In the midst of divorce, bereft of the only people in her life she cares for, Celia considers taking her life. But, while on an exotic island, Celia meets Larraby, a successful portrait painter, who spends a night talking with her, and learning her deepest fears. Larraby leaves Celia with the hope that he may be the one to help her come to terms with her past.

''Thank God It's Friday'' tells several intertwining stories of the patrons and staff of the fictional Los Angeles disco nightclub The Zoo over the course of a single Friday evening. These people include: * Tony Di Marco – owner of The Zoo. Lecherous and promiscuous, he's inordinately fond of his 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera. * Bobby Speed – the club's DJ, who's broadcasting his first live show from the club. * Frannie and Jeannie – two high school friends who want to win The Zoo's dance contest to buy KISS concert tickets. * Carl and Ken – hopelessly near-sighted shlub looking for a casual liaison, and his friend looking for a girlfriend. * Dave and Sue – a young married couple celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary. * Jackie – dental hygienist by day, drugged-out disco freak and Zoo regular by night. * Jennifer and Maddy – the new girl in town taken to the disco by her know-it-all friend who's not as sophisticated as she thinks she is. * Nicole Sims – an aspiring disco singer. * Marv Gomez – a self-described "leatherman" who lives to dance. * Malcolm Floyd – the roadie for The Commodores, responsible for delivering their instruments to the club by midnight. * Gus and Shirley – a mismatched couple on a blind date.

Sue insists that her uptight accountant husband Dave take her to the disco. On a bet with Bobby, Tony tries to pick up Sue. Dave is drugged and renamed "Babbakazoo" by Jackie, and makes a fool of himself. Carl and Ken are repeatedly thwarted in their attempts to meet girls. Frannie and Jeannie trick Marv into helping them sneak into the disco after several failed attempts at gaining entry. Jennifer tries to meet a guy, but Maddy vetoes each of the guys that Jennifer is attracted to. Nicole repeatedly attempts to slip into the DJ booth to get Bobby to play her single. Crude garbage collector Gus is horrified that the dating service has matched him with a prim college educated woman, and one who is taller than he is. Floyd gets stopped repeatedly by the police on suspicion of stealing The Commodores' instruments. Marv teaches the uptight Ken how to dance.

Maddy ditches Jennifer to attend a hot tub party (with the same sleazy guys who came on to Jennifer). Gus and Shirley decide to give it a try. Carl finally meets a girl, but becomes trapped in a stairway before they can leave together. Floyd makes it to the club in time for the Commodores to play, but before they go on, Nicole sneaks up on stage and scores a huge triumph singing "Last Dance". Frannie, after tricking Marv's dance partner into the locked stairway, enters the dance contest with Marv. Carl and Marv's dance partner hook up in the stairway. Jennifer and Ken share a romantic dance, as do Nicole and Bobby. Dave comes down and Sue ditches Tony. Tony's parked car, having taken innumerable hits from pretty much every other character's car, falls apart in the parking lot. Marv and Frannie win the big dance contest. Deciding that the KISS concert is "kid stuff", Frannie and Jeannie, now self-proclaimed "disco queens", go with Marv to hit another disco for the 1:00 a.m. dance contest.

The novel is set in 1963, twenty-one years following the end of the alternate World War II and nineteen years after the Race Invasion of Tosev 3. Earl Warren is President of the United States, Vyacheslav Molotov is the Premier of the Soviet Union, and Heinrich Himmler leads Nazi Germany. Smaller countries remain independent, such as the Republic of Ireland and Imperial Japan, which still controls portions of its World War II-era empire. A few isolated areas such as French Polynesia are still held by Charles de Gaulle's Free France, and in German-occupied France the French Resistance remains active. The Northern Hemisphere remains relatively free of Race occupation, but the hotter regions of the planet, such as Central and South America, Mexico, Spain, Portugal, Africa, China, the Middle East, and Australia, are all under Race control. The Race also occupies Poland, with the territory acting as a buffer state, keeping Germany and the Soviet Union from having a mutual land border and an easy way to restart the war between them.

At the start of the novel, the colonization fleet of the Race enters the Solar System, bringing with them 80-100 million colonists for settling on Earth. As the fleet enters Earth orbit, a human satellite unleashes a nuclear attack that kills millions. As Germany, the Soviet Union, and the United States each have large-scale space capability, any of the three nations may have been responsible for the attack. All three deny it when furious Race leaders, headed by Fleetlord Atvar, the commander of all Race forces sent to Earth, demand answers, but two of the three human nations are really as much unaware of the attacker's identity as the Race. In addition, while there is an uneasy peace between the independent human nations and the Race, Mao Zedong and Ruhollah Khomeini continue to lead popular resistance to the invaders in China and the Middle East, respectively. Race efforts to wage a counterinsurgency war in those regions are frustrated by their lack of familiarity with such warfare and a nearly-total lack of support from the human population. The Race also becomes aware of subtle support of the resistance movements by Germany, the United States, and the Soviet Union, but as the Race is unable to prove it, nothing can be done to stop them.

Meanwhile, the Race's colonists, who expected to encounter an Earth that was already conquered with the natives still at medieval levels of advancement, must deal with the consequences of the cold war with the humans. The fleet brings with it not only the first civilians but also the first Race females, both of which cause tension among the male soldiers who formed the invasion force. To the Race males, ginger is a euphoric drug; to the females, it causes them to go into estrus, throwing Race forces on Earth into social chaos. Worse still for Fleetlord Atvar is a sharp upswing in armed revolts in the Middle East and in China; at the novel's end, Khomeini's guerrillas have staged several successful ambushes against Race patrols, and resistance forces under Mao storm the Forbidden City.

After being dropped off at Bullworth Academy, Jimmy Hopkins (Gerry Rosenthal) meets the school's principal, Dr. Thaddeus Crabblesnitch (Ralph Gunderman), who urges him to "keep his nose clean". He soon befriends senior Gary Smith (Peter Vack) and freshman Peter "Petey" Kowalski (Matt Bush), and begins working with them to try and assert their dominance over Bullworth's various "cliques": the Bullies, Nerds, Preppies, Greasers, and Jocks. However, an increasingly paranoid Gary eventually betrays Jimmy and pits him against Russell Northrop (Cody Melton), the Bullies' leader, in an underground fight. Jimmy defeats Russell and forces him to stop picking on his fellow students, earning the Bullies' respect.

Over the following months, Jimmy works with Petey to take over the other cliques in an attempt to restore peace to Bullworth. He begins with the Preppies, but just as he begins to win them over, Gary manipulates them into turning against him. In response, Jimmy enters a boxing tournament hosted by the Preppies' leader, Derby Harrington (John Lavelle). Despite his victory, the Preppies refuse to accept Jimmy's dominance and fight him together, but are defeated. Turning his attention to the Greasers, Jimmy agrees to help their leader, Johnny Vincent (Rocco Rosanio), expose an affair between his girlfriend Lola Lombardi (Phoebe Strole) and Preppy member Gord Vendome (Drew Gehling). However, the Greasers turn on Jimmy after he is forced to make amends with the Preppies by vandalizing the Greasers' territory. After Gary tips Johnny off on Jimmy's growing closeness with Lola, he lures Jimmy into an ambush, but is ultimately defeated and surrenders Greaser leadership to him.

To take over the Jocks, regarded as the most powerful clique, Jimmy seeks the assistance of their main rivals, the Nerds. When they refuse to help, Jimmy defeats their leader, Earnest Jones (Jesse Tendler), and earns his and the Nerds' respect by guaranteeing they will never be picked on again. To ruin the Jocks' reputation, Earnest has Jimmy take inappropriate pictures of the school's head cheerleader, Mandy Wiles (Elena Franklin), which are then spread across town. However, Jimmy later removes the pictures out of pity for Mandy, earning her affection. Eventually, the Jocks are humiliated after Jimmy sabotages their big football game, and subsequently defeats their leader Ted Thompson (Alexander Cendese) in a fight in front of the entire school.

Having united all the cliques under his rule and restored peace to Bullworth, Jimmy basks in his newfound glory and respect, unaware that Gary is plotting to overthrow him. Gary convinces the clique leaders to pressure Jimmy into vandalizing Bullworth's town hall, and recruits the "Townies", a group of former Bullworth students who seek revenge against the school, to play a series of dangerous pranks on the cliques, so that they would blame Jimmy's poor leadership and turn on him. After informing Crabblesnitch of Jimmy vandalizing the town hall, Gary earns his respect and is appointed head boy, while Jimmy is expelled.

Although Jimmy initially accepts his defeat, Petey encourages him to seek revenge on Gary. To convince the Townies to turn on him, Jimmy seeks the assistance of one of their members, Zoe Taylor (Molly Fox), who was expelled from Bullworth after accusing the school's predatory sports teacher Mr. Burton (Michael Boyle) of sexual harassment. After helping Zoe exact revenge on Burton, Jimmy storms the Townies' hangout with her and Russell's help, and confronts their leader, Edgar Munsen (Jan Milewicz). After defeating Edgar, Jimmy explains to him how Gary manipulated and used both of them to his own ends, earning the Townies' respect.

Meanwhile, Gary and his followers take Crabblesnitch hostage, sparking a full-blown war between the cliques. The Townies and Russell help Jimmy neutralize the clique leaders, allowing him to confront Gary in the main school building. Jimmy chases Gary to the rooftop where they have a fight, which ends with both of them falling off the roof and into Crabblesnitch's office. Once freed, he expels Gary, fires Burton for his actions against Zoe, appoints Petey as head boy, and reconciles with Jimmy by allowing both him and Zoe to return to Bullworth. Outside, while his friends and allies cheer on, Jimmy shares a kiss with Zoe.

In 1973, a squad of nine Louisiana Army National Guard soldiers convene in a local bayou for weekend maneuvers. New to the squad is Corporal Hardin, a cynical transfer from the Texas Army National Guard. He soon becomes disgusted with the arrogant behavior and attitudes of the men. A happily-married chemical engineer in his civilian life, Hardin wants no part of a date with prostitutes which PFC Spencer has arranged for himself and their squad-mates. Nevertheless, he hits it off with the amiable Spencer, and both find themselves to be the most level-headed soldiers in their squad.

The nine soldiers set out on patrol and soon get lost in the swamp. They come across a seemingly-abandoned campsite with several canoe-type boats called pirogues. To continue onward, the Guardsmen need the pirogues to get across the flooded swamp. The squad's leader, Staff Sergeant Poole, a Vietnam War veteran, orders the soldiers into three of the pirogues. As they set out across the bayou, a group of Cajun hunter-trappers return and yell at the soldiers for having taken their boats. In response, PFC Stuckey fires blanks from his M-60 machine gun at the Cajuns, thinking it funny when the Cajuns take cover. The Cajuns return fire with live ammunition, killing Poole and sending the squad into a frenzy as they make their way toward cover.

Sgt. Casper – the strict, inexperienced, and unpopular second-in-command – orders the squad to continue their "mission." They discover that Cpl. Reece has brought along a box of live ammunition for hunting purposes. Reece is forced at knife-point by Hardin to give up the live ammo, and Casper divides it evenly among the soldiers, in order to bolster their chances of defense. They reach the shack of a one-armed Cajun hunter-trapper, who speaks only French. Casper has him arrested as a prisoner of war. The emotionally unstable Cpl. Bowden uses gasoline to ignite some TNT inside the shack, blowing it up, along with numerous provisions of food, fresh water, guns, and ammunition.

The soldiers feel increasingly threatened. Hearing the barking of dogs, the Guardsmen presume they're about to be rescued. The dogs, however, belong to the Cajuns, who are now stalking the soldiers because of Stuckey's actions. The Guardsmen fend off the attacking dogs, only to find that lethal boobytraps have been set for them. Pvt. Cribbs is killed when he trips a spear-bed built into a spring-released cradle-frame, impaling him. The squad camps for the night. Overnight, Bowden begins to have a serious mental breakdown, refusing to speak to anyone or move. The group decides to tie him up for the night. The following morning, Reece tortures the one-armed Cajun by dunking his head in a fetid pond. Hardin discovers this and tries to stop it. Both soldiers get in a fight to the death with bayonets. As the men fight, Hardin gains the upper hand, and to his surprise, the one-armed Cajun screams in English for Hardin to kill Reece. After Reece is killed, the one-armed Cajun escapes into the swamp. Stuckey, who was close friends with Reece, threatens to kill Hardin.

As a helicopter passes overhead, the soldiers frantically try to signal it. Rushing headlong into the swamp after the chopper as it moves onward, Stuckey sinks to his death in quicksand. Having no confidence in Casper after his inept leadership, Spencer relieves him of command. They split up to search for Stuckey. Casper throws a homemade grenade at the Cajuns to no avail, then fixes his bayonet to his rifle and charges at them. Both he and PFC. Simms are shot dead.

Spencer, Hardin, and the now-catatonic Bowden camp for the night. The following morning Hardin and Spencer are jolted awake by a freight train, and then realize that Bowden is missing. They move to the train tracks and find Bowden hanging dead from a bridge. The one-armed Cajun appears on the tracks overhead. In perfect English, he warns Spencer and Hardin to leave the Cajuns' territory while they still can. He gives them directions on how to escape the bayou, since Hardin and Spencer saved him from physical assault by Simms and Reece.

Following the one-armed Cajun's advice, Spencer and Hardin follow a dirt road and end up hitching a ride with a friendly Cajun couple. They are driven to a pig roast at a nearby Cajun village. As Spencer happily mixes with the villagers, a wary Hardin sees the arrival of the three remaining hunter-trappers who massacred their squad. One of Hardin's would-be-killers chases him into a shed and wounds him in the arm. Spencer suddenly shows up, firing blanks at the Cajun as a distraction, giving Hardin the chance to stab him in the groin. The other two Cajuns arrive, and Spencer runs, leading them away from the injured Hardin. Spencer, hiding around a corner, hits one of the Cajuns in the face with the butt of his M-16, knocking him out. The remaining Cajun gives chase, but as he is about to shoot Spencer, Hardin grabs him from behind. This gives Spencer the opportunity to stab him to death with his bayonet. Leaving behind the village, Spencer and Hardin slip away unseen into the swamp. As the duo moves into the swamp, another helicopter arrives overhead and seems to stay in the vicinity. They get back to the dirt road just in time to see a U.S. Army truck drive towards them. They look at each other, knowing they are finally safe.

When SpongeBob goes around to the back of the Krusty Krab to take out the trash, he reads some graffiti written on a dumpster, one of which contains a word he does not understand. SpongeBob asks Patrick, who says that the word is a "sentence enhancer" which is used "when you want to talk fancy." The next day, SpongeBob walks into the Krusty Krab and says the word to Patrick and then over to the intercom, causing the customers to complain and leave. Squidward then informs Mr. Krabs, who tells them that they were using profanity; he mentions that there are thirteen swear words that they should never use (though Squidward thought that there were only seven). SpongeBob and Patrick vow to never use the swear word again.

Later, they play their favorite game, Eels and Escalators; Spongebob loses and accidentally utters the swear word in frustration. Patrick then races to the Krusty Krab to tell Mr. Krabs with SpongeBob trying to stop him. Patrick also uses the word during the chase, leading SpongeBob to burst through the front door and tell Mr. Krabs that Patrick said the swear word, with Patrick joining along. Eventually, Mr. Krabs stops their gibberish explanations and tells them to simply explain the problem. Once they do, Mr. Krabs angrily removes them from the restaurant and prepares a punishment. SpongeBob and Patrick make a vow to stop using the swear word, be good citizens like Mr. Krabs.

As Mr. Krabs is about to tell them to paint the restaurant as punishment, he hits his foot on a rock, prompting him to yell out all thirteen swear words in pain. When SpongeBob and Patrick hear the swear words, they run to Mama Krabs' house to tattle on him. The three reach her house at the same time, and all explain what happened at once, saying the same swear words in the process. After she briefly faints, Mr. Krabs accuses them of causing her to faint, before Mama Krabs regains consciousness and chastises them all for their actions. She then tells them to paint her house as punishment. Later, Mama Krabs goes to reward them for their hard work, but she hits her foot on a rock like Mr. Krabs did; when she complains about her injury, SpongeBob, Patrick, and Mr. Krabs are shocked at her apparent swearing, though the noises turn out to be Old Man Jenkins honking to her in his jalopy.

The theme of the tale is the childhood sin of disobedience. Tom Kitten is a young cat who lives with his mother, Mrs. Tabitha Twitchit, and sisters, Moppet and Mittens, in a house overrun with rats. Her children being an unruly bunch, Mrs. Twitchit puts Moppet and Mittens in a cupboard in order to keep them under control, but Tom Kitten, not wanting to be put in a cupboard, escapes up the chimney. As he makes his way to the top of the house, he comes across a crack in the wall and, squeezing through it, finds himself under the attic's floorboards. There he meets the rats, Mr. Samuel Whiskers and his wife Anna Maria. They catch him and proceed to cover him with butter and dough they have stolen in order to eat him as a pudding. They are seen by the two other Kittens who are hiding from their mother as they steal the dough, butter, and rolling-pin. However, when they proceed to settle the dough with a rolling-pin, the noise gets through the floorboards and attracts the attention of Tabitha Twitchit and her cousin Ribby who has been helping search for Tom. They quickly call for John Joiner, the carpenter, who saws open the floor and rescues Tom. He has the dough removed, is washed, and the remains of the dumpling are eaten by the family. Whiskers and his wife escape to the barn of Farmer Potatoes, spreading their chaos to another location, though leaving the cat family residence in peace. Potter mentions herself as seeing Samuel Whiskers and Anna Maria making their escape, using a wheelbarrow that looks like her own. Tom is so affected by the incident that while his sisters become fine rat-catchers he is afraid of anything larger than a mouse.

1. Thomas Hector Schofield (or "Hex" as he prefers to be called) is a nurse at St Gart's Hospital, where things are getting a little strange. The new hire, an attractive girl who insists on being called "McShane", is asking too many questions, and unexplained deaths are happening. What exactly is the mysterious C-Programme… and why does McShane seem to be living in a police box in Totter's Lane?

Two years after throwing his fight with Tank Murdock, Philo Beddoe is still fighting in underground bare-knuckle boxing matches to make money on the side. Philo, who still lives with his mother, his brother Orville and orangutan Clyde, decides to retire when he realizes that he has started to enjoy the pain. One evening, Philo encounters his ex-girlfriend, country-western singer Lynn Halsey-Taylor, singing at his favorite bar. Orville angrily reproves Lynn for her actions two years before. Lynn apologizes to Philo. Philo, initially gruff and reluctant, forgives her. They become a couple again and move in together.

The Black Widows, the biker gang with a long-running grudge against Philo, return. They still want revenge for the destruction of their bikes. However, Philo bests them in a chase that runs through an asphalt machine during a road-paving project.

Meanwhile, Jack Wilson, a new breed of fighter from the East Coast who mixes martial arts with boxing, dominates the bare-knuckle circuit. He is so effective at maiming his opponents that his handlers cannot book fights for him. After a fight between a mongoose and a rattlesnake, one of the handlers realizes that if Philo, king of the West Coast brawlers, agreed to fight Wilson, it would be the biggest draw in the history of bare-knuckle boxing. Philo initially agrees to the fight but after much prodding from Orville and Lynn, withdraws. The handlers, led by handicapper Jimmy Beekman and backed by the Mafia, kidnap Lynn to coerce Philo to show up for the fight. The fight is to take place near Jackson, Wyoming. The Black Widows follow Philo there.

Wilson, however, is a prize fighter with morals. After he learns of the plot and helps Philo and Orville rescue Lynn, he and Philo mutually decide to call off the fight. However, both fighters' personal pride makes them wonder who would have won. The brawl between the duo takes place after all, but it is punctuated by pauses and personal reflections on their mutual admiration for each other. Meanwhile, the Black Widows bet everything they have on Philo; despite their rivalry, they know that ''he'' is the better fighter. When the mobsters try to kill Philo once he gains the upper hand, the Black Widows protect their investment by beating up the Mafia men. Wilson eventually breaks Philo's arm and offers to end the fight, but the two men continue the brawl. After a long fight, Philo knocks Wilson out long enough to qualify for a win. Wilson helps Philo to the hospital, then later on they have a drink at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. On their way home, Philo and the Black Widows (who are now rich) declare a truce and part amicably. Beekman, whose attempts to rig the fight for Wilson failed, cannot pay the mob bettors and is marked for death. After reaching California, Philo and Lynn are pulled over by a cop who lost money betting against Philo earlier; he promises to endlessly harass them as punishment. Lynn calls out, "Right turn, Clyde!" Clyde promptly knocks out the cop and they drive away.

While FBI agent Jake Malloy pursues a serial killer who targets police officers, his former partner becomes a victim. At his partner's home, the killer calls Malloy from Malloy's home. The killer says Malloy pursued him earlier for a series of prostitute murders; as revenge, he kills Mary, Malloy's girlfriend. Malloy pursues the killer, only to find that he appears to have committed suicide. Three months later, Malloy descends into alcoholism. After a suicide attempt, Malloy's best friend and supervising officer, Agent Chuck Hendricks, enrolls Malloy in a rehabilitation program for law enforcement officers run by Dr. John "Doc" Mitchell, a former cop and recovering alcoholic. Hendricks stays in Wyoming to ensure Malloy will be okay.

Malloy meets several other officers who are patients in the clinic, including Peter Noah, an arrogant and paranoid ex-SWAT officer; Frank Slater, a cynical British police officer; Willie Jones, a religious homicide detective; Jaworski, a narcotics cop who attempted suicide; Lopez, a foul-mouthed LAPD officer; and McKenzie, an elderly member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who witnessed his partner's murder. He meets several staff members, including Doc's assistant and mechanic Hank and compassionate resident psychiatrist and nurse Jenny Munroe, with whom Malloy develops a bond.

A blizzard seals everyone in the rehab center without outside communication. Jenny finds the body of Connor, a troubled patient who apparently killed himself, but Jenny believes Connor would have sought help. The next morning Hank finds another apparent suicide, but Malloy believes otherwise. Doc locks up the surviving patients while he reviews their files. Jenny informs Doc that Jack Bennett, an orderly who was a former patient, is missing. After an axe-wielding man kills Doc, everyone but Malloy and Jenny suspect Jack. Malloy returns the cops' sidearms. Hendricks finds a dead cop in a frozen lake and returns to the clinic with the owner of a nearby fishing shop.

Hank, the clinic's cook Manny, and helper Gilbert, volunteer to drive through the blizzard to get help. While driving away, Hank veers away from something. The truck slides off the icy road and crashes. Malloy and Jenny hear the crash, and Malloy hands a gun to Jenny before investigating. Malloy finds Manny murdered and also found Jack's body, which caused the crash. Gilbert flees while Malloy rushes back to the clinic.

The killer electrocutes McKenzie, deactivating the building's power and heating system. Malloy forces everyone except Jenny to their cells, realizing a murderer is impersonating a cop. Suspecting this is Mary's killer, Malloy finds evidence on Connor's body to support this. As Malloy and Jenny return to the cells, Hank, suspecting Malloy, knocks him out. He locks Malloy in Slater's cell and releases everyone else.

Malloy finds a matchbook in Slater's cell from a Seattle restaurant frequented by cops, identifying him as the killer. Malloy realizes Slater has been observing him and other policemen he murdered at the restaurant. Malloy escapes and finds the missing badges above Slater's room, which he collects as trophies. After establishing his innocence, Malloy has Jones and Lopez conduct patrol while Jaworski stays with Jenny. Malloy heads into the tunnels beneath the facility. Unaware that Slater is the killer, Hank and Noah help him retrieve logs in the tunnels for heating. Slater convinces them to split up before killing each. As Malloy patrols the tunnels, Slater taunts him over a CB radio and lures Malloy to Noah's hanged body, where he finds the other radio. While leaving the clinic, Slater hears Jenny call Malloy. Malloy learns Slater is at the tunnel's trapdoor and rushes to save Jenny.

Outside the installation, Hendricks and the fishing shop owner find Gilbert alive and take him to the rehab center. Hendricks follows Jenny's footprints. Jenny runs to a nearby quonset hut, hiding from Slater. Malloy arrives, telling Jenny to stay inside the shed. Slater catches Hendricks before Malloy catches him from behind. Slater jumps into the shed, knocks Jenny out, and wounds Hendricks. After a fight, Malloy finally kills Slater. Jenny regains consciousness and helps Hendricks walk to the clinic with Malloy. Malloy puts his engagement ring on a tree branch and walks away.

A railroad representative named Barshee forces farmers to give up the land the railroad is going to go through, giving them $1 per acre (much less than fair price) for it. When they come to Jesse's home, Barshee is told by Jesse that his mother Mrs Samuels is the farm's owner.

Barshee repeatedly tries to force her into selling, until her other son Frank James gets involved. Frank fights and easily beats Barshee, but Jesse shoots Barshee in the hand, in self-defence. When arrest warrants are issued for Frank and Jesse, Major A. Rufus Cobb, an editor in nearby Liberty, Missouri and uncle of Zerelda (Zee) Cobb, Jesse's lover, quickly comes to tell them to leave.

Frank and Jesse learn that Barshee is responsible for the death of their mother and Jesse kills him in revenge. This begins Frank and Jesse's career as outlaws. They are pursued relentlessly by the unscrupulous railway boss, McCoy. Three years later, with a $5,000 reward on his head, Jesse marries Zee and turns himself in, at her insistence, having been promised a light sentence by Marshall Will Wright. But McCoy manages to manipulate the situation through his connections, by having the judge dismissed pre-trial, and installing a new judge, who is likely to favour McCoy's recommendation of imposing the death penalty for Jesse.

Frank breaks Jesse out of jail, and the James gang continue their life of crime. Eventually Zee leaves him, taking their son Jesse Jr. with her. Years later, following an unsuccessful robbery, a wounded Jesse returns home and Zee joins him in the belief that they will escape to California. Meanwhile, Bob Ford, an old member of the James gang, together with his brother Charlie Ford, contact Jesse, claiming that Frank sent them to ask Jesse to participate in their next robbery. They assert that the job will earn them all a large sum of money for very little risk. Jesse nevertheless refuses the Ford brothers' offer, and the brothers exit the house. However, sensing an opportunity to claim the generous reward for Jesse's death, Bob Ford sneaks back inside, and shoots Jesse in the back, thereby killing him.

On a dull Monday morning, Jon Arbuckle realizes how uneventful his life is and sets out to change it. He goes out to various locales to meet girls, but is turned down by every one. At home, Jon watches an advertisement on TV for the Lorenzo School for the Personality Impaired and chooses to attend. There, he meets a girl named Mona, and the two like each other and go to Jon's house. There, Garfield is worried about Jon being in a relationship and goes to tell him. Mona begins sneezing and Jon learns that she is allergic to cats. Jon chooses to stay with Garfield, but he agrees to stay friends with Mona, and the two go out to dinner as Garfield follows them.

Garfield checks the calendar date one morning and discovers that he has an appointment with the vet that day. When he removes the date hoping to make Jon forget, he notices that tomorrow is Thanksgiving and instantly demands Jon to buy the food for Thanksgiving dinner. Jon Arbuckle agrees, but takes Garfield to the vet on the way home from the supermarket, making him panic.

While at the vet, Dr. Liz Wilson examines Garfield, while Jon tries to talk her into going out on a date with him. Liz reports Garfield is "healthy as a horse" but, out of concern for his weight, is putting the cat on a strict diet, to Garfield's dismay. Jon threatens to suffocate his way through the rest of the visit until Liz says she'll go out with him. When Garfield and Jon simultaneously faint, an exasperated Liz agrees to the date out of annoyance, and Jon invites her to his house for Thanksgiving dinner.

Back home, Jon is excited that Liz is coming over, but Garfield is absolutely miserable at being put on a diet. After eating half a leaf of lettuce for lunch, Garfield tries to raid the refrigerator but is prevented by Odie, whom Jon has assigned to make sure the cat himself doesn't try to cheat on his diet. Later, Garfield weighs himself on his talking weight scale and destroys it for comparing him to Orson Welles, and is repeatedly foiled by Odie when he tries to steal cookies, flour, salt and sugar. Garfield then wonders if the lack of food is making him hallucinate.

The next morning, Garfield is even grumpier than usual, but Jon pays him no mind as he begins preparing the Thanksgiving meal. However, Jon doesn't have a clue on how to prepare such a dinner; he forgot to thaw the turkey or leave enough time to thoroughly cook it and thus tries to compensate by raising the oven's temperature from 325 to 500 degrees Fahrenheit, ignores the stuffing, when told to "rub skin with butter" rubs it on his own skin, and throws all the vegetables in a pile in water on the stove (to which Garfield attempts to sabotage the vegetables by adding garlic powder). Jon shaves and picks a suit, just in time for Liz to arrive and notice he's not wearing pants. As Jon leaves to check on the meal, Liz spends some time with Garfield, casually listing some of the symptoms of excess dieting, some of which he experiences (like irritability and fatigue) and others he fakes (such as dementia and twitches). She concludes that since Garfield is otherwise healthy, he instead may only need some light exercise, and Garfield kisses her in delight.

In the kitchen, Jon is faced with a still frozen turkey and admits defeat in his attempt to cook dinner. Garfield manages to convince Jon to call Grandma, who arrives seconds later and shoos Jon out of the kitchen. As Jon distracts Liz by giving her a history lesson about Thanksgiving (and Liz dozes off), Grandma proceeds to cook the meal: she cuts the still-frozen turkey into slices with a chainsaw, adds white sauce then batters and deep fries the slices into croquettes, after which she prepares sweet potatoes by covering them with butter, brown sugar and marshmallows, finishing with "split-second cranberry sauce" (from the can) and pumpkin pie. Once everything is ready, Grandma tells Garfield that Liz couldn't have found a better man than Jon and that she'd better not blow it, then asks Garfield to eat a piece of pie for her as she leaves.

Garfield tells Jon and Liz that everything is ready, and they all proceed into the dining room to eat. Afterwards, Liz declares that it was a wonderful meal and agrees to come back next year, then thanks Jon for inviting her with a kiss on the cheek. Once Liz leaves, Jon, Garfield and Odie declare it was a great day and they're thankful for Grandma. They decide to head out for a walk to work off the meal, but Odie is too bloated from overeating to get off the couch. Jon immediately puts Odie on a diet, and Garfield gleefully torments Odie into doing push-ups as payback for yesterday.

"Barrett's Privateers" is sung from the point of view of a young fisherman who, in 1778 at the age of 16, enlisted on Elcid Barrett's ill-fated ''Antelope'', with the promise that the resulting trip would be a pleasure cruise with no violence. The ''Antelope'' is described as the "scummiest vessel [he'd] ever seen", and the song describes the many faults of the decrepit sloop, which had just received a letter of marque from George III to operate as a privateering ship.

The sloop leaves on June 4 (the king's birthday) and takes three months to make it to Montego Bay, Jamaica. After a five-day layover, the ''Antelope'' returns to sea and encounters an American merchant ship loaded down with gold. Because of the poor state of the sloop, it takes the ''Antelope'' two days to come within firing distance of the American vessel, which ultimately turns out to be far more heavily armed than they are. The ''Antelope'' is capsized with one volley from the American vessel, and the narrator witnesses Barrett's gruesome death, when he is crushed like a bowl of eggs. The rest of the crew also dies in the wreck; only the singer, who loses use of both his legs when the truck of the mainmast carries them off, survives.

The closing verse moves ahead to 1784, as the survivor has only the day prior returned to Nova Scotia, still bitter at having been lied to and lying broken on a pier in Halifax, longing to return to his (notably anachronistic) home of Sherbrooke.

In 1961, 11 year-old Beverly "Bev" Donofrio rides with her father, Wallingford, Connecticut police officer Leonard. She asks for a bra for Christmas to get the attention of a boy, but he tells her she is too young and to focus on books.

In 1965, intelligent but naïve, Bev's dream is to go to college in New York City to become a writer. Joining her friends Fay and Tina at a party, Fay's older boyfriend, Bobby, is being deployed to Vietnam while Bev gives a love letter to popular boy, Sky. He reads it aloud, so she flees to the bathroom where she's consoled by Ray, a stranger, who defends her honor by fighting with Sky.

Bev and Ray, with Fay and Bobby, flee the party and go to a lookout, where Bobby and Fay have sex. Bev is overcome by Ray's kindness, so they do too. On duty, Leonard catches and takes them to the police station, and Bev claims that they only kissed.

Bev tells Ray she's pregnant and initially turns down his offer to get married but later agrees to a hasty wedding to placate her parents. At the reception, everyone is avoiding Bev, so Fay publicly announces she is also pregnant. As Fay's father wanted her to put the baby up for adoption, she and Bobby will get married instead.

The girls celebrate that they will be mothers together, but lament missing out on their childhood, the prom, and an education. Bev has a son, Jason (upsetting her, as she wanted a girl), while Fay has daughter Amelia. Bev continues studying. When Jason is three, her interview for a college scholarship goes badly when she has to take Jason along. Although the interviewer praises her writing, he fears she is too distracted.

Later, Fay reveals that she and Bobby are getting divorced as he met someone else. Bev tells her she's not sure if she loves Jason because his birth has cost her so much. When he almost drowns in Fay's pool, Bev vows to be more attentive.

At Jason's seventh birthday party, several people from Bev's high school come: Tina is engaged and going to NYU; and Tommy, who had a crush on Bev, just graduated from Berkeley. He suggests she move her family to California to get her degree as the state offers financial aid. Although initially agreeing, Ray confesses to being a heroin addict and spending their savings on drugs. Bev helps him detox, but he sneaks out to get more drugs. Saying he can't quit, she tells him to leave. Ray agrees, but young Jason chases after him, telling Bev he hates her.

Two years later, Bev and Fay help Lizard (Ray's friend) to dry weed in Bev's oven to get money to study in California. Jason, still bitter, tells Grandpa Leonard, who arrests the mothers. Fay's brother bails them out, but only if Fay and Amelia move with him and cut off contact with Bev, so she blames Jason.

In 1985, Bev and Jason are driving to see Ray. She has a college degree and needs Ray to sign a waiver to publish her memoir. On the way, Jason tells her he wants to transfer from NYU to Indiana University, but Bev refuses as he must get the education she couldn't.

Jason calls his now-girlfriend Amelia with the bad news, who is dejected but not angry. Arriving at Ray's trailer, Bev explains why they are there. When his wife, Shirley, demands $100,000, Bev storms out. Jason follows, calling her selfish for only caring about her book when he finally got to see his father again. He accuses her of being a bad mother and she stomps off. Ray tells Jason leaving was the best thing he could have done for him and that is why he turned out so well. He sneaks the signed papers to him.

Jason finds Bev, who insists she was a great mother who sacrificed everything for him. He reveals he is transferring to be with Amelia and apologizes for ruining her life. Bev softens, telling him she is proud and that he is the best thing in her life. Feeling responsible for her mistakes and poor choices, she gives him her car to drive to Indiana.

Stranded, Beverly calls her father Leonard for a ride. Complaining that Jason blames her for everything wrong in his life, she realizes that she herself has done the same to him. Together, they sing a song from her childhood as they drive away.

Set in an unspecified country, a woman is taken from her home in the middle of the night, accused of embedding dissident messages into her book ''Closet Land''. The book is a story about a child who, as a result of bad behavior, has been locked in a closet as punishment. While in there, the child is greeted by a group of childhood ally archetypes who innocently attempt to comfort the scared little girl. The seemingly simple content is questioned by the government, which accuses the author of encouraging and introducing disloyalty among its audience of naïve children.

The interrogator is obstinate in his belief that the author is guilty of hidden propaganda. It is revealed that the novel was actually created as a form of escapism, providing a coping mechanism for the author, who endured sexual abuse as a child. Near the end of the film, the interrogator claims that he was the man who had sexually abused the author in her childhood. But one cannot be entirely sure he is telling the truth, as the film suggests he was just using the abuse against her as a way of breaking her down.

After subjecting her to lengthy physical and mental torture, and pretending to be several other people (another prisoner, a more brutal interrogator) while the victim is blindfolded, the interrogator tries to get her to sign a confession—to save her life. While he knows now that she is innocent, he implores her to confess to avoid execution. She refuses, and goes to her death.

The movie opens in 1972 as a group of gunmen wearing Richard Nixon Halloween masks steal evidence from a police evidence storage unit, killing several officers in the process. Officer Dennis Meechum (Brian Dennehy) is seriously wounded after stabbing one of the robbers. He survives and publishes a book titled ''Inside Job'' based on his experience. Years later, Meechum, who by now has become an acclaimed author and a much decorated detective, is working on his next novel. He now suffers from writer's block, and is a widowed father raising his daughter, Holly (Allison Balson).

On a case at the docks, a suspect runs as Meechum gives chase. A man named Cleve (James Woods) joins the chase. The suspect hides in an overhead crane and attempts to shoot Meechum, but Cleve kills the man, then mysteriously disappears.

Cleve arranges a meeting with Meechum, and tries to convince him to write a book about his history as a paid assassin for a corporate empire, Kappa International. Cleve intimidates Kappa's founder, David Madlock (Paul Shenar) about Meechum's next book, and promises Meechum to show evidence to back up his claims. They proceed to take trips to New York and Texas where Cleve tries to convince Meechum of his history of hits. While they are in Texas, it is revealed that Cleve was the injured masked gunman that Meechum had stabbed years earlier. Madlock, through his legal representatives, tries to bribe Meechum but fails.

When an enforcer tries to steal a manuscript of Meechum's novel and attempts to kill Holly, Cleve intervenes by killing him. Cleve attempts to keep Holly safe by sending her to Meechum's agent, Roberta Gillian (Victoria Tennant). Madlock, however, manages to kidnap Holly. Meechum decides to have a meeting with Madlock at the latter's oceanfront estate. Cleve storms into the house, and guns down all of Madlock's bodyguards. Cleve then sacrifices his own life to save Holly from Madlock. Meechum arrests Madlock, before comforting a dying Cleve. Cleve reminds Meechum about the book and says "Remember I'm the hero". At the end of the film, it is revealed that Meechum has published the book titled ''Retribution: The Fall of David Madlock and Kappa International'' and it has had 28 weeks on the bestseller list.

Recent high school graduate Samantha Hughes, 17, lives in fictional Hopewell, Kentucky. Her uncle Emmett Smith, a laid-back Vietnam veteran, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Samantha's father, Dwayne, was killed in Vietnam at 21 after marrying and impregnating Samantha's mother, Irene. Samantha finds some old photographs, medals, and letters of her father, and becomes obsessed with finding out more about him.

Irene, who has moved to Lexington, Kentucky with her second husband, wants Samantha to move in with them and go to college. But Samantha would rather stay with Emmett and try to find out more about her father. Her mother is no help, as she tells Samantha, "Honey, I married him a month before he left for the war. He was 19. I hardly even remember him." Finally, Samantha, Emmett and her grandmother visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Finding her father's name in the memorial releases cathartic emotions in Samantha and her family.

While in Georgia, Chief Warrant Officer Paul Brenner, an undercover agent of the United States Army Criminal Investigation Division Command, masquerades as First Sergeant Frank White to broker an illegal arms trade with a self-proclaimed freedom fighter. At Fort MacCallum, Brenner gets a flat tire and Captain Elisabeth Campbell, a psychological operations officer and the daughter of Lieutenant General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Campbell, the base commander, helps him change it. The next evening she is found murdered. The base provost marshal, Colonel William Kent, secures the crime scene. Brenner and rape specialist Warrant Officer Sara Sunhill are brought in to investigate. They receive Elisabeth's records and notice that her grades plummeted her second year at West Point. Brenner wants to search Elisabeth's house, but Kent declines because it is off-base and therefore outside their jurisdiction.

Picking the lock of Elisabeth's house, Brenner and Sunhill find a room containing video and BDSM equipment, but an intruder attacks him and removes the videotapes. He questions Elisabeth's superior officer, Colonel Robert Moore, whose evasiveness leads to his arrest on charges of conduct unbecoming an officer. At the crime scene, Sunhill is attacked in an attempt to intimidate her and Brenner. During the attack she notices one assailant is wearing a silver claddagh ring, and identifies him as Captain Jake Elby. At gunpoint, Elby confesses that Elisabeth was sexually promiscuous with the men on the base as part of an extensive "psychological warfare" campaign against her father.

Back at the jail, Kent releases Moore, confining him to quarters at his home on-base. Upon returning to Moore's home, he, Brenner, and Sunhill find him dead with an apparently self-inflicted bullet to the head, which Brenner doubts was suicide. Campbell's adjutant, Colonel George Fowler, attempts to close the investigation stating Moore killed himself out of guilt, but Brenner insists on continuing the investigation. Brenner and Sunhill travel to West Point, where Elisabeth's psychiatrist, Colonel Donald Slesinger, explains that during a training exercise seven years earlier, several cadets brutally gang-raped Elisabeth and left her naked and staked down in the same position she was found murdered, and a cadet came forward regarding the attack. Sunhill tracks down the former cadet and tricks him into admitting his presence during the attack; feeling trapped and guilt-ridden, he admits to witnessing it and explains how the male cadets hated Elisabeth, since she surpassed them as a cadet.

Brenner visits the general, who corroborates the attack and confirms that before visiting Elisabeth in the hospital, he met with another general, who felt the assailants would go undetected given the type of training exercise and stated the attack going public could ruin the concept of women in the military. Campbell reluctantly agreed and tried to convince Elisabeth to forget the attack, effectively traumatizing her. After revealing that Sunhill easily identified Elisabeth's assailants, who face 20 years in prison, Brenner deduces Elisabeth had Moore help her stage the attack scene so she could force her father to see what he covered up. Campbell states that he threatened Elisabeth with a court martial due to her affairs with multiple officers, including Kent, and that she responded to his ultimatum with the staged attack scene. Unmoved, he left her tied naked to the stakes.

Realizing that Kent releasing Moore from prison, taking Elisabeth's keys, and sleeping with her makes him a suspect, Brenner learns that Kent is at the crime scene with Sunhill and wants him to join them. At the scene, Kent admits his obsession with Elisabeth and that after he found her at the staged scene, upset over her father being unmoved by her effort, she dismissed Kent and spat in his face. Enraged, he strangled her. After admitting to murdering Moore to evade detection, Kent then commits suicide by stepping on a mine. As Campbell prepares to board the plane to accompany Elisabeth's body to the funeral, Brenner confronts him and blames him for her death, explaining that his betrayal effectively killed her and Kent just put her out of her misery. Though Campbell warns him to keep silent, Brenner has him court-martialed for conspiracy to conceal a crime, ruining the general's career.

The episode begins with the boys on their first day of wood shop. Mr. Adler, their teacher, tells the students not to "screw around". They are also asked who the biggest troublemaker in their class is. Stan and Kyle claim that Tweek is, while Cartman argues that it is Craig. To settle the dispute Stan, Kyle and Cartman make a bet over who would win a fight between Tweek and Craig. The boys set off tension between Tweek and Craig, and they agree to fight after school.

Meanwhile, we see Mr. Adler dealing with troubling memories of a deceased lover every time he looks at a photo of her. To deal with the memories, he consumes great amounts of nicotine gum. Later, it is revealed that she was a pilot whose plane exploded in mid-air and crashed into the ocean, where she drowned. The flashbacks are depicted in live action by ''South Park'' assistant writer Pam Brady. Each flashback reveals more of the events concerned than the one seen previously, with each flashback except for the last one, always ending with the same footage of his lover drowning making a gurgling noise.

When a crowd forms to see the fight, Clyde announces that both Tweek and Craig went home. Stan and Kyle go to Tweek's house, and Tweek explains that he had no reason to fight Craig. Eager to settle the bet, Stan and Kyle tell Tweek that Craig did show up to fight but degraded him instead. Meanwhile, Cartman and Kenny convince Craig to reschedule the fight as well. The next day, when the fight between Craig and Tweek is about to take place, it is revealed that neither know how to fight, and the battle is postponed again until they learn how to fight. Craig gets to learn martial arts with the aid of Cartman who considers sumo as a future career. Tweek is taught to box by Stan's uncle Jimbo and his friend Ned.

Throughout the episode, Kenny has not been attending shop class, but home economics. Kenny is told to transfer to shop class by the teacher with the claim that home ec is not "right for him" and he will most likely not find a husband. Although terrified at the thought of being around all the tools (which is the reason why he didn't take shop class), Kenny has no choice and transfers.

The school day ends and Tweek and Craig finally start the long-awaited fight. Meanwhile, in his shop class, Mr. Adler writes a suicide note explaining he cannot cope with his fiancée's death and that he has run out of nicotine gum. He climbs onto the slowly moving table saw feet first and awaits his death. He then gets up and shouts "Jesus Christ! What was I thinking?!", then repositions himself to go head first, saying "That would have hurt like hell!" Kenny comes in to the shop classroom, and Mr. Adler puts him to work on the jigsaw. Tweek and Craig fly through the shop classroom window, still fighting. Mr. Adler climbs down from the table saw and demands to know what is going on. Tweek and Craig knock the stool out from underneath Kenny, and Kenny hangs on the saw machine. Tweek slams Craig into a second saw which knocks over the one Kenny is on. Kenny's jacket is caught by the blade, and he is spun around and then flies into a box of old, rusty, sharp nails.

When Mr. Adler picks up Kenny's body, his fiancée (along with his grandmother and uncle) talks to him through Kenny, telling him to move on. Mr. Adler says he can and hugs Kenny. Stan, unaware of the situation, delivers the familiar phrase to Kyle, "Dude, this is pretty fucked up right here." The kids go to the hospital to visit Tweek and Craig to tell them about the bet. They tell Tweek and Craig that each boy's family called the other's wusses on the news, which revitalizes the fight.

The manga centers on the titular character: a mysterious, beautiful woman named Tomie Kawakami, identified by her sleek black hair and a beauty mark below her left eye.

Tomie acts like a succubus, possessing an undisclosed power to make any man fall in love with her. Through her mere presence, or through psychological and emotional manipulation, she drives these people into jealous rages that often lead to brutal acts of violence. Men kill each other over her, and women are driven to insanity as well — though there are some who are strong enough to resist her. Tomie is inevitably killed time and time again, only to regenerate and spread her curse to other victims, making her effectively immortal. Her origins are never explained, though it is suggested by some older men in the series that she has existed long before the events of the manga; in ''Boy'', she is revealed to have known her future teacher Satoru Takagi since he was a child.

Each story showcases various characters that encounter Tomie in her many (often hideous) forms, with some having their own arcs or returning in later chapters. Tomie's regenerative abilities (partly fuelled by cannibalism and assimilation) are also showcased: aside from recovering quickly from gruesome and seemingly mortal wounds, she can also replicate herself by sprouting unnaturally from any part of her body, whether it be from severed limbs, organs, or even her spilled blood. Radiation accelerates her healing/regeneration process. Her cells are also capable of transforming a victim into a Tomie via an organ transplant. Multiple characters are even driven to dismember her corpse, unwittingly allowing more Tomie copies to grow and spread throughout the world. Even locks of her hair are dangerous; burrowing into its victim's brain to possess them, and eventually kill them when it grows wildly within the body. It is also shown that even if Tomie's body is not injured, her body will attempt to sprout another Tomie through tumorous growths, usually when she is emotionally stressed. Some Tomie copies, however, cannot stand one another; one is seen killing one personally, while others order it done through the boys they seduce/enslave. Fire is the only known method to destroy a Tomie for good, though only if the flesh is completely carbonized.

The next story arc, beginning as a prequel, reveals that a baby girl can grow naturally into a Tomie via a blood injection and that she can age if she has not yet copied herself. The man responsible for these injections is a horribly burnt stranger — once a supermodel disgraced by a Tomie in his past — who seeks revenge by making one of these "natural" Tomies old and ugly. He manages to encase a Tomie named "Ayaka" in a block of cement with the help of Ayaka's older sister. The two then wait for many years — endlessly hearing her tormented cries — before finally breaking the block, revealing that Tomie had somehow escaped through a tiny crack, her apparent wailing being nothing more than wind blowing through the hollow block.

An arc released exclusively with the DVD release of the ''Junji Ito Collection'', titled ''Tomie: Takeover'', features Tomie encountering a man capable of body-switching, who finds her various abilities difficult to handle.

A four-page crossover arc with Souichi Tsujii, titled ''Souichi Possessed'', was released in 2018. In the story, the titular's Souichi's older brother Koichi tells a younger Tomie of his attempted mischief of a brother's encounter with a different elderly Tomie, the arc serving as the prologue to a larger confrontation between the pair, as the younger Tomie requests an introduction.

Rocket is a robot created by Dr. Gavin, the architect and owner of Whoopie World, a futuristic theme park. On the night before opening day, Gavin goes to a party, leaving Rocket in charge of the park and its two animal mascots: Whoopie the walrus and his sidekick Jojo the raccoon. Jojo, who is tired of Whoopie's being the star attraction, secretly plots to ruin opening day and rebrand the park as Jojo World. As soon as Gavin leaves, Jojo escapes his cage, clobbers Rocket senseless with a mallet, and grabs all of the park's tickets and tokens. Jojo abducts Whoopie and teleports into the park, causing the attractions to go haywire. Rocket gives chase and begins exploring the many areas of the park, working to find the stolen tickets and tokens so he can catch Jojo and rescue Whoopie before Gavin returns.

After finding many of the missing tickets and tokens, Rocket confronts and defeats Jojo, freeing Whoopie just as Dr. Gavin returns. Gavin commends Rocket for his hard work before leaving again to repair Jojo's damage to the park before it opens. After finding all the tickets and tokens, Rocket is honored by Gavin for his achievements by renaming the park RocketLand, much to Whoopie's dismay.

Aphrodite IX is a female android who has amnesia shortly after being sent on undercover missions. This leads to ongoing confusion about what she does and for whom. Although she becomes aware that she is intended as an assassin, she finds the idea increasingly distasteful and experiences dreams and desires like a human. This begins to undermine her morale but not her efficiency, for her conditioning takes over as her masters or survival circumstances require. When she seeks out clues to her past and true identity, she stumbles onto a conspiracy involving a secret society of cyborgs attempting to undermine the legitimate government.

Prologue

Three astronauts are sent to investigate strange energy readings received from the moon's dark side. They discover a hidden base of aliens called the T'srri. Unrah and Juarez are killed, and while Col. Tyson Stone escaped, he is infected with T'srri bio-tech, namely a master logic module. When he returns home, his wife Lorelei reveals herself as a Batai, an alien race who had been at war with the T'srri. She cleanses Stone of the T'srri mindworm that was starting to take over him.Weapon Zero #T-4, June 1995

Meanwhile, the T'srri on the base begin to awaken from cold sleep. These are actually humans who had been abducted over a period of 2000 years. They are now being converted by the bio-tech to serve as T'srri. Three children and a dog escape this process: Kikuyo, Jamie, Valaria and Janus are physically altered and gain unique powers, but retain their identities. Back on Earth, Lorelei explains to Stone a little of the war and that new warriors were being sought to fight the T'srri. They are interrupted by N'golth, the T'srri commander of the moonbase, who has come to reclaim the master logic module as he needs this in order to summon the main T'srri force through a dimensional gate. Lorelei faces N'golth and is killed.Weapon Zero #T-3, August 1995

N'golth then takes Stone back to the base, and attempts to extract the module from his brain. However Stone escapes using Lorelei’s battle-staff, which merges with him to become a symbiotic armour. He teleports to Earth taking the kids with him. N'golth makes preparations to create a new module from scanned data, and also has Lorelei reanimated as a T'srri.Weapon Zero #T-2, September 1995 Lorelei tracks Stone through the energy signature of the teleport, and attempts to capture them. However they escape, and this time hide their signal from her. They locate the crash site of two warships which had collided and fallen to Earth, and obtain an anti-matter device on board. They return with this hoping to destroy the T'srri base, but are recaptured and Lorelei reclaims her armour from Stone.Weapon Zero #T-1, October 1995 By this time, recreation of the module is complete, and N'golth uses it to summon the T'srri Seneschal to Earth. He shows off Lorelei to the Seneschal and explains his intention to fully convert Stone and the children into T'srri as a unit, with Lorelei placed as commander. He names this unit Weapon Zero.

Meanwhile, Janus shape-shifts out of his restraints and releases the others, and Stone finds that he can regenerate another version of his lost Batai armour. Weapon Zero attacks and damages the gate before the waiting T'srri can come through. To prevent his failure being reported, N'golth attempts to kill the Seneschal, who escapes back through the gate. N'golth is unconcerned, as he is sure the damaged gate will scatter the Seneschal into atoms. Meanwhile, Stone faces Lorelei, and activates the anti-matter device still in her armour. Weapon Zero teleports away as the base explodes.Weapon Zero #0, December 1995

Arsenal Of Democracy

Stone brings the kids to his home, but it explodes due to a Batai security measure left by Lorelei. Finding that none of Stone's friends and neighbours know who he is, they camp outside for the night and in the morning meet an army squad led by Major Arbuckle, who have been sent to investigate after the explosion at the site of Stone's mission to the moon. They are interrupted and captured by a covert organisation calling themselves the Arsenal Of Democracy, who have arrived for the same reason.Weapon Zero #1, March 1996 They bring Weapon Zero to a secret facility beneath the Potomac river and brainwash Stone into working for them. When Weapon Zero break free, he is sent against them. However, Stone has been feigning his indoctrination in order to buy his team-mates time to regroup. They rescue Arbuckle, who sets off a locator beacon for his squad to find them. They escape the base, surface on the river and are rescued by helicopters. When the army later returns to investigate the Potomac, they find no sign the base had ever been there.

Japan

Weapon Zero travel to the Kofuku clan territory, Kikuyo's family, in hopes of finding treasure with which they can support themselves. On arrival, they find the grounds of Kofuku castle have been taken over by the Yakuza.Weapon Zero #4, June 1996 After a brief confrontation, they flee, and Kikuyo leads them through a secret tunnel. They head to the hills behind the castle, to a cemetery where Kikuyo locates a hidden compartment within a false grave. Instead of treasure they find Kofuku family heirloom, a samurai's ancient armour. After they camp for the night, Kikuyo slips off alone to think. She meets an old woman and several more Yakuza, and learns that many of the Yakuza here are descended from the Kofuku clan. Kikuyo introduces Weapon Zero as her new family, and they depart on good terms. Before she leaves, Kikuyo lets her clan know where to find the Kofuku heirloom. The grateful clan present Weapon Zero with a Swiss bank account.

Ansh'r

Weapon Zero are attacked by Lorelei's father Ansh'r, apparently in a bid for revenge for his daughter's death. However he turns out to be testing Stone's combat capability, as well as testing his reactions to determine whether he was compromised by the T'srri tech. Having satisfied himself of Stone's integrity, he teleports Weapon Zero to his ship, The Regulus. There, he secretly runs a similar test on the children while he explains to Stone the events of the Batai/T'srri war. With this done, he introduces them to Lorelei's twin sister, Lilith. He then informs them all of the threat posed to Earth by a Berserker, an incredibly powerful T'srri foe which crash landed in Roswell in 1947. It was transported to a secret facility, Area X, and has now awoken. He also explains no-one can remember Stone because all traces of Lorelei, and the associated memories, have been removed from time. Weapon Zero teleport to the facility to face the Berserker.Weapon Zero #9, December 1996

Devil's Reign

In the Marvel Universe, the demon Mephisto discovers a crashed T'srri warship and uses it to create a dimensional rift into the Top Cow Universe. He observes Weapon Zero battling the Berserker and surreptitiously starts feeding power into it, causing it to become ever larger and more powerful. Faced with a now unbeatable foe, Ansh'r makes the choice to teleport the Berserker and himself into space. Lilith is now left to guide the team, and she teleports them back to The Regulus. At this point, Jamie, who had never integrated well with his team-mates, abandons them by leaping out of the teleport field and ends up in Los Angeles.

Mephisto meets and allies himself with N'golth and his aide Erisha. Erisha poses as human and takes the name Trisha in order to introduce herself to Jamie and use him for their purposes.Weapon Zero / Silver Surfer #1: Devil's Reign Chapter 1, January 1997 She pushes Jamie's anti authoritarian tendencies in order that he would start gathering like-minded youths for Mephisto.

Weapon Zero arrive in LA looking for Jamie, but when they try to link to The Regulus' computer to aid them, they find the ship has disappeared. Lilith then transports them to Lorelei's secret base, Tartarus, within the Sangre de Cristo mountains, where they renew their search.Weapon Zero #10, February 1997

They locate Jamie at a shrine constructed by Mephisto in the California desert, where he is posing as Jesus Christ calling out for everyone present to pledge their souls to him. When he spots Weapon Zero he strengthens his argument by using his powers to activate their battle forms, exposing them as ‘demons’. However his hold on the people is broken when he himself is exposed by the Silver Surfer, who arrives via the rift. The Surfer joins the fight with Weapon Zero against Mephisto’s hordes until he is ultimately defeated by Heatwave. Meanwhile, Jamie and Erisha slip away.

Gen-13

During the continuing search for Jamie, Valaria gets separated from the group and is befriended by Gen-13, who help her defend against the T'srri when they try to reclaim her.Gen-13 Bootleg #4, February 1997

The Amalgaman

While Erisha delivers Jamie into N'golth's hands, Weapon Zero detect a T'srri presence on the moonbase. They start exploring the relatively undamaged sections of the base, and encounter The Amalgaman, a formidable T'srri combat team. The resulting battle proves to be one-sided, with The Amalgaman easily overpowering Weapon Zero, and soon Stone alone is left standing. At this point N'golth, Erisha and the now T'srri-converted Jamie arrive at the base. N'golth withdraws The Amalgaman, and sets Jamie on Stone instead.Weapon Zero #12, May 1997 However Stone manages to turn the situation by pointing out that N'golth betrayed the T'srri Seneschal, prompting Jamie and The Amalgaman to turn on him. N'golth succeeds in killing The Amalgaman members individually but Jamie surprises him from behind. Jamie in turn is knocked out by Stone. Lilith purges the Mindworm from his body, and he returns to Weapon Zero.Weapon Zero #13, June 1997

Finale

Ansh'r returns to warn Weapon Zero of an imminent invasion by the T'srri. He is joined by several of his Batai comrades, who join forces with the American military against the T'srri in a battle in the skies of Denver. N'golth hijacks a T'srri fighter and rams into the Seneschal's cruiser, sending both ships crashing into the city. Lilith, Ansh'r and N'golth are killed in battle, while Stone and Kikuyo are critically injured. Outnumbered and soon to be overwhelmed, the battle ends when Jamie creates an explosion large enough to wipe out the T'srri ground forces.Weapon Zero #15, December 1997

Miles Woodman, an African-American teenager who is a sports fan of baseball icon Hank Aaron, is failing at school. His teacher Mrs. Clark tells him he could repeat 6th grade if his grades do not improve. Miles and his class visit a museum dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr., whom their middle school is named after. He and his white best friend Randy explore Martin's bedroom but are caught by the museum's curator Mrs. Peck, who winds up an old watch.

The boys hold Martin's baseball glove and are transported back to 1941, encountering a 12-year-old Martin playing with his two white friends Sam and Skip Dale until their mother Mrs. Dale arrives and reprimands her sons for integrating with "colored". Martin explains to Miles and Randy that her hatred of black people is that she regards them as "different", but violence would only worsen things. The boys travel three years forward in 1944 and meet a 15-year-old Martin on a segregated train, who explains that blacks and whites are unable to integrate and must be kept separate at all times. They later have dinner with Martin's family. While he goes to do shut in rounds with his father, the boys travel 12 years forward in 1956 and meet Martin in his 20s working as a minister at a church. He is holding a meeting about the Montgomery bus boycott set off after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus and was imprisoned for it; now, black people are refusing to ride buses. Martin is alerted that his house has been bombed; he races home where his wife and newborn daughter have escaped unharmed. His friend Turner announces they'll attack the perpetrators with weapons in retaliation, but Martin stops him, reminding the crowd of Mahatma Gandhi peacefully standing his ground to exile the British colonies from India and of Jesus teaching love for his enemies. Miles and Randy travel to the Birmingham riot of 1963, witnessing firemen and police officers spraying black protesters with firehoses and releasing German Shepherds on them.

The boys are transported back to the museum and rejoin their class at school the next day. Miles and Randy tell Miss Clark about the events prior to Martin's work. The class watches a videotape of Martin's work. After school, the boys' classmates, Latina girl Maria and another white boy Kyle, decide to investigate for themselves of how Miles and Randy got the information. When the boys arrive at the museum, Mrs. Peck lets them stay but warns them that when one messes with the past, this can affect the present. Maria and Kyle follow and catch them in Martin's bedroom. The four are transported to the March on Washington Movement and meet Martin in his 30s along with a young Mrs. Clark. When they return, they discover Martin was assassinated. They travel back to 1941 and bring 12-year-old Martin to the present.

However, only Miles and Martin return together, and the present is different. The museum is burnt down; Randy and Kyle are racists and no longer friends with Miles or even know him; their school is segregated and instead named after Robert E. Lee; the principal is also racist and mistreats Mrs. Clark; Maria works as a maid and cannot speak English; Miles and his mother live in poverty as she also works as a maid.

The next day, Martin surmises that because he left his own time, it created an alternate timeline where his civil rights work never happened. Realizing he must go back to his own time, Martin bids Miles farewell despite the later’s pleas for him to stay. Martin gives Miles his watch before returning to his time, where he is shot dead at his hotel and the timeline returns to normal. Miles reunites with Randy, Maria, and Kyle. Mrs. Peck knows about his time traveling and tells him that while they cannot change the past, they can change the future for the better. Miles receives an A on his history project, allowing him to progress to 7th grade. He and his friends then vow to continue Martin's work. Mrs. Peck closes the door to Martin's bedroom.

The novel is set in the United States in 2014, when interracial tensions have passed the breaking point. A Mafia-like cartel, the Gottschalks, are exploiting this situation to sell weapons to anyone able to buy them. A split develops within the cartel, between the conservative old men and ambitious underlings prepared to use new computer technology to pull off some spectacular coups.

There are several separate strands of narrative following particular characters. James Reedeth is a young psychologist at New York's major mental health institution who is disenchanted with his job and his employer, the revered Elias Mogshack. Lyla Clay is a "pythoness," a young woman capable of metabolising certain psychedelic drugs to enter a trance in which she makes unconscious predictions. Matthew Flamen, a "spoolpigeon" (a variety of investigative journalist), is struggling to hold onto his job, and by his obsessive behaviour has driven his wife into Mogshack's asylum.

The plot is contrived to bring the strands together and resolve matters by a lengthy discussion between Flamen, Reedeth, Lyla Clay, Pedro Diablo (Flamen's African-American counterpart), Xavier Conroy (a long-time critic of Mogshack), and Harry Madison (a former patient at Mogshack's asylum).

John Whitney, an anthropologist for the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, studies a tribe in South America and drinks a soup made by the tribesmen. Shortly after, Whitney accosts a merchant ship captain, asking him to remove the cargo he had intended to send to Chicago off the ship. Unwilling to delay the ship's departure, the captain refuses and Whitney sneaks aboard. Not finding his cargo, he cries out. Six weeks later, the ship arrives on Lake Michigan with its crew missing. Chicago PD homicide detective Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta and his partner, Sgt. Hollingsworth, investigate the ship and find dozens of bodies and severed heads in the bilge.

Margo Green, an evolutionary biologist, arrives at work at the museum and discovered that co-worker Greg Lee is applying for the same research grant she is. Margo and her mentor, Albert Frock, examine Whitney's crates after their arrival and find the crates empty, except for a bed of leaves and a stone statue of the "Kothoga", a mythical forest monster. Margo notices a fungus on the leaves and sends it to be analyzed. That night, security guard Frederick Ford is murdered like the ship's crew. D'Agosta suspects a connection. Believing the killer is still inside the museum, he orders it closed until the police have finished searching. Ann Cuthbert, the museum director, protests and mentions an important upcoming exhibition.

Margo discovers the fungus contains concentrated hormones found in several animal species. In the container of leaves, she finds a mutated beetle that possesses both insect and reptilian DNA. Ford's autopsy reveals that his hypothalamus was extracted from his brain, like the bodies from the ship. In the museum's basement, the police are startled by a mentally-ill, homeless ex-convict and kill him. Finding Ford's wallet on him, everyone except D'Agosta considers the case closed, though Mayor Robert Owen and the museum’s head of security Tom Parkinson forces D'Agosta to let the exhibition proceed.

On the opening night, D'Agosta orders a lock-down of all museum areas except the main exhibition hall. Frock and Margo, trapped in the laboratory wing, continue working and discover Ford's killer is after the hormones on the leaves. D'Agosta and several officers search the basement tunnels once again. They are attacked by an unseen creature, killing K-9 Officer Bradley and a police dog. D'Agosta tells Hollingsworth to evacuate the museum, but he is too late. In the main hall, the headless body of a murdered policeman falls into the crowd, causing a panic. During the hysteria, the museum's alarms are tripped and their security system goes haywire, trapping a small group of people inside. Two security guards try to restore the power but are killed by an unseen creature.

D'Agosta meets Margo and Frock in the lab, where a Kothoga, an enormous chimeric beast, attacks them; they close a steel door to stop it. Margo theorizes the fungus mutated a smaller creature, and Frock says that without the leaves to eat, the Kothoga instinctively seeks the closest substitute, human hypothalami, until it runs out of targets and dies; he further postulates that the tribe knew of the fungus, and used it on a human or animal to deal with an external threat, then hid until the threat was destroyed and the Kothoga died of "starvation." D'Agosta finds a radio and tells Hollingsworth to lead the museum guests out via an old coal tunnel. Tom, Greg, and benefactors Mr. and Mrs. Blaisedale refuse to go, and CPD officer McNally stays behind to guard them; the Kothoga returns to the main hall and murders them and the S.W.A.T. officers who enter through the skylights.

Margo suggests using liquid nitrogen to kill the Kothoga, as it is part-reptilian and likely cold-blooded. While collecting the remaining leaves in the lab, Margo and D'Agosta discover Frock has been killed. In the sewers, D'Agosta uses the leaves to lure the Kothoga away from the coal tunnel, allowing the guests to escape, though CPD officer Bailey and a guest are both killed. However, liquid nitrogen has no effect on the creature. Margo and D'Agosta flee. In the lab, her computer completes the analysis of the creature's human DNA, revealing John Whitney is the Kothoga, mutated after drinking the tribesmen's soup.

The Kothoga smashes into the lab through the ceiling, while D'Agosta is locked outside. The creature chases Margo, corners her, and suddenly pauses, seemingly recognizing her. Margo starts an explosive fire that destroys the Kothoga, surviving by hiding inside a maceration tank. As dawn comes, D'Agosta and a team of police break into the lab, see the charred remains of the Kothoga, and rescue Margo from the tank.

Prior to this arc, Norman Osborn had been the Green Goblin, but due to amnesia, he had suspended his identity as the supervillain and forgotten that Spider-Man is Peter Parker. Also, Harry Osborn, Parker's best friend and Norman's son, became addicted to drugs and was sequestered in the Osborn home for detoxification. Norman's parental grief, combined with financial pressure, triggered a breakdown resulting in Norman Osborn remembering his Goblin identity and again targeting Spider-Man and his loved ones for misery.

The Green Goblin abducts Peter's girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, and lures Spider-Man to a tower of either the Brooklyn Bridge (as depicted in the art) or the George Washington Bridge (as given in the text).Saffel, Steve. ''Spider-Man the Icon: The Life and Times of a Pop Culture Phenomenon'' (Titan Books, 2007) , p. 65, states, "In the battle that followed atop the Brooklyn Bridge (or was it the George Washington Bridge?)...." On page 66, Saffel reprints the panel of ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #121, page 18, in which Spider-Man exclaims, "The George Washington Bridge! It figures Osborn would pick something named after his favorite president. He's got the same sort of hangup for dollar bills!" Saffel states "The span portrayed...is the GW's more famous cousin, the Brooklyn Bridge. ... To address the contradiction in future reprints of the tale, though, Spider-Man's dialogue was altered so that he's referring to the Brooklyn Bridge. But the original snafu remains as one of the more visible errors in the history of comics." The Goblin and Spider-Man clash, and the Goblin hurls Stacy off the bridge. Spider-Man shoots a web strand at her legs and catches her. As he pulls her up, he thinks he has saved her, however he quickly realizes she is dead. Unsure whether her neck was broken by the whiplash from her sudden stop or had been already broken by the Goblin prior to her fall, he blames himself for her death. A note on the letters page of ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #125 states: "It saddens us to say that the whiplash effect she underwent when Spidey's webbing stopped her so suddenly was, in fact, what killed her.", although later issues would reveal Gwen died from the fall itself.

The Green Goblin escapes, and Spider-Man cries over Stacy's corpse and swears revenge. The following issue, Spider-Man tracks the Green Goblin to a warehouse and beats him but cannot bring himself to kill him. The Goblin uses the opportunity to send his glider to impale Spider-Man from behind. Warned by his spider-sense, Spider-Man dodges, and the glider instead impales the Green Goblin, seemingly killing him. Later, a devastated Parker, back at home, encounters an equally shocked and saddened Mary Jane Watson, who has lost a close friend with Gwen's death, and the two attempt to comfort each other in the wake of their loss.

Jin Sun-mi (Chae Rim) is a lovely college student who lives with her upper-middle-class widowed father. She has a happy childhood with her best friend Kim Woo-jin (Han Jae-suk). Life changes radically for Sun-mi when her father decides to support Heo Young-mi (Kim So-yeon), a beautiful girl the same age as Sun-mi.

Young-mi became an orphan when her father, an alcoholic who frequently abused her, dies in an accident while working for Mr. Jin's (Sun-mi's father) construction company. Young-mi has grown up in poverty, but she is not a humble person. She's arrogant, greedy and full of resentment. She initially becomes friends with Sun-mi, but eventually envies her for all she is and has, even Woo-jin's love.

Young-mi becomes Sun-mi's rival in every aspect of her life. First, Young-mi steals Woo-jin from Sun-mi, then tries to take over her job at a very important TV network as they both dream to be famous news anchorwomen. She finally turns her eyes on Sun-mi's new boyfriend, Hyung-chul (Jang Dong-gun), one of the network's top executives, whom Sun-mi met during a trip to London. However, Hyung-chul's love for Sun-mi is stronger than Young-mi's estimation. Meanwhile, Woo-jin suffers of a broken heart as Young-mi makes his life miserable and finally dumps him so she can chase Hyung-chul, even though it hurts her just as much since she does not love him and is only after him for her career's sake.

The climax of the plot comes when a former lover of Young-mi appears and threatens to reveal her deepest secret should she not return to him: a dark past as a prostitute. Since the gangster did not succeed in his attempts, he decides to kill Young-mi. Woo-jin dies while saving her life. However, all of Young-mi's treachery is exposed. Losing everything and heartbroken because of Woo-jin's death, she attempts to commit suicide, but her efforts are frustrated when she is found unconscious by a group of nuns on the shore of the Han River. When Young-mi wakes up, she suffers from amnesia and has lost almost all memories of her past.

The drama ends with a happy reconciliation between Young-mi and Sun-mi, who cries beside Young-mi, forgiving her for the misunderstandings between them since they met. Finally, Hyung-chul swears eternal love and proposes to Sun-mi right in the middle of a street, asking her not to move to London.

After suffering from a series of mishaps, Kazuya Hasekawa has finally entered Ryokuto Academy. He is there to get away from his brother and his sister-in-law (whom Kazuya had a crush on). Unfortunately, he is assigned to live in the dorm known as Greenwood, a former insane asylum, where the weird students live. His roommate Shun Kisaragi looks just like a girl, and Kazuya initially thought he was until he saw Shun in the boys' bathroom. Also there are his next-door roommates, the dorm president Mitsuru Ikeda and his best friend, Shinobu Tezuka. The manga follows the everyday events and antics of Greenwood.

A few years after his supposed demise in Manhattan, Jason Voorhees has been inexplicably resurrected and returns to Camp Crystal Lake, where he stalks a lone woman. The woman, who is actually an undercover FBI agent, lures Jason into an ambush, where heavily armed FBI and SWAT agents obliterate him. Jason's remains are sent to a morgue, where his still-beating heart entices the coroner to eat it, allowing the killer's soul to possess him. Jason, in the coroner's body, escapes the morgue, killing another coroner and two FBI guards in the process.

At Crystal Lake, Jason finds three partying teens and kills them. When two police officers are called to investigate the murders, Jason kills one of them and possesses the other. Meanwhile, bounty hunter Creighton Duke discovers that only members of Jason's bloodline can truly kill him, and he will return to his original, near-invincible state if he possesses a family member. The only living relatives of Jason are his half-sister Diana Kimble, her daughter Jessica, and Stephanie, the infant daughter of Jessica and Steven Freeman.

Jason makes his way to Diana's house, where Steven bursts in and attacks him. In the chaos, Diana is killed, and Jason escapes. Steven is blamed for Diana's murder and arrested, before meeting Duke, who reveals Jessica's relation to Jason. Determined to get to Jessica before Jason does, Steven escapes from jail. Meanwhile, Jessica is dating tabloid TV reporter Robert Campbell. Steven goes to the Voorhees house to find evidence to convince Jessica but falls through rotten boards. Robert enters the upstairs room and receives a phone call that reveals that he is attempting to "spice up" his show's ratings by emphasizing Jason's return from death, having stolen Diana's body from the morgue for this reason. Jason bursts in and transfers his heart into Robert while the body he left melts. Jason leaves with Steven in pursuit and attempts to possess Jessica in order to be reborn, but Steven hits him and takes Jessica into his car. Steven temporarily stalls Jason by running him over. When he tries to explain the situation to Jessica, she disbelieves him and throws him out of the car before going to the police station.

Jason arrives at the police station and kills all officers in his path to Jessica, whom he almost possesses before Steven stops him again; the chaos allows Duke to escape from his cell. Now believing Steven, Jessica goes with him to the diner to retrieve Stephanie before Jason does. When Jason arrives, he is attacked by the shop's owners, whom he kills, along with waitress Vicki Sanders, who managed to shoot him with a shotgun and impale him with an iron rod. Jessica and Steven discover a note from Duke, telling them that he has Stephanie and demanding that Jessica meet him at the Voorhees house alone.

Jessica meets Duke and is given a mystical dagger which she can use to kill Jason permanently. A police officer enters the diner where Robert, possessed, transfers his heart into him. Duke falls through the floor, and Sheriff Landis and Officer Randy confront Jessica. Landis is accidentally killed with the dagger, which Jessica then drops. Jason, possessing Randy, attempts to be reborn through Stephanie, but Steven arrives and severs his neck with a machete. Jason's heart, which has grown into a demonic infant, crawls out of Randy's neck. Steven and Jessica pull Duke out of the basement as Jason's heart discovers Diana's body and slithers into her vaginal orifice, allowing him to be reborn.

While Steven and Jessica attempt to retrieve the dagger, Duke distracts Jason and is killed with a bear hug. Jason turns his attention to Jessica before Steven tackles him through a window. The two battle while Jessica retrieves the dagger and stabs Jason in the chest. As the souls Jason accumulated over time are released, demonic hands burst out of the ground and pull Jason into Hell. Steven and Jessica then reconcile and walk off into the sunrise with their baby. Later, a dog unearths Jason's mask while digging in the dirt. Freddy Krueger's laugh is heard as his gloved hand bursts out of the dirt and pulls Jason's mask into Hell.

The book opens with the narrator telling readers about a little old woman nicknamed "The Lupine Lady" who "lives in a small house overlooking the sea." The story of her Great Aunt, Miss Rumphius, begins to unfold, starting when her aunt was just a little girl named Alice.

In illustrations depicting the late 1800s, a young Alice lives with her grandparents near a waterfront shipping town. Her grandfather, an immigrant who arrived by boat to America himself, now carves the figureheads for sailing ships in his old age. At night, he regales his granddaughter with stories of exotic places across the sea. Inspired, Alice tells her grandfather that, when she grows up, she will travel to faraway places and settle down by the sea when she grows old, just as he did. He agrees that her plans are "all very well," but goes on to tell her that she must do one more thing: "You must do something to make the world more beautiful." Alice resolves to follow her grandfather's advice, though she is not sure how. For a time, life goes on normally and, eventually, Alice grows up. She goes to work in a library where people call her Miss Rumphius and she helps them find books they're looking for. It is in the library where she learns about more faraway places. Time continues to pass and streaks of gray appear in her hair. In her spare time, she likes to visit the local conservatory where she can linger among the exotic plants and dream of the places from which they originally came. She decides she finally needs to go see those places for herself. Her first trip abroad takes her to Indonesia where she befriends the king of a fishing village. From there, she goes on to climb snowy mountains, trek through jungles, and walk across deserts as she travels to many of the faraway places she promised herself she would go. While traveling in the "Land of the Lotus-Eaters" (Tunisia in North Africa), however, she hurts her back getting off a camel and decides that it's time to find her place by the sea.

After returning to America and settling into a cottage overlooking the water, Miss Rumphius—an older woman now—begins to wonder how she might accomplish the final task her grandfather told her she must do to "make the world more beautiful," but her back injury worsens and, for some time, it is unclear if she will be able to complete the task. As she rests and tries to recover, she reflects on how much she loves the lupines outside her bedroom window, and, after discovering a patch of them farther along the cliffs near her home, she realizes how she can accomplish her third and final goal.

She sends off for as many lupine seeds as she can acquire and begins scattering them all over her community—along cliffside roads, near buildings in town, along stone walls, and in hollows between hills. People who see her think she's crazy, but the following spring, it becomes clear she accomplished her goal; her community is bursting with colorful lupines growing everywhere and she has made the world more beautiful.

The story concludes with the young narrator (who we learn is also named Alice) telling readers that her great Aunt Alice is now very old—so old that local children drop by her home to see who they believe is the oldest woman in the world. She tells them stories of her faraway adventures. As in the beginning, the young Alice tells her she would like to see the world when she grows up and "come home to live by the sea." But just as Miss Rumphius' own grandfather did before her, the elder Alice reminds the younger of the third thing she must yet do—"something to make the world more beautiful." And, much like her great aunt when she was her age, the young narrator admits that she does "not yet know what that can be."

The play begins in a police station in a crime-ridden suburb in Melbourne, Australia, where Constable Neville Ross, just out of police training and ready for his first placement, meets old and experienced Sergeant Dan Simmonds. Set in a time of radical change in Australian society, Simmonds is revealed to be very chauvinistic, a great juxtaposition from Ross' nervous character. He is also hesitant to reveal to Simmonds his father's career as coffin maker. While being verbally tested by Simmonds, two women enter the station, Kate Mason and Fiona Carter, who are sisters. Mason is a stuck-up, authoritative woman, who married well, whereas Carter is nervous and timid. Kate reveals that Fiona's husband Kenny has been abusing her, to which Simmonds suggests that Ross take the job. Kate is displeased, strongly disagrees, and demands that Simmonds personally takes their case.

She says that the bruises are on Fiona's back and thigh, which Simmonds inspects personally, and even takes a photograph of (he says that a view by the "medically un-trained eye" would look good on the police report). Before setting out, Fiona tells them that there is furniture which she paid for that needs to be taken before Kenny is apprehended. She suggests taking them while he is at the pub with his friends. Simmonds is keen to assist the women with the removal of the furniture because he sees the possibility of sexual reward.

The next act takes place in Fiona and Kenny's apartment; though Kenny gets home before the furniture removalist arrives. Fiona tries to get him to leave, but he becomes suspicious. Kate then arrives. Kenny finally decides to go to the pub as usual but then, the removalist knocks on the door, which Kenny answers. He becomes agitated when the removalist assures him that he was called to the address. Kenny slams the door on him, but there is another knock, which is revealed to be Simmonds and Ross. Kenny is handcuffed to the door, while Ross and the removalist begin to take the furniture. After repeated verbal abuse from Kenny, Simmonds beats him, to the distress of Fiona.

Simmonds picks out from subtle hints in Kate and Fiona's talk that Kate is a repeat adulterer, which he calls her out on and begins to berate her with. She becomes agitated and leaves, but Simmonds follows her and continues to argue; Fiona follows as well. Meanwhile, Ross uncuffs Kenny to take him to the station, but after lengthy insults, Ross loses it and severely beats Kenny. They run into another room, where violent acts are heard. Ross exits, with signs of blood on him, and looking distressed. Simmonds comes back alone, with the sister having taken a taxi to her new apartment, and finds Ross begging for help, as he believes Kenny to be dead. After inspecting, he agrees, and the two begin distraughtly thinking of suggestions for a justified murder. As they do, Kenny crawls out, severely beaten but barely stable. Ross and Simmonds are alerted to his presence when he lights a cigarette. Ross is relieved, but Simmonds does not agree with the suggestion that he be brought to a hospital; instead, he bargains with Kenny with the lure of a prostitute for the assurance that he would keep the incident quiet. Kenny agrees, but after a few moments, he suddenly falls on the floor and dies. Ross again becomes distressed and agitated, he then punches Simmonds in the hope that it would look as if he assaulted the officers. The play ends with the two policemen desperately punching each other.

The story begins with Dick and Maisie as orphan children in a seaside boarding house under the care of Mrs. Jennet (a sadist drawn from Kipling's own childhood experience with a Mrs Holloway). Dick confesses his infatuation with Maisie but she informs him that she will soon be leaving to complete her education.

Years later, Dick is working as a painter and artist among the British armed forces in Sudan. He meets a war correspondent named Torpenhow who, witnessing his skill, arranges for Dick to be hired by the syndicate that he works for. The two men quickly strike a friendship and help each other in their respective trades. Dick is later injured by a sword-cut to the head and spends a night in delirium, moaning about Maisie. Once the campaign is over, Dick returns to London where he eventually reunites with Torpenhow. His war sketches have drawn attention in England and when his former employers try to withhold his submitted works, Dick bullies their representative into returning them. He shares a rented apartment with Torpenhow in London where the two spend their time working and discussing "Art" along with a few other friends. Dick runs into Maisie again who is also working as a painter and a student under Dick's former teacher, Kami. He asks her about their relationship and though she rebuffs his advances, she asks him to visit her every Sunday as she values his advice about her work. He relents, assuming that she would grow to love him as he loves her. He also meets Maisie's roommate, a red-haired girl who immediately despises him.

While discussing her work, Dick enters into an argument with Maisie about her attempt to paint the "Melancolia" from the book, ''The City of Dreadful Night.'' Dick says that it is beyond her ability and challenges her that he can do it better. Maisie soon departs for Paris to work under Kami for some months and Dick sees her off at the harbour. He finally convinces her to give him a kiss, making the red-haired girl furious. When he returns to his room, he discovers that Torpenhow has brought in a pretty young prostitute named Bessie whom he found collapsed in the hall. Taken by her face, Dick convinces the girl to return to his studio so that he can paint her in return for payment. Eventually, Bessie tries to seduce Torpenhow though they are interrupted by Dick, who rebukes Torpenhow and sends him away. Bessie is furious at Dick but continues to model for him because of the money. Dick hits upon his notion for the "Melancolia" who he models on Bessie but discovers to his horror that he is going blind due to a past battle injury. He still manages to complete the painting a week after Torpenhow returns, relying on whiskey to help his failing vision. However, Bessie destroys the painting in revenge for his earlier interference. Torpenhow hides the fact from Dick, who is now completely blind, regretting that he ever helped the girl.

When news arrives of a new campaign in Sudan, Torpenhow visits Maisie in Paris and persuades her to meet Dick in the hope that she will look after him. Though visibly anguished, she refuses and Dick gently asks her to leave. He hides this fact from Torpenhow, who leaves for the campaign with their friends. Dick meets with Bessie again and upon learning of the Melancolia's destruction, decides to leave for the campaign as well. With help from an acquaintance in Port Said, he reaches the battlefield at the very start of a battle but is killed by a bullet to the head.

When Laura Franklin's younger sister Shirley comes into the world, Laura instantly resents her, and soon begins to wish and even to pray that her baby sister will die. But after saving Shirley's life in a fire, she experiences a complete change of feeling, and becomes very affectionate and protective towards her. Later, as the sisters grow up and fall in love, Laura begins to realise that the burden of her love for Shirley has had a dramatic effect on both their lives.

In 1962 in rural New South Wales, Australia, Danny is a thin, socially awkward 15-year-old boy who has been best friends with Freya since childhood. Freya was adopted as a baby; as a result, she is the subject of town gossip and rumors about her possible biological parents. The two spend their days at their childhood hangout on the outskirts of town, experimenting with telepathy and hypnosis.

Danny has grown feelings for Freya, but unfortunately for him, Freya becomes attracted to Trevor, a high school rugby star, larrikin and petty criminal who helps Danny with the school bullies. Danny begrudgingly befriends Trevor, and the trio discover an abandoned house that is rumored to be haunted. The three teens spend a night in the house, with Trevor and Freya sleeping together while Danny is off in a corner, faking being asleep. The next day, Trevor steals a car for a joyride. He is arrested and sent to juvenile detention; during his time away, Freya reveals to Danny that she is pregnant. Danny offers to marry her and claim the child is his, but Freya refuses, saying that she does not want to marry anyone. Meanwhile, intrigued by a locket left to Freya by an elderly friend of theirs who recently died—engraved "SEA"—Danny begins to investigate the town's past, and discovers a lone cross in the cemetery bearing those initials, belonging to a "Sara Elizabeth Amery," who died days after Freya was born. Through inquiries with his parents, Danny learns that Sara was well known for her sexual promiscuity years ago, and that she was Freya's biological mother, who died trying to give birth by herself at the abandoned house.

Meanwhile, Trevor breaks out of detention, steals another car, and severely wounds a store clerk during an armed robbery. Trevor returns to town long enough to reunite with Freya at the abandoned house, where he learns of her pregnancy. The police arrive at the house, but Danny aids in Trevor's escape. The police then run Trevor's car off the road during the course of the pursuit, and Trevor dies the next day. Freya disappears, and later suffers a miscarriage and hypothermia until Danny finds her at the abandoned house and takes her to the hospital. Hesitantly, Danny reveals the identity of Freya's mother to her. Realising the stigma now hanging over her, Freya decides to leave on the night train for the city. At the station, Danny gives her his life's savings to support herself and sees her off—promising their friendship to one another and to keep in touch. Later, Danny travels to their favourite hangout spot and carves the names of Freya, Trevor and his own into a rock, as his adult self informs the audience that he never saw Freya again.

Stan and his friends are playing with radio-controlled cars when a group of kids from Orange County come and dance in front of them, thus "serving" them. The group leaves after trash-talking Stan and the boys, who are left confused by the confrontation. The kids talk to Chef, unaware of what being "served" entails. Chef immediately shows great concern, and calls their parents to inform them about the ordeal and assure them that their children are safe. Later, over dinner, Randy Marsh gets upset about his son being served and "teaches" him to dance back with a few very basic line dancing steps to the tune of Billy Ray Cyrus' "Achy Breaky Heart".

The next time Stan gets served by the Orange County kids, he serves them back, switching CDs on the boombox so that he may dance to "Achy Breaky Heart". "You just got F'd in the A!", says Cartman to the Orange County kids, who respond by declaring that "it's on"; there is now a dance contest to be had, the Orange County kids versus the best dancers in South Park.

Sharon berates Randy about his telling and teaching Stan to dance back, as it was this which led to it being "on". Randy goes to the Orange County team to apologize and make it clear that "it's ''not'' on; it's off", but the Orange County coach takes this as a challenge and goes on to serve Randy with some exceptional dance moves. Randy winds up in the hospital with the worst case of "being served" that his doctor has ever seen. After an exchange in the hospital, Stan hopes that he is finally being let off the hook, but Randy makes it clear that he expects Stan to avenge him at the competition.

Stan goes out to find the town's best dancers: Michael, the leader of the goth kids' gang (who only agrees to do so after the others dismiss the dance contest as too conformist, thus showing he is non-conformist enough to refuse to conform to even his fellow goths); an Asian kid named Yao, who is a ''Dance Dance Revolution'' expert (yet claims he cannot dance without the machine, a pastime he perceives as stupid); and Mercedes, the manager of Raisins (as Michael insists they need a girl on their team or everyone will think they're "fags"). Needing a fifth member, Mercedes suggests Butters, who was once state tap-dancing champion. When they ask him to join, however, he is stunned and runs away screaming.

It is revealed through flashback that, in 2002, Butters' shoe flew off during the national Tap-Dancing Finals, hit a stage light in the rafters, and led to an extremely gruesome chain of events that left eight people in the audience dead. (Butters later learns to his horror from Stan that the total death count was actually eleven, because one woman was pregnant and two others killed themselves after the tragedy.) This all happened to the upbeat (and risqué) tune of "I've Got Something in My Front Pocket for You". Butters flatly refuses to participate in the show, even after further pressing, so the team has to settle for a dancing duck named Jeffy from a local farm. Jeffy has not danced to any songs other than those about drug use and domestic violence played by the farmer, all to extensively modified lyrics of the song "The Crawdad Song".

On the day of the performance, Jeffy's ankle gets sprained during practice. The team looks likely to be forced to forfeit, as competition rules require a mandatory five members. Just in time, though, Butters suddenly arrives in his tap-dancing outfit, allowing the kids to perform. When they do, however, Butters' shoe flies off again and hits a stage light, causing the rafter to fall on and kill the entire Orange County team and their coach. Although Butters is horrified by this, the South Park team wins by default, and a bloodstained, screaming and horribly traumatized Butters is carried off and hailed as a hero.

Hell Island is a remote Pacific Island that no one knows about. It does not feature on any map. It was used by the Japanese during World War II as a remote airfield, but it was soon taken over by American forces in 1943. During the time the book is set, the location is used by the U.S. government for scientific experiments on apes. The U.S. government is using the island for Project Stormtrooper, wherein apes are being engineered in such a way that they become super-soldiers.

The book opens with Schofield's ten-man Marine Recon team parachuting onto the deck of the soon-to-be-decommissioned aircraft carrier, the USS ''George Washington'', along with three other special forces teams – a Delta Force team, a squad of SEALs and a team from the 82nd Airborne Division. The Delta team make landfall on the island while the other three teams investigate the aircraft carrier.

Shane Schofield realises that the carrier is being used for the specific project after the Airborne and SEAL teams are quickly slaughtered. A DARPA scientist, whom Schofield's team stumble across, explain that the enemy is a group of genetically and electronically enhanced gorillas, armed with modified M-4 Colt Commandos and extremely deadly in melee combat.

The few remaining Marines kill significant numbers of the gorillas in a large battle on board the aircraft carrier, eventually departing to investigate the island. Schofield comments that the island is home to an extensive tunnel network dating from World War II, which features an uncommon self-destruct mechanism: sea doors which can flood the lower parts of the tunnel system in the event of an enemy force capturing the base. Schofield then realizes that the gorillas are somehow controlled by Captain William Buck "Buccaneer" Broyles, the former leader of what was acknowledged to be the best Marines Unit, due to the similar tactics his Marines and the gorillas employed.

He realises that the apes can listen to radio chatter and so he sends out a fake distress message which lures the apes to them.

They set a trap to lock the apes in an old ammunition storage bunker before detonating the munitions, but the Delta team's entrance with the rest of the DARPA team (who deactivate the gorillas' neural chips) changes the situation.

A silver disc, attached to the ID of the DARPA scientists and the DELTA team, is responsible for the gorillas not hurting them.

Dr. Knox, the scientist in charge of the project, tells Schofield that they are the sole survivors of a field test for the apes, which has so far killed six hundred Marines and two special forces squads. He congratulates Schofield on his success, before subtly instructing the Delta team leader to execute them. However, Mother jams the radio signals controlling the apes, causing them to turn on the scientists. The Delta team is distracted and subsequently killed by Schofield's team, leaving only Broyles. Schofield opens the sea door of the tunnel system, flooding the tunnels and drowning the gorillas along with the "Buccaneer". The story ends with Schofield's team leaving on a C-17 which was originally sent to pick up the DARPA and Delta teams along with the apes.

Ryu is a deaf-mute man who works in a factory. His ailing sister is in desperate need of a kidney transplant, but Ryu's is not a match. After he loses his job, Ryu contacts a group of black market organ dealers to exchange one of his kidneys for one that his sister can use. However, the dealers disappear after taking Ryu's kidney and severance money.

A legitimate kidney donor is found, but after having been conned by the organ dealers, Ryu is unable to afford the operation. To raise money, Yeong-mi, Ryu's radical anarchist girlfriend, suggests kidnapping the daughter of the executive that fired Ryu. They observe the executive with company president Park Dong-jin arriving at the latter's home one day, where one of Dong-jin's employees, Peng, attempts to commit ''harakiri'' in front of them. Ryu and Yeong-mi change their plan, deciding to kidnap Dong-jin's young daughter Yu-sun.

Yu-sun stays with Ryu's sister, who believes that Ryu is babysitting her. Ryu and Yeong-mi send a request for ransom to Dong-jin, and he obliges. Upon returning home with the ransom money, Ryu discovers that his sister learned that Yu-sun was kidnapped and not wanting to be a burden any longer, has committed suicide.

Ryu takes Yu-sun and his sister's body to a riverbed they frequented as children to bury her. Distracted by the burial and unable to hear, Ryu is unaware when Yu-sun slips into the river, and she drowns. After Yu-sun's body is discovered by authorities, a deeply mournful Dong-jin hires an investigator to find her kidnappers. Dong-jin finds Ryu's sister's corpse by the riverbed, interacts with a mentally disabled man who witnessed Ryu burying his sister, and begins to piece together the identities of Ryu and Yeong-mi.

Ryu, armed with a baseball bat, locates the organ traffickers and murders them, receiving a stab wound in the process. Meanwhile, Dong-jin finds Yeong-mi and tortures her with electricity, also killing a deliveryman who comes to her apartment. She apologizes for Yu-sun's death but warns Dong-jin that her terrorist friends will kill him if she dies. Unfazed, Dong-jin electrocutes her. Ryu returns to Yeong-mi's apartment and sees the police removing her corpse.

Dong-jin knocks Ryu unconscious with a booby trap. He takes Ryu to the riverbed where his daughter died and drags him into the water. Dong-jin slashes Ryu's Achilles tendon and waits for him to drown. After Dong-jin dismembers Ryu's corpse, Yeong-mi's anarchist associates arrive. They stab Dong-jin, pin a note to his chest with a knife, and leave him to die.

Dean has been a waiter at a restaurant called Shenaniganz for four years since graduating from high school, and has not earned a degree during his four years at a community college. When Dean learns from his mother that a former high school classmate, Chet, now has a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, he begins to rethink his directionless life.

Dean's roommate and co-worker, Monty, is in exactly the same situation, but has accepted that his future lies with the restaurant. Monty is put in charge of training Mitch, a newly hired waiter who is constantly interrupted throughout most of the film before he can speak, usually by Monty. Also working with Dean is Calvin, a hopeless romantic who cannot urinate in public, and Dan, the uptight manager who is grooming Dean as his protégé. Rounding out the staff are 17-year-old hostess Natasha, abrasive waitress Naomi, waitress (and Monty's ex-girlfriend) Serena, Dean's girlfriend and fellow waitress Amy, stoner busboys T-Dog and Nick, head chef Raddimus, the insane, unsanitary chef Floyd, lesbian bartender Tyla, and the pensive and philosophical dishwasher Bishop.

The waiters preoccupy themselves with endless gossip, complaining about the customers, seeking covert revenge on particularly rude or annoying patrons, and playing a special kind of game which involves flashing genitalia at a fellow worker (the "Penis Showing Game", which was referred to informally as the "penis game" in some movie reviews, including the ''Toronto Star'' and ''BBC'' in film reviews from 2005 and 2006 respectively). Each employee has his or her own problems and stories, which are interwoven with the ebb and flow of business.

Towards the end of the night, a redneck customer leaves Dean a $1 tip on a $35 order. Dean, offended by the poor tip, angrily tells the redneck that he "forgot his change", which causes the redneck to complain about it to Dan. Dan promises the redneck he will give him a free milkshake to compensate for Dean's behaviour, after which he scolds Dean for his outburst.

Minutes before the restaurant closes, Chet and his girlfriend come in for dinner. Seeing that Chet left him a $100 bill to pay for a $30 order, Dean approaches Chet and nicely tells him that he "forgot his change". Chet then tells Dean that he meant to leave him that great of a tip, since Dean could use the money more than Chet would. This prompts Dean to quit his job, turning down an assistant manager position Dan offered him at the beginning of the film to seek a more promising future.

When the shift ends, the staff head to a party at Monty and Dean's house. At the party, Monty, who has a predilection for sleeping with teenage girls, is able to resist having sex with Natasha, although he says they will have sex the following Wednesday, when she will be 18. Calvin attempts to fix his relationship problems, and Mitch finally speaks, angrily ranting about his coworkers and quitting. He concludes by giving them all ''The Goat'' from the "Penis Showing Game", which Raddimus had told him earlier would instantly grant him god-status. Monty swears his undying allegiance to Mitch, telling Dean he's been "replaced". The party scene ends with the staff talking about the incident with Mitch.

The film then ends with Dan showing up at the redneck's house, carrying a case of beer as Natasha made Dan think this was where the staff party was located. The redneck then asks a redfaced Dan if he brought him the milkshake he was promised.

In 1945, World War II was abruptly ended when an alien race appeared on Earth and began to slaughter the human population. This alien force, known as the "Phantom Beasts" (or Genjyu in Japanese) had effectively taken over more than half of the Earth. The year is 1999 – 54 years later, mankind is still fighting to survive against the alien forces. Earth forces now use advanced mecha called Humanoid Walking Tanks (HWTs) to combat the invaders, but throughout the ordeal, far too many pilots have been killed in action. To ensure the future of the human race, the Japanese government enforced a student draft which recruited high school students to become HWT pilots. Gunparade March follows the lives of the 5121st Platoon, which consists mainly of drafted high school students and their struggle to defeat the Phantom Beasts and at the same time, lead a normal social life.

At the turn of the twentieth century, traveling salesman Virgil Smith (Bing Crosby) takes multiple journeys to Vienna, Austria, hoping to sell a gramophone to Emperor Franz Joseph, whose purchase of the recent American invention could spur its popularity with the Austrian people. At the same time, Countess Johanna Augusta Franziska von Stoltzenberg-Stolzenberg (Joan Fontaine) and her father, Baron Holenia, are celebrating the fact their black poodle Scheherezade has been selected to mate with the emperor's poodle. As they depart from the palace, they meet Virgil and his white fox terrier Buttons, whose scuffle with Scheherezade leads to a discussion about class distinctions.

When Scheherezade experiences a nervous breakdown, she is treated by veterinarian Dr. Zwieback, who practices Freudian psychology, and he advises Johanna to force her dog to face Buttons in order to dissipate her fear. When the dogs are reunited, romantic sparks begin to fly between not only the animals but their owners as well. They begin to spend a great deal of time together, during which Scheherezade and the salesman's dog mate, unbeknownst to their owners.

Virgil eventually convinces Johanna true love can overcome their social differences, and he asks the emperor for her hand in marriage. This is the crucial scene in the picture, and brings the otherwise lightweight movie plot to a higher level. The Emperor is cordial and fatherly with Virgil, and treats him with respect and even a bit of admiration. But he is certain Johanna could never be happy living in Newark, New Jersey. "We are not better than you", explains the Emperor sadly, "I think perhaps you are better than us. But we are like snails: If you take us out of our majestic shells, we die."

Finally, the Emperor tells Virgil of the disastrous end to several similar matches he has seen in his long life, and makes him an offer: He will endorse the gramophone—which will lead to enormous sales and profits for Virgil—only if he breaks up with Johanna. Virgil refuses, highly insulted, but the Emperor asks him one more question: Are you sure you will be enough for her?

The question strikes home, and Virgil decides he loves Johanna too much to take a chance on ruining her life. He lies to her, saying he used her only in order to gain access to the emperor to sell his wares, and walks out apparently uncaring, making himself the villain.

Several months later when Scheherezade gives birth to a litter of white puppies with black patches, it is obvious they were sired by Buttons and not, as everyone thought, by the Emperor's poodle. Fearing the Emperor's reaction, Baron Holenia tells the Emperor they were stillborn, and secretly orders them drowned. However, Virgil, who has sneaked into the palace to see Johanna one last time and set the record straight before he leaves for America, rescues the puppies and confronts the Emperor, who he thinks has ordered the drowning. The Emperor demands an explanation from Holenia, chastises him severely, and asks Virgil to give him the puppies.

But Virgil is still furious, and continues to berate the Emperor about class snobbery which he sees as the reason Holenia tried to drown the pups. He is so angry that he forgets Johanna is standing there listening and tells the Emperor he never should have agreed to give up Johanna to save her from a commoner's life with him. Johanna realises what Virgil has done and forgives him, and tells the Emperor that better she take one chance in a million of a happy life with Virgil, than no chance at all with someone she cannot love. The Emperor agrees to let Virgil and Johanna wed.

Set in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn, New York in September 1937 during The Great Depression, this coming-of-age comedy focuses on Eugene Morris Jerome, a Polish-Jewish American teenager who experiences puberty, sexual awakening, and a search for identity as he tries to deal with his family, including his older brother Stanley, his parents Kate and Jack, Kate's sister Blanche, and her two daughters, Nora and Laurie, who come to live there after their father's death. The new living arrangement is taking its toll on Jack's health, as he has to work two stressful jobs to support the extended family. Meanwhile Aunt Blanche is interested in dating their neighbor, who has a drinking problem, despite Kate's objections; Stanley faces problems with his own job, when he stands up to his somewhat tyrannical boss, and later resorts to some shady means to support the family's struggle; cousin Nora, whom Eugene has a crush on, is eager to be a paid dancer in a Broadway musical, even though the family's circumstances might not allow it, much to her dismay; and cousin Laurie, who has heart problems and requires frequent doctor visits, is a source of annoyance for Eugene. All the while the family has other relatives living in Poland, which is under invasion, and they are worried about what might happen if they remain there, or how they'll be able to put them up if they escape and come to Brooklyn.

Characters

Eugene Morris Jerome, almost 15 Stanley Jerome, 18½: Eugene's older brother Blanche Morton, 38: Eugene's widowed aunt Nora Morton, 16½: Eugene's older cousin Laurie Morton, 13: Eugene's younger cousin, has heart problems with Kate Jerome, about 40: Eugene's mother, a strong Jewish matriarch *and Jacob "Jack" Jerome, about 40: Eugene's father

The framework is the story of the Republic of New Mexico (NMR) invading the peaceful anarcho-capitalist society in Kansas. The NMR creates a military fiasco by completely failing to understand the cultural differences — including the amount of self-protection a lone Kansas farmer may have.

The protagonist is Wil W. Brierson, a detective/insurance agent, who attempts to disrupt the invasion while trying to minimize the property damage (and thus claims his company might have to pay out) and bridge the cultural gap. Brierson is also the protagonist of ''Marooned in Realtime''.

On the evening of November 7, photographer Sophie Jacobs (Cox) and her attorney boyfriend Hugh (LeGros) go to dinner at a Chinese restaurant. As they travel home afterward, Sophie develops a craving for "something sweet" and stops their car at a convenience store. While Hugh is in the store buying some chocolate for Sophie, an armed man (Carey) arrives and holds up the store, shooting the store clerk, his son, and Hugh dead. He runs away as Sophie arrives.

Sophie sinks into a deep depression, and cannot bring herself to erase Hugh's voice from their apartment's answering machine. She consults her psychiatrist, Dr. Fayn (Dunn), about persistent headaches that she has been suffering from since his death. She tells Dr. Fayn that the headaches started to occur before the incident at the convenience store, and that she had been having an affair with a co-worker, Jesse (Ealy). After Hugh's death Sophie has dinner with her mother, Carol Jacobs (Archer), who accidentally knocks a glass over.

During a college photography class that she teaches, Sophie sets up a slide projector for the students to showcase their best photographs. One slide in the slide show depicts the exterior of the convenience store on the evening of November 7. Sophie contacts Officer Roberts (Offerman), the head of the investigation into the shootings at the convenience store, who is as puzzled as she is as to who is responsible for the photos. Sophie's headaches continue, and she begins to hear strange noises coming from within her apartment building and mysterious voices on the phone. Later, Officer Roberts discovers that the photo of the convenience store was paid for with Sophie's credit card.

The film presents two more different versions of these events, and Sophie must figure out which is real before she loses grip on her sanity, and her life. The second version suggests that Sophie was present at the shootings and was only spared because the shooter ran out of bullets, and the third suggests both Sophie and Hugh were killed. In the words of Cox, her character "goes through three phases. First there's denial. Then she feels guilty and sad about the situation. Then she has to learn to accept it."Mills, Nancy. [http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/329582p-281679c.html "Dramatic turn for Courteney"] . ''New York Daily News''. July 20, 2005. Retrieved September 19, 2005. According to Greg Harrison, the events in the film were Sophie's memories as she and Hugh lay dying on the floor of the convenience store: "Each movement of this memory was her process of coming to terms with the terrible trauma, which was that she was killed for absolutely no reason, and it was some random act of violence she couldn’t confront". He added he felt ''November'' was "open-ended" enough that he hoped viewers would "come up with the most beautiful stories themselves that are very different from how I saw it."Mapes, Marty. [http://www.moviehabit.com/essays/harrison05.shtml "November"]. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved June 27, 2006.

Precocious, bohemian teenager Placid Lake finishes high school, but after having an existential crisis devises a plan to totally reinvent himself as a functioning member of society. With a few weeks spent reading a library of self-help manuals, Lake gets a haircut, buys a bespoke suit, and finds a white collar job at an insurance agency. Lake has a smart friend Gemma (Rose Byrne) who tries to talk him out of his newly-found economic rationalism.

Lake is adamant about becoming an acceptable member of society and ignores the signs of disapproval from his parents and best friend. Yet, by continuing his venture to normality, Lake struggles with what to say, think, and wear due to his insecurity and neurosis. Lake realizes that living to society's standards does not satisfy him as much as he had hoped. Eventually, this causes him to revert to his original personality and become content with who he is.

James "Jimmy" Cuervo, paroled after serving a prison sentence for killing a rapist in a fight, lives with his dog in a mobile home in Lake Ravasu on the Raven Aztec reservation. Jimmy plans to start a new life with his girlfriend, Lily, and permanently leave the town, but her father, pastor Harold, and brother, local cop Tanner, both despise Jimmy.

The town is home to a Satanic biker gang led by escaped convict Luc "Death" Crash and his fiancée Lola Byrne. Along with their three confederates "Pestilence", "Famine" and "War", Luc and Lola murder the pair in a brutal ritual that they hope will reawaken the Antichrist, which includes removing Lily's eyes — bestowing precognitive powers upon Lola — and Jimmy's heart. They dump the bodies inside an old freezer.

The Crow then appears and revives Jimmy, who discovers his newfound invincibility after attempting to shoot himself. He takes Lily's body and leaves it on her bed so it can be found. Tanner and Harold find the body and assume Jimmy killed Lily.

On the night of a local festivity, Jimmy dons a gothic costume and make-up he wore to the celebration a previous year. He finds and kills Pestilence in a bar. He then seizes the hearse carrying Lily's body, and buries her near the tree where he carved a love symbol for them both. Jimmy goes to a casino and kills Famine in front of Luc. During an ensuing fight between Jimmy and Luc, the crow, Jimmy's power source, is injured, thereby weakening Jimmy. Tanner finds and accuses Jimmy of killing Lily, but Jimmy shows Tanner telepathically what really happened.

Luc and Lola visit El Niño, the head of their order, at a Catholic church which has been abandoned by Christians and has been modified for use by the satanic cult. Tanner and Harold and a group of men assemble outside to confront them. As El Niño is performing the marriage ceremony that will bring Luc closer to the power he craves, Jimmy, Tanner, Harold, and the other men arrive and shoot War. El Niño completes the ceremony as Jimmy enters the church. Luc, now a host for Lucifer himself telekinetically hangs Jimmy from a cross, while Lola kills El Niño. Luc and Lola leave the church and head to a nearby graveyard where they must consummate their ritual before sunrise in order for Lucifer to fully manifest.

Harold, Tanner, and the others free Jimmy, who tells them the crow is dying. To heal the bird and restore Jimmy's powers, Harold performs the Crow Dance. Weakened, Jimmy heads to the graveyard and stops Luc from having sex with Lola. Luc and Jimmy engage in a fight and the revived crow returns, restoring Jimmy's invulnerability. The sun rises, halting Luc's ritual. Jimmy then kills Luc by impaling him on a wooden spike and cutting his throat. Lola loses her sight and unsuccessfully attempts repentance by praying to the Virgin Mary, but it is too late; Harold apprehends her and takes her to prison. Jimmy and Lily's spirits find each other in the afterlife.

Undercover narcotics officer Nick Tellis chases a drug dealer through the streets of Detroit. Tellis shoots and kills the dealer when he holds a child hostage, but a stray bullet hits the child's pregnant mother, causing her to miscarry. Eighteen months later, Tellis is tasked with investigating the murder of an undercover officer, Michael Calvess. Tellis reluctantly agrees to take the case on two conditions: that he will get a desk job if he secures a conviction, and that he is partnered with Detective Henry Oak, whom Tellis has read about in the Calvess case file. The police chief accepts Tellis' conditions, but warns him about Oak's instability.

During their first meeting, Oak reveals to Tellis his belief that the department wants the Calvess case buried and it is all about politics. The detectives visit the scene where a drug dealer has been shot dead in his bathtub; Tellis surmises the death was accidental and self-inflicted. Tellis notes that the shotgun at the scene is a SWAT weapon with the serial number filed off.

While the partners have a discussion about family, Oak recalls a drug bust decades prior, where he found a ten-year-old girl who was being sold into prostitution by her stepfather, resulting in Oak beating the man; he sees parallels with the current case. Tellis visits Calvess' widow Kathryn, and asks about her relationship with her husband while he was on the street. Oak, who is protective of Calvess' family, turns up at the house and angrily confronts Tellis.

The detectives next visit the home of a man involved in Tellis' shooting. Although they find no evidence to suggest he murdered Calvess, they find another officer's badge on the premises. The man pulls a gun and wounds Tellis before Oak kills him in self-defense. The case assailant is determined to be Calvess' killer and the case is closed. However, Tellis and Oak are furious as they believe the killer has yet to be found and continue to investigate independently.

When the detectives visit an auto body shop, Oak attempts to force a confession out of a pair of suspects. Tellis is increasingly suspicious of Oak's tactics. Tellis finds police-issue guns in a car belonging to one of the suspects, including one that belonged to Calvess. Oak beats both men until Tellis tells him to get CSI tools from the car.

When Oak leaves the room, Tellis locks the door and asks for the truth from the suspects. They explain that Calvess, who had fallen into drug addiction, blew Tellis' cover eighteen months before and caused the shooting. On the day of the murder, Calvess tried to deal with the two dealers, but it went badly.

According to their story, Oak arrived, having trailed Calvess to confirm rumors that he was an addict. Calvess went for his weapon, which was the dealers' justification for attacking him. The two men ran off as Oak shot at them. Tellis confronts Oak and accuses him of murdering Calvess, which Oak denies. Tellis then raises the issue of Oaks' relationship with Calvess' wife, Kathryn.

Kathryn was the ten-year-old girl who was pimped out by her stepfather. Oak considers her the daughter he never had and has remained close. He has been protecting her by covering crimes she committed in her teenage years. Tellis tells Oak he will make the arrest and Oak beats him with the shotgun and resumes brutalizing the dealers.

Oak turns the tape recorder on and attempts to beat a confession out of the men, threatening to shoot them. Tellis breaks into their car, retrieves a gun, calls for back-up, and re-enters the building. He shoots Oak when Oak refuses to put his gun down. Tellis moves to aid Oak and, realizing he's dying, pleads for the truth of what happened the night Calvess died.

Oak explains that Calvess shot at the dealers as they fled from Oak, leaving the shoulder wound. Oak argued with him, explaining that he had had enough of defending Calvess and would turn him in to the department. In despair, Calvess shot himself. Oak had been protecting his name and family so Calvess' wife could receive his pension. Oak's motive was to convict the dealers, whom he felt had made Mike a junkie. Oak dies in Tellis' arms, leaving the confession on tape and Tellis with only moments to decide what to do with it.

The AI Lieserl is abandoned for five million years, leaving her to observe the sun's interior. She discovers dark matter-based life, which she names "photino birds". These birds gradually drain the energy from the core of a star, ending fusion and causing premature aging into a stable red giant—the birds' preferred habitat, as it has no risk of going supernova and destroying them.

A generation ship is sent with one end of a wormhole to explore the future and investigate the whereabouts of Michael Poole. It will be a round-trip journey, returning to the solar system after five million years, though only a thousand years will elapse on board, due to relativistic time dilation effects. The crew is broken into three factions—the primitives, the virtuals, and a survivalist faction, Superet. Among the factions, the primitives are a eugenics project for Garry Uvarov who hopes to lengthen the lives of humanity without the use of Anti-Senescence (anagathic or life-extension) technology. The Superet faction relies heavily on failing technology and maintains a totalitarian government which refuses to acknowledge the existence of other decks on the ship; the virtuals remain aloof.

Upon their arrival, their end of the wormhole is destroyed leaving them trapped in the future. They observe that the entire universe is full of red stars, so the stars have aged far faster than expected. The ''Great Northern'' makes contact with Lieserl, who explains her observations of the photino birds. The birds do not just exist in our sun but every sun, helioforming them to an amenable habitat. The Xeelee, masters of baryonic matter, have known about the photino birds and have been striving to thwart them. The baryonic universe is doomed, but the Xeelee create a 'Ring', an escape hatch. A cosmic string is made into a loop and creates the phenomenon of the Great Attractor. The function of the Ring is to create a Kerr metric at its centre, which creates a portal to other universes. Whenever humans have met up with the Xeelee and pursued war, this was merely an annoyance since the Xeelee were thinking on a larger scale about more potent enemies. The crew of the ''Great Northern'' and Lieserl discover the folly of their species.

A Xeelee nightfighter is discovered in Callisto, a reference to the later story "Reality Dust", and it is rigged to piggyback the ''Great Northern'' to the Great Attractor. Fifty days later, they discover that the Xeelees' project has been destroyed, but a recently awakened virtual of Michael Poole shows Spinner-of-Rope, a primitive, how to pilot around the fragmented cosmic strings and travel into the past, using a closed time-like path. These last humans return to the Ring, in an era in which it was not destroyed; the Xeelee allow them through, and they briefly attempt to pick universes and find sanctuary in another younger universe, after passing through the Ring, and get to work on starting a new world.

Michael Poole remains in our universe and witnesses the deaths of the last stars, and the decay of the last protons—the final victory of the dark matter lifeforms over the baryonic Xeelee and lesser races. Eventually, his consciousness disperses, and history ends.

In 1939 Kansas City, Missouri, young alto saxophone player Charlie "Bird" Parker performs at the Reno Club. However, his rapid and sporadic playing gets him jeered offstage. Moving to New York City, Charlie begins performing at different jazz venues on 52nd Street and meets trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. While Charlie performs with Dizzy, their specific style of jazz develops a following and is known as "bebop."

One evening, Charlie meets Chan Parker, a dancer and jazz lover. Attracted to Chan, Charlie continually asks her out, but she refuses his advances and moves to Chicago, Illinois. Later, Chan returns from Chicago and confesses she is pregnant with another man’s child. Upset, Charlie leaves for Los Angeles, California, to perform with Dizzy. One evening, Red Rodney, a Jewish trumpet player, approaches Charlie and tells him he is a fan. Later, Charlie and Dizzy’s engagement is cancelled due to a lack of interest in bebop. Charlie stays in Los Angeles, but his addiction to drugs and alcohol worsen, and he is hospitalized for eight months.

After Charlie gets clean and is released, Chan obtains a booking at a New York club for him. When he thanks Chan for her help, she introduces him to her daughter, Kim. Later, Charlie learns that his friend, Brewster, is opening a new club and naming it Birdland after Charlie. In need of work and money, Charlie travels to Paris, France, and finds an audience for jazz and bebop. However, he returns to New York and performs at Birdland.

Charlie later meets with Red and, while waiting for Birdland to open, offers a job touring with him in the South. Although Red is hesitant about how an interracial band might be received, Charlie assures him no harm will come to them. Arriving at their first engagement, Red sees Charlie has advertised him as being a blues singer named "Albino Red." During the tour, Charlie learns that Red is addicted to heroin and insists that he stop using drugs.

Returning to New York, Charlie and Red perform together for Birdland’s grand opening. Afterward, authorities pick up Red for drug possession. Charlie continues to perform at Birdland and other New York clubs. Chan and Kim move in with Charlie, and he and Chan have two children of their own: son Baird, and daughter Pree.

Some time later, Charlie is arrested for drug possession and put on probation. He loses his cabaret card, leaving him unable to perform in New York, and moves to Los Angeles in order to find work. He reconnects with Dizzy, who sees that he is using drugs again. Charlie later learns that Pree has died from an illness and returns home for her funeral. Depressed by Pree’s death and his faltering career, Charlie tries to kill himself by drinking iodine, but survives. After Chan has him committed to a hospital psychiatric ward, she is advised to send Charlie to a state facility for shock treatments. She worries that such treatments might rob him of his creative abilities. After Charlie is released, Chan convinces him to move their family to upstate New York.

Charlie later returns to the city for an audition set up by Brewster, but becomes distracted seeing all the former jazz clubs on 52nd Street have been turned into strip clubs. Missing the audition and embarrassed to tell Chan, Charlie goes to the apartment of Baroness Nica, a wealthy jazz music patron, and soon passes out. A doctor arrives and advises Charlie to go to the hospital, but he refuses. Later as he watches television with the Baroness, Charlie suffers a heart attack and dies at the age of 34.

In 1883, Paris Pitman, Jr. and his crew enter the home of wealthy rancher Mr. Lomax, and rob him of $500,000 Lomax keeps in a safe disguised as a table. Watching the ensuing shootout between the crew and the Lomax family, Pitman kills a number of his own men, then flees. Now the lone surviving crewmember, he hides the loot in a nest of rattlesnakes in the desert. One night, a broke and despondent Lomax goes to a bordello, where he is a regular. Taking pity on him, the madam allows him to go upstairs to look through a peephole to watch two of her girls entertain a client—Pitman. Pitman is convicted and sentenced to 10 years at a penitentiary in the Arizona territory.

Pitman's cell mates are: two con men who attempted to fleece some parishioners; a young man who inadvertently killed his girlfriend's father with a billiard ball; an oafish yet hardened gunman who drunkenly shot a sheriff in the leg; a mute immigrant from China, reputed to be a homicidal maniac; and legendary train robber The Missouri Kid. The corrupt warden, LeGoff, is willing to let Pitman break out for an even split of the loot. Pitman agrees, but the plan goes awry when LeGoff is killed during an inmate uprising.

Woodward Lopeman (the sheriff who was shot by the gunman, which ultimately cost him his job) becomes the new warden. A reformist, he abolishes hard labor, restricts cruel punishment, and teaches the prisoners self-respect. Recognizing his leadership qualities, Lopeman has Pitman supervise the construction of a dining hall. All the while, Pitman cajoles his fellow inmates into breaking out by promising each man a share of the hidden loot. On the day the governor visits, Pitman makes his move, and sparks a riot as cover for his escape. Three inmates are killed in the melee, and Pitman himself does away with two more partners.

Pitman heads for the loot, with Lopeman in hot pursuit. As he retrieves the moneybags, Pitman is bitten by a rattlesnake. By the time Lopeman catches up, Pitman is already dead. Lopeman collects the money, as well as Pitman's body, and rides back to the prison. However, upon his arrival, he abruptly decides to leave the body and gallops off, absconding to Mexico with the money.

After his latest scheme of killing Commissioner Gordon is foiled by Batman, the Joker retreats to his hideout to plan his next move, but is annoyed by his lovestruck sidekick Harley Quinn, and kicks her out. As Harley bemoans the state of her life, she recalls how she first met the Joker, back when she was psychologist Dr. Harleen Quinzel and spending an internship at Arkham Asylum. Convinced by the Joker himself to do it, Harleen interviewed him and learned he was abused as a child by his alcoholic father. After more interviews, Harleen determined Batman was the primary source of the Joker's anger and was to blame for his actions, but that she also had fallen in love with him. Harleen helped the Joker escape and became his sidekick in hopes that she could win his love.

Harley decides the only way she can make the Joker finally love her back is to kill Batman, which she attempts to do by capturing him so she can feed him to a school of piranhas, one of the Joker's unused plans. Batman distracts her by telling her the Joker has been using her from the start, with the Joker's stories to her of having an unhappy childhood being lies he has told to others, some with different details each time. When she tearfully insists the Joker really loves her, Batman convinces her to call him so he will know she will accomplish her goal (as the piranhas would leave no convincing evidence). The Joker arrives, however, infuriated by how Harley would rob him of the privilege of killing Batman, and knocks her out a window, where she is found gravely injured by nearby police officers. The Joker then decides, nonetheless, to use the opportunity to finally kill Batman, which escalates into a chase ending atop a moving subway train. Batman taunts the Joker by saying that Harley, with her plan, had come closer to killing him than he ''ever'' did. The Joker attacks him in a fit of rage, but Batman sends him plunging into a burning smokestack with a punch.

Back in Arkham Asylum, Harley Quinn renounces the Joker forever, wanting nothing more than to heal and then leave Arkham for good. Lying on her bed a moment later, however, Harley finds flowers sent by her clownish beau with a "get well soon" card and falls in love with him all over again.

The novel begins on the planet Veridian III and takes place shortly after the events seen in the motion picture ''Star Trek Generations''. The body of James T. Kirk is stolen by the Romulans after his burial by fellow Starfleet captain Jean-Luc Picard. The Borg have formed an alliance with the Romulan Star Empire in order to destroy the Federation. Using alien technology, the Borg bring Kirk back to life and his ''katra'' is restored, but false memories are implanted to turn him against the Federation. The goal of this secret alliance is to destroy Picard and therefore Starfleet's only defense against the Borg but, despite his conditioning, Kirk is able to resist commands to kill Worf, Data, and Geordi La Forge, all of whom are attacked by him during his search for Picard.

Simultaneously, Picard and Dr. Beverly Crusher are participating in a strike team in a Federation expedition to an assimilated colony, where they are forced to sneak on board the fleeing Borg vessel. While on board, they are able to move freely around the vessel and they learn of the Borg/Romulan Alliance. Spock also learns of this alliance when he is captured dealing with Romulans, but the Borg do not assimilate him as, for some reason, they believe Spock is ''already'' Borg.

Kirk is eventually captured on ''Deep Space Nine'' attempting to kill Commander William Riker, and the implant that was responsible for his false memories is removed by the joint efforts of Dr. Julian Bashir and Admiral Leonard McCoy; McCoy acts as an advisor during the surgery while Bashir's younger, fitter hands perform the operation. Although Kirk retains the drives implanted in him by the device, leading him to a confrontation with Picard in a holodeck re-creation of the original USS ''Enterprise'', Spock is able to remove the commands thanks to a mind meld. In the process, they learn that V'ger, the former Voyager 6, was actually upgraded by a division of the Borg Collective, which explains why the Borg did not assimilate Spock; they assumed the trace of V'ger in his mind from their meld (in ''Star Trek: The Motion Picture'') was an actual link to the Collective. This also gives Starfleet another advantage; thanks to the meld, Spock knows the location of the Borg homeworld.

Taking a ''Defiant''-class starship (renamed ''Enterprise'' for the mission), the ''Enterprise''-D senior staff, accompanied by Kirk, Spock and McCoy, travel directly to the Borg homeworld thanks to a stolen transwarp drive. Once there, the ''Enterprise'' neutralizes the Borg/Romulan fleet around the planet with a wave, dampening the Borg's communication and making them unable to maintain their link to the Collective, effectively neutralizing them. Taking this as a distraction, Kirk and Picard beam down to the planet in search of the Borg central node. Using Picard's memories as Locutus, they track down the Borg central node which, when deactivated, will sever the Borg Collective; every Borg ship will be separate from every other ship, and what can defeat one will always work a second time. However, the result will cause a cataclysmic explosion that will kill whoever operates the node.

Picard and Kirk debate on who will go, each attempting to be the hero and sacrifice themselves. Kirk appears to give in and let Picard pull the lever, but he takes the sudden calm to knock Picard out and beam his unconscious body back up to the ''Enterprise''. Kirk then pulls the lever and triggers the explosion. However, even as the crew watches, Spock, who has always been able to sense Kirk ever since they first mind-melded, still does not believe that his friend is dead.

Thirteen-year-old twin sisters Sam and Emma Stanton are opposites growing up in Evansville. Sam is a star soccer player and a tomboy; however, she wants to attract boys. Emma is a popular girly girl who enjoys fashion and make-up, but she wants to be better at sports. Their dad Jerry, one of the Soccer coaches, is pressured by his wife Denise to pick Emma for the Hurricanes co-ed team. Just as Jerry is about to pick Sam for his team after Round 2 of Soccer Tryouts is over, the Buzzards coach Willard Holmes picks Sam. But Sam is not thrilled to join a team which hasn't won in years and Emma finds it difficult to please her dad so the girls come up with a scheme to switch places in soccer so each can be on the team they prefer. As a result, Sam learns about letting others share the spotlight and Emma and Jerry finally become closer. Their mom catches them and the girls have to go back to their original teams. When everyone else is mad at them Sam and Emma both decide to quit soccer, but Jerry refuses to let them give up the sport. Denise becomes the Buzzards new coach to prove her husband wrong and actually gets the team into the finals. Along the way Emma realizes her skill as a goalie and becomes a better athlete. At the finals the Hurricanes regular goalie Richie gets injured while blocking a kick and is replaced by Emma. At 20 seconds left Sam kicks the ball into the goal, and it is blocked by Emma, tying the game. The Buzzards and the Hurricanes become co-champions of the Youth soccer league organization tournament. Sam gets a date with Greg. Richie goes on a date with Emma. Jerry learns to treat his daughters equally and that winning isn't everything.

Lola, who works as a nightclub singer in Heaven, is sent by her boss Marina on a mission to Earth to save the soul of a Spanish boxer called Manny. His brain damaged in his last bout, with any blow liable to carry him off, he is deeply in debt and suicidal. Lola appears as his former wife, wanting to be with him again, and tries to get him to reconcile with his mother. Living with him and his mood swings is hard work however, he being a total chauvinist interested in little beyond boxing, food and sex.

Carmen, who works as a waitress in Hell, is sent by her boss Davenport to get Manny into the ring again. She appears as his cousin and takes the spare room in the flat. While Lola plays the meek housewife, Carmen is flashy and lesbian. During the day, both she and Lola take jobs in a hypermarket, where they sympathise with the downtrodden staff and despise the corrupt management.

Manny, as well as guilt over his breach with his mother, is regularly harassed by a couple of plain-clothes heavies sent by a corrupt police chief he owes money to. While the angelic Lola tries to buy time, the diabolic Carmen tells Manny that he could win the money by fighting again.

Hell is getting very full and there are serious divisions among the management. In an effort to save his position, Davenport makes a secret deal with Marina, who he admires greatly. His argument is that without Heaven there would be no Hell, and vice versa. People on Earth, he feels, should have a free choice. So in this one case he is happy to see Manny choose Heaven, which is getting dangerously empty, and tells Carmen to work with rather than against Lola.

The two women decide to rob the hypermarket and give the proceeds to Manny, who can pay off the cops with the stolen money and need never fight again. After lifting the day's takings from the cashier's office at gunpoint, they try to walk out through the crowded store, until two of the management start shooting. The women manage in the end to escape with the money, but on getting back to Manny's flat find the crooked police there with him. After he enables the two women to escape the trap, the cops beat him to death.

For that last sacrifice, after some debate he is allowed into Heaven. But Lola and Carmen are caught, and locked away in a Spanish prison. When released, Carmen gets promotion in Hell far above her waitress status and is granted her wish of becoming a man again.

Dylan (Dan Futterman) and Jez (Stuart Townsend) are two orphans who meet in their twenties and vow to achieve their shared childhood dream of living in a stately home. In pursuit of this dream, they spend their days living in a disused gas holder, spending as little money as possible and conning the upper classes out of their riches. During one of their cons, they encounter Georgie (Kate Beckinsale) who is a medical student who can type.

Georgie becomes aware that the two are con-artists. But they manage to convince her that they are modern day Robin Hoods, taking from the rich and giving to the poor. When a con goes wrong, the two find themselves jailed. They later learn that their entire fortune is to be rendered useless as the Royal Bank of England is recalling the notes. Jez and Dylan decide they need to somehow escape and retrieve their money or risk losing it. Jez contacts Georgie and appeals to her to help.

Georgie, unbeknownst to the guys, needs money to save the Down syndrome foundation's mansion that her brother currently attends. She organises for Jez and Dylan to get released on compassionate leave under the guise of attending the cremation of a relative. While the ceremony is ongoing, they sneak out and retrieve the money and return before the prison warders suspect a thing. With the money hidden in the coffin they accidentally send it to be cremated and are returned to prison completely despondent.

It turns out to be a double con as Georgie retrieves the money and buys her ex's "champion" horse only to learn that the horse is a dud. When the guys get out she comes clean and they hatch another plan which will see the horse win a big race allowing them to charge stud fees. Everything works out and the horse romps to victory (thanks to inserting helium in the jockeys outfit).

Georgie agrees to sell the now champion horse back to her ex. With the proceeds all three agree to save the foundation and as they drive to the foundation broke, Jez and Dylan realise they have finally found their stately home.

The series revolves around a teenage boy, played by Robert Clark, who is a magnet for paranormal activity and attends Horace White High School for Boys along with his three friends Cam, Gwen, and Spencer. Zack manages to get himself into trouble with his paranormal adventures and it is up to his friends to help him set things straight.

Francesco, the spoiled son of Pietro Bernardone, a wealthy textile merchant, returns from fighting in the war between Assisi and Perugia a changed man. Struck by a feverish illness that has forced him to leave the war, Francesco lies on his bed tormented by visions of his past when he was a boisterous, arrogant youth. During a long recovery process, he slowly finds God in poverty, chastity and obedience, experiencing a physical and spiritual renewal.

Healthy again, Francesco returns to his normal life as a rich young man. However, to the consternation of his parents, he begins to spend most of his time surrounded by nature, flowers, trees, animals and poetry as he becomes more and more reluctant to resume his prior lifestyle. Pietro's obsession with gold now fills Francesco with revulsion, creating an open confrontation between Francesco and Pietro.

Francesco wanders into the basement where the family business is located. He feels the heat and humidity of the dye vats, passing through colorful lots of drying cloth, to see the workers with their families laboring in the heat without much rest. Rejecting his father's offer to take over the family business, he instead pulls the laborers out of the building to enjoy the daylight. Then he throws the costly textiles out of the window to the poor gathered below. When his father sees the loss, Francesco invites him to join in throwing the cloth out the window so he can know the joy of being free of worldly possessions.

Pietro, completely frustrated, beats Francesco, drags him to the bishop's palace and humiliates his son in front of Assisi's bishop and the rest of the population. Lovingly, Francesco renounces all worldly possessions and his middle-class family including the name "Bernardone", removes his brilliant clothing and leaves Assisi, naked and free from his past, to live in the beauties of nature as an ascetic to enjoy a simple life as a man of God.

Francesco comes upon the ruins of the chapel of San Damiano, where he hears God's voice asking him to "restore My Church." Believing the Voice means San Damiano, Francesco begins to beg for rocks to rebuild that church. Much to the dismay of his family, some of Francesco's friends join him. He gradually gains a following from the sons of the wealthy, who begin to minister among the poor and the suffering.

The bishop supports Francesco, since he is rebuilding a church without pay and performing the works of mercy Christ demands of His followers. Francesco's friend Bernardo happily joins him after returning from the Fourth Crusade, a venture that left him in sorrow and emptiness. Two other friends, Silvestro and Giocondo, admiring Francesco's new vocation, help to rebuild San Damiano.

During a rainy afternoon, Francesco and his friends separate to beg food from the families of Assisi. Francesco comes to his family's home. Seeking forgiveness, he begins to recite the Beatitudes, causing his mother much anguish while Pietro pretends not to hear, refusing to be reconciled with their son.

Clare, a beautiful young woman also from a wealthy family, serves and cares for lepers of the community. She joins the brothers in their life of poverty. Meanwhile, in Assisi, the city's nobility and wealthy merchandising families protest against Francesco and his group, worried about them "corrupting" the whole of Assisi's youth, and they command Francesco's friend Paolo to hinder and stop the so-called "minor brothers."

One day the rebuilt chapel is set on fire, and one of Francesco's followers is killed. (This scene, introduced for dramatic effect, is unhistorical.) That people can hate so much causes Francesco much sorrow. He blames himself but cannot understand what he has done wrong. He then decides to walk to Rome and to seek out the answers from Pope Innocent III.

In Rome, Francesco is stunned by the enormous wealth and power shown in the clothing of the papal court surrounding the throne of St. Peter. When granted an audience with the Pope, Francesco breaks from reciting Paolo's carefully prepared script and calmly protests against pomp and worldliness, reciting some of Jesus' words from the Sermon on the Mount praising humility to protest that Christ's teachings are totally opposite to Rome's obsession with wealth. The cardinals, bishops and abbots of the papal court are insulted at having the words of Jesus thrown in their faces. Francesco and his friends are expelled. Finally accepting his admiration toward Francesco, Paolo decides to join them. Francesco tries to protect Paolo, saying that he is not one of them, but his friend insists on joining the friars, convincing Francesco of the sincerity of his conversion, and they are put out with the others.

On his throne Pope Innocent, seemingly waking from a dream, orders Francesco and his friends to be brought back. The Pope addresses Francesco: "In our obsession with original sin we have forgotten original innocence." In language from one of the Psalms, Innocent prays that Francesco's order "flourish like the palm."

Then to everyone's astonishment, Pope Innocent kneels, kisses Francesco's feet and blesses him and his companions, wishing for them a long worldwide society of men and women willing to serve God in humility. One of the final lines places the sincerity of the Pope's response in question when an unnamed cardinal, observing what the Pope has done, comments to a bishop: "Don't be alarmed, His Holiness knows what he is doing. This is the man who will speak to the poor, and bring them back to us."

The film finishes with the sight of Francesco slowly walking alone into the distance in the countryside as Donovan sings "Brother Sun and Sister Moon."

The novel opens with a physically fit young man standing on a track, watching as "the night joggers" toil around him. He begins to walk toward the starting post and thinks that now that the Olympic games are over for him, he does not know what he will do with his life. The man starts to walk around the track and thinks back to four years ago.

Quenton Cassidy is a collegiate runner at fictional Southeastern University based on the University of Florida. He is a distance runner who specializes in the Mile. After writing a petition for the college's athletes protesting a dress and conduct code, Quenton is suspended from the university and prohibited from competing in the university's annual track meet. Cassidy drops out, moves to a cabin in the woods, and submits himself to a brutal training regimen. He is under the coaching of fictional gold medalist Olympian Bruce Denton, based on Jack Bacheler. His plan is to compete at the Southeastern Relays against the best miler in the world, John Walton (obviously based on John Walker). Because he is barred from competing at the meet, Denton comes up with a plan to disguise him as a Finnish runner attending a nonexistent university in Ohio.

Cassidy, who has always dreamed of running a sub 4:00 mile, spends many months training for the race of his life, urged on by Denton, who is nearing the end of his running career due to injuries. After completing an agonizing interval workout of 60 quarter miles, Cassidy finally believes he is ready to face Walton. The night before the race, Cassidy performs a ritual of his to prepare himself for the meet—he walks a mile on the Southeastern track, putting all of his "demons" in a symbolic "orb" that will hold them in during the race and allow him to push through the pain.

The next day, Cassidy arrives disguised at the meet but spends more than an hour warming up on the cross-country course near the track. As the race draws nearer, Quenton fights to keep control of his adrenaline and anxiety, waiting until the race starts so he can unleash them. A large part of a chapter is devoted to the race itself, which comes down to a contest between Cassidy and Walton in the final lap. The novel describes the effect lactic acid has on Quenton as he fights to close in on Walton, who has a slight lead. Excruciatingly, Cassidy reels Walton in and outsprints him in the final straight to win the race in a time of 3:52.5.

After the race, the scene changes back to Cassidy standing at the Southeastern track, walking through the last lap of a mile. Quenton reflects upon his running career and realizes that while it is over for him, there is much to be left behind on the track. When he reaches the end of the lap, he reaches into his bag and pulls out a box with a silver Olympic medal inside. Cassidy thinks to himself that he can live with leaving behind his old life, and with a bittersweet feeling walks off into the night.

The series follows Anna Percy, an Upper East Side Manhattan private school girl who moves to Los Angeles to live with her father. Anna moves there to reinvent herself and to break free from her preppy Upper East Side life. She often refers to the 'This is How We Do Things Big Book, East Coast WASP Edition', not a real book, but a set of 'rules' that Anna grew up with (e.g. always answer that you're fine). Anna meets Ben Birnbaum on the airplane and instantly falls in love with him.

The other main characters are Samantha 'Sam' Sharpe, Camilla 'Cammie' Sheppard, and Delia 'Dee' Young. Other relevant characters include, but are not limited to, Parker Pinnelli, Adam Flood, Susan Percy, Ben Birnbaum, Eduardo Muñoz, Jackson Sharpe, Poppy Sinclair, and Clark Sheppard.

Summer arrives in South Park, leaving the boys disgruntled because Winter activities are now impossible. Making things worse, Colorado has passed a statewide ban on fireworks after a kid in North Park had his arms blown off. In response, Jimbo and Ned travel to Mexico to purchase illegal fireworks. Meanwhile, Mayor McDaniels, discovering that snakes are still legal, has the largest one ever made for the town's Independence Day celebration. It is not until it has been lit that the mayor becomes concerned of its expiration; upon asking the manufacturer, they realize it will be impossible to extinguish and will not burn out until November of the following year. The ash travels across the town and country, destroying everything in its wake; Kenny is killed when the snake causes a set of bleachers to collapse and crush him beneath.

Meanwhile, Mr. Garrison begins to have a nervous breakdown because his companion, Mr. Hat, has disappeared. He sees Dr. Katz in New York, who says that he is gay and Mr. Hat is really his gay side "trying to come out". Garrison rudely brushes him off, just as the giant snake kills him. Cartman, at this time, is taking swimming lessons, but has to contend with first graders urinating in the pool. Jimbo and Ned are captured by the border patrol after Jimbo accidentally revealed they were carrying illegal fireworks, but manage to escape (thanks to the snake) and head back to South Park with their fireworks.

The boys finally get their fireworks, and when they shoot them off, they destroy the snake trail. The ashes rain to the ground like snow, and people participate in winter activities using the black soot. Mr. Garrison returns with a new companion, Mr. Twig. During this time, Cartman, being the only person in the pool, has decided to swim all the way from the shallow end of the pool to the deep end. He is successful, but is angered when the first graders return and immediately turn the entirety of the pool water into urine. Chef returns to South Park from vacation, and when he sees everyone's faces covered in the black ash which makes them look like they're wearing blackface, he prepares to give everyone a beating.

The novel takes place in the fictional northern kingdom of Ooni located in the planet Ginen where technology are made using plants, children who are born with Dada (dreadlocks) are despised because of an old rumor about them possessing magical abilities. the kingdom is enclaved by the forbidden greeny jungle.

Zahrah Tsami is a thirteen years old who lives with her parents, she was born dada, which means vines grow among her hair and is a subject of ridicule among her peers, except for her best friend, Dari. Zharah discovers her ability to fly as a windeeker but she is afraid of heights, so it makes her feel a bit anxious about it.

During one of their secret trips to the greeny jungle to practice and explore the jungle with the aid of a digibook written by explorers, Dari is bitten by a snake and falls into a deep coma. The doctor prescribed a serum made from an unfertilized Elgort (huge dinosaur like creature) egg as the only cure of his Dari’s ailment.

Zahrah escape from home with the digibook and her compass to the forbidden greeny jungle in order to get an Elgort egg meeting the annoying shinning pink frog and others who advised her to go back home. While in the jungle Zahrah discovers that the chapter in the digibook containing information about the Elgort is broken and she cannot access it.

After staying in the village of the gorilla where technology is forbidden she is told that only the rude shinning pink frog can tell her how to get an elgort egg, she ventures into the forest again until she is met by Nsibidi, a windseeker who has come to take her home. Zahrah runs, and comes across the Pink frog who tells her how to get the egg.

She finally succeed in stealing an unfertilized eglort egg and is able to fly just before the elgort catches her. Zahrah head back home where she reunites with her parent and the egg is used to create the serum which awakened Dari.

Young air delivery boy '''Naoki Tachibana''' (played by, oddly enough, Naoki Tachibana; His character's first name is spelled in katakana, however) is out to deliver a package for his grumpy boss '''Daisaku Banno''' (played by veteran actor Jun Tazaki), when his older brother '''Shin'ya''' (Toshiaki Amada), who commanded the defense force, '''Protective Attacking Team (PAT)''', was killed in an attack by a giant monster called '''King Jyglus''' (which was sent by the evil alien '''Antigone''' of the planet '''Groth'''). When PAT retaliates against a second attack by the monster, Naoki, in retaliation for his brother's death, suicidally tries to ram his air delivery cessna into the monster, to their shock. When the monster downs the plane, Naoki and his plane are teleported into an energy dimension by an Ultraman-like alien from the '''Emerald Star'''. The '''Emerald Alien''' has instantly used his technology to completely modify the plane, as well as Naoki's wristwatch. He suddenly finds himself back in his cessna's cockpit in the real world, but he hears the Emerald Alien's voice, telling him to activate his wristwatch, and upon shouting the command "'''Jum-Fight!!!'''", his jet transforms into the giant cyborg, '''Jumborg Ace''', with Naoki, in a VR movement-control suit, piloting the robot from inside the head with his own physical movements! He fights with King Jyglas, eventually destroying the monster. But his battle against the Groth Aliens has only just begun...

A strange phenomenon happened throughout the world, causing giant, mutant dinosaurs to suddenly appear. The people of the ''Aban'' continent, living underground for the last 12,000 years sends a courageous young man named ''Misaki'' to live as an archeologist and SAF (Scientific Attack Force) agent ''Daisuke Misaki''. Whenever monsters and space aliens attack the world, Misaki transforms into Fireman by using the fire-stick, and defends the human race against them.

After deciding he is too mature to hang out with Stan, Kyle, and Kenny, Cartman looks for older male friends in an online chat room full of eager men who Cartman believes want to be friends with him. They are actually Internet predators who prey on young boys. Cartman meets one predator at Mel's Diner, who is quickly arrested for soliciting sex from a minor. The next day, Cartman meets another predator who turns out to be Mr. Garrison, who is also arrested.

Cartman doesn't understand why this keeps happening and naively concludes that Stan and Kyle are responsible for the arrests. Cartman visits Dr. Mephesto to ask where he might find mature friends. Dr. Mephesto recommends joining an organization known as NAMBLA. However, he is actually referring to a fictional club for men who look like Marlon Brando (the North American Marlon Brando Look-Alikes). Cartman joins the real NAMBLA and is made their poster boy. The organization holds a banquet in Cartman's honor and asks him to invite all the boys in town. Cartman does so, with the exception of Stan and Kyle.

Federal officials, having learned that NAMBLA is meeting in South Park, raid the venue. However, they discover that they have raided Dr. Mephesto's group meeting. The FBI teams up with the Marlon Brando lookalikes (who have been trying to get rid of the other NAMBLA for years) to stop the other NAMBLA's banquet. There, all the boys in town (including Stan and Kyle who were also invited) are in attendance, unaware of what is in store for them until the pedophiles take them to their hotel rooms, after which the boys run screaming in the halls.

Meanwhile, Stuart and Carol McCormick are trying to have another baby. As Kenny does not like the idea, he tries to stop them by throwing a fastball at his father's crotch to shatter his left testicle. When his mother gets pregnant anyway, he adds morning-after pills to a chocolate milk/vodka cocktail and gives it to his mother, who refuses the drink because of her pregnancy. Stuart drinks it and it causes him to vomit and defecate. Later, Kenny convinces his family to go with him to North Park Funland to ride The John Denver Experience, a violent ride not recommended for pregnant women. However, Kenny's father gets a broken nose from the ride and ends up vomiting, defecating, and now, draining his bloody nose into a garbage can. Enraged at his failures, Kenny chases Carol through the town and into the NAMBLA hotel with a plunger, attempting to plunge the fetus out of her. Upon seeing this, Stuart angrily chases after Kenny to stop him from hurting his mother and their unborn child.

The two plots collide when the Marlon Brando look-alikes and the federal officers arrive at the hotel, and a madcap chase with the boys, both NAMBLAs (one of which are running naked), and the feds ensues. Kenny, still chasing after his mother and in turn being chased by his father, joins in. Cartman decides that Butters should be the sacrificial lamb for the pedophiles to have their way with. While Butters is sent into an empty room and leaves unharmed, Stuart enters a room to search for Kenny, only to find the NAMBLA pedophiles, who somehow mistake him for a little boy and proceed to gang-rape him.

In the end, all of the North American Man/Boy Love Association members are arrested by the FBI and they try to weasel their way out of jailtime by giving out a speech equating pedophilia with being an oppressed minority and that they simply cannot help their sexual attraction to young boys. However, Stan and Kyle retort at this by stating that, while they believe in tolerance and equality for all, pedophiles are criminals who hurt children and should be treated as such. As the pedophiles are taken away to custody, Cartman backhandedly apologizes to his friends for almost getting them raped, assuring that they will "blossom into maturity" someday.

The raped Stuart is loaded into an ambulance, which accidentally goes in reverse and runs over Kenny, killing him instantly. Afterwards, Carol gives birth to an identical child they name Kenny, which she says has happened 52 times before.

It's a sunny day in Springfield and Bart is not happy about going to school on such a gorgeous day claiming that they are being treated like prisoners, Lisa tries to explain to Bart that the school is not treating them like prisoners when Otto turns up driving a prison bus (the regular school bus had broken down). To make matters worse they have to sit in new chairs which are extremely uncomfortable. Mrs. Krabappel announces class will end two hours later than normal because someone has tampered with her classroom's clock. Unbeknownst to her, Bart is the culprit. Upset at being in class longer, Bart forges a note claiming he has a dental appointment so he can skip school. Convinced the note is forged, Principal Skinner chases Bart through Springfield (similar to the plot in the Terminator film). As Skinner is about to corner him, Bart jumps into a passing convertible car driven by Freddy Quimby, Mayor Quimby's nephew.

At lunch, Freddy is served chowder, but he ridicules the waiter for pronouncing ''chowder'' with a French accent and demands he say it with a Boston accent. Freddy follows the waiter into the kitchen and appears to beat him up. Bart, hiding under a kitchen table, secretly witnesses the true turn of events.

Freddy is charged with assault and battery and put on trial. The whole town seems to believe Freddy is guilty, especially after Freddy loses his temper with his own attorney after he does not pronounce the word “chowder” in a Boston accent. Bart knows otherwise and confesses to Lisa that he is the only witness who can prove Freddy's innocence. Bart is reluctant to testify because it would be tantamount to admitting that he skipped school, and he dreads Skinner's punishment who plans to throw the book at him if he found out Bart had skipped school that day.

At the trial, the jury consists of Homer, Skinner, Moleman, Ned, Helen, Jasper, Patty, Apu, and Akira. The waiter hires Lionel Hutz as his attorney. The rest of the jury intends to convict Freddy, but Homer casts the lone dissenting vote, resulting in a deadlock. The jury is sequestered at a hotel with free room service and cable television; Homer's only reason for causing the deadlock is so he can enjoy the hotel’s deluxe accommodations.

In court, Lisa convinces Bart to testify. Bart tells the court that Freddy did not assault the waiter; instead, Freddy left with a bottle of champagne, and the waiter injured himself in a series of clumsy actions. The waiter indignantly denies he is clumsy. Rising to protest, he trips over a chair and falls out the window into an open-roof truck filled with rat traps. When asked how he witnessed the incident when he was supposed to be in class, Bart reluctantly admits that he skipped school and begins to dread his punishment from Skinner. Freddy is cleared of all charges.

Skinner gives Bart four months' detention for skipping school, but nevertheless praises him for his honesty in preventing an innocent man from going to prison. After the jury is dismissed, Homer steals everything from the hotel room and puts it in his bedroom.

The ruthless and uncouth Solly Caspar, Bay City's crime boss, is seeking to fend off an annoying “reform” campaign by multi - millionaire mayoral hopeful, Frank Jansen (Kent Taylor). Caspar tasks a bright “college boy” in his ring he thoroughly resents, crooked cop Ben Grace, to dig up some dirt on Jansen and torpedo his threatening race.

Ben follows the candidate's brilliant scarlet-tressed and wildly curvaceous secretary/girlfriend, June Lyons (Rhonda Fleming), to a women’s prison to photograph her picking up her equally redheaded, sporty, and sex-starved kleptomaniac sister Dorothy (Arlene Dahl), a multiple ex-con. Ben immediately becomes attracted to June, and withholds his incriminating evidence from Caspar.

Flipping sides, Ben instead gives June a tape he made proving Caspar killed a crusading newspaperman supporting the honest Jansen. Caspar, who had slapped Ben around and humiliated him in front of the rest of his gang for appearing to fail to gather any dirt on Jansen, is forced to flee to nearby Mexico. Ben then seduces June, steals her from Jansen, and, unbeknownst to her or the new mayor, takes over Caspar’s rackets.

Rather than the smooth sailing he had planned, Ben faces blowback from Caspar’s gang and stiffened resistance from city hall and the police.

Meanwhile, June’s nymphomaniac sister, who had been attracted to Ben from the start, continues her play for him. She accompanies him to a beach house he has claimed along with the rest of the spoils from Caspar’s empire, where Ben is headed to rifle its safe for $160,000 to leave town with. She determinedly tries to seduce a disinterested Ben, and becomes huffy when rejected, scaring him by firing a spear gun at his head. After searching the house, he is forced to leave without finding the money.

To get even for Ben’s rejections, she later plays up their trip to June into an ''escapade''. June confronts Ben, who responds that it is she he really wants. Given the suspicions surrounding the seeming tryst, June wonders if it's really both of them he's after.

Dorothy is subsequently arrested for stealing a pearl necklace, and June pleads with Ben to intervene on her behalf. He leans on his ex-boss, a former lieutenant whom Ben had managed to reward with an undeserved promotion to chief of police, to release Dorothy and purge her record.

Jansen, who still loves June, discovers the duplicity and insists that her sister must go back to jail.

Caspar returns from Mexico seeking revenge on Ben. Appearing at the beach house, he finds a drunken and provocative Dorothy alone there. An alcoholic and a nymphomaniac, she throws herself at the despicable Caspar. When Caspar boastfully scatters the stacks of money from the safe on the floor and offers some to Dorothy, she tries to steal some more. Still, Caspar invites her to flee back to Mexico with him, and she accepts. June shows up to rescue her, only to end up at the point of Caspar’s gun. Facing death, she shoots him first with the spear gun, then twice with his own revolver.

Ben arrives, and, with the heat on him from Caspar’s gang, plus the police sure to be on his heels, entreats June to go away with him and the money but she refuses. Caspar, wounded but not yet dead, shoots Ben and wounds him. Caspar’s gang arrives. Ben, June, and an increasingly deranged Dorothy end up trapped in a bedroom. Ben calls the police and tells them to rush a full squad to the beach house to round up Caspar and his hoods.

Caspar tells Ben that if he comes out he will spare the two women. Ben comes out and taunts Caspar who shoots him several times.
The police finally arrive and round up Caspar and his gang. Badly wounded, Ben is put on a stretcher. June speaks to him tenderly before he is placed in an ambulance. June then proclaims that Dorothy will get all the care she needs, care that Dorothy has rejected until now.

The movie ends ambiguously, leaving it unclear whether Ben will survive, will June continue to care about him if he does, or will she return to the still loving but honest and dull Jansen.

The Earth is passing through the tail of a comet, an event which has not occurred in 65 million years and coincided with the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs. On the night of the comet's passage, eleven days before Christmas, large crowds gather outside to watch and celebrate.

Eighteen-year-old Regina "Reggie" Belmont works at a movie theater in southern California. She is annoyed to find the initials DMK have the sixth highest score on the theater's ''Tempest'' video game; all the other high scores are hers. She stays after the theater closes to help her boyfriend Larry, the theatre's projectionist, sneak back in so he can loan out a film reel for illegal duplication for his own profit. He offers to pay for her assistance from what he expects to earn when the other party returns the film reel in the morning. Reggie and Larry spend the night in the steel-lined projection booth and have sex.

Meanwhile, Reggie's 16-year-old sister Samantha "Sam" argues with their stepmother Doris, who Sam implies is cheating on her father, who is away on active military duty. After this escalates to a physical altercation, Sam spends the night in a steel backyard shed.

The next morning, a gloomy reddish haze covers the sky, and there are no signs of life but piles of red dust and heaps of clothing everywhere. Unaware that anything has occurred, Larry goes outside and is killed by a zombie wielding a pipe wrench. After playing the video game to replace DMK's initials with her own, Reggie goes looking for Larry outside, mistaking the red overcast sky as bad smog. She quickly encounters the zombie, but escapes on Larry's motorcycle. She heads home to find her sister, and they surmise that because they both spent the night in steel containers, they were saved from the comet's effects.

The sisters race to the local radio station after they hear a disc jockey on air, only to find it was a pre-recorded show. They come across another survivor there, Hector Gomez, who spent the night in the back of his steel truck. When Sam talks into the microphone, she is heard by researchers in an underground installation out in the desert. As they listen to Reggie, Sam and Hector debate what to do, the scientists note that the zombies, though less exposed to the comet, will eventually disintegrate into dust themselves. Hector leaves to check if any of his family survived, but promises to return as soon as possible.

Reggie and Sam then go shopping for guns and clothing at a mall. After a firefight with some evil stock boys, the girls are taken prisoner, but are saved by a rescue team sent by the scientists. Reggie is taken back to their base. Audrey White, a disillusioned scientist, offers to dispose of Sam, whom she diagnosed as having been exposed to the comet due to her developing rash, and to wait for Hector to return. After she fakes euthanizing Sam by injecting her with only a sedative, she kills the other remaining scientist. When Hector returns after an encounter with a zombie child, Audrey briefs him on the situation and then gives herself a lethal injection (as she herself has been exposed). Sam and Hector set out to rescue Reggie.

Back at the base, it is revealed that the researchers had suspected and prepared for the comet's effects, but inadvertently left the ventilation system open and the fans running during the comet's passage. The deadly dust permeated their base. Reggie, who has become suspicious, escapes and discovers that the dying scientists have hunted down and rendered healthy survivors brain-dead. They harvest their untainted blood to keep the disease at bay while they desperately search for a cure. Reggie saves a young boy and a girl before they are processed, then unplugs the other victims from their life support machines. Sam and Hector arrive and rescue the trio and blow up the scientists.

Eventually, rain washes away the red dust, leaving the sky clear. Reggie pairs up with Hector, and they assume parental roles with the kids. Sam feels left out. Frustrated, she ignores Reggie's warning about crossing a deserted downtown street against the still-operating signal light, claiming there is nobody else left. Sam is almost run over by a sports car driven by Danny Mason Keener, a survivor about her own age. After apologizing, he invites her to go for a ride. As they drive off, the car is shown sporting the initials "DMK" on the vanity plate.

''Dissolution''

The background of the series takes place in the matriarchal Drow society of Menzoberranzan, the ancestral underground city of the Drow, in the year 1372 DR (Dale Reckoning). Lolth, goddess of the Drow, has gone silent and is no longer affording spells to her priestesses. The females attempt to keep this a secret, but soon they are found out, and males begin disappearing from the city for unknown reasons. Pharaun Mizzrym, a magic user, and Ryld Argith, a warrior, are sent by the Archmage of Menzoberranzan, Gromph Baenre, to discover the cause of these missing drow. The two are attacked several times by Pharaun's sister Greyanna, who is in a power struggle for her household, and trying to kill Pharaun for aligning with their other sibling. Pharaun and Ryld press on, and discover a group of renegade males who are planning a hostile takeover of the city using the thousands of kobold, goblin, and bugbear slaves of the city as their army. When the duo attempt to infiltrate the renegades' base they are captured by its leader, the Illithid Lich Syrzan. Using his magic and trickery Pharaun escapes and leaves behind Ryld, who manages to fight his way out of the hideout. In a sub-plot, an emissary from the Drow city of Ched Nasad, Faeryl Zauvirr, is attempting to leave Menzoberranzan. Matron Mother Triel Baenre forbids this, and has Faeryl captured and tortured by her Draegloth son, Jeggred Baenre. The insurrection of the males is crushed by the physical and arcane strengths of Menzoberranzan, and the city remains under female control. Concerned that others may gather the courage to attempt another take over, Triel sends a group to discover the cause of Lolth's silence and bring an end to it, first by traveling to Ched Nasad. The group is made up of Triel's sister Quenthel, her son Jeggred, Master of Sorcere Pharaun Mizzrym, Master of Melee-Magthere Ryld Argith, a mercenary named Valas Hune, and the emissary Faeryl Zauvirr, in order to secure ties within Ched Nasad.

''Insurrection''

The group of six travel to Ched Nasad, a neighboring Drow city headed by House Melarn. Along the way, the group are attacked by a group of Tanarukks, minions of the warlord Kaanyr Vhok. Leading them is Aliisza, an insatiable Alu-Fiend, who takes an instant liking to the powerful, witty, and attractive Pharaun Mizzrym. When they reach Ched Nasad, the city is in unrest and upheaval, and Quenthel discovers that Lolth has abandoned Ched Nasad as well. As an ulterior motive for sending the group to Ched Nasad, Triel had ordered them to retrieve goods co-owned between House Melarn and House Baenre. Ambassador Faeryl Zauvirr betrays the group to Matron Mother Drisinil Melarn, and Quenthel is captured along with Jeggred while in the warehouse holding the goods. Valas, Ryld and Pharaun meanwhile, off on their own missions, are eventually convinced to join the others at House Melarn in the belief they are being held as guests. There they meet Halisstra Melarn and Danifae Yauntyrr, the daughter of the Matron Mother and her battle captive. Soon after arriving at House Melarn, the city comes under attack from a clan of Duergar, and Pharaun, Ryld and Valas are able to rescue Quenthel and Jeggred. House Melarn is destroyed, but the group escape along with Halisstra after Jeggred kills Faeryl, and Pharaun saves Danifae from dying in the rubble of the house. The city is utterly destroyed in the attack, which is actually planned and executed by Zammzt, a member of the Jaezred Chausslin. The group escapes the destruction, and Halisstra along with Danifae join their group to find the cause of Lolth's silence.

''Condemnation''

The group, now seven strong, plan a trip to Lolth's domain, the Demonweb Pits. They travel along the surface to seek the followers of Vhaeraun, male Drow who seek to overturn female dominance. Halisstra is captured by followers of Eilistraee, but she kills her captors and escapes, where she is found by followers of Vhaeraun. Quenthel asks the High Priest of Vhaeraun for assistance, and after a test he agrees to bring the group's spirits to the Demonweb Pits along with himself. When they reach Lolth's domain, she is blocked off inside a construct, and will not answer their prayers. The priest then betrays them by gating Vhaeraun into the Pits, where he plans to kill Lolth and become the dominant Drow deity. Selvetarm, Lolth's protector, engages in battle with Vhaeraun, during which Jeggred kills the priest and the group is sent back to the temple of Vhaeraun. They decide to go back to the Underdark, where they will make another attempt to contact Lolth in the Abyss.

The other part of the book focuses on a mysterious drow named Nimor Imphraezl, the so-called "Anointed Blade" of a group called the Jaezred Chaulssin. Nimor incites two groups—the legions of the warlord Kaanyr Vhok and the duergar army of Horgar Steelshadow—into attacking the drow at Menzoberranzan, taking advantage of Lolth's silence. First the Lichdrow Dyrr imprisons the Archmage Gromph Baenre, doling out another blow to the city's magical strength. Then Nimor, acting as a drow commander from Agrach Dyrr, informs Triel Baenre of the invasion, who sends the Army of the Black Spider to the Pillars of Woe to defeat the duergar invasion before they reach Menzoberranzan. The army is sent into a trap as the Legions of Kaanyr Vhok join the duergar, along with House Agrach Dyrr, who turn on their own people to obliterate a third of the drow army.

''Extinction''

The main focus of ''Extinction'' is on the journey of Ryld Argith and Halisstra Melarn in the world above, as well as the siege of Menzoberranzan. After abandoning the group, Halisstra and Ryld run into followers of Eilistraee once again; however, Halisstra, being shaken in her faith in Lolth, joins the Eilistraeens' order. The two fall in love, an emotion normally unknown to the drow. After killing a spider, an unforgivable act in pure defiance of Lolth, Halisstra is told her destiny is to find an ancient magical blade, the Crescent Blade. The blade is said to be able to cut through anything, and she soon realizes she is to use it to kill Lolth. The blade, however, has been lost in the Cold Fields, and Halisstra travels to find it, Ryld following without permission. The guardian of the blade is a worm, and after both are killed, Halisstra and Ryld defeat the worm and flee to the forest with the Crescent Blade, where they are healed by the Eilistraeens.

The remaining five members of the group (Quenthel, Jeggred, Danifae, Pharaun, and Valas) search for another route to the Abyss in order to find Lolth. Pharaun summons the demon Belshazu, who is Jeggred's father, in order to find the location of a Ship of Chaos, which can traverse the planes to Lolth's Domain. They are told to travel to the underwater city of Zanhoriloch in Lake Thoroot where they are to speak to Queen Oothoon, who apparently knows the location of the ship. After some tricks, primarily manufactured by Pharaun, the group make their way through a dimensional portal to the Lake of Shadows, home of the Ship of Chaos. They board the ship and imprison its demon captain, though the ship requires souls to be fed to it in order to shift to the Abyss.

In Menzoberranzan, Gromph Baenre escapes his prison with the help of his rat familiar Kyorli and a mindflayer whom Gromph promises great power, and then subsequently kills. He immediately helps bolster the defense of the city against the duergar and tanuruuk armies that have reached and begun to lay siege to Menzoberranzan. Gromph and his most trusted associates at Sorcere attempt to kill Nimor Imphraezl, but their spells are either turned against them or Nimor uses one of his rings to retreat to the plane of shadow before he can be killed. Taking advantage of this, Gromph tricks Nimor into holding a triangle of light, and when he retreats to the shadow plane, he is trapped there, for a patch of shadow is required in order to return to the material plane. The magic from the triangle blinds Gromph however, and he is forced to view the world through the eyes of his rat familiar.

''Annihilation''

Beginning on the Ship of Chaos, Aliisza the Alu-fiend secretly helps Pharaun to connect mentally to the ship. In need of supplies, Valas and Danifae travel to the Drow city of Sschindylryn on Danifae's request, knowing former house mage Zinnirit Yauntyrr resides there. Zinnirit dispels the magic bonding to Halisstra, making Danifae a free Drow. She subsequently kills Zinnirit and steals his ring of teleportation. Rashuub, Demonic captain of the Ship of Chaos, makes several attempts to kill Quenthel, Jeggred and Pharaun, including gating in other Uridezu's to attack the Drow. Quenthel is seriously injured in the attack and becomes ill, during which time she appears to lose some faith in Lolth and becomes increasingly dependent on the conscious vipers of her whip. Jeggred's allegiance to Quenthel begins to falter as she becomes increasingly despondent, and he slowly comes under the influence of Danifae. Using her new ring, Danifae takes Jeggred to the surface with her to kill Ryld and Halisstra, and after a long battle Jeggred murders Ryld. Halisstra on the other hand returns to her sisterhood, heartbroken at the loss of her love, and believing it was Quenthel who ordered the death of Ryld based on a story Danifae manufactured. When Jeggred and Danifae return to the ship, Pharaun guides the group on the ship to the Abyss, with the help of Aliisza being the main factor in their success. When they reach Lolth's domain, they find it destroyed, Lolth gone. Suddenly the priestess' spells are restored to them, meaning Lolth is alive and has again begun to speak. They realize she has removed herself from the Abyss, and they go in search of her, guided by her call for her Yor'thae, Lolth's Chosen. Valas leaves the group at this point, his contract to guide Quenthel fulfilled.

After Halisstra returns to her sisterhood, she and two others are sent to journey into the Abyss and kill Lolth. Halisstra is still confused by her religious beliefs however, and the turmoil often boils over for her. She too can hear the call for the Yor'thae, and follows it throughout the Abyss. Meanwhile, in Menzoberranzan, Gromph has his eyes magically and surgically replaced by those of a traitor from House Agrach Dyrr. Gromph engages in a battle with the Lichdrow Dyrr in order to turn the tide against the armies attacking the city. After a long, grievous battle, Dyrr nearly attains victory with the help of Nimor before Lolth restores the priestess' powers, and Triel turns the tide in Gromph's favor. Gromph allows his staff to release all of its power, destroying the staff but also destroying the physical manifestation of Dyrr. With Lolth again affording spells to her followers, the Drow gain the upper hand in the battle, and the Scoured Legion of Kaanyr Vhok retreat, leaving the Duergar for dead. Gromph, aware he must destroy the Phylactery of Dyrr or the Lichdrow will regenerate, begins to draw up a plan with his fellow Masters of Sorcery, which is carried out in ''Resurrection''.

''Resurrection''

The book begins with the yugoloth Inthracis, a denizen of the Abyss. The Masked Lord Vhaeraun visits Inthracis, and orders him to kill the Yor'thae, promising him the highest position of power among his order. Halisstra and her fellow priestess' of Eilistraee continue their journey to kill Lolth, but soon decide they must kill the Yor'thae in order to kill Lolth, and Halisstra believes that person to be Quenthel Baenre. Quenthel meanwhile, her strength and faith fully restored, continues to move towards Lolth, fully in the belief that she is the Yor'thae. Jeggred is now fully devoted to Danifae, and Pharaun's allegiance leans towards Quenthel, though no trust is held between them. The two groups meet at the Pass of the Soulreaver, a portal separating Lolth's home from the rest of the Demonweb Pits. Halisstra's fellow priestesses, Feliane and Uluyara, are killed and Halisstra is fatally wounded by Danifae. Cursing the betrayal, and lack of intervention by Eilistrae, she renounces her faith yet again, returning to the darkness of Lolth. She manages a healing spell, saving herself from death, and she follows Danifae, Quenthel, Jeggred and Pharaun into the Pass of the Soul Reaver. In order to pass over to Lolth's realm, the females who enter the pass undergo tests of faith, including viewing themselves in the future having been rejected as the Yor'thae.

Once past the Pass of the Soul Reaver, the group come upon the Planes of Soulfire, and the army led by Inthracis. Quenthel summons a great demon to assist their fight, while Danifae calls upon Lolth to send millions of spiders to their aid. Pharaun meanwhile takes on Inthracis himself, and eventually defeats the yugoloth. With the battle raging, Halisstra joins the others on the Planes of Soulfire, and after sacrificing Pharaun to the spider horde, the three priestess' make their way to Lolth's tabernacle. Once inside, Danifae is the first to be destroyed, consumed by one of the eight manifestations of Lolth. Suddenly seven of the manifestations attack the eighth, and from the carnage steps Danifae Yauntyrr, the Yor'thae. Quenthel is ordered to go back to Menzoberranzan and be restored as the Mistress of Arach-Tinilith. Halisstra, however, is punished for her unforgivable acts of disloyalty and sacrilege, and is ordered to serve as Lolth's Lady Penitent. Upon her exit from the tabernacle, Quenthel sacrifices Jeggred to the new incarnation of Lolth, allowing spiders to feed on his flesh.

In Menzoberranzan, the invasion has been squashed, and House Xorlainn lays siege to the traitor house Agrach Dyrr on orders from Matron Mother Triel Baenre. The phylactery of the Lichdrow Dyrr is hidden away within the house, and Gromph Baenre undergoes a mission to breach the wards placed around the house and destroy it. Using scrying techniques, he discovers the phylactery is hidden within the house's temple, and disguises himself to gain entry. Once inside, he engages in a battle with an obsidian golem, the protector of the phylactery. When he overcomes the golem, he finds the phylactery in its center. Once he passes the wards on the stone, he cleaves it with an enchanted axe, destroying Dyrr forever. Upon the destruction of the phylactery, the temple is magically destroyed, but Gromph teleports out in time. Thus ends the War of the Spider Queen.

''Shadowrun'' is an adaptation of the FASA tabletop role-playing game of the same name. The storyline of the video game is loosely based on the first ''Shadowrun'' novel, ''Never Deal with a Dragon'', written by Robert N. Charrette. The narrative opens in Seattle, Washington in the year 2050, where the protagonist Jake Armitage is shown being gunned down in the street. A shapeshifting vulpine figure rushes to his side and is seen casting a spell over Jake before leaving hastily as the medics arrive on the scene. Jake awakens in a morgue with complete memory loss. Soon, he is approached by the "Dog", a shamanistic totem who gives him a warning before vanishing.

The rest of the story is spent investigating the events leading to Jake's shooting, learning the identity of the shapeshifter who saved him, as well the person who ordered his assassination, a mysterious crime lord named "Drake". Most of the information is found by piecing together snippets of data found by hacking various protected computer systems. Along the way, he has encounters with gangs, criminals, and magically awakened creatures while under constant threat of attack from contract killers. Jake also discovers and develops his own latent magical abilities. Apart from his totem spirit, his only allies are the hired services of shadowrunners. It is eventually revealed that Jake is a data courier who was carrying a program in a computer built inside his brain. The program was designed to destroy a malevolent artificial intelligence, which the Aneki Corporation is trying to protect. The company is being aided by Drake, who turns out to be a dragon and the mastermind behind the plot.

When their father dies, Doctor Thomas Thorne and his younger brother Henry are left to fend for themselves. Thomas begins to establish a medical practice, while Henry seduces Mary Scatcherd, the sister of stonemason Roger Scatcherd. When Roger finds out that Mary has become pregnant, he kills Henry in a fight.

While her brother is in prison for the death, Mary gives birth to a girl. A former suitor offers to marry Mary and emigrate to America to start a new life, but not if she keeps the baby. Doctor Thorne persuades Mary to accept the offer, promising to raise his niece. He names her Mary Thorne, but, wishing neither to have her illegitimacy made public nor to have her associate with the uncouth Roger Scatcherd, he keeps her parentage secret. Mary Scatcherd tells her brother that the baby has died.

After his release from prison, Scatcherd rises quickly in the world, becoming extremely rich. When he completes a seemingly impossible important project on time, he is made a baronet. Throughout his career, he entrusts his financial affairs to Doctor Thorne. When Thorne becomes the family doctor to the Greshams, he persuades Scatcherd to lend increasing sums to the head of the family, the local squire. Eventually, much of the Gresham estate is put up as collateral.

Meanwhile, Mary Thorne grows up with the Gresham children and becomes a great favourite with the whole family.

As young adults, Mary and Frank Gresham — the only son and heir of the squire of Greshamsbury — fall in love. However, his parents want him to marry wealth; the squire has squandered much of his wealth on expensive and fruitless campaigns for a seat in Parliament and is grieved that he can leave little to his son. As Mary is penniless and of suspect birth, such a marriage is inconceivable to his mother and to the de Courcys, the Greshams' aristocratic relatives. They wish Frank to marry the 30-year-old, eccentric heiress Martha Dunstable instead. Frank reluctantly visits Courcy Castle in order to meet Miss Dunstable, and they become friends. He foolishly and playfully proposes, but she wisely demurs, knowing that he does not love her.

Sir Roger Scatcherd is a chronic drunkard, and Doctor Thorne tries in vain to get him to curtail his drinking. In his will, Scatcherd stipulates that the bulk of his estate goes to his only son, the dissolute Louis Philippe. However, he leaves Doctor Thorne in control of the inheritance until Louis Philippe reaches the age of 25. Should Louis die before then, Scatcherd stipulates that the estate goes to his sister Mary's eldest child. Thorne, knowing that Scatcherd is thinking of the children Mary had in America, is forced to divulge Mary's parentage to Scatcherd, but Scatcherd leaves the will unchanged.

Roger Scatcherd eventually dies of drink. The son proves just as much an alcoholic as the father, and his weaker constitution quickly brings him to the same end before he turns 25. After consulting with lawyers, Doctor Thorne confirms that his niece Mary is the heiress—now richer than even Miss Dunstable.

Unaware of these developments, the still resolute Frank finally persuades his doting father to consent to his marriage to Mary. When all is revealed, the rest of his relatives heartily congratulate him.

"The Portrait" is the story of a young and penniless artist, Andrey Petrovich Chartkov, who stumbles upon a terrifyingly lifelike portrait in an art shop and is compelled to buy it. The painting is magical and offers him a dilemma — to struggle to make his own way in the world on the basis of his own talents or to accept the assistance of the magic painting to guaranteed riches and fame. He chooses to become rich and famous, but when he comes upon a portrait from another artist which is "pure, faultless, beautiful as a bride" he comes to realize that he has made the wrong choice. Eventually, he falls ill and dies from a fever.

Part I

The first part of the story takes place in nineteenth-century Saint Petersburg, Russia and follows a penniless yet talented young artist, Andrey Petrovich Chartkov. One day, Chartkov stumbles upon an old art shop, where he discovers a strikingly lifelike portrait of an old man whose eyes “stared even out of the portrait itself, as if destroying its harmony by their strange aliveness.” On an inexplicable impulse, Chartkov uses the last of his money to buy the portrait, which the art shop's dealer seems glad to be rid of. Chartkov returns to his shabby apartment and hangs up the painting, but is so haunted by the old man's stare he covers it with a bed sheet before going to bed.

That night, Chartkov dreams the old man in the portrait comes alive and steps out of his frame with a sack of money. Twice Chartkov wakes up and realizes he is still dreaming, but on the third time he wakes for real and realizes he imagined both the portrait's movement and its money. However, “it seemed to him that amidst the dream there had been some terrible fragment of reality.” Shortly thereafter, Chartkov's landlord arrives with a police inspector, demanding the rent. Chartkov is at a loss for what to do until the clumsy inspector accidentally cracks open the portrait's frame, revealing a pouch filled with one thousand gold sovereigns. Dumbfounded, Chartkov pays what he owes and begins making grand plans for the projects he can complete with his newfound wealth, recalling the encouraging words of his old mentor to “ponder over every work” and nurse his talent, while ignoring the superficial, “fashionable” styles of the times.

However, Chartkov's plans quickly go up in smoke, and instead he uses his riches on lavish items and an ad in the papers. He soon uses his new apartment on Nevsky Prospect to host the customers brought in by the ad. At first, Chartkov attempts to paint his subjects in his own style, as his mentor had advised, but he soon falls into more “fashionable” styles in order to keep his customers happy. Though his “doorbell was constantly ringing,” his art becomes choked, and he resorts to “the general color scheme that is given by rote.” His reputation spreads and he is showered with countless compliments and immense wealth, but as the narrator remarks: “fame cannot give pleasure to one who did not merit it but stole it.”

Many years pass, and Chartkov achieves such a high reputation he is asked by the Academy of Arts to examine the work of another prominent artist, one who devoted his life to studying art in Italy. When Chartkov arrives at the gallery, he is struck by the painting, which he describes as “pure, immaculate, beautiful as a bride.” In this artist's work Chartkov realizes what he missed out on and is so struck he bursts into tears and flees the gallery.

At home in his studio, Chartkov attempts to revive the old talent he once had but inevitably fails, and in a fit of anger rids himself of the portrait of the old man and begins buying up “all the best that art produced” and bringing it home to tear it to shreds. His madness eventually manifests itself into a physical illness, and Chartkov dies, haunted to the end by memories of the horrible portrait.

Part II

The second half of “The Portrait” opens several years after the events of Part I, at an art auction is held at an old nobleman's house at which the sinister portrait is put up for sale. In the midst of the bids, a young man appears who claims he has “perhaps more right to this portrait than anyone else.” He promptly begins telling the audience his story.

His father was an artist who worked in Kolomna, a tired, “ashen” part of St. Petersburg, which was also the home of a strange moneylender. This moneylender was rumored to be capable of providing “any sum to anyone,” but bizarre and terrible events always seemed to happen to those who borrowed from him. Specifically, his borrowers developed qualities contrary to their previous personalities: a sober man became a drunkard; a fine young nobleman turns on his wife and beats her. Many of his customers even died unnaturally early deaths.

One day, the moneylender comes to the artist asking for his portrait to be painted, and the artist agrees, grateful for the chance to paint such a peculiar subject. However, as soon as he begins painting the moneylender's eyes, “there arose such a strange revulsion in his soul” he refused to paint any more. Despite the moneylender begging him to finish, the artist holds firm, and the moneylender dies shortly thereafter, leaving the portrait in the artist's possession.

Inexplicably bizarre events begin happening in the artist's life. He becomes jealous of one of his pupils (revealed to be the young Chartkov), attempts to sabotage him, flies into rages, chases away his children and comes close to beating his wife. To make amends, the artist attempts to burn the portrait, but a friend stops him, taking the painting for his own instead. After witnessing its evil nature, his friend eventually passes the portrait to his nephew, who sells it to an art collector, who hawks it to someone else, and eventually the portrait's trail is lost. The artist feels immense guilt over the evil piece of art and makes his son promise to track it down and destroy it.

This is the reason which brought the young man to the art auction. However, once he concludes his story and his audience turns to examine the portrait, they find it missing: someone must have taken it while they were listening to the young man's story. They wonder if they had seen it at all.

The film deals with a documentary film-maker named David Leigh, and his investigation of the ''Fact or Fiction'' murders. In this case, a pair of cable TV hosts of public-access television were murdered in mysterious circumstances. The body of one was never found. Leigh seeks to discover the truth behind these killings while making his documentary.

''Fact or Fiction'' is a show dealing with unsolved mysteries and the paranormal. Its two hosts are Steven "Johnny" Avkast and Locus Wheeler. (Although it was initially a success, Leigh's later investigations find that the show is failing and is threatened with imminent cancellation.) At this point Avkast comes up with the idea of a live Internet Relay Chat section of the show.

A caller suggests the team search for the Jersey Devil, a mythic figure associated with the Pine Barrens. Avkast and Wheeler recruit Rein Clackin, a sound-man who allegedly can record the paranormal, and Jim Suerd, a psychic. Leigh later says that Suerd is emotionally disturbed. The plan is for the four men to go to the Pine Barrens, where Suerd will lead them to the site of the Jersey Devil. During the hunt, they will broadcast a live show simultaneously via television, Internet, and amateur radio.

They enter the Barrens, but only Suerd emerges alive. The others are brutally murdered, and Avkast's body is never found. Suerd was the only suspect, and was charged with murder of the others. During his murder trial, testimony shows that Avkast could not have survived, given the loss of blood found at the crime scene.

Leigh summarizes the trial. The prosecution has bolstered their case by the work of a video engineer (nicknamed "The Killer Cutter"), who compiles a documentary of the group's trip, using the surviving film footage found at the crime scene. Suerd is found guilty and imprisoned. Some observers doubt his guilt, because his clothes were not bloody. In addition, there is evidence he was engaged in an IRC room at the times of the murders.

Before his conviction can be appealed, Suerd dies in prison of unknown causes. Authorities consider the case closed. Leigh receives a box containing a damaged videotape reel, which he at first assumes is tape from the ''Fact or Fiction'' team, although none was believed to exist. He hires data retrieval expert Shelly Monarch to reconstruct the images on the tape. She finds that Wheeler and Clacklin's murders were caught on tape, and Suerd could not have killed them. She finds a blurred image of the real killer. As Leigh videotapes her, Monarch uses an image editor to re-construct the image of the killer's face. She completes this image before Leigh's next visit, and is shocked to discover that the killer is Leigh himself.

The camera "shifts" to a third-person perspective, whereas all previous footage had been "shot" by Leigh. From this perspective, viewers see Leigh attack Monarch and suffocate her with a piece of plastic sheeting. He loads her body into his car, drives it out to the woods, and dumps it in a clearing. He begins to tape himself narrating the next segment of his documentary.

Madame Gerard is a divorcee living the high life in Paris. Her current lover is the overweight Percy Talandier but then she meets Count Lerski and sets her sights on him. Then she hears from her ex-husband Adolphe that Lerski is not a count, but works as a waiter.

Similar to most action games on the Sega Genesis, the plot in ''Alisia Dragoon'' is simple and short. The game goes straight into the action, tasking Alisia to demolish everything in sight. After defeating the final boss, the player is treated to a cinematic cutscene of Alisia's triumphant return to her home.

Much of the backstory is described in the manual. Alisia is the daughter of a sorcerer who attempted to stop the prince of all things evil, Baldour. As a child, her father was tortured to death in front of her eyes by Baldour. Although the world has not fully recovered from the devastating effects of Baldour's last visit, Baldour's aide Ornah manages to transport his dormant cocoon back to Earth. Now a woman with magical ability rivaling that of her father, Alisia sets out to destroy Baldour's cocoon before he can awaken.

Teen-aged Fong Sai-Yuk is a gifted martial artist but he is a poor student at school and a constant troublemaker, even though the school is run by his father. Powerful Manchu officials in Guangdong are achieving hegemony over the native Han Chinese population and threaten to shut the school down.

Sai-Yuk exacerbates matters when he picks a fight with the leader of the Manchus. In order to save her family's honor and keep the school open, Sai-Yuk's mother makes a bargain with the Shaolin monk San Te for her incorrigible son to be given refuge in the temple's 36th Chamber, which is a training hall for non-monks. However, Sai-Yuk is too full of pride and lacks respect for authority, so he continues his trouble-making ways.

Sai-Yuk constantly goes out of the Shaolin Temple at night, while his fellow students are asleep. He regularly visits the town, governed by Manchu officials, and then boasts about his adventures to his fellow pupils. During one of these night excursions, Sai-Yuk finds himself in the town where some festive celebrations are going on. Intrigued, Sai-Yuk climbs a wall to see the festivities and dance. He is seen and reprimanded by one of the Manchu officials, who orders him to climb down. When Sai-Yuk ignores him, he orders a few of the Manchu fighters to teach him a lesson.

Sai-Yuk, out of his pride and with the Kung-Fu skills attained at Shaolin, over-powers all the Manchu fighters with ease. Seeing this, the head Manchu decides to get information about the Shaolin Temple by befriending Sai-Yuk for the time being, promising his fellow Manchus that he will kill Sai-Yuk once he has taken all the information and Kung-Fu knowledge from him.

Sai-Yuk, in his innocence, falls into the trap and inadvertently starts sharing Shaolin secrets with the Manchu on a regular basis. Sai-Yuk starts visiting the hostile town daily, where he is repeatedly honored to make him believe that the Manchu are actually very nice and gentle. But every time Sai-Yuk visits the town, the Manchus try to dig something new out of him - be it life within Shaolin Temple, the number of students and teachers inside the Temple or their Kung-Fu techniques and skills in general.

Sai-Yuk is impressed by the Manchu hospitality, and keeps on giving details about Shaolin. Finally, at the Manchu leader's request and impressed by his shrewd fake friendship, Sai-Yuk persuades all his fellow pupils to go the Manchu town for the celebration of his daughter's marriage. The Manchu leader had a devious motive behind this, as he had planned to poison all the pupils to remove the threat of the Shaolin temple's monks once and for all.

San-Te, the abbot and teacher of the 36th chamber and instructor of Sai-Yuk, becomes suspicious and tries to stop Sai-Yuk. When he fails, he decides to go to the wedding in order to save his pupils and show the true colors of the Manchus to all. A fierce fight between the Shaolin students and the Manchus erupts upon them realizing that the Manchu actually wanted to poison all the Shaolin students.

The movie ends when Sai-Yuk spits his poisoned blood in the Manchu leader's mouth, making him swallow the poison instead. San-Te brings all his pupils, including Sai-Yuk, back to Shaolin safely, and their training continues. Sai-Yuk has learned his lesson and mended his ways to become more humble and less chaotic.

During a martial arts tournament, the American finalist Drew Carson (Reese Madigan) is humiliated by his opponent, ruthless and sadistic kickboxer Trevor Gottitall (Trent Bushey) who pantses him during the match. To add to the insult, Drew's teacher Master Kwan (Kim Chan) confesses that he is not—as he had claimed—a Shaolin monk, and therefore he had not passed on the actual knowledge of Shaolin kung fu to Drew. Determined to learn the actual art to prevent another such situation, Drew departs for China and arrives at the Shaolin Temple. At first, the monks do not let him enter, but with the help of a pretty tea shop waitress, Ashena (Alice Zhang Hung), and an old monk (Henry O) who gives him a decisive advise, he waits outside of the temple for a week, after which he manages to be admitted. The old monk also turns out to be the abbot of the temple, Master San De, and he and his stern taskmaster train Drew and a number of other young apprentices in the ways of the Shaolin.

At first Drew causes much trouble as his American teenage temperament clashes with the tranquility within the temple and with his fellow student, Gao (Daniel Dae Kim), but under the rigorous physical and mental training he both improves his fighting skills and learns the meaning of discipline, humility, and patience. He makes friends with Gao and also manages to pass the two final tests: the Test of Spirituality, and the Test of the Chamber. Accepted as a full-fledged member of the Shaolin Monastery, he accompanies—along with Ashena—a delegation of his fellow students and the abbot to a martial arts tournament in Shanghai.

At the tournament, Drew encounters Trevor once again. Trevor taunts Drew before proceeding with this match against Gao. Gao initially gains the upper hand, but Trevor resorts to his dirty fighting techniques and injures Gao. With Gao pinned against the ropes, Trevor demands a match against the "American Shaolin". Drew rises, but sits down again, refusing to fight Trevor on the principle of non-violence and selflessness. Infuriated, Trevor continues to beat up Gao and hurls him out of the ring. Encouraged by Master San De, Drew finally enters the ring to fight Trevor. Trevor immediately used dirty tricks again, but Drew prevails and even offers his hand to the defeated Trevor. The crowd voices their support for Shaolin, and Master San De declares that "this is the future of Shaolin".

Newly married Mary Sage (Shirley Eaton) is distraught when her husband Charlie (Bob Monkhouse) receives his call-up papers during their wedding breakfast. He travels to Heathercrest National Service Depot, meeting fellow recruit Horace Strong (Kenneth Connor), a chronic hypochondriac who is devastated at having been passed as fit.

The new recruits are assigned to Sergeant Grimshaw (William Hartnell). Grimshaw will soon be retiring from the army and takes on a £50 bet with Sergeant O'Brien (Terry Scott) that his last bunch of squaddies will be his first champion platoon.

With beady-eyed inspection from Captain Potts (Eric Barker) and disgruntled support from Corporal Copping (Bill Owen), Grimshaw decides to use some psychology and treat his charges kindly rather than simply shouting at them. But basic training does not start well and he struggles to take his platoon through it. They include failure Herbert Brown (Norman Rossington), upper-class cad Miles Heywood (Terence Longdon), rock 'n' roller Andy Galloway (Gerald Campion), delicate flower Peter Golightly (Charles Hawtrey) and supercilious university graduate James Bailey (Kenneth Williams). His attempts seem doomed.

Mary is determined to spend her wedding night with her husband and smuggles herself into the depot to get a job in the NAAFI, a situation Charlie is eventually able to legitimise. Strong spends most of his time complaining to the Medical Officer, Captain Clark (Hattie Jacques). It is only the adoration of doe-eyed NAAFI girl Norah (Dora Bryan), which he initially rejects, that makes him realise his potential and inspires him to become a real soldier.

On the eve of the final tests, Grimshaw is in despair, but he is overheard bemoaning his lot to Copping. The squad decide to win the best platoon prize at all costs. On the day, they indeed beat the other platoons at all tasks and Grimshaw is awarded the cup for best platoon. On Grimshaw's last day, the men present him with a cigarette lighter as a thank you/retirement present.

In 1972, Miklo Velka is the 17-year-old son of a Mexican mother and a white father. After a violent confrontation with his abusive racist father, Miklo leaves Las Vegas for East Los Angeles, where he stays with his cousins, Paco and Cruz. His cousins are in the local Vatos Locos gang, and Miklo earns his membership during an attack on their rivals, the Tres Puntos. Tres Puntos retaliates by attacking Cruz, permanently damaging his back. When Vatos Locos counterattack the next day, Miklo shoots and kills Spider, leader of Tres Puntos. Fleeing the scene, Paco crashes their car and they are both arrested.

The cousins' paths now diverge: Miklo is imprisoned in San Quentin for murder, Paco volunteers for military service in the Marine Corps in lieu of prison, and Cruz continues his passion for art. Due to his back pain, Cruz develops a heroin addiction, leading to the accidental overdose of his 12-year-old brother, Juanito. After the Marines, Paco joins the L.A.P.D.

Miklo finds San Quentin is run by three racially defined prison gangs. The Black Guerrilla Army (B.G.A.) is led by Bonafide, the Aryan Vanguard is led by Red Ryder, and La Onda is led by Montana Segura. Popeye, a high-ranking member of La Onda, tries to rape Miklo at knife-point, but is stopped by Montana, who finds Popeye's intentions dishonorable. Miklo learns that the only way into La Onda is by killing an enemy inmate. Miklo forms a rapport with Aryan Vanguard associate Big Al, then stabs him to death in the prison kitchen. Now initiated, Miklo rises through the La Onda ranks, eventually joining its Ruling Council.

After serving nine years, Miklo is granted parole. On the outside, disgusted by his menial job (as well as theft and blackmail at the hands of his boss), Miklo joins in an armed robbery. The heist goes poorly and Miklo is intercepted by Paco, who tries to appeal to Miklo to surrender his weapon, so that he can help him out of the situation. Miklo instead starts to flee, and Paco then shoots him in the leg. The leg has to be amputated, and Miklo is sent back to prison.

Miklo notices that cocaine use is now rampant, driven by competing supplies from the B.G.A. and Onda council member Carlos. The Aryan Vanguard want to partner with Carlos as his supplier, offering to help Carlos take B.G.A. out of the cocaine business. Montana, fiercely against La Onda being in the drug trade, warns that the Aryan Vanguard want to start a war between the Black and Chicano inmates. The Council votes in agreement with Montana, so Carlos and a few others leave La Onda to work with Aryan Vanguard.

Carlos has his non-inmate brother, Smokey, bomb the B.G.A.'s drug supply hangout in the city. Carlos also kills "Pockets", who is running the B.G.A.'s operation in San Quentin. As Montana warned, the Aryan Vanguard then lets the B.G.A. murder Carlos.

With hostility high between the Blacks and Chicanos, Montana and Bonafide meet in the prison yard. Montana convinces Bonafide to agree to a truce if Montana reaches out to La Onda leaders in other prisons to end the violence. The warden grants Montana special permission to visit the prisons and Miklo is left in charge.

Montana is granted a special request to have his daughter visit him at one of the prisons. Before she arrives, Montana is stabbed to death by a member of the B.G.A. Believing the Aryan Vanguard sent forged orders to the hitman, Paco arranges a peace conference between La Onda and B.G.A., but Miklo uses the talks to build an alliance with B.G.A. and plan the joint killing of Aryan Vanguard leaders. After the Aryan Vanguard are dead, Miklo's men promptly exterminate the B.G.A. leaders as well. A furious Paco confronts Miklo, disowning him forever.

The warden vows to split La Onda's ruling council by sending them to the prisons in other states. Miklo uses this to expand La Onda across the South West. It is later revealed that Magic, not the Aryan Vanguard, sent the forged orders to have B.G.A. kill Montana. This was set up by a reluctant Miklo, who clashed with Montana on the direction that La Onda should take for the gang's future.

Back in East Los Angeles, Paco visits one of Cruz' murals, showing a portrait of his former life. In a pep talk with Cruz, Paco realizes that by ordering Miklo to go after Spider, Paco is responsible for what Miklo has become. He ultimately forgives Miklo.

In 1923, the young Kim Shun-Pei moves from Cheju Island (South Korea), to Osaka (Japan). Through the years, he becomes a cruel, greedy and violent man and builds a factory of kamaboko (processed seafood products) in his poor Korean-Japanese community, where he exploits his employees. He makes a fortune, abuses and destroys the lives of his wife and family, has many mistresses and children and shows no respect to anyone. Later he closes the factory, lending out the money with high interest and becomes a loan shark. His hateful behavior remains unchanged to his last breath, alone in North Korea. The film is told from the perspective of Masao, his legitimate son by his abused and degraded wife, who knows nothing about his father other than to fear him.

Max Hagan, a Texas oil tycoon, is going through a difficult divorce. When his soon-to-be ex-wife throws him out of his house with nothing but the clothes he's wearing (including the titular "white pants"), he becomes entangled in a sex, drugs and rock-'n'-roll-laden adventure with his daughter's punk-rocker boyfriend as he tries to make things right between himself and his dysfunctional family.

Set in 2096, the story of ''Front Mission 4'' takes place in Venezuela and Europe. Since the revelations of the true causes behind the 2nd Huffman Conflict in 2092, the world grew wary of the Republic of Zaftra. Zaftra began losing foreign investments and many businesses withdrew from the union, resulting in major economic losses. Superpowers such as the United States of the New Continent (USN) refused offers from the union to import their natural resources, the major economic driver of their economy. With a failing economy and growing distrust from the world community, the Republic of Zaftra disbanded the Peace Mediation Organization (PMO) in 2094. Meanwhile, the discovery of natural resources in Poland led the European Community (EC) to stop importing raw materials from Zaftra. Consequently, Zaftran citizens began migrating to other countries in search for work. In 2096, the Republic of Zaftra returned to the spotlight after a mysterious blitzkrieg of EC military bases leaves Europe in an imminent resource crisis. Elsewhere in the world, Venezuela suddenly declares independence from the USN.

The plot of ''Front Mission 4'' revolves around two individuals - Durandal recruit Elsa Eliane and USN sergeant Darril Traubel. In 2096, five military bases in Germany are simultaneously attacked by unknown assailants. The EC leadership discuss the attacks and appoint the union's Durandal military research unit to lead the probe. While probing for evidence at a Bundeswehr base, they encounter Rolf Wagner, the leader of the Bundeswehr's elite ''Blauer Nebel'' special forces unit. The Durandal theorize that the attackers staged out of a small base in Denmark and run into some opposition there, but another set of wanzers ambush the Durandal after they return to Germany with their findings, which includes a wanzer AI microchip. The team delivers the microchip to Niklas Glaeser, a German general leading the investigation. In a news conference, Glaeser's revelations that the attackers were USN puzzle the Durandal, who believe they were of Zaftran origin.

Meanwhile, Venezuela suddenly secedes from the USN. In response, the USN sends in the 332nd Mobile Company to force them back into the fold. Darril Traubel and his two of friends are on patrol duty when they witness a Venezuelan State Army (VSA) transport crash in the jungle. Inspecting the remains, they find a crate carrying gold bullion worth $25 million. The three then decide to steal the gold and go AWOL. However, they are discovered by the VSA and are forced to escape north to Cumana, where a Chinese businessman named Chang offers to help them escape. However, this fails when they are attacked by unknown wanzers at the harbor, which spills over into the city. Darril captures their leader, Anizka Ivanovna Aleksandrov, and they head for another escape route. Along the way, the deserters find a village being attacked by the VSA. Darril decides to help the villagers and in the process, meets the ''Alianza de Libertad Venezolana'' (Venezuelan Liberation Alliance) rebel group. Ivanovna escapes during the skirmish, but keeps a homing beacon on the deserters' truck believing they may be of use to her in the future. As the game's plot thickens, the protagonists discover that Glaeser lied about the investigation and pieces its connections between the base attacks in Germany and the deserters' pursuers in Venezuela.

Characters

Many characters from ''Front Mission 4'' are referenced in ''Front Mission 5: Scars of the War''. The video game takes place in 2096.

Elsa Eliane is a former E.C. French Army master sergeant and a member of the E.C. Armored Tactics Research Corps, otherwise known as the Durandal. Before joining the Durandal, Elsa was in the employ of the French Army and served them for three years from 2093 to 2096. Although Eliane had no actual combat experience with the military, her grasp of combat theory and wanzer piloting impressed her superior officers. As a result, Elsa was accepted into the Durandal upon the recommendation of her superiors. Elsa is also referenced in ''Front Mission 5: Scars of the War''. Darril Traubel is a U.S.N. sergeant and a platoon leader for the U.S.N. Army 332nd Mobile Company. A talented soldier, Darril's achievements on the battlefield made him into a rising star in the U.S.N. Army. However, his sense of justice has led him to disregard orders and eventually, his demotion from captain to sergeant in 2096. Ever since the demotion, Traubel has become a disillusioned soldier and has lost interest in fighting for the U.S.N. Darril also makes appearances in ''Front Mission First'' and ''Front Mission 5: Scars of the War'' as a playable character. Billy Renges is a U.S.N. corporal in the employ of the 332nd Mobile Company. Billy was born into a poor family struggling to make ends meet. Determined to escape a life of poverty, he enlisted in the U.S.N. Army to live the good life. Renges met and befriended Darril Traubel during the 2nd Huffman Conflict, and the two have formed a strong friendship since then. When Darril was reassigned to the 332nd Mobile Company, he applied for a transfer to the company to serve with his best friend. Billy also makes an appearance in ''Front Mission First'', and is referenced in ''Front Mission 5: Scars of the War''. Bruno Diaz is the governor of the U.S.N. state, Venezuela. As a puppet leader following the orders of the U.S.N. Central Government, Bruno had extensive connections to the mafia and foreign sources. He used these sources to oppress the Venezuelan people and made himself wealthy by robbing them of their money. Diaz, however, desired to break away from the U.S.N. and accepted military support from an unknown foreign source to make it happen. Bruno is also referenced in ''Front Mission 5: Scars of the War''. Luis Perez is the leader of the ''la Alianza de Libertad Venezolana'' (Venezuelan Freedom Alliance). Growing up in poor living conditions, Luis aspired to change Venezuela for the better as a child. At the age of 15, he joined la Alianza as a soldier, but assumes leadership five years after the group's head dies. Luis opposes Governor Bruno Diaz's rule and wants better treatment of his people from the U.S.N. Central Government. Luis is also referenced in ''Front Mission 5: Scars of the War''. Phillip Chaeffer is a U.S.N. private first class serving the 332nd Mobile Company. Phillip enlisted in the U.S.N. Army during the 2nd Huffman Conflict and served as an infantryman in the war. Sometime during the war, he starts a friendship with Darril Traubel and Billy Renges. As the youngest and most inexperienced of the three men, Chaeffer has a tendency to act recklessly and attract unwanted attention from enemy forces. Phillip is also referenced in ''Front Mission First''. *William Clift is the president of the U.S.N. Central Government. As president of the U.S.N., William made resolving domestic and international conflicts the focus of his presidency during the 2090s. His administration was heavily involved in the Venezuelan coup d'état and the Indochina Conflict. William is also referenced in ''Front Mission 5: Scars of the War''.

"The Sheep Look Up" takes place over the course of a single year, with each chapter depicting one month. The story is a multi-strand one, involving a variety of characters whose paths only cross as the world's ecological disaster brings them together.

'''December'''

The novel starts with a man running across the Santa Monica Freeway in a bizarre incident before getting killed when he is hit by a car. The accident and the ensuing traffic jam results in Philip Mason, a Denver-based executive at the Angel City insurance company, being late for a meeting. The head of the insurance company says that they are having to increase life insurance premiums due to declining life expectancy in the United States. Peg Mankiewicz, a journalist, identifies the body of the man in the freeway accident as her friend Decimus Jones. Later, Peg meets with her friend and influential ecologist, Austin Train, from whom the Trainites take their name. He has gone underground and is working as a mall Santa, Peg is one of the few people able to contact him. In Honduras, a group of UN investigators are looking into a famine in the civil war ridden nation. They examine a ruined coffee farm and discover mysterious wormlike insects filling the roots of the plants with holes. They are known as Jigras and are immune to every known insecticide. Jacob Bamberley, heir to an oil fortune and head of Bamberley Trust, a charitable institution that manufactures Nutripon, a hydroponically grown food product meant to provide relief in places afflicted by famine, gives his adopted son Hugh Pettingill a tour of the factory in Denver. Hugh is not impressed by his adoptive father's work. In Africa, in a village called Noshri, a nurse named Lucy Ramage is on hand to receive shipment of Nutripon when suddenly the villagers seem to go insane and start murdering each other. She is saved by UN soldiers who put down the riots.

'''January'''

A supersonic airliner flying over the Rockies causes an avalanche with its sonic boom that destroys a brand new ski resort in Towerhill, Colorado. A police officer named Pete Goddard becomes a hero after saving a group of children trapped in the snow from being crushed by a steel beam. Peg learns from an autopsy that Decimus had a psychedelic drug in his system. She knows he wasn't a drug user and decides to get to the bottom of it. Jacob, trying to debunk allegations that Nutripon was responsible for the violence at Noshri, is a guest on the Petronella Page show, a popular news show. The host forces him to eat a bowlful of it. Suddenly, a bomb threat forces the studio to be evacuated.

'''February'''

In Ireland, Doctor Michael Advowson is treating a young girl who injured her toe after playing on a farm that was being used as a garbage dump. A visitor informs him to report to the United Nations to help investigate the Noshri riots. Philip is diagnosed with Gonorrhea from a one-night stand in Las Vegas which he has exposed his wife to. Lucy finds herself in a mental hospital in England after she had been afflicted with the insanity that affected the people of Noshri. She describes the horrors of the riots. A similar occurrence happens in Honduras. Hugh runs away from home after confronting Jacob about his role in the Noshri disaster.

'''March'''

Peg and Decimus' sister Felice are driving to the Colorado commune that Decimus was a part of, known as the "wat", and pick up Hugh, whose car had broken down. At the wat, they meet Zena, Decimus' widow. They present the wat with a canister of imported earthworms. A Honduran man, from a boat on the heavily polluted Pacific, sets off balloons carrying napalm which cause death and destruction all over San Diego. Philip loses his job, the result of Angel City's woes from the Towerhill disaster. He is then drawn into a business scheme by his friend Alan Prosser, who runs a plumbing firm, to sell household water filters manufactured by the Mitsuyama Corporation of Japan. Alan wants to use Pete Goddard as their spokesman to take advantage of his hero status. Michael conducts an analysis of the Nutripon at Noshri and discovers it contained Ergot, a substance known to cause hallucinations and dementia. As he is flying to New York, Lucy happens to be on the same plane and tells him her theory that the food was intentionally poisoned in an attempt to weaken the governments of the third world countries to allow exploitation of their resources.

'''April'''

Gerry Thorne, an executive at Bamberley Trust, is at his home in the Caribbean talking to fellow executive Moses Greenbriar when he hears Moses' wife screaming. Gerry's wife, Nancy, who was out swimming, has been exposed to a nerve agent, dumped into sea by the military at the end of World War I, contained in barrels that periodically surface. She dies from the exposure and Gerry vows to get justice. Hugh is becoming accustomed to life at the wat. He starts smoking marijuana with another member of the Wat, Carl Travers, who is also Pete's brother. They wind up making love. In New York, Michael meets with Jacob to discuss potential poisoning of Nutripon. Jacob wants Michael to certify the plant's new safety equipment. During the meeting, a Trainite car bomb goes off and destroys the office. Mitsuyama sends Hideki Katsamura on a tour of the United States as the company launches their water filters. Throughout the journey, Katsamura is afflicted with diarrhea. He winds up being patient zero for an outbreak of acute enteritis that ravages the country. It is left unstated whether this was an intentional poisoning to increase water filter sales.

'''May'''

The enteritis epidemic hits America hard. 35 million people become infected. Many are unable to work, businesses are forced to run on skeleton crews and public services such as police, mass transit, and garbage collection are severely disrupted. At the wat, it is discovered that Felice's worms included Jigras, ruining the vegetable crop. The Jigras begin spreading across the nation, resulting in a dire food shortage. Jacob publicly swears to destroy his Nutripon inventory in a public relations exercise. Hugh and Carl, having left the wat and wanting to take more serious action for the environment, meet a man calling himself Austin Train, one of many imposters.

'''June'''

Michael arrives in Colorado to oversee the destruction of the Nutripon stocks. He meets some young people who want to eat what they think is poisoned food as they want to go insane. Michael tells them that the food is clean and when he tries to give some to prove it, he is arrested and a riot breaks out. The army uses laser cannons and 63 people die in the fighting, Michael included. Peg meets with Lucy and a man named Fernando Arriegas to discuss the Noshri incident. At gunpoint, they force Peg to eat contaminated Nutripon. She winds up tripping out and as that happens, mysterious men enter the hotel room and kill Lucy and Fernando. Thorne meets with Professor Quarrey and his wife to discuss whether he has a case against the state department for his wife's death. The conversation goes into Puritan Foods, a company claiming to sell uncontaminated food, and which is tied to an organized crime group called The Syndicate, but after careful analysis, Quarrey has found that Puritan is no better than regular food and that some of it must come from outside of North America as the continent doesn't have enough uncontaminated farm land to grow all the food they sell. They also discuss how the Jigras entered the United States. A worm importer in Texas passed them off as regular worms allowing them to get past inspection. As Thorne leaves, men show up at the apartment and kill him, Quarrey, and his wife.

'''July'''

Jacob is confronted by his wife Maud, who calls him a murderer for the poisonings of Noshri and Honduras. He angrily retreats to his study, where he eats a candy bar confiscated from one of his chronically ill children. He has an allergic reaction and falls out the window, dying. Trainites begin to resort to terrorism. They bomb gas stations, blow up a new highway interchange in Alabama, sabotage a lumber mill in Georgia, and murder loggers trying to cut down California's remaining redwood trees. Hugh, Carl, and the Austin Train impersonator they call Ossie, plot to kidnap Hector Bamberley, the son of Roland Bamberley and nephew of Jacob. Roland has become the West Coast distributor for Mitsuyama water filters, and they want to extort him into giving them away for free. Peg wakes up in a hospital and is questioned by a doctor, coerced by a federal agent, about her ties to Austin Train.

'''August'''

The Mitsuyama water filters are discovered to be faulty, clogging up constantly with bacteria. Alan Prosser faces ruin with having to replace them. In Colorado, there is a meeting of wat members from all over the country. They are discussing a report on Puritan Foods when suddenly a low flying aircraft firebombs the compound, killing many. Hugh and Carl's friend Kitty, who owns the apartment where they are living and keeping Hector, has sex with him. Peg convinces Austin, now working as a garbageman, to go public. He agrees after she says she can get him on the Petronella Page show. Page wants to "crucify" him, but she is won over to his cause. After a Major at a nuclear missile base in North Dakota suddenly goes crazy and almost murders his two kids, the government becomes convinced that the United States is under attack. Martial law begins to spread.

'''September'''

Hugh, Carl, and Ossie, worried about Hector's health and giving up hope that Roland will pay the ransom, let him go. Hector is ridden with all the diseases now common in urban slums, much to the disbelief of his wealthy father. Hector claims he was kidnapped by Austin Train, who is arrested while on the Petronella Page show. At Prosser's offices, an employee suddenly goes on a violent rampage, he is subdued by Alan's gun. But they can see this is not an isolated case, outside the office, Denver residents have gone insane, just like the villagers in Noshri. In the chaos, Philip is able to drive Pete home but once he gets to his apartment, his wife Denise reveals that their son Harold has viciously murdered his sister Jodie. Alan and his assistant Dorothy die after getting trapped in the company's warehouse which is set on fire.

'''October'''

The Masons are holed up in their apartment for days with the rotting corpse of their daughter. Eventually some soldiers arrive, informing them that they are the first living people they've found in the building. Philip's friend and regular doctor Doug McNeil reveals that Denver's water supply has been contaminated with Ergot. Philip is told that he is being called to active duty as a soldier to supervise cleanup from the rioting. Hugh wanders back to his home and finds out that Maud has gone insane. After falsely claiming he is reporting for duty, he is exposed and put on a work gang with other suspected Trainites. Peg comes across him and he reveals that Carl had given Decimus Jones a carton of Nutripon as a Christmas present, explaining why he suddenly ran across a freeway.

'''November'''

The United States is now on the brink of collapse. Ossie sets a bomb at a public building and then dies from fever and delirium. Philip is on patrol when another soldier accuses him of poisoning the water with his filters, and kills him. Pete surprises his pregnant wife Jeannie with a microwave oven. She uses it to cook a chicken but suddenly collapses. At the hospital, it is revealed that the microwave was shoddily built and radiation leaked out and cooked Jeannie's unborn infant in the uterus. One morning, Pete is discovered by Carl in the living room scribbling notes from a book, he says that he is learning how to make a bomb. Peg is covering Austin's trial. Hector quickly realizes that he wasn't kidnapped by the real Austin Train and reveals he had been coerced into saying he was. Austin takes the opportunity to make a speech at his heavily televised trial. He pleads that humanity stop destroying its environment. He also reveals the source of the Ergot poisonings: In 1963, the government stored drums of Ergot-based nerve gas in the mountains surrounding Denver. One day, just before Christmas, an injection induced earthquake caused the drum to rupture and leak its contents into the water table supplying the Nutripon factory, which contaminated the food it produced. Another one caused a much larger leak that poisoned all of Denver. As he finishes his speech, a cameraman informs him that the President has ordered the broadcast to cease. Ossie's bomb then detonates, presumably killing everyone in the courtroom. Tom Grey, an actuary at Angel City, had been throughout the novel, devising a computer simulation of earth to figure out a solution to earth's ecological problems. The ironic and morbidly humorous results are reported on the Petronella Page show. The final scene takes place in Ireland where a woman is letting a doctor into her home. She sees billowing plumes of smoke and suggests they call the fire department. The doctor responds, “The brigade would have a long way to go, it’s from America. The wind’s blowing that way.”

'''Next Year'''

The final chapter of the book is simply a few lines from John Milton's poem ''Lycidas'' from which the novel derives its title.
: The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed, : But swollen with wind and the rank mist they draw, : Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread ...

The "Mystery Inc." gang find themselves stranded near an old farmhouse adjacent to an apparently abandoned amusement park. Approaching the farmhouse for help with the Mystery Machine (their van), the gang learns that the Gobs, the residents of the home, own the adjacent park, Gobs O' Fun. However, the park is being haunted by a phantom, scaring customers away. Without any customers, the Gobs are on the brink of bankruptcy, which will force them to sell the park.

The gang agrees to help the Gobs find the culprit in exchange for help getting their van repaired.

Joe Smith, a heroin addict, is on a quest to score more drugs. Joe has problematic relationship with his on-off, sexually frustrated girlfriend, Holly Sandiago.

During the course of the day, Joe overdoses in front of an upper-class couple, attempts to fool welfare into approving his methadone treatment by having Holly fake a pregnancy, and frustrates the women in his life with his drug-induced impotence.

Gary Grobowski and Brooke Meyers meet at Wrigley Field during a Chicago Cubs game and begin dating, eventually buying a condominium together. Gary works as a tour guide in a family business with his brothers, Lupus and Dennis. Brooke manages an art gallery owned by eccentric artist Marilyn Dean.

Their relationship comes to a head after the latest in an escalating series of arguments. Brooke, feeling unappreciated, criticizes Gary's perceived immaturity and unwillingness to work on improving their relationship. Gary is frustrated by Brooke's perceived controlling, perfectionistic attitude, and expresses his desire to have a little more independence, particularly when arriving home from work, wanting to unwind.

Brooke becomes irate when Gary fails to offer to help her clean up after a big dinner party at their home. Still frustrated from their earlier, unresolved argument, she breaks up with him (despite still being in love with him). Brooke seeks relationship advice from her friend Addie, while Gary goes to tell his side of things to friend Johnny Ostrofski.

Since neither is willing to move out of their condo, they compromise by living as roommates; but, each begins acting out to provoke the other in increasingly elaborate ways. Gary buys a pool table, litters the condo with food and trash, and even has a strip poker party with Lupus and a few women. Meanwhile, Brooke has Gary kicked off their "couples-only" bowling team, and starts dating other men in an attempt to make Gary jealous.

When their friend and realtor Mark Riggleman sells the condo, Gary and Brooke are given two weeks' notice to move out. Brooke invites Gary to an Old 97's concert, hoping that he will figure out that the gesture is meant to be her last-ditch attempt to salvage their relationship. Gary agrees to meet her there, but misses the hidden agenda, and misses the concert—unwittingly breaking Brooke's heart. When Gary goes out for a drink with Johnny, his friend points out that Gary has always had his guard up, has been guilty of a lot of selfishness, and never gave Brooke a chance, emotional intimacy-wise.

Afterwards, Brooke quits her job in order to spend time traveling Europe. When she brings a customer from the art gallery home one evening, Brooke finds the condo cleaned and Gary preparing a fancy dinner to win her back. He lays his heart on the line and promises to appreciate her more. Brooke becomes devastated and states that she just cannot give anymore, and, therefore, does not feel the same way. Gary seems to understand and kisses her before leaving. It is later revealed that Brooke's "date" (who initially asked her out, but she politely rejected) was actually a client interested in a piece of artwork she kept at the condo.

Both eventually move out of the condo. Gary begins taking a more active role in his tour guide business, while Brooke travels the world, eventually returning to Chicago. Some time later, they meet again by chance on the street as Gary is bringing home groceries and Brooke is on her way to a meeting. After some awkward but friendly catching up, they part ways but each glances back over their shoulder and they share a smile.

The prologue shows a scene from Anton's childhood (but real names of Arkanar people and locations pronounced allow to speculate that it is not childhood, but just a vacation in preparation to departure to the planet), in which he goes on an adventure with his friends Pashka (Paul) and Anka (Anna) and plays a game based on melodramatic recreations of events on the unnamed medieval planet. The children live in a futuristic utopia, and the teenagers feel drawn to adventure. While the children play they find an abandoned road with a road sign reading "wrong way". Anton decides to go further and discovers remnants from World War II – a skeleton of a German gunner chained to his machine gun (or so he says to his friends).

Later, Anton and Pashka grow up to be observers on the aforementioned planet, Anton in the Arkanar Kingdom and Pashka in the Irukan Duchy. Anton has taken the role of Don Rumata. He visits the ''Drunken Den'', a meeting place for observers working in the Lands Beyond the Strait (Запроливье). He has the current task of investigating the disappearance of a famed scientist, Doctor Budach, who may have been kidnapped by Don Reba, the Prime Minister of Arkanar. Don Reba leads a campaign against all educated people in the kingdom, blaming them for all the calamities and misfortunes of the kingdom. Rumata feels alarmed, as the kingdom is changing into a fascist police state which would never have developed in equivalent medieval societies on Earth. Rumata has attempted to save the most talented poets, writers, doctors and scientists, smuggling them abroad into neighboring countries. However, Reba's régime murders or breaks most of his native friends.

Rumata tries to convince his colleagues that a more active intervention must take place. However, Don Goog (rendered in the 2014 English translation as Don Gug) (who had appeared earlier as Pashka) and Don Kondor (an elder and more experienced observer who's became a cult character for landing a helicopter behind a cottage, "having no time for scuffles on the road") feel that he has become too involved in native affairs and cannot see the historical perspective objectively. They remind him of the dangers of overly active meddling with the history of the planet. Not convinced, but left with no other choice, Rumata agrees to continue his work.

Back in the city, Rumata tries pumping multiple people for information, including Vaga (Waga in the 2014 English translation) the Wheel, the head of local organised-crime. He also attends a soirée organised by Don Reba's lover, ''dona Okana'', who is also rumored to be Don Reba's confidante. Rumata hopes to seduce her and pump her for information, however, he cannot hide the disgust of whoring himself out (and of Okana's lack of hygiene) and has to retreat. Rumata's love-interest, a young commoner named Kira, who can't stand the brutality and horrors of fascist Arkanar any longer, asks to stay in Rumata's house. Rumata gladly agrees and promises to eventually take her with him to "a wonderful place far far away", by which he means Earth.

His other plans take a bad turn. Life in Arkanar becomes less and less tolerable. Reba orders the torture and execution of dona Okana. Rumata – faced with the horrible consequences of his power-play – goes into a drunken stupor. Finally, left with no other option, in front of the King, Rumata openly accuses Don Reba of kidnapping a famous physician whom he (Rumata) had invited to tend to the King's maladies.

The ensuing events prove that Don Reba has anticipated and prepared for this. After confessing that he, in fact, kidnapped Dr. Budah, fearing that the man is not to be trusted with King's life, Don Reba apologizes. He then brings forward a physician, introducing him as Dr. Budah. The next night, Rumata, whose turn it is to guard the royal prince and only heir to the throne, is suddenly overwhelmed by dozens of Don Reba's men, and while fighting for his life witnesses them murdering the prince. They are in turn massacred by monks, apparently members of a Holy Order, a militaristic religious sect. Defeated, Rumata is brought in front of Don Reba.

Don Reba reveals that he has been watching Don Rumata for some time – in fact he recognizes Rumata as an impostor – the real Rumata having died a long time ago. However, Don Reba realizes that there is some supernatural power behind Rumata. Rumata's gold is of impossibly high quality and Rumata's sword-fighting style is unheard of, yet he has never killed a single person while staying in Arkanar despite fighting in numerous duels. Don Reba instinctively feels that killing Rumata may lead to retribution from Rumata's presumed demonic allies and tries to forge a treaty with him.

During their conversation, Rumata finally understands the magnitude of Reba's plotting. The presented physician was not Budah. The impostor was promised a position as the royal physician and was instructed to give the King a potion that was really a poison. The King died and the physician was executed for murdering the king. With the death of the royal prince during Rumata's guard and the king dead at the hands of "Budah", summoned by Rumata against Reba's wishes, Rumata can be easily blamed for staging a coup – in fact nobody would ever believe that he is not Reba's accomplice. In the same time, the organized-crime groups of Vaga the Wheel, secretly encouraged by Don Reba, begin to pillage the city.

Don Reba then calls in the Holy Order's army, which quickly dispatches the criminals and the guardsmen alike, seizing the defenceless city with minimal losses. Reba – who may have served as a pawn of the Holy Order from the beginning – has become a new head of state, a magister of the Holy Order and bishop and governor of Arkanar, now the Order's province.

Shocked and infuriated, Rumata still holds his ground, and forms a non-aggression pact with Don Reba. He uses his new status to rescue the real Dr. Budah as well as his own friend Baron Pampa from prison. Around him, Arkanar succumbs to the Holy Order. As the last of his friends and allies die and suffer in the turmoil, Rumata acts with all haste to expedite the departure of Budah.

Rumata returns to his home to discover his most loyal servant killed during a fight with a squad of Reba's stormtroopers who had gained entrance into the house; a unit of the Holy Order then saved the rest of the household.

The three observers meet again to discuss the future. Both his colleagues feel tortured by remorse, however, there is nothing to be done now. Don Kondor suggests that Rumata act carefully, as it is clear that Don Reba can go back on their deal at any moment. He warns Rumata that his lover Kira can be used against him, and that "all that we hold dear should be either in our hearts or on Earth".

Before Budah's departure, Rumata asks him a theological question: "what would you ask a god, if he could come from sky and fulfill any of your wishes?". After a long discussion – with Budah wishing and Rumata explaining the dire consequences of each of the wishes, Budah finally states that the only true gift a god could give the people is to leave them to their affairs. To this, Rumata replies that he cannot bear the sight of their suffering. Kira notices that Rumata referred to himself in that last sentence, rather than some hypothetical god, and looks at him "with horror and hope".

Budah crosses the border successfully and is saved. Feeling confident in his superior abilities and contacts in the military and the criminal world alike, Rumata plans to escape with Kira to Earth. A unit of soldiers arrives in order to capture Kira, considering Rumata absent from his home. In the confusion a crossbowman shoots her through the window. She dies in Rumata's arms. As the soldiers break the front door, Rumata, maddened with grief, unsheathes his swords and waits for them.

In the epilogue Pasha summarizes subsequent events to Anka while waiting for Anton in some recovery medical institution: the space station went on alert when the house was attacked. However, they haven't had a chance to react. Having had doused the entire city with a sleep-inducing gas, they had discovered that Anton-Rumata have already had fought his way through the city towards the palace, covered in blood, where he had finally presumably killed (it has never been stated if Reba got killed before sleep gas took effect on Rumata-Anton or not) Reba himself. Remembering the events of the prologue, Pashka wonders whether that episode, when Anton decided to disobey a "wrong way" sign and found 'a skeleton of a fascist', had a deeper meaning about the course of history.

Kevin, a boy on Earth, is upset because he has to move away from his younger friend Donna. Declaring that he doesn't care, he decides to run away and ends up in The Land Without Feelings, which is ruled by a misanthropic and winter-centric mad scientist named Professor Coldheart. He turns Kevin into a green amphibian-like goblin via a soda-like potion and declares him a slave. The Care Bears, along with Donna, go into the Land Without Feelings to save Kevin along with the other children who were turned into Coldheart's goblin slaves. Tenderheart Bear makes an attempt to climb up to Coldheart's castle, but is caught in a trap by Coldheart himself on the way up. Wish Bear makes an immediately granted wish to be teleported to Coldheart's castle with Grumpy Bear and Donna (and all the other Care Bears too, including Tenderheart), after several times being interrupted when attempting to make a wish and seeing if it would actually come true. The Care Bears use their magic 'Care Bear Stare' to change Kevin and the other children back to human, and Coldheart makes a break for it.

Based in the Briar Patch (Tikrit Expanse) introduced in ''Star Trek: Insurrection'', on Deep Space 12, a space station in orbit of the planet Ba'ku. It follows the daily life of several officers serving on board the station and a few of the ships stationed there. Early in the series, an advanced species, the Grey, are introduced and become the primary villain, with a story arc that spans the entire series. Later, secondary villains are introduced including an Andorian trader and later the Tholians along with a man named Siroc. Mysterious ancient alien artifacts become a key focus of the series.

The crew interacts with many established species from ''Star Trek'', including Andorians, Ba'ku, Klingons, Romulans, Son'a, and Tzenkethi.

Despite being saddled with a nerdy pledge during a Palm Springs weekend, two frat brothers vie for a poolside blonde.

"''While the Apprentice Sorcerer slept his master's music was stolen away. Now his dreams must restore the notes so the music can play again''".

Gameplay

In the game, the player controls Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer's Apprentice through various side-scrolling levels in an attempt to collect musical notes that somehow went missing whilst he was asleep. The game's four levels were based on amalgamations of the segments of ''Fantasia'', with each one themed around the elements: water (The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Dance of the Reed Flutes and Nutcracker Arabian Dance), earth (The Rite of Spring), air (Trepak, Pastoral Symphony and Dance of the Hours) and fire (Night on Bald Mountain, Toccata and Fugue in D Minor). The player defeats various enemies by jumping on them or by collecting magical bubbles that could be used to shoot at enemies as projectiles. In each level, the player collects a certain number of hidden magical notes in order for the song to play once again.

Still in the Divergent universe, the Eighth Doctor and Charley are captured by the insect like Kromon. Charley is forced into becoming a hybrid-insect Queen, and the Doctor is forced to share his knowledge of space-time travel with the rapacious Kromon...

Christopher Tracy (Prince) and his friend, Tricky (Jerome Benton), are gigolos, originally from Miami, who live on the French Riviera. Christopher works as a piano player at a local restaurant and, along with Tricky, spends his days identifying rich women to target in order to gain large amounts of money. At the beginning of the film, Christopher is in an informal relationship with wealthy spinster Mrs. Wellington (Francesca Annis), while Tricky is romantically involved with their landlord, Katie (Emmanuelle Sallet).

One day, while reading the front page of the local newspaper, Tricky notices that Mary Sharon, the wealthy daughter of shipping magnate Isaac Sharon, is due to have her 21st birthday and thus inherit a $50 million trust fund established by her father. Deciding that Mary will make a suitable next target, they both gatecrash the 21st birthday party, which is being held at the Sharon Estate. Christopher catches the attention of Mary, but quickly learns that she is engaged to Jonathan, an employee of her father's. The planned engagement has been arranged by Mary's father as a means of consolidating the fortunes of two powerful families together.

Mary rejects Christopher at the party and both he and Tricky are thrown out by bouncers. Mary visits Christopher the following day at the restaurant where he works and delivers a message from Mrs. Wellington to visit her house later that evening. Christopher visits Mrs. Wellington, but realizes that the arrangement is a setup, as she is having an affair with Mary's father.

Christopher and Tricky meet with Mary at an exclusive restaurant, where they both mock her privileged upbringing and lack of street sensibility. Christopher performs Girls & Boys, but the song is interrupted when Isaac Sharon, alerted to Mary's presence by a maitre d, takes Mary home. Mary is humiliated at the way her father still controls her life and vows to become her own woman.

Both Christopher and Tricky start to genuinely fall in love with Mary, but realize that, if they continue to pursue her, they will be dealt with severely by her father, who has been using his bodyguards to trace them. Christopher and Tricky try to sneak into Mary's bedroom late one night, but accidentally disturb her mother instead before running off.

When Christopher fails to show for a meeting with Tricky, due to meeting Mary at a nearby racecourse, Tricky gets drunk and reveals to Mary their scam in order to get her money. Mary is hurt by the revelation and plans to leave France with her mother in order to visit Jonathan in New York. Mrs. Wellington meets Christopher and tells him that Isaac Sharon will pay him to stay away from his daughter; Christopher is incensed and wins Mary back at the airport.

Isaac Sharon, now aware that Mary is in love with Christopher, alerts the Chief of Police and Coastguard and orders them to locate both his daughter and her lover immediately. The coastguard quickly locates them and shoots Christopher dead. Christopher dies in Mary's arms whilst Isaac, Tricky and Katie look on.

In the film's epilogue, it is revealed that Tricky has moved back to Miami with Katie and is now in charge of his own apartment complex, which has been bought for him by Mary. Mary reveals in a letter to Tricky that she is moving on with her life, but will never forget Christopher as long as she lives.

The plot centers on a ski resort run by Will Carver (Anson Mount). When his grandfather dies, Will discovers that the resort has been left to his younger brother David (Oliver Hudson), an irresponsible layabout who returns to pick up the reins. There is familial conflict over the resort and over Maria (Alana de la Garza), a woman who previously dated David, but then dates Will. Additional conflict comes from the efforts of land developer Colin Dowling (Mitch Pileggi) and his attractive daughter, Max (Elizabeth Bogush), who falls for David.

Justin Quayle, a British diplomat in Nairobi, Kenya, is told that his activist wife, Tessa, was killed while travelling with a doctor friend in a desolate region of Africa. Investigating on his own, Quayle discovers that her murder, reportedly committed by her friend, may have had more sinister roots.

Justin learns that Tessa had uncovered a corporate scandal involving medical experimentation in Africa. KVH (Karel Vita Hudson), a large pharmaceutical company working under the cover of AIDS tests and treatments, is testing a tuberculosis drug that has severe side effects. Rather than help the trial subjects and begin again with a new drug, KVH covered up the side effects and improved the drug only in anticipation of a massive multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis outbreak.

Justin travels the world, often under assumed identities, to reconstruct the circumstances leading to Tessa's murder. As he begins to piece together Tessa's final report on the fraudulent drug tests, he learns that the roots of the conspiracy stretch further than he could have imagined; to a German pharmawatch NGO, an African aid station, and, most disturbingly to him, corrupt civil servants in the British Foreign Office.

John le Carré writes in the book's afterword: "by comparison with the reality, my story [is] as tame as a holiday postcard". The book is dedicated to Yvette Pierpaoli, a French activist who died during the course of her aid work.

Early years

The series follows the life of a boy named Harry Potter. In the first book, ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', Harry lives in a cupboard under the stairs in the house of the Dursleys, his aunt, uncle and cousin. The Dursleys consider themselves perfectly normal, but at the age of eleven, Harry discovers that he is a wizard. He meets a half-giant named Hagrid who invites him to attend the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry learns that as a baby, his parents were murdered by the dark wizard Lord Voldemort. When Voldemort attempted to kill Harry, his curse rebounded and Harry survived with a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.

Harry becomes a student at Hogwarts and is sorted into Gryffindor House. He gains the friendship of Ron Weasley, a member of a large but poor wizarding family, and Hermione Granger, a witch of non-magical, or Muggle, parentage. Harry encounters the school's potions master, Severus Snape, who displays a dislike for him; the rich pure-blood Draco Malfoy whom he develops an enmity with; and the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Quirinus Quirrell, who turns out to be allied with Lord Voldemort. The first book concludes with Harry's confrontation with Voldemort, who, in his quest to regain a body, yearns to gain the power of the Philosopher's Stone, a substance that bestows everlasting life.

''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'' describes Harry's second year at Hogwarts. Students are attacked and petrified by an unknown creature; wizards of Muggle parentage are the primary targets. The attacks appear related to the Chamber of Secrets, a fifty-year-old mystery at the school. Harry discovers an ability to speak the snake language Parseltongue, which he learns is rare and associated with the Dark Arts. When Hermione is attacked, Harry and Ron uncover the chamber's secrets and enter it. Harry discovers that the chamber was opened by Ron's younger sister, Ginny Weasley, who was possessed by an old diary in her belongings. The memory of Tom Marvolo Riddle, Voldemort's younger self, resided inside the diary and unleashed the basilisk, an ancient monster that kills those who make direct eye contact. Harry draws the Sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat, slays the basilisk and destroys the diary.

In the third novel, ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'', Harry learns that he is targeted by Sirius Black, an escaped convict who allegedly assisted in his parents' murder. As Harry struggles with his reaction to the dementors – creatures guarding the school that feed on despair – he reaches out to Remus Lupin, a new professor who teaches him the Patronus charm. On a windy night, Ron is dragged by a black dog into the Shrieking Shack; Harry and Hermione follow. The dog is revealed to be Sirius Black. Lupin enters the shack and explains that Black was James Potter's best friend; he was framed by Peter Pettigrew, who hides as Ron's pet rat, Scabbers. As the full moon rises, Lupin transforms into a werewolf and bounds away; the group chase after him but are surrounded by dementors. They are saved by a mysterious figure who casts a stag Patronus. This is later revealed to be a future version of Harry, who traveled back in time with Hermione using the Time Turner. The duo help Sirius escape on a Hippogriff.

Voldemort returns

In Harry's fourth year of school (detailed in ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire''), he is unwillingly entered in the Triwizard Tournament, a contest between schools of witchcraft and wizardry. Harry is Hogwarts' second participant after Cedric Diggory, an unusual occurrence that causes his friends to distance themselves from him. He competes against schools Beauxbaton and Durmstrang with the help of the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody. Harry claims the Triwizard Cup with Cedric, but in doing so is teleported to a graveyard where Voldemort's supporters convene. Moody reveals himself be to Barty Crouch, Jr, a Death Eater. Harry manages to escape, but Cedric is killed and Voldemort is resurrected using Harry's blood.

In the fifth book, ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'', the Ministry of Magic refuses to believe that Voldemort has returned. Dumbledore re-activates the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society to counter Voldemort; meanwhile, the Ministry appoints Dolores Umbridge as the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. Umbridge bans the Defense Against the Dark Arts; in response, Hermione and Ron form "Dumbledore's Army", a secret group where Harry teaches what Umbridge forbids. Harry is punished for disobeying Umbridge, and dreams of a dark corridor in the Ministry of Magic. Near the end of the book, Harry falsely dreams of Sirius being tortured; he races to the Ministry where he faces Death Eaters. The Order of the Phoenix saves the teenagers' lives, but Sirius is killed. A prophecy concerning Harry and Voldemort is then revealed: one must die at the hands of the other.

In the sixth book, ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'', Snape teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts while Horace Slughorn becomes the Potions master. Harry finds an old textbook with annotations by the Half-Blood Prince, due to which he achieves success in Potions class. Harry also takes lessons with Dumbledore, viewing memories about the early life of Voldemort in a device called a Pensieve. Harry learns from a drunken Slughorn that he used to teach Tom Riddle, and that Voldemort divided his soul into pieces, creating a series of Horcruxes. Harry and Dumbledore travel to a distant lake to destroy a Horcrux; they succeed, but Dumbledore weakens. On their return, they find Draco Malfoy and Death Eaters attacking the school. The book ends with the killing of Dumbledore by Professor Snape, the titular Half-Blood Prince.

In ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'', the seventh novel in the series, Lord Voldemort gains control of the Ministry of Magic. Harry, Ron and Hermione learn about the Deathly Hallows, legendary items that lead to mastery over death. The group infiltrate the ministry, where they steal a locket Horcrux, and visit Godric's Hollow, where they are attacked by Nagini. A silver doe Patronus leads them to the Sword of Gryffindor, with which they destroy the locket. They steal a Horcrux from Gringotts and travel to Hogwarts, culminating in a battle with Death Eaters. Snape is killed by Voldemort out of paranoia, but lends Harry his memories before he dies. Harry learns that Snape was always loyal to Dumbledore, and that he himself is a Horcrux. Harry surrenders to Voldemort and dies. The defenders of Hogwarts continue to fight on; Harry is resurrected, faces Voldemort and kills him.

An epilogue titled "Nineteen Years Later" describes the lives of the surviving characters and the impact of Voldemort's death. Harry and Ginny are married with three children, and Ron and Hermione are married with two children.

Troy Johnson, the supplier of prescription drugs to fellow high school students in the fictional southern California town of Hillside, commits suicide. Troy's best friend Dean finds his dead body but does not show any emotion about the loss of his friend. Dean is prescribed antidepressants by his psychiatrist father Bill to help "even him out". When Dean returns to school, he is antagonized by drug dealers Billy and Lee, who were supplied by Troy. Their friend, Crystal Falls flirts with Dean, but he soon realizes that her true intentions are for Dean to retrieve the remaining drugs in Troy's home, and he refuses to cooperate. To force Dean to procure the drugs, Billy and Lee plan to kidnap Dean's younger brother, Charlie as ransom, but instead they mistakenly kidnap another boy, Charlie Bratley.

The kidnappers hold Charlie Bratley overnight at Crystal's home. Bratley's parents are unaware that he is even missing. Dean eventually agrees to go to Troy's house to find the drugs. Upon delivery, Billy discovers that the bag does not contain the prescription drugs and starts a fight with Dean, leading to Dean's arrest. While trying to explain everything to Officer Lou Bratley, Charlie's father, Dean reveals that his brother Charlie replaced the drugs with a bag of the vitamins that their mother Allie sells. Neither Officer Bratley nor Dean's father believes his story, but he is released, whereupon his father increases his dosage of antidepressants. Meanwhile, Charlie crushes the real drugs and intentionally puts them into a casserole that his mother made for Troy's memorial.

The next day is Troy's memorial service and the wedding of Mayor Michael Ebbs to Charlie Bratley's mother Terri. Lou finally realizes that his son actually has been kidnapped and begins to look for him. At Lee's house, Crystal asks Lee to help stop the kidnapping scheme, but he does not comply. Crystal goes to Dean's house for help, where she finds him hallucinating about Troy's death and finally expressing his grief. Meanwhile, a paranoid Lee, encouraged by Billy, tries to kill Charlie Bratley to avoid being caught, but Charlie fights back and slices the knife through Billy's eye. Billy runs out into the street, screaming in pain, and is hit by Lou's police car.

Dean attends Troy's memorial, where all of the visitors are intoxicated by the drugs that are in his mother's casserole. Troy's mother, Carrie discloses to Dean that she never knew her son. Dean tells her about Troy and acknowledges that they were best friends, and she thanks him. Billy is later sent to prison. Lee, who successfully changes the narrative of his involvement during the trial, is acquitted. A closing voiceover explains that Dean and Crystal "escape together", and they are shown kissing.

In the film's opening sequence, young reporter Jim Benton (Bruce Love) asks train engineer Mr. Wilson (John Carradine) about three men — Griffin, Cook and Landis — who hopped his freight train five years earlier, in 1961. "He ran all the way to hell," the engineer remarks about Griffin. The title sequence follows, and afterwards the film proper picks up, switching to 1961 for the duration. Griffin (Coleman Francis) escapes from jail and runs into Cook (Harold Saunders) and Landis (Anthony Cardoza). The three make their way to an airstrip run by Cherokee Jack (George Prince) who flies them to a military training facility, where they will be paid to take part in the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

Having been deceived about the money they were to receive, the three attempt to escape, but are recaptured and forced to invade Cuba. They are soon captured again, this time by the communist Cuban forces; a lengthy sequence of executions is ended when they escape again. They abandon their badly-wounded superior officer, Bailey Chastain (Tom Hanson); although he begs them to take him along, they refuse because they cannot carry him during their escape. Desperately he informs them of his family's mine back home that contains pitchblende, tungsten, and other precious metals. The trio find an airstrip and steal a light aircraft to return to the U.S.

Back on American soil, the three engage in a variety of crimes to get to the home of Chastain's wife to help her mine the metals her husband had mentioned in Cuba. They throw café owner Cliff Weismeyer (Charles F. Harter) down a well and Griffin rapes his blind daughter (Elaine Gifford), then they steal his car and escape; they also hop Mr. Wilson's train in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They then arrive in Arizona and meet Chastain's wife Ruby (Lanell Cado) and head towards the mine, but the car runs out of oil. The law catches up with them along the way and police cars approach them; Griffin impulsively shoots Ruby and runs into the fields, while Landis and Cook are arrested. Chastain returns from Cuba alive and is reunited with his wife after she is rescued and escorted home by a policeman. Griffin dies in a shootout with the police who then collect his belongings (a penny and a bent cigarette), and a voice-over (Francis) somberly intones that Griffin "ran all the way to hell... with a penny and a broken cigarette" as the film ends.

Film student and would-be writer/director Nick Chapman, an Ohio native, finds himself the winner of a prestigious student film contest in LA. Overnight, Hollywood VIPs want to make deals with Nick. He settles on a quirky agent to represent him, and signs a deal with a major film studio to make his dream movie.

Nick finds the Hollywood studio "process" distasteful, and is forced to make many creative compromises, but he now has money and meets fast, new Hollywood friends. Likewise, the now-affected Nick throws old friends overboard, as his instant success crowds out his old relationships, including that with his girlfriend, Susan.

Nick's new world is suddenly turned upside down again when a new studio head decides to cancel his film project. Unable to strike any new film deals, college educated Nick is reduced to unskilled positions like moving man, telemarketer, and message delivery man. His life is re-enacted in film parts.

Ultimately, a humbled and repentant Nick reunites with old friends and, with Susan, carves an unexpected path to getting his film produced, this time on his terms.

After years of backing away from criminals and gunfights, one resident of the small western town of Firecreek decides to fight back. Part-time sheriff Johnny Cobb (James Stewart) decides to avenge the death of a young man against gunmen led by Bob Larkin (Henry Fonda).

Cobb has a lot on his mind, particularly with his wife Henrietta (Jacqueline Scott) about to give birth. He is a peace-loving farmer whose childishly made sheriff's badge is practically an honorary one.

Larkin's men ride into town and disrupt the peace. Earl (Gary Lockwood), Norman (Jack Elam), and Drew (James Best) run roughshod over the local citizens and Larkin has no inclination to stop it, despite Cobb's requests. Larkin is more interested in getting to know an attractive widow named Evelyn (Inger Stevens).

The only person in town willing to help Cobb is a slow-witted stable boy named Arthur (J. Robert Porter). When one of Larkin's men attacks a woman, Arthur kills the man.

Cobb's wife goes into labor and he has to leave town. While he is gone, Larkin's men hang Arthur and no one in the town tries to stop them.

Cobb returns to town to discover that Arthur has been hanged in the stable. He lowers the body, then demands that the apathetic shopkeeper eyewitness, Whittier, hand over his own gun. Cobb then goes after Larkin and his men, one of whom gets caught in a rope tied to his horse, which bolts off, dragging him. Cobb manages to kill the last two men in individual struggles, and then faces off against Larkin in the middle of the main street; Larkin easily outshoots Cobb and gives him the option of living if he stops his vendetta, but Cobb refuses to quit, Larkin prepares to kill Cobb but is shot with a rifle by the widow Evelyn from a 2nd-story window, as he is about to shoot Cobb.

The Japanese fishing vessel ''Yahata Maru'' is trying to find its way to shore in a horrible storm, when a giant monster emerges from an eruption on a nearby uninhabited island and attacks the boat. A day later, reporter Goro Maki finds the vessel intact, along with its sole survivor Hiroshi "Kenny" Okumura.

The Japanese Prime Minister, Mitamura, is informed of the attack and that the monster is Godzilla; he orders that this be kept secret from the public. Maki's report is not published by his newspaper because it is "national security risk” and could cause mass panic. Maki is told to interview bio-physicist Hayashida instead. Maki finds Naoko, Okamura's sister working as a lab assistant to Hayashida and informs her that her brother is safe, against the government's orders. She rushes to the hospital.

Godzilla attacks and destroys a Soviet submarine. The Russians believe the attack was orchestrated by the Americans and the situation threatens to escalate into war. Mitamura is informed of the submarine attack and shown evidence that Godzilla was responsible. The media blackout is lifted and the Americans are absolved of blame. The Japanese arrange a meeting with the Soviet and American ambassadors. Prime Minister Mitamura decides nuclear weapons will not be allowed in Japanese territory even if Godzilla were to attack the Japanese mainland. The Americans balk at this, while the Soviets are in full agreement. However, a Soviet Navy officer secretly prepares a nuclear satellite, claiming Moscow has ordered this.

Godzilla appears on an island off the coast of Japan and attacks a nuclear power plant, removing the nuclear reactor and feeding off the radiation. Godzilla suddenly drops the reactor and follows a flock of birds back out to sea. The Japan Self-Defense Forces are deployed to wait for a possible attack by Godzilla at Tokyo Bay. General Kakura of the JSDF briefs the Japanese cabinet about a top-secret weapon known as the "Super-X attack plane" that can be used against Godzilla.

Through the use of "ultrasonic images", Hayashida determines that Godzilla's brain is bird-like, only mutated. Hayashida realizes that Godzilla has a conditioned response to birds chirping and suggests they duplicate the sound electronically. Hayashida assists the Japanese emergency task force and plans to lure Godzilla into Mt. Mihara's volcano by emitting bird sound frequencies. The Prime Minister authorizes both the JSDF plan and the plan to use the volcano against Godzilla.

Steve Martin is brought into the Pentagon to assist against Godzilla. Godzilla is sighted in Tokyo Bay, which is immediately evacuated. Godzilla proceeds to attack Tokyo and the JSDF launch the Super-X. In the attack, Godzilla sinks a Soviet merchant ship which was in actuality an intelligence collection vessel. Before dying of his injuries, the captain launches the nuclear missile.

The Pentagon prepares to assist the Japanese but Martin cautions that weapons will only confuse and antagonize Godzilla further. Hayashida uses the bird signaling device on Godzilla, which works initially, but before it can be tested further, Godzilla is attacked again by the JSDF. The Super-X arrives and defeats Godzilla with cadmium missiles. At that moment, the Soviet missile is detected by the Americans as it draws closer to Japan. When Washington warns that the blast will be 50 times that of the Hiroshima bombing Mitamura permits the Americans to make an interception attempt.

Hayashida and his signaling equipment are evacuated and sent to Mt. Mihara. The Americans launch a counter-missile and successfully intercept the Soviet missile. However, the nuclear blast fallout reawakens Godzilla and it destroys the Super-X. Hayashida relaunches the signal and lures Godzilla into the mouth of Mt. Mihara. Using explosive bombs to cause the mountain to erupt, Godzilla becomes imprisoned after falling into the volcano.

In New York City's Spanish Harlem, police detectives Dan Madigan and Rocco Bonaro break into a sleazy apartment and arrest Barney Benesch, a hoodlum wanted for questioning by a Brooklyn precinct. Momentarily distracted by the suspect's nude girlfriend, the two detectives are outwitted by Benesch, who escapes with their guns.

When it is discovered that Benesch was wanted for homicide, Madigan and Bonaro are reprimanded by Police Commissioner Anthony X. Russell. Aside from this new problem, Russell is troubled by other matters: his married mistress, Tricia Bentley, has decided to end their relationship; a black minister, Dr. Taylor, is claiming that his teenaged son was subjected to brutality by racist policemen; and proof has been established that Russell's longtime friend and associate, Chief Inspector Kane, has accepted a bribe to protect a hangout for prostitutes.

Irritated by the fact that Madigan and Bonaro broke the rules by working for another precinct, Russell gives the two men 72 hours to arrest Benesch. Despite the deadline, Madigan tries to spend some time with his wife, Julia, who is socially and sexually frustrated as a result of her husband's dangerous and time-consuming job, though unknown to her he has a girl on the side, Jonesy, a nightclub singer. (Though she's sexually frustrated as well, and Madigan tells her he only loves Julia.)

The commissioner confronts Kane with the bribe evidence. The inspector was trying to help his son out of a jam. He offers to turn in his badge but resents Russell's outrage at how he could have done such a thing, asking the commissioner what he would know about being a father.

Madigan takes Julia to a fancy dress ball for the department, which includes getting to stay at the Sherry-Netherland Hotel. She's excited and happy until she realizes he's going to ditch her early on and go back to work. Knowing Julia was looking forward to dancing, he leaves her in the hands of Captain Ben Williams, who uses the opportunity to get her drunk and seduce her—he nearly succeeds, but she can't go through with it.

Benesch shoots two policemen with Madigan's gun. The detectives finally get a lead through bookie Midget Castiglione, who puts them in touch with Hughie, one of Benesch's pimps. Tracing the fugitive to a Spanish Harlem apartment, Madigan and Bonaro bring in a police cordon and order the killer to surrender. When he refuses, the two detectives rush the building and break down the door. In the exchange of gunfire, Madigan is fatally wounded before Bonaro can kill Benesch.

Russell tries to comfort Julia, but she accuses him of being a heartless administrator. As the commissioner leaves with Chief Inspector Kane, he is asked about Dr. Taylor's situation and other pressing matters at hand. Russell tells him that these are things they can address tomorrow.

Drizzt and his friends try and track down Wulfgar's magical hammer Aegis Fang. They stop Wulfgar's new wife Delly Curtie from being murdered in Waterdeep and are eventually reunited with Wulfgar himself with help from their old crewmate Robillard of the ''Sea Sprite''. They track down the pirate Sheila Kree, the one who bought the hammer back in Luskan and who has now turned it into a symbol of her power. They discover her cohabiting in a cave complex with an ogre clan which she has bent to her will. There, Drizzt is faced by Ellifain, the elf child he saved when he was a part of a drow surface raid. She blames him for killing her mother; they fight and he unintentionally kills her, and with a little help from Morik the Rogue they succeed in taking back Wulfgar's weapon. Wulfgar then takes his family to Mithral Hall to live with his old friends.

''Voyage'' begins as Ardan awakes in the shell and discovers that his two companions, Barbicane and Nicholl, are dead. The first part of the game consists of Ardan investigating the shell, trying to regain his memory of what happened, and how Barbicane and Nicholl died. He will also encounter other problems, most notably when his oxygen supply is low and needs to be remedied. Eventually Ardan's journey will carry him into orbit around the Moon in which he must prepare himself for a lunar landing.

Once Ardan successfully lands the shell on the Moon, he must solve a series of puzzles on the surface in order to gain access to the hidden civilization below. There he encounters the Selenite race. Following this, Ardan focuses on finding a way to leave the Moon and report his findings to Earth. After acquiring what he needs, Ardan travels back to Earth in the shell. He lands in the ocean and manages to swim to a nearby island, where he meets another famous Jules Verne character, Captain Nemo.

Marge worries she may be pregnant again after a home pregnancy test is inconclusive, so she drives to Dr. Hibbert's office to take another test. While she is gone, Homer tells Bart, Lisa and Maggie the story of their marriage and Bart's birth.

In 1980, Homer worked at a mini-golf course while dating Marge. Marge's mother Jacqueline and twin sisters Patty and Selma disapproved of Homer's lack of prospects and unattractive physical appearance. One night, Marge and Homer saw ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (whose twist ending Homer inadvertently ruined for the next audience) and made out inside a golf course castle. Some time later, Marge felt sick and told Homer she might be pregnant. Homer was not thrilled when Dr. Hibbert confirmed this. Since he loved Marge, he proposed marriage to her and she accepted. They married in a seedy wedding chapel across the state line and spent their wedding night on the living room couches at Marge's family's house.

Homer's wages from the golf course were insufficient to support his growing family, so he applied for a job at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. He was rejected because Smithers favored two other applicants who happened to be his old college fraternity brothers. When Homer and Marge's newly purchased baby supplies and Marge's wedding ring were repossessed, Homer left to find steady work, hoping to return once able to support his family. Marge was devastated when she read his farewell note.

Patty and Selma spotted Homer working at a Gulp 'n' Blow fast food restaurant. Seeing how unhappy Marge was without him, Selma reluctantly told her where to find him. Marge tried to persuade Homer to come home with her. Homer applied for a job at the power plant again, telling Mr. Burns he would be the perfect employee due to his unwavering subservience. Burns was so impressed that he hired Homer on the spot.

Homer returned home to learn Marge was in labor at the hospital. He found Marge with Selma and an angry Patty, who berated him. Fed up with her disrespect, Homer angrily told Patty and her family to show him some respect since he now had a well-paying job news which delighted Marge right before she gave birth to Bart. Upon meeting him, Bart set fire to Homer's tie. Homer accused him of doing it on purpose, to which Marge said that he could not have because he was only ten minutes old.

After Homer ends his flashback, he tells Bart, Lisa and Maggie he is blessed to have such children. Marge arrives home with the news that she is not pregnant and high-fives Homer.

To avoid Lisa and her friends' disruptive sleepover, Homer visits Moe's Tavern, where he learns Moe is struggling financially because people are drinking less and he neglected to pay his Duff Beer distributor. Homer tells him about the Flaming Homer, a drink recipe he invented when Patty and Selma made his family watch slides from their vacation after Patty took his last Duff. Homer mixed drops of liquor from near-empty bottles, inadvertently including a bottle of Krusty Brand non-narcotic cough syrup. When Patty dropped cigarette ash in the drink and set it aflame, Homer discovered that (as with some other alcoholic cocktails) fire balanced out the alcohol content, greatly enhancing the drink's taste.

Moe makes a Flaming Homer for a customer, who loves its taste. When the customer asks what the drink is called, Moe insists it is his invention, a Flaming Moe. Soon word of mouth spreads, leading to a business boom for Moe. To handle the extra customers, he hires a waitress named Colette, who he later gets romantically involved with. Moe renames his tavern Flaming Moe's, which soon becomes one of Springfield's trendiest nightspots and Aerosmith's new hangout. Homer is angry with Moe for stealing his drink recipe and vows never to return, although Moe is unable to hear this over the clamour of his new customers. During a show and tell assignment about inventors, Bart attempts to prove that Homer invented the Flaming Moe, but everyone else in the classroom derides him and Edna Krabappel confiscates the alcohol he brought in to make a sample. Homer grows obsessed with Moe's betrayal, even hallucinating visions of Moe's face everywhere.

A restaurant chain which wants to buy the drink's recipe has identified all of its components except the secret ingredient. A company representative offers Moe $1 million for the recipe, but he refuses. After Colette learns that Moe stole the recipe from Homer, she makes him promise to apologize to Homer and compensate him. As Moe is about to accept the deal — and share half of the money with him — Homer appears at the tavern in the light rigging, unhinged by resentment. He loudly reveals to everyone in the bar that the secret ingredient is "nothing but plain, ordinary, over-the-counter children's cough syrup." The representative quickly retracts his offer and leaves, with Homer falling to the stage below, crushing Aerosmith.

Soon nearly all bars and restaurants in Springfield are serving variably rebranded versions of Flaming Homers/Moes, leaving Moe's business to dwindle again, with Colette having left for Hollywood to pursue an acting career. Homer visits Moe's, where they reconcile after Moe serves him a Flaming Homer free of charge.

San Francisco debutante Nicki Collins goes to visit her aunt in New York. Her father's employee, Haskell, is to meet her and facilitate her stay. Before reaching Grand Central, Nicki's train makes a brief stop and she looks up from reading a mystery by novelist Wayne Morgan—and witnesses a murder in a nearby building.

Upon arrival, she slips away from Haskell and goes to the police, but the desk sergeant, seeing the novel in her hand, assumes she imagined the crime. She decides that Wayne Morgan must be able to solve a murder, finds him, and pesters him to get involved. Following Morgan and his fiancee into a theater, she sees a newsreel about the "accidental" death of shipping magnate Josiah Waring—and recognizes him as the murder victim.

Unable to find the crime scene, Nicki sneaks onto the grounds of Waring's mansion. She is mistaken for Margo Martin, who was expected but has not come. Waring's will is read by his lawyer, Wiggam: Waring's nephews Arnold and Jonathan are not surprised to receive a token $1 inheritance, while the bulk of the estate goes to Margo Martin—his trophy fiancee, a singer at a nightclub he owns. Nicki snoops around the house and takes away a pair of bloody slippers that disprove the story of an accident. Two conspirators in the murder try but fail to stop her: Saunders, who turns out to be the nightclub's manager and another heir, and the chauffeur Danny.

Back with Haskell, Nicki makes another attempt to involve Morgan, phoning him and pretending a man is there attacking her—not realizing that Danny is there and is about to. Before he can, she makes another call, to her father. While she is singing to him, Danny spots the slippers and departs, separately attacking Haskell and Morgan. (Nicki assumes they mistakenly attacked each other.)

For various reasons, everyone goes to the nightclub. Nicki speaks to Margo and becomes suspicious. She locks Margo in a closet, goes on stage, and sings in her place. When freed, Margo tells Saunders she was never interested in the plot and stalks off; she is later murdered.

Arnold and Jonathan make romantic overtures to Nicki, but Saunders has her called backstage. He and Danny admit their involvement in the murder and threaten her, but Morgan breaks into the room and Nicki takes the slippers back. A series of backstage fights follows. Nicki escapes back to the stage and sings again. Morgan learns that one of the people she is sitting with—Arnold, Jonathan, and Wiggam—must be the murderer and manages to warn her. Meanwhile, Morgan's fiancee, thinking he is two-timing her with Nicki, dumps him.

Danny shoots Saunders. Nicki and Morgan leave with the slippers, but are arrested in the morning based on false information from Danny. Nicki tries to present the slippers, but Morgan's valet has them—and proudly shows how clean they now are.

Arnold, Jonathan, and Haskell all arrive at the jail to pay Nicki's bail. Arnold says the Warings would like to meet her and drives her to their company's offices, but nobody is there. They talk about the case and he admits that he had motive, but so did Jonathan, Wiggam, and especially Saunders. Nicki, frightened, manages to get away from him.

Finding Jonathan in the building, she tells him that Arnold is the murderer. They hide in a room—and it is the scene of the crime she saw from the train. Jonathan is the murderer. He confesses braggingly: next he will kill her, frame Arnold, and kill Arnold supposedly while defending Nicki.

Arnold slips into the room and grabs Jonathan's gun, but then Morgan arrives and mistakes the situation, and Jonathan gets it back. As Morgan tries unconvincingly to tell Jonathan that the police will be coming, they do.

In the final scene, Nicki and Wayne Morgan are newlyweds on a train. She is enjoying his newest book so much she tells the porter not to make up their beds until she finishes reading, and Morgan promptly tells her how it ends.

According to an ancient Japanese legend, mermaid flesh may grant immortality if eaten. However, there is a much greater chance that consumption will lead to death or transformation into a damned creature known as a Lost Soul (Deformed Ones in the English dub). Mermaid Saga tells the tale of Yuta, an immortal young man who has been alive for five hundred years after eating mermaid flesh. However, over the years he is grown tired of his immortality and throughout the series, he wanders across Japan searching for a mermaid who may be able to turn him back into a normal human being. He encounters Mana, a young woman who is about to be sacrificed. She has been forced to eat mermaid flesh so that after she is killed, her flesh can be used to rejuvenate a village of ageing immortal women. Yuta rescues her and they travel on together while Yuta pursues his quest to become human again.

Set during September 1949, confusion reigns when St Swithin's Girls' School is accidentally billeted at Nutbourne College: a boys' school. The two heads, Wetherby Pond (Alastair Sim) and Muriel Whitchurch (Margaret Rutherford), try to cope with the ensuing chaos, as the children and staff attempt to live in the newly cramped conditions (it being impossible to share dormitories or other facilities), and seek to prevent the children taking advantage of their new opportunities.

Additional humour is derived from the departure of the Nutbourne College domestic staff and their hurried (and not very effective) replacement with the St Swithin's School Home Economics class.

The main comedy is derived from the fact that the parents of the St Swithin's girls would consider it improper for their daughters to be exposed to the rough mix of boys in Pond's school, and from the consequent need to conceal the fact that the girls are now sharing a school that's full of boys. Pond is offended at the suggestion that his boys are not suitable company for the young ladies of St Swithin's, but he needs to appease Miss Whitchurch to salvage his chances of an appointment to a prestigious all-boys school for which he is in the running, and which depends on his ability to prevent his current post presenting the appearance of a beer garden.

Matters come to a head when a group of school governors, from the prestigious establishment to which Pond has applied to become the next headmaster, pay a visit at the same time as the parents of some of the St Swithin's girls. Frantic classroom changes are made, and hockey, lacrosse and rugby posts and nets are swapped about, as pupils and staff try to hide the unusual arrangement.

Two simultaneous tours of the school premises are arranged: one for the girls' parents, and a separate one for the governors, and never the twain must meet! The facade finally collapses when the parents become obsessed with seeing a girls' lacrosse match at the same time as one of the governors has been promised a rugby match.

The punchline is delivered – a clever swipe at post-war bureaucracy – when, weeks too late, a Ministry of Schools official arrives, to declare everything sorted out. "You're a co-educational school, I believe; well I've arranged for ''another'' co-educational school to replace St Swithin's next week... Oh, it appears they're ahead of schedule." At this point, several more coachloads of children and staff appear noisily, and utter chaos reigns.

Fade out on Alastair Sim and Margaret Rutherford, quietly discussing in which remote and unattractive corner of the British Empire they might best try to pick up the pieces of their respective careers, with her mentioning having a brother who "grows groundnuts in Tanganyika."

Veterinary technician Corky Romano (Chris Kattan), banished from his family after the death of his mother, is unaware of their criminal connections until he receives a call from his father "Pops" (Peter Falk), a Mafia crime lord. Indicted on racketeering charges and knowing the strong case against him, Pops has concluded the only solution is to destroy the FBI’s evidence.

At the family mansion, a bedridden Pops convinces Corky to infiltrate the local FBI office, since the Romano family cannot send anyone with known underworld connections, such as Corky's brothers Paulie (Peter Berg) and Peter (Chris Penn). With the aid of a computer hacker, Corky obtains a false identity, “Agent Corky Pissant” and gains access to the building, where he discovers from office chief Howard Schuster (Richard Roundtree) that, according to his falsified résumé, "Pissant" graduated from Harvard, speaks five different languages, is an expert sharpshooter, and has extensive martial arts training.

Corky makes several trips to the evidence room, only to be sidetracked each time. He is sent on investigations and raids, with several assignments tied to the Night Vulture, a heroin trafficker who is number six on the FBI's Most Wanted List. Corky's frequent mistakes often inadvertently solve the problem at hand, leading others at the FBI to assume Corky has developed intricate strategies. He receives praise at the office and in the local media, though Agent Brick Davis (Matthew Glave) remains jealous and suspicious.

Corky develops feelings for FBI agent Kate Russo (Vinessa Shaw), but she seems uninterested until they bump into each other at the Romano mansion, where Russo has been sent undercover to collect more evidence against the family. Corky convinces Russo that he is also working undercover, and befriends agents Bob Cox (Roger Fan) and Terrence Darnell (Dave Sheridan). Cox and Darnell are captured trying to infiltrate one of Pops' underground casinos. Corky comes to the rescue, but is caught by the bouncers; revealed to be a member of the Romano family, he asks them to let his friends go.

Corky obtains the evidence file regarding Pops, and discovers that his father will be facing murder charges. Shocked, he tells Pops, who vehemently denies killing anyone. Snooping through family photo albums, Russo discovers that Corky is a Romano and not an FBI agent. The entire FBI office raids the Romano mansion, where it is revealed that family friend Leo Corrigan (Fred Ward) is an FBI informant and has been lying about the extent of the family's crimes, including the alleged murder; it is also discovered that Brick Davis is the Night Vulture. Corky knocks Leo unconscious with a light fixture, and Davis is arrested by his fellow agents.

Corky and Russo marry and drive off in Corky's bright yellow Mazda Miata. Corky gains the respect and love of his entire family, and his former boss at the veterinary clinic retires, giving Corky the keys to the business.

When the existence of a strain of plague (vaguely identified as pneumonic) is revealed at the US mission at the International Health Organization, three terrorists seek to blow up the US mission. Two of them are shot, one mortally, by security personnel, but one escapes. The surviving terrorist is hospitalized and quarantined and identified as Swedish. Elena Stradner and US military intelligence Colonel Stephen Mackenzie argue over the nature of the strain, which Stradner suspects is a biological weapon but which Colonel Mackenzie claims was in the process of being destroyed.

The third terrorist, Eklund, escapes and stows away on a train travelling from Geneva to Stockholm. Stradner believes that the train should be stopped so that the terrorist can be removed and quarantined, but Col. Mackenzie is concerned that all of the passengers on the train might be infected. Mackenzie insists on rerouting the train to a disused railway line which goes to a former Nazi concentration camp in Janov, Poland where the passengers will be quarantined. However, the line crosses a dangerously unsound steel arch bridge known as the Kasundruv Bridge or the "Cassandra Crossing", out of use since 1948.

Mackenzie understands that the bridge might collapse as the train passes over it. The presence of the infected terrorist, and the rerouting of the train, precipitates the second conflict, among passengers on the train; they include Jonathan Chamberlain, a famous neurologist, his ex-wife Jennifer Rispoli Chamberlain, a former inmate of Janov and Holocaust survivor Herman Kaplan, and Nicole Dressler, the wife of a German arms dealer. She is embroiled in an affair with her young companion Robby Navarro. Navarro is a heroin trafficker being pursued by Interpol agent Haley, who is travelling undercover as a priest.

Mackenzie informs Chamberlain of the presence of Eklund, who is found, but attempts to remove him via a helicopter are unsuccessful because the train enters a tunnel. Chamberlain is also told that the plague has a 60% mortality rate. Mackenzie, however, informs passengers that police have received reports of anarchist bombs placed along the rail line, and that the train will be rerouted to Nuremberg. There the train is sealed with an enclosed oxygen system and a US Army medical team is placed aboard, with the now-deceased terrorist being placed in a hermetically-sealed coffin. Chamberlain learns of the risk of the Cassandra Crossing. He also begins to suspect the disease is not as serious as originally thought: few of the passengers have become infected and few of those have actually died. He radios MacKenzie suggesting the infected portion of the train be uncoupled and isolated, but MacKenzie, acting under orders, has no intention of stopping the train: if, as expected, the Cassandra Crossing collapses, it will neatly cover the fact that the U.S has been harbouring germ warfare agents in a neutral country. Chamberlain and Haley form a group of passengers to overcome the guards and seize control of the train before it reaches the doomed bridge.

After Navarro is killed by the guards trying to reach the engine, and Haley and Kaplan sacrifice themselves, Chamberlain manages to separate the rear half of the train, hoping that with less weight the front half will cross safely. But the bridge collapses, killing everyone aboard the front half. Max, the train's conductor, applies the manual brakes and stops the remaining cars just before reaching the downed bridge. The survivors soon evacuate the remaining cars and head off on foot, no longer under guard or quarantine. In Geneva, both Stradner and MacKenzie depart: she keeps hope of survivors while he feels quiet guilt over the whole affair. After they leave, Major Stack informs MacKenzie's superior that both the colonel and the doctor are under surveillance.

Biker Pistolero (Larry Bishop) is the leader, or "Prez," of the Victors, a Southern California motorcycle gang. He has two faithful lieutenants, The Gent (Michael Madsen) and the young Comanche (Eric Balfour).

In 1976, Cherokee Kisum (Julia Jones), the girlfriend of Pistolero (then known as Johnny) is viciously murdered by The Deuce (David Carradine) and Billy Wings (Vinnie Jones), leaders of the arch-rival gang the Six-Six-Six'ers, as a message to the Victors. The Deuce later moves into large scale business efforts, leaving the biker life behind and the Sixers dry up as a gang. Cherokee has also hidden away a small fortune from under-the-table drug deals she made behind the Deuce's back - another reason behind her murder. The stash of money is intended for her young son, who disappears after her death.

Years later, after The Deuce returns to the area to close up unfinished business and Billy Wings reforms the Sixers in Los Angeles, the rival gang infiltrates the Victors in an attempt to take over their territory. One member from 1976, St. Louie, is murdered in the same manner as Cherokee Kisum. Bob the Bum, the Victors' treasurer, is similarly killed. Pistolero then begins to make moves to eliminate the Sixers and finally gain his revenge. While loyal bikers are killed by the Sixers, the more treacherous and less faithful Victors try to influence The Gent, Comanche, and Goody Two-Shoes to switch sides - or kill them. Goody Two-Shoes is eventually killed after being located and chased down by Billy Wings.

With the aid of his beautiful & mysterious "medicine woman" Nada (Leonor Varela) and his old friend and ally Eddie Zero (Dennis Hopper), Pistolero and the remaining Victors try to locate and kill The Deuce, Billy Wings and the Sixers before they themselves are killed.

The action takes place amid the deserted dunes and screaming gulls of a chilly Baltic shore. Two lonely, damaged people, played by Irena Laskowska and Jan Machulski, whose characters remain nameless throughout the film, happen to meet on a deserted beach. Both are haunted by vivid memories of World War II and make silent, imperfect attempts to reach out to each other, but they cannot find a means to communicate.

The novel tells the story of Gack, a teenage boy from Giganda. Gack is a cadet commando in ''Fighting Cats'': an elite army unit of ''the Alai Duchy''. In the first chapter of the novel, Gack is mortally wounded in a dogfight with an attacking tank unit of the army of ''the Empire''. Kornei Yashmaa, a progressor, finds him and takes him to Earth, where the doctors practically resurrect Gack. Yashmaa tries to help Gack adjust to life on Earth.

However, Gack does not want to cooperate, nor does he believe that Earth is real. At first, he thinks that everything Yashmaa and other Earthlings tell him is a part of his psychological training as an officer of the Alai Army. Even after Yashmaa proves to him that he is indeed on a different planet, Gack still thinks that he was sent to Earth with an unknown secret mission by the Alai military.

His next idea is that the Earth wants to conquer Giganda and wants to use him as a test subject or a future propaganda agent. As he learns more about the technology and lifestyle on Earth (he is even given an android servant), he becomes more and more confused. Accidentally, Gack discovers that other Gigandians have been taken to Earth as well, but they have integrated into the society and do not want to deal with him.

After a month since Gack's arrival on Earth, Yashmaa tells him that the war on Giganda was stopped by progressors and that the Alai Duchy as well as the Empire is no more. Gack is shocked by the news so much that he demands to go back to Giganda immediately. When Yashmaa refuses, Gack tries to escape by force. With the help of his android servant, he manages to construct an assault rifle and ammunition to it. Gack threatens to shoot Yashmaa if he does not send him back. Yashmaa can easily disarm Gack, but, persuaded by Gack's actions, decides to let him go.

In the last chapter, Gack is back on Giganda and helps local doctors cure a plague ravaging a nearby city. He is home.

Life on Mars is hard for those who live here. As the economy worsens, work becomes scarce and food becomes expensive and highly prized. Gram and his friends try to do the best they can but, he finds himself on the run with the most notorious pirates on Mars. The only problem is he soon starts to enjoy the adventure.

Escaping from China with a microfilm of the formula for the mysterious "Lotus X", Lord Edward Southmere, a Kings Messenger, is chased by a group of Chinese spies.

Back in London, Lord Southmere manages to escape from a chauffeur who is trying to kidnap him and then runs into the Natural History Museum. Chinese spies, led by Hnup Wan, follow him, so he hides the microfilm in the bones of one of the large dinosaur skeletons. He is relieved to meet his former nanny, Hettie, in the museum, and asks her to retrieve the microfilm. Southmere then faints and is captured by the Chinese, who tell Hettie and Emily (another nanny) that they are taking him to a doctor.

Hettie and Emily enlist other nannies to help them search. They hide in the mouth of the blue whale display until after closing time and then begin looking over the skeleton of a ''Brontosaurus''. They are unsuccessful and most of them have to return home to care for their children, but Hettie, Emily and their friend Susan remain to continue with the search. They are captured and taken to the spies' London headquarters, underneath a Chinese restaurant in Soho. The nannies are locked up in the 'dungeon', with Lord Southmere, but are able to outwit their captors and escape.

Meanwhile, the spies have decided to steal the dinosaur, so that they can search it properly. That night, they trick their way into the museum. The three nannies follow on a motorbike and sidecar and watch from the shadows. After the Chinese load the ''Brontosaurus'' skeleton on the back of their steam lorry, the nannies steal the vehicle. The spies give chase through the foggy streets of London in their charabanc and a Daimler limousine, but the nannies drive into a railway goods yard, onto a flat wagon at the back of a train, and are carried off to safety.

The nannies fail to find the microfilm on the skeleton. Meanwhile, back in London, Hettie's two young charges, Lord Castlebury and his younger brother, Truscott, have been captured by the spies. They inform the spies about the possibility that what they are looking for is on another dinosaur skeleton. The spies go to the museum and the Wan finds the microfilm from the ''other'' large dinosaur, a ''Diplodocus'' skeleton. Wan promptly pays the boys off and lets them go. They tell Hettie the news.

Realising that Lord Southmere is now in danger, Hettie organises a rescue. Hettie and her team of nannies invade the Chinese restaurant base and battle with the spies over Lord Southmere. Meanwhile, Emily and Susan return with the ''Brontosaurus'' skeleton by crashing the lorry into the restaurant. Southmere is given the microfilm and he shows Wan what is in the microfilm; a simple recipe of Wonton soup. Southmere explains that he tried explaining he was a mere businessman and that the microfilm was a recipe. Realising the error of his ways, Wan advertises the soup in the microfilm recipe and makes peace with the nannies.

Setting

Centered in the city of Stormreach, ''DDO'' is set on the fictional continent of Xen'drik, in the world of Eberron, a setting from the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' tabletop role-playing game. Xen'drik is a vastly unexplored locale, once the center of the Advanced Giant Civilization, destroyed thousands of years before. Stormreach is a giant-scaled city, recently settled by humans. Areas in Stormreach are the Harbor, the Marketplace, and five Dragonmarked Houses: Cannith, Deneith, Jorasco, Kundarak and Phiarlan. Adventures and quests are available beyond the city walls, across the continent.

Players create their characters following the revised edition of ''D&D'' 3.5 rule-set fashion, for play in both indoor and outdoor environments. The game has some differences from the ''D&D'' 3.5 rule set, some of which are due to differences in the dynamics of video game combat versus tabletop gaming. For example, Turbine wanted ''DDO'' to use a real-time combat engine, whereas tabletop ''D&D'' uses a turn-based system. This meant considerable changes in the handling of combat and character skills; differences include increased hit possibilities in a round, increased spell casting resources over rest periods, and the use of a spell point system instead of spell slots. Other differences, not mandated by the differences by real-time versus turn-based systems include: magical items are at a lower cost (averaging 1/8 of the tabletop D&D prices), characters have higher stats, and offensive effects created by characters do not harm their allies.

Story

After creating a player character (PC), a player begins shipwrecked on the shores of Korthos Island. The character is helped by a band of citizens (Jeets, Cellimas, and Talbron) who want to end the rule of the Sahuagin on Korthos Island. The White dragon Aussircaex is being controlled by a Mindflayer Creature through the use of a Mindsunder Artifact, and is plaguing the tropical island with snowy weather. Once the PC destroys the Mindsunder Artifact, Aussircaex destroys the Mindflayer and frees Korthos Island, ending Sahuagin rule (and restoring the true climate). After achieving success in Korthos Island, the player is sent to Stormreach.

From that point on, events in the game revolve around Stormreach. The player has to save the city from many threats, including:

• Giants attempt to regain mastery over the city of Stormreach and the continent of Xen'drik.
• The reopening of the gate to Xoriat.
• The Black Abbot and his minions of Khyber (Eberron) and other undead attempt to gain power over Xen'drik.
• Devils from Shavarath attempt to invade and conquer Eberron.
• Pirates attempt to gain a foothold in House Deneith before conquering Stormreach.
• Droaam (an army of Medusas, orcs, kobolds, and gnolls) attempt to play war games with the lords of Stormreach.
• Quori, from the Plane of Nightmares, invades peoples' minds and uses them as hosts on the material plane.
• The Lord of Blades takes over a Quori creation forge under Stormreach and tries to wipe out all living races.
• The Master Artificer Toven tries to destroy the souls of all warforged in Xen'drik.

''Midtown Madness 3'' has two stories in its Work Undercover mode; Paris and in Washington, D.C.

Paris

Famous Racer Dieter Kleinmann arrived in Paris recently to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. The player character's secret agency is tasked with protecting Kleinmann through unearthing potential plots surrounding him. They work undercover in various odd jobs, all with the end goal of protecting Kleinmann. Mathilda becomes a rival to the player. The player character and Mathilda regularly sabotage each other while on the job, and also have friendly races between them and coworkers. Three Scandinavians — Sven, Olle, and Inga, become persons of interest as they have recently arrived in Paris to see Kleinmann receive his award, and are all staying at the same hotel. Paris police reveal to the player character while they're chauffeuring Sven to the bus station that Sven is a wanted fugitive. They deliver Sven to his destination despite orders from the police to stop. Sven exits the limo and is arrested by the police. While driving an armored vehicle the player character learns that Sven is a kidnapper. They are tasked with transporting Sven to the bus station where the police will begin deportation. After the player character picks up Sven from the police station, Olle and Inga, who were waiting outside the police station, begin an assault on the armored vehicle in an attempt to immobilize it. They fail to stop the vehicle, and Sven is successfully deported.

Another piece of the Scandinavians' plans is revealed when the player is informed of a fake copy of Dieter Kleinmann's lifetime achievement award being delivered to a man a few days prior, a task that the player, while working as a delivery driver, personally carried out for Sven. Suspecting that the Scandinavians might attempt to switch the award, the player is then tasked with delivering the real copy of the award to a different location. As the player takes off, Olle and Inga target the player again in an attempt to stop the delivery of the real award and seize it for themselves. They fail and the player successfully delivers the award. Later, the agency boss reveals that Kleinmann was kidnapped after the award ceremony took place. The player character is assigned to be a paramedic, specifically to help those who were injured in the kidnapping plot. While transporting Klienmann's injured bodyguard to the hospital the exact details of the kidnapping would later be revealed: Olle and Inga smashed Kleinmann's limo, kidnapping him. With this information the agency devises a plan to stop the Scandinavians. The police agency receive intel on Inga's location, and the player character is tasked with immobilizing her van. They succeed and Inga is subsequently arrested. With Olle still on the loose, the police place roadblocks throughout the city, with the player character delivering officers to help reinforce several locations.

The player character tracks Olle's cell phone and follows him to the Scandinavians' hideout. They discover several more Scandinavian criminals are hiding that are working for Olle and Inga. The secret agency would later investigate the hideout, but there is no sign of Kleinmann. However the agency strikes a deal with five Scandinavian kidnappers to testify against Sven, Olle, and Inga in exchange for immunity. They are delivered to the police station. Their testimony helps reveal Olle's whereabouts, and his plan to escape Paris with Kleinmann in the back of his van. The player character pursues Olle, successfully immobilizes his vehicle before he leaves the city, and Kleinmann is rescued.

Washington, D.C.

The Washington, D.C. plot revolves around the Tortellini brothers, Michael and Stefano, who are filming and directing a movie, The Quick and the Slippery, in the city. The player character's role, whilst undercover as a private investigator, is to find out who the Tortellini brothers are secretly connected to by working for them in various ways, in part because a rival film producer is in town. Whilst undercover, the player character helps supply a variety of vehicles for filming or personal purposes, and runs personal errands for them. Angelina coincidentally continues to act as a rival for the player in the various businesses the player character works undercover for. The player character first meets Michael when delivering a replacement pizza to the brothers' apartment after Angelina made an unacceptable pizza delivery to them earlier. The player also makes a covert pizza delivery to Michael later in the day.

The player character and their boss quickly suspect that Michael is secretly dealing with someone in some way. Initially they suspect and then rule out screenwriter Mr. Pickie as a potential link. The player character, while chauffeuring Michael and a guest to the train station, overhears Michael signing a contract with the Hot Shot Producer, an unnamed individual who becomes contractually involved with the movie. As the player character continues working undercover, Stefano becomes increasingly suspicious of Michael's intentions, and with the assistance of the player character, identifies where Michael is meeting the producer, the same location where the player secretly delivered a pizza to Michael. The player helps film various stunts for the film. Whilst the player character is undercover as a police officer, the Tortellini brothers begin fighting amongst themselves. Stefano eventually tries to crash Michael's limousine in a car chase around the city, which is thwarted by the player character. Stefano was arrested, but later released. The police department later finds that Stefano was sending prank phone calls to Michael. The player character arrests four actors who stole vehicles off the set of the film.

The player character reprises their original role as a private investigator after finishing their police work. They attempt to get photo evidence of Michael meeting with the Hot Shot Producer to confirm Stefano's suspicions, and eventually discover that Stefano is also secretly working with the Hot Shot Producer. Now knowing that the two brothers both have connections to the Hot Shot Producer, the player character, posing as a personal driver for the Hot Shot Producer, secretly drives Stefano to a rendezvous point with Michael in an attempt to surprise the two, who both are expecting to meet with the Hot Shot Producer. The brothers determine that they were set against each other in a conspiracy to steal the end film. The player character chases after the Hot Shot Producer and stops him from escaping with the film. The producer is arrested, and the Tortellini brothers successfully release their movie.

U.S. energy giant Connex Oil is losing control of key oil fields in a Persian Gulf Kingdom ruled by the Al-Subaai family. The Emirate's foreign minister, Prince Nasir, has granted natural gas drilling rights to a Chinese company, greatly upsetting the U.S. oil industry and the U.S. government. To compensate for its decreased production capacity, Connex initiates a shady merger with Killen, a smaller oil company that recently won the drilling rights to Kazakhstan's Tengiz Field. If Connex-Killen were a country, it would rank as the world's twenty-third largest economy, and antitrust regulators at the DOJ have concerns. A Washington, D.C.-based law firm headed by Dean Whiting is hired to smooth the way for the merger. Bennett Holiday is assigned to promote the impression of due diligence to the DOJ, deflecting any allegations of corruption.

Emir storyline

Bryan Woodman is an American energy analyst based in Geneva. Woodman's supervisor directs him to attend a private party hosted by the Emir at his private estate in Marbella, Spain, to offer his company's services. The Emir's illness during the party prevents Woodman from speaking directly with him while, at the same time, the emir's younger son, Prince Meshal Al-Subaai, shows the estate's many rooms and areas to Chinese oil executives via remote-controlled cameras. No one notices that a crack in one of the swimming pool area's underwater lights has electrified the water. Just as Woodman and all the other guests are brought to the pool area, Woodman's son jumps into the pool and is electrocuted.

In reparation and out of sympathy for the loss of his son, Prince Nasir, the Emir's older son, grants Woodman's company oil interests worth $75 million. Woodman though initially insulted by the offer, gradually becomes his economic advisor. Prince Nasir is dedicated to the idea of progressive reform and understands that oil dependency is not sustainable in the long term; Nasir wants to utilize his nation's oil profits to diversify the economy and introduce democratic reforms, in sharp contrast to his father's repressive government, which has been supported by American interests. His father, at the urging of the American government with the help of Whiting and his law firm, names the younger Meshal as his successor, causing Nasir to attempt a coup.

Assassination storyline

Bob Barnes is a veteran CIA officer trying to stop illegal arms trafficking in the Middle East. While on assignment in Tehran to kill two arms dealers, Barnes notices that one of two anti-aircraft missiles intended to be used in a bombing was diverted to an Egyptian, while the other explodes and kills the two arms dealers. The dealers are later revealed to be Iranian Intelligence agents. Barnes makes his superiors nervous by writing memos about the missile theft and is subsequently reassigned to a desk job. However, unaccustomed to the political discretion required, he quickly embarrasses the wrong people by speaking his mind and is sent back to the field with the assignment of assassinating Prince Nasir, whom the CIA identifies as being the financier behind the Egyptian's acquisition of the missile. Prior to his reassignment, Barnes confides in his ex-CIA officer friend, Stan Goff, that he will return to Lebanon. Goff advises him to clear his presence with Hezbollah so they know he is not acting against them. Barnes travels to Lebanon, obtains safe passage from a Hezbollah leader, and hires a mercenary named Mussawi to help kidnap and kill Nasir. But Mussawi has become an Iranian agent and has Barnes abducted. Mussawi tortures Barnes and prepares to behead him, but the Hezbollah leader arrives and stops him.

When the CIA learns that Mussawi plans to broadcast the agency's intention to kill Nasir, they set Barnes up as a scapegoat, portraying him as a rogue officer. Barnes's boss, Terry George, worries that Barnes might talk about the Nasir assassination plan and that killing Nasir with a drone would make it obvious as an American-backed assassination. He has Barnes's passports revoked, locks him out of his computer at work, and initiates an investigation of him. Barnes, however, learns from Goff that Whiting, working on behalf of a group of businessmen calling themselves The Committee to Liberate Iran, is responsible for Barnes's blackballing and the assassination, and threatens Whiting and his family unless he halts the investigation and releases Barnes's passports.

Barnes returns to the Middle East and approaches Prince Nasir's convoy to warn him of the assassination plan. As he arrives, a guided bomb from a circling Predator drone strikes the automobile of Nasir and his family, killing them and Barnes instantly. Woodman, having earlier offered his seat in Nasir's car to a member of the prince's family, survives the drone strike and goes home to his wife and remaining son.

Wasim storyline

Pakistani migrant workers Saleem Ahmed Khan and his son Wasim board a bus to go to work at a Connex refinery, only to discover that they have been laid off. Since the company had provided food and lodging, the workers face the threat of deportation due to their unemployed status. Wasim desperately searches for work but is refused because he doesn't speak good Arabic. Wasim and his friend join a madrasa to learn Arabic in order to improve their employment prospects. While playing soccer, they meet a charismatic Islamic fundamentalist, the same man who received the missing Tehran missile, who eventually leads them to execute a suicide attack on a Connex-Killen tanker using the missile.

Merger storyline

Bennett Holiday meets with Dean Whiting, who is convinced that Killen bribed someone to get the drilling rights in Kazakhstan. While investigating Connex-Killen's records, Holiday discovers a wire transfer of funds that leads back to a transaction between Texas oilman and Killen colleague Danny Dalton and Kazakh officials. Holiday tells Connex-Killen of his discovery, and they pretend not to have known about it. Holiday advises Dalton that he will likely be charged with corruption in order to serve as a "body" to get the DOJ off the back of the rest of Connex-Killen. U.S. Attorney Donald Farish III then strong-arms Holiday into giving the DOJ information about illegal activities he has discovered. Holiday gives up Dalton, but Farish says this is not enough. Holiday meets with the CEO of Killen Oil, Jimmy Pope, and informs him that the DOJ needs a second body in order to drop the investigation. Pope asks Holiday whether a person at Holiday's firm above him would be sufficient as the additional body. Holiday acknowledges that if the name were big enough, the DOJ would stop the investigation and allow the merger.

Holiday is brought by his colleague and mentor Sydney Hewitt to meet with the Chairman & CEO of Connex Oil, Leland "Lee" Janus. Holiday reveals an under-the-table deal that Hewitt made while the Connex-Killen merger was being processed. Holiday has given Hewitt to the DOJ as the second body, thereby protecting the rest of Connex-Killen. Janus is able to accept the "Oil Industry Man of the Year" award with a load taken off his shoulders.

Setting

''.hack//G.U.'' takes place in an alternate version of Earth in the year 2017. As depicted in the first ''.hack'' game series, the "2nd Network Crisis" was an incident that occurred seven years ago in which many computer systems across Japan malfunctioned. Through the efforts of those games' hero, Kite, the incident resulted in the birth of Aura, the ultimate artificial intelligence (AI), capable of making decisions for itself. Under the guidance of Aura, ''The World'', the most popular MMORPG at the time, flourishes and the events of ''.hack//Legend of the Twilight'' occur during this four-year period.

In late 2014, Aura disappears, resulting in the slow decay of ''The World'' and the Internet as a whole. In response, the company that administrates ''The World'', CC Corp, sets up "Project G.U." and tasks them with remedying the problem. They come up with the "Restore Aura (RA) Plan", in which they attempt to retrieve the fragments of Morganna—an AI that served as Aura's "mother"—and seal them into player characters (PCs) of ''The World''. In theory, this would allow the Project G.U. programmers to manipulate the Morganna program to recreate Aura. Only certain "chosen" players could control these special "Epitaph PCs".

After locating candidates to operate the Epitaph PCs, the team proceeds to test the RA Plan despite concerns over "anti-existences" that might damage the Internet. The program fails catastrophically and destroys over 80% of the data for ''The World''. Instead of trying to salvage the data, CC Corp develops ''The World R:2'' and releases it to a new generation of players. However, this new game is less popular than its predecessor and becomes plagued by "player killers" (PKs), players who target other players for fun and sport. The Epitaph PCs which had been lost during the RA Plan disaster resurface in the new version, attached to certain players of interest.

Characters

The main playable character of ''.hack//G.U.'' is Haseo, a player of ''The World'' whose friend Shino fell into a coma after being attacked by a PK named "Tri-Edge" within the game. As a result, Haseo becomes obsessed with gaining the strength to defeat Tri-Edge and save Shino—he earns the nickname "Terror of Death" for his relentless hunting of PKs. As an Epitaph PC, Haseo is recruited into the new incarnation of Project G.U., which now handles debugging of ''The World''. Yata, who played a key role in the events of ''.hack'' under the name Wiseman, leads Project G.U., while other Epitaph PCs including Kuhn and Pi make up the rest of the group. Haseo's hostile nature attracts the attention of Atoli, a member of the peace-loving Moon Tree guild, who resolves to befriend him. Haseo is also searching for Ovan, Haseo's and Shino's former guildmaster who disappeared during ''.hack//Roots'' under mysterious circumstances.

Story

''Vol. 1//Rebirth''

After months of searching, Haseo finally encounters Tri-Edge and attempts to kill him but is hopelessly outmatched. In the battle, Tri-Edge uses an illegal skill on Haseo, Data Drain, which corrupts his character data and resets it to level one. Lacking the strength he once had, Haseo meets two friendly players, Silabus and Gaspard, who invite him to join their guild. Haseo is also approached by Kuhn and Pi who recruit him into Yata's organization of Epitaph PCs, players who can summon Avatars. This group's goal is to protect ''The World'' from AIDA, a mysterious software bug that has been infecting parts of the game which can only be defeated using an Avatar.

During this time, Haseo is contacted repeatedly by Atoli, a gentle healer from Moon Tree guild who tries to convince him to enjoy the game and its world more. He is brusque and standoffish with her because her character model strongly resembles Shino's but she persists in trying to befriend him. Haseo awakens his Avatar, Skeith, while fighting in a tournament and he prevails over the champion Endrance, who was being controlled by AIDA. After Endrance's defeat, Atoli finds a strange red mark made by Tri-Edge and falls into the portal it creates. Haseo, Pi, and Kuhn follow her through the warp and see her struggling to open a locker in a white void. Tri-Edge ambushes them but they manage to defeat him. After he fades away, the locker opens to reveal AIDA, which infects Atoli.

''Vol. 2//Reminisce''

Haseo and the G.U. staff find themselves trapped inside the game, physically unable to leave or log out. Atoli recovers, but is rendered mute, able to communicate only through instant messages. Yata explains that AIDA has copied ''The World'' s server, trapping everyone inside to experiment on them. They transfer everyone back to CC Corp's servers to escape. Ovan directs Haseo to gather the Epitaph PCs together to solve the mystery of AIDA. Shortly afterwards, Haseo is approached by a player named Alkaid, concerned for her friend Sirius, who has been possessed by AIDA. They enter into a tournament to fight Sirius, but Alkaid is ambushed by the AIDA-infected PK Bordeaux, which leaves her in a coma. Haseo requests Endrance's assistance for the rest of the tournament. They defeat Sirius and purge him of the AIDA that had stolen Atoli's Epitaph.

With Atoli's Epitaph returning, she also recovers. However, her superior from Moon Tree, Sakaki, pushes her into a depressed fugue that leaves her vulnerable to AIDA again. Sakaki attacks his own guild to provoke Atoli into using her Avatar; he seeks to manipulate her and AIDA so he can gain control of the real world through the Internet. Haseo saves Atoli and defeats Sakaki after he purposely contaminates himself with AIDA in a last-ditch effort to gain control of the network. Following this, Ovan appears and reveals that he is the real Tri-Edge—his left arm contains the first hostile AIDA. The enemy that Haseo had believed was Tri-Edge is actually Azure Kite, one of three AIs that Aura had created to destroy the AIDAs. Ovan orchestrated Shino's and Alkaid's attacks and Sakaki's betrayal in order to push Haseo into becoming strong enough to kill the AIDA possessing him. Though Haseo succeeds in defeating Ovan, the coma victims do not recover.

''Vol. 3//Redemption''

With AIDA corruption spreading throughout the Internet, CC Corp executives fire Yata from Project G.U. and replace him with Sakaki. Mad with power, Sakaki forces Haseo into a tournament filled with AIDA-corrupted PKs. Haseo prevails in the tournament and defeats Sakaki. Haseo and the others find Yata who awakens as an Epitaph PC. They meet Ovan's sister, Aina, who has been trapped in ''The World'' after Ovan's AIDA attacked her. With all the Epitaph PCs awakened, Ovan challenges Haseo to another fight. In defeat, Ovan is able to use his Avatar's special ability "The Rebirth" which completely resets the Internet and cleanses it of AIDA, though he falls into a coma as a result. The G.U. members are saved by Zelkova, leader of Moon Tree, who reveals that Ovan's actions caused several comatose players to wake up, though others are still trapped within the game. Yata discovers the cause: an "anti-existence" called Cubia is trying to devour ''The World'', resulting in the death of all players.

Aina summons Aura who hints to the party that the key to defeating Cubia is the eight Avatars. Haseo calls on all the players of ''The World'' to help in defending against Cubia's minions. With the combined powers of the eight Epitaph PCs including Ovan's spirit, Haseo destroys Cubia. With Cubia gone, all the remaining comatose players awake and Haseo meets Shino once again. Upon meeting her, Shino motivates Haseo to be more honest with his feelings which causes him to pursue Atoli. A hidden ending in the Forest of Pain shows Haseo a vision of Ovan; Haseo declares that they will meet again.

''Vol. 4//Reconnection''

One year and three months after Cubia's destruction, Haseo learns from Pi that Ovan's body has been located in ''The World'' frozen in ice. Due to Skeith becoming destabilized, Zelkova seals Haseo's Avatar. Haseo is unable to shatter Ovan's ice prison. Haseo then meets Kusabira who informs him of an attack on the Net Slum a few days before at the hands of a gigantic monster created by the game's network issues, Vegalta. Kusabira tells Haseo that Vegalta has consumed Zelkova, her brother, and asks Haseo to save him before he dies. Haseo confronts the monster and frees Zelkova, who remarks that he does not have a sister but surmises her true identity. Kusabira is a remnant of AIDA that had developed human-like AI, and she called him her brother because he, too, is an AI native to ''The World''. Zelkova uses Kusabira's data to pacify Skeith's power and unseals the Epitaph, unlocking Haseo's final form and granting him access to the powers of all the Epitaphs at will.

Haseo successfully destroys Ovan's ice prison with this new power. Kusabira appears and merges with Ovan, reviving him. Vegalta returns and faces both Haseo and Ovan. With their Epitaphs merged into one being combining Skeith with Corbenik and the others' powers, the duo destroys Vegalta. Ovan reunites with his sister and friends. On the last day of service for ''The World R:2'', Haseo logs on and speaks with each of his friends to say goodbye to the game and them. Ovan invites him on one last adventure through a dungeon and they reflect on their memories together.

The setting of the book is Gordon High School in Spring 1969. The plot revolves around a history teacher Mr. Ben Ross, his high school students, and an experiment he conducts in an attempt to teach them what it may have been like living in Third Reich Germany. Unsatisfied with his own inability to answer his students' earnest questions of how and why, Mr. Ross initiates the experiment (The Wave) in hopes that it answers the question of why the Germans allowed Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party to rise to power, acting in a manner inconsistent with their own lies and sins.

Ross considers this and plans an experiment: the next day, he starts to indoctrinate the class using the slogan STRENGTH THROUGH DISCIPLINE, ordering them around in ways such as sitting in a specific way, and telling how to answer questions. The class reacts well to this, embracing the sense of empowerment it gives them, and they continue their newly disciplined behavior into a second day of class, surprising Ross. He decides to take the experiment further and create a group, The Wave, adding two more slogans—STRENGTH THROUGH COMMUNITY and STRENGTH THROUGH ACTION—which leads to further rules of conduct, a symbol, a salute, and an organizational structure.

Laurie Saunders, a student in Mr. Ross's class early in the week, starts to think that The Wave is having too much of an impact. Laurie receives a letter for the school paper, of which she is editor in chief, detailing how members try to recruit others with bullying. That weekend, the football team is unable to win against Clarkstown, as their newfound drive does not compensate for a lack of proper training and planning. Laurie's boyfriend David is confused by this turn of events, as the football team had joined the Wave, while Laurie and her staff on The Grapevine plan a special issue of the paper devoted exclusively to The Wave and the negative impact it has had on the school. While some thank her, especially the teachers and the principal, others do not. David, who has been in The Wave since the beginning and her boyfriend either, tries to get her to stop bad-mouthing it. He eventually shoves her to the ground and this makes him realize how dangerous The Wave really is. Now united in the belief that The Wave must be stopped, Laurie and David go to the Ross home in order to convince Ben Ross to terminate the program. He tells them he will do exactly that, but that they must trust his moves the next day.

He calls a Wave meeting in the auditorium and requests that only Wave members be present. They gather in a similar fashion to the Nazi rallies, even equipped with banners and armbands emblazoned with the Wave. Ben tells The Wave members that they are only one in many schools across the nation that is involved in the Wave, and that they are about to see the leader of the whole organization and that he is going to speak to all of them on television to create a National Wave Party for Youths. Everyone is shocked when Mr. Ross projects the image of Adolf Hitler. He explains that there is no leader, and that there is no National Wave Party. If there were a leader, it would be the man on the projection screen. He explains how their obedience led them to act like Nazis. The shocked students drop all their Wave-branded trinkets and items, and slowly leave the room. As Ben turns to leave, the one person who really flourished in the Wave, Robert, is standing alone, upset that The Wave ended. During The Wave, he was finally accepted as an equal, no one picked on him, and he had friends, but his new-found social status is now worthless without The Wave.

In Tokyo, there lived an outcast fifth grader (now sixth grader a year later) named Honmaru Edojo (voiced by Minami Takayama) who is a naughty youngster who is one of the most trodden-upon losers in his class, until the time he meets Magical Taruruto (voiced by Tarako). Taruruuto's powers help him deal with all his hardships, such as girls, bullies, and numerous other challenges. At the end of the series, Honmaru graduates from Nanno Elementary and enters middle school along with his only crush Iona Kawai.

Francisco Romero is a small-town teacher who decides to try his luck in Mexico City. He joins the faculty of Prep school number 10 "Rosario Castellanos" and soon realizes that his work is more demanding than he expected; in addition to having to prove himself as a teacher, he must prove himself as a human being.

He will find that, in order to make a difference with his students, he will also have to assume the roles of counselor, psychologist, doctor, and even detective. The themes this story deals with are: dropping out of school, teen pregnancy, street gangs, men who abuse their stepdaughters, teenagers forced to work to support their families, and alcoholic parents who lead their children down the same path - that is, problems of a very real nature, experienced by high school students the world over.

This is also a love story. Both students and faculty fall victim to Cupid's random arrows, beginning with Francisco and Adriana (the school counselor) who, nonetheless, must put their hormones on hold long enough to become respected role models in the eyes of their students. But their love story is not destined for a happy ending, since Adriana will have to choose between Francisco and her love for her son.

Francisco will have a second chance at love with Ana Maria, the new English teacher who will become his right arm when dealing with his students and their problems in and out of school. Ultimately, however, he will find true love in the arms of Angela, the woman in charge of the school cafeteria. She is a working mother whose teenage children Juan David and Sandra attend this same school, and who has managed to keep a fine balance between being a housewife, a working woman, a mother and a lover.

The school itself occupies center stage in this story, and will become the forum where the main conflicts of the plot will be exposed and resolved, and where Francisco Romero, in his role as teacher, will not only show his students how entertaining learning can be, but will make them understand the importance of respect for authority, of friendship, camaraderie, love, and the values that will guide their conduct as they close the cycle of adolescence and move on to become adults.

One of the recurring themes in this telenovela is friendship, which is best exemplified by the story of Gabriela and Marcela, two high school students who struggle to get ahead and maintain their friendship alive in spite of the painful experiences they go through and the many obstacles that threaten to drive them apart. Their friendship will be put to the test when one of them realizes that everyone will give you advice, but no one will stand with you to face the consequences.

Alcohol abuse among teenagers, sexual responsibility, domestic violence and prostitution are also topics addressed in this production. More problems are Magdalena, a strikingly beautiful young woman with a rebellious nature. She faces domestic abuse, while another student Hugo, gets involved with gangs leading to his death. Carlos get swindled into drug dealing and addiction after his friend's death, Kike deals with heartbreak which leads to him becoming an alcoholic, Freddy who deals with being gay, and Daniela whose dreams of becoming a model almost lead her to the end of her life.

While Tatiana comes as the teen who feels out of place as a rich kid whose family has gone poor and must adapt to face the gang 406. She ultimately leads to drugs much later on. The toughest struggle is when Francisco, their professor who has stuck through thick and thin with them must leave with his new wife.

A new professor, Santiago, takes his place. Can the students accept him? Will he be able to fill the void that was left by his predecessor? His troubled past including a young girl who was sexually harassing him in an old school he taught and when he does not agree to have a relationship with her she accuses him of rape.

The girl with the troubled mind is known as Jessica. Her story is one of the classics, a poor rich girl who wishes to act like a villain due to a father who doesn't pay attention to her, and a dead mother who she strives for.

Jeeves comes home after serving as a substitute butler at Brinkley Court, the country house of Bertie's Aunt Dahlia. She tells Bertie that Sir Watkyn Bassett was there and was impressed with Jeeves. Additionally, Sir Watkyn bragged about obtaining a black amber statuette to Aunt Dahlia's husband, Tom Travers, who is a rival collector.

Jeeves dislikes Bertie's new blue Alpine hat with a pink feather. Bertie continues to wear the hat, and has lunch with Emerald Stoker, the sister of his friend Pauline Stoker who is on her way to the Bassett household, Totleigh Towers. He then sees Reverend Harold "Stinker" Pinker, who is upset that Sir Watkyn has not given him the vicarage, which Stinker needs to be able to marry Stephanie "Stiffy" Byng, Watkyn Bassett's niece. Stinker tells Bertie that Stiffy wants Bertie to come to Totleigh Towers to do something for her, but knowing that Stiffy often starts trouble, Bertie refuses.

Gussie Fink-Nottle is upset with his fiancée Madeline Bassett, Sir Watkyn's daughter. Jeeves suggests that Bertie go to Totleigh Towers there to heal the rift between Gussie and Madeline, or else Madeline will decide to marry Bertie instead. Though Bertie does not want to marry Madeline, his personal code will not let him turn a girl down. Bertie reluctantly decides to go to Totleigh, saying, “Stiff upper lip, Jeeves, what?”. Jeeves commends his spirit.

At Totleigh Towers, Madeline is touched to see Bertie, thinking he came to see her because he is hopelessly in love with her. Sir Watkyn's friend Roderick Spode, formally Lord Sidcup, loves Madeline but hides his feelings from her. At dinner, Madeline says that her father purchased the black amber statuette from someone named Plank who lives nearby at Hockley-cum-Meston. Stiffy says the statuette is worth one thousand pounds.

Jeeves tells Bertie that Gussie is unhappy with Madeline because she is making him follow a vegetarian diet. The cook has offered to secretly provide Gussie steak-and-kidney pie. The cook is in fact Emerald Stoker, who took the job after losing her allowance betting on a horse. She has fallen for Gussie.

After telling Bertie that Sir Watkyn cheated Plank by paying only five pounds for the statuette, Stiffy orders Bertie to sell it back to Plank for five pounds, or else she will tell Madeline that Gussie has been sneaking meat, and then Madeline would leave him for Bertie. Stiffy takes the statuette and gives it to Bertie. Bertie goes to Hockley-cum-Meston and meets the explorer Major Plank. Plank mentions that he is looking for a prop forward for his Hockley-cum-Meston rugby team.

When Bertie tries to sell the statuette back to him for five pounds, Plank assumes Bertie stole it from Sir Watkyn, and intends to call the police. Jeeves arrives, saying he is Chief Inspector Witherspoon of Scotland Yard. He tells Plank that he is there to arrest Bertie, claiming that Bertie is a criminal known as Alpine Joe. Leading Bertie safely away, Jeeves tells him that Sir Watkyn actually paid the full one thousand pounds for the statuette and had lied to spite Tom Travers. Jeeves returns the statuette to Totleigh Towers.

Spode sees Gussie kissing Emerald, and threatens to harm him for betraying Madeline. When Stinker moves to protect Gussie, Spode hits Stinker. Stinker retaliates, knocking out Spode. Spode regains consciousness, only to be knocked out again by Emerald. Seeing Spode on the ground, Madeline calls Gussie a brute. He defiantly eats a ham sandwich in front of her, and their engagement ends. Gussie and Emerald elope. Sir Watkyn offers Harold Pinker the vicarage, but changes his mind when he finds out that Stinker punched Spode. Meanwhile, Madeline resolves to marry Bertie.

Major Plank, after learning from a telephone call with Inspector Witherspoon that Harold Pinker is a skilled prop forward, comes to the house and gives him the vicarage at Hockley-cum-Meston. Because of this, Stiffy no longer needs the statuette, which she stole a second time to blackmail Sir Watkyn, so she gives it to Jeeves to return it.

Hiding from Plank behind a sofa, Bertie overhears Spode and Jeeves convince Madeline that Bertie did not come to Totleigh Towers for love of her but rather because he wanted to steal the statuette, which Jeeves says he found among Bertie's belongings. Madeline decides not to marry Bertie. Spode proposes to Madeline and she accepts. Bertie is discovered and Sir Watkyn, a justice of the peace, intends to make Bertie spend twenty-eight days in jail. After being arrested by Constable Oates, Bertie spends the night in jail. In the morning, Bertie is released. Sir Watkyn is dropping the charge because Jeeves agreed to work for him. Bertie is shocked, but Jeeves assures him it will only be temporary. After a week or so, he will find a reason to resign and return to Bertie. Moved, Bertie wishes there was something he could do to repay Jeeves. Jeeves asks Bertie to give up the Alpine hat. Bertie agrees.

Þórhallur Sverrisson stars as "Tóti", a 29-year-old grade school graduate who tries to earn his living by importing Bulgarian cigarettes to Iceland. His 18-year-old girlfriend "Dagmar", played by Hafdís Huld, is trying to put up with him and his hobbies and soccer, while in high school (Menntaskóli). His best friend "Valli", a house painter and a longtime friend of Tóti speaks his mind throughout the movie, such as his thoughts on women and his patriotic ideas on Iceland, he is played by Jón Gnarr.

The story begins in the year 972, when Romieux de Provence, a young nobleman descended from Charlemagne and King Alfred, leaves his native Kingdom of Burgundy for England and the royal court of Edgar I. After being shipwrecked on the coast of Cornwall, Rumon encounters Merewyn, a teenage girl who claims to be a descendant of King Arthur. Merewyn leads him to her house, where Merewyn's dying mother, Breaca, reveals to Rumon that in fact, Merewyn is the product of her rape by a Viking warrior. This is later confirmed by the Prior of Padstow Monastery, who witnessed the Viking raid. Swearing Rumon to secrecy, Merewyn's mother charges Rumon to take the girl to her aunt Merwinna, Abbess of Romsey Abbey.

After the death of Merewyn's mother, Merewyn and Rumon make the journey from Cornwall to England. The party travel to Lydford where King Edgar is holding court. Rumon meets Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, who befriends Rumon, and introduces him and Merewyn to King Edgar and his Queen, Alfrida. Edgar welcomes Rumon into the English Court, while Queen Alfrida employs Merewyn as one of her ladies-in-waiting. The two subsequently witness the King and Queen's coronation at Bath in 973; however, Dunstan catches Rumon in a romantic tryst with Queen Alfrida, and so takes Rumon away from the Royal party to settle at Glastonbury Abbey. Despite Merewyn meeting with her aunt Merwinna at the coronation, Queen Alfrida refuses to let her go to Romsey Abbey, and instead employs Merewyn.

A few years later, Rumon starts an illicit affair with Queen Alfrida, who is living in Corfe Castle after her husband's death. Merewyn learns of the affair, and leaves the employment of the Queen for Romsey Abbey. Rumon then witnesses Queen Alfrith's treachery and deception, which leads to the murder of the young King Edward in 978. Alfrida plans Edward's death in order to give the throne to her own son Æthelred, and promptly dumps Rumon after her plan succeeds. Disgusted, Rumon returns to Glastonbury Abbey, under the care of Dunstan who plans for Rumon to enter a religious life. Merewyn is also encouraged to enter a religious life by her aunt Merwinna, and her friend Elfled, who is staying with her at Romsey Abbey. Merewyn has unresolved feelings for Rumon however.

A Viking raid on Romsey Abbey weakens Merwinna, and causes her death. Merewyn embarks on a pilgrimage to Padstow to return her aunt's heart to the place of her birth. On the way, she goes to Glastonbury Abbey and encounters Rumon. Merewyn admits her feelings for Rumon, but he rejects her. Merewyn then continues to Padstow. Belatedly, Rumon realises that he too loves Merewyn, and follows her. However, Merewyn encounters another Viking raid, and is captured by Ketil, a Viking who raided Padstow years earlier. Ketil intends to rape Merewyn, but the Prior of Padstow Abbey informs him that he is Merewyn's father. By the time Rumon arrives at Padstow, Ketil has taken Merewyn away on a Viking Longship.

Rumon charts a ship, and embarks on a rescue journey overseas to find Merewyn. After stopping in Limerick, Ireland, Rumon's ship is caught in a storm and is blown off-course. The ship eventually finds the mouth of the Merrimack River on the coast of North America. There, Rumon encounters a Merrimack tribe who have been converted to Christianity by a group of Irish Culdee Monks. The tribe (under the influence of the Culdees) capture Rumon and his crew, and steal their ship. Meanwhile, Merewyn has settled in Iceland, where she lives with her father Ketil, and her new husband Sigurd. She also has a son called Orm. Rumon eventually escapes from the Culdees and tracks down Merewyn. Merewyn does not appreciate seeing Rumon, and promptly lets him know that she has settled into a new life. Rejected, Rumon returns to England alone. Ketil and his family then follow Erik the Red, and set sail to colonise Greenland in 985. The family attempt to make a living in the harsh climate of the new colony, and Merewyn gives birth to a mentally disabled daughter called Thora. Ketil, however, succumbs to old-age and dies on the Longship he used on Viking raids for so many years.

In the year 1000, Sigurd dies too, and Merewyn persuades her son Orm to take her and his sister to England. Merewyn wishes to find Rumon, but soon learns that he was ordained as a monk at Tavistock Abbey, and that he had famously defended the Abbey from a Viking raid. Merewyn then takes her family to Romsey Abbey where she finds that her old friend Elfled is now Abbess. Elfled takes in Thora, while Merewyn marries and settles with Wulfric, a wealthy thane of King Æthelred. Orm cannot settle into life in England however, and leaves to rejoin the Viking peoples. Merewyn then proceeds to rejoin the Royal Court as a Lady-in-waiting for Queen Ælfgifu and then Queen Emma. After gaining back her social status in the English nobility, finally Merewyn is summoned to Tavistock Abbey, where she reconciles with Rumon before he dies. Rumon makes one last request that Merewyn admit her true birth at court. She fulfills his wish, admitting her Viking parentage to the King and Queen. Queen Emma sympathises with Merewyn's story, and Merewyn's husband Wulfric declares that he does not care about her lineage. Merewyn then settles down to a comfortable life with Wulfric.

Part I

Morrigan (also called Rigan) and her brother Arddu are twins on the world of Nwm. Rigan is a Sister in the Circle, the First magic, while Arddu is an abomination, feared and hated by the Circle. It is only Rigan's wishes as a Sister that allow Arddu to remain living with the Circle. Opposing the Circle is the Line, the Second magic, and it is growing stronger, threatening the Circle. While female, night, moon, water, earth, and stone are part of First magic, male, iron, sun, fire, heat, and desert are Second magic.

Rigan is missioned to Earth to be reborn there and play a pivotal role in the constant war against the Line. When she leaves Nwm, Arddu is forced to leave the island of the Circle. He is quickly captured by the Line who use him for his pattern, which is similar enough to his sister's to allow the Line to summon her back from Earth, in the hopes of capturing her to learn the plans of the Circle. The Line attempts the summoning and in Earth's past Rigan shields herself against the summons. In the present Morgan Lefevre, who bears a striking resemblance to her ancestor Rigan, is pulled by the summoning into the world of Nwm, while visiting Tintagel as part of her father's TV show. The leaders of the Line quickly discover their error in summoning Morgan instead of Morrigan. They attempt to cover up their failure and a power struggle results with Menw Power-Seeker killing the former Line leader, line-end Sdhe. Arddu and Morgan use this opportunity to escape, venturing into the Line-controlled lands of Nwm.

Part II

Part II While Rigan has been sent to Earth's past to influence King Arthur as he grows up, M'rlendd of the Line has also been sent there with similar goals. Rigan is forced to hide her true nature as a Sister, allowing M'rlendd to influence and teach Arthur during the day, but exerting her own influence and teachings at night.

Arddu and Morgan succeed in traveling through the Line controlled lands into Circle controlled territory, but are wounded by arrows just as they succeed. A vision compels a Sister from the Circle to rescue and heal the two. She has a second vision showing the outcome of the task set before three other Sisters, sent to the north in search of a sword of power. The Sister is compelled to bring Arddu and Morgan to the place where the final surviving Sister of the three would meet her end at the hands of the Line, but not before giving her horse and the sword to them. Arddu and Morgan ride back into the north with the Line in pursuit.

Part III

Rigan fails in her attempts to encircle Earth by influencing Arthur. Arthur chooses M'rlendd over her, foiling her plans to defeat M'rlendd and stealing half of her jade circlet, influenced with Circle power. Rigan is also pregnant with the M'rlendd's son, a result of him forcing himself on her. Rigan's only thoughts are of stopping M'rlendd and preventing the Line from winning Earth.

Arddu and Morgan continue to travel into the north, a dangerous land controlled by neither the Circle or the Line, but with both in pursuit. They discover the sword's desire to return to the place from which it was taken, and use it to guide them to the place. Morgan, having seen visions of Arthur, Morrigan and M'rlendd, makes the connections between Arthur and King Arthur, Rigan and Morgan Lefay, M'rlendd and Merlin and even between Rigan's unborn son and Mordred from the legends of King Arthur.

Arddu and Morgan are captured by Ysmere, a former Sister who had been driven mad by what she saw as her betrayal by the Circle. With the help of the sword, Morgan manages to outwit Ysmere and bargains for their safe passage to the land of the sword. They arrive in a land filled with intermixing symbols of both First and Second magic in which there stood a glass tower in a hill shaped like a hand surrounded by a lake. Morgan realizes that this must be the hand holding Excalibur rising up from the lake in the legends. Arddu and Morgan enter the tower with the help of the sword just as both the Line and Circle reach them and begin to battle one another. They climb the tower and arrive in a room with a table on which lies a stone sheath for the sword, the Holy Grail and a severed, bleeding head. The head identifies itself as a seer and tells of Arddu's bond with the sword, Morgan's right to the Grail, which she would lose but with which she would always bear a bond, and their journey to Earth, but not the Earth of Morgan, to which she would never return. Arddu puts the sword, which is now known to be Excalibur, in the stone as Morgan takes the Grail, and both are transported to Earth. They wake up to find both sword and Grail gone. The sword in the stone has been found and is being used to decide who is to be the new king. M'rlendd takes Arthur to the sword in the stone, realizing that this must be the time to make Arthur King. Rigan is there with Mordred, and adds her First magic with M'rlendd's Second to allow Arthur to remove the sword from the stone. To exact her revenge on both M'rlendd for what he had done, and Arthur for choosing M'rlendd, Rigan uses her magic to kill Arthur. Arddu tries to intervene but is also killed by Rigan, who then takes the sword and bursts into flames, burning to death. M'rlendd leaves, feeling victorious. He realizes he has defeated the Circle on Earth and whoever claims the sword would become King. All he need to is waiting and influence this person, now easily achieved with no one from the Circle to oppose him.

Morgan realizes that everything has gone wrong, with the legends being unfulfilled, runs up to Arddu and Arthur. She finds the second half of the jade circlet that Arthur had stolen. She combines it with her half of the circlet, which she had received from her grandmother, having been passed down through the women of her family, and uses its power to wish for things to be the way they ought to be. After the magic has done its work, are no more but she finds Arddu swinging the sword, having taken Arthur's place, and that she is Morgan LeFay, having taken Rigan's place. Rigan and the true Arthur are no more. She realizes that they are both trapped by fate to fulfill the events that make up the history of King Arthur. Morgan must raise Mordred, allowing him to one day kill Arddu, who is now King Arthur. She must one day defeat M'rlendd, who is also Merlin. However, she remembers that there is also the legend of Morgan taking Arthur's body to Avalon where is brought back to life. She realizes that one day she will take Arddu back with her to Nwm, where they will once again be free to live life as they choose, pretty coolly, away from predetermined destiny.

Part IV

In some earlier editions of the book, there is also a fourth part. This part was later removed from published copies of the book. In this part, Morgan and Arddu are once more in Nwm, after Arddu has been slain by Mordred. They are obviously close (perhaps romantically so), and Morgan is telling Arddu she must return to Earth and her time. He is saddened, but she tells him this is her chance to make things right with her life, between her and her parents.

In a show of force, General Tannis destroys the city of Annit — population 9 million — and then demands the surrender of Admiral Mettna. This is the first stage in the Canisian invasion of the Santine Republic, which falls quickly. Tannis himself kills their president. It is to this world the Seventh Doctor and Antimony have arrived. The Doctor soon meets Senator Sala, the leader of the resistance and rescues her and other resistance fighters from captivity. When the Doctor sees burning trees, he realises someone is trying to contact him.

A being identifying himself as a "God of the Fourth" appears on a spaceship to rescue a prisoner — that prisoner is Ace. He tells her that he is Casmus, and that she was rescued so that she could learn.

The Doctor and Antimony travel to the Temple of the Fourth on the planet Micen Island, where they see the statues of long dead Time Lords. They see an inscription "We serve the many, until the many are One, until twilight falls and death comes to Time." A Time Lord called The Minister of Chance arrives, it was he who had sent the Doctor a message. The Minister informs the Doctor that two Time Lords — the Saints Antinor and Valentine have been brutally murdered on Earth. The Doctor wistfully says that even Time Lords die, but the Minister fears a greater evil. The Minister travels to Santiny to replace the Doctor, whilst the Doctor sets out to investigate what has happened to the Saints.

The Doctor and Antimony arrive at an analysis centre for radio telescopes. They meet Dr Kane who tells them Dr Valentine and Antinor were killed by animals — perhaps a dog or a large cat — they were bitten. The Doctor asks her what they were investigating before they died. The Doctor discovers that black holes are being created and that existing ones are growing at a drastic rate. Something has torn a rent in space-time. Two policemen, Campion and Speedwell, arrive at the centre investigating the Doctor's activities at the crime scene, but Speedwell is called away to another animal attack in the East End of London, accompanied by the Doctor.

The Doctor sees the body of a young woman with bite marks in her neck, and also another police constable. Investigating further they enter a bar and find twenty bodies with their throats ripped out, and see a figure flee from the scene.

Meanwhile, Ace wakes from a dream about being rowed to the edge of a whirlpool by a man who seems friendly but dangerous. Casmus teaches her how to remember dreams, and tells her that soon they will be going to Mount Plutarch to have her abilities tested by the Kingmaker. On Santine, the Minister of Chance arrives and meets with the leaders of the resistance.

When the Doctor and Speedwell find more bodies, they notice there appears to be two different styles of killing, some for feeding, and some were just in the way. They see a man hole, and beyond they run into the killer — the vampire Nessican who had killed Valentine. Speedwell shoots him, but to no effect as only severing the spinal column would kill a vampire. Nessican attacks the Doctor and succeeds in drinking some of his blood, but the Doctor had eaten some garlic flakes which kill the vampire. On hearing a description of a woman who fled the bar, the Doctor recognises who it is and realises she is the second killer.

Back at the laboratory, Campion has been attacked and killed. Dr Kane appears detached about his death before Antimony — he realises she killed him. When the Doctor and Speedwell arrive, Speedwell shoots her, but this time succeeds in severing her spinal column. Kane tells the Doctor that the rent in time is the work of a Time Lord, but not who, before she dies.

Before his death, Nessican had managed to contact his employer, Tannis, and informed him that the Earth is rich in resources and completely defenceless. The Doctor gives Speedwell Nessican's transmitter and asks him to take it to a certain man. Speedwell knows the man – it is his boss, Speedwell is not in fact a policeman but a lieutenant colonel.

The Minister of Chance takes Sala to Captain Carne and hands her over to him. He suspects a ruse but sends her away to be tortured, planning to kill the Minister at a later date. On the Canisians homeworld, Premier Bedloe announces the defeat of the Santine Republic by Tannis, claiming that its people had been freed from oppression. Meanwhile, Tannis's troops have surrounded the city, and he has taken Bedloe's child as a hostage. When Bedloe confronts him, he denies wanting to overthrow the Premier, but he intends to use him as a front while Tannis wields the true power and goes about his plans of universal conquest. Tannis leaves Bedloe accompanied by one of his men, Major Bander, who will prevent him from coming to any harm, unless Tannis says otherwise.

The Doctor realises that the tears in the fabric of time could only be caused by another Time Lord misusing his powers for evil. Antimony wonders whether it could be the Minister of Chance, but the Doctor thinks otherwise. He plans to strike back on Alpha Canis whilst the Minister keeps Tannis busy on Santine.

Casmus explains to Ace that he predicted that she would be on the Canisian prison ship from where he rescued her. He tells her that there is no true chaos in the Universe, just an Order of great complexity than can be easily perceived.

Sala is tortured and afterwards put in the same cell as the Minister, who heals her wounds. Her broken wrist repaired, they will be able to infiltrate the base and find the other political prisoners. When Carne interrogates the Minister, he is told that the Santine resistance plans to attack a prison at Luria. His reaction reveals to Sala and the Minister that the prison really exists, which they had not known with certainty. They turn the tables on Carne threatening to inform the Fleet Pilot that he had revealed the prison's existence. Carne shows them a prison map, and the Minister tells him where the resistance intend to attack. Having seen all the weaknesses of the prison, the Minister uses a word of power which causes the planetary computer system to shut down. The Minister and Sala flee in the confusion.

On Alpha Canis, the Doctor tells Antimony that they can't just kill Tannis, as someone else would take his place. It is the Doctor's plan to give Tannis another enemy to fight — Premier Bedloe. The Doctor investigates the Premier's family and works out what Tannis has done to Bedloe. The Doctor informs a public wallscreen that he has kidnapped Bedloe's children and waits for the City Guards to turn up and arrest them.

The Fleet Pilot reports what the Minister has done to Tannis, but he is not surprised at all and orders him to locate the Minister. However, when found Tannis will deal with him personally.

Ace and Casmus spend some time star gazing and Casmus tells her that she will never have normal relationships with other humans, now that she has a special relationship with Time. Ace sees the loneliness of being a Time Lord.

Bedloe decides to question the Doctor personally about his "confession", while Bander reports back to Tannis that the man he was told to look out for has arrived. The Doctor admits the confession was just to get Bedloe's attention. Bedloe says that he would move against Tannis if his child could be kept from harm. Trusting the Doctor, he tells him of Tannis's private villa. The Doctor and Antimony break into the villa, rescue the child and return him to his father. When they return however, they are confronted with Tannis, who has struck a new deal with Bedloe.

On Santine, the Minister of Chance and Sala try to find their way back to the resistance. The Minister tells her that his true name is unpronounceable and she gives him the nickname "Snake". She is still in a weakened state from her interrogation, and the Minister has to use his healing powers again. Just as Sala asks to be left behind, they are found by a resistance member who tells them that they now have the required information to rescue the prisoners from the Lurian camp. When Sala asks the Minister why he doesn't use his powers to save everyone's life, he tells her that she cannot understand his people's position.

Ace faces a test known as the "Cavern of Infinite Death". Casmus tells her she must pass through the Cavern without touching the red liquid that flows through it, as it would have disastrous consequences. Stepping on the stalagmites, Ace proceeds to cross, but at one point stumbles and falls into the liquid. She panics, but Casmus tells her the liquid is not poisonous, merely coloured red. Soon she will be able to break the rules of the Universe. Casmus warns her that her new powers could easily be misused.

Tannis threatens to shoot either the Doctor or Antimony if they move. He then reveals his secret — he is a Time Lord — but unlike the Doctor or the Minister, one who wants to use his powers to rule the Universe. The Doctor tells Antimony to flee, but he refuses. Tannis says that this is because Antimony, without realising it, considers the Doctor to be his father. He then shoots Antimony in the leg, revealing circuits and servo-mechanisms. Having seen so many companions leave or die, the Doctor built a companion who would always stay with him. To the Doctor's dismay and helplessness, Tannis taunts him saying the Doctor could save Antimony by speaking Tannis out of existence, but that he won't do it. Finally, Tannis shoots Antimony in the head, and leaves the Doctor to watch him die.

Back on Santine, Tannis reveals to the Pilot why he is concerned about the activities of the Minister. He had dropped a plague on a particularly obstinate planet to exterminate the population, but after three days the plague had vanished, the population unharmed. Upon investigation, Tannis discovered a cult dedicated to a god they called "Manaster". The Santine resistance mount their attack on the Luria prison, but Tannis is prepared, and sends in ships to slaughter the escapees. Sala pleads with the Minister to use his powers to interfere, but he refuses until Sala is singled out by the Pilot. Seeing her gunned down, the Minister loses his self-control, and unleashes a rage upon Tannis's ships. Many of them explode, and Tannis orders the rest to retreat. Leaving the fate of the Minister to others, Tannis decides it is time to visit the Earth.

Ace is brought to the cave of the Kingmaker, an old woman who watches over the Time Lords, as they themselves watch over time. She gives Ace a test, she will be sent to Anima Persis, a world ravaged by biological and psychic warfare. She must restore the planet to its rightful inhabitants without abusing her new powers. Ace is given a TARDIS and a wand. Casmus tells her the wand has the ability to manipulate time, a power the Time Lords resist using. She leaves in the TARDIS to Anima Persis, with a strong warning not to use the wand there. Casmus tells her he will be waiting for her when she returns, but the Kingmaker knows his time is near to an end.

Ace arrives on Anima Persis in a wasteland where she encounters the terrified survivors. Identifying herself hesitantly as a Time Lord, she informs them she is there to defeat the ghosts and reclaim the planet. A young girl named Megan offers to guide Ace, and takes her to a crater. There, Ace is assaulted by her own thoughts, directed back at her by the dead spirits. They threaten to take her new TARDIS and use it to travel throughout the Universe spreading terror, unless Ace gives Megan over to them. The dilemma cracks Ace's resolve and she uses her forbidden Time Lord powers to manipulate time to destroy the spirits. Later, she wakes within the TARDIS, and finds herself with Golcrum, a Canisian guard on the ship from which Casmus rescued her. He was exiled to Anima Persis by Tannis because of that failure, and Ace was the first living being he has seen. Ace is despondent as she wiped out the villagers in her attempt to destroy the dead spirits, and misused her Time Lord powers.

Casmus is visited by Tannis, who has come to kill him. Tannis has eliminated the other Time Lords and set the Doctor and the Minister against each other. Casmus reveals Ace has been transformed into a Time Lord, but Tannis laughs at him, and he says he will destroy her too. Casmus says the age of the Time Lords has passed, and expresses pity for Tannis even as he prepares to shoot him.

The distraught Doctor goes to Mount Plutarch to plead with the Kingmaker, but she will not interfere with Tannis's actions. He is utterly evil, but has broken no laws of time, only amassing power through the use of conventional force. She tells the Doctor that Tannis is not responsible for the damage to time, it is in fact the Minister of Chance who is the cause. The Doctor is charged with the responsibility to destroy his friend, before the damage engulfs the Universe.

The Doctor goes to Casmus's garden, and is reunited with Ace. They mourn Casmus's death, and the Doctor reassures Ace about the events she witnessed on Anima Persis. There have been no living beings on that planet for centuries, everything she had seen was an illusion. She has not yet developed the powers she thought she had. Ace produces Casmus's wand, but the Doctor shows her it is just a stick. Anima Persis was a test, one that all Time Lords fail, so that the memory of failure stays with them forever as a stark warning. Now, together, they must deal with Tannis. Ace and Golcrum leave for Earth to prepare a welcome for Tannis, whilst the Doctor must now confront his old friend. Consumed with grief and fury, the Minister shouts at the Doctor to leave him alone. The structure of time has been corrupted, so the Doctor revokes the Minister's TARDIS, and leaves him to face himself, now powerless.

At NASA mission control, a fleet of spaceships is detected approaching Earth. The President is informed, and receives an ultimatum from Tannis. He must surrender immediately, or a bomb will be dropped on London. The President receives a telephone call from the British Prime Minister, who informs that counter-measures are being taken. The bomb explodes in the ship before it is launched, and to Tannis's shock, a fleet of shuttles emerges from behind the Moon. Tannis then himself receives a message from Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, and some of his ships are destroyed.

Tannis orders his troops to make a ground assault, and they land near Stonehenge. They move towards London, but are confronted by UNIT troops, led by Lieutenant Colonel Speedwell. Abandoning his troops to their fate, Tannis seeks out the Doctor. He finds Ace first and starts to beat her to death, before the Doctor finds them. Tannis baits him, that he dare not use his powers to save Ace, as he had not saved Antimony. However, Tannis must be stopped. With no surviving Time Lords, Tannis would then be free to misuse his own powers. He had not done so before so that other Time Lords would not act in concert against him. With the choice between himself abusing his powers, or leaving Tannis free to abuse his, the Doctor must use them to stop Tannis and does so, even though it means his own passing. Declaring himself a God of the Fourth, the Doctor unleashes the power, and afterwards, he and Tannis are gone.

Speedwell, Golcrum and the Brigadier celebrate the defeat of the Canisians, but Ace finds them and tells them the Doctor is gone. Ace returns to the Kingmaker, and, conferred with full Time Lord powers, a new age is begun.

Dominique is a sophisticated twenty-year-old law student at the Sorbonne in mid-1950s Paris who is introduced by her lover Bertrand to his uncle and aunt, the worldly businessman Luc and his wife Françoise. Both Luc and Dominique are aware of their mutual attraction from the beginning, but Dominique holds off for fear of hurting both Bertrand and Françoise. The latter has become close to Dominique, relating to her almost as a mother, buying her presents and using the familiar form tu with her.

Tiring of Bertrand, Dominique eventually decides on the experiment of accepting Luc's desire to make love to her and spends two weeks with him in a luxurious hotel in Cannes. Though she had promised herself not to fall in love with Luc, after their sexual separation and return to Paris, Dominique becomes obsessed with the memory of their past happiness and appeals to Luc not to end the affair. But for Luc their relationship had simply been a pleasant adventure and he can only pity Dominique's inexperience.

Meanwhile Catherine, a fellow student, has told Bertrand of Dominique's affair and he informs Dominique that he is not prepared to share her affections. Then Pierre, a family friend who had caught sight of Luc and Dominique together in Cannes, tells Françoise about it out of jealousy, breaking up their friendship. But after some months of misery, while Luc is away in the US on business, Dominique is reconciled with Françoise and accepts the transience of her sexual relationship. "But what of it?" she concludes, "I was a woman, I had loved a man. It was a simple story; there was nothing to make a fuss about." For the future she has the accepting friendship of Alain, another student she has met recently, who is more her intellectual equal.

Late one night, youngster David MacLean (Jimmy Hunt) is awakened by a loud thunderstorm. From his bedroom window, he sees a large flying saucer descend and disappear into the sandpit area behind his home. After rushing to tell his parents, his scientist father (Leif Erickson) goes to investigate David's claim. When his father returns much later in the morning, David notices an unusual red puncture along the hairline on the back of his father's neck; his father is now behaving in a cold and hostile manner. David soon begins to realize that something is very wrong: he notices that certain townsfolk are acting in exactly the same way. Through his telescope, David sees child neighbor Kathy Wilson suddenly disappear underground while walking in the sandpit. David flees to the police station for help and is eventually placed under the protection of health-department physician Dr. Pat Blake (Helena Carter), who slowly begins to believe his crazy story.

With the help of local astronomer Dr. Stuart Kelston (Arthur Franz) and Dr. Blake, David soon realizes that the flying saucer is likely the vanguard of an invasion from the planet Mars, now in close orbital proximity to Earth. Dr. Kelston contacts the U.S. Army and convinces them to immediately investigate: An important government rocket research plant is located nearby. In short order, the Pentagon assembles troops and tanks under the command of Colonel Fielding (Morris Ankrum). An alien sabotage plot at the plant is soon uncovered, leading back to the sandpit, and the army surrounds the saucer landing site.

Standing well away from the army search, Dr. Blake and young David are suddenly sucked underground. They are captured by two tall, slit-eyed green humanoids and taken via tunnels to the flying saucer. Army troops locate and blow open an entrance to the tunnels, and Colonel Fielding and a small detachment make their way to the saucer entrance. Inside, they confront the Martian mastermind: It has a giant green head with a humanoid face atop a small, green partial torso with several green arm-tentacles, and is encased in a transparent sphere. The Martian is served by the tall, green, silent, synthetic mutants. Under their master's mental commands, the mute humanoids have implanted mind-control crystals at the base of the skull of their kidnapped victims, forcing them to attempt sabotage at an atomic rocket project being built at a military plant near the town; if they are caught, the mind control devices explode, causing a fatal cerebral hemorrhage. The troops and Colonel Fielding, with Dr. Blake and David in tow, open fire on the pursuing mutants as their group escapes the saucer. After a short running battle in the tunnels, they return to the surface. Orders are given for everyone to quickly leave the area: Fielding's troops have planted timed explosive charges aboard the saucer. David runs downhill away from the sandpit, and artillery opens fire on the sandpit, as the charges' ticking timer slowly approaches zero.

Following the large explosion, David is suddenly back in his bed during a thunder and lightning storm. He runs into his parents' bedroom, confused and frightened; they reassure him that he was just having a bad dream, telling him to go back to sleep. Having returned to his bed, more wind and loud thunder is heard. David climbs out of bed again, goes to his window, and witnesses the very same flying saucer in his nightmare slowly descending into the sandpit, to which he responds, "Gee whiz!"

Ryu is contemplating the death of his sensei, Gouken, and experiencing trouble with the "Dark Hadou", an evil energy which Gouken's brother, Akuma, succumbed to. While in the city, Ryu fights off agents working for Shadaloo, gaining the attention of Interpol agent Chun-Li. Aspiring martial artist Sakura becomes a fan of Ryu and vows to track him down and become his student.

In Japan, Ryu is confronted by a mysterious fortune-teller named Rose, who questions him about his hold over the Dark Hadou and reason for fighting. While visiting Gouken's grave, Ryu meets his old friend, Ken Masters. They are approached by a young boy named Shun, who claims he is Ryu's long lost brother. According to Shun, their mother raised Shun in Brazil, and she sent Shun to find Ryu before she died. Ken is skeptical, but Ryu takes Shun in and notices the boy's potential as a fighter. One night Ryu succumbs to the Dark Hadou, nearly killing Ken. Ryu instructs Ken to kill him if he is ever completely possessed by the Dark Hadou. Ken agrees.

Ken and Shun enter an underground fighting tournament. On the way there, they are harassed by street thugs. Ryu and Shun fight them off effortlessly, but Ryu notices a sadistic streak in Shun, whom he has to punch to stop him from killing one of the thugs. Ken, meanwhile, finds Sakura in a local bar and agrees to take her to Ryu. He is too late to enter the tournament, to his chagrin. Ryu is found by Chun-Li. In the tournament, watched by its enigmatic organiser, Dr. Sadler, Shun is pitted against the wrestler Zangief. Shun pummels Zangief with his superior speed, but the Dark Hadou catches up with Shun, distracting him long enough to receive a beating from Zangief. Ryu steps in and fights Zangief, but he too is overcome by the Dark Hadou and discharges a Dark Hadouken which misses Zangief but causes the building to start collapsing. As Ken takes an injured Sakura to safety, Ryu is confronted by a huge man, Rosanov, who proves to be more than a match for Ryu and Chun-Li combined. Rosanov prepares to knock Ryu unconscious. Shun steps in and takes the blast. Enraged, Ryu obliterates Rosanov with another Dark Hadouken. While Ryu is distracted, Shun is abducted by Shadaloo agents.

Ryu loses the will to fight. Rose appears before him, compelling him to save Shun. Ryu first goes to see Akuma in his secluded home in the mountains, accompanied by Chun-Li. Akuma, under the belief that Ryu has come to challenge him, attempts to goad him into succumbing to the Dark Hadou. Ryu refuses, and Akuma orders him to leave. Ryu asks Akuma if he is Shun's father or has any family whatsoever, but Akuma denies it. Ryu travels to Sadler's hideout to rescue Shun, accompanied by Ken, Chun-Li, Guy, Dan, Dhalsim, Birdie, Adon, Rolento and Sodom.

As the other fighters battle outside Sadler's lab, Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li sneak inside to find Shun. They are confronted by Rosanov, who is upgraded as a fighting machine. He makes quick work of Ken, Chun Li, and Birdie, blowing up parts of the hideout. Ryu arrives and realizes that Rosanov is actually an android with Shun inside, who is working for Sadler. Shun goads Ryu into using a Dark Hadouken, since he is connected to Sadler and every blow landed on him will increase Sadler's fighting potential through absorption. The Dark Hadouken frees Shun and destroys Rosanov. With this sudden increase in power, Sadler bursts out of his lab and pummels Ryu. Rose intervenes, informing Ryu in a vision that "you haven't drawn the death card yet". Inspired, Ryu fires a normal Shinku Hadouken directly into Sadler, who crumbles into dust.

As Shun succumbs to his injuries, he reveals that he lied to Ryu about being his brother and worked with Sadler so as to raise money for his mother, who still died. Ryu tells Shun that he is still his brother, and vows never to use the Dark Hadou again. The street fighters return to their everyday lives.

Eleanor and Frederick Little are intending to adopt a younger brother for their older son, George. They visit the orphanage where they become attached to a young anthropomorphic white mouse named Stuart, adopting him. George is not pleased and refuses to acknowledge Stuart as his brother since he is an animal while the Littles' cat Snowbell also feels jealous of Stuart and treats him with contempt.

One day, Stuart gets stuck in the washing machine after George accidentally throws him down the laundry chute with his pajamas while Eleanor does a load of laundry. Eleanor saves Stuart from drowning in the washer, but he became sick from the incident as he coughs up soap bubbles from the detergent that he swallowed.

The Littles host a family gathering to introduce Stuart. Here, George openly says that Stuart is not his brother, but only an animal. After the party, Stuart admits he feels like an outcast - Eleanor and Frederick visit Mrs. Keeper at the orphanage to try and find out about Stuart's real parents, but Mrs. Keeper has no information at this point. George and Stuart begin to bond when the two of them finish off George's ''Wasp'' boat for an upcoming race. That night, Snowbell and his friend Monty, who visited the Little's house earlier and discovered Stuart, host a meeting with Smokey, an alley cat mobster, hatching a plan to have Stuart removed from the Little household without killing him.

On the day of the boat race the next day, George's remote control is broken. Stuart agrees to pilot his boat, winning the race and enabling George to finally accept him as his brother. The Littles host another gathering which is then suddenly interrupted by the arrival of a mouse couple named Reggie and Camille Stout, who claim to be Stuart's biological parents who were forced to send him to the orphanage due to poverty. The Littles reluctantly agree to allow Stuart to leave with his "parents", with George giving Stuart his toy roadster as a farewell present but after they leave Eleanor becomes concerned about the Stouts' suspecting ways.

Three days later, Mrs. Keeper visits the Littles, informing them that Stuart's parents died in an accident in a supermarket years ago, leaving Stuart orphaned. Realizing Stuart has been kidnapped and believing the Stouts to be imposters because they are not his real parents, the Littles call the police. Fearing that his deception will be exposed and will get taken away, a frightened Snowbell informs Monty and Smokey that the Littles know about the Stouts while Smokey decides that Stuart must be killed instead. The Stouts have come to love Stuart and reveal the truth of their plan by informing him of Smokey and his gang's intention to kill him, convincing Stuart to flee for his own safety. On his way home, Stuart is confronted and ambushed by Smokey and his cronies in Central Park, but manages to evade them through the sewers, losing his car and luggage in the process.

Meanwhile, the Littles and their extended family have been putting up missing posters for Stuart around the city, using his face from the family photograph. Stuart arrives home too late, where Snowbell lies to him that the Littles have been happy since he left, using the fact that they cut his face from the family photograph as evidence. A heartbroken and tearful Stuart becomes depressed and leaves but Snowbell begins to regret his actions when he sees the pain the Littles are going through.

At the same time, Smokey and his gang return to Central Park along with Snowbell to track down Stuart so that they will try and kill him. However, Snowbell is the first to find him and redeems himself, regretting his actions and tries to help Stuart escape, revealing the Littles truly loved him. Smokey, Monty and the cats chase the two of them up a tree, where Snowbell causes a branch to break, sending the cats, including Monty, falling into the lake. Finally, Smokey tries to kill Snowbell for his betrayal, but Stuart intervenes by hitting Smokey in the face with another branch, sending him plummeting into the same lake, whereupon he is then attacked by a pack of stray dogs afterwards.

Afterwards, Snowbell gives Stuart a ride back to the Little's house, where Stuart finally reunites with the Littles, telling them that Snowbell found him and helped him on his way home.

Pat Kramer of Tasty Meadows is an ordinary suburban housewife and mother of two children. Her husband Vance is an advertising executive. After exposure to an experimental perfume and other chemicals from her husband's company, she begins to shrink, gradually at first, then rapidly.

A few weeks pass and Pat has shrunk to the height of her children. Eventually, she becomes a celebrity of sorts, appearing on ''The Mike Douglas Show'', and captures the hearts of the American people. Soon, she is less than a foot tall, making her like a doll and forcing her to move into a dollhouse.

Pat is kidnapped by a group of mad scientists, who make it seem that she perished in the kitchen garbage disposal. They plan to shrink everyone in the world by performing experiments on her to learn her secret. With the help of a kind young lab custodian and a super-intelligent gorilla named Sydney, she escapes.

Speaking of her escape to a crowd of people, she continues to shrink, saying her goodbyes before becoming microscopic in size. Vanishing from sight, she is again presumed dead, but in fact she falls into a puddle of spilled household chemicals - which return her to her original size. After her homecoming celebrating her returning to a normal size she notices that her wedding ring is now too tight while her foot is splitting her shoe open, suggesting she might ''still'' be growing.

Naruto Uzumaki, Kakashi Hatake, Sakura Haruno and Rock Lee are assigned to protect prince Hikaru Tsuki and his father Michiru, the heir to the incredibly prosperous Land of the Moon, on their trip back to their kingdom. Hikaru's spoiled attitude irritates Naruto throughout the journey and the team quickly discovers how incredible Michiru's wealth is when he nonchalantly buys an entire circus for Hikaru because he wanted to befriend its star attractions, a saber-toothed cat named Chamū and its monkey partner Kiki. Hikaru's attempts to befriend Chamū ends badly with Chamū attacking him, forcing Naruto to rescue him.

When Michiru's caravan reaches the port that will take them back to the Land of the Moon, Michiru and Hikaru visit Michiru's ex-wife Amayo. Though Amayo is happy to see Hikaru, she dismisses Michiru's attempts to reform their marriage because of Michiru's materialistic perspective and the fact that he fails to understand "what really matters." During the ship ride to the Land of the Moon the ship gets caught in a storm and the crew in forced to secure the circus animals that were brought aboard Hikaru, bitter about Chamū's aggressive attitude towards him, becomes indifferent about the safety of the animals and Naruto expresses his disgust at his disregard for the animal's lives and his selfishness. Desiring to prove Naruto wrong, Hikaru assists in securing the animals and gets Chamū and Kiki to safety with Naruto's help. After the storm, Hikaru becomes friends with Chamū and Kiki and he and Naruto apologizes to each other and become friends as well.

When the ship reaches the Land of the Moon, everyone discovers the streets are empty and that Shabadaba, a greedy minister to the king of the Land of the Moon, Kakeru, has overthrown the king and seized control of the Land of the Moon. Shabadaba orders the kingdom's guards to kill Michiru and Hikaru, but they manage to escape with the help of Naruto and the others as well as guards still loyal to Michiru led by the captain of the Land of the Moon military, Korega. Korega takes the group to a refuge in the mountains where the meet Kakeru, who is mortally wounded, and Korega reveals Shabadaba had been planning his coup for a while and that Kakeru sent Michiru on the tour of the kingdoms to keep him out of danger. However, Shabadaba had hired three mercenary ninja to back him up and their leader, Ishidate, used a mysterious gauntlet to mortally wound Kakeru by turning his lower half into stone. Sakura is unable to treat the petrification because it can only be treated immediately after it happens and before dying, Kakeru tells Michiru that happiness and wealth are not the same and proclaims Michiru the King of the Land of the Moon.

Korega organizes an escape from the Land of Moon in order to seek help from other nations in defeating Shabadaba, but it fails when the mercenary ninja attack and incapacitate the team with a reflex-weakening poison. Ishidate kills Korega by petrifying him and shattering him into pieces and Michiru is captures. When one of the mercenary ninja tries to kill Hikaru, it causes Naruto to tap into some of the Nine-Tails' power and save him. However, the mercenary ninja escape with Michiru and take him to Shabadaba. Michiru questions Shabadaba about why he betrayed Kakeru and Shabadaba reveals that Kakeru wanted to focus the Land of the Moon's wealth to help its citizens, believing they were the kingdom's greatest treasure, and Shabadaba overthrew Kakeru in order to obtain the kingdom's wealth all for himself.

Hikaru is heartbroken at his father's kidnapping, but Naruto encourages him to protect "what really matters" and the group rallies to save Michiru. Shabadaba decides to have Michiru executed by tying a noose around his neck and forcing him on board that can't support his large weight for long so when it snaps, Michiru will be hanged. Remembering his late father's words and finally realizing the error of his materialist ways, Michiru manages to hold out until the group tricks Shabadaba into letting them into the palace courtyard with the help of the circus Michiru bought and Kakashi launches a surprise attack along with the circus crew and Korega's men. Hikaru and Naruto sneak into the palace to rescue Michiru while Lee and Sakura fight and defeat both of Ishidate's underlings, Karenbana and Kongō. As Naruto battles Ishidate, the board holding up Michiru snaps and Michiru begins to hang, but Hikaru manages to save him by firing an arrow that cuts the rope. Naruto manages to overwhelm Ishidate at first, but the latter manages to petrify Naruto's leg and petrifies Shabadaba when he tries to get Ishidate to kill Michiru first. Michiru and Hikaru help Naruto fight Ishidate by carrying him so Naruto can attack with the Rasengan, which is further powered by the Land of the Moon's unique moonlight, and Naruto manages to kill both Ishidate and Shabadaba when the former is distracted by Chamū and Kiki. After the battle is over, Michiru thanks Naruto for helping him understand "what really matters" and both he and Hikaru promise never to forget what they learned.

In the aftermath of the battle, Kakashi's extreme exhaustion from overusing his Sharingan forces the team to stay at the Land of the Moon where they enjoy a vacation before they eventually leave to return home. After the team leaves Michiru reveals to Hikaru that he will try to reconcile with Amayo now that he understands "what really matters."

Superman rescues Dr. Leo Quintum and his P.R.O.J.E.C.T. team from an exploration mission to the Sun that was remotely sabotaged by Lex Luthor, and acquires the ability to project his bio-electric aura. Luthor orchestrated this event to overwhelm Superman's cells with massive amounts of solar radiation; Quintum determines that Superman's new level of power is also killing him, and that he has one year left to live. Luthor is arrested after the publication of a Daily Planet article written by Clark Kent, while Superman decides to keep his impending death secret from the public.

Nonetheless, Superman reveals his secret identity to Lois Lane in order to spend his remaining time with her. Although Lois initially refuses to believe this, Superman treats her to a birthday dinner in the Fortress of Solitude. Superman's furtive behavior and an airborne chemical in the raised and restored RMS Titanic rouses a fit of paranoia in Lois and she accidentally attacks Superman with a Kryptonite laser, but he is unharmed by it due to his new powers. Superman calms her down and reveals that he had been preparing her birthday present: a liquefied form of his DNA that will grant her all his superpowers for 24 hours, as well as a leotard for her costume. Using the name "Superwoman", she joins Superman as he stops a monster attack in Metropolis involving Samson, Atlas and an Ultra-Sphinx. Superman drives Samson and Atlas away and he and Lois spend an eventful day that ends with them kissing on the moon before her powers fade and she falls asleep. Superman flies her back home. Meanwhile, Luthor is convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death. Clark meets with Luthor for an interview at Stryker's Island. Following a violent encounter with the Parasite in which Clark manages to conceal his identity, Luthor reveals that he respects Clark as a journalist and that he has no desire to escape because he has fulfilled his dream of killing Superman.

Nearing death, Superman accomplishes the "Twelve Labors of Superman" – a variety of tasks that significantly help both humans and Kryptonians – and completes his last will and testament. Meanwhile, Luthor survives and escapes his execution after taking a formula similar to what Superman made for Lois, and he begins razing Metropolis with the aid of Solaris, an artificial star that corrupts the Sun and turns it blue. After Superman defeats Solaris, Clark returns to the Daily Planet to submit his article, but falls dead. As the staff tries to save him, Superman awakes on his home planet of Krypton and meets his Kryptonian father Jor-El, who reveals that Superman's body is converting itself to a solar radio-consciousness. He offers him a choice; remain among the dead or return to life long enough to defeat Luthor. Clark wakes up, and confronts Luthor, firing a gravity gun at him. The gravity gun warps time for Luthor, speeding up the exhaustion of his powers. As his powers fade, Luthor briefly sees Superman's vision of Earth, and weeps before Superman knocks him out. Superman proclaims his eternal love for Lois and kisses her before becoming solar radio-consciousness and repairing the Sun.

One year later, Lois admires a monument dedicated to Superman and tells Jimmy that she believes Superman will return if he can create an artificial heart for the Sun. Superman, now a solar being, lives inside the Sun and maintains machinery to keep it alive. Meanwhile, Quintum reveals a new P.R.O.J.E.C.T in case something happens, and unveils it by standing before a door with Superman's characteristic emblem, with its usual "S" replaced with the number "2".

''PowerSlave'' is set in and around the ancient Egyptian city of Karnak in the late 20th century. The city has been seized by unknown forces, with a special crack team of hardened soldiers sent to the valley of Karnak, to uncover the source of this trouble. However, on the journey there, the player's helicopter is shot down and the player barely escapes. The player is sent in to the valley as the hero to save Karnak and the World. The player must battle hordes of extraterrestrial insectoid beings known as the Kilmaat, as well as their various minions, which include mummies, Anubis soldiers, scorpions, and evil spirits. The player's course of action is directed by the spirit of King Ramses, whose mummy was exhumed from its tomb by the Kilmaat, who seek to resurrect him and use his powers to control the world.

In the console versions, there are two endings, depending on the player's course of action during the game. In the good ending, the protagonist has collected eight pieces of a radio transmission device, so he can send a rescue signal and be extracted from the Valley. After reclaiming the mummy of Ramses, the Pharaoh thanks him for his effort, and promises the protagonist that he will inherit Ramses' Earthly kingdom, and that the Gods will bless him with eternal life and make him ruler of the world. After escaping the collapsing tomb, the protagonist is indeed rewarded as such, and becomes a powerful and benevolent Pharaoh of the entire planet. In the bad ending, the player has failed to collect all eight pieces of the radio transmitter, and the protagonist is subsequently buried in the tomb of Ramses, only to be excavated centuries later by the now ruling forces of the Kilmaat and put on display as the last human corpse.

In the MS-DOS version, there are two slightly different endings, again depending on the player's course of action, but only in the final stage. The final stage takes place aboard the Kilmaat mothership, where a nuclear weapon has been armed and is set to go off in 15 minutes, and has enough power to obliterate the planet. In the bad ending, which occurs if the player loses all of their lives or fails to disarm the bomb in time, Earth is destroyed in a massive nuclear blast. In the good ending, which occurs if the player makes it to the bomb on time, the Kilmaat retreat from the planet, but the main character is stuck on their ship and needs to find a way off.

Andy Fiddler is preparing a speech for a dental convention in Detroit. Fiddler works for a dental supply company, and lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Meanwhile, in Detroit, a federal armory (weapons room) of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has been robbed of assault rifles, handguns and ammunition. An ATF agent was killed and Internal Affairs agent Peters suspects the dead agent and his partner Agent Derrick Vann were in on the robbery.

After a visit to his informant Booty, Vann, attempting to clear his name, sets up a buy. He is to go to a diner and be reading a copy of the newspaper ''USA Today'' to be recognized. Unfortunately, Andy is also in the diner, and he has a copy of ''USA Today''. He is mistaken for Vann. A menacing Englishman called Joey sits next to Andy and hands him a paper bag with "his taste" in it then leaves. The bag contains a cell phone and a Walther P99 pistol, which Andy accidentally pulls out. The waitress of the diner thinks that Andy is there to rob the place and panics. An arriving Vann arrests Andy, before realizing that the gun traffickers mistook Andy for Vann himself. The received cell phone rings and Vann answers the call. The caller is Joey, who wants "Turk" (the pseudonym that Vann used when setting up the buy) to drop $20,000 dollars in a certain trash can. Vann reveals that he has the money, but now needs Andy to deliver it.

The initial attempt to deliver the money to the gun traffickers fails due to the interference of a bystander. Vann gets another cell phone call from Joey, asking him what happened. He tells Joey that there were complications, and Joey agrees to arrange another attempt at delivery. Meanwhile, Andy tries to escape and Vann shoots after him, grazing him with a gunshot to the rear. Andy uses the cell phone to call the local police for help, resulting in the capture of both of them by arriving squad cars. The police releases Vann after learning that he is an ATF agent, but they discover there is an outstanding warrant for Andy. He reportedly only purchased a stolen rug without knowing of its origins, but he is still suspected of criminal activity.

Vann arranges the release of Andy, to use him in his case against the gun traffickers. Vann tries to contact gun dealer Manny Cortez for help with the case, but finds Manny murdered in his own house. Andy attempts to escape again and fails. Vann then receives a phone call from his ex-wife Dara (Rachael Crawford), who reminds him about the upcoming dance recital of their daughter Kate. He then receives another phone call from Joey, who now asks for $500,000 for the whole batch of weapons. Vann has Andy pose as a powerful trafficker for a meeting with Joey in a restaurant. Andy improvises by returning the cell phone to Joey and telling him that their next meeting will be on his terms. Andy plans to use the next meeting to set up a trap for Joey. Andy then convinces Vann that he should attend his daughter's recital, and both men attend it.

Andy and Vann eventually arrange a meeting with Joey, but (against Andy's original plan) they have failed to arrange backup from any law enforcement agency. Joey has never met Vann before and asks who he is. Andy claims that Vann is someone who will do anything they tell him. Vann admits this, and claims that he is betraying the service in pursuit of monetary gain. Joey is suitably convinced and agrees to work with him. Following the meeting, Andy and Vann part ways.

Andy stays in Detroit as planned and delivers his speech. He is then captured by agent Peters, who wants to use him against Vann. Peters claims that Vann is corrupt, that he is actually trying to buy the guns for himself, and that Vann himself murdered Booty, Manny Cortez and Vann's own partner. Peters wants Andy to wear a wire and get a confession out of Vann. Meanwhile, back at ATF offices, Vann is suspended, and his boss (Susie Essman) tells him that Andy was setting him up. Andy, now wired, enters Vann's office and says they need to talk. The two men drive to the exchange point to deliver the money. Vann suspects that Andy is wired and asks him about it. Andy admits it.

Vann and Andy enter the barn where the exchange is going to take place. This time Joey is skeptical of their motives and pulls a gun on Vann. The law enforcement agents hear everything through the wire, and soon arrive to arrest Joey. Andy manages to disarm Joey, though Vann still receives a bullet wound in the buttocks. Vann delivers Andy to the airport for his flight back to Milwaukee and the two men say goodbye. Vann accidentally sets off the metal detectors in the airport and blames it on Andy. The story ends with a protesting Andy being led away by airport security for a body cavity search.

The film opens in the final days of World War II as Soviet forces close in on the outskirts of Berlin. Panzer Korps General Helmut Kladen (Richard Lynch) is dispatched to the Swiss frontier with top secret documents to be used as a bargaining chip with the Allies to save Germany from the Soviets. He is subsequently intercepted by the U.S. Army and turned over to Army Intelligence.

In contemporary Los Angeles, Lt. Barney Caine (George C. Scott) is assigned to solve the murder of his former boss and friend Tom Neeley, which presumably occurred during a drug deal gone wrong. However, Neeley has written "Gene" on a newspaper in his own blood, and Caine finds a map of Germany with the name "Obermann" on it. Caine is surprised to learn that Neeley provided drugs at parties hosted by the tycoon Adam Steiffel (Marlon Brando). When he interviews Neeley's ex-wife (Beatrice Straight), he quickly catches her in several lies, and when he returns to interview her a second time, he finds her shot dead in her hot tub.

Steiffel reveals in his interview that Neeley was working for him as a bagman. Neeley was sent overseas by the company to deliver money to business partners. Caine becomes convinced he must go to Germany to solve Neeley's murder, he convinces his Chief (Alan North) to allow him to go to Germany to continue the investigation. Later, the Chief is seen phoning one of Steiffel's cronies (G. D. Spradlin) to tell him that Caine has taken the bait.

Once in Berlin, Caine meets Paul Obermann (David Byrd) at the Berlin Zoo. Obermann explains operation "Genesis" - a synthetic fuel formula that the Nazis had produced (and could wreck the current oil-economy). This confirms Caine's hunch that Neeley was killed over Genesis. Obermann is then murdered outside the zoo. At his apartment, his niece Lisa (Marthe Keller) shows up to be interviewed by the police. At Obermann's memorial service, Caine asks Lisa to accompany him to act as his interpreter. Lisa agrees and they follow up on a lead that Obermann gave him regarding Professor Siebold who worked on the formula.

During their interview with Siebold (Ferdy Mayne), he reveals that the inventor of the formula, Dr. Abraham Esau (John Gielgud), is still alive. After they leave his apartment, Siebold is shot in the head through a window. When they meet up with Esau, he writes down the formula for Caine, after he makes Caine promise to make it public. Lisa and Caine make photocopies and send them to the LAPD and a Swiss energy company. Caine also hides two copies from Lisa, depositing them in the hotel's safe. Subsequently, he reveals that he has deduced that she is not Obermann's niece at all, but a spy sent to keep tabs on him. Lisa admits it, but claims she didn't sleep with him because of her orders.

At the border with East Berlin, Caine confronts Tadesco who relates how he knew Neeley, and what transpired after his capture by the Americans. As Tadesco walks towards his car, Lisa kills Tadesco, then walks towards East Berlin. At the airport before flying home to Los Angeles, Caine realizes the two copies of the formula in the hotel safe were replaced with fakes by Lisa, and that the only real copies are with the LAPD and the Swiss.

After landing in Los Angeles, he heads straight to Steiffel's office. Steiffel has kidnapped Caine's partner (Yosuta) and is holding him to exchange for the copy of the formula.

After exchanging the formula for Yosuta's release, Caine demands answers from Steiffel. Steiffel then outlines the cartel's plan since the end of the war, to keep the formula secret. They had been able to keep it secret until Swiss businessman, Tauber, began searching for the members of the original Genesis team, in the hope the team could recreate the formula. Tauber's actions made the members of the Genesis team a liability to the cartel, so Steiffel had pulled strings to get Caine sent on a trip to Germany, which would serve as a cover for the cartel's plot to eliminate the remaining members.

Just before leaving, Caine reveals that he sent the formula to Tauber.

After their meeting, Steiffel makes a phone call to Tauber, asking him to keep the formula secret for another 10 years in exchange for a 25% share of his anthracite holdings. They negotiate briefly, and Tauber agrees to not use the formula for 10 years.

Willie Loomis, the Collins family handyman, is searching for old treasure in the family mausoleum when he accidentally frees Barnabas Collins, a 175-year-old vampire who enslaves him. Upon his release, he attacks Daphne Budd, the secretary to Collinwood's matriarch, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard. She is discovered by Jeff Clark, who takes her back to the house where Dr. Julia Hoffman attends to her.

Later, Barnabas introduces himself to the family under the guise of a "cousin from England". Elizabeth and the others are intrigued by Barnabas and take an instant liking to him. Barnabas insists on moving into the Old House and hosting a ball in honor of the family; however, on the night of the ball, Elizabeth's daughter Carolyn Stoddard is bitten by Barnabas while she is getting ready.

Later on at the ball, he is introduced to young David Collins' governess and Jeff's girlfriend, Maggie Evans, and is instantly smitten with her, as she bears a striking resemblance to his long-lost fiancée, Josette du Pres. Maggie is thinking about leaving Collinwood, but Barnabas persuades her to stay. Back at the Old House, he tells Willie about Josette and how she took her own life on the night they were to be married. Carolyn overhears and threatens to expose him out of jealousy. Enraged, Barnabas delivers a deadly bite to Carolyn, much to Willie's horror. A shaken Willie takes Carolyn back home; she slowly walks to the doorway, but she is soon discovered slumped in the doorway—dead—by the maid, Mrs. Johnson.

Funeral services are held for Carolyn, and she is buried in the Collins family mausoleum. Dr. Hoffman upon analyzing samples of Carolyn's blood, recognizes a trace of elements of the same unknown virus that was present in Daphne Budd's blood sample. Thereafter, Professor T. Eliot Stokes, a friend of the family, confers with Julia and tells her that he suspects that the recent attacks in Collinsport may have been caused by a vampire.

Meanwhile, Carolyn rises as a vampire and almost attacks David. Stokes and Julia try to explain, but Elizabeth and Roger refuse to listen. Carolyn's former fiancé Todd encounters her and she bites him. After he is taken back to Collinwood, the family realize that Stokes and Julia were correct about the vampires. Todd again sneaks out in search of Carolyn, but she is cornered and staked, instantly killing her.

Julia eventually discovers that Barnabas is the vampire responsible. Thus, she visits him at the Old House and convinces him that she can use her methods to make him human and he reluctantly agrees. Julia gives him injections which allow him to walk in the daylight. Over time, Barnabas and Maggie begin to spend time together while Jeff is away in Boston. Stokes confronts Julia about helping Barnabas—and realizes she is love with him—and reminds her that he is in love with Maggie. Overcome with jealousy, Julia gives Barnabas an injection which causes him to age rapidly. Out of rage, he strangles her to death. A terrified Maggie witnesses this and tries to flee, but is caught and bitten by Barnabas before she can escape and he vows to come back for her. Jeff soon returns, and he is informed of the family history by Stokes and Roger and that Barnabas intends to make Maggie his bride. That night, Barnabas bites Maggie again, rejuvenating him, and then abducts her.

Jeff and the others pursue them; however, Roger and Stokes are killed (both turned into vampires who Jeff kills). Jeff eventually finds Maggie at an old church in a trance and in Josette's wedding gown. Willie warns him against trying to stop Barnabas and knocks him out. Willie leads Maggie out of the room to where Barnabas is waiting for her. He lays her down on an altar and is about to bite her when Jeff wakes up and shoots at him, but Willie, running to stop Barnabas, moves in the way, and is hit by Jeff's crossbow bolt. Barnabas lures Jeff out of his hiding place and forces him to be a witness by placing him in a trance. However, as Barnabas attempts to bite Maggie, he screams in pain as he's struck in his back. Turning around, he's shocked then enraged to discover that it was Willie—in his final act of redemption—who stabbed him with the crossbow bolt. Barnabas strangles the mortally wounded Willie, but Loomis' attack breaks Jeff out of Barnabas's trance long enough for Jeff to finish driving the bolt through the vampire's back, ultimately bursting through his bloody chest. Maggie, now revived, is rescued by Jeff, both briefly observing the bodies of the presumably dead vampire and Willie Loomis before depa rting the ruined chapel.

In a post-credits scene, Barnabas's body transforms into a bat and then vanishes.

''Psychic Academy'' follows the life of Ai Shiomi in modern-day Japan. He has psychic powers, also known as "aura power." This ability has emerged in the world, but not all people have it. Aura power itself allows certain elements such as fire, water, ice, lightning, earth, wind and light to be used by those who have this ability. The type of power they can use depends on their aura and what they are taught.

Ai agrees to attend the Psychic Academy School after being pressured by his brother. The school is where elite students go to learn how to use their elemental aura power. Ai knows that somewhere within the Academy is his childhood friend Orina. However, at school, she is known as Sahra, after her aura code. On his way to his first day at school, Ai encounters a girl named Myuu. She is another student at the Academy and is a very quiet, seemingly moody girl. Ai also learns that his older brother Zero, a legend amongst those with aura powers, will be one of his teachers.

As Ai struggles with his new school—a life he is not sure he wants—a crazy rabbit takes him as his student. His feelings for Orina and Myuu begin to develop and contrast, as the school year progress. Ai also makes discoveries about his rare light aura. To further complicate things, a group of researchers try to artificially awaken the dormant aura genes within all humans, heedless of the danger and damage to society it might cause.

Starting after the events of the original series student of Takeshi, Shiro Kazami witnesses a murder by Destron, a new organization created from Gel-Shocker by its previously thought deceased leader. They attempt to kill Shiro and later kill his family. With this Shiro begs Takeshi and Hayato to turn him into a Kamen Rider. After turning Shiro into Kamen Rider V3 the first two riders sacrifice themselves to save Tokyo. Shiro then must fight Destron in Japan with the help of Tobei, the Kamen Rider Kid Corps, and later the first two riders having survived and left to fight Destron in other countries. Towards the end of his war Shiro is joined by former Destron scientist Joji Yuki a.k.a. the Riderman. Eventually Joji sacrificed himself to save Japan and thus Shiro named him Kamen Rider #4. During the final battle Shiro stopped Destron’s leader and the organization as a whole saving the world from its rein of terror. But their leader still survived meaning someday more of his forces could appear to enact his will.

''Kaspar'' is loosely based on the story of Kaspar Hauser. "Raised in a dark hole, at 17 he wandered into a 1824 German town knowing only a single sentence and became a scientific curiosity: a nearly-adult human without language and external influences, a tabula rasa upon which society and its scientific teachers could write with impunity."

Yussel Rabinovitch is a young, fifth-generation Jewish cantor performing at the synagogue of his imperious father. Yussel is married to his childhood friend Rivka, and settled down to a life of religious devotion to the teaching of his faith.

But on the side, he writes songs for a black singing group, and when a member of the quartet is arrested, Yussel covers for him at one of their gigs by wearing blackface. The nightclub engagement is a success, but one of the patrons notices that Yussel's hands are white and speaks out. A fight ensues, and the band is arrested. Yussel's father comes to the jail to bail them out and discovers there is not a Yussel Rabinovitch there, but a Jess Robin. His father questions him about the name later, and Yussel confesses to him that it is a professional stage name he uses when performing. His father tells him that his singing voice was to be used for God's purposes, not his own.

Bubba, a member of the Four Brothers singing group, is Yussel's best friend, although he knows him only as Jess. Bubba informs him that the band has a gig in Los Angeles, performing back-up vocals for a successful singer (Keith Lennox). Shortly after Bubba leaves, Yussel begins composing a song that will eventually become "Love on the Rocks". His wife Rivka notices him writing the song in his free time and senses that Yussel yearns for a bigger stage for his voice, but her values keep her grounded to the home life they have built.

Bubba calls from Los Angeles to inform Jess that Lennox heard and loved "Love on the Rocks" and wants to record it, but they need Jess to come for two weeks to oversee the recording session. Jess views this as the opportunity he has been waiting for, but Rivka and his father are opposed to his going. But later at his father's 25th anniversary party as shul cantor, his father relents and tearfully releases him.

When Jess arrives in L.A., he is picked up by music agent Molly Bell. She takes him to the studio where Lennox is recording, and Jess is shocked to find that his ballad is now being recorded as a hard rock song. During a break in recording, Jess asks the producer and Lennox if he can perform the song as a ballad, as he intended, so Lennox can get an idea of the song's framing. They allow him to do so, and while recording the song, Molly decides that Jess's performance is the way the song should be done. However, Lennox is not convinced and fires not only Jess but Bubba and his group.

Later, Molly gets a tip from a friend as to where Eddie Gibbs, a booking agent, is having lunch. She get into his car, uninvited, and has him listen to Jess's recording of "Love on the Rocks". When Gibbs asks her who it is, Molly tells him that it is the new opening act for Zane Grey's television special. Gibbs is impressed, but says he can't book anyone from just a tape recording and unceremoniously tosses her from his car. However, Molly manages to arrange for Gibbs to visit a club where Jess is playing, thanks to Bubba, who is working there as a waiter. His live performance convinces Gibbs to book Jess as an opening act for Zane Grey's television special.

Meanwhile, back in New York, Cantor Rabinovitch reminds Rivka that her place is by her husband's side. He pressures her to go to California and attempt to bring him home. Rivka arrives on Jess's opening night, and tells Molly that their Jewish values are such and Jess needs to return home. The audience gives Jess a standing ovation, and he heads backstage and is reunited with Rivka. At the after-party, Jess is met by an enthusiastic crowd and given a recording contract. Jess asks Rivka to stay, but she says she wants something different. Realizing she has lost him, she returns home.

Days later, Jess meets Molly by the pier and confesses his love for her, telling her he and Rivka have separated. As time passes, the two grow close to each other, and Jess's career success continues. His father visits, attempting to persuade him to come home, but Jess refuses, insisting he's making a name for himself with his music career. Jess reveals that he and Rivka are divorcing, which devastates his father. To make matters worse, Molly suddenly arrives home. Jess attempts to explain the matter to his father, but to no avail, and he angrily disowns his son and leaves weeping.

Heartbroken, Jess struggles at his recording sessions, taking out his anger on his bandmates, until he storms out of a recording session and drives away aimlessly. When his car runs out of gas on the highway, he hitchhikes and lives the life of a drifter for a few months. However, he eventually returns home to Molly when Bubba finds him and tells him she has given birth to his son. Molly once again meets Eddie Gibbs in his car and persuades him to allow Jess to perform on Zane Grey's television special.

At rehearsal, the day before Yom Kippur, Jess learns that his father is in the hospital with high blood pressure and won't be able to sing Kol Nidre at the synagogue. Jess is initially reluctant to go, vowing that he is dead to his father, but Molly insists that he go or else she will feel guilty about being the cause of the estrangement. Jess ultimately agrees and returns to sing at the synagogue. He attempts to make amends with his father, who refuses to speak to Jess until learning he now has a grandson, at which point his father finally breaks down and the two finally reconcile.

The film ends with Jess performing "America", with his enthusiastic father and Molly in attendance.

Agent Maxwell Smart is called back into service in order to stop a nefarious KAOS terrorist plan from exploding a bomb that destroys only clothing, so as to leave KAOS as the only supplier of clothes to the entire world. Norman Saint-Sauvage, the KAOS fashion designer, finds everyone else's clothing designs gauche, so he builds a machine capable of cloning his favorite seamstress and implements the Nude Bombs. He wears a costume including thimbles over each finger, and his mountain lair is entered via a giant zipper.

Newspaper reporter Tom Krome is sent to the small Florida town of Grange to interview JoLayne Lucks, an African-American veterinary assistant who holds one of two winning tickets to the state lottery. She agrees to an interview, but politely declines to have a news story written about her. The other winning lottery ticket is held by Bode Gazzer and his best friend "Chub," two unemployed white supremacists. Bode is the founder and self-proclaimed "leader" of a fledgling militia, which consists solely of himself and Chub. Unwilling to accept only half of the $28 million jackpot, Bode insists that they track down the owner of the other winning ticket. Discovering that this other winner is black seems to vindicate Bode's conspiracy theory that the government is keeping "Christian white men" from winning the lottery, and makes his and Chub's next decision easy.

After Bode and Chub savagely beat JoLayne and steal her ticket, she appears in Tom's hotel room pleading for help. Tom urges her to contact the police, but she says she can't: she plans to use the lottery proceeds to buy Simmons Wood, a pristine forest plot near her home, to prevent it being redeveloped; she can't afford to wait for the police, since a labor union in Chicago has already made an offer for the property. Before leaving Grange, Bode and Chub approach "Shiner," the clerk at the convenience store where JoLayne bought her winning ticket, and convince him to hand over the store's security video showing the purchase by playing on his small-town boredom and offering him a place within the new "brotherhood."

Tom's editor, Sinclair, who believes in innocuous "feel-good" stories, refuses to allow any kind of investigation into the alleged lottery theft. Tom quits in disgust and helps JoLayne track down the robbers, an easy task given the duo's flagrant use of her stolen credit card. JoLayne provides Moffitt, her friend and an agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, with the license plate number for the robbers' truck. Moffitt identifies Bode and searches his apartment, deducing that the ticket has likely been concealed inside a condom in Bode's wallet. Moffitt leaves an ominous message on the wall of the apartment that sends Bode's paranoia into overdrive, leading to the robbers fleeing south in Bode's truck. Before doing so, Chub orders Shiner to kidnap Amber, a waitress at Hooters who Chub has become smitten with, and bring her to his and Bode's refuge.

Meanwhile, Tom is surprised to hear from his attorney that his house has exploded. His girlfriend, Katie, is married to a violently jealous circuit court judge named Arthur Battenkill, Jr., who sent his law clerk Champ Powell to burn down Tom's house. The clerk accidentally ignited the fire with himself inside, and his charred remains are similar enough to Tom's for the coroner to declare Tom dead. Unknown to Tom, his lawyer plans to use the situation to his client's advantage: his estranged wife, Mary Andrea, has gone to absurd lengths to avoid being served with divorce papers, including assuming false names and traveling throughout the U.S. and Canada. Tom's lawyer predicts that Mary Andrea, an actress, will attempt to capitalize on the publicity surrounding his "death", and return to Florida long enough for her to be served.

Bode and Chub steal a motorboat and plan to make a refuge on Pearl Key, a small island in Florida Bay. However, because of their inept navigational skills, Tom and JoLayne easily follow them in a boat of their own. As Tom predicted, tension over Amber's presence—coupled with Shiner's belated realization that Bode and Chub never intended to share the jackpot with him—eventually causes the three men to fall out arguing, allowing Tom and JoLayne to ambush and disarm them. Chub is interrupted in his attempt to rape Amber by a shotgun wound to his shoulder, while Bode is knocked unconscious and tied up, allowing JoLayne to remove a lottery ticket from his wallet. Krome sends Amber and Shiner back to the mainland in the thugs' boat, with Amber armed with Chub's revolver to make sure Shiner behaves.

Bode loosens his bonds and tries to escape the island in the only remaining boat. While wrestling with Tom in the shallows, Bode inadvertently kicks a napping stingray, which pierces his femoral artery with its barb. JoLayne does her best to treat Chub's gunshot wound, but can do nothing to save Bode, who dies cursing his own rotten luck. Tom and JoLayne depart the island in the remaining boat, leaving Chub behind with some meager supplies. They collect JoLayne's first lottery payout in Tallahassee, and return to Grange in time to bid against the mob-controlled union for Simmons Wood. At first, Bernard Squires, the union's representative, is ready and willing to outbid JoLayne, but Moffitt drops by and threatens to put him and his real employer in the newspapers. Squires withdraws from the negotiations and flees to South America with $250,000 in cash from the union.

While Shiner is driving her home, Amber is surprised to discover the other winning lottery ticket (the one originally belonging to JoLayne) hidden in an empty chamber of Chub's revolver. With Shiner's reluctant agreement, she decides to return the ticket to JoLayne. The crowning irony of the novel is that, throughout the story, Bode and Chub are the only ones who know that they are the rightful owners of the second winning ticket; the other characters act from the belief that there is only one winning ticket in their possession, which eventually results in both tickets winding up with JoLayne.

A chance meeting at the newspaper office brings Katie and Mary Andrea into contact, and they go to Grange to say their goodbyes to Tom. Katie informs on her husband to the police, leading to his arrest for felony murder. Chub, unable to attract the attention of passing boats or aircraft, eventually dies of thirst and starvation on Pearl Key. Tom and JoLayne, now a couple, and the holders of both winning lotto tickets, decide to make their home near Simmons Wood, now safe from development.

Emily Hollander (Shire) is the subject of a lesbian obsession of Andrea Glassen (Ashley), her next-door neighbor.

Emily, a shy, recently divorced woman, lives alone in a New York City apartment. A man forces his way into her apartment and performs a bizarre "rape." He forces her to make sounds of erotic satisfaction, capturing them on his tape recorder. She reports the attack to the police, and while they are interviewing her, Andrea stops by to comfort her.

Emily seeks safety by moving to an apartment in another section of the city. However, while she is moving out, the same man tries to attack her again. This time, Andrea just happens to be visiting Emily, and she is able to prevent the man from entering Emily's apartment.

It soon becomes apparent that Andrea is not the helpful neighbor that she seems. She has the recording that was made during Emily's first attack. Andrea has developed an erotic fascination with Emily. She hired a taxi driver to perform the attacks, with the purpose of gaining the recording, to which she repeatedly listens to and eventually recites while fantasizing of Emily. Unaware of the situation, Emily continues to view Andrea as a friend. She also begins a relationship with the police detective (Cortese) who responded to her case. At this intrusion into her fantasy, Andrea becomes increasingly unhinged. She takes to spying on Emily through a telescope.

When Emily unwittingly hails a taxi driven by the very man who assaulted her, he strikes up a conversation "because you look familiar." She finally realizes who the man is and asks him to stop at a phone booth. She calls the police, who advise her to get back into the taxi and engage the man in harmless conversation until they can arrive to assist her.

With the taxi driver getting arrested and confessing to the entire plot, Emily and Andrea have a confrontation. Andrea professes her love for Emily, but Emily slaps her hard on the face and tells a devastated, weeping Andrea that they never will speak to each other again. Her ordeal over, Emily greets the detective at her front door.

The game is set in the 21st century. The player character, an unnamed soldier, is hired to protect the Brokaw Territory and stop Drexel (Walter Koenig), who is trying to replace humanity with evil cyborg beings which transfer information by means of umbilical data cords. It is up to the player character to destroy his bases and ultimately face him in the final battle. Alongside him in the fight are a mercenary named Jo (Yasmine Bleeth), a computer hacker, and the resistance commander.

When a supercomputer is linked to a video game network, the computer programmer who designed the game must enter the virtual reality world of his fantasies and defeat the computer before it causes worldwide chaos.

The plot involves a meeting between Queen Elizabeth I and an actor from Shakespeare's troupe who specializes in playing women's parts (since at that time women were not allowed to act in the theatre). The Queen had summoned them to perform ''Much Ado About Nothing'' for her as a diversion from waiting for the execution for treason of a man she may have loved, the Earl of Essex. She struggles with her feelings, knowing that her whole life she has had to act like a man in order to govern, and has had to reject her passionate side in order to remain unmarried. At the same time, Ned Lowenscroft, a gay man, has had to act like a woman in order to succeed in his profession, and conceal his passionate side since, being gay, his love is forbidden. He is currently mourning a soldier whom he loved, but who also gave him syphilis. His syphilis gives him skin lesions and the play hints that they are analogous to Kaposi's sarcoma of the modern day. The Queen rejects the idea that she should mourn, while Ned very much wishes to mourn and have his sorrow acknowledged.

This play takes place in two different barns on the night before the execution of the earl of Essex. There is a curfew on that night because the authorities are afraid that there will be riots. William Shakespeare is a supporting character in the play, writing down lines and exchanges between the characters that appear in his later plays, but not interacting much otherwise.

One of the play's central themes is challenging notions of gender, as each of the two protagonists has a problematic relationship with the way they enact their gender, and the ways they pretend to be a different gender. In one of the play's central lines, Elizabeth says to the actor, "if you will teach me how to be a woman, I will teach you how to be a man."

While investigating rumors of a mystical "healing earth" whose powers are said to flow forth from the sacred Gudjara Mountain, geologists Philip and Betsy Ames (Michael Shannon and Nancy Paul) are killed in a cave-in, leaving their young daughter, Janet an orphan. Janet is adopted by Shaman, a woman of the native Zambouli tribe (Princess Elizabeth of Toro), and because of a prophecy about the cave-in ("when the sacred mountain cries out"), she is viewed as a child of the gods and renamed Sheena, "Queen of the Jungle".

As Sheena (Tanya Roberts) grows up, she learns much from Shaman about the lore of the jungle and the ways of all its creatures. She is even entrusted with the secret of telepathic communication with the animals. Outsiders rarely disturb their territory, since that part of Tigora is under the special protection of king Jabalani (Clifton Jones).

Trouble is brewing in Tigora, although; the king's ex-football champion younger brother, prince Otwani (Trevor Thomas) is conspiring with his brother's fiancée, Countess Zanda (France Zobda) to have Jabalani assassinated so they can exploit the titanium-rich Zambouli land (this may or may not have something to do with the healing properties of the soil, but this is never explained).

Experiencing a vision foretelling the death of the king, Shaman hastens to Tigora's capital of Azan to try to warn him, but is arrested by corrupt police officers working for Zanda.

Otwani's old friend, reporter Vic Casey (Ted Wass) and his cameraman, Fletch Agronsky (Donovan Scott) are in Tigora to do a story on the former football player. When king Jabalani is killed and Shaman is framed for it, Vic and Fletch realize that they are on to a much bigger story than they had anticipated.

Heading to a remote prison compound to interview Shaman, they bear witness to her rescue by Sheena and her animal friends; "Chango" the elephant, "Marika" the zebra and "Tiki" the chimpanzee. As they escape back into the jungle after destroying the prison, Vic and Fletch follow. However, Shaman soon dies from her injuries.

Otwani obtains the services of colonel Jorgensen (John Forgeham) and his small army of soldier mercenaries, the Black Berets. Their mission is to eradicate the Zambouli people so their territory will be open for strip-mining. Vic join forces with Sheena to stop the evil prince and his army, along the way, Vic and Sheena fall in love.

The climax of the film takes place on the African Serengeti. Zanda attempts to shove Sheena on the Zambuli Falls, but the heroine connects telepathically to a bunch of flamingos that attack the helicopter and throw the countess down the waterfalls to her death. Sheena leads her people against the mercenaries and Otwani. Sheena successfully shoots Otwani in the heart with her arrow and fulfills the prophecy, but she is also positioned to be hit by Otwani's vehicle. Vic saves her life by crashing into Otwani's vehicle; resulting in severe burn wounds. Vic is healed with the earth and wants to stay with Sheena, but realizes that if he tells his story to the outside world, then other corporations will destroy Sheena's home.

Before leaving to return to New York,Vic and Sheena had sex (off-screen). Vic and his cameraman Fletch leave on an airplane back to New York. Before leaving, Sheena records a farewell message on his tape recorder wishing him a safe journey.

At the end the film, Sheena takes a ride on Marika through the serengeti.

The novel fictionalizes Albert Einstein as a young scientist who is troubled by dreams as he works on his theory of relativity in 1905. The book consists of 30 chapters, each exploring one dream about time that Einstein had during this period. The framework of the book consists of a prelude, three interludes, and an epilogue. Einstein's friend, Michele Besso, appears in these sections. Each dream involves a conception of time. Some scenarios may involve exaggerations of true phenomena related to relativity, and some may be entirely fantastical. The book demonstrates the relationship each human being has to time, and thus spiritually affirms Einstein's theory of relativity.

The novel is sometimes cited as the source of the urban legend apocryphal "universal force" letter from Einstein to his daughter, Lieserl, but the novel does not contain the letter.

The film centers on five graduate school students in Iowa who live together in a rustic home: Jude, Pete, Paulie, Marc, and Luke.

After Zack, a Desert Storm veteran, helps move Pete's car, the group invite him to have dinner at their home. However, Zack turns out to be a racist and Holocaust denier who praises Adolf Hitler, leading to a tense political debate with the liberal students.

The evening takes a turn for the worse when the veteran snaps and holds a knife to Marc's throat, threatening to kill him and rape Paulie. Zack releases Marc, then Pete holds a knife to his throat, but he easily incapacitates Pete and breaks his arm. Marc fatally stabs Zack in the back to defend his friend, and the group decides to cover up the murder. Paulie regrets that Zack is dead even though he threatened her and Marc.

After a long discussion led by Luke, the students decide to follow up this event by inviting other conservatives for dinner to murder them, reasoning this would "make the world a better place". They lay down a procedure for each murder. The guest will be given every opportunity to change his/her mind and recant his/her beliefs. If the guest fails to change his/her ways by dessert, the guest is offered poisoned white wine from a blue decanter and raises a toast. The bodies are buried in the vegetable garden.

Guests include a homophobic protestant reverend; a misogynistic, chauvinistic rape apologist; a Neo-Nazi; an anti-environmentalist; a racist, anti-Semitic Nation of Islam fundamentalist; an anti-abortion activist; a censorship advocate; a man who beats homeless people (the only dinner guest who momentarily considers recanting his beliefs); and critics of gay rights, all of whom are murdered.

After ten murders, misgivings begin to surface within the group as a few grow indecisive regarding the justification of their actions. Infighting and guilt compel them to spare a teenage opponent of mandatory sex education, despite the protests of Luke and Pete.

Sheriff Alice Stanley, investigating the whereabouts of missing girl Jenny Tyler, comes upon the group. By coincidence, the main suspect in the case is Zack, their first victim, also a convicted sex offender. The sheriff grows suspicious of the students’ behavior, questioning Pete, Marc and Paulie at their home. Finding Stanley trespassing in their back yard, Luke—increasingly unhinged—kills Stanley unbeknownst to the rest.

During a school break, Luke and Pete meet famous conservative pundit Norman Arbuthnot, inviting him to dinner. (Throughout the film, brief segments of radical statements made by him had been appearing on TV.) During dinner, Norman stymies them with his moderate and persuasive arguments, all of which the usually argumentative group have difficulty debunking. He even admits that he says more radically conservative things mostly for attention.

The frustrated students all suspiciously excuse themselves to the kitchen to determine Norman's fate. Jude warns him that the wine in the blue bottle, "It was left out too long and has gone bad." After a brief discussion, only Luke still wishes to kill Norman, calling him Hitler. After a tense altercation, where he aims a gun at Jude, Luke is dissuaded and breaks down into tears.

Meanwhile, Norman examines the home and pieces together their murderous activities. When they return to the table, Norman presents them with glasses of wine and offers them a toast but does not drink himself, with the excuse that he has to fly his private plane. He puffs on a huge cigar and says, "Don't worry, I didn't pour any of the bad wine."

A closing shot of a painting portrays all five students collapsed on the floor, with Norman standing next to the blue bottle and smoking his cigar. The film ends with audio of Norman speculating about his possible presidential bid to a cheering crowd, pledging to do the people's will and describing himself as the people's "humble, humble servant." In the closing voice-over, Norman explains his reluctance to accept his fans' urging to take on the responsibility of "the highest office in the land" by saying, "I already have."

The story of ''Shonan Junai Gumi'' deals with the Oni-Baku (Demon Explosion) duo, consisting of Eikichi Onizuka and Ryuji Danma, and their quest to lose their virginity and reach maturity. They are widely feared bōsōzoku, and are known for their tenacity and viciousness in a fight. However, this lifestyle does not endear them to the opposite gender, so they decide to change their ways. However, this is easier said than done. As the story unfolds, we meet the Oni-Baku's wide range of friends and foes, and the crazy situations they all get into. The story begins as a gag manga, but more serious issues present themselves as it continues, eventually striking a balance similar to that of ''GTO'' (which this manga predates).

Fay Forrester and her violent boyfriend Vince Miller steals a million dollars belonging to the mafia. Miller wants to keep all the money to himself, after which Forrester flees with the money. She assigns the dodgy private investigator Jack Andrews with the arrangement of her death. Forrester tells the detective that she is fleeing her ex-husband, who she claims has abused her. Andrews agrees, though he notices she is lying.

The private detective, a widower, is accordingly suspected by the police of the murder. The femme fatale, who likes to hang around in the casino, keeps burning him. Miller and the mafia are also interested in him. He has an affair with Forrester, who proposes to stage death again - this time for both lovers. Andrews is allegedly on the way to Maine, where his wife drowned in a traffic accident. Andrews is to hide the money near the place where not far from the shore a fabricated boat accident supposedly happened. Meanwhile, Miller tortures a friend of Andrews and learns about Andrew's whereabouts in Nevada. Fay convinces herself to kill Miller. But once Miller appears, he reconciles with Fay and forces Andrews to hand over the case with the money. Andrews then flees by jumping into the water, whereby Miller and Fay shoots him and hurt him severely. The accomplices flee in front of the police and notice on the way that in the suitcase is not money, but waste paper, before they ram a tank container that explodes, killing them.

In the end Andrews is seen traveling with the money.

The Katakuris are a four-generation family of failures: patriarch Masao Katakuri (Kenji Sawada), his wife Terue (Keiko Matsuzaka), his father Jinpei (Tetsurō Tamba), his formerly criminal son Masayuki (Shinji Takeda), his divorced daughter Shizue (Naomi Nishida), her child Yurie (Tamaki Miyazaki, who narrates the film), and their dog, Pochi. The family uses the father's redundancy pay to purchase a large old home situated on a former garbage dump near Mount Fuji that they have named the ‘White Lover's Inn'. They have the intention of converting it into a bed and breakfast, since the road running nearby is supposed to be expanded up to the house, which would bring many guests and tourists. However, the road hasn't been expanded yet and the Katakuris subsequently have no guests. When one finally shows up, he subsequently commits suicide during the night, and the Katakuris make the decision to save their business by burying the body and concealing the death. The second guest, a Sumo wrestler, also dies of a heart attack during a tryst with his much younger girlfriend, who also dies.

Somehow, each of their guests ends up dead—by suicide, accident or murder—and pretty soon the bodies in the back yard begin to pile up. The Katakuris soon find themselves sucked into a nightmare of lies and fear.

Meanwhile, the recently divorced daughter falls in love with a man calling himself Richard Sagawa (Kiyoshiro Imawano), a U.S. naval officer who claims to be the nephew of Queen Elizabeth II herself. Just when Richard stumbles onto a clue that might lead him to uncover the string of disappearing guests, a nearby volcano begins rumbling to life.

Amy Benic (Mira Sorvino) takes a vacation at a spa outside New York City. Virgil Adamson (Val Kilmer) is a masseur at the spa and gives Amy a massage. Amy inexplicably cries and Virgil comforts her. While complimenting Virgil on the massage, Amy realizes that Virgil is blind. Virgil asks her out, and the two eventually begin a relationship.

Virgil lives alone, though his over-protective sister Jennie (Kelly McGillis) lives next door and takes care of him. Virgil reveals that he went blind when he was three and that the last thing he saw was something fluffy. While researching Virgil's condition, Amy learns of Doctor Charles Aaron, a specialist in eye treatment who suggests to Virgil that, with surgery, he could restore his sight. Virgil angrily refuses. Jennie reveals that their father left the family after putting Virgil through several kinds of treatments in order to restore his sight.

Virgil eventually decides he will give the operation a try. It is a success, but after Virgil regains sight, he becomes confused and disoriented, unable to perceive light and distance. Dr. Aaron suggests that he should visit Phil Webster (Nathan Lane), a visual physiotherapist. Webster in turn suggests that Virgil needs to learn everything from scratch himself, through experience.

Virgil and Amy begin living in New York City. The pair begin drifting apart, as Virgil finds it hard to decipher the look on Amy's face at times. Amy finds herself constantly having to explain basic things to Virgil. While at a party, Virgil walks into a glass pane due to his poor perception.

Virgil's father sees him on television and arranges a reunion; Virgil goes to his father's workplace, but decides at the last minute that he cannot face him yet.

On one of the regular visits with Webster, they engage in a deep conversation, where Webster notes that instead of just "seeing", Virgil should "look"; there are a lot of things that sight alone cannot solve. Virgil confesses that he and Amy are drifting apart, but insists that Amy is the most important thing in his life.

Upon returning from a work trip to Atlanta, where she and her ex-husband shared a sensual moment, Amy decides to save the relationship. She finds Virgil in a park looking for "the horizon" in the city.

Virgil's sight begins deteriorating. After consulting with Dr. Aaron, Virgil realizes that he is losing his sight yet again. He decides to look for his father. Virgil reveals to him that he is going blind again, and asks him why he left. His father tells him that he felt he was a failure when he did not find a way to help his son regain sight. Virgil states that he should not have left because his mother and sister suffered greatly after his father walked away.

Virgil looks for Amy, who tells him about her plans to travel with him to places like Egypt and Europe. Withholding the fact that he is again going blind, Virgil tells her there is one thing he really wants to see, and brings her to a New York Rangers game.

At the game, Virgil realizes that the "fluffy cloud" he last remembers seeing was cotton candy. He suffers a lengthened vision blackout and admits to Amy that he is going blind, which Amy refuses to accept. Back home, Virgil and Amy argue. He asks if she wants to spend her life with him if he is going to be blind forever. Amy hesitates, and Virgil decides to return home. Virgil eases back into his old way of life. While losing his sight, Virgil decides to look at as many things as possible, going through magazines and pictorial books in the library. He stays up to watch the sunset, seeing the horizon for the first and last time.

After he has been blind again for some time, Virgil is at a park with a guide dog. Amy approaches and they reconnect. Amy apologizes to Virgil for trying to change him and for moving too fast. She asks if he wants to take a walk and "see what they see". They leave the park together.

''Dymer'' follows the adventures of its titular protagonist from his birth in a totalitarian state, mockingly referred to as 'The Perfect City', to the events leading to his death at the hands of a monster he begat.

From the opening, Dymer grows to the age of nineteen under the control of the state, until, under the influence of spring and the sight of a songbird, he rises in his lecture-hall and murders the aged lecturer before his class, then leaves the stunned civilians behind as he wanders outside The City.

Dymer casts off his clothing along with civilization, wandering in the forests until he comes upon an empty mansion with food prepared. After dressing himself again with finer clothing, and feasting alone at a banquet table, Dymer sleeps with an unseen female figure who comes to him in the darkness of the mansion. Upon awakening, Dymer steps outside of the palace and wanders blissfully in the woods. Returning to the palace in search of his lover, he finds every entry barred by a hideous old she-monster. After pleading with her to 'yield but one inch; once only from your law', Dymer approaches the woman with intent to fight his way past her. What happens at this point is uncertain, except that Dymer emerges wounded from the palace and limps into the woodlands.

It begins to rain that night in the woods, and Dymer encounters yet another person he cannot see in the dark, this time a wounded man. This man also hails from The Perfect City, and tells Dymer of what happened in his absence, specifically that a revolutionary named Bran used Dymer's actions and name to instill violent protest in the citizens, who then went on to sack and raze the city. Dymer is dumbfounded at this information, and stays silent in the night until the man's wounds prove fatal, then sets out again for the wilderness.

Dymer encounters another individual in the wilderness, a man who uses a liquid to put himself into an extended dreaming state. Convincing Dymer that the answer to his anguish is in the dreaming world, Dymer swallows a cup of the liquid. In his hallucination, Dymer encounters his former lover from the mansion, but realizes she is monstrous. Instead of accepting this as the truth, he flees the scene as demons rise to assault him. Upon awakening, Dymer is threatened by the dreaming man, and sets off into the wilderness again. Dymer later arrives at a cemetery where he encounters an angelic guardian who tells Dymer of a horrible monster lurking about. The monster was conceived by a union between a divine being and a mortal. Realizing that the beast is his own offspring, Dymer states he must face his own son in battle. Donning the guardian's armor, he prepares to fight the monster, which ends in his own death and the beast becoming a god.

As Hobbie Elliot was returning over a wild moor from a day's sport, thinking of the legends he had heard of its supernatural occupants after nightfall, he was overtaken by Patrick Earnscliff, whose father had been killed in a quarrel with the laird of Ellislaw, Richard Vere. The moon suddenly revealed the figure of a human dwarf, who, on being spoken to, expressed severe misanthropy, refused their offers of assistance, and bid them begone. Hobbie invited Earnscliff to sup with his womenfolks, and pass the night at his farm, and then accompanied him next morning to confront the strange being by daylight. They collected some stones for him for constructing a hut. In later days Earnscliff supplied him with food and other necessaries. In a short time he had completed his dwelling, and became known to the neighbours, for whose ailments he prescribed, as Elshender the Recluse.

Being visited by Isabella Vere and two of her cousins/friends, he told their fortunes, and he gave Isabella a rose, with strict injunctions to bring it to him in her hour of adversity. As they rode homewards, the one cousin's conversation implied that Isabella could love young Patrick Earnscliff. Isabella denied that was possible. And her father Mr. Vere intended her to marry Sir Frederick Langley, whom she and her cousins hated. Another of the dwarf's visitors was Willie Graeme of Westburnflat, on his way to avenge an affront he had received from Hobbie Elliot. The next day Hobbie's hunting dog killed one of the dwarf's goats, angering the dwarf and he declared that retribution was at hand.

Shortly afterwards, Willie Graeme brought word that he and his companions had fired Hobbie's farm, and carried off his sweetheart, Grace Armstrong, and some cattle. On hearing this Elshie insisted that Grace should be given up uninjured and wrote out a money order to persuade them to release her and dispatched Willie Graeme to do it. Hobbie, having dispersed his neighbours in search of Grace and his cattle, went to consult Elshie, who handed him a bag of gold, which he declined, and intimated that he must seek her whom he had lost "in the west." Earnscliff and his party had tracked the cattle as far as the English border, but on finding a large English force assembling there they returned, and it was decided to attack Westburnflat's stronghold. On approaching it, a female hand, which her lover swore was Grace's, waved a signal to them from a turret, and as they were preparing a bonfire to force the door, Graeme agreed to release his prisoner, who proved to be Isabella Vere. On reaching home, however, Elliot found that Grace had been brought back, and at dawn he started off to accept the money which the dwarf had offered him to repair his homestead.

Isabel had been seized by ruffians while walking with her father, who appeared overcome with grief, declared that Earnscliff was the offender and led searches in all directions except south. The second day Mr. Vere's cousin Ralph Mareschal insisted that they search to the south. Mr Vere's suspicion seemed justified by their soon meeting his daughter returning under Earnscliff's care; but she confirmed his version of the circumstances under which he had intervened, to the evident discomfiture of her father and Sir Frederick.

At a large gathering, the same day, of the Pretender's adherents in the hall of Ellieslaw Castle, Ralph Mareschal prompted everyone to swear fidelity to supporting James VIII, the Old Pretender's cause. After that, to Mr. Vere and Sir Frederick, he produced a letter telling news that the Old Pretender's ships had been turned back. To continue, Sir Frederick insisted that his marriage with Isabella should take place before midnight. She consented, on her father's representation that his life would be forfeited if she refused, when Mr Ratcliffe, conservator of her father's bankrupt estate, persuaded her to make use of the token which Elshie had given her, and escorted her to his dwelling. Elshie told her to return home, and that he would come to prevent the marriage. Just as the ceremony was commencing in the chapel, a voice, which seemed to proceed from her mother's tomb, uttered the word "Forbear." The dwarf's real name and rank were then revealed, as well as the circumstances under which he had acquired the power of thus interfering on Isabella's behalf, while Hobbie and his friends supported Mr Ratcliffe in dispersing the would-be rebels.

The next morning Isabella learned that her father had fled, and was already halfway to the coast to flee the country. He had refused an offer of allowance from Ratcliffe, instead to rely on his daughter. The dwarf, Sir Edward, at the same time disappeared from the neighbourhood. All the Ellieslaw property, as well as the baronet's, was settled on Isabella, who soon married Earnscliff. The last chapter told the fates of the major characters.

In 1943, the German army occupies Rome. Pope Pius XII meets General Max Helm and SS Head of Police for Rome Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Kappler. The Colonel expresses concern that escaped Allied prisoners may attempt to seek refuge in the Vatican, and requests permission to paint a white line across St. Peter's Square in order to mark the extent of Vatican sovereignty. The Pope does not protest, but when the SS officers leave, he sees out of the window that the white line had already begun to be painted.

Opposing Kappler is Monsignor O'Flaherty, an Irish-born Vatican priest who runs an underground organization which provides safe haven and escape to escaped POWs, Jews, and refugees in Rome. O'Flaherty is assisted in this enterprise by others, including locals, the clergy and members of the Vatican's diplomatic corps. The Nazis attempt to destroy the group, but Kappler is frustrated by O'Flaherty's successes, due to his cleverness, disguises, and his straining the limits of the Vatican's neutrality.

Met with continuous failure, Kappler begins to develop a personal vendetta against O'Flaherty. Despite O'Flaherty's efforts, Kappler manages to recapture many escaped POWs, deport many Jews to death camps, and exploit and oppress the general population; a number of O'Flaherty's friends are also arrested or killed. O'Flaherty is himself the target of an assassination attempt instigated by Kappler, which however fails due to the monsignor's boxing skills. The rescue organization continues operating, and succeeds in saving many lives.

As the war progresses, the Allies succeed in landing in Italy and begin to overcome German resistance, eventually breaking through and heading towards Rome itself. Colonel Kappler worries for his family's safety from vengeful partisans, and, in a one-to-one meeting with O'Flaherty, asks him to save his family, appealing to the same values that motivated O'Flaherty to save so many others. The Monsignor, however, declines, refusing to believe that, after all the Colonel has done and all the atrocities he is responsible for, he would expect mercy and forgiveness automatically without repentance, simply because he asks for it, and departs in disgust.

As the Allies enter Rome in June 1944, Monsignor O'Flaherty joins in the celebration of the liberation, and somberly toasts those who did not live to see it. Kappler is captured in 1945 and interrogated by the Allies. In the course of his interrogation, he is informed that his wife and children were smuggled out of Italy and escaped unharmed to Switzerland. Upon being asked who helped them, Kappler realizes who it must have been, but responds simply that he does not know.

The film epilogue states that O'Flaherty was decorated by several Allied governments after the war. Kappler was sentenced to life imprisonment, but was visited in prison every month by O'Flaherty, his only regular visitor. Eventually, the former SS officer converted to the Catholic faith, and was baptized by the Monsignor in 1959.

It is Halloween night at the House of Mouse, and a lot of villains are showing up. Jafar has a trick in store for the usual heroes, but the villains have to wait until midnight for him to unleash it.

After a series of Disney films, Jafar, along with his new henchmen Captain Hook, Cruella de Vil, Ursula and Hades take over the house with the musical number "It's Our House Now!" and all the other villains soon join Jafar's plan. The heroes, princesses and other characters are trapped in the kitchen while Mickey and several others are thrown out into the street. They witness the House of Mouse's name being changed to the House of Villains.

Mickey, Donald and Goofy try to take their House back, but Chernabog stops them from entering the building. Minnie makes her own attempt after the second-to-last cartoon but is casually thrown out by Hook. After the last cartoon, Mickey dresses in his sorcerer outfit from ''The Sorcerer's Apprentice'' and challenges Jafar to a magical duel using fireballs. Just when Mickey's sorcerer hat is knocked off, Aladdin evades from the kitchen on the magic carpet and gives Daisy Duck his lamp. Daisy hands it to Mickey, causing most of the villains to flee before Jafar and the rest of the villains are sucked into the lamp. The other characters are freed and the House of Villains is sabotaged, as the House of Mouse is returned to normal.

Stefen "Stef" Djordjevic is a Serbian American high school defensive back who is gifted in sports and is a B student academically. He is seeking a college football scholarship to escape the economically depressed small Western Pennsylvania town of Ampipe and a dead-end job and life working at the mill, just like his father and brother Greg. He dreams of becoming an electrical engineer right after he graduates from college. Ampipe is a company town whose economy is dominated by the town's main employer, American Pipe & Steel, a steel mill struggling through the downturn of the early 1980s recession. Stef gets through his days with the love of his girlfriend, Lisa Lietzke, and his strong bond with his teammates.

In the big football game against the undefeated Walnut Heights High School, Ampipe appears headed to win the game, when a fumbled handoff in the closing seconds—as well as Stefen's pass interference penalty earlier in the game—lead to Walnut Heights' victory. Following the game, Coach Vern Nickerson lambastes the fumbler in the locker room, telling him he "quit" the game. When Stefen retorts that the coach himself quit, the coach kicks him off the team.

In the aftermath, disgruntled Ampipe fans vandalize Coach Nickerson's house and yard. Stefen is present and is a reluctant participant, but is nonetheless spotted by Nickerson as the vandals flee. From there, Stefen deals with personal battles, including dealing with the coach blackballing him among colleges because of his attitude and participation in the vandalism. Stefen gets in an argument with Lisa, and his best friend Brian declines a scholarship offer to USC and plans to marry his pregnant girlfriend.

Frustrated by what Nickerson did, Stefen angrily confronts his former coach which ends in a shouting match out in the street. Lisa decides to talk to Nickerson's wife to try to help. Nickerson realizes he was wrong for blackballing Stefen. He has accepted a coaching position on the West Coast at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and offers Stefen a full scholarship to play football there, which he accepts.

The play opens in a county home (an inpatient psychiatric facility) in Baltinglass, Ireland in 1932, some years after Irish independence. In the opening scene, Dunne appears to be raving incoherently, reliving an episode of his childhood. As the play continues, Dunne slips from moments of lucidity to reliving parts of his career as a senior officer in the Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP), especially the handover of Dublin Castle to Michael Collins in 1922 after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. He also relives memories of his family, particularly his daughters, Annie, Maud, and Dolly. Dunne is also visited by the ghost of his son Willie, killed in WWI; Willie's ghost appears to him in the form a 13-year-old child but dressed in the soldier's uniform of his 18-year-old self.

These imagined visitations and reveries are interspersed by actual interactions between Dunne and two attendants from the county home, Mrs. O'Dea and Smith, who attempt to wash him and measure him for a new suit of clothes. Smith initially berates Dunne for his role in the DMP, particularly his ordering of the charge against the striking workers during the Dublin Lock-out in 1913 that left four dead; however, he warms up to Dunne after reading a letter written to him by his son from the battlefield. Mrs. O'Dea demonstrates more sympathy to him, eventually sewing some gold thread into Dunne's suit, as he frequently pleads for.

The play mainly alternates between the dramatized memories of 1922 and Dunne's present, mentally deteriorated state at the county home in 1932. (It does, however, contain one actual visit from Annie and Dunne's son-in-law, Matthew.) It consists largely of monologues from Dunne which serve to explain his past loyalties and decisions, before ending with the depiction of the traumatic event that started Dunne's downward spiral into madness: he brandished a sword at Annie and destroyed various pieces of furniture in her house after hearing of Michael Collins's death and the increased violence in the country due to the Irish Civil War. The play concludes with Dunne recounting a story from his childhood about the family sheepdog killing and eating one of the sheep. Dunne's father initially threatens to kill the dog as punishment, but much to young Dunne's relief, the father decides ultimately to spare the dog, which suggests that a similar forgiveness can be extended to Dunne despite his personal and public mistakes.

Convict Van Duff is the leader of a large-scale prison break. The breakout works as the six survivors hide out in a forgotten mine working near the prison.

Once the coast is clear they then set out on a long, dangerous journey. The convicts take by foot, car, train and truck in an attempt to get to some hidden stolen bank loot. On the journey, the doomed prisoners meet with some locals including a farm woman (Beverly Michaels), a kidnapped doctor (Percy Helton) and a young woman on a train (Gloria Talbott).

When race car driver Brewster Baker stops at a gas station in a small Texas town, parts are stolen from his race car. While at a local diner, he sees people stealing parts from another car, so he gives chase.

When the thieves' van goes into a river, Brewster rescues them and discovers that they are orphaned children. The kids were stealing for "Big John" the corrupt county sheriff, who jails Brewster for breaking and entering, larceny, resisting arrest and speeding.

After the kids help break Brewster out of jail, Brewster reluctantly takes the children with him. They prevent the sheriff from giving chase by loosening many bolts on the car, like those on the doors and hood and the lug nuts.

Arriving in Shreveport, L.A., while Brewster is in a bar reacquainting himself with Lilah, the kids steal parts off other cars to reequip his car. He is able to come in fourth in the Dixie 100, but uses most of his winnings paying back the drivers whose car parts the kids took.

At the next track in M.S., Breezy distracts Terk while her brothers tinker with his car. A few races later, he tries to get revenge on Brewster and the kids by calling the law on them. As they have formed a friendship and bonded, Brewster breaks them out by impersonating the law.

Finally sponsored by Ford, Brewster gets a new car for the Atlanta 500. Lilah surprises him there. Terk and some men jump him, dumping him in the woods. He comes to, hitches a ride, and makes it to the track in time to race. In contention for the win against Terk, he swerves off the track, cutting off the Texas sheriff as he tries to take the kids away.

Brewster and Lilah marry, adopting the kids.

The end of the movie features real race footage from the 1982 NASCAR Coca-Cola 500, held at Atlanta Motor Speedway and won that year by Darrell Waltrip.

King Titus Cromwell and his men land on Tomb Island in search of Xusia of Delos, a long-dead sorcerer who may be the key to overthrowing his rival King Richard, whose land of Ehdan is the richest in the world. Using one of Xusia's worshipers to awaken him, Cromwell convinces Xusia to join his cause. With the sorcerer's black magic at his command, Cromwell easily lays waste to Richard's formidable army.

Eventually, Cromwell becomes eager to be rid of Xusia. Fearing that the sorcerer could turn against him, he stabs Xusia in the chest and chases him off a cliff. With only one army left to defend the city, King Richard prepares to lead the charge against Cromwell in a last-ditch effort to save Ehdan. He orders his family to evacuate to the river, and entrusts his youngest son Talon with his triple-bladed projectile sword, instructing the boy to avenge his death should it occur.

While searching the corpse-littered battlefield, Talon comes across Mogullen, his father's closest adviser. Gravely wounded, the old soldier confirms that the battle is lost. At that moment, Talon spies his father in the distance, just seconds before his execution. Enraged, Talon starts off to claim his revenge, but Mogullen warns him that Cromwell will be heading to the river to intercept the queen. Talon desperately races to the river on horseback, but is too late to prevent his mother's death at Cromwell's hands. After narrowly surviving an ambush, Talon manages to evade capture and flee from the kingdom.

Eleven years later, Talon returns as a seasoned warrior seeking to avenge his family, even as the sinister Xusia vows to repay Cromwell for his treachery. In the city of Ehdan, a rebellion has begun under Prince Mikah, son of King Richard's closest adviser, who many believe to be the rightful heir to the throne. After confirming the final plans with Machelli, Cromwell's war chancellor (who is secretly a double agent), Mikah relays the news to his sister Alana, but Cromwell suddenly bursts into their hideout and a battle ensues. Although Mikah is captured, Alana flees through the city streets, but is eventually cornered by Cromwell's men. She is then rescued by Talon, who easily dispatches her assailants.

At a nearby tavern, Alana learns of her brother's imprisonment and asks Talon to rescue him, along with a faction of rebels who have been recently trapped by Cromwell's forces. Unable to bribe the lustful mercenary with gold, Alana reluctantly offers herself to him for one night. Satisfied, Talon departs on his mission, but Cromwell's men arrive shortly thereafter and capture Alana as well.

Successful in freeing the rebels, Talon infiltrates the castle through the sewers and is able to rescue Mikah, but is subsequently detected and captured by Cromwell. After forcing Alana into marriage, Cromwell invites the four neighboring kings to their wedding feast, where he intends to assassinate them with Talon crucified in the dining hall. Before the plot can be carried out, Talon summons the strength to pull himself free of the crucifix, just seconds before the rebels, led by Mikah, storm into the dining hall and overpower Cromwell's soldiers.

Cromwell attempts to flee the castle with Alana in tow, but Talon intercepts them. While he and the rebels clash with Cromwell's guards, Machelli takes custody of Alana and brings her to the catacombs beneath the castle, where he reveals his true identity as Xusia. Although Cromwell tries to intercede, he is no match for the sorcerer, but Talon is able to resist Xusia's power long enough to strike him down with his projectile sword. He then engages Cromwell in combat, finally slaying the evil king. Afterwards, Talon saves Alana from a giant constrictor snake, but Xusia suddenly rises again, prompting Talon to finish off the sorcerer with a blade concealed in his gauntlet.

Having no wish to rule the kingdom, Talon yields the crown of Ehdan to Mikah, and Alana honors her commitment to spend one night with her brother's savior. As Talon and the mercenaries prepare to leave Ehdan, they are approached by Rodrigo, a member of Mikah's rebellion, who asks to join them. Talon agrees, and the group sets off for another adventure.

The opening scenes are a narrated flashback of the thirty plus killings by sheriff-turned-gunfighter John Bernard "J.B." Books, using actual scenes from John Wayne's past films.

Now an older man, Books arrives in Carson City, Nevada, in late January 1901. Almost immediately, he gets into a potentially dangerous confrontation with dairyman Jay Cobb, but his assistant, Gillom Rogers, defuses the situation. Books goes to Dr. E.W. "Doc" Hostetler, a country physician who knows Books from treating his gunshot wounds fifteen years before. Books came to seek out Hostetler for a second opinion concerning his failing health. Hostetler confirms that Books has terminal cancer and has only weeks to live. Books is prescribed laudanum to ease his pain but learns that his condition will eventually become unbearable. Hostetler remarks that if he had Books's courage, the death he has just described is not the one he would choose.

Books finds lodgings at a quiet boarding house owned by Bond Rogers, Gillom's widowed mother. Wanting to be left alone, he gives her a fake name. However, Gillom finds Books' initials on his horse's saddle and quickly deduces his true identity. Bond is upset that Books has lied to her about who he is and summons Marshal Walter Thibido; Books gets rid of him by explaining his circumstances and assuring the marshal that he'll be dead soon. Sympathetic to his plight, Bond asks Books to accompany her to church to obtain solace and comfort. However, Books maintains he has no need of repentance, stating that he has never harmed or injured anyone who did not deserve it.

Word spreads that Books is in town, causing him trouble from those seeking to profit off his name or to kill him. A local journalist, Dan Dobkins, gets chased off when he asks Books for an interview. Serepta, an old flame of Books's, shows up; she eventually leaves after admitting that Dobkins approached her about writing a "biography" of Books' life filled with exaggerated stories of his gunfights. Books orders a headstone, but rejects the undertaker's offer of a free funeral, suspecting he would charge the public admission to view his remains. Two criminals seeking notoriety try to ambush Books as he sleeps, but he kills them. Gillom is impressed, but his mother is both angry at and frightened for Books, though she will not admit it. She also grows concerned that the fatherless Gillom will try to follow in his footsteps as the two grow closer, with Books teaching Gillom how to shoot properly.

Books asks Gillom to visit three men with violent reputations: Mike Sweeney, an aging outlaw and the brother of a man Books once killed in self-defense; Jack Pulford, the Faro dealer at the local Metropole saloon, known to be a deadly crack shot; and Cobb, Gillom's boss. He is to tell each of them that Books will be at the Metropole at 11:00 am on January 29, his birthday. On the morning of January 29, the headstone arrives, which includes Books' death year as "1901", but with no day. Books gives Gillom his beloved horse, bids farewell to Bond, and then boards a trolley for the saloon.

Books enters the saloon to find the three men waiting for him at different tables. Books orders a drink, toasting his birthday and his three "guests". Cobb, Sweeney, and Pulford each try to kill Books, but despite getting wounded in the arm, he manages to kill them. A crowd fills the street outside the Metropole after hearing the gunshots, including Gillom, who eventually enters the bar. His shouted warning is too late, and the Metropole's bartender fires his shotgun into Books' back, mortally wounding him. Gillom rushes over, takes up Books' gun, and kills the bartender. When Gillom realizes what he has done and throws the gun away, Books smiles in approval before passing away. Gillom covers the body with his coat and walks outside to his waiting mother. He walks past her, and she turns and follows him.

Five years have passed since the events of the first God of Gamblers film. Ko Chun (Chow Yun-fat) is now living a peaceful retirement on his French estate with his pregnant wife Wan Yau (Sharla Cheung), while his disciples Knife and Sing (from the All For The Winner series) have become world-renowned in their own right. Chun declines repeated challenges from other top-ranked gamblers, having given up gambling in favor of the quiet life.

Chun's friend and former bodyguard, Dragon (Charles Heung), the "God Of Guns", comes to pay him a visit. While the two are away from the house for a friendly shooting competition, Chau Siu-Chee (Wu Hsing-kuo), a Taiwanese gambler and the world's number one contender to Ko Chun's title, arrives and murders his wife and unborn son in order to goad Chun into a gambling match.

After a shootout with Chau Siu-Chee's henchmen, Ko Chun arrives to discover his wife dying. With her last breath, she asks Chun to promise that he will not gamble or admit his real identity for one year, in the hopes that he will not lose his life in an impulsive act of revenge. Chun agrees as she dies in his arms. Nevertheless, he proclaims that he will avenge her after his promise is fulfilled.

Chun travels the world for eleven months anonymously. In the twelfth month, he arrives in mainland China and gets into a series of comic misadventures with a small-time hustler named Little Trumpet (Tony Leung Ka-fai), a police captain (Elvis Tsui), and Hoi Tong, a crime boss's daughter (Chingmy Yau). Hoi Tong also has a score to settle with Chau Siu-Chee after he sent assassins to murder her father.

Chun also becomes close with Little Trumpet's sister Yiu Yiu (Jacklyn Wu), who idolizes the God of Gamblers (but is unaware of Chun's true identity).

With three days before his promise ends, Ko Chun and his group arrive in Taiwan to confront Chau Siu-Chee. Still bound to his word to keep his identity secret, Chun proclaims that he is Little Knife, the disciple of the God of Gamblers, and that his master will arrive in three days for a match with Chau to determine the true champion. The group retires to Hoi Tong's family compound to plan for the upcoming match.

Later, Chau Siu-Chee meets with Cheung Po-Sing, reputed to be the only person to have ever beaten Ko Chun in a poker match (by physically changing Chun's hole card using supernatural powers). Chau is initially skeptical but after a demonstration of Cheung's powers Chau is convinced and enlists his help.

Chan Kam-Sing, Ko Chun's opponent from the first film, arrives at Hoi Tong's home to warn Chun that Chau Siu-Chee is insane, so obsessed with gambling that he made Chan bet his hands in a match and subsequently had them amputated when he lost. Chau Siu-Chee's men then storm the compound to kill Ko Chun and the group, but Dragon arrives to save them. In the ensuing firefight, Chan and Yiu Yiu are killed, with Chun promising to avenge them.

With his promise fulfilled, Ko Chun, Dragon, and the rest of the group head to Chau Siu-Chee's casino for the final showdown. As the five-card stud game proceeds, Ko Chun gains an early advantage, but ends up losing several rounds due to Cheung Po-Sing's interference. In desperation, he puts up his entire wealth and holdings and his eyes for one final deciding round.

Chau agrees to match the bet and shows his straight flush, gloating that he has Ko Chun beaten, but Chun reveals his hand - a higher-ranked straight flush, indicating that he has won the game. Chun reveals that "Cheung Po-Sing" is a magician and a good friend of his, that all the instances of card changing were simply sleight of hand tricks, and that the rumors that Cheung had beaten the God of Gamblers were started by none other than Ko Chun himself, a year ago.

Ko Chun then demands that Chau make payment in full, including his eyes. Enraged, Chau removes a concealed pistol and attempts to kill Ko Chun, but is in turn killed by Chun, finally avenging his wife, Yiu Yiu, and all the other people Chau had hurt.

As the crowd cheers and applauds, Ko Chun and Dragon prepare to depart. Ko Chun notices Dragon is crying and remarks that he didn't think Dragon was capable of shedding tears. Dragon quips, "I was really afraid that you were going to lose all of my money." Ko Chun waves to the crowd one last time as the film ends.

In a series of (fictional) letters exchanged between the author, Mark Dunn, and his editor, it is explained that the only copy of Dunn's excessively and exhaustively researched and documented biography of one Jonathan Blashette – a circus performer born with three legs who goes on to make a fortune in the deodorant business and becomes a famous philanthropist – was accidentally knocked into a bathtub and destroyed. Luckily, Dunn had not yet sent along his voluminous endnotes and they survived, so the editor convinces Dunn to make a virtue of necessity and publish the endnotes by themselves. The reader is left to try and ferret out the details of Blashette's life story through the marginal asides and tangents related therein.

Endnotes, not footnotes

While the book's copy and most reviews refer to ''Ibid: A Life'' as being a novel made up of footnotes, the novel itself identifies them as being endnotes. As endnotes are collected together and placed after a manuscript, while footnotes are interspersed throughout the manuscript itself, the novel's framing concept necessitates the notes being endnotes, not footnotes.

Virginia congressman Gene York (Michael Woods) and his attorney wife Karen (Faye Grant), after numerous failed attempts to have children, go to a nun-owned orphanage where they adopt a child that they name Delia from a nun named Sister Yvonne (Megan Leitch).

At first, other than Delia scratching Karen and the later heart attack of the preacher overseeing her baptism, all seems normal. But seven years later, after the Yorks adopt a rottweiler that they name Ryder, Delia (Asia Vieira) starts to display the traits and personality of an increasingly violent and manipulative sociopath. Furthermore, as the family doctor, Dr. Hastings (Madison Mason) reveals that she is going through puberty, strange events begin to occur around Delia, including the death of the father of a boy whom she terrorized. Jo Thueson (Ann Hearn), a New Age practitioner hired by the Yorks as a nanny to help while Gene runs for the Senate, senses something suspicious about Delia after finding her healing crystals blackened by the girl's touch.

At the advice of her friend, an aura reader named Noah (Jim Byrnes), Jo takes Delia to a fair, where all psychics present sense a feeling of unease brought on by the girl's presence. Jo manages to get Noah to take an Aura photograph of Delia before she storms off. But as Noah sees her photograph showing very dark colors, Delia causes a fire that sets the entire fairground ablaze. Though Noah warns her to leave after showing her the photo, Jo attempts to find out why her young charge is so full of negative energy. It is during this investigation that Jo learns of Delia's true identity, but before she can share this information with anyone she is sent plummeting out of a window by Ryder. Karen, who witnesses the fall, faints from shock and is taken to the hospital, where she learns that she is pregnant.

Becoming increasingly alarmed and suspicious of her adoptive daughter, Karen turns to her preacher, Father James Mattson (Duncan Fraser), for help in understanding what Jo learned of Delia, and is told of the Antichrist. Eight months later, after learning that Sister Yvonne mysteriously left the orphanage when she and Gene adopted Delia, Karen hires detective Earl Knight (Michael Lerner) to find Delia's biological parents. Knight's search takes him to Charlotte, North Carolina, where Sister Yvonne now goes by the name Felicity. He finds her taking part in a bizarre religious ceremony during which Felicity stands in a circle surrounded by rattlesnakes. Earl shows Felicity a recent photograph of Delia, and unintentionally causes her to suffer an envenomation overdose during a snake handling ritual. After speaking to her before she dies, Knight finds clippings in Felicity's trailer relating to Gene. Unable to return to Virginia, Knight sends Karen a letter of his findings in the mail prior to being killed in a bizarre construction accident. Before his death, he saw with his own eyes what it would look like if the Antichrist won and established the "Kingdom of Perdition".

By this time, with her paranoia worsening, Karen has given birth to her son, Alexander, and is eventually able to leave the hospital and return home to meet the new nanny, Lisa Roselli (Andrea Mann). Growing increasingly distrustful of Delia around Alexander while learning of Yvonne and Knight's deaths, Karen receives the latter's letter that details Damien Thorn and reveals that Dr. Hastings is a Satanic disciple. Confronting Hastings for answers, Karen learns that Delia is actually Damien's daughter and that she is the protector of the new Antichrist: her twin brother, Alexander, whose embryo was carried inside Delia before being implanted into Karen by Hastings. Karen kills Hastings with a scalpel before returning home armed with his gun, where she kills Roselli, also a Satanic disciple, only to find Delia waiting for her, holding Alexander and drawing Karen's attention to the 666 symbol, clearly displayed on the palm of her brother's hand. Influenced by the baby's power, Karen ends up taking her own life. Afterwards, Gene, Delia, and Alexander attend her funeral.

Mary Beth Hughes as Connie Wallace The film opens following a murder at a cabaret in Mexico City in 1936; a shot is heard, but the body of the female victim (Connie) has been strangled. The police take the woman's husband into custody, assuming he is the murderer. But Flamarion, who has been shot, is the murderer and he explains to a stagehand why he killed Connie in flashback.The Great Flamarion (Erich von Stroheim) is an arrogant, friendless, and misogynous marksman who displays his trick gunshot act in the vaudeville circuit. His show features a beautiful assistant, Connie (Mary Beth Hughes) and her drunken husband Al (Dan Duryea), Flamarion's other assistant. Flamarion falls in love with Connie, the movie's femme fatale, and is soon manipulated by her into killing her no good husband during one of their acts.

After Al's supposed accidental death, Connie convinces Flamarion to wait three months before the two can marry and flees back to Minnesota. Meanwhile, Connie has already begun a relationship with another performer, Eddie (Stephen Barclay). After failing to show up at an arranged meeting place three months later, Flamarion goes into a downward spiral of drinking and gambling. Flamarion eventually finds Connie who informs him that she never loved him and used him to get rid of her husband.

After their victory at the Junior Goodwill Games, youth ice-hockey team The Mighty Ducks and their captain Charlie Conway are awarded the junior varsity hockey scholarships to Eden Hall Academy, a prestigious Minneapolis-area prep school that Coach Bombay attended. Charlie struggles with his transition from childhood to adolescence; he thinks he was abandoned by Bombay when the latter informs him that he intends to take a job with the Junior Goodwill Games, which would leave him unable to coach the Ducks; one of the Ducks' enforcers, Dean Portman, also decided not to attend the school after hearing about Bombay's leaving and Jesse Hall also does not attend. Bombay informs Charlie prior to the start of classes that the team will be in good hands under the coaching of former NHL player Ted Orion.

The Ducks' start at the school begins inauspiciously; while the newer Ducks respectfully sit in at the headmaster's speech, the original teammates crash the ceremony on stage. The team then experiences many early struggles: playing in Coach Orion's new "two-way hockey" defensive style, Orion abandoning several Duck traditions and some of their youthful in-game 'trick' plays, losing Adam Banks who qualifies for Varsity, and off-ice conflicts with the Varsity team. The Ducks' struggles continue, culminating in a tie in their first game after having a huge lead. Eventually, when Coach Orion restricts the old Ducks uniform after an unsanctioned early morning match with the Varsity team to settle their differences, where Orion sternly declares "The Ducks are dead.", Charlie decides to leave the team to return to public schools and seek a hockey career. Fulton follows, but considers quitting hockey much to Charlie's dismay. Sometime later, he ultimately returns to the team without Charlie.

Angry at Bombay's departure and at Orion's highly disciplined coaching style, Charlie's acting out alienates him from his mother, Hans (Gordon's old mentor and friend of the Ducks), and even his friends. Hans suddenly dies, and Bombay comes to Charlie's house the day after the funeral and takes him back to Eden Hall. He tells Charlie that Orion's career with the Minnesota North Stars ended when the team moved to Dallas and he stayed to care for his paraplegic daughter. Bombay tells Charlie the background story on how he first came to coach the Ducks and says he told Orion that Charlie was the heart and soul of the team, and it was his hope that both Orion and Charlie would learn something from each other. Bombay also admits telling Orion that Charlie was the real "Minnesota Miracle" man. Emotionally touched by his words, finding new resolve, and feeling guilt-ridden over how he acted against Orion, Charlie agrees to rejoin the team.

Arriving at the team bus for the next game, Charlie tells Orion he wants to play "two-way hockey". Surprised but pleased, Coach Orion welcomes him back. Before they depart, Dean Buckley, the school's headmaster, informs the team that its board of trustees wants to revoke the Ducks' scholarships and offers Orion a chance to start anew with a team of his choice. Satisfied with the team, Orion balks at the news, threatening resignation. At a board meeting the following day, Bombay, who was an experienced lawyer before coaching the Ducks, acts as the Ducks' attorney and fights successfully for their case, threatening the board with an injunction and promising to win the resulting lawsuit if the board expels the Ducks, and the board reinstates the Duck's scholarships with much reluctance due to Bombay putting them in a no-win situation. The Varsity are furious that the Ducks won't be expelled, but agree to a wager with the Ducks regarding the JV-Varsity match: If the Warriors win, the Ducks are expelled, but if the Ducks win, the team name will be changed to the "Mighty Ducks".

Prior to the annual JV–Varsity game, Orion brings back the Duck jerseys, giving the team a renewed vigor. Throughout the game, the Varsity dominates on offense. However, the Ducks play good defense and manage to keep the game scoreless after two periods. During the second intermission, Dean Portman returns to the team (having finally accepted his scholarship), adding a needed spark. Late in the game, the Ducks get two penalties and must play 5 vs 3. During the time-out, Orion reinstates Charlie as captain and tells him to go for the win if the opportunity presents itself. With seconds left in the game, Charlie gets a breakaway and beats all the defensemen and goalie; he passes the puck back to Goldberg, now a defenseman, who scores into an wide-open net as time expires, securing a 1–0 victory for the Ducks.

Following the victory, Charlie embraces Orion and spots Bombay who has attended the game, and they both look across the rink to a newly-presented Eden Hall banner with the Ducks' logo, as the Varsity lost the wager, leaving them to depart the ice in humiliated defeat. Bombay then departs the game amid a sea of cheering fans, with a smile.

Sonny Boy's parents are in the midst of a bitter divorce when the boy's mother talks her sister into kidnapping him because she is terrified that her husband will take the boy out of the country after the divorce. The nervy sister takes the lad to the apartment of her sister's husband's lawyer who believes that she has gone away for a time. A merry mix-up ensues when he returns to the apartment with his parents in tow. To maintain appearances, the sister must pose as the lawyer's wife. Eventually she decides to take the boy and flee, but then she realizes that Sonny Boy has vanished. It seems he saw an interesting theater marquee, climbed down the fire escape, and went to the movies. The adults arrive just in time to hear a rousing rendition of the hit song "Sonny Boy".

Most character names below are the shortened names of the U.S. version.

Characters

The player controls Ōkami Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun, in the form of a white wolf. Amaterasu is referred to in the Japanese and European version of the game as a female, while in the North American version she is genderless although she is referred as the "mother of all". When endowed with ink power, Amaterasu is seen by the player with red markings, cloud-like fur on her shoulders, and weapons on her back. Most of the human characters in the game only see her as a plain white wolf; some believe Amaterasu to be the reincarnation of Shiranui (the white wolf that fought Orochi 100 years prior to the game's present), and do not recognize her spiritual nature. If the player depletes power by overuse of the celestial brush, Amaterasu will temporarily revert to this mundane white form. Issun, an arrogant, inch-tall "wandering artist" seeking out the thirteen Celestial Brush techniques for himself, accompanies Amaterasu (whom he calls "Ammy" or "furball"). He serves as a guide, dialogue proxy, and as comic relief. He grows in character along with Ammy throughout the game, becoming her true friend, inspiration, and eventually her savior.

At the end of the game, Amaterasu encounters Yami, the main antagonist and final boss of the game who resembles a small fish inside a huge sphere, whose design is altered through the different stages of the battle. Yami is also the ruler of the demons. Before battle, he drains Amaterasu of her powers and leaves her as a plain white wolf. Amaterasu regains her powers throughout the fight, but, after the fourth round, Yami destroys them all again and leaves Amaterasu in a near-dead state. However, when Issun gets everyone to believe in Amaterasu before the fifth and final round, she changes into her most powerful form and battles Yami, vanquishing him forever. In the final battle, Yami also has a huge clawed hand, which demonstrates the evil which comes from humans' hands. The word "Yami" means "darkness" in Japanese.

Two other characters also reappear several times within the quest. Waka appears to Amaterasu several times in the game as a beautiful young flute-playing man in costume resembling a tengu (dressed like a yamabushi). He is aware of the goddess's true identity, foretells her future, and at times battles with her. He leads the Tao Troopers whose members Abe and Kamo are based on the two famous onmyōji Abe no Seimei and Kamo no Yasunori. Waka's dialogue, dropping French affectionate terms at times, conveys a sense of familiarity with Amaterasu, as it turns out that Waka is much older than he appears and has walked with Amaterasu on the Celestial Plain hundreds of years ago. The other is Orochi, the eight-headed demon and a major villain within the game which the player will encounter several times. Orochi repeatedly has threatened Kamiki village, demanding a sacrifice of a young woman. Each of its eight heads is infused with a different elemental magic power, but the entire demon is susceptible to a special brew of sake available only at Kamiki Village, allowing Amaterasu to defeat it while in its stupor. Amaterasu trusts Queen Himiko, the ruler of "Sei-an City", who is killed by one of the demons.

Throughout the game, the player encounters several other characters that are inspired from Japanese folklore.

Story

The game is set in Nippon (Japan) and it is based on Japanese folklore, beginning one hundred years in the past. A narrator describes how the white wolf Shiranui and swordsman Nagi fought and sealed the eight-headed demon Orochi at the cave, to save Kamiki Village and Nagi's beloved maiden Nami.

In the game's present, Nagi's descendant and self-proclaimed greatest warrior, Susano, refuses to believe in Nagi's legend and frees Orochi, who escapes and curses the lands, sapping the life from Nippon. Sakuya, the wood sprite and guardian of Kamiki Village, summons the long-dormant Amaterasu in the form of a reincarnated Shiranui, and asks her to remove the curse that covers the land. Accompanied by the artist Issun (an inch-high creature known as a Poncle), Amaterasu begins to restore the lands to normal state.

Throughout their journey, Amaterasu and Issun encounter Waka, a handsome and strange but powerful individual who seems to have the gift of foresight, and further teases them to his own mysterious ends. Additionally, Amaterasu locates several Celestial Gods hidden in constellations, who bestow upon her their powers of the Celestial Brush to aid in her quest.

After regaining some of her power and reviving the land, Amaterasu and a changed Susano defeat Orochi to save Kushi. Orochi's spirit floats northward, leading Amaterasu and Issun embark on a journey across Nippon to follow it. They first arrive at Ryoshima Coast and Sei-An City, the capital of Nippon; there, they work with the beautiful priestess Rao, the legendary submarine Dragon Kingdom, and the reclusive Queen Himiko to rid the coastline and city of Orochi's remaining influence, which includes stopping a demonic plague and retrieving a mystical weapon from a sunken trading ship. However, it is revealed that the real Rao was killed before Amaterasu arrived, and the Rao they had accompanied was the demonic fox god, Ninetails, who kills Himiko and returns to her fortress on the elusive Oni Island. Amaterasu and Issun defeat Ninetails, noticing that her spirit, like Orochi's, travels to the icy northern island of Kamui. The two decide to travel northward to find the source of the demons.

In Kamui, Amaterasu assists the Oina tribe to defeat two recently revived demons, Lechku and Nechku, who were creating a deadly blizzard that threatened to destroy the island. In addition to this, Amaterasu discovers that Issun ran away from his home of Ponc'tan to escape his responsibility of being a Celestial Envoy a messenger of the gods and his grandfather; additionally, the duo learn that Shirauni was in fact Amaterasu in a previous incarnation, who sacrificed herself to kill Orochi with the help of Issun’s grandfather. After defeating Lechku and Nechku, Amaterasu discovers the wreckage of a flying ship made of iron: the "Ark of Yamato", trapped in the frozen plains of Kamui. Waka appears and reveals himself to be a member of the Moon Tribe, a long-living race who used the Ark to sail the stars. They helped the Celestials - minor and major gods -escape from the Celestial Plain after Orochi invaded, but the demons snuck onto the Ark beforehand, allowing them to kill the rest of the Celestials before the Ark fell to earth, releasing the demons upon the mortal world. Amaterasu boards the Ark alone, defeating the spirits of the felled demons onboard. Amaterasu finds Wakka in battle with Yami, the machine-esque leader of the demons who led the genocide of the gods ages ago; Wakka is knocked unconscious and Amaterasu takes his place. After a long battle, Yami drains her power and nearly destroys the Celestial Gods. Before it can do so, Issun accepts his role as a Celestial Envoy, and encourages all those they have helped to send their thoughts and prayers to Amaterasu, who regains her powers and defeats Yami, ridding Nippon of all demons. Amaterasu and Waka take control on the Ark and sail back to the Celestial Plain, determined to rebuild the land of the gods.

The noted robotics expert Dr. Kohmyoji created a powerful android to protect Japan from evil forces. When Hakaider starts his own evil organization, Dr. Kohmyoji's android, Kikaider 01, awakens to fight Hakaider.

Hakaider has three assistants, Red Hakaider, Blue Hakaider, and Silver Hakaider. Together, they devise various schemes to cause destruction, but Kikaider 01 stops them all. Kikaider appears to assist Kikaider 01. Their chief goal is to capture a young boy, named Akira.

After Hakaider's attempts fail, a new, mysterious character appears, Shadow Knight. Shadow Knight is member of a competing, evil organization, ''SHADOW''. When SHADOW proved to be more powerful than Hakaider, Hakaider unwillingly becomes a member of SHADOW.

It was later revealed that Hakaider has the brain of Professor Gill (also from the Kikaider TV series) within him. Professor Gill had designed a powerful robot, and had tattooed the plans onto his two sons: Akira and his brother Hiroshi. Throughout the series, SHADOW helps Gill in building his robot, and Kikaider 01's fight to stop them.

A group of burglars break into an abandoned prison in search of treasure and find what appears to be a man in chains. They accidentally awaken the man, who reveals himself to be the android Hakaider and kills them all. Pondering his own identity, Hakaider mounts a motorcycle and drives off. Elsewhere, a man cornered by security officers attempts suicide, but is stopped and captured by an android named Michael.

Hakaider arrives at Jesus Town, a pseudo-utopia built on what was once Jerusalem. Having no identification, Hakaider is stopped by a border guard, but ignores him and breaks through the barrier. Meanwhile, a band of rebels in Jesus Town stages an attack on the town's heavily-armed security force, stealing weapons in an attempt to subjugate the government.

Gurjev, Jesus Town's seraphim ruler, recognizes Hakaider and sends his security force to attack him. He explains to his head of security, Michael, that Hakaider was Michael's failed predecessor, who rebelled due to believing in free will over peace. The security officers confront Hakaider, but he dispatches them with ease as the rebels look on. Kaoru, one of the rebels, recognizes Hakaider as the figure she's dreamt of saving her from Gurjev. When Hakaider is knocked unconscious, the rebels attack the security officers and take the android back to their base.

Hakaider wakes up at the rebels' base, where Kaoru demonstrates a romantic interest in him. The group reveals to him that Jesus Town's apparent peace is due to the government capturing any dissenters and lobotomizing them, removing their free will; The man Michael captured earlier was one such victim. They explain their intentions to overthrow Gurjev's government, but get into an argument with Hakaider when he is distrustful of them.

The security force finds the rebels' hideout, initiating a shootout in which most of the rebels are killed. Kaoru and another surviving rebel escape the hideout in time to see the security officers apparently kill Hakaider with a rocket launcher. The officers leave, shooting Kaoru and her fellow rebel on their way out; As the wounded Kaoru screams her disdain toward the security officers, Michael arrives and severely wounds her. Her scream awakens Hakaider.

Kaoru wanders through the streets of Jesus Town, declaring the citizens guilty for Hakaider's death and their own oppression due to their refusal to fight back. Hakaider finds her, revealing himself to have survived. She asks him to take her to her "secret spot", the last oasis remaining in the city. She admits her feelings toward Hakaider and, dreaming of riding off into the sunset with him, dies peacefully.

Hakaider takes Kaoru's charm and rides back into the city, attacking the government building and wiping out the security force. Coming across a group of citizens scheduled for lobotomy, he asks whether they have free will; When they answer yes, he frees them and goes on to confront Michael. As the two androids fight, Michael proclaims the importance of order over free will, calling this "justice". Hakaider declares that, if that is justice, then he will be evil. Michael gains the upper hand, but Hakaider surprises him with a concealed weapon and decapitates him.

Gurjev pretends to try to reason with Hakaider while buying time for Michael's head to be integrated into a large tank. In his new form, Michael attacks Hakaider, who manages to subdue him once more. Gurjev desperately attempts to shoot Hakaider, to no avail, but the android decides he is not worth killing. As Hakaider turns to leave, Gurjev attempts to attack him from behind with the discarded Hakaider Shot, but Hakaider sees it coming and kills the angel. With Gurjev dead, and Michael's consciousness quickly fading away, Hakaider departs.

Android Kikaider

Dr. Kohmyoji creates Jiro (Kikaider) but an explosion occurs. When Dr Kohmyoji's kids, Mitsuko and Masaru, their father was nowhere to be found, Jiro wandering aimlessly in a remote area eventually meets Mitsuko. Mitsuko teaches Jiro to go into his robot form and about the GEMINI system inside him. The two grow closer together but the relationship development halts when a mysterious flute playing causes Jiro to attack Mitsuko, which causes her to believe he is a mad machine. Jiro inevitably leaves Mitsuko and Masaru in fear of being destroyed. Mitsuko then hires Hanpei Hattori and his apprentice Etsuko Sarutobi to find Jiro and bring him home. Throughout the story, Jiro encounters robots and learns more about Professor Gill and the evil organization DARK. A reoccurring android named Hakaider causes Jiro out of control by whistling (similar to Gill's flute). The more Mitsuko encounters Jiro the more she falls in love with him. When Mitsuko and Jiro reunite, they search for Mistuko's mother who is revealed to be in love with Professor Gill but could not bare the pain of being away from her children and gives them the location to Professor Gill's headquarters right before she killed herself. After they discover the location, Jiro attempts to fight Hakaider alone and also discovers the brain inside Hakaider's head is that of Dr. Kohmyoji's. Dr. Kohmyoji overtakes Hakaider's body before Hakaider could destroy it and infiltrates the headquarters. Once Professor Gill discovers Dr. Kohmyoji is in control he sends his robots to attack them. Jiro was able to give the brain to Hanpei in order to put it back into Dr. Kohmyoji's body. Professor Gill attempts to control Jiro with his flute, but Jiro to is able to overcome it. Hakaider then attempts to kill Professor Gill for betraying him and destroys the place along with Gill. Hanpei, Mitsuko and Etsuko able to escape, but didn't see Jiro escape with them. In the end, Mitsuko has hope that Jiro will return to them.

Kikaider 01

These four OVAs directly follow the conclusion of the 13 episode TV series. Jiro is now battling to save Akira, the son of Professor Gill who survived and transplanted his brain into Hakaider. Gill-Hakaider, supported by the Hakaider Squad and later SHADOW, targets Akira to power his giant-robot Armageddon Lord. Jiro meets his two "older" brothers Ichiro (Kikaider 01) and Rei (Kikaider 00), who lack Jiro's GEMINI system, and are joined by a SHADOW gynoid Bjinder. In the end, Gill successfully captures Akira, and uses the Armageddon Lord to devastate the city from the previous series. Gill plants a submission chip inside Jiro and his android allies. But it unexpectedly subdues Jiro's GEMINI circuit rather than enslave him, making Jiro more human as he ends up destroying his brothers and kills Gill as the Armageddon Lord's generator explodes. Jiro leaves Akira in the hands of a monk scientist that raised Ichiro and reactivated Rei. Afterwards, Jiro then proclaims that having now committed such horrible acts that he is now human and that his heart will forever be in "eternal conflict" as he walks alone into the sunset.

The Boy Who Carried a Guitar: Kikaider vs. Inazuman

Set sometime after Kikaider 01, the cast of the Inazuman manga have a run-in with Jiro after one of their psychic adversaries possesses him in an attempt to murder Saburo, the protagonist of the Inazuman story. As the fight spirals out of control, Jiro's fight for inner peace comes to a head via Saburo's telepathy. The climax of the battle results in Jiro's definitive answers to the questions posed by his autonomy.

Data is sent to Barkon IV, a planet inhabited by a pre-Industrial society "roughly equivalent to that of the Renaissance on Earth" to recover the radioactive remains of a deep space probe that crashed on the planet. However, Data is injured during the recovery, and without memory of who he is or his mission, walks into a village carrying the case of radioactive parts. Garvin, the village magistrate, and his daughter Gia, take Data to their healer, Talur, who determines he must be an "ice-man"; Gia names Data "Jayden". Garvin discovers the probe's fragments, unaware of their hazard, and attempts to sell them to make a profit. As the village folk begin to wear the fragments as jewelry, they start to succumb to radiation poisoning, though Talur is unfamiliar with the symptoms. Data uses his own, more scientific methods and concludes that the metal fragments are causing the illnesses, and, with Talur's help, attempts to urge the villagers to get rid of them. Instead, the villagers attack Data, believing him to be the cause for the illness, and cause his mechanical innards to be exposed. When Gia sees this, she is alarmed, but then realizes that Data is trying to help them. Data is able to prepare an antidote for the poisoning, administering it to Garvin and Gia, and doses the entire village by putting the rest of the antidote in the village's well. The villagers, still angry at him, attack Data, apparently killing him. Garvin and Gia bury Data, and bury the metal fragments in the forest outside of town. When Riker and Crusher arrive under the guise of friends of Jayden, they learn of his fate from Gia. Data's body and the metal fragments are beamed to the ''Enterprise''. Data's functions are restored, but he has no memory of his life as "Jayden". He theorizes that his positronic brain must have been overloaded from a power surge from the probe as he recovered the fragments, leading to his memory loss.

A separate plot during these events follows Deanna Troi's efforts to become a bridge officer. She easily passes all of the required examinations except one – a holodeck simulation, supervised by Riker and meant to test her command abilities. After several failed attempts to save a badly damaged ''Enterprise'' without putting anyone at risk, Troi realizes that she may not be able to avoid sacrificing some of the crew, and orders the holographic Geordi to perform repairs in a hazardous area that will quickly kill him. She passes the test and earns a promotion to Commander.

Amiable but corrupt U.S. President 'Judd' Hammond (Walter Huston) tells his new secretary Harley “Beek” Beekman (Franchot Tone) that two people may be admitted to his presence at any time: his young nephew Jimmie (Dickie Moore) and Miss Pendola "Pendie" Molloy (Karen Morley). Pendie is the President's mistress and Beek's assistant.

At a press conference, a reporter asks if Hammond will meet with John Bronson (David Landau). Hammond doesn't know who that is; Beekman explains that Bronson is leading a march to Washington of a million men wanting work. Hammond is glib until one young reporter (Mischa Auer) details the collapse of American democracy; he waffles and refuses to be quoted. Later, Hammond laughs as he uses the pen with which Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation to sign a bill for sewers in Puerto Rico. Bronson speaks eloquently on the radio while Hammond plays with his nephew.

After Hammond crashes his car, Dr. Eastman (Samuel Hinds) declares him “beyond any human help.” A breeze ruffles the curtains and the bed is briefly flooded with light as Hammond insists to himself he will not die. Weeks later, Eastman confides in Beekman and Molloy: the supposedly comatose President is perfectly fine, but is a changed man who sits silently, reading and thinking, “like a gaunt gray ghost". Racketeer Nick Diamond (C. Henry Gordon) tries in vain to bribe and threaten Hammond.

Bronson is killed in a drive-by shooting, but the marchers carry on. In Baltimore, the President walks into the crowd alone and tells Alice Bronson (Jean Parker) that her father was a martyr who died trying “to arouse the stupid, lazy people of the United States to force their government to do something before everybody slowly starves to death.” He promises to create an Army of Construction. Pendie and Beek talk with each other, believing Hammond has gone mad.

That night, the bewildered President doesn't recognize the manuscript for his speech to Congress. Light blooms outside the window; Hammond seems to listen, then straightens, confidently. Meanwhile, Pendie and Beek admit that since the accident, they have both felt that the President was two men. “What if God sent the Angel Gabriel to do for Judd Hammond what he did for Daniel?” Pendie asks.

The President fires the Cabinet and forces Congress to adjourn, declaring that if he is a dictator, it is a dictatorship based on Jefferson's idea of democracy: the greatest good for the greatest number. He broadcasts his plans: an end to foreclosures, a National Banking Law, aid for 55 million agricultural workers, attack racketeering. He has already repealed Prohibition.

The first U.S. Government Liquor Store is bombed, and machine gun fire rakes the White House, gravely wounding Pendie just as she and Beekman are about to confess their love. The President makes Beekman head of the new Federal Police. Diamond believes his lawyer will get him off, but the trial is a court martial. The racketeers are executed.

Hammond holds a worldwide radio broadcast demonstrating the power of his new United States Navy of the Air. Disarmament will free the billions wasted on obsolete weaponry. Hammond signs The Washington Covenant, using the Lincoln quill, and collapses. Pendie is alone with him. The light on his face changes, evoking an image of Lincoln. The shadows disappear as the light at the window returns. Pendie feels Hammond go as the curtains stir. Beek and Pendie come out arm-in-arm to announce the President is dead. Outside, the flag is lowered to half-staff, to the last notes of "Taps".

Ernest and Mary Ross, are an older couple with a son, Toby, who is a mentally challenged teen with the ability to teleport things he has seen by just saying the word "bring". Ernest and Mary have lived as recluses for many years so as not to expose Toby to dangerous images or things that he might summon. When Toby "brings" a living thing, whatever it is arrives dead.

Toby pleads with his parents for doughnuts. After they give their permission, Ernest unlocks a drawer containing pictures of doughnuts, but Toby materializes the doughnuts before Ernest can show him the pictures. Ernest recognizes that Toby's power is growing stronger.

That night, Toby becomes seriously ill. Ernest suspects that since Toby no longer needs to see pictures he may have summoned more doughnuts and made himself sick on them. Though Mary is terrified of the dangers of bringing Toby to a public place, Ernest realizes they have no choice but to take their son to a hospital. Ernest and Mary spend the night at the hospital and take Toby home the next day. Their guarded, reclusive behavior attracts the attention of a social worker, Miss Kemp, particularly after they refuse to let Toby see a magazine she offers to him.

At home Toby summons the magazine and eagerly looks through it. Seeing a diagram of a heart, he "brings" the nearest one, which happens to belong to Mary. She instantly collapses, dead. Following Mary's funeral, Kemp interviews the Ross family neighbors, learning how they never let Toby venture outside or play with others. She begins to build a case to remove Toby, unless Ernest enrolls his son in a school for the mentally challenged. Cornered, Ernest explains the situation to Kemp, having Toby demonstrate his power by summoning real items from images in a picture book. Kemp believes Toby needs professional help. Ernest insists that if psychologists and scientists discover just what his son can do, Toby will be both feared and exploited for his unique power. Kemp refuses to remain quiet, but suddenly leaves in horror when Toby, seeing Mary's photograph, wants his mother and summons her corpse to an armchair.

While burying Mary's body in the backyard, Ernest hears a distant police siren. He tells her that it is finally time. Ernest then sits with his son, tells him he loves him, and presents him with a picture of a sunset. Toby "brings" what he sees, incinerating them both instantly, destroying the Ross home as the police arrive.

Chuck Scott is a World War II veteran who is now a penniless drifter in Miami tormented by bizarre dreams. After finding a wallet and returning it to Eddie Roman, a vicious gangster, he is hired by Roman to be his driver. Roman tests his new driver, whom he nicknames Scotty, by assuming control of his car from the back seat. Scotty does not know that Roman has an accelerator in the rear passenger compartment. This bizarre trick unnerves Scotty and Roman's right-hand man Gino.

Roman reveals himself as a tough gangster by killing any competition, and even locks his wife Lorna in her room every night to control her. Lorna goes for a drive every night, and one day she asks Scotty to take her to Havana, Cuba in exchange for $1,000. He consents and realizes that he is in love with her. When they reach Havana, they stop for a drink at a club, where Lorna is stabbed to death while in Scotty's arms. All the evidence, including the fact that Scotty had apparently purchased the knife earlier that day, points to Scotty as killer, and he realizes that he is being framed. A photograph from the club that proves Scotty's innocence is destroyed by Gino, who has come to Cuba to exact revenge against Lorna and Scotty. Scotty escapes police custody but is gunned down by Gino when he returns to the curio store from which the knife was purchased.

Scotty wakes in Miami on the night that he and Lorna are supposed to abscond to Havana. He is sweating profusely and immediately takes his pills, presumably prescribed to treat his posttraumatic stress disorder from battle. Scotty remembers nothing, and visits the naval hospital to seek treatment from his doctor, Commander Davidson. Davidson urges him to try to remember why he was dressed as a driver, but Scotty is unable to do so. The two go drinking at the Florida Club.

Lorna is shocked that Scotty abruptly quit his job and departed earlier that night, and she is locked in her room after Roman discovers her writing a love letter to Scotty. Roman and Gino go to the Florida Club to cool down, unknowingly sitting across the club, and behind a partition, from Scotty. Davidson realizes that the woman whom Scotty loves is Roman's wife, but by this time, Scotty remembers where he was supposed to be and leaves to find Lorna. He rescues her and they head for the port, but Gino and Roman are also heading to the port after they discover that Scotty was seen at the port buying tickets earlier that morning. With Roman using his master accelerator to push the car's speed to 100 mph, the car crashes into an oncoming train, killing both gangsters. Scotty and Lorna are now free to sail to Cuba and be together.

Journalism major Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood) is expelled from Harvard University after cocaine is discovered in his room. Though it belongs to his roommate Jeremy, Matt is afraid to speak up because Jeremy comes from a powerful family, and is offered $10,000 for taking the blame. Matt reluctantly accepts the money and uses it to visit his sister Shannon (Claire Forlani), her husband Steve (Marc Warren) and their son Ben in London.

There, Matt meets Steve's brother Pete (Charlie Hunnam), a teacher and football coach who leads the local football hooligan firm – Green Street Elite (GSE). Steve asks Pete to take Matt to a football match. Though Pete is reluctant to take a "Yank" to a football match, he decides to take Matt to the game, thinking he might "learn something."

Matt meets Pete's friends and his firm in their local pub and they befriend Matt, with the exception of Pete's stubborn right-hand man Bovver who takes an immediate dislike to Matt. A few pints in and they head to the match. Afterward, Pete, Bovver, and the other firm members go off to fight some Birmingham City fans, but Matt decides that it is not for him and heads to the train home. On his way back, Matt is jumped by three Birmingham fans but is rescued by some GSE members. Though grossly outnumbered, the GSE manage to fight off the Birmingham firm until reinforcements chase them off. Matt does well in his first true fight, is inducted into the GSE, and moves in with Pete.

The GSE firm then head to an away game against Manchester United. Matt ends up sneaking onto the train to help when they are warned that 40 Manchester United firm members are waiting for them at the station. Bovver pulls the train's emergency stop handle and at Matt's initiative the firm persuades a van driver to take them into Manchester, posing as a moving equipment van for a film production. When past them, the GSE charge out to attack the United firm members. They win the fight and leave, taunting the United firm.

Jealous of Matt's rise in the ranks, Bovver talks to Tommy Hatcher (Geoff Bell), the head of GSE's rival firm, the NGO. After one of the members of the GSE sees Matt meeting his father, a journalist for ''The Times'', for lunch, they assume Matt is a "journo" as well. Bovver informs Pete of this. Steve goes to the Abbey to warn Matt and discovers that Steve is the founder and former leader of the GSE, "The Major", who retired from football hooliganism after witnessing the death of Tommy's twelve-year-old son in a fight. Bovver secretly informs Tommy and the Millwall firm of Steve's presence.

Pete angrily confronts Matt in the bathroom over his identity as a "journo". The Millwall firm crashes the Abbey and petrol-bomb the bar. Tommy confronts Steve and stabs him in the neck with a broken bottle, telling him that if he dies tonight then they are both even. Bovver, who had been knocked unconscious by Tommy's right-hand man upon arriving, helps get Steve to the hospital where Pete slams Bovver for his betrayal. Shannon decides to return to the United States to ensure the safety of her family.

The two firms meet near the Millennium Dome the next day for a final brawl. Matt and Bovver show up to fight for the GSE, but Shannon turns up with Ben and is subsequently attacked in her car by Tommy's right-hand man. Matt and Bovver come to their rescue. Pete notices that Tommy is approaching the car and goads him by saying Tommy is to blame for his son's death by having failed to protect him. Tommy snaps and tackles Pete to the ground, eventually beating him to death. Everyone on both sides gathers around Pete's dead body in shock.

Matt returns home to the United States and confronts the now wealthy and successful Jeremy in a restaurant, who is snorting cocaine. Jeremy admits to being the cocaine stash's owner and, as he is about to leave, Matt pulls out a tape recorder. Horrified that Matt has declared his confession as a "ticket back to Harvard", Jeremy lunges at him, but Matt fends Jeremy off with ease. As a victorious Matt walks down the street outside the restaurant, he sings "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles", the anthem of the GSE and their associated club, West Ham United.

''Looking for Alibrandi'' begins light-heartedly, and conveys Josie's character through her interactions with friends and family. However, the optimism initially associated with Josie fades as she struggles to cope with her final year of school, including the racist attitude of one girl in particular, Carly Bishop (Leeanna Walsman), the suicide of her crush, John Barton (Matthew Newton), and the meeting with Michael Andretti (Anthony LaPaglia), her absent father, who has only just learned of her existence upon returning to Sydney for work. She is also in continual conflict with her grandmother, Katia Alibrandi (Elena Cotta).

However, these complications are seemingly resolved quickly, in keeping with Josie's brusque and forthright outlook on life. For example, in response to Carly's frequent snide remarks, she breaks her tormentor's nose with a history textbook. It is this drastic act that brings her father back into her life.

Another complication—the suicide of her close friend and unrequited crush, John Barton—tests her resilience. Struggling with her grief, she finds some comfort from Jacob Coote. An apparent 'bad boy', he turns out to be a sincere and caring person.

The most significant complication and challenge for Josie, is her rocky relationship with her father. When they finally get to know each other, and recognise themselves in each other, their rift heals, and she can confide in him.

In the mid-17th century, the Manchus conquer the territories of the former Ming Empire and establish the Qing Empire. While nationalistic sentiments start brewing within the ''wulin'' (martial artists' community), the Qing government immediately imposes a ban forbidding the common people from practising martial arts. The warlord Fire-Wind sees the new law as an opportunity to make a fortune so he offers to help the government execute the new rule. Greedy, cruel and immoral, Fire-Wind ravages northwest China with his army and kills thousands of resistance fighters and innocent civilians. His next goal is to attack Martial Village, which houses a large number of martial artists.

Fu Qingzhu, a retired executioner, feels an urge to stop Fire-Wind so he sets forth to save Martial Village. He brings with him two young villagers, Han Zhibang and Wu Yuanying, to Mount Heaven to seek help from Master Shadow-Glow, a reclusive swordsman and sword-forger. Shadow-Glow allows his four students – Chu Zhaonan, Yang Yuncong, Xin Longzi and Mulang – to accompany the trio on their quest. He also gives each of them a special sword he forged. The seven of them call themselves "Seven Swords". The Seven Swords return to Martial Village in the nick of time and successfully defeat and drive away Fire-Wind's soldiers. In order to buy time for the villagers to prepare for an evacuation, the Seven Swords head to Fire-Wind's base and cause damage by burning down their barn and poisoning their horses. During the raid, Chu Zhaonan encounters Fire-Wind's Korean slave girl, Green Pearl, and brings her along as they make their escape.

As the villagers evacuate Martial Village and make their way into the hills, strange things start happening along the way. Their food and water supplies are poisoned and their trail is marked by signs leading the enemy to them. The Seven Swords realise there is a spy among them and agree they must eliminate him/her before Fire-Wind catches up. Green Pearl immediately becomes the suspect because she does not speak their language. The situation is further complicated by a romantic affair between Chu Zhaonan and Green Pearl. At one point, Green Pearl and Chu fall into a trap set by Fire-Wind. Chu uses his sword to free Green Pearl from a net cast by Fire-Wind's men but loses his weapon. While Chu is captured by the enemy, Green Pearl manages to escape and convey her message that Chu has been captured to the other swordsmen before succumbing to her injuries.

The other six swordsmen travel to Fire-Wind's base and engage him in battle to rescue Chu Zhaonan. During the Seven Swords' absence, the spy, Qiu Dongluo, sets fire to the entrance to the cave to inform the enemy of the villagers' whereabouts. He reveals his identity and begins killing the unsuspecting villagers systematically. He is discovered by the village chief's daughter, Liu Yufang, who eventually kills him by accident. However, she is so traumatised by the experience that she becomes hysterical. Meanwhile, the Seven Swords defeat and slay Fire-Wind, and forces his army to retreat temporarily. The swordsmen return to the hideout, only to find that all the villagers have been killed, except for Liu Yufang and the children. Han Zhibang calms Liu down and decides to stay behind and protect the survivors. The Seven Swords realise the only way to save the ''wulin'' is to persuade the Qing emperor to withdraw the ban on martial arts. Liu tells Han that she can take care of the survivors alone so Han rushes to catch up with the other swordsmen as they travel towards the capital.

John Marcher, the protagonist, is reacquainted with May Bartram, a woman he knew ten years earlier while living in southern Italy, who remembers his odd secret: Marcher is seized with the belief that his life is to be defined by some catastrophic or spectacular event, lying in wait for him like a "beast in the jungle". May decides to buy a house in London with the money she inherited from a great aunt, and to spend her days with Marcher, curiously awaiting what fate has in store for him. Marcher is a hopeless fatalist, who believes that he is precluded from marrying so that he does not subject his wife to his "spectacular fate".

He takes May to the theater and invites her to an occasional dinner, but does not allow her to get close to him. As he sits idly by and allows the best years of his life to pass, he takes May down as well, until the denouement where he learns that the great misfortune of his life was to throw it away, and to ignore the love of a good woman, based upon his preposterous sense of foreboding.

The film opens early in the twentieth century, at an English country mansion with the apparent murder of Lord and Lady Morley in their car by a figure in a black cape. Inspector Winship (Knotts) and Dr. Tart (Conway), two American detectives transferred over to Scotland Yard because of problems in the United States, travel to the Morley mansion, brandishing a letter from the late Lord Morley asking them to investigate his own murder. They encounter the attractive heiress - the Morley's adopted daughter Phyllis Morley (Trisha Noble) - and are introduced to the manor's questionable staff.

As the two investigate the murder, each of the staff, which includes a samurai, a hunchback, a busty maid, a gypsy, and an insane butler, are seemingly killed. However, each of their bodies disappear before the detectives can show them to the heiress. Their attempts to update Scotland Yard via homing pigeon are continuously thwarted, typically by the death of the pigeon. After discovering the manor's numerous hidden passages, the detectives wind up in a "torture chamber" and Winship is caught in a deadly trap. While Tart clumsily searches for a way to help, the caped figure ("The Shadow") leaps out to rescue Winship from the trap.

A boa constrictor then frightens them into a trash compactor, where they survive being compressed into a bale of garbage. Once out of the garbage, they find the heiress taking the Morley money and preparing to leave the mansion. She then confesses to having killed the Morleys for their money as she has a gambling habit. Planning to kill the detectives and escape the mansion, she falls backward into a flower bed while retreating, where she is grabbed by the shadowy figure, who has been hiding in the dirt. The shadow scares her to the point that she faints, at which time the shadow takes off his cape, revealing himself to be Lord Morley.

Morley had escaped the car crash and gathered the staff to gain their help in a plan to get the heiress to confess to the murder of his wife and the attempt on his own life. Morley remained "dead" (in hiding) as part of the plan, writing the letter to Scotland Yard in order to request Winship and Tart as investigators, presumably because of their incompetence. As Morley explains what he did, the members of the staff appear, having faked their own deaths as part of the plan. The heiress is arrested and Winship and Tart are thanked with a gift of a very rare sarcophagus, which is placed in their car.

As Winship and Tart drive away, they argue over the existence of creatures known as "wookalars," said to be manlike creatures with superhuman strength and a pig-like face. The film ends with their car careening down the road as they scream in terror, due to the sudden appearance of a wookalar from the sarcophagus.

The gate to AniYoko

It is explained in the anime that AniYoko itself is an alternative world inhabited by stuffed-animal-like creatures. The only method of travel between AniYoko and the human world is through a door mounted in the floor of Ami's bedroom. The Trio has given many conflicting and spurious explanations for how the door got there, but the real answer may never be revealed to Ami nor the viewer. Still, nothing overly sinister appears to be involved - As Kenta said in the second story, "That's the setting for the story, so don't worry about it", breaking the fourth wall, something that happens often in the show.

The door is two-way. It is most often used by the Trio to enter our world and interact with Ami, who they seem to find strangely fascinating. Ami could go through the door herself and enter AniYoko but, due to the insistent Trio and their strange often frightening stories, has yet to do so in the anime and AniYoko itself has never actually appeared, with only a dark space being shown whenever Ami looks inside. Scenes of AniYoko do appear in the Trio's recollections and stories, but these often are immediately shown to be false, and no objective AniYoko scenes have ever been shown. On one episode, it has shown Iyo's bedroom.

The presence of the door and the Trio seems to have had some effect on Ami's room itself. Ami and the Trio frequently find that they can go to many other places, such as a jungle, a forest, a baseball stadium (complete with crowd) and an RPG-style dungeon, without actually leaving the room.

Wanting to see the world and unable to live with his uncle anymore, Bunyip Bluegum the koala sets out on his travels, taking only a walking stick. At about lunchtime, feeling more than slightly peckish, he meets Bill Barnacle the sailor and Sam Sawnoff the penguin who are eating a magic pudding which, no matter how much one eats it, always reforms into a whole pudding again. The pudding is called Albert, has thin arms and legs, and is bad-tempered and ill-mannered. His only pleasure is being eaten and on his insistence, Bill and Sam invite Bunyip to join them for lunch. They then set off on the road together, Bill explaining to Bunyip how he and Sam were once shipwrecked with a ship's cook on an iceberg where the cook created the pudding which they now own.

Later on they encounter the Pudding Thieves, a possum named Patrick and a wombat named Watkin. Bill and Sam bravely defend their pudding while Bunyip sits on Albert so that he cannot escape while they are not looking. Later that night sitting round the fire, Bill and Sam, grateful for his contributions of the day, invite Bunyip to join them and become a member of the Noble Society of Pudding Owners.

Later the next day, through some well-thought-out trickery, the Pudding Thieves make a successful grab for the Pudding. Upset and outraged, Bill and Sam fall into despair and it is up to Bunyip to get them to pull themselves together and set off to rescue their Pudding. In the course of tracking down the Pudding Thieves they encounter some rather pathetic and unsavoury members of society, but eventually manage to get led to the Pudding Thieves' lair. Bunyip's cleverness lures the robbers into a trap from where Bill and Sam's fists do the rest and they retrieve their pudding.

Some time later the Pudding Thieves approach the three Pudding Owners proclaiming that they bear gifts of good will and will present them to the pudding owners if they would only look inside a bag they have with them. When doing so they pull it over their heads and tie it up leaving them defenceless as the thieves take their pudding and run off.

An elderly dog, market gardener Benjamin Brandysnap, comes along and frees the Pudding Owners. The bag had been stolen from his stable, and he joins the Pudding Owners to get revenge on the Pudding Thieves. Another clever plan by Bunyip lures them into another trap where the Thieves are given yet another battering and the Pudding retrieved.

The next day the travellers come to the sleepy town of Tooraloo where they are approached by men dressed in suits and top hats and claiming to be the real owners of the Pudding. They turn out to be the Pudding Thieves up to yet another attempt at getting the Pudding and the subsequent fight brings along the Mayor and the cowardly local Constable. In the argument that follows, the bad-tempered Pudding pinches the Mayor, who orders his arrest.

The Pudding is taken to court where the only officials present are the judge and the usher who are playing cards, but they prefer to eat the defendant rather than hear the case. To settle matters, Bunyip suggests that they hear the case themselves. Bill becomes the prosecutor, the Pudding Thieves are charged with the attempts to steal the Pudding and the theft of Benjamin Brandysnap's bag and the Mayor and the Constable stand in as “12 good men and true” — conceding that the unconstitutionality of the court is "better than a punch on the snout". The proceedings do not go well however, and result in utter chaos. When it is at its height, Bunyip suddenly announces that the Pudding has been poisoned. The judge, who has been eating away at the Pudding, goes suddenly crazy and attacks the usher, the Pudding Thieves, the Mayor and the Constable with a bottle of port.

In reality, Albert was never poisoned and the Pudding Owners take advantage of the confusion to beat a hasty retreat. They then decide that it would be best to settle down somewhere rather than continue with their travelling. They build a house in a tree in Benjamin's garden and settle down to a life of ease.

The Story of the Exodus or freedom of Hebrews from Egypt is told in a perspective which highlights Moses' efforts to persuade first the stubborn Pharaoh Merneptah, who was his adopted cousin, to release his work force of slaves. Then, once free and in the wilderness en route to the Promised Land, Moses must prove to be a pious and patient leader or lawgiver to a people who still think they want more out of him or God. For 40 years, Moses (Burt Lancaster) must carry on this load and challenge for God and Israel.

With the help of his brother Aaron (Anthony Quayle), and Joshua (Aharon Ipale), the nation or people of Israel are officially born or created after centuries ago God promised and vowed Jacob/Israel that he would be the father of a mighty nation.

A young man (Rechy uses the term “youngman” when referring to hustlers) travels across the country while working as a hustler. The book focuses chapters on locations that the youth visits and certain personages he meets there, from New York City, to Los Angeles, San Francisco and New Orleans. Throughout the novel, the unnamed narrator has trysts with various peculiar characters, including another hustler, an older man, an S&M enthusiast and a bed-ridden old man. All of these relationships range in the extent of their emotional and sexual nature, as well as in their peculiarity.

The book includes writing about the Cooper Do-nuts Riot, which happened in 1959 in Los Angeles, when the lesbians, gay men, transgender people, and drag queens who hung out at Cooper Do-nuts and who were frequently harassed by the LAPD fought back after police arrested three people, including Rechy. Patrons began pelting the police with donuts and coffee cups. The LAPD called for back-up and arrested a number of rioters. Rechy and the other two original detainees were able to escape.

In the Middle Ages, a woodcutter named Claus delivers hand-carved toys to the children of his village each Christmas, accompanied by his wife Anya and their reindeer Donner and Blitzen. Caught in a blizzard, they are saved by elves and taken to their magical workshop at the North Pole. Lead elf Dooley explains that their coming was prophesied; that it is Claus' destiny to deliver the toys made by the elves to the children of the world; and that they, like the elves, will live forever. The following Christmas Eve, the oldest elf dubs Claus "Santa Claus" and explains that the night will last as long as it takes for him to deliver toys to every child on Earth. Donner and Blitzen join six other reindeer Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet and Cupid, and are fed hay sprinkled with magical powder that enables them to fly, pulling Santa's sleigh through the air. As the centuries pass, much of the mythology and traditions surrounding Santa Claus develop.

By the late 20th century, Santa is exhausted by his ever-growing workload, and Anya suggests that he enlist an assistant. Two elves compete for the position: Puffy, who follows traditional toymaking methods, and Patch, who has many ideas for modernization. Patch wins by designing a machine to increase production through automation, but unbeknownst to him, it begins to malfunction and produce shoddy toys. In New York City, Santa befriends a homeless orphan boy named Joe and takes him for a ride in his sleigh. They unsuccessfully attempt the "Super Duper Looper", a vertical loop maneuver which always fails due to Donner's acrophobia. They also meet a wealthy orphan girl named Cornelia, who befriends Joe.

When the toys produced by Patch's machine fall apart on Christmas Day, he resigns in disgrace and leaves the North Pole, winding up in New York City. Meanwhile, the B.Z. Toy Company, run by Cornelia's unscrupulous step-uncle B.Z., is facing shutdown by the government for producing unsafe toys. Seeing the company's toys being pulled from a storefront, Patch mistakenly thinks they are very popular and approaches B.Z. about a job. Hoping to redeem himself in Santa's eyes, he creates lollipops laced with the magic powder that allows the reindeer to fly, and a flying car which he uses to deliver them to the world's children on Christmas Eve. The lollipops allow people to fly, making them an instant sensation and leaving Santa feeling obsolete and disheartened. B.Z. convinces Patch to strengthen the formula and put it in candy canes, planning to launch his own holiday called "Christmas 2" in late March.

Cornelia and Joe overhear B.Z. plotting to oust Santa as the figurehead of Christmas, and Joe is captured. Cornelia further overhears B.Z.'s assistant, Eric Towzer, share his discovery that the candy canes explode when exposed to heat. B.Z. plans to take Towzer and their money and flee to Brazil, letting Patch take the fall for their dangerous product. Cornelia writes to Santa, who rushes to help despite two of his reindeer being sidelined by the flu. Patch finds Joe tied up and gagged in the toy factory's basement and frees him. Seeing a wood carving resembling Patch that Santa made for Joe, Patch realizes that Santa misses him. He and Joe take off for the North Pole in his flying car with the candy canes loaded in the trunk, unaware that they are becoming unstable. Santa and Cornelia pursue in Santa's sleigh; as the car explodes, they successfully perform the Super Duper Looper, saving Joe and Patch. The police, alerted by Cornelia, attempt to arrest B.Z., but he eats several of the magic candy canes and jumps out a window, only to float upward uncontrollably.

Santa agrees to let Joe and Cornelia stay at his workshop for the rest of their days. As they celebrate with the elves, B.Z. floats off into space.

Julie Richman is a Valley girl who seems to have it all: good looks, popularity, and a handsome Valley dude boyfriend, Tommy, but she is having second thoughts about her relationship with the arrogant and selfish Tommy. At the end of a shopping trip with her friends, Loryn, Stacey, and Suzi, Julie runs into Tommy and breaks up with him. Later that day at the beach, Julie trades shy glances with a young man in the distance.

That night, at a party at Suzi's house, Julie locks eyes with Randy, a Hollywood punk who has crashed the party with his friend Fred. They hit it off, especially after Julie learns Randy was the young man at the beach. Tommy is jealous, and tries to bed Loryn. He fails and gets his cronies to eject Randy and Fred from the party. Undaunted, Randy sneaks back into the house and hides in an upstairs bathroom shower. Randy waits in the shower for Julie to enter the bathroom as various party goers come and go, talking about and trying to have sex, and doing drugs. When Julie enters, Randy convinces her to leave the party with him. Julie brings a reluctant Stacey for the ride with Randy and Fred. While at Randy's favorite Hollywood nightclub, Julie and Randy rapidly grow closer as Stacey continually rebuffs Fred's advances. Julie ignores Stacey's plight and the fact that she never wanted to be there or with Fred.

Julie's friends, dismayed by her relationship with Randy, pressure her to get back together with Tommy. Julie asks her father for advice, and he kindly tells her she should follow her heart. Despite this, Julie reconciles with Tommy and later dumps Randy. A heartbroken Randy gets severely drunk, makes out with his ex-girlfriend, and nearly gets into a fight with a gang of low riders before Fred saves him. Fred chides Randy for moping over Julie, but tells him he needs to fight if he truly wants her back. After Randy flits about the Valley for the next few days just so he can get a glimpse at Julie, Fred says he has a plan that will reunite Randy with Julie as well as get revenge against Tommy.

A subplot involves Suzi and her stepmother Beth vying for the attention of a boy named Skip. At her party, Suzi tells Beth, who is chaperoning, about Skip, whom she likes and hopes will show up. When Skip arrives, Beth is attracted to him. Skip also is attracted to Beth and goes out of his way to see her without Suzi's finding out. One day, Skip enters Suzi's house, apparently looking for Beth. He goes upstairs and finds a woman in the shower in Beth's bedroom. Skip and this woman, whose face is not shown, are then shown making love. Another woman arrives home and goes upstairs. The bedroom door opens, Beth enters, and only then it is shown Suzi was in the shower and in bed with Skip. Skip and Suzi go to the prom together.

As the girls make prom decorations, Stacey and Loryn chat over their post-prom plans. Stacey reveals Tommy made a reservation at the Valley Sheraton Hotel as an after-prom "surprise" for Julie.

Tommy and Julie ride to the prom in a rented stretch limousine; Randy and Fred arrive shortly after and sneak backstage. Randy increasingly becomes annoyed with watching the Valley High kids dance, but Fred assures him all is going according to plan. Julie and Tommy are escorted backstage, waiting to be introduced as king and queen of the prom. Randy confronts Tommy, and the two begin to brawl. When the prom king and queen are announced, the curtain pulls back to reveal Randy's beating up Tommy. Randy knocks Tommy out, then escorts a thrilled Julie from the stage through the crowd. Tommy recovers and storms through the crowd toward Randy and Julie, who start a food fight to slow Tommy down and facilitate their escape from the venue in Tommy's rented limousine.

As the happy couple ride into the night toward the Valley Sheraton, Julie removes Tommy's ID bracelet, which had been a sign of the relationship between the two during the entire film, and throws it out the window.

After having bad luck day — Santa's Little Helper eats his homework, he accidentally forgets his permission slip for a school field trip to a chocolate factory, and forced to spend the rest of the afternoon with Principal Skinner as punishment — Bart loses control of his skateboard during a downpour. He crashes down the stairwell of the Legitimate Businessman's Social Club, a Mob bar owned by the Springfield Mafia.

At the club, mob boss Fat Tony and his henchmen, Legs and Louie, are inhospitable towards Bart at first. They are soon impressed by his ability to pick winning horses and make excellent Manhattans. After Fat Tony hires him as the club's bartender and errand boy, Bart starts wearing Rat Pack suits and allows the Mob to store a truckload of stolen cigarettes in his bedroom until they can be fenced.

After Bart is given detention for trying to bribe Principal Skinner, resulting in him being late to serve Manhattan cocktails to a rival gang, the mobsters confront Skinner and the next day, he is announced as missing. As it becomes apparent that Skinner has been murdered, Bart rushes to confront Fat Tony at the bar after a nightmare about Skinner's ghost and his own execution. While Bart is there, the police raid the bar and arrest the mobsters. Bart is subsequently placed on trial for Skinner's murder.

At the trial, Fat Tony, Legs and Louie lie to the court, saying Bart killed Skinner and claim that he is the ringleader of the mafia, even Homer falls for their lies when he is called to testify. Bart is found guilty and Judge Snyder is about to give Bart a certain death sentence when Skinner, unshaven and disheveled, bursts in the courtroom, and he explains to everyone what happened to him. It started when Fat Tony and his henchmen visited his office and left sheepishly after Skinner scolded them for interfering in student discipline. When he returned home that day, Skinner became trapped beneath stacks of old newspapers in his garage and lay stuck there for a week before finally realising he had to get out himself when nobody came to his aid.

Bart is cleared of all charges, despite the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to have Skinner's speech stricken from the record. Bart quits Fat Tony's gang after learning that the bromide is true: crime does not pay. The crime is later portrayed into a TV movie (with Neil Patrick Harris playing the role of Bart), but Homer is angry to find out that they won't be paid for it.

Kayako Kirishima, who lives in Niigata, is almost ready to go off to college but is lonely and unsure of her future. Masami Endo is a girl who has been ostracized and made a social outcast for having an abortion. The two girls meet each other in class one day and become good friends. Gradually, Kirishima falls in love with Endo and the relationship becomes more personal.

In the middle of the book, summer vacation starts and Endo leaves to go off with the man who got her pregnant. During this time Kirishima misses her and can't wait for her to return. When Endo does return, she lies about her experiences and says that she was traveling with old friends. Kirishima knows she is lying and becomes upset with Endo souring the relationship. Eventually the two forgive each other, but times have changed and Kirishima decides to go off to Tokyo and pursue a career in art while Endo chooses to stay in her hometown. The manga ends with Kirishima riding off in a train to Tokyo as Endo looks longingly towards the train.

When Bart is sent home from school with head lice (due to letting a monkey crawl on his head) and Lisa without shoes (due to them being stolen by bullies) while Marge and Homer spend the day at a spa, they are accused of being negligent parents. Two Child Protective Services agents arrive at their house and, finding it under the negligent and incompetent care of Abe Simpson, take Bart, Lisa, and Maggie to a foster home—their four next-door neighbors Ned, Maude, Rod, and Todd Flanders. Bart and Lisa hate living with the Flanders, but Maggie enjoys it since she gets more attention from Ned than she ever did from Homer. Marge and Homer are forced to attend a parenting class to regain custody of their children.

When Ned learns the Simpson children were never baptized, he is distraught and drives them to the Springfield River. When Homer and Marge are declared fit parents, they quickly head for the river to stop Ned from baptizing their children. Just as Ned is about to pour holy water on Bart, Homer prevents the water from hitting him and making him a baptized member of the Flanders family. The Simpsons are reunited and head home together.

The introduction is often followed by a basic plot summary, which comes under the subheading "Plot".

The "Plot" section should not be an exhaustive list of everything that has happened in the episode, but instead a succinct synopsis of the important elements of the plot. Special attention should be paid to character and conflict development and how the episode relates to previous and future episodes.

If the episode is a multipart one, then split the "Plot" subsection into further subsections entitled "Part 1" and "Part 2".

Peyton Farquhar, a civilian who is also a wealthy planter and slave owner, is being prepared for execution by hanging from an Alabama railroad bridge during the American Civil War. Six military men and a company of infantrymen are present, guarding the bridge and carrying out the sentence. Farquhar thinks of his wife and children and is then distracted by a noise that, to him, sounds like an unbearably loud clanging; it is actually the ticking of his watch. He considers the possibility of jumping off the bridge and swimming to safety if he can free his tied hands, but the soldiers drop him from the bridge before he can act on the idea.

In a flashback, Farquhar and his wife are relaxing at home one evening when a soldier dressed in Confederate gray rides up to the gate. Farquhar, a supporter of the Confederacy, learns from him that Union troops have seized the Owl Creek railroad bridge and repaired it. The soldier suggests that Farquhar might be able to burn the bridge down if he can slip past its guards. He then leaves, but doubles back after nightfall to return north the way he came. The soldier is actually a disguised Union scout who has lured Farquhar into a trap as any civilian caught interfering with the railroads will be hanged.

The story returns to the present, and the rope around Farquhar's neck breaks when he falls from the bridge into the creek. He frees his hands, pulls the noose away, and rises to the surface to begin his escape. His senses now greatly sharpened, he dives and swims downstream to avoid rifle and cannon fire. Once he is out of range, he leaves the creek to begin the journey to his home, away. Farquhar walks all day long through a seemingly endless forest, and that night he begins to hallucinate, seeing strange constellations and hearing whispered voices in an unknown language. He travels on, urged by the thought of his wife and children despite the pains caused by his ordeal. The next morning, after having apparently fallen asleep while walking, he finds himself at the gate to his plantation. He rushes to embrace his wife, but before he can do so, he feels a heavy blow upon the back of his neck; there is a loud noise and a flash of white, and "then all is darkness and silence". It is revealed that Farquhar never escaped at all; he imagined the entire third part of the story during the time between falling through the bridge and the noose breaking his neck.

The story is about the adventures of a 14-year-old girl named Nico Hayashi, who uses her talents of changing and altering her voice to manipulate men over the phone who want to participate in enjo kōsai. Through this she learns a lot about human nature, and gains a keen understanding of people through their voices. An aging gangster notices her talents and decides to hire her to solve various cases. While Nico is on her first case, she meets with a geeky man named Iichiro Sudo, who has an obsession with robot toy models. This obsession that leads Nico to call him "Robo", and the two become an unlikely team. After completing her first case Nico proclaims herself "Sexy Voice" and a variety of short loosely linked character-driven adventures ensue.

War begins for the United Kingdom after a surprise aerial bombing of 20 cities, the first of many attacks. Young solicitor Peter Corbett, wife Joan, and their three young children leave Southampton after their house and Corbett's offices are damaged, friends are killed, and a cholera epidemic begins. They move aboard their small yacht, kept on the river Hamble, but as disease spreads and supplies diminish, flee the area. They sail to the Isle of Wight, but because of the fear of disease, other ports require them to provide a certificate of health or wait in quarantine; the Corbetts do not want to risk being bombed during the three weeks of quarantine.

In the English Channel the family rescues two downed Fleet Air Arm aviators from . Their commanding officer gives the Corbetts supplies and suggests that the family sail to neutral France. While in quarantine at Brest, a friendly customs official states his belief that Britain will win the war because international horror of the enemy's terror bombing has caused the Dominions to enter the war and the neutral United States to provide aid. Corbett's family boards an ocean liner for Canada; because of his nautical experience, Corbett returns to the ''Victorious'' to accept a commission as sub-lieutenant from the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve.

The Warlock is taken captive in Boston, Massachusetts in 1691 by the witch-hunter Giles Redferne. The Warlock is sentenced to death for his activities, including the death of Redferne's wife, but Satan propels the Warlock forward in time to late 20th century Los Angeles, California. Redferne follows through the portal.

When the Warlock crash lands at the house of a waitress named Kassandra and her roommate, Chas, he is taken in by them. While Kassandra is out, the Warlock murders Chas. The Warlock confronts a fake psychic, tricking her into allowing herself to be possessed by Satan who tells him to reassemble The Grand Grimoire, a book separated into three pieces which can unmake Creation. Ripping out the psychic's eyes and using them as a compass, the Warlock finds the first piece of the Grand Grimoire hidden inside an antique table at Kassandra's flat. While there, he places an ageing curse upon her and takes her bracelet. Redferne arrives with a "witch compass" to track the Warlock. After Redferne explains some basic rules of Witches and Warlocks, such as their weakness to purified salt, Kassandra follows him in order to regain her bracelet, which will allow her to become young again. The Warlock acquires the power of flight by murdering an unbaptised child.

Redferne and Kassandra pursue the Warlock to the rural home of a Mennonite family where the Warlock has located the second piece of the Grimoire. After a battle with Redferne, the Warlock attempts to fly away but is struck down by a weathervane made of cold iron. Redferne, Kassandra and the Mennonite couple attempt to bind him with a pair of manacles that will stop him from using his power, but the Warlock hexes the Mennonite farmer with the Evil Eye before escaping on foot. Redferne gives Kassandra a blessed hammer with which to hammer nails into the Warlock's footprints while he and the farmer's wife carry the ailing farmer back to the house. While the Warlock sheds his shackles, Kassandra hammers nails into his footprints, causing the Warlock agony. He escapes via a train but Kassandra recovers her bracelet, restoring her youth. The farmer is terribly injured, but Redferne leaves him a cure in the form of bronze keys. Kassandra is persuaded to continue on when Redferne tells her that the Warlock intends to destroy the universe.

They follow the Warlock to Boston, where the final piece of the Grimoire is supposed to be buried on sacred earth. They arrive at the Church where the Grimoire is held and warn the priest that the Warlock is coming for it. The priest reassures Redferne and Kassandra that the book is buried in sacred earth, directing them to a graveyard. Kassandra realises that due to construction, many coffins have been moved to a part of the graveyard that is not consecrated ground. They find Redferne's coffin and break it open to get the Grimoire when the Warlock arrives, having forced the priest to reveal the location of the book by threatening to give his wife a miscarriage. Redferne carries the book onto hallowed ground but the Warlock threatens to kill Kassandra if Redferne does not bring him the book. Redferne challenges the Warlock to a fair fight without weapons or magic and the Warlock agrees. He flings Kassandra into a lake and he and Redferne fight. The Warlock gains the advantage and Redferne cheats by throwing soil from the sacred ground in the Warlock's face. With the rules broken, the Warlock uses his magical abilities to subdue Redferne and claim possession of the final third of the Grimore.

Before the Warlock can use the Grimoire, Kassandra stabs him in the neck with the syringe she uses to inject insulin, which she filled with salt water from the lake. The Warlock's throat seals shut and he bursts into flames. Redferne and Kassandra bid one another farewell before Redferne returns to his own time. Kassandra buries the Grimoire in the middle of the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Miriam Knight is an intelligent but unattractive young woman who is treated disrespectfully by those around her due to her homely appearance. She has changed colleges five times in three years. In that time, she has taken a lot of different classes but is still unable to find a boyfriend. At her new college, things go from bad to worse. She is either ignored or humiliated by almost everyone. Miriam finally lands the lead in a play, but her jealous roommate, knowing that Miriam is allergic to roses, places some in a box during Miriam's performance, causing Miriam to sneeze herself into humiliation. She tearfully speeds away from the college campus, but is involved in an automobile accident.

Miriam requires reconstructive surgery on her face. Once the bandages are removed, they reveal a brunette bombshell. From the moment she steps outside the room in the hospital, she makes it her mission to exact vengeance on all those who did her wrong by killing them, one by one.

Miriam uses her new good looks (which make her unrecognizable as the "old" Miriam) and the skills that she acquired in many of her classes to commit the crimes. A police detective, Ralph Varone, who had a brief encounter with the "old" Miriam, solves the crimes committed by the "new" Miriam and discovers her motive. Varone falls in love with Miriam, becoming the only man to love her for her mind. They marry with Miriam in custody, preparing to serve a lengthy jail sentence.