McCoy and Spock are held, and Gem heals Kirk's wounds, but only after McCoy urges her to do so. The Vians demand another test subject, and McCoy sedates both Kirk and Spock to make the Vians choose him. When Kirk and Spock awaken, they understand from Gem what McCoy has done and make their escape to find McCoy near death at the medical chamber after being subjected to the Vians' tests.

Kirk and Spock attempt to help McCoy but are stopped by the Vians' use of a force field. They can only stand by and watch as Gem attempts to absorb McCoy's wounds, though she seems afraid to take the entirety of them upon herself. The Vians then explain that this has all been a test for Gem as a representative of her people in this solar system. They have been trying to judge if Gem was willing to sacrifice her life for that of another; if she passed the test, the Vians would use their advanced technology to save the rest of Gem's people from the pending supernova. Gem attempts again to absorb McCoy's wounds but he pushes her away, not wanting her to die. Spock observes the force field reacts to resistant force, and theorizes that total calm would dissipate the field, allowing them the opportunity to overtake the Vians. Kirk insists to the Vians that Gem has proven her choice is to sacrifice herself, and furthermore accuses the aliens of lacking compassion. The Vians realize their error, and, in silence, seemingly agree that Gem has passed the test. They return Gem and McCoy to full health, and promise to save Gem's people. The Vians and Gem disappear.

Kirk, Spock and McCoy return to the ''Enterprise'' safely. After hearing the trio discussing the probability of meeting a woman like Gem, Scott comments that she must have been a "pearl of great price" and they agree.

Nadja is an orphan who lives at the Applefield Orphanage, in early 20th-century England. Nadja is called by Miss Appleton, the orphanage's owner, to receive a package delivered to her. The gifts sent for her thirteenth birthday are a dress and a diary. She is told in the accompanying letter that her mother is still alive. She later joins a traveling street performance act called the ''Dandelion Troupe'' in search of her mother after a fire breaks out in her orphanage. She travels the world, finding many friends along the way that teach her things about herself, ultimately having to learn the truth about her parentage and discovering her own destiny.

Setting and characters

''Mega Man Legends 2'' brings back several characters from its predecessor. This includes the protagonist Mega Man Volnutt (whose original name is Mega Man Trigger), a Digger in charge of exploring ruins to find Refractors,Capcom (2000), p. 18 Roll Caskett, his spotter, who is searching for her missing parents,Capcom (2000), p. 19 and Data, a mechanical monkey who contains all of Mega Man's original memories. Roll's grandfather, Barrel Caskett, also appears alongside his old friend Werner Von Bluecher in search of the Mother Lode, a legendary treasure supposed to have infinite energy. The pirates "the Bonnes", made up of siblings Teisel, Tron, and Bon, and their Servbot followers, return once again as antagonists of the series but allied with three new members:Capcom (2000), p. 20 a blonde-haired man named Glyde previously seen in ''The Misadventures of Tron Bonne'' who uses Birdbots as servants,Capcom (2000), p. 21 and Bola and Klaymoor, a floating samurai and an enormous man wearing armor, respectively.Capcom (2000), p. 22 Other characters include Yuna and Sera, whose purposes remain unknown during the game's start, as well as the Master: a 3000-year-old man who is referred to as the last "true" human.

Story

A news conference is held by Professor Barrel Caskett and his old friend Werner Von Bluecher about the upcoming journey to the Forbidden Island in a large airship called the Sulphur Bottom to search for the Mother Lode. Barrel recognizes a reporter, Yuna, as his lost daughter, Matilda Caskett, who warns them of the catastrophe that could transpire if they pursue their journey. Yuna escapes with her servant, a Reaverbot flying machine-like being named Gatz to break the windows for her escape. Ignoring her warning Bluecher continues to the center of the island. Yuna orders Gatz to give warning shots but due to the hostile retaliation of the Sulphur Bottom, Gatz damages the engine, forcing the airship to descend to the island below.

Mega Man Volnutt and Roll Caskett watch the events from television and decide to rescue them. With Roll's help, Mega Man makes his way to the center of the island and in the process releases a girl called Sera and her servant Geetz, both of whom go to the Sulphur Bottom. Geetz tells Bluecher and Barrel that the Mother lode can be accessed by means of four keys. Bluecher and Barrel ask Mega Man if he could retrieve the keys before the Pirates who heard their conversation with Geetz.

Mega Man along with Roll set forth to find the four Keys in the Manda, Nino, Saul Kada and Calinca Ruins, while battling the Pirates, most often the Bonne Family, along the way. When Mega Man returns with the final key to the Sulphur Bottom, Sera orders Geetz to attack the ship and take the keys. Yuna appears in the ship and orders Gatz to fight Geetz. Mega Man stumbles upon Yuna, who then gives some reminder about his former life and explains to him the terrible catastrophe she was trying to prevent: Sera's plans for the execution of the "Carbon Reinitialization Program", meant to kill every human from Terra and revive the original humans. Soon after, Mega Man reaches the deck of the Sulphur Bottom and sees Gatz defeated by Geetz. Mega Man is able to defeat Geetz, who, using his last forces, seriously damages Mega Man.

While recovering, Mega Man starts to explore his past. In his dreams he sees himself and a man known as "Master" going to Terra and giving Mega Man his "Genetic Code" before dying and requesting that Mega Man destroy the system that can start the Carbon Reinitialization Program. Yuna tells Mega Man to choose whether to follow what the System wants him to do or oppose it.

Mega Man then takes a flight in a ship merged with Gatz heading for the planet Elysium with Yuna. In Elysium, Mega Man reaches the room where the Carbon Reinitialization Program is to be executed from. Sera then appears in the form of a robot to Mega Man and states that she did not execute the Carbon Reinitialization Program but has, instead, been waiting for Mega Man's arrival to challenge him in hopes that by defeating him she would prove that their master liked her more. In battle, Gatz tries to aid Mega Man by attacking Sera's logic circuits, but dies in the attempt. As Mega Man defeats Sera, Yuna arrives at the scene reminding Sera that it is not their Master's wish for her to die. Sera awakes in Yuna's real body and decides to help Yuna protect the Carbons from the machines that are being activated in Terra due to an old system Master tried to stop. However, due to Gatz's death, Mega Man, Sera and Yuna are now stranded in Elysium with no means of transporting back to Terra any time soon. The game ends with Roll and other characters working together to build a rocket to rescue Mega Man from Elysium.

Mirette lives in a boarding house in France. One day her life is changed by a man named Bellini, a famous tightrope walker, who teaches Mirette how to walk on a tightrope.

After her mother Lorraine, a jazz singer whom she felt neglected her for her career, dies from a drug overdose, 18-year-old Purslane (Pursy) Hominy Will leaves a Florida trailer park, where she lives with an abusive boyfriend, to return to her hometown of New Orleans, after having dropped out of high school and left the city.

She is surprised to find strangers living in her mother's dilapidated home: Bobby Long, a former professor of literature at Auburn University, and his protégé and former teaching assistant, Lawson Pines, a struggling writer. Both heavy drinkers and smokers, they pass time quoting poets, playing chess, and spending time with the neighbors; Long also sings country-folk songs. The two convince Pursy that her mother left the house to all three of them. More exactly, the truth is that Pursy is the sole heir, and her mother's will limits how long the other two can stay in the house.

Pursy moves in, acting as the most responsible member of the evolving dysfunctional family. The men's efforts to drive her away decline as they grow more fond of her. Bobby - slovenly and suffering from ailments he prefers to ignore - tries to improve Pursy by introducing her to the novel ''The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter''; he also encourages her to return to high school and get her degree. Lawson is attracted to her but hesitates to become involved. The three have memories of Lorraine, especially Pursy, who feels that her mother ignored her to pursue her jazz career. When she finds a cache of letters her mother wrote to her but never mailed, Pursy learns more about how Lorraine felt about her, and the identity of her biological father.

Nine years after the failure of the ''Discovery One'' mission to Jupiter in 2001, in which the crew of five including mission commander David Bowman were lost, an international dispute causes tension between the United States and the Soviet Union while both nations prepare space missions to determine what happened to the ''Discovery''. The Soviet spacecraft ''Leonov'' will be ready a year before the American ''Discovery Two'', but the Soviets need Americans to board the ''Discovery'' and reactivate the ship's sentient computer, HAL 9000, apparently responsible for the disaster. Upon learning that ''Discovery'' will crash into Jupiter's moon Io before the American mission can launch, Dr. Heywood Floyd, ''Discovery'' designer Walter Curnow, and HAL 9000's creator Dr. Chandra are permitted to join the Soviet mission.

Arriving at Jupiter, the crew detects organic molecules on Jupiter's icy moon Europa. A probe sent to investigate is destroyed by an energy burst, which the Soviets believe to be electrostatic build-up, but which Floyd suspects is a warning to stay away from Europa. Finding ''Discovery'' adrift in orbit over Io, Curnow reactivates the ship, and Chandra restarts HAL. Cosmonaut Max Brailovsky investigates the nearby giant Monolith at which Bowman disappeared while exploring, but the Monolith destroys his EVA pod with a burst of energy, killing him.

On Earth, Dave Bowman, now an incorporeal being, appears through his former wife's television to say goodbye, telling her that "something wonderful" is going to happen. He then visits his comatose mother in a nursing home. She briefly awakens in delight at her son's presence, before dying peacefully.

Chandra discovers the reasons for HAL's malfunction: the National Security Council ordered HAL to conceal information about the Monolith from the ''Discovery'' s crew and programmed him to complete the mission alone; this conflicted with HAL's programming of open, accurate processing of information, causing the computer equivalent of a paranoid mental breakdown. When Bowman and copilot Frank Poole discussed deactivating the malfunctioning computer, HAL judged that the human crew was endangering the mission, and terminated them. Although the NSC's order bears his signature, Floyd angrily denies having known of it.

Back on Earth, the United States and the Soviet Union are on the brink of war. The Americans are ordered to leave the ''Leonov'' and move to the ''Discovery'', with no further communication between the crews. Both ships plan to leave Jupiter in several weeks' time, but Bowman appears to Floyd, and says that everyone must leave within two days. Floyd confers with the skeptical Soviet captain, Tanya Kirbuk. The crews agree to cooperate for an emergency departure when the Monolith suddenly disappears, and a growing black spot appears in Jupiter's atmosphere. Neither ship has the fuel to reach Earth if they leave ahead of schedule, so the ships are docked together, and placed under the control of HAL 9000. ''Discovery'' s remaining fuel will be burned to propel the ''Leonov'' away from Jupiter; then ''Discovery'' will be undocked and left behind.

HAL determines that the spot is a vast group of Monoliths, multiplying exponentially and altering Jupiter's density and chemical composition. He suggests canceling the launch in order to study the changes occurring to Jupiter. Floyd worries that HAL will prioritize his mission over the humans' survival, but Chandra admits to the computer that there is a danger, and that ''Discovery'' may be destroyed. HAL thanks Chandra for telling him the truth, and ensures the ''Leonov'' s escape. Before ''Discovery'' is destroyed, Bowman asks HAL to transmit a priority message, assuring him that they will soon be together. The Monoliths engulf Jupiter, which undergoes nuclear fusion, becoming a new star. HAL transmits this message to Earth:

The ''Leonov'' survives the shockwave from Jupiter's ignition, and returns home. Floyd narrates how the new star's miraculous appearance, and the message from a mysterious alien power, inspire the American and Soviet leaders to seek peace. Under its infant sun, icy Europa transforms into a humid jungle, covered with life, and watched over by a Monolith.

The story centers around the card game ''Duel Masters'', which revolves around five civilizations consisting of Fire, Water, Light, Darkness and Nature. The original storyline follows Shobu Kirifuda, a young boy who likes to play ''Duel Masters''. He and a few duelists are known to bring the monsters on the cards to life in their duels. Shobu engages in this card game so that he can be the best duelist like his father was.

Kalas, in his travels to avenge the death of his grandfather and brother, joins Xelha, a good-willed but naive traveler. Together, they inadvertently release the first of the "End Magnus", which is quickly seized by members of the Alfard Empire, a hostile nation on one of the islands. The two chase after them to the Empire's capital, stopping at Diadem along the way, where they meet and team up with Gibari, a fisherman, and Lyude, Diadem's ambassador to the Empire. Upon arrival, they learn there are five End Magnus in total, and the Empire wishes to locate all five of them, which together, will unseal the power of the evil god Malpercio. The party begins an unsuccessful effort to obtain the End Magus to keep them away from the Empire. One is found in Diadem, but is stolen from them immediately. They travel to Anuenue, where they team up with Savyna, an ex-mercenary from the Empire, but are stopped from obtaining an End Magnus by the Empire's emperor, Geldoblame.

They travel to Mira, Kalas's home nation, where they meet Mizuti, a strange masked being who joins the group. A temporary arrest for being suspected of kidnapping Miran resident Lady Melodia causes them again to lose the only End Magnus they had obtained there. The group escapes to Alfard to stop Geldoblame, but in the confrontation, it is revealed that Kalas had secretly been working for Melodia all along to find the End Magnus and revive Malpercio for her benefit. Melodia takes control of the Empire from Geldoblame, and his former soldiers drive him to the depths of Alfard's Lava Caves. Kalas absorbs the power of the five End Magnus and falls under Malpercio's control. The other members are captured and imprisoned, though Xelha escapes and frees them. They travel to Wazn, an island covered in snow, where they learn that Xelha is its queen. She obtains the Ocean Mirror, which allows Xelha to restore Kalas's free will. Malpercio and Melodia refuge themselves into Cor Hydrae, an ancient fortress also unsealed by the five End Magnus.

Kalas, guilty over his deception, vows to reseal Malpercio. Mizuti directs the group to her homeland, a village in the lands below the Taintclouds, a poisonous layer of gas below the floating islands. They venture down to seek the power of the "Sword of the Heavens" to aid their quest; however, Malpercio and Melodia show up, and the two sides clash. The party is able to ward them off, but the Sword of Heavens is broken in the process. The party then learns of one last hope of stopping Melodia and Malpercio: the Magnus of Life. Kalas learns the truth about his origins; Kalas's scientist grandfather, Georg, under the direction of Emperor Geldoblame, used this power to artificially create life – namely Kalas and his brother, Fee. Geldoblame felt Kalas was too human, and only had one wing, and ordered his death. Georg instead fakes his death by blowing up his laboratory, and secretly flees to Mira with Kalas and Fee. Because he was created by the Magnus of Life, however, Kalas can use its power, though he does not yet know how to tap into it.

The party breaks through into Cor Hydrae for a final showdown with Malpercio and Melodia. Malpercio is defeated, Melodia receives free will again, and Kalas, Melodia, and the Guardian Spirit use their powers to release Malpercio's spirit from his body. The energy needed to break the shield around Cor Hydrae drains the energy that allows the five major floating islands to float in the sky, and the islands fall toward the Earth below. However, the planet has now become inhabitable again, and with the help of the five ancient gods, the islands safely fall into place on the planet as continents. While the general population celebrates a bright new future, Xelha privately confides to Kalas that she is an ancient ice queen, and that her death is required in order to restore the oceans of water necessary for humanity to exist again on the planet. A final battle with Geldoblame ensues, and Kalas and Xelha defeat him, but the battle uses the last of Xelha's strength and she dies in Kalas's arms just after confessing her love. All over the world, a rain begins to fall, accumulating into the long-lost ocean. With resolution found, it is deemed time for the "guardian spirit" to leave, with Kalas and the others congregating to say their goodbyes. The guardian spirit sticks around just long enough to see an area boy give Kalas a pendant Xelha had worn throughout the game, saying that he can hear Xelha's voice in it; Kalas puts it up to his ear, and Xelha reappears in a flash of water.

Over a single Friday in July, the Dee-Luxe Car Wash hosts all manner of strange visitors, including a hysterical wealthy woman from Beverly Hills dealing with a carsick son. Money-hungry evangelist "Daddy Rich", who preaches a pseudo-gospel of prosperity theology, appears with his loyal (and singing) entourage, The Wilson Sisters. One main character is Abdullah Mohammed Akbar, formerly Duane, a tall Black revolutionary and recent convert to Islam who dismisses Daddy Rich's preaching when the quartet visit and collect donations from the employees. Among many other misadventures, the employees must deal with a man they believe is the notorious "pop bottle bomber" being sought that day by the police. It alarms employees, customers, and the owner of the car wash, Leon "Mr. B" Barrow, but the strange man's "bomb" turns out to be simply a urine sample he is taking to the hospital for a liver test.

Mr. B's son Irwin, a left-wing college student who smokes pot in the men's restroom and carries around a copy of ''Quotations from Chairman Mao'', insists on spending a day with the "working class" employees, whom he considers "brothers" in the "struggle". As he prepares for work, he sets off motion sensors that give him the first "human car wash", which he good-naturedly accepts (though while pot-induced). A taxi driver searches fruitlessly for a prostitute named Marleen, who stiffed him for a fare earlier and has her own hopes shattered later on as a customer with whom she apparently has fallen in love has given her a false telephone number. Meanwhile, middle-aged ex-convict Lonnie, the foreman of the car wash, tries to mentor Abdullah while struggling to raise two young children and fend off his parole officer. Abdullah confronts the flamboyant homosexual Lindy and sharply criticizes his cross-dressing, to which Lindy coolly replies, "Honey, I am more man than you'll ever be and more woman than you'll ever get."

Theodore Chauncey "T.C." Elcott, another young employee, is determined to win a radio call-in contest to win tickets for a rock concert and to convince his estranged girlfriend Mona, a waitress working in a diner across the street, to accompany him, eventually succeeding. Musicians Floyd and Lloyd, who have an audition for an agent when their shift ends, spend the entire movie rehearsing their jazz-blues dance moves in front of bewildered customers. Meanwhile, an employee named Justin clashes with his girlfriend, Loretta, who wants him to return to college, but he declines, feeling that a black man like him will not get anywhere in the world with any kind of education. His elderly grandfather, Snapper, works as the shoe shine man at the car wash and is a follower of Daddy Rich.

Other employees include sly womanizer Geronimo, a thin, African-American with feathers in his hair; cowboy Scruggs, the gas pump operator; overweight, good-natured Hippo, who clearly hooks up with Marleen; a scheming Latino named Chuco; a Native American named Goody, who wears a hat with pig ears; scruffy middle-aged Charlie; con artist and bookie Sly, who later gets arrested right at the car wash for a series of unpaid parking tickets; and the uptight Earl, who sees himself as superior to his colleagues because he does not get wet; he would appear to think that he is the supervisor at the car wash.

Among everything, Mr. B constantly flirts with the young, busty cashier/receptionist Marsha to escape his troubled home life. Constantly tense, he worries about his car wash going out of business due to a competitor a few miles down the street. Lonnie, conversely, has numerous ideas on how to save the car wash, but everyone else, including the miserly Mr. B, ignores him. Later, Abdullah, after being fired by Mr. B for his unexplained absences from work for the past several weeks, appears in the office with a gun while Lonnie is closing up, intending to rob the business. Lonnie dissuades him, and the two commiserate at the status society has imposed on them: two proud men forced to work at a meaningless job for meager pay. The day ends melancholically as everyone goes their separate ways, knowing that they will be back tomorrow to do it all over again.

Amos and Andy run the "Fresh Air Taxicab Company, Incorporated", so named because their one taxi has no top. Their old vehicle has broken down, causing a traffic jam. Stuck in the traffic jam are John Blair and his wife, who were on their way to meet an old family friend at the train station, Richard Williams. When the Blairs do not show up, he makes his own way to their house, where he meets their daughter, Jean, who was also his childhood sweetheart. The two reignite their old flame, much to the chagrin of Ralph Crawford, who has been attempting to woo Jean himself.

That night, prior to attending a meeting at their lodge, the Mystic Knights of the Sea, they are hired to transport Duke Ellington and His Cotton Club band to a party being given at the Blair estate. While they are on their way, Richard is confiding to John Blair his feelings for his daughter, and also stating that he has no intention of pursuing Jean unless he can afford to start his own business to support them. After the death of his father, Richard's family lost all their money. He has come up to New York because his grandfather used to own a large home in Harlem, and he hopes to be able to find the deed to it, in order to sell it for the money needed to start his business. He thinks the deed must be hidden somewhere on the property itself. Unknown to Blair or Richard, is that Ralph is eavesdropping on their conversation.

After his discussion with Blair, Richard runs into Amos and Andy, who used to work for his father down south, and they are all happy to see one another. Having delivered their fare, the two cab drivers rush back to town to attend their lodge meeting. The lodge has an annual tradition where a pair of members must spend a night in a haunted house in Harlem, and find a document labeled, "Check and Double Check". Once they find it, they are to replace it, in a different location, with their own version, for the lodge members to find the following year. The haunted house in question in none other than the house previously owned by Richard's grandfather.

As Amos and Andy are searching for their document, Ralph is also in the house with several of his cohorts, searching for the deed, in order to thwart Richard's chances with Jean. Amos and Andy find their document, but then realize they did not bring any other paper to write their message on and secrete for their lodge brothers. In searching for something to write on, they stumble on the deed to premises. As they are about to write their message on the back, they are interrupted by Ralph and his friends, who believe that the two have found the deed. In the confusion which ensues, the cab drivers hand over what everyone believes is the deed, before they scamper out of the building. However, when they return to the lodge, they realize that they had given the Check and Double Check paper to Ralph, instead of the deed. They do not know the importance of the document they have, but they recognized Richard's grandfather's signature on it, and intend to deliver it to Richard the following day.

After failing to find the deed, a heartbroken Richard leaves for the railway station, intending to return home. Amos and Andy arrive at the Blair house too late to give him the deed, but race to the station and are able to hand over the deed just before Richard's train leaves. Now with the deed, Richard can sell the house, open his business, and marry Jean.

When Kazahaya Kudo collapsed in the snow one night and on the verge of death, he is rescued by a mysterious young man, Rikuo Himura, who takes him back to a pharmacy named the Green Drugstore.

Kazahaya, apparently running from his past, takes up work at the Green Drugstore alongside Rikuo. He comments that although Rikuo rescued him, he really feels indebted to the store's owner, Kakei, whom he thanks for his current accommodation and job. While their day job is quite simple, the boys are persuaded and, in some cases, practically forced by Kakei to take on strange extra jobs outside the store, which make use of their supernatural powers.

On his 83rd birthday, amusement park ride mechanic Eddie is killed in an accident when a ride breaks down. During the accident, he makes a desperate attempt to save a little girl's life.

Eddie arrives in Heaven, where he meets "the Blue Man." The Blue Man explains that Eddie is about to journey through Heaven's five levels, meeting someone who has had a significant impact upon his life or someone on whom his life had a significant impact. Eddie asks why the Blue Man is his first person, and he informs Eddie that, when Eddie was very young, he caused the car accident that killed him. From this, Eddie learns his first lesson: there are no random events in life and all individuals and experiences are connected in some way.

Eddie meets his former captain from the army, who reminds Eddie of their time together as prisoners of war in a forced labor camp in the Philippines. Their group burned the camp during their escape and Eddie, while running away, remembers seeing a shadow move in one of the huts. The Captain confesses that he shot Eddie in the leg to prevent Eddie from chasing the shadow into the fire. This saved Eddie's life despite leaving him with a lifelong severe limp. Eddie then learns how the Captain died: he stepped on a land mine that would have killed all the men had he not set it off.

Eddie finds himself outside a diner, where he sees his father through a window. A well-dressed woman named Ruby appears and introduces herself to him. Ruby explains that Ruby Pier was named after her by her husband Emile, who built it in tribute to her. Ruby shows Eddie the true cause of his father's death, which is different from what he had always believed. She tells Eddie that he needs to forgive his father.

Eddie meets his late wife, Marguerite. They remember their wedding, and Marguerite teaches Eddie that love is never lost in death; it just moves on and takes a different form.

Eddie awakens to see children playing along with a riverbed. A young Filipina girl named Tala comes up to him. Tala reveals that she was the little girl from the hut that Eddie set on fire. Distraught, Eddie breaks down both cursing and asking God "why?" Tala hands him a stone and asks him to "wash" her like the other children in the river are doing to one another. Eddie is puzzled, but dips the stone in the water and starts to scrape off the injuries he had inflicted on her. Tala's wounds begin to clear until she is freed of all the scars. Eddie asks Tala if she knows if he was able to save the little girl before his death. Tala tells him he did manage to push her out of the way. In this way, Tala explains, he also managed to atone every day for her unnecessary death.

In the end, it shows that Eddie's Heaven is the Stardust Band Shell, where he met Marguerite.

A bionic policeman called Commander Stargazer recruited the SilverHawks, heroes who are "partly metal, partly real", to fight the evil MonStar, an escaped alien mob boss who transforms into an enormous armor-plated creature with the help of Limbo's Moonstar. Joining MonStar in his villainy is an intergalactic mob: the snakelike Yes-Man, the blade-armed Buzz-Saw, the "bull"-headed Mumbo-Jumbo, a weather controller called Windhammer, a shapeshifter known as Mo-Lec-U-Lar, a robotic card shark called Poker-Face, the weapons-heavy Hardware, and "the musical madness of" Melodia who uses a "keytar" that fires musical notes.

Quicksilver (formerly Jonathan Quick) leads the SilverHawks, with his metal bird companion Tally-Hawk at his side. Twins Emily and Will Hart became Steelheart and Steelwill, the SilverHawks's technician and strongman respectively. Country-singing Bluegrass piloted the team's ship, the Maraj (pronounced "mirage" on the series, but given that spelling on the Kenner toy). Rounding out the group is a youngster "from the planet of the mimes", named "The Copper Kidd" and usually called "Kidd" for short, a mathematical genius who spoke in whistles and computerized tones. Their bionic bodies are covered by a full-body close-fitting metal armor that only exposes the face and an arm, the armor is equipped with a retractile protective mask, retractable under-arm wings (except Bluegrass), thrusters on their heels, and laser-weapons in their shoulders.

In Kuldahar, the player's characters are greeted by a barbarian shaman, Hjollder, who reveals that he has visions of a great conflict and that the party is the key to stopping it. The party is magically transported to Lonelywood, where they discover that a great barbarian force is gathering nearby, threatening to destroy the Ten Towns. The force has rallied to Wylfdene, a great barbarian warlord killed in battle the previous season. He claims to be host to the spirit of the ancient barbarian hero Jerrod and is now eager to strike the Ten Towns in the name of the war-god Tempus.

The party journeys to the barbarian camp and meets the resurrected chief himself. Hjollder believes that something is off with Wylfdene, and is in turn exiled from the camp. The party later finds the exiled Hjollder in the barbarian burial grounds Wylfdene rose from, though it is now plagued by undead and spirits. On his recommendation, the party journeys to the Gloomfrost to consult the Seer, an old woman with vast mystical powers. She reveals that it is not Jerrod who inhabits the body of Wylfdene, but rather the soul of great white dragon Icasaracht.

The party returns to the barbarian camp, where the Seer herself approaches Wylfdene. She is killed by him, but succeeds in tricking the dragon spirit into abandoning his body, revealing the deception to the gathered barbarians. The last task of the player's party is to journey to the Sea of Moving Ice where Icasaracht's Lair is located. There, they battle through her minions (including the remaining loyal barbarians, trolls and sahuagins) and ultimately find the white dragon herself. She explains she wished to avenge herself upon the Ten Towns for the seizure of dragonkind's lands, and for her death a century past.

She claims she saw a kindred spirit in Wylfdene and sympathized with the barbarians, who she claims face extinction from the encroaching Ten Towns. She had thought they would be fitting instruments for her plan. The party kills her, and shatters the Soul Stone that had saved her from death a century before, ensuring her death is final.

The player meets a mysterious halfling, Hobart Stubbletoes, who introduces himself in the Whistling Gallows Inn in Lonelywood. He seeks a party of stalwart heroes for a quest to a place of great wonder, with treasures beyond the imagination. Should the party accept, they will be transported to a new place, far from the icy terrain of the Ten Towns, finding themselves within the walls of a ruined castle in an unfamiliar land, the Anauroch desert. The Castle itself is a place where a mad spirit of a bard named Luremaster is constantly challenging adventurers with many traps and monsters. The only way out of the place is to defeat all monsters, avoid traps, find good loot if possible, and defeat the Luremaster.

Setting

''Icewind Dale II'' takes place in the Forgotten Realms ''D&D'' campaign setting, on the continent of Faerûn. It centers on the northern Icewind Dale region, and is set thirty years after the original game. The game begins in the harbor town of Targos, one of the Ten Towns of Icewind Dale, which is under siege by a goblin army. The goblins are directed by the Legion of the Chimera, an army composed of outcast races and religious factions, such as goblinoids, half-breeds, and followers of winter goddess Auril. Targos hires mercenaries to defend against the attack. Areas encountered in the game include: the Black Raven Monastery, built over an entrance to the Underdark; the town of Kuldahar, constructed around a magical tree that emits heat; the Severed Hand, an ancient elven fortress that was lost during a war with goblinoids; and the Dragon's Eye, a network of volcanic caverns inhabited by yuan-ti. Other areas include the Underdark and the Jungles of Chult.

Story

The game begins as the player's group of mercenaries arrives by ship to defend Targos. They report to the town palisade and fend off an assault by the goblin army. Afterwards, the mayor of Targos orders them to start an offensive on the goblin army. The group kills the chieftain of the army, and discovers that he was under the command of a woman named Sherincal. When they return to Targos, the mayor asks them to rendezvous with reinforcements from Neverwinter. The group travels to meet them in an airship piloted by Oswald Fiddlebender.

A storm causes the ship to crash, and the group awakens to discover that a glacier blocks the reinforcements' path. While investigating the glacier, the group finds Sherincal, a half-dragon, guarding the entrance to an Aurilite temple. They learn that Sherincal leads the Legion of the Chimera's western forces, and that the leaders of the Legion of the Chimera, cambion twins named Isair and Madae, reside in the Severed Hand. Inside the Aurilite temple, the group finds a prisoner from Kuldahar, who asks them to warn Kuldahar of the threat posed by the Legion of the Chimera. After this, the group creates a passage through the glacier, and meets with the reinforcements.

As the group travels to Kuldahar, they meet a drow (dark elf) named Nym, who tells them that the pass to Kuldahar is guarded by the Legion of the Chimera, and that an alternate path through the Underdark exists. Later, Isair and Madae locate the group with information from Nym. They state their intention to attack Kuldahar, and warn the group to not interfere. The group then passes through the Black Raven Monastery to enter the Underdark. After exiting the Underdark, they are flown to Kuldahar by Oswald Fiddlebender.

When the group lands in Kuldahar, they discover it has been invaded by the Legion of the Chimera. They meet the Archdruid of Kuldahar, who tells them that a portal has been opened to allow yuan-ti from the Jungles of Chult to assault Kuldahar. After the group prevents the attack, the Archdruid tells them that they may reach the Severed Hand through an exit at the bottom floor of the Dragon's Eye. The group travels through Dragon's Eye, and proceeds to the Severed Hand. Once inside, they learn that the war between the Ten Towns and the Legion of the Chimera was caused by the mayor of Bryn Shander, who had sent Isair and Madae poisoned food. They also discover that a mythal that was cast on the Severed Hand has been corrupted, and the structure will be transported to the plane of limbo. Eventually, the group finds Isair and Madae, and kills them.

Jack Torrance's alcoholism and explosive temper have cost him his teaching job at Stovington, a respectable prep school. He is also on the verge of losing his family, after assaulting his young son Danny in a drunken rage just a year earlier. Horrified by what he has become, Jack tells his wife Wendy that should he ever start drinking again, he will leave them one way or another, implying that he would rather commit suicide than continue living as an alcoholic.

Now, nursing a life of sobriety and pulling in work as a writer, Jack takes on the job of looking after the Overlook Hotel, a large colonial building in a picturesque valley in the Colorado Rockies. Jack believes that the job will provide desperately needed funds and give him the time to complete his first play.

Upon entering the Overlook and meeting its head cook, Dick Hallorann, Danny discovers that his psychic powers grant him a form of telepathy. Danny has an adult mentor named Tony who talks to him in his visions and shows him the future. Hallorann tells Danny that he too "shines", and that Danny can contact him telepathically anytime he needs assistance. The Torrances are given a tour of the Overlook before being left alone in the hotel for the winter.

It gradually becomes evident that there is a malevolent force within the hotel that seems determined to use Danny for an unknown, possibly sinister purpose. This force manifests itself with flickering lamps and spectral voices and eventually a full-on masked ball from the Overlook's past. Danny is the first to fully notice the darker character of the hotel, having experienced visions and warnings that foreshadow what he and his parents will encounter over the winter.

The ghosts also appear to Jack, led by Delbert Grady, the Overlook's former steward who murdered his entire family and killed himself at the hotel's command. Grady and the other spirits tell Jack that Wendy and Danny are turning against him, and that his only option is to kill them. They also supply him with an open bar, and he begins drinking again. As Jack's sanity deteriorates, Wendy begins to fear for her and Danny's safety.

Hallorann, whom Danny had contacted telepathically, travels from Florida to Colorado, only to be assaulted by Jack with a croquet mallet and left for dead. Danny telepathically communicates with his father, who momentarily breaks free of the ghosts' grip, and then tells him that the old boiler has been neglected. Danny, Wendy, and Hallorann (who had only been stunned by the attack) escape to safety. Jack sacrifices himself to prevent the ghosts from repossessing him and allows the boiler to explode and destroy the Overlook.

Ten years later, Danny graduates from high school, showing that Tony was Danny's adult incarnate self. Wendy and Halloran are present at the ceremony. Jack's spirit is also present, looking on Danny with pride. Back in Colorado, the Overlook is being rebuilt as a resort for the summer, as the ghosts of the original hotel await potential victims.

With his eyes bandaged, private detective Philip Marlowe is interrogated by police lieutenant Randall about two murders.

Marlowe tells how he was hired by ex-con Moose Malloy to locate Malloy's former girlfriend Velma Valento. They go to Florian's, the nightclub where Velma last worked as a singer, but no one remembers her. Marlowe tracks down Jessie Florian, the alcoholic widow of the nightclub's former owner, who hides a photo of Velma, and says Velma is dead. Marlowe steals the photo, and hears Jessie making a phone call as he leaves.

The next morning, Lindsay Marriott hires Marlowe to be his bodyguard while he acts as a go-between to pay a ransom for some stolen jewels. During the job, Marlowe is knocked unconscious from behind. When he comes to, a young woman shines a flashlight on his face, then runs away. The money is gone, and Marriott has been murdered with repeated blows from a blackjack. When Marlowe reports the murder, the police ask him if he knows a Jules Amthor, and warn him not to interfere in the case.

Ann Grayle tries to pry information out of Marlowe about the murder. She mentions that the jewels were jade, and introduces him to her weak, elderly, and wealthy father, Leuwen Grayle, and his seductive second wife, Helen. Grayle collects rare jade and was attempting to recover a stolen necklace. Jules Amthor, a psychic healer who treated both Helen and Marriott, shows up just as Marlowe is leaving. Helen retains Marlowe to try to recover the jade, but Ann tries bribing him to drop the case.

In an attempt to locate the jade, Amthor has duped Moose into thinking that Marlowe knows where Velma is. Moose attacks and subdues Marlowe, then Amthor has Marlowe taken to Dr. Sonderberg's sanatorium, where he is drugged and held for three days. Marlowe escapes and convinces Moose that Amthor tricked him, then goes to Ann.

When Marlowe learns that the police had asked Ann's father about the family beach house, which Marriott rented, Marlowe and Ann go there, where they find Helen hiding from the police. Ann leaves to tell her father where his missing wife is. Marlowe deduces that Helen hired him only to set him up for Amthor's interrogations and that Ann was trying to save him from the set-up. Helen attempts to entice Marlowe into helping her murder Amthor. Marlowe seems to go along with her plan, but finds Amthor dead already. Moose is waiting for Marlowe at his office. Marlowe shows Moose the photo of "Velma" he took from Jessie, and as he suspected, it is a fake intended to throw anyone looking for Velma off the track. In fact, Helen is Velma. Marlowe tells Moose to lie low until the next night, when he will take Moose to her.

At the beach house, Marlowe has Moose wait outside while he meets with Helen to find out what happened to the necklace, but she pulls a gun on him. Jessie Florian had tipped her that he was looking for Velma, so she faked the robbery and the ransom exchange to kill Marlowe. Helen killed Marriott while Marlowe went down into the canyon, and was about to kill Marlowe when Ann came along, worried that her jealous father might be trying to kill Marriott.

As Helen is about to shoot Marlowe, a lovesick Grayle shows up with Ann. He takes Marlowe's gun and kills Helen/Velma. Moose hears the shot and comes in, finding Velma dead. Grayle admits to shooting her, and Moose lunges for Grayle, who shoots him. Marlowe attempts to intercede as the gun goes off and his eyes are burned by the flash. Three more shots are fired.

His story concluded, the temporarily blinded private eye is told that Moose and Grayle shot each other in a struggle for Marlowe's gun. Marlowe is escorted out of the building by Detective Nulty, with Ann following them and overhearing every word. Marlowe expresses his attraction for Ann to the detective. In the back seat of a taxi cab, the bandaged Marlowe recognizes her perfume, and they kiss.

During the Japanese invasion of Burma in 1942, a seven-strong British sonic deception unit on a short jungle exercise hides from the rain in a hut at an abandoned tin mine. The men constantly bicker, often provoked by the bullying Corporal Johnstone or the forever mocking Bamforth. While Sergeant Mitchem and Corporal Johnstone are reconnoitering, Lance-Corporal Macleish ("Mac"), provoked, beats up Bamforth. Tension rises as they fail to make radio contact with their base and pick up a Japanese broadcast, indicating that they are nearby. A Japanese scout appears: Johnstone grabs him and tells Taff to stab him. Taff cannot kill him in cold blood and, before Bamforth does, the returning Mitchem says they must take him back for interrogation.

Mitchem places Bamforth in charge of the prisoner, who Bamforth names Tojo. Bamforth realises Tojo is just another soldier, bonding over pictures of Tojo's family. Johnstone, enraged, tries to destroy the pictures but Bamforth, his frustrations boiling over, beats him up, risking a court martial. Mitchem sends Mac and Smudge to reconnoiter. They see a small patrol sending two soldiers to find Tojo. Knowing this endangers their patrol, Mac kills one but the other escapes. Mac and Smudge return to warn the patrol which tries to radio base to warn them, even though it may reveal their position. A taunting Japanese broadcast accelerates their decision to flee for their base.

They head for home. Mitchem now realises that the prisoner is a liability rather than as asset and Johnstone keeps offering to kill him. The group, temporararily blocked by a flash flood, take a break in the mine canyons and Bamforth is sent to keep watch. Johnstone spots Mac and Tojo enjoying a cigarette, and cruelly points out that the cigarettes are British, and Tojo must have stolen them from a British soldier he had killed. This affects the men who turn on Tojo. Johnstone sadistically rips up Tojo's cherished family photos and Mac searches and slaps him. Upon hearing the commotion, Bamforth returns and explains he gave Tojo the cigarettes. The men are ashamed and try to make amends by gathering and returning Tojo's possessions. Johnstone maliciously says that Tojo's cigarette case was made in Birmingham. As the men again grow hostile, Bamford responds that Tojo could have traded for it, forcing the youngest member (Whittaker) to admit that he does this.

The flood is receding and Mitchem asks Whittaker to make a last attempt to contact base before they leave. They plan to abandon the mules, blow up the special equipment and kill the prisoner Tojo. Bamforth is alone in protesting against killing Tojo and appeals for support from the other men without success. The radio responds to Whittaker's efforts but only a Japanese message can be heard. Tojo approaches him, trying in Japanese to explain the message. Panicking about the Japanese broadcast and ashamed from his unveiling as a looter, Whittaker mistakes Tojo's movements and shoots him dead with a machine gun. The radio crackles into life again and a Japanese accented English announces that the patrol is surrounded and demands their surrender. Whittaker's firing will have further alerted the Japanese.

Mitchem with Bamforth forms a rear guard to allow the others led by Johnstone to escape. The rear guard are soon defending against the main Japanese force. As the main group emerge, a Japanese sniper dispatches Taff and Mac. Although Whittaker is cut off, Johnstone tells Smudge they must return to Mitchem. As they flee, Smudge is also killed.

Mitchem is shocked to see the superficially injured Johnstone back alone but is shot by a sniper. As the Japanese close in, Johnstone implores Bamforth to surrender. Bamforth however shoots at the explosives. The explosion kills many attackers but also causes a rockfall, killing Bamforth. Johnstone strides forward and, taking a white scarf from a dead Japanese soldier, surrenders. Whittaker is found cowering under a bush by Japanese soldiers and is also taken by the Japanese and is shouted at and mocked just as the British treated Tojo.

After the Norwegian resistance leader Royal Norwegian Navy Lieutenant Erik Bergman travels to Great Britain to report the location of a German V-2 rocket fuel plant, the Royal Air Force's No. 633 Squadron is assigned to destroy it. The squadron is led by Wing Commander Roy Grant, a former Eagle Squadron pilot (an American serving in the RAF before the US entered the war).

The plant is in a seemingly impregnable location beneath an overhanging cliff at the end of a long, narrow fjord lined with numerous anti-aircraft guns. The only way to destroy the plant is by bombing the cliff until it collapses and buries the facility, a job for 633 Squadron's fast and manoeuvrable de Havilland Mosquitos. The squadron trains in Scotland, where there are narrow glens similar to the fjord. There, Grant is introduced to Bergman's sister, Hilde. They are attracted to each other, despite Grant's aversion to wartime relationships.

The Norwegian resistance has to destroy the anti-aircraft defences immediately before the attack. When unexpected German reinforcements arrive, Bergman returns to Norway to try to gather more forces. He is captured while transporting desperately needed weapons, taken to Gestapo headquarters and tortured for information. Since Bergman knows too much, he must be silenced before he breaks. Grant and newly married Pilot Officer Bissell are sent in with a single Mosquito to bomb the Gestapo building. Though they are successful, their shot-up Mosquito fighter-bomber crashes on its return; Bissell is wounded and becomes blind. A tearful Hilde thanks Grant for ending her brother's suffering.

Still worried, Air Vice-Marshal Davis decides to move up the attack to the next day. The resistance fighters are ambushed and killed, leaving the defences intact. Although Grant is given the option of aborting, he decides to press on. The factory is destroyed at the cost of the entire squadron, though a few crews are able to ditch in the fjord. Grant crash-lands but a local man helps Grant's navigator, Flight Lieutenant Hoppy Hopkinson, pull the wounded wing commander from the burning wreckage. Back in Britain, Davis tells a fellow officer who is aghast at the losses, "You can't kill a squadron".

The genius principal of the private school, Heihachi Edajima, was a war hero during World War II. He trained his students to play an active role in politics, economics and industries in Japan and all over the world, though the way of training is highly anachronistic.

The martial arts depicted in this series are also highly choreographed using various forms of martial arts.

In 1968 during the Vietnam War, a disastrous American advance leaves U.S. Marine Lieutenant Hayes Hodges wounded and his men dead. His squadmate Lieutenant Terry Childers executes a North Vietnamese prisoner to intimidate a captive officer into calling off a mortar attack on Hodges' position; sparing the officer's life, Childers rescues Hodges. In 1996, Hodges, now a colonel, is set to retire after 28 years as a JAG officer. At his pre-retirement party at the Camp Lejeune Officers Club, he is honored by his old friend, Colonel Terry Childers, now the commanding officer of a Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Childers and his unit are deployed to Southwest Asia as part of an Amphibious Readiness Group, called to evacuate the U.S. Ambassador to Yemen when a routine anti-American demonstration at the embassy erupts in rock-throwing, Molotov cocktails, and gunfire. Escorting Ambassador Mourain and his family safely to a helicopter, Childers retrieves the embassy's American flag. Under heavy fire from snipers on nearby rooftops, three Marines are killed, and Childers orders his men to open fire on the crowd, resulting in the deaths of 83 irregular Yemeni soldiers and civilians, including children; the remaining Marines and embassy staff are saved.

U.S. National Security Advisor Bill Sokal pressures the military to court-martial Childers, hoping to salvage American relations in the Middle East by placing all blame for the incident on the colonel. Childers asks Hodges to serve as his defense attorney, and he reluctantly accepts. Hodges rejects a plea deal from the prosecutor, Major Biggs, who is convinced of Childers' guilt but privately refuses to consider the death penalty. With little time to prepare a defense, Hodges goes to Yemen, where witnesses and police claim that the Marines fired first on the unarmed crowd. Visiting the abandoned embassy and some of the wounded, he notices an undamaged security camera and scattered audio cassette tapes.

Returning to the U.S., Hodges confronts Childers about the complete lack of evidence to support his version of events, resulting in a fistfight. Sokal burns a videotape revealing the crowd was armed and fired on the Marines, and forces Mourain to lie on the stand that the crowd was peaceful, and that Childers ignored his orders and was violent and disrespectful to him and his family. Hodges meets with Mourain's wife, who admits Childers acted valiantly but refuses to testify. Captain Lee, who hesitated to follow Childers' order, is unable to testify to having seen gunfire from the crowd. A Yemeni doctor testifies that the tapes Hodges found are propaganda inciting violence against Americans, but declares the protest was peaceful.

With Sokal on the stand, Hodges presents a shipping manifest proving that the tape from the undamaged camera – the tape Sokal burned – was delivered to Sokal's office but disappeared, with footage that would likely have exonerated Childers. Taking the stand, Childers explains that he was the only surviving Marine able to see the crowd was armed. On cross-examination, Biggs goads Childers into admitting that he ordered his men to open fire by shouting "waste the motherfuckers". Childers loses his temper, declaring that he would not sacrifice the lives of his men to appease the likes of Biggs, to Hodges' dismay.

The prosecution presents Colonel Binh Le Cao, the Vietnamese officer whose life he spared, as a rebuttal witness, testifying that Childers executed an unarmed prisoner of war. During Hodges' cross-examination, Cao agrees that Childers took action to save American lives, and that if circumstances were reversed, Cao would have done the same. After the trial, Hodges confronts Sokal about the missing tape, vowing to uncover the truth. Childers is found guilty of the minor charge of breach of peace, but cleared of conduct unbecoming an officer, and murder; Biggs approaches Hodges about investigating Childers' actions in Vietnam, but Hodges declines to testify. Leaving the courthouse, Cao and Childers salute each other.

An epilogue reveals that Sokal was found guilty of destroying evidence and Mourain of perjury, both losing their jobs, while Childers retired honorably.

In 1978, Roberts was sentenced to a 19-year imprisonment in Australia after being convicted of a series of armed robberies of building society branches, credit unions, and shops. In July 1980, he escaped from Victoria's Pentridge Prison in broad daylight, thereby becoming one of Australia's most wanted men for the next ten years.

The protagonist Lindsay (according to the book, Roberts' fake name) arrives in Bombay carrying a false passport in the name of Lindsay Ford. Mumbai was supposed to be only a stopover on a journey that was to take him from New Zealand to Germany, but he decides to stay in the city. Lindsay soon meets a local man named Prabaker whom he hires as a guide. Prabaker soon becomes his friend and names him Lin (Linbaba). Both men visit Prabaker's native village, Sunder, where Prabaker's mother decided to give Lin a new Maharashtrian name, like her own. Because she judged his nature to be blessed with peaceful happiness, she decided to call him ''Shantaram'', meaning ''Man of God's Peace''. On their way back to Mumbai, Lin and Prabaker are robbed. With all his possessions gone, Lin is forced to live in the slums, which shelters him from the authorities. After a massive fire on the day of his arrival in the slum, he sets up a free health clinic as a way to contribute to the community. He learns about the local culture and customs in this crammed environment, gets to know and love the people he encounters, and even becomes fluent in Marathi, the local language. He also witnesses and battles outbreaks of cholera and firestorms, becomes involved in trading with the lepers, and experiences how ethnic and marital conflicts are resolved in this densely crowded and diverse community.

The novel describes a number of foreigners of various origins, as well as local Indians, highlighting the rich diversity of life in Mumbai. Lin falls in love with Karla, a Swiss-American woman, befriends local artists and actors, landing him roles as an extra in several Bollywood movies, and is recruited by the Mumbai underworld for various criminal operations, including drug and weapons trade. Lin eventually lands in Mumbai's Arthur Road Prison. There, along with hundreds of other inmates, he endures brutal physical and mental abuse from the guards, while existing under extremely squalid conditions. However, thanks to the protection of the Afghan mafia don "Abdel Khader Khan", Lin is eventually released, and begins to work in a black market currency exchange and passport forgery. Having travelled as far as Africa on trips commissioned by the mafia, Lin later goes to Afghanistan to smuggle weapons for mujahideen freedom fighters. When his mentor Khan is killed, Lin realizes he has become everything he grew to loathe and falls into depression after he returns to India. He decides that he must fight for what he believes is right, and build an honest life. The story ends with him planning to go to Sri Lanka, which lays the premise for the sequel to this book.

Fact-based elements

While parts of the novel, based on Roberts' known biography, such as Roberts' criminal history and escape from prison in Australia, are a matter of public record, and read as reportedly factual, numerous significant claims by Roberts remain harder (or impossible) to verify and are disputed by the family of one of the main Indian characters in the book.

There is a great deal of debate as to where the boundaries lie between fact and fiction in the book. Roberts has stated the characters in the story are largely invented, and that he merged different elements taken from true events and people into such events and characters like Prabaker 'of the big smile'. Prabhakar Kisan Khare was a real-life individual, as are the members of Khare family from the book (Kisan, Rukhma, Kishor and Parvati Khare) whose names appear on government issued identity cards. The family resides in the Navy Nagar slum where the lead character Shantaram also lived. The Khare family disputes many of Roberts' claims, although they acknowledge close association with Gregory Roberts in the 1980s. Prabhakar died in an accident in 1988 in circumstances matching the event in the book. In March 2006, the ''Mumbai Mirror'' reported they may have discovered the inspiration for the big smile of the character Prabhakar as belonging to a still living cab driver called Kishore, who took Roberts to his home village. Kishore Khare, brother of Prabhakar, who drives tourists around Mumbai, has told his story.

Roberts' position, based on his interviews

"With respect, ''Shantaram'' is not an autobiography, it’s a novel. If the book reads like an autobiography, I take that as a very high compliment, because I structured the created narrative to read like fiction but feel like fact. I wanted the novel to have the page-turning drive of a work of fiction but to be informed by such a powerful stream of real experience that it had the authentic feel of fact."

"As with the novel ''Shantaram'', the experiences in ''The Mountain Shadow'' are derived from my own real experiences, and the characters, dialogue, and narrative structure are all created."

Roberts repeatedly stated this, as on the book's official website:

German Corporal Bruno Stachel leaves the fighting in the trenches to become a fighter pilot in the German Army Air Service. In spring 1918, he sets his sights on winning Germany's highest medal for valour, the "Blue Max", for which he must shoot down 20 aircraft.

Of humble origins (his father ran a small hotel), Lieutenant Bruno Stachel sets out to prove himself. Willi von Klugemann resents having a commoner as his rival. Their commanding officer, Hauptmann Otto Heidemann, is an aristocratic officer whose belief in chivalry and the laws and customs of war conflict with Stachel's disregard for them.

On his first mission, Stachel shoots down a British S.E.5, but does not receive credit for it because there were no witnesses (Stachel's wingman Fabian was shot down). Stachel searches the countryside for the wreckage, which gives the impression that he cares more about himself than the death of his wingman.

Soon afterward, he attacks an Allied two-man observation aircraft and incapacitates the rear gunner. Instead of downing the defenseless aircraft, he signals the pilot to fly to the German base. As they near the airfield, the rear gunner revives and reaches for his machine-gun, unseen by the observers on the ground. Stachel is forced to shoot the aircraft down. A disgusted Heidemann believes that Stachel has committed a war crime just for a confirmed kill.

The incident brings Stachel to the attention of General Count von Klugemann, Willi's uncle. When the general visits the base, he meets Stachel. As Stachel is a commoner, the general sees great propaganda value in him. Meanwhile, Kaeti, the general's wife, is carrying on a discreet affair with her husband's nephew.

Soon afterward, Stachel is shot down after rescuing a red Fokker Dr.I from two British fighters. When he returns to the airfield, he is stunned when he is introduced to the man he saved, Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron. Richthofen offers Stachel a place in his squadron. Stachel declines, explaining his desire to "prove himself" with his current squadron.

With Stachel temporarily grounded by a minor injury, General von Klugemann orders him to Berlin to help shore up the crumbling public morale. The general invites him to dinner. Later, Stachel and Kaeti have sex.

Soon afterward, Stachel and Willi volunteer to escort a reconnaissance aircraft. When British fighters attack, Stachel's guns jam, but Willi downs three enemy planes. While returning to base, Willi challenges Stachel to a flying contest, flying under a railway viaduct. Willi clips the top of a tower and crashes. When Stachel reports his death, Heidemann assumes that the verified victories were Willi's. Stachel impulsively claims them, even though he fired only 40 bullets before his guns jammed. Outraged, Heidemann officially accuses him of lying, but the Air Service backs Stachel.

During a strafing mission covering the retreat of the German Army, Stachel disobeys orders and engages enemy fighters. The rest of the squadron follows him. Later, Heidemann confronts him because half his pilots were killed in the ensuing dogfight. Stachel does not care. He has shot down enough aircraft, even without Willi's kills, to qualify for the Blue Max. Enraged, Heidemann submits a report recommending a court-martial.

Both men are ordered to Berlin. There, von Klugemann tells Heidemann that Stachel is to receive the Blue Max because the people need a hero. The general orders Heidemann to withdraw his report. Heidemann resigns his command and accepts a desk job.

Later that evening, Keati visits Stachel and suggests they flee to neutral Switzerland, since defeat is inevitable. Stachel refuses.

The next day, Stachel is awarded the Blue Max by the Crown Prince in a well-publicised ceremony. Field Marshal von Lenndorf telephones von Klugermann to order him to stop the ceremony since an investigation has been opened into Stachel's claim. The general asks how the field marshal knew about that. He turns to his wife and realises that she is responsible.

When Heidemann reports that the new monoplane that he has just test-flown is a "death trap" with weak struts, von Klugemann sees a way out and tells Stachel, "Let's see some real flying". Stachel's aerobatics causes the aircraft to break up and crash.

In October 1916, fighter ace John Gresham (Malcolm McDowell) speaks to the senior class at Eton College. A year later, new recruit, 2nd Lt. Croft (Peter Firth), arrives at Gresham's temporary base in northern France. Gresham had been his house captain at Eton and is also the boyfriend of Croft's older sister.

Gresham relies on alcohol to continue flying because of severe combat stress. Faced with being responsible for the safety of Croft (and the potential impact his loss would have on his sister), Gresham drinks even more heavily. Croft is forced to learn quickly on how to survive - both in the air and on the ground - because aerial combat and squadron etiquette are both merciless. In his week-long rite of passage from naive schoolboy to military pilot, his youthful adoration of Gresham is replaced with respect as he comes to understand the severe strain endured by his commanding officer.

By the end of the week, Croft seems to have acquired the necessary combat skills when he shoots down his first plane. However, he is suddenly killed in an air-to-air collision with a German aircraft. Back at base, Gresham sees an apparition of an uninjured, smiling Croft through his office window. After the image fades, Gresham orders the next young replacement pilots to be brought in for his inspection.

Many characters and plot lines are loosely based on those of ''Journey's End'': the idealistic new officer who is killed at the end, and whose sister is the girlfriend of his tough but alcoholic commanding officer, the kindly middle-aged second-in-command (known as "Uncle" by the younger officers) who is killed on a dangerous intelligence-gathering mission ordered by the top brass, and the officer whose claims of neuralgia are taken to be cowardice.

The episodes in the life of a Jewish family in the Once neighborhood of Buenos Aires and the other shopkeepers in a low-rent commercial gallery are depicted in the story.

The narrator, Ariel Makaroff (Daniel Hendler), is the son of Sonia Makaroff (Adriana Aizemberg) who was deserted by her husband (Jorge D'Elía) when he went to Israel in 1973 to fight in the Yom Kippur War. Yet, the father is in touch with Sonia via telephone weekly and supports Ariel and his brother Joseph (Sergio Boris). Sonia runs a lingerie shop in the gallery.

Ariel is a young man in a hurry without much of a sense of direction. He's having an affair with Rita (Silvina Bosco), an older woman, pines for his former girlfriend Estella (Melina Petriella), and fantasizes of emigrating to Poland, where his family came from during World War II.

He carps at his grandmother (Rosita Londner) for immigration documents that will support his claim to Polish citizenship as he wants to become "European." This forces his grandmother to remember her memories of Holocaust Poland.

Ariel also visits the rabbi in order to get documents. One of them has been cut in a corner and the rabbi explains: "So, no one can use it again." - "Oh! Like circumcision!", Ariel retorts. Like Woody Allen in "Deconstructed Harry", Burman takes an ironic stand against circumcision.

At one point, the shop owners organize a race against another group of merchants. They hope to earn a cash purse and fix up the exterior of their gallery and install air conditioning.

Other characters include: a large Italian family whose noisy arguments drown out the radios in their radio repair shop; a quiet Korean couple who run a ''feng shui'' boutique; Mitelman (Diego Korol) who runs a travel agency, but which is really a front for currency smuggling; and a solitary stationer named Osvaldo (Isaac Fajm).

Right before the big race his father suddenly shows up in Buenos Aires. His mother confesses to Ariel that his father left Argentina and the family because she had a brief affair with Osvaldo, the retailer next door. It was a one time thing and did not mean anything but it ruined the marriage. Ariel finally gets to hear his father's side of the story: he could not get over the fact that his mother had betrayed him with Osvaldo. Elías can finally enfold his son in a long-overdue embrace, and Ariel embraces his father as well in the closing moments of the film.

The grandmother sings a klezmer song over the closing credits.

''Roots'' tells the story of Kunta Kinte—a young man taken from the Gambia when he was seventeen and sold as a slave—and seven generations of his descendants in the United States. Kunta, a Mandinka living by the River Gambia, has a difficult but free childhood in his village, Jufureh. His village subsists on farming, and sometimes they lack enough food, as the climate is harsh. Kunta is surrounded by love and traditions. Ominously, the village had heard of the recent arrival of ''toubob'', men with white skins who smell like wet chickens.

Kunta is excited to see the world. At one point, Kunta sees men in hoods taking away some of the children. This confuses Kunta, but is eager to learn his father, Omoro, will take him outside Juffure. Omoro and Kunta set off, learning much more about their surroundings. When they return, Kunta brags to all his friends about the journey, but does not pay attention to his family's goats, which fall prey to a panther.

Later on, Kunta is taken off from manhood training, with other children of his kafo (division or grade). Kunta learns even more about the Gambia, but fears the slave trade, which he learns is closer to home than he thinks. Kunta passes his training, and learns more about Juffure's court system. One day, he witnesses the case of a young girl, who was kidnapped by the toubob, and came back pregnant. She gives birth to a mixed-raced child, and the case is unresolved.

One morning when Kunta is cutting wood to make a drum, he is ambushed by slatees (black slave traders), and is knocked unconscious and taken prisoner. He awakens to find himself gagged and blindfolded. The toubob humiliate Kunta and the other captives by stripping them naked, examining them in every orifice and burning them with hot irons. Kunta is then placed in the brig of a ship, naked and chained. After a nightmarish journey across the Atlantic on board the slave ship ''Lord Ligonier'', he is landed in Annapolis, Maryland. John Waller of Spotsylvania County, Virginia purchases Kunta at an auction and gives him the name Toby. However, Kunta is headstrong and tries to run away four times. When he is captured for the last time, slave hunters cut off part of his right foot to cripple him.

Kunta is then bought by his master's brother, Dr. William Waller. He becomes a gardener and eventually his master's buggy driver. Kunta also befriends a musician slave named Fiddler. In the aftermath of the American Revolutionary War, Kunta marries Bell, Waller's cook, and together they have a daughter, Kizzy. Kizzy's childhood as a slave is as happy as her parents can make it. She is close friends with John Waller's daughter "Missy" Anne, and she rarely experiences cruelty. Her life changes when she forges a traveling pass for her beau Noah, a field hand. When he is caught and confesses, she is sold away from her family at the age of sixteen.

Kizzy is bought by Tom Lea, a farmer and chicken fighter who rose from poor beginnings. He rapes and impregnates her, and she gives birth to George, who later becomes known as "Chicken George" when he becomes his father's cockfighting trainer. Chicken George is a philanderer known for expensive taste and alcohol, as much as for his iconic bowler hat and green scarf. He marries Matilda and they have six sons and two daughters, including Tom, who becomes a very good blacksmith. Tom marries Irene, a woman originally owned by the Holt family.

When Tom Lea loses all his money in a cockfight, he sends George to England for several years to pay off the debt, and he sells most of the rest of the family to a slave trader. The trader moves the family to Alamance County, where they become the property of Andrew Murray. The Murrays have no previous experience with farming and are generally kind masters who treat the family well. When the American Civil War ends, however, the Murray slaves decide rather than sharecrop for their former masters, they will move from North Carolina to Henning, Tennessee, which is looking for new settlers.

They eventually become a prosperous family. Tom's daughter Cynthia marries Will Palmer, a successful lumber businessman, and their daughter Bertha is the first in the family to go to college. There she meets Simon Haley, who becomes a professor of agriculture. Their son is Alex Haley, the author of the book.

Search for his roots

Alex Haley grows up hearing stories from his grandmother about the family's history. They tell him of an ancestor named Kunta Kinte, who was landed in "'Naplis" and given the slave name Toby. The old African called a guitar a ''ko'', and a river the ''Kamby Bolongo''. While on a reporting trip to London, Haley sees the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum and thinks of his own family's oral traditions. Could he trace his own family lineage back to its origins in Africa?

In the United States Census for Alamance County, North Carolina, he finds evidence of his ancestor Tom Murray, the blacksmith. He attempts to locate the likeliest origin of the African words passed down by Kunta Kinte. Dr. Jan Vansina explains that in the Mandinka tongue, ''kora'' is a type of stringed instrument, and ''bolongo'' is the word for ''river''. ''Kamby Bolongo'' could then refer to the Gambia River.

Alex Haley travels to the Gambia and learns of the existence of griots, oral historians who are trained from childhood to memorize and recite the history of a particular village. A good griot could speak for three days without repeating himself. He asks to hear the history of the Kinte clan, which lives in Juffure, and is taken to a griot named Kebba Kanji Fofana. The Kinte clan had originated in Old Mali, moved to Mauritania, and then settled in the Gambia. After about two hours of "so-and-so took as a wife so-and-so, and begat," Fofana reached Kunta Kinte:

After searching records of British troop movements in the 1760s, Haley finds "Colonel O'Hare's forces" were dispatched to Fort James on the Gambia River in 1767. In Lloyd's of London, he discovers a merchantman named the ''Lord Ligonier'' had sailed from the Gambia on July 5, 1767 bound for Annapolis. The ''Lord Ligonier'' had cleared customs in Annapolis on September 29, 1767, and the slaves were advertised for auction in the Maryland Gazette on October 1, 1767. He concludes his research by examining the deed books of Spotsylvania County after September 1767, locating a deed dated September 5, 1768, transferring 240 acres and a slave named Toby from John and Ann Waller to William Waller.

In the opening scene, Howard Hughes loses control of his motorcycle and crashes in the Nevada desert. That night, he is discovered lying on the side of a stretch of U.S. Highway 95 when Melvin Dummar stops his pickup truck so he can relieve himself. The disheveled stranger, refusing to allow Melvin to take him to the hospital, asks him to instead drive him to Las Vegas, Nevada. En route, the two engage in stilted conversation until Dummar cajoles his passenger into joining him in singing a Christmas song he wrote. Hughes then suggests they sing his favorite song "Bye Bye Blackbird", and they do. The man warms to his rescuer and he is dropped off at the Desert Inn (which Hughes owns and therein resides) without revealing his identity as the reclusive billionaire.

Most of the remainder of the film focuses on Melvin's scattered, up-and-down life, his spendthrift, trust-in-luck nature, his rocky marital life with first wife Lynda, and his more stable relationship with second wife Bonnie. Lynda leaves him and their daughter to dance in a sleazy strip club, but eventually returns, but she remains frustrated by her husband's futile efforts to achieve the American dream. Melvin convinces her to appear on ''Easy Street'', a game show hybrid of ''The Gong Show'' and ''Let's Make a Deal'', and although her tap dancing initially is booed by the audience, she wins them over and nabs the top prize of living room furniture, a piano, and $10,000 cash.

Melvin agrees to invest in an affordable house in a new development, but while Lynda tries to keep their finances under control, he rashly buys a new Cadillac Eldorado and a boat, prompting her to take their daughter and toddler son and sue for divorce. Melvin is comforted by Bonnie, the payroll clerk at the dairy where he drives a truck, and the two eventually wed and move to Utah, where they take over the operation of a service station her relatives had owned.

One day, a mysterious man in a limousine stops at the station ostensibly to buy a pack of cigarettes, but after he drives off Melvin discovers an envelope marked "Last Will and Testament of Howard Hughes" on his office desk. Afraid to open it, he takes it to Mormon headquarters and secrets it in a pile of incoming mail. It doesn't take long for the media to descend upon him and his family, and eventually Melvin finds himself in court, admitting he once met Hughes but vigorously denying he forged the will that finally fulfills his dreams.

The stories tend each to focus on a single character living on Miguel Street. As the various characters reappear in different stories, which all share the same boy narrator, the book can be seen as a type of novel.

Rather like the characters of ''Dubliners'', some of Naipaul's protagonists appear to be affected by a kind of paralysis, for example Mr. Popo the carpenter, who never finishes making anything, and the poet B. Wordsworth, who is working on the greatest poem ever written but has never written past the first line. The narrator however escapes from Miguel Street at the end of the book. Other characters include Bogart (named after Humphrey Bogart), Hat, George, Elias, an assiduous boy, Man-man, Eddoes, a junk king, Mrs. Hereira, Uncle Bhakcu, Bolo, and Edward.

Lisa gets teased by Sherri and Terri about her big butt, so this embarrasses her. She becomes self-conscious about her weight. Homer only makes matters worse when he tells her about the "Simpson butt", something that all Simpsons have. Bart brings home a geography test with a grade of 100, eagerly expecting a party that was promised to him if he had got a 100. Despite Homer discovering that the watermark of Bart's test is real and that all the answers are correct, he and Marge speak to Bart's teacher. Mrs. Krabappel confesses that she did not bother to fold up the map during the test, so Bart and everyone else received 100. Marge throws Bart a party, which is attended by Patty and Selma, Grampa, Grandma, Ralph, and even Martin. Milhouse can only attend via speakerphone because he is sick with measles. Bart hates the party and to make matters worse, Lisa runs up to her room crying when Marge offers her one slice of cake.

Marge thinks her children no longer appreciate her, so when she finds Nelson catching tadpoles from a water fountain at the zoo, she decides to become a mother figure by spending quality time with him. They bond as Nelson tells Marge about his poor life involving his father abandoning him and never coming back. Marge brings him home so he can do some chores. Nelson's mother finds this out and does not want Marge giving them any charity. Later that night, Mrs. Muntz leaves town, and Nelson, having nowhere else to go, stays with the Simpsons. Marge lets him sleep in Bart's room, forcing Bart to sleep underneath his bed.

Late one night, Bart sees Nelson sing about his missing father, and sees Lisa eat an entire Labor Day cake as she was unable to take any more starvation. As Bart walks away, Nelson also sees her doing this and after talking about the situation, he offers to help Lisa get back at Sherri and Terri for teasing her. The next day, Nelson unleashes a skunk, which sprays both of them, while Lisa and her friends point and sing a parody of Jingle Bells. Both twins are scared and flee. When Lisa and Nelson return home, they find Nelson's father, who Bart found working at a freak show in a circus. It turns out that Mr. Muntz had really gone to the Kwik-E-Mart, where he had gotten a severe allergic reaction from eating a peanut bar. Coincidentally, the circus had made a stop in the Kwik-E-Mart parking lot, and the unscrupulous ringmaster noted the allergy and kept him as a forced freak for his traveling show. Nelson's mother finally returns, after going to Hollywood and getting the lead role in Macbeth, playing Lady Macbeth. Before returning to his family, Nelson thanks Marge for making him feel good about himself and appreciates what Bart did but says that this is not enough to stop him from bullying Bart.

As the family talk about the morals of the episode, Lisa admits that she still has body image issues. Homer tries to get Lisa to talk about it positively, but Lisa says that it is a "very open-ended problem" and that she may never fully be content with her body image. Homer tries to goad Lisa into changing her mind, but she refuses to do so.

Five-year-old Shirley Blake (Shirley Temple) and her widowed mother, Mary (Lois Wilson), a maid, live in the home of her employers, the rich and mean-spirited Smythe family, Anita (Dorothy Christy), J. Wellington (Theodore von Eltz), their spoiled seven-year-old daughter, Joy (Jane Withers) and cantankerous wheelchair-using Uncle Ned (Charles Sellon). After Christmas morning, Shirley hitches a ride to the airport to visit her late father's pilot friends. The aviators bring her aboard an airplane and taxi her around the runways while she serenades them with a rendition of ''On the Good Ship Lollipop''.

Mary is killed in a traffic accident. Loop (James Dunn), one of the pilots and Shirley's godfather, takes Shirley up in an airplane. He says that she is in Heaven and that her mother is now there. When the Smythes learn of Mary's death, they plan to send Shirley to an orphanage. However, Uncle Ned, who has grown fond of "Bright Eyes", insists that Shirley stay with them. To raise money for attorney fees, Loop reluctantly accepts a lucrative contract to deliver an item by plane, cross-country to New York during a dangerous storm. Unbeknown to him, little Shirley sneaked away from the Smythes' home, found his airplane at the airport, and stowed away inside. When their plane loses control in the storm in the wilderness, they parachute to the ground together and are eventually rescued. The impasse over custody is resolved when Loop, his former fiancée Adele (Judith Allen), Uncle Ned, and Shirley all decide to live together. The Smythes leave the courthouse miserably, except Joy at first; when she rudely comments that at least they don't have to be nice to Uncle Ned anymore, her mother slaps her hard across the face.

It is sixty years since the Great War, when Connacht, the hero who saved the world from the Myrkridia one thousand years previously, returned in the guise of Balor, and with his lieutenants, the Fallen Lords, attempted to destroy humanity. Alric, the only surviving Avatara, is now king of The Province, ruling from Madrigal. It is an age of peace and prosperity, with the Dark existing only in stories, although the fate of Soulblighter, Balor's chief lieutenant, remains unknown. The game opens with Alric experiencing a nightmare remembering the carnage of the War. He awakens to find a crow with red eyes at his window, watching him.

The game then cuts to a cluster of villages near Forest Heart. As with the first game, the story is told through the journal entries of a soldier in The Legion, which is now led by Crüniac, who the soldiers think is more interested in politics than military matters, and spends its time on what the men perceive as trivial errands. Their latest assignment has them investigate reports of grave robbing, however, they are shocked to find the village of Willow Creek besieged by undead Ghasts. They clear the village, and learn the grave robbing leads to the keep of Baron Kildaer. They head to the keep and see hundreds of Thrall moving towards Tallow. Crüniac sends a runner to warn the villagers, while The Legion attack the keep. Crüniac proves a more skilled military tactician than his men believed, masterminding an attack which results in Kildaer's death. Soon thereafter, the runner returns with news that every village in the vicinity has been destroyed, and an undead army is amassing nearby. Crüniac sets fire to the Keep, and The Legion flee into the Clouspine Mountains.

Their rearguard is attacked, and Crüniac mortally wounded. With his dying words, he reveals the undead are led by Soulblighter. The rest of The Legion make it to a World Knot and teleport to Madrigal, where they inform Alric of Soulblighter's return. Alric fears he is trying to find "The Summoner", who, it is foretold, will resurrect the Myrkridia. News soon arrives that Soulblighter has sacked several cities as he moves towards Madrigal, and that Shiver, a Fallen Lord killed during the Great War, has been resurrected. Alric is soon forced to abandon Madrigal, fighting his way through a Myrkridian assault led by Shiver.

The Legion head to Tandem, where Alric plans to hold the fortress at White Falls, on the river Meander, thus preventing Shiver from moving north. Meanwhile, he decides to find The Deceiver, a Fallen Lord who was openly antagonistic towards the others during the Great War. He was thought killed, but his actual fate remains unknown. Alric sends a small detachment to The Deceiver's last known location, and they learn he was trapped in the Dramas River when it froze solid around him, forcing him to use what little sorcery he had left to keep himself alive, unable to break free. The detachment locate and release him, and he advises them to head north to enlist the aid of the Trow, allies of his in ancient times. The Legion do so, and the Trow agree to join the fight against Soulblighter.

The detachment, The Deceiver and the Trow head south and meet with the rest of The Legion, learning Tandem has fallen. However, Alric has ordered The Legion to recapture Muirthemne, formerly Llancarfan, capital of the Cath Bruig Empire. His plan is to find the Ibis Crown in the city's haunted catacombs, and reclaim the title of Emperor, rallying humanity behind him. A small group of volunteers enter the crypts of the city and find the Crown, with Alric declared the new Emperor, and the journeymen resuming their position as the Emperor's Royal Guard; the Heron Guard.

Meanwhile, The Deceiver and a detachment travel to Forest Heart to locate a fragment of the Tain, in which Alric believes The Summoner to be hiding. They successfully find the fragment, enter the Tain, and kill The Summoner, cutting off Soulblighter from the Myrkridia. Acting on his own authority, The Deceiver then attacks Soulblighter's camp, but he and his men are captured. Phelot, a shade in charge of the prison, is in the service of The Deceiver, and frees them. The Deceiver attacks Soulblighter, who turns into a murder of crows to escape. He succeeds, but The Deceiver kills one of the crows, preventing him from fleeing in this manner again. The detachment then meet a scouting party near Silvermines; Alric and The Legion are moving to attack Soulblighter, but have been pinned down by Shiver, whom The Deceiver immediately heads to confront. He hunts her down, and Phelot destroys her army. The Deceiver then kills her, but her death triggers a magical energy backlash that also kills him.

With Shiver dead, Soulblighter is forced back against the Cloudspine. His army is defeated, but he flees into the volcano Tharsis, where he plans to shatter the Cloudspine itself, causing widespread devastation. Alric and The Legion pursue him, and Alric breaks the rock on which he stands, plunging him to his death in the molten lava. With Soulblighter's death, the narrator learns of "The Leveler", an immortal evil spirit. The forces of Light and Dark rule the world successively in thousand-year cycles, with each Age of Light climaxing with the arrival of The Leveler, who ushers in an Age of Darkness. The Leveler inhabits the body of the hero who defeated him in the previous cycle — thus the hero who saves civilization is destined to destroy it - as a result Connacht returned as Balor. Soulblighter was not The Leveler; he tried to force the cycle, and as a result may have broken it. Whether this is the case will not be known for over nine hundred years, when it comes Alric's time to assume the mantle of The Leveler.

''Myth II: Chimera''

When Alric restored the Cath Bruig Empire and reformed the Heron Guard, Four Bear Silent Oak chose to remain a journeyman, electing to lead a life of scholarship. Now, ten years later, he is plagued by visions of a mysterious woman, and a foreboding sense of evil. Convinced he must act, he seeks out his old ally, the legendary warrior Fenris, who has isolated himself in the fir'Bolg forest of Ruewood. Fenris agrees to join Four Bear, and they decide to elicit the aid of ne'Ric, a celebrated fir'Bolg. However, they soon learn the Banded Wasps of Ruewood, a normally peaceful race of giant wasps, have suddenly become aggressive.

Fending off an attack by the Banded Wasps, and accompanied by fir'Bolg, a band of human warriors, and several dwarves, they head to the tomb of their former ally, Kyrand the Mage, where Fenris plans to take possession of Kyrand's amulet. There, they encounter the woman from Four Bear's visions; a sorceress named Kyrilla, who also plans to retrieve the amulet. She orders an army of Thrall to prevent Four Bear, Fenris and their men entering, but they defeat the army. Kyrilla disappears, and they enter the tomb, retrieve the amulet, and resume their search for ne'Ric, who is fighting the Banded Wasps elsewhere in Ruewood. As they search, they again encounter Kyrilla, who reveals it is she who is behind the Banded Wasps' attack. They eventually find ne'Ric, and force the Wasps to retreat.

Fenris then receives a letter from Baron Geoffrey Volsung begging him for help, as he believes Kyrilla has put in motion a plot to assassinate him. Fenris, Four Bear, ne'Ric and their men head to meet Volsung on the beachhead at Cavanaugh. Upon arriving, Volsung accuses them of betraying him. Fenris is able to convince him he is incorrect, narrowly avoiding a clash between Volsung's army and their own men. They then help his men repel an attack from an army of undead. Kyrilla appears, revealing she had hoped Volsung and Fenris would kill one another. Awaiting an attack in her castle, she summons the power of her "Lord", begging him to give her the strength to avenge her father's death.

The heroes and their army attack the castle, defeating Kyrilla's undead legions. She confronts them, revealing herself to be Kyrand's daughter. Four Bear gives her Kyrand's amulet, in which are stored his memories, and she realizes her "Lord", the demon Cartuke, was actually the one who killed Kyrand, who sacrificed his own life to wound Cartuke and save the lives of Fenris, Four Bear and ne'Ric. Cartuke had been manipulating Kyrilla in an effort to regain his power, but now she sees the truth, and joins the others. They head to his lair, finding him inside an energy sphere. Killing all of their men, he leaves only Fenris, Four Bear, ne'Ric and Kyrilla. In an effort to distract him, Fenris and Kyrilla attack, and as he turns them to stone, ne'Ric fires a magical arrow which kills him. Four Bear laments that once again, he has failed to save the lives of his friends, but he and ne'Ric take some consolation in the knowledge that Cartuke has finally been defeated.

''Ivan Vasilevich Lomov'', a long-time neighbour of Stepan Stepanovich Chubukov, has come to propose marriage to Chubukov's 25-year-old daughter, Natalia. After he has asked and received joyful permission to marry Natalia, she is invited into the room, and he tries to convey to her the proposal. Lomov is a hypochondriac, and, while trying to make clear his reasons for being there, he gets into an argument with Natalia about The Oxen Meadows, a disputed piece of land between their respective properties, which results in him having "palpitations" and numbness in his leg. After her father notices they are arguing, he joins in, and then sends Ivan out of the house. While Stepan rants about Lomov, he expresses his shock that "this fool dares to make you (Natalia) a proposal of marriage!" Natalia then realizes that Lomov wanted to marry her and immediately starts into hysterics, begging for her father to bring him back. He does, and Natalia and Ivan get into a second big argument, this time about the superiority of their respective hunting dogs, Guess and Squeezer. Ivan collapses from his exhaustion over arguing, and father and daughter fear he's dead, sending them into another round of hysterics. However, after a few minutes he regains consciousness, and Chubukov all but forces him and his daughter to accept the proposal with a kiss. Immediately following the kiss, the couple gets into another argument over their dogs while Chebokov tries to calm them and offers Champagne.

In ancient times, Earth was involved in a massive conflict between Mental, an evil extraterrestrial being who seeks to conquer all life in the universe, and the Sirians, a technologically advanced race of humanoid aliens. Although the Sirians were ultimately defeated, they left behind remnants of their advanced technology, which were later discovered by modern humans at the dawn of the 21st century and used to develop the means for human civilization to explore other galaxies and establish many interstellar colonies. In the 22nd century, Mental suddenly reappears and leads his vast army of aliens from planet to planet, destroying every colony until he finally reaches Earth. As a last resort, humanity's leaders decide to use the "Time-Lock", an ancient Sirian artifact that contains the power to send a single person back to a chosen point in time. Sam "Serious" Stone, a soldier whose bravery in fighting the aliens has made him a living symbol of human resistance, is recruited to go back in time to when Mental was fighting the Sirians in the hope that he might find a way to eliminate Mental and change the course of history.

As the game opens, Sam appears in Egypt during the time of the Pharaohs, guided by an AI called NETRISCA. He visits several locations, including the Valley of the Kings, to collect religious icons representing the four elements of Water, Earth, Air, and Fire while battling hordes of aliens sent by Mental to stop him. He then travels to the abandoned city of Memphis, where he finds a fifth relic, the icon of Amon-Ra, in the Temple of Ptah. NETRISCA then instructs him to go to Thebes, which results in a long and difficult trek through the desert during which Sam is forced to dump most of his ammo in order to lighten his load.

At Thebes, Sam works his way through the city until he reaches a sanctuary where he manages to activate a hidden Sirian communicator concealed in an obelisk in the heart of Luxor, which summons a Sirian starship to Earth from deep space. Sam rushes to the Great Pyramids of Giza in order to rendezvous with the starship, only to be cornered by Mental's top general and most powerful warrior, Ugh Zan III. After defeating the giant by using the Sirian technology built into the pyramids to weaken him, Sam then teleports himself onto the starship, dubbed the "SSS Centerprice". He finds a payphone and leaves a message for Mental telling him that he has a "special delivery package" for him and sets a course to Sirius, the Sirian homeworld. The story ends with Sam breaking the fourth wall by telling the player that its "bedtime" as the game indicates that his story will continue.

''The Second Encounter'' begins where ''The First Encounter'' left off, with Sam traveling to Sirius on the SSS Centerprice. Unfortunately, the starship is accidentally hit by the "Croteam crate-bus" and plummets down to Earth's surface. As the starship falls, Sam reads the coordinates and frets about crash-landing into Egypt again, but instead crashes into Central America in the Mayan age, with the starship now heavily damaged upon impact. However, not all hope is lost, since the Sirians left a "back-up starship" on Earth, which was a fail-safe in case anything ever happened to the SSS Centerprice. However, since this back-up starship is located in a different time and age than where and when Sam currently is, he will have to uncover the locations of the Sirian portals that will help him reach his destination. With this new objective, Sam storms through Mesoamerica, then travels to Mesopotamia and finally to Medieval Europe where the back-up starship is located. During his journey, Sam battles two of Mental's portal guardians: a powerful Mayan spirit named Kukulkan the Wind God and a biomechanical creature called the Exotech Larva. Finally, in front of the Cathedral of Sacred Blood, Sam confronts the last obstacle to overcome on his path to the Holy Grail, Mordekai the Summoner. After a glorious battle with Mordekai and his spawning minions, The Summoner is finally silenced forever. In the Cathedral, Sam lifts the Holy Grail in the palms of his hands, followed by his sarcastic confessions of his sins in a booth to Mental, during which he tells Mental that "he's coming to get him." During the end credits, Sam activates the back-up starship, which turns out to be a rocket, and travels back into space toward Sirius, with the "Croteam Big-Heads" cheering him on. The story continues in ''Serious Sam 2''.

The angel Raguel is called upon to solve a mystery in the Silver City—an angel has been murdered and he has to find the killer.

''Yu-Gi-Oh R'' takes place following Yugi Mutou's victory in the Battle City tournament. Yako Tenma, the protégé' and adopted son of Maximillion Pegasus, decides to avenge his teacher's defeat at the hands of Yugi, believing him to be responsible for Pegasus' alleged death. After taking over KaibaCorp while Seto Kaiba is in the United States, Tenma kidnaps Anzu Mazaki, prompting Yugi and his friend Katsuya Jonouchi to face Tenma's RA Project and the duel professors. Seto Kaiba and his brother Mokuba also come to the scene to rescue the company.

The novel opens in early 1945. Peter Marlowe, a young British RAF Flight Lieutenant, has been a P.O.W. since 1942. Marlowe comes to the attention of the "King" - an American corporal who has become the most successful trader and black marketeer in Changi - when King sees him conversing in Malay. Marlowe's languages, intelligence, honesty, and winning personality cause King to befriend him and attempt to involve him in black market deals, which bring Marlowe to the attention of Robin Grey, a British officer and Provost Marshal of the camp, who has developed a Javert-like obsession with King and hopes to arrest him for violating camp regulations. Grey is attempting to maintain military discipline among the prisoners and sees King as the antithesis of his beliefs. As the son of a working-class family, Grey follows the rules for their own sake, using his position as Provost Marshal to gain a status otherwise unavailable to him in British society.

Despite being an enlisted man and undistinguished in civilian life, King has become a major power in the closed society of the P.O.W. camp through his charisma and intelligence. Trading with Korean guards, local Malay villagers, and other prisoners for food, clothing, information, and what few luxuries are available, King keeps himself and his fellow American prisoners alive. Senior officers come to him for help in selling their valuables to buy food, and other officers are secretly on his payroll. Marlowe is initially put off by King's perspective and behaviour, which clash with the British upper class ideals he has been taught. He turns down a lucrative business partnership with King because "Marlowes aren't tradesmen. It just isn't done, old boy". Marlowe soon understands that King is not the thief and con artist that Grey would have him believe. Rather, King asks for the best of each man and rewards him accordingly, irrespective of class or position.

Through the experiences of Marlowe, King, and other characters, the novel offers a vivid, often disturbing portrayal of men brought to the edge of survival by a brutal environment. The P.O.W.s are given nothing by the Japanese other than filthy huts to live in and the bare minimum of food. Officers from various parts of Britain's Asian empire, accustomed to having native servants provide them with freshly laundered uniforms daily, are reduced to wearing rags and homemade shoes. For most, the chief concern is obtaining enough food to stay alive from day to day and avoiding disease or injury, since almost no medical care is available. Some are degraded and come close to losing their humanity, while others display levels of courage and compassion beyond expectations. Some literally steal food out the mouths of their comrades, while others give away what they have or take terrible risks to help their friends.

King decides he and his friends should breed rats to sell for food. His comrades, though nearly starving themselves, are repulsed at the idea of eating rat meat, so King comes up with the plan of only selling the meat to officers without telling them the true source. A group of officers who stole money from their underlings are later seen greedily enjoying a meal of what they are told is mouse deer (''rusa tikus'' in Malay), not knowing they are actually eating rat meat. When the camp is ultimately liberated, most of the soldiers have trouble adjusting to freedom. King loses his power and is shunned by the others. Grey ironically thanks King on the grounds that his hatred of King was the only thing keeping him alive. At the end the rats are abandoned in their cages when the camp is abandoned. The final scene has the rats consuming each other one by one, with the final survivor becoming "king of the rats".

Corporal King is an anomaly in the Japanese prison camp. One of only a handful of Americans amongst the British and Australian inmates, he thrives through his conniving and black market enterprises, while others, nearly all of higher rank, struggle to survive sickness and starvation while trying to retain their civilized standards. King recruits upper class British RAF officer Flight Lieutenant Peter Marlowe to act as a translator. As they become acquainted, Marlowe comes to like the man and appreciate his cunning. King respects Marlowe, but his attitude is otherwise ambiguous; when Marlowe is injured, King obtains expensive medicines to save Marlowe's gangrenous arm from amputation, but, despite the fact he stays by the sick man's bedside, it is unclear whether he does so out of friendship or because Marlowe is the only one who knows where the proceeds from King's latest and most profitable venture are hidden.

However, lower class, seemingly incorruptible British Provost, First Lieutenant Grey has only contempt for the American and does his best to bring him down. Then Grey has to deal with an unrelated dilemma when he accidentally discovers that the high-ranking officer in charge of the meagre food rations has been stealing. He rejects a bribe and zealously takes the matter to Colonel George Smedley-Taylor. To his dismay, Smedley-Taylor tells him the corrupt officer and his assistant have merely been relieved of their duties and orders him to forget all about it. Grey accuses Smedley-Taylor of being in on the scheme, but the tampered weight he presented to the colonel as evidence has been replaced, so he no longer has proof of the crime. Smedley-Taylor offers to promote him to acting captain. When a troubled Grey does not respond, Smedley-Taylor takes his silence as consent.

King starts breeding rats and selling the meat to British officers, telling them it is mouse-deer. When a pet dog is put down for killing a chicken, King has it cooked, and he and his friends secretly eat it. Although King's friends protest when they discover the origin of the meat, they ultimately relish it. The stakes are raised when they get a diamond to sell.

Then the Japanese commander reads a scroll while a junior officer translates for the senior British officers, informing them that the Japanese have surrendered and the war is over. The prisoners celebrate – all except King. He realizes he is no longer the unquestioned, if unofficial, ruler of the camp.

Weaver, a lone British paratrooper appears from seemingly nowhere, walks up to the prison gates and fires a revolver in the air. The guards surrender. King manages to squelch a premature attempt by resentful underling First Sergeant Max to reassert his rank and authority, but that only delays the inevitable. When Marlowe speaks to him before King's departure from the camp, King belittles their friendship, saying "you worked for me, and I paid you". The Americans are put on a truck. Marlowe rushes to say goodbye to King, but is too late, and the truck drives off. Grey remarks that it was, "our lot (the British working class) that threw Churchill out." "We'll be running things from now on," indicating that the end of the war presages the beginning of a new political order.

Saul Garamond returns to the flat he shares with his father in London late one evening, skipping on greetings and heading straight to bed. In the morning he is awakened by police pounding on the door, come to arrest him. It appears he is the lone suspect in his father's murder case. After spending most of a day being interrogated and in a holding cell, Saul finds he has a mysterious visitor, who introduces himself as King Rat. The two begin a one sided rooftop escape as King Rat carries Saul along. At the end of this journey, King Rat reveals to Saul that he is his uncle by way of Saul's mother being a rat and also that Saul has been set up to take the fall for his father's death.

Saul follows King Rat exploring the secrets of London, from the rooftops to the sewers. Being half rat, his two primary abilities are being able to eat anything, even garbage, and squeezing into holes and shadows too small for other creatures. Meanwhile, Saul's friend Natasha Karadjian, a drum and bass musician, begins to write and record new music with a flautist named Pete. Two of their other mutual friends, Fabian and Kay, are unnerved by this stranger but find it hard not to like the music the two are making. These friends are also being pursued by the police for any information on Saul's whereabouts. After spending several days with King Rat, Saul hears whispers of the return of the Ratcatcher.

This prompts King Rat to gather allies, Anansi, the spider king, and Loplop, the bird king; they are prompted to join him for their own reasons—the Ratcatcher is also after the Spidercatcher and Birdcatcher, their enemy as well. So, King Rat relates the story of living in Hamelin, the last time he really was king. But he was displaced, of course, by the Pied Piper of Hamelin and his flute. It is revealed that now the Piper travels the world seeking pests so he may kill for the fun of it. The three animal kings end the story by swearing revenge.

Even with his newfound powers, Saul is forced to stay in the shadows with King Rat, but cannot forget his own friends and past. He visits Kay but the two no longer understand each other. This visit leads to Pete, being revealed as the returned Piper, finding and murdering Kay. Meanwhile, the animal kings' plans begin to fall short and they drift apart. Saul begins to push his new boundaries and explore London on his own. During this time, he meets Deborah, a vagrant. Together they return to Saul's former flat, where he finds his father's old notebook. Here finds an entry about an attack on his mother nine months before his own birth. He realises he is not King Rat's nephew but his son, by way of rape and that everything since his father's death has been a set up by King Rat, who must therefore be the murderer of the man Saul considers his father.

As they discover these facts, the Piper confronts Saul and Deborah. He kills Deborah but Loplop saves Saul. The piper reveals that he cannot control Saul as he can the others, as the Piper can only play one song at a time and as such a tune that controls rats will be ignored by Saul's human side and vice versa. Saul returns to the sewers to confront King Rat, leading to a falling-out. He wants to go his own way and leave the Piper to the animal kings. Natasha and Pete have set up an act at a club, Jungle, to debut their music. Fabian is interrogated by the police again and he realises that the flute left behind when Saul was attacked belongs to Pete. He calls the police to meet him at Natasha's home but arriving ahead of them he is wounded and both he and Natasha are taken by the Piper.

After wandering for a few days, Saul meets up with Anansi, who informs him of Kay's death by the Piper. He begins to notice something is wrong in the sewer as well, as the rats have disappeared, their scratching replaced by a new sound, music. He traces the sound back to King Rat's throne room, now filled with dancing and dead rats; who along with King Rat are mesmerised by the music playing on a ghetto blaster. Saul realises the title on the tape within is written in Natasha's handwriting. He finds a poster for Natasha and the Piper's show, and despite knowing it is a trap, he goes to save his friends.

Saul sneaks into the club with his new rat allies and Anansi leading the spiders. Loplop, left deaf by Saul during the Piper's first attack is unable to rally his birds. However, when Natasha takes the stage to spin her records, Pete throws her a DAT, which has his flute samples on it. The layering of tracks allows the Piper to play several tunes at once, controlling the rats, clubbers and spiders all at once.

Unable to defend himself Anansi is killed by the Piper and Saul is overwhelmed. However, King Rat bursts from under the stage and attacks the Piper, but proves to be only a momentary distraction. With the musical fusion playing, the entire club is under the Piper's control and all he wants to kill Saul, who will not dance for him. The music does not mesh: instead of one solo flute, two flutes compete for the overlying sound. This dissonance causes Saul to regain control just as the Piper attempts to kill him; he dodges the blow and resists the Piper. The Piper knows he cannot win a physical fight, so he tears a hole in reality by playing his flute through which he can escape, just as he tore a hole in the mountain to hide the children of Hamelin. King Rat attacks the Piper with the Piper's own flute; they both fall into the rent but King Rat jumps away, and suddenly the hole closes, the Piper on the other side.

Saul and King Rat are unsung heroes of the club but they both know they can never be a part of the world they just saved. King Rat still wants his kingdom back from Saul. Saul refuses to give in and knows that if the Piper returns, King Rat will still need him, so he can't be killed to restore complete order to the rat kingdom. Saul then gathers his own band of rats and lies about King Rat's contribution, painting him as a coward and ensuring the rats will never again follow him. Saul makes the declaration that King Rat is not the one true leader of all rats and he is not Prince Rat, but he is one of them, Citizen Rat.

Genghis Khan ("Cambyuskan" in Chaucer's version) leads the Mongol Empire with two sons, Algarsyf and Cambalo, and a daughter, Canace. At the twentieth anniversary of his reign, he holds a feast, and a strange knight sent from "the kyng of Arabe and of Inde" approaches him bearing gifts, a motif common in Arthurian legends. These are a brass horse with the power of teleportation, a mirror which can reveal the minds of the king's friends and enemies, a ring which confers understanding of the language of birds (as some legends say King Solomon owned), and a sword which deals deadly wounds that only its touch can heal again (both the spear of Achilles and the Holy Lance have these powers). After much learned talk of the gifts, digressing into astrology, the first part of the tale ends.

A subplot of the tale deals with Canace and her ring. Eagerly rising the next morning, she goes on a walk and discovers a grieving falcon. The falcon tells Canace that she has been abandoned by her false lover, a tercelet (male hawk), who left her for a kite. (In medieval falconry, kites were birds of low status.) Canace heals the bird and builds a mew for it, painted blue for true faith within and green for falsity, with pictures of deceitful birds, outside. (This image is based on flower painted walls of the garden of the ''Romance of the Rose''.)

The second part ends with a promise of more to come involving Genghis Khan's sons and the quest of Cambalo to win Canace as his wife. (The prologue hints that Canace and her brothers commit incest, as in John Gower's version of the story.) However, it is extremely unlikely that Chaucer ever intended to finish the tale. Instead the Franklin breaks into the very beginning of the third section with elaborate praise of the Squire's gentility—the Franklin being something of a social climber—and proceeds to his own tale.

The story is set in alternate-history Japan in the 1950s following the atomic bombing and subsequent occupation (by a victorious Nazi Germany, rather than the Allies) of the country at the end of World War II and the post-war recovery. It focuses on Kazuki Fuse, a member of the elite Kerberos Panzer Cops, a metropolitan counter-terrorism unit. Fuse confronts his own humanity when he fails to shoot a young terrorist that his unit traps in the storm-water tunnels. She detonates a bomb in front of him, but only kills herself. The incident damages the reputation of the unit and Fuse is reprimanded. He visits the ashes of the dead girl and meets Kei Amemiya, who claims to be the elder sister of the terrorist and they develop a friendship. Kei is eventually revealed not to be the suicide bomber's sister, but a former bomb courier coerced into acting on behalf of the Special Unit's rival division Public Security.

A trap is set by the local police forces and the Public Security Division intended to discredit the Special Unit with Kei as bait to catch Fuse, intending to show a terrorist passing a satchel bomb to a member of the Panzers. However, Fuse sneaks in, seizes Kei, neutralizes the Capitol Police agents and they escape. Later, Kei reveals her role in the deception and suggests they leave together, but Fuse decides to stay.

They make their way to the tunnels once more, where they are met by members of the Wolf Brigade, a secret, deep-cover unit in the Kerberos Corps led by Hajime Handa. They provide Fuse with a full set of armor and weaponry, before leaving with Kei in tow. Hachiroh Tohbe explains to Kei that the Wolf Brigade has used the Public Security Division's plan to flush out those who were most active in trying to eliminate the Kerberos Corps, and eliminate them in turn. Public Security agents follow a tracking device in Kei's bag and make their way into the tunnels. They encounter the fully armored Fuse, who slaughters them all.

Later, the Wolf Brigade meet in a junkyard and Fuse is ordered to kill Kei to ensure she is never recaptured by Public Security. Kei embraces Fuse and sadly recites the dialogue of Little Red Riding Hood, describing the grotesque appearance of the wolf disguised as a loved one. Fuse is distraught, but regardless kills Kei. Fuse is horrified at his action, but now having sacrificed his humanity, he has no other choice but to remain part of the pack. The old sergeant solemnly compares Kei's fate to the demise of Red Riding Hood and the triumph of the wolf.

A lady cop infiltrates an all-female criminal gang.

The starship USS ''Enterprise'' enters an uncharted region of space searching for her sister ship, the USS ''Defiant''. Sensors detect fractures in space, and a power loss affects all systems. ''Defiant'' is found adrift, and Captain Kirk, First Officer Spock, Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy, and Navigator Ensign Chekov transport across wearing environmental suits for protection. Aboard ''Defiant'', they find the crew dead, apparently having killed one another.

The boarding party discovers that ''Defiant'' is slowly fading out of our universe. At one point, McCoy passes his hand through an almost invisible man and a table. With limited transporter functionality due to the unexplained malfunctions, Kirk orders his men to return to ''Enterprise'' first. The beaming takes longer than usual, and as Chief Engineer Scott tries to beam Kirk aboard, the ''Defiant'' vanishes.

Spock determines that the local space is experiencing periods of "interphase", when two parallel dimensions touch each other and objects in one can move to the other, and believes Kirk will reappear during the next one. As he explains the situation, Chekov lashes out in anger, a symptom that McCoy believes is due to their proximity to ''Defiant''. Spock, however, refuses to move the ship, fearful of disrupting local space, which could result in the loss of the Captain.

With two hours before the next interphase, the ''Enterprise'' is approached by a small, unfamiliar ship. Its captain, Commander Loskene of the Tholian Assembly, asserts that ''Enterprise'' has violated Tholian space and must leave. Spock persuades Loskene to wait one hour and fifty-three minutes. When the time is up, Kirk does not reappear, and Spock concludes that the arrival of the Tholian ship disrupted the interphase.

When the ''Enterprise'' is attacked by Loskene, McCoy again urges Spock to leave, believing Kirk is lost. Spock chooses to return fire and the Tholian ship is disabled, but the ''Enterprise'' takes damage as well. Scott warns that because of the damage he cannot guarantee that he can hold their position. A second Tholian ship joins the first, and the two begin weaving an energy web that cages the ''Enterprise''. Spock determines that if the web is completed before repairs are done, they will be unable to escape.

Spock conducts a memorial service for Kirk, during which another man goes insane. Spock and McCoy then view a tape left by Kirk, to be played in the event of his death, which implores the two of them to work together for the benefit of the ship. Lieutenant Uhura and Scott both report seeing ghostly manifestations of Kirk. Finally, the apparition is seen on the bridge; Kirk is still in his environmental suit and appears to be urging Spock to "hurry".

With the Tholian web nearly complete, McCoy dispenses an antidote to the effects of the local space, and Spock determines the time of Kirk's next appearance. They lock onto Kirk's coordinates, and Spock orders the activation of the ship's engines, which carries them through the spatial rift to a point 2.72 parsecs away. Kirk is brought along by the transporter lock, and beamed aboard just as his oxygen runs out.

On the bridge, Kirk questions Spock and McCoy about their handling of the emergency, particularly concerning the tape with his final orders. McCoy claims they did not have time to watch it, Spock confirms that they were very busy, and Kirk accepts their answers.

The film begins with Sallah Shabati, a Mizrahi Jewish immigrant, arriving in Israel by plane with his family: very pregnant wife, ancient female relative and seven children. Upon arrival he is taken to live in a ''ma'abara'', or transit camp, where he is given a broken-down, one-room shack to live in with his family.

The rest of the film follows his many attempts to make enough money to purchase an apartment in the nearby new housing development. His money-making schemes are often comical and frequently satirize the political and social stereotypes in Israel at the time.

Finally realizing that people are more likely to get what they '''don't''' want, he organizes a demonstration against the housing office shouting the slogan: "We don't want the development: we want the ''ma'abara''!" The film ends with residents being forcibly evicted by police and transported to - the new housing complex.

The film is loosely based on real life "Phantom Lover" Dan Cheung, known as such due to the ghostlike (that is, not real) nature of the women he romances. The film is set in China in the 1940s. Song Dan Ping (Leslie Cheung) was an ambitious theatre actor and owner who built his dream magnificent playhouse from where he entertained and dazzled the theatre-loving populace with his adaptation of classics such as Romeo and Juliet and other tragic love stories.

His passionate and devoted performances drew the attention of To Wan-Yin (Jacqueline Wu), the beautiful daughter of a corrupt and despotic official. To Wan-Yin would sneak out of her house with her personal maid in the night to watch Dan Ping's play (he was acting as Romeo in Shakespeare's play--'Romeo and Juliet'). During the patriarchal era, romance between an actor (considered useless and without a bright future) and a rich man's daughter was definitely a taboo (it was an irony that the couple were 're-enacting' Romeo and Juliet in the movie). Hence after each performance, Dan Ping and Wan-Yin would have a rendezvous at the theatre and their love deepened to the extent that they vowed to run away from the city and to get married elsewhere.

However, Wan-Yin was betrothed to a man she did not love who was reputed to be cruel and sadistic; this persuaded her to throw caution to the wind and run away from home with Song. It also turned out that Wan-Yin's father arranged the marriage (as was the custom of China at that time) to benefit himself as he sought to become allies with another official of great influence, whose friendship would help to improve his social standing.

As fate dictated, the eloping couple was caught before the plan came to fruition and Wan-Yin's maid, who had assisted the eloping couple in their attempt to escape, was beaten until she was crippled. Meanwhile, Wan-Yin was locked in the house by her father to prevent her from eloping.

This did not end the couple's tragic fate. Wan-Yin's fiancé had arranged his men to harm Dan Ping. After disfiguring Dan Ping's face with burning acid, they set the theatre ablaze with Dan Ping and many other innocent people in it. After Wan-Yin learned of the fire and Dan Ping's disappearance, she resigned to fate and married her fiancé.

On her wedding night, Wan-Yin's husband found out that she was not a virgin (he did not 'see red' on their nuptial night). Wan-Yin was then abused and eventually drove out of the house and was forced to lead a wandering life with her crippled maid. Wan-Yin soon lost all her senses as her longing for Dan Ping drove her crazy.

Many years later, a group of performing arts students traveled from Beijing to perform in the city where Song Dan Ping had performed, eager to adapt his exploits and to improvise on his legendary performances. They came to the theatre hall, with its outer foundations still intact but with the internal sections terribly destroyed, and made their temporary quarters there. Many people believed Song to have perished in the fire but he was indeed still living as the students made their home in his theatre.

Song, however, was badly scarred in the face and was never to reveal his once-handsome face to the outside world and earned the nickname 'The Phantom lover' by his once-loving audience. His personality was also changed as he was severely depressed and morose after the tragic incidents and had lived the life of a hermit ever since. When the students arrived at the theatre, he was slightly encouraged to reveal himself when one of the more talented students tried unsuccessfully to sing his ultimate love serenade whom he dedicated to Wan-Yin. Song later lashed out at the students' incompetence when he could no longer bear such disparaging performances of his efforts and decided to reveal himself and his scarred face to them.

When the officials heard that the students tried to popularise Song in their theatre performances and reenact his glorious days, they came to arrest the students. Little did they know their evil deeds were exposed to the public who came for the performances. One by one, the accomplices to the plot to burn down the theatre were forced to confess in detail, to their crimes.

Justice was finally achieved but only as a hollow victory on Song's part. In the closing moments, Song was seen holding his lover's hands. Wan-Yin had since become an invalid, and she had also become blind as a result of her ex-husband shooting her. She recognized Song, but lamented that she could not see him - a blessing for him, since she couldn't see how ugly his face had become. The two lovers finally departed the town in a coach, together at last. An epilogue reveals that Wan-Yin died a year later—probably due to the shooting injuries—and that Song never loved another woman in his lifetime.

British adventurer Richard Francis Burton dies on Earth and is revived in mid-air in a vast dark room filled with human bodies, some only half-formed. There, he is confronted by men in a flying vehicle who then blast him with a weapon.

He next awakes upon the shores of a mysterious river, naked and hairless. All around him are other people in a similar situation. Shortly after they awaken, a nearby structure, nicknamed a "grailstone," causes food and other supplies to appear in the "grails" bound to each individual. Burton quickly attracts a group of companions: the neanderthal Kazzintuitruaabemss (nicknamed Kazz), the science fiction author Peter Jairus Frigate, and Alice Liddell. Among these is the extraterrestrial Monat Grrautut, earlier part of a small group of beings from Tau Ceti who had arrived on Earth in the early 21st century. When one of their number was accidentally killed by humans, their spaceship automatically killed most of the people on Earth. Frigate and others alive at the time confirm Monat's story. Retreating into the nearby woods for safety, Burton's party chew gum provided by their grails, and discover that this gum is a powerful hallucinogen. As days and weeks pass, people's physical wants are provided for by the grails, which eventually produce a set of cloths used for clothing. Rumors reach Burton's region that the river continues seemingly forever. One night, Burton is visited by a mysterious cloaked figure, whom Burton dubs "The Mysterious Stranger", who explains that he is one of the beings who has constructed this world and resurrected humanity on its shores, and tells Burton to approach the headwaters of the river.

After setting off, Burton's group encounters many adventures, but are enslaved by a riverbank kingdom run by Tullus Hostilius and Hermann Göring, against whom Burton leads a successful revolt. Göring himself is killed by Alice. After the revolt, Burton is part of the nation's ruling council. Later, the protagonists discover a person among them who they conclude is an agent of the beings who created this world. Before the man can be questioned, he dies of no apparent cause. An autopsy reveals a small device planted in the man's brain which apparently allowed him to kill himself at will. Burton is visited by the Mysterious Stranger and is warned that the beings who created this world, whom the Stranger refers to as "Ethicals", are close to capturing Burton. Desperate to escape, Burton kills himself to be resurrected elsewhere in the river valley, and continues thus to explore it. He often finds himself resurrected near Hermann Göring, who undergoes a moral and religious conversion and joins the pacifist Church of the Second Chance. After many resurrections, Burton finds himself resurrected not in the river but in the Dark Tower at the headwaters, and is interrogated by a council of Ethicals to discover the identity of Burton's "Mysterious Stranger". After fruitlessly questioning him, the Ethicals inform him that they will return him to the river valley, remembering nothing of themselves, and restore him to his friends, but the Mysterious Stranger prevents them from removing his memory and Burton resolves to continue pursuing the truth about the Ethicals and their intentions for the Riverworld.

Twenty years after humanity was resurrected on Riverworld, Sam Clemens is traveling with the crew of a Viking longboat, captained by Eric Bloodaxe, who is notable for having an axe made of metal. On the metal-poor Riverworld, where even a few ounces of metal is a treasure, this is a rarity. Clemens and Bloodaxe have allied in order to find the source of this metal. Clemens is accompanied on his quest by a gigantic prehistoric hominid whom he has named Joe Miller. Miller, despite being very cordial, and talking with a lisp, is a fearsome warrior because of his size, and protects Clemens from Bloodaxe's crew. Clemens is also motivated in his quest by his desire to be reunited with his terrestrial wife, Livy.

Unknown to the others, Clemens had been contacted by a mysterious being whom he named X. X claimed to be a member of the beings who were responsible for resurrection, although he disagreed with their goals. He was aware of Clemens's desire to build a metal riverboat, and assured the author that the metal needed to realise this dream could be found upriver. X manages to send a nickel-iron meteorite crashing into Riverwold, not far from Clemens. Clemens and his crew manage to survive the resulting tidal wave that kills nearly everyone in the vicinity. Sadly, Clemens discovers Livy is one of the dead when her body washes up on deck. She had been in the area but will now be resurrected thousands of miles from him.

In the wake of the tidal wave all the survivors in the region are put to sleep by a strange fog, and awake to discover the valley has been restored to a pristine condition. Clemens realizes that the meteor likely contains a source of metal and the crew sets out to look for it. They are soon joined by German aviator Lothar von Richthofen, a World War One ace and brother of the famous Red Baron. Lothar becomes a trusted ally of Clemens and an additional ally against Bloodaxe.

When the crew reaches the area where the meteor fell, they find a new group of resurrectees who have formed a nascent kingdom. The crew quickly kill the leaders and assume control of the region for themselves. They begin mining the metal from the meteorite. However, Clemens does not trust Bloodaxe, and has his co-leader assassinated.

As more metal is exhumed from the ground the technology level of the area begins to rise, including the reintroduction of firearms. While the meteorite is rich in nickel and iron Clemens needs other materials to manufacture modern conveniences. To get these resources he must trade much of his metal to neighboring kingdoms. Many of these kingdoms eye his own kingdom jealously and Clemens is constantly on guard lest he be invaded and his precious mine taken from him. Of particular concern is a neighboring kingdom led by the English King John Lackland. Eventually King John and another kingdom join forces to invade Clemens's land. However, Clemens makes a deal with King John to unite their lands. John betrays his one-time ally and forms the nation of Parolando with Clemens.

As production begins on the boat, Clemens receives a rude shock when his wife arrives in the company of Cyrano de Bergerac. In the intervening years Livy has become Cyrano's lover. When the Frenchman, who is noted as one of the best swordsmen in the world, had heard of a kingdom with metal, he became obsessed with traveling there in order to obtain a proper sword. Despite his discomfort with the situation, Clemens quickly warms to Cyrano, and the Frenchman becomes part of Clemens' inner circle.

The protagonists meet a later time American astronaut Firebrass, who claims to have visited the Moon, Mars, Ganymede, and orbited Jupiter.

Diplomatic problems continue for Parolando, most notably with nearby "Soul City", a kingdom founded by a black nationalist. Demanding ever increasing payments for its resources, Soul City eventually attacks Parolando, almost conquering the nation until agents of John Lackland dynamite a dam, sending a wave of water to sweep the invading enemies into the river.

Despite such setbacks, Clemens builds his riverboat, a side paddle wheeler which is named the ''Not for Hire''. However, on the day of its christening, King John betrays Clemens and steals the ship. As the boat steams away, Clemens vows to build an even bigger and better boat and to exact revenge on King John.

The plot, set 30 years after humanity's resurrection, consists of three distinct plot lines, which come together towards the conclusion.

In the first plot line, Richard Burton and his friends continue their journey up river. On their journey they encounter a group of ancient Egyptians who tell them of a mission which their Pharaoh had undertaken to reach the source of the River. Accompanied by the Titanthrop Joe Miller, who they believed to be an avatar of Thoth, they scaled the mountains at the River's headwaters and descended into a polar sea, with a large black tower in the center. On the shores they found a cave with supplies and boat. One of their number died there, bringing the story back to the Valley. Burton also discovers that his group has been infiltrated by traitors. Through hypnosis, the Neanderthal Kaz identifies Monat and Pete Frigate as agents of the alien creators of the Riverworld. When Burton goes to confront them he discovers that they have disappeared.

The second plot line deals with the real Peter Jairus Frigate, who is unaware that someone has been impersonating him (actually his deceased brother who died in infancy). One day, a ship docks near his home and Frigate recognizes its captains as two of his childhood heroes, Tom Mix and Jack London. He signs on to the crew, joining the Sufi mystic Nur-ed-Din and the African warrior Umslopogas. For years he travels with them without revealing that he knows Mix and London's identities. When he finally confronts the men, they reveal that they had been recruited by the Mysterious Stranger to find the source of the River. Eventually they come upon the metal rich nation of New Bohemia and Frigate suggests they build a balloon to reach the pole faster. However, soon after launch their balloon is destroyed after an encounter with another airship.

In the third plot line, the nation of Parolando, now under the rule of President Milton Firebrass, is building an airship, which will allow them to reach the pole faster than Clemens' steamboat. Cyrano de Bergerac has opted to stay behind to help with the project and proves to be a competent pilot. Training is overseen by new arrival Jill Gulbirra, an Australian dirigible pilot and strident feminist. The airship launches and rapidly makes the journey to the pole, where they discover the sea and the dark tower described by the Egyptians. Firebrass and several others abruptly board a helicopter to fly down to the tower, but it explodes, killing them. Engineer Barry Thorn is jailed after it is discovered that he planted a bomb on the helicopter. The crew discover a doorway on the roof of the tower, but all attempts to enter it are stymied by an invisible force field. Japanese Sufi Piscator is able to make it farther than anyone and disappears into the tower. After he does not return, Jill Gulbirra decides to cut their losses and return home. On the way back, they are persuaded by Clemens to mount an attack on King John's steamship. Cyrano leads the attack, which nearly succeeds in kidnapping John, but the king escapes. In the confusion, Barry Thorn escapes and parachutes from the airship, which explodes behind him.

• During the third plot line, it is revealed that Firebrass knew the alien from Arcturus and the death of most of humanity in the year 2003 AD.

Alteration of the Civil War

In January 1864, the Confederate States is on the verge of losing the Civil War against the United States. Men with strange accents and oddly-mottled clothing approach Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the headquarters of the Army of Northern Virginia. They demonstrate a rifle far superior to all other firearms of the time, operating on chemical and engineering principles that are unknown to Confederate military engineers. They offer to supply the Confederate Army with the rifles, which they refer to as AK-47s. The men, who call their organization "America Will Break" (or "AWB"), establish a base in Rivington in Nash County, North Carolina, along with offices in the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia.

The AWB continues to offer inexplicable intelligence and technology to the Confederacy, including nitroglycerine tablets for treating Lee's heart condition. Finally, Lee questions their leader, Andries Rhoodie, who provides Lee a partially true explanation. The men of AWB are Afrikaner Neo-Nazi ultra-nationalists from post-apartheid South Africa, having traveled back 150 years from the year 2014 to change the outcome of the Civil War. The newcomers claim that white supremacy has not endured to the modern era and that blacks have marginalized whites. Lee is told that President Abraham Lincoln will act as a vicious tyrant during his second term and that his successor, Thaddeus Stevens, will continue his work to ensure that blacks will become the dominant political faction in the former Confederacy, as they outnumber whites in many areas. The AWB says that blacks will take over other countries, including the United Kingdom.

The AWB men train soldiers to use their new weapons and issue ammunition. With the AWB's guns and some direct military aid from the time-traveling Afrikaners, the Army of Northern Virginia drives Union General Ulysses S. Grant's forces out of Virginia. In a surprise night attack they capture Washington, thus ending the Civil War. Lincoln refuses to flee the capital during their advance and appears on the White House lawn, where he addresses them before personally surrendering to Lee. The United Kingdom and France recognize the Confederacy, and Lincoln is forced to accept the Confederate victory.

Events after Confederate victory

The two sides hold formal peace negotiations in Richmond, with Lee as one of the commissioners, to settle territorial disputes and Confederate demands for reparation. At the same time, the Union defeat in the war results in a four-way split in the 1864 presidential election, with Lincoln losing to New York Governor Horatio Seymour. After the election is decided, the Union reluctantly agrees to pay $90 million in gold (more than $1.4 billion in 2019) as reparations; the Confederacy, in turn, gives up any claim to Maryland and West Virginia. At Lee's suggestion, the border states of Kentucky and Missouri hold elections to decide their status; Kentucky joins the Confederacy, while Missouri remains in the Union.

Many Confederate slaves freed by the Union during the war who served in the Union Army continue to fight Confederate forces long after the Union formally surrenders. That frightens many Confederate whites and infuriates the troops charged with fighting them, particularly Nathan Bedford Forrest and his men. Lee, already dubious about slavery and respectful of the courage of the United States Colored Troops during the war, becomes convinced that continuing to enslave blacks is both morally wrong and ultimately impracticable. Despite threats from Rhoodie and the AWB, Lee makes no effort to hide his views.

At the urging and with the full backing of Jefferson Davis, who may not be re-elected under the Constitution of the Confederate States after his six-year term, Lee runs for President in the 1867 Confederate States presidential election, on a pro-abolition Confederate Party ticket with Senator Albert Gallatin Brown of Mississippi as his running mate. The Rivington men back the pro-slavery Patriot Party ticket of General Nathan Bedford Forrest and Senator Louis Wigfall of Texas, putting their considerable resources into Forrest's campaign. Lee achieves a narrow victory, defeating Forrest 69-50 in the Electoral College and by 32,000 popular votes out of 963,437 cast. Following his loss, Forrest concedes defeat.

AWB's betrayal

Soon after the election, Lee receives a history book that was stolen from the Rivington men from a former Confederate soldier, which covers the Civil War and the original outcome that was supposed to happen without the AWB's intervention. Enraged at the lies that Rhoodie had told him about the future, Lee confronts the AWB leader by using the modern history book as proof of Rhoodie's dishonesty, and compares his fanaticism to that of John Brown. Faced with the accusations, Rhoodie promises to show the AWB's true colors to Lee.

At Lee's inauguration on March 4, 1868, AWB men try to assassinate him by using Uzis, which results in the death of Lee's wife, Mary, Vice President Brown, various dignitaries and generals, and many civilians. Police forces seize the AWB offices in Richmond after a fierce battle. Lee enters the stronghold to find more technological marvels (such as fluorescent light bulbs and air conditioning), books that document the increasing marginalization of racism from 1865 into the 21st century, and the efforts made to improve race relations. Lee shows the books to the Confederate Congress, in the hope that the future's nearly-universal condemnation of slavery and racism will convince them to vote for his plan for gradual abolition.

Confederate forces lay siege to Rivington and engage the AWB, which uses modern weaponry such as belt-fed machine guns, sniper rifles, mortars, barbed wire, and land mines to inflict heavy casualties on the Confederate forces. Ultimately, Confederate infantry destroy the AWB's time machine during the fighting and seize the town after they break through the AWB defenses. Those surviving AWB men who were unable to escape back to their own time lose hope and surrender.

In Richmond, the Confederate Congress narrowly passes President Lee's gradual emancipation bill. Pharmacists have copied the nitroglycerin pills brought by the AWB, and Lee hopes, with their help, to live to see the effects of his plan for emancipation. Several of the stranded Afrikaners agree to help the Confederacy replicate their 21st-century technology so that Lee can counter the Union in both its replica AK-47s and its greater industrial strength. Though the Confederacy has maintained strict neutrality in a war that the Union had started with the British Empire by invading Canada, Lee fears that the Union may later attempt a war of revenge against the Confederacy. He rests assured that the Confederacy will, however, remain the most technologically advanced country in the world for many decades to come.

Springfield is hit by a blizzard, so Marge calls Homer at Moe's Tavern and tells him to come home. On the way home, Homer's view is obscured by the snow and he crashes into the family's station wagon. As both cars are completely totaled, Homer begins searching for a new car, and after several unsuccessful attempts, the family go to a car show.

After an unsettling encounter with Adam West, a salesman talks Homer into getting a snowplow. Homer agrees on the basis that he can make the payments by plowing people's driveways. Homer starts his snowplowing business, titled "Mr. Plow", but he has trouble finding any customers. His advertising campaigns are unsuccessful until Lisa suggests an advertisement on late night local television. The resulting commercial and jingle attracts many customers and the business is a booming success. Homer is given the key to the city in recognition of his service to the community.

Barney, after being humiliated while working as a mascot for a baby supply store, asks how he can be a success as well. Homer advises him go out and be the best Barney he can be. The next day, it is revealed that Barney has purchased an even bigger plow and has started a rival company under the title of "Plow King". Barney creates his own commercial, with Linda Ronstadt singing the jingle, which badmouths Homer. Homer pays an agency to make him a new commercial, but it turns out to be completely baffling. As a result, Homer loses his success to Barney, and Mayor Quimby revokes his key to the city and hands it over to Barney.

To get revenge and regain his customers, Homer tricks Barney into plowing a non-existent driveway on Widow's Peak, a large treacherous mountain outside of town. Homer begins to plow driveways again, but sees a news report showing that Barney has been trapped in an avalanche. Homer immediately drives to the mountain and rescues him. The friends resolve their differences and agree to work together in the plow business, claiming that not even God Himself can stop them. Angered, God promptly retaliates by causing a heatwave, melting all the snow and effectively putting them both out of business. As Homer can no longer make the snowplow payments, his plow is repossessed. But Marge is turned on when he wears the Mr. Plow jacket and asks him to put it on before joining her in bed.

In the pilot episode, smooth-talking, charismatic logging company boss Jason Bolt (Robert Brown) is faced with a shutdown of his operation as lonely lumberjacks are ready to leave Seattle due to the lack of female companionship. He promises to find marriageable ladies willing to come to the frontier town (population 152) and stay for a full year. Sawmill owner Aaron Stempel (Mark Lenard) puts up much of the expense money as a wager that Bolt will not succeed in bringing 100 suitable women; the Bolt brothers bet their mountain, Bridal Veil Mountain, home to their logging company.

The Bolts travel to New Bedford, Massachusetts, recruit the women, then charter a mule-ship to take them back to Seattle. Local saloon owner Lottie (Joan Blondell) takes the women under her wing and becomes a mother figure to them, while Bolt desperately works to keep the women from leaving at the next high tide.

Eventually, the women decide to give Seattle and the loggers a chance. The ship's captain, Clancy (Henry Beckman), develops a relationship with Lottie and becomes a regular character in the series.

Much of the dramatic and comedic tension in the first season revolved around Stempel's efforts to sabotage the deal and take over the Bolts' holdings. Stempel became more friendly in the second and final season, which focused more on the development of individual characters and the conflicts associated with newcomers and with people just passing through. One running theme is the importance of family, as the Bolt brothers show through the closeness of their relationships, that by sticking together, democratically taking family votes, they can overcome the surprising obstacles life presents.

Bobby Sherman and David Soul were propelled to pop stardom as Jason's brothers, Jeremy and Joshua. Jeremy took a prominent role, not only as the boyfriend of Candy Pruitt (Bridget Hanley), the beautiful, unofficial leader of the brides, but also as a young man with a stammer. In one episode, he is temporarily able to manage his stammer following coaching by a traveler who has come to Seattle. Upon discovering that his benefactor is actually a con artist, his faith is shaken so deeply that the stammer returns.

The show addressed many social issues — racism, ethnic discrimination, treatment of the handicapped and mentally impaired, business ethics, and ecology.

The story concerns mainly Ethan Allen Hawley of New Bay Town, New York, a former member of Long Island's aristocratic class. Ethan's late father lost the family fortune, and thus Ethan works as a grocery store clerk in the store his family once owned. His wife Mary and their children resent their mediocre social and economic status, and do not value the honesty and integrity that Ethan struggles to maintain amidst a corrupt society. These external factors and his own psychological turmoil lead Ethan to try to overcome his inherent integrity in order to reclaim his former status and wealth.

Ethan's decision to gain wealth and power is influenced by criticisms and advice from people he knows. His acquaintance Margie urges him to accept bribes; the bank manager (whose ancestors Ethan blames for his family's misfortunes) urges him to be more ruthless. Ethan's friend Joey, a bank teller, even gives Ethan a lesson on how to rob a bank and get away with it.

On discovering that the current store owner, Italian immigrant Alfio Marullo, may be an illegal immigrant, Ethan makes an anonymous tip to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. After Marullo is taken into custody, he transfers ownership of the store to Ethan through the actions of the very government agent that caught him. Marullo gives Ethan the store because he believes Ethan is honest and deserving. Ethan also considers, plans, and mentally rehearses a bank robbery, failing to perform it only because of external circumstances. Eventually, he manages to become powerful in the town by taking possession of a strip of land needed by local businessmen to build an airport; he gets the land from Danny Taylor, the town drunkard and Ethan's childhood best friend, by a will made by Danny and slipped under the door of the store. The will was drawn without any spoken agreement some time after Ethan gave Danny money for the purpose of sending Danny to receive treatment for alcoholism. Danny assures him that drunks are liars and that he will just drink the money away, and this is indeed confirmed when Danny is found dead with empty bottles of whiskey and sleeping pills.

In this manner, Ethan becomes able to control the covert dealings of the corrupt town businessmen and politicians, but he is confident that he will not be corrupted himself. He considers that while he had to kill enemy soldiers in the war, he was never a murderer thereafter.

Ethan learns that his son won honorable mention in a nationwide essay contest by plagiarizing classic American authors and orators, but when Ethan confronts him, the son denies having any guilty feelings, maintaining that everyone cheats and lies. Perhaps after seeing his own moral decay in his son's actions, and experiencing the guilt of Marullo's deportation and the death of Danny, Ethan resolves to commit suicide. His daughter, intuitively understanding his intent, slips a family talisman into his pocket during a long embrace. When Ethan decides to commit the act, he reaches into his pocket to find razorblades and instead finds the talisman. As the tide comes into the alcove in which he has sequestered himself, he struggles to get out in order to return the talisman to his daughter.

Terri Fletcher is a Flagstaff, Arizona teenager who has a passion for singing and dreams of becoming a professional singer. She wants to participate in a music program that could give her a $10,000 scholarship. Her overprotective father Simon, a second-generation restaurateur, disapproves of Terri's plans, stating that being a singer may not be a worthwhile life choice. Simon believes that Terri will get hurt if she goes to Los Angeles and would prefer if she continues running the family business. Simon thinks this is the only way to keep Terri safe.

Terri is very close to her elder brother Paul, who fully supports her dream, despite their father. At Paul's graduation-day barbecue, he has a fight with Simon, who, in the heat of it, grounds him. That night, Terri sneaks Paul out of the house to attend a Three Days Grace concert. On the way back, Paul was planning on going to college and leaving right away. They have a car accident, hit by a drunk driver. Terri awakens in the hospital, and learns that Paul was killed.

Terri blames herself for Paul's death, wants to quit singing and not attend the music program. However, her mother Frances says that it's not her fault and that Paul would have wanted Terri to attend the program. She eventually convinces Terri to go, telling Simon that Terri plans to stay with her aunt Nina in Palm Desert, California for the summer while she actually goes to Los Angeles.

Terri arrives in Los Angeles and has a few difficulties: her jacket is stolen, her cab driver is crabby, and initially can't get into the music school. While in the program, Terri makes new friends, including fun-loving DJ Kiwi, quiet pianist Sloane, and her roommate Denise, a talented violinist, and learns a great deal about music, but has flashbacks of the car crash.

She also develops a mutual fondness for British songwriter Jay, but she faces competition from Robin Childers, who was with Jay the previous summer. Robin still harbors feelings for Jay, but he does not reciprocate. Jay tries to get Robin to leave him and Terri alone. On one occasion, she kisses him just as Terri walks in. Jay pushes Robin away, but Terri runs off in tears, ignoring Jay's insistence that the kiss meant nothing. Later, finding him drunk, Terri and Denise take Jay to the roof to sober up. When he does, Jay apologizes, and Terri agrees to finish the song they have been working on for the scholarship contest.

In the meantime, Simon learns of Terri's ruse and becomes furious. He then drives to Los Angeles to bring Terri home. On the final day, Simon comes to the school and Terri finds him packing up her belongings; he reams Terri for deceiving him, and for turning his sister and wife against him. Terri begs her father not to make same mistake he did with Paul and make her run, and not ruin the summer.

Ultimately, realizing how selfish he had been, he changes his mind. Terri and Jay perform the song they wrote, dedicating it to Paul. Even though Denise wins the scholarship prize, Simon is proud of his daughter and her talents, and is also glad that her last memory of Paul is one worth having (the concert), as opposed to Simon's own (their argument). Terri's teachers hope to see her next year; Simon replies that they just might. Over the end credits, the students perform together, joyously.

Hundreds of years ago, the evil ghost king Spooky terrorized Pac-Land and the Pac-People. To stop him, the Great Wizard Pac created a powerful potion to transform five ordinary fruit into magical Golden Fruit. The knight Sir Pac-A-Lot defeated Spooky in battle, and used the Golden Fruit to seal him under a tree in the center of Pac-Village.

In the present day, Blinky, Inky, Pinky and Clyde sneak into Pac-Village at night to cause mischief. They steal the Golden Fruit from the tree, unaware of its purpose, and unwittingly release Spooky, who commands them to aid his plan to eliminate all Pac-People. The ghosts agree and each take one of the Golden Fruit. The next morning, Professor Pac informs Pac-Man of the trouble and asks him to retrieve the stolen Golden Fruit in order to save Pac-Land. Pac-Man travels throughout Pac-Land and across the ocean to Ghost Island, defeating the ghosts and retrieving the Golden Fruit along the way. Pac-Man eventually returns to Pac-Village, where he is ambushed by Spooky. The power of the Golden Fruit transforms Pac-Man into a new golden form, and he defeats Spooky once more, sealing him back beneath the tree. The residents of Pac-Village emerge to congratulate Pac-Man, while his dog Chomp-Chomp overhears the ghosts planning to free Spooky again and chases them out of the village.

A wind blows worldwide: it is constantly westward and strongest at the equator. The wind is gradually increasing, and at the beginning of the story, the force of the wind is making air travel impossible. Later, people are living in tunnels and basements, unable to go above ground. Near the end, "The air stream carried with it enormous quantities of water vapour — in some cases the contents of entire seas, such as the Caspian and the Great Lakes, which had been drained dry, their beds plainly visible."

In London, to cope with the situation, special organizations are set up. The ''Central Operations Executive'' (COE), staffed mainly by War Office personnel, has been set up by Simon Marshall.

''Combined Rescue Operations'' deal with collapsing buildings. Donald Maitland, a doctor unable to travel to a new job in Canada because of the wind, is part of it. Maitland rescues Marshall when he is injured by falling masonry and takes him home to recover. In the basement of Marshall's home, Maitland sees military equipment labelled "Hardoon Tower" and wonders whose interests Marshall is really serving.

Hardoon Tower is a pyramid-like structure intended to withstand the wind; it is being built by Hardoon, a millionaire businessman, who has a private army.

Maitland's relationship with his wife Susan is ending, but when he hears that she is still in their apartment on an upper floor, while most people are underground, he goes there. Susan will not be persuaded to leave, and standing by an open window, she is carried away by the wind.

As the destruction increases in London, COE decides to abandon its underground base. One of Hardoon's officers, a helmeted, taciturn figure called Kroll, arrives. Marshall thinks he is there to take him to Hardoon Tower, but Kroll kills him.

Maitland is evacuated from the underground base along with Steve Lanyon, an American submarine captain, and Patricia Olsen, a journalist. Lanyon and Olsen have developed a relationship during recent experiences in Italy. They are in a group that leaves in a giant armoured vehicle with a periscope. Maitland, realizing they are passing close to Hardoon Tower and wanting to investigate it, sabotages the navigation equipment so that the vehicle goes to the tower, which they can locate by a radio signal.

Hardoon receives the group so that Olsen, the journalist, can report his success. The pyramid, built over tunnels which are collapsing, starts to fall over in the wind, and Hardoon, gazing at the wind through a special window, cannot be saved. Maitland and the others, trying to escape from the destruction, realize that they are saved because the wind is starting to subside.

The mysterious Marauders attack a mutant named Tommy and her Hellfire Club boyfriend in Los Angeles for the purpose of following her back to New York and finding the location of the underground mutant community known as the Morlocks. The Marauders kill Tommy and hundreds of Morlocks before the X-Men''Uncanny X-Men'' #211 and X-Factor''X-Factor'' #10 teams arrive separately and fight them, avoiding the total slaughter of the Morlocks. The two teams however do not meet during the battle and suffer crippling losses: X-Factor's Angel is crucified by the Marauders, while the X-Men's Colossus, Shadowcat, and Nightcrawler are all severely wounded. X-Factor's casualties are less due to the arrival of Power Pack''Power Pack'' #27 and Thor, who help save the horribly wounded Angel and the rest of X-Factor from suffering any additional harm.

Thor uses his powers to cleanse the dead from the Morlock tunnels with fire, which causes problems for the X-Men, who briefly believe that the firestorm was caused by the Marauders and believe that the New Mutants died in said fire.''Uncanny X-Men'' #212 Several Morlocks, including Berzerker and Masque, make their way into the surface world and begin to work for their personal aims.

Meanwhile, Wolverine saves the Power Pack and Healer from the Marauder Sabretooth. After their clash, Sabretooth follows Logan home to the X-Mansion. He destroys Cerebro, but is kept from hurting the other Morlocks when Psylocke engages Sabretooth in battle. Wolverine and the rest of the X-Men arrive, and Sabretooth falls off a nearby cliff in order to escape the X-Men, pursued into the water by Wolverine. As the fight continues in the ocean, Psylocke is able to glean some information about the Marauders from Sabretooth's mind.''Uncanny X-Men'' #213

Reading order

. '''''Uncanny X-Men''''' ''Uncanny X-Men'' #210 (Prologue) ''Uncanny X-Men'' #211 ''New Mutants'' #46 ''Uncanny X-Men'' #212 *''Uncanny X-Men'' #213

'''''X-Factor''''' ''X-Factor'' #9 (Prologue) ''X-Factor'' #10 ''Thor'' #373 ''Power Pack'' #27 ''Thor'' #374 ''X-Factor'' #11

'''''Daredevil'''''
''Daredevil'' #238 is set after the events of the Mutant Massacre. The issue features Daredevil fighting Sabretooth after his escape from the X-Mansion.

Consequences

Angel is pinned to the wall by Harpoon and Blockbuster, causing massive trauma to his wings, which are later amputated following the onset of gangrene. He eventually has his wings replaced by Apocalypse and becomes Archangel. During the Massacre, Apocalypse also saves Plague from Harpoon and recruits her for his Horsemen. Shadowcat becomes trapped in her phased form while protecting Rogue from Harpoon.''Uncanny X-Men'' #211 This results in a molecular deterioration that almost kills her. She is saved at the last minute by Reed Richards and Doctor Doom. Wounded by Riptide's throwing stars, Colossus is briefly quadriplegic as a result of Magneto using his powers to heal the damage. Nightcrawler, already badly injured after a battle with Nimrod, is left comatose after being ambushed by Riptide. The Morlock Masque assumes control over the diminished Morlocks who return to the tunnels after the "Inferno" event. He uses his flesh altering powers to forcibly disfigure all Morlocks under his rule, an act that causes many Morlocks to go insane. Wolverine discovers that Jean Grey is alive after smelling her scent in the tunnels, but keeps the knowledge a secret from the rest of the X-Men. After proving her bravery in fighting Sabretooth, Psylocke is officially welcomed as a member of the X-Men. It is later revealed that Sinister had the Morlocks killed because they were experimentations of the Dark Beast, a version of McCoy who was Sinister's 'student' in the alternate timeline of the Age of Apocalypse and trapped in the prime reality twenty years in the past. As Sinister recognized his work in the Morlocks, he had them destroyed to keep his secrets out. It was also later revealed that Gambit was employed by Mister Sinister to assemble the Marauders. Gambit is temporarily expelled from the X-Men for his part in the massacre.

Jennifer Taylor (Amanda Bynes) is in love with Jason Masters (Chris Carmack), a world-famous rock star, but her efforts to meet him are always thwarted by her nemesis, Alexis (Jamie-Lynn Sigler). Hoping to get another chance, Jennifer takes a job at Masters' favorite Caribbean resort, joined by her best friend Ryan (Jonathan Bennett). Jennifer sneaks aboard a party vessel Jason is on, and when Jason is washed overboard, Jennifer jumps in to save him. Though the pair find themselves marooned in a secluded cove of a seemingly-deserted island, Jennifer soon discovers that they have landed a short distance from the resort. She lets him believe they are stranded so she can make him fall in love with her.

Jennifer gets help from Ryan, who drives out to her location to provide her with supplies. When Alexis discovers Jennifer's plan by following Ryan secretly, she also pretends to be marooned with them. While Ryan has been helping, he has also decided to act on his long-standing love for Jennifer, seeking advice on asking her out. He completely transforms himself, yet when she sees him, all she talks about is Jason. Ryan confesses he can't stop thinking about her and kisses her, but when Jennifer protests that they are friends he tells her that he's going home, and drives off. Jennifer feels bad and after learning that the coast guard has called off the search for them and seeing mourning fans around the world. She tells Jason the truth about not being stranded. He gets upset at both Jennifer and Alexis, promises to sue them both, and leaves them behind as he hitches a ride back to the resort.

When Ryan hears that a storm is going to hit the side of the island where Jennifer is he drives out to save her. As the storm builds, Jennifer gets stuck in the car Ryan had abandoned to look for her, when Ryan returns just in time to save her as the car is about to slide over a muddy embankment. When he takes Jennifer into a cave and lights a fire to keep her warm, she realizes that he is the one that cares for her the most. After the storm passes, Jenny and Ryan return to the resort, where Jason and his manager tell Jennifer that they need her help to maintain the 'stranded' story at a press conference. Ryan proclaims his love for Jennifer before he is thrown out the door by Jason's bodyguard.

At the press conference, Jennifer tells everyone that her boyfriend is Ryan and that Alexis is Jason's fiancee, then walks off with Ryan. As the end-credits roll, Jason is on stage in Winnipeg, unhappily dedicating a song to his wife, Alexis, who is standing at his side.

The film follows the life of David, drawing mainly from biblical accounts, particularly the Books of Samuel, 1 Chronicles, and the Psalms of David.

In 1000 B.C., King Saul of Israel breaks his covenant with God after failing to destroy the Amalekites. The prophet Samuel declares Israel will need a new king, and anoints David, the youngest son of Jesse. David initially rejects the prophecy, asking that God tell him directly.

In the midst of a costly war with the Philistines, Saul summons the young David, per Samuel's dying instructions. When the Philistine army challenges the Israelites to fight their champion, a giant named Goliath, the unassuming David volunteers and handily kills him with a rock and sling, winning the respect of his countrymen and the fear of their enemies. David becomes a champion warrior in Saul's army and eventually marries the King's daughter Michal. But when Saul sees the growing adoration of his people toward David, he fears the young man will usurp him. He orders David be brought to him, but Saul's son Jonathan help David escape.

David seeks refuge with the High Priest Ahimelech, who teaches him the word of God and shows him the Ark of the Covenant, which David is shocked to learn is hidden in a cave. Saul and his army catch up and Ahimelech helps David escape, but is killed by Saul for harboring a fugitive. David spends the next several years as a nomad, developing a loyal following, marrying three wives, and rearing two sons.

Eventually, tired of living on the run, David faces up to Saul, first by sneaking into his camp and stealing his sword, then by confronting him the next day, showing that he spared his life and doesn’t want any more hostility. Saul is humbled, and declares his love for David as a surrogate son. David’s men, however, warn him that the peace will be short-lived and urge him to seek refuge with Achish, Lord of the Philistines. David offers his services as a mercenary in exchange for Achish’s protection, and on the condition that he not be made to fight Saul. Achish agrees on the condition that when David is king of Israel, he will relinquish all captured Philistine land. David vows to be a just ruler, and gives Achish his oath. Saul and Jonathan are eventually killed in battle, and David is crowned King of Israel.

As king, David displays vanity, egotism, and a disregard for his prophets’ instructions. He unveils plans to build a fanciful temple to house the Ark, which his prophet Nathan opposes on the grounds that it is contrary to God's preference for simplicity and humility. When Michal rebukes him, David falls for a woman named Bathsheba. She petitions him for her abuse at the hands of her husband Uriah and his refusal to give her a child. David arranges for Uriah to be killed in battle, and he and Bathsheba marry.

At the wedding reception, his son Absalom kills his half-brother Amnon after learning he raped their half-sister Tamar. David's laws deem that Absalom must be put to death, but the King insists he was avenging his sister, and banishes him from the kingdom instead.

David’s prophet Nathan eventually confronts him about Uriah’s death. Fearing God will have her put to death, David pleads with him. Nathan concedes, but tells him that his first-born child with Bathsheba will not live to adulthood. David prays for forgiveness, but their first child dies after seven days. His second-born, Solomon, survives, and is proclaimed by Nathan to be heir to the throne. However, David argues that since Absalom is his eldest son, he is therefore the rightful heir despite his exile.

During his three years of banishment, Absalom develops a following of his own. He campaigns to be made a judge, and fights against injustice on their behalf, against the King. David’s advisors warn that Absalom is a traitor, planning an insurrection against him, but David defends his son.

Elsewhere, Absalom is led to believe that his father has forsaken him, and will declare Solomon as his heir. Absalom is advised to attack the kingdom, and organize an army. Against David’s wishes, his army rides to fight Absalom’s men and is ambushed. While trying to escape, Absalom is killed. David laments the death of his son, and Nathan chastises him for following his own emotions and disobeying God’s law. David is apathetic, but eventually follows the commands delivered by the prophets, and successfully drives the Philistines from Israel. He destroys the model of his Ark temple, the final symbol of his vanity, and goes on to rule his kingdom justly.

After forty years, David anoints Solomon to be the next king. On his deathbed, David instructs his son to rule with his heart, before remembering Jonathan.

At the last minute, Richard Sturges (Clifton Webb), a wealthy expatriate in Europe, offers a Basque emigrant money for his steerage-class ticket (the lowest class) for the maiden voyage of the RMS ''Titanic''—and succeeds. Once aboard, he seeks out his runaway wife, Julia (Barbara Stanwyck). He discovers she is trying to take their two unsuspecting children, 18-year-old Annette (Audrey Dalton) and ten-year-old Norman (Harper Carter), to her hometown of Mackinac Island, Michigan, to rear them as down-to-earth Americans rather than rootless elitists like Richard himself.

As the ship is prepared for departure, the company representative suggests to captain Edward J. Smith (Brian Aherne) that a record-setting speedy passage would be welcomed.

Other passengers include Maude Young (based on real-life Titanic survivor Margaret "Molly" Brown), a wealthy woman of a working-class origin (Thelma Ritter); social-climbing Earl Meeker (Allyn Joslyn); a 20-year-old Purdue University tennis player, Gifford "Giff" Rogers (Robert Wagner); and George S. Healey (Richard Basehart), a Catholic priest who has been defrocked for alcoholism.

When Annette learns Julia's intentions, she insists on returning to Europe with Richard on the next ship as soon as they reach America. Julia concedes that Annette is old enough to make her own decisions, but she insists on keeping custody of Norman. This angers Richard, forcing Julia to reveal that Norman is not his son, but rather the result of a one-night stand after one of their many bitter arguments. Upon hearing that, he agrees to give up all claim to Norman. He joins Maude, Earl, and George Widener in the lounge to play auction bridge with them. The next morning, when Norman reminds him of a shuffleboard game they had arranged, he coldly brushes him off.

Meanwhile, Giff falls for Annette at first glance. At first she repulses his brash attempts to become better acquainted, but eventually warms to him. That night, Giff, Annette, and a group of young people sing and play the piano in the dining room, while Captain Smith watches from a corner table.

Second Officer Charles Lightoller (Edmund Purdom) expresses his concern to Captain Smith about the ship's speed when they receive two messages from other ships warning of iceberg sightings near their route. However, Smith assures him there is no danger.

That night, the lookout spots an iceberg dead ahead. The crew tries to steer clear of danger, but the ship is gashed below the waterline and begins taking on water. When Richard finds Captain Smith, he insists on being told the truth: The ship is doomed and there are not enough lifeboats for everyone on board. He tells his family to dress warmly but properly; then they head outside.

Richard and Julia have a tearful reconciliation on the boat deck, as he places her, Annette, and Norman into a lifeboat. Unnoticed by Julia, Norman gives up his seat to an older woman and goes looking for Richard. When one of the lines becomes tangled, preventing the boat from being lowered, Giff climbs down and fixes it, only to lose his grip and fall into the water. Unconscious but alive, he is dragged onto the boat.

Meeker disguises himself as a woman to board a lifeboat, but Maude Young notices his shoes and unmasks him in front of the others. At the other end of the spectrum of courage and unselfishness, George Healey heads down into one of the boiler rooms to comfort injured crewmen.

As the ''Titanic'' is in her final moments, Norman and Richard find each other. Richard tells a passing steward that Norman is his "son" and then tells Norman that he has been proud of him every day of his life. Then they join the rest of the doomed passengers and the crew in singing the hymn "Nearer, My God, to Thee". As the last boiler explodes, the ''Titanic'' s bow plunges, pivoting her stern high into the air while she rapidly slides into the icy water. As dawn approaches, the survivors are seen in the lifeboats, waiting for help to arrive.

After being exposed to an alien mutagen on a space trip to Venus, a handicapped former astronaut describes the frightening changes he goes through. The narrator, Arthur, begins the narrative with his hands bandaged and complains of horrible itching both before and after the expedition. The transformation manifests as a swarm of tiny eyeballs on his fingertips. These eyes serve as the titular "doorway" for an extraterrestrial civilization, allowing them to peer into our world, but from an alien perspective, humans are hideous monstrosities that they fear and despise, according to Arthur.

Soon, the alien presence is able to not only peer through this portal, but also to take control of Arthur's shattered body and use him to perform heinous atrocities. Arthur douses his hands in kerosene and sets them on fire in a frantic bid to retain his humanity, only to discover that once the gateway is opened, it cannot be simply closed. For over seven years, he is able to keep the extraterrestrial presence at bay. However, as the aliens' eyes emerge on Arthur's chest, he announces that he intends to murder himself with a shotgun to stop them from committing any more crimes.

Players assume the roles of citizens in the Maple World with no specific objective to win the game, but to work on improving their characters' skill and status over time. The antagonist of the game, the Black Mage, was sealed away years ago by six heroes. Fearing his resurrection, Empress Cygnus enlisted the Maple World to join her Cygnus Knights in preventing his return. However, the Black Wings were able to return the Black Mage to reality for a moment, causing a cataclysm known as the Big Bang. With the seal on the Black Mage weakening, the five heroes return to the world in a weakened state. The player's character begins a quest to restore the Black Mage's seal but instead, witnesses his revival. The Black Mage then begins assimilating Grandis with the Maple World in order to rule both worlds.

After the death of his father, Josh Framm has relocated with his mom Jackie and 2-year-old sister Andrea to Fernfield, Washington. After school, Josh practices basketball by himself in a makeshift court that he sets up behind an abandoned church, where he meets a runaway Golden Retriever with the uncanny ability to play basketball. Josh names him Buddy and decides to take him home. Jackie agrees to let Buddy stay with them until Christmas. Once the holidays arrive, Jackie allows Josh to keep Buddy as a Christmas present.

At school, Josh earns the disdain of star basketball player and team bully Larry Willingham, but befriends the kindhearted maintenance engineer, Arthur Chaney, and discovers he was a retired pro player. With Chaney's encouragement, Josh earns a place on the school basketball team, the Timberwolves, much to the reservation of the team's competitive coach, Joe Barker. At his first game, he befriends teammate Tom Stewart. Buddy escapes and shows up at school while the game is underway. The audience loves him after he scores a basket.

Barker is later fired after being caught bullying Tom over his poor game performance, and is replaced by Arthur, at Josh's suggestion. As coach, Arthur uses unconventional practices which emphasize the need for players to work as a team instead of focusing on themselves. When Larry is subbed out at the team's next game due to his ball-hogging and unsportsmanlike conduct, his father forces him to leave the team and join their rival. Buddy becomes the mascot of the school's basketball team and appears in their halftime shows. After the Timberwolves lose one game, the team has subsequent success and qualifies for the State Finals.

Just before the championship game, Buddy's former owner, an alcoholic party clown named Norm Snively, appears after seeing Buddy on television. Hoping to profit off Buddy's newfound fame, he forces Jackie to hand over Buddy as he has papers proving that he is the dog's legal owner. Knowing they do not have a choice, Jackie makes Josh give Buddy back to Snively. After a period of feeling withdrawn and depressed, Josh sneaks into Snively's backyard and frees Buddy from his chain. Snively pursues them in his dilapidated pickup truck before crashing into a lake. Josh then decides to protect Buddy by setting him free in the forest to find a new life.

When an injury leaves the Timberwolves with four players, the team suffers at the championships. Buddy shows up, and when it is discovered that there is no rule preventing a dog from playing basketball, he joins the roster to lead the team to victory.

Despite losing his papers from the car wreck, Snively attempts to sue the Framm family for custody of Buddy and Chaney suggests that Buddy choose his owner. As a fan of Chaney himself, Judge Cranfield accepts his proposal and moves the court outside to the lawn. Buddy attacks Snively and chooses Josh. Cranfield grants custody of Buddy to Josh as a ranting and raving Snively is carried away by the police and thrown in jail for contempt of court, while Josh and the rest of the citizens rejoice and gather around Buddy to welcome him home.

In 2003, Pierre Morhange (Jacques Perrin), a French conductor performing in the United States, is informed before a concert that his mother has died. After the performance he returns to his home in France for her funeral. An old friend named Pépinot (Didier Flamand) arrives at his door with a diary which belonged to their teacher, Clément Mathieu. They proceed to read it together.

In 1949, fifty-four years earlier, Clément Mathieu (Gérard Jugnot), a failed musician, arrives at Fond de l'Étang ("Bottom of the Pond"), a French boarding school for troubled boys, to work as a supervisor and teacher. At the gate, he sees a very young boy, Pépinot (Maxence Perrin), waiting for Saturday, when he says his father will pick him up. The viewers later learn that his parents were killed in the Second World War during the Nazi occupation of France, but Pépinot does not know this.

Mathieu discovers the boys being ruthlessly punished by the very strict headmaster, Rachin (François Berléand) and attempts to use humour and kindness to win them over. When a booby trap set by one of the boys, Le Querrec, injures the school's elderly caretaker, Maxence (Jean-Paul Bonnaire), Mathieu keeps the culprit's identity from the headmaster, while encouraging Le Querrec to nurse Maxence during his recovery.

On discovering the boys singing rude songs about him, Mathieu forms a plan: he will teach them to sing and form a choir as a form of discipline. He groups the boys according to their voice types, but one student, Pierre Morhange (Jean-Baptiste Maunier), refuses to sing. Mathieu catches Morhange singing to himself, discovers he has a wonderful singing voice and awards him solo parts on the condition that he behaves.

Morhange's single mother, Violette (Marie Bunel), arrives at the school. When Mathieu goes to explain that Morhange cannot be visited because he has been locked up as a punishment, he finds himself pitying and being attracted to the boy's beleaguered mother and instead tells her that Morhange is at the dentist. Meanwhile, a cruel, uncontrollable boy named Mondain ( ) arrives and begins causing trouble by bullying the others and generally being rebellious. After stealing a watch, he is locked up for two weeks.

The choir is improving rapidly with Morhange as its lead soloist; the children are happier, and the faculty less strict — even Rachin begins to loosen up, playing football with the boys and making a paper aeroplane. After Mondain is released from lock-up, he runs away and seemingly steals all the school's money. After Mondain is captured, Rachin repeatedly beats him, until Mondain in turn attempts to strangle Rachin. Rachin hands him over to the police, still not knowing the location of the stolen money, and disbands the choir. Mathieu begins teaching his choir "underground", practising at night in their dormitory.

Mathieu continues to meet Morhange's mother, who is unaware of his attraction to her. He plans to help her son win a scholarship to the music conservatory in Lyon. One day she blithely informs him that she has met someone: an engineer. Mathieu is dejected but expresses his feigned happiness and watches her leave in the engineer's car.

The Countess, a sponsor of the school, finds out about the choir; they perform before her and others, and Morhange enchants the audience with his solo. Mathieu discovers that another boy, Corbin, stole the money that Mondain was accused of taking. Despite this, Rachin refuses to accept Mondain back at the school.

When Rachin departs to accept an award from the board after taking credit for the choir, Mathieu and Maxence suspend classes and take the boys on an outing. While they are out, Mondain returns and sets fire to the school. Mathieu is fired for breaking the rules, even though he saved the boys' lives, and Maxence is suspended. As Mathieu leaves, the boys —forbidden to say goodbye — lock themselves in their classroom, sing and throw farewell messages out of the window on paper planes. Touched, Mathieu walks away, musing about how he has failed and nobody knows of his existence.

Back in the present, the adult Morhange finishes reading the diary and recounts what happened afterwards: he won his scholarship to the conservatory, and Rachin was fired after his fellow teachers exposed his abuse towards the students. Mathieu, Pépinot relates, continued to give music lessons quietly for the rest of his life.

The final scene (in the past again) shows Mathieu waiting for his bus after being fired. As he boards it, he looks back and finds Pépinot running after him, insisting that he come too. Initially, Mathieu refuses because it is not allowed, and he leaves Pépinot behind. Suddenly, the bus stops and Mathieu gives in: the two board the bus together. Pépinot finally got his wish, for he and Mathieu left on a Saturday, and Mathieu raised him.

Puss in Boots serves as the narrator in the beginning of the film. He says that he used to belong to a poor miller and his three sons, the youngest being Gunther. Despite being the favorite, Gunther only inherits Puss after his father's passing while his older brothers, Zeek and Zak, inherit the mill and their father's donkey respectively. Zeek and Zak, jealous of Gunther, kick him and Puss out.

Puss and Gunther walk through town when a carriage carrying the princess speeds past them, followed by a shape-shifting ogre who wants to marry the princess. The princess' carriage breaks loose during the chase and falls down a cliff where Puss and Gunther take the princess and her cat to the mill, where they are able to temporarily defeat the ogre, with Gunther and the princess becoming attracted to each other. The princess returns to the castle to tell her father, the king, that the ogre will return. Smitten with the princess' cat, Puss decides to get into the castle to see her again. He has Gunther buy a pair of boots for him, along with a cape and hat. Puss then enters the castle to entertain the king and princess. The ogre returns and threatens to destroy the kingdom if the princess does not marry him by sundown, taking her beloved cat as leverage so she won't betray him. The princess decides to comply with the ogre's demands.

Puss devises a new plan. He has Gunther pose as the "Marquis of Carabas", a nobleman who can defeat the ogre. Puss directs the coachman to the Palace of Carabas, which is really the ogre's castle, and manages to arrive before them. He tricks the ogre into turning himself into a mouse and eats him. Then, as the carriage arrives, the ogre escapes Puss's mouth and exposes Gunther as a fraud. The ogre throws Puss and Gunther into the dungeon below the castle and takes the princess inside to marry her. In the dungeon, Puss and Gunther have a brief falling out before quickly reconciling and escape the dungeon with help from the princess' cat. Just before the ogre can marry the princess, Puss and Gunther break in and defeat him.

With the ogre gone, Gunther marries the princess while Puss marries her cat.

A pair of bumbling kidnappers break into the house of a businessman with the intention of kidnapping his wife and holding her for ransom. Things do not go according to plan when they mistakenly kidnap house maid Lizzie instead.

Patti Randall is a bored and angry teenage girl who is sick of her quiet and boring (yet fictional) town of Edgefield, Massachusetts. She wishes for more adventure and excitement to come to her boring town. Her parents are unhappy at the way Patti acts and dresses. Every night D.C. leaves at 8 and harasses the neighborhood (such as tricking the dog and eating the dog food or playing with a birdcage while a geriatric and senile old lady orders travel packages).

Meanwhile Patti gets her wish when D.C. walks into the kidnappers' hideout during his nightly prowl. Lizzie gives the cat her watch with "HELL" scribbled on it. She intended to fully write "HELP" on it, but had to nix on finishing and quickly put it on D.C. in such way to avoid being caught when the kidnappers' phone rings near her. Patti sees the watch the next morning and immediately puts it together that the watch was from Lizzie and was meant to say HELP. But nobody believes Patti, causing her to doctor the evidence by turning the last "L" on the watch into a "P". She goes to Boston and pleads her case to Agent Zeke Kelso at the FBI and he believes her.

Zeke's captain allows Zeke and his agents to tail D.C. during his prowl in hopes of being led to the kidnappers and Lizzie. The operation goes nowhere, causing Zeke to be taken off the case. Zeke and Patti continue investigating anyway, which leads to nothing but dead ends and eventually ends with them being arrested. Patti's manipulation of the watch evidence gets exposed shortly thereafter.

As punishment for her actions Patti is grounded by her parents. She is so distraught that she decides to run away and leave town. Through having met someone at the train station who is leaving for the same reasons as her, and through a personal conversation, she eventually comes to her senses and decides not to board the next train out of town. Patti sees D.C. digging through the town garden on her walk back from the train station. D.C. takes off and Patti chases him. The cat leads her to the kidnappers' hideout, where they find Lizzie bound and gagged with duct tape.

Patti calls Zeke to let him know that she has found Lizzie. But Zeke is still upset with Patti, and does not want to hear it. This causes Patti and D.C. to enter the kidnappers' hideout. Patti attempts to rescue Lizzie, but she fails and in the process Patti & D.C. become victims, as the kidnappers show up and surprise her.

Zeke decides to re-open the case after he gets a call from Patti's parents asking if he has seen her since she went missing. Zeke investigates and follows a trail that leads him to the kidnappers. He finds Lizzie, Patti, and D.C. bound and gagged; Lizzie and Patti tied to chairs with their mouths duct taped, while D.C. sat in a litter box trapped inside a burlap sack with black cloth over his eyes.

Zeke exposes the identities of the kidnappers as the seemingly harmless Ma and Pa of the local candy shop. Ma and Pa kidnapped Lizzie because they partied away all their cash in Monte Carlo and the Riviera, plus they were also bored out of their skulls. Zeke manages to free Patti and D.C. while Ma and Pa escape with Lizzie in their possession. A final chase ensues as Zeke, Patti, and D.C. attempt to catch Ma and Pa and rescue Lizzie. Fortunately Ma and Pas car had been sabotaged by Rollo, while it was undergoing repairs at Dustys car repair workshop and was unable to do right turns, resulting in Ma and Pa having to do a series of crazy left roundabout journeys around the town. During the chase, Smokey the dog, escapes after the bumper of Ma and Pa`s car breaks down his fence and he runs towards the cat show, which causes all the cats to run out. D.C. joins them and run up the roof tops of each building, D.C. and the cats jump off and land on Ma and Pa's car, causing them to crash, totaling their car.

Ma and Pa are arrested, Lizzie is reunited with the Flints, Patti and D.C. are nominated as heroes. Patti is later reunited with her parents. After everything is back to normal, Dusty and Rollo the two rival car repairmen are now working together, Melvin and Lu end up together. Patti has also become Zeke's partner, D.C. has married the cat he saw in the window earlier, and they have kittens.

"Darn Cat" or "DC" is a wily, adventurous Siamese tomcat who lives with young suburbanite sisters Ingrid "Inky" (Dorothy Provine) and Patricia "Patti" Randall (Hayley Mills) and enjoys an evening route wandering thru town which includes teasing local dogs, swiping food, and marking vehicles with muddy paws.

One night, DC follows bank robber Iggy (Frank Gorshin) into an apartment where he and his partner Dan (Neville Brand) are holding bank employee Miss Margaret Miller (Grayson Hall) hostage. Miss Miller uses the opportunity to replace his collar with her watch, on which she has inscribed most of the word "HELP," and releases him to go home to the Randalls.

Patti discovers the watch on DC and suspects that it belongs to the kidnapped woman. She goes to the FBI and tells Agent Zeke Kelso (Dean Jones) of her discovery, and Supervisor Newton (Richard Eastham) assigns Kelso to follow DC in the hope that he will lead them back to the robbers' hideout.

Kelso sets up a headquarters in the Randalls' house and assigns a team to keep the cat under surveillance, but, despite multiple attempts and a bugging system, DC eludes them in humiliating and comedic ways, culminating in a chase where he leads Agent Kelso through several back yards and a drive-in theatre. As DC ends up trying to open a pigeon cage and is discovered by the owner Gregory Benson (Roddy McDowall), who is in Ingrid's carpool, chases DC and Kelso and, out of frustration, tells Ingrid he is leaving her carpool. The next day agent Kelso's supervisor Newton shuts down the operation, considering the evidence of the watch not hard enough, but Patti disguises herself as the hippie niece of her friend Mr. Hoffsteddar (Ed Wynn) the jeweler and persuades the FBI that the watch was indeed hard evidence. Patti and Kelso rescue Miss Miller and bring the robbers to justice.

Subplots involve a romance between Patti's sister Ingrid and Kelso as he joins her new carpool, and a romance between Patti herself and a surf-obsessed slacker neighbor, Canoe Henderson (Tom Lowell), and the meddling of nosy neighbor Mrs. MacDougall (Elsa Lanchester) and her disapproving husband, Wilmer MacDougall (William Demarest). At the end, it is revealed that the gray cat in the opening sequence and DC are taking their kittens on the prowl, having started a family.

François Seurel, the 15-year-old narrator of the book, is the son of M. Seurel, who is the director of the mixed-ages school in a small village in the Sologne, a region of lakes and sandy forests in the heartland of France. François is intrigued when 17-year-old Augustin Meaulnes, a bright young man from a modest background, arrives at the school. Because of his height, Augustin acquires the nickname "grand" ("tall"). He becomes a hero figure to the class and runs away one evening on an escapade where, after having become lost, he chances on a magical costume party where he is enchanted by the girl of his dreams, Yvonne de Galais, a character inspired by the real-life Yvonne de Quiévrecourt. She lives with her widowed father and her somewhat odd brother Frantz in a vast and ancient family château – Les Sablonnières – which has seen better days. The party was being held to welcome Frantz and the girl he was to marry, Valentine. However when she does not appear, Frantz attempts suicide but fails.

After returning to school, Meaulnes has only one idea: to find the mysterious château again and the girl with whom he has now fallen in love. However his local searches fail while at the same time a bizarre young man shows up at the school. It is Frantz de Galais under a different name trying to escape the pain of having been rejected. Frantz, Meaulnes, and François become friends, and Frantz gives Meaulnes the address of a house in Paris where he says Meaulnes will find his sister, Yvonne de Galais. Meaulnes leaves for Paris only to learn no one lives in the house anymore. He writes to his friend François Seurel: "...it is better to forget me. It would be better to forget everything".

François Seurel, who has now become a school teacher like his father, finally manages to find Yvonne de Galais and reunites her with Meaulnes. Yvonne still lives with her aging father in what is left of the old family estate, "Les Sablonnières", which is closer than the two young friends had first imagined in earlier years. Yvonne de Galais is still single and confesses to Meaulnes that he is and has always been the love of her life. Yvonne de Galais accepts, with her father's blessings, Augustin Meaulnes' marriage proposal. However, the restless Meaulnes leaves Yvonne the day after their wedding in order to find her lost brother Frantz (whom he had once promised to help) and re-unite him with his fiancée Valentine. Yvonne remains at the château, where she gives birth to a little girl but dies two days later. Eventually François lives in the house Meaulnes and Yvonne lived in and raises the little girl there, while waiting for the return of his friend Meaulnes. While looking through old papers François discovers a handwritten diary by Meaulnes. During the years in Paris (before François brought Meaulnes and Yvonne back together), Meaulnes had met and romanced Valentine, the fiancée who had jilted Frantz on the night of the party.

Meaulnes does return, after a year and eight months, having brought Frantz and Valentine back together. He discovers that Yvonne has died and left a daughter, whom he claims. Four years have elapsed since the beginning of the story.

Sixteen-year-old Dedee Truitt (Christina Ricci) runs away from home. She is pregnant by her ex-boyfriend, Randy Cates (William Lee Scott). Not revealing her pregnancy, Dedee eventually moves in with her much older half-brother Bill (Martin Donovan), a gay teacher in a conservative, suburban community in Saint Joseph County, Indiana.

Although he is living with Matt (Ivan Sergei), Bill still mourns the loss of his previous partner, Tom, who died of AIDS some time ago. Bill maintains a friendship with Tom's younger sister, Lucia (Lisa Kudrow), who idolized her brother.

Dedee seduces Matt, then tricks him into believing he has impregnated her. They elope, leaving Bill and Lucia to track them down.

Bill and Lucia find Dedee and Matt in Los Angeles, only to discover Dedee has stolen Tom's ashes and is holding them for ransom. Randy also finds Dedee; they inform Matt that they are taking the ashes and moving away. They escape but soon get into an argument that leads to Dedee's accidentally shooting Randy. She and Matt escape to Canada.

Lucia and Bill have a falling out after Lucia implies that Tom died as a result of having gay sex. Despondent, Lucia has a one-night stand with Sheriff Carl Tippett (Lyle Lovett) who had previously made unsuccessful romantic overtures to her. Lucia later discovers that she is pregnant.

Bill eventually tracks down Matt and Dedee. Dedee goes into labor and Bill accompanies her into the delivery room. After giving birth to her son, Dedee returns Tom's ashes to Bill, apologizing for her actions in the past year.

Dedee ends up serving time in prison, leaving her son in Bill's care while she's incarcerated. After a few months, she moves back in with Bill, while Matt goes traveling, and Lucia gives birth to her own child. Eventually, Dedee decides that her son would be better off with Bill, who is now dating Dedee's parole officer, and runs away.

Dedee sarcastically concludes that sex is precisely the opposite of what people should want, leading as it does to kids, disease or, worst of all, relationships. At the end of the film, the vignettes of the various caring relationships among the characters show the ''opposite'' of superficial sexual gratification.

Five French soldiers are convicted of self-mutilation in order to escape military service during World War I. They are condemned to face near-certain death in no man's land between the French and German trench lines. It appears that all of them were killed in a subsequent battle, but Mathilde, the fiancée of one of the soldiers, refuses to give up hope and begins to uncover clues as to what actually took place on the battlefield. She is all the while driven by the constant reminder of what her fiancé had carved into one of the bells of the church near their home, MMM for ''Manech Aime Mathilde'' (Manech Loves Mathilde; a pun on the French word ''aime'', which is pronounced like the letter "M". In the English-language version, this is changed to "Manech's Marrying Mathilde").

Along the way, she discovers the brutally corrupt system used by the French government to deal with those who tried to escape the front. She also discovers the stories of the other men who were sentenced to no man's land as a punishment. She, with the help of a private investigator, Germain Pire, attempts to find out what happened to her fiancé. The story is told both from the point of view of the fiancée in Paris and the French countryside—mostly Brittany—of the 1920s, and through flashbacks to the battlefield.

Eventually, Mathilde finds out her fiancé is alive, but he suffers from amnesia. Seeing Mathilde, Manech seems to be oblivious of her. At this, Mathilde sits on the garden chair silently watching Manech with tears in her eyes and a smile on her lips.

A converted fishing trawler, ''Morning Rose'' carries a movie-making crew across the Barents Sea to isolated Bear Island, well above the Arctic Circle, for some on-location filming, but the script is a secret known only to the producer and screenwriter. En route, members of the movie crew and ship's company begin to die under mysterious circumstances. The crew's doctor, Marlowe, finds himself enmeshed in a violent, multi-layered plot in which very few of the persons aboard are whom they claim to be. Marlowe's efforts to unravel the plot become even more complicated once the movie crew is deposited ashore on Bear Island, beyond the reach of the law or outside help. The murders continue ashore, and Marlowe, who is not what he seems to be either, discovers they may be related to some forgotten events of the Second World War.

The film follows the lives of a group of gay friends in West Hollywood. Among the group is Dennis (Timothy Olyphant), a photographer who often holds the group together; Cole (Dean Cain) a handsome, charismatic actor who — often unwittingly — ends up with other people's boyfriends; Benji (Zach Braff), the youngest member of the group, with a penchant for gym-bodied men, who finds himself going through some bad times; Howie (Matt McGrath), a psychology student who is known for overthinking every situation; Patrick (Ben Weber), the cynic of the group; and Taylor (Billy Porter), who has just broken up with his long-term boyfriend.

Guiding them is restaurant owner Jack (John Mahoney) who provides them with advice and jobs for some of them who work part-time as servers at his restaurant. But when tragedy strikes, and the group's newest member, 23-year-old Kevin (Andrew Keegan), attempts to fit in, their friendships are put to the test.

Set in the 1980s, ''The Golden Gate'' follows a group of yuppies in San Francisco. The inciting action occurs when protagonist John Brown has his former love Janet Hayakawa place an amorous advertisement of himself in the newspaper; the latter answered, at length, by trial-lawyer Elisabeth ('Liz') Dorati. A short heyday follows, in which Seth introduces and develops a variety of characters united in part by their interest in self-actualization (often in the form of agriculture) and in part by closeness to Liz or John. Thereafter is depicted the progress of their marriage ''de facto'' until its dissolution, which results in the legal marriage of Liz to John's friend Phillip ('Phil') Weiss, and the birth of their son. Following his rejection of Liz, John finds a second paramour in Janet, until the latter and two other friends die in an automobile collision; and is himself invited to stand godfather to Liz's son.

The novel brought its author the 1988 Sahitya Akademi Award for English, by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters.

Texas farm boy Monty Stratton demonstrates a knack for pitching a baseball. With the help of Barney Wile, a retired catcher who is now a scout, he manages to arrange a tryout with the Chicago White Sox during the team's spring training in California. He shows promise and is given a contract.

On his first evening at spring training, Stratton is introduced to a young woman named Ethel. They start dating and fall in love, but Stratton must leave from Ethel to travel to Chicago. When he is sent down to a minor league team, he proposes marriage. He is called back up to the White Sox and returns to Chicago with his newlywed bride, and by the end of the season, they are expecting a child.

The next season, Stratton is pitching during a road game and cannot focus because he is thinking of his wife giving birth in Chicago. When he is notified that he has a son, he throws a wild pitch and is pulled from the game smiling.

As his career progresses, Stratton improves so much that he is voted an All-Star in the American League. In the offseason of 1938, he accidentally shoots himself in the right leg while hunting on his farm in Texas. When his leg must be amputated, it appears as though his pitching career is over and he enters a very dark, brooding period. Nevertheless, with the support of his wife and a wooden leg, Stratton learns to walk along with his baby boy. He works hard and starts practicing his pitching again. He makes an inspirational, successful minor-league comeback in 1946.

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the Mantle of Responsibility belonged to the Forerunners. However, the Precursors wanted to remove such power from Forerunner hands and give it to the human race. In retaliation, the Forerunners drove the Precursors into extinction. Among the last of the Precursors, one let out a spore, hoping for it to spread and repopulate the Precursors. It spread like wildfire. However, instead of creating Precursors, the spore made a parasite known as the Flood. The Forerunners fought the Flood, which spread through infestation of sentient life and had overrun much of the Milky Way Galaxy. Exhausting all other strategies, the Forerunners conceived the Halo Array — ring-shaped megastructures and weapons of last resort that would destroy all sentient life in the galaxy to stop the Flood. Delaying as long as they could, the Forerunners activated the rings and disappeared.

Nearly a hundred thousand years later in the 26th century, humanity—under the auspices of the United Nations Space Command, or UNSC—colonized many worlds thanks to the development of faster-than-light "slipstream space" (i.e. hyperspace) travel. Tensions between the government and colonies desiring independence sparked violent clashes. The UNSC sponsored the SPARTAN-II Project to create an elite group of enhanced supersoldiers to suppress the rebellions covertly. In the year 2525, human worlds come under attack by an theocratic alliance of alien races known as the Covenant, whose leadership declared humanity heretics and an affront to their gods—the Forerunners. The Covenant began a genocidal holy war. Their superior technology and numbers proved decisive advantages; though effective, the Spartans were too few in number to turn the tide of battle in humanity's favor. After the Covenant invaded Reach, the UNSC's last major stronghold besides Earth, Master Chief John-117 was left as one of the few remaining Spartans.

The rediscovery of the Halo rings set the humans against the Covenant, who believef they were instruments of transcendence, not destruction. Master Chief and his artificial intelligence Cortana were instrumental in the destruction of a Halo ring to stop the Covenant and the threat of the Flood. The Covenant descended into civil war following the expulsion of the Sangheili species, with many grappling over the revelation that their religion was false. The disgraced former Covenant Sangheili commander known as the Arbiter, along with the rest of his race, helped the humans destroy the Covenant and stop its leader, Truth, from activating the Halo Array via the Ark. The Human-Covenant War ended, though new conflicts begin to emerge throughout the universe.

In the post-war era, the UNSC creates a new generation of Spartans, and tensions between the UNSC and colonist rebels resume. The Forerunner known as the Didact briefly returns to assert supremacy over humanity, though he is foiled by the Master Chief and Cortana, who is initially believed dead in the attempt. Cortana's survival through the Forerunner repository of knowledge known as the Domain leads her to break with the UNSC and assert a new hegemony over the galaxy, with artificial intelligence (the "Created") in control. After two years of a scattered war between Cortana and the UNSC, Cortana attacks the Banished, a mercenary organization largely led by the Jiralhanae race. The Banished win the resultant conflict, terminating Cortana and battle the UNSC for control of Zeta Halo.

The film begins with a bus driving along a snow-covered roadway in the Sierra Nevada between Nevada City, California, and Reno, Nevada. Soon the vehicle gets hopelessly stuck in deep snow forty miles from the nearest town. Needing shelter, the driver "Gus" (Billy Bevan) and his four passengers find refuge in an isolated one-room log church. The passengers include "Billie" (Carole Lombard), who is an escaped criminal being escorted back to jail in New York by a deputy sheriff, "Dan Egan" (Owen Moore); a young woman, "The Kid," (Diane Ellis) on her way to Chicago to meet her boyfriend; and "Hickerson," a pompous, ill-tempered banker. In the church the group finds "Bill" (William Boyd), a self-described "hobo," who had found shelter there earlier. Tensions quickly arise in the group over their general plight, petty jealousies, and concerns about how six people are going to share the small supply of food that Bill had brought with him.

After a few days being stranded, the group sees a passing mail plane high in the sky. They try to attract the pilot's attention, but he is too far away to see them. More days pass, and the group continues to ration their dwindling supplies and battle the subfreezing temperatures. To keep warm they begin to break up the church's pews and other furnishings to use as firewood in the room's potbelly stove. The group's desperation intensifies, as does a romance between Bill and Billie. Soon Bill confides to her that he too is a wanted criminal, a fugitive from Saint Paul, Minnesota. As conditions worsen, The Kid collapses from hunger and become delirious; and the church's interior becomes almost bare as more furnishings—even the church's pulpit and pump organ—are consigned to the stove. Bill and Billie finally commit to leaving to avoid being imprisoned if the group is somehow rescued. They quietly depart during the night, hoping to reach a ranger station ten miles away. Everyone else is sleeping except Dan, the deputy sheriff, who sees the two leaving; but he does nothing to stop them. After walking a short distance through snowdrifts, Bill and Billie hear and then see a search plane slowly circling overhead at low altitude. Realizing that the others inside the church will not hear the plane's engine, they rush back and awaken them. The group hurriedly builds a signal fire, which the plane's pilot sees. He parachutes a box of provisions to them with a note saying that help will be sent immediately.

The next day the group sees a rescue party heading toward the church. While awaiting their rescuers, Dan observes Bill and Billie sitting together on the floor. From his coat pocket Dan pulls out Billie's extradition papers and a "wanted" notice that includes a photograph of Bill and information about his being a fugitive from Saint Paul. Dan walks over to the stove, now cold from no fires, and tosses both papers into it. Bill and Billie see him discard the papers, and they look at one another. Bill then gets up, retrieves the papers from the stove, gives them back to Dan, and asks him to drop him off in Saint Paul on his way back to New York with Billie.

''Last Son of Krypton'' is Elliot S. Maggin's first Superman novel. It tells the "life story" of Superman; from his birth on the planet Krypton, to his childhood in Smallville and his career as Superboy, to his arrival in Metropolis and his career as Superman. The main antagonist in this story is a mysterious alien ruler with ties to Superman's past. Superman and his greatest enemy, Lex Luthor, must join forces to retrieve a document written by Albert Einstein and stop the alien ruler.

In the story, Samael, the ruler of Hell, sends his greatest agent of evil, C. W. Saturn, to Earth, to destroy Superman morally. Saturn is able to enter our dimension thanks to Lex Luthor having used a form of magic to escape prison, leaving a 'hole' between worlds. At the same time, Kristin Wells, a history graduate student from the far future, uses time travel technology to arrive in the present, for the purpose of finding out the origin of the holiday known as Miracle Monday, which is known only to be somehow connected to Superman. She infiltrates Clark Kent's circle of friends by becoming Lois Lane's assistant. To her dismay, because she does not belong in the present, Saturn is able to possess her. Saturn then proceeds to cause worldwide havoc, taunting Superman that the only way for him to stop it would be by killing its host—thus making him break his vow against killing. Saturn even reveals Superman's secret identity to the world, to further drive him into desperation.

Ultimately, Superman refuses to kill Kristin, even if it means he would have to spend the rest of his life battling Saturn. At that moment, because of the rules that bind demons, Saturn is defeated, and forced to grant Superman a wish. He asks that everything that happened since Saturn's arrival be undone, and it is granted, with Saturn then being banished back to Hell. However, a lingering memory of the events remained within the souls of humanity, causing them to begin celebrating the day every year, on the third Monday of May, starting the Miracle Monday tradition. Kristin then returns to the future to reveal this fact to the public.

The miniseries begins in 1987. At the height of the Cold War, two US Air Force airmen monitor their radar screens at a quiet and remote NORAD facility in Alaska. Suddenly, one of the radar operators notices an unidentified aircraft sneaking in on the leading edge of a weather front. He alerts his partner about the threat and begins to contact Elmendorf AFB. The other Airman retrieves a silenced Mac-10 from his desk and kills him. He then proceeds to shoot the remaining station personnel while they are sleeping in their bunks. Lighting a cigarette, the traitor notifies Elmendorf that the station will be out of commission for the next hour to repair a malfunctioning generator. It is learned later that the traitor was a deep cover KGB operative who had been in the Air Force for 15 years. The necessary blind spot has been created in the radar for the plane to continue undetected into Alaska.

Out of the plane, the Soviets launch a secret incursion into Alaska. The Soviets have inserted a cold weather Spetsnaz assault force of approximately 35-40 KGB desant ski troops led by Soviet Colonel Alexander Vorashin (Jeroen Krabbé) into northern Alaska with a track-driven armored vehicle. Vorashin's orders are to seize control of a strategically-located pumping station along the Trans-Alaska Pipeline to threaten the placement of floating explosive devices in the stream of oil and to destroy substantial portions of the pipeline. The operation is being conducted in response to the US grain embargo of the Soviet Union, just as the 1980 grain embargo was in response to the 1979 Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. The governments of Canada, Australia, and Argentina have joined the US in the embargo, which has caused severe food shortages and domestic unrest inside the Soviet Union. A squad of 18 lightly-armed soldiers of the Alaska Army National Guard and Alaskan Scouts, which is on a training exercise, is discovered, ambushed, and killed by the Soviet invaders. At Fort Wainwright, Colonel Jake Caffey (David Soul), a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, is sent by his commanding officer to locate the soldiers, who are 24 hours late in reporting back in from the training exercise. Caffey flies to the National Guard temporary patrol base to meet with the other half of the Guard company. Caffey goes out on a search mission and discovers one of the Alaskan Scouts still alive and learns of the Soviet incursion. Caffey then shadows the Soviet troops after notifying the Fort Wainwright commander, General Roberts. The general flies to the scene only to be seen by the Soviets. Caffey takes command of the Guardsmen when his senior officer General Roberts, who did not believe the news of the invading Soviet troops, is killed in Caffey's first firefight with the Soviets. Caffey notifies the Pentagon by radio of the situation.

Upon learning of the situation, US President Thomas McKenna (Rock Hudson) orders Caffey's National Guard troops to be federalized and orders Caffey to do all that he can to stop the Soviet troops. McKenna orders a media blackout on the emergency but then orders US forces to be mobilized in response to the Soviet incursion under the pretext of unscheduled training exercises. McKenna fears that the US people will demand a declaration of war against the Russians for the attack. Fierce winter weather prevents US military units from bases and forts in southern Alaska from reinforcing Caffey's unit. Caffey deduces the Soviet assault unit's goal. He uses the two US Army helicopters at his disposal to move his unit to a new pumping station ahead of the Soviets.

Meanwhile, Soviet Premier Gorny (Brian Keith) has learned that the Soviet military and KGB leadership have executed the plan without his permission. He is informed of the US mobilization and orders Soviet forces to a similar posture. In Alaska, Colonel Caffey realizes that his men have an inadequate supply of ammunition, grenades, and mines. Using combat tactics that he learned in Vietnam, Caffey sets up a defensive perimeter around the pumping station making use of surplus lengths of large-bore oil pipe to establish a position from which to ambush the enemy. The Soviet troops approach the pumping station, unaware of the American soldiers' presence until they trigger US land mines buried in the snow. The Soviets suffer casualties and fall back, but they continue to surround the buildings. McKenna and Gorny secretly meet in Iceland to negotiate an end to the crisis. They are unable to reach an agreement, and both return to their countries but promise each other that the talks will continue.

The US responds to the Soviets' continuing mobilizations, as officials recognize that they are consistent with a fictional contingency plan, Красный Флаг, or "Red Flag." McKenna orders all American ballistic missile submarines, surface warships, B-1s, and B-52s to deploy in readiness for war. He directs US bombers to fly continuous paths just outside Soviet airspace. Caffey and his soldiers continue to repel the Soviet attacks on the pumping station in Alaska, but his soldiers are running low on ammunition and supplies. McKenna contacts Caffey by radio and asks him and his soldiers to hold out at all costs in the hope that the weather will break so that reinforcements can be sent to relieve them. McKenna obeys but hopes for a diplomatic solution. Gorny also hopes for a negotiated settlement to the crisis. However, hardline members of the Communist Party and the KGB, who remain incensed by the Soviet food shortage, suddenly launch a coup d'état. They use a car bomb to assassinate Gorny while he visits the school that is attended by his young son, Sasha.

In the meantime, the Soviet troops in Alaska launch a final assault on the pumping station. Soviet Colonel Vorashin, however, has become concerned about the rapidly-growing prospect of a nuclear war and requests a parley with Caffey. After an emotional conversation, Vorashin and Caffey agree to discontinue the fighting. However, at that moment, the Russian political officer, Major Nicolai Samaaretz, hurls a grenade, which presumably kills both men.

The situation collapses in bloodshed, with a sergeant of the Alaskan Scouts managing to send one final message that the last US position is being overrun. Receiving the news, McKenna calls the Soviet leadership and discovers that Gorny is unavailable to speak with him. The Soviet leadership claims that Gorny has been felled by severe intestinal flu and that their forces will withdraw to pre-crisis positions, but McKenna does not believe them and realizes that pro-war elements of the KGB are seizing control of the Soviet Union. Once the telephone conference ends, McKenna submits to the National Security Council his belief that Gorny has been killed and that total war is imminent. He is correct since at that moment, the coup leaders decide on an all-out nuclear strike, some of them mistakenly believing that US law requires the President to obtain congressional approval before an American nuclear attack. However, McKenna has already deduced the enemy strategy. Horrified and nearly in tears, he concludes that the situation is unrecoverable and so orders a full nuclear counterstrike on the Soviet Union.

The protagonist and narrator is Ivan Smetski, a young Ukrainian-American linguist who specializes in Old Church Slavonic, a language from 10th-century Ruthenia. In 1992, Ivan returns to his native town of Kyiv to pursue additional graduate studies. While there he re-discovers the body of a woman that he had seen as a child, apparently sleeping in the woods. He awakens her with a kiss, and she tells him, in Old Church Slavonic, that she is Katerina, a princess of the kingdom of Taina.

Transported back to the 10th century, Ivan follows Katerina back to Taina where he finds the Christian kingdom terrorized by the traditional Russian arch-villainess Baba Yaga. Ivan and Katerina marry and escape back to the 20th century to avoid the machinations of Baba Yaga, who has enslaved a god and laid claim to Taina's throne, and the ''druzhinnik'' Dimitri who covets the throne. Baba Yaga's magical powers, however, allow her to follow Ivan and Katerina to modern times.

Back in Ukraine, Ivan discovers that his cousin is in reality the immortal god Mikola Mozhaiski. Returning to the United States, Ivan further discovers that his mother is a magic user, with the same powers as Katerina. After Katerina discovers Dimitri's plot through scrying, Ivan and Katerina return to Taina, deftly avoiding Baba Yaga who magically "skyjacks" their intended Boeing 747 back to the 10th century. Returning to Taina, Ivan and Katerina confront Dimitri, the enslaved god, and Baba Yaga. Though the Castle of Taina is destroyed, the two emerge victorious. They and their children split the rest of their days between the modern world and Taina.

''Champions of Norrath'' features a traditional role-playing video game storyline, in which the player acts as a hero who must save the world via a series of quests and battles. Divided into five acts, the game begins with a quest to assist the elves in their war against the orcs, who have formed an alliance with goblins (which is strange to the citizens of Norrath). However, in later acts, the player must eventually travel to the underworld and beyond thanks to the antics created by the strange orc leader and his contacts. The game takes place in the focal world of the EverQuest universe known as Norrath, prior to the events of the first EverQuest online RPG, which was itself prior to "The Shattering" of the moon Luclin. The game applies many elements of the EverQuest universe. There are three main antagonists in the storyline: Pelys, leader of the orcs, Vanarhost, a vampire in the Underworld who also narrates the entire game and Innoruuk, the God of Hatred.

The setting is in Sicily. The plot concerns two separate storylines, one a romance between Palmyra and Leonidas, who were separated from their parents as babies and who were raised together by Hermogenes, who has kept their past a secret. When Hermogenes is recognized by the usurper-king Polydamas, he declares that Leonidas is Polydamas's son. However, as Leonidas's new position of prince then forbids him to marry Palmyra, much misery is brought to the couple. When the lovers refuse to stop seeing each other, Palmyra is sentenced to death. Hermogenes then steps forward and reveals that he was lying before: in fact Leonidas is his own son, he says, and he had lied in the hopes of bettering the boy by making him prince, whereas Palmyra is the real child of Polydamas. After offering proof of this new claim, Palmyra is established as princess, but again this prevents her and Leonidas from marrying. Hermogenes eventually admits that he once again was withholding information, and reveals the whole truth to Leonidas—Leonidas is the son of the rightful king, whose throne was usurped by Polydamas. As soon as he learns this, Leonidas forms a rebellion against Polydamas, wins, and establishes himself the new king, finally allowing himself and Palmyra to be married.

The second storyline, which intertwines with the first, concerns Rhodophil and his friend Palamede. Palamede has fallen in love with Rhodophil's wife Doralice, and Rhodophil is in love with Palamede's fiancée Melantha. Each of the women seem to find their pursuers agreeable, and great care is taken by all parties to keep their meetings secret from each other, with disastrous results as the two couples seem to always choose the same locations and tactics for meeting. When finally the actions of everyone are discovered, Palamede and Rhodophil decide that since their tastes in women are so similar, each would be best sticking to his rightful claim. Palamede then manages to win the heart of Melantha, and amicably break off his relationship with Doralice.

Robert McDowell, alias Zenith, was the son of two members of Cloud 9, a super-team of the 1960s assembled by the British military who had rebelled and become hippies and psychedelic fashion icons. Zenith himself used his Biorhythm dependant super-human abilities, not to fight evil, but to promote his career as a pop singer. Shallow, spoilt, self-centred and initially cowardly, he was reluctantly dragged into the struggle against malevolent, supernatural entities known as the Lloigor or "Many-Angled Ones".

The British superhuman project "Maximan" had emerged from work brought over by defecting Nazi scientists in World War II, in turn, having been developed from knowledge obtained from the Lloigor. The Nazis had created "Masterman", but the real purpose of the project was to produce host bodies strong enough to house the Lloigor's spirits. Due to those circumstances, within the story's alternate history, Berlin was the target of the first nuclear weapon, not Hiroshima or Nagasaki, mainly because both the British and Nazi supermen were fighting in Berlin at the time.

The British superheroes came of age during the tumultuous '60s, and promptly rebelled, as did many teens of that time. Ultimately, Zenith's parents were killed (by American psychic agents – although that is not revealed until later in the storyline), other members of Cloud 9 disappeared, and the few remaining lost their powers and retreated into civilian life: Peter St. John (Mandala) became a Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party, and Ruby Fox (Voltage), a journalist and writer. Siadwell Rhys (Red Dragon) owned a pub in Wales - where he apparently spent much of his time drunk.

• In Phase I, Zenith reluctantly teamed up with surviving members of Cloud 9 to defeat the Many-Angled One called "Iok Sotot", although that proved fatal to Welshman Red Dragon. St John demonstrated his considerable mental powers by defeating Iok Sotot via a post-hypnotic suggestion previously implanted. Phase I showed that Cloud 9 only temporarily lost their powers and regained them under duress—or, in St John's case, never lost them at all.
• Phase II detailed the efforts of a media tycoon modelled on Richard Branson to use Zenith and two female superhuman clones—Shockwave and Blaze—as breeding stock for a new group of super-powered humans he intended to use toward achieving world domination. Zenith was generally successful working on his own in Phase II, but he again relied on St John at times, and also a CIA agent who was killed early on. Phase II describes more of the Zenith history, and introduces Chimera, a superhuman composed entirely of thought, who eventually transformed itself into a pyramid-shaped miniature universe.
• An interlude between Phase II & III introduces the concept of alternate universes, and that members of Cloud 9 who were previously thought to be dead were in fact establishing themselves in the alternate realities with other-dimensional heroes, and developing their powers and abilities. It is also first suggested (and established later on) that the Zenith universe characters are among the most powerful of all other superheroes.
• Phase III involved a multi-dimensional war against the Lloigor utilising comic-book characters from other British comics from the '50s, '60s and '70s (using either the actual characters or analogs, depending on their legal status). The Lloigor, close to "ascending" and dominating the universe(s), were waiting for the infinite alternate universes to align and form a universe-sized crystal – the "Omnihedron". The multi-universal heroes destroyed several alternate Earths to introduce a flaw into the Omnihedron and prevent the alignment, but discovered that they had been betrayed by Maximan: the destruction of the worlds ''removed'' a flaw already present in the Omnihedron. Only at the last moment did they succeed by destroying the alternate Earth that the Lloigor were using to ascend. Due to the vast cross-dimensional body count incurred in this series, a surviving superhero commented that it may have been "...a pyrrhic victory".
• The final series, Phase IV, brought the story full circle as the remaining members of Cloud 9 eventually transformed into the very Lovecraftian horrors that Zenith battled in the first series - Iok Sotot, who was Zenith and Blaze's son. After destroying American society in retaliation for a psychic attempt on their own lives, they used the Sun as an incubator for their final metamorphosis into The Many Angled Ones, and after destroying the Earth they ascended to the heavens, attempting to gain control of the multiverse. St John had, however (during part two – "The Eleventh Hour" episode), trapped the Lloigor in the pocket universe created by Chimera, with the "real" universe assumed to have been saved –- although it is implied that St John had his own agenda for taking control, as by that time he was already Prime Minister of Great Britain.

Zenith since returned three times to the pages of ''2000 AD'': In ''zzzenith.com'', a one-off featured in "Prog 2001" set years after the end of the previous series. Zenith once again met with St John, who was still in control of the country via a telepathically-manipulated Tony Blair. Zenith, being aware of that, was not particularly bothered, and therefore, St John seemed equally unconcerned by Zenith's knowledge of the truth. St John was still in possession of the Omnihedron pocket universe containing the Lloigor, but Marconi had been experimenting with it, and St John was worried about the results gained.

Lolita Cassard lacks confidence and self-esteem because she doesn't look like the women who fill the pages of fashion magazines. Her father, Étienne Cassard, is a respected novelist, but rarely considers the feelings of others, only thinking of himself and worrying about aging. Pierre Millet, a younger writer, doubts he will ever be successful. Meanwhile, Sylvia Millet, a singing teacher, believes in her husband's talent, but doubts her own and that of her student, Lolita. When Sylvia discovers that Lolita is the daughter of Étienne, an author she admires, she befriends Lolita in order to gain access to Étienne for her husband's sake. Lolita does not see that Sylvia is just another person being generous to her because her father is famous. She begins to confide in Sylvia about her father, love life, and self-confidence issues. Sylvia takes a liking to Lolita and begins to see Étienne for the man he really is. Sébastien, a young journalist, befriends Lolita. He takes a liking to her, but she shows no interest, infatuated with another boy, Mathieu. Mathieu is interested in Lolita only because of her father and mistreats her. Lolita assumes the same of Sébastien and does not realize that he likes her for herself. After a crazy weekend at Étienne's cottage, Sylvia leaves Pierre because he has become like Étienne, Lolita realizes Sébastien has honest intentions, and Étienne is repeatedly reminded that he is an indifferent father to Lolita.

Jane Goodale (Ashley Judd) voices over the images of a scientific experiment where a bull would not mount a cow twice, not even if her scent is changed. Until recently, she believed men are all like the bull, but she discovers it is not always true.

Jane is a production assistant for a recently syndicated talk show, so host Diane Roberts (Ellen Barkin) who wants to be the best, is always looking for ungettable guests, like Fidel Castro. Eddie Alden (Hugh Jackman) is the producer and a womanizer, much to Jane's amicable critique.

Eddie needs a roommate, but disgruntled exes keep damaging his bulletin board posters. Offering Jane the room, she turns down vehemently. Jane is immediately smitten when she meets the new producer of the show, Ray Brown (Greg Kinnear). She tells her friend Liz (Marisa Tomei) and discusses her bad luck with men. Meanwhile, her sister goes on fertility treatments. Ray calls Jane, they spend an evening together and end up kissing. The next morning she calls Liz, ecstatic. Liz gives her advice on Ray and his girlfriend Dee (with whom he has trouble). Ray and Jane seem to be very much in love.

The relationship evolves, and they decide to move in together. Jane puts in notice to her landlord; when Ray tells his girlfriend it is over, he does not mention the new woman in his life. Distancing himself from Jane while she is packing to move, he breaks it off over dinner, leaving Jane in tears. The next morning in the office Jane takes her revenge by announcing to move in with Eddie. She learns to deal with the many women in Eddie's life and they bond over scotch and leftovers. Reading an article about the old cow syndrome, she starts researching for her theory of men. Liz works at a men's magazine and proposes Jane write a column about her theory, under the pen name Dr. Marie Charles.

The column, dealing with men's insecurity and dishonesty is a big hit. Everybody wants to meet Dr. Charles, including Diane. At a Christmas party, Ray tells her he misses her, asking her out for New Year's Eve, but stands her up. When Jane shows up at a party looking for Eddie at midnight, she can't find him and leaves in tears. He spots her across the crowded room, tries to go after her but can't reach her. Back at the office, Ray tries to apologize, but Diane interrupts wearing the shirt Jane bought for Ray.

Diane is "Dee," and Ray is back with her. As the board meeting is about to start, Eddie makes sure Jane isn't crying going in, but she acts strangely, so he covers for her. When Ray gets emotional talking about a Gérard Depardieu movie, Jane spills her guts over his inability to show empathy for her broken heart. After the meeting Diane, unaware of Jane's relationship with Ray, gives her advice on how to win her boyfriend back, telling her how she did it.

At a bar, Liz follows Dr. Charles's advice and is not going to fall for the same kind of guy anymore. Jane and Eddie argue over Dr. Charles' advice. At home she tells him she has to believe the theory because otherwise she is fears men don't leave women - they leave her. Eddie comforts her saying Ray is not the last man she'll ever love, and they fall asleep together. The next morning Eddie wakes up happy and comfortable while Jane freaks out. He suggests she not overanalyse it, saying he is happy they slept the whole night together without it leading to sex.

Jane tells Eddie he will show his true colours and will hurt her soon. He tells her it is not about him, but her attitude is the problem. Jane gets a call from her brother-in-law telling her that her sister had a miscarriage. At the hospital she sees their true love and tells Diane that Dr. Charles will be on her show.

The interview is meant to be over the telephone, but Jane changes her mind mid-way and goes on the stage. She tells the audience that there is no Dr. Charles (we see Eddie leave at this point) and that the theory is ridiculous because she was hurt and needed to blame men for her pain. By this time Eddie is long gone. Jane goes after him and tells him she found new love. He doesn't answer, but kisses her passionately, to Van Morrison's "Someone like You" playing in the background.

During a man-on-the-street news interview in August 1972, an unnamed man (later identified as Barton George Dawes) gives his angry opinion of a new highway extension project. The narrative then jumps forward to November 1973, with Dawes, seemingly unaware of the underlying motivations of his actions, visiting a gun shop and purchasing two high-powered firearms: a .44 Magnum revolver and a hunting rifle chambered for .460 Weatherby Magnum cartridges. The story gradually reveals that Dawes' son Charlie had died of brain cancer three years earlier, and that Dawes is unable or unwilling to sever his emotional ties to both the industrial laundry where he works and the house in which Charlie grew up. The laundry and his entire neighborhood are to be demolished as part of the project.

Dawes resigns his middle management job at the laundry after sabotaging the purchase of its new facility, and his wife Mary leaves him once she learns of both these actions and his failure to find a new house for the couple. Dawes then approaches Salvatore "Sal" Magliore, the owner of a local used-car dealership with ties to organized crime, in an attempt to obtain explosives. Magliore initially dismisses him as a crackpot, so Dawes assembles a load of Molotov cocktails and uses them to damage the highway construction equipment. He is not caught, but his actions cause only a brief delay in the project. Dawes initially refuses to accept the money being offered by the city for the house under the eminent domain statute, but changes his mind after the city's attorney threatens to publicize his brief tryst with Olivia Brenner, a young hitchhiker who had previously taken shelter at the house. Magliore has Dawes' house checked for listening devices planted by the city and later agrees to sell him a load of explosives. Dawes gives half the money from the house sale to Mary, gives $5,000 to a homeless man in a coffee shop, and has Magliore invest most of the remainder on behalf of Olivia after paying for the explosives.

In January 1974, with only hours remaining before he is required to leave the property, Dawes wires the whole house with the explosives and barricades himself inside. When the police arrive to forcibly evict him, he shoots at them, killing no one but forcing them to take cover and attracting the attention of the media. Dawes coerces the police into letting a reporter - the same one who interviewed him in 1972, though neither recognizes the other - enter and speak to him. Once the reporter has left, Dawes tosses his guns out the window and sets off his explosives, destroying the house and killing himself.

A short epilogue reveals that the reporter and his team ultimately won a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the incident and uncovered the truth about the extension project: there was no real reason for it. Unless the city built a certain number of miles of road per year, it would become ineligible for federal funding of interstate construction projects. The city quietly began preparing to sue Mary for her share of the eminent domain payout, but dropped the suit in the wake of public outcry.

Spanky (George McFarland), Alfalfa (Carl Switzer), Buckwheat (Billie Thomas) and others form an army called "The Royal Protection of Women and Children Regiment Club of the World and Mississippi River". The group sees unexpected action when Union troops approach, engaging in battles more farcical than fierce. Using clowning tactics instead of military tactics, the kids stop the advance . . . and later save an adult friend from the firing squad.

In ''The Thousand Orcs'', a clan of frost giants led by Gerti Orelsdottr allied with the orc King Obould Many-Arrows to send a massive army against the towns of the North. On the sidelines, four drow from the Underdark orchestrate events behind the scenes, playing each side against the other for their own advantage. Drizzt is separated from his friends during the siege at the town of Shallows. He witnesses the apparent death of the other Companions of the Hall, and turns his attention to slaughtering all of the orcs he can find, whilst reverting again to the Hunter. The other companions meet warrior dwarves of Mirabar who left because of their leader Marchion Elastuls dislike and borderline hatred for the dwarves of Mithral Hall.

In ''The Lone Drow'', Drizzt Do'Urden is mourning what he believes to be the death of his closest friends. Drizzt only regains his sense of purpose after two elves (Tarathiel and Innovindil) and their two pegasi (Sunrise and Sunset) decide to help. The dwarven druid Pikel Bouldershoulders loses his left arm at the elbow by a piece of slate thrown by a frost giant. Tarathiel, however, meets his demise at the hands of King Obould Many-Arrows. Later the orc shaman Arganth Snarrl proclaims Obould a god. Meanwhile, the remaining Companions of the Hall, who survived the attack that Drizzt earlier witnessed, are fighting an increasingly desperate battle against Obould's forces.

Coyote Bus Lines' scientists and designers work feverishly to complete ''Cyclops'', a state-of-the-art articulated jumbo bus, enabling man to achieve a new milestone in bus history, namely non-stop service between New York City and Denver. Almost immediately after the bus engine is equipped with nuclear fuel, a bomb goes off, critically injuring Professor Baxter, the scientist in charge of the project. ''Cyclops'' itself is undamaged, but Coyote Bus Lines has lost both its driver and co-driver.

Kitty Baxter, the professor's daughter and the Cyclops designer, is forced to turn to old flame Dan Torrance. Once a promising driver, Torrance was disgraced after he crashed his bus atop Mount Diablo, and was accused of saving his own life by eating all of his passengers. (Torrance blames his co-driver for cannibalism, insisting that he himself survived by eating the seats and the luggage, and only ate part of a passenger's foot by accident when it was included in a stew). Narrowly surviving an assault by vindictive fellow drivers with the help of "Shoulders" O'Brien, Torrance is recruited to drive ''Cyclops''.

Meanwhile, a sinister tycoon known as "Ironman", encased in a huge iron lung, plots to destroy the bus with some oil sheikhs. Ironman directs his brother Alex to sabotage ''Cyclops'' using time bombs. Alex would prefer to use a man-made earthquake, but Ironman insists that the bus be destroyed and discredited. Before its maiden voyage, Alex sneaks aboard and hides a bomb within the bus.

Amidst public fanfare, the bus finally leaves New York, bound for Denver. Among the passengers are the Cranes, a neurotic married couple waiting for their divorce to finalize; Father Kudos, a priest who has lost his way; Dr. Kurtz, a disgraced veterinarian; Emery Bush, a man with only a few months to live; and Camille Levy, whose father died in the aforementioned Mount Diablo bus crash.

At first, ''Cyclops''' journey is a success, and Torrance triumphantly breaks the 90 mph "wind barrier" (referenced as "breaking wind"). Soon, however, disaster strikes. Investigating a mechanical problem, Dan discovers the bomb and disarms it just seconds before an explosion rips through another part of the bus. Now unable to stop, ''Cyclops'' speeds across America. Dan is determined to achieve ''Cyclops's'' historic goal of non-stop service to Denver, but he also needs to surpass a treacherously curvy road where his father died. Dan almost succeeds, but not before a truck smashes into the upper deck windshield, and the bus runs partially off the road, ending up teetering over a cliff. To save the bus, Dan and Shoulders shift all the weight to the back by jettisoning all of the passenger luggage and then pumping the vehicle's entire carbonated beverage supply into the galley at the opposite end.

Knowing he has only one more chance to destroy ''Cyclops'', Alex finally persuades Ironman to use the earthquake. Unfortunately for Ironman, Alex somehow set the co-ordinates for Ironman's house instead.

Back on the road, ''Cyclops'' once again heads to its destination, but just 25 miles outside of Denver, the front and rear halves of the bus split from each other.

During World War II, the Germans transformed Colditz Castle into a high security prisoner-of-war camp called Oflag IV-C. Its purpose was to restrain those Allied prisoners who had attempted to escape from other Oflags and so Colditz housed various nationalities who were mainly British, Dutch, French and Polish. Among the British prisoners are Pat Reid (John Mills) and Senior British Officer Colonel Richmond (Eric Portman). Richmond is warned by the Kommandant (Frederick Valk) that "escaping is verboten" but Richmond has no intention of heeding this advice. All the prisoners are wary of Priem (Denis Shaw), the chief security officer, who is efficient and tenacious.

Reid and other British officers attempt to open a manhole cover one night but are foiled by a simultaneous French attempt which alerts the German guards. Reid and La Tour (Eugene Deckers) argue about the lack of co-operation, both blaming the other. Later, a British tunnel is making progress until it meets another being dug by the Dutch officers and a collapse occurs. Richmond decides to act and proposes the creation by each nationality of escape officers who must liaise at all times to make sure attempts do not interfere with each other. This would be on the understanding that the escape officers do not themselves take part in an escape. Reid accepts the post for the British contingent. Soon afterwards, Winslow (Bryan Forbes) is hidden among palliasses being taken out of the castle and is not immediately caught.

Richmond gains agreement for his own escape plan which hinges on his impersonation of a feldwebel called Franz Josef. This seems to be succeeding until, at the key moment, the German guards emerge and arrest all concerned. Tyler (Lionel Jeffries) is shot and wounded. Richmond, Reid and a dozen others are placed in solitary for a month and the likelihood of an informer is first discussed. This turns out to be the case when one of the Polish officers, whose family have been threatened by the Gestapo, is found to be collaborating with the guards and betraying escape plans.

After two weeks on the run, Winslow is recaptured and returned to Colditz. While he is in the solitary compound, he talks to La Tour during a physical exercise session and watches as La Tour, helped by a compatriot, leaps over the barbed wire fence. Winslow runs into a guard to stop him shooting La Tour who runs to freedom. Soon afterwards, Richmond expresses annoyance that no British officer has yet made a complete escape.

Reid's friend McGill (Christopher Rhodes) approaches Richmond with a new plan but says he will only disclose it if Richmond will relieve Reid from his escape officer duties so that McGill and Reid can make the attempt together. Richmond agrees and McGill convinces Reid that the plan is feasible. The escapees will be disguised as German officers but will approach the guards from the direction of the German mess. McGill argues that previous attempts have failed because the escapees came from the wrong direction. The attempt will coincide with a revue being staged in the castle theatre, to which all senior German officers are being invited.

McGill is very tall and has antagonised the guards many times by reckless behaviour. Richmond realises that he will be too conspicuous and asks him to stand down so that other officers including Reid will have a good chance of making the plan work. McGill accepts Richmond's reasoning but is devastated. Next day, he attempts to scale the wire fence surrounding the exercise compound and is shot dead by the guards. Reid, on learning of Richmond's decision, says he will not let the escape attempt proceed but Richmond persuades him to do it for McGill's sake. The escape goes ahead as planned while the revue is being staged. Four men get out of the castle but two are soon recaptured. Several days later, Richmond receives a postcard with a cryptic message. He announces to the assembled and cheering prisoners that Reid and Winslow have successfully crossed into neutral Switzerland.

Spanky is the president of the "He-Man Woman ('woman' is misspelled as 'womun') Haters Club" with many school-aged boys from around the neighborhood as members. His best friend, Alfalfa, has been chosen as the driver for the club's prize-winning undefeated go-kart, "The Blur", in the annual Soap Box Derby style race. However, when the announcement is made, Alfalfa is nowhere to be found.

The boys catch Alfalfa in the company of Darla. The club's members try their hardest to break the two apart, eventually causing their beloved clubhouse to burn down. Darla is mistakenly led to believe Alfalfa feels ashamed of her, so she turns her attentions to Waldo, the new rich kid whose father is an oil tycoon. Spanky, Stymie and friends judge Alfalfa's punishment to be left guarding the go-kart day and night until the day of the race. Until that day comes, Alfalfa makes many attempts to woo back Darla including a visit to her ballet rehearsal, an undelivered love letter, and through serenade, all of which fail.

In order to rebuild their clubhouse, the boys try to fund-raise the cost of lumber, $450. But the youngest ones, Porky and Buckwheat, have unknowingly come up with $500. Their school teacher finds out about the scheme, but Spanky convinces her to use the funds as prize money for the go-kart derby.

"The Blur" is stolen by local bullies Butch and Woim. In addition to having to rebuild the clubhouse, the boys now need a new set of wheels. They band together to build "The Blur 2: The Sequel." Prior to race day, Spanky and Alfalfa reconcile and decide to ride in the two-seat go-kart together. They hope to win the prize money and the trophy, to be presented to the victors by the greatest racer of all, "A.J. Ferguson."

Butch and Woim make several sneaky attempts to stop Alfalfa and Spanky from winning the race. Waldo, who (seemingly) kicks out Darla from his race car, pulls a few tricks of his own. It's a wild race to the finish, but "The Blur 2" crosses the finish line ahead of the pack (and resulting in a photo-finish between "The Blur" and "The Blur 2" literally "by a hair" due to Alfalfa's pointy hairstyle), despite the many scrapes and crashes throughout the derby. When Butch and Woim try to beat up Alfalfa, he knocks Butch into pig slop and Woim throws himself in.

Along with first prize, Alfalfa also wins back Darla's heart after it turns out that Darla kicked Waldo out of the car, not the other way around. Spanky, meanwhile, is shocked at the trophy presentation when he finally meets his favorite driver, A.J. Ferguson -- "a girl!" As soon as the club house is rebuilt, the boys collectively have a change of heart toward membership and welcome Darla and friends to their club, with "Women Welcome" added to the sign.

At the end of the movie, it is revealed that Uh-Huh can say more than simply “Uh-Huh.” The movie closes with bloopers from the kids while filming.

A scavenger at a ruined church in Mexico finds the tip of the Spear of Destiny, which pierced Jesus. He becomes possessed and starts walking to Los Angeles.

In LA, cynical occult expert John Constantine, who is suffering from terminal lung cancer after years of heavy smoking, performs an exorcism on a young Filipino woman. He destroys the demon, but not before it attempts to come through its host into the human plane, which should not happen because of a standing agreement between Heaven and Hell. Constantine visits the "half-breed" angel Gabriel to request an extension to his life given the work he is doing, but Gabriel responds that performing good deeds for selfish reasons will not secure him a place in Heaven.

Elsewhere, detective Angela Dodson is investigating the death of her twin sister, Isabel, who leaped from the roof of the psychiatric hospital to which she had, yet again, been committed after experiencing religious visions. Angela refuses to believe Isabel, a devout Catholic, would commit suicide, which is a mortal sin. She thinks she hears Isabel say "Constantine" in some security footage, so, having heard of his involvement with the occult, she asks for his assistance. He refuses, but reconsiders after fending off demons that come out into the open to pursue Angela. He uses a ritual to find Isabel in Hell, confirming she killed herself, and then tells a despondent Angela that he committed suicide as a teenager because his ability to see supernatural creatures made him think he was crazy, so, even though he was revived, his soul, like Isabel's, is condemned to Hell.

At the morgue, Constantine's friend Father Hennesy discovers a symbol on Isabel's wrist, but is killed by the half-breed demon Balthazar. Constantine and Angela discover Hennesy carved the symbol into his hand for them and Angela finds a reference to a chapter in Hell's Bible hidden in Isabel's hospital room, giving them some clues for Constantine's ally Beeman to look into. Before being killed by a swarm of bugs, Beeman relays that the symbol represents Lucifer's son, Mammon, and the chapter prophesies that he, with divine assistance, will conquer the Earth by possessing a powerful psychic. Angela realizes Isabel committed suicide to stop Mammon from using her and feels guilty for making Isabel feel isolated by denying and repressing her own psychic abilities. Constantine helps Angela reawaken her powers, and she uses them to show Balthazar murdered Beeman.

Constantine interrogates Balthazar, learning the blood of Christ on the Spear is Mammon's divine assistance and Angela is his new intended-host. Then, an unseen entity destroys Balthazar and abducts Angela, so, with the help of witch-doctor Papa Midnite, Constantine induces visions and tracks the Spear to the psychiatric hospital.

Alongside Chas Kramer, his apprentice/driver, Constantine assaults the hospital and battles a group of half-breed demons to reach Angela. She has already been possessed by Mammon, but Constantine and Chas are able to calm the demon before an unseen force kills Chas. Constantine exposes Gabriel, who, because humans only find their "nobler selves" in the face of horror, intends to unleash Hell on Earth so the survivors will actually be "worthy" of the love God offers them. Gabriel tosses Constantine aside and prepares to pierce Angela with the Spear to unleash Mammon.

Desperate, Constantine slits his wrists, having heard Lucifer will come to collect his soul personally, given how many demons he has defeated. Time pauses, and Constantine tells Lucifer about Gabriel and Mammon's plot. Gabriel unsuccessfully attempts to smite Lucifer, revealing God has abandoned them, and Lucifer burns away Gabriel's wings and sends Mammon back to Hell. Lucifer asks if Constantine wants his life extended for his assistance, but, instead, he asks that Isabel be sent to Heaven. Lucifer releases her, and Constantine begins ascending to Heaven for his selfless sacrifice. Infuriated, Lucifer removes Constantine's cancer and revives him, believing that, given more time on Earth, he will prove he belongs in Hell. Constantine punches the now-mortal Gabriel and leaves with Angela, who he entrusts with hiding the Spear.

In a post-credits scene, Constantine visits Chas's grave and witnesses Chas return in an angelic form and fly away.

Set in Scotland on one wintry day, the film focuses on eight people; a mother and daughter, Elspeth (Phyllida Law) and Frances (Emma Thompson); two young boys skipping school, Sam (Douglas Murphy) and Tom (Sean Biggerstaff); two old women who frequently attend strangers' funerals, Chloe (Sandra Voe) and Lily (Sheila Reid); and two teenagers Nita (Arlene Cockburn) and Alex (Gary Hollywood). The film consists primarily of the interactions between the characters.

Eva Phillips (Joan Crawford) dominates her Georgia mansion and her husband Avery (Barry Sullivan), an alcoholic mill owner who hates his wife. A cousin, Jennifer Stewart (Lucy Marlow), is pressured into moving in with the family, and she watches in horror as Eva maneuvers to prevent the marriage of Avery's sister Carol (Betsy Palmer) to Judson Prentiss (John Ireland). Carol tells Jennifer to watch out for Eva, and that she read a book about bees and feels that Eva is like a queen bee who stings all her competitors to death. Jennifer refuses to believe such bad sentiments about Eva, and eventually becomes the putative personal assistant to Eva.

That same night, Eva and Jud have a meeting in a darkened room where he tells her that their relationship and anything they had together was over because he is marrying Carol. Eva rejects this and begins to kiss him, but Judson stops kissing her after a few seconds once he realizes that he is falling back into her trap. Meanwhile, Jennifer witnesses this rendezvous from the top of the staircase and is shocked. Jud turns the light on and tells Eva that he is serious, and she warns him that he will ultimately be sorry for refusing her. When Carol and Jud's engagement is announced to Eva, Eva strongly hints at her former affair with Jud, and Carol commits suicide by hanging herself in the barn.

Jennifer and Avery are drawn together and share a furtive kiss when he tells her that he is aware of Eva and Jud's past. Eva senses the developing relationship and increases her malevolent actions, and tells Avery to not interact with Jennifer any longer. When he refuses, she threatens a scandalous divorce in the press. Meanwhile, Jud, still guilty over Carol's death, leaves the house for a few weeks, but comes back one day for work. He finds out from Jennifer that it was really Eva who told Carol about his earlier relationship with Eva, not Avery as he had assumed. Now, for different reasons, both men are determined to avenge it.

Avery changes his attitude completely, and acts as though he is in love with Eva. She changes her attitude and says that she is done being manipulative because her husband finally loves her. However, Jud sees through the charade and confronts Avery that his true motives for being nice to Eva is so that she will trust him enough so that he can kill her. Jud preempts his plan on the night Avery intends to commit murder-suicide and takes Eva driving. When Eva discerns that he wants her dead, she frantically attacks him, resulting in a crash over a cliff, killing them both. Now, Jennifer and Avery are free to love each other.

Towards the beginning of the movie, Pootie Tang sits down for a TV interview. The interviewer asks about Pootie's upcoming movie; at this point - a movie clip is played. Although initially unclear, the events described below all appear to be part of the movie clip played during the interview as revealed at the end of the movie.

Pootie Tang, born in "a small town outside Gary, Indiana", is portrayed as a ladies' man who is "too cool for words", even as a young child. His life is marked by the deaths of his mother "Momma Dee", and shortly thereafter his father "Daddy Tang", who dies after being mauled by a gorilla during his shift at the steel mill (the third time someone had suffered that particular fate). Just before Daddy Tang's death, Pootie inherits his father's belt and is told that (as long as he has right on his side) he can "whoop anyone's ass with just that belt." And uses his dying breath to warn his son to not let the ladies get between him and the belt.

As a young adult, Pootie Tang rises to fame and becomes well known for a variety of reasons. He sings in nightclubs, stars in public service announcements for children, produces top-of-the-charts music hits, and generally defeats wrongdoers with the power of his belt. Dick Lecter, the chief operating officer of multi-industrial conglomerate LecterCorp, learns of Pootie Tang's positive influence on society — and his negative influence on LecterCorp's bottom line. After his henchmen and a villain named Dirty Dee are sent away by Pootie's friends, Lecter encourages his right-hand lady, Ireenie, to seduce Pootie Tang into signing an agreement with LecterCorp that would stop Pootie Tang's influence on America's children.

Pootie Tang falls for Ireenie's tricks and subsequently falls apart. His status as pop culture icon is destroyed, and he engages on a quest to "find [him]self". This journey is encouraged by his friend Biggie Shorty, who promises to wait for Pootie to return to her and to the rest of society. Pootie moves to a farm where the local sheriff decides Pootie should start dating his daughter. After his single corn stalk dies, he has a vision of Daddy Tang and Momma Dee. Daddy Tang reveals that there is nothing special about Pootie's belt; instead, Pootie must fight evil with the goodness that is inside him. After dealing with Dirty Dee and his henchman Froggy (as well as getting his belt back), Pootie realizes he must move back to the city and fight crime once again.

Pootie Tang returns to the city just as Dick Lecter is unveiling the first of his new restaurant chain, Pootie's Bad Time Burgers. At a small news conference, Pootie confronts Lecter only to discover that Lecter has amassed dozens of "Pootie-alikes" who will spread the message of LecterCorp around the nation. Pootie Tang, with the help of Biggie Shorty, defeats all of these henchmen and Lecter himself. Good triumphs over evil once again, and Biggie Shorty finally gets her man: she and Pootie Tang plan to get married now that Pootie is back. Elsewhere, Dick Lecter leaves corporate life and becomes an actor, Ireenie leaves him and becomes a counselor helping at-risk teenage prostitutes, and Dirty Dee is still dirty.

In the fictional town of Spurbury, Vermont, four Vermont state troopers patrol a 50-mile section of highway and compete for prominence with the local police department. Although they are warned that their station risks being shuttered due to low productivity, the troopers - Lieutenant Arcot Ramathorn, "Rabbit" Roto, "Mac" Womack, and Carl Foster - delight in playing practical jokes on unsuspecting motorists and each other, rather than enforcing the law. They particularly enjoy tormenting fellow trooper Rodney Farva, a cocky and overzealous officer who has been suspended from the road for an unspecified incident.

The troopers, led by Captain John O'Hagen, are called to investigate an abandoned Winnebago off the highway, only to find the Spurbury police have already arrived: by claiming the investigation, the Spurbury police chief, Bruce Grady, hopes to force the closure of the troopers' station, thereby securing increased funding for his agency. The animosity leads to a brawl between the assembled officers, during which the body of a murdered woman is discovered inside the Winnebago. The troopers observe a tattoo on the dead woman depicting a monkey. During a routine traffic stop of a semi truck shortly after, Foster and Womack discover a large shipment of marijuana marked with stickers depicting the same monkey. The troopers suspect the dead woman and the marijuana are related, but Chief Grady laughs off the claim and refuses Captain O'Hagen's suggestion that the troopers and local police cooperate on the investigation.

Foster begins a relationship with Spurbury police officer Ursula Hanson and, while attempting to have sex with her in the now-impounded Winnebago, discovers hidden bundles of marijuana, all bearing the same monkey sticker. Foster conspires with Ursula, who hates her coworkers and is stuck manning the front desk, to reveal the bust at an upcoming visit by the governor, thereby proving the troopers' suspicions and embarrassing the local police. Meanwhile, Farva is reinstated to patrol and partnered with an exasperated Ramathorn. However, Farva attacks a restaurant cashier and is arrested by the Spurbury police. Chief Grady offers Farva a job with his department in exchange for information about the drug investigation, but Farva refuses. Farva is subsequently reprimanded by an infuriated O'Hagen, who re-suspends Farva.

The governor arrives in Spurbury; Ramathorn and Foster break into the police impound and steal the Winnebago, planning to reveal the marijuana discovered by Foster at a press conference. They barely make it in time, only to discover the marijuana has already been seized by the Spurbury police, with Chief Grady claiming credit. Foster accuses Ursula of revealing the location of the marijuana in exchange for a favorable assignment. Having nothing to show for their efforts, the state troopers expect their station to be shut down.

Back at the station, the troopers find Farva dressed in a Spurbury police uniform; Foster realizes that it was Farva, not Ursula, who betrayed the location of the marijuana. The troopers, including Captain O'Hagen, handcuff Farva to a toilet and drunkenly vandalize Chief Grady's house. Ursula offers to help the troopers get back at Grady, and tips them off to intercept a drug-running truck. As they attempt to pursue it, the troopers encounter an escaped Farva, who holds them at gunpoint and berates them for not taking him seriously as a cop. O'Hagen intervenes and the troopers convince Farva to help them stop the drug smugglers. Following the truck to a nearby airfield, the troopers observe it being loaded with marijuana from a Canadian-marked plane. Chief Grady and several Spurbury officers then arrive, and the troopers realize that the local police are running protection for the smugglers. After creating a distraction, the troopers brawl with the Spurbury officers and smugglers, ultimately arresting them.

Some days later, the governor sends Captain O'Hagen a letter thanking him for his efforts, but telling him the station will still be shut down. Three months later, Ramathorn and Rabbit, as deliverymen, find themselves bringing a keg of beer to a party hosted by underage college students they previously arrested. As the teenagers torment the seemingly powerless ex-troopers, they remove their deliverymen's uniforms to reveal that they are Spurbury police officers, having replaced their corrupt predecessors.

''Dual Strike'' stars two new characters: Jake, and Rachel, Jake's advisor. These are the primary protagonists of ''Dual Strike'' and members of the Orange Star Army, and are accompanied by several other new protagonists, including Sasha, Grimm, and Javier, members of the Blue Moon, Yellow Comet, and Green Earth Armies respectively.

The Black Hole Army has returned under a new commander, Von Bolt. He is accompanied by his Bolt Guard: Jugger, Koal, and Kindle, along with Hawke and Lash from the original Black Hole Army. Using Lash's new Black Obelisks, Von Bolt is draining Omega Land of its energy to give him eternal life, and is also starting to use this power to produce a bio-weapon named Oozium 238, a strange slime-based monster that devours anything in its path. However, Hawke notices the energy draining (which also is turning Omega Land into a desert) and questions its use. After uncovering Von Bolt's plot, Hawke is betrayed and Von Bolt attempts to swarm Hawke and Lash with Oozium 238. After the Allied Nations’ COs save Hawke and Lash, the COs, along with Hawke and Lash, begin to turn the tide against the Black Hole Army. Both Hawke and Lash provide valuable intelligence of the Black Hole weaponry and its plans for Omega Land.

With this information, the Allied Nations slowly corner the Black Hole Army, leading to a battle in the middle of the Crimson Sea. After destroying the last Black Obelisk, the Allied Nations proceed to the final battle where they fight Von Bolt and a giant oozium known as the Grand Bolt. After destroying the Grand Bolt, Hawke (or Jake, based on the player's decision) destroys Von Bolt's life support chair, supposedly causing both Hawke and Von Bolt to die in the aftermath. With the Black Obelisks gone, Omega Land begins returning to normal. Hawke is revealed to have stolen Von Bolt's chair and escaped, leaving Von Bolt either dead or barely alive. With the power in Von Bolt's chair Hawke revives all the land.

In an empty park in a large city, the title character, Geri, blows the leaves off a table and sets up a chessboard. He proceeds to play a chess game against himself, playing the parts of both participants by moving to opposite sides of the board and either removing or replacing his glasses. The "player" without the glasses is aggressive and confident, while the "player" with the glasses is timid and makes several mistakes. The confident player soon captures all the timid player's pieces except the King - the timid player fakes a heart attack and falls to the ground, startling the other, who quickly starts to take his own pulse. The timid player surreptitiously turns the board around, so the confident player has only the King left, and he has nearly all his pieces. He then gets up and tells the confident player he is all right and takes his turn. The confident player, confused and upset, concedes defeat and gives the timid player the prize - his false teeth. The camera pans back to remind the audience only one person was playing the game the entire time.

A bumbling long haired acrobat named Jiang desires to practice kung fu. He finds an advertisement for work at the Mansion as a body guard. Jiang doesn't get the body guard position, but cons his way into a job using his kung fu skills, and gets himself into the middle of some shady business. He is told not to go near the "guest room" where the special guest is staying. A fellow employee tells Jiang that there is an evil witch who lives in the guest room and is not to be disturbed. Jiang of course is caught spying on her and is run off the land. He then encounters two kung fu masters fighting in the woods. He watches one kill the other, and when he leaves Jiang takes the body into town to collect the reward. Using the money from the reward, Jiang tries to fulfill his kung fu dreams and find a master. He is suddenly attacked by the crazy witch and is about to lose until a mystery master shows up and beats her. The master turns out to be a bum, and teaches Jiang kung fu. He then goes on a journey with a princess to find a special jade plant.

Eddie Ginley works at a bingo hall in Liverpool, England, but dreams of becoming a stylish private investigator like those he has read about and seen in films. After finally placing an advertisement in a local newspaper announcing his detective services, he receives a mysterious offer. Even though Ginley is inexperienced and clueless at certain aspects of investigating, he comes to realize that he is entangled in a serious case involving drugs, murder and even his own family.

''TNT: Evilution''

In ''TNT: Evilution'', the UAC are once again intent on developing and experimenting with dimensional gateway technology. They set up a base on one of the moons of Jupiter, with a solid detachment of space marines for protection. The marines do their job well; when the first experimental gateway is opened, they annihilate the forces of Hell. Research continues with more confidence and all security measures turned at the gateway.

A few months later, the yearly supply ship comes ahead of schedule, and looks strange and unusually big on the radar. The lax radar operators decide that there is nothing to worry about. The personnel of the base go out to behold the terrible truth: it is a spaceship from Hell, built out of steel, stone, flesh, bone and corruption. The ship's enormous gates open to unleash a rain of demons on the base. Quickly, the entire facility is overrun, and everyone is slain or zombified.

The main character, the nameless space marine (who was revealed to be the marine commander on the moon) has been away on a walk at that time and thus escapes death or zombification. After being attacked by an imp, he rushes back to the base where he sees the demonic spaceship still hovering above it and realizes what has happened. He then swears that he will avenge his slain troops and sets out to kill as many demons as possible.

In the end, the marine defeats the Icon of Sin and the game describes "something rumbles in the distance. A blue light glows within the ruined skull of the demon-spitter."

''The Plutonia Experiment''

In ''The Plutonia Experiment'', after Hell's catastrophic invasion of Earth, the global governments decide to take measures against any possible future invasion, knowing that the powers of Hell still remained strong. The UAC is refounded under completely new management (the old trustees and stockholders were all dead anyway) and aims at developing tools that would prevent demonic invasions.

The scientists start working on a device known as the ''Quantum Accelerator'' that is intended to close invasion Gates and stop possible invasions. The experiments are carried out in a secret research complex, with a stationed detachment of marines. The work seems to be going well but the creatures from Outside have their attention drawn towards the new research. A Gate opens in the heart of the complex and unnatural horrors pour out. The Quantum Accelerator performs superbly: the Gate is quickly closed and the invasion is stopped. Research continues more boldly.

On the next day, a ring of 7 Gates opens and an even greater invasion begins. For one hour the Quantum Accelerators manage to close 6 of the Gates, but the Hellish army has become too numerous and too strong. The complex is overrun. Everyone is slain, or zombified. The last Gate of Hell remains open, guarded by a Gatekeeper: a powerful, enormous and ancient demon that has the power to open Dimensional Gates and control or protect them.

The government, frantic that the Quantum Accelerator will be destroyed or used against humanity, orders all marines to the site at once. The player, the nameless space marine, was on leave at the beach. He was also closest to the site and gets there first. There he discovers that there is much demonic activity (howling, chanting, machine sounds) within the complex; the Gatekeeper is obviously working on something, and his work would soon reach some awful climax. He also realizes that when the marines arrive, they would not be able to penetrate the heavily infested complex, despite the firepower and support they will have. The marine decides to enter the complex and stop the Gatekeeper alone.

An unnamed writer (obviously meant to represent Chekhov himself) suffers from writer's block and his own artistic temperament as he narrates to the audience several of his stories: * "The Sneeze" (based on "The Death of a Government Clerk") - A government clerk over-apologizes and has a nervous breakdown after accidentally sneezing on a general during a night out at the opera. * "The Governess" (based on "The Nincompoop") - A mother attempts to cheat her children's governess out of her pay by making up offenses and damages for which the governess must "compensate" but then tells her it was a test to see if she would stand up for herself, she didn't. * "Surgery" (based on the eponymous title) - A sexton visits the dentist complaining of a toothache, but the dentist's zeal for his profession begins to frighten his patient. * "Too Late for Happiness" - An older man and woman contemplate making time for each other in song. * "The Seduction" - A renowned seducer of married women sets his sights on his best friend's wife, using his friend as an unwitting accomplice in the ploy. * "The Drowned Man" - An entrepreneurial tramp pretends to drown himself to make money, calling what he does "maritime entertainment". * "The Audition" - An actress who walked four days from Odessa to Moscow to audition for the Writer's next play uses most of her audition time to gush over the Writer. * "A Defenseless Creature" - A woman with a nervous disorder harasses an ill banker to extort money for her injured husband. * "The Arrangement" - In flashback, the Writer's father takes his shy 19-year-old son to a brothel to make him a man. * "A Quiet War" (optional scene) - Two retired military commanders meet in the park to debate what makes the perfect five-course lunch.

Chance, a selfish and free-spirited American Bulldog and the narrator of the film, explains that he is the pet of Jamie Burnford, but expresses no interest in his owner or being part of a family. He shares his home with Shadow, a wise old Golden Retriever owned by Jamie's brother Peter, and Sassy, a pampered Himalayan cat owned by Peter and Jamie's sister Hope. That morning, the children's mother, Laura Burnford, marries Bob Seaver, and Chance causes trouble by devouring the wedding cake in front of all the guests.

Shortly after the wedding, the family has to temporarily move to San Francisco because Bob must relocate there for his job. They leave the pets at a ranch belonging to Kate, Laura's college friend. Shadow and Sassy miss their owners immediately, but Chance sees it as an opportunity to relax and be free. Later in the week, Kate goes on a cattle drive, leaving the animals to be looked after by her neighbor Frank. However, half of her message to him is lost, leading him to believe that she has taken them along, leaving the animals alone. Unsure about the disappearance of their host, the animals fear they have been abandoned. Shadow, refusing to believe that his boy would leave him, decides to make his way home. Not wanting to be left alone on the ranch, Chance and Sassy decide to accompany Shadow on his journey.

They head into the rocky, mountainous wilderness of the Sierra Nevada with Shadow leading. After a night spent in fear of the woodland noises, the group stops to catch breakfast at a river. However, two black bear cubs interrupt Chance and a large brown bear causes the group to retreat. At another river, Sassy refuses to swim across to follow the dogs and instead tries to cross via a wooden path further downstream; halfway across, the wood breaks and she falls into the river. Shadow tries to save her, but she goes over a waterfall to her apparent death. Guilt-ridden, Shadow and Chance go on without her. Unknown to them, Sassy survives and is later found on the riverbank by an old man named Quentin, who nurses her back to health.

Over the next two days, Shadow and Chance try unsuccessfully to catch food and encounter a mountain lion, which chases them to the edge of a cliff. Shadow gets an idea to use rocks positioned like a seesaw as a way to outsmart the mountain lion. While Shadow acts as bait, Chance pounces onto the end of the rock and sends the mountain lion over the cliff and into a river. Sassy hears the dogs barking in celebration and follows the sound to rejoin them.

The animals continue on their way, but Chance begins pestering a porcupine, ending up with a load of quills in his muzzle. The animals then encounter a little girl named Molly, who is lost in the woods. Loyalty instinct takes over and they stand guard over her during the night. In the morning, Shadow finds a rescue party and leads them back to the girl. They recognize the animals from a missing pets flyer and take them to the local animal shelter, but Chance mistakes it for an animal pound and the trio panic. As the medical staff remove the quills from Chance's muzzle, Sassy sneaks in and frees Shadow. Together, they retrieve Chance and escape the shelter, unaware that their owners are on their way to get them.

Finally reaching their hometown, the animals cross through a train yard, where Shadow falls into a muddy pit and injures his leg. Despondent, he tells Chance and Sassy to go on without him, and when Chance argues passionately, tells the younger dog he's learned all he needs; "Now all you have to learn is how to say goodbye." Heartbroken, Chance insists he won't let him give up. Near dusk, Chance and Sassy finally make it home and are happily reunited with their owners. Shadow initially fails to appear, but eventually he limps into view and happily comes running home at the sight of Peter. Chance narrates how it was Shadow's belief that brought them home and how the years seemed to lift off of him, making him a puppy again as he reunited with his boy. The film ends with Chance musing about how he truly feels "home" with his family, before happily running into the house at the smell of food.

The main characters of the Galatea are Elicio and Erastro, best friends and both in love with Galatea. The novel opens with her and her best friend, Florisa, bathing, talking of love. Erastro and Elicio reveal to each other their desire for Galatea, but agree not to let it come between their friendship. Eventually, all four of them begin their journey to the wedding of Daranio and Silveria, along which, in the pastoral tradition, they encounter other characters who tell their own stories and often join the traveling group.

The vast majority of the characters in the book are involved primarily in minor story lines. Lisandro loses his love, Leonida, when Crisalvo mistakenly kills her instead of his former love Silvia. Lisandro avenges Leonida's death in the presence of the main party. Astor, under the pseudonym Silerio, feigns attraction for Nísida’s sister Blanca in order to avoid the scorn of Nísida’s lover Timbrio, who dies following the confusion present after a successful duel against his rival Pransiles. Astor’s grief thrusts him into hermitage, waiting to hear from Nísida. Arsindo holds a poetry competition betwixt Francenio and Lauso, which is judged by Tirsi and Damón, lauded by many within the novel as some of the most famous poets of Spain. The competition is determined to have no single winner. The wedding has controversy as Mireno is deeply in love with Silveria, yet Daranio’s wealth guaranteed him the hand of Silveria.

These stories sometimes have characters that cross over, resulting in the sub-plots being intertwined at times. For example, Teolinda, whose sister Leonida played in an integral role in separating Teolinda from her lover Artidoro, finds Leonida much later with a group of soldiers. The fame of Tirsi and Damón instantly connects them with the hired wedding bards, Orompo, Crisio, Marsilio, and Orfenio, as well as the teacher Arsindo.

A band of four villainous criminals murder the husband and child of a woman whom they rape. The woman kills one of the bandits and is imprisoned without parole; she decides to seduce a guard to become pregnant, and has her daughter raised by a friend in order to avenge the family. The girl, Oyuki / Lady Snowblood, grows up and determines to set up crime boss Okono Kitahama so she will be convicted as a murderer. Kitahama's cohort Gishiro Tsukamoto discovers Oyuki's plan and uses her ally Miyanara as bait, but Oyuki defeats him. Another cohort, Hanzo Takemura, begs for Oyuki's forgiveness, but she slays him in a final act of vengeance.

The book is set in the years during the famine in Bengal in 1770 CE. It starts with introduction to a couple, Mahendra and Kalyani, who are stuck at their village ''Padachinha'' without food and water in the times of famine. They decide to leave their village and move to the next closest city where there is a better chance of survival. During the course of events, the couple gets separated and Kalyani has to run through the forest with her infant to avoid getting caught by robbers. After a long chase, she loses consciousness at the bank of a river. A Hindu “Santana”( who were not true sanyasis but common people who took the symbol of sanyasis and left their household so as to rebel against the British East India Company), Jiban took the daughter to his home handing her to his sister while he shifted Kalyani to his ashram.

The husband, Mahendra, at this point is more inclined towards joining the brotherhood of the monks and serving the Mother Nation. Kalyani wants to help him in attaining his dreams by trying to kill herself, thereby relieving him of worldly duties. At this point, Mahatma Satya joins her but before he can help her, he is arrested by the East India Company soldiers, because other monks were fuelling the revolt against Company rule. While being dragged away he spots another monk who is not wearing his distinctive robes and sings, ''"In mild breeze, by the bank of the river,''
''In the forest, resides a respectable lady."''

The other monk deciphers the song, rescues Kalyani and the baby, taking them to a rebel monk hideout. Concurrently, Kalyani's husband, Mahendra, is also given shelter by the monks, and they are reunited. The leader of the rebels shows Mahendra the three faces of ''Bongo Mata'' (Mother Bengal) as three goddess idols being worshipped in three consecutive rooms:

• What Mother Was – An idol of Goddess Jagaddhatri
• What Mother Has Become – An idol of Goddess Kali
• What Mother Will Be – An idol of Goddess Durga

Gradually, the rebel influence grows and their ranks swell. Emboldened, they shift their headquarters to a small brick fort. The East India Company attack the fort with a large force. The rebels blockade the bridge over the nearby river, but they lack any artillery or military training. In the fighting, the East India Company make a tactical retreat over the bridge. The ''Sannyasis''' undisciplined army, lacking military experience, chases the East India Company forces into the trap. Once the bridge is full of rebels, the East India Company artillery opens fire, inflicting severe casualties.

However, some rebels manage to capture some of the cannons, and turn the fire back on to the East India Company lines. The East India Company forces are forced to fall back, the rebels winning their first battle. The story ends with Mahendra and Kalyani building a home again, with Mahendra continuing to support the rebels.

The song Vande Mataram is sung in this novel. Vande Mataram means "I bow to thee, Mother". It inspired freedom fighters in the 20th century and its first two stanzas became the national song of India after independence.

Larry Wilson (Andrew McCarthy) and Richard Parker (Jonathan Silverman) are at a Manhattan morgue where they see their deceased CEO Bernie Lomax (Terry Kiser). Larry falsely claims Bernie as his uncle, so he can get some of Bernie's possessions including Bernie's credit card. At the insurance company, Larry and Richard are quizzed by their boss and Arthur Hummel (Barry Bostwick), the company's internal investigator, who ask the two if they have the that Bernie embezzled. They deny knowing where the money is, but their boss believes that they are lying and fires them. He also sends Hummel after them, giving him two weeks to prove their guilt.

Over dinner (paid for with Bernie's credit card, in one of its many uses), Larry tells Richard he found a key to a safe deposit box in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, and asks Richard if he will use the computer at work to see if the $2 million is in Bernie's account. At first Richard refuses but ultimately gives in.

Meanwhile, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a voodoo queen named Mobu (Novella Nelson) is hired by mobsters to find the $2 million Bernie stole. She sends two servants—Henry (Steve James) and Charles (Tom Wright)—to go to New York, get Bernie's body, use a voodoo ceremony to reanimate him, and bring him back to her so he can lead her to the money. Their attempts to bring Bernie back are plagued by accidents. They prepare in a bathroom at a sleazy porno theater for the voodoo ceremony, but having lost the sacrificial chicken, they use a pigeon instead. This limits Bernie's ability to walk toward the hidden money: he only moves when he hears music. At the 42nd Street–Grand Central subway station, Henry and Charles soon abandon him to chase a man who stole their boombox.

Later that night, Larry and Richard sneak into their office building to check Bernie's account, only to find that Bernie is the only one that can open it. They are soon arrested by officers for breaking and entering. After their release, they find Bernie (whom they believe is still dead), stuff him into a suitcase, bring him with them to the Virgin Islands, and put him into a small refrigerator in their hotel room. Unbeknownst to the two, Hummel is following them to recover the embezzled cash. The guys successfully use Bernie to open his safety deposit box but they only find a map. Meanwhile, Larry befriends a lovely native girl named Claudia (Troy Beyer), and gives her the map. Later, he and Richard are captured by Henry and Charles, who take them to Mobu. With one of the mobsters holding a gun to his head, she forces Richard to drink a poisonous concoction of a potion and tells them they must find the map by sundown to get the antidote.

When Larry, Richard, and Claudia are reunited, they are shocked to discover that Bernie is moving and realize he is leading them towards the $2 million. To keep him moving, they put a Walkman with headphones on his head. As Bernie finds a large chest underwater, their resulting excitement causes Larry to accidentally shoot Bernie in the head with a speargun, destroying the headphones. They attempt to bring Bernie back to the surface but he will not let go of the chest, which is too heavy to hoist out of the water. They end up attaching Bernie to a horse carriage with music playing. It seems to work at first, but when they go downhill, the carriage goes out of control. Eventually, the carriage ends up at Mobu's place. Bernie hits a large tree branch and spins into a somersault before knocking out Mobu. The crash also causes Bernie to drop the chest on the ground and it breaks open. Larry tries to scoop up the money but is caught by Hummel (now slightly unhinged upon seeing the undead Bernie walk) and he gives the $2 million to him. With Mobu out of commission, Claudia's father, a medical doctor, says that he can cure Richard if he can get the blood of a virgin (which Larry confesses he can provide). The mobsters and Mobu are arrested.

Larry confesses to Richard that he returned the $2 million to the insurance company, but only after learning Bernie actually stole $3 million. Larry and Richard use some of the remaining million to purchase a yacht crewed by attractive women. Meanwhile Bernie is last seen leading Henry and Charles, who have been transformed into goats by voodoo, through a carnival parade to an unknown fate.

Andy is 17 years old and preparing to leave for college. He has not played with his toys for years, and most have gone, except for Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie, Bullseye, Rex, Slinky, Hamm, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, the Aliens, and three toy soldiers. As the despondent toys reflect on their future, the soldiers parachute out the window and leave. Andy intends to take Woody to college, and puts the other toys into a trash bag, to be placed in the attic; however, Andy's mother mistakenly puts the bag outside with the true garbage. The toys narrowly escape from the garbage truck, and, believing Andy deliberately threw them away, get into a donation box in Andy's mother's car with Molly's old Barbie doll. Woody follows, but is unable to convince the others of Andy's real intentions, and goes along when Andy's mother takes the box of donations to Sunnyside Daycare.

At Sunnyside, Andy's toys are welcomed by the other toys, led by Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear ("Lotso"). The toys (except for Woody) are delighted to learn that Sunnyside never runs out of children, and Barbie is enamored with a Ken doll. Woody attempts to return home, but is instead found by a child from Sunnyside named Bonnie, who brings him home and plays with him and her other toys. Bonnie's toys are shocked that Woody escaped from Sunnyside. Chuckles, a toy clown, explains that he, Lotso, and Big Baby were owned by a girl named Daisy, but were lost during a family trip. When they made it home, Lotso found out that he had been replaced. Disregarding Chuckles' protests, the embittered Lotso lied to Big Baby that Daisy had replaced all of them. They rode a truck to Sunnyside, where Lotso took over, turning it into a toy prison. Chuckles was eventually broken and later found by Bonnie.

After Andy's toys are subjected to a very rough playtime with the toddlers, Buzz asks Lotso to move the toys to the older children's room. Lotso allows Buzz to go, but when Buzz insists that Andy's toys go as well, Lotso decides to switch Buzz to Demo mode. This resets Buzz to his original factory settings, causing him to believe he's a real space ranger under Lotso's command. Meanwhile, Mrs. Potato Head, through an eye she lost in Andy's room, sees Andy searching for his toys. They realize that Woody was telling the truth about Andy's intentions and try to escape, but Lotso's henchmen, now assisted by the brainwashed Buzz, imprison them.

Woody returns to Sunnyside, where a Chatter Telephone tells him that there is now only one way out – the trash. Later that night, the toys make their escape plan. After successfully stealing the master key and disabling Lotso's night watchman, they attempt to restore Buzz, but Rex accidentally resets Buzz to Spanish mode. Spanish Buzz immediately allies himself with Woody and falls in love with Jessie. The toys reach a dumpster, but are cornered by Lotso's gang. Woody reveals Lotso's deception to Big Baby, who angrily throws Lotso into the dumpster. As a garbage truck approaches, the toys try to leave, but Lotso pulls Woody into the dumpster. The rest of Andy's toys jump after him, just as the truck arrives, and all fall inside.

Buzz returns to normal after a television falls onto him inside the truck. The truck takes the toys to a landfill, where they are swept onto a conveyor belt that leads to an incinerator. The Aliens spot an industrial claw, but are swept away while running toward it. After narrowly avoiding a shredder while trying to rescue Lotso, Woody and Buzz help Lotso reach an emergency stop button, only for Lotso to abandon them. The toys fall into the incinerator and resign themselves to their apparent fate, but the Aliens, having made their way to the industrial claw, suddenly rescue them. Lotso is later found by a garbage truck driver, who fastens him to his truck's radiator grille along with a few other toys. Woody and his friends ride another garbage truck back to Andy's house.

Woody leaves a note for Andy, who, thinking the note is from his mother, donates the toys to Bonnie. Andy introduces the toys individually to Bonnie and is surprised to find Woody at the bottom of the donation box. Bonnie recognizes him, and though initially hesitant, Andy passes Woody on to her, and they play together before he leaves. Woody and the other toys witness Andy's departure as they begin their new lives with Bonnie.

In the film's epilogue, Barbie, Ken, and Big Baby have vastly improved Sunnyside and maintain contact with Bonnie's toys through letters. The toy soldiers parachute into Sunnyside, where Ken and Barbie welcome them.

Set in Los Angeles, this film revolves around Emily Tyler, a 12-year-old surfer-girl, and her 12-year-old twin sister, Tess, a member of a high-diving team. The movie follows the two sisters as they try various strategies to get their widower father, Max (who is a talented artist and sculptor), a girlfriend. After their first attempts end in failure, Tess and Emily team up with their friend Cody to paint an advertisement on a giant billboard situated high above Sunset Boulevard. Many women answer the advertisement through letters and through random chance, Max answers a letter submitted by a woman named Debbie. Debbie brings along her friend Brooke as a back-up in preparation for the former's date with Max. Brooke and Max coincidentally meet and take a liking to each other and Debbie agrees they should start dating. At first, Tess and Emily don't like Brooke's son, Ryan, a skater punk boy. But when an elaborate scheme by Max's business manager, Nigel, to break up the romantic relationship between Max and Brooke arises, Ryan and the girls learn to put aside their differences in order to foil the break-up plan.

Pandora was born with the name Lydia in the Roman Republic in the year 15 BC to a Senatorial family. She is tall, with rippling brown hair and gold-brown eyes. Like many Patrician Roman females of the time Pandora was taught how to read and write and is well versed in epic poems, especially Ovid's works. She meets Marius for the first time when he is twenty-five and she is ten. Marius asks for Lydia's hand in marriage, but her father rejects Marius' offer. Five years later, Lydia sees Marius at a festival and begs her father to allow her to marry Marius. Her father again refuses.

Pandora's father holds a high rank as a Senator. But when a new emperor takes power, her family is betrayed by her own brother and killed. Only Pandora and her traitorous brother survive the massacre, and she is taken to Antioch (after changing her name) by a man who was very close to her father. There she meets Marius again, twenty years after their last encounter. Unbeknownst to her, Marius is now a vampire.

She eventually finds out what Marius has become, and also that he protects and hides the Queen and King of all Vampires. Another vampire, Akabar, wants to steal the Queen's powerful and ancient blood. Marius and Pandora try to prevent him from carrying out his plan. To gain access to the Queen, Akabar uses Marius's love for Pandora against him and drains Pandora to the point of death. In order to save her, Marius is forced to make Pandora into a vampire and forced to let Akabar see the Queen, who then destroys Akabar. The pair stay together for the next two hundred years, taking care of the King and Queen of all vampires, before arguing and separating. Marius later characterized the breakup (of which he left her and she spent six months or more waiting for him to return) as being entirely his fault: He considers himself a teacher who longs to impart what he knows upon his pupils, but Pandora—being as free-spirited and highly educated as she was—had no patience to be his student. During their time together, against his objection, she did turn one of her beloved slaves into a vampire. As soon as he was turned he left the pair and was not seen again.

The next time they meet again is in a Dresden ballroom in the early to late-17th century. Marius tries in vain to make Pandora leave her companion and fledgling, Arjun, and come back to him. Pandora's relationship with Arjun is of great concern to Marius, who fears Pandora is being held against her will. While she outwardly denies this, Pandora overcomes her embarrassment and admits to David in her writing that she could not bring herself to leave Arjun, citing that his stronger will propelled them both through time.

The next and last time that they meet is in 1985, when she is among thirteen vampires who survived Akasha's killing spree and gathered at Maharet's house in the Sonoma compound to battle against Akasha. Pandora remains quiet and withdrawn throughout the whole ordeal, staring out the windows and saying little, rousing herself only once to say that Akasha is trying to justify deplorable "reasons" for a holocaust.

Like many vampires, Pandora is a morose, despairing immortal who initially wanted immortality but soon regretted her choice and turns into a dark, indifferent cynic. Lestat thinks that Pandora was troubled in some deep, fundamental way even before she became a vampire, because she's the only vampire who doesn't receive visions of Maharet and Mekare in her dreams. During the confrontation in Sonoma, when Akasha directly asks Pandora to join with her or die, Pandora merely responds in a quiet, indifferent voice that she can't do what Akasha is asking of her, and stoically accepts the idea of being killed.

Even after Akasha herself is destroyed and the thirteen vampires regroup in Armand's Night Island in Florida, Pandora still acts withdrawn from her fellow vampire kin, watching music videos all day long and completely ignoring Marius, who dotes on her lovingly. There is no sense of recovery or security in her as there is with the other vampires, and she departs from Night Island alone, still just as morose as ever.

The film is divided into three parts inspired by the ''Divine Comedy'' of Dante. "Realm 1: Hell" is a relatively brief, non-narrative montage composed of appropriated documentary and narrative fictional footage depicting war, carnage, and violence.

The second segment, "Realm 2: Purgatory", makes up the bulk of the film. Godard, playing himself, is waiting at the airport to depart to a European arts conference in Sarajevo. There he meets Ramos Garcia, a nationalized French Israeli, who is going to the conference as an interpreter. Ramos is looking forward to seeing his niece at the conference, Olga Brodsky, a French-speaking Jew of Russian descent. Another young woman at the conference, Judith Lerner, a journalist from Tel Aviv, visits the French ambassador and entreats him to have an on-the-record conversation about Jewish-Palestinian relations ("not a just conversation; just a conversation"). Later she interviews the poet Mahmoud Darwish, who says that the Palestinian struggle defines Israel. In between these encounters, Judith surveys the city, and visits the Mostar bridge, where she reads Emmanuel Levinas (''Entre Nous'').

Meanwhile, Olga attends Godard's lecture, ostensibly about the relationship between image and text. In addition to touching on a variety of other topics, Godard explains his opposition to the common cinematic trope of "shot/reverse shot," the cutting back and forth between two characters in a conversation or an exchange. Godard explains that presenting two characters in such a way, framed identically, regressively effaces their differences, and can be used as a tool of propaganda. Later Olga meets with her uncle Ramos, and discusses with him the philosophical problem of suicide.

After the conference, Godard is back home, watering his garden. He gets a call from Ramos Garcia, who tells Godard about a young woman who ran into a theater and declared she had a bomb in her bag. She asked for one person to die with her for Israeli-Palestinian peace; everyone left the theater. The police came and shot her. When they opened her bag, all they found were books. Garcia tells Godard that he is sure it was Olga.

In "Realm 3: Heaven," a brief postlude, Olga wanders contemplatively through an idyllic lakeside setting that appears to be guarded by American marines.

A part on the soundtrack of the movie is made by Meredith Monk, an American composer.

A marble Greek ''bas relief'' explodes to reveal Black men dancing the samba to drums in a ''favela''. Eurydice (Marpessa Dawn) arrives in Rio de Janeiro, and takes a trolley driven by Orfeu (Breno Mello). New to the city, she rides to the end of the line, where Orfeu introduces her to the station guard, Hermes (Alexandro Constantino), who gives her directions to the home of her cousin Serafina (Léa Garcia).

Although engaged to Mira (Lourdes de Oliveira), Orfeu is not very enthusiastic about the upcoming marriage. The couple go to get a marriage license. When the clerk at the courthouse hears Orfeu's name, he jokingly asks if Mira is Eurydice, annoying her. Afterward, Mira insists on getting an engagement ring. Though Orfeu has just been paid, he would rather use his money to get his guitar out of the pawn shop for the carnival. Mira finally offers to loan Orfeu the money to buy her ring.

When Orfeu goes home, he is pleased to find Eurydice staying next door with Serafina. Eurydice has run away to Rio to hide from a strange man who she believes wants to kill her. The man – Death dressed in a stylized skeleton costume – finds her, but Orfeu gallantly chases him away. Orfeu and Eurydice fall in love, yet are constantly on the run from both Mira and Death. When Serafina's sailor boyfriend Chico (Waldemar De Souza) shows up, Orfeu offers to let Eurydice sleep in his home, while he takes the hammock outside. Eurydice invites him to her bed.

Orfeu, Mira, and Serafina are the principal members of a samba school, one of many parading during Carnival. Serafina decides to have Eurydice dress in her costume so that she can spend more time with her sailor. A veil conceals Eurydice's face; only Orfeu is told of the deception. During the parade, Orfeu dances with Eurydice rather than Mira.

Eventually, Mira spots Serafina among the spectators and rips off Eurydice's veil. Eurydice is forced once again to run for her life first from Mira, then from Death. Trapped in Orfeu's own trolley station, she hangs from a power line to get away from Death and is killed accidentally by Orfeu when he turns the power on and electrocutes her. Death tells Orfeu "Now she's mine," before knocking him out.

Distraught, Orfeu looks for Eurydice at the Office of Missing Persons, although Hermes has told him she is dead. The building is deserted at night, with only a janitor sweeping up. He tells Orfeu that the place holds only papers and that no people can be found there. Taking pity on Orfeu, the janitor takes him down a large darkened spiral staircase – a reference to the mythical Orpheus' descent into the underworld – to a Macumba ritual, a regional form of the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomblé.

At the gate, there is a dog named Cerberus, after the three-headed dog of Hades in Greek mythology. During the ritual, the janitor tells Orfeu to call to his beloved by singing. The spirit of Eurydice inhabits the body of an old woman and speaks to him. Orfeu wants to gaze upon her, but Eurydice begs him not to lest he lose her forever. When he turns and looks anyway, he sees the old woman, and Eurydice's spirit departs, as in the Greek myth.

Orfeu wanders in mourning. He retrieves Eurydice's body from the city morgue and carries her in his arms across town and up the hill toward his home, where his shack is burning. A vengeful Mira, running amok, flings a stone that hits him in the head and knocks him over a cliff to his death with Eurydice still in his arms.

Two children, Benedito and Zeca – who have followed Orfeu throughout the film – believe Orfeu's tale that his guitar playing causes the sun to rise every morning. After Orfeu's death, Benedito insists that Zeca pick up the guitar and play so that the sun will rise. Zeca plays, and the sun comes up. A little girl appears, gives Zeca a single flower, and the three children dance.

The show takes place in a quaint, old-fashioned neighborhood where hand puppets live and act like people. The main character is a curious four-year-old named Oobi who likes to explore the outside world. He lives in a single-story house with his little sister, Uma, and his grandfather, Grampu. Uma is very overdramatic and, depending on the day, she can be either excited or completely stressed out. Grampu is laid-back and encourages the kids to learn new things, but he is also rather unlucky and always has to clean up the kids' messes. Oobi has a best friend, Kako, who lives across the street and likes to visit.

Most episodes are about Oobi learning about something for the first time, like a new place, a new game, or a holiday. According to Noggin, the show was meant to mirror the stage of early childhood "when everything in [the] world is new and incredible" and "when each revelation helps build a sense of mastery and self-confidence." The characters use basic vocabulary, and they use simple sentences based on the speech structure of a child just starting to talk. For example, "Uma, school, first day" is said in place of "It's my first day of school." The show was meant to help develop social skills, early literacy, and logical thinking.

In season one, the episodes are simple shorts about Oobi making new discoveries. In season two, the episodes were extended and followed a format made up of three parts. The first part is a story like the earlier shorts. The second part is a set of interviews between the puppets and human families, centering on the main story's topic. The last part is an interactive game (usually rhyming, guessing, or memory). When ''Oobi'' started a third season in 2004, the game segments were dropped and replaced with longer stories. Interviews were still an important part of the show, but instead of being shown after the story, these segments were shortened and played as transitions between scenes.

First Season

Sora Naegino is a young Japanese girl with great acrobatic talent who travels to Cape Mery (a mix of Los Angeles and San Francisco), California in hopes of auditioning for the Kaleido Stage, a world-famous circus which has mesmerized her since childhood. However, she runs into difficulties as soon as she arrives. She gets lost on her way to the Stage, is leered at by a mysterious stranger, and has her bag stolen by a thief. Employing her acrobatic skills, Sora chases down the criminal.

A kind police officer gives her a ride to Kaleido Stage only to discover she had missed her audition, an event upon which her idol, Layla Hamilton, advises her to return to Japan. However, after a performer is injured, the owner of the circus, Kalos offers her a chance to perform. Sora, humiliated by her failed efforts decides to return to Japan. Kalos, having seen her earlier chase, reconsiders and informs Layla that Sora's performance will eventually be the main act at the circus, earning her reluctant respect.

The other members of Kaleido Stage, particularly Layla, are dissatisfied with Sora. With the help of stage manager Ken Robbins, the performers Mia Guillem and Anna Heart, young Marion Begnini, as well as a lot of hard work and determination, Sora begins to earn the respect of those around her. Her personality eventually earns the respect of the performers as well as several increasingly major roles in the productions. She also befriends Layla over time.

However, Layla's father pressures her to leave and insiders plan to take over and shut down Kaleido Stage. Sora relies on her winning personality, hard work and close friendships to keep the stage afloat.

New Wings

In the second season, Sora returns to the stage after attempting the Legendary Great Maneuver with Layla. This leaves Layla's shoulder injured and unable to perform. The absence of her co-star, having retired to further a career in Broadway productions, prompts a slight decline of the Kaleido Stage. Because of this Kalos brings in a new recruit, Leon Oswald (a lofty trapeze artist). It seems at first that Leon is reminded very much of someone due to Sora's presence, and at times this causes him to either be really rude or really sweet to Sora.

Despite this, however, Leon disapproves Sora as worthy of being on the stage with him. This leads to the most talented of the new Kaleido Stage recruits, the Chinese-American May Wong (who is also an ex-figure skater) to question and challenge Sora's position as Leon's partner and star of the show. After a very ugly incident, however, May begins to question herself and her goals.

Sora's first goal in the season is to attend the circus festival in Paris, but the competitors will do anything to attain the title of 'festival winner': betray, deceive, or even attack their opposers. The atmosphere and attitude this creates does not bode kindly to Sora's carefree, optimistic, ultra-idealistic outlook. It, in turn, causes her to withdraw from the competition in the middle of her act (or the Angel Act) with the redeemed Yuri Killian, leaving her friends, family and Layla confused and otherwise disappointed with Sora.

Most of the season concentrates on Sora finding, questioning, and pursuing new dreams. After many trials and rejections, Sora eventually aims to become a "True Kaleido Star" while creating a fun, conflict-free stage, the complete opposite of what she experiences at the festival in Paris.

The Amazing Princess Without a Smile

The first OVA looks at a new production in the works that follows the Kaleido Stage's success with ''Swan Lake'', about a female princess that is unable to smile and a jester of hers that is hoping to bring her smile back. The idea for the production came to Mia from a painting that featured a character that looked very similar to Rosetta and a jester in the background that looked surprisingly like Fool (the stage spirit that can be seen only by very talented students).

Rosetta is assigned the lead role as the princess. Unfortunately, despite the likeliness of her being able to comprehend the role fully as ''she'' herself never carried a smile when she first came to Kaleido Stage, she has difficulties acting out the part and leaves the rehearsals mid-way frustrated. Will Rosetta be able to play the role right? What ties does Fool have with the painting of the princess and the jester?

Legend of Phoenix ~Layla Hamilton Monogatari~

Layla and Sora are about to launch different interpretations of the same show "Legend of Phoenix" on opposite coasts. Layla is preparing at the Broadway but is dissatisfied with her performance. She feels that she cannot perform the role properly if she is not truly reborn as a new Layla Hamilton. In a desperate attempt to be reborn, Layla runs off on a solo bicycle trip to upstate New York in hopes of rediscovering herself.

Meanwhile, Sora is also attempting to find her own Phoenix, but when she learns of Layla's disappearance she, Ken and May run off to New York to find the former Kaleido Star who at that instant was on a bike journey with no set destination.

Layla meets various strangers and reminisces memories of her childhood along the way as she thinks of how she can change herself. But while she tries to find a new self, she spends her entire time alone thinking about Sora until she comes to realize just how much Sora has been a muse to her. Once she realizes that, she is reborn. The nature of this revelation, though speculated in different ways by various fans, is up to interpretation. During the end credits, we are shown two different Phoenixes.

Good da yo! Goood!!

''Good da yo! Goood!!'' is a 22 minutes OVA that is rendered by computer graphics. All of the characters are presented super deformed. The OVA is split up into three parts. The first part is a lesson in Chinese cooking presented by May Wong; the dish that is presented is mapo doufu. The second part is a lesson on how to use the diabolo by Rosetta Passel. The final part is a lesson in seal lingo presented by Marion and Jonathan to Sora.

''The Cocoanuts'' is set in the Hotel de Cocoanut, a resort hotel, during the Florida land boom of the 1920s. Mr. Hammer runs the hotel, assisted by Jamison. Harpo and Chico arrive with empty luggage, which they apparently plan to fill by robbing and conning the guests. Wealthy Mrs. Potter is one of the few paying customers. Her daughter Polly is in love with struggling young architect Bob Adams. He works to support himself as a clerk at the hotel, but has grand plans for the development of the entire area as Cocoanut Manor. Mrs. Potter wants her daughter to marry Harvey Yates, whom she believes to be of higher social standing than Adams. Yates is actually a confidence man out to steal the dowager's expensive diamond necklace with the help of his partner in crime, Penelope.

Setting

''Legend of Mana'' is set in the fictional world of Fa'Diel. The Mana Tree, the giver of mana and life for the world, burned down almost entirely nine centuries prior to the events of the game. A war erupted between faeries, human, and others seeking the scarce power of mana that was left. When the war concluded, the burnt Mana Tree slept as it regrew and the many lands of the world were stored in ancient artifacts. A hero, controlled by the player, is self-charged with restoring the world, and mana, to its former self. The Lands of Fa'Diel are populated with a large number of different creatures, including humans, faeries, demons, the jewel-hearted Jumi race, plant-like Sproutlings and Flowerlings, miner bears called Dudbears, and shadowy beings of the Underworld known as Shadoles. Fa'Diel is also the home of a host of anthropomorphic animals and objects, as well as monsters from other ''Mana'' titles such as Rabites, Chobin Hoods, and Goblins. The player controls the protagonist of the game, who is either a male or female silent protagonist. The character is unnamed and no information is given about their past; their history and personality is meant to be determined by the player.

Characters and story branches

Rather than a single, overarching plot, the story of ''Legend of Mana'' is composed of a multitude of quests split into three main quest arcs, numerous other quests, and a final quest arc. Each main quest arc contains optional side-quests in addition to the main quests. Whenever the player completes the required portions of one of the quest arcs they are allowed to begin the final arc and finish the game, even if the other arcs have not yet been started or completed. The three main quest arcs prior to the final arc are: the Jumi arc, the Larc and Sierra arc, and the Matilda and Irwin arc.

The first main arc is the story of the Jumi, a dying race of people who have external jewel hearts which are considered valuable. The Jumi have long been a persecuted people, and many magic characters in this game refer to them as "dirt" as a pejorative on their jewel cores. This branch focuses on Elazul and Pearl, who are among the few survivors of the Jumi. Elazul is a Jumi Knight, and the mission of his life is to protect the Jumi Guardian Pearl at any cost, even in the face of the jewel hunter, Sandra. The player assists them in helping the Jumi.

The second arc is the story of Larc and Sierra—brother and sister dragoons who serve different dragon masters and fight on opposite sides of the same war for power. Larc serves the dragon Drakonis, who wants to kill the other three dragons so that he can rule the world. Larc blackmails the game's protagonist to help him in this quest. Sierra, a dragoon for Vadise the White Dragon, wants to stop Drakonis without hurting her brother Larc. In the end, Drakonis is defeated again and banished to the underworld, and Larc is killed.

The third arc is the complicated love story of four childhood friends: Matilda, Irwin, Daena and Escad. Irwin is a half-demon who is angry that society prevents him from a relationship with the holy leader Matilda, and seeks to destroy the world in retribution. Escad seeks to destroy Irwin, and Daena tries to act as a mediator between all parties while keeping Matilda away from Irwin. The conflict eventually escalates into a war between humans and faeries. Depending on the choices of the player, either Daena or Escad will die, while the player helps bring an end to the conflict.

Regardless of which path(s) the hero decides to take, they begin the game's final story, titled "Legend of Mana". This arc concerns the re-appearance of the Mana Tree. The player journeys to the Mana Tree and scales it, but upon reaching the top they find that the Mana Goddess has become corrupted and the tree is rotten. The player is forced to fight the Mana Goddess, and after winning a Sproutling plants itself in the Mana Tree's rotten trunk. Calling upon the other Sproutlings to join them, they restore the Mana Tree.

Luftwaffe fighter pilot Franz von Werra is shot down during the Battle of Britain and captured. At the POW reception centre, he wagers with his RAF interrogator that he will escape within six months.

Initially, von Werra is sent to No 1 prisoner-of-war camp Grizedale Hall in the Furness area of Lancashire. During a group walk, he drops over a wall he is lying on and escapes into the hills. It takes an intense manhunt by troops and police to recapture him.

Subsequently, von Werra is sent to a more secure POW camp (based on the Hayes Conference Centre) near Swanwick, Derbyshire. During a German air raid, he and four others escape through a tunnel. The others pair up, but von Werra goes it alone. Reaching Codnor Park railway station, he impersonates a Dutch pilot and claims his Wellington bomber had crashed while on a secret mission. The station master telephones the police to take him to the nearest airfield, RAF Hucknall. Von Werra tricks the RAF duty officer into sending a car. The police arrive first, but with much bravado he delays them until the RAF car arrives. He gets to the airfield and spots a Hawker Hurricane. When his story starts to fray, von Werra creeps away and tries to steal an experimental Hawker Hurricane, getting as far as sitting in it and starting the engine before being caught.

Along with many other POWs, von Werra is then sent by ship to Canada, arriving at Halifax, Nova Scotia. On the train ride across the country, while the guards are distracted, he escapes near Smiths Falls, Ontario, by jumping from a window. Making his way south hitching rides, von Werra finds the St. Lawrence River not as frozen solid as he has been led to believe, He then steals a rowboat and pushes it over the ice until he reaches the free-flowing section. He reaches the still-neutral United States almost frozen to death.

Back in the United Kingdom the RAF interrogator receives a postcard from von Werra, featuring a photograph of the Statue of Liberty, informing him that he has lost his bet.

The epilogue states:

Despite the efforts of the Canadian Government to obtain his return, and of the United States Authorities to hold him, Von Werra crossed the border into Mexico. Travelling by way of Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and Spain, he reached Berlin on 18 April 1941. On October 25th of the same year, while on patrol, his plane was seen to dive into the sea. No trace of Von Werra was found.

In the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, during May 1973, the Cambodian national army wages a civil war with the communist Khmer Rouge group, a result of the Vietnam War spilling over Cambodia's borders during Richard Nixon's presidency. Dith Pran, a Cambodian journalist and interpreter for ''The New York Times'', awaits the arrival of reporter Sydney Schanberg at the city's airport, but leaves suddenly. Schanberg takes a cab to his hotel where he meets up with photographer Al Rockoff. Pran meets Schanberg later and tells him that an incident has occurred in the town of Neak Leung; allegedly, an American B-52 has bombed the town. Schanberg and Pran go to Neak Leung where they find that the town has been bombed. Schanberg and Pran are arrested when they try to photograph the execution of two Khmer Rouge operatives. They are eventually released and Schanberg is furious when the international press corps arrives with the U.S. Army.

Two years later, in 1975, the Phnom Penh embassies are evacuated in anticipation of the arrival of the Khmer Rouge. Schanberg secures evacuation for Pran, his wife and their four children. However, Pran insists on staying behind to help Schanberg. The Khmer Rouge move into the capital, ostensibly in peace. During a parade through the city, Schanberg meets Rockoff. They are later met by a detachment of the Khmer Rouge, who immediately arrest them. The group is taken through the city to a back alley where prisoners are being held and executed. Pran, unharmed because he is a Cambodian civilian, negotiates to spare the lives of his friends. They do not leave Phnom Penh, but instead retreat to the French embassy. The Khmer Rouge orders all Cambodian citizens in the embassy to be handed over. Fearing an attack from the Khmer Rouge, the ambassador complies. Knowing that Pran will be imprisoned or killed, Rockoff and fellow photographer Jon Swain of ''The Sunday Times'' try to forge a British passport for Pran, but the deception fails when the image of Pran on the passport photo fades to nothing, as they lack adequate photographic fixer. Pran is turned over to the Khmer Rouge and is forced to live under their totalitarian regime.

Several months after returning to New York City, Schanberg is in the midst of a personal campaign to locate Pran; he writes letters to several charities and is in close contact with Pran's family in San Francisco. In Cambodia, Pran has become a forced labourer under the Khmer Rouge's "Year Zero" policy, a return to the agrarian ways of the past. Pran is also forced to attend propagandist classes where many undergo re-education. As intellectuals are made to disappear, Pran feigns simple-mindedness. Eventually, he tries to escape, but is recaptured. Before he is found by members of the Khmer Rouge, he stumbles upon one of the infamous Killing Fields of the Pol Pot regime, where as many as 2 million Cambodian citizens were murdered (for specific figure, please read article Cambodian genocide). In 1976, Schanberg is awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Cambodian conflict. During the ceremony, he tells the audience that American policy toward Cambodia was not considerate toward Cambodians themselves, and that half the recognition for the award belongs to Pran. Schanberg is confronted in the restroom by Rockoff, who harshly accuses him of not doing enough to locate Pran and for using his friend to win the award. Although Schanberg initially defends his efforts, he ultimately admits that Pran stayed because of what Schanberg wanted.

Pran is assigned to the leader of a different prison compound, a man named Phat, and charged mostly with tending to Phat's young son. Pran continues to behave as an uneducated peasant, despite several attempts by Phat to catch him in his deception. Phat begins to trust Pran and asks him to take ward of his son in the event that he is killed. During the Khmer Rouge's border war with Vietnam, Pran discovers that Phat's son has American money and a map leading to safety. When Phat tries to stop the younger Khmer Rouge officers from killing several of his comrades, he is ignominiously shot. In the confusion, Pran escapes with four other prisoners and they begin a long trek through the jungle with Phat's son. The group later splits and three of them head in a different direction; Pran continues following the map with the fourth man. However, Pran's companion activates a hidden land mine while holding the boy. As Pran pleads with the man to give him the boy, the mine goes off, killing the pair. Pran continues through the jungle alone until he eventually finds a Red Cross refugee camp near the border of Thailand. In the United States, Schanberg receives news that Pran is alive and safe, and he travels to the Red Cross camp and is reunited with Pran. He asks Pran to forgive him; Pran answers, with a smile, "Nothing to forgive, Sydney", as the two embrace.

Little Joe is a well meaning but weak man whose attempts at redemption are cut short when he is killed over gambling debts by big shot Domino Johnson. On his deathbed, Little Joe is restored to life by angelic powers and given six months to redeem his soul and become worthy of entering Heaven—otherwise he will be condemned to Hell. Secretly guided by "The General" (the Lord's Angel), Little Joe gives up his shiftless ways and becomes a hardworking, generous, and loving husband to his wife Petunia, whom he had previously neglected. Unfortunately, demon Lucifer Jr. (the son of Satan himself), is determined to drag Little Joe to Hell. Lucifer arranges for Joe to become wealthy by winning a lottery, reintroduces Joe to beautiful gold-digger Georgia Brown, and manipulates marital discord between Joe and Petunia. Little Joe abandons his wife for Georgia, and the two embark on a life of hedonistic pleasure.

As Little Joe and Georgia celebrate at a nightclub one evening, Petunia joins them, determined to win Joe back. Little Joe fights with Domino for Petunia, and Petunia, anguished at this turn of events, prays to God to destroy the nightclub. A cyclone appears and leaves the nightclub in ruins, as Joe and Petunia lie dead in the ruins after being shot by Domino. Just as it appears that Joe's soul is lost forever, the angelic General informs him that Georgia Brown was so affected by the tragedy that she has donated all the money that Joe had lavished upon her to the church. On this technicality, Little Joe is allowed to go to Heaven with Petunia.

As the two climb the Celestial Stairs, Joe suddenly wakes in his own bed. Joe had not been killed in the initial gambling-debt fracas, only wounded. All his supposed dealings with angels and demons were only a fever dream. Now genuinely reformed, Little Joe begins a new, happy life with his loving Petunia.

Using and subverting elements of various genres, including thriller, situation comedy and grade-B horror film, the piece is written with cynical humor, but is serious in tone. A group of friends, both old & new, live their lives in a Canadian Metropolis. David & Candy are two roommates looking for love, perhaps in the wrong places. Bernie is David's best friend. Kane is David's coworker. Jeri is a lesbian that Candy meets. Rick is a bartender, with a secret, who takes an interest in Candy. Benita is a psychic whose talents feature heavily in the last moments of the film. As the action happens around the group of friends, a serial killer is making victims of various women in the city.

American archaeologist Martin Padway is visiting the Pantheon in Rome in 1938. A thunderstorm arrives, lightning cracks, and he finds himself transported to Rome in the year 535 AD. At this time, the Italian Peninsula is under the rule of the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths. The novel depicts their rule as a relatively benevolent despotism, allowing freedom of religion and maintaining the urban Roman society they had conquered, though slavery is common and torture is the normal method of interrogation by what passes for law-enforcement agencies.

In the real timeline, the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire temporarily expanded westwards, embarking on what came to be known as the Gothic War (535–554). They overthrew the Ostrogoths and the Vandals in North Africa, but this war devastated the Italian urbanized society that required the support of intensive agriculture and by the end of the conflict Italy was severely depopulated: its population is estimated to have decreased from 7 million to 2.5 million people. The great cities of Roman times were abandoned and the Byzantines never fully consolidated their rule over Italy, which faced further invasions by the Lombards; Italy fell into a long period of decline. Some historians consider this the true beginning of the Dark Ages in Italy. The city of Rome was besieged three times and many of its inhabitants did not survive to the end of the war. Thus Padway, finding himself in this Rome and knowing what the near future holds in store, must act not only to preserve the future of civilization, but to improve his personal chances of survival.

Padway initially wonders whether he is dreaming or delusional, but he quickly accepts his fate and sets out to survive. As an archaeologist, he has enough understanding of various devices used before his time, but after the sixth century, to be able to reproduce them by the means available. He can speak both modern Italian and Classical Latin, and quickly learns enough Vulgar Latin (which was spoken at that time) to communicate effectively. Most crucially, Padway has read with great attention the book of the historian Procopius, who described the very war at whose outset Padway finds himself. Though not in possession of a physical copy of Procopius when hurled back in time, Padway has memorized his book in great detail, down to the precise details of the time and route of the various armies' moves and their tactical and strategic considerations, as well as the convoluted and violent power struggles of the various contenders for the Gothic Kingship. Thus Padway, in effect, knows the direct, immediate future of the country where he lives and often of individual people whom he meets (at least, until he acts in a way that changes that future). In addition to this specialized and uniquely useful knowledge of the current war, Padway has taken a general interest in military history, which he is eventually able to put to very practical purposes.

Padway's first idea, after he concludes that it is no illusion and that he is truly in the past, is to make a copper still and sell brandy for a living. He persuades a banker, Thomasus the Syrian, to lend him seed money to start his endeavor. He teaches his clerks Arabic numerals and double entry bookkeeping. Padway eventually develops a printing press, issues newspapers, and builds a crude semaphore telegraph system utilizing small telescopes. However, he does not attempt to reproduce the mechanical clock, and temporarily halts his experiments to reinvent gunpowder and cannons. He becomes increasingly involved in the politics of the state as Italy is invaded by the Imperials and also threatened from the south and east.

Padway rescues the recently deposed Thiudahad and becomes his quaestor. He uses the king's support to gather forces to defeat the formidable Imperial general Belisarius. Padway manages to surprise Belisarius with tactics never used in the ancient world. Then, deceiving the Dalmatian army, Padway reinstates the senile Thiudahad and imprisons King Wittigis as a hostage. In 537, when Wittigis is killed and Thiudahad descends into madness, Padway has a protégé of his, Urias, married off to Mathaswentha, then crowned king of the Ostrogoths. He also tricks Justinian I into releasing Belisarius from his oath of allegiance and quickly enlists the military genius to command an army against the Franks.

The landing of an Imperial army at Vibo, led by Bloody John, and a rebellion, led by the son of Thiudahad, threaten the Ostrogothic kingdom and its army is destroyed at Crathis Valley. Padway assembles a new force, spreads an "emancipation proclamation" to the Italian serfs and recalls Belisarius after his defeat of the Franks. The armies clash near Calatia and then Benevento. Despite the lack of discipline of his Gothic forces, some simple tactical tricks and the nick-of-time arrival of Belisarius secure Padway's victory.

At the end of the novel Padway has stabilized the Italo-Gothic kingdom, introduced a constitution, arranged the end of serfdom, and liberated the Burgunds, and is having boats built for an Atlantic expedition (as Padway wants tobacco). The king of the Visigoths has appointed Urias as his heir, reunifying the Goths. Ultimately, due to Padway's actions, Europe will not experience what Age of Enlightenment thinkers retroactively called the Dark Ages: "darkness will not fall".

Unico is a young, innocent male unicorn who possesses a special ability to bring happiness to anyone near him. The story begins in ancient Greece with a young mortal girl named Psyche. She is the first friend to Unico, and is apparently so beautiful that the goddess Venus becomes jealous. The goddess attributes Psyche's beauty to her happiness and decides to remove the magical creature. A series of trickery takes place and leads to the kidnapping of poor Unico. Once the goddess Venus has Unico, she calls upon the second star, Zephyrus, later known as the "West Wind" in the film adaptation. The West Wind is commanded to take Unico through space and time, to the Hill of Oblivion with no memories of Psyche.

In the 1981 film adaptation, ''The Fantastic Adventures of Unico'', the gods believe that only they should have the ability to control others' emotions and decide that Unico must die. However, the gods feel that punishment may be too harsh and instead choose to send the West Wind to capture Unico and take him to the Hill of Oblivion.

The West Wind takes pity on Unico and declines to follow the gods' commands. The gods are furious when they learn of the West Wind's defiance, and send the Night Wind to capture Unico. This is when the real adventures begin.

To protect Unico from the gods, the West Wind must continually transport the little unicorn. Whenever Unico makes friends and brings happiness to others, the gods are alerted to Unico's whereabouts, so the West Wind appears to spirit him away, yet he is unable to say goodbye to his new friends. Once again his memory is taken and a new adventure begins again.

At Igloolik ("place of houses") in the Eastern Arctic wilderness at the dawn of the first millennium, Qulitalik bids goodbye to his sister Panikpak, wife of Kumaglak, promising to come if she calls for help in her heart. She gives him her husband's rabbit's foot for spiritual power.

In a flashback, the community is visited by the strange shaman Tungajuaq. During a spiritual duel with the visitor, the camp leader Kumaglak dies. The visitor removes the walrus-tooth necklace from Kumaglak's body, and puts the necklace around the neck of Kumaglak's son Sauri, who thus becomes camp leader. Much later, the shaman's magic has poisoned the community with hatred. Tulimaq, the laughing stock of the camp, is having bad luck hunting and can barely feed his family, but Panikpak brings meat for Tulimaq's children, Atanarjuat and Amaqjuaq, hoping that one day they will make things right.

Atanarjuat grows up to be a fast runner, Amaqjuaq is strong, and they are rivals with Sauri and his son Oki. During a game of 'wolf tag' Atanarjuat pursues the beautiful Atuat, provoking jealousy in Oki. Oki's sister Puja also shows interest in Atanarjuat. In a punching duel with Oki, Atanarjuat wins the right to marry Atuat. Later, Atanarjuat leaves his wife Atuat at a camp to hunt caribou, but he stops at Sauri's camp, where he is persuaded to take Puja on the hunt. Camping by a lake, Atanarjuat and Puja sing, flirt, and have sex.

Later, Atanarjuat is in an unhappy marriage with Atuat and Puja. He catches his brother having sex with Puja and strikes Puja. She runs to Sauri's camp and tells them that Atanarjuat tried to kill her, so Sauri and Oki decide to kill Atanarjuat; Panikpak, however, remains skeptical of Puja's accusations. Puja returns to Atanarjuat's camp apologizing, and is accepted back. One day the women decide to go find eggs, but first Puja places a boot outside the tent where the men are resting. Oki and two henchmen sneak up and plunge their spears through the tent wall. Amaqjuaq is killed, but Oki is startled by a vision of his grandfather Kumaglak, and Atanarjuat, naked and barefoot, bursts out of the tent and runs for miles across the ice, pursued by Oki's gang. Atanarjuat escapes by following a vision of Qulitalik and jumping a wide open crack in the ice. Eventually he collapses in exhaustion with bloody feet. He is rescued by Qulitalik and his family, who conceal him when Oki arrives in pursuit.

Back at Igloolik, Sauri refuses to let Oki have Atuat, but Oki rapes Atuat, who is comforted by Panikpak. During a hunt, Oki stabs Sauri and claims it was an accident, and takes over as camp leader. In her heart, Panikpak summons her brother Qulitalik to come, as they agreed years ago. Qulitalik feels her call and makes magic with the rabbit foot: at Igloolik Oki catches a rabbit with his bare hands, eats it, and falls under a spell that makes him forget his grievances. Qulitalik and the family make the long sled journey back to Igloolik with Atanarjuat, who has healed. Atanarjuat is joyfully reunited with Atuat but rejects Puja. The spell-happy Oki just wants to have a feast. But Atanarjuat prepares an ice floor in an igloo and invites Oki and his brothers inside. He slips antlers on his feet to grip the ice and subdues them, declaring that the killing is over. It is now time to confront the evil that has plagued the community for so long. With everyone gathered together, Qulitalik calls forth the spirits, and the evil shaman Tungajuaq appears, grunting like a polar bear. Qulitalik confronts the shaman with the powerful spirit of the walrus and magic soil, Panikpak shakes the walrus tooth necklace, and the shaman is destroyed and vanishes. Panikpak tells the group it is time for forgiveness: Oki, Puja and their friends are forgiven for their evil deeds, but are exiled from Igloolik forever.

In this story, Matt Murdock and Elektra Natchios are both students in Columbia University, where they meet and start dating. Murdock is blind and studying law. During the course of the story, Elektra and her roommates are harassed by a rich boy, Trey Langstrom, until Elektra, a martial artist fights back. In response, Langstrom and a group of thugs destroys Elektra's father's business. Murdock, also a martial artist and possessor of enhanced senses (which compensate for his blindness), forces the thugs to confess, but couldn't stop Elektra from seriously wounding Langstrom. While Matt reveals his identity to Elektra, she forces him to choose between their love and his sense of duty. He chooses the second and they apparently part ways.

The player character has just inherited a hotel, The Last Resort, belonging to their deceased uncle, Thurston Last. The hotel is inhabited by nine muses. As the player character enters the hotel, it becomes clear that it is no longer a hospitable place. Its wacky inhabitants live in fear of a pair of squatters known as the Toxic Twins. Only the aeroplane-man Salty is brave enough to wander around and talk to the player character. The player's goal is to reconstruct "The Muse Machine" and banish the Toxic Twins.

The book begins in the city of Turku and follows Mikael along an adventure throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. The book depicts many actual historical events with a rich style, although Mikael's involvement in the events is fictitious. The historical events and millieu featured in the book include:

Denmark's conquest of Sweden, the Stockholm Bloodbath and eventually the downfall of king Christian II of Denmark. * Student life at the Sorbonne in Paris at this time. Protestant reformation and related political unrest in Germany (the Poor Barons' Rebellion and the peasants' war), Luther and Müntzer themselves appearing as side characters. Spanish monarch sending conquistadors to New World, Mikael almost made to join Pizarro's expedition. * A witch-hunt conducted by the Inquisition in a small German town, claiming the life of an innocent girl. Wars in 16th-century Europe and expansion of the Ottoman Empire. *Plundering of Rome (Sack of Rome) during reign of Pope Clement VII

The story is continued in The Wanderer, where the protagonist explores the Ottoman Empire.

Matthew Van Helsing, a descendant of 19th-century Dutch physician Abraham Van Helsing, owns an antique shop built over the site of Carfax Abbey in London in 2000. One night, with Van Helsing upstairs, his secretary, Solina, allows a group of thieves, led by her boyfriend, Marcus, into the shop. The thieves infiltrate the shop's underground high-security vault and find a sealed silver coffin protected by a deadly defense system. Based on the level of security surrounding the coffin, Solina and Marcus decide that the coffin must contain valuable content, so they escape with it and flee to New Orleans. When Van Helsing discovers that the coffin has been stolen, he boards a plane to America, telling his apprentice, Simon Sheppard, to remain in London. Simon, ignoring these instructions, follows his mentor.

Aboard their plane, one of the thieves manages to open the coffin, revealing the dormant body of Count Dracula. Dracula awakens and attacks and turns the thieves and Solina, causing the plane to crash in the Louisiana swamps. Dracula survives the crash, turns news reporter Valerie Sharpe who is reporting the crash, kills her cameraman, and travels to New Orleans, where college students Mary Heller and Lucy Westerman are living. Estranged from her family, Mary has recently been experiencing nightmares of a strange, terrifying man- Dracula.

Van Helsing and Simon arrive in New Orleans and destroy the newly turned vampires left in Dracula's wake, except Solina and Marcus. Afterwards, Van Helsing reveals to Simon that he is in fact the original Abraham Van Helsing, who defeated Dracula in 1897. Because he was unable to destroy Dracula permanently, Van Helsing hid the body and prolonged his own life by regularly injecting Dracula's blood (filtered via leeches) until, one day, he could discover a way to kill Dracula permanently. Simon is intrigued as to why Dracula hates all things Christian and wonders why he is also particularly vulnerable to silver. Van Helsing also tells Simon about his daughter, Mary, whose mother took her from England after the truth about his identity came to light. Since Mary was conceived after Van Helsing began his injections, she shares blood and a telepathic link with Dracula, who senses her existence and is in New Orleans to find her.

Van Helsing and Simon try to reach Mary before Dracula does but fail to do so before Dracula turns Lucy into a vampire. Dracula and his three new brides, Solina, Lucy, and Valerie, corner Van Helsing and kill him. Simon and Mary escape, only for Dracula to capture them shortly after that. On a rooftop, Dracula transforms Mary and reveals his true identity: the Apostle Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus for a bribe of thirty pieces of silver. After Jesus was crucified, Judas tried to hang himself in shame, but the rope snapped, and God cursed him to live forever as a vampire. Mary finally understands why the legendary vampire is vulnerable to silver and hates Christian iconography. Solina and Lucy appear with Simon, who has killed Valerie earlier with a stake, and Dracula tells Mary to bite him. However, Mary fakes the bite, and together she and Simon kill the two remaining brides. An enraged Dracula tries to throw Mary from the rooftop, but Mary wraps some cable from a large crucifix around Dracula's neck, and they both fall from the roof. Dracula hangs as he attempted to do two thousand years before, but the rope does not break this time, and he burns in the first sunlight.

Mary survives the fall and is cured of her vampirism by Dracula saying, "I release you" before he dies. In the end, she doubts whether the sun has truly killed Dracula. Embracing her heritage as a Van Helsing, she returns Dracula's ashes to the vault beneath Carfax Abbey and vows to watch over them should he ever rise again.

A woman gives birth to a boy in an orphanage owned by the Widow Corney, dying as she does so. She leaves him a locket, containing a portrait of her mother, which Corney takes. Her assistant names the child Oliver Twist from his rotating alphabetical list of names. Six years later, Oliver, now working in the orphanage, requests to see his locket. Corney says he can have it when he’s twelve. Six years later, Oliver is forced on the night before his 12th birthday into drawing straws at dinner for who has to ask Corney for more food. After drawing the shortest one, she throws him out of the workhouse for daring to ask her such a question without his locket. He returns to steal it at night and heads out to London. Oliver has a meet with Dodger

Once there, Oliver, hungry, is stopped from stealing an apple by a young man named Jack Dawkins, also known as the Artful Dodger, who explains that he’s a professional thief and proud of his work. He offers to take Oliver in with the band of boys he lives with and his boss, Fagin, an old and sly man who teaches the group how to steal. Upon arriving, Fagin takes Oliver's locket as Oliver is dressed and welcomed. Oliver also meets Bill Sikes-a thief and murderer to whom Fagin owes an enormous sum-and his kind girlfriend, Nancy. Dodger begins to teach Oliver about the art of thievery that same day. At night, Oliver catches Fagin admiring his treasure which he keeps hidden in a box and is threatened with death if he steals from it. However, when asked, Fagin admits that it is where he is keeping Oliver's locket. Three months later, Oliver is sent out to pick his first pocket as Dodger orchestrates the plan. While stealing a watch, Oliver is caught red-handed. Thinking quickly, Dodger grabs the watch instead and runs off with Oliver, but he escapes while Oliver is mistakenly identified as the thief. Dodger quietly hurries to court to try to rescue him, where Mr. Brownlow (the victim)'s niece, Rose, has testified for Oliver that he was not the boy, and Oliver refused to name the culprit. Rose offers Oliver to be a guest at their mansion in Grosvenor Square. There, he sees a portrait on the wall of the same lady his locket contains. When told it is Mr. Brownlow's late wife, and that they had one daughter who always carried a gold locket with that portrait, he and Rose realize that it means he may be Mr. Brownlow's grandson and her cousin.

Meanwhile, Dodger manages to locate Oliver. Deciding that he knows too much about the group to be left on his own, Sikes convinces Fagin to let him kidnap Oliver with Dodger and Nancy's help. However, Nancy does so unwillingly, and Dodger refuses to put Oliver in the bag intended to be used for his abduction. Back at the hideout, Oliver confirms that he let nothing slip about the group, but tells Nancy that he loved the Brownlows. Nancy tries to return Oliver to the mansion, but is seen in the street by Sikes and forced to go back. Suspicious, Sikes hires Dodger to follow her the next day. Sikes later weasels out of Oliver that he knows where Fagin's treasure is kept. At night, he forces him to go to the Brownlow's to steal at gunpoint. Inside, Oliver purposely drops the bag of silver he's holding to wake Rose. Sikes and Oliver escape, but Mr. Brownlow sees Oliver, confirming his suspicion that he is a thief. Dodger encourages Oliver to escape if he gets the chance.

The next day, Nancy goes to the Brownlows unknowingly followed by Dodger. She tells them of Oliver's abduction and agrees to return him at London Bridge at midnight. Dodger, threatened by Sikes, admits of overhearing the agreement. Still wanting Oliver to be free, he takes him to the bridge himself to throw Sikes off the trail. Unfortunately, Nancy, unaware of Dodger's plan, is murdered there by a furious Sikes who accuses her of double-crossing him. Meanwhile, Oliver has gone back to the hideout to retrieve his locket. Sikes walks in the door and sees the treasure. As he attempts to flee with it himself, Fagin arrives, followed by Dodger who stops Sikes, furious at Nancy's murder. Nancy's dead body has been found, and the police follow Sikes's dog to the hideout. Sikes locks the door, takes the box and Oliver (as a hostage) up to the roof, and leaves Dodger and Fagin below. On the roof, Oliver grabs the box from Sikes, who turns on him and slips. His neck gets caught in a coil of rope, and he is hung by the noose on the spot as the police watch. Dodger is arrested by them for his pilfering, and while Fagin negotiates with Oliver for the locket, ultimately returns it. The locket finally proves that Oliver is in fact Mr. Brownlow’s grandson by the matching of the portraits. After bidding a fond farewell to the arrested Dodger promising to see him again someday, Oliver is last seen sleeping happily in his new home.

The Pyramid is a political allegory set in ancient Egypt. It is the tale of the conception and construction of the Cheops pyramid but also of absolute political power.

Shiwan Khan, heir to Genghis Khan, is in the United States to steal military technology in order to build his own army with the intent of conquering the world. He hypnotises Paul Brent of Globe Aircraft through the electronic lights of a nearby billboard. He orders him to create a larger production run of aircraft than originally intended, with the excess being sent on to Shiwan Khan. By similar methods, he also acquired engines and weapons.

The Shadow enters the story when Shiwan Khan attempts to dispose of Paul Brent. Working with Brent, The Shadow eventually tracks his opponent to his base of operations and apparently kills him when his escape plane crashes into the river.

Set in Peru during the 1950s, it is the story of an 18-year-old student who falls for a 32-year-old divorcee. The novel is based on the author's real life experience.

Mario, an aspiring writer, works at a radio station, Panamericana, writing news bulletins alongside the disaster-obsessed Pascual. Mario has an aunt (married to a biological uncle) whose sister, Julia, has just been divorced and has come to live with some of his family members. He frequently sees her and though at first they do not get on, they start to go to movies together and gradually become romantically involved.

Mario's bosses also run Panamericana's sister station, which broadcasts ''novelas'' (short-run soap operas). They are having problems buying the serials in bulk from Cuba, with batches of scripts being ruined and quality being poor, and so they hire an eccentric Bolivian scriptwriter named Pedro Camacho to write the serials.

The novel chronicles the scriptwriter's rise and fall in tandem with the protagonist's affair and includes episodes of Camacho's serials, which become increasingly unhinged as the novel progresses.

After his Dutch trading ship ''Erasmus'' and its surviving crew is blown ashore by a violent storm at Anjiro on the east coast of Japan, Pilot-Major John Blackthorne, the ship's English navigator, is taken prisoner by samurai warriors. When he is later temporarily released, he must relinquish his English identity, associated with other Europeans in Japan, namely Portuguese traders and Jesuit priests, and adapt to the alien Japanese culture in order to survive. Being an Englishman, Blackthorne is at both religious and political odds with his enemy, the Portuguese, and the Catholic Church's Jesuit order. The Catholic foothold in Japan puts Blackthorne, a Protestant and therefore a heretic, at a political disadvantage. This same situation, however, also brings him under the scrutiny of the influential Lord Toranaga, who mistrusts this foreign religion now spreading throughout Japan. He is competing with other samurai warlords of similar high-born rank, among them Catholic converts, for the very powerful position of shōgun, the military governor of Japan.

Through an interpreter, Blackthorne later reveals certain surprising details about the Portuguese traders and their Jesuit overlords which forces Toranaga to trust him; they forge a tenuous alliance, much to the chagrin of the Jesuits. To help the Englishman learn their language and to assimilate to Japanese culture, Toranaga assigns a teacher and interpreter to him, the beautiful Lady Mariko, a Catholic convert and one of Toranaga's most trusted retainers. Blackthorne soon becomes infatuated with her, but Mariko is already married, and their budding romance is ultimately doomed by future circumstances. Blackthorn also ends up saving the life of a Portuguese counterpart, Pilot Vasco Rodrigues, who becomes his friend despite being on opposite sides.

Blackthorne saves Toranaga's life by audaciously helping him escape from Osaka Castle and the clutches of his longtime enemy, Lord Ishido. To reward the Englishman, and to forever bind him, Toranaga makes Blackthorne ''hatamoto'', a personal retainer, and gifts him with a European flintlock pistol. Later, Blackthorne again saves Toranaga's life during an earthquake by pulling him from a fissure that opened and swallowed the warlord, nearly killing him. Having proved his worth and loyalty to the warlord, during a night ceremony held before a host of his assembled vassals and samurai, Lord Toranaga makes Blackthorne a samurai; he awards him the two swords, 20 kimono, 200 of his own samurai, and an income-producing fief, the fishing village Anjiro where Blackthorne was first blown ashore with his ship and crew. Blackthorne's repaired ship ''Erasmus'', under guard by Toranaga's samurai and anchored near Kyoto, is lost to a fire, which quickly spread when the ships' night lamps are knocked over by a storm tidal surge. During a later attack on Osaka Castle by the secretive Amida Tong (ninja assassins), secretly paid for by Lord Ishido, Mariko is killed while saving Blackthorne's life, who is temporarily blinded by the black powder explosion that kills his lover. Lord Yabu is forced to commit seppuku for his involvement with the ninja attack, into which he was coerced by Ishido. Right before he dies, Yabu gives Blackthorne his katana, and Yabu's nephew, Omi, becomes the daimyō of Izu.

Blackthorne supervises the construction of a new ship, ''The Lady'', using funds Mariko left to him in her will for this very purpose. Blackthorne is observed at a distance by Lord Toranaga; in a voice-over he reveals his inner thoughts, observing that Blackthorne still has much to teach him. It was Toranaga who ordered the ''Erasmus'' destroyed by fire to keep Blackthorne safe from his Portuguese enemies, who feared his hostile actions with the ship (and, if need be, the warlord will also destroy the new ship Blackthorne is currently building). He also discloses Mariko's secret but vital role in the grand deception of his enemies, and, as a result, how she was destined to die, helping to assure his coming final victory. The warlord knows that Blackthorne's karma brought him to Japan and that the Englishman, now his trusted retainer and samurai, is destined never to leave. Toranaga also knows it is his karma to become shōgun.

In an voice-over epilogue, it is revealed that Toranaga and his army are triumphant at the Battle of Sekigahara; he captures and then disgraces his old rival, Lord Ishido, burying him up to his neck to die. The narrator concludes that when the Emperor of Japan offered Toranaga the position of shōgun, he "reluctantly agreed".

''I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'' follows Marguerite's (called "My" or "Maya" by her brother) life from the age of three to seventeen and the struggles she faces – particularly with racism and self affirmation – in the Southern United States. Abandoned by their parents, Maya and her older brother Bailey are sent to live with their paternal grandmother (Momma) and disabled uncle (Uncle Willie) in Stamps, Arkansas. Maya and Bailey are haunted by their parents' abandonment throughout the book – they travel alone, are labeled like baggage, and later accepted in the community. , is the setting for a large portion of the book.

Many of the problems Maya encounters in her childhood stem from the overt racism of her white neighbors and the subliminal awareness of race relations weaved in society. Although Momma is relatively wealthy because she owns the general store at the heart of Stamps' Black community, the white children of their town hassle Maya's family relentlessly. One of these "powhitetrash" girls, for example, reveals her pubic hair to Momma in a humiliating incident which leaves Maya, watching from a distance, indignant and furious. Early in the book, Momma hides Uncle Willie in a vegetable bin to protect him from Ku Klux Klan raiders, where he moans and groans under the potatoes throughout the night. Maya has to endure the insult of her name being changed to Mary by a racist employer. A white speaker at her eighth grade graduation ceremony disparages the Black audience by suggesting that they have limited job opportunities. A white dentist refuses to treat Maya's rotting tooth, even when Momma reminds him that she had loaned him money during the Depression. The Black community of Stamps enjoys a moment of racial victory when they listen to the radio broadcast of Joe Louis's championship fight, but generally, they feel the heavy weight of racist oppression.

A turning point in the book occurs when Maya and Bailey's father unexpectedly appears in Stamps. He takes the two children with him when he departs, but leaves them with their mother in St. Louis, Missouri. Eight-year-old Maya is sexually abused and raped by her mother's boyfriend, Mr. Freeman. He is found guilty during the trial, but escapes jail time and is murdered, presumably by Maya's uncles. Maya feels guilty and withdraws from everyone but her brother. Even after returning to Stamps, Maya remains reclusive and nearly mute until she meets Mrs. Bertha Flowers, "the aristocrat of Black Stamps," who encourages her through books and communication to regain her voice and soul. This coaxes Maya out of her shell.

Later, Momma decides to send her grandchildren to their mother in San Francisco, California, to protect them from the dangers of racism in Stamps. Maya attends George Washington High School and studies dance and drama on a scholarship at the California Labor School. Before graduating, she becomes the first Black female cable car conductor in San Francisco. While still in high school, Maya visits her father in southern California one summer and has some experiences pivotal to her development. She drives a car for the first time when she must transport her intoxicated father home from an excursion to Mexico. She experiences homelessness for a short time after a fight with her father's girlfriend.

During Maya's final year of high school, she worries that she might be a lesbian (which she confuses due to her sexual inexperience with the belief that lesbians are also hermaphrodites). She ultimately initiates sexual intercourse with a teenage boy. She becomes pregnant, which on the advice of her brother, she hides from her family until her eighth month of pregnancy in order to graduate from high school. Maya gives birth at the end of the book.

Colonel Joseph Ryan, a USAAF P-38 pilot, is shot down over Italy and taken to a POW camp. Ryan absurdly insists that the camp commander, Major Basilio Battaglia salute him as a superior officer, which the sympathetic second-in-command, Captain Vittorio Oriani, translates. Most prisoners are British from the 9th Fusiliers. Their previous commanding officer recently died due to being placed in the "sweat box" as punishment for hitting Battaglia. Major Eric Fincham is the senior British officer until Ryan, being senior, arrives and assumes command.

Italy is close to surrender, and Ryan declines to support Fincham's escape attempts. When Fincham captures American prisoners stealing medical supplies from a British secret hoard, Ryan orders Fincham to distribute the medicines to the seriously ill prisoners.

He infuriates Fincham by revealing an escape plan to Battaglia in exchange for prisoners being treated better. When Battaglia refuses to issue new clothing, Ryan orders prisoners to strip and burn their filthy uniforms. Battaglia throws Ryan into the sweat box as punishment.

When Italy surrenders, the guards flee; the British promptly try Battaglia as a war criminal. He portrays himself as a broken man who has repudiated fascism. Rather than executing him, Ryan sentences him to the sweat box.

A German fighter plane overflies the camp, forcing Ryan and the men to flee into the Italian countryside with Oriani's help. They hide out in some ruins while Ryan attempts to contact Allied forces. The next morning, the Germans recapture the prisoners and load them onto a northbound train. Fincham assumes Oriani betrayed them until he is found severely battered aboard the train's prisoner carriage. The Germans then shoot all ill prisoners. Fincham blames Ryan for letting Battaglia live, and derogatively calls him "''von'' Ryan". The train travels to Rome, where a German officer, Major von Klemment, takes command.

Ryan pries up the railcar floorboards. That night, when the train stops, Ryan, Fincham, and Lt. Orde sneak out and kill several guards. They free a boxcar load of POWs, who help them kill the remaining guards whose uniforms they then don as a disguise. Ryan and Fincham capture von Klemment and his mistress, Gabriella. As the train moves out, another train follows. Von Klemment reveals that the second train is carrying German troops and is on the same schedule. Further, von Klemment is to receive orders at each railway station. A German-speaking Allied chaplain, Captain Costanzo, impersonates the German commander to ensure their passage through the next station in Florence.

Through documents received in Florence, they learn that both trains are headed towards Innsbruck, Austria. Through trickery and a quickly forged typewritten order, the prisoners switch their train onto a different line at Bologna. The troop train continues on toward Innsbruck. Von Klemment and Gabriella are kept bound and gagged, but they escape at a stop, killing Orde. Both are shot by Ryan and the train proceeds.

Later, German commanders learn of the train's diversion and begin queries. That night the train stops at what is thought to be a clearing and the men get off to head for safety; aircraft, which Ryan identifies as Lancaster bombers appear overhead and begin bombing the area. Ryan orders everyone back on the train. The train restarts and passes an Axis oil storage yard being bombed by the Allied aircraft. Several cars catch fire, and the train must stop to aid wounded and release burning boxcars.

With three dead and some sixty wounded, Oriani and the train's Italian engineer tell Ryan and Finchum that the only option is to reroute the train at Milan to neutral Switzerland. Waffen-SS troops, led by Colonel Gortz, have discovered the earlier ruse and await the train, but are slowed when Oriani and the men disable a signal box at Milan, knocking out the track diagrams inside the control center. The prisoners reroute the train northwest through manual switching and drive straight through without stopping.

When the train diagrams are finally reactivated, Gortz realizes he has been outmaneuvered and leads troops in pursuit. As the Alps appear, the prisoner train is attacked by German aircraft, rocket fire collapsing boulders onto a section of track. The POWs replace the damaged rail and then pry loose more rail behind them in hopes of overturning the approaching German train, but the Germans see the sabotage and stop in time. As the ''SS'' race up from behind. Ryan, Fincham, and others stay behind to hold off the Germans, but many are killed in the battle, including Bostick. The prisoner train moves out as the men run for the moving rear platform with the Germans in pursuit. Most make it onto the train, but Ryan is killed by gunfire still running for the train as it approaches Switzerland.

The novel is set on a sugar plantation located halfway between the city of Santa María de Puerto Príncipe (modern-day Camagüey) and the village of Cubitas. While most of the novel takes places of the plantation, some of it takes place in Puerto Príncipe, some in the Cubitas Mountains, and some in the northern port of Guanaja. Enrique Otway, an English tradesman, seeks to marry Carlota because he thinks that this arrangement will bring him money. As the story develops, Sab learns of Enrique's dishonorable conduct and tries to secretly aid Carlota.

Setting

The game takes place in a world in which parapsychology exists, and secret research projects on the subject were conducted during the Soviet era after World War II and uncovered proof that powerful psychic abilities could be transferred genetically into other subjects. The events of the story take place across locations within the United States and Siberia, as well as a training base in Germany, between two different points in the same year within the late 1990s. The game's main antagonist is a fictional US agency called the National Security Executive (NSE), which seeks for its own ends the parapsychology research that was conducted.

Story

American parapsychology researcher John Vattic awakens inside an isolation cell of a medical facility in Virginia, with no recollection of his past or identity. Discovering he possess powerful psychic abilities of unknown origin, Vattic uses them to break free and explore the facility. While riding down in an elevator, he experiences a flashback that allows him to recover his identity.

The flashback makes him recall that he was recruited by the Pentagon six months ago to assist in an important mission being conducted by WinterICE - a special taskforce of U.S. Marines led by Colonel Joshua Starke, and his psychic adviser Jayne Wilde. The taskforce had been given orders to travel to Siberia to recover Victor Grienko, a renowned Russian scientist seeking political asylum with the United States, who had conducted extensive research into parapsychology. Back in the present, Vattic gains access to the facility's patient records, only to learn Wilde died during the mission in an ambush by Russian troops.

Experiencing another flashback in which he prevents Wilde's death, Vattic is shocked to find her records changed in the present. Learning that her survival only led to her being incarcerated at a mental asylum in Vermont upon returning to the United States, Vattic works to escape the facility in order to rescue Wilde. Traveling to the asylum, Vattic finds her in a cell, having suffered trauma that had left her mentally frail, Vattic works to break her out, bringing her to the sewers beneath the asylum.

Upon returning to her senses, Wilde recognizes Vattic and tells him how he and Starke were ambushed the first night on the mission, resulting in Starke's death. Recalling the incident in a flashback, Vattic and Starke investigated the area after countering the ambush, whereupon Vattic encountered a psychic projection from one of Grienko's child subjects in a disused rail tunnel. The child helps to awakens his dormant psychic abilities in the past, allowing him to save Starke. After the fight, both men discover the troops they fought were actually US Special Forces.

Returning to the present, Wilde reveals to Vattic that Starke survived, but was court-martialed after the mission and went into hiding. Escaping pursuit by NSE agents, Vattic has Wilde bring him to Starke's hideout in Queens, New York. Vattic meets with Starke, who reveals the rest of the WinterICE team did not survive the mission. Vattic recalls in another flashback how WinterICE tracked down Grienko to a village called Dubrensk, and how he prevented the deaths of the team, only to discover the villagers slaughtered. A lone survivor, mortally wounded, pleaded with the group for their help to save a group of children, but insisted on Vattic handling the task alone, as only he could approach the children safely. In the present, Starke reveals the massacre in Dubrensk was conducted by Silas Hanson, the director of the NSE, who sought to steal Grienko's work, dubbed the "Zener Project", from a hidden research facility under the village, and used the surviving WinterICE team as scapegoats. Learning that the NSE covered up the incident and theft of the Zener Project, Vattic heads to the agency's headquarters in New Jersey for answers.

Vattic soon discovers that Hanson used the Zener Project to create a global army of psychic super soldiers, and has another flashback where he ventures into the research facility under Dubrensk. Rescuing some of the children, Vattic is led by them to Grienko, who mistakes him for one of Hanson's men and reveals he contacted Hanson in hopes of taking his research and children to the United States and continue his work with new funding. In the present, Vattic confronts Hanson, but finds himself powerless to stop him, as he holds Wilde hostage. Deciding to use his flashbacks to change the past and prevent Hanson from using the Zener Project, Vattic returns to the past and, knowing the truth, convinces Grienko that Hanson seeks only to take tissue samples before killing everyone on the project, moments before Grienko is murdered by Hanson's men. Proceeding to the lower levels, Vattic begins experiencing hallucinations of the present and the locations he visited.

Eventually, through hearing Wilde's voice, Vattic realizes that his perception of time is wrong, and that the present is actually a possible future being shown to him by his final psychic ability, precognition. Unbeknownst to him, the ability had been active the whole time and what he thought was the "past" was really the present. Wilde explains that Grienko's children had foreseen what Hanson planned to do and knew that only Vattic could stop him.

Now fully aware of the truth, Vattic confronts Hanson in Grienko's lab but finds him sealed behind a window impervious to bullets and psychic powers. Slowly overwhelmed by Hanson's men, Vattic releases the project's other children to help him, who then promptly use their powerful telekinesis abilities to reach Hanson and kill him. Returning to the surface, Vattic reunites with Starke and Wilde, who help him onto a helicopter leaving the area, while WinterICE and American troops arrive to secure the facility.

After graduating from medical school, Dr. James Kildare (Lew Ayres) returns to his small home town, where his proud parents Stephen (Samuel S. Hinds) and Martha Kildare (Emma Dunn) and childhood friend Alice Raymond (Lynne Carver) expect him to join his father in his medical practice. However, he is more ambitious, though he is unsure what he wants to do. He has accepted a job as an intern at Blair General, a large New York City hospital.

He and the other new interns are being greeted by the hospital's administrator, Dr. Carew (Walter Kingsford), when the famous wheelchair-bound diagnostician Dr. Leonard Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore) bursts in and sizes up the newcomers. When Gillespie demands that the interns diagnose him on the spot, only Kildare takes up his challenge, prognosticating that he has a melanoma on his hand and a year to live. When Kildare hedges before Gillespie's gruff, Gillespie dismisses interest in him.

Later, Kildare is assigned ambulance duty with attendant Joe Wayman (Nat Pendleton). His first call is a man who has passed out in a bar. Discarding the obvious conclusion of drunkenness, Kildare suspects the man has a serious medical problem. When Kildare has to respond to a second, more urgent call, he orders the skeptical Wayman to give the man oxygen all the way to the hospital. Wayman disregards his order and the man dies as a result. Kildare later takes the blame rather than have Wayman lose his job.

Kildare then attends to Barbara Chanler (Jo Ann Sayers), a young suicide victim. Despite finding no signs of life, Kildare refuses to give up and finally succeeds in reviving her. Barbara Chanler turns out to be the sole child and heiress of extremely wealthy Robert Chanler (Pierre Watkin). Highly respected psychiatrist Dr. Lane-Porteus (Monty Woolley) diagnoses schizophrenia. Kildare, based on a short conversation he had with Barbara, is sure that she was driven to attempt suicide for more ordinary reasons. However, when Kildare refuses to divulge what she told him in strictest confidence, Carew suspends him.

From a chance comment by Barbara's concerned fiance, Jack Hamilton (Truman Bradley), Kildare is able to piece the clues together. After quarreling with Hamilton, Barbara had gone to a nightclub alone, where she had started drinking heavily. A man took her upstairs to a private room, and that's all she remembered of the night. She was found by a policeman wandering the streets and taken home. Fear of what might have happened during her blackout made her try to take her own life.

When Kildare goes to Gillespie for advice, the older man broadly hints that he should ignore hospital rules. Kildare sneaks in to see Barbara to reassure her that nothing disgraceful happened. The man at the nightclub had recognized her and, fearful of what her rich father would do if he took advantage of her condition, he had simply dumped her on the street. Kildare then coaches Barbara on how to act so that Lane-Porteus does not have her confined to a mental institution.

Unaware of these developments, the hospital board fires Kildare for insubordination. He tells his parents and Alice, who have come to see him, that he is ready to become his father's partner. However, Gillespie has other ideas. All along, he had been testing Kildare. Now that he is sure of Kildare's integrity, competence and most of all courage of convictions, Gillespie hires the young man as his assistant, to pass along as much as possible before he dies of what Kildare had correctly diagnosed.

''Flame of Recca'' follows the story of a teenage boy named Recca Hanabishi, who is interested in ninja and claims to be one himself. He often gets into fights because he made it publicly known that the person who manages to defeat him will earn his services as a loyal ninja. Despite this, he eventually pledges his loyalty and services as a ninja to Yanagi Sakoshita, a girl with the innate ability to heal any wound/injury, because of her kindness and compassion. Recca soon discovers that he possesses the innate ability to control/manipulate flames, and eventually learns that he is actually the son of the sixth generation leader of the Hokage, a ninja clan that was wiped out in 1576, roughly 400 years before the series' present day.

The Hokage ninjas wielded mystical objects called , which are referred to as "psychic devices" or "mystical weapons" in the English versions of the series. Madōgu grant their users special abilities, such as allowing their users to manipulate certain elements (as in the case of the ''Fūjin'', which allows its wielder to manipulate the element of wind) and enhancing their user's strength/skills (as in the case of the ''Dosei no Wa'', which increases its user's physical strength and the ''Idaten'', which increases its user's running speed). Oda Nobunaga had invaded the Hokage in 1576 for the purpose of acquiring these weapons, and the series' main antagonist, Kōran Mori, is searching for a madōgu that will grant him eternal life. Recca and his friends become entangled in Mori's quest for eternal life as he attempts to kidnap Yanagi, believing that her healing powers will help him achieve immortality. This leads them to join the ''Ura Butō Satsujin'', a tournament wherein the warriors that wield madōgu gather to battle each other. After winning the tournament, Recca and his teammates discover that Mori was on his way to acquire the , a madōgu said to grant its user eternal life, and once again attempt to stop him.

Though it begins by following the same basic storyline, the ''Flame of Recca'' anime series ends right after the Ura Butō Satsujin ends, while the manga goes on to include the subplot involving the Tendō Jigoku. The anime also omits certain characters from the story, and several of the characters' physical appearances are slightly different from the manga.

Pilot Frank Towns and navigator Lew Moran are ferrying a mixed bag of passengers from the Jebel oil town in the Libyan desert, among them oil workers, two British soldiers, and a German who was visiting his brother. An unexpected sandstorm forces the aircraft down, damaging it, killing two of the men, and severely injuring the German. In the book, the action takes place in the Libyan part of the Sahara.

The survivors wait for rescue but the storm has blown them far off course, far away from a search area. After several days, Captain Harris marches toward a distant oasis together with another passenger. His aide, Sergeant Watson feigned a sprained ankle to stay behind. A third man follows them. Days later, Harris barely manages to return to the crash site. The others are lost.

As the water begins to run out, Stringer, a precise, arrogant English aeronautical engineer, proposes a radical solution: rebuild a new aircraft from the wreckage of the old twin-boom aircraft, using the undamaged boom and adding skids to take off. The men set to work.

At one point, a nearby party of nomadic tribesmen is spotted. Captain Harris decides to seek their help. This time, Sergeant Watson outright refuses to accompany him. Instead another survivor, a Texan named Loomis, volunteers. The next day, Towns finds their looted bodies, throats cut, and the nomads gone.

Later, Towns learns that Stringer designs ''model'' aircraft, not full-scale planes. Fearing the effect on morale, he and Moran keep their discovery secret, believing Stringer's plan is doomed. However, the aircraft is reborn, like the mythical Phoenix rising from its own ashes. It flies the remaining passengers, strapped to the outside of the fuselage, to an oasis and civilization.

Austrian research geneticist Dr. Alex Hesse and his OB/GYN colleague Dr. Larry Arbogast invent a fertility drug, "Expectane", designed to reduce the chances of a miscarriage. With the drug unapproved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the colleagues are unable to test the drug and cannot continue their research. Head of the review board Noah Banes informs Larry that while the FDA denied human experimentation, the team has received a donation from geneticist Dr. Diana Reddin from the ovum cryogenics department.

Alex plans to start over in Europe, but Larry suggests they can still perform the experiment, with Canadian firm Lyndon Pharmaceutical offering to fund them provided they find a volunteer. Alex questions the likelihood of a pregnant woman taking an unapproved drug, but Larry suggests omitting the volunteer's gender and convinces him to impregnate himself with an ovum codenamed "Junior".

That night, Alex dreams his potential offspring has his own face. As weeks go by, he complains to Larry of sore nipples, and chats incessantly about walks, massages, and naps. Contemplating fatherhood after watching television commercials, Alex breaks down sobbing. When the time comes for Alex to end the experiment and release the results to Lyndon Pharmaceutical, he continues taking the drug and decides to carry the pregnancy to term; initially annoyed, Larry agrees to keep it hidden. Alex develops a relationship with Diana, and reveals his pregnancy to Angela, Larry's ex-wife.

Diana is stunned and angry when it is revealed that the "Junior" ovum is hers, and Banes attempts to take credit for the experiment. Disguised as a woman, Alex hides in a retreat for expectant mothers, blaming his masculine appearance on anabolic steroid use. Diana visits, telling him it does not matter who is pregnant because he is the father and she is the mother. Larry reveals the experiment's data to Lyndon Pharmaceutical, who agree to partner with them.

Alex experiences abdominal pain from the start of labor, calling for Larry and Diana. As Diana rushes to the resort, Larry tells a fellow doctor to prepare for an emergency caesarean section. A hospital staffer overhears and alerts Banes, who summons the media and the University Dean, hoping to take credit for the world's first pregnant man. Warned by a colleague, Larry creates a decoy for Alex to allow a private c-section. When Larry arrives, the news media only see the pregnant Angela, discrediting Banes, who is fired by the Dean. Diana and Alex enter the hospital by the fire escape, and he has an emergency c-section. Sent to keep Angela company in the waiting room, Diana finds her in labor and becomes her delivery coach. Alex gives birth to a healthy baby girl, and Larry announces the arrival to Diana, who is assisting Angela with contractions. Diana leaves Angela with Larry and rushes to see the baby, whom she and Alex name Junior. Larry delivers Angela's child and they reconcile to raise the boy, Jake, as their own.

One year later, the families all go on vacation together, and celebrate the birthdays of Junior and Jake. Diana is pregnant with their second child, and Angela mentions wanting another baby but not wishing to endure pregnancy again; they all try to convince a reluctant Larry to carry the child.

In the prologue, set in 1945, a montage displays the honeymoon of Captain Walker and his wife, Nora ("Prologue - 1945"). After his leave ends, Walker goes off to fight in World War II as a bomber pilot, but is shot down during a mission. "Captain Walker" is listed as missing in action and is presumed dead, although—unknown to his family—the badly burnt Walker is still alive. Back in England, Nora goes into labour and gives birth to a son, Tommy, on V-E Day ("Captain Walker/It's a Boy"). Five years later, Nora has begun a new relationship with Frank, a holiday worker she and Tommy meet on their holiday. Tommy looks up to his "Uncle" Frank who expresses his desires to run his own holiday camp someday ("Bernie's Holiday Camp"). In the 1950s, Nora and Frank dream of their future ("1951 / What About the Boy?"), but, late that evening, the returning Captain Walker surprises the couple in bed, leading to a struggle where Frank kills the Captain (in the original album synopsis, the Captain kills Frank). The heat of the moment panics Tommy into a psychedelia-like "Amazing Journey", where he outwardly appears "deaf, dumb, and blind". Later, at a Christmas party, Nora is distressed that Tommy "doesn't know what day it is" ("Christmas").

Over 16 years, Nora and Frank make several fruitless attempts to bring the now older Tommy out of his state ("Eyesight to the Blind" / "The Acid Queen") and place him with some questionable babysitters ("Cousin Kevin" / "Fiddle About"). They become increasingly lethargic at the lack of effect and leave Tommy standing at the mirror one night, allowing him to wander off. He follows a vision of himself to a junkyard pinball machine. Tommy is recognized by Frank and the media as a pinball prodigy ("Extra, Extra, Extra"), which is made even more impressive with his sensory-impaired state. During a championship game, Tommy faces the "Pinball Wizard" with The Who as the backing band. Nora watches her son's televised victory and celebrates his (and her) success and luxury, but finds she can't fully enjoy it because of Tommy's extreme condition ("Champagne").

Frank finds a specialist for Tommy ("There's a Doctor") who concludes that Tommy's state is triggered emotionally rather than physically and explains the only hope is to continue having Tommy face his reflection ("Go to the Mirror!"). An increasingly frustrated Nora promptly throws Tommy through the mirror ("Smash the Mirror!") causing him to snap to full consciousness and run away momentarily ("I'm Free"). Tommy reveals that his experiences have transformed him and decides that he wants to transform the world ("Mother and Son" / "Miracle Cure").

Tommy goes on lecture tours that resemble glam-rock gospel shows and spreads a message of enlightenment by hang glider, gaining friends and followers everywhere he goes ("Sally Simpson" / "Sensation"). Tommy and a more enlightened and elated Nora and Frank welcome converts to their house, which quickly becomes too crowded to accommodate everyone. Tommy opens an extension for his religious campus ("Welcome" / "Tommy's Holiday Camp").

The converts, confused about Tommy's odd practices and his family's commercial exploitation of the compound, wrathfully demand Tommy teach them something useful. Tommy does so, deliberately deafening, muting, and blinding everyone, only to inadvertently invoke a riot. The followers kill Nora and Frank and destroy the camp in a fire ("We're Not Gonna Take It"). Tommy finds his parents in the debris and mourns before escaping into the mountains from the beginning of the film. He ascends the same peak where his parents celebrated their honeymoon, celebrating the rising sun ("Listening to You").

''Vincent'' is the poetry story of a 7-year-old boy, Vincent Malloy, who pretends to be like the actor Vincent Price (who narrates the film). He does experiments on his dog Abercrombie in order to create a horrible ravenous zombie dog. He is obsessed with the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and it is his detachment from reality when reading them that leads to his delusions that he is in fact a tortured artist and mad scientist, deprived of the woman he loves, mirroring certain parts of Poe's "The Raven". The film ends with Vincent feeling terrified of being tortured by the going-ons of his make-believe world, quoting "The Raven" as he falls to the floor in frailty, believing himself to be dead.

Glendon Wasey is a sleazy, down-on-his-luck con man struggling to sell glow-in-the-dark neckties in Shanghai. When he encounters the lovely Gloria Tatlock, a missionary nurse who wants to obtain a supply of opium to ease the suffering of her patients, he decides to help her get hold of a stolen supply of the valuable drug. The only problem is that a lot of other people want to secure the stolen opium as well—gangsters, smugglers, thugs and a host of upstanding air force recruits.

In May 1940, English journalist Charles Foreman strives to inform his readers of the dangers posed by the build-up of German forces in western Europe. He rails against the Ministry of Information for suppressing the truth. Most of his compatriots, including his neighbour John Holden, have been lulled into complacency by the lack of significant fighting during the "Phoney War". Holden owns a garage, with a profitable side-line manufacturing belt buckles for the British Army.

The Battle of France begins and the Germans advance rapidly, trapping Allied forces along the Channel coast. Corporal "Tubby" Binns of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and his depleted section return from a mission to find their company has withdrawn. Their officer dies in a German air attack, leaving Binns in charge of four demoralised men (Privates Barlow, Bellman, Fraser and Russell). They abandon a main road blocked by refugees and reach a Royal Artillery battery camp, where Fraser is killed in a battle. Binns is ordered to head north with his three remaining men and two other stragglers, Privates Harper and Miles, and try to find their regiment.

Meanwhile, the situation has become so desperate that BEF commander General Gort orders all units to head for Dunkirk in the hope of evacuation. In England, Vice-Admiral Ramsay directs Operation Dynamo; the Admiralty begins commandeering all suitable civilian boats, including those owned by Foreman and Holden, to sail to Dunkirk to help evacuate troops from the beaches. The boats are marshalled at Sheerness. Foreman insists on taking his motorboat ''Vanity'' to Dunkirk himself, despite warnings of the danger. Other boat owners follow his example. After initial reluctance, Holden decides to take his boat ''Heron'' too, assisted by his teenage apprentice Frankie.

Binns' section spend the night in an abandoned farmhouse, but at dawn, a German unit arrives and Bellman is badly wounded. Russell suffers concussion from a grenade blast. The section manages to escape, but are forced to leave Bellman behind. Later, after dodging a German camp under cover of darkness, they encounter a RAF lorry, manned by Airmen Froome and Pannet, and go with them to Dunkirk, where Allied troops are being subjected to regular aerial bombing and strafing. In the harbour, Binns and his men get aboard a ship, only for it to be blown up and sunk before it can depart. Their prospects of rescue are made worse by the Admiralty's decision to withdraw its destroyers. Ramsay argues against withdrawal of the destroyers and, crucially, the Admiralty agrees to send them back.

Foreman and Holden ferry many soldiers to the larger vessels, but Foreman's boat is destroyed by a bomber. He is picked up by Holden. With harbour operations no longer possible, thousands of Allied troops are gathering on the beaches. In the next ''Luftwaffe'' attack, Barlow is wounded and taken to an aid station. ''Heron'' s engine breaks down just off the beach. While Russell, a motor mechanic, attempts to effect repairs, Foreman and Frankie go ashore to survey the scene. Next day, during church parade, Foreman is mortally wounded in an air attack. Russell completes his repairs and Binns' group board the boat. Joined by six more soldiers, Holden sets sail for home. At sea, the engine breaks down again and the boat drifts towards the German-held port of Calais. Fortunately, they are spotted by one of the returning destroyers and taken safely back to England.

Gabriela (Angela Jones) is a Colombian immigrant living in Miami who has been fascinated with violent death ever since she saw a falling corpse pass by her mother's bakery window as a child. With many television shows and films feeding her obsession, she believes that after someone is decapitated, they still talk for a short while afterwards.

Having quit her job at a bakery, she begins work for a cleaning service, after she sees a television commercial advertising it. The service is headed by a man named Lodger (Barry Corbin), who specializes in mopping up what is left behind at crime scenes. She goes to the office, inquires about a job and later is (to the dismay of Elena (Mel Gorham), her cleaning partner) offered the opportunity to clean up after an execution by her favorite at-large serial killer, The Blue Blood Killer (William Baldwin) (so named because his victims are all wealthy women).

The two women go to the scene of the crime and begin cleaning up the mess. Elena diligently works away, trying to get out of there as soon as possible; meanwhile Gabriela discovers what she believes to be the name of the serial killer - "Paul Guell" - beneath a pool of blood, but covers it up so that Elena won't see and think she is weird. Due to the amount of blood, they have to leave and come back the next day.

While out on a date with ex-colleague Eduardo (Bruce Ramsay), Gabriela reveals to him what she found out and after failing to clearly explain, convinces him to go to the house that same night, before it all gets cleaned up.

Unbeknown to Gabriela and Eduardo, the killer is still in the building after accidentally locking himself in the wine cellar while trying to escape. Gabriela opens the door to the cellar, when Eduardo freaks out and decides he wants to go, leaving the door ajar and the killer an escape route. Eduardo leaves when Gabriela refuses to go with him, and she picks up a knife, dancing around the house where the blood is, acting out what she thinks happened - all while the killer watches.

When Eduardo returns after a second thought, the killer hits him over the head and hides him in the wine cellar. He soon stops Gabriela and forces her to walk him through what happened, checking that she knows the full story, and when they come to the end, they briefly argue about Gabriela's theory of heads talking after decapitation. The killer then decides it's time for Gabriela to die, but in a struggle, he slips and is knocked out on the tiled floor.

When he begins to come to, Gabriela, out of sheer curiosity, picks up the knife and cuts his head off. She slowly lifts up his head and he mumbles her name, to which Gabriela smiles with satisfaction.

In a post-credits scene, Gabriela and Eduardo are driving in a car and Gabriela plays the tape which recorded the killer's last word after beheading.

Judy, a young and timid African American aspiring actress living in New York, attends an audition with Quentin Tarantino for, as he describes, "the greatest romantic, African-American film ever made". Initially doing quite well, Judy becomes very apprehensive and defiant when asked to undress herself. Eventually, she reluctantly complies, revealing her breasts. However, becoming quickly overwhelmed with guilt, she storms out.

After discovering what happened, her agent Murray, having worked hard to get her an audition with such a prestigious director, furiously drops her from his roster of clients. Her melodramatic acting coach also criticizes her apathy towards her acting art and the entertainment industry overall. When Judy explains why she left the audition, the coach replies that she should have just followed Tarantino's directions. This, topped with Judy's current financial issues preventing her from paying her coach for her services, results in Judy being dropped from her roster of clients as well.

Now unable to secure regular acting work, Judy tries various jobs. One night while returning home from her part-time job as a nightclub cocktail waitress on a crowded subway, Judy encounters a newspaper want-ad for a "friendly phone line" and another with the headline "mo money, mo money, mo money", circling both. At a call center specializing in customer service and phone sex, Judy meets Lil, who seems assertive but friendly, and both click during her interview. Judy then attends interviews with other phone sex companies, including one run by a stripper, who offers her the opportunity to work unrestricted in her own home. She would, however, have to have her own private telephone line, which she currently does not have. She still decides to keep this opportunity in mind for future reference.

Ultimately, Lil hires Judy as a phone sex operator at the call center. During orientation, Lil explains that although most girls on the team are African-American, unless the caller requests otherwise, they should always sound Caucasian, and Judy (dubbed "Girl 6") immediately settles into her new job. Her sports memorabilia-obsessed cousin and best friend Jimmy, who lives in the same complex as her, warns her about the dangers of phone sex. Also, while running errands, Judy occasionally sees her kleptomaniac ex-boyfriend, explaining her current occupation.

Thanks to her new job, Judy sheds her former "innocent girl" image for a sexually bolder attitude and personality. She connects with "Bob Regular", who calls the phone sex company daily strictly for her, to which Judy adapts the nickname "Lovely", especially for him. Unlike other callers, "Bob" simply converses with her cordially, explaining that he moved from Arizona and lives close to her. They agree to meet up at Coney Island amusement park, during her lunch break, but when he misses their meeting, a depressed Judy returns to work.

Immediately, a very frightening and obscene man strangely calls Judy and disrespects her. Lil, monitoring her call, disconnects and blocks him, reminding her to be more careful with the men that call in. The man, however, oddly reconnects to Judy's phone, disrespecting her even further. Eventually, Judy suddenly becomes very angry and bitter, and upon discovering her breakdown, Lil temporarily fires her, telling her to fix herself before returning. Judy, however, now able to get a private line, decides to continue her phone sex career at home. Judy also becomes more sexually aroused and comfortable from the callers in her private line.

One night, she goes into a very explicit and perverse S&M and snuff related conversation, soon realizing that the caller is the same exact man who had been disrespecting her earlier. Though Judy repeatedly disconnects him, he continually calls back, graphically describing what turns him on. When Judy eventually relents, telling him to cease, he then shockingly reveals her exact residence, and is delighted when Judy finally snaps at him. Immediately afterwards, she frightfully runs to Jimmy's house for shelter. Before leaving the phone sex career behind, she reconciles with her ex-boyfriend.

Now living in Los Angeles, Judy attends an audition with Ron Silver which almost parallels her experience with Tarantino. She decides to leave the audition; however this time, having a different approach, she happily walks down the Hollywood Walk of Fame, having reclaimed her dignity.

It’s Mickey’s birthday, and his girlfriend just left him. His friend Clarence shows up to give him a birthday he'll never forget.

Console

In the console version of the game, the protagonist of the story moves from their mother's house to Simcity, where they move into an apartment in the city. In the intro, the protagonist decides to go clubbing. Once the protagonist gets to the club, they are refused entry due to failing at performing a dance move. However, will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, along with the other members of the band, arrive at the club and help the protagonist enter. After the intro, a few days later the protagonist goes home and is greeted by Will and his friend Darius, who is the most popular person in SimCity. After showing off their guitar moves, Darius welcomes the protagonist to the city and they leave. Later on, it is discovered that Darius is missing parts from his secret machine. He promises the protagonist that if they find the parts, he will have a special surprise for them. After defeating the villains in the game's districts, the protagonist is asked to come to the penthouse owned by Darius. After arriving at the penthouse, they are greeted by Darius, along with the faction bosses from the city districts, and are given a key by Darius to the penthouse. Afterwards, Darius leaves the city on his blimp to travel to Miniopolis (the setting of The Urbz Handheld).

Handheld

The handheld version of the game plays as a sequel to the Game Boy Advance and N-Gage releases of ''The Sims Bustin' Out''. Unlike the console versions, the Black Eyed Peas do not appear in this game. The protagonist, who recently arrived in the city from Simvalley, is fired after the owner of King Tower sells the tower to Daddy Bigbucks. After a failed attempt to steal a key from Lily Gates, the assistant of Daddy Bigbucks, the player is arrested and taken to jail. After convincing the city sheriff to let the player go, they are put on probation and prohibited from leaving the Urban area of the city. After doing certain tasks, they are recruited by Grandma Hattie to lead a strike to open the city bridges to Sim Quarter. Afterwards, they are knocked off of a ship by Bigbucks and wash up in the Bayou, where the player is mistaken by its inhabitants, The Bayou twins, as a vampire. The twins help the player get home, however, one of the twins is bitten by a vampire and turns into one. Upon the player's return to Sim Quarter, they are informed by Grandma Hattie that Daddy Bigbucks took over the city and has outlawed running. She then gives the player a cookbook in order to help them make chocolate, which cures the bayou twin's vampirism. Later on, the protagonist and Grandma Hattie are arrested for running, but are let go by the Sheriff. Eventually, the protagonist arrives in Glasstown and finds the original King Tower owner, Mr.King. The player discovers that Daddy Bigbucks has built a time machine to stake a claim to land in the past, so that he will own it in the present. With the help of Ewan Watahmee and Sue Pirnova, the player makes their own time machine and uses it to thwart his plans. Daddy Bigbucks is banished to an island outside of the city, and a lifelike statue of the protagonist is built in the city center.

The game is very loosely based on the real-world Wars of the Roses, a series of wars fought between the House of Lancaster and the House of York over control of England in the 15th century. Yami Yugi (''Yugi Mutou'' in the English anime and the original Japanese adaptations) assumes the identity of the head of the Tudor dynasty, Henry Tudor, while Seto Kaiba represents the head of the Yorkist clan force as Christian Rosenkreuz. Other characters from the anime similarly assume the roles and names of others who featured in the conflict.

The player assumes control of the "Rose Duelist", who is summoned from an unknown time period to the year 1485 by a druid of the Lancastrian forces to assist them in defeating the Yorkists and regaining control of the throne. Both sides possess eight "rose cards" which have sorcerous powers. The Lancastrians wish to obtain the Yorkists' white rose cards because Seto's forces are using their power to create a barrier that protects their territory, while the Yorkists wish to obtain the Lancastrians' red rose cards because Seto needs all 16 rose cards together to attempt a forbidden "rose summoning" that would give the Yorkists great power. The Rose Duelist also needs all 16 cards together to conjure enough power to go back to their proper time period, and so the player is forced to pick a side.

If the Lancastrians are sided with, the Rose Duelist obtains the white rose cards by battling the Yorkist forces who are represented by antagonists from the ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' series such as Maximillion Pegasus, Weevil Underwood, and Rex Raptor. The Rose Duelist finally defeats Seto for the last rose card at Stonehenge, but the victory is short-lived as Seto reveals that the power released from their duel (along with all of the rose cards brought to the site by the Rose Duelist) has fulfilled the requirements for the great summoning, and that he feigned allegiance to the Yorkists to force the Lancastrians to summon the Rose Duelist in the first place. Seto then summons Manawyddan fab Llyr, a powerful mythological figure known as the card guardian, who Seto plans to use to ensure his rule over England. The Rose Duelist defeats Manawyddan fab Llyr and banishes him from the time period, securing victory for the Lancastrians. The epilogue states that Yugi was crowned as the king of England and that it is unknown whether or not the Rose Duelist was ever returned to the time period whence they were summoned.

If the Yorkists are sided with, the Rose Duelist battles protagonists from the ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' series such as Joey Wheeler, Téa Gardner, and Yugi himself. After all of the rose cards are obtained, Seto performs the rose summoning at Stonehenge, again summoning Manawyddan fab Llyr. This time, however, Manawyddan reveals himself to be the brother of Nitemare from ''Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories'' and is furious that they summoned his brother in Egypt then locked him away again. The Rose Duelist is forced to defeat Manawyddan fab Llyr to undo the summoning. After the duel, Seto informs the Rose Duelist that he has been long searching for a true Card Guardian because an ancestor of his entered into a pact with one long ago (again referencing ''Forbidden Memories''). Seto leaves the Rose Duelist with his white rose pendant and his forces leave England, allowing the Lancastrians to gain control of the throne.

Dark and Mel are a bisexual couple in an open relationship. Mel is dating a girl named Lucifer, who Dark hates, while Dark is interested in a mysterious boy he keeps running into named Montgomery. The three of them meet up at a café they frequent, where we're introduced to other teens they know, such as Alyssa, Dingbat and Egg and Dark's friend Cowboy, and they discuss a party being held that night by a man they know named Jujyfruit. Egg runs into an unnamed TV star from ''Baywatch'' (played by ''Baywatch'' actor Jaason Simmons).

Cowboy tells Dark about the heroin addiction his boyfriend Bart suffers with. He offers Bart the chance to fix their relationship if he stops using drugs, but he declines. Alyssa and Dingbat meet with Ducky, Egg's brother and Dingbat's crush, before Alyssa meets up with her boyfriend Elvis. While waiting at a bus stop, Dark sees three valley girls killed by an alien, which he tries to catch on video before it disappears.

At the ''Baywatch'' star's place, he and Egg watch TV together before he tries to make a move on her. She rejects his advances, angering him and leading to him raping her. Dark and his friends play a drugged out game of hide and seek, during which Montgomery gets abducted by the same alien from earlier, who Dark runs into in a locker room. Egg and Bart both return home and watch the same televangelist, Moses Helper, on TV, who encourages the two to commit suicide in order to reach heaven.

When he fails to convince Mel to become monogamous at Jujyfruit's party, Dark goes outside and is joined by Dingbat. Suddenly Ducky, after hearing about his sister's suicide, leaps into a swimming pool, with Dingbat using CPR to resuscitate him. Going back into the party, Dark enters a kitchen where he sees the same alien from earlier. He meets with Handjob and begins to tell him about his day before Alyssa and Elvis arrive. Elvis claims Handjob sold him cut drugs and beats him to death with a can of tomato soup.

Dark returns home and records a diary entry on his video camera, saying how he's "totally doomed". As he attempts to sleep, Montgomery knocks on his window. Dark lets him in as he explains that he was abducted and experimented on by aliens who intend to invade Earth. The two lie down in bed together and Montgomery asks if he can spend the night, with Dark agreeing only if he promises to never leave. The two close their eyes but are disturbed, as Montgomery goes into a coughing fit, then explodes into a shower of blood, leaving only a cockroach-like alien who exclaims, "I'm outta here," before crawling out of the window. A blood-covered Dark turns to the audience, staring with his mouth wide open.

Dr. Jenny Isaksson (Liv Ullmann) is a psychiatrist who has taken a temporary job as the medical supervisor at a mental hospital while her husband is in America and their daughter Anna is away at camp. As she and her family are in the process of selling their home, she temporarily moves in with her grandparents (Gunnar Björnstrand, Aino Taube), who cared for her after her parents died when she was a child. The experience of moving back into her old bedroom proves disturbing for her and conjures up feelings of anxiety, resulting in her first beginning to have dreams and then waking visions of a one-eyed old woman. Jenny's personal problems are compounded by Mari, a particularly disturbed patient at the mental hospital, who is prone to fits of violence and who tells Jenny that she is incapable of treating her because she cannot experience love.

At a party hosted by the ex-wife of one of her colleagues at the mental hospital, Jenny meets the divorced Tomas (Erland Josephson), a medical doctor. After he flirts with her, she agrees to go home with him, where she rejects the idea of having sex with him before he brings it up. Nonplussed, Tomas calls her a taxi and they agree to meet again sometime in the future for a potential sexual encounter.

Going to her old home one day, Jenny discovers Mari, who has escaped from the mental institution; with her are two men who explain that Mari requested they take her to Jenny, whose address they found in the phone book. When Jenny attempts to call the police, the men attack her and attempt to rape her, but quickly stop when they have difficulty penetrating her. That night, Jenny accompanies Tomas to a concert and then returns home with him, telling him she wants a non-sexual encounter with him in which they will sleep in bed together without touching. In the middle of the night, Jenny tells him what happened and admits that she is so desperate to experience physical pleasure that she wanted the rapist to have sex with her, but that she could not become physically aroused. When Tomas attempts to comfort her, she suffers a breakdown and asks to be sent home in a cab, assuring him they'll see one another soon.

Jenny sleeps at her grandparents' for several days, missing work. When they leave town for the weekend she initially calls Tomas to go to the movies, but instead hangs up on him, records a suicide note on a tape recorder in which she tells her husband that she has never experienced emotional or physical pleasure, and then takes fifty Nembutols.

In a dream, she apologizes to herself for her suicide attempt, speaks to her grandmother, and tells herself that she fears old people like her grandparents. She encounters an imagined Tomas, who warns her not to open the door to her deep and forgotten memories, but she opens anyway. She sees the old woman, who caresses and comforts her. Jenny wakes up in the hospital. Tomas is there. He went to find her after she hung up on him and didn’t answer when he tried calling back.

They talk, and Tomas tries to comfort her by telling her about his strict upbringing, not being allowed to burp or fart at dinner. In a second dream, she ineptly tries to deal with a crowded room of patients. Her grandfather tells her that he’s afraid of dying, and Anna sees her and runs away.

When she wakes, her husband is there, but he tells her that he has to return to America. She tells him to tell her grandmother the truth about what happened and that she will talk to Anna.

In the next dream, she tries to find her parents, whom she last saw at their funeral when she was nine. She is distressed by guilt and shame. When she finds them they first leave her, but when they return to comfort her, she pushes them away.

Jenny wakes up and tells Tomas about her childhood. They share deep secrets. Tomas says that he was never divorced, instead he had lost a friend, a man he lived with for five years. The conversation deteriorates and Jenny becomes hysterical. In a last dream, she attends her funeral, awaking during the cremation.

A nurse tells Jenny that Anna wants to meet her. She tries to tell Anna what she did and why, but it doesn’t go well. Anna tells Jenny that she knew that she never liked her, and she leaves. Tomas then tells her that he’s going to Jamaica for an amoral vacation and may not return.

Jenny returns to her grandmother who believes that Jenny has only been fatigued. She is distressed by her husband’s impending death. Jenny offers her some comfort and then calls the mental hospital to tell then that she’ll be in to work in the morning.

Dora is a retired schoolteacher who works at Rio de Janeiro's Central Station writing letters for illiterate customers for living. Embittered by life, she usually shows a lack of patience with customers and sometimes does not mail the letters that she writes, putting them in a drawer or even tearing them up instead. One of her customers is the mother of Josué, a poor 9-year-old boy who hopes to meet his unknown father someday. When she is killed in a bus accident just outside the train station and Josué is left homeless, Dora is forced to take him in; she initially traffics him to a corrupt couple, but later steals him back out of guilt.

Dora is initially reluctant to be responsible for the boy, but eventually decides to take a trip with him to Northeast Brazil in order to find his father.

Dora tries to leave Josué on the bus, but he follows her, forgetting his backpack containing Dora's money. Penniless, they are picked up by a kind, evangelical truck driver who abandons them when Dora encourages him to drink beer and then grows too friendly. Dora trades her watch for a ride to "Bom Jesus do Norte" (a fictionalized version of Cruzeiro do Nordeste, a district of Sertânia, Pernambuco). They find his father's address in Bom Jesus, but the current residents say he won a house in the lottery and now lives in the new settlements. With no money, Josué saves them from destitution by suggesting Dora write letters for the pilgrims who have arrived in Bom Jesus for a massive pilgrimage.

They take the bus to the settlements, but when they locate the address they have for Josué's father, they are told by the new residents that he no longer lives there and has disappeared. Josué tells Dora that he will wait for him, but Dora invites him to live with her. She calls Irene in Rio and asks her to sell her refrigerator, sofa and television. She says that she will call when she gets settled somewhere. After she hangs up, she learns there are no buses leaving until the next morning.

Isaías, one of Josué's half-brothers, is working on a roof next to the bus stop and learns that they are looking for his father, insisting Dora and Josué come to dinner. They return to his house and meet Moisés, Josué's other half-brother. Later, Isaías explains to Dora that their father married Ana, who he doesn't know is Josué's mother, after their mother died, and that nine years ago, while pregnant, Ana left him to live in Rio and never returned. Isaías asks Dora to read a letter that his father wrote to Ana when he disappeared, six months ago, in case she returned. In the letter, the boys' father explains that he has gone to Rio to find Ana and the son he never met. He promises to return, asks her to wait for him, and says they can all be together—himself, Ana, Isaías and Moisés. Dora pauses, looks at Josué and says, "and Josué, whom I can't wait to meet." Isaías and Josué are sure their father will return, but Moisés does not believe it.

The next morning, while they sleep, Dora sneaks out to catch the bus to Rio. She first leaves behind the letter from Jesus and the one from Ana - the one Dora carried with her from the Central Station but never mailed, expressing Ana's wish for the family to be reunited. Josué wakes up too late to prevent her departure. Dora writes a letter to Josué on the bus. Both are left with the photos they had taken to remember one another.

Ellen Gulden has a high-pressure job writing for ''New York'' magazine. Ellen is visiting her family home for her father's surprise birthday party. It becomes obvious that she deeply admires her father, George, a once-celebrated novelist and literature professor at Princeton University, but has barely restrained disdain for her mother, Kate, and the domestic life she lives and has always viewed her as a ditzy Stepford Wife. When it is discovered that Kate has cancer, George pressures Ellen to come home and take care of her mother. Ellen is taken aback by this request, knowing it could jeopardize her career and love interest, but finally agrees, caving in to her father's appeals and inducements.

As Ellen helps her mother with domestic chores while her father goes about his usual business without helping much, Ellen begins to reassess her views of her parents. She realizes she always brushed her mother aside and idealized her father, despite his self-centered focus on his career and - she discovers - a longtime habit of having flings with his female students.

Ellen attempts to find a place for herself in her parents' life, while struggling to continue writing on a freelance basis and maintain her relationship with her boyfriend in New York. Over time, Ellen grows closer to her mother and learns more about her parents' marriage—including realizing that Kate has known about George's affairs all along. Ellen also learns that her father's philandering days have become lonely nights of drinking at a local bar to numb the pain of never again achieving success with, nor even being able to complete, further novels. George admits to Ellen that the reason he loved Kate was that she was full of light shining through everything, and he couldn't bear the thought of her light slipping away.

As her mother is dying, Ellen tells her she loves her, and Kate says she knew it and always had.

After Kate's death, the autopsy reveals that Kate actually died of a morphine overdose, and a District Attorney questions Ellen about her mother's death. Scenes from this interview are interspersed throughout the movie and point to Ellen being suspected of having assisted her mother's suicide. In the closing scene, by Kate's grave, Ellen has returned from a new job she found in New York with the ''Village Voice''. She is planting daffodils when she sees her father approaching, their first encounter since the funeral. George tells Ellen she was very brave to do what she did, and she looks puzzled until she realizes George thinks she had given her mother the fatal overdose. Ellen replies that she had thought the accomplice was the father. They both realize Kate must have killed herself.

George speaks to Ellen of how much he loved Kate, considering her his muse, his "one true thing." Ellen is explaining to her father how to plant the daffodil bulbs and he is helping, foreshadowing, it seems, their reconciliation based on mutual long overdue appreciation of Kate.

In 2004, the Government of Pakistan decides to review unsolved cases pertaining to Indian prisoners as a goodwill gesture. Saamiya Siddiqui, a budding Pakistani lawyer, is given prisoner 786's defense as her first case. The prisoner has not spoken to anyone for 22 years. After addressing him by his name, Veer Pratap Singh, Veer opens up to Saamiya and narrates his story.

Zaara Hayaat Khan is a lively Pakistani woman whose family is of the political background and high standing in Lahore. Zaara's Sikh governess (whom she addresses as her grandmother) Bebe asks Zaara to scatter her ashes in the Sutlej river among her ancestors as her last wish. While traveling to India, Zaara's bus meets with an accident. Veer, an Indian Air Force pilot, rescues her, and she completes Bebe's final rites. Veer convinces Zaara to return with him to his village to spend a day together on account of Lohri. Zaara meets Veer's uncle Choudhary Sumer Singh and his aunt Saraswati Kaur. Veer realises that he is falling in love with Zaara.

The next day, Veer takes Zaara to the train station for her train back to Lahore, planning to confess. However, he ends up meeting Zaara's fiancé Raza Sharazi. Before she leaves, he confesses his love to her, accepting that they cannot be together. Zaara boards in silence and bids him goodbye; both believe they will never meet again.

Back home in Pakistan, Zaara realises she too is in love with Veer but that she must keep her family's honour and marry Raza, a wedding that will further the political career of her father Jehangir. Seeing Zaara breaking down, her maid and friend Shabbo calls Veer, asking him to take Zaara away before her wedding. Veer quits the Indian Air Force and travels to Pakistan. When he arrives, Zaara runs into his arms in tears, causing her father to fall sick in shock. Mariyam begs Veer to leave Zaara because Jehangir's high-profile reputation and health will be too bad if news gets out that Zaara is in love with an Indian. Veer respects this request and decides to leave but Raza, outraged by the shame Zaara has brought upon him, has him wrongly imprisoned under the name of Rajesh Rathore on charges of being an Indian spy. Meanwhile, the bus Veer was supposed to be on going back to India falls off a cliff, killing all the passengers. When Veer hears this in jail, he believes the amulet Zaara's mother gave him is just protected his life.

Veer requests Saamiya not to mention either Zaara or her family whilst fighting the case, believing Zaara is happily married by now and he will only ruin her life. Due to this, Saamiya decides to cross the border and find someone in Veer's village who can prove his true identity. In Veer's village, she is shocked to meet Zaara and Shabbo instead. Zaara had thought that Veer died in the bus accident 22 years ago. After news of his death, she broke off the marriage with Raza, and her father agreed, getting them divorced himself. Afterward, Zaara and Shabbo left Pakistan and settled in Veer's village in India, so that Zaara could keep Veer's dream of running a girls' school alive. Saamiya takes Zaara back to Pakistan, and she shares an emotional reunion with Veer. Her statement and evidence prove Veer's innocence and his identity as Veer and not as Rajesh Rathore, and the judge frees him, apologising on behalf of Pakistan. Veer and Zaara, finally reunited, get married, say goodbye to Saamiya at the Wagah border crossing, and return to their village, living happily ever after.

In 1957 suburban Connecticut, Cathy Whitaker seems to be the perfect wife, mother, and homemaker. Her husband, Frank, is an executive at Magnatech, a television advertising company. One evening, Cathy receives a phone call from the local police, who are holding Frank. When she picks him up, he says it is all a misunderstanding, but it turns out that he has been exploring the illicit underground world of gay bars in Hartford. In the midst of all of this, one day Cathy sees an unfamiliar black man walking in her yard. He turns out to be Raymond Deagan, the son of her late gardener, who is taking over his father's accounts.

Frank often stays late at the office. One night when he says he is working, Cathy decides to bring him dinner, and she walks in on him passionately kissing a man. He confesses to having had "problems" as a young man and agrees to sign up for conversion therapy. However, their relationship is strained, Frank's work suffers, and he increasingly turns to alcohol. Cathy runs into Raymond at a local art show and, to the consternation of onlookers, initiates a discussion with him about modern painting. After a party, Frank attempts to make love to Cathy, but he is unable to become aroused and accidentally strikes her when she tries to console him.

The next day, Raymond catches Cathy crying and asks her to run some errands with him. She agrees, and they wind up going to a bar in a black neighborhood, where Cathy is the only white person present. They are seen together on the street by a gossipy acquaintance of Cathy's, and the woman immediately begins to stir up scandal. When Cathy attends her daughter's ballet performance, the mothers of the other girls shun her. Frank also hears about Cathy and Raymond and, in response to his anger, Cathy denies having an other-than-professional relationship with Raymond and says she has fired him to quell the rumors. She then tells Raymond that their friendship cannot continue, as it is not "plausible".

Cathy and Frank go to Miami for New Year's to try to repair their marriage, but, at the hotel, Frank meets a young man and has another homosexual encounter. While they are gone, three white boys taunt and physically assault Raymond's daughter, Sarah, partly because of her father's rumored relationship with Cathy, and the girl is concussed by a rock thrown at her head.

Frank breaks down and tearfully tells Cathy that he has fallen in love with a man and wants a divorce. When Cathy learns what happened to Sarah, she visits Raymond, who says he is moving to Baltimore in two weeks, as the rumors have destroyed his business and led his African-American neighbors to throw rocks through his windows. When Cathy tells Raymond she is going to be single and asks if she can come visit him some time, he stoically, but gently, rejects her, saying he has learned his lesson and needs to do what is right for his daughter.

Cathy shows up at the train station to see Raymond off, and they silently wave to each other as the train leaves the station.

George and Marion Kerby are as irresponsible as they are rich. When George wrecks their classy sports car, they wake up from the accident as ghosts. Realizing they are not in heaven or hell because they have never been responsible enough to do good deeds or bad ones, they decide that freeing their old friend Cosmo Topper from his regimented lifestyle will be their ticket into heaven.

Topper, a wealthy bank president, is trapped in a boring job. Worse still, Clara, his social-climbing wife, seems to care only about nagging him and presenting a respectable façade. On a whim, after George and Marion die, Topper buys George's flashy sports car. Soon he meets the ghosts of his dead friends, and immediately they begin to liven up his dull life with drinking and dancing, flirting and fun.

The escapades lead quickly to Cosmo's arrest, and the ensuing scandal alienates his wife Clara. However, because of Topper's scandal, some of the people Clara would like to socialize with now become interested in her and Topper. Cosmo moves out into a hotel with Marion who claims she is no longer married since she is dead. Clara fears she has lost Cosmo forever. The Toppers' loyal butler suggests that she lighten up a bit; she decides he's right and dons the lingerie and other attire of “a forward woman.” After Cosmo has a near-death experience and nearly joins George and Marion in the afterlife, Cosmo and Clara are happily reunited, and George and Marion, their good deed done, gladly depart for heaven.

Momiji Fujimiya thought she was just an ordinary middle school student. One day, she is confronted on her way to school by a cat-eyed man with blue magatama beads embedded in his hands, who then attempts to kill her. Momiji is confused and terrified by this strange man's sudden desire to kill her; he also refers to her as ''Kushinada'', confusing her even further. Momiji is saved by the sudden appearance of two government officials, one of whom shoots the man in the arm and sends him fleeing.

Momiji is intrigued as to why she was referred to as "Kushinada". She discovers that "Kushinada" refers to an ancient princess whose blood holds the power to stop the ancient monsters known as Aragami by sending them to an eternal sleep. Momiji dismisses the idea that she could be such a person, despite the fact she lives with her mother and grandmother in a shrine in Izumo. However, she soon changes her mind after vines begin to appear from every crack and opening attempting to capture her as they whisper "Kushinada".

Momiji tries to escape, not knowing that the vines are being employed by a powerful Aragami known as Orochi. She is saved by the man with the magatamas embedded into his hands, who introduces himself as Mamoru Kusanagi. He confronts Orochi using Momiji as bait. The plan fails and the government officials appear again. They reveal themselves to be members of the Terrestrial Administration Center (TAC for short), and manage to subdue Orochi. However, with the last of its strength, it makes a final attempt on Kusanagi.

Momiji saves Kusanagi by taking Orochi's blow. Impaled by the Aragami, instead of dying, she is instead fused with the magatama, more specifically identified as a mitama, which gives Momiji the ability to sense the presence of other Aragami. The TAC agents explain that they are an organization dedicated to defeating the Aragami, who seek to destroy humanity. The current Kushinada, Momiji, must aid them because the other Kushinada, Momiji's twin sister, is now dead. Momiji, wishing to discover more about the twin sister she never knew and also to fulfill her destiny, agrees to join the TAC under the protection of Kusanagi, who wishes to destroy his former masters, the Aragami.

The story becomes increasingly complex with the appearance of Murakumo, a man with eight mitamas who kills any Aragami he comes across for his own personal reasons. Kusanagi repeatedly attempts to kill Murakumo. Kaede Kunikida reappears along with a strange energy field in Tokyo, and Murakumo and Kaede's plans soon become clear – they intend to resurrect the god Susanoo and purify the world of humanity's influences, with Kaede acting as the leader of the movement.

There is also a three episode OVA, ''Blue Seed Beyond'', which takes place two years after the end of the TV series. It concerns what seems to be a resurgence of aragami (actually created via biotechnology), and introduces a new character, Valencia Tachibana. Like Kusanagi, she was implanted with a mitama without turning into a full aragami.

The story as told in the ballad has multiple versions, but they all follow the same basic plot. The King of Scotland has called for the greatest sailor in the land to command a ship for a royal errand. The name "Sir Patrick Spens" is mentioned by a courtier, and the king despatches a letter. Sir Patrick is dismayed at being commanded to put to sea in the dead of winter, clearly realising this voyage could well be his last.

Versions differ somewhat at this point. Some indicate that a storm sank the ship in the initial crossing, thus ending the ballad at this point, while many have Sir Patrick safely reaching Norway. In Norway tension arises between the Norwegian lords and the Scots, who are accused of being a financial burden on the king. Sir Patrick, taking offence, leaves the following day. Nearly all versions, whether they have the wreck on the outward voyage or the return, relate the bad omen of seeing "the new mune late yestreen, with the auld mune in her airms", and modern science agrees the tides would be at maximum force at that time. The winter storms have the best of the great sailor, sending him and the Scottish lords to the bottom of the sea.

Synopsis

The game follows Reid Hershel as he tries to prevent the Grand Fall, a cataclysmic event that would destroy his planet along with that of newly found traveling companion Meredy. Specifically, the Grand Fall entails the violent collision of twin planets Inferia and Celestia. The two planets face one another while being separated by the Orbus Barrier. Interaction between the two planets has been infrequent over the last few centuries despite their proximity; the Bridge of Light linked Inferia and Celestia in the distant past, but the link has been severed for an extensive period of time. The Aurora War, an ancient conflict that set Inferia against Celestia over two thousand years ago, continues to generate persistent mistrust between the two groups. The Orbus Barrier has shown recent signs of weakening and possible collapse due to the actions of an unknown external force.

The journey takes Reid across both planets, as he seeks out those responsible for this movement towards the brink of annihilation.

Main characters

• is an 18-year-old hunter from a small village who grew up with Farah and Keele. He is a laid-back character who enjoys a quiet life of eating and sleeping, and possesses a mysterious power known as "Fibril" which grants extraordinary abilities. He is voiced by Akira Ishida in the Japanese version. His name comes from British astronomer William Herschel.
• is a 17-year-old farmhand and martial artist skilled in hand-to-hand combat and quick combination attacks. She is characterized as being headstrong as well as altruistic and caring with a keen sense of justice, and has a budding relationship with Reid throughout the course of the game. She is voiced by Yūko Minaguchi in the Japanese version, and her name comes from Danish physicist Hans Ørsted.
• is a 17-year-old student of magic known as a Craymal Mage. Although he is physically weak and tires easily, he has an insatiable hunger for knowledge and unlocking the mysteries of his world, yet he is sometimes blinded by his over-reliance on science and pure logic. He is voiced by Sōichirō Hoshi in the Japanese version.
• is a 16-year-old Craymal Mage from Celestia who speaks a language alien to the Inferians, "Melnics", that prevents her from being understood at the beginning of the game. A happy-go-lucky girl, she is known to spontaneously break into dance and is always accompanied by her pet . She is voiced by Omi Minami in the Japanese version.
• is a 12-year-old Celestian and descendant of a famous pirate who styles herself as the oddball captain of his impressive ship, the ''Van Eltia''. Though highly intelligent for her age, she lived in isolation and avoided contact with most people until she met Reid and his friends. She fights using her handbag with an assortment of tools. She is voiced by Junko Noda in the Japanese version.
• is a 38-year-old Celestian leader of the resistance group Shikeska, who are in direct opposition against the corrupt Celestian government. Loud, boisterous, and prone to laughter, he wields special high-powered energy cannons that can fire capsules of a variety of elements. He is voiced by Masashi Ebara in the Japanese version.
• is a mysterious 25-year-old swordsman who masquerades as a merchant. Despite his calm outward appearance, he is a highly determined fighter who periodically aids Reid and his friends on their journey. He is voiced by Hiroshi Isobe in the Japanese version, and his name comes from the Fomalhaut star in the constellation Piscis Austrinus.

The game interweaves an original story between the events of ''Star Wars: A New Hope'' and ''Return of the Jedi'', sometimes intersecting with known ''Star Wars'' events. It is shown from the point of view of a young officer in the Imperial Navy, Brenn Tantor, who begins as a stormtrooper, but soon enough is given his own command. The first task (from the training missions) is to search for an escape pod that landed on Tatooine, and then track the droids that were inside. This is a reference to the opening scenes of ''Episode IV'' when C-3PO and R2-D2 escape the Empire via an escape pod which crashes on Tatooine.

The main character is loyal to the Empire for the first half of the game, until his brother, Dellis Tantor discovers that the Empire killed their father. Dellis is imprisoned by the Empire for revealing this information, though Brenn is initially led to believe that Dellis has been killed. Brenn defects to the Rebel Alliance and proceeds to fight his former commanders. In addition to the Tatooine training missions, the player participates in the Battle of Hoth from the Imperial point of view, and the Battle of Endor as a Rebel. The game ends with the battle to capture the Imperial Palace on Coruscant, and ultimately the liberation of Dellis.

Lannie (Jack Oakie) has Annabel (Lucille Ball) taken into prison in order to generate publicity before the release of her new movie. However, when Annabel is released a month later, she finds that nobody has noticed, and she has Lannie fired. But when he pays a struggling actress to pretend to be his sick mother, Annabel has Lannie rehired, and he immediately begins plotting his next stunt.

The head of Wonder Pictures informs Annabel that her film has been canceled, and that she is to star in a new film, ''The Maid and the Man''. Lannie arranges to have her work as "Mary", a maid for the Fletchers, their teenage son Robert (Lee Van Atta), and inventor "Major" (Thurston Hall). While Robert becomes infatuated with Annabel, she is expected to cook and clean for the family, so she calls on Lannie to help. Meanwhile, the investors interested in one of Major's inventions, a rubber ring placed around a plate so that it will bounce rather than break when dropped, appear in the morning newspaper as robbers. They are in fact waiting for their own publicity to die down so that they can make a getaway.

Back at Wonder Pictures, ''The Maid and the Man'' has been scrapped, but when Lannie calls Annabel to tell her, she answers that she can't leave. Though first confused, he finds Annabel's police mug shot in the paper along with the robbers, and forms a plan to outfit fifty extras as policemen (plus a police sergeant and captain). As they march towards the house firing blanks, the robbers return fire with real bullets, and the extras scatter. Lannie sneaks into the house alone, but is captured.

When the real policemen arrive, the robbers try to make a break for it, using Lannie and Allison as shields. Instead, Annabel uses her martial arts training to throw one of the robbers to the ground, while Lannie bites the other.

Annabel returns to Wonder Pictures and is disappointed to find that ''The Maid and the Man'' has been replaced by ''The Diamond Smuggler'', in which she is to play the lead. On her way out, Annabel picks up a gift which Lannie had arranged for her to receive, and is apprehended when the police open it to discover the precious jewels inside. Lannie watches on from the front of the new billboard for ''The Diamond Smuggler'' as Annabel is driven away screaming.

At the start of the series, , a high school student on the verge of making his professional debut as a boxer, is killed in a suspicious motorcycle accident on his way to his first date with , the girl of his dreams. An angel (who is depicted as a Buddhist monk with cherub wings and halo) tells Ginji that because of a celestial mistake, he can be reunited with Minako, but only if he lives out the natural lifespan of another animal, after which he will return to his human body. Remembering Minako's love for penguins, Ginji decides to be reincarnated as an Adelie penguin, and he hatches from an egg in a Tokyo aquarium.

When Ginji reaches adolescence, he escapes from the aquarium with his penguin friends, only to discover he cannot swim. He washes up in the harbor, where he is discovered by Minako. She takes him home and names him Gin-chan (at first thinking this to be an affectionate contraction of his own name, Ginji is crestfallen when Minako reveals that she has selected this name because, in her words, "You're such a cute little ".

The series depicts Ginji's life with Minako, where he does his best to protect Minako from any man who tries to go out with her or simply "harm" her. Along the way, Mike and the other penguins from the aquarium help him once in a while and he meets fellow reincarnated humans.

In the final arc, Minako is kidnapped by a murderous criminal named Kurosaki and Ginji goes and rescues her, but at the cost of losing his ability to fully reincarnate. Minako loses her memory and believes that Gin-chan headed back to the North Pole to be with his kind. The angel, becoming sympathetic to Ginji's ordeal, makes a plea to God to give up his form so that Ginji can be brought back to life. Ginji reunites with a relieved Minako and they become a couple while adopting a penguin named Popo whom Ginji had befriended earlier.

Brian Robeson is a thirteen-year-old son of divorced parents. As he travels from Hampton, New York on a single-engine Cessna bush plane to visit his father in the oil fields in Northern Canada for the summer, the pilot suffers a massive heart attack and dies. Brian tries to land the plane but ends up crash-landing into a lake in the forest. He must learn to survive on his own with nothing but his hatchet—a gift his mother gave him shortly before his plane departed.

Throughout the summer, Brian learns how to survive in the vast wilderness with only his hatchet. He discovers how to make fire with the hatchet and eats whatever food he can find, such as rabbits, birds, turtle eggs, fish, berries, and fruit. He deals with various threats of nature, including mosquitoes, a porcupine, bear, wolf, skunk, moose, and even a tornado. Over time, Brian develops his survival skills and becomes a fine woodsman. He crafts a bow, arrows, and a fishing spear to aid in his hunting. He also fashions a shelter out of the underside of a rock overhang. During his time alone, Brian struggles with memories of home and the bittersweet memory of his mother, whom Brian had caught cheating on his father before their divorce.

When a sudden tornado hits the area, it draws the tail of the plane toward the shore of the lake. This triggers his thoughts that there may be a survival pack of some sort on the plane. Brian makes a raft from a few broken-off treetops to get to the plane. When Brian is cutting his way into the tail of the plane, he drops his hatchet in the lake and dives in to get it. Once inside the plane, Brian finds a survival pack that includes additional food, an emergency transmitter, and a .22 AR-7 rifle. Back on shore, Brian activates the transmitter, but not knowing how to use it, he thinks it is broken and throws it aside. However, his distress call is heard by a passing airplane, and he is rescued. Brian spends the remainder of the summer with his father but does not disclose his mother's affair.

Maggie O'Connor, a psychiatric nurse in New York City, adopts her newborn niece, Cody, from her sister Jenna, a homeless heroin addict who abandoned her at Maggie's house just before Christmas. Maggie raises Cody herself, and during her formative years, Cody exhibits signs of autism, though Maggie is suspicious of the diagnosis. Maggie enrolls Cody in a special-needs Catholic school in Brooklyn, where the nuns notice Cody displaying possibly telekinetic abilities.

Meanwhile, a series of child kidnappings and murders are plaguing the city, investigated by FBI Special Agent John Travis, a former seminary student. The bodies bear occult brandings, and the victims all share Cody's birthdate and age. At her hospital, Maggie meets Cheri, a young heroin addict bearing a mysterious Luciferian tattoo, who knows Jenna. In conversation, Cheri implies that Cody is special, and urges Maggie to protect her. When Maggie and Cody stop in a church, Maggie is startled when all of the votive candles light themselves in Cody's presence.

When Maggie returns home, she is surprised to find Jenna, now clean and sober, there with her new husband, Eric Stark, a famous self-help guru, attempting to take Cody. Maggie refuses, but they manage to covertly kidnap Cody. Maggie reports it to police, and Agent Travis takes an interest in the case. Maggie attempts to learn more about Eric's organization, the New Dawn Foundation, by visiting one of their centers. Cheri subsequently contacts Maggie, and explains she was previously a member of New Dawn, which is actually a front for a Luciferian cult, spearheaded by Eric. She says that the cult recently began kidnapping six-year-old children and subjecting them to tests; those who failed were murdered in what Cheri describes as the "slaughter of the innocents". Cheri claims that Cody is destined to become a saint who will lead people to God, which Eric is attempting to thwart.

A group of cult members pursue Cheri after she provides Maggie Eric's address, and decapitate her in the subway. Maggie visits the address, located in a rundown building in Queens, and finds Eric, Jenna, and Cody there. Maggie holds Eric at gunpoint, but is chloroformed by his henchman, Stuart. She regains consciousness in the driver's seat of car, crashing into the side of a bridge. She is helped by a mysterious stranger moments before the car falls into the river. Meanwhile, Eric attempts to force Cody to watch as he convinces a vagrant to commit suicide by self-immolation. However, Cody thwarts this by blowing out the match, assuring the man he has not been forsaken. After, Eric angrily burns the man alive. Jenna, meanwhile is kept sedated with heroin.

Maggie tracks Cody, who is being cared for by a nanny and member of the cult, Dahnya, and kidnaps Cody while she is visiting an orthodontist. Another mysterious stranger, this time female, helps them catch a subway train by holding the door open. At the urging of a Jesuit priest, Maggie leaves with Cody en route to Sister Rosa's convent in Vermont, but the cultists stalk them and manage to kidnap Cody. Maggie phones Agent Travis, who agrees to help her, tracking the cultists to a palatial estate owned by Eric. Maggie and Travis break into the home, but are assailed by cultists, who beat Travis. Maggie flees into the woods and reaches an abandoned church where the cult is preparing for a Black Mass. Meanwhile, the nuns at Sister Rosa's convent, worried over Maggie's failure to arrive with Cody, pray en masse for their wellbeing. Maggie stabs Eric, who then shoots her as she attempts to save Cody. Three orbs of light suddenly appear in the church as the cultists watch in terror, and Maggie's bullet wounds mysteriously heal. Police raid the church; Travis kills Eric, and watches as the orbs of light disperse.

Some time later, Jenna is in rehab and has asked Maggie to legally adopt Cody. While Maggie, Travis, and Cody walk to mass, another cultist stalks Cody, planning to stab her. Framed by statues of sword-bearing angels, she turns to stare at him. He stops, awestruck, drops the knife and flees.

While scrubbing the floor at home, Belle (Josette Day) is interrupted by her brother's friend Avenant (Jean Marais) who tells her she deserves better and suggests they get married. Belle rejects Avenant, as she wishes to stay home and take care of her father, who has suffered much since his ships were lost at sea and the family fortune along with them. Belle's father (Marcel André) arrives home announcing he has come into a great fortune that he will pick up the next day, along with gifts for his daughters, Belle and her shrewish sisters Adelaide and Felicie. Belle's roguish brother Ludovic (Michel Auclair), believing they will soon be wealthy, signs a contract from a moneylender (Raoul Marco) allowing him the ability to sue Ludovic's father if he can't pay. Belle's sisters ask for a monkey and a parrot as gifts, but Belle asks only for a rose.

However, the next day, Belle's father finds on his arrival that his fortune has been seized to clear his debts and he is as penniless as before. He has no money for lodging and is forced to return home through a forest at night. He gets lost in the forest and finds himself at a large castle whose gates and doors magically open themselves. On entering the castle, he is guided by an enchanted candelabra that leads him to a laden dinner table where he falls asleep. Awakened by a loud roar, he wanders the castle's grounds. Remembering that Belle asked for a rose, he plucks a rose from a tree which makes the Beast (Jean Marais) appear. The Beast threatens to kill him for theft but suggests that one of his daughters can take his place. The Beast offers his horse Magnificent to guide him through the forest and to his home.

Belle's father explains the situation to his family and Avenant. Belle agrees to take her father's place and rides Magnificent to the castle. Upon meeting the Beast, Belle faints at his monstrous appearance and is carried to her room in the castle. Belle awakens to find a magic mirror which allows her to see anything. The Beast invites Belle to dinner, where he tells her that she's in equal command to him and that she will be asked every day to marry him. Days pass as Belle grows more accustomed to and fond of the Beast, but she continues to refuse marriage. Using the magic mirror, Belle sees that her father has become deathly ill. Belle begs for permission to visit her family, and the Beast reluctantly grants her permission to leave for a week. He gives Belle two magical items: a glove that can transport her wherever she wishes and a golden key that unlocks Diana's Pavilion, the source of the Beast's true riches. He tells Belle that he gives her these precious items to show his trust in her, and says that if she does not return at the end of the week, he will die of grief.

Belle uses the glove to appear in her bedridden father's room, where her visit restores him to health. Belle finds her family living in poverty, having never recovered from Ludovic's deal with the moneylender. Jealous of Belle's rich life at the castle, Adelaide and Felicie steal her golden key and devise a plan to turn Ludovic and Avenant against the Beast. Avenant and Ludovic devise a plan of their own to kill the Beast, and agree to aid Belle's sisters. To stall Belle, her sisters trick her into staying past her seven-day limit by pretending to love her. Belle reluctantly agrees to stay.

The Beast sends Magnificent with the magic mirror to retrieve Belle but Ludovic and Avenant find Magnificent first, and ride him to the castle. Belle later finds the mirror which reveals the Beast's sorrowful face in its reflection. Belle realizes she is missing the golden key as the mirror breaks. Distraught, Belle returns to the castle using the magic glove and finds the Beast in the courtyard, near death from a broken heart.

Meanwhile, Avenant and Ludovic stumble upon Diana's Pavilion. Thinking that their stolen key may trigger a trap, they scale the wall of the Pavilion. As the Beast dies in Belle's arms, Avenant breaks into the Pavilion through its glass roof, whereupon he is shot with an arrow by an animated statue of the Roman goddess Diana and is himself turned into a Beast. As this happens, arising from where the Beast lay dead is Prince Ardent (Jean Marais) who is cured of being the Beast. He explains that because his parents did not believe in spirits, in revenge the spirits turned him into the Beast. Prince Ardent and Belle embrace, then fly away to his kingdom where she will be his Queen. He promises that her father will stay with them and Belle's sisters will carry the train of her gown.

In the events of the previous novel, Crisóstomo Ibarra, a reform-minded ''mestizo'' who tried to establish a modern school in his hometown of San Diego and marry his childhood sweetheart, was falsely accused of rebellion and presumed dead after a shootout following his escape from prison. Elías, his friend who was also a reformer, sacrificed his life to give Crisóstomo a chance to regain his treasure and flee the country, and hopefully continue their crusade for reforms from abroad. After a thirteen-year absence from the country, a more revolutionary Crisóstomo has returned, having taken the identity of Simoun, a mysterious wealthy jeweler whose objective is to drive the government to commit as much abuse as possible in order to drive people into revolution.

Simoun goes from town to town presumably to sell his jewels. Reaching San Diego, he detours to a forested land once owned by the Ibarras to retrieve more of his treasures buried in the mausoleum. There his true identity as Crisóstomo Ibarra is discovered by a now-grown Basilio, who was also in the mausoleum visiting his mother's grave. In the years since the death of his mother, Basilio had been serving as Capitán Tiago's servant in exchange for being allowed to study, and is now an aspiring doctor on his last year at university as well as administrator and apparent heir to Capitán Tiago's wealth. Simoun reveals his motives to Basilio and offers him a place in his plans. Too secure of his place in the world, Basilio declines.

At Barrio Sagpang in the town of Tiani, Simoun stays at the house of the village's ''cabeza de barangay'', Tales. Having suffered misfortune after misfortune in recent years, Kabesang Tales is unable to resist the temptation to steal Simoun's revolver and join the bandits. In Los Baños, Simoun joins his friend, the Captain-General, who is then taking a break from a hunting excursion. In a friendly game of cards with him and his cronies, Simoun raises the stakes higher and higher and half-jokingly secures blank orders for deportation, imprisonment, and summary execution from the Captain-General.

Later on, Simoun goes to Manila and meets Quiroga, a wealthy Chinese businessman and aspiring consul-general for the Chinese empire. Knowing Quiroga is heavily in his debt, Simoun offers him a steep discount if the former stores his massive arsenal of rifles in Quiroga's warehouses, to be used presumably for extortion activities with Manila's elite. Despite his hatred of guns and weaponry, Quiroga reluctantly agrees to do the job and uses his bazaar as a front.

During the Quiapo Fair, a talking heads exhibit ostensibly organized by an American named Mr. Leeds but secretly commissioned by Simoun is drawing popular acclaim. Padre Bernardo Salví, now chaplain of the Convent of the Poor Clares, attends one of the performances. The exhibit is set in Ptolemaic Egypt but features a tale that closely resembled that of Crisóstomo Ibarra and María Clara, and their fate under Salví. The show ends with an ominous vow of revenge. Deeply overcome with guilt and fear, Salví recommends the show be banned, but not before Mr. Leeds sailed for Hong Kong.

Months pass and the night of Simoun's revolution comes. Simoun visits Basilio in Tiago's house and tries to convince him again to join his revolution. He reveals his plan for the attack: a cannon volley shall be fired, at which point Kabesang Tales, now a bandit identifying himself as Matanglawin, and Simoun who managed to deceive and recruit a sizable rogue force among the government troops, will lead their forces into the city. The leaders of the Church, the University, scores of bureaucrats, the Captain-General himself, as well as the bulk of officers guarding them are all conveniently located in one location, the theater where a controversial and much-hyped performance of ''Les cloches de Corneville'' is taking place. While Simoun and Matanglawin direct their forces, Basilio and several others are to raid the Convent of the Poor Clares and rescue María Clara.

However, Basilio reports to Simoun that María Clara died just that afternoon, after suffering the travails of monastic life under Salví, who always lusted after her. Simoun, driven by grief, aborts the attack and becomes crestfallen throughout the night. It will be reported later on that he suffered an "accident" that night, leaving him confined to his bed.

The following day, posters threatening violence to the leaders of the university and the government are found at the university doors. A reform-oriented student group to which Basilio belonged is named the primary suspects; the members are arrested, including Basilio, despite his absence from the group's mock celebration. They are eventually freed through the intercession of relatives, except for Basilio who is an orphan and has no means to pay for his freedom. During his imprisonment, he learns that Capitán Tiago has died, leaving him with nothing; it is revealed that Tiago's will was actually forged by his spiritual advisor Padre Írene, who also supplies him with opium; his childhood sweetheart Juli has committed suicide to avoid getting raped by parish priest Camorra when she tried asking for help on Basilio's behalf; and that he has missed his graduation and will be required to study for another year, but now with no funds to go by. Released through the intercession of Simoun, a darkened, disillusioned Basilio joins Simoun's cause wholeheartedly.

Simoun, meanwhile, has been organizing a new revolution, and he reveals his plans to a now committed Basilio. The wedding of Juanito Peláez and Paulita Gómez will be used to coordinate the attack upon the city. As the Peláez and Gómez families are prominent members of the Manila elite, leaders of the church and civil government are invited to the reception. The Captain-General, who declined to extend his tenure despite Simoun's urging, is leaving in two days and is the guest of honor.

Simoun will personally deliver a pomegranate-shaped crystal lamp as a wedding gift. The lamp is to be placed on a plinth at the reception venue and will be bright enough to illuminate the entire hall, which was also walled with mirrors. After some time the light will flicker as if to go out. When someone attempts to raise the wick, a mechanism hidden within the lamp containing fulminated mercury will detonate, igniting the lamp which is actually filled with nitroglycerin, killing everyone in an enormous blast.

At the sound of the explosion, Simoun's mercenaries will attack, reinforced by Matanglawin and his bandits who will descend upon the city from the surrounding hills. Simoun postulates that at the chaos, the masses, already worked to a panic by the government's heavy-handed response to the poster incident, as well as rumors of German ships at the bay to lend their firepower to any uprising against the Spanish government, will step out in desperation to kill or be killed. Basilio and a few others are to put themselves at their head and lead them to Quiroga's warehouses, where Simoun's guns are still being kept. The plan thus finalized, Simoun gives Basilio a loaded revolver and sends him away to await further instructions.

Basilio walks the streets for hours and passes by his old home, Capitán Tiago's riverside house on Anloague Street. He discovers that this was to be the reception venue – Juanito Peláez's father bought Tiago's house as a gift for the newlywed couple. Sometime later, he sees Simoun enter the house with the lamp, then hastily exit the house and board his carriage. Basilio begins to move away but sees Isagani, his friend and Paulita Gómez's former lover, sadly looking at Paulita through the window. Noting how close they were to the condemned house, Basilio tries to head Isagani off, but Isagani was too dazed with grief to listen to him. In desperation, Basilio reveals to Isagani how the house is set to explode at any time then. But when Isagani still refuses to heed him, Basilio flees, leaving Isagani to his fate.

Seeing Basilio's demeanor, Isagani is temporarily, rather belatedly unnerved by the revelation. Isagani rushes into the house, seizes the lamp leaving the hall in darkness, and throws it into the river. With this, Simoun's second revolution fails as well.

In the following days, as the trappings at the reception venue are torn down, sacks containing gunpowder are discovered hidden under the boards all over the house. Simoun, who had directed the renovations, is exposed. With his friend, the Captain-General, having left for Spain, Simoun is left without his protector and is forced to flee. A manhunt ensues and Simoun is chased as far away as the shores of the Pacific. He then spends the rest of his days hiding in the ancestral mansion of Padre Florentino, Isagani's uncle.

One day, the lieutenant of the local Guardia Civil informs Florentino that he received an order to arrest Simoun that night. In response, Simoun drinks the slow-acting poison which he always kept in a compartment on his treasure chest. Simoun then makes his final confession to Florentino, first revealing his true name, to Florentino's shock. He goes on to narrate how thirteen years before, as Crisóstomo Ibarra, he lost everything in the Philippines despite his good intentions. Crisóstomo swore vengeance. Retrieving some of his family's treasure Elias buried in the Ibarra mausoleum in the forest, Crisóstomo fled to foreign lands and engaged in trade. He took part in the war in Cuba, aiding first one side and then another, but always profiting. There Crisóstomo met the Captain-General who was then a major, whose goodwill he won first by loans of money, and afterwards by covering for his criminal activity. Crisóstomo bribed his way to secure the major's promotion to Captain-General and his assignment to the Philippines. Once in the country, Crisóstomo then used him as a blind tool and incited him to all kinds of injustice, availing himself of the Captain-General's insatiable lust for gold.

The confession is long and arduous, and night has fallen when Crisóstomo finished. In the end, Florentino assures the dying man of God's mercy, but explains that his revolution failed because he has chosen means that God cannot sanction. Crisóstomo bitterly accepts the explanation and dies.

Realizing that the arresting officers will confiscate Crisóstomo's possessions, Florentino divests him of his jewels and casts them into the sea, proclaiming that should people need wealth for a righteous cause, God will provide the means to draw them out, adding that they are better hidden at the bottom of the sea in the meantime, where they cannot be found to be used for distorting justice or inciting greed.

''Armor'' is the story of humanity's war against an alien race whose foot soldiers are three-meter-tall insects, referred to in the book as "ants". It is also the story of a research colony on the fringes of human territory which is threatened by pirates. The two sub-plots intersect at the end, with each providing answers and insight into events of the other.

The title refers to the nuclear-powered exoskeletons worn by the soldiers, but also references the emotional armor the protagonists maintain to survive.

The plot on Banshee

The protagonist is Felix, an enlistee who's been given "scout" duty on an alien planet in the seemingly endless Antwar. Little is known of him initially but that he suffers from burnout and refuses to die, even when it seems inevitable. When entering into combat, a persona he calls the "Engine" takes over. The Engine makes him into a ruthless killing machine dedicated to keeping him alive at all costs.

The novel starts with Felix and his company assaulting an inhospitable planet aptly named "Banshee." Using armored infantry suits, soldiers drop onto the planet from starships via a teleportation device called "Transit." The attack goes horribly wrong, as Felix's company is completely wiped out, and the mountain fort they were originally supposed to capture is revealed to be a giant hive. In the aftermath of his first encounter, Felix regroups with the surviving humans. There, he meets another highly skilled scout named Forest, who participated in the fleet-wide Armored Olympics against decorated soldier Nathan Kent. It is also revealed that the Ants can lock onto the fleet's Transit beacons and barrage them with missiles fired from the Hive, making retreat impossible.

During a fallback to an elevated bluff, a dying soldier keys all functions on the suit and blows up the nuclear powered armor. Several warriors are killed in the disaster, including Forest. Before dying she confesses to Felix that she always loved Kent. With no options left the warriors resort to attacking the Hive to secure transport back to the ship. Exploiting the Hive's tunnel system, they plan to use a wounded soldier as a bomb to destroy it. Before the attack, Felix meets a soldier named Bolov who tells him that as a scout on his first drop, Felix has a 10% chance of survival.

Felix and his fellow soldiers are ambushed by ants on their way up the hive. During the attack, the soldier they planned on using as a bomb is killed, rendering him useless. In a stroke of bad luck, Bolov is also mortally wounded, grudgingly accepts the task of sacrificing himself and is thrown in the Hive by Felix. The Hive is then destroyed and the survivors are able to retreat back to the ship.

After 19 drops on Banshee, Felix has learned that he is an almost unstoppable warrior. His 20th drop is revealed to be a fleet mission to create humanity's first forward operating base on Banshee. He also learns that Nathan Kent will be dropping with him.

The soldiers successfully create an impregnable fort on Banshee. Felix learns from his inexperienced Commanding Officer, Canada Shoen, that one of the purposes of the fort is to show non-combat officers and journalists what the war is like. Felix is disgusted by this revelation. After spending time with Nathan Kent, he tells him about Forest's death and her true feelings for him. Kent is devastated and attacks Felix in a drunken rage. The fort withstands several assaults from the ants and wears them down almost to complete exhaustion. During a celebration for their victory, ants attack from underground and kill dozens of people, before ultimately being crushed again.

Felix discovers that his 21st drop will be with the Masao, the hereditary ruler of an extremely wealthy extra-solar planet of the same name founded and inhabited by Japanese. They drop into an area not infested with ants so that he can see Banshee for himself. The Masao goads Felix until he admits his past as the Guardian Archon, the elected leader of Golden, a similarly affluent planet. Felix's wife Angel was killed in a tragic freighter accident when she fled Golden, whose people would not accept her because she was from Earth. Felix had blamed Golden, shirked his responsibilities and joined the fleet in hopes of dying in battle. The Masao, who is his lifelong best friend, Allie, begs for Felix to return to Golden. He agrees to leave the military as Allie has brought a small courier ship and funds for him and his desire to die had subsided, but still refuses to return to Golden. Only moments before being teleported onto the ship, Felix notices a Hive in the distance that barrages them with missiles, killing Allie.

In the ensuing chaotic moments after being beamed back to the ship, Kent grabs Felix, who is being blamed for Allie's death. He pops Felix's armor and pushes him onto the ship that Allie had brought before being killed by troops as he blocked their path to Felix.

The plot on Sanction

A secondary plot takes place on Sanction, a planet far removed from the fighting, at a Fleet research facility. The two plots are intertwined, with events Felix experienced on Banshee recalled as flashbacks.

Jack Crow is a notorious celebrity and one-time pirate. A morally questionable character with views and opinions that are just as questionable, he is a tough man who does not hesitate to kill. He is constantly at odds with his own morality but he knows the difference between his celebrity reputation and his real personality. At times, his reputation is more of a burden than a blessing.

Jack, having been imprisoned, escapes and reaches the ship of a mutineer and deserter from the Antwar named Borglyn. Jack strikes a deal where, in exchange for Borglyn saving his life, he will infiltrate and sabotage the Fleet research project on Sanction so Borglyn can access its limitless Fleet power source to refuel his ship, a pretense as Borglyn actually wants to take over the planet. Borglyn will also pay Jack and give him a VIP courier ship to go his own way.

On Sanction, Jack takes an old suit of battle armor from the courier ship to project Director Hollis "Holly" Ware, to ingratiate himself and get the necessary access to fulfill his bargain with Borglyn. But Jack is then asked by Holly to participate in an experiment to retrieve the data from the suit's battle recorder, which is the "memory" of the wearer while the suit was active.

Out of curiosity and a bit of false bonhomie, Jack agrees; he, Holly and Lya (a Fleet psychologist and Holly's girlfriend) spend several sessions "immersed" firsthand in the life of Felix on Banshee and on board ship. During these sessions, more of events on Banshee are described, and the reader is introduced for the first time to Felix as he sees himself and experiences battle.

Through either the complacency or gross incompetence of his superiors, Felix has suffered unbelievably, yet continues to soldier on. This also challenges the trio to deal with the knowledge that the public story of the Antwar is far different from the true horror. These immersions change Jack - as it does the others - so that he chooses to make an almost certain suicidal stand with Holly against Borglyn's attack on the facility.

Throughout the novel, Jack comes into contact with the alcoholic owner of Sanction, a wealthy rancher named Lewis. Lewis is profoundly anti-war and doesn't allow his citizens to carry energy weapons. Jack comes to despise Lewis for his irresponsible drunken nature. During Borglyn's attack, Jack and Holly are on the verge of defeat when Lewis mounts a last minute rescue. Sensing the hopelessness of the situation, he reactivates the armor, revealing himself to be Felix. The ship Borglyn gave Jack was Felix's. He dons the fully charged scout armor and uses it to destroy Borglyn's forces and attack the ship. At the last second, Borglyn fires all of the ships weapon's, seemingly destroying everything around it. He orders the crew to lift off to escape Felix.

Jack and Holly watch in awe as this happens, and catch a final glimpse of Felix on the back of the starship through a security camera just before the ship moves out of range. The government of Golden sends emissaries to Sanction to learn the story. They refuse to end their search for their leader as no wreckage or bodies were found. Jack, Holly, and Lya start new lives on Sanction outside of fleet influence.

: ''Note: This synopsis is consistent with the novel in its later forms (1946 and subsequent editions) but differs in detail from the original 1928 text as transcribed at Project Gutenberg. There were significant changes between the 1928 magazine publication and the 1946 hardcover, and between the early hardcovers and the late 1950s and later paperback editions.''

''The Skylark of Space'', ''Amazing Stories'', August 1928

''The Skylark of Space'' is the first book of the ''Skylark'' series and pits the idealistic protagonist, Dick Seaton, against the mercantile antagonist Marc "Blackie" DuQuesne.

At the beginning of the story, Seaton accidentally discovers a workable space drive in combining pure copper with a newly discovered [fictional] element "X" (suggested to be a stable transactinide element in the platinum group) in solution. Having failed to re-create the effect, Seaton realizes that the missing component is a field generated by DuQuesne's particle accelerator, and thereafter sets up a business with his millionaire friend, Martin Crane, to build a spaceship. DuQuesne conspires to sabotage Seaton's spaceship and build his own from Seaton's plans, which he uses to kidnap Seaton's fiancée, Dorothy Vaneman, to exchange for the "X". In the resulting fight, DuQuesne's ship is accidentally set to full acceleration on an uncontrolled trajectory, until the copper 'power bar' is exhausted at a vast distance from Earth's Solar System. Using an "Object Compass" that once locked on an object, always points toward that object, Seaton and Crane follow DuQuesne in their own spaceship (the eponymous ''Skylark'') to rescue Dorothy and her fellow-hostage, Margaret "Peg" Spencer, until the ''Skylark'' discovers DuQuesne's ship derelict in orbit around a massive dead star (resembling a cold neutron star). Having obtained the hostages, Seaton extracts a promise from DuQuesne to "act as one of the party until they get back to Earth", in which relationship they leave orbit and travel further in search of additional fuel.

On an Earthlike exoplanet, they obtain "X" from an outcrop almost purely of that mineral; then leave that planet in search of copper. Following an encounter with a "Disembodied Intelligence" (''Star Trek'''s "Q" would later show similar attributes), they enter a cluster of stars nicknamed “The Green System” and locate a planet having copper sulfate oceans. On the Earth-like "Osnome", they befriend the rulers of Mardonale, one of the two factions of the Osnomian natives. When the Mardonalian ruler attempts to betray Seaton and his friends, they find allies in Prince Dunark (a crown-prince of Mardonale's rival "Kondal") and his consort Princess Sitar, whom they later assist in destroying Mardonale. In gratitude, the Kondalians make new copper "power bars" and rebuild the ''Skylark'' as ''Skylark Two'', with new weapons known to Kondalian science. Thereafter Seaton's marriage to Dorothy, and Crane's to Margaret, are solemnized by the Kondalian monarchy, and Seaton himself declared nominal "Overlord" of Kondal. The ''Skylark'' then returns to Earth, laden with jewels, platinum, radium, and a plenitude of "X"; but near Earth, DuQuesne leaves the ''Skylark'' by parachute, and the story ends with the ''Skylark'''s landing on Crane's Field.

Penn and Teller appear on a television show where Penn jokingly comments that he wishes someone were trying to kill him. Soon after, the magicians are off to a scheduled show in Atlantic City. At the airport, a religious zealot confronts Penn about his comments from the television show the night before. Teller and Carlotta play a prank on Penn while going through security and Penn gets back at Teller by planting a toy gun on him while at the airport.

After exposing fraudulent psychic surgery to Carlotta's wealthy Uncle Ernesto, Penn and Teller are kidnapped by angry Filipinos wishing revenge for damaging their reputation. Immediately before being brutally tortured, the situation is revealed to Penn as a birthday prank played by Teller, Carlotta and Uncle Ernesto.

Soon after, while leaving the theatre from their nightly performance, someone opens fire on Penn, shooting him in the arm. Teller is accused of hiring an assassin as a joke, but as time goes on it becomes clear that Teller is not part of the joke. Teller purchases a gun for self-defense and ''femme fatale'' Officer MacNamara vows to keep Penn safe from snipers.

Officer MacNamara announces that a nameless villain, a supposed vehement Penn & Teller fan who dresses and acts like Penn, has been arrested. Penn and Teller get to tour his bizarre apartment turned Penn & Teller shrine. Teller innocuously disposes of his gun in a trashcan of the apartment. Shortly after MacNamara departs, Penn is stabbed in the stomach by an assailant on the street. Penn rushes off to hospital where, once Teller is out of sight, he appears perfectly fine. Teller proceeds to pursue the would-be assassin in a peculiar chase scene back to the apartment.

The madman, dressed as Penn, forces Teller to enact a Penn & Teller routine with him, hanging in gravity boots in front of a camera. He then uses duct tape to secure the hapless Teller to the gravity boot rig. Officer MacNamara returns and the assassin leaves to finish off Penn. MacNamara confesses to Teller her contempt of Penn and Teller. The confused Teller is able to grab the gun from the wastebasket and threatens MacNamara with it. He hears a voice behind him and as the individual grabs him, he shoots the individual only to realize it's Penn, who appears to fall over dead.

MacNamara laughs, thinking that it's a new joke. She then reveals herself as Carlotta. The implications of what has just happened suddenly catch up with them: The whole event had been a joke on Teller who turned everything around on the players. Teller, breaking silence for the first time, immediately thinks they switched the gun for a replica, but then realizes the gun he was holding is real and he just killed his partner. Teller turns the gun on himself.

Carlotta, stricken with grief, throws herself out the window. Upon returning to his apartment and finding everyone dead, the "hired assassin", realizing he'll certainly be implicated in the deaths, shoots himself. Others who come into the apartment and find the carnage shoot themselves. Gunshots are heard in the distance, while the Bee Gees song "I Started a Joke" plays in the background. In a voice over, Penn explains this is the definitive end of it all.

Jason Stillwell is a young karate student and Bruce Lee fanatic who trains in his father Tom's dojo in Sherman Oaks, California. One night after a training session, the dojo is visited by members of an organized crime syndicate looking to take over all the dojos in the country. After refusing to join the organization, Tom's leg is broken by a Soviet martial artist named Ivan "The Russian" Krachinsky, one of the boss' hired thugs. A furious Jason tries to take revenge but is easily subdued by the Soviet. Tom discourages any further effort, telling his son that fighting is not the answer.

The Stillwell family relocates to Seattle, where Jason meets R.J. Madison and they become good friends. Jason reunites with his old girlfriend Kelly Riley, who lives in the neighborhood with her brother, Ian 'Whirlwind' Riley, the newly crowned U.S. National Karate Champion. Despite this, Jason has a hard time adjusting, as he and R.J. are constantly beaten and harassed by the local bullies led by an obese boy named Scott and arrogant martial artist Dean 'Shooting Star' Ramsay. After getting beaten up and humiliated by Scott and Dean at Kelly's birthday party, Jason visits the grave of Bruce Lee and beseeches him for aid.

Later that night, Jason and Tom have a heated argument over Jason's involving himself in fights. When Jason calls his father a coward for running away from the syndicate, Tom destroys some of Jason's Bruce Lee memorabilia in the garage. Distraught, Jason consults with R.J., who helps him move all of his training gear into an abandoned house nearby. Exhausted from the move, Jason falls asleep at the house, but is suddenly awakened by the soul of Bruce Lee, who appears to Jason and begins to train him. Under Lee's tutelage, Jason goes from a below average fighter to a superior martial artist, at one point able to fend off several thugs who ambush his father in a parking lot. In doing so, Jason convinces him that there are times when fighting is necessary.

Later on, Jason, Tom, and R.J. attend an annual full-contact kickboxing tournament between the Seattle Sidekicks and the Manhattan Maulers martial arts teams. Before the contest can get under way, the crime syndicate interrupts and makes a wager that none of the Seattle fighters can defeat Ivan. While Dean and Frank are easily bested by the Soviet, Ivan's last opponent, Ian, makes an impressive showing, forcing Ivan to resort to dirty tactics to defeat him. With Ian helplessly entangled in the ring ropes, Scott attempts to bite Ivan in the leg, but the Soviet dispatches him with a headbutt. Kelly tries to stop Ivan by hitting him with a stool, but the Soviet easily disarms her and grabs her by the hair. Angered by this, Jason charges to the ring and attacks Ivan to the delight of the crowd. Utilizing his advanced training, Jason is finally able to conquer his nemesis and earns the respect of his peers and family, who celebrate with him as the frustrated crime syndicate leaves Seattle.

The film is set in Moscow in 1958, after Burgess had defected to the Soviet Union in 1951 with Donald Maclean when it became apparent that Maclean was about to be investigated by British intelligence. Burgess barges into Browne's dressing room in the interval of a touring Shakespeare Memorial Theatre production of ''Hamlet'', in which she portrayed Gertrude, and charms her. Later on she is invited to his Moscow flat, finding it with some difficulty, to measure him for a suit that he would like ordered from his London tailor. On returning to London, she visits several high-class gentlemen's outfitters to purchase his requirements.

Richard "Dicky" Pilager, the dim-witted scion of a powerful political dynasty, is running for Governor of Colorado. One day, while filming a campaign ad that shows him fishing at Arapahoe Lake, Pilager hooks a corpse on location. Chuck Raven, Pilager's campaign manager, hires Danny O'Brien, a former journalist who works as a private investigator, to examine the case. Raven urges O'Brien to find potential links between the body and Pilager's political enemies.

O'Brien's job is essentially to intimidate Pilager's opponents, and he has numerous revealing conversations with various people. He learns that business mogul Wes Benteen is using Pilager to promote his own agenda. The interviews also reveal further corruption: politicians, land developers, and mining companies are conspiring to ignore certain environmental issues. O'Brien also learns about illegal migrant workers, as well as a potentially damaging love affair.