"This cheerful little road novel, published in 1919, is about Claire Boltwood, who, in the early days of the 20th century, travels by automobile from New York City to the Pacific Northwest, where she falls in love with a nice, down-to-earth young man and gives up her snobbish Estate." (From the Book Stub)
From a critical perspective, ''Free Air'' is consistent with Sinclair Lewis's lean towards egalitarian politics, which he displays in his other works (most notably in ''It Can't Happen Here''). Examples of his politics in ''Free Air'' are found in Lewis's emphasis on the heroic role played by the book's protagonist, Milt Dagget, a working class everyman type. Conversely, Lewis presents nearly every upper-class character in Claire Boltwood's world (including her railroad-mogul father) as snobby elitists. The story also champions the democratic nature of the automobile versus the more aristocratic railroad travel. Lewis's emphasis on the freedom which automobiles would eventually give the working and middle classes bolsters the egalitarian, democratic aesthetic. ''Free Air'' is one of the first novels about the road trip, a subject around which the Beats (most notably Jack Kerouac) would build a cult following in the mid-20th century.
In the HBO series ''Boardwalk Empire'', set initially in 1920, Jimmy and his girlfriend Pearl are reading ''Free Air''. The 18-year-old Chicago prostitute Pearl hopes to head West like the heroine, along with Jimmy.
Angel briefs his team on his plan to kill all the members of the Circle of the Black Thorn. Marcus Hamilton calls Angel to an emergency meeting of the circle, where the other members express doubts about Angel's loyalties. Angel proves himself to them by irrevocably renouncing his role in the Shanshu Prophecy, thereby giving up his chance to become human. Back at Wolfram & Hart, Angel meets with his old enemy Lindsey McDonald and enlists him in the planned attack on the Circle. He then tells the rest of his group that the plan will proceed that night. Lorne has serious reservations about Angel's plan, and his mood is dark and somber.
Angel advises his friends to spend the rest of the day as if it were their last, surmising that they will most likely not survive that night. Angel visits his son, Connor, who reveals that he knows that Angel is his father; his old memories are now "mixed in" with his new ones, and he understands and appreciates why Angel gave him new memories. Lindsey spends the day with Eve, who is suspicious of Angel even though Lindsey now trusts him. Gunn spends his day helping Anne at the homeless shelter that she maintains. Spike goes to a seedy bar, where he drinks heavily and recites poetry onstage. Wesley spends his day in his apartment tending to Illyria's wounds, telling her there is nothing else he wants and nowhere for him to be. When Illyria asks why he will not let her comfort him in Fred's form, Wesley admits that even though he loves and misses Fred, he must face the harsh reality of Fred's death in order to survive.
The team splits up to attack members of the Circle separately, making plans to reunite if they survive their missions. As they leave, Lorne tells Angel that this is the last thing he will do for him as he is leaving for good. Gunn, Spike, and Illyria kill their targets; Lindsey and Lorne wipe out the Sahvrin clan. Then, on Angel's order, Lorne executes Lindsey and then leaves, traumatized by his ordeal. Wesley is killed as he knocks out Cyrus Vail; as he dies, a devastated Illyria comforts him in Fred's guise, then kills Vail when he regains consciousness.
Hamilton, warned of the plan by Harmony, confronts Angel – intent on stopping his plan to kill the Circle's leader. Angel reveals that he had already anticipated Harmony's betrayal and has already poisoned Archduke Sebassis. The two begin their struggle; Angel is losing his fight with Hamilton, until Connor arrives to join the fight. Hamilton proudly announces that the power of the Senior Partners courses through his veins, prompting Angel to assume vampiric form and drink his blood – acquiring enough of Hamilton's strength to defeat him. Expecting a swift counterattack from the Senior Partners as the building begins to collapse, Angel directs Connor to leave; then heads to rendezvous with his surviving allies.
An army of supernatural creatures descends on Angel, Spike, Illyria and a wounded Gunn. As the episode (and series) ends, the four prepare to battle and Angel declares, "Let's go to work."
The short involves a boy named André awakening in a forest and being confronted by a pesky bumblebee named Wally B. André tricks the bee into turning his back so that he can run away. Angered, Wally B. chases André and eventually catches up with him, and strikes with the stinger. A collision occurs off-screen and a dizzy Wally B. reappears with a bent stinger. Shortly thereafter, Wally B. gets hit by André's tossed hat as a last laugh for revenge.
While waiting in the park for Buffy, her mother Joyce discovers the bodies of two dead children. At school the next day, Buffy shows Giles a symbol which was visible on the hands of the two children. He tells her that demons do not use symbols, and that it is no doubt occult-related. This angers Buffy, as Slayers are forbidden to harm humans, even dark witches.
At lunch, Buffy tells the Scooby Gang about the murders. Joyce shows up and announces that there will be a vigil at City Hall that night. Many concerned parents attend the vigil, including Willow's mother. Mayor Wilkins says a few words before Joyce gives a speech about how the people of Sunnydale must take back their city from the monsters, witches, and slayers.
Later, Michael, Amy, and Willow perform a spell in a circle that surrounds the symbol Buffy saw on the children's hands. Buffy finds the symbol in one of Willow's notebooks. Willow explains that the symbol is part of a protection spell for Buffy's upcoming birthday.
Meanwhile, all the school lockers are searched for witch-related material, and Giles's occult books are seized by police. Amy and Willow are taken to Principal Snyder's office for questioning.
At Buffy's home, Joyce forbids Buffy to see Willow anymore, takes credit for the locker searches and states that Buffy's slaying does Sunnydale no good. The ghosts of two children appear to Joyce and tell her that she has to hurt the "bad girls".
At the park, Buffy talks with Angel, who convinces her not to give up fighting. When he makes a passing remark about the children and their parents, Buffy is struck by the thought that the children's parents were never seen or mentioned, and the fact that no one knows the children's names. After using the Internet to contact Willow, the Scooby Gang learns that every fifty years throughout history, the murdered bodies of two nameless children have been found, resulting in peaceful communities being torn apart by vigilante chaos. The earliest record dating from Germany during 1649, where a cleric from the Black Forest discovered the corpses of "Hans and Greta Strauss", inspiring the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel. Giles explains that certain demons thrive on watching humans destroy each other through persecution and ignorance. According to Giles, this is what set off the Salem Witch Trials.
Buffy and Giles are knocked out with chloroform by Joyce and her friends, at the behest of the two children. Amy, Willow, and Buffy are taken to City Hall where they are tied to wooden posts surrounded by books. Cordelia finds Giles unconscious, wakes him and they rush to City Hall. Just as Buffy wakes up, her mother lights books on fire, sentencing the three girls to death by burning at the stake. Amy escapes by transforming herself into a rat.
At City Hall, Cordelia uses a fire hose to put the burning stakes out. The two children transform into a large demon which charges at Buffy. She breaks her stake and uses it to impale the demon.
Buffy and Willow play with Amy the rat and are looking for a way to restore her to human form. Buffy's and Willow's mothers have forgotten about what happened but Willow's mom remembers Willow said she is dating Oz, and he has been invited to dinner.
Henry Rowengartner, an unskilled Little Leaguer who dreams of playing in the major leagues, breaks his arm catching a fly ball. When the doctor removes the cast, he discovers Henry's tendons have healed "a little too tight", enabling Henry to throw a ball with incredible force.
At Wrigley Field during a Chicago Cubs game, Henry's friends get a home run ball hit by the visiting Montreal Expos. Observing the Wrigley Field tradition of throwing the ball back to the field following an opposing home run, Henry throws it so hard that it reaches home plate, away, on the fly. Desperate to save the club from declining attendance, general manager Larry Fisher looks to recruit Henry. Manager Sal Martinella visits Henry at home with a radar gun, and discovers that Henry can pitch at over . For the remainder of the season, Henry juggles the culture shock of playing in the major leagues alongside one of his heroes, aging pitcher Chet (Rocket) Steadman, and socializing. Henry's mother, Mary, tries to keep him grounded while resisting attempts by her boyfriend, Jack, and Fisher to exploit him.
Henry's first game is a relief appearance against the New York Mets, where his first pitch gives up a home run to the Mets' arrogant slugger Heddo, and then hits a batter, throws a wild pitch, yet still manages to get his first save. Henry improves his control under Steadman's tutoring and records a second consecutive save against the San Francisco Giants, and his first MLB strikeout.
Continuing to impress, Henry bats for the first time in a road game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He frustrates the pitcher with his small stature and tiny strike zone, to the point that he walks Henry on four straight high pitches. He further taunts the pitcher at first and second base, and the pitcher retaliates by hitting the next batter, but Henry and that next batter manage to both score runs despite nearly passing each other on the base paths.
The Cubs are winning, and Henry is growing in pitching success and fame. His personal life becomes strained as his friends grow resentful, and Mary breaks up with Jack and throws him out of the house when he tricks her into signing a contract that will send Henry to the New York Yankees. Henry resolves the conflict with his friends, and team owner Bob Carson explains he never authorized a deal with the Yankees and wants to retain Henry. Disappointed that Henry will retire at the end of the season, Carson respects Henry's decision, and demotes Fisher down to hot dog vendor after learning he tried to set up the deal.
On the last day of the season, the Cubs face the Mets again at Wrigley Field, with Steadman starting. If the Cubs triumph, they win the division and move on to the National League Championship Series. Steadman pitches his best game in years, but he injures his arm on the last pitch. The ball is hit to Steadman who cannot throw it to home plate because his arm is hurt. He runs home and dives to tag the runner out at home, keeping the Cubs in the lead. He turns the ball over to Henry, who easily strikes out the side in the seventh and eighth innings. At the top of the ninth, Henry slips on a baseball, reversing the effects of his first fall and reducing his arm strength to normal.
Henry frustrates the Cubs and their fans by intentionally walking the first batter. He explains to his teammates why he can no longer throw fastballs, and sends them back to their positions with a plan. With their cooperation, Henry sneaks the ball to the first baseman, who tags the runner out. Henry walks the next batter, with whom he trades insults. When the runner dares him to throw the ball high, Henry does so but stops as the runner takes off for second and is tagged out, setting up a final showdown with Heddo. Henry throws a changeup, which Heddo misses, and his next hit appears headed for the bleachers but is ruled a foul ball. Henry opens his glove to find not his father's name, but Mary's. In the stands, she signals him to throw a "floater". He does so and strikes out a shocked Heddo (who then throws a tantrum at home plate), winning the division title for the Cubs and head to the National League Championship Series.
The next spring, Henry plays Little League again. Mary and Steadman, now a couple, are his team's coaches. After catching a potential home run ball that ensures his team's victory, Henry raises his fist to reveal a Cubs World Series championship ring, signifying his role in the Cubs' World Series victory.
Inspired by low-budget sci-fi films, comic books, and fantasy pulp fiction of the 1950s, ''Diabolical Tales: Part I - Genesis of the Men From Within The Earth'', is set in November 1952 just days after the first secret tests of the H-bomb. Rookie FBI Agent Cooper and his partner Agent Thompson are on a stakeout when they encounter a mysterious man dressed in a black cloak. Minutes later, Agent Thompson has been vaporized by the villain's "electro-incinerator" and Agent Cooper has been stunned unconscious. He is teamed up with a cryptic US government agent known only as Operative-132 who works for the newly formed National Security Agency. Together they set out to put the stops on the evil Zong, a saboteur who hails from an ancient, hidden underground empire called Agartha.
''Diabolical Tales: Part II'' is set in December 1954, two years after the events of ''Diabolical Tales: Part I''. A group of evil hench-women, led by the partially deaf arch-villain Zerg (Sparky Schneider), are sent up from their underground fiefdom to capture the Sapphire of Agartha, a mystical relic that was stolen and handed over to heroes Agent Cooper (Brian Bedell) and Operative-132 (Mike Larose).
''Diabolical Tales: Part III'' is set in July 1955, and picks up with Agent Cooper as his wife Kate (Rachel Knutton) is kidnapped. Meanwhile, the evil men from within the earth, this time led by the cunning and maniacal Zerrath (Brian Van Kay), launch a two-pronged attack against the 'surface-dwellers' in an effort to retrieve the still-missing Sapphire of Agartha and conquer the world. The events that unfold will solidify Agent Cooper's destiny.
Kirk Van Houten gives a speech to the kids at Springfield Elementary about his occupation of assistant flyer distributor. Owing to the short and unengaging nature of his speech, Principal Skinner and Mrs. Krabappel take Lisa's advice and visit the Springfield Writer's Forum to find a better speaker, where they meet Jeff Jenkins, creator of the popular TV cartoon ''Danger Dog''. Jenkins comes to the school to give a presentation on ''Danger Dog'', and fascinates the kids by telling them about the cartoon industry. Inspired by Jenkins, Bart creates the comic ''Danger Dude'' and tries to sell it to Comic Book Guy at The Android's Dungeon, but is turned down. Stan Lee enters the store and tells Bart that although his comic is bad, he should keep trying to "find his own voice."
At home, Bart comes up with a character called ''Angry Dad'', a caricature of his father Homer and his frequent angry outbursts. The first issue of ''Angry Dad'' becomes a hit with the kids in school, although Lisa finds it insulting to their father's activities; Comic Book Guy begins selling the comic at The Android's Dungeon. Later, Bart is approached by a spokesman for an Internet entertainment site who wants to make ''Angry Dad'' into an online animated cartoon series, and he agrees in exchange for stock. The cartoon becomes a viral hit, but Homer remains unaware of ''Angry Dad'' until he finds out one day at work. Humiliated, Homer returns home and strangles Bart. Marge and Lisa stop Homer and calm him down, pointing out he has anger management issues. He agrees to work on his issues by suppressing his anger from that point and to be a calmer person, disregarding Marge's attempts to convince him to go on a diet.
The next day, Homer stays true to his word and remains calm, though his attempts to repress his rage causes lumps to develop on his neck. However, his new calm demeanor has taken away Bart's inspiration for his cartoon, so Bart and Milhouse set up a trap for Homer to trigger another outburst. Later, they go to the Internet company office, where they find the company has gone bankrupt (Internet Bubble Burst). Realizing their mistake, they race back home to stop Homer from falling into the trap. Homer reaches home and happens upon Bart's trap, but he keeps his calm throughout its run, resulting in more lumps on his neck. The trap ends with Homer falling into a pool full of green paint just as Bart and Milhouse arrive, prompting him to go berserk and storm through town à la the Hulk. He is then restrained by the police and admitted to the hospital.
When Marge reprimands Bart for causing $10 million worth of damage to the city with his trap, Dr. Hibbert arrives and claims that Bart unknowingly saved Homer's life by enraging him. He explains the lumps on his neck were actually boils caused by suppressed rage and would have otherwise fatally overwhelmed his system had Bart's prank not set him off with the right outburst he needed. Homer thanks Bart by taking him fishing, despite the latter annoying his father.
The film mainly focuses on the "coming of age" of four girl students at a midwestern university during spring vacation. In a class discussion, smart, down-to-earth Merritt Andrews suggests that premarital sex might be something young women should experience. Melanie Tolman, a magnet for young men, loses her virginity on her first date, soon after the young women arrive in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Tuggle Carpenter seeks to be a "baby-making machine", lacking only a man to join her in marriage. The athletic Angie, who is clueless about romance, rounds out the group.
The girls find their attitudes challenged. Merritt, a freshman, meets suave, darkly handsome Ryder Smith, a senior at Brown University, and realizes she is not ready for sex. Melanie discovers that Franklin, a boy from Yale University whom she thought loved her, was only using her for sex. Tuggle quickly fixes her attention on goofy "TV" Thompson, a junior at Michigan State University, but becomes disillusioned when he becomes infatuated with performer Lola Fandango, a "mermaid" swimmer/dancer in a local nightclub. Angie stumbles into a relationship with eccentric jazz musician Basil.
The relationship angst of Merritt, Tuggle, and Angie evaporates when they discover Melanie is distraught after going to meet Franklin at a motel and instead finding there another of the "Yalies", Dill, who raped her. Franklin had moved on to another girl, but told Dill that Melanie was "easy" and set up the ambush. Melanie, her dress torn, walks into traffic. Just as her friends arrive, she is sideswiped by a car and is rushed to the hospital.
Ultimately, the girls resolve to act more maturely and responsibly. Melanie recovers in the hospital, with Merritt looking after her. Merritt promises Ryder she will continue their long-distance relationship. He then drives them back to college.
The First Doctor (William Hartnell), Ian Chesterton (William Russell), and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) are still missing the Doctor's granddaughter Susan Foreman when the TARDIS lands on a planet the Doctor eventually recognises as Dido, a world he has visited before. The trio soon encounter two survivors of a space crash, Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) and Bennett (Ray Barrett), who are awaiting a rescue ship that is due to arrive in three days time. Vicki and Bennett live in fear of Koquillion (Barrett), a bipedal inhabitant of Dido, who is stalking the area. Koquillion encounters the time travellers and attacks, pushing Barbara over a cliff and temporarily trapping Ian and the Doctor. Vicki finds Barbara injured and rescues her from Koquillion, and they share reminiscences. Vicki's father was among those who died when the survivors of the crash, save Bennett and Vicki, were lured to their deaths by the natives of Dido. She is evidently very lonely, having befriended an indigenous Sand Beast (Tom Sheridan) for company. However, when Ian and the Doctor reach the ship, tempers are fraught because Barbara mistook the Sand Beast for a threat and killed it.
The Doctor enters Bennett's room, and finds things are not as they seem. The supposedly crippled Bennett is missing, and a tape recorder hides his absence. He finds a trap door in the floor of the cabin and follows it to a temple carved from rock where he unmasks Koquillion as Bennett. Bennett reveals he killed a crewmember on board the ship and was arrested, but the ship crashed before the crime could be radioed to Earth. It was he who killed the crash survivors and the natives of Dido to cover his crime. He has been using the Koquillion alias so that Vicki would back up his story, and had hoped the planet would be destroyed when his version of events was given. Just as Bennett is about to kill the Doctor, two surviving native Didonians arrive and force Bennett to his death over a ledge. They then stop the signal to prevent the Rescue Ship reaching their planet. With no living family and nothing left for her on Dido, Vicki is welcomed aboard the TARDIS.
A month after the TARDIS fell off a cliff, the First Doctor (William Hartnell), Ian Chesterton (William Russell), Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill), and Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) are relaxing in an unoccupied Roman villa. The Doctor and Vicki leave the villa to travel to Rome. Ian and Barbara stay behind, but are soon kidnapped by slave traders and sold into slavery. Barbara is sold to a statesman in the court of Emperor Nero named Tavius (Michael Peake) as handmaiden to Nero's wife Poppaea Sabina (Kay Patrick), whilst Ian is confined to a galley on the Mediterranean.
En route to Rome, the Doctor is mistaken for a dead lyre player named Maximus Pettulian (Brian Proudfoot), and decides to assume his identity after being attacked by an assassin. The Doctor and Vicki arrive in Rome and encounter Tavius, who implies that both he and Pettulian are a part of a conspiracy. Ian's galley runs into rough seas and is broken up, washing him ashore with another survivor of the galley named Delos (Peter Diamond). The pair head to Rome in search of Barbara, only to be captured and taken to be trained as gladiators.
Nero (Derek Francis) organises a banquet in the Doctor's honour, at which he must play the lyre. Poppaea is angered by Nero's attempts to flirt with Barbara and attempts to poison her, which fails due to Vicki having switched the poisoned goblet. The Doctor makes no noise when playing the lyre, claiming that only those with sensitive hearing can hear the music. Nero is angered, and decides to have the Doctor fed to the lions. At the arena, Ian and Delos fight their way out, attempting to reunite with Barbara. Nero calls off his soldiers, planning to have Ian killed when he returns to rescue Barbara.
The Doctor finds the plans for Nero's new Rome, and realises that, because the year is 64 AD, Nero is planning to destroy the city. Tavius arrives and reveals that Pettulian was meant to be an assassin all along, and warns the Doctor that Nero is planning to kill him. The Doctor accidentally sets fire to Nero's plans, which gives him the idea for the Great Fire of Rome; he spares the Doctor's life. Ian and Barbara are reunited and escape back to the villa as the Doctor and Vicki watch the city burn from a nearby hill. All four leave in the TARDIS before a strange force drags the ship to an unknown location.
Upon discovering a UFO in American airspace, the National Guard sends fighter jets to investigate, who fire on the unresponsive craft and cause it to crash into the Atlantic Ocean, near Manhattan. The aliens from the planet Remulak aboard, Beldar Clorhone and his "genetomate" Prymaat, survive and quickly adapt to the human lifestyle, despite their conspicuous conical-shaped heads and metallic-sounding voices. Assigned by Highmaster Mintot to conquer Earth (a 'Protoid Re-fueling Station') as 'Fuel Survey Underlord of the Wilderness Planet at the end of the Noctolium Solar Chain', Beldar becomes an appliance repairman, and upon discovering his undocumented status, his boss Otto arranges for a false identity, which quickly alerts the INS. Meanwhile, after the couple discover from fellow Remulakian Marlax that a rescue vessel will not arrive for seven "Zurls" (many years), Prymaat informs Beldar she is pregnant. Ambitious INS agent Gorman Sneedling and his assistant Eli Turnbull unsuccessfully attempt to capture the couple.
Months later, Beldar has become a respected taxi driver, and the couple live in his boss, Khoudri's basement. After their daughter Connie's birth, they buy a home and move to suburban Paramus, New Jersey, adopting the surname Conehead, where Beldar begins another new career as a driving instructor. Meanwhile, Gorman gets a promotion and decides to leave the Coneheads' case to his replacement, but the case's extreme expense forces him to ensure its closure.
The now-teenaged Connie simply wants to fit in with her peers, though her father greatly objects, especially when she begins seeing auto mechanic Ronnie Bradford. This causes tension between Connie and Beldar, who strongly disapproves of Ronnie, even tearing the roof off of his car and threatening to kill him after he tries to make love with Connie, which irritates her. Despite this, Ronnie and Connie reconcile after talking. Meanwhile, Beldar is preoccupied with winning a golfing trophy at his country club, while Prymaat becomes concerned about his attractiveness to her due to one of his driving students, Gladys Johnson, flirting with him.
Gorman and Eli track the Coneheads to their home, posing as Jehovah's Witnesses to enter. During the conversation, Prymaat discovers their communication device to Remulak is beeping and notifies Beldar that 'the Big Phone' has contacted him, causing him to promptly eject the two. He is then told that their rescue vessel is approaching.
At a costume party that night, Beldar wins the golfing trophy. After Connie is told of their imminent rescue, she returns home with Ronnie, where she almost consummates their relationship using her parents' "senso-rings". Beldar and Prymaat discover them, just as the INS arrives to arrest the Coneheads. Ronnie helps stall the INS while the rescue vessel arrives just in time, and Gorman and Eli are taken aboard with the Coneheads.
On Remulak, Beldar is welcomed home, presenting the Highmaster with various Earthly 'gifts', including Gorman and Eli as slaves. Initially satisfied with Beldar's accomplishments, Mintot notices that Beldar's teeth are capped (something Otto had advised Beldar to do to blend in), accuses him of treason and sentences him to fight the ferocious Garthok ("knarfle the Garthok"), greatly distressing Prymaat.
After the Garthok easily and gruesomely kills other criminals sentenced to fight it, Beldar uses his Earthly golfing skills to save himself, killing the creature. Afterwards, he requests to return to Earth to oversee its conquest, taking Gorman back with him as a minion. Mintot agrees and hires Eli as his personal assistant, who quickly acclimates to his new role. Departing for Earth with Prymaat, Connie, and Gorman in tow, Beldar soon prioritizes Connie's feelings over planetary conquest by quickly faking an Earth attack, ordering his invasion force to retreat and proceed to their secondary target in another part of the galaxy, while making it look like a superior weapon has destroyed his spaceship. For rescuing him, Gorman agrees to give the Coneheads Green Cards due to Beldar's marketable talent.
Ronnie arrives to take Connie to the prom. Beldar gives him 55 words of advice, and then uses a massive flash bulb arrangement on his home-built Polaroid camera to document the happy event. As Connie and a now-sunburned Ronnie depart, he and Prymaat review the oversized photo, saying, "Ah, memories. We will enjoy them".
Middle-aged Englishwoman named Margaret "Meg" Fairfield's family includes her daughter Sydney, Sydney's fiancé Kit Humphreys, fiancé Gray Meredith and husband Hilary, who has been a patient in a mental institution for 15 years. Sydney seems to have inherited Hilary's psychiatric problems.
On Christmas Eve, Meg hosts a party in her English manor. Sydney happily discusses her future with Kit, as do Meg and Gray. When the group dedicate their performance of the song "God Bless the Master of This House" to Gray, Hilary's sister Hester objects because she considers Hilary to be the master of the house even though he is psychotic and institutionalized.
On Christmas morning, while Meg and Gray are at church, the asylum telephones to inform the family that Hilary has gone missing, and Hester unintentionally reveals to Sydney that insanity runs in the family. The family has blamed Hilary's troubles on shell shock from World War I, but another family member had similar problems in the past.
Hester and Sydney discuss Hilary's talent as a composer, and Sydney plays an unfinished sonata on the piano that Hilary had written before going to war. Hilary returns home after having escaped from the asylum. He chats with Sydney but they engage in a heated argument that shows their similarities as sensitive, free-spirited people.
When Meg returns from church, she is shocked to find Hilary. She has not loved him for years, is frightened by him and has been counting on her upcoming marriage to Gray, who helped her obtain a divorce based on Hilary's insanity. However, Hilary assumes that Meg will welcome him back. He cannot accept that the marriage has long since ended until his family doctor arrives and admonishes Hilary, telling him in Sydney's presence that his children should not have been born.
Sydney then begins contemplating her own plans with Kit. After the doctor tells her that her children would be at risk of inheriting Hilary's mental problems, she breaks her engagement to Kit and sends him away. Hilary vacillates between accepting Meg's love for Gray and pleading with her to change her mind. Meg succumbs to his pressure, but when he sees her talking with Gray, Hilary realizes how much she loves Gray and how miserable she feels.
Hilary finally regains his will to do what is best, and he has Sydney send Meg and Gray away. When Sydney returns to Hilary, she tearfully embraces him and they agree that they will live together. They sit together at the piano, cheerfully experimenting with new endings to his sonata.
Former thief turned security specialist Kincaid Lawrence "Cade" Foster’s life was idyllic, with a beautiful wife, good job and a nice house. Unbeknownst to him, a race of extraterrestrials called the Gua have identified him as subject 117 in an Alien experiment - AHX2323 - to test human will. As part of this experiment, his life is systematically ruined, including the murder of his wife, for which he is framed. He is the only one of the 117 subjects to solve the riddles of the experiment and escape arrest to live as a fugitive. The Gua are among humans in the form of hybridised genetic clones and plan to enslave humanity—the first of three "waves" intent on conquering and finally destroying the human race. Constantly pursued by the police, and a strange government agency called the Illuminati, Foster discovers previously unknown quatrains of Nostradamus, which tell of three waves that will destroy the planet unless the "twice-blessed man" can stop them. For this reason, Foster investigates strange occurrences that may have ties to the Nostradamus quatrains, hoping to find what he needs to stop the Gua.
"Crazy" Eddie Nambulous is a computer hacker who helps Cade Foster and works on a web tabloid ''Paranoid Times''. He uses Cade’s journal to tell people that the "aliens are here, walking among us, laying the groundwork for an impending invasion." After scanning the prophecies of Nostradamus into his computer, he analyzes and cross-references the quatrains with bizarre current events to which they may be connected. Foster and Eddie use these quatrains to understand the Gua invasion and search for any and all tools that may aid them in stopping the invasion in its First Wave.
One of the Gua, Joshua, does not believe the invasion of Earth is necessary. Although he wants the best for his people, he helps Cade and Eddie stop his people from initiating the "Second Wave" — the invasion itself, in which 19 million people will die.
We were like you once. There’s a time for peace and inner-growth, but we became complacent; and when the invasion force landed, they took us down. One rebel led us to freedom. That’s when we took the name Gua; it means “power to overcome”. Over the centuries, science and industry achieved perfect focus. We created a military machine to ensure our freedom, permanently... We’re here because we’ll never be victims again." : — Joshua Bridges, season 1 episode 09, "Joshua"
The Gua are a race older than humanity, coming from a much older star system. As Joshua tells Cade, “Everything on my planet is red, the colour of a tired sun; the colour of death”Episode 1x09, "Joshua" which indicates that their home system is at a much later stage than our own, and that their sun is entering a late phase of its life. The Gua originally existed peacefully, exploring their inner selves until they were invaded and enslaved. Eventually, they rose up and overthrew their oppressors, taking the name Gua from that climactic, defining event; Gua meaning “power to overcome”.
As a consequence of this invasion, the newly named Gua decided they could no longer afford to be passive and peaceful, and set out on an aggressive, expansionist path. Aware of the limited lifespan of their home planet, they began a campaign to expand into other systems. Thus their invasion of Earth was planned.
Due to the distance between Earth and their own planet, the Gua devised a method of dispatching small metallic orbs containing their consciousnesses through wormholes to Earth and transferring them into specially bioengineered human husks. As a result of this, it is unknown what the Gua actually look like.
These husks contain small amounts of Gua DNA that provide the aliens with an increased rate of healing, strength, speed and intelligence. The husks dissolve and disappear completely when the aliens are killed. The aliens in these husks are tasked with preparing the planet for the Second Wave. While being held hostage by Cade, Joshua noted that he was in his “third body”; this is further elaborated when Joshua states that the average Gua life-span is “equal to 1,000 human years”.
In the third season, Joshua reveals that at least one other race had been conquered and exterminated by the Gua centuries prior. Apparently, some members of that race had precognitive abilities; it is revealed that the being later known as Nostradamus was a member of this race. He journeyed to Earth and used his precognitive abilities to leave behind the prophesies that would help Cade resist the Gua.
It has been established that the Gua communicate telepathically and have sensory abilities far more advanced than a human. This is due largely to the fact that from birth the Gua undergo a continuous metamorphosis, making the issue of identifying one individual Gua from another impossible. As a result, they have developed a sophisticated array of senses that can be used to rightfully identify other Gua. It has also been established that a Gua can at least sense the presence of another Gua from a distance without making contact.
The Gua have on numerous occasions demonstrated a very totalitarian culture and nature that limits their empathic abilities. Their sexual nature is one where intercourse is severely painful and partners are chosen out of genetic capabilities. Their culture is based on racial unity, where society is superior and individuals have no value. Several Gua have experienced guilt and even rebelled after realizing the horror they have committed on themselves and other races. As a result, many of them have been killed by their own as traitors.
Throughout the entire series, the Gua’s most important weakness has been their lack of will, making them vulnerable when cornered or in emotional distress. They also proved (in human host form, at least) to have a weakness to salt – it affects them like a drug, rendering them ‘blissed out’ and may lead to addiction.
In episode 41 (Season 2, episode 19),”The Trial of Joshua Bridges”, Joshua confirms his fury towards the totalitarian and despotic nature of the Gua, accusing their leaders of reducing the Gua to “primitive butchers”.
In 2009, the Secret Operation Raid Team (SORT) sends an agent, Tom, to investigate a research facility on Ibis Island. He learns that Dr. Edward Kirk, a world-renowned scientist who was reported dead three years ago, is leading a secret weapons project within the facility. SORT sends four agents (Regina, Gail, Rick, and Cooper) to acquire Kirk and return him to custody. The team arrives on the island under cover of darkness, dropping in via parachute. Cooper is blown off course and lands in the jungle away from the others. Lost in the dark, he is chased down by a ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' and eaten. The other three agents, unaware of his death, proceed with the mission.
Once inside the base, the agents discover the eviscerated and partially devoured corpses of security personnel and scientists. After splitting up to restore power to the facility, Gail goes missing. Whilst searching for him, Regina is confronted by a ''Velociraptor''. Re-uniting with Rick, the two determine it was the dinosaurs that caused the bloodbath at the base. Although their mission to recover Dr. Kirk still stands, it is now more important to signal for a rescue. Regina sets out to activate the main antenna to contact their airlift. On her way, she is attacked by another ''Velociraptor'' and is rescued by Gail, who then leaves to continue searching for Dr. Kirk. After restoring communications, Regina heads back to the control room and they receive a signal on their communicators. Believing it might be Cooper or Tom in trouble, Rick wants to investigate. Gail shoots down the idea, wanting to follow up on a closed-circuit television sighting that might have been Kirk. The player must choose which course of action to follow.
If the player follows Gail, they go after an unknown man, but end up losing him. Rick then tells Regina that Tom's dead. If the player follows Rick, they come across Tom, badly injured and near death. Rick takes him to the medical room, however, a ''Velociraptor'' attacks them, but Tom sacrifices himself to kill it and save Rick. Later, Regina and the team manage to locate Kirk and apprehend him. As they are preparing to leave via helicopter, the ''T. rex'' returns and destroys the helicopter, forcing them to flee back into the base while Kirk manages to escape. Regina and Rick flee into the facility and locate keys to a watercraft, but find a vortex in the way of getting to it. Rick speculates this is the spacetime distortion that brought the dinosaurs back. The two split up to find an alternate route off the island, and Regina ends up being held at gunpoint by Dr. Kirk. He is about to kill her when the gun is shot out of his hand by Gail, and they arrest him again.
Kirk reveals that the dinosaurs were brought to their time by an experiment he was running using his Third Energy technology. A rift in space was created and a pocket of the island from their time was exchanged with the same from the past, bringing dinosaurs back into their time. Kirk then tells them that if the reactors are set to overload, the energy coming from them and the vortex should cancel each other out if they come into contact. After Regina gets the stabilizer and initializer and uses them to overload the reactors, the energy shakes the base, causing a vent to fall on Gail allowing Kirk to get free again. The team heads towards the waterway to escape the blast, but Gail says they still need to capture the doctor. He starts to hobble away on his gun to go after Kirk, and orders Regina and Rick to leave without him if he does not return in thirty minutes. Regina is given the choice to either go after Dr. Kirk with Gail, or escape with Rick.
Different endings are possible based on the choice the player makes. The endings all involve a battle with the ''T. rex'' and escaping the island via a watercraft or helicopter. If Regina chases Kirk, Gail reveals that the whole mission was a front and the government did not want Kirk, but instead wanted the Third Energy to use in warfare. After giving Regina a disk containing all the data for Third Energy, Gail dies from his injuries. Regina, Rick, and Dr. Kirk then escape the island. Another ending sees Regina knocking out Gail and leaving instead of chasing Dr. Kirk, allowing him to escape. In the game's best ending, Regina knocks out Gail and chases Kirk by herself, resulting in his capture and the team escaping by helicopter. Regina, regardless of ending, summarizes the fate of all the characters in an email to her superiors, then declaring herself ready for her next assignment.
Mike and Joyce are a poor London couple living in a bedsit. Mike is a self-described "derelict", ex-boxer Roman Catholic thug from Donegal, who—despite claiming the dole—has a sideline as a proto-white van man, running people down for cash. Joyce is an ex-prostitute, and a Protestant from London.
One day while Joyce is alone, a young and attractive man named Wilson arrives, asking for a room. During the conversation, he terrifies and threatens her, demanding to know where Mike's gun is. It becomes clear that he has been watching the flat for some time. Nevertheless, he leaves without harming her, despite having found and aimed the gun at her head. Mike returns, and a distraught Joyce relates the story. Typically, Mike tells Joyce she's overreacting and actually sympathizes with the young man, much to Joyce's astonishment and aggravation. The next day, when Joyce is left alone with her thoughts, a series of sudden, violent noises emanate from the stairs outside their apartment door and the rest of the building (including broken windows, a broken lock, and the sound of a man urinating on the floorboards). She pleads loudly for the perpetrator to stop, which they finally do by the end of the scene but not after a prolonged aural torture for Joyce. Naturally, she assumes it is Wilson, and, upon relating this incident to Mike, she is met with a similar lack of support.
When Wilson does turn up again, he charms Mike using a claimed Irish ancestry, religious conviction, and his own considerable personal charms. During the conversation, the audience learns that Mike's last "job" was to kill Wilson's beloved elder brother Frank, with whom Wilson had been engaged in an incestuous affair. Wilson is damaged, grief-stricken, and after revenge; an unusual revenge, however, as he seeks to be shot by Mike ("I don't wanna be injured. I want to be dead") in order to rejoin Frank. To goad Mike into the killing, he claims to be having sex with Joyce, and to have known her since her days as a prostitute; in fact, it was Frank who had sex with Joyce (and other women) during his relationship with Wilson. The following day, Mike leaves the flat wracked with jealousy, despite Joyce's protestations of innocence. Wilson arrives again, removing his trousers and wedging the door shut, in order that Mike—upon his return—will think that he's having sex with Joyce. As Joyce points out, the situation is absurd; Wilson is "only a little boy" (the script suggests he's 18), and to make the situation more ridiculous, Mike doesn't come home when expected. Wilson sadly concludes that he's failed at this just like everything else, and moves to get dressed; moved, however, Joyce puts her arms around him.
It's at this point that Mike returns. Enraged, he shoots twice, killing Wilson with the second shot. Wilson survives long enough to reiterate his wish to be buried with Frank, then collapses. Mike and Joyce are both horrified by what has happened, but Joyce recovers quickly, planning what they'll tell the police. Suddenly, they notice that the first shot from Mike's gun knocked over Joyce's goldfish bowl, killing the fish inside. Both of them are far more upset about the goldfish than the dead boy, and thus the play ends.
Peter Mandrake (Coyote), an American photographer in Brazil, is preparing an ''in loco'' essay for his new book, about the "Train Surfers" (groups of boys who court danger "surfing" on the roof of the trains) in the city of Rio de Janeiro. A local call girl with whom he is friends is murdered, and when the police can make no progress Mandrake decides to investigate himself. Subsequently, two hired thugs break into his apartment demanding a disk, and, when he doesn't produce it because he can't do so, they rape his girlfriend and stab him, leaving him to die. Vowing revenge, Mandrake enlists the help of Hermes (Karyo), a professional knife fighter who owes Mandrake a debt, to teach him the art of knife fighting. The obsession this develops into causes Mandrake's girlfriend to leave him, wanting the whole thing to simply go away, but Mandrake refuses to let go.
The thugs are discovered to be working for an undisclosed Brazilian criminal organization closely tied with the Bolivian cocaine cartel. The head of the organization is attempting to uncover a traitor in his organization, who apparently stole a floppy disk containing important information. Mandrake allies himself with some of the organization's rivals to help them find the disk, in return for discovering who killed the call girl. The disk is ultimately found, and Mandrake learns that the organization head murdered the call girl himself, slashing her face in an act of arrogance. Hermes appears suddenly, and the head orders him to kill Mandrake, but Hermes tells him to do it himself before leaving. They violently fight, and Mandrake manages to stab his opponent to death.
However, the fulfillment of his revenge quest leaves Mandrake feeling empty and without purpose. He wanders for a while before, on a whim, taking a picture of a couple kissing in a window. This reinvigorates his passion for photography, and, whereas he used to take pictures of violent and dangerous situations, now his work has a theme of love and simple pleasures. He heads out to the plains to see his girlfriend, who is an archaeologist working on-site. After showing her the pictures, he tells her he's been assigned to Africa, but promises to return someday.
The Jackal unit is an elite group of four soldiers that have undergone a harsh training regiment to survive in any environment. The team is composed of Colonel Decker, Lieutenant Bob, Sergeant Quint and Corporal Grey. They have been given a mission to drive two armed jeeps into hostile territory in order to rescue and extract POWs.
''Paul Clifford'' tells the story of a chivalrous highwayman in the time of the French Revolution. Brought up not knowing his origins, he falls in with a gang of highwaymen. While disguised as a gentleman for the purposes of a confidence trick, he meets and falls in love with Lucy Brandon. Clifford is arrested for a highway robbery and brought before her uncle, Judge Brandon, for trial, where it is unexpectedly revealed that Clifford is Brandon's son.
That revelation complicates the trial, but Clifford is convicted and Judge Brandon condemns him to death. The sentence is commuted to transportation. Clifford escapes from the penal colony, and he and Lucy make their way to America together.
Majestic-12, a group of the world's richest men, make up a bounty list of fifteen targets that have to be eliminated before 12 noon of October 26. Among the targets is Shane Schofield, who at that moment is on a mission in Siberia with Book II and a group of U.S. Marines. Schofield's team is supposed to meet up with two Delta groups, the leaders of which are also on M-12's hit list. Schofield's unit comes under fire from a group of bounty hunters led by Cedric Wexley and all but Schofield and Book II are killed. Schofield and Book II escape via a hijacked plane owned by a bounty hunter known as the Hungarian.
Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, Schofield's girlfriend Elizabeth Gant leads a group of Marines, along with Mother, to a cave system where Osama bin Laden's number two man is. Schofield races to Afghanistan to find Gant so that none of the bounty hunters can use her to get to him, but arrives too late to save her and she gets captured by a bounty hunter group known as IG-88, led by Damon "Demon" Larkham. Schofield meets a bounty hunter named Aloysius Knight who has been paid to protect him and teams up with him. Knight and Schofield go to save Gant while Book II and Mother go to London to confront another person on the hit list.
Meanwhile, the other people on the hit list are being taken out. Schofield's friend David Fairfax goes to help one of them but the man he is going to help is killed, as is the person Book II and Mother are attempting to meet. Schofield, Knight, and Gant disguise themselves as bounty hunters to get into a castle owned by Jonathan Killian, one of the men in Majestic-12, to find out more about the bounty hunt. While Knight claims the bounty on two heads, Killian sets a trap for Schofield and Gant, forcing them to escape in one of Killian's cars with Wexley's men in hot pursuit, followed by Knight in his Sukhoi . Schofield goes over a cliff and is presumed dead while Knight and Gant are captured.
Mother is picked up by Rufus, Knight's pilot, and goes to help Knight while Schofield is captured by French soldiers and brought to an aircraft carrier to explain to him why he is to be terminated. At Killian's castle, Gant is brutally murdered on a guillotine. However, Knight escapes, Gant's final words being for Knight to tell Schofield she would have said yes to his planned proposal. Rufus, Mother, and Knight go to rescue Schofield.
On the French aircraft carrier, it is revealed that Schofield, along with the fifteen other targets, are the only people who have quick enough reactions to disable the missiles being launched from disguised ships in the Kormoran Project. The plan involves copies of different countries' missiles being launched at their bitterest enemies, resulting in a new Cold War which will bring in huge profits for the members of Majestic-12. Schofield is rescued by Knight, but then Knight reveals to him that Gant was decapitated.
Saddened by Gant's death, Schofield attempts to commit suicide but is stopped by Mother. in the meantime, the President of the United States gives all of the U.S. Armed Forces' resources to Schofield to neutralize the threat posed by the ships. He then directs certain ships to be sunk using torpedoes. At the same time, Fairfax and Book II are flown to different ships so that Schofield can disable all of the missiles at the same time. Schofield succeeds in disabling the missiles, but Mother is presumed to have perished. Schofield later learns that there is a backup plan and a missile is heading right for Mecca on the first day of Ramadan. Schofield is able to deactivate the missile but in turn, M-12 captures Schofield, Rufus, and Knight.
Schofield is about to be killed in the same way and by the same person as Gant was but Mother reveals herself to be alive and Schofield kills Gant's killer while Rufus is injured. Knight and Schofield go to confront Killian and Wexley is killed too. Schofield throws himself and Killian out of a window in a suicide attempt, but Knight saves Schofield.
Several months later, Knight and Rufus meet the person who hired them, Lillian Mattencourt, the richest woman on the planet, who ruined M-12s plan because they would not let her be part of the group as she was a woman. It is also revealed that the rest of M-12 died in mysterious ways. Demon and the IG-88 kill Knight's payer as revenge for taking two of their bounties during the hunt. Later, at Mother's house, Schofield receives a letter from Knight telling him to accept Gant's death and move on. Schofield then goes to the Marine Corps building and says he's ready for duty again.
There are two interwoven themes in the novel. The first is the cost of justice. Destroying the race that attempted to destroy humanity (and, it is later revealed, other races) appears to be a simple matter of retaliation. The Killers, when they are discovered, have formidable philosophical defenses in addition to their vast technological resources. They have created hundreds of sapient races, interlocked in a culture of breathtaking complexity and beauty. The execution of justice falls to children of the destroyed planets. Those from Earth base their on-ship culture on Peter Pan, calling themselves Wendys and Lost Boys.
It is revealed once the Leviathan system is destroyed that the Killers were in fact still in the system, and had continued to manufacture fleets of self-replicating machines to destroy alien races. However, while the Killers were destroyed and justice served, trillions of what were likely innocents had to die to accomplish this. Bear leaves the human crew torn between relief that their work is complete and their guilt that they were little better than those they had come to destroy.
The film's story revolves around the Paiute Native American outlaw Willie Boy (Robert Blake), who escapes with his lover, Lola (Katharine Ross), after killing her father in self defense. According to tribal custom Willie can then claim Lola as his wife. According to the law, Deputy Sheriff Cooper (Robert Redford) is required to charge him with murder.
Willie Boy and Lola are hunted for several days by a posse led by Cooper. Willie manages to repel the posse's advance when he ambushes them from the top of Ruby Mountain. He only tries to shoot their horses, but ends up accidentally killing a bounty hunter, resulting in another murder charge.
Days later, as the posse closes in, Lola dies by a gunshot wound to the chest. It is left deliberately ambiguous whether Lola shot herself so that she wouldn't slow Willie down or whether Willie killed her to keep her out of the posse's hands. Cooper is inclined to believe the latter and then goes off ahead of the posse to bring in Willie dead or alive. As soon as Cooper catches up, he comes under fire from Willie, who is positioned at the top of Ruby Mountain. Cooper narrowly avoids being shot on several occasions.
In the film's climax, Cooper maneuvers behind Willie, who has donned a ghost shirt, and tells him he can turn around if he wants to, which he does. The two pause before Willie raises his rifle at Cooper, who beats him to the draw and shoots him. Fatally struck in the chest, Willie tumbles down the hillside. Cooper picks up Willie's gun and finds that it wasn't even loaded, making it apparent that Willie deliberately chose death over capture. Abashed, Cooper carries the slain outlaw the rest of the way down Ruby Mountain and delivers him to other Paiutes, who carry the corpse away and burn the remains.
When confronted by the county sheriff, Cooper is told that the burning of Willie's body will ruin the people's chance to see Willie in the (now-dead) flesh, denying them the ability "to see something". Cooper retorts: "Tell them we're all out of souvenirs".
A UFO makes an emergency landing on Earth and is taken into custody by the United States government. The occupant of the "flying saucer" turns out to be a strange cat-like alien named Zunar-J-5/9 Doric-4-7. Since the Mother Ship cannot send a rescue party before it leaves the solar system, the cat sets about investigating how to repair the ship himself. Using a special collar that amplifies telekinetic and telepathic abilities, he follows the military to the Energy Research Laboratory (or E.R.L.), where they hope to learn how the UFO's power source works. One of the lab's scientists, Frank Wilson, attracts the cat's attention when his theory on the power source, while ridiculed by the rest of the staff, is actually on the right track.
The cat follows Frank to his office, where Frank nicknames him Jake. Another scientist, Liz Bartlet, storms into his office, upset at Frank's sense of humor in light of such an important scientific discovery. Frank is able to calm her down, mostly by introducing Jake and inviting her to dinner. After Liz leaves, Jake reveals his true nature to Frank, demonstrating his abilities and offering to exchange his advanced knowledge of energy for Frank's assistance. That evening, the pair plan to break into the military base where Jake's ship is being kept, but must dodge Liz who has arrived for their date with her own cat, Lucybelle. Jake feigns being sick, allowing them to proceed to the base. At the base, Frank uses a back-up collar to fly to the top of the ship and attach a diagnostic device. Jake learns that he needs an element that he calls "Org 12". When Jake reveals the element's atomic weight, Frank realizes that "Org 12" is elemental gold.
Back at Frank's apartment, Frank tells Jake that a quantity of gold costing $120,000 will repair Jake's ship. Norman Link, a colleague of Frank's, comes over to watch horse races and football games on which he has wagered money. Jake uses his powers to help Link's horse win the race, prompting Jake and Frank to convince Link to help them by parlaying all of his bets to win the money. However, Jake gets knocked out by a well-meaning vet that was brought in by Liz because she thought Jake was still sick. Frank informs Liz of the situation and the group heads to a local pool hall where Link has placed his bets. Learning the last game in the parlay was lost and desperate to raise the money needed, they agree to a game of pool with a hustler named Sarasota Slim. Frank's first attempt to use Jake's collar fails, but Jake regains consciousness in time to manipulate the final game and win the money they need to acquire the gold for Jake's ship.
However, an industrial spy named Stallwood, who works for a master criminal named Olympus, has learned of their activities, as has the military. Frank and Jake manage to elude the military and the criminals, only to have Link, Liz and Lucybelle captured by Olympus and his men. They plan to ransom them back for the collar, which forces Jake to send his ship back to the awaiting Mother Ship and stay on Earth in order to help rescue his friends. Jake and Frank use a broken-down biplane to rescue Liz and Lucybelle from Olympus's helicopter, which crashes; Olympus, Stallwood and their men survive and are presumably arrested. In the final scene, Jake is allowed to stay on Earth as a representative of an off-world "friendly power", with Jake applying for and being granted United States citizenship.
The film starts when Frédéric Chopin is still a young man living with his parents and his two sisters in Warsaw where he frequently plays the piano and composes music for the decidedly unmusical Grand Duke Constantine. Shortly before the November Uprising, Chopin's father urges him to leave for Paris, which Frédéric does. Once in Paris he meets novelist George Sand, who has just split from her violent lover Mallefille. Although he is immediately drawn to Sand, he initially refuses her advances. However, after several months, their mutual friend Albert urges Chopin to get to know George better and a passionate romance starts to build. During their affair, Chopin is diagnosed with tuberculosis and has to cope with a declining health. The relationship is further complicated by George's two children: Maurice and Solange. While Maurice's near-hysterical hatred of Chopin leads from one escalation to the other, Solange develops an obsessive love for Chopin which leads to a rivalry between Solange and her mother. After several years of constant fighting between Chopin, George, Maurice and Solange, the relationship ends and Chopin calls for one of his sisters to help him get through the last days of his life.
Aspiring actor Harry Monroe (Pryor) is working as a waiter in a rich woman's penthouse, but is fired when the cooks accidentally use his stash of marijuana as oregano at a dinner party. His friend, playwright Skip Donahue (Wilder), is working as a shop detective when he thinks he sees a well-known actress shoplifting, and his accusation gets him fired. Skip, the optimist of the two, spins their shared unemployment positively and convinces Harry that they should travel to California. They leave New York City in a battered Dodge camper-van, taking odd jobs along the way.
In Arizona, Skip and Harry perform a song and dance routine dressed as woodpeckers as part of a promotion for a bank. While the duo are on a break, two men steal the costumes and rob the bank. However, Harry and Skip are arrested and convicted of the crime, and given 125-year jail sentences. Their court-appointed lawyer, Len Garber, advises them to wait until he can appeal their case.
The two are transferred to a maximum-security prison. After a failed attempt at faking insanity, they make friends with Jesus Ramirez, a bank robber, and Rory Schultebrand, an overtly gay man who killed his stepfather. After three months, Skip and Harry visit Warden Walter Beatty and Deputy Warden Ward Wilson, the head guard, to perform a "test" on a mechanical bull. To everyone's surprise, Skip is able to ride the bull at full power, so Beatty selects him to compete in the prison's annual rodeo competition.
Jesus and Rory inform Harry and Skip that the rodeo is a crooked operation run by Beatty and Warden Henry Sampson, who heads the neighboring prison. The money from the rodeo, which is supposed to go to the prisoners, ends up in the wardens' pockets. Realizing Skip will be selected as the prison's new champion, Jesus and Rory hatch a plan for escape involving Skip refusing to participate until the warden provides concessions. They warn Skip that he will be tortured by the warden first. Skip, however, has a blasé attitude towards everything the guards throw at him, including a week in the "hot box" and forcing him and Harry to share a cell with hulking, seemingly-mute serial killer Grossberger.
Harry and Skip are visited by Garber, who introduces them to his law partner, his cousin Meredith, to whom Skip is immediately attracted. Later, Skip meets with Beatty to make a deal: In exchange for his participation in the rodeo, Skip requests his own crew (Harry, Jesus, Rory and Grossberger), along with a shared cell for the five of them. Beatty agrees, later ordering Wilson to have a guard watch them at all times. Wilson reveals to his esteemed colleague, former rodeo champion Jack Graham, that Skip will not leave the rodeo alive.
While practicing for the rodeo, Skip, Harry, Jesus, Rory, and Grossberger acquire tools they need for their escape, while Meredith gets a job as a waitress in a country western strip club searching for possible suspects and encounters the real bank robbers. At the stadium where the rodeo is being held, each member of Skip's team but Grossberger escape through a secret path, taking them through air vents to be met by either Jesus' wife or brother. Once through, they put on their disguises and re-enter the grounds as audience members.
Skip competes against rival champion Caesar Geronimo to swipe the prize: a bag of money from the horns of a large, Brahman bull. Skip suggests that they give the money to the prisoners, and offers to help Caesar win if he agrees to do so. Caesar wins, and throws the bag to the inmates, while Skip escapes and joins his friends.
At a secret meeting spot, Jesus and Rory bid Harry and Skip farewell as they leave for Mexico. Harry and Skip get in their car, but are intercepted by Garber and Meredith. She tells Harry and Skip that the police have collared the real crooks, and Harry and Skip intend to resume their original idea of going to Hollywood. Skip asks Meredith to go with him, and she agrees to it.
In 1934, Winston Churchill is deep in his wilderness years, and struggling to complete his biography of his ancestor the Duke of Marlborough, which he hopes will revive his fortunes. Winston is chided by his wife Clemmie for their lack of money and is aware that as a 'man of destiny' his moment may have passed. At the same time he struggles in the House of Commons as a backbencher to get a hearing for his concerns about German re-armament under Hitler and the policy of appeasement. Churchill is also disappointed by the behaviour of his son Randolph Churchill (Tom Hiddleston), which leads to further arguments with Clemmie, who announces she is leaving to go on an extended overseas trip. Churchill is devastated and throws himself into his pet activities: painting, and building walls around the family house. Clemmie eventually returns, and the couple are reconciled.
A young official in the government, Ralph Wigram (Linus Roache) has become concerned about the growth of the German Luftwaffe (air force), and is convinced by his wife to leak information about it to Churchill.
Shortly afterwards, Churchill uses Wigram's information to launch an attack on the appeasement policies of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin (Derek Jacobi). In 1936, Wigram commits suicide.
With Churchill's fortunes restored, by September 1939, with the declaration of war against Germany at the start of World War II, and the announcement that Churchill will be taking over command of the Royal Navy again as First Lord of the Admiralty. An impatient Churchill bids farewell to the staff at the country house, and travels to London. Arriving in the middle of the night at the Admiralty, Churchill is met by a Royal Marine corporal who informs him the fleet have already been signalled that ''"Winston is Back"'', to which Churchill triumphantly replies, ''"And so he bloody well is!"''
In 2005, Alex Michaels is deputy head of a new division of the FBI called "Netforce" which investigates computer crime and polices the Internet. When his boss and mentor, Steve Day, is assassinated, the evidence points to Web pioneer and owner of the company Januscorp, Will Stiles, a character said to be Bill Gates' apprentice. Stiles is about to release a new web browser that may allow him to hack into any computer in the world and to gain control of the Internet. Michaels is appointed acting Commander of Netforce, and leads his people on the hunt for Stiles.
English gangster Albert Spica has taken over the high-class Le Hollandais restaurant, which is managed by French chef Richard Boarst. Spica makes nightly appearances at the restaurant with his retinue of thugs. His oafish behavior causes frequent confrontations with the staff and his own customers, whose patronage he loses but whose money he seems not to miss.
Forced to accompany Spica is his reluctant yet elegant wife, Georgina, who soon catches the eye of a quiet regular at the restaurant: bookshop owner Michael. Under her husband's nose, with the help of the restaurant staff, Georgina carries on an affair with Michael. Ultimately Spica learns of the affair, forcing Georgina to hide out at Michael's book depository. Boarst sends food to Georgina through his young employee Pup, a boy soprano who sings while working. Spica tortures the boy before finding the bookstore's location written in a book the boy is carrying. Spica's men storm Michael's bookshop while Georgina is visiting the boy in hospital. They torture Michael to death by force-feeding him pages from his books. Georgina discovers his body when she returns.
Overcome with rage and grief, she begs Boarst to cook Michael's body, and he eventually complies. Together with all the people that Spica wronged throughout the film, Georgina confronts her husband finally at the restaurant and forces him at gunpoint to eat a mouthful of Michael's cooked body. Spica obeys, gagging. Georgina then shoots him in the head, calling him a cannibal.
In a priory near the village of Fetchborough, four scientists, Adam Colby, Max Stael, Thea Ransome and Dr. Fendelman, are doing tests on a human skull they found in Kenya, apparently twelve million years old. When Dr. Fendelman starts using a sonic time scan, trying to get an image of the owner of the skull, the skull itself seems to react, locking onto Thea and releasing something in the priory grounds that kills a passing hiker, who eventually totally disintegrates.
The scan catches the attention of the Fourth Doctor and Leela when they are pulled down to Earth by it. They set off to find it before it creates a continuum implosion and destroys the planet. They separate and Leela finds the cottage of ‘Mother’ Tyler, a local modern-day witch gifted with psychic powers. The Doctor ends up narrowly avoiding death at the hands of the creature created by the skull, which then kills the leader of a detachment of guards Fendelman has brought in after the death of the hiker, sealing everyone into the priory.
Ma Tyler then encounters the creature but survives and is saved from going into psychic shock by the Doctor, who by this time has worked out that the thing is a Fendahleen, a creature from his planet's mythology, supposedly destroyed when the Fifth Planet broke up. He makes his way into the priory and finds the skull, which tries to kill him. Leela saves him and they go off to the Fifth Planet, only to find that the Time Lords sealed the planet in a Time Loop, making all proper records invisible even to them.
Thea, meanwhile, has been gradually converted into the new core of the Fendahl, a creature that feeds off life energy and leaves nothing behind. Stael, leader of the local black magic cult, recognises this and believes he can control the Fendahl and use it to dominate. He and his followers capture Colby, kill Fendelman, who was actually influenced through his genetics by the Fendahl to bring this about, and set up the Sonic Time scanner to power the skull and Thea's final transformation.
The Doctor, Leela, Ma Tyler and her grandson Jack head for the priory only to find the Fendahl core has formed and is converting the cult members into Fendahleen, to form the full circle. The Doctor frees Colby and helps Stael shoot himself after killing one of the new Fendahleen, in turn finding out that they are fatally allergic to salt, leaving the Fendahl core two short of the twelve it needs to be complete and form a gestalt. The Doctor rigs the scanner to implode upon itself and grabs the now dormant skull, leaving with the others only just before the priory is destroyed, along with the Fendahl core and the remaining Fendahleen. The Doctor and Leela then leave and plan to dump the skull near a supernova, thus ending the Fendahl race forever.
Some human space travellers are cruising near the outer planets of the solar system with their ship on autopilot. The TARDIS is travelling through the same region. The crews of both ships are infected by a sentient virus which chooses The Doctor to be the host of its "mind," the Nucleus of the Swarm. The Nucleus declares Leela a reject and orders her killed. The Doctor manages to break free of his infection and tells Leela how to get the TARDIS to the nearest medical centre. At the medical station, the Doctor's doctor, Professor Marius, introduces the group to K9, a robotic dog he made to replace the real dog he had to leave on Earth.
Leela and the Doctor decide to create clones of themselves, which will then be shrunk and inserted into the Doctor. There they will destroy the Nucleus and escape through a tear duct. In the meantime, Leela and K9 fight off the infected staff of the hospital. The plan goes awry, allowing the Nucleus to escape and become human sized. The Nucleus and the infected staff leave for Titan Base so the Nucleus can spawn.
The Doctor realises he is cured since Leela's clone introduced her immunity factor into his bloodstream. He replicates it and gives it to Prof. Marius. The Doctor, Leela, and K9 proceed to Titan Base in the TARDIS.
They fight off the infected humans, but are again without sufficient weaponry to destroy the Nucleus, or its many children, which are about to hatch as "macro-sized" beings, like the newly macro-sized Nucleus. The Doctor jams the door they are behind and rigs a gun to fire into a cloud of oxygen gas he is releasing and escapes. As intended, when the Swarm finally forces open the door, the blaster fires, igniting the oxygen in Titan's methane atmosphere and destroying the Swarm and the base.
When they return to the hospital, they thank Prof. Marius for the use of K9, who has ably assisted them. Prof. Marius offers K9 to the Doctor, as he is due to return to Earth, and the Doctor and Leela leave with their new companion in the TARDIS.
In the TARDIS, the Fourth Doctor and Adric arrive back in N-Space following the events of ''Warriors' Gate'' in an area known as the Traken Union, an empire of peace and harmony. They are surprised to find a holographic image of the elderly Keeper of Traken appear in the TARDIS, calling on the Doctor's help. The Keeper explains that his title is about to pass on soon to Consul Tremas, giving him access to the powerful Source that is the centre of Traken's technological advancement, but senses evil within him, his wife Kassia, and his daughter Nyssa. The Keeper suspects a connection to Melkur, an evil creature that arrived years ago on Traken but became calcified in a grove in the capital. Melkur has since become something of a holy symbol, and Kassia has been tasked with talking to it and keeping it clean; that task is soon to be passed on to Nyssa.
When the Doctor and Adric land at Traken's capital and visit the Keeper, their presence appears to cause the Keeper to warn the assembled group of a great evil, and though Tremas vouches for them, others, including the Fosters, guardians of the spiritual welfare of the capital, remain cautious about their presence. Soon, bodies in the grove are found, the Doctor and Adric determining they have been killed by some type of plasma weapon. Adric works with Nyssa to identify the energy signature of the plasma as being from a TARDIS, while the Doctor assists Tremas in defusing the conflict over their presence. Unbeknownst to either group, Kassia secretly visits Melkur, who gives her a collar to wear, providing the creature with mind-control over her while promising to keep her husband safe. Kassia is able to convince the Fosters to arrest Tremas, the Doctor, Adric and Nyssa, and uses the situation to convince the other Consul to install her as the next Keeper. When the Keeper dies, Kassia takes the throne, but as the pivotal moment of the ceremony is completed, she disappears, leaving the statue of Melkur in her place, now connected to the Source.
Having escaped their confinement, the Doctor and his allies seek to cause a servo-shutdown of the Source to destabilise it and disconnect Melkur from using it. As Adric and Nyssa prepare to activate it, the Doctor is drawn into the statue of Melkur, finding it to be a TARDIS. Inside, he meets his old enemy, a horribly disfigured Master. The Master reveals he is on his last regeneration, and seeks to use the Source to give him a new set of regenerations, and then attempts to subdue the Doctor. However, at the same time, Adric and Nyssa initiate the servo-shutdown, disconnecting the Source from the Master and causing his TARDIS to malfunction. The Doctor escapes the Master's TARDIS, and when Melkur disappears, another Consul, Luvic, takes the throne to restabilise the Source before it completely dies.
After assuring all is well, the Doctor and Adric depart in his TARDIS. Later, Tremas discovers an alien longcase clock, and is transfixed to it when the Master emerges from it and merges his body with that of Tremas. The newly reformed Master laughs as he re-enters the clock—his TARDIS—and dematerialises, leaving Nyssa wondering where her father has gone off to.
The original ''Melty Blood'' game takes place in one year after Satsuki Yumizuka's non-existent route of ''Tsukihime'' and a month after ''Kagetsu Tohya''. In the beginning of August 2001, Shiki Tohno hears of a new series of murders in Misaki Town, similar to the ones that took place in ''Tsukihime'', in the last weeks of October 1999. Whilst searching for the murderer he meets Sion Eltnam Atlasia who initiates a fight with him, attempting to capture him. After the fight she reveals that her reason for trying to capture him is to get in contact with the "True Ancestor" (referring to Arcueid) so that she may acquire information on the "cure for vampirism". Shiki then decides to help her with this task. The games’ story moves through a series of fights. Depending on the outcome of the fight the story will branch in one of two ways. This corresponds to the ending of the game.
As of ''Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code Ver. 1.07'', there are 31 playable characters.
This is for playable characters depicted in ''Melty Blood'', ''Re-ACT'', ''Act Cadenza'' and ''Actress Again''. For playable characters who appeared in ''Type Lumina'', see ''Melty Blood: Type Lumina#Characters''.
''Tsukihime'' characters:
''Kagetsu Tohya'' characters:
''The Garden of Sinners'' characters:
New characters:
Alternative/bosses and hidden characters:
In the original ''Melty Blood'', only six (Sion, Arcueid, Ciel, Akiha, Kohaku & Hisui, and Shiki Tohno) of the characters above were available for play, with eight more being unlockable through story mode. However, in a later update released for the game (the "Nero" patch), all the characters are available from the start. The reasons for this are slightly unclear; it appears to be the result of a legal misunderstanding whereby Type-Moon mistakenly thought they would no longer be allowed to produce updates/patches, and thus made a "last patch" which unlocked the characters as a sort of gift for the fans. Whatever the case, Type-Moon has left these characters available throughout all subsequent releases. In addition, Aoko and Kouma were both added to the game as of ''Act Cadenza'', although Aoko was an unplayable boss character in previous versions. ''Act Cadenza'' also changed the given names of several characters, generally to make it easier to identify the doppelgangers by name. Sion later appeared in the French-Bread's spiritual successor of the series, ''Under Night In-Birth'', under her middle name '''Eltnum'''.
The Fourth Doctor and Leela arrive on the planet Pluto just in time to prevent one of its citizens, Cordo, from committing suicide over his energy bill. The monopolistic energy company on Pluto is using its economic stranglehold to extract ever growing taxes and those who refuse to pay are forced to live in the dark tunnels of the Undercity. The Doctor, Leela and Cordo venture to the Undercity, where they encounter thieves and dropouts led by the brutal Mandrel. Mandrel tells the Doctor that he must use a stolen card to obtain money from a cashpoint or Leela will be killed. When the Doctor tries the stolen card, he trips a security system which floods the cashpoint chamber with noxious gas and he falls unconscious.
When the Doctor awakes, he is in a Correction Centre alongside another detainee, Bisham. The Doctor is released by Gatherer Hade, who wants his movements tracked, believing the Doctor will lead him to the heart of a conspiracy against the Company. Leela, Cordo and K9 attack the Correction Centre and are taken prisoner by the Collector's personal guard.
The Doctor, Cordo, Bisham, and K9 return to the Undercity and persuade the Undercity dwellers to revolt. Their first target is the main control area where the Company engineers PCM, a fear-inducing drug piped into the air supply which helps keep the population servile.
Leela is presented to the Collector, who orders her steamed to death. The Doctor saves Leela, but the microphones set up to relay her death screams instead broadcast Mandrel warning the Doctor of how little time he has left to rescue her. The Collector is incensed and even more troubled when the revolution starts spreading. Gatherer Hade, investigating reports of citizens going onto the roof to look at the city's sun, is thrown to his death from the top of his Megropolis, and his underling, Marn, joins the revolution.
Leela and the Doctor head for the Collector's Palace, where the Doctor sabotages the computer system. The Collector arrives and is challenged by the Doctor, who discovers that he is a Usurian, a seaweed-like sentient poisonous fungus, from the planet Usurius. The Doctor denounces his operation on Pluto, which had consumed Mars as well after the Earth had become non-viable. Before the Collector can implement a plan to exterminate the population of Pluto with poison gas, Cordo and the lead rebels help the Doctor defeat the remaining members of the Inner Retinue. The Collector checks his computer to find the Doctor's input has resulted in projected bankruptcy, and the shock causes the Collector to revert to his natural state in a compartment at the base of his wheelchair. The Doctor seals him in, and he and Leela depart with K9, leaving Cordo, Mandrel and the others to contemplate recolonising the Earth.
On the desert world of Sarn, robed natives worship the fire god Logar and follow the Chief Elder, Timanov, who demands obedience. Dissenters are known as Unbelievers and two of them, Amyand and Roskal, cause unrest when they claim to have ventured to the top of the sacred fire mountain but not found Logar. One of the Sarns, Malkon, is known as the Chosen One because of the unusual double triangle symbol burnt into his skin: he is also unusual for having been found as a baby on the slopes of the sacred fire mountain.
The same triangle symbol is found on a metal artefact uncovered in an archaeological dig in Lanzarote overseen by Professor Howard Foster. His stepdaughter Peri Brown is bored with the dig and wants to go travelling in Morocco and when he seeks to prevent this she steals the strange artefact and tries to swim for freedom. Fortunately for her the TARDIS has landed nearby—responding to a distress call sent by the strange artefact—and Turlough sees her drowning and rescues her. Going through her possessions as she recovers he finds the artefact and acknowledges the same triangle symbol is burnt into his own flesh. The Fifth Doctor returns to the TARDIS after attempting to find the source of the signal emitted by the artefact, and the ship dematerialises, seemingly on its own. It arrives on Sarn and the Doctor and Turlough set off to explore.
The android Kamelion has meanwhile made mental contact with its old controller, the Master, who attempts to assert his control and change Kamelion's appearance from that of Howard. Kamelion tries to warn Peri of the Master but the Master succeeds in gaining control. She flees the TARDIS with the creature in pursuit as the rumblings of the volcanoes of Sarn gather ferocity.
In the Sarn colony Timanov has damned the Unbelievers to be sacrificed to appease Logar and stop the tremors. They flee to a secret base in the mountains filled with seismological apparatus, which the Doctor and Turlough stumble across. The Doctor informs the Unbelievers that the tunnels, which have been their refuge, are volcanic vents which will soon fill with molten lava. It is also established that Turlough is of the same race as those who colonised the planet, and when the indigenous people see his Misos Triangle, they greet him as a second Chosen One. Turlough realises Malkon may be his brother and becomes even more worried when Peri turns up and mentions the Master.
Another important figure in Sarn mythology is the Outsider, a promised prophet, and Kamelion, controlled by the Master, fulfils this role admirably. He convinces Timanov of the appropriateness of harsh action and when the Doctor arrives with the Unbelievers they are all seized for burning. However, Malkon and Peri arrive shortly afterwards and stop this, though not before Malkon has been injured. Turlough is aghast when he finds his relative has been shot and the Doctor presses him for as much information as he has on the strange circumstances of Sarn. It seems it is a long abandoned Trion colony planet, and that Turlough, a Trion, suspects some of his family were sent here after a revolution against the hereditary leading clans of his homeworld. He supposes his father died in a crash but that Malkon survived, while he himself was sent in exile to Earth, overseen by a Trion agent masquerading as a solicitor in Chancery Lane.
Kamelion has meanwhile seized Peri and uses her to transport a black box into the control room of his TARDIS. It contains a miniaturised Master—the real thing—who has been transformed by a disastrous experiment with his trademark Tissue Compression Eliminator (TCE) weapon. The Master thus re-established the psychic link with Kamelion to gain the power of movement and has manoeuvred the robot to Sarn so that he can take advantage of the restorative powers of the numismaton gas within the fire mountain.
Turlough realises the imminent volcanic bursts will destroy Sarn, so he uses a communication unit to get in touch with Trion and plead for a rescue ship to evacuate the planet. Acting on a message from the Doctor, Turlough programs the TARDIS to rescue the Doctor and Peri from the gas control room, forgoing a chance to stay aboard and escape from the military arriving from his homeworld. He finds out that a general amnesty has been issued and he is free to return home. Only the elders choose to remain on the planet to die, facing the erupting volcanoes, Timanov retaining his faith even in the face of Amyand's revelation that Logar was merely a man in a fireproof suit: "Another deception!"
The Doctor succeeds in weakening the Master's hold over Kamelion and interrupts the numismaton experiment. He adds calorific gas to the surge but is unable to prevent the Master from reacquiring his usual size and becoming—he taunts—"a thousand times stronger". As the gas flow alters, the Master is trapped and the Doctor watches as he is seemingly immolated. Implored by the terminally wounded Kamelion, the Doctor has put the automaton out of its misery using the TCE. Escaping the destruction of the gas control room in the TARDIS along with Peri, the Doctor lands to pick up Turlough, only to find that he has elected to return to Trion. Turlough tells Peri to look after the Doctor. He then parts from the Doctor, thanking him for all that he has learned in his travels with him. As the Doctor and Peri return to the TARDIS, she says she has a few months' vacation left and would like to spend it travelling with him. The Doctor accepts and they depart.
In the history of the Time Lords, their involvement with the Minyans of Minyos is regarded as a disaster. The Minyans looked on them as gods but, having learnt much from their science, later expelled the Time Lords, who thereafter adopted a policy of non-intervention. The Minyans resented the Time Lords for their dominion over Minyos. Subsequently, the Minyans engaged in a civil war, using the advanced weapons the Time Lords gave them. In the final conflict, the Minyans destroyed their world. Two ships left Minyos before the final conflict, one carrying the race bank of the Minyans, the other intended to find the race bank and bring the Minyans to a new homeworld - Minyos II. The Minyan civilisation retained some Time Lord gifts, including cellular rejuvenation and the use of pacifier guns to alter the mental state of the aggressor.
At the edge of the expanding universe, the TARDIS materialises on a Minyan ship, the R1C. The Fourth Doctor, Leela and K9 visit the bridge of the ship. The crew – Jackson, Herrick, Orfe and Tala – are on a quest (“The Quest is the Quest”) that has taken many millennia and they have rejuvenated many times. Their aim is to find the missing ship, the P7E, which disappeared en route to Minyos II while carrying the genetic race banks of the entire species. They have finally traced the P7E’s signal and head into a spiral nebula to locate the ship. In the process the R1C is nearly destroyed, and is almost transformed into the core of a planetoid as small space rocks are attracted to it. A similar fate actually seems to have happened to the P7E, which is found at the centre of a small planet. The R1C crashes into this planet.
Civilisation on the P7E planetoid has taken a curious turn. Most of the population, the Trogs, live as slaves digging rock for fuel and sustenance, but they are culled and killed in rock collapses called Skyfalls. This situation is overseen by guards who are in turn responsible to two robots called Seers. In overall control is the Oracle, a powerful super-computer which has shaped the perverse society. Evidently the P7E became trapped in the planet millennia earlier and the entire basis of the mission was lost over time. The Doctor and Leela encounter Idas, a young man nearly killed in a Skyfall, learning how the local population is managed and terrorised. The Seers and Oracle exist in a protected Citadel at the heart of the planetoid (clearly the P7E) and the Doctor, Leela and Idas venture there, in the process rescuing Idas’ father Idmon who was due to be sacrificed to the Oracle. Other slaves are freed too, and flee to the R1C where Jackson makes them welcome. However, the crucial race banks remain in the control of the Oracle. The Doctor, Leela, and Idas venture to the Citadel to get the precious cargo. However, the Seers have meanwhile captured Herrick and give him what he thinks are the two race banks to take back to his ship. Jackson, Orfe and Tala are overjoyed, little realising that their friend has actually brought fission bombs back to the R1C.
The Doctor makes it to the core of the Citadel and confronts the Oracle. He succeeds in locating and stealing the real race banks and then heads off with Leela and Idas to get back to the probe ship. The Doctor gives the real race banks to Jackson, and then takes the fakes out of the craft. Idas takes advantage of the situation to round up the other Trogs and lead them to the safety of the R1C, while the Doctor engineers the return of the fission grenades to the Oracle. With moments to spare, the R1C blasts away, loaded with the slaves and the race banks, and is pushed outward from the planetoid by the explosion of the fission grenades. The TARDIS crew depart, wishing the Minyans well as they journey on to Minyos II, their quest complete.
The TARDIS materialises in 12th century Palestine during the time of the Third Crusade. When the First Doctor (William Hartnell), Ian Chesterton (William Russell), Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill), and Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) emerge, they find themselves in the middle of a Saracen ambush. In the confusion, Barbara is seized by a Saracen from behind while the rest of the TARDIS crew stop the attackers from killing William de Tornebu (Bruce Wightman), an associate of Richard the Lionheart (Julian Glover). Barbara and William des Preaux (John Flint) are presented to Saladin's brother Saphadin (Roger Avon) by El Akir (Walter Randall), who mistakenly believes them to be King Richard and his sister Lady Joanna. When des Preaux reveals their true identities, El Akir is furious; before he can act, Saladin (Bernard Kay) emerges and is intrigued by Barbara. He invites her to entertain him with her stories at supper.
Ian, anxious to rescue Barbara, asks for the King's help, but the irritated monarch tells Ian that Barbara can remain with Saladin until her death. De Tornebu and the Doctor are able to convince the King to change his mind. Ian is knighted so that he may serve as an emissary; he is sent to Saladin's court to both request the release of des Preaux and Barbara, and to offer the hand of the real Lady Joanna (Jean Marsh) in marriage to Saphadin in order to create peace. This makes Joanna indignant and she refuses her consent. Ian delivers his message to Saladin, after which Saladin grants Ian leave to search for Barbara. During his search, Ian is attacked by bandits and knocked out. One of the bandits, Ibrahim (Tutte Lemkow), ties him down with stakes in the hot sun and daubs him with honey, aiming to kill him via scaphism. Barbara twice escapes from El Akir's capture, hiding out in the Emir's harem on the second occasion. El Akir tries to find Barbara, but she is hidden by a sympathetic harem girl named Maimuna (Sandra Hampton).
Ian eventually tricks Ibrahim into untying his feet and overpowers him. Ian convinces the bandit to accompany him to Lydda and aid him in his quest for Barbara. Meanwhile, El Akir bursts in and is about to attack Barbara when Haroun (George Little)—a man who had aided Barbara with shelter—arrives and fatally stabs him. Ian arrives and helps Haroun subdue the guards. Haroun is reunited with Maimuna, his long lost daughter, and Barbara and Ian head for the TARDIS. The Doctor, who has been avoiding involvement in court politics, attempts to make a break for the TARDIS. He is caught by the Earl of Leicester (John Bay), who thinks the Doctor is a spy for Saladin and sentences him to death. Ian arrives and, presenting himself as "Sir Ian of Jaffa", tells the Earl of Leicester that he will carry out the execution himself. The Doctor asks for one last chance to see Jaffa before he dies. The Earl of Leicester agrees, and the Doctor is able to sneak away to the TARDIS with the rest of the crew and leave.
The TARDIS arrives near a vast Space Museum on the planet Xeros, but has jumped a time-track. The First Doctor (William Hartnell), Ian Chesterton (William Russell), Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill), and Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) have a series of bizarre experiences as they venture outside and into the Museum; they see but cannot be seen by the militaristic Moroks who run the museum, and the servile indigenous Xerons who work for them. The museum contains fascinating exhibits, including a Dalek shell, and the four travellers discover that they and the TARDIS are on display. A few moments later, the time track slips back and the exhibit with themselves and the TARDIS vanish, but the travellers are still inside the Museum.
The head of the Moroks, Lobos (Richard Shaw), is a bored and desperate museum administrator and colony governor, who reflects sourly that the Morok Empire has become decadent and declined. The Moroks find the TARDIS and start tracking down the occupants who have become separated. The Doctor is the first to be found, but evades their interrogation tactics. Meanwhile, Vicki has made contact with the Xerons and, hearing of their enslavement, aids them in their plans to stage a revolution. They attack the Morok armoury and Vicki outwits its controlling computer. With their new weapons, the Xerons are able to begin a revolution, which slowly takes hold.
Ian has meanwhile freed the Doctor from Lobos, who had begun the process of freezing him and turning him into an exhibit. Ian and the Doctor are quickly recaptured by the Morok guards, and Barbara and Vicki are captured shortly thereafter. Help comes from the Xeron revolutionaries, who kill Lobos and the other Morok captors. The Xerons destroy the Museum. The Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Vicki take a time/space visualiser as a souvenir and leave in the TARDIS. On the planet Skaro, their departure is noted by the Daleks.
While companions Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) explore the Sagarro Desert on the planet Aridius, the First Doctor (William Hartnell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) remain in the TARDIS. On the Time-Space Visualiser, they see the Daleks embarking on a plan to follow the TARDIS to Aridius to exterminate the Doctor and his companions and seize his ship. Realising that these events happened in the past and that the Daleks may already be on Aridius, the Doctor and Barbara venture out to warn Ian and Vicki, only to see Daleks emerging from the sands after a dust storm. The Doctor and Barbara are saved by native Aridians and reunited with Vicki and Ian, who were injured after an encounter with Mire Beasts. The Beasts attack again and, in the confusion, the Doctor and his friends flee to the TARDIS, evading Daleks who had discovered it buried in the sand.
The Daleks pursue the TARDIS through time and space in their own vessel. The Doctor and companions stop atop the Empire State Building in New York City in 1966; after they leave, a Dalek appears. They are later mistaken for stowaways on the ''Mary Celeste'' until the Daleks arrive and the frightened boat crew abandon the ship. Subsequently, landing in a mysterious old house, the Doctor and his companions encounter Dracula (Malcolm Rogers) and Frankenstein's monster (John Maxim), who attack the pursuing Daleks. In the confusion, the Doctor, Ian, and Barbara leave Vicki behind, unaware the monsters were actually robots in a defunct futuristic theme park attraction. Vicki stows away aboard the Dalek ship and witnesses them create an android replica of the Doctor (Edmund Warwick), programmed to kill the TARDIS crew, which is dispatched on arrival on the hostile jungle world of Mechanus. Vicki reunites with the Doctor, Ian, and Barbara, but a fight ensues between Ian and the real Doctor once the robot duplicate appears, claiming to be the original. When the robot Doctor mistakenly refers to Vicki as his granddaughter Susan, Barbara realises and the real Doctor disables his doppelgänger.
As the Doctor and his companions venture into a metal city above the jungle, Mechonoids imprison them with shipwrecked human astronaut Steven Taylor (Peter Purves). Under the cover of the Daleks attack on the city, the Doctor and his companions escape. Upon discovering the Dalek time machine and considering it more reliable than the TARDIS, Ian and Barbara persuade the Doctor to help them operate it to return to London in their own time. Upon arriving in London, 1965, Ian and Barbara set the time machine to auto-destruct. The Doctor and Vicki witness a conversation between Ian and Barbara on the Time-Space Visualiser; the Doctor says that he will miss them, and he and Vicki depart in the TARDIS.
As the planet Krypton is about to be destroyed, Superman's father Jor-El makes a ship and puts a white puppy named Krypto into it for a test flight to see if it is safe enough for interstellar travel. While aboard the ship, Krypto was playing with his ball when he accidentally destroyed several wires and causes the ship to release a sleeping gas to put him into a deep sleep while it heads on to Earth. When he arrived in Earth's solar system he woke up and found himself fully grown. The rocket's computer system gave him a collar and an ID with an intergalactic communicator.
Upon landing on Earth, Krypto is a full-grown dog, possessed of superpowers similar to those of Superman's (since all Kryptonian life-forms gain superpowers from exposure to a yellow sun, such as Earth's sun). Later, he is adopted by Kevin Whitney, a 9-year-old boy, with whom Superman arranges for him to stay (as Superman himself is often too busy saving the world to take care of him). Krypto poses as an ordinary dog while living with Kevin's family, but adopts the secret identity of Krypto the Superdog for his superheroic deeds; Kevin is aware of Krypto's dual identity, but the rest of Kevin's family is not (excluding Kevin's spoiled cousin Bailey, who found out accidentally). Kevin lives next door to Andrea, a girl who takes care of Streaky.
In the series, the various animals, including Krypto, all are capable of speaking to each other, but not to humans, except for Kevin and later Andrea (they are able to communicate with Krypto and the other animals thanks to a universal translator that they wear, known as an intergalactic communicator). The viewers can understand them, though, especially when Krypto and Streaky talk to the camera.
With his allies Streaky the Supercat, Ace the Bat-Hound, and Stretch-O-Mutt, Krypto fights the plots of Lex Luthor's pet iguana Ignatius, Joker's pet hyenas Bud and Lou, Penguin's trained birds called the Bad News Birds, and Catwoman's cat Isis. When working with a group of alien dog superheroes known as the Dog Star Patrol, Krypto faces off against the evil Mechanikat and his agents Snooky Wookums and Delilah.
The Prion star system contains two habitable planets which have supported civilisations: Zolfa-Thura, a desert world devoid seemingly of life structures bar five giant screens; and Tigella, a jungle world inhabited by the humanoid, white haired Tigellans. The structure of Tigellan society is based on two castes: the scientific Savants, led by the earnest Deedrix, and the religiously fanatical Deons, led by Lexa. The latter worship the Dodecahedron, a mysterious twelve-sided crystal which they see as a gift from the god Ti. The Savants, however, have utilised its power as an energy source for their entire civilisation. The planet’s leader, Zastor, mediates between the two factions, whose tensions have grown greater as the energy source has begun to fluctuate. When Zastor’s old friend the Doctor gets in touch, the weary leader invites him back to Tigella to investigate and help. When the Fourth Doctor, Romana, and K9 try to land the TARDIS on Tigella they are trapped in a time loop (which they call a chronic hysteresis), causing them to repeat a small "pocket of time" over and over again.
The culprit is Meglos, the last Zolfa-Thuran, a cactus creature who has remained hidden below the surface of his planet in a secret structure. He has summoned a band of space pirates called Gaztaks to help him in an audacious plan. Meglos wants to steal the Dodecahedron back from Tigella, as it is a Zolfa-Thuran energy source of immense power. To aid him, Meglos uses an Earthling captured for him by the Gaztaks to occupy and take on humanoid form: and the humanoid form he chooses is the Doctor, whom he has trapped in the bubble. While the hysteresis persists Meglos gets the Gaztaks to take him to Tigella, and infiltrates the city in his new identity. Zastor greets “the Doctor” warmly as an old friend, asking him to examine the Dodecahedron, but others are less sure, especially Lexa.
The Doctor and Romana break out of the loop by throwing it out of phase, and then land on Tigella in the middle of the hostile jungle. As the Doctor heads off to find Zastor, Romana stumbles across dangerous vegetation – deadly bell plants – and then the Gaztaks, waiting patiently for Meglos to return to their spaceship. She gives them the slip after a while and heads off to the city.
Meglos has used his time as the Doctor to steal the Dodecahedron, shrinking it to minute size. However, the Earthling fights back against his occupation, causing green cactus spikes to break out on his skin. When the Tigellans discover that the Dodecahedron is missing and sound the alarm, Meglos hides away, but the real Doctor arrives at the same time and is accused of theft. His bewilderment and charm are little defence as both Savants and Deons start to panic as the energy levels of the city start to fail. Lexa uses the situation to her own ends. Zastor and Deedrix are arrested in a Deon coup, with other Savants expelled to the hostile surface of the planet, while the Doctor himself is prepared for sacrifice to Ti.
The doors of the city are sealed with Meglos trapped inside, with a hostage Savant named Caris for company. She soon gets the upper hand when the Earthling tries another bout of resistance. In a subsequent mix-up, Romana overpowers Caris, letting Meglos escape and reunite with the Gaztaks, who have staged an attack on the city to rescue him. With the miniaturized Dodecahedron in his possession, the pirates blast off back to Zolfa-Thura – though three Gaztaks, half the crew, have been lost.
The real Doctor has by now been able to prove that he did not steal the artefact and that there is a doppelgänger at work. Lexa realises her mistake but does not live long to regret it when she is shot dead while protecting Romana from a wounded Gaztak who was left behind. The Doctor, Romana, Caris, and Deedrix head with K9 for the TARDIS, determined to follow the Gaztak ship.
Grugger’s ship touches down on Zolfa-Thura and Meglos wastes no time in restoring the Dodecahedron to full size and placing it at a spot equidistant between the Screens. He reveals his race perished in a civil war over the control of the crystal, which can power a weapon strong enough to destroy planets. At Grugger’s urging Meglos decides to use the weapon again and to aim it at Tigella.
When the Doctor arrives, he plays Meglos at his own game and tries a little impersonation. The situation becomes so confused that the Gaztaks lose track of which one is which, enabling the Doctor to redirect the super-weapon at Zolfa-Thura before both he and Meglos are detained by the Gaztaks. Meglos abandons the Earthling, leaving a bemused man watching a cactus creature reassert himself in his laboratory. Meglos knows the Doctor has realigned the weapon. However, the creature is unable to stop the Doctor fleeing back to the TARDIS, taking the Earthling with him, and is also unable to persuade Grugger not to fire the weapon. From the TARDIS the Doctor and his friends witness the destruction of Zolfa-Thura, along with the Gaztaks, Meglos, and the Dodecahedron.
Caris and Deedrix return to rebuild Tigella, recognising with Zastor and the Deons that old enmities must be put aside and a new society forged. The Doctor and Romana depart and prepare to take the Earthling home, but as they are leaving Romana receives a message from the Time Lords that she must return to Gallifrey.
En route to Gallifrey, the TARDIS passes through a strange phenomenon and ends up in an alternative universe called E-Space, where a small but sustainable civilisation of humanoids called Alzarians live between a river and a grounded spaceship, ''Starliner''. It is an oligarchy ruled by three senior colonists known as Deciders. A sudden series of irregular events are interpreted by Decider Draith as a bad omen and the colonists move into the Starliner to protect themselves. One of the younger colonists, Adric, watches Draith drown in the river. His last words are "Tell Dexeter we've come full circle!" Adric heads into the forest in panic, finding the TARDIS, where the Doctor and Romana take him in.
The other Deciders order the Starliner sealed and select a new Decider. Humanoid Marshmen and scuttling Marshspiders begin to appear. The Doctor gains entry to the Starliner, followed by a Marshchild. Both are found and taken to the Three Deciders. The Doctor is appalled when chief scientist Dexeter starts to perform vivisection experiments on the Marshchild.
Romana is bitten by a Marshspider and starts to change, seemingly possessed. The Doctor uses a protein serum to cure her and they determine the ship has been maintained for 40,000 generations by a species that has three aspects: spiders, Marshmen, and Alzarians. They are all the same species and thus have come "full circle."
It is accidentally deduced that oxygen in its pure form is toxic to the Marshmen and this non-lethal defence is used to force the Marshmen out of the Starliner. During their retreat, Adric stows away in the TARDIS as his fellow colonists pilot the craft away from Alzarius.
The TARDIS materialises on board a vast and advanced spacecraft, observed by a hovering spherical surveillance device which conveys the arrival of the crew to an observing being in control of the vessel. The TARDIS crew become separated and the Fifth Doctor and Tegan reach the bridge where the green-skinned commander introduces himself as Monarch, ruler of Urbanka, and his associates and fellow Urbankans are the Ministers of Enlightenment and Persuasion. The leader is intrigued by talk of current Earth civilisation and reveals their ship is bound for Earth. Shortly afterwards Enlightenment and Persuasion assume human forms, dressed in garments Tegan designed to demonstrate contemporary Earth fashions.
The TARDIS crew are reunited as guests, and it soon becomes apparent that there are four distinct human cultures represented on the vessel by a small group of humans – Ancient Greeks, the leader of whom is the philosopher Bigon; Chinese Mandarins and their leader Lin Futu; Princess Villagra and representatives of the Maya peoples; and Kurkutji and his tribesmen, of a very ancient Australian Aboriginal culture. The Urbankans have made periodic visits to Earth, each time getting speedier in their journeys. This time they have left their homeworld after erratic solar activity, storing three billion of their species on slides aboard their craft. It seems that the current journey is their last and that they now wish to settle on Earth, which they are due to reach in four days.
The Doctor becomes suspicious of Monarch and soon learns he does not plan on peaceful co-existence. Instead, he has developed a poison that reduces the intended in size to conquer Earth, which will be unleashed before the Urbankans disembark. He also learns that the humans aboard are not descendants of the original abductees, but are the original people taken from Earth and converted into androids, like the three Urbankans walking around on board. Monarch describes the era prior to his conversion of Urbankan life forms into cyborgs as the "flesh-time". The four leaders of the peoples have been given additional circuits to help them reason, but this facility can be taken away, as Bigon learns when he rebels against Monarch, and his neural circuit is removed and placed in a container for one hundred years. He explained to the Doctor that Monarch strip-mined and polluted Urbanka in a quest for minerals to improve the ship, and now plans to do the same to Earth. Monarch believes that if he can move the ship faster than the speed of light, he can pilot it back to the beginning of time and discover himself as God.
Adric, nevertheless, is rather taken with Monarch, and tensions between him and the Doctor become very strained. It takes The Doctor to break the tyrant's hold over the boy. The Doctor now sets about overthrowing Monarch and, with the help of the human androids led by a restored Bigon, a revolution is put into effect. Enlightenment and Persuasion are decircuited, while Monarch himself (whom the Doctor realises is still organic as there is an oxygen-producing flora chamber on the ship) is exposed to the poison and shrunk. The humanoid androids decide to pilot the vessel to a new home on a new world, while the TARDIS crew departs. Back in the console room, Nyssa suddenly collapses to the floor in a dead faint.
A wizard invents a substance named Ghost Ink, which creates mischievous-acting ghosts when used. The ink ghosts created by the Ghost Ink cause chaos to the people of Pac-Man's world by jumping into different books and pictures across the world.
Hearing of the crisis, Pac-Man uses his Magic Pen to rid the world of the ink ghosts. Pac-Man succeeds in trapping all the ghosts into a single book, which was then promptly locked. Before he could succeed in turning all the ghosts back into ghost ink, the ghosts counterattack Pac-Man with a curse, which captures him in a sheet of paper. Pac-Man enlists the help of the player to use the Magic Pen to rid the books of the Ghosts. The player uses the Magic Pen to rid the pages from the ghosts by drawing Pac-Men.
Eventually, the player gets towards battling the Ink Master, the source of the Ghost Ink. The Ink Master is eventually defeated, and is sealed inside a bottle. With the ink ghosts gone, the curse induced on Pac-Man is undone and is freed from the paper sheet. Pac-Man seals the bottle in a chest and hides it in the unknown sea, freeing the people of Pac-Man's world from the ink ghosts.
''Pluto'' follows the Europol robot detective Gesicht in his attempts to solve the case of a string of robot and human deaths around the world where all the victims have objects shoved into or positioned by their heads, imitating horns. The case becomes more puzzling when evidence suggests a robot is responsible for the murders, which would make it the first time a robot has killed a human in eight years. All seven of the great robots of the world, the most scientifically advanced which have the potential to become weapons of mass destruction, seem to be the killer's targets, and the murdered humans are connected to preserving the International Robot Laws which grant robots equal rights.
Leaving behind their past, Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle Baenre become mercenaries in the lands of Damara and Vaasa where fame and glory await any who seek it. They are hired by two dragon sisters, Ilnezhara and Tazmikella, to uncover artifacts left behind by Zhengyi the Witch-King, a powerful lich who ruled the region for many years before falling to the power of King Gareth Dragonsbane and his allies. In search of adventure, glory, and treasure, the pair of unlikely heroes embarks on their mission to destroy, or retrieve, the remaining remnants of Zhengyi's power. In the village of Palishchuk, a half-orc woman, Arrayan Faylin, falls under the spell of the vanquished Zhengyi when she attempts to decipher a tome he left behind. The spell drains her life force to form an exact replica of Castle Perilous, the citadel from which the Witch-King once ruled. Jarlaxle and Entreri join forces with a group of adventurers, including Commander Ellery, legendary hero Mariabronne the Rover, assassins Athrogate and Canthan, the half-elf warrior Calihye, and half-orcs Arrayan and Olgerkhan and set out to investigate the fortress facsimile. After a battle against some monsters, Calihye's close friend, Parissus is killed falling out of a wagon driven by Entreri. Blaming him for the woman's death, Calihye vows to kill him but has different thoughts after Entreri effortlessly disarms her and promises to kill her slowly if she ever threatens him again. As with the original Castle Perilous, the citadel's magic creates an endless supply of gargoyles, who begin to attack the heroes, as well as the poorly defended town of Palishchuk, where Calihye and another injured member of their party are nestled. Jarlaxle and company defeat the gargoyles easily enough and manage to infiltrate the castle, where they split up. Arrayan, having sustained too many wounds compounded with the life-draining burden of the spell, is on her last legs. The wizard Canthan turns on Entreri but proves to be overmatched by the dangerous assassin and is perfunctorily killed. In a rare moment of compassion, Entreri drags the dying body of Arrayan's lover, who is also sharing the burden of the castles dark magic, over to Canthan, and, as the wizard breathes his last breath, places the half-orc's hand upon his dagger to suck Canthan's remaining life force and heal her. An isolated Mariabronne stumbles upon a chamber with demon eggs hanging from the ceiling. The eggs hatch and Mariabronne manages to defeat them, but is stung in the process and injected with deadly venom. Commander Ellery is left alone with Jarlaxle and attempts to assassinate him. A fight promptly ensues, although Jarlaxle seems reluctant to kill her, as they have been lovers for some time and the opportunistic mercenary would always prefer to bed women than slay them, but Entreri shows up and mortally wounds her with his jeweled dagger. When the remnants of the band reunite, Athrogate takes it upon himself to do what Canthan could not and proceeds to duel against Entreri. Despite all his considerable skill, Entreri's parry and thrust style of fighting is no match for Athrogate's deadly morningstars. He would have promptly been killed but for Jarlaxle, who tosses a dimensional hole concealed in his hat at the dwarf. Athrogate becomes imprisoned in a void and agrees to obey Jarlaxle in return for his freedom. The five remaining companions venture into the heart of the castle, where they are met by a powerful dracolich who served as a minion for Zhengyi. Seemingly unstoppable, the dracolich gives the heroes a hellacious fight, but is finally defeated when Entreri's enchanted dragon statue spews dragon flame upon it. Jarlaxle, never one to pass up powerful magic, quickly salvages the soul of the dracolich, contained in a skull pendant, as well as a magical figurine for summoning a nightmare steed off Mariabronne's corpse.
"In the Flesh?" introduces the story of Pink, a rock star. It begins with the opening of a rock concert. The lyrics inform us that despite his outward appearances, things are much different "behind these cold eyes" and that if the listener wants to know what's really going on with Pink, you'll "just have to claw your way through this disguise." The song also subtly indicates that Pink's father is killed in a war, with the sound effect of the dive-bomber. Finally, we hear a baby crying, indicating that Pink and his mother are left without a father and husband, respectively (this is expanded upon two songs later, in "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1").
Later in the album, the reprise marks the first of a series of songs in which Pink, in a drug-induced hallucination, believes himself to be a fascist dictator, crowing over his faithful audience; this particular song is his hallucination that his concerts can be likened to a political rally. He begins exhorting his fans to show their devotion to him by throwing undesirables such as "queers", Jews, and "coons", "up against the wall". He punctuates the end of the song with "If I had my way I'd have all of you shot!". The incited crowd then chant Pink's name as the song segues into "Run Like Hell".
As the book opens, a dwarf demagogue, Grag Hamcrusher, is apparently murdered. Ethnic tensions between Ankh-Morpork's troll and dwarf communities mount in the build-up to the anniversary of the Battle Of Koom Valley, an ancient battle where trolls and dwarfs seemingly ambushed each other. Lord Vetinari persuades Commander Vimes to interview a vampire applicant to the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. The new recruit, Lance-Constable Salacia "Sally" von Humpeding, along with Sergeant Angua and Captain Carrot, is attached to the investigation surrounding Hamcrusher's death.
Meanwhile, Corporal Nobbs and Sergeant Colon begin an investigation into the theft of the fifty-foot painting, ''The Battle of Koom Valley'' by the insane artist Methodia Rascal, from a city art gallery. Most of the populace believe the painting holds clues to a treasure hidden in Koom Valley. Nobbs has a new girlfriend, exotic dancer Tawneee; Nobby first caught her eye when slipping an IOU into her garter. Other subplots involve the tension between vampires and werewolves (new recruit Lance-Constable von Humpeding and Sergeant Angua), and the presence of Vetinari's auditor, A.E. Pessimal, in the Watch House.
Vimes finds himself pressured by Lord Vetinari to solve the murder quickly, before inter-species war erupts in Ankh-Morpork. Vimes and Sergeant Angua visit the dwarves' under-city mine, where a nervous dwarf named Helmclever draws a mysterious sign in the spilled coffee on his desk. In a fit of his particular brand of omnidirectional anger, Vimes veers off into the mine where he cuts himself, he supposes, on a locked door. Later, he persuades the deep down dwarves to allow Captain Carrot to be the "''smelter''" who looks for the truth of the murder.
When Carrot tries to find that truth, however, he is shown a body that was mutilated after death, and a confusing patch of clues. Angua discovers that a troll really ''was'' in the mine at the time of the murder, much to the consternation and fear of the dwarves who claimed a troll did the killing. This troll turns out to be Brick, who is a gutter troll of the lowest sort, addicted to Troll drugs beginning with "'''''S'''''," (such as Slab, Scrape, Slice, Slide etc.) and who becomes the protégé of Sergeant Detritus.
Angua and Sally soon discover four more bodies in the mine, dwarves clearly murdered by other dwarves. One of these dwarves used his own blood to scrawl yet another mysterious rune on the back of a door in the mine—the same door that Commander Vimes accidentally 'cut' himself on the other side of. The Deep-Downers flee for the mountains, taking the talking cube they found at the bottom of Methodia Rascal's well, and the painting of Koom Valley. As a parting shot, they send a squad of their guards to invade the Vimes/Ramkin family mansion and attempt to murder Lady Sybil Ramkin and Young Sam. The two survive unharmed, thanks to the fighting talents of Vimes and the family butler, Willikins, as well as a dwarf being foolish enough to provoke Sybil's dragons.
Vimes, along with family and several members of the Watch, travels to Koom Valley. He believes he is pursuing justice, but an astute troll king named Mr. Shine and a bright young grag named Bashfulsson know that Vimes is carrying the Summoning Dark, the quasi-demonic entity that wreaks vengeance on dwarves who have done evil in the sight of other dwarves. Vimes acquired the Summoning Dark when he touched the cursed door in the city mine, but his own internal watchman proves stronger than it is.
Vimes soon discovers the real secret of Koom Valley: the trolls and dwarves did not intend war, but had originally come to Koom Valley to broker peace. Weather conspired against them and after a thick fog caused a "''double ambush''", a flash flood carried them into the caverns below.
The Deep-Downers intended to destroy the evidence of this attempt at peace to continue the war between troll and dwarf and had sought out the cave where the surviving trolls and dwarfs had been washed. Preserved as a form of stalagmite, troll and dwarf had died as friends in the cavern while the ancient troll king and dwarf king played a game of Thud.
As the book ends, the tomb of the dead trolls and dwarves is opened to the public, in the hope that the two races will learn to end their centuries of animosity. Back in Ankh-Morpork the equipment that the Deep-Downers had abruptly left behind in their haste has been confiscated, under the clause of eminent domain by Lord Vetinari, seeing them as useful for his future "''Undertaking''" project.
Bill, a young new recruit in the Australian Special Air Service, arrives for his year-long tour of duty in Vietnam. Other members of his section include Harry, the section's Corporal and the oldest and most worldly-wise of the group, along with Bung, Rogers, Dawson and Scott. The close-knit group cope with their circumstances with a mixture of humour, cheek, practical jokes and copious quantities of beer. Harry has an ongoing verbal feud with the squadron cook over the questionable quality of the food. During the first weeks of their stay in Vietnam, their biggest enemies are mud, boredom, tinea and the never-ending torrential rains. However the real war strikes suddenly one night when an enemy mortar barrage hits their camp, causing a number of casualties. The patrols first operation takes place shortly afterwards; a short sharp engagement in the dense jungle, which leaves Scott mortally wounded and one wounded Viet Cong who escapes. This encounter sets the tone for the remainder of their tour. Long, exhausting patrols which are periodically interrupted by short savage encounters with either the enemy, mines or booby-traps.
Back at camp, the men resort to anything to pass the time and keep fear and grief at bay, including drunken brawls, a practical joke on the padre and an insect-fighting contest with an American unit that degenerates into a massive fist fight. Bill receives a thinly-disguised break-up letter from his girlfriend back home. Whilst on leave in Saigon, Bung catches a young scam artist who has just robbed a pair of US soldiers. They take the boy's stolen cash and team up with the Americans for a wild night with hookers, in which even Bill indulges.
During a quiet spell at camp, Harry confides in his mates that prior to joining the army, he used to be a professional artist and had suffered a painful marriage break-up. He also grows increasingly cynical about both the conduct and purpose of the war and remarks bitterly about the lack of gratitude and interest they will receive upon returning home. Bung is devastated by news from Australia that his mother and girlfriend have perished in a car accident. Soon after Rogers steps on a mine whilst on patrol that blows off both his feet and destroys his jaw. Later his mates visit him in hospital before he is sent home. Rogers asks Harry to check if his testicles are still present (they are).
Shortly before their tour ends, a major offensive is launched and the section is sent into action to capture a VC-held bridge. Bung is killed by a VC machine-gunner as they take the bridge. The section is then ordered to withdraw, prompting Harry to comment bitterly that the whole morning's work had been for nothing. Not long afterwards, Harry, Bill and Dawson are informed they are being sent home. Back in Australia, Harry and Bill have a beer at a harbour side pub in Watsons Bay. The barman asks them if they have just returned from Vietnam but Harry replies 'No'. The two friends look out across Port Jackson quietly reflecting on their experiences as the film ends.
After the battle at the end of the previous book, which ended with the destruction of the religion of Issus, John Carter's wife and two other women were locked in a slowly rotating prison attached to the Temple of the Sun, each of whose hundreds of cells are only open to the outside world once every year. In the meantime, Carter's friend Xodar has become the new Jeddak (chief or king) of the black Martian First Born, and those white Martian therns who reject the old religion likewise gain a new unnamed leader, but there are still some who wish to keep the old discredited religion going, including the therns' erstwhile leader, the Holy Hekkador Matai Shang. John Carter discovers that a First Born named Thurid knows the secret of the Temple of the Sun and he and Matai Shang want to rescue the Holy Thern's daughter Phaidor, who has been imprisoned with Dejah Thoris and another Barsoomian princess, Thuvia of Ptarth, in the Temple jail for several hundred days.
Thurid, to spite Carter, gets Matai Shang to also take Dejah Thoris and Thuvia along with them. Carter follows them in the hope of liberating his beloved wife.
His antagonists flee to the north, taking the three women along. (This resolves the cliffhanger from the previous book, in which Phaidor attempts to stab Dejah Thoris; apparently, Thuvia successfully disarmed Phaidor, and nobody was killed.) In the equatorial Land of Kaol, on the opposite side of the planet from Helium, their jeddak Kulan Tith has not yet abandoned the old religion, and accepted Matai Shang's request for safe haven. Carter rescues the jeddak's forces from an ambush, and is admitted to Kaol, as a neighboring jeddak and good friend of his comes for a visit with his huge retinue. Matai Shang and Thurid unmask Carter's disguise and denounce his heresies, but the visiting jeddak, Thuvan Dihn of Ptarth, who is Thuvia's father, hotly defends Carter. Kulan Tith orders Matai Shang to deliver Dejah Thoris and Thuvia, but instead, he and Thurid take the women and flee to the north. After this treachery against his friend, Kulan Tith finally abjures the old religion and offers whatever help he can to Carter and Thuvan Dihn, but little can be done at this point.
Thereafter John Carter follows them untiringly into the north polar regions where he discovers more fantastic creatures and the nearly forgotten Yellow Martians, who live on the north polar cap behind a ring-shaped ice barrier. After traversing through the Carrion Caves which cross the barrier, Carter and Thuvan Dihn encounter Talu, the rebellious nephew of the tyrant Salensus Oll, who rules the yellow Martians' realm of Okar from the city of Kadabra. Talu provides Carter and Thuvan Dihn with advice and assistance, including disguising the two as yellow Martians. They infiltrate Salensus Oll's court, but Thurid and Matai Shang discover Carter, and have him thrown into a pit. Carter escapes thanks to help from one of Talu's moles in the court. Carter rescues Tardos Mors and Mors Kajak of Helium, triggering a rebellion among the Heliumite prisoners, which turns into a full-fledged invasion after Carter deactivates the yellow Martians' magnetic tower that wrecks invading fleets so Helium's fleet can land safely, carrying a volunteer force of Green Martians headed by Tars Tarkas as well. After a tremendous battle, Salensus Oll is killed, and Thurid and Matai Shang are forced to flee. In a dramatic scene, Carter follows them onto an airship, over a chasm. First, Matai Shang is tossed overboard by Thurid and killed, then after Thurid attempts to do the same to Carter, he is knifed and thrown overboard by Phaidor. Lastly, Phaidor announces to Carter that she repents of her jealousy, and recognizes the love that Carter and Dejah Thoris have for each other, and throws herself overboard in reparation for her sins before Carter can stop her.
Afterwards, in a continuation of Zat Arrras' trial, Carter is instead proclaimed "Warlord of Barsoom" by his allies. This book is the last to feature Tars Tarkas, John Carter's ally, in any major role; indeed, the green Barsoomians of whom Tars Tarkas is an oligarch disappear altogether from most of the later novels.
The opening text tells of how an alien force has harvested the population of Earth over a 100-year time period. Every 25 years they would land and imprison whole areas in shields that prevented anyone from leaving and any outside help getting in. The aliens would harvest the population of the area within a time limit of one day before moving on to another area. After repeating this several times they would teleport back to their homeworld, an artificially created comet, before returning exactly 25 years later as it has completed its orbit around the nearby star systems back to earth. Greece was the first targeted area in 1916, southern Spain was second, eastern Canada was third, and the south island of Japan was fourth. In 1941 the first targeted area was Java. In 1966 it was the U.S. (presumably somewhere in the southwest in between Nevada and Arizona) and finally in 1991 it was Siberia. The player only has to stop the aliens in the first area that they target in order to save every future targeted area of that time period.
The opening cutscene shows Station Omega, an orbital space station containing Earth's last survivors. The year is 2016 and the aliens have returned to destroy the last remnant of the human race. The aliens attack and board Station Omega, chasing Adam Drake, the game's only playable character, through the corridors. Even though Adam defeats the initial invaders he is wounded in the process. He is ready to board Alpha I, the time traveling vehicle developed at Station Omega, when more aliens appear and try to force their way into the boarding chamber. The monitors show his colleague, Daisy Hernandez, telling Adam to get into the Alpha I without letting the aliens gain access to it. As the aliens force the door open, Adam dives through the air lock and fires a single shot into the control panel; this closes the door and prevents the aliens from pursuing him further. As they escape the station in the Alpha I, they are pursued by Alien fighter craft, but open up a time portal and escape. Meanwhile, back on Station Omega, an Alien is shown holding a drop of Adam's blood and eyes it strangely. This is a subtle hint as to where Adam's nemesis, Tomegatherion, is cloned from.
As the game begins, Wander enters the forbidden land and travels across a long bridge on his horse, Agro. After they reach the entrance to the Shrine of Worship, Wander, who has carried with him the body of Mono, brings her to an altar in the temple. A moment later, several humanoid shadow creatures appear and approach Wander before he easily dismisses them with a wave of the ancient sword in his possession.
After the shadow creatures are vanquished, the disembodied voice of Dormin manifests within the shrine and expresses surprise at the fact that Wander possesses the weapon. Wander explains the plight that led him to seek the forbidden land and asks that Dormin return Mono's soul to her body. Dormin offers to grant Wander's request under the condition that he completes a rite designed to destroy the sixteen idols lining the temple's hall. To that end, Wander must use his sword to slay each of the idol's physical incarnations–the colossi, whose presence ranges across the vast expanse outside the temple. Although warned by Dormin that he may have to pay a great price to revive Mono, Wander sets out to search the land for the colossi and destroy them.
An aspect of Wander's mission that is unknown to him is that the colossi contain portions of Dormin's own essence, scattered long ago to render the entity powerless. As Wander kills each colossus, a released fragment of Dormin enters his body. Over time, the signs of Wander's deterioration from the gathered essence start to appear: his skin becomes paler, his hair darker, and his face is increasingly covered by dark veins. The outcome of the battle with the twelfth colossus leads to a reveal of a group of warriors that has been pursuing Wander, led by Emon. Urged to hurry with his task by Dormin, Wander soon heads off to defeat the sixteenth and final colossus. On the way to this confrontation, he rides horseback across a long bridge which begins to collapse as he is halfway across, but Agro manages to throw Wander over to the other side before falling into the distant river below.
Soon after, Wander goes on to defeat the final colossus as Emon's company arrives in the Shrine of Worship to witness the last temple idol crumble. Wander appears back in the temple soon after, the signs of his corruption readily apparent: his skin is pallid, his eyes glow silver, and a pair of tiny horns have sprouted from his head. Emon recognizes him as a transgressor who, in an event that occurred before Wander's journey to the forbidden land, stole the ancient sword with which he killed the colossi. Emon orders his warriors to kill the "possessed" man as he approaches Mono and finally falls once stabbed through the heart by one of Emon's men. However, a newly whole Dormin takes control of Wander's body and transforms into a shadowy giant. While his men flee, Lord Emon casts the ancient sword into a small pool at the back of the temple's hall to evoke a whirlwind of light. The supernatural vortex consumes Dormin and Wander, which seals Dormin within the temple once again. As Emon and his warriors escape, the bridge that leads to the temple collapses behind them, and its destruction forever isolates the forbidden land from the rest of the world. Although he has condemned Wander for his actions prior to their encounter, Emon expresses hope that Wander may be able to atone for his crimes one day should he have survived.
Back in the temple, Mono awakens and finds Agro limping into the temple with an injured hind leg. Mono follows Agro to the pool into which Wander and Dormin were pulled by Emon's spell, where she finds a male infant with tiny horns on his head. Mono takes the child with her, following the horse to higher levels of the Shrine of Worship, and arrives at a secret garden within the shrine as the game ends.
Cartman and Kenny learn from the 5th graders that "milking" a dog is possible, when it is in fact just stimulating the dog to the point of ejaculation which they call "red rocket" and "beating off" the dog. They show the act to Stan and Kyle, who are impressed. Stan performs the technique on his own dog Sparky in front of his parents and their friends during a book club meeting, for which he is grounded for ten months. Stan cannot understand why he is being punished, as his parents are too embarrassed to explain sexual stimulation to him and decide that the school should be responsible for teaching sex education.
Mr. Mackey tries to teach the fourth grade boys about male and female anatomy and the mechanics of sexual intercourse, but, not having had sex since he was 19, Mr. Mackey cannot teach the boys anything of use. Ms. Choksondik, angered off sex after a boyfriend dumped her after a love making session ended poorly, intends to scare the girls into safe sex by spending her lesson teaching the girls about all the different types of STDs that they might catch if the boys are not wearing condoms, but does not mention that in order to catch these diseases, they would first need to have sex. The boys try talking to Chef, the only person who actually has had much sexual experience, but he (who was opposed to the sex ed class and wanted the children to keep their naivety) does not tell them anything. The girls become so terrified of the boys that upon being approached by them at lunch, they back away and scream in fright when they learn the boys aren't wearing condoms. Afraid they will spread a disease, the boys go to the pharmacy to purchase condoms.
Hearing from the pharmacist that condoms were purchased, the school believes this is due to the students being sexually active. As a result, Ms. Choksondik says they should start teaching kindergarten students about sex education and Mr. Garrison spearheads those lessons in an overtly erotic way, much to Chef's outrage.
Ms. Choksondik teaches the girls about pregnancy, which scares them even more than before when she shows them a detailed video of childbirth. The boys then buy the condoms and wear them at all times, not understanding how they work. Mr. Mackey tells them they are only worn during sexual intercourse. Angry that the girls misled them and thinking that the girls are the ones carrying diseases, they come to believe that they must get rid of the girls. The girls build a massive fort to keep the boys out. The boys tell them to leave town in a siege reminiscent of ''Mad Max 2'', but the girls refuse and attack the boys (killing Kenny with a boomerang), which escalates into a battle.
While preparing the lesson plan, Ms. Choksondik and Mr. Mackey become aroused by the sexual nature of their conversation, and admit to having sexual fantasies about each other. The two undress, and engage in unprotected sexual intercourse.
Meanwhile, the battle draws the attention of the adults and the parents, who get angry at the children for the conflict. Ms. Choksondik apologizes to the girls for not telling them that an STD is transmitted through sexual intercourse, believing it had been implied when she first told them. Chef, however, states that the parents are to blame since they were so quick to let the schools handle sex education and leaving it in the hands of either someone with little experience (Mr. Mackey), someone with a negative view (Ms. Choksondik), or "a complete pervert" (Mr. Garrison, who's offended at being singled out) rather than teach it to their kids themselves. The episode ends with Cartman stimulating another dog as everyone looks on without any objection.
Over the closing credits, Garrison can be heard still teaching kindergarteners different sexual positions.
After con artist Joe Donan accidentally kills his father Mike during a sting when his blank bullets were replaced with live ammunition, he tries to carry out Mike's dying wish to recover "the cake". To do so he goes to find his uncle Lou. Uncle Lou, also a con artist, tries to get Joe in on one of his cons, but Joe falls in love with Lou's assistant's girlfriend Diane and decides that they will take the money from the con and run away. After the con goes wrong and Uncle Lou gets shot, Joe flees with the money but runs into his father, alive and well. Joe learns that Mike and Diane were working together to con Lou. Enraged, Joe fires his gun at Mike, not knowing whether the bullets inside were blanks or real. The bullet is a blank, and the film ends with Joe walking away from Mike.
After a bad experience with genetically modified food, Marge decides to grow her own vegetables in a newly created garden. Crows converge on the garden, so Marge makes a scarecrow, which scares Homer away. Homer then returns and destroys the scarecrow, and the crows see Homer as their leader, following him everywhere and doing his bidding. But when the crows try to carry Maggie, Homer turns on them and they attack his eyes. He is prescribed medicinal marijuana to deal with the searing pain he is feeling.
Homer begins to enjoy smoking marijuana, and gets an unexpected bonus when his giddy-stoned happy reaction to Mr. Burns' awful jokes (which are for a speech to big investors where the SNPP will either be bailed out or have to close for good) lands him a promotion to Executive Vice President. However, a petition circulated by Ned Flanders to ban medical use of marijuana, which Homer actually signs while in an altered state, is placed onto a ballot. Homer organises a pro-marijuana rally, which is supported by rock band Phish. However, it becomes apparent during the event that the vote has already taken place, and that medical marijuana has been outlawed. By this point, Homer is cured of his medical condition and promises he will not smoke marijuana again.
Mr. Burns asks Homer to help him with a speech for the crisis shareholders meeting. Homer gives Smithers his last joint, and while Smithers is smoking it, Burns apparently drowns in his bathtub. For the meeting, Smithers and Homer make Mr. Burns into a marionette, and the movement of the marionette inadvertently gets Mr. Burns' heart working again. The meeting is a success, and another financial crisis at the power plant is avoided. Mr. Burns appreciates that he was revived, but repeatedly slaps Homer and Smithers for initially pretending he was dead.
When Bart, Lisa and the students of Springfield Elementary go on a field trip to the post office, Bart gets a coupon book as a souvenir, which he gives to Homer as a birthday present. Homer uses one of his coupons for a free wheel balancing at a tire shop, but is conned into buying four new tires for his car. While waiting for the installation, Homer meets Wally Kogen, a travel agent. The two watch a special on the Super Bowl while drinking at Moe's, and Wally explains that his agency is sending a charter bus to the game. To get free seats for himself and Bart, Homer helps Wally fill the bus by persuading many prominent male citizens of Springfield to sign up.
Homer, Bart, and the men arrive at Miami's Pro Player Stadium for pre-game festivities, only to discover that Wally has bought counterfeit tickets. They try to sneak in, but are caught and detained in a cell, where they vent their frustration on Homer. After Dolly Parton - a friend of Wally's and one of the halftime entertainers - breaks them out, they make their way into a skybox suite and spend more time gorging themselves on free food and drinks than they do watching the game. Confronted by the box's owner, Rupert Murdoch, the group flees toward the field but is promptly swept into the locker room by the victorious Denver Broncos. They share in the celebration, with Homer taking a congratulatory phone call from Bill Clinton, and several of the men wind up with Super Bowl rings as they board the bus to return to Springfield.
Meanwhile, Marge and Lisa find a 1960s-era egg decorating kit endorsed by Vincent Price and decide to use it. When the kit proves to have no feet for the egg, Marge calls the company's help line and finds herself listening to Price on a voice mail greeting. As Homer's group leaves Miami, Pat Summerall and John Madden analyze the events of the episode, their initially favorable opinion quickly souring. They board a bus driven by Price, who has trouble shifting gears properly.
In 2023, the United States government was weakened by an economic crisis. In response, the American Trade Organization, most commonly known as "The Corporation", builds a para-militaristic force and overthrows the government, taking over the United States of America and establishing a corporatised totalitarian police state. Years later, in 2035, an underground resistance named "Freedom" began a campaign of resistance and soon sparked a national riot. The Corporation declares a state of emergency. The game takes place in Capital City. The player joins Freedom in an attempt to overthrow The Corporation; they must play as one of a selection of five characters, who each have their own unique backgrounds.
In the year 2000, 100-year-old Amelia Hazelwood was living in a nursing home, sick and tired of life. Content to die, she signs a document given to her by doctors at the nursing home with very little awareness as to what it is. However, she gradually begins to change soon afterward, beginning with the realization that she no longer needs her hearing aid and is able to swing her legs over the side of her bed again.
She quickly learns that she and several other nursing home residents had signed an agreement with Dr. Jimson and Dr. Reed to participate in a study for an experimental drug (PT-1) that reverses the effect of aging by making telomeres grow. All the residents at the nursing home had been given the drug and are now growing younger each day. However, because the drug is experimental, it must be kept a secret. While a second chance at life seems wonderful, when Amelia's first birthday while moving back in time arrives, she finds she cannot remember anything from the last year of her life when she was growing older. The residents realize that as they grow younger, their previous memories are disappearing and being rewritten with new memories from growing younger, even though the brain has plenty of chromosomes left for memory. It's then found out that it's like recording while hitting the rewind button. One man, afraid of forgetting his beloved wife's funeral where so many people said such nice things, is the first to request the Cure, a secondary drug that will halt his age at that exact moment. While the Cure works successfully on lab mice, the man immediately shrivels up, dies, and turns into dust when it is administered to him.
While the doctors continue to secretly find a way to make the Cure work on humans with little success, Amelia and a friend, Anny Beth, decide to leave the nursing home and live their lives together and experience the world as they grow younger and younger. They find themselves constantly on the move, as with each year, their un-aging bodies prevent them from keeping the drug a secret. By the time Amelia, now called Melly, is sixteen and Anny Beth is eighteen, they become increasingly anxious that they will soon be unable to live on their own and become infants. With the doctors now deceased and their descendants still trying to make the Cure work, Melly and Anny Beth must find someone they can trust with their story and will take care of them when the time comes. Even more distressing is when Melly and Anny Beth realize someone they do not know named A.J. Hazelwood is trying to locate them for information they don't want to disclose.
As Melly and Anny Beth try to stay one-step ahead of the mysterious A.J. Hazelwood, they are surprised to learn that she is a descendant of both of them and had been researching her family history. The two decide to take a chance and reveal the truth regarding their identities to A.J., who eventually believes them and agrees to accept responsibility for their well-being as they unage into childhood again.
''Kajika'' is the story of the title protagonist and his quest to return to being a normal boy. As a member of the , Kajika is extremely strong and has special powers. As a child, Kajika was very evil. His greatest known evil was chasing after a defenseless fox and smashing it with a giant rock. Upon being killed, the spirit of the fox cursed Kajika and Kajika was turned into a fox-man. Kajika was then kicked out of his village because of his monstrous appearance, and the only way to break the curse was to save the lives of 1,000 life forms. The spirit of the dead fox, named Gigi, decided to accompany Kajika on his journey. Upon saving 1,000 life forms, Kajika will go back to being a boy and Gigi will once again get its body back.
After five years of saving life forms, the team only has ten more lives to save. One day, Kajika runs across a girl and saves her from a gang of bad guys. After defeating the gang, Kajika then uses a special power to remove all of their evil, turning them good. Kajika learns that the girl he saved is named Haya, and is told that the guys were after her because of the Dragon Egg she possesses. The Dragon egg is extremely rare and was stolen by the gang leader Gibachi from . Haya then went to Sumakia and stole it from Gibachi. She then went on a quest to return the egg. Gibachi tries to kill Haya and recover the egg. Haya then asks Kajika to help her on her quest.
As the three go to Ronron island we are told why Gibachi wants the egg so badly. There is an old saying that says if you drink the blood of a young Dragon, then you will gain incredible powers. No one is sure if this is true, but the baby dragon does have Dragomin in its blood which allows it to mature extremely fast. As the three set off, though, Haya makes up an excuse as to why she can not continue, but it is really because she fears Gibachi. So, now it is up to Kajika and Giri to return the egg, but it will not be so easy now that they are being hunted down by the world-famous assassin known as Isaza, who is also a member of the powerful Kawa tribe. Kajika is an extremely strong boy, but it is also revealed that being turned into a fox-man is holding down his true powers.
Pontius Pilate offers to release either Jesus of Nazareth or Barabbas, in keeping with the Passover custom. The crowd gathered for the pardoning chooses Barabbas, and Jesus is condemned to crucifixion. Returning to his friends, Barabbas asks for his lover, Rachel. His friends inform him that Rachel has become a follower of Christ. Rachel soon returns, but she is not happy to see Barabbas.
Barabbas witnesses the crucifixion of Jesus. As Jesus dies, the sky turns black, and Barabbas is shaken. He watches Christ's body sealed in the tomb. On the third morning, Barabbas finds the tomb open. Rachel tells him that Christ has risen, but Barabbas says it's an illusion, or that His followers have stolen the body. He visits the apostles; they do not know where He is, but also believe He is risen.
Rachel preaches in Jerusalem about Christ Jesus himself and is stoned to death at the insistence of the priests. Barabbas, guilt-ridden, returns to his criminal ways and tries to rob a caravan transporting several of the priests. When the robbery goes bad, Barabbas does not try to flee, and he is captured by Roman soldiers. The law forbids Pilate from executing someone who has previously been pardoned, so he sentences Barabbas to lifelong slavery in the sulfur mines of Sicily.
Barabbas survives this hellish existence for the next twenty years. He is chained to Sahak, a Christian sailor who was sent to the mines for allowing slaves to escape. Sahak at first hates Barabbas for being pardoned instead of "the Master", but the two men eventually become friends. Over time, Sahak becomes too weak to work. As the guards are about to kill him the mine is destroyed in an earthquake, and Sahak and Barabbas are the only survivors. Julia, the superstitious wife of the local prefect, considers them blessed. The prefect is due to leave for Rome, having been appointed to the Senate. Julia insists that Barabbas and Sahak accompany him for good luck.
Once in Rome, the men are trained to become gladiators by Torvald, the top gladiator in Rome. After a gladiatorial event, Sahak is overheard sharing his faith with other gladiators, and is condemned to death for treason. When a firing squad deliberately miss their thrown spears, Torvald executes Sahak. The next day, Torvald and Barabbas battle in the arena. Barabbas wins, killing Torvald and impressing Emperor Nero, who sets him free. Barabbas takes Sahak's corpse to the catacombs, where the local Christians are worshiping. They give him a proper burial.
Barabbas becomes lost in the catacombs. When he eventually emerges, Rome is on fire. Barabbas is told that the Christians started the fire. Believing that the end of the world has come (as Rachel and Sahak had taught), Barabbas sets fire to more buildings. He is confronted by Roman soldiers and tells them that he is a follower of Christ. He is imprisoned with several other Christians, among them the apostle Peter. Peter admonishes Barabbas for committing arson, informing him that Christians would not do such a thing. Afterwards, the Christians are executed by mass crucifixion in the persecutions that follow the fire. Throughout his life, Barabbas was said to be the man who could not die. Having finally placed his faith in Christ, his body breathes its last.
This game was released near the end of the Cold War. According to the game introduction screen, it takes place in October 2017 (and assumes the Soviet Union had not collapsed). The game uses the controversial Strategic Defense Initiative (S.D.I.) as its plot device. True to its name, Cinemaware also looked to Hollywood for some inspiration of the storyline. The storyline is reminiscent of several secret agent movies (such as the 007 films ''From Russia with Love'' and ''Moonraker''). The game assumes that both the USSR and the United States have their own version of S.D.I. protecting their respective nations. The American station is never referred to by name. However, the manual and the in-game text indicate that the Soviet facility is called V. I. Lenin Defense Station. It is also mentioned that the Soviet station has laser cannons for defense against fighters.
:"A rusalka is a wish. A wish not to die. A wish for revenge." — ''Rusalka'', page 226 Sasha is a 15-year-old downtrodden stable boy living with his aunt and uncle at an inn they run in the town of Vojvoda. Sasha's parents had been killed in a house fire that he was accused of starting through wizardry. Pyetr is one of the town's audacious young men, and one day he is attacked and wounded by old Yurishev for having a liaison with his young wife. Pyetr escapes, but later learns that Yurishev is dead, and that he has been accused of murdering him by sorcery. Pyetr hides in the stables at the inn, and Sasha helps him leave the town. With no future for himself in Vojvoda, Sasha accompanies the wounded Pyetr.
Pyetr and Sasha walk for days through fields and into a dead forest. Sasha does not believe he is a wizard, but finds he sometimes has the ability to successfully wish for things. Pyetr does not believe in wizards at all, and laughs at Sasha's wishing. Exhausted and without food, the pair find a cottage by a river. Its occupant, a wizard named Uulamets, heals Pyetr and agrees to let them stay on condition that they help him find his daughter, Eveshka, who had drowned when she was 16 and is now a rusalka. Pyetr is suspicious of Uulamets and does not believe in rusalkas. Later, while the three of them are searching for Eveshka, she makes herself visible to Pyetr, overpowers him, and leads him into the forest. Rusalkas are renowned for drowning men they have chosen, but Eveshka abandons Pyetr and disappears again. Uulamets and Sasha find Pyetr unharmed, but are attacked by Hwiuur, a shapeshifting vodyanoi, known to drown people who go too close to the water.
Uulamets traps Hwiuur and threatens to kill it. The creature pleads for its life and admits to drowning Eveshka, but blames Chernevog, a former student of Uulamets. Eveshka had fallen in love with Chernevog and run off with him, but Chernevog had used his newly acquired wizardry to control her, and then handed her over to Hwiuur. Even as a rusalka Chernevog still controls Eveshka and will not let her return to her father. Uulamets agrees to let Hwiuur go on condition that he helps them find Chernevog.
While searching for Chernevog, Pyetr spots Eveshka and chases after her. Sasha wants to follow Pyetr to protect him, but Uulamets wills Sasha to stay. Uulamets had recognised Sasha's potential for wizardry and taught him how to use his talents, but stressed the dangers of unchecked wishing and the importance of considering their consequences first. Pyetr, who now has feelings for Eveshka, and is slowly accepting this new world of wizards, rusalkas and river creatures, finds her and together they locate Chernevog's house in the forest. Chernevog immediately takes control of Pyetr and instructs Hwiuur to guard him. As Uulamets and Sasha approach the house Chernevog starts sending lightning bolts at them, but Uulamets is able to redirect them back at the house, setting it ablaze. In the chaos, Pyetr breaks free of Hwiuur and overpowers a weakened Chernevog. Uulamets then casts a wizard's once-in-a-lifetime spell and commands Eveshka to "live!". This final wish kills the wizard but resurrects Eveshka. Sasha discovers that that spell also bestowed on him all of the wizard's knowledge and abilities.
Chernevog is unconscious, but Sasha cannot kill him and instead puts him into a long, deep sleep. Hwiuur has disappeared, and leshys , woodland spirits, appear and celebrate the downfall of Chernevog. They put him on a stone in a circle of trees and agree to guard him. With Eveshka flesh and bone again, she and Pyetr finally unite, and Sasha, now a wizard, has new responsibilities to attend to.
Kyle announces that, as a birthday treat, his mother Sheila is taking him and three of his friends to Casa Bonita. Stan and Kenny are invited, but Cartman's initial joy is crushed when Kyle says he is taking Butters instead of him due to his rampant neo-Nazi and antisemitic behavior. Cartman decides to prove that he is actually nice, but since kindness is such a foreign concept to him, his first attempts are unsuccessful. Eventually, he succeeds by apologizing for his actions and Kyle is touched, and tells him that if Butters is, for some reason, unable to attend, Cartman can. Cartman then takes advantage of the reason and subsequently tells Butters that a meteor is about to hit Earth and hides him in Stan's uncle Jimbo's bomb shelter, so that he does not appear in time for the trip.
Cartman is set to replace Butters when Butters' parents tearfully inform the boys that Butters is missing, causing Kyle to postpone his party until next Saturday. Cartman then tells Butters that the meteor has hit, civilization has crumbled, and that the world is filled with radioactive cannibals. Butters' disappearance causes a town search party and several days later, the police announce that they will be checking ducts, wells, and bomb shelters, potentially ruining Cartman's evil plan. He then guides Butters out of the shelter, making him wear a box over his head so he cannot see that everything is really okay under the pretense of protecting him from the radiation. Cartman relocates Butters to a broken-down gas station and he locks him in an abandoned refrigerator for his protection after pretending to get bit by a radioactive cannibal. After Cartman leaves, a garbage truck comes and takes Butters to the city dump. Butters mistakes the dump for post-apocalyptic Earth, and after finding a dog, tries to build a "new civilization." A few days later, a junkyard worker named Irene stumbles across Butters and tells him the truth about everything, making Butters sadly realize that Cartman tricked him yet again.
Just as the party arrives at Casa Bonita, Sheila gets a phone call informing her of what has happened to Butters. She and the other boys are at first relieved to learn that Butters is all right, but then, they learn of Cartman's part in him going missing, and they all angrily confront him about his antics, notifying him that the police are on their way. Knowing that his entire plan failed, Cartman makes a mad dash through the restaurant to sample every attraction and food in the last minute of freedom he has left. He is finally cornered by the police, Sheila, and the boys. Cartman, however, jumps off the fake waterfall. A police officer angrily explains the trouble Cartman has caused, noting that he made the whole town worried over nothing, his friends now hate him, and will be sent to juvenile hall for a week. The officer asks Cartman if it was worth it, to which the latter responds dreamily, "Totally."
Mr. Burns's Casino '''('''''from the episode "$pringfield"''''')''' is about to get demolished; however, confusion over whether demolitions are supposed to involve implosions or explosions results in the casino being blasted into a huge dust cloud. The family goes to the car wash to get rid of the dust, and when Homer is there, he sees Ned Flanders get a senior discount. Homer thinks Ned is lying about his age and tries to expose him at church, but Ned proves he really is 60 years old. People are impressed that Ned looks so young for his age and remark that he must take exceptional care of himself, but when Ned says that he resists all major temptations and follows the three "c"s of success — clean living, chewing thoroughly, and "a daily dose of vitamin Church!" — they start to pity him for having never, in their view, truly lived at all. Ned reluctantly agrees with this and asks Homer to teach him the secret to his lust for life.
Homer takes a nervous Ned on a gambling trip to Las Vegas, Nevada. When they arrive, they see Captain Lance Murdock (''from "Bart the Daredevil"'') doing one of his stunts, and Homer chooses to volunteer, and survives (''although Murdock is again badly injured''). After, Ned confesses to Homer his feelings of blood lust during the stunt. They wander into a casino called "Nero's Palace" and begin to play roulette. Ned protests against games of chance because of Deuteronomy 7, but Homer ignores him and takes the reference as a lucky number. They win, but immediately lose all they won. They then go to the casino's bar, and Ned gives into temptation and gets drunk on white wine spritzers.
Homer and Ned wake up the next morning in their hotel room married to two cocktail waitresses: Homer's new wife is named Amber, and Ned's new wife is Ginger; ironically these were also the two Nero's Palace waitresses who served them their drinks. Homer and Ned, realizing they were drunk and thus not of sound judgement to have such quick weddings while also being married, try to escape from the waitresses, going on a wild rampage through the casino until they are confronted by casino security, Gunter and Ernst '''('''''also from "$pringfield"''''')''', Drederick Tatum, and the Moody Blues. Homer and Ned attempt to escape in a prize car, but got beaten up in the process and exiled from Nevada, with Amber and Ginger quickly leaving them for Gunter and Ernst. Homer and Ned head back to their real wives in Springfield by hitchhiking, with Homer trying to relate to Ned an outlandish alibi involving alien abduction, only to be attacked by two hungry vultures on their way back.
Apu and his new wife Manjula invite Homer and Marge to their house for dinner. However, Apu and Manjula get in a fight, after Marge mentions to Manjula that Apu does not need to work as much as he does. The week before Valentine's Day, Apu tells Homer that he is disappointed that Manjula does not love him, until Homer assures him that Manjula will not leave him before Valentine's Day, and Apu agrees. Apu decides to shower Manjula with many romantic surprises to regain her love. However, although many of Apu's surprises succeed in fixing his marriage, they ruin other people's relationships. The rest of Springfield's women become jealous from all the attention Manjula is receiving, and find their men to be cheapskates (including Maude Flanders). At Moe's Tavern, Homer encourages several of Springfield's men that they have to prevent Apu and Manjula from reconciling to save their own relationships and marriages.
During Valentine's Day, Homer, Chief Wiggum, Dr. Hibbert, Moe, and Ned Flanders investigate what Apu is doing so they can stop it. They go around town following him, and Flanders is thrown out of the group for suggesting they should be using their time to be more romantic to their wives instead of trying to sabotage Apu. Following Apu to the airport, the remaining group see Elton John there, and they think that he came to Springfield to perform a concert for Apu and Manjula at his insistence (in reality, he had to make an emergency landing because the chandelier on his plane was malfunctioning). However, Apu's actual plan is that he arranged for a skywriter to write "I ♥ U MANJULA". During the trouble that ensues, Homer jumps on the plane during takeoff to try to stop the skywriter from spraying the message. When Homer destroys the plane's skywriting canister in mid-air, it creates the message "I ♥ U ★", which the other women think is for them. While Homer and the pilot fight, Marge remains unconvinced until the plane flies by and Homer drops out of it covered with roses after the plane flew out of control through a thorny rose patch, possibly giving Homer a collapsed lung; nonetheless, Elton John is able to perform a private concert for Apu and Manjula, and their marriage is saved. The end credits are red instead of their usual orange colour.
Frank Robertson returns to Invercorrie for his Uncle Archie's funeral and meets up with his brother Hector whom he has never seen eye to eye with very much because they both fancied the beautiful Kate Cameron when they were young.
The series details the Cryptkeeper telling other horror stories to the viewers, each with a lesson to be learned.
In Season 2, the Cryptkeeper was continually feuding with his rivals and fellow EC Comics horror hosts, the Vault-Keeper and the Old Witch who were continually trying to steal the show from him as they didn't have one of their own, only to have their plans backfire on them. This season also saw the Cryptkeeper in different locales than his mansion, as he tried to elude his rivals.
Season 3 is aired in 1999 was the final season of the series. It was the only season to never aired on YTV in Canada and ABC in the United States. Instead, ''New Tales from the Cryptkeeper'' aired on Teletoon in Canada and on CBS in the United States. In this season, The Cryptkeeper takes a more active role in the stories. Usually by setting up situations to teach targeted kids with severe character flaws frightening lessons.
Homer participates in a drinking contest and wins the trophy and title of "Sir Drinks-A-Lot". Having promised to spend one Saturday a month with the children, he takes Bart and Lisa to Lisa's choice of outing: the traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibition sponsored by cell phone company "OmniTouch". Homer ruins one of the exhibits, the Bill of Rights, by reading it with chocolate-covered hands. As he is unable to pay the $10,000 repair bill OmniTouch installs a cellular transmitter on the roof of his house, with the control equipment in Lisa's room. Lisa moves in with Bart where she cannot concentrate on her homework.
Lisa develops stomach aches and visits Dr. Hibbert, who suggests either 'harsh antacids' or herbal tea. Homer scoffs at the tea Lisa wants and demands the antacids. Lisa snaps at her father for belittling everything she believes in. To placate her, Homer takes her to a New Age store where they try out sensory deprivation tanks and each experience their own spiritual journey. Lisa sees herself from the perspective of figures in her life, eventually realizing that Homer loves her enough to take her to events that he does not personally like just to make her happy. Meanwhile, repo men take away the tank that Homer is in. Homer's journey becomes a real one, as his tank falls out of the back of the van, is mistaken for a coffin and buried, only for the tank to fall into a pipe from which it is washed up onto the beach where Chief Wiggum finds it and returns it to the store. Lisa decides to do something together they both enjoy - a demolition derby.
Marge becomes obsessed with eavesdropping on private calls picked up from the cellular tower on Maggie's baby monitor. Bart and Milhouse prank Marge by making her think an escaped convict is breaking into the house. Marge smashes the baby monitor on Milhouse's head and knocks him out. She reluctantly agrees when Bart says the prank was fair punishment for eavesdropping.
The show focuses on the daily trials and tribulations of columnist Dave Barry (Harry Anderson) and his wife, Beth (DeLane Matthews), along with their sons, Tommy (Zane Carney) and Willie (Andrew Ducote). Dave worked at the Miami ''Record-Dispatch'' (a fictionalized version of the ''Miami Herald'', where Barry worked in real life), where Kenny Beckett (Shadoe Stevens) was his editor, although Dave typically worked from home, where Mia (J.C. Wendel) was his assistant. Neighbor Sheldon Baylor (Meshach Taylor) was a successful plastic surgeon and Dave's best friend from high school. Starting in the second season, the Barrys hired Eric (Patrick Warburton) to do some work on their house, which led to Eric and Mia dating and eventually moving next door to the Barrys and getting married. Later in the series, Dave completes a book based on his and his friends' lives during the 1960s, and Shel loses all of his money when his business manager runs off. Kenny is also fired from the newspaper and becomes a weatherman.
The series premise was set up in the opening narration, but the full details about the crime were not offered in the pilot episode; at the time of the pilot, Kimble has been on the run for six months, having exhausted all of his appeals against his death sentence. While in transit, the train carrying Kimble derails, and Kimble becomes the titular "fugitive" attempting to clear his name. In the series' first season, the premise (heard over footage of Kimble handcuffed to Gerard on a train) was summarized in the opening title sequence of the pilot episode as:
Name: Richard Kimble. Profession: Doctor of Medicine. Destination: Death Row, state prison. Richard Kimble has been tried and convicted for the murder of his wife. But laws are made by men, carried out by men, and men are imperfect. Richard Kimble is innocent. Proved guilty, what Richard Kimble could ''not'' prove was that moments before discovering his wife's body, he encountered a man running from the vicinity of his home. A man with one arm. A man who has not yet been found. Richard Kimble ponders his fate as he looks at the world for the last time, and sees only darkness. But in that darkness, fate moves its huge hand.
This title sequence was shortened starting with episode seven through the remainder of the first season as:
The name: Dr. Richard Kimble. The destination: Death Row, state prison. The irony: Richard Kimble is innocent. Proved guilty, what Richard Kimble could ''not'' prove was that moments before discovering his murdered wife's body, he saw a one-armed man running from the vicinity of his home. Richard Kimble ponders his fate as he looks at the world for the last time, and sees only darkness. But in that darkness, fate moves its huge hand.
The main title narration, as read by William Conrad, was changed for the first episode of the second season on through the last episode of the series:
''The Fugitive'', a QM Production ... starring David Janssen as Dr. Richard Kimble, an innocent victim of blind justice. Falsely convicted for the murder of his wife ... reprieved by fate when a train wreck freed him en route to the death house ... freed him to hide in lonely desperation ... to change his identity ... to toil at many jobs ... freed him to search for a one-armed man he saw leave the scene of the crime ... freed him to run before the relentless pursuit of the police lieutenant obsessed with his capture.
Viewers were not offered the full details of Richard Kimble's plight until episode 14, "The Girl from Little Egypt". A series of flashbacks reveals the fateful night of Helen Kimble's death, and for the first time offers a glimpse of the "one-armed man".
Prominent Chicago vascular surgeon Dr. Richard Kimble arrives home to find his wife, Helen, fatally injured by a man with a prosthetic arm. Kimble struggles with the killer, who escapes. The lack of evidence of a forced entry, Helen's lucrative life insurance policy, and a misunderstood 911 call result in Kimble's wrongful arrest after the cops refuse to believe his story about the killer. He is then convicted of first-degree murder and receives a death sentence.
While being transported by bus to death row, Kimble's fellow prisoners attempt an escape. In the pandemonium, two prisoners and the driver are killed, sending the bus down a ravine and into the path of an oncoming train. Kimble saves a guard, escapes the collision, and flees as the train derails. Hours later, U.S. Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard and his colleagues Renfro, Biggs, Newman, and Poole arrive at the crash site and launch a massive manhunt. Kimble sneaks into a hospital, where he obtains clothes and alters his appearance. He then drives off in an ambulance and is nearly captured in a highway tunnel but slips down a storm drain. Gerard follows and corners Kimble at the edge of a spillover above a dam; Kimble proclaims his innocence and leaps into the water below and escapes.
Kimble returns to Chicago to hunt for the real murderer, acquiring some money from his friend and colleague, Dr. Charles Nichols. He rents a cheap apartment and assumes the identity of a janitor to infiltrate Cook County Hospital's prosthetic department, where he makes a list of names of male patients with prosthetic arms matching the killer's. While there, Kimble forges new medical orders for a young trauma patient who was misdiagnosed, saving his life. Kimble escapes after a suspicious doctor confronts him and alerts the police.
Speculating that Kimble has returned to Chicago to search for the one-armed man, Gerard spots Kimble at Chicago City Hall, who is there to investigate a jailed man on his list. Kimble barely escapes the ensuing chase and disappears into the St. Patrick's Day parade. Kimble later breaks into the residence of Fredrick Sykes; seeing a photo of Sykes, Kimble recognizes him as his wife's murderer. Sykes, a former police officer, handles security for Devlin-MacGregor, a pharmaceutical company that is releasing a new drug called Provasic. Kimble had previously analyzed the drug's test samples and discovered it caused liver damage, which should have prevented FDA approval.
Kimble deduces that Dr. Nichols, who led the drug's development and has just become a board member of Devlin-MacGregor, arranged a cover-up by falsifying the findings to get Provasic approved. Nichols arranged for Sykes to kill Kimble in a staged burglary, only for him to be surprised by Helen, killing her. He also presumably had him kill Dr. Alec Lentz, who also worked on the drug's development and discovered its potential damage. Kimble phones Gerard, who conducts his own investigation into Sykes and Nichols. Kimble then heads to a hotel conference where Nichols is presenting Provasic. Sykes is alerted that Kimble is in Chicago and arms himself to kill him. Sykes tracks down and attacks Kimble on an "L" train. In the struggle, Sykes fatally shoots a transit cop before Kimble subdues him and handcuffs him to a pole.
Unbeknownst to Kimble, the officer's death is assumed to be his fault, and the Chicago Police issue a shoot-to-kill order on him. At the conference, Kimble publicly confronts Nichols about the drug conspiracy and the murders, which results in a fight that spills on the roof. Gerard stops a police helicopter from sniping Kimble, while both men crash through a skylight onto a descending elevator. Nichols regains consciousness and attempts to escape through the laundry room, with Kimble following him. Gerard follows with Renfro and calls out to Kimble that he knows about the conspiracy and that Kimble is innocent. Nichols knocks out Renfro, takes his gun, and tries to shoot Gerard, but Kimble attacks Nichols from behind, saving Gerard's life.
Kimble surrenders to Gerard, while Sykes and Nichols are arrested. Kimble is escorted out through the hotel entrance as the press questions the police about the newly found suspects, indicating Kimble's innocence. In the back of a squad car, Gerard uncuffs Kimble and offers him an ice pack; the two men are driven away into the night, with Kimble’s exoneration assured.
The Simpsons go out to dinner at a new steakhouse, whose existence Lisa is protesting. Homer accepts a challenge from truck driver Red Barclay to see who can finish an entire 16-pound steak first. Red wins the challenge, but immediately dies from beef poisoning, as diagnosed by Dr. Hibbert. Homer decides to finish Red's last delivery and brings Bart along with him.
During the trip, Homer falls asleep at the wheel due to taking a combination of pep pills and sleeping pills that he bought at a general store. He awakes to discover that the truck has piloted itself safely to a gas station due to an onboard automated driving system. Other truck drivers at the station have the system installed as well and warn Homer not to reveal its existence, as it would put all truckers out of work. However, Homer tells a busload of people about the device and incurs the wrath of a mob of truckers. Although the system ejects itself from Homer's truck, he and Bart manage to escape from the mob and deliver the shipment (artichokes and migrant workers) to Atlanta on time. They then volunteer to drive a trainload of napalm to Springfield so they can get home. The other truckers briefly consider relying on their own skills to drive, but instead decide to come up with a different money-making scheme.
Meanwhile, back in Springfield, Marge decides to have an adventure of her own and takes Lisa on a trip to buy a new doorbell for the house. They choose one that plays a snippet of "(They Long to Be) Close to You" and install it, but Marge is dismayed when no one comes to ring it. Lisa loses her patience and rings the bell herself, causing it to malfunction and play the tune over and over. When Marge pulls out one of the wires in an attempt to shut it off, it instead plays faster and louder and disturbs the neighbors. The doorbell store's mascot, Señor Ding-Dong, appears and silences the bell with one crack of his whip; when he tries to leave, though, his car will not start.
While trying to install a DIY barbecue pit, Homer bungles the job by accidentally dropping parts of the barbecue into wet cement. He frantically tries to assemble the barbecue pit before the cement hardens, but only makes things worse. In the end, Homer is left with a mismatched collection of parts stuck in hardened cement, and mangles it further in a rage. He takes the results of his work back to the store he bought the kit from for a refund, which he does not receive. On the way home, Homer loses control of the wagon containing the jumbled mess of concrete and bricks, which rolls down the highway and crashes into a woman's car, wrecking it. Homer flees the scene of the accident, but the woman, artist Astrid Weller, tracks him down because she sees his handiwork as being a masterpiece of outsider art. Homer's exhibit goes to the Louvre, and when Mr. Burns buys his work, he becomes recognized as an artist.
Homer channels his rage to continue his work and befriends other pop art artists, like Jasper Johns. All the while, his easily-achieved fame makes Marge jealous, due to her lack of success at becoming a successful artist despite years of effort. Homer later gets a notice from Astrid Weller that his work will be in the "Art in America" show, but his new masterpieces are rejected by Springfield's residents and his new "friends" for being repetitive of his first piece.
Down on his luck and starved for inspiration, Lisa recommends Homer visit the Springfield Art Museum. But none of the art Homer sees serves to inspire him; he feels inadequate when he sees what other artists have done, and it only worsens the situation when he takes a nap and has a nightmare of various paintings attacking him. He goes back home, discouraged, but is soon given another suggestion by Lisa. She tells him about the artist Christo, causing Homer to try doing something similarly groundbreaking. He and Bart flood Springfield by opening all the fire hydrants (having covered the sewer drains with the city's doormats, including their own) and putting snorkels in the animals of the zoo (so that they do not drown). Surprisingly, Astrid Weller and even the whole town of Springfield is impressed with Homer's work, and enjoy the newly made "Grand Canals of Springfield" along with the swimming zoo animals. As Marge and Homer kiss each other on the roof of their house, Jasper Johns comes on a boat and steals the painting Marge was working on.
Darlene "Woo" Barnes (Smith), an extroverted woman living in New York City, is notoriously talented at turning men into mush. When Woo's psychic friend Celestrial (Girlina) predicts that the man of her dreams is about to enter her life, Woo doesn't believe it is true. Celestrial is convinced that Woo is destined to meet a tall, debonair Virgo. Woo's cousin Claudette (Paula Jai Parker) and Claudette's boyfriend Lenny (Dave Chappelle) plan to spend the night together but find themselves entertaining Woo instead. Lenny begs his best friend Tim Jackson (Davidson) to take Woo out, but the shy, strait-laced law clerk Tim contrasts the sassy and brassy Woo. The same night, Lenny and Claudette's night goes wrong when his obsession with chicken drives her to be forced to dress up as a sexy but awkward "chicken ho" (he makes her cluck and walk like a chicken) but she is allergic to feathers.
At first, Woo is unconcerned about the matchmaking mismatch, but when told that Tim is a Virgo, she decides it is fate, jumps at the chance, and immediately heads for Tim's apartment. Meanwhile, Tim, who can't believe his luck, goes next door to his neighbor Darryl (LL Cool J) for tips on romancing women. Darryl supplies Tim with incense, edible body oils, and a tape of sexy songs. When Woo arrives, Tim is completely smitten. Woo, however, discovers that Tim is far from her imagined sexy, spontaneous stud. Seeing through Tim's pseudo-cool act, she humiliates and teases him. They are just about to leave Tim's apartment when Tim is visited by three of his pals: Frankie (Duane Martin), Hop (Darrel Heath), and Romaine (Michael Ralph). The trio's chauvinistic attitude irritates Woo, so she retaliates and freaks them out by acting insane. Finally, the date gets underway. Woo and Tim arrive at a stuffy Italian restaurant, but Woo's behavior gets them thrown out. They go to a dance club, where Tim is punched out by Woo's ex-boyfriend, whom Woo punches back. Tim repeatedly suffers many other misfortunes, but Woo realizes that Tim is the guy she wants. After Tim gets his car back, it is smashed to pieces. Woo offers to share her car and her life with Tim.
When Lisa writes a letter to the International Olympic Committee, they decide that Springfield will be home to the next Olympics. To honor the Olympics, there is a contest for the games' mascot. Homer creates a mascot for the Olympic Games named Springy, the Springfield Spring, which becomes the mascot (beating Patty and Selma’s mascot named Ciggy, a discus thrower made entirely of cigarettes and ashtrays) and everyone in Springfield prepares for the games. When the IOC inspects the town, things go well until Bart does a stand-up comedy routine that insults foreign nations, which only Principal Skinner, Homer, and the kids find funny. In response, the IOC refuses to let Springfield host the Olympics (they award it to Shelbyville, who presumably and chronologically lost it to Sydney), and Superintendent Chalmers blames Skinner for putting Bart on stage with his racy jokes. In order to avoid losing his job, Skinner makes every one of the school's students do 20 hours of community service. After sending Milhouse to collect medical waste on the beach and leaving Martin to start a basketball program between inter-city gangs, Skinner has Bart assigned to work at the Springfield Retirement Castle, where Lisa also works voluntarily. Bart is dismayed at how little the seniors are allowed to do.
Meanwhile, Homer gets 1,000 springs he intended to sell as Olympic mascots. He uses various get-rich-quick schemes to sell off the mascots, but fails miserably and gets abused due to Springfield's hatred of Bart's comedy routine and everyone including Marge being annoyed by the springs. Ultimately, he is forced to flush the springs down the toilet. At the time Lisa leads the seniors in "''imagination time''", but when she departs, Bart makes the seniors escape to get a taste of freedom. Bart takes the seniors on a trip on the town and on a boat ride, and Lisa is initially shocked to see these things happen, but nevertheless, she is quite impressed by what Bart does for the seniors. The seniors have fun until their boat crashes into Mr. Burns' schooner. The boat begins to sink and the seniors turn on Bart, but Grampa defends him, saying Bart gave them the best fun they have had in twenty years. However, the springs that Homer flushed down the toilet save them, causing the boat to bounce up at the surface long enough for the Coast Guard to rescue everyone. Bart finishes his community service time, but decides to help the seniors still enjoy themselves and spend more time with Grampa.
Two families live in the same castle - Cześnik Raptusiewicz and his niece Klara as well as Rejent Milczek and his son Wacław. Cześnik and Rejent consider each other enemies and do not get on. Cześnik, who administers Klara's lands until she comes of age, is eager to marry a wealthy wife. After a brief consideration of Klara, he settles on the widow Hanna, thinking that she is richer. Although generally of a forthright and brave characters, Cześnik is shy around women, and so sends Papkin, a show-off, to propose to Hanna (called Podstolina because she is the widow of a civil servant) and to be a go-between with Rejent for him. Podstolina herself is looking for a husband because her supposed wealth is only temporary - she is administering it for Klara, her kinswoman, and so agrees to marry Cześnik.
Rejent has hired some bricklayers to fix a wall that segregates his part of the castle from the half of the castle in which Cześnik lives. Cześnik does not approve of this and sends Papkin to shoo them away, offering them however payment for their work being interrupted.
Klara, niece of Cześnik, and Wacław, son of Rejent are in love and secretly meeting up. They despair of ever being allowed to marry due to their families' dislike of each other. Wacław proposes that they run away together, but Klara refuses. In order to be close to her, Wacław presents himself as an employee of the Regent and gives himself up as a hostage to Papkin, supposedly caught up in the struggle over the wall.
Wacław makes an unsuccessful attempt to convince Cześnik to reconcile with his father. Cześnik declares that it would sooner come about that the sun would stop in place and the water dry out of the seas than he and Rejent would have peace. Wacław bribes Papkin to let him stay and agrees with Klara to convince Podstolina, just that day engaged to Cześnik, to intervene on their behalf. When Wacław meets with Podstolina, it turns out that she is a former lover of Wacław, to whom he had presented himself untruthfully as a prince. Despite this, Podstolina decides that she prefers Wacław to Cześnik.
Papkin declares his love for Klara. Klara, who does not love him, demands impossible things of him as 'proof' of his sentiments - to spend half a year in silence, to survive on bread and water for just over a year, and to bring her a crocodile.
Cześnik wants to duel with Rejent and sends Papkin over to arrange this.
Rejent Milczek prepares to raise a legal action against Cześnik. He convinces the bricklayers that the very minor scratches that they suffered count as wounds and that they have been deprived of work (because he himself will not pay them). Wacław comes to ask him to allow him to marry Klara. Instead, Rejent announces that he must marry Podstolina, providing an agreement that whichever one of them breaks it off will have to pay the other 100 thousand.
Papkin arrives with a letter from Cześnik inviting Rejent for a duel. Papkin drinks some wine he criticises. Although he starts off bragging, deceived by Rejent's unassuming manner, he begins to be greatly afraid and can barely issue the challenge, after being threatened with being thrown out of the window and the placement of four servants outside the door. Podstolina comes in with the agreement of marriage to Wacław, which she has signed. Papkin finds out that she has jilted Cześnik. Papkin gets thrown down the stairs.
Papkin comes back from Rejent and brags about his courage. Cześnik suggests that the wine he drank was poisoned. Papkin falls into a panic and, thinking himself poisoned, writes his testament. Cześnik is informed of Podstolina's change of mind. He dictates a letter to Dyndalski that is supposed to come from Klara, but eventually decides to send a servant for him instead. Wacław arrives and is given the choice between being imprisoned or marrying Klara. Wacław and Klara are surprised but happy and get married: a priest is already waiting in the chapel.
Rejent comes to Cześnik. He had turned up at the place Cześnik had set up for the appointed duel, but Cześnik himself did not turn up. He is angry to hear of Wacław's marriage to Klara. Podstolina explains that all her wealth is in fact Klara's and by virtue of her marriage is given over to Klara. Klara promises to pay 100 thousand to Podstolina out of her own money. Rejent and Cześnik reconcile.
On a normal afternoon, Marge wants Homer, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie to go for a walk. They agree when faced with the threat of having to talk to each other, and arrive at a Fortune Megastore, a venture of wealthy Arthur Fortune (modelled on British entrepreneur Richard Branson), who easily charms the crowd and hands out dollar bills to his customers. This embarrasses the unpopular Mr. Burns, who asks Homer to help him be loved by all.
As his first activity, Burns has Homer throw silver dollars from the top of a tall building, which instead of winning him popularity, just causes injuries and terrifies the crowds below. Next, he writes out a check and tells Homer to donate it to the Springfield Hospital, but Homer is mistakenly believed to be the donor and receives the credit. Burns appears on a radio show called ''Jerry Rude and the Bathroom Bunch'' and is mocked by Rude. Feeling disappointed, Burns decides to go to Scotland to capture the legendary Loch Ness Monster with help from Homer, Professor Frink and Groundskeeper Willie. After little progress, Burns has the loch drained of water to expose the creature. After subduing the monster single-handed (although it is not shown, it is mentioned that the monster swallowed him), Burns has it sent to Springfield to be unveiled, where 'Nessie' turns out to be friendly and charms all of the spectators.
However, during Nessie's unveiling, Burns is blinded by camera flashes. He runs into a camera, which crashes and starts a fire: the crowd panic and flee. Following this disaster, Homer then cheers up Burns by pointing out that being loved means you have to be nice to people everyday but being hated means you do not have to do anything, to which Burns agrees. In the end, Homer and Burns give Nessie a job at the 'Vegas Town Casino'.
A low-fat pudding, Grandma Plopwell's, is the sponsor of a Springfield gross-out contest that promises a luxurious trip to the winner. Many Springfield residents enter the contest, but things do not go well when one of the judges, Rainier Wolfcastle, declares himself the winner for "being seen with you freaks". The contest ends in a riot and Lisa is hit in the face twice with pudding. She denounces Springfield for its anti-intellectualism in a published open letter that impresses the Springfield Mensa chapter.
Lisa joins the local Mensa chapter, alongside Principal Skinner, Comic Book Guy, Dr. Hibbert, Professor Frink, and Lindsay Naegle. After being bullied out of their reserved gazebo at a park by drunks and Chief Wiggum, they fear that Springfield's quality is poor because the city's stupidest residents have power over their civic institutions. The Mensa group goes to confront Mayor Quimby about the gazebo incident, causing him to escape the city when he mistakenly believes the group has evidence about his corruption. The town's constitution states that in the absence of the mayor, the town is to be governed by a council of learned citizens.
Now in control of Springfield, the group hopes that things will become much better. Their implemented ideas elevate Springfield above East St. Louis on the list of America's 300 Most Livable Cities. However, the group allows power to go to their heads and the members begin to fight among themselves. Various schemes and their wildly unpopular plans, aired at a public meeting, including the banning of certain sports, further expose the rifts inside the group.
The Springfield townspeople, wishing power would revert to idiots, surround the intellectuals in an angry mob and bring an end to Mensa's rule. Stephen Hawking appears to see what the Mensa group is up to and makes it clear he is unimpressed. However, he saves Lisa from being seriously injured by the mob. In the end, Hawking and Homer go to Moe's Tavern for a drink.
In the episode's secondary storyline, Homer steals a gift certificate during the post-contest and has erotic photos taken of himself as a gift to Marge, who is at first impressed, but becomes distracted by the interior design Homer did in their basement.
Karol Borowiecki (Daniel Olbrychski), a young Polish nobleman, is the managing engineer at the Bucholz textile factory. He is ruthless in his career pursuits, and unconcerned with the long tradition of his financially declined family. He plans to set up his own factory with the help of his friends Max Baum (Andrzej Seweryn), a German and heir to an old handloom factory, and Moritz Welt (Wojciech Pszoniak), an independent Jewish businessman. Borowiecki's affair with Lucy Zucker (Kalina Jędrusik), the wife of another textile magnate, gives him advance notice of a change in cotton tariffs and helps Welt to make a killing on the Hamburg futures market. However, more money has to be found so all three characters cast aside their pride to raise the necessary capital.
On the day of the factory opening, Borowiecki has to deny his affair with Zucker's wife to a jealous husband who, himself a Jew, makes him swear on a sacred Catholic object. Borowiecki then accompanies Lucy on her exile to Berlin. However, Zucker sends an associate to spy on his wife; he confirms the affair and informs Zucker, who takes his revenge on Borowiecki by burning down his brand new, uninsured factory. Borowiecki and his friends lose all that they had worked for.
The film fast forwards a few years. Borowiecki recovered financially by marrying Mada Müller, a rich heiress, and he owns his own factory. His factory is threatened by a workers' strike. Borowiecki is forced to decide whether or not to open fire on the striking and demonstrating workers, who throw a rock into the room where Borowiecki and others are gathered. He is reminded by an associate that it is never too late to change his ways. Borowiecki, who has never shown human compassion toward his subordinates, authorizes the police to open fire nevertheless.
American Lucy (Liv Tyler), 19, daughter of the (now deceased) poet and model, Sara Harmon, arrives at the Tuscan villa of her mom's friends Ian and Diana Grayson (Donal McCann and Sinéad Cusack). Other guests are: a NYC art gallery owner, an Italian advice columnist and dying English writer, Alex Parrish (Jeremy Irons).
Going for a swim, Lucy finds Diana's daughter Miranda Fox (Rachel Weisz) with her boyfriend, entertainment lawyer Richard Reed (D. W. Moffett). Her brother, Christopher (Joseph Fiennes), has yet to arrive, on a road trip with Niccolò Donati (Roberto Zibetti) from a nearby villa. Lucy hoped to see Niccolò, as she had met him four years ago and was her first kiss. They had briefly written; one letter in particular she had memorised.
Lucy's father sent her so Ian could sculpt her, but it's an excuse for him to send her to Italy. Smoking marijuana with Parrish, Lucy reveals she is a virgin, which he shares with the rest of the villa the next day. Furious, she decides to end her visit. However, before she can book the flight, Christopher and Niccolò appear, and Lucy is happy, but disappointed Niccolò did not recognise her.
That evening, Niccolò and his brother, Osvaldo (Ignazio Oliva) come to the Graysons'. After dinner, the youth separate from the adults to smoke. Lucy is now over Parrish's betrayal, and they take turns recounting how they each lost their virginity. When it's Osvaldo's turn, he demurs, saying, "I don't know which is more ridiculous, this conversation or the silly political one going on over there [at the adults' table]." Lucy fawns over Niccolò but gets sick on him.
The next day Lucy cycles to the Donati's, seeking Niccolò. She's told he's in the garden, where Lucy finds him with another. Upset, she hastily cycles away from the compound. When she passes Osvaldo, he cries out, "Ciao, Lucy!", she doesn't hear, then crashes. Ignoring his offer to help, she rides on.
Lucy, posing outdoors for Ian's sketch, exposes one of her breasts. When Niccolò and Osvaldo arrive by car, Niccolò ogles Lucy, but Osvaldo looks away. Lucy wanders off into an adjacent olive grove, followed by Niccolò. They begin to kiss, but Lucy soon pushes him away.
Retreating to the guest house, Lucy shares her notebook with Parrish. It is one of her mother's last notebooks, containing a poem Lucy thinks holds clues to the identity of her real father. Throughout the film, she has been asking probing questions about her mother. Did Parrish ever know Sara to wear green sandals? Had Ian ever eaten olive leaves? Had Carlo Lisca (Carlo Cecchi), a war correspondent friend of the Graysons whom Sara had known, ever killed a viper? These images are all found in the poem, which Lucy now reads to Parrish. He agrees it must refer to her dad.
That evening, Lucy wears her mother's dress to the Donati's annual party. Soon after arriving, she sees Niccolò with another girl and they do not speak. then she sees Osvaldo playing clarinet in the band. Later seeing him dancing with a girl, they exchange earnest glances. Lucy picks up a young Englishman to take back to the Grayson's villa. On the way out, Osvaldo chases Lucy down, saying he's interested in visiting America and would like advice. They agree to meet the next day. The Englishman spends the night with her at the villa, but without sex.
The next day, Parrish is hospitalized. Lucy skulks around his quarters in the guest house afterwards. Looking out a window, seeing Ian's sculpture of a mother and child, she has an epiphany. Lucy asks Ian where he was in August 1975, when she was conceived. He says he was here, fixing up the villa, possibly when he was doing Lucy's mother's portrait. Saying they could ask Diana, but then remembers she was in London, finalizing her divorce. Without explicitly saying so, they realise Ian is Lucy's biological father, and she promises to keep the secret.
Meanwhile, Osvaldo arrives. Lucy gets stung by bees as she exits Ian's studio so he helps, putting clay on the welts. Walking through the countryside, Osvaldo confesses he wrote to her once. This was the letter Lucy loved above all, the one she knew by heart. Osvaldo then takes her to the tree from the letter.
Lucy and Osvaldo spend the night under the tree. As they part the next morning, Osvaldo reveals that it was his first time, too.
Charles (Fletcher) is a confident and intelligent nineteen-year-old, about to attend Oxford University. Charles is a computer nerd and has developed a methodical approach to seduction, and compiles detailed computer files and elaborate plans to seduce the girls he is interested in. His latest target is a beautiful American girl, Rachel (Skye). Charles becomes infatuated with Rachel, and after numerous rebuffs he eventually forms a friendship with her. Rachel already has a boyfriend, control freak DeForest (Spader) who treats her badly. With help from his sister Jenny (Sharp), his eccentric brother-in-law Norman (Pryce), and friend and mentor Geoff (Harris), Charles lures Rachel away from DeForest. His father Gordon (Paterson) is impressed with Charles' new girlfriend. As the unlikely relationship develops, Charles discovers his seemingly "perfect" woman has bad habits and personality flaws, just like all the "lesser" girls he has previously seduced. Charles becomes bored and is seduced by his old flame Gloria (Skinner), ending his relationship with Rachel, who moves to New York. Charles goes to Oxford University but misses Rachel. They meet by chance in a museum and spend the day together, but when parting Rachel only kisses him on the cheek. Charles says in voiceover that he tried, but failed, to remember William Blake's quotation about love being eternal, so that he could say it to Rachel.
An innocent and beautiful girl, ''Linnea'' (Amanda Ooms) rents an apartment in Stockholm just before World War I. As she works for an old man who owns a photography studio she meets Anna, a photographer (Helena Bergstrom) with whom she develops a complex friendship. Anna's circus-performer boyfriend and European politics complicate Linnea's routine.
Everybody in New York City "is in such a hurry that they take Saturday's bath on Friday so they can do Monday's washing on Sunday". But in one slower-paced, "old-fashioned corner of the city", Pop Dillon (Burt Woodruff) owns and operates the city's last horse-drawn streetcar. His granddaughter Jane Dillon (Ann Christy) is in love with Harold "Speedy" Swift (Harold Lloyd).
Speedy, an avid New York Yankees fan, is working at a soda shop. As well as doing his work, he takes frequent telephone calls during Yankees games and passes the line scores on to the kitchen staff by arranging food items in a display case (such as doughnuts for zeroes). But he loses the job after he is ordered to deliver some flowers and lets someone close a car door on them when he gets distracted by a display of baseball scores in a shop window.
Streetcar magnate W.S. Wilton (Byron Douglas) comes to Pop's home to ask for his price to sell the car line, but Speedy spots a newspaper article and realizes that this is part of a plan to form a streetcar monopoly in the city. He surreptitiously raises Pop's written price from $10,000 to $70,000. Wilton angrily refuses and threatens to force Pop out instead.
Speedy is unworried about being unemployed; he is very much used to losing jobs and finding new ones. He and Jane go to Coney Island, where they greatly enjoy themselves despite various mishaps, such as Speedy ruining his suit jacket by leaning against wet paint. On the way home along with a stray dog that decided to follow them, Speedy proposes to Jane, but she will not marry him until her grandfather's affairs are settled.
Speedy is hired as a taxi driver, but for some time a series of mishaps prevents him from actually taking a passenger, and he antagonizes a policeman. Then, to his delight, Babe Ruth (playing himself) hails the cab to get to Yankee Stadium. Although terrified by Speedy's driving, he offers Speedy a ticket to the game; but the taxi owner is there, sees Speedy in the seats when he should be working, and fires him.
At the stadium, Speedy happens to overhear Wilton on the telephone. Wilton has learned that if Pop fails to operate the horsecar every 24 hours he will lose his right to the line, and orders goons to be sent to disrupt the operation. Speedy rushes home and arranges with small-business owners on the street to organize a defense. The goons are beaten off with the help of Speedy's dog, but return and steal the horse and car.
Again helped by his dog, Speedy finds out where the car has been taken and manages to steal it back. In a madcap chase scene, he brings it back across the city to Pop's tracks, stealing fresh horses, tricking police to avoid being stopped, and replacing a broken wheel with a manhole cover.
When Wilton sees the horsecar in place, he agrees to meet Pop's price. Speedy says that Pop is a bit deaf and won't hear him until he offers $100,000. Wilton agrees, and Speedy suggests to Jane that they plan a visit to Niagara Falls by horsecar.
One day, a strange portal appears in the sky, and out of it comes the witch Drawcia. Drawcia casts a spell over Dream Land, turning it into a world of paint. Upon fleeing back into the portal she came through, Kirby gives chase, finding himself in Drawcia's paint-themed world. The witch curses Kirby, turning him into a limbless ball. After Drawcia escapes, the Magical Paintbrush (Power Paintbrush in the European version) turns to the player to help Kirby. Kirby sets off to find and defeat Drawcia to restore Dream Land to its normal state. Along the way, Drawcia creates replicas of Kirby's oldest opponents to slow him down. These include Paint Roller, Kracko, Kracko Jr., and King Dedede. Kirby eventually confronts Drawcia, but after her defeat she transforms into the fearsome Drawcia Soul. Kirby defeats her once and for all and peace is restored.
Anne Shirley has now been married to Gilbert Blythe for 15 years, and the couple have six children: Jem, Walter, Nan, Di, Shirley, and Rilla.
After a trip to London, Anne returns to the news that a new minister has arrived in Glen St. Mary. John Meredith is a widower with four young children: Gerald (Jerry), Faith, Una, and Thomas Carlyle (Carl). The children have not been properly brought up since the death of their mother, with only their father (who is easily absorbed by matters of theology) to parent them. The children are considered wild and mischievous by many of the families in the village (who tend only to hear about the Meredith children when they have got into some kind of scrape), causing them to question Mr. Meredith's parenting skills and his suitability as a minister.
For most of the book, only the Blythes know of the Meredith children's loyalty and kindness. They rescue an orphaned girl, Mary Vance, from starvation, and Una finds a home for her with Mrs. Marshall Elliott (Miss Cornelia Bryant). When the children get into trouble, Faith sometimes tries to explain their behaviour to the townsfolk, which generally causes an even bigger scandal.
The Merediths, Blythes, and Mary Vance often play in a hollow called Rainbow Valley, which becomes a gathering place for the children in the book. Jem Blythe tries to help the Merediths behave better by forming the "Good-Conduct Club," in which the Merediths punish themselves for misdeeds. Their self-imposed punishments lead to Carl becoming very ill with pneumonia after spending hours in a graveyard on a wet night, and to Una fainting in church after fasting all day. When this happens, John Meredith is wracked with guilt over his failings as a father.
Mr. Meredith realizes that he should marry again and give the children a mother, though he has always thought he will never love anyone again as he did his late wife. He is surprised to find that he has fallen in love with Rosemary West, a woman in her late thirties who lives with her sister Ellen, who is ten years older. John proposes marriage to Rosemary, but Ellen forbids Rosemary from accepting, as years earlier they had promised each other never to leave the other following the deaths of their parents. However, Ellen eventually reunites with her childhood beau, Norman Douglas, who asks Rosemary to release Ellen from her promise so she can marry Norman. Rosemary agrees, but now thinks that John Meredith hates her.
Una overhears her father expressing feelings for Rosemary and goes to ask Rosemary to marry her father despite her misgivings about stepmothers, who Mary Vance has told her are always mean. Rosemary sets her mind at ease and agrees to speak to John Meredith again. They become engaged, and Rosemary and Ellen plan a double wedding in the Autumn.
An American artist living a bohemian existence in Paris, Tom Warshaw (David Duchovny) is trying to make sense of his troubled adult life by reflecting upon his extraordinary childhood.
Prompted by his son's 13th birthday, Tom experiences a flashback to Greenwich Village in 1973, as 13-year-old Tommy (Anton Yelchin), he is on the brink of becoming a man. While his bereaved single mother (Téa Leoni) mourns the death of his father, Tommy escapes grief by causing trouble at school and making afternoon deliveries with his best friend Pappas (Robin Williams), a mentally challenged janitor.
Following the romantic advice offered by Lady (Erykah Badu) – incarcerated in the infamous New York Women's House of Detention for shadowy reasons – Tommy experiences his first taste of love. Yet when an unexpected tragedy radically alters his world, Tommy must take a life-defining choice – one that will compel the adult Tom, thirty years later, to confront his unfinished past.
The season begins by introducing the main characters, starting with the protagonist in the series, Fiona Phillips, who narrates an introduction to the episode's paranormal topic before the main title sequence.
Fiona explains that she lives on a tour bus with her well-known rockstar mother Molly, who is touring to get back on the rock and roll scene after the death of her husband, who was also her musical partner. Fiona's brother, Jack, Molly's band manager, Irene, Irene's husband Ned, and Ned and Irene's son, Clu also live with them on the tour bus, which Ned drives.
Stringing together all of Fi's paranormal encounters was her search to communicate with her father, who died when she was three years old. Fi first "encounters” her father in the second episode titled "Web Sight" where an unknown force sends her internet articles warning her of the future. From alien invasions, time warps and ghosts, Fi faced 13 episodes worth of paranormal activity. Also encountered: one powerful tulpa, a Bigfoot, angels and more significantly, the Will o' the Wisp. The season finale featured Jack becoming possessed by a hyperactive Scottish Will o' the Wisp, also known as a Spunkie. The Spunkie told Fi she could save her brother from his control by speaking his one true name, which was only seven letters. Fi found the spirit's one true name, Bricriu, therefore saving her brother. Bricriu had offered to protect Fi from evil spirits who had battled her father and had also offered to give her contact with her late father in return for being allowed to possess her brother. She thought he was lying therefore rejected his offer. He reappears in later episodes to keep her away from other spirits and people who claims are a threat to her, depending on how one reads it, this may be seen as evidence he was telling the truth but this is questionable at best, especially since in one episode he tried to prevent her from talking to a person who knew her father and wanted to give her information.
The second season is darker than the first, playing out over twenty-six episodes compared with the shorter first season with exactly half of this amount. Picking up where last season left off, Molly and the band take time off the tour to record an album. Fi and friend Candy meet a medium who is proven to be a fraud. Ironically, another medium reveals the fake one and assists Fi in contacting her father through music on his old guitar.
Clu is accepted to and goes off to college, reducing his role and introducing his brother Carey. Similar to the previous season, Fi and her gang face another round of legendary creatures including vampires, werewolves, banshees, trolls, sirens and merfolk. In a pivotal episode, Fi discovers that her father also investigated supernatural events and that this was exactly what led to his death. Upon learning this, Fi feels betrayed by her mother who has been covering up the truth about her father. Additionally, Molly is possessed by Bricriu, the same Will o' the Wisp who did the same to Jack in season one. Fi uncovers that Will o' the Wisps or other dark powers may have been involved in the incident surrounding her father's death which police had assumed was an accident. In this episode Bricriu tried to kill a former firefighter who had been present at Rick's car crash and was aware that Fi's dad had been dead, with no apparent cause, before the car crashed. Following this episode, Fi has further contact with her father, as the answer to a troll's question – Faith – was revealed on her computer and a plethora of cell phones. Fi briefly time travels to her childhood, when her father was still alive, in episode 13, titled ''Fountain''.
The season ends with Fi discovering her father's twin sister received encoded messages from him in her sleep. Once decoded the messages lead Fi to a rooftop where she is attacked by a three-headed demon and saved by the spirit of her father. He left her with a message that the spirit world was angry with her and would try to stop her investigation into the paranormal. At long last, now that the mystery around her father's death is solved, Fi is able to have a proper farewell with him. Due to a recasting of the main character in the next and final season, many DeLizia fans consider this a fulfilling finale.
Cara DeLizia, the actress who played Fi, chose to leave the show after the second season, but appeared in the first episode of Season 3 as a way of transitioning the series. The lead protagonist for the rest of the season and series is Annie, who is a friend of the family. Carey, first introduced in season 2, becomes a series regular. Due to Annie becoming the protagonist, there is a significant tonal shift in the series, in which it becomes more lighthearted, contains more singing, employs a bright color scheme, and introduces a romantic subplot.
The main arc of the story is the mystery behind Annie's spirit animal, a black panther who has protected her since she was a child. Annie insists that people exercise great respect when learning about Native American culture. When the mystery is unveiled, Annie finds out that when she saved a Native American man in the Amazon, his father returned the favor by shapeshifting into a panther and keeping an eye on Annie in order to help her out when she is in danger.
The returning characters have closure as well. Although Clu was bad at core subjects in high school, he is good at philosophy, and majors in it in college. He tours with the band during vacation times. Carey follows his dream of becoming a guitar player. Jack, who lost his love of singing when his father died, regains a desire to sing with the band. Annie expresses a desire for him to believe in the paranormal, and he slowly becomes more open-minded towards the paranormal.
The destruction of the Jedi Temple was devastating. Accusing the now-defunct Confederacy of Independent Systems of the attack, Emperor Palpatine declares martial law on Coruscant. As the Imperial presence spreads to most systems, Palpatine calls the scattered Jedi order ineffective. Their protests are denounced as treason, all Jedi are declared traitors, and are now fugitives of the Empire.
The film centers on Zhanna—one of the Emperor's Hands—and Taryn Anwar, a Seer who had helped Zhanna hunt down the Jedi without knowing that Zhanna had turned to the dark side. Taryn seeks to redeem herself; her visions lead her to a dangerous ancient Jedi artifact said to give the bearer great power.
Fan films by definition are not considered canonical. ''Revelations'' was written and produced before the premiere of ''Revenge of the Sith'', and inevitably there were discrepancies between what the filmmakers hypothesized would transpire in ''Revenge of the Sith'', and what was eventually depicted in Lucas's finished film. Many of these inconsistencies revolve around the chronology of the destruction of the Jedi order.
Ike is traumatized by his frequent encounters with the ghosts of celebrities who have died over the summer. He is haunted by people such as Farrah Fawcett, David Carradine, Ed McMahon, DJ AM, and especially Billy Mays, who repeatedly tries selling Ike products from the afterlife. Kyle is terrified when he finds out about the ghosts his brother is encountering and tells Stan, Cartman and Kenny about the encounters. Cartman, who does not initially care, decides to help when Kyle mentions that one of the ghosts that's haunting Ike is Billy Mays. Cartman then shows commercials that feature Mays on television, implying that he is an enthusiastic supporter of a product which Mays promoted while he was still alive, called "ChipotlAway", which cleans bloodstains from people's underwear caused by eating food from Chipotle Mexican Grill. The boys call the team from the reality television series ''Ghost Hunters'' in to help, but they quickly, fearfully start ascribing supernatural meaning to random noises, before urinating and defecating on themselves, and finally running from the house. Eventually, Ike goes into a coma due to his multiple experiences with the ghosts, and is hospitalized.
At the hospital, the boys seek help from Dr. Philips, a medium (a parody of Zelda Rubinstein's character in ''Poltergeist''), who explains the celebrities are trapped in purgatory, which she compares to being stuck on a plane that isn't quite ready to take off. Dr. Philips manages to contact the spirits and tell them that they have passed on. Surprisingly to her, the celebrities are all too acceptant of the fact, with CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite and actor Patrick Swayze revealing their trapped state's cause to be Michael Jackson's refusal to acknowledge his death. Some of the celebrities help Dr. Philips and the boys try to convince Jackson that he is dead, but the latter keeps denying it and insists that people are ignorant and he is not only alive, but also a little white child. His denial is so strong that he emits a powerful force that kills Dr. Philips. The annoyed ghosts of these celebrities are shown in purgatory, which indeed does look like the interior of an airplane, minus the plane itself, complete with seats, flight attendants and pilot voice-over announcements.
After the energy disturbance, Jackson's spirit takes over Ike's body, causing Ike to sound and act like Jackson himself. The boys find from online research that the only way to make Jackson believe he is dead is to give him the acceptance he sought in life, so they take him to a child beauty pageant for young girls. Dressed like a little girl, Ike/Jackson impresses two of the male judges by singing a tune sounding similar to Jackson's "You Are Not Alone", but they are promptly arrested for masturbating while watching the children, leaving a single, unimpressed female judge (much to the shock of the boys, who were unaware of the men's lewd acts and considered them the best judges). When Cartman notices the judge eating Chipotle, he bribes her with knowledge about the ChipotlAway product, and she declares Ike/Jackson the winner as a result. One of the other contestants is physically beaten by her mother for losing. Having found his acceptance, Jackson leaves Ike's body, and Ike is extremely surprised and disgusted to find himself dressed like a little girl.
Later on, Jackson and the other celebrities in purgatory are reunited and they are finally able to lift off. Initially happy, they are soon taken to Hell. To their annoyance, however, the flight attendant tells them that they must again wait as Hell is a tow-in gate.
The story is told in the midst of the plot as a series of flashbacks. Max Tooney, a musician, enters a secondhand music shop just before closing time, badly in need of money. He has only his old Conn trumpet, which he sells for less than he had hoped. Clearly torn at parting from his prized possession, he asks to play it one last time. The shopkeeper agrees, and as he plays, the vendor immediately recognizes that the played song is the same recorded on a broken record matrix (master disc) he found inside a recently acquired secondhand piano. He asks who the piece is by, and Max tells him the story of 1900.
1900 was found abandoned in the first class dining room of the four stacker ocean liner SS ''Virginian'', a baby in a box. Danny Boodman, a coal-man from the boiler room, is determined to raise the boy as his own. He names the boy Danny Boodman T. D. Lemon 1900 (a combination of his own name, an advertisement found on the box and the year he was found) and hides him from the ship's officers. A few years later Danny is killed in a workplace accident; when police officers, called by captain Smith, come on the ship to pick him up and bring him to the orphanage, 1900 hides and nobody sees him for several days, until he reappears playing a piano very well without having ever been taught.
1900 shows a particular gift for music and eventually grows up, joining the ship's orchestra. When Max is hired as a member of the orchestra in 1927, the two musicians become close friends, with 1900 that never leaves the vessel. The outside world is too "big" for his imagination at this point. He stays current with outside musical trends as passengers explain new music trends or styles, which he immediately picks up and starts playing for them.
His reputation as a pianist is so renowned that Jelly Roll Morton, of New Orleans jazz fame, hearing of 1900's skill, comes aboard to challenge him to a piano duel. After hearing Jelly Roll Morton's first tune, 1900 plays a piece so simple and well known ("Silent Night") that the self-proclaimed inventor of jazz feels mocked. As Morton becomes more determined to display his talent, he plays an impressive tune ("The Crave") that brings tears to 1900's eyes. 1900 calmly sits down at the piano and plays from memory the entire tune that Morton had just played. His playing fails to impress the crowd until his original piece ("Enduring Movement"), of such virtuosity and superhuman speed that the metal piano strings become hot enough to light a cigarette, which he hands to Morton as a gesture of victory.
A record producer, hearing of 1900's prowess and knowing that he doesn't want to leave the ship, brings a recording apparatus aboard and cuts a demo record of a 1900 original composition. He creates the piece, inspired by a woman (The Girl) who has just boarded and mesmerizes him. When he hears the recording, 1900 takes the master disc, offended at the prospect of anyone hearing the music without him having performed it live. He then tries to give the master to The Girl who inspired it, but is unable to and breaks it into pieces.
The story flashes back to the mid-1940s periodically, as Max (who has left the ship's orchestra in 1933) is seen trying to lure 1900 out of the now-deserted hull of the vessel, because the shopkeeper has revealed that the piano where the record had been found was recovered from the ship. Having served as a hospital ship and transport in World War II, it is scheduled to be scuttled and sunk far offshore. Max manages to get aboard with the recording 1900 made long ago and plays it, hoping to find him out. Max and 1900 finally meet again and 1900 is irremovable about sinking with the ship, being daunted by the immenseness of the world. He feels his fate is tied to the ship, and cannot bring himself to leave the only home he has ever known. Max feels useless that he couldn't save his friend and the two have a touching last conversation.
The shopkeeper asks Max how the record got into the secondhand piano. Max indicates that he put it there, and the shopkeeper tells him he wasn't so useless after all. Then, as Max is leaving the store, the shopkeeper gives him the trumpet back, without asking for money and saying "A good story is worth more than an old trumpet," and Max walks out as another customer walks in.
While visiting an Internet café with Bart and Lisa, Homer gets cyber-robbed by an illegal download done by Snake of his bank's entire savings account, which the family planned to use for their own family vacation. When Ned Flanders catches Homer burgling his house, he says he got more for less by attending the Chuck Garabedian Mega-Savings Seminar. Homer steals Ned's tickets and the Simpsons attend the seminar, in which Chuck explains many money-saving strategies. The Simpsons follow them and save enough for a Garabedian-sponsored vacation. Bart and Lisa, with help from Maggie, steal airplane tickets from the Flanders at the airport and go to Tokyo, Japan.
Homer and Bart separate from Marge, who wants to go back to the hotel, and Lisa, who wants to do something Japanese, to go attend a sumo match. When a wrestler steals Homer's pretzel, he and Bart subdue him, then when the Emperor of Japan, Akihito, congratulates Homer, he behaves like King Kong, throwing him into a dumpster of worn mawashi. As a result, he and Bart are put in jail until Marge pays the bail. Consequently, the only money the family has left is a one-million yen bill, which Lisa loses in the wind after Homer created an origami crane from it.
The family finds work in a fish-gutting factory in Osaka, where they notice a TV game show called ''The Happy Smile Super Challenge Family Wish Show''. They go on it, telling the host Wink that they wish for plane tickets to Springfield. In order to get them, they must go through physical torture, including picking them up from a rickety bridge over an active volcano (particularly Homer). Lisa's help is congratulated as she is able to get the tickets, but Wink breaks the bridge and the whole family falls into the volcano, which is actually scrummy Orangeade with much added wasabi. As the Simpsons leave Japan, their plane is briefly confronted by four giant monsters – Godzilla, Mothra, Gamera and Rodan before it flies off on the journey to Springfield.
Set in the year 2023, the book follows Alcide Nikopol's return to Paris after spending 30 years frozen in space as a punishment for dodging the draft. The Paris he once knew is now ruled by fascist dictator J. F. Choublanc, the city is swarming with aliens, decaying and succumbing to chaos. At the same time, a flying pyramid-shaped space craft is hovering over Paris. It is inhabited by Egyptian gods who ask for fuel from the local authorities, as their pyramid vessel has run out of gas. In return for this service Choublanc wants immortality from the gods. One renegade god, Horus, meets up with the disillusioned Nikopol in the Metro, and Nikopol agrees to allow Horus control of his body. Together they go on a journey to oppose the corrupt and megalomaniacal powers of the 21st century.
The story centers around Jill Bioskop, a journalist woman with blue hair and white skin whose story becomes involved with that of Alcide Nikopol and the Egyptian god Horus. The story continues two years after Nikopol is admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Paris. Nikopol suddenly stops quoting Baudelaire after the discovery of a block of concrete, which contains the immortal body of Horus.
At the same time in London, Jill is working on an article about the Afro-Pakistian and Zuben'Ubisch minority conflicts in the suburbs of Chelsea. While working on her Script-Walker she receives a phone call from John, an Alpheratzish friend and informant. During that phone call John is murdered by four Afro-Pakistiani but before he dies, he tells Jill about an article in De Morgen. After having made her way to the phonebooth and discovered John's body, Jill returns to her hotel room where she takes two red pills of HLV, John's drug. The drug erases John from Jill's memory.
Meanwhile, the news media are reporting about the block of concrete and the liberation of Horus, which was followed by the brutal murder of the workers who freed him onboard of the space vessel Europe I. Upon hearing this news, Jeff Wynatt, a friend of Jill Bioskop and former journalist, hurries towards the hotel where Jill is staying. He finds her in a deep coma and wakes her with cold water. Afterwards during a dinner in a restaurant Jeff asks Jill to cover the news of the return of Europe I, which is expected to arrive in a few days in Berlin. Jeff also says that he might visit Jill once she is in Berlin, which is something she didn't want to hear. Later that evening in the hotel room Jill uses the antenna of the scripwalker to kill Jeff. After she has cleaned up, she takes another red HLV pill to erase everything from her memory.
Alcide Nikopol Jr. receives a report from his father's psychiatrist which says that Nikopol has fully recovered from his alleged mental illness, but that he hasn't accepted the fact yet. However, Nikopol is shown to cover the room observation camera while making a deal with the nurse about taking his pills for a kiss, which can be interpreted in several ways.
Jill travels with an air taxi to Berlin and during the flight she discovers in her pocket the news paper article that John had told her about before he was murdered. She also learns that what she is writing on her scriptwalker is printed on an old fax at the editorial office of De Morgen.
The other Egyptian gods and the pyramid are somewhere in the neighbourhood of Mars when they discover that the pyramid is missing a block of concrete. Exactly the piece of concrete which was used for Horus's punishment.
Jill arrives at Mauer Palast Hotel in Berlin and says goodbye to Nick, the taxi driver. When she walks through the lobby of the hotel she feels Nick's eyes. On her room she orders dinner and reviews the notes from the scriptwalker. During the night Nick tries to sneak into Jill's bed which results in another murder with the antenna of the scriptwalker followed by a red pill.
The next day Jill meets another journalist, Ivan Vabek, and they drink a cup of coffee in the bar of the hotel. Ivan tells about a conflict in Berlin called the Egg War, of which he thinks every journalist must cover at least once in his or her career. He offers Jill a front row spot and a dinner invitation. Jill accepts the invitation and is transported by a local boy to the spot where she can watch the Egg War herself.
Next evening Jill tries to get access to the space port of Berlin, but everybody is denied access. The government inquires the only survivor of Europe I which is in fact controlled by Horus. Horus leaves the human body of the survivor he had taken and murders everybody who was questioning him. He finds Ivan Vabek and takes control of his body. Nikopol has followed these events with his telepathic cat and is preparing to leave the hospital and travel to Berlin. Also travelling to Berlin is John, Jill's alien friend who was murdered in the beginning of the story.
During a dinner with Ivan, Jill notices that something has changed in him, especially his voice. While in Ivan's room, Ivan is fighting the spirit of Horus resulting in Horus leaving his body. Once more Jill is left back with another dead body and the usual red pill to erase it from her memory.
Nikopol arrives at the desk of Mauer Palast, and he asks for a room. Once in the room, Nikopol speaks to Horus asking him to appear. Horus appears and during a glass of champagne, they discuss an agreement.
John is arriving in the railway station of Berlin, where the police demands him to come with them. John knocks down three police men and flees, but is shot in the back three times...
Having learned from a Zorro movie how to challenge someone to a duel by slapping him with a glove, Homer goes around town slapping people and getting his way, until a gun-toting Southern colonel accepts his challenge.
The next morning, the colonel and his wife wait outside the Simpsons' house. The family flee to the farmhouse where Homer grew up. Homer becomes a farmer, but the land is poor and nothing grows. He then calls Lenny and asks for some plutonium. With plutonium, the crops grow, but since Homer had mixed tomato seeds with tobacco seeds, a new product is created. Homer calls the mutated crop "ToMacco"; it tastes terrible, but is highly addictive. Homer and Marge set up a stall, selling Homer's ToMacco and Marge's fresh-baked mincemeat pie. While the pies do not sell well, the ToMacco is such a success that executives from Laramie Cigarettes offer to buy the rights to it for $150 million.
Lisa protests that the Simpsons cannot accept the tobacco executives' money, but Homer does not understand what she means and rejects the offer as insulting, demanding $150 billion, which they refuse. While the Simpsons are negotiating, ToMacco-addicted animals from other farms break into their fields and eat their crop. Holding the only plant left, the family run into the house, where Lisa urges Homer to destroy it; he refuses, until the crazed animals break into the house itself. He tosses the plant into the air, and it lands in the hands of a Laramie executive who happens to be there. The executives' helicopter leaves, but a ToMacco-addicted sheep has stowed away and attacks them. The helicopter crashes, killing everyone on board except the sheep, and destroying the final ToMacco plant. The Simpsons return home to find that the Southern gentleman and his wife are still waiting for the duel. It takes place: Homer is shot in the arm, but declines to go to the hospital until he has had some of Marge's mincemeat pie.
Mr. Burns tells his assistant Smithers that he is considering selling the power plant to pursue other interests; after Homer overhears part of their conversation, Smithers half-heartedly tells him that Burns would never sell the plant for $100 million. Unconfirmed takeover rumors cause the plant's stock to rise for the first time in ten years, initially to 25 cents apiece. Homer is informed by a shady stockbroker that all employees, including himself, own stock in the company in exchange for various worker's rights, and he impulsively sells his 100 shares, netting $25, which he spends on an higher-quality variant of Duff Beer. While drinking, he encounters two German businessmen, Hans and Fritz, who are interested in buying the plant; he mentions Smithers' figure. Meanwhile, the Simpson family learn that the stock value has risen to $52 per share and are excited by the prospect of earning $5200, but are aghast when they discover Homer's actions, and he is perturbed when other workers buy sportscars thanks to the windfall, while Lenny undergoes plastic surgery that leaves him with a permanent smile. Burns immediately accepts Hans and Fritz's $100 million offer for the plant and leaves, seeking adventure, while Smithers remains an employee.
The new owners immediately begin a thorough evaluation of the plant and its employees; Homer worries his lax work ethic as safety inspector will cost him his job. When Hans and Fritz interview Homer, he is unable to intelligently answer their questions and fantasizes about frolicking in "The Land of Chocolate". The owners announce that Homer will be the only employee fired, so the rest of the family makes budget cuts until he can find a new job. Burns has drinks with Smithers at Moe's Tavern, where Homer has been drinking. Homer lashes out at Burns, calling him a "greedy old reptile" whom nobody loves. The other patrons also taunt him: Bart stamps on Burns' foot and sings "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" while everyone except Smithers joins in. Humiliated, Burns realizes that his former employees no longer fear him. Since his ownership of the plant gave him power over ordinary men, Burns decides to buy it back.
The German investors discover that the plant is in bad need of repairs and decide to sell before they sink too much money into it. Burns, noting their desperation to sell, offers them $50 million for the plant; they reluctantly accept half what they had paid him. Now back in charge, Burns re-hires Homer, though he secretly vows revenge for the humiliation he suffered at the bar.
Springfield Elementary arranges a trip to the offices of ''The Springfield Shopper'' for the students. Homer is a volunteer driver and chaperone. They are introduced to the newspaper's history and operations. Homer smells cake and follows it to a retirement party for the newspaper's food critic. Crashing the party, he greedily eats the food. The editor, seeing Homer's love of food, offers him a job as the new food critic. He asks Homer to prepare a 500-word sample review.
Homer struggles with the review, submitting a nonsensical sample resulting from a typewriter with a non-functioning E key, but Lisa helps him. He praises every restaurant he visits, and the people of Springfield begin to grow fat like him. At the ''Springfield Shopper'' office, the editor introduces Homer to other critics. They chide him for being too generous in his reviews. Homer gives into their peer pressure and writes a series of bad reviews, criticizing everything. Lisa complains that he is being needlessly cruel, and stops helping him. Homer attempts to continue reviewing by himself, but the quality of his reviews reverts back to his old poor standard. Meanwhile, the local restaurateurs hold a secret meeting about Homer's negative reviews. They decide they will have to kill him. A French chef volunteers to do the deed by feeding him a poisonous éclair, , at an upcoming food festival.
At the food festival, Homer goes about his reviewing duties. Bart overhears some of the restaurateurs discussing the murder plot, and he, Marge and Lisa attempt to find Homer and warn him. At the French chef's stall, Homer is about to eat the éclair when Lisa loudly reveals the murder plot – but Homer shrugs it off. She then exclaims that the éclair is "low fat", and Homer throws away the lethal pastry in revulsion; when it hits Hans Moleman's gruel pot, it explodes. The police rush to the scene and arrest the Frenchman, who easily manages to escape. Homer and Lisa leave, the former relieved over an apparent lack of comeuppance, but the angry restaurateurs amongst other characters aggrieved with Homer follow them and beat him up.
Jacob Ericson is a shy, enigmatic, and somewhat aloof ranch hand who works for crotchety Professor Carter and his crippled daughter Sharon, on a ranch in the California Mojave Desert in the 1920s. One day he learns that his hands possess the mysterious gift of healing, a gift he uses to cure animals, which he adores. Sharon, whom he also adores, then persuades him to heal her.
When he successfully cures her, his gift is quickly exploited and the boundaries of his charm and naivete begin to stretch. First he offers his healing powers for free at a church in Los Angeles, where he has gone in pursuit of Sharon after she fled her father and the ranch to follow her dreams of stardom. Jacob and Sharon cross paths when they work for the same pair of exploitative showmen.
Jacob stays with the seedy stage show only because Sharon is close by. It is when Jacob's gift is recruited to heal Earl Medwin, an eccentric, ailing young millionaire, that the love and security for which he has worked so hard begin to evaporate.
Because Titus' father, Vespasian, has died, everyone assumes that Titus will now be free to marry his beloved Bérénice, the queen of Palestine. Madly in love with Bérénice, Antiochus plans to flee Rome rather than face her marriage with his friend Titus. However, Titus has been listening to public opinion about the prospects of his marriage with a foreign queen, and the Romans find this match undesirable. Titus chooses his duty to Rome over his love for Bérénice and sends Antiochus to tell Bérénice the news. Knowing that Antiochus is Titus' rival, Bérénice refuses to believe Antiochus. However, Titus confirms that he will not marry her. Titus begs her to stay but she refuses both Antiochus and Titus. She and Antiochus leave Rome separately, and Titus remains behind to rule his empire.
It's Christmas Eve and Richie Rich, the world's richest kid, is all excited to spend the day with his friends. While racing wildly with his friends in the snow, Richie's butler, Herbert Cadbury, controls the cars using a remote and guides the children back to Richie's house. He then reminds him about his responsibilities that are due to be executed on Christmas Eve, and instructs him to change his clothes and get ready for tea. Before going to do so, he visits his home scientist, Professor Keanbean, who shows him his recent invention, a wishing machine which works only on Christmas Eve. The day being that, Richie wishes for a "big pie" from it, and is given a "pig sty" instead. Cadbury is disgusted seeing this, and sends him off to change his clothes. He meets his parents, Richard and Regina Rich, to ask what they would like to have for Christmas. While with them, he also tries out his father's new fishing rod invented by Keanbean, which hooks on to a tuna sandwich in the vicinity. He then goes on to change his clothes.
During tea, Richie meets his spoiled cousin, Reggie Van Dough, who wishes that he was as rich as Richie. Later, he dresses up like an elf with Cadbury as Santa Claus to distribute Christmas presents to the orphanage. While getting ready, Cadbury tells Richie about how he was a rock star in his youth days, in a band called Root Canal. When they take off in the sleigh with Richie driving it, Reggie takes control of it using the remote invented by Keanbean that Cadbury used earlier. He guides it through streets by shops, houses, and people, thus nearly destroying everything in the whole process. Richie and Cadbury end up in an accident in which the sleigh falls and literally explodes along with the presents, while Cadbury hurts his ankle badly. Richie runs off to fetch help, but once he enters the city, he sees that the situation has changed dramatically. Reggie is cooking up rumors about him, and all the people have turned against him.
Devastated and believing the whole incident was his fault, Richie goes into Keanbean's laboratory and squats in front of the wishing machine. While fretting over his ill luck, he accidentally wishes that he was never born. The machine at once grants his wish, following which he is transported to another world in which he was never born and hence nobody recognizes him. Reggie has taken over as Richard and Regina's son, and is now the richest kid in the world. He bosses around everyone. Roads and buildings are named after him. Reggie controls the entire town and including the police force. This world is very sad, and hunger and misery are seen all over. This makes Richie realize that things would not be better if he was not born, and hence decides to go back to the world in which he is Richie Rich.
Though his parents do not recognize him anymore, he is happy that his dog, Dollar, does. He takes Dollar with him, only to enrage Reggie, who is his current owner. Reggie orders policemen to search for Richie, who is falsely called the "dognapper", and also announces a reward for catching him. After outsmarting various policemen who try but fail to catch him, Richie finds Cadbury, who is still part of Root Canal, and Keanbean, who runs his own laboratory called "Keanbean's World of Wonders". Richie questions Keanbean about the wishing machine, which he says, requires a ''Pegliasaurus'' wishing bone in order to be complete. Along with his friends who decide to help him, Richie goes to the city museum to retrieve the bone from the dinosaur skeleton. After passing through laser detection systems successfully, they get it, using the fishing rod invented by Keanbean. Before they get out of the museum, Richie and his friends spot Reggie's parents, who are now working as night guards there.
Once they reach the lab, they get the machine to work properly. However, before Richie could wish himself back, Reggie arrives there with the policemen. Richie, Cadbury, Keanbean, and Richie's friends are put in jail, while Reggie takes the machine home. At home, Reggie wishes for the ability to fly, but before he can make another wish, Dollar runs off with the wishbone. When it does not work the second time, he leaves the room in a huff, and retires. In jail, Richie and his friends are bailed out by Root Canal. They all rush to Reggie's house, and while he is still sleeping, Richie tries to wish himself back. However, they find that the machine is no longer working, as Reggie had kicked it in anger earlier. While Keanbean is fixing it, Reggie wakes up and comes flying in, only to be attacked by Richie and his friends. They defeat him and everyone quits working for him, with Sgt. Mooney refusing to work for someone who would cancel Christmas. After that, the machine starts working again, and Richie wishes himself back as Richie Rich.
Richie sets right all the things that had gone wrong since his vanishing act, and is now much more grateful to be alive. As everyone is glad to have him back, they gather around the Christmas tree and sing.
Reggie is caught red-handed by his parents with his actions against Richie, and Reggie's parents make him apologize for all the trouble he caused to Richie, admitting that he was the one who took control of the sleigh and ruined the event. Richie realizes that it wasn't his fault, he should have known it was Reggie, and he made that wish for nothing. They forgive each other.
Neil Shaw is an operative for the United Nations's covert SAD, using espionage and quasi-ethical tactics to secure peace and cooperation. In Hong Kong, Shaw infiltrates a Chinese New Year party held by Chinese business mogul David Chan and covertly hacks an office laptop of a North Korean Defense Minister, and blackmails him with the misappropriation of U.N. aid money, in exchange for continuing negotiations with South Korea. Shortly after being discovered, Shaw fights his way out of the party and suffers a gunshot wound to his shoulder during extraction.
Six months later, a shipping container full of dead Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong turns up on the New York docks on the week as China's trade agreement with the U.S. Shaw's boss, Eleanor Hooks, suspects Chinese ambassador Wu's connection with the Chinese Triad, and assigns Shaw to plant a bug on Wu during a banquet held by Chan. During the trade agreement banquet, Wu is gunned down, Chan is shot in the arm, and Shaw pursues a masked gunman. During the pursuit, Shaw's teammate Robert Bly corners the gunman but perishes, and Shaw is arrested by the NYPD. In the middle of a prison transfer, FBI agent Frank Capella's van is disabled by a roadside bomb, and an unconscious Shaw is captured by Triad members to be framed for the murder and disposed of. Shaw regains consciousness and frees himself from captivity, only to find his last remaining team member, Jenna Novak, murdered by a Chinese hitman. Shaw kills the hitman, recovers the audio file, and secures weapons and equipment from Novak's hidden armory. Shaw seeks out Julia Fang's help after reading a news article stating Shaw's innocence. Shaw manages to save Fang from an ambush by a Chinese hitwoman at a hospital.
With Fang's aid, Shaw finds a Triad-owned bakery serving as a front for a Gentleman's club, setting up an unlikely alliance with Capella, as well as retrieving video footage of Chan's role in derailing the trade agreement. Fang delivers the evidence to Hooks while Shaw confronts Chan at the same hotel serving as the banquet. Chan is shot dead by a masked gunman while being interrogated by Shaw. The pursuit ends when Shaw finds a scanner that is tuned to a tracking device embedded in Shaw's gunshot wound before being ambushed by Bly. Bly reveals himself as the assassin at the banquet, and also engineered the tracking device implant from an earlier basketball game injury. Hooks reviews the evidence and reveals that she and Chan were the masterminds behind the conspiracy. A disgusted Fang tries to leave but attempts to hide from Bly only to be locked in a bathroom.
Shaw eventually figures out Hooks's role behind the conspiracy and approaches Capella with his findings. Shaw surgically removes his tracking device and uses Capella's business card to give the Triads a business proposition. Shaw breaks into the U.N. building and enters into a shootout and hand-to-hand fight with Bly, where the latter dies after falling on a shard from a broken glass pane. The following day, Shaw calls Hooks in her limousine and lectures her on a lesson in karma, revealing that Shaw's business proposition to the Triads was to assassinate Hooks for her betrayal. Shaw later has his death faked before reuniting with Fang in France but is monitored by an unknown spy.
Artemis Fowl lures Mulch Diggums, a dwarf, to work with him to steal a tiara for a laser he is developing. A band of other dwarfs, using a circus as their cover have already stolen the tiara. The other dwarfs, led by Sergei the Significant, are planning to sell it to a jewellery fence. Captain Holly Short is on a break pending a tribunal after the Fowl Manor Incident, but Foaly tells her that the LEP have been alerted by Mulch Diggum's stolen helmet, about Artemis Fowl. Holly immediately heads to Ireland and confronts the dwarfs. Soon after Holly has tagged all of the dwarfs in Sergei's band, she chases Artemis and Mulch. Mulch and Artemis soon split with Artemis promising to write Mulch a cheque for the tiara. Holly chases after Artemis and demands the tiara and a LEP helmet from him. Artemis gives her the LEP helmet but keeps the tiara. Holly forces Artemis to give her the tiara, and then he hands it over. Later on we learn that Artemis switched the gemstone in the tiara with a fake one. He gives the real one to his mother because it reminds her of Artemis's father, specifically, the color of his eyes.
To join LEPrecon and become its first female member LEPtraffic officer Holly Short has to hunt and tag Commander Julius Root with a paintball gun on a remote island while being filmed for evaluation by Trouble Kelp. Unknown to them Commander Root's criminal brother Turnball Root has set up a trap for his sibling.
Nikolai 'Kolya' Rodchenko (Baryshnikov) is a Soviet ballet dancer who had previously defected from the Soviet Union. When the plane carrying him to his next performance in Tokyo has electrical problems and crash lands in Siberia, he is injured and recognized by KGB officer Colonel Chaiko (Jerzy Skolimowski). Chaiko contacts tap dancer Raymond Greenwood (Hines), who has defected to the Soviet Union, and gets them both to Leningrad. Chaiko wants Rodchenko to dance at the season's opening night at the Kirov, and Greenwood to babysit Rodchenko. To convince Rodchenko, Chaiko uses Galina Ivanova (Helen Mirren), a former ballerina who never left the Soviet Union and is an old flame of Rodchenko.
After an initial period of racial and artistic friction, the two dancers (and defectors in opposite directions) become strong friends. When Raymond discovers that his wife Darya Greenwood (Isabella Rossellini) is pregnant, he decides he does not want their child to grow up in the Soviet Union, and together, with Rodchenko, they plan an escape with the help of Galina, who still has feelings for Rodchenko. During the escape attempt, Raymond chooses to stay behind in order to delay Chaiko, gaining time for Nikolai and Darya to get to the consulate at Leningrad. Although Raymond is captured and incarcerated, he is traded by the Soviets for a political prisoner from Latin America, and reunites with Darya and Nikolai.
In Lorain, Ohio, nine-year-old Claudia MacTeer and her 10-year-old sister Frieda live with their parents, a tenant named Mr. Henry, and Pecola Breedlove, a temporary foster child whose house was burned down by her unstable, alcoholic, and sexually abusive father. Pecola is a quiet, passive young girl who grows up with little money and whose parents are constantly fighting, both verbally and physically. Pecola is continually reminded of what an "ugly" girl she is by members of her neighborhood and school community. In an attempt to beautify herself, Pecola wishes for blue eyes. Additionally, most chapters' titles are extracts from the ''Dick and Jane'' paragraph in the novel's prologue, presenting a white family that may be contrasted with Pecola's. The chapter titles contain sudden repetition of words or phrases, many cut-off words, and no interword separations.
The novel, through flashbacks, explores the younger years of both of Pecola's parents, Cholly and Pauline, and their struggles as African Americans in a largely White Anglo-Saxon Protestant community. Pauline now works as a servant for a wealthier white family. One day in the novel's present time, while Pecola is doing dishes, drunk Cholly rapes her. His motives are largely confusing, seemingly a combination of both love and hate. After raping her a second time, he flees, leaving her pregnant.
Claudia and Frieda are the only two in the community that hopes for Pecola's child to survive in the coming months. Consequently, they give up the money they had been saving to buy a bicycle, instead planting marigold seeds with the superstitious belief that if the flowers bloom, Pecola's baby will survive. The marigolds never bloom, and Pecola's child, who is born prematurely, dies. In the aftermath, a dialogue is presented between two sides of Pecola's deluded imagination, in which she indicates conflicting feelings about her rape by her father. In this internal conversation, Pecola speaks as though her wish for blue eyes has been granted, and believes that the changed behavior of those around her is due to her new eyes, rather than the news of her rape or her increasingly strange behavior.
Claudia, as narrator a final time, describes the recent phenomenon of Pecola's insanity and suggests that Cholly (who has since died) may have shown Pecola the only love he could by raping her. Claudia laments on her belief that the whole community, herself included, has used Pecola as a scapegoat to make themselves feel prettier and happier.
The centenarian pharaoh Ramses is breathing his last, "his chest... invested by a stifling incubus [that drains] the blood from his heart, the strength from his arm, and at times even the consciousness from his brain." He commands the wisest physician at the Temple of Karnak to prepare him a medicine that kills or cures at once. After Ramses drinks the potion, he summons an astrologer and asks what the stars show. The astrologer replies that heavenly alignments portend the death of a member of the dynasty; Ramses should not have taken the medicine today. Ramses then asks the physician how soon he will die; the physician replies that before sunrise either Ramses will be hale as a rhino, or his sacred ring will be on the hand of his grandson and successor, Horus.
Ramses commands that Horus be taken to the hall of the pharaohs, there to await his last words and the royal ring. Amid the moonlight, Horus seats himself on the porch, whose steps lead down to the River Nile, and watches the crowds gathering to greet their soon-to-be new pharaoh. As Horus contemplates the reforms that he would like to introduce, something stings his leg; he thinks it was a bee. A courtier remarks that it is fortunate that it was not a spider, whose venom can be deadly at this time of year.
Horus orders edicts drawn up, ordaining peace with Egypt's enemies, the Ethiopians, and forbidding that prisoners of war have their tongues torn out on the field of battle; lowering the people's rents and taxes; giving slaves days of rest and forbidding their caning without a court judgment; recalling Horus' teacher Jethro, whom Ramses had banished for instilling in Horus an aversion to war and compassion for the people; moving, to the royal tombs, the body of Horus' mother Sephora which, because of the mercy that she had shown the slaves, Ramses had buried among the slaves; and releasing Horus' beloved, Berenice, from the cloister where Ramses had imprisoned her.
Meanwhile, Horus' leg has become more painful. The physician examines it and finds that Horus has been stung by a very poisonous spider. He has only a short time to live.
The ministers enter with the edicts that they have drawn up at his bidding, and Horus awaits the death of Ramses so that he may touch and thus confirm his edicts with the sacred ring of the pharaohs.
As death approaches Horus, and it becomes increasingly unlikely that he will have time to touch every edict with the ring, he lets successive edicts slip to the floor: the edict on the people's rents and the slaves' labor; the edict on peace with the Ethiopians; the edict moving his mother Sephora's remains; the edict recalling Jethro from banishment; the edict on not tearing out the tongues of prisoners taken in war. There remains only the edict freeing his love, Berenice.
Just then, the high priest's deputy runs into the hall and announces a miracle. Ramses has recovered and invites Horus to join him in a lion hunt at sunrise.
Horus looked with failing eye across the Nile, where the light shone in Berenice's prison, and two [...] sanguineous tears rolled down his face.
"You do not answer, Horus?" asked Ramses' messenger, in surprise.
"Don't you see he's dead?..." whispered the wisest physician in Karnak.
Behold, human hopes are vain before the decrees that the Eternal writes in fiery signs upon the heavens.|
Sugar Bear (Shaggy 2 Dope), a streetwise detective from San Francisco, is brought to New York City by its chief of police (John G. Brennan) to take down Big Baby Sweets (Violent J), a notorious crime lord who controls the entirety of the city's criminal underworld with his right-hand men Big Stank (Jamie Madrox) and Lil' Poot (Monoxide Child), and his personal security ninja Hack Benjamin (Robert Bruce). After getting a firsthand look at the police force's incompetence via Officer Harry Cox (Harland Williams), Sugar Bear prevents a robbery of a local doughnut shop by one of Big Baby Sweets' thugs, Ape Boy, and begins a romance with a 300-pound stripper, Missy (Sindee Williams).
He soon arrests Big Baby Sweets, Big Stank and Lil' Poot himself, but the police are forced to let them go because of a lack of evidence. The gangsters retaliate by terrorizing the city and sending a pair of stealthy Magic Ninjas to murder Missy, leading Sugar Bear to depressed alcoholism. Sugar Bear's idol, Dolemite (Rudy Ray Moore), appears before him to reassure him and begin training him to bring down Sweets' evil empire. Sugar Bear kills the Magic Ninjas and Hack Benjamin, and has Big Stank and Lil' Poot carted off by their wealthy, upper-class parents before defeating another one of Big Baby Sweets' henchmen, Cactus Sac (Mick Foley), in a wrestling match. During Big Baby Sweets' personal confrontation with Sugar Bear, Sweets is shot by his mother, and Sugar Bear removes Sweets' face paint, revealing him to be Harry Cox.
The story begins when characters from alternate realities such as Alpha Centurion, an alternate version of Batgirl, and Triumph suddenly start appearing in the DC Universe. A wave of entropy then moves from the end of time to the beginning, erasing entire historical ages in the process.
The villain of the story is Extant, formerly Hawk of the duo Hawk and Dove. Extant has acquired temporal powers, using them to unravel the DC Universe's timeline. In a confrontation with the Justice Society of America, Extant ages several of them — removing the effect that has kept them young from the 1940s into the present day — leaving them either feeble or dead. However, the true villain behind the destruction of the universe turns out to be Hal Jordan, a member of the Green Lantern Corps. Calling himself Parallax, Jordan has gone insane and is now trying to remake the universe, undoing the events which have caused his breakdown and his own murderous actions following it. The collective efforts of the other superheroes manage to stop Parallax from creating his vision of a new universe, and the timeline is recreated anew, albeit with subtle differences compared to the previous one, after the young hero Damage, with help from the other heroes, triggers a new Big Bang. Although Jordan was severely weakened from using so much energy, he manages to survive even after Green Arrow shoots an arrow into his heart.
Poindexter "Fool" Williams is a resident of a Los Angeles ghetto. He and his family are being evicted from their apartment by their landlords the Robesons. The Robesons, who are believed to be a married couple, call themselves Mommy and Daddy. They have a daughter named Alice, to whom they are extremely abusive.
Leroy, his associate Spencer, and Fool break into the Robesons' house by using Spencer to pose as a municipal worker. The Robesons leave the home shortly, but Spencer does not return. Fool and Leroy break into the house to look for Spencer and Fool finds his dead body and a large group of strange, pale children in a locked pen inside a dungeon-like basement.
The Robesons return and Fool flees while Leroy is shot to death by Daddy. Fool runs into another section of the house where he meets Alice. She tells him that the people under the stairs were children who broke the "see/hear/speak no evil" rules of the Robeson household. The children have degenerated into cannibalism to survive and Alice has avoided this fate by obeying the rules without question. A boy named Roach whose tongue was removed as punishment for having called out for help to escape (thus breaking the "speak no evil" rule enforced by Mommy and Daddy) also evades the Robesons by hiding in the walls.
Fool is discovered by Daddy and is thrown to the cannibalistic children to die. However, Roach helps Fool escape, but is critically wounded. As he dies, he gives Fool a small bag of gold coins and a written plea to save Alice. Fool reunites with Alice and the two escape into the passageways between the walls. Daddy releases his Rottweiler dog Prince into the walls to kill them. Fool tricks Daddy into stabbing Prince and he and Alice reach the attic where they find an open window above a pond. Alice is too afraid to jump and Fool is forced to escape without her, but he promises to return for her.
Fool learns that he has enough gold to pay for both his rent and for his mother's surgery. He also finds out that Mommy and Daddy are actually brother and sister, coming from a long line of disturbed, inbred family members. They started out as a family that ran a funeral home, selling cheap coffins for expensive prices, before entering the real estate business, leading them to become greedier and more unhinged. Fool vows to help right the wrong. He reports the Robesons to child welfare and as the police are investigating the house, Fool sneaks back in and reveals to Alice that she is not their daughter; she was stolen from her birth parents, as were all the other children in the basement.
Mommy finds out that Alice knows the truth and believes that Fool has turned her against them, so she attempts to kill Alice. However, the cannibal children charge at Mommy, causing her to flee and run into a knife held by Alice. The children seize her and throw her into the basement, where she lands dead at Daddy's feet. Daddy finds Fool at the vault, where Fool sets off explosives, demolishing the house and causing the money to blow up through the crematorium chimney and into the crowd of people outside. Daddy is killed in the explosion and Alice and Fool reunite in the basement. Meanwhile, the people outside claim the money distributed by the blast, and the freed children venture into the night.
Francis Ingram is a noted pianist who lives in a large manor house in Italy. Ingram suffered a stroke which left his right side immobile, and he has to use a wheelchair to get around. He has retreated to the manor house for the past few years, where he lives with his nurse, Julie Holden; his secretary and astrologist Hilary Cummins; a friend, Bruce Conrad; and his sister's son, Donald Arlington. Holden and Conrad are secretly in love. Holden plans to leave Ingram's service and return to America, but wants to talk it over with Ingram first. Conrad wants her to instead leave immediately, feeling that caring for Ingram is sapping her vitality, while Cummins opposes her leaving at all, saying he will be left with no time to do his work without her to take care of Ingram's needs. After witnessing Holden and Conrad kissing, Cummins tells Ingram of the affair. Ingram, unwilling to believe it, starts to choke Cummins. Holden's intervention saves him, but Ingram orders him out of the manor.
That night, Ingram is awakened by a storm outside. He climbs into his wheelchair and, disoriented by hallucinations, falls down the stairs, breaking his neck. Commissario Ovidio Castanio of the local police investigates the death, and finds no sign of foul play.
Holden, Cummins, Conrad, Donald and his father Raymond Arlington, and Duprex, Ingram's attorney, gather for the reading of Ingram's will and testament. The Arlingtons assume they will get everything, and gloat to Cummins that they plan to have his cherished books shipped off and sold. Instead, Ingram's will grants all he owns to Holden. The Arlingtons threaten to have the will annulled by having Holden found culpable in Ingram's death, as his nurse. Duprex tells the Arlingtons that Ingram wrote an older will which gave everything to Donald, and offers to help overturn the new will in favor of the old one in exchange for a third of the estate. That night, while forging the "older will", Duprex is strangled to death. Only the assailant's left hand (which has Ingram's ring) is seen.
Castanio investigates. Everyone hears Ingram playing the piano in the main hall, but when they go to check no one is there. Castanio witnesses Donald attacked and almost choked to death by the hand with Ingram's ring. He checks Ingram's coffin and finds that Ingram's left hand has been cut off, a hand-sized hole has been broken out of a window, and outside the hole are a trail of handprints. Castanio begins to believe Ingram's severed hand may have killed Duprex.
Cummins sees the disembodied hand while working in the library. He grabs the hand and locks it in a desk drawer. When he summons Conrad and Holden to show them, the hand is gone, and they assume it to have been a figment of his imagination. Donald remembers the combination and location of a safe in the house, and Castanio and his father accompany him to the room where it is located. Inside is the disembodied hand. In a panic, Donald flees the house with Conrad in pursuit. Holden realizes that Cummins is the killer, having acted to safeguard his books, but his conscience is driving him mad, making him insist that the hand did it all. She urges him to turn himself in, promising to speak on his behalf. He instead tries to kill her to keep her from telling anyone else. To stay his hand, she claims to believe the hand is responsible, and begs Cummins to protect her from it. Completely convinced by his delusion, Cummins seizes the hand and throws it in the fire, but the burning hand crawls out and chokes him, fading out of existence after he collapses.
Castanio and Conrad discover a hidden record player with a recording of Ingram's piano playing which Cummins remotely triggered from his desk. Castanio theorizes that Cummins cut off the hand, which he kept in his desk or the safe whenever not using it in an attack.
''Chernevog'' begins three years after the conclusion of ''Rusalka''. Sasha, Pyetr and Eveshka are living in Uulamets' cottage; Sasha is 18 and a young wizard, and Pyetr and Eveshka are married. Chernevog is still asleep in the forest, guarded by the leshys , but Sasha and Eveshka have disturbing dreams about him waking up. One day Sasha and Pyetr find that Eveshka has disappeared, and they set off to find her. They suspect that she may have gone to confront Chernevog, who still controls their lives.
Sasha and Pyetr travel into the forest and find Chernevog still asleep. Pyetr tries to kill him once and for all, but an owl, a childhood friend of Chernevog's whom he gave his heart to, attacks Pyetr. Pyetr kills the owl and Chernevog regains his heart, which wakes him up. Chernevog had given away his heart to free his conscience, enabling him to practise magic freely. Sasha has learnt that Chernevog had rejected Uulamets' teachings of wizardry, which works within nature and considers the consequences of wishes, and turned to magic, which taps dark forces and is not concerned with laws of nature. Pyetr tries to kill Chernevog again, but Sasha stops him. With his heart, Chernevog's actions are limited and Sasha is able to control him. Sasha and Pyetr resume their search for Eveshka, taking Chernevog with them.
Eveshka's reason for fleeing the house is because she knows Chernevog will wake up and she fears for their safety. She is drawn to a house occupied by her mother, Draga, whom Chernevog and murdered after he had had Eveshka killed. Draga and Uulamets had met when they were both under the tutelage of a wizard named Malenkova, but Uulamets feared her and ran away. Draga killed the wizard, and later, pregnant, arrived at Uulamets' cottage to give birth to Eveshka. Uulamets took Eveshka away from Draga, and fearing for her life, she ran away, leaving Uulamets the task of bringing up and controlling a "doubly gifted" wizard. Draga then found Chernevog, an abandoned child who had been abused by another wizard, and took him in. Chernevog was wild and appeared possessed, but she controlled and manipulated him, then sent him to Uulamets to be his student. Chernevog hated Uulamets and had killed Eveshka to revenge him. Chernevog then, using his new-found skills, hunted down and killed Draga. Over the years Draga, as a ghost, slowly willed herself back to life, intent on revenging her murder.
After days looking for Eveshka, Sasha drops his guard and Chernevog sends his heart to Pyetr, allowing him to freely practise magic again. In control of both Sasha and Pyetr, Chernevog directs the search for Eveshka, hoping to find her before she finds Draga, whom he knows is alive again. Draga needs Eveshka's help in overcoming Chernevog and tells her that she is pregnant with Pyetr's child. She also persuades Eveshka to start using magic. Draga had inherited magical wolves from Malenkova and she divides Eveshka's consciousness amongst them, increasing her power. When Chernevog, Sasha and Pyetr arrive at Draga's house, the wolves threaten to overwhelm Chernevog. Realizing that he cannot defeat Draga and Eveshka's magic, Chernevog retreats and the wolves and Draga follow. When they reach a nearby hill, Chernevog calls down a lightning strike that kills him, Draga and the wolves. This frees Pyetr of Chernevog's heart and Eveshka from the wolves and Draga's control.
Pyetr, Eveshka and Sasha return to their cottage where Eveshka gives birth to a daughter. But she is worried about bringing up a wizard child, knowing what it might do to them, and especially Pyetr, if it does not get its way.
''Yvgenie'' begins 15 years after the conclusion of ''Chernevog''. Pyetr, Eveshka, Sasha and Ilyana, Eveshka and Pyetr's 15-year-old wizard daughter, live in Uulamets' cottage. One day they are alarmed to discover that Ilyana has befriended a ghost, whom they suspect may be Chernevog. They explain to Ilyana who Chernevog is and the dangers he and his vodyanoi partner, Hwiuur pose to them all.
Later, during a storm, Ilyana rescues a half-drowned boy, Yvgenie from the swollen river. He has no memory of where he came from, but when she brings him home, he is locked up in case he is Chernevog. Ilyana, believing that Pyetr and Sasha are going to kill Yvgenie, uses wizardry to overpower them and frees Yvgenie. Having lost one friend she is determined not to lose another and runs off with him. Eveshka, Pyetr and Sasha pursue Ilyana and Yvgenie into the forest.
Fleeing with Yvgenie, Ilyana discovers that he ''is'' possessed by Chernevog's ghost, and that Chernevog had revived the drowned boy and occupied his body. Periodically Yvgenie's shy demeanor is replaced by Chernevog's commanding presence. Ilyana has sympathies for both the boy she rescued and her ghost friend, and lets Chernevog lead them through the forest.
While tracking Ilyana and Yvgenie/Chernevog, leshys bring a girl, Nadya to Pyetr and Sasha. She is the daughter of Yurishev's young wife with whom Pyetr had an affair in Vojvoda in ''Rusalka''. Unbeknown to Pyetr, Nadya is his daughter. She was due to wed Yvgenie from Kyiv in an arranged marriage, but when Yvgenie's father found out that Nadya was illegitimate, he threatened to kill her. Yvgenie took Nadya into the forest to escape his father and was overwhelmed by the flooded river. Yvgenie was rescued by Ilyana (after Chernevog had revived him) and Nadya was found by the leshys.
Chernevog leads Ilyana to the stone in the leshy's circle upon which he had slept. After Chernevog died near the end of ''Chernevog'', the leshys took his bones to the stone. Then when Ilyana was born, they used magic to revive him and sent him to bring her back to the stone. Ilyana was young, innocent and gifted, and the leshys believed she could defeat Hwiuur, who was spreading evil through the forest. But by the time Chernevog arrives at the stone with Ilyana, the leshys have succumbed to Hwiuur and died. Chernevog had delayed his return with Ilyana because he had fallen in love with her and knew the leshys would preserve her on the stone.
Having lost his control over Chernevog, Hwiuur harasses Pyetr and Sasha, and then attempts to bargain with Eveshka for Ilyana. Finally Hwiuur attacks Ilyana, but Sasha, Pyetr and Eveshka find her, and Sasha rams a pot of salt down the vodyanoi's throat, neutralizing him. Safe again, the family reunites, with the addition of Nadya and Chernevog/Yvgenie. Chernevog explains that when the leshys freed him, they changed him and that he is not the evil person he used to be. Nadya is welcomed by Eveshka and Ilyana as their step-daughter and -sister. Ilyana is happy with her new friend(s) Chernevog/Yvgenie, and Sasha and Nadya have become attracted to each other. Sasha later confesses to Eveshka that he had wished for companionship, but Eveshka believes that a wish 100 years ago had set all these events in motion.
At least ten million years in the future the TARDIS materialises on a vast spacecraft with its own miniature zoo and arboretum. The First Doctor and Steven are explaining the basics of their time travel ability to their new companion Dodo Chaplet when she starts to show signs of a cold. The three are taken to the control chamber of the vessel by the mute single-eyed Monoids. The Monoids live in peace alongside the humans who command the spaceship, their own planet having been destroyed, but they often do much of the menial work. The humans explain that the Earth is about to be destroyed because of the expansion of the Sun, and that the ship is an "Ark" sent into space with the last remnants of humanity, civilisation, and various flora and fauna. The human Guardians in charge of the craft run a tight ship: failure to conform to their rules means either death or miniaturisation until they reach their destination, an Earth-like planet called Refusis II, which takes nearly 700 years to get to. As an amusement during the journey a vast statue is being carved by hand, depicting a human being.
Dodo's cold spreads among the Monoid and human populations, who have little natural immunity. When the Commander of the Ark collapses with the malady Zentos, the Deputy Commander, assumes that the travellers have deliberately infected the ship and places the whole ship on alert. After a trial, during which Steven collapses with the fever, Zentos orders the execution of the Doctor, Steven and Dodo, but the ailing Commander intervenes to protect them and permits them access to medical equipment to devise a cure. The Doctor is able to recreate the cold vaccine from the membranes of animals on the craft, and this is administered to the crew. The Commander, Steven and the others who have been infected are soon on the road to recovery. Their work done, the trio observe the end of Earth on the long-range scanner before the Doctor leads them back to the TARDIS.
The TARDIS rematerialises back on the Ark, but 700 years later. They learn that after a second wave of the cold virus introduced a genetic weakness into the humans the Monoids staged a coup and took control. They have completed the statue in the image of themselves, and now have voice communicators and use numerical emblems to distinguish each other. The surviving humans are now the Monoids' slaves, and the Doctor and his friends are sent to the kitchen to help to prepare meals for the Monoids. Two humans, Venussa and Dassuk, believe that the moment of their liberation is at hand. Steven tries to help them in a revolt, which is unsuccessful.
The arrival on Refusis is close at hand and a landing pod is prepared. Monoid 1 wants to make sure that the new world is inhabited only by Monoids, despite promises that the human population will be allowed to live there too. A landing party is assembled—the Doctor, Dodo, Monoid 2 and a subject Guardian named Yendom—and they soon reach Refusis II and start to investigate. A stately castle, which seems to be empty, is in fact occupied by the Refusians, giant beings rendered invisible by solar flares. Having anticipated the arrival of the Ark, they built the castle to accommodate the colonists. They welcome their guests, but want to share the planet only with other peaceful beings. Monoid 2 and Yendom flee the castle, and en route Yendom realises that the humans will not be allowed to reach Refusis with the Monoids. Monoid 2 kills him and shortly afterwards is killed himself when the Refusians destroy the lander.
Monoid 1 decides to colonise Refusis without more checks on the planet, but once they land and discover the destroyed landing pod other, more cautious, Monoids revolt, sparking a civil war. The Doctor, Dodo and a Refusian use the confusion to steal one of the launchers and send the Refusian back to the Ark.
The Monoids have placed a bomb on board the ship and plan to evacuate soon to the planet, leaving the humans to die. Word of this threat spreads and spurs a human rebellion. They discover that the bomb has been placed in the head of the statue, which the Refusian helps to dispose of into space before the bomb explodes. The humans now begin to land on Refusis themselves, having been offered support by the Refusians on the condition that they live peacefully with the remaining Monoids.
Shortly after the TARDIS departs the Doctor becomes invisible in the TARDIS control room.
The book starts off from the events at the end of ''The Clan of the Cave Bear'' detailing the life of a young Cro-Magnon woman named Ayla who has just been exiled from the Clan, the band of Neanderthals who had raised her from early childhood. Ayla now searches for her own people, whom the Clan refer to as "the Others".
In a parallel narrative, Jondalar, a young Cro-Magnon man of ''the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii'', accompanies his impetuous younger half-brother Thonolan on a traditional rite of passage called the Great Journey. In these episodes, we learn of the Cro-Magnon's paleolithic nature religion, centered on the worship of the ''Great Mother of All'', and follow their adventures and sexual exploits. It is also through these episodes that the animosity, verging on hatred, between the Others and the Clan (whom they refer to derogatorily as "flatheads") is introduced. The Others have repeatedly persecuted the Clan, taking land and resources, but justify it by classing them as animals. However, over the course of his adventures, Jondalar starts to question this prejudice, noting that no other animals have fire, tools or communicate intelligently, nor are they actively hated or attacked-as-sport by his people.
Ayla, alone and ritually ostracized from the only people she has ever known, travels steadily from the Black Sea peninsular home of her former tribe north for around half a year until finding the book's titular valley sunk deep into the windy landscape of the periglacial loess steppes in Ukraine. Worried that she might never find the Others, she begins to prepare for winter. Finding a suitable cave and many conveniences in the valley, she establishes a comfortable but lonely life there.
Her desire for companionship leads her to tame a filly whose mother she had killed, naming her Whinney. She also takes in and treats an injured cave lion cub, which she names Baby. Through her love, she is able to train Whinney and Baby to assist her with hunting and gathering. Ayla is also able to give and receive love from these animals, saving her from her loneliness.
In the course of their journey, Jondalar and Thonolan have met women and hope to settle with them, but Thonolan's mate dies in childbirth and Jondalar feels he is not really in love with his woman friend. They continue on their journey and meet up with the ''Mamutoi'' people, planning to join them later in the year.
Jondalar and Ayla meet when Thonolan is killed by a cave lion—Baby, now fully grown and with a mate of his own. Ayla heals Jondalar's injuries and they begin to learn to communicate and get to know each other. Jondalar overcomes his inbred prejudice against the Clan and Ayla learns that all her peculiarities which confused and angered the Clan are actually fully accepted and encouraged by the Others.
The two fall in love as the book nears its end, and decide to leave the Valley of Horses to explore regions around the valley Ayla has not yet investigated. This is when they come upon the ''Mamutoi'', known as The Mammoth Hunters.
Davis “Davey” Wexler, along with her mother, Gwen, and her little brother, Jason, have just attended the funeral of her father, Adam, who was shot to death in a holdup at their 7-Eleven convenience store in Atlantic City. After lying in bed for days on end and not eating, Davey starts her tenth year of school, but faints on her first day from anxiety. She goes for a checkup, and the doctor explains Davey is having panic attacks.
Davey's mother, Gwen, decides they need to get away for awhile and takes up an offer from Adam's older sister, Bitsy, and his brother-in-law Walter to come stay with them in Los Alamos, New Mexico. A few days before they are scheduled to return to Atlantic City, Gwen receives news their store has been further vandalized, and she decides they're going to stay in Los Alamos through the end of the school year.
Bitsy and Walter, who were unable to have children, start treating Davey and Jason like their own kids, which causes tension between them and Davey. They're overprotective, and Davey becomes more upset when her mother just sits back and allows them to parent her. During this time, Gwen gets a job at the Los Alamos National Laboratory as a temp. She begins seeing a therapist named Miriam and convinces Davey to see her as well.
Meanwhile, Davey explores the town on her aunt's bicycle. One day, she goes to a canyon and climbs down. There, she runs into an older boy who calls himself Wolf. Davey calls herself Tiger when they introduce each other. She also becomes a candy striper at the hospital with her new friend, Jane, and meets a cancer patient who turns out to be Wolf's father. The inspiration from Wolf and his father changes Davey for the better. He eventually dies from cancer, and Wolf leaves.
Another story is Jane's alcoholism and Davey's desire to help her get sober. Also, in three different parts Davey describes the evening her father was shot and killed, which causes her in the beginning of the book to completely freak out when Jason experiences a nosebleed from the altitude. She carries a paper bag with her, which is revealed to contain the clothing she was wearing when she found her father and held him until he died; the clothing was soaked with his blood. After a session with Miriam, she finally breaks down and is able to mourn her father. She eventually buries the clothing and a bread knife she carried for self-defense in a cave in the canyon where she met Wolf.
Eventually, against Bitsy's wishes, Gwen decides to return the family to Atlantic City to begin a new life. Walter helps them buy a car for the trip home. Gwen gets a job in one of the hotels, thanks to the credentials she gained while working at the lab, and with the aid of her friend, Audrey. Once they're back home, Davey often wonders if anyone will know how much she had changed, but realizes some changes happen deep down and only you know about them.
The Yamakasi are a group of young thrill seekers of different ethnic backgrounds who are all dedicated to parkour. They live in France in a banlieue, a ghetto especially designed for paupers and traditionally inhabited by immigrants from former French colonies. The motley group uses their sport to enjoy themselves without drugs and to gain recognition in a peaceful way. One morning, they are reported buildering the east side of the Bleuets building and evading the police after that. While they consider themselves good examples for youths in the banlieue, the local chief of police feels otherwise. From his point of view, they are reckless and dangerous individuals prone to become criminals while one of his men, Inspector Vincent Asmine believes they are dangerous only because children could hurt themselves by trying to emulate them. On this occasion each single member is introduced through his birth name and alias to the spectators of the film too: Zicmu (Ousmane Dadjacan), Tango (Jean-Michel Lucas), Rocket (Abdou N'Goto), the Spider (Bruno Duris), the Weasel (Malik N'Diaye), Baseball (Oliver Chen), and Sitting Bull (Ousmane Bana).
Following this meeting, two pupils enjoy themselves by climbing in a tree. A third little boy named Djamel who is with them suffers with an inborn cardiovascular disease. When he tries to join them, he has a cardiac arrest after falling from the tree. In the hospital, his mother and eldest sister, Aila learn an immediate heart transplantation is imperative. The chief physician suggests to save the child by buying a heart from a shady broker. He stresses that this is the only solution but not supported by their health insurance. He demands from the boy's family to pay 400,000 Francs within 24 hours.
The head physician advises the family to ask their friends, neighbors, and family for support. This includes the Yamakasi who go and visit Djamel in the hospital and promise to train him to be a Yamakasi member once they have found a way to help him survive his upcoming operation. Then, they go and talk to the head physician himself and ask why a child is supposed to die only because his parents are poor. They insist he would contact the hospital's board of directors. When he refuses to phone either of them, they steal the list of names and decide to walk in the footsteps of Robin Hood.
They split up into 3 groups which each robs one or two houses of the board of directors. The first two robberies are successful, however one of the groups gets chased out of a house by Dobermans and is captured on camera. The police realize that the board of directors is being targeted and attempt to catch the Yamakasi in their next robberies, but are unsuccessful. The Yamakasi finally converge on the mansion of the head of the directors. The police arrive quickly and surround the house. With no chance of escaping, they instead gather all of the loot from the robberies into a bag and toss to Baseball's friend and working partner, Michelin who pawns it off for the needed amount of money.
The Yamakasi are questioned by the police and each give the same story which the investigator finds ridiculous. However, Asmine, who is actually one of the Yamakasi members' (Sitting Bull) cousin, backs up their story, leaving the investigator with no choice but to let them go. They arrive at the hospital just as the head physician is attempting to raise the price on the heart at gunpoint and convince him to authorize the surgery at the price they are giving him, thanks to Inspector Asmine's intervention.
The Yamakasi then celebrate Djamel's successful recovery from surgery along with Asmine who has retired from police work and start talking to the camera recording them about their joy over his recovery and how they intend to train him to become one of them once he is fully recovered and out of the hospital.
This book picks up where ''The Valley of Horses'' ends; Ayla and Jondalar meet a group known as the Mamutoi, or Mammoth Hunters, with whom they live for a period of time. As the group's name suggests, their hosts rely on mammoth not only for food but also for building materials and a number of other commodities - and indeed for spiritual sustenance. The protagonists make their home with the Lion Camp of the Mammoth Hunters, which features a number of respected Mamutoi. Wisest of their nation is Old Mamut, their eldest shaman and the leader of the entire Mamutoi priesthood, who becomes Ayla's mentor and colleague in the visionary and esoteric fields of thought. Observing Ayla's affinity with horses and wolves, Mamut begins to introduce her into the ranks of the Mamuti (mystics).
Mamut is also one of the first to become aware of Ayla's unique upbringing. Many years ago, while on the Journey that all young men take for a rite of passage, he broke his arm, and was healed by the medicine woman of Ayla's Neanderthal clan (the grandmother of Ayla's adoptive mother Iza). This story is referenced in ''Clan of the Cave Bear'' as the Neanderthals rationalize Ayla's behavior in terms of what they know about "the Others" (Cro-Magnon). Mamut learned some of the Clan sign language during that stay, and became aware of the fact that the Clan are human (as opposed to other animals, as is the common opinion of most of his people).
Also within the Lion Camp is a six-year-old boy named Rydag who, like Ayla's lost son Durc, is half Clan and half Other. He was adopted by the headman's mate, Nezzie, when his mother died giving birth to him. He cannot speak, having the same vocal limitations as the Clan, but he also has their ancestral memories. Ayla quickly discovers this and teaches him, and the rest of the Lion Camp, the Clan sign language. Rydag is a sickly child, having a heart defect which limits him from even playing like the other children of the Camp. Many Mamutoi regard him as an animal, but Ayla and the Lion Camp are vehement in their defence of him. Rydag's intelligence, maturity and wit endear him to Jondalar as well, who learns to overcome his cultural prejudice towards Clan and half-Clan people.
More so than any other book in the Earth's Children series, ''The Mammoth Hunters'' relies on the tension created by the relationships between the characters to create a storyline. Ayla is susceptible to being deceived or confused; she was brought up among essentially honest people who due to their visual language are incapable of deception. She also does not know that when a man asks her to "share Pleasures" with him, she has the option of refusing, since Clan women did not. Thus, there are a number of communication failures in her relationships with members of more complex societies, especially with Jondalar, who is obstinate and passionate. Jondalar, a Zelandoni, is a foreigner among the Mamutoi, and Ayla's acceptance in their society makes him feel separated from her. The primary conflict is a love triangle between Jondalar, Ayla, and Lion Camp member Ranec. Ayla is attracted to Ranec, shares "Pleasures" with him a few times, and comes close to marrying him before several last-minute revelations reunite the former pair. Some fans have criticized author Jean Auel for making the book somewhat of a soap opera compared to her other works. The author also uses the same technique (long minutely precise descriptive passages) for common sexual activity as she uses for stone age technology (e.g. flint-shaping). At the end of this novel, Ayla and Jondalar leave for the year-long return journey to Jondalar's people, the Zelandonii, a journey detailed in ''The Plains of Passage'' and continued in ''The Shelters of Stone.''
In a Cornish village in August 1860, the inhabitants of the town are dying from a mysterious plague that seems to be spreading at an accelerated rate. Even the local doctor, Peter Tompson, cannot combat the disease. Alarmed, Tompson sends for outside help from his friend and former mentor, Sir James Forbes. Accompanying Sir James is his daughter Sylvia, a childhood friend of Peter's wife, Alice. As Sir James and Sylvia arrive in the village, Sylvia deters a group of rowdy fox hunters from killing a fox. Shortly after, Sir James and Sylvia encounter a funeral procession in town, which is interrupted by the fox hunters, who come to harass Sylvia for intentionally misleading them. In the melee, the pallbearers drop the casket over the side of a bridge, revealing the corpse of John Martinus, a recently deceased man.
In an attempt to learn more about the disease, Sir James and Peter attempt to disinter the corpses that were recently buried, and are frightened upon finding the coffins empty. Meanwhile, Sylvia is harassed by the fox hunters while walking through the woods, and chased into a manor house owned by Squire Clive Hamilton. The hunters humiliate Sylvia in what appears to be pre-emptory rape, but are stopped by Squire Hamilton, who chastises them for harassing her. As Sylvia departs the house, she encounters a grey-skinned man near an abandoned tin mine headframe, and watches in horror as he throws Alice's lifeless body onto the ground. The following morning, Sylvia leads her father and Peter to the location, where they locate Alice's corpse.
Police accuse Tom, the brother of John Martinus, of killing Alice, as he was found sleeping in a drunken stupor near her body. Tom denies involvement, and claims he witnessed his deceased brother walking near the mine. An autopsy on Alice shows no signs of rigor mortis, and, even stranger, blood smeared on her face is determined to be of animal origin. Sir James notices a bandaged slash wound on her wrist, which Peter says she sustained on a piece of broken glass days before. Later that evening, Squire Hamilton pays Sylvia a visit. Purposely, Hamilton manages to shatter a wine glass, and Sylvia happens to cut her finger on one of the sharp edges of the glass. Secretly, the Squire conceals a piece of the blood-stained glass into his coat pocket and departs.
The next day, at Alice's funeral, Sylvia begins to feel faint. Through further investigation, Sir James and Peter learn that the squire lived in Haiti for several years and practised Haitian voodoo rituals, as well as black magic. Meanwhile, Squire Hamilton, now with a vestige of Sylvia's blood, has begun using his voodoo magic to lure Sylvia into the dark woods. She is led to the abandoned tin mine by an army of walking zombies for a voodoo ceremony that will transform her into one of the walking dead. It is revealed that Squire Hamilton has been turning the locals into the walking dead, in order to create workers to mine the tin and make money off of it.
While Peter follows Sylvia to the mines, Sir James investigates the Squire's house and finds some small figures in coffins the Squire uses for his voodoo. After a struggle with one of the Squire's henchmen the room is accidentally set ablaze, Sir James barely manages to escape after threatening a servant who notices the inferno for information on the mine. He races to the mines to join Peter, while in the mansion the figures in the coffins catch fire, causing their zombie counterparts to do the same and go crazy. Using the distraction caused by the burning crazed zombies, Sir James and Peter rescue Sylvia and flee from the burning flames as they listen to the anguished screams of Hamilton and his zombies; thus the plague is ended.
In 2063, a Vulcan ship lands on Earth, making first contact with humans (as seen in ''Star Trek: First Contact''). Instead of peacefully greeting them, Zefram Cochrane shoots the lead Vulcan and the humans storm and loot the ship. In 2155, Doctor Phlox and Major Reed demonstrate a new torture device to Captain Forrest and Commander Archer on the ISS ''Enterprise''. Archer suggests to Forrest they travel into Tholian space, as he has heard rumors of technology they might wish to steal. The two argue, and Forrest returns to his quarters where he is comforted by Lieutenant Sato. When he leaves, he is ambushed by Archer and several MACOs (a military team) and sent to the brig.
Archer travels to the bridge and announces that he has taken command. After torturing a Tholian pilot for coordinates, he orders a change of course to the shipyard, and tells Commander T'Pol, whom he promotes to first officer, to install a Suliban cloaking device with Commander Tucker. Archer also appoints Sergeant Mayweather as his personal guard, and Sato proposes that she keep her job as Captain's woman. Archer has Sato send a message to Starfleet about their mission to raid the Tholian technology. Tucker is injured when the cloaking device is sabotaged. Archer questions Forrest, who denies all knowledge, and Reed tortures Tucker expecting him to be the saboteur.
T'Pol leads a team to free Forrest and reclaim the ship, but Archer encrypts navigation control to prevent a course change. Forrest tortures Archer, but orders his release after he receives word that Starfleet agrees with Archer's plans. Archer shows images of an alternate universe vessel from the future named USS ''Defiant'' (a ''Constitution''-class starship, last seen in "The Tholian Web"), that has technology and power that is a century more advanced than ISS ''Enterprise''. On arriving at the shipyard, Archer, T'Pol, and Tucker transport across, and Tucker begins powering up the vessel. Tholian vessels then attack, creating an energy web around ''Enterprise''. Forrest orders the crew to abandon ship but remains behind as the ship is destroyed.
Several Tholian ships then create a web over the opening of the dock to prevent ''Defiant'' from leaving. T'Pol and Tucker restore power to the weapon systems, allowing ''Defiant'' to destroy enough enemy vessels to escape the trap. They recover 47 survivors from ''Enterprise'', and Tucker is ordered to restore power to the warp drive. Sato goes to the captain's quarters and finds Archer perusing the ship's historical records, which includes parallel universe information about Starfleet, the United Federation of Planets, and their service records. Archer is surprised to learn his counterpart is an acclaimed and distinguished explorer, diplomat and politician.
Ensign Kelby is killed trying to repair the warp drive, and the crew discover, from Tholian slaves left on board, that a Gorn named Slar has sabotaged the ship. Archer, after hearing voices telling him to achieve more fame and honor, decides to lead an assault team and kills the Gorn. Tucker is able to repair the warp drive and the ship then leaves to rendezvous with the ISS ''Avenger'', arriving in time to save it from four rebel spacecraft. ''Avenger'' commanding officer Admiral Black comes aboard for an inspection accompanied by his first officer, Soval. After Black refuses Archer's request for captaincy of the new ship, Archer disintegrates him with a phaser pistol.
Archer gives a speech to the officers of both ships, saying that they should move against Starfleet and the Empire. Soval and T'Pol meet, contemplating a future where alien species are respected and treated as equals; they convince Phlox to join their movement and sabotage ''Defiant''. As the sole alien allowed to remain on board, he succeeds in disabling the ship's systems. Soval, on ''Avenger'', then attacks, but Tucker disables Phlox and restores power. ''Defiant'' destroys its attacker. When Sato and Archer celebrate in the captain's quarters, Archer dies after being poisoned by Sato and we see that Mayweather is now in league with Sato. Reaching Earth on the advanced and powerful ''Defiant'', Sato contacts Admiral Gardner, demanding his surrender and declaring herself "Empress Sato".
; Characters * Dr Prentice * Geraldine Barclay * Mrs Prentice * Nicholas Beckett * Dr Rance * Sergeant Match
The play consists of two acts - though the action is continuous - and revolves around a Dr Prentice, a psychiatrist attempting to seduce his attractive prospective secretary, Geraldine Barclay. The play opens with the doctor examining Geraldine in a job interview, during which he persuades her to undress. The situation becomes more intense when Mrs Prentice enters, causing the doctor to hide Geraldine behind a curtain.
His wife, however, is also being seduced and blackmailed, by Nicholas Beckett. She therefore promises Nicholas the post as secretary, which adds further confusion, including Nicholas, Geraldine and a police officer dressing as members of the opposite sex.
Dr Prentice's clinic is also faced with a government inspection, led by Dr Rance, which reveals the chaos in the clinic. Dr Rance talks about how he will use the situation to develop a new book: "The final chapters of my book are knitting together: incest, buggery, outrageous women and strange love-cults catering for depraved appetites. All the fashionable bric-a-brac." A penis ("the missing parts of Sir Winston Churchill") is held aloft in the climactic scene.
John Salvatore Fontanelli, the son of a shoemaker in New York who works as a pizza driver, is one day invited to the Waldorf Astoria by an Italian lawyer, where he is informed that he inherited a huge fortune simply by being the last male descendant of a wealthy Italian merchant living and working in 16th century Florence. This merchant put a rather small amount of money in a bank account some 500 years ago. Through the magic of compound interest, this sum has now grown into the equivalent of roughly 1,000,000,000,000 US dollars.
In one fell swoop, John Fontanelli has become by far the richest person in the world, his net worth being bigger than the GDP of most countries. Yet, his ancestor has charged his heir with the task of using the inheritance ''to give back mankind its lost future''.
After some hither and thither, he accepts the role assigned to him by his ancestor and tries to better the world socially and ecologically. On the advice of his mysterious new consultant, Malcolm McCaine, he founds a huge corporation called Fontanelli Enterprises and strategically invests the inherited fortune in a diversified group of projects to grow his power and influence. Starting with the hostile takeover of ExxonMobil, John Fontanelli's orders now decide the fate of other companies, currencies, and even complete countries' economies.
With the passing of time, John recognizes that all this will not ultimately lead him to success in mastering his assigned task. To get a better picture of the future development of mankind, he sets up a gigantic and secret scientific project, which uses complex computer models to simulate different future scenarios. When the sobering result is finally announced, Fontanelli and McCaine differ about the correct approach to save humanity from its obvious self-destroying development. McCaine leaves Fontanelli, thinking that mankind is doomed to being minimized down to a small but qualified elite. By using his own money, he sets up another company and tries to entice away leading scientists in the research of the AIDS virus to withdraw their manpower from the development of an effective cure.
Fontanelli, on the other side, is setting up a foundation to organize and enforce the election of a ''world speaker''. In his belief, the multi-national companies can only be controlled by global laws to prevent a catastrophe. The opposing and contradictory strategies of Fontanelli and McCaine to save humanity from its disastrous fate culminate in an exacerbated struggle for power. Fontanelli achieves a partial victory: The election of a ''world speaker'' finally takes place.
The book ends with the death of John Fontanelli, who gets shot by an old friend who gradually came under the influence of McCaine.
In 1850, nine years after the events of the first film, California is voting on whether to join the United States of America as a state. Alejandro Murrieta, now known as Don Alejandro De La Vega, foils a plot to steal the ballots, but during the fight with a gunman named Jacob McGivens, he briefly loses his mask. A pair of Pinkerton agents see his face and recognize him. The following day, the agents confront Alejandro's wife, Elena, and blackmail her into divorcing him.
Three months later, the separation from Elena and his son Joaquin, and the feeling that the people no longer need Zorro, are taking their toll on Alejandro. His childhood guardian, Father Felipe, convinces him to attend a party at French Count Armand's new vineyard. There, Alejandro discovers that Elena is dating the count, an admirer from her time spent in Europe. After leaving the party, Alejandro witnesses a huge explosion close to Armand's mansion and becomes suspicious of him.
McGivens leads an attack on the family of Guillermo Cortez, Alejandro's friend, to seize their land deed. Donning his mask again, Zorro succeeds in rescuing Guillermo's wife and son, but fails to save Guillermo and the deed. Zorro follows McGivens to Armand's mansion and discovers that Armand plans to build a railroad on Cortez's land. He also encounters Elena and, learning of an upcoming shipment, he tracks McGivens to a cove where the cargo is delivered. Unbeknownst to him, Joaquin also hitched a ride on McGiven's cart, having snuck out of a class field trip. Zorro saves his son from the bandits and, examining the shipment, he sees a piece of the cargo - a bar of soap - and the phrase ''Orbis Unum'' meaning ''One World'' in Latin on a crate lid. Upon researching the phrase, Felipe and Alejandro learn that Armand is the head of a secret society, the Knights of Aragon, which has been secretly ruling Europe. The United States is deemed a threat to the Knights, so they plan to throw the country into chaos before it can gain too much power.
Alejandro is captured and imprisoned by the Pinkertons, who reveal that they forced Elena to divorce Alejandro in order to get close to Armand and learn of his plans without the aid of Zorro as they dislike his vigilante ways and due to their own lack of legal authority to search Armand's home due to California not yet being a U.S. state. Joaquin frees Alejandro from captivity. Zorro goes to Armand's mansion, meets Elena, and eavesdrops on Armand's meeting. He learns that the soap bars are secretly used as an ingredient for nitroglycerin, which Armand plans to distribute throughout the Confederate army, with the help of Confederate Colonel Beauregard, to destroy the Union. Zorro and Elena reconcile, and Zorro prepares to destroy the train carrying the explosives. McGivens arrives at Felipe's church to look for Zorro. Unable to find him, McGivens shoots the priest and kidnaps Joaquin.
Meanwhile, however, Armand's butler Ferroq tracks down and kills the Pinkertons and informs his master about Elena's deception. Armand confronts Elena, and takes her and Joaquin hostage on the train carrying the explosives, making Zorro unable to destroy it. Zorro is captured and unmasked in front of his son. Armand takes Joaquin and Elena away and orders McGivens to kill Alejandro. Felipe, having been saved from McGivens's bullet by the cross he wears, arrives, and he and Alejandro overpower and kill McGivens.
Zorro catches up with Armand, and they engage in a sword fight. Meanwhile, Elena has Joaquin escape into the back cars of the train, which she disconnects. Elena fights Ferroq in the nitro storage car and throws him and a bottle of nitro out of the car and at the feet of Colonel Beauregard at their prearranged meeting point, killing them. Further along the tracks, the governor prepares to sign the bill to make California a Union state. Joaquin collects Tornado, Zorro's horse, jumps off the train, and overtakes it. He hits a track switch, causing the train to harmlessly pass around the ceremony. Zorro and Armand's duel takes them to the very front of the train engine. Seeing the track is a dead end, Zorro hooks Armand to the train by tying him up on the front of the engine and escapes with Elena. The train crashes into the pile of rails at the end of the track, setting off the nitroglycerin, killing Armand and destroying the train.
With Zorro as an official witness, the governor signs the bill, and California becomes the 31st state of the United States of America. Felipe remarries Alejandro and Elena, and Alejandro apologizes to his son for hiding his identity, admitting that Zorro's identity is a family secret rather than just his own. With Elena's support, Zorro rides off on Tornado to his next mission.
Alan Block is a teenage city slicker with his whole summer planned out. That is, until his parents introduce him to Vic, a charming wilderness survival guide. Vic convinces them that six weeks off the grid is exactly what Alan needs to become a man.
Alan reluctantly joins Vic and three other teens – Chris, Mitch and George – for a trek into the great outdoors. However, he is taunted by Chris and George and learns that Vic is deadly serious about his job. On their first night, Alan carves his initials into a tree. After Vic finds out, he calls the others to vote on his punishment. They take away his knife.
In another incident, Vic asks Alan to be his bowman while white water rafting. Alan is unprepared and loses an oar. Later, Vic asks the boys to cross a dangerous rope bridge. Alan crosses it with the others but leaves their tent poles behind. Upon realizing this, Vic sends him back to collect them alone. Despite his best efforts, Alan fails to cross the bridge. Embarrassed, he returns and explains that he could not find them, but Vic catches him in his lie; he watched him the entire way and even retrieved the poles.
The tension between Alan and Vic escalates when the group goes fishing on an island. Instead of following Vic's lead and catching them with his bare hands, Alan invents a fish trap. Furious, Vic tosses the fish he caught and forces him to clean the others’ fish. Alan refuses and Vic leaves with the group, stranding him on the island until the fish are cleaned. Alan stays on the island for the night and refuses to complete the task.
The next morning, the others retrieve him. When they return, they find that Vic has disappeared. The boys fight with each other about what to do and take cover after a storm hits. Vic suddenly returns the next morning and praises their survival skills.
Although everyone has grown weary of Vic, they follow him on their next group activity of climbing Devil's Tooth – a treacherous peak. When they reach a gap, Vic creates a pendulum for the boys to swing across. Alan is last to go but is the only one who does not make the jump. Despite the others’ protests, Vic leaves Alan dangling and instructs him to figure his own way out of it.
Chris challenges Vic's leadership and Vic retaliates by holding him over the edge of a cliff. Left to his own devices, Alan creates enough momentum to swing across. He confronts Vic and a foot chase ensues. Furious, Chris throws rocks at Vic and hits him with an oar, sending him over the edge of a ravine. With Vic having broken his leg in the fall, Alan creates a pulley and the group hoist him out of the ravine.
As the group's new leader, Alan instructs the others to follow the river to the ranger station. With Vic stable but losing blood, Alan sits him in a canoe and they raft down a wild river. Alan skillfully navigates the rapids but the canoe capsizes after plunging down a small waterfall. Alan brings Vic to the riverbank. The two share a moment of camaraderie and, soon enough, a rescue helicopter arrives.
Years later, Alan monologues to the audience reflecting on the time he spent with Vic that summer.
Big (Andy Lau) was a Buddhist Monk, but he gave up this occupation when he realized he could see a person's past life, which would mean he would be able to predict what would happen to that person because of Karma. Big then became a bodybuilder and worked in a strip bar when he ran into Lee Fung-yee (Cecilia Cheung). Lee was working as an undercover cop in the CID which busted Big in his strip show, but Big became entangled in another police case to catch a murderer when he tried to escape.
While Big was running away from Lee's pursuit, he saw a police dog and has visions of the dog's previous life. The dog was previously a child who beat up dogs, and the dog was shot by a stray bullet meant for the criminal. This was the first time that Big showed his ability to see the past, and later saw the past life of Lee, a Japanese soldier killing civilians.
Big (after realizing that Lee was kind-hearted), decided to help her in the investigation of a homicide, but also swore to leave her after they solved the case. After Big had inspected the corpse, he saw the deceased's previous life. The deceased had betrayed the murderer in his previous life and hence killed by him in this life. Big also saw that in the previous life of the murderer, before the murderer died, he cut off a one-horn beetle's left arm and hence deduced that in the current life, there would be someone without a left arm who would help to find the present murderer. Big successfully helped the police to arrest the murderer and saved Lee's life in the process as well. Her karma gets broken as well but subsequently returned, as seen through Big's vision. He also stopped an angry police sergeant who was beating the murderer by saying to him, "One thought Heaven, One thought Hell" ( ).
Lee, now realizing that she was, in her previous life, a Japanese soldier, made efforts to compensate for the atrocities she committed in her previous life. Deciding to repay Big before she dies, Lee decided to find Big's childhood friend's killer, and she thinks the killer is hiding in the mountains somewhere. She went to the mountains and on the sixth day of her journey, she encounters the killer at a part of the mountains where Big never went to find his friend's killer. The killer runs away from her while she tries to help him. Then, the killer comes behind her, and drags her to a rocky place where she was hit by a rock in the head, and beheaded by the murderer. The whole incident was recorded by her video camera. The video camera was retrieved after a search party to look for her. Big saw the video after a police officer showed it to him and he gets angry and goes to the mountains. When he was on the mountains, he heard Lee's watch. He followed the sound to her buried body in the ground and her head in a tree. He became enraged and pursued a man, presuming he is Lee's killer into an underground temple. Big, expecting to find the killer in the temple but found his future self, a killer, bloodthirsty and vengeful. They argued and fought and came to terms peacefully in meditation.
Big becomes a monk again and lives on the mountain. After five years, he meets his childhood friend's killer again, and in forgiveness, escorts him kindly to the police. In the end, at the "place where Big couldn't jump over," we see the positive karma that Lee cultivated and radiated ultimately saved Big.
Hilary Hongjin He, a doctoral student at the University of Western Sydney, wrote that the version of the film released in Mainland China stated that the editing, required by Mainland authorities, was "substantial" to the point where it "fundamentally degraded the philosophical, thought-provoking movie to a senseless commercial film selling stars and special effects make-up".
The story is based on the post-apocalyptic science fiction novel series ''La Compagnie des glaces'' by the French writer Georges-Jean Arnaud.
In the 21st century, mankind is being ravaged by the greenhouse effect. A last-ditch effort to counteract it is designed and executed. It works far too well.
Centuries if not millennia later, the planet is entirely covered in a thick, opaque cloud layer. Giant wolf packs roam the frozen wastes, and the mammoth has re-emerged from the elephant stock. Mankind ekes out a living in a few handfuls of settlements, connected by a network of massive armored trains. The network in turn is in the hands of the gargantuan Viking Union, which is merciless towards threats to its power. A few radicals, though, are willing to attempt a change, and managing to hijack a train of the Union, the ''Transarctica'', they set out in search of the "sun".
In the original ''Leather Goddesses of Phobos'', the titular female aliens suffered a humiliating defeat in 1936 at the hands of an Earthling from Ohio. Now it is 1958, and astronomers have recently discovered "Planet X", the tenth planet in our solar system. The desert town of Atom City, Nevada does not contain much besides a military base, nuclear power plant and gas station. But one night the sleepy town witnesses a spaceship that crash-lands with a single survivor: Barth, the "Pulsating Inconvenience" from the world known as Planet X.
The Leather Goddesses have invaded Planet X and forced its inhabitants to become sex slaves. Barth has fled to Earth in a desperate effort to find humans who can help free his planet. The player can play as any of three characters: Barth (the alien), Zeke (the gas station owner), or Lydia (daughter of the astronomer who "discovered" Planet X). In an effort to further link this game to the original, Zeke was the son of the male protagonist from ''LGOP''.
King Xerxes of Persia leads a vast army of soldiers into Europe to defeat the small city-states of Greece, not only to fulfill the idea of "one world ruled by one master", but also to avenge the defeat of his father Darius at the Battle of Marathon ten years before. Accompanying him are Artemisia, the Queen of Halicarnassus, who beguiles Xerxes with her feminine charm, and Demaratus, an exiled king of Sparta, to whose warnings Xerxes pays little heed.
In Corinth, Themistocles of Athens wins the support of the Greek allies and convinces both the delegates and the Spartan representative, warrior king Leonidas I, to grant Sparta leadership of their forces. Outside the hall, Leonidas and Themistocles agree to fortify the narrow pass at Thermopylae until the rest of the army arrives. After this, Leonidas learns of the Persian advance and travels to Sparta to spread the news and rally the rest of the troops.
In Sparta, his fellow king Leotychidas is fighting a losing battle with the Ephors over the religious harvest festival of Carneia that is due to take place, with members of the council arguing that the army should wait until after the festival is over before it marches, while Leotychidas fears that by that time the Persians may have conquered Greece. Leonidas decides to march north immediately with his personal bodyguard of 300 men, who are exempt from the decisions of the Ephors and the Gerousia. They are subsequently reinforced by about 700 volunteer Thespians led by Demophilus and few other Greek allies.
After several days of fighting, Xerxes grows angry as his army is repeatedly routed by the Greeks, with the Spartans in the forefront. Leonidas receives word sent by his wife that, by decision of the Ephors, the remainder of the Spartan army, rather than joining him as he had expected, will only fortify the isthmus in the Peloponnese and will advance no further. The Greeks constantly beat back the Persians, and following the defeat of most of his personal bodyguard in battle against the Spartans plus the killing/death of Xerxes' own two brothers, Xerxes begins to consider withdrawing to Sardis until he can equip a larger force at a later date. He prepares to withdraw, as advised by Artemesia (who, having a Greek mother, has her own agenda to dissuade the king from continuing the invasion). Xerxes, however, receives word from the treacherous and avaricious Ephialtes of a secret old goat-track through the mountains that will enable his forces to attack the Greeks from the rear. Promising to richly reward the traitorous goatherd for his betrayal (just as Ephialtes had expected) an emboldened Xerxes sends his army onward.
Once Leonidas realizes he will be surrounded, he sends away the Greek allies to alert the cities to the south. Being too few to hold the pass, the Spartans instead attack the Persian front, where Xerxes is nearby. Leonidas is killed in the melée. Meanwhile, the Thespians, who had refused to leave, are overwhelmed (offscreen) while defending the rear. Surrounded, the surviving Spartans refuse Xerxes's demand to give up Leonidas' body. They are then all annihilated as the remaining Immortals rain down a barrage of arrowfire.
After this, narration states that the Battle of Salamis and the Battle of Plataea end the Persian invasion, but that the Greeks could not have been organized and victorious without the time bought by the 300 Spartans who defied the tyranny of Xerxes at Thermopylae. One of the final images of the film is the stone memorial bearing the epigram of Simonides of Ceos, which the narrator recites in honour of the slain 300 Spartan men's bravery :
"Oh stranger, tell the Spartans that we lie here obedient to their word."
Then ends with "...But it was more than a victory for Greece, it was a stirring example to free people throughout the world of what a few brave men can accomplish once they refuse to submit to tyranny!"
At a town hall, Mayor Quimby fields suggestions on ways to improve Springfield's dwindling economy. Principal Skinner suggests the town legalize gambling to rejuvenate its economy; everyone, including frequent naysayer Marge, likes the idea. Mr. Burns and Mayor Quimby work together to build a casino, where Homer is hired as a blackjack dealer. Burns designs the casino himself, with his likeness atop a mermaid's body adorning its neon sign.
While waiting for Homer's shift to end, Marge finds a quarter on the casino floor and uses it to play a slot machine. When she wins, she immediately becomes addicted to gambling. Bart is too young to gamble at Burns' Casino, so he starts his own casino in his tree house, tricking Robert Goulet into performing there. Burns grows even richer from his casino, but his appearance and mental state deteriorate, making him resemble Howard Hughes. He develops paranoia and a profound fear of microscopic germs, urinating in jars and wearing tissue boxes instead of shoes on his feet.
Marge spends all her time at the casino and neglects her family. She fails to notice when Maggie crawls away from the slots and is nearly mauled by a white tiger from Gunter and Ernst's circus act. She forgets to help Lisa make a costume for her geography pageant, forcing her to wear one poorly designed by her father, which consists of Homer creating a shoddy costume of "Florida" misspelled as "Floreda" on the front of it. Homer bursts into the casino searching for Marge. Security cameras capture his rampage, causing Burns to demote him to his old job at the power plant. After realizing how much he misses the plant, Burns decides to return to it. When Homer confronts Marge with her behavior, she realizes that she has a gambling problem. However, as they leave, Homer takes the revelation as a way to deflect criticism from his own questionable behavior by pointing out her gambling addiction.
Lisa wins a special prize in the geography pageant because Homer's poor costume design makes the judges think she did it all by herself. Ralph receives the same prize for his primitive costume: a note taped to his shirt that reads "Idaho".
Lyle Swann is a well-known dirt bike motorcycle racer who is in the desert competing in the Baja 1000, a multiclass vehicle cross-country race. Swann has a reputation for being a great rider but is plagued by technical problems from the high-tech gadgetry he incorporates into his C and J framed XT500 Yamaha. When Swann accidentally goes far off course, he stumbles across a time travel experiment that utilizes "maser velocity acceleration" to send objects (in this case, a simian subject by the name of Esther G.) back in time.
Swann rides through the field and gets sent back to November 5, 1877. The scientists in charge of the experiment soon realize what has happened, but Swann rides off, unaware of what has happened to him, before he can be returned to the present. While taking a swim break in a local pond, he runs into a gang of outlaws led by Porter Reese, who becomes obsessed with stealing Swann's motorcycle, and the outlaws pursue Swann into the small village of San Marcos, but his red suit and dirtbike scare the local Mexicans, who think he is 'El Diablo' (Spanish for 'The Devil').
There, he meets a beautiful woman, Claire Cygne, who gives him a safe place to hide, and who severely wounds one of Reese's men Carl Dorsett. The village priest compels them to withdraw, but Reese continues to plot the capture of Swann's dirtbike. In the village, Swann is seduced by Claire and sleeps with her, but she is later kidnapped by Reese's henchman Claude Dorsett as revenge for her shooting and wounding his brother Carl.
They also manage to capture the dirtbike, leading to a series of hijinks, while Swann gets help from a posse of two U.S. Marshals, Potter and Daniels, who are trying to capture or kill the gang. Potter has a personal vendetta against Reese, for Reese killed Potter's son two years previously. Swann manages to retrieve his dirtbike and rescue Claire. Potter is killed by Reese in an ambush, and Daniels is mortally wounded and dies later.
In a final showdown, Reese's band of outlaws faces Swann, the last survivor of the posse, and Claire atop a plateau. When a helicopter shows up (sent by the builders of the time travel experiment to take Swann home), Reese's men run away in fear, but Reese stays behind and fires at the helicopter, killing or wounding one of the pilots. The helicopter begins spinning wildly as the co-pilot tries to maintain control, knocking the dirtbike off the side of the plateau. Reese is killed by the helicopter's tail rotor. The helicopter manages to land on the plateau and extract Swann.
Just as the helicopter pulls away, Claire snatches a pendant from Swann's neck that was handed down from his great-great-grandmother, who had stolen it from his great-great grandfather as a reminder of "one incredible night they had together." Swann realizes that he is his own great-great-grandfather.
Two police officers patrolling the streets of New York City's Bowery discuss the lamentable fact that most of the young boys in the neighborhood will turn to crime and end up in jail. One exception, they agree, is Danny Breslin, a young boxer who is studying economics and destined for success. While Danny's future looks bright, the future of his former best friend, Muggs McGinnis, appears to hold little more than troubles with the law and juvenile probation.
One day, when Danny learns that Muggs has been speaking poorly of his schoolteacher sister Mary, he marches over to Clancy's Pool Hall, their favorite neighborhood haunt, and punches Muggs. The fight eventually turns into a pool hall riot, which results in Muggs's arrest. Officer Tom Brady, Mary's sweetheart, believes that many of the boys can be reformed, and when he learns that Muggs has been involved in another fight, he tries to enlist Danny's help in determining the reason behind Muggs' propensity to fight. Danny surprises his mother, sister and Tom when he violently protests Tom's request, saying that he hates "coppers," and vows never to return to the police gym for his boxing practice.
While Tom lays plans to reform Muggs by entering him as a fighter in the upcoming Golden Glove Tournament, Danny unwittingly gets involved with notorious thug Monk Martin. Unknown to Danny, Monk has used him to drive his getaway car in a grocery store holdup. After paying Danny for his "services," Monk manages to persuade him to quit school and join his racket. Meanwhile, Muggs, having made great strides at the Whitney reform school, goes to live with Tom and his mother, much to the dismay of Mary, who promptly breaks off her relationship with Tom.
Muggs eventually wins the respect of the entire neighborhood and earns the police department's sponsorship of his fight in the Golden Glove Tournament. So completely has Muggs given up his delinquent ways that he curses Monk when the racketeer offers him $1,000 to take a fall in the tournament fight.
Later, after overhearing Tom's mother blaming his arrival for the break-up of Tom and Mary's relationship, Muggs becomes despondent and decides to move out. Just before the fight, crooked fight promoter Slats Morrison plants the intended bribery money in Muggs's gear and tries to frame him. Danny, meanwhile, is wounded by Tom as he and Monk are caught fleeing from a robbery. Hospitalized and in desperate need of blood, Danny's life hangs in the balance until Muggs volunteers his blood and saves his best friend. Mary has a change of heart and returns to Tom, and Tom announces that Monk made a full confession before dying. Danny's family gathers around a radio and listens with pride as Muggs knocks out his opponent at the tournament. Following the fight, Slats and his boss Dorgan are arrested, and Tom and Mary look forward to their wedding.
The story opens 60 years after the events of ''The 7th Guest''. It is now 1995, and the player assumes the role of Carl Denning, an investigative reporter for the television series "Case Unsolved". Robin Morales, his producer and lover, mysteriously vanished three weeks prior in Harley-on-the-Hudson, New York. She was investigating a series of grisly murders and disappearances that had plagued the otherwise sleepy upstate town over the last few months. Denning's only solid lead is a portable computer called the GameBook delivered with only a postmark from Harley. When booted, the GameBook displays Robin's plea to help her escape.
The story then flashes back to the beginning of Robin's investigation. She interviews Eileen Wiley, the only person known to have survived an encounter with Henry Stauf's mansion. Eileen confirms she lost her hand that night, claiming it had been bitten off by a dog, but offers no other meaningful details of the encounter.
Suspicious of Eileen's story, Robin interviews Dr. Thornton, who treated Eileen that night. Though the doctor appears to believe Eileen about the dog, the interview proves fruitful as Dr. Thornton reveals that Eileen was not alone that night; her friend Samantha Ford was with her in the house those 18 years ago. Samantha's family used its considerable influence to keep her involvement out of the papers. He also reveals that Samantha has been paralyzed from the waist down ever since the girls' encounter. Dr. Thornton's receptionist listens to the entire conversation through an intercom, demonstrating a strangely angry behavior.
Robin attempts to interview Samantha, but their meeting is adversarial. Samantha's forceful denials convince Robin that the women are not telling the truth about their encounter. Samantha confirms Robin's suspicions later that evening when she visits Robin's motel room and shares her story. Samantha claims that during their encounter with the house, something supernatural held the girls down and raped them, then let them go, though the gate slammed shut on Eileen's hand as she tried to flee, severing it. After both women ended up pregnant, Samantha had an illegal abortion that resulted in her paralysis, but Eileen went through with the pregnancy and had a daughter, Marie. Samantha claims there was always something sinister about the child and believes that "all hell let loose" around Marie's 18th birthday, that Marie is the mansion's offspring, and that Marie is responsible for the murders and disappearances. Meanwhile, Robin begins to bud a romance with Jim Martin, the local police chief.
Robin confronts Eileen with the story, and Eileen denies everything. Eileen then challenges Robin to go to the house herself. After Robin leaves it's revealed that Marie, who is Dr. Thornton's receptionist, was listening to the entire conversation again. Desperate to keep her secret from getting out, Marie commands her lover Chuck Lynch to murder Robin. It's revealed that Chuck and Marie were responsible for the recent murder spree: from time to time, at Marie's orders, Chuck would kill an innocent victim as a human sacrifice to "feed" the entity that inhabits Stauf's mansion. It is implied that Chuck, who is an adulterous business man, was getting benefits magically from the entity in exchange for the sacrifices. Chuck initially resists murdering Robin, worried about the media attention a famous disappearance would bring, but Marie convinces him by reminding him of the consequences for not helping Stauf. He enters Robin's hotel and stabs someone sleeping in bed, but he actually stabbed the police chief who had a budding romance with Robin. Unable to remove the knife, he takes the body to Stauf's mansion, where he is pulled inside and killed by Stauf for his mistake. Robin comes to the house soon after and enters as Samantha watches remotely, somehow having hacked into Stauf's surveillance. As Robin moves through the house, it psychologically breaks her by systematically confronting her with uncomfortable truths about her past.
The story then picks up with Carl in the mansion. Eventually Robin meets Stauf and he begins to tempt her into joining him, by enticing her with her own television network and other advantages she can get by serving the entity. Carl watches the conversation between them through the GameBook and unsuccessfully tries to convince Robin to just leave the mansion with him. As Robin ignores Carl's pleas and accepts Stauf's offer, Samantha breaks into the GameBook transmission and reveals that she was the one who sent the GameBook to Carl hoping that he could rescue Robin and warns him that it is too late now. Unable to leave Robin at first, Carl follows her cries upstairs where he meets Stauf, who is presiding over a game show called "Let’s Make a Real Deal" (a parody of ''Let's Make a Deal''). Stauf explains that Carl must choose to open one of the doors, then offers Carl $600. Carl can keep it, or he can pay $200 and reveal what's behind one of the three doors in front of him. He pays to reveal door number two, which turns out to be a large TV. Next, he pays door number one, which is Marie. As Stauf tempts Carl with Marie's sexual prowess, Samantha hacks into the TV behind door number two, warning him not to give in to temptation as Stauf mocks her paralysis. Finally, Carl pays to reveal door number three, which is Robin. She expresses her love for Carl, pleading with him to choose her. Samantha urges Carl to choose her, revealing that this will end Stauf forever and that choosing either of the others will doom him. The game turns Carl's choice over to the player, which reveals one of three endings:
The First Doctor (William Hartnell) and Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) find Steven Taylor (Peter Purves) aboard the TARDIS after he stumbled in during a disorientated state on Mechanus. The TARDIS lands on a rocky beach and the Doctor establishes the century from a discarded Viking helmet and heads off to the village. Steven and Vicki explore the cliffs above, witnessed by the Monk (Peter Butterworth). The TARDIS is soon after spotted by a Saxon villager, Eldred (Peter Russell), who runs to tell the headman of his village, Wulnoth (Michael Miller). The Doctor encounters Edith (Alethea Charlton), Wulnoth's wife, and convinces her that he is a harmless traveller while probing for more information. He discovers that it is 1066, since Harold Godwinson has not yet faced Harald Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. At a nearby monastery, monks are heard chanting; arriving at the monastery, the Doctor finds a gramophone playing the chant. He stops the gramophone and the Monk traps him in a cell.
Steven and Vicki encounter Eldred and notice he has a wristwatch, dropped by the Monk. The next morning, they are ambushed by the Saxons and taken to the village council. They convince Wulnoth they are travellers and are given provisions to travel on. Vicki is heartened to hear from Edith that she encountered the Doctor on his way to the monastery. Steven and Vicki visit the monastery, where the Monk tries to dissuade them from entering but gives himself away by describing the Doctor too accurately. Steven and Vicki break in after dark. A Viking attacks Edith, and the Saxons go hunting for the invaders. One is struck down, while his companions, Sven (David Anderson) and Ulf (Norman Hartley), flee. Eldred is badly wounded and Wulnoth takes him to the monastery for help.
While the Monk is occupied with the Saxons, Steven and Vicki find the gramophone. They discover that the Doctor has escaped through a secret passage and returned to the village. The Doctor heads back to the monastery and gains the upper hand when the Monk answers the door; the Doctor begins to question the Monk. Sven and Ulf ambush the Doctor and the Monk but are overpowered, but the Monk slips away during the confrontation. He tries to persuade the villagers to light beacon fires on the cliff tops, secretly wishing to lure the Viking fleet to land; Wulnoth tells the Monk that he agrees, but admits to Edith that he suspects danger.
Steven and Vicki return to the monastery and investigate the crypt, where a heavy power cable extends from a sarcophagus. Looking inside, they discover that it is the Monk's TARDIS, and that he must originate from the same place as the Doctor. The Doctor overpowers the Monk upon the latter's return to the monastery. The Monk reveals his plan to destroy the Viking fleet, which would prevent the Battle of Stamford Bridge and leave the Saxon soldiers completely fresh to defeat William of Normandy at the Battle of Hastings. He boasts that his plan would accelerate mankind's development by centuries. The Doctor denounces the Monk for seeking to alter the course of history and forces him to reveal his TARDIS, where they find Steven and Vicki. The time travellers piece together the Monk's plot, which he insists is intended to stabilise England and benefit Western civilisation.
Ulf and Sven form an alliance with the Monk and tie up the Doctor's party while the three of them take the neutron bomb shells to the cannon on the beach. The scheme is foiled, however, when Wulnoth and the Saxons arrive and engage the fleeing Vikings in a nearby clearing. The Monk hides while the fighting rages, little knowing that the Doctor and his friends have been freed by Edith and are tampering with his TARDIS. With his scheme in ruins, the Monk decides to leave and returns to his TARDIS. When the Monk looks inside, he realises the Doctor has taken the dimensional control and that the interior of his ship has shrunk beyond use, leaving him stranded in 1066. The Doctor, Vicki, and Steven return to the TARDIS and leave.
The novel follows an intimate relationship between woman Chantal and Jean-Marc, alternating perspectives with each chapter. It begins with Chantal at a hotel on the coast of Normandy awaiting the arrival the next day of her partner. When he arrives they struggle to find each other, misattributing their loved one's identity to stranger on the beach who upon closer examination bears little resemblance. Upon their meeting, Chantal is upset by her disturbing slightly sexual dream as well as the way a man looked at her in a cafe.
She also has many musings about fathers and observes children on the beach. This is a reoccurring theme within the novel and references her anxieties about the death of her child with a previous partner. She feels this period of her life was her prime, allowing a sense of unease and decline to shape her sense of self throughout the novel.
Jean-Marc asks why she is upset and she responds that "men don't turn to look at me anymore." This remark serves as the crucial instant of the novel. It reveals a self identity of Chantal that alienates Jean-Marc's perception of his lover and thus himself.
Chantal later begins receiving love letters that are a rude intrusion into her relationship and force her to think of how she appears to others. It creates in her a changed behaviour motivated by a feeling that someone is constantly observing her. She hides the letters in her underwear draw and does not tell Jean-Marc.
As the letters continue and the couple show close intimacy but also a weary underlying anxiety about the other's identity, Chantal's acute observations of a moved shawl in her bedroom and specific details from the letters lead her to the conclusion that Jean-Marc is the secret correspondent.
From Jean-Marc's perspective, he reveals in third person narration that his first letter sought only to relieve Chantal of the feeling that men no longer turned to look at her. Yet her refusal to tell him about the letters and her changed behaviour and more sensual dressing saw Jean-Marc become jealous. She acts differently and he perceives her as a different person in a range of contexts, this multiplicity of perceived identities challenges Jean-Marc's singular perception of his lover's identity. He feels he has transformed "a beloved woman into the simulacrum of a beloved woman." This challenges his own sense of identity turning him into a simulacrum as well.
After confirming with a graphologist that the letters were written by Jean-Marc in a different style, she confronts him when he was just about to admit the ruse. An implication of this confrontation is that Jean-Marc, who lives in Chantal's apartment, feels closer to his fears of becoming a beggar.
The final section of the novel reveals the disorientation of each characters' sense of identity is initiated by a confusion of the other's identity.
The First Doctor, Vicki, and Steven Taylor arrive on an eerily silent planet and encounter curious short and squat non-humanoid robots which resemble three domes stacked on top of each other, and Vicki decides to call the blind, beeping metre-tall machines "Chumbleys" because of what she calls the "chumbley" way they move.
The TARDIS crew are still trying to decide whether the Chumbleys are hostile or not when one is disabled by an all-female party of cloned blonde Drahvin warriors from the planet Drahva in Galaxy 4. It is revealed that the unknown planet they are on is also in Galaxy 4 but is not given a name. The Drahvins are dominated by their cruel leader, Maaga, who treats her simple-minded subordinates with bullying contempt. The Drahvins are at war with the reptilian Rills, the masters of the Chumbleys, and both races have crashed spaceships on this planet.
The planet will be destroyed in 14 planetary cycles and, with the Drahvin ship irreparable, Maaga and her warriors are keen to capture the Rill ship, which they believe has been made functional again. Maaga paints a picture of the Drahvins as the attacked species in the scenario, but the Doctor has witnessed some of the Drahvin aggression and is clearly not convinced. He calculates the planet will break up in just two days' time. The Doctor tries to keep this new finding from the Drahvins, but Maaga forces the truth from him at the point of a gun.
With Steven held as hostage to ensure their co-operation, the Doctor and Vicki are sent by the Drahvins to try to seize control of the Rill ship. The Doctor works out that the ammonia-breathing Rills are a very advanced species: when he meets one he is impressed, not least by their species' use of telepathy. The huge and impressive, horned warthog-like Rill explains that they have offered to take the Drahvins away with them but Maaga has refused, preferring to maintain a state of war. The Doctor tells the Rills of the true life remaining in the planet and promises to help them escape, since the solar energy converters on the Rill craft have not gathered enough power to effect a lift-off.
The Doctor and Vicki return to the Drahvin ship to find Steven unconscious after Maaga has tried to kill him by leaving him in a depressurised airlock. They all return to the Rill vessel, where the Doctor successfully develops a power converter linked to the TARDIS, which charges the Rill craft. Maaga leads the Drahvins in a final assault but the Chumbleys defend their ship long enough for it to power up and leave the planet. One Chumbley left behind to aid the time travellers helps them get back to the TARDIS. Once the ship leaves, the planet explodes, with the Drahvins perishing on the dying world.
The story ends with a lead in to "Mission to the Unknown" with Vicki looking at a planet, and wondering what is happening on it. The action then switches to the planet, where Jeff Garvey in a jungle is repeating "I must kill".
''The Plains of Passage'' describes the journey of Ayla and Jondalar west along the Great Mother River (the Danube), from the home of The Mammoth Hunters (roughly modern Ukraine) to Jondalar's homeland (close to Les Eyzies, Dordogne, France). During this journey, Ayla meets the various peoples who live along their line of march. These meetings, the attitudes and beliefs of these groups, and Ayla's response form an essential part of the story.
Characters range in description from innocent to bloodthirsty, from serious to comical, from noble to corrupt, from found to lost, and from peaceful to violent. All of these adjectives apply in some way to either Jondalar or Ayla. Ayla (and to some extent Jondalar) is often viewed by her new friends as mystic or supernatural, partially due to her friendships with the world's first known domesticated horses and wolf, but also due to her generous nature and wisdom.
As they encounter people Jondalar and his brother met on their journey eastward they have a hard time leaving them, especially after an offer to become joined with a high-ranking Sharamudoi couple. Jondalar declines the offer, giving as excuse his desire to have the lead mystic of his people search for and help his deceased brother cross over to the other side.
It concludes with Ayla and Jondalar's successful return to the Zelandoni, and Ayla's stated pregnancy, and Whinney's definite pregnancy.
''The Plains of Passage'' is one of the longer books in the Earth's Children series. It was followed by ''The Shelters of Stone.''
Boisterous gangster kingpin 'Bull' Weed rehabilitates the down-and-out 'Rolls Royce' Wensel, a former lawyer who has fallen into alcoholism. The two become confidants, with Rolls Royce's intelligence aiding Weed's schemes, but complications arise when Rolls Royce falls for Weed's girlfriend 'Feathers' McCoy.
Adding to Weed's troubles are attempts by a rival gangster, 'Buck' Mulligan, to muscle in on his territory. Their antagonism climaxes with Weed killing Mulligan and he is imprisoned. Awaiting a death sentence, Rolls Royce devises an escape plan, but he and Feathers face a dilemma, wondering if they should elope together and leave Bull Weed to his fate.
The play opens with the main characters Lisa and Clint meeting for the first time. Clint has accompanied a friend to Lisa and her mother's mobile home to see Lisa's mother, a prostitute. Clint picks up on Lisa's unease about her mother's situation and begins charming her. The next scene opens a few years later and Clint and Lisa have married and have twins who are being cared for by Clint's mother. The couple has been living in a series of motel rooms and are playing a scam whereby Lisa lures young girls into the room where Clint rapes and abuses them. Afterwards, Lisa murders the girls and disposes of their bodies. Plagued with guilt, Lisa calls the police with anonymous tips on the location of the bodies. Act I concludes with the couple's arrest.
Act II deals primarily with the couple's punishments but focuses on Lisa and her motives for her actions. The audience is shown that Lisa has not been able to emotionally mature and that has led her to live the life she has lived.
In the beginning of this book, Brad Stanislawski (a bullied, tall, sixth grader) is happy that school is over. When he meets with his mother, he finds out that he must visit his grandfather (a man that he has never met) in Pennsylvania.
Central to this book is the tension created by Ayla's healing art, her pregnancy, and the acceptance of her by Jondalar's people, the Zelandonii. Ayla was raised by Clan Neanderthals, known as "flatheads" to the Zelandonii and viewed as no better than animals. For the Zelandonii to accept Ayla they must first overcome their prejudice against the Neanderthals. Luckily for Ayla and Jondalar, some of the higher-ranking Zelandonii already have doubts of this misjudgment.
Two of their number, Echozar and Brukeval, are of partial Neanderthal ancestry and are ashamed of it. Echozar at least is pacified by Ayla's own story and by his (Echozar's) own marriage to Joplaya, Jondalar's close-cousin (half-sister). Brukeval, on the other hand, rejects his heritage utterly and refuses to listen to reason.
Jondalar's first romantic interest, Zelandoni, formerly known as Zolena, has now become the First among the spiritual leaders. She supports adopting Ayla into their society, if not least for the healing arts she brings to the cave, although Ayla also must overcome the feeling that she is uncomfortable with a full connection with the spirit world. After Ayla helps a mortally injured hunter live long enough to see his mate, the First senses that Ayla needs to be brought into the fold of the Zelandonia (mystics, named after their culture so as to identify themselves with it) so that she will be accepted as a healer by all the people of the cave.
At one point, Ayla persuades the native mothers to nurse a neglected infant, on the pretext that even a "flathead" would have done so in their place. This both shames them into agreeing (as noted by Jondalar's sister-in-law, Proleva) and educates the Zelandonii in the ways of their ex-neighbors.
Ayla is drawn ever closer to an as-yet-undetermined role in the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii. Her knowledge of the healing arts as well as hunting force her to accept a role in the spiritual leadership of the group.
Through it all Jondalar is waiting for the summer meeting and matrimonial that will finally "tie the knot" for the two of them. This has been his ultimate goal since The Valley of Horses. Their daughter, Jonayla--named for her mother's belief that a man's "essence" creates babies, which leads to Jondalar and Ayla each being part of the baby, not just their spirits--is born sometime after this event. Not long after the birth, Ayla finally decides to become Zelandoni's acolyte, if only so that the members of the Zelandonii will accept her as a healer.
This book is set in what is now the Vézère valley, near to Les Eyzies, in the Dordogne, southwest France. It was relatively densely populated in prehistoric times, with many open cliff-top dwellings that can still be seen, some of which have been turned into tourist attractions. The national museum of prehistory is located in this valley. Ayla also discovers the world-famous cave of Lascaux, which her adopted people subsequently paint.
The protagonist of this novel, Anthony Greville, is a Member of Parliament who is married with two children. His son Adam is seventeen and his daughter Sophie is eight. Despite the outward perfection of his life, Greville is having an affair with sculptor Natalia Jones, an enigmatic mother of two who is married to a husband in politics who cheats on her. Greville's wife is away at the family's country retreat for weeks on end and his children at their respective schools, so Greville enjoys his lover's company with minimal risk of being discovered. However, as smitten with Natalia as Greville is, he has a brief fling with a woman named Madeleine, as well.
In spite of his easy lifestyle, Greville is not a happy man. The focus of this novel is based on Greville's dissatisfactions and confusions. For instance, although Natalia does not make any demands on him, and his wife prefers not to see what is going on, Greville is torn between the two women. He wants to be with Natalia when he is with his wife and vice versa. What is more, he sees two people in his lover. To Anthony Greville, Natalia is an angelic figure who also symbolizes a diametrical opposite, specifically demonic. This dual perception of his lover leads him call her by two different names (''Natalie'' and ''Natalia'').
Greville becomes disillusioned with politics, because he feels that political gaming prefers stalemate to partisanship,and therefore, opposes real change. Subsequently, Greville states that he is going to resign from Parliament as soon as possible. This is a startling announcement because Greville comes from a family of politicians, and his son is already active in grassroots politics. However, before his intended resignation, he must complete a final diplomatic mission as an MP; he journeys to Central Africa to meet Ndoula, a controversial freedom fighter who has been imprisoned by the colonial powers. While he is in Africa, without the emotional chaos of his personal life, Greville begins to introspect, writing and trying to make sense of his life.
When Greville returns to England, he finds that both his wife and his idealistic son are leaving for Africa in order to help the current crisis. Greville sees them off at the airport, and then returns to Natalia, even though she has not answered his letters from abroad.
Although interesting and similar in content and intent to the works of Graham Greene, the plot line of ''Natalie Natalia'' can be construed as "difficult to follow" because the linear narration is interrupted by segments where Greville's thoughts, dreams, and fantasies become the focus of the prose.
An example of such an interruptive/introspective segment in Greville's POV (from Chapter 7) follows :
[…] I had rowed into the harbour from the sea; the oars had made whirlpools. A light appeared in the window: your breast, above the candle, burned. We wrapped our cloaks round us: ran with our shoulders against the drawbridge. Hands came through the door and held us; they were tendrils through the stone. You watched from an upstairs window. We were in the hallway of the castle. You stood with the candle and one hand against your breast. The candle burned: it made blood against the snow. The man with the beak of a bird put his head down to embrace you: with one arm round his neck, you were a tunnel through which he could breathe. On the stairs were figures in suits of armour. Firelight flickered. You were laid on a table with one leg raised. The man with the mask of a bird rummaged inside you. He was looking in you like a suitcase. I had been in the cell all winter alone. Turning you on your front, you had been split up the back by an axe. Men in white coats stood around you. They had instruments in their hands with which to handle coals. They flipped them over. You had your face to the wall and were fastened to iron rings. The man with the beak of a bird tore the lining. Hands had come through the wall and held me. Your arms were round the neck of the man with the mask like a swan. He reached to the entrails and the liver. Men leaned over tables and shovelled coal. Their pink cheeks glowed. You stood with a hand at your breast and the candle burning you. On the stairs were men in armour; their swords flickered. With your back towards them, they heated irons in the coal. They lifted your leg up and put it on the table. Moving with my hands behind me, I felt an iron ring in the stone. If I pulled, there would be a tunnel: I could put an iron bar across the hole. At the end of it would be a cell. There I had been all winter. […]
Insurer Charles Desvallées lives in a beautiful house in the countryside near Paris with his wife Hélène and their young son. He works in the city in a leisurely job, often drinking and smoking. His wife often goes to Paris for shopping, beauty treatments and cinema sessions.
By accident he discovers she was not at the hairdresser when she was meant to be. He gradually grows more suspicious about the way she employs her time and asks a private investigator to follow her. The embarrassed detective duly reports that his wife sees a writer called Victor Pégala, at his home in Neuilly-sur-Seine, several times a week. Hélène appears in bed with Pégala, exchanging titbits about their respective lives. The writer is divorced with two children.
On a day his wife is busy hosting a birthday party for their son, Desvallées pays Pégala a visit. At first he tells the confused writer jovially that he and his wife have an open marriage and sits and talks pleasantly with him. He asks for a tour of the small flat. On seeing the bed his demeanour changes, as he pictures his wife there. He spots a giant cigarette lighter at the bedside. This had been a 3rd anniversary present to his wife from him. He starts to feel unwell and suddenly grabs a stone bust and kills Pégala with a violent blow to the head.
Desvallée calms down and meticulously cleans up and removes all fingerprints. He then brings his car round near the back gate, bundles up the body, and drags it in broad daylight but in a quiet neighbourhood to the car, where he stuffs it in the boot.
En route he is rear-ended by a van after braking distractedly. Desvallée nearly panics and hurries the formalities with the other driver as a crowd assembles and a policeman remarks that his boot is now jammed. He dumps the body into a murky pond where it takes an agonisingly long time to sink.
A day or two later, Hélène is grumpy and unwell. Two detectives turn up in the daytime to interrogate her about Victor Pégala, who has been reported missing by his ex-wife. They have found her name and details in the missing man's address book. She is flustered and avoids giving direct answers as to how she knew Victor. In the evening, she mentions the disappearance to her husband, claiming Pégala was only a vague acquaintance. The detectives return and interrogate both Hélène and Charles, who denies having even heard of the man before.
Hélène finds a photograph of Victor in her husband's jacket pocket with his name and address on the back. She looks as if she is going to confront him but she goes outside and burns it. Her emotions are difficult to read.
In the final scene the family is in their garden when the two policemen walk up the drive. Charles tells Hélène that he "loves her madly" and goes to speak to the police. The camera then moves back to the wife and child, slowly panning until they disappear hidden by soft focus foliage as Charles is presumably taken away from them.
Takeshi Kovacs finds himself in a new "sleeve," or human body, back on his home planet of Harlan's World. He is on the run after making numerous attacks against the Knights of the New Revelation, an extremist religious order responsible for the death of his lost love and her daughter. Because she had violated tenets about resleeving, her executioners dropped her and her daughter's cortical stacks in the sea, effectively preventing them from being resleeved (into new bodies).
While trying to secure passage after his most recent attack, Kovacs saves a woman named Sylvie from a group of religious zealots. In return, she allows him to take refuge with her mercenary " " crew as they head out to decommission sentient military hardware that has run amok on the island of New Hokkaido (AKA New Hok). Sylvie is the "command head" of her crew, co-ordinating them during missions by using her biologically implanted circuitry and software.
During one of these missions, Sylvie collapses, regains consciousness, and Kovacs realizes that her personality seems to have been replaced by that of long-dead revolutionary leader Quellcrist Falconer. Harlan's World is surrounded by automated "orbitals" which target flying objects, such as vehicles, with high-energy beam weapons known as "angelfire;" Falconer is believed to have died without a backup of her cortical stack when her getaway aircraft was destroyed by angelfire 300 years prior.
When Sylvie's crew returns from New Hok, they discover a younger version of Kovacs has been illegally duplicated into a different body (AKA "double sleeved") and is hunting them on behalf of the Harlan family that rules the planet. Most of Sylvie's crew is killed and Sylvie/Quellcrist is captured. Kovacs schemes to rescue Sylvie by approaching old criminal associates of his, the Little Blue Bugs.
The Little Blue Bugs mount a semi-successful attack on a Harlan fortress and rescue Sylvie/Quellcrist. Hiding from Harlan forces in a floating base, the neo-Quellists are sold out by its owner and recaptured. An assault by Kovacs and a single UN Envoy on the base ends badly when Kovacs is betrayed by the Envoy who was actually embedded with several colleagues. However, Sylvie/Quellcrist has established a connection with the orbitals and calls down angelfire, eliminating their captors. The younger Kovacs is killed in the aftermath.
Sylvie explains that angelfire is a destructive recording device. Thus, in destroying Quellcrist and the helicopter carrying her, it copied her. When the technology of the crews advanced far enough, her persona was able to insert itself into Sylvie's implants and co-exist in her body.
The novel ends with Kovacs, Virginia Vidaura, and Sylvie/Quellcrist waiting to see if they can use Sylvie/Quellcrist's newfound connection to the orbitals and the expansion of a long-dormant genetic virus to turn the population against the ruling oligarchy.
The film is set in the 17th century during the Swedish invasion of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the years 1655 to 1658, known as The Deluge, which was eventually thwarted by Polish-Lithuanian forces. However, a quarter of the Polish-Lithuanian population died from the war and plague, and the country's economy was devastated.
A major thunderstorm hits Springfield, and Marge demands that Homer fix their leaking roof. Homer attempts to solve the problem by using Hot Wheels ramps to transport all the draining water from the roof to the front yard through the hallway, the stairway and the mail slot on the front door. Though this plan seems to work well, Lisa's hamster slides down the ramps to the front yard by accident. Shocked, Lisa opens the front door to save her hamster, breaking all the ramps, and leaving the house all wet, ruining a homework party Bart was planning and leaving Maggie's teddy bear ring wet. Marge berates Homer for not providing a more sensible solution to fix the roof. Angered, Homer decides to go to Moe's Tavern, but is kicked out when he sits on Lenny's birthday cake by accident, shaped in the form of Lenny's favourite bar stool. Feeling depressed, Homer finds another bar, "Knockers" (A parody of the restaurant Hooters), where he meets a friendly man named Ray Magini. The two talk, and Homer finds out that Ray is a roofer, so Homer asks him to fix his leak. Ray agrees.
The next day, Homer assures Marge that his new friend will be taking care of the roof. Ray, however, does not arrive until everyone else has left. The two of them get up on the roof and use nail guns to nail the boards onto the roof, but they start shooting nails at each other, some hitting Ned Flanders' lawn mower next door. Ray leaves later and, as Homer runs on the roof, he crashes through the small part of the roof that they fixed, making the hole bigger. Meanwhile, Marge and the kids leave Santa's Little Helper with Grampa and the Springfield Retirement Home residents, because they seem to like him. When Marge sees the hole, she tells Homer to fix it himself, because she sees no reason to believe that his friend will.
The next day, Bart and Homer go to the Builder's Barn, and Homer meets Ray there. Ray apologizes to Homer for having not finished the job and promises he will stop by soon to work on the roof. Lisa, Marge, and Maggie arrive back at the retirement home, only to discover that Santa's Little Helper has become one of the old people. After Lisa succumbs to the same effect, they permanently take him back home. After waiting a long while for Ray to show on the roof, Marge becomes worried about Homer, and tells him that Ray is just a figment of his imagination. When Homer refuses to believe it, he falls off the roof and is knocked unconscious.
Marge then takes Homer to the Calmwood Mental Hospital. Dr. Hibbert tells him that Ray does not exist; he was created by Homer's mind as Homer was feeling lonely and unappreciated because of the previous events he had endured. All the people that Homer thinks saw Ray - Bart, Ned, and the "Knockers" bartender - claim they did not, and Lisa reveals that "Ray Magini" is an anagram for "imaginary". Six weeks and several hours of electroconvulsive therapy later, Homer is now sure that Ray does not exist. As he is being discharged, he sees Ray again in the room. Angered by the pain the "figment of his imagination" has caused him, he assaults him. In retaliation, Ray knocks Homer out and everyone is surprised they can see him too.
He did really exist the whole time: the bartender did not see Ray as he had an eye patch on (while looking in the direction of Homer and Ray that night, Ray was before his covered eye), and Ray could not be seen by Ned because he was behind the chimney. Bart still viewed Homer with skepticism for talking to thin air, but Stephen Hawking arrives and says that Bart could not see Ray at the hardware store because of a miniature black hole caused directly behind Ray which absorbed the light from Ray and made it look as though Homer was talking to himself when Homer was actually talking to Ray. Marge asks Ray why he started fixing the roof, and then just disappeared. Ray says he is a contractor. Everyone laughs, and Marge says "That's right, you're all crooks!" Hibbert, seeing how angry Homer is as he was made to go through shock treatment for nothing, offers to make it up to him by doing a free eye scraping for him. Homer agrees on it, but also forces Hibbert to fix the roof without any breaks while Ray and Homer discuss ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' on the roof.
Principal Skinner is looking for a company to sign a vending machine contract with Springfield Elementary, with half of the machine's profits going to the school. He looks at suggestions of a gumbo machine from the Sea Captain that seriously burned the Sea Captain's hand and a request box from Gil and rejects them, until he gets a suggestion from Lindsey Naegle. The unhealthy vending machines sponsored by hip-hop artists are installed, and most of the students use the machines (save for Lisa, who protests their extremely high sugar content and artificial additives), but Bart is seen using it the most frequently. Due to the high fat and sugar content in the snacks, and due to the high frequency of their consumption, three weeks later, Bart significantly gains weight and becomes obese, and during an in-show parody of the opening credits, he suffers a heart attack after slowly trying to make it home from school.
Bart sees Dr. Hibbert, who says that malted milk balls have clogged his arteries, and that a wad of Laffy Taffy is blocking his liver. He informs the family that Bart is addicted to junk food and tells Marge to put him on a diet. However, Lisa discovers that Bart has been hiding junk food in his walls, and the family stages an intervention. When Bart tries to run away, due to his widened and obese frame, he gets stuck in a fence and is caught by two representatives of a maximum security fat camp, Serenity Ranch. Bart ends up there with Apu, Rainier Wolfcastle (who was last seen fattening up for a movie), and Kent Brockman, and the camp's leader is none other than former junk food magnate Tab Spangler (who is dealing with many anger issues). However, when Bart is there, the family is faced with an expensive bill. To pay for the camp, the family converts their house into a youth hostel, which attracts German tourists.
At the fat camp, Bart cheats by sneaking food, so Tab Spangler takes him home to visit the family to show him the horrors that occur. His family is working continually to appease the students staying in their home. The Germans humiliate the family, making Homer dance for change and forcing Marge and Lisa to clean intentional messes while pointing out America's problems one by one. He suggests Bart fight his addiction, and he does, by destroying the vending machines in school. His addiction to junk food is over, and he steals the money from the vending machines, which the family uses to pay for the bill and give the Germans "Das Boot". Homer gets revenge by beating up the Germans, and tossing them out. Tab Spangler says that Bart still has three weeks left of non-refundable treatment, and Homer goes with Tab (by force from the family presumably as payback for calling Bart a 'freeloading fatso'), where the episode ends with them driving in Tab's car arguing over the cheeseburger Homer is eating.
The story is set in Ukrainian lands of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland during the Khmelnytsky Uprising of the mid-17th century. A Polish noble, Skrzetuski, and a Cossack otaman Bohun, both fall in love with the same woman, Helena. Their rivalry unfolds against the backdrop of a Cossack uprising led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky, aimed at reclaiming control of the land from the hands of the Polish nobles. Historic events form a framework for an action and character driven plot, and fictional characters mingle with historic ones. The movie, as the book, culminates with the savage siege of Zbarazh.
A stick figure toddler (presumably named Billy) sits happily with a balloon and rattle until he is unexpectedly hit on the head by the balloon. The balloon gradually escalates its attack into a pummelling. When an adult passes by the balloon acts innocent until the adults pass out of sight. Billy is then slowly lifted into the air and dropped multiple times until the balloon stops in the clouds and Billy sees another child held up by a different balloon. They wave to one another and the other child is struck by a plane. A short sequence shows a girl being attacked by several balloons. Two short sequences follow of multiple children being terrorised by balloons. No explanation for how or why the balloons are mistreating children are given. The story is considered a parody of French film director Albert Lamorisse's 1956 short film ''Le ballon rouge''.
There have been many interpretations on what themes the short represents, but Hertzfeldt intentionally avoids talking about them, as to not invalidate the personal experiences the audience has with the film.
The first two books take place somewhere in the primeval forests of Europe near a huge volcano. Fire glows on its summit and sometimes burning lava pours down the slopes, destroying everything in its path. For countless ages, primitive man has worshipped the fire-god in dumb terror. But at last comes the first great moment in the history of mankind: the emergence from the herd of a man with a mind and a will, a Prometheus.
Fearlessly confronting the unknown, he solves the riddle of fire and brings it down on a torch to serve man. With it he lights campfires to keep off wild beasts. But he does much more. Observing the movements of the stars he infers the notion of time, the first abstract idea won from the darkness of chaos. He also takes the first step toward civilized intercourse between individuals, discovering tenderness in sexual relations, the inaugural burgeoning of what we know as love. In the end he dies a prophet's death at the hands of the obtuse masses, but he bequeathes a rich legacy to posterity.
The next two books, with a second prehistoric patriarch, begins after another measureless lapse of time. The world has changed now, the volcano is extinct, the climate cooling. There is a general migration to the south. But one man sets off in the opposite direction to grapple with hardship. He is a sort of Cain, a slayer avoided by his fellow men, whom he holds in such contempt that he does not even condescend to take their god, fire, with him to the icy lands of the North. Defying the cold, he grows hardy and strong. With a woman who has somehow found her way up there he becomes the father of the Nordic race which is so dear to Jensen, who follows its destiny.
He rediscovers fire, not simply borrowing it as before but by a stroke of genius striking it out of two minerals. And thus he founds a new civilization.
The theme is repeated in the third and fourth book with another genius who invents means of locomotion: wagons and boats driven by oar or sail. The men of the North, ready now to listen to the old call to the summer lands, begin the long journey proper.
The later books describing the journey take us down to historical times: we see the Cimbri marching on Rome and the Vikings' raids. But the story does not end until Columbus realizes that dream of a tropical paradise which is the leading idea of the book.
The protagonist of ''Mystical Ninja'' is Goemon, a hot-blooded, kiseru-wielding ninja with blue, bushy hair loosely based on the legendary thief Ishikawa Goemon. The lord of Oedo asks him to find those who maimed Oedo Castle. Goemon lives in Oedo Town and is friends with Ebisumaru, a strange, gluttonous fat man who wears a blue bandana. Ebisumaru is defined as lazy and perverted. Their kunai-throwing friend Sasuke is a mechanical ninja (made by the Wise Man of Iga) who enjoys hot baths and Japanese tea. The fourth of the heroes is Yae, a fierce sword-wielding kunoichi, who runs into Goemon's band in Zazen Town. The villains of the game hail from the organization ''Peach Mountain Shoguns'' and include a gang of four "weirdos" led by Spring Breeze Dancin' (Danshin Harukaze) and Kitty Lily (Margaret Ranko).'''Goemon''': You...you WEIRDO! / '''Baron''': You keep calling me weirdo... / '''[Girl]''' I was forced to see the weirdo's dance ever single day...Awake or asleep, it was the weirdo dance, weirdo dance, weirdo dance...It's driving me nuts! They intend to transform Japan into a stage for their talents.
While shopping in Oedo Town, Goemon and Ebisumaru feel the ground quake as a peach-shaped flying object sails overhead.'''Ebisumaru''': I thought that I could negotiate a discount...with my hypnotic dance. The vessel fires a laser at Oedo Castle, turning it into a European-style castle with spires and flags. Worried for the safety of the Lord of Oedo and his daughter, Goemon and Ebisumaru retrieve a chain pipe from Mt. Fuji and assault the castle. Inside is Baron, a member of the fashion-loving Gang of Four who reveals he was sent to turn the castle into a stage.'''Baron''': My name is Baron! / '''Baron''': I've come to make Oedo Castle a beautiful stage!. Goemon shrugs him off and defeats the King Robot Congo to free the Lord and find a "miracle item". The Lord asks Goemon to catch them and gives a Super Pass for access to the roads of Japan.
Goemon sets out to the Wise Man's house for assistance, but the house explodes as he approaches. A fuming Baron comes forth and mans his kabuki robot. Goemon finds a Triton shell in the rubble that can call Impact, who lays ruin to the kabuki robot. In Zazen Town, Goemon finds Yae, who claims the troublemakers responsible are Flake Gang members named the ''Peach Mountain Shoguns.'' Yae joins Goemon, and they learn that children with dancing talent have been kidnapped around the region. Goemon and his friends must also fight against Benkei, a gatekeeper blocking the Gojo Ohashi Bridge leading out of Zazen Town. In order to defeat him, Goemon needs help from a young fisherman named Ushiwaka. It is hinted that Benkei and Ushiwaka are kind of rivals. Ashamed at his loss against Goemon and his friends, the man offers Goemon the mechanical robot Sasuke, thrown there by the explosion of the Wise Man's house.'''Benkei''': Aaaaaaaaaah...to be defeated in the same manner as I was by Ushiwaka...Please, I beg you! Don't tell anyone that I lost, please...I'll let you pass the bridge at will, and I'll give you something from my collection... '''Goemon''': Which is? '''Ebisumaru''': Wow, wow! It's our friend, Sasuke! Goemon accepts the unconscious, powerless Sasuke and walks to Kii-Awaji island, where the dragon-powered passenger ferry has been stopped by the dragon's sudden craze. Goemon teleports to the dragon and finds a Gang of Four member named Colon who used the dragon to kidnap children; he then breaks Colon's mind-control device. The dragon turns back to human and crashes near a shrine.
The human calls himself Koryuta, son of the Dragon God, and apologizes for the kidnappings. He pledges help in transporting the heroes across Japan, and claims the kids are at the Dogo Hot Springs.'''Koryuta''': I remember going to the Dogo Hot Springs, just west at Iyo. Goemon travels to Iyo but finds the Hot Springs closed; the only entrance is a mouse hole. He learns from travelers that sweets in the Zazen Town shrine can make a person smaller. Ebisumaru offers to steal the sweets. With the dwarf power the group infiltrate the Ghost Toys Castle, a dark house of traps, toys, and a giant pool table. Colon faces Goemon with the robot Dharmanyo, but is crushed and lets go his miracle item. The hidden man aboard the peach ship at Oedo comes out calling himself ''Spring Breeze Dancin
They destroy a guard robot, prompting Gang of Four member Sharon to appear with Kitty Lily, the second leader of the Peach Mountain Shoguns. Lily boasts that Kyushu is a stage and asks Sharon to return to base after buying some foundation.'''Lily''': Kyu-shu- has already become our Stage, la, la... / '''Goemon''': What did you say?! / '''Sharon''': Hey, that's great! Does that mean I can return now? / '''Lily''': Sure... / '''Lily''': But before you go, I'm out of foundation... / '''Lily''': Get the usual best for me! Okay? / '''Sharon''': Uh... all right, but you always take forever to pay me back. Alarmed, Goemon and friends rush off to the bridge to Kyushu and find Omitsu on her way to deliver dumplings. Stunned by Omitsu's seeming ruggedness, Goemon forgets to warn her of danger, and the island rises into odd thunder clouds in the sky. A fortune teller instructs the group to set out north to Mount Fear to find a way to Kyushu. After necessary weight training to remove obstacles, Goemon finds the northeast Festival Village and learns of a psychic witch. The witch summons Wise Man, who tells Goemon to gather the fourth miracle items at the Stone Circle near Festival Village for passage into outer space and Kyushu.'''Wise Man''': Retrieve [Miracle Items] from the four Flake Gang leaders of Peach Mountain... / '''Wise Man''': ... and take it to the altar of the Stone Circle in [Ugo], to the west... / '''Wise Man''': Then you'll be able to go to outer space! / '''Goemon''': Awesome... / '''Goemon''': But Wise Man! How do you know?! / '''Wise Man''': Ahem! That's because I'm... / '''Wise Man''': The WISE MAN! (the witch also reveals that it was indeed Sasuke who had accidentally destroyed his home by accidentally dropping a firecracker bomb). Goemon investigates reports of stolen food in the village while Yae undergoes training to become a mermaid. The two paths converge when Yae finds the Gourmet Submarine, a ''Peach Mountain'' vessel containing hordes of food. After sidestepping grills and swimming through gallons of soup, Goemon confronts Poron, the final weirdo, who jokes that he lost the last miracle item in Zazen Town.
Lily enters by hologram to ridicule the party, but is rudely interrupted by Dancin', who continues to call Goemon "Fernandez". Dancin' instructs Poron to activate the ship's self-destruct sequence. Goemon escapes by calling Impact and defeats a mermaid giant robot. In Zazen Town, a kappa named Kihachi desires to trade the miracle item for cucumber made by the priest's son. The son sits on a precipice inaccessible save through jumping training; Sasuke volunteers in the Chu-goku Region and acquires the miracle item. At the Stone Circle, the Pemopemo God awakens and asks the heroes if they have the courage to venture to outer space. Goemon affirms their decision and the group enters Kyushu through the Gorgeous Music Castle. They discover Sogen Town has been converted to a garden city with European architecture. Goemon locates Omitsu and learns that Dancin' and Lily can be found past a rigid gate, accessible only with the help of Wise Man.
Stunned to find him alive, Goemon learns that in exchange for building the Instant Stage Beam and mechanical robots, the Peach Mountain Shoguns gave Wise Man five car magazines and a muscle car poster.'''Wise Man''': Well... in exchange for a muscle car poster and five car magazines... Enraged to learn of his home's demise, Wise Man helps Goemon enter the castle. Kitty Lily and Dancin' confront the heroes with the elaborate musical number ''Gorgeous My Stage'' before a self-destruct sequence begins. Goemon summons Impact to fly into outer space, where he thwarts the giant peach ship Balberra and duels Lily and Dancin' in their personal battle robot. Dancin' mocks Goemon in defeat, and Impact sends their robot's head far into outer space to reveal a picture of Dancin' and Lily smiling among the stars. Goemon returns to Japan to find a horde of girls rushing towards him, and awaits their praise for saving Japan. The group is shocked to find the girls angry over the apparent death of their idol, Spring Breeze Dancin'.
The story of ''Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon'', a quest to thwart dancers in a peach-shaped spaceship from using laser weaponry to convert Japan to a giant stage and its citizens to loyal dancers, is steeped in surrealist and Japanese humor. Many reviewers and writers commented on the humor in the plot and dialogue. The game's dialogue is peppered with offbeat humor, and a few instances of sexual innuendo. In the Japanese version, Wise Man collected hentai magazines and pornographic posters rather than automotive publications. A laugh track punctuates certain jokes.
In 1854, master thief Edward Pierce plans to steal a shipment of gold worth more than £12,000 being transported monthly from London to the Crimean War front. The bank has locked the gold in two custom-built safes, each with two locks, thus requiring a total of four keys to open. He recruits Robert Agar, a specialist in copying keys, as an accomplice.
Pierce's first target is the key held by bank president Edgar Trent. Through painstaking surveillance, conversations with bank employees and a deliberately bungled pickpocketing attempt, Pierce deduces that Trent's key is kept at his mansion. With the assistance of his longtime mistress, an actress known only as "Miss Miriam", and his loyal associate, a buck cabby named Barlow, Pierce and Agar successfully break into Trent's home and wine cellar by night and make a wax impression of the key.
Bank manager Henry Fowler contracts syphilis and asks his friend Pierce to aid him in seeking a remedy: sleeping with a virgin. After supposedly making the necessary arrangements through a madam (actually "Miss Miriam") and charging Fowler the exorbitant price of one hundred fifty guineas, Pierce and Agar make an impression of Fowler's key, which he always carries with him around his neck but takes off and leaves with his clothes during the assignation.
The other two keys are kept in a shipping department office at London Bridge Station. Pierce helps burglar "Clean Willy" Williams escape from Newgate Prison and the criminals succeed in making wax copies of the two keys at the railway station, completing the job with only seconds to spare before detection. Now possessing copies of all four keys, Pierce bribes Burgess, the poorly paid train guard who rides in the baggage van containing the safes. Agar is then able to perform a dry run of the theft on 17 February 1855, making sure that the copied keys work perfectly.
The actual robbery is scheduled for May 22nd, but Pierce's plans are again disrupted when "Clean Willy" suddenly turns police informant. Pierce's cabby Barlow murders Willy before he can reveal the most crucial information, although Willy has told enough to cause Edward Harranby, a very senior Scotland Yard detective, to deduce that a major robbery is planned. Through careful manipulation of another informant, Pierce diverts the police's attention to an alleged robbery of the transatlantic cable company's payroll in Greenwich, leaving the thieves free and clear to finally strike.
By the next day, much of England is in an uproar upon the discovery of the robbery, with every organisation involved in the gold shipment blaming each other, few leads as to the true culprits and no idea how it was done. The members of the gang drop out of sight.
Eighteen months later, Agar's mistress, who has been caught in the act of robbing a drunk, informs on Agar to escape imprisonment. Agar, who has been arrested on an unrelated charge, turns informant after being threatened by Harranby with transportation to Australia. Pierce and Burgess are arrested at a prize-fighting event in Manchester, and all three are ultimately convicted. Pierce is sentenced to a long prison term, but escapes while being transported from court and disappears, along with the money from the Great Train Robbery.
Fiona Belli is an 18-year-old woman who recently moved to college. While visiting her parents, Ugo and Ayla, the family is involved in a car accident, and Fiona alone awakens in a cage in the dungeon of a castle. Her memories of the incident are hazy. Noting that the cage that keeps her prisoner has been left unlocked, she steps out and begins searching for answers and a way out of the castle. Soon after, she befriends a White Shepherd named Hewie. As Fiona begins to unravel the mystery in which she finds herself, she learns that she is the carrier of the Azoth, an alchemic element, which for unknown reasons is being sought by Riccardo, the castle's keeper.
The first enemy Fiona encounters is Debilitas, a large, mentally disabled groundskeeper who thinks of Fiona as one of his dolls. Fiona learns from a mysterious man named Lorenzo, that to escape the castle, she needs a staff from the chapel. However, upon taking the staff, Debilitas corners Fiona and Hewie, forcing a confrontation. They defeat Debilitas, but soon find their next enemy, Daniella, an icy maid. Daniella covets Fiona's ability to smell, taste, touch, feel, and "experience pleasure". She is especially jealous that Fiona can create life (via a fertile womb). Daniella is defeated when she is impaled with a shard from a ceiling window pane.
The third villain is Riccardo, who wields a flintlock pistol. For the majority of the game, Riccardo keeps his face hidden under a hood. Upon revealing himself however, Fiona is shocked to see her dead father's face. Riccardo reveals that he and her father, Ugo, are clones. He murdered Ugo in the car accident as revenge for leaving the castle and marrying Fiona's mother. He plans to use Fiona (by means of her womb and use of her Azoth) to bring about his own rebirth, so that he may live forever. As they fight atop a water tower, Hewie rescues Fiona by attacking Riccardo, causing him to fall from the summit.
The final enemy is Lorenzo, who seemed to be an ally, but who now menaces Fiona in several different forms. Fiona first meets him as an old, crippled man. He tells Fiona that Riccardo was always the problem child, and that he created both Riccardo and Ugo in an attempt to find a body with an Azoth which he could use to gain immortality. Ugo had the Azoth, but left the castle to marry Ayla. Now with Riccardo dead, Lorenzo believes that Fiona is his, so he can take the Azoth she inherited from her father. He chases after Fiona, but she is able to crush him in a rock press. However, she soon encounters a resurrected, youthful Lorenzo; the life energy he acquired from Riccardo's body has allowed him mastery over his own aging process. With the help of Hewie, Fiona causes Lorenzo to fall into a pit of lava. At this point, the castle begins to shake and collapse, and Lorenzo returns as a flaming skeleton. He chases Fiona as she heads for the exit, and attempts to block her escape, but as they reach the door, he finally dies, and Fiona and Hewie leave the castle.
The game features multiple endings based on decisions made by the player: if Debilitas survives, he encounters Fiona and Hewie at the castle gate and lets them leave peacefully, otherwise he does not appear. If the game has been completed at least once and Debilitas survives, Fiona and Hewie can leave the castle early in the game, leaving a frustrated Lorenzo within. If Hewie's relationship with Fiona is poor, he does not rescue her at a critical juncture in the game, resulting in Riccardo capturing and impregnating Fiona.
In Ravenna, Italy, Giuliana is walking with her young son, Valerio, towards the petrochemical plant managed by her husband, Ugo. Passing workers who are on strike, Giuliana nervously and impulsively purchases a half-eaten sandwich from one of the workers. They are surrounded by strange industrial structures and debris that create inhuman images and sounds. Inside the plant, Ugo is speaking with a visiting business associate, Corrado Zeller, who is looking to recruit workers for an industrial operation in Patagonia, Argentina. Ugo and Corrado converse comfortably in the noisy factory when Giuliana arrives. Ugo introduces Corrado to Giuliana who departs to wait in Ugo's office.
Ugo later tells Corrado that his wife had a recent auto accident, and though she was physically unhurt, she has not been right mentally. That night in their apartment, Giuliana becomes highly agitated and fearful over a dream she had about sinking in quicksand. Ugo is unable to calm her or understand what she's experiencing.
Corrado visits her at an empty shop she's planning to open and talks about his life and the restless nature of his existence. She accompanies him to Ferrara on one of his worker recruitment drives, and she indirectly reveals details about her mental state. She tells him that when she was in the hospital, she met a young woman patient who was advised by her doctors to find someone or something to love. She speaks of the young woman feeling like there was "no ground beneath her, like she was sliding down a slope, sinking, always on the verge of drowning." They travel to a radio observatory in Medicina, where Corrado hopes to recruit a top worker. Surrounded by cold industrial architecture, Giuliana seems lost in her loneliness and isolation.
The following weekend, Giuliana, Ugo, and Corrado are walking beside a polluted estuary when they meet up with another couple, Max and Linda, and together they drive to a small riverside shack at Porto Corsini where they meet Emilia. They spend time in the shack engaged in trivial small talk filled with jokes, role-playing, and sexual innuendo. Giuliana seems to find temporary solace in these mindless distractions. In a dense fog, a mysterious ship docks directly outside their shack. During their conversations, Corrado and Giuliana have grown closer, and he shows interest and sympathy for her. When a doctor arrives to board the ship, Giuliana, seeing that the ship is now quarantined due to an infectious disease, rushes off in a state of panic almost driving off the pier.
Sometime later, Ugo leaves on a business trip, and Giuliana spends more time with Corrado, revealing more about her anxieties. One day, her son becomes suddenly paralyzed from the waist down. Fearing he has contracted polio, Giuliana tries to comfort him with a story about a young girl who lives on an island and swims off a beach at an isolated cove. The girl is at home with her surroundings, but after a mysterious sailing ship approaches offshore, all the rocks of the cove seem to come alive and sing to her in one voice. Soon after, Giuliana discovers to her shock that Valerio was only pretending to be paralyzed. Unable to imagine why her son would do such a cruel thing, Giuliana's sense of loneliness and isolation returns.
Desperate to end her inner turmoil, Giuliana goes to Corrado's room. Giuliana is distraught and begins to disrobe. Initially resisting Corrado's advances, the two make love in his bed. The intimacy, however, does little to relieve Giuliana's sense of isolation. Corrado drives Giuliana to her empty shop, where she remarks that there is something "awful" about reality. Later, Giuliana wanders to a dockside ship where she meets a foreign sailor and asks if the ship takes passengers. She tries to communicate her feelings to him, but he cannot understand her words. Acknowledging the reality of her isolation, she says, "We are all separate."
Later in the daytime, Giuliana is walking with her son near her husband's plant. Valerio notices a nearby smokestack emitting poisonous yellow smoke and wonders if birds are being killed by the toxic emissions. Giuliana tells him that the birds have learned not to fly near the smoke.
The evil wizard Zaks casts a spell on the Yolkfolk and kidnaps Dizzy's girlfriend Daisy.NES instruction booklet, p. 3 It is up to Dizzy to undo Zaks' doings and rescue Daisy from the castle in the clouds.
''Fantastic Dizzy'' contains all 16 characters in the series. While most of the Yolkfolk were harmed by Zaks, others have different problems. Other characters include Good Wizard Theodore, Blackheart the Pirate, the Palace Guard, Prince Clumsy, Rockwart the Troll, Shamus the Leprechaun and the Shop Owner.Nes instruction booklet, pp. 9-21
There are several places for Dizzy to visit, including the whole complex of the Yolkfolk secret treehouse, the mine, the neighbouring city of Keldor, a pirate ship, a castle, the grasslands, Carber Bay, the cemetery and finally Zaks' Cloud Castle.
The game generally scrolls horizontally, although some mini-games/sections scroll vertically. When Dizzy climbs a ladder or jumps to an off-screen platform, a new screen is loaded. As game play continues, the scenery cycles between night and day.
Grimm, dressed as a clown, robs a bank in midtown Manhattan. He sets up an ingenious hostage situation strapping fake dynamite all over his waist and successfully gets away with $1 million and his accomplices: girlfriend Phyllis and best friend Loomis.
The heist itself is comparatively straightforward and easy, but the getaway turns into a nightmare. The relatively simple act of getting to the airport to catch a flight out of the country is complicated by the fact that fate, luck and all of New York City appear to be conspiring against their escape.
To begin with, the trio is seeking the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to get to the airport, but the signs were removed during construction work, resulting in the three robbers becoming lost in an unfamiliar neighborhood in Brooklyn. Then, a conman/thief robs the trio of everything they have (except the bank money, which they have taped under their clothes).
After changing into new clothes at Phyllis' apartment, they are confronted and nearly gunned down by the paranoid and stressed-out incoming tenant. At the same time, a fire has broken out across the street and the fire department arrives and pushes their car away from a hydrant only to cause it to roll downhill and then down an embankment.
When the three crooks eventually manage to flag down a cab, the foreign driver is hopelessly non-fluent in English. This causes a hysterical Loomis to jump out of the moving cab to grab another, but he runs into a newsstand, knocking himself unconscious. The driver leaves, thinking he has killed Loomis. An anal-retentive bus driver, a run-in with mobsters and Phyllis' increasing desperation to tell Grimm the news that she is pregnant with his child add further complications.
All the while, Rotzinger, a world-weary but relentless chief of the New York City Police Department, is doggedly attempting to nab the fleeing trio. A meeting on board an airliner at the airport occurs between the robbers and the chief, who gets the added prize of having a major crime boss dropped in his lap with their assistance. Unfortunately the chief only realizes who they were after their plane has taken off.
The story takes place in Provencal France, where a group of young boys ("mistons" roughly translates "brats") are infatuated with a beautiful young woman. Jealous of her passionate affair, they conspire to make mischief for the woman and her boyfriend.
Matty Dean, a young gay man, arrives in New York City and heads for Greenwich Village. He falls in with crossdressing sex worker La Miranda and friends, who take him to Stonewall Inn. There is a police raid and Matty and La Miranda are arrested. They are bailed out by Bostonia, the African-American "mother" of the queens who hang out at Stonewall, and the secret lover of Vinnie, the deeply closeted mafioso who runs Stonewall. Matty and La Miranda go back to her place where she receives her draft notice. Matty attends a meeting of the Mattachine Society, where he meets Burt and Ethan. The group is planning a picket at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Ethan and Matty witness an initiation of sorts as a young man named José becomes the persona Camelia. After the ceremony they return to La Miranda's place and have sex.
Matty spends time with Ethan, who is a writer under a pseudonym for a homophile magazine. La Miranda reports to the induction center in full drag and is ordered to go for psychological evaluation. La Miranda is terrified because of former bad experiences with psychiatrists, so Matty dons her clothes and meets with the doctor in her place, securing a rejection from military service for her as a "sexual deviant." On the subway ride home, Matty tells La Miranda he loves her.
At a Mattachine meeting, Matty is disgusted by the guest speaker, a psychiatrist who discourses on the then-current disease model of homosexuality, and leaves. After the meeting Burt, Ethan and Matty argue about it on their way to meet with a reporter and photographer from the Village Voice newspaper. The group stages a "sip-in," trying to illustrate discriminatory alcohol service laws by being refused service but no one refuses to serve them until they go to Stonewall. At the bar La Miranda and Ethan meet and Ethan treats her mockingly. La Miranda realizes that Matty hasn't told his Mattachine friends about her and storms out. Matty follows and they argue about La Miranda's refusal to conform and Matty's feeling the need to be with more masculine men. Matty seeks out Ethan and they begin an affair.
Vinnie points out a clinic he calls the "Palace of Dreams" and tells Bostonia that he wants her to have sex reassignment surgery so that they can marry, but she is opposed to the idea.
Following the Philadelphia picket, Ethan takes Matty to Fire Island. Given the choice between Ethan's acceptance of discrimination and La Miranda's defiance, Matty chooses La Miranda and they reconcile.
It is the day of Judy Garland's death. Bostonia watches the television coverage. To cheer her up, Vinnie takes her out in full drag in public for the first time. They have ice cream at a fancy restaurant, their open affection drawing disapproving stares and are asked to leave by the manager.
As they wake up together the next morning, Vinnie asks Bostonia if he's ever told her that he loves her. She says no. Vinnie suddenly commits suicide with a bullet through the head and Bostonia becomes hysterical. Vinnie has left her a large amount of cash and scrawled "I LOVE YOU" on a mirror in lipstick.
That night at Stonewall there's another raid. Several of the queens are arrested, including Bostonia. She smashes a police officer in the face and is attacked by other cops. When other queens fight back, touching off the riots that would mark the beginning of the gay community's militant advocacy movement for its rights.
Alfred Dhumonttyé is an unemployed architect who is incredibly unlucky. While wanting to commit suicide, he meets a female television presenter who is pursued by the same misfortune.
Vivien Simpson, a housewife with a young son, and Edward Davis, an aide to a congressman, had never met before, but soon they would be inseparable. Their respective spouses, Orson and Lily, had been carrying on an affair for some time. The affair abruptly ended when their plane to Miami crashes moments after take off. Vivien believed her husband was off to Paris for business. Edward thought his wife was in L.A. Once the bodies are identified, the knowledge they were traveling together is imparted to Vivien and Edward.
They are consumed with curiosity, but nobody is alive to answer their questions. All that remains of the clandestine love affair is a set of nearly unidentifiable keys; neither Vivien nor Edward knows what they belong to. They center their lives around discovering what their spouses kept from them while finding themselves slowly becoming closer to each other.
The player assumes the role of Marîd Audran, a private detective. The game is set in "The Budayeen", an entertainment/criminal quarter in an unnamed city somewhere in the Middle East that is based on New Orleans. While running a series of errands/"business deals" for "Saied the Half-Hajj", a friend of Marîd's, Marîd is framed for the murder of a man named Kenji Carter. Although Marîd's influential patron Friedlander Bey clears him with the local police, Bey asks him to look into Carter's death. Doing so leads Marîd deep into the criminal underworld of the Budayeen.
Effinger's novel ''When Gravity Fails'' was the first in a series of three "Marîd Audran" books (followed by 1989's ''A Fire in the Sun'' and 1991's ''The Exile Kiss''); ''Circuit's Edge'' takes place between the first and second novel.
Ellen Arden, a photographer and mother of two small children, has been declared legally dead, having been lost at sea in the Pacific. Her husband Nick has remarried; he and his new wife, Bianca, are on their honeymoon when Ellen, rescued from an island where she has been stranded for five years, returns home. The family dog remembers her, but the children do not. However, they take a liking to her, and invite her to stay. Ellen assumes a foreign accent and pretends to be a woman named Ingrid Tic. Nick, flustered by the revelation that he's now married to two women, makes great effort to keep the truth from his new wife all the while trying to quash her amorous advances. Upon learning that Ellen was marooned on the island with a man, Stephen Burkett whom she knew as "Adam" to her "Eve"—he becomes jealous and suspicious of her fidelity. To calm his fears, Ellen enlists a meek shoe salesman to impersonate her island companion.
The story begins with the childhood and exceptional and accomplished youth of Prince Stepan Kasatsky. The young man is destined for great things. He discovers on the eve of his wedding that his fiancée Countess Mary Korotkova has had an affair with his beloved Tsar Nicholas I. The blow to his pride is massive, and he retreats to the arms of Russian Orthodoxy and becomes a monk. Many years of humility and doubt follow. He is ordered to become a hermit. Despite his being removed from the world, he is still remembered for having so remarkably transformed his life. One winter night, a group of merry-makers decide to visit him, and one of them, a divorced woman named Makovkina, spends the night in his cell, with the intention to seduce him. Father Sergius discovers he is still weak and in order to protect himself, cuts off his own finger. Makovkina is stunned by this act, and leaves the next morning, having vowed to change her life. A year later she has joined a convent. Father Sergius' reputation for holiness grows. He becomes known as a healer, and pilgrims come from far and wide. Yet Father Sergius is profoundly aware of his inability to attain a true faith. He is still tortured by boredom, pride, and lust. He fails a new test, when the young daughter of a merchant successfully beds him. The morning after, he leaves the monastery and seeks out Pashenka (Praskovya Mikhaylovna), whom he, with a group of other boys, had tormented many years ago. He finds her, now in all the conventional senses a failure in life, yet imbued with a sense of service towards her family. His path is now clearer. He begins to wander, until eight months later he is arrested in the company of a blind beggar who makes him feel closer to God. He is sent to Siberia, where he now works as the hired man of a well-to-do peasant, teaching the gentleman's young children and working in the gardens.
A boy named Marco, who is walking home from school, thinks of his father's advice:
However, the only thing Marco has seen on his walk is a horse pulling a wagon on Mulberry Street. To make his story more interesting, Marco imagines a progressively more elaborate scene. He imagines the horse is first a zebra, then a reindeer, then an elephant, and finally, an elephant helped by two giraffes. The wagon changes to a chariot, then a sled, then a cart holding a brass band.
Marco's realization that Mulberry Street intersects with Bliss Street leads him to imagine a group of police escorts. The scene becomes a parade, as he then imagines a grandstand filled with the mayor and aldermen; an airplane dropping confetti; and, in the final incarnation of the scene, a Chinese man, a magician pulling rabbits out of a hat, and a man with a ten-foot beard. Now almost home, he snaps back to reality and rushes up the front steps, eager to tell his father his imagined story. However, when his father questions him about what he saw on his way home, his face turns red and he says, "Nothing ... but a plain horse and wagon on Mulberry Street."
In the English version, John McClane and Kris Thompsen (Bruno Delinger and Cindy Holiday) try to save the President's daughter, Caroline Powell, from terrorists. There are a number of bosses in the game, including a biker called Hog, a Mexican wrestler named Jocko, the twin team of Mr. Oishi (a sumo wrestler) and Mr. Tubbs (an army general), a nameless muscle-bound fire chief armed with tiny grenades, and two pairs of laser-shooting Spiderbots. The final boss, of which all the others are henchmen, is known as Wolf "White Fang" Hongo. At the end of the game, if both players are still alive, the two players will fight each other on the rooftop of the skyscraper to gain the sole appreciation of the President's daughter (similar to the ending of ''Double Dragon'').
Cartman excitedly boasts to Stan, Kenny and Kyle that he is the first to reach puberty, since he has gotten his first pubic hairs. However, not knowing that "getting pubes" means you have to grow them yourself, he only has pubic hair because he bought a handful of it from 9th-grader Scott Tenorman for $10. Outraged at having been conned, Cartman desperately tries various methods to get his money back but is constantly outwitted by Scott. He even loses an additional $6.12 in the process. After Scott makes Cartman beg for the money and sing that he is a "little piggy," Scott burns the money in front of him, after which Cartman starts to plot revenge. He attempts to train a pony to bite off Scott's penis, but Jimbo later tells him that the best way to humiliate Scott is to find his weaknesses.
After learning that Scott's favorite band is Radiohead, Cartman has the town see a video clip of them being interviewed, with the band members' audio poorly dubbed over by Cartman, making them say how much they hate Scott. However, Scott one-ups him by showing a video of Cartman doing his piggy song. Everyone laughs at Cartman's humiliation, including Kenny who dies while laughing (even his spirit floating away is seen laughing). Enraged, Cartman writes a letter to Radiohead to get them to visit South Park, claiming that Scott is a victim of "cancer, in his ass." Cartman tells Stan and Kyle of his plan to get Scott's penis bitten off at a chili cook-off, which Radiohead would arrive at and see him crying, making them think lowly of Scott. Afterward, Stan and Kyle warn Scott. Cartman then arrives and gives Scott his invitation and a ticket for a pony ride. After Cartman leaves, Scott tells his parents of a starving pony on an abandoned farm, which prompts his parents to go and save it that night. Also, in an attempt to publicly humiliate Cartman again, Scott cooks a chili intentionally contaminated with pubic hairs from the teenagers of South Park.
The next day at the cook-off, both Scott and Chef bring chili for the competition, as does Cartman. After they sit down to eat, Scott eats some of Cartman's chili while Cartman lavishly scarfs down Scott's, much to the quiet enjoyment of the onlookers (including Stan and Kyle), who are in on Scott's prank. As Cartman is finishing Scott's chili, Scott prepares to tell him the secret ingredient, but Cartman then reveals that he already knew, and the chili he is eating is not Scott's, as he switched it with Chef's. Cartman tells Scott that he told Stan and Kyle about his plan because he knew they would betray him and warn Scott. Cartman then announces that his actual plan was to get Mr. Denkins, the farmer who owns the pony, to shoot and kill Scott's parents for trespassing (saying that there were "violent pony killers" in the area). While Denkins was busy with the police, Cartman stole the corpses, chopped them up, and placed their body parts into the chili Scott was eating. Scott then finds his mother's finger in the bowl, immediately vomits, and starts crying. Cartman's final stage of his plan occurs when the members of Radiohead come along and – unaware of what just happened to Scott – make fun of Scott for crying. Finally, Cartman begins licking the "tears of unfathomable sadness" from Scott's face, while Stan and Kyle, horrified at the lengths to which Cartman went for revenge, agree to never anger him to the extent Scott did.
In 1830 Paris, private investigator Eugène Vidocq pursues a strange man who is wearing a cowl and a mirrored mask. The man lures Vidocq into a furnace room at a glass factory, and after a long fight, pushes him into the furnace. Hanging onto the ledge, Vidocq asks him to reveal his face. The masked man obliges, and Vidocq lets go, falling into the fire.
Journalist Étienne Boisset goes to Vidocq's colleague, René Nimier, asking for background to help write Vidocq's biography. Boisset states that he plans to find Vidocq's murderer. Nimier tells him that Lautrennes, Paris' chief of police, asked the pair to investigate the deaths of Belmont and Veraldi, the owners of a cannon factory. Lautrennes believes this is an attempt to undermine the French military in an unstable political climate. Belmont and Veraldi had died in a lightning strike, but during the investigation, Vidocq and Nimier see the powder on a factory worker's clothes catch fire. They interrogate the servant responsible for maintaining Belmont's and Veraldi's suits, who confesses that he received a letter, with cash, ordering him not to clean their jackets. The investigators realize that the lightning would need to be attracted to the men and find metallic pins, decorated with monkey heads, inserted into their hats.
Lautrennes orders one of his men, Tauzet, to investigate Vidocq's death. For his part, Boisset sneaks into Nimier's office and retrieves the monkey-head pins. He traces the design to Preah, a dancer in a brothel, and Vidocq's lover. She tells him that Vidocq also tracked her down, and that she told Vidocq that she received a letter, with cash, asking her to put the pins in the hats. She also reveals that the letter included a third target Ernest Lafitte, owner of an orphanage. Preah says that Vidocq rushed to save Lafitte, but the masked murderer got there first. Vidocq pursued the murderer, who seemed to possess magical powers and a mask made from a strange reflective surface.
Boisset's investigation leads him to Sylvia, the brothel manager, a journalist named Froissard who is investigating the masked murderer, and Marine Lafitte, wife of Ernest. They reveal that Lafitte, Belmont and Veraldi were narcissists, committed to preventing death by aging. A man with a mirror mask, called the Alchemist, offered them an elixir of eternal youth in return for their cooperation in capturing young maidens for his experiments. The three rich men went along, but later stopped cooperating due to a sense of guilt, so the Alchemist killed them. After Boisset leaves, the Alchemist arrives, killing Froissard and Marine. Boisset's investigation attracts the attention of Tauzet, who notices that the Alchemist is disposing of witnesses, and fears Boisset is next.
Boisset sneaks in to retrieve Vidocq's notes, where he encounters Lautrennes and Tauzet. Lautrennes attempts to arrest Boisset, but the journalist escapes. The notes reveal that Vidocq found the Alchemist's lab, where he was using the maidens' blood to create a magic substance for his mask, which grants eternal youth by sucking the souls out of his victims. The Alchemist arrived and attacked Vidocq, who managed to take a piece from the Alchemist's mask before the killer escaped. Vidocq's final note states that the Alchemist would need someone to manufacture the mirrored mask, leading him to the glass factory.
Boisset, Nimier and Preah head to the factory, ushered by an artisan, and closely trailed by both Tauzet and Lautrennes. Just as Boisset declares there are no more leads and witnesses, the artisan removes his prosthetic, revealing himself to be Vidocq. It turns out Vidocq had jumped into a secret hole in the furnace wall, which he saw in the reflection of the mirror mask before the Alchemist's reveal to be Boisset himself. Vidocq then admits to faking his own death simply to let Boisset's guard down, as he knows the Alchemist would destroy all clues and witnesses through any means necessary.
With his cover blown, Boisset lets out a monstrous roar and dons the Alchemist's mirror mask. Nimier opens fire, but is killed as the Alchemist magically reflects the bullets back at him. Vidocq pursues the Alchemist into a hall of mirrors, where he forces the Alchemist to look into a mirror shard, freeing all the souls trapped inside the mask. Vidocq impales the Alchemist with a shard of mirror and throws him into a river. Although the others insist the Alchemist is dead, Vidocq is unnerved by the lack of a body.
At Nimier's funeral, as the characters walk away, the Alchemist's laugh can be heard in the distance, accompanied by the glimmer of his mirror mask.
Timmy and Jimmy, two disabled children in South Park, are eager to participate in the Special Olympics in Denver. Cartman decides to fake being disabled and attempt to beat all the handicapped children in the events to win the $1,000 prize. Jimmy is talked into taking steroids by Nathan to increase his chances of winning. He manages to keep his use of it a secret from everyone except for Timmy (who discovers the drugs after he accidentally dropped the bag and spilling the contents). While Timmy frowns on this, being unable to say anything other than either his own and Jimmy's names, he is unable to explain the situation to the school counselor Mr. Mackey.
Jimmy begins to neglect his girlfriend and studies as a result of his steroid use. When his girlfriend grows tired of neglect and announces she is leaving him, Jimmy flies into a steroid rage and savagely attacks his girlfriend and mother. Kyle repeatedly tries to talk Cartman out of his plans but is ignored. At the Special Olympics, the prizes are given by Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds. Jimmy sets multiple records and is declared the winner. Cartman, on the other hand, is so out-of-shape that his plan fails miserably when the more athletic handicapped contestants beat him; he nevertheless wins a "spirit award"—consisting of a gift voucher—for coming last. When he goes to collect the prize, Jimmy recognizes Cartman and is about to attack him, but Timmy intervenes, and Jimmy realises that he is just as much of a cheater himself. Jimmy confesses his drug use to the crowd and returns his medal, asking for his records to be cancelled and that people who use steroids are "pussies" (all the while the camera focuses on McGwire, Giambi, and Bonds during his speech). The people give Jimmy a standing ovation for being honest, and he says he will be back next year. Cartman then claims to Stan and Kyle that he pretended to be handicapped in order for Jimmy to learn his lesson, but Stan and Kyle don't buy his lies; in anger, Cartman calls them "assholes" and tells them to "grow up."
The story takes place during a 24-hour period while four family members take their vacation on a remote island, shortly after one of them, Karin, is released from an asylum where she has been treated for schizophrenia. Karin's husband Martin (von Sydow), a respected doctor, tells her father David (Björnstrand) that Karin's disease is almost incurable. Meanwhile, Minus (Passgård), Karin's 17-year-old brother, tells Karin that he wishes he could have a real conversation with his father and feels deprived of his father's affection. David is a novelist suffering from "writer's block" who has just returned from a long trip abroad. He announces he will leave again in a month, though he promised he would stay. The others perform a play for him that Minus has written. David, while feigning approval of the play, takes offence since the play can be interpreted as an attack on his character.
That night, after rejecting Martin's erotic overtures, Karin wakes up and follows the sound of a foghorn to the attic. She faints after an episode in which she hears voices behind the peeling wallpaper. She then enters David's room and looks through his desk and finds his diary, seeing he described her disease as incurable. She discovers his callous desire to record the details of her deterioration. The following morning, David and Martin, while fishing, confront each other over Karin. Martin accuses David of sacrificing his daughter for his art and of being self-absorbed, callous, cowardly, and phony. David is evasive but admits that much of what Martin says is true. David says that he recently tried to kill himself by driving over a cliff but was saved by a faulty transmission. He says that after that, he discovered that he loves Karin, Minus and Martin, and this gives him hope. Meanwhile, Karin tells Minus about her episodes, and that she is waiting for God to appear behind the wallpaper in the attic. Minus is somewhat sexually frustrated, and Karin teases him, even more so after she discovers that he hides a pornographic magazine. Later, on the beach, when Karin sees that a storm is coming, she runs into a wrecked ship and huddles in fear. Minus goes to her and they engage in incestuous sexual activity.
Minus tells the other men about the incident in the ship and Martin calls for an ambulance. Karin asks to speak with her father alone. She confesses her misconduct toward Martin and Minus, saying that a voice told her to act that way and also to search David's desk. She tells David she would like to remain at the hospital, because she cannot go back and forth between two realities but must choose one. While they are packing to go to the hospital, she runs to the attic where Martin and David observe her actions. She says that God is about to walk out of the closet door, and asks her husband to allow her to enjoy the moment. She becomes fixated on a crack in the wall out of which a spider emerges. The ambulance, a helicopter, flies by the window, making a lot of noise and shaking the door open. Karin moves toward the door eagerly but then she runs from it, terrified, and goes into a frenzy of panic. Karin vanishes and, reappearing in a frenzy, is sedated. When she stands, she tells them of God: an evil-faced spider who tried to penetrate her. She looked into God's eyes, and they were "cold and calm," and when God failed to penetrate her he retreated onto the wall. "I have seen God," she announces.
Karin and Martin leave in the helicopter. Minus tells his father that he is afraid, because when Karin had grabbed him in the ship, he began leaving ordinary reality. He asks his father if he can survive that way. David tells him he can if he has "something to hold on to". He tells Minus of his own hope: love. David and his son discuss the concept of love as it relates to God, and they find solace in the idea that their own love may help sustain Karin. Minus is grateful and in awe that he finally had a real conversation with his father, uttering: "Papa spoke to me".
The story starts in January. The audience is not told what year it is: sometime after December 31, 1999, but not very long. It follows a man and a woman, both of whom have had loved ones taken from them in unpleasant circumstances. They see a man being killed by a giant. When they investigate, they discover that the man had been contacting UFOlogists.
The two protagonists decide to go on a trip to find out more. They meet an old hippie named Thomas, who saves them from a Fabulous Beast (a dragon). He informs them that they are being followed, and they hide out in Stonehenge, protected by the ley energy of the monument. Thomas then informs them that the world has changed, most forms of modern technology have ceased to function while magic now works according to its traditional lore, and that mythic creatures - Fabulous Beasts, elementals, and most importantly, the Fomorians and the Tuatha Dé Danann - are coming back to the world. The Fomorians have arrived first, however, and the Tuatha Dé Danann can only be summoned by a group called the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons. Apparently roped into this, they agree to help.
By the end of the first book of the three-book series, the initial idea - that the evil Fomorians would be dragged back to the Otherworld by the good fairies - has been shattered. It seems that Celtic cosmology is much closer to Lovecraftian ideals (Evil vs. Indifferent) than to Christian ones (Evil vs. Good), despite the fact, it is hinted, that the spirit beings are the basis of all religions anyway. The Tuatha are as keen as the Fomorians to stay, and the heroes are left knowing that the world will never be the same again.
The heroes then realise that they were chosen by the mysterious 'earth energy', and that they can use this energy to inspire others and fight the Fomorians themselves. They fight back and, in a final battle in London, apparently win. However, the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons are shattered, one dead, one lost in the Otherworld, and the last three to pass the story on.
An interesting twist on the classic 'otherworldly conspiracy' story is that, rather than fairy myths being ancient misinterpretations of UFO abductions, the UFO stories are presented as modern misinterpretations of fairy myths.
The story takes place in the fictional town of Trinity, South Carolina, and revolves around Caleb Temple (Lucas Black) and the town's corrupt sheriff, Lucas Buck (Gary Cole). Though appearing affable and charismatic, Sheriff Buck is a murderous rapist whose power base is backed by apparent supernatural powers, which he generally uses to manipulate people to "fulfill their potential" and make life-changing choices (usually for evil).
Caleb Temple is a normal child whose paternity masks a horrific secret: Lucas Buck is his biological father, having raped his mother in front of Caleb's older sister Merlyn (Sarah Paulson). The horror of watching her mother being sexually assaulted caused Merlyn to become severely emotionally traumatized and withdrawn from the rest of the world, made even worse when her mother committed suicide after giving birth to Caleb.
During the pilot episode of the series, Sheriff Buck murders Merlyn in cold blood and manipulates Caleb's "father" (Sonny Shroyer) into committing suicide in order to eliminate Caleb's family and claim his biological son for his own. The newly arrived Dr. Crower (Jake Weber) begins to uncover the sheriff's role in the deaths of Merlyn and Merlyn's father and with help from Caleb's out-of-town cousin Gail Emory (Paige Turco), struggles to prevent Lucas from corrupting young Caleb. They are aided in part by Merlyn's ghost, who personally appears before Caleb throughout the series in order to try to keep him from Buck's corrupt grasp.
In Los Angeles, Norah Larkin (Anne Baxter) is a single woman who works as a switchboard operator along with her roommates, Crystal Carpenter (Ann Sothern) and Sally Ellis (Jeff Donnell). On her birthday, she decides to celebrate by dining alone at home, with the picture of her fiancé, a soldier serving in the Korean War. At the candlelit dinner table, she opens the latest letter from him and learns to her shock that he instead plans to marry a nurse he met in Tokyo.
Devastated, Norah accepts a date over the telephone with womanizing calendar girl artist Harry Prebble (Raymond Burr). When she arrives at the Blue Gardenia restaurant and nightclub, Harry is surprised to see Norah, since he was expecting Crystal. However, he has dinner with her, and encourages her to drink six strong Polynesian Pearl Diver cocktails. Harry then takes her to his apartment, where he shows her his pictures and plays the record "Blue Gardenia", sung by Nat King Cole, whom they had just seen perform the same song at the restaurant. Norah passes out on Harry's couch, and he makes a sexual advance. She awakens and resists, and apparently strikes him with a fire poker, shattering a mirror. Norah flees the scene, leaving behind her black suede pumps, and returns home.
The next morning, Norah is awakened by Crystal; she has suffered a blackout as to the events of the previous night. Meanwhile, at the crime scene, police question a maid (Almira Sessions) about what she found before she discovered Harry's body. She admits to cleaning the poker, which would have removed any fingerprints, and placing the shoes in the closet, so valuable evidence has been compromised.
At Norah's workplace, the police arrive to question women who had posed for Harry. When Norah asks her colleague about the questioning, she is startled and goes to read the ''Los Angeles Chronicle'' newspaper's account of the slaying. Norah has a vague flashback of the wielding of a fire poker and the shattering of a mirror.
Newspaper columnist Casey Mayo (Richard Conte) dubs the presumed killer the "Blue Gardenia murderess." He learns from the Blue Gardenia waiter that the woman was a blonde, and from a blind female flower seller (Celia Lovsky) that the woman possessed a "quiet voice". That same night, at her apartment, Sally reads the newspaper report that the suspect wore a black dress at the time of the murder. Frightened, Norah wraps her own black dress in a newspaper and burns it in an outdoor incinerator. A patrolman arrives and demands to know why she is burning materials at an illegal hour, but he lets her off with a warning after she apologizes.
Wanting to catch the killer before the police do, Casey writes a column, titled "Letter to an Unknown Murderess", calling for her to turn herself in. Casey receives many bogus phone calls from local women, but when Norah calls, he realizes she is genuine. After one botched attempt, he meets her in his office. She convinces him that she is actually speaking for a friend, not herself, and Casey tells Norah that he is willing to pay for top legal representation if her friend agrees to surrender. The two later go to a diner, where Norah tells her supposed friend's account of the murder, but still insists her friend does not remember the actual killing. Casey asks to meet her friend at the diner the next day. Norah agrees and returns home, where she confesses to roommate Crystal, who is sympathetic.
The next day at the diner, Crystal meets Casey and points him to Norah's booth, where Norah finally admits that she herself is the woman he has been looking for. He feels shocked, because he had begun to fall in love with her. He also feels guilty, admitting to Norah that he was only pretending sympathy for the alleged killer when he thought it was someone other than her. Shortly afterward, the police arrive and arrest Norah. Bitter and confused, she mistakenly believes that Casey is the one who turned her in. (It was actually a diner employee.)
At an airport, Casey, with his colleague Al (Richard Erdman), notices that the piped-in music—the love theme from ''Tristan und Isolde''—is identical to the music the maid found playing on Harry's phonograph. Finally grasping the significance of the fact that the records on the machine had been changed, Casey realizes it's possible that Norah was not the killer. Following up this hunch, Casey and Police Captain Sam Haynes (George Reeves) go to a local music shop. Harry's ex-girlfriend Rose Miller (Ruth Storey) is working in the back room at the shop. The clerk tells the police that it was Rose who sold Harry the record, and calls to her to come out and help. Realizing the police are closing in, she attempts suicide.
From a hospital bed, Rose confesses that while Norah was passed out at Harry's apartment, she herself arrived, demanding that he marry her. (Although she does not say that she is pregnant, the audience of that time would assume that that was the reason for her desperate demands.) He refused, she says, and started playing the record that had brought them together. (That record being Toscanini conducting Wagner's ''Tristan und Isolde''.) Then, Rose recalls, she noticed Norah's handkerchief on the floor by the record player, and out of jealousy killed Harry with the poker. Norah, everyone finally understands, was simply an intoxicated and confused bystander.
After Rose's confession, Norah is freed. She confides to friends that she has forgiven Casey and wants him as the new man in her life. Casey wants her as well, and tosses his "little black book" to his buddy Al.
Mario and Princess Peach are walking together when lightning suddenly strikes Peach's castle nearby. As Mario runs to investigate, Bowser Jr. appears, sneaking up on the Princess from behind and kidnapping her. Realizing what has happened, Mario quickly rushes back and gives chase. Mario ventures through eight worlds pursuing Bowser Jr. and trying to rescue the captured princess. Mario catches up to them and confronts Bowser Jr. occasionally, but is unable to save the princess from the young Koopa's clutches. At the end of the first world, Bowser Jr. retreats to a castle, where his father, Bowser, awaits Mario on a bridge over a pit filled with lava. In a scene highly reminiscent of the original ''Super Mario Bros.'', Mario activates a button behind Bowser to defeat him, and the bridge underneath Bowser collapses, causing him to fall into the lava which burns his flesh, leaving a skeleton.
Though Bowser was defeated in the first world, this does not stop Bowser Jr. from running through the remaining worlds with Peach in tow, forcing Mario to chase after him before reaching Bowser's castle in World 8. There, Bowser Jr. revives his father's skeleton, creating Dry Bowser, but Mario once again defeats Bowser by dropping him into a deep pit. In the final battle, Bowser Jr. flees once more across a lava chasm to a larger castle, where he throws his father's bones into a cauldron and revives Bowser in his original form. They attack Mario in tandem, but Mario drops the pair into the pit below. In the game's final sequence, Mario rescues Peach, who kisses him on the cheek. Over the end credits, Bowser Jr. is seen dragging his unconscious father across the floor. He looks at the screen, and growls, breaking the fourth wall.
John DeFries, the narrator, is the campaign manager of Clyde C. Manning, a freshman congressman and military veteran who received a medical discharge for a heart condition. DeFries chose the congressman because "he was liberal [but] was tough-minded" enough to attract conservative support. In 1941 Manning is recalled to active duty with the rank of Colonel, and takes DeFries as his adjutant. He is appointed to head a secret, top-priority project with unlimited funding, with the aim of developing a nuclear weapon before the Nazis do so. The project makes little progress into 1944. World War II is a stalemate; the British and Germans continue to bomb each other's cities, while the United States, Eurasian Union (a renamed Soviet Union), and Japan remain neutral.
Manning hears of fish dying in Chesapeake Bay where the by-products of Dr. Estelle Karst's research into artificial radioactive materials are being dumped. She was a laboratory assistant of Otto Hahn, the first man to characterize induced fission in uranium, and fled Germany "to escape a pogrom".According to Heinlein biographer William H. Patterson, the Karst character is "an homage to Lise Meitner, who worked out the necessary mathematical support for the idea of fission in 1939 on a train fleeing Nazi Germany." Meitner, who was Hahn's co-worker, had to leave Germany in 1938 because of her Jewish origin. See [http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2014/03/07/death-dust-1941/#comment-32607 Patterson's comments here] Karst is working on radioactive materials for medical uses, but Manning sees its potential as a radiological weapon. Over Karst's objections, by Christmas 1944 the United States is in possession of nearly 10,000 "units" of radioactive dust, a "unit" being defined as the quantity which "would take care of a thousand men, at normal dispersion"; enough to kill the entire population of a large city such as Berlin.
Manning seriously considers ordering that all people aware of the secret, including himself, be put to death and all records destroyed. He rejects that course because someone else, perhaps German or Russian, is certain to rediscover it. Instead, Manning in 1945 convinces the President to use the dust against Germany.The reader is told that the President that meets Manning is standing, which means that he is not Franklin Delano Roosevelt. From several hints, such as the President being described as short of stature and fluent in German, Heinlein implies that the President is New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia. In ''For Us, the Living'', Heinlein's first novel, Heinlein foresaw La Guardia being elected President for two consecutive terms in the 1950s. In "Solution Unsatisfactory", Stalin dies in 1941 and Nazi Germany has a new Führer by 1945 with no mention of what happened to Hitler. Since America is officially not in the war, the Americans give the dust to Britain but at the price of the British accepting a complete US ascendancy in the postwar world.
The Americans warn the Germans by demonstrating what the dust does to cattle, dropping leaflets over Germany, and having the President speak to the Führer, but the Germans refuse to surrender. RAF bombers scatter the dust over Berlin and leave no survivors. The Nazi regime collapses and the new government surrenders. Karst commits suicide by exposing herself to the dust.
Manning warns the Cabinet of the great dangers of the new situation, introducing the concepts of the nuclear arms race, mutual assured destruction, and second strike capability. He convinces the President and Cabinet that the only solution is to use the American nuclear monopoly while it still exists. Any other world power, such as the Eurasian Union, might create such dust and bomb the United States within weeks. Still a congressman, Manning convinces the President that there is no time to get Congressional approval and that the Constitution must be bypassed.
The United States issues a "Peace Proclamation" which essentially demands the immediate and unconditional surrender of the rest of the world. All other states are required to disarm and to hand over all long-range civilian and military aircraft, since any airplane can spread the dust. The prohibition on commercial airlines applies to America also; the Army will manage any required civilian air travel. Most of the world complies.
The Eurasians did invent the dust for themselves as Manning had warned, and launch a surprise attack. The American victory in the "Four-Day War" owes much to Manning, who had arranged for Congress and President to be outside Washington ahead of the attack, and false rumors of plague to empty New York; nonetheless, 800,000 are killed in Manhattan alone. Eurasian documents completely vindicate Manning's unconstitutional policies; had the President waited for congressional approval, America would have lost the war.
Manning becomes lifetime head of the new Peace Patrol, with a worldwide monopoly over the radioactive dust and the aircraft which can deliver it. He opens schools for the indoctrination of cadet patrolmen from any race, color, or nationality. They will patrol the sky and "guard the peace" of any country but their own, and would be forbidden to return to their original country for the entire duration of their service; "a deliberately expatriated band of Janizaries, with an obligation only to the Commission and the race, and welded together with a carefully nurtured ''esprit de corps''."
Manning does not have time to complete his original plans for the Patrol. In 1951, the President dies in a plane crash; his isolationist successor demands Manning's resignation and intends to dismantle the Patrol. As Manning argues with the President, planes loaded with radioactive dust and piloted by non-Americans appear overhead. Manning is willing to kill himself and treat the capital of the United States as he would treat any other place which he perceives a "threat to world peace". He wins the standoff and becomes the undisputed military dictator of the world. DeFries (himself dying from radiation poisoning) doubts that Manning, now the most-hated man on Earth, can succeed in making the Patrol self-perpetuating and trustworthy. There is no way of knowing how long Manning will live, given his weak heart. The narrator concludes:
In ''Spelljammer'', the player captains a ship and crew. The player can ship goods from planet to planet for a fee and take on simple missions including delivering people and goods, destroying pirates, and guarding the space lanes. As the player completes missions, the player's character gains reputation points, eventually gaining enough points to be asked to help rid Realmspace of a terrible danger. This mission leads to the simple plot in the game.
''Dark Sun: Shattered Lands'' takes place in the fictional land of Athas, a dying and hostile desert world. The locale is Draj, a city-state ruled by a powerful sorcerer-king. Nearby are several "free cities", surviving in the desert thanks to the hard work of their citizens. Upon the completion of the pyramid in Draj, the Sorcerer-King desires to make a great sacrifice of blood by sweeping the desert and destroying the inhabitants of the cities not under his control. The player controls a party of up to four gladiators, condemned to fight in Draj's arena until they die, so naturally the first order of business is escape. Upon escape, the party must unite the free cities to resist Draj's army.
The evil Lord Conqueror, head of Conqueror's Clan, is given a prophecy by Mud Buddha when quizzed about his delayed duel with Sword Saint. The prophecy translates that if Conqueror finds two young children by the name of Wind and Cloud he will have good fortune. Mud Buddha provides the birth charts of these two and gives him a puzzle box stating that finding Wind and Cloud is but one half of his destiny, the box will provide him with the latter half once he unlocks it. Conqueror issues an order that every boy with a birth chart matching Wind's or Cloud's must become a disciple of the Conqueror's Clan. Whispering Wind is discovered as the son of long time rival Whispering Prince, who Conqueror had beaten 2 years previously and stole Prince's wife. As they fight again for Prince's Blizzard Blade he reveals he only took his wife to anger him into battle to possess the blade. At the climax of the duel, Prince's wife kills herself and Prince is captured and killed by the fire beast in the nearby cave. Conqueror finds Whispering Wind has fainted and claims him. Striding Cloud's father, a blacksmith named Striding Sky, is forging the Ultimate Sword and completes the blade just before Conqueror's forces raze his village. As he is killed he reveals that the sword can only be used by using his own blood and Cloud is taken by the invading forces.
Ten years pass, and Wind and Cloud are now both fully grown and highly skilled martial artists, raised by Lord Conqueror with his daughter Charity and adopted son Frost. The 3 sons act as Generals in Lord Conqueror's army. Wind and Charity begin to form a relationship, but she is seduced by Cloud and secretly has an affair with him. Conqueror is angered by his inability to open the puzzle box, and the disappearance of Mud Buddha. He sends Frost and Wind to find him while Cloud is sent to claim the Unchallenged Sword and kill the clan leader, leading closer to completing his collection of powerful weapons in his Sword Graveyard. Cloud succeeds and Frost and Wind find Mud Buddha, now disfigured by boils as punishment from the Gods for revealing too much about the future to others. Later, Mud Buddha is taken by a masked fighter who easily repels both Frost and Wind. The captured Mud Buddha unlocks the puzzle for Conqueror and reveals that "the dragon is powerful but will be stranded when wind and cloud become a storm" therefore ending Conqueror's tyranny. Realizing it refers to Wind and Cloud and unwilling to accept his fate Conqueror plots to destroy them both.
Upon realizing Cloud is interested in Charity, Conqueror decides to use her to marry Wind in hopes of Wind and Cloud killing each other. Cloud discovers the marriage and is quickly angered. On the day of the wedding Cloud abducts Charity. Conqueror tells Wind to fight for his wife if he is a man. Wind and Cloud engage in a battle and Lord Conqueror tries to kill Cloud in their duel, but Charity sacrifices herself to save him.
As Wind quietly grieves for his love, Cloud fights the Phoenix family for the Ice Vigor and uses it to preserve Charity's body, but is soon discovered by Conqueror. As they fight in a temple in the desert without water, Cloud's Palm style proves to be useless against Conqueror without any source of liquid at the area. Cloud rips off his arm and uses his own blood as a final resort to be used as source of liquid which is necessary for his palm style to unleash considerable amount of power to create an opening for escape. He is then discovered out cold by Muse and her father, Summit Yu. As they nurse him to health Yu discovers that the Fire Beast Arm he has trained to perfection rejects him and wishes to be bonded to Cloud and calls on specialists to bond his arm to Cloud.
Unable to find Cloud, Conqueror moves onto destroying Wind, who he secretly poisons and sends on a mission to claim the Blood Bodhi fruit. As the poison takes its toll Wind remembers the truth about who killed his parents, and uses the Blood Bodhi fruit that grows in the cave to heal himself as well as make himself even stronger. He then defeats the fire beast who killed his father using the Blizzard Blade retrieved by his father's corpse. Cloud trains his new arm with the help of Muse's kindness before deciding to head back to Conqueror's kingdom.
Conqueror, believing himself free of the prophecy, challenges and defeats Sword Saint after the latter is distracted by Muse. Frost arrives and announces his discovery that it was Conqueror who kidnapped Mud Buddha and framed Wind and Cloud. Conqueror, now deluded into the belief he is invincible, kills Frost, who attempts to leave the clan. Soon afterwards, Wind and Cloud meet upon the steps to Conqueror's main hall and, united by their common enemy, confront Conqueror. As the fight spills over into the Sword Graveyard, Wind and Cloud are almost outmatched by Conqueror's superior sword skills. However, the blood from a cut on Cloud's arm reveals to him the location of Ultimate Sword (which Conqueror unknowingly had amongst the standard weapons littering the ground). With Striding Sky's sword in hand, Cloud rejoins Wind in the battle and Conqueror is soon beaten, with Wind stopping Cloud from landing the death blow so Conqueror is left insane and tormented by the ghosts of those he has killed, including his beloved Charity.
A young peasant named Diermot is employed as a beater for the king's hunting party. One night the king receives a note from a messenger, requesting his services to help quell a rebellion in the remote village of Turnvale. As the king's party departs, Diermot's pony follows them, unwittingly carrying him to the battle. When the party arrives at Turnvale they are not confronted by a peasant revolt. Instead they find a band of man-eating Skorl, led by an enchantress named Selena, the titular temptress. The king's men are defeated and the king is killed. In the process, Diermot is thrown from his saddle and is knocked unconscious. The Skorl take Diermot prisoner and imprison him in the local dungeon.
With help from a peasant named Ratpouch, Diermot manages to escape from the dungeon and visits Luthern, the blacksmith. Luthern reveals that a girl named Goewin who runs a herb shop has recently disappeared. Diermot discovers that she had been arrested by the Skorl. With help from Ratpouch, Diermot breaks into the house of Taidgh, the magician, where he creates a potion which disguises him as Selena. He enters the mansion where Goewin is being held and orders the Skorl to free her. Not long after, a man named Mallin gives Diermot a book wrapped in cloth to take to a man named Morkus. In the process of delivering the book, Diermot sees a notice stating that whoever returns the book to its rightful owner will be rewarded. Diermot delivers the book to a man named Toby, who rewards him with a statuette. Toby reveals that the dragon can help Diermot defeat Selena, but that he will need an infusion made of three herbs to wake the dragon up, which Goewin then makes for Diermot.
Diermot enters the dragon's cave and wakes him up. The dragon agrees to help Diermot, revealing that Turnvale was the domain of a demon long before humans came to the area. This demon should have died along with his breed long ago, but did not perish because it was able to feed on man's greed and ambition in order to survive. The demon was driven out by the great Gethryn, but the young sorceress Selena's meddling with evil has reawakened the demon, and it controls her mortal form. The dragon possesses the Eye of Gethryn, an enchanted stone left by Gethryn at the time of his death. The stone contains the power to defeat the demon, and the dragon then gives the stone to Diermot. A Skorl named Wayne, who turns against Selena, sneaks Diermot into Selena's castle in a barrel. Diermot defeats Selena with the Eye of Gethryn, freeing Turnvale from her tyranny.
The protagonists of the story are a government agent and his fiancée who are members of a government agency tasked with tracking down and sterilizing or eliminating mutants – individuals with physical abnormalities and superhuman powers (such as the mind reading or telekinesis) that make them a threat to normal humans. The eponymous "Golden Man" is a beautiful yet feral young man named Cris with gold-colored skin and the proportions of a greek god. He possesses no language but has the ability to see into the future (specifically, the ability to see all possible outcomes from any single action, described in the story as similar to a chess player with the ability to see all possible moves 5 steps ahead). The agency manages to capture Cris after surrounding him so completely that his precognition tells him there's no way out, at which point he simply surrenders himself. The agency takes him back to their fortified laboratory to study his abilities, and then execute him. Unknown to the agency, Cris's physical perfection and noble-looking countenance influences the fiancée into freeing him. He then impregnates her and makes his escape as she provides a distraction to aid him. The story ends with the protagonist reflecting on how animal instincts have triumphed over human intellect, and how that is the new direction evolution will take if Cris continues to breed children with his abilities.
The story follows the course of the life of Suriyothai from her adolescence to her death. As Suriyothai is only known from three lines in a chronicle, most of the film relies on an invented story rather than claiming to be actual history. It presents a young woman, Suriyothai, of minor royal standing who has strong opinions and self-determination. The movie reveals the princess' boldness through scenes where she breaks tradition by walking among the commoners to meet her lover Prince Pirenthorathep, who in turn pledges that he will come to her aid whenever she wants.
Her father insists that she must marry Prince Thienraja, the son of the second king of the realm. In an attempt to escape a marriage she does not want, she runs away and is captured by the principal king who explains the possible problems her marriage to Piren might cause to Siam. For the good of the kingdom, she marries Prince Tien to keep peace in the royal families. From this point on she remains loyal to the man she likes but does not love and remains strongly independent.
The principal king dies, and Tien's father inherits the throne. A few years later, smallpox makes its first appearance in Siam and the king is stricken with the disease. On his deathbed he extracts a promise of support for his young son from Chai Raja, his nephew, and Tien. Burma invades in the north and Chai Raja assumes the throne to protect Siam. He executes the child king, which Tien protests but on Suriyothai's advice accepts Chai Raja as his ruler.
Chai Raja's wife, Queen Jitravadee, dies shortly after giving birth to the heir Yodfa. The king takes a new consort, Srisudachan, and has a son by her. After several years of peace, Chai Raja leaves the capital, Ayutthaya, for a military campaign in the north. Soon after, Srisudachan, descended from the deposed U-Tong dynasty, takes Boonsri Worawongsa, another U-Tong descendant, as a lover and starts plotting to take over the throne.
The king is wounded in battle and comes back to the capital to recuperate, where Srisudachan poisons him and attempts to blame the deed on Tien. Tien saves his own life by becoming a Buddhist monk. Srisudachan proceeds by naming Worawongsa as regent and promptly poisoning young Yodfa, thereby assuming power. Suriyothai then summons her old friend Piren, who was Chai Raja's troop commander, to help set things right. His troops ambush and kill Worawongsa and Sri Sudachan, and Tien accepts the throne despite his monkhood.
Upon hearing this, Burmese King Hongsa invades again and lays siege to Ayutthaya. In a dramatic finale, however, the Burmese invade the new kingdom, and Queen Suriyothai heroically rides into battle with her husband and her unrequited childhood love at her side. The queen is slain, falling in slow motion from the elephant in full uniform with her throat cut. The ending scene reveals a traditional funeral for royals.
Dr. Peyton Westlake is developing a new type of synthetic skin to help burn victims, but cannot get past a flaw that causes the skin to rapidly disintegrate after 99 minutes. His girlfriend, attorney Julie Hastings, discovers the Belisarius Memorandum, an incriminating document that proves developer Louis Strack Jr. has been bribing members of the zoning commission. When she confronts Strack, he confesses, showing Julie that he plans to design a brand new city, creating a substantial number of new jobs. He warns Julie that the city's reigning crime boss, Robert G. Durant, also wants the document.
At Westlake's lab, Westlake and his assistant Yakitito are testing the skin when the lights go out. The synthetic skin remains stable after 100 minutes, so Westlake deduces that the skin is photosensitive. Their joy is short lived as Durant and his mobsters show up and demand the Memorandum, which Westlake knows nothing about. They search for the document, and Durant has his men kill Yakitito and beat Westlake, burning his hands and dipping his face in acid. After finding the document, they rig the lab to explode. Julie witnesses the blast as a hideously burned Westlake is thrown through the roof and into the river. As a John Doe, he is brought to a hospital and subjected to a radical treatment which cuts the nerves of the spinothalamic tract; physical pain is no longer felt at the cost of tactile sensation. This loss of sensory input gives him enhanced strength due to adrenal overload and keeps his injuries from incapacitating him, but also mentally destabilizes him. After waking up from a coma, Westlake escapes from the hospital.
Believed dead by Julie, Westlake re-establishes his lab in a condemned building and begins a long process of digitization to create a mask of his original face, using the time to plot revenge against Durant and his men. He kills Durant's henchman Rick by putting his head in front of an incoming car after forcing him to reveal the identities of the other men. He then studies them to subdue and impersonate them (having a talent for impressionism). When his face mask is complete, Westlake manages to convince Julie that he was in a coma rather than dead. He mentions that he is aware of Julie seeing Strack after his supposed death; she responds that Strack only comforted her. Keeping his disfigurement from her, Westlake instead probes whether she would accept him despite his appearance.
Westlake sows dissension and confusion among Durant's henchmen by assuming their identities. On a date at a carnival with Julie, Westlake loses his temper after an altercation over a stuffed elephant and assaults a worker, revealing to Julie that something is wrong with him. He flees as his face begins to melt, and she follows him, discovering the discarded mask; she calls to Peyton that she still loves him regardless. Julie tells Strack she can no longer see him before discovering the stolen Memorandum on his desk, confirming that he was collaborating with Durant the entire time. She reveals Westlake is still alive, but Strack tells her as long as he has the Memorandum, no charges can be filed. When Julie leaves, Durant enters and is told to capture Julie and kill Westlake.
Durant intercepts Julie, kidnapping her before attacking Westlake's lair. Two of his men enter the lab to locate and kill Westlake, but are outmaneuvered and eliminated. Durant flees in a helicopter with Westlake dangling from an attached cable, which he uses to crash the helicopter. Impersonating Durant, Westlake meets up with Strack and a captive Julie at the top of an unfinished building. Strack breaks Westlake's ruse and they fight; Westlake eventually gains the upper hand and dangles Strack by his ankle in the air. Strack says that killing him would not be something he could live with. Westlake drops Strack, remarking: "I'm learning to live with a lot of things". Julie tries to convince Westlake that he can still return to his old life, but he tells her he has changed internally as well, and cannot subject anyone to his new, vicious nature. He rushes from Julie as they exit an elevator, pulling on a mask and running into a crowd of pedestrians. As Julie unsuccessfully searches for him, Westlake watches her for a few moments before turning and walking away, narrating, "I am everyone and no one. Everywhere. Nowhere. Call me... Darkman".
The title character, Bors, a 200-year-old "government integration robot"—and the last in existence—awakens after a routine maintenance check to learn that his motor system is in a state of decline. An artificially intelligent machine who displays a degree of emotion and even psychological complexity, he is informed by Fowler, a personal mechanic, that his body has begun to break down due to age. His legs no longer work, his motor system will be irreparable in a matter of months, and full paralysis will take place in under a year.
Of his entire body, only five "synapse coils" have not yet begun to degrade. These memory units are irreplaceable due to the lack of skilled technicians and rare components needed to recreate them. Within them, he stores the last records of advanced science and technology, which he uses to guide his society at high efficiency as a benevolent dictator, operating according to utilitarian principles. Though he wields hegemonic control over his society, he views his dictatorship as the last bastion of humanity's scientific progress, and views himself as a guardian who oversees and protects that progress. This causes him to privately despair that he—and the knowledge only he possesses—will soon die. He also becomes increasingly paranoid, fearing to trust a loyal assistant, Peter Green, and confiding only in Fowler, his personal mechanic.
Hidden in a remote mountain valley, Bors commands the world's last government. The microstate is tightly centralized around him, and he manages it bureaucratically for optimum efficiency in all sectors of the economy and military. The effect is "an accurate and detailed reproduction of a society two centuries gone." Bors is immediately established as an utterly necessary figure in his society and is quickly escorted back into service as the leader of the government by Fowler. A personal assistant as well as mechanic to Bors, Fowler maintains a pretension of loyalty to the robot, but privately recognizes that his society is stagnant and that its leader is becoming mentally unbalanced. Pessimistic, he expresses cynicism regarding the subservient role humans in his society play to Bors. He is contrasted with Peter Green, a genuinely loyal assistant to the robot, who is among the few humans trusted to oversee his body while it is unconscious for repair. Though loyal to his leader, Green nonetheless draws Bors' distrust as the robot's paranoia steadily grows.
Elsewhere, three members of the "Anarchist League" are on a mission to investigate rumors of a government in existence near a remote mountain valley. The League is a global organization dedicated to seeking out and eradicating governments. Established at some unknown point during or after the global revolt, the League is organized around "League camps" which dot the landscape. Members of the League are easily recognized by their "ironite staffs": metallic walking sticks which they are trained in using as weapons. These tools are a symbol of the League—"the walking Anarchists who patrolled the world on foot, the world's protection agency."
The three member team is composed of Edward Tolby, his daughter, Silvia Tolby (of unspecified age, but vaguely described as an adolescent or young adult), and their mutual friend, Robert Penn. While en route to the valley, the team arrives in a small rural town by the name of Fairfax. Fairfax is littered with ancient, decaying gadgets; the last remnants of the era of governments and high tech society, which none of the locals know how to fix or reproduce. Excited by the strangers, the locals ask about the League. Tolby answers their questions in turn, ending with an explanation of the timeline of events which led up to the great revolt. The event is summarized as having begun with revolts in Europe which overthrow the national governments. After France exists for a month free of government, millions join the by then explicitly anarchist movement to disarm the nuclear powers. At each toppled government center, millions of records are burned and government integration robots are destroyed. These events result in the setting of the story; a world full of anachronistic high-technology, interspersed in a pre-industrialized, agrarian culture.
While retelling the story of the anarchist revolution, Tolby attracts the attention of a local who invites the trio of anarchists to her home, but who is in secret a government spy ordered to kill them. The ensuing assassination plot is bungled, as the spy dies in the process, but succeeds in killing Penn. Silvia is also badly injured and left unconscious. Her father survives the tragedy largely unscathed, however, and awakens as a patrol of military scouts arrives. The scouts panic after a brief counterattack by Tolby and retreat with Silvia captive. After re-arming himself, Tolby sets out to mount her rescue.
Bors is alerted to the situation and overreacts upon learning that one of the three anarchists has escaped. Fearing that the agent will alert the world to their existence, he initiates plans for a war economy and decides to question Silvia in her hospital room. Their dialogue reveals the story of his escape during the collapse of governments and the establishment of the microstate. He was damaged and in transport for repairs when the anarchist revolution began 200 years prior, allowing him to survive in hiding. Enraged by his calm indifference to the prospect of war, Silvia attacks him and attempts her escape, but is restrained by guards.
Tolby infiltrates the mountain valley, sneaking past the rapidly mobilizing army of the state. After killing and outmaneuvering inexperienced soldiers, he arrives at the government center and encounters Fowler. Fowler alludes to his desire to end the government and spurs Tolby onward. Ultimately, Tolby confronts and kills Bors, sending the building into confusion as the citizens react with hysteria and grief. The condition is implied to spread outward from the city to troops in the hills, resulting in mass desertion. No longer resisted by guards, Tolby reunites with Silvia. The story concludes as Fowler secretly salvages three remaining synapse coils from Bors' remains, "just in case the times change".
11 June 1925: the TARDIS crew encounters Lord Cranleigh's chauffeur, who has been expecting "the Doctor". Lord Cranleigh asks them to stay until the annual ball and offers them costumes. They are introduced to Ann Talbot, Lord Cranleigh's fiancée, who looks identical to Nyssa. When Tegan admires a black flower, Lady Cranleigh explains it is a black orchid and was found on the Orinoco by her son, the famed botanist George Cranleigh.
The Doctor picks a Harlequin outfit to wear to the ball. Ann comes to their room, presenting Nyssa with a dress identical to her own. As the Doctor prepares for the ball, a figure enters his room from a secret passage. The Doctor enters the secret passage, where he finds the dead body of one of the servants. The figure steals the Harlequin costume, joins the party, and attacks Ann Talbot. When a butler rushes to her assistance, the Harlequin strangles him to death before returning the costume to The Doctor's room.
Lord Cranleigh finds the dead butler. The Doctor arrives wearing the Harlequin costume and Ann identifies him as her attacker. The Doctor is arrested for murder, his companions accused of being accessories, and all are taken to the police station. The Doctor clears his name and uses the TARDIS to return to Cranleigh Hall, where the figure has lit the place on fire and taken Nyssa hostage.
The murderer is revealed as George Cranleigh, who disappeared during an expedition into the Brazilian forests. The local natives removed his tongue because they held the Black Orchid sacred. Losing his mind, he was rescued by another tribe. The Doctor convinces George to release Nyssa. Charles approaches his brother to thank him, but George recoils and falls off the roof to his death.
Before the Doctor departs, Ann gives Tegan and Nyssa their costumes as presents and Lady Cranleigh presents the Doctor with a copy of George's book.
Astrid Magnussen (Alison Lohman), 15, lives in LA with her free-spirited artist mother Ingrid (Michelle Pfeiffer). Too young to remember her father, she relies heavily upon her self-centered mother.
Ingrid's relationship with a writer, Barry (Billy Connolly) ends when she discovers he is cheating. Murdering him with white oleander poison, Ingrid is incarcerated, leaving Astrid under social services' control.
Starr Thomas (Robin Wright), a former stripper, recovering alcoholic and born-again Christian is Astrid's first foster mother. Initially interacting well, Astrid is baptised into her church. Ingrid finds out, setting Astrid against them. Believing Astrid is sleeping with Starr's live-in boyfriend Ray (Cole Hauser), she falls off the wagon. In a drunken rage, she argues with Ray, then shoots Astrid in the shoulder. Starr and Ray disappear; the children beg her not to report her, so Astrid plays along.
Astrid recovers in a hospital before being moved to McKinney Children's Center (aka "Mac"). After fighting with some girls, she befriends fellow artist Paul Trout (Patrick Fugit).
Astrid is placed with former actress Claire Richards (Renée Zellweger) and her producer husband Mark (Noah Wyle). Fragile but affectionate, Claire bonds closely with Astrid, who finally thrives. One day, Astrid discovers Ingrid has been corresponding with Claire and insists on meeting. At the prison visit, Ingrid jealously exploits Claire's low self-esteem and suspicions over Mark's fidelity, which worsens her depression; A bad fight with Mark makes her consider sending Astrid back. She begs her not to, she seems to recant, only to commit suicide that night, devastating Astrid.
Astrid tells Ingrid of Claire's death, and that she was returned to Mac. Blaming her for the suicide, Astrid announces she won't visit again. In Mac, Paul tells Astrid that as he turns 18 soon he will move to New York. He asks her to join him but she coldly refuses.
Astrid passes up good foster parent candidates for Russian immigrant Rena Gruschenka (Svetlana Efremova), who uses kids as laborers for her flea market business. With Rena she becomes colder and colder with her outward appearance matching her inside demeanor. Her mother's attorney Susan Vallares (Kali Rocha), charmed by her mother approaches Astrid, offering anything she wants in exchange for lying for her in court, as her mother has benefactors.
As Astrid refuses, Rena tells her she's stupid to turn down money. Rena offers to make her an equal partner in her business, saying she has nowhere better to go. When she balks at the idea, Rena tells her to use her mother like her mother wants to use her.
Astrid surprises Ingrid one final time in prison. Now she has black hair, harsh makeup, and dark clothes. In control over her mother for once, Astrid demands answers about her past in exchange for testifying that Barry committed suicide. She hammers her with questions about Barry, her father, Claire, and Annie whom Astrid vaguely recalls from her toddler years.
Annie was a neighbor who kept Astrid for over a year while Ingrid went wild. Astrid's father came looking for her when she was 8, but she turned him away. Devastated by these revelations, Ingrid claims she would undo all she has done. Although Astrid begs her to not make her testify, she refuses.
Astrid seeks letters from Paul from a comic book shop. He soon shows up in LA and they renew their relationship. He accompanies her to her mother's trial as she waits to testify. The courtroom empties and she goes to see what happened. Susan explains that Ingrid instructed her to not include Astrid's testimony. Ingrid and Astrid stare at one another as she is led away. Gutted, Astrid watches as her mother is taken back to prison. Paul asks what happened, and she says her mother finally let her go.
Two years later, a blond-again Astrid lives in NYC with Paul, tending to her art: dioramas in suitcases depicting her life 'til now. As she passes them, she closes each, stating she will never visit the horrors they contain again. Pausing at the final one depicting Ingrid, Astrid reflects that, although flawed, she knows her mother loves her.
The Greek army has besieged the walled city of Troy for ten years. The TARDIS materialises outside the city, distracting the Trojan Hector, son of King Priam. The Greek warrior Achilles takes advantage and kills him. When the First Doctor emerges, Achilles believes him to be the God Zeus, in disguise, and brings him to the Greek encampment along with the warrior Odysseus. At the camp, the Greek leader Agamemnon insists the Doctor help them fight the Trojans, although Odysseus believes he is a Trojan spy.
Meanwhile, the Doctor's companions Vicki and Steven remain in the TARDIS. Vicki has an injured ankle from a previous adventure, so Steven goes alone to try to find the Doctor. Odysseus catches Steven and takes him to the Greek camp. Pretending to be Zeus, the Doctor persuades the Greeks to spare Steven until the next morning. They learn that the TARDIS has disappeared.
The TARDIS has been taken into Troy by another of King Priam's sons, Paris, and presented as a prize to his father. Priam's daughter, the prophet Cassandra, denounces the TARDIS as dangerous – she has dreamt that the Greeks will leave a gift on the plain which will contain soldiers to attack the Trojans. She demands that the TARDIS be burnt. A pyre is constructed, but before the fire is lit, Vicki emerges from the TARDIS, which is taken as a sign from the gods. She is renamed Cressida and made a favourite at court. This enrages Cassandra, who believes Vicki to be a rival prophet, although her handmaiden Katarina defends Vicki.
Priam sends Paris out to avenge his brother Hector. Paris calls for his rival Achilles to present himself, but Steven persuades the Greeks to send him in Greek armour instead, hoping to be taken prisoner so he can search for Vicki. Adopting the identity Diomedes, Steven engages Paris in battle and his ruse works. When he arrives, however, Vicki greets him with his real name, which Cassandra sees as a sign they are both spies. Steven and Vicki are taken to cells. Priam's youngest son Troilus visits Vicki. She persuades him to try to get them released, and it is clear the two are falling in love.
The Doctor proposes to Odysseus a great ruse: the Greeks will pretend to sail away, leaving a wooden horse behind outside Troy, as a tribute and acknowledgement of defeat, hoping the Trojans will take it inside the city without realising it is actually hollow and filled with Greek soldiers. Agamemnon approves, but only provided the Doctor is among those inside the horse. The horse is spotted by the Trojans, who rejoice at the Greek army's apparent retreat. Priam has Vicki released. Paris brings the horse into the city. Vicki frees Steven, who urges her to convince Troilus to leave Troy. She tells Troilus that Diomedes has escaped. Troilus leaves Troy to search for him, but encounters Achilles, whom he kills to avenge Hector.
At nightfall, the Greeks and the Doctor leave the horse and open the city gates. The Greek army enters and so begins the downfall of Troy. As the fighting rages, the Doctor evades Odysseus and finds Vicki. Priam and Paris are slain, and Cassandra taken prisoner. Katarina finds Steven badly wounded and helps him return to the TARDIS. Vicki leaves the Doctor, anxious to find Troilus; outside the doomed city, they declare their love for each other and flee.
Odysseus threatens the Doctor, who is able to dematerialise the TARDIS with Steven and Katarina on board. Katarina believes she has died and the Doctor is taking her on the journey after death. Steven is delirious because of his wound, and the Doctor feels he must land somewhere to attend to Steven's injuries.
After being defeated twice, Syndicate crime boss Mr. X has started a research company called RoboCy Corporation to act as a cover for his illegal activities. The world's best roboticist, Dr. Dahm (Dr. Zero in Japan), has been brought in to help him create an army of realistic robots to replace important officials from the city. With the replacements in place, Mr. X plans to run the city using a remote control device. His criminal organization, The Syndicate, has strategically placed bombs around the city to distract the police while the city officials are dealt with.
Dr. Zan discovers what the research is really for and knows the Syndicate must be stopped. He contacts Blaze Fielding with the details of The Syndicate's plan. Blaze quickly contacts her old comrades Axel Stone and Adam Hunter for a task force to bring down The Syndicate once and for all. Axel quickly joins the task force, but Adam cannot make it (due to his own assignments from within the police) and sends his young brother, Eddie "Skate" Hunter instead. The game has four endings depending on the difficulty level and if the player defeats certain levels in an allotted amount of time.
As of its sequel ''Streets of Rage 4'', it follows a good ending route's normal mode: It is revealed that the real Chief Ivan Petrov was kidnapped and replaced with a duplicate (one of them is either a disguised Shiva in a bad ending (if players have not saved Ivan) or a robot duplicate. After Ivan is freed, Axel suggest Adam to get Ivan to the city hall before his doppelgänger arrive, then goes to Mr. X's robot factory hideout at forest. Once Dr. Dahm is apprehended to make him confess that all government officials are also being kidnapped and being replaced by their robot doppelganger like Ivan, the real Mr. X is revealed to be reduced to nothing but a brain in a laboratory capsule while controlling all robots with his mind. As the heroes are able to destroy Mr. X's Robot Y and his capsule which kept his brain alive, the bomb timers are neutralized. However, a dying Mr. X attempt to self destruct the lab to die alongside the heroes, until Adam rescues them. With Mr. X is now no more, RoboCy is defunct, Dr. Dahm is recovering at asylum after his testimony, and Dr. Zan's name has been cleared.
During a commencement gala at the newly opened Los Angeles headquarters of Nakamoto, a Japanese keiretsu, a call girl named Cheryl Lynn Austin, is found dead, apparently after a violent sexual encounter. Police Detectives Webster "Web" Smith and John Connor, a former police captain and expert on Japanese affairs, are sent to act as liaison between the Japanese executives and the investigating officer, Smith's former partner Tom Graham. During the initial investigation, Connor and Smith review surveillance camera footage, and realize that one of the discs is missing.
Smith and Connor suspect Eddie Sakamura, Cheryl's boyfriend and agent of a Nakamoto rival, of killing her, and interrogate him at a house party. Sakamura promises to bring Connor something, and Connor reluctantly lets him go after confiscating his passport. Ishihara, a Nakamoto employee whom Connor had previously interrogated, delivers the missing disc, which clearly shows Sakamura killing Cheryl. Graham and Smith lead a SWAT raid on Sakamura's house. He tries to flee in a Vector W8 sports car, but crashes and is killed.
Smith learns that Sakamura had attempted to contact him about the missing disc, so he and Connor take the disc to an expert, Jingo Asakuma, who reveals that the disc has been digitally altered to implicate Sakamura.
Nakamoto is in the midst of sensitive negotiations for the acquisition of an American semiconductor company, with Senator John Morton, a guest at the party, abruptly changing his stance on a bill that would prevent the merger from going through. Suspecting his sudden shift is somehow related to the murder, Connor and Smith attempt to interview him at his campaign office, but without success. Upon returning to Smith's apartment, the duo find Sakamura alive and well. He reveals that he was being tailed that day by Tanaka, a Nakamoto security agent attempting to locate the original disc. Not wanting to be seen with Sakamura, Tanaka stole his sports car and committed suicide by crashing it. Sakamura gives Connor the original disc, but before he can leave, Lt. Graham arrives with Ishihara. Sakamura is killed fighting off Ishihara's men, and Smith is shot and left for dead, surviving only thanks to a bulletproof vest.
After being interrogated, Smith is put on paid leave due to an ongoing investigation of an earlier corruption charge. Regrouping with Connor and Jingo, the three view the original surveillance footage, which shows Senator Morton performing erotic asphyxiation on Cheryl. Falsely believing he killed her, Morton changes his position on the regulation bill to stay in Nakamoto's good graces. After leaving the boardroom, the footage shows another figure approaching and killing Cheryl by strangulation.
Hoping to draw the killer out, Connor and Smith fax Morton stills of the footage showing his involvement in the murder. Morton contacts Ishihara, revealing the executive to be in on the cover-up, and then Morton commits suicide. Connor, Smith, and Jingo interrupt the merger negotiations to show Nakamoto President Yoshida the surveillance footage. Bob Richmond, an American lawyer working for Nakamoto, reveals that he is the real killer and tries to run away, only to be killed by Eddie Sakamura's yakuza friends.
Yoshida maintains his and his colleagues innocence, quietly exiling Ishihara to a desk job back in Japan. Smith drives Jingo home, where she casts doubt on whether Richmond was really the murderer, or if he was simply taking the fall to protect someone higher up in the company.
The story begins with Lily Rose, the eldest child, trying to help her mother Rosie with the ironing and ruining a green petticoat. She apologises to its owner, Mrs Beaseley, who forgives her. Mrs Beaseley also gives Kate (the second eldest child) her niece's cast off clothes for her new school, as the government funds to help with this are paid in arrears. Kate loses the school hat, and tries to sell mushrooms to pay for a new one, but the original is eventually found.
Jim, the older and more ambitious of the Ruggles twins, meets and joins the local gang, the Black Hands, led by a twelve-year-old named Henry Oates. Though they consider him too young to join and accuse him of spying, Jim begs to be accepted.
The next Saturday, as a hailstorm begins, Jim follows a dog into a drain pipe around a wharf's barge-loading area for shelter. Once the pipe is loaded on the barge Jim climbs aboard, hides in the pipe and is carried down the river to the seaport Salthaven. He is still in the pipe when it is loaded directly from the barge into a waiting ship. A man on the ship angrily returns him to the land, and the surrounding dock workers help him to get home.
John, the younger twin, is a car fan and regularly visits Otwell Castle's car park. A wealthy couple called the Lawrences arrive at the castle, and allow him to "mind" their car. The same hailstorm which sends Jim into the pipe on the wharf for shelter catches John, and he climbs into the car for shelter. When the Lawrences return, they drive away without checking the back seat, and John does not awaken until they have driven some miles. Instead of turning around and taking him home, they invite him to their son's birthday party, and send a telegram to John's family to let them know that he is safe.
William, the youngest Ruggles child, is entered in the Annual Baby Show, but the family is concerned as he is a late teether. He wins his age category (6–12 months) but an older competitor wins the Grand Challenge Cup as William has no teeth. The Ruggles return home only to find that William now has a tooth.
Jo Ruggles junior, the fifth child, a Mickey Mouse fan, enjoys watching cartoons at the cinema. On Saturday morning he sneaks inside the empty building and hides in the orchestra pit to see the first colour Mickey Mouse film, where he soon falls asleep; several hours later, several cinema musicians find him. Jo explains why he sneaked in, and the men give him sixpence for the show, and a warning not to do it again.
Mr Ruggles receives a reward of £2 for returning some lost money, which he uses to take his family to the Cart Horse Parade in London's Regent's Park, where Mr Ruggles' brother has entered his horse in the competition. The horse, Bernard Shaw, takes first place, and the families climb into the cart to participate in the parade. The Ruggles spend the afternoon at a "posh" tea shop, nearly missing their train home in the excitement.
The Care Bears live in a cloud-filled land known as Care-a-lot ("With All Your Heart"). One of the Bears, Grumpy, is working on a rainbow carousel for the upcoming Care Bear Fair. His fellow Care Bears come by for a look; one of them, Funshine, loves telling jokes and making the other Care Bears laugh. After they reluctantly agree to try the carousel, it goes out of control and sends them into the sky before crashing down. Grumpy feels even worse after Funshine tries to cheer him up with a joke on height restrictions, which the other Bears find funny. Grumpy is not amused and even goes so far as to tell Funshine that if he doesn't understand that cheering up isn't making fun of, then maybe Funshine doesn't belong in Care-A-Lot. As a result, the Bears force him to make up with Funshine by apologizing. Upon reaching his house, they find no trace of their friend. Reading from a note, Tenderheart Bear realizes that Funshine has felt sorry for Grumpy and has gone in search of a place where his talents can be better appreciated. The other Bears are worried about his fate; as they cannot hold their Fair without him, they decide to look for him regardless and bring him back to Care-a-lot. Five of them— Tenderheart, Grumpy, Wish, Cheer and Share volunteer, while Laugh-a-Lot, Love-a-Lot, Friend, Good Luck, Bedtime, and Champ stay home to get ready for the fair.
The day after he runs away ("Make Em Laugh") from home, Funshine hears circus music in the distance and strays from his camping spot to find out. Taking a seat on a bumper car, he embarks on a long ride which leads him to Joke-a-lot, a town where humour is dominant ("In the Land of Joke-a-Lot"). The area's residents are astonished when he lands via parachute upon the town square; a female piglet called Gig tells him where he now is. Then a rat named Sir Funnybone arrives at the scene and dubs Funshine the area's long-lost King (although Funshine insists otherwise). Funnybone actually placed the car within the woods so that he could begin to gain his own power; he tells that to his henchmen, a trio of houseflies named Phido, Cleon, and Bidel.
Eventually, Funshine learns the hard way that "serious" is a very bad word in Joke-a-lot. The Joke-a-lot residents celebrate a "Laff-Fest" in his honour; Funnybone gives him a tour of the town and takes him to his Royal Palace, where Funshine learns of the last two Kings and is introduced to the Royal Sceptre. Stored in a vault within the voice-activated Royal Treasury, the sceptre holds the Royal Jewels of Joke-a-lot, which Funnybone says are "the source of the magic power behind all the fun" there; only the king is granted access. Funshine wants to look, but Funnybone tells him that a coronation is about to take place. He plans to take command of the sceptre, now in the hands of a slow, elderly alligator called Grand Duke Giggle.
At the coronation, Joke-a-lot's new "king" tells his audience two jokes to pass the time, before Grand Duke Giggle proceeds to give him the sceptre. Meanwhile, the other Care Bears find his belongings and take the same ride that he did. After they crash into the Royal Palace, Funshine is delighted to see them, but the Bears are a bit puzzled over what he has become. They miss Funshine and want him to return home to Care-a-lot where he belongs. Even Grumpy apologizes for his earlier harsh words towards him. Thus, he must make a very difficult decision—to head back home with them, or remain King of Joke-a-lot ("Here I'm a King") and no longer live with his fellow Care Bears. He then announces that he will go home, but Sir Funnybone wants him to stay as king.
During the "Laff-Fest", Giggle gives the sceptre to the new king. Funnybone orders Phido, Cleon, and Bidel to steal it when Funshine is not looking. He gets into the Treasury with it, unlocks the Royal Jewels, and escapes with this loot on a pink dirigible. As Grumpy is fixing his carousel, the other Bears must use it to stop Funnybone. The machine spins onto the dirigible, bursting the balloon and sending it aground.
When the Care Bears come to Funnybone, he reveals his real name and homeland—Basil Ratbone, from the No Fun Atoll, whose inhabitants have lived through a "serious" ''modus operandi''. He wanted the jewels so much to enliven his fellow residents that he planned on stealing them from Joke-a-lot, and even pretended that Funshine's "tummy symbol" was the royal birthmark. Instead, the real one—a "smiley mouth"—was at the back of Gig's ears. The other Bears open the chest to find a jack-in-the-box, and other toys, which Funshine assures them are the real magic jewels. Funnybone apologizes for his misdeeds, and soon all of Joke-a-lot attends a coronation in which Gig becomes their Princess (though she is really more like a Queen). The Bears promise to return to Joke-a-lot some other day and ride home on the flying horses from their carousel.
''Gear'' tells the story of a podunk town of squat, hominid-like cats who are bordered on all sides by bigger and more war-like animals. The town's only protection comes from an aged Guardian, a gigantic battle robot in disrepair. The town elder sends four brave cats out to capture an enemy guardian to further defend the town. The cats are named Waffle, Mr. Black, Simon, and Gordon. They were named after TenNapel's actual pet cats. After tragedy strikes the cats in a battle with the neighboring dog faction's guardian, causing the death of Simon, Waffle begins blaming himself for the trouble and goes into the woods to end his own life. There he meets Chee, an insect from another warring faction. The two befriend each other, little knowing of the role they will both play in the oncoming battles.
The name "Gear" comes from a mystical artifact existing in the land which promises to greatly increase a Guardian's powers. Many parties search for the Gear, including a secret ninja-like Gear cult. The main plot revolves around the appearance of the gear and the subsequent mysteries it creates. Further themes in the story are the politics of the animal towns, the friendship of the four cats, the afterlife, and giant robot combat.
Party animal Rick Gassko (Tom Hanks), who makes his living as a Catholic-school bus driver, decides to settle down and marry his girlfriend Debbie Thompson (Tawny Kitaen). After learning the news of the engagement, Rick's shocked friends, led by Jay (Adrian Zmed), decide to throw him an epic bachelor party. The bride's wealthy, conservative parents are unhappy with her decision, and her father enlists the help of Debbie's ex-boyfriend Cole Whittier (Robert Prescott) to sabotage her relationship with Rick and win her back.
While Debbie worries and goes off to a bridal shower thrown by her friends, Rick heads to the bachelor party, which takes place in a lavish, spacious hotel suite, and promises to remain faithful. Both parties start off on the wrong foot because of Cole's meddling. As the bachelor party starts to heat up, Debbie and the girls decide to get even with Rick and his friends by having a party of their own. Both parties eventually collide, leading to Debbie accusing Rick of infidelity.
The bachelor party becomes a wild, drunken orgy and the hotel room is trashed, which infuriates the hotel's frustrated manager (Kenneth Kimmins). Adding to the confusion is Rick's friend Brad, who has become despondent over the breakup of his marriage and botches several suicide attempts. When Brad tries to slit his wrists with an electric razor, Rick says, "Well.....at least your wrists will be smooth and kissable."
Rick convinces Debbie of his love and faithfulness just as the party is raided by the police. In the ensuing melee, Rick and Debbie become separated and Cole kidnaps Debbie, so Rick and his friends chase after them. The chase culminates in a showdown between Rick and Cole in a 36-screen movie theater, with a fist fight taking place in synchronization with a similar fight being shown in a 3D film projected behind them; the audience believes that the real fight is an extraordinary 3D effect. Rick wins the fight and is reunited with Debbie.
After the wedding, Rick and Debbie are driven to the airport for their honeymoon in Rick's school bus, which is driven by a laughing Brad.
Brent is part of a planetary survey team led by Captain Johnson. The crew lands on a world that is unspoiled and Edenic, but also unnerves Johnson. The captain chooses to leave the planet, deeming it unnecessary for the survey. This puts him at odds with Brent, who wishes to search for non-human life. Seeing that the captain is unwilling, Brent explores the planet on his own. He encounters several large lion-like creatures that appear to be of no threat.
Brent also encounters a beautiful, immortal woman who states that her kind have been in contact with humanity throughout history and are responsible for its progression as a species. This causes Brent to theorize that her kind were likely responsible for humanity's myths, legends, and religions. The woman also remarks that she has learned his language via other Terran encounters and that she has been monitoring the ship's communications. Greatly attracted to the woman as she resembles an old lover, Brent tries to rape her after she mentions Johnson. She easily repels him using a protective belt, after which she demands that Brent leave. He refuses, causing her to both admire his bravery and chastise his foolishness. The woman agrees to sleep with Brent, but warns him afterwards that the encounter will change him. Despite seeing that she clearly does not care what will happen to him, Brent chooses to remain and promises that he will not blame her after he changes.
The woman is then shown approaching the survey team spaceship and informing Johnson that Brent will remain with her and the other men. Before he leaves the planet Johnson sees a large lion-like creature following the woman and later sees it express a human gesture, implying that the beast is Brent and that the other creatures he encountered were formerly human as well.
The main character is Coretti, a dull, scholarly man who studies and teaches linguistics and social interaction theory. He sometimes visits bars to help dull the tedium, only choosing bars which have a low chance of putting him in social interaction.
Coretti meets a woman in a bar who seems to fit perfectly there. He follows her to various other bars and clubs, watching as she constantly drinks and talks with a companion of hers, her appearance and clothing shifting to let her fit in wherever she goes. His performance at work suffers and his appetite decreases as he devotes all his time and resources to tracking the duo.
Coretti spots the man secreting money from some kind of pocket, and realizes that he has discovered a new kind of creature, one that has adapted to modern society more completely than any cockroach, fueled by the alcohol of a hundred bars. The story closes with Coretti's realization that he is, and finally his transformation into, one of the belonging kind.
On the night of a meteor shower, Liane goes to Mr. Mackey's party, leaving Cartman to be babysat by Stan's 12-year-old sister, Shelley, who is an aggressive bully. While babysitting, she invites her 22-year-old boyfriend, Skyler, over, who in turn invites the rest of his rock band to rehearse (despite Liane specifically telling her not to have anyone over). Cartman is in his room, playing ''Wild Wild West'' and dressed up as Will Smith's version of Jim West from ''Wild Wild West'', but becomes upset with Shelley babysitting him and the boys practising (especially when the former gives him wedgies). Meanwhile, Mr. Kitty is in heat, much to Cartman's annoyance. Later, Skyler's bandmates leave in disgust after performing a song made by Shelley. In an effort to get her back, Cartman takes a picture of Shelley and Skyler about to kiss and tries to send it to his mother via Kitty, but Shelley finds the picture with the cat and removes it.
Kitty decides to go out in search of a tom. After an unsuccessful attempt with an overweight tom, she winds up seducing a large group of cats, and invites them back to Cartman's house and cracks open catnip. Eric tries to tell his mother that Shelley is breaking Liane's rule about having boys over, but she does not believe that Shelley would do such a thing. Back at home, during the meteor shower, Skyler gets mad at Shelley because she will not "put out" because she is 12 years old. Cartman has taped everything and is about to get Shelley in trouble, but instead comes to pity her when Skyler, angry that Shelley will not "put out" for him, breaks up with her and leaves her crying hysterically.
Cartman and Shelley decide to team up for revenge, and sneak into the woods near where Skyler lives. Cartman manages to entice Skyler out of his house with a taping of his Salma Hayek impersonation while Shelley sneaks in and destroys his prized guitar. They return home to find Kitty and many other cats engaged in a massive feline orgy. Skyler shows up, furious, but Cartman throws a box of catnip at Skyler, which attracts the clowder of cats, who attack and rape him. Mrs. Cartman returns home. Shelley and Cartman blame the mess on each other, but Liane, being inebriated, passes out without noticing the mess. Shelley, amazed that they got out of the situation unscathed, celebrates by dancing with Eric as he sings his version of the ''Wild, Wild West'' song.
On 11 May 2000, a psychologist, Dr. Arnold, is conducting a session with Karla Homolka at Canada's Regional Psychiatric Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Dr. Arnold's evaluation will determine Karla's eligibility for parole. During the session, Dr. Arnold shows Karla a photo album of herself, and her husband, Paul Bernardo, in happier times. Karla has a memory of how they first met. However, when Dr. Arnold introduces the subject of Karla's sister, Tammy Homolka, Karla becomes uncooperative.
Over the following weeks, Dr. Arnold probes Karla about her knowledge of Paul's secret life as a serial rapist. It is revealed that shortly before their marriage, Paul began to rape women. Paul convinced Karla to help him rape Tammy on camera. At first Karla disagrees, but eventually steals Halcion from the veterinary clinic where she works.
Tammy gets drunk at a Christmas party and becomes unresponsive after the two drug her. Tammy is raped, and ends up getting sick while drugged, choking on her own vomit. Karla calls 911, and the two hide the assault evidence so her death would appear accidental. Afterwards, Paul beats Karla. Karla learns never to ruin Paul's "movies."
Karla tells Dr. Arnold that Paul became obsessed with Tammy, and kept watching the video after her death, even showing it to friends. Paul also threatened to reveal Karla's role in her sister's murder, if he should get into any more trouble, but Karla finally leaves him anyway. Paul is open with Karla about his crimes, yet Karla does not object to them, even when Paul begins to bring his victims home. Although disturbed at that part of Paul's life, Karla learns to accept it, knowing that she too will be killed if she does not. At Paul's request, Karla hesitantly participates in these assaults.
Paul kidnaps a young girl named Tina and forces her to undress on camera. Karla witnesses this, but is too afraid to tell anyone. Tina is held for 3 days, and is raped repeatedly while Karla is forced to videotape it all. During one such assault, Paul strangles Tina after she sees his face. Karla tries to convince him not to kill her, but he insists, telling her that Tina can identify them both.
He cuts the body into pieces and seals them in cement blocks, which he then dumps into a lake. On the day of Paul and Karla's wedding, the girl's body is discovered, and identified by dental records. Paul stops raping and abducting for a time, but his anxiety and pent-up frustration cause him to become violent toward Karla. Paul's friends see the change in his personality and break off from him. Meanwhile Karla, suffering from the abuse and desperate to reclaim his affections, helps Paul abduct and rape another young girl named Kaitlyn.
Kaitlyn is brutally raped by Paul. Karla watches the assault and begins to cry. Paul beats Karla and tells her that she is ruining his movie again. After Paul leaves, Karla is put in charge of Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn tells Karla that she is a victim too, and that this is not her fault. When asked why she stays, Karla simply says, "You don't understand." Karla explains to Dr. Arnold that she wanted to free Kaitlyn, but was afraid Paul would kill her if she did.
Kaitlyn's disappearance immediately attracts a storm of media and police attention, so Paul kills her, to be rid of her. As part of the investigation, the police arrive at Paul's house. Paul is very cooperative so the police leave satisfied, but, afterwards, he beats Karla mercilessly. Karla takes refuge with friends before reporting the assault. Paul is then booked under domestic violence but is released after only one night in jail.
Back at the Regional Psychiatric Centre, Dr. Arnold asks Karla about her relationship with her younger sister, Tammy, and her jealousy towards her, because of Paul's attraction to her. Karla confesses that Paul wanted to take Tammy's virginity and that he wanted Karla to "give" Tammy to him. Karla agreed to help him rape her sister.
Shortly thereafter, the DNA samples Paul provided as part of the Scarborough rape investigation, are matched to the evidence found on one of the murder victims. Both Paul and Karla are subsequently arrested. During the trial, Paul testifies that Karla killed Kaitlyn Ross with a mallet. Karla denies all the killings. Paul is convicted on two counts of murder without any possibility of parole. Karla is given a sentence of twelve years in exchange for a guilty plea for manslaughter.
A note explains that Karla's parole was denied, as the psychologist found her artificial, manipulative, and without remorse.
Ross (Jason Schwartzman) is a customer of Spider Mike (John Leguizamo), a methamphetamine dealer. Spider Mike and his girlfriend Cookie (Mena Suvari) are constantly arguing, and Ross strikes up a friendship with Nikki (Brittany Murphy), a fellow addict. Nikki takes Ross to meet her boyfriend, "The Cook" (Mickey Rourke), who supplies Spider Mike with drugs from a meth lab he has set up in a motel room. The Cook gives a small amount of meth to Ross in exchange for bringing Nikki home, and says that he will get in touch with Ross if he needs a driver.
Back at his apartment, Ross gets messages from his mother and his former girlfriend, Amy, wishing him a happy birthday. Ross, assuming that Amy still loves him, sporadically calls her and leaves messages on her answering machine. He then goes to the local strip club while high, leading to an intense pornographic hallucination. He takes April (Chloe Hunter), one of the dancers he has a relationship with, home and has sex with her in a variety of positions, the last of which leaves her tied to the bed, naked and fully spread. As they finish, the Cook calls with an emergency regarding Nikki's dog, Taco, which needs to be taken to the veterinarian. April tells him to untie her but Ross, still high, duct-tapes April's eyes and mouth shut to keep her quiet and leaves her bound to the bed, playing music to cover her gagged screams. Elsewhere, two policemen (Peter Stormare and Alexis Arquette) working with a TV crew, raid the trailer where Frisbee (Patrick Fugit), another one of Spider Mike's customers, lives, falsely believing that a meth lab is located there. They take Frisbee and his overweight mother into custody and threaten him into helping them on a drug bust against Spider Mike.
After driving the Cook around town to buy ephedrine pills, beer, and pornography, Ross returns to his apartment to apologize to the helpless April. In the Cook's motel room, he and Nikki have a fight after a prostitute arrives in response to the Cook's inviting her around. Nikki ends their relationship, and calls Ross and asks him to take her to a bus station so she can go back to Las Vegas, which Ross does, again leaving April still tied to the bed. While Ross and Nikki are out, Frisbee, now wearing a wire, visits Spider Mike to buy some meth so the cops can arrest him. When he enters, Cookie attempts to seduce him, as revenge for Spider Mike using a phone sex line, but finds the wire. As the cops burst in, a furious Spider Mike shoots Frisbee in the testicles; Spider Mike and Cookie are both arrested, and Frisbee is taken to the hospital. After Ross and Nikki go back to his apartment and find April gone (rescued by his lesbian neighbor (Deborah Harry)), Ross finally drops Nikki off at the bus station, where they share a kiss, and hope to reunite if he ever goes to Vegas.
Meanwhile, the Cook's meth lab catches fire and destroys the motel room; he flees to the adult film store, where he is arrested after the owner (Rob Halford) calls the police. Once the Cook makes bail, he calls Ross asking for a ride to another dealer's (Eric Roberts) house in the city, which Ross agrees to do so that he can see Amy, who also lives in the city. The dealer provides the Cook with cash, some meth, and the equipment to start a new lab. The Cook promises Ross six months' worth of meth in exchange for being his chauffeur; he agrees on the condition that he can see Amy first. Amy, who has gotten her life together, wants no part of him after seeing that he still uses drugs and can only give her $100 of the $450 he owes her. As all the other characters go to sleep, the Cook drives a depressed Ross out to an old trailer in the countryside. Ross naps in his car as the Cook sets up a new lab in the trailer, only to blow it and himself up in the process.
A year after the Dark Maker ship has been destroyed, Haven City has been steadily rebuilt after Errol's defeat, and has grown into a peaceful utopia. Kras City, a dangerous dystopian city full of ruthless mobsters, is also home to a popular sport known as "Combat Racing". Jak, Daxter, Ashelin, Samos, Keira and Torn are invited to the reading of Krew's (one of the villains of ''Jak II'') last will, where they meet Krew's daughter, Rayn. After offering a toast, Krew reveals in a recording that he always wanted to win the Combat Racing Championship and demands that everyone present drive for him, revealing that the wine they toasted with was poisoned with minute doses of a slow acting poison known as Black Shade. Krew gives them an ultimatum: win the next Kras City Championship as his team and receive the antidote when they win, or die. Divided into four cups, Jak and his friends must race and win each round of the race to gain entrance to the championship.
During the gang's racing, Keira acts as their primary mechanic, eventually building faster new vehicles to aid Jak in his races. However, her true wish is to race alongside her friends but Samos forbids it due to the dangerous nature of the competition. Sig also appears to assist the crew, whereas Kleiver appears to challenge Jak with a friendly rivalry. Pecker manages to become a co-announcer working with TV personality and star GT Blitz. He also works as an investigative reporter for the shady goings-on in the syndicated racing event.
The main antagonists are members of a rival crime family to Krew's, led by the mysterious and unidentified boss, Mizo. Mizo's top henchmen, Cutter, Edje, and Shiv are Jak's main competition, but due to their failure to defeat Jak, Mizo's #2, Razer, a famous racer, comes back out of retirement. Finally another competitor enters for Mizo, an ex-Krimzon Guard robot known as UR-86. During the continuing competitions, stories of Blitz's father enter the mix as his father was a legendary racer for the Kras City Grand Championship, while Rayn continues to search through her father's video diaries searching for more information on Mizo and any information that may assist the team in defeating him. Animosity grows between Mizo's racers and Rayn and Jak and the gang as Jak continues to win races making Mizo more and more desperate.
As the final race approaches, GT Blitz enters as a mystery racer for Mizo's team. Keira finally jumps into the race as well. Jak completes and wins the Kras City Grand Championship. Blitz angrily storms over to Rayn claiming she cheated before revealing himself to be Mizo. Mizo then steals the antidote and drives off with Jak in pursuit. Jak manages to damage Mizo's car enough that he ends up in a fiery crash. As Jak retrieves the antidote, Mizo mentions his father's "sick" love of racing and how his father's neglect to his family in the name of the sport caused his family to strive to own all of it, to the point that Mizo murdered his father. As Jak walks away, Mizo takes a shot at Jak by noting his habit of "Leaving people to die," referencing when Jak left Krew to die in ''Jak II'' and left a deceased Damas behind in ''Jak 3''. Jak responds with "You get used to it," before Mizo's car explodes, killing him.
Jak and the team celebrate with drinks at a bar where Samos acknowledges Keira's good driving indicating that he has accepted that she has grown up. Rayn bids the team farewell, but leaves a figment of Krew's video diary which Daxter activates, presenting a hologram of Krew telling Rayn how to pour the wine to avoid being poisoned and outlining his plan for his family to become the top crime family in the region. This reveals Rayn to be even more rotten and manipulative than her father, and shows that she had been lying to and using the team the whole time. Rayn drives away calling her associates for a crime family meeting, claiming herself as the one in charge. She also tells her associates to spare Jak's team. Regardless, Jak and the team continue to celebrate, and Jak and Keira finally share a kiss at Daxter's encouragement to which he remarks, "Now that's what I call a photo finish!"
In 1912 Sonora, Mexico, Arizona lawman Lyedecker chases Yaqui Joe, a half-Yaqui, half-white bank robber who has stolen $6,000. Both men are captured by the Mexican general Verdugo.
Lyedecker learns that Joe used the loot to buy 100 rifles for the Yaqui people, who are being repressed by the government. Lyedecker is not interested in Joe's motive, and intends to recover the money and apprehend Joe to further his career.
The two men escape a Mexican firing squad and flee to the hills, where they are joined by Sarita, a beautiful Indian revolutionary. Sarita has a vendetta against the soldiers, who murdered her father. The fugitives become allies. The soldiers raid and burn a village that the rebels have just left, taking its children as hostages. Sarita tells Lydecker that she will allow him to take Yaqui Joe with him back to Phoenix afterwards if he stays with them to help rescue the children. She later warms up to Lyedecker and they make love.
Leading the Yaqui against Verdugo's forces, they ambush and derail the General's train and overcome his soldiers in an extended firefight. Sarita is killed in the battle. Lyedecker decides to return home alone and allow Yaqui Joe to take over as the rebel leader.
The film opens in the Rocky Mountains on the Colorado ranch of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, a journalist furiously trying to finish a story about his former attorney and friend, Carl Lazlo, Esq. Thompson then flashes back to a series of exploits involving the author and his attorney.
In 1968, Lazlo is fighting to stop a group of San Francisco youngsters from receiving harsh prison sentences for possession of marijuana. He convinces Thompson to write an article about it for ''Blast Magazine''. Thompson's editor, Marty Lewis, reminds Thompson that he has 19 hours to deadline. The judge hands out stiff sentences to everyone; the last client is a young man who was caught with a pound of marijuana and receives a five-year sentence. Lazlo reacts by attacking the prosecuting attorney and is then jailed for contempt of court.
The magazine story about the trial is a sensation, but Thompson does not hear from Lazlo until four years later, when Thompson is on assignment covering Super Bowl VI in Los Angeles. Lazlo appears at Thompson's hotel and convinces him to abandon the Super Bowl story and join his band of freedom fighters, which involves smuggling weapons to an unnamed Latin American country. Thompson goes along with Lazlo and the revolutionaries to a remote airstrip where a small airplane is to be loaded with weapons, but when a police helicopter finds them, Lazlo and his henchmen escape on the plane while Thompson refuses to follow.
Thompson's fame and fortune continue. He is a hit on the college lecture circuit and covers the 1972 presidential election campaign. After being thrown off the journalist plane by The Candidate's press secretary, Thompson takes the crew plane and gives strait-laced journalist Harris from the ''Post'' a strong hallucinogenic drug and steals his clothes and press credentials. At the next campaign stop, in the airport bathroom, Thompson is able to use his disguise to engage The Candidate in a conversation about the "Screwheads" and the "Doomed".
Thompson, still posing as Harris, returns to the journalist plane. Lazlo then appears, striding across the airport tarmac in a white suit. He boards the plane and tries to convince his old friend to join his socialist paradise somewhere in the desert. After causing a disturbance, Thompson and Lazlo are thrown off the plane, and Lazlo's papers that describe the community are blown across the airport runway. Lazlo, presumably, is not heard from again.
The action then returns to Thompson's cabin, just as the writer puts the finishing touches on his story, explaining that he didn't go along with Lazlo—or Nixon—because "it still hasn't gotten weird enough for me."
The story starts millions of years ago, in a very distant place in the universe—Planet Zuyua—where Zacek lived peacefully as the youngest of two heirs to the Zuyuan throne. There, young Zacek learned advanced cybernetics as a career, and he often built robots, big and small, as a hobby. His father, emperor Canilek (''Snakestar'', in mayan) was the founder and leader of the Great Universal Alliance (a galactic United Nations of sorts) that opposed emperor Asura's militaristic campaign of universal conquest.
In issue # 1, Asura's metnalian army invaded Planet Zuyua's capital city and forced the zuyuan people out of their own planet, as thousands of them were exterminated by emperor Asura's bloodthirsty occupation forces. In the middle of the attack, four giant robots programmed by Zacek to activate in case of peril suddenly burst into action, attacking Asura's soldiers and ships and wreaking havoc in the invading army.
Enter the first of many ''Transformables'' (also known as ''Guerreros Estelares'' or ''Stellar Warriors''): Titan, a robot/tank and the Transformables' leader; Aquarius, a robot/submarine; Stelaris, a speedy robot/spaceship and Unicorn, a robot/subterranean vehicle. These four unexpected robotic heroes helped the zuyuans to survive the invasion so they could plan their exodus to a safer planet.
However, while zuyuan strategists planned an escape route from Planet Zuyua, emperor Canilek sent his two sons on a quest to seek the Planet of Eternity, a sacred, mystical place where spiritual warriors go to attempt to awake the Kundalini serpent that lived in Mount Meru, and thus gain the spiritual transcendence, wisdom, inner peace and power that comes with being a Kundalini. Canilek hoped that at least one of his sons became the prophetized Kundalini warrior who would defeat Asura and bring back peace to the universe. Unfortunately, Canilek's best friend and advisor, Aspier, was also a spy who informed emperor Asura of Canilek's plans. Aspier was also commanded by Asura to kill Canilek when the appropriate time came, which he gleefully did, helped by the turmoil of Asura's invasion.
Meanwhile, Zacek and his older brother Nazul arrived at the Planet of Eternity, but as they reached the sacred serpent's chamber located in the depths of Mount Meru, a metnalian soldier who followed them by Asura's command assaulted the two princes (Asura knew of the prophecy of the Kundalini that would defeat him) and managed to grab Nazul and take him to his ship before he could go into the serpent's resting place. Zacek was unable to help his brother, because the heavy slab of stone that guarded the serpent's chamber entrance slammed shut in that precise moment, trapping him in there. A voice in the chamber told Zacek that he had no other choice than to follow his father's wishes and attempt to awake the Kundalini Serpent, which he reluctantly did. The zuyuan prince underwent the difficult task of awakening the sacred serpent, a feat that only the most spiritually enlightened and pure of heart could accomplish. Zacek managed to succeed in his mission, and became a full-fledged Kundalini warrior. Katnatek, the first Kundalini warrior (and the voice he heard when he entered the chamber) appeared before him then and gave him his Kalpe-Om, the magical item that allowed him to transform in the most powerful warrior of good in this universe (the audience is later informed that there are many possible universes, and each possible universe has its own Karmatron). By uttering a sacred mantra, Zacek transformed into Karmatron for the first time.
Fully equipped with his powerful new armor, Karmatron rushed then to Planet Metnal to save his brother, but he arrived too late. Emperor Asura tortured Nazul at his leisure, and then the dark emperor dumped him into Metnal's dreaded Darkness Zone, a place full of twisted, voracious man-eating beasts. Karmatron arrived at the Darkness Zone only to find the mangled corpse of Nazul still being devoured by the monsters who dwelled there. He also discovered that the evil emanations that impregnated the entire planet Metnal were very noxious to him (actually, evil in general was very noxious to him, because he used good spiritual power to fuel his powers) so he could only managed to escape rapidly from that horrid place with his brother's remains in his hands. Asura caught a glimpse of this awesome steel giant that came to his planet, and he became violently enraged then, for he acknowledge him for what he was, and knew him to be the source of many future problems.
The comic book followed Zacek's further adventures as he battled Asura across the galaxies, through many millennia, and the story was interrupted abruptly in issue # 298, with Karmatron fighting Asura here on Earth in modern times. The comic book was discontinued then and fans of all ages still hope for the saga to start anew.
The lost continent of Mu is featured as the location of one of the base cities of some of the main characters. The Moai of Easter Island are said to be images of a robot called '''Pazkuash''', protector of Mu. Likewise, the ancient Olmec and Toltec statues and artifacts like the Olmec colossal heads and the Atlantean figures are -according to the plot- actually representations of the transformers '''Olmec''' and '''Toltec''' respectively.
On July 5, 1906, Enoch Rucker Blakeslee announces that he intends to marry Miss Love Simpson, a milliner at his store who is years younger than he. This news shocks his family, since his wife Mattie Lou died only three weeks earlier. Rucker’s daughters, Mary Willis and Loma, worry about what the gossips of Cold Sassy will think of their father’s impropriety.
Will Tweedy, Rucker’s 14-year-old grandson and the novel's narrator, supports his grandfather’s marriage. He thinks Miss Love is nice and pretty, although she comes from Baltimore and therefore is practically a Yankee. Will thinks Rucker needs someone to look after him now that Mattie Lou is gone. On the afternoon of Rucker and Miss Love's elopement, Will sneaks off to go fishing in the country, despite the fact that he is supposed to be in mourning for his grandmother. He walks across a high, narrow train trestle and nearly dies when a train speeds toward him. He survives by lying flat between the tracks so the train passes just overhead without touching him. Will becomes a sensation after his near-death experience, and the whole town comes to his house to ask him about the incident. Rucker shocks everyone by arriving with his new bride, Miss Love.
The people of Cold Sassy disapprove of Rucker’s hasty marriage, and rumors spread quickly in the small town, but Will spends much time at the Blakeslee home and becomes friends with Miss Love. He likes her candid opinions and open personality. He also has a little crush on her and often spies on her. He soon learns that it's a marriage of convenience and that Rucker and Miss Love sleep in separate rooms. Miss Love tells Will that she married Rucker only because he promised to deed her the house and furniture. And Rucker married Miss Love to save on the cost of a housekeeper.
Clayton McAllister, Miss Love’s former fiancé from Texas, shows up one day and tries to persuade her to leave with him. He kisses her, but she sends him away contemptuously after kissing him.
Will and some of his friends make a trip into the country to pick up a horse for Miss Love, camping in the mountains along the way. When they return, Will and his father Hoyt try to convince Will’s mother, Mary Willis, to travel to New York. Rucker has bought the tickets to New York so Hoyt, who works for him, can go to purchase new goods for the store. At first Mary Willis refuses to go because she is in mourning, but Will and Hoyt convince her that the trip will do her good. Right after she changes her mind, Rucker decides to use the tickets himself to go to New York with Miss Love. Mary Willis is crushed, and her hatred of Miss Love increases. To take his and Mary Willis’ mind off the disappointment, Hoyt buys a brand-new Cadillac and becomes Cold Sassy's first car owner. Meanwhile, Rucker and Miss Love return from New York. They're now flirtatious and affectionate with each other, and Will wonders if their marriage is becoming more of a "real one." Rucker announces that he too has bought a car and intends to start selling cars in Cold Sassy.
Lightfoot McLendon is a classmate of Will’s who lives in the impoverished section of Cold Sassy known as Mill Town. One day Will takes Lightfoot on a car ride to the cemetery, where he kisses her. A nosy neighbor sees the kiss and tells Will’s parents. Outraged at Will’s association with common people, Will’s parents forbid him to drive the Cadillac for two months. Will gets around his punishment by driving Rucker’s car. One Sunday he, Rucker, and Miss Love take a day trip into the country, where Will gives them driving lessons.
On the way back to Cold Sassy, as he tries to avoid a collision with a Ford wrecked in the middle of the road, Will crashes the car into a creek bed and damages the radiator. While they wait for a repair team, they stay with a nearby family. That night, Will overhears Rucker tell Miss Love that he loves her and wants their marriage to be real. Miss Love declares that she cannot and that no man would want her if he knew her terrible secret. When she finally tells him her secret—her father raped her when she was a child—he says he doesn't care and affirms his love for her.
Eventually, Miss Love and Rucker fall deeply in love. Will’s uncle Camp Williams commits suicide, which begins a dark period in Cold Sassy. Rucker hires Will’s worst enemy, Hosie Roach, to work at the store in Camp’s place; because of his new income, Hosie can marry Will's beloved Lightfoot. A pair of thieves rob and beat Rucker.; he recovers from his injuries, but catches pneumonia. As he lies sick in bed, Will overhears him tell Miss Love that God provides strength and comfort to the faithful in times of trouble. Miss Love tells Will that she's pregnant, although Rucker doesn't know. Rucker dies, but his message of faith in God gives Will strength to cope. Though the town and Will's family don't accept Miss Love, she knows they'll accept her child, so she plans to stay in Cold Sassy.
Sound engineer Sang-woo meets local DJ Eun-soo on a recording trip in the quest for nature's voice. They succeed in capturing various sensual sounds as well as each other's tenderness. Their love flourishes as spring comes along, but Sang-woo's ever intensifying passion often reminds Eun-soo of her tragic past. She knows only too well how passion can vanish like a sound, and how love always surrenders to its end.
El Topo is traveling through a desert on horseback with his naked young son, Hijo. After they come across a town whose people, horses and livestock have been slaughtered, El Topo hunts down and kills the perpetrators and their leader, a fat balding Colonel. El Topo leaves his son to the monks of the settlement's mission and rides off with a woman whom the Colonel had kept as a slave. After turning bitter water sweet by stirring it with a branch, El Topo names the woman Marah. In need of food and water, El Topo spaces Marah's feet apart and digs up eggs from the sand beneath them, then utters a prayer before shooting a rock, which then releases water. When Marah tries these same techniques, she turns up nothing, seeming to lack El Topo's faith. After El Topo tears her clothes and apparently rapes her, Marah promptly becomes able to find eggs and water. She tells El Topo she will not return his love unless he proves himself the best gun-fighter by defeating the desert's four great gun masters. Each gun master represents a particular religion or philosophy, and El Topo learns from each of them before instigating a duel. El Topo is victorious each time, not through superior skill but through trickery or luck.
After the first duel, a black-clad woman who speaks with a man's voice finds the couple and guides them to the remaining gun masters. As he kills each master, El Topo has increasing doubts about his mission, but Marah persuades him to continue. After the final gun master outsmarts El Topo by killing himself before El Topo is able to kill him, El Topo becomes ridden with guilt, destroys his own gun and revisits the places where he killed the masters, finding their corpses either on fire, covered with geometrical objects, or swarming with bees. The unnamed woman confronts El Topo and shoots him several times in the manner of stigmata. Marah then rides off with the woman, while El Topo collapses and is carried away by a group of deformed people.
El Topo awakens many years later in a cave to find that the tribe of deformed outcasts have taken care of him and come to regard him as a god-like figure while he has been asleep and meditating on the gun masters' "four lessons". The outcasts dwell in a system of caves which have been blocked in — the only exit is out of their reach due to their deformities. When El Topo awakens, he is "born again" and decides to help the outcasts escape. He is able to reach the exit and, together with a dwarf girl who becomes his lover, performs for the depraved cultists of the neighboring town to raise money for dynamite to assist in digging a tunnel on one side of the mountain where the outcasts have effectively been kept imprisoned.
Hijo, now a young monk, arrives in the town to be the new priest, but is disgusted by the religion the cultists practice – notably symbolized by the frequent display of a basic line drawing of the Eye of Providence – and their violent preoccupation with guns, from their church "ritual" through to the film's bloody climax. Despite El Topo's great change in appearance, Hijo recognizes him and intends to kill him on the spot, but agrees to wait until he has succeeded in freeing the outcasts. Now wearing his father's black gunfighter clothes, Hijo grows impatient at the time the project is taking, and begins to work alongside El Topo to hasten the moment when he will kill him. At the point when Hijo is ready to give up on finishing the tunnel, El Topo breaks through into the cave. The tunnel has been completed, but Hijo finds that he cannot bring himself to kill his father.
The outcasts come streaming out, but as they enter the town they are shot down by the cultists. El Topo helplessly witnesses the community being slaughtered and is shot himself. Powering through his wounds, he massacres the town, then takes an oil lamp and immolates himself. His lover gives birth at the same time, and she and his son make a grave for his remains. This becomes a beehive like one of the gun masters' graves.
El Topo's son rides off with his father's lover and child on horseback.
After chasing his rival Mandark out of his lab when he tries to steal his latest invention, the Neurotomic Protocore, an energy source that also draws on and distributes the brainpower of its user, Dexter asks his sister Dee Dee to leave the lab, where she unintentionally enters a time machine stored near the entrance. Suddenly, Dexter is confronted with a group of red robots that have appeared from this time machine. They declare that they are here to "destroy the one who saved the future" and appear to make ready to attack Dexter. Dexter easily destroys them with the use of various tools and gadgets from his lab, as the robots mysteriously don't attack at all. Believing that he is "The One Who Saved the Future" that the robots spoke of, Dexter decides to travel through time to discover how "cool" he becomes.
However, in the first time period he visits, Dexter finds a tall, skinny, weak version of himself (known only as "Number Twelve") working in an office designing cubicles – and Mandark is his rich, successful – and sadistically abusive – boss. The kid Dexter berates his older self for allowing Mandark to bully him around and manages to convince him to come along to see how cool they become, but unwittingly leaves the Neurotomic Protocore and its related blueprints out in his cubicle, which Mandark steals as the two Dexters move forward in time.
In the second time period, all the technology from the blueprints has been implemented, creating a utopian society of science and knowledge where anything can be materialized through the power of the Core. The two Dexters meet their much older self, a wizened senior citizen Dexter about the same height as the kid Dexter who is responsible for bringing the world into this new age with his brainpower (and Mandark's brain in a vat who cannot do anything other than complain about his situation). Due to his advanced age, however, Old Man Dexter can't remember anything about how he saved the world, so they travel back in time to find out.
In this final time period, which takes place between the first and second time periods, they find a dystopic world where everyone is stupid and fire and technology are forbidden, controlled by overlord Mandark thanks to the Neurotomic Protocore. They meet action hero Dexter, who is tall, muscular and bald, fighting Mandark's evil robots. Action Hero Dexter explains that he and Mandark had been employed as corporate research scientists many years ago, where a jealous Mandark, unable to come up with the ideas Dexter could, stole them and passed them off as his own, using them to rise through the ranks and eventually take over the company in a coup – turning Dexter into the weak, cowardly, cubicle-designing Twelve.
Eventually, Mandark got a hold of the Neurotomic Protocore (due to Twelve's mistake in leaving it out in his cubicle) and attempted to harness its power, but set the core's positive flow to negative due to his incompetence with it, twisting his already evil mind. As the Core's now negative energies slowly swept over the world, they gradually numbed the minds of the population and allowed him to take over the world, hoarding all science and knowledge for himself. Dexter, no longer able to stand being enslaved and determined to stop Mandark, spent years digging underground to escape Mandark's tower, growing into his Action Hero persona in the process. By the time he emerged, the world was in its current state.
The four Dexters, determined to end Mandark's oppressive rule once and for all, go back to their ruined laboratory and use its resources to build a giant robot to invade his fortress. They manage to fight their way in – though the robot is destroyed in the process – and confront Overlord Mandark, now morbidly obese with brain matter, with his only form of locomotion being carried around his lair by a hook-and-winch. Outnumbered, Mandark evens the playing field by summoning his three selves from the other time periods to help him defeat the Dexters. A battle royal ensues, with each Dexter fighting the Mandark of their respective time period. Twelve eventually stands up to his Mandark who he defeats before rallying the other Dexters to reach the Core's controls.
The fight ends in a stalemate, both groups restraining each other from pressing the Core's main button; however, Dee Dee emerges from the time machine welded into the Dexters’ now-destroyed robot. With her sudden presence confusing the Dexters and distracting the Mandarks, no one able to stop her as she – driven by her habit of seeing what buttons do – presses it herself.
With the positive flow of the Neurotomic Protocore restored, the world's intelligence returns to normal and causes Mandark's three time-displaced selves to be sent back to their own time periods, his head to burst open with only his brain intact, and his fortress to collapse. However, the Dexters, realizing in anger that ''Dee Dee'' was "the one who saved the future," create a group of five robots from the rubble to get revenge on her for inadvertently taking away their triumph. The kid Dexter commands them to "destroy the one who saved the future" before sending them back to the past, unwittingly setting the whole series of events in motion himself.
The Dexters return to their original time periods. The kid Dexter returns shortly before he originally left, and sees himself fighting the robots he just built with his other selves. Realizing the time loop he has created (or rather that he has come back too far back to before he ever left), Dexter becomes confused when he attempts to wrap his head around it all but ultimately decides to ignore it and goes to eat a sandwich. When Dee Dee – who had already used the time machine to return home after saving the future – shows up, Dexter gathers up his food and walks away, still angry. Unaware of what she did, Dee Dee is left to shrug at the audience in a confused manner, as the movie draws to an end.
The film traces the romance, marriage and estrangement of a down-and-out comedian, Yong-ki (Lee Jung-jae) and his long-suffering wife, Jung-yeon (Lee Young-ae). Both of them defied his parents to get married but it seems his parents' fears that things will never work out are coming true. Yong-ki hides behind a facade of optimism even as he turns down boring job offers in the hopes that his comedic talent will be noticed on a famous talent show he's auditioning for. Meanwhile, Jung-yeon has to support them both as well as bear the pain of a miscarriage that Yong-ki is trying his best to forget. To make matters worse, Jung-yeon discovers that she's dying from a terminal disease and though Yong-ki suspects that something is wrong, she never tells him about her illness. Through the silent suffering and the estrangement, both husband and wife believe their marriage is over. But what they fail to notice until it is too late is that they still love each other deeply but both have been overcome by the trials life has thrown at them.